News – SARC Committee ‘Exceptions’ Report

Written by Peter Stokes of Salt Shakers

Was it just coincidence that Mr Hulls released his Media Release on Sunday?
 
Probably not when it was mainly Christians who put up the fight against the further infringements to freedom of Speech and Religion that were being considered by the Victorian Government Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee. (SARC)

Have those concerns been allayed? NO. Is this a win? NO, it is simply LESS of a LOSS than it might have been – dressed up to appear to be a win.

Lest we forget, Mr Hulls has openly stated that he is opposed to ALL discrimination!!
 
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Lou Engle: Urgent Call To Prayer: Signs Of The Times

Lou Engle and Christians Praying for a Jesus RevolutionConvergence

It is critical that the Church in America understands the times and what needs to be done now. The natural things speak of the invisible. Natural happenings on the earth are revealing something that is going on in the spiritual realm. There is a great spiritual conflict with a rising tide of Islamic boldness being manifested. Several happenings are converging this week.

First of all, our President has recently proclaimed, honored, encouraged the Muslim holy days of prayer and fasting called Ramadan. He was very silent on the National Day of Prayer, but very vocal on the support of Ramadan. Interestingly, at the same time, a major Christian leader of the Emergent Church called for forty days of fasting and prayer in the same Ramadan period with the goal that the Church will better understand our Muslim friends. We are all for understanding, but we must have spiritual discernment as to the spiritual dark powers that are being invoked into our nation.

Cause for Concern

At the same time, on the 25th of September, Muslims are calling for a Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington DC: (http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/). They are calling for 50,000 Muslims to gather and pray on the DC Mall. This is the exact word of one of the Sheikhs who is leading this historic gathering: “Muslims should march on the White House. We are going to the White House so that Islam will be victorious, Allah willing, and the White House will become into a Muslim house.” These are not empty words. They speak of a dark spiritual intent and a coming day of great trouble to America.

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Rash Of Attacks On Christians Reported In Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri LankaMonday, 17 August 2009  Krishni de Alwis / Compass Direct News News – Featured News

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Attacks on Christians in Sri Lanka have surged noticeably in recent weeks, following the government’s defeat of Tamil separatists in May.

Attacks were reported in Puttlam, Gampaha and Kurunegala districts in western Sri Lanka, central Polonnaruwa district, Mannar district in the north and Matara district in the south, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL).

Most recently, attackers on July 28 set fire to an Assemblies of God church in Norachcholai, Puttlam district, destroying the building. The pastor received frantic calls from neighbors at about 8:45 p.m. reporting that the building was in flames, echoing a similar arson attack almost a year ago that destroyed the original building on the site. Church members have registered a complaint with police, but at press time no arrests had been made.

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Acts 4:12 United Christian Strategic Meetings to counter the ‘Parliament of the World’s Religions’ in Melbourne

Dear friends and family in Christ,

We’re posting the following email from Salt Shakers for your urgent prayer and action regarding the Acts 4:12 united Christian strategic meetings to counter the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne.

Dear Pastor/Leaders

We invite you to join us at one of three locations in Melbourne for a Pastors briefing and consultation. In December this year Melbourne will host the ‘Parliament of the World’s Religions’ – a gathering of ‘faith’ groups from around the world.

The two Men organising this event suggested to the Australian Government a few years ago that our Federal Parliament should stop being opened with an exclusively Christian prayer. They argued that this should be replaced by a rotation of prayers by the 17 ‘top’ faiths including ‘no religion’.  Some Local Councils have already adopted a roster of prayers at their suggestion and formed ‘Multi-faith Networks’ in their area.
 
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Iran Tightens Grip On Christians As Unrest Roils

Iran\'s Persecution of ChristiansCharisma News Online – Wednesday, 12 August 2009 – Compass Direct News News – Featured News

Amid a violent crackdown on protestors and a purge of opponents within the Iranian government, more than 30 Christians were arrested in the last two weeks near Tehran and in the northern city of Rasht.

Two waves of arrests near Tehran happened within days of each other, and while most of those detained—all converts from Islam—were held just a day for questioning, a total of eight Christians still remain in prison.

On July 31 police raided a special Christian meeting 15 miles north of Tehran in the village of Amameh in the area of Fashan. A Compass source said about 24 Christians, all converts from Islam, had gathered in a private home. In the afternoon police squads in both plain clothes and uniform raided and arrested everyone present. (more…)

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Mr. Obama, What About The Christians Of The Middle East?

Paul BatouAINA (Assyrian International News Agency)  | August 8, 2009 | Paul Batou

AINA) — The oppression of the Iraqi Christians started when Arabs occupied the land in the seventh century. Their method of wiping out Christianity from the region involved the implementation of a simple rule: either convert and follow the Islamic banner or pay heavy taxes (which many Christians could not afford) or face war.

Looking at more modern history, the first genocide of the 20th century began on April 24, 1915. By 1918, 2.65 million Christians including 750,000 Assyrians, 1.5 million Armenians, and 400,000 Greeks were killed by the Ottoman Empire and the Kurds. The Assyrians called this genocide “seyfo” which means sword. In 1933, the massacre of Simmele, in Northern Iraq, resulted in the death of 3000 Christians at the hands of the Iraqi Army. This was the first atrocity committed by the new Iraqi state under after gaining independence from the British in 1932. My village Tin, in Northern Iraq, shared a similar fate in 1961.

The American occupation in Iraq did not end the struggles of the native Christians. Under the watch of our Democratic government and the newly established Iraqi government, Christians continue to face persecution. Here is a list of some of the acts of violence committed as reported by the Assyrian International News Agency:

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Christians Rally To Defend Prayers In Jesus’ Name

Former Military ChaplainCharisma News Online – Wednesday, 05 August 2009 – Adrienne S. Gaines News – Featured News

A former military chaplain who battled the U.S. Navy over the right to pray in Jesus’ name is waging a similar fight in Lodi, Calif., where the City Council in May temporarily banned sectarian prayers before meetings.

Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt expects several hundred people-some from out of state-to join him tonight at 6 p.m. for a “Stand Up for Jesus” prayer rally protesting a city policy requiring all prayers to be “non-sectarian and non-denominational.”

“Jesus is not an illegal word, the Bible is not a banned book, and evangelistic speech is not a crime,” Klingenschmitt wrote in an online petition that collected more than 5,000 signatures, half of them from Californians. The charismatic chaplain plans to present the petition at tonight’s rally.

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Persecution For Conversion From Islam To Christianity

Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0P5IaIE_LI to watch a very serious and powerful testimony of a young girl from Sri Lanka who lives in America and is running for her life from her Islamic…

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It Wouldn’t Happen To The Koran: Pope Attacks Glasgow Art Gallery’s Invitation To vandalise A Bible

Pope Benedict XVIBy Graham Grant

Pope Benedict XVI believes the stunt would not have been contemplated with a copy of the Koran

The Pope has condemned a ‘ disgusting’ taxpayer-funded exhibition in which visitors are urged to deface the Bible.

Visitors were offered pens by gallery bosses so they could scrawl comments on the text – leading to a host of puerile and obscene remarks.

Pope Benedict XVI believes the stunt would not have been contemplated with a copy of the Koran. 

His anger over the show, organised by council-funded arts body Culture
and Sport Glasgow, was expressed by a senior Vatican priest. (more…)

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60 Christian Houses In Pakistan Reduced To Ashes By Chemical Bombs Over Blasphemy Accusation

Pakistan Federal Minister for Minorities condemns violence, while some Christian villagers are missing after July 30 attack

By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan

Scene of the July 30 destructionTOBA TEK SINGH, GOJRA, PAKISTAN (ANS) — In another shocking display of violence in Pakistan, Islamists set ablaze some 60 Christian houses in Korian village in Toba Tek Singh district on Thursday, July 30, 2009, at 9:00 pm Pakistan time after a blasphemy accusation was leveled against a young Christian boy, Imran Masih, and his father Talib Masih.

Eye-witnesses told ANS they could still see plumes of smoke rising from some houses of the village today (Friday, July 31.)

The trouble began for the Christian residents of Korian when Talib, a Christian vendor ignorantly brought home a piece of paper that had Quranic verses written on it, along with some other rough papers.

Talib’s children innocently ripped apart the paper not understanding its contents.

When some local Muslims found the torn pieces of paper, the anti-Christian hostility spread like a wildfire in the village. (more…)

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Christian Sudanese Woman Facing 40 Lashes For Wearing Trousers

By Mail Foreign Service – 30th July 2009

A Christian woman who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers in Sudan made a dramatic appearance in court yesterday to fight her case.

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein walked into the packed hearing in the same green slacks that got her arrested.

Under Islamic laws used in parts of the country, it is illegal for a woman to wear trousers rather than long skirts in public.

Lubna al-Hussein, along with several other women, was arrested for dressing indecently in trousers as she dined in a restaurant

But the law is not supposed to apply to non-Muslims like Miss Hussein, a former journalist who works for the United Nations.

And it is only imposed sporadically in the capital, Khartoum, where she was arrested.
Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, but Miss Hussein has used hers to campaign against dress codes. (more…)

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Crusader For Christian Way – Pastor Danny Delivers Fiery Message

By Jono Pech - Sunrayasia Daily - Saturday, August 15, 2009 PASTOR Danny Nalliah knows some people will not like what he has to say, but he is not afraid…

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Convert From Islam Shot Dead In Somalia

Simba Tian/ Compass Direct News News

SomaliaMuslim extremists early this morning killed a Christian convert in Mahadday Weyne, Somalia, 62 miles north of Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab Islamist rebels shot Mohammed Sheikh Abdiraman to death at 7 a.m., eyewitnesses told Compass. They said the Islamic extremists appeared to have been hunting the convert from Islam, and when they found him they did not hesitate to shoot him.

The sources told Compass that Abdiraman was the leader of an underground “cell group” of Christians in Somalia.

“We are very sad about this incident, and we also are not safe,” one eyewitness said by telephone. “Pray for us.”

The sources were too distraught to share more details about Abdiraman’s death. Another eyewitness who requested anonymity said Abdiraman had been a Christian for 15 years. He is survived by two children, ages 15 and 10. His wife died three years ago due to illness. (more…)

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Christian Leaders Plan Anti-Islam Conference

Sydney Morning Herald Josephine Tovey August 10, 2009 AN EVANGELICAL church leader who blamed bushfires in February on Victoria's abortion laws will address an anti-Muslim Christian conference alongside the Reverend…

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