Dear Friends,

Since we go to press some weeks before you read this, the war with Iraq may (or may not) have broken out. In any case, people interested in the End Times will be far more focused on Israel in a time like this.

Like most of the civilized world, I was shocked and saddened by the senseless bombing of the bus in Haifa on March 5. Most troubling was that this attack destroyed the 2:30 bus that takes kids home from school. It targeted children. It is hard to imagine the hatred involved in such horrific acts of terrorism.

As Christians we should realize that the political motivation inspiring such terrorism, as well as many other anti-Semitic acts, is one of the signs that we are approaching the End Times. Jesus told His disciples, Israelis all, that they would be “hated of all nations” (Matthew 24:9) in the upcoming Tribulation. It’s a rather amazing thing to say of such a small country in a big world, but we’re seeing it happen.

And the pervasive anti-Semitism we are seeing is part of that hatred. A very good example was presented on the network news programs the same day of the bombing. I was able to watch ABC and NBC, which both had stories of the bus attack. On ABC, anchored by Peter Jennings, they got the facts right, but then they sent a news crew to Ramalla some 75 miles away and interviewed a Palestinian official who made the usual accusations that the violence was Israel’s fault, because it was “murdering civilians.” And then ABC detailed that Israel had killed dozens of civilians — which is not a true statement. I then went to NBC to see how they handled the interviews. They didn’t go to Ramalla or interview any Arabs.

ABC’s coverage is an example of the anti-Semitism I am talking about. I went to Ramalla last November, and it’s a very dangerous and nerve-wracking trip, especially at checkpoints. I was with a TV crew and we were looked over, followed, and sent across a no-man’s land where we knew there could be a sniper. It was like crossing back and forth over the Berlin Wall during the height of the Cold War. It’s an understatement to say you don’t feel at all secure.

And ABC went to all that trouble and expense, putting a TV crew in harm’s way to get a Palestinian interview for its evening news show. They could easily have gotten such an interview in Haifa — the place is full of Arabs. But ABC wanted an interview with one of Arafat’s henchman so they could blame the victims. I have always considered Peter Jennings to be an anti-Israel partisan voice.

Fox News later presented the Israeli ambassador to America, not a terrorist henchman, on its program about the bombing. And of course he gave the lie to the Palestinian charges since Israel has never targeted civilians, whereas this bus attack was an obvious murder of civilians. Then on Fox, Edward Abington — a former US diplomat whose American accent and expertise is “for sale” in that he will give any opinion for money (in this case the Palestinian government’s) — just kept repeating the lie “Israelis are killing civilians,” even though, as an experienced diplomat, he knows that’s false. That was remarkably biased for a network that claims to be “fair and balanced.” Abington’s bought-and-paid-for views should not be part of any news cast.

But there’s another problem with the extended time our news networks give to violence in Israel: It presents a distorted view of how dangerous things are there. The lopsided coverage becomes anti-Israeli by giving the impression that the nation is war-torn and dangerous to visit, although it is safer by far than the US.

It’s important to realize that such anti-Semitism is only a symptom of a much graver illness — ungodliness. In truth the problem is that people hate God, not that they primarily hate the Jews. Since people can’t directly attack God, they assault His Chosen People and His Promised Land.

You can see this by studying who is anti-Semitic and who is not. Real Believers rarely criticize the Jews or Israel. But liberal Christians as well as Moslems and non-Christians, who don’t know the Bible, are quick to make anti-Jewish statements.

Supporting Iraq is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic in the worst way. This can be seen in the purposeful ignorance in the UN, where Russia, France, and other members maintain that Iraq has done no wrong. Day after day diplomats address the UN as if Iraq has never invaded or warred on its neighbors, has never used poison gas on innocent victims, has never tortured anyone. These same apologists for Iraq (as well as at least one US congressman) claim it is no worse for Iraq to have nuclear weapons than it is for Israel or Canada to have them.

What rubbish. Anyone whose eyes aren’t clouded by greed or anti-Semitism who can see clearly knows that Iraq is evil. Canada isn’t going to invade the US any time soon. Israel does not give weapons of mass destruction to Islamic terrorists.

Iraq might (or maybe has).

The people who say these things just never present the truth. You would never get the idea that Iraq presents a danger to the whole world by hearing them spout their reasons why the brutal Saddam Hussein should be viewed as an innocent party.

Liberal writers, politicians, and diplomats are not the only ones guilty of such distortions. Unfortunately we live in an age of false perceptions, often purposely disseminated and manipulated by the media. Companies, organizations, and even nations spend fortunes on advertising to sway public opinion.

Another of the Lord’s warnings of the Tribulation is the prevalence of betrayal. Matthew 24:10 says, “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” This is what we are seeing now.

Betrayal can also come in the form of misleading advertising. Some of the worst examples of this are products that are heavily advertised on TV. If anything, it has been my experience that one manufacturer’s cars embodied anything but the idea that “Quality Is Job One,” that I wasn’t in “Good Hands” with a certain insurance company, and that another was far from being “Like a Good Neighbor.”

Last year many US TV viewers saw Saudi Arabian-financed ads designed to reduce the public relations damage that nation received because the 9-11 terrorists were mostly Saudi Arabian citizens. The ads had photos of Saudi leaders with various US presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush, with heart-tugging music playing in the background. One voice-over assured Americans that “We’ve been allies for more than 60 years. Working together to solve the world’s toughest problems. Working together for a world of prosperity. Working together to bring peace to the Middle East. Working together to create a better future for us all.”

Had the Saudi Arabians not been busy funding terrorists in the past (and they continue to fund such groups), the multimillion-dollar media blitz would not have been needed.

The Arab push to influence what Americans think doesn’t end with a few dishonest ad campaigns, however, because Arab money has been employed to gain a controlling influence over many news agencies. This permits them to place pro-Muslim and/or anti-Israeli personnel in key positions in these organizations. Little by little this has skewed news stories and reports toward the Arab viewpoint.

Some charities also use exploitive, expensive ad campaigns. And too often these groups paint pictures that would lead you to believe their services are doing great good, when in fact the work is marginal at best (and sometimes even fraudulent). The Lord called us to be good stewards with the money and gifts He has given us and we are not to waste these resources (Proverbs 27:23-24; Luke 14:28; 1 Corinthians. 14:40).

There are obviously a great many truly worthy charities, and our Lord called on us to care for the poor. But let me be very blunt about this: Giving to a charity or ministry that is wasting money is not good stewardship. I challenge you to consider what is going on the next time you see a high-priced TV ad during prime time featuring a celebrity asking you to give money to this or that charity.

You don’t, for example, see the Gideons spending a fortune to get people to take the Bibles they give away. Those placing Bibles in hotels, giving them away to universities, or sending the Bibles overseas, do the work for free. They don’t squander money on cynical TV and radio ads. But compare their sincerity to the expensive ads coming from the Mormons (a.k.a. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). They’re spending a lot of money to convince people that they are a “Christian” group (which they are not, even though they pretend to hold Christian beliefs) and to persuade people to ask for the Book of Mormon to be given to them — most likely hand-delivered by a Mormon missionary!

I’m also bothered by those expensive infomercials which display pitiful waifs with distended stomachs in one or another nation whose government has been busy buying weapons, Cadillacs, and palaces instead of caring for its people. Some earnest-sounding celebrity then admonishes the viewer to “save a child” by giving money. A large fraction of the money people give to such charities goes to pay for TV time, bolster the bank account of those producing the ads, and pay the spokesperson. But it can be worse than that, because sometimes these organizations have to cut deals with the government whose greed has created these conditions in the first place. That means some of the food or other supplies may be “diverted” by the government and resold. The money then props up the corrupt government or, even worse, goes toward the purchase of weapons that will keep it in power and probably maim and kill any number of people in the process.

Perhaps the worst example of this type of fiasco was Operation Lifeline Sudan, which was started in 1989 and comprised of both commercial organizations and UN agencies. Operation Lifeline Sudan ran TV promos, print advertisements, and a direct mail campaign that told the public it was helping the starving people of southern Sudan. Toward that end (according to the Houston Chronicle) Operation Lifeline Sudan spent up to a million dollars a day from 1989 to 1998. With that amount of money, every starving child in Sudan should be living like royalty. Instead, after $2 billion was spent, the starving and dying were still to be found, and the war that had brought about this situation was still going on.

Year after year we see starving children in the same sorry nations, even though enough money has been given to cure the problem, had it not been squandered along the way. You can expect to continue seeing organizations pleading for you to send money because, unfortunately, starving children have become big business.

Furthermore, the cause of all this suffering is never addressed. None of these ads ever note that most often one or another fundamentalist Islamic nation or group is behind the disaster (this is certainly the case in Sudan, which figures in many of these ads). We never hear that these governments are corrupt and that these nations squander their money and resources on lavish palaces and armies. Instead nature (and indirectly God) is blamed for the tragedy, not the religious wars or corruption that has actually caused it.

Some charities help Jews wanting to leave Russia. That’s an admirable task. But in fact the actual process of assimilating the new Jewish immigrants is being handled very well by the Israeli government. It furnishes plane tickets to those Jews wanting to immigrate to Israel and also helps them get settled into apartments once they reach their destination. The Israeli government also gives grants to help pay for those apartments (or even toward the purchase of a home) and gives the new arrivals free Hebrew language lessons so they can fit in.

Nor do any Jews who immigrate to Israel ever starve or face other great hardships; the Israeli government has effective provisions that makes sure this won’t happen. This nation has brought in thousands of immigrants each year without any great problems — with or without the help of charities that claim to be doing this job.

I feel it is better to help Jewish immigrants through Christian organizations that address the real needs of those living in Israel, and by example bring the Gospel message to them as well. (There are a number of these groups, including Bridges For Peace, Christian Friends of Israel, and the Ebenezer Emergency Fund, among others recommended by our ministry.)

This brings me to another important point. Paul admonished Christians, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (II Corinthians 6:14.)

While this passage is rightly read to mean that a Christian should not marry a non-Christian, it also applies to our various business dealings as well as what we give to charities. As good stewards we should give to Christian organizations rather than combinations of charities such as the United Way, international fellowships of Jews and Christians, or any other unbelieving charity groups.

Failure to follow this rule can lead to lost opportunities to share the Gospel. For example, in Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s book What Christians Should Know About Jews and Judaism, witnessing to Jews is completely discouraged: “Christian missions conflict with and even jeopardize the central ethic guiding Jewish life today — Jewish survival. While Christians have sought to convert Jews to Christianity for almost two millennia, after the Holocaust those attempts are regarded as especially pernicious threats to Jewish survival — indeed, a form of spiritual genocide.”

Their willingness to present the Good News is one reason that the Salvation Army has such a good reputation among Christian ministers and others who have worked with the poor. The Salvation Army is often to be found “in the trenches” helping the poor, as well as drug addicts and the like. This organization also presents the Gospel message to those it works with. In fact, it has been my experience that this group examines a minister’s beliefs and record to be sure he has sound doctrine before he is allowed to speak to any of their groups. They spent six months examining what I had written and inquiring about my doctrine before they would let me speak to a room of almost comatose derelicts! I was honored.

Christ admonished us to be “as wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). Exercise this wisdom next time you see false advertising, are contacted by dubious charities, or read outright lies presented in news stories or books. Be a good steward in your giving and don’t be tricked by slick ads and emotional presentations that distort the truth and ultimately offend our Lord by attacking His people.

In closing I want to remind readers that my schedule for speaking at colleges across America’s Midwest is filling up. I’d like to visit as many places as possible, so institutions wanting to have me give a free lecture should call early. We will have problems working institutions in later if they’re in the wrong geographical area, so school officials in the Midwest should give Claudia a call at (817) 417-0059 as soon as possible. We need all the applications early so we can create our schedule. This is true for churches also who are interested in having me visit.

On April 11th we’ll have our Passover Seder demonstration at the Biblical Arts Center in Dallas, Texas. This is free, but space is limited and reservations are required. Call Tony at (214) 696-9760 to reserve your place.

April 12th will be our Israel Solidarity Tour at the Biblical Arts Center in Dallas. This one-day tour of fascinating Israel sites replicated in Dallas is topped off with teaching and worship. Only $49, including lunch. Those signing for the tour are automatically given reservations for the Passover Seder the night before (first come, first served). Please call Tony for details at (214) 696-9760.

May 29–June 8 will be our Pentecost Tour of Israel plus an excursion to Petra. Call for your free full-color brochure, (214) 696-9760 during office hours or 1-800-WONDERS anytime. And June 14–15 is our Father’s Day Tour in Eureka Springs, Arkansas which includes the famed Passion Play. Please contact Tony for your free brochure, (214) 696-9760.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Your Messenger,

Zola

P.S. The two video tapes offered on the enclosed resource card offer probably the most succinct teaching this ministry has ever offered on Israel’s right to the Holy Land.

[Call the ministry at 1-800-WONDERS to order the TV programs “Whose Land Is It?” (the crux of what Zola has offered to say for free at American colleges and seminaries) and “The View from ‘Palestine’“ (the two Hanan Ashrawi interview programs).]

Zola Levitt Ministries is ECFA approved and has Charity Navigator’s top rating of 4 stars.

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