Posted in encouraging verse, God, Inspiring verse, persecuted, Prison, Right Hand, Uncategorized | Tagged love, Pastor Saeed, Valentine's Day | 1 Comment »
~Three Americans today will endure another 24-hours in hell-like conditions in Iran. All three men are held against their wills as hostages and have no direct contact with their U.S. family members. All three are U.S. Citizens with distinguished backgrounds. All three entered Iran legally.” freeallthree.com



Posted in Challenge verse, pain, Prison, Waiting | Tagged Free Amir, Help Bob Levinson, Iran, Prison, Save Saeed | 3 Comments »
~
“You did not choose me,
~
but I chose you …”
~
– Jesus
Each day we have the opportunity through our thoughts and actions to choose Jesus. When we choose kindness over irritabilty or choose reading the Bible before entertainment (social media, TV, etc.) we choose Jesus. Sometimes I even whisper the words, “I choose you, Jesus.” At other times, at the end of the day, I will think, “I didn’t choose well; I didn’t choose Jesus today.” In 2014, let’s make a concentrated effort to “choose Jesus!”
My close friends Dianne and Perry Dodge hold marriage conferences. One of their talks discusses what five minutes a day can do for your marriage. When you improve your relationship with God, it can improve your marriage. Making small choices for just five minutes every day can make a big difference in your life. Here are some of Dianne and Perry’s suggestions of ways to devote five minutes of time to God throughout the day. I challenge you to choose a few of these ways to spend more time with God.
What Do You Have That You’re Willing To Give To God?
I would love to hear what you choose from the list and how choosing Jesus makes a difference for you in 2014. I choose to devote my lunch hour to God.
How great it would be to hear Jesus say at the end of my life, “You chose me!”
As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Colossians 3:22)
Posted in Challenge verse, choices, Friends, Jesus | Tagged 2014, Jesus, life | 2 Comments »
Massive riots in Egypt in mid-August left behind more than 800 dead, and at least 4,000 were injured, as Egyptian police and soldiers clashed with demonstrators. Unfortunately, supporters of jailed Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi also vented their wrath at the country’s Christian minority, in what activists described as “the worst coordinated attacks on Egypt’s Coptic community in modern history.”
Even Associated Press, which isn’t considered a pro-Christian news outlet, reported on the extent of the assaults.
“In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the Christian minority,” reported AP. “Nearly 40 churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged since Wednesday [August 14].”
A more detailed report lists 56 churches attacked in a 24-hour span that started on August 14. Fifteen more were hit over the next two days. Dozens of Coptic institutions like schools, monasteries, bookstores, and even an orphanage were also attacked.
The Bible Society of Egypt has been operating for 129 years, and this is the first time it’s been the victim of assaults like those carried out on two of its bookstores. Both were burned to the ground.
On August 18, AFP talked with Dr. Halim Meawad, a deacon for 26 years with St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Coptic church in the Washington, D.C. area.
“St. Mark was the founder of the Coptic Church in 45 A.D.,” Meawad explained. “All of Egypt was Coptic for almost a thousand years until the Muslims invaded and started imposing heavy taxes on the Christians. Those who couldn’t pay were forced to convert to Islam under pain of death. Today’s Muslims in Egypt are descendants of Copts who couldn’t pay their taxes hundreds of years ago.”
“The Copts today are only 10% of Egypt’s population of 90 million,” said Dr. Meawad, “but they have much economic and social influence in Egypt. They are the largest Christian community in Egypt and also the largest in all the Middle East.”
Asked what brought about the recent riots and the attacks on Copts, he explained:
“Since its founding in 1929, the Muslim Brotherhood has been involved in assassinations, arson, and terrorism, with the single goal of making Egypt an Islamist republic. They co-opted the Egyptian revolution of 2011, which was a genuine grassroots movement against [former Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak’s tyranny. Shortly after Morsi came to power last year, he started changing the constitution to give himself and the Muslim Brotherhood unlimited power. Millions of Egyptians, including moderate Muslims, secularists, liberals, and Christians, protested against his government last November, but he continued with his goal of turning Egypt into an Islamic republic. On June 30, 33 million Egyptians demonstrated against him in what was probably the biggest demonstration in history, causing his ousting on July 3.”
“The Copts were attacked because as Christians, they were a convenient scapegoat for the Brotherhood,” explained Dr. Meawad.
“Since Morsi’s ousting, his supporters set up camps on town squares and refused to leave,” said Meawad. “They were blaming the Copts for Morsi’s downfall and had already started threatening and attacking us. The sheer scale of the recent attacks against us proves that they were orchestrated rather than a byproduct of chaotic unrest.”
“Neither the Copts nor the military are responsible for Morsi’s ouster,” Dr. Meawad explained. “The Egyptian people simply did not want him. Morsi was elected with only 14 million votes last year, but 33 million Egyptians in the streets on June 30 told him they didn’t want him.”
Thank you, Pete, very much for getting our voice heard out there. We definitely need as much spreading the word about the atrocities our fellow Copts are enduring as possible. Sadly, from the day you have reached out to us [August 18, 2013] till today [September 1, 2013], a total of 101 churches have been burned down/attacked.
–St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church
According to the man I heard speak from The Bible Society of Egypt, those who started the fire did so with the intent that the Christians would retaliate and cause the country to be thrown into a civil war. He reported that there was no retaliation! They considered their churches being burned as a burnt offering to God, and they choose the path of peace.
Posted in Challenge verse, fire, persecuted | Tagged Egypt, Persecuted Christians, prayer | Leave a Comment »
Posted in healing, overcome, pain, Peace | Tagged healing, Jesus, Luke 8, Mark 5, pain, woman bleeding | 3 Comments »