Mixed Feelings

Thought of the Day:  TGIT
Song of the Day:  Jars of Clay-Worlds Apart

This week's persecuted church: Pakistan

On Friday afternoon, Sept. 21, a mob of several thousand radical Muslims attacked St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mardan City, Pakistan. The attackers, armed with rifles and kerosene, overwhelmed security guards and broke into the church. They destroyed Bibles and prayer books, desecrated the altar and set fire to the church building and several surrounding homes and buildings. The mob was returning from a protest against the film Innocence of Muslims, which has sparked violence in many Middle Eastern countries this month and led to the death of Christopher Stevens, U.S. Ambassador to Libya. In Pakistan, the government had declared Sept. 21 a national holiday in honor of Muhammad, and the day had been set aside for peaceful protests.

The attack on the 82-year-old church lasted for five hours. The church staff was able to flee, but those who lived on the campus lost everything. An adjoining high school, a Christian library, a computer laboratory, the bishop’s house, the bishop’s office, a pastor’s house and the school principal’s house were all burned. The mob also burned a car, three motorcycles and three bicycles. More than 2,000 Bibles, 100 New Testaments and several hundred Christian books and DVDs were destroyed. The attackers spray-painted the words “God is great,” “Oh God help us” and “Love our prophet” on the church steeple.

Thought of the Day:  Turkey!
Song of the Day:  The Beatles-Hey Jude

Jealous and Thankful

Today, my brother sent me pictures of the nasty Thanksgiving food that he was forced to eat while I got to eat awesome, healthy school food. I feel sorry for him every year.

Simon

Me

Just.
Kidding.


Today, a good buddy of mine from the states sent me a nice email:

Phil!

I am thankful for your friendship. I am also thankful for the many bottles of soju, the many dead pigs, the many Phil-osophical discussions, and the many renditions of Bohemian Rhapsody we have shared. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving/Friday, everyone!

Thought of the Day:  Uniqlo

Song of the Day:  Silent Night

This week's persecuted church: Syria

Two members of the United Bible Society were kidnapped by radicals recently in Aleppo. The kidnappers demanded a $200,000 ransom, according to a VOM contact who is close to one of the men. One of the kidnapped men was released a few days later, but the other remains with his captors. In response to the kidnapping, another Syrian partner wrote, "The pressure on Christians started, and many of the Islamic groups are working hard to oblige the Christians to leave the country." He also reported that many churches have been damaged in the fighting. "During the last year we had a number of churches destroyed," he wrote. "[That has] never happened in Syria, even during the whole last hundred years." Pray for wisdom for Syrian Christians, who must decide whether to flee or stay. Also pray for the safe and quick return of the Bible Society worker still being held for ransom.

Thought of the Day:  Schedule Change
Song of the Day:  Sara Groves-Miracles

2/3

I finished my leisure and bathroom reading this week.  I guess there's something about setting goals that really pushes us to accomplish them...fast.  I can't say that I really enjoyed the sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula.  In fact, it was a pretty horrible book that I regret reading.  If there was ANYTHING that I got out of it though, it was one line that came towards the end of the story:  We learn from pain.

When I was in college, the only science classes that I ever took were from this one professor who had a series of courses on the brain.  I remember learning about the rare case of a young girl who was born with a brain that didn't have pain receptors.  While we think it would be wonderful to have a life without any physical pain, it actually endangered the young girl who eventually died at an early age.  Too much harm was being done to her body and she was never aware of it.  She simply was unable to "learn from pain."  It turns out that we need these unpleasant signals in order to survive in this dangerous world...especially in the world of vampires.

My bathroom reading, on the other hand, turned out to be a very good read.  I had often heard preachers praise the commentaries of N.T. Wright, but it wasn't until I first read one of his books that I actually got a glimpse of his brilliance.  I don't have the knowledge or eloquence to give an apt summary of the book or even of what I learned.  So I leave you with three memorable quotes that I took time to write down from Justification:

Quote #1:  Paul does not say, 'I am in Christ; Christ has obeyed the Torah.; therefore God regards me as though I had obeyed the Torah.' He says: 'I am in Christ; Christ had died and been raised; therefore God regards me - and I must learn to regard myself - as someone who has died to sin and been raised to newness of life.'

Quote #2:  We are not saved from the world of creation, but saved for the world of creation. Humans were made to take care of God's wonderful world, and it is not too strong to say that the reason God saves humans is not simply that he loves them for themselves but that he loves them for what they truly are - his pro-creators, his stewards, his vice-gerents over creation.

Quote #3:  When people believe the gospel of Jesus and his resurrection, and confess him as Lord, they are in fact doing what Torah wanted all along, and are therefore displaying the necessary marks of covenant renewal.

I'm finally going to start Wicked and Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage.

Thought of the Day:  회

Song of the Day:  Kim Jong Kook-남자가 다 그렇지 뭐

This week's persecuted church: Iran

The 34-year-old pastor from Rasht, which is about 750 miles northwest of Tehran, was arrested in October 2009 after protesting a government policy that required children, including his 8- and 9-year-old sons, to study the Quran in school. He was later charged with apostasy and evangelism to Muslims. Youcef was tried on Sept. 21–22, 2010, by the First Court of the Revolutionary Tribunal and convicted of apostasy. He was sentenced to death on Nov. 13.

Authorities tried to re-convert Youcef to Islam through a variety of methods, including medication, while he was in Lakan prison. After he repeatedly refused to renounce his Christian faith, his wife was arrested, put on trial without an attorney and sentenced to life in prison. She was later released when an attorney appealed her sentence.

Although acquitted by the courts, Youcef may now face other dangers. Another pastor imprisoned on apostasy charges, Mehdi Dibaj, was abducted and murdered less than two weeks after his release in 1994. Middle East Concern reports that at least 16 other Christians remain in detention because of their activities. Some are serving prison sentences of up to six years because of their faith.

Thought of the Day:  라임
Song of the Day:  Toy-뜨거운 안녕

This week's persecuted church: Russia

Unidentified workers, backed by police and civil volunteers, tore down the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church in east Moscow in the early morning hours of Sept. 6, then accused the pastor of holding an unapproved meeting for the worship service he led on the grounds of the destroyed church two days later. The workers came at midnight with bulldozers and diggers, looting the building of sound equipment, musical instruments, service books and Communion materials before using heavy equipment to demolish the structure. A church caretaker was taken to the police station and prevented from contacting church members for three hours.

Thought of the Day:  Pho
Song of the Day:  O Sacred Head, Now Wounded