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CHINA REACHES OUT TO HOUSE CHURCHES
(Compass) - In recent months Chinese officials have attempted to build bridges with the Protestant house Church movement even as police raided more unregistered congregations, arrested Christian leaders and forced at least 400 college students to swear they would stop attending such worship services. Two research institutes - one from the government, organized an unprecedented symposium on November, 21-22, 2008 that concluded with an agreement for house Church leaders to begin a dialogue with government officials. A month earlier, the chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement told a gathering of 200 Hong Kong Church leaders of his desire to assist Chinese house Churches and provide them with Bibles. Rights groups pointed to recent raids and arrests, however as confirmation that Chinese authorities still restrict freedom of worship for local house Church Christians. Police raided a house Church gathering in Tai Kang county. Henan province on December.3,2008 arrested all 50 Christians. Public Security Bureau officers also raided another gathering of 50 house Church believers in Xiji town, Zaozhuang city, and Shandong province on December. 2,2008 arresting 20 Christian leaders.
LEARN FROM THE EARLY CHURCH:
(idea) - There is much to learn from the Early Church, according to Professor Christopher Markschies, President of Berlin’s Humboldt University.
During the first centuries, Christians created social networks, provided hospitality for travelers and cared for widows and orphans. Their social security systems had worked more efficiently than those of the Roman Empire. Early Christians practiced a high degree of steadfastness in their faith, while showing flexibility in cultural expressions and forms. Christians of the first century were opposed to abortions, for instance, and the selective killing of first-born female babies. They had also exercised strict Church discipline against the mixing of religions, economic offences like fraud and profiteering as well as physical abuse. At the same time, the Early Church had shown great flexibility in spreading the faith in different languages and cultures. Early Christianity shows some evangelical features. They emphasized, for example, the personal decision for God and took a critical look at high theology.
LIFE IN HEAVEN:
(idea) - What will life be like in heaven? A retired German Baptist theologian has been studying the relevant Bible passages and added his own thoughts.
Heaven, in Gunter Wieske’s opinion, will not be a place of idleness and boredom. Billions of new ideas and jobs will keep the faithful busy. “No one will or may be lazy”. The reason for his vision: God is the creator, and His multitude of ideas will not cease in heaven. The 83-year-old theologian admits that a lot of his ideas are assumptions based on biblical truths.
The idea of wondering about life in heaven came to him in the senior citizen’s group of his local Church in Kronberg near Frankfurt. By listening to fellow seniors, he realized that many seem to avoid the topic of passing through death into God’s realm. He is convinced that heaven will be populated by billions and billions. Wieske: “For Jesus’ sake, God’s mercy surpasses all human expectations”. In his imagination, heaven will be a place full of life and joy and variety.
One member of the group remarked: “There is a lot of talk about heaven, but no one wants to go. Weiske, however; wants to encourage Christians to look forward to heaven.
RIO’S STATUE TO HAVE RIVAL:
(MM) - A little-known Brazilian farming town with sugarcane wealth is set to upstage Rio de Janeiro by erecting a statue of Christ that will eclipse its famous equivalent atop Rio’s Corcovado mountain.
The Christ statue in Sertaozinho, near Sao Paulo, will be 187 feet tall when perched on its 128-foot pedestal, Brazilian newspaper Folha de sao Paulo said. Rio’s iconic statue, overlooking the beach-side city, measures 98.4 feet high, but its much shorter pedestal gives it a total height of just 125 feet. “Far from a pretense of grandeur, we’re thinking about visibility”, said Nerio Costa, mayor of the town, 206 miles from Sao Paulo, which hopes to inaugurate the 1.5 million reais ($681,000) structure at Easter.
QUEEN MAY BE OUT OF CHURCH:
(PTI) - Britain’s top bishop has sparked a row by suggesting the possible ouster of the Queen from the Church of England, as he endorsed the “disestablishment” of the Church.
The main emblems of establishment are the British monarch’s position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the 26 bishops who sit in the House of the Lords.
Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, suggested that he could see a day when the British monarch is removed as head of the Church of England. He said it would not be “the end of the world” if the Church of England was “disestablished”.
For centuries the monarch has constitutionally been the supreme governor of Church in England. The Archbishop said he could fully envisage a time when the Church of England was “disestablished”, no longer officially sanctioned and supported by the Government of the country and, ultimately, the Queen.
“Because I grew up in a disestablished Church, I spent 10 years working in a disestablished Church (the Church of Wales), and I can see that it’s by no means the end of the world if the establishment disappears”.
WOMEN BISHOPS:
(TOI) - The Church of England published draft legislation on Dec. 29 that could allow the ordination of women bishops - an issue that has provoked deep splits among the Anglicans.
The proposed measures will go up for debate by the Church’s General Synod governing body at a meeting in February. General Synod members voted in last July to press ahead with legislation to introduce women bishops despite threats by more than 1,300 clergy to quit over the issue if satisfactory safeguards were not put in place. The Anglican Church is divided between conservatives who argue that allowing gay and women bishops goes against Bible teachings, and liberals who want a more inclusive communion.
Under the draft legislation, male “complimentary bishops” would be nominated to minister to those parishes objecting to women bishops.
The Church of England has warned that the legislation process would mean that there is unlikely to be a female bishop installed before 2014.
Christina Rees, of the pro-female ordination group Women And The Church, said: “It contains the legislation that will make it possible for women to be bishops. At least we have draft legislation and it is very good news”.
The Church of England, led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, is the mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which has about 77 million followers.
A PERSECUTED CHURCH IN ISRAEL?
By: David Brickner
A strange phenomenon is occurring. Despite a growing awareness of the persecuted Church around the world, it seems like the plight of the Church inIsrael is practically "off the radar.”
I happened to be a guest at a good evangelical Church on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I heard many compelling reports before I got up to speak. Since there was no mention of the suffering of believers in Israel, I took a bit of my message time to report briefly on some such instances.
Many in the congregation were greatly surprised by the account. I think Israel has been overlooked in much of the literature that informs Christians about the need to pray for brothers and sisters around the world. Certainly there is no state sponsored persecution of the Church there. And I don ‘t mean to imply that most Christians in Israel endure the kind of continual violence as the most severely persecuted Christians who are routinely imprisoned and even tortured for their faith in other parts of the world. The Jewish people have endured enough persecution so that many in Israel are willing to stand up for the rights of Jesus-believing Jews as well as Arabs. However, we need to be aware that there are believers in Israel who are enduring much for their faith and need our prayers.
Did you know that one of the major champions of today‘s movement to advocate for persecuted Christians was Jewish? Michael Horowitz who is not a believer in Jesus began promoting this issue back in 1995. Many others have taken up his concern, and one of the results is the aforementioned annual day of prayer for the persecuted Church. In that same spirit, as I draw attention to the persecuted Church in Israel, I‘ll begin with the plight of the Arab believers there.
Some may point out that evangelical Christians make up a relatively small percentage of Arabs who identify as Christians in Israel; the majorities are Orthodox or Coptic. But that should not lessen our concern that, in the very cradle of Christianity, the Arab Church is rapidly shrinking out of existence. They are being squeezed and pummeled by an increasingly extreme and strident form of Islam, a process that currently seems to be unchecked by an Israeli government that is struggling to cope with numerous political matters.
Just 3 months ago I took a group of American Christians from my home Church on a walking tour through the city of Nazareth, where Jesus spent many years. For ages the city was home to a largely Arab Christian community. The population has radically changed to a predominantly Muslim community. This is not simply a fact of an incidentally shifting population. Life is increasingly difficult for Arab Christians whether evangelical or not and many are leaving the area. In the plaza directly in front of the Church of the Annunciation hangs a banner in Arabic, Hebrew and English proclaiming from the Koran, "GOD is One, the Eternal God. He begot none, nor was He begotten. None is equal to Him" (Qur'an 112:1-4).
It is deeply insulting to believers in Jesus to have so strident a denial of the deity and incarnation of the Lord Jesus imposed upon a site that many Christians hold sacred. The sign clearly contradicts the New Testament accounts of the nature of the One whose birth the site commemorates.
Can you imagine what would happen if Christians took a similar liberty with a well-known mosque, erecting a banner to deny a core Muslim belief concerning Mohammed? The government of Israel would hardly remain indifferent, any more than it would stand for an anti-Jewish statement from Islamic verse to be displayed at the Wailing Wall. Yet the ease with which Muslims superimposed their denial of a basic Christian tenet over a well-known Church is but one example of an anti-Christian trend. Just a few miles away in Cana, where Jesus performed His first two miracles, Arab Christians have to be very careful what they say and with whom they associate, out of fear of reprisal from Muslim neighbors.
There has also been a steady exodus of Arab Christians from Bethlehem. And things are even worse for Arab Christians living in the territories, where a little more than a year ago the manager of the only Christian bookstore in Gaza was kidnapped and brutally murdered by Islamic fundamentalists.
And what about the Jewish Church, or as most believers in Israel would prefer to be called, the Messianic community? On the one hand, we can be thankful that the Messianic community in Israel is actually growing. More people are open to the gospel than ever before, as we have reported from our first year of Behold Your God campaigns in the land. Nevertheless, it seems that those who oppose the gospel are also more active than ever. A little over a year ago a gift basket was delivered to the home of a Messianic pastor in the town of Ariel. The Pastor‘s 15 year old son was home alone to receive what turned out to be a booby trap. When he opened the basket it blew up, lacerating his young body with shrapnel and nearly killing him.
To date, no one has been arrested for this attack, though there is strong suspicion that the police are aware of the perpetrator‘s identity. There is no doubt the bombing was religiously motivated. Normally in Israel, government officials are quick to speak out when there is any kind of terrorist attack, and they offer comfort to the victim‘s family. The Ortiz family received no such comfort.
In Arad, an ultra-Orthodox group torched a Messianic community center. No action was taken against them and they continue to harass and bully believers, protesting outside their congregation and homes. In Beersheva, a local Messianic service was violently interrupted by religious Jews in an attempt to prevent a baptism. The congregation faces ongoing threats and legal challenges. Even the U.S. State Department, in its annual report on religious freedom, raised concerns about the persecution of Messianic Jews in Israel.
I must admit that I felt hesitant about pointing out the persecution that Jewish and Arab believers in Jesus undergo in Israel. I don't want any of our friends who read this newsletter to misunderstand or jump to conclusions about who and how many are to blame. The point of this article is not to demonize any non-Christians in Israel, whether Arab or Jew. The point is, relatively little has been said about persecuted believers in Israel. And if little is said, little can be done and certainly little prayer will be offered up to God on behalf of those in distress.
SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Keep talking about it. I am deeply grateful to the organizations who report on the persecuted Church; let‘s be asking them to report more about the Jewish and Arab Church in Israel. Efforts to write to Congress and other government officials on behalf of believers in Israel should be organized, just as they are for persecuted believers in other parts of the world.
Re-order our priorities. The Bible instructs us to "do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). Most pro-Israel Christian groups seem to overlook the plight of both Arab and Jewish believers, focusing on causes such as Russian Jewish immigration. Let‘s not be satisfied until such groups show they are also concerned and active in upholding those who are standing for the gospel in Israel.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Those are Jesus ‘words to followers who are persecuted on His account (Matthew 5:11-12). Even if you are not experiencing this persecution presently, you can pray for and encourage this attitude in those who are. Jews for Jesus has many staff in Israel, and as they face persecution it is my duty to encourage them. One way I do this is to go and stand with them as they evangelize; facing the difficulties they face with gladness. I know that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," that God often uses opposition as an opportunity to glorify Himself. That is the best reason for us to rejoice.
Identify and intercede. It would be inappropriate to rejoice if we did not fully identify with those who suffer, if we did not also wrestle and intercede on their behalf. While you might not be able to be on the front lines, you can pray for us and others in Israel, that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. As you pray, remember that God loves Arabs and Jews equally. And He loves His Church in His promised land. We need to love as God loves and "pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6a). True and lasting peace can only come to this divided land through the Prince of Peace, and it is a privilege as well as a challenge for His people to proclaim that message. When Arabs and Jews can love one another in Jesus ‘name, then the entire world will see the reconciling power of the gospel and give glory to God.
Leonard. Rodgers@ventureint. org
PERFUMES FROM CHRIST’S TIME’S
(TOI) – A team of Franciscan archaeologists digging in the biblical town of Magdala in Israel say they have unearthed vials of perfume similar to those that may have been used by the woman who washed Jesus’ feet.
The perfumed ointments were fund intact at the bottom of a mud filled swimming pool, alongside hair and make-up objects, the director of the group Stadium Biblicum Franciscanum told.
“If chemical analyses confirm it. These could be perfumes and creams similar to those that Mary Magdalene or the sinner cited in the gospel used to anoint Christ’s feet”, Father Steffano De Luca, the lead archeologist told.
“The discovery of the ointments in Magdala at any rate is of great importance. Even if Mary Magdalene was not the woman who washed Christ’s feet, we have in our hands ‘cosmetic products’ from Christ’s time”, De Luca said.
Magdala is the name of an ancient town near the shores of the Sea of Galilee in northernIsrael.
pocalypse 2012
(TOI) The year 2012 is claimed by some with New Age beliefs to be a great year of spiritual transformation. Now, fuelled by a crop of books, websites and countdown clocks, and claims about ancient timekeepers, many see it as an expiration date for earth: December 21, 2012.
The date marks the ends of a 5126-year cycle on the Long Count calendar developed by the Maya, the ancient civilization known for its advanced understanding of astronomy and for the great cities it left behind in Mexico and Central America.
Dozens of titles about 2012 have been published and more are scheduled to come. Current offerings include Apocalypse 2012, in which the author Lawrence Joseph outlines “terrible possibilities”, such as the potential for natural disaster. But Joseph admits he doesn’t think the world is going to end. “I do, however, believe that 2012 will prove to be..a very dramatic and probably transformative year”.
Thou shall not text”
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