URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: "Syrian Christians Brace for Strike, Ask for Prayer," - by Gary Lane, August 31, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/Syrian-Christians-Brace-for-Strike-Ask-for-Prayer/"As Syrians brace themselves for a possible U.S. military attack, many of the county's Christians are praying for divine intervention. They say military action against the Assad regime will only bring them greater hardship and suffering and they're asking Christians worldwide to pray that God intervenes to bring peace to their nation. They believe the collective prayers of Christians around the world could reverse an escalating conflict..."
“Abandoned” For Christ" - Graham Calls On White House To Support Abedini - By Dr. Tom Askew, Aug.8, http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/opinion
Franklin Graham is the latest to join the chorus of voices calling for U.S. State Department and White House officials to take a more vocal role in protesting the Iranian imprisonment of American pastor Saeed Abedini. September 26 will mark the one year anniversary of Abedini’s imprisonment for allegedly “endangering the national security” of Iran.
Graham pointed out that, in contrast to Iranian accusations, “Pastor Saeed was in Iran trying to help children. With the permission of Iran’s government, he was working to build an orphanage. But his humanitarian mission led to an arrest on bogus charges and nearly a year of inhumane treatment, simply because he loves Jesus Christ.”...
Behind the scenes, more than 600,000 people around the world have signed a petition sponsored by ACLJ in support of pastor Abedini. A concerted movement this past May brought together Christians from many nations to set aside Pentecost to pray for Abedini. On June 13, demonstrations were held at Iranian embassies in at least six countries to protest Abedini’s treatment. And, on July 29, Arizona Republican Representative Trent Franks spoke on the floor of the House to urge other Congressmen to join him in “adopting” Pastor Abedini through the bipartisan Defending Freedoms Project.
Saeed’s response…and yours - Through his family living in Iran, Pastor Abedini has been made aware of these efforts on his behalf, and is grateful. “I heard that the persecution, my arrest and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from different cities and countries. That the churches have united together in prayer to put one request (my freedom) on one day (Pentecost) before God,” he wrote in a letter.
The story of Saeed Abedini, the jihad against Syrian Christians, the attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the ongoing desecration of churches in Nigeria and India should cause every American to reflect on the blessings of freedom still enjoyed in this nation.
PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
Go to SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release.
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"Loving Mondays - Business as a Calling," - by: Chuck Colson|Breakpoint.org; September 1, 2006; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/13429 [AS I SEEE IT - Though the following commentary was posted 7 years ago, I had never posted it and its wisdom continues to speak to us today. I think especially of those who only look at full-time Christian ministry as the best way to minister. But though I was in such service to God for 33 years, I came to realize that there are too many who will never be reached with the gospel because they are a "hidden people group" within our secular society that do not have many Christians in their circle of influence who are there to witness by their lives and their words to the gospel of Jesus. As this article well explains, God needs each of us to work wherever HE has determined we can make the greatest impact - may it be in full-time ministry or NOT. - Stan]
Growing up in a churchgoing family, John Beckett sometimes wondered whether he ought to go into the ministry. Even though he wanted more than anything to go into business, he had an unsettling feeling that “ministry would somehow be the ‘right’ thing to do.” But somehow, circumstances always seemed to guide him in other directions.
The question came once again after John became a successful businessman and was supporting a growing family. For a long time, he prayed about it. “After several months, and to my surprise,” John writes in his excellent new book Loving Monday, “I sensed it was I who was being asked a very key question: Would I be willing to completely release my involvement in the company and follow a very different direction in life?”
Framed that way, the question was even more disturbing—the unknown often is. But John couldn’t shake the feeling that God was testing his motives, trying to get him to reveal where his heart and commitment really lay. Finally, he writes, “I responded to the query by making perhaps the most difficult decision I’d ever made—a decision to release to God my future and all that I owned, including the company.” Once he did that, John writes, “The wonderful irony is that in return came the unmistakable assurance that I was where I belonged—in business.”
Many Christians, I suspect, are like John Beckett was, working hard to make money, but not as fulfilled at work as they should be because they feel a vague sense of guilt. They think the only real way to serve Christ is to work for a church, a mission, or a Christian organization. But in the biblical worldview, there is no such dichotomy between the sacred and the secular.
As I have argued in How Now Shall We Live?, all of life is to be under the Lordship of Christ. Our gifts and our inclinations come from our Creator; He has fitted each of us for the occupation in which we can serve Him best. And that means not only ministry, but it includes business, politics, the arts, science, health care, and hundreds of other areas. Once we realize this, work can be a joy. We discover that we can use our work for God’s glory.
In his book, John Beckett lists a number of ways we can use our work for God. As a business owner, he manufactures the best products he can. As the head of his company, he wrote a mission statement that clearly reflects biblical principles. As an employer, he recognizes the worth and dignity of each of his employees, each one of whom is made in the image of God. That led him to craft a generous maternity leave policy, to provide financial help to employees who adopt children, to help employees further their education, and to find other ways to help them grow personally, professionally, and even spiritually.
Not all of us have the opportunity to affect as many people as John Beckett has, but each of us can find ways to serve God through the work He has given us. As John relates in Loving Monday, we can truly dedicate our occupations to God only when we realize that the work belongs to Him and not to us. That ought to be obvious, but is often forgotten in the busyness of our days. Thank you, John Beckett, for this important reminder.
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