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The Refiner's Fire's intent is not so much "bashing" the Presbyterians themselves, as it is the Presbyterian Church and its off-the-mark beliefs, including its anti-Israel stance. Note the 2005 WorldNetDaily.com article by Ron Strom Presbyterians host 'anti-Israel' meeting, which says in part:
The Presbyterian Church USA hosted a three-day meeting to justify to denomination leaders its decision to divest from Israel, presenting what one church elder described as a panel of "full-time, paid, anti-Israel propagandists." ... The event, which occurred Feb. 10-12 at the denomination's headquarters in Louisville, Ky., was entitled "Steps Toward Peace in Israel and Palestine."
Particularly troubling is the fact that many of the Church leaders - as in the Catholic Church - have been vocal about the fact that "evangelization of the Jews" is wrong. Any entity that claims to be an organization of God, has no business making such statements and SOMEONE needs to stand against such blasphemy! Yeshua (Jesus) told us that "no one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
"No one" means NO ONE, including the Jews. By insisting that "evangelization of the Jews" is wrong, the Presbyterian Church is, in essence, telling the world one of two things: (1) that Jews don't deserve to be saved by the shed blood of Christ. (2) Jews are already saved in some other way because they are God's "Chosen". Either option is false teaching ....
Yeshua (Jesus) - not the Presbyterian Church nor any other "church" entity - "started" Messianic Judaism. (The following is borrowed from David Chernoff's article at Adat Bnei HaMelech.)
Messianic Judaism is actually 2,000 years old, dating back to the time of the Messiah Yeshua who was a tallit-wearing, Sabbath and feast-keeping, synagogue-attending/teaching, kosher Jew. He was raised in a Jewish home and ministered to Jewish people in a Jewish land (Eretz Yisrael). His disciples were Jewish. The apostles were Jewish. The writers of the Brit Hadashah (New Covenant or New Testament) were Jewish, and for a time, the faith was strictly Jewish. Some historians believe that more than one million Jewish people in the first century A.D. believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, both in Israel and outside of Israel (Acts 2:37-42, 4:4, 21:20). Somewhere along the lines - thanks to the Catholic Church and its off-the-mark teachings, along with the myriad "denominations" that began to spring up over the centuries - Yeshua's original teaching and instruction was all but forgotten and/or ignored.
Even though Messianic Judaism, as a distinct movement, faded from the ancient scene in the seventh century A.D., there have always been Jewish believers in the Messiah Yeshua. However, beginning in the early 1800's, ever-increasing numbers of Jewish people began to believe in Yeshua as the Messiah. The modern movement came to fruition after 1967, when tens of thousands of Jewish people suddenly accepted Yeshua.
Why 1967? Because that is when Jerusalem came back into Jewish hands in fulfillment of a prophecy given by Yeshua in the Brit Hadashah (Luke 21:24). This prophecy indicated that when Jerusalem was restored to the Jewish people God would turn once again to His Jewish people in national salvation. Messianic Judaism is a prophetic movement and a direct result of the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit upon His Chosen People (Hosea 3:4-5, Joel 2:28-29, Deuteronomy 30:1-10).
As in any denomination, there are good, upstanding Presbyterian citizens who do their best to adhere to the Biblical principles. However, the Presbyterian Church as a whole has been off the mark on many issues including on its pro-homosexual, pro-gay marriage, and pro-female preacher stance. These are issues that should never even have been open to discussion in a church, let alone, APPROVED!
It is hard to keep silent when the Presbyterians host "anti-Israel meetings", and when people such as Dr. Stone, a retired professor of Christian Social Ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, publically praises Islamic terrorists while slamming the Jews!
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