Month: August 2013

Morning Reading: Acts 27:13-38 NLT ~ angel in the tempest

Reading: Acts 27:13-38 NLT

Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

The Last Tempest Greg Howard
The Last Tempest
Greg Howard

Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.”

When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

Prayer: Heavenly Father – Speak to us a word of encouragement and hope… especially to those of us who are on the verge of sinking in the tempest. And give us the wisdom to let go of anything that encumbers us… anything that drags us down… anything that prevents us from loving you… with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Send us your Spirit – our Counselor and Comforter – that we might be filled with your peace… particularly in times of trouble. And may we stay the course – regardless of what’s happening around us – of your upward call in Christ Jesus… our Savior and our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: “Be Not Afraid” – St. Louis Jesuits & Bob Dufford, S.J.

You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst. You shall wander far in safety, though you do not know the way. You shall speak your words to foreign men, and and they will understand, You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid, I go before you always, Come follow Me, and I shall give you rest.

If you pass through raging waters in the sea, you shall not drown. If you walk amidst the burning flames, you shall not be harmed. If you stand before the pow’r of hell and death is at your side, know that I am with you, through it all

Be not afraid, I go before you always, Come follow Me, and I shall give you rest.

Blessed are your poor, for the Kingdom shall be theirs. Blest are you that weep and mourn, for one day you shall laugh. And if wicked men insult and hate you, all because of Me, blessed, blessed are you!

Be not afraid, I go before you always, Come follow Me, and I shall give you rest.

Morning Reading: Acts 27:1-12 NLT ~ Rome-ward bound

Reading: Acts 27:1-12 NLT

When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.

Pauls-Voyage-to-Rome-Map
Apostle Paul’s Journey to Rome

The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs. Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland. Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.

We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

“Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on — shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor — a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.

Prayer: Heavenly Father – You made the winds and the sea… and you made me – charting my course through the journey of life. Thank you for those who perform acts of grace and kindness to me along the way… who provided comfort and encouragement… who offered correction when I veered off the narrow way. Thank you for the safe harbors where I found can rest during stormy seasons. And through it all, may I never lose sight of my destination… your upward call in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Hymn: “In a Little While We’re Going Home” – Eliza E. Hewitt, 1899.

Pray for Christians in Egypt – reblog Deacon Greg Kandra

Egypt womenYou can’t watch this video and be unmoved by the plight of Egypt’s Christians

August 26, 2013 By Deacon Greg Kandra

A priest reader sent this my way and he said he found it “sobering.”

I find it devastating.

The music: Procession (The Trisagion) by St. Symeon Orthodox Church Trio “Antiphony” from the album Their Souls Shall Dwell With the Blessed: A Service For Those Who Have Fallen Asleep.

Pray for Egypt.

Morning Reading: Acts 25:23-26:32 NLT ~ innocent, but…

Reading: Acts 25:23-26:32 NLT

So the next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in.

Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem. But in my opinion he has done nothing deserving death. However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.

“But what shall I write the emperor? For there is no clear charge against him. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially you, King Agrippa, so that after we examine him, I might have something to write. For it makes no sense to send a prisoner to the emperor without specifying the charges against him!”

Trial of the Apostle Paul Nikolai Bodarevsky, 1875
Trial of the Apostle Paul
Nikolai Bodarevsky, 1875

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”

So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense:

“I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!

“As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?

“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.  Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

“One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will. ’

“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.  Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future.  And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles  to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’

“And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven. I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God — and prove they have changed by the good things they do. Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen — that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”

Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”

But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—”

Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”

Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”

Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left. As they went out, they talked it over and agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”

And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Thank you for your amazing love… for becoming the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people… for suffering and dying so that all might receive forgiveness of sins… for leading the way out of the grave into heaven… and for giving all who repent of their sins and turn to you a place with all God’s people in eternity. And thank you Lord for including me among your people. Amen.

Hymn: “And can it be” (Amazing Love) – Charles Wesley (1738)

Please pray for Christians in Tunisia ~ World Watch List #30

TUNISIA (Wikipedia) – World Watch List #30 (Open Doors UK)

tunisia_mapPopulation: 10.7 million (24,000 Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism

Under former President Ben Ali, Tunisia was a secular country in which timid expressions of Christianity were tolerated. Now, Christians face increasing persecution from the moderately Islamic government and from aggressive Salafist groups. Expat churches face few problems, but local Muslim-background believers face pressure from society, and may be questioned and beaten once their conversion is known. The secular legal system remains in place, but the government is moving towards implementing Islamic law. Despite the increasing pressure, the small indigenous church is growing slowly.

tunisialive woman 10-1PLEASE PRAY:

  • Radical Muslims are returning to the country and spreading extremist messages. Pray that their influence will not spread
  • The economy is in a bad state and unemployment is growing. Pray for wisdom for the government
  • Importation of Christian books in the Arabic language is obstructed. Ask God to protect Open Doors co-workers distributing Bibles in the country.

[For current news in Tunisia go to Tunisia Live – click here.]

Tunisia marketPERSECUTION DYNAMICS:

Tunisian Christians experience increasing pressure at the private and family level and pressure is clearly greater for those who come to Christ from a Muslim background than for the few expat churches. The secular legal system remains in place, but this is likely to change as the country’s Islamic government is taking steps towards the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law). Although the constitution currently respects freedom of religion, importing Christian books is obstructed, national churches cannot register and local Christians are questioned and beaten once their conversion is known.

Tunisia needs a new political system; the economy is in a bad state, unemployment is growing and tourism levels have dropped. Radical Muslims are returning to the country and spreading extremist messages. The rise of Salafism is also a stressful development for many believers. With political developments looking grim and Islamic movements getting stronger, the situation of the small Christian population in the country has deteriorated and is not expected to improve. However, on a positive note, the small indigenous church seems to be growing slowly.

tunisia churchCHANGES SINCE ARAB SPRING: (Open Doors US)

Things have changed in Tunisia after the Arab Spring first erupted in this North-African country. Dictator Ben Ali is gone and the elections were held with a landslide win for the Islamists. Christians see a greater spiritual openness than ever before in the country, and see discipleship as the principal need at this moment.

The Tunisian Church has already been changing for the last fifteen years. Till the end of last century, there were only house groups of Christians active in this North-African country. Now churches choose to be visible. Last year the church especially grew outside the capital Tunis.

Tunisian Christian“Coming more to the surface seems to have strengthened the Christians,” explains an Open Doors field worker. Self-awareness grew and the level of fear went down. Now you can see during the Saturday services interested people coming in from the street, attracted by curiosity of what is going on in the churches. We see Church engaging with society. Groups of Christians meet in several smaller cities in Tunisia.” Tunisian Christians see a strong response to the gospel. “I heard of people accepting Christ while escaping teargas,” the field worker. says.

We also spoke with Raatib*, a Christian that doesn’t hide his faith. Raatib is discipling two groups of young Christians in two different cities. He travels a great distance to these places to be able to give the training to the new believers. He is using Open Doors training material. “The church needs discipleship in any way or form, it is by far the most prevalent need for the church,” he says with conviction.

Raatib* – not his real name for security reasons.