KENYA: Islamists attack church

¨

KENYA: ISLAMISTS ATTACK CHURCH IN NORTHERN TOWN

Effort to replace building with mosque injures 10 Christians, ruins structure.

 

A longstanding effort to replace a church with a mosque in Kenya’s northern town of Garissa culminated in an attack by 50 Muslim youths this month that left the worship building in ruins. The gang stormed the building of Redeemed Gospel Church on Sept. 14 and pelted the congregation with stones, sending many Christians fleeing while others became embroiled in fistfights.

 

Ten Christians received hospital treatment for minor injuries and were released. Church leaders said the Muslim mob also destroyed pews, damaged the church building’s walls of corrugated iron, smashed the glass-mounted pulpit and burned the church banner with its stand.

 

Government security intelligence had reported that Muslims planned to destroy the church if it continued to operate within the residential area. A missionary said that Muslims have distributed leaflets threatening to destroy all churches in Garissa.

 

“It is quite unfair that the Redeemed Gospel Church has been displaced and is now praying under a tree in an open space with no amenities,” he said.

 

Network

 

South Africa: New President

¨

SOUTH AFRICA: PRAY FOR A GOD-FEARING PRESIDENT

 

We are calling all South Africans (and others) to pray at this CRITICAL time, for GOD to give our country the right President.

 

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and I will heal their land.

 

Proverbs 29:2

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

 

Please, pray for our Country

‘Heavenly Father, thank you that we can take comfort in the fact that you are in control of every situation.

We pray for a godly, honest leader for our country, South Africa.

God, YOU make the impossible possible.

We pray for a leader who will bring peace and reconciliation to our land.

We pray that YOUR people in South Africa will keep their eyes on YOU and that you will bless them.

Please protect all innocent South Africans from the violence in our country.

We pray this in the precious name of JESUS.’

 

The Mowats

Pakistan, new court case

¨

Dear Friends and Intercessors,

I am pleading the case of a poor Christian girl who was forcibly converted and then murdered.

 

A poor Christian girl named Sana, aged about 16 years, was serving in a private hospital as nurse aid. On 26th may 2008 when she did not return home, her father Ashiq Masih approached Dr Zaheer and Dr Ahmad and asked about his daughter. They replied that they did not know about Sana.

 

Next day they again approached along with Pervaiz Rafique, member of the provincial assembly. On insisting they handed over certificates, that Sana had embraced Islam and had married a co-worker, Irslan But.

 

They continued the struggle to reach their daughter. On 8th July 2008, they received a phone call from the police station reporting that Sana had committed suicide and requesting the family to come and receive the dead body.

 

Ashaq Masih lodged case FIR # 712/O8, Police station, Shad Bagh, Lahore – offence under section 302, 34, 109, Pakistan penal code.

 

It has been revealed that Arslan Butt, Dr, Zaher, Dr Ahmad and others have forcibly converted Sana, sexually abused her and then killed her.

Poor Ashiq Masih and his family are receiving life threats.

 

Pray for the family.

Pray for me to be able to plead her case with courage and wisdom.

 

With warm regards,

Ezra S.

Recovering realities 02

¨

 

Praying forth a recovering of the realities of the cross of Christ

 

 

02.

 

The praying and the intercession which will benefit the modern society is a praying which is crying out for the cross of Christ to be displayed, expressed and demonstrated. The praying and the intercession which will benefit the modern man is a praying which prepares an environment for the glory of Christ. The return of Jesus Christ, the coming of the Lord confronts every living creature with the glory which belongs to Christ, to Christ only. This is the glory which belongs to and should rest with the people of the Lord. This is the glory which the Lord Jesus asked the Father to give to him to be clothed in – Joh 17:5.

 

The glory of Jesus Christ is the glory which the cross alone can create. The Lamb, the Lamb slaughtered is the very center of Heaven around whom everything gathers in eternal worship. It is this very glory which, at the return of Christ, is hailed in a joyous recognition; it causes a stinging, non-reducible pain to those who refused Him when time for repentance was granted. But, all men will recognize it, acknowledge it and bow before its reality. The praying and the intercession which will benefit us all is a praying which cries out for the glory of the cross.

 

“Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Through the work of the cross, in the power of the Spirit of Christ, this glory will be demonstrated among the people of God in sacrificial every-day-living, in conflict resolving founded in the atonement, in togetherness characterized by rest, in continuous supportiveness covered by intercession.

 

“As thou didst send me into the world, even so send I them into the world.” The sending and the proper mindset are critical criteria which defines discipleship and the authenticity of the life of the Church. The history of the cross had its beginning somewhere, at some point, in eternity. The life of the Lamb, its factualness, its legitimacy, its glory, were seen, recognized, and worshipped even before its disclosure on Earth. The cross was a part of the heavenly reality before time, before the foundation of the world. The Lord said:” I manifested thy name unto the men.” He showed us through his sacrificial life what God is like at all times, even in eternity. The cross, the sacrificial living, the perfect love, belongs perfectly to the character of God. That is what his name is like, that is what his heart is like.

 

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.” James 1:17. Every good gift has its root in the reality of the cross. Every good gift has its origin in the heart of God, in the manifested correspondence and agreement which exists beyond time between the three – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Commission and sending is but an expression in time of a character anchored in eternity. When he returns one of these days, he returns as assigned to the same mission, in the same glory – as a Lamb slaughtered, as ruler over all. When he comes, he comes with this mind, this never changing mind, the eternal sacrificial Spirit. When he comes, he comes to pitch his tent and establish his throne for the sake of fellowship with those who has been led to walk along the ways of the cross. As the cross resides in the nature of God, it will in the same manner reside in men who dare to carry its testimony.

 

“The glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” Joh 17:22. The nature of the Lamb, its glory, its life, establishes the environment in which real togetherness prospers. The sacrificial mindset of Christ stands as a central expression in Heaven of the nature of God, of his attitude and of his course of action. This sacrificial Spirit, this consistent flow of life, this undeterred will to serve demands a sharply defined cross for its existence. The cross is in all its aspects a considerable part of the glory of Heaven. It makes us all partakers of every good gift and every perfect gift which comes down from the Father of lights. The realization of the word, “have this mind in you”, will only come true through the work of the cross. A “have this mind in you” is the fulfilment of “every perfect gift”.

 

The exhortation forwarded regarding the mind of Christ lies at the heart of the kind of intercession which will serve the modern man. This exhortation establishes and consolidates a praying which will allow for a returning of the central reality of our Christian faith.

 

Praying and prayers which will benefit us all as a gift from above is a praying which endeavours to establish the fellowship of the cross.

 

We must in our prayers and praying watch over our unity and common character to correspond to the unity which prevails in Heaven.

 

Our prayers and praying must reach out for a rich understanding and a detailed manifestation of every good gift and every perfect gift from above, from the Father of lights.

 

Our prayer fellowship must reflect the greatest measure of availability in giving the Spirit of the Lamb its proper place.

 

Our praying and prayers must take on as its goal to prepare for every man a revelation of the glory which follows the presence of the cross.

 

L. Widerberg

Vanuatu. Pray for government

¨

Pray for Vanuatu and the formation of a new government

 

 

Dear Friends and intercessors,

We have just gone through our national election on the 2nd September but the situation now is that there is still no formation of government.

They are still lobbying but the new Prime Minister must be appointed by next Monday 22nd September.

 

Please could you help us in our prayer that God will choose his appointed government leaders urgently this weekend before Monday 22nd Sept for the next four years.

 

Blessings.

Mr. Simeon Tavoa,

Vanuatu

South West Pacific

India. . . . . . Violence spreads

¨

 

INDIA: VIOLENCE SPREADS TO FIVE MORE STATES

Another man killed, more houses and churches attacked in Orissa’s Kandhamal district.

 

A policeman was killed today, the body of another victim of Hindu extremist violence was discovered and more houses and churches were burned in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district even as anti-Christian violence spread to at least five more states across India over the weekend.

 

Christians and churches were targeted in Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand following violence in Orissa that began following the assassination of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) leader, Laxmanananda Saraswati, and four of his disciples in Kandhamal district on August 23.

 

A mob of around 500 rioters today killed a policeman and burned down a police station in Orissa’s Kandhamal district, where Hindu extremists launched a spate of attacks three weeks ago blaming local Christians of killing Saraswati and his disciples. Maoists have claimed responsibility for the murders of the Hindu leaders. While the body of another person was found and at least 14 houses were burned on Sunday night (Sept. 14), a church and several houses were set ablaze on the previous day.

 

Authorities found the body of Purander Naik, who had fled to a relief camp where mainly Christians had taken refuge, in his village of Nilungia. “Naik was at the G. Udayagiri relief camp for over 10 days but had left for his village to see the condition of his house and poultry,” The Statesman reported. “His family was at the relief camp. Apparently he was killed during his visit to the village.”

 

Network

Hungry men

¨

God-hungry men find God. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so the souls of the Upper-Room crowd panted for the living God. Spiritually naked, they fled to Him that they might be clothed upon with the blessed Spirit. Empty, they craved to be filled. Powerless, they tarried until they were endued. Bankrupt and beggar-like, they pled the riches of His grace. Then this fear-filled crowd became fire-filled messengers. Though swordless; these soldiers of Christ fought the might of imperial Rome and won. Though without ecclesiastical prestige, they opposed the frozen orthodoxy of sterile Judaism and pierced it to the heart. Unlettered, they unblushingly declared the whole counsel of God and eventually staggered the intellectual Greeks.

 

The common offer of evangelists these days is this: “You need power; come to the altar and get it.” This has no more moral appeal than taking a car for gas and saying to the attendant, “Fill her up.” This shibboleth brings no moral change or spiritual enduement that would make a sin-sick world and a flabby faltering Church know that the Almighty has visited His people. Obviously He has not.

 

In this evil hour of aggressive, atheistic philosophy and passive Christianity (so-called), we need a Mordecai with a broken heart but a resolute will to lead us all in sackcloth and ashes. God pity us that we have swung from the Upper Room with its fire to the church with the supper room and its smoke.

 

Leonard Ravenhill

Meat for Men

India: Christians attacked, Karnataka

¨

As tensions continued in the eastern state of Orissa, Hindu nationalist groups intensified attacks on churches and Christian institutions in the southern state of Karnataka.

 

Hindu extremists leveled false charges of “forcible” conversions against Christian workers as the Karnataka government, ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, prepared to close down churches. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said that more than 200 people attacked the Mission Action Prayer Fellowship church in Bada village, Davangere district on Sunday (September 7), accusing the Christians of “forcible” conversions.

 

George said the commissioner of Davangere City had issued notices to demolish three churches – Eternal Life Church, Divine Healing Ministry church and Jesus Prayer Hall – in the city, claiming that their buildings were illegal. The three churches have been sealed.

 

The Indian Express newspaper reported that the Davangere deputy commissioner labeled the churches “unauthorized,” and a representative of the Christian Legal Association (CLA) said that the official had also sent notices to 13 other churches asking them to obtain a “license” for holding worship services.

 

“This is a violation of the religious freedom enshrined in the Indian Constitution,” said the CLA source. “There is neither any such requirement anywhere in the country, nor is there any provision for such license in any government authority.”

 

Network

Obedience: A Neglected Doctrine

¨

There is what William James called “a certain blindness in human beings” that prevents us from seeing what we do not want to see. This, along with the direct work of the devil himself, may account for the fact that the doctrine of obedience is so largely neglected in modern religious circles. That God expects us to be “obedient children” is admitted, of course, but it is seldom stressed sufficiently to get action. Many people seem to feel that our obligation to obey has been discharged by the act of believing on Jesus Christ at the beginning of our Christian lives.

 

We should remember that “the will is the seat of true religion in the soul.” Nothing genuine has been done in a man or woman’s life until his or her will has been surrendered in active obedience. It was disobedience that brought about the ruin of the race. It is the “obedience of faith” that brings us back again into divine favor.

 

A world of confusion and disappointment results from trying to believe without obeying. This puts us in the position of a bird trying to fly with one wing folded. We merely flap in a circle and seek to cheer our hearts with the hope that the whirling ball of feathers is proof that a revival is under way. A good deal of praying at our camp meeting altars has the identical effect of a good cry. It releases pent-up emotions and relaxes tense nerves. The smile that follows is accepted by the eager helpers as evidence that a deep spiritual work has been done. This can be for some people a tragic error, resulting in permanent injury and loss to the spiritual life.

 

A mere passive surrender may be no surrender at all. Any real submission to the will of God must include willingness to take orders from Him from that time on. When the heart is irrevocably committed to receiving and obeying orders from the Lord Himself, a specific work has been done, but not until then. We are not likely to see among us any remarkable transformations of individuals or churches until the Lord’s ministers again give to obedience the place of prominence it occupies in the Scriptures.

 

A.W. Tozer

World: Playground or Battleground

Beijing Book Store Owner, Shi Weihan

¨

Christian bookstore owner and house church leader, Mr. Shi Weihan, was transferred to the Beijing Haidian District Detention Center. Shi’s case has been transferred from the Public Security Bureau to the Beijing Procurator.

 

According to personal acquaintances who have visited Mr. Shi, his health has degenerated to the point that he is hardly recognizable to his closest friends.

 

Shi was first detained on November 28, 2007 then acquitted of charges on January 4, 2008. On March 19, of this year he was detained for the second time and has been incarcerated until now.

 

China Aid Association President Bob Fu, strongly condemned the Beijing authorities for their cruel and unjust treatment of Shi Weihan. Mr. Fu urged Beijing authorities to release Mr. Shi as soon as possible to avoid adversity amongst the international community.

 

To express your concern over the unjust treatment of Shi Weihan, contact:

 

Tang Long, City of Beijing Deputy Secretary General of the Municipal People’s Government. 

Phone: 011-86-10-62362008

 

Liu Jianchao, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of Information Department.

Phone: 011-86-10- 65963342

 

Network