Month: September 2012

Can we do it? Yes we can!

quinersdiner's avatarA Heapin' Plate of Conservative Politics & Religion

By Tom Quiner

Hold on to your seat and take a front row seat to Mars.

We’ll have you there in 393 seconds via the video above.

NASA may have lost their cachet in recent decades, but their latest mission to Mars is thrilling. It reminds us of what we’re capable of achieving when we have a goal, discipline, and leadership.

We need the same when it comes to tackling the fiscal cancer facing America.

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Please pray for Syrian believers

September 5 | Syria – Many Syrians have left their homes as they cannot continue living there anymore. Most of them left because of the intermittent fighting; others left because they’ve been asked to get out as fast as possible. And then there are many people who have simply left because they don’t see any future in their old area. Please pray for this situation.

The civil war in Syria is on the TV news daily. Caught in the crossfire are approx 200,000 bekievers representing 10% of the population – see Wikipedia. Before the civil war, Christians were well integrated into Syrian society –

Christians (as well as the few remaining Jews in the country) engage in every aspect of Syrian life. Following in the traditions of Paul, who practiced his preaching and ministry in the marketplace, Syrian Christians are participants in the economy, the academic, scientific, engineering, arts, and intellectual life, the entertainment scene, and the political arena of Syria. Many Syrian Christians are public sector and private sector managers and directors, while some are local administrators, members of Parliament, and ministers in the government. A number of Syrian Christians are also officers in the armed forces of Syria. They have preferred to mix in with Muslims rather than form all-Christian units and brigades, and fought alongside their Muslim compatriots against Israeli forces in the various Arab-Israeli conflicts of the 20th century. In addition to their daily work, Syrian Christians also participate in volunteer activities in the less developed areas of Syria. As a result, Syrian Christians are generally viewed by other Syrians as an asset to the larger community.

The civil war has changed all that… and no one knows how it will end.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” Isaiah 26.3-4 ESV

With the civil war continuing to rage, the future of believers in Syria is uncertain. Please pray for an end to the conflict… and protection of believers in the aftermath.

Morning Reading: John 5.41-44 NLT

“Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.”
John 5.41-44 NLT

Please pray for King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain

Peanut Gallery: Religious freedom in the Islamic world is an oxymoron. Any attempt by an Islamic government to move toward a more tolerant society – no matter how small – is met by fierce resistance.

Imagine that you are the King of Bahrain with all the power of a monarchy – what would you do in this situation? He really can’t win for losing. He has no easy choices.

Please pray for King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa – for God’s wisdom and justice and a clear path through the chaos over which he presides.
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PLAN for CATHOLIC CHURCH MAKES WAVES in BAHRAIN
Published September 03, 2012 – Associated Press

MANAMA, Bahrain – The building of the largest Roman Catholic church in the Gulf was supposed to be a chance for the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain to showcase its traditions of religious tolerance in a conservative Muslim region where churches largely operate under heavy limitations.

Instead, the planned church — intended to be the main center for Catholics in the region — has turned into another point of tension in a country already being pulled apart by sectarian battles between its Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities.

Hardline Sunni clerics have strongly opposed the construction of the church complex, in a rare open challenge of the country’s Sunni king. More than 70 clerics signed a petition last week saying it was forbidden to build churches in the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. Continue reading “Please pray for King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain” →