Month: February 2013

Saudi religious police arrest Ethiopian workers for practicing Christianity | Fox News Re-blog

Peanut gallery: The Saudis (World Watch List #2) are at it again… and Ethiopian Christians working in the country are their target… 53 arrested this month.

Nina Shea, the director of the Washington-based Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, told FoxNews.com that the arrests in Dammam are “part of Saudi Arabia’s policy to ban non-Muslim houses of worship and actually hunt down Christians in private homes.”

Suadi Arabia's Mutaween(Photo: Religious police during a training session in Riyadh September 1, 2007/Ali Jarekji)
Saudi Arabia’s Mutaween
(Photo: Religious police during a training session in Riyadh September 1, 2007/Ali Jarekji)

What are the Saudis afraid of… if their brand of Islam is so superior to all other religious expression? Or, maybe it isn’t… and they know it wouldn’t survive without their state-sponsored religious Gestapo.

As for Christians living in the country, they won’t get a lot of help from their embassies. Their countries are much too beholden to Arab oil and money to care much about the persecution of their Christian nationals. Politicians’ rebukes are meaningless unless backed up with action. Don’t hold your breath on that happening.

The best we can do is pray for Christian expats living in the country… no small thing. And let the world know that the Saudis are doing to expat Christians in their country.

Please read the full Fox News article below –

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Saudi religious police arrest Ethiopian workers for practicing Christianity
By
Published February 21, 2013

| FoxNews.com – Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers pray before the traditional Washing of the Feet ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City April 21, 2011, ahead of Easter. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers pray before the traditional Washing of the Feet ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City April 21, 2011, ahead of Easter. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Saudi Arabia’s notorious religious police, known as the mutawa, swooped in on a private gathering of at least 53 Ethiopian Christians this month, shutting down their private prayer, and arresting the peaceful group of foreign workers for merely practicing their faith, FoxNews.com has learned.

The mixed group of men and women was seized in a private residence in the city of Dammam, the capital of the wealthy oil province in Eastern Arabia, and Saudi authorities charged three Christian leaders with seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity. The latest crackdown on Christianity in the ultra-fundamental Islamic country comes on the heels of a brutal 2011/2012 incarceration and torture of 36 Ethiopian Christians, and drew a sharp rebuke from a U.S. lawmaker. Continue reading “Saudi religious police arrest Ethiopian workers for practicing Christianity | Fox News Re-blog” →

Morning Reading: Luke 9.46-48 NLT – the least among you

Reading: Luke 9.46-48 NLT

portrait_child_little_girlThen his disciples began arguing about which of them was the greatest. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he brought a little child to his side.

Then he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Open my eyes to see the “least among us” – those who are small, those who are infirmed, those who serve, those who work in the background, those who go about their daily lives mostly unseen. Give me the same open heart… generous spirit… and welcoming attitude towards them… as I as I would offer you. To you be all honor and glory. Amen.

Hymn: “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” – St Francis of Assisi

Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring your love. Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord. And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek / So much to be consoled as to console / To be understood as to understand / To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace. Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, only light. And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek / So much to be consoled as to console / To be understood as to understand / To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. In giving to all men that we receive. And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek / So much to be consoled as to console / To be understood as to understand / To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Morning Reading: Luke 9:43-45 NLT – foreboding

Reading: Luke 9:43b-45 NLT

foreboding cloudsWhile everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Listen to me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.”

But they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – I know how the story ends… with you as our risen Lord and King of Glory. But there was no easy way to get there… for you, or for those around you. The truth is… I want to jump ahead to Pentecost and share in the power of your resurrection. But that’s not the way you chose – the way of the cross – betrayal, suffering, death and then resurrection. Give me a willingness to share in your suffering during this Lenten season of reflection… that I might fully enter into the joy of Easter. Amen.

Hymn: “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross” – Fanny Crosby (1869)

Jesus, keep me near the cross / There a precious fountain / Free to all, a healing stream / Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain. / In the cross, in the cross / Be my glory ever / Till my raptured soul shall find / Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul / Love and Mercy found me / There the bright and morning star / Sheds its beams around me.  / In the cross, in the cross / Be my glory ever / Till my raptured soul shall find / Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God / Bring its scenes before me / Help me walk from day to day / With its shadows o’er me. / In the cross, in the cross / Be my glory ever / Till my raptured soul shall find / Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait / Hoping, trusting ever / Till I reach the golden strand / Just beyond the river. / In the cross, in the cross / Be my glory ever / Till my raptured soul shall find / Rest beyond the river.

Morning Reading: Luke 9.37-43 NLT – power displayed

Reading: Luke 9.37-43 NLT

After Jesus was transfigured, He healed a demonized boy (Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43).
After Jesus was transfigured, He healed a demonized boy (Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43).

The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”

As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father. Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Woe is me! I am a faithless corrupt person living among a faithless corrupt people. Forgive me, cleanse me, heal me, empower me… to soar with you in the power of your love… as your Spirit leads me on. To you be all honor and glory – now and forever. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “The Power of Your Love” – Hillsong (YouTube)

Morning Reading: Luke 9:28-36 NLT – listen to him

Reading: Luke 9:28-36 NLT

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

Mosaic of the Transfiguration, in the apse above that altar at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai, c. 550. Kurt Weitzman, Jan 1964 National Geographic: “…hanging like a veil.”
Mosaic of the Transfiguration, in the apse above that altar at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai, c. 550. Kurt Weitzman, Jan 1964 National Geographic: “…hanging like a veil.”

Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.

As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them.

Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Open my eyes to see your glory… not just in the big things, but also in the little – even ordinary – things of life. Open my ears to hear you… to really listen when you speak to me. And give me the courage and will to live out your Kingdom purpose for my life… today and always. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Show Me Your Glory” – Third Day (YouTube)