Posted on 04/08/2002 8:30:32 AM PDT by iav2
CHRISTIAN EMBASSY CONDEMNS PALESTINIAN ABUSE OF BETHLEHEM CHURCHES
ICEJ NEWS - 04/04/2002
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem today strongly condemned the deliberate and provocative exploitation by armed Palestinian elements of the landmark Church of the Nativity and other religious sites in Bethlehem as a safe haven, along with their use of innocent civilians as human shields. “As a voice for millions of Christians worldwide, we cannot accept this transgression on the sanctity of the Church of the Nativity and we thoroughly denounce it,” said Rev. Malcolm Hedding, Executive Director of the ICEJ. “It is a premeditated offense by militant outlaws who know it is a place central to our faith and thus would provide them unquestioned refuge.”
“Christians and church leaders everywhere should be outraged by this action and join in condemning it,” said Hedding. “The current conflict is a difficult and complex one, but everyone must recognize that these Palestinian gunmen took the battle inside this Church by design.”
The Christian Embassy continues to call for the respect of all religious sites in Bethlehem and throughout the Holy Land, whether churches, synagogues or mosques.
The Christian Embassy also noted that the Palestinian Authority has actually encouraged armed gunmen to use the Manger Square area and its Christian places as a shelter and base for terrorist operations in recent months. Such tactics are shocking but not surprising, the ICEJ said, since the PLO systematically defiled and destroyed churches and other Christian properties in Lebanon after sparking that nation’s long civil war.
We have often heard how "provocative" it was for Sharon to visit the Temple Mount but we don't see condemnation of the PA's gunmen invading the church of the nativity.
It's gratifying that they're writing this. A little late but it's accurate. I was wondering when they were going to notice that the terrorists had a chance to cross the square to a mosque but deliberately shot their way into the church.
I think they are one of the leading evangelical Christian organizations.
Christian supporters of Israel established the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem as a practical expression of the desire of believers throughout the world to bless and comfort Zion.
The Embassy opened after the international community condemned Israel for declaring united Jerusalem the "eternal and indivisible capital" of the reborn Jewish state. As 13 nations moved their embassies from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv due to a threatened Arab oil embargo, 1400 Christians from 40 countries decided to open their own Embassy in Jerusalem.
It was an act of solidarity with the Jewish people's 3000-year-old connection to their holy city.
Today, Christians everywhere have an Embassy representing them in Jerusalem, an effective channel for their concern and love for Israel.
Did you know the Bible is very clear about the destiny of the Jewish people? The Scriptures say that, after the destruction of Jerusalem and worldwide scattering of the Jewish people, God would first bring them back to the Land of Israel from the four corners of the earth, after which He will spiritually restore them to Himself. It is in their land that they will receive a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27), and it is in their land that they will confess, as a nation, that the Lord will be their God, and they will be His people (Jeremiah 31:33).
God has had His own plan and purposes for the land and people of Israel from the very beginning. He offers Christians, as children of Abraham by faith, the chance to take an active role in the outworking of His redemptive process.
It is a plan so great in significance that it encompasses the future of the whole earth.
As Paul states: "If their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring?... For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" (Romans 11:12, 15).
We believe it is God’s desire that Christians across the world be encouraged and inspired to arise to their prophetic role in the restoration of Israel. The Bible says that the destiny of the nations, of Christians and of the Church is linked to the way they respond to this work of restoration.
Israel is the target of hostility from many quarters. We believe that Christians must take a stand against anti-Israel and anti-Semitic prejudices, and counter lies with truth. As such, our approach may at times involve political stands, but these ultimately arise from biblical principles and convictions.
We are compelled by our faith to help protect the Lord’s people and to help preserve them for that time when the Lord will fulfill all of His promises to them.
Every year the Embassy hosts a Christian celebration during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, where thousands of believers come up to worship the God of Israel, in anticipation of that future time when God’s promises through the prophet Zechariah, chapter 14, are fulfilled.
A Word from Jerusalem, is the Christian Embassy's flagship newsletter, a bi-monthly publication with biblical and prophetic insights, articles on current affairs, and updates and reports on ICEJ events, activities and projects worldwide. Subscribe now and stay in touch with our global ministry headquartered in Jerusalem. Available in a dozen languages.
The Social Assistance Programme is a key practical expression of our love for Israel and its peoples, channeling finances, medicine, clothing and other material assistance to Jews and Arabs in need.
Concern about the plight of Soviet Jewry has been high on the Embassy’s agenda since its inception. God’s answer to years of prayer for the fall of the Iron Curtain has resulted in thousands of Jews being brought home to Israel by transportation efforts sponsored by Christians through the Embassy. We also assist in planting these precious people in their homeland.
The ICEJ News Service arrives regularly as an E-mail message, updating you on the latest developments in Israel and the Middle East. The News Service is filled with timely, accurate information, giving you a balanced view on Israel from the unique perspective of our journalism team on location in Jerusalem.
The Middle East Digest is a news publication written and disseminated by journalists with the Embassy. It is a journal with factual accounts and analysis of current events affecting Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish Diaspora, and is now featured as part of the main Embassy newsletter, A Word From Jerusalem.
The Embassy has hosted three International Christian Zionist Congresses, encouraging Jews and challenging Christians on the principles of biblical Zionism. They have helped to strengthen Christian endeavors on behalf of Israel and illuminate essential Church teaching in these last days.
A range of Embassy-organized events take place in many countries every year, spreading the word to the four corners of the world that the set time to favor Zion has come (Ps 102:13).
Funny you should bring that up. Here is an excerpt from an ICEJ press statement regarding the Pope's 2000 trip to Jerusalem:
"Nonetheless, for many Jews there remain sincere, unresolved grievances against the Catholic Church which should not be ignored or evaded any longer, the most painful of which is the silence of the papacy during the "tragedy" of the Holocaust. We urge the Pope to expressly apologize for the Church's institutional role in contributing to the widespread anti-Semitic beliefs and attitudes that eventually produced the Holocaust in Europe, and for Pope Pius XII's failure to denounce the Nazi genocide."
In other words, what you're saying is that ICEJ lies through their teeth.
I should have mentioned what is being said on other threads in relation to the stand-off at the Church of the Nativity. Vicious stuff. Didn't you see it? Thought you posted on one of those threads.
Must I always be forced to bring up Bela Kun, Trotsky, Lazar Kaganovitch and the first European Holocaust?
Re: Is your post supposed to mean something lucid?
Some people have a hard time understanding the essence of resisting the urge to label circumstances as they like to label their sacred cows and hated crows.
Did they belong to some "jewish" church you would like to define as Goebbles did? Do you feel so much superior when you give yourself the right to insult people at large like this?
The fact is that the church has been labeling Israelies lately in a heinous manner, and of course, you who label people in a heinous manner, cannot come to grip to consider the good reason when some organisation condemns such heinous behavior.
Wake up, Christ went on the cross to settle himself the differences. Why should the church and you go on and define things as they wish again? Can't you guys learn that the trial was over and done with 2000 years ago? That bringing it again is a mortal sin?
If only people refrained from defining, but embraced the jurisdictions transcending their right to pick and chose definitions for peoples, jurisdictions demanding that they implore indentity restraint before the identity of God. We would be done and over with the Church defining it as "Palestinians" "humiliated", or calling others deniers of Euro-holocaust, and on with peace and prosperity.
But no, it is too much to ask to the little Nazies who love the identities and the revolutions, who take sides, or worse, define sides, instead of imploring their restraints and their identities.
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