Posted on 02/20/2012 5:07:43 AM PST by SJackson
The Evangelical Left is hosting a “Christ at the Checkpoint” jamboree at the birthplace of Jesus Christ to identify the Savior with Palestinian liberation. This anti-Israeli mobilization will include leading evangelicals from the U.S.
“We are not accusing the Israeli military of putting Jesus at a checkpoint,” insists one disingenuous spokesman, who complains that “some” critics will incomprehensibly interpret it that way. “This is a conference about empowering the Palestinian church.” If so, then why is the conference not less provocatively titled?
Palestinian politicians are often accused of speaking sweetly about peace and co-existence in English to Western audiences but far more stridently in Arabic to their own constituency. Perhaps that same spirit afflicts organizers and defenders of Christ at the Checkpoint.
Another spokesman for Christ at the Checkpoint promises it will challenge the “theology of the land” and the “end times” beliefs of pro-Israel Christians, while advocating a “theology of peace.” But will this theology of peace also challenge Islamists and Palestinian nationalists who reject Israel’s existence or any future for Jews or Christians outside of subjugation?
Major U.S. speakers at the March 5-9 Checkpoint event in Bethlehem include evangelist Tony Campolo (former spiritual counselor to Bill Clinton), Florida megachurch pastor Joel Hunter (board member of National Association of Evangelicals and spiritual counselor to President Obama), Chicago megachurch co-founder Lynne Hybels of Willow Creek Community, and popular religious campus anti-war activist Shane Claiborne of The Simple Way in Philadelphia.
Church of England priest and anti-Israel activist Stephen Sizer will also speak, as will Porter Speakman, Colorado producer of the anti-Israel film for evangelicals “With God on Our Side,” plus Gary Burge of evangelical Wheaton College outside Chicago. So too will Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action and Chris Seiple of the Institute for Global Engagement, along with Sang-Bok David Kim, chair of the World Evangelical Alliance.
Christ at the Checkpoint’s official purpose is help evangelicals to seek “peace, justice, and reconciliation” by empowering the Palestinian church and exposing the “realities of the injustices in the Palestinian Territories,” while also challenging Christian Zionism.
“Some have accused the conference as being part of a process of demonization of state of Israel,” admitted conference organizer Alex Awad of Bethlehem Bible College, who is also a missionary supported by the United Methodist Church. “I totally and absolutely reject this accusation,” he declared, insisting Christ at the Checkpoint merely wants Israelis and Palestinians to “live in peace and harmony.” Awad further clarified: “We are not anti-Semitic, we are not against Jewish people.” But he admitted: “There may be some criticism of Israel.” No doubt!
Awad implored that criticism of Israel not equate with anti-Semitism. Perhaps this appeal would be more persuasive if Christ at the Checkpoint includes serious criticism of Palestinian authorities and attitudes that persist in denying Israel’s right to exist. And this event would truly convey its desire for “peace” and “reconciliation” if it condemned not just evangelical and Jewish pro-Israel theologies but also critiqued Islamist theology asserting that conquered Islamic lands may never revert to non-Islamic control. But don’t hold your breath. In the mindset of many Christ at the Checkpoint organizers and speakers, a Texas Baptist who believes God still blesses the Jews is more morally culpable for Mideast conflict than a Hamas-supporting Islamist in Nasrallah who believes Allah wants to drive the Jews into the Sea.
“Absolutely this conference will not advocate replacement theology,” Awad also promised, referring to the belief by some Christians that the Church has completely replaced the Jews in God’s eyes. He added: “But there may be some people in this conference who present this point of view.” Again, no doubt. Awad declared of his own Bethlehem Bible College, which is hosting the event: “We don’t believe God replaces people.”
Awad further explained that Christ at the Checkpoint is simply inviting the international community to come see “our situation” by looking at the “wall,” the “siege,” and the “settlements.” In other words, to examine Israeli injustices but not examine why Israel is unable fully to withdraw when Palestinians are unwilling to accept Israel. The event will not “impose a solution,” Award promised, but is only hosting theologians to “pray and meditate.” And then the Holy Spirit will lead them into “solutions.” After all, the event has no “agenda.”
Another defender featured on the Christ Checkpoint website promised the event will not offer any “political solutions,” whether “two-state” or “one-state,” i.e. the abolition of Israel as a Jewish democracy. Instead it only urges “equality for all.” Still another defender explained the event was about how to expand the “Kingdom of God among the Palestinians.” But the conference schedule seems heavy on political and social critique and very little on the topics of evangelism and discipleship that typically characterize church conferences focused on expanding the “Kingdom of God.”
A young Palestinian Christian spokesman for Christ at the Checkpoint explained: “We would like to bring Christ to the reality we face.” But that reality focuses exclusively on purported political liberation of Palestinians from Israeli occupation. It is mainly a variant of the liberation theology of the 1970s and 1980s that replaced Christian beliefs about salvation with Marxist demands for political revolution.
“Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah were quite critical of the behavior of ancient Israel and yet, Biblical scholars do not classify them as demonizers of Israel,” explained Alex Awad in his ongoing defense of Christ at the Checkpoint. So the U.S. evangelicals swarming to Bethlehem largely to criticize Israel and stay mum about Palestinian problems are successors to the prophetic Hebrew tradition of Jeremiah and Isaiah.
American evangelicals are overwhelmingly pro-Israel, not just for idiosyncratic theological reasons. Like most Americans, they notice Israel is democratic and pro-American, offering tolerance to religious minorities, including Christians. Meanwhile, most of Israel’s neighbours are not. Current Palestinian rulers offer little hope that their victory over Israel would advance justice for anyone, much less the tiny and dwindling Palestinian Christian minority.
Christ at the Checkpoint is primarily a public relations scheme to dissuade American evangelicals from pro-Israel views. To succeed, they will have to mount blinders on cooperatively gullible evangelicals, guiding their eyes towards disruptive Israeli checkpoints, while hiding the rest of the surrounding reality.
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Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com
URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2012/02/20/christ-at-an-israeli-checkpoint-2/
Christ IS at the checkpoints.
Some of the Israeli soldiers manning them are Orthodox Christians!
Yet another liberal protestant FAIL!!!!
They claim the name of ‘Christ’ over this anti-Semetic rubish? End days deception...
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
If I were satan in a contest with God for the souls of men, my first avenue of infiltration would be the churches.
Mr. Campolo is a false teacher. Anyone listening to this guy is blinded.
One example among many:
“Beyond these models of reconciliation, a theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam. Both religions have within their histories examples of ecstatic union with God, which seem at odds with their own spiritual traditions but have much in common with each other.”
-Tony Campolo
(Page 149, Speaking My Mind)
Heretic Quotes From Tony Campolo:
http://battle4truth.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/heretic-quotes-from-tony-campolo/
“The Evangelical Left is hosting a “Christ at the Checkpoint” jamboree at the birthplace of Jesus Christ to identify the Savior with Palestinian liberation”
Liberation theology is NOT Christian. It VERY clearly “misses the mark” with regard to the GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!
These views are not consistent with evangelical Christianity as I know and practice it. Time for a new term. EINO? Or maybe just sell outs.
The Evangelical Left is hosting a "Christ at the Checkpoint" jamboree at the birthplace of Jesus Christ to identify the Savior with Palestinian liberation.That'll work for David Duke fans and other skinheads.
It is good to see Stephen Sizer and Gary Burge correctly identified with the Evangelical Left.
EMpowerment is a communist code word. You have to be within their circle to exactly know what it means.
The church is woman, and empowerment is a dark force, force for its own sake, collectivism and corruption as a condition for entrance gain into any education, business or government position. It's a blood oath of raping for sake of countering the rapist, the way communists want to replace the absolute power of the Tsar with the absolute power of the communist, instead of letting people free.
REvolution is satanism, it is about absolute power, a beast, and it is not about freedom or leaving people alone, it is about gaining a seat of power, musical chair style.
Pigasteinian feed fest.
I stand corrected.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Don't tell our President or his Reverend, J. Wright, who made the ten top antisemites of 2011 list. The only American, quite an accomplishment.
From high heels to military drillsAnna King, 20, puts off promising modeling career abroad to don army uniform, become Hummer operator. Jerusalem-born model is one of only 100 Christians serving in IDF
~Yaron Sasson
Khaki is the new black: Some prefer easy money and the glitzy cat walk, while others opt for grease, sand and military uniform. At this very moment, Anna King – a Christian model from Jerusalem – could have been on the line between New York and Beijing, skipping from photo shoots to runway shows. But King chose to become a Hummer operator at the national center for ground forces training (MALI).
King was born 20 year ago in Jerusalem. Her grandfather is a member of the ascetic Amish sect, and the deep love for Israel was bestowed on her by her parents, who met during a Christian festival that was held in Israel.
Her father established the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem – an organization that supports Israel and encouraged wider Christian understanding of Biblical Zionism.
During her high school studies, King got an offer that changed her life. “I went to get a haircut with my mother,” she recalls. “The barber and his wife, who designs wedding dresses, asked me if I modeled. They said it was good money and showed me some catalogs.”
King began her modeling career shooting evening and wedding gowns for a local catalog; shortly thereafter, she signed a contract with a modeling agency.
“When I got my enlistment order I was contemplating whether to stay in Israel,” King admits.
“They wanted me to model for another big catalog and offered to fly me to Beijing and the United States and sign me on a big modeling contract,” she adds.
‘Gun shells in pocket’
But despite the great temptation, King decided to complete her military service. “I know that modeling offers good money, but it was important for me to enlist. My parents didn’t think I would go through with it, but they supported me.
“During basic training I would come home with stacks of gun shells in my pocket. My mom was mortified, but she slowly got used to it,” King notes.
Currently, King is one of some 100 Christians serving in the IDF. After completing her basic training at the southern Zeelim military base, King was given the position of a Hummer operator.
Although she is a self-proclaimed “spoiled only child,” King’s army service is far from pampering. “Drills can last from midnight until the first hours of the morning, and sometimes we can sleep a whole week in a pup tent,” she said.
In six months, after she completes 20 months of military service, King will receive her Israeli citizenship. Shortly thereafter, she will be released from the IDF, and would be able to switch back from camouflage to makeup.
Were Jesus to attempt to attend this "checkpoint" demonstration, as a Jew it would be a problem.
Heck, try a pro-Israel demonstration in Bethlehem and see what happens.
I suspect the President considers Jeremiah Wright a prophet of sorts.
He certainly has proven profitable to him.
Though in a white neighborhood, not to be confused with the White House his parishoner lives in.
Of course the White House belongs to all of us, the Wright house belongs to Jeremiah.
The Obama house
isn't up to the standards of an Emporer. Although I like it.
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