recognizing Replacement Theology

[DeanZF]

Also shows a sad parallel in our history to that of another monotheistic religion that is currently heavily in the news. Yes, those were sad days in the history of Christianity when the edict was confess Christ or suffer consequence.



Some things have changed, others have not. There are whole sectors of our own belief system that have determined (finally) that we are not to be the executors of "justice" or "judgment", but many still seem to want to be judge and jury.



Helena & I have chosen to be very careful about how we present our faith and very careful about the expected results. If one studies the Celtic philosophy of evangelism, I think one would find a great deal of what Father brought us to independently. Earn the privilege of speaking to someone about your faith. Privilege, not right. Then share out of your experience, not out of some book/system on evangelism or even the Bible. If you demonstrate your love, it will be noticed. If it's noticed, people will ask. Then they can make their own conclusions and choices. That's what free will is about, IMHO. Violating that free will puts us in a position of playing God and we don't want to do that. Again, IMHO.



We've seen it work time and again. When the Jews are invited to an event that concerns Israel, and that event is hosted by Christians, they usually are leary of attending because of probable evangelistic messages. We've been at a number of events where that sort of message was deliberately avoided. One of my favorite examples was one where the head of one of the Jewish organizations present approached someone who was trusted by that leader to ask, "What's different about this group? They did not mention...'him'...once!" The hosts were more concerned that God has plan for Israel than pushing Jesus down the throats of the Jews. God knows His plans far better than we do. That host began the journey of trust with those Jews who also had a great concern about Israel's future.