Catch the Jew!

Normally I would just include this on my monthly books post, but this was long enough that I figured I'd do a separate post.



Catch the Jew! by Tuvia Tenenbom --  a Facebook friend - an older American guy living in Tunisia at the time of this recommendation - posted about this book a few months ago, and I put it on my Amazon wishlist.  Ed mentioned the author traveling to various parts of Israel/Palestine, meeting all sorts of people, and reporting on his findings.  Sounds like something I would really enjoy!  And I did in many ways although the book was also unsettling.


Tuvia was born into a very religious Israeli family. (Just looked it up "I was born and raised in Israel to an ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist family, and grew up in the most elitist neighborhood of ultra-Orthodoxy at the time.  My father was a rabbi...My grandfather refused to come to Israel because he did not want to live with Zionists, and the Nazis rewarded him and most of his family with on-the-spot burials." pg. 1).


I get the impression he rejected most of that religious stuff although he's Jewish and a supporter of Israel.  Still, he left Israel to pursue things forbidden to him during his childhood, i.e., science and the arts.  He founded the Jewish Theater of New York.


I like that he is fluent enough in Hebrew, Arabic, German, and English that he could hear and read what others were saying/writing, and, he didn't have to rely only on what people fed him.  (I remember one instance where he knew what the imam was saying to his people whereas the German or French NGOs didn't.  That was a bit disturbing.) He often convincingly pretended to be a German journalist - he'd call himself Tobi the German -, and, therefore, gain access to areas of Palestine or Israel that were off limits to Jews, and vice versa.  For the most part, the Palestinians loved Tobi the German.  It was unsettling to me how often they would mention Hitler's treatment of Jews in a positive light.  I like that Tuvia reported on Palestinian areas - places I have never really heard about. Of course, I'm going on his own reporting - and maybe he lied - but if he didn't, there is a whole nother viewpoint of them.

Truthfully Tuvia admired the Palestinians he met - they had great food, and were warm, friendly, accepting (of Tobi the German at least), supported their own unlike "self-hating" Jews or even an "ex-Jew" in one case.  I was amazed at how many European especially German groups were working to help Palestinians - and in Tuvia's mind show the world how awful Israel is.  I actually feel quite mixed up after reading this!

This book has 467 pages so there were lots of interesting tidbits. I only noted a handful so it wouldn't be too much.

-- Walking through Tel Aviv, the author notes: "It is interesting for me to see, as I walk, that the leftists of this land are also its richest.  How does this work, and why, is a puzzle to me." (pg. 97)

-- Jewish stone throwers (pg. 103); that is they were throwing stones at their own Egged bus  (I often think only of Palestinian youth as throwing stones so this stood out to me!)

-- On his meeting with Gideon Levy:  "For many years Gideon has championed the Palestinian cause, but not one Palestinian has befriended him, or he one of them.  Obviously, despite what his articles may suggest, he really doesn't care about Palestinians, only about the Jews.  He's an Israeli patriot, as he says to me. He wants his Israel, his Jews, to be super-humans and reply to a bullet with a kiss.  In short: he wants all the Jews to be Jesus and die on the cross.

There can be only one reason why he would want them to be a Jesus: Inside of this man's heart, in its darkest corners, this Gideon is the biggest kind of Jewish racist that has ever existed. Jews must behave like super-humans because they are.  And as long as they do not behave as a master Jesus race, he hates them.  He is the strangest self-hating Jew you can find."  (pg. 122-123)

-- "The stupendous love for the Palestinians from so many nations that I keep seeing in this region is quite interesting. Some years ago I was in a Palestinian refugee camp called al-Wahdat in Jordan, where people live worse than the average cockroach.  No foreign government was helping them in any way, no NGOs around, and the Jordanian government was doing its best to make the life of these people a bit less intolerable.  It doesn't take a genius to know why the world 'loves' only certain Palestinians. I don't want to think about it."  (pg. 275)  

I kind of do want to think about it, though.


Also, an article by Tablet Magazine about his findings.

Jews in Muslim Lands and the Creation of Israel: "They did not wish to be dhimmis any more. Finally they had a choice."

Some more notes from In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands by Martin Gilbert.  Now we're getting into the section on World War II, the creation of the State of Israel and the aftermath of that.



So we've seen Muslims and Jews actually got along quite well at times.  In those instances as long as the Jews kept their respectful stance as dhimmis, most often problems did not exist. After a time, however, this all changed and problems happened in places where Jews had thrived for years such as Iraq.  One former Iraqi administrator, Abraham Elkabir, "later reflected - while living in Israel - on what went wrong" between Muslims and Jews.  "He traced Muslim hostility to three factors:

1.  "the Palestine issue"
2.  "the Mufti of Jerusalem's campaign in Iraq identifying Jews and Zionists"
3.   "the 'anti-Semitic tendencies' of the British officials and other Westerners in Iraq"  (pg. 193)


Chapters 12 and 13 also mention Nazi Germany influencing Arab hatred towards the Jews.  This despite the fact Hitler's social ladder put Arabs only one step above Jews.  Wisely Hitler had this illustration deleted from the Arabic printing of his book Mein Kampf since he wanted Arab help.

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Observation: Part of the problem with Zionism is that it was in conflict with rising Arabism. So was this all a soured competition between nationalities?

COMPARE this thought ...

"The Muslim world, inspired by Arab nationalism but inflamed by Jewish nationalism, still considered Palestine as an Arab country and part of the Muslim patrimony, in which Jews could live only as a subject people." (pg. 201)

with this one:

"The imminent prospect of a National Home had given the Jews a sense of pride and a hope for a secure future. Jews would no longer have to put up with being second-class citizens, but that was how the Muslims among whom they lived considered them:  the eternal, born dhimmis, subject to one form or another of the Covenant of Omar." (pg. 205)

So was the problem that Islamic faith said Jews were God-ordained to a certain role that Jews no longer were willing to play?


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I found this fact very interesting and wondered how I should weigh it in considering the whole Palestine/Israel issue.

"Between 1922 and 1939 more Arabs had entered Palestine than Jews. These were Muslim immigrants including many illegals, from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and Syria - as well as from Transjordan, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. These immigrants were drawn to Palestine by its opportunities for work and its growing prosperity - opportunities and prosperity often created by the Jews there. In 1948 many of these Arab immigrants were to be included in the statistics of 'Palestinian' Arab refugees."  (pg. 175)

So much for all the Palestinians living on ancestral lands for centuries, huh?  I'm sure many had, but not these 20,000+ who came only in the twentieth century from other Arab lands.


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The Partition problem also caused conflict in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood "called for the reintroduction of the dhimmi laws, which had been repealed by Egypt's Mohammad Ali dynasty a century earlier, allowing both Egyptian society and Egyptian Jewry to flourish."  (pg. 213)

Several times Arab suspicion of the Jewish communities giving money to Zionist organizations was noted. It seemed most Arab countries at this time simply wanted to make sure their Jewish populations didn't support the creation of a Jewish state and they wanted the Jews to renounce Zionism, declare their loyalty to their countries (whether Iraq or Morocco or Libya) and definitely not financially support any Jewish agencies which might work to relocate Jews to Palestine.  This reminds me of today in the United States where many Muslim "charities" are under suspicion for supporting what the United States deems as terrorist organizations.  If you want to support the Palestinians by giving to any charity with ties to Hamas or Hezbollah, forget it. 


And people here often want Muslims to show their loyalty to the United States. It seems some are suspicious of Muslim ties to that mysterious worldwide ummah.

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The last chapter I finished was about Iraq from 1948 to1952.  One Jewish man put the reason why his family left, "because of 'hostility at a popular level to the new State of Israel' - not due to any official Iraqi discrimination or expulsion.'"  (pg. 243) It's as if the Arab people hated Israel so much that they took out their frustrations on the local Jewish populations which caused most of them to flee.  The author noted by the end of 1951, over 113,500 Jews had left Iraq legally while 6,000 remained.  When Jews left Iraq they had to surrender all but a small amount of money so a few Jews decided to stay.

What I find ironic to consider is that European Jews discriminated against and hurt so much by the Holocaust and preceding years (and years) understandably wanted to flee Europe for the newly created Israel where they felt safe.  Most Arabs throughout the region hated this new creation so they took out their wrath on the Jewish people in their countries. Which, in turn, made those Jews want to leave.  So many Arab countries let them leave -- for Israel!  Which to me makes little sense. If you are wanting to destroy this newly-created entity, why bolster it with more people?  Especially Jewish people who seem to have an innate ability to thrive wherever God puts them?

I think I see more clearly why many Palestinians feel abandoned by other Arabs and why they are cynical of Arab nations truly wanting to aid them. If anything, Palestine and Palestinians have been used as a rallying point for some Muslims who are trying to unite a fragmented ummah. But has real effort taken place to do anything? Or is it mostly talk?  Arabs have often blamed their dictatorial leaders so we'll have to see if this Arab Spring - and new leaders coming to power - makes any difference for the Palestinian refugees.

All that said, it does not change the fact that I detest how Israel treats the Palestinians. I find it very shameful that people who have suffered so much over the centuries could, in turn, show they can be just as evil now that they are in superior positions. One would hope the human population would learn lessons from history, but that seems too difficult.


Thoughts? Corrections?  Please share!

(see the two previous posts for more information on this book)

Hey, what's up?

Wow, I can hardly believe how not chatty I've been here lately. I guess nothing has really stood out to me to share although I have read some interesting things.  Just today I finished I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity by Izzeldin Abuelaish.    A Facebook friend recommended it a few weeks back after her family had the opportunity to hear Dr. Abuelaish speak somewhere near their home,I guess.  Anyway, I put it on my Amazon wishlist and it was one of the two books I received for Valentine's Day.  I cried during parts of it, but was encouraged by his attitude. I really admire this guy!

Yesterday we went to the Natural Science Museum in a neighboring city.  My brother, sister, nephew, dad and I went so it was quite a fun "field trip."  It's not so often that this particular crew gets to go out together for a day.  You can see a few pictures here if you'd like.  There is a llama with some crazy hair!  And also a couple of snakes that I touched though that was not photographed since I was holding the camera. Instead you can see Michael touching the snakes!  I also made friends with a cockatoo.

Here is a video about Freedom's Call in Syria. It's about dissidents working in that country and the struggle they face in this oppressive regime.

Here is a short video of the most typical face on the planet.  It also has some interesting facts of what is typical in various parts of the world. Like in some countries residents spend eight hours a day collecting water!  Can you imagine?! Wow!

I am heading out now. Going to meet some high school friends in a couple of hours, but I wanted to run an errand or two first.  The library is calling my name!  Anyone want to guess how many books jump into my arms and what topics they are about?

My "Enlightened Viewpoint" re: Israel

So here is another in my "stepping out of my box and changing my mind" series that I first discussed here.

Last month E and I were still talking on that same thread where he asked me about my views on Islamic jihad and sharia, (I shared my views on that here) and he could tell I wasn't fawning over Israel as much as I should have been.  I mean we grew up in churches and households that strongly supported God's Chosen People. And even if we didn't support them on religious grounds, how about the fact that they are our strongest ally and "the only democracy in the Middle East" surrounded by those angry Arabs and Persians who hate them so much they want to wipe them off the map?  For all its superpower status which puts us in some ways at the top of the heap, Americans tend to love a worthy underdog. And poor little Israel with its persecuted Jews fit the bill in a region of the world full of strife and multitudes of non-Jews who hated these people for daring to reclaim their ancestral lands.

OK, let's leave the land stuff alone and even who has rightful dibs on it.  I say the land belongs to God and I am extremely sorry to see what people do to each other for the sake of land.

Anyway, E noticed my replies weren't adding up to what should be 'normal' for me.  I think I had mentioned how awful life was for the Palestinians which prompted this:

Susanne, that's just not true. UN reports say that food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies are uninterrupted. Weapons, on the other hand are being stopped.

I can understand why they do what they do. The god of this world has blinded their eyes. The hatred of the Jewish people began where you say it did. From that time, they have been suffering persecution. Slavery in Egypt, Herod, attacks from all sides, Hitler, more attacks from all sides.

I believe that the persecution will never end until God puts an end to it; and despite what Daniel says, I know you know what the Bible says about that.

Forget what others believe, what do you believe? Do you believe the Bible account of the end days? I do, or do you have a more "enlightened viewpoint"?

So I decided to share

My "enlightened" view just for E: :-)

E, I'm not denying there has been hatred of the Jews since ancient times. I believe Satan would like for this ethnic group to have been destroyed in order for the Messiah (whom I consider the Savior of the world) to never come. Of course he failed. God always preserved a remnant and even when Israel went "whoring after other gods", He was always faithful to His promise to Abraham. Not because of the Jews' innate goodness, but because of God's.

I think many American Christians have taken Genesis 12:3 as their way for dealing with the current Israel which was established by mostly secular Zionists such as Hertzl who mocked the OT as a book of fables. He used it to his advantage, however, and knew when to use it as "Thus saith the Lord" when appealing to religious folks.

Genesis 12 talks about God blessing those who bless Abraham's descendants and cursing those who curse them, correct? I am fine with that. I believe the Bible. But I ask now what does blessing someone mean? Does it mean being OK with them mistreating others or does it mean encouraging them to do right in God's sight? God dispersed the Jews into other nations because of their unfaithfulness to Him. The OT Prophets often scolded Israel for injustice, lack of mercy and their arrogance. How is this different from today? Do we suddenly wink at their sins because we want to "bless them" (which being interpreted is: do whatever evil, sinful thing you want and we will pat you on the back and give you more money because WE ARE STANDING WITH YOU, O ISRAEL!)? You don't bless a drug addicted child by giving him drug money and okaying his lifestyle. You get him help. You show him the forgiveness and life changing power of God.

I'm not arguing about End Times happenings. I'm talking about the here and now and treating people as God wanted the Israelites of old to treat those living with them.

"The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." (Lev. 19:34)

I have Christian missionary friends living in the West Bank and they have seen the situation first hand unlike most of us. I'm not saying everything is Israel's fault, but neither do I give them a blanket endorsement. Many of their policies perpetuate the cycle of hatred. This is what I want us to understand better. I'm not debating or trying to change minds on your interpretation of the end times. I'm simply saying we need to remember Jesus' words about loving our enemies and the reminders in Scripture.

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink."

We can't expect Jews to follow Jesus' commands, but I surely can expect my fellow Christians to obey their Lord if they truly claim to follow Him. Why do we not take Jesus seriously?

We can leave all the end time stuff to God. We can't bring it to pass any earlier or later by trying to finagle things in the region so everything is right for Jesus to return. But we can take Jesus seriously and love all people -- even our enemies. Leave the vengeance stuff to God. Let's be faithful in sharing -and living- the good news of Jesus with a world that needs Him. That is what will change things in the region.

I hope that helps explain where I am coming from. Thanks for your questions. I'm glad I had a chance to share my thoughts on this topic.

Any thoughts, corrections,questions or details to add?  Do you think I'm silly for expecting followers of Jesus to see Palestinians with love and compassion instead of solely as enemies because they hate Israel?  What do you think?

How Colonialism Influenced Islam

In the next to the last chapter of No God but God, Reza Aslan briefly discusses the Muslim response to colonialism by sharing stories from India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  I found this chapter highly interesting and informative and immediately thought how I want others that I know to read this chapter especially! 

The chapter begins with the Indian Revolt.  Can I just say how disgusted I am when a "Christianizing mission" under the guise of "civilizing" a nation takes place so the so-called civilized society can, in reality, steal natural resources from a land and control people?  Yes, there are some practices that are barbaric - that God can change.  And if your heartfelt intention is to share the love of Jesus with people so they can experience the joy and peace of relationship with God, that's one thing.  But do not, do NOT, DO NOT go in with your nation's military, steal the other country's resources, punish the natives harshly for revolting because they don't want you there or force conversions! This is NOT following Christ!  Do not take God's name in vain by calling yourself a Christian and cheapen Jesus' teachings like this! This is why I sometimes separate myself from the Christian label because stealing from others, revenge for revolts and forced conversions are not Christ-like!  At.  All.

Aslan notes, "the violence with which colonial control was reasserted in India forever shattered any illusions of British moral superiority."  This reminded me of talks I've had with my Syrian friend. He admitted how hurt he was when he saw Americans coming into Iraq supposedly to help liberate the people from evil Saddam Hussein only to see them bring in the big bombs which destroyed much in the nation and killed and maimed many thousands of innocent women and children. He said he always thought the Americans were nice people. He'd see our TV shows and he found us likable, funny and friendly so he could not understand why we'd have such a harsh hand amongst his people.  His image of any American evenhandedness and nicety was shattered. He would expect this of their enemy Israel which never makes any pretenses for liking Arabs, but Americans were supposed to be fair and balanced.. and nice, weren't they? 

The author spoke of men such as Sayyid Ahmed Khan who founded the Aligarh School, "the primary goal of which was the revitalization of Islamic glory through modern European education."  Khan wanted to use European rationalism and scientific thought to modernize the Sharia.  He taught his students "to throw off the shackles of the Ulama and their blind imitation (taqlid) of Islamic doctrine, for none of the problems facing Muslims in the modern world could be solved through their antiquated theology."

Chiragh Ali hated how Europeans thought Islamic law was "'essentially rigid and inaccessible to change'" because of how the Ulama had influenced Islam. Chiragh argued the only law was the Quran which "'does not interfere in political questions, nor does it lay down specific rules of conduct.'"

You can image how this kind of thinking went over with the Ulama who were charged with being incompetent and irrelevant!  Essentially these "learned men of God" were being blamed for keeping Muslims from advancing.

The author introduced me to Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani born and raised in Iran.  Al-Afghani had a lifelong hatred of the British and wanted to free Muslim lands from "the yoke of European colonialism, which he considered to be the gravest threat to Islam." For al-Afghani, Islam with it's egalitarian message was the superior civilization and he wanted to unite the Muslim world under its banner.  He also considered the Ulama as having become "the true enemies of Islam." 

Afghani's ideas met with success when he got to know some Turkish reformers.  The Young Ottomans "developed an intriguing reformist agenda based on fusing Western democratic ideals with traditional Islamic principles.  The result was a supernationalist project, commonly referred to as Pan-Islamism."  Its goal was to unite the Ummah under a single caliphate.  The problem with this, however, was Islam was divided along sectarian lines so unity wasn't as easy to come by.  Instead a more "secular countermovement that would replace the ... aspirations of religious unity with the more pragmatic goal of racial unity" was developed - Pan-Arabism.  Pan-Arabism wasn't entirely secular as noted the best pages of Arab history included the rise of Islam from the Arab world with an Arab prophet.  The problem with this Arab unity was... that there is "no such thing as a single Arab ethnicity."  Arabs sometimes cannot even understand other Arabs based on how different their dialects are so this unification was going nowhere fast.

Next on the scene was a young socialist Hasan al-Banna who came to Cairo for higher education.  He noticed the vast difference in the mostly poor common folks as opposed to the country's elite members.  He decided to work for what he referred to as "'the Islamization of society,'" basically bringing equality and social justice.  His Muslim Brothers group dealt with such matters "as the increase of Christian missionary activity in the Muslim world, the rise of Zionism in Palestine, the poverty and political inferiority of Muslim peoples, and the opulence and autocracy of Arab monarchies."  This was not a political movement as much as it was seeking to "reconcile hearts and minds to God so as to alleviate human suffering."  Al-Banna "was convinced that the state could be reformed only by reforming the self."

However when al-Banna's followers were later imprisoned by Colonel Gamal Abd al-Nasser whose "authoritarian rule began to clash with the egalitarian values preached by the Muslim Brothers," al-Banna's movement changed. Instead of changing society by changing self, it became society must be changed by force.

Aslan then talks about Sayyid Qutb who would "come to be known as the father of Islamic radicalism."  Qutb, an Egyptian, came to the United States for a brief time and was "disgusted by what he saw as the country's 'materialistic attitude' and its 'evil and fanatical racial discrimination,' both of which he blamed on the West's compulsion to pull 'religion apart from common life.'"  He came back to Cairo, joined the Muslim Brothers and quickly became a leader who was tortured and imprisoned by his country. There he wrote a book which argued, "'setting up the kingdom of God on earth, and eliminating the kingdom of man, means taking power from the hands of its human usurpers and restoring it to God alone.'"  His views gave rise to a new ideology, Islamism, which "called for the creation of an Islamic state in which the sociopolitical order would be defined solely according to Muslim values."  All secular governments in Muslim lands had to be replaced. If necessary, by force.  Qutb was rearrested and hanged for treason a year after Milestones was published. His followers fled the country for the only place offering refuge to them:  Saudi Arabia.

The brief history shared about Saudi Arabia was intriguing!  Aslan noted how the religious zealot al-Wahhab came to know ibn Saud of the Najd region of  Arabia.  I was amazed to read that the Wahhabis went throughout the land destroying graves - even of their beloved prophet and his family -, looting from the treasury, burning books, outlawing coffee, banning music and flowers from the sacred cities and forcing men to grow beards and women to veil under the penalty of death!  The Ottomans were able to stop these guys, however, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed, these nuts regained power thanks to ... the British!!!!!!!! 

Hold your ears while I scream!

So now we have Wahhabi - a horrid strain of Islam - controlling newly formed Saudi Arabia which soon becomes super-wealthy thanks to a gift from God, oil. They export not only oil, but their brand of Islam which has influenced many of those the West is now fighting.

You reap what you sow.

At the end, Aslan declares this current conflict is not between Muslims and the West, rather it's internal. It's Muslims fighting for control of Islam. Just as Christianity took fifteen centuries to decide what it would become, Islam is now entering its fifteenth century.


And since the world now is smaller and more connected, I think we are all along for the ride.

How would YOU answer God?

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

OK, so we've been talking about parables.  I planned to share my favorite, but I was reminded of this one while in the car yesterday listening to a recent message from my church.  It's another good one.  Totally different from my favorite, but a great lesson packed into a short tale.

To set the scene first we must realize tax collectors in Jesus' day weren't just people we avoided because they took our required taxes for the upkeep of our city, state and nation.  Granted I don't much like the Internal Revenue Service or North Carolina Department of Revenue's constant taking, taking, taking only for politicians to spend unwisely and recklessly, but I don't despise them as evil rotten sinners.  Likely I'd not recognize a tax agent in the same restaurant or store with me. 

However back in Jesus' day, a tax collector was a Jewish guy who had collaborated with the occupying government to collect taxes often at a much higher rate than the Romans required. The tax collector would pay Rome what was due it and take the rest for himself.  So he not only worked for the despised occupiers, but he stole from his own people! (Not good.)  Anyone reading through the Gospels would get the impression that a tax collector was hated. Often you see "tax collectors and sinners" coupled together, as in "why does your teacher [Jesus] eat with tax collectors and sinners."  Which being translated likely meant, "How could a rabbi eat with such filthy disgusting sinful pigs?"  And if you are a good Muslim you likely know better than I how Jews felt about pigs. 

So in our terms think about those you would consider to this degree -- maybe a Palestinian who collected taxes for the Zionists in return for favors from them, perhaps a child molester, a rapist ... whatever seems bad to you.  Got someone or some type of person in mind? Great. Now when you read "tax collector" below substitute that person or type of person.

Secondly, recall Pharisees were merely the typical religious type of the day.  They were not bad guys - indeed, they kept the Law of Moses and then some!  We'd likely recognize them as our respected priests, imams, rabbis and pastors today.  Maybe even the spiritual people at your church or mosque. The ones you look up to as "really godly" or maybe scoff for being a bit too goody-goody.

Keep those in mind as you read this short parable from Luke 18.

Notice to whom this parable was given...

 ⁹To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:

The proud self-righteous crowd.  OK, now the parable.


 ¹⁰"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee [religious, law-keeping guy] and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.    ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'  [Lord, see how good I am?  I keep your law by fasting and giving.]

 ¹³"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

 ¹⁴"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

This begs the question -- why? 

The Pharisee was a good guy. He kept God's law.  He gave to the poor. None of us would look at him and doubt his piety.  Seemingly, he did everything right!

Why would the tax collector be the one justified [made right with God] simply because of his attitude and prayer here?  Did he do good works? Didn't he take from the people?  Not only was he not doing good, he was doing bad!  A traitor and thief!

What do you think the point of Jesus' parable was?  Oh yeah, something about humility and exalting ourselves.  What does humility mean? 

Perhaps it just means we realize we are needy folks.  We may have a lot of stuff -- books, clothes, gadgets, food, entertainment, money.  But, in reality, we are still needy. Of what? God's grace. God's mercy. God's goodness.

The Pharisee seemed as if he were counting on his right living.  "OK, God, I've kept all your rules so pour out your blessings on me."  In essence, Mr. Pharisee earned God's favor.

But is this how God works? Can we earn His love, His rewards, His mercy?  Is there enough we can do for God to deserve His gifts?

Why did the sinner - rather than the righteous man - leave the temple made "right" before God?


Does this seem a bit unfair to you?


If God were to stand before you now and say, "why should I allow you into my heaven?" how would you answer Him?


Would you recount all the good deeds you had done or would you humbly acknowledge your sinfulness and the need for His mercy?  Or would you do a little bit of both? Do share!

"Tea With Hezbollah" - final pages

February 21 -- Notes from pages 175 - 216

Today we continued in Jerusalem and read a brief transcript of Ted and Carl's meeting with Abu Joudea, the keeper of the key of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He said Saladin had given to the key to the Muslims 840 years prior and it was the original key!

Next the men visited Sheik Ekrima Sa'id Sabri the former mufti of Jerusalem whose pulpit is the Al-Aqsa mosque atop the Temple Mount. There is a transcript from their visit.

The next chapter continued the story of Nicole and a Good Samaritan in Lebanon.

Chapter 15 was one of my favorites as the men spoke with two men in the West Bank. One, Chrisitian Palestinian Sami Awad greatly impressed me by his story of nonviolence and how he worked for his countrymen by peaceful protests and talking directly with Israeli soldiers. He truly is an example of one who loves his enemies and his neighbors. I told Samer that Sami Awad was one of few true followers of Christ who were living out the Spirit's teachings! Sami Awad believes "when Jesus talks about loving the enemy, he is talking about working to create something new. Creating a new identity through unity. When you have this new identity, the concept of 'the other' is completely eliminated. There is no Palestinian and there is no Israeli in this love." (pg. 195)

Later the men met a Hamas leader they called Mohammad in order to protect his identity. His interview was highly interesting as well and much more human-like than Sami Awad's. He answered questions about whether Jesus' teaching was valid and mentioned how "if the other part is not human, you will be forced to act as not a human being." (pg. 208) For sure I could relate to what he said. I am human.

The next chapter concluded the story they shared about Nicole and her "good Samaritan." We found out later why this story raised a number of cultural "red flags" with Samer. It was explained in the last chapter and Samer and I laughed at the reason why things that struck us odd, were in fact. For one thing, the Middle East is known to have some chivalry concerning women so what is reported happening to Nicole made even me wonder. Samer admitted he woke up thinking about some of Nicole's story particularly her mom's coming to America without seeming to have much thought of her family left at the refugee camp. He said no Middle Easterner would act like this. Indeed I recall times while reading that I would look at him and see him shaking his head in disbelief or appearing visibly shocked as the story unfolded.

February 22 -- Notes from pages 217 - 233

The final chapter found Carl and Ted traveling with an Orthodox Jew they referred to as Micah. Although an Israeli, this man realized Arabs acted as they did oftentimes because they were treated as animals. He often was criticized by his own people for being an "Arab lover," but this Jew really embodied the teachings of Jesus in a way that, honestly, quite impressed me.

I love what Ted concluded about his own self and how so many of us "use religion to serve their preferences rather than challenge them to do the right thing." (pg. 218)

"Micah" took them to visit one of the 700 Samaritans remaining and the book concludes with Carl and Ted sitting on a beach waiting to fly home to Denver. They were discussing what to share in the book and finally settled on "the truth."




So we finished the book and mostly enjoyed it. Samer said the one thing he did not like was Ted's constant mentioning of his fear. I totally agreed. I remember thinking while reading the book that Ted was an awfully fearful guy. Maybe his imagination makes him this way. But I have to say that Ted did not act on his fear and that is important. He walked by faith and had an exciting message to convey to the world. Samer spent some of the evening looking up reviews on Amazon and seemed pleased to see that many of those who wrote shared how reading this book gave them better understanding of Middle Easterners and a greater love for their "enemies." I believe God brought Ted and Carl together and gave them the idea to make this trip and report what they found. I am eager to see how He uses this book to reach a group of people who likely believed no westerner could survive having Tea With Hezbollah.

THE END






See notes from previous pages here

Jewish Culture in the Days of Christ

Off and on throughout the last few weeks I've been reading this book, Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ by Alfred Edersheim. It's my dad's. Occasionally I would record a few notes of interest and I thought I'd copy them now from the first six chapters. Some of the things shared made me think of the Arab/Muslim culture of today. See if you agree.

The chapter on "Jews and Gentiles in 'the Land'" was especially interesting as the author described the attitudes of the Jews towards the foreigners among them and then how these foreigners looked with amused contempt on the conquered "especially when the latter presume[d] to look down upon them and hate them." (pg. 28) Jesus coming to break down this wall, not making Gentiles into Jews, but "of both alike children of one Heavenly Father" was "the most unexpected and unprepared-for revelation." (pg. 29) Loved that!


From page 5 I learned these thoughts on Palestine by the Rabbis -- "The very air of Palestine makes one wise," "to live in Palestine was equal to the observance of all the commandments," "He that hath his permanent abode in Palestine ... is sure of the life to come" (Talmud). Even in the third and fourth centuries of our era they still taught, "He that dwelleth in Palestine is without sin." Ummm, no wonder the Jews want it, huh?


The pages talking about the taxation system (pgs. 52+) and publicans (tax collectors working for the occupiers) was interesting. Makes you see further why the tax collectors were not well-liked.

Speaking of Jewish towns and villages -- "On every side there was evidence that religion here was not merely a creed, nor a set of observances, but that it pervaded every relationship, and dominated every phase of life." (p.86) Reminds me of how Muslims often say Islam is a way of life. Many Christians believe similarly.

Jewish people would greet each other either with "an acknowledgment of the God of Israel, or a brotherly wish of peace" (pg. 89) Salam 'alaykom, anyone?

Page 99 was interesting because it talked how a dutiful son was "bound to feed his father, to give him drink, to clothe him, to protect him, to lead him in, and to conduct him out, and to wash his face, his hands, and his feet." It says, "such things as undutifulness, or want of loving consideration for parents, would have wakened a thrill of horror in Jewish society." No need for nursing homes in that culture.

"Tea With Hezbollah" - pages 107 - 175

We are reading through this book pretty quickly. I want to get it read before Samer returns to Damascus next week. We are on track to do that as we only have about 60 pages left!

From Tea With Hezbollah by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis ... our notes


February 18 -- Notes from pages 107 - 145

Today our reading started with the continuing story of Nicole and of her meeting with a Maronite priest, Father Stephen, who had an exciting story to tell of his kidnapping, captivity and escape and how he met someone very close to Nicole.

Chapter 9 found us with Ted and Carl as they headed further south to have tea with a couple of Hezbollah fighters. Some transcript of this meeting is included and I enjoyed reading the discussion. One thing I found interesting was that the younger fighter attends the American University in Beirut. After having tea with these guys, Ted and Carl had tea with Sheik Nabil Quouk, the number two guy in Hezbollah. I enjoyed the transcript of their meeting as well. (I stupidly asked Samer if he were familiar with Sheik Quouk and he immediately and emphatically replied, "of course!")

This chapter included Ted's thoughts on Hezbollah and an explanation of how Hezbollah tends to be thought of in the region. He told how - to him - they differed from Hamas and Al Qaeda. At this point Samer questioned why Ted did not mention Israel's terrorism on his people and argued that this showed how his people were not as valued to many. We discussed his thoughts at length and finally came up with a satisfactory - if not speculative - answer. Ted let the Hezbollah leaders and others speak for themselves so readers can draw their own conclusions as to the true state of things. Instead of coming out and alienating his western readers by saying, "Israel is a terrorist state," he allows the attentive reader to draw his or her own conclusions based on material he provides. In the end, Samer and I both agreed that this was a clever way to get the message across. A typical evangelical reading this book and seeing "Israel is a terrorist state" would dismiss the book outright as being "too liberal" so Ted's way is wiser. At least this is our opinion thus far.

The next chapter picked up Nicole's story and the story of Naum Sareel one of very few Jews left in Lebanon. Despite his sons urging him to move to Israel, he refused as Lebanon was where his family had lived for two thousand years. His son Saul urged his father to move because he - a Mossad agent - could not guarantee his father's safety so close to the Shatila refugee camp.

Chapter 11 began with Ted and Carl heading to Syria! I especially enjoyed reading about Straight Street though Ted's eyes. I could picture the journey since I made it not so long ago. It was a great memory as they went through the souk, saw the Ummayyad mosque, Kissan Gate and the church dedicated to Paul and Bab Sharqi!

February 19 -- Notes from pages 145 - 175

We continued on in Syria with Ted mentioning the government there. Ted and Carl went to the office of the mufti of Damascus, Abdul Fattah Al Bizem. Samer provided me with a better understanding of the mufti from their perspective. While the Syrian mufti is appointed by the government and therefore a product of it, many people "ignore" this person. However the local muftis are appointed by a committee - I'm guessing of respected religious leaders - and, therefore, he is more respected by the ordinary people. The muftis are generally the ones who issue fatwas and they "must be someone well-grounded in Islamic law and granted the authority to issue formal rulings on matters concerning that law." (pg. 145) So they talk to Mufti Bizem and a transcript including some of the conversation is given. I especially like what he said: "I think it is important to reach the heart to affect people." (pg. 148)

Mufti Al Bizem agrees that dialogue is important among people who are unfamiliar with one another. He believes Jesus' teachings have been changed so the command to love your neighbor and our enemies is likely wrong. At least that's my impression since he said "This a beautiful teaching. But the original has been changed by the Christians, so we should look to Muhammad." My own thoughts, Seriously! With the history of Christianity being what it is do you really think Christians are the ones who wanted to make the Bible say that Jesus told us to love our enemies??

After leaving the meeting with the mufti, the men were on their way to Jordan so they could visit the West Bank. Carl shared a story from his past along that same border and when he met "a Saudi Samaritan." I enjoyed his retelling of this adventure.

The next chapter picked up the story of Nicole and the beginning of a conflict in Lebanon when the hookah bar was secured by two Druze brothers who made the patrons stay inside by threatening to shoot them. It also told of a bicycle ride gone bad for Nicole. Must say that Nicole's story is quite exciting! I believe Samer is enjoying it as well.

Chapter 13 describes Ted and Carl's trip to Jerusalem. Ted tries to explain some of the history behind the city and why it remains so important to Jews, Christians and Muslims. He tried to answer the question of whose land it really was. Somewhere in this chapter Samer and I again discussed why Israel was not called terrorist state since they have killed more people than other nations in the region. I think this came up again when Ted said that no one they talked to throughout their two-week trip had answers to the political problems facing the Israelis and Palestinians. Samer said the answer was found in Washington, D.C. so Ted and Carl were asking the wrong people. He said the powerful (those in the US government) had the answers because basically our propping up terrorist state, Israel, is the root of the problem.

We haven't finished this chapter yet....more to come.

See notes on previous pages here.

"Tea With Hezbollah" - pages 45 to 106

The other day I started writing notes from my reading Tea With Hezbollah to Samer via Skype. It's enjoyable having a genuine Arab to discuss this book with. If I were reading it alone, I would never know the history behind certain things or know that this or that person is pretty famous throughout the region. Instead I can say "do you know this person?" or "have you heard of that?" and 80% of the time Samer has. Also I can hear if he agrees with what author Ted Dekker (along with fellow traveler Carl Medearis) have to say in this book.

Notes from the first pages are here.

And these are things I wrote from the next pages.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the co-authors are on a mission to meet with people and ask what they think of Jesus' teaching of the Good Samaritan and loving your neighbor as you love yourself. They ask most everyone they meet including cab drivers and the people interviewed.


February 16 -- Notes from pages 45 -75

Samer mentioned that although this book says Cairo comes up with Islamic law and Saudi implements it, he said there were two forms with Egyptian law being more moderate/liberal. He said his people followed more of the Egyptian school of thought on Islamic law. Saudi is known for being a bit extreme on the conservative side for most. I think much of this has to do with culture influencing interpretation moreso than true Islamic teaching.

Ted discussed their meeting in Saudi Arabia with the bin Laden brothers who think their brother Osama is a "jerk"

They also talked to Sheik Muhammad Yamani who got his Ph.D. at Cornell -- this guy lives in a 28,000-square-foot palace in Jeddah and has another in Riyadh

We were introduced to the story of Nicole Wagner which includes 7 chapters in the book - quite an intriguing story of how she ended up leaving Iowa and visiting the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon to look for her biological father

Next they left for Beirut and Ted gave a good lesson on the history of the Samaritans trying to explain how the great animosity between them and the Jews began.



February 17 -- Notes from pages 75 - 106

Ted discussed their meeting with the famous ayatollah, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. I was impressed with many things in the transcript from the talk with him especially when he talked about God's unconditional love and how much he loved God. Also interesting was his answer to whether or not he loved his enemies as Jesus instructed his followers. Fadlallah's assistant had provided background on the many times the CIA, Saudis, Saddam Hussein or Israel had tried to assassinate this man for his ties with Hezbollah. -- Samer was very familiar with this man and was able to give his impressions of Fadlallah as an admirable, seemingly peaceful person. Samer said he was the ayatollah (like a spiritual leader/adviser) to the Shia Muslims in Lebanon and Syria.

The next chapter continued Nicole's story and discussed Walid's hookah bar and how secret meetings had taken place there and how he knew much of the happenings around the refugee camp. This chapter lead to a discussion of the Druze since Walid expressed his great hatred for them. Samer and I discussed why people disliked the Druze and I found out they are Arab, but they side more with the Israelis against their own people. They are hated by Muslims and Christians alike in the Middle East.

Next Ted and Carl were on their way to Baalbek - "Baal's place" - which is now the home of Hezbollah. Ted said the place was spectacular, even more impressive than the Greek ruins at the Parthenon. Ted gave an interesting description of the history of this region going all the way back to Cain and Nimrod and future idol worship of Baal. He recounted the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel as recorded in the Old Testament and shared how Romans, Christians and Muslims had all built places of worship in the area.

Ted said in Baalbek and other places in the Middle East you see their heroes. Their superstars are not the same as ours, but you will see photos of Hezbollah or Hamas leaders because these are the ones they admire. Indeed I noticed this during our trip to Syria last year. I saw Hassan Nasrallah's photo around town and even one of the guys we met had Nasrallah as his laptop wallpaper. By that time I was used to these leaders being heroes (freedom fighters!) there and just smiled thinking,"Yup, I'm in the Middle East all right."

Ted and Carl enjoyed tea and an interview with a Bedouin prince in the south of Lebanon. The next day would be tea with Hezbollah.

Stay tuned.

"Tea With Hezbollah" - first pages

I went out with Michael yesterday and we went by the Christian bookstore since I had a 33% off coupon due to it being President's Day. I purchased "Tea With Hezbollah" which recounts Ted Dekker's and Carl Medearis' journey through parts of the Middle East. Late last month I watched a webcast featuring these men along with former SC governor David Beasley. They held a Q&A session in Colorado. Samer and Andrew saw it as well and urged me to buy the book. "So you can read it to me," Samer explained. Sooooo that's what happened yesterday. I bought the book and read the first 44 pages to him.

I thought I might jot down a few things that either stood out to me, to him or things we discussed briefly while I was reading.

Ted mentioned a lovely place - a private resort area - in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia where one would never know they were in KSA. He said you could find about anything and listed some examples. "Women in bikinis in Saudi Arabia?" Samer questioned with surprise. I was suspect of Ted's assessment that women truly ruled in that country. He said while men seemed to rule the streets since women were not seen there as much, he stated that most things were done inside and that's where women ruled. My opinion is that Ted met some powerful women in KSA, but I don't know that they represent the vast majority. Perhaps, but I've read quite a bit on blogs and never got that impression. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. It often is.

When Ted talked about going through security at the airport in Saudi Arabia, he wondered why the guard wouldn't allow him through. Finally Carl translated the gesture and said the man wanted money. So Ted gave him some and the man wanted more so Ted gave him all that he had in his wallet. Ted wondered if he looked the part of the naive rich Westerner. Samer shook his head at this although it was familiar with him as his hometown friends had also had to pay bribes when traveling to KSA for various reasons. Samer said there is hadith about paying bribes and asking for them and neither is good. I think people believe Saudis should not be so anti-Islam since some of them often hold themselves higher than others because KSA is the land of the holy mosques and such things.

While they were in Egypt, Ted mentioned meeting a boat captain who longed to marry, but even at age fifty he wasn't rich enough to build/buy a house which seemed to be the requirement for marrying. Ted felt sad for him and the overwhelming poverty in Cairo. By contrast the places he visited in Saudi Arabia were niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Mohammed the Egyptian mentioned above was asked his impression of America and Ted said this was the sentiments of nearly every layperson they spoke with during their trip. Mohammed said, "America is controlling the whole world. They treat no one fairly, and if I told you anything else, I would be lying." (pg. 20) Samer agreed that this was truly the average thought in the Arab world about the United States.

Ted mentioned their meeting the vice president of the University of Al-Azhar and how that university was "the world's undisputed think tank for Islamic theology, particularly among the Sunni, who account for roughly 85 percent of all Muslims." He said, "when Al-Azhar speaks, the world of Islam listens...with rapt attention." (pg. 14) The thing is, Samer disputed this. He said Al-Azhar has in recent years become more influenced by the corrupt Egyptian government so a lot of people didn't give the university the attention they enjoyed in the past. Apparently Egypt is building a wall between them and the Gazans and while most imams and Arabs dispute this, Al-Azhar came out in favor of it so that even an Egyptian imam in Germany recently mentioned this horrible Al-Azhar ruling in his Friday sermon. So maybe Ted over-estimated the importance of Al-Azhar these days and maybe this university isn't the bastion of admirable Islamic thought as they once were.

Other things of note to me -- how the price of wheat in the US was blamed for the starvation in Egypt, Samir's laughing comment about there is little planning in the Middle East, how the Arabs believed Americans thought of them.


If anyone has any questions or comments about these notes, feel free to ask.

Arab Women - The Palestinians

Part 3 -- More from Both Right and Left Handed: Arab Women Talk About Their Lives by Bouthaina Shaaban

See this post to read about the author, the introduction and Syrian interviewees. Click here to read about Lebanese women.


In the next chapter the author talked to Palestinian women who resided in other countries as refugees. (Because she is Syrian, Ms. Shaaban cannot travel to Palestine/Israel to interview women still living there.) I read eye-opening accounts from women who had experienced so many hardships because of the Israeli occupation. It was interesting reading facts I had never heard before, and I learned how the Israelis exploited the fact that Arabs are very, very concerned with their women's honor (sexual purity) by saying they would rape all the women. Therefore, many people fled. (It wasn't until later years that Palestinian women took it as a sign of courage for getting raped by Israeli monsters because they refused to abandon the land.) I was appalled by many things described -- how women and children were killed either by Israeli bullets or by being allowed to starve and thirst to death in shelters. Truly heartbreaking if you really imagine people living in such a way. And how can people be so incredibly evil and cruel to one another?

When asked what she thought the answer to her problem as a Palestinian, one woman replied, "The answer is for all Arab countries to unite, love each other and stand in one line and one heart against the enemy. The enemy is not the problem, because if we unite we could defeat not only Israel but America as well. America is one country and Israel another -- but how many Arab countries do you have? Fifteen or sixteen? I just wish to God that we could start loving and truly supporting each other, and then no enemy, however mighty, would be able to impinge upon our rights." (pg. 153)

Speaking of her family pressuring her to marry at age 14, one lady said, "Although my mother was against the idea and my father never tried to force me, I nevertheless felt the pressure from the extended family and from society at large; a pressure that bordered on brainwashing. I found their industrious attempts to persuade me to get married exhausting." (pg. 157)

Another lady didn't fight the pressure to marry early, instead she declared that "Like most Palestinian girls I got married early in an attempt to escape family and social oppression. Despite the fact that my family was quite a distinguished one I was still expected to live a double life; I might be open, intelligent and independent, but once it came to marriage I was expected to marry a man of my parent's choice rather than that of my own. Amongst Palestinians communities, early marriage is the norm; as far as young women are concerned an early marriage is their only outlet from the traditional Arab family in which unmarried women have no right to act, speak or even think independently. So my marriage was in a way a bid for freedom." (pg. 161)


So from reading these interviews, I've come to realize how awful extended families can be! Why in the world is it necessary for women to be married off so early in life? :-/


Stay tuned for excerpts from the interviews with Algerian women.

Friends & a Mini-Sermon

Today I had a wonderful time hanging out with an old church friend, Teresa. She saw me online this morning and asked if I wanted to meet for lunch since she had an hour break instead of the normal thirty minutes. So I met with her and we ate at Monterrey's and then walked over to Cato's for the last 15 minutes of her break. I greatly enjoyed that!

Last Saturday I went out with SSS. She is a friend whom I'd only talked to online. Andrew has known her husband for years and knew SSS, but I'd never met her face-to-face. She and her husband went to the West Bank last year and I've kept track of them via e-mail updates and Facebook. Anyway, finally she was back in town for a short visit and we got together for an hour at Smitty's ice cream shop. What a treat to meet such an encouraging lady! Several weeks back I asked her this by e-mail.

It's been wonderful reading about your experiences. How do you measure success? Do you find it in just knowing you are doing what God called you to do no matter what appearances show? Or have you seen actual progress in some areas of life there? I am eager to hear how YOU define "success" -- or maybe that's the wrong word. Hmmm. I hope you understand where I'm coming from with my question.


I greatly enjoyed her reply and was given permission to post it, but only to put it was from SSS and not her name thus why I'm using only her initials.


God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness. (Semantics here!) God's success IS faithfulness! So our young adult team has been faithful to the Gospel and perhaps the world cannot see much of a difference, but they will go home changed people who are able to be faithful in the circumstances of their lives. They will never forget what it's like to live under occupation and not be able to travel across a border to visit a sick relative because an oppressive power is controlling that border. (You and I could not ENTER Greensboro because it is controlled by the ones in charge holding the guns.)
The other thing God does NOT call us to is individualism, because God calls us into community. These young adults had to struggle with living in community and sharing everything while trying to live simply. They also witnessed the Palestinians living more simply and more harshly that the Israelis because of the occupation.
Finally, in my three-point sermon, (HAH - - did you know this was a sermon?) God doesn't call us to mind-numbing pleasure, but to servanthood. The world's call is to constant busyness with whatever feels good - - Nascar, television, computers, facebook, music, sports, eating, drinking, sex, obsession with our bodies, face lifts, family (and here I mean MY family is all that counts) and on and on. This sounds like a tirade against all that is fun and good, and that is not my intent, but God calls us to walk away from some of this stuff and take time to HELP others - - even if it means to sacrifice a little or a lot.


Sorry for not posting it sooner, but here it is now. Really great sermon, I thought.

Also the other evening we visited Sam and Pam at their restaurant. I've greatly enjoyed seeing some of my friends this week.

Terrorists or a Mission Field?

"When you see pictures of large Muslim crowds protesting cartoons of Muhammad in London or Lahore, do you see them as a threat? Or do you see them as a mission field?" (pg. 229)



"Jesus said we are to love our enemies. To our minds that just doesn't make sense. How can we love someone we hate? But that's the brilliance of this command, for if I decide to love someone, that person cannot remain my enemy. Often I have said that the best way to disarm a terrorist with a gun is to go up and hug him." (pg. 230)


Yusef, told Andrew the only "hope for the church to have any impact on the Muslim community" was "Love. After long years of war and persecution, Christians seldom see Muslims as people whom God loves and for whom Christ died. Christians need a new filling of the Holy Spirit to love those who disagree with them. And the greatest expression of love is to share with them the most precious thing a Christian has, which is the good news of the salvation of Jesus Christ."

From Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen

April book -- David Jeremiah

What in the World Is Going On? by Dr. David Jeremiah (DJ) - I have more notes from this book which I filed in my Gmail "Islam" folder.

Here are notes from one chapter.

Chapter 2 -- The Crude Awakening -- explains our dependence on oil and how the quest and need for oil has made the Middle East of such importance; America uses about 25% of the oil produced; when the dollar was no longer backed by gold, Truman issued an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the dollar to be backed by oil; however, when Iran opened its own trading in February 2008 using euros, the stability of the dollar was threatened (pg. 29); because of the large demand for oil, people are looking for alternative fuel sources, however, studies have shown the "law of unintended consequences" at work -- "Rather than saving the planet from oil dependence and global warming, biofuels are raising food prices, endangering the hungry, and only slightly reducing the need for oil" (pg. 32). The book claims even if all soybeans and corn crops in the US were used for biofuel, it'd only be enough for about 20% of the demand for fuel.

The talk of how the Arab nations used oil as a bargaining chip in the early 70s was interesting (pg. 33). Essentially they punished nations who favored Israel with an embargo. Some leaders have called for the oil nations to stop selling fuel to America for just a month in order to make a huge statement about our involvement with Israel.

I found the discussion of the Carter Doctrine (pg. 34) to be very interesting because essentially this doctrine showed "the determination to protect the Persian Gulf even at the expense of our own troops." The author admits the first Gulf War was about protecting our oil supply. In fact, "experts agree that the Gulf War in 1990-91 was the first in world history fought almost entirely over oil. And make no mistake: while the war in Iraq is about terrorism, it is also about oil -- oil that is sold to finance the Muslim terrorist regime and oil that is necessary for the West to function economically."

DJ reminds us to keep watching, working and waiting for the Lord. It's a great time to be alive and the time God placed us in so we should lift up our heads in "delight."

Damascus -- Outing with "the Jakes"

So we'd be walking in Old Damascus overwhelmed and enjoying all these shops -- spices, nuts, scarves, beans, candy -- and people, never knowing what other great treasures were nearby. Like this door just off the beaten path. And you'd never know inside this door was a fantastic place to eat!

So what could be behind this door?
(besides Jake's family since I took this as we were all leaving)

TA DA!!!

THIS beautiful restaurant! Wow!
We ate on the second floor.

(When I clicked this picture & saw it big just now, I laughed. Try it and see if you see the two guys in blue. It seems they are watching me photograph the place. :-))

Here is a view from the top. I really loved this place.
It was so beautiful.

This sweet family was so kind to take us there. Siblings Ahmad, Rusha & Mohammed. We affectionately dubbed them "the Jake family." These are our sweet Palestinian friends. Ahmad studied engineering with Samer in college, Rusha is a dentist & Mohammed is studying neurology! Yes, we hung out with educated folks in Damascus!

Not only was the restaurant charming, but the food was delicious! Here are french fries (of course!), parsley salad (surprisingly good) & hummus. Someone is demonstrating how to dip pita bread in it.

(Thank you.)

Here is a picture of the best pita bread, pickles to the right (not my favorite, but I'm never a pickle person), above the pita bread is babaganoush (YUM!!!). I was kind of surprised, but I *really* loved that stuff every time I had it. In fact, I would like some now & I never eat at quarter 'til eleven at night ... unless I'm in Syria!

Caught Samer and Jake enjoying the food.
LOOK at this spread!

This meat dish included shish tawook (chicken) & Turkish lamb kebabs ... really tasty! Looks like maybe chickpeas there on the right. I had so many food options, I can't remember if I ate any of those.

One more look at our food.

The Jake family was so thoughtful and sweet to take us here.
Shokran!

Pictures from Damascus, Syria
February 6, 2009

Give me, give me, give me, Lord!

Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Did you read those words above the picture? They are from Brandon Heath's song Give Me Your Eyes. Incredible message, huh? All these people are going somewhere when they die ... have I ever really cared where they would go? *gulp*

I could say that about all places in this world. I just used this picture of Gaza because it definitely portrays "confusion and chaos" and is in the news daily right now.

The words to this song are really touching and they have become my prayer - especially the chorus. Just look at these words and think of how powerful it would be to truly have the heart and eyes of God. Eyes to see these things and a heart willing to reach out in love and service.

This is my prayer. Lord, let me see others through your eyes. Let me have your compassion, your love and tenderness for them.

Here are the words to the chorus:

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Your arms for the broken hearted ... Your heart for the forgotten ones ....

YOUR LOVE FOR HUMANITY!

John 16:23b,24

"I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. . . . Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

The Slave Is Our Brother

While still in the Christmas spirit, I wanted to reflect on a verse from “O Holy Night” that really spoke to my heart yet again this year. It’s especially meaningful to me since becoming further aware of the starvation and terrorism taking place with my American tax dollars. Makes me sad. Especially when I see these pictures and many more like them. No matter what you think of Hamas’ tactics, you cannot starve the children. Only if you have a hard heart. Jesus would feed the children.

Come on, Israel! Come on, Egypt! (These are our allies, Americans!) OPEN THE BORDERS! Let the people eat!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Jesus said to feed your enemies not starve them!

Obey your Lord!

December books

Children of Hope by Vernon Brewer with his daughter, Noel Brewer Yeatts -- This book discusses the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa and the civil wars and other factors on that continent that contribute to HIV's spread. The authors seek to portray the huge need by presenting the faces and stories of hurting people so that American Christians will be more compassionate in reaching out to the Africans with Jesus' love. The Brewers seek to show us the reality of many people in the real world by declaring, "The world we live in is not the 'real world.' We live in a bubble; a world more like Disneyland. The rest of the world is reality." (pg. 92)

Some pages that were noteworthy to me include the following:

Page 102 -- how the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) "recruits" soldiers -- kidnaps children from their families, shames them by having them kill siblings or friends and raping them so they will be too guilty to return home

Page 130 questions whether the response to the genocide in Rwanda (800,000 people dead within 100 days) was "so muted because of the prejudice against the people of Africa. Maybe it is because we've seen too many images of women and children with dirty faces, dust-covered bodies and wearing torn clothing. ... We forget these are people who feel and hurt just like us. God created each of them with gifts and a purpose. They are special to our Creator, and they must become valued by us."

Wow, when the author started putting it that way ... man! How come I thought these people were just used to this kind of living so maybe they don't hurt as badly as I would in that same situation? (blush, blush) When I heard about these children who were heading households because their parents either died or were too sick to care for them ... did I forget that their hearts were hurting, breaking, weeping over the loss of their loved ones?

Sadly, evangelical Christians in America tend to be the least likely to support the African AIDS crisis! Perhaps we feel the problem is too overwhelming or maybe we have prejudices against people with AIDS. (It's a homosexual disease, right? And those immoral heterosexuals pass it along to others. Tsk, tsk....they deserve to be sick because of their sinfulness, right?)

And we have the audacity to think of ourselves as "real" Christians? We know the true teachings of Jesus?

The same compassionate Jesus who never denied helping out someone who was sick. Who was MOVED with compassion ... moved enough so that He did something without asking first, "Have you been sinful? If so, I cannot help you." No! Jesus said the sick people need the physician and He came to heal the sick. He came to heal people from their sinful conditions. He was merciful to those who needed help. His harshest words were to those judgmental, self-righteous types who didn't understand how this so-called Messiah could associate with society's biggest sinners!

One of my favorite stories from the book was about Nildo. God used this poor orphan boy in Brazil to break Noel's heart when she was just a teenager. The Brewers were able to help him and he adored them for rescuing him. A touching part of the story was when Vernon was able to return to Brazil the following year and gave Nildo some gifts from the family including a framed family picture. He hugged and kissed the photo "and started telling everyone around him in loud Portuguese, 'These are my American sisters! They took me off the streets.'" (pg. 163)

I read most of this book while at McDonalds, and, boy, did I have to hold back tears many times!

I have more I could write about this book, but I may address those things another time. For now I want to leave with a quote from Shane Claiborne in The Irresistible Revolution:

"Over and over, when I ask God why all of these injustices are allowed to exist in the world, I can feel the Spirit whisper to me, 'You tell me why we allow this to happen. You are my body, my hands, my feet.'"


Defining Moments by Vernon Brewer -- This book highlights the story of when God put his compassion in the author's heart on a missions trip to Mexico at the age of 17. Each chapter is full of how God has worked through Mr. Brewer's life through cancer, through ministry here and abroad in many remote places. I greatly enjoyed the stories from India, Burma, Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. I was touched greatly with the goodness and power of God!

Two quotes from the book that I wanted to share:

From Vernon Brewer's prayer: "You have changed my life! Don't ever let me lose sight of what's important to You! Help me to be sensitive to Your moving and to where You want me to go. Help me not to look inside, but to look upward. Give me strength; don't let me grow weary." (pg. 199) --- I want this to be my prayer to the Lord each day!

From Robert Pierce, founder of World Vision: "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God."

Things to remember: love touches, gets involved; Jesus was "moved with compassion," and Jesus was willing to make people well.







Christianity Today International Study Series: Islam -- This series is supposed to be done within a small-group discussion, however, I wanted to read it for myself. It has interviews by Muslims and former Muslims as well as others who know some things about Islam. A few things that stood out to me . . .

1. We are to reach out to all people, all nationalities and not "hunker down with folks just like us." Jesus reached out to everyone and told us to go into all the world. This includes reaching out to people we may be unfamiliar with and people we may even be prejudice against. (pg. 131)

2. The chapter asks, "Are you ready for the long haul of sharing the love of Jesus with a Muslim you know over many years?" (pg. 137)

3. Americans "have to confront our individualism and space issues" in order to reach out to others. Also "effective evangelism among Muslims means incarnating the love of Jesus through friendship, patience, humility and tenacity. 'It comes down to our relationship with Jesus Christ.'" (pg. 141)

4. "Your enduring, hospitable friendship with a Muslim is probably the greatest witness you can have for Jesus." (pg. 147)

The book gives the story of the Good Samaritan as one of the best examples of cross-cultural hospitality. Remember Jews and Samaritans detested one another so for a Samaritan to reach out to a Jew was a huge deal.



Mission Al Jazeera by Josh Rushing -- After spending 15 years in the US Marines, Josh Rushing resigned and started working for Al Jazeera English. This book tells much of his story. Some parts I enjoyed included the following:

Josh talking with the Al Jazeera journalists and producers about cultural understanding. The "struggle for the Arab soul" and what it means to be Arab was interesting. (pg. 44)

I love how Josh merely wanting to learn their language and about their culture was touching to them. Josh "was surprised to see how easy it was to shed the Ugly-American image."

Re: Isolationism and the "fear of all things foreign" -- pg.45. Josh says, "Even a small dose of international travel goes a long way toward curing this small-mindedness."

I enjoyed the story of Salama on pages 93 and 94 especially when he finally arrives in America, gets so involved in his guitar lessons that "I'm just so wrapped up in this that I've kind of forgotten what is going on in the rest of the world."

Page 101 -- Josh's take on how he was portrayed in the movie Control Room (This was how I learned about Josh. I saw this movie online.)

Page 102 -- "I think it should all be shown, the dead on both sides. In America, war isn't hell, we don't see blood, we don't see suffering. All we see is patriotism, and we support the troops. It's almost like war has some brand marketing here. Al Jazeera shows it all. It turns your stomach, and you remember there's something wrong with war."

Josh sees himself as a "cultural bridge" so people can understand Americans and we can understand Arabs (pg. 110)

Al Jazeera's intentions to raise people to a position where they are human beings (pg. 140)

Interestingly enough, Israelis regularly appear on Al Jazeera to share their sides of the story. However, Americans often think this is terrorist TV so they refuse to show their side on Al Jazeera. Josh says this is a huge mistake on our part. (see pg. 160)

The pages about the US being "the big fat hypocrite" were good (see pgs. 162, 163) -- preaching human rights, but then denying them to certain people is more like something other countries do than the self-righteous USA, right?

Pages 182-184 discuss America's "schizophrenic image" in the Arab world. Very very interesting!! (And sounds like things my Syrian friend has told me ages ago!)

Page 197 tells how - surprise, surprise -- a lot of Americans don't care about international news. Josh argues that we need to realize other countries' perceptions of us do matter!

"Arab blood runs thick" -- Josh discusses how Arabs care for the Palestinian cause so greatly and how any aggressive action often ties into Israel in their minds. He mentions our side "They're not Iraqi, why do they care?" and how the "idea of Pan-Arabism and their interconnectedness is simply lost" on us. (pg. 200)


I think I really enjoyed this book because I have found the message of it true. We need to have open discussions with others. Instead of desiring NASCAR for 24/7, we should make an effort to find out about other cultures and what other people dream and what their goals are in life. Make an effort to befriend people unlike ourselves and learn to respect various opinions and perspectives. I know Josh strongly encouraged this type of dialogue and I know firsthand how rewarding such a friendship can be. Indeed, I count it among the best gifts from God to now have Arab Muslim friends who live in Damascus, Syria.


Rethinking Holy Land is "a study in salvation geography" by Marlin Jeschke -- Considering God's promise to Abraham, words from Psalm 37 and using texts from Jesus (Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth) and Paul's words about Abraham's descendants inheriting the whole earth (Romans 4:13), the author makes a compelling case for making all lands holy. "This points up a fundamental privilege of all people who heed the call to sanctify the land in which they dwell. Since their God is the God of all the earth, they can be a pilgrim people and be at home with God wherever destiny calls them, and sanctify the land wherever they live." (pg. 144) The author gives an example of his people, the Mennonites.

Some topics and pages of interest to me:

God's commands to the Jews in exile (pg. 70), Constantine's role in politicizing Christianity (pg. 111), the shame of Christianity (pg. 118), Christian history repeating Deuteronomy and Joshua (pg. 121), how Christians produced modern Zionism (pg. 123), a special dispensation for Israel (pg. 124), holding Israel to a higher standard (pg. 127), "the dilemma of Judaism and Zionism" (pg. 130), salvation geography's Biblical texts (pgs. 40 & 151), misplaced confidence in violence (pg. 154).

Very interesting book that brought up some things I have never considered or heard. Need to reread to better understand this new (to me) perspective. Very worthwhile.