FALLS CHURCH, VA: U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Hear Religious Freedom Case
Historic Congregation Sought Review of State Decision Taking Away Church Property

FALLS CHURCH, VA (Tuesday, March 11, 2014) – The Falls Church Anglican-whose congregation voted nearly unanimously in 2006 to leave the Episcopal denomination over issues of who Jesus Christ is and the authority of the Bible-received word yesterday that the United States Supreme Court denied its Petition for Certiorari. The key issue was the Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment. In question was whether courts must enforce denominational rules that strip congregations of their property when they leave their denomination, even when those rules conflict with state laws governing secular property disputes.

The Rev. Dr. John Yates II, Rector of The Falls Church Anglican, offered the following thoughts on the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear his congregation’s case: “We have pursued this legal process out of the conviction that it is one of the ministries that God has entrusted to our church. We continued in our desire to be faithful to God’s calling to see it through to the end. We are grateful that our nation’s civil justice system allows us this recourse, and we thank the Supreme Court for its consideration of our petition. Although we hoped and prayed for a different outcome, we know that God is good, loving, and faithful. We have seen this on vibrant display in so many ways in our church life during these years, and we will continue to trust that he has even better things for us.”

After being forced by court order in May of 2012 to leave the property they held for over 275 years, The Falls Church Anglican has been meeting in a variety of locations including a Catholic high school, Baptist and Presbyterian churches, and a county middle school. The congregation remains one of the largest in the DC metropolitan area with nearly 2,000 people participating in Sunday services. Despite the litigation brought against The Falls Church Anglican, and the loss of the church’s property, vibrant ministries including a 500-member youth group, English classes for immigrants, and international outreach missions continue to spread the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. (A sampling of life in the church following loss of her property immediately after departure and one year after leaving.)

Yates continued, “The legal process may be finished, but in the end only God’s judgment is final and only God’s judgment matters. Our prayer has always been that God would be pleased with us for fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith. (2 Tim. 4:7)”

END

Sex and Created Bodies: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Genesis 1:26-28
A Sermon Preached at Falls Church Anglican, March 2, 2014 by the Rev. Sam Ferguson

By Sam Ferguson
Special to Virtueonline
http://www.virtueonline.org

March 15, 2014

No issue is more talked about today than sex. From newspapers to news broadcasts, from cafeteria conversations to Facebook, from sitcoms to SportsCenter, opinions about sexuality meet us every hour. Moreover, no issue finds the church more at odds with the prevailing mood of culture. Traditional sexual ethics, which were the architecture of civilization for most of history, are being dismissed as outdated, uncivil, and anti-human. Treasures of Christian morality – monogamy, virginity and chastity – are dissolving. As issues related to sex move from Facebook posts to courts of law, we can become not only confused, but even scared. At a moment such as this, what is the church to do? At least two things:

First, the church must be brutally honest about our failure to live up to our own standards. The statistics are sobering: divorce rates inside the church mirror those outside. Pornography use is at epidemic levels. Sex outside of marriage is commonplace. And clergy abuse scandals frontline papers worldwide. We have lost so much credibility. Whatever we say or do, we must do so with ashes on our heads and tears in our eyes. We are not those who have earned the moral high ground; we are those who have needed the grace and forgiveness at the heart of our message.

Having said that, the church does have a word to speak regarding sexuality, today. Our story – the story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation – includes sex and sexuality. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, cares immensely about this topic.

Therefore, the second thing we do is re-root sex in its original story, the story of Creation. As the culture understands sex as an end in and of itself, we understand it as part of a larger story. Like an organ severed from a body, outside of its natural context, the meaning and purpose of sex are lost. Placed within the larger organism of human life, sex takes on deeper meaning and greater purpose.

Here is our goal today: We’ve been studying Corinthians, where Paul has much to say about sexuality. Paul is at odds to re-root the Corinthian’s sexual ethic in the story of creation – in the foundational events of Genesis 1-3. Our aim is similar. We will consider the benefits of re-rooting sex in the story of creation. More specifically, we will ask: how does re-casting sex in the Christian story of creation benefit both individuals and society?

PART I: SEX AND CREATED BODIES: “Your body is not meant for sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:13)

A personal story about a friend will help us see the relevance of rooting sexuality in the story of creation. Kevin and I became friends while fellow graduated students overseas. We couldn’t have been more different. He was a rather clever agnostic; I was an aspiring minister. Our conversations were never dull. During winter term, I notice Kevin was not doing well. I asked if I could pray for him, to which he agreed. As I finished praying for him in my apartment, I looked up and found him in tears. Nobody had ever prayed for him before. Kevin proceeded to open up to me: he’d struggled for a decade with his sexuality, felt like a woman in a man’s body, was taking a hormone, and hoping to undergo a transgender surgery. With his words came waves of pain, of a sort I’ve rarely encountered. All I could was listen and cry, as my friend bore his soul. Kevin then asked me a profound question. He said, “Are you a man?” “Yes,” I answered. “How do you know; what does it feel like?” We proceeded to talk about gender and one’s sense of identity. I quickly realized that this conversation was deeper than sexual preferences. We were talking about the fundamental aspects of human identity – what it means to be male or female. We continued meeting and praying, and over the next months something incredible began to happen; Kevin became a Christian. Watching this happen was one of the most meaningful moments of my life.

Kevin did not wake up the next day with his life in perfect order. Rather, what ensued, was a relationship of discipleship between me and Kevin. In order for Kevin to make sense of his identity, we had to re-root him the Christian story of creation – so we went to the opening chapters of Genesis. As we studied the creation story, two very significant truths presented themselves to Kevin, each having to do with his created body.

First, God had created Kevin’s body as male, and this had implications (Gen. 1:27). It was not an accident, but a concrete landmark of identity. God’s creation is good; this included Kevin’s body. Moreover, Kevin’s male body was made in God’s image, which gave it dignity. As we considered the larger story of the Bible, we noticed that Kevin’s male body was eternal. Kevin would be raised from the dead as a man. However, Kevin’s sex drive was temporary, not eternal. Jesus teaches that there is no marriage in heaven, which implies no procreation, either. Therefore, sexual energies are temporary, but gender eternal. Kevin needed to root his identity on something permanent, not transitory.

A second truth related to his body, was that in its created shape it told a story. It was shaped, sexually, for the female body. In form, the male and female bodies were made to fit, sexually. In function, the male and female bodies could create new life. To use the male body, sexually, outside these natural boundaries would be to cut against the grain of creation. Kevin’s body told a story, a story about his identity, and how he ought to use his body.

As Kevin spent time soaking in these concrete truths of creation, I watched a man who’d been drifting for a decade find an anchor. No longer was his identity determined by a sea of sexualized emotions. Rather, his identity rested in the concrete reality of his maleness, and God’s eternal plan for it. To be sure, Kevin still struggled with all sorts of feelings, but, he now had a stabilizing foundation beneath them.

I share this story about Kevin because, for one, it reminds us of how personal and painful the subject of sexuality can be. We are not talking about abstract theology; we are talking about real people. We are talking about human longings and broken hearts. In these conversations we must be so careful and sensitive. Secondly, however, Kevin’s story represents the fundamental question at this cultural moment: who, or what, dictates human identity? Is identity rooted in one’s sexual feelings, or a created order? What does our body have to do with our identity?

Paul faced this dilemma in Corinth. In 1 Cor. 6:12-20 Paul uses the word body eight times. Why? Because the Corinthians had fallen into a way of thinking that rooted identity in an inner sense of self, not a created body. This was called Gnosticism and Paul railed against it. This way of thinking saw created matter as bad, but the spirit as good. This cut against the grain of the Judaism Paul was raised on, and the Christianity he was preaching. God’s creation was good. Jesus’ physical body was raised from the dead. For Paul, you are your body.

Do we face this issue today? I think we do. I think we are facing a new type of Gnosticism. Consider this scenario: Fourteen years ago a baby is born in Arlington hospital. The doctor delivers the little one and says one of two things to the parents: “It’s a boy.” Or, “It’s a girl. How does he know what to say? The baby’s body, of course. Fast-forward fourteen years to last week. The child is now a teenager and is joining Facebook. They come to the page that asks them to share their identity, and there is the drop down box for gender – should be simple, two options, male or female. They click, and what drops down is not two, but fifty-one options. As of February, Facebook expanded their gender options to fifty-one. The list includes: Agender; Bigender; Gender Fluid; Gender Questioning; Gender Variant; Gender Queer; Intersex; Pangender and Transgender.

I share this not to make light of people who struggle with gender identity – I’ve seen this pain first hand. Rather, I share this to simply ask the question, what changed between the birth-ward and Facebook? Did the child’s body morph?

This represents a shift in our society’s way of thinking about human identity. Identity is no longer rooted in created bodies, but feelings, and not just any feelings, but sexual feelings. We are our sex drive. Who chose Facebook’s list of fifty-one. How do we know it won’t be 5,100 in two years?

For a teenager, who is having a hard enough time with emotions, to cast their identity on a sea of passions seems un-thoughtful. What they need is an anchor, not more options. I know this list is meant to liberate, but I am afraid it will confuse. If a person’s primary sense of self is their sexual appetite, then they are cast upon their sexual fortunes. Sex has become their god. People are so much more than their sex drive.

This begs the question: is the language of sexual orientation, which we use so commonly in our day, helpful? Even within the Church, we speak of people as heterosexual, homosexual, or bi-sexual. When we do this, we are subtly shifting a person’s sense of self onto their sexualized emotions. I wonder if we know how novel, and controversial, these categories of sexual orientation are? Words like heterosexual and homosexual were not used in the English language until the late nineteenth century. Certain gay activist have called into question the plausibility of these terms. In his book, “The Invention of Heterosexuality,” activist Jonathan Ned Katz dismisses the notion of a biologically fixed or normative sexual orientation. He sees orientation language as a social construct, not a biological norm. For Katz, the goal is having sexuality as fluid as possible, where it can expresses itself in unlimited variety. For Christians, however, Katz’s research is helpful because it suggests that sex drives are not the place to root ultimate identity; that they are not as fixed as one’s biological body. We are created in the image of God – Male or Female. This is a category that is richer and deeper than feelings. We must re-root our identity here, and be careful about what language we use when describing a human being.

Let me draw all this to a fine point. When sex and sexuality is re-rooted in the Christian story of Creation, it gives an individual a steady anchor for self-understanding. It rescues Millennials from the tyranny of sex, whereby the culture would tell them they are, primarily, their sex drive. Also, it gives the individual great dignity and hope, for one who is created in God’s image, as Male or Female, can be sure God has a plan for you that makes sense of your body. And because of the work of Jesus Christ and hope of resurrection, this is precisely what the Gospel means.

Let us now consider one other point. Along with individual benefits, how does re-rooting sex in the story of creation benefit society at large? What does sex have to do with the public good?

PART II: SEX AND THE COMMON GOOD: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor. 6:12).

Consider with me how Paul opens this paragraph to the Corinthians. He begins, “all things are lawful for me.” This was a slogan floating around Corinth. It’s akin to our modern day, “whatever floats your boat.” This was a tag line for sexual license. It’s akin to our modern ethic whereby as long as no one is getting hurt, “all sexual behavior is permissible.” Paul allows this motto for the moment, but replies with this: “all things are lawful, but are all things beneficial?” It’s this last word, beneficial, that makes us pause. The question Paul is posing to their sexual ethic and to ours is: how does your sexual behavior benefit others – your neighbor, neighborhood, and society? What does sex have to do with the common good?

J.D. Unwin, a sociologist at Cambridge University, posed this very question in the early twentieth century. He had come across a theory of Sigmund Freud that suggested sexual restrictions might cause such suppression in individuals that they would become deleterious to civilization. In Freud’s own words:

“It is natural to suppose that under the domination of a civilized morality [one that restricts sex] the health and efficiency in life of the individuals may be impaired, and that ultimately this injury to the individual, causes by the sacrifice imposed upon him, may reach such a pitch that the civilized aim and end will itself be indirectly endangered.”

To test Freud’s theory, Unwin undertook a study of eighty-six civilizations spanning five thousand years. His question was straightforward: is there a relationship between sexual ethics and societal flourishing. Unwin expected to prove Freud’s theory right. He was astonished when he discovered the very opposite. Unwin found that there was no case of a civilization that practiced absolute monogamy that failed to display great cultural and expansive energy. Whereas, there was no case of a civilization becoming lax in its sexual restrictions that did not eventually flounder. Unwin published his findings in a book titled, “Sex and Culture.” In an address made to the Medical Section of the British Psychological Society he reported the following:

“The evidence was such as to demand a complete revision of my personal philosophy…if we know what sexual regulations a society has adopted, we can prophesy accurately the pattern of its cultural behavior… [Monogamous] marriage has been adopted by different societies, in different places, and at different times. Thousands of years and thousands of miles separate the events. In human records, there is no case of an absolutely monogamous society failing to display great [cultural] energy.”

And in a journal article, he summed up his findings with the following:

“The whole of human history does not contain a single instance of a group becoming civilized unless it has been absolutely monogamous, nor is there any example of a group retaining its culture after it has adopted less rigorous customs.”

Thinkers from Aldous Huxley to Phillip Yancey have commented on the shock of Unwin’s research, and wondered why we don’t hear more about them. Paul may be onto something: “all sex may be permissible for the sophisticated modern man, but is it beneficial?” Least we dismiss Unwin’s findings as outdated, let us consider some statistics from modern America.

With increased sexual freedom has come an increase in births out of wedlock. The number of African American children born outside of marriage today has topped 70%. Besides obvious emotional problems this causes, we would do well to consider the economics. Professor Dale Kuehne has shared that a child born out of wedlock will cost the State 4 to 8 times as much money. Where the absence of healthy parenting is felt the State steps in. We must wonder about the economic sustainability of it. Moreover, will a child who has not been cared for by their father be likely to care for their father when he becomes elderly? Statistics suggest no. Again, the State will need to step in. The economic implications of this are worrisome. The unintended consequences of the sexual liberation movement have been the collapsing of American families. Families are the most cost effective way to raise children, create healthy citizens, and cultivate stable societies. Families are the backbone of society. Sexual ethics are the backbone of families. We must do the math.

The medical industry ought to be concerned with sexual liberations as well. Last February, U.S. News and World Report published an article on the amount of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in America. More than 110 Million Americans have an STD, with nearly 20 million new infections occurring each year. This means there are more new infections of STDs amongst Americans per year than there are people living in the cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, combined. The article goes on to lament that the estimated lifetime cost of treating 20 million STDs is 16 billion dollars. Just imagine what else could be done with that money.

To this list we could add the emotional and relational toll that the Hook Up culture has unleashed. The title of Donna Freitas recent book says enough, “The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy.” In her survey of thousands of college students, professor Freitas finds that many participants of the Hook Up culture are left empty. Casual sex makes for casual relationships; the enemy of lasting intimacy.

Paul knew that sexual ethics were linked to the good of society. Modern research and statistics seems to support this. What is the biblical foundation of this idea? Again, we find it in the story of Creation. When we first are introduced to sexual beings in Genesis one, we find them immediately tied to the care of society. Genesis 1:26-28 reads:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth”(Genesis 1:27-28).

To fill and have dominion means to create culture and society. The sexual relationship between the man and the woman was the means of creating families that would then fill the earth, create societies, and build culture. The relationship between sex and the common good is built into the DNA of the world.

We need to conclude. What have we said? When we re-root sex in the story of creation, we find that it takes on incredible meaning and purpose. For the individual, they find that their sexuality must account for the created order of their body. And, that their sexuality is not the fundamental and final aspect that gives them self-worth. They are male or female, in God’s image, for eternity. Their body has been made good, and is being redeemed in Christ. For the social activist, we have found that sexual ethics are linked to societal flourishing. Research, statistics, and the Bible all support this. By re-rooting sex in God’s story of creation, it takes on new meaning and purpose, and is protected from corruption and idolatry.

Finally, in recalling how difficult a topic this is for all of us, how it represents so much hurt, and so many unmeant longings, I would close as Paul does in 1 Cor. 6:20: “You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Glorify God with your body.” Perhaps the final piece of re-rooting, for all of us, is to recall that we are not our own, but the Lord’s. It’s not so much who you are, but whose you are, that finally matters. Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Brandon Griggs, “Facebook goes beyond ‘male’ and ‘female’ with new gender options” (CNN, February 13, 2014), find online at: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/tech/social-media/facebook-gender-custom
2. Cf., Michael W. Hannon, “Against Heterosexuality” (First Things, March 2014)
3. Cf., Jonathan Ned Katz, “The Invention of Heterosexuality” (Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 1997)
4. As quoted in Daniel R. Heimbach, “True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis” (Crossway, Wheaton, Ill: 2004) pg. 346.
5. Joseph Daniel Unwin, “Sexual Regulations and Cultural Behavior,” in an address given to the Medical Section of the British Psychological Society. Library of Congress, No. HQ12.U52.
6. Unwin, J. D. (1927). “Monogamy as a Condition of Social Energy,” The Hibbert Journal, Vol. XXV, p. 662.
7. Aldous Huxley, the English writer, summed up Unwin’s work as follows: “[Unwin’s] investigation shows that the societies exhibiting the least amount of energy are those where pre-nuptial continence is not imposed and where the opportunities for sexual indulgence after marriage are greatest. The cultural condition of a society rises in exact proportion as it imposes pre-nuptial and post-nuptial restraints upon sexual opportunity” Cf., Aldous Huxley, “Ends and Means” (Chatto & Windus, London, 1946) pp. 311-12. Cf., Phillip Yancey, “The Lost Sex Study: If we make a god of sexuality, that god will fail in ways that affect the whole person and perhaps the whole society” (Christianity Today, December 12, 1994).
8. “More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock,” Don Lemon, CNN.
9. Dale Kuehne, “Sexual Economics: Can Nations Survive Without Supporting Strong Family Ideals?” (Q Ideas Conference, April 2013, Los Angeles, CA). Access online at: http://www.qideas.org/video/sexual-economics.aspx
10. Ibid.
11. “More Than 110 Million Americans Have an STD: Report,” (U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 2, 2013).

The Rev. Sam Ferguson is assistant pastor at the Falls Church Anglican as a Timothy and provides leadership for the Young Adults ministry. His passion is to see people of all ages intimately connected to Jesus Christ and to increasingly discover, by way of both spiritual and intellectual growth, the surpassing worth and satisfaction of knowing and experiencing God.

http://www.bosnewslife.com/27361-best-of-bosnewslife-massive-exodus-of-street-children-into-western-europe

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)– Key non-governmental groups and officials have urged the European Union to urgently tackle the “growing problem” of street children moving from Eastern to Western Europe, by improving cross-border cooperation and child protection.

They made the appeal at the ‘European Forum On Street Children 2009’ in Budapest, amid concerns that the EU’s open borders mean that “unaccompanied” minors from poorer member states are increasingly roaming the streets of richer Western European cities.

There are believed to be a quarter of a million street children in Europe, although officials cautioned that figure may be higher because as many as 1.5 million young gypsies, also known as Roma, are “unregistered”.

In a final declaration, delegates attending the Forum, urged the EU to realize the European Parliament’s goal of ending “the phenomena of street children” by 2015.

“The increasing freedom of circulation of separated children within the EU following the removal of barriers as a consequence of the [EU’s cross-border] Schengen Agreement” is “an increasingly European” phenomena “with the recent access of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union posing particular challenges,” they said.

The situation worsened since former East block countries began joining the European Union in 2004, according to the European Federation for Street Children (EFSC), one of the organizers of the two-day Forum, which ended Friday, September 25.

INCREASE COOPERATION

Delegates stressed it was crucial to increase cooperation between the “origin and destination countries” of street children and to adopt common European standards aimed at protecting minors from prosecution for crimes such as stealing.

“We should achieve a rule of non-punishment and non-detention of these children first of all, which is not guaranteed in a number of countries,” explained EFSC Director Reinhold Müller. “The Czech Republic and Finland have a progressive system where there is quite a high protection until the age of 18. So the exchange [of information] between the [EU] member states of best practises [regarding street children] is very important,” he told BosNewsLife.

Many street children have become victims of organized crime groups, while others are forced to feed their impoverished families by bagging, playing music or even providing sexual services, according to advocacy groups.

EU member states should therefore ensure that “spending levels for social projects of child protection” such as supporting troubled families, “are maintained in spite of the [global] economic downturn,” the Forum’s final declaration said.

Additionally, the delegates urged the European Commission (EC), the EU’s executive body, to make children’s rights a central part of its “social agenda” following the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in 2010, and to increase cooperation with NGOs.

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE

The EC’s Policy Officer for the Fundamental Rights and the Rights of the Child, Marek Stavinoha, declined to tell BosNewsLife whether the Commission would agree with, or at least study, these recommendations. “I can’t talk to the press, otherwise I lose my job,” said Stavinoha, who participated in the Forum.

Former European Parliamentarian Anthony Simpson wasn’t surprised. “The position of the European Union is somewhat difficult….Issues on children’s rights and how children are treated are the [responsibility] of the Council of Europe, which is a body based in Strasbourg,” added Simpson, who represented the British Conservative Party from 1978 to 1995 in the European Parliament.

However, he said, European legislators could focus on the Daphne program he helped to develop, a scheme aimed at combating violence against especially women and children so families can stay together.

Yet, EFSC representative and Roma activist Anna D’ambrosio made clear that tackling the issue of street children has been made difficult by under representation of Roma in the European Parliament. Many street children are of Roma origin, but have no voice, she added.

“There are wonderful examples of Roma who have become lawyers who now to help their peers to fight discrimination. But in the European parliament there are only two representatives of Roma, but in comparison there should be about 80.”

Müller.. “There have been pilot programs where they were building a kitchen for four persons. If you know that many Roma families have 20 persons, you understand that they don’t want to go to live in these homes.”

THEATER PERFORMANCE

A key element of the Budapest gathering was a bizarre theater performance of Hungarian teenagers trying to quit the habit of drugs addiction, a major problem among street children, who often turn to drugs to escape the harsh realities of their young lives.

They made cat sounds, played music, danced and sang cynical songs that included words
like ‘I just eat Mártha…But I don’t tell you where I buried her.’

Performer Eszter Jakob, an 18-year-old stunning blond who could have walked away from a Hollywood-set, didn’t appear cynical when talking to BosNewsLife about her troubled life on the streets of Budapest, and plans for the future.

Once a successful ice-skating dancer, she turned to drugs as a teenager because of depression. “I didn’t want to have a boring life,” she said. However, “Now I seek adventure, but without drugs, if possible.”

She is among dozens of youngsters attending the theater-therapy program of Budapest-based Megálló Csoport Alapítvány, or ‘Stop Group Foundation’ in English, to help her overcome her addiction. “We try to show teenagers that life does not have to be boring without drugs,” said Tímea Kiss, who runs the program.

As all helpers at the center, the 36-year old woman was once addicted to drugs. “That was now 12 years ago, and I don’t want to look back,” Kiss said. “In fact, I will marry soon…”

She is pleased that the accession of Hungary and other Eastern European countries to the EU has made it more easy to help children in need. Yet, economic difficulties have impacted her work. Authorities in Budapest are planning to take down the building of her foundation, she claimed. Officials were not immediately available for comment.

Without a building, youngsters struggling with addiction may find themselves once again on the streets, she explained, while NGOs would have another reason to hold a conference. (BosNewsLife NEWS WATCH is a regular look at general news developments especially in (former) Communist nations impacting the Church and/or compassionate professionals. BEST OF BOSNEWSLIFE features stories that made a special impact).

Source: http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org
Date: March 13, 2014

1,600-year-old Mor Gabriel is holy to Aramean Syriacs

By Damaris Kremida

The Turkish Ministry of EU Affairs welcomed March 2 the return of property, seized by the country’s treasury, to the world’s oldest Syriac Orthodox monastery, Mor Gabriel.

In February, the head of the Mor Gabriel Religious Foundation, Kuryakos Ergun, received the property deeds to 12 plots of land totaling 244,000 square meters, or 60 acres.

The returned property is less than half of the land the monastery has owned since 1935. The monastery, in the southeastern province of Mardin, was built in 397 and is considered a holy place to Aramean Syriacs in Turkey and the diaspora.

The property first was contested in 2008 when the Forestry Ministry, the Land Registry Cadaster Office and three surrounding villages sued the monastery for allegedly “occupying” their land, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.

The heated legal battles ended in June 2012 when the Turkish supreme court of appeals upheld a decision to give substantial parts of the monastery to the Turkish Treasury and the Ministry of Forestry.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan announced in September of last year that the government would return the land to its historic owner as part of the government’s “democratization package”, according to the statement issued by the Turkish Ministry of EU Affairs. The decision was approved by the state agency for foundations.

However, the government did not return the remaining 18 plots of land measuring 320,000 square meters, or 79 acres. Nearly 270,000 square meters, or about 67 acres, out of the property in dispute are now in the hands of the Forestry Ministry. The rest remains seized by the Turkish treasury.

Isa Dogdu, Deputy Head of the Mor Gabriel Religious foundation, told World Watch Monitor that the monastery leadership will rest when the government returns all of the land, despite the prime minister’s declaration that all the land would be returned, though he said it will be a continued battle to convince the government to do so.

“We’re happy to receive it back, but we will be much happier to restore the rest of the property which belongs to the monastery,” Dogdu said. “What was given is less than half of the property in question. The other parcels that are under the forestry are still pending. “

Two years ago, the monastery’s foundation took its case to the European Court of Human Rights, in Strassburg, France, which attracted international attention and became a topic in Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. In the European Commission’s 2013 Turkey Progress report, it noted that the government’s abeyance on the issue was a cause for concern and called on Turkey to “ensure full respect for all property rights, including those of non-Muslim religious communities.”

“The recent step taken is a significant progress in terms of promoting brotherhood in our country and consolidating democracy,” read the statement, released by Turkish Ministry of EU Affairs. “We hope that this step will have positive impact on the EU accession process as well.”

The ministry statement also said it does not regard the move as a favor, but a deserved right, that indicated the government’s sensitivity towards human and minority rights reforms.

The monastery’s property was seized under the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

AKP member Süleyman Çelebi said Syrian Orthodox Christians had never come under pressure, despite their claim that they were exploited, and even emigrated away from Turkey “with joy” in previous decades.

Poverty, and violence between ethnic Turks and Kurds, have caused many of the Syriacs to leave Turabdin, where the monastery is located. There are now 2,500 Syriacs in Turabdin, compared to about 50,000 in 1950, according to Reuters.

The sectarian violence in neighboring Syria has led some of Syria’s Orthodox Syriacs to flee to Turkey and many of them have found temporary refuge in Turabdin, where they can practice their religion.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)– A Pakistani court will hear the appeal of a Pakistani woman who has been “languishing in prison since 2009” after she was sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy against Islam, amid hope her conviction may be overturned, advocacy officials involved in the case told BosNewsLife Saturday, March 15.

Asia Bibi’s appeal was due to be heard Monday, March 17, “by a double bench at the Lahore High Court”, confirmed Nasir Saeed, the Britain-based director of the Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).

CLAAS Pakistan Director Joseph Francis said he was “hopeful” that “if there is no pressure on the judges by the extremists and the case is handled with care, consideration, and due diligence with the judges being left free to take their decision, her conviction will be overturned.”

Bibi has always denied that she defiled the name of the prophet Mohammed during an argument with Muslim co-workers while working in the fields, according to CLAAS, which says it supports Christians “persecuted for their faith in Pakistan.”

However a court convicted the 45-year-old mother-of-five and sentenced her to death in 2010, in a case
that attracted national and international attention.

POLITICIANS KILLED

Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, and the former governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salmaan Taseer, were both killed in separate incidents in 2011, after openly condemning the controversial blasphemy legislation and expressing support for Bibi.

The jailed bodyguard who publicly said he shot and killed the governor, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, is considered a hero of Islam by his supporters, Christians say.

CLAAS-UK Director Saeed acknowledged it will not easy for the judges “as it is a very high profile case and the whole world will be watching.”

However, “I pray that God will fill the hearts of the judges with boldness and courage and not allow fear to rule.”

He said he hopes the court would “follow the international norms and keep only justice in the forefront when reaching a decision.” Saeed said he requested the “worldwide Church of Jesus Christ to unite [and] remember the judges and lawyers in their prayers, asking that justice is done.”

http://www.christiansincrisis.net/latest-news/2530-china-wenxi-li-uses-prison-time-to-advance-the-gospel.html

China (MNN) — A man imprisoned for his faith in China is bringing fellow inmates to Christ. According to Voice of the Martyrs USA, Chinese courts gave Wenxi Li a two-year prison term last summer for trying to set up a Christian bookstore.

His family recently shared an update with VOM, saying Li has been sharing the Gospel with fellow prisoners. As a result, several have put their faith in Christ.

Pray that these new believers will grow in their knowledge of Christ. Pray that God will use Li to disciple the new believers.

Before his arrest, Wenxi Li worked at a Christian bookstore in Beijing. In 2012, Li traveled to Shanxi province to help local Christians open a new book store in the capital city of Taiyuan. But police raided the new business, Enyu Bookstore, and confiscated $6,000 worth of books that Li had brought with him from Beijing.

When Li was asked to come retrieve the confiscated literature, they immediately arrested him upon arrival and put him in jail. Li was reportedly denied bail because of the seriousness of his “crime.”

Cai Hong Li, Wenxi Li’s wife, tells VOM that after the police arrested her husband, they told her it was became Wenxi Li was involved in an “illegal business.” However, the bookstore at which he worked has a legal license to operate, and Li wasn’t involved in managing the business.

“[Wenxi was] just sent to find a rental place for a new store,” Cai Hong Li told VOM.

Since Wenxi’s arrest, Cai Hong Li and their two children have been harassed by an

Global Rise in Use of Blasphemy Law: U.S. Report

Asif Hassan—AFP
Pakistan jails the most citizens in the world over allegedly attacking religion.

Governments around the world are increasingly invoking blasphemy laws, with Pakistan by far the country that jails the most citizens for allegedly attacking religion, a U.S. report said Thursday.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government advisory panel, voiced fear that the rise in laws banning blasphemy was leading to punishment of people who merely express different religious views or who have been falsely accused. The report found Pakistan used its controversial law at a level “incomparable” to anywhere else, listing 14 people on death row and 19 others serving life sentences for alleged blasphemy against Islam.

Pakistan has never carried out the death penalty for blasphemy, but the report charged that the law—and the lack of procedural safeguards—has contributed to an alarming number of mob attacks and vigilante violence against minorities.

Egypt has seen a rise in use of such laws since the 2011 overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, the report said. Citing local activists, the report found blasphemy cases involved 63 people in 2011 and 2012 and disproportionately targeted the Christian minority.

The U.S. commission opposes blasphemy laws, saying they “protect beliefs over individuals.”

“This trend of greater usage of blasphemy laws will surely lead to increased violations of the freedoms of religion and expression,” said Knox Thames, the commission’s director of policy and research. “Governments will jail people, and extremists may kill others in the defense of undefined notions of religious sentiment,” he said, calling blasphemy laws “inherently problematic.”

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue for many Muslims, whose religion forbids images of Islam’s Prophet. Violent protests erupted in the Islamic world after Danish cartoons and later a low-budget film depicted blasphemous images. Pakistan in the past has urged the United Nations to make blasphemy an internationally recognized offense, arguing that insults against Islam’s Prophet are intolerable.

The commission report also highlighted Bangladesh’s arrests of three self-professed atheists last year and said Indonesia has arrested more than 120 people since 2003 for blasphemy, although they generally have not been prosecuted.

While blasphemy cases took place mostly in the Islamic world, the commission noted that Russia last year enacted a blasphemy law after punk band Pussy Riot put on a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin inside a cathedral. The report also pointed to Greece, where a man was arrested in 2012 for blasphemy after mocking a late Orthodox monk on Facebook.

Pope Francis has suggested that the Vatican could support gay civil unions in the future, according to one of the church’s most senior cardinals.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan said that the pontiff wants the Catholic Church to study same-sex unions, ‘rather than condemn them’.

Cardinal Dolan told American television that Francis wants church leaders to ‘look into it and see the reasons that have driven them.’

‘It wasn’t as if he came out and approved them,’ Dolan told NBC on Sunday. ‘He said, “Rather than quickly condemn them, let’s just ask the questions as to why that has appealed to certain people.”’

In an interview to mark his first year in the church’s top job, Pope Francis last week reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to gay marriage but indicated that some types of civil unions could be acceptable to the church.

The Pope restated the church’s teaching that ‘marriage is between a man and a woman,’ but added ‘We have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety.

Some countries justify civil unions as a way to provide the same economic and legal rights to cohabitating couples as those who are married, the Pope said in the interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, the then Jorge Maria Bergoglio was one of the leaders of the Catholic Church’s public charge against legalising same-sex marriage in Argentina. He called the proposed legislation ‘a destructive attack on God’s plan’.

But behind closed doors the Argentine archbishop is said to have supported civil unions for same-sex couples.

Former theology professor and gay rights activist Marcelo Marquez said: ‘He told me “I’m in favour of gay rights and in any case, I also favour civil unions for homosexuals, but I believe that Argentina is not yet ready for a gay marriage law”.’

But Francis’ comments are the first time that a Pope has indicated even tentative acceptance of civil unions, according to Vatican watchers.

Archbishop Dolan said his own view was that gay unions could ‘water down’ the symbolic meaning of traditional marriage.

‘It’s not something that’s just a religious, sacramental concern,’ Dolan said. ‘It’s also the building block of society and culture. So it belongs to culture. And if we water down that sacred meaning of marriage in any way, I worry that not only the church would suffer, I worry that culture and society would.’

Since being elected Pope last year Francis has softened the tone coming out of Rome. He told journalists that he would not ‘judge’ gays and lesbians including gay priests saying, ‘If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?’

In recognition for the perceived change in stance Francis appeared on the cover of gay magazine The Advocate as their person of the year.

The new policy, issued by NHS England to all health authorities, states that GP practices must train a “lead” member of staff to recognise patients who could become or have become linked to terror groups.

Under the new rules, if a GP practice fails to send a member of staff on the “Prevent” counter terrorism course, part of their funding will be cut.

The policy, outlined in a letter from NHS England to all clinical commissioning groups, which buy health services, has outraged GP leaders.

It is effectively asking GPs to be a government intelligence agency

Dr Maureen Baker, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners

Doctors have also warned that it could threaten patient trust if doctors are being asked to report back to the authorities.

Dr Maureen Baker, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “This seems to be a totally inappropriate use of GP time which could be better spent looking after patients.

“It is completely disproportionate and a poor use of GP resources and time. It is effectively asking GPs to be a government intelligence agency.”

An NHS England spokesman said: “Work on the Prevent strategy is being incorporated into NHS England’s mainstream safeguarding work.

“We are assisted by people who have the specific expertise to help us do this and they lead on training, supporting and clinical practice development of existing safeguarding leads, managers and frontline staff.”

1 ¶ For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Psalm 39 7 thru 13

7 ¶ And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

It’s Called Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome, and Yes It’s Real

By Reba Riley

If there’s one thing I know the power of, it’s a name.

For the better part of a decade I suffered from a chronic mystery illness that was attacking me from the inside out. Countless doctors and specialists couldn’t diagnose me, couldn’t give me a name for what was happening. They told me it was all in my head — that I could pull myself out of it if I just tried harder.

I believed them.

Debilitating fatigue and pain became a way of life. My physical distress was second only to the mental torture that went like this, “I am doing this to myself. I do not have an actual medical condition. These symptoms are not real. There is nothing wrong with me.”

But there was something wrong with me. After eight years of sickness, a doctor handed me a slip of paper. On the paper was the name of the disease I had been fighting; the disease that had been fighting me.

I wept with joy. (Which confused my poor doctor more than a little bit.)

I had a name. The symptoms were real. I did have a medical condition. I was not doing it to myself.

Because of the name, I found out I was not alone; there were thousands of other people dealing with the very same condition. Because of the name, I discovered community, support, resources, and treatment. Because of the name, I recovered.

Because of the name, fatigue and pain are no longer a way of life for me.

Which is why I am giving a name to a spiritual condition that is even more real and more dangerous than the disease that robbed me of my physical health for many years:

Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome.

PTCS presents as a severe, negative — almost allergic — reaction to inflexible doctrine, outright abuse of spiritual power, dogma and (often) praise bands and preachers. Internal symptoms include but are not limited to: withdrawal from all things religious, failure to believe in anything, depression, anxiety, anger, grief, loss of identity, despair, moral confusion, and, most notably, the loss of desire/inability to darken the door of a place of worship.

The physical symptoms of PTCS — which may or may not be present — include: cold sweats, hives, nausea, vomiting, sexual dysfunction, sleep disturbance, rashes, heart palpitations, increased blood pressure — oh, to heck with it. The symptoms are as varied as the people who suffer them.

There are degrees of PTCS — maybe you can still walk into a church, maybe you can’t, maybe you take the long way on the highway to avoid the sight of a steeple, maybe you’re even standing in the pulpit. But the one thing we all have in common is that we crash into religion when we go looking for God.

And the crashing has left us with spiritual whiplash, broken bones, bruises, welts and lacerations. It has left us feeling alone and scared and suffering. It has left us with a boatload of internal and external symptoms the persons of spiritual authority tell us are all in our heads and would go away if we just had more faith.

Don’t believe them.

Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome is not in your head, and you are not alone.

When I tackled my own case of PTCS and blogged about it (http://thirtybythirty.com/), I received story after story — in person and via email and snail mail—from people who were suffering from PTCS. Our stories may be different, but the result is the same: we yearn for God without being bound by dogma and subject to spiritual abuse.

Though I wish I could give you an answer of how to recover from PTCS in 800 words or less, I can’t. (It took me a year and a crazy journey through thirty religions to recover from my own case of PTCS.) Each journey back to spiritual health is as unique as the person taking it.

But what I can do is hand you this virtual slip of paper stating the condition you’ve been fighting — the condition that’s been fighting you. I can tell you there are thousands, maybe even millions of us. I can tell you that I recovered, that healing is available, that God will meet you wherever you are or aren’t.

But most of all, I can tell you a name. Sometimes a name is halfway to healing.

The Holy Father told the audience at Kenneth Copeland Ministries that he was speaking to them ‘heartfully’ as a ‘brother’ and that the ‘tears of love’ will help unite Christians.

by CNA/EWTN NEWS

– Shutterstock

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pope Francis sent a video message to a gathering of U.S. Pentecostal leaders, voicing his “yearning” that separation between Catholics and other Christians may end.

“We have a lot of cultural riches and religious riches. And we have diverse traditions,” he said. “But we have to encounter one another as brothers.”

“Let’s give each other a spiritual embrace and let God complete the work that he has begun,” he said, adding that “the miracle of unity has begun.”

The Pope quoted a character from Alessandro Manzoni’s novel The Betrothed, who says, “I’ve never seen God begin a miracle without him finishing it well.”

“He will complete this miracle of unity,” the Holy Father said.

Pope Francis’ message was delivered to a meeting of the Fort Worth, Texas-based Kenneth Copeland Ministries by Pentecostal Bishop Tony Palmer, who had recorded it on an iPhone in a Jan. 14 meeting with the Holy Father. Palmer knew Pope Francis from his time in Argentina, when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. The video was later uploaded to YouTube.

The Pope described Palmer as “my brother,” saying the two have been “friends for years.”

His message began in English, but then switched to Italian, telling his audience he would speak “heartfully” about “the language of the heart.”

He said this language has “a simple grammar,” with two rules: “Love God above all, and love the other because he is your brother and sister.”

“I am speaking to you as a brother … with joy and yearning,” the Pope continued.

“It gives me joy that you have come together to worship Jesus Christ the only Lord and to pray to the Father and to receive the Spirit,” he said. “This brings me joy because we can see that God is working all over the world.”

“We are kind of … permit me to say, separated,” the Pope said.

“It’s sin that has separated us, all our sins, the misunderstandings throughout history. It has been a long road of sins that we all shared in. Who is to blame?”

“We all share the blame,” Pope Francis said. “We have all sinned. There is only one blameless: the Lord.”

He voiced his hope that this separation between Christians ends and that communion be restored.

“Let us allow our yearning to grow. Because this will propel us to find each other, to embrace one another and, together, to worship Jesus Christ as the only Lord of history,” the Pope said.

At one point, the Holy Father referenced the Old Testament story of Joseph, saying Christians must “cry together” as Joseph did with his brothers.

“These tears will unite us, the tears of love,” he said.

Mutual Prayers

Pope Francis asked the Pentecostals for their prayers and promised to pray for them.

“I ask you to bless me, and I bless you. From brother to brother, I embrace you. Thank you,” he said.

At the end of Pope Francis’ message, the audience gave the Pope a standing ovation, and Pentecostal minister Kenneth Copeland encouraged the audience to respond to the Pope’s words.

“Come on, the man asked us to pray for him,” Copeland said with enthusiasm.

“Oh Father … we answer his request,” Copeland prayed. “And since we know not how to pray for him as we ought, other than to agree with him in his quest and his heart for the unity of the body of Christ … we come together in the unity of our faith. Halleluiah!”

He said the congregation prayed for the Pope “in the Spirit” and received “words that are not our own.”

Copeland and the congregation then began to speak in tongues.

Friendship With the Pope

Before the video, Bishop Palmer spoke of his relationship with the Catholic Church and with Pope Francis. He said he considered Pope Francis one of his three “spiritual fathers.” The two studied together and met often.

He recounted that Pope Francis called him just after Christmas 2013 and invited him to Rome.

“I said to him, ‘Pope Francis, I can’t believe that you’re phoning me. I don’t know how to react to you,” Palmer told the congregation. “I said, ‘You’re the Pope of the universal Church … 1.2 billion people. And I’m just an everyday clergyman doing his bit for the kingdom.”

He said the Pope assured him, “We are brothers. Nothing will change our friendship.”

The two met Jan. 14 and “made a covenant to work for unity for the Church.”

Though Palmer was eager to have Pope Francis make a video, he did not voice the suggestion. Rather, the Pope suggested it.

“This is history: that we’ve got a pope who recognizes us as brothers and sisters, speaks to us as brothers and sisters and has sent us a message,” Palmer said.

The Pentecostal bishop also discussed the need for Christian unity.

“I’ve come to understand that diversity is Divine. It is division that is diabolic,” he said, saying that Christian unity is “the basis of our credibility.”

Bishop Palmer cited the 1999 “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, saying it “brought an end to the protest” of the Protestant Reformation.

He called on Protestant evangelical leaders to sign the agreement, also reciting Jesus’ prayer that his disciples “may be one.”

By Ted on March 7, 2014 in General

http://shoebat.com/?p=48100&preview=true

Exclusive
By The Persecuted Christian and Theodore Shoebat

It was said that Cain lived his life as a wandering vagabond, but now we see the saints, traveling from city to city, treading upon the earth, walking on the path of uncertainty, not knowing to where Providence will lead them, without the much desired knowledge as to when the torment will cease, and the road to bliss discovered under the dark clouds of fate.

They run from the rapacious hands of wicked men; they flee to one place, and then to another city of capricious hope, and when they receive the morose and indefatigable hatred of the heathen, they flee “into another” (Matthew 10:23), without knowing as to when the sharp stones of the sons of Belial will appear to pierce the holy temples of the Holy Spirit.

Such is the existence of the Christian, whose days are just as precarious as the waves of mankind’s journey to life’s end, ascending up to the realms of vain hopes and the dimmed twilight of humanity’s night sky of ceaseless darkness, descending to the never ending waters of capricious miseries, and then transcending to the terrifying and still state of quiet despair, in the unstable seas of the purest evils.

Our contact from Syria, The Persecuted Christian, has lived in this life of uncertainty. Both his father and sister were brutally executed in the bloody Massacre of Dweir after refusing to convert to Islam. The Persecuted Christian himself went to Saudi Arabia, and when the government was getting more suppressive, we rescued The Persecuted Christian and settled him in the UK.

But The Persecuted Christian’s aunt, Nazmt Toume, fled the village of Dweir after the jihadists attacked, and resided in the Arman District, and just a day ago, she was martyred, and with the shedding of her blood, she now experiences the eternal bliss of Paradise.

She was residing in the village of Arman in Syria; the Muslim jihadists launched two rockets into the area, and one of them landed right where Nazmt was standing. Right at the moment when the rocket exploded, a car bomb erupted on the spot where the rocket landed, and she received the burning impact of the two weapons of Cain.

Her legs were severed from her body, and she bled to death.

Actual photograph of Nazmt Toume

We are working tirelessly to rescue Christians in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, and other lands where the sword of Islam has been unsheathed, and Christians like Nazmt Toume, are being killed, raped, kidnapped, and tormented every single day. Rescue Christians is now working on the ground in Syria and Iraq as we are partners with Sister Hatune Dogan who already has saved thousands of Christians from death. We can save and protect many more Christians in Syria and Iraq with your help.

Sister Hatune has been awarded the Order of Merit by the German Government for her work (equivalent to Congressional Medal of Honor). Please click here to partner with us to save thousands more from the Islamic oppressors. All donations are fully Tax deductible.

Nazmt Toume’s nephew, The Persecuted Christian, who we rescued from the clutches of Saudi Arabia, the Whore of Babylon, is now very active in providing us with stories of Christian persecution in Syria, and knows innumerable Christian families in Syria.

He wrote his impactful sentiments of the deepest lamentation over the murder of his dear aunt, in these words:

Some people can’t speak about it, where does it go? The body remembers everything. Excessive amounts of time and energy are spent trying to remember conversations we once had, to create the statements that were never voiced, or to imagine reactions never received. These are heavy bricks to carry for endless days, months, or even years.

Did anyone hear the song of death? I hear it every day in Syria; I hear it sang by my beloveds, the death ghost is chasing them everywhere, saints are followed by demons. Resting in heaven, peacefully easing my mind but with conflicting thoughts that often leave much pain in a heart filled with agonies following their martyrdom.

She missed them; she missed her brother and her niece and it was her time to leave. She left quickly without a goodbye; she left with no remembered sigh. It can be more challenging to remember so-pleasant memories of the time you had with your family and relatives who passed away, while the clock is ticking hours and days to receive the shocking waves. Today my aunt passed away and May God rest her soul in heaven to light the way.

Most Death incidents help us mourn the loss of a loved one, how to cope with yearning, how to adapt to the emptiness following the death of someone so significant in your life that the mere thought of living without them feels incredibly overwhelming and incapacitating.


I realized I saw her face today
In the sparkle of the morning sun.
And then I heard the angel say
“Her work on earth is done
I thought that she had left us
For the stars so far above.
And then I heard the angel say
“She left you with her love.
I thought that I would miss her
And never find my way.
And then I heard the angel say
“She’s resting with your father and sister away”

And now we see the state of the Christian’s existence, ever watchful for the coming light of hope’s dawn, and ever knowing on the perpetual darkness that lies before his eyes. As Our Lord tells us,


Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (Luke 13:24)

Observe that He says strive, which is quite significant; for it indicates that the life of the Christian is one of endurance, and not of comfort. Therefore, the life of a Christian is one of suffering. As Our Lord declares:


ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

Life is a journey to a place where there is no end, where there is no journey. The process of the journey is worthy of the runner, who sprints through the lingering labyrinth of the race till the line of victory is met with the burning feet of the holy warrior, who strives to the narrow path that leads to everlasting life.

Will you, dear reader, run this difficult race with us, and rescue the persecuted Christians who are enduring through the narrow path? Will you run this arduous race with them? Or will you put your talent under the ground and do nothing. Will you watch your brethren lay dying and suffering on the road of tyranny, and be as the priest who, when he saw the tormented man lying alone on the lonely earth, “passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31)? Or will you be as the Samaritan who, “when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him” (Luke 10:33-34)?

The choice is yours, to do the work of God or the work of the callous priest. Which one will you be? Please have pity on the oppressed Christians, and give what you can to deliver them from this suffering.