Spirit of Death

"There was blood splattered all over the walls. Her neck was just hanging from her head; half off. Nobody knows why he did it. It was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen."

This is a paraphrase from a conversation I had with one of my friends this week. I called her to see how she was doing, and she told me the gruesome story of how her husband's aunt had been murdered by her own servant. Living in an upper to middle class section of the city, an incident like this came as a shock to the family. Nobody knows why, but the servant (hired about a month an a half ago) attempted to chop off the aunt's head with an axe. The blade was too dull to make a clean cut, but he succeeded in cutting into her neck enough to kill her.

A second servant had gone out for Friday prayers when the murder took place. When the second servant arrived, he saw the aunt partially decapitated and the other servant running away. He caught the murderer and called the police and family. My friend was one of the first to arrive at the scene, even before the police had come.

Are you wondering why you did not see this story on the news? If this had happened in the US or Europe it surely would have been in the papers. But here, these kind of unnatural deaths happen all too often. I wrote another blog before about the little blurbs about gang rapes, killings, and other horrendous crimes that come in the back of the paper where almost nobody bothers to read them.

As I reflected on this crime, I felt that there must be a spiritual reason behind the high frequency of unnatural deaths and heinous crimes. My friend's aunt who died was only in her early fifties. It reminded me that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Over here, I feel that we are deeply entrenched in territory the enemy has held for thousands of years.

Oh Lord, even though many times it seems so hard to pray and to press in, help me to intercede for the peoples of this land. So many people die unnatural deaths every day, and most of them have probably never heard the gospel. Lord, help me to be intentional in sharing the Word of truth. Empower me with boldness. Send more laborers for this harvest over here, so that all may hear the truth that is the power of salvation to those who believe.

Praise & Prayer Update March 11th

Praises:

• D and a friend went to a city in our province (3 hours away) to do some outreach training over the weekend. It seems that the training was well received. Please pray that those who attended would feel a burden to be intentional in reaching the lost.
• H is finally driving! She was able to go out shopping this weekend and hand out some literature in the local language. Pray that we both would want to sow the Word abundantly, even if it may not always be well received.
  
• We have both been able to share more with people at our workplace. Pray for the student who D will be giving the Bible to this week.
  
• Electricity! We have had 20+ hours a day of power which has been a blessing in school and at home.
  

Prayers:

• Travel - We will be leaving the country on Saturday to check out a language school for the summer. Pray that we will focus on the Lord during our vacation and that He we will also be intentional about sharing with the different people we meet during the journey. It will take 1-2 days of travel to reach our destination.
  
• Platform - Please pray for us as we make decisions about what we'll be doing professionally next year. We need the Lord's guidance as well as his provision for the proper visas.
  
• Strategic Outreach - We heave been feeling burdened to be more focused on sharing and being strategic with our time. Pray that the Lord will give us his plan and method so that we may bear fruit in this land. May we not only think of our friends and coworkers but may we have vision to see multiplication of faith among the people groups of this region.
  
• Laborers for the Harvest - There are 180 million people in this country who speak over 60 languages. Most foreign organizations in the country focus on mercy ministries, and while those efforts are much appreciated we are not seeing many people come to know the Lord and follow him. In short, we are not seeing much eternal fruit in this field. Even if there may be foreign workers in a village hospital (which would still be rare) there may not be an active witness of the truth. Pray for more workers who are willing to be bold, creative, strategic, and full of the Holy Spirit to come to this land. Pray that those of us who are here would not get bogged down in the mundane or neglect to focus on what's going to make an eternal difference.

Ten Plagues of Egypt compared with End Times

I've been comparing the 10 plagues of Egypt with the 21 judgment events (seals, trumpets, and bowls) in Revelation. I found it interesting how God shows his power and his authority over the magicians in Egypt progressively. He doesn't just start off with the final plague but he gradually builds up Israel's faith and the Egyptians fear of him. Check out this chart that I made to look at the way God judges Egypt and how the people respond.

• Notice that at first the magicians can reproduce the miracles done by Moses and Aaron. I prefer to dismiss the idea that the power of darkness can do miracles, but this is something we see clearly in Scripture. Compare Revelation 16:13-14 - "And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty."
  
• Even the false prophet spoken of in Revelation 13 can perform signs and wonders. "It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived." Revelation 13:13:14
• Sorcery is one of the most prevalent sins at the end of the age, "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and stone and wood, which cannot see or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality of their thefts." Revelation 9:20-21
  

There are many other observations and comparisons we can make with the end time judgments. If you're interested in studying this more, consider the following questions:

1. Are leaders usually warned of coming judgments and told why those judgments are coming?
   
2. Do the first plagues affect people directly (ie making them sick, causing them to die) or not? How does this compare to the seals, trumpets and bowls?
   
3. When in the judgment series of the ten plagues does God separate his people and keep them from the effects of the plagues?
   
4. How does the separation of Goshen compare to the sealing of the saints in Revelation?
   
5. How do the people of Egypt start showing their fear of God toward the end of the plagues?
6. How can we tell demonic miracles from God's miracles so that we are not led astray?

If you'd like a pdf or word file of the chart just send me an email titled "Ten Plagues Chart."

Strategic Silk Road in China - Ramadan Prayer Update

I've been getting some excellent prayer updates from "30-days" this year during Ramadan. I will be posting the full text of the emails here so that you can pray along too. All of the following is from 30 days. Their link is www.30daysfire.net

For Sunday, 23 September, Ramadan 2007. "Loving Muslims Through Prayer"

A key staging post on the ancient Silk Road, the city of Kashgar sits on the westernmost end of the Taklamakan Desert and is arguably the cultural and religious centre of Uyghur culture.

Kashgar is known for being a hotbed for conservative Islam and Uyghur nationalist and separatist sentiment. There is considerable tension between the Chinese rulers and the Uyghur population.

With a population of around 1 million (70% Uyghurs, 30% Chinese and growing), the Kashgar district is a microcosm for the rest of Xinjiang with conservative Muslim and ‘modern’ atheist values clashing head-on.

Kashgar is a strategic city. It boasts one of the largest weekly bazaars in Central Asia with tens of thousands of people – almost entirely Muslims – coming to trade from the surrounding countryside, and neighbouring Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan & Tadjikistan.


Prayer Points


* May God break down the demonic principalities and powers. Fear and death reign unchecked; Please ask God to breakdown these ancient strongholds and release the Uyghur people into the freedom only Christ can bring.

* Lift up the city of Kashgar before the Lord.

* Pray for the completion of the Uyghur Scriptures, and their accessibility; The New Testament translation has recently been completed, but much of the Old Testament is yet to be translated and published. The Uyghur Bible is illegal in Xinjiang.

* More intercessors are needed; The spiritual barriers to this people hearing and responding to the Good News of Jesus Christ are immense. Please pray that God would raise an army of intercessors to stand in the gap for the Uyghur people of Xinjiang.


Our Interactive Flash Site: www.30daysfire.net

Light in the Darkness

How do you think your congregation would react if during a service the electricity suddenly went out? Not on sunday morning when there's abundant sunlight, but on a sunday evening when even the moonlight is clouded by pollution. On a sunday evening when it's over 90 degrees and at least 80% humidity so you're sweating through your clothes and body odor fills the air. I forgot to mention, your church doesn't have a building and you have to meet outside in an empty plot, under the company of armed guards. Would you panic? Would you decide to suspend the service until the power was back?

This weekend we were having a worship time with the body in S when the power went out. People started singing even louder than they had been when the whole worship team had microphones! We wrapped up our worship & intercession time and moved right into the teaching, which D had been asked to do. It was his first experience in a church in P, and there was he, preaching into the dark. One man brought a battery powered light to shine on D's sermon notes. As soon as the sermon was over, the lights came back on and we went right back into worship & praise.

PRAISES: (from a nearby city)

• We were able to share with the church and challenge them not to seek after idols but to instead seek after all that God has for them
• A young girl was released from demons and is starting a new life through faith in Jesus
• A woman testfied that her brother was miraculously healed from kidney stones in the name of Jesus
• A young woman from a M*slim family was unable to conceive. She sought prayer in the name of Jesus and has now given birth to twin boys.
• We were able to pray for many more people who wanted healing and some young believers who desire to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit
• D recovered from food poisoning which he got directly after the church meeting on sunday night

PRAYER:

• That the Lord would bring healing to many of those we were able to pray for over the weekend. In particular, a young couple who cannot have children and a woman who has very swollen and twisted feet.
• That the Lord would guide us in our involvement in leadership training that will be taking place in S**alkot in the near future.
• That the Lord would fill us with His Holy Spirit to heal the ear of Dr. K's relative. As far as H's limited language would allow, we understand that her ear and part of her head was chopped off in an accident with a helicoptor. She is walking and talking just fine but her ear is not there! We are fasting and praying that the Lord would give her a new ear through the power of the name of Jesus.
• That the Lord would guide us to minister to Dr. K's sister who is severely depressed and drugged out on valium. She is quite a smart woman who speaks fluent English and used to be a doctor. After a failed arranged marriage and the realization that she could not have children, she sunk into a depression. May she find hope and freedom through our Lord and Savior.
• That we would be able to meet and partner with other believers in our city
• That the Lord would provide for us in the area of transportation.

Praise and Prayer Aug 2nd

Hello everyone,

We just awoke to read that while we slept many people plummetted to injury or death after the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge. Many of you are probably praying for the recovery of the survivors and the families of those who have lost someone. May we be encouraged by the words of the prophet Isaiah:

"He will swallow up death forever,
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people
he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 25:8)

UPDATE ON KOREAN HOSTAGES:
One more of the South Korean hostages has been shot to death by the T*leban. 21 hostages, 18 of which are women, are still in captivity. We can only imagine their living conditions and what they are going through mentally, emotionally and physically. Let us pray for the remaining hostages as well as the families affected in South Korea: May they set the Lord always before them that they may not be shaken. May their hearts be glad, and may they rejoice! Let them know that He will not abandon their souls. Oh Lord let them feel joy in your presence in the midst of this current darkness. Let them be a light to their captors. Open the hearts of those who seek to harm them. May the T*leban repent and turn to you with fasting, weeping and mourning. (Psalm 16:8-11)
News from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6928408.stm

PRAISES:

• Last night we had a chance to share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ with Dr. K, the man who owns the house we live in. He is a man who fears God and desires to do good. May the Lord open his eyes to see that He is the ONLY way to the Father. He has read the entire Bible before and is interested to read it again.
• We have been able to reunite with more of H's friends and have been able to sing songs to them and talk about the God we serve. We are happy to share with them but we want more! We want them to come to fully understand the gospel and to come into intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
• We have been able to find out more information about jobs and contacts in the area.
• Our new office AC wasn't working and after about a week of waiting it's now up and running again.

PRAYER:

• That the Lord would fill us with His Holy Spirit to heal the ear of Dr. K's relative. As far as H's limited language would allow, we understand that her ear and part of her head was chopped off in an accident with a helicoptor. She is walking and talking just fine but her ear is not there! We are fasting and praying that the Lord would give her a new ear through the power of the name of Jesus.
• That the Lord would guide us to minister to Dr. K's sister who is severely depressed and drugged out on valium. She is quite a smart woman who speaks fluent English and used to be a doctor. After a failed arranged marriage and the realization that she could not have children, she sunk into a depression. May she find hope and freedom through our Lord and Savior.
• That we would be able to encourage believers this weekend as we travel to visit another city.
• That we would be able to meet and partner with other believers in our city
• That the Lord would bring justice to flood victims all over South Asia. Millions are currently stranded or marooned while all of their earthly possessions have been lost. Aid agencies and government officials have been unable to respond effectively to the crisis.
  South Asia floods strand millions
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm
  
  Fury over flood relief
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6262668.stm
  
  May we cry out for justice day and night until the Lord returns (Luke 18:7-8)
  
  
  

For the would-be-or-future martyr of Islam

Today as I read in BBC News about the testimony of a survivor of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), my heart was torn. The bold writing is from the article:

“A woman who was inside Islamabad's Red Mosque when it was stormed by Pakistani troops on 10 July has given the BBC one of the first accounts of the final hours of the siege. Unwilling to be named, the survivor said she was not held hostage by militants inside.

More than 100 people died in the army operation - she was one of only 30 women to walk out alive after soldiers went in. Following are excerpts from the interview with Rafia Riaz of the BBC's Urdu service.”

She is writing after being in the siege of the mosque for a week. During the final assault she walked out with her hands up in surrender, actually hoping to be shot by the military. She wasn’t shot but instead…

“They took us to another room and gave us food. We were crying a lot because Korans were burning inside the Red Mosque which was on fire.

We pleaded with them to let us take the Koran. We were very sad to see them being burnt in front of our own eyes. At sunset we were told that we were going to be sent home, and at night, we left the area...

After meeting my father, I was overcome by grief as I had hoped to be a martyr and come back alive.

Now they've attacked the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa [the seminary attached to it], I hope the whole country will have Red Mosques. I will work for jihad, and open a madrassa and train people for jihad.”

Read the entire article here: BBC NEWS South Asia 'I hoped to be a glorious martyr'


Oh Lord I think about the testimony of the woman at Lal Masjid and I feel sick to my stomach. What could drive someone to carry out suicide attacks on their own countrymen? To eat leaves and honey, to spend sleepless nights, for what? For the straight path? Is that what the One True God would desire of his children? To cry over burning books but not over burning men? To grieve over not being a martyr?

I am willing to die for my faith and so is she. But she is willing to kill, to shed blood of men, women and children. She is willing to blow herself up for jihad. I think of the American missionaries who went into the Amazon to meet the Waodoni, a head hunting tribe that speared their victims. By the time the missionaries went to them, one of out two Waodoni men would be speared and killed by their own tribesmen. But the missionaries would not shoot them even when attacked. Why didn’t the Christians shoot? Because, as they said, they knew they were ready for heaven but the Waodoni were not. They did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. All of the men who went to share the hope of the gospel with the Waodoni were speared. Due to the love that the missionary’s families had for the tribe, their wives and children moved into the jungle with the head hunting tribe to share the love of Jesus with them.

So what is the difference between this woman at Lal Masjid and myself or the missionaries to the Waodoni? This woman, this Muslim woman, was not only will to die for her faith, but to kill, to steal and to destroy. And what of her intended victims? Her blowing up the unholy, the apostates, the infidels would surely not ensure THEIR eternal salvation, but only HERS. What then is the motivation for her martyrdom? For the sake of Islam, the Quran and the Prophet….no! For her own selfish desire to see paradise. I’m not quite sure what she would do with the 72 voluptuous virgins, but she did desire paradise.

I actually think I do know why she grieves though. Why she grieves over being alive and not being a martyr. She grieves for her eternal salvation. She grieves for her relationship with God. For in Islam, God is not personal. The only assurance of your salvation lies in being killed for your faith. No one can be sure whether he will go to paradise or to hell. As a Muslim, when you die your good deeds and your bad deeds are weighed on a scale. If you’ve done more good deeds and followed the checklist of things a Muslim must do (statement of faith, prayer five times a day, giving to the poor, going to Mecca, fasting during Ramadan every year) then perhaps God will have mercy on you and allow you into heaven. But, if you are to die in holy war, in jihad, you will surely become a shahid – a martyr. This gives you assurance of your salvation, no matter how many bad deeds you have done. In the name of Allah, the Qur’an, and Islam – the click of a detonator, bodies blown to bits, blood shed…Paradise.

But you and I know that this a lie of the enemy – sent to kill, to steal and to destroy. He prowls around like a roaring lion. The click of a detonator, bodies blown to bits, blood shed – end of life. Beginning of hell. Eternity without God. Eternity of pain.

So as this woman, the would-be or future martyr, jihadi, champion of the faith, grieves, so do I. She grieves for her salvation and I grieve with her.

Oh Lord, open the blinders on her eyes. Open her ears that she may hear truth. She is living for a lie. I know your heart grieves for her soul, as you desire all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of you. Jesus, rescue her. Bind the strongman and release her from this lie. May truth and light break forth in her life. May she find true salvation in you – Jesus, the way the truth and the life.