Tag Archives: love

UPDATE: Shamiram’s Appeal Hearing

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We recently requested prayer for Assyrian Christian Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh who was facing an appeal hearing on February 19th. She was appealing a five-year prison sentence for acting against the regime by organizing Christian small groups, attending a seminary abroad and training church leaders and pastors to “act as spies.”

Reportedly, at the appeal hearing, the judge was confused as to whether Shamiram’s case should be combined with two other cases. The other cases involve her husband Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, their son Ramiel Bet-Tamraz, as well as Christian converts Amin Nader Afshari, Hadi Asgari and Kavian Fallah Mohammadi and two others.

The judge set a next court hearing for March 21st—the Iranian New Year—and is still determining whether the cases will be combined. In the meantime, Iranian Christians are thankful that the appeal hearing went reasonably well and the judge appeared to be seriously examining the case. They request continued prayer.

Please pray the Lord will direct the judge as he prepares for the hearing in March.

Pray justice will be upheld in the appeal hearing for Shamiram and the other five defendants and that they will be acquitted of all the charges against them.

Pray the Lord will strengthen and encourage Shamiram, Pastor Victor and all Iranian Christians who are falsely accused of acts against national security simply because of their Christian faith and activities.

*Representative names and photos are sometimes used to protect identity.

Scripture of the Day

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Psalm 57

To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.
1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
2. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.
3. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
4. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
6. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.
10. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.

Lies and Deceit

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Morning coffee, work day looming with the breaking sun. Perusing the newswires, both secular & religious, seeing two attributes of humankinds sinful nature burning across most of the headlines.

Those two are lies and deceit.

I could ramble on that our world is worse today than earlier ages, I prefer to think its only because all of our dung/news is instantly thrown in everyones face, there’s very little that goes on in the world today that cannot be read about or seen in short order.

From the sins of the Catholic Church to transgressions across the Protestant & Evangelical congregations; sin abounds. From fake hate crimes to environmental absurdities lies foment discord. From the halls of educational establishments throughout the corridors of law & government, lies and deceit rule the day.

All of this, the only thing that comes to mind is Jeremiah 5:30. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Also a why, Genesis 6:5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Yes, there are stories of GOD’s Grace, of His Love, of mercy & forgiveness. Also stories of heroism & courage, but all of this, in our day, is overshadowed by two sins, lies & deceit. Like dark clouds rising before a tempest, to me, these are forerunners to a greater storm coming soon.

Centers of Hope Bringing Life Back to Syrian Christians

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Learn more at http://www.OpenDoorsUSA.org/PrayerApp

Great work is being done at the 15 Centers of Hope that are run by churches in various gathering spaces in communities across Syria. These centers serve as an extension of the church to reach out to people and gather them into a more closely-knit community. Here, “… Christians could feel like they’re more of a family,” says Ibrahim*, an Open Doors staff member.

Besides the usual food donations and house visits, these centers touch on issues that are “customized towards the needs of the congregation,” explains pastor Edmund, another Open Doors’ staff.

One example of programming to help support children who have been traumatized by war is the opportunity to get outdoors and engage in sports and teamwork. The Centers of Hope of Damascus’s and Aleppo’s Alliance churches have highly successful football programs. “We try to include as many church backgrounds in the program,” says Vera, “and the kids are loving it!”

The struggle of the war put a strain on people when it came to staying active, socializing, and receiving quality health care. This is especially true for women who couldn’t leave their homes as often as men and often set aside their wellbeing in order to take care of their families. These struggles were addressed in the first of many medical-awareness lectures that took place at the opening night of a Center of Hope in Damascus.

Please join us in thanking God that the Centers of Hope are helping bring life back to weary Christians across Syria.

Praise God He is using these programs to bring healing to men, women, children and families in these communities.

Pray that this work would continue strong.

*Representative names and photos are sometimes used to protect identity.

Scripture of the Day

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Psalm 51
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.
1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

China hearing gospel via Africa; church growing amid brutal persecution

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Read story here.

As the Chinese economically invest in and build infrastructure in Africa, Africans are evangelizing the Chinese.

In 2014, trade between China and Africa reached an all-time high in 2014, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University and McKinsey & Company. Billions of dollars in loans from China to Africa in addition to foreign direct investment have increased significantly in recent years.

Meanwhile, as a result of the influx of Chinese resources and approximately 10,000 Chinese-owned companies, the estimated 227,000 to 1 million Chinese working on the continent are hearing the message of the Gospel from African evangelical Christians.

“Many local African churches have reached out to Chinese workers, including incorporating Mandarin into services. A number of Chinese, in turn, have welcomed the sense of community and belonging that these Christian churches offer,” according to UnHerd Wednesday.

“And a small but growing number of ethnically Chinese missionaries from Taiwan and other countries are specifically targeting Chinese nationals in Africa, preaching to them with a freedom they’d never be allowed in the People’s Republic.”

Scripture of the Day

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John 21

19. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
21. Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
24. This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
25. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written

Scripture of the Day

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Psalm 49
To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.
1. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
2. Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
4. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
6. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
8. (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
9. That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
10. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
11. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
12. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
13. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.
14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
16. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
18. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
19. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
20. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

Scripture of the Day

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John 12

3. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
4. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,
5. Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6. This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
7. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

Scripture of the Day

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Jeremiah 18
7. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8. If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
11. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
12. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Is the LORD unjust when He judges peoples and nations? I think not, if they repent of their evil & wickedness He spares them from the judgment prepared for them.

Yet mankind in all their glorious ignorance continually rejects the GOD who created them saying “…
There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. ...”

Pray for Family of Pastor Murdered in Colombia

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Learn more at http://www.OpenDoorsUSA.org/PrayerApp

Open Doors has learned that a 24-year-old pastor and youth leader has been murdered in Colombia.

On Saturday evening (February 9, 2019), Pastor Leider Molina, 24, was murdered as he was leaving the church where he had just preached a message in the rural community in Caucasia (the country’s northwestern region). He was shot five times.

Known for his passion for preaching the Word of God, the young pastor was a youth leader known for actively serving his community and church. The region where he was killed is also home to Pastor Galarza who was murdered in front of his family last September 2018.

Both pastors murdered in Colombia were known for their commitment to actively work for the betterment of their communities and to not succumb to the threats of criminal groups.

Over the last four months, the Caucasia area has suffered record-high violence, due to the presence of armed groups that dispute the control of drug trafficking routes and the ownership of illicit crops. These groups see the Christian church as an enemy to be eradicated.

Please pray with the family and church of Pastor Molina (he had no wife or children) and the widow and children of Pastor Galarza.

Pray with the church in the Caucasia area and throughout Colombia as they face this ongoing violence. Pray for protection and boldness as they continue to stay in the area and be a light in increasing darkness.

Pray with Open Doors children’s centers in Colombia that minister to young people who have been rescued from paramilitary and criminal groups; or are children of Christians leaders whose families are often targeted.

*Representative names and photos are sometimes used to protect identity.

Scripture of the Day

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Jeremiah 11

14. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
15. What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.

The Fathers forgiveness & patience are beyond our comprehension, yet the LORD has His limitatons. Israel/Judah reached that limit.

Intercessory prayer is important but it can have a limited affect if GOD’s judgment is going to fall on a nation.

Scripture of the Day

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Psalm 41
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
2. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3. The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
4. I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
5. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
6. And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
7. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
11. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
13. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

Sitting and Thinking

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It’s rather saddening considering the state of Christianity in the western world. So much of the gospel message has been compromised for the sake of politically correct ideology which has spread like a virus, reaching into the depths of all society.

People talk of love and more love, not about sin or righteousness or judgment.

Maybe those professing to be Christians think its solely the Spirits responsibility; John 16:8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9. Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

I’m often told you can catch more with sweets, flies, bugs, something. I really tire of that allegory for people are much more than insects to be trapped. People are created in the image of GOD, lost in their own mind & life, which is often clouded in the fogs of sin.

There are definitely more eloquent writers than I out there who through the years have written volumes on Christian life, speech, issues, on salvation and repentance. Its just a bit disheartening to know the past couple generations have been so dumbed down by government education that there is very little knowledge of Christ actually out there in the minds of the people.

But it should be remembered as the Lord said in Deuteronomy 1:39’Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. Sometimes those who do not know of the Lord are those Chosen to inherit what their fathers squandered. Just as those Israelites who saw all the works of GOD in Egypt, who disbelieved, didn’t gst to enter into their promised land. The younger generation was chosen.

So as disheartening as may seem at this time of coffee & preps for work, there may just be a light at the end of a dark tunnel.

This new generation just may have a hope others cannot see at the moment. That hope is at the cross, where one suffered & died for our wickedness, who on the third day rose from death by His own authority and power.

Our blessed hope.

In Christ.