Winning by Losing

I was talking with a friend who is a pro Israel advocate. The current state of Israel advocacy—*disclaimer: in my opinion—reminds me of the great battles of World War 2.

You remember Normandy, of course. Largest invasion in history. The Allies hit the beachheads and met tough Nazi resistance.

By the end of the first day, it became clear that pushing through to a military victory was unattainable, so Eisenhower conferred with Roosevelt and Churchill, and they decided to call the whole thing off and sue for peace.

Remember that?

I don’t either.

I’m fictionalizing the reality of the situation to make a point:

Only and aggressive, relentless effort—with no possibility of retreat—won the day and freed Europe and brought an end to Hitler’s evil and madness.

That type of resolve doesn’t exist much in our world today. The failure to adopt that strategy almost thoroughly infects the Church Visible. Specifically in America. Today’s evangelical leadership is abysmal.

Rather than defeat an ideological opponent’s evil agenda, we seek to dialogue with it and “understand them.”

This ought not be.

Philosophical and “reasonable” efforts at peace are often just a cover for cowardice. Neville Chamberlain’s shameful attempts to appease Hitler in 1938 left millions vulnerable. It took a Churchill to save Europe and, it’s not a stretch to say so, humanity.

Many of today’s pro Israel advocates offer a soft approach that does stuff, but doesn’t seek to utterly crush our ideological opponents who traffic in open anti-Semitism. It ranges from a professing Southern Baptist president (Bill Clinton) warmly receiving one of history’s true monsters, Yasser Arafat…all the way to American evangelical “leaders” who leave Israel vulnerable due to their own cowardice and appeasement of their revenue streams.

Let me explain this last point.

Famous Ministry Leader X who professes to be “pro Israel” will not (will not) call-out his peers who pal around with anti-Semites and pro Palestinian propagandists.

Famous Ministry Leader X does not do this because it might result in a boycott of his books/podcasts/donation button. Mainstream Evangelicalism today in the United States is about accommodation of evil and maintenance of cash flow “for ministry.”

I’m aware that what I’ve written is harsh. It’s meant to be. It isn’t harsh enough, frankly.

The conversation I mentioned above took place with a “pro Israel” advocate who believes we should dialogue with our opponents.

(Those opponents, by the way, believe wholly in “dialogue” as defined by Soviet and Muslim propagandists, who follow Joseoph Goebbels’ dictum that a huge lie told often enough will work. They are not and will never be legitimately interested in the advancement of peace. They want sharia, totalitarianism.)

I was told by this person that a certain major evangelical leader does not agree with us about Israel (this person subtly and sometimes overtly undermines Israel), but I was not to “be negative” about him on the “advocate’s” social media page.

That’s fine, I can do that.

See ya later.

Why don’t I identify these people here? After all, there is a tension among Christians about “naming names,” or not naming names.

I don’t here because it would be pointless. Only if there is the will among a lot of people that change should come…will it come. Until and unless that happens, the other side will continue to make advances and win.

So then, at the end of the day, are we left with the view that as Jesus said in Luke 18:8—

I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Undoubtedly.

In a sense, this is the concept of winning by losing, because at the end, only Christ can save. Only He can set things right. Much as I might want to effect change by pure advocacy, I’ve come to slowly (reluctantly?) believe things are on a predetermined course.

Will He find faith on the earth?

The inference of the verse answers the question.

In the natural, we get amped-up on what men can do. There is now speculation that President Trump’s plan regarding the US Embassy is to keep it in Tel Aviv, but recognize Jerusalem as Israeli’s capital. Which, of course, does no real good.

So we are frustrated yet again by man’s attempts to “save Israel.”

As time continues to pass, more and more I think about Luke 18:8.

And that, my friends, will be one of the great fulfillments of prophecy.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

 

UN-invited

We are living in the most amazing times!

Right after the UN General Assembly voted (128-9) to reject President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the US cut deeply into the international body’s operating budget, to the tune of $285 million (our country, unfortunately, gives more than $3 billion annually to this evil organization).

The hornet’s nest stirred-up by Trump’s very bold announcement pulsates prophetically. As I often say, the biblical prophecies that tell us Jerusalem will become a focal point in the very last of the last days are key. Jerusalem itself is key, as the international community (what the Bible calls “the nations”) rages against Israeli sovereignty.

As all this goes on, Turkey’s Erdogan says that Jerusalem is his country’s “red line” and various other usual suspects are foaming at the mouth over the Holy City.

At the same time…we have a most fascinating drama playing-out now that American leadership has been resurrected. Ten countries are in talks with the Israelis to move their embassies to Jerusalem, including…wait for it…Romania!

(The former Soviet hostage planned evil things against Israel one and two generations ago, but now sits on the right side of history, for now.)

But all this is like an epic football game that goes back and forth until the final buzzer.

Israel must feel buoyed that an American president is on its side. There are good things happening.

Yet, evil is also flexing its muscles. I saw this week a photo of German police forced to guard a giant menorah at a parade. Further, a Christmas play at the Polish consulate in Ukraine featured a nativity scene with a child dressed in black hat and side curls and sporting a sign that read “Jew for president.”

Europe, it appears, cannot shed its spiritual sickness known as anti-Semitism.

In other words, what we have happening simultaneously is the emergence of forces for good and evil, against a backdrop of the Jewish state.

Sound familiar?

It does for Bible believers.

Sadly, it doesn’t ring true or especially significant to various evangelical leaders, who, I believe fervently, work hard behind the scenes to undermine Christian support for Israel.

Now let me turn this conversation in a bit different direction for a minute, but still looking at the distorted ways in which people today (people of faith!) see Jews and overall history. All this, you see, is part of the same mix, the same distortion of reality so that Jewish history is sanitized or at least hidden from view.

If the UN wastes money on an epic scale, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission wastes it on a smaller (but not less tragic) scale.

The ERLC has about a $4 million annual budget, and it’s used for things like the following.

On a recent blog post, Casey B. Hough wrote:

“For years, I skipped over the extended genealogy in Matthew 1. I assumed that it was simply written to establish the Jewish identity and lineage of Jesus as the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. What possible significance could the genealogy have for me beyond the Christmas story? Though not personally aware, Ray Bakke answered my question in his book, The Urban Christian.”

Bakke was writing about “the Mixed-Race Savior,” extrapolating from the genealogy in Matthew 1 that Jesus in fact had a multi-ethnic background (and not a thoroughly Jewish heritage).

The ERLC, led by a closet leftist (Russell Moore), works overtime to be liked by the world. The group, with offices in Nashville and Washington, champions DACA, welcoming Middle East immigrants with open arms (and giving lip service to vetting), and a host of other George Soros-inspired issues.

Moore himself is no friend of Israel, and when he has spoken about the Jewish state, it is clear that both biblically and politically, Israel ain’t all that.

The post by Hough, pastor of First Baptist Church of Camden, Arkansas is yet another attempt to “reach out”/pander to minorities and immigrants. I’m convinced evangelical “leaders” like Moore are really about getting the numbers up, realizing two things: the SBC is hemorrhaging members and its traditional base of white conservatives is dying-off. Hence, the lame and transparent pandering to minorities and immigrants, even illegal aliens.

Point being, Jesus was a Jew. While He certainly died for the sins of all mankind, ethnically he was and is a Jew. Not, as Bakke wishes mightily, a “mixed-race Savior.”

Whether it’s a Muslim radical leading Turkey, Polish diplomats, German thugs, or evangelical leaders in America, Israel is a dirty word to some.

Just as Trump has UN-invited the global anti-Semitic body from its previous carte blanche agenda of undermining Israel, so too should we pay careful attention to those in our midst who want to marginalize Israel biblically.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com