Dear family & friends in Christ, Attached is an advertisement and an excellent editorial from today Monday 20th January edition of the Dandenong Journal in regard to Australia Day weekend…
August 29, 2013 – By Mark Ellis of Godreports
He was attending a business convention with his brother and another family member when random shots sprayed a crowd outside an Atlanta restaurant.
Three intoxicated young men were denied entrance to the eatery and retaliated with a burst of nine-millimeter bullets from an Uzi submachine gun. One of the shots entered the back of Matthew Botsford’s head, lodging itself in the frontal lobe of his brain.
“They were angry, so they took a shot straight up the sidewalk,” says Matthew. “If you took a hypodermic needle, heated it up, and stuck it in your head, that’s what I felt,” he says. “It was a searing hot pain, then things went black.”
His body slammed to the pavement and the last thing he remembers is the cold, hard cement amid “inky” darkness.
He was at the edge of death – if not clinically dead — three times after his heart stopped once on the sidewalk, once in the ambulance, and once in the emergency room of Piedmont Hospital. But weak vital signs returned and doctors induced a coma that lasted 27 days to reduce brain swelling.
Matthew’s wife, Nancy, described the horrifying ordeal in her book, “A Day in Hell; Death to Life to Hope” (Tate Publishing).
For immediate release
Aussies unite to pray in Melbourne on Australia Day weekend / Grand Opening of Catch the Fire Ministries in City of Casey
On Saturday January 25 from 10am – 1pm on Australia Day weekend, hundreds of patriotic Aussie’s from different churches, denominations, ethnicities, and states will gather in Melbourne to pray for Australia and to also celebrate the Grand Opening of Catch the Fire Ministries in the City of Casey.
“This National Prayer Day for Australia is a major opportunity for reconciliation and unity as different ethnicities, churches, and denominations, including Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Protestants, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Evangelicals, Salvation Army and others, come together to corporately pray for our nation’s Government, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, and protection over our country from bush fire & terrorism.
With special guest speaker Pastor Daniel Pandji from Indonesia (the largest Islamic country in the world with 250 million people). He will share with Aussie Christians on ‘How to take a stand as a Christian.’
Pastor Daniel Nalliah said today in Melbourne, “It is a day when everyone who calls Australia home, no matter which land they came from, can be proud to be a part of this great nation. I encourage all patriotic Australians to fly an Australian flag from their rooftops, windows, on their cars or in their front gardens, as a symbol of appreciation of all that Australia means to us.”
“The Australian flag, with its Union Jack, the Commonwealth Star and the five stars of the Southern Cross, is the flag under which our brave forefathers fought and died to keep this nation the free, independent, democracy that we all enjoy today.”
By Morgan Lee , Ch
ristian Post Reporter – December 24, 2013|
“Amid Xmas extravagance and festivities, Christians should pray for millions of fellow believers being killed and persecuted in Middle East,” tweeted the owner of News Corp, an American multinational media company which owns Fox News.
Although Murdoch has professed to be a Christian, his three divorces and the “sleaze, tabloid sex, scandal and nudity” promulgated by his publications have left some questioning his faith.
In 2004, however, while still married to his second and Catholic wife, Murdoch explained where he fell religiously.
“They say I’m a born-again Christian and a Catholic convert and so on. I’m certainly a practicing Christian, I go to church quite a bit, but not every Sunday and I tend to go to the Catholic church – because my wife is Catholic, I have not formally converted. And I get increasingly disenchanted with the C of E or Episcopalians as they call themselves here. But no, I’m not intensely religious as I’m sometimes described.”
Murdoch’s comments come at the end of a chaotic year for Middle Eastern Christians.
By Mark Ellis- December 20, 2013
He escaped from North Korea 15 years ago and became a Christian in South Korea. On a recent mission trip to North Korea’s Hamgyong province, he found young leaders well-trained in Christian theology, eager to build God’s underground church in one of the most repressive and isolated governments on earth.
“I taught three North Korean Christians,” says Jihoon *. “All of them were from my hometown. It was really good to meet them. They had already studied theology and were trained very well.”
The men discussed the peculiar ideology that rules North Korea – “Juche” – which became a cult of personality centered around its founding proponent, Kim Il-sung, now considered the ‘eternal president’ of North Korea following his death in 1994. The Juche idea states that “man is the master of everything and decides everything.”
“I told them that Kim Il Sung’s parents were Christians and he also knew about the Bible so that Kim Il Sung made the Juche ideology based on the Bible,” Jihoon recounts. “Kim Il Sung twisted the truth of the Bible to establish his own idea.”
Every now and then readers of this site, while thanking me for my coverage of the Islamization of Europe, have kindly asked if it’s possible for me to provide an occasional break from the endlessly depressing accounts of jihad and appeasement and dhimmitude and, quite simply, report on some good news for a change.
Point taken. Here, in recognition of the hopeful message of Christmas and the New Year’s promise, is a year-end dose of tidings of – well, not great joy, but at least possible positive turnarounds on various fronts.
1. BRITAIN: Walking back a dhimmi policy
The Marks and Spencer story. This one went through the whole cycle (from proud corporate declaration of spineless dhimmitude to meek apology therefor) with incredible – and gratifying – rapidity.
Just a couple of days before Christmas, a customer of the posh London retailer told the Telegraph that a Muslim clerk had refused, albeit politely, to ring up her bottle of champagne because the item offended the clerk’s religious convictions. Confronted with this story, a spokesperson for M&S affirmed that, indeed, out of respect for Islam, the store had a policy of allowing Muslim workers to refuse to serve customers purchasing (for example) alcohol and pork, and to pass these haram customers on to other, less discriminating employees.
Result: a huge public outcry, including a Facebook page promoting an M&S boycott. Within hours, M&S was not only apologizing for its wrongheaded policy but (amusingly) insisting that, in fact, it had no such policy at all, and that in the champagne incident the store’s actual policy had not been properly followed.
THE INDEPENDANT – Adam Withnall – 18 December 2013
Victims and family members of those being ‘attacked’ told the Prince about their experiences in the region.
Christians in the Middle East are being “deliberately attacked” in a campaign of persecution led by Islamist militants, Prince Charles said.
Many minority religious organisations have fled the region in the turmoil following the Arab Spring, and in Egypt particularly violence against Coptic Christians saw a marked increase after Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown.
Yesterday the Prince of Wales visited a number of British branches of churches based in the region, and heard from members whose families had suffered from religiously-motivated violence and murder.
Accompanied by Prince Ghazi of Jordan, he spoke to people at the Egyptian Coptic Church centre in Stevenage and the Syriac Orthodox cathedral in west London, before a reception at Clarence House with the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster and the Chief Rabbi.
“We cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are, increasingly, being deliberately attacked by fundamentalist Islamist militants,” Prince Charles told the audience.
“For 20 years, I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity and to dispel ignorance and misunderstanding.
11/19/2013 Larry Tomczak
Mr. President, I thank you for this opportunity to share the following with you.
After graduating from Cleveland State University, where I was privileged to serve as the president of our student body, I was selected for a post at the AFL-CIO headquarters across the street from the White House, your home. One day I bumped into President Nixon as he exited his limo, and I asked him this question: “Mr. President, do you read the Bible?”
The smile he tried to swallow surfaced on his face as he replied with a wink and a nod, “I not only read it, I even quote from it sometimes!”
Although Richard Nixon knew Bible verses, when I reflect on that interchange I still wonder if he was really a born-again Christian. The fruit and witness of his life are a tragedy and make it suspect, so I leave the eternal destiny of this departed leader in the hands of God.
President Obama, would you allow me to share with you that I and scores of others have similar doubts about your conversion and the authenticity of your Christianity? I say up front that while I’m in disagreement with many of your policies and beliefs, I do love you and pray for you every single day. I affirm your God-given leadership gifting and your exemplary role as a husband and a father to your two lovely daughters. Yet I must be honest with you: I’m not sure you’re really a Christian.
Dear family & friends in Christ,
While we in Australia and in the West enjoy the freedom to worship, Christians around the world are persecuted and attacked for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christians in at least 3 churches badly damaged in Sri Lanka have been attacked while worshipping on Sunday the 12th January 2014.
Assembly of God on the Baddegama Road in Hikkaduwa and the Calvary Free Church were both attacked by the mobs yesterday.
Check the following links.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUHCQyxK3ps&feature=youtu.be (Ada Derana News on Hikkaduwa Church attacks – Pastor Daniel has spoken personally to the Pastor in this broadcast who is a personal friend)
http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/27450
http://colombogazette.com/2014/01/12/police-report-to-court-on-church-attack/
http://www.ft.lk/2014/01/13/two-churches-attacked-in-hikkaduwa/
http://www.ceylontoday.lk/16-52769-news-detail-churches-attacked-in-hikkaduwa.html
Please note that although the national news broadcast is in the Sri Lankan language, the footage very clearly shows the Buddhist Monks and mob attacking the church.
Once on the main news site, click on ‘Sunday 12th, Jan 2014.’
http://www.swarnavahini.lk/news/ (need to select news on noon news 12.01.2014 – clip 1 )
Before more churches and Christians are attacked please take some time to act ASAP by emailing or calling the following Sri Lankan High Commission in your respective country.
Following are the contact details for the Embassies (High Commissions) of Sri Lanka in America, England, Australia.
11/27/2013 Taun Cortado – Charisma
The body of a 7-year-old boy in India retrieved from a pond last week revealed horrific details of torture before he was brutally murdered because of his Christian beliefs.
The son of a believer, Anmol went missing after attending Sunday school at a Believers Church on Nov. 17 in northern India. His body was found the following day. Previous threats and persecution of his family indicate he was targeted because of his family’s faith.
“The unprecedented torture and death of this innocent child sadden our hearts incredibly,” says K.P. Yohannan, Gospel for Asia founder and international director. “Persecution of Christians is a weekly occurrence, but this intensity of brutality against a child is unthinkable. In this horrible tragedy, we find strength and hope in Jesus.”
According to Yohannan, persecution of Christians has increased by more than 400 percent in the past few years.
FamilyVoice Australia Media Release 27 November 2013
“Australia should take seriously the warning by Professor Kevin Fenton, UK Director of Health and Wellbeing, that the world faces a new global HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men,” FamilyVoice Australia research officer Ros Phillips said today.
In an address to a UK HIV conference earlier this month, Professor Fenton said that new HIV infections are at a 20 year high, mainly among homosexual and bisexual men. Even sub-Saharan Africa, with a huge incidence of HIV overall, the HIV rate in homosexual men is far higher than in heterosexual men and women.
Despite the development of new drugs, widespread condom promotion and availability along with other tools to combat the disease, there is a potentially catastrophic HIV epidemic in homosexual men in every part of the world.
The professor said the reason for the surge in infections is the two main characteristics of homosexual sex: anal intercourse and promiscuity.
Dear friends & family in Christ,
1) You may click the following link to watch another miraculous healing from near death of a 17 year old girl last May 2013 when Pr Daniel prayed for her and family at the Monash Hospital ICU in Melbourne.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QfmEtmsyPc
All glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, our miracle working God, who brought back hope when there was no hope!
We thank everyone who was praying for this girl and will continue to pray for her total recovery.
2) Our weekly 9.30am & 6.30pm worship services are this Sunday 12th January at CTFM at our new premises at 30 Star Crescent in Hallam, Melbourne.
Pr Daniel will be praying for people at both services.
Raymond Ibrahi
m – www.jihadwatch.org
“Headteacher Lynn Small wrote to parents and said if kids did not attend a ‘racial discrimination note’ would be made on the pupil’s records and would remain there for their school careers.” In other words, their futures would be destroyed. That’s how important it is to the dhimmi British to make sure that everyone has a positive view of Islam and forget about jihad terror and Islamic supremacism.
“Schoolchildren told they would be punished for RACISM if they did not attend a religious workshop on ISLAM,” from SWNS.com, November 22 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur):
Parents today slammed a school after children as young as eight were told they would be punished for RACISM if they did not attend a religious workshop – on ISLAM.
Angry mums and dads were sent a letter by Littleton Green Community School, in Huntingdon, Staffs., warning their children would be considered racist if they did not go on the school trip.
The visit to Staffordshire University – for Year 4 and Year 6 pupils – had been arranged as part of the children’s “cultural education” on November 27.
Headteacher Lynn Small wrote to parents and said if kids did not attend a “racial discrimination note” would be made on the pupil’s records and would remain there for their school careers.
Dear family & fri
ends in Christ,
Following is the message that Pr Daniel shared at the New Year’s Eve Worship & Hopper Night which we’re sure will be a great blessing to you & your loved ones in 2014.
The Donkey Story – One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down.
Dec 18, 2013 – Raymond Ibrahim – www.jihadwatch.org
Why was Ronald Thomas Smith II, an American teaching at Benghazi’s International School, shot to death last Thursday in Libya, even as he “was looking forward to his first Christmas in the United States with his wife and toddler son”?
Most Western media and analysts dismiss the killing as a random act of violence incited by a recent al-Qaeda video.
However, by connecting the dots and looking at precedence, it appears that Smith’s Christianity, specifically his talking about it among Muslims, was the motive behind the slaying.
First consider two facts gleaned from the AP report, “American killed in Benghazi remembered as ‘much loved teacher’”: 1) Smith once had plans to attend seminary, a place devoted to preparing Christians to share the Gospel—a crime according to Islamic law (recall the Coptic Christians tortured and killed on the accusation that they were proselytizing in Libya); 2) according to his home church in Texas, “Ronnie’s [Smith’s] greatest desire was for peace and prosperity in Libya and for the people of Libya to have the joy of knowing God through Christ” (emphasis added).
Then there is the fact that Smith was a “much loved teacher”—a phrase that immediately, if not eerily, brings to mind another very similar story of another “much beloved” American teacher who was killed in the Islamic world for talking about Christianity.