This video was taken in Fort Lauderdale yesterday and is notable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the young woman at 3:25 yelling at the Jews to go into a big oven. We can only expect to see more of this as the relative influence of the American Muslim community grows.
British author and former member of Parliament Matthew Parris has penned a simply remarkable piece in which, despite his atheism, he recognizes that Africa needs God. His own youth on that continent and his adult experience there have led him to see that there is a difference between Christian mission and what other “non-governmental organizations,” or NGO’s, can do.
Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
This goes to the heart of the matter: that Christianity – or, more accurately, Christ – changes people.
In addition to this frank recognition of the reality of the Gospel’s effect, Mr. Parris punctures the balloons of multiculturalism which have been allowed to float through Western naïveté and historical illiteracy:
There’s long been a fashion among Western academic sociologists for placing tribal value systems within a ring fence, beyond critiques founded in our own culture: “theirs” and therefore best for “them”; authentic and of intrinsically equal worth to ours.
I don’t follow this. I observe that tribal belief is no more peaceable than ours; and that it suppresses individuality. People think collectively; first in terms of the community, extended family and tribe. This rural-traditional mindset feeds into the “big man” and gangster politics of the African city: the exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader, and the (literal) inability to understand the whole idea of loyal opposition.
Bingo. All cultures are not created equal. Cultures are fed and informed by their underlying worldview. The West finds itself under siege, internally and externally, because of an appalling and unwarranted self-doubt. So, in the case of Africa, the dismissal of Western culture blinds Europeans and Americans to the reality that African tribal belief, Islamic jihad, shari’a law, etc., are the wellspring of so many of the problems infesting the region.
Be sure to read the entire article.
A British couple was sentenced to hard labor in Gambia for criticizing the country.
Two British missionaries broke down and wept as they were sentenced to a year’s hard labour in jail after pleading guilty to charges of sedition. Relatives and friends of David and Fiona Fulton, who have three children – including a two-year-old adopted daughter – expressed their dismay and horror at the severity of the punishment handed down to the couple from Torquay by a court in Gambia.
The judge quoted from an email sent in September, entitled “Hell In The Gambia,” in which the country, which is 97 per cent Muslim, is described as “sinking fast into a morass of Islam”….
The presiding magistrate in the case, Idrissa Mbai, said that he intended the sentence to deter others seeking to criticise the government of President Yahya Jammeh, who has cracked down on dissent in the wake of a series of coup attempts.
“I found the offences of the accused party to be very shocking. They have shown no respect for the country, the government and the president of the republic. I will send a clear message to the offenders,” he said. He also imposed fines of £6,250 on each of the defendants. Failure to pay will result in an additonal six months in prison, he said.
Freedom of speech, certainly freedom to criticize, should never be taken for granted. In Islamic countries caution is especially called for. Read more here.
…and Diane Smith, according to this article in the Courant. Is this more evidence of the decline of Old Media or an attempt to do something else, which would be to slightly de-politicize the station, perhaps?
Steve Salhany, operations manager at [parent company] CBS Radio/Hartford, said the new lineup was intended to help provide listeners with the political and economic information they need, as well as a vehicle to voice their opinions on important issues.
“We believe increasing our live news coverage and providing listeners with more ways to interact with the station is the right direction for WTIC to be moving as we all look for ways to better adapt to the changing business environment,” Salhany said.
I’ll be curious to see what Ms. Smith and Mr. McEnroe do next. In particular I’m tempted to think McEnroe will fare quite well on his own should he wish to develop his own punditry brand. I think he needs to go out and register colinmcenroe.com before someone squats on it.
OK, this is the year. The year you’re going to do it! You will actually read through the Bible.
I will? I can? Well, if Matthew Henry could spend 11 hours a day in the Word and in prayer, you can definitely rise to the occasion and read through the Bible in a whole year. It wouldn’t take you nearly that long. Honest.
In fact, it’s been made a lot easier for anyone who’s online a lot, or travels, or has an iPhone, etc. Many thanks to Aaron Sauer, who has published a Bible Reading Plan for 2009 on Google Calendar and in iCal format.
So there! No excuses…
UPDATE from Aaron Sauer:
Hey Nick, thanks for the post. Just wanted to let you know that I updated the links http://twitter.com/aaronsauer/status/1087649542 …I used Logos Bible Software to create the reading plan which uses pericope boundaries (a set of verses that forms one coherent thought).
It’s out of fashion to say it out loud but nonetheless true that there will be no permanent peace in the Middle East (or anywhere else) until we have the actual presence of the Prince of Peace with us. We believe that a king, Messiah Jesus, will reign in righteousness and that this reign will be personal, literal, and physical. (Acts 1:11) Having said this, I want to be quick to say that Christians are called to be at peace with others (Romans 12:18) and to make peace. Christians should imitate God by upholding and working for justice for all people. This being the case, how should we assess the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza?
In Connecticut, we have a blog, which I won’t dignify with a link, which refers to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as Israel’s “Blond Bitch of Belsen.” Besides being crude, the moral equation between the Holocaust and Israel’s own right of self-defense is offensive in the extreme.
The Arab-Israeli wars have long been a David-and-Goliath scenario, but the Left has skillfully transformed the public’s perception such that Israel, vastly outmanned and tiny in territory has been transformed into the Goliath. The issues are of course complex, but the simplistic thinking is not to be found among Biblical Christians, as the media would have us believe.
How should we begin to think about Gaza?
First, it would be irrational to separate this conflict from the larger context of the Jihad which is being waged against Israel and other Western nations by Muslim radicals. To say this is not to agree with or support everything that the Bush Administration has done, but it would be foolhardy not to take the statements of the jihadists at face value – something the U. S. has seldom done, at least publicly. Christians must recognize that radical Muslims do not believe their own apocalyptic vision can unfold properly until there is effective war against the Jews. Not enough people understand that Muslims are expecting their own Messiah, called the Mahdi, whom they believe will subjugate the world with the help of none other than Jesus, called Isa by Muslims. Many are now noting that the Muslim “end times” seems to present us with a dark mirror of the biblical apocalypse in which their Messiah seems to fulfill the deeds and functions of the Biblical Antichrist. In any event, there can be little doubt of coordination between Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others.
Second, the world’s prejudices are never more on display than when Israel makes a military move. Someone has cleverly pointed out that if Israel were to make a “proportional response,” it would have to fire off 2,000 rockets unannounced into Gaza and rejoice by handing out candies when there were casualties. Only Israel is held to such a standard, which is designed solely to hamstring it, pure and simple. When Jews are killed for being Jews, no one cares.
Third, Christians are no longer in agreement that the land of Israel belongs to Israel by Divine grant. The persistent, malicious name-calling of the Left has ensured that anyone holding such a position is referred to as a “Christian Zionist” and his opinions are therefore to be dismissed out of hand. Yet Christians do well to remember the anger of God against those who divide the land, and would deny Israel even a sliver of the Middle East.
If ever in doubt as to how to pray, Christians should pray for his Kingdom to come, and His Will to be done!
Dr. Lenora Williams
“Testimonies,” a local contemporary Christian band featuring lead female singer Dr. Lenora Williams, a physician at Rockville General Hospital and owner of Ellington Ob-Gyn Associates, will appear at the Jacob’s Well Coffehouse on Friday, January 2 at 7 PM. Over the years, the group has performed at various local churches, coffeehouses and festivals. The coffeehouse will close with a stirring rendition of The Lord’s Prayer by Ellington resident Arno Groot on the saxophone.
Jacob’s Well Christian Coffeehouse is held at the North Wing Storefront at Union Congregational Church, 3 Elm Street in downtown Rockville. Admission is free. For details and directions, visit the coffeehouse website at www.JacobsWellCoffeehouse.com.
Jonathan Edwards
From the Connecticut House of Prayer comes this notice:
The New Hampshire Alliance is a coalition of pastors who covenant to pray together for revival in their state on a regular basis, similar to the Connecticut Pastors’ Alliance Rick McKinniss coordinates. They are part of the New England Alliance. For the past few years they’ve agreed to hold prayer meetings in their churches across the state on the FIFTH FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH, which would be about every quarter. This is patterned after the quarterly prayer meetings Jonathan Edwards organized in the 1700s that ushered in the first Great Awakening.
The New Hampshire Alliance is now challenging the rest of the New England states to coordinate and hold FIFTH FRIDAY PRAYER MEETINGS. We at the CT House of Prayer have agreed to facilitate this.Would you hold community-wide prayer meetings on the FIFTH FRIDAY of every month throughout 2009? The dates would be as follows:
January 30
May 29
July 31
October 30
We encourage everyone in Connecticut to observe these dates as days of fasting and prayer for our State. This method of quarterly fasting for revival was the same method popularized by Jonathan Edwards in 1747 when he wrote his work, “An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People in Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth.“
Here are some fresh updates to our Church Map, as we’ve been seeking to fill geographic “holes” that have existed in the map since its earliest days. If you would like to submit your church or another church for inclusion, please let us know.
Granby: Valley Brook Community Church
Lebanon: Lebanon Bible Church
Middlefield: Victory Christian Church
Moosup: Faith Community Church
New Milford: Bible Baptist Church
Norwalk: Northeast Community Church
Norwich: Norwich Alliance Church
Pawcatuck: Lighthouse Community Baptist Church
Pleasant Valley: Praise Christian Fellowship
Southbury: Calvary Fellowship
Stamford: Bethany Assembly of God
Suffield: River Valley Fellowship Church
Voluntown: Living Word Fellowship
Our Church Map, powered by Google Maps, is a great resource and it’s still growing as we continue to add Evangelical and Charismatic churches across the state. Click on a pin and you can find information such as:
We hope to add additional features in the future, so stay tuned.
We’ve also added a few more churches to the Map:
Have a church you’d like to see added? Let us know!