Kameel Majdali's Road Ahead

Contrary to expectations, the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi Holocaust did not stop the age-old scourge of antisemitism. It merely went into hibernation, only to emerge as a roaring lion, fangs barred, after the Seventh of October pogrom of 2023. Last month, we began our examination of antisemitism by focusing on the Bondi Beach massacre in Sydney, Australia. Here is an example of Jews, for the first time ever in Australia, losing their lives for simply being Jews while celebrating a Jewish holiday. In this article, our focus goes from Bondi Beach to the rest of the world. We will explore the meaning of Antisemitism, its causes, and why it matters to Jews and Gentiles. Antisemitism: What Is It and Why? As a big phenomenon, any definition of Antisemitism will have its limitations, but we need something to work with. Antisemitism is the irrational hatred of the Jewish people, which can lead to attempts, by word or deed, to humiliate, marginalise, and physically harm them. While antisemi...

    INTRODUCTION TO THE       GOSPEL OF MARK   It was the first of the four gospels to be written; it is also the shortest. Yet the Gospel of Mark is an indispensable account of the life, ministry, and death of Jesus the Messiah. It is very action packed; indeed, Jesus is rightly seen as a hard-working, active Messiah who preaches to the poor, heals the sick, casts out devils, raises the dead. As the Gospel of Matthew initially reached out to the Jewish people, with a great emphasis on fulfilled prophecy, Mark targeted the Romans - who respected power and action rather than Greek-style philosophising. GREEK NAME OF MARK Kata Markon - According to Mark. ‘ AUTHOR OF MARK ‘Mark’ may have been his Roman surname, since he was known as Yohannan or ‘John Mark.’ He was from Jerusalem and his mother Mary had a large house where believers met for prayer and fellowship. Mark may have been the young man in who followed Jesus to Gethsemane with a bed s...

  The Eighth Commandment is so central to living a God-honoring life. It simply tells not to steal. Yet, stealing is practiced more and more, by the poor, the powerful, and those in-between. Theft is now on an industrial scale and uses variety of methods. Covetousness can lead to stealing (we will learn more about this in the Tenth Commandment); defrauding people of what is rightly their’s is also stealing. Stealing does not merely involve the tangible; theft of intellectual property is just as real as taking any three-dimensional object. Large governments can cast an envious eye on private property wondering how to extract more revenue to pay for pet projects or a growing bureaucracy. While the Bible does accept taxation as an accepted practice of human government (give unto Caesar what is Caesar, Christ said in Matthew 22:21), there is a reason tax-collectors were despised in His day; they took more than they required and kept the difference. That’s why a penitent Zacchaeus off...

  It is the second largest country in the world, land wise. Sprawling, spacious, well-endowed by nature, with the stunning Rockies, attractive city of Vancouver, the quaint provincial capital of Victoria, Niagara Falls, polar bears in Manitoba - the list goes on. It is a valued and trusted neighbor to the north for the United States. Like the US, Britain, Australia & New Zealand, it is a favored haven for multi-ethnic migrants from around the world. And let’s not forget their wonderful maple syrup. This great nation, called Canada, is meant to be fully western and free. Its 1981 Charter of Rights and Freedom , signed by Pierre Trudeau, father of the current prime minister, has noble statements like: •     Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law and •     Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion an...

  We learned in our last article that, ‘Yes,’ it is possible to prosper in the midst of crisis, of which our present world is awash. You can have peace where there is panic and pandemic; joy even where misery reigns; and to be positioned to help others experience the same.   We see this in the life of the patriarch Issac who prospered enormously during a time of drought and famine. How did he do it? It came by obeying the call of God on his life, and then doing the clear word of the Lord. God commanded him to sojourn in the land of Canaan and He would bless him there (Genesis 26:3). Isaac wisely chose to obey God and stay, even though everyone else was fleeing to Egypt. In addition, Isaac had a strong work ethic. He sowed in the land and reaped 100-fold ( Genesis 26:12 ). He dug and re-dug wells in the otherwise dry Negev wilderness. Wherever he inserted his spade (shovel), the water flowed. Opposition All of this is wonderful, but remember, his prosperity stirred up d...

  The Jewish Sabbath  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it — Exodus 20:8-11   In many ways, the fourth commandment is a wonderful thing: it is meant to be benign, beneficial, and refreshing. It is God’s way of telling you - in short - to ‘take your rest.’ In the busy beehive world we live in, what a wonderful gift this is. Yet, as we learned, the blessing of Sabbath was marred by man-made rules and regulations that made it more a burden than a blessing. Many interpretations, and home-cooked traditions distorted the Sab...

  Roots of the Cultural Revolution (and Hope for the Future) Some of America’s great cities, like Seattle, Portland, Chicago, and New York, are in turmoil. Riots, looting, flag burning and statue toppling have been the alarming hallmarks. But that’s not all: attacking churches, synagogues, and even burning Bibles is now part of the protest. What, if anything, does this have to do with the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25, 2020? As we learned last time, similar activities happened in the 1960s. Like now, the end goal was a Marxist revolution. While the 1960s was during the Cold War, with a Marxist superpower called the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe under communism. Today, in the post-Cold War world, we are seeing the seeds of sixties radicalism come to fruition. Remember that while the average protestor / rioter may not be aware of the full picture, there is an evil logic behind these disturbing events. There are some very wealthy donors behind it all, as well...

This is the fourth part of a series regarding American evangelicals and Donald Trump. This is the voting bloc that made possible his unlikely 2016 election win for the American presidency. While most evangelicals support him, there is a vocal minority who do not - the magazine Christianity Today is one of them.   Are they being principled and Biblical? Or are they judgemental and drifting to the left?   In addition, it is important to understand the bigger picture, which transcends Donald Trump.   The Culture War   Removing prayer from school. Abortion on demand. Redefining marriage and gender. Legalising cannabis. A ‘make-it-up-as-you-go’ morality. Enlarging the size of government and watching the deficit grow as a result. All this, and more, is part of the great cultural civil war of the western world that has been waged since the 1960s. In short, this war is where the left-leaning secular progressives-cultural marxists invaded the power bases of tra...

In the history of peoples and nation-states, conflict comes in two forms: internal and external. Which do you think is more deadly? One prime example comes from church history. During the early years of the church, it was considered ‘counter-cultural’ and an enemy to the occupying Roman empire. Christianity was called a religio illicita, meaning ‘an illegal religion.’ There were periodic and savage outbreaks of deadly persecution. Yet, during heat of these dangerous days, the church did not diminish - it thrived. It is the proverbial principle of the diamond. As long as it is strong internally, it can withstand the mightiest of blows. Tertullian was quoted as saying ‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.’ However, there was a mortal threat to the church: the enemy from within. The Bible rightly warns against ‘false brethren,’ ‘false christs,’ ‘false prophets’ and ‘false teachers.’ They are the proverbial ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing. With their false doctr...

REINTERPRETATION OF EVERYTHING We have been exploring the effects of left-leaning progressivism on Christian churches, particularly in the West. Though progressivism is normally and fiercely ‘secular,’ it has made big inroads into some churches. While the change is incremental, the results are large. It starts with a desire to reach the world, often by worldly methods and mindsets. Relevance is a chief goal. After that, the move towards progressive Christianity has a fresh look at Scripture, often resulting in a ‘low-view.’ One progressive Christian leader said that the Bible condones war, slavery in both testaments and relegates women to a second class status. When Scripture is despised and demoted, the ‘little boy’s finger in the Dutch dike’ is removed, and the sea water begins to pour in. In this article, we will explore how progressivism seeks to redefine and interpret everything. In lock-step with postmodernism and progressivism, key phrases and key doctrines of...