MANAGING WORRY

 

WORRY IS NOT SIN UNLESS WE EMBRACE IT: Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

WORRY, SUFFERING, AND FEAR ARE NEEDFUL: 2 Corinthians 1:8–9 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

LIKE ANY SUFFERING, WORRY CAN EITHER TURN US TO JESUS OR AWAY FROM HIM: Psalm 56:3–4 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

“I SHALL NOT BE AFRAID?” BUT SHALL STAND ON THE WORD OF GOD: 2 Corinthians 1:10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

THE REMEDY

Meditate on how God has faithfully delivered his people from many fears:

•    JOSHUA: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." ‭‭(Joshua‬ ‭1:8-9)

Being courageous was not a matter of Joshua ridding himself of fear, but of standing his ground in the Word. Notice that the Lord didn’t instruct Joshua to not experience the feelings of anxiety. Instead, He instructed Joshua what to do in the midst of his fears.

The Children of Israel feared as they heard the Egyptian chariots approaching. The Lord didn’t instruct them not to feel that way but instead simply to observe the Lord’s salvation:

•    And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." ‭‭(Exodus‬ ‭14:13-14)

•    WHEN FEAR AND WORRY CONTROL: “Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." (Numbers‬ ‭14:9‬)‭

It didn’t matter what they felt, but whether or not they would continue to trust in the Word of the Lord.

RECALL GOD’S LOVES AND OMNIPOTENCE: Isaiah 40:28–31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

PRAISE GOD: Romans 4:20–21 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

OUR LORD WILL DELIVER US IN HIS OWN TIME: 1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

ANTICIPATE BLESSINGS: 2 Corinthians 1:3–5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

DEPRESSION AND THE FALSE SELF

Depression has become a world-wide stalker:

•    The total estimated number of people living with depression worldwide increased by 18.4% between 2005 and 2015 to 322 million, according to the World Health Organization.  Nearly half of people living with depression live in the more highly-populated global areas... 

Another study (2013) reported similar findings:

•    ...depressive illness is the disease with the second heaviest burden on society, with around one in 20 people suffering...[This] burden increased by 37.5% between 1990 and 2010...(www.theguardian.com/society/datablog/2013/nov/08/where-world-people-most-depressed)

What can account for this dramatic rise?  Globalization has improved the economic lot of many.  Broad assortments of psychotherapies have proliferated, along with a massive self-help industry and support groups.  However, there is no solid evidence that any of these interventions have been able to check this tsunami of depression.  Instead, it seems that both the disease and its various cures have grown together, perhaps even profiting from a symbiotic relationship.  How?

It seems that the more we attempt to elevate ourselves with positive affirmations, self-trust, and tokens of success, the more our problems grow worse.  King Herod of Israel had reached the top rung of power and influence.  He had welcomed a team of ambassadors from Tyre and Sidon who needed Herod’s permission to buy Israel’s grain:

•    On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.  And the savvy ambassadors began shouting, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.  ‭‭(Acts‬ ‭12:21-23‬ ‭ESV‬‬) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The ambassadors were shrewd.  They understood human nature and exactly what the King was looking for.  He had wanted to be exalted, and they were prepared to give Herod this honor.

Clearly, self-exaltation comes at a great price.  It did for Herod, and perhaps also for us.  Jesus had been observing the way elite banquet guests had grabbed the seats of honor for themselves.  Jesus warned:

•    For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.  ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭14:11‬) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Perhaps depression and our other woes are the price we are increasingly paying for the heady drug of self-exaltation.  Meanwhile, the major religions have warned against the dangers of pride and arrogance, and Jesus was no exception:

•    And he [Jesus] said to them [the Pharisees], "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”  ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭16:15‬) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The higher we exalt ourselves, the harder we fall.  However, even more seriously, self-exaltation, narcissism, is a stench before both God and man.  Jesus had often exposed this Pharisaic tendency:

•    They do all their deeds to be seen by others.  For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.  ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭23:5-7‬) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

They were all about self-promotion and their own glory.  While the Pharisees had won the respect of the people, they had lost their own lives (Matthew 10:39).  They had been successful at self-promotion, but this “success” came at the price of self-deception.  They had rejected the light of self-knowledge for the darkness of self-deceit (John 3:19-20), convincing themselves that they were worthy and righteous before a God.

Self-deception?  Inevitably!  For self-exaltation to pay its desired dividends, we have to believe in our self-affirmations that we are superior and worthy of God’s esteem.  However, to deceive ourselves is also to become alienated from self, others, and reality;  it is to establish a parallel “reality” at odds with the rest of life.  It is darkness and confusion and a rejection of the light of reason so necessary to navigate through life.  Such blindness ends in shipwreck and depression.

We become enslaved to a deadly, unseen form of addiction – ego boosts.  Whether it is addiction to a substance, pornography, or to an inflated self-esteem, each will dominate our lives.  However, the narcissistic addiction is more deadly, because it remains unseen by the addict.  But as with any addiction, the more pleasure we derive from it, the more we need it.  The more dependent we become to that high, the less we can enjoy normal pleasures, and the greater the fall when deprived of our stimulant.  When we cannot get our fix, the deeper we sink into a depressed state and the less normal states or pleasures will satisfy.

As a result, the more porn we imbibe, the less normal sex will satisfy us.  Likewise, the more we depend on our inflated estimation of ourselves, the less we are able to tolerate the truth about ourselves.

Our inflated self-esteem is related to depression in other ways.  It destroys intimacy, friendship, and creates isolation.  Thus, in order to maintain our self-esteem high, we are constantly seeking affirmation for the false self we have created, like the drug addict seeking his next fix.  Consequently, friends become drugs to fulfill our need.  We use them to get what we want, but no one wants to be used, and, after a while, it begins to feel that way to them. Instead of transparency, our lives are hungering for the next fix and the next affirmation.

As a result, social isolation and loneliness have become a growing problem, despite the many new outlets for communication.  Psychiatrists Jacqueline Olds and Richard Schwartz cite two “major studies” in this regard.  In the first:

•    McPherson found that between 1985 and 2004, the number of people with whom the average American discussed ‘important matters’ dropped from three to two.  Even more stunning, the number of people who said that there was no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled: in 2004, individuals without a single confidant now made up nearly a quarter of those surveyed.  (Jacqueline Olds and Richard S.  Schwartz, The Lonely American, Publisher : Beacon Press (February 1, 2010) p2).

Many explanations are brought forward to explain our growing isolation.  Some cite America’s legendary pioneering spirit and our emphasis on self-reliance. Others suggest that loneliness is a product of our frenetic pace.  However, these explanations fail to explain the recent nose-dive in levels of intimacy, since we have always been self-reliant and frenetic!  In addition to this, there is the finding of James Buie that “Depression…for those born after 1950 is as much as twenty times higher than the incidence rate for those born before 1910.” (Edward Welch, Depression: A Stubborn Darkness, New Growth Press; 11.1.2011 edition (October 3, 2011), p113).

Why?  Perhaps it is because we live in a society which has consistently pushed us to ingest the “believe in yourself” drug – the embrace of the new narcissism.  Consequently, we have been encouraged to feed ourselves high doses of “positive affirmations” and to deny our negative thoughts.  However, when the negative can no longer be denied, we seek the psychologist who reinforces our dysfunctional quest.  They teach us how to more effectively believe in ourselves using various visualizations and self-affirmations.  They merely renew our delusional self-hope and self-trust.  However, this only reinforces our schizophrenic conflict to believe in ourselves when reality (including our own conscience) tells us otherwise.

Consequently, we can no longer tolerate any constructive criticism, any light that might threaten our deceptions.  Had we been living in the Light, the criticism would not have threatened us.  Instead, we might have appropriately responded, “You are right, and I need such reminders in order to make the necessary adjustments to my life.”

Instead, anything that exposes us represents a serious threat to our perceived well-being and must be extinguished as had been done to Jesus:

•    The world cannot hate you, but it hates me [Jesus] because I testify about it that its works are evil.  ‭‭(John‬ ‭7:7‬) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

We cannot tolerate the sight of our evil, especially after our addictive positive affirmations have “convinced” us of our own righteousness and worthiness.  Consequently, we live vulnerable and schizoid lives.  We know the truth about ourselves but cannot face it and have condemned ourselves to an endless struggle to suppress the truth.  We have become like King Herod.  We know that we are not God, but we cannot do without the praise.  We live in the shadows, ready to kill any attempt to expose us to the light.

I know what living in the darkness and hating the exposure is all about.  This tension had driven me into decades of depression.  Instead, I needed to see and accept myself as I am, but I couldn’t begin to do so.  It required the assurances of God’s love, forgiveness, and acceptance to teach me to accept myself, even with my many faults, which I had refused to see:

•    So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ‭‭(John‬ ‭8:31-32‬) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Increasingly, I am free from the darkness to face the Light of truth.   I am also free of the guilt of my sin in Christ Jesus.   The struggle to prove myself has vanished.  Beloved by my Savior, I have found rest.  Basking in the adoration of my God, I am no longer addicted to positive self-talk and praise of men.  No longer needing their approval, I am now set free to give them my love and acknowledgement as fellow children of God.

SOME THOUGHTS ON SUFFERING—THE UNWANTED GIFT OF GOD

[We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

No pain, no gain. Without suffering consequences, we do not change and grow into Christ-likeness, but how? We need to be humbled by suffering in order to trust in God’s Word:

•    Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

We are like a glass of putrid water. It first needs be emptied before it can be filled with the water of God’s Word—an ongoing process. Otherwise, the Word will appear unnecessary.

We seek to trust in ourselves instead of in God. Paul had to be weaned from self-trust unto God-trust through experiencing pain with which he was unable to cope:

•    “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

Death and disability are ever present threats, but these realities are necessary to teach us wisdom:

•    So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Death too is a gift. It teaches us wisdom. Suffering also prepares us for eternity:

•    So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

Suffering creates community and brotherhood, while self-sufficiency destroys it. Baboons need community to raise and protect their children. They bond through grooming one another of the bothersome ticks and mites. We too bond through our brokenness – first to God and then to one-another:

•    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (2 Corinthians 1:3–5)

Although I have followed Jesus for 48 years, it has only been during the last few years that I have experienced His comfort and deliverance in profound ways. This has enabled me to accept suffering, as I would a thunderstorm, knowing the good that will follow and the rainbow highlighting its departure. If we are willing to endure surgery, why not other forms of suffering!
 

A WARNING IN LOVE TO THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWS AND OF ISRAEL

 

If you hate Israel and the Jews, you hate Israel’s God, the God of the Bible. God had given Moses a song to teach Israel. It detailed their future—their rejection of their God, their restoration, and the judgment against Israel’s adversaries. The song closes this way:

·       Deuteronomy 32:43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

God had made Israel to be a sign of God’s blessings and curses:

·       Deuteronomy 8:17–20 “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

As they had turned from their God, tragedy struck Israel repeatedly, but He also punished those who had brought these tragedies upon His people, as God will inevitably do again

You who hate Israel and chant, “Death to the Jews,” must be warned that you are in opposition to the plans of God. There will be the ultimate war in the end that will leave few survivors, but those who do survive, by the mercy of God, will come to Jerusalem to worship Him and will repent of their hatred of the Jews and of Israel:

·       Zechariah 8:11–15, 21-23 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.” For thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not…The [Gentile] inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

The truths of the Bible should be plain to any truth seeker. How else can we explain the very evident and promised success of the Jewish people and the over-riding tragedies and hatred that they have endured, only to be restored once again to their homeland.

Sadly, they will again suffer greatly, since they have again rejected their God in favor of the god of pride and self-affirmation, He will again humble them with those who hate them, but this is only temporary:

·       Jeremiah 23:5–8 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch [the Messiah Jesus], and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD [“Yahweh”], when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

Therefore, humble yourself to seek God and to know the Truth:

·       Matthew 7:7–8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

 

 

 

TAQIYYA—THE AUTHORIZATION TO LIE AND DECEIVE

 

How do you know when you are being deceived by your Muslim neighbor or friend? If you are an “infidel,” it is difficult to know. This is because the Islamic texts both allow and require Taqiyya to deceive to promote Islam: The following texts with commentaries: https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/taqiyya.aspx

Quran (16:106) - Establishes that there are circumstances that can "compel" a Muslim to tell a lie.

Quran (3:28) - This verse instructs believers not to take those outside the faith as friends, unless it is to "guard themselves" against danger, meaning that there are times when a Muslim may appear friendly to non-Muslims, even though they should not feel friendly.

Quran (9:3) - "...Allah and His Messenger are free from liability to the idolaters..." The dissolution of oaths is with pagans who remained at Mecca following its capture. They did nothing wrong, but were evicted anyway.  (The next verse refers only to those who have a personal agreement with Muhammad as individuals - see Ibn Kathir vol 4, p 49)

Quran (66:2) - "Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths..." For today's reader, the circumstances for betraying your word are not specified, leaving this verse open to interpretation.  According to Yusuf Ali in his commentary: "if your vows prevent you from doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons, you should expiate the vow."  (Presumably, whatever advances the cause of Islam would qualify as 'doing good').

 Quran (40:28) - A man is introduced as a believer, but one who had to "hide his faith" among those who are not believers.

Quran (2:225) - "Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts"  (see also 5:89)

Quran (3:54) - "And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers." The Arabic word used here for scheme (or plot) is makara, which means 'cunning,' 'guile' and 'deceit'. If Allah is supremely deceitful toward unbelievers, then there is little basis for denying that Muslims are allowed to do the same. (See also 8:30 and 10:21)

Hadiths—the collected sayings of Muhammad:

Sahih Bukhari (52:269) - "The Prophet said, 'War is deceit.'" The context is thought to be the murder of Usayr ibn Zarim and his thirty unarmed companions by Muhammad's men after they were "guaranteed" safe passage (see Additional Notes below).

Sahih Bukhari (49:857) - "He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar." In other words, lying is permissible when the end justifies the means.

Sahih Bukhari (84:64-65) - Speaking from a position of power at the time, Ali confirms that lying is permitted in order to deceive an "enemy."  The Quran defines the 'enemy' as "disbelievers" (4:101).

Sahih Muslim (32:6303) - "...he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for bringing reconciliation amongst persons and the narration of the words of the husband to his wife, and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted form in order to bring reconciliation between them)."

Sahih Bukhari (50:369) - Recounts the murder of a poet, Ka'b bin al-Ashraf, at Muhammad's insistence. The men who volunteered for the assassination used dishonesty to gain Ka'b's trust, pretending that they had turned against Muhammad. This drew the victim out of his fortress, whereupon he was brutally slaughtered.

From Islamic Law:

Reliance of the Traveler (p. 746 - 8.2) - "Speaking is a means to achieve objectives. If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible (N:i.e. when the purpose of lying is to circumvent someone who is preventing one from doing something permissible), and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory... it is religiously precautionary in all cases to employ words that give a misleading impression...  (See the Permissible Lying section on the Sharia page for more)

"One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie."

Some wrongly think, “Muslims are my friends, they wouldn’t deceive me.” Instead, Quran forbids them from being your friend:

[Quran 3:27] “Let not the believers take the disbelievers for friends rather than believers. And whoever does this has no connection with Allah unless it is done [deceptively] to guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully.

[5:54] O ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other.

This comes from the following fatwa which quotes the Koran in support  (www.koranqa.com; fatwa 59879; but is no longer available):

•    “Undoubtedly the Muslim is obliged to hate the enemies of Allaah and to disavow them, because this is the way of the Messengers and their followers. Allaah says”:

•    [Quran 60:4] “Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibraaheem (Abraham) and those with him, when they said to their people: ‘Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever until you believe in Allaah Alone’”

•    “Based on this, it is not permissible for a Muslim to feel any love in his heart towards the enemies of Allaah who are in fact his enemies too. Allaah says”:

•    [Quran 60:1] “O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and polytheists) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth”

•    “But if a Muslim treats them with kindness and gentleness in the hope that they will become Muslim and will believe, there is nothing wrong with that, because it comes under the heading of opening their hearts to Islam. But if he despairs of them becoming Muslim, then he should treat them accordingly.”
Many college students have been won over through Taqiyya and have ignorantly chanted “death to the Jews.” Therefore, this information should be broadly disseminated.

THE BATTERED BRIDE and ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE

 

I am referring to the Church, the Body of Christ, His beloved bride. It is one thing to be battered by the skeptics; it is another to be denigrated by those who profess the Christ of the Scriptures. I meet many believers who make dismissive remarks about the Church on social media. Had they been merely referring to the apostate Church, rather than the Bible-Believing Church, I would have had little argument with them. However, many are referring to the Church in general.

What is the basis of their grievances? They complain that the Church is:

•    Irrelevant to their lives and doesn’t align with their values,
•    Money hungry,
•    Organized religion, and it is impersonal or corrupt, among other things.

I will not directly address these complaints but instead try identify the beauty and needfulness of the Church. For one thing, the Church is God’s invention for good. If Christ loves the Church and gave His life of it, we have no choice but to also love the Church sacrificially as we would our wives:
•    Ephesians 5:25–32 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself or no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

As we are one body with our wives, we are also one Body with the Lord. As we are to nourish our wives as one body with her, we must also love and nourish the Church. To reject the Church is to reject the indestructible work of our Savior:
•    Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Church is God’s nursery for our growth in transformative truth and His designated place for our growth in love:
•    Ephesians 4:11–16 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Contempt for the Church is not only contempt for the source of our own growth in Christ but also contempt for the Body of Christ:
•    Ephesians 2:19–22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The Church is our God-given duty:
•    Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Why do we disdain the Body of Christ? Perhaps because we have an inflated self-estimation, and we believe that the Church is beneath us? In this case, we have received the forgiveness of our Lord without forgiving the Church for whatever disappointments we might have experienced? Sound familiar? It does with me!

Without the Church, even if only two or three, Jesus had suggested that we lack the resources to stand against evil. We become like a log removed from the fire, which can then only simmer and smoke:
•    Matthew 18:15–20 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

To reject the Church is to reject our Lord’s channel of wisdom:
•    Ephesians 3:10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Colossians 1:18)

To reject the Church is to blind oneself to the lessons of history. Alexis de Tocqueville, French statesman, historian, and social philosopher wrote “Democracy in America” (1835). It has been described as "the most comprehensive and penetrating analysis of the relationship between character and society in America that has ever been written." According to Tocqueville, freedom and morality both found their American incarnation in Christianity:

•    Religion in America ... must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it.

Tocqueville had been well acquainted with the demands for freedom and equality that had arisen from his own French revolution, albeit grounded in the hatred and murder of the clergy. This revolution had confidently sought to push aside anything that stood in its way.  However, with the advantage of decades of hindsight, this had become something that the French wanted to avoid at all costs. Tocqueville, therefore, wrote:

•    The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law and the surest pledge of freedom.

He therefore appreciated the moral constraints that he found so ubiquitously associated with democracy in the USA:

•    I do not question that the great austerity of manners that is observable in the United States arises, in the first instance, from religious faith...its influence over the mind of woman is supreme, and women are the protectors of morals. There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in America or where conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated...

Continually, he found that the fruitful expression of democracy was inseparable from its underlying Christian roots:

•    In the United States the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people.... Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent; the consequence is, as I have before observed, that every principle of the moral world is fixed and determinate.

•    I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors...in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

The Church is God’s glorious workmanship. If we fail to see it as such, perhaps the fault is with us. Nevertheless, there is a place for criticism, but it must be constructive and not destructive as most of it is.

TO WHOM DOES THE LAND OF ISRAEL BELONG?

 

Although Israel has turned her back on their God, God has not permanently turned His face away from His Chosen People:

•    Isaiah 49:13-15: “Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

•    Ezekiel 36:24-31: "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.”

•    Isaiah 44:21-22: "Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

•    Hosea 3:5:  “Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.”

•    Hosea 14:4-5: "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;

Israel Remains the Promised Land of the Jews:

•    Jeremiah 33:6-8: "I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.”

•    Deuteronomy 32:43:  Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.

•    Amos 9:14-15: “I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God.

•    Micah 4:1-2: In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

•    Micah 7:18-20: You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot  and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.

•    Zephaniah 3:15-20: “The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you…At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the Lord.”

Israel’s God will also turn against Israel’s Enemies:   

•    Isaiah 51:21-23 This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, 'Fall prostrate that we may walk over you.' And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked over."

•    Joel 3:19-21: “But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations. Their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, I will pardon."

According to the NT, even though Israel had rejected their God, God has not rejected them:

•    Romans 11:15–16 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

•    Hebrews 8:8–10 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

•    Romans 11:26-29:  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.  “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.

In conclusion, the restoration of Israel to both their Savior and their land is guaranteed. Those who oppose them have also made themselves enemies of their God.