April 23, 2013

TO: Pastor Doug Bird
Abundant Life Fellowship
706 Atlantic Street
Roseville, CA 95678

Dear Pastor Bird:

Project Strait Gate will conduct a vigil at your church on May 5, 2013, during the hours that you host John Hagee’s, Christians United for Israel, Night To Honor Israel rally. We have done this at some 80 major churches nationwide.

Pastor Bird, before writing this, I examined your words and listened to your recording of your 1/23/13 trip to Israel.(1) Most of your conclusions came from Israeli guides, who you said were Israeli military members. You quoted one professing unnamed Palestinian, a journalist who lives in Israel and is a citizen. He seems to have confirmed to your satisfaction that everything the Israeli military told you was true…and you believed him!

Sad to say, after hearing the entire 30-minute presentation and examining your site, it is clear to me that you are one of the most self-deceived pastors I have yet to hear. You have allowed yourself to propagate an agenda that you were paid to believe. You should know better than to take a “free” trip to a State that is at war with its neighbors, and then pass on every word your “guides” told you, especially when the words contradict Jesus’s teachings.

Your host in Israel, John Hagee, has publicly prayed for a preemptive strike against Iran. I am providing a link to that video, so those who read this letter can listen for themselves. (2) Who do you think Jesus would preemptively strike? What would Jesus say of one who cheers on those who kill for a living?

You were awed by the military display of your hosts and delighted to relate tales of their annihilation of their neighbors, though you stop short of gory details… perhaps you do not know them. You did not pray that Israelis would kill more Palestinians, but you cheered them on when soldiers told their proud stories of mass destruction, did you not? My prayer is that you will examine your position and make a commitment to oppose the continued American slaughter in the Middle East and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. We trust that you are concerned about the destruction of human life; John Hagee is not. It is my hope you will cancel his meeting in your church.

You may pretend you do not know the truth, but Jesus knows when you are closing your eyes to it. Evangelical congregations like yours should be the most peace-seeking persons on the globe. Instead, you are supporting a nation that has been at war with its neighbors throughout all of its existence – the only country in the world that is openly imprisoning an entire population at gun point. You deny this, but you did not visit Gaza, did you? Would you like to see my photos of an Israeli bombing raid while I was there? (3)

It is not good enough to look over a fence at Gazans from miles away, as you did with the Lebanese. Did you visit any Arab homes in the West Bank without your military guides? It is not on your Podcast. Did you visit Bethlehem Bible College, founded and run by the Awad Family? Did you ask your host to show you the 26 1/2 foot high wall Israel has built around whole villages in the West Bank? Did you ask your hosts to show you the prisons where thousands of Arab men, women and children as young as 12 are imprisoned for months, even years without being charged? Did you, Pastor Bird?

No, you brought home the story told you by your hosts, John Hagee’s organization, who paid the $5-10.000 for your “first class” junket, and now you’re selling that as fact. And now anti-Arab, hate-filled John Hagee is using your Abundant Life Church as a platform from which to propagate his abundant death message.

A nationwide movement, Project Strait Gate, has initiated vigils at American churches; their message is of peace and brotherly love, as taught by Jesus in a similar time of war and hatred. Jesus calls the leaders of His church to be peacemakers. Churches like yours cannot be peacemaker churches if you support the occupation of the Palestinian people and the murder of civilians. Your association with Zionist John Hagee infects your Abundant Life Fellowship with Christian Zionism, a distorted departure from Christianity.

Your mission statement states you believe the Bible is true in every way. Jesus says, “Blessed are the Peacemakers”, and “For as much as you have done it (both kindness and evil) to the least of my brothers, you have done it unto me.”  John Hagee thinks if the Palestinians will not leave, Israel has a right to kill them, and God will honor their acts. Do you believe that, too? We invite you to show us where Jesus ever made even one statement that allowed a Christian to support or participate in taking the lives of Iraqis, Afghans or Palestinians, especially their women and children.

Jesus’ words dictate the mission of Project Strait Gate. We never do a vigil at a church that is honoring Jesus’ words. I am available to you with a detailed biblical explanation of why “Evangelical Christian Right” leaders should not support Israel’s ongoing occupation of the land of the Philistines. I would be pleased to discuss with you the question. “Is political Israel the fulfillment of Biblical Prophesy?” If you would like a presentation for your staff, Sunday school, youth group, etc., please contact me.

We will be at Abundant Life Fellowship on Sunday, May 5, 2013. We will be located on public right-of-ways near your church, ready to answer questions from all who wonder, Who Would Jesus Bomb (or beat or starve). We will be respectful of your rights and the local laws.

Toward the Strait Gate,

Charles E. Carlson
charlesecarlson.com
Project Strait Gate
PO Box 35
Wheat Ridge, CO, 80034

Copies to staff,
CA Press, and
other area churches

(1)Visit to Israel, Pastor Bird, (https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/abundant-life-fellowship/id297014334?mt=2 )
(2) Hagee prays for war: (http://vimeo.com/34409225)
(3) Gaza, Carlson (http://vimeo.com/15197234)