Blog – ISRAEL CHRISTIAN NEXUS

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Antisemitism Under the Bridge: When Hatred Shows Up Close to Home

Living in Cleveland, Tennessee, certain things become part of the landscape. Churches, Christian ministries, colleges, denominational offices, and mission organizations are deeply woven into the identity of this community. Support for Israel and concern for the Jewish people are also common throughout the region. That is part of what made something I encountered beneath a local bridge so striking. Written faintly across the concrete were the words “Israel owns you,” accompanied by several Stars of David. The graffiti itself was easy to miss. There was no crowd gathered around it, no demonstration, and nothing that would have drawn much public attention. Most people passing through the area could probably have walked by without noticing it. Yet because Cleveland is my home, seeing those words here

September 11, 2026 No Comments

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Did the Scofield Bible Create Biblical Zionism?

Whenever I hear someone dismiss Christian support for Israel as a modern invention, one name usually enters the conversation: C. I. Scofield. The argument is familiar. Scofield created dispensationalism, placed it in the notes of his study Bible, and persuaded generations of Christians to believe that the Jewish people still had a place in God’s purposes and remained connected to the land of Israel. Remove Scofield, the argument suggests, and the theological foundation for Christian Zionism collapses with him. There is just one problem with that claim: the biblical promises concerning Israel existed long before Scofield placed his notes beneath the biblical text. That does not mean Scofield should be above criticism. His theological system should be studied carefully, and his interpretive conclusions should be

August 20, 2026 No Comments

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Why I Keep Returning to Israel (Even in Wartime)

I have traveled to Israel five times since June 2024, spending approximately fifty days in the land. Each trip has marked me in a different way. I now know where to eat, how to navigate the Old City, and what it feels like to walk Jerusalem’s stone streets carrying both wonder and weight in my heart. I have preached on Mount Carmel, in Capernaum, and in the Upper Room. I have worshiped at Christ Church near Jaffa Gate and met with political leaders, military personnel, museum curators, kibbutz leaders, journalists, pastors, mayors, ambassadors, shopkeepers, and Israeli citizens whose perspectives often differ from my own. These journeys have not come without criticism. I have been called a heretic, a fool, and nearly everything in between. At

August 13, 2026 No Comments

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The Pool is Still Providing Healing

In May 2025, a retinal artery occlusion stroke struck without warning, leaving me completely blind in my right eye. From mid-May until the end of the month, darkness covered my vision. On May 27, Dr. Jennifer Turcott at Jacobson Eye Care in Cumberland, Wisconsin, confirmed the diagnosis: my artery had blown apart. She offered only a 20% chance of recovering even 5% of my sight and warned that if it did not return within a month, the loss would be permanent. The artery, she said, does not regrow in this type of instance. Yet I clung to the promise of Scripture: “By his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Just days later, I was scheduled to travel to Israel with Bishop Robert Stearns, the founder

July 2, 2026 No Comments

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From Jerusalem to Rome: How the Church Became Detached From Its Jewish Roots

Christianity did not begin in Rome. It began in Jerusalem, among a Jewish people, with a Jewish Messiah, Jewish apostles, Jewish Scriptures, and a church that understood itself within the continuing story of Israel. Jesus was not separated from the covenantal world of Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets. His first followers worshiped in the temple, observed Jewish rhythms of prayer, and proclaimed that Israel’s promised Messiah had come. The earliest church did not imagine that it had founded a religion detached from Judaism. It believed that the God of Israel had acted decisively through Jesus for Israel and, through Israel’s Messiah, for the nations. That makes the church’s later detachment from its Jewish roots one of the most important historical developments pastors should consider.

June 29, 2026 No Comments

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Mary’s Song and the God Who Remembers Israel

Mary’s song in Luke 1:46–55, known as the Magnificat, is one of the most moving songs of worship in the New Testament. Many Christians rightly read it as Mary’s own outpouring of praise, and it certainly is. She is filled with gratitude because God has looked upon her with mercy and set her apart for something holy. But this song is not only about Mary’s private feelings or her personal spiritual journey. It is woven into Israel’s story, Israel’s Scriptures, Israel’s promises, and Israel’s longings. Mary does not sing as someone disconnected from her roots. She sings as one of Israel’s daughters. Her words carry the tone and texture of the Hebrew Scriptures, echoing the prayers of those who trusted that God would lift up

June 16, 2026 No Comments

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An Unlikely Dinner in the Nation’s Capital

Twenty or thirty years ago, a dinner like this would have been nearly impossible to imagine. A rabbi, an evangelical pastor, a Catholic theologian, and a 12-year-old boy walk into a kosher restaurant in Washington, D.C. It almost sounds like the beginning of a joke. But on the evening of Israel Advocacy Day, it felt more like a glimpse of what can happen when people of faith gather around truth, covenant, and friendship. After a full day walking the halls of Congress, advocating for Israel, and speaking with leaders about the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, we found ourselves gathered around a table at Char Bar, a kosher restaurant just blocks from the center of American power. Outside, the city was busy and loud. Inside,

June 4, 2026 No Comments

Nathan Bonilla - Why reading Dead Sea Scrolls Moved Me So Deeply

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From Qumran to Washington: Why Seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls Moved Me So Deeply

There are moments that stay with us not because they are loud or dramatic, but because they awaken something deeper than words can easily capture. My recent visit to Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., during Israel Advocacy Day was one of those moments. Before our event officially began, there was a brief window of time to visit the museum, and I knew almost immediately where I wanted to go. I made my way to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition, knowing I was about to stand before one of the most important archaeological witnesses to the trustworthiness of the biblical text and to the ancient Jewish connection to the land of Israel. What made this visit so meaningful was that I was not approaching

May 15, 2026 No Comments

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When Jewish People Are Afraid to Be Seen

One of the most troubling moral realities of our time is that society increasingly makes Jewish people feel unsafe simply for being visible. A person wearing a kippah, a Star of David, speaking Hebrew, or simply being perceived as Jewish may be mocked, stared down, cursed at, or ridiculed in ordinary public spaces. Restaurants, sidewalks, campuses, neighborhoods, and community events have become places where some Jewish families feel exposed rather than protected. This should deeply concern the church. This issue is not only about Israel as a nation. It is about Jewish people as human beings made in the image of God. No person should have to hide who they are in order to eat a meal, walk with their children, attend school, or move

April 30, 2026 No Comments

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Are Jews Colonizers to the Land of Israel?

In today’s debates about Israel, pastors are hearing phrases that sound persuasive but often carry serious historical problems. One of the most common is the claim that Jews are “settler colonizers” with no true connection to the land of Israel. In a time when war, protests, rising antisemitism, and global arguments over Israel’s legitimacy fill the news, pastors need more than slogans. They need careful, truthful, and pastoral clarity. The question of Jewish indigeneity is not merely political. It is historical, moral, legal, and for Christians, deeply biblical. To say that the Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel does not mean every modern Israeli policy is beyond criticism. It does not mean Christians should ignore Palestinian suffering or the complexity of the

April 28, 2026 No Comments

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