When I was in my early twenties, I had a series of nightmares that convinced me to “program” my mind not to remember my dreams most days. It worked and I got used to it. So, at the rare times I did experience and recall dreams, they were usually vivid and extraordinary. For example, I once dreamed of randomly meeting Bob Dylan on a country bridge in the middle of the Texas Hill Country by myself as he strummed on an acoustic guitar while we talked. It would be things like that.

About a year after my father passed away in 1997, I had a number of dreams with him in them, just the two of us or him and Mom with me. They were peaceful and comforting. Now, they happen less often but I’m okay with that.

Last night before I fell asleep, I prayed and asked the Lord to let me dream and remember the dream. I had nothing specific to ask for (and trying to dream specific things almost never works anyway). So, I just prayed that the Lord’s Will would be done. I was fine with whatever He let me dream.

And I had a lovely dream with my mother who passed away on August 17th, one day after her 84th birthday. It was normal circumstances, and Dad was initially in the dream, too, but he went ahead to somewhere else, and I spent the majority of the dream alone with Mom. She was younger, middle-aged, healthy, and we just talked. In the dream, I didn’t think about her being dead. We were just there in seemingly normal circumstances. The details aren’t important, though I remember them.

When I woke up from another dream I had after that dream, I recalled the Mom dream, was pleasantly stunned, and I thanked God in my thoughts with all my heart. He honored my prayer in the most beautiful way possible.

And I knew that I had to share this experience. Thanks for reading.

I am a nondenominational Protestant Christian who views himself as a Spiritual Jew according to the Bible.

Romans 2:28-29 (King James Version=KJV) states, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

It pains me to see people, especially self-professed Christians, despise or speak ill of Jews and Israel. I’m not talking about current-day politics or individual politicians or specific policies. I see too many people using politics as a shield for their own antisemitism, something they were taught or came to believe. They are fueled by their emotions. And if they are presented with facts which debunk their beliefs, they often will not listen or say the evidence is untrue or fabricated...even though the evidence is verifiable.

Antisemitism is ancient and powerful but it’s equally wrong.

As a Christian, I’m going to approach this from a Biblical perspective.

God made the Jewish people from Abraham.

Genesis 12:1-3 (KJV) “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 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.”

God made a series of forever covenants with the Jewish people after the Abrahamic covenant:

The Mosaic covenant (Moses and the Ten Commandments) in Exodus 20:1-17 (KJV)

The Davidic covenant that God made to King David in 2 Samuel 7: 4-17 (KJV)

The New Covenant - Jeremiah 31: 31-34 (KJV) that states, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, fr.om the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God then sent His Only Son, Jesus, to be born as fully man and fully God. He lived a sinless life, taught with authority, performed miracles, was tried, convicted, tortured, and died for the sins of the world. Then Jesus was resurrected on the third day, seen of many witnesses, and then gloriously ascended back to Heaven to fulfill His words that He would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter to the world. That is the foundation of Christianity.

In John 14:16-20 (KJV), Jesus said, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

And while Jesus did speak against the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees of His day, He did not denounce Judaism; He fulfilled it.

Paul taught the correct understanding of the Jews relationship with God.

Romans 11: 25-36 (KJV) states, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes.

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Understand this: If you are a Christian who is against the Jews and Israel, you are actually against God.

Despite the historic, Biblical strife and backsliding between the Jewish people and God, He still claims them, just as He claims Israel.

Genesis 17:7 (KJV) states, "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”

God is not figurative or hypothetical. When He says forever, He means forever.

Even though the Jewish people broke the covenant with God, that doesn’t mean God broke His side of the covenant. He made a new covenant with Israel that He would also extend to the Gentiles in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (KJV) which I mentioned earlier in this article.

Even after the end times described in Revelation, where Earth and the heavens are destroyed, there will be a new Heaven, a new Earth, and a New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21: 1-8 (KJV) states, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

God has established all things. He has a plan for the Jewish people the same as He has a plan for Christians and everyone else. God has not abandoned the Jews or Israel. And we would do well to trust His Judgment over our own. We would also do well to heed the truths the Lord shows us through His Word, the Bible, instead of our own wisdom, beliefs, or preconceptions about the Jews and Israel. We should not despise or hate anyone. We can hate sin because God hates sin but that should not extend to people.

I John 4: 20-21 (KJV) states, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

In conclusion, I believe that Christians should strive to get closer to the Lord through prayer, studying the Bible, and attending church. We should listen to the Holy Spirit within us. He not only comforts us in times of trouble; He guides us and talks to us.

We just have to listen.

I tried. I really tried to make it work having an author profile over at BlueSky. I even linked my account to my allensteadham.com website address. I posted about my Christian fiction books, stories, and works-in-progress. I connected with a few friends and a few other people in the community. And in fairness, initially there was a little bit of engagement.

But my word, there was so much derangement on that platform! Death threats towards a certain prominent political figure and related personalities, disturbingly angry people of a particular ideology, and a kind of one-way group think that I just can't understand.

I attempted a moderated approach. I blocked certain keywords and blocked a lot of accounts who only had one or two things to scream or complain about. On one person's advice, I tapped into a feed for Christian fiction. And finally, I deleted the Discover function.

For a couple of weeks, I was happy with photography accounts and one or two authors and creatives who just did their thing.

But now, there was ZERO engagement.

So, I was left with a choice:

1. Open things back up and deal with the sheer unpleasantness and madness; or

2. Deactivate my BlueSky account.

I chose to deactivate my account because I'm not getting anything positive from BlueSky anymore. It's 90% echo chamber for mostly unhappy people who don't seem interested in what I have to offer. And that's fine. My work isn't going to be a great fit for everybody or every environment.

Don't get me wrong: there are some genuinely nice people on BlueSky. But they're not in the majority. And that's unfortunate.

I'll keep pressing forward. Social media platforms change and they come and go. I don't regret setting up the account, and if things eventually improve, I may come back. But the way it is right now, it's not for me.

Partnering with my publisher Ambassador International, I'm having a Black Friday sale for the Jordan of Algoran (Science-Fantasy) Series! Using the link below, you can get the entire Jordan series in print for $30! Normally, the paperback copies are $15.99 to $17.99 each, but in this deal, it's literally $10 a book and great savings to you! The series is a terrific holiday gift, too. The savings will only continue until New Years Day, so get your copies now!

Series blurb:
The Jordan of Algoran series starts with teenaged Jordan Lewis and her mother being abducted to an alien world and seemingly marooned there. However, God has a plan for Jordan's life and all she has to do is trust Him. Along her decades long journey, Jordan matures, finds love and family, experiences extraordinary triumphs and devastating heartbreak. And yet, Jordan has one decision to make that surpasses them all.

Get the whole series for this great price at THIS LINK!