Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

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[Open Doors]

More than half of Christians in America believe religious freedom should be a high priority in crafting U.S. foreign policy, according to a recent Wilson Research Strategies survey commissioned by Open Doors USA.

“The persecution of Christians in the world today is on the rise, with an estimated 100 million suffering some sort of repression and even death for their faith,” said Carl Moeller, president and chief executive officer of Open Doors USA, a Christian ministry which has served persecuted Christians around the world for more than 50 years.  “Open Doors commissioned this study to try to understand what Christians in America feel about religious freedom. Clearly, it is a priority.”

Fifty-four percent of U.S. Christians polled consider religious freedom an important issue in making U.S. foreign policy, according to the survey. This is an especially high priority with those who attend church most frequently (60 percent), compared with those Christians who never attend (40 percent).

Read more here.

[From me]

Well I agree.  I think persecution of anyone is wrong.  The problem is we live a free society and we forget there are people suffering for their faith in other parts of the world.  Makes me more grateful for our missionaries.

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

If you are a Christian, the worst place to live in the world is North Korea, according to Open Doors’ 2008 World Watch List released Monday. The annual country persecution list ranked North Korea in the No. 1 spot for the sixth year in a row. There were more arrests of Christians in the country in 2007 than in 2006, according to Open Doors.

2008 World Watch List

1. North Korea
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Iran
4. Maldives
5. Bhutan
6. Yemen
7. Afghanistan
8. Laos
9. Uzbekistan
10. China

Read about it here.

[From me]

It would be interesting to see how much Christianity is spreading in those countries.  I would say for a person with the gift of evangelism living in the South is hard.  More people consider themselves Christians just because they are Americans.  They are wrong but that is what they believe.

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

Matthew Murray, the gunman who is believed to have shot and killed four people in Colorado, appeared to have acted out of revenge against Christians, police officials indicated.

Authorities believe Murray, 24, posted an anti-Christian message online on Sunday - the day of the shootings - in a language almost identical to the text of a manifesto written by one of the Columbine killers, Eric Harris.

“You Christians brought this on yourselves,” Murray wrote, according to KUSA-TV in Denver. “Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don’t care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you … as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.”

Read about it here.

[From me]

This whole tragedy is just sad.  I wonder if the hate crimes legislation will apply to this?

What do you think?

[From Bos News Life]

The wife of a senior Chinese House Church leader was sentenced to ten days administrative detention in Henan.  50-year-old Ms. Li Huage was arrested and sentenced to ten days for allegedly “disturbing public order”. When the arrest occurred, Ms. Li was in the Wancheng District PSB office seeking the return of her cell phone, computer, and bibles which were illegally confiscated on March 6 from her home. She is now detained in Ying An Lu Detention Center, Wancheng district, Nanyang city, Henan province.

Her husband pastor Dong Quanyu was released March 16 after serving a ten day sentence for an “illegal religious gathering”. Ms. Li was beaten heavily by the PSB officers on March 16 outside the detention center before she met with her released husband. Pastor Dong is the Vice-President of the Chinese House Church Alliance. Along with some Chinese House Church leaders and three South Korean Pastors, Dong and his wife Ms. Li were hosting a Bible study at their home in Wancheng District, Nanyang city, Henan province on March 6, 2007.  They were raided and taken to the police station for interrogation. The PSB officers also searched the house and took away personal properties including cell phones, a computer, and Christian books without giving any receipt as required by law. Most of the pastors were released the following day after intensive international pressure.

Read about it here.

[From me]

We complain about petty things here in the US and Christians in other parts of the world are being persecuted for their faith.  People are being beat for worshiping in a home and we complain because the air isn’t working right, the music was too loud or not loud enough.  Maybe the message was too long or too short, etc… Kind of puts things in perspective.
Why don’t the mainstream media outlets pick up these stories?  I need to pray more for our missionaries.

What do you think?