Baruch's Musings

Israel, Eschatology and the Church

I was recently asked:

Do you believe that the Church is the New or True Israel however?

Many Reformed folks say Christ constituted a New Israel around Himself and His apostles. Can one hold this view AND believe in a future for ethnic, national Israel per Romans 11?

And where do you stand eschatologically?

Thank you! 

I responded:

Dear XXXX,

In response top your inquiries.

I frankly am hard-preesed to find scriptural warrant for the term “spiritual Israel” as I do for “a new Israel”. Both seem to me to smack of the kind of discontinuity between Old and New Covenants against which Calvin and the Puritans protested so firmly. So far as I understand, the “church in the wilderness” is finds its' continuation in the New Testament church, composed of natural branches who have entered their inheritance, and those grafted in contrary to nature, both equal objects of the same grace and sharing in the same hope.

I desire to stand eschatologically where the Bible stands, and am convinced that we have not been well served by the pre- post and a- positions that have been imposed upon the church since John Darby’s days. The real issue in eschatology is not whether we are pre or post the Millenium, or if there is to be one. The real eschatological issue is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That is where i stand most firmly.

As to your latter questions, I know of those who affirm that the church has replaced Israel and yet believe that there is biblical promise of (spiritual) hope for ethnic Israel. This seems to be somewhat contradictory, but I may not be understanding their position as carefully as it deserves.

In Chris by grace,

Baruch

A Sermon on the Love of God

http://cpcissaquah.org/sermons/behold-how-great-the-fathers-love/

The Church or Organizations?

I have a growing concern that is in no way unrelated to the scene in Israel and which I believe is relevant in a much wider sphere. My concern has to do with the role of organizations, by which I do not mean inter- or intra-congregational bodies established and meaningfully overseen by churches but those many Christian impressive organizations with which we are all well acquainted.

It is not without wisdom, nor by oversight that our Lord established his church rather than organizations. The truth of the matter is that there is no biblical justification for the existence of such. Some organization pay lip-service to the role that the church ought to play in the lives of those they employ or service and whose work they guide. But the perceived needs and initiatives of the organization always have priority. For example, those who work with or for Christian organizations are often absent from the worship and ongoing activity of the churches to which they belong due to their duties toward the organizations under whose aegis they labor.

In some cases, workers are not accepted accept they come with a recommendation from a church. But such recommendation is more often than not sought after the candidate has been cultivated to some extent by the organization, facing his church with the painful option of either losing him or her altogether, or acceding to their request for a recommendation. In not a few cases, individuals are absorbed into organizations in spite of the lack of such recommendations, sometimes in spite of their unsuitability.

Churches are best equipped by the Lord to measure, recognize, correct and cultivate Christians’ spiritual and moral lives. That is one of the main purposes for which the church was established. Churches are also best equipped by the Lord to exercise spiritual and moral oversight and, when necessary, spiritual and moral discipline. It will not do to simply dismiss someone from an organization without there being meaningful, biblically-authorized pastoral ministration. At times, such ministrations might mean excommunication – all steps which no organization is authorized by God’s word to take, all the more so when the biblical goal of such action is the restoration of the erring brother or sister, not merely getting rid of a troublesome individual or ensuring the good reputation of the organization.

What is more, Christians taken up with the activities of organizations, however valid and important, invest their time, talents and other resources in the context of their organizational callings instead of investing them in the life of their churches. They thereby deplete their churches of gifts the Lord has given to his church, to which church they rightfully belong.

As much is true of the considerable financial resources organizations and volunteeristic (do forgive the invention of a new word) energies organizations take up, sapping the church still further of her strength and vigor.

It is true: in many cases, organizations came into being because the church was not fulfilling its’ duty. But the biblical solution is not to supplant the church, but to reform it. 

There are many activities to which the church is called and for which no single church is able to shoulder on its’ own. That is one of the many areas in which churches should recognize they belong one to another, and find ways to work together as the body of Christ. Inner and intra-congregational organizations should be the norm, not modern practice.

In Israel, some excellent organizations are doing a very fine work in the sphere of their perceived callings. For that they are to be commended. But they are doing so at the expense of the church. Not a few of them, awash with financial resources, attract the finest of our talents away from their churches. Local church membership is maintained, but practical engagement in the life of the church is sparse except where they manage to enlist the church in support of their organization’s efforts.

O for the day when Pastors will begin cultivating in the churches they serve a high, biblical, view of the body of Christ! O for the day when Israeli Christians will be taught that the way to belong to the body of Christ is to enlist one’s heart and soul in the life of the church! O for the day when Israeli Christians will be granted a truly biblical view of Christian service and will live out the Gospel in the context of their church life!

*

As regular readers of MaozNews will know, issue 113 carried indication of my concern over the way many organizations replace the church in various spheres. A summary of my argument follows, with responses from well-respected brethren.

According to scripture, our Lord established the church, not organizations. The church is to be a central factor in all shared Christian activity. Organizations often usurp the role of churches as well as the role of the church in individual lives. Lip service I paid to the authority of the church, but often in such a way as to secure the interests of organizations at the expense of the church, sapping her energies and resources.

Churches are best equipped to nurture Christians and to guide them in their endeavors. It is true: in many cases, organizations came into being because the church was not fulfilling its’ duty. But the biblical solution is not to supplant the church, but to reform it.

There are many activities to which the church is called and for which no single church is able to shoulder on its’ own. That is when inter-church cooperation is called for.

 Responses received:

 Dear Baruch,

I do assent to all that you have said. You described the 'ideal' church in this fallen world. But as I move amongst different kinds of evangelical churches, I am sadly seeing more and more, that the Bride of Christ is like 'Cinderella with Amnesia' - to quote a book title. 

How you describe things IS how it SHOULD be. But I am finding that fine young people are not being challenged by their churches to 'look unto the fields'. When they are challenged by others to look (perhaps through their University CU's or by reading good books) and then go back to their churches, they find little enthusiasm there, and sometimes get the "sit down young man" treatment which Carey allegedly received. The churches themselves are failing. 

I know our great need is to pray for revival, but the Great Commission is too great to wait for that. I know what you might say - 'let those young people go and find solid outward-looking Reformed churches'. But such churches are few and far between.

Warmly in the Lord,

XXXX  

Dear XXXX

I think the problem is that, instead of reforming the church and getting her to do what she should be doing, we set up organizations that, as a result, further weaken her. I’m not calling for an immediate dismantling of all non-church organizations, but I do believe that such bodies should work for their own demise by seeking to challenge, equip and motivate the church.

In Christ by grace,

Baruch

Another brother insisted that Paul’s activity was, in essence, identical to that of a modern Mission organization, with various of his helpers being funded by various churches.

I question that on a number of grounds. First, Paul was sent out by a church, to which he repeatedly returned to report. Second, there is no biblical evidence to the claim that any one of his various helpers were supported by various churches. Third, there is no evidence of and individual church supporting individuals that were not sent out from that church.  An important exception is, of course, the church in Philippi, to which Paul was careful to send formal confirmation of receipt. There was nothing of the “golden handshake” with bills being discretely passed from donor to recipient.

The same brother rightly insists on sending churches playing a large role in the oversight of those sent out by them. However, when the interest or considerations of the local church run contrary to those of the organization, it has almost always been the case that the concerns of the sending church were over-ridden by the organization.

This is not to say that I believe missionary organizations should be dismantled at once. Many such organizations are doing a valuable work! But I do believe they should be working toward their own dismantlement by gradually reverting to biblical principles, handing over more and more of their endeavors to churches and subjecting themselves in increasingly meaningful ways to the oversight of churches.

Further reflection from friends, foes and readers is welcome.

(to be continued)

We Need a Reformation

Baruch Maoz  2017

We’re never satisfied unless we’ve made our mark, justified our presence, proven our worth, earned some accolade, gained recognition, been noticed. If someone says something, we have to add our two bits. If anything goes on, we have to be involved – or at the very least appear to be in the know. We do not like to be obligated and would much rather have others obligated to us. “Freedom” is understood as the liberty to do all we want, when we want and as much as we want. “Do your own thing”, “be your own person”, and “be yourself” have become watchwords for a truly successful life. “Be your own boss” is a goal we pursue in all walks of life. That’s why we have so many divorces, church splits and broken friendships: we love ourselves too much, and others merely for our sake.

So, we climb the Everest or win a race, are nice to neighbors, buy the newest gadget and aspire to the most prominent position to have a sense of value. When we see a TV camera, we put on a childish smile, poke our mugs into the frame and wave like idiots and call our girlfriend to have her tune to the right station. We love to drop names of well-known people we’ve met, as if that will add to our importance. We rush a hundred times a day to see how many likes we received on FaceBook, or note there that we’re drinking coffee in the Asinine Motel on top on Mount Boorishness.

We love ourselves too much. We love ourselves so much, and are so insecure that it is too painful for us to apologize or admit failure. We prefer to lay the burden of responsibility for our actions on the others, who purportedly provoked us; on circumstances that imposed upon us and justify our actions; on our education, our parents, our culture or lack thereof and so on. Moral failure – the worse kind of failures – is all the more difficult for us to admit.

Man has created an endless stream of religions, all of which share a common characteristic: he becomes his own savior by way of “good works”, sacrifice, meditation, ritual or prayer. He may serve a Buddha, kiss a scroll, bow before an idol or minister to the needy. He may evangelize, fast, serve the church, deny himself or study the Bible. He may be an atheist who denies to existence of God (another form of religion) or an agnostic (who dares to crown reason as the test of all things). It does not matter; his salvation depends on him --whatever he does is what secures his salvation.

Of course, most Christians acknowledge that the larger part of salvation comes from God. Others attribute their salvation to the gods, if they believe in such. He, or they, respond to our efforts and grant us the blessings we crave or the salvation we need. If we are atheists, we thank and compliment ourselves with hollow words that, deep in our hearts, we know to be false.

After all, whence came our abilities, opportunities and advantages? They are not of our own making. In all cases, the initiative is ours, and what God or the gods do for us or what we make of life is in response to our actions. If they exist, he or they laid the ground and paved the way. The rest us up to us. If there is no God, it is all up to us. Perhaps we obtained salvation, or a moment’s experience of happiness (and few know the difference). It is now up to us to ensure we do not lose what we’ve gained, or to bring it to a higher level. Ultimately, we are all atheists, because we are the ones who make the choice and thereby become the arbiters or our fate. Even if saved by the kindness of God, our two bits are necessary.

The Gospel runs contrary to the general vein. It tells us the truth we do not wish to hear: that life – real, true LIFE – does not consist of doing our own thing or pursuing an endless string of enjoyments that serve to deafen us to the hollowness of our lives. We inevitably lack that inner sense of meaning that can only derived from an eternal purpose that has to do with a goal beyond ourselves.

Yes: beyond ourselves. Instinctively, we all know we cannot and ought not be the goal of our lives. Our egotism has not achieved that heightened state of satanic persuasion that dares openly declare ourselves worthy of being the goal of our lives. Nor are we able. Deep in our hearts, we sense the futility of the selfish, hedonistic pursuit of pleasure.

When encountered with pain, we have no means to address it. We seek, instead, for meaning by escaping, by inventing alternate purposes such as family, ideology, culture or sheer enjoyment of various kinds. In doing so we flee the very source of meaning and of exhilarating value. All becomes vanity, a vapor liable to dismissal by the slightest wind.

The Gospel, on the other hand, tells us that we are never freer than when in bondage to God; never more like ourselves than when we are Christlike; never wiser than when we submit to the truth of him who made the worlds; that we never, ever deserve to be happy, and that every moment of enjoyment is a gift of grace.

The Gospel calls for humility, for a frank admission of demerit. It teaches us that without God we can do nothing, that with him we can do only by his kind enabling, and that even after we have done our best, we are but unprofitable servants whose labors are acceptable only because of Christ. It teaches us to love God at our own expense and thereby find life by way of a holiness that embraces the world without succumbing to it.

That is the essential nature of the Gospel, the essence of grace – it is utterly unearned and undeserved. Not only so, but grace, to be grace, does it all: the initiative is God’s, the grounds are laid by him. He places us on those grounds, and he ensures we remain on them, guiding, sustaining and protecting us all the way to glory. We are secure because our holiness now and for eternity, without which there is no happiness, depends on him.

That is how the Gospel imparts meaning even to our darkest moments. It points to pleasures that far exceed the realities we experience in the here and now, and thereby accords even pleasures a value while dismissing them from the pretension of being the purpose of life. We thus find more pleasure in denying a craving than in satisfying it, in forcing ourselves to fulfill a duty rather than seeking to shirk it.

That’s it: grace calls for human effort. The only reasonable response to grace is that we offer God our full, hearty, unreserved, sacrificial and continuous obedience. We love, not to be loved, but because we have first been loved. We obey, not in order in order to obtain but because we have been given so much, so liberally and so undeservedly. We serve, not to ensure our inheritance but because – contrary to all desert – we are assured of an inheritance unblemished, undefiled, reserved in heaven for us, purchased by the blood of the Son of God, affirmed by the Spirit of God and secured by the promise of the Father.

Christian obedience is not a burden, it is an act of love and of gratitude, a recognition of sweet duty made all the sweeter by being rendered to the most glorious, beautiful, worthy, magnificent, worthy and beloved One who is altogether holy, perfectly lovely, unimaginably himself. That is what Paul describes in Romans 8 as walking in the Spirit, as minding the things of the Spirit rather than those of the flesh. When we do not our own thing, but his; when we seek to please him rather than ourselves; when we respond to his grace as we ought, then we are all we were meant to be, all that we ought to be, all that – deep down in our hearts – we long to be. Then we find life and peace.

Such was the original Faith of Israel until corrupted by human contrivance and driven by prideful self-assertion. Paul of Tarsus came to understand that. He learnt to love the law of God with exuberant affection. He was changed, so that he learned to delighted in the law. It framed his desires. It challenged his habits. It changed the course of his life. He learnt to deny himself and thereby find himself, to forgo pleasure and find the greatest of all pleasures – the pleasure of loving God because we are loved by him. Coming under God’s pleasant yoke, Paul became the freest of all men. We will know no real peace until we follow Paul’s example, with abandon.

Upon destruction of the temple at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD, Judaism took a decisive turn which set it on a path of self-obtained righteousness of the kind often promoted earlier by some within Israel. Instead the religion of grace described in the Old Testament (later in the New), tendencies castigated by the prophets found expression in Pharisaical understandings and arrogant self-assertions. These became the norm, resulting in a major departure from the ways of God.

God in his unilateral grace gave Israel the blood of sacrificial animals as a means of atonement for sin (Leviticus 17:11), but stringent ritual became a means by which Israel pleased God and sought to obligate him, (Isaiah 1:4-17), often without regard to the intended meaning of the ritual and without engaging the affections. Ritual was divorced from its intended content and thereby detached from daily life. Moral behavior was no longer motivated by a sense of gratitude to God, nor viewed in terms of worshipful, loving obedience. Instead, acts of generosity and kindness were viewed as ways by which man obtained merit and thereby earned God’s blessing, or simply replaced by efforts to increase earthly gain. Even humility was a transformed into a kind of purportedly meritorious self- motivated, self-imposed abasement.

Illogically, everything had to do with life on earth. There was no recognition of value beyond that. No one was expected to have to give account for the life he lived. Consequently, life became a case of “let us eat and drink because tomorrow we die”. There being no God, there was no purpose beyond life itself. Selfishness ruled, and rules today.

Of course, there were exceptions. But they were just that: exceptions, not the rule. God’s authority was supplanted by an authoritarian Rabbinocracy, liberalistic Atheism or presumptuous Priestcraft in which the Creator had no real say. Religion was handed over to the Rabbis, the Kadis, the rationalistic intellectuals or the Priests, manipulators of the divine will. Indeed, Jewish tradition has it that God was silenced and his opinion rejected, while rabbis, kadis, scholars and priests arrogated to themselves the right to determine the practical implications of the biblical text.

Israel today has followed the logical path outlined by such presumption. The choice is presented as between secular humanism and blind obedience to a tradition as interpreted by the Rabbis, and the majority has chosen the former. The world at large has followed suit. Religion is, at best, considered to be a means to obtain and secure human happiness: “If that is what makes you happy, that’s fine with me”.

Christians too, have been deceived. God is once again viewed as subject to human manipulation through prayer, fasting and other human endeavors. Truth is relative: “Everyone has a right to his own opinion” and Bible study becomes an event in which everyone shares his own ignorance rather than listening to someone who has seriously studied the scripture. Obedience is not as valued as an emotional rush, and worship has more to do with feeling good (“let’s celebrate God”) than with the fear of the Lord.

The church has departed from its biblical moorings and degenerated into liberalistic humanism, a means by which man obtains merit, or a form of blind obedience to traditional practices and doctrines expounded from the pulpit. Many of the historic churches have chosen the latter. Modern evangelicalism has chosen the second. The majority, disappointed by both, has chosen the first. In many so-called churches, man is the focus of attention and God exists for man’s self-centered sense of comfort, pleasure and success.

Even common evangelical thought and practice has come to assume a kind of meritocracy which affirms that Jesus did much and the rest is up to us. This is expressed in many ways. Some affirm that God would dearly love to save every individual, but his will is stymied by man’s independence. His sovereignty has to do with everything – especially with what we expect him to do for us -- except man’s freedom to choose.

Election is man choosing God, God foreseeing that choice, and then running ahead and choosing him first. Others affirm that evangelism, prayer and fasting, Bible study, self-denial or other such activities are the means by which Christian ascend the ladder of spirituality and secure their final arrival at heaven’s gates. Worship is no longer worthy of the name because it is ultimately focused on man, his feelings and his trials, enjoyments and successes.

Few today have more than a mediocre understanding of the Faith as presented in the word of God. The majority prefer “practical” sermons, shallow evangelistic appeals, mega- churches in which their emotions are stirred while their minds are ignored and where there is no clear call to holiness in life, the fear of God, repentance or the forsaking of sin. People come to church to be petted, pampered, encouraged and taught to feel good about themselves. Hence the popularity of preachers such as Joel Olsteen, Mark Driscoll and the like. So-called Christian hedonism is just that: man finding ways to enjoy himself, be it hunting, music, God or a good meal. Hopefully it will be something good. The idea that we might be called upon to suffer loss, or even life, for God is anathema. God’s whole purpose is to make us happy.

The church has refused the discomfort of a truly prophetic ministry. Christians prefer chronologies and understand their Bibles in terms of world events, rather than viewing the world through biblical lenses. The church has turned its’ back to truly biblical congregational life, in which men of all races and cultures mix, theologies rub against each other and customs are challenged, modified and made to be more like Christ.

We prefer the theological, cultural, racial and linguistic ghettos in which our practice is never challenged and our assumptions are never questioned. In consequence, we are not called upon to change except in the direction of our cherished prejudices. We separate into congregations and clusters of congregations into which only those who agree with us are allowed to enter, and then love fellow-Christians (some, not all) over the fences our self-love has erected – until we divide again because some new area of disagreement has been discovered.

We are in desperate need of reformation. We desperately need to return to the word of God and to re-examine the best of our traditions, confessions, practices, polity and systematizations. Our fear of God our Savior must not be the fruit of human traditions rather than of the mighty, truthful, powerfully living word of God, which is able to save and sanctify us to the glory of him for whose sake we were created, redeemed and assured glorification. We are in desperate need of a revolution, a change in course.

We need to hear and heed the word of God afresh, change our ways and return to the biblical standards, in which God, his glory and his will come first, and man was made to honor him.

Two recent sermons, summarizing Paul's letter to the Romans:

Part One: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5251719319

Part Two: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=525171124510

Israel's Defense Forces

From Chief of Staff and later Prime Minister of Israel, Itshak Rabin’s speech at the Hebrew University, June 8 1967 upon receipt of an honorary doctorate of philosophy:

“Today the university has conferred this honorary title upon us in recognition of the I.D.F.’s superiority of spirit and morals, as was revealed in the heat of war, for we are standing in this place by virtue of a heavy battle which, though forced upon us, was forged into a victory that is already called miraculous.

War is intrinsically harsh and cruel, bloody and tearstained, but this war in particular, which we have just undergone, brought forth rare and magnificent instances of heroism and courage, together with humane expressions of brotherhood, comradeship, and spiritual greatness.

Whoever has not seen a tank crew continue their attack with their commander killed and their vehicle badly damaged; whoever has not seen soldiers endangering their lives to extricate wounded comrades from a minefield; whoever has not seen the anxiety and the effort of the entire Air Force devoted to rescuing a pilot who has fallen in enemy territory, cannot know the meaning of devotion among comrades-in-arms.

The entire nation was exalted, and many wept, upon hearing the news of the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem. Our sabra youth, and most certainly our soldiers, do not tend toward sentimentality; they shy away from revealing it in public. However, the strain of battle, the anxiety which preceded it, and the sense of salvation and of direct participation of every soldier in the forging of the heart of Jewish history, cracked the shell of hardness and shyness and released wellsprings of deeply felt spiritual emotion. The paratroopers who conquered the Wailing Wall leaned against its stones and wept. As a symbol, this was a rare occasion, almost unparalleled in human history. Such phrases and cliche?s are not generally used in the I.D.F., but this sight on the Temple Mount, beyond the power of words, revealed, as though by a flash of lightning, a deep truth.

And more than this, the joy of triumph seized the entire nation. Nevertheless, we find, increasingly, a strange phenomenon among our fighters. Their joy is not total, and more than a little sorrow, and shock, permeates their celebration. There are those who do not celebrate at all. The warriors in the front lines witnessed not only the glory of victory but also its price – their comrades who fell beside them, bleeding. And I know that the terrible price paid by our enemies also touched the hearts of many of our men deeply. It may be that the Jewish people never learned, never accustomed themselves to experience the thrill of conquest and victory, and so we receive it with mixed feelings.”

Such is the spirit of Israel’s defense forces.

We Need a Reformation

We’re just not ever satisfied unless we’ve made our mark, justified our presence, proven our worth, earned some accolade (Ezekiel 28:1-5). If someone says something, we have to add our two bits (Proverbs 18:2). If anything goes on, we have to be involved – or at the very least in the know. We do not like to be obligated and would much rather have others obligated to us. “Freedom” is viewed as the liberty to do all we want, when we want it and as much as we want. “Do your own thing”, “be your own person”, or the purportedly milder “be yourself” are considered watchwords for what we consider a successful life. “Be your own boss” is a goal we pursue in all walks of life.

 So, we climb the Everest or win a race, buy the newest gadget and aspire to the most prominent position. When we see a TV camera, we put on a childish smile, poke our mugs into the frame and wave or invite our girlfriend to tune to the right station. We love to drop names of well-known people we’ve met, as if that will add to our importance and we rush a hundred times a day to see how many likes we received on FaceBook, or noted that we’re drinking coffee in the Anserine Motel on top on Mount Boorishness.

 That is why we find it so painful to apologize and to admit failure. We prefer to lay the burden on responsibility on others (Genesis 3:12). We were provoked; circumstances imposed themselves upon us or even justified our actions; or our education or lack thereof is to blame and so on. Moral failure – the worse kind of failure – is especially difficult to admit.

 Mankind has created an endless stream of religions, all of which share a common characteristic: man becomes his own savior. He may do so by “good works”, by offering sacrifice, by meditation or prayer. He may be serving a Buddha, kissing a scroll, an ancient wall or some other relic, bowing before an idol or ministering to the needy. He may be evangelizing, serving in the church, denying himself or studying the Bible. Whatever he does is what secures his salvation and assures his blessing.

 Of course, in many cases we admit that most of our salvation comes from God, or the gods. He, or they, respond to our efforts and grant us the blessings we crave. But the initiative is ours, and what he or they do for us is in response to our actions. God or the gods laid the ground and paved the way. The rest us up to us. If he or they accorded us salvation, it is now up to us to ensure we do not lose it; or we must bring it to a higher level of spiritual achievement. Ultimately, it is we who make the choice. We are the ultimate arbiters or our fate. Even if saved by the kindness of God, our two bits are needed to make it stick.

 But the Gospel runs contrary to this general vein. It tells us that we are never free than when in bondage to God; never more like ourselves than when we are Christlike; never wiser than when we submit to the truth of God. The Gospel tells us that we never, ever deserve God’s blessing. It calls for a sincere humility that is borne out of a sense of inability and lack of worth, for a frank admission of demerit. It teaches us that without God in Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5), that with him we can do only by his kindness and enabling (Philippians 2:13), and that even after we have done our best, we are but unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10) whose labors are acceptable only because of Christ (Philippians 4:13, Hebrew 13:21).

 That is the essential nature of grace – it is utterly undeserved. Not only so, but grace, to be grace, does it all (Colossians 2:10): the initiative is God’s, the grounds are laid by him, he places us on those grounds, and he ensures we remain on them, guiding, sustaining and protecting us all the way to glory.

 Not that grace does not call for human effort. On the contrary. The only reasonable response to grace is that we offer to God our full, hearty, unreserved, sacrificial and continuous obedience (Romans 12:1-3). But we love because we have first been loved (I John 4:19), not to be loved. We obey, not in order in order to obtain but because we have been given so much, so liberally and so undeservedly. We serve, not to ensure our inheritance but because –  contrary to all we deserve – we have been assured of an inheritance unblemished, undefiled, reserved in heaven for us (I Peter 1:4).

 Christian obedience is an act of love and of gratitude. It is a recognition of sweet duty (Romans 7:21), made sweeter by being rendered to God, the glorious, beautiful, worthy, magnificent, beloved One who is altogether holy, perfectly lovely, unimaginably himself.

 Such was the original Faith of Israel until corrupted by human contrivance driven by prideful self-assertion.

 Upon destruction of the temple at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD, Judaism took a decisive turn which set it on a path of self-obtained righteousness instead of being the religion of grace described in the Old Testament. Tendencies castigated by the prophets and which again found expression in Pharisaical understandings became the norm and Israel engaged in a major departure from the Word of God 

God in his unilateral grace gave Israel the blood of sacrificial animals as a means of atonement for sin (Leviticus 17:11). Stringent ritual now became a means by which Israel pleased God, (Isaiah 1:4-17), often without regard to the intended meaning of the ritual and without engaging the affections as the rituals were followed. Moral behavior was no longer motivated by a sense of gratitude to God, nor viewed in terms of worshipful, loving obedience. Instead, acts of generosity and kindness were ways by which man obtained merit and thereby earned God’s blessing. Even humility was a transformed into a kind of self-motivated, self-imposed abasement that was considered meritorious.

 Of course, there were exceptions. But they were just that: exceptions, not the rule. God’s authority was supplanted by an authoritarian Rabbinocracy in which God had no say. Indeed, tradition has it that God was silenced and his opinion rejected as the rabbis sat to determine the meaning of the biblical text.

Today Israel has followed the logical path outlined by such presumption. The choice is presented as between secular humanism and blind obedience to a tradition as interpreted by the rabbis, and the majority has chosen the former.

The church has likewise repeatedly departed from its biblical moorings and degenerated into liberalistic humanism, a means by which man obtains merit, or a form of blind obedience to traditional practices and doctrines expounded from the pulpit. Many of the historic churches have chosen the latter option. Common evangelicalism has chosen the second. The majority, disappointed by both, has chosen the first.

 Yes, common evangelical thought and practice assumes a kind of meritocracy which affirms that Jesus did much but the rest is up to us. This is expressed in many ways. Some affirm that God would dearly love to save every single human individual, but his good will is stymied by man’s independence. His sovereignty has to do with everything but man’s freedom to choose. Election is man choosing God, God foreseeing that choice, and then running ahead of man and choosing him first. Others affirm that evangelism, prayer and fasting, Bible study, self-denial or other such commendable activities are the means by which Christian ascend the ladder of spirituality and secure their final arrival at heaven’s gates.

 Few today have more than a mediocre understanding of the Faith. They prefer “practical” sermons, shallow evangelistic appeals, mega-churches in which their emotions are stirred while their minds are ignored and where there is no clear call to holiness in life, the fear of God, repentance and the forsaking of sin. People come to church to be petted, pampered, encouraged and taught to feel good about themselves. Hence the popularity of preachers such as Joel Olsteen, Mark Driscoll and the like.

 The church has refused the discomfort of truly prophetic ministries, or of congregational life in which men of all races and cultures mix. We prefer the cultural and linguistic ghettos in which our practice is never challenged and our assumptions never questioned, so that we are not called upon to change except in the direction of our cherished prejudices. We separate into congregations and clusters to which only those who agree with us are allowed to enter, and then love fellow-Christians over the fences our self-love has erected – until we divide again because some area of disagreement has been discovered.

 We are in desperate need of reformation. We desperately need to return to the word of God and to re-examine the best of our traditions, Confessions, practices, polity and systematizations, lest our fear of God our Savior be the fruit of human traditions rather than of the mighty, truthful, powerfully living word of God, which is able to save and sanctify us to the glory of him for whose sake we were created, redeemed and assured glorification. 

MaozViews, March 2017 -- Socail, Political and Spiritual Trends in Israel

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o2rgcft2x6sran4/MaozViews%20March%202017%20Social%2C%20Political%20and%20Spiritual%20Trends%20in%20Israel.pdf?dl=0

March 21, 2017

ISRAEL'S EXISTENTIAL THREAT: THE OCCUPATION

Gili Cohen  Ha’Aretz March 22, 2017 12:02 PM 

Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo asserted on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation and the conflict with the Palestinians are the only existential threat facing Israel.

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“Israel has chosen not to choose, hoping the conflict will resolve itself – perhaps the Arabs will disappear, maybe some cosmic miracle will happen,” Pardo told a conference at the Netanya Academic College. “One day we will become a binational state because it will be impossible to untie the Gordian knot between the two peoples. That is not the way to decide.”

Pardo stated: “Israel has one existential threat. It is a ticking time bomb. We chose to stick our head in the sand, creating a variety of external threats. An almost identical number of Jews and Muslims reside between the sea and the Jordan. The non-Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria live under occupation. This is Israel's definition, not mine. The law in this territory is as we have made it, a military justice system that is subject to the authority of the Israel Defense Forces.”

He said that despite the full withdrawal from Gaza, responsibility for the territory remains in Israel’s hands. “Israel is responsible for the humanitarian situation, and this is the place with the biggest problem in the world today,” he said.

Pardo added: “Israel must deal with the demographic reality and [decide] which state we want to be. Life with alternative facts harbors a disaster for the Zionist vision. The key to saving the state requires brave leadership.”

March 16, 2017

For those interested, the following is our March-August 2017 itinerary:

April 1-2 Saturday - Sunday

AM Port Angeles WA

PM Bothell WA

 April 7 Friday flight to Baltimore, drive to Camp Hill

 April 8 Saturday Al Herman

 April 8-9 Saturday-Sunday Media PA AM, PM

 April 16 Sunday

 AM Mount Carmel PA

 PM RB Camp Hill

 April 19 Wednesday– Mebane NC

 April 20-24 Thursday-Monday Louisville KY

 April 24-25 Monday- - Tuesday open for engagements

 April 25-26 Tuesday – Wednesday Knoxville TN

 April 26-27 Wednesday- Thursday open for engagements

 April 28-May 1 Friday - Monday Hartsville TN

 May 1-4 Monday-Thursday Atlanta GA

 May 4- 6 Thursday- Saturday Tallahassee FL

 May 6– 7 Saturday - Sunday Gainesville FL

 AM OPC

 PM Luzt FL

 May 8 Monday Newly formed church

 May 9-15 Tuesday - Monday Birmingham AL

 AM Reformed Baptist

 PM Briarwood Presbyterian

 May 15-19 Monday – Saturday New Orleans Details to follow

 May 22 Monday Shreveport LA

May 23 -25 Tuesday - Thursday Pasadena TX

May 25-26 Thursday – Friday open for engagements

 May 26-29 Friday – Monday Fort Hood TX

 30- 31May El Paso TX

 May 31 – June 8 Wednesday – Thursday Phoenix AZ

 MAY 1 Wednesday OPC PM

 June 2-3 Friday - Saturday Show Low AZ

 June 3 Saturday Gilbert AZ

 June 4 AM Mesa AZ

 PM Gilbert AZ

 June 7 Wednesday Prescott AZ

 June 8 Thursday San Diego

 Friday June 9 Los Angeles

 June 10-12 Saturday – Monday Visalia CA

Monday June 12 Sacramentoopen for engagements

 June 13-15 Tuesday – Thursday Sacramento

 June 15-July 5 Thursday – Saturday Seattle WA

 Sunday June 18 PM Emmanuel Reformed Baptist

 AM Kirkland WA

  PM Issaquah WA

 July 6-7 Thursday- Friday Post Falls, ID

 July 7-8 Friday-Saturday Worland WY

 July 8-10 Saturday - Monday Powell WY

 July 10- 11 Monday - Tuesday Leith North Dakota

 July 11-12 Tuesday - Wednesday Minneapolis MN open for engagements

 July 12-13 Wednesday - Thursday Waukesha WI

 July 13-15 Thursday – Saturday Bloomington IN

 July 15-17 Saturday - Monday Grand Rapids MI

 Am Reformed Baptist Jeffrey 09:30

 PM Rev. Heritage Reformed

 July 17- 18 Monday – Tuesday Datron OH

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