Neighborhood Ministries

The Maltz Museum had a section on Hate. They included information on Hitler’s attempt to exterminate the Jews and a section on the American Civil Rights movement. I remember the Civil Rights movement well. Segregation like occurred before the Civil Rights movement breeds suspicion and fear. If you don’t know someone, you believe what others tell you about them. We have come a long way in race relations as Whites and Blacks have mingled and got to know each other.  It has done a great deal to break down old stereotypes and fears. However, President Obama did a great deal to stir up fear of Whites by Blacks and turn Blacks against Whites by drawing attention to every time a White police officer killed a Black person. He was aided by the liberal media that trumpeted every little incident like it was an earth shaking incident. In spite of the fact that Blacks are far more likely to be killed by another Black person then they are to be killed by a White person and the chances the White person will be a police officer is very small. That fear of Whites caused some Blacks to attack White people, particularly police officers. That stirred up increasing fear of Blacks by Whites. It is the old game of divide and conquer that the devil loves to play. It’s his favorite game. It is a game that Democrats are openly playing today. They are constantly accusing President Trump of every little thing and launching senseless investigations to discredit him and turn his supporters against him. They are also constantly attacking and demonizing Christians and Jews, just as Hitler did to the Jews in the 1940’s. Christians tried to ignore what Hitler was doing to the Jews until it was difficult to do much. Christians and Jews must not continue to ignore the current move in the same direction because it is becoming increasingly difficult to do much as liberals gain more power .

My wife and I visited the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage just outside Cleveland, Oh and it was impressive.  It reminded me of how many Christians, especially evangelical Christians, ignore the Jews and the Old Testament. They feel the Old Testament is no longer relevant. The problem lies with the modern understanding of the Scriptures.  It’s not Biblical. Jesus said He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it. It also says God’s Word will not pass away. God’s Word in the Old Testament is just as relevant today as in Jesus’ time. You can’t tell a child to love their brother or sister, because they don’t know what love is. They have to learn how by watching their parents love each other. Until they learn how, you must lay down the law. They are not to kill each other, steal from each other, etc. When man rejected God, he became like a baby who wants what it wants, when it wants it. God had to teach the Jews to obey the law, before they could learn to live it. The law must continue to exist for those who don’t know God or who have just learned about God, but have not yet learned what it means to love each other. The church often uses the Old Testament stories to teach children how to walk with God, but fail to see their own need to learn from it. Just as a child needs to learn to obey before he can become a mature individual, new Christians must learn to walk in obedience before they can become mature Christians. Many Christians look down on Jews and feel God has abandoned them, however God is merely waiting for them to recognize the truth and return to Him.  Jesus was a Jew and never rejected Judaism, He merely condemned the Jewish leaders who had corrupted Judaism and rejected Him. In addition, most of the early Christians were Jews. The Bible says that in the last days, the eyes of the Jews will be opened, and they will turn to Him. We are seeing Jews turning to God in previously unknown numbers as they recognize the truth of God’s Word. Pray for more Jews to see the truth.

The FBI just released its statistics on hate crimes for 2021. Unfortunately, its data is incomplete because it uses data from the National Incident-based Reporting System and not all law enforcement agencies submit their data to it. It was reported that 22% fewer agencies reported their results last year meaning that it is increasingly  inaccurate in giving us a true picture of hate crimes. In  fact, many major cities do not submit information because they do not want to broadcast how bad they are failing to curb violence. The data shows an increase in hate crimes against Jews, which is alarming considering the data does not include major cities in New York and California who are a hot-bed of  anti-Jew incidents, but don’t report their data.