Honoring Israel at Church

Sunday night was one of the most incredible experiences I've had in my Christian walk.

My church pastor has had this special event in the works for a very long time to have the Israeli Consul General Gilad Katz visit. It was an incredible scene. U.S. Congressman Ron Estes, a Wichita City Councilman, a couple of Jewish Rabbis and many members of the Jewish Community all united with our congregation under one roof to celebrate the year of the 70th anniversary of Israel becoming a nation, an event prophesied about centuries ago. Israeli flags and U.S. flag alternated in a row on the stage in honor of the collaboration of our two countries.

It amazes me that a people group from a country like Israel, which has dealt with so much turmoil throughout all of history to the point that it was vanquished completely, can somehow rise from the ashes of obscurity and not only become its own nation again, but also flourish and produce so much. Many great discoveries and breakthroughs in scientific, medical, and other fields were made by Jewish people.

Religion might be divided into several sections, but tonight was about people of faith coming together to praise the one and only God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. People who believe in Jehovah - whether Jewish, Christian or otherwise - need to stop focusing so much on their differences and start focusing on the things we have in common. I got a taste of that tonight, and it was pretty special.

Those who don't believe in God truly need to look into Him a little more. The truth is there is no denying there's something (in this case, someone) greater at work here. There's no rational explanation for describing what Israel has gone through. Never before has a people group and a country been so totally destroyed, yet come back and find a way to exist after being gone for more than 2,000 years. It's unfathomable that anyone would try to explain that away with any reasoning other than divine intervention, especially when there were prophesies written about these very events so long ago.

That's something worth celebrating. It now has been 70 years since Israel was formally recognized as a nation, and the United States was at the forefront of that.