Do You Know What Is Happening?

    We’ve been shielded here in America from what is happening globally. Some of it is because we are spoiled and we’d rather not think of unpleasant things around the world. But some of it appears to be intentional silence on the part of our mainstream national media.
    I’m talking about major persecution against Christians like no other time in history. Most of it from Islamists who have already successfully rid their regions of Jews, and are now turning their attention to Christians. They have a saying in Arabic, “First on Saturday, then on Sunday”, meaning just that.
    Please don’t assume I’m an alarmist. The problem is so well documented and my above statements are not even up for debate among those who are paying attention. The problem is, we are not paying attention. And for those of us who are, we have to dig deeply in the American press to see it.
    For example. You know the recent mall massacre in Kenya? Do you know who was killed and why? The terrorists were specifically gunning for Christians and made it known. But did you hear that on the nightly news or did you read that on the front page stories?
    Let me give you a few little known facts. In 1948, there were 135,000 Jews in Iraq. Today, there are less than 10. Since the West freed the Iraqi people of dictatorial dominance by a ruthless ruler, Islamists in Iraq have zeroed in on the Christian population (since there are no Jews left) and since 2003, over half of the estimated 800,000 Christians in the country have fled, many leaving their belongings and wealth behind. Christians have been raped, tortured, kidnapped, beheaded, and evicted from their homes. Scores of church buildings have been bombed, seven in a single day in 2009. That’s just Iraq.
    In Eqypt, there were at least 100,000 Jews in 1948. Today, there are less than 50. So as in Iraq, Islamists in Egypt have turned their attention to Christians. While there are 8,000,000 Christians living in Egypt, in recent months, tens of thousands have fled due to intense persecution. In a three-day span just last month, 38 Churches were destroyed, 23 were vandalized, 58 Christian homes were burned and looted, 85 Christian-owned shops, 16 pharmacies and 3 hotels were demolished. During that same three day span (August 14-16), 6 Christians were killed and 7 were kidnapped.
    The statistics are similar in Syria (during this Civil War it has escalated) and Pakistan, as well as around the world in Muslim dominated countries. For the Islamists (those who are driven to force Islam on non-Muslims by force), their mission is to return to the Islam of the 6th-9th centuries when millions of Jews and Christians were killed, relocated, and assets seized in the conquest of what became the Muslim world.
    I fear it may be too late before we realize what is happening.
    Jesus’ way is so very different. He offered himself as the way to return to God, not by coercion, but by invitation. He said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20 ESV).

It Doesn't Have to be Intentional to Hurt

    Brock has been the easiest of our three kids during their teenage years. He has a good heart and loves his parents and is good to his siblings.
    But as a little tyke, he was more than a handful! He was into everything under the sun, broke all of his toys and a lot of things around the house.
On the rare occasion that he napped, Linda would often quip, “Don’t worry, he’s just recharging.”
    When he was three or so, he was buckled into his car seat next to his sister. All of a sudden we heard this blood-curdling scream from Erica and Brock’s little boy voice, “Lolly Eeah! Lolly Eeah!” (Translated: “Sorry Erica”)
    We don’t know how he did it, but somehow, while still buckled in, he opened the back seat trap door that led to the trunk, pulled the jumper cables into the back seat, and attached one end to Erica’s arm. Hence, the blood-curdling scream.
    It wasn’t malicious. He wasn’t trying to hurt her. But it wasn’t thought through entirely well, either. The poor girl had a jumper cable scar on her arm until she was 15.
    You don’t have to be malicious to hurt other people. But you do have to think carefully about your words and actions to avoid it. Much of the time, we hurt because of carelessness or thoughtlessness. It may not be an intentional injury, but for the injured party, it hurts nonetheless.
    That’s why our words need to be chosen carefully, and our actions and choices must be made with others in mind. If we live without thinking, everyone around us winds up being the recipient of jumper cable like incidences, while we just keep defending ourselves claiming that we meant no ill-will. That’s not enough. We need to intentionally do good, encourage one another, and think about our words and actions that affect others before we do and say things we do. Kindness is not something that just happens. It’s something we have to do on purpose.
    “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT).

Love Finds a Way

    Larry Swilling loves his wife. They’ve been married for fifty-eight years, and he wants to keep her for as many more as possible. So when he learned that she was having kidney failure (she was born with only one) and would need a transplant soon to stay alive, he was heartbroken. He knew that at her age (76) she wouldn’t be on top of the waiting list. So he decided to take matters into his own
hands, and went out looking for a donor. He made a large sandwich board sign that read, “Need kidney 4 wife”, and wore it walking through town for 15 miles the first day, in 97 degree heat. A couple

of days later, he walked 54 miles wearing the sign. When a local news media team saw him, they stopped and interviewed him and the story went viral. Within a few days, over 2,000 offers came in, but none were O-positive, his wife’s blood type. Until a 41-year-old woman in Virginia Beach read about the story and offered hers.
    Larry’s wife has her kidney and is alive and well, and Larry still has his wife. Do you think Sue Swilling knows that she is loved? I don’t think there is any doubt.
    A couple of things come to mind, not the least of which is the way some guys treat their wives compared to this man. Larry Swilling is a real man. He loves his wife and and is willing to sacrifice for her, not only with his own discomfort, but as a demonstration in front of the world. How far would you go to save your wife’s life? How far would you go to let her know that you love her? Does the way you treat her in the day-to-day lead her to believe that?
    But I saw an even greater message in this story. Larry’s love drove him to the extremes of creativity and personal sacrifice. God’s love for us did so in an even greater way. He devised a way to restore us, and he found a suitable donor in his Son. If Sue Swilling ought to know that she is loved, you and I ought to know that in an even greater way.
    “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
    “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

What To Do About Syria?

    This whole Syria thing is quite the conundrum. Like you, I saw the video images of the mass of innocent people writhing in pain after being exposed to some kind of chemical substance. Our government seems very certain that the chemical attack (and we do know it was an attack from someone) originated from Bashar al-Assad and his regime. Of course, Assad denies it was him and blames the Syrian rebels (those who were killed in the attack). It is now estimated that over 110,000  people have died since the civil war began.
    It’s been debated on a national level for years as to how America should respond. After all, we should do the right and noble thing. And wouldn’t it be right to protect innocent civilians? Of course!
    But how? That’s the problem. Most reliable sources estimate that since the civil war began, so many Al Qaeda and other Islamisists (those devoted to making Islam the only political and religious authority) have flooded to the aid of the Syrian rebels that American support could lead to a scenario in that country worse than the way things have been. There have also been documented cases of major war crimes committed on the part of the rebels. And now Russian President Vladimir Putin is claiming that he will send Assad’s regime a missile defense system to protect them from an American retaliation. Who knows what any response on our part could lead to?
    So seriously, how can we help the innocent people in Syria who are being caught in the crossfire (and not just a few of them)?
    I don’t know. I really don’t know. Our government, the United Nations, American allies, none of them know either. We feel like we have to do something, but what? I really don’t know. And by the looks of things, I’m not convinced anyone does.
    Jesus Christ is the only answer.
    In this very dark land, overwhelmingly Muslim, torn apart by war and now devastated with all-out economic collapse, a people who want nothing to do with the only real answer for them, could only be rescued by turning to him.
    And that is happening right now in record numbers. As tens of thousands of refugees are flooding near-by Lebanon, Lebanese Christian churches (where religious liberty is also severely limited) are responding with care like no other group. And their churches are burgeoning with former Syrian Muslims who have been overwhelmed by the love of God being expressed by Christ-followers (the concept of a “loving” God is foreign in pure Islam). Even Lebanese Muslims are taking note of the sincerity of the Christians in their country and many are softening to their message.
    I hate war and everything about it. I hate sickness and disease, hardship and relational turmoil. But this one thing I have learned: In the deepest of darkness, even a little light shines bright. Now, these once tiny lights in Lebanon are brightening the landscape of a very treacherous part of the world. And God is being glorified by every new believer who is embracing him through the faithful witness of those who love Jesus.
    Let’s pray this leads to an avalanche of evangelism in that part of the world!