Life as a Christian Woman

¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2: 1-4

I was on Facebook the other day (yeah, I know… but I like keeping up with friends back home). Anyway, I saw the page of a girl of about 10 who attends a Christian school in the area, who is the daughter of a friend of mine. I clicked to look at her page, expecting to see the usual pictures of dance classes, band and school friends.

But right there, next to Political Views, she had typed: I hate Obama.

I stared at it for a minute, then started checking other friends’ pages, friends who are outspoken conservative Christians.

And I saw more of the same.

Phrases such as “Obama hater,” “Obama must go away,” and my personal favorite, “I hope Obama and Oprah like to spend time together, because they will be in Hell together for eternity.”

Seriously?

I mean, really? What part of any of that screams, “I am a Christian, a follower of the risen Lord who died for my crummy sins?”

Now, lest you think I am some “left wing, radical, liberal nut” (I hate labels), I am a conservative Christian who voted for the other guy. I have grave concerns, worries, about the direction of our nation.

But when I read scripture, I’m missing the part where it says to hate, to wish Hell on someone. I mean, isn’t that the opposite of what we are called to do? Aren’t we supposed to base our faith on love? To hate the sin, but love the sinner?

We are told to pray for our leaders, to lift them up to God. How, exactly, do you lift someone up that you profess to “hate” or that you hope to condemn to Hell for eternity?

And worse yet, are parents imparting this to their children?

Agree or disagree with the President, Senate, House, state officials, etc., we are told… COMMANDED!… to pray for them. According to scripture, they have been placed in power by God:

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ²Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Romans 13: 1-2

Later in Romans 13 we read:

⁸Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13: 8-10

Explain to me how you can fulfill our command to love one another, yet hate? Sorry, those two things are diametrically opposed to each other.

Should we take whatever our leaders say and follow like sheep? No. However, we must pray for them, pray for their spiritual life, pray for their ability to seek and discern the will of God in the mountainous decisions that they must make.

To do anything less, to hate or cause others to hate, to disparage our leaders, is sin.

⁴¹Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴²But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

⁴³Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Mark 12: 41-44

Billy Graham answered a timely question today in his newspaper column.  The writer wanted to know tithing when going through tough financial times. This comes in the wake of an article last week about how churches are seeing a decline in donations in the midst of the current recession.

Graham’s answer cuts straight to the point:

“During difficult times it’s easy to focus only on ourselves and our problems — but when we do, we lose sight of others who may be facing far more serious problems than we are.”

He goes on to remind the readers that millions in the world will die without ever hearing the story of salvation if the money that funds missionaries is no longer available.

The question of giving a tithe when money is short is tough on the surface, yet if we look deeper into our own finances the odds are good that we can find things that can be cut from the budget. We are spoiled. We have our cell phones, televisions, cable and satellite. We have pantries full of food and cars in the driveway. Yet when salaries are cut, we don’t look at the things that we enjoy, we look to cut our tithe.

Gotta have cable! Gotta keep that subscription to Sports Illustrated!

I actually heard a woman say the other day that they were no longer going to be able to tithe because money was tight… and in the next breathe she talked about how the birthday party for her son was costing more than $2,000 (and he’s five years old).

Everything we have comes from God, yet we pull back from our tithe in tough times with the idea that the church doesn’t need it. That isn’t the point. God doesn’t need our money, but it is His. We owe Him everything.

I don’t negate the effects of the economy we live in. My family is feeling it as I’m sure yours are. But when cuts are made, is it really right to start with God?

I'm the Rockette in the middle... OK, not really.

It seems like everyone wants to define their own reality these days. Never was this more apparent to me than when I picked up a copy of People Magazine a few months ago and read the headline “Pregnant Man Gives Birth.”

Huh?

Thomas Beattie grew up at Tracy Beattie, even finishing as a finalist in the Miss Teen Hawaii USA beauty pageant. But following gender reassignment surgery to remove breast tissue and legally become male, Beattie began taking testosterone to complete the transition from woman to man. However, Beattie kept an intact uterus in the hopes of having children someday.

After marrying Nancy, his wife now of five years, they decided that Beattie would carry a child, as Nancy is infertile. Beattie quit taking the testosterone and was artificially inseminated, resulting in pregnancy. Beattie delivered a baby girl on June 29 of this year, and has recently announced a new pregnancy.

Here is my problem. Beattie is not a pregnant man. Beattie is a pregnant woman, who has been surgically altered to be more “man-like,” but obviously still has the reproductive organs of a woman.

In short, Beattie is a woman. And that is reality.

We can’t change reality, no matter how badly we would like to. Personally, I would like to be 5″10′, and weigh 120 pounds. I would like cascading brunette hair and green eyes. And I would like to be a Radio City Music Hall Rockette. But my reality is very (very!) different.

The world seems to dictate what we want to be. Powerful. Thin. Beautiful. Rich. Strong. But we need to follow God’s view for us: Faithful. Holy. Righteous.

Not nearly as rewarding here on earth, but infinitely rewarding in the future. And for Christians, that is where we would like our reward to be!

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. TItus 2: 11-14

I will tell you up front that I am not a fan of so called “New Age” religion. I feel it is revisionist in its approach, much more concerned with making everyone happy as opposed to telling the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The scriptures are straightforward…

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.    John 14:6    New International Version (NIV)

The only way to Heaven, to God’s kingdom, is through Jesus Christ and his redemptive love. He came here, he took on our sins, he took those sins to the cross where he died in our place, he was buried and rose again on the third day. He ascended to the Father’s throne, and will return again. His intercession on our behalf is why we are saved, by his grace and grace alone.

There is no wiggle room. Christ did not say, “I am the way, the truth and the life, unless you find a better way. Oh yeah, and if you live a good life but don’t believe in me, that’s ok, my Father will overlook your unbelief and let you into Heaven anyway.”

Nope, folks, you gotta believe in one Savior, Jesus Christ. End of story.

So imagine my disbelief when I was directed to a video of Oprah Winfrey, who claims to be a Christian, saying emphatically that there are many paths to Heaven, that there isn’t just one way. And when an audience member stood her down and said, “What about Jesus?,” Winfrey’s response was an indignant, “What about Jesus!”

Oprah states her opinion that there are many ways to the “Truth”

The scary thing is that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, get their “theology” from watching Oprah. Her following is loyal and ardent. She is mesmerizing.

But she is wrong.

In the video, she repeatedly says that “there cannot possibly be one way” to Heaven. Yet the scripture says the opposite.

The danger in this type of theology is that many will follow it, will believe these lies that having a good heart matters more than believing in Christ as the Son of God.

A good heart should be a part of every Christian, but some rely on these good hearts to save them, which won’t happen. It’s like the old analogy: All beagles are dogs, but not all dogs are beagles. The message here would be: All Christians should have a good heart, but not all people with good hearts are Christians.

Numerous verses in scripture point out the fact that works cannot save us:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesian 2:8-9 NIV

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  Titus 3:5-7 NIV

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26 NIV

Frankly, to deny the scripture is to deny Christ.

If you want to know where to get your theology, you are in luck. As Christians, we can go straight to the source… God’s holy word, the Bible. When you immerse yourself in His word, there can be no misunderstanding.

His age is the New Age!

We are no longer a Christian nation. I consider us a post-Christian nation.
Rick Howerton

I heard those words tonight from pastor and small group specialist Rick Howerton. I have a great deal of respect for Howerton, as a former pastor at my church and the man who baptized my husband. Howerton travels the country teaching and leading small groups, and has written numerous books on the subject.

And I think he is right.

This past week we have seen thousands take to the streets in California to protest the passage of Proposition 8, which amended the California state constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to that between a man and a woman. The proposition passed with a majority of 52% of the vote, and went into effect the day after the election.

Crowds marched and protested in front of churches, particularly the denominations that had come out strongly in favor of Prop 8. There have been threats of burning churches down in retaliation. Just a few years ago, such statements would have been unthinkable; Thousands more would have taken to the streets in defense of our faith.

What can we do? We can’t afford to sit idly by and let our faith be commandeered by those who want to destroy it. We can’t allow ourselves the luxury of letting others fight the battle for us.

Each of us must take up the banner of Christ! We must defend our faith, we must grow in our faith and be prepared to stand up for our Christ. Silence is the same as denial. To sit in a crowd and hear others trash our beliefs, and not respond, is to deny God.

It isn’t easy. It never is. We are not the mainstream in many ways now. We are the “outsiders.” Our path is rocky and full of dangers… but it is the path of righteousness.

I don’t think it is too late; it is never too late for a revival within a church, city, nation or world. But we must be willing to fight for our faith, to raise our children to be strong in their faith. We must be prepared.

Press on!

It’s finally over.

I will not miss the ads, the debates, the constant barrage of opinions and rhetoric. I will not miss the unsolicited phone calls asking me to support issues and candidates. I will not miss actors telling me who to vote for, or economists attempting to explain which candidate is better for the stock market.

And now that Barack Obama has been elected president of our great nation, it is time to put away blue state/red state ideals and come together. No matter who you voted for, your prayers now need to be focused on this man that has been chosen to lead.

In 1 Peter we read:

Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
1 Peter 2:17 (New International Version)

We are called to show respect to our leaders. But beyond that, we are called to pray for them, to intercede for them with God:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)

So now it is time to put our differences behind us. We must join together as “One nation, under God” and continue the fight that God has laid out before us.

So rather than grumble that your candidate wasn’t elected, intercede for those who have been elected at all levels of government in this nation.

After all, prayer is a mighty sword!

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support.
– Huntley Brown

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past, oh, four years, you know that we are in the final stages of a political campaign in the U.S. As we enter the last few days (yippee!), the mud is sailing, the rhetoric has gone into double-time.

And the out-and-out lies are flying. But not from the candidates…

From you and me.

The internet can be a wonderfully informing place to be. But it can also be a dangerous place. We all know about predators that lurk in chat rooms, scams trying to drain your bank accounts, and hackers who want to steal your identity.

But those seemingly innocuous emails that come in from friends, with challenges to “step up to the plate and let all your friends know how bad “Candidate A” or “Candidate B” is, well, in most cases they, too, are dangerous, and all lies.

Each time I get an email, I go straight to Snopes.com to verify. And in the past two weeks I have gotten over 20 emails, each one with more lies than the last. They are full of innuendo designed to scare the reader away from one candidate and straight to another.

These emails challenge me to pass them on, to help warn other voters about the dark past, or secret goals, of one candidate or the other.

First of all, I doubt that any email has ever changed someone’s vote. But if they are forwarded without thought to fact-checking, then the forwarder becomes complicit in the smokescreen.

This past week I got a forwarded email that I found out was true. Huntley Brown, a fabulous African-American pianist and strong Christian man, had been asked repeatedly by his friends who he was voting for and why. Mr. Brown has said it was never intended for mass publication, but one of his friends posted it and it has entered the internet, never to be stopped!

At any rate, there are several parts that jump out at me:

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support.

I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads, I follow. I can’t dictate the terms, He does because He is the leader.

I can’t vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second.  Neither should anyone from other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

All of this makes sense as a Christian. We have to put aside our personal biases, and look at this and any election as a Christian first. Which leader is more likely to continue an agenda that is faith-based?  Who is more likely to take our Christian beliefs and push them to the back, in the name of political correctness.

This isn’t about being Democrat or Republican, Blue State or Red State, Black or White, Liberal or Conservative. It is about following your Christian convictions. It is about breaking through your own biases and opinions, and seeking the opinion of the only One who matters.

And then following Him.

It also means that, as a Christian, you must get out and vote! No excuses. Christians cannot lead, cannot expect to hold onto this country, if we do not take the time to vote for the ones we feel God leads us to vote for.

Vote!

I admit it, I stress. Job security, health issues, raising children, you name it and I stress out over it. But something tells me I’m not that different from anybody else

According to WebMD.com, stress effects our bodies in many ways… none of them good. Short-term symptoms may include rapid heartbeat, sweating, headache, backache, fatigue, irritability, nausea and diarrhea. Long-term effects are staggering: Cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, heart attack, and worsening of ongoing medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

In short, our bodies were not created to handle stress. So if God created us, and we assume that He created us to successfully survive in this world, we have to draw the assumption that He doesn’t want us to stress out over things… so what do we do?

We can’t avoid conflicts in our lives. Bad things are going to happen to us and to those we love. That’s just life. But how we respond to conflict strips away the outer layers and shows who we are, and where we put our trust.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

God tells us time and time again to turn our worries over to Him. In Matthew, Christ goes into detail about our worries, and how to handle them.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

Years ago, a Christian counselor taught me a stress management tool that I use to this day. When I feel life overwhelming me, I write down my worries on a piece of paper. I am very specific in my listing. Then I pray over the list. I pray for God’s guidance, for discernment. I pray that His will is followed, that my heart will be open to whatever and wherever He leads. Then I put the list in an envelope, write the date on it, and put the envelope in a safe place. At some point in the future, usually a month or so, but sometimes as long as a year, I go back, open the envelope, and read about my fears from that day. And I see how God has been faithful and answered my prayers.

I’m not perfect with this system, I wish I could say that I was. But we all need to learn to let go of our stress, of the situations that cause them, and turn them over to God. He is ever faithful and will not leave us.

His promises and love endure forever.

When you read the above title, you probably start thinking about all the different versions of the Bible that you can buy at your local bookstore:

• King James
• New King James
• 21st Century King James Version
• New International Version
• New American Standard
• Amplified Bible
• New Living Translation
• American Standard Version
• New Life Version
• The Message
• English Standard Version
• Contemporary English Version
• New Century Version
• Young’s Literal Translation
• Darby Translation
• Holman Christian Standard Bible
• New International Reader’s Version
• Wycliffe New Testament
• Worldwide English New Testament
• Today’s New Internation Version

I could go on and on (and on and on!). The 20 versions I have listed are but a few available according to BibleGateway.com.

But while we may have dozens of interpretations to choose from, and the Bible continues to be the most translated book in the world, there are millions of people who have no translation of the Bible in their own language.

As of 2005, at least one book of the Bible has been translated into 2,400 of the 6,900 languages, including 680 languages in Africa, 590 in Asia, 420 in Oceania, 420 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 210 in Europe, and 75 in North America. The United Bible Societies are presently assisting in over 600 Bible translation projects.

Today my daughter brought home a newsletter from school, a magazine called God’s World News Early Edition, specifically written for younger children. As I thumbed through it, I found an article regarding the people of Jamaica. Most Jamaicans speak a language called patois (PA twa). And while many are Christians, none have ever been able to read a Bible in their language. According to the article:

The Reverend Courtney Stewart says that many Jamaican people have never read the Bible. He has hired people to translate it into patois. He wants all Jamaicans to hear God’s good news.

We may think that it is only in the deepest, darkest corners of the world that people don’t have the ability to put their hands on a Bible, but the reality is that this little island nation, where many Americans vacation, most don’t have access to a Bible in their native language.

There are many groups in the process of translating the Bible for different world populations. Pray for them. Pray that their mission will proceed with haste, that all may know the glory of our God!

One week ago Sarah Palin was introduced as John McCain’s running mate, much to the surprise of everyone. But that was only the beginning.

It was announced yesterday that Palin’s 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. She is keeping the baby, and will be marrying the father sometime in the future.

Added to this family scenario is five-month-old son, Trig, who has Down’s Syndrome.

You could see the journalists and political pundits salivating at the stories being laid at their feet. But here is the real story:

Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, chose to have their son, despite being informed of his condition in utero. They could have taken chosen an easier path, but knew that their son was a gift from God, just like their other four children. According to various studies in the late 1990’s, more than 80% of prenatal diagnoses of Down Syndrome end in abortion.

But the Palins, staunchly pro-life, never considered the alternative. On April 18, 6-pound, 2-ounce son Trig Paxson Van Palin was born.

“We’ve both been very vocal about being pro-life,” Palin told the Associated Press, speaking of herself and her husband, Todd. “We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential.”

The day after the birth, the Palins released the following statement: “Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed.”

Now, they are face the world with a pregnant teenager. Yet their answer to all of the questions is the same. Every baby is a gift from God. Yes, there will be challenges and we wouldn’t have chosen this road for our daughter. But these are our facts, we love our daughter and we will love and support her through this.

Conservatives have come out in full force, commending the family for “talking the talk and walking the walk.” No less than James Dobson of Focus on the Family has backed the Governor from Alaska. While Dobson is a proponent of mothers staying at home with their children, he has welcomed Palin’s candidacy and wholeheartedly endorsed her reaction to her daughter’s pregnancy.

“The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a ‘hypocrite,’ but all it really means is that she and her family are human,” Mr. Dobson said.

I don’t know where I stand on her candidacy, and that is not the discussion I am trying to start. I do wonder if any of this would even be an issue if a man was the candidate and the same issues were in his family. Sometimes it seems like women are expected to toe two different lines in today’s world. Supermom/wife and captain of industry.

For better or for worse, a dialogue has been opened regarding these issues. Our local tv station was on campus today interviewing female college freshmen for their opinions on the Palin family situation. My own step-daughter was interviewed, although I won’t know what she said until I watch the news at 11.

Take this opportunity to talk to your kids. Keep communication open on all fronts.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
words & music by Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

Turn your eyes up Jesus.
Look full in his glorious face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

There is so much evil in the world. It is heartbreaking and distracting beyond words. The evil that men do to one another has the ability to overtake our senses, overwhelm our ability to conceive of it.

But there is a peace and a sanity that exists in a mind that focuses on heaven. Why? Because we know the ending… eternal life in Heaven.

The song that I reference above, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, is a wonderful example of a life that faces Heaven, yet acknowledges this life is hard, that we face obstacles that may seem overwhelming.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Evil is a fact our our lives, and some Christians have to stare it more directly in the face that we can even begin to understand. Currently, there are Christians world-wide facing the threat of death just for being faithful to our God. Christians in parts of India are suffering greatly, with churches being burned down, and the threat of injury and death very real. But they stand tall in their faith. How? Because they know how their stories will end… face-to-face with our Father God, basking in His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

When we read of the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we pray. We pray for healing in a world that turns from God. We pray that our fellow Christians will be strong in the face of this evil. We pray that their tormentors will accept the forgiveness and redemption that God so willingly wants to give them. But we must also remember, and be comforted by the fact, that these saints on earth face those who want to destroy them with the courage and knowledge that what awaits them on the other side is a victory… a victory over evil, over evil-doers, and over death itself.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Those Christians that face this horrible persecution rest on the words above. They are following the Great Commission. They are going to teach those who are lost of a God of love and light.

How many times have we all read of a persecuted Christian, facing death, who is so at peace, so calm? It never fails to confound those who spread evil. But Christians know what those who wish to destroy them cannot understand. What awaits erases what comes before.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in India, please visit www.yesugarden.blogspot.com. It is written by a wonderful sister in Christ, Amrita. Although I will most likely never meet her face to face on this earth, I look forward to the day that we stand together at the throne of God.

To listen to Alan Jackson sing Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, click here.

Every few days I check out a website called Christian News Headlines (ChristianNewsHeadlines.com). Headlines from around the world that pertain to Christianity or the Christian world can be found there, and a simple click will lead you to the full story.

Today a read a story that I wanted to make you all aware of. A few weeks ago I wrote an article on persecution of Christians in China (Christianity in China, August 11, 2008). While the nation of China put on a beautiful face for the world during the Olympics, and claims to have religious freedom, we know that is not true. For me, the story now has a face.

Two days prior to the start of the Olympics, on August 6, Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan (known affectionately as “Pastor Bike”) was arrested, along with his wife and a fellow pastor, Wu Jianghe. He was in a hotel getting ready to go pick up some medicine, when the electricity in his room was turned off. Using his cell phone, he called Bob Fu, president of China Aid.

“He told me that the electricity had been shut off, just in his room, nowhere else,” Bob Fu said. “He was talking to me when they came to arrest him.”

It is believed they are being held at Jing Ba Lu Branch PSB office in Zhengzhou City, the Capital of Henan Province.

Pastor Bike came to Christ in 1986, and immediately began doing missionary work in his hometown. But soon, his love for Christ combined with his love for the people of China pushed him to move beyond his hometown to minister to thousands. In 1998, Pastor Bike began riding his bike around China (hence the nickname!), spreading the word to all who would listen. He traveled 10,000 miles, and he passed out simple business cards that read, “Believe in Jesus. Be Granted Eternal Life.”

As you can imagine, he has been a constant target of the Chinese government. And despite opportunities to leave that country, he has turned them down, preferring to stay in his homeland to lead them to Jesus.

Pastor Bike is president of the Chinese House Church Alliance. You may remember that literally millions of Chinese Christians meet secretly in private houses all around the country. He is a bold force in that nation, and has never backed down in his desire to spread Christ’s name. He will cross borders to hand out Bibles. He will openly share the Good News with those under the age of 18, and has led thousands to be saved. In China, these are all crimes. He has also been a key to the creation of the China Prayer Bands, designed to let Christians around the world know of the persecution faced by their brothers and sisters in Christ in China.

The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association have a website, “FreePastorBike.com” where one can sign a petition that will be forwarded to Chinese Ambassador Mr. Zhou Wenzhong. The message the two groups hope to send to the Chinese government is that the world is aware, and will not forget.

I don’t know if an online petition can help. But I do know that we can all join in prayer for Pastor Bike, and for the millions of Christians in China and around the world who are persecuted, who do not enjoy the freedom of worship that many of us take for granted. Christians who risk their lives and the lives of those they love to worship our risen Saviour.

Please take time to say a prayer today…

YouTube/BBC video in which Pastor Bike is featured about 1 minute in Click Here

As I told you yesterday, I am a big fan of the Olympics. Tonight I was watching the men’s gymnastics team event. The underdog U.S. team led midway through the event, and ended up with the bronze medal. The team was not expected to perform well, as they had lost two of their top performers just days before leaving for Beijing.

But perform they did. At one point the team was huddled up. Gymnast Jonathan Horton spoke up and said, “No fear, no regrets.”

That phrase has stuck with me the rest of the evening. What if we could live every single day of our lives with no fear and no regrets.

What would it feel like to be unafraid of what others thought about us and speak freely of the love of Christ? To be unafraid to express our devotion to Him? Even in the free society that we live in here in the United States, we are “afraid” to offend others by speaking of our faith. Somehow it is easier to imagine crossing the seas to spread the Good News than to cross the street and invite our neighbors to worship with us.

And what would it be like to live with no regrets? To look back at yesterday and beyond, and know that we had done all we could to bring others into the Kingdom of God? That we had left no stone unturned in our desire to spread His message of love?

How amazing that would be!

Daily we live with that fear of offending the unsaved, yet by ignoring them we are condemning them to a life eternity apart from God, in Hell. And when someone we know dies apart from God, we regret never having taken the time to speak. When someone passes away, we are so programmed to say, “They are in a better place now.” But are they really? How do we know? Did we ever speak to them about our faith? Share our Jesus with them.

As Christians, let’s make our motto No Fear, No Regrets.

I love the Olympics, I love everything about them. If my family wants to find me anytime over the next two weeks, they know that I will be parked in front of the nearest television, watching everything from fencing to equestrian to basketball to swimming.

In fact, sports I would never dream of watching any other time take on a life of their own during the Olympics!

This Olympics takes on a bit of a different meaning, though. The host, China, has one of the world’s worst records in human rights and oppression of it’s people. And religion is a very touchy subject in the Middle Kingdom.

In China, those over the age of 18 are allowed be be involved with officially sanctioned Christian meetings through the “Three-Self Patriotic Movement” (TSPM) or the “Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association” (CCPA).

The TSPM is non-denominational, and preachers receive instruction at one of 13 sanctioned seminaries, which are Marxist-oriented. The TSPM is widely viewed as a wing of Communism.

Lest you think the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association is a branch of the Catholic Church, read on. The CCPA is an association of Chinese established in 1957 by the People’s Republic of China’s Religious Affairs Bureau to maintain state supervision over mainland China’s Catholics. In July of 1958, Pope Pius XII declared the bishops who participated in consecrating new bishops selected by the Association to be excommunicated. Pope Benedict XVI called agents of the CCPA “persons who are not ‘ordained’, and sometimes not even baptized”, who “control and take decisions concerning important ecclesial questions, including the appointment of Bishops.

But many Chinese Christians also meet in unregistered house church meetings, despite the reports of sporadic persecution. In fact, while the government estimates there are four million Roman Catholics and 10 million Protestants, independent estimates range from 40 to 54 million Christians in China. Most of the growth has taken place in the House Church movement.

The House Church movement began in 1949, following a Communist edict that all religions must register. The registry forces groups to join one of the state-mandated religious organizations, which opens the door to government interference and control. Risking jail and persecution, these groups meet in homes, often in secret, to protect those involved.

On Sunday, President George Bush and his wife Laura attended church in Beijing. They attended the Beijing Kuanjie Protestant Christian church, one of the “official churches” under Communist control. Afterwards, the President made a statement in support of religious freedom in China, a sentiment he has shared with Chinese President Hu Jintao on numerous occasions.

China is at a crossroads. It wants to be a major player in today’s world, and is well on it’s way. Many American companies have set up manufacturing plants in China (General Motors, for instance). With this influx of “foreign” workers, China will have to make decisions very soon about it’s future.

As you watch the festivities and competition, say a prayer today that the leaders of that far away land will have their eyes opened, that Christianity will continue to grow and be able to move out of the shadows and into the bright light of God’s world.

What do you do when your Christian spirit goes numb, disappears? I don’t mean a crisis of faith. Your faith is still strong, but something is missing in your soul.

It happens to all of us. It sneaks up on us and catches us unaware. Suddenly we realize that we feel apart from God, despite our constant search for Him.

Mother Teresa, who spent her life in God’s service, felt separated from Him so deeply that she wrote her mentors letters that begged for answers. She felt lonely and alone. It appears from her letters that her period of pain began shortly after her mission in the slums of Calcutta in 1948 (a mission she had begged, pleaded and nagged her superiors for over a period of years). As she dove into the underbelly of the world, a darkness overtook her spirit, a darkness that lasted through most of her ministry

In a book entitled Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday), she expresses through letters to her superiors, confessors and spiritual confidants that she is suffering from God’s perceived silence.

Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.
— Mother Teresa to the Rev. Michael Van Der Peet, September 1979

Many non-Christians have called Mother Teresa’s agony proof that there is no god. But note that she says that Jesus has a special love for the reverend. She is not denying in any way God’s existence, but longs to hear His voice.

A feeling a separation from God does not negate His existence. The Catholic Church has long had a term for this period in one’s faith-walk, called the “Dark Night of the Soul.” St. John of the Cross coined the phrase in the 1500’s, and it describes a period of darkness within the faith… not from outside, not from unbelief, but from within the faith.

We all face this at one time or another, on varying scales. In my own period of doubt and hurt, I struggled to see the light that Christ brings us. The light was still there, but my vision was blocked. A friend of mine likes to say that when we feel set apart from God, we need to check our compass and make sure that we are not so enmeshed in the horizontal (this world) that we are missing the vertical (God in His Heaven).

We are human. We will have these “dark nights.” But even in our darkest hour, our Holy Father is there. Even when we feel empty and alone, the Holy Spirit is in us. When we become so mired in the sins of the world that we feel there is no way out, Christ is sitting by the Father, interceding on our behalf.

The final words of the Great Commission, from Matthew 28:16-20, says it all, and are the words where we find our comfort in these times:

And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Matthew 28:20b