Cornelius, the Gentile in question, was neither Jew nor Christian but a righteous pagan when first he earned Peter’s approbation. He also had God’s approbation, that is, if we are to grant credence to the book of Act’s account regarding the Spirit’s visitation in power to his household. On what basis was God’s favor conferred? The Scriptures tell us, it had to do, not with his being baptized, but with his faithful deeds:

. . . an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he

Alas, how far has Christendom fallen from the principles Peter enunciated above! It would seem that out of a dislike for the unlike, instead of with open arms, it approaches the world with a balled up fist.  Case in point: prominent clergymen meeting secretly at the White House to lobby the Commander-in-Chief to preemptively attack Iran using nuclear weapons. What has this ancient nation, Iran, and its people done to deserve having their coun-try turned into radioactive rubble? In its long, eventful history, including inquisitions, the burning of witches, religious wars, schisms, Christendom has had its low points but this present display of atavistic religion, being the standing denial of all Jesus ever stood for, exceeds them all. Fortunately, shame still attaches to such proceedings which is why the Bush Administration continues holding back from public scrutiny White House visitation logs (even in the face of a court order), no doubt hoping that

 for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:3-4)

And there came forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse, and a Branch [N'tzer], shall grow out of
his roots: and the spirit of YHVH shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of YHVH; ...
                                           (Isaiah 11:1-2) 

     If "Nazarene" means branch, then what is the root?  
Israel is the root for Nazarenes are not "new" Israel or
"replacement" Israel, just Israel, the Israel of God. 
Inasmuch as trees grow from the bottom up, not from
the top down, our assessment of the Nazarene movement
necessarily depends on our assessment of its roots -
whether it is a valid expression of prophetic promises
made to King David a 1000 years before.  As for the
Davidic promises? are they consistent with the Covenant
made a 1000 years before his time with Abraham?
Everything, the Covenant itself included, depends
on its roots in God. 

F A T H E R   A B R A H A M .

Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar?  Seest thou how faith
wrought with his works, and by works was
faith made perfect?
                                  (James 2: 21-22)

     Though half dead from old age, and though there
seemed to be no way, yet Abraham, hoping against
hope, believed God would make a way, which hope God
fulfilled.  What Abraham wanted is what most people
want: a place under the sun for themselves and their
progeny.  More than life itself, Abraham loved his
son Isaac, the apple of his eye, whom God had gifted
to him in his old age but somewhere along the way
he had absorbed a deep truth: that of putting the giver
above the gift.  Thus he subordinated his personal
desires to a higher consideration.  This stood him in
good stead on the day of testing and:

          ... it was counted unto him for righteousness."
                                                     (Romans 4:3)

     In response to Abraham's faithfulness, God said to
him:

By myself have I sworn, saith YHVH, for
because thou hast done  this thing, and
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
that in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand that
is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall
possess the gates of his enemies; and in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my
voice.                   (Genesis 22:16-18)    

Neither shall thy name any more be called
Abram, but thy name shall be  called
Abraham, for a father of many nations have
I made thee.                  (Genesis 17:5)

And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse
him that curseth thee: and in thee shall
all families of the earth be blessed. 
                                    (Genesis 12:2-3)  

   The faith of Abraham is not a tribal project but a
universal spiritual community.  However, as is too
often the case with evangelical Christians, this verse
above has become twisted to mean that one should
support the Zionist State.  Think about that - giving
aid and comfort to those who, spiritually speaking,
are linearly descended from the very Pharisees who
put Jesus to death.  Besides which, they fail to
distinguish the interests of the Jewish people from
those of the Jewish Establishment, and this in itself
is a grievous error.  2000 years ago, the former heard
Jesus gladly while the later had him crucified. 

     So what is Zionism? At root it is naught but the
golden calf of Pharisaical supremacy.  In its purist
form, as promoted by the Lubavitcher sect, it is the
view that there are Jews and Gentiles - two separate
species - with the latter destined to serve the former.

     As for Zionized Christianity, what is it if not the
denial of everything Jesus ever stood for?  Instead of
Christendom turning the world upside down, it is
Zionism which has turned Christendom upside down -
the Antichrist substituted for Christ, the false messiah
for the true.   

   At one time Christendom could go down to the
marketplace of ideas and argue its case.  No more.  In
its current, dispirited condition, it reaches instead for
a gun.  No longer can it hold its own, not even in Great
Britain where more Muslims attend mosque every
week than Christians attend church.  One cannot discount
wholly the jealousy factor.  That is why Princess Duana
had to be killed.  No way was she going to be allowed to
raise the royal heirs to the throne in the Islamic faith.  No
wayu was she going to be allowed to takje the cause of
Palestinian refugee children under her wing.

   An alternative to Judeo-Christian belligerency exists -
namely Nazarene faith and practice.  Not a sect or an
organization or a school of thought, it is an attitude toward
life, one that has been there all along, just overlooked or
ignored (that is, when not actively being persecuted.) 
Whereas Zionized Christians are seemingly transfixed
by a "my God is bigger than your god mentality," priding
themselves on their "chosen"-ness, those who are really
chosen never try to get a leg up on anyone, much less bomb
their neighbors into "democracy," or rip off their art
and museum pieces or sow the land with radiation.

     Arises then the question, what "great nation" is this
referred to above, the Zionist State which now sits astride
the Holy Land, polluting it, or some other nation?   Much
of "evangelical" Christianity gives its unqualified support
to the Zionist State, calling it "the apple of God's eye"
but the Apostle Paul says otherwise:

... they have ... both killed the Lord Jesus
and their own prophets, and have persecuted
us; and they please not God, and are contrary
to all men: forbidding us to speak to the
Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up
their sins alway, for the wrath is come upon
them to the uttermost"
                           (1 Thessalonians 2:15)

Definatively, Jesus said:

The kingdom of God shall be taken
from you [the Jewish nation], and given
to a nation producing the fruits thereof.
                                 (Matthew 21:43)     

The promise of Scripture is that in due course the holy 

Land will be filled with holy Jews, even "Jews" who 

are converted Gentiles (Ezekiel 47:22).  Meanwhile, of

this we can be sure, the Zionist State is not that holy

Nation but an interloper, for:  

... the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God; but the children of the promise
(i.e. faith) who are counted as seed.
                                        (Romans 9:8)

But ye [who believe] are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood,  an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his [Jesus'] marvelous light: ...  
                                       (I Peter 2:9) 

The faith of Abraham is the seed of Abraham.  
                               (Augustine of Hippo)                                                

And I [Jesus] say unto you, That many shall
come from the east and the west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
in the kingdom of heaven.  But the children
of the kingdom shall be cast into outer
darkness: there shall be wheeping and gnashing
of teeth.                  (Matthew 8:11-12)

As he saith in Hosea, I will call them my
people, which were not my people; and her
beloved which was not beloved.  And it shall
come to pass, that in the place where it was
said unto them, Ye are not my people; there
shall they be called the children of the living
God.                   (Romans 9:25-26)

Who will be joining Abraham, Issac, and Jacob at the
heavenly banquet table: we can speculate: Socrates?
Confucius? Buddha? Lau Tzu? Rumi? Chief Seattle?
Harriet Tubman? Queen Liliuokalani? Ghandi, Marian
Anderson, Einstein?  God alone knows who are his
own but more so than these who seem worthy, there
are the little people the world over who eke out a meager
existence in obscurity with the love of God and their
neighbor in their hearts, these are the ones who will get
the nod.  Sages from the west, sages from the east, wise
men and holy men, artists and poets, the spirit of the
Nazarene penetrates all societies, all religions.  That's
the east-ness and the west-ness of it all:

I have my brothers among the Turks, Papists,
Jews, and all peoples, not that they are Turks,
Jews, Papists and sectaries, or will remain so.
In the evening they will be called into the
vineyard and given the same wage as we. 
From the east and from the west children of
Abraham will be raised up out of the stones
and will sit down with God at His table.
                                             (Sebastian Frank)

        Jesus had his own criteria for determining who shall,
or shall not, have table fellowship with Abraham.  Thus,
when certain Pharisees said to him "We be Abraham's seed,"
(John 8:33), Jesus replied:

If you were Abraham's children, ye would
do the works of Abraham.       (John 8:39)

     Before attempting to stone him, the aforementioned
Pharisees asserted to Jesus that "Abraham is our father"
(John 8:39).  Not mincing words, Jesus retorted:

Ye are of your father the devil, ...        
                                                 (John 8:44)

     "The works of Abraham"?  Since so much seems to
depend on it, we should like to know more about this. 
What works are these?  Offhandedly, it would seem
this has something to do with simple honesty and good
will motivated by kindness.  In view then was neither
Synagogue or Church per se and certainly not the
combination of the two under the aegis of Zionism.

Its divisiveness is repugnant.  It's history is
bloody.  And the "God loves me more than
you" mindset is infantile at best, and
homicidal at worst.                (Judy Andreas) 

     Judaism is not spelled with a "Z" nor is Christianity
spelled with a "D" but Zionism and Dispensationalim,
like two horns on a raging bull, have tossed the religious
world of our day for a loop and into the mud.  Much of
what passes for "the old time religion" dates back only
to the 19th Century and is an accommodation to the
spirit of our age, involving the merchandising of souls.  
The Neo-Cons (Zionists) and the Theo-Cons (the
latter representing fundamentalist dispensationalism)
have many of the characteristics of a deranged death
cult, or, if you will, a doomsday cult, for even as they
go about risking World War III, they promise Rapture
and heavenly bliss.   

Political Zionism is an agency of Big Business.
It is being used by Jewish and Christian
financiers in this country and Great Britain,
to make Jews believe that Palestine will be
ruled by a descendant of King David who will
ultimately rule the world.  What delusion! It
will lead to war between Arabs and Jews and
eventually to war between Moslems and non-
Moslems.  That will be the turning point of
history.
        (Henry H. Klein, A Jew Warns Jews, 1947)   

     A telling indication of the higher-level alliance
currently pertaining has to do with the 20 tons of heavy
water surreptitiously sent to Israel in 1959 and 1960 from
Great Britain.  Britain?  In the movie Exodus, wasn't it
Britain that at every turn tried to thwart Israel?  Yes, but
that was for public consumption.  The reality is that there
was a co-ordinated effort, with Britain providing the
heavy water, France, a nuclear reactor, and the US, in
1967, allowing huge quantities of fissile material to be
sent secretly to Israel.  All of this together made it possible
for a small, seemingly impoverished nation to become one
of the world's premier nuclear powers with hundred of
nuclear bombs in its arsenal.  And then, to top things off,
most recently, Germany, at the very time that it was in
negotiation with Iran to limit its nuclear program, was
providing special, long-distance, Dolphin class submarines
to Israel so as to facilitate the Zionist State's ability to
bring its nuclear-tipped missiles within striking distance
of Iran.  There are now five such submarines largely
underwritten, if not gifted outright, by Germany in the
Israeli navy.  Of course, this shows up these nations'
commitment to non-proliferation for being nothing
more than a public relations ploy, a charade, even a
bald-faced lie, that no such commitment ever existed. 
The one person who most stood in the way of the Zionist
State's nuclear ambitions was President Kennedy, a
principled stance which cost him his life.

     From the outset Zionism's larger aim has been to
enmesh the West in the strategic center of the world,
thereby furthering the ambitions of certain international
Jewish banking families whose age-old design is to rule
the world from Jerusalem.  Subsidized by this cartel,
the Zionist State exits not only as a pretext to seize
Middle East oil but, worse yet, as a pretext to instigate
a global religious war to achieve global unification. 
Now we see a global conflict unfolding as Judeo-
Christian "sons of Abraham" gang up and attack Islamic
"sons of Abraham" in Afghanistan, Iraq and soon, it
would seem, in Iran and Syria.