FEASTING ON THE WORD

Just like a good steak dinner, I feasted for a few moments on some great spiritual food this morning!  It was in Romans, chapter 5.  The Holy Spirit is telling us we have been given right standing with God through His Son!

July 2, 2009

Yesterday morning 100 Christian houses and churches were set on fire by local Muslims in the city of Kasur South, east of Lahore, Pakistan.  The riots were incited by broadcasts from local mosques.
 
So far 9 burned women and 4 children have been transferred to Lahore for further medical treatment. All of them have been injured by Muslims throwing acid on them.  Local police have arrived on the scene but the situation is out of control as thousands of Muslims have gathered to join in these riots.

This statement encapsulates the vision and work of Smyrna’s Ghana ministry partner, “Pastor Tirumbu.” Over the next few months, I hope to outline some of his ministries for you and tell you of the impact they are having on local people.
 

Western visitors to any Islamic country soon notice an intrusive feature of their new location: the five-times-daily call to Muslim prayers.
 
The most noticeable call to prayer is the one that occurs at 4:00 in the morning, waking even the most tired traveler from a sound sleep. It urges Muslims to get up to petition Allah, and reminds them that “prayer is better than sleep.”
 

You don’t have to go to Africa to observe the increasing pervasiveness of Islam.
 
On the way to Ghana, I was struck by seeing Muslims at every stage, from the US through Europe to Africa: Muslims as airport workers and as passengers. Of course, the easy feature to pick out is the mandatory headdress that women must wear – one of the many decisions that is made for them, and over which they have little to no say.

6-23-2009

In Pakistan, a young, Christian man got off his bus and bought a cup of tea from a local stand.  The tea stall was run by radical Muslims: when the young man went to pay for the cup of tea he had consumed, the owner noticed he was wearing a cross around his neck. 

The owner seized the young man, calling for his employees to come and bring anything they could use to beat him.  In all, 15 Muslims beat the Christian with stones, iron rods, and clubs.  They stabbed him repeatedly as he pleaded for mercy.
 

6-22-2009

Two German bible school students were kidnapped on June 12.  The women, who were working as short-term nursing interns in a Yemeni hospital, were on a daytrip when they were seized along with a German family, a British engineer, and a South Korean teacher.

The two Christian women were stabbed, and then shot.  The teacher was also murdered.  There are rumors that the other hostages have also been murdered, but those reports have not yet been confirmed.  

What images does the word bring to your mind? A safari with lions and elephants? Vivid colors and beating drums? Or perhaps the haunting words of Robert Moffat: “I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages–villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in this world.”

June 16, 2009

Some 50 Muslim clergy burst in and overran a Pakistani courtroom in hopes of swaying a judge in a "blasphemy" case against a Christian couple.  According to the Christians' lawyer, "Nobody could stop them as they rushed into the court.  They said, 'No non-Muslim has the right to keep a Quran in his house, they have done this so they are liable to be punished.'"