Posted by
Steve on Monday, August 22, 2011 3:13:55 PM
Yesterday, Glenn Beck held the first of four events in his Restoring Courage program in Israel. The theme last night was Restoring Courage – Love. There were speakers from two large Evangelical congregations in the US and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, a Jewish Rabbi from Israel who were the main speakers. David Barton spoke on the history of the location and Israel in general. Don Evans spoke on his story and the story of Cory Tenbloom.
Overall the program was excellent. For me, the best speaker of the night was Rabbi Shlomo Riskin from Israel. He spoke with conviction about how the Jewish people have been accused of being alone in the world, but they were not because they had God. Now, with the Christian community embracing the Jewish people, the hopes and dreams of people for thousands of years has come to pass. His definition of courage was to love someone who is not like you. This melding of Jews and Christians is a true example of courage because it puts two groups together that are very different, yet much alike.
One other thing that stood out at the event yesterday was the challenge to stand up for what you believe. I believe it was Glenn Beck that challenged everyone to stand up and state who we are and what we believe. He challenged people to start a journal. I already have this blog, so this will be my forum for my positions. I support Israel because the Jewish people are God’s chosen people. There are many prophecies that tell us what will happen before our Savior returns. Many of those events have to happen in and around Jerusalem. Those that are on the side of the Jews and Israel will be blessed. Those that are fighting against the Jews and Israel will find themselves losing. I want to be on the winning side because that is the side of right.
I personally will probably never see Israel in person. I am getting up there in years and my health is not the best. But that does not diminish my love for Israel and the Israeli people. Like it was said at the meeting yesterday, we have to accept the Jewish people as they are today. Every group of people has good people and bad people. What is sometimes hard to do is ignore the bad and embrace the good. That is what I try to do in the case of Israel and the Israeli people.
This week at work, I was listening to “For the Record” by Molotov Mitchell. Molotov Mitchell is an Evangelical and was talking about Christ and capitalism. One of the people working on our air conditioning system overheard Molotov Mitchell and assumed I was an Evangelical like him. So, he asked me if I was an Evangelical. I had to tell him no, but that I felt that truth is where you find it. If you find someone with the truth, you should listen to him/her and act accordingly. Just because someone is your religion does not mean they are the ultimate in truth. Just because someone is not your religion does not mean they do not have any truth at all. People make mistakes and get things wrong. It is my job to evaluate everything I see and hear and determine what is true. In this case, my listing to Molotov Mitchell proved to be an opportunity to talk to someone who would probably not have talked to me under normal circumstances. He was a great guy and had some really good ideas. I am glad that we had this opportunity to talk. That is the way to help your follow human in this world.