Blog Entry Posts for Applied Journalism Production class at California Baptist University. For this assignment, we were to create a class blog and comment on other students’ blogs. These are seven of the eight posts that I created. The blog is titled “Hebrews Thirteen-Three.”
Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Wednesday, September 3, 2014 12:20:16 PM PDT
“Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.” Hebrews 13:3 Persecution is not a topic that many Western Christians care to discuss. Who would want to think about harassment, oppression, losing your job, family, church and home, or even your life just because you believe in Jesus? Persecution just doesn’t fit into the idea that many Western Christians have of a loving, caring, protecting God who only wants the very best for those who believe in him. For those contemplating a relationship with Christ, persecution doesn’t seem appealing. Why would it? For new Christians, persecution doesn’t seem to fit into that mountaintop feeling they may be experiencing from having just found the joy in discovering Christ for the first time. Longtime Christians, who have traveled far in their faith journey without any opposition to their Christianity, may doubt that persecution could ever happen to them personally. It’s just not something that happens in our society. Yet, recent news reports coming out of the Ukraine and Iraq have awakened the world to the plight of Christians and people of other religions in a new way. Suddenly, you may be wondering how you can learn more about the topic. I feel that God is using current situations and enemies of Christianity to awaken the West to the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters in other lands. For the next few weeks, we will explore scriptures, news reports, testimonies from the persecuted, and ways that you can help. Next week we will look at recent news reports. I welcome you to follow me on this journey, as well as your thoughts and comments.
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Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Tuesday, September 9, 2014 4:41:04 PM PDT
Father, forgive them. Radical? Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” Matthew 5:43-46a
Jesus’ words above are contrary to our human nature and seem really radical. Maybe even too radical. We feel that it is natural for us to hurt those who hurt those whom we love. I’m sure that you’ve all seen or heard examples of this mentality. A protective mother is often likened to a bear protecting her cubs against anyone who messes with them.
Fathers swear that they will kill any potential boyfriend who ever hurts his princess.
And one of the early American flags touted the phrase “Don’t tread on me” to warn the world that anyone who messes with the U.S.
will be struck down. But Jesus proposes a radical approach to our enemies: Pray for them. Even love them! So who are some of the enemies of Christians that we ought to be praying for? Here are three news stories from this week (Sept 18, 2014): ISIS: According to Christian and mainstream news sources, there are currently over 400,000 Christian refugees that have fled Iraq, Syria and Egypt and the Muslim extremist group ISIS who have killed, tortured, raped, and kidnapped Christians and other minority religious group members.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/09/08/ISISJust-The-Latest-Islamist-Threat-to-Christians
Sangh Parivar: This group, a Hindu nationalist group in India similar to ISIS, called for ridding India of all Christians in that country the same way ISIS is doing in the Middle East. http://www.christianpost.com/news/hindu-nationalistgroup-seeking-to-cleanse-christian-presence-fromindia-is-not-unlike-isis-watchdog-group-warns-126033/
Boko Haram: This militant Islamic group in Nigeria has been waging war against Christians by ransacking and burning churches, stealing all material possessions of Christians, and killing and kidnapping people throughout the nation, especially Christians and school-aged girls. Like Christians who suffer under ISIS’ strong arm, Boko Haram is forcing Christians to flee their homeland and seek refuge in Cameroon. http://news.yahoo.com/nigerias-christians-fearpersecution-boko-haram-rampage-131841750.html
These are but three radical groups that have declared war on Christians and other religious groups. There are many, many more just like them throughout the world. When we hear or read news reports, it’s easy to feel hatred towards these groups. Even if you are not a Christian, I bet you have felt some sort of anger well up in you when you have heard or seen about the horrible, horrible things these groups are doing to people. Rape, torture, murder, and starvation of men, women and children are common practice for these militant groups. And we cannot understand why they are doing these things to their own people. Some might even justify these acts during war, but against the enemy-never against your own people! So we struggle when Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies. We might be able to pray for someone who makes fun of our religion. We might even be able
to pray for someone who has hurt someone we love. But, surely Jesus doesn’t want us to pray for members of ISIS, Sangh Parivar or Boko Haram! That would be like praying for Hitler! But if Jesus could pray for his torturers: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34), then we, as Christians, have no choice but to use this as our example. We have to pray for those who tread on us and our Christian brothers and sisters. Groups like ISIS, Sangh Parivar and Boko Haram need our prayers. Ask God to change their hearts and to help them understand that what they are doing is not God’s plan. Ask God to forgive them. Thank God that he is using groups like these to open the world’s eyes to what is happening to His people. This is the radical step Jesus wants us to take in our prayers. Get Involved! The first step in getting involved is learning. Want to learn more about what is going on with Christians around the world? Try these news sources: www.worldwatchmonitor.org christianresponse.org morningstarnews.org www.persecution.com www.opendoorsusa.org Many of these news organizations can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. __________________
Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Thursday, September 18, 2014 11:08:10 AM PDT
Sharing a ride Yesterday, I had a beautiful opportunity that I don't often get. I believe that it was a gift from God. My husband and I took our daughter to JFK Airport in NYC for her flight to England where she will be studying for the semester. Not really looking forward to driving
into the city, my husband had the wonderful foresight to arrange for a semi-private shuttle service to pick us up at a location just north of the city. The ride on the way down was pleasant and smooth, and since we were already a little tense about sending our daughter off and she was nervous about flying alone for the first time, it really was a blessing. But the ride home was amazing! A different driver, a nice young man who happened to be Muslim, picked us up at JFK for the ride back to our car and we quickly learned that we would be sharing the shuttle with a young man who looked to be about our daughter's age. As he boarded the shuttle after we were seated, he shook both our hands and introduced himself and settled in the seat in front of us. We quickly struck up a conversation. We learned that this young man had just arrived in the U.S. from Jerusalem and was planning on surprising his sister who had just married and moved to the U.S. last year. He was planning on doing some sight seeing in NYC with his sister and her husband before meeting a friend in Chicago where they would spend two weeks before making the trip back home. We talked about Broadway musicals, the amount of traffic in the city, and other things he should see while in the city, his family, and his plans to return home to finish his last year of university. The conversation was light; the driver, the young Jewish man, my husband and I laughed and joked easily together. Then the conversation turned more serious. After a few minutes of silence, I took the opportunity to ask about the situation in Israel. I happened to catch the driver glance back at us in the rearview mirror and hoped that I had not offended him. As the young man from Jerusalem told about how there are no bombings near his home, but that he lives his life everyday worrying about family in friends in the south, we all listened quietly and I watched to see any reaction from the driver. The young man said that he would never leave his home, but that this trip was a nice reprieve from that way of life. He was grateful that his sister was able to move to the U.S. where she would not have to live in fear. When his story ended, we were all silent. I could tell that we were all thinking about what he had said. Still watching the driver, I noticed his facial expression matched mine-that of deep saddness. In that very moment, I realized that this kind of interaction is why I feel led to work with a mission organization that helps persecuted Christians around the world. Many of the organizations that I dream of working for are actively striving toward making sure that Christians are given the same freedom of religion that we have in the United States. And in doing so, they are also making sure that people of all religions are granted that same freedom.
I know that this is not what some Christians believe we should be doing, but that we should only work to take care of our own. But how can we fight for freedom for some, but not others? If we only fought for religious freedom for Christians, then someday, somewhere, someone would surely take those freedoms away from the Christians. Which is exactly why we have so many issues in the world today: One religious group thinking that they are better, or are owed something that another group has. And that is not God's way. God choses his people, but he also does not force anyone to come to him that does not want to. If God wanted, he could make everyone bow down to him this very minute, and someday he will, but for now we have to learn to live with one another and show compassion toward one another so that the persecution of all religious groups grows less and less. From the Bible, I know that this will never happen, but that fact doesn't make me want to stop trying. In fact, it makes me want to share more rides with another Christian, a Jew and a Muslim, where we can talk about things like sushi and public transportation. And I can witness three men from different religious backgrounds all shake hands and part with smiles on their faces instead of thoughts about war. To me, that is what religious freedom means. ----------------------
Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Wednesday, September 24, 2014 12:42:06 PM PDT
It’s getting to be that time of year again. November 2 is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. IDOP began 18 years ago (1996) when the World Evangelical Fellowship organization gathered several denominations and faith-based organizations together to encourage
Christians around the world to commit to one common day of prayer on behalf of persecuted Christians. The goals of IDOP have not changed over the years: 1. To increase awareness of the persecuted Church 2. To pray for the persecuted church 3. To promote action on behalf of the persecuted church IDOP is heavily promoted by many of the same denominations and organizations today that committed to the prayer effort in 1996. All of the organizations have resources available to churches and individuals to use on IDOP such as bulletins, prayer points, and pamphlets. Open Doors also has other resources to purchase. I have found that my favorite source is Open Doors, USA because they have several special resources that change every year to keep things fresh, most are free, but some have a small fee. In the past, I have got large banners, Bible sponsorship cards, t-shirts, and bracelets. The banners and the “One With Them” rubber “barbed wire” bracelets are my absolute favorites!
Open Doors still has the bracelets available. They cost $5 for a pack of 5 or $25 for a pack of 25. You can order them through their store: https://secure2.convio.net/ccod/site/Ecommerce?store_id=1901&PAGENUM=3 Another great feature that Open Doors has this year is a live interactive webcast, which you can sign up for at http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/idop/2014/#. Just follow the link at the bottom of the webpage to sign up for the webcast. You don’t have to organize a large event. I have organized small and large groups, in my church and in my home. This year, I am hosting a potluck dinner at my home with a small group to pray and watch the webcast.
I hope that you will join me in committing to praying on November 2 (and everyday!) for all those persecuted throughout the world. With all of the threats that have been brought to light this year, they need your prayers more than ever! ------------
Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Tuesday, September 30, 2014 7:24:44 AM PDT
So you want to pray more for Christians in other countries, but you don’t know where to start? There are some really great print and internet sources out there to help get you started. Here are some of my favorites: Print Operation World: This is my go-to print source. It’s a bit pricey at about $20 for the paperback edition, but well worth every penny. There’s an ebook edition, but I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you plan to use it on a tablet because it’s really large. Operation World is a prayer guide for every single nation on the planet. Listed in alphabetical order, you have access to vital statistics about the nations, how God is working in that nation, and what needs to be prayed for. I love it because it’s easy to read, see trends in persecution, and gets straight to the point. Another great feature of Operation World is that there is an accompanying interactive website (www.operationworld.org) with prayer resources that you can use with the book. Operation World by Jason Mandryk. Biblica. ISBN 978-185078-862-1. Available online through http://www.operationworld.org/ or any major bookseller. Note: I just came across a sale on the Open Doors USA website for this book-a steal at $10! https://secure2.convio.net/ccod/site/Ecommerce/1405793227? store_id=1901 The Persecuted Church Prayer Devotional: Not quite as comprehensive as Operation World, this devotional is still a great resource for praying for persecuted Christians. Written by Beverly J. Pegues, co-founder and president of a Window International Network, a mission organization dedicated to educating the world about the places in the world where persecution is greatest, this handy guide hits all the major points in the same basic format that Operation World except the statistical resources. Like Operation World, this devotion has an interactive website
(www.win1040.com). There’s even a page on the website for kids, which features an interactive webzine. The Persecuted Church Prayer Devotional by Beverly J. Pegues. Authentic Books. ISBN 978-1-932805-90-1. Available online through win1040.com/resources/php ($10) or major booksellers. Prayer Cards: Looking for something a little more portable, that can also be shared with other people? Open Doors USA has pocket sized prayer cards that have prayer ideas to get you started. The cards come in packs of 50 and are meant to be shared. I haven’t yet used these cards, but am planning on ordering them within the next week or two. The cost is $10 for the set. Available at https://secure2.convio.net/ccod/site/Ecommerce/1959673227? VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=3501&store_id=1901 Internet In addition to the Operation World and Window International Network, here are a few of my favorite online prayer resources: Open Doors USA: Aside from being my #1 go-to resource for all things dealing with persecution, this organization has a number of prayer resources available through its website, Facebook and Twitter. You can either like their Facebook page, follow their tweets, or visit the website (www.opendoorsusa.org) and click on the “Pray” link at the top of the home page. Joshua Project: The Joshua Project is am evangelical mission organization that is dedicated to serving the “Unreached People Groups” and their work doesn’t necessarily fall into the category of persecution, but most of the places that they focus also happen to be the world’s greatest persecuting nations. In my opinion, the best prayer resource that The Joshua Project has is their interactive monthly calendar. Go to joshuaproject.net/resources/prayer_calendars. On the left side of the screen there’s a picture of a calendar with several options underneath to choose from-all of these are a great place to start. But there’s another gem found directly below the list, so you’ll have to scroll down a little. Click on the “40 Days of Prayer” image. The calendar will appear in another window, and is designed to give you an overview on the world’s prayer needs. You can click on the blue nations on each day and that brings you to a page that gives you information about that country, what is happening to Christians and what to pray for.
There are many, many more prayer resources out there, but these are, in my opinion, the best of the best and can help you get started praying for Christians outside the U.S. --------
Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Tuesday, October 7, 2014 10:49:29 AM PDT
Does Christian persecution exist in America today?
There is a lot of debate in Christian circles about this. You be the judge. Yes, there is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdwFwM4BHpE No, there isn't: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/myth-persecuted-american-church So, what is your opinion? ---------
Posted by
Carol A. Kinney at Tuesday, October 14, 2014 6:53:14 AM PDT
A few years ago, my former pastor gave me a book to read because he thought that I would find it interesting. As mission leader for our congregation, I was assigned the task to evaluate how our church was "doing" mission at that time, and to determine if some programs and works were biblically sound. My pastor, who was new to the congregation at that time, wanted the congregation to have an equal share in local, regional and world mission, and he felt that the book would help me to understand the world better. I have to admit that with all that I was assigned to at church, plus raising a family, working full-time, caring for an aging parent and usual life stuff, I placed the book on my bookshelf and forgot about it. Then one day several months later I was going through my books to see what could be discarded, when I came across that book and realized that I had not gotten around to reading it. Feeling guilty, I poured all my free time for the next week into reading that book. That book changed my life. It was the one of the reasons that my whole outlook on my faith changed. It was one of the reasons that my whole outlook on Christ's mission changed. It was one of the reasons that ultimately led me to go back to school. That book was God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew. It tells the story of how Andrew van der Bijl came to a point in his life in which he felt God telling him to smuggle Bibles into communist Yugoslav in 1957 to benefit the Christians there. From there van der Bijl, better known as Brother Andrew, knew that God's chosen path for him was to serve persecuted Christians. Brother Andrew made this his mission in life, and eventually went on to establish Open Doors. Open Doors is a worldwide mission organization that aids persecuted Christians around the world. When I read this book, my whole outlook on Christianity changed. For months, all I could think of was these Christians in other nations who do not have the freedom to
worship or read the Bible, yet their faith seemed so much stronger than my own. I felt moved to help, just as Brother Andrew had and does. So I read more and more . . . Some of the other books that I read at that time and over the years are: • Jesus Freaks and Jesus Freaks Revolutionaries by dc Talk • Faith that Endures by Ronald Boyd-MacMillan •
The Costly Call by Emir Fethi Caner and H. Edward Pruitt
•
Red Skies at Dawn by Paul Estabrooks and Jim Cunninham
• •
The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway Back Fired by William J. Federer
•
Death of a Guru by Rabi R. Maharaj
•
Secret Believers by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen
•
Prisoner of Conscience by Frank Wolf
These are but a few book that I recommend if you want to know more about what Christians in other nations go through for their faith. I highly recommend starting with God's Smuggler or the updated version called The Narrow Way both by Brother Andrew, just as I did. Who knows where it could lead you?!