Prosecuting Terror Bombers

The following is the response of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a letter from a Christians-for-Israel organization urging Israel to find and prosecute the religious Jews who planted the pipe bomb that blew Messianic teen Ami Ortiz to bits in April.

Clearly they are blaming the victims and do not have a serious intent to bring the perpetrators of this attempted murder to trial. Obviously, there has not been sufficient outcry in the Christian community to move Israel to execute justice.

Communicated via the Israeli Embassy of a foreign nation which I am choosing not to name here. I have added the bold emphasis:

Following your letter with regarding to the Ami Ortiz incident in Ariel, we submitted your comments to the relevant Israeli Authorities. Please find below information that the Embassy received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.

A. The police are investigating this case and due to the fact that there main force is intelligence the details are classified and they can't reveal any details on this issue.

The officer that is in charge of this area could only give information related to the background that led to the incident.

B. There are approximately 20 people in the Jewish Messianic community of Ariel. The head of this group act in a provocative way among the Jewish and Muslim in this area and try to convince them to convert their religion. Both communities are unsatisfied from his behaviour even though Ortiz's family lives in a good relationship with the Jewish neighbours.

C. The investigation of this matter is very complex and this is why it takes a long time to reach to a conclusion.

D. However, the police maintain a preventive activity that this case wouldn't repeat itself. The officer emphasised in general that the Messianic Jews need to change their approach towards other communities to prevent extreme actions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inform the Embassy once the investigation is completed.

Let me just add that the Ortiz' ministry is hardly "provocative." They live a godly life and operate in loving ministry to people in need on both the Jewish and the Palestinian sides of their region. For this good, they infuriate the anti-missionaries who hate Jewish believers in Jesus.

This letter tries to justify the attempted murder of the Ortiz family by religious fanatics in Israel by blaming the Messianic Jews for "provocative" conduct. DO NOT ACCEPT THIS LIE. Please pray for the Messianic Jews of Israel who are reporting a dramatic increase of persecution incidents by religious and anti-missionary groups over the past months.

This is a very serious situation for all the believers of Israel. Let's not fail our brothers and sisters again by remaining silent.



I just received an additional piece of information from David and Leah Ortiz:

A video report has been done on Ami and the bombing which will air on Channel one in Israel at 8PM our time this Friday May 30th..

The police tried to stop this report from being aired and brought Channel one into court twice!! However they were defeated twice.

They say that they don't want details of the case revealed for their investigation but 9 weeks have passed with no arrests and no suspects.

This is something that needs much prayer, but please pray for the perpetrators of this attempted murder and hate crime to be apprehended and for justice to be done.


Ami still faces many surgeries, continual pain and up to the next two years in a full body stocking to repair all the damages done by the bomb blast. What if he were your 16-year old? This is a cloud hanging over the head of every believers in Israel.

Cry Out for the Children (Breaking for Local News)

This is a break from IsraelWatching for local news

Cry Out for the Children
by Donna Diorio

Today's Dallas Morning News headline read -
"Appeals court: State had no right to seize children from polygamist compound"

May 23, 2008 Who can explain what it is about a news story when the Spirit puts His finger on your heart to not just pass it by like so many other sad and outrageous news stories we are exposed to day after day?

The news story about the children the state of Texas removed from the FLDS polygamous sect ranch is like that for me. The finger of God is in my heart about it.

I know the message on my heart is that if the people of God will not cry out for the children, thousands of FLDS children across North America are doomed, never to escape their abused captivity under an abominable perversion of the Word of God. This is a spiritual battle first and foremost, and that is not to say that we should pray only, but we should pray and then cry out in the public arena.

For hours and hours I have researched what is being written in newspapers and by the new grass roots ‘free press’ of blogs and commentary websites. Sadly, the voice of the people of God is simply not being raised in the public square for the protection of these children.

Overwhelmingly the articles and reader talkbacks, web page and blog commentaries are more interested in preserving the “civil rights” of the children (not to be removed from their polygamist families) than they are seeking to protect the children from systematic sexual child abuse.

Everybody knows what the FLDS is doing in their isolated, fortressed compounds in the Western United States, Canada and Mexico. Sexual relations with minors is illegal in all those places, but the educated, engaged voices in America are crying out AGAINST the authorities in the State of Texas and Child Protective Services for removing over 400 minors from the Eldorado, Texas compound.

It is discouraging that so few believers have spoken out on behalf of the real issue at stake here - protecting the children of the sect. Marci Hamilton, author of God vs. the Gavel says the FLDS sect is a “conspiracy of adults to commit systematic child sex abuse.”

That is decidedly not the message of most commentaries and news stories the public is being bombarded with concerning these children. Few are the stories that give voice to women who have escaped life in the FLDS polygamist system. They are out there speaking up and trying to get the truth out, but pundits and reporters would rather major on the violation of civil rights angles straight out of the liberal relativism legalese playbook.

Maybe there would be a spiritual intercessory outcry and public outcry from Christians:

If Christians were exposed to interviews of Elissa Wall, victim in the Warren Jeffs trial and author of Stolen Innocence; or Polygamy’s Rape of Rachel Strong; or 17 other FLDS survivor testimonies detailed in Andrea Moore Emmett’s book, God’s Brothel; or the book Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer, who at 16 years old became the second wife of an FLDS cult leader, who was also her brother-in-law; or Carolyn Jessop’s Escape, or Susan Ray Schmidt’s His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy.

If Christians would hear the cry from FLDS survivor and rescue advocacy websites, like Rowenna Erickson’s Tapestry Against Polygamy site. If Christians were aware of the work of Debbie Palmer (Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy) and Daphne Branham (The Secret Lives of Saints) who has investigated the genetic family tree ties between minor girls in the FLDS compound in British Columbia and adolescent girls from the Eldorado Texas compound.

If Christians knew that watchdogs in Colorado are reporting recent Jeffs’ family purchases of large tracts of land in remote Colorado places. If Christians knew the history of unsuccessful attempts in the past by other states for legal intervention on behalf of children in the FLDS polygamist sect and how the public opinion war was won by the sect playing on public sympathies of their right of religion – and the public ignorance of the true nature of minor sexual abuse and brainwashing that is the reality of life in the FLDS sect.

Some Washington politicians have shown interest in the case but the U.S. Attorney for Utah and the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office head say there is no need for a federal polygamy task force.

As one of the few high placed newspaper editorial writers to speak out on behalf of the FLDS sect children, Ellen Goodman of the Washington Post writes in an article entitled, Sex Abuse in the Name of Religion Isn’t a Lifestyle – It’s Sex Abuse, that there has been enormous concern generated by the story but it says something about our culture that the concern has primarily been “of children taken from parents, of families wrenched apart….Is this a rescue operation or a state-sponsored attack on parents?”

“Nevertheless,” Goodman asks “what are we to make of an entire sect that has sexual abuse at its very heart?

This is the critical question, and I believe it is the question from the very heart of God for us.

Yesterday the Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the San Angelo court was wrong to give CPS custody of the children because the evidence presented was "legally and factually insufficient."

Unfortunately, this is the same Appeals court where the only faith-based court brief was filed (that I’m aware of) on May 2^nd, appealing to the court to be careful not to set a “dangerous precedent” for religious liberty and parental rights in the “cases over allegations of sexual abuse alleged in the polygamist ranch raid.”

This also says something about us that the case has caused Christians to voice concern and ask for prayer about potential legal precedents that might cause religious liberty issues for Christians in the future, without voicing much concern for the sect children themselves.

At times we are so on watch with self-protection, we are actually foiling the best attempts of our government to protect all us.
A salient point that was brought by a Counter-Terrorism expert, Jeffrey Breinholt in Polygamy and Terrorism: The Religion Factor in Texas, who wrote: “The question is whether a state or federal government can define what constitutes a crime, and whether that crime can be enforced where the alleged conduct is religiously-inspired.”

Since returned to a Department of Justice post, Breinholt noted, “…the Texas case involves a common issue in counterterrorism - the ability of the government to take action against religiously-inspired conduct.” Muslim defendants in terrorism prosecutions, Breinholt explains, also claim that their planned violence should be excused because it was mandated by their faith.

In the end, it is the public that decides what it is going to put up with and what it will not. We may believe that we can live with granting illegal expression of religious belief to polygamists, but can we live with that precedent being extended to jihadists?

The most critical concern is to ensure the freedom of FLDS children from sexual predators, but there are farther reaching ramifications to how the public, the media and the courts ultimately view this case.

As Ellen Goodman wrote, “… in the end, what we have on that ranch in Eldorado is not a lifestyle. It's a pedophile ring. If we cannot rescue children from that, we've already destroyed their village.”

In the end, if Christians cannot put in first priority the thousands of FLDS children currently, as well as the older generations of FLDS members who have been raised in and held captive by a gross perversion of the Word of God, then we are in default. If we don’t stand up for the weak and the oppressed now, we will not long hold onto our own strength, liberties and freedom.

Pray for the Supreme Judge of the whole Creation to arise on behalf of the FLDS children represented in the Texas case. Authorities and advocacy groups in several western states, as well as Canada and Mexico are watching carefully the developments in this case. If the state of Texas prevails in intervention to set the captives free and prosecute the illegal polygamists, then others will take courage and act in their jurisdictions. If the state of Texas fails, everyone will throw up their hands and give up on these victims of institutionalized child sexual abuse.

On behalf of the children, the girls and women, and even the “lost boys” and men who have been excommunicated by the alpha males of the FLDS, let us cry out to God for justice in this case… Then we must follow our intercession with our public outcry to holding up the arms of the authorities and sending a message to the judges: Protect the victims, not their abusers.

Terrorist Purim Bomb Severely Wounds Messianic Teen

Terrorist Purim Bomb Severely Wounds a 15-yr old Messianic Jewish Boy in Israel. The Investigation is Pointing to a Religious Jewish “anti-missionary” Sect. Justice for the Amiel Ortiz, son of David and Leah Ortiz of Ariel, Israel, may require activism from the worldwide Christian community for a thorough investigation and a just sentencing of the perpetrators. This is a call to alarm for the Church on behalf of the Messianic Jews of Israel.

Please give this the widest Christian circulation possible by forwarding to all those you know who care about God's blessing upon Israel. This is a call for the Church to activate by contacting the Israeli Embassy immediately and to keep it up until the perpetrators of terrorism against the believing family in Ariel, Israel are brought to justice. This is the first Messianic Action Committee alert that has been issued since around 1997 when so many bills were being attempted in the Knesset to imprison believers who share the gospel.

The Messianic Action Committee (MAC)
Report 82--March 2008

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you,
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” (Matt. 5:11)

“…in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you
will think he is offering a service to God.” (John 16:2)

Dear Friends,

On Thursday, March 20^th, the eve of the feast of Purim here in Israel, fifteen year-old Ami Ortiz eagerly opened a brightly wrapped “Purim basket” which had been left anonymously on the family’s doorstep. The transparent cellophane wrapping showed a collection of candies within, the traditional contents of such gifts given and received by families throughout Israel at the holiday. Suddenly, with a deafening blast, the pipe bomb hidden beneath the sweets exploded, throwing Ami backwards into the kitchen and perforating his young body with hundreds of metal shards, nails, and screws which had been imbedded in the bomb for maximum killing power. Critically injured, Ami’s survival of the initial explosion was already a miracle, as the main force of the blast (and shrapnel) went up, down and out away from him, wreaking devastation on the ceiling, walls and furniture of the apartment.

Alone in the apartment, Ami had stayed home from school while his parents, Messianic Pastor David and Leah Ortiz, traveled to Jerusalem for the day. A friend who had just left the home after cleaning the apartment rushed back in to find Ami hanging between life and death and heard him murmur, “Yeshua, I need your help now.” Emergency medical personnel arrived quickly and initiated life saving procedures as they rushed him directly to 8 hours of surgery at the closest major hospital.

A team of surgeons took turns caring for massive open wounds on his limbs and torso, serious burns from the blast, a collapsed lung (with several screws and bolts lodged within), and damage to his right eye. Only after five days of surgeries and intensive care—and the medical staff’s repeated exclamations of “it’s a miracle!”—were the doctors able to say that Ami had a good chance of survival. Just this morning (March 28^th), following surgery on Ami’s right eye for the removal of more shrapnel, the Ortiz’s were informed that it looked like Ami would be able to see out of both eyes. Praise God! Nevertheless, Ami has a very long road ahead of him, including tremendous pain and significant risks due to his wounds and burns and the possibility of infection. Please pray for Ami and his family (including 5 older siblings), that the Lord would continue to work miracles of healing, and give them grace and supernatural comfort and strength.

Israeli police and security services investigating this murderous attack are keeping a very tight lid on leads and potential suspects in this case, hoping to uncover the conspiratorial ring behind the one who planted the bomb. It is clear, however, that David and his wife Leah were the intended targets, their patterns of activity being well known and often observed. David has been active for many years in outreach to Palestinian Muslims throughout the West Bank region surrounding the town of Ariel when the family lives, and David pastors a home congregation of Jewish believers there, also the fruit of his ministry. He has received threats and harassment from both fundamentalist Muslims and Orthodox Jews, including slanderous claims that he is part of “the missionary cult of Messianic Jews”—an accusation which would justify murder in certain radical religious circles.

Such slanders have been disseminated against many believers and congregations in the Land, and have resulted in threats, personal attacks and even violent demonstrations against Messianic congregations in Arad and Beersheba. To date, police efforts have been minimal at best in protecting the rights and safety of believers, once again because they are perceived as “missionaries” who are assumed to ‘prey upon the poor, young, and ignorant, using every underhanded trick (including bribery) in order to steal their souls from the Jewish people via conversion to Christianity.’ Unfortunately, even the public media in the country promote this prejudice and unwittingly justify the attacks with statements such as, “where there are missionaries there will be anti-missionaries” (Channel 10 television news on the evening following the attack on the Ortiz family). Internet ‘talk-backs’ responding to the few journalists who have spoken out clearly and strongly against the attack have included claims that the attempted murder was a legitimate act of self defense against a spiritual assault on the Jewish people! (See http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3522911,00.html).

Please pray for those believers who are being interviewed in the media as a result of this attack and who must deal with inquiries into our faith and practices which are often intended to portray believers as some kind of secretive and suspect cult. Pray that the believers’ responses will be clear, uncompromising, and yet gracious, and that Israelis will be drawn to learn about Yeshua the Messiah as a result.

As believers in the Messiah Yeshua, we have a command from our Lord to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). This we do, entreating the Father that He might give to those who have been blinded by the ‘god of this world’ “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Messiah” (II Cor. 4:6)—as He gave to the persecutor Saul on the Damascus road. At the same time, we take our example from Saul/Paul, who demanded that the municipal officials in Philippi, who had wrongly beaten and imprisoned him and Silas, personally and publicly release them, in order to demonstrate to all that the believers in Yeshua had done no wrong in proclaiming Him (Acts 16:35-40). Living in a democratic society, we have every right, in fact we have the responsibility, to use the law and our rights as citizens to protect ourselves from illegal abuse and thus to protect our right to proclaim Yeshua as Messiah and Savior to our people.

There is good reason to believe that, if the perpetrators of this attempted murder were in fact Jewish religious extremists, there will be great pressure on the police and courts to “go easy on them” given the alleged severe “provocation” of the “missionaries.” Ultra-orthodox religious politicians, who wield considerable power and influence in Israel’s Knesset and government ministries, have been key propagators of the slanderous misrepresentations of Messianic believers in Yeshua through their bills to outlaw the free expression of Messianic faith in Israel. We would urge you to pray that justice—complete and uncompromising justice—will be done in this case; that a precedent will be clearly established rejecting totally and unequivocally any violence or incitement against believers in Yeshua simply because of their faith in Him and their obedience to His commands.

In addition, we would ask each of you to contact your elected officials and to urge them to contact their Israeli counterparts or the Israeli embassy in your country and to express their concerns both over the attack on Ami Ortiz (who also holds an American passport) and also regarding the possibility of a half-hearted prosecution of the perpetrators of this hate-crime. Communication between government officials as suggested will help bolster the forces of freedom and democracy in our country and to counterbalance the influence of the anti-democratic minority who do not accept or respect equal rights for all under the laws of the State of Israel.

Also consider contacting your local Israeli embassy or consulate directly by fax, phone, and/or email as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Public Safety in Israel, as this also has a cumulative effect on Israeli policy makers (for a model letter and links to contact information, see end of report). It is important that your request be communicated in a spirit of genuine love and support for the people of Israel, and of deep respect and concern for the country’s democratic nature. The people of Israel generally are appalled by attacks such as these, even if the media often under-reports or reframes the issues in a negative way towards us. Many of Israel’s politicians are embarrassed and dismayed by the lack of internalized democratic values among some of Israel’s citizenry.

Thank you for “standing in the gap” with us in response to this serious development in the situation of the Body of Messiah in Israel. The implications for all of us who live and serve in the Land cannot be underestimated.

We urge you to keep the Messianic Action Committee in your prayers for wisdom, as we continue to monitor anti-religious freedom legislation in the Knesset, and as we consider how to deal with both latent and blatant discrimination against the believers in Israel.

MESSIANIC ACTION COMMITTEE

Noam Hendren, Chairman
Israel Harel, Vice-Chairman
Eitan Kashtan
Charles Kopp
Marvin Kramer, Esq.

themac@netvision.net.il

**The MAC's continued work depends on contributions from our friends and partners. Those interested in helping may send donations to our mailing address at the bottom of the page, or by wire to:

Bank Leumi, 32 Maskit Street, Herzliya Pituach, Israel
Telephone: 972-9-970-6333, Fax No. 972-9-970-6355
Branch/Account No. 864-12986-16 ABA No./SWIST CODE LEUMILIT864

99000 The MAC P. O. Box 697, Beit Shemesh 99000 Israel

E-mail: themac@netvision.net.il

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feel free to use the following as a model for your own letter, or to copy and paste it into a new document:

Dear Israeli Ambassador/Minister,

As a Christian friend of Israel, I am appalled at the recent terrorist attempt to murder the Ortiz family in Ariel during Purim. I am deeply saddened that young Ami Ortiz has to fight for his life in an intensive care unit due to this heinous hate crime against Messianic Jews in Israel. I am counting on the Israeli government to make every effort to apprehend the perpetrators of this attack and to prosecute them as you would any other terrorist (for that is what they are). Anything less will simply give a signal that believers in Yeshua/Jesus are “fair game” and that acts of persecution and terror against them are somehow tolerable.

Your government’s reluctance to take decisive action against those who have attacked Messianic Jews and their congregations in Arad and Beersheba during recent years appears to have emboldened those with no respect for Israel’s democratic tradition of equal rights under the law. Inaction or compromise at this critical juncture will inevitably damage Israel’s well-deserved reputation as the only true democracy in the Middle East and could seriously undermine the strong support for Israel which Evangelical Christians around the world maintain. I pray that your government and judiciary will not let such a thing happen.

Please urge your government to take whatever steps are necessary insure the safety of Messianic Jews and other believers in Jesus throughout Israel and to uphold their religious freedom and democratic rights, as promised in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. This will guarantee that Israel will truly fulfill her calling to be “a light to the nations.”

I am praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122).

Yours Truly,

Contact Information:

Israeli Embassies and Consulates abroad: http://www.science.co.il/Embassy.asp)
MFA link: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Structure+and+departments
**Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs is Ms. Tsippi Livni

Ministry of Public Security, email address: sar@mops.gov.il
**Israel’s Minister of Public Safety is Mr. Abraham Dichter

Would Jesus seek to convert the Jews?

Would Jesus seek to convert the Jews?
More to the point:
Would Yeshua call Jews to return to the Lord?

Tshuvah

A few days a great controversy was stirred up by the World Evangelical Alliance which published a statement in the New York Times affirming their love and friendship for the Jewish people, but unapologetically stating that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.

Although they may have softened the blow somewhat by using His Hebrew name and title, Messiah Yeshua, nevertheless it was a statement bound to make waves in religious circles.

Fairly immediately many in the Jewish community – especially those who have fostered inter-faith alliances with the Christian community – cried, Foul! Asking publicly, “Would Jesus seek to convert the Jews?”

Before Israel-supporting Christians beat a hasty retreat from the backlash of the WEA statement we must understand what the word “convert” means to Jewish ears and what it meant to those Jews, including Jesus, who spoke about it in its Hebrew context in the first century.

When Jews today hear or say the word “convert” in relationship to a Jew placing faith in Jesus, what they think is, this is a Jew who has ceased being Jewish and has become a Christian…like they forced Jews to do in the Spainish Inquisition, for example.

The sense of the word “convert” or “conversion” in these days is bound up in the Jewish mind as the forced conversions of Jews to Christianity in the past. As Christians we need to understand that heavy baggage we carry with Jews but we also need to address the sense of the word in its root form, and in the meaning it was given by the biblical speakers.

It is not a "conversion" to Christianity for Jews to recognize Israel's Messiah. It is instead a return to the God their fathers. As Yeshua said in John 8:53, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

Few of us wanted people bothering us with the gospel before God quickened our hearts with the knowledge that Jesus was the son of God. Jews are no different from us in that, with the exception of a history of Christian coercion of Jews to see the Light that God had not yet shown them.

It is good that the WEA statement acknowledged that fools rush in unprepared to understand where the Jewish people are really coming from on the issue of Yeshua, whose very name means salvation in Hebrew. It is good that the WEA has made a distinction that both upholds the good news of salvation to every nation, tongue and tribe in the world, without compromising on the good and FREE will of all to see Him and choose Him.

There will be a lot a pressure applied because of this WEA statement to compromise the gospel by saying Jews have their own special way to God that does not need Jesus. It is better for these evangelicals to keep their alliance with Yeshua and the Father God, than to try to keep alliance with unsaved Israel.

The WEA made the very important statement that there is an anointing to reach the Jewish people that they would leave up to those with the anointing, which would be the Jewish and Palestinian Arab followers of Yeshua who are Israeli citizens. Some 10-15,000 Jews believers in Israel carry the testimony of the Lord in their daily lives, which is were all valid testimony is demonstrated.

The WEA is doing its part just by recognizing and supporting the anointing that is on the Jewish believers of Israel to be witnesses for the Lord to their own people.

Those who refuse to make this acknowledgment, and who compromise on the need of Jews for Yeshua's salvation, are not merely trying to keep peace within the context of the Jewish-Christian alliance, they are also compromised with regards to the gospel of Messiah Yeshua, or as they refer to Him, Jesus Christ.

In the true sense of the word, it is not “conversion” for Jews to come to faith in Yeshua.

James 5:19 uses the word in the same sense as the Hebrew word tshuvah – to turn, to make a turnaround.

Matthew 13:15, Yeshua says of Israel, ¹⁵For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Again, it is used the word in the same sense as the Hebrew word tshuvah – to turn, to make a turnaround.

In every case of use in the New Testament, it is used in the same sense as the word tshuvah, to make a turnaround. We are walking the wrong way, then we see Yeshua and make a turnaround and follow Him in the right path. That is what the word “convert” means, which has taken on a religious meaning that is alien to the true meaning as it was spoken and written the Lord and His first century apostles who understood the meaning of tshuvah – and the call of God throughout the ages to “Tshuvah!”

As in Psalm 80:7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

"Turn," which is from the root Hebrew word “shub,” to turn back, to return to the starting point.

Salvation is coming to the Jewish people. It has already begun. There is great warfare that surrounds it, but it is promised by God to come and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Support the Body of Messiah in Israel who bear the witness and testimony of God’s salvation to the Jews through Messiah Yeshua.

As Yeshua told His countrymen at the temple in Jerusalem just before the crowd became a mob picking up stones to throw at Him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

The Church that cried 'Wolf'

Here is just a thought. I have been dismayed and frustrated at many things during this run up to the presidential elections.

One of the things that has really been bothersome to me are the multitude of emails that I get from Christians circulating false accusations against Barack Obama. Not only have I received more of those emails than I can even count over the past year, but every conversation about the elections that I have sat in on with any group of Christians, one or more brought up the false accusations about Barack Obama, and clung to them as if they were true even after being told the specific accusation had been conclusively disproved.

It doesn't take much internet research time to confirm or disprove the strong accusations that circulate against someone via emails. It should be standard procedure to do so before passing it along.

Here's how not doing that has complicated these elections. There are real reasons to be concerned about positions Barack Obama holds and will act according to if he is elected president. But because the false accusations have been so many and so unfounded, no one will listen to the facts about him anymore.

Literally, the Church has been like the little boy who cried "wolf!' so often that no one listened when a wolf really was on the scene.

You may say that it is not fair to lump the whole Church into this, but it is shameful how many Christians have participated in the unsubstantiated circulation of lies against Barack Obama. I am very concerned about Obama's true problematic positions on the issues but unfortunately the barrage of lies against him have served only to erect a deflecting shield around him against any questioning.

As believers, we may not be able to penetrate that shield that brings Obama's positions into accountability until we repent for all the false witness that we have borne against him over many months. Like the boy who cried 'wolf' when there was no wolf, we may find ourselves eaten up by this if we do not repent now for our bad acts against him that had no basis in truth.

Unfortunately, we have been following the lead of many conservative talk radio pundits who do not exhibit any conscience about making insinuations about political enemies that they know well are untrue. It is just a political game to them even though many of them also claim to be believers. Their conscience must be hardened by the delight of their listeners to the outrageous comments they make against political enemies.

We need to realize that we have an ethical bar to rise to as believers, even in the election cycle. We must repent for violating a commandment the God felt important enough to include in His 'top ten' list, Exodus 20:16: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

When we repent and turn from such evils, then maybe others will listen to the true concerns we have about the candidates.

Otherwise, we have no credibility with God or man.

Wake Up! Tsunami Obama is coming!

Those watching the presidential nominee primary elections should zero in on something that is barely being spoken of in the news media, and that is the staggering numbers of voters that are coming out to vote for the Democrat nominees in contrast to Republican nominees.

My own assessment of this is that the media is not talking about this because they don't want the more conservative voters roused from their drowsiness in time to respond to the tsunami of support for Obama.

For instance,
in the Potomac primaries just held:
Democrat votes cast: 1,827,000
Republican votes case 778,000

in the Feb 5 Super Tuesday vote in 19 states brought out:
Democrats 18.3 million votes cast
Republicans 12.3 million votes cast

6 million more Democratic voters! Those are numbers that indicate that our nation is about to be run the next four years by someone who is so liberal that in the national security arena alone, our efforts to combat Islamic terrorist and our safety as a nation could be set back twenty years!

When I see how the leading voices of the Conservative movement are defending their holdout of backing the Republican candidate who already has the numbers to have won the nomination--BECAUSE they want to 'teach Republicans the lesson that you don't own our vote'--I am just appalled at the short-sightedness and self-importance they are displaying.

What? They think it is just a political game and 4 years of liberal leadership cannot severely damage this nation--especially from the security standpoint? It is appalling to see people that I have respected and agreed with over so many years on the issues, those with conservative and faith-based views, suddenly staging a mutiny from the conservative political party when such a groundswell of idealism is thrusting Barack Obama far into the lead of votes.

These self-absorbed conservatives are sacrificing this election to make the point they will not be under-valued in this election. (Hey-they could have put their great candidate forward at any time! Is it the fault of the Republican party that they did not get the vote out and McCain now has the numbers to take the nomination?) Truly this is a case of the proverbial cutting the nose off to spite the face!

To me this is like believers who argue point of theology without ever realizing that actual people are affected. It's not just politics. It's not just a game. This is about the future of the United States and our security is really on the line with this vote.

Whether you agree with what I've written here or not, we can agree that there is much disunity in the country at a time when there is a great deal at stake. Let's continue to pray for the unity among God's people and an awakening for those who are drowsy in a time a great spiritual warfare. Let us pray that none of those who have voices of influence among us will place their own ambitions and self-interests above the welfare of the nation--and if they do, that their constituency will not follow them into foolishness.

I have stood against Christians spreading of falsehoods about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I'm totally against that. But the reality is that our national security, and the U.S. alliance with the State of Israel, is hugely threatened by an Obama presidency (because of things on the record by his foreign affairs adviser, among other things).

God can redeem any situation, but if we can dodge the bullet of spending the next four years going in the opposite direction of our national security, then we sure ought to reach for that with great vigor. Otherwise, we are going to look up and find ourselves in the same vise grip as the European nations find themselves. Maybe this is the course we are getting set for...but I am going to personally wage war against that, in Yeshua's name!

State of the Union: Politics as Usual

This is just an observation from the State of the Union address by President Bush last night. It really doesn't have much to do with his address as much as it has to do with the dynamics going on in the fight for who will be the Democratic candidate for President.

Who could help noticing how forlorn Hilary Clinton looked in the several audience shots that focused on her. I felt a little sorry for her because it looked like it was taking everything within her just to sit there with an emotionless expression....except the giveaway sadness in her eyes.

Who could blame her if she was feeling down? Ted Kennedy delivered a power punch to Hilary's bid for the Democratic nomination yesterday.

Even the conservative pundits were jazzed about how awe inspiring the 3-Kennedy stamp of approval on Barack Obama had been earlier in the day. The return of "Camelot." (Oy veh. Pure fairytale.)

Now Obama sat listening thoughtfully to the State of the Union address with Senator Kennedy at his side, the senior senator's message loudly stating: 'I am protecting Obama now! Watch out, junior, a real power broker is in the house.'

Politics as usual. That's what is really scary to me. We let some of them stay there so long that they have far too much personal power. Senator Kennedy was teaching Bill Clinton a lesson: 'You can't ignore me because I still have the power to squash your dreams.' I don't think it was about what is best for the nation, but was a personal power trip by Kennedy.

I have no doubt that the Clintons will fight back. They still have their friends. Senator Biden seemed to console Hilary sitting to her side.

Still, it is a little sickening to me to see the manipulation of the public in such an important matter as the presidency all for the sake of some old politician's sense of personal power. If Bill Clinton had heeded Ted Kennedy's warning to lower the rhetoric, then we probably would not have seen three Kennedys come out yesterday to throw their backing behind Obama. Bill played his own game, however, and Teddy decided to show him he still had some major weight to throw around.

I don't want Hilary as our next president. I don't want Obama in that seat either. Neither one of them have the guts or the vision to chart the course of our nation through the shark infested waters of the international war on terrorism. But I hate seeing what politics as usual is capable of like we were seeing yesterday.

If the American people would like to see real change take place, then in the next three years they would throw the bums out who are locking up all movement in Congress because they've been there too long and amassed the political power base to keep anything from happening! We might be amazed at how much would get done with a clean sweep of deadbeats from the congressional halls. (Deadbeats being those incapable of compromise for the good of the nation.)

The biggest problem in the United States government today is the deadlock going on politically. We are like those people who were trapped in the burning nightclub a few years ago sardined in so tightly that even though they were right in the doorway, they couldn't emerge from the burning building to save themselves. That is a hell of a place to put ourselves.