REMINDER: The"Truth That Transforms" broadcast - (Cen. FL - Mon. 7 pm. ch. 52.2; www.truthinaction.org) this week discusses the importance of having a Biblical worldview. It also includes a special video about how the concept of truth is under siege in our society.”
URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS: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.]
"Prayers from Prison: American Pastor Held in Iran Releases Letter," May 22, 2013; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1458"...Abedini has been held at the brutal prison for 238 days, enduring long stints in solitary confinement, and, according to his supporters, beatings and torture at the hands of his jailers and fellow inmates. For months, he has been suffering from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings with no proper medical attention, according to his family and attorneys."(Sources: Fox News, Assemblies of God website) As the Lord leads, please PRAY: =1) For the imprisoned Pastor Abedini, and for those Iranians who tend to his needs in prison to treat him more humanely. 2) For his family in Boise, Idaho. and their efforts to involve the U.S. State Department in securing Pastor Abedini’s release. And 3) For the impact of his witness upon believers and non-believers, in America and across the world.
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[AS I SEE IT: Stories such as those below should serve to remind every American Christian just how precious their religious liberty is in light of how so many of our bretheren in the rrest of the world are called to suffer just to call themselves "Christian." As I have said before, the Church in Ameica is responsible before God to interceed in prayer and as much as possible speak out against such abuses abroad AND as they happecontinue happening ning in our own countrry. - Stan]
"'Shocking' Report Out on Christians Killed for Faith,"CBNNews.com, June 01, 2013, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/May/Vatican-Releases-Shocking-Report-on-Christian-Killed-for-Faith/?cpid=EU_CWN_2013_151
The Vatican representative to the United Nations says 100,000 Christians around the world are killed every year for their faith. In an address to UN Human Rights Council this week, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said, "Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are violently killed because of some relation to their faith every year." Other Christians and other believers are subjected to forced displacement, to the destruction of their places of worship, to rape and to the abduction of their leaders," he said.
Silvano said many of these attacks take place in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
[AS I SEE IT: Stories such as those below should serve to remind every American Christian just how precious their religious liberty is in light of how so many of our bretheren in the rrest of the world are called to suffer just to call themselves "Christian." As I have said before, the Church in Ameica is responsible before God to interceed in prayer and as much as possible speak out against such abuses abroad AND as they happecontinue happening ning in our own countrry. - Stan]
"'Shocking' Report Out on Christians Killed for Faith,"CBNNews.com, June 01, 2013, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/May/Vatican-Releases-Shocking-Report-on-Christian-Killed-for-Faith/?cpid=EU_CWN_2013_151
The Vatican representative to the United Nations says 100,000 Christians around the world are killed every year for their faith. In an address to UN Human Rights Council this week, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said, "Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are violently killed because of some relation to their faith every year." Other Christians and other believers are subjected to forced displacement, to the destruction of their places of worship, to rape and to the abduction of their leaders," he said.
Silvano said many of these attacks take place in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
"Iran Shuts Down Christian Church in New Sweep, Hauls Off Pastor," May 28, 2013, http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1478
Government agents shut down Iran’s largest Persian-language Pentecostal church Monday, just one week after one of its pastors was arrested and hauled away midway through a worship service. The closing of Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran is the latest case of the Islamic Republic’s leadership cracking down on Christians ahead of the June 14 presidential election to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Leaders appear especially wary of groups deemed dangerous to their power base, including growing Christian churches, according to Iranian Christians and rights groups who spoke to a news agency that specializes in the plight of Christians in Middle Eastern nations. "These incidents appear to be an attempt to stop worship services from being conducted in Farsi, the language of the majority of Iranians," George Wood, general superintendent of the AoG in the U.S., told the service. "Services are allowed in Armenian, a minority language that most Iranians do not speak or even understand." On May 21, authorities grabbed Pastor Robert Asserian while services were under way. They have not told parishioners where he is being held. "Before going to the church, authorities raided Pastor Asserian’s home, where they confiscated a computer and several books," Wood said. "Then, they found Pastor Asserian at the church leading the prayer service, immediately arrested him and announced the church’s imminent closure." (Sources: Fox News, Christian Post)
As the Lord leads, PLEASE PRAY: 1) For the world community (esp. the U.S.) to effectively speak out about the religious persecution of Christians in Iran, and the arrests of Christian pastors, and 2) For the safety of Pastor Asserian and Pastor Abedini
It's life and death struggle for an imprisoned house church leader in China. Gong Shengliang once led an underground house church movement of more than 50,000 people called the South China Church. In 2001, the government convicted him of rape, arson, and leading a cult.
Even though many witnesses later recanted their testimony, he remains in jail.
In a recent report in Christianity Today, Gong's daughter says he is near death after years of torture and neglect. She wrote a public letter to Chinese President Xi Jingping requesting her father's release and medical treatment. According to a Christianity Today report, she wrote, ""(My father's) life is in grave danger.... Accordingly, we have asked for his release on bail for urgent medical treatment. But, again and again, our petitions have been completely ignored, without any reasonable response. It is very urgent for my father to have immediate medical treatment, otherwise he will either die soon while imprisoned under false pretense or remain severely disabled for the remainder of his life."
In a recent report in Christianity Today, Gong's daughter says he is near death after years of torture and neglect. She wrote a public letter to Chinese President Xi Jingping requesting her father's release and medical treatment. According to a Christianity Today report, she wrote, ""(My father's) life is in grave danger.... Accordingly, we have asked for his release on bail for urgent medical treatment. But, again and again, our petitions have been completely ignored, without any reasonable response. It is very urgent for my father to have immediate medical treatment, otherwise he will either die soon while imprisoned under false pretense or remain severely disabled for the remainder of his life."
The Bush Administration intervened in his case in 2001 and was able to get his death sentence reduced to life in prison. [PRAY: 1) that God would either cause the Chinese governement to relent and allow t pastor Shengliang to receive treatment OR that He would supernaturally bring healing to this faithful servant AND allow for his earliest release; 2) that God would bring comfort and strength to his family, and 3) that above all, God's will and purpose would be done and He would gain great glory through the pastor's suffering.]
"Iraqi Christians Face Tough Times Amidst Violence"CBNNews.com, June 01, 2013; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/May/Iraqi-Christians-Face-Tough-Times-Amidst-Violence/?cpid=EU_CWN_2013_151
"Iraqi Christians Face Tough Times Amidst Violence"CBNNews.com, June 01, 2013; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/May/Iraqi-Christians-Face-Tough-Times-Amidst-Violence/?cpid=EU_CWN_2013_151
The nation of Iraq is awash in violence. More than 500 people have been killed there in just the last month. The attacks are mostly Muslim against Muslim, but it also affects Christians. Greg Musselman, with Voice of the Martyrs Canada, is just back from Baghdad. He told CBN's George Thomas that many Iraqi Christians are staying despite the violence in hopes of influencing their nation with the Gospel. He also reports many Iraqis are having visions and dreams of Christ.[Watch the full interview at the weblink above to learn more about God's work in Iraq.]
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