Brown's Daily Word 3-9-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the gift of this new day. The Lord has given us a touch of springtime here in New York. It is going to be bright and bountiful with abundant sunshine today. The snow is melting quickly, and we have a patch of Crocus in full bloom on the south side of the parsonage. Praise the Lord for the way He dispels gloom and darkness. Praise the Lord that in and through Him we "do life" well.
According to the show, "Survivor", we succeed by being ruthless, conniving, and deceitful, following a pragmatic, win at all costs, ends-justify-the means mentality. In today’s world it seems like good guys finish last…or at least that’s what people would have us think. Winning, from God’s point-of-view, is different. In the end you may not wind up with a million dollars, but you have God’s approval. Joy in life comes from having a living relationship with Jesus our Savior. When we trust in the Lord we experience victory; we do not merely survive. We overcome the world through Jesus, who has overcome the world.
The prophet Nahum was one of the Minor prophets. He delivered a sober message of judgment to the city and people of Ninevah, but in the middle of his harsh prophecy he offered hope, vs 7: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” God knows us and wants to protect us. Nahum’s name means “comfort” or “consolation”. Nahum presented God as our refuge, a shelter in the time of storm.
Protection doesn’t mean that we will always live a carefree life. When trials come we trust in God and seek His refuge. Faith requires trust without full knowledge; it means living with uncertainty. I am reminded of an affirmation found written on a cellar wall in Germany, where Jews hid from the Nazis: “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I am feeling it not. I believe in God even when He is silent.”

Blessed be the Name of Jesus.

In Him,
Brown


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTZFIcqnQMg

Prayer Needs:

Islamic Assailants Kill Hundreds of Christians Near Jos, Nigeria
Lekan Otufodunrin
Compass Direct News

March 9, 2010

LAGOS, Nigeria (CDN) — An uneasy calm prevailed in Plateau state, Nigeria today following the killing of hundreds of Christians early Sunday morning in three farming villages near Jos by ethnic Fulani Muslims.

The mostly ethnic Berom victims included many women and children killed with machetes by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. About 75 houses were also burned.

State Information Commissioner Gregory Yenlong confirmed that about 500 persons were killed in the attacks, which took place mainly in Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Rastat villages.

"We were woken up by gunshots in the middle of the night, and before we knew what was happening, our houses were torched and they started hacking down people" survivor Musa Gyang told media.

The assailants reportedly came on foot from a neighboring state to beat security forces that had been alerted of a possible attack on the villages but did not act beforehand.

The attack on Sunday is the latest in several religious clashes in the state in recent months that have claimed lives and property. Plateau state is a predominantly Christian state in a country almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. The Muslim minority has been contesting ownership of some parts of the state, leading to frequent clashes.

Bishop Andersen Bok, national coordinator of the Plateau State Elders Christian Fellowship, along with group Secretary General Musa Pam, described the attack as yet another "jihad and provocation on Christians."

"Dogo Nahawa is a Christian community," the Christian leaders said in a statement. "Eyewitnesses say the Hausa Fulani Muslim militants were chanting ‘Allah Akbar,' broke into houses, cutting human beings, including children and women with their knives and cutlasses."

Soon after the militants besieged Dogo Nahawa, the Christian leaders said, at 1:30 a.m. they contacted the military, which is in charge of security in the state.

"But we were shocked to find out that the soldiers did not react until about 3:30 a.m., after the Muslim attackers had finished their job and left," they stated. "We are tired of these genocides on our Christian brothers and state here that we will not let this go unchallenged."

Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) President Ayo Oritsejafor decried the attack on the Christian community as barbaric and urged the federal government to stop the killing of innocent citizens or risk a total breakdown of law and order.

"I have just returned from a trip abroad," he said. "While I was away, I was inundated with reports of another catastrophe in the Jigawa state capital, where several churches were burnt, and just as I was trying to settle down and collate reports from the field, I am hearing of another on Sunday morning."

Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Rev. Monsignor Gabriel Osu said the Sunday killing in Jos is a major setback for the country's effort to gain the confidence of the international community.

"Do you know that because of things like these, anywhere Nigerians travel to they are subjected to dehumanizing scrutiny?" he said. "Any act of violence at this time is totally condemned, and the government should make haste to fish out all identified perpetrators of such heinous crimes against God so that we can move forward as a people united under one umbrella."

On Friday (March 5) the National Youth President of the PFN, Dr. Abel Damina, expressed concern over cases of clandestine killings of Christians in remote parts of Plateau state by Islamic extremists and called on the federal government to retrieve sophisticated weapons in their possession.

"Even as I speak to you now, I am receiving reports that some clandestine killings are still going on in the remote areas of Plateau State by the fundamentalists," Damina reportedly said. "They pounce on Christians and kill them without anybody knowing much of their identity except that they are Christians."

He added that recently he visited the governor in Jos regarding the crisis and secured photos of Christian victims.
"Young men, Christians, were going to their farm to harvest their produce and the fundamentalists pounced on them," he said. "They were called infidels. At the last conference, we received reports with photographs of the fundamentalists using AK-47 rifles to destroy our churches. Where did they get the arms from? We have reports of truck loads of arms that had been intercepted, and we did not hear anything about them."