Generous to a fault - but during a baptism?

Laos, across the river from Thailand

In Laos one can still get thrown in jail for baptizing or being baptized depending on the local officials, so baptizing can be a challenge, and often the locations are not ideal.  

One of this group was baptizing an older gentleman in a swift river current.  

This older man stumbled and the current caught his trousers, tore them off into the larger river beyond reach.  With the loose baggy pants the tribal people wear one can see how this could happen. People in Laos are poor and this gentleman had no underclothes.   

But the one doing the baptizing did.  He gave the man his own trousers and went home in his shorts.

Amazingly, the church is growing by leaps and bounds in that country, but certainly not ever with a repeat of this situation.

Pray for people who are put in jail in Laos for living out their faith.

How much work goes into a Bible Translation?

Bible Translation into another language isn't for sissies!

One of my friends in South East Asia writes: "One of the main projects that I have worked on has been trying to get  my father's New Testament in Lahu published.  I now have it ready to print, on the computer and proof read several times. 

"As a boy back in China after World War II  I often sat as my Dad with his team wrestled with the best way to translate some of the verses into Lahu.  I actually learned some of my Lahu in that way as they often spent half an hour discussing a single verse. 

"My dad always had at least three other men with him and my dad not only looked at the King James and a literal Greek translation, but they compared it to Wa, Shan, Burmese and Chinese.  The project was started in World War II and finished in 1955." 

Now, in 2014 and going into 2015, some 60 years later, the New Testament with the correct markings for the language is about to be published - 2000 copies are expected to be printed.


 

"Introducing Repentance to my Muslim Friend"

One day I was visiting Fatima when the subject of sin came up. Earlier that morning I had read Psalm 51 about David who confessed his guilt and sin, repented, and found cleansing. He is my teacher concerning repentance.

I asked if I could read what he said and she agreed. I prefaced it with the fact that David had done something terrible and was plagued with guilt.

She wanted to know what he did. I told her that I did not want to go into what he did but rather read about his confession of it, his repentant spirit, and his desire to be forgiven and made clean. She was surprised that a prophet would sin and have a big repentance time. By this time I had learned not to get bogged down with the Islamic understanding that prophets made “mistakes” but were impeccable.

I steered the conversation to recognizing my own sense of guilt and shame as a result of sin, needing to confess my sin to God, being broken and repentant, and then discovering the joy of forgiveness and cleansing.

 

Adversity and Islam: "The Greatest Awakening since the Beginning of Islam"

Many observers are agreeing on this: The greatest spiritual awakening in the history of the Muslim religion (culture / politics / influence) is taking place right now as a crisis of unprecedented proportions blows across the world from North-western Africa to the far reaches of South Eastern Asia.

More people have come to Isa Messiah, (Jesus Christ) in these countries in the past 20 years than in the previous 1,400 years. This is happening through many means. Dreams and visions are common among Muslims, and their approach to having had a vision is often, "This is what happened. How do I find out if that dream is real?"

Social media is being used in innovative ways, with many web sites and internet features a new reality in nations where Islam is the dominant religion.

Third, copies of the Holy Scriptures are finding their way into the hands of young people and finally,

in Many countries, people are going to a place of worship for the first time, where songs are sung and sermons preached about the Lord and his Christ.

To learn more about this, click here.

Rex Murphy: "We are not all Charlie Hebdo"

Where was We of the Hashtags when Ann Coulter was pre-emptively cautioned about what she could or should say by officials at the University of Ottawa?

Where was “we” when Ayaan Hirsi Ali was humiliated and an honorary degree invitation revoked after campus activists at Brandeis University — faculty and students — protested? Brandeis mounted a defence of free speech that would have Patrick Henry drooling with envy: “[Ali] is a compelling public figure and advocate for women’s rights. … That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values.” A Presidential Medal of Freedom for that wonderful “that said.”

It’s worth adding too that there is no such fastidiousness when it comes to images rebuking, mocking, insulting or demeaning any of the symbols — the cross, the host, the mass — of the Christian faith.

The North American media and so-called comedy shows make a tiresome habit of slandering or crudely defaming the majority faith of the North American continent, all the while lying — yes lying — that they are equal opportunity offenders.

In the domain of the laugh-generators of late night TV, Christ gets a pie in the face every 10 minutes while Mohammed is awarded the incense of silence, becomes “he whose name must not be spoken.” Jon Stewart is not Charlie Hebdo. He is that wonderful self-contradiction, a “safe-target” satirist.

Read it all.
 

During Adversity, "Why generosity (giving) is good for you (for all of us)"

A recent book, The Paradox of Generosity, by Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson, followed 2,000 persons and discovered that generosity has many benefits.

"This wealth of evidence reveals a consistent link between demonstrating generosity and leading a better life: more generous pe
ople are happier, suffer fewer illnesses and injuries, live with a greater sense of purpose, and experience less depression." 

Read more.

Muslims leaving Islam - The high cost of "apostasy" -

'Muslims who leave Islam' is an almost forbidden topic, except as a threat of shame and violence if a child was ever to think of leaving the faith and the community of his / her parents.

Simon Cotee is publishing a new book, The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam, (release date: February 2015) and this article in the National Post - read more gives an insight into three persons who, for different reasons, left Islam. He interviewed 35 persons in the UK and in Canada, and this research forms the basis for his new book.

The biggest hurdle for an "apostate" is the rage and recrimination brought on by the family members, especially the uncles, who do not want shame attached to the family name.

As usual, in terms of religion, the Western press is behind the times.

In 2014 David Garrison wrote A Wind in the House of Islam. This small volume examines 70 separate "people movements" in 29 nations where at least 100 churches have been formed by "former Muslims" in each "people movement". Garrison breaks down the House of Islam into "Nine Rooms" and shows that across the entire Muslim world there are tens of thousands of people who gladly answer the question, "Tell me your story. What did God use to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ?"

So, the Western press is in a tizzy because of a "sociological study of 35 individuals leaving Islam".

However, the same media that avoids Christianity (its rapid growth, or persecution of members) will not be commenting on the tens of thousands who, since the Jesus Movement in the 1970's, and the Iranian Revolution in the 1980's and the profound changes in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Empire have been turning to al-Mesih, the Messiah, in the largest ingathering in history.

What can you do? 1. Thank the Lord for the wind of the Holy Spirit, bringing new life to MBB's, Muslim Background Believers. 2. Pray that the Lord will give visions and dreams to many more millions of Muslims. 3. Pray for the hundreds of thousands of copies of the Jesus Film that were given out this past Christmas. (This film is now available with over 1,000 languages dubbed in as the sound track.)

 

Remembering Jaime Goytia: A Great Bolivian Leader

My friend Gordon King reminds us of what a great man Jaime Goytia was (Click below)

When Norman Dabbs and six Bolivians were stoned to death on August 8th, 1949, Jaime Goytia who was a young man, took the challenge of preaching the Gospel to as many parts of Bolivia as he could.

Jaime's life made an impact not only in Bolivia, but throughout the Western Hemisphere, in many countries. Even an honorary doctorate awarded by McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was not as important as the great courage and strength he gave to common, every day believers in Jesus Christ. Many of his friends were uneducated, but dynamic in their personal testimonies of faith. Jaime will be missed by people in many countries.

Read more.