October 4, 2024 • 28 mins
This episode was released on October 1, 2024.
In this powerful interview, Bishop Robert Stearns discusses the Bonhoeffer Declaration - a commitment for Christians to stand against evil and support the Jewish people. Stearns explains the historical context, drawing parallels to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's fight against Nazism, and outlines the seven key points of the declaration. He emphasizes the urgent need for the church to unite and take action, rather than remain silent in the face of rising anti-Semitism. Viewers are encouraged to sign the declaration and participate in upcoming events like Solidarity Sunday. This interview is a call to action for all Christians to align with God's people and timetable.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
October 7th will go down in infamy as the day that more Jews were killed in a single day
(00:05):
than any day since the Holocaust of the 1940s. Hello everyone, I'm Stephen Strang and today on
The Strang Report, my guest is Bishop Robert Starnes who has written something called the
Bonhoeffer Declaration. It's a commitment that Christians can make to stand up against evil.
You know, there's been so much anti-Semitic rhetoric and horrible things have happened
(00:32):
while they're fighting for their very survival against Hamas. And this is an opportunity for
Christians to sign this declaration and to make a commitment to pray and to learn and to act.
I want you to stay tuned for my very interesting interview with Robert Starnes and to find out how
you can sign this commitment too. I'm Stephen Strang and this is The Strang Report.
(01:08):
Welcome back and welcome to my longtime friend Bishop Robert Starnes who's talking to me from
Jerusalem, Israel about a very important anniversary that's coming up on October 7th.
And it sparked a vision or at least I'll call it that something called the Bonhoeffer Declaration
that is intended to show that Christians are standing with Israel. Robert, it's good to see
(01:33):
you again. We've known each other for I don't know how many decades, three or four decades at least,
and I so admire what you're doing. So tell us about the Bonhoeffer Declaration and why you're
doing this. Steve, it's great to see you my friend and such an honor to be with you on the podcast.
You know it's one year since the October 7th massacre which was the greatest loss of Jewish
(02:00):
life, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And rather than that atrocity
unlocking a sense of empathy and support for the Jewish people worldwide and for the state of Israel,
the opposite occurred. And we saw you know out points of hate on campuses like Columbia and
(02:29):
Harvard and we've seen radical radical parts of the American Congress you know take a stand
against Israel. It seems Steve as though the world is upside down. And so when you dig into history
(02:49):
you see that a generation ago as Hitler rose to power there was one courageous pastor in Germany
by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he prophetically sensed and understood the existential
danger that Hitler posed to all of Germany and specifically the danger that the Jewish people
(03:14):
were in. And Bonhoeffer sought to unify and rally the church. Steve there were 18,000 churches in
Germany as Hitler rose to power. Amazingly, unbelievably, 3,000 of the churches sided with
Hitler. And of course we see today in America places that are still calling themselves churches
(03:40):
but they are anything other than Christian. There's nothing remotely biblical about them.
So 3,000 churches sided with Hitler even as we see these radical so-called churches today in their
position. 3,000 churches sided with Bonhoeffer but Steve 12,000 churches decided they were going to
(04:06):
stay neutral. 12,000 churches said we don't get involved in politics. We're not going to make any
comment. We don't want to offend anybody in the pew. And because Bonhoeffer was not successful
in awakening and mobilizing those 12,000 churches, Hitler rose to power. And not only did 6 million
(04:33):
Jews die but globally 60 million lives in total were lost during World War II because the church
was not able to rise and unify and stand against this evil. So the Bonhoeffer declaration today is
saying that a generation later as we see the unholy alliance of cultural Marxism, radical left
(05:04):
Marxism coming into collusion with radical Islam, we're saying that we are not going to be silent
again. The church is going to raise their voice and the Bonhoeffer declaration is an invitation
not only to pastors and leaders but to everyday Christians, to all of us to unify and take a stand
(05:27):
on the right side of history. Well I think this is so important and I read Eric Metaxas' five or
six hundred page tome called Bonhoeffer which if my viewers have not read it, you really need to
because it's just it's historical and it's inspiring and it also lets us see what will happen
(05:51):
if Christians today are silent. So you've named your declaration in his honor but why don't you
talk to me about what it is because this is something that you're releasing on October 7th
to show some kind of solidarity with the Jewish people. So kind of walk us through that and also
before the podcast is over we want to tell people how they can sign this as I have. As soon as I
(06:17):
found out about this a few days ago I said I want to sign this and of course you've got a lot of
other Christian leaders who have signed it but also average people have signed it. So talk to me about
what it says. It's a little bit too long to actually read. Sure absolutely. Well we're so
blessed Steve. First of all thank you for your leadership and joining on board. We have been
(06:42):
amazed at the broad diversity of support that the document has received just all across the board.
African-American denominations, Hispanic, you know Pentecostal, Mainline. We really have
extraordinary breadth of leadership and diversity because this is not you know a Republican or
(07:09):
Democrat issue. This is a human transcendent issue. If Jewish people can't feel safe in America
wearing a kippah or wearing a star of David what in the world have we come to? And so the
declaration as you say takes us through a number of different points. I believe there's seven
(07:34):
different calls to action that just focuses the church and gives us a language for this moment
of how we need to respond to what I genuinely believe. And honestly Steve if I could somehow
reach through the camera and just you know gently shake the shoulder of the person on the other
(07:58):
side whoever's listening to this. We are in an existential threat in America. You know when
elected officials take their oath of office they swear to uphold the constitution and to
protect us from all enemies both foreign and domestic. The past 24 hours here in Israel
(08:24):
as we're filming this right now there has been the death of Nasrallah the head of Hezbollah.
This is one of the most bloodthirsty vicious killers of the last generation responsible for
responsible for goodness knows how many hundreds if not thousands of deaths over his 32 year reign
(08:47):
of terror including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. And Steve if you go onto American
citizens social media you see that there literally are American citizens who are you know calling him
a freedom fighter and criticizing Israel for his removal. This is an upside down world that we're
(09:12):
in and so the declaration takes us through step by step the kind of commitments that everyday
Christians like you and me you know every leader we're all everyday Christians every single one of
us are normal people following Jesus normal people with a supernatural savior but taking us
(09:34):
through those steps how do we need to be educated prepared praying speaking out holding our local
churches and the denominations that were a part of accountable because again the sin of the last
generation was the sin of silence. Steve Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this he said silence in the face
(09:58):
of evil is evil itself and so we don't have the luxury and Steve I just it has blown my mind I
got an email this week from a pastor well you know we've chosen to let people make up their
(10:19):
own minds on these issues we don't we don't really speak out or get involved.
I don't know what Bible you're reading I don't understand where you're living if you don't have
the moral clarity and courage to speak out on vital biblical issues how do you call yourself
a spiritual leader so the the the declaration takes us through seven key points and Steve
(10:43):
if I can just have one more minute I want to say this one of the points is
you know it deals with the fact that we're we're aware of the suffering of the Palestinian people
we are to be pro-Israel is not to be anti-Palestinian I stand up regularly and I'm
one of the leaders in the the body of Christ on behalf of Israel I regularly stand up in
(11:07):
pulpits and say I'm pro-Israel I'm pro-Palestinian I'm pro-people the fact of the matter is that
the Palestinian people have been railroaded and dehumanized by Hamas's grip over them
and that has to come to an end so that there can be a future and a hope for the Palestinian people
(11:30):
so we're calling the body of Christ to awaken get educated get mobilized and unified on behalf of
the Jewish people well I have here the commitment in front of me is called the Bonhoeffer
declaration people can see it at bonhoeffer.org and like I said it's too long to read in a short
(11:54):
podcast like this but people can go and get it and it starts with our commitment to act
and then as you said there are seven different points a commitment to humility and there's
explanation on each of these and then the commitment to stand against evil the commitment
to pray which you mentioned the commitment to speak out the commitment to educate the commitment
(12:19):
to civil discourse and bridge building the commitment to community advocacy and then it
ends this way it says our resolve we resolve to live the aforementioned commitments by the
grace of God we understand that to do so may require great sacrifice of ourselves just as did
Dietrich Bonhoeffer who ultimately paid with his life we soberly consider Psalms 15 for which
(12:47):
tells us that God honors those who keep an oath even when it hurts and does not change their mind
to that end we signed this Bonhoeffer declaration and I've signed it people can sign it I guess
online you said that you told me earlier there were about a thousand people a day signing it
we need that's why I did this podcast is I wanted to give people an opportunity and to call
(13:11):
attention to this I know it's going to be in the media in other ways but what else can you tell us
about this and what people can do well two things that kind of come to mind is that we need to be
kind of open to questions that come to mind I'm so glad you asked number one and I believe it's live
now it should be we're rolling this out in Spanish in Portuguese and several other languages that are
(13:41):
coming out because this is really a global call and so people can find that there's going to be
a link there on the website bonhoeffer.org but the second thing I want to say Steve is this we're
springboard as we launch what is called really relaunch because my spiritual father and mentor
(14:02):
pastor Jack Hayford before he passed away he called me to Los Angeles to his home
and pastor Jack had started years earlier a ministry called the Israel Christian Nexus it was he and
Chuck Smith and an Israeli man named Shimon Aram and it was just a coming together place of
(14:23):
rabbis and pastors to come together in friendship and dialogue and respect their theological
differences but begin to work together on the things that unite them and so we are launching
uh out of this one year commemoration it's hard to even call it an anniversary it's such a sobering
tragedy really but a memorial I think is a good you know this one year memorial of the October 7th
(14:50):
Massacre we will be relaunching pastor Jack's pastors network called the Israel Christian Nexus
we believe it's going to be the largest pro-Israel pastors network in America
and we're right now having a number of zoom calls and if you're a pastor watching you can email our
(15:11):
office we'll get you an invitation I just had 240 pastors last week on just one of the many zoom
calls we've had but that is going to lead to January the 26th where we will be launching what
is known as Solidarity Sunday what is Solidarity Sunday on January 26th the week of January 26th
(15:35):
is International Holocaust Remembrance Day International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Steve
this is what struck me you've been to Israel many times you've been to Yad Vashem the Holocaust
Remembrance Center again horrible to call it a museum but it's it's the world center for Holocaust
(15:59):
remembrance and there's all kinds of Holocaust education programs that come out of there and
Steve what struck me is this the Holocaust happened in Christian Germany this was a Christian
nation with a literal state church a Christian state church and then extended out to the rest of
(16:24):
Europe it is not the responsibility of the Jews to teach Holocaust education it's the responsibility
of the church it's the responsibility of Christians to educate our children and grandchildren on the
horrors of the Holocaust and on where anti-Semitism leads because anti-Semitism never stops with the
(16:49):
Jews anti-Semitism is a first symptom of overall societal decay and danger and so January 26th
we're believing for 100 churches across America that will be hosting Solidarity Sundays where
Jewish leaders will come into the church with the pastors and tell the stories of October 7th
(17:16):
tell the stories of their Holocaust survivor parents or grandparents tell the story of what it
is like to be a Jew and experience the kind of anti-Semitism that we've seen this year Steve
the Anti-Defamation League just announced that 2023 is by far I think it's I think it's up 700%
(17:44):
the amount of anti-Semitic attacks it's the largest year since they've been recording this
I think they started in 1979 this is happening on the church's watch so October 7th the Bonhoeffer
Declaration will go live in Jerusalem and we'll be inviting really the whole world to get involved
(18:06):
with this then over the next months we'll be launching the Israel Christian Nexus which
will be our pastors network we believe right now looking at the numbers we believe there'll be at
least 500 I think it's going to be closer to a thousand pastors just in our initial launch
(18:28):
and that will lead to our January 26th our very first we're praying it's going to be annual our
Solidarity Sunday that the Christian Church takes the responsibility of educating the next
generation about the evils of anti-Semitism you know I'm glad that you're doing that and of course
you know because we're friends that I was also very close to Jack Aford and it's wonderful that
(18:53):
this his legacy has been continued in this way and I've been involved in different ways at different
times with pro-Israel things I my first trip to Israel was 1979 and it's hard for me to understand
how anyone who believes the Bible and who believes in Jesus cannot see that Israel is God's chosen
(19:18):
people and as part of his plan for humanity and certainly the plan for the end of time in fact
Jonathan Cahn's new book the Dragon's Prophecy talks about the Israel Hamas war and in a very
in a very creative and believable kind of way explains how it's part of God's plan with what's
(19:39):
happening in the world leading toward the end of time it's really something that people should
check out if they haven't done it but why do you think that there are still people who are passive
what what advantage is there you know to me this is like saying that you're not for sunshine and
happiness and little children I mean it who would be against God's chosen people because
(20:05):
you know even though there's these radical people that you mentioned at Columbia and Harvard and so
forth those people are not particularly persuasive in the church there's no reason for
the church to kowtow to those kind of extremism is why does it that makes him passive I think
I think I think there's several answers to that question Steve but some of the first that come to
(20:29):
me is we do see right now the rise of replacement theology beginning to seep into our seminaries
beginning to come into our churches this idea that you know God has replaced his covenant with
Israel and done away with it and Steve can I just say this you know people you know Stearns he's that
(20:53):
Israel guy I'm not the Israel guy I'm the Bible guy like the question of Israel is not about Israel
just work with me for a second the question of Israel is not about Israel it's not about the
Jewish people it's about the character and nature of God does God keep his promises is God faithful
(21:20):
does God move throughout history with signs and wonders that we can track along with sacred and
covenantal history so when you begin to chip away and you begin to discard the Israel piece out of
sacred narrative you're discounting the very character and nature of God if God can so easily
(21:43):
break his promise to Israel cancel his covenant to Abraham what makes you think that your covenant
with God is secure I don't know what God these people are serving God by very definition is
faithful a covenant keeper we can trust his word if not we begin to drift into a God who is after
(22:08):
our own making after our own image so replacement theology is an issue secondarily this this lens of
social justice has come like some kind of spell it's been cast as a spell over American society
and we're viewing everything as oppressed versus oppressor and victim versus victimizer and the
(22:36):
powerful versus the powerless and you know that's just kind of the worldview that has seeped in
through the American educational system and so if you don't have feet on the ground here if you've
not actually been here and understand the macro picture of the reality here it's easy to see
(22:59):
Israel is Goliath and the Palestinians are David that's what it can look like to someone at a first
glance who doesn't do the diligence of understanding the history understanding the facts
understanding the current day reality and that is why every single Christian should absolutely
(23:21):
purpose at least once in your life come to Israel I tell people Steve don't come on a don't come as a
tourist come as a pilgrim come on a holy journey with the Lord visit the land of covenant so these
are some of the different reasons Steve replacement theology social justice all of these different
(23:46):
factors seep in and begin to minimize our and then the final one that I'll mention is I have never
seen I've been a Christian my whole life I have never seen the church at a lower place of biblical
literacy in my life far too many churches are preaching 17 minute messages where a lot of times
(24:16):
Steve a Bible verse is not even referenced it is a very me centered pop psychology centered feel
good kind of message and deep biblical literacy we talk about a Jack Hayford you talk about an
R.T. Kendall you talk about folks who are students of the word deep biblical literacy is no longer
(24:42):
present in so many of our churches and so much of American Western Church culture and so if you're
not studying the stories of the Bible you're not going to be very interested in the people or land
of the Bible so these are I think a few of the reasons of why we're seeing this challenge in our
(25:03):
time well as we wrap up this short podcast I want you to pray pray for the church pray for Israel
and then after you pray I'll be back with a few closing thoughts absolutely father I thank you
for this opportunity to come together today as the family of God father I thank you for Steve I thank
(25:24):
you for his life's work God he's been a shofar who has sounded a clear message to the body of Christ
for decades and Lord as we gather together on this podcast God I'm reminded of the verse in Isaiah
that says for Zion's sake I will not be silent for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still until the Lord
(25:46):
establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth Psalm 122 6 pray for the peace of Jerusalem
may they prosper who love you God we ask in the name of Jesus who you chose to be born as a Jew
we ask in his name in Yeshua's name that there would be a global alignment that would come within
(26:11):
the church that Jerusalem would be as a plumb line stretched out over the body of Christ and that
there would be alignment that comes to our theology to our prayer to our liturgy to our relationships
God bring the church into the place of alignment with your people with your city with your timetable
(26:35):
in this hour we ask father I pray for America as we hang in the balance with this election God
would you have mercy upon our nation and would you turn America back to the roots of our faith
this nation God we just a few days ago uh Lord celebrated the uh I think it was the 230 year
(27:00):
anniversary or 270 year anniversary of the first Jews the first 27 Jews who came to America this
nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and worldview God would you turn us again we ask
we pray this in the name of Yeshua Hamashiach Jesus our Messiah in his name amen I hope that
(27:24):
you'll go to Bonhoeffer.org that's Bonhoeffer B-O-N-H-O-E-F-F-E-R.org where you can sign the
commitment I've already signed the commitment I've gone to the website I will tell you there's
another website called D Bonhoeffer which is more about the historic figure of Bonhoeffer but
(27:48):
just go to Bonhoeffer.org there's a place you can read what you're signing and then there's a place
to sign if you haven't already subscribed to the Strang Report please do so hit the little bell so
you know notified when we're on live every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m eastern time and be sure to
send this to others this is a message that we need to get out we need to get as many people
(28:12):
to make this commitment as possible and you can do your part by posting on social media telling
your friends about it and so forth and be sure to tune in again for another edition of the Strang
Report until then God bless you.
October 7th will go down in infamy as the day that more Jews were killed in a single day
(00:05):
than any day since the Holocaust of the 1940s. Hello everyone, I'm Stephen Strang and today on
The Strang Report, my guest is Bishop Robert Starnes who has written something called the
Bonhoeffer Declaration. It's a commitment that Christians can make to stand up against evil.
You know, there's been so much anti-Semitic rhetoric and horrible things have happened
(00:32):
while they're fighting for their very survival against Hamas. And this is an opportunity for
Christians to sign this declaration and to make a commitment to pray and to learn and to act.
I want you to stay tuned for my very interesting interview with Robert Starnes and to find out how
you can sign this commitment too. I'm Stephen Strang and this is The Strang Report.
(01:08):
Welcome back and welcome to my longtime friend Bishop Robert Starnes who's talking to me from
Jerusalem, Israel about a very important anniversary that's coming up on October 7th.
And it sparked a vision or at least I'll call it that something called the Bonhoeffer Declaration
that is intended to show that Christians are standing with Israel. Robert, it's good to see
(01:33):
you again. We've known each other for I don't know how many decades, three or four decades at least,
and I so admire what you're doing. So tell us about the Bonhoeffer Declaration and why you're
doing this. Steve, it's great to see you my friend and such an honor to be with you on the podcast.
You know it's one year since the October 7th massacre which was the greatest loss of Jewish
(02:00):
life, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And rather than that atrocity
unlocking a sense of empathy and support for the Jewish people worldwide and for the state of Israel,
the opposite occurred. And we saw you know out points of hate on campuses like Columbia and
(02:29):
Harvard and we've seen radical radical parts of the American Congress you know take a stand
against Israel. It seems Steve as though the world is upside down. And so when you dig into history
(02:49):
you see that a generation ago as Hitler rose to power there was one courageous pastor in Germany
by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he prophetically sensed and understood the existential
danger that Hitler posed to all of Germany and specifically the danger that the Jewish people
(03:14):
were in. And Bonhoeffer sought to unify and rally the church. Steve there were 18,000 churches in
Germany as Hitler rose to power. Amazingly, unbelievably, 3,000 of the churches sided with
Hitler. And of course we see today in America places that are still calling themselves churches
(03:40):
but they are anything other than Christian. There's nothing remotely biblical about them.
So 3,000 churches sided with Hitler even as we see these radical so-called churches today in their
position. 3,000 churches sided with Bonhoeffer but Steve 12,000 churches decided they were going to
(04:06):
stay neutral. 12,000 churches said we don't get involved in politics. We're not going to make any
comment. We don't want to offend anybody in the pew. And because Bonhoeffer was not successful
in awakening and mobilizing those 12,000 churches, Hitler rose to power. And not only did 6 million
(04:33):
Jews die but globally 60 million lives in total were lost during World War II because the church
was not able to rise and unify and stand against this evil. So the Bonhoeffer declaration today is
saying that a generation later as we see the unholy alliance of cultural Marxism, radical left
(05:04):
Marxism coming into collusion with radical Islam, we're saying that we are not going to be silent
again. The church is going to raise their voice and the Bonhoeffer declaration is an invitation
not only to pastors and leaders but to everyday Christians, to all of us to unify and take a stand
(05:27):
on the right side of history. Well I think this is so important and I read Eric Metaxas' five or
six hundred page tome called Bonhoeffer which if my viewers have not read it, you really need to
because it's just it's historical and it's inspiring and it also lets us see what will happen
(05:51):
if Christians today are silent. So you've named your declaration in his honor but why don't you
talk to me about what it is because this is something that you're releasing on October 7th
to show some kind of solidarity with the Jewish people. So kind of walk us through that and also
before the podcast is over we want to tell people how they can sign this as I have. As soon as I
(06:17):
found out about this a few days ago I said I want to sign this and of course you've got a lot of
other Christian leaders who have signed it but also average people have signed it. So talk to me about
what it says. It's a little bit too long to actually read. Sure absolutely. Well we're so
blessed Steve. First of all thank you for your leadership and joining on board. We have been
(06:42):
amazed at the broad diversity of support that the document has received just all across the board.
African-American denominations, Hispanic, you know Pentecostal, Mainline. We really have
extraordinary breadth of leadership and diversity because this is not you know a Republican or
(07:09):
Democrat issue. This is a human transcendent issue. If Jewish people can't feel safe in America
wearing a kippah or wearing a star of David what in the world have we come to? And so the
declaration as you say takes us through a number of different points. I believe there's seven
(07:34):
different calls to action that just focuses the church and gives us a language for this moment
of how we need to respond to what I genuinely believe. And honestly Steve if I could somehow
reach through the camera and just you know gently shake the shoulder of the person on the other
(07:58):
side whoever's listening to this. We are in an existential threat in America. You know when
elected officials take their oath of office they swear to uphold the constitution and to
protect us from all enemies both foreign and domestic. The past 24 hours here in Israel
(08:24):
as we're filming this right now there has been the death of Nasrallah the head of Hezbollah.
This is one of the most bloodthirsty vicious killers of the last generation responsible for
responsible for goodness knows how many hundreds if not thousands of deaths over his 32 year reign
(08:47):
of terror including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. And Steve if you go onto American
citizens social media you see that there literally are American citizens who are you know calling him
a freedom fighter and criticizing Israel for his removal. This is an upside down world that we're
(09:12):
in and so the declaration takes us through step by step the kind of commitments that everyday
Christians like you and me you know every leader we're all everyday Christians every single one of
us are normal people following Jesus normal people with a supernatural savior but taking us
(09:34):
through those steps how do we need to be educated prepared praying speaking out holding our local
churches and the denominations that were a part of accountable because again the sin of the last
generation was the sin of silence. Steve Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this he said silence in the face
(09:58):
of evil is evil itself and so we don't have the luxury and Steve I just it has blown my mind I
got an email this week from a pastor well you know we've chosen to let people make up their
(10:19):
own minds on these issues we don't we don't really speak out or get involved.
I don't know what Bible you're reading I don't understand where you're living if you don't have
the moral clarity and courage to speak out on vital biblical issues how do you call yourself
a spiritual leader so the the the declaration takes us through seven key points and Steve
(10:43):
if I can just have one more minute I want to say this one of the points is
you know it deals with the fact that we're we're aware of the suffering of the Palestinian people
we are to be pro-Israel is not to be anti-Palestinian I stand up regularly and I'm
one of the leaders in the the body of Christ on behalf of Israel I regularly stand up in
(11:07):
pulpits and say I'm pro-Israel I'm pro-Palestinian I'm pro-people the fact of the matter is that
the Palestinian people have been railroaded and dehumanized by Hamas's grip over them
and that has to come to an end so that there can be a future and a hope for the Palestinian people
(11:30):
so we're calling the body of Christ to awaken get educated get mobilized and unified on behalf of
the Jewish people well I have here the commitment in front of me is called the Bonhoeffer
declaration people can see it at bonhoeffer.org and like I said it's too long to read in a short
(11:54):
podcast like this but people can go and get it and it starts with our commitment to act
and then as you said there are seven different points a commitment to humility and there's
explanation on each of these and then the commitment to stand against evil the commitment
to pray which you mentioned the commitment to speak out the commitment to educate the commitment
(12:19):
to civil discourse and bridge building the commitment to community advocacy and then it
ends this way it says our resolve we resolve to live the aforementioned commitments by the
grace of God we understand that to do so may require great sacrifice of ourselves just as did
Dietrich Bonhoeffer who ultimately paid with his life we soberly consider Psalms 15 for which
(12:47):
tells us that God honors those who keep an oath even when it hurts and does not change their mind
to that end we signed this Bonhoeffer declaration and I've signed it people can sign it I guess
online you said that you told me earlier there were about a thousand people a day signing it
we need that's why I did this podcast is I wanted to give people an opportunity and to call
(13:11):
attention to this I know it's going to be in the media in other ways but what else can you tell us
about this and what people can do well two things that kind of come to mind is that we need to be
kind of open to questions that come to mind I'm so glad you asked number one and I believe it's live
now it should be we're rolling this out in Spanish in Portuguese and several other languages that are
(13:41):
coming out because this is really a global call and so people can find that there's going to be
a link there on the website bonhoeffer.org but the second thing I want to say Steve is this we're
springboard as we launch what is called really relaunch because my spiritual father and mentor
(14:02):
pastor Jack Hayford before he passed away he called me to Los Angeles to his home
and pastor Jack had started years earlier a ministry called the Israel Christian Nexus it was he and
Chuck Smith and an Israeli man named Shimon Aram and it was just a coming together place of
(14:23):
rabbis and pastors to come together in friendship and dialogue and respect their theological
differences but begin to work together on the things that unite them and so we are launching
uh out of this one year commemoration it's hard to even call it an anniversary it's such a sobering
tragedy really but a memorial I think is a good you know this one year memorial of the October 7th
(14:50):
Massacre we will be relaunching pastor Jack's pastors network called the Israel Christian Nexus
we believe it's going to be the largest pro-Israel pastors network in America
and we're right now having a number of zoom calls and if you're a pastor watching you can email our
(15:11):
office we'll get you an invitation I just had 240 pastors last week on just one of the many zoom
calls we've had but that is going to lead to January the 26th where we will be launching what
is known as Solidarity Sunday what is Solidarity Sunday on January 26th the week of January 26th
(15:35):
is International Holocaust Remembrance Day International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Steve
this is what struck me you've been to Israel many times you've been to Yad Vashem the Holocaust
Remembrance Center again horrible to call it a museum but it's it's the world center for Holocaust
(15:59):
remembrance and there's all kinds of Holocaust education programs that come out of there and
Steve what struck me is this the Holocaust happened in Christian Germany this was a Christian
nation with a literal state church a Christian state church and then extended out to the rest of
(16:24):
Europe it is not the responsibility of the Jews to teach Holocaust education it's the responsibility
of the church it's the responsibility of Christians to educate our children and grandchildren on the
horrors of the Holocaust and on where anti-Semitism leads because anti-Semitism never stops with the
(16:49):
Jews anti-Semitism is a first symptom of overall societal decay and danger and so January 26th
we're believing for 100 churches across America that will be hosting Solidarity Sundays where
Jewish leaders will come into the church with the pastors and tell the stories of October 7th
(17:16):
tell the stories of their Holocaust survivor parents or grandparents tell the story of what it
is like to be a Jew and experience the kind of anti-Semitism that we've seen this year Steve
the Anti-Defamation League just announced that 2023 is by far I think it's I think it's up 700%
(17:44):
the amount of anti-Semitic attacks it's the largest year since they've been recording this
I think they started in 1979 this is happening on the church's watch so October 7th the Bonhoeffer
Declaration will go live in Jerusalem and we'll be inviting really the whole world to get involved
(18:06):
with this then over the next months we'll be launching the Israel Christian Nexus which
will be our pastors network we believe right now looking at the numbers we believe there'll be at
least 500 I think it's going to be closer to a thousand pastors just in our initial launch
(18:28):
and that will lead to our January 26th our very first we're praying it's going to be annual our
Solidarity Sunday that the Christian Church takes the responsibility of educating the next
generation about the evils of anti-Semitism you know I'm glad that you're doing that and of course
you know because we're friends that I was also very close to Jack Aford and it's wonderful that
(18:53):
this his legacy has been continued in this way and I've been involved in different ways at different
times with pro-Israel things I my first trip to Israel was 1979 and it's hard for me to understand
how anyone who believes the Bible and who believes in Jesus cannot see that Israel is God's chosen
(19:18):
people and as part of his plan for humanity and certainly the plan for the end of time in fact
Jonathan Cahn's new book the Dragon's Prophecy talks about the Israel Hamas war and in a very
in a very creative and believable kind of way explains how it's part of God's plan with what's
(19:39):
happening in the world leading toward the end of time it's really something that people should
check out if they haven't done it but why do you think that there are still people who are passive
what what advantage is there you know to me this is like saying that you're not for sunshine and
happiness and little children I mean it who would be against God's chosen people because
(20:05):
you know even though there's these radical people that you mentioned at Columbia and Harvard and so
forth those people are not particularly persuasive in the church there's no reason for
the church to kowtow to those kind of extremism is why does it that makes him passive I think
I think I think there's several answers to that question Steve but some of the first that come to
(20:29):
me is we do see right now the rise of replacement theology beginning to seep into our seminaries
beginning to come into our churches this idea that you know God has replaced his covenant with
Israel and done away with it and Steve can I just say this you know people you know Stearns he's that
(20:53):
Israel guy I'm not the Israel guy I'm the Bible guy like the question of Israel is not about Israel
just work with me for a second the question of Israel is not about Israel it's not about the
Jewish people it's about the character and nature of God does God keep his promises is God faithful
(21:20):
does God move throughout history with signs and wonders that we can track along with sacred and
covenantal history so when you begin to chip away and you begin to discard the Israel piece out of
sacred narrative you're discounting the very character and nature of God if God can so easily
(21:43):
break his promise to Israel cancel his covenant to Abraham what makes you think that your covenant
with God is secure I don't know what God these people are serving God by very definition is
faithful a covenant keeper we can trust his word if not we begin to drift into a God who is after
(22:08):
our own making after our own image so replacement theology is an issue secondarily this this lens of
social justice has come like some kind of spell it's been cast as a spell over American society
and we're viewing everything as oppressed versus oppressor and victim versus victimizer and the
(22:36):
powerful versus the powerless and you know that's just kind of the worldview that has seeped in
through the American educational system and so if you don't have feet on the ground here if you've
not actually been here and understand the macro picture of the reality here it's easy to see
(22:59):
Israel is Goliath and the Palestinians are David that's what it can look like to someone at a first
glance who doesn't do the diligence of understanding the history understanding the facts
understanding the current day reality and that is why every single Christian should absolutely
(23:21):
purpose at least once in your life come to Israel I tell people Steve don't come on a don't come as a
tourist come as a pilgrim come on a holy journey with the Lord visit the land of covenant so these
are some of the different reasons Steve replacement theology social justice all of these different
(23:46):
factors seep in and begin to minimize our and then the final one that I'll mention is I have never
seen I've been a Christian my whole life I have never seen the church at a lower place of biblical
literacy in my life far too many churches are preaching 17 minute messages where a lot of times
(24:16):
Steve a Bible verse is not even referenced it is a very me centered pop psychology centered feel
good kind of message and deep biblical literacy we talk about a Jack Hayford you talk about an
R.T. Kendall you talk about folks who are students of the word deep biblical literacy is no longer
(24:42):
present in so many of our churches and so much of American Western Church culture and so if you're
not studying the stories of the Bible you're not going to be very interested in the people or land
of the Bible so these are I think a few of the reasons of why we're seeing this challenge in our
(25:03):
time well as we wrap up this short podcast I want you to pray pray for the church pray for Israel
and then after you pray I'll be back with a few closing thoughts absolutely father I thank you
for this opportunity to come together today as the family of God father I thank you for Steve I thank
(25:24):
you for his life's work God he's been a shofar who has sounded a clear message to the body of Christ
for decades and Lord as we gather together on this podcast God I'm reminded of the verse in Isaiah
that says for Zion's sake I will not be silent for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still until the Lord
(25:46):
establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth Psalm 122 6 pray for the peace of Jerusalem
may they prosper who love you God we ask in the name of Jesus who you chose to be born as a Jew
we ask in his name in Yeshua's name that there would be a global alignment that would come within
(26:11):
the church that Jerusalem would be as a plumb line stretched out over the body of Christ and that
there would be alignment that comes to our theology to our prayer to our liturgy to our relationships
God bring the church into the place of alignment with your people with your city with your timetable
(26:35):
in this hour we ask father I pray for America as we hang in the balance with this election God
would you have mercy upon our nation and would you turn America back to the roots of our faith
this nation God we just a few days ago uh Lord celebrated the uh I think it was the 230 year
(27:00):
anniversary or 270 year anniversary of the first Jews the first 27 Jews who came to America this
nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and worldview God would you turn us again we ask
we pray this in the name of Yeshua Hamashiach Jesus our Messiah in his name amen I hope that
(27:24):
you'll go to Bonhoeffer.org that's Bonhoeffer B-O-N-H-O-E-F-F-E-R.org where you can sign the
commitment I've already signed the commitment I've gone to the website I will tell you there's
another website called D Bonhoeffer which is more about the historic figure of Bonhoeffer but
(27:48):
just go to Bonhoeffer.org there's a place you can read what you're signing and then there's a place
to sign if you haven't already subscribed to the Strang Report please do so hit the little bell so
you know notified when we're on live every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m eastern time and be sure to
send this to others this is a message that we need to get out we need to get as many people
(28:12):
to make this commitment as possible and you can do your part by posting on social media telling
your friends about it and so forth and be sure to tune in again for another edition of the Strang
Report until then God bless you.
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