This week I am in Edinburgh for the General Assemblies of the Free Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), and I'm grateful to both denominations for the support they give the ministry of Christian Witness to Israel. Tonight I have the honour of speaking at the Free Church's Missions Evening, which is always one of the highlights of my year.
Yesterday, I attended the General Assembly of the Free Church (Continuing) and was deeply moved when one of the demonination's elder ministers gave thanks for and prayed for 'ethnic Israel'. It has been a long time since I last heard 'ethnic Israel' used by a Christian in a positive way. Usually when I hear the term used by evangelicals, it is usually preceded by 'God has finished with...' or appended with '... has no further place in the purposes of God.' To hear an elderly Calvinist recognising the significance of the restoration and preservation of the Jewish state in the Middle East took me by surprise. But it did me good.
My latest You Tube video about how Christians should view the Jewish people - Convenient Untruths - is now online. If you like it and agree with it, please don't forget to tick 'Like' and let others know about the series.
Those Scots know their biblical onions! Contrast with this wretched passage in the Lausanne Covenant from the 2010 Cape Town Congress:
ReplyDelete“… no single ethnic identity can claim to be ‘God’s chosen people.’ God’s election of Old Testament Israel was for the sake of the eventual creation of this multi-national community of God’s people … We strongly affirm, therefore, that … no single ethnic group holds privileged place in God’s economy of salvation or God’s eschatological purpose."