Tag: Christians

Please pray for Syrian believers – Day 2

Peanut Gallery: This week I am praying for Syrian believers. I encourage you to pray for them with me, and/or to select another country or people group of your own for which to pray. Information on other countries for which to pray is available here.

Day 2: Please pray for Christian unity among the various denominational sects in the midst of Syria’s civil war strife.

Jesus’ prayer for unity:

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.  John 17:20-22 NLT

Christians have historically represented approximately 10% of the Syrian population with the majority population made up of 74% Sunni Muslims and the remainder scattered among various Shia Muslim sects. (Wikipedia)

Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population.[1] The country’s largest Christian denomination is an Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch(officially known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East),[2][3][4] closely followed by a Uniate[5] Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and then by an Oriental Syriac Orthodox Church; there are also a minority of Protestants. The city of Aleppo is believed to have the largest number of Christians in Syria. (Wikipedia)

Current News – Fighting centered in Aleppo (10/3/2012).

Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital with a population of 1.7 million people, has become one of the focal points of the nearly 19-month-long crisis in the country. (France24.com)

This video shows the devastation of car bombs detonated in Aleppo – click here France24.com.

Please join me in prayer  –

  • For peace in the country and an end to the bloodshed. For God’s rich mercies on the suffering people.
  • For the safety and protection of the churches, keeping the church’s faithful witness.
  • Wisdom and vision for church leaders.
  • For the glory of the living God to dwell in the Church.
  • To empower the Church to reach out to the suffering, to share the divine cure of the gospel, and to speak the word of the Lord in all boldness.
  • That the evil powers of darkness will be defeated in our land.
  • That the values of false religion will be exposed for what they are and despised and rejected by many.
  • For many souls to come to know the love and forgiveness of Christ and to enjoy His saving grace.
  • That the Lord would send wise, God-fearing counselors to the decision-makers in all parties in the country.

With love… from Syria.

FRC: How would the Pope vote? I have no idea, however . . . .

Peanut Gallery: It’s always a tenuous exercise when a member of one religious group presumes to explain the religious tenets of another religious group. Nevertheless, Tom McClusky (FRC) has ventured into this minefield.

His purpose is to prep Catholics for tonight’s Vice-Presidential Debate by providing a quasi-Catholic scorecard to rate the candidates. His effort is timely and to the point – since both vice-presidential candidates self-identify as Roman Catholics.

But does it past Roman Catholic muster? I’ll let you be the judge. Check it out – click here. For background documents – click here.
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How would the Pope vote? I have no idea, however . . . .

5 October, 2012 (17:56) | Adoption, Child Tax Credit, Economics, Education, Health Care, Human Life & Bioethics, Human Sexuality, Marriage & Family, Presidential Race ’12, Religion & Society | By: Tom McClusky |

But we have tried to put together a document to give the decision for Catholics some perspective.

Many of you know how important every vote is this year, especially the Catholic vote. Here is a scorecard, from a Catholic perspective, on the two Vice Presidential candidates. And here you can find the accompanying document that goes further into Catholic Church teaching on each subject.

For the first time in American history, two Catholic vice presidential candidates are squaring off for America’s second highest office and while both Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan cite their shared faith in informing their positions, on many issues they could not be further apart.

To help clarify these differences in light of what the Catholic Church teaches, where they are permissible and where they are problematic, FRCAction has compiled a Catholic Voter guide. The guide is designed to help people of faith, Catholics as well as all Christians, Continue reading “FRC: How would the Pope vote? I have no idea, however . . . .” →

Life for Christians in the Middle East worsening, assembly hears

Life for Christians in the Middle East worsening, assembly hears

By ENInews – 10 Oct 2012

Life for Christians in the Middle East has “never been worse” and their future is acutely endangered, according to the leader of an evangelical church fellowship.

Rosangela Jarjour, general secretary of the Beirut-based Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches, was speaking at the 7th General Assembly of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE). The assembly met in Florence, Italy, at the end of last month.

“We don’t want to become refugees, but to live in peace and with full citizens’ rights and duties in our own land,” she declared.

Everyday life for Christians, who in the past were able to lead quite secure lives, is now fraught with fear, said Jarjour, who is from Homs, Syria, recently the site of battles between rebel and government forces.

Christians are now finding that they are no longer allowed to practice their religion and that their civil rights to freedom and free speech “are constantly violated, whilst previously secular matters are consumed by Islam,” she said.

More than 50,000 Christians have fled Egypt alone since the onset of the revolution there. Continue reading “Life for Christians in the Middle East worsening, assembly hears” →

Please pray for believers in Syria – “My people are hurting…”

Peanut Gallery: The Holy Spirit has led me to pray for believers in Syria for the coming week.

This prayer request (sent to Open Doors UK) comes from a pastor in Syria and is self explanatory. See below –

Please join me in prayer…

  1. For peace in the country and an end to the bloodshed. For God’s rich mercies on the suffering people.
  2. For the safety and protection of the churches, keeping the church’s faithful witness.
  3. Wisdom and vision for church leaders.
  4. For the glory of the living God to dwell in the Church.
  5. To empower the Church to reach out to the suffering, to share the divine cure of the gospel, and to speak the word of the Lord in all boldness.
  6. That the evil powers of darkness will be defeated in our land.
  7. That the values of false religion will be exposed for what they are and despised and rejected by many.
  8. For many souls to come to know the love and forgiveness of Christ and to enjoy His saving grace.
  9. That the Lord would send wise, God-fearing counselors to the decision-makers in all parties in the country.

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With love from Syria…

Syria has been closed to the outside world for many weeks. We have since received this letter from a leading pastor in Syria. In it he writes of the situation in Syria, his hopes, fears and trust in the Lord. He also asks for prayer. The pastor writes to the church in the UK – he writes to you. Please read this and keep him in your prayers.

Dear Friend,

My people are hurting...

It was much unexpected turmoil. Not even in our wildest dreams did we imagine the violence that is sweeping across the country now. For many years Syria enjoyed peace and stability in the heart of the unstable Middle East. We were a safe haven for our neighbors. We received displaced people and refugees from other countries like Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, and even from Somalia and other far away areas. Yet now the violence pushed the host people out of their homes, fleeing for their lives.

Many are displaced internally and many others are external refugees living in the most humiliating circumstances, deprived of even shelter , clean water, power, food, and medical care. Millions are not sleeping in their own beds, forced out of their homes to find themselves with their children homeless and living in public parks or in the wilderness. Others are not sure if they or their children and loved ones will see the light of a new day, tens of thousands of families lost loved ones: a child, a father, a mother, or a husband. Hundreds of the injured died for lack of medical care. Thousands of children go to bed terrified of the sound of shelling. Hundreds of thousands are in camps in neighboring countries. Continue reading “Please pray for believers in Syria – “My people are hurting…”” →

Please Pray for Religious Freedom Around the Globe

Peanut Gallery: Please pray for religious freedom around the globe. As the following study indicates, religious freedom is on the decline world-wide… and even here in America. And Christians who take the Great Commission seriously do so at great risk to themselves and their families.

The Great Commission:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28.18-20 NLT

Please ask the Holy Spirit to place a particular country or “people group” for which to pray. The following graphs show countries that are identified as very highly restrictive. Do a little research using Wikipedia or Open Doors Country Profiles for background information and Google news updates daily. Then, decide how long you would like to pray for a specific country or people group. Let the Holy Spirit guide you… particularly when you don’t know how to pray.

Please pray for spiritual and physical protection, courage, wisdom, unity among believers, and that the fruit of the spirit be made manifest in the heart and life of every believer… to the glory of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to One Tenth Blog for bringing the following Pew Forum study to our attention. Please check out the One Tenth Blog here.

Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion (The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life)

The Pew Study is extensive with graphs and charts illustrating the growing restrictions to Religious freedom. It is well worth the read… but it is also overwhelming – 75% of the world’s population live under high or very high restrictions. These restrictions are enforced directly by government regulations and indirectly by religious groups within countries.
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A rising tide of restrictions on religion spread across the world between mid-2009 and mid-2010, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forumrestrict3-1 on Religion & Public Life. Restrictions on religion rose in each of the five major regions of the world – including in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, the two regions where overall restrictions previously had been declining.

The share of countries with high or very high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose from 31% in the year ending in mid-2009 to 37% in the year ending in mid-2010. Because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, three-quarters of the world’s approximately 7 billion people live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier.

Restrictions on religion rose not only in countries that began the year with high or very high restrictions or hostilities, such as Indonesia and Nigeria, but also in many countries that began with low or moderate restrictions or hostilities, such as Switzerland and the United States. (See sidebar on the U.S..)

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Peanut Gallery: The following links will help you neavigate the Pew Study.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS –
Navigate this page: