Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[The Jerusalem Post]

The massacre of Jewish people during the Holocaust was “scientifically impossible,” according to an article published by an Iranian satellite channel on its Web site.

[Yahoo]

When Sen. John McCain was forced to distance himself from Pastor John Hagee earlier this year, he denounced the pastor’s attacks on Catholicism. But asked why he wouldn’t “repudiate” Hagee’s endorsement of him, McCain found something to praise.

I’m grateful for his commitment to the support of the state of Israel, and I’m very grateful for many of his commitments around the world, including to the independence and freedom of the state of Israel,” he told CNN’s Campbell Brown on April 29.

Hagee’s commitment to Israel, however, is itself controversial: It’s rooted in the belief that the Jewish state will — soon — be the site ofArmageddon.

Hagee, who leads the evangelical group Christians United for Israel, is a proponent of U.S. aid and support for Israel, and he is a major ally of Israeli conservatives who reject any “land for peace” formula in dealing with the Palestinians. But Hagee is viewed with distrust by some Jews and Israelis because his brand of Christian Zionism closely links support for Israel to the end of the world and the conversion of the Jews to Christianity.

Hagee’s predictions are very clear. Armageddon, the final battle, could begin, he wrote in his 2007 book “Jerusalem Countdown,” “before this book gets published.”

The Antichrist “will be the head of the European Union,” he writes.

Using geographical calculations based on the Book of Revelation, he writes that Israel will be covered in “a sea of human blood” in the final battle.

The Jews, however, will survive the battle, Hagee says, long enough to have “the opportunity to receive Messiah, who is a rabbi known to the world as Jesus of Nazareth.”

“They will be blessed beyond their wildest imagination,” he writes.

A spokesman for McCain, Brian Rogers, said, “John McCain’s commitment to the state of Israel is clear, and he respects Pastor Hagee’s commitment as well.

“As he has said many, many, many times, when folks endorse John McCain it doesn’t mean he endorses all of their views,” Rogers said.

Many Jewish political leaders have also embraced Hagee. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) spoke to Hagee’s group last year, and Hagee has been invited to speak to the lobbying organization American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Other Jewish groups have more nuanced views of the pastor.

“Support for Israel is something that we should welcome and yet be very much aware of where that support comes from and cautious about it,” said Michael Salberg, the director of international affairs for the Anti-Defamation League. Salberg said Hagee’s political stance on Israel “seems to us to be sincere, genuine and welcome.”

But Hagee has also been criticized, most recently by the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie.

“Christian Zionists, and especially Christians United for Israel, do not offer unconditional support for the Jewish state. They offer support for a particular religious vision, particular Israeli leaders, and particular political factions, all of which reflect their own prophecy-driven view of the Middle East,” Yoffie said in an April speech, calling Hagee and his group “extremists.”

Read more here.

[From me]

Mr. McCain, let me give you some advice—-RUN!

Hagee has lost his mind.  I agree with Rabbi Eric Yoffie.  Hagee doesn’t care about Israel.  His views are selfish.  The Zionists want to speed up the process of Jesus return.  Personally, I don’t want it any sooner because there are so many people who don’t know Jesus.  I don’t want to see anyone perish.  I would rather suffer more here if it means God using me to lead people to him.

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

Most American Christians – regardless of their denomination and background – say they feel a “moral and biblical obligation” to support the State of Israel, according to a new survey conducted by a D.C.-based evangelical organization.
hough figures released this week by the Joshua Fund differed among Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and non-Evangelicals, the new figures confirmed that American Christians as a whole believed that a “biblical obligation” exists behind their support for the State of Israel.

According to the survey, evangelical Christians were the most supportive of Israeli causes; nearly 90 percent said they felt a “moral and biblical obligation” to back Israel, and 62 percent said that Israel alone should posses control of Jerusalem.

Evangelical Christians also had the largest number of respondents who said they opposed a Palestinian state, believing it would give rise to terrorism.

Non-evangelical Protestants and Catholics were also revealed to be very pro-Israel, though their support was slightly lower.

Read about it here.

[From me]

I support Israel as long as they are supporting God. But I don’t blindly support any country including my own. I think we make a mistake thinking that Israel can do no wrong. Remember Calvary?

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

American evangelist John Hagee announced donations of $6 million to Israeli causes on Sunday and said that Israel must remain in control of all of Jerusalem. Hagee, a Christian Zionist who has been in the spotlight lately for endorsing presidential candidate John McCain and criticizing the Catholic Church, brought hundreds of backers on a solidarity trip to Israel.

Hagee and his group, Christians United for Israel, joined keynote speaker Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel’s hard-line opposition Likud Party, at a rally in support of Jerusalem remaining united and under Jewish control.

“Turning part or all of Jerusalem over to the Palestinians would be tantamount to turning it over to the Taliban,” Hagee told an audience filled with Americans who waved Israeli flags and cheered.

Hagee has called the Roman Catholic Church “the great whore” and a “false cult system.” He has also suggested that the Catholic church helped shape Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Mr. Hagee, God doesn’t need your help.  When Jesus is ready to come back, He will. You can’t make it happen any sooner by trying to control history.  I’m tired of your kind of heresy.  Your embarrass Christians by acting like you speak for God.  You don’t.  Neither do Mr. Robertson or any of the Zionists out there.  We can’t manipulate the Bible and God’s Will.  When He is ready, He will fulfill the prophecies that haven’t been fulfilled yet. All we do is get in the way.  Our job is to tell people about Jesus not manipulate history.  Our job is to allow Jesus to live through us.  Many of the TV preachers are just making Christianity look like it is out of touch.

What do you think?