Brown's Daily Word 9-10-08

Good Morning,
As I write this morning's devotion, I am thinking of my brother Patel, who is in jail, in G.Udayagiri, Phulbani. I am thinking about and praying for those who are put in prison for the sake of Jesus around the world.
We read in Acts 16, about two of the most radical followers of Jesus. They were sold out to Jesus. Paul could say, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain". Paul & Silas had been called by Jesus to take the gospel into the region of Macedoniabut when they got there, instead of wide open doors, as they might have expected, they ran into great opposition. It was opposition so powerful that the crowd was able to convince the authorities to treat these men like common criminals. Here's a newsflash for you! "Those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION!" Some time back, in a church bulletin, it said,“JESUS NEVER SAID FOLLOWING HIM WOULD BE EASY, JUST THAT IT WOULD BE WORTH IT!” He wants us to count the cost. He wants us to think it through. He wants us to know that the Christian walk is not a cake-walk. There's going to be pain, there's going to be suffering, It was a balmy October afternoon at Badger Stadium, in Madison, Wisconsin in 1982 where 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin fans gathered to watch their football team take on the Michigan State Spartans. It wasn’t long before they realized they were really there to watch their team lose, and lose badly. Then a very strange thing happened. As the score became more and more lopsided, the Wisconsin fans started to cheer more and more loudly! At odd times, there would be these bursts of applause here and there throughout the crowd, even though their team was getting routed! It seems that there was a reason for this applause that had nothing to do with that particular game. 70 miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of the 1982 World Series! Sprinkled throughout that football stadium were little groups of people gathered around portable radios, responding to something other than their immediate circumstances! This reminds me of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:22, "The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks." That's what I'd call a bad day! What would you do if somebody beat you until you were bloody, threw you in a cold prison cell, and then to make things worse, they shackled you to the wall and left me there? That's exactly what they did to Paul and Silas. About that time they had every right to be downright angry with God, or at least disappointed! In their apparent defeat they may have become disappointed or disillusioned, but they did not. Verse 25 states, "But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." Amazing! Paul and Silas certainly weren't the first to be imprisoned for their faith. Many others, down through the ages, had been in very similar, perhaps identical, circumstances. David, as he hid in the cave of Adullam, was cold, scared and hungry. He was running away from the very man he would have given his life for, now fearing for his own life! Joseph, in Pharoah's prison, had been sent to Egypt by jealous brothers but protected by a loving God. Righteous Daniel slept like a baby while the lions prowled around him all night, dreaming of having Daniel for dinner - but only dreaming because God had closed their mouths. When I look at Paul and Silas on that prison floor, bleeding, bruised, and enchained, I envision three young men thrown into a fire so hot that it killed the men who threw them in! I can hear King Nebuchadnezzar say to his servants, (My favorite line in the Bible!), "Weren't there three men we tied up and threw into the fire?" And they said, "Yes, O King." He responded, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." Paul and Silas weren't alone in that prison cell and they knew it! They were surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. They were filled with the Holy Spirit!They were encircled by the heavenly host. Talk about prison overcrowding - this one was crammed! And so they sang and rejoiced and praised God at the top of their lungs. The next time you're in the prison of persecution or the dungeon of despair, look around! Realize you're not alone, and then do something that may seem a little strange - sing . . . "When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost..." "Jesus loves me this I know..."At first you may feel silly, but that's alright! If Paul & Silas felt silly, they didn't show it. Verse 25 says, "and the other prisoners were listening to them."(What choice did they have? They had a captive audience!) Paul and Silas could have stayed right there and had a jail ministry, but God had something else in mind. Look at verse 26, "Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose." Hear this if you hear nothing else. God can set you free when you can't do anything but to pray and sing. How much of a chance did those men have of getting out of there on their own? - zip, zilch, nada! Could they chew through the chains, could they break down the doors, could they overpower the guards? NO!They were absolutely, totally, powerless to free themselves, and they knew it.That's exactly what God was waiting for! When your strength is gone and your resources depleted, know this - God can set you free! He will set you free, and He does it because He loves you, He does it because he cares, but He also does it so that we may be instruments in saving others. Look at verse 27, which says, "The jailor woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, 'Don't harm yourself. We are all here.' The jailor called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved.'" Are you allowing God to use you as his instrument, as his hands, as his feet to take the good news to a world who desperately needs it? One last note, just to keep us in context - Do you remember where Paul was?He was in Philippi. Several years later Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi and said something that the Philippians knew to be true. He said, "I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (And, he could have added, in a prison cell or out of one) And then he topped it off by saying... "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
In Christ,
Brown

Lead story - Tuesday September 09, 2008
INDIA: ATTACKS, ‘RECONVERSIONS’ CONTINUE IN ORISSA
At least 20 houses burned and 70 Christian families forced to become Hindus in one day.
NEW DELHI, September 9 (Compass Direct News) – The spate of anti-Christian violence that began following the killing of a Hindu leader on Aug. 23 in Orissa’s Kandhamal district continued yesterday despite a stream of meetings by Christian and rights groups with high government officials.
the toll could cross 100. Hundreds of houses and churches have also been burned or destroyed in the violence, forcing thousands to hide in jungles or take shelter in relief camps set up by the state government.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India said in a statement yesterday (September 8) that relief camps needed more facilities and protection for the people who were “still in the grip of fear and loss.”
“In some villages people continue
At least 20 houses were burned last night and 70 Christian families were forcibly ‘reconverted’ to Hinduism yesterday in separate incidents in the eastern state.
According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), more than 20 houses belonging to Christians from the Orissa Follow-Up ministry (OFU) in Khajuripada village in Kandhamal were set on fire last night. The Rev. Dr. D.B. Hrudaya of the OFU told EFI that the whereabouts of the 20 families whose houses were destroyed were unknown and that he was “deeply concerned.”
Earlier in the day, around 70 families in four villages – Bogapada, Boriguda, Kuttiguda and Danniguda – in Kandhamal were forcibly ‘reconverted’ to Hinduism by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) extremists.
On Sunday (September 7), a mob of around 2,000 people attacked a church during the morning worship service in Bhudainjal village in another district, Kalahandi, reported EFI. While the church members were able to flee, the attackers caught hold of two church workers and assaulted them.
“When the three-months pregnant wife of one of the men tried to rescue her husband, one person in the mob kicked her in the stomach,” EFI reported. “She was admitted to the Kathiguda Government Hospital.”
In the afternoon, the mob burned a daycare center in nearby Bamnichatra village. The crowd also stole items worth around 10,000 rupees (US$225) from the center before setting it on fire.
Poisoned Water
There were also reports of Hindu extremists poisoning the water at relief camps in Kandhamal.
“An attempt to poison the drinking water source of the relief camp in Habaq High School in G. Udayagiri village, Kandhamal was foiled by an alert security guard at 9 p.m. on September 2,” EFI said in a statement.
The water of another relief camp in Vijay High School in Raikia, Kandhamal was reportedly poisoned last Wednesday (September 3). Six Christians fell ill from the toxicity and were taken to hospitals, according to EFI.
The violence in Orissa began following the killing of a VHP leader, Laxmanananda Saraswati, and four of his disciples on August 23 in his ashram (religious center) in the Jalespeta area of Kandhamal district. A Maoist group claimed responsibility for the killings, but the VHP continues to blame Christians.
The Global Council of India Christians has recorded at least 56 deaths thus far, and the rights group believes to live under threat,” the conference said in a statement. “They think they could be attacked any time.”
Representatives of the Christian community in India have met with the president, the federal interior minister, the leader of the ruling United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and several other political leaders to urge them to ensure protection of Christians in Orissa.
At the same time, the VHP defied a government ban to organize a gathering at Saraswati’s ashram in Jalespeta to pay homage to its slain leader over the weekend, reported The Telegraph newspaper.
The VHP was planning to take the ashes of Saraswati in public procession from village to village in the whole of Orissa on Sunday (September 7), but the state government banned it after the Supreme Court on Friday (September 5) ordered it to take all measures to protect the lives and property of Christians.
Yesterday the state government banned all rallies and processions in connection with Saraswati’s killing, as it has to inform the Supreme Court about the security measures taken to end the violence on Thursday (September 11), reported the Press Trust of India agency.
Saraswati allegedly incited the attacks on Christians and their property in Kandhamal last Christmas season. The violence lasted for more than a week beginning December 24, and killed at least four Christians and burned 730 houses and 95 churches.
The 2007 attacks were allegedly carried out by VHP extremists under the pretext of avenging an attack on Saraswati allegedly by local Christians. Hundreds of Christians were displaced by the violence in Kandhamal, and many are still in various relief camps set up by the state government.
Orissa is ruled by a coalition of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and the Biju Janata Dal party.
Christians make up 2.4 percent of Orissa’s population, or 897,861 of the total 36.7 million people.
END
Home / blogs / Dr. Sajan's blog / India’s national shame
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/indias_national_shame/
Attacks on impoverished Christians in the northeastern state of Orissa have shocked the nation.
China and India may be keeping the world economy ticking over with their phenomenal growth rates, but their human rights records lag far behind. China’s treatment of Tibet, its cruel one-child policy and its persecution of independent religious groups is well-known. But India has its own problems with human rights and savage religious persecution which are being ignored by the world media. In the latest eruption of religious violence in the poor northeastern state of Orissa, impoverished Christians have been the target of horrific violence.The respected newspaper The Times of India says that "many believe Orissa has brought religious hatred in India to a new low". It quotes Asit Mohanty, of the Global Council of Indian Christians, who describes recent incidents as "the worst-ever attack on the Christian community in the history of independent India." They have been described as a "national shame" by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.The violence began on August 23. Eighty-five-year-old Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his followers were gunned down at a school in the Kandhamal district of Orissa. Guruji, as he was known, was a fanatical Hindu nationalist. One of his objectives was to wipe out Christians and Christianity from Kandhamal and its environs, because their numbers had increased over the past 30 years. He attributed this to force and fraud by Christian missionaries. "The sooner Christians return to the Hindu fold the better it would be for the country," was his feeling.A local TV channel reported that the murderers had left a note declaring that this was a revenge killing for attacks on Christians last Christmas. Who really killed him? Guruji had many enemies. The most likely suspects, say local police, are the Maoist guerillas who still infest the jungles of Orissa. But it was Christians who were blamed by local Hindus.On the following day, a meeting of leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Orissa, the Hindu nationalist party, Rastriya Swayam Sevak (RSS), a Hindu militant organisation, and other groups, decided on immediate retaliation.In the violent aftermath at least 25 people have died and about 50 churches and 4,000 Christian houses have been destroyed. The violence is spreading to the nearby states of Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.On August 25, FatherThomas Chellan was dragged out of a house in Kandhmal where he and a nun had taken shelter. A mob of about 50 men armed with clubs, axes, spades, crowbars, iron roads, sickles mercilessly thrashed him and kerosene was poured over him to burn him. They were paraded half-naked for half a kilometer.Another priest, Father Edward Sequera, who was running an orphanage in Kandhamal was beaten with spades, sickles and iron bars for more than an hour. After that his room was set on fire. Fortunately he escaped death by locking himself into the bathroom. But his attackers scaled the roof of the orphanage where Rajani Majhi, the 19-year-old caretaker, had locked herself in along with the 20 children. They entered the room, dragged her outside, tied her hands together and burnt her alive. Rajani was a Hindu.More than 400 churches, 500 houses and many Christian institutions have been gutted. Many Christians have fled to the jungle for safety. Similar incidents have happened throughout Orissa. Even in its capital Bhuvaneswar, Christian schools have been ransacked. Raphael Cheenath, the Catholic archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, says that it is clear that "the fanatical forces of Hindutva want to eliminate Christians from Orissa".Hindu fanatics are even invading the camps set up for the 50,000 Christians in relief camps in Kandhamal. There are credible reports of groups going to the relief camp and threatening people to reconvert to Hinduism. In one relief camp, two extremists were caught by a security guard trying to poison the drinking water.Sadly, none of this comes as a surprise. On Christmas Eve 2007, more than 40 churches, convents and 700 Christian houses were burnt down. Christian villagers hid in the jungles for weeks. In 1999, an Australian evangelical missionary and his two sons were burnt to death by a mob.What is the truth of Hindu accusations of forced conversions to Christianity? Nearly all of them are absurd. An anti-conversion law recently came into force in the state of Gujarat, on the western coast of the sub-continent. Missionaries convicted of "forcibly converting" someone could face up to three years in prison. However, there have been only three complaints of "forcible" conversions in Gujarat in the last 10 years, and only two of those concerned Christians.The fundamental rights of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are enshrined in Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. Officially, India is secular. However, outside of the capital, New Delhi, the state ideology of secularism quickly runs out of steam. In fact, the BJP has managed to pass anti-conversions laws in five of India’s 28 states. In 1967 Orissa became the first state to legislate against religious conversion -- with an act bizarrely named the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act.The upshot of this is that in some of the BJP-ruled states, this fundamental right to practice and propagate one’s religion now almost ceases to exist -- especially among the poor dalits, or untouchables, and aboriginal tribal peoples.The violence against the Christians in Kandhamal is linked to the empowerment of the dalits and tribals. Through education dalits and tribals have been achieving dignity freedom from oppressive traditions of caste-based discrimination and slavery. This has sometimes been violently opposed by dominant castes, who could no longer rely upon them for cheap farm labour or bonded labour.As Telesphore Toppo, the Cardinal of Ranchi -- India’s first tribal cardinal – has said, "Suppressing and restricting the freedom of religion and conscience is the worst kind of slavery. The dalits and the tribals have suffered as they are deprived of freedom by opportunists who are raising the issue of conversion for their own political mileage".The Guruji’s followers remain adamant, claiming they will "do everything possible to protect the Hindu faith in Orissa." Kabi Chandra Nath, his successor, says ominously, "We are not converting anyone. We are simply bringing misguided followers back to the fold."Catholic authorities have asked the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the violence against Christians in Orissa. But it is unrealistic to expect much support. After the December riots, government compensation for damage to Christian property was meagre. "This paltry amount given by way of compensation is also the reflective of the will to secure justice for the Christians, more seriously", said Archbishop Cheenath. "No serious action was taken against the perpetrators of the December violence and the culprits are emboldened by their freedom."Like China, the Indian government will not accept any interference in its internal affairs. But without pressure from overseas, it is unrealistic to expect the central government to take firm steps to quench the violence. There is not much sign of that at the moment. A spokesman for the British High Commission in Delhi, almost yawned. ‘‘India is viewed as a diverse place and the country has made a success of diversity,’’ he said. "A few incidents cannot mar the image of the country." What is needed is a world action, like the "Free Tibet" campaign which has galvanised people around the world. Otherwise, it is absolutely certain that more impoverished Christians will die for their faith.Anjalee Lewis is a freelance journalist writing from Mumbai.