Today, Vice-President Joe Biden, in Israel for a three hour day tour reportedly made the statement that you don't have to be Jewish to be a Zionist. The pandering stopped, however, when Israel announced it had approved 1600 new housing units in East (Biblical) Jerusalem.

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Jim Wingerter has written a book entitled Worship, What Have We Been Missing? about worship in the local church. It is available at Amazon for $12. In the book, Jim shares his experience coming to terms with what was his Christian walk:

Years later (as a college student) I was sitting in the middle of another "worship" service in a Baptist Church north of Tallahassee, Florida. We had just finished an altar call, singing the famous hymn "Just as I Am," which (after a few weeks I had realized) was a weekly ritual. Light filtered through stained and clear glass above to my left and right. Ushers moved to their positions with offering plates in hand. Inside my head, a song started:

"Is that all there is?"

Someone up front was making an announcement but Peggy Lee would not be interrupted.

"Is that all there is? If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is."

My Christian experience - and the experience of every Christian I knew - had boiled down to this: a few songs, an offering, a morning prayer and a sermon. Looking back, I have a better perspective on just how processed, preserved and boiled my Christian experience had become. At the time, of course, I was still in the pot, boiling.

Peggy Lee's song became a cry in my heart: "Is that all there is?"

The modern nation of Israel reclaimed land at the heart of "Dar al Islam" and every faithful Muslim must wage jihad against its very existence.

You may have heard of the recent Gallup Poll that found that support for the nation of Israel among Americans is at a 20-year high right now. IsraelMatzav points out a Shmuel Rosner JPost blog on the topic. A comment by Igor at that blog (first comment) observes (my emphasis):

1.In foreign policy, Democrats have generally a more positive view towards other countries than Republicans. The only exception is Israel; and

2.Young generations generally view other countries more positive than the older ones. Again, the only exception is Israel.

Israel has been set apart by the God of Israel from the rest of the nations of the earth (Numbers 23.9) and they cause polarization among the nations between those who fear God and those who are the enemies of God. This is true for all political affiliations and I do not mean for you to infer from this post that Republicans are somehow the "party of God". If the poll accurately reflects reality, it would seem that there is more of a remnant of the fear of God among Republicans than is measured amond Democrats.

For me, the more potentiaqlly troubling fact is that the younger generation in the US rate Israel lower (but still 63% positive) than the older generations. Hopefully, this is not an ongoing trend that reflects a growing negative attitude toward Israel among the US population. As Igor notes in his comment, that poll result may have more to do with the tendancy of the younger generation to have misplaced sympathies. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria, after all, have done their best to portray themselves as Palestinian victims.

Israel recently decided to add the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rivkah and Leah are buried; and  Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem as National Heritage Sites similar to sites such as Massada. The US State department is reeling (yawn).

The US may be fine with the existance of the nation of Israel as a secular state (that may be true only if you are wearing rosy-colored glasses) but they have a cow when Israel takes any action that reminds the nations of the world of the Biblical roots of the people and land of Israel.

According to a Ynet report:

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the administration viewed the move as provocative and unhelpful to the goal of getting the two sides back to the table.

So it is a provocation for Israel to remind the Arabs that surround them and live in their midst that Israel's ties to the land are nearly 4,000 years old, that is, the truth hurts.

The Arabs are certainly upset: they have been rioting in Judea since Israel announced the decision to include the sites on the National Heritage list.

Project Shofar's Gary Cooperberg discusses the topic in his most recent commentary.

Carl in Jerusalem (Israel Matzav) has some thoughts at his blog as well...

Ynet reports that a Europeon Union court has ruled that Jewish goods made in Judea and Samaria (YoSh) are subject to import duties because the EU does not recognize YoSh as Israeli. Goods made in Judea and Samaria by Arabs, however, are recognized by the EU and so are not taxed.

You are probably aware that the United States, despite who knows how many political promises to its constituency, has never moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Imagine Great Britian announcing that it did not recognize Washington DC as the capitol of the USA and placing its embassy in, say, Las Vegas. What you may not know is that the US Government has a consulate in Jerusalem that

heads an independent U.S. mission that is the official diplomatic representation of the United States in Jerusalem, the West Bank [ed. Judea and Samaria], and Gaza. (from the USCGJ website).

So, while the US refuses to recognize Israel's sovereignty over united Jerusalem, it maintains a consulate in Jerusalem that recognized Arab jurisdiction in that city.

This morning I received a tweet from USCGJerusalem lauding: "Afro-American activist promotes Muslim culture". The tweet links to a Facebook podcast from the USCGJ about work in Jackson, MS to promote Muslim culture in the USA. The USCGJ apparently sees it as part of its mission to the Arabs of YeShA (Judea, Samaria, Gaza) or, as they like to whitewash it, "Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza" to announce the spread of Muslim culture in the United States.

Here is a video entitled "I am Israel" found at Israel Matzav. While Israel would be better served if it did not compromise on itself and its land, the slideshow is a powerful reality check.