REMINDER: "Truth That Transforms" broadcast - (Cen. FL - Sun., 5 pm, ch. 55.1; Mon. 7 pm. ch. 52.2; www.truthinaction.org, this week’s episode includes a special video about ”a two-decade old global movement has quietly flown under the radar, yet it has far-reaching impacts in American communities. United Nations Agenda 21 seeks to save Mother Earth, while curtailing the rights of individuals, with policies that include remaking American cities and reducing human population”Don’t miss another great broadcast
URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:
Stop Censoring the Abortionist Gosnell Mass Murder Trial! - Please go to the following site and join me by adding your name to a petition signed by a growing number of people who want the mainstream media to finally report on this incredible trial that they have largely CHOOSEN not to do. (Go to the site to get full info about this, though I did post an article about it in post #493 last Saturday.) https://www.mrc.org/action/stop-censoring-abortionist-gosnell-mass-murder-trial?roi=echo3-15276168063-12322625-78ab33e7c6cdfb9ca6e76919b81a7eaa&utm_source=apr16remark&utm_medium=email&utm_content=abortiontrial&utm_campaign=stopcensoring
REMINDER: "Truth That Transforms" broadcast - (Cen. FL - Sun., 5 pm, ch. 55.1; Mon. 7 pm. ch. 52.2; www.truthinaction.org, this week’s episode includes a special video about ”a two-decade old global movement has quietly flown under the radar, yet it has far-reaching impacts in American communities. United Nations Agenda 21 seeks to save Mother Earth, while curtailing the rights of individuals, with policies that include remaking American cities and reducing human population”Don’t miss another great broadcast
URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:
Stop Censoring the Abortionist Gosnell Mass Murder Trial! - Please go to the following site and join me by adding your name to a petition signed by a growing number of people who want the mainstream media to finally report on this incredible trial that they have largely CHOOSEN not to do. (Go to the site to get full info about this, though I did post an article about it in post #493 last Saturday.) https://www.mrc.org/action/stop-censoring-abortionist-gosnell-mass-murder-trial?roi=echo3-15276168063-12322625-78ab33e7c6cdfb9ca6e76919b81a7eaa&utm_source=apr16remark&utm_medium=email&utm_content=abortiontrial&utm_campaign=stopcensoring
PRAY that 1) justice will be served to this abortionist for his crimes and that he would repent of his sins and find salvation in Jesus, and 2) this trial will lead many involved in performing abortions to finally repent and turn away from doing evil and turn their lives over to Jesus.
Same -Sex "Marriage"- PLEASE PRAY WITH ME (every day untill the decision is revealed around mid-June) THAT THE SUPREME COURT WILL VOTE TO UPHOLD THE 2 LAWS REVIEWED SUPPORTING A TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE.. PRAY that the Court will resist any pressure to MAKE new law based on "cultural trends." PRAY as though the very future of the institution of the family is at stake because it is. PRAY! - for the sake of possibly millions of children, and for our country if it is to continue to be shown any more favor by our Heavenly Father, who I promise you will be very displeased if homosexual marriage is legalized; "GOD IS NOT [TO BE] MOCKED..." - (Gal. 6:7) - Stan [Be sure to check out my brief essay at post #478.]
CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED (Iranian-born AMERICAN pastor who just started an 8 year sentence for helping the underground churches in Iran) If you have not already, please join over 500,000 (was recently250,000) who have signed the petition for Pastor Saeed's release and tell your friends about it. http://aclj.org/iran/save-american-pastor-from-iranian-prison-sentence As the Lord leads, please pray: *For Pastor Abedini as he endures one of Iran’s most deadly prisons, potentially beaten and abused regularly, simply because of his Christian faith. *For the pastor’s wife and family and the Holy Spirit’s comfort upon them. * For God to visit his tormenters and all in his cell with him with supernatural dreams of the risen Christ, and use the pastor's actions and words to draw them to repent and turn to Christ; that God would use the pastor's time in that prison to spark a genuine spiritual revival that will bring scores of Iranians to Christ..*For the U.S. State Department to get involved in a significant way to obtain the pastor’s release.
April 15 - 1)".. During the weekly prison visit today, Pastor Saeed's family reported that his physical condition is worsening - seeing first-hand the marks and symptoms left by the recent beating. These beatings and the internal injuries are causing Pastor Saeed frequent fainting spells. Iranian officials are telling Pastor Saeed it could be an additional two months before he will receive medical treatment. Such a delay is inhumane and a gross violation of Iran’s international obligations. ...In addition to refusing to give Pastor Saeed the medical care he needs, it now appears authorities are stepping up their physical abuse and psychological torture. Pastor Saeed reported that cellmates, who appear to have connections to the Iranian intelligence police, recently threatened they would suffocate Pastor Saeed in his sleep, making his death look like an accident. The daily threat that his life could be taken by his internal injuries or by the hands of cellmates, weighs heavily on Pastor Saeed. .."(http://aclj.org/iran/beatings-intensify-american-pastor-saeed-condition-worsens-in-iranian-prison PRAY that Pastor Saeed might finally receive the medical treatment he needs. 2) More than 550,000 people from 180 countries have signed the petition to Save Saeed. Your voice has moved the U.S., the European Union, and many others to call for his release. But as Pastor Saeed's May 7th 33rd birthday approaches, it's time to encourage him directly. At the ACLJ, they've obtained the address of Evin Prison, and their goal is to flood the prison with thousands of messages of encouragement for Pastor Saeed. Just write a letter (or simply sign your name to one proposed greeting) and they will be sure that its delivered. These messages will let Pastor Saeed know that we're praying for him and his release, as well as send a signal to the Iranian leaders that Americans will not give up standing up for him. Go to Save Saeed.org and add your name to those sending letters to him.
Jesus made it clear that the preeminent mark of the Christian is sacrificial love....
Scarcely a day goes by without yet another reminder of the ancient Roman phrase, Homo homini lupus est: man is a wolf to his fellow man. The terrible bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon—which, at the time of this recording, killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured at least 140 others—is just the latest graphic piece of evidence.
And the bombing is also further proof—as if we needed more—of what Christian writer Ed Stetzer calls “the brokenness in our fallen world.” Yet Christians know that this is, at best, an incomplete depiction of man. Fallen men are capable of incredible—or, perhaps, all-too-credible—cruelty towards each other. But even in our fallen state, we are capable of just the opposite: overcoming evil with good.
As one of my colleagues pointed out, one of the most striking and certainly the most moving images coming out of Boston was of people rushing forward toward the sites of the explosions to help the injured. The Archbishop of Boston, Sean O’Malley, spoke for many of us when he said that “the citizens of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are blessed by the bravery and heroism of many, particularly the men and women of the police and fire departments and emergency services who responded within moments of these tragic events.”
But it wasn’t only those in uniform. Carlos Arredondo, a peace activist whose son was killed in Iraq, became a national hero when he jumped over the security fence and started helping the injured. And he wasn’t the only civilian who ran towards the chaos when common sense dictated running away from it.
Watching the coverage, another colleague was not only inspired by the actions of those who rushed to the aid of the injured but also saw in their actions a metaphor of what it means to be the Church in a broken and fallen world.
As Ed Stetzer wrote, “it’s not enough for Christians merely to recognize that the world isn’t what it ought to be and that people are suffering in ways they shouldn’t have to suffer.” Instead, our “sorrow and indignation” should prompt us to act in ways that “subvert” that brokenness.
Our task is to “work to make this world more as God would intend it to be—with justice, peace, and more.” Or as Chuck Colson used to put it, our task is to make the invisible Kingdom visible.
Chuck loved to tell the story of how, when the great plagues struck ancient Rome and the doctors fled the city, Christians stayed behind and cared for the sick, even though as a result some contracted the plague themselves and died. They saw this as part of what it meant to be God’s people in a suffering world. As a result of their witness, many pagans became Christians because they saw in this sacrificial love something that paganism could not offer.
That “something” was the invisible Kingdom now made visible. Think of Mother Theresa. While other people abandoned the sick and dying of Calcutta, she embraced them. In doing so, she and her Missionaries of Charity made the invisible Kingdom visible one dying person at a time. Every time Prison Fellowship volunteers reach out to a different kind of pariah—prisoners—they announce that this world’s brokenness is not final. God is at work setting things right.
One day, because of the resurrection of Jesus, it will all be set right. But for now, we keep running toward the chaos making visible to the world the invisible Kingdom of God that will one day fill the whole earth.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Scarcely a day goes by without yet another reminder of the ancient Roman phrase, Homo homini lupus est: man is a wolf to his fellow man. The terrible bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon—which, at the time of this recording, killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured at least 140 others—is just the latest graphic piece of evidence.
And the bombing is also further proof—as if we needed more—of what Christian writer Ed Stetzer calls “the brokenness in our fallen world.” Yet Christians know that this is, at best, an incomplete depiction of man. Fallen men are capable of incredible—or, perhaps, all-too-credible—cruelty towards each other. But even in our fallen state, we are capable of just the opposite: overcoming evil with good.
As one of my colleagues pointed out, one of the most striking and certainly the most moving images coming out of Boston was of people rushing forward toward the sites of the explosions to help the injured. The Archbishop of Boston, Sean O’Malley, spoke for many of us when he said that “the citizens of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are blessed by the bravery and heroism of many, particularly the men and women of the police and fire departments and emergency services who responded within moments of these tragic events.”
But it wasn’t only those in uniform. Carlos Arredondo, a peace activist whose son was killed in Iraq, became a national hero when he jumped over the security fence and started helping the injured. And he wasn’t the only civilian who ran towards the chaos when common sense dictated running away from it.
Watching the coverage, another colleague was not only inspired by the actions of those who rushed to the aid of the injured but also saw in their actions a metaphor of what it means to be the Church in a broken and fallen world.
As Ed Stetzer wrote, “it’s not enough for Christians merely to recognize that the world isn’t what it ought to be and that people are suffering in ways they shouldn’t have to suffer.” Instead, our “sorrow and indignation” should prompt us to act in ways that “subvert” that brokenness.
Our task is to “work to make this world more as God would intend it to be—with justice, peace, and more.” Or as Chuck Colson used to put it, our task is to make the invisible Kingdom visible.
Chuck loved to tell the story of how, when the great plagues struck ancient Rome and the doctors fled the city, Christians stayed behind and cared for the sick, even though as a result some contracted the plague themselves and died. They saw this as part of what it meant to be God’s people in a suffering world. As a result of their witness, many pagans became Christians because they saw in this sacrificial love something that paganism could not offer.
That “something” was the invisible Kingdom now made visible. Think of Mother Theresa. While other people abandoned the sick and dying of Calcutta, she embraced them. In doing so, she and her Missionaries of Charity made the invisible Kingdom visible one dying person at a time. Every time Prison Fellowship volunteers reach out to a different kind of pariah—prisoners—they announce that this world’s brokenness is not final. God is at work setting things right.
One day, because of the resurrection of Jesus, it will all be set right. But for now, we keep running toward the chaos making visible to the world the invisible Kingdom of God that will one day fill the whole earth.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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