Seeking Dialogue, Cooperation
A lot of the publicity religion has received lately has been negative. The media spotlight has focused on religion as a source of conflict, sparking tensions between religions. Various opponents of religion emphasize the relationship between religion and violence as a reason for humanity to evolve away from antiquated superstitions and toward rational, scientific worldviews. Certainly and sadly, such tribalism and violence are tragic realities of the human condition that permeate religion as much as other realms of human existence.
Against this backdrop, it is worth bringing awareness to current trends among religions toward increasing cooperation and dialogue with each other. Considering the long histories of many of the world’s religions, interreligious dialogue is a relatively new phenomenon, only gaining real momentum in the last 100 years. While there have been exceptions throughout history, previous interactions between religions tended toward condemnation of other religions, declarations of the absolute truths of one’s own religions, missionary efforts to gain converts, and precursors of the religious violence we see today. But, a variety of circumstances and events occurred over the course of the 20th century to bring religions to see commonalities with each other in the increasingly secularized world and their need to participate in the work of global conflict resolution
This friendlier mood among religions is found today at both the local level, in organizations such as Interfaith Works in Olympia, and at the global level. One project happening now is an initiative among religious organizations to designate 2011-2020 as an official United Nations Decade of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace. One aspect of this vision is to coordinate the efforts of religious communities with those of the UN in their many shared goals of human development, education, eradication of poverty, environmental sustainability, and promoting a culture of peace.
Whether this initiative is successful in attaining its goal or not (there has not yet been an official news announcement that the decade has been designated as such), the process itself has been successful in drawing a number of religious organizations together including the Council for the Parliament of World’s Religions, United Religions Initiative, Interfaith International, Temple of Understanding, and representatives from Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity (including the World Council of Churches), Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. -source.
The Tower of Babel
Christians in the USA are in for a rude awakening. While American Christians are busy naming and claiming all of God’s blessings to enrich their own lives, Christians across the globe are being persecuted, imprisoned, separated from their families, tortured and killed for their faith. Do you honestly think the Church in America is exempt from these things? If so, you have fallen asleep and desperately need to be awakened! It is time to put down selfish desires and pick up our crosses.
Yes, and ALL who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
–2 Timothy 3:12
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Pope Heads to Cuba, Seeking Change and Faith Revival
SANTIAGO DE CUBA (Reuters) - Pope Benedict arrives in Cuba on Monday on a three-day visit that has fueled aspirations for deeper economic and political change on the communist-run island and which the Roman Catholic Church hopes will spark a faith revival.
Visiting 14 years after Pope John Paul II's landmark trip to Cuba, and arriving after a stop in Mexico, Benedict will pay homage to the island's patron saint, the diminutive doll-like figurine the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, and say Masses in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba and in Havana.
He comes to Cuba at a time when church-state relations have warmed after decades of hostility that followed the island's 1959 revolution. President Raul Castro has used the Church as an interlocutor on issues such as political prisoners and dissidents, seeking support for his reforms to Cuba's rickety Soviet-style economy that partly involve slashing a million government jobs. -Source
‘Destroy All the Churches’
Imagine if Pat Robertson called for the demolition of all the mosques in America. It would be front-page news. It would be on every network and cable-news program. There would be a demand for Christians to denounce him, and denounce him they would — in the harshest terms. The president of the United States and other world leaders would weigh in, too. Rightly so.
So why is it that when Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al al-Sheikh, the grand mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, declares that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches in the Arabian Peninsula,” the major media do not see this as even worth reporting? And no one, to the best of my knowledge, has noted that he said this to the members of a terrorist group.
Here are the facts: Some members of the Kuwaiti parliament have been seeking to demolish churches or at least prohibit the construction of new ones within that country’s borders. So the question arose: What does sharia, Islamic law, have to say about this issue?
A delegation from Kuwait asked the Saudi grand mufti for guidance. He replied that Kuwait is part of the Arabian Peninsula — and that any churches on the Arabian Peninsula should indeed be destroyed, because the alternative would be to approve of them. The grand mufti explained: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded us, ‘Two religions shall not coexist in the Arabian Peninsula,’ so building [churches] in the first place is not valid because this peninsula must be free from [any other religion].” In Saudi Arabia, of course, non-Islamic houses of worship were banned long ago, and non-Muslims are prohibited from setting foot in Mecca and Medina. -Source
Entire Mosques Coming to Christ in North Africa, Says Former Church Planter
The idea of tens of thousands of former Muslims coming to Jesus Christ in North Africa within a few short years is mind-boggling. But entire mosques coming to faith? That news is even harder to wrap one's mind around, but it is in fact what is happening according to reports from a former church planter among Muslims in West Africa.
In the new book Miraculous Movements, Jerry Trousdale, now director of International Ministries for CityTeam International, records amazing and inspiring stories of faith among Muslim communities in North Africa. The author opens up a new world to Western readers, taking them into the heart of the "miraculous movement" of God in Africa that is transforming the hearts of Muslims.
Trousdale writes that "unprecedented" events are happening among the Muslim populations that his ministry and its affiliates are working among, including:
• Multiple cases of entire mosques coming to faith
• Thousands of ordinary men and women being used by God to achieve seemingly impossible outcomes
• Tens of thousands of Muslim background Christians becoming dedicated intercessors who fast and pray for the gospel to penetrate the next community
• Muslim people groups that never had even one church among them now have more than fifty church planted, and in some cases more than one hundred churches – within two years of engagement
• Former sheikhs, imams and militant Islamists making up 20 percent or more of the new Christian leaders in Muslim regions -Source
Open Doors: Growth of Christianity in Iran 'Explosive'
Despite the Iranian government's ongoing crackdown of Christians living in the primarily Islamic country, the number of Muslims converting to become Christians is growing at an explosive rate, according to the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA.
There is even talk of witnessing a Christian revival, especially among young people living in the country, say Open Doors ministry workers in the Middle East. A house church movement within Iran is part of that revival and has triggered "many secret meetings." The growth in the number of Christians is happening in all regions, but mostly in larger cities, say Open Doors workers in the region.
Iran is ranked 5th on the Open Doors 2012 World Watch List of the top 50 worst persecutors of Christians. -Source
Middle East Crisis Conference to Focus on 'Last Day' Conversions to Christ
NEW YORK – The Middle East crisis is gripping the world's attention now more than ever with the growing Iranian nuclear threat and possibility of attacks on Israel. One upcoming conference will seek to address not only how believers should prepare for prophetic events associated with the crisis, but also how to reach the lost and lead them to Christ.
Israel, The Church and the Middle East Crisis conference takes place March 23-24, 2012, at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., and it is being organized by a Messianic Jewish organization called Chosen People Ministries. The organization, founded in 1894, exists to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and serve Jewish people everywhere and to help fellow believers do the same. Chosen People Ministries serves in 13 countries across the globe and is involved in cooperative efforts between Jews and Christians to glorify Christ's message of peace. -Source
Ill Flock to Brazil 'Psychic Surgeon' John of God
ABADIANIA, Brazil (AP) — John of God grabs what looks like a kitchen knife from a silver tray and appears to scrape it over the right eye of a believer. The "psychic surgeon" then wipes a viscous substance from the blade onto the patient's shirt.
The procedure is repeated on the left eye of Juan Carlos Arguelles, who recently traveled thousands of miles from Colombia to see the healer. For 12 years, Arguelles says, he suffered from keratoconus, which thinned his cornea and severely blurred his vision. -Source
Europe’s Bishops Blast Saudi Grand Mufti
BERLIN – Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al al-Sheikh, the grand mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, issued a religious fatwa in March, saying it is “necessary to destroy all the churches in the Arabian Peninsula.” His declaration unleashed sharp criticism from Christian bishops in Germany, Austria and Russia on Friday.
The Roman Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria slammed the sheikh’s ruling as an unacceptable denial of human rights to millions of foreign workers in the Gulf region. Of the roughly 3.5 million Christians that live in the Gulf Arab region, many are Catholic workers from India and the Philippines. Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, head of the Russian Orthodox department for churches abroad, called the fatwa “alarming” in a statement on Tuesday. Such blunt criticism from mainstream Christian leaders of their Muslim counterparts is very rare.
The March fatwa came in response to a Kuwaiti lawmaker who asked if Kuwait could ban church construction in the Arab state. According to Arab-language media reports, the sheikh ruled that further church building should be banned and existing Christian houses of worship should be destroyed.
“It’s astonishing, horrible and amazing that the most important Muslim cleric in the land that gave birth to Islam can call for the destruction of churches without this genocidal fatwa attracting any international condemnation or protest,” wrote Giulio Meotti, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio and expert on Christians in the Middle East, in an email to The Jerusalem Post. “Where is the White House? Where is Lady Ashton? Where is the Vatican? Where are the UN’s agencies?” he asked. -Source
