Church Issues

The Reality and Demography of Christians in Israel and the Middle East

Thank God For Israel

Stephen Sizer, Colin Chapman & Gary Burge - the trio of hypocrisy whose bogus theology is eclipsed only by their astounding hypocrisy.

As the following two secular reports show conclusively, Israel is the only bastion of Christian survival, freedom, and safety in The Middle East. At the Christ At The Checkpoints Conference Colin Chapman refused to reply to a question about the human rights record in the Islamic nations that surround Israel. Stephen Sizer did his back slapping TV denunciation of Israel in Iran at the invitation of the Iranian regime at the same time Iran was martyring Evangelical pastors and uttered not a syllable in protest. The pseudo academic Gary Burge ignores the persecution of Christians in Arab countries, preferring instead his factually distorted and doctrinally convoluted rampages against Israel and Christians supportive of Israel. Alex Awad, Naim Ateek, Salim Munyaner,   and the Sabeel movement ignore that Israel accepted Christian refugees from Lebanon when Hezbollah backed by Syria and Iran drove the out of their ancient home. As the Saudis fund the expanse of extremist Sharia based Wahabist Islam all over the Western world but do not allow a single church to be built in Saudi Arabia or a New Testament to be bought into that country, as the fate of Christians in Egypt is,   sealed afdtyer 3.4 million Christians suffered genocidal extermination in Sudan at the hands of Islam - Sizer, Burge, Lyn Hybels, and Chapman only rant about Israel with the best human rights record, the best women's rights record, and the best Christian rights record in The Middle East.,   It is incredible how when these deceivers are trapped scripturally in debates they go off topic shifting away from exegetical argumentation into cheap biased rehearsed political speeches built on convoluted and revisionist reinterpretations of the historical facts and cloak their rhetoric in a hollow and psuedo spiritual packing of abject religiosity about justice and love while turning their backs on the violent injustices perpetrated against Middle East Christians by Islamists including in Gaza.

Jewish believers face opposition in Israel indeed from orthodox Jewish extremists but not from the Israeli government. Unlike in Moslem countries, Arab believers are fully protected. Persecution however is decimating the Christian population of The Middle East as Sizer, Burge, and Chapman sing the anti- zionist blues in baritone while Hybels fills in on soprano. They just hypocritically chant away with hyperbolic trash against Israel ‚   in harmony with their Islamic partners as Middle Eastern Christianity is crucified everywhere except in Israel, remaining intentionally deaf to the cries of persecuted Christians facing the sword from their Islamic counterparts ‚   as we saw with Sizer's escapades in Iran.

By the mercy of God, there is of course as this second report shows one place of respite and refuge where Middle East Christians (especially regenerate Christians) are thriving, and that is Israel - the land of The Jewish Messiah, The Jewish God, The Jewish authors of The New Testament, and the chosen people of God whose only crime is defending itself against the same scourge of Islamic radicalism responsible for the barbaric extermination of countless Christians.

God gave that land to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob forever - not because of the righteousness of the Jews, but because of the wickedness of its inhabitants the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 9: 4-6). So today, the Jews are not an invader but the indigenous people according to archaeology, history, and scripture returned in accordance with the prophetic predictions of Jesus (Luke 21:24, Matthew 23:39, Zechariah 12:1-10). Once again, it is not because of the righteousness of The Jews but because of the evil of fundamentalist Islam that persecutes Christians that God has re-given the West Bank to Israel as He promised.

Contrast the two following reports; they speak for themselves.

In Jesus,
Jacob Prasch


Christianity 'close to extinction' in Middle East

By Edward Malnick
7:20AM GMT 23 Dec 2012

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been "blind" to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as "racism".

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: "It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers."

It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are "socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs."

"Exposing and combating the problem ought in my view to be political priorities across large areas of the world. That this is not the case tells us much about a questionable hierarchy of victimhood," says the author, Rupert Shortt, a journalist and visiting fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He adds: "The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally."

The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a "Western creed" which can be used to undermine them.

State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians are imprisoned than in any other country in the world, according to the report.

Click here to read the complete article.


 

Report declares thriving Israeli Christian population

Michael F. Haverluck ‚   (OneNewsNow.com)
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Almost 65 years after Jews who were dispersed around the world returned to their homeland "• following a departure that lasted nearly two millennia "• a report released by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) confirms that the Christian population in the Jewish nation is alive and well, despite the nation's more dominant Jewish and Muslim religions, growing to 158,000 (roughly two percent of the total population).
While thousands of Christians celebrated Christmas among various observances taking place across the Promised Land, a CBS statistical breakdown divulged that 80 percent of the Christians living in Israel are Arab. The remaining 20 percent are reported to be mostly comprised of immigrants from the former Soviet Union (USSR) who moved to the nation under the Law of Return "• a program granting individuals with a Jewish grandparent Israeli citizenship. And despite the firmly rooted Christian origins of the holiday celebrating Christ's birth, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a Christmas greeting to Israel's eight-million inhabitants that touted a message of religious pluralism.Also highlighted in the demographics unleashed this Christmas is the fact that the Christian sector of Israeli society represents the highest high school graduation rate (64 percent), with Israeli Jews comprising 59 percent and Muslim Israelis registering a lower 48 percent.

Correspondingly, it is noted in the report that 10.2 percent of Christian Arabs are studying for degrees in the field of medicine, whereas only 4.6 percent of students in the general population are seeking such degrees, indicating that a higher percentage of Arab Christians are pursuing degrees in the field of medicine than the rest of the population in Israel.

Ironically, the recently released statistical update indicates that Nazareth "• the hometown (not birthplace) of Jesus Christ "• is the city with Israel's largest Christian population (22,400), as most Christian Arabs are reported to live in northern part of the nation. Haifa (14,400 inhabitants), Jerusalem (11,700 residents) and Shfaram (with 9,400 Israeli citizens) are next in line.

Grasshoppers amongst giants

Although the Christian population in Israel is growing, it is doing so at a slower rate than any other sector of society. With the largest religious sector of Israel increasing by 1.8 percent (nearly six-million, or 75 percent, of Israel's eight-million population ascribe to the Jewish faith) and 1.6-million Muslim adherents (21 percent of all Israelis) increasing by a rate of 2.5 percent, the growth of Christians (158,000 or 2 percent) trails the pack at the lowest rate of 1.3 percent.
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