Author: Daniel Juster

The Religious Motive and Conflict

Many secular Westerners have great difficulty in dealing with world conflicts because they ignore the religious foundations or motives for such conflicts.   Yes, there are also ethnic motives, and they may overlap with religious motives, but I want to write on the religious motives.  The famous liberal Christian thinker Paul Tillich defined faith as “Ultimate Concern,” the foundational motive that drives us.  People are inherently religious. This includes humanistic people.  Yes, we can note people whose god is “self” and whose drive is for their own ease and pleasure.  But many people have to live for something more. maybe some false idea of seeking justice which they define as equality.  In this regard, the United States Supreme Court defied “Secular Humanism” as a religion.  (Torcaso v Watkins (1961).  Of course, there are different secular humanisms from classical Marxism to the Objectivism of Ayn Rand.  Marx presented a prophetic vision and an eschatology that led to a glorious age of peace, accord, and prosperity.   It is very religious and the commitments to it were at a religious commitment level.  When it failed a famous book, “When Prophecy Fails.” was applied to Marxism.  

 

Ayn Rand looked for a utopia from free enterprise and one ethical norm, “Do no harm.”   The god of Ayn Rand is the entrepreneur who creates wealth for all as part of a democratic free society.  (See Atlas Shurgged.)  Today we see that commitment to abortion rights, the LGBTQ agenda, and transsexualism are all based on religious views and levels of commitment.  The passions of these movements show religious commitment.  The great philosopher Herman Dooyweeerd showed such religious motives as being ubiquitous.  We see religious motives in the persecution of Christians by Hindus in India, though Hindus do not seek to conquer the world. 

 

However, this essay is not mostly about the issue of world views and religious motives in general. It is rather that our Western leadership, when not committed to Biblical faith fails again and again to credit and understand the religious motives of world conflicts and why such religious motives, when sick and evil, need to be confronted head-on.  Western diplomats wrongly think that if they go beneath the surface one will find Western values, in the Arab, the Chinese Communist, or the Iranian jihadist. They think they can get a hold of that and find peace, but often the ideologies are only defeated in a great defeat in war or by religious conversion.  The Chinese Communists suppress free speech and Christianity because they want no competition to their religious idealogy.  It parallels the Catholics who used violence to shut down Protestant orientations in the old religious wars.  

 

I want this essay to emphasize the Middle East and Islam.  We will never grasp what we face unless we absorb the hard truth that for Islamic fascists or jihadists, there is a religious motive to destroy Israel and to take Jerusalem. Nothing else will do and the honor of Mohammed and the god of Islam requires war and strategy to accomplish this whether it takes a year or a hundred years.  All that was in the ruling territory of Islam (Dar Al Islam) has to be recovered.  This means recovering Spain for Islam and parts of Southern and South East Europe.  From there, Islam must go forward to conquer the world.  We see such motives now in the immigrant Muslim populations of Western Europe. Yes, there are reformed Muslims who do not share this worldview. They build their Islam on the more peaceful passages of the Koran. They exist. But the conquering and violent passages are ubiquitous and when movements arise to return Isralm to faithfulness to its origins some will return to violent jihad.  Unless we understand that Israel is up against religious warriors, we will not face what is necessary to fight and overcome this evil religion.  It will take true propaganda and military might.  Those arrayed against Israel, Iran, its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, and West Bank radicals. The Houthis, Iraqi jihadists, and jihadists in Syria, all share this foundational religious motive.  It explains why Gazan mothers are happy for their children to be trained to be martyrs.  Because the Devil is behind this ideology, prayer must be a central part of the strategy for Christians. 

 

It is my conviction that only Biblical faith provides the orientation and strength to defeat the evil worldviews that are opposed to us.  The teaching of Yeshua does not order us to conquer the world by the sword but by the very powerful signs and wonders Gospel of the Kingdom.  Only the Gospel can defeat the ideologies of evil.  When we speak of the Gospel, however, we are speaking of more than just the offer of personal salvation through receiving Yeshua as personal savior.  The Gospel of the Kingdom is more robust and declares Yeshua as Lord over all spheres of society.  This understanding of the Gospel was foundational to the Evangelical Harvard, Wheaton College.  Its founder, Jonathan Blanchard, wrote the Wheaton motto, “For Christ and His Kingdom,’’ that Wheaton would raise up leaders for every sphere of life, to influence all spheres to embrace biblical norms.  It was what compelled Blanchard and Wheaton to join the anti-slavery fight and to be part of the underground railroad for escaped slaves.  It also compelled Charles Finney.  Decades later when Abraham Kuyper became Prime Minister of Holland, he echoed Blanchard and declared that it was his vision that the Law of God would become the Law of the Land.  Kuyper’s embrace of the Gospel of the Kingdom did not reject religious freedom and held a sacred place for the conscience of the individual. 

 

Today we see a return to Blanchard’s and Kuyper’s views from those who argue that the Gospel of the Kingdom must seek to influence the seven mountains of culture leadership and formation.  As Kuper said, Yeshua claims every square inch of human civilization and there is not one square inch that He does not claim as Lord. This should not be understood as conquering the world before or without the return of Yeshua, which Kuyper did not believe nor did Campus Crusade’s Bill Bright who embraced the Seven Mountains vision. 

 

When we deal with the Middle East we are dealing with international law and relationships. 

 

In my view, only the right Biblical faith, understanding the Gospel of the Kingdom, is best and clear enough to overcome the evil religious motivations of Islamic Fascism, Communism, the religion of LGBTQ ism, transgenderism, abortion and child sacrifice, and more. All of these orientations are foundationally religious.  Hence the energy behind them. Only Biblical faith is adequate to defeat them, signs and wonders Gospel of the Kingdom.

Chanukah or Tisha Bav

Daniel Juster, Ph. D. and Senior Shaliach

 

The War with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israel still fights the long war in Gaza and soon may fight an all-out war in Lebanon against the Iran proxy, Hezbollah.  However, the overall situation in the Middle East is much more dangerous than we may imagine.  Israel’s liturgical narrative history recounts the depths of despair and defeat in the 9th of Av, the destruction of both Temples, the expulsion from Spain, and the Holocaust.  However, Israel’s narrative also celebrates the extraordinary victories of Passover-Exodus, Purim during Persian rule and Queen Esther, and Chanukah in the war against the Syria Hellenist Seleucids.  This Chanukah we again remember the great victories to save Israel under the leadership of the Maccabees, 167-160 B. C.   Will the present wars lead to another tragedy or an amazing victory?

 

What We Are Really Up Against 

In the short term, it does not look like another 9th Av.   Israel will ultimately stay in Gaza even if there is a six-week truce.  This truce is very unlikely since Hezbollah has no motive to give up the hostages without a total end to the war.   Israel cannot do that, so we face a grievous and sad reality.  Also, if Israel fully goes to war against Hezbollah in the north to enforce U. N. resolution 1701, that Hezbollah has to remain behind the Litani River in Lebanon and give up its arms so there is one Lebanese army, it will be a very bad situation.  The number of Hezbollah missiles means that there will be devastation in Israel and many deaths, but Hezbollah will be defeated.  If Iran enters the war, we hope the U. S. defends Israel.  Iran was not ready for war and wanted its nuclear bomb first.  This is what we are up against in the short term. 

 

However, let us note what is not usually described.  Israel is up against many other terrorist entities. 

 

Explicit Enemies of Israel 

  1. First, there are the Houthis in Yemen who rule much of Yemen.  The weak U. S. government has let them shut down the international sea lanes.  Thomas Jefferson went to war for open seas!  The Biden administration seems pathetically weak.  The Houthis would be easy to defeat by air power.  Israel faces the Houthis, who now send some troops to fight Israel. 
  2. Secondly, Syria allows its country to be a base for Hezbollah and the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp.  
  3. Then there are the Hezbollah-aligned Shiites of Iraq.
  4. Iran seeks to destroy Israel and leaders have professed that they should use the nuclear bomb against Israel.  This is what Donald Trump meant when he said if Harris is elected, Israel will cease to exist.  He defunded Iran but the Biden administration reversed this and provided hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran that financed her terrorist proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and more.  The biggest gain for changing the Middle East would be regime change in Iran.  

 

Dangerous Countries at Peace with Israel 

  1. First is Egypt.  It is called a cold peace.  Why?  Egypt’s education system still fosters hatred for Israel.  Egypt’s population is overwhelmingly anti-Israel.  Can the cold peace survive? Egypt allowed the Rapha crossings and border tunnels to be used to arm Hamas to the hilt. 

 

  1. Second is Jordan.  The situation in Jordan is very much like Egypt.  However, the majority of Jordan is Palestinian and Hamas wants to overthrow the monarchy. Can Jordan remain at peace?  Will the monarchy long survive?

 

  1. Third is Qatar, which is supposedly an ally of the United States but fosters Hamas and provides refuge for their billionaire leader Mashal and did for their late leader Ismael Haniyeh.  They also foster the Al Jazeera anti-Israel and pro-Hamas Newspaper. 

 

  1. Fourth is Turkey which now is more and more belligerent against Israel and is pro-Hamas.  Erdogan, Turkey’s leader, says he wants Turkey to lead a world Muslim anti-Israel coalition.  Their Islamist semi-dictator is still allowed to be part of NATO, a travesty.  A regime change in Turkey would be very beneficial to the Middle East and for stemming Islamic fascist terrorism. 

 

  1. Fifth is Pakistan whose secret service and government allows ISIS connections and pro-Taliban policies. 

 

Terrorist Populations 

The West cannot get its arms around the fact that the so-called innocent populations are actually terrorist-supporting populations.  Fighting a war against a terrorist-supporting population is a whole different order and there is no way to fight it without significant civilian deaths, especially when they allow themselves to be human shields.  This was somewhat the situation in Germany in World War II, but it is much worse with Islamic Fascism. 

 

The Feckless West

The feckless West more and more aligns with Israel’s enemies and makes Israel’s defense effort the crime.  The West has imported a fifth column of Islamic Fascists which amazingly ally with the useful idiot leftist.  They take over the streets and campuses and require ending investments in Israel.  Weak college administrators and leftist city councils are likely to give in. 

 

China and Russia as Allies of Iran

For their own purposes for world domination Russia and China now ally with Iran. 

 

Conclusions 

Well, you get the picture.  It is as if the biblical picture of all nations coming against Israel is beginning to happen.  Credible prophecy teachers see the last wars as Islamic-led.  It is foolish for the Prime Minister to profess his faith in the Israel Defense Forces to save us.  We will need the salvation that only comes from Yeshua.  In God we must trust.  

 

The last word is presented in the Bible.  It will be the Feasts of victory and Chanukah that will prevail.  Joel 3, Zechariah 12, and14 Ezekiel 38,39, and many more passages show us the end of the story.  This is a time for much prayer, revival, and a great harvest in Israel. 

Mosab Yousef Addresses the EUP

Mosab Yousef, son of Hamas founder Hassan Yousef, recently addressed the European Union Parliament. Mosab is a strong spokesman against Hamas terrorism. 

In his piercing and fiery style, he states that much of what people say about Hamas is detached from reality. From his childhood, Mosab witnessed the atrocities of this terror organization firsthand.  

Here is my summary are some of his salient points:

  • Fundraising – Massive funding from both Arab oil countries and Western liberal nations has gone to the terrorists. This has caused enormous destruction.
  • Narratives – This war is a war of narratives. The truth about the situation has been ignored and twisted because of wrong agendas.
  • No Palestinian Ethnicity – I was told as a child to be Palestinian. But that is not true. We are Arabs. There is no ethnic group called Palestinians. There is no Palestinian language, race, or religion.
  • Colonialism – The Ottomans colonized Palestine. They invaded and ruled from 1517 to 1917. Then the British invaded and ruled from 1917 to 1947. During those two periods, Arabs come to the Land. They were part of the colonial process. Palestine is an invention of the Ottoman and British colonialists. 
  • Jewish Immigration – The Jews who returned to the Land were limited by the two colonial empires. The limitation of Jewish immigration was the real criminal part of the colonial period.
  • No Palestinian Nation – In 1948, the Jews fought to establish their state. There was no Palestinian State between the Ottoman and British empires. There never was a Palestinian State at any time. In the Palestinian colonial entity, there were Arabs, Jews, Christians, Druze, etc. Jews were also “Palestinians.” 
  • Palestinian Ideology – Palestinianism is an ideology. It is a hostile movement to annihilate the Jewish people in the Land. People are in denial of this ideological element of the conflict.
  • Muslim Intimidation – No one is willing to look at the truth because there are more than a billion Muslims who would be angry and violent about any criticism of Islam. 
  • Islamic Belief – The Quran and the Hadith say that the Mahdi (the Muslim end times’ savior) will not come until the Muslims kill all the Jewish people. This is a fundamental belief: Allah chose the Jewish people. They were disobedient. Allah is punishing the Jews. The Muslims are now the sword of Allah to destroy them.  
  • Submission to Islam – This conflict is worldwide, not limited to Palestine. All non-Muslims must submit to Islamic law. All land that belonged to Muslims is forever theirs. For instance, southern Spain was once Muslim, so it still belongs to them. Every mosque in every country is Muslim territory. No Western country can ever close down any mosque lest it bring on a violent international conflict. 
  • Peaceful Religion – Anyone trying to sell the West that Islam is a peaceful religion is lying. It is the very violence of Islam that makes it too controversial even to bring up the topic. However, this ideological dimension is the most important part of the conflict despite everyone’s fear of dealing with it.
  • Yassir Arafat – The person who led the false Palestinian identity and ideology was Yassir Arafat. He was a con artist. He was Egyptian, born in Egypt, with an Egyptian accent, and Egyptian citizenship. Arafat became addicted to money, power, fame, and prestige. 
  • Global Terror – Arafat globalized the idea of terrorism: blew up airplanes, killed Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics, etc. Political rivals were assassinated. The West cannot understand this terror mentality. They keep giving more finances to assuage it, but that makes it even worse. 
  • Child Manipulation – As a child in the first intifada of 1987, I was told by unknown masked men, hired by Arafat, to leave school and go throw rocks at Israeli tanks at the checkpoints. Palestinian terrorism is anti-children. However, it photographed well to see a child throwing a rock at an Israeli tank. 
  • Free Hostages – On October 7, 2023, Hamas broke through the fence and wiped out 20 peaceful, liberal communities, who believed in coexistence. Hamas murdered and took hostage innocent civilians, mostly farmers. Why is not all the world united around a demand to return the hostages?
  • False Morality – Many are posing as being on higher moral ground, crying “free Palestine,” when they don’t realize they are supporting a false, violent ideology. 
  • Ethnic Cleansing – Genocide is not determined by number of people killed but by the intent. The only people being killed because of their ethnic background in this conflict are the Jews. There have been 1,400 years of Jew hatred in Islam.   Islam is a religious majority that wants to kill a religious minority, the Jews.
  • Civilian Victims – Israel has done everything in its power to reduce civilian casualties. They even alerted civilians two weeks before a military action to allow civilians to evacuate. The civilian victims in Gaza are a result of Hamas hijacking schools, hospitals, aid centers, and mosques. Hamas did not leave any safe zones in Gaza for civilians. They purposely used civilians as human shields, sacrificing them in order to make Israel look bad.
  • Numbers of Casualties – Are there 40,000 casualties in Gaza? No one really knows. There are no official counts, and no death certificates. Humanitarian agencies just accept what Hamas tells them. The numbers may be greatly exaggerated in order to discredit Israel. 
  • Equal Rights – There are no equal rights in Islam. Women are seen as property. Suppression of women leads to other types of oppressive behavior. Muslims want to come to the West to enjoy the freedom there. But you can only have equal rights if you respect the rights of others. 

Whether one agrees with Mosab or not, his perspective must be considered seriously because his life experience is unique and authentic. His testimony is valid because of its authenticity. 

GENOCIDE

My leftist friends (and I do have a few) accuse Israel of genocide.  This is because of the pictures of civilians, women, and children killed in Gaza.  However, not only is the definition of genocide abused by them, but the figures of civilian deaths are exaggerated.  In an Orwellian reversal, those nations and parties calling for the genocide of the Jews are given a pass, and Israel defending itself against genocide is called the perpetrator of genocide. 

Here is the definition of genocide in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (No. 9, 1948).  

Genocide is the carrying out of one or more of five specific war crimes with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious groups.”  

It includes killing people simply because they are members of a group.  The second is “causing bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”  Inflicting “conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction,” preventing births, and abducting children.”  

One can readily see how this definition is so connected to the Nazi regime in Germany.  

Let’s then look at Gaza.  South Africa (very anti-Israel due to Israel’s relationship with the apartheid regime in the past) asserts in its war crimes case before the International Criminal Court, that Israel deliberately killed 23,570 innocent Gazans.  Hamas claims the number is 41,000.  But Professor Abraham Wyner, a statistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, notes that these figures are wrong.  Even the U.N. has not accepted these figures and asserts the lower number. Hamas blames every death in Gaza on the Israel Defense Force and does not distinguish between civilian and military deaths.  Estimates are also that friendly fire deaths from Hamas misfired rockets are many,  plus natural deaths of 2.9 percent average would be 6,200 plus.  We are looking at over 8,000.  The estimate is that 17,000 Hamas soldiers have been killed.  

Adding all this up, the non-combatant deaths in Gaza are close to 1.2% which is far lower to the average of 1.9% in modern urban warfare.  John Spencer, the West Point urban war expert, notes this as the lowest percentage in urban war in history. On the issue of babies, 5,522 babies have been born per month in Gaza according to Save the Children NGO.  The pre-war rate was 4,783.  

These statistics are in spite of the fact of the massive human shield operation by the terrorist Hamas organization.  We see the same strategy with Hezbollah.  Seek genocide against Israel while gaining the worlds sympathy when human shields are killed.  It brings us to Golda Meier’s famous statement that peace will come when the terrorists are more concerned about protecting their children than killing ours. (my slight paraphrase) NO, THERE IS NO GENOCIDE BY ISRAEL, NOT EVEN CLOSE. 

But where is the UN on real genocide against the Kurds, Syria, Darfur from Sudan.  South Africa leader posed with the Sudan general Daglo who murdered 15,000 beloinging to the ethnic minority.  Turkey exacts a terrible toll on innocent Kurds. Where is their self-determination?  The Syria kills over 500,000.  But the world is largely silent but very loud against Israel.

 

I was aided in research by Iam Neubauer.  His article in the Oct. 25 Jerusalem Post gave a good summary. 

Why Israel Does Not now accept a Two-State Solution

Three attempts were made for a two-state solution. First was the attempt during the administrations of Barak and Clinton. Clinton told Arafat that he made him a failure.  Arafat walked away and started an uprising/intifada. Then A. Sharon tried unilateral withdrawal, which would lead to a two-state solution. Gaza was completely freed.  He hoped this would be a first step and then he would do the same with his chosen areas of the West Bank.  He had a stroke and never was able to finish his plan.  Hamas kicked out The Palestinian Authority, killed several of them, and then turned Gaza into a military base to destroy Israel.  Effort #2 failed.  Olmert and Abbas worked on effort #3.  He offered 97% of the West Bank and land swaps for the other 3%.  He offered East Jerusalem as the capital for them. Abbas walked away and made Bush a failure as well.  This led to the death of the left as a serious power in Israel.  Her parties have less than 10% of the vote now.

The reason why the great majority of Israelis reject a two-state solution is that they know for sure that such a state would become a radical Hamas military base like Gaza.   Therefore their solution is autonomy.  Israel keeps overall security, the Palestinians in the West Bank have passports from Jordan or Israel but no citizenship, no army, and no statehood.  It would be like Puerto Rico.  They would choose local governments and the Palestinian government but not have a state.  The West Bank would have Jewish areas and Palestinian autonomous zones.  This is the best we can hope for but it is a long shot for there to be any solution.  Also, Palestinian education would have to be deradicalized.

Dwelling in a Sukkah: The Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)

Leviticus 23 summarizes Israel’s Holy Days. 

 

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest  0 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

 

So much of Israel’s celebration is based on memory and re-enactment.  Faith was based on the foundation of the wonderful works God had done in Israel’s history.  Despite the discipline of wandering in the desert for 40 years due to Israel’s disobedience, the period was still one of miraculous provision.  Israel ate supernatural food and had the supernatural provision of lasting clothes.  The eighth day following the seven days of the feast was a day of special assemblies.  Rabbinic Judaism urges our people to keep all in the Torah that does not require the Temple.  We can still live in a Sukkah for 7 days.  We can still take the species and wave them before the Lord proclaiming his provision and sovereignty over the world.  On the 8th day in Israel and the day after in the Diaspora, we celebrate the end and the beginning of the readings of the Torah.  It is wonderful to celebrate the Feasts in Israel. The climate for harvests and celebrations is part of the timing of Holy Days. 

 

However, there are some amazing other features. Numbers 29:12-29 describes the national sacrifices to be brought during the Feast.  It was noted by the Rabbis that the number sacrificed over a week added up to 70 bulls. This number represents all the nations of the World (this is from Genesis and the nations noted after the Tower of Babel).  The idea is that Israel is the priestly people who interceded for all nations and offered salvation for the nations.  This connects to the many passages of the Prophets and the Psalms that proclaim that all nations will come to the knowledge of God, and that will be accomplished through events of the last days taking place in Israel.  Sukkot thus celebrates the vision for all nations to be in the Kingdom of God as we read in Zechariah 14.  After that final war against Israel, all nations will celebrate the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)

 

One other reasonable speculation is that Yeshua (Jesus) was born on Sukkot and circumcised on the 8th day.  The calculation for the time of Zechariah the Priest, the pregnancy of his wife, and then Miriam months later with Yeshua fits well with the time of Sukkot and also fits a feast period when there would be no room in the Inn. He took upon him the tent of a human body in the Incarnation. 

 

We rejoice during this Feast despite a terrible time of war in our Land against fierce enemies.  In the midst of this Feast and war, we are now planning to begin the full-time program for Jerusalem Bible Institute. 

Chabad Rabbi Calls for Change in Israeli Public Education

The lead Chabad Rabbi in Tel Aviv put a large ad in the Jerusalem Post’s weekend edition.  In it, he decried secular education in Israel that was leading Jews in Israel away from believing in the Torah, the Exodus, the God of the Bible, and Israel’s election. This, he argued, would undercut the state of Israel and its passion for its survival and prosperity.  He then pointed to a million Israelis who have left Israel and are assimilating in the West more than the Diaspora Jews themselves.  There are other factors for leaving; one is the high cost of living, especially housing, and the super high prices are connected to a corrupt system here.

But of course, the Rabbi was right but ignored the elephant in the room.  If Israelis return to faith in the Torah, they yet do not want to return to Halacha, to the minutiae of Rabbinic Orthodox practices and constraints.  Conservative and Reform Judaism maintain traditions but do not really believe the Biblical supernatural events really happened.  So in Israel, Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism is the only choice, is the state religion, and in charge of all marriages and conversions.  Reform and Conservative are super tiny here.

Messianic Judaism is the best answer to the dilemma.  We bring people back to faith in the Bible and the election of Israel. We also have a wise approach to Rabbinic Halacha.  We evaluate it by the whole Bible and do not feel compelled to submit to it but affirm that which is good.   Sadly, many Messianic Jews in Israel are not that Jewish in orientation, unlike in the Diaspora, for they are more Evangelicals in the Hebrew language. More change is needed.

However, short of becoming Messianic Jews, could there be a new Judaism?

In the Land that respects the Torah, the Prophets,  and the good things in the Jewish heritage without coming under the constraints of Rabbinic Halacha.  I would love to see someone work on that as well.

PROJECT 2025

I am writing this little essay due to the political hot potato Project 2025, a blueprint for government change from a conservative point of view.  Democrats vilify it. They claim that Project 2025 is the playbook for a possible next Trump term. The former President claims he has had nothing to do with it, that he has not read it and will not, and that it is not its playbook.  The Democrats claim that Project 2025 is an extreme right-wing agenda that will set the country back.  Republicans do not defend it but probably wisely say little because Democrats will pick and choose parts out of context and prosecute their case against Republicans on the basis of such misrepresentations.  I read some of the names of those who gave leadership to different chapters or sections of the document and knew them to be brilliant, credible, and not extreme.   However, were others extreme and suggesting extreme and dangerous policies?  I have read many studies from the Heritage Foundation and other think tanks whose leaders were part of this project.  Heritage is usually very credible.   

 

So, what is a person like me to do?  I am an informed person who seeks to apply biblical worldview thinking to politics.  See my book Social Justice. In this book I promote the idea that love and Justice are one and that a truly just social order is one that promotes the lifting up of the greatest number of people.  I argue that a free enterprise society with checks and balances on corporate and governmental power is the most successful.  Justice is based on God’s law, the universals that can be derived from the Bible, and on empirical evidence of what works. With this understanding,  I decided to review the 2025 Project.  It is 880 plus pages, large dense pages.  It was no easy task, but how can I evaluate the many claims that are being made?  I could not find a good and comprehensive defense of the project or a fair and serious critique,  so I decided to work my way through it. 

 

Here is a very short summary of my key takeaways.  No, it is not a radical crazy radical right-wing agenda but is the product of brilliant and serious thinkers whose articles should be read and weighed.  The book is primarily dealing with the Executive Branch of the Federal Government and all its agencies.  The administrative state, all its agencies, is so large and vast that it is difficult to get one’s arms around it.  So, the 2025 Project gives more information on the vast federal government than anyone could want.  It is an education.  The Executive Branch of the Government is far larger than the rest of the government put together and very powerful.    Here is my review.  

 

The Massive Labyrinth and Its Waste

The project describes every agency and significant sub-agency.  Each one is a vast labyrinth in itself with huge budgets and government administrators and sub administrators galore.  The documented waste, duplication, inertia, civil service employees who resist change, corruption, and cronyism are beyond what we can imagine.  Truly as Lawrence Peter argued, in government agencies inefficiency is ubiquitous since people are often promoted beyond their competence. (The Peter Principle.)  This reminds us of Ronald Reagan and his Grace commission which sought to address this.  But since then, the waste and corruption of government has grown back and is probably worse than ever.  There must be a radical evaluation on the basis of efficiency and the government in size has to be radically reduced.  Can anyone get their hands around these agencies and reform them?  We hope so.  They swallow up much wealth. 

 

Agency Mission Creep, and Corruption 

One aspect of the administrative state and its agencies is mission creep.  Over and over again agencies and their leaders stretch the boundaries of their legal congressional mandates and involve themselves in regulations and initiatives that were not approved by Congress.  This is a way for elites to gain progress in their political and social directions without the necessity of legislation and democratic debate.  The various authors show this in agency after agency.  I will detail some examples.  It is the characteristic of leftist elites to bypass legislative and democratic processes to gain their end in hidden ways through the bureaucracy.  

 

CRT. DEI, Transgenderism, ESG 

A few years ago, we were told that Critical Race Theory was an academic theory and was not being applied in our schools or in government policy.  This was a lie.  The cultural formation left has made CRT ubiquitous in most government agencies.  This began with President Obama, was somewhat halted under President Trump but now has returned with a vengeance.  CRT promotes appointing and promoting people by their particular race and ethnicity above others who may be more qualified.  This racial/ethnic orientation and quota system was not passed by Congress and not approved by the democratic process but is being applied throughout the agencies and in its policies promoted for other nations, in education and so much more. CRT partners with its twin ideas, DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion.  DEI is not interested in diversity of thought or political or religious views.  DEI means that every government agency, every corporation, and every institution is to reflect the proportion of embraced groups that are disadvantaged. Blacks and Hispanics especially are favored, but Asians need not apply!  There is a pecking order. Such racial discrimination was rejected by the Supreme Court, but the agencies of the Federal Government are fully promoting these unconstitutional directions.  This replaces the right orientation for disadvantaged groups, programs, and opportunities for the poor that will qualify many for advancement.  

 

CRT partners with transgenderism and the promotion of the LGBTQ+ agenda.  These alternative lifestyles are endorsed and promoted and makeup one of the groups for special treatment and promotion.  They were disadvantaged and are now to be promoted.  These policies need to be eliminated. 

 

ESG, Environment, Social, and Government is another left orientation that seeks to force corporations and banks to act to only favor those who embrace a more radical environmental agenda that can lead to much poverty, Social brings us back to DEI and go Government to leadership that promotes all of this.  Businesses that run a full ESG and DEI can be refused financing and de-platformed.  This discrimination must be halted. 

 

Restoring and Incentivizing Marriage and Family

Contrary to false claims, Project 2025 does not seek to eliminate welfare but like the Clinton administration, seeks to incentivize work. It also seeks policies that incentivizes marriage and family stability as the building block of success.  While there are successful children from single parent situations, the percentages of success show differentials that are huge and are in favor of an intact family with a mother and father.  This may be one emphasis that is hated by the left that seeks to equalize all types of living arrangements.  Incentivizing family should be expressed in welfare programs, education, and government programs in housing and adoption.  This affects policies on adoption that should favor intact two parent families with a mother and father and should not discriminate against religious families that promote traditional marriage.  

 

Rejecting transgenderism as a policy implies rejecting education that fosters transgender ideas in children in our education system and even promotes transgender transition for children.  This can lead to confusion in children.  It also rejects transgender biological men in women’s locker rooms, shower rooms, and sports.   There is a rejection of Biden’s fiat re-interpretation of Title 9 to apply protections for women in sports to include biological boys and men who identify as girls or women.  This also affects the Department of Health and Human Services in its policies promoting transgenderism.

 

Abortion, National, and International

Though our nation is divided on the issue of abortion the Agencies of Government are all in on promoting it, in Health and Human Services and even in foreign policy from the State Department and through the influence of the largesse of foreign aid.  The 2025 project does not call for a ban on abortion but for regulation and an end to late-term abortion.  Despite all the professions in favor of multiculturalism, contrary to our laws, the Federal Agencies dealing with foreign nations strong-arm these nations to embrace pro-abortion policies and the LGBTQ+ agenda  This is profoundly contrary to the traditional cultures of many nations.  Such policies and arm-twisting are seen as colonialism. And it is!  Conservatives may be pro-life but generally seek to see abortion limited to the first trimester. 

 

Education

The union monopoly education system in the U. S. is a disaster in many locales.  Morals (Immorality) are promoted contrary to family religious beliefs. Think of the defense of the pornographic in the school and those who oppose it are claimed to seek censorship. Often performance in schools is very poor.  The solution is that money should follow the parents who can choose their schools.  This is the key for many of the poor underclass to escape their poor-performing schools and to escape poverty. This is a key policy that is greatly needed.  If money follows the student the parents can choose religious schools, private schools, or public schools.  Some think the Education Department should be eliminated.  It imposes mandates against the will of many parents.  Of course, funds can be given so that the poor can choose a better education, but that does not require a department.  Education should be locally controlled.  School choice is a key to a better future. 

 

Environmental Ideas 

The 2025 Project claims to be pro-environment but not in a radical way where we destroy the fossil fuel industry and do not by world statistics improve the environment but have policies that will lead to poverty. Banks should not be able to refuse business on the basis of this part of the ESG agenda.  The Environmental Protection Agency needs to be reined in for it regulates beyond its congressional mandate.

 

Cancel Culture and Big Tech  

It is crucial that cancel culture be opposed and Big Tech needs regulation to not de-platform and demonetize what is contrary to their politically correct ideas.  Only calls for violence, pornography and real hate (not made-up hate such as promoting traditional marriage!) should be censored.  Monopolist issues with Big Tech and the internet need to be addressed.

 

Trade

There is a very good discussion on international trade, tariffs and prosperity with different points of view presented.  The dangers of trade with China and its nefarious behavior are dealt with. 

 

The Department of Justice 

The Department needs to be depoliticized.  It is severe with pro-life demonstrators who slightly cross red lines but have been soft on violent behavior against pro-life centers. Crimes from the left (think of George Floyd, Minneapolis burning, and Seattle).  It puts out warnings on parents at school boards but allows more serious crimes to be unprosecuted.  A return to law-based enforcement is crucial   

 

This is a very small summary.  It is classic conservative not radical.  So why the big reaction?  It is that the authors are credible people whose positions threaten the Democratic elite.  That is about it. 

 

But do note, that though President Trump is not connected to the 3025 project, former members of his administration are.  His own policy paper recently put out tracks with the 2025 project.

Book Review: Rick Renner’s Apostles and Prophets

I just finished reading Rick Renner’s Apostles and Prophets. It was recommended on a Facebook page by an apostolic leader whom I love and trust, and with whom I have related for over 30 years. Rich Renner has had astonishing success in the Russian-speaking world, beginning with Moscow. 

 

A Defense of Five Fold Ministry

The book was very long and difficult for me to finish.  It was 734 plages.  The greatest aspect of the book was his great defense of five-fold ministry and the continued role of apostles and prophets today. 

 

Rick Renner and the use of Greek Language for Interpretation

One feature of the book was an overwhelming emphasis on the Greek language.  I was drowning in Greek!  Sometimes this produced very good insights.  Sometimes it needed correction. There were two corrections I would make.  James Barr’s Semantics of Biblical Language is one of the classics in biblical hermeneutics, or text interpretation.  In it, Barr criticizes an error of some who seek to use Greek in their exegesis.  Words have a range of possible meanings.  The translator knows that word range and seeks the best word in the translation as the center of what the original writer intended. Yes, there is somewhat of a word range that can be helpful, but we must not overdo it.  The writer of the biblical text is not implying that the whole word range is to be read into the meaning of the text.  In the same way, when we read an English paragraph, we do not assume the intended meaning of the word range of the English word which a comprehensive dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary can give us. Sometimes Dr. Renner slips into this error and overwhelms us by reading too large a word range into the meaning. One other point that should be noted. The Greek of the New Testament has a Hebrew language context.  Some have called this Judeo-Greek.  So we could use less reference to Greek writers and more to biblical Hebraic backgrounds for understanding.

 

Paul as the Model for what An Apostle Is 

If the book was titled Paul and His Apostolic Ministry, I would not take issue with the content. This is the greatest presentation of the apostolic ministry of Paul I have ever read. The depth of Paul’s sacrifice, his empowerment, and his apostolic suffering are presented with great power.  However, Renner then assumes that the meaning of being apostolic is having a ministry like Paul.   It is to be pioneering in new fields like Paul, suffering, and manifesting signs and wonders in confirmation like Paul.  He does credit Paul’s oversight role in his congregations but does not credit the level of difficulty that oversight over such vast distances with limited transportation presents.  Yes, Paul has other team members that make reports. 

 

The primary weakness is not recognizing that Paul speaks of the signs that confirmed his apostleship, but is not saying that all recognized must have the same level of signs.  And the signs include the success of his fruit. Indeed Mark says that miracle signs will follow all believers and Renner notes such signs with prophets and evangelists.  In my view, of course, there should be a supernatural confirmation of some kind for an apostolic call.  And some like Augustine of Canterbury and St. Patrick had ministries that looked very much like Paul’s.  One also sees this in the ministry of H.A. Baker, the grandfather-in-law of Heidi Baker among the Tibetans and the Ka Do tribes in Southwest China. 

 

Apostolic Ministry and the Early Church

However, we do need to expand the idea of who is an apostle by referencing the early church.  By the end of the New Testament period, apostolic functions of oversight and expansion practically had to be given to regional apostles who were called bishops.  One sees this with the messengers of Rev. 2 and 3, the leaders of regional churches or city-wide congregations with multiple meeting places. They lead the presbyteries of the cities.  Yes, their leadership produced continued expansion.  This was very early and was seen as apostolic ministry.  Think of Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Papias, and Ignatius.  Some of these knew John.  When I look at Church history was Luther apostolic, or Wesley or Zinzendorf?  In my view, of course, they were. Renner’s view of who is an apostle is to me for narrow. 

 

Effective Trans-local Leadership

The center for me is trans-local leadership that produces kingdom expansion and with a presbytery gives oversight.  It can be regional with an apostolic central church with an apostolic pastor.  The idea of Kingdom expansion is really crucial, or the association becomes led by managers.  There is an anointing to raise leaders and expand.  One can move to be the on-sight pioneer but also be apostolic by training and sending others. Prophetic confirmation of an apostolic call is important to me. Let us not forget that Paul pointed to the people as proof of his apostolic ministry. 

The Christian Nationalism Question Again

I have written about this topic before but the controversy again among believers is intensifying.  Often there is a lot of heat and little light because terms are not defined.

Idolatrous Nationalism

Nationalism can be defined in an idolatrous way where our loyalty is to be to our nation, right or wrong. This is then applied in a way to the United States that produces real imbalance. I don’t know any Facebook friends of mine who argue for this.  But I know this is the attitude of some.

Loyalty to a nation-state

Others point to nationalism about the 19th-century organization of former tribes and regions into nation-states and argue that all are called to loyalty to their nation-state, to make their state the best it can be. As long as they recognize that we are called to care about the world and not only our nation, I embrace this idea.  However, America First can be imbalanced if it means America only.  I see an isolationism in some that is troubling.

The United States as a Covenant Nation

When one adds the word Christian to nationalism, there are several meanings. One is that the United States is in a special covenant relationship with God like Israel. They trace this to the Puritans and Pilgrims and even the Mayflower Compact.  But despite these origins and the theistic theology of the Declaration of Independence, which asserts that all men were created equal, there is no explicit profession of being a Christian nation as was the case for example in the United Kingdom or the Hapsburg Empire. This view of a covenant with God and even an election of the United States is argued in the book by Peter Marshall Jr. The Light and the Glory. The son of the famous Senate Chaplain and the famous mother, Catherine Marshall, is persuasive but I still believe it is wrong.

Christian Nationalism as Seeking the Good of the Nation and Biblical Norms in Society

Others use Christian Nationalism to mean that we are to seek the good of our nation and that our nation was dominated by the influence of the Bible on its laws and its cultural norms.  God’s rule of sowing and reaping applies to nations as well as individuals.  This is the clear teaching of the prophets and is made clear in the Psalms which call for all nations to acknowledge God and his basic law.  Our nation is Christian to the extent that our people are Christian and produce a dominant culture of Christian values.  I am very sympathetic to this understanding of Christian Nationalism but still have reservations.  I think this was close to the idea of the founders who taught that the republic depended on the Christian life and piety of its citizens.

A Better Approach,  a Judeo-Christian Nationalism

Our rights and freedoms are rooted in the Bible. No biblical influence, no human rights! Many historians have noted that.  And there is a blessing of God for a nation that acts righteously.  But when we say Christian nation, it tends to exclude those who are not Christians. In the book The Hebrew Republic, by Eric Nelson, the author argues that the Hebrew Bible is the source of Western liberties and advancement in laws and rights.  Christianity adds wonderful standards of love and mercy that are even greater due to the New Testament, but it is the Hebrew Bible that is the primary source of so much.

It would be better to say that our ideal is to return to being a Judeo-Christian republic and that all are welcome who affirm the laws and standards that arise therefrom, to enjoy the rights and liberties.  As such we are a pro-Judeo-Christian religious society.  To say that we believe in a quest for a Judeo-Christian Nationalism would be in order.  But we are not there at this point.  Where things are now, we are drifting away and are not a nation that is truly Judeo-Christian in our values. Many are bible based on their views of law and liberty but many are not. This is why the work of evangelism and revival is the key to restoration.