Hi, good point. What I have been noticing is what the controversy around the Israel/jewish / Palestinian/Arab question is the effect it has on the Body of Christ which is ONE in the spirit through the redeeming work of the Cross. There are a lot of strong feelings around partly, I believe, because of the spiritual warfare behind this issue for various reasons (I won't go into here), but believers in the jewish Messiah, Jesus/Yeshua - same person are being pulled in different directions like a tug of war and it is affecting the unity and oneness of the Body which Jesus said would be the sign to the world that God had sent Him - when they see the love. THEREFORE, based on the clear teaching of Ephesians 2 that there is now ONE NEW MAN ie, jew and gentile together in Messiah, I was wondering whether it would be worth having a thread to encourage and support Israeli and jewish believers living in Israel (or even elsewhere) or not only suffer persecution from fellow jews, but additional harassment merely because they ARE jews. A lot of jews are fearful of christians for reasons (I won't elaborate on right now) which have become a stumbling block to their receiving their own jewish Messiah, and personally I am horrified at the anti-semitic (which actually includes Arabs as semites as well) attitudes within the church in various guises which is partly rooted in false teaching going way back to the early church. I feel our Israeli brothers and sisters need to know that they are accepted and loved as fellow believers and as jews called to live where they are, and that we do not view them as hostile aggressors and occupants in the land that God has given them and God is a covenant-keeping God. In this way we can do our part to heal divisions in the Body and be a witness. Perhaps the thread should be called ONE NEW MAN, its purpose to seek to bring together Israeli believers and support them in prayer as they suffer much hostility from the Talmud-believing Orthodox jews. A safe place to pray for, listen to and ask questions to promote understanding of different positions, around jewish/arab issues from our oneness in Messiah. Also, from that place to be a faithful witness to jewish/muslim enquirers who hold to religion rather than Jesus. Ok, I am thinking this through as I type - I think that's basically it, although it may evolve. In a phrase: to promote healing of racist and political divisions in the Body of Christ and to promote unity in the Body.
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it is obvious as you have stated, there is and always' has been 'division' among those that name themselves Christians =
here, in the usa, we have a plethora of denominations with different 'beliefs', into the thousands!
can any one 'change' a catholic into a Methodist or a morman into a Baptist???
the point is, this is an anti-Biblical concept to begin with, meaning 'so MANY DIFFERENT belief systems,
contrary to 'one-another', yet, 'naming The Name of Jesus Christ', what 'hog-wash'...
the Scripture plainly says, '
1COR. 1:10.
Now I beseech you, BRETHREN, by The Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing,
and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be (perfectly joined together)
(in the same mind and in the same Judgment).
if we 'cannot set our own 'national-house' in order, how can we set 'another country's house in order)???
but, as it is written:
'Walk before Me and be perfect'... - if we can do this, God will for sure send us further Holy instructions...
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