Lack of Vision 

One of my favorite topics, in a very sad way, is the absolutely vicious enemy that Israel has…from the Christian community. I have written about it extensively recently. 

This week came word that an employee for World Vision was convicted by an Israeli court of being a terrorist and aiding terror organizations, namely, Hamas. Before commenting further, I want to post two quotes from entities I consider to be anti-Israel: Christianity Today and World Vision. First, CT’s statement: 

“An Israeli court convicted Mohammad el-Halabi, former Gaza director for World Vision International, on terrorism charges Wednesday. The Beersheba District Court ruled that he is guilty of being a member of a terror organization, providing information to a terror group, taking part in forbidden military exercises, and carrying a weapon. 

“Halabi has not yet been sentenced. He is expected to appeal the ruling. 

“Israeli state prosecutors accused Halabi of aiding Hamas terrorists by diverting millions of dollars from World Vision International to arm militants in Gaza. Halabi and his supporters adamantly denied these charges and claim the Israeli authorities were merely looking for a way to disrupt humanitarian aid that was going to Palestinian children.”

Now, World Vision:

 “World Vision acknowledges with disappointment the decision issued by the Beersheva District Court convicting Mr. Mohammad El Halabi. 

 “We have previously expressed our significant concerns about this case, as noted in our prior statements (see below). In our view there have been irregularities in the trial process and a lack of substantive, publicly available evidence. We support Mohammad’s intent to appeal the decision, and call for a fair and transparent appeal process based on the facts of the case.

“As followers of Jesus Christ, World Vision is accountable to the children and families we serve, to our donors, and most of all to God to be faithful stewards. We strongly condemn any act of terrorism or support for such activities, and reject any attempt to divert humanitarian resources or exploit the work of humanitarian organisations operating anywhere. 

 “We are saddened that our work helping Gaza’s most vulnerable children has been disrupted for so long, and we hope to return to Gaza. We remain committed to improving the lives of vulnerable children in the region, and hope we will be able to advance our humanitarian work in the context of our longstanding cooperation with the relevant Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

 “World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.”

Notice both storied Christian organizations in essence accuse Israel of lying. World Vision has a long history of working with Palestinian terror groups, under the guise of course of helping children. 

El Halabi was convicted mainly by evidence gathered by the intelligence communities, including the Shin Beit. But of course CT and World Vision reject that, because of course they know, right? Haha.

I was on to World Vision years ago and what I hear most often is, “But they are such a wonderful humanitarian organization!” I’m not quibbling about what else they do. My issue is that they should not be working with Hamas, Murder, Inc. 

 World Vision is headed by people that have a problem with Israel. Center-leftists that either are duped by the Palestinians, or are complicit in their hatred of Jews.

 Frontpage noted World Vision’s flirtation with terror entities:

 “The Obama administration’s decision to provide funding to ISRA [Islamic Relief Agency] in the face of such evidence of terrorist links was not the product of some inadvertent bureaucratic blunder. It turns out, according to the National Review report, that ‘government officials specifically authorized the release of at least $115,000 of this grant even after learning that it was a designated terror organization.’ World Vision Inc. notified USAID in November 2014 of its belief that ISRA had been designated as a terrorist organization, which the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) confirmed. However, World Vision still wanted to continue working with ISRA because of its ‘excellent’ performance. After OFAC denied World Vision a license to engage in transactions with ISRA because of the terrorist designation, World Vision appealed directly to the Obama administration’s director of USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance for help with OFAC. It wanted a new license to pay ISRA what ISRA claimed to be owed for work performed. OFAC relented, authorizing a one-time transfer of $115,000 ‘for services performed under the sub-award with USAID.’ According to the National Review article, an unnamed World Vision official described OFAC’s decision as a ‘great relief as ISRA had become restive and had threatened legal action, which would have damaged our reputation and standing in Sudan.’” 

Several years ago, then-World Vision employee Mae Cannon was instrumental in bringing pro-PLO speakers into American churches. Much of this kind of activity occurred during the tenure of Rich Stearns as head of World Vision. Several World Vision reports white-washed Hamas activities in Gaza.

 Pay close attention to how Christian media treat this story. They are as anti-Semitic as anyone.

 Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Israel’s Christian Enemies

In a way, I wish I lived in a time when I didn’t have to write or even think about enemies of the Jewish people in the Church.

Maybe 1890 would have been good?

But we live today, in 2022. And Israel has many enemies among “God’s people.”

I read this morning on Facebook a remarkable post by Randy White, one of the best Bible teachers alive. Formerly pastor of a large Southern Baptist Church, Randy left a few years ago to pastor a small church in New Mexico. I admire his courage more than I can articulate. He is one of those rare people that can coolly assess a situation and make difficult decisions.

He believes, as I do, that sometimes a situation cannot be saved. Some believe it’s a copout to “give up,” but I say it is realistic and sane to recognize when enough is enough. How long does one try to “save” a denomination that has been fatally infected with liberalism? I know some that have fought long and hard to save denominations like the apostate United Methodist Church.

I think it’s much better to prioritize your efforts and be independent, teaching God’s Word simply. This is what Randy is doing (with quite an effective teaching ministry).

Here is what he posted this morning:

“Evangelicals say they believe the Bible, and then they regularly pervert it by twisting it to say exactly the opposite of what it says. Need one example? James 1:1 says it is written to the 12 tribes. Pick up a commentary and see what it says. For example, the United Bible Society’s Handbook on the Letter from James says, ‘…the phrase obviously refers to Christians, not to Jews… James is saying that the Lord’s followers are like the tribes of Israel that were scattered everywhere by their enemies.’ Need another example? The Southern Baptist (‘people of the Book’) New American Commentary says, ‘The use of the term here, however, has been extended to apply to all the people of God in Christ.’

“How can you claim that the Word of God is inspired and then simply twist its meaning to make it fit your preconceived assumptions?

“My remedy: take the Word of God literally. Always. It will literally tell you when it is figurative. If it doesn’t literally tell you it’s figurative, then take it literal.

“My warning: when you do this, you’ll almost never be able to find a church home again.”

He doesn’t promise you a rose garden, but he does offer being able to live with yourself. I would not want to stay with a group, no matter how prestigious, that said such things as above about the Word of God.

Can you imagine?

James 1:1 is crystal clear. Yet Jew-hating scholars within evangelicalism thirst to snatch God’s promises to the Jews. They want them for themselves. It is classic Replacement Theology, which has plagued the Church for centuries.

Read Randy’s post again. This attempt at theological theft I say is diabolical. It is evil.

It has contributed to many, many in the Church overall being indifferent or hostile to the Jewish people. Imagine reading the plain sense Scripture and believing something it does not claim. The 12 Tribes are obviously about the Jews, the Israelites.

And this is the Baptists! Not the Presbyterians, or the Episcopal Church. The very heart of the evangelical world is infected with Replacement Theology, which isolates Israel even more, even politically. Our policymakers in Washington do not believe the biblical promises to the Jews; the Bible doesn’t even impact their everyday lives, particularly frauds like Joe Biden.

Thus, in the very place Israel should be able to count on friends—the Church—there are enemies. Theological enemies.

Events are converging. The political and religious worlds are now conspiring against Israel. Anti-Semitism worldwide is not only not opposed, it is championed.

It is now that many end-times prophecies make sense, when they didn’t before. A confederation against Israel? Against Jerusalem? It didn’t make sense before.

It does now.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com