The 'YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ' Of the Week : "Obama: ‘World Is More Stable than It Was Five Years Ago’," - by Andrew Johnson; September 24, 2013 http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/359368/obama-world-more-stable-it-was-five-years-ago-andrew-johnson " ... Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama justified the NSA’s spying programs, arguing they have helped to stabilize the world in the five years since he took office. “As a result of this work, and the cooperation of its allies and partners, the world is more stable than it was five years ago,” the president said on Tuesday morning.[Mr. John's commentary: "Astronomers scramble to figure out which world he's talking about!"]
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.]
Vigils Mark One Year Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed - CBNNews.com, Thursday, September 26, 2013 - Today marks one-year that American pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison. He is serving an eight-year sentence because of his Christian faith. It has been a year of torment as he has suffered beatings, physical pain from untreated medical conditions, and separation from his wife and two children... The suffering has not dampened his passion for Jesus. Pastor Abedini has led more than 30 prisoners to Christ during his time in prison. This afternoon, thousands of Americans from coast to coast will pray for his release. Events will be held in 40 states at capitols, city halls, parks and churches. Thousands more will join from 15 nations around the world
The 'YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ' Of the Week : "Obama: ‘World Is More Stable than It Was Five Years Ago’," - by Andrew Johnson; September 24, 2013 http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/359368/obama-world-more-stable-it-was-five-years-ago-andrew-johnson " ... Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama justified the NSA’s spying programs, arguing they have helped to stabilize the world in the five years since he took office. “As a result of this work, and the cooperation of its allies and partners, the world is more stable than it was five years ago,” the president said on Tuesday morning.[Mr. John's commentary: "Astronomers scramble to figure out which world he's talking about!"]
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..."
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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"Hope, Our Only Offer - The Gospel in Times of Tragedy," - by: Eric Metaxas| Breakpoint.org: September 25, 2013, http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/23414?spMailingID=7035243&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=90005039&spReportId=OTAwMDUwMzkS1--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another month, another shooting. What does the Gospel have to offer in the face of tragedy? ...
On Monday, September 16th a disturbed thirty-four year-old named Aaron Alexis entered the Washington Navy Yard and opened fire. By the time the shooting was over, thirteen people, including Alexis, were dead.In the aftermath, the discussions focused on guns, mental illness, and security at military facilities. But for many of us, what happened that morning was yet another reminder of the fragility and seeming senselessness of life.
Here at BreakPoint, these are far from academic issues. We have friends and neighbors who work at the Navy Yard. And one of our number is grieving the loss of a church member who was killed that tragic morning.What Christians have to offer is not better policies. What we have to offer is something far more precious: genuine hope. Christian hope is not optimism, which is merely a way of seeing things. And it certainly isn’t positive thinking” or any such pablum.
Christian hope is the conviction that God is not done with His creation but, on the contrary, has begun the process of setting things right. It is the conviction that because of Jesus’ triumph over sin, death and Hell, the process of restoration is under way.
I know it's difficult to perceive God at work when so much seems to have gone so wrong.The author of Hebrews also understood that. After writing that God had put “everything in subjection to him,” that is Jesus, he acknowledged that “at present we do not see all things subject to him.” Then came five of the most glorious words in Scripture: “but we do see Jesus.” The Jesus, who “for the sake of the joy that lay before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and [who] has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” The “joy that lay before him” was the source of Jesus’ hope, and it’s meant to be the source of ours. It’s why Paul told the Romans that “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
In his tremendous book, “Christ the Tiger,” my friend and theologian Thomas Howard provides a powerful glimpse of that glory. In the manner of a prophet assuming God’s voice, he writes, “I tell you of the world for which this world groans and toward which it strains. I tell you that beyond the awful borders imposed by time and space and contingency, there lies what you seek. I announce to you life instead of mere existence, freedom instead of frustration, justice instead of compensation.”
What then follows is the substance of Christian hope, secured by Jesus’ victory over sin, death and Hell itself: “Behold I make all things new . . . I restore the years that the locusts and worms have eaten. I restore the years you have drooped away upon your crutches and in your wheel-chair. I restore the symphonies and operas which your deaf ears have never heard, and the snowy massif your blind eyes have never seen, and the freedom lost to you through plunder . . . and I restore the good which your own foolish mistakes have cheated you of.”
That is hope. It will not undo the pain and suffering, but it insists that the sufferings of this world will not have the final word.This assurance, more than policy, is what people need. And it’s what we have to offer.
If you’re interested in Thomas Howard’s tremendous book “Christ the Tiger,” we have it for you at our online bookstore at BreakPoint.org. And please, be sure to check out BreakPoint at Facebook.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION
Continue to pray for those who have lost family members or friends to senseless acts of violence. As Eric affirmed, our hope is in Christ; suffering will not have the final word.Thomas Howard's book "Christ the Tiger" provides encouragement and insight into God's redemptive purpose for suffering. We have it for you at the BreakPoint online bookstore.
BOOK:
Christ the Tiger - by Thomas Howard | Wipf & Stock Publishers | September 2005
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