Soul and Spirit

Lebanon: Christian Emigration

Middle East. Good news. Mutually exclusive words? Maybe not.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Lebanon’s ruling party issued a call to save the Christian communities of the Middle East.

Ahmad Hariri, secretary-general of the Lebanese Future Movement, said he was “extremely worried about the repercussions of the Christian emigration from some Middle East countries.” Speaking at a press conference marking the closure of the Future Movement’s founding congress in Beirut, the key political figure added that “nurturing the Christian presence [in the region] was an Arab and Islamic responsibility as much as it is a Christian one.”

Greg Mussleman with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada says, “You’ve got the moderate Muslims that don’t want the more militant ones taking over. Keeping the Christian presence there is positive for the country. They’re good citizens.”

Christians used to be the majority in the nation. However, Christians have lost their majority due to decades of emigration and the high birthrate of Muslims.

[…]

What about the church in Lebanon? Mussleman says, “It’s not strong. There’s a lot of ‘religion’ mixed in there. It’s not a strong following of Christ. They need to be a stronger witness for Christ.”

How will this announcement affect Muslims turning to Christ? Mussleman says some moderate Muslim families won’t care. “[With] the more militant aspect of families with Islamic roots, regardless of what the law is, they may still persecute and kill and do all sorts of things. But at least this is a start.”

Source: Christians protected in Lebanon?

Bibles in Iran

Christians in Iran are remaining faithful witnesses, even at the risk of death.

Vision Beyond Borders said that in some house churches across Iran, believers conclude their service by praying over New Testaments. Then, each believer takes seven New Testaments with them, handing out at least one copy each day to a non-believer.

In this radical Muslim country, if they were caught, the punishment would be death. However, they are willing to lay down their lives to spread the Gospel.

In fact, instead of letting the persecution dissuade them from being bold witnesses, they are letting it fan the flames of a revival spreading across Iran. With current oppression in the country, more Iranians are looking for answers other than the ones they have always been fed, and they are finding these answers in Jesus Christ.

Source: Believers in Iran risk their lives to give Bibles

Offending Pages

Amidst the less-than-fresh email I read this morning, I came across this from The Berean Call (An Invented Tale):

According to Moorthy Muthuswamy, an expert on political Islam, “61 percent of the Koran talks ill of unbelievers or calls for their violent conquest and subjugation, but only 2.6 percent talks about the overall good of humanity.” Hmmm. Seems as though that would amount to an awful lot of offending pages.

Frankly, I have no idea if that’s accurate.

But it would have to be hugely inaccurate for it not to be an eye-opening perspective.

What do you think?

And do you know of any experts on political Christianity who have come up with this type of statistic regarding the Bible?

Iran: Christians Targeted

Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims this week to fight the “blind and savage terrorism” fueled by the West. That bodes ill for believers, who are often targeted because of assumptions that Christianity is Western.

Greg Musselman with Voice of the Martyrs Canada says there’s reason for concern. “Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that he is going to really go after the underground churches. [He claims] they’re illegal, they shouldn’t be happening. There’s these apostasy laws…. We need to be praying for the legislators in Iran that they would do the right thing and that they would be guided by the Lord.”

Will these statements unleash a wave of violence against Christians? “Unfortunately, when there is this kind of violence taking place, Christians are targeted,” explains Musselman, adding that it is not always the faith aspect that draws negative attention. Sometimes, it is not directly faith-related. He says, “The churches, if they’re displaying crosses or if they’re not dressing like Muslims,” can paint the mark.

However, the harsh reactions aren’t necessarily creating the response expected. A combination of disillusionment and despair is actually acting as a catalyst for the Gospel. Musselman notes that “we’re seeing these underground churches springing up all over Iran, where there are young people coming to know the Lord.”

Read the full article here: Iran ramps tension with the West

My Memo to PayPal

I have (very gratefully) used your services for many years. I date back to your early days when you gave us a $5 referral fee for each new account we sent your way.

Anyway, I want you (and/or everybody else reading here, naturally) to get this message:

PayPal in the bedroom
(click to read something I wrote a long time ago)

Do couples really do PayPal in bed like that?

If so, how many have had their computers fall off the end?

And why not have them trade places so the gal appears less immodest?

But maybe your service wouldn’t sell so well then. 😯

(I assume you think your service sells better with an inward view such as you presently offer. If so, I guess I should change my post title to PayPal Uses Revealing Marketing Tactics.)

Oh, and I freely admit to doing “corrective surgery” on the above image.

And now, for a “commercial” for a book we sell on our site for Rod and Staff Publishers:

Keep yourself pure
Keep Yourself Pure

Mozambique Bleak

If you think life has given you a health care lemon, remember Mozambique:

Some 6.4 million people in northern Mozambique, Africa, have little or no access to medical care. They live in a largely-Muslim area of the country and suffer needlessly from malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, and numerous medical conditions made worse by poverty and poor sanitation.

Many haven’t even heard the Gospel.

But now, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is helping make the critical difference. Like the spreading dawn, hope and healing are coming to these afflicted people. The story of transformation has just begun.

The Program Manager for MAF Mozambique is Warren Veal. He said MAF is teaming up with Dr. Pim de Lijster, a Dutch physician who is known as “Doctor Pim,” and a Brazilian dentist, Dr. Ida de Carvalho, “Doctor Ida,” to form MozMed, a ministry that is bringing life, hope, and relief from suffering.

Veal says, “The three of us work together to provide health care in one of the rural districts in Mozambique.”

He said the health care needs are great. “There [are] about 33,000 people for every doctor in the country. Actually, here in the north, that statistic is a little bit worse because there are even fewer doctors.”

MAF flies these doctors into an area on a Monday, they set up a clinic, and treat those in need. Veal says it’s not just about seeing patients; they’re also training untrained health care workers to care for those in need when the doctors aren’t in town.

MAF overcomes barriers of terrain by flying this dedicated team to eight isolated villages for a recurring schedule of half-day clinics. Each clinic is staffed by a government-sponsored health worker.

I only quote a few of the opening paragraphs of the story: Mozambique desperate for doctors

I am thankful to have all manner of health care options around me.

Above all, love God!