You know when Memorial Day is, and the Fourth of July. Everyone knows that Christmas falls on December 25. But do you know when Ramadan starts? Unless you’re a Muslim, you probably have no idea.
Observing Ramadan, a month-long time of fasting and seeking God, is one of the five pillars of Islam. Just as Passover and Easter move around depending on the lunar calendar, so does Ramadan. The Islamic calendar is also based on the moon.
Have you heard of Yearbook Christianity? I recently heard a speaker describe it, and I admit it really hit home.
What was the first thing you did when you got your high school yearbook? What’s the first thing any of us did? We flipped to the index, if there was one, and located every page where our picture appeared. Then we checked out each photo to see what we looked like. Sound familiar?
Death and destruction never take a holiday. Intense persecution in the Middle East. Famine and war. Tsunamis, tornados and hurricanes. And now a disastrous earthquake in Nepal—there are always horrific circumstances that break our hearts and motivate us to help. So we should. God blesses us so that we can bless others.
Within hours of the first news reports out of Kathmandu, my inbox was flooded with pleas for donations. Relief ministries, friends, and friends of friends all told stories of suffering and begged for aid.
Christian church bombed in Nigeria. Muslim convert disowned by family.
We read the headlines, and try to imagine, but it’s very difficult to understand what it’s like to be in their shoes. We love to complain about the demise of Christianity’s cultural acceptance here in the U.S., but we really have no idea what it’s like to lose our home, our family, or our life for our faith.
One way to overcome this barrier is to read Christian biographies. The dialogue may be fictionalized, but the stories are true. As we immerse ourselves in the book, we begin to identify with the main character. What happens to them? How do they react? How would we react in the same circumstances?
Our church just announced our short term mission opportunities for 2015. With an attendance of over 10,000 people, the booklet is quite thick. Is God calling you to Wales or India, Honduras or Macedonia? South Africa, Uganda, Haiti… the list goes on and on.
As I leafed through the pages, I asked God—are any of these trips for me? What do You want me to do this year? “Just moving will be enough for you for this year,” came the quiet reply. I admit I breathed a sigh of relief. Moving has been all-consuming for the past month, and there’s much more to do still. It’s amazing how much work it takes to simplify one’s life!
Still, I vividly remember reading a similar booklet two years ago, asking God the same question, and getting a much different answer. Much to my astonishment, the type on the page for Swaziland leapt off the page at me. It was so pronounced that at first I thought the page had been printed in bold.
I didn’t know why God wanted me to go to Swaziland. I’m not much of a “kid person” and this trip was all about kids. I signed up in pure obedience; it wasn’t until later that we realized we needed a person on the team dedicated to taking photos.
Last week I promised you some specific prayer points as we intercede for the persecuted church. While I will highlight several situations, please remember that persecution is worldwide. The Open Doors website prominently displays their map showing the fifty nations where persecution is the worst.
I’ve elected to share a few facts and stories from different parts of the world, not because these are the most popular or most important, but as a way to relate more personally to our brothers and sisters being tested so severely. I hope these stories galvanize you to seek further information and pray more fervently. The “One With Them” website provides more individual stories, or just Google “persecuted church.”
Sunday, November 9, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. In fact, the entire month of November has been set aside as a time to remember and pray for our suffering brothers and sisters around the world. Therefore, I’m focusing on persecution this month.
We’ve all read stories about Christians in the U.S. being disrespected, Christian values being mocked, and Christian “rights” being denied. Currently, a couple of Idaho pastors are facing fines and jail time for their unwillingness to marry gay couples. The city of Houston wants to censor sermons. And in California, all health plans, including those purchased by churches for their employees, must now cover abortion.
What is your opinion on illegal immigration? I’m sure you have one. This is a topic that everyone is passionate about, no matter which view you take. Provide amnesty? Send them home? Seal the border? Open the border? On the one hand, the Bible tells us to obey the law. On the other, we’re to welcome the foreigner and alien in our midst. How do we apply those verses to this political—and very human—quagmire?
Our Global Sunday school class had a guest speaker this past week. Jeff Hines and his family are missionaries to Honduras. He had a perspective that totally rearranged my thoughts on this difficult subject. What he had to say on this topic is important enough that I want to share some of it with you.
Last Friday I listed four ways we can do something to help the Christians in Iraq—stand in solidarity, write letters, give generously, and, most importantly, pray. When I mentioned prayer, I gave some guidelines, including the need to pray for the ISIS Muslims who are deceived captives of the enemy.
In spite of my suggestion, I wasn’t sure exactly how to pray for them. Sure, we want them to stop what they’re doing and turn to Jesus. But what does that look like? Is it all right to pray that God clobbers them?I’ll admit, this is one time when I want my big, powerful, angry God to do some serious smiting!
Then I came across this blog post that neatly summarizes just what we should be asking God for, when we pray for our enemies. It’s even specifically aimed at praying for Al-Qaeda and ISIS. I know I’ve stopped my Tuesday posts for the time being, but this was just too timely and appropriate to pass up. Please read:
Since January, six thousand people—Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, have been brutally murdered by ISIS, the radical Sunni Muslim terrorist group that is carving an Islamic state out of northern Iraq and Syria. It’s incredibly painful to read the reports of the atrocities being committed. If you’ve ever wondered if Satan is real, read a few of these news items:
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