Tag: Catholic Church

Please pray for Christians in Eritrea – World Watch List #10

Christian Persecution: Please pray for Christians in ERITREA – World Watch List #10

“I am testing and experiencing the love and care of our Lord every day… The moment I entered my cell, one of the prisoners called me and said, ‘Pastor, come over here. Everyone in this cell are (unsaved). You are very much needed here.’ So, on the same day I was put in prison, I carried on my spiritual work”. – Eritrean pastor in prison

eritrea-mapPopulation: 5.6 million (2.5 million Christians – mostly Orthodox)
Main Religion: Islam/Christianity
Source of Persecution: Dictatorial paranoia

OPEN DOORS: All evangelical churches were closed in 2002 following a government ban on religious groups other than Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Islam. The government is very hard on non-traditional Christians, but members of the Orthodox Church also report on evangelical believers, and Muslim extremists are ready to take over where the government leaves off. When believers are discovered they are arrested and held in shipping containers in military camps. At least 105 Christians were arrested in 2012, and 31 Christians were reported to have died in prison.

Christian prisoners in Eritrea (Release International)
Christian prisoners in Eritrea (Release International)

Please Pray:

  • For God’s strength for Christians imprisoned in containers, especially those arrested in 2012
  • For spouses and families who are forced to live as refugees in different countries
  • For worldwide awareness of the plight of Eritrean Christians.

Persecution dynamics

Eritrea has three types of Christianity: registered historical churches, Christian-background believers (CBBs), and independent Christians. The country has a violent history with Ethiopia, and shares a long border with its ‘arch-enemy’. A government official once declared in public that there are three enemies that need to be eradicated: HIV/ Aids, the regime in Ethiopia and independent Christians. Continue reading “Please pray for Christians in Eritrea – World Watch List #10” →

Another perspective – “Luis Palau: New Pope Francis a Friend of Evangelicals” – reblog

Peanut Gallery: Here’s another perspective on Pope Francis – may God bless him – from The Christian Post.

Luis Palau: New Pope Francis a Friend of Evangelicals

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor – March 16, 2013|11:55 am

Popular evangelist Luis Palau preaches to the crowd at the Yakima Valley CityFest on Saturday, July 17, 2010 in Yakima, Washington.
Popular evangelist Luis Palau preaches to the crowd at the Yakima Valley CityFest on Saturday, July 17, 2010 in Yakima, Washington.

Evangelist Luis Palau, who knows and has prayed together with Pope Francis on several occasions, called the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics a friend of evangelicals who is respectful of all sides of Christianity.

“I exploded,” Palau told oregonlive.com, of his reaction after his son, Kevin Palau, president of the Luis Palau Association, shared the news that Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected pope this week. “I just couldn’t believe it. In the last election, he was in the running but he told me he felt led by God to remove himself from the race. I said, ‘Maybe next time,’ and he said, ‘I’ll be too old.'”

The fiery preacher who some have called the “Latin Billy Graham,” said whenever they prayed together, Bergoglio asked him to “lay your hands on me and pray for me, that God will keep me as servant.” The new pope is respectful of all sides of Christianity, Palau said, adding the press referred to him as the “evangelical pope” in 2008.

Pope Francis
Pope Francis

Bergoglio, 76, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936. His father was an Italian immigrant. He’s the first pope from South America, and also the first Jesuit pope. Palau was also born in Argentina, and moved to Portland, Ore., in his mid-20s to enroll in a graduate program in Biblical studies.

“I’ve met him several times, gone to his place, we’ve talked, we’ve prayed together you know. He builds bridges to other Christian groups, like evangelical Christians, which is a high percentage in Latin America. He’s a friend. He’s a real friend,” Palau, 78, told kgw.com. Continue reading “Another perspective – “Luis Palau: New Pope Francis a Friend of Evangelicals” – reblog” →

Shut up! – Muslim cleric at Al-Azhar warns: “The new pope must not attack Islam” – Re-blog Jihad Watch

Peanut Gallery: The Muslim “Vatican” is firing a warning shot over the upcoming Papal Conclave in Rome – Shut up about Muslim persecution of Christians, particularly Coptic Christians in Egypt. “Stay quiet and you’ll be OK.” Really…

Muslim persecution of the Egyptian Christians is widespread and increasing, but Al Azhar was infuriated not with that persecution, but with the Pope’s daring to notice it. He should have heeded the advice Muhammad Atta gave to the passengers on the plane he hijacked on September 11, 2001: “Stay quiet and you’ll be OK.” Except they weren’t.

Muslim/Christian dialogue typically goes like this: Christians tell the Muslims what they like about Islam. And then Muslims tell the Christians what they like about Islam.

Robert Spencer unmasks the sham in the following article – well worth the read.
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Muslim cleric at Al-Azhar warns: “The new pope must not attack Islam” 
posted by Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch

Cairo - Islamic district - Al Azhar Mosque
Cairo – Islamic district – Al Azhar Mosque

In other words, the new pope must not speak the truth about jihad and Islamic supremacism — or else. The papacy of Benedict XVI offered numerous illustrations of this. “Muslims Seek Dialogue With Next Pope,” by Harvey Morris for the New York Times, March 1:

LONDON — As the Catholic Church’s cardinal electors gather at the Vatican to choose a new pope, Muslim leaders are urging a revival of the often troubled dialogue between the two faiths.

During the papacy of Benedict XVI, relations between the world’s two largest religions were overshadowed by remarks he made in 2006 that were widely condemned as an attack on Islam.

Not by rampant, worldwide Muslim persecution of Christians. No, that didn’t hurt relations at all. Only Benedict’s remarks were at fault. Continue reading “Shut up! – Muslim cleric at Al-Azhar warns: “The new pope must not attack Islam” – Re-blog Jihad Watch” →

“Are Christians the New Jews?” – Rabbi Yitzchok Alderstein Re-Blog

Peanut Gallery: Special thanks to Rebecca Hamilton at Public Catholic for bringing this article to our attention. I have re-blogged Rabbi Alderstein’s entire article below – it’s well worth the read.

persecuted Christians

Today, Christians—especially those who take their faith most seriously—report that they feel like a scorned stepchild within general culture. They are mocked and derided, and treated as intellectual pygmies who have nothing to offer the better, more enlightened people around them.

Hamilton’s article is also worth the read “Christian Persecution: Are We the New Jews?” In it she applies Rabbi Alderstein’s analysis to the current state of the Roman Catholic Church in this critical time of change. She quotes Cardinal Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) comments from 1969, “The church will become small”:

And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death. 

In an earlier post I lamented my feelings of frustration at becoming marginalized in America’s post-Christian culture. Rabbi Alderstein reminds me that Christians are not alone… and Pope Benedict XVI reminds me that God is in the midst of it all.

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Are Christians the New Jews?

If you are fortunate enough to possess the truth, you do not compromise or sacrifice it, even if it means that you continue on only as tiny fleck of mankind.

By Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, February 20, 2013

“If you want to understand us, study our story, learn of our pain.” That is what Jews told Christians who wanted to build new bridges of respect after the Holocaust. Ironically, when Christians begin listening to the story of the Jews, they are finding reflections of themselves.

Christians who listened learned of a Jewish history written in blood from ancient to modern times. When they thought of Christian martyrdom, on the other hand, they had to turn for the most part to antiquity, to early Christianity under the thumb of Roman emperors.

That has all changed. While Jews feel threatened by the massive explosion of global anti-Semitism in the last years, coupled with Iranian and Islamist calls for the genocidal destruction of all Jews, very few Jews in 2013 are dying because of their faith or their roots. Christians, on the other hand, have become the New Jews. Continue reading ““Are Christians the New Jews?” – Rabbi Yitzchok Alderstein Re-Blog” →

Avengers 4 Life in DC – Official Video – “Where’s Arturo?”

Peanut Gallery: The large presence of young people at the 2013 March for Life was most heartening. The numbers of Pro-Life young people are increasing while the old guard,  radical, pro-death feminists are fading into the sunset as their numbers decline. The demographics are with the Pro-Life movement.

"Avengers 4 Life"
“Avengers 4 Life”
2013 March for Life, Washington DC

Biltrix described this Pro-life Generation in a recent post. And Students for Life were everywhere. Check out their web sites to see what they’re doing to reach young people for Life.

As part of that youth movement, RC Mission Corps Volunteers made their missionary presence known with “Avengers 4 Life.” Here’s a picture I took of them along the March on the way to the Supreme Court.

Arturo Mid-March
“Arturo” Mid-March
Are we there yet?

"Arturo" Pre-MarchReady to go.
“Arturo” Pre-March
Let’s roll.

The funny thing is – they took a picture of me taking a picture of them in their official video. What are the chances of that happening with 650,000 marchers?

So, here’s the challenge – “Where’s Arturo?” – that’s me. Can you find me in their video? If you take the time… and find me – click like. Trust me, I’m there… and the video is well worth watching all by itself.