Dad Ernie Posted August 11, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 75 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 2,802 Content Per Day: 0.35 Reputation: 46 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/29/2002 Status: Offline Birthday: 06/01/1945 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Greetings, I thought the following would be appropriate as I received it today: Blessings - Dad Ernie VOICE OF THE MARTYRS "Let us not be shocked by the suggestion that there are disadvantages to the life in Christ. There most certainly are. Abel was murdered, Joseph was sold into slavery, Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, Stephen was stoned to death, Paul was beheaded, and a noble army of martyrs was put to death by various painful methods all down the long centuries. And where the hostility did not lead to such violence (and mostly it did not and does not) the sons of this world nevertheless managed to make it tough for the children of God in a thousand cruel ways." - A. W. Tozer Dear Mr Ernest Long, This quotation from Tozer reminds us of an important yet sometimes trivialized aspect of the Christian life. Let us petition the Lord for His strength and courage as we live out our daily lives, and all the more so for our brothers and sisters who do indeed suffer "such violence." Your prayers for them, for this ministry, for all of us, soften our hearts and fill us with gratitude. Thank you. VOM Web Editor Prayers for August 10, 2004 From The Voice of the Martyrs CHINA (ASSIST News Service) On August 6th, a Chinese court sentenced three leaders of China's house-church movement to prison sentences on charges of leaking "state secrets" to overseas organizations. Liu Fenggang received three years for passing on information about the destruction of unofficial churches outside Hangzhou last year. Xu Yonghai received two years and Zhang one year. The men reportedly attempted to publicize last year's crackdown on hundreds of ministers and worshippers whom human rights watchers say were detained in sweeps by police while dozens of churches were destroyed. Christians have been tortured and even killed, according to church officials and human rights watchdogs. Despite harassment, fines and the possibility of prison, millions of Protestants and Catholics continue to attend unauthorized assemblies, including meeting in private homes. Pray the prisoners will have opportunities to share their faith and bring more people into God's Kingdom. Praise God for the believers who continue to follow Jesus in trust and obedience! Pray the example of these faithful Christians will turn the hearts of government officials to Christ. ERITREA (Religion Today/Compass Direct) Police disrupted a Christian marriage ceremony in Senafe on July 25th, and arrested 30 guests and members of the wedding party. Police officers ordered everyone who was not a "Pente" (a derisive abbreviation for Pentecostal) to leave. Many guests did so, but the 30 evangelical Christians who remained were taken to a police station. All but two were released after signing a document promising not to participate in any more evangelical Christian weddings. Police continue to hold an evangelist named Michel and Teame Kibrom, a man in his 80s. Officials declared the two responsible for the wedding that defied a government ban on evangelical church activities. More than 400 evangelical Christians are currently imprisoned by the Eritrean government. (Click here) Pray Jesus will comfort the prisoners with the knowledge of His loving presence. Pray evangelical Christians will find innovative ways to celebrate weddings away from the watchful eyes of the police. Pray the Lord will shine on the hearts of unbelievers, drawing them out of their spiritual darkness and into His light. INDIA (Charisma News) Hindu extremists who recently kidnapped the wife of a pastor are still holding her captive. Dinana, the wife of Pastor Dharmesh Ninama, an Assemblies of God missionary in Gujarat, was assaulted and abducted on May 29th, while buying vegetables at the local market. Ninama, the first to risk preaching openly in the area, had been assaulted twice before. When police failed to investigate his wife's abduction, Ninama and his relatives visited the homes of the assailants and found Dinana tied up in a room at the home of one of the men. Before they could rescue Dinana, a mob of about 10 men attacked and beat them. One of the pastor's relatives was held captive and beaten again and is now unable to walk. By the time police arrived an hour later, the kidnappers had fled the scene with Ninama's wife, and the police refused to carry out any search operation. Pray for Dinana's protection and her early release. Pray God will give her the strength to remain faithful to Jesus. Pray Hindus will tire of the many legalistic rituals of their beliefs and seek the God of love and peace. VIETNAM (Religion Today/Compass Direct) Seven weeks after his arrest in a police raid on his home, Mennonite pastor Nguyen Hong Quang has been allowed his first visitors. Mrs. Quang wrote a letter to senior Vietnamese officials, explaining that the confiscation of all the family's money in the police raid has placed her in very difficult straits. The following day officials summoned Mrs. Quang and Mennonite evangelist Nguyen Thanh Tam to the police station for interrogation, allowing them to speak with Quang briefly. They said the jailed pastor looked thin and sickly and had an "ill color." Sources in Vietnam say the authorities are trying to build a legal case against Quang for possessing and distributing materials that are harmful to the state. This crime, if classified as severe, carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Give thanks to the Lord that Quang could see his wife and friend, if only for a short time. Pray he will know the peace and joy of Jesus' presence with him. Pray God will move the hearts of the officials to drop the case against Quang and allow him to be free. UZBEKISTAN (Forum 18 News) Baptist Vsevolod Kalinin has been refused a residence permit to live in his own home, an apartment he owns in the capital city--Tashkent. A representative of the commission of the Tashkent city administration said that Kalinin's religious convictions were the main reason for refusing him a resident permit. On two previous occasions, he has been refused a resident permit in a long-running struggle that, in Tashkent, goes back to 2002. (Click here) Pray God will give Kalinin His peaceful patience in dealing with the bureaucratic authorities. Pray that publicity surrounding this unfair treatment will cause the officials to grant his request. Pray Kalinin will be given opportunities to share his faith, using his unfair treatment to work to the glory of God. 1 Eritrea: http://www.compassdirect.org/en/newsen.php?idelement=3070 2 Uzbekistan: http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=381 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericka Posted August 11, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 57 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 591 Content Per Day: 0.08 Reputation: 4 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/15/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 01/15/1989 Share Posted August 11, 2004 I would rather die for Christ than die doing something for the world. God is so much more important to me in that sense and I would rather know that forever I am to be with Him than to deny Him. Whats the price of denying Him? Or should I say what has happened to those who denied Him before? Think of those questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Called Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 There are Christians in the world now that are completely prepared for the fact that they will be martyred for their belief in Christ... Can I share a story that my pastor shared a while back....I am not sure if it is true or not, for some reason I think it is true... There was a church in China and the government was going through and gathering all the Christians and making them choose to either renounce Jesus or be killed... Well there was a group of Christians at church one morning and the police came in and rounded them all up and took them outside and held them at gunpoint. A soldier then ripped a picture of Jesus off the wall and threw it down on the ground and he told the Christians, either you spit on this picture of Jesus and say that you do not know him or we will kill you..One by one the congregation walked by that picture and spit on it and renounced Jesus as their Lord..even the pastor renounced Jesus. Finally a little girl walked up to the picture and with tears welling in her eyes she bent down and began to wipe the spit off the picture of Jesus, they held the gun to her and told her to renounce Jesus and she said "I will not spit on my Jesus, he is my saviour" the soldier grabbed her and stood her in front of the rest of the congregation and he said "this little girl took a stand for what she believed, the rest of you did not", The soldier then proceeded to tell the congregation that they would be shot because the Chinese Government did not want citizens who could not stand up for their beliefs even if they are wrong... We should take a stand for Christ, it may not be a life or death situation but in our every day life we must choose, will we spit on Jesus and renounce Him with our words and actions or will we love Him and declare Him our saviour...It is our choice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithfulFollower Posted August 12, 2004 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 22 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 349 Content Per Day: 0.05 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 07/18/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 08/14/1984 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Called, It is indeed very painful to think of all those that die for the name of Jesus Christ, but then again, think of the wonderful award that awaits those who have such strength. Truly it must take a great deal of faith to do as many out there are doing now. For not everywhere are many allowed to preach the word of God, let alone read it. That is where many of us in the U.S are rather fortunate. Many other countries goverments are so in control of what their people do that they even decide what television shows are watched as well as decide what religions they can practice. Just think of how truly brave as well as faithful many of those believers are that die, they truly set an example for many of us here at Worthy Boards and I trust that their deaths leave a life changing message for those who care to accept it. To think of a family member in this position can indeed be a rather frightening thing, but at the same time quite the blessing in disguise. Amazing how the smallest bit of faith can move a mountain...for after all look at what the Lord empowered Moses to do with the Red Sea. With Love In Christ, Danielle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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