Soul and Spirit

My Ways, My Afflictions

I was going to post this yesterday morning. 🙁

“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:59).

We all need to periodically evaluate our ways. Daily, I suppose. May the result of such self-analysis cause me to turn back to God’s ways or to reaffirm myself in those ways.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67).

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71).

“Good for me”? Well, it’s a matter of perspective, no? If affliction brings me into compliance with God’s Word, then it’s a good thing. Right?

“The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver” (Psalm 119:72).

What a great verse to come across when all kinds of things financial and economic are staggering and collapsing all around us! (Now if that girl who is auctioning off her “virtue” would grab ahold of that verse!)

Well, what say you?

Another Orissa Update

I know I’m blogging here only once a week now!

But it seems urgent I remind us of Orissa.

Orissa: insecurity and hatred await Christians forced out of refugee camps

There is no sign that the long journey of suffering by Orissa’s Christian community is anywhere near its end. The government has decided to shut down refugee camps and force Christians to leave but no one is providing them with any guarantee as to their security against further violence once back home; instead, they are still the object of hatred and rejection.

[…]

“Christians in Kandhamal are treated like animals. They live in fear and cannot find shelter, anywhere. They cannot live in dignity. The money they got [from the government] is not enough to buy food; their fields lie abandoned, burnt; their homes all but destroyed.”

Christians Without Borders

I don’t usually read Covenant News but the above headline caught my attention. Here you have the opening and closing paragraphs, with my own title borrowed from the body:

Our Banner, Our Emblem, Our Flag of Allegiance

The relationship between church and state continues to be a subject of great interest and importance to me, particularly the dangers of statism and its inevitable by-product, nation-worship. For example, I think the flying of the American flag in our churches is a bad idea. In my opinion, it sends all the wrong messages. For one thing, it confuses the kingdom of God with the kingdom of man. We wonder, “Where does America stop and Christianity begin?” For another thing, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. It transcends tribe and nationality. And it is God’s primary agent of activity in the world. Because of this, the nation-state is always seeking to usurp Christ’s kingdom authority. Allegiance to the nation replaces (or at least actively competes with) allegiance to Christ.

[…]

There is reason for thinking that if Christians could look, not at their own country, but at a man – the God-Man whose kingdom unites people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation – there would be no need for displays of national patriotism in their churches. By its very nature, the church is different from any other society on earth. And the cross, not the flag, is the point of intersection between the church and the world. The cross of Jesus Christ is the secret of being in the world without being of it. It is the source of freedom for us to be given to the world as broken bread and poured-out wine. It is our banner, our emblem, our flag of allegiance. Let us fly it high!

Here is some further reading from one of my own sites:

God Loves Muslims

Floyd McClung writes:

How would Jesus respond to Muslims? We know how. He would treat them like he treated the Samaritan woman at the well, the Roman centurion who came to Him for help, and the tax collectors and prostitutes. Jesus would treat Muslims like he treated Simon the Zealot – the Zealots were urban terrorists of the day – he would invite him to follow Him! Jesus would treat Muslims like he treats you and me. With love, respect, and huge compassion and amazing grace.

One of the greatest challenges we face as followers of Jesus in today’s world is how to respond to Muslims and violence in the Middle East. Some believers are fearful that Muslims are our enemy and are “out to destroy our way of life.”

Should we circle the wagons in alarm and fear? Should we warn everyone how bad Muslims are and alert people of their plots to “destroy our nation,” as one American believer said to me?

No fear! No hatred! No, none for us who follow Jesus. We have a calling from God to love Muslims. They are not our enemy. The real enemy wants us to see people as our enemy.

He’s right, of course.

But will the average Christian accept that?

Replacing the Irreplaceable

Here’s a piece of a piece at American Thinker:

We can replace almost anything in our lives — human organs, currency and credit, electronic records and documents – but ultimately these things do not define life.

What matters in life is the yearning of the human spirit for goodness and truth and the courage and grit to make that yearning into deeds and words that matter. Men who personify these values, unlike hearts and dollars, are irreplaceable. It is not they who have died: They are immortal. It is rather us who die each time one of these rare few leave this world. We have forgotten, in our busy rush to nowhere, how to replace the irreplaceable.

If they don’t make them like they used to, why not?

And who will?

Next, personalize the matter: “Am I rare or run-of-the-mill? Would I be placed in the irreplaceable category?”

How would you go about replacing the “irreplaceable”?

Egypt: Martha Samuel

Children starved to coerce mom to renounce Christ

Authorities in Egypt are starving two children, ages 2 and 4, to force their mother to abandon Christianity and return to Islam, according to reports from several ministry organizations.

The Egypt for Christ Ministry is reporting the woman, who converted to Christianity about five years ago and was arrested as she tried to leave her home country just days ago, also has been sexually assaulted by police officers.

The woman, identified by the ministry as Martha Samuel, also has been beaten and tortured in effort to force her to return to Islam, with police promises for her release if she accepts, according to the reports.

The Assyrian International News Agency said Samuel was arrested last week as she, her husband and two sons were trying to leave Cairo for Russia after her name was placed on a list of people barred from leaving Egypt.

Other news links for this story:

Above all, love God!
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