Persecution Update: Pay a Fee, Become Muslim or Be Killed; Obama Signed Congressional Passed Bill for Envoy for Religious Liberties but Left Position Vacant; Satellite TV Brings Gospel to Iran; Sudanese Pastors Face Death; a Man from Chad Sees Egyptian Christians' Faith and Dies with Them as New Believer




ISIS to Mosul's Christians:






Two Presbyterian Pastors Face Death Penalty in Sudan, Persecuted for Their Christian Faith

"Almost all pastors have gone to jail under the government of Sudan. We have been stoned and beaten. This is their habit to pull down the church. We are not surprised. This is the way they deal with the church."

"This case in particular, we feel the charges are trumped up. These are just good citizens practicing their Christian faith, but the Sudanese government is using any tactic they can to push Christianity out of the market place and out of daily life, and unfortunately they are having some success," he said.


People of the Cross
From the article:  For Mary Sameh George, a 25-year-old Christian girl from Cairo; the cross would cost her very life. In March of 2014 she was attacked and killed after pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters noticed her gold cross necklace. Her fiancé's mother was so overcome with grief that she died shortly after learning of Mary's brutal death.

Also:  While it was reported that all of the men where Coptic Christians from poor villages in Upper Egypt; it was later discovered that this wasn't the case. One of the men martyred that day was identified as Mathew Ayairga; a young man from Chad. He is believed to not have been a Christian before kneeling in the sand beside the 'people of the cross.' Witnessing the courage and faith of the Egyptian Christians he also chose to follow Jesus. Mere moments before Matthew was executed, His executors are seen asking "Do you reject Christ?" His reply was "Their God is my God." Matthew joined his brothers that day — and laid his life down alongside them. He and the other 20 men joined the ranks of those of whom the world is not worthy.

Ask President Obama to take immediate action for persecuted Christians by appointing a Special Envoy for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia within the US State Department. Congress passed the Special Envoy bill last summer, and President Obama signed it into law. But since then, the position has been left vacant.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Call to be a Ragamuffin: A Review of the Movie on Rich Mullins' Life

Image
I thought this film was absolutely great.  The acting was good and the story was real.  Shocked and saddened at the ghosts of Rich's childhood, if I may use that terminology, I was drawn into the healthy and unhealthy ways he struggled with his raising.   Like the Bible does with its heroes, Ragamuffin doesn't sugarcoat Rich's life.  He struggled with smoking and with alcohol.  His language wasn't always church language, to put it mildly.  One sees someone seeking to be real.  Tired of the masks Christians often put on and the blindness to the call of Christ to provide for the least of these, Rich gives generously to Christian churches and charities while living humbly.  Seeing the poverty of others and the difference he could make in the lives of those with less, Rich Mullins pours himself wholly into ministry.   Just a few other thoughts in closing.  His tragic death is handled well.  In  the special features section, Dav e, Rich's brother, does a
Read more

What's In a Name?

Image
What’s in a Name?  In 1990, I graduated from Philadelphia College of Bible.  Over the years, PCB changed and with it, its name altered as well.  After achieving university status under President Babb, a new name was chosen, Philadelphia Biblical University, one that does not easily roll off the tongue.  Eventually, students, alumni, the community, etc., got used to it like will eventually happen with the new name change.  However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t reasons to wrestle with the proposal.   The rationale for the name change Dr. Williams, current president of PBU, argues that there is a perception of PBU being a Bible college with “university” in its name, leading people to believe that it has “limited offerings and a narrow vocational focus.”  My thought:  The word narrow sounds familiar to me.   Matthew 7:13-14 Furthermore, market research conducted via focus groups and a survey yielded data that was considered in favor of a name change in gene
Read more

Reproducible Pastoral Training - A Book Review

Image
Reproducible Pastoral Training: Church Planting Guidelines from the Teachings of George Patterson by Patrick O’Connor is a book about missions. However, its insights are also helpful to anyone who is either starting a church or seeking to see it grow. Patrick O’Connor dives into the wisdom of George Patterson and presents it in an intelligent way. Various topics are explained in the text. How does one reach a culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What is better, door-to-door evangelism or another technique? Is it best to begin with a multi-cultural church or to start with one culture? How does one utilize contacts for the sake of the Gospel? Also, how does one prevent establishing a foreign church rather than a native one? Furthermore, the author goes into issues like how leaders are trained and when they should begin serving. I found myself revisiting preconceived notions of what is done in Western churches and thus is considered to be biblical. For instance, the d
Read more