Sat, 04/10/2008 - 3:02pm Anti-minority campaign can undo economic gains in India <http://www.persecution.in/node/3292>
Saturday,4 October 2008
- Amulya Ganguli India's secularism has rarely been under a greater threat. The reasons, however, are mixed and complex.
posted in: Current Issue <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/32> , <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/30> , East India <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/2>
read more <http://www.persecution.in/node/3292> newsman's blog <http://www.persecution.in/blog/5> add new comment <http://www.persecution.in/comment/reply/3292#comment_form>
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Sat, 04/10/2008 - 2:00pm Pastor threatened in Chattisgarh <http://www.persecution.in/node/3291>
The Indian Pentecostal church of God was started in Kirandool in Bastar District Chattisgarh State in the year 1969. Since 2002, Pastor George Kuramootil has been ministering in this church. There are around 125 people in the church of whom 90 from another religious background.There are two shops belonging to christians near the church.
posted in: Current Issue <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/32> , <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/30> , East India <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/2>
read more <http://www.persecution.in/node/3291> newsman's blog <http://www.persecution.in/blog/5> add new comment <http://www.persecution.in/comment/reply/3291#comment_form>
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Sat, 04/10/2008 - 1:53pm Christians attacked in Chattisgarh village <http://www.persecution.in/node/3290>
Pastor Satish is a pastor of an Independant Church in Bacheli 10 km from Kirandool Bastar District, Chattisgarh State.On 28th September '08, Sunday morning in village Bacheli, his church believers were targeted by the Bajrang Dal. who instigated 200 local people to attack a particular area in Bacheli village, beat up around 40 Christians with stout sticks.
Six Christians were seriously injured in the attack while dozens of others susutainsed simple injuries.The other believers sent urgent messages to the police who arrived and and took them to the Hospital were they were treated.
Pray for these areas were there is lot of persecution.
posted in: Current Issue <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/32> , Persecution <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/25> , Central India <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/36>
newsman's blog <http://www.persecution.in/blog/5> add new comment <http://www.persecution.in/comment/reply/3290#comment_form>
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Sat, 04/10/2008 - 10:43am Home Minister sends strongly-worded letter to Orissa <http://www.persecution.in/node/3289>
New Delhi, India: After the Union cabinet took a serious view and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed anguish over continuing violence against Christians in Orissa, Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Friday shot off a strongly-worded letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asking him to take effective measures and provide security for the community.
The letter came hours after the Union cabinet expressed grave concern over the situation in the state with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directing Patil to present an appraisal report on the situation at the next cabinet meeting.
posted in: Current Issue <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/32> , <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/30> , East India <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/2>
read more <http://www.persecution.in/node/3289> newsman's blog <http://www.persecution.in/blog/5> add new comment <http://www.persecution.in/comment/reply/3289#comment_form>
________________________________
Sat, 04/10/2008 - 7:51am 38 days after the brutality ,the Orissa CM publicly admits rape of nun <http://www.persecution.in/node/3288>
<http://static.flickr.com/3193/2911420848_5fa912f522_m.jpg>
Bhubaneswar, 38 days after the brutality on the Religious Nun, the Orissa CM publicly admits that the rape of the young nun was Savage and Shameful.
He told Patnaik to take effective measures to control communal violence and to apprehend elements that continue to stoke violence and hatred.
posted in: Current Issue <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/32> , Persecution <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/25> , East India <http://www.persecution.in/taxonomy/term/2>
read more <http://www.persecution.in/node/3288> newsman's blog <http://www.persecution.in/blog/5> add new comment <http://www.persecution.in/comment/reply/3288#comment_form>
________________________________
Sat, 04/10/2008 - 7:46am Rally in London Oct 4 against anti-Christian violence in Orissa <http://www.persecution.in/node/3287>
London, Oct 3 : A rally calling for an end to the current wave of anti-Christian violence in the Indian state of Orissa will take place in London Saturday Oct 4.
Many Christians have been killed, and an estimated 50,000 forced to flee their homes in the eastern state as attacks on Christians have escalated across the country after a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his Jalespata Ashram in Kandhamal district Aug 23.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 10-3--08
Good Morning,
It is Friday. Thank you Jesus. Sunday is coming. Jesus came as the Lord of the Sabbath. He destroyed the power of sin and death. He came to set the captives free. He came to give life abundantly.
Henry David Thoreau claimed that most men “live lives of quiet desperation.” To avoid that fate, he spent two years, two months and two days, alone in the woods of Walden Pond. He described his experiences in his 1854 book, "Walden", “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” This is Thoreau’s philosophy of “abundant life”. As an early adopter of Darwinian evolution, he advocated a return to nature accompanied by a casting off of religion. A different idea is illustrated by a “veteran mountain climber sharing his experiences with a group of novices preparing for their first major climb. He had conquered many of the world’s most difficult peaks, so he was qualified to give them some advice. ‘Remember this,’ he said, ‘your goal is to experience the exhilaration of the climb and the joy of reaching the peak…. If your purpose for climbing is just to avoid death, your experience will be minimal.’” (David Egnar, Our Daily Bread, February 13, 2003). Fear robs the climb of joy. Sometimes Christians avoid the errors of Thoreau only to slip into those of a novice mountain climber. Professor David Egnar (Cornerstone University and RBC Ministries), who was listening to the mountain climber, said: “Jesus did not call us to live the Christian life just to escape hell. It’s not to be a life of minimum joy and fulfillment, but a life that is full and overflowing. Our purpose in following Christ should not be merely to avoid eternal punishment. If that’s our primary motivation, we are missing the wonders and joys and victories of climbing higher and higher with Jesus.” Many voices call us to their path. Above the noise, however, if we have ears to hear, Jesus offers abundant life. He frees your soul from bondage to sin and the fear of failing in self-justification. Listen to his words of hope, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news…. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Luke 4.18). Receive Jesus as he is offered in the gospel because he gives abundant freedom. He also heals broken hearts, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11.28-30). We must be careful of lightning because electricity follows the path of least resistance. Rivers too, never flow up the mountain, but always down and around. As fallen creatures in a fallen world, we find it easier and more pleasurable to do the same. Watching TV is easier than cooking for our neighbor. We may hope to be happy by taking the path of least resistance, but that path surely does not lead to joy. One of my favorite writers is G. K. Chesterton. He once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” There are days when following God seems the very opposite of abundant life. But whoever loses his life for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the gospel will save it.
It has been said that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow could take a worthless sheet of paper, write a poem on it, and make it worth $6,000—that’s genius. Nelson Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth a million dollars—that’s capital. Uncle Sam can take paper, draw pictures on it and make it worth $100.00—that’s money. A machinist can take a $5.00 bar of stainless steel and make it into a $5000.00 surgical implant—that’s skill. An artist can take inexpensive canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth $1,000—that’s art. God can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in the blood of Christ, put His Spirit in it, and make it a blessing to humanity—that’s discipleship.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zJHgaoVa4
It is Friday. Thank you Jesus. Sunday is coming. Jesus came as the Lord of the Sabbath. He destroyed the power of sin and death. He came to set the captives free. He came to give life abundantly.
Henry David Thoreau claimed that most men “live lives of quiet desperation.” To avoid that fate, he spent two years, two months and two days, alone in the woods of Walden Pond. He described his experiences in his 1854 book, "Walden", “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” This is Thoreau’s philosophy of “abundant life”. As an early adopter of Darwinian evolution, he advocated a return to nature accompanied by a casting off of religion. A different idea is illustrated by a “veteran mountain climber sharing his experiences with a group of novices preparing for their first major climb. He had conquered many of the world’s most difficult peaks, so he was qualified to give them some advice. ‘Remember this,’ he said, ‘your goal is to experience the exhilaration of the climb and the joy of reaching the peak…. If your purpose for climbing is just to avoid death, your experience will be minimal.’” (David Egnar, Our Daily Bread, February 13, 2003). Fear robs the climb of joy. Sometimes Christians avoid the errors of Thoreau only to slip into those of a novice mountain climber. Professor David Egnar (Cornerstone University and RBC Ministries), who was listening to the mountain climber, said: “Jesus did not call us to live the Christian life just to escape hell. It’s not to be a life of minimum joy and fulfillment, but a life that is full and overflowing. Our purpose in following Christ should not be merely to avoid eternal punishment. If that’s our primary motivation, we are missing the wonders and joys and victories of climbing higher and higher with Jesus.” Many voices call us to their path. Above the noise, however, if we have ears to hear, Jesus offers abundant life. He frees your soul from bondage to sin and the fear of failing in self-justification. Listen to his words of hope, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news…. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Luke 4.18). Receive Jesus as he is offered in the gospel because he gives abundant freedom. He also heals broken hearts, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11.28-30). We must be careful of lightning because electricity follows the path of least resistance. Rivers too, never flow up the mountain, but always down and around. As fallen creatures in a fallen world, we find it easier and more pleasurable to do the same. Watching TV is easier than cooking for our neighbor. We may hope to be happy by taking the path of least resistance, but that path surely does not lead to joy. One of my favorite writers is G. K. Chesterton. He once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” There are days when following God seems the very opposite of abundant life. But whoever loses his life for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the gospel will save it.
It has been said that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow could take a worthless sheet of paper, write a poem on it, and make it worth $6,000—that’s genius. Nelson Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth a million dollars—that’s capital. Uncle Sam can take paper, draw pictures on it and make it worth $100.00—that’s money. A machinist can take a $5.00 bar of stainless steel and make it into a $5000.00 surgical implant—that’s skill. An artist can take inexpensive canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth $1,000—that’s art. God can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in the blood of Christ, put His Spirit in it, and make it a blessing to humanity—that’s discipleship.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zJHgaoVa4
India update 10-03-08
Orissa, India: 'A Systematic Plan to Wipe Out Christian Life'
By Nirmala Carvalho9/30/2008
Asia News (www.asianews.it/)
"A systematic plan to wipe out Christian life is underway, killing people and destroying their property.Nothing prepared us for this.”
Hindu Terrorist groups are hunting down priests, nuns and pastors in order to kill them. In Orissa, these fundamentalist groups have total immunity.
BHUBANESHWAR, India (AsiaNews) – Three bodies were recovered from a river in Kandhamal, the district in Orissa state hit by a wave of anti-Christian violence for more than a month now. The bodies belong to a couple and a woman reported missing after they visited a local village to administer immunisation. Elsewhere Hindu radicals continue their rampage in areas like Raikia (Padrikia and Mondasoro), Tikabali and Didrabadi (near Daringbadi). (Proud to be Catholic? Show Your Support Right Now! Virtual Vigil of Prayer and Solidarity for the Persecuted Church in India. Please Sign the 'Catholic Action' Petition!) “The situation is unbearable. A systematic plan to wipe out Christian life is underway, killing people and destroying their property,” a local source told AsiaNews. “Nothing prepared us for this.” Fr Nithiya Executive Secretary, CBCI Commission for Justice, Peace and Development, confirms that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal (BD) are carrying out forced conversion to the last Christian.“This plan is not only politically motivated but is part of a scheme to wipe Christians off the face of Orissa,” the priest said. He described in detail the pattern the plan follows. 1.First Christian Dalits and Tribals are threatened if they do not convert to Hinduism. Once a village has been selected, fundamentalist groups announce ahead of time the date before which residents must convert. 2.Christians are told they must bring back their relatives who fled to refugee camps or anywhere else before the conversion deadline expires. 3.On conversion day Christians must sign a document in which they acknowledge that they freely chose to convert. If they refuse to sign they are tortured and killed. 4.Even of they become Hindu they must still pay a fine of 1,000-1,500 rupees (20-30 US dollars). 5.As a token of their "re-conversion" they must smash Christian statues, vandalise churches and even kill those Christians who have resisted forced re-conversion. 6.Those who do not become Hindus are robbed of all their worldly possessions (homes, land and more) which are given to their Hindu neighbours. Everything left over is set on fire. 7.NGOs and humanitarian workers are not allowed into the forest and the refugee camps where Christians have found shelter. Currently there are some 25,000 people in 17 such camps. Only doctors are allowed in to provide medical care but they are under close supervision for fear that they might engage in “forced conversions” to Christianity. 8.Both the VHP and the BD are hunting down priests, nuns and pastors as well as their families in order to kill them. 9.All the violence is taking place in broad daylight in cities and main roads with the police standing idly by. In Orissa fundamentalist groups have total immunity. Whilst all this is happening state authorities are saying that all is under control and that everything is fine.Little news is getting out of Orissa; whatever information is making its way out it is being manipulated. India’s national newspapers and even the BBC have reported that Orissa tribal associations like the Kui Samaj are trying to defend the rights of poor Tribals against the arrogance of Christians who are stealing their land and threatening their leaders. “First of all no one has pointed out that the Kui Samaj is not any association. This group is linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bajrang Dal, i.e. the world of Hindu fundamentalism,” said a priest from Orissa.“What is actually a form of caste warfare is being described as an interethnic clash. Upper class Hindus cannot accept that Christian Dalits and Tribals are improving socially and economically. What is more, local merchants are lending a hand to non-Dalit Hindus by supplying them with the kerosene and petrol they use to set Christian properties on fire.”
By Nirmala Carvalho9/30/2008
Asia News (www.asianews.it/)
"A systematic plan to wipe out Christian life is underway, killing people and destroying their property.Nothing prepared us for this.”
Hindu Terrorist groups are hunting down priests, nuns and pastors in order to kill them. In Orissa, these fundamentalist groups have total immunity.
BHUBANESHWAR, India (AsiaNews) – Three bodies were recovered from a river in Kandhamal, the district in Orissa state hit by a wave of anti-Christian violence for more than a month now. The bodies belong to a couple and a woman reported missing after they visited a local village to administer immunisation. Elsewhere Hindu radicals continue their rampage in areas like Raikia (Padrikia and Mondasoro), Tikabali and Didrabadi (near Daringbadi). (Proud to be Catholic? Show Your Support Right Now! Virtual Vigil of Prayer and Solidarity for the Persecuted Church in India. Please Sign the 'Catholic Action' Petition!) “The situation is unbearable. A systematic plan to wipe out Christian life is underway, killing people and destroying their property,” a local source told AsiaNews. “Nothing prepared us for this.” Fr Nithiya Executive Secretary, CBCI Commission for Justice, Peace and Development, confirms that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal (BD) are carrying out forced conversion to the last Christian.“This plan is not only politically motivated but is part of a scheme to wipe Christians off the face of Orissa,” the priest said. He described in detail the pattern the plan follows. 1.First Christian Dalits and Tribals are threatened if they do not convert to Hinduism. Once a village has been selected, fundamentalist groups announce ahead of time the date before which residents must convert. 2.Christians are told they must bring back their relatives who fled to refugee camps or anywhere else before the conversion deadline expires. 3.On conversion day Christians must sign a document in which they acknowledge that they freely chose to convert. If they refuse to sign they are tortured and killed. 4.Even of they become Hindu they must still pay a fine of 1,000-1,500 rupees (20-30 US dollars). 5.As a token of their "re-conversion" they must smash Christian statues, vandalise churches and even kill those Christians who have resisted forced re-conversion. 6.Those who do not become Hindus are robbed of all their worldly possessions (homes, land and more) which are given to their Hindu neighbours. Everything left over is set on fire. 7.NGOs and humanitarian workers are not allowed into the forest and the refugee camps where Christians have found shelter. Currently there are some 25,000 people in 17 such camps. Only doctors are allowed in to provide medical care but they are under close supervision for fear that they might engage in “forced conversions” to Christianity. 8.Both the VHP and the BD are hunting down priests, nuns and pastors as well as their families in order to kill them. 9.All the violence is taking place in broad daylight in cities and main roads with the police standing idly by. In Orissa fundamentalist groups have total immunity. Whilst all this is happening state authorities are saying that all is under control and that everything is fine.Little news is getting out of Orissa; whatever information is making its way out it is being manipulated. India’s national newspapers and even the BBC have reported that Orissa tribal associations like the Kui Samaj are trying to defend the rights of poor Tribals against the arrogance of Christians who are stealing their land and threatening their leaders. “First of all no one has pointed out that the Kui Samaj is not any association. This group is linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bajrang Dal, i.e. the world of Hindu fundamentalism,” said a priest from Orissa.“What is actually a form of caste warfare is being described as an interethnic clash. Upper class Hindus cannot accept that Christian Dalits and Tribals are improving socially and economically. What is more, local merchants are lending a hand to non-Dalit Hindus by supplying them with the kerosene and petrol they use to set Christian properties on fire.”
Thursday, October 2, 2008
10-2-08
Amnesty International calls Govt. to halt violence against Christian minorities in Orissa
India should match its words with its actions and ensure that members of the Christian minority community in the eastern state of Orissa are protected against renewed communal violence, Amnesty International said today. Despite the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in Paris yesterday, 30 September, that the violence was a “national shame” and that his Government had taken a “firm stand” to halt it, violence against the Christian minorities has continued. The last two days have witnessed renewed attacks by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, against the Christian minorities and their places of worship in Kandhamal district in Orissa, leaving three people dead, more than 15 people injured, including some policemen, and hundreds homeless. The month-long violence against the Christian minorities, which began on 24 August after the murder of a prominent Hindu nationalist leader, now appears to have resumed after a brief lull. Amnesty International has spoken to people who have confirmed that an atmosphere of insecurity prevails in the district in the wake of the most recent attacks despite the presence of central paramilitary reserve police deployed by the Central government at the request of the state government forces. The number of Christians who have taken shelter in 25 relief camps run by the state authorities has gone up from 12,000 to 20,000 during the last month and is still increasing. Amnesty International fears that most of them are unable to return home. According to camp residents, they face threats of violence and, in some cases, an ultimatum from supporters of these Hindu nationalist organizations to convert to Hinduism if they want to return home. Amnesty International urges the Government of India and the Government of Orissa to: * immediately halt the violence against the Christian minorities in Kandhamal district * provide adequate security for the relief camps set up for those displaced due to the violence and ensure peaceful return to their homes * conduct prompt and impartial investigation into the attacks by competent authority, publish the results and bring those responsible to justice * ensure protection of the religious rights of the minorities. More than 28 people have died during the communal violence in Orissa since 24 August, eight of these shot by police. Hundreds have been injured in the violence targeting the Christian minorities in Kandhamal district in Orissa. The district had been tense for some time before 24 August. In December 2007, at least 11 people died in communal violence in the district, four of them shot by police.
A number of Christian institutions were attacked by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations. A judicial inquiry into this 2007 violence, announced by the state government, is still in progress. During the last month, a number of places of worship belonging to the Christian minorities in the southern state of Karnataka have been targeted by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.
© 2008 mynews.in
The Editorial: The Economic Times
.Orissa may be a fit case for Article 3562 Oct, 2008, 0339 hrs IST, ET Bureau
Does Naveen Patnaik have it in him to ensure that the capacities of his government are consonant with his image of a suave westernised liberal? T
hat, given the recent spurt in sustained anti-Christian terrorism in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, is not only a legitimate question but one that the CM must immediately answer. The absence of an affirmative response should be reason enough for the Centre to step in. There is sufficient ground now to issue a fresh advisory under Article 355 to the Orissa government. The Centre must, in fact, consider imposing President’s rule under Article 356 if the Biju Janata Dal-BJP government fails to take full cognisance of such an advisory and respond positively to it. Any dithering on that score would thoroughly undermine India’s concerted enterprise to emerge as one of the front-runners of globalisation. The protests over anti-Christian violence that Manmohan Singh’s delegation encountered during the PM’s recent tour of Europe bears that out. That the state government has been found to be lacking in secular-democratic will is hardly surprising. Communal polarisation that outfits such as the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have effected has, clearly, helped the BJP, and its alliance with the BJD, electorally. Reports that Bajrang Dal and VHP goons have been intimidating Christians of Kandhamal to “convert back” to Hinduism by threatening them with economic cleansing and worse is sufficient condition for stringent constitutional measures. The Orissa government must immediately ban both the organisations, which have communalised a local conflict between largely non-Christian Kondh tribals and Dalit Christians over distribution of the social pie. Evangelical activity has grown in the tribal areas of Orissa as locals, rendered hapless by a dysfunctional state delivery mechanism, have had none to turn to save the missionaries. Sangh parivar outfits have seized that opportunity to render traditional social contradictions communally volatile. Christian religious radicalism could well be its natural consequence. That would then allow the BJP to ‘legitimately’ push the Hindutva agenda in the name of defending the sovereignty of the Indian nation-state.
India should match its words with its actions and ensure that members of the Christian minority community in the eastern state of Orissa are protected against renewed communal violence, Amnesty International said today. Despite the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in Paris yesterday, 30 September, that the violence was a “national shame” and that his Government had taken a “firm stand” to halt it, violence against the Christian minorities has continued. The last two days have witnessed renewed attacks by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, against the Christian minorities and their places of worship in Kandhamal district in Orissa, leaving three people dead, more than 15 people injured, including some policemen, and hundreds homeless. The month-long violence against the Christian minorities, which began on 24 August after the murder of a prominent Hindu nationalist leader, now appears to have resumed after a brief lull. Amnesty International has spoken to people who have confirmed that an atmosphere of insecurity prevails in the district in the wake of the most recent attacks despite the presence of central paramilitary reserve police deployed by the Central government at the request of the state government forces. The number of Christians who have taken shelter in 25 relief camps run by the state authorities has gone up from 12,000 to 20,000 during the last month and is still increasing. Amnesty International fears that most of them are unable to return home. According to camp residents, they face threats of violence and, in some cases, an ultimatum from supporters of these Hindu nationalist organizations to convert to Hinduism if they want to return home. Amnesty International urges the Government of India and the Government of Orissa to: * immediately halt the violence against the Christian minorities in Kandhamal district * provide adequate security for the relief camps set up for those displaced due to the violence and ensure peaceful return to their homes * conduct prompt and impartial investigation into the attacks by competent authority, publish the results and bring those responsible to justice * ensure protection of the religious rights of the minorities. More than 28 people have died during the communal violence in Orissa since 24 August, eight of these shot by police. Hundreds have been injured in the violence targeting the Christian minorities in Kandhamal district in Orissa. The district had been tense for some time before 24 August. In December 2007, at least 11 people died in communal violence in the district, four of them shot by police.
A number of Christian institutions were attacked by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations. A judicial inquiry into this 2007 violence, announced by the state government, is still in progress. During the last month, a number of places of worship belonging to the Christian minorities in the southern state of Karnataka have been targeted by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.
© 2008 mynews.in
The Editorial: The Economic Times
.Orissa may be a fit case for Article 3562 Oct, 2008, 0339 hrs IST, ET Bureau
Does Naveen Patnaik have it in him to ensure that the capacities of his government are consonant with his image of a suave westernised liberal? T
hat, given the recent spurt in sustained anti-Christian terrorism in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, is not only a legitimate question but one that the CM must immediately answer. The absence of an affirmative response should be reason enough for the Centre to step in. There is sufficient ground now to issue a fresh advisory under Article 355 to the Orissa government. The Centre must, in fact, consider imposing President’s rule under Article 356 if the Biju Janata Dal-BJP government fails to take full cognisance of such an advisory and respond positively to it. Any dithering on that score would thoroughly undermine India’s concerted enterprise to emerge as one of the front-runners of globalisation. The protests over anti-Christian violence that Manmohan Singh’s delegation encountered during the PM’s recent tour of Europe bears that out. That the state government has been found to be lacking in secular-democratic will is hardly surprising. Communal polarisation that outfits such as the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have effected has, clearly, helped the BJP, and its alliance with the BJD, electorally. Reports that Bajrang Dal and VHP goons have been intimidating Christians of Kandhamal to “convert back” to Hinduism by threatening them with economic cleansing and worse is sufficient condition for stringent constitutional measures. The Orissa government must immediately ban both the organisations, which have communalised a local conflict between largely non-Christian Kondh tribals and Dalit Christians over distribution of the social pie. Evangelical activity has grown in the tribal areas of Orissa as locals, rendered hapless by a dysfunctional state delivery mechanism, have had none to turn to save the missionaries. Sangh parivar outfits have seized that opportunity to render traditional social contradictions communally volatile. Christian religious radicalism could well be its natural consequence. That would then allow the BJP to ‘legitimately’ push the Hindutva agenda in the name of defending the sovereignty of the Indian nation-state.
India update 10-02-08
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Our Lord is in control. Though the world is turmoil and in disarray, Jesus is the Christ in every Crisis. He is the Lord in every situation. Thank you for praying for the persecuted Christians of Orissa. Thank you for sending your love gifts to care for the hurting and for the destitute and the homeless. We are able to send monetary gifts to various places. 100% of the funds are given to people in need. It is given for food, clothing, medicines, and in some cases for burial expenses. During the recent attacks on Christians in the village of Gadaguda, in the area of G'Udayagiri, an elderly couple was attacked with axes. They both were severely wounded. They were taken to a hospital in Berhampore, 80 miles away from the village they lived. The husband died yesterday. They cannot take the body back to the village for fear of further attacks by the Hindus. They have to find a place in Berhampore for burial.One of their nephews was shot and was taken to a hospital in Cuttack, 150 miles away from the village where he in serious condition. This man's name is Jonah. He was my classmate in Middle School. He is married to my first cousin.
One of the reports we have recently received is that Orissa has been deluged with severe floods after seven days of torrential rains. 5.8 millions Hindus are homeless, stranded in flood-ravaged places, many being bitten by poisonous snakes. In another tragedy, 175 Hindu worshippers died in a Hindu temples due to stampede.
If somebody mentions snake stories in the Bible, the first one that pops into most people’s mind is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, getting tricked into disobeying God by a clever snake. There are also those who might remember this little story from Numbers about the poisonous snakes and the bronze snake on a pole; many put it out of their minds quickly because it seems so odd. This is a problem story for a lot of people--one of those Old Testament stories that make God seem harsh. But it pops up again in the Gospel of John where Jesus compares himself lifted on the Cross to the snake lifted in the wilderness. And if Jesus is comparing himself to a snake on a pole, maybe this bizarre story deserves a bit more attention.
I have been preaching for the Book Of Exodus, looking at the Exodus experiences. In Exodus the Lord of History performs miracle after miracle. He is mighty and merciful towards His people. The people God are prone to complaining time and time again, and now it is starting again. The latest complaint puts God over the top, and God responds with a plague of poisonous snakes. We tend to be horrified at the thought of God actually punishing people this way. The God revealed in Numbers 21 is a God who is disciplining His people. The poisonous snakes had exactly that effect on the people. This wakes them up, and they realize this is harsh discipline. They go to Moses and admit that they were wrong to complain about him and about God, and they ask Moses to pray for forgiveness. This is the appropriate and faithful response to God’s wrath. To repent as they did shows that they know that God is just and would not give them a punishment they did not deserve. To ask for forgiveness shows their faith that God is not only just, but merciful. Anyway, the people ask Moses to pray for them that God might take away the snakes and Moses does as they ask. God’s answer is perfect, I think. God does not take away the snakes, but God does provide a way for people who are bitten by the snakes to be healed. Moses is instructed to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. From then on, whoever got bitten had to look at that bronze snake to be healed and live. God had every right to send the snakes to Israel, but there is nothing anywhere that says God had to provide a way for them to live.
The bronze serpent is a symbol of mercy...a gift...a way out. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Lo and behold, this strange snake story from the book of Numbers, is tied into the saving work of Jesus Christ. John compares the snake on a pole to Jesus on the Cross. To enter the Kingdom of God, we have got to be able to face the crucifixion. We have got to be able to look at Christ on the Cross. This is the same message as the bronze serpent. For us to be healed, we have to be willing to remember both our sin and God’s mercy.
In His Grace and in His Mercy,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW4oJ0jTHqg
An Invitation:
Friends,
Union Center U.M. Church and First Presbyterian Church of Endicott are joining together to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Orissa, India. We will meet this Thursday, October 2, in the chapel at First Pres, from 12:15 to 1:15 pm. Come and go as you need, but let us come together before God on their behalf. The news each day continues to tell the story of brutal attacks and murder, the torching of homes and churches, Christians being coerced to denounce their faith and Christians fleeing from the area. Family and friends of the Naik and Tandi families are caught in the midst of the upheaval. Let us pray for peace, for safety, for the witness of courageous Christians, for healing of the land and people.
In Christ,
Jan and Tim Devine and Brown Naik
First Presbyterian Church
27 Grant Ave.
Endicott, NY 13760
748-1544
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 1:31pm Hindu extremist groups on radar in Malegaon probe- Indian express
Sagnik ChowdhuryMumbai, October 2: A day after the Maharashtra Police said it could not rule out the possibility of a Hindu extremist hand in Monday’s blast in Malegaon, investigators are revisiting the crude bombs that were planted in auditoriums on the outskirts of Mumbai earlier this year.
posted in: Current Issue, , East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 1:12pm Gandhiji remembered today,139th birth anniversary :GCIC greets all
New Delhi : Mahatma Gandhi was remembered on his 139th birth anniversary on Thursday with President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leading the nation in paying rich tributes to the messiah of non-violence.An inter-religious prayer meeting marked the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation at the samadhi, where leaders, children, youth and women paid floral tributes. GCIC has also paid floral tributes at the samadhi at Raj Ghat as the country fondly remembers the Mahatma. Clad in white dresses and hats, people from all walks of life thronged Raj Ghat to pay respects to the apostle of non-violence.
posted in: Current Issue, Beliefs, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 10:29am India's reputation wounded by religious killings- Financial Times
By Tom Felix Joehnk in BhubaneswarPublished: October 2 2008 03:00 Last updated: October 2 2008 03:00Anti-Christian violence, which began in a remote district of India's tribal belt in the eastern state of Orissa in late August, has become an international embarrassment for India's secular Congress-led government. It has spread to four more states, including Karnataka, the home of the subcontinent's information technology hub in Bangalore.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 9:13am Another Church attacked in Tamil Nadu
Coimbatore: Another church in Tamil Nadu came under a spell of stone throwing by miscreants, this time in communally sensitive Coimbatore.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Wed, 01/10/2008 - 9:26pm 1killed and thirty injured in a serial bombblast in Tripura
Agartala, Oct 1 : Three bombs went off in this Tripura capital within a span of about 30 minutes Wednesday evening injuring at least 35 people, many of them seriously.The first bomb went off at the popular Gol Bazar, followed by two near-simultaneous blasts, one at the G.B. Market and another at a public bus stand, according to Tripura policeThose injured, including a number of women, were rushed to the G.B. Pant Medical College and Hospital here.Police cordoned off the blast spots as shopkeepers downed shutters. No group had claimed responsibility for the blasts.
posted in: Current Issue, Secular, North India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Wed, 01/10/2008 - 7:16pm Centre sends 1000 more paramilitary personnel to Orissa
New Delhi : The Centre on Wednesday dispatched 1000 personnel of paramilitary forces to the violence-hit Kandhamal district in Orissa in the wake of fresh communal clashes there.
Ten CRPF companies have been rushed to the district, taking the total to 53 companies out of which four are Rapid Action Force (RAF), a CRPF official said.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
Praise the Lord for this new day. Our Lord is in control. Though the world is turmoil and in disarray, Jesus is the Christ in every Crisis. He is the Lord in every situation. Thank you for praying for the persecuted Christians of Orissa. Thank you for sending your love gifts to care for the hurting and for the destitute and the homeless. We are able to send monetary gifts to various places. 100% of the funds are given to people in need. It is given for food, clothing, medicines, and in some cases for burial expenses. During the recent attacks on Christians in the village of Gadaguda, in the area of G'Udayagiri, an elderly couple was attacked with axes. They both were severely wounded. They were taken to a hospital in Berhampore, 80 miles away from the village they lived. The husband died yesterday. They cannot take the body back to the village for fear of further attacks by the Hindus. They have to find a place in Berhampore for burial.One of their nephews was shot and was taken to a hospital in Cuttack, 150 miles away from the village where he in serious condition. This man's name is Jonah. He was my classmate in Middle School. He is married to my first cousin.
One of the reports we have recently received is that Orissa has been deluged with severe floods after seven days of torrential rains. 5.8 millions Hindus are homeless, stranded in flood-ravaged places, many being bitten by poisonous snakes. In another tragedy, 175 Hindu worshippers died in a Hindu temples due to stampede.
If somebody mentions snake stories in the Bible, the first one that pops into most people’s mind is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, getting tricked into disobeying God by a clever snake. There are also those who might remember this little story from Numbers about the poisonous snakes and the bronze snake on a pole; many put it out of their minds quickly because it seems so odd. This is a problem story for a lot of people--one of those Old Testament stories that make God seem harsh. But it pops up again in the Gospel of John where Jesus compares himself lifted on the Cross to the snake lifted in the wilderness. And if Jesus is comparing himself to a snake on a pole, maybe this bizarre story deserves a bit more attention.
I have been preaching for the Book Of Exodus, looking at the Exodus experiences. In Exodus the Lord of History performs miracle after miracle. He is mighty and merciful towards His people. The people God are prone to complaining time and time again, and now it is starting again. The latest complaint puts God over the top, and God responds with a plague of poisonous snakes. We tend to be horrified at the thought of God actually punishing people this way. The God revealed in Numbers 21 is a God who is disciplining His people. The poisonous snakes had exactly that effect on the people. This wakes them up, and they realize this is harsh discipline. They go to Moses and admit that they were wrong to complain about him and about God, and they ask Moses to pray for forgiveness. This is the appropriate and faithful response to God’s wrath. To repent as they did shows that they know that God is just and would not give them a punishment they did not deserve. To ask for forgiveness shows their faith that God is not only just, but merciful. Anyway, the people ask Moses to pray for them that God might take away the snakes and Moses does as they ask. God’s answer is perfect, I think. God does not take away the snakes, but God does provide a way for people who are bitten by the snakes to be healed. Moses is instructed to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. From then on, whoever got bitten had to look at that bronze snake to be healed and live. God had every right to send the snakes to Israel, but there is nothing anywhere that says God had to provide a way for them to live.
The bronze serpent is a symbol of mercy...a gift...a way out. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Lo and behold, this strange snake story from the book of Numbers, is tied into the saving work of Jesus Christ. John compares the snake on a pole to Jesus on the Cross. To enter the Kingdom of God, we have got to be able to face the crucifixion. We have got to be able to look at Christ on the Cross. This is the same message as the bronze serpent. For us to be healed, we have to be willing to remember both our sin and God’s mercy.
In His Grace and in His Mercy,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW4oJ0jTHqg
An Invitation:
Friends,
Union Center U.M. Church and First Presbyterian Church of Endicott are joining together to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Orissa, India. We will meet this Thursday, October 2, in the chapel at First Pres, from 12:15 to 1:15 pm. Come and go as you need, but let us come together before God on their behalf. The news each day continues to tell the story of brutal attacks and murder, the torching of homes and churches, Christians being coerced to denounce their faith and Christians fleeing from the area. Family and friends of the Naik and Tandi families are caught in the midst of the upheaval. Let us pray for peace, for safety, for the witness of courageous Christians, for healing of the land and people.
In Christ,
Jan and Tim Devine and Brown Naik
First Presbyterian Church
27 Grant Ave.
Endicott, NY 13760
748-1544
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 1:31pm Hindu extremist groups on radar in Malegaon probe- Indian express
Sagnik ChowdhuryMumbai, October 2: A day after the Maharashtra Police said it could not rule out the possibility of a Hindu extremist hand in Monday’s blast in Malegaon, investigators are revisiting the crude bombs that were planted in auditoriums on the outskirts of Mumbai earlier this year.
posted in: Current Issue, , East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 1:12pm Gandhiji remembered today,139th birth anniversary :GCIC greets all
New Delhi : Mahatma Gandhi was remembered on his 139th birth anniversary on Thursday with President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leading the nation in paying rich tributes to the messiah of non-violence.An inter-religious prayer meeting marked the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation at the samadhi, where leaders, children, youth and women paid floral tributes. GCIC has also paid floral tributes at the samadhi at Raj Ghat as the country fondly remembers the Mahatma. Clad in white dresses and hats, people from all walks of life thronged Raj Ghat to pay respects to the apostle of non-violence.
posted in: Current Issue, Beliefs, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 10:29am India's reputation wounded by religious killings- Financial Times
By Tom Felix Joehnk in BhubaneswarPublished: October 2 2008 03:00 Last updated: October 2 2008 03:00Anti-Christian violence, which began in a remote district of India's tribal belt in the eastern state of Orissa in late August, has become an international embarrassment for India's secular Congress-led government. It has spread to four more states, including Karnataka, the home of the subcontinent's information technology hub in Bangalore.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Thu, 02/10/2008 - 9:13am Another Church attacked in Tamil Nadu
Coimbatore: Another church in Tamil Nadu came under a spell of stone throwing by miscreants, this time in communally sensitive Coimbatore.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Wed, 01/10/2008 - 9:26pm 1killed and thirty injured in a serial bombblast in Tripura
Agartala, Oct 1 : Three bombs went off in this Tripura capital within a span of about 30 minutes Wednesday evening injuring at least 35 people, many of them seriously.The first bomb went off at the popular Gol Bazar, followed by two near-simultaneous blasts, one at the G.B. Market and another at a public bus stand, according to Tripura policeThose injured, including a number of women, were rushed to the G.B. Pant Medical College and Hospital here.Police cordoned off the blast spots as shopkeepers downed shutters. No group had claimed responsibility for the blasts.
posted in: Current Issue, Secular, North India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Wed, 01/10/2008 - 7:16pm Centre sends 1000 more paramilitary personnel to Orissa
New Delhi : The Centre on Wednesday dispatched 1000 personnel of paramilitary forces to the violence-hit Kandhamal district in Orissa in the wake of fresh communal clashes there.
Ten CRPF companies have been rushed to the district, taking the total to 53 companies out of which four are Rapid Action Force (RAF), a CRPF official said.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 10-1-08
Good Morning,
Happy First day of October. Praise the Lord for the Autumn season. It is absolutely brilliant and beautiful beyond belief here in New York. Wish you were here.
Jesus makes all things beautiful. He makes all seasons beautiful and purposeful. He makes our lives beautiful and purposeful and worth living. In a short story entitled, "Enough is Enough" the central figure is a person who accepts everything that happens as manifestations of divine power. He said, "It is not for me to question the workings of divine providence." All his life, misfortune had been his. Yet never once did he complain. He got married and his wife ran away with the hired man. His daughter was deceived by a villain. His son was lynched. A fire burned down his barn. A cyclone blew away his home. A hail storm destroyed his crops, and the banker foreclosed on his mortgage, taking his farm. Yet, at each stroke of misfortune, he knelt and gave thanks to God Almighty for his unchangeable mercy. After a time, penniless but still submissive to God, he landed in the county poorhouse. One day the overseer sent him out to plow a potato field. A thunderstorm was passing over, when without warning a bolt of lightning descended from the sky. It melted the plowshare, stripped most of his clothing from him, singed off his beard, branded his naked back with the initials of a neighboring cattleman, and hurled him through a barbed wire fence. When he recovered consciousness, he got up slowly on his knees, clasped his hands, raised his eye toward heaven and, then, for the first time in his life, asserted himself and said, "Lord, this is getting plumb ridiculous."
Have you been in the place of this man? Haven’t we all, at one time or another, felt that we had more than our fair share? Every one of us has our sandcastles blown away. Every once in awhile we back up and say, "Why am I being hit with this storm of life?" It is true that sometimes these storms are caused by the devil, sometimes by other people, but sometimes by ourselves. Sometimes they are allowed by the Lord. They come from different sources, but they do have a purpose in our life. In Matthew 14 we read the story of the disciples being out in their boat on the water while Jesus came to them in the midst of the storm. Matthew 14, beginning with verse 22, "Right away Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake, but he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening he was still there. By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples and when they saw him, they thought he was a ghost and they were terrified and started screaming. At once Jesus said to them, ’Don’t worry, I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.’ Peter replied, `Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.’ ’Come on,’ Jesus said. "Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him. But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. `Lord, save me!,’ he shouted. And right away Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, ’You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?’ When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, ’You really are the Son of God.’" Jesus said in Matthew 5, "He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And He sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong." So you can see storms, problems, difficulties, and trials come to all of us. There are no exclusions and no exemptions from trouble. Just because you are a believer, does not mean that you will be excluded from the storms of life. It is true that some storms come because we are out of God’s will. An example of that, of course, is Jonah, who deliberately disobeyed God’s will. God sent a great wind to rock the boat in which he was trying to hide from God. Another perfect example is in Acts 5, as Ananias and Sapphira deliberately lied to the church concerning their giving and, as a result, they lost their lives. Perhaps the storm you are encountering could be caused by personal disobedience. Some storms, however, come because we are in God’s will. Just because you are encountering a storm in your life does not mean necessarily that you are out of the will of God or willfully disobeying him. In fact, if you look at Matthew 14:22, it says, "Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake." The NAS translation said, "He prevailed upon his disciples to get into the boat." In other words, here these guys are out in the middle of a lake in the midst of a terrible storm. Since they are fishermen and are still afraid, you know it had to be a bad storm. They were out in the midst of the storm, but Jesus is the one who put them in the boat. He is the one who told them to go out into the middle of the lake. Though they were right in the middle of God’s will, they were still experiencing the storm of their lives.
I know many wonderful people who really do love God, who really do obey Him, who because of life’s uncertainties and the sin of the earth, are still dealt a tough blow. Thousands of wonderful Christians in Orissa, India find themselves daily in a fiery furnace of trials. They are facing some of worst storms of their lives even at this very moment. When we experience a difficult time such as that, we have to have our feet on the ground and understand that storms happen to people in the will of God as well as outside of his will. Jesus came to this world to teach us about God and He is now in heaven talking to God about us. The Hebrew writer said that Jesus intercedes for us in our time of need. Literally, in the Greek, this means, "In the nick of time." In other words, as we are here on earth encountering storms in our life, our Lord is at the right hand of the Father, interceding, praying for us. He comes to us and He ministers to us in the very nick of time. During the storms of life, He’s not an aloof God, but He enters into our storm. Look at verse 25, "A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples." He comes to us at the darkest hour "...a little before morning..." We know that the darkest hour of the night is right before the dawn, a little while right before the morning. We used to sing a hymn, "Just When I Need Him, Jesus Is Near. Just when I falter, just when I fear. Ready to help me, ready to cheer. Just when I need Him most." He walks into the storms of our life just at our darkest hour, the time when we are the most needy. He comes to us victorious over our greatest fears. In other words, he comes walking on the very thing that frightened the disciples. Do you see it? What are they worried about? They are worried about the waves. That little boat is being tossed back and forth. The disciples fear that they are going to drown. They are afraid that their boat will capsize. They look at those high waves coming over the sides of that boat and begin to bail out water as fast as they can. These guys are fishermen. They have been on the water all their life, yet they are quaking with fear. The waves are coming, and suddenly, Jesus comes to them, walking on the very thing that scares them, those high waves, the place where their greatest fears are resting. In His quiet, majestic way, as He’s walking on the water, Jesus is saying, "Guys, the thing that is the greatest storm in your life, I keep under my feet." If you become sick, He comes walking on your illness. If you are afraid of death, think about what Jesus did on Easter? He came walking on the waves of death, "Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy victory?" Jesus says to us, "I am able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than you can ever ask or think. I can do that which gives you the greatest fear, the thing which causes you to tremble, the thing which causes you to falter. I will come walking on it. I will stand on the very thing that makes you afraid. I am the Victor. I am the one who reigns." Hallelujah.
He ministers to us in the storm. Look what happens in verse 26 and 27, "When they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once Jesus said to them, `I am Jesus. Do not be afraid.’" He ministers to us in spite of our misunderstandings. The disciples did not know what was happening to them. They looked out and thought they were seeing a ghost, and they were terrified. Now, Jesus walks in and says "Don’t worry." . Paul says in Romans 8, "For we know all things work together." Paul said that we know this. We know it because we know that God’s on the throne and God’s sovereign. We know that it’s going to be okay because of God. Paul does not say that we will understand everything every thing that happens to us. We cannot figure it all out. You see, our security is not in what we know in our mind. Our significance is not in what we know. Our security is in Who we know. So when we are in the midst of the storm, we can say, "I don’t understand it. I’m not even sure it’s fair. I don’t like it. But I know who’s sovereign over the storm." We can be just like Job, who was not a prosperity preacher. He had more sense than that. He said, "The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." "And when Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down and the men in the boat worshiped Jesus and they said, ’You really are the son of God.’" .
In Christ,
Brown
An Invitation:
Friends,
Union Center U.M. Church and First Presbyterian Church of Endicott are joining together to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Orissa, India. We will meet this Thursday, October 2, in the chapel at First Pres, from 12:15 to 1:15 pm. Come and go as you need, but let us come together before God on their behalf. The news each day continues to tell the story of brutal attacks and murder, the torching of homes and churches, Christians being coerced to denounce their faith and Christians fleeing from the area. Family and friends of the Naik and Tandi families are caught in the midst of the upheaval. Let us pray for peace, for safety, for the witness of courageous Christians, for healing of the land and people.
In Christ,
Jan and Tim Devine and Brown Naik
First Presbyterian Church
27 Grant Ave.
Endicott, NY 13760
748-1544
Happy First day of October. Praise the Lord for the Autumn season. It is absolutely brilliant and beautiful beyond belief here in New York. Wish you were here.
Jesus makes all things beautiful. He makes all seasons beautiful and purposeful. He makes our lives beautiful and purposeful and worth living. In a short story entitled, "Enough is Enough" the central figure is a person who accepts everything that happens as manifestations of divine power. He said, "It is not for me to question the workings of divine providence." All his life, misfortune had been his. Yet never once did he complain. He got married and his wife ran away with the hired man. His daughter was deceived by a villain. His son was lynched. A fire burned down his barn. A cyclone blew away his home. A hail storm destroyed his crops, and the banker foreclosed on his mortgage, taking his farm. Yet, at each stroke of misfortune, he knelt and gave thanks to God Almighty for his unchangeable mercy. After a time, penniless but still submissive to God, he landed in the county poorhouse. One day the overseer sent him out to plow a potato field. A thunderstorm was passing over, when without warning a bolt of lightning descended from the sky. It melted the plowshare, stripped most of his clothing from him, singed off his beard, branded his naked back with the initials of a neighboring cattleman, and hurled him through a barbed wire fence. When he recovered consciousness, he got up slowly on his knees, clasped his hands, raised his eye toward heaven and, then, for the first time in his life, asserted himself and said, "Lord, this is getting plumb ridiculous."
Have you been in the place of this man? Haven’t we all, at one time or another, felt that we had more than our fair share? Every one of us has our sandcastles blown away. Every once in awhile we back up and say, "Why am I being hit with this storm of life?" It is true that sometimes these storms are caused by the devil, sometimes by other people, but sometimes by ourselves. Sometimes they are allowed by the Lord. They come from different sources, but they do have a purpose in our life. In Matthew 14 we read the story of the disciples being out in their boat on the water while Jesus came to them in the midst of the storm. Matthew 14, beginning with verse 22, "Right away Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake, but he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening he was still there. By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples and when they saw him, they thought he was a ghost and they were terrified and started screaming. At once Jesus said to them, ’Don’t worry, I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.’ Peter replied, `Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.’ ’Come on,’ Jesus said. "Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him. But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. `Lord, save me!,’ he shouted. And right away Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, ’You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?’ When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, ’You really are the Son of God.’" Jesus said in Matthew 5, "He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And He sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong." So you can see storms, problems, difficulties, and trials come to all of us. There are no exclusions and no exemptions from trouble. Just because you are a believer, does not mean that you will be excluded from the storms of life. It is true that some storms come because we are out of God’s will. An example of that, of course, is Jonah, who deliberately disobeyed God’s will. God sent a great wind to rock the boat in which he was trying to hide from God. Another perfect example is in Acts 5, as Ananias and Sapphira deliberately lied to the church concerning their giving and, as a result, they lost their lives. Perhaps the storm you are encountering could be caused by personal disobedience. Some storms, however, come because we are in God’s will. Just because you are encountering a storm in your life does not mean necessarily that you are out of the will of God or willfully disobeying him. In fact, if you look at Matthew 14:22, it says, "Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake." The NAS translation said, "He prevailed upon his disciples to get into the boat." In other words, here these guys are out in the middle of a lake in the midst of a terrible storm. Since they are fishermen and are still afraid, you know it had to be a bad storm. They were out in the midst of the storm, but Jesus is the one who put them in the boat. He is the one who told them to go out into the middle of the lake. Though they were right in the middle of God’s will, they were still experiencing the storm of their lives.
I know many wonderful people who really do love God, who really do obey Him, who because of life’s uncertainties and the sin of the earth, are still dealt a tough blow. Thousands of wonderful Christians in Orissa, India find themselves daily in a fiery furnace of trials. They are facing some of worst storms of their lives even at this very moment. When we experience a difficult time such as that, we have to have our feet on the ground and understand that storms happen to people in the will of God as well as outside of his will. Jesus came to this world to teach us about God and He is now in heaven talking to God about us. The Hebrew writer said that Jesus intercedes for us in our time of need. Literally, in the Greek, this means, "In the nick of time." In other words, as we are here on earth encountering storms in our life, our Lord is at the right hand of the Father, interceding, praying for us. He comes to us and He ministers to us in the very nick of time. During the storms of life, He’s not an aloof God, but He enters into our storm. Look at verse 25, "A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples." He comes to us at the darkest hour "...a little before morning..." We know that the darkest hour of the night is right before the dawn, a little while right before the morning. We used to sing a hymn, "Just When I Need Him, Jesus Is Near. Just when I falter, just when I fear. Ready to help me, ready to cheer. Just when I need Him most." He walks into the storms of our life just at our darkest hour, the time when we are the most needy. He comes to us victorious over our greatest fears. In other words, he comes walking on the very thing that frightened the disciples. Do you see it? What are they worried about? They are worried about the waves. That little boat is being tossed back and forth. The disciples fear that they are going to drown. They are afraid that their boat will capsize. They look at those high waves coming over the sides of that boat and begin to bail out water as fast as they can. These guys are fishermen. They have been on the water all their life, yet they are quaking with fear. The waves are coming, and suddenly, Jesus comes to them, walking on the very thing that scares them, those high waves, the place where their greatest fears are resting. In His quiet, majestic way, as He’s walking on the water, Jesus is saying, "Guys, the thing that is the greatest storm in your life, I keep under my feet." If you become sick, He comes walking on your illness. If you are afraid of death, think about what Jesus did on Easter? He came walking on the waves of death, "Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy victory?" Jesus says to us, "I am able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than you can ever ask or think. I can do that which gives you the greatest fear, the thing which causes you to tremble, the thing which causes you to falter. I will come walking on it. I will stand on the very thing that makes you afraid. I am the Victor. I am the one who reigns." Hallelujah.
He ministers to us in the storm. Look what happens in verse 26 and 27, "When they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once Jesus said to them, `I am Jesus. Do not be afraid.’" He ministers to us in spite of our misunderstandings. The disciples did not know what was happening to them. They looked out and thought they were seeing a ghost, and they were terrified. Now, Jesus walks in and says "Don’t worry." . Paul says in Romans 8, "For we know all things work together." Paul said that we know this. We know it because we know that God’s on the throne and God’s sovereign. We know that it’s going to be okay because of God. Paul does not say that we will understand everything every thing that happens to us. We cannot figure it all out. You see, our security is not in what we know in our mind. Our significance is not in what we know. Our security is in Who we know. So when we are in the midst of the storm, we can say, "I don’t understand it. I’m not even sure it’s fair. I don’t like it. But I know who’s sovereign over the storm." We can be just like Job, who was not a prosperity preacher. He had more sense than that. He said, "The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." "And when Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down and the men in the boat worshiped Jesus and they said, ’You really are the son of God.’" .
In Christ,
Brown
An Invitation:
Friends,
Union Center U.M. Church and First Presbyterian Church of Endicott are joining together to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Orissa, India. We will meet this Thursday, October 2, in the chapel at First Pres, from 12:15 to 1:15 pm. Come and go as you need, but let us come together before God on their behalf. The news each day continues to tell the story of brutal attacks and murder, the torching of homes and churches, Christians being coerced to denounce their faith and Christians fleeing from the area. Family and friends of the Naik and Tandi families are caught in the midst of the upheaval. Let us pray for peace, for safety, for the witness of courageous Christians, for healing of the land and people.
In Christ,
Jan and Tim Devine and Brown Naik
First Presbyterian Church
27 Grant Ave.
Endicott, NY 13760
748-1544
India update 10-1-08
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 1:13pm 147 killed in Rajasthan temple stampede:GCIC condoles deaths
Jodhpur (PTI): In one of the worst tragedies in Rajasthan, at least 103 people, mostly men, were killed and about 30 injured in a stampede that took place when thousands of devotees gathered at a 15th century temple here on the occasion of Navaratri festival today.
posted in: Current Issue, Religion, North India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 11:12am Three killed in fresh firing in Kandhamal, Orissa
NEW DELHI: Three persons have been killed in fresh firing in Gresinghia in Kandhamal district of Orissa according to TV channel Times Now.Police fired at the mob after two communities clashed in the area.There are reports that some crude bombs were hurled in the area.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 9:27am Kandhamal witnessed more killing and arson
Bhubaneswar: Orissa30th September 2008
Atleast three killed and many Christian houses torched ,today in the renewed attacks aginst christians about 0400AM in Rudangia and Gadaguda villages under Tikabali block (5 Kms from G.Udayagiri).When a big group of Hindu extremists blocked the roads and then attacked, ransacked and set fire to many Christian house.Christian inhabitant in this village sustained serious injuries inflicted with sword, axes, daggers.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:32am 5 killed, 80 injured in blasts in Gujarat, Maharashtra towns
Malegaon/Banaskantha :30th Sept.On the heels of serial blasts in Kandhamal, At least five persons, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and 80 injured on Monday night as terrorists set off bomb blasts in the communally-sensitive town of Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, West India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:28am Worst is yet to come in Karnataka
Worst is yet to come: CPM leaderDH News Service,Mangalore:Right to religion, right to protest and several other rights ensured to the citizens in the Constitution has been thrown apart by the BJP rule in Karnataka. This is the cost we would have to pay as the most uncivilised political party has come to power in the State. This is just the beginning. Worst is yet to come, said CPIM Leader and former minister Sriram Reddy.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 6:57am Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal-Parvathi Menon
FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to ChristiansTERRIFYING VIOLENCE: A vandalised church in Tengedapathar village in Kandhamal district. A mob shouting anti-Christian and Hindutva slogans targeted this church three days after the gang rape of a nun and attack on a priest in K.Nuagaon.Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more 2 comments
Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:28pm LOSING HINDUISM -LOSING MY RELIGION-BY CHIDANAND RAJAGHATTA
(28 SEPT 2008 -TIMES OF INDIA )In the past fortnight, in the time some cretins have vandalised churches in India, at least two new Hindu temples opened in the United States.
posted in: Current Issue, , Other Countries
read more 3 comments
Jodhpur (PTI): In one of the worst tragedies in Rajasthan, at least 103 people, mostly men, were killed and about 30 injured in a stampede that took place when thousands of devotees gathered at a 15th century temple here on the occasion of Navaratri festival today.
posted in: Current Issue, Religion, North India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 11:12am Three killed in fresh firing in Kandhamal, Orissa
NEW DELHI: Three persons have been killed in fresh firing in Gresinghia in Kandhamal district of Orissa according to TV channel Times Now.Police fired at the mob after two communities clashed in the area.There are reports that some crude bombs were hurled in the area.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 9:27am Kandhamal witnessed more killing and arson
Bhubaneswar: Orissa30th September 2008
Atleast three killed and many Christian houses torched ,today in the renewed attacks aginst christians about 0400AM in Rudangia and Gadaguda villages under Tikabali block (5 Kms from G.Udayagiri).When a big group of Hindu extremists blocked the roads and then attacked, ransacked and set fire to many Christian house.Christian inhabitant in this village sustained serious injuries inflicted with sword, axes, daggers.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:32am 5 killed, 80 injured in blasts in Gujarat, Maharashtra towns
Malegaon/Banaskantha :30th Sept.On the heels of serial blasts in Kandhamal, At least five persons, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and 80 injured on Monday night as terrorists set off bomb blasts in the communally-sensitive town of Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, West India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:28am Worst is yet to come in Karnataka
Worst is yet to come: CPM leaderDH News Service,Mangalore:Right to religion, right to protest and several other rights ensured to the citizens in the Constitution has been thrown apart by the BJP rule in Karnataka. This is the cost we would have to pay as the most uncivilised political party has come to power in the State. This is just the beginning. Worst is yet to come, said CPIM Leader and former minister Sriram Reddy.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 6:57am Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal-Parvathi Menon
FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to ChristiansTERRIFYING VIOLENCE: A vandalised church in Tengedapathar village in Kandhamal district. A mob shouting anti-Christian and Hindutva slogans targeted this church three days after the gang rape of a nun and attack on a priest in K.Nuagaon.Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more 2 comments
Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:28pm LOSING HINDUISM -LOSING MY RELIGION-BY CHIDANAND RAJAGHATTA
(28 SEPT 2008 -TIMES OF INDIA )In the past fortnight, in the time some cretins have vandalised churches in India, at least two new Hindu temples opened in the United States.
posted in: Current Issue, , Other Countries
read more 3 comments
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 9/30/08
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The world is waking up to face the turmoil and upheaval all around us. The Christians in Orissa are facing severe persecution moment by moment. The state government has failed utterly to protect its citizens. The state is in utter chaos and lawlessness. Hindu mobs, numbering in the thousands attacked the villages of Rudangia, Gresingia, And Gadaguda. I know these villages. I visited the area the last time I was in Orissa, in June of 2008. The husband my first cousin was shot by a Hindu mob yesterday. The wife of one local pastor, one of my relatives, was hacked by a machete. The houses and properties belonging to all the Christians in this area have been destroyed in a fresh flood of violence against Christians.
The European Union has condemned the violence the Christians in Orissa. The President of France has confronted the Prime Minister of Orissa during his recent visit to France regarding the barbaric atrocities committed against Christians. Hindus are building their temples in North America and in Europe, and they are set on a mission of destroying the churches in India. One of the Bishop's of the Church of England has also condemned the violence against Christians in India. Most of the Church leaders and the Bishops in the USA are silent in the face unprecedented brutalities against Christians. We are witnessing a mass religious persecution in Orissa, India. From the first hand reports that I have received from Orissa, 90% of the houses belonging to Christians have been destroyed. 100% of the homes belonging to Christians in the village where I was born have been burned down. I pulled out an old story that perhaps you have heard before. Back when Jack Kennedy was President of the US, Nikita Khrushchev was in charge in the Soviet Union, and Golda Meir was Prime Minister of Israel, the three of them got together and decided to pray about the greatest concerns on their hearts. Nikita Khrushchev asked God if there would ever be peace between Russia and the United States, and God looked at Nikita Khrushchev and said, "Not in your lifetime." Jack Kennedy said, "Well, God, will there be peace in America between the blacks and the whites?" And God, again, said, "Well, not in your lifetime." And finally, Golda Meir asked God, "Well, will there be peace between the Arabs and the Jews?" And God said, "Not in my lifetime." Many times when we think about peace, we think of the word that the Jewish people use, "Shalom," which we think means peace. But what it really means is "order and well-being." So when people say Shalom, what they are really saying is that in your life may you have order and well-being. May you have a sense of security. May you have a sense of a foundation underneath your feet. In Isaiah 48, notice these incredible words, "I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way that you should go." Notice this statement: "If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." In this passage of Scripture, in verses 22, 23, he talks about the fact that there is no peace for the wicked. So the peace that we want to talk about today, the peace that Paul talks about, which is part of the fruit of the spirit in our life, is a direct result of obeying God and giving him control of our lives. It gives us a sense of well-being. In the Old Testament is the story of Gideon. Gideon was in the winepress, threshing wheat, hiding because the enemy, the Philistines, have constantly, for several years now during the harvest season, come in and plundered the land of Israel. So here’s Gideon, hoping to get enough wheat together for some flour for bread for his family without the Philistines coming and taking it away from him. Suddenly, into this story, comes God. He finds Gideon in this hiding place and says to him, "Oh, Gideon, man of valor." It’s kind of amusing. God looks at Gideon and calls him a man of valor, of courage, while he is in hiding. God looks at Gideon and says, "I would like you to be the leader of the children of Israel." He shares with him that He wants him to do battle. It is interesting that at the end of this conversation with God, Gideon builds an altar to Jehovah Shalom. In other words, he built an altar to the God of peace. Here Gideon, in fear because of a larger oppressive enemy, is about to go and do battle against that enemy, and he makes a sacrifice to the God of peace. How can Gideon make a sacrifice to the God of peace when there’s all kind of tension around him, when he is facing a very dark period in his life, going into battle, where there’s going to be all kind of hostility. How can Gideon make an altar to the God of peace in this situation? It is simply that Gideon understood Jehovah Shalom. He understood peace. He knew what it means is to have a sense of security, direction, and the presence of God in the midst of tension, turmoil, hostility, and battle.
The peace that God promises you and me is not a peace absent of trouble. What he promises is, to find us in the midst of our trouble, our difficulty, our dark days, and walk into our life and speak peace to our spirits, even while everything around us is unraveling. That’s the peace that God promises. It’s the peace that helps us understand that God is in control, and that this life is not all there is. There are some things that you and I will never understand as long as we live here on earth. Paul says we look through a glass darkly. That is, our vision is not clear. In this earthly life with earthly situations around us, there are things that are going to happen to us that cause us to say, "It’s not for my good. I don’t like it. I don’t understand it. It brings pain to me. It brings grief to me. It brings sorrow to me." However, knowing that God is sovereign and in control, Paul said, "All things work together for good, for the ultimate good." In other words, we will not understand them all here on this side of the earth. But in God’s great plan, not only for us, but for all his people, ultimately, way beyond what our eyesight can see or what our faith can grasp, this good is something that in God’s sovereignty He has planned for us and it will ultimately be for our benefit.
May Jesus Christ our Lord be praised,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ1vXATV
Praise the Lord for this new day. The world is waking up to face the turmoil and upheaval all around us. The Christians in Orissa are facing severe persecution moment by moment. The state government has failed utterly to protect its citizens. The state is in utter chaos and lawlessness. Hindu mobs, numbering in the thousands attacked the villages of Rudangia, Gresingia, And Gadaguda. I know these villages. I visited the area the last time I was in Orissa, in June of 2008. The husband my first cousin was shot by a Hindu mob yesterday. The wife of one local pastor, one of my relatives, was hacked by a machete. The houses and properties belonging to all the Christians in this area have been destroyed in a fresh flood of violence against Christians.
The European Union has condemned the violence the Christians in Orissa. The President of France has confronted the Prime Minister of Orissa during his recent visit to France regarding the barbaric atrocities committed against Christians. Hindus are building their temples in North America and in Europe, and they are set on a mission of destroying the churches in India. One of the Bishop's of the Church of England has also condemned the violence against Christians in India. Most of the Church leaders and the Bishops in the USA are silent in the face unprecedented brutalities against Christians. We are witnessing a mass religious persecution in Orissa, India. From the first hand reports that I have received from Orissa, 90% of the houses belonging to Christians have been destroyed. 100% of the homes belonging to Christians in the village where I was born have been burned down. I pulled out an old story that perhaps you have heard before. Back when Jack Kennedy was President of the US, Nikita Khrushchev was in charge in the Soviet Union, and Golda Meir was Prime Minister of Israel, the three of them got together and decided to pray about the greatest concerns on their hearts. Nikita Khrushchev asked God if there would ever be peace between Russia and the United States, and God looked at Nikita Khrushchev and said, "Not in your lifetime." Jack Kennedy said, "Well, God, will there be peace in America between the blacks and the whites?" And God, again, said, "Well, not in your lifetime." And finally, Golda Meir asked God, "Well, will there be peace between the Arabs and the Jews?" And God said, "Not in my lifetime." Many times when we think about peace, we think of the word that the Jewish people use, "Shalom," which we think means peace. But what it really means is "order and well-being." So when people say Shalom, what they are really saying is that in your life may you have order and well-being. May you have a sense of security. May you have a sense of a foundation underneath your feet. In Isaiah 48, notice these incredible words, "I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way that you should go." Notice this statement: "If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." In this passage of Scripture, in verses 22, 23, he talks about the fact that there is no peace for the wicked. So the peace that we want to talk about today, the peace that Paul talks about, which is part of the fruit of the spirit in our life, is a direct result of obeying God and giving him control of our lives. It gives us a sense of well-being. In the Old Testament is the story of Gideon. Gideon was in the winepress, threshing wheat, hiding because the enemy, the Philistines, have constantly, for several years now during the harvest season, come in and plundered the land of Israel. So here’s Gideon, hoping to get enough wheat together for some flour for bread for his family without the Philistines coming and taking it away from him. Suddenly, into this story, comes God. He finds Gideon in this hiding place and says to him, "Oh, Gideon, man of valor." It’s kind of amusing. God looks at Gideon and calls him a man of valor, of courage, while he is in hiding. God looks at Gideon and says, "I would like you to be the leader of the children of Israel." He shares with him that He wants him to do battle. It is interesting that at the end of this conversation with God, Gideon builds an altar to Jehovah Shalom. In other words, he built an altar to the God of peace. Here Gideon, in fear because of a larger oppressive enemy, is about to go and do battle against that enemy, and he makes a sacrifice to the God of peace. How can Gideon make a sacrifice to the God of peace when there’s all kind of tension around him, when he is facing a very dark period in his life, going into battle, where there’s going to be all kind of hostility. How can Gideon make an altar to the God of peace in this situation? It is simply that Gideon understood Jehovah Shalom. He understood peace. He knew what it means is to have a sense of security, direction, and the presence of God in the midst of tension, turmoil, hostility, and battle.
The peace that God promises you and me is not a peace absent of trouble. What he promises is, to find us in the midst of our trouble, our difficulty, our dark days, and walk into our life and speak peace to our spirits, even while everything around us is unraveling. That’s the peace that God promises. It’s the peace that helps us understand that God is in control, and that this life is not all there is. There are some things that you and I will never understand as long as we live here on earth. Paul says we look through a glass darkly. That is, our vision is not clear. In this earthly life with earthly situations around us, there are things that are going to happen to us that cause us to say, "It’s not for my good. I don’t like it. I don’t understand it. It brings pain to me. It brings grief to me. It brings sorrow to me." However, knowing that God is sovereign and in control, Paul said, "All things work together for good, for the ultimate good." In other words, we will not understand them all here on this side of the earth. But in God’s great plan, not only for us, but for all his people, ultimately, way beyond what our eyesight can see or what our faith can grasp, this good is something that in God’s sovereignty He has planned for us and it will ultimately be for our benefit.
May Jesus Christ our Lord be praised,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ1vXATV
India update 9-30-08
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 11:12am Three killed in fresh firing in Kandhamal, Orissa
NEW DELHI: Three persons have been killed in fresh firing in Gresinghia in Kandhamal district of Orissa according to TV channel Times Now.Police fired at the mob after two communities clashed in the area.There are reports that some crude bombs were hurled in the area.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 9:27am Kandhamal witnessed more killing and arson
Bhubaneswar: Orissa30th September 2008
Atleast three killed and many Christian houses torched ,today in the renewed attacks aginst christians about 0400AM in Rudangia and Gadaguda villages under Tikabali block (5 Kms from G.Udayagiri).When a big group of Hindu extremists blocked the roads and then attacked, ransacked and set fire to many Christian house.Christian inhabitant in this village sustained serious injuries inflicted with sword, axes, daggers.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:32am 5 killed, 80 injured in blasts in Gujarat, Maharashtra towns
Malegaon/Banaskantha :30th Sept.On the heels of serial blasts in Kandhamal, At least five persons, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and 80 injured on Monday night as terrorists set off bomb blasts in the communally-sensitive town of Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, West India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:28am Worst is yet to come in Karnataka
Worst is yet to come: CPM leaderDH News Service,Mangalore:Right to religion, right to protest and several other rights ensured to the citizens in the Constitution has been thrown apart by the BJP rule in Karnataka. This is the cost we would have to pay as the most uncivilised political party has come to power in the State. This is just the beginning. Worst is yet to come, said CPIM Leader and former minister Sriram Reddy.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Tue, 30/09/2008 - 6:57am Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal-Parvathi Menon
FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to ChristiansTERRIFYING VIOLENCE: A vandalised church in Tengedapathar village in Kandhamal district. A mob shouting anti-Christian and Hindutva slogans targeted this church three days after the gang rape of a nun and attack on a priest in K.Nuagaon.Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:28pm LOSING HINDUISM -LOSING MY RELIGION-BY CHIDANAND RAJAGHATTA
(28 SEPT 2008 -TIMES OF INDIA )In the past fortnight, in the time some cretins have vandalised churches in India, at least two new Hindu temples opened in the United States.
posted in: Current Issue, , Other Countries
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faces EU ire over 'massacre' of Christians
30 Sep 2008, 0133 hrs IST, Diwakar,TNN
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MARSEILLE: The European Union on Monday ticked off Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his government's failure to prevent what it called a "massacr
e" of Christians in Orissa and Karnataka. This strongly-worded description of the violence in Kandhamal and the Bajrang Dal's destruction of churches in Karnataka came during the India-EU summit here. The issue was taken up strongly with Singh by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also the head of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. Talking to reporters, Sarkozy strongly dismissed the suggestion that the "massacre" could be equated with the discrimination Sikhs allegedly face in France. Although Sarkozy said he admired Singh's condemnation of the anti-Christian violence as a "national shame" and his promise to guarantee the religious rights of minority communities in India, the two sides clearly differed on the scale of the violence against Christians in India. In his reply, the PM said there were "some sporadic incidents" though he declared the determination of the state to ensure that minority communities exercise their constitutional right to profess and propagate their respective faiths. He listed the measures taken by the Centre — advisories to Karnataka and Orissa and deployment of its forces — to emphasize the intent of his government to put an end to violence against Christians allegedly by Bajrang Dal and VHP. Sarkozy and Barrosso expressed satisfaction with Singh's assurances. "He is a courageous man. My respect for him has gone up because of his courageous assurances," Sarkozy said. Barroso spoke in the same vein, saying that "we praise the clarity with which he has condemned the violence". The French president, however, was riled by a question which asked about the ban on Sikh turbans in government-funded schools in France. "Massacre of Christians and the turban issue are not of the same nature," he snapped. He also made it clear that Sikhs will have to conform to rules of the French Republic. "We respect their customs and traditions and they are welcome in France. But we have rules regarding the neutrality of civil servants; regarding secularism and those apply not just to Sikhs or Muslims but to all. They are non-discriminatory. So while we respect the customs of Sikhs, we expect them to respect the rules of the Republic," Sarkozy asserted. India and the EU have long had a thorny relationship on the issue of human rights. During the heyday of Kashmir terrorism, EU never failed to criticize Indian actions. In 2002, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was ticked off by Danish PM Anders Rasmussen on human rights abuses of Kashmiris, leading Vajpayee to retaliate.
From Times Online ( London)
September 26, 2008
Bishop says the "worm has turned" after Indian Christians attack Hindu
Bishop Nazir-Ali appeals for Christian restraint in face of Hindu violence
Bess Twiston Davies
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {
color:#06c;
}
Beleaguered Christians in India have "run out of cheeks to be struck" a senior Anglican bishop declared yesterday, on hearing reports that a Christian mob had hacked a Hindu to death in the troubled state of Orissa.
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, called for peace, and said that the murder, conducted by a knive-wielding mob of 50 Christians, could not be condoned. But he told The Times: “For months now, scores of Christians have been killed, homes, convents and presbyteries have been burnt down to the ground."
He said: "Now one Hindu has been killed, allegedly by Christians. We do not know under what circumstances but it suggests that the worm has turned and the Christian community has run out of cheeks to be struck."
Appealing for an immediate end to the violence, Dr Nazir-Ali added: "As Christians, we must ask our brothers to remain as peaceful as they have during the recent provocation. We must ask, however, when justice will be done and when these people, under severe pressure, will be allowed relief.”
Thursday's murder was one of two outbreaks of sectarian violence on the same day in the East Indian state of Orissa. According to police, 27 people died in Thursday's violence. In a second attack, 500 Hindus burned and attacked Christian homes and two parish halls, causing local Christians to flee. No one died, but hundreds of Christians are said to be living in the jungle, having already abandoned their homes, as a result of the ongoing violence, which began on August 24th after the killing of a Hindu religious leader. On Thursday, the Indian Government appealed to the federal Government to halt the violence.
Yesterday Bishop Nazir-Ali accused the state government in Orissa of being “completely ineffective”, explaining “Christians from other parts of India, let alone elsewhere, have not been allowed by the State authorities to bring relief to the afflicted and the Federal Government has been paralysed.”
Bishop Nazir-Ali said that several weeks ago he had offered his assistance to the UK Government for a peace and factfinding mission to Orissa. "Neither the Foreign & Commonwealth Office nor the Commonwealth Secretariat have taken up this offer," he revealed yesterday, adding: "Will the Indian Government now allow outside observers to see for themselves what has happened and what can be done about it?"
The bishop also denied claims by hardline Hindu groups in Orissa who say that Christian missionaries bribe or force Hindus to convert and are thus to blame for the recent violence. He said that Indian Christian missionaries working in the area had brought education, medicine and community assistance "to untouchables and tribals well beyond the pale of Caste Hinduism. Is it for this ‘crime’ that they are being punished?" he asked.
"The aim of their work has been service to their fellow human beings but love elicits love and if some people are becoming Christians, of their own free will, is this so unacceptable in secular and democratic India?
He called on the Indian Government to rein in extremist Hindu nationalists involved in the violence, saying: “The Government of India has a solemn responsibility to prevent violence, particularly against Muslims and Christians, by extremist Hindu nationalists. Now is the time to act and to clear this stain on the fair home of India.”
NEW DELHI: Three persons have been killed in fresh firing in Gresinghia in Kandhamal district of Orissa according to TV channel Times Now.Police fired at the mob after two communities clashed in the area.There are reports that some crude bombs were hurled in the area.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Tue, 30/09/2008 - 9:27am Kandhamal witnessed more killing and arson
Bhubaneswar: Orissa30th September 2008
Atleast three killed and many Christian houses torched ,today in the renewed attacks aginst christians about 0400AM in Rudangia and Gadaguda villages under Tikabali block (5 Kms from G.Udayagiri).When a big group of Hindu extremists blocked the roads and then attacked, ransacked and set fire to many Christian house.Christian inhabitant in this village sustained serious injuries inflicted with sword, axes, daggers.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:32am 5 killed, 80 injured in blasts in Gujarat, Maharashtra towns
Malegaon/Banaskantha :30th Sept.On the heels of serial blasts in Kandhamal, At least five persons, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and 80 injured on Monday night as terrorists set off bomb blasts in the communally-sensitive town of Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, West India
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Tue, 30/09/2008 - 7:28am Worst is yet to come in Karnataka
Worst is yet to come: CPM leaderDH News Service,Mangalore:Right to religion, right to protest and several other rights ensured to the citizens in the Constitution has been thrown apart by the BJP rule in Karnataka. This is the cost we would have to pay as the most uncivilised political party has come to power in the State. This is just the beginning. Worst is yet to come, said CPIM Leader and former minister Sriram Reddy.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Tue, 30/09/2008 - 6:57am Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal-Parvathi Menon
FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to ChristiansTERRIFYING VIOLENCE: A vandalised church in Tengedapathar village in Kandhamal district. A mob shouting anti-Christian and Hindutva slogans targeted this church three days after the gang rape of a nun and attack on a priest in K.Nuagaon.Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog 2 comments
Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:28pm LOSING HINDUISM -LOSING MY RELIGION-BY CHIDANAND RAJAGHATTA
(28 SEPT 2008 -TIMES OF INDIA )In the past fortnight, in the time some cretins have vandalised churches in India, at least two new Hindu temples opened in the United States.
posted in: Current Issue, , Other Countries
read more newsman's blog 1 comment
faces EU ire over 'massacre' of Christians
30 Sep 2008, 0133 hrs IST, Diwakar,TNN
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MARSEILLE: The European Union on Monday ticked off Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his government's failure to prevent what it called a "massacr
e" of Christians in Orissa and Karnataka. This strongly-worded description of the violence in Kandhamal and the Bajrang Dal's destruction of churches in Karnataka came during the India-EU summit here. The issue was taken up strongly with Singh by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also the head of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. Talking to reporters, Sarkozy strongly dismissed the suggestion that the "massacre" could be equated with the discrimination Sikhs allegedly face in France. Although Sarkozy said he admired Singh's condemnation of the anti-Christian violence as a "national shame" and his promise to guarantee the religious rights of minority communities in India, the two sides clearly differed on the scale of the violence against Christians in India. In his reply, the PM said there were "some sporadic incidents" though he declared the determination of the state to ensure that minority communities exercise their constitutional right to profess and propagate their respective faiths. He listed the measures taken by the Centre — advisories to Karnataka and Orissa and deployment of its forces — to emphasize the intent of his government to put an end to violence against Christians allegedly by Bajrang Dal and VHP. Sarkozy and Barrosso expressed satisfaction with Singh's assurances. "He is a courageous man. My respect for him has gone up because of his courageous assurances," Sarkozy said. Barroso spoke in the same vein, saying that "we praise the clarity with which he has condemned the violence". The French president, however, was riled by a question which asked about the ban on Sikh turbans in government-funded schools in France. "Massacre of Christians and the turban issue are not of the same nature," he snapped. He also made it clear that Sikhs will have to conform to rules of the French Republic. "We respect their customs and traditions and they are welcome in France. But we have rules regarding the neutrality of civil servants; regarding secularism and those apply not just to Sikhs or Muslims but to all. They are non-discriminatory. So while we respect the customs of Sikhs, we expect them to respect the rules of the Republic," Sarkozy asserted. India and the EU have long had a thorny relationship on the issue of human rights. During the heyday of Kashmir terrorism, EU never failed to criticize Indian actions. In 2002, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was ticked off by Danish PM Anders Rasmussen on human rights abuses of Kashmiris, leading Vajpayee to retaliate.
From Times Online ( London)
September 26, 2008
Bishop says the "worm has turned" after Indian Christians attack Hindu
Bishop Nazir-Ali appeals for Christian restraint in face of Hindu violence
Bess Twiston Davies
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {
color:#06c;
}
Beleaguered Christians in India have "run out of cheeks to be struck" a senior Anglican bishop declared yesterday, on hearing reports that a Christian mob had hacked a Hindu to death in the troubled state of Orissa.
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, called for peace, and said that the murder, conducted by a knive-wielding mob of 50 Christians, could not be condoned. But he told The Times: “For months now, scores of Christians have been killed, homes, convents and presbyteries have been burnt down to the ground."
He said: "Now one Hindu has been killed, allegedly by Christians. We do not know under what circumstances but it suggests that the worm has turned and the Christian community has run out of cheeks to be struck."
Appealing for an immediate end to the violence, Dr Nazir-Ali added: "As Christians, we must ask our brothers to remain as peaceful as they have during the recent provocation. We must ask, however, when justice will be done and when these people, under severe pressure, will be allowed relief.”
Thursday's murder was one of two outbreaks of sectarian violence on the same day in the East Indian state of Orissa. According to police, 27 people died in Thursday's violence. In a second attack, 500 Hindus burned and attacked Christian homes and two parish halls, causing local Christians to flee. No one died, but hundreds of Christians are said to be living in the jungle, having already abandoned their homes, as a result of the ongoing violence, which began on August 24th after the killing of a Hindu religious leader. On Thursday, the Indian Government appealed to the federal Government to halt the violence.
Yesterday Bishop Nazir-Ali accused the state government in Orissa of being “completely ineffective”, explaining “Christians from other parts of India, let alone elsewhere, have not been allowed by the State authorities to bring relief to the afflicted and the Federal Government has been paralysed.”
Bishop Nazir-Ali said that several weeks ago he had offered his assistance to the UK Government for a peace and factfinding mission to Orissa. "Neither the Foreign & Commonwealth Office nor the Commonwealth Secretariat have taken up this offer," he revealed yesterday, adding: "Will the Indian Government now allow outside observers to see for themselves what has happened and what can be done about it?"
The bishop also denied claims by hardline Hindu groups in Orissa who say that Christian missionaries bribe or force Hindus to convert and are thus to blame for the recent violence. He said that Indian Christian missionaries working in the area had brought education, medicine and community assistance "to untouchables and tribals well beyond the pale of Caste Hinduism. Is it for this ‘crime’ that they are being punished?" he asked.
"The aim of their work has been service to their fellow human beings but love elicits love and if some people are becoming Christians, of their own free will, is this so unacceptable in secular and democratic India?
He called on the Indian Government to rein in extremist Hindu nationalists involved in the violence, saying: “The Government of India has a solemn responsibility to prevent violence, particularly against Muslims and Christians, by extremist Hindu nationalists. Now is the time to act and to clear this stain on the fair home of India.”
Monday, September 29, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 9/29/08
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord that Jesus is the Christ in every crisis. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of kings. As we live our lives on earth we soon discover that the life is a battleground. Praise the Lord that we have His word that the battle belongs to the Lord.
One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Exodus 17. During Israel's sojourn from Egypt to the Promised Land - the land flowing with milk and honey - they had their very first battle encounter with the Amalekites. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12). He hated Jacob because of the birthright and blessing that had been stolen from his grandfather, and this battle was an effort of hereditary enmity Esau was a man who preferred the physical to the spiritual. We are told in Hebrews 12:16 that he was a profane and an irreligious individual who cared not for God neither the things of God. By this, he lost the blessings that were due him. Instead, this is what he received, "By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother, and it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck" (Genesis 27:40) Esau had hated his brother and had sworn in his heart to kill him so as to break the yoke from off his neck. Amalek was, therefore, an old enemy whom Israel had robbed of blessing The Israelites had been delivered from the attack of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. When they entered into the wilderness, they had miraculously been provided with water to quench their thirst and to give to their flocks to drink. Moreover, they were fed with manna in the wilderness. So, when Israelites began to receive their divine blessing in that same land, the Amalekites moved in to resist them; they attacked Israel without notice. They did not understand why the Israelites should prosper in the land. Shouts of joy suddenly turned into screams and fearful cries. Moses was alarmed, as Amalek had already slained a few of the Israelites from behind. Moses immediately appointed Joshua as Commander-in-chief and commanded him to mobilize some men, though unskilled in warfare, to resist the attack. Meanwhile, Moses went up to the mountain top with Aaron and Hur. Here, Moses raised up his hands to heaven and invoked divine intervention because here was Israel without any preparation for war in terms of training and arms against the might of the Amalekites. Empirical studies have taught us that the most basic instinct of man is survival. Immediately, as Israel was attacked, they realized that they had to survive the onslaught. They were determined to survive.
One of the first steps to spiritual victory is determination. But "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). Yet, we have more effective and sophisticated weapons because all power from heaven is at our disposal by virtue of our position in Christ Jesus. "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). Moses recalled what the Lord did for Israel at the Red Sea when Pharaoh and Egypt pursued them. "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:13,14). When Moses realized that this new confrontation was beyond his natural strength, he turned to the Lord for deliverance. To the top of the mountain he went with the rod in his hands. The rod symbolized the Cross of Christ, "when I am lifted up, I shall draw all men to Myself". "The preaching of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God." See the Cross and live. When Moses help up his hand, the power of God made Israel to triumph in the battlefield; and when the hand came down because of tiredness, the tide turned in favor of the Amalekites. The rod was the anchor and sign of victory.
This was the same rod which Moses had used at the Red Sea encounter. This was not the time for God to forsake His own people. When Moses hand became heavy, a huge stone was put under him to sit on, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands steadily till the evening. In order to teach the lesson of the power of prayer, God made the fortunes of the fight to vary according to the motion of Moses’ hands. Victory was entirely regulated by what went on at the top of the hill. Victory over ill health, financial problems, business failings, broken marriages, etc. will principally depend on how we go down on your knees to seek the intervention of God in the our affairs, for "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16b). The good generalship of Joshua, first mentioned here, was entirely useless aside from the uplifted arms of Moses, which indicated the recognition of God’s part in the conflict. In this miraculous victory, the power of intercession is symbolized. Israel’s defeat of Amalek illustrates the feebleness of a fighting army against a praying hand. When God is on our side, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). And "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) This was a spiritual warfare and it typifies what you and I go through in daily life. But Israel prevailed over Amalek and Moses erected an altar and named it JEHOVAH-NISSI, meaning "THE LORD IS MY BANNER" because the Lord had sworn to war with Amalek from generation to generation. We should see God as our Banner and trust Him to fight our battles for us. A banner is a flag usually carried on two poles, bearing the slogans or principles of the group concerned. It always goes before a procession and anybody who sees the banner immediately knows who the members of the group are. The Lord is Our Banner who goes before us with the inscription KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS boldly written on His chest (Revelations 19:16). He moves ahead and fights for us. This is what He did for the Israelites when they encountered their first battle with Amalek. From then on, He kept fighting for them from victory to victory. He is the same JEHOVAH-NISSI and will be our Banner too. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).
In His Victory,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34yPZiD8OMs
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord that Jesus is the Christ in every crisis. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of kings. As we live our lives on earth we soon discover that the life is a battleground. Praise the Lord that we have His word that the battle belongs to the Lord.
One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Exodus 17. During Israel's sojourn from Egypt to the Promised Land - the land flowing with milk and honey - they had their very first battle encounter with the Amalekites. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12). He hated Jacob because of the birthright and blessing that had been stolen from his grandfather, and this battle was an effort of hereditary enmity Esau was a man who preferred the physical to the spiritual. We are told in Hebrews 12:16 that he was a profane and an irreligious individual who cared not for God neither the things of God. By this, he lost the blessings that were due him. Instead, this is what he received, "By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother, and it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck" (Genesis 27:40) Esau had hated his brother and had sworn in his heart to kill him so as to break the yoke from off his neck. Amalek was, therefore, an old enemy whom Israel had robbed of blessing The Israelites had been delivered from the attack of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. When they entered into the wilderness, they had miraculously been provided with water to quench their thirst and to give to their flocks to drink. Moreover, they were fed with manna in the wilderness. So, when Israelites began to receive their divine blessing in that same land, the Amalekites moved in to resist them; they attacked Israel without notice. They did not understand why the Israelites should prosper in the land. Shouts of joy suddenly turned into screams and fearful cries. Moses was alarmed, as Amalek had already slained a few of the Israelites from behind. Moses immediately appointed Joshua as Commander-in-chief and commanded him to mobilize some men, though unskilled in warfare, to resist the attack. Meanwhile, Moses went up to the mountain top with Aaron and Hur. Here, Moses raised up his hands to heaven and invoked divine intervention because here was Israel without any preparation for war in terms of training and arms against the might of the Amalekites. Empirical studies have taught us that the most basic instinct of man is survival. Immediately, as Israel was attacked, they realized that they had to survive the onslaught. They were determined to survive.
One of the first steps to spiritual victory is determination. But "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). Yet, we have more effective and sophisticated weapons because all power from heaven is at our disposal by virtue of our position in Christ Jesus. "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). Moses recalled what the Lord did for Israel at the Red Sea when Pharaoh and Egypt pursued them. "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:13,14). When Moses realized that this new confrontation was beyond his natural strength, he turned to the Lord for deliverance. To the top of the mountain he went with the rod in his hands. The rod symbolized the Cross of Christ, "when I am lifted up, I shall draw all men to Myself". "The preaching of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God." See the Cross and live. When Moses help up his hand, the power of God made Israel to triumph in the battlefield; and when the hand came down because of tiredness, the tide turned in favor of the Amalekites. The rod was the anchor and sign of victory.
This was the same rod which Moses had used at the Red Sea encounter. This was not the time for God to forsake His own people. When Moses hand became heavy, a huge stone was put under him to sit on, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands steadily till the evening. In order to teach the lesson of the power of prayer, God made the fortunes of the fight to vary according to the motion of Moses’ hands. Victory was entirely regulated by what went on at the top of the hill. Victory over ill health, financial problems, business failings, broken marriages, etc. will principally depend on how we go down on your knees to seek the intervention of God in the our affairs, for "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16b). The good generalship of Joshua, first mentioned here, was entirely useless aside from the uplifted arms of Moses, which indicated the recognition of God’s part in the conflict. In this miraculous victory, the power of intercession is symbolized. Israel’s defeat of Amalek illustrates the feebleness of a fighting army against a praying hand. When God is on our side, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). And "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) This was a spiritual warfare and it typifies what you and I go through in daily life. But Israel prevailed over Amalek and Moses erected an altar and named it JEHOVAH-NISSI, meaning "THE LORD IS MY BANNER" because the Lord had sworn to war with Amalek from generation to generation. We should see God as our Banner and trust Him to fight our battles for us. A banner is a flag usually carried on two poles, bearing the slogans or principles of the group concerned. It always goes before a procession and anybody who sees the banner immediately knows who the members of the group are. The Lord is Our Banner who goes before us with the inscription KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS boldly written on His chest (Revelations 19:16). He moves ahead and fights for us. This is what He did for the Israelites when they encountered their first battle with Amalek. From then on, He kept fighting for them from victory to victory. He is the same JEHOVAH-NISSI and will be our Banner too. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).
In His Victory,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34yPZiD8OMs
India update 9-29-08
Mon, 29/09/2008 - 11:05am TERROR CONTINUES IN ORISSA: SERIAL BOMB BLAST IN FOUR PLACES CLOSE TO THE RELIEF CAMPS AT KANDHAMAL
On 28-09-08 at around evening at 7.00 pm, suddenly there was a Bomb blasted at K. Nuagaon close to the relief camps and at Baliguda. And at around 8.00 pm two bombs blasted together in Mahasingh village which is 7 Kms distance from Baliguda. People in the relief tents have moved to the respective school campus after the bomb blast.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:33am Licensed fire-arms used in Indore communal violence by VHP activists
New Delhi, 29th Sept
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has claimed that licenced weapons were used during communal clashes in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on July three this year which had claimed eight lives.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, North India
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Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:04am Prayer and sit in Dharna in Delhi
3rd Day sit-in Dharna:Hundreds of Christians flocked to the sit-in Dharna at Jantar Mantar New Delhi, after their worship services.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 10:17pm Breaking News -Three more dead bodies recovered in Bisipada village of Kandhamal
Phulbani Orissa: Sept 28th 2008Mr. Navin Patnaik ,the Chief Minister of Orissa is fooling the people of Orissa and the rest of the world claming that normalcy was restored in Kandhamal.Recovery of three more bodies,that of a couple and dead body found floating in the canal in the Bisipada village,the death toll has reached seventy Since 23rd Augustin the attacks against christians.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 8:06pm Eight persons killed and two injured while making bombs in Orissa
Bhubaneswar: Orissa(28th Sept)Eight persons killed, two injured in a blast while making bombs in Orissa's Balasore district.Bombs were frrely used in the curfew bound areas aginst Christians in the arson and looting in Kandhamal. VHP activists used bombs to trigger communal disturbances in Kendrapara district of Orissa.Two Bajarangdal activists were killed in Kanpur ,while they were making bombs.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
newsman's blog 2 comments
On 28-09-08 at around evening at 7.00 pm, suddenly there was a Bomb blasted at K. Nuagaon close to the relief camps and at Baliguda. And at around 8.00 pm two bombs blasted together in Mahasingh village which is 7 Kms distance from Baliguda. People in the relief tents have moved to the respective school campus after the bomb blast.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:33am Licensed fire-arms used in Indore communal violence by VHP activists
New Delhi, 29th Sept
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has claimed that licenced weapons were used during communal clashes in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on July three this year which had claimed eight lives.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, North India
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Mon, 29/09/2008 - 8:04am Prayer and sit in Dharna in Delhi
3rd Day sit-in Dharna:Hundreds of Christians flocked to the sit-in Dharna at Jantar Mantar New Delhi, after their worship services.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 10:17pm Breaking News -Three more dead bodies recovered in Bisipada village of Kandhamal
Phulbani Orissa: Sept 28th 2008Mr. Navin Patnaik ,the Chief Minister of Orissa is fooling the people of Orissa and the rest of the world claming that normalcy was restored in Kandhamal.Recovery of three more bodies,that of a couple and dead body found floating in the canal in the Bisipada village,the death toll has reached seventy Since 23rd Augustin the attacks against christians.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 8:06pm Eight persons killed and two injured while making bombs in Orissa
Bhubaneswar: Orissa(28th Sept)Eight persons killed, two injured in a blast while making bombs in Orissa's Balasore district.Bombs were frrely used in the curfew bound areas aginst Christians in the arson and looting in Kandhamal. VHP activists used bombs to trigger communal disturbances in Kendrapara district of Orissa.Two Bajarangdal activists were killed in Kanpur ,while they were making bombs.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
India update 9-28-08
Sun, 28/09/2008 - 12:00pm Worship disrupted, Pastor detained and released in Hubli, Karnataka state.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 6:27am BJP following Hitlers path in India-Hariprasad,Ragya sabha member
DH News Service,Balehonnur:“By assaulting minorities, BJP is following Hitler’s path in the name of dharma when the country is facing the problems of unemployment, poverty, hunger,” said Mr Hariprasad,Ragya sabha member“Attack on churches are condemnable act. Simi and Bajrang Dal are two faces of same coin. There is no difference between terrorists and them,” he said.
“India is a land of various culture. Various religions are co existing peacefully in the country. Bajrang Dal is involved in disrupting the peace in the country. The main culprit behind the attack was arrested only after Centre issued notice to State government,” Mr Hariprasad added.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 6:06am Attack on Christians criticised in Puducherry
PUDUCHERRY: Activists of the International Ambedkar Centenary Movement on Saturday observed a dawn to dusk fast to protest against the attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
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Sat, 27/09/2008 - 8:23pm Mizoram will be shut on 29th September
Responding to a call given by different Christian denominations,Mizoram will be shut.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, North India
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Sat, 27/09/2008 - 7:33pm More policing in Kandhamal-Orissa
The day curfew was relaxed today in Raikia town of Kandhamal district of Orissa with the VISIT OF CHIEF MINISTER.The State Government has decided to deploy armed police in every ten kilometer stretch of major roads to stop road blockades, in the district.State Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will review the law and order situation in the district headquarter town Phulbani later today.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sat, 27/09/2008 - 9:41am Churches attacked in Bangalore, Mangalore,Tamil Nadu and Kerala on 26th Sept
Friday, September 26, 2008
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
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Friday, September 26, 2008
Over 8 lakh people in Water, 41,000 still without relief
Even as the flood situation in the state improved to a great extent, the state government has admitted that over 8 lakh people are still submerged in water and the authorities are trying hard to rescue them. Around 41,000 people are still without relief despite the best efforts of the administration. According to sources, the government has run out of polythene and orders have been places for more polythene to be supplied to flood-affected areas in the state.More than 240 breaches have been reported in various rivers in the state. Since only one gate of Hirakud Dam is open now, there is no further danger of flood. In total, 19 districts in Orissa are affected by the flood. Ersama, Kujang and Delang of Jagatsinghpur district are worst affected. The official death toll has reached 56. However, unofficial sources put the death toll at over 300.More than 41,00,000 people have been affected by the flood fury. Near about 6,000 villages in the state have been badly hit. Over 870 villages are still in water. According to Revenue Secretary, 1,33,114 houses have been damaged and 4,62,532 hectares of agricultural land lost crops. Medical facilities in the state have been put on high alert to prevent any epidemic aftermath flood. Relief operations have been stepped up in all flood affected areas.
posted by Admin @ 12:53 PM 0 Comments
Kandhamal burns again; 1 Person killed, 100 Houses burnt
Breaking News! Kandhamal burns again! In a shocking development, miscreants belonging to Christian community alleged killed a person called Raghav Digal and injured one other at Sisapanga village in Kandhamal. They also burnt over 60 houses during the night. Tension mounted in Sisapanga after the gruesome killing of Raghav Digal. Over hundreds of tribals from Hindu community have vowed to avenge Raghav's death and may launch a planned attack soon.
The security forces have been put on high alert in the affected areas. According to latest reports, over 100 houses (of both communities) and some churches have been set on fire in a day in various places of Kandhamal. Since the Christians have begun retaliating to the attacks made by radical Hindus, situation may go out of control if the government does not act tough. The state government has sought 10 additional battalions of security personnel from the centre.
posted by Admin @ 11:44 AM 1 Comments
Thursday, September 25, 2008
NCM raps Naveen Patnaik Govt. for Kandhamal Violence
Violence in Kandhamal continued unabated, as the National Commission for Minorities (NCM)slammed the ruling BJD-BJP government in Orissa for its failure to handle the situation aftermath Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Jaleshpata Ashram by some unidentified miscreants. NCM Chairman Md. Shafi Qureshi said, "the state government did not play an active role and the situation was allowed to go out of control".
The NCM added insult to injury of Hindus, by asking to use provisions of Orissa Freedom of Religion Act against "those using force to re-convert Christians into Hindus". The NCM held Bajrang Dal responsible for the attacks on Christians and Churches in Orissa. The NCM also asked the state government to involve NGOs and other social welfare groups in carrying out relief and rehabilitation work in the violence-hit areas.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
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Sun, 28/09/2008 - 6:27am BJP following Hitlers path in India-Hariprasad,Ragya sabha member
DH News Service,Balehonnur:“By assaulting minorities, BJP is following Hitler’s path in the name of dharma when the country is facing the problems of unemployment, poverty, hunger,” said Mr Hariprasad,Ragya sabha member“Attack on churches are condemnable act. Simi and Bajrang Dal are two faces of same coin. There is no difference between terrorists and them,” he said.
“India is a land of various culture. Various religions are co existing peacefully in the country. Bajrang Dal is involved in disrupting the peace in the country. The main culprit behind the attack was arrested only after Centre issued notice to State government,” Mr Hariprasad added.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Sun, 28/09/2008 - 6:06am Attack on Christians criticised in Puducherry
PUDUCHERRY: Activists of the International Ambedkar Centenary Movement on Saturday observed a dawn to dusk fast to protest against the attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Sat, 27/09/2008 - 8:23pm Mizoram will be shut on 29th September
Responding to a call given by different Christian denominations,Mizoram will be shut.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, North India
read more newsman's blog 1 comment
Sat, 27/09/2008 - 7:33pm More policing in Kandhamal-Orissa
The day curfew was relaxed today in Raikia town of Kandhamal district of Orissa with the VISIT OF CHIEF MINISTER.The State Government has decided to deploy armed police in every ten kilometer stretch of major roads to stop road blockades, in the district.State Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will review the law and order situation in the district headquarter town Phulbani later today.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
read more newsman's blog 1 comment
Sat, 27/09/2008 - 9:41am Churches attacked in Bangalore, Mangalore,Tamil Nadu and Kerala on 26th Sept
Friday, September 26, 2008
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
read more newsman's blog add new comment
Friday, September 26, 2008
Over 8 lakh people in Water, 41,000 still without relief
Even as the flood situation in the state improved to a great extent, the state government has admitted that over 8 lakh people are still submerged in water and the authorities are trying hard to rescue them. Around 41,000 people are still without relief despite the best efforts of the administration. According to sources, the government has run out of polythene and orders have been places for more polythene to be supplied to flood-affected areas in the state.More than 240 breaches have been reported in various rivers in the state. Since only one gate of Hirakud Dam is open now, there is no further danger of flood. In total, 19 districts in Orissa are affected by the flood. Ersama, Kujang and Delang of Jagatsinghpur district are worst affected. The official death toll has reached 56. However, unofficial sources put the death toll at over 300.More than 41,00,000 people have been affected by the flood fury. Near about 6,000 villages in the state have been badly hit. Over 870 villages are still in water. According to Revenue Secretary, 1,33,114 houses have been damaged and 4,62,532 hectares of agricultural land lost crops. Medical facilities in the state have been put on high alert to prevent any epidemic aftermath flood. Relief operations have been stepped up in all flood affected areas.
posted by Admin @ 12:53 PM 0 Comments
Kandhamal burns again; 1 Person killed, 100 Houses burnt
Breaking News! Kandhamal burns again! In a shocking development, miscreants belonging to Christian community alleged killed a person called Raghav Digal and injured one other at Sisapanga village in Kandhamal. They also burnt over 60 houses during the night. Tension mounted in Sisapanga after the gruesome killing of Raghav Digal. Over hundreds of tribals from Hindu community have vowed to avenge Raghav's death and may launch a planned attack soon.
The security forces have been put on high alert in the affected areas. According to latest reports, over 100 houses (of both communities) and some churches have been set on fire in a day in various places of Kandhamal. Since the Christians have begun retaliating to the attacks made by radical Hindus, situation may go out of control if the government does not act tough. The state government has sought 10 additional battalions of security personnel from the centre.
posted by Admin @ 11:44 AM 1 Comments
Thursday, September 25, 2008
NCM raps Naveen Patnaik Govt. for Kandhamal Violence
Violence in Kandhamal continued unabated, as the National Commission for Minorities (NCM)slammed the ruling BJD-BJP government in Orissa for its failure to handle the situation aftermath Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Jaleshpata Ashram by some unidentified miscreants. NCM Chairman Md. Shafi Qureshi said, "the state government did not play an active role and the situation was allowed to go out of control".
The NCM added insult to injury of Hindus, by asking to use provisions of Orissa Freedom of Religion Act against "those using force to re-convert Christians into Hindus". The NCM held Bajrang Dal responsible for the attacks on Christians and Churches in Orissa. The NCM also asked the state government to involve NGOs and other social welfare groups in carrying out relief and rehabilitation work in the violence-hit areas.
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