Persecution of the Christian Church in Egypt

I'm reading a book. There is a section on the persecution against the Church in Egypt. It speaks of persecution so intense that even the survival of the Church there can only be attributed to the grace of God.

Churches closed - many desecrated, burned, destroyed. Christianity made illegal; clergy especially targeted - beaten, imprisoned, killed. It tells of all Christians suffering for their faith, with no public places left to worship and no clergy left to lead services.

Terrible.

The book is on the life of Athanasius, and this persecution took place between the years 311 and 313.

Two quotes come to mind:

1. "There is no new news; only old news happening to new people" - Malcolm Muggeridge
2. "...I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it." - Jesus Christ

Just Sayin'

Take Care

More of LC17

5562 (Capacity) at Royal Albert Hall

Here are some of them

Self Explanatory

Church at HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton, Anglican, if you were wondering)

Nicky and Pippa Gumbel

Until Next time,

Take Care

Beyond Belief

In London for Alpha's Leadership Conference, Eva and I visited Kew Gardens, Royal 

Botanical Gardens. I was struck by the amazing variety of plants and trees - thousands in fact, in just these acres of gardens, and all so different, from every corner of the world.

I found myself thinking once again about evolution. As difficult as it is to believe something as complicated as animals and humans descended from a common ancestor, this visit made it even more difficult to fathom how anyone could think it made more sense that these all developed by a series of accidental mutations from a single... whatever, than that there is a God who brought them into being.

Of course the atheist has put himself in a position where he cannot consider this because he has rejected the option of there being such a supernatural creative Being. The atheist claims to demand evidence, but then rejects any evidence that is not in keeping with his presuppositions. "Evidence" for God is all around, including the evidence that there is, 'something rather than nothing,' and the extremely complicated variety of everything there is. As difficult as it is to imagine all this happening by accident, the atheist must insist that it did, because his presumptions prevent him from thinking anything else.

Just sayin'.

Take Care

We Have Been Given a Job

The Church has a job. One job above all others.

It is a job given to us by our founder, our head, Jesus Christ. He said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18a-20)

Jesus did not say, "Attract disciples from other churches." He said, "Make disciples..." so how are we doing?

I was reminded today of a church in a city in my province. It is a fairly large church. It is a church that has run Alpha in the past, but not at present. As I say, they have run Alpha but when I spoke to the pastor, I heard that they have trouble getting their people to invite, so now they are running a program purely for their own congregants.

I was talking to another pastor, who knew of this church, and said of them, "They tend to grow when other churches close." That statement was like a flash of light to me. It was a "Wow" moment. It was an insight that I realized is a problem I have seen in other places.

Church organizations do not exist primarily to receive believers from other places. Yes, it's nice to welcome people who may be new to the area, or Christians escaping from churches in denominations that have left the path of truth. But that is not our prime purpose. Our purpose is to make disciples. It is to guide those who have not surrendered their lives to Christ into a relationship with him and help them grow in that relationship.

So, how are we doing? How is your church at welcoming not-yet-believers who may come through our doors? Are we making them feel welcome? Are they making friends among us?  Even more important, most important in my opinion, are we the kind of church that an unchurched, non-Christian coming through our doors for the first time, want to come back to. Are they leaving their first service with us thinking, "I want to come back here."?

And if not, are we willing to change, not our message or doctrine, but our style - the way we present it, for their sake.

Blessings,

John

Good Night Louise

I was searching my video files for an Alpha video teaser to include with a post on my other blog when I found this, buried in the archives.

Leo Kottke is one of my favourite guitarists, but this song I found especially touching when I first heard it. I think it's partly because I have two daughters of my own whom I loved dearly as they were growing up (still do) and partly because of the women I met when I was coordinating Alpha in the Fort Saskatchewan Provincial Prison.

I now have two granddaughters in or approaching their teen years, and I ache for girls who suffer abuse, or are in unfortunate circumstances because their lives have been shaped by the abuse they have suffered. Sexual abuse, to me, is the worst kind, because in the face of sexual temptation, some men seem to have no conscience, no empathy or sympathy for the girl or woman who I think they must just see merely as a means to satisfy their immediate urges.

And many women seem trapped in the vicious circle of their lifestyle, unable to escape. Perhaps it's all they know and feel lost stepping out of that familiar territory. Perhaps because it's all they know, they literally cannot leave it because there are no other real options. I can remember speaking with female inmates and them telling me their dreams of a normal life upon release, but in some cases I winced, because I was sure their dreams were beyond reality because of the skills they would need, but didn't have, to accomplish them. I recall one particularly poignant episode here.

So goodnight, all you Louises out there.

Peace.

Take Care

The Demise of Civility Matters

I thought this from Carey Nieuwhof made sense:

From here...
There should be a deep mourning and concern over the death of objective truth, because with it comes the erosion of civility.

Objectivity pulls us beyond ourselves. The things that are beyond us are the things that save us from ourselves. When a culture, for example, decides that murder will not be tolerated, that assault is punishable or that theft is a crime, it puts the brakes on our selfish and impulsive emotions. Human nature, after all, has a dark side. You and I have probably both felt like punching someone or taking things that didn’t belong to us. Occasionally, we might even wish that someone we don’t like had a shortened life span. What keeps us from acting on our impulses other than self-control?
Objective truth. The idea that somehow murder, theft and violence are wrong.

Also saving us from ourselves is the knowledge that if we do something offensive to a widely embraced standard, we will suffer for it. A fine. Jail time. Social shunning. This is good, not just for us, but for our country. But the logical extension of a post-fact, post-truth world, is this: who says I’m right and you’re wrong? Who even said it happened? I didn’t. That’s just you saying I did. And you’re wrong.

For thousands of years, we humans have tried to keep ourselves from ourselves. Surprisingly, the Gospel has fueled much of that. Because when you die to yourself, something greater rises.

 

The rise of self as the ultimate arbiter of truth is antithetical not only to the Gospel but to the very basis of civilization. Civilized people think beyond themselves. They care and they give. They put themselves second, or third. It sounds hyperbolic to say civilization is being threatened. But maybe it’s not hyperbole. Why love your neighbour when you can attack him?

Take Care

Haunting and Poignant

I enjoy reading Mark Steyn's website (linked to at the bottom of my page), not only because I tend to share some of his conservative viewpoints, but also because he often comments on various areas of pop culture, past and present. It is a wonderful source of information and trivia of music and entertainment for the last hundred years or so.

Leonard Cohen died a couple of months ago and through Steyn's website I learned of Cohen's song, "Dance Me To The End of Love." I found the video rather touching, showing elderly couples dancing with photographs of their younger selves as backdrops.




Little did I know the rest of the story. As explained by one of the comments on the You Tube video:

Leonard Cohen was inspired by the true story of the "Violinist of Auschwitz", Greek-Jew Jack Stroumsa! In this song, Stroumsa's wife (victim of the Nazis) speaks to him, through Cohen's voice, asking her husband to play her some music when she is being dragged toward the gas chambers. You see, the duty of Stroumsa in this camp was  to play classical music for the funeral procession of the naked victims who were told by the SS officers that they are going away just to get a bath. Stroumsa was forced to play this music as his melancholy farewell for unsuspecting victims; friends, neighbours, coreligionists and his very own family, all dragged in the same path of death with music in their ears... - Christos Tsanakas.

There is a personal connection with this. My wife's father was a Jew who survived the Holocaust in Poland. He lost all his family, and apparently narrowly escaped himself by finding a way to jump off the train on the way to Auschwitz. Sam himself was a musician and survived the rest of the war with help from the Polish underground and playing in bands to entertain Nazi officers.

He married Irene, my mother-in-law just after the war and escaped Poland for Austria just before the iron curtain fell. Eva was born in a refugee camp at Linz, and celebrated her first birthday on a boat on the way to Canada in 1949. God brought us together to be married in 1968.

Maybe that's why I find it so touching.

Take Care

Afraid to Say Merry Christmas

The day before Christmas I was out doing some shopping. Every store I went to, the clerk said, "Have a nice day." And every time they did, I said, "That sounds kind of lame on Christmas eve. Aren't you allowed to say 'Merry Christmas?'"

Some then wished me a half-hearted Merry Christmas. One said, "You don't know who you're talking to." I wonder, why should it make a difference. Now, I'm not one of those, 'Let's keep Christ in Christmas' folks. Keeping Christ in Christmas has nothing to do with true faith in Christ. To those who have such a faith, Christ never left Christmas. To those without it it's irrelevant.

But I find it interesting how we have cloaked our traditions, so to speak, for the sake of... what? Typical Canadian deference? Embarrassment? Fear of offending someone? Who? There is a YouTube video of a Sikh gentleman encouraging the use of 'Merry Christmas." At a convenience store I often visit the staff are all Hindus, and are not insulted by "Merry Christmas," and not afraid to say it. Frankly, I suspect the only ones who might be truly offended might be militant atheists bent on removing all vestiges of religion from the public square, and who cares if they're offended. 😌

In any case, finally I walked in to another local gas station/convenience store after filling up my tank, and saw this sign. The clerk behind the counter spoke with an accent. I often patronize this store and the staff all seem to be newer Canadians. I told him how nice it was to see his sign and asked if the store was owned by Christians.

"No," he said, "We are all Muslims."

Now, who are we afraid of insulting?

No editorial, just found it interesting.

Take Care