Update on Egypt Vote: Divide and Conquer

Peanut Gallery: Morsi has decided to “bifurcate” the referendum on Egypt’s new constitution… setting the dates a week apart – Dec 15 & 22.

Andrew McCarthy details below why this works to Morsi’s advantage and why he and the Muslim Brotherhood are likely to prevail.

For those of you who would like a larger perspective on the “Arab Spring” and the “Islamic Supremacy” movement, I commend to you McCarthy ‘s book “Spring Fever” coming soon in paperback. McCarthy also writes regularly for PJMedia.com.
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Morsi Staggers Referendum on Constitution by Andrew McCarthy (December 12th, 2012 – 7:55 am)

Amid the continuing unrest in Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood has now decided to bifurcate the referendum on the proposed sharia constitution. The voting will go forward as scheduled this Saturday, but only in ten governorates. The rest of the country will then vote the following Saturday, December 22.
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The Illusion of Islamic Democracy – Andrew McCarthy
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The whole point of Morsi’s presidency, the point of everything he’s done for the last five months, is the implementation of a sharia constitution. As I explain in Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy (soon to be published in paperback), that is what Morsi and the Brotherhood promised to do during the campaign leading to his election as president. Sharia implementation is the goal behind his seizures of dictatorial powers: In August, Morsi awarded himself legislative authority Continue reading “Update on Egypt Vote: Divide and Conquer” →

Update: The New/Old “Mosque” at Ground Zero

Peanut Gallery: Here’s an update from the folks at pjmedia. I’m posting this because it’s a good example of how things get convoluted in Muslim-American Media relations. Things are never what they seem on the surface.

Who won this “tug of war?” You be the judge… but remember, they’ll be back at it again when the opportunity arises… perhaps, next door to you.
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The Ground Zero Mosque and Media Sleight of Hand

The irony could not have been thicker: the New York Post reported Sunday that one year after the notorious Park51 “community center” opened “with great fanfare,” it was “now an empty space with no community programs.” Park51, you may recall, is the official name of what is more famously known as the Ground Zero mosque. The entire controversy over the Ground Zero mosque is an illuminating example of how the media manipulates public perceptions.

This non-center is still in the damaged Burlington Coat Factory building.

Now the central deception – that the Ground Zero mosque was never really a mosque at all — has been fully revealed. The Post continued: “What’s more, while the developers behind Park51 insisted for two years that the project was more than a mosque, it now appears to be just that. Dozens of worshipers gather at the site on Park Place Friday for prayer services — but that’s the only activity in the building.”

This is the ignominious denouement of the institution that its developer, Sharif El-Gamal, once boasted would soon be “the most famous community center in the whole world.”

Continue reading “Update: The New/Old “Mosque” at Ground Zero” →

Please pray for Nigerian Christians – Christians Targeted in Nigerian Student Massacre in Mubi

Peanut Gallery: It’s hard for me to imagine what life is like for persecuted Christians around the world. I’ve always enjoyed second amendment rights – freedom of speech and religion – which enabled me to share my faith freely… and openly. No one has ever wanted to kill me, or put me in jail for my beliefs.

Not so with millions of Christians around the world.

My purpose in posting, re: persecuted Christians/Church, is to enlarge my perspective in understanding and prayer… and in the process, perhaps yours as well.

This report of murder and mayhem in Nigeria is bad enough when we read about that night of terror. But it’s brought home personally when we read the names of the specific 25 known students killed and the 5 who escaped.

As you pray, please read aloud each of the names and allow the Holy Spirit to guide your prayer…. And ask God to use this evil act for good – whether we can see, or understand, it or not.

“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:27-28

Prayer: Father, we bring before You these 25 people who were killed in the Mubi massacre. You know each name; You wept over the trauma they sustained. Those who followed You in this life You have drawn into Your very presence. We weep today for their families, for those who were injured and saw friends killed before their very eyes, for those who cannot dispel the memories of that night. Replace the memories with a vision of Christ who is present with them. Comfort them, and give them courage to serve You each day, that even in the midst of the evil and darkness around them, You will be honored and glorified by their lives. In the name of Jesus who is our strength in the midst of our own weakness.

Those killed in the attack included:
1. Sebastine Bulus(Christian)
2. Ishaku Joshua (Christian)
3. James Joshua (Christian)
4. Lucky Emmanuel (Christian)
5. Irmiya Yohana (Christian)
6. Adamu Dakkawa (Christian)
7. Yunana Idris (Christian)
8. Amsel Idris (Christian) Continue reading “Please pray for Nigerian Christians – Christians Targeted in Nigerian Student Massacre in Mubi” →

Please pray for Syrian believers – Day 7

Peanut Gallery: My people are hurting….” writes a Syrian Pastor.

“I can cry like Nehemiah because the walls of our cities are burnt and the people in great trouble and disgrace,
I can weep like Jeremiah because of the intensity and the spread of evil,
I can mourn like David because of the indiscriminate brutal killing of innocent people, children, women, elderly, youth subject to shelling or under the rubble of their homes.
Neither fighting party is the true mother of this child, this country. Their worship of the idol of power and their desire to win is too cruel to care for the child they claim that they are fighting for.
Innocent people are paying the heavy toll of this evil. It is gloomy, sad and painful.
The only good news is that the church is moving whole-heartedly to help relieve some of the suffering, and the Lord is surely opening hearts to receive the gospel.”

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Ephesians 6.10-13 ESV

Please pray for Syrian believers:

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.

He writes: “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.”

Christians in Syria had a relative degree of freedom and security in Syrian society (compared with other Middle Eastern Countries) until the onset of civil war. (Wikipedia)

“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….”

The civil war changed everything – causing massive displacements of innocent people all over the country (1.5 million by UN estimates) … death and mayhem have become the norm… and many people are trying to leave causing a major refugee problem both within Syria and in the bordering countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraqi Kurdistan. (Wikipedia)

Thank you: “We deeply appreciate the prayers of God’s people everywhere; it is a rare time where the Church in Syria is feeling the true oneness of the body of Christ all over the globe. For this, we thank the Lord, for it is a great encouragement to us.” (With love, from Syria.)