Christianity 101

Christian Militia and VOM

Just so you know, No connection between ministry and Christian militia:

Nine members of the Michigan-based Hutaree Christian militia group face sedition and weapons charges

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the group was planning to kill a law enforcement officer, then attack the funeral procession with explosives.

The group drew much of its cult-like substance from the events described in the Book of the Revelation and the end times. As a result, according to the indictment, they seemed to see local and state police as “foot soldiers” for the federal government, the “New World Order.”

The group’s name means “Christian Warriors,” and they have a martyr’s complex. Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs says, “We have not had any connection with this organization. We do not have any contact with any member of this organization. This is simply a situation where they put a link to us on their Web site.”

VOM wants to tell the stories of the persecuted church, so they have an open link policy. That doesn’t mean, however, that they endorse the group using the link. In fact, VOM functions on a different mission from the Hutaree cult. “The Voice of the Martyrs has never advocated violence. In fact, the Christians that we serve around the world respond to persecution with forgiveness.”

In a release, VOM notes, “While we understand that all are innocent until proven guilty and wait for results of the legal process, we want to clearly state that violence is not an acceptable response to religious differences.”

[…]

As a result of the terrorism charges and other extremist views being reported on this group, scrutiny is close. As the story unfolds, numerous media reports are portraying Christians as terrorists.

Pastor Juan Mauricio Muñoz

In the recent Chilean earthquake…

Muñoz and his family lost their own home and most of their possessions. Upon their return home, Muñoz was overwhelmed by the devastation that had leveled whole blocks and thrown cars three blocks from where they had been parked.

Yet amid the devastation, Muñoz has been working hard for the Lord. His produce business was not destroyed, nor was his house, so he has been handing out free produce to those in need of food and housing various victims in his church building. Muñoz and his church members have been spreading the love of Christ as they put the needs of their hurting neighbors before their own.

Pray that the Lord would bring good from this sorrow. Pray that Pastor Muñoz and his church would be safe and would know how to use this tragedy for God’s glory.

Source: Despite devastation, pastor and church put Christ first

Have or Have Not?

Wow! I’ve been hanging on to this for a long time. Ever since January 27! 😯

The day before I’d seen this entry in our Light for the Day flip calendar:

A wise man does not grieve for the things he has not, but rejoices for the things which he has.

Well, the morning of the 27th Ruby called my attention to two devotional entries she’d read in My Utmost for His Highest.

So I found them online for my quoting convenience and your reading convenience.

First, from January 26:

Look Again and Consecrate

If God so clothes the grass of the field . . . , will He not much more clothe you . . . ? —Matthew 6:30

A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field . . .” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.

[the rest of it]

Then the entry for January 27: Read it all

Haiti: A Severe Mercy

a relief worker reports from #Haiti --

This quote breaks into the story:

“Well, here it goes, boys!”

Stephen Shankster called out some final instructions and bits of advice as we pulled up to a wide field that was now serving as a “tent city” – neighborhoods of sheets draped over crossed poles or sticks, housing thousands of Haitians who have lost their homes and their few possessions.

“This is a moderately sized tent city,” Stephen explained. “There’s probably around 3,000 people living here.” Stephen is a German Baptist who has volunteered with Christian Aid Ministries in Haiti for the past five years and is fluent in Creole. Seth and I, along with four CAM missionaries and two Haitians, were in the back of a covered truck filled with hygiene kits, tarps and other relief materials. The living conditions in these cities are beyond deplorable. The hastily erected tents are stacked almost on top of each other and there is no running water and no sewage. The only food and water they receive is brought in by relief organizations or the U.S. military.

“Back up against that wall, really close,” Stephen called out to the driver. “Closer! It has to be narrow enough that only one person can fit through at a time so they don’t mob us.”

“Looks like we chose the local bathroom to hand our stuff out,” Daniel Horner, another German Baptist working with CAM, observed as he gingerly alighted from the back of the truck. By now a crowd of curious onlookers was quickly closing in on the truck. Their wild eyes emanated desperation. For a moment I could feel their anguish as I looked into their eyes and I saw myself. These were people, just like me, with hopes and dreams for their futures. Now by circumstances completely out of their control they were here in this squalor, existing little better than animals.

At first the distribution went relatively smoothly….

Ah, but now you shall have to visit 3 Guys in Haiti for the before and after portions!

Haiti: News You May Have Missed

A catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter in a highly-populated area struck the nation of Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. In the month after the earthquake, reports indicated that more than three million people were affected by its devastation, including over 200,000 dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 left homeless.

What neither you nor I have heard anything about is what happened in Haiti one month later on Feb. 12, 2010. It is the stuff of news, good news, but there is no evidence on any major news organization Web site that the event ever occurred. None of the major television news organizations covered it.

[…]

This is the news from Haiti you will not hear. It is good news.

With the global humanitarian initiative to aid the Haitian people in their recovery from disaster, countless people have assisted in concrete ways. They have delivered supplies, pulled people from rubble, brought food and water, treated the sick and injured, buried the dead and made every effort to bring order to a land of turmoil. Haitians have witnessed the hand of God at work in the presence of so many people willing to put their lives on hold to help.

Source: News from Haiti you will not hear — I encourage you to read the whole story!

Cut Down (ie RIP)

Two large trees
Well aged
And mature
Shading many of us.

Cut down
This past week
Sadly
Though unsurprisingly.

Farewell
Howard King
And John Yoder
Til we meet you
On the other side.

And thanks
Many thanks
For the shade.

That’s not how I planned to start this post. But my own plans notwithstandingatall, that’s what happened.

What I intended to say originally was something along the lines of, “No, they weren’t cut down! They were transplanted!”

We lost them, like someone loses a bar of gold when he puts it in the country’s bestest, safest, guaranteedest safety deposit box. It’s not lost at all.

So we say we lost John and Howard. And we did. But in reality, they are founder and safer than they’ve ever been. We get them back eventually. Provided we go where they are now kept by The Master Banker, if you will.

That is hope — Christian hope!

Howard died this past Wednesday afternoon around four. John died early yesterday morning around 12:15.

Howard: Welcome to Glory, John!

John: Thank you, Howard! You’re looking great!!

Howard: Yup. And check this out: no more incomplete fingers!

John: Yeah, I can see that…with two eyes.

Yeah, I know. Kinda strange. But in a nice sort of way.

And here’s something also kinda-strange-to-the-human-mind, but also in a nice sort of way:

“Precious
in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.”
Psalm 116:15
Private
Above all, love God!