Tragedy, Judgment, Grace

Bill Muehlenberg of CultureWatchCultureWatch – 11.01.11 – Bill Muehlenberg’s commentary on issues of the day…

Whenever a major disaster or national tragedy breaks forth, a heated debate tends to arise within Christian circles. Opinions tend to be polarised, with two sets of extremes on offer. On the one hand are those who claim this is all the judgment of God, and people need to repent. On the other hand are those who argue that God would never do such things, and it is ridiculous to drag God into any of this.

From a biblical point of view, I tend to find both perspectives unhelpful. The truth is, we often simply do not know – and are not told – why a particular event happens. Are the floods in Queensland the direct and specific work of God, whether in judgment or for some other reason?

Who knows? I can’t say that it is or it is not. We simply cannot know for certain. So we need to be careful about rushing to judgment here. The truth is, when God acted in the Old Testament, he generally revealed his purposes in his actions. He would communicate his purposes to man, often through his prophets. Thus divine actions were explained by divine speech.

We now refer to this as speech acts. God acts, but he utters his intentions along with it. There are countless examples of this found in the Old Testament. For example, Yahweh says to Jeremiah, “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?’ then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law’” (Jer. 16:10-11).

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Prayers answered – Brisbane river did not reach its expected peak

Crowd at parliament stepsDear family & friends in Christ across Australia and around the World,

We thank our faithful Heavenly Father for the tremendous answer to yesterday’s prayers as the Brisbane river did not reach its expected peak. Thank you so much for praying.

When around 100 Bible-believing God-fearing Christians gathered at the Victorian Parliament steps yesterday 12th January a few people asked Pr Daniel as to why he gave such short notice regarding the prayer meeting. He responded, “It was because the  need was immediate and he had the sudden prompting of the Holy Spirit to stand in the gap for the Queensland and our nation of Australia.  It was not so much about how many people came for the meeting as it was about Bible-believing God-fearing Christians around the nation uniting in prayer and standing together in the gap for our nation.”

We thank God that last night Channel 9 and Channel 7 News covered part of the prayer meeting on the steps of the Victorian Parliament, taking the need for prayer to homes all across Australia.

Click on the following link to watch the brief news flash on Channel 7 which was a very positive report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1yWlUPvxtY

Also, click on this link for our highlights footage of the meeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wi7VQjaGqI

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Prayer Rally on Victorian Parliament Steps a Great Success

100 Christians gather to pray at Victorian ParliamentChristians on their knees in repentance to the LordDear family & friends in Christ in Australia and around the World,

Firstly, We want to praise and thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for stopping the rain just in time in downtown Melbourne, so that we could have the prayer meeting on the steps of Parliament. 

For those of you living out of Melbourne, there was heavy rain pouring down all night and early morning, but after we prayerfully asked our faithful Heavenly Father to stop the rain so that we could have the prayer meeting, He answered our prayers. Glory to God.

Around 100 Bible-believing God-fearing Christians from many churches, denominations & cultures dared the rain and gathered today Wednesday 12th January 2011 at midday at the Victorian Parliament steps in Melbourne to prayerfully repent and stand in the gap for our nation of Australia, particularly for the flood crisis in QLD and the fires in WA.

We thank and praise our prayer answering God that thousands more gathered around the country at the same time to bring our nation of Australia before the Lord’s heavenly throne of grace and mercy to seek Him to heal our land as in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.

It was a very rare sight to witness around 100 Christians fall on their knees in repentance and prayer, kneeling right on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in full view of all the public in the city of Melbourne.

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Toowoomba disaster / Urgent Prayer meeting on Wed 12th Jan at Parliament steps in Melbourne from 12 to 1pm / Pr Daniel

Toowoomba FloodsDear family & friends in Christ,

I hope you received my last email on Saturday regarding the floods in QLD, calling on the church to repent and pray for our nation.  I hope many of you are standing in the gap in prayer, repentance and  fasting.
 
As per the warning we received from the Lord at the all night prayer meeting last Friday, we were told that much more disaster was yet to come, but if we as the church would stand in the gap for our nation that we could avert the disaster.
 
No one ever expected an inland tsunami in Toowoomba as described by the media this morning!   I watched the news and was shocked to see land, houses, cars and people getting just simply swept away. What  got my attention was that the insurance companies were calling it an “Act of God” as categorised in their policy.
 
As the flooding continues in QLD, the nation is faced with another major crisis with raging fires in WA. There are 2 things we can do, we can simply say, ‘I am not affected, so who cares. This is just another natural disaster’, and then turn and go to sleep.  Or we could get on our knees and cry out to the Lord to protect our nation.  Just put yourself in the place of those who are victims of the flooding or fires. These are our fellow Aussies who are in great trouble right now.
 
We are calling on all Christians in Victoria to gather at the parliament steps in Melbourne on Wednesday the 12th of January 2011 (tomorrow) from 12 to 1pm to pray for the people of QLD and stand in the gap for our nation in this hour of crisis.   We need to ask God to forgive us and save our land from any further disaster.

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Cavs offer homeless man with golden voice, job and house

Ted WilliamsBy: Garrett Downing

CLEVELAND – A day after a homeless man from Columbus became an Internet sensation, the Cleveland Cavaliers have offered the man a job and a house, the team confirmed to NewsChannel5.

Ted Williams has become a national phenomenon overnight, and during an interview on Columbus radio station 97.9 Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman from the Cavs called in and made him the offer.

The team offered Williams full-time voiceover work with the Cavs and Quicken Loans, and also offered to pay a mortgage on a home.

“We’d like to offer you full time work with the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as Quicken Loans Arena,” spokeswoman Tracy Marek said. “On top of it, because we know you’re a person trying to get up and on your feet, Quicken Loans is actually offering to pay a mortgage on a home.”

“That’s the best deal ever!” Williams said.

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Nearly 70 Thousand Make Commitments for Christ in Dominican Republic

Dominion Republicby Aimee Herd : Jul 19, 2010 : Joshua A. Goldberg – Christian Post

“Projects like this show that evangelism is not only for pastors, but for anyone who longs for those around them to experience the hope and love found only in Jesus Christ.”

 The Christian Post reports on the effectiveness of BGEA’s My Hope ministry in the Dominican Republic, as 69,188 people turned to the Lord during the evangelism outreach this year.

Over 5,500 churches worked together on the project which involved programs where Christians opened their homes for meetings and events—a combined total of 59,000 of them—including a TV sermon and testimony from either Rev. Billy or Franklin Graham.

Bill Conard, Vice President of international ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association noted, “These faithful Christians took a bold step in inviting their friends and neighbors to their homes, and God truly worked through their efforts and prayers.”

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Are the QLD floods the result of Kevin Rudd speaking against Israel?

Avigdor Liberman meets with Kevin Rudd in JerusalemDear family & friends in Christ,Flooding of Biblical Proportions

It is 11.50pm on Friday night the 7th of January.  You might wonder what I am doing in my office at this time.  Well we are all at the all night prayer meeting at the CTFM base.  We started the prayer meeting at 7.30pm and would be  finishing at 6am but this issue was so urgent, I thought I must  get the info out to you as soon as possible, so that we can repent on behalf of Australia.

Around 8pm on Friday night the 7th of January we had a strong prompting by the Holy Spirit to repent on behalf of Australia. As we started doing so, I was reminded that every time America went against Israel, there was disaster in the land and this has been documented over the years.

Then at once I was reminded of Kevin Rudd speaking against Israel in Israel on 14th December 2010.  It is very interesting that Kevin Rudd is from QLD.  Is God trying to get our attention?  Yes,  I believe so.

Also the Lord said to us, “ I will humble Australia and bring her down on her knees. As she has taken pride in my blessing, and man has taken the glory and not given it to Me”.

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Mocking of Jesus on channel 10/Answers to prayer in Rockhampton QLD

Kitty FlanaganDear family & friends in Christ,

1 )I received this info yesterday and thought it was important that we act on it ASAP.

The link below is a portion of a program aired on Channel Ten on 4th Jan. While God has a sense of humour, this goes way beyond what is acceptable.

If this was about the Muslim faith and Allah there would be demonstrations and riots on our streets. How dare they speak about of Saviour like this!   I have heard that Channel 10 has been swamped with complaints.  I would encourage you to do the same and ask for a public apology.

To register your complaint call channel ten Melbourne, details as follows:

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Leaders From 70 Nations Meet in Sweden for Pentecostal World Conference

Worshiping the LordFriday, 27 August 2010 12:00 PM EDT Adrienne S. Gaines News – Featured News   

A cross-section of Pentecostal-charismatic leaders from more than 70 nations met this week in Stockholm for the 22nd Pentecostal World Conference.

Hosted in Sweden for the first time in 55 years, the triennial event was held Tuesday through Friday with a focus on equipping churches for spiritual leadership in the next century. Speakers included Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia; Young Hoon Lee, pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea; and German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.

“We need the wind of the Spirit to sweep over the Pentecostal movement to renew the evangelistic zeal and empower us for the challenges of this century,” said Bishop James Leggett, former general superintendent of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) and chairman of the host organization, the Pentecostal World Fellowship (PWF).

Members of most of the classical Pentecostal denominations were present, including leaders from the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.), Church of God of Prophecy, Assemblies of God (AG) and IPHC. Jack Hayford of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, spoke during daytime sessions, along with Oral Roberts University President Mark Rutland, Swedish pastor Ulf Ekman, and Magnus Persson, pastor of United church in Malmo, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Glorious Praise & Worship ushered in the new year at CTFM base

Powerful WorshipDear family & friends in Christ,
 
The Ushering in of the new year was celebrated around the world with fire crackers, parties and family gatherings at homes etc, but the most exciting news is that there were also groups of Christians around the world who came together in prayer and worship to usher in the new year!  Glory to God!
 
Some of you may be surprised to know that also there was a another group of people who were very active during new years eve night, and that was the satanic cults and witchcraft covens. In fact we received messages that the covens had surrounded the Catch The Fire base and covered a five kilometre area trying to stop what we were doing.  We were also informed that some coven members were in attendance at our meeting.
 
Well glory to God, we were so excited to hear the news that the covens were trying hard to disrupt our meeting. This so challenged the people that the place exploded with mighty praise and worship right throughout the night. The presence of God was so strong, at times the people could hardly stand up! There was an amazing spirit of intercession at the meeting and warfare prayer.
 
The place was just bursting with God’s mighty presence. As the new year was ushered in, People danced, and shouted out loud proclamations of victory and declared prophetically “AUSTRALIA FOR JESUS!” three times. Then the showfars and trumpets sounded, while the musicians lifted up worshipful praise to Jesus. People aslo danced with banners and tambourines. 
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Surprise: More hate crimes against Christians than against Muslims

Islam FlagThis morning there was a report that a cab driver in New York was stabbed because he was Muslim. While the facts are still emerging, all reasonable people can agree this is a shameful and un-American act if this proves to be true.

This incident will undoubtedly be used by the media to further push the narrative that the controversy over the Mosque near Ground Zero in New York shows how Americans are bigoted against Muslims. So here’s some clarifying info from the FBI. According to the latest hate crime statistics available, there were 1,606 hate crime offenses motivated by religious bias in 2008. A closer look: 65.7 percent of them were committed against Jews. Against Muslims? 7.7 percent.

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U.S. grants asylum to born-again ‘Son of Hamas’

MosabPosted: June 30, 2010 By Art Moore © 2010 WorldNetDaily

Homeland Security wanted to deport ex-Muslim who spied for Israel – Mosab Hassan Yousef
 
An immigration judge in San Diego ruled today the son of a Hamas founder who converted to Christianity and spied for Israel will be granted political asylum after the Department of Homeland Security dropped its objections.

As WND reported, Mosab Hassan Yousef had been denied his February 2009 request for asylum because the department interpreted his work as a counterterror agent with Israel’s Shin Bet security agency as engagement in terrorist activity, making him a threat to U.S. security.

Judge Rico Bartolomei ruled Yousef will be granted political asylum Aug. 26 after he is fingerprinted and passes a routine background check. Yousef says he wants to become a U.S. citizen.

From the world of radical Islam to the world of the radically transformed. Order your copy of “Son of Hamas” from the WND Superstore now!

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WE NEED Another JESUS MOVEMENT

Jesus MovementBy J. Lee Grady

Share In today’s hip, sophisticated churches, we often forget to preach about Jesus. Let’s get back to basics.

I became a serious Christian at the tail end of the Jesus movement. I was too young to remember the hippie beads, tie-dyed shirts and “Jesus Is Groovy” slogans, but the songs were still popular when I was in college (from musicians such as Andrae Crouch, Love Song and Barry McGuire), as were the movies (especially The
Cross and the Switchblade.)

The Jesus movement was like a spiritual tsunami that washed over hundreds of thousands of young people in the late 1960s and early ’70s and brought them into a personal relationship with Christ.  Some of these kids had been drug addicts and social misfits; most were just average Joes and Janes who discovered that Jesus is a lot more exciting than traditional churches had led them to believe…

Lately I find myself waxing nostalgic for those days-not because I want to return to the awkward fashions and hairstyles of 1972, but because I miss the spiritual simplicity of that era. The Jesus
movement was primarily focused on-surprise!-Jesus. Theology was not complicated, pastors weren’t trying to be hip or sophisticated or tech-savvy; and we hadn’t yet created a Christian subculture with its own celebrities and political power bases.

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Church Building in Israel Set Ablaze

Church FireFriday, 05 November 2010 Wayne King/Compass Direct News – Featured News

An unidentified arsonist in Israel set fire to a Jerusalem church building that has long been a focal point for anti-Christian sentiment in a Jewish ultra-Orthodox-leaning neighborhood, church officials said.

On Friday (Oct. 29) shortly before 1 a.m., someone broke the basement windows of the Jerusalem Alliance Church Ministry Center and set fire to its bottom floors. An area resident noticed the fire and called the fire department, which arrived 20 minutes later and found the church basement engulfed in flames.
 
Firefighters extinguished the blaze, ventilated the smoke and left after inspecting the rest of the building, said Jack Sara, senior pastor of the church.
 
Smoke and the noise of the blaze had awakened 10 volunteer workers who were sleeping at the church’s overnight facilities. The volunteers, who were visiting Israel from the United States and Denmark, went to a nearby hospital and were treated for smoke inhalation; they were released several hours later, church leaders said.
 
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