Beacon2Light

http://www.christianpost.com/news/former-muslim-extremist-in-uganda-flees-wrath-of-ex-colleagues-68119/ Note that the title and story appear exactly as posted on the link Fri, Jan. 27, 2012 Posted: 02:53 PM EDT NAIROBI, Kenya – A former member of a Muslim extremist group in Uganda who converted to Christianity is in hiding in Kenya, his movements severely restricted following threats to kill him. Hassan Sharif Lubenga, 54, was a sheikh and member of the Buk Haram, a violent group of Islamists whose name suggests the Bible is corrupt and therefore forbidden. Originally from Chengera, seven kilometers from Kampala, the husband to four wives began his conversion process four years ago; in June 2011, he said, after various dreams and visions in which Jesus appeared to him, he made a full commitment to follow Christ. Lubenga fled to Kenya last July 10 after hostilities peaked, and upon returning to Uganda in September he received messages on his cell phone from mujahidin – Islamic...

As we continue our study in Genesis, chapter 22 ends with some important information for later. There we are told that Abraham was informed about his brother and sister-in-law having children. He was an uncle! A couple of things occurred to me while reading this: 1) news traveled slowly in those times; and 2) he may have received all of this information save the part where a grandchild is mentioned, one Rebekah. The implication may have been that she would be an eligible wife for his Isaac. A common destination is in view in chapter 23. The chapter begins with heartache; the death of Sarah. She lived to be 127 years. A few decades ago in our lifetime that would have been eye-popping. However, more and more people in our country are living up to and over a hundred. Still a rare occurrence to be sure but becoming more commonplace as the years go by. In biblical times, this is actually a degradation of the human condition that has been transformed by sin. Sin has come i...

Genesis 21 is an eventful chapter. In it, we have Isaac’s birth, the departure of Hagar and Ishmael and a covenant of peace between Abraham and Abimelech. Therein, we have the promise of God fulfilled to Abraham and Sarah. Concerning promises, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, “We have twenty-five cents – and all the promises of God.” Men and women of faith can go far on nothing more than God’s promises, to be sure. God’s promises can be trusted and often it is all we have in times of difficulty. Perhaps these hard economic times have hit you pretty severely. Little mercies along the way remind you of His sustenance in times of want. Knowing God’s presence and the reassurance of His Word may be enough to get you through until the time when His provision is made known in all of its fullness. Until then, you wait and you believe. God’s Word can be trusted, this Abraham and Sarah came to find out. Oh, that we too would believe in the promises of God – that God not only prom...

I'd like to tell you a story that I found very inspiring. It is about an adolescent girl in 1928 South Dakota. After picnicking with some friends from a sewing class and while on a walk with a friend of the same age, Minka and the other girl were surprised by three men who raped them both. In the process of time, her body began to change. Minka was still very innocent and quite naive. She didn't know how babies came into the world. By the time she was 17, she gave birth to a baby girl. If she had her way, she would have kept the baby and she would have brought her back to the farm and raised her. However, her head and her mother told her to give her up for adoption. So, she did just that. Through the years, young Minka often inquired about the baby. The agency who handled the adoption responded to her requests for general health information. After a change of management the communication no longer flowed her way. Every year she thought of her baby girl, most es...