Dear Friends,

I won’t belabor the points we made about the seminaries much further since, unfortunately, we have only a very small effect on these institutions. I do want to thank those of you who wrote to the seminaries and expressed your views, since potential donors certainly get their attention, to say the least.

The seminaries all have different ways of handling complaints, which they get from time to time. Dallas Seminary has always been unfailingly courteous and responsive to our ministry. A few years ago, when we complained about a professor who made anti-Israel remarks on Christian radio, they certainly gave us an audience, heard our complaints, and ultimately dismissed the professor. They then followed up with allowing me to address students and faculty in a chapel service. This time, with the complaint about Progressive Dispensationalism, they responded to us in the form of a letter from the Chancellor, Dr. John Walvoord, which we printed in its entirety in our last newsletter.

Moody Bible Institute is quite a different story. They have ignored us completely on this issue. Like Dallas Baptist University, they more or less pretend that we’re not out here and that what we say is totally irrelevant. The president of Moody himself indicated the seminary didn’t have a Progressive Dispensationalism problem, even though we knew there was much tension behind the scenes over that very doctrine. The institution and its bank go on with business as usual. (A Messianic friend quipped that Moody’s bank might only be a piggy bank, but then he said, “That wouldn’t be kosher, either.”)

Criswell College simply criticized our ministry in letters to our donors for reporting their bad textbook to them. If it were not for the small college called Southeastern Seminary in Lakeland, Florida, which dropped the textbook after examining it carefully at our suggestion, I would think these institutions aren’t getting our letters.

I know that some of our viewers and readers had a little more difficulty discerning what was wrong with Progressive Dispensationalism than, say, with the Gundry textbook. Gundry, a propagandist, is simply a Replacement theologian posing as a mainline prophecy teacher. But the Progressive Dispensationalists are more subtle, and the errors more difficult to explain. With that in mind, I wrote a column called “Does It Really Matter?” in the last newsletter to explain further, and another example follows of the difference one’s position on Israel makes, even in the secular world.

I was invited to Indiana University, my alma mater, in 1994, to speak to a Messianic congregation there. Long-time viewers will recall the difficulties we had when I spoke on the subject of “Whose Land Is It?” and asserted that Israel was owned by the Jews in accordance with the Biblical covenant with Abraham, if not history, archaeology, and military conquests. Now, Indiana was the sort of university that was on the Israeli side of things when I attended there in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Israel was heroic in their view, and they celebrated the new democracy in the Middle East. How times had changed in 20-odd years!

The school newspaper ran a terrible diatribe on me, even imputing a four-letter word to my talk. The columnist was a Palestinian-American who just didn’t bother to listen to the logic of what I said, but answered with his passions. I then called the newspaper to ask for equal space and was promised that. I sent an editorial explaining my position again.

They never gave me the equal space. I complained to the journalists and faculty and, finally, the administration with no effect at all.

What had happened at Indiana University? Well, they had fallen into believing the media when they began to bash Israel over the oil boycotts of the ’70s. Three things that inflame American passions are cash, cash, and cash. And, seemingly, when anybody loses a few cents on a gallon of gas, it’s worth turning one’s heart against an ally and sister democracy.

We can’t really blame secular professors for falling for media lines, but this should never happen in a Biblical teaching environment. The Scriptures have not changed; the Jews are still the Chosen People, and Israel is still the Promised Land. Anyone who teaches other than that is simply not teaching accurate Scripture, and that’s all there is to that!

One of our letter writers pointed out that the churches seem to be as bad as the seminaries on their Israel doctrine and lack of prophecy teaching. I guess that would be true in general, although there are many kinds of churches in this vast land. Some churches have never changed from verse-to-verse Bible teaching and have held fast to correct doctrine. But others have changed with the times. Obviously, present-day graduates of Dallas Seminary or Moody Bible Institute, many of whom will eventually lead churches, would not know enough about Israel to teach relevantly on that subject, and their prophecy would be confused because of Progressive Dispensationalism. A primary error of most churches, in my mind, is the lack of emphasis on the Rapture of the church, which is going to come to many Christians as even more of a surprise than the Lord indicated.

In any case, I want to repeat Dr. McCall’s “D.I.E.T.” formula. A seminary should:

  1. hold to the Deity of Christ,
  2. hold to the Inerrancy of the Bible,
  3. hold to correct Eschatology, including the pre-Tribulation Rapture, and
  4. hold to the Truth about Israel’s importance.

This DIET should logically also be applied to churches when choosing where to attend.

I was told recently that some salvations have resulted from conversations on our chat line at www.levitt.com. I am so grateful for the home computer, with which our believers can communicate with a world of people who want to talk about the most important things in life. And I’m very thankful for those results. Praise God!

We can also praise God for the wonderful opportunities we have to visit His Chosen Land. Join us on our Kibbutz Tour, June 7–16. The itinerary is the same as our Deluxe Tours with one exception—the addition of an actual archaeological dig! You will visit all the major Biblical sites of Israel, including Mt. Carmel, Capernaum, Megiddo, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the Mt. of Beatitudes, the Jordan River (where you may choose to be baptized just as our Lord Jesus was), the Western Wall, the Mt. of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, the Garden Tomb (which is now empty), Masada, and the Dead Sea. You will also see the beautiful Golan Heights, the original Dead Sea Scrolls, and Yad Vashem (the Holocaust museum/memorial). This tour is perfect for the budget-minded pilgrim, as it is our most economical tour. It is also great for students and teachers because it fits their summer break.

We are offering a new option this fall—the Ultra Grand Tour! You can cruise the Greek islands aboard a luxury liner, visiting Patmos, Mykonos, and Rhodes, as well as Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus, Turkey. Then join our Deluxe group for the itinerary listed above. Finally, you will tour Petra, Jordan, the “rose-red city half as old as time,” and stay in relaxing, luxurious Eilat on the Dead Sea. Choose the Ultra Grand Tour, the Deluxe Tour (September 11–21), or Israel and Greece (September 6–21), or Israel and Petra (September 11–24). No matter which choice you make, see the wonders of both ancient and modern Israel by joining one of our tours. Call Diana or Becky at 214-696-9760 during office hours for more information, or call 1-800-WONDERS for a full-color brochure. [or click here for an online request form.]

And please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Your messenger,

Zola

Zola Levitt Ministries is ECFA approved and has Charity Navigator’s top rating of 4 stars.

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