Spare the rod; spoil the child!

Being able to share the "offending" comment that resulted in my current ban on Facebook (although I am seriously considering leaving that platform because of the, imo, unnecessary changes that are being forced upon us!) has raised an unexpected issue! A private message from someone who had read the comment, stated that it was "unBiblical" to "wish harm on others"!

In my defence, I would point out (as I have done two posts ago) that my "offensive" "hate speech" comment was nothing of the sort. Here it is again: "Why does the IDF [the Israeli Defence Force] not shoot at the balloons before they cross into Israel proper? That way, they would fall on the perps [i.e. perpetrators] - and maybe cause them a few well-deserved burns!"

Now, as stated before, please note that I did not suggest that anyone be killed, or even badly injured. I did not suggest that the IDF shoot at the terrorists - merely the balloons. I did not seek to incite others to take any action whatsoever. I did not even suggest that the perps be burned! That word "maybe", that I have highlighted, is very important. I wasn't even wishing that such a thing would happen - but suggesting that, if it did, it would be deserved!

I wonder if the person who accused me of being unBiblical is a parent. I wonder if that person is aware of what God's Word says in Proverbs 13:24 - "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him." This is not suggesting that a parent should physically abuse his/her children. It is advocating firm discipline. But that may be, temporarily, physically painful! I know that it was for me as a child; and I know that it was for my own children. Of course, it was only done when deserved!

Or what about the Lord Jesus, Himself? John records "The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make My Father's house a house of trade." (John 2:13-16). He made "... a whip of cords,". Now, if that whip had been used only on the animals, that might be excused. But look again at the words - "He drove them all, with the sheep and oxen,". Who, do you think, is included in "them all"? May I suggest that it refers to the sellers - human beings. Yet the incarnate God, the Son inflicted such physical punishment upon them! Did He not think that they deserved their punishment? Perhaps my critic would wish also to criticise Him?! Somehow, I think not!

So what is the basic message of this post? I am trying to say that we should be careful before we criticise. We need to be certain that our criticism does not, itself, go against the teaching of the Word. None of us is infallible. We make mistakes. We get it wrong. We criticise where no criticism is warranted. This may be okay for the 'moderators' of Facebook (at least one of whom, it was recently announced, is a 'hardline Muslim!), but not, I would contend, for those of us who bear the Name of the Lord Jesus, the Christ. 

All of that aside, may I encourage you to make this page one of your "favourites" so that, if I do decide to leave Facebook, you may still keep up with the messages that I publish here, and that I always endeavour to make faithful to the Word.

Blessings, and shalom. 

Free Speech - but not on Facebook!

Well, as a number of people already know, I have been yet again, banned by Facebook - another 30 days! At least, this time, I have been informed as to the offending comment that led to this sentence that is without appeal! Apparently, my comment on a post that gave information about Hamas terrorists sending incendiary balloons across to Israel where they land, and set fields and crops on fire, was the culprit. I merely asked "Why does the IDF [the Israel Defence Force] not shoot at the balloons before they cross over into Israel?" I then continued: "That way, they would fall on the perp[etrator]s - and maybe cause some of them a few well-deserved burns." That, according to Facebook, constitutes "Hate Speech"! Please note that I did not suggest that anyone be killed, or even badly injured. I did not suggest that the IDF shoot at the terrorists - merely the balloons. I did not seek to incite others to take any action whatsoever. But my comment is "Hate Speech"!

Of course, there must be limits on "Free Speech". For example, anyone who is inciting violence against another should, in my opinion, be dealt with by the legal system. However, as a disciple of Jesus, I cannot expect that others will necessarily be sensitive to what I believe. I have certainly been called a few choice names because of my personal faith and witness. Should those who spoke to me in such terms have been arrested and charged? Of course not! I have even had false accusations about me published on Facebook. I "unfriended" the persons responsible - end of story!

It is possible that I shall be able, through the good services of others, to have this post published on Facebook. However, be aware that there are those who will see what you may consider to be a fairly innocuous comment, in a totally different way. I did read, not too long ago, that the group that apparently 'monitor' comments now have an 'extremist' follower of Islam as a member. That might explain my own bans!

I shall continue, DV, to publish on the blog, so do please check from time-to-time. 😇😇

Things aren't always as they appear to be!

For many years I have started my morning by drinking a tumblerful of warm water, with some added lemon-juice. This, I have been assured, is very good for the condition of my liver - an important organ in the human body. Yesterday, I followed my usual routine, but decided to put the lemon juice into the water prior to warming it. When I started to drink, I was instantly aware that there was a strange taste. However, I persevered, and drunk the lot - about 250mls!

This was followed by my customary bowl of porridge, with added prunes (!), and a tumblerful of fresh orange juice. Five minutes later, the porridge, prunes, and orange juice were being ejected into the toilet bowl!

It wasn't until our return from the worship service that my wife discovered what had happened. The bottle from which I had taken my tumblerful of water actually contained distilled vinegar!!! All that I can say is that it looked like water! All is not as it appears to be!

Israel has been in the news - again - over the past few days as the Muslim terrorist organisation, Hamas, fired almost 700 explosive rockets from the Gaza Strip, resulting in death, injury, and destruction. Understandably, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) retaliated, carrying out air strikes on arms and ammunition warehouses located in the homes of Hamas terrorists in Rafah and Khan Yunis and a warehouse in Gaza City in the home of a member involved with Hamas’ rocket infrastructure. Yesterday, the IDF said that it was starting to attack arms and ammunition depots deliberately placed by the terrorists in areas populated by civilians, and that it was targeting terrorists themselves.

It was also widely publicised that a woman and child, in Gaza, had been killed in an IDF attack. There was little, or no, mention of the Israeli deaths as a result of the rocket barrage - nor of the later established, and now confirmed by the Islamic Jihad terror group, fact that the woman and child were not the victims of IDF action, but were killed by a misfired Islamic jihad rocket! This, of course, is typical of  the propaganda distributed by these men of violence. All is not as it appears to be! (This paragraph has been updated: May 7th)

Sadly, the same principle applies to the church. My current personal devotions are based on the letters from Peter. He, like other of the New (2nd) Testament writers warns about false teachers who "... will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." (II Peter 2:1). Not only do these false teachers bring destruction upon themselves, but "... many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled." ( II Peter 2:2). Indeed, "... they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved." (II Peter 2:18-19).

All is not as it appears to be!

How we need the Holy Spirit gifting of spiritual discernment in the church today - especially in what is often referred to as "the West"! Warren Wiersbe, who died on Thursday - just two weeks short of reaching 90 years of age - comments: "The false teachers use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary." In other words, the false teachers use all of the right words - but what they actually mean by some of those words is questionable! All is not as it appears to be!

It was Charles Spurgeon who said that discernment is not knowing the difference between what is right and what is wrong; but knowing the difference between what is right - and what is almost right!

May all of God's people have a measure of spiritual discernment in these last days. Drinking distilled vinegar instead of water may make one physically sick; fake news may confuse; but false teaching in the church can mean, quite literally, the difference between eternal life, and eternity cut off from the Father Who loves us enough to let us do our own thing!

Truth - the first casualty of conflict!

The following has been received from my good friend in Israel. It is unlikely that anyone will learn of it in the MSM!

“Hypocrisy and lies fuelled by an obsessive hatred for Israel”,  is Benjamin Netanyahu’s description of United Nations Human Rights Council’s condemnation of Israel.

Ravid Elfassi, who served as served as an officer in the IDF’s Golani Brigade was given 90 seconds,  yes  just  90  seconds,  to  present  Israel’s  case  before  the  UN  HRC.   He  spoke  on  behalf of the  

organisation:“MyTruth”.   

     

In his 90 seconds he said the following:

“The hardest lesson that I learned during my military career was that while we put our lives on the line to protect our families and children, Hamas and other terror organizations use their own children as human shields and cannon fodder,” said Ravid Elfassi at the council in Geneva. “This is not an isolated event. It’s their standard operating procedure.”

My Truth collects signed testimonies and photographs from combat operations between 2004-2018 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that attest to the use of human shields and other human rights violations by Hamas and other terror groups.

Elfassi only had 90 seconds to present his testimony to the council, but in the short amount of time he was given, he told the council of salaries paid to Palestinian terrorists sitting in Israeli jails by the Palestinian Authority and the murder of the Fogel family, who were killed by a Palestinian terrorist in their home in 2011.

“It has been said that terrorism in the eyes of one person is a freedom fighter in the eyes of another, but how can you consider yourself a freedom fighter, for stabbing a three-month-old baby, Hadas Fogel, in front of her parents? How can someone call himself a Jihadi, a “holy” warrior, for taking the life of a child? These are the fanatics who we as IDF soldiers are fighting against on a daily basis,” he said.

Elfassi, who continues to serve as a combat officer in his reserve duty, also spoke of the use of women and children as human shields by Hamas – a tactic the group continues to use to this day during the weekly, violent Great March of Return.

“In 2007, I was sent on a mission in Gaza to seek out a Hamas squad which was launching rockets at Israeli cities. With my own eyes, I witnessed as Hamas sent out six- and seven-year-old children to search for me and my men. When these children found us, Hamas opened heavy fire using AK-47s and RPGs, while the children were still between us and them,” Elfassi said of an incident he witnessed during his IDF service.

“If the United Nations truly wishes to investigate terrorism and human rights, I implore you to look at the My Truth report, which details the use of human shields by terror organizations,” he said. “If so, you might better understand the reality that we as IDF soldiers confront – and which is too often neglected by this forum.”

My Truth, which days earlier spoke at a panel at the United Nations along UN Watch and NGO Monitor, has documented dozens of testimonies from former combat soldiers, including several who just recently finished their military service and were posted along the Gaza border fence during the Great Return Marches.

On Friday the UNHCR voted to adopt a report accusing Israel of human rights violations, including war crimes, for its response to violent riots and attacks as part of the weekly Great March of Return along the Gaza border fence.

The Council’s 40th session voted by a margin of 23 to 8, with 15 abstentions and one absence to adopt the 252-page report conducted by the Commission of Inquiry which claims that 183 Palestinians, including 35 children, have been killed in the clashes, and that the majority were unarmed.

Is Hamas innocent?

This is not, and has never been intended to be, a purely Judaism-supporting blog. However, I object strenuously to the fake news, and the failure by most of the MSM to report news that would show the State of Israel in a good light. I also follow One Who was born a Jew; lived as a Jew, in the land that is known as Israel; and died on a Roman cross under a placard that read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (written in the three most commonly-spoken languages of the time!).

Having said that, I do not support every policy of the secular Israeli government. For example, I have been informed that the abortion laws in Israel are among the most liberal in the world. I have not been able to confirm that information but, if true, then I certainly do not support such laws, and pray that they will be repealed. I certainly do not agree with permission being granted to those whose lifestyle is an abomination to HaShem, to parade, and flaunt that lifestyle in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Nevertheless this week, as every week, Hamas terrorists and their supporters took part in violent riots along the Gaza border. For many Israeli families, the Gaza Strip is a short walk from their back gardens. IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldiers don’t just protect a border, but what lies behind it - Jewish families, Jewish homes, and Jewish children. The world refuses to blame terrorists who brag about their plans to “tear down that border and tear out their hearts from their [the Jews] bodies,” (a quote from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar). 

"Palestinian" terrorism has nothing to do with Jerusalem, and everything to do with Islam! How can their supporters explain the verifiable fact that Muslims were carrying out terror attacks in the Holy Land - long before Pres. Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and even before the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14th, 1948? Muslims who call themselves "Palestinians" (such an ethnic, or national, group has never actually existed!) carry out their attacks, not in the name of "Palestine", but "in the name of Allah"! Hamas - predictably - took advantage of the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to stage violent riots, aimed at over-running the Israel-Gaza border. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that some 50,000 Muslims took part in those riots along the border. Some 52 Hamas rioters and terrorists were killed - an unnecessary loss of life that was the responsibility of Hamas! It was Hamas that sent those 50,000 Gazans to the border with Israel - with the incentive of US$100 being offered to families who joined. With these human shields for cover, Hamas terrorists used bombs, guns, Molotov cocktails, and burning kites, to attack Israel!

A closer look at the casualties betrays the violent nature of the allegedly 'peaceful' protests! Terrorists have been shot whilst trying to plant explosive devices at the border fence. Others have been killed as they attempted to open fire on Israeli soldiers. Yet Israel has repeatedly warned Hamas, and its supporters in Gaza, that "Anyone who tries to invade Israel will be shot!" Approximately 4,000 Israeli families live within a mere 2 miles of the border. Israel is obliged to protect these families - and now there have been more than 50 additional deaths. 

The world refuses to blame terrorists who brag about their plans to “tear down that border and tear out their hearts from their bodies,” (a quote from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar). Hamas is a Muslim terror organization ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, whose declared goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. Hamas is responsible for Gaza, but instead of providing welfare for its citizens, Hamas brainwashes the Gazans, uses them as pawns against Israel, and exploits them as human shields, even involving/using young children! "Palestinians" participating in the violent Gaza riots have repeatedly flown swastika flags, and sent kites with swastikas on them with firebombs attached into Israeli territory.

The Hamas terrorist group is leading and orchestrating the recent wave of violence from Gaza, aimed at breaking the border fence, storming Israel with thousands of rioters and attacking Israeli civilians. Israeli is not instigating this violence and Israel has the right to self-defense. Israel, like any other country, has a right to defend itself. Israel will not allow terrorists to invade its territory. Hamas, which rules Gaza, is an Islamic terrorist organization that threatens to kill Jews. Hamas terrorists use civilians as human shields and send children to the front line during the riots along the Gaza border. IDF soldiers don’t just protect a border, but what lies behind it - Jewish families, Jewish homes, and Jewish children.

Israel will not apologise for defending itself against Hamas - and I shall not apologise for seeking to spread the truth!

Truth vs Propoganda!

One of the major difficulties with regard to the current situation in the nation state of Israel, is the sheer lack of honest reporting by the MSM! 

The IDF (Israel Defence Force) has responded to Hamas claims that a female Gaza medic killed during border riots on Friday, June 1st, during the now regular "demonstrations" organised by the terrorist group, was merely an innocent health worker.

Razan Najjar was killed last Friday evening as thousands of Gaza rioters converged on the border. Gaza health officials subsequently claimed that Najjar and other medics wearing white medical coats had approached the fence with their arms raised to evacuate injured rioters when she was shot. However, on Tuesday, the IDF said that initial investigations of the incident found that Najjar had not deliberately been targeted by Israeli soldiers.

The 21-year-old was killed, as evening fell, and while thousands of Arabs converged in five places along the border. In addition to throwing rocks and burning tires, rioters launched incendiary kites over the fence, burning hundreds of acres of fields in southern Israel. Rioters also fired on an Israeli military vehicle and planted explosives along the fence meant to detonate on Israeli soldiers.

“During an initial examination regarding the incident that took place on June 1st, 2018, in which a 22-year-old Palestinian woman was killed, it was found that a small number of bullets were fired during the incident, and that no shots were deliberately or directly aimed towards her,” the IDF said. This morning, Thursday, Arabic IDF Spokesperson Avichay Adraee tweeted a video which indicated that Najjar had actually played an active role in the riots.

Commenting on the video, in which Najjar is seen being interviewed and throwing a grenade, Adraee wrote in Arabic, “Razan Najjar is not the queen of mercy, as Hamas is trying to present her. She admitted that she served as a human shield for rioters, and this proves how Hamas exploits all members of Gaza society for its goals and those of Iran.”  “Do other paramedics around the world throw grenades and participate in riots, and call themselves human shields?” he asked.

Sadly, too many people merely assume that what Hamas claims is true. It is long past time for the real truth to be made known!  One retired journalist, now in his nineties (so from a generation that published the truth!) has commented: " I think the significance of this lies in the following: (a) The incident was widely publicised; (b) It was universally highlighted as an example of Israeli callousness and worse; (c) there was no deviation in the accounts nor any interviewing of any Israeli official spokesperson; and (d) although the truth has now emerged, there has been no retraction, no correction, no remorse, in any of the print or broadcast media I have encountered, to set matters straight and reprieve Israel from the universal guilty verdict.  

The unjust stain will thus remain.  And nobody cares, least of all my fellow-journalists in our hasty, prejudiced, unrepentant media."

“Settlers” Provide Medical Treatment For Palestinian Child

The media, and even some well-known leaders in the Christian community, seem to be convinced that the problems in Israel are caused by the nasty Israeli Defence Force (IDF), and the willingness of the Israeli Government to permit Jewish settlers ot live in ares claimed by the Palestinians (known, Biblically, as the Philistines!).  It is unlikely that a story such as that below, will be aired by the national press and newscasters in the UK!

"A six year old Palestinian was electrocuted and his parents rushed him to the gate of the Neve Tzuf settlement, seeking medical attention for the child. A medic who lives in the West Bank settlement treated the child who suffered from severe injuries. Members of the IDF Medical Corps helped the medic stabilise the boy until an ambulance from the Ofra settlement arrived. The child was then transferred to an Israeli hospital for further treatment.

Neve Tzuf has been at the focal point of West Bank tensions. Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli soldiers on a weekly basis in the area.

Baruch Ram, director of security at Neve Tzuf, related that “This was not the first time injured and sick people come here – especially in the winter. The assistance we give them does not help us develop good neighbourly relations. We’ve never gotten a ‘thank you,’ and the truth is that I cannot explain it. We are fulfilling our duty and helping a person in distress.” 

The international community has been convinced that “the settlers” are the reason why there is no peace between Israel and the Palestinians. This story, and many others demonstrate, that this is not the case."