CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON PALESTINE
The attacks on the people of Israel are so horrifying that we can hardly believe, but knowing the history of that area and the spiritual battle going on to destroy Jews and their homeland it is not surprising. It is more difficult to understand the thousands of young people in our colleges and universities that blame Israel for the atrocities. We have somehow failed to provide the education necessary to explain the truth behind this conflict.
I have provided some information in this newsletter to help explain the Palestinian/Israel problem, but I found this letter by well-known Christian author and founder of Lamb & Lion Ministries, Dr. David R. Reagan, that may help us all to understand this situation more.
Dr. Reagan is a native Texan who resides in a suburb of Dallas. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas in Austin. His graduate degrees were earned in the field of International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy of Tufts and Harvard Universities.
Before entering the ministry, he had an extensive career in higher education. In the mid-’60s Dave served as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of the Philippines and toured all of Southeast Asia lecturing on U.S. foreign policy on behalf of the U.S. Information Agency.
I have provided some information in this newsletter to help explain the Palestinian/Israel problem, but I found this letter by well-known Christian author and founder of Lamb & Lion Ministries, Dr. David R. Reagan, that may help us all to understand this situation more.
Dr. Reagan is a native Texan who resides in a suburb of Dallas. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas in Austin. His graduate degrees were earned in the field of International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy of Tufts and Harvard Universities.
Before entering the ministry, he had an extensive career in higher education. In the mid-’60s Dave served as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of the Philippines and toured all of Southeast Asia lecturing on U.S. foreign policy on behalf of the U.S. Information Agency.
Dave is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher. He entered the full-time ministry in 1976 when he was called to serve as the pulpit minister for a church in Irving, Texas. His ordination as a Christian minister has been formally recognized by three different Christian groups.
He is the author of many religious essays which have been published in a wide variety of journals and magazines. He has written 17 books and has contributed to many others. His books have been translated into several languages. Dave’s sermons have been distributed worldwide. He has led 45 pilgrimages to Israel that focus on the prophetic significance of the sites visited. He has also conducted prophecy conferences in Russia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belarus, Israel, South Africa, Mexico, the Philippines, India, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and China. The following comes from the Lamb and Lion website: |
THE PALESTINIANS
Are they victims of Jewish oppression or pawns in an Arab conspiracy?
A good friend of mine who is a missionary recently wrote to me to express his concern over my strong support of Israel in its struggle with the Arabs. He expressed compassion for the Palestinians, and stated that he felt like I was being unfair toward them.
I responded as follows:
In your letter you stated that you were afraid I had developed a “spiritual blind spot” regarding Israel and the Palestinians. You based that conclusion on cartoons I have run in the Lamplighter and on articles I have written about the Middle East.
I can certainly understand your feeling, and I respect it, but I strongly differ with it. I feel the ‘blind spot’ rests with the Church and the World. Both have hated the Jewish people and have done everything possible to persecute them for the past 2,000 years. Now that God has sovereignly regathered the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth and has re-established them as a nation, both the Church and the World are enraged and are determined to aid and abet the enemies of Israel in any way possible.
The leadership of the PLO is made up entirely of low-life, god-hating, murderous thugs, and I intend to make that clear to my audience in no uncertain terms, using both words and cartoons. I make no apology for it. I pray daily for God to pour out His wrath upon them.
A good friend of mine who is a missionary recently wrote to me to express his concern over my strong support of Israel in its struggle with the Arabs. He expressed compassion for the Palestinians, and stated that he felt like I was being unfair toward them.
I responded as follows:
In your letter you stated that you were afraid I had developed a “spiritual blind spot” regarding Israel and the Palestinians. You based that conclusion on cartoons I have run in the Lamplighter and on articles I have written about the Middle East.
I can certainly understand your feeling, and I respect it, but I strongly differ with it. I feel the ‘blind spot’ rests with the Church and the World. Both have hated the Jewish people and have done everything possible to persecute them for the past 2,000 years. Now that God has sovereignly regathered the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth and has re-established them as a nation, both the Church and the World are enraged and are determined to aid and abet the enemies of Israel in any way possible.
The leadership of the PLO is made up entirely of low-life, god-hating, murderous thugs, and I intend to make that clear to my audience in no uncertain terms, using both words and cartoons. I make no apology for it. I pray daily for God to pour out His wrath upon them.
The Plight of the Palestinians
As for the Palestinian people, I have nothing but compassion for them over the terrible, inhumane way that they have been treated by the Arab nations ever since 1948. The war that year produced hundreds of thousands of refugees. One million Jews were forcibly evicted from Arab countries overnight, and tiny Israel had to absorb them.
In contrast, The 500,000 Palestinian refugees were denied any place to go. The Arab states refused to absorb them because they wanted to use them as a pawn to orchestrate world public opinion against Israel. So, Jordan, the nation that controlled the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, herded them into horrible refugee camps and let them live like rats. When Israel won the West Bank in the Six Day War in 1967, one of the first things they did was to move the refugees out of the camps and into towns where they were given decent jobs and social care. The refugee camps were bulldozed by the Israelis. The Palestinians were provided new hospitals and new schools, and they ended up with a standard of living that was three to four times higher than any of their Arab neighbors. But their lives were made miserable by PLO thugs who operated like the Mafia, extorting money on the threat of death. |
The Issue of a Palestinian State
The call for a Palestinian state is nonsense. Israel is one of the smallest nations in the world, smaller than Kuwait (about the size of New Jersey). It has no land to give away. If the West Bank were to be given to the Palestinians, Israel would be only 9 miles wide at a spot directly above Tel Aviv. No nation in the world would give such land to its sworn enemy. And for the nations of the world to demand that Israel do so is pure hypocrisy of the first order.
A Palestinian state already exists. It is called Jordan. It constitutes two-thirds of the land that has been historically referred to as Palestine. There is no need for another Palestinian state. There are 22 Arab states and only one tiny Jewish state. Why must another Arab state be carved out of the heart of Israel? Only because the World hates the Jews.
Another point to keep in mind is that there has never been a Palestinian state in all of history. From the fall of Israel in 70 AD to the present, the area dubbed “Palestine” by the Romans (to insult the Jews, since Palestine in Latin means Philistine) has been a part of greater Syria, and all the Arabs who lived there looked upon themselves as Syrians. There was never a Palestinian state, nor was Jerusalem ever the capital city of any Arab entity. The land and the city are Jewish.
A Palestinian state already exists. It is called Jordan. It constitutes two-thirds of the land that has been historically referred to as Palestine. There is no need for another Palestinian state. There are 22 Arab states and only one tiny Jewish state. Why must another Arab state be carved out of the heart of Israel? Only because the World hates the Jews.
Another point to keep in mind is that there has never been a Palestinian state in all of history. From the fall of Israel in 70 AD to the present, the area dubbed “Palestine” by the Romans (to insult the Jews, since Palestine in Latin means Philistine) has been a part of greater Syria, and all the Arabs who lived there looked upon themselves as Syrians. There was never a Palestinian state, nor was Jerusalem ever the capital city of any Arab entity. The land and the city are Jewish.
The Root of the Problem
Satan hates the Jews with a passion because they gave the world both the Bible and the Messiah. He also hates the promises that God has made to save a great remnant of the Jews in the end times.
Satan is determined to kill every Jew on planet earth so that God cannot fulfill His promises. I will stand with God’s Chosen People, and in the process, I will denounce their enemies, both at home and abroad.
Satan is determined to kill every Jew on planet earth so that God cannot fulfill His promises. I will stand with God’s Chosen People, and in the process, I will denounce their enemies, both at home and abroad.
You can see that the Palestinians are truly caught in the middle and have suffered injustices. Even now as the Hamas hide out in Palestinian cities, they disregard the harm that they are bringing upon the citizens. We see the surrounding Arab countries unwillingness to let the Palestinians escape the war by crossing the borders. We may have sympathy for the Palestinians but recognize that the Arab countries have no sympathy for the Palestinians, but will use them for their own interests.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for protection of the innocent. Pray for Israel and American soldiers. Pray for leaders in Israel and U.S. Pray for truth to be revealed and young people’s hearts and minds to be protected from Anti-Christ propaganda. Pray for Christ’s return. KLN |
Visiting the Body of Christ
We have been visiting churches in the area in the hope of networking with fellow Christians as we search to bring unity, and build the Kingdom of God. It is amazing to see the work that these bodies are doing for their communities. We hope to visit your church in the weeks to come!
First Baptist Church of Deer Trail - Pastor Sam Courts
Journey Church Strasburg - Pastor Dusty Morris
Calvary Baptist Bennett- Pastor Bob McCurley
Mountain View Christian Strasburg - Pastor Donn Headley
Strasburg Community Church - Pastor Steve Musser
Living Springs Cowboy Church Byers- Pastor Zac Sanger
Save the Cowboy Kiowa - Kevin Weatherby
Cornerstone Fellowship - Pastor Keith Sauder
First Baptist Church of Deer Trail - Pastor Sam Courts
Journey Church Strasburg - Pastor Dusty Morris
Calvary Baptist Bennett- Pastor Bob McCurley
Mountain View Christian Strasburg - Pastor Donn Headley
Strasburg Community Church - Pastor Steve Musser
Living Springs Cowboy Church Byers- Pastor Zac Sanger
Save the Cowboy Kiowa - Kevin Weatherby
Cornerstone Fellowship - Pastor Keith Sauder
Galatians 6:2 encourages fellow believers to "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. As a community, we are bound together with the love of Christ. We exhibit that love through prayer for one another. Someone in our midst may be hurting, believing for a new job, seeking direction from God. When we come together in agreement for each other, we see God begin to work! We want to agree with you. We encourage our readers to let us know what we can all agree on for you. If you have a specific need that you would like us to pray for, let us know. The Word of God compels us to pray for one another in the community where we live. So agree with us as we pray for each other!
Click on the "Comments Page" button below and we will post the need here in real time. We will utilize initials for privacy sake. |
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Community Prayer List
Calling all Prayer Warriors:
-Pray for PL for her continual guidance from God.
-Pray for RG, he is home from rehab, but still needs healing for his back.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
Psalm 122:6-7 NIV
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
Psalm 122:6-7 NIV