I actually wrote this article in 2015, but I felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit that this should be brought out again. Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head not only in the world, but sadly it is also in the church.

My husband and I have not had a church for a few years now. We had been attending Baptist churches and experienced overt anti-Semitism. This shocked both of us.

Here is the original article:  

Through the years, I’ve shared my testimony of becoming a Jewish Christian. Upon telling my testimony to people in church, I have seen two reactions:

People are SO excited that a Jewish person has been born-again from above!
People give me the deer in the headlights look, nod and move on.

I have come to a conclusion based on these two distinct reactions:

The people who are happy and excited about my testimony belong to Jesus and really adore Him.

The deer in the headlights folks just might be lukewarm, and we know what Jesus says about them:

“So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

I am SO blessed that the couple who shared the message of salvation did not pass me by because they knew that I am a Jew. They were obedient to God and His Word, and shared truth with me that night. They knew that everyone must come to the Father through Jesus Christ. Praise God, I came into His family that night.

Everyone knows about the Holocaust. But in this article, I will be taking my brothers and sisters in Christ back in time to give you a better understanding of why the Jewish people are so offended by the Cross of our Lord Jesus.

The Early Church

Here is an account of the anti-Semitic view of Replacement Theology, which surprisingly started with the early church.

Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165), who was a Christian apologist, defended Christianity against its enemies. In his work titled Justin Martyr With Trypho a Jew, he said that the seed of Jacob now referred to Christians and not the Jews. So began the infamous teaching of Replacement Theology.

Tertullian (A.D. 160-220), a church theologian from North Africa, wrote a derogatory and very anti-Semitic book titled An Answer to the Jews around A.D. 200. This man twisted Scripture to fit his errant theology by claiming that the statement made to Rebekah about the twins (Esau and Jacob) within her (Genesis 25:23) was actually a reference to Jews and Christians.

He said that the older brother, Esau, represented the Jewish people, and Jacob, the younger brother, represented Christians. His premise was that the Christians would overtake the Jewish people. He said that the Jews would serve the Christians.

Origen (A.D. 185-254) was president of the school of theology in Alexandria, Egypt. He had a profound effect upon the church by preaching that much of what is written about Israel in the Word should be seen as allegorical – spiritualizing his interpretations. We know that the promises made to Israel are not open to interpretation. They should be taught and understood to be literal.

Origen took such liberties with the Word, claiming that the word Israel can mean the church. Not seeing and preaching God’s Word correctly (rightly dividing) becomes a slippery slope into myriad of heretical teachings. He was a Christian Universalist, believing in universal salvation for all people, and for the fallen angels.

Cyprian (A.D. 195-258) was a bishop of Carthage. He wrote Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. He maintained that the Jews departed from the God who loved them, and that because they had departed from God, they lost His favor. He taught that God sought out a people who would obey him, and all promises were taken from Israel and bestowed upon the Christians.

John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407), known as the greatest preacher of the gospel in the Eastern church, preached messages titled “Against the Jews in Antioch of Syria.” Many preachers followed suit, and preached anti-Semitism from their pulpits.

An influential bishop of Milan, Ambrose, considered the Jews to be infidels, wholly perverse, and incapable of thinking any good thought. He said that the burning of synagogues was no crime and encouraged it.

Augustine (A.D. 354-430) was known as the most influential person since the apostle Paul. He wrote, Tract Against the Jews and influenced the church so dramatically against Jews that derogatory comments about Jews during the Middle Ages were usually called “Augustinian.”

Augustine decreed a new eschatological view called Amillennialism, which actually means no Millennium. In doing this, the prophecies in Scripture could be spiritualized, and taught that these were all referring to the church.

The Roman Catholic church adopted and adhered to all teachings of Augustine.

Martin Luther, in his later years, turned on the Jews and wrote “On the Jews and their Lies.” This sermon caused in one night the burning down of synagogues, and the slaughter of over 2,000 Jews.

Adolph Hitler used Luther’s teachings on the Jews to justify slaughtering Jews and finally ridding the world of them.

John Calvin, another father of the Great Reformation, said:

“Their [the Jews] rotten and unbending stiffneckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.” (Ad Quaelstiones et Objecta Juaei Cuiusdam Responsio, John Calvin)

As you can see, Replacement Theology is NOT a new teaching in the history of the church.

Eschatology Affected by Replacement Theology

The original view of eschatology in the church was called Chiliasm. This word is from the Greek word for “one thousand.” It taught that Christ will return to earth at the Second Coming and that He would establish His Kingdom upon the earth and rule for the last thousand years of earth’s history. Today, we call this view Premillennialism. Even though this view of eschatology was based on the Old Testament, and taught by Jesus and His Apostles, the anti-Semitic teachers of the Word rejected Chiliasm as being a “Jewish view.”

This anti-Semitic view so permeated the Eastern Gentile Christians that the book of Revelation was removed from the canon beginning in the fourth century, and it was kept out for many centuries – in hopes that Chiliasm would die and be remembered no more.

Persecution of Jews in the Name of Christ

Because of the teaching that the Jews had been discarded by God, Gentiles who professed to be Christians increasingly referred to the Jews as “Christ killers.” I remember, as a child in the synagogue, learning that the Ecumenical Council had decreed that the Jews actually were not solely responsible for the death of Christ.

I remember thinking “So this is why they call me dirty Jew.”

Constantine, the first Roman emperor to call himself a Christian, was hostile toward Jews. In 329 A.D., he called for the death penalty for all who embraced the Jewish faith. He referred to the Jews as “beastial.”

Roman emperor, Theodosius I, from 379-395, decreed that Christianity was to be the only recognized religion. Declaring that marriage between a Jew and a Christian would be forbidden, he said that such a union would be deemed adultery.

Theodosius II was the Roman emperor from 408-450. He restricted the Jews from building any new synagogues. He would incite mobs to enter the established synagogues and take possession of them – handing over all property and possessions of the Jews to the Christians.

Justinian I was the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire from 527 to 565. He was a professing Christian and did everything in his power to make the lives of Jews unbearable. He made sure that all Jews occupied the most hated civil offices in government. He decreed that Jews could not observe Passover before Easter, and told the Jews what they could and could not do in their synagogues. He finally took control of the synagogues away from Jews and proclaimed them to be churches.

In 589, King Reccared of Spain joined with Roman Catholic leaders and forced children born to Jews to be forcibly baptized as Christians. The penalty for not complying was death.

Around 629 A.D., Dagobert, who was the ruler of the Frankish empire, decreed that all Jews must convert (embrace Christianity) or face death.

Near the end of the seventh century, a law was passed that all Jews in Spain be enslaved and that their sons be taken away from them at the age of seven and reared as Christians.

The popes of the Catholic Church were brutal to the Jews throughout the Middle Ages. They made sure that Jews suffered and were separated from others because they were considered sub-human and beyond help.

The execution of Jews has been happening in every century, and all done in the name of Christ! In 1298, after a rumor that Jews had desecrated the sacred Roman Catholic host, Jews were burned at the stake. This was considered a horrendous holocaust – in the course of six months, approximately 120 congregations of 100,000 Jews perished.

This is a quote from Graetz, the author of the work titled History of the Jews:

“From the thirteenth till the sixteenth century, the persecutions and massacres of the Jews increased with frightful rapidity and in intensity, and only alternated with inhuman decrees issued both by the Church and the state, the aim and purport of all of which were to humiliate the Jews, to brand them with calumny and to drive them to suicide….The nations of Europe emulated of another in exercising their cruelty upon the Jews; and it was always the clergy who, in the name of a religion of love, stirred up this undying hatred. It mattered little to the Jews whether they lived under a strict government or under anarchy, for they suffered under the one no less than under the other.”

There is not enough room in this one article to elaborate on all of the persecution and slaughter of the Jews done in the name of Christianity. In our generation, most people think of the Holocaust during World War II. They think of an insane man named Adolph Hitler. Certainly, he was inherently evil, and his attempt at annihilating the Jews could never have been based in Christian thought, right? Wrong.

Hitler felt that he was just carrying out the final solution for the Jews because of what he knew had been done throughout history by the church. He simply wanted to finish the job.

When Jews see the Cross of Jesus, they do not see or understand the love that sent our Savior to willingly die upon it. They know nothing about the blood of Jesus and how He died for the sins of the whole world. How could they think these things? They remember the pogroms, the forced conversions, the burning of their synagogues, the mass slaughter of millions of them – all done in the name of Christ.

Of course, they read about Corrie ten Boom and those like her who had the love of Jesus in their hearts toward the Jews. But these stories pale compared to the horrific persecutions.

When I was a babe in Christ, I bought a cross to wear. I knew what the Cross meant. I knew why He willingly went to that Cross. The scales had fallen from my eyes when I was born-again.

One day I went to a Jewish doctor who had been my pediatrician. He was now an allergist. He had known me and my family for years. He came in the room with a smile, but that smile turned to an angry scowl when he saw my cross. He snapped at me, “And WHAT is that?”

I said to him, “I am a Messianic Jew!” I’d never seen this man angry in all the years I had known him until that day. He yelled at me, “DON’T call yourself a JEW!! You are no longer a Jew if you wear that cross!”

I do know that God is in control. He allows certain things to happen for His reasons. He knew that so-called preachers of the gospel would turn on His people, and He has allowed it. I have pondered this a lot lately.

If we look at the persecution of the Jews, starting with the early church and fast forwarding to 1948, we see that God did use the harsh mistreatment of the Jewish people to fulfill this prophecy:

“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel’” (Ezekiel 11:17).

Much Jewish blood has been spilled throughout history. If it had been at the hands of crazed killers or mass murderers, the Jews might feel differently, but they know that these deeds were done by those who claimed to love Jesus.

Satan has been there from the beginning. He hates God. He hates Jews. He hates Christians.

I can just hear him say to the preachers of the gospel:

“Did God REALLY say that the Jews are His people? Surely these Christ killers have forfeited any promises made to them. God is certainly FINISHED with them.”

And if only these preachers had clung to the Word and read Romans 11 more carefully:

“I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” (Romans 11:11-12).

“From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29).

Pray for your Jewish friends. Pray that God would draw them to Himself. We are approaching the end, brethren. It thrills my heart to think of my fellow Jews saying:

“BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!”

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!!

**Most of the historical information came from: The Coming Apocalypse: A Study of Replacement Theology vs. God’s Faithfulness in the End-Times, Dr. Renald E. Showers.

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me

Have you noticed, just in the last year, the many stories about UFO sightings and people being “taken”? These kinds of stories used to be scoffed at and certainly not taken seriously.

I believe that there is a very good reason for this new-found interest and credibility of these stories. It used to be when we would hear about sightings and people who claim that they were actually taken and then returned to earth, most of us would chuckle and dismiss these people as crackpots.

Not anymore.

From cnn.com

U.S. Navy Confirms UFO Videos are the Real Deal  <Watch video here

Aliens, flying discs and sightings – oh my! A short history of UFOs in America

UFOs are real! Just ask the US Navy.

The US Navy just acknowledged that three clips of declassified military footage released between 2017 and 2018 are actually “unidentified aerial phenomena” – their words, not ours.

The UAPs are just a fraction of the incursions Navy training ranges see, Navy spokesperson Joe Gradisher told CNN. Which, of course, begs the question: Are we actually alone?

The belief in alien encounters has long been a prominent feature of American life. A 1997 poll from CNN/Time on the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident found that 80% of Americans think the government is hiding knowledge of the existence of extraterrestrial life forms.

There are thousands and thousands of reported UFO sightings, but in light of the US Navy’s recent acknowledgment of UAPs, here’s a look back at some of America’s closest encounters of the third kind. Read rest of story HERE

From usatoday.com

UFOs: Where your state ranks for unexplained sightings

The truth is out there. Extraterrestrials are more likely to visit from the North.

That’s one way, anyway, to interpret the results from a new report on the states with the most unidentified flying object sightings per capita. Washington state topped that list, followed in order by Montana, Vermont, Alaska and Maine.

Or maybe Northerners just believe more.

So much for Roswell, New Mexico, or the lonely Nevada desert. New Mexico came in 8th on the list; Nevada, 13th.

Meanwhile, the states with the fewest UFO sightings per capita — Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama – are all down South.

The list was put together by the analysts and space nerds at internet provider SatelliteInternet.com, which culled data from the National UFO Reporting Center and the U.S. Census, to attract attention in time for World UFO Day on July 2. (Yep, there is such a day.) Read rest of story HERE

From vanityfair.com

CONGRESS IS TAKING THE UFO THREAT SERIOUSLY

Lawmakers want to know: is the truth out there?

In 2004, two Navy pilots near San Diego encountered what they said was a strange aircraft: “whitish” in color, oval in shape, and capable of accelerating “like nothing I’ve ever seen,” one of the pilots would later tell the New York Times.

“I have no idea what I saw,” the pilot said to a colleague afterward.

That alleged encounter was among the incidents examined by a secret Pentagon program investigating unidentified flying objects, which was established in 2007 at the behest of then-Senator Harry Reid and revealed in a bombshell Times report ten years later. The revelation of a $22 million intelligence program aimed at investigating UFOs was stunning enough. But interest among lawmakers has only seemed to grow since the now-shuttered Pentagon program was revealed, suggesting that the possibility of alien encounters is something the United States government is taking seriously.

According to Politico, an increasing number of legislators have been requesting Pentagon briefings on UFOs—a sign, officials told the publication, of “growing congressional interest” in the topic. “There are people coming out of the woodwork,” a government official told the outlet. Three senators, including Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence committee, were reportedly briefed on Wednesday about encounters members of the Navy have described with unidentified aircraft. “If naval pilots are running into unexplained interference in the air,” Warner’s spokesperson said, “that’s a safety concern Senator Warner believes we need to get to the bottom of.” Other lawmakers apparently agree: “More requests for briefings are coming in,” an intelligence official told Politico.

What exactly those briefings have consisted of is unclear, but the mounting interest lends those with a belief in, or a curiosity about, the possibility of extraterrestrial life more fuel for speculation. The notion that the government knows more than it’s telling us has often figured into theories about alien life and claims of UFO sightings. Government actions in the last two years, including the briefings and steps by the Navy to formalize UFO reporting processes, would seem to feed into that dynamic.

Of course, none of this necessarily means we’re not alone, and U.S. officials and agencies have avoided putting on the tin-foil hats, casting procedural changes as national security concerns. “For safety and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and investigates each and every report,” the Navy told Politico in a statement in April. “As part of this effort, the Navy is updating and formalizing the process by which reports of any such suspected incursions can be made to the cognizant authorities.” Still, the interest suggests that the government views such reports as credible enough to warrant attention. Reid, the retired senator who secured the $22 million in funding for the Pentagon study program, called for congressional hearings into the government’s UFO knowledge as recently as this month. “They would be surprised how the American public would accept it,” Reid said in an interview with Nevada Public Radio. “People from their individual states would accept it.”

Of course, not everybody has been swept up in the growing intrigue. Speaking to George Stephanopoulos in an extended ABC News interview last week, Donald Trump acknowledged having been briefed on the subject, but said he didn’t buy into it. “I want them to think whatever they think,” Trump said of Navy pilots who have reported seeing strange aircraft recently. “I’ve seen and I’ve read and I’ve heard, and I did have one very brief meeting on it. But people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.” Still, in true Trumpian fashion, he didn’t shut the door on the possibility completely. “We’ll watch it,” he told Stephanopoulos. “You’ll be the first to know.”  source

The Vatican and Lucifer

From popsci.com

Lucifer Instrument Helps Astronomers See Through Darkness to Most Distant Observable Objects

Courtesy of Lucifer

A new instrument with an evil-sounding name is helping scientists see how stars are born. Lucifer, which stands for (deep breath) “Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research,” is a chilled instrument attached to a telescope in Arizona. And yes, it’s named for the Devil, whose name itself means “morning star.” But it wasn’t meant to evoke him, according to a spokesman for the University of Arizona, where it is housed.

The instrument is chilled to -213 Celsius, about -351 F, to allow for near-infrared observations. That wavelength is important for understanding star and planet formation, as well as observing very distant and very young galaxies. Lucifer has three interchangeable cameras for imaging and spectroscopy in different resolutions. It has a large field of view and high-res capabilities, which allow a wide range of observations.

Lucifer is part of the Large Binocular Telescope, which happens to be right next to the Vatican Observatory on Mt. Graham in Tucson. That’s right, the Vatican has an observatory in Arizona, manned by Jesuit astronomers. Now its next-door neighbor is named for the Devil.  Read rest of article HERE

From vaticanobservatory.va

Read about the Vatican Observatory in Arizona, and how it is entrusted to the JESUITS  HERE

Brethren, I’m quite certain that you did not miss the attempt at humor and sarcasm in these articles. And the sarcasm is NOT in reference to the belief in extra-terrestrial life. It was directed at Christians and Conservatives.

The vast majority of scientists are atheists. They mock us for our belief in a personal God. And also our belief in Satan.

“And yes, it’s named for the Devil, whose name itself means “morning star.” But it wasn’t meant to evoke him, according to a spokesman for the University of Arizona, where it is housed.”

“Lucifer is part of the Large Binocular Telescope, which happens to be right next to the Vatican Observatory on Mt. Graham in Tucson. That’s right, the Vatican has an observatory in Arizona, manned by Jesuit astronomers. Now its next-door neighbor is named for the Devil.”

Many of the scientists working with giant telescopes believe there is “life” in outer space. But they just will NOT even entertain the thought that the Universe was created by GOD, who is also “Father God” to born-again believers.

The article from Vanity Fair began with:

“Is the Truth out there?”

How sad that they are looking for TRUTH in outer space!  We know that TRUTH is found in Jesus Christ our Lord. And by the way – He created everything in the Universe!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5).

And the One who created everything is also the TRUTH:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'” (John 14:6).

Why I believe that our disappearance in the Rapture will be explained away by scientists and the United Nations:

Conservative Christians, as a whole, have not been deceived by the “Climate Change” crowd. We know from reading about the earth that our planet goes through changes in temperature and it is not a man-made phenomenon.

Nonetheless, we are hated for not jumping onto the Climate-Change bandwagon. We didn’t even blink when Greta Thunberg scolded those who do not agree about Climate Change with her “HOW DARE YOU!”

We also know that Climate Change is a ruse to take over the economies of the world, and eventually their governments.

Can you say ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT?

And we must NEVER forget that Satan is capable of signs and wonders:

“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

So brethren, is it so hard to believe that the U.N. will one day say this:

“Though the world is in shock at the disappearance of millions of people, take heart – because we believe that intelligent life in outer space knew that these individuals had to be removed from planet Earth for our own safety. Now those who are left will comply with the regulations set forth for all nations to deal with Climate Change.”

Is that so farfetched? I think not.

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me