Sound The Midnight Cry

“Twisted Theology”

It’s been said many times that one can make the Bible say anything they want it to say. While it’s true that people can “read” into something that may not be there, you cannot take passages from the Scriptures and make them declare what you want it to say.

There’s a saying attributed to D.A. Carson, a Canadian minister that says, “A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.” A "proof text" was originally a neutral term for the scriptural text that proved or was seen to prove a particular doctrine. However, the abuse of taking a text out of its context to “prove” a point, led to the phrase “proof text” to be associated as something negative.

You may be thinking, “Why should I care about this?” Well, it’s this kind of thing that leads to what I call “twisted theology”. For example: Someone once wrote Billy Graham and said, “I think you can make the Bible say anything you want it to say. You could even use it to prove God doesn't exist if you wanted to, because doesn't it say somewhere that there is no God?”

However, while the phrase “there is no God" is in the Bible, what the Bible really says is that only a fool would believe them. The actual quotation is this: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God…’” (Psalm 53:1). Instead of saying God doesn’t exist, the Bible says the exact opposite!

So, you can imagine my shock to read this week that a minister on an evangelical news network is telling people to repent. “Why is that bad” you ask? He’s telling Christians they need to repent for standing with Israel!

The host, Doc Burkhart, leads his audience in a "sinner's prayer." He tells viewers to confess to God, “Lord, I'm so sorry. I don't how I was so deceived. I don't how I was so bewitched by all of this…Jesus, You are my Zion. Jesus, You are my Promised Land. Jesus, You are my Temple. Jesus, You are my Eternal Capitol, Lord.”

He is telling his listeners, that God has replaced Israel with the Church and that Jesus fulfills all the promises made by God to Israel in the Old Testament. And by standing with Israel, they have sinned against Jesus! Space and time do not permit me to respond exhaustively but let it be known that God’s Word is true, and He does not lie.

The Psalmist wrote, “He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham, His sworn promise to Isaac, which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.’” (Ps 105:8-11)

Considering historical and biblical sources, to date, Israel has yet to receive all the physical land God has promised it. Therefore, either God has lied, or Burkhart is lying by telling people that “Jesus is our Promised Land”.

He also tells Christians that Jesus has become our “Temple, our Zion”. False! The New Testament tells us that Christians have become the “temple” of the Holy Spirit and that one day, Jesus Christ will come back to earth to establish His kingdom. The Prophet Ezekiel also reveals that when Christ returns, a new Temple will be built in Israel. Why would a new temple be built of Jesus is our “temple?”

Twisted Theology is a sign of The Last Days according to the Bible. People will not listen to sound teaching (2 Timothy 4) and many will come and deceive people in Christ’ name (Matthew 24:5).

Twisted Theology will lead you to a dangerous place; stay on the straight and narrow path of God’s Word—kept in context with the “whole” book!

“Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ On Me?”

The title is from a Top 10 hit song from the Coasters in 1959. But it could be the theme song for the nation of Israel.

Last week, I wrote about anti-Semitic reporting in mainstream media. This week, we see it at work on the world stage of the United Nations.

The 72^nd assembly of the U.N.’s World Health assembly in Geneva which gathers annually to discuss internal and external questions facing the U.N. health body. Topics ranging from market transparency for medicines; vaccines and other health technologies; the rise of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; communicable diseases like tuberculosis to AIDS; the shortfall of health workers and universal health coverage.

However, Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based non-governmental organization U.N. Watch noted, “Out of 21 items on the meeting’s Agenda, only one—Item No. 14 against Israel—focused on a specific country. There was no agenda item or resolution on any other country, including Syria, where hospitals and medical infrastructure have suffered devastating bombings by Syrian and Russian forces; Yemen, where 19.7 million people lack access to health-care service due to the current crisis; or Venezuela, where the health system has collapsed, causing millions to flee the country.”

That’s right, The U.N. World Health Organization voted 96-11 this week for a resolution, co-sponsored by the Arab bloc and the Palestinian delegation, which singled out Israel over “health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east[ern] Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”

Hillel Neuer, pointed out that “Gaza could be like Singapore, but Hamas has chosen to direct all their resources to building terror tunnels and rockets, instead of investing in hospitals and schools.”

The resolution is another example of anti-Semitic reporting against the state of Israel. The declaration which accuses Israel of violating the health rights of Syrians in the Golan, ignores the reality that Israeli hospitals provide life-saving treatment to Syrians fleeing to the Golan from the Syrian President Assad’s barbaric attacks against his own people.

The report also ignored the leading role of Hamas and other terrorist groups in orchestrating violent riots and deliberately encouraging demonstrators to approach the hostile area of the Gaza-Israel border.

Zechariah 12:3 says, “At that time all the nations on earth will gather together against Jerusalem. Then it will become like a rock that can’t be moved. All the nations that try to move it will only hurt themselves.”

The agenda is clear in making Israel the scapegoat for the ills of the world. By doing so, those behind this effort are setting the stage when the world will gather against Israel.

All of this is a fulfillment of bible prophecy which means we are getting closer to the culmination spoken of in the Bible with the return of Jesus Christ to planet earth!

“Anti-Semitic Reporting—What’s It All About?”

It’s hard for me to imagine but I cannot ignore what I’m seeing in the political and mainstream media in regard to the spread of anti-Semitism.

During the first weekend of May, the terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, fired from the Gaza Strip over 700 rockets into Israel. The missiles hit homes, a synagogue, a hospital, and a school, and killed four civilians and injured a couple hundred more people. Every one of the attacks is a clear, intentional attack on a civilian, and every single one is illegal under international law.

Yet, you didn’t hear anyone from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, or any other “humanitarian” organization decrying these absolutely clear violations of the law of war. No, the only reports were biased against Israel as seen by a headline in The New York Times: “Gaza Militants Fire 250 Rockets, and Israel Responds With Airstrikes.”

Sean Durns, senior research analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, pointed out, “Several major Western media outlets have offered poor and biased coverage of the latest terrorist attacks targeting Israel. Several outlets failed to make clear to readers that Israel's actions were a response to terrorists launching an unprecedented number of rockets into Israeli territory.”

Meanwhile, Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib both felt compelled to show their support to Hamas and the other Gaza terrorists in their assault against Israel. They must not know or willfully ignore that the United States declared Hamas a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. Hamas has declared its intention to destroy America and called on Allah to annihilate every American.

When the Palestinians fire their rocket’s or fly their incendiary balloons into Israel, they always justify their actions by crying out against Israeli occupation and complain of a humanitarian crisis caused by Israel.

However, most people do not know that Israel left Gaza in 2005, but has continued to supply goods, services and medical supplies to the people of the Gaza Strip who chose to be governed by Hamas in a democratic election. In the midst of this latest missile barrage, Israel still allowed a fuel shipment from Israel into Gaza “to avoid a humanitarian crisis.”

When Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, communities left their hothouses intact, representing what could have been a thriving business for the Palestinian people as it had been for the former Jewish farmers of the Strip. The hothouses were promptly burnt down by mobs along with the synagogues that were also left behind.

Massive economic assistance by world powers, which has poured into Gaza by the millions over the years, has been hijacked by Hamas for its terror operations. This is how Hamas pays salaries for life to any of its people who kill Jews; the money that comes from international subsidies provided by purportedly well-intentioned European countries. They used to come from US tax dollars, until the Trump administration and Congress refused to put up with such insanity any longer.

Imagine if 700 rockets had been fired into the US or any other country besides Israel; what country would not defend itself? Would U.S. News outlets be condemning the U.S. government for defending its citizens? I think not!

Anti-Semitism is a prophetic sign of the time pointing as do other biblical events to the return of Jesus Christ to earth. So, expect it to increase as we approach that day!

“The Rise of Anti-Semitism”

I was shocked but not surprised this past week when I saw the anti-Semitic cartoon in an article of the New York Times. Most people probably never saw it and those that did, gave it little thought. However, those of us that did recognized it for what it was—anti-Semitism.

The Times placed a cartoon on their op-ed page, depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog leading a blind U.S. President Donald Trump. Now imagine if a Times editor had allowed the portrayal of a Muslim leader as a dog; or the leader of any other ethnic or gender group in so dehumanizing a manner; the outcry would be heard around the world. Yet, in this case, barely a whimper was heard except from Jewish groups.

After what the world witnessed during the 1930’s and 1940’s, you would think that the world would never want to go down that path ever again. Yet, it is happening, and many polls show that anti-Semitism is at an all-time high since the end of World War II. 

The nightmare of the Holocaust by Hitler has been lost on the last generations as that part of history isn’t taught anymore. The systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators is barely a remembered today.

If you are not Jewish, you may not think about anti-Semitism much.  But for those that must deal with it on a daily basis, it is a nightmare that never end—and it’s not just in Europe and the Middle East.

Here in the United States, anti-Semitism is rising rapidly as well.  In fact, there are an increasing number of "Christian churches" and "Christian ministries" that claim to be Christian that boldly express hatred for Israel and for the Jewish people.

Much of this hatred finds its roots in replacement theology which essentially teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God's plan. Believers of replacement theology believe the Jews are no longer God's chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel. They show their ignorance by not understanding God’s covenant with Abraham which has yet to be completely fulfilled—and God doesn’t lie! They also conveniently overlook God’s Word in regard to hate and prejudice as well as ignore God’s promise to bless those that bless Israel and curse those that curse it.

For years, I have taught that the rise of anti-Semitism is a fulfillment of bible prophecy going all the way back to Genesis 3:15. Satan knows the end-game is almost over and he’s determined to try and thwart the plan of God. However, we know what the Bible teaches, and he is a loser! Yet, it doesn’t stop him from stirring up hatred against Jewish people.

The Bible calls for us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”. (Psalm 122:6). So how can anyone that professes to be a Christian can take a position against the people their God says to bless is beyond my understanding.

Folks, don’t be fooled into thinking it isn’t a big deal; anti-Semitism is demonic in nature and anyone that follows that path, will one day give an account to God. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when they do!