March 2002 Personal Letter

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” (John 13:1)

Dear Friends,

The Lord’s Passover is nearly upon us and I am reminded once again of the “full extent” of Yeshua’s love. Our Savior came to us, taught us, loved us, and gave Himself up for us as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). He came to His own, the Jews, as promised to Abraham in Gen. 12:3, and through Abraham’s children the good news of salvation has spread to the four corners of the globe. Yes, the nation is now in a general state of unbelief, but the Chosen People are returning to the Land as prophesied and it is clear that the time is drawing nigh for the Lord’s return for His Bride (the Church) and the completion of His promises to Israel. And it is this message that remains the heart of our work.

It is our conviction that Israel sits at the crossroads of the world. And before anyone clucks his tongue at me for my being so pro-Israel, take a look at your world. Read the headlines. See what is making news today. It’s Israel. It’s 6 million Jewish people inhabiting a tiny sliver of land at the historic crossroads of world commerce, besieged on every side by neighbors who have come against them time after time. Ask yourself why a world of 6 billion people would be concerned at all with this country the size of Chicago. It must be God’s will.

The Arab nations have as their goal the destruction of the people of God. Osama bin Laden and the Taliban used the plight of the so-called Palestinians as one reason why they attacked America. Saudi Arabia has recently stated that it is opposed to any policy that backs Israel. Iran has joined forces with Yasser Arafat to supply weapons for the destruction of Israel. The European Union has, in the face of Arafat’s continued call for suicide bombings and failure to stop Hamas and Islamic Jihad, once again backhanded Israel for their efforts at fighting Palestinian terrorism; Europe has elevated Arafat again to the status of “peace partner.” China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and a host of other nations focus their anger against the tiny nation of Jews that has survived millennia on that sliver of real estate. Even our best seminaries are relegating Israel to irrelevancy as they continue to downplay the status of the Chosen People in their End Times teaching. One professor, Dr. Homer Heater, stated on radio the possibility of Israel losing and being driven from the Land (chronicled in our book Battles with Seminaries). The animosity towards the Jewish people is unrelenting. Why? Because the Chosen People and the Promised Land are destined by God to be the focal point of history — past, present, and, prophetically, in the future. And as God said so plainly in Gen. 12:3, you will be blessed if you bless Israel; you will be cursed if you curse Israel. And some are right now choosing sides.

It seems that the world is divided into two parts these days concerning Islam and the Arab people in general. One group is very afraid of Arab infiltration into the U.S., the impinging upon Christianity by Islam, and the cultural clash Muslims bring. A second group receives these people with open arms and considers those among them who attacked the World Trade Center and carried out other terrorist campaigns to be radicals of whom we should certainly be afraid, but who nonetheless should not color our relationship with the “really good ones.” President Bush might head up this second group. True, he’s certainly going to get “The Evil Ones,” but he still believes that “the enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends” (his exact words).

In a recent White House press conference, spokesman Ari Fleischer stated that the president remains committed to the idea of a Palestinian state. This in view of polls in which 64% of Palestinians declared their support for further suicide bombings against innocent Israelis. What can be more counterproductive than this kind of policy? I like George Bush personally; I favored him to be my president. But on this issue I have to disagree 100% and wonder how in his right mind he could travel down such a dangerous road of foreign policy.

Think of it. If the Palestinians are granted statehood, what could they possibly export to other nations? Bombs? Murderers? Training manuals for would-be suicide bombers? Does any right-thinking head of state in the West believe that if these people have their own port on the Mediterranean Sea all shipments of missiles, guns, and explosives would be forbidden? With all due respect, our president is beyond his depth on this issue or is simply chanting the same mantra of cooperation for the sake of the Saudi royal family with whom we must negotiate for our oil. You cannot make a nation out of this ragtag collection of terror-breeding gangsters. It would be like granting statehood to the gangs in Los Angeles. They are not “a people” and could not possibly succeed in becoming a nation. You might as well suggest that we create a nation called “Taliban.”

Recent history demonstrates that our experiment with trading land for peace as in Oslo has not and cannot succeed. Yet, President Bush boasts that America has “many Muslim friends… many Arab friends.” This is uninformed political posturing that suggests America’s arms (and borders) are open wide to welcome the really good Islam that we want to believe exists.

A friend of mine sent me an article just as I was sitting down to write you this letter, entitled “A Storied, Glorious Religion.” Written by Rabbi Marc Gellman and Msgr. Thomas Hartman, two broadminded clergymen with a TV program called “The God Squad,” the glorious religion they refer to and praise is Islam. Let me share with you some of their misguided insights.

“Islam is not a good religion — it’s a great religion. For 1,600 years it has had no Inquisitions, sponsored no Crusades and had no Holocaust.” Oh really? Sharia, or Islamic law, continues to be practiced today in ways civilized nations find reprehensible. For instance, Somalia enforces sharia and in a case involving thirteen suspected thieves, the Islamic officials sawed off their hands and feet, one at a time, to the roars of a cheering crowd in a large public stadium. A “great” religion? No inquisitions? It is even prescribed in Islamic law that young people who would dare to overly express their affections be hanged or beheaded, all in the guise of preserving “honor.” This has been going on for 13 centuries.

No crusades, they say? But Muslim armies conquered 22 Middle East nations, spread themselves over the eastern hemisphere to Indonesia (now the world’s largest Muslim population with 200 million people), and pushed their way up into Spain and France, “converting” poor souls with a blade to their throats. The one major crusade in Christianity did not have as its purpose land grabbing, but rather to reclaim of the Holy Land, the seat of the Christian faith, away from Muslims.

The Holocaust is not a fair comparison since it wasn’t a religious event. But know that Islamic law, and the muftis who preach it, allow for the daily denigration of Muslim women — 50 percent of their population — simply because they are women. Fifty percent of the Jews throughout Europe were slaughtered simply because they were Jews.

The rabbi and priest continue to assert that the Jews were “warmly accepted in Muslim Turkey.” True, as long as they paid horrific taxes for refusing to convert to Islam. The Jews in Turkey were invariably treated as second-class citizens.

What about Moroccan King Hassan, whom the authors claim refused to transport the Jews in his land to Hitler? Okay, but don’t forget that at the same time the mufti of Jerusalem volunteered to send Hitler all the Jews in his area and encouraged this madman to finish the job of exterminating them.

The Quran asserts that “Jews and Christians are not unbelievers,” the learned clergymen say, but fail to quote the verse that instructs followers to “kill the Jew wherever you find him.” A jihad, they say, simply means to defend one’s homeland. So, which lands were the Arabs defending when they hit the World Trade Center and killed over 3,000 innocent men, women, and children?

Finally, these Islam-loving counselors attempt to portray Osama bin Laden and his brand of terrorism as uncommon and unusual. If that’s true, then why on Sept. 11 did we see the Muslim world from the Middle East to Indonesia cheering in the streets with wild celebrations and days upon days of anti-American demonstrations? The U.S. does not, in fact, have a real coalition with the Muslim world and Arabs in America are not turning over the al Qaida members in their communities, because to genuine followers of Islam, America deserved what it got on 9-11 and, frankly, deserves more.

As I have stated often, we will lose this war on terrorism if we don’t wake up and see the majority of the Arab world for what they really are, religious zealots intent on conquering all infidels.

One of their leaders is Moussa Abu Marzook. On a recent 60 Minutes program, CBS newsman Steve Kroft visited a posh Beirut hotel to chat with Marzook, a top leader of the terrorist network Hamas (and named on the State Department’s list of terrorists). Decked out in a beautiful American-style suit, surrounded by thuggish bodyguards, the giggling murderer admitted that Hamas is developing missiles with a range of six miles, sufficient to strike any Israeli neighborhood in Jerusalem. It’s only Jews he wants to kill, he says and, of course, “they’ve stolen my country.”

60 Minutes is ordinarily no friend of the Jews and regularly bashes Israel in its documentaries. I consider Mike Wallace one of the worst Jewish anti-Semites in the media along with Anthony Lewis, Robert Novak, Thomas Friedman, Ted Koppel, etc. But in this case, 60 Minutes seemed taken aback by Marzook’s brash admission of killing innocent civilians, apparently caught unawares that he (or any other human being) could say such things.

Marzook fell over his own feet trying to demonstrate that Hamas doesn’t wish any ill will to bystanders. This is a laugh when considering that the Palestinians brought down Pan Am 103, highjacked the Achille Lauro, have killed any number of Americans (which we were too polite to protest), and burn American flags on a daily basis. The lie is so big it almost won’t fit even on 60 Minutes. Kroft was guilty of letting Marzook claim an equivalency between collateral casualties that sometimes occur when Israelis take out a Palestinian police station or have a fight with terrorists laden with suicide bombs that go off in shopping malls. He simply nodded as if he himself did not understand that innocent causalities, such as those in Afghanistan during our pursuit of al Qaida and the Taliban, are going to happen when people pick up weapons in response to provocations by the other side.

Later in the evening on Fox News, former Congressman Bob Dornan of California put into plain words that most imams (Muslim spiritual leaders) in American mosques are preaching “Hitlerian anti-Semitism.” He wondered when we were going to do something about Saudi Arabia, which he considers our worst enemy, and who our government pretends is a good friend. Dornan pointed out that Saddam Hussein is getting his hands on every kind of weapon of mass destruction even as we dither.

Dornan is only one of many in this second group who sees the Arabs as having far too much access to our shores. Pat Buchanan’s theory, posited in his new book Death of the West, is that not just Muslims, but all sorts of minority groups come to America while maintaining their loyalties and ties back to their original homelands. These immigrants, he states, are taking this country apart. It is interesting that up until this generation, people who arrived here became Americans, naturalized citizens, patriotic Americans, etc., but lately we’ve become a nation of ethnic groups with loyalties off shore. I don’t agree with everything Buchanan says, but in terms of the Arabs, however, they are the only minority here with a plan to overthrow our nation (“The Great Satan”). Frankly, it would be difficult to accuse the Hispanics, the Blacks, the Jews, or any other group of trying to overthrow the U.S.

Any nation that allies itself with Israel will find itself a target of Islam, because at its heart, the religion of Mohammed seeks the total destruction of the Jewish people. Will this happen in our new climate of global Islamic terrorism? Many now fear the overt anger of Islamists around the world and try to placate them by opening their arms and seeing the “good” in a religion that fosters hatred of Jews and Christians. But this Pollyanna approach towards the Arab world is simply dangerous and quite possibly could lead to the downfall of nations that insist on playing such naïve games.

However, what remains my anchor and hope is not our ability as a nation to deal with terrorists, but my trust in our Lord. We may not know every event that will occur just prior to the Rapture (though it’s obvious that the Lord’s return must be near), but we are assured in Scripture that the King of kings will settle all accounts, not only for us personally, but also for those nations that oppose Him and His Chosen People. Israel will stand and be victorious in the end because the King of the Jews will fight for them. This is their hope and ours; it is an evidence of the “great extent” of His unfailing love, which Jesus demonstrated for us on that last Passover He attended in Jerusalem. May God give you unwavering faith in His glorious promises and allow you great spiritual influence during the time that remains! Consider these opportunities before the Rapture:

You still may have time to join me in Israel for our March tour. Safe, comfortable, and breathtaking, a Holy Land tour just before Passover is a wonderful opportunity for your family. With tourism down (unnecessarily, I might add), hotels, restaurants, guides, and shopkeepers will treat you like royalty for encouraging them at this all-important time in their history. Give Tony a call ASAP at 214-696-9760 or call 1-800-WONDERS anytime. Also, let us know your interest in our June Kibbutz tour.

Mark your calendars for May 10–12 or May 17–19 and join our Mother’s Day tour or our Pentecost tour at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida. Spaces fill up fast for this domestic Biblical teaching tour of a great Israel site right here in our own land. This year we’re planning to add excursions to other Christian sites in the central Florida area. Reserve your spot today!

Finally, Father’s Day will find me in the ever-popular Biblically-themed site of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, home to the famed Passion Play. Enjoy this beautiful setting and a great time of teaching. Let Tony know you’re interested. I look forward to meeting you personally at one of these upcoming Israel weekends or possibly on our Fall Tour to Israel. And please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

P.S. As my 31st birthday approaches (I came to faith in Yeshua on March 14, 1971), I marvel at God’s faithfulness and thank you for your gift to the ministry at this time.

Your Messenger,