Barnabas Fund has reproduced a column written by `Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar for a Palestinian daily paper.  In his column, this Muslim speaks out against the persecution of Christians. Here’s an excerpt:

“Christians are being persecuted not only in Iraq, but in most Arab countries, regardless of their numbers there. They are subjected to every possible kind of discrimination, as well as expulsion. The problem is that it is not only Arab officials who are remaining silent [in the face of these crimes] – [they do so] because their primitive mentality is centered on the cult of the ruler – but, alarmingly, so are Arab intellectuals, the elites, non-government organizations, and leaders of the private sector. All these groups look on at these unprecedented [acts of] folly without apprehending the danger with which these crimes are fraught…

“Furthermore, there has been an attempt to marginalize Christian culture in Palestine, even though it is rich and deeply rooted [there]. This began with [accusations] of unbelief [against Christians] – a move that ultimately harmed Palestinian society as a whole…

Read the whole thing.

Look, I believe in evil spirits.  Call me superstitious or mediaeval, but to deny the truth of the spiritual world, including the evil in it, is just head-in-the-sand thinking.  But I don’t believe these children are witches.

Apparently some Nigerian evangelical christian pastors are raking it in performing exorcisms on children accused of witchcraft and demon-possession in Africa.  The exorcisms are brutal and sometimes fatal, and can cost the equivalent of an average person’s yearly income.  According to the article linked to above, the “exorcised” children can also be kept from their families until the fee is paid.  Children who are not “exorcised” (or perhaps who have been) are rejected from their families.  It seems even parents are willing to torture and kill their own children whom they understand to be in league with evil spirits.

Evangelical?  Christian?  Not in my book.  But tragically, just because people are do such cruel and evil things to children does not mean that they cannot be described as evangelical and christian.  But I would encourage them to be truly evangelical and look at what the Bible says.

NOWHERE in the Bible does it teach that burning, drinking blood, or any form of torture or murder is the way to exorcise demons!

NOWHERE does it say to charge for exorcism (in fact it encourages the exact opposite for all forms of ministry).

NOWHERE is it taught that demon-possessed people are to be shunned or even ill-treated (NOT that I believe these children are demon-possessed).

I’m sure there are fantastic Nigerian evangelical pastors, but I am angered by this twisting and re-moulding of Christian truth into something far more demonic than the witch-craft they think they are dealing with in places in that country.  Praise God for the work of Stepping Stones Nigeria.

(HT: The Ongoing Adventures of Asbo Jesus).

It’s so easy to see the twisting of Christian teaching from a distance, but not so easy when you’re living among it.  As outraged as we should feel about African witch children, we also need a good does of humility.  Africa may have evangelically-defined witch children, but Australia has evangelically defined rich children.  Children who are so self-centred that they are unable to maintain a steady course of self-denial for more than a few hours; who are encouraged by evangelical churches to make success and wealth their goal instead of the spreading of the gospel that acknowledges our poverty.   We also have a whole group of people who are poor, street-dwellers, substance and alcohol-abusers, dysfunctional and neglected, and the Church treats them just as badly as any Nigerian exorcist pastor simply by inaction.  Aren’t they kept hostage until we have received the level of wealth we expect from God?

And I am in the midst of it.  I still don’t see clearly.  We need an outside perspective.

Oh, God, that you would move your Church in Australia, and me as part of it!

That’s Job, the book found in the Old Testament part of the Bible.

Andrew Barry has an interesting take on why Job was accepted by God and his friends were not.

Do NOT read this article from the NZ Herald if you are of a sensitive nature.  It tells of the treatment of a three year old girl that led to her death at the hands of two “men”.  I put the word men in quotes because their actions show them to be very low on the spectrum of human existence.

It may or may not surprise you, but I am not opposed to the death penalty.

Here’s a bit of family background.

HT: Kiwiblog.

My penetrating political analysis in the last post forgot one very important piece of information.  I call it “The John Factor”.  Very simply, it goes like this:

In Australia, the candidate who lost the federal election was the politically conservative John Howard.

In the United States of America, the candidate who lost the Presidential election was the politically conservative John McCain.

In New Zealand, one of the candidates is the politically conservative John Key.

Bad news for the New Zealand National Party this Saturday.

UPDATE: Well, it looks like the New Zealand voting public completely ignored the John Factor, and voted John Key and the National Party into power with a very convincing margin.  In John Key’s electorate, he won by a margin of about 14 000 votes!  That’s quite significant.  So, as much as I hate to let it go, the John Factor looks as though it has no validity.

Sigh.  And I thought it was so convincing!

Well, will you look at that.  Just a couple of minutes ago I was wondering about John Key’s election campaign in the NZ 2008 election and suggested that if he took a leaf out of Kevin Rudd and Barak Obama’s book and talk alot about change, he would do well.  And then I found this, a representation of  the words used in John Key’s and Helen Clark’s opening speeches.

It would seem that the word “change” features in John’s rhetoric, but not in Helen’s.  But still, it’s not overly represented there, so let’s look at a few other comparisons.

The word “future” is more prevelant in John’s speech than Helen’s (the bigger the word, the more times it’s used).

John talked ALOT about Labour and a bit about Helen Clark whereas Helen seemed to completely ignore her opponent and his party.

John used more words that are empathetic and comforting like confidence, fresh, needs, sick, struggling, and sure, whereas Helen seems to have fallen into the same trap John Howard did, and used words that are more political and unsettling like challenge, crisis, infrastructure, investment, public and skills.

All those things listed that John Key has included appeal more to today’s generation; Helen Clark’s word choice tends to turn them off.  Based on the above analysis alone, I’m not suprised Helen Clark has been lagging behind.

The voice of transcendent political and social wisdom has spoken.

Well, President-elect.

My immediate reaction is one of sadness.

Don’t get me wrong…

I am very happy for the people of the US that a mixed race man has been voted in as President.  (See this confronting pictorial presentation of that milestone.  HT: Imonk).

I am very happy that Obama will represent a more measured approach to World issues.

I appreciated Obama’s rhetoric and style far more than McCain’s (”We will fight”?  C’mon!)

I do not have the automatic reject button on the ready when it comes to bigger government (I grew up in NZ and now live in Australia for goodness sake!)

But I am very, very sad that more children will die because Obama is President.  I can only hope that his abortion views and promises will be part of the promises that are not kept.

———–

One thing I noted early on when comparing Australian and American election campaigns is that both Kevin Rudd’s and Barak Obama emphasised and used the word “change”.  I honestly think that specific policies and promises were not the big thing in both elections.  No, in the words of “The Castle“, it is the vibe of the thing that captures this generation of voters, and both Kevin Rudd and Barak Obama had the vibe.  They were younger, smoother, and used the right buzz words.  In short, they understood the change in culture that has overtaken both countries.  People, at this moment in our culture, like change.

I haven’t been following NZ’s election campaign, but I wonder if NZ’s John Key has been doing the same?  Election this Saturday.

…this is the best series on the book I’ve heard.  And yes, I’ve listened to DA Carson’s Revelations messages.

Andrew Picard is the Pastor of Napier Baptist (see my links to NZ Blogs).  He and I went to Bible College together and I’ve always liked his commitment to intellectual rigor in all things Christian while at the same time not coming off (to me) as an egghead.  He approaches Revelation by trying to understand what the original readers heard through the genre of apocolyptic writings, and then applies that message of that highly symbolic writing to today - and he does so without watering down the truth that God’s word is God’s word.

Cautions:

1. Andrew is a NZer and some of his illustrations are context-specific.  You’ll get the gist, but just be aware that he is not English, American, Australian or anything else.  His accent will give him away.
2. Andrew is speaking in contradiction to many modern interpretations of Revelations and has a pastoral concern for those who read into that book their favourite endtime senario.  That may offend.

So follow the link and download the messages so far (the series is not yet over).  Start at 2008_07_06.

This post no doubt means I’ve set you up for another bout with pride, Andrew, but I’m sure I can find some negative things to say if that’ll help you, mate.

Who?
He’s a guy who has what I consider to be the closest thing to a biblical Church model in mind. And in practice, though he has only been working on it for a comparatively short time.
Check out these posts:

The Tyrannus Effect - Paul’s Neglected Strategy for City-wide Discipleship.

Restructuring the Church for Explosive Growth.

The Pastorization of Christianity - An Alternative.

How Senior Pastors are our Biggest Obstacle and our Only Hope.

Church Planting vs. Training Disciples.

How Worship Services Subvert the Christian Mission - Discipleship.

When Does Church Planting Become Kingdom Subversion?

Ever seen “Shaun the Sheep”? It’s a kids programme that really is very funny. You need to see a whole episode to truly appreciate it, but here’s a clip to whet your appetite.