Category Archives: Middle East

Cairo Programme

Monday 13 February 8.30-9.45 am AUC, Speak in discuss in class on Zionism of Dr Michael Reimer.

Monday 13 February 1-3 pm AUC, Mary Cross Hall, Speaker at al-Quds Palestinian Club, and discussion. Multimedia and catering.

Monday 13 February 7 pm St John’s Church, Port Said Street, Maadi: Speech on Christian Zionism: The historical roots, faith basis and political agenda, discussion.

Tuesday 14 February, 10-12 am Meeting with Heliopolis Clergy in St Michael’s Church, 8 Seti Street, Heliopolis: Christian-Zionism and the Bible, speech, discussion, film

Wednesday 15 February, 7-9 pm All Saints Cathedral, Zamalek (behind Marriott hotel), Christian-Zionism and the Bible. Speech, discussion, film

Thursday 16 February, 7-9 pm St Michael’s Church, 8 Seti Street, Heliopolis: Open Meeting: Christian-Zionism and the Bible. Speech, discussion, film

Friday 17 February, 11-12.15 am St Michael’s Church, 8 Seti Street, Heliopolis: Preaching in Anglican (English) worship service. Time for discussion afterwards.

Sunday 19 February, 7-8.30 pm St Michael’s Church, 8 Seti Street, Heliopolis: Preaching in Anglican (Arabic) worship service. Time for discussion afterwards.

Heliopolis Anglican Church

Has the Church Replaced Israel? Revelation TV Debate

“Has the Church Replaced Israel?” A debate between Calvin Smith and Stephen Sizer broadcast on Revelation TV 9th November 2011.

Dr Calvin Smith, Principal of Kings Evangelical Divinity School,and I debated the question “Has the Church Replaced Israel?” live on Revelation TV. It was a good natured discussion and on many issues we were in agreement. The programme is available for purchase on DVD from Revelation TV.  Calvin and I introduced our positions at the beginning of the programme. Here is my opening statement.

Revelation TV Debate

The question I want us to consider tonight is this: Was the coming of Jesus the fulfilment or the postponement of the promises God made to Abraham? Is the Church central to God’s purposes today or a parenthesis to God’s continuing purposes for the Jewish people? Briefly let me ask three additional questions that may help us find an answer.

1. Who are God’s Chosen People?

The assumption that the Jewish people are God’s “chosen people” is so deeply ingrained, to question it sounds heretical or anti-Semitic. Yet both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures insist membership of God’s people is open to all races on the basis of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 56, we see the Lord anticipate and repudiate the rise of an exclusive Israeli nationalism.

“Let no foreigners who have bound themselves to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” … And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants … who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain… for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”” (Isaiah 56:3, 6-7)

In the New Testament the term “chosen” is used exclusively of the followers of Jesus, irrespective of race.

“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:11-12)

2. What is the Significance of the Promised Land?

Contrary to popular assumption, the Scriptures repeatedly insist that the land belongs to God and that residence is always conditional. For example, God said to his people, “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” (Leviticus 25:23).

The scriptures insist, residence was open to all God’s people on the basis of faith not race. Indeed, the writer to Hebrews explains that the land was never their ultimate desire or inheritance any way.

“By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:9-10; 39-40)

The land was only ever intended as a temporary residence until the coming of Jesus Christ. Our shared eternal inheritance is heavenly not earthly.

3. Does God have a separate plan for Israel apart from the Church?

Many believe that God has a continuing covenant with Israel, separate from the Church. This is usually base this on passages like Romans 9-11, although the context is often ignored. In Romans 2:28-29, for example, the Apostle Paul defines ‘Jew’.

“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29)

That is why in Romans 9, the term ‘Israel’ is limited to those who acknowledge the Lord Jesus.

“It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8)

In the letter to the Philippians, Paul explicitly identifies the church as the true ‘circumcision’ (Phil. 3:3). This is entirely consistent with the Old Testament, where, as we have already seen, citizenship of Israel was open to all ‘those who acknowledge me’ (Psalm 87:4). And here is the clue to understanding Romans 9-11. Of course God has not rejected the Jewish people. His covenant purpose for them, as with every other race, has always been ‘that they may be saved’ (Romans 10:1), to create one people for himself, made of both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 11:26). God’s covenant purposes are fulfilled only in and through Jesus Christ. This is most fully explained in Ephesians 2.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” … remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one … His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Ephesians 2: 11-16)

To summarise, in the New Testament we are told explicitly that the promises were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in those who acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour. God’s blessings come by grace through faith, not by works or race (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ… There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:16, 28-29).

It is not an understatement to say that what is at stake is our understanding of the gospel, the centrality of the cross, the role of the Church, the nature of our missionary mandate, not least, to the beloved Jewish people.

For more resources see:

Zion’s Christian Soldiers? The Bible, Israel and the Church
Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions
Seven Biblical Answers Interactive Bible Studies 

Little Town of Bethlehem Premier: Virginia Water Sunday 28th November

Christ Church, Virginia Water is hosting a UK premier of the film Little Town of Bethlehem on Sunday 28th November at 2.00pm. Free admission. For travel details see here

Little Town of Bethlehem, a documentary film, follows the story of three men of three different faiths and their lives in Israel and Palestine. The story explores each man’s choice of nonviolent action amidst a culture of overwhelming violence.

The film examines the struggle to promote equality through nonviolent engagement in the midst of incredible violence that has dehumanized all sides.

Dr Bishara Awad, the Principal of Bethlehem Bible College and the father of Sami Awad is due to speak at the 11.00am and 6.30pm services at Christ Church, Virginia Water on Sunday 28th November, as well as introduce the film at 2.00pm.

Little Town of Bethlehem: The Story

Sami’s story begins as a young boy living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; Yonatan’s starts on an Israeli military base; and Ahmad’s begins in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Their three stories are interwoven through the major events of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics and following through the first Intifada, suicide bombings in Israel, the Oslo Accords, the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin, and the second Intifada. Sami, Yonatan, and Ahmad each describe the events from their unique perspective, interjecting personal reflections and explaining how these events led them to become involved in the nonviolence movement.

In Bethlehem, the city where it is said that God became man, Sami just wants to be seen as human. First learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a teen, he began lecturing about nonviolence in high school. Later, Sami traveled to India to learn more about Gandhi. As the result of his discoveries, he founded the organization Holy Land Trust to promote nonviolence in the Palestinian community.

Yonatan embraced his father’s legacy as a pilot in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and fulfilled his own dream of becoming an IDF helicopter pilot. However, his journey led him to the astonishing decision to join with 26 other IDF pilots who publicly refused to participate in missions that would lead to civilian casualties. Co-founding the organization Combatants for Peace, made up of former Israeli and Palestinian combatants, Yonatan struggles to reconcile his love for his country with his growing opposition to the Israeli occupation.
After studying in Spain, Ahmad returned to Bethlehem to become a nonviolence trainer. Despite the daily challenges of living in a refugee camp, Ahmad remains committed to his community and risks his life and livelihood in nonviolent actions to bring an end to oppression.

For their work, Sami and Ahmad have been labeled as “Israeli collaborators” by some within the Palestinian community, and are seen as a threat to security by the Israeli military. By refusing to participate in offensive military actions against Palestinian civilians, Yonatan has been branded a traitor by some Israelis and can no longer work in his homeland.

All three men have had their lives threatened by members of their own communities as a result of their work. Sami, Yonatan, and Ahmad continue to embrace their common humanity and equality for all, daring to have the hope that peace in the Holy Land can be achieved through nonviolent struggle.

Most films will entertain you. Good films will educate you as well. Brilliant films will engage and move you to action. Once in a while along comes a film that motivates you to become a participant rather than spectator. This is one of those rare films.

Frankie Schaeffer Reviews With God on Our Side

Two men shaped my early Christian thinking probably more than all the others combined – John Stott and Francis Schaeffer, to whom I will be eternally grateful. I met Francis Schaeffer’s son Frankie two years ago and we dialogued about our mutual interest in the Middle East and our concern about the destructive influence of Christian Zionism.

Frankie has now written a review of our new film With God on our Side in his own inimitable style.  Here’s a taster:

The so-called Jewish lobby is supposed to be so powerful that no American president can act without their approval. This is an anti-Semitic slur, a kind of Americanized “lite” version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (a forged anti-Semitic screed purporting to describe a Jewish plan to achieve global domination). For one thing most Jewish-Americans aren’t part of this lobby, but rather are ordinary American citizens who are just as skeptical of right-wing Jewish Zionist fundamentalist Israelis as other Americans are — perhaps more so, because they know more about them.

The truth is that when it comes to pandering to powerful religious/ethnic “blocs” in the US the biggest game in town is the across the board bowing to the white Evangelical “base” of the Republican Party. That’s the bloc of voters that adds up to real numbers, as high as a third of the American voting population.

It’s the Christian Zionists who have driven American foreign policy over a cliff. (I’m speaking here as the proud father of a Marine, who was sent to war in the Middle East, again and again.) Christian Zionists continuously jeopardize our future by putting the promotion of harebrained interpretations of biblical “prophecy” ahead of the well being of both Israel and the US.

To the Christian Zionists “defending Israel” is just a handy pretext for indulging their obsession: egging on, even “helping” the fulfillment of “biblical prophecies” about the “return of Christ.” But their worst sin isn’t just embracing dumb “theology” but that they have enabled a nefarious group of losers to irreparably harm America and contribute to the needless killing of our men and women in uniform worldwide: the neoconservatives.

To the neoconservatives “defending Israel” is just a handy pretext for upholding the myth of “American exceptionalism” for profit and nationalistic “glory,” of the kind that was supposed to have gone out of fashion when hubris and stupidity got half the young male population of Europe killed in World War One.

America needlessly went to war in Iraq because neoconservative war mongers — who laugh at the “those rubes” as they think of earnest Evangelical Christian Zionists, and whose own sons and daughters seem notably absent from our armed services — used the religious passion and dedication of conservative Evangelicals to provide political means and cover for the neoconservatives’ commitment to America’s military dominance of the world. In other words the Evangelicals provided the votes to put foolish war mongers like George W Bush in power.

With “friends” like the Christian Zionists and the neoconservatives Israel, America, our men and women in uniform, the Palestinians and the rest of humanity need no enemies. This is made poignantly clear by a new film, With God On Our Side.

With God On Our Side is the most powerful, humane and compassionate documentary exposé of the Christian Zionist movement, and the impact of their ideology on the lives they have touched (and ruined), ever made. It is well crafted, subtle and fair. And — notable in the “when hell freezes over” department — it was directed and produced by… an American Evangelical.

Read the rest here

Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

With God on our Side: UK Tour

“The first obvious challenge of “With God On Our Side” was articulating a perspective on the Middle East debate anchored in history and sound theology. Porter Speakman has not only met that test, but also delivered one of the clearest assessments of the struggle between Palestinians and Jews, and a US Church largely unaware of their complicity in the current conflict. Speakman’s second more ominous challenge will be obtaining an audience, often steeped with established notions, open to wrestling with the film’s content. The hope of an ongoing Christian presence in the Holy Land may depend on the success of his message… I dare anyone to see this film and remain unchanged.” Steven W. Haas – Vice President/Chief Catalyst, World Vision United States

“This film is informative, it’s inspiring, it’s challenging and it summarizes in brilliant fashion, what the problem is and what needs to change in order to solve the problem. I don’t know of anything quite like it – and I would have to say the church desperately needs it.” Tony Campolo Professor emeritus of sociology, Eastern University and founder and president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education

“I can’t think of any form of media in recent years that deals more clearly and powerfully with the most complex region of the world. I can’t recommend it enough!” Carl Medearis Author  “Muslims, Christians, and Jesus”  & “Tea With Hezbollah”

“Finally! A look at what Christian Zionism teaches and more importantly, the real implications it has on the people of the Middle East. A perspective not heard often in the church.” Brian McLaren – Author / Speaker / Activist

4 stars “…Christian Zionism is officially on notice…Whether one agrees with Speakman or not, his challenging glimpses remind us that people are at stake here.” Christianity Today – July 2010, pg. 56.

With God on our Side: UK Tour

Manchester, England
November 8, 2010
Nazarene Theological College – 7:00 PM

Dundee, Scotland
November 9, 2010
Hilton Hotel – Earl Grey Place – 7:15 PM

Edinburgh, Scotland
November 10, 2010
Holyrood – Scottish Parliament
Invitation Only

Belfast, Northern Ireland
November 11, 2010
Stormont – Northern Ireland Assembly (Afternoon)
Invitation Only

Belfast, Northern Ireland
November 11, 2010
Queens University Belfast – 7:30 pm
The School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work
6 College Park – Belfast BT7 1LP

Dublin, Ireland
November 12, 2010 – 7:30 pm
Synge Theatre – Trinity College, Dublin

Cambridge University
November 13, 2010 – 2:00 PM
Queen’s Building Auditorium, Emmanuel College
St Andrew’s Street
Ben White will be joining Porter Speakman, Jr. and Rev. Stephen Sizer

With God On Our Side takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel’s security as a whole.

This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.”

For more information see With God on our Side

With God on our Side: iPhone App





“With God On Our Side” takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel’s security as a whole.

This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.”

iPhone Apps Store

Who is my Neighbour? (Luke 10) World Vision Day of Prayer

Good Samaritan (Luke 10) World Vision Day of Prayer from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Do you ever worry about your neighbours? About that they may think of you? What impression you give them as a neighbour? When they meet you or see you from a distance, what impression do they get? Is it accurate or a distortion? Are your neighbours threatened or confused by the impressions you give? Do they want to get to know you or do they lock the door and hide? Scientists tell us that the further away your neighbours live, the more likely they are to hold outdated, inaccurate and stereotypical views of you. Did you know, for example, that once broadcast, TV signals begin an endless journey outward into the cosmos at the speed of light? That means our earliest TV broadcasts are probably travelling through star systems more than 400 trillion miles from earth. Do you realise that our neighbours living 60 light years away are watching the first episodes of the Lone Ranger in black and white. 50 light years away they are now watching Rawhide and Bonanza. 40 light years away they have moved on to the original Star Trek series. 30 light years away they are able to watch the Dukes of Hazzard and Knots Landing. Just 20 light years away its Seinfeld and the Sopranos. Those only 10 light years away are being blessed by the Apprentice and countless episodes of Lost. Does it worry you what our neighbours in space may think about us? Does it matter what impression we give? If you want to explore this further I recommend the new film District 9

Continue reading →

Little Town of Bethlehem

Little Town of Bethlehem, the Trailer, EGM Films

Sami, Ahmad, Yonatan come from radically different backgrounds in a land of unending war. Yet, against all odds, including some within their Israeli and Palestinian communities, they are able to find common ground. They walk a path of nonviolence struggle in lockstep with Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. For them courage is found not in taking up arms, but setting them down once and for all and extending a hand in peace.

From the award-winning team that brought you End of the Spear (2006) and Miss HIV (2007) comes director Jim Hanon’s latest documentary, Little Town of Bethlehem. Unscripted and unrehearsed, discover the humanity lurking behind an ancient cycle of violence.

Featuring: Sami Awad, Ahmad Al’Azzeh, Yonatan Shapira. Music Produced by: Kirk Whalum. Film Design by: Mike Galloway and Mark Arnold. Produced by: Mart Green. Written, Directed and Filmed by: Jim Hanon. Feature running time: Approximately 77 minutes. This film is rated PG-13, Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13, for some violent and disturbing images.

This is a ‘must see’ film.