Recovering realities 06

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06.

Carrying a cross

Reading: 2 Cor 12:9, Eph 4:20-21, Rev 5:6

Those who want to learn Christ do so by carrying a cross. A man in search for a life lived in service and in the fear of the Lord has to take on a cross. Life is found by the man who has made himself ready for the loosing of life and then undergoing the loss under the hand of the Lord. Anyone who dares to allow the cross to be an operative factor in his life will be made able to translate, to convey life to other men. Along this road to life the assimilation and accumulation of pleasing and soothing thoughts and a constructing of doctrinal statements is of meager value. This road is meandering into eternity through one testing and molding experience after the other, each one with its own content and meaning.

Those who want to learn Christ will inevitably find the ways of the Lord to be summarized in the conundrum of the cross. If God, in all his overwhelming glory, could be summed up from a human standpoint, the result would at every point crystallize within the realm of the cross. To come alongside him in his omnipotence and wisdom equals being confronted by the reality of perfect servanthood in a tender spirit of sacrifice. God is there, always and ever as a servant, always and ever to provide life through sacrifice, always and ever at work at the core of his creation in the wisdom of the Lamb. Grace, life and salvation reaches its fullness in this weakness. The cross is the wisdom of God, the cross of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.

If we were able to look into Heaven as John saw, we would immediately recognize the Lamb. One would immediately be made able to perceive as Heaven does – a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain. The intrinsic nature of the glory, this eternal shekinah light, rests over and in all there is in Heaven with its absolute origin and center in the sacrificial disposition of God. The mind of Christ, this mind, this mindset which constitutes godliness is brought to fullness and practical interpretation through a daily taking on of the cross. A handling of the regular everyday life with this perspective brings Heaven to Earth. The wisdom of the Lamb bends away from the wisdom of the world, confronts it and overcomes it.

We do not need more power or enhanced capability but we need a deeper death. God’s cause reaches its fullness and perfection in our weakness. God’s way is a narrow path. The straightest passage towards the goal of the Lord is a passage meaning constriction. Out in open space, amidst pressure and restriction, words are turned into life – but only there. One who forgets, even rejects the taking up of the cross delivers a false testimony – his life will display a lack of authenticity. Learning Christ holds a partaking of Christ for the sake of being made able to share what is obtained in that fellowship, sharing the life found at His feet. The cross demonstrates the mind of God, it presents the nature of God. Defending oneself against a daily carrying of the cross is to defend self against God. A taking up of the cross is to take part of the mind and the ways of Christ, taking part of life itself, a formation for the sake of ministering the life of Christ.

Our prayer-life, our inner life ought to be imbued with a “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth” to open up for the glory of God to begin shining here as it does in Heaven.
Our prayer-life, our inner life ought to embrace the cross as the way to life to counteract the moral and spiritual irresponsibility in our societies and cities.
Our prayer-life, our life lived in fellowship ought to take hold of the cross for the sake of mobilizing a people standing together in integrity amidst a common, well-established dodging of critical issues.
Our prayer-life, our inner life ought to aim at installing the reality of the cross of Christ to recover a testimony concerning the true values of life.

The Lord requires discipleship: “The one losing his life on account of Me shall find it – he shall find real life.”

Lars Widerberg

Indonesia: Worship shut down

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Several Islamic organizations have pressed officials in a sub-district near Indonesia’s capital city to forbid Jakarta Christian Baptist Church to worship in a house, resulting in an order to cease worship.
The Islamic Defenders Front, the Betawi Forum Group, and political party Hizbut Tahrir have told officials in Sepatan sub-district, Tangerang district, near Jakarta that worship activities cannot be conducted in a residence.

The house belongs to the Rev. Bedali Hulu. Both District Officer Ismet Iskandar and a sub-district officer support the closure and have ordered Hulu to use his home only as a residence, the pastor said.
The sub-district officer, who goes by the single name of Rusdy, has sent a notice ordering an end to all worship at the house. “But they have not put forth a solution,” Hulu said.

“For a long time we have suggested that we build a place of worship, but there has been no response from the local government.” Church members feel terrorized by mobs that have stopped services, the pastor said.

IRAN: Two women stand firm

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In March, officials incarcerated Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirizadeh in one of Iran’s worst prisons. Their health has deteriorated in the harsh conditions.
“Neither one are in good health,” reports Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs. “They both have had health difficulties since they’ve been in prison.”

Nettleton explains that there is a “method to the madness” of forcing these believers to endure horrible circumstances.
“The goal of the justice system there, using the term ‘justice’ very loosely,” he explains, “is to pressure them and force them and make them so miserable that they will deny their faith in Christ and return to Islam.”

On March 5, Rustampoor and Amirizadeh were accused of “acting against state security” and “taking part in illegal gatherings.” Currently they are incarcerated at Evin Prison, known for its notoriously harsh treatment of prisoners. Maryam and Marzieh share a cell with 27 other women; illness is spreading rapidly in the prison, VOM states.

According to a recent VOM report, Marzieh and Maryam are suffering from sore throats, irregular painful stomach aches, and intense headaches. Marziah needs prayer for a critically-infected tooth.
“Right now, they’re simply treating her with pain medication instead of treating her with anything that would fight the infection,” says Nettleton. “There’s a very real fear that the infection could spread and cause even more trouble for her.”

These women have stood boldly for Christ in many interrogations and trials. Click here to see details of the August 8 interrogation. In that case, both women were ordered to deny their faith in verbal and written statements. Standing firm, they both declared, “We love Jesus. We will not deny our faith.” They have been sent back to prison to await the judge’s verdict.

“The judge is basically saying ‘OK, well we’ll send you back to prison and try to make you so miserable that in fact you will take a different course and you will decide to renounce your faith.,” Nettleton interprets.

He says prayer and urgent action are both needed to make a difference in this situation.
“Obviously, we need to pray specifically about their health, and particularly I think for this toothache. The Lord could touch and bring healing in a dramatic way, and I think that would be an incredible testimony to their faithfulness and to the fact that God is in control and is working through this situation.”

“You can literally send an e-mail to his office and say ‘Listen, Maryam and Marzieh are not a threat to the Iranian government. They’re simply two ladies who want to follow Jesus Christ, and they should be released.’”

Nettleton also urges believers to write letters of encouragement to Maryam and Marzieh. In doing so, “they’ll know that people around the world haven’t forgotten them,” he says.  “They’re part of our family…and their family around the world remembers them and is praying for them.”

Pakistan: Christians attacked

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It was just a rumor. But among the radical Muslims in Pakistan’s Gojra village, a rumor was enough of an excuse to kill.

When the rumor was broadcast from the loudspeakers on the minarets of local mosques, it became fact. As part of a wedding ceremony, the loudspeaker shouted, Christians tore pages from a Quran. Then they compounded the disrespect by walking on the shredded pages.

“Defend Islam!” The loudspeaker called. Muslims answered, rampaging through a Christian section of Gojra on Aug. 1. Eight Christians were killed, including women and children. More than 100 Christian homes were burned by a mob. The mob, which was estimated to be more than 20,000 people, also burned a church.

Five Hours Without Help
Emergency personnel did not reach Gojra for more than five hours. Christians were forced to use vegetable carts to move their dead and wounded to the hospital.

Responding to an international outcry, Pakistani government officials have now said no Quran was desecrated. The government promised to help rebuild the burned homes of Christian families.

Even before the government acted, contacts of The Voice of the Martyrs were in Gojra, offering comfort to the wounded and praying with the families of the dead. They continue to aid the village, including helping with some medical expenses, offering encouragement and pressing for a forceful government response.

Pray Blasphemy Laws Are Overturned
Christians in Pakistan hope these attacks can be a turning point. They are praying to God and pressing their government to overturn unjust blasphemy laws that are often a pretext to attack Christians.

They are also asking us to pray with them.
Pray for Christians in Pakistan to be bold witnesses for Christ, despite threats.
Pray for those wounded and left homeless by the brutal Gojra attacks.
Pray for Muslims to come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way.

One accord

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The unanimous, the concerted and concordant prayer aims at expressing a corporate burden, a corporate testimony of the heart of God.

A burden received from Him who operates world affairs by prayer is not an isolated issue – something which stands by itself – but reveals the brokenness of God, the crucified God. A burden apprehended and admitted from this eternal source causes much aggravation and agony, but holds final fullness at its core. The accepting of a calling to priestly ministry to be expressed corporately, to be expressed as concordant prayer will accomplish much according to the purpose of God.

Remember; one man alone, or woman – lonely as she might be, standing with God in his burden is of greatest significance in the developments towards God’s ends.

Lars W.

Iran: Authorities tighten grip

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AUTHORITIES TIGHTEN GRIP ON CHRISTIANS AS UNREST ROILS

Waves of arrests hit church networks; judge asks converts from Islam to recant.

More than 30 Christians were arrested in the past two weeks near Tehran and in the northern city of Rasht. Two waves of arrests near Tehran happened within days of each other, and while most of those detained – all converts from Islam – were held just a day for questioning, a total of eight Christians still remain in prison.

In Rasht, eight Christians belonging to the same network were arrested on July 29 and 30 in two separate rounds of arrest. Seven were released, while one, a male, remains in the city’s prison. And on Sunday (Aug. 9), two Christian women appeared before a judge who asked them if they would deny their newfound faith and return to Islam, reported the Farsi Christian News Network.

Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, have been held in the notorious Evin prison since March 5 accused of “acting against state security” and “taking part in illegal gatherings.” As both women refused to recant their faith, the judge sent them back to their prison cells “to think about it,” according to a source who spoke with family members.

“When they said, ‘Think about it,’ it means you are going back to jail,” said the source. “This is something we say in Iran. It means: ‘Since you’re not sorry, you’ll stay in jail for a long time, and maybe you’ll change your mind.’”

Prayer Alert: Iran

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Prayer Alert: Maryam and Marzieh on Trial in Iran

Maryam Rustampoor (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) were first arrested and imprisoned on March 5 on charges of “taking part in illegal gatherings” and “acting against state security.” One unconfirmed report I read said they had taken up a church offering without being authorized to do so. They have been in Evin Prison ever since.

In a court trial yesterday, Sunday, August 9, they were told to recant their faith. Even though the mandatory death sentence for apostasy did not pass the Iranian Parliament, there is still a very real danger they will be convicted of apostasy and given the death sentence.

However, Islamic law forbids the execution of virgins, which both these young women are. To get around that, unmarried female convicts are forcefully “wed” the night before their execution, gang raped all night, and then executed the following morning.
Please pray earnestly these young women will be delivered from such a fate.

 

Pray for Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh
Sunday, August 9, 2009

In a dramatic session before the revolutionary court today in Tehran, Maryam Rustampoor (27), and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) were told to recant their faith in Christ. Though great pressure was put on them, both women declared that they would not deny their faith.
Maryam and Marzieh were originally arrested on March 5, 2009 and have suffered greatly while in prison, suffering ill health, solitary confinement and interrogations for many hours while blindfolded.

On Saturday August 8, Maryam and Marzieh were summoned to appear in court on Sunday August 9 in order to hear a verdict on their case. The chief interrogator had recommended a verdict of ‘apostasy.’

However, when they arrived, no verdict was actually given. Instead, the court session focussed on the deputy prosecutor, Mr Haddad, questioning Maryam and Marzieh about their faith and telling them that they had to recant in both verbal and written form. This made it clear that in the eyes of the court, Maryam and Marzieh’s only crime is that they have converted to Christianity.

Mr. Haddad, asked the two women if they were Christians. “We love Jesus,” they replied. He repeated his question and they said, “Yes, we are Christians.”
Mr. Haddad then said, “You were Muslims and now you have become Christians.”
“We were born in Muslim families, but we were not Muslims,” was their reply.

Mr. Haddad’s questioning continued and he asked them if they regretted becoming Christians, to which they replied, “We have no regrets.”
Then he stated emphatically, “You should renounce your faith verbally and in written form.” They stood firm and replied, “We will not deny our faith.”

During one tense moment in the questioning, Maryam and Marzieh made reference to their belief that God had convicted them through the Holy Spirit. Mr. Haddad told them, “It is impossible for God to speak with humans.”
Marzieh asked him in return, “Are you questioning whether God is Almighty?”
Mr. Haddad then replied, “You are not worthy for God to speak to you.”
Marzieh said, “It is God, and not you, who determines if I am worthy.”

Mr. Haddad told the women to return to prison and think about the options they were given and come back to him when they are ready (to comply). Maryam and Marzieh said, “We have already done our thinking.”

At the end of the session, Mr. Haddad told them that a judge will give them his verdict, though it is not clear who will be the judge in their case now. He also allowed Maryam and Marzieh to have a lawyer represent them in the case for the first time since their arrest.

Both women are back in Evin prison tonight. During their five-month ordeal, both have been unwell and have lost much weight. Marzieh is in pain due to an on-going problem with her spine, as well as an infected tooth and intense headaches. She desperately needs medical attention. Two months ago the prison officials told her the prison had proper medical equipment and that they will attend to her, but so far no proper treatment has been given.

Despite the concentrated effort of officials to pressure them into recanting their faith, Maryam and Marzieh love Jesus and they are determined to stand firm to the very end no matter whatever happens. They have demonstrated their love for Jesus and would offer their lives for Him if they were called to do so. After today’s court session they said, “If we come out of prison we want to do so with honor.”

Maryam and Marzieh’s case is a clear and harsh violation of human rights and religious liberty by Iran’s authorities. They deserve the support of all those who respect human rights and to be released without charges so they can pursue a life of freedom.

Nepal: Christians increasingly vulnerable

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As law and order breaks down, Christians come under attack.

Three years after a pro-democracy movement led to the proclamation of Nepal as a secular state, some Christians say they are in greater peril than ever. They are now being targeted by militant Hindu organizations that blame the church for the abolition of Hinduism as the state religion and the end of monarchy.

Since May, when the Nepal Defense Army (NDA) – which claims to have links with militant Hindu organizations – struck one of Kathmandu valley’s oldest and biggest churches, the group has threatened to drive all Christians from the country.

And now a group claiming to be the parent organization of the NDA has warned that on Aug. 10 it will start a “Save the Hindu nation” movement. Last month, the Rev. Pius Perumana, a senior Catholic priest, received a phone call. “The caller said he was in charge of the NDA in Kathmandu valley,” said Perumana of Ishalaya Catholic Church, located in Godavari on the southern rim of the capital.

“However, I recognized the voice. It was Ram Prasad Mainali himself.” Perumana said he has received at least five threatening calls from the Hindu supremist ordering him to close all Christian organizations and leave Nepal, he said. The NDA leader has also been calling Protestant pastors, demanding money. In districts outside Kathmandu, where security is weak, some pastors are said to have paid up out of fear.

SOMALIA: Convert from Islam shot dead

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Islamic extremist rebel group hunts down underground church leader.

Muslim extremists early this morning, July 20, killed a Christian convert in Mahadday Weyne, Somalia, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab Islamist militia shot Mohammed Sheikh Abdiraman to death at 7 a.m., eyewitnesses said.
They said the Islamic extremists appeared to have been hunting the convert from Islam, and when they found him they did not hesitate to shoot him.

The sources said that Abdiraman was the leader of an underground “cell group” of Christians in Somalia.
“We are very sad about this incident, and we also are not safe,” one eyewitness said by telephone. “Pray for us.”

CHINA – Christian woman jailed for smuggling in North Korean refugees

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Lawyers representing a Christian woman detained for smuggling North Korean refugees into China hope to strike a blow for refugees’ rights.

Li Mingshun, a Chinese Korean from Heilongjiang province, north-east China, is in jail in neighbouring Inner Mongolia, charged with helping to smuggle 61 refugees into China.

She was arrested this April at her home in Qingdao. Officials demanded 100,000 yuan (almost £9,000) for her release – a fine her family was unable to pay. Police have threatened to arrest Li’s 26-year-old daughter, Piao Zhengying, on similar charges.

Li’s family are particularly concerned because she has severe hypertension and heart disease. Lawyers believe this case could help draw attention to the plight of North Korean refugees in China, whom the Chinese authorities tend to detain or forcibly repatriate.

Pray that Li Mingshun’s case will indeed force China to rethink its current policies on North Korean refugees. Ask God to bless and protect Li in custody.