Understanding Israel- the Land, the Promise, and the People.

In John 4:22, Jesus stated that, “salvation is from the Jews”. All that we have has come to us through those who are ethnically Jewish. Our Bible is a Jewish book, and Jesus was a Jewish man. God made in clear to the Jewish people in Deuteronomy 7 that the “Lord your chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” God also promised Abraham in Genesis 12 that from him a great nation would be born that would be a blessing. And God also said that “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you".
If this is God’s promise to the Jewish people, how do we make sense of the secular nation of Israel? Does that mean that no matter what happens, Christians must support the nation of Israel, no matter what political or military decisions they make?
How we make sense of the ethnic Jews that haven’t received Jesus as their Messiah? Are they still chosen by God? And how should we love them and share Jesus with them?

Broken but Beautiful- Why Church is Still Worth it, Even When it Hurts(feat. J.P. Conway)

There is no hurt like church hurt. Moral failures, abuse scandals, doctrinal disputes, financial indiscretions, leadership failures, relational strife- these things threaten (and often succeed) at splitting churches right down the middle and leaving countless Christians wounded, confused, and frustrated. To many, the amount of pain church often delves out makes it seem not worth staying in. Church is messy. It’s broken.
But at the same time, if we love Jesus, we have to continually ask what Jesus loves. In his book, “Broken but Beautiful”, J.P. Conway writes about the “resilient beauty” and powerful, yet often untapped means towards human flourishing the church gives us. Yes the church is broken, but there’s more. She’s beautiful.
How do we show grace in the church towards those who hurt us? How do we pursue unity and love in the midst of brokenness and pain? What do we do when we feel like giving up on church altogether?