FROM
THE DESK OF PASTOR JOHN HAGEE
John Hagee
Ministries
Weekly
Update
May 17,
2011
Greetings
to all of our Salt Covenant Partners
across the nation and around the world.
If you
haven't already heard, you will soon hear
on the national media about the radical
protesters that invaded Cornerstone Church
Sunday protesting the right of Israel to
exist. I want my friends and partners to
have "all the truth and nothing but the
truth."
The facts
are as follows:
Sunday
morning, May 15, 2011, at Cornerstone
Church in San Antonio a day was set aside
to express our appreciation for the State
of Israel and the Jewish people. Hundreds
of churches across America and around the
world joined us as we stood in solidarity
with Israel in this time of crisis.
What I
didn't know was that eleven anti-Israel
protesters came to our 11:00 am worship
service pretending to be worshippers. They
sat in different sections of the church;
some in the balcony and the majority on
the main floor. As it turned out, none of
them were Palestinians; they were all
local radical activists.
As I
stood to deliver the sermon, one female
"Palestinian protester" stood at the edge
of the balcony and began throwing
anti-Israel propaganda leaflets on to the
main floor of the sanctuary. She was not
screaming; she was throwing leaflets by
the handful on the heads of the people
below.
The
propaganda leaflets said, "We stand in
solidarity with Palestinians and demand an
end to U.S. support for Israeli
occupation, apartheid, and violations of
the human rights of Palestinians. We stand
in solidarity with the Third Intifada
demanding the right of return to occupied
territories." One side of the propaganda
leaflet has the picture of a mother
burying her child under the caption "Your
tithes are responsible for this!" The
leaflet claimed Israel was responsible for
the deaths of 1,500 children since the
year 2000.
Cornerstone Church has an outstanding
security team consisting of highly trained
and professional police officers. On this
particular Sunday they were simply
spectacular. They quickly located and
escorted out the leaflet protester.
Five
minutes later, a second protester stood
and started screaming as loudly as she
could, "Free Palestine! Israel is
apartheid. Israel has no right to the
land." She was quickly escorted out by
security as the congregation cheered and
applauded their action and her exodus.
Five
minutes after that, a third protester
stood and started screaming fanatical
propaganda phrases against Israel that are
used all over the world to attack Israel
and the Jewish people. I now knew we had a
major and highly organized protest on our
hands whose objective was to shut the
service down to prevent this nationally
televised tribute to Israel. At this
point, I told my congregation, "The
objective of these protesters is to shut
down this tribute to Israel. I'm going to
finish this sermon if it takes until 6:00
pm tonight." The congregation cheered like
it was the Super Bowl. These protesters
did more to unite our congregation in one
hour than a dozen preachers have done in
the past few years.
Protester
after protester every five minutes stood,
screamed slogans, and was escorted out by
security. We finished our service in one
accord and with total joy.
The
protesters were taken to the chapel where
they were photographed, required to give
their identifications, and charged with
criminal trespass by our officers. If they
return to church property they will be
sent to jail. Some were sent to jail
immediately because of outstanding
warrants for their arrest. One-third of
the staff of a local non-profit
organization, the Esperanza Peace and
Justice Center, participated in this
anti-Israel church invasion.
In
reviewing the Esperanza Peace and Justice
Center Face book page it appears that at
least five more of the eleven protesters
participated in past protests publicized
by Esperanza. Esperanza Peace and Justice
Center receives tax funding from the city
of San Antonio and the state of Texas.
Here is
why we are going to continue to support
the State of Israel and the Jewish people:
1) Israel
is not a political issue…Israel is a Bible
issue. Truth is not what you think it is,
truth is not what I say it is, truth is
what the Bible says it is. The reality is
that Israel is the only nation created by
a sovereign act of God in the Book of
Genesis. Israel was not born on May 15,
1948...it was born 3,500 years ago when
Almighty God made an eternal covenant
between Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and
their descendants (see Genesis 13:14-15
and Genesis 17:7-8).
2) Those
who believe the Bible are commanded in
Psalms 122:6 to "Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem; may they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls, prosperity
within your palaces."
3) God
has promised in Genesis 12:1-4 to bless
every person and nation who blesses Israel
and to curse every person and nation that
curses Israel. The effectiveness of this
divine mandate is seen in the lives of two
Pharaohs. The Pharaoh that blessed Joseph
and the Jewish people avoided starvation
and knew unlimited prosperity; the Pharaoh
that "knew not Joseph" and who drowned
Jewish male children in the Nile River was
himself turned to fish food in the Red Sea
with his army. Exactly what you do to the
Jewish people, God will do to you.
4) In
Luke 7 the blessing of healing came to the
house of a Roman centurion (a Gentile)
with a sick servant. Why? Jesus Christ, a
Jewish Rabbi, entered the Roman
centurion's house and prayed for his sick
servant because "he built a synagogue" in
the Land of Israel (see Luke 7:1-5).
5) St.
Paul has commanded all Christians in
Romans 15:27, "For if the Gentiles have
benefited from their spiritual things
(the Jewish people) it is the duty of the
Gentiles to minister to them in material
things." What spiritual blessings have the
Jewish people given to us? They have given
us the Word of God, the Patriarchs, the
Prophets, the first family of Christianity
(Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the 12
Disciples) and the Apostle Paul. Take away
the Jewish contribution to Christianity
and there would be no Christianity.
6) We
support Israel because Jesus Christ our
Lord said, "I say to you, 'Inasmuch as you
did it to one of the least of these My
brethren, you did it to Me.'" (Matthew
25:40). The phrase "My brethren"
refers to the Jewish people. Jesus never
called the Gentiles His brethren until the
cross. Before the cross we were, as St.
Paul stated, "outside the covenants of
Israel, without God and without hope and
of all men most miserable."
7) We
support Israel because Obadiah 1:15 and
Joel 3:2 make it very clear that any
nation (including America) that tries to
divide the Land of Israel (including
Jerusalem) will indeed experience the
judgment of God. Simply stated, the day
America turns its back on Israel will be
the day God will turn His back on America.
8) We
support Israel because Israel has the
right to exist! We call on the President
and Congress to demand that Hamas and the
Palestinians recognize Israel's right to
exist or to cut off all foreign aid
immediately. Israel has the right to
defined and defensible borders. Israel has
the right to defend itself from any nation
or group of people that attack them.
To all
Bible believers, let us UNITE to stand up
and speak up for the State of Israel. God
is watching!
Sincerely,
Pastor John Hagee
Cornerstone Church
San Antonio, Texas
©2011 John Hagee Ministries |