“Why did you hold up a WHO WOULD JESUS BOMB? sign at my church?” Charles E. Carlson Dec 14, 2006
*Project Strait Gate is a practical movement led by lay-disciples in the Way of Christ, calling out to church members who already know the church is in error, but who have not yet come out.
*Its Vigils are at churches that are known to wrongly teach support of wars and falsely name Jesus as their authority.
*Strait Gate Vigils are intended to be God-honoring, instructive, scripturally honest, and non-confrontational. Volunteers are asked to dress, act and speak appropriately, observing Jesus’ Beatitudes--peace, humility and love--and adopting the apostles’ way. We confess that, because we are imperfect disciples, this is not always carried out.
*Project Strait Gate leaders are prepared to debate with pastors, using the New Testament as a guide for seeking peace.
*Jesus’ disciples understood that Rome controlled the world and Pharisees controlled the existing religious order. Most Vigil volunteers identify with the following political facts and realities:
1) Whoever controls America controls the world. (link)
2) Christian-Zionism is church-centered and has come to be a dominant grass roots political force in America.
3) There is little hope for peace until the majority of laymen abandon Christian-Zionism.
4) Christian-Zionism Leaders will not change until laymen lead them to change because powerful political Warmakers provide them with overwhelming support.
5) Christian-Zionism works against its followers and brings about the deaths of some of their own children.
6) About 20% of the followers of Christian-Zionism deserted its call to support more war in the 2006 election; the move to end this abomination is already well under way. (add link)
7) Christian-Zionism, Evangelicalism, Dispensationalism, and “Christian-Right”(ism) are different names for the same religious belief system.
A Near Panic Reaction Gripped The Church “Off” The Way:
Seven ladies and four men took up posts on the public sidewalks of the two street-exposed sides of “The Church On The Way” Sunday morning, December 3, 2006, in Van Nuys, CA. Inside the church, Pastor Jack Hayford spoke about the demonstration before his sermon.
The Church On The Way ushers then distributed a printed half-page antidote to attendees entitled “Where Do We stand?-- Concerning the commentary and critique presented by the group conducting The Vigil”. It appears to be a brief response to the advance letter Project Strait Gate sent to Pastor Hayford:
“Outside our sanctuary today, you may have noticed some individuals picketing or distributing literature opposing The Church On The Way…The distinct sense of duty we hold toward honoring the Jewish peoples and Israel are based on the instructions of God’s Word (Romans 9-11), and we hold no apology for that Biblical stance…”
The Elders’ statement goes on to say that the church believes in praying “equally” for Jews and Palestinians and Arabs.
However, the attendees’ attitudes did not reflect this even-handedness; many of those who came and went told us in plain language:
“This Church is for Israel.”
Few, if any, said anything about praying for Arabs. Furthermore, at least three of the Vigilers had attended or still attend the church, and none could recall hearing any specific prayers for the Palestinians or Arabs or Iraqi victims.
Positive results were noted by the Vigilers, who stood at their posts for fully four hours. Laura, on her first Vigil, stated:
“I had several people approach me, more curious than anything. With the exception of the guards swiping the articles out of the hands of the parishioners and stating, "You don't need to read this", I found people rather open…the highlight of the vigil for me came in the last 30 minutes. First, as I was standing alone on the corner of the block as the church let out, holding the "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" sign, two men passed me and commented, "Now that is Christlike!"…What was frustrating for me was that the parishioners kept asking me, 'What do you get out of this,' and I didn't have an answer.”
I am sure Laura will have an answer next time. Some of the people were angry; one Vigil lady reported an intentional bump by a church official on the sidewalk and some unpleasant words from several members leaving after the sermon. But many positive responses were also reported. We were especially encouraged by the extensive, friendly and honest scriptural discussions we had with several of the younger Pastors. Some took literature and exchanged addresses with Vigilers.
Even after more than 55 vigils, each new one is a learning experience. The Church On The Way used 20 or more men and several women, including at least six of its staff Pastors and a flock of Elders, to create a defense against Project Strait Gate. It was the most formidable defense we had seen, and its purpose seemed to be to protect the incoming congregation from talking to or receiving information from the Vigil team.
The Church’s anti-Vigil was well organized and probably rehearsed. Greeters on the sidewalks and parking lots escorted attendees past us. One female Vigiler said it reminded her of a demonstration for life in front of a Planned Parenthood Clinic. Escorts met the incoming attendees and warned them not to talk to the Vigilers. They used basketball style offensive tactics, including face guarding, pick and roll and trash talk. Our Vigilers are determined and resourceful, though; they have “moves” screening, and a good amount of literature got through to those coming and going.
The Church on the Way arranged a second line of defense inside its protected perimeter on private property. There they confronted the minority who had accepted our literature. No less then six of its staff pastors, plus a dozen or more ‘Elders’ who appeared to be well known to the congregation, gently lifted (and presumably destroyed) the Project Strait Gate literature given to the parishioners, usually with a few whispered words in the ear of the attendee.
One attendee, about 17 years old, accepted our three pamphlets with a few words of advice about thinking for himself. He was with a female parent and some siblings. As soon as he crossed into private property, a youngish pastor confronted him and adroitly plucked the papers from his hand, prying them loose with a few quiet words in his ear.
Your writer could not resist a speech at point blank range. My words could be clearly heard by all nearby as I scolded the pastor, accusing him of insulting the intelligence of the entire congregation and depriving this young man of the right to read and think for himself. I did not let up, but asked the young man to return from the church ground and talk to me in the neutral zone. He did not, but he listened, and finally the small group around him, embarrassed I think, huddled in prayer about Project Strait Gate. God was entreated to conjure up a mighty barrier of protection for them, the righteous, against us, the pagans. The young man faced me while the prayer was spoken, obviously confused, intimidated and stunned by the attention he had gotten. I doubt if he will ever forget what he learned this morning in Van Nuys, CA.
Group imprecations are not new to Project Strait Gate. If you can’t stand a curse of two, best not join a Vigil at Church OFF the Way. How does The Church OFF the Way explain its claim to follow Jesus, when it more closely follows world Zionism? Where Do We Stand provides Jack Hayford’s flimsy, transparent and confusing scriptural support for his false prophecy in support for Israel. It is worth discussing.
Where Do We Stand cites “Romans 9-11” as justification for placing the present state of Israel ahead of the rest of humanity. Pastor Hayford could hardly choose a better place for us to make our case than these 86 verses with a clear context that does not support the prophecy he preaches in his pulpit and tape ministry.
In general, the letter to the Roman Church contains nothing that would allow a follower of Christ to sit idly by while women and children are murdered, much less to cheer on Israel’s daily assassinations of its neighbors. On the contrary, Paul speaks of the corrupt false claimants and sorry lot that Abraham’s sons had become in the first century.
Paul, the Apostle, also clearly states in Romans 10:12 that under the new covenant of Jesus there can be no racism:
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;”
How could Project Strait Gate have chosen a verse that more clearly states our case? No one on the Way of Jesus can place Israeli lives ahead of Arab lives! The apostle Paul clearly tells his followers that Jews and Greeks (non-Jews) are all the same to the Lord, at least from Jesus’ time forward. The “chosen ones” are those who follow the Way of Christ. Paul himself is a converted Pharisee who tells the Jews living in Rome:
“I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.” (Rom 11: 13-14)
This is the message of Jesus that does away with racism. Paul tells us the “chosen” are not the Israelites with Abraham’s blood, but those who follow in the Way of Christ. Why is The Church on the Way so far off the “Way”? How can it dwell in racism when Paul condemns it in the very chapters it cites as its authority?
False prophet churches usually deal in Bible snippets, rarely presented in context. Maybe, just maybe, “Where Do We Stand” made a hasty, typographical mistake in citing Roman 9-11; intending to cite only one verse, Chapter 9:11. We will ask the church what they really meant, but meantime we will assume the mistake and look at the consequences of focusing on this one verse, which exposes the racism. (Endnote 1)
Romans 9, verse 11 reads:
“for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls.”
Two verses later in the same chapter of Romans, we observe why those who attend The Church on the Way seem to hate Arabs:
Romans 9, verse 13, “Just as it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’”
These are the kind of quotes False Prophet churches thrive on. A snippet to support unconditional devotion to the State of Israel, a lone verse or two that can be stretched to say God loves the State of Israel and hates Arabs. This is the conclusion that Hayford presents time and time again and that has become second nature to his congregations!
The Apostle Paul’s words in these three verses are about twin brothers who descended from a man called Abraham about 3000 years ago. Jacob was later known as “Israel,” and he was “chosen” by God.
Paul goes on to explain that God has a right to choose and love whom He wishes and to deny his love to whom He wishes, for no other reason than that he is God. In the story, God chose to love Jacob (later called Israel) and did not love the older son, Esau (who Hayford associates with Israel’s neighbors).
Pastor Hayford imputes murderous hatred to Muslims: Is it possible that without once mentioning hatred found in the verses they quote, The Church on the Way uses this story as justification for convincing his listeners that God loves the present-day state that dubbed itself “Israel,” when this state came into existence three thousand years after the story of the twins. The favored twin was Jacob, later called “Israel.” Jack Hayford, with sleight of hand, would lead us to believe God hates today’s Muslims and wants them driven from the land and killed by those who The Church on the Way considers to be “Chosen.”
Hayford’s love of Israel is usually based on a mere snippet taken out of context. Paul was actually using the ancient story to explain how the covenant had changed, and that those who heard him had to believe in Jesus and follow Him to be blessed. Hayford seems not to trouble himself with context. If love and hate are good emotions for God, why not for The Church on the Way? Its members’ attitudes reflect what they are taught; their words show that they have been taught to love Israel and hate Arabs.
Pastor Hayford uses those words as his excuse for supporting Israel’s assassinations, occupation of Palestine, and wars in the Middle East 3000 years later. But Paul goes on to explain that God fulfilled his promise with the coming of Christ, who loves all.
Project Strait Gate chose The Church On The Way and about 54 more like it to Vigil because it is apostate and because it renders God’s word falsely. The churches we vigil are those that normally ignore the fact that Israel is overwhelmingly secular and godless at the top of its leadership. The European Jews who invaded Arab lands came from Europe and have less connection to Jacob than this writer does to Eric the Red.
No Israeli alive can prove any lineage to Jacob, Abraham or Ishmael. Abraham’s DNA is not available. Yet lineage is what The Church on the Way relies upon. Stripped of the niceties of prayer for all, it uses supposed bloodlines that were lost three millennia ago to justify pro-Israel racism.
If The Church On The Way really wants to “love its enemies-do good for those who persecute you,” as it claims, and if its members really pray “equally” for the Palestinians and the Israelis as it claims they do, then it is in agreement with Project Strait Gate. We believe we need to treat Arabs and Jews alike, and we do not mean allocating them equal prayer time, while giving guns to one and starving the other.
Jack Hayford should allow us to make a presentation to Church on the Way. Or at least debate us on this issue on neutral ground. What can they possibly fear from the truth? Such a debate would allow The Church on the Way to make its case understandable. We suggest this question:
Is the present day political state of Israel a fulfillment of biblical prophesies?
NO! We say the state of Israel is an artificial political subdivision, once part of Syria, created by the United Nations' edict in 1947.
Links:
Letter November 30, 2006, to Pastor Jack Hayford: http://www.whtt.org/straitgate/index.php?news=2&id=224
(Endnote 1) Strait Gate selected quotes from Romans, Chapters 9 through 11.
Chapter 9:6: “…all who are descended from Israel are not Israel. (7) Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary…it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.”
9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 9:28 "For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
But Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
9:32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone”.
10:3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
21 But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."
23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
11:13-14 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.
11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?