“I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God.”
“I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God.”
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The wife of the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith says her husband remains bold for Jesus Christ in prison. Saeed Abedini's wife, Naghmeh, recently spoke to students at Liberty University about her family's plight. She said in spite of being tortured and asked to deny his faith in Christ and return to Islam, Pastor Saeed is a light for Jesus in Evin Prison, one of the worst in the world. Despite the terrible violence committed against them and their churches by Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's Christian minority has chosen not to retaliate in kind. "One of the churches resumed praying in the midst of the rubble," says Egyptian-born Christian physician Hany Guirgis, who now lives in Edmonton. "They raised a banner saying, 'To those who burned our church, we forgive you.' It's amazing." The attacks began on August 14 following the military's violent dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo over Morsi's ouster six weeks earlier. The protestors turned against the Christians, who they accused of taking part in his overthrow. "There is no war in the North. What we have is genocide against people of the Christian faith," said Rev. Musa Asake to Morning Star News (MSN). As reported by Worthy News, Asake added that Islamic terrorism and lack of state protection has led to “outright genocide” of Christians in northern Nigeria. He continued, "There is no prosecution of those who kill and this has encouraged these Boko Haram members to continue to bomb Christian areas while Fulani herdsmen continue to attack and kill Christians in rural areas of northern part of this country with impunity … Christians in the North are under an unprecedented siege by various groups of well-armed, roundly trained and heavily funded Muslim groups bent on expressing their hate against Christians and the Christian faith through mindless, mass murder of men, women and children." LHF Back to Basics series 'Spiritual Warfare' continues today, click on the picture for a direct link to this week's lesson. In the last lesson you learned of the Trinity of God which includes God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. You learned of their origin, attributes, and functions in spiritual warfare. This lesson continues the study of the spiritual forces of good. It explains the origin, attributes, sphere of activity, classification, and organization of angels. It also explains their ministry in spiritual warfare. The National Religious Broadcasters' John Milton Project for Free Speech will be hosting a roundtable discussion on Thursday, October 3, on the future of free speech, free press, and freedom of religion on the Web platforms of Facebook, Google, and other new media companies. The event will be held in the National Press Club's First Amendment Room in Washington, DC, and bring together panelists including Todd Starnes, Host of FOX News & Commentary; Eric Teetsel, Executive Director of the Manhattan Declaration; Adam Thierer, Senior Research Fellow with the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University; and Trevor Burrus, Research Fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies. A controversial field trip to an Islamic mosque has caused a Tennessee high school to revise its field trip policy. Students in a freshman honors world studies class at Henderson High School on Sept. 4 visited the Islamic Center of Nashville, where they were reportedly given copies of the Quran. They also visited a Hindu temple. A Sumner County Schools spokesperson acknowledged there was concern about the field trip. “Our district has reviewed the practice and decided to eliminate field trips to religious venues from this class, as it does not provide equal representation to all the religions studied in the course unit,” read the statement sent to Fox News. “This decision was made due to the fact that equal representation in regards to field trips for all religions studied in the course is not feasible.” Four large blasts rocked Kenya's Westgate Mall on Monday, sending large plumes of smoke over an upscale suburb as Kenyan military forces sought to rescue an unknown number of hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants. The explosions were followed by volleys of gunfire, then a thick, dark column of smoke. Military and police helicopters and one plane circled over the Nairobi mall, giving the upscale Westlands neighborhood the feel of a war zone. Security forces' efforts the previous day to rescue the unknown number of hostages inside failed despite the military announcing that "most" hostages had been saved. Kenyan officials have said preserving the hostages' lives is a top priority, greatly complicating the rescue effort. The September 23rd issue of LHF Magazine is now available online through LHF Ministries website free of charge. Peruse articles on-line or download the PDF for a more traditional magazine format. <- Click Picture to go straight to September 23rd issue! Top Story: 12 Things That Can Cause Marriage Failure Of course you don’t want your marriage to fail, do you? You want it to last for life. But if too many of the things listed in this article are a part of your life, then you may be on a dangerous road in your relationship. Msgr. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop, Catholic Bishop of Vinh diocese on Vietnam’s north-central coast, has appealed for “international support and solidarity” following violent attacks against Catholics in Nghe An Province on 4 September which left at least 40 people seriously injured. Msgr. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop has described the situation for Christians there as “dangerous and worrying.” According to sources inside the country, on 4 September police and militia used tear gas, electric batons and police dogs to break up a peaceful protest against the arrest and detention of two Catholics from My Yen parish. The two men, Nguyen Van Hai, 43, and Ngo Van Khoi, 53, were arrested on 22 May as men believed to be plainclothes police officers stopped and searched Catholics visiting a shrine in Nghi Phuong Commune. The men’s families were informed that they had been charged with “disturbing pubic order”. Their communities hoped they would be released as part of Vietnam’s national day amnesty on 2 September. |
Walter Blackwood
Associate Pastor with The Bridge Community of Faith in Kelowna BC Canada. Archives
May 2017
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