• The Holocaust | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jun 05 2008

    I’m traveling today to Jerusalem to work with our Day of Discovery team on a new series of “land of the Bible” programs. As I prepare to leave I’m reminded of some thoughts I had after returning from a similar assignment a couple of years ago.
    What I wrote is a bit long for a daily [...]

  • Jerusalem Day 2008 | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jun 02 2008

    Today (June 2, 2008) is Jerusalem Day in Israel. With parades in the streets and prayers in synagogues, Jewish citizens will celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967.
    Jerusalem remains, however, a contested city. Palestinians believe that East Jerusalem, including the holy site now occupied by the Al Aksa [...]

  • Who Gets into the Kingdom of God? | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 21 2008

    Like Jesus, the Apostle Paul sets high standards for entering the kingdom of God. In his first letter to the Corinthians he writes: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites…will inherit the kingdom of [...]

  • Jesus and Sodom | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 20 2008

    No one could rightly accuse Jesus of having low standards. But he was accused in his day of being “a friend of sinners.”
    Religious leaders of the lakeshore community of Capernaum, for instance, would have criticized Jesus if he had befriended the kind of people who once lived on the shores of the Dead Sea, at [...]

  • Jerusalem and Sodom | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 19 2008

    None of us can afford to call good bad, or bad good. The prophet Isaiah says, “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! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and [...]

  • Israel at 60 | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 09 2008

    Under increased security that has closed West Bank border crossings, Jewish citizens are recognizing this week 60 years of national re-birth.
    They are doing so, however, with an air of uncertainty. The celebration comes on the heels of the largest emergency drill ever held in Israel as the nation tested it’s readiness for ever lingering possibility [...]

  • US and Israel | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 04 2008

    Over the weekend, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has once again been in Tel Aviv in an effort to help broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
    As a global economy feels the pressure of rising oil prices, The Middle East Quartet, made up of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia [...]

  • The Passover Connection | Posted by Mart De Haan on Apr 20 2008

    Last night, at sundown, Jewish families in Israel began celebrating a seven day Passover week also known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
    Meanwhile Israeli security has gone on a heightened state of alert in anticipation that Palestinian militants will attempt to disrupt the celebration of this ancient holiday. My concern, however, is that a far [...]

  • Jimmy Carter and Hamas | Posted by Mart De Haan on Apr 13 2008

    The news today includes reports about former Jimmy Carter’s plans to meet with Hamas leaders over objections from the Administration and even his own party.
    In an article by Calvin Woodward of the Associated Press, the former president’s response was, “I think that it’s very important that at least someone meet with the Hamas leaders to [...]

  • Holding my Breath | Posted by Mart De Haan on Apr 12 2008

    Ok, here’s the deal. I know that many of us sincerely believe that when God said to father Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you,” he once and for all determined who we should be siding with in the Middle East. But over time I’ve become convinced that [...]

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