Brown's Daily Word & India update 8-14-09

I conducted a service of death and resurrection for Mary, yesterday. Mary died in her sleep. She was 93 years old, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. She lived in her own home and she was driving her own car until the day before her death. She never used an I-pod, never sent an e-mail. Yet, she lived a very rich life, using the simple gifts the Lord gave her. She loved the Lord, she loved her family, and she loved life. Her children rose up and thanked the Lord for her life of sacrifice and grace. Her children spoke about how their mom demonstrated and exemplified the grace of Jesus.
Saint Paul, writing the letters to the churches used this powerful sentence, "Grace be un to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ". We don’t mean to, but we often make Christianity more complicated than it really is—and sometimes we make Christ less glorious, less majestic than He really is.
I read I story a few years ago that in Savannah, GA, Baby Grace, a newborn girl, was discovered in a dumpster by a garbage worker. Amidst the refuse of a ghetto area of Savannah, lying in pornography, in the green broken glass of discarded cheap wine bottles, in coffee grounds and rotting food, was a tiny little girl not over a week old. The garbage collector named her "Baby Grace." The story of Grace changed the hearts of that neighborhood as nothing ever had before. There was no problem finding parents for Baby Grace; couples lined up to claim Grace as their own.
The Lord God is telling me lately, afresh and anew about the message of Grace. God’s Grace in Christ Jesus is equally surprising and even disturbing. For on a garbage dump outside of a two-bit occupied country, on a Roman cross, Grace could be found. Grace is not found in the pretty religion of men, but in the garbage dump of our own lives. Those who find Grace and tell it best are not professional clergymen and theologians, but people who have lived close to the dumpster themselves. Fellow refuse workers, if you will, discover Grace. That is all I am. That is all you are. We're just a bunch of sinners saved by grace. Jesus, the Savior, who is the epitome of Amazing Grace, calls you and me to admit our weakness and reach out for His Power—His Grace—which was demonstrated when Jesus died for us on the Cross. Michael Card wrote about this when he wrote a song using the Greek word Scandalon as the title:
"Along the path of life there lies this stubborn Scandalon And all who come this way must be offended. To some He is a barrier; to others He’s the way, For all should know the scandal of believing."
The scandal of believing is yielding your life to the Christ of Scriptures, not to a god of your own making. The scandal is that nothing you can do counts. He has done it all. The scandal is that we are most healed, not when we do religious devotions, but when we let go of our pride and fall down and take hold of the hem of His garment. The scandal of our faith is that our Messiah, our Christ, is a Savior who comes and makes His home not among the smug self-righteous, but among ragamuffins, lepers, poor, blind, lame, captives, demon possessed, and brokenhearted and transforms them into sons and daughters of the Most High.
He is mighty to save,
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qNOMLS6weE

US body puts India under 'Watch List' on religious freedom
13 Aug 2009, 1157 hrs IST, PTI

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WASHINGTON: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has placed India on its "Watch List" for New Delhi's largely
inadequate response in protecting its religious minorities.

In a statement, USCIRF said India earned the "Watch List" designation due to the "disturbing increase" in communal violence against religious minorities -- specifically Christians in Orissa in 2008 and Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 -- and the largely inadequate response from the Indian government to protect the rights of religious minorities.

"It is extremely disappointing that India, which has a multitude of religious communities, has done so little to protect and bring justice to its religious minorities under siege," said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair.

USCIRF's India chapter was released this week to mark the first anniversary of the start of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa.

Any country that is designated on the USCIRF "Watch List" requires "close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government."

Other countries currently on the commission's Watch List are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, the Russian Federation, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela.

USCIRF, which released its annual report early this year had delayed the publication of its India chapter due to the general elections.

USCIRF members wanted to visit India for their first hand assessment of the situation but they did not get the visa.

The organisation observed that last year in Orissa, the murder of Swami Saraswati by Maoist rebels in Kandhamal sparked a prolonged and destructive campaign targeting Christians, resulting in attacks against churches and individuals.

These attacks largely were carried out by individuals associated with Hindu nationalist groups, and resulted in at least 40 deaths and the destruction of hundreds of homes and dozens of churches. Tens of thousands were displaced and today many still remain in refugee camps, afraid to return home, it said.

"India's democratic institutions charged with upholding the rule of law, most notably state and central judiciaries and police, have emerged as unwilling or unable to seek redress for victims of the violence. More must be done to ensure future violence does not occur and that perpetrators are held accountable," Leo said.

Similarly, during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, India's National Human Rights Commission found that the government not only failed to prevent the attacks against religious minorities, but that state and local officials aided and participated in the violence.

In both Orissa and Gujarat, court convictions have been infrequent, perpetrators rarely brought to justice and thousands of people remain displaced, USCIRF alleged.

The India chapter of the annual USCIRF notes that the deficiencies in investigating and prosecuting cases have resulted in a culture of impunity that gives members of vulnerable minority communities few assurances of their safety, particularly in areas with a history of communal violence, and little hope of perpetrator accountability.

The report recommends that the Obama administration must urge Indian government to take new measures to promote communal harmony, protect religious minorities, and prevent communal violence by calling on all political parties and religious or social organisations to denounce violence against and harassment of religious minorities, women, and low-caste members, and to acknowledge that such violence constitutes a crime under Indian law.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government commission. Its commissioners are appointed by the US president and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Its principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state and Congress.