10/27/11 JOEL ROSENBERG: SPEAKING AT OC HARVEST re NEW Book
10/27/11 JOEL ROSENBERG DISCUSSES ISLAM & IRAN, & CHRISTIAN ISSUES @ GREG LAURIE's OC HARVEST CHURCH ....I think I saw him one before at a crusade/revival in coachella (not a harvest crusade) ..he was born into an orthodox Jewish family, but became a Christian..he's written several books including some fiction stories that seem to have some parallels, maybe even prophetic, to real life tragic events involving terror ...(I hope he's not putting ideas into the enemies mind which leads to it coming true) earlier this evening he was on the frank pastore radio show...he discusses the threat of iran to the world, including, or especially, America & Israel (I've been hearing a lot of talk recently about the importance of Israel having their own land & the importance of America "blessing" Israel..even one fellow on the radio said today that he believes our economy may be influenced positively or negatively by our posture towards America, & that because Obama has not been very favorable towards Israel, our economy has worsened..albeit I always thought the "new Israel" would be all Christian believers & didn't necessarily require actual, physical land for those specifically of Semitic heritage...I wonder if Rosenberg's Jewish upbringing pushes him, theologically, in that direction, even as a Christian ...) and Rosenberg talked about Mog & Magog (which he is convinced is a reference to what is now Russia) and other geographical names in the Bible, one of which he contends is for Iran,..the EXCITING thing about his speech (& there were many points which I can't cover all here& now) is that he believes Iran will be a central force for both good as well as potential evil.....the evil being their radicalism (albeit, he points out that not all Islams have a radical agenda)..especially if they get nuclear weapons, & especially if they align themselves with Iraq (which will be without USA Forces by the end of the year) & possibly Libya, among others,..BUT THE GOOD POTENTIAL is that some of the Sharia Muslims...if they get LED TO CHRIST will become a Great force for evangelical Christianity...and he gives an example of this Muslim who came to southern Cal & eventually came to Christ and is now known as the "Billy Graham of Iran" ..and so the thrust of his message is a reminder to us as evangelical Christians to keep praying for Iran & Muslims worldwide & keep doing (or begin doing) evangelism...& be willing to go to Muslim countries if you are called by God ..he gives an example of a group putting the Jesus film on satellite tv in the farsi language & one day an elderly lady in Iran came across it on satellite tv & watched it & it was the first time she had heard the gospel message..& she actually had a supernatural encounter with Jesus at that moment.... he emphasizes that the church needs to do more, much more, evangelically, & that our future as a country may depend upon it ...and I say AMEN to that ! as for all the interpretation of times & places in the bible..even though I went to seminary & studied greek & hebrew (& a little aramaic & arabic )...interpretation of that nature is too complex for me....I'm more of a "simple evangelical" emphasizing bringing the good news in one way or another to all people & hoping & praying for the best, & then depending on God to do the rest,..but YES, eachof us will be judged according to the fruits we bear...so don't take it too nonchalantly, yet don't become legalistic either, thinking u can get to heaven "by works" ...the fruit will be a natural product, not something contrived...it will, or should, come naturally & gracefully, from those who truly know they are saved sinners..the first step for some, in America, is realizing they are sinners (we all are, but modern society doesn't want us to think so) ...anyways, u can find out more about Joel at his website, www.JoelRosenberg.com