Good Morning,
Praise the Lord, for it Friday and that means Sunday is coming. Praise the Lord for the way the Lord calls us out of the world into His presence, to gather before His Throne of Mercy and Grace in worship and fellowship. Something wonderful and awesome happens in that Holy and divine encounter. It is not about ourselves. It is not what we do. It is, rather, what He does in our midst. He comes into the midst of our mundane. He somehow touches it and transforms it. In the presence of Jesus, the Risen One, we find release and freedom. In His presence we are infused with joy unspeakable. His joy is our strength. Jesus is the real joy- giver. In His presence there is the fullness of joy. I get excited about getting ready for Sunday, the Day of the Lord. It is a great honor to be there in His presence with other believers in praise and worship. Satan trembles when servants and saints declare the majesty of Jesus. It is Satan who keeps people away from the Lord and away from His fellowship and worship.
Did you know that in America nearly 98% of people say they believe in God? But only 49% of people who believe in the Christian God are regularly in worship! In other words, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ rarely come to family get-togethers! More than ½ of God’s family finds something else to do rather than come to worship, fellowship, or study! There are many reasons people don’t come to church. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of several books (including The Purpose Driven Life) states there are four main reasons people give for not going to church: 1. “Church services are boring, especially the sermons.” 2. “Church members are unfriendly to visitors.” 3. “The church is more interested in money than in me.” 4. “We worry about the quality of the church’s child care.”Of these four reasons, you will notice that none of them have anything to do directly with God. When people are invited to God’s family gatherings, they rarely say, “I don’t believe in God.” Most excuses have to do with “church” – with the human institution and with how family members treat each other and those on the outside. These excuses that Rick Warren highlights have nothing to do with God and people’s relationships with God but everything to do with how we, the church family, present ourselves to others. In actuality, many Christians don’t present a joy-filled attitude in church or out of church.
In Luke 7, Jesus encountered a funeral procession. Funerals are not usually seen as joyful events in our lives, although there have been a handful of ones I have attended that truly were joyful. But this was not one of them. This funeral was for the only son of a widow, so it is no wonder that the mother wept. She had already buried her husband. Here she was burying her only son. This means that she was to be left as a woman who would need to rely on her extended family or the generosity of the community for her livelihood. This widow (and those others in the funeral procession) had every reason to be weeping. The tears were not just for the dead but, as it often is at a funeral, the tears were also for she who survived. I love the NIV translation of Luke 7:13, When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said, “Don’t cry.” Jesus saw the woman who was mourning the death of her son, who was worrying about the future and who would take care of her, and His heart went out to her so He said, “don’t cry.” It wasn’t a pat remark. These words are the words of Christ’s heart for her. And then He touched the coffin and said, “young man, I say to you, get up!” And he sat up and began talking. And everyone there was filled with awe and praised God. What joy filled their lives at this moment! Christ saw the hardship of the woman and his heart went out to her. Further, through Christ’s touch life was restored to her son and to her. Everyone (not just the mother and son) was filled with such awe that right then and there they began praising God. The awe and joy of this moment energized those who were there to go to their homes and to go throughout Judea spreading the news of Christ. Christ does the same for us. Christ sees the tears we cry and his heart goes out to us. Through Christ’s touch we are brought again to life. Through Christ’s touch we are restored. Through Christ WE have been brought back from the death of sin… and yet I say, where is our joy? Why do we feel like we have nothing to offer the world? We Christians have the greatest news of all time – the truth of Jesus Christ who once was dead, but now is alive, the truth of our faith through which we believe in the LIFE everlasting. This is the unquenchable joy that fills the life of every Christian. Yet, we go out of our way to not share it. We go out of our way to not invite others to come to the fountain of life-giving water. Why? Perhaps we are scared that the eternal spring of Living Water may not be eternal. What if we invite people into the joy of Christ only to find out there isn’t enough of Christ to go around? But, as the words of Paul remind us, Christ is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” There is more than enough joy to spread throughout the world. There is more than enough God-inspired awe to fill each of God’s children in the world. The love, grace, mercy and joy of Christ is an ever-flowing stream of living water. Is that something to be excited about? Yes it is! More than just be excited about it, we need to share it! The widow and her son and all who were at the funeral procession were so filled with joy that they went and told others. They didn’t care what others might think. They didn’t force others to believe. They just shared the remarkable, immeasurable, unimaginable work that they experienced through Christ.That is what we are called to do. We are called to share the joy of Christ that is in our lives with others. That’s it. We are not called to “make others believe.” We are not responsible for the salvation of others. But we are obligated as witnesses to the glory of Christ in our lives to spread the good news to the world. We are commanded by Christ to be witnesses to the world, witnesses who speak the truth of salvation with their words and actions. We must be witnesses who proclaim the joy of Christ at work in our lives, witnesses who are strengthened through the power of the Holy Spirit to take Christ outside of these walls and proclaim him at home, at school, at work, in the line at the bank, wherever we are. Before we can go out and be witnesses to the unquenchable joy of Christ in our lives, we must first recognize the joy of Christ. Some of us may have a mountaintop experience or a deep valley experience where we experienced the heart of Christ and the hand of his salvation. Others of us may be traveling across the flat, even terrain. Regardless, there is much in our lives that can witness to the joy of Christ. God’s unquenchable joy flows in our lives every minute of every day – but we have to stop and recognize it. Christ desires to do great works in and through our lives – but we have to open ourselves to him. We cannot share God’s unquenchable joy with others when we ourselves are not joyful. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years, once explained his choice in career by saying, "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers." It’s time we stop looking and acting like members of a funeral procession and begin living as God’s children – forgiven, loved and freed from the bondage of sin. This, my friends, is the joyful and good news of our Lord and Savior!
Please pray for Mrs. Anne Hill, a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Ipswich, MA, who recently was in a serious accident on the way to her son's wedding. She suffered a spinal column injury, broken limbs, and is currently in a coma. Her husband doesn't yet know the Lord. Her daughter is expecting a baby. In short, the entire family needs much prayer.
In Christ,
Brown
Report says 500 Christians Killed in Orissa in August-September
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation international team issues Fact-Finding Report on Kandhamal SituationA Communist Party of India [CPI (ML)] fact-finding team visited Orissa's Kandhamal District. The team visited affected villages and relief camps, after facing interrogation by the Orissa Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The team also met District Magistrate (DM) and various police officials of Kandhamal district. Below is a report by team member J P Minz.
1. The District Magistrate's (DM) Statement: The DM told us that Kandhamal had been peaceful for the preceding ten days. Whereas there used to be fifteen relief camps, now only seven were operational, having 12,641 people. According to him, breakfast, meals, supplementary food meant for children, and iron and calcium tablets for pregnant women are available in these camps; a doctor is available round the clock; books are available for children and there are regular reading sessions. Blankets, sarees, buckets and mugs and similar essentials have also been provided.
2. Conditions at the Relief Camps: Our team visited Phulbani, Tikabali, Ji Udaygiri and Rakiya relief camps and found that the inmates of the camp are living in extremely bad conditions. In the name of breakfast they get only fifty grams of chura (beaten rice) and rice-dal for meals, which is not enough to satisfy the needs of hunger and nutrition. In the name of supplementary food, the children are occasionally given biscuits. Bathing soaps have been distributed just once in the camps. The doctors do visit but patients are told that there is no medicine. There is no arrangement for pregnant women. The camp inmates sleep on plastic mats on the ground. They have to defecate in the open, which apart from being unhygienic also puts them in danger. One inmate of Ji Udaygiri camp, we were told, was killed when he had gone to defecate.
3. Role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal: The victims in all the relief camps unanimously told the fact finding team that it is the VHP and Bajrang Dal cadres who have sowed the seeds of communal division in the villages. They used to organize meetings of the Kandha tribals and incite them to attack the Christian hamlets and also provided funds for doing this.
4. Role of the Police and Administration: The anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal started on the day of the bandh called by VHP after the murder of Swami Lakshmananad, and these riots continued for over a month. In the communal fire two hundred Christian villages and 127 Church and prayer halls were either destroyed or burnt. Apart from this, schools, hospitals, hostels and convents also have been damaged. The incidents of killings, rape and loot also were carried out in addition to former incidents. The shocking fact is that all these incidents took place in full view of police and the police remained mute spectators. The official figure for deaths has been reported to be 31, however, a senior government official on the condition of anonymity informed that he himself consigned two hundred dead bodies - found from the jungle - to flames after getting them collected in a tractor. As per his estimates based on the intensity and pace of killings the number of those killed is over five hundred.
5. Atmosphere of Terror: The Christians continue to experience great terror. The Sangh outfits are campaigning for sending back the CRPF and the Nikhil Utkal Kui community is threatening to launch an armed movement. Riot-victims are frightened to go back to their villages because they have been threatened that if they return they will be hacked into pieces. The rioters are also proclaiming that only Hindu converts will be allowed to return. On the other hand, those in charge of the relief camps are pressurizing the riot victims to return to their villages saying that the life has returned to normalcy and peace has returned.
Conclusions
1. This violence was a pre-planned anti-Christian communal assault, and in no way was it a 'clash' between adivasi (tribals) and dalits.
2. This violence which had full support from the Biju Janta Dal Government was planned and executed by VHP and Bajrang Dal.
3. The Sangh's propaganda about 'indiscriminate religious conversion' is a far cry from facts, as the Christian population of Orissa is only 2.5 per cent of the total population. It is to be noted that Christian missionaries began working in Orissa 150 years back.
4. Dalits have far less proportion of land in comparison to the Kandha tribals. In Kandhamal 90 per cent land is government land, 5.5 percent belongs to tribals and rest 4.5 per cent belongs to Dalits, OBC and Oriya (businessmen). There is not much difference in the economic conditions of the tribals and the dalits. The dalits are very slightly better off as they engage in small businesses.
Demands:
1. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal (BD) should be banned.
2. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the violence should tender his resignation immediately
3. The accused for the riots be immediately arrested.
4. The Orissa Govt. must reconstruct all houses, churches, schools, hostels, hospitals and other social-religious structures demolished during the violence and for other damages adequate compensation be granted after a proper survey
5. The relief camps be run for another six months and proper civic arrangements for food, medicine and sanitation be made in these camps.
6. Arrangements be made for registering First Information Reports (FIRs) related to the communal violence at all police stations.
7. Peace process is initiated and guarantees be made for reopening and running of schools, hospitals and other institutes run by the Christian missionaries.
To comment on this story, email to comment@newsblaze.com
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Brown's Daily Word & India update11-6-08
Good Morning,
"My Lord, what a morning"! Praise the Lord for the life we have in Him, and because of Him. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life". "In Him we live, move, and have our being". May He infuse us with His Holy Spirit today that we will live out our lives for Him with purpose and passion.
In the words of Rick Warren, "The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning", and go, thinking, "I’m going to do something with my life today." Without passion life becomes boring, monotonous, routine, and dull.
God created you and equipped you with emotions so that you may have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete who is breaking records. We all need to have passion in our lives. One day a man walked up to Jesus and said, "Lord, what’s the most important thing in the Bible?" (You know what the Great Commandment is.) Jesus said, "I want you to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Nothing matters more than that. That’s the number one thing in life. I want you to love Me passionately." Nothing else matters in life if you don’t love God passionately. God doesn’t want you to love Him half-heartedly. He wants you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. I love the paraphrase of Mark 11:30 from The Message , "Jesus said, ’Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy." Here, Jesus is saying, "If you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to go it with passion. In fact, this truth is all through the Bible. The Bible tells us that we are to seek God passionately. We are to love God passionately. The Bible says that we are to serve and obey God passionately. We are to trust God passionately. Then, as if we didn’t already understand the message of passion, in Colossians 3:23 it is written, "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men." The Lord wants you and me to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me. Romans 12:1 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor." Keep the fires going in your life. Notice, it’s not automatic that we will keep burning with spiritual and holy fire. It’s a choice. It’s a discipline. It is something we must maintain. We, by nature, are not about God. Passion is something that requires choice. We are easily distracted and everything in life conspires to keep us from being passionate about God. So He reminds us to keep our passion going. Keep feeding the fires of passion. It requires discipline. It’s not merely automatic or routine. An unused talent will cause each of us to lose our passion for life and our passion for God. 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of us has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. Let use our gifts well." Notice God gives us certain talents, abilities, personality, and gifts and those gifts, those talents that we have been given are not merely for our benefit. They are intended to benefit other people. If we don’t use our talents then we will lose our passion. Passion and purpose go together. When we have a clear purpose, it will give us a lot of passion. But it must be God’s purposes for our life. If we are only living for ourselves, that’s a pretty small and insignificant purpose. That is not going to make us very passionate. In fact, it’s the cry of the pathetic, "I’m living for me." That gives us a lot of energy to get out of bed in the morning --- not! We need a cause greater than ourselves. That gives life significance meaning. The more we understand God’s purposes for our lives and the more we live out those purposes, the more passionate we will become. John Hobbs wrote this about passion, saying, "Passion is waking up in the morning wherever you are and bounding out of bed because you know there’s something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that God made you for and you’re good at, something that’s bigger than you are and you can hardly wait to get at it again. It’s something that you’d rather be doing than anything else and you wouldn’t give it up for money because it means more to you than money." Every day we face all kinds of circumstances that conspire to shrink our spirit and shrivel our heart. We are going to get up this morning and face distractions and disappointments. We will have conflicts and we will have changes and challenges. We are going to experience problems and pressures. We are going to have frustrations, fears, failures, and fatigue. All of these things fall in on us to shrivel our hearts and shrink our spirits. So we see that we must intentionally nourish our spirit. How do nourish our spirits? In the words of Rick Warren,"Through the five purposes. You need times of worship with God everyday, where you get to know Him -- private worships. You need fellowship with other believers. You need to read God’s word and grow to be more like Christ. You need to have a ministry where you’re using your talents to help other people. " Exodus 31:14 states, "You must worship only the Lord, for He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you." Do you know what the worst sin is for Christians? God tells us in Revelation 3 that it is lukewarm-ness - a lack of passion. Jesus said, "I’d rather have you hot or cold. Lukewarm-ness makes Me sick to my stomach." C. S. Lewis said it like this, "The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important." Moderately important! If Jesus is God and He died and loved you that much, you owe Him the rest of your life, every spare minute of it. If He didn’t then go home and live a self-centered life. The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important. It either deserves your entire life or nothing. He wants us to see Him as our daily bread and as the air that we breathe. He desires that we have that kind of passion for Him. The Continental Singers will be appearing in concert on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 7 PM at First Presbyterian Church in Endicott, located on 29 Grand Avenue. They will be presenting a powerful program based on the life of Joseph. Please invite your congregation to join us for a night of entertainment geared toward the whole family. The following gives more details about the program and the Continentals ministry.
First premiered in 1983, the musical “DREAMER” won the coveted Dove Award that year for Best Musical. Our 25th Anniversary Revival brings this popular musical based on the life of Joseph into the 21st century with lavish costuming, choreography and technical effects. It is all a part of our ministry’s theme for 2008, “NEW BEGINNINGS”. The concert will also feature great standards and songs that have been the hallmark of The CONTINENTALS since 1967. It is a concert event for the whole family not to be missed!
The CONTINENTALS are an empowered, enthusiastic, evangelical group of young people (ages 16-28) communicating the Truth of Jesus Christ as the only absolute, in an ever-changing world. In 2008, The CONTINENTALS continue their 40-year tradition of cutting edge music ministry with the very best of contemporary Christian music, energizing choreography and personal testimony. This group of 25-30 vocalists, dancers and technicians, will challenge and inspire audiences with the truth of Jesus Christ.
Please also share that the Russian Men’s Ensemble will be in concert on December 13, 2008 at the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128 Maple drive, Endicott.
Situation tense as RSS activist killed in Orissa Thursday, 06 November , 2008, 12:01Last Updated: Thursday, 06 November , 2008, 12:48
Bhubaneswar: The murder of a Hindu activist by suspected Maoists has renewed tension in Orissa's volatile Kandhamal district, where communal violence since August has left at least 38 people dead and thousands homeless, officials said on Thursday.
Authorities on Thursday issued a prohibitory order that bans the gathering of four or more people and deployed hundreds of policemen in sensitive parts of the district after suspected Maoists on Wednesday killed 40-year-old Dhanu Pradhani, an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
8 houses set on fire in Kandhamal
"The prohibitory order is a temporary step and we may lift it after reviewing the situation. We have launched a combing operation in the region to nab the culprits," District Superintendent of Police S Praveen Kumar said.
According to police officials, three people came on a motorcycle and shot Pradhani dead at Kumarigaon village. They are not sure if Wednesday's killing has any link to the communal violence that followed the August 23 killing of another Hindu leader.
Orissa tops in communal violence
"There was no major violence in the district since September 30. The Wednesday murder has, however, renewed tension," a district administration official said. Pradhani's brother Ananda alleged that some members of the local Christian community killed him. However, police suspect the hand of Maoists because Pradhani was believed to be on their hit list.
The district of Kandhamal, some 200 km from here, witnessed communal violence after the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides August 23.
While the police blamed the Maoists for the crime, the Hindu groups blamed Christians for the murder, despite repeated denials by Christian organisations. Over 23,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes. While some have returned, more than 10,000 are still living in government-run relief camps in the district.
"My Lord, what a morning"! Praise the Lord for the life we have in Him, and because of Him. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life". "In Him we live, move, and have our being". May He infuse us with His Holy Spirit today that we will live out our lives for Him with purpose and passion.
In the words of Rick Warren, "The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning", and go, thinking, "I’m going to do something with my life today." Without passion life becomes boring, monotonous, routine, and dull.
God created you and equipped you with emotions so that you may have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete who is breaking records. We all need to have passion in our lives. One day a man walked up to Jesus and said, "Lord, what’s the most important thing in the Bible?" (You know what the Great Commandment is.) Jesus said, "I want you to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Nothing matters more than that. That’s the number one thing in life. I want you to love Me passionately." Nothing else matters in life if you don’t love God passionately. God doesn’t want you to love Him half-heartedly. He wants you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. I love the paraphrase of Mark 11:30 from The Message , "Jesus said, ’Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy." Here, Jesus is saying, "If you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to go it with passion. In fact, this truth is all through the Bible. The Bible tells us that we are to seek God passionately. We are to love God passionately. The Bible says that we are to serve and obey God passionately. We are to trust God passionately. Then, as if we didn’t already understand the message of passion, in Colossians 3:23 it is written, "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men." The Lord wants you and me to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me. Romans 12:1 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor." Keep the fires going in your life. Notice, it’s not automatic that we will keep burning with spiritual and holy fire. It’s a choice. It’s a discipline. It is something we must maintain. We, by nature, are not about God. Passion is something that requires choice. We are easily distracted and everything in life conspires to keep us from being passionate about God. So He reminds us to keep our passion going. Keep feeding the fires of passion. It requires discipline. It’s not merely automatic or routine. An unused talent will cause each of us to lose our passion for life and our passion for God. 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of us has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. Let use our gifts well." Notice God gives us certain talents, abilities, personality, and gifts and those gifts, those talents that we have been given are not merely for our benefit. They are intended to benefit other people. If we don’t use our talents then we will lose our passion. Passion and purpose go together. When we have a clear purpose, it will give us a lot of passion. But it must be God’s purposes for our life. If we are only living for ourselves, that’s a pretty small and insignificant purpose. That is not going to make us very passionate. In fact, it’s the cry of the pathetic, "I’m living for me." That gives us a lot of energy to get out of bed in the morning --- not! We need a cause greater than ourselves. That gives life significance meaning. The more we understand God’s purposes for our lives and the more we live out those purposes, the more passionate we will become. John Hobbs wrote this about passion, saying, "Passion is waking up in the morning wherever you are and bounding out of bed because you know there’s something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that God made you for and you’re good at, something that’s bigger than you are and you can hardly wait to get at it again. It’s something that you’d rather be doing than anything else and you wouldn’t give it up for money because it means more to you than money." Every day we face all kinds of circumstances that conspire to shrink our spirit and shrivel our heart. We are going to get up this morning and face distractions and disappointments. We will have conflicts and we will have changes and challenges. We are going to experience problems and pressures. We are going to have frustrations, fears, failures, and fatigue. All of these things fall in on us to shrivel our hearts and shrink our spirits. So we see that we must intentionally nourish our spirit. How do nourish our spirits? In the words of Rick Warren,"Through the five purposes. You need times of worship with God everyday, where you get to know Him -- private worships. You need fellowship with other believers. You need to read God’s word and grow to be more like Christ. You need to have a ministry where you’re using your talents to help other people. " Exodus 31:14 states, "You must worship only the Lord, for He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you." Do you know what the worst sin is for Christians? God tells us in Revelation 3 that it is lukewarm-ness - a lack of passion. Jesus said, "I’d rather have you hot or cold. Lukewarm-ness makes Me sick to my stomach." C. S. Lewis said it like this, "The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important." Moderately important! If Jesus is God and He died and loved you that much, you owe Him the rest of your life, every spare minute of it. If He didn’t then go home and live a self-centered life. The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important. It either deserves your entire life or nothing. He wants us to see Him as our daily bread and as the air that we breathe. He desires that we have that kind of passion for Him. The Continental Singers will be appearing in concert on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 7 PM at First Presbyterian Church in Endicott, located on 29 Grand Avenue. They will be presenting a powerful program based on the life of Joseph. Please invite your congregation to join us for a night of entertainment geared toward the whole family. The following gives more details about the program and the Continentals ministry.
First premiered in 1983, the musical “DREAMER” won the coveted Dove Award that year for Best Musical. Our 25th Anniversary Revival brings this popular musical based on the life of Joseph into the 21st century with lavish costuming, choreography and technical effects. It is all a part of our ministry’s theme for 2008, “NEW BEGINNINGS”. The concert will also feature great standards and songs that have been the hallmark of The CONTINENTALS since 1967. It is a concert event for the whole family not to be missed!
The CONTINENTALS are an empowered, enthusiastic, evangelical group of young people (ages 16-28) communicating the Truth of Jesus Christ as the only absolute, in an ever-changing world. In 2008, The CONTINENTALS continue their 40-year tradition of cutting edge music ministry with the very best of contemporary Christian music, energizing choreography and personal testimony. This group of 25-30 vocalists, dancers and technicians, will challenge and inspire audiences with the truth of Jesus Christ.
Please also share that the Russian Men’s Ensemble will be in concert on December 13, 2008 at the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128 Maple drive, Endicott.
Situation tense as RSS activist killed in Orissa Thursday, 06 November , 2008, 12:01Last Updated: Thursday, 06 November , 2008, 12:48
Bhubaneswar: The murder of a Hindu activist by suspected Maoists has renewed tension in Orissa's volatile Kandhamal district, where communal violence since August has left at least 38 people dead and thousands homeless, officials said on Thursday.
Authorities on Thursday issued a prohibitory order that bans the gathering of four or more people and deployed hundreds of policemen in sensitive parts of the district after suspected Maoists on Wednesday killed 40-year-old Dhanu Pradhani, an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
8 houses set on fire in Kandhamal
"The prohibitory order is a temporary step and we may lift it after reviewing the situation. We have launched a combing operation in the region to nab the culprits," District Superintendent of Police S Praveen Kumar said.
According to police officials, three people came on a motorcycle and shot Pradhani dead at Kumarigaon village. They are not sure if Wednesday's killing has any link to the communal violence that followed the August 23 killing of another Hindu leader.
Orissa tops in communal violence
"There was no major violence in the district since September 30. The Wednesday murder has, however, renewed tension," a district administration official said. Pradhani's brother Ananda alleged that some members of the local Christian community killed him. However, police suspect the hand of Maoists because Pradhani was believed to be on their hit list.
The district of Kandhamal, some 200 km from here, witnessed communal violence after the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides August 23.
While the police blamed the Maoists for the crime, the Hindu groups blamed Christians for the murder, despite repeated denials by Christian organisations. Over 23,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes. While some have returned, more than 10,000 are still living in government-run relief camps in the district.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Brown's Daily Word & India update11-5-08
The Presidential Prayer Team congratulates Barack Obama
"The Presidential Prayer Team is pleased to commit itself and it’s nearly 500,000 members to pray for the newly elected President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
Calling in his acceptance speech for a new spirit of patriotism, service and sacrifice from the American people, President-Elect Obama swept to victory over Republican John McCain as the first African-American to hold the nation’s highest political office.
“We are and always will be the United States of America,” President-Elect Obama said from Grant Park in Chicago, IL. “A government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the face of the earth. This victory is for you.”While saying a new dawn of American leadership is at hand, President-Elect Obama recognized that the road ahead may be tough and the climb steep in meeting the many challenges facing the nation, but that “we as a people will get there,” a sentiment followed by chants of “Yes We Can” from the huge Chicago crowd. He also called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a “brave and selfless leader” and said he looks forward to working with him and Governor Sarah Palin in the months to come.
Our faithful prayers for President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden are desperately needed. Their new administration faces the challenges of a struggling economy, active wars against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, and energy and environmental concerns - all perhaps unprecedented in a generation. With I Timothy 2:1-2 as our biblical mandate, The Presidential Prayer Team is dedicated to praying for our new president’s wisdom, protection and success as he faces these issues, and many more, over the next four years"
INDIA UPDATE
Home / blogs / newsman's blog / According to CPI (ML)] fact-finding team 500 Christians died in Orissa ?
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A Communist Party of India [CPI (ML)] fact-finding team visited Orissa’s Kandhamal District on 15-16 October, 2008. The team visited affected villages and relief camps, after facing interrogation by the Orissa Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The team also met District Magistrate (DM) and various police officials of Kandhamal district. Below is a report by team member J P Minz.
1. The District Magistrate’s (DM) Statement: The DM told us that Kandhamal had been peaceful for the preceding ten days. Whereas there used to be fifteen relief camps, now only seven were operational, having 12,641 people. According to him, breakfast, meals, supplementary food meant for children, and iron and calcium tablets for pregnant women are available in these camps; a doctor is available round the clock; books are available for children and there are regular reading sessions. Blankets, sarees, buckets and mugs and similar essentials have also been provided.
2. Conditions at the Relief Camps: Our team visited Phulbani, Tikabali, Ji Udaygiri and Rakiya relief camps and found that the inmates of the camp are living in extremely bad conditions. In the name of breakfast they get only fifty grams of chura (beaten rice) and rice-dal for meals, which is not enough to satisfy the needs of hunger and nutrition. In the name of supplementary food, the children are occasionally given biscuits. Bathing soaps have been distributed just once in the camps. The doctors do visit but patients are told that there is no medicine. There is no arrangement for pregnant women. The camp inmates sleep on plastic mats on the ground. They have to defecate in the open, which apart from being unhygienic also puts them in danger. One inmate of Ji Udaygiri camp, we were told, was killed when he had gone to defecate.
3. Role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal: The victims in all the relief camps unanimously told the fact finding team that it is the VHP and Bajrang Dal cadres who have sowed the seeds of communal division in the villages. They used to organize meetings of the Kandha tribals and incite them to attack the Christian hamlets and also provided funds for doing this.
4. Role of the Police and Administration: The anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal started on the day of the bandh called by VHP after the murder of Swami Lakshmananad, and these riots continued for over a month. In the communal fire two hundred Christian villages and 127 Church and prayer halls were either destroyed or burnt. Apart from this, schools, hospitals, hostels and convents also have been damaged. The incidents of killings, rape and loot also were carried out in addition to former incidents. The shocking fact is that all these incidents took place in full view of police and the police remained mute spectators.
The official figure for deaths has been reported to be 31, however, a senior government official on the condition of anonymity informed that he himself consigned two hundred dead bodies - found from the jungle - to flames after getting them collected in a tractor. As per his estimates based on the intensity and pace of killings the number of those killed is over five hundred.
5. Atmosphere of Terror: The Christians continue to experience great terror. The Sangh outfits are campaigning for sending back the CRPF and the Nikhil Utkal Kui community is threatening to launch an armed movement. Riot-victims are frightened to go back to their villages because they have been threatened that if they return they will be hacked into pieces. The rioters are also proclaiming that only Hindu converts will be allowed to return. On the other hand, those in charge of the relief camps are pressurizing the riot victims to return to their villages saying that the life has returned to normalcy and peace has returned.
Conclusions:
1. This violence was a pre-planned anti-Christian communal assault, and in no way was it a ‘clash’ between adivasi (tribals) and dalits.
2. This violence which had full support from the Biju Janta Dal Government was planned and executed by VHP and Bajrang Dal.
3. The Sangh’s propaganda about ‘indiscriminate religious conversion’ is a far cry from facts, as the Christian population of Orissa is only 2.5 per cent of the total population. It is to be noted that Christian missionaries began working in Orissa 150 years back.
4. Dalits have far less proportion of land in comparison to the Kandha tribals. In Kandhamal 90 per cent land is government land, 5.5 percent belongs to tribals and rest 4.5 per cent belongs to Dalits, OBC and Oriya (businessmen). There is not much difference in the economic conditions of the tribals and the dalits. The dalits are very slightly better off as they engage in small businesses.
Our Demands:
1. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal (BD) should be banned.2. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the violence should tender his resignation immediately
3. The accused for the riots be immediately arrested.
4. The Orissa Govt. must reconstruct all houses, churches, schools, hostels, hospitals and other social-religious structures demolished during the violence and for other damages adequate compensation be granted after a proper survey
5. The relief camps be run for another six months and proper civic arrangements for food, medicine and sanitation be made in these camps.
6. Arrangements be made for registering First Information Reports (FIRs) related to the communal violence at all police stations.
7. Peace process be initiated and guarantees be made for reopening and running of schools, hospitals and other institutes run by the Christian missionaries.
Orissa Pogrom
United Protests: South Orissa Bandh by CPI (ML) and Other Parties
On 13th October CPI (ML) Liberation along with four other parties – CPI (ML) New Democracy (ND), Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) [CPI (ML)], Socialist Unity Center of India (SUCI) and Samajwadi Jan Parishad held a successful bandh in five districts of South Orissa - Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput and Ganjam – against the carnage in Kandhamal, the complicity of the Navin Patnaik Government and the criminal inaction of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre. The bandh was total in the five districts and marked by the spontaneous participation of people. Around 10, 000 people actively participated in Liberation’s initiatives to make the bandh a success in Rayagada; 1200 in Gajapati.
Holding that the ruling BJD as well as Congress which is in power at the Centre too have blood on their hands because of their hands-off approach towards the Sangh Parivar mobs, the CPI (ML) had declined to join a joint protest announced by Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress party in the state.
In Bhubaneswar, trains were stopped and the National Highway blocked by 200 Liberation activists. Comrade Tirupati Gomango held a rally of around 8000 people at Gunupur. The bandh sent out a stern political message rejecting the communal violence against thousands of Christians by the Sangh outfits and condemning the forces in power which are allowing the violence to take place unhindered.
CPI (ML) Liberation’s Nation Wide Protests
On October 3, CPI (ML) held nation-wide protests demanding prosecution of Chief Ministers of Orissa and Karnataka for allowing saffron mobs to indulge in an anti-Christian pogrom; demanding a ban on the Sangh outfits guilty of communal violence and protesting against the UPA Government’s refusal to take stern action against the communal killers. A memorandum to the President of India was submitted from all over the country. The memorandum, raising all the above issues and demands, also noted that the Sangh’s accusations of ‘forced conversion’ was actually serving to cover up their own acts of forcing adivasis and Christians to convert to Hinduism. Conversion from Hinduism has largely been an act of rebellion by the oppressed castes against the caste-ridden Hindu fold, noted the memo, and “the current wave of violence is therefore also an attempt to terrorise the Dalits and other oppressed social groups for their rebellion – and is therefore acontinuation of social oppression in another form.” The acts of humiliation of Christians that have come to light – raping, parading naked, and forcing to eat excreta as ‘purification’ ritual – are all reminiscent of the atrocities against Dalits.
The party also noted the increasing incidents of communal violence in Dhule (Maharashtra) and Adilabad (Andhra Pradesh), in which the minority community bore the brunt of the attacks. Also, it condemned the Tarun Gogoi Government for allowing the Bodo-Muslim clashes to take place, which had resulted in thousands of people being driven into refugee camps.
In Delhi, activists of CPI (ML) gathered at Parliament Street and burnt an effigy of Navin Patnaik and Yeddyurappa, and submitted a memorandum to the President.
In Karnataka, another major centre of the ongoing communal violence, protest demonstrations were held in various places in the state, and the memorandum to the President was sent through the tahsildars in the taluks. More than hundred people protested in front of taluk office at Harapanahalli. The demo evoked much expectation in the town as a church near Harapanahalli was also attacked sometime back. Our comrades had helped in getting bail for the Christian priests, on whom false cases had been foisted in addition to the attack on their church. The demo at Gangavati was also impressive and demonstrators shouted slogans against BJP that is coming out with its true colours after assuming power in the state. The demo at HD Kote near Mysore protestors included construction labourers and All India Central Coordination of Trade Unions (AICCTU) activists.
In Jharkhand, hundreds of people marched in the capital of Ranchi. The March against Communalism, in the Sainik Bazaar campus, was led by CPI (ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar. The March culminated in a mass meeting at Albert Ekka Chowk, addressed by many leaders. Protest processions, effigy burning, dharnas and mass meetings were also held at various district headquarters (HQs) in Jharkhand; Bihar; Assam and Karbi Anglong; UP; W. Bengal, Tamilnadu, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Durg.
All India Progressive Womens Association (AIPWA) between 10-14 October, held protests and submitted a memorandum to the President of India demanding ban on the Sangh outfits Bajrang Dal and VHP responsible for assaults on Christians, and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape of a nun in Orissa.
posted in: Current Issue, , East India
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"The Presidential Prayer Team is pleased to commit itself and it’s nearly 500,000 members to pray for the newly elected President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
Calling in his acceptance speech for a new spirit of patriotism, service and sacrifice from the American people, President-Elect Obama swept to victory over Republican John McCain as the first African-American to hold the nation’s highest political office.
“We are and always will be the United States of America,” President-Elect Obama said from Grant Park in Chicago, IL. “A government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the face of the earth. This victory is for you.”While saying a new dawn of American leadership is at hand, President-Elect Obama recognized that the road ahead may be tough and the climb steep in meeting the many challenges facing the nation, but that “we as a people will get there,” a sentiment followed by chants of “Yes We Can” from the huge Chicago crowd. He also called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a “brave and selfless leader” and said he looks forward to working with him and Governor Sarah Palin in the months to come.
Our faithful prayers for President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden are desperately needed. Their new administration faces the challenges of a struggling economy, active wars against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, and energy and environmental concerns - all perhaps unprecedented in a generation. With I Timothy 2:1-2 as our biblical mandate, The Presidential Prayer Team is dedicated to praying for our new president’s wisdom, protection and success as he faces these issues, and many more, over the next four years"
INDIA UPDATE
Home / blogs / newsman's blog / According to CPI (ML)] fact-finding team 500 Christians died in Orissa ?
The image verification code you entered is incorrect.
A Communist Party of India [CPI (ML)] fact-finding team visited Orissa’s Kandhamal District on 15-16 October, 2008. The team visited affected villages and relief camps, after facing interrogation by the Orissa Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The team also met District Magistrate (DM) and various police officials of Kandhamal district. Below is a report by team member J P Minz.
1. The District Magistrate’s (DM) Statement: The DM told us that Kandhamal had been peaceful for the preceding ten days. Whereas there used to be fifteen relief camps, now only seven were operational, having 12,641 people. According to him, breakfast, meals, supplementary food meant for children, and iron and calcium tablets for pregnant women are available in these camps; a doctor is available round the clock; books are available for children and there are regular reading sessions. Blankets, sarees, buckets and mugs and similar essentials have also been provided.
2. Conditions at the Relief Camps: Our team visited Phulbani, Tikabali, Ji Udaygiri and Rakiya relief camps and found that the inmates of the camp are living in extremely bad conditions. In the name of breakfast they get only fifty grams of chura (beaten rice) and rice-dal for meals, which is not enough to satisfy the needs of hunger and nutrition. In the name of supplementary food, the children are occasionally given biscuits. Bathing soaps have been distributed just once in the camps. The doctors do visit but patients are told that there is no medicine. There is no arrangement for pregnant women. The camp inmates sleep on plastic mats on the ground. They have to defecate in the open, which apart from being unhygienic also puts them in danger. One inmate of Ji Udaygiri camp, we were told, was killed when he had gone to defecate.
3. Role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal: The victims in all the relief camps unanimously told the fact finding team that it is the VHP and Bajrang Dal cadres who have sowed the seeds of communal division in the villages. They used to organize meetings of the Kandha tribals and incite them to attack the Christian hamlets and also provided funds for doing this.
4. Role of the Police and Administration: The anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal started on the day of the bandh called by VHP after the murder of Swami Lakshmananad, and these riots continued for over a month. In the communal fire two hundred Christian villages and 127 Church and prayer halls were either destroyed or burnt. Apart from this, schools, hospitals, hostels and convents also have been damaged. The incidents of killings, rape and loot also were carried out in addition to former incidents. The shocking fact is that all these incidents took place in full view of police and the police remained mute spectators.
The official figure for deaths has been reported to be 31, however, a senior government official on the condition of anonymity informed that he himself consigned two hundred dead bodies - found from the jungle - to flames after getting them collected in a tractor. As per his estimates based on the intensity and pace of killings the number of those killed is over five hundred.
5. Atmosphere of Terror: The Christians continue to experience great terror. The Sangh outfits are campaigning for sending back the CRPF and the Nikhil Utkal Kui community is threatening to launch an armed movement. Riot-victims are frightened to go back to their villages because they have been threatened that if they return they will be hacked into pieces. The rioters are also proclaiming that only Hindu converts will be allowed to return. On the other hand, those in charge of the relief camps are pressurizing the riot victims to return to their villages saying that the life has returned to normalcy and peace has returned.
Conclusions:
1. This violence was a pre-planned anti-Christian communal assault, and in no way was it a ‘clash’ between adivasi (tribals) and dalits.
2. This violence which had full support from the Biju Janta Dal Government was planned and executed by VHP and Bajrang Dal.
3. The Sangh’s propaganda about ‘indiscriminate religious conversion’ is a far cry from facts, as the Christian population of Orissa is only 2.5 per cent of the total population. It is to be noted that Christian missionaries began working in Orissa 150 years back.
4. Dalits have far less proportion of land in comparison to the Kandha tribals. In Kandhamal 90 per cent land is government land, 5.5 percent belongs to tribals and rest 4.5 per cent belongs to Dalits, OBC and Oriya (businessmen). There is not much difference in the economic conditions of the tribals and the dalits. The dalits are very slightly better off as they engage in small businesses.
Our Demands:
1. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal (BD) should be banned.2. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the violence should tender his resignation immediately
3. The accused for the riots be immediately arrested.
4. The Orissa Govt. must reconstruct all houses, churches, schools, hostels, hospitals and other social-religious structures demolished during the violence and for other damages adequate compensation be granted after a proper survey
5. The relief camps be run for another six months and proper civic arrangements for food, medicine and sanitation be made in these camps.
6. Arrangements be made for registering First Information Reports (FIRs) related to the communal violence at all police stations.
7. Peace process be initiated and guarantees be made for reopening and running of schools, hospitals and other institutes run by the Christian missionaries.
Orissa Pogrom
United Protests: South Orissa Bandh by CPI (ML) and Other Parties
On 13th October CPI (ML) Liberation along with four other parties – CPI (ML) New Democracy (ND), Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) [CPI (ML)], Socialist Unity Center of India (SUCI) and Samajwadi Jan Parishad held a successful bandh in five districts of South Orissa - Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput and Ganjam – against the carnage in Kandhamal, the complicity of the Navin Patnaik Government and the criminal inaction of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre. The bandh was total in the five districts and marked by the spontaneous participation of people. Around 10, 000 people actively participated in Liberation’s initiatives to make the bandh a success in Rayagada; 1200 in Gajapati.
Holding that the ruling BJD as well as Congress which is in power at the Centre too have blood on their hands because of their hands-off approach towards the Sangh Parivar mobs, the CPI (ML) had declined to join a joint protest announced by Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress party in the state.
In Bhubaneswar, trains were stopped and the National Highway blocked by 200 Liberation activists. Comrade Tirupati Gomango held a rally of around 8000 people at Gunupur. The bandh sent out a stern political message rejecting the communal violence against thousands of Christians by the Sangh outfits and condemning the forces in power which are allowing the violence to take place unhindered.
CPI (ML) Liberation’s Nation Wide Protests
On October 3, CPI (ML) held nation-wide protests demanding prosecution of Chief Ministers of Orissa and Karnataka for allowing saffron mobs to indulge in an anti-Christian pogrom; demanding a ban on the Sangh outfits guilty of communal violence and protesting against the UPA Government’s refusal to take stern action against the communal killers. A memorandum to the President of India was submitted from all over the country. The memorandum, raising all the above issues and demands, also noted that the Sangh’s accusations of ‘forced conversion’ was actually serving to cover up their own acts of forcing adivasis and Christians to convert to Hinduism. Conversion from Hinduism has largely been an act of rebellion by the oppressed castes against the caste-ridden Hindu fold, noted the memo, and “the current wave of violence is therefore also an attempt to terrorise the Dalits and other oppressed social groups for their rebellion – and is therefore acontinuation of social oppression in another form.” The acts of humiliation of Christians that have come to light – raping, parading naked, and forcing to eat excreta as ‘purification’ ritual – are all reminiscent of the atrocities against Dalits.
The party also noted the increasing incidents of communal violence in Dhule (Maharashtra) and Adilabad (Andhra Pradesh), in which the minority community bore the brunt of the attacks. Also, it condemned the Tarun Gogoi Government for allowing the Bodo-Muslim clashes to take place, which had resulted in thousands of people being driven into refugee camps.
In Delhi, activists of CPI (ML) gathered at Parliament Street and burnt an effigy of Navin Patnaik and Yeddyurappa, and submitted a memorandum to the President.
In Karnataka, another major centre of the ongoing communal violence, protest demonstrations were held in various places in the state, and the memorandum to the President was sent through the tahsildars in the taluks. More than hundred people protested in front of taluk office at Harapanahalli. The demo evoked much expectation in the town as a church near Harapanahalli was also attacked sometime back. Our comrades had helped in getting bail for the Christian priests, on whom false cases had been foisted in addition to the attack on their church. The demo at Gangavati was also impressive and demonstrators shouted slogans against BJP that is coming out with its true colours after assuming power in the state. The demo at HD Kote near Mysore protestors included construction labourers and All India Central Coordination of Trade Unions (AICCTU) activists.
In Jharkhand, hundreds of people marched in the capital of Ranchi. The March against Communalism, in the Sainik Bazaar campus, was led by CPI (ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar. The March culminated in a mass meeting at Albert Ekka Chowk, addressed by many leaders. Protest processions, effigy burning, dharnas and mass meetings were also held at various district headquarters (HQs) in Jharkhand; Bihar; Assam and Karbi Anglong; UP; W. Bengal, Tamilnadu, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Durg.
All India Progressive Womens Association (AIPWA) between 10-14 October, held protests and submitted a memorandum to the President of India demanding ban on the Sangh outfits Bajrang Dal and VHP responsible for assaults on Christians, and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape of a nun in Orissa.
posted in: Current Issue, , East India
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Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 11-4-08
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this glorious day. Today Americans will go to the polls for the General Election. May the Lord of all Nations and the King of the Earth, bless our nation, heal our land, and turn our nation back to Him. May we take our Constitutional privilege of voting very seriously, and prayerfully cast our ballots today.
A Collect for Guidance: O heavenly Father, in whom we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray thee so to guide and govern us by thy Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget thee, but may remember that we are ever walking in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
The prayer of St. Francis: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury,pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHVz45n5a9M
An elderly woman returned to her home from an evening of Church services when she was startled by an intruder. She had caught a man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables. “Stop!” she yelled, “Acts 2:38!” (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven).
The burglar stopped dead in his tracks and froze while the woman calmly called the police and explained the situation. As the officer was cuffing him, he asked the burglar, “Just out of curiosity, why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture at you.” “Scripture?!” gasped the burglar. “She said she had an ax… and two 38’s!!”
It’s a funny joke, yes, but on a serious note — I think we often underestimate the power of the Word of God! We have the source so very close — it's right at our fingertips and should be right on our lips! Yet, we neglect to declare it over our circumstances, that we may see the victory! Hebrews 4:12 states, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
In Christ,
Brown
Praise the Lord for this glorious day. Today Americans will go to the polls for the General Election. May the Lord of all Nations and the King of the Earth, bless our nation, heal our land, and turn our nation back to Him. May we take our Constitutional privilege of voting very seriously, and prayerfully cast our ballots today.
A Collect for Guidance: O heavenly Father, in whom we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray thee so to guide and govern us by thy Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget thee, but may remember that we are ever walking in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
The prayer of St. Francis: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury,pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHVz45n5a9M
An elderly woman returned to her home from an evening of Church services when she was startled by an intruder. She had caught a man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables. “Stop!” she yelled, “Acts 2:38!” (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven).
The burglar stopped dead in his tracks and froze while the woman calmly called the police and explained the situation. As the officer was cuffing him, he asked the burglar, “Just out of curiosity, why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture at you.” “Scripture?!” gasped the burglar. “She said she had an ax… and two 38’s!!”
It’s a funny joke, yes, but on a serious note — I think we often underestimate the power of the Word of God! We have the source so very close — it's right at our fingertips and should be right on our lips! Yet, we neglect to declare it over our circumstances, that we may see the victory! Hebrews 4:12 states, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
In Christ,
Brown
India update 11-04-08
Mon, 03/11/2008 - 11:09am STOP CONVERSION - SAYS RAJNATH TO CHURCH LEADERS IN BHUBANESWAR-
STOP CONVERSION - SAYS RAJNATH TO CHURCH LEADERS IN BHUBANESWAR YESTERDAY, BUT NOT RE-CONVERSION. CONVERSION IS THE MAIN REASON FOR KANDHAMAL VIOLENCE - HE SAID."
Bhubaneswar-3rd Nov-08 BJP President however was silent on the post Swamiji's murder violence across the State and more particularly in Kandhamal District for which the Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has thrown the blame on the Sangh ParivarClose on the heels of Kandhamal violence, the BJP on last Sunday asked the Church leaders to refrain from conversion activities and also asked the union Govt. to formulate Law to review cases of change in faith throughout the Country.Mass Conversion means there is motive behind it. "Those who are engaged in doing so should introspect," BJP President Mr. Rajnath Singh told the media persons here accompanied by the General Secretary and Orissa in charge Mr. Vinay Katiyar Singh who came on a day's visit to attend the Party's extended State Council meeting. Religion is the identity of the Country and freedom of Religion cannot be allowed to be misused," he quoted. Singh's reaction was in the line of debate on the Kandhamal issue at the meeting where the members linked the August 23 Killing of Swamiji to his continues campaign against conversion. He also stated that the OFRA in 1967 should be implemented strictly. The BJP leader said it was time the Central Govt. came up with Central Law to scrutinize all cases of conversion. The BJP President however was silent on the post Swamiji's murder violence across the State and more particularly in Kandhamal District for which the Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has thrown the blame on the Sangh Parivar. The CM has gone on record describing VHP and Bajrang dal as "fundamentalist organizations," with officials describing a number of persons arrested on the charges of rioting in Kandhamal dist. as member of Sangh Parivar. The BJP President chose to ignore all questions on the Chief minister's remarks. " I will talk to him in the matter," all that he said.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sun, 02/11/2008 - 7:14pm RSS involved in making bombs: Digvijay Singh
Bhopal (PTI): AICC General Secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Sunday alleged that the RSS and its affiliated organisations were involved in making bombs and spreading communal ism in the country and demanded enactment of a tough federal law to deal with such elements.
"I have been saying this for long that RSS and its affiliated organisation are making bombs and spreading communal ism in the country and the same has been proved with the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya in connection with the Malegaon blasts case," Singh told reporters here.
"I demand from the Congress-led UPA government to make a strict federal law to deal with the growing menace of communalism," he said adding a bill was pending with the Lok Sabha's Standing Committee in this regard.
Singh demanded that such a law should also take care of distribution of pamphlets spreading communal hatred among the people.
He also demanded a probe into the sudden prosperity of Sadhvi's family and alleged that she also campaigned for Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the Gujrat elections.
RSS pracharak and follower of the slain Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal held for abduction
RSS pracharak in police net for ‘helping’ abductors of girlBhubaneswar, November 1 : The Orissa Police on Saturday arrested former RSS pracharak Paresh Nayak on charges of assisting and abetting the abduction and forced marriage of an 18-year-old girl who was missing since the last five months from her home in Kendrapara district.
Nayak was taken into custody after the missing girl was traced to a house in Bhubaneswar on Saturday morning along with one Rajesh Nayak, 45, said to be the associate of the one-time RSS pracharak and follower of the slain Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, Central India
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Sun, 02/11/2008 - 1:16pm “Good will ambassador “of India honoured in America for his deafening silence of genocide of Christians in Orissa
Atlanta-1st Nov-08Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is on a 'Fall tour ' in three major American cities to show case his brand of Hinduism.In Houston, this new age guru Sri Ravishankar -according to his organizations media campaign, will be proclaimed as the honourary citizen and honorary Good will ambassador. In the city of Atlanta,the head quarters of CNN he will be presented with the Phoenix award.Sri Sri Ravishankar is reported to have signed an MOU with mayor of Houston ,Mr Bill white to conduct stress and relief programme ,the city youth ,returning war veterans.
Ironically, this New Age Guru maintained deafening silence when Christians were butchered and burnt alive in Kandhamal district of Orissa.Rev.Fr Bernard died as a result of the brutal assault a religious sister Sr Meena was savagely raped by the Hindutva activists in Orissa, and this pogrom to eliminate Christians in Orissa, was not even condemned by this self-titled messenger of peace and goodwill.
The Sangh Prarivar involvement in attacking nuns,priests and peaceful Christian are, suppressed, under-projected or forgotten with ease by the social thinking process.
A Social Audit should be conducted to investigate the use of the funds pouring into Sangh Pariviar coffers for Social work in India, these funds are being used by these radicals where thousands of impressionable minds are being fed- hate campaigns
His close association with Dr Praveen Togadia and other Hindutva outfits in Karnataka and Orissa confirm that he is the 'modern mask' the Bajarng Dal and other Hindutva outfits systematically carried out over 960 attacks against Christians ,as reported by Global council of Indian Christians (GCIC).
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, Other Countries
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Sun, 02/11/2008 - 12:57pm Bajrang Dal, has succeeded in getting bail for its former criminal chief
Mahendra Kumar, ex-state convenor of Bajrang Dal, has succeeded in getting bail in all the cases booked against him in the state for inciting the attacks on Christian prayer centres. On release he directed the Karnataka state Government immediate enactment of anti-conversion law and anti-cow slaughter acts in Karnataka
He was released from the city sub-jail before noon on Saturday November 1.Kumar had already been granted bail in the cases filed against him in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts but he had opted not to go out on bail because of a body warrant issued against him by the Chikmagalur court.
The court in Chikmagalur granted him bail in the case pending against him there, on Friday October 31. His advocate P P Hegde had said on Friday that Kumar would be released as soon as the Chikmagalur court order reaches the court .
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
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Sat, 01/11/2008 - 4:22pm More army officers questianed in connection with Mumbai bomb blasts
Malegaon blasts registrar held for questioning
Saturday, November 01, 2008, (New Delhi)In the latest investigations into the Malegaon blast, the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad has picked up Retd Col Raikar, the Registrar of Bhonsala Military school in Nashik, for questioning.
He is said to be close to Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit -- a serving officer who has moved under Army supervision to Mumbai to facilitate the questioning by the Anti-terror Squad.
His brother is an Inspector with the Andheri Police. He was earlier with the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch.
Retired major Ramesh Upadhyay of the Territorial Army who has been arrested is said to be one of the trainers at the Bhonsala Military School.
The other linkage is to Right wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat -- a Pune based group revived by relatives of Veer Savarkar of which Major Upadhyay is a member.
And so is Sameer Kukarni, a Hindu activist from Bhopal. Abhinav Bharat openly professes a tit-for-tat policy when it come to terrorism.
Meanwhile, a team of policemen from Gujarat are in Mumbai to question accused sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, though initial investigations show neither she nor any of the Malegaon blast accused were involved in the Modasa blasts.
She has been taken to the Forensic Science Lab in Kalina where she's expected to undergo brain mapping and polygraph tests on Saturday. She has already gone through a narco test on Friday.
STOP CONVERSION - SAYS RAJNATH TO CHURCH LEADERS IN BHUBANESWAR YESTERDAY, BUT NOT RE-CONVERSION. CONVERSION IS THE MAIN REASON FOR KANDHAMAL VIOLENCE - HE SAID."
Bhubaneswar-3rd Nov-08 BJP President however was silent on the post Swamiji's murder violence across the State and more particularly in Kandhamal District for which the Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has thrown the blame on the Sangh ParivarClose on the heels of Kandhamal violence, the BJP on last Sunday asked the Church leaders to refrain from conversion activities and also asked the union Govt. to formulate Law to review cases of change in faith throughout the Country.Mass Conversion means there is motive behind it. "Those who are engaged in doing so should introspect," BJP President Mr. Rajnath Singh told the media persons here accompanied by the General Secretary and Orissa in charge Mr. Vinay Katiyar Singh who came on a day's visit to attend the Party's extended State Council meeting. Religion is the identity of the Country and freedom of Religion cannot be allowed to be misused," he quoted. Singh's reaction was in the line of debate on the Kandhamal issue at the meeting where the members linked the August 23 Killing of Swamiji to his continues campaign against conversion. He also stated that the OFRA in 1967 should be implemented strictly. The BJP leader said it was time the Central Govt. came up with Central Law to scrutinize all cases of conversion. The BJP President however was silent on the post Swamiji's murder violence across the State and more particularly in Kandhamal District for which the Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has thrown the blame on the Sangh Parivar. The CM has gone on record describing VHP and Bajrang dal as "fundamentalist organizations," with officials describing a number of persons arrested on the charges of rioting in Kandhamal dist. as member of Sangh Parivar. The BJP President chose to ignore all questions on the Chief minister's remarks. " I will talk to him in the matter," all that he said.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Sun, 02/11/2008 - 7:14pm RSS involved in making bombs: Digvijay Singh
Bhopal (PTI): AICC General Secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Sunday alleged that the RSS and its affiliated organisations were involved in making bombs and spreading communal ism in the country and demanded enactment of a tough federal law to deal with such elements.
"I have been saying this for long that RSS and its affiliated organisation are making bombs and spreading communal ism in the country and the same has been proved with the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya in connection with the Malegaon blasts case," Singh told reporters here.
"I demand from the Congress-led UPA government to make a strict federal law to deal with the growing menace of communalism," he said adding a bill was pending with the Lok Sabha's Standing Committee in this regard.
Singh demanded that such a law should also take care of distribution of pamphlets spreading communal hatred among the people.
He also demanded a probe into the sudden prosperity of Sadhvi's family and alleged that she also campaigned for Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the Gujrat elections.
RSS pracharak and follower of the slain Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal held for abduction
RSS pracharak in police net for ‘helping’ abductors of girlBhubaneswar, November 1 : The Orissa Police on Saturday arrested former RSS pracharak Paresh Nayak on charges of assisting and abetting the abduction and forced marriage of an 18-year-old girl who was missing since the last five months from her home in Kendrapara district.
Nayak was taken into custody after the missing girl was traced to a house in Bhubaneswar on Saturday morning along with one Rajesh Nayak, 45, said to be the associate of the one-time RSS pracharak and follower of the slain Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, Central India
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Sun, 02/11/2008 - 1:16pm “Good will ambassador “of India honoured in America for his deafening silence of genocide of Christians in Orissa
Atlanta-1st Nov-08Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is on a 'Fall tour ' in three major American cities to show case his brand of Hinduism.In Houston, this new age guru Sri Ravishankar -according to his organizations media campaign, will be proclaimed as the honourary citizen and honorary Good will ambassador. In the city of Atlanta,the head quarters of CNN he will be presented with the Phoenix award.Sri Sri Ravishankar is reported to have signed an MOU with mayor of Houston ,Mr Bill white to conduct stress and relief programme ,the city youth ,returning war veterans.
Ironically, this New Age Guru maintained deafening silence when Christians were butchered and burnt alive in Kandhamal district of Orissa.Rev.Fr Bernard died as a result of the brutal assault a religious sister Sr Meena was savagely raped by the Hindutva activists in Orissa, and this pogrom to eliminate Christians in Orissa, was not even condemned by this self-titled messenger of peace and goodwill.
The Sangh Prarivar involvement in attacking nuns,priests and peaceful Christian are, suppressed, under-projected or forgotten with ease by the social thinking process.
A Social Audit should be conducted to investigate the use of the funds pouring into Sangh Pariviar coffers for Social work in India, these funds are being used by these radicals where thousands of impressionable minds are being fed- hate campaigns
His close association with Dr Praveen Togadia and other Hindutva outfits in Karnataka and Orissa confirm that he is the 'modern mask' the Bajarng Dal and other Hindutva outfits systematically carried out over 960 attacks against Christians ,as reported by Global council of Indian Christians (GCIC).
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, Other Countries
read more newsman's blog 4 comments
Sun, 02/11/2008 - 12:57pm Bajrang Dal, has succeeded in getting bail for its former criminal chief
Mahendra Kumar, ex-state convenor of Bajrang Dal, has succeeded in getting bail in all the cases booked against him in the state for inciting the attacks on Christian prayer centres. On release he directed the Karnataka state Government immediate enactment of anti-conversion law and anti-cow slaughter acts in Karnataka
He was released from the city sub-jail before noon on Saturday November 1.Kumar had already been granted bail in the cases filed against him in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts but he had opted not to go out on bail because of a body warrant issued against him by the Chikmagalur court.
The court in Chikmagalur granted him bail in the case pending against him there, on Friday October 31. His advocate P P Hegde had said on Friday that Kumar would be released as soon as the Chikmagalur court order reaches the court .
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, South India
read more newsman's blog 8 comments
Sat, 01/11/2008 - 4:22pm More army officers questianed in connection with Mumbai bomb blasts
Malegaon blasts registrar held for questioning
Saturday, November 01, 2008, (New Delhi)In the latest investigations into the Malegaon blast, the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad has picked up Retd Col Raikar, the Registrar of Bhonsala Military school in Nashik, for questioning.
He is said to be close to Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit -- a serving officer who has moved under Army supervision to Mumbai to facilitate the questioning by the Anti-terror Squad.
His brother is an Inspector with the Andheri Police. He was earlier with the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch.
Retired major Ramesh Upadhyay of the Territorial Army who has been arrested is said to be one of the trainers at the Bhonsala Military School.
The other linkage is to Right wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat -- a Pune based group revived by relatives of Veer Savarkar of which Major Upadhyay is a member.
And so is Sameer Kukarni, a Hindu activist from Bhopal. Abhinav Bharat openly professes a tit-for-tat policy when it come to terrorism.
Meanwhile, a team of policemen from Gujarat are in Mumbai to question accused sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, though initial investigations show neither she nor any of the Malegaon blast accused were involved in the Modasa blasts.
She has been taken to the Forensic Science Lab in Kalina where she's expected to undergo brain mapping and polygraph tests on Saturday. She has already gone through a narco test on Friday.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 11-3-08
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Today our granddaughter Micah turns 3. We praise the Lord for her life. We thank Jesus for the way He has blessed us through her life. She loves Jesus. She loves to go to Sunday School and church. One of her favorite hymns is "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". She has memorized most of the words of the hymn. One of her worship songs is "Indescribable" by Christ Tomlin (or Mr. Tomlin).
Praise the Lord for the first Sunday of November yesterday. The Lord blessed us. Some of our friends forgot to change the clocks Saturday night. They showed up at the regular time and realized much later that the time has changed. They said they had an extra hour for prayer and praise. One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Joshua 3. It is the story of the Israelites crossing the River Jordan during the flood stage.
For Christians today the crossing of the Jordan represents passing from one level of the Christian life to another. Canaan is a picture of entering into spiritual warfare to claim what God has promised. It was the very time that the Hebrew people were faced with tremendous difficulties and they knew that they were at the end of their own resources. That was when God would be able to show his power. It is never about what we can do; it is always about what the Lord is able to do. The apostle Paul said in Ephesians, (3:20) ”Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us”. Previously, under Moses' leadership, God had used “the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night” as symbols of his leading, presence, and protection. Now God has chosen to lead the people in a new way, by the “Ark of the Covenant.” The ark came to symbolize the presence and power of God with His people. The presence of the Ark represented the person and promises of God. Having it lead the way, pointed to the fact that as the people of Israel set out to cross the Jordan, to invade and possess the land, they must do so not in their own strength, but in God’s, for it was God Himself who was going before them as their source of victory. When we face times of crisis or when we need direction in life, we need to learn to be sensitive to the movement of the Lord in and around us. When God is at work among us and around us we cannot help but expect to hear the call to go forward. When God is at work, we are sometimes moved right out of our comfort zones into the path of new opportunities. “And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.' (6) Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, 'Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.' So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. (7) And the LORD said to Joshua, 'This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. (8) You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’' “So Joshua said to the children of Israel, 'Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.' (10) And Joshua said, 'By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: (11) Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. (12) Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. (13) And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.'" “So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, (15) and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), (16) that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (17) Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.”
What faith it must have required for the priests to step out into the water. The priests were called upon to put one foot in front of the other and step in the water. Unless we are willing to step out on faith and get our feet wet, we are not likely to make much progress in those cross-over times of life. So as the priest followed in obedience, step by step, the river waters disappeared and they were walking on dry ground. Earlier, in the parting of the Red Sea, (Exodus 14 & 15) when Moses lifted his rod the water begin to part. When Israel crossed the Jordan River, it was not the obedient arm of the leader that brought the miracle but the obedient feet of the people. Most of us are not risk takers; we are people that are comfortable with our padded pews and predictability in serving the Lord. We don’t like it much when we are facing those defining moments, when God asks us to cross over. We, as humans, like to hold on to the familiar. God wants us to be people who are willing to grow and expand, and claim new territory. The most life-changing crossover is the moment we make the spiritual decision to open our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, to recognize the destructiveness of our lives, and to turn to him and receive his forgiveness. Death is the ultimate crossover moment. The apostle Paul called it the last great enemy. The reality, however, is that Christ has promised us that he has taken the sting out of death. The victory is His. Christ walks through even “that” Jordan with us. Remember this as we stand to face our crossover moments, whatever they may be, as we are confronted and challenged with what is frightening but also thrilling in terms of opportunity. The end result of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River was that God was magnified; Joshua was exalted (v. 5), the people were energized and motivated, and the people of Canaan were terrorized (1:9).
In Christ,
Brown
Praise the Lord for this new day. Today our granddaughter Micah turns 3. We praise the Lord for her life. We thank Jesus for the way He has blessed us through her life. She loves Jesus. She loves to go to Sunday School and church. One of her favorite hymns is "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". She has memorized most of the words of the hymn. One of her worship songs is "Indescribable" by Christ Tomlin (or Mr. Tomlin).
Praise the Lord for the first Sunday of November yesterday. The Lord blessed us. Some of our friends forgot to change the clocks Saturday night. They showed up at the regular time and realized much later that the time has changed. They said they had an extra hour for prayer and praise. One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Joshua 3. It is the story of the Israelites crossing the River Jordan during the flood stage.
For Christians today the crossing of the Jordan represents passing from one level of the Christian life to another. Canaan is a picture of entering into spiritual warfare to claim what God has promised. It was the very time that the Hebrew people were faced with tremendous difficulties and they knew that they were at the end of their own resources. That was when God would be able to show his power. It is never about what we can do; it is always about what the Lord is able to do. The apostle Paul said in Ephesians, (3:20) ”Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us”. Previously, under Moses' leadership, God had used “the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night” as symbols of his leading, presence, and protection. Now God has chosen to lead the people in a new way, by the “Ark of the Covenant.” The ark came to symbolize the presence and power of God with His people. The presence of the Ark represented the person and promises of God. Having it lead the way, pointed to the fact that as the people of Israel set out to cross the Jordan, to invade and possess the land, they must do so not in their own strength, but in God’s, for it was God Himself who was going before them as their source of victory. When we face times of crisis or when we need direction in life, we need to learn to be sensitive to the movement of the Lord in and around us. When God is at work among us and around us we cannot help but expect to hear the call to go forward. When God is at work, we are sometimes moved right out of our comfort zones into the path of new opportunities. “And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.' (6) Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, 'Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.' So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. (7) And the LORD said to Joshua, 'This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. (8) You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’' “So Joshua said to the children of Israel, 'Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.' (10) And Joshua said, 'By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: (11) Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. (12) Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. (13) And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.'" “So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, (15) and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), (16) that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (17) Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.”
What faith it must have required for the priests to step out into the water. The priests were called upon to put one foot in front of the other and step in the water. Unless we are willing to step out on faith and get our feet wet, we are not likely to make much progress in those cross-over times of life. So as the priest followed in obedience, step by step, the river waters disappeared and they were walking on dry ground. Earlier, in the parting of the Red Sea, (Exodus 14 & 15) when Moses lifted his rod the water begin to part. When Israel crossed the Jordan River, it was not the obedient arm of the leader that brought the miracle but the obedient feet of the people. Most of us are not risk takers; we are people that are comfortable with our padded pews and predictability in serving the Lord. We don’t like it much when we are facing those defining moments, when God asks us to cross over. We, as humans, like to hold on to the familiar. God wants us to be people who are willing to grow and expand, and claim new territory. The most life-changing crossover is the moment we make the spiritual decision to open our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, to recognize the destructiveness of our lives, and to turn to him and receive his forgiveness. Death is the ultimate crossover moment. The apostle Paul called it the last great enemy. The reality, however, is that Christ has promised us that he has taken the sting out of death. The victory is His. Christ walks through even “that” Jordan with us. Remember this as we stand to face our crossover moments, whatever they may be, as we are confronted and challenged with what is frightening but also thrilling in terms of opportunity. The end result of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River was that God was magnified; Joshua was exalted (v. 5), the people were energized and motivated, and the people of Canaan were terrorized (1:9).
In Christ,
Brown
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