[This was written as an answer to a Pastor John who does not understand the importance of Israel.]
Pastor John’s Problem is the same as the rest of us. Ignorance knows no boundaries.
We are all ignorant of one thing or another. Some are ignorant about computers, others about music and many about Israel.
There are really ONLY TWO CHOICES..
1) Either you BELIEVE the God of the Old Testament when he makes a promise.
OR
2) You DON'T BELIEVE him when he makes a promise. Now if you don’t believe him, you cannot be a Christian because the founder of the church, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah believed him and believed the promises he gave in the OT.
It is a simple choice. This God also happens to be same God of the New Testament.
In the OT we see many promises reiterated over and over again to Abraham and his seed, the children of Israel.
If we won’t believe one, then we won’t believe many, so for simplicity I give you one.
Gen13:14 NASB
The LORD said to Abram, ..... "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
15for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. [referring to the land of Canaan] NASB
I looked up the meaning of forever and it means FOREVER! Eternal, not changing, to the end of the age, everlasting .... FOREVER.
This is what God promised Abraham and his descendants the Israelites. If you keep looking through the Bible you will see this was affirmed over and over again to his descendants.
Let’s suppose that God changed his mind about stuff like this. Then he can also change his mind about ETERNAL life given to those who believe in and follow him.
Imagine God saying “For those who believe in me and my son Jesus, I will give ETERNAL life UNLESS I change my mind later.” I hope you don’t follow that God!
Now I know that no pastor would make decisions about Israel based on political rather than spiritual considerations. However in case there are some reading this who do not know history, let us mention the political.
The land of Israel [at the time a protectorate of Great Britain] by the Balfour Declaration of 1917 were given a MUCH LARGER ISRAEL than present. In fact the Arab representative agreed that this was the homeland of the Jews from ancient times.
Unfortunately, shortly after some other Arabs thought he was including too much land, he disappeared and Israel was pushed back to approximately its present borders.
In 1947, the United Nations, reaffirmed that Israel had been and was to be the homeland for the displaced Jews who somehow survived the Nazi holocaust.
“Resolution 181 laid a foundation within international law and diplomacy[9] for the creation of the state of Israel; as it was the first formal recognition by an international body of the legitimacy of a Jewish state, to exist within a partition of the territory along with an Arab state." Israel's declaration of independence soon followed on May 14, 1948.
So here we have two proofs that Israel has a right to its own land, both politically and by God’s spoken promise.
It was their homeland in ancient times, B.C., there were always some Jews who lived in the land, and it was formalized twice by Britain and by the United Nations.
Personally believing God should be good enough for those who call themselves Christians.
I believe that when God says ETERNAL LIFE, he means ETERNAL LIFE and when he says he gave the land to Abraham and his descendants, FOREVER, I believe he means FOREVER. If you don't I pray for you.
Charles Pedley
http://charlespedley.blogspot.com
Pastor John’s Problem is the same as the rest of us. Ignorance knows no boundaries.
We are all ignorant of one thing or another. Some are ignorant about computers, others about music and many about Israel.
There are really ONLY TWO CHOICES..
1) Either you BELIEVE the God of the Old Testament when he makes a promise.
OR
2) You DON'T BELIEVE him when he makes a promise. Now if you don’t believe him, you cannot be a Christian because the founder of the church, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah believed him and believed the promises he gave in the OT.
It is a simple choice. This God also happens to be same God of the New Testament.
In the OT we see many promises reiterated over and over again to Abraham and his seed, the children of Israel.
If we won’t believe one, then we won’t believe many, so for simplicity I give you one.
Gen13:14 NASB
The LORD said to Abram, ..... "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
15for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. [referring to the land of Canaan] NASB
I looked up the meaning of forever and it means FOREVER! Eternal, not changing, to the end of the age, everlasting .... FOREVER.
This is what God promised Abraham and his descendants the Israelites. If you keep looking through the Bible you will see this was affirmed over and over again to his descendants.
Let’s suppose that God changed his mind about stuff like this. Then he can also change his mind about ETERNAL life given to those who believe in and follow him.
Imagine God saying “For those who believe in me and my son Jesus, I will give ETERNAL life UNLESS I change my mind later.” I hope you don’t follow that God!
Now I know that no pastor would make decisions about Israel based on political rather than spiritual considerations. However in case there are some reading this who do not know history, let us mention the political.
The land of Israel [at the time a protectorate of Great Britain] by the Balfour Declaration of 1917 were given a MUCH LARGER ISRAEL than present. In fact the Arab representative agreed that this was the homeland of the Jews from ancient times.
Unfortunately, shortly after some other Arabs thought he was including too much land, he disappeared and Israel was pushed back to approximately its present borders.
In 1947, the United Nations, reaffirmed that Israel had been and was to be the homeland for the displaced Jews who somehow survived the Nazi holocaust.
“Resolution 181 laid a foundation within international law and diplomacy[9] for the creation of the state of Israel; as it was the first formal recognition by an international body of the legitimacy of a Jewish state, to exist within a partition of the territory along with an Arab state." Israel's declaration of independence soon followed on May 14, 1948.
So here we have two proofs that Israel has a right to its own land, both politically and by God’s spoken promise.
It was their homeland in ancient times, B.C., there were always some Jews who lived in the land, and it was formalized twice by Britain and by the United Nations.
Personally believing God should be good enough for those who call themselves Christians.
I believe that when God says ETERNAL LIFE, he means ETERNAL LIFE and when he says he gave the land to Abraham and his descendants, FOREVER, I believe he means FOREVER. If you don't I pray for you.
Charles Pedley
http://charlespedley.blogspot.com
JASON: Not all atheists are so stupid as to state that there is no chance that there is a god. I, for one, am an atheist.
CHARLES: All atheists I have talked to have said that. Obviously I did not talk to you Jason. So you believe that GOD POSSIBLY EXISTS? Isn't that agnostic? Allowing the possibility of God?
JASON: I do not believe that there is a god as I have never seen enough proof that he/she/it exists.
CHARLES: How do you know Rome exists? How do you know that LOVE exists? Is it by the way lovers act toward each other? That is exactly the same as those that love God.
I cited only a very few of the things that Christians have done and started because they believe there is a God and they love Him by creating schools, hospitals, free public education, universities etc. and they continue that to this day. In India, we have all heard of Mother Theresa and the great work she did. Did you ever hear of Mark Buntain? Mother Theresa brought her sick to hospitals established by the Christian, Mark Buntain. One question. What hospital was established by atheism?
JASON: If I am wrong, I will accept the consequences. I try to live a honest, positive, and meaningful life and take responsibility for my actions. I do not thank "god" for good things that happen to me, nor do I curse "god" for bad things that happen.
CHARLES: That is good. Do you buy life insurance? [Or should it be called "death insurance"?] Why? I do not believe in God just because I want insurance about heaven. However if I am right, and the evidences abound, then I have preserved what is the fundamental me, my spirit [some call it a soul] and my life here has real meaning.
JASON: I know, by now someone has pointed out the fact that I used the term "meaningful" and are saying... ahh, you can't have meaning without god! I say BS to that. I found the basic objective to life that we should ALL strive for, religious and non alike... LEAVE THE WORLD A LITTLE BIT BETTER OFF THAN WHEN WE WERE BORN. That's it!
CHARLES: A person can have meaning without God and you obviously have picked a good meaning. However life has more meaning with God as he is the creator of LIFE. It is like enjoying a good book but have no respect for the author or enjoying a drive in a beautiful car but caring less about the builder.
JASON: Just remember, that I will go to hell for my beliefs if I am wrong and there is a god.
CHARLES: If that is your choice. You do have choices.
JASON: By the way, one thing that I always wanted to know about from those who believe... How do you know you are worshiping the RIGHT god? I mean the Bible is clear about worshiping false gods, what if somewhere along the line the story got messed up and you are actually worshiping Oden, Zeus, Satan, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Invisible Pink Unicorn or even the Great Green Arkleseizure? For that matter the Pope? What if your intentions are right, but the whole religion is wrong. Will you still be spending eternity in purgatory? As far as I am aware, God has not made any recent formal announcement to clear up all the different perversions of the bible, so how could god hold people to following it?
CHARLES: God has made it clear. Just like electricity or computers, or the internet are all understood by those who accept them and find out about them. If you choose not to investigate the knowledge of electricity, then you will be electrically-ignorant. So it is with God. Are you waiting around for him to show himself or are you actively looking at the evidence?
Have you read the Bible? Many atheists when they really decide to check out the evidence and PROVE there is no God ended up believing in Him.
Have you read "What's So Great about Christianity?" by Dinesh Dsouza? Have you read "The Case for Faith" by Lee Stobel? Have you read "More than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell?
What have you done to actually find out if there is evidence? If nothing, then you found exactly what you set out to find, nothing.
JASON: Perhaps I am wrong (but I doubt it) but with the massive number of interpretations of the bible and religions in general, the chances of you following the one, correct path to God are about the same as mine. I guess I will be seeing most of you in Purgatory... If I am wrong...
CHARLES: What book on electricity is right? Or are they all just explaining a different aspect of it?
The various interpretations are only ways of saying the same thing but in different ways.
The Bible was written over a period of 2000 years by over 40 authors most of whom did not know each other. But they all agree? Coincidence or God-incidence? They agree that man is inherently selfish because we look after ourselves before we consider others. They agree that man basically wants to do what he wants often without consideration of others. Check out your daily news!
You may be a step ahead of many because you exhibit a concern about making the world a bit better place. So what did you do to make it that way?
No religion but Christianity has a founder that said He WAS GOD. The others just claim they have a way to get to God. They are attempts to reach into that vacuum that says, "What is the meaning of my brief existence here?" The Judao-Christian belief tells what the meaning is. And for those who actually examine it, they find the true meaning to life. You have found a meaning to life too Jason. However you just have not read about the author of the book of "a meaning".
JASON: See you then, don't for get the sun block,Jason Barnett
CHARLES: So are we going to the beach? (:-)
CHARLES: I have talked to people who say they want to go to hell because that's where their friends will be. Cannot be true. Hell is the place of absence from God and all that is good. Friendship is good. Therefore there will be NO friendship in hell.
Oh and by the way, did sunblock ever help bacon? (:-)