Micah 6:8

Calgary Man Arrested for Praying in Public

This news is a little late but late is better then never. This story is from the Voice of the Martyrs. Another good take of the story was in the Calgary Sun. This is so unbelievably crazy. I guess that we really do have to expect that persecution is going to happen if we are faithful in obedience and standing against sin.

Four years ago, Artur Pawlowski and others began a ministry to establish a church among the street people of Calgary, Alberta. Along with holding services in parks in the downtown, the Street Church is involved in caring for the physical and emotional needs of the homeless.

In mid-August, Calgary held a Fringe Festival described as an "uncensored, non-juried theatre festival." For the Street Church, however, "uncensored" did not appear to apply.

According to an August 21 article in the Calgary Sun, Pawlowski was concerned about the spiritual influence of tarot card readers and other spiritualist practitioners who had set up displays at the festival. He began talking to the vendors about their practices. Some of the vendors took offense and called the police. The church members were asked to stop talking to the vendors. They agreed. Two days later, on August 16, Pawlowski and others gathered on the street to pray and read the Bible in an area far away from the vendors. Nevertheless, organizers called police who charged Pawlowski with obstruction of justice, trespassing and disturbing the peace. Pawlowski spent the night in jail and is scheduled to appear in court on September 7.

Pray that the leaders of Street Church will faithfully carry out the task God has given them (1 Peter 5:1-4). Pray that the Holy Spirit will give them the words they need as they answer these charges. Pray that all charges will be dropped.

Our Upcoming Trip

We're heading up to Northern BC tomorrow for another month of Joel's electives. We'll be staying in Dease Lake, a town in the sheer middle of nowhere, for two weeks and then in Vanderhoof for another two weeks. I'm pretty excited about going on this adventure. Dease Lake is mostly native and has a population of about 700 people. Vanderhoof is very Mennonite and has a population of about 5000 people. We're hoping that it will give us an idea of what it would be like to work in a really small remote community someday.

I'm not sure how frequently I'm going to be able to post while I'm away but I'll try to average at least once per week. I don't really know if anyone reads this blog regularly (my stats are screwed up because of people trying to post spam comments) but I don't want to lose you if you're there. Things should be back to full swing in December.

10 Year Christian Birthday

My 10 year christian (re)birthday will be on Monday. It's so crazy for me to realize how long it has been. I feel a bit ashamed though at how little I have to show for it. I know that by the grace of God I've matured a bunch but I really haven't effected change in many people as far as I can tell. I've been thinking about how short life really is. I probably only have another 40 or so years left to make a difference that will last for eternity. In ten years I'd like to look back and see a lot acomplished for my time spent. I owe it to God. His kingdom is worth all the work and sacrifice that I can give. Pray for me if you don't mind that I might get more nerve and the determination to do the work that I ought to be doing.

Abortion ban closer in Nicaragua

There was an interesting article in the BBC news this morning. I particularly liked the statement, 'I'm allowed to commit murder because these hands are mine, this gun is mine.'" Very true. Lets pray that this bill passes and few more Nicaraguan babies can be spared from being murdered.

A Nicaraguan parliamentary committee has approved draft legislation to ban all abortions, including in cases where the mother's life is at risk.

The legislation will now be debated at a national assembly hearing before a final vote next week.

If the law is passed, doctors carrying out abortions could face up to 30 years in prison.

At present, abortion is only permitted in Nicaragua in instances where the life of the mother is in danger.

The call for a complete ban has mainly come from the Roman Catholic and evangelical churches.

Church support

The bill - which is widely expected to be approved - has come amid campaigning for the country's presidential election in November.

The leader of the judicial committee which returned the decision is against changing the law. He argues that the process has happened too quickly, and without proper consultation.

However, BBC Americas editor Will Grant says it appears that the much of the assembly, and indeed much of Nicaragua, which is estimated to be 85% Roman Catholic, disagrees with him.

Orlando Tardencilla, one of the members of the sub-committee which proposed the bill, said: "Unless abortion is made a crime, then people can simply come out and say: 'I have the right to an abortion, this is my body and I can decide.'

"That's like saying: 'I'm allowed to commit murder because these hands are mine, this gun is mine.'"

But rights group The Women's Autonomous Movement said it would file an injunction if the bill was approved.

"It's not possible that a woman's life be considered secondary," the Associated Press news agency quoted group co-ordinator Azahalea Solis as saying.

1 in 3 People Agree with Tortue!

I just read this article by BBC news. They did worldwide poll that revealed that 1 in 3 people agree that there is a legitimate time to use torture when combating terrorism. In Canada nearly 1 in 5 people agree that it is OK. I'm shocked and horrified. I know that people are crazy but to actually say that you're OK with torture is horrifying to me. Nobody, absolutely nobody, deserves to be tortured for any reason. These are people that we're talking about. I think what blows me away is how high the amount of support is from people that are removed from terrorism. I can understand why countries like Israel and Iraq would have higher support but when people are removed war situations like in Canada the high support indicates to me just how few people actually respect human life and dignity. What I would like to ask these people that support torture is how they would feel if it were their son or daughter that was being tortured. What a ridiculous world we live in.

The Sixth Commandment

My children at a peace march earlier this year.

Baby-focused vs Woman-focused

When I was teaching the pro-life apologetics class last week I spoke briefly about the two main approaches to pro-life work. Most pro-life work would be what I would call woman focused work. This approach strongly supports crisis pregnancy centres and public education campaigns about the damage that abortion can do to woman (depression, increased risk of breast cancer, etc). A lot of people favour this approach because it is non-confrontational and gentle. The other approach is a more baby focused approach. The baby focused approach seeks to show people what abortion is doing to children. No matter how this is done people get upset. It is, by its nature, confrontational.

A lot of people that are pro-life think that the baby focused approach is inappropriate. I completely disagree. Jesus repeatedly points out sin in very blunt and harsh ways. He is not afraid of offending the sinner. Why are Christians so afraid to do what Jesus did so freely? I think that the reason is that tolerance has become a cardinal virtue of our society. Jesus was intolerant. That is why he was killed. Are you willing to be intolerant?

I think that baby centred approach is the only approach to pro-life activism that stands a chance of making abortion an unthinkable act in our society. If we always focus on how abortion is harmful to woman we are feeding their selfish values. When a woman is faced with a difficult unplanned pregnancy she is very likely to realize that a abortion is easier. Even if there are going to be negative consequences to her abortion, frankly, is the easiest option for most woman. If she has never been shown how horrible abortion is for the baby that is involved, or confronted with the fact that abortion is a sin, she is very unlikely to have a good reason not to have an abortion.

Consider for a moment a parallel situation. Suppose that around the time of slavery in the southern US a group of Christians had got together with the intention of providing alternatives to slavery. They offered small financial incentives to slave owners that would give up their slaves. They would offer to do some of the work themselves. They would point out the fact that the slaves shacks look ugly on the owners property. While these thing might all have been good unless they are willing to also point out the fact the slavery was harmful to the slaves and just plain sinful the owners would be very unlikely to change. A few slave owners may have been convinced by these arguments and incentives but the majority would not have changed because the financial benefits of having slaves was too great. The abolitionists needed to show that slavery was unjust before widespread change could take place. Similarly, pro-life activists need to expose the repugnancy of abortion before people will have a really good reason to give up legal abortion.

A good resource that throughly analyzes these two approaches is "Taking Abortion Seriously: A Philosophical Critique of the New Anti-Abortion Rhetorical Shift." by Francis Beckwith. I strongly encourage anyone involved in pro-life activism to read this article and ponder its implications. Francis Beckwith much more eloquently argues this issue then I am able to. It's well worth the time to read it.

Thanksgiving and Teaching

We had an alternative thanksgiving celebration last weekend. We had a bunch of people over and served rice and beans and prayed together. We also collected about $100 for Canada Food for the Hungry. It was really nice to be able to focus on our gratitude for our every day lives. We are so blessed everyday. Praise God for your abundance. May we give what we can to others.

I taught a pro-life apologetics class yesterday for the Salvation Army war college students. I've never done that sort of thing before but I enjoyed it so much. I've been longing to share the urgency of this work with people for a long time but usually Christians are uninterested in hearing me. I think that reason that I blog is because I'm passionate about justice and I desire to share that passion with other people but I don't usually have forum for that. Sometimes when I'm talking to people that seem somewhat responsive I get really excited and talk at them about my topic until they're overwhelmed. I try to keep that to a minimum but it's hard. Anyways, I think that the students were interested which made me pretty happy. I feel "called" (whatever that means) to teach but I have no idea where to do it besides on my blog. I hope that I can have other opportunities like this class to teach people about some of the things that I'm passionate about.

Thought Provoking Cartoon

I found this cartoon over on a blog called Light Seeker. Here is what he had to say about it. So true.

If this weren't so true, it might be funny.

How can people not see this brash enemy who kills thousands of children right under our noses? And we either turn our heads or fight for the right to continue this practice.

 

How Rich are You

I'm the 828,117,645 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>

Apparently I'm in the top 14% of the world because of our meager income of $720/month that we receive from the government as a low income tax refund that Canadian families receive. This doesn't even include the loan money that we live on. Leave your result in the comments section and we'll have a little contest to see who the richest person is. Let this encourage you to share your wealth with other and be more grateful for all that you have.

Persecution

John 15:20
Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Romans 8:17
And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,

Philippians 3:10
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

2 Timothy 1:8
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,

2 Timothy 3:12
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

1 Peter 2:20, 21
But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

1 Peter 4:12,13
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Revelation 2:10
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

I've been thinking about my last post a little bit more and I wanted to share some verses that I found on the topic. These verses really make me conclude that the modern church, although maybe not the real church, is doing a very poor job of serving God. How much have you suffered for your faith lately? If your answer is not much then I need to question how Godly you really are (2 Tim 3:12). This and a few other issues that I've mentioned before are why I think that most of what we the church needs to repent and start serving God instead of their own comfort. Our call is radical. People will not like you if you are faithful because you will be exposing sin and calling for righteousness and surrender. Are you willing to be faithful even to the point of death?

Thanksgiving

We're back in Vancouver for another 4 weeks before we head out again for the interior of BC. It's great to be home although I'll miss all the nature. I forgot how much I loved the diversity of people until we drove into town. The unending number of weird things that you can see people do is so entertaining. It's also a reminder of how different people really can be. I guess I should just try to enjoy the great things about anywhere that I have to be.

Canadian thanksgiving is fast approaching. Every year I can't help but be disappointed by the typical way of expressing our thanksgiving to God. Indulging in a big meal with all the trimmings just seems like a funny way to show our gratitude to God for his provisions. Why not fast, collect money for charity and then have a dinner of rice and beans? I suspect that that might help bring us more thankfulness for our material blessings. I think that we might try to arrange an untraditional thanksgiving dinner for anyone who would like to join us. It just depends on whether or not we can get our act together in time. :)

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matt 25: 34-40