Seattle Pacific University hosts lecture on Christian Zionism

Stephen Sizer expands on the roots of Christian Zionism and its political implications during his lecture on Wednesday in Demaray Hall.

By BETH DOUGLASS, News Writer

Published: April 29 2009

The United States’ support of Israel is built on faulty principles and is hurting the country’s foreign policy, evangelical Anglican pastor and London author Stephen Sizer said.

Yesterday afternoon, Sizer spoke in Demaray Hall 150 at an event called “Christian Zionism: What is it? Its history, theology and political impact on the world today.”

Throughout the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the United States has offered unwavering support to Israel, Sizer said. Much of this is due to the prevalence of Christian Zionism, or Christians who support the modern political state of Israel, established in 1948, he said.

There is an antipathy toward the Arabs and Palestinians within Christian Zionism, Sizer said. He countered that the Bible calls us to reconciliation and tells us to love our enemies, he said.

“This theology is impacting attitudes and opinions in the Middle East,” he said. There is a view that God is blessing America because the nation is helping Israel, he said, resulting in the demonizing of Islam and the characterization of Arabs as dogs and liars.

Giving Israel a geographic homeland in Palestine may not be the correct fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promise to Israel, he said.

Palestine was turned into a secular state for Israel after World War II, according to the Rooftop Productions film “With God on Our Side.” From then on, Israel continued to take over Palestinian land, leaving many refugees.

Israelis then engaged in what some call an “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, the film stated.

Growing up in the church and hearing many Old Testament Bible stories, U.S. Christians tend to idealize and romanticize Israel and Israeli culture, the film said.

When Americans hear about a conflict involving Israel, it seems obvious whose side they are on, the film said.

SPU is a very social justice-minded campus, yet there is little conversation about the situation in Palestine, said junior Kristin McCarthy, who helped plan the event.

“I think it is so sad how few people actually know about what is happening in Israel and Palestine,” she said.

Twenty to 40 million Americans support the Christian Zionism movement, according to the Pew Forum on Religion.

“I argue that it is shaping your foreign policy in the Middle East,” Sizer said.

Pro-Israeli groups are probably the most powerful lobbyists on Capitol Hill, Sizer said. Many of these lobbyists are Christian organizations.

Two-thirds of U.S. foreign aid goes to either Egypt or Israel, said John Berg, director of ministry advancement and development for a nonprofit organization called the Middle East Fellowship. The U.S. gives $10 billion per year to Israel, consisting of both official and unofficial foreign aid, he said.

“So much of our taxpayer money does go to the state of Israel,” said Professor of English Doug Thorpe. This makes U.S. Christians deeply invested in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, he said, and people are suffering because of how American foreign policy supports Israel.

No U.S. senator will speak against Israel, Sizer said, because to criticize Israel would be political suicide.

Some people have said Sizer’s viewpoint is anti-Semitic. However, he firmly upholds that this is not the case.

“I repudiate anti-Semitism unequivocally. Anti-Semitism is a form of racism,” Sizer said.

Fear of being anti-Semitic should not keep us from thinking critically about Christian Zionist ideas, Berg said.

There is a difference between Jewish ethnicity, Jewish religion and the modern country of Israel, Berg said. Historic anti-Semitism was against the Jewish ethnicity, he said, and Christian Zionism has redefined anti-Semitism.

The purpose of having Sizer speak on campus was not to advocate one particular viewpoint, but to start a conversation about the issue, McCarthy said.

“I think this is a really important conversation for the Christian community to be having,” she said.

Source: The Falcon Online

Peacemaking in Washington DC

World Vision’s executive director for international relations until March 1, 2009, Thomas Getman managed World Vision’s liaison activities with the UN and the World Council of Churches and was responsible for diplomatic relations with UN government member missions in Geneva and with countries on sensitive negotiations.

He served until recently on the board of principals for the UN Deputy Secretary General for Emergency Relief and as chair of the premier NGO consortium International Council of Voluntary Agencies.

From 1997 to 2001, Getman served as director of World Vision’s programs in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip where he was responsible for $5-8 million a year in relief and development projects in Palestine and Israel and advocacy for peace with justice.

Previously, Getman served for 12 years as director of government relations and special assistant to the president of World Vision United States at which time he founded WV’s office in DC. Getman interpreted U.S. government policy, pressed for needed foreign assistance, and advanced human rights, relief and development concerns.

From 1976 to 1985, as a Congressional staff member, Getman helped negotiate protocols with the presidents of Uganda and Zambia and encouraged warring factions to move forward with peace negotiations. In the mid-1980s, Getman played a central role to persuade the South African Foreign Ministry to cease support for the Mozambican rebel group Resistencia National Mocambicana (Renamo). He also was an adjunct speech writer for other national political figures, including President Gerald R. Ford.

Before joining World Vision, Getman served as legislative director and senior speech collaborator to U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield. In the US Senate, his primary assignments were African foreign policy and social justice, human rights and welfare issues. His most notable legislative contribution was to participate in the drafting team for the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1985. Getman also served as a regional director for Young Life for nine years in New England.

I caught up with Tom at St Mark’s Church on Capitol Hill in Washington and asked him about the role of Christian Zionism, his hopes for the new US administration and the changes needed in US policy in the Middle East.

I also inteviewed Joan Drake of Partners for Peace, Jim Vitarello of Sharing Jerualem

Christian Minorities Living Under Muslim Rule: Fuller Seminary

A paper delivered at the third evangelical Christian-Muslim Conference sponsored by North Park University in Chicago, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena and the World Islamic Call Society of Tripoli.

“Clearly the status of Christians living under Muslim rule is a controversial subject. Some might even call it a ‘minefield’. It has evoked strong opinions on both sides. There are some within the Islamic community who seem to be in denial as to the contemporary difficulties faced by Christian minorities. And there are some within the Christian (and Jewish) community who exaggerate and exacerbate these tensions for their own purposes.

I will begin with a brief history of the development of dhimmi status for Christian minorities; I will present two contrasting interpretations, give an assessment of the status of Christian minorities today, and then offer a (middle) way forward that neither ignores the anxieties of Christian minorities nor demonises Muslim majorities for the tensions that still exist between our two faith communities.”

You can read the full paper here or download a pdf here.

Read Tim Morgan’s Christianity Today blog of the conference here.

Meet some of the participants here.

A Common Word Between Us and You

I am at Fuller Theological Seminary participating in the third Evangelical Christian Muslim Conference. The theme is “A Common Word between us and you“. The conference has brought together evangelical and Muslim scholars from many educational institutions, mission agencies and countries to enhance the work of justice and peace.

Among the evangelicals here are: Donald Wagner, Leith Anderson, Gary Burge, Len Rogers, Colin Chapman, Dudley Woodbury, and Martin Accad. Muslim leaders include: Mahmoud Ayoub, Assad Busool, Asma Afsaruddin, Muhammad Sammak, Jamal Badawi, Sayid Sayeed, Abed Ismail.

Several present were signators of the Common Word declaration and the Christian Response initiaited by Yale. The two previous conferences in Chicago (November 2006) and Tripoli (January 2008) were formative and educational meetings with important friendships gained and fruitful dialogue exchanged. Sponsors include North Park University in Chicago, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena and the World Islamic Call Society of Tripoli.

During the conference I delivered a paper entitled “Christian Minorities living under Muslim rule” You can read it here or as a pdf here.

Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans: South East Regional Meeting in Virginia Water on Friday 15th May

The launch in the UK and Ireland of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), the orthodox Anglican movement for mission at global and local level, is to take place on July 6 in London. The Fellowship is the outworking of last year’s GAFCON conference in Jerusalem, at which 1200 delegates signed up to the Jerusalem Statement. Those attending Gafcon 2008 represented some 40 million Anglicans world-wide, 70% of the total active membership of 55 million.

Click here for a larger PDF poster

Visit the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans

Book a place on Friday 15th May here

Be Faithful: The Launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans – May 15th in Virginia Water & July 6th at Westminster Central Hall

The launch in the UK and Ireland of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), the orthodox Anglican movement for mission at global and local level, is to take place on July 6 in London.

The Fellowship is the outworking of last year’s GAFCON conference in Jerusalem, at which 1200 delegates signed up to the Jerusalem Statement. Those attending Gafcon 2008 represented some 40 million Anglicans world-wide, 70% of the total active membership of 55 million.

The launch event, entitled ‘Be Faithful! – Confessing Anglicans in Global and Local Mission’ will be held at Westminster Central Hall from 10.30am-5.30pm. The aim is to encourage and envision Anglicans who are committed to the orthodox teachings of the Anglican Church and who are passionate about global and local mission. It will be the first of regular ‘fellowship’ events both in the UK and across the world.

Speakers at the July 6 gathering, where around 2,300 bishops, clergy and laity are expected, will include contributors from across the Anglican Communion, including Bishops Keith Ackerman (President of Forward in Faith International), Wallace Benn (Bishop of Lewes), John Broadhurst (Chairman of Forward in Faith UK) and Michael Nazir-Ali, Dr Chik Kaw Tan plus Archbishop Peter Jensen (secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans www.fca.net). They, and others yet to be announced, will also lead gatherings in London churches on Sunday July 5th. the day before the launch.

Regional meetings, in the run up to the London event will also be held on:-

* May 14, St Batholomew’s, Bath
May 15, Christ Church, Virginia Water
* May 18, Holy Trinity, Platt, Manchester
* May 19, St Andrew’s, Newcastle-under-Lyme
* May 20, Christ Church, Fulwood, Sheffield

The Revd Paul Perkin, , vicar of St Mark’s Battersea Rise, London, and Chairman of the event planning team, said: “The fellowship is just that, a spiritual movement of brothers and sisters across the nation and the world. It is not a separatist party, nor is it an organisation, but a spiritual fellowship issuing from a concern for truth and unity. It is a renewal of our confessing Anglican roots and convictions, and will be forward-looking in gospel mission locally, and in solidarity globally with Anglicans throughout the world, especially those suffering through poverty or discrimination”.

For further information about the event, email befaithfulanglicans@gmail.com, or book on-line on www.anglican-mainstream.net

For further information:

Revd Paul Perkin, Be Faithful, Event Chairman: 020 7326 9412
Canon Dr Chris Sugden (Anglican Mainstream): 01865 883388

Beyond Gates of Splendor: Good Friday

On Good Friday, after our 12:00noon “Hour at the Cross” Service we are offering a simple meal of home-made soup and rolls. At 1:30pm we will be showing the film, “Beyond Gates of Splendor”. It chronicles the events leading up to and following Operation Auca, an attempt to contact the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador in which five American missionaries were killed.

The title of the film references Elisabeth Elliot’s 1957 bestseller, Through Gates of Splendor. First published in 1957, the book told the original story of the five martyred missionaries. A low budget documentary film was also produced with the same name in 1967. One year after Gates was published, the first successful peaceful contact with the Huaorani tribe was made. In the years that followed, many Huaos were converted to Christianity and changed their lifestyle. Therefore, Beyond the Gates recounts the unfolding story up unto the present day. The film also included new information that has since come out about the Palm Beach Massacre through communication with the Indians.

Beyond the Gates was very influential in the production of the drama film End of the Spear, which was released four years later. Many of the same events recounted by the Huaorani interviewees in Beyond the Gates were depicted dramatically in End of the Spear. The movie won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival in 2002. It also won the Audience Award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival in 2004 for Best Documentary Feature.

Read more at Christian Films and Christianity Today.

Rico Tice on “What is Success?” (Luke 12:13-21)

Last Saturday Rico Tice of All Soul’s, Langham Place, spoke at two events at Christ Church on “What is Success?”. His short answer is this: ‘failure’ is being successful in things that ultimately don’t matter.

You can listen to Rico’s talk here. Check out some photos here or on Flickr

“Well, gents thank you very much for coming out this morning, I wonder if you can see this piece of paper that’s in front of you on the tables. I’m just going to throw out a bit of the Bible and I just don’t know what you make of it. Here’s a bit of the Bible, it’s Jesus telling a parable so you can fold it up and put it in your wallet. I find it really compelling. Let me read it to you, say a few words about it, and then I really hope it will be food for thought. Let me read it to you, so here’s Jesus, it’s Luke 12, one of the biographies of Jesus, and this is the story we hear him tell:

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘”You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Continue reading →

Gary Lineker Supports Amos Trust Street Child World Cup

Footballer Gary Lineker has kicked off the latest project by the Amos Trust, which aims to give poor children around the world a voice through football.

The Street Child World Cup will bring together teams of street children from around the world to play in a football tournament in a year that will raise the profile of their human rights.

The BBC presenter said: “It is great that the Street Child World Cup will use this game, which is loved all over the world, to help give kids a fairer deal. No child should have to be on the streets, so if football can be a part of making a difference, that’s fantastic.”

Asked if this was the best way for children to achieve their identity, Douglas Alexander, cabinet minister for International Development, said: “I think children all over the world can learn something through football.”

Teams of street children from eight countries across Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe will compete in the football tournament that will be hosted in South Africa during March 2010, before the FIFA World Cup.

The project co-ordinator, Jenny Dawkins, said: “Typically, hunger, neglect and violence force children onto the streets, and hunger, neglect and violence meet them there. Children participating in the Street Child World Cup will be given opportunities to challenge parliamentarians, decision-makers and the media.

Source: Church of England Newspaper

Further Information: Amos Trust & Umthombo

Meet the New Athiests… same as the Old Atheists

Matt Sieger has written a brilliant article over at Jews for Jesus website. Here is a taster:

Move over Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche…

Make room for the new kids on the block—Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens! These “New Atheists” proclaim God’s non-existence with great fervor. But they’re not saying anything new.

Dawkins declares, “Faith is the great cop out.” Where did we hear this before? Oh, yes, Marx: “Religion is the opium of the people.”

Harris says belief in God is “a sign that something is seriously wrong with your mind.” Not new. Freud said that to put faith in God is “patently infantile.”

Hitchens states, “God did not make man in his own image. Evidently it was the other way about.” Nietzsche said it already: “Is man one of God’s blunders, or is God one of man’s?”

The Bible (oops, sorry atheists) got it right: “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

So what’s different about the New Atheists? They’re just more “in your face.” As Clark Pinnock notes:

These fellows such as Nietzsche and Freud thought more in depth about what atheism entails and could understand what might interest thoughtful people in religion. The new atheism in contrast is disinterested in fair-minded discussions about whether religion might actually have something to contribute to human knowledge. In the new atheism (and it is not really “new”), readers are not expected to understand religion or have any sympathy for it. Instead they are exhorted to detest faith.¹

But the New Atheists are actually wimps compared to the old atheists. When Nietzsche declared that God was dead, he understood that if there is no God, there are no morals. The New Atheists are afraid to go that far. They say we can have moral standards without God. But if there is a moral law, there must be a moral lawgiver. Where does our conscience come from, if not from God?

Read the rest here over at Jews-for-Jesus