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Judgment; cause and effect
At a prayer conference in the summer of 2010 a Christian leader spoke of the UK coming under judgment, including violence on our streets. We are now seeing these things in our daily newspapers and in the church.
first published 03/06/11
Cause and effect: everyone dies following their last meal, but not necessarily because of it.
Homosexuality and violence on our streets: bringing, or in fact being the judgment?
Speaking to Christians Together at a prayer conference in the north of Scotland last year, Chuck Cohen spoke of judgment coming upon nations and the church.
However he saw the issues of homosexuality and violence, not so much as bringing judgment upon us, but as being judgments in themselves – representing the inescapable consequences of departing from God's word.
 (Since this article was first written we have seen cities in Britain rocked by violence and looting.)
But journeying deeper into these issues Cohen, who is part of the Intercessors of Israel team sees a failing in the church in the West to understand His prophetic purposes and an unwillingness to believe and pray in line with God's word.
Root causes
The Church of Scotland at its May 2011 General Assembly spent a very substantial part of an afternoon debating how it could encourage a boycott of Israeli goods and products while remaining within the law and avoiding placing its own Israel-based staff and facilities in jeopardy.
 Rev. David Torrance — a highly-respected and senior Kirk minister, now retired – wrote to the Church of Scotland in 2007 after the General Assembly of that year. In his letter which was prompted by his church's increasingly hostile attitude to Israel he wrote of how 'Replacement Theology' – the teaching that the church has replaced Israel in God's purposes – was a fundamental misunderstanding of God's word. In his letter Torrance wrote:
"God is actively present in this world which he has redeemed in Christ. He is encountering the nations today in mercy and in judgement. He is spiritually/physically encountering them today through Israel."
Concerning the anti-Israel report adopted by the 2011 General Assembly and a document which the report affirms and adopts writes:
The document starts by saying that the writers want peace and justice for all and then totally ignores the danger facing Israel by militant Islam. It ignores the fact that the suffering of the Palestinians is to a very great extent because of their own intransigence and refusal to recognise Israel. It does not recognise that in the present alliance between Fatah or the PLO and Hamas Israel confronts a people who do not want her to exist.
However what has been aptly termed 'Christian Palestinianism' is not confined to the Church of Scotland but can be found in other denominations. There is also evidence of an increasing anti-Israel attitude growing on university campuses, in trade unions and amongst local authorities. West Dumbartonshire Council recently issued a statement: "This Council also recognises the disproportionate force used by the IDF in Palestine and agrees to boycott all Israeli goods as a consequence." Stirling and Dundee Councils are similarly inclined.
Whilst few would expect secular bodies and humanist organisations to have any regard for God's word, in an interview with Christians Together, Rev. Torrance spoke of his conviction that we need to understand the heart and mind of God in the matter.
Chuck Cohen is of the same view and a copy of an address in Inverness in 2010 which was followed by a question and answer session is available on DVD. The DVD also includes the full interview that he gave to Christians Together of which the following is an extract. He speaks of 'homosexuality coming out of the closet' and the UK being 'under the hand of judgment'.
On-line orders for copies of the DVD which includes the conference, questions and answers PLUS folllowing interview should be placed with Thistle Channel TV.
To order the DVD by post (enclosing a cheque) please download the Flier/Order Form
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Christians Together, 06/06/2013
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