Palin's Pastor tries his hand at damage control...and FAILS miserably.

[jefferson_dem]

Brickner's defense

The executive director of Jews for Jesus, David Brickner, tells NBC that he doesn't think terrorism in Jerusalem is God's judgment on the Jews for not believing in Jesus, something he seemed clearly to say at a service last month that Palin attended.

”That's not what I was saying,” he said. “That's not what I believe. The violence is evidence that sin has marred our human condition and because of sin and non belief, God's judgment rests on all humanity. And that's why God had to send Jesus, the Messiah to deal with the problem of the sin. And actually he became sin, and God judged him.… “I believe that violence is the natural outcome of the human condition, that sin has blinded the whole world to the truth of God in Jesus Christ.”

The NBC item, though, seems to leave out a crucial part of Brickner's quote: His description of terrorism as "the judgment of unbelief."

The word "unbelief" appears throughout his sermon (.pdf), repeatedly in reference to the Jewish faith. The sermon is titled "The Jerusalem Dilemma," and Brickner says:

he first dilemma that Jesus addresses is the dilemma of unbelief. The fact is that Jerusalem stands as a place where, more than any other, God’s revelation has been heard and seen, miracles have been done, prophets have ministered. And yet Jesus says ‘You’re represented, you’re symbolized, by unbelief, by rejection of the messengers. In spite of this amazing history of God’s grace in revealing His truth in you, O Jerusalem, you killed the prophets.’

That's the dilemma: That the Jews, who of all people ought to accept Jesus, don't. Brickner also discusses a generation of Jews perishing in the wilderness because of unbelief. And while he says that Jews are hardly the only ones to resist Christ, he's quite clear in the sermon about the implication he's now trying to walk back:

hat we see in Israel, the conflict that is spilled out throughout the Middle East, really which is all about Jerusalem, is an ongoing reflection of the fact that there is judgment. There is judgment that is going on in the land, and that’s the other part of this Jerusalem Dilemma. When Jesus was standing in that temple, He spoke that that judgment was coming, that there’s a reality to the judgment of unbelief. He said “I long to gather you, but...” what? “You were unwilling.” God never forces His way on human beings. And so because Jerusalem was unwilling to receive His grace, judgment was coming.

Not to get all theological here. I'm just don't see an alternate reading.

Brickner didn't return my earlier call seeking comment.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Brickners_defense.html