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Sermon & Worship Packages: Time to Remember
In the villages of Northern India a missionary was preaching in a bazaar. As he closed, a Muslim gentleman came up and said, "You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have."
The missionary smiled and said, "I should be pleased to hear what it is."
The Muslim said, "You know when we go to Mecca we at least find a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, which is your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave."
But the missionary just smiled and said, "That is just the difference. Mohammed is dead; Mohammed is in the coffin. And false systems of religion and philosophy are in their coffins, but Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is to include all nations and kindreds and tribes, is not here; He is risen. And all power in heaven and on earth is given unto Him. That is our hope."
For decades, Iran has been a hotbed for terrorist activity. Little do most people know that Iran also houses the fastest-growing Muslim movement in the world: Muslims converting to Christianity. In IRAN: Desperate for God, seven Iranian Christian converts from Islam unveil their testimonies of courageously sharing Christ in a nation ranked among the top 10 persecutors of Christians in the world.
Doctors, students and housewives are leaving their empty lives governed by Islamic oppression and coming into the fullness of Christ. The ruthless and radical Islamic president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, angrily declared that 500 to 600 Muslims were converting to Christianity monthly, but the numbers are actually much, much higher. Many risk everything?their homes, jobs, families, freedom and even their lives?to follow Christ, and IRAN: Desperate for God brings these stories to light."
Our three enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil – work together to intimidate us, often successfully.
Voice of the Martyrs (www.persecution.com)
"The Voice of the Martyrs’ New Book, IRAN: Desperate For God, Released
June 28, 2006
For decades, Iran has been a hotbed for terrorist activity. Little do most people know that Iran also houses the fastest-growing Muslim movement in the world: Muslims converting to Christianity. In IRAN: Desperate for God, seven Iranian Christian converts from Islam unveil their testimonies of courageously sharing Christ in a nation ranked among the top 10 persecutors of Christians in the world.
Doctors, students and housewives are leaving their empty lives governed by Islamic oppression and coming into the fullness of Christ. The ruthless and radical Islamic president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, angrily declared that 500 to 600 Muslims were converting to Christianity monthly, but the numbers are actually much, much higher. Many risk everything?their homes, jobs, families, freedom and even their lives?to follow Christ, and IRAN: Desperate for God brings these stories to light."
Story: At a comparative religions conference, the wise and the scholarly were in a spirited debate about what is unique about Christianity.
Someone suggested what set Christianity apart from other religions was the concept of incarnation, the idea that God took human form in Jesus. But someone quickly said, “Well, actually, other faiths believe that God appears in human form.”
Another suggestion was offered: what about resurrection? The belief that death is not the final word. That the tomb was found empty. Someone slowly shook his head. Other religions have accounts of people returning from the dead.
Then, as the story is told, C.S. Lewis walked into the room, tweed jacket, pipe, arm full of papers, a little early for his presentation. He sat down and took in the conversation, which had by now evolved into a fierce debate. Finally during a lull, he spoke saying, “what’s all this rumpus about?”
Everyone turned in his direction. Trying to explain themselves they said, “We’re debating what’s unique about Christianity.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” answered Lewis. “It’s grace.”
The room fell silent.
Lewis continued that Christianity uniquely claims God’s love comes free of charge, no strings attached. No other religion makes that claim.
After a moment someone commented that Lewis had a point, Buddhists, for example, follow an eight-fold path to enlightenment. It’s not a free ride.
Hindus believe in karma, that your actions continually affect the way the world will treat you; that there is nothing that comes to you not set in motion by your actions.
Someone else observed the Jewish code of the law implies God has requ...
Open doors reports that in Oct 11 2006 Michael Dhabi an evangelist to Muslims in Ethiopia was martyred for his faith. Muslim extremists tried to force Michael to convert to Islam – he refused they repeatedly attacked him with a machete – throughout the attack Michael continued to proclaim Christ as Lord – and died while praying for his family.
Diana grew up in a strict Islamic family in Pakistan. Her life was pretty typical until she met a girl named Mary who was a Christian. Now Diana is also a Christian and on the run. When Diana’s family learned that she had become a Christian, they repeatedly beat her and insisted she return to Islam. But Diana refused. She was then forced to a local canal where her uncle put a pistol to her head and gave her one last chance to return to Islam. Diana replied, "You can kill me if you want. I will not leave Christ." It was then that Diana’s uncle noticed an extremely poisonous black cobra swimming in the canal. Believing he could escape any prosecution for his niece’s death, he threw her into the path of the cobra. He also knew she could not swim. Diana miraculously escaped from the canal and is in hiding today. She is a new Christian but has already learned what it means to suffer for Christ. She recently told The Voice of the Martyrs, "Jesus was crucified for us. Can we not endure some of the same for Him?"
I want to share a story that has changed the way I view compassion. If I was a Hollywood film producer, I would make a movie out of it. It is a true story about a man named Bulus Tsetu. He and his family felt the call of God to start a Bible school in Nigeria, Africa. So after they had been there for sometime, the local Muslims learned that they were Christians trying to manipulate their people to leave Islam for Christianity. So one day when his daughter was walking home from school, a group of Muslims abducted her and raped her in a park. They told her to go back home and tell her dad that if he did not leave that they would find her everyday and do the same thing. Soon Brother Tsetu’s wife became very ill. She was taken to the hospital, but as the doctors were taking tests she was left for three days without treatment. This caused her kidneys to fail. As a result, she desperately needed dialysis five times a week, but she was only able to get about two per month because of the shortage of machines for the great number of patients needing dialysis. The missionaries who they were there with called a friend in the United States who had great success getting things donated. Within two days, he had 11 dialysis units sitting in his garage. He shipped a container over at his own expense. It arrived in record time. All the paperwork was in order. Only one signature was needed. The man was ready and waiting for Brother Tsetu to bring in the paper. The secretary to this man, however, was greedy and kept Brother Tsetu waiting for three months because he would not pay a bribe. The very day one of the machines was finally setup and ready for his wife’s use and she died. You would think he would go back to the States, but the story continues. Some who called themselves Christians came to him and said, “Either you are for us or you are against us.” These so called Christians told Brother Tsetu that, if he did not fight for them, they would kill his family. HE LATER SAID HE DID NOT KILL ANYONE, BUT HIS ARM WAS SO TIRED FROM SWINGING A MACHETE TO DEFEND HIS FAMILY THAT HE COULD NOT LOOSEN HIS GRIP NOR LIFT HIS ARM FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS AFTERWARD. His fellow missionaries soon lost contact with him during the riots. After four days, he came to their compound. He had just pulled an arrow from his side. He had wrestled a knife away from his neck and his leg was cut where someone tried to cut off his foot. You might be thinking to yourself, why were the Christians so angry with him? This going to blow your mind but they knew that he was harboring Muslims in his house The man who had suffered so much at the hands of Muslims was now harboring Muslims in his house and he was paying a great price. The people who took part in his wife’s passing and his daughters abuse were the very people he was risking his own life to protect. He was compassionate like the Samaritan. Just think how the Muslims might have felt when they realized that the missionary they wanted to kill was risking his neck for them.
AMERICANS FIRST
During the time of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Greg Livingstone was asked to give a "missions minute" at a large evangelical church on the East Coast. Since he had only one minute to speak, he decided to ask them only two questions. The first one was, "How many of you are praying for the 52 Americans hostages being held in Iran?" 4000 hands went straight up and he said, "Praise the Lord! Now, put your hands down and let me ask you another question…How many of you are praying for the 42 million Iranians being held hostage to Islam?" four hands went up. He said, "What are you guys? Americans first and Christians second? I thought this was a Bible-believing church!"
This rebuke to the church by Linvingstone served as a wake up call and helped mission-minded Christians see the need for prayer for Muslims. This mission minute was used in a dramatic way to lead to what has been called by mission experts as "the ’...
Lina Joy, 43, lost the court battle to change her religion from Islam to Christianity on Wednesday when the Malaysian Federal Court ruled she should seek permission to officially change her religion from Islam to Christianity at Islamic Shariah courts.
Joy had been engaged in a legal battle for six years with Wednesday’s court ruling, Joy now again faces Shariah courts, where apostasy is mostly considered a crime punishable by heavy fines or imprisonment.
Joy was born and raised a Muslim but began to attend church in 1990. She then received baptism in 1998. Because she is still legally a Muslim, she is unable to marry her Indian fiancé in Malaysia. About 60 percent of Malaysia’s 26 million people are Muslims.
In the grand scheme of Muslim nations, Malaysia is still considered to be one of the most progressive and modern Muslim democracies. The Malaysian Constitution has been criticized as self-contradictory by analysts who point to the fact it both defends freedom of religion and declares Islam the official religion, according to the New York Times.
“After 50 years of independence it appears that Malaysia’s High Court has tipped the future of the country toward Islamization by ruling that Shariah law takes precedence over civil laws,” remarked the Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick, Washington representative of Christian Solidarity International, to The Christian Post. “The courts have ruled that there will be no ‘exit visas’ from Islam; religious freedom itself is subject to the limitations imposed upon it by Islamic law.
“It reveals the flaw of parallel legal jurisdictions - one ruled by secular civil court the other by religious law,” he added. “In essence, the High Court has sentenced Lina to life as a prisoner of her own act of conscience. Muslim by legal obligation, Christian by conviction – Lina is now an exile in her own country.”
Joy hinted that she might leave Malaysia to openly and legally practice her faith in a statement released on Thursday, according to AP.
In 1988, Wally Magdangal was pastoring an underground church in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was a Filipino lay pastor of Christian foreign workers wishing to gather for worship. In 1992, soon after the conclusion of the Gulf War, the house church had grown to over three hundred worshipers, the largest church in the country. The Saudi government became alarmed at the positive impact the church was having and Wally was arrested. While he was in prison, Wally was tortured, abused, and eventually falsely charged with blaspheming Muhammad and Islam. He was tried before the Saudi Arabian High Court and was sentenced to death by public hanging scheduled to take place on Christmas Day 1992. Throughout his terrible ordeal, Wally refused to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Outcries from several foreign governments and agencies, including President Fidel Ramos of the Philippines, Amnesty International, and members of the U.S. Congress were made on behalf of Wally to the Saudi Government. And then just a few hours before his scheduled execution, Wally Magdangal miraculously was granted a reprieve. The Saudi Government decided to deport him to the Philippines instead. Today, Wally is itinerant preacher, sharing how the Lord delivered him from persecution.
So, perhaps for some in America, the church seems to be irrelevant, but it can still strike fear into the enemies of the Gospel!
Pastor's MediaVault
