JUDEN

As I write, my incredible wife Sharon is on her way home from doing humanitarian work in the largest “township” in Johannesburg, South Africa. Two weeks of ministry among many churches in two regions of South Africa finishes in a place where desperately poor mothers abandon infants on trash piles. Babies on trash piles. How can our heart turn away from such human tragedy and need?

Since Sharon is gone I watched several episodes of “Band of Brothers” that I recorded long ago. Her tender heart prevents her from seeing the pain of war, even when it is nothing more that a Hollywood depiction, however, I am inspired and challenged to gratefulness for the “Greatest Generation.” The sacrifices and character of the WW2 Generation must never be forgotten.

I just finished episode 8, where Easy Company comes upon a German Death Camp where Jews were systematically murdered. The Nazis had abandoned the camp and upon finding an emaciated prisoner the shocked American officer asks: “why are you in this camp.” The answer: “Juden.” I could not finish the episode.

I have streaming tears as I think about my friend Henry, who survived a death camp, but lost most of his family. He literally walked over a significant area of Europe looking for his twin sister and miraculously found her alive. I will never forget having dinner together; I could not help but repeatedly sneak peaks at the tattooed numbers on their arms; twins by birth and horrendous experience. I think of my dear friends Josh and Rebekah and their three handsome boys. Jenny, Emme, Zander, Sam, Aaron, Enie…how could anyone want to harm, must less, murder beautiful, talented and incredibly gifted people such as these simply because they are “Juden.”  Yet, even in this very moment there are many who still intend to do exactly that.

I am so grateful to God that I now have the opportunity to learn, to experience and to work with and for my Jewish brothers and sisters, especially for the right of the State of Israel to exist within secure borders with Jerusalem as its undivided capital. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future.

It is not enough that Jews and Christians share similar ethics and religious foundation. We must find ways to cooperate on those things we share in common and forgiveness and understanding for where we do not. And all of us must resolve to join the Jewish people in their steadfast declaration: “never again.”

A simple point where we can begin? Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Over the last two days Israeli Defense Forces have returned fire into Syria after repeated attacks from Syrian mortar launches into Golan. As stated in the Jerusalem Post: “This is the first direct engagement with Syrian military since 1973.”

I have stood atop a mountain in the Golan Heights several times and marveled at how close Damascus, the capital of Syria is to Israel. If having Iran’s closest Middle Eastern ally’s center of government within eyesight is not troublesome enough, now there is a real possibility there is an intentional attempt to draw Israel into the conflict.

Earlier this year, rockets were fired from Egyptian territory into Israel’s southern towns. Additionally, nearly 1,000 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza in 2012!  The day I left Israel on October 6, 2012, the IDF shot down an unmanned drone in Israeli territory. Reported by REUTERS: “The Israeli air force shot down a drone after it crossed into southern Israel on Saturday, the military said, but it remained unclear where the aircraft had come from. The drone was first spotted above the Mediterranean in the area of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to the west of Israel, said military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich. It was kept under surveillance and followed by Israeli air force jets before it was shot down above a forest in an unpopulated area near the border with the occupied West Bank.”

I am often asked whether there will be another Arab/Israeli war. My question is “has it ever stopped?” The United Nations seems content to do nothing to address these unrelenting rocket barrages. The worldwide media only reluctantly offer tidbits of information about these attacks, reporting them without any of the outrage usually attached to stories they relish reporting of a Jewish family building a home in disputed areas. Rockets fired on Jewish families, docile report, home built on disputed land, sensational commentary. What is wrong here is a very unbalanced scale.

Frankly, there are no winners in these ongoing provocations. Innocent families, both Palestinian and Jewish become pawns in senseless hatreds and disputes.

Must the past be repeated? Must war be the only choice? Must the past be the only future? The prayers of Israeli and Arab mothers are surely heard by God. I join them in asking that a miracle of change take place instead of military conflict. I also state that should we reach a point of no return, where war is the only solution, the worldwide community of nations and the international media will be complicit.

As we in America celebrate the honorable military service of our veterans, let us be grateful for their sacrifices and prayerful that greater conflict in the Middle East be avoided.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

NEW TROUBLES FOR ISRAEL

There are very troubling signs of growing anti-Semitism at the highest levels of Egyptian leadership. A video has recently been aired showing Egypt’s new president Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s choice candidate, attending a sermon in the Mediterranean town of Marsa Matruh during which the preacher called for the "destruction and dispersal of the Jews." In one of the responsive prayers, the cleric beseeched God to "destroy the Jews and their supporters and disperse them, rend them asunder." Morsi is then seen continuing to say Amen. This video was broadcasted to the nation.

We are commanded by the God of the Bible to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” The kind of prayers being prayed in Egyptian mosques by its religious and governmental leaders will bring peace to no one.

It is increasingly obvious that the result of removing brutal dictatorships throughout the Middle East now threatens the longest standing democracy in that region, the State of Israel. While millions of lovers of democracy around the world prayerfully, financially and militarily supported the “Arab Spring”, we now face a new choice. Will we sit idly by and accept anti-Semitism simply because a majority population embraces it? Or, will we loudly voice our belief in the moral code that our own democracy was founded upon: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Majority of opinion does not supersede the necessity of Godly morals as we practice true democracy.

U.S. tax dollars by the billions continue to be poured into countries that are calling for the destruction of our best ally in the region. We cannot let our silence give tacit support to the enemies of peace.

Be informed. Speak up. And most importantly, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

THE FAULTLINE

Considering the newest developments in the Middle East, I have decided to re-post a commentary I first published last March.

I have been in only one significant earthquake in my life, but it paled in comparison to the one in the 1974 blockbuster movie “EARTHQUAKE.” The fictional disaster film depicts the most catastrophic earthquake of all time tearing through Southern California, leveling Los Angeles and sending shockwaves through the lives of the millions of people who live there. In my mind’s eye I can still conjure up images of the earth being ripped in two. The biggest Fault Line in today’s world is not physical, but spiritual and geopolitical; it runs through Jerusalem.

So what are the two sides? On one side are those who, for spiritual or geopolitical reasons support Israel and on the other, those who oppose it. There is increasing pressure to choose sides. Can’t decide? Prefer the middle? Remember the movie, those who sit precariously on the fault line are the first to perish; neither ignorance nor inattention provides safety.

We must make choices in life and this is one of the really big ones. My advice? Go to Israel and see it for yourself. Don’t depend on casual water-cooler talk or the media to keep you informed.  Educate yourself about the historic and current geopolitical issues. Learn about UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), the One-State Solution or Two-State Solution, Disengagement, Intifada and how many times the idea of swapping land for peace has actually worked in that region. Become familiar with what the Bible says about the Jewish people, the Land of Promise and Biblical Prophesy of the end times.

And lastly, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

NO PEACE IN PIECES

As I began writing this article, Parliamentarians from nations as diverse as Finland and Uruguay were gathered in a location just outside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem to deliberate the future of the World. These political leaders discussed how conflict between Israel and surrounding Arab States effects the entire international community of nations.  They discussed potential solutions for some of the world’s most difficult issues such as the refugee status of both Palestinians and Jews and the threat of dividing Jerusalem into two capitals instead of one.

Why gather in Jerusalem? It is simple, even a casual perusal of worldwide media reveals that Jerusalem is the epicenter of modern conflict. There is a gathering storm across the globe. Islamic extremism is sweeping the Middle East and emerging in Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere. Anti-Semitism is also rising among increasingly secular Western Societies and governments.

As long as the Jews exist as a people, as long as they govern a sovereign nation in the land promised to them in the Bible, Israel’s very existence threatens every social, political or religious viewpoint that does not consider the Bible to be true. Forces as opposed as Secular Humanists and Islamist Extremist find common ground in their determination to deny Israel a right to exist as a State with secure borders with Jerusalem as its undivided capital.

The past provides a road map for the future. There has been human conflict throughout history. Every conceivable way has been tried to bring peace between nations at one time or another and peace has been achieved many times and in many ways. History is also littered with disastrous failures from which we can learn.

One of the most glaring mistakes attempted by peacemakers is the dividing of cities. My childhood was filled with constant exposure to photographs and news clips of the divided cities of Berlin, Beirut and Belfast. “Green Lines” of razor wire, fences, land-mine fields, walls and guard posts become a no-man’s land where prosperity and freedom cannot exist. The last thing that the Jewish people, the Palestinian people and the multitude of other cultures residing in Jerusalem needs is further complication of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is no sustainable peace obtained by dividing a city into pieces.

My take-away from the gathering of Parliamentarians and Government Leaders in Jerusalem this past week is clear: More than ever, we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

LAND OF MIRACLES

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I am filled with anticipation of MIRACLES. Soon, I will be again standing on the stone streets of Old City Jerusalem at the Jaffa Gate. While at first glance it is but a very old place of commerce crowded with traffic and loads of international tourists, a deeper look reveals much more. There is an elderly couple from Ukraine fulfilling a lifelong dream of a religious pilgrimage to the Holy City. Four young Jewish college students from Indiana laugh and playfully jostle one another as they take in the sights on their “Birthright Israel” trip. A young Palestinian Arab works hard to entice passing people into his father’s store filled with colorful scarves. A no-nonsense pair of Israeli solders stand casually to the side, chatting, relaxed, but automatic weapons at ready and eyes moving across the crowd. Religious pilgrims, students, children playing, honking taxis, moneychangers, deliverymen; its all there.

The very existence of a peaceful afternoon in a city where modern world/ancient world, worldwide religions, deeply imbedded prejudices and hatreds, political opponents and a cornucopia of ethnicities collide is a miracle. And perhaps, this miracle offers us all a teachable moment; even when differences collide, if self-interest motivations of those present are strong enough to not want to risk the loss of the opportunity that moment holds, they put aside their differences and focus on the reward.

Israel has many miraculous lessons for us all.

I have seen a nation reborn from the ashes of the Holocaust as Jews gathered from around the world after a 2,000-year Diaspora. I have seen the miracle of “premies” in Assaf Harofeh Hospital where premature babies who would die in any other place are nursed through three wards and returned to their parents healthy and strong. Assaf Harofeh is a center of caring in a region filled with deep prejudices where no concern is given to the ethnic or religious background of the patients or their families. Miraculous. I have seen the deserts bloom with the help of amazingly simple but ingenious technology, providing needed water to dry soil, producing some of the finest fruits and vegetables in the world. I have seen the miracle of sprawling banana plantations, huge groves of fruit trees and abundant wineries on the rocky hills of Galilee.

And what does all of this teach us? Miracles DO happen, and we can be a part of them if we choose.

So, as I wait for my flight, I think of the miraculous place that awaits me and I pray for a miracle, I pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

BITTER SOIL

The words of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu are still hanging in the air as I write. He spoke of a past generation’s failure to act in time to save millions of Jews who perished: “Those who opposed fanaticism waited too long.” While patience is a vital element of peace, there can be no delay when dealing with those who have made their destructive intent known and have the capacity to carry out their threats.

My heart longs for the fulfillment of the angelic song announced to shepherds on the hills outside Bethlehem: “peace on earth and goodwill toward men.” Those hills and the surrounding lands have since known little peace, especially its close neighbor, Jerusalem. My most constant prayer is for its peace, yet Jerusalem lives under the continual threat of division and devastation. The Israelis do not want war with anyone, but I am deeply concerned that the world continues to allow Iran to plunge both Israel and other nations toward inevitable conflict.

Additional thought-provoking words delivered to the United Nations General Assembly by the Prime Minister were these: “The masses of our people never gave up the dream of returning to our ancient homeland,” he said. “We will never be uprooted again.” Having spent much time with current and past Israeli leaders and citizens in Israel I am absolutely sure they will not be uprooted again. They have the geopolitical standing, military means and conviction of Biblical Promise to hold their ground.

Finally, the Prime Minister spoke of: “The bitter soil of intolerance.” He was speaking of the ground out of which hatred springs. This ground is not physical but rather in the souls of men. It is not on only one side of this conflict. Hatred spreads from heart to heart and becomes the basis on which destructive decisions are made.

This bitterness may only be expunged with God’s help. The political leaders of nations must determine the course of action they will take, but each of us who believe in the power of God must also decide; will we sit idly by or will we pray?

As commanded by God to do, I pray for the peace of Jerusalem.