REMINDER: 1) Check out this week's
broadcast of ''Truth That Transofrms” (http://www.truthinaction.org/index.php/tr/uth-that-transforms; and 2) Be sure to either download the audio or read the transcript for a great 2-part message on the Christian response to the cultural shift regarding human secuality - " Do Christians have it wrong on sexuality?" Absolutely great stuff. http://www.familylife.com/audio/series/2013/do-christians-have-it-wrong-on-sexuality
URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
NEWS FLASH: "Syrian Rebels Execute Christian Villagers," - CBNNews.com, September 12, 2013; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/September/Syrian-Rebels-Execute-Christian-Villagers/ - Syrian rebel fighters apparently executed three Christians fleeing the fighting in Maaloula this week, Britain's Sky News reported. Hundreds of Christians held a funeral in Damascus for the men, who were cousins. Sky News reports the men were trying to escape the Christian town of Maaloula, which has been under attack by rebel troops. The men reportedly were killed by forces with the al Qaeda linked Jabha al-Nour. Mourners say two of the victims had their throats cut and another was shot. Most of the mourners are also refugees from Maaloula, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. [PRAY for the Christians throughout Syria who face greater persecution should rebels, particularly Islamists along the line of the Muslim Brotherhood, end up in charge of the country.]
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..."
[EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST- Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
UPDATE: 9/22 - "Wife: Saeed Has Led [over] 30 to Christ in Iran Prison" - CBNNews.com; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/September/Wife-Saeed-Has-Led-30-to-Christ-in-Iran-Prison/
SEPT 19TH UPDATE: Pastor Saeed: 'Don't Make My Children Orphans' - CBNNews.com, September 19, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/September/Pastor-Saeed-Dont-Make-My-Children-Orphans/ Saeed Abedini, the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith, is pleading directly with Iran's president to not let his children become orphans. Saeed appealed to the new leader for his freedom in a letter he wrote from his prison cell. President Hassan Rouhani claims to be more moderate than his predecessor. "Considering the fact that I came to Iran to serve the orphans, please do not let them make my children orphans and my wife without a guardian," he wrote, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.
The ACLJ has launched a letter writing campaign to Iran's president on Pastor Saeed's behalf. You can join the initiative by sending a pre-written letter, or you can write your own words to the Iranian president at the Be Heard Project: Saeed Abedini.(http://beheardproject.com/saeed#write
UPDATE: Iran Rejects Saeed's Appeal, Family 'Devastated' , CBNNews.com, August 27, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/Iran-Rejects-Saeeds-Appeal-Family-Devastated/ "By keeping the 8-year prison sentence in place, Pastor Saeed, now potentially faces additional beatings and abuse inside Evin Prison -- treatment that has significantly weakened him during his first year in prison,"....{
“Abandoned” For Christ" - Graham Calls On White House To Support Abedini - By Dr. Tom Askew, Aug.8, http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/opinion
"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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"Love Into Light - A Christian Approach to Homosexuality," - by: Eric Metaxas| Breakpoint.org: September 16, 2013 - http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/23333 [NOTE: At the end of this post is a link to one of the best presentations I've heard on the Christian view of human sexuality in light of today's culture. It's entitled "Do Christians Have It Wrong On Sexuality?" You can go to the website noted and either listen to the 2-day radio broadcast OR download a transcript of the 2 part message. Awesome message!]URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
NEWS FLASH: "Syrian Rebels Execute Christian Villagers," - CBNNews.com, September 12, 2013; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/September/Syrian-Rebels-Execute-Christian-Villagers/ - Syrian rebel fighters apparently executed three Christians fleeing the fighting in Maaloula this week, Britain's Sky News reported. Hundreds of Christians held a funeral in Damascus for the men, who were cousins. Sky News reports the men were trying to escape the Christian town of Maaloula, which has been under attack by rebel troops. The men reportedly were killed by forces with the al Qaeda linked Jabha al-Nour. Mourners say two of the victims had their throats cut and another was shot. Most of the mourners are also refugees from Maaloula, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. [PRAY for the Christians throughout Syria who face greater persecution should rebels, particularly Islamists along the line of the Muslim Brotherhood, end up in charge of the country.]
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..."
SEPT 19TH UPDATE: Pastor Saeed: 'Don't Make My Children Orphans' - CBNNews.com, September 19, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/September/Pastor-Saeed-Dont-Make-My-Children-Orphans/ Saeed Abedini, the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith, is pleading directly with Iran's president to not let his children become orphans. Saeed appealed to the new leader for his freedom in a letter he wrote from his prison cell. President Hassan Rouhani claims to be more moderate than his predecessor. "Considering the fact that I came to Iran to serve the orphans, please do not let them make my children orphans and my wife without a guardian," he wrote, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.
The ACLJ has launched a letter writing campaign to Iran's president on Pastor Saeed's behalf. You can join the initiative by sending a pre-written letter, or you can write your own words to the Iranian president at the Be Heard Project: Saeed Abedini.(http://beheardproject.com/saeed#write
UPDATE: Iran Rejects Saeed's Appeal, Family 'Devastated' , CBNNews.com, August 27, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/Iran-Rejects-Saeeds-Appeal-Family-Devastated/ "By keeping the 8-year prison sentence in place, Pastor Saeed, now potentially faces additional beatings and abuse inside Evin Prison -- treatment that has significantly weakened him during his first year in prison,"....{
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Too often, opinions about how the Church should respond to homosexuality fall into two diametrically opposed camps: one side urges us to cast aside, or at least downplay, what the scriptures and the Church have taught for two thousand years in the hope of “saving the brand.”
While the other side is closer to a biblically orthodox perspective, their rhetoric and thinly-if-at-all-disguised repugnance make it likely that a person struggling with same-sex attraction would feel unwelcome and unwanted in their midst. The lack of commitment to the truth on one side and a self-righteous lack of compassion and grace on the other is why I’m really excited about a new book, “Love Into Light: The Gospel, the Homosexual, and the Church” by Peter Hubbard.
The first time Hubbard counseled a man struggling with same-sex attraction, he wondered how, if at all, he could help him. After all, “Aren’t we supposed to be enemies? Aren’t we told that my theology of sexuality is ‘toxic’ to him, and that his lifestyle is destructive to everything I believe in?”
Based on the rhetoric of the various parties in the culture wars, the answer to these questions was “yes.”
But thankfully, Hubbard and the young man were able to relate to each other as people, not as representatives of warring factions. As he listened and learned about the man’s “fears, joys, failures, and victories,” he realized that they shared one essential thing—“our daily need for the grace of Jesus.”
I say “essential” because, as Hubbard documents, so much of what people with same-sex attraction are struggling with is the message that these attractions define who they are as people. This message is inadvertently reinforced by the way many Christians regard them and even refer to them as “those people.”
As Hubbard writes, what we all are is “marred image bearers.” We have all “turned aside” from the worship of God and instead we worship idols. When Romans 1 refers to homosexual acts, it is citing an obvious example of how this idolatry inverts God’s intentions for his creation, but not to mark this sin as particularly grievous.
Just as we are all “marred,” we have all been promised what Hubbard calls a “new identity,” a God-given one. As Hubbard says, “The gospel of Jesus is not an invitation to do better or try harder; it is a death certificate that unfolds into a new birth certificate, providing us with a renewed identity!” And just as all Christians have been promised a new identity, we are all called to “struggle together.” “Our new identity does not preclude temptation or hardship. Old cravings still hunt and haunt us.” But we are not in this alone.
Perhaps the best part of the book is Hubbard’s discussion of celibacy and marriage. For the Christian, neither marriage nor celibacy is an end in itself. Instead, they are the settings in which we are transformed into the image of Christ. Suffering and sacrifice play a central role in both callings. In fact, both are callings to suffer.
Our failure to acknowledge this places those with same-sex attraction in the role of designated sufferers while everyone else gets to enjoy the good life. Can you blame them for recoiling from the message?
There’s so much more in the book I could tell you about. Time doesn’t permit, so let’s leave it at this: Please come to BreakPoint’s online book store at BreakPoint.org and get yourself a copy of “Love into Light” today. Read it. And please, share it with others.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Do Christians Have It Wrong On Sexuality? http://www.familylife.com/audio/series/2013/do-christians-have-it-wrong-on-sexuality
Please take the time to either download and listen to this two-part (day) presentation at the Family Life website from 9/19 and 9/20 OR download the transcripts for the 2 broadcasts. It is one of the best presentations I have ever heard of the Christian perspective of human sexuality in light of today's culture. SUPER GREAT STUFF! WOW!
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