C. Aaron Russell's Blog, page 8
March 3, 2014
Obama attemps to strong arm Israel into Palestinian agreement
By Jeffrey Goldberg (Bloomberg)
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House tomorrow, President Barack Obama will tell him that his country could face a bleak future — one of international isolation and demographic disaster — if he refuses to endorse a U.S.-drafted framework agreement for peace with the Palestinians. Obama will warn Netanyahu that time is running out for Israel as a Jewish-majority democracy. And the president will make the case that Netanyahu, alone among Israelis, has the strength and political credibility to lead his people away from the precipice.
In an hourlong interview Thursday in the Oval Office, Obama, borrowing from the Jewish sage Rabbi Hillel, told me that his message to Netanyahu will be this: “If not now, when? And if not you, Mr. Prime Minister, then who?” He then took a sharper tone, saying that if Netanyahu “does not believe that a peace deal with the Palestinians is the right thing to do for Israel, then he needs to articulate an alternative approach.” He added, “It’s hard to come up with one that’s plausible…”
“There comes a point where you can’t manage this anymore, and then you start having to make very difficult choices,” Obama said. “Do you resign yourself to what amounts to a permanent occupation of the West Bank? Is that the character of Israel as a state for a long period of time? Do you perpetuate, over the course of a decade or two decades, more and more restrictive policies in terms of Palestinian movement? Do you place restrictions on Arab-Israelis in ways that run counter to Israel’s traditions?..”
“If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time,” Obama said. “If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited…” (read full interview at Bloomberg)
February 27, 2014
As U.S. strips away religious freedom, Israel makes strides
Israel Separates Christian and Muslim Arabs (Legally) for the First Time
Knesset grants special minority representation to Arab Christians, but many don’t want it.
Kate Tracy (Christianity Today)
The “Herev” (Sword) Battalion, comprised of Druze, Jewish and Christian soldiers, are an elite unit specially trained within the Israel Defense Forces
An Israeli bill will grant legal distinction between Israel’s Muslim and Christian Arabs for the first time, recognizing Christians as a separate minority. But many Arab Christians don’t want such distinctions.
The controversial bill was approved by a 31-6 vote in its third and final reading in the Knesset Monday. The legislation will also increase employment representation for Christian Arabs in Israel’s government by adding an Israeli Christian Arab to the panel of the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunity.
This will give the primarily Arab 160,000-person Christian population in Israel its own representative alongside representatives for ultra-orthodox Jews, new immigrants, women, and other religious and social groups, according to the Jerusalem Post…
“There is a big difference between Christians and Muslims, and they deserve recognition and separate representation,” he told the Jerusalem Post. ”For 60 years the state treated all minorities as one homogeneous group, and it was a mistake…”
“[This bill] makes justice for Christian needs and solves discrimination against them within the Arab community that the state has falsely put them in for 65 years,” Shadi Halul, leader of the Christian IDF Officers Forum, told the Times of Israel…(read full story at Christianity Today)
February 25, 2014
Ministry and Scandal
Founding pastor of world’s largest church sentenced to 3 years in prison for embezzling $12 million US in church funds.
by Israel Wayne (Christian Worldview)
In recent months there have been a couple of national ministries that have been shaken (or completely destroyed) through allegations of moral and/or financial scandal. These situations are the not the first of their kind, nor are they the last. At the moment, I know of a couple of others who are a hair’s breadth away from hitting the national headlines.
I have, along with many others, been giving much thought and prayer to what we are to learn from these situations. I certainly do not have all of the answers, but I want to share a few observations that I hope will be instructive.
1. Ministries are Not God’s Eternal Plan.
The big picture, the meta-narrative, if you will, is not about little “kingdoms.” It never has been, and it never will be. It is about THE KINGDOM of God. The Eternal Kingdom will never pass away (see Daniel 4:3). Ministries or movements or revivals or awakenings are not the big picture. God uses them, in a temporary way, to establish his eternal purposes, but they are temporary, and are never intended to last forever.
Even local churches are not THE KINGDOM. Local expressions of the Universal Church may come and go. God will always have His remnant, who will do His will on the earth, but it may not always be in a particular geographical place at any given point in history. For that matter, even nations are not promised longevity. The churches in the Jesus Letters in Revelation 2 and 3 are all gone today. But the Kingdom rolls on.
2. Feeding “The Machine”
The reason I emphasize the first point is that this is often forgotten by ministry leaders. I don’t know why, but once an organization is formed, and a mission stated, nearly everyone involved (particularly the leader(s)) becomes obsessed with feeding the machine. There is financial overhead, deadlines, staff to pay, and the ever-present, relentless need (the reason the ministry was founded in the first place) that is always screaming.
Granted, there are some organizations that are frauds from the beginning. They were founded with the intent of “fleecing the flock” by unsavory characters who are greedy for selfish gain. That is not what I’m referring to here. I’m speaking of legitimate needs that were, at least initially, met by God-fearing people who sought to do good in Jesus’ name.
The financial demands on these organizations is sometimes fierce. I received a letter this week from a well-known Bible teacher, encouraging me to donate, reminding me that his organization requires over $500,000 per month in order to meet budget. When this man started his ministry, less than 50 years ago, with a Bible and a dream to help people understand it better, did he ever imagine the kind of pressure he would eventually be under to keep up the momentum he eventually achieved.
Very rarely does a ministry ever downscale. The people who found these organizations are usually visionaries, and the trajectory is almost always onward and upward to bigger and better and greater things. This is surely well-intentioned, but often deadly.
3. A Ministry is Comprised of Real People
An organization somehow takes on a life of its own. Even though it is truly only ever about the individuals who comprise that association at a given moment, it quickly becomes an impersonal entity that we innately trust, or think we know. When we hear about McDonalds, or WalMart or Apple, we think of a corporate entity and what it represents. The same is true of a Christian ministry. What we fail to remember, however, is that these organizations are not nameless, faceless robots who perform their obligations mechanically while we all sleep soundly at night. No, real individuals, like you and me, are involved in these tasks.
That means that real shortcomings, near-nearsightedness, temptations and even sin, are possible and probably present, in these organizations at any given moment. Because this is good work, being done in the name of the Lord, we often assume that these people are immune to failure or poor judgment. Not so.
On the other hand, some ministries are very personality-driven, by larger-than-life individuals, who are often better known than the organizations they represent. Even so, these people, despite their massive persona, are still just real people, like you and I.
4. Leadership is a Double-Edged Sword
People who lead organizations usually do so because they have a unique personality type (and in some cases calling) that sets them above the rest of society. They are persuasive, intelligent, have vision, charm, charisma, and a way to influence others and rally them to a cause. These same traits that propel them to leadership can also be the seeds of their own undoing.
Once someone becomes known as a leader, expert, authority, “answer man,” or some other title of adulation, a kind of addictive narcissism often takes over. That leader often has no peers, no equals, and in many cases respects no one besides himself (or herself). So often every interaction this leader has with others is in a capacity of authority, where he is above those he leads, or serves. This can give a person a feeling of power, and in some cases infallibility or invincibility. Rather than recognizing his place as one who serves, he begins to see himself as worthy of being served by others. He often becomes arrogant and demanding of others. Everything is suddenly all about him, not about Jesus.
5. Organizational Ministry is a Means to an End, not an End in and of Itself.
True ministry must always be an overflow of the reality of the life of Christ in our own personal lives, and our families. True ministry always begins in the home, with those who know us the best. If it isn’t happening there, we need to reorient our priorities and take care of that first. It is easy to get so busy in the serving, in the doing, that we lose sight of that to which we are truly called: Being. Spending time alone with Christ, on a daily basis, is the only way to ensure that we will not be shipwrecked by the trials and temptations of the work (see John 15).
If a work ever runs its course, finishes its purpose, etc., then we need to be willing to allow it to dissolve. If we ever become so possessive of a ministry or a church or some other good thing, that we can’t allow it to die at the appointed time, it is clear that it has become an idol in our lives. God is interested in relationship with us, as individuals. He didn’t die for organizations. He doesn’t justify or sanctify organizations. He lives in and directs the lives of real people, doing real work; hopefully His way.
6. Scandal Teaches Important Lessons
I don’t think the downfall of a ministry, or a leader is always a bad thing. Okay, on one level, it’s always a bad thing. Whenever there is moral failure or corruption, that is bad. We never want that to happen. But when there is corruption, or false teaching, it needs to be exposed. It needs to come out in the light. Hiding it will only cause more people to be hurt in the end. We need to be willing to “walk in the light” as the Apostle John commanded us. Scandal teaches us that Christ is jealous for His name, and though He is patient, eventually, He will bring down any effort in His name that becomes apostate.
We must also remember that we have an enemy who is always at work. He will seek any opportunity, any door left unattended. The whole chapter of 1 Peter 5 is about this. We need to continue to check our motives, and resist the devil. We need to pray for those in leadership, as they face a stricter judgment (James 3:1), and are easier targets in many ways for the enemy.
Let the Hero Worship End!
One of the most important lessons we learn is that no one is to be worshiped, but Christ alone. I am thankful for faithful Christian men and women who do the work of the ministry in a Godly way. I think those people need to be encouraged and commended (the Apostles did this, mentioning faithful brethren and sisters by name). However, there is a tendency we all have to exalt people to a place of esteem that is unhealthy. A person is just a person, regardless of the level of success they have achieved in this life. Jesus deserves unreserved allegiance and adoration; no one else does. Jesus will bring to the ground any organization and/or individual who exalts itself/himself as a rival to His throne. We should be thankful for faithful workers, but we must never exalt them beyond their station. We are all equal at the foot of the cross. We are all sinners saved by a gracious Savior. He alone deserves our worship.
Israel Wayne is an Author and Conference Speaker and is the Director of Family Renewal.
February 24, 2014
My husband confessed to porn–A faithful wife’s testimony
How Would You Respond to Your Husband Watching Porn?
SARAH KEITH (Charisma News)
My husband and I had been married only a few years when he came home from work one day to say he had been suspended for online pornography. I was then pregnant with our second child. It felt like an atomic bomb had fallen on me: All that I thought was safe and stable in my life imploded, and everything around me went into slow motion.
Eighty percent of Christian men admit to struggling with an addiction to pornography. I had been a fairly good girl my whole life. I never dreamed that my marriage would become part of a statistic like this. Honestly, in order to reflect reality, the statistic should be much higher. Pornography is the church’s dirty little family secret that no one is allowed to talk about.
My husband was one of many men in today’s society who was exposed to pornography by the age of 6. Initial exposure to pornography is often not by choice but rather in the form of advertising or through another person’s influence. Pornography is presented to men or boys as entertainment and, like addiction to gaming systems, its imprisonment comes as a total surprise. Pornography’s iron fist is stronger than self-will or any counseling tactic.
But in one moment, God changed our story. After 30 years of struggling, my husband experienced freedom and innocence again. And his freedom was my freedom.
As a wife, you are in a place of tremendous influence in the situation. You can build or crush his faith in God, the only hope of his rescue. Your husband watches your words, attitudes and responses, and though he may not admit it, they bear so much weight in the end result.
Here are some things to remember as a wife…(finish reading at Charisma News)
Sarah Keith lives in Kansas City, Mo., with her husband and four children. She is a former high school English teacher and has assisted in writing and editing various ministry materials for her church, World Revival Church.
February 21, 2014
For Christians, Middle East ‘liberation’ proving more deadly than dictators
The Simple Wisdom of Arab Dictators
by Raymond Ibrahim
After my recent articles documenting how the U.S. is the chief facilitator of Christian persecution in the Muslim world, I received an email from John Eibner, CEO of Christian Solidarity International, in which he made the following observation:
The sad fact is that the ruthless Assad dictatorship has a better record than the United States or its Sunni allies of protecting religious minorities in the Middle East. What Syrian Christian, Alawite or Druze in their right mind would trade the Assad’s time-tested protection for the smooth words of a John Kerry, especially when they can see Sunni supremacist Saudis, Qataris, Turks and a motley array of jihadis over their shoulder?
A sad fact indeed.
Still, one of the most nagging questions for Western observers must be: Why would ruthless dictators, most of whom are at least nominally Muslim, care about Christians and bother to protect them?
The answer is related to the popular adage (possibly of Arab origin), “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This has long meant that, whoever is at odds with my enemy becomes my natural friend and ally.
In the context of Arab dictators and Christian minorities, however, the adage changes slightly to, “The enemy of ‘infidels’ is my enemy.”
Put differently, a secular Bashar Assad—ruthless as he may be—knows that those Islamic rebels that attack Christians because the latter are “infidels” also see him as an infidel and are thus his natural enemies.
And so, if anything, finding and neutralizing those “elements” that persecute Christians is one with finding and neutralizing those elements that would overthrow him.
It was the same in Saddam’s Iraq, Mubarak’s Egypt, Qaddafi’s Libya, and the rest.
The point is not that these dictators had any special love for their Christian subjects, but rather that they knew they had little to worry about from them, while those who attack Christians are the ones to worry about.
This is evinced by the fact that, in other contexts, such Arab rulers cast the Christians to the lions as scapegoats for Islamists to vent their rage on—a “better them than me mentality.”
Still, an overarching deduction exists: those who scream “infidels” while burning churches are the same who scream “apostate” while attacking state targets. It’s an unwavering truism.
Even al-Qaeda’s Ayman Zawahiri recently demonstrated this correlation when he called on Egypt’s jihadis to stop targeting Christians and their churches and focus instead on fighting the current rulers. In both cases, the jihadis see the “infidel”—whether the born Coptic Christian infidel or the “apostate” military—as the enemy.
Due to Egypt’s significant Christian population which numbers at least ten million (if not much more), the adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” takes on more complete meaning in that nation: the Copts and their church did play a supportive role in the June revolution that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood, even as Pope Tawadros stood side-by-side with Gen. Sisi and Al Azhar’s Grand Sheikh, Ahmed al-Tayab—only to suffer at the hands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, including al-Qaeda, everywhere.
Such is the simple wisdom and instinct for survival of the Arab autocrats of the Middle East—a wisdom that concludes that, “he who targets Christians because they are ‘infidels,’ is he who targets me.”
Meanwhile, far from exhibiting such simple common sense, Western governments in general, the U.S. government in particular, continue to aid and abet those who, by targeting and killing Christians simply because they are “infidels,” are continually exposing their ingrained hostility for the West and everything it once stood for.
Raymond Ibrahim is a Middle East and Islam specialist and author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings have appeared in a variety of media, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, World Almanac of Islamism, and Chronicle of Higher Education; he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, NPR, Blaze TV, and CBN. Ibrahim regularly speaks publicly, briefs governmental agencies, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and testifies before Congress. He is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum, a Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a CBN News contributor. Ibrahim’s dual-background — born and raised in the U.S. by Coptic Egyptian parents born and raised in the Middle East — has provided him with unique advantages, from equal fluency in English and Arabic, to an equal understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets, positioning him to explain the latter to the former.
February 20, 2014
Hollywood hopes to ‘cash in’ on Christians in 2014
Bible Films ‘Noah’ and ‘Son of God’ Are Competing for Christian Audiences This Spring
ABBY OHLHEISER (The Wire)
Two films with Biblical storylines are going to be released in the next few weeks. One of them, Son of God, is already selling out midnight screenings for its late February premiere date to church groups. The other, Noah, was re-cut half a dozen times by producers — apparently unsuccessfully — to try and win over Christian movie-going audiences, according to director Darren Aronofsky. This year is actually a crowded one for Bible-based story lines. Some are Christian films, some are not. And apparently, that’s sometimes tough for the studios backing them to untangle how to sell them.
The first two so-called Bible films of the year have very different backgrounds and intents. Son of God is produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who also made The History Channel’s Bible miniseries. The pair are capitalizing on the commercial success of that miniseries by releasing the mix of re-purposed and new footage from The Bible as a film. And they’re also Christians, making a Christian movie. On the other hand, Noah is not an explicitly Christian film, although it has its basis in a well-known biblical story, to which it remains rather faithful. Aronofsky, it should be noted, did not make Noah to glorify God, or to promote religious belief. He was understandably opposed to his studio’s efforts to repackage the film in the editing booth for a conservative Christian audience…
Now that Aronofsky has won his battle with the studios to show his own cut of the film, and not the one studios think will appeal to Christians, it looks like the director’s Bible film “for everyone” will remain just that. And besides, the wider marketing effort for the big-budget epic is hardly focused on its Biblical integrity. Its a classic tale of star power and special effects…(read full story at The Wire)
Bible movies to ‘flood’ screens, return religious films to the box office this year
Mark A. Kellner (Deseret News)
…By contrast, 20th Century Fox’s “Exodus,” of which little has also been publicly disclosed, appears to be more faithful to its biblical narrative, found in its eponymous Old Testament book.
Expected to be released on Dec. 12, the film is Ridley Scott’s retelling of the children of Israel’s liberation from Egyptian slavery, in which Christian Bale and Sigourney Weaver, a Scott favorite, respectively portray Moses and Queen Tuya, Pharaoh Seti’s wife.
Last December, movie trade magazine and fan websites showed a photo of Bale as Moses, with Britain’s Empire magazine describing the onetime prince of Egypt as “riding a very shiny horse and dressed in duds that would not disgrace Gandalf the White…”
Along with the three Bible-related films, Hollywood is also, apparently, responding to Baehr’s call for more faith themes.
At the end of March, moviegoers can see the independently produced ”God Is Not Dead,” in which a faithful college student defends his belief against an atheistic professor. April will see the release of Sony Pictures’ ”Heaven Is for Real,” chronicling a 7-year-old’s recollection of being in heaven…(read full story at Deseret News)
February 18, 2014
Christian Priests rescue Muslims from gangs seeking revenge
report from (Christian Telegraph)
Unidentified Islamist Seleka rebel: Central African Republic become hotbed of religious violence between Muslims and Christians, both sides being accused of atrocities
Priests in the Central African Republic have recently attempted to save Muslims from slaughter at the hands of Anti-balaka militia forces, according to new reports from the Voice of America (VOA) and Human Rights Watch, reports CISA.
The atrocities committed by Anti-balaka forces follow in the wake of similar actions committed by the Islamist Séléka forces that helped bring Michel Djotodia to power in March 2013.
“The widespread atrocities committed over the past 10 months by the mostly Muslim Séléka rebel group are at the root of the current violence in the Central African Republic,” Human Rights Watch reported.
Séléka “carried out a campaign of executions, indiscriminate killings, village burnings, and rape that plunged the country into chaos and displaced nearly a quarter of the country’s majority Christian population.”
Following the arrival of French and African Union troops, Djotodia resigned and went into exile in January, and Séléka fighters retreated to bases.
Anti-balaka, originally a network of self-defense militias, has been taking vengeance upon Muslims.
In Boali, a town of 9,000 in the southwestern part of the nation, 500 Muslims are now living at the Catholic parish, Voice of America News reported.
“I didn’t have a plan,” said Father Xavier-Arnaud Fagba. “I was just thinking here are brothers in difficulty. They needed help. I went [door to door] to get them as a pastor and as a Christian. I did it in the name of my faith.”
In Boda, a town in the southwestern portion of the nation, “the local Catholic priest also attempted to prevent an attack on the Muslim community,” according to Human Rights Watch.
The nation’s leading prelate has denounced Anti-balaka’s activities and has made clear that it is not Christian, even though it is often described as Christian in Western media reports.
In addition, the nation’s bishops have urged Christians not to take revenge upon Muslim.
February 14, 2014
Miracle ending for critically ill woman denied healthcare
by JANET ST. JAMES (WFAA)
PLANO — Sherilyn Hurdle thought she would have to be near death – brought to the hospital by ambulance – in order to get the surgery she desperately needs.
The 38-year-old Lewisville woman’s belly is distended with a watermelon-sized ovarian cyst that has been growing for two years.
Sherilyn has been the emergency room several times and urged to get surgery to remove the tumor before it ruptured. But without health insurance, unable to work, and ineligible for Medicaid, Sherilyn couldn’t afford surgery.
She, like thousands of Texans, fall into a frightening health care gap.
“I don’t want to be that person that lives off the government, I don’t want to do that,” she said. “I want to be able to work. And in order for me to work, this has got to come out.”
After a News 8 report on her desperate search to get surgery, offers to help came pouring in, including financial contributions from people Sherilyn had never met, and one from Plano Dr. Darrell Robins.
Robins is a gynecologist who said he watched the story and could tell Sherilyn’s condition was very serious.
“The one concern is that it could torque or twist, and that would be an emergency,” Dr. Robins said of the chance the cyst could burst, “or that it could be something not benign – that it could be cancerous – and that’s why we need to remove it and see what it is.”
The vast majority of ovarian cysts shrink on their own with time. Robins said ovarian cysts as large as Sherilyn’s are rare and can be dangerous.
Dr. Robins said because others have helped his family when they were in need, he offered to do Sherilyn’s surgery for free. Texas Health Plano provided the operating room…(continue reading at WFAA.com)
See previous story on Sherilyn at Men of Mind, A nation growing deaf to the cries of the poor (Video)
February 12, 2014
Suicide Bomber instructor saves lives, accidentally
Suicide Bomb Trainer in Iraq Accidentally Blows Up His Class
By DURAID ADNAN and TIM ARANGO (NY Times)
BY MORGAN LEE , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
BAGHDAD — If there were such a thing, it would probably be rule No. 1 in the teaching manual for instructors of aspiring suicide bombers: Don’t give lessons with live explosives.
In what represented a cautionary tale for terrorist teachers, and a cause of dark humor for ordinary Iraqis, a commander at a secluded terrorist training camp north of Baghdad unwittingly used a belt packed with explosives while conducting a demonstration early Monday for a group of militants, killing himself and 21 other members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, army and police officials said…
Just last week a suicide bomber struck a popular falafel shop near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, killing several people. On Monday evening Raad Hashim, working the counter at a liquor store near the site of the attack, burst out laughing when he heard the news.
“This is so funny,” Mr. Hashim said. “It shows how stupid they are, those dogs and sons of dogs.”
More seriously, he said, “it also gives me pain, as I remember all the innocent people that were killed here.”
“This is God showing justice,” Mr. Hashim continued. “This is God sending a message to the bad people and the criminals in the world, to tell them to stop the injustice and to bring peace. Evil will not win in the end. It’s always life that wins over death…” (continue reading at The New York Times)
February 10, 2014
Activity in church not always indicator of stronger faith
BY THOM S. RAINER , CHRISTIAN POST CONTRIBUTOR
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Perhaps the image many of us have of church dropouts is a person who was only marginally involved at the onset. He or she did not connect with people and ministries in the church, so that person became a dropout – a person who stopped attending church altogether.
But there are a number of persons who have been active in church life for years. They have had key leadership positions. They are considered some of the most faithful members. And then they are gone. Sometimes it’s sudden; on a few occasions it is more gradual…
1. Moral failure…
2. Dropping out of a group….
3. Burnout…
4. Traumatic event…
5. Dropping out of a ministry…
6. Major interpersonal conflict…
7. Gradual withdrawal…(read full article at Christian Post)
