Where are We?

I noticed this week that as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting foreign dignitaries in Europe, one in the receiving line put his hands behind his back as Netanyahu made his way down the line, shaking hands. Bibi simply gave a slight shrug and moved on.

This same week, Australia’s foreign minister warmly invited Netanyahu to be the first Israeli premier to visit her country. The visit is scheduled for early next year.

Only a couple years ago, Israel seemed dangerously close to being totally isolated internationally. Many, including myself, felt that the famous prophecies describing this very reality were very close.

That is a lesson that we shouldn’t look too far out, but “let the prophecies come to us.”

Still, there are other interesting developments taking place.

It is now being reported that Moscow has invited both the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down for talks. No date is set, but it would present a fascinating turn of history if this plays out. Remember, one of the clever aspects of Jimmy Carter’s Camp David talks with Egypt and Israel involved prying the Arab world away from its client-state status with the Soviet Union. The Russians had worked for decades to oppose the West in the Middle East, and two disastrous wars paved the way for the Arabs to look elsewhere.

We were the elsewhere.

Now, however, with the deliberate strategy of Barack Obama to bolster his Muslim friends, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, the Russians have seen an opportunity once again. They are back to their old role as an opponent of the U.S. in the Middle East. We have Obama to thank for that.

It is here I should say that it is my view he is himself a totalitarian in the Marxist tradition. Whether he is actually a Muslim is debatable, but the stone cold fact is, he helps jihadists and hinders freedom. He is doing it on purpose.

This has created a very dangerous vacuum in the Middle East, and look for the Russians to exploit it far more than their current involvement in Syria.

Just today, there is an amazing interview in the Times of Israel with neocon Norman Podhoretz, who has raised the possibility that Iran and Israel will engage each other in a nuclear war in the future.

This of course is not based on his view of eschatology, but geopolitics and the catastrophe Obama has brought on all of us.

However, I think it’s interesting to note that the Zechariah prophecies are tinged with reality in light of such stories in the media.

Keep in mind, too, the Russians are working closely with Iran, particularly in their missile defense systems and anti-aircraft systems. This is designed specifically to blunt any Israeli attack.

John Kerry has just met with his Russian counterpart in Geneva, to discuss each country’s operations in Syria, but no breakthroughs in cooperation occurred.

Too, there are reports of closer cooperation between Turkey and Russia, leading some to speculate that Gog-Magog is about to break out. We must remember, though, that Turkey’s Erdogan in notoriously difficult to deal with, and follows his own drumbeat. It is a mistake to assume that what exists today will exist tomorrow. Tomorrow might see a deep freeze in Russian-Turkish relations.

All in all, current geopolitics is volatile and astonishing to watch. Let us resolve to “let the prophecies come to us,” without too much speculation on our part.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Andy Stanley is Dangerous

Almost 20 years ago, Andy Stanley—the son of Southern Baptist legend Charles Stanley—emerged as a new generation pastor, a man of rare gifts when it comes to communicating. He eschewed jackets and ties and the more formal trappings of traditional church.

In about 2000, he was instrumental in helping develop a leadership entity known as Catalyst.

In the midst of all this, Stanley the Younger was in a feud of sorts with Stanley the Elder over the latter’s separation from his wife (Andy’s mother).

Over time, the son’s church eclipsed the father’s church in terms of attendees, and today Andy Stanley is one-third of what I call the Evangelical Trifecta: Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Stanley. Quite interestingly, Warren is based on the west coast; Hybels holds down the Midwest from Chicago, and Stanley is entrenched on the east coast. In more ways than one, they blanket the country and absolutely control the evangelical narrative. Their books and methologies totally dominate evangelicalism and their church growth techniques are now American dogma.

In recent years, Andy Stanley has made waves with his brand of what I’d call Progressive Evangelicalism. His prayers at Obama’s inaugurations, and his willingness to allow Michelle Obama to speak at his North Point Church are part of a troubling trend. He also has absolutely helped mainstream homosexuality within the evangelical church.

What gives?

Stanley, who comes across as a winsome, easy-going fellow, is really a major change agent. His podcasts, messages, and books are absorbed by many tens of thousands of U.S. pastors.

I will tell you clearly that I believe he is described in the book of Jude. Men like Stanley have crept in unawares.

In our time.

What does this have to do with Israel?

Stanley’s rise, and that of his fellow change agents, coincides with a sharp downturn of support for Israel in the churches. It’s one element in an overall larger story, but the bottom line is this: Stanley’s watering-down of Christianity runs parallel to the rise of the so-called Christian Palestinianists. While Stanley himself rarely speaks of Israel, many of his friends and associations are anti-Israel.

Often, people answer me by saying: “But Charles Stanley supports Israel!”

He does so far as I know, but you do see that’s irrelevant in the context of what Andy Stanley is doing…don’t you?

Overall, Andy Stanley wants to fundamentally change what the Evangelical Church is. He, like Warren and Hybels, wants conformity and groupthink. He wants you to think as he thinks.

And he thinks in dangerous ways.

Late last month, the Southern Baptist Convention’s “Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission” hosted another self-serving conference in Nashville, titled “Onward” (shockingly, the same title as that of the ERLC chief’s new book; it’s about the marketing, stupid). Stanley was invited to speak.

Boy, did he.

While ERLC President Russell Moore looked on grinning, Andy Stanley said the following:

“I would ask preachers and pastors and student pastors in their communications to get the spotlight off the Bible and back on the resurrection.”

Get the spotlight off the Bible.

Welcome to the Age of Apostasy.

Did you hear what he said? Andy Stanley speaks blasphemy and nonsense…and no national leader says a word.

Just for a moment, think about the illogical nature of Stanley’s statement: how do we know about the resurrection? Through Scripture.

Does anybody call him on this nonsense? No. He grows stronger.

Several years ago, Stanley gave an interview in which he openly said that as a college freshman, he embraced his professor’s contention that Genesis 1-11 is a fairy tale.

You need to understand this one bit of information undergirds everything he does. It is foundational to his thinking and “ministry.”

He is arrogant and powerful.

When you have famous national evangelicals with this kind of worldview, you will see a downturn in support for Israel. Stanley has made several outrageous statements about the Bible in the past three years; in short, he wants people to get their focus off the Bible. Can you imagine such?

Andy Stanley’s so-called ministry is an outrage. Would that he was held accountable. But he won’t be.

This is a key reason (though largely unknown by the rank-and-file) why Israel has fallen out of favor. If you relegate the Bible to myth, why pay attention? Why would Israel’s historical claims to the land be more valid than anyone else’s?

Stanley is helping destroy the American Church. In my opinion, he will be a major reason the American Church morphs into the State Church before too many more years pass.

He knows exactly what he’s doing.

And remember: my views of Stanley aren’t the story here. The story is the unconscionable violence he is willingly doing to Scripture and to the evangelical community.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com