Intercessory Saturday

Christian churches in Russia’s North Caucasus region (between the Caspian and Black Seas) are struggling amid the terror and trauma of the Islamic jihad and counterinsurgency, according to reports from Assist News Service (ANS). As the jihad intensifies, the future of the North Caucasus and its tenuous grip on religious freedom hang in the balance. The jihadists are foreign-backed Wahhabists who are linked to al-Qaeda, and many ofthem are foreigners. Fighting under the black flag of the “Caucasus Emirate,” they have escalated their attacks dramatically through the summer of 2009.

The remnant Russian Orthodox Church has ethnic ties and is closely associated with Moscow and the Russian army. The Protestants are mostly Baptist and Pentecostal. In some places, particularly in Chechnya, jihadists have totally eliminated the Christian presence. President Ramzan Kadyrov’s heavy hand in Chechnya has forced the terrorists to shift the focus of their jihad to neighboring Ingushetia.

Please Pray!

Experts project that if current trends continue, Russia will be majority Muslim by 2050 and Russia’s largely conscript army will be majority Muslim by 2015, according to ANS.

Pray that God will extend his mighty hand over the North Caucasus and thwart the plans of the jihadists to Islamize this province in Southern Russia.

Pray for the salvation of Muslims in Russia and elsewhere who are blinded to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray also for the protection of believers in the North Caucasus. In the midst of the terror and turmoil, pray that they will be filled with peace and that their faith in Christ will not falter. Pray that they will sense God’s loving presence and not become dismayed.

Source: Voice of the Martyrs’ Be-A-Voice Network

Swallow Your Spit!

I encourage you to carefully monitor the accumulation of saliva in your mouth today.  Look in the mirror and watch your mouth as you talk on the phone to friends or clients.  Take note of how long you speak before swallowing.  Inspect the corners of your mouth; monitor the areas around your lips and teeth.  Do you see little bubbles dancing back and forth as you enunciate?  Could someone literally reach out and touch your saliva, thus retrieving a dripping fingertip?

You might even consider doing randomized spit checks by suddenly looking down and opening your mouth to see if any liquid pours out.

I offer these suggestions as a gesture of genuine love.  It’s quite possible that your forgetfulness in spit-swallowing etiquette triggers a gag reflex in others.  If you are experiencing any level of difficulty or awkwardness in any relationship — business or personal — I encourage you to first check your body odor.  Then, check your spit.

 

Released!

I am so incredibly excited to share with you, in case you haven’t heard, that Maryam and Marzieh have been released!  While I do pray for the persecuted church regularly and provide you with updates on Christians around the world, these two have particularly touched my heart.  I have been praying for them by name daily since I learned their story.

These young women have remained faithful in the face of ridicule, neglect, and abuse.  What the Iranian government meant for harm, God used for good!  Maryam and Marzieh’s unjust treatment resulted in global awareness of the struggle of Christians in many parts of the world.  By imprisoning these remarkable women for their faith, their captors actually accomplished exactly what they were trying to prevent; they preached the Gospel all over the world!  Praise God!

Beyond that, I have personally been encouraged by their faithfulness and by Christian intercession on their behalf worldwide.  We are one Body, one Church.  Thank you, Father.  Thank you, Maryam and Marzieh.  My God bind up your wounds and ready you to keep preaching!

Pledging Allegiance

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

 

 

 

 

 

Honor the Texas flag.  I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

 

 

 

——–

allegiance
1399, from Anglo-Fr. legaunce ”loyalty of a liege-man to his lord,” from O.Fr. legeance, from liege (see liege)

liege
a feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service.

(Courtesy of dictionary.com)

——–

Can you pledge allegiance to both state and country?  Which trumps the other if they conflict?

Does either have a feudal-esque entitlement to our unconditional allegiance?

What’s your opinion on pledging allegiance to either or both flags?

God’s Leading, or Just a Need Recognized?

I could give you a whole laundry list of things I feel like God’s leading me to do.  And, much like the laundry, I have no time to do any of them.  This begs the question: Is it really God leading me to do these things, or am I simply recognizing a need?

I go back and forth on these things.  I see something that needs doing, a person who needs helping, or a ministry that needs boosting, and I think to myself, “Hey, I can _____.  It’s time to stop being selfish and _____.”  Here’s the problem: I already struggle with cooking and cleaning on top of work and other responsibilities.  Adding to my commitments will only make it less likely that I’ll fulfill my household responsibilities.  So, why is it that I’m seeing other people’s needs as more important than my family’s?

Despite clear indications that there are things in my world that need fixing, I must be mindful of the fact that my number one ministry is in my home.  I can’t give and give of myself to the detriment of my marriage.  I can’t lead others into deeper relationships with Christ if I’m presently disobeying Him.  I can’t serve others instead of serving my husband.

So, what do you do when the ______ desperately needs a young person to encourage other young people to participate?  When the _______ need a voice?  When the __________ are struggling and you’re one of the few who can offer support?  When the _______ are hungering for a young woman to lead them?  When the _______ needs to see faithful young adults rise up?  When _______ needs to be learned so that you can preach Christ in their language?  When a child needs a ________?

I would have to quit my job and clone myself to get all these things done.  God can’t possibly be calling me to all of them.  Right?

Doesn’t Play Well with Others

It’s a wonder I never received that remark on a report card.  The truth is, I am NOT a team player, and I never have been.  Any time a teacher or professor assigned group work or a group project, I died a little inside.  Depending on my work mates, I would either have to do absolutely everything myself, or I’d be so ignored that I’d have to muster up the courage to interrupt the cool people to make sure my name was on the paper, too.

P.E. was an absolute nightmare for me.  I could never run fast or for very long.  The fat kid and I were neck and neck for biggest loser every time.  I was picked last for team games (sometimes after the fat kid) because I absolutely sucked at them.  I sucked at them because I got incredibly nervous about my team counting on me, and I therefore froze up every time the ball came near me.  I was an absolute embarrassment on the field, and P.E. was a humiliating experience every day.

Even today, working collaboratively with others is a major struggle.  I either take charge, or I completely back down; there is no in-between.  I simply can’t work together.  Either let me do it, or you can do it.

That’s a handicapping personality flaw.  How do I fix it?

Intercessory Saturday

Three masked members of a militant Islamic group shot to death a Somali Christian who declined to wear a veil as prescribed by Muslim custom, according to a Compass News Direct source in Somalia.

Members of the Suna Waljameca group killed Amina Muse Ali, 45, on Oct. 19 at 9:30 p.m. in her home in Somalia’s autonomous Puntland region, according to the source.

Ali had told Christian leaders she had received several threats from members of Suna Waljameca for not wearing a veil, symbolic of adherence to Islam. She said members of the group had long monitored her movements because they suspected she was a Christian.

The source said Ali called him on Oct. 4 saying, “My life is in danger. I am warned of dire consequences if I continue to live without putting on the veil. I need prayers from the fellowship.”

“I was shocked beyond words when I received the news that she had been shot dead,” the source in Somalia told Compass by telephone.

Please Pray!

The slaying of Amina Muse Ali adds one more name to the list of Christians murdered in Somalia at the hands of Islamic extremists in recent months. Pray God will comfort their grieving families and bring them peace that passes understanding.

Pray the Holy Spirit will touch the hearts and minds of Muslims in Somalia to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

It is unknown how many secret Christians there are in Somalia. Compass sources indicate there are no more than 75, while The Economist magazine hedges its estimate at “no more than” 1,000. What is certain is that they are in danger from both extremist groups and Somali law. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has embraced a version of Shariah that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

 

Source: Voice of the Martyrs’ Be-A-Voice Network

How Old are Your Clothes?

For serious.  When does a shirt expire?  At what point do you toss out perfectly clean, perfectly whole, old socks?  Because I definitely have shirts from high school.  I graduated in 2000.

I have a pair of Little Mermaid socks from like, fourth grade or something.  I wear them.

None of said accoutrements are threadbare or holey, and none are embarrassing.  (TLM is a movie to be celebrated, so shut it.)

So if you have a shirt that’s ten years old, and it still looks cute, is it okay to keep wearing it?  Or do you toss it on principle?  What’s your M.O. on this?  How important is it to wear clothing made in this decade?

Thank You

Thank Goodness?

What does that even mean?  Who is this goodness?  Why do we thank her instead of thanking the God of our salvation?

I’ve often wondered why well-meaning people stop themselves from thanking God.  Is it somehow perceived as taking the name of God in vain or something?  It boggles my mind.