Author: Jayson

Categories
Christianity Today Europe Published Articles

As Russia Invades Ukraine, Pastors Stay to Serve, Pray … and Resist

Image: Courtesy of Ukrainian Bible Society
Ukrainians praying in the central square of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

As Russia invaded Ukraine today [yesterday], pressing near even to the capital of Kyiv, a Baptist home was destroyed and a seminary shaken by nearby blasts. Local sources told CT, however, that no churches or Christian buildings had been attacked so far.

President Vladimir Putin announced his forces were targeting only military installations. He also asserted that Ukraine does not truly exist as a nation.

Igor Bandura, vice president of the Baptist Union, the largest Protestant body in Ukraine, heard about collateral damage to the home of a Baptist in Donetsk during a Zoom call with his 25 regional superintendents.

Minus one. On the front lines of the eastern Donbas region, the Baptist leader from the occupied territory of Luhansk was unable to join.

But from the town of Chasov Yor on the front lines in neighboring Donetsk—in an area then still under Ukrainian government control—Bandura learned the local assessment.

“People don’t want to be under Russian control,” he was told. “But they feel helpless. What can ordinary people do?”

Pray. And remain calm.

This was the message put out by the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), a day after its appeal to Putin went unanswered.

Ukraine’s chief rabbi invited Christian leaders to recite Psalm 31 together.

“We urge you to remain calm, not to give in to panic, and to comply with the orders of the Ukrainian state and military authorities,” stated the UCCRO. “The truth and the international community are on the Ukrainian side. We believe that good will prevail, with God’s help.”

Thousands of Ukrainians fled west as Russian missiles hit targets throughout the nation. Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reported hundreds of instances of shelling.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced by video shortly after midnight that 137 Ukrainians died during the invasion’s first day. “They are killing people and transforming peaceful cities into military targets,” he said, according to The New York Times. “That’s villainous and will never be forgiven.”

Valentin Siniy, president of Traviski Christian Institute (TCI) in Kherson, about 50 miles from Crimea, had to evacuate his seminary along with a team of Bible translators as Russian helicopters attacked local targets. “The majority of old pastors…

This article was originally published at Christianity Today, on February 24, 2022. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Christianity Today Middle East Published Articles

Arab Christian Scholars: Trade Minority Mindset for Abundant Life

Image: Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source images:Joe Raedle / Staff / Carl Court / Staff / Getty / Frank Mckenna / Unsplash / Wikimedia Commons

A group of academic Christians in the Middle East has thrown down the gauntlet: The local church, bound in fear to its minority mindset, needs to walk afresh in the Holy Spirit.

“We must tell the truth and call for freedom,” said Souraya Bechalany, coauthor of “We Choose Abundant Life,” a document released last September that makes 20 recommendations. “We are powerful in Jesus Christ, but too often we don’t believe it.”

Bechalany, a professor of theology and ecumenism at the University of St. Joseph in Lebanon, joined 14 other scholars across the region to challenge local Christians to give up their self-understanding of being a minority and to work for the rights of citizenship for all in a changing society.

Local clergy, they say, have instead often wedded themselves to the regimes.

Surveying experience from the Ottoman Empire onward, the document laments how many Christians have taken refuge in sectarianism, turning their vision inward toward survival.

Arab nationalism provided an escape, as Christians took leading roles in developing a common political discourse independent of religion. So did relationships with Western churches, as Catholics and Protestants pioneered modern education and built hospitals to serve society.

But as the region’s nation-states increasingly sacrificed democratic norms in favor of political stability—whether secular or Islamic—church leaders tended in one of two directions: Ally with the authorities, or plead to patrons in the West.

“If we continue in this direction,” said Gabriel Hachem, a Melkite Catholic priest and editor in chief of the French-language journal Proche Orient Chretien, “there is no future for us in the region.”

For now, the regimes are winning, as the challenge of ISIS and political Islam have pushed Christians to support the pillars of authority in alliances of minorities. But in doing so, they sided against human rights and dignity. This is inherently unstable, Hachem said, and Christians suffer also.

Their rate of emigration is rapidly increasing. The ecumenical Abundant Life is the product of a three-year consultation involving…

This article was originally published at Christianity Today, on February 23, 2022. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Christianity Today Europe Published Articles

Amid War and Rumors of War, Ukraine Pastors Preach and Prepare

Image: Aleksey Filippov / AFP / Getty Images
A cupola of a destroyed Orthodox church is seen in the Donetsk region on Ukraine’s frontline with Russia-backed separatists on February 21, 2022.

Facing imminent war, Ukrainian evangelicals preached peace the day before Russian President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated tensions by recognizing the independence of two separatist regions on Monday evening.

“Go closer to meet those who are against you or fighting you,” Yuriy Kulakevych, foreign affairs director of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, told his congregation on Sunday, February 20, at God’s Peace Pentecostal Church in the capital, Kyiv.

“We are not only to enjoy peace ourselves, but to share it.”

Preaching on the Sermon on the Mount’s injunction toward peacemaking, Kulakevych continued his laser-sharp focus on the possible Russian invasion. Five weeks ago, as the separatist conflict in the eastern Donbas region began to escalate, he surveyed the Bible for its teaching on “wars and rumors of war.”

He followed that with an application of “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and, on the next Sunday, a treatise on worry. Last week, he tried shifting to include more mundane examples in a sermon on Jesus calming the storm, such as pandemic, career, and relationship difficulties. But the Russian threat did not dissipate.

“Protect yourself and your family by all possible means,” Kulakevych told the church. “And serve as a mentor for people in a bad state.”

The latter spirit is also animating Ukraine’s Baptists.

“Pastors in the gray area are not leaving the area,” said Igor Bandura, senior vice president of the Baptist Union of Ukraine, describing the frontline. “Christians are determined to take an active part in the needs of the people around them.”

They have already, planting 25 churches in the past five years. For weeks the Eastern European nation has lived in tension as an…

This article was originally published at Christianity Today, on February 21, 2022. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Investigating Strife

God,

So much money has disappeared. It must be the fault of someone.

Maybe many.

One side has set its aim. The other—veiled defending?

Some want to see evidence. Some say: Not alone.

He says he is innocent, and ready to prove.

But yet he stays in hiding—while working in the bank.

As agents of the government quite nearly come to blows.

Consequences many.

Several sound alarm:

IMF negotiations. The threat of civil war.

Others fear the secrets, if betrayed, that he might spill.

Justice, God, they say, is blind.

But we, we cannot see.

Unless the signs are all displayed and will is what we need.

Shine your light of guidance. Uncover every fraud.

The darkness hides before the true, if righteous in their way.

Are there many?

No, not one?

Embolden the faithful. Convict of their sin.

Purify the somewhat-pure that they might take a stand.

It may not be him, God. Perhaps others entire.

A regional compact to thieve and to thwart

Every step toward transparency, sovereignty, peace.

God let there be justice. No blood, conflict, hate.

For wagons encircle midst rumors of war, as dark clouds have gathered round rattling swords.

They are many.

New drones. Loud jets.

But hints of surprise: Compromise in the sea?

Will we soon see the fruit of a settlement sure?

Europe and Russia. Iran and the States.

Natural gas, electricity. Hope.

God, you know.

God, we wait.

Prompt the right ones to act.

Prompt the humble to pray.

Investigate, God. Lebanon all.

Some: Chaff that is burned up.

Some: Refined by the fire.

Many?

In need of repentance.

Of mercy. Of love.

You bore our strife. Please heal our wounds.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: When Nothing Happens

God,

With very little in the headlines, either good or bad,

Comes the freedom, complicating: What to mention in our prayers?

But not for the people, God, their lives are full.

Death and sickness, tired and poor.

Or bored and tempted, rich and proud.

Many somewhere in between.

Help Fulaana plan her week.

Help Fulaan to raise his kids.

Uncle John sees fraud at work.

Cousin Jane slights cousin Jill.

God, you know the names of each,

Their problems, troubles, foibles, sins.

The deeds of leaders rarely touch them.

The nations rage—they’d never know.

Forgive our prayers for things above us,

If we forget the souls around.

And then, oh God, when our eyes open

Give us open hands in turn.

Open hearts to hear complaining—

Valid in so many ways.

Comfort, comfort, for the people.

Let your healing come through us.

And with the freedom from confliction,

Let your blessing mark our words.

For Tripoli, God, we ask your provision.

For Sidon and Tyre and all of the south.

For Zahle and Baalbek, Bekaa and the mountains,

Grant your prosperity, knit tight their bonds.

But what of Beirut, God? Your anger or favor?

The seat of the government—corrupt or inept?

Or simply incapable, their agency lacking?

Acting out orders received from abroad?

Every week, we put them before you.

Every week, no visible change.

Strengthen our faith that we keep up petitions,

But widen our vision to see you at work.

How God? We know not. Our own sins encumber.

They block my rebuke of the sins that surround.

But God, your spirit soars within us

When we loose our tongue to bless.

Fulaan and Fulaana, Joe, Jane, and Jill.

But also the leader whose tongue I would cut.

Bless Beirut, God. Bless the nation.

Bless my neighbor. Bless my home.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Christianity Today Middle East Published Articles

Can Lebanon’s Baptists and Maronites Cooperate Amid Crisis?

Elijah Brown, with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai.

The value of Lebanon’s largest denomination of lira is now worth $4. It used to be able to purchase a ticket to a Broadway show. Today, amid a currency crisis that has pushed poverty rates to 82 percent, it can buy a gallon of milk.

The minimum wage—pummeled by the world’s third-worst inflation rate—is now barely $20 a month. And the worst suffering is in the nation’s north, where 6 in 10 children are regularly skipping meals.

Lebanon’s Baptists called for help.

“We came to express our deep concern for the suffering of Christians, and everyone,” said Elijah Brown, the US-based general secretary for the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), who visited mid-January.

“You are in our prayers.”

His words were directed to Bechara Boutros al-Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Church, an Eastern Rite Catholic community. Expressing solidarity with the 81-year-old cardinal and leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian denomination was a priority to the local Baptist convention, and Brown came with an invitation.

The BWA will call America’s 40 Baptist colleges to a conference in the US focused on supporting Lebanese education. Cohost with us, Brown asked, in partnership with US Catholic universities.

“It is a way to strengthen one another,” he said, “sending a message of unity and nonsectarianism.”

Lebanon is divided roughly in thirds: Sunni Muslim, Shiite Muslim, and Christian. Evangelicals represent about 1 percent of the 6 million population, far behind Maronites, Greek Orthodox, and other sects.

But Protestant-heritage schools like American University of Beirut and Lebanese American University stand alongside the Catholic St. Joseph’s University and the Orthodox Balamand University, akin to the Ivy League elite. All have been suffering, as few students can afford tuition.

And it is similar for Lebanon’s children. Over 700,000 of 1.2 million students attend the Christian-dominated private school system—including 20,000 within 35 evangelical schools. But the economic situation has pulled 3 in 10 students out of school altogether, and 13 percent of families sent their children to work.

Lebanon’s Notre Dame University (NDU) is eager for partnership.

“We want to help develop the Baptist mission in Lebanon,” said Bechara Khoury, president of NDU. “Struggling with a very crucial situation, bridges with others will give us the oxygen we need.”

Fully accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, in 2020 NDU began a partnership with the Baptist SKILD program for students with special needs. It is an “added value” for the inclusive university, said Khoury, as 46 students receive support in their college studies.

The BWA provided $35,000 last year to SKILD, Beirut Baptist School, and other aid programs to support struggling Lebanese and Syrian refugees. While Brown promised to continue to raise the issues of Lebanon among Baptist donors worldwide, he assured the patriarch with a message of advocacy. He will press US lawmakers…

This article was originally published at Christianity Today, on February 4, 2022. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Sunni Vacuum

God,

It is consistent.

He read the tea leaves, stayed away.

Like in October—walked away.

On the margins, he came back. But never found himself in charge.

How to lead a sect, if so?

God, bless him in this time of void.

Bless his community. What to do next?

Who will get the vacant votes?

Will they go to the Shiites—strengthen Iran?

Or civil society, however dispersed?

Might it stay in the family, his brother to rise?

Or boycott entire, invalidate all?

Some say: Extremism.

God, others are hoping the others will fall.

Shiite, Druze, Christian, each in their turn.

Wipe clean the deck. Build anew with the youth.

But maybe it’s simple? His money ran dry,

And without a patron, no campaign to run.

So in comes Kuwait with an offer to all.

Disarm the militia, come back to good terms.

Other proposals are easy enough. But this one impossible, per the UN.

What home have the Sunnis?

A new era dawns.

(Or not. Some say this is simply more of the same.)

God, it is hard to pray for a sect.

Move them together? Break clientele bonds?

Do you wish them a leader—righteous and just?

Or personal agency—each his own way?

Speak to their hearts, God. Move in their midst.

Help each to be mindful that your will be done.

Prosper, yes. Empower true.

But only you can fill the vacuum that resides in human soul.

Let no pale impression stand.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Pitiful Disorder

God,

Some rallied for the criminal they called instead a hero.

But better than a label is the sentiment it summons:

Sympathy.

In need of cash, he stormed the bank and claimed his own deposit.

Knowing he would be refused he came prepared with leverage:

Gasoline.

He doused the floor and showed his gun and threatened all surrounding.

With dollars gained he then went home. But honor, conscience led him:

Surrender.

But now the court wants money back. No copycat proceedings.

It’s right, and good, but wrong, and sad. It sums up Lebanon proper:

Desperation.

Another problem yet confronts, though only Beirut suffered.

The internet ran out of fuel. The head, who warned, then threatened:

Resignation.

A civil servant, we are told, forgot to sign a paper.

But new supplies have been obtained. Now May the expiration:

Foreboding.

Still—deals in place with guarantees are now becoming formal.

Jordan. Egypt. Syria. The promise is appealing:

Electricity.

And with the dollars spent to drive the lira appreciating,

A budget pending, cabinet to meet—might we see unexpected:

Recovery?

God, we place all in your hands. Come to the man in mercy.

Keep our data, WhatsApp calls; alternatives are mostly:

Prohibitive.

And will the power come back on? Reforms and bailout happen?

Few of us trust promised gains. Like bright lights, reason glaring:

Corruption.

You God, in all, the opposite. You’re love, you’re strength, forgiving.

Our hope: In you. Not wealth. Not sect. Alone, even friends and family:

Deceiving.

For Lebanon’s problems, enlighten those with influence and position.

But your word gives us answers true. The only expectation:

Obedience.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Current Events

The 50 Countries Where It’s Hardest to Follow Jesus in 2022

Image: Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Image: Benne Ochs / Getty Images

A thousand more Christians were killed for their faith last year than the year before.

A thousand more Christians were detained.

Six hundred more churches were attacked or closed.

And Afghanistan is the new No. 1, according to the 2022 World Watch List (WWL), the latest annual accounting from Open Doors of the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian.

“This year’s findings indicate seismic changes in the persecution landscape,” said David Curry, president of Open Doors USA.

Since Open Doors began its tally in 1992, North Korea has led the ranking. But since Afghanistan’s takeover by the Taliban last August, Afghan believers have had to leave their country or relocate internally. Many lost everything they had, notes the report, while house churches were closed in their wake.

“Before the Taliban, it was not great, but it was good,” said one evacuated Afghan, requesting anonymity in hopes that he may one day return. “[Now] Christians are living in fear, in secret, totally underground.”

Open Doors is quick to note the displacement of North Korea to No. 2 does not reflect an improvement in religious freedom there. On the contrary, a new anti–reactionary thought law has resulted in an increase of Christian arrests and house church closures.

Overall, 360 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution or discrimination. That’s 1 in 7 Christians worldwide, including 1 in 5 believers in Africa, 2 in 5 in Asia, and 1 in 15 in Latin America. Last year, for the first time in 29 years of tracking…

This article was originally published by Christianity Today on January 19, 2022. Please click here to read the full text, and here for the Arabic version.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: A Godly Shame

God,

Cabinet will soon be back—with everyone embarrassed?

Since October it has stalled, to shelve the justice leading

Investigations in the blast. They failed (for now) removal,

And yield instead to IMF, exchange rate, and the suffering.

The budget now can be discussed, prime minister the victor.

But lingers still is his “two days” that promised soon resumption.

And president, too, played a role in pressuring the duo.

But national dialogue fell flat—his plea was seen irrelevant.

How does the union rate their strike? City shutdown helpful?

Annoyance won, or sympathy? No revolution followed.

The foreign powers maneuver still. America dropped its sanctions

To win the flow of Egypt’s gas. Good, but Syrian backtrack?

And UAE joins Al Saoud in promised French initiative—

That since its start has been ignored despite extensive effort.

God, what to do when plans dissolve? When reputation tarnished?

A king disgraced can rally still, or humbly seek redemption.

Some of old turned from the Lord. Some saw—in him—revival.

But none have fallen yet so far, though Lebanon is collapsing.

So many people wish them ill, but many still beholden.

Yet they continue, carry on. Their sect, their interest, nation.

It is a sacrifice to stay within the spotlight. Surely

There is a principle each seeks—with politics conflicting.

God remove the obstacles, and them, if they the problem.

God empower them otherwise, and lead them to solution.

Cabinet again will meet, and now can take decisions.

Give wisdom, God. The room for wrong has also now expanded.

Let godly shame descend upon all parties which deserve it.

Embarrassment can drive us to your arms in seeking cover.

Wipe our tears, God. Lift our head. Remind us of your image.

Tarnished, yes, but you restore. Trade ashes for our blessing.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Explosive Talk

God,

A few days late, the outburst came.

Not from the top, but in-law.

The Christian-Shiite partnership, he said: No longer working.

It brought the president his post.

But what else is accomplished?

Reform the state, corruption probe? No—just sectarian interest.

Will cost us seats, and me the chair.

But principle must triumph.

Yet the alliance did not break. Just leverage? Pressure? Posturing?

Militia head in turn took aim.

He fired at the Saudis.

The king the terrorist-in-chief. A verbal up-the-ante.

All others rallied round the cause,

As each his own interprets.

Preserve relations. Resistance arms. A larger deal coming?

So God we ask what you prefer:

A smiling false consensus,

Or knuckles bared, frustration aired, with right and wrong debated?

If politics an ugly game, real issues on the table.

If politics deceitful game,

Behind closed doors the answer comes—and dressed up as solution.

Which one Lebanon, oh God?

Send to us your mercy.

Make politics an honest game. Represent the people.

In compromise, accountable.

In seeking posts, transparent.

The national above the sect, with individual freedom.

But not too much? The sect also

Reflects a true communal.

God, how is this puzzle solved? Lebanon: Conundrum.

So let each segment seek your will.

Be humble. Serve the other.

God, please bless the pure in heart. The peacemakers, your children.

Some dedicate their time to prayer.

Some enter the arena.

God, let their light shine. Kingdom come. Peace—no more explosions.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Categories
Christianity Today Europe Published Articles

Interview with Oleksandr Turchynov, Coordinator of Ukraine’s Conservative Movement

(Photo by Thomas Koehler/Photothek via Getty Images)

CT: How do you interpret Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions on the border, and how likely is a full invasion?

Turchynov: It is rather difficult to interpret, and it is even more difficult to treat him as someone whose actions can be explained with ordinary civilized values.

One aspect involves political and economic interests, such as the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. At the same time, Putin is raising the stakes as a tactic, issuing ultimatums. His approach serves to further polarization and undermines both NATO and the European Union (EU) concerning the expansion of membership.

It is kind of a game, growing worse for everyone. But if the West and Ukraine were to consolidate their actions, Putin wouldn’t be able to prevail. Full-scale invasion is an extremely dangerous project—mainly for Putin himself. But he is capable of making inadequate decisions.

CT: How have discussions with US President Joe Biden changed the situation, if at all? How do you view the response from the West?

Turchynov: One of Putin’s purposes was a glorious moment of triumph by sitting with President Biden as equals at the table of negotiations. But sometimes it is necessary to talk to a terrorist, to distract him from his acts of terror.

Some Ukrainians wanted to hear a different response from the White House, for example by…

This article was originally published by Christianity Today, on January 4, 2022. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Christianity Today Europe Published Articles

On Ukraine-Russia Border, Evangelicals Endure as Invasion Looms

Image: Alexander Reka / TASS / Getty Images
A Christmas light installation in Luhansk, Ukraine, by a monument to the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ, on December 24, 2021

Ukraine celebrates Christmas twice, honoring both the Eastern and Western church calendars. Yet this season, Pentecostals spent the week leading up to December 25 in prayer and fasting while Baptists did the same from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day.

The reason: tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed on the border, threatening a full invasion.

Russian-backed separatists have held control of the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine since 2014. This past November, the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) declared Donbas “the area of Europe where the church suffers the most.” In total the conflict has killed over 14,000 people and displaced 2 million of the region’s 5 million people.

“Prayer is our spiritual weapon,” said Igor Bandura, vice president of the Baptist Union of Ukraine. “God can undo what the politicians are planning.”

This past Friday, US President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that any further invasion of Ukraine would result in “a heavy price to pay”; Putin replied that any new sanctions would trigger a complete breakdown in relations. On Monday, Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US and its allies would “respond decisively” to Russian aggression; Zelensky signaled appreciation for the “unwavering support.”

Trying to help years ago from the Russian side, Vitaly Vlasenko was labeled a spy.

Traveling 650 miles south from Moscow to Luhansk, Ukraine, at his own expense, the now–general secretary of the Russian Evangelical Alliance (REA) waded into a war zone.

By 2018, separtist leaders in Donbas had crafted laws to re-register churches, ostensibly under the principle of freedom of conscience and assembly. But two years prior, authorities in Luhansk declared Baptists and Pentecostals a security threat. Pastors had been murdered; churches were seized.

“Our brothers in Christ in Ukraine are crying out: ‘Why don’t you pressure Russia to stop this aggression?’” said Vlasenko. “We tell them we are a small minority with no standing and no clear information, and officially Russia is not a part of this conflict.”

It does not go over well, he admits. Relations between evangelicals in the neighboring nations have become strained, and some assumed the worst of his December 2018 trip to speak with rebel authorities about the registration process.

Only the KGB-connected could get access, Vlasenko heard.

In reality, Vlasenko said the visit was arranged through prior connections with the Russian Orthodox Church metropolitan in Luhansk. Your church received registration, the REA leader told his Orthodox counterpart; where is our Christian solidarity?

Without registration, churches were disconnected from the gas and electricity grid. All remaining evangelical churches were operating illegally, but some still had use of their facilities. But now it was winter, and cold.

The metropolitan agreed the situation was wrong and facilitated contact with the religious affairs official. Vlasenko was told registration would be given to all who completed procedures. He passed on the information to Ukrainian colleagues. But today, he said, relations are at a standstill.

“I understand they are in a difficult situation,” Vlasenko said. “Most churches have their headquarters in Kyiv, so how can they accept registration and explain this to their brothers in the [Ukrainian] capital?”

But Donbas churches face a choice: Continue to suffer, or continue in ministry. Vlasenko stays neutral, as he cannot advise them as a Russian.

Religious freedom problems in Donbas listed by the EEA include…

This article was originally published by Christianity Today on January 4, 2022. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Start Talking

God,

What to do when none know what?

In some ways you keep going.

Repair a pipeline. Seize more pills.

Enjoy the new year’s party.

But habits old continue too.

Contribute few solutions.

Freeze appointments. Tweet abroad.

Call comprehensive dialogue.

Surely it is needed, God.

The contents known for decades.

But less explosive than assumed,

Once intervention softened.

Escalation? Status quo?

The former had been promised.

Wisdom needed. What would help?

In the end, more talking?

Maybe, God. Decentralize.

Ta’ef said. Still waiting.

Order defense. One command.

Resistance. Army. People.

Reaction yet is muted still.

Responses mild, yet framing.

Partition feared? A UN role?

Accusing or agenda.

Within this, how best to pray?

Bless the president, trying.

Give discernment. Moral strength.

Break the deadlock, winsome.

Cabinet leader also bless.

Give compromise, consensus.

Virtues also. Bend don’t break.

Help him to muddle forward.

And speaker needs your blessing too.

With ally, many blame them.

Defend the sect. Defend the right.

Let justice come, include them.

But God it could be all are wrong.

Elections, now, are scheduled.

Replace them all. Or rearrange.

The nation needs renewal.

Your will, however, probes within.

Wants men, not just their policy.

Love them wholly. Sanctify.

Reflect in them your image.

And through them, God, or yet without

Bless Lebanon and its people.

Refugee and citizen.

Lift up, and prove your goodness.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Christianity Today Middle East Published Articles

The Secret to Deradicalizing Militants Might be Found in Middle Eastern Churches

Image: Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source images: Sohaib Al Kharsa / Unsplash / Abid Katib / Staff / Getty

A Muslim man walked into the offices of a Christian pastor whose congregation in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley has been serving Syrian refugees since the outbreak of civil war.

“I’ve hated you for the past eight years,” the Muslim said, “and I’ve tried to turn my community against you. But three months ago, it was your American doctors who treated me and paid for my hospital stay.

“We hate these people,” he continued, “yet they come here and show us love. Tell me the time of your services; I want to follow Jesus. How great is your Christianity!”

This story, told to CT in October by the pastor, who asked that their names not be used for security reasons, is remarkable. But it is not unique. Evangelical ministers in the Middle East readily recount conversion narratives of the most militant, radicalized Muslims. A second pastor has described how a Syrian confessed that he started coming to church to kill him. Now a believer, the man serves other refugees as a member of the congregation. A third says his once-small Christian fellowship has grown to more than 1,500 largely due to converted refugees. Perhaps as many as 10 percent of them are former extremists.

These accounts and others like them have led Scott Gustafson, a PhD candidate with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s Extreme Beliefs program in Amsterdam, to a realization: Evangelical Arab ministry succeeds where millions of dollars of security-based solutions have failed in turning militant Muslims away from violence.

“No one strategizes: Let’s deradicalize the extremists,” he said. “But it is a demonstrable side effect.” In the diverse academic field trying to find secular pathways out of extremism, this is…

This article was originally published in the December 2021 print edition of Christianity Today. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Mehry Christmas

God,

You promise joy, and joy you give. But how can we say it to others?

Sometimes ourselves we struggle to find.

But it is there.

In the return home. In the familiar carol.

In the small splurge we no more can afford.

In the smile of our children.

These are true, and they are good. Even when absent, we know they are real.

Just as you are.

So should we shout out: Merry Christmas!

Or whisper like a secret shared?

The in-between irony, a good middle ground,

The great incarnation for lives that are tired.

Worn out. Tattered. Shabby. Used.

Mehry Christmas.

These also are real. And true, even when we believe they are absent.

Then, as now.

Joy. Inbreaking. A world of drab.

Much we can do in our efforts to fix it.

A deal to trade judge for six parliament seats.

And then meet together, a loan to secure.

Even the nations, united, come visit.

Encouragement. Warnings. More of the same.

God only you know if the rumors are real.

But even when absent, the plan behind doors.

Not yours, God.

You place it on a lampstand. You shout it from the roof.

Go. Tell it on the mountain.

And you are with us, to the end of the age.

God, maybe a deal would fix things. Maybe it got foiled.

You free us, God, to dive right in.

But yet, to float above.

Bless the hands grubby from grime and from sweat. From trying to budge the unbending.

But chastise, God, the dirty.

Your counsel hard—to cut it off—lest two-handed Hades await them.

For too many, hell is here now.

It is real. But it is not true.

You are with us.

Joy.

It deserves to be whispered.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Personal

2021 Christianity Today Global Church Recap

Every year, Christianity Today publishes lists of its top stories. Mine contributed to the following categories:

The Global Church in 2021: CT’s Top 20 International Articles

I offered 7 of them, listed in chronological order:

That last one was also included in this list: 13 CT News Stories That Made Us Happy in 2021, along with:

One of my articles was included in a roundup for No. 8 in this list: Top 10 CT News Stories of the Year (and another at No. 1, Afghanistan, listed above):

And finally, editors gathered some of the less-clicked articles they re-commend for readership. CT’s Stories of 2021 That You May Have Missed (honoring Lebanon, I’m glad they picked this one):

Categories
Christianity Today Middle East Published Articles

Iran’s House Churches Are Not Illegal, Says Supreme Court Justice (Updated)

Image: Courtesy of Article 18

Update: The 9 converts to Christianity made eligible for release by November’s Supreme Court ruling remain in prison for their faith, according to Mansour Borji, advocacy director for Article 18. The judge had ruled that promotion of Christianity through house churches is not illegal.

But another case is contributing to the establishment of precedent.

A revolutionary court prosecutor in the city of Dezful, 450 miles southwest of Tehran, declined to bring charges against eight converts to Christianity. Four were arrested in April, with four others later added to the case.

Hojjat Khalaf, Esmaeil Narimanpour, Alireza Varak-Shah, Mohammad Ali Torabi, Alireza Zadeh, Masoud Nabi, Mohammad Kayidgap, and Mohsen Zadeh were facing criminal accusations for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The judge provided a written explanation on November 30. According to Middle East Concern, he stated that although apostasy is a crime according to Islamic sharia, it is not an offense according to the laws of Iran. Borji said the decision was unrelated to the recent Supreme Court ruling (below), as this case had not yet even made it to court.

“The prosecutor was simply not convinced with made up charges by intelligence officers with no shred of evidence,” he said. “But his reasoning is very important.”

This update was added by Christianity Today on December 21, 2021, for an article originally published on December 3. Please click here to read the full text.

Categories
Prayers

Lebanon Prayer: Jostling Leaders

God,

Some say they are a den of thieves. Some say that they are rivals.

Side by side for years on end. At odds, cooperating.

They carry burdens of their sect. Principles, and interests.

They hold together Lebanon. They keep it from uniting.

For now is snubbed the president. Last year the prime minister.

Soon the speaker gets his turn. Once, anon, militia.

But God, within them, is there truth? Are some striving rightly?

Are they foiled, time again? Or take turns as the victim?

Your image rests within them all. But sin, alongside, struggles.

Bless their fellowship. Enrich. And bind them to the nation.

Or break it, God. Where lies deceit, replace the ill with honest.

Will youth exceed the gains of age? Or double-down corruption?

But yes or no, continues on the world and downward spiral.

The government will still not meet. Paralysis, inertia.

From schemes abroad, or schemes at home, the ordinary suffer.

Do they protect themselves or sect? Honor, virtue, homeland?

God, our prayers are for their good. But hope is misdirected.

Our trust can only be in you. All others simply steward.

So make them faithful, God. Proficient. Governance is service.

But make us servants of your will. Your kingdom—here—yet spiritual.

Amen.

To receive Lebanon Prayer by WhatsApp, please click this link to join the closed comments group.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Lebanon Prayer places before God the major events of the previous week, asking his favor for the nation living through them.

It seeks for values common to all, however differently some might apply them. It honors all who strive on her behalf, however suspect some may find them.

It offers no solutions, but desires peace, justice, and reconciliation. It favors no party, but seeks transparency, consensus, and national sovereignty.

How God sorts these out is his business. Consider joining in prayer that God will bless the people and establish his principles, from which all our approximations derive.

Sometimes prayer can generate more prayer. While mine is for general principles, you may have very specific hopes for Lebanon. You are welcome to post these here as comments, that others might pray with you as you place your desires before God.

If you wish to share your own prayer, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1) The sincerest prayers are before God alone. Please consult with God before posting anything.

2) If a prayer of hope, strive to express a collective encouragement.

3) If a prayer of lament, strive to express a collective grief.

4) If a prayer of anger, refrain from criticizing specific people, parties, sects, or nations. While it may be appropriate, save these for your prayers alone before God.

5) In every prayer, do your best to include a blessing.

I will do my best to moderate accordingly. Thank you for praying for Lebanon and her people.

Categories
Americas Christianity Today Middle East Published Articles

Trump or Netanyahu? American Evangelicals Support Israel, Yet Signs of Change

Image: Frédéric Soltan / Corbis / Getty Images

In the public spat between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, who would American evangelicals support? A new survey suggests it might be the Israeli.

Polled shortly after the Gaza war last May, it also reveals a substantial generational gap in level of support for Israel and a lack of impact by pastors from their pulpits.

And it happens to release this week, following Trump’s explosive comments.

In excerpts from a recently released interview, the former president blasted the former prime minister for his statement of congratulations to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

“Nobody did more for Bibi. And I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi,” stated Trump in an expletive-laced diatribe, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “But I also like loyalty … Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.”

Netanyahu responded with praise for Trump. But in noting a friendship with Joe Biden, he also honored the longstanding partnership between the US and Israel.

During his presidency, Trump moved the American embassy to Jerusalem, acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and negotiated with five Muslim-majority nations to normalize relations with the Jewish state.

American evangelicals joined Netanyahu in appreciation. According to a new online poll surveying a multiethnic panel of approximately 1,000 self-identified evangelical and born-again Christians, 35 percent say they became more supportive of Israel because of Trump’s policies. Only 11 percent became more supportive of Palestinians, while 53 percent had no change.

And overall, 68 percent of American evangelicals believe the Jewish people today have the right to the land of Israel, by virtue of the covenant God made with Abraham which “remains intact today.” (About 23% say they don’t know.)

The survey, conducted by professors from the University of North Carolina–Pembroke in conjunction with Barna Group, was released today but conducted in July, well before public knowledge of Trump’s falling out with Netanyahu.

The 15-year Israeli prime minister scored a 74 percent favorable rating, based on the share of evangelicals who gave him a score of 6 or greater on a 10-point scale. One in five (22%) gave him the top rating possible. The survey did not include a direct comparison. But given the fact that it included…

This article was originally published at Christianity Today on December 15, 2021. Please click here to read the full text.