WHEN 'MARANATHA' IS A MEMORY
“Increasingly, I find myself deliberately contemplating what kept Jesus on His own cross out of necessity for mine. Scripture says that as He stared down the barrel of His own death—not only a terrible way to die, but bearing the weight of wrath for many—it was “the joy set before Him” that kept Him from cowardice. Anything less than that same obsession will consign us to our own demise at the hands of the “pride of life,” “lust of the flesh,” and “the cares of this world.” So what is it on the other side of the “Maranatha!” cry, when “Maranatha” is a memory that can keep us going? These are the things we should meditate on constantly.
THE CRESCENT AND THE SICKLE: A HISTORY OF “FREE PALESTINE”
OPERATION ENTEBBE: ISRAEL’S FOURTH OF JULY
THE WORLD OF OCTOBER 8TH
"'Where’s the Jews?!' was a hunting call. Frankly, it would’ve been better if they’d simply chanted their support for Hitler. Unable to find the Jews they were looking for, they instead burned tires and an Israeli flag and screamed expletive-laden curses at the victims of the Hamas massacre, high-fiving each other for several hours before going home. This is the world of October 8th."
THE YOM KIPPUR WAR
ENDURANCE FOR THE RIGHT RACE
THE SIX DAY MIRACLE
THE TORN TENTS OF ABRAHAM & THE ORDAINED BRIDGE OF RECONCILIATION
"This is what Jesus shed His blood for on the cross. The Everlasting Covenant, gifted to Abraham, inherited by Isaac, and passed onto Jacob, now stewarded by his sons and daughters. But, mind you, it did not go to Ishmael. It did not go to Esau. These disruptions tore the tents of their father Abraham, and set the stage for the fractures running throughout the Middle East and the broader nations of the earth today. The controversy of the covenant split the family then, and it splits the family now. The whole world is reeling for it."
THE SUEZ CRISIS
CONFESSIONS OF A MARANATHA PASTOR: PART V
ALIYAH AFTER INDEPENDENCE
A HEAVY STONE // PART III
"We know that when the gospel of the Kingdom is preached to all nations, then the end will come... Until then, we have a responsibility —given to us by Jesus — to bear witness to His coming Kingdom. We have been commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel to all nations. And to do so while living lives consistent with the Sermon on the Mount. The timing we leave to Him, but the obedience is still on us."
A HEAVY STONE // PART II
“the identity of the Church is bound to the history of the Jewish people.” and because of that, it is vital that we have a right understanding of this fact: “God’s discipline of Israel has always been, and will always be, with the purpose vindicating His name and winning back His wayward son. The coming trouble is no exception.”
A HEAVY STONE // PART I
PLANTING GARDENS IN BABYLON
“Sometimes we overthink what this needs to look like, in the same way William Wilberforce very nearly abandoned a strategic and influential political position because he’d elevated the dignity of vocational ministry above any other job. But can you not bear witness while you serve in Congress? Can you not bear witness as a cafe barista? Shouldn’t you though, wherever you are? Surely there are gardens to plant in Babylon.”
INDEPENDENCE AND WAR
CULTURE WARS & THE WAY OF THE CRUCIFORM
“To put it simply, the mounting #ChristIsKing trend betrays our biblical illiteracy and unwillingness to actually obey King Jesus—especially when we’re violating the third commandment to continue the church’s unholy legacy of anti-judaic theological tradition and antisemitic civil practices and culture.”
THE END OF THE BRITISH MANDATE AND CIVIL WAR
THE MORE IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR LIFE
For all of the swirling circumstances of your life, for all the quagmire of global politics, for all tumult of “hopes deferred” and the daily wrestle against the “cares of this life,” the most important thing about your life and mine is that we—right now, today—remember we have a good Father in a good heaven whose good pleasure is to give us a good Kingdom. And: He will give you glimpses of that goodness here and now, in this age.