Woe to those who call good evil and evil good

Winston Church once said that everyone at some time in their life stumbles over the truth but most get up and continue on the same path. That is something which I think the leaders of the New Wine network have done with startling enthusiasm-got up and carried on.

The New Wine Network of Churches was founded in 1982 on Biblical Principles and teaching Biblical foundations to people of all ages. I guess like us all they got some things wrong but the integrity of their leaders led them a path which always desired to follow the truth.

Last year Jeremy Moody Director of the Charity Embrace Middle East spoke at a seminar at New Wine and made statements which were not only untrue but were ludicrous in the extreme. Moody tried to sell the audience the idea that the Muslim brotherhood were safe guardians of Copts Christians in Egypt and then without any foundation to his statements blamed Israel for all the problems Copts Christians were experiencing. He told us that Jesus was a Semite from an oriental religion and that Peter the Apostle spoke Arabic. His talk, which was advertised simply as an explanation of the Arab spring, was nothing more than a diatribe from someone who, not only should be the director of an organisation which was founded in support of Israel by Lord Shaftsbury, but should never be allowed to speak to at any event Christian or otherwise.

Having made an appointment I spoke at length to one of the leaders of New Wine and detailed the sad event. With the belief that this would be dealt with in manner worthy of mature Christian leaders, I resolved to trust that Mr Moody would not be invited back.

WRONG, my discernment let me down and I now find that Mr Moody is returning to New Wine this summer. Maybe they didn’t take my word alone and were not convinced by my appeal. NO, that can’t be, the message was recorded! Ha! But maybe it wasn’t a clear recording NO, that can’t be I have the recording loud and clear. May be it is OK to call Jesus a Semite and Judaism an oriental religion, or try to sell the idea that Peter spoke Arabic. BUT, He was a Jew and taught and practised Judaism, so why try to mislead Christians to think differently. ( If you want a copy of that recording please mail me)

Is it then that they have invited him back because as Mr Moody suggested Israel really is the cause of Christian persecution in the Middle East? NO again, Christians in Gaza and throughout Israel have been far safer and even flourished under Israeli governance. In fact often I receive e-mails from Jewish organisations pointing out that they are concerned about the Christian communities in Gaza and Bethlehem.

After the removal of the Gush Katif community from Gaza in 2005 Christians in Gaza began to face increasing persecution from their new Leaders. HAMAS began to govern Gaza in June 2007 and I checked my records to find the following incidents took place in Gaza.    

On 6^th October 2007 Rami Ayyad, 29, a prominent member of Gaza Baptist Church and manager of a Christian bookstore owned by the Palestinian Bible Society, was kidnapped shortly after he had closed the store for the day. His body was found the following day about a mile from the store. (The Photo is of Rami).

  

No one has claimed responsibility for his death. He had been shot twice and struck with a blunt object. Rami leaves behind a wife, Pauline, who is pregnant with their third child, and two children under the age of 3. Hundreds of fellow Christians gathered Oct. 7 for his funeral. He was buried next to his father. During that period, tensions between Muslims and Christians escalated. The Bible Society store had been attacked again when a bomb was detonated at the door of the building, damaging the first floor. No one was injured. Other Christians had been robbed and threatened.

In August 2007 The Baptist Press reported that a Christian university professor in Gaza Sana al-Sayegh was kidnapped on June 24^th 2007, and was forced to marry a Muslim professor at the same university. Five days later, she contacted her family to say she was being held against her will so she could be married to a Muslim man.

In April 2007 a bomb severely damaged the Palestinian Bible Society building. The building, located in the city centre, and housed the Teacher's Bookshop, Gaza's only Christian bookstore. Hanna Massad the Pastor of the Baptist Church in Gaza  said the massive explosion occurred around 2 a.m., causing damage. Before setting the bomb, masked gunmen kidnapped the store security guard, beat him and left him in a deserted area near the city, Hanna said. The guard is now in stable condition; there were no other reported injuries.

A press release from the Bible Society confirmed Hanna’s report, stating that gunmen abducted the security guard and placed the bomb at the door an hour later. Similar attacks aimed at Internet cafes and music stores occurred the same day throughout Gaza.

In June 2007 Hanna reported   "In the last few days, the Palestinian Authority Police took our church building as a watching point," He said the church attempted to deny the police request to take the building, but officers broke in. Massad later discovered that a computer and other equipment, valued at about $4,000, had been taken. He also said he had to stop an evening worship service on June 10 due to shooting nearby. The apartment of a church member was bombed as well, slightly injuring the person occupier.

There have been many incidents since the time HAMAS took control of Gaza which have caused many in the Christian community of Gaza to leave. Only last month I reported HAMAS legislation will now force the last examining Cristian Schools in Gaza to close.

There is not one scrap of evidence that Israel has been the cause of the demise of the Cristian communities in Israel or Egypt but there is a great deal of evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood are a threat to Copts in Egypt and HAMAS are certainly a threat to Christians in Gaza. 

  

My wife has been involved with new Wine since day one and we have taken our children back to New Wine and Soul Survivor the off shoot many times since. I have even served as a steward and supported the ministry, I have taken our Church to the summer camps. Sadly we will not be attending this year because I cannot say that I trust the leaders of New Wine to teach truth to my children or my friends when it is absolutely clear that they call good evil and evil good.

So why have they invited him back? These are the times when truth is not spoken and Christians are being deceived by their leaders who do not regard truth.

 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” Isaiah 5 v 20.

Michael Fryer