I pray for Christians who have family members that do not know you. I pray you would give those Christians perseverance to keep praying for thier family and to keep being an example of your love. Soften the hearts of non believing family members that they would recieve your salvation.

I pray for citizens of Iraq. I pray for Christians that You would give them strength to persevere although the persecution against them gets worse and worse everyday. I pray that You would give them love for thier enemies and remind them that they are not fighting against flesh and blood but against Satan. No matter how strong Satan may seem at times, God is always stronger. I pray for Muslims in Iraq, I thank You for them for they are Your creation and loved by You. Please protect them and send people to minister to them, love them and pray for them. I pray for all soldiers in Iraq. I pray that they get a good night sleep tonight and that they wake up feeling refreshed. I pray for unity amongst the troops that they would support and encourage eachother. I pray that you would bring them home safely to thier families.

I pray for President Obama. I pray that as he struggles with major issues like the war, the recession and health care that You would give him wisdom to do what is best for this country and for the world. I pray that You would protect him and his family. I pray that he would make changes that glorify You and are really the right thing for this country. I pray he makes changes that lay a strong foundation for the future. I thank you for this country, for our government, for the citizens, for the geography and for all the things that make us unique. Please remind all of us, regardless of how we feel about the economy or the president or healthcare, that this country is in Your hands. It was founded on Your principles. You put us here for a reason and for that we are greatful.

In Jesus Name.

Amen

It drives me crazy when people take the “nothing is impossible for God” statement and start asking nonsense questions like “well can God make a rock so big that He can’t move it?” No, and honestly, who cares. Those people are totally missing the point. Obviously there are some things that God cannot due. He cannot go against his nature and therefore cannot lie, hate or commit any sin. He can’t die. He can, however, do anything that we need Him to. He can heal the sick, provide for the poor, comfort the mourners and find the lost. Has anyone ever needed God to create a rock so big he couldn’t lift it? No. Has anyone ever needed God to sin? Of course not. What we need from God, He always provides

My family has always been lower middle class. My parents put away a little money every month in order to have enough at Christmas time. One year, there was a family at our church who had nothing. My parents ask my siblings and I if we would be willing to give up our Christmas money to help out that family. We said yes, secretly hoping that a Christmas miracle would allow us to get some presents too. And wouldn’t you know it, about a week later my great grandmother in Ohio sent us a check for the same amount of money as we gave away. My parents hadn’t told her anything, she just said she had been praying one day and felt that God was telling her to send us some money. The other family and my family was tremendously blessed that Christmas. Can God perform Christmas miracles? Yes He can!

Two years ago my thirteen year old cousin had a stroke. Within 24 hours he went from being a normal teenager to being in a coma with a 1% chance of making it to the next day. That is not an exaggeration, he literally had a 1% survival rate. My family prayed and prayed as doctor’s performed an extremely high risk surgery. Two years later, my cousin is walking, talking, going to boy scout camp, getting in fights with his siblings and attending school at his normal grade level. Can God heal the sick? Yes he can.

My grandfather is one of those people who made a much better grandpa than he did a dad. I remember in my early childhood he and my dad rarely got along. My dad was never fond of visiting the man who often physically, verbally and emotionally abused him growing up. But, he kept visiting his dad and took us along. After lots of prayer and endless discussions and apologies, my grandpa was able to repent and ask forgivenes of God and my dad, and my dad was able to release all of that anger and forgive his father. Because of that, us grandkids have a great relationship with our Papa. I have great memories of my Grandpa taking me on deliveries when he worked in the battery business, always buying me mint chocolate chip icecream, sending me birthday cards telling how proud he was of me and swing dancing with me at my wedding. Can God change people’s hearts and mend broken relationships? Yes He can.

So no, God cannot build a rock that he cannot lift nor can he answer nonsense questions…BUT…He can do, be and say anything His children need.

Kidnapped Iraqi Christian Dead
   A 45 year old Iraqi Christian was killed and kidnapped and his body found on Sunday. Since 2003, half the Christian communicty has left Iraq and more continue to leave as violent incidents like this increase.

Christian Arrested for Distributing Tracts in Egypt
   I am continually learning about more and more countries that do not have lawes against Christianity, yet Christians are arrested and persecuted there. This story is one such example.

Justice Comes to Orissa
   Its a small step, but a step nonetheless. Six people were sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for their role in anti-Christian violence. For background information on Orissa check out this past post: Orissa Prayer Campaign

The Paradox of North Korea
   Very few journalists are allowed in North Korea , however, this BBC journalist was given teh unique opportunity to visit “one of the most effective systems of control ever envisaged.”lsdkjf  /zxx.v;p

Testimonies of Discipleship Training for Secret Believers

Open Doors has developed special training courses for secret believers and the impact of those courses is wonderful. These are some of the testimonies that we have received from those who have been a part of our discipleship training programs.

 
Samuel
“I am the only Christian in my family. This makes it difficult for me. When I first became a Christian, I was very open and enthusiastic. I could not stop telling everybody about Jesus and invited many people to my house to talk about Him. It did not take a lot of time before people got offended. I then got arrested by the police and spent two months in jail for my faith.  

“What I loved about this training is that I finally learned about the truth. In Iran I had learned many things, but some of these would speak against each other. I also like to learn about the concept of sin. Not just what is a sin, but the broader perspective. This made a huge impact on me and my daily life.” 

Omid
“Before coming to the training I had a big problem. I saw ‘things’ that were very scary, like dark creatures in my bedroom. I could see them walking around. Sometimes these happenings would have a bad influence on me and I got depressed. The trainers talked to me about this and advised me what to do. What to pray before entering the room, what to pray next, and so on. This helped very well. I did all of this after coming home and since that time the creatures are gone and the problems have been solved, it is over. I am so happy about that.”  

“Also for me the big influence of training was the concept of sin. To know what is sin, the explanation of how it started and what it means for us today. Not just to talk about individual sins and sinners, but the total concept of it, to be away from God. That really helped me.” 

Salar
“I am the only one in the group who was brought up in a Christian home, I am a genuine Christian Background Believer (CBB). Growing up in a Christian home, I knew the Bible well, and knew all the stories. The training helped me putting all the separate stories together. It showed a line in the Bible, that I had not seen before. I learned how to find different Bible verses with the same meaning. This opens a way for giving service to people, helping them in a better way. I see a big need for good teachers and leaders. We have a need for more interaction, discussions and meetings with people. A week like this is so good to just be able to discuss matters and learn from each other.”  

The beautiful islands of Maldives, located in the Indian Ocean, are in need of our prayers. There are currently 100 short term missionaries there. Pray that God gives them wisdom when evangelizing and that their short stay is able to make a long term impact. Also pray that God calls long term missionaries to the island to plan churches and share the gospel. Also pray for seafarers from Maldives as they are often lonely and go up to 12 months isolated from friends and family.

the beautiful island of maldives, taken from nationalgeographic.com

This article is a bit old, but still worth mentioning. In early September the State Assembly “approved legislation that would allow courts to seize any property, such as house or automobile, used in the commission of human trafficking. In addition to the courts seizing property, SB 557 would add civil penalties of up to $25,000.”  Praise the Lord! Pray that more advancement is made to stop human trafficking in the U.S. as well as other countries.

Pray for the recent events of persecution in India.

My friend, Jaime, is pregnant with twins and should be delivering in three days, on the 8^th. Pray that everything goes smoothly and her two baby girls are healthy.

Keep praying for all who are unemployed. My dad has a second interview this week with a well known publishing company. Please pray that all goes well.

Please say a special prayer for our troops in Afghanistan. I don’t have any details, but my friends fiancé is deployed there now and I know the past couple months the troops have had many brushes with death.  Pray for all their families…strength, love and comfort for the families of those who have already been killed and perseverance, strength and hope for families waiting for safe returns.

I have several friends in serious relationships asking me questions like “how did you know he was the one?” The truth is, I never really 100% knew. I’m not a person who is ever 100% sure about anything. I’m not sure what kind of career I want, where I want to raise a family, whether I want a disneyland or a knotts berry farm pass. This constant uncertainty used to make me indecisive. It also used to make me think that I wasn’t hearing from God. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am a doubter by nature and God could probably write something on my bedroom wall and I would still question whether or not it was what I should do. So now I pray and go with what I’m pretty sure God wants me to do. It’s a risk, I know, but God is a pretty powerful being and one thing I am 100% sure of is that if I start down the wrong path, He’ll let me know.  So I was never 100% sure that my husband was “the one” (which, btw, i don’t actually believe in the concept of  “the one” but that is a discussion for another time.) But I was about 95% sure, which was way more certainty than I had felt for anything, so I figured that was good enough. And wouldn’t you know it….three months into I’m now 100% sure. He was definately worth the risk.

1) Pray. Join Open Doors for the International Day of Prayer on Nov. 8. You can request a free prayer kit and use it to spread the word at your church, bible study or college campus. Not everyone can donate money or go on a missions trip to support the persecuted church, but we can all pray.

2) Text a Bible. Open Doors has a great on going campaign called text a Bible. Its as easy as it sounds. Text the word “Bible” to 20222. Reply “yes” to the confirmation text and your done. Five dollars will be charged to your next phone bill, and you’ve just placed a Bible in the hands of a Christian desperately needing daily encouragment. Visit the Open Doors website for more information.

3) Blog. Join the Open Doors Persecution Blog Network and help spread the word about the plights of persecuted Christians, praise reports from Christians worldwide, ways to advocate and make a political difference in the right for religious freedom, ways to pray and ways to donate.

Of course it wouldn’t be Headliner Wednesday without some headlines. Here is what is going on in the world:

1. Tsunami hit the Samoan Islands today
2. With so many negative headlines in the world, I love it when I find a positive one. A church in Indonesia recently won the legal battle to worship in thier own building.
3. Pastor in India seriously wounded, Hindu extremeist suspected

So, what’s the point of my testimony anyways? I used to think I didn’t have one, that I was the most boring Christian on the planet and that my life story could not possibly benefit anyone in any way. However, over the past year or so, God has been showing me my testimony and ways that it can benefit people. This is the first time I will share it publically, in its entirety. Hopefully someone out there can relate and this post encourages you or convicts you. Or better yet, does both.

I’ve been going to church with my family my whole life, but church really started having an impact on me when I was 7. We had just started going to church A (I’m keeping the church names anonymous) and I loved it. I met my best friend there (we are still friends to this day) and my Hawaiian auntie and uncle. It was a small church, so I wasn’t overwhelmed when I walked in. I remember fitting in right away and feeling like I was part of a family. We went to that church for seven years. I played the violin on the worship team, went to Sunday school, and was confident that church was the best thing ever. Then, when I was 14 and just starting to realize that grown-ups didn’t know everything, the church split. Adults, mainly my youth leaders whom I adored, where suddenly saying mean things about my parents and my aunt and uncle.  And my family wasn’t any better.  Feelings were getting hurt, friendships were being ruined, and I had no idea why.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that split was to have a very negative impact on my perception of church for the next seven years. O sure, I kept going to church. My family started going to church B right after church A. I went with them, sang on the worship team, and tried to grow their even tinier youth group. But it never felt like home and I never really got to know more than a handful of people. Just as I was starting to let my guard down, the worship leader at that church started saying hurtful things to my aunt and uncle (they had followed us to church B). One day he totally lost his temper and yelled at my mom for no reason. Hello church A flashbacks. That was it. For the next 6 years that I went to that church I never went beyond my handful of friends. Never talked to anyone new, never prayed for anyone, never cared about anyone. I never blamed God for man’s stupidity and continued to go to church to worship Him and learn from His word. But the fellowship aspect of church was almost non-existent for me.

While in college I tried a few other churches, but none of them ever stuck. I just kept going to church B because my dad was a associate pastor there and that is what was easiest. Then a friend from work invited me to her church’s college group. My boyfriend at the time (now my husband) and I went and were blown away. It was really laid back and everyone was welcoming. The study was thought provoking and relatable. I don’t know why, but we went to that group for almost a year without ever going to the church it was associated with. Right after I graduated college we started going to that church, Church C, and that’s when things started to click.

I had always known that the purpose of church was to grow one’s relationship with God. What I hadn’t realized was that the church accomplishes this purpose in four ways: worship, bible study, fellowship and outreach. I was familiar with worship and Bible study and knew how important they were. But after the split of church A, I stopped caring about fellowship and outreach. I decided I didn’t need a Christian support system other than the one I had at home. All I needed was my God, my family and me. Wrong! The pastor at church C talked a lot about the importance of outreach and even more about the importance of small groups and fellowship. Many people in that church reached out to me and, slowly, my husband and I started to reach back. It was then that I realized I had never really gotten over the split of church A, never really forgave my parents or any of the other adults involved. What’s worse is that I carried that resentment with me the whole time I was attending church B. I had blamed other people. I said they were too old to understand what I was going through or they care more about getting to know my dad than me. There was some validity to that, but the truth is, looking back, I realize there were people who genuinely cared about me. I chose to build a wall between us.

This whole church thing is still something I’m working through. Even now church C is going through a lot of changes and I’m starting to feel the old fear rising up…fear that people will leave and I’ll be left alone again, without Christian friends and without fellowship. But then I remind myself that fellowship is a choice…I can choose to reach out to others just as easily as they can reach out to me. I also have to remind myself that fellowship is vital to a healthy walk with God. He so often shows us things and speaks to us through our interactions with other Christians. We can learn so much from other people’s experiences. Worship, Bible study, Fellowship and Outreach…that’s what the church is made for.

So many things about this verse inspire me. First of all is Daniel’s passion for prayer. He prayed three times a day every day! And not just little blurbs prayed in the shower or on the commute to work, but serious, set apart pray times with no distractions. Not that I think there is anything wrong with prayers in the shower or in the car, but this verse reminds me of the importance of spending some serious one on one time with God. Something else I love about Daniel is that, when he heard that his government was doing something wrong, he didn’t go complain to his friends or rant and rave on his blog. The first thing he did was pray to God for help. I would say and do a lot less stupid things if my priority was to pray first.

Please join me in having committed prayer every day this week and in praying for the following people/events.

1) Rifqa Barry. I’m sure many of you have heard of this Muslim teen by now, who fled her family in Ohio because she was afraid they would kill her. There is lots of speculation as to whether or not she is really danger. Pray that the truth comes out, that she is protected and pray for wisdom for everyone involved in this case. Pray especially for wisdom for the pastors and Christians involved, as they will probably be scrutinized and be accused of hating Muslims. Pray that the way they handle the situation is a good example of Christ.

2) A tropical storm hit the Philippines this weekend and the consequential flooding has killed hundreds and left thousands without homes. hat same storm, Typhoon Ketsana, hit Vietnam today. Pray for the victims and pray for restoration in both regions. http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090929/typhoon-ketsana-carries-deadly-rampage-over-to-vietnam/index.html

3) Please pray for everyone who is unemployed across the country. I know times are really tough for some people. My dad has been out of work for 6 months and I have many recently graduated friends who cannot get jobs. How about you, readers? Are any of you looking for jobs? Have any of you found jobs recently?

4) Open Doors is hosting an International Day Of Prayer for the persecuted church on Nov. 8. Pray that it helps further educate people about the persecuted church. For more information click on the following link. http://members.opendoorsusa.org/site/PageNavigator/IDOP_2009_LP

5) Please pray for a friend of mine, Jaime, who is pregnant with twins. Pray that she is able to carry them to full term and that there are no complications. I also have a praise report along those lines. My nephew, Logan, was born on Friday night. Totally healthy, no complications, and he’s pretty cute to boot.

Do any of you have prayer requests or praise reports? Let me know and I’ll include them in next week’s Monday=Prayday.