Heavy, Deep & Real ministries

I’m a Jew

Well, I’m 25 percent Ashkenazi Jew from my father’s side. My grandfather’s name was Israel and my great-grandfather’s name was Moses. Their last name was Goldman. My parents changed our sir-name to Mann about 1950 due to all the antisemitism in America at the time. As I understand the story, my very German mother (Schmidt/Mueller clans) didn’t want a Jewish last name on the kids to save them from discrimination. It didn’t really work. As a kid my classmates made fun of my “Jewish” nose and bullied me about that all the time.

I’m a Christian

No, not a Messianic Jew – that’s a bit different than orthodox Christianity. I am a follower of Rabbi Jesus. I believe the Old Testament – the Tanakh – is about Jesus, and the New Testament is the story of Jesus and His redeeming work on the Cross. I sadly believe my Jewish brethren missed their Messiah because they were looking for one who met their desires instead of seeing the one Isaiah 53 prophesied.

I write all this because my bottle is finally filled up – the pogrom that happened in Amsterdam last night was the final straw of watching Islamic jihadists attack Jews with impunity. It’s time to call a spade a spade.

Islam is a demonic religion bent on global intifada (to use their words) where it “immigrates” into western nations in order to overthrow western culture, politics, and law. This is a premeditated strategy within Islam which plays the long game when it comes to their view that Islam should be the world’s religion. They hate the great Satan which is the United States and the little Satan which is Israel. Their goal is not just to overthrow these two nations but to commit genocide and completely obliterate these two people groups from the earth.

This is a really good explanation that was in an abstract from The Psychology of Global Jihadist by Farhad Khosrokhavar in his March 2010 publication:

“Global jihadism is an ideology and a pattern of action that is in an ambivalent relationship to Islamic fundamentalism. In many cases the same attitudes are prevalent in it, notably in regard to humiliation and rejection of perverse Western values. But in regard to violence there is a large gap between the two major tendencies within the Islamic world. Fundamentalists consider a peaceful road to Islamic society one in which the political realm will be gradually Islamicized. Jihadists reject the peaceful, democracy-friendly fashion of attaining this goal and propose the recourse to jihad in the most violent manner so as to restore Islam to its former glory. Humiliation is not mastered in a way that might induce gradualism to achieve Islamic goals. On the contrary, it is put at the service of a violence that achieves worldwide focus through its hyperaggressive posturing. Total violence against globalized Western culture and domination is the major characteristic of global jihadism.” (Emphasis added)

Here’s a little more on Jihadist Ideology:

Jihadist ideology is a violent ideology that promotes the establishment of an Islamic state governed by Sharia law. Jihadists believe that jihad is the only way to achieve genuine change in the world and divine reward in the afterlife. They believe that God is the sole lawgiver and reject democracy and elected parliaments. 

Here are some other aspects of jihadist ideology:

• Jihad

The word “jihad” literally means “striving” or “doing one’s utmost”. In Islam, it can refer to the struggle against one’s lower self, or to a war against non-Muslims to establish Islam. Some Qur’anic texts interpret jihad as a warrant for self-defense, while others commend it for spreading the faith. 

• Martyrdom

Jihadists promote “martyrdom” (suicide) operations, claiming that those who carry out such acts will be rewarded in Islamic scriptures. 

• Umma

Salafi-jihadists try to instill the idea that the only identity that truly matters is membership in the umma, the global Islamic community. 

 As one author put it, Islam is not a religion but a way of life conducted under Sharia’ law.

Clearly, not all Muslims subscribe to Jihadist doctrine. But take a look around the world right now. Thousands in America – both Muslims and their “Useful Idiot” Americans continue to protest Israel, Jews, and loudly support Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists! Some even went so far as to praise the October 7^th massacre of Jews! In London, tens of thousands of Muslims marched chanting global intifada tripe. European countries that have had open boarders to Muslim immigrants are combatting rampant violent crimes ranging from Muslim men raping children to murder. Jews throughout the west are being hunted down by mobs…including in America right in our own Ivy League Schools!

I’ve never in my 60 years seen antisemitism practiced so openly and brashly in America and throughout western nations. It’s as if we learned nothing from the Holocaust!

But when I calm down and take a breath, I remember what scripture tells us: this is not a battle against flesh and blood but against Satan himself – we’re in a spiritual battle that unfortunately nobody either sees or believes!

Ever wonder why the Jews have been persecuted from the beginning of their history? What is it about this people group? Why do people just hate Jews? Logically it makes no sense. They don’t appear to be people of color even through they certainly are not “white.” Yes, there are some stereotype Jewish features such as my nose but you’re not really going to walk into Walmart and be able to pick out the Jew! They don’t act any differently than the rest of us – they work, raise their families, attend ball games, and have BBQs – just not pork ribs – and generally are normal people just living normal lives. Why all the hate?

God.

Satan hates God so Satan’s people hate God’s people and the Jews are God’s people.

Christians are God’s people, too! You see, Romans 11:17-18 explains that we Christians are tied together with our Jewish brothers and sisters:

¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root^[b] of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”

Let’s take that thought further. According to the World Watch List 2024,

• Around 365 million Christians are subject to “high levels of persecution and discrimination”. This compared to 340 million in 2021 (PDF).
• 1 in 7 Christians are persecuted worldwide, including 1 in 5 in Africa and 1 in 7 in Asia. This compared to 1 in 8 worldwide in 2021 (PDF).
• 4,998 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons. 90% of those killed were in Nigeria, where attacks on Christians have become more common since 2020 as part of a wider rise in political violence against civilians. Open Doors estimates the number of Christians killed for faith-related reasons worldwide was 5,621 in 2023, 5,898 in 2022, and 4,761 in 2021.
• 14,766 Churches and Christian properties were attacked.
• North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, and Yemen had the highest rates of reported persecution against Christians.

Yes, religions other than Judaism and Christianity experience oppression but not like us. Here is what the American Civil Liberties Union says about Muslim oppression in America:

“Yet recently, we have seen a politics of fear used to justify discrimination against Muslims. This has resulted in unwarranted surveillance, unlawful profiling, and exclusionary immigration policies targeting people based on their faith, nationality, or national origin.”

For Jews and Christians, people want to kill us, burn down our churches, and eliminate our faith altogether. We’re not the same.

But again, it’s a spiritual battle – God and His people against Satan and his people.

As if I’ve not been controversial enough, I’m going to go even a step further.

God directly gave Moses the law.

Jesus directly taught His disciples the Gospel.

The Angel Gabriel gave the illiterate Mohamed the Quran some 600 years after Jesus.

Now, I truly believe an angel did give Mohamed the Quaran! It just wasn’t Gabriel. It was Lucifer.

You see, the Quaran contains many verses from both the Old and New Testaments. Yet, they are skewed. Jesus is in the Quaran just not as God’s divine son but as a true prophet who is raised to heaven like Elijah and comes back leading God’s army against infidels and he dies in the battle as a martyr. As Satan always does, he tells half-truths and the Quran is full of these scriptural lies. That is why both Jews and Christians rejected Mohamed as a heretic and disavowed the Quran and Mohamed’s new religion. And that is why Mohamed had to spread Islam by the sword instead of by the words.

Satan has set up Islam to not just compete with the Gospel but to overthrow it. Thank you, Jesus that even the gates of hell can’t stand against You and that Your word will never cease!

As Christians we are called to recognize the spiritual battle, put on our armor and stand our ground! One of the places we must stand our ground is protecting God’s people and that means standing up for the Jews! God’s covenant is not over with His people and there will be a remnant of Israel that bows before Jesus at the end! Praise God!!

We shouldn’t be surprised in the least at what is happening around the world. Scripture tells us plainly that God’s people will be oppressed. So, what do we do about all this?

First, don’t be an antisemite!

Second, raise your voice against those that are antisemites!

Third, do all you can to protect our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Fourth, pray and ask God for mercy and protection for yourself and the Jews.

Fifth, don’t stand on the sidelines and just shake your head! Get involved in your community and beyond to stand firm against antisemitism.

Sixth, scripture is clear that we pray for our enemies.

Seventh, scripture is also clear we are to be as wise as serpents even as we are gentle as doves. Be smart out there in this battle.

Eighth, don’t back down! Stop worrying about pleasing men and instead please God!

Nineth, expect persecution for standing up for God’s people whether Jew or Christian.

Tenth, trust that the Lord Jesus sits on His thrown and is sovereign and in charge even though it feels like completely chaos to us!

If you know your scripture then you know that this is going to get a lot worse! We as Christians have to redouble our efforts to shine our light as brightly as we can as the world gets darker and darker! Love will conquer hate – it always does. But as we go through this struggle, we need to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel in this spiritual battle – God’s people standing together against an evil world that has evil intent.

I am a Jew

I am a Christian

I Stand with Israel.