Tag: Christian Persecution

Please Pray for New Believers – Christian Persecution: The High Price of Conversion

Peanut Gallery: Grace is a free gift from God… but many who receive it around the world pay a high personal price. And yet – what other hope is there for the world around us?

“And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16 NLT

Please pray for those new believers in unbelieving countries who are paying a heavy personal price to follow Jesus… shining God’s light in a very dark world.

Please click on following link to Public Catholic – Christian Persecution: The High Price of Conversion.

Christian Persecution: The High Price of Conversion
September 28, 2012 By Rebecca Hamilton

India: Converting from Hinduism
An Indian state’s draconian “anti-conversion” law has been partially struck down in a legal challenge brought by Christians and celebrated as “a triumph for religious freedom” in the country.

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) took its case against the Himachal Pradesh Religion Act 2006 to the state’s high court, which ruled on 30 August that some provisions of the law were unconstitutional.

Supreme Court of India

The court removed a section that required a person intending to convert from one religion to another to give 30 days’ notice to the district magistrate. Failure to do this was punishable with a fine.

Two rules regarding the implementation of the act were also struck down. One required the district magistrate to give notice of the conversion request to any affected party before granting approval, and the other required a police case to be registered if the conversion was thought to have taken place using force or inducement or without notice.

The EFI challenged the law because of the ways in which it was being used, especially by Hindu extremists, to stop people from converting to Christianity. Continue reading “Please Pray for New Believers – Christian Persecution: The High Price of Conversion” →

Speak out for Rimsha Masih today! – Open Doors

Speak out for Rimsha Masih today! – Open Doors

On August 17th, Rimsha Masih, a young Christian girl with learning disabilities, was arrested on charges of ‘blasphemy’ in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Rimsha was accused of burning pages of the Quran, a serious crime under Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy laws. After an initial court appearance, Rimsha was held in detention for about 3 weeks before being granted bail and released.

Read more of Rimsha’s story

Punishment for desecrating the Quran carries a potential life sentence in prison. Vigilante killings of those accused and acquitted of blasphemy charges are common in Pakistan.

A witness has come forwarded saying that a local cleric planted the pages of the Quran in Rimsha’s bag of trash and that the accusations against her are completely false.

We praise God that Rimsha was released on bail! But her situation is far from resolved. We need to press the Pakistani authorities to drop all charges against Rimsha and to ensure her safety.

You can help!

Email Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S.

Prayer Requests:

  • For  safety and justice for Rimsha and her family
  • That the  displaced Christians will be able to resettle in safety in their homes
  • For  other Christians facing blasphemy charges such as Aasyia Noreen (Bibi)

Please Pray for U.S. Christians

Peanut Gallery: This article, in brief, lays out the history of Government encroachment of religious freedom in America. It has been slow and steady for decades. But, now, the current administration has turned up the heat and believers are taking notice.

Why is this important? Because the more we suppress our expression of religious freedom at home, the less likely we are to advocate for religious freedom for others abroad. And if not Americans, who…?

How to Boil a Frog: They say that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger. But, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late. The frog’s survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes.

Rising Persecution of U.S. Christians
Posted on: 2012-09-21 02:58:20
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News)– A joint report by Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council shows that anti-Christian persecution is not only increasing in America, but that it’s coming from our own government.

“There are children being prohibited from writing Merry Christmas to the soldiers, senior citizens being banned from praying over their meals in the Senior Center, the VA banning the mention of God in military funerals, numerous attempts to have veterans memorials torn down if they have any religious symbols, such as a cross, and I could go on and on,” said Liberty Institute Founder Kelly Shackleford.

“Religious hostility is the red light on the dashboard that tells us we have a problem and that violence will come next if not fixed,” Shackleford said. “The recent attacks on the faith-based Family Research Council and the attack on the Sikhs are recent examples alone.”

Many public facilities are also masking American Christianity, according to ACLJ senior counsel David French.

“One of the most strident examples: the misuse of the Establishment Clause to attempt to ban any mention of God from historical markers, monuments or even museum exhibits. This represents an effort to whitewash God from American history and change our national identity.”

French said that though the Obama administration has contributed to this, it didn’t begin with his inauguration; in fact, anti-Christian persecution has been stewing here in America for decades. Continue reading “Please Pray for U.S. Christians” →

Christian Persecution: Saddle Up! This is War! (Of a Sort)

Peanut Gallery – A military friend of mine told me that the first thing an army does when it moves into new territory is “show the flag.” Rebecca Hamilton has issued a battle cry in her follow-up article on Christian Persecution in the West – “show the cross.” Game on!

Christian Persecution: Saddle Up! This is War! (Of a Sort).

September 21, 2012 By

I mentioned in an earlier post, Christian Persecution: In the West, Where the War is Forced Upon Us, that violent persecution of a group of people doesn’t spring fully-formed from the head of some political Zeus. It evolves in an almost invisible progression from a series of smaller things.

It almost always begins with simple criticism, some of which may even be valid. In time, this moves to unjust badgering, slanders and verbal harassment, which is coupled with agitation for changes in the law that impinge on the rights and freedoms of the group under attack. The legal discriminations begin slowly, again at first in areas that may even seem reasonable. Over time, they cut more and more deeply into the basic rights and essential freedoms of the target group. At the same time, insults and verbal harassment move into hectoring, hate speech and outright attempts to silence people.

This is where Christians are now in the Western World. We are bombarded with verbal attacks on our faith in the media, in our conversations, at our schools and even in our friendships and families. We must make the decision over and over to either be quiet and let this bigotry stand or engage in unsettling and exhausting battles that always seem to involve personal insults. At the same time, law-makers, government agencies and courts create laws, mandates and rulings that attempt to compel us to violate our faith or face legal sanctions, or prohibit us from the outward practice of our faith.

The HHS Mandate is an example of the government intruding on the free exercise of religion. The lawsuit against the British government over a woman’s right to wear a cross on a necklace to work without being fired is an example of how Christians are being forced to resist laws limiting the outward practice of their faith. There are many other examples of both these things that I could add.

The next move after legal discrimination and social hazing is violent persecution. Continue reading “Christian Persecution: Saddle Up! This is War! (Of a Sort)” →

Please pray for Coptic Christians preparing to elect Pope

Peanut Gallery: For most of the “Arab Spring,” Coptic Christians have been without a spititual leader. These are perilous times. Coptic Christians live under continual Islamist threat in Egypt. The latest riots only aggravate their already precarious position.

After the death of Pope Shenouda III in March, Coptic Christians are preparing to elect a new Pope in December. As the article below notes, it is not an enviable position.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5.1-5 ESV

Please pray that the Holy Spirit would guide and direct the election process for the new Coptic Pope… that he would a man chosen by God and an effective shepherd of God’s people.

The article below (The Christian Post) puts this election process in context –

New Coptic Christian Pope to Be Number One Target of Radical Islamists?
By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter – September 14, 2012|4:11 pm

Egypt’s Coptic Christians are getting ready to vote on a new pope in December to replace the deceased Pope Shenouda III who died in March – but some are worried that choosing a new Christian leader in the region may only incite more violence from their Muslim neighbors.

“A new pope will not offer any additional protection for the Egyptian Christians. In fact the election may well incite Muslims to more violence. The last thing they want is any hope or solidarity among ‘infidels.’ The new pope could certainly find himself the new #1 target,” said Christian Freedom International (CFI) in a statement emailed to The Christian Post. Continue reading “Please pray for Coptic Christians preparing to elect Pope” →