April 9, 2010
Christianity was not served up to the world on a silver platter. It was introduced at just the right time according to Jesus. It was a time when the mighty Roman Empire held a vice-like military hold on the people. Oppression was rampant and the yoke was heavy. The sheer face of men’s wisdom hemmed them in on every side as the Hellenists substituted the wisdom from on High for the base reasoning of men. To complicate matters all the more, the Jews of the time held a stranglehold on religion and a relationship to God was replaced with counted seeds and measured steps. Man for the Sabbath, not the Sabbath for man.
Into this world of inequity came the Christ. Even His birth was perilous. Long and arduous travel, a hard manger filled with hay, and shortly after a slaughter of children which included a forced withdrawal to Egypt. Africa, home to so many refugees, even harbored our Lord.
It was in perilous times that God was magnified. It was when nations were at the end of themselves, when the ways seemed in front were not able to be crossed, and the formidable armies were in hot pursuit. What we find again and again throughout scripture is ordinary people becoming extraordinary people as perilous times made a place for greatness.
It was Paul, who boarded a ship with chains and shackles, when a hurricane turned a prisoner into a Captain. As Christians and believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have no other choice but to accept the stark realization that perilous time will come. And those perilous times are the building blocks for conquest and victory. Obstacles become stepping stones and opposition only strengthens one’s resolve for possession.
We must understand from the start, we are called to be salt and light in an ever-increasing and tasteless world that grows darker by the day. The call to discipleship is a hard one.
The stark fact is that many of us have a relaxed interest in a relationship with God, but intense interests elsewhere. We enjoy a TV thriller on Saturday night, but are disposed to church on Sunday morning. We will indulge in Christ as an adjunct of our culture, but refuse to own Him as our Sovereign Lord. We like generalizations about the teachings of Jesus, but want nothing to do with the blood of His cross. We like to talk about His life and ethics; but the Master is a Person with wounds in His hands and His feet. When Jesus bids a man, He bids him to “Come and Die.” To have these words written on our hearts is perhaps an embarrassment too great for us to bear.
To be light in a dark world, we must not only abandon, but we must embrace. Put off man-made robes of righteousness and be clothed in the robes of Christ. Let go of idols and lay hold of the Redeemer.
We must know that there is no Christ on the Christmas card or no stained glass windows mentioned in the Gospels. We are left only with the workman from Galilee with no bed for the night — the village artisan who handled nails and wood for a living, and then was nailed by His hands to wood in His death.
Thus, He comes as one of the poor unknowns of the earth declaring the “Great unknown of Heaven!” He offers no social advantages and no hope of aggrandizement. There is no dividend for the faithful and no cash bonus for the apostles. Everytime a man puts forth his foot to follow, the Nazarene puts a cross in his hand.
On He trudges down the road of Palestine to a hill called Calvary, and still there is no beauty in Him that men should desire, yet paradoxically, men trusted Him, loved Him, worshipped Him, and later even died for Him.
In the face of His coming, and in the face of His call on your life, to cling to this world and the things of this world, to pride one’s self on being someone, and having something in a planet usurping every right of its Creator is spiritual treason.
Since Cain slew Abel, men have hated men. Nations rise against nations, and kingdoms rise and fall. None of this happens without affecting those who live in that kingdom.
Here, my friends, lies the call of a Christian.
Running by faith, to the Battle!
Kevin Turner
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December 18, 2009
A Dead Boy’s Toys Wrapped in Newspaper.
Initially those words may conjure up morbid images, but like most memorable events in life there is a story that lay’s behind them.
I don’t know what brought my memory back to that particular Christmas, possibly a sight or sound or smell, I am not really sure. Yes, I had just purchased gifts for friends and, yes, I was in the hustle and bustle of mailing them out. In a reflective mood I was not; mumbling at traffic was more like it. The images flooding my memory were so powerful that I was forced to pull to the side of the road, to simply sit, to simply recall.
I honestly don’t know how old I was, but it was Christmas and I wanted stuff, not from Santa, but from Mom and Dad. My family’s tradition was to open our presents on Christmas Eve. While being sequestered in our rooms presents were pulled out of hiding places and stuffed under the tree. Us kids where then allowed to gather around as my Dad took forever in reading names from the packages and handing them to the happy new owners, like me! I ripped my wrapping paper to shreds; my sister on the other hand would act like she planned to use the paper to spruce up the walls of her bedroom. Well any way, the year that was brought to remembrance recently, was one where we did not have Christmas wrapping with candy canes and snowmen, just newsprint, black and white, drab, daily news print.
As I remember now, looking back, I did over hear my parents talking about a bleak Christmas. My Dad was out of work and my Mom was laid off from the factory were she worked just before the holiday season. Little did I know I would have one of my best Christmases ever and would not realize it till over thirty years later! While tearing off the black and white stuff and not happy, I was shocked when I realized that my toys were not new. After unwrapping a few more used gifts, I began to recognize these toys and board games. I had played with these things before; it was at my cousin’s house. My parents had just descended to new levels of cruelty. Time can be a wonderful teacher as she brings experience and the unlearned lessons of a young boy become precious memories for a middle-aged father.
Joey, Robbie, Billy and Paulie were my first cousins along with Louie and Peggy. My Mom’s sister had six kids in all and by the time I opened those presents Joey, Robbie, Billie and Paulie were dead. Each one eventually succumbed to muscular dystrophy. My Aunt had given her sister, who is my unemployed Mother, her dead boy’s toys to be wrapped in newspaper, so I had something to be placed under a stinking tree. Can you imagine the memories of pain and loss that those old toys must have garnered as she gave them to my Mom? Things I don’t remember as I think back on that Christmas were being hungry, being cold, being naked or not having a safe place to sleep that night.
I don’t have any of those “used toys” that were given to me that year by love, and by loss, but I sure wish I did. I think I would wrap one of them up in newspaper, put it under the Christmas tree and give it to one of my children as the most precious gift under the tree.
Our focus with my family is now about the most precious gift ever given, the Lamb of God who bore our sins, died on a cross and rose from the dead. His name is Jesus and I think I have often treated Him like the used toys I opened that Christmas long ago. No toy has ever given me lasting joy, but Jesus alone has. I confess that the pull of this world makes iPods and flat screen televisions so attractive. I search for the perfect gifts to give to my family in vain. I now know that the best gift I can give my family is to be a radical lover of Jesus, to love their mother and shepherd their souls. I want them to know that by heavens loss, they have been given the greatest gift of all. Even the Grinch can’t steal that Christmas and the Scrooge can’t deny it.
Jesus, thank you for the greatest gift of all!
Merry Christmas and may God bless us all!
Kevin Turner
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August 20, 2009
Please take a few minutes and stand up for the very people who came to the help of Christians after being burned alive by Muslim mobs in Gojra and Korian villages in Pakistan. For those of you who have not heard. Muslim mobs descended on two Christian villages in organized and pre-planned attacks, burning, looting, raping and now we are finding out, kidnapping 30 young girls who have been missing since the attacks.
Strategic world Impact has just returned from a fact finding mission to this very area and has been actively supporting both Christians and Muslims in Pakistan for twelve years. From providing for housing after devastating earth quakes, refugee support and education, we have assisted and stood with the people of Pakistan. The recent attacks in Pakistan against Christians while horrific, is not an isolated incident with four attacks similar to these mentioned taking place in the last four months. Militant Islamic groups are responsible for almost three thousand acts of terror in the past twelve months throughout Pakistan. While not all these attacks have been directed towards Christians, we would be remiss if we did not point out that Christians are constantly under attack via the system in Pakistan as well as the militant population that continues to single out any who dare follow Jesus Christ. Weather the court system or the tribal system some of the most persecuted people in the world are the Christian citizens of Pakistan. They are not responsible for blowing up Hotels, Schools or Mosques and have never targeted the government nor government entities other than to have prayer meetings or peaceful protests. Under the current laws of Pakistan the 295 b and c laws have been used to terrorize and imprison any Christians who would prosper in business or any other venue of life. Any dispute between Muslims and Christians that would favor the Christian will instantly turn to an accusation of defamation of Mohammed or the Koran and in one case even the image of Mohammed’s feet as a baby, printed on stickers that fell to the ground when Muslims attacked a Christian boy and while beating him, their sticker of Mohammed’s feet dropped in the dirt thus paving the way for this young man to be charged under the present laws of Pakistan. Muslims through these stickers in the trash when they are done with them but if a Christian had one of them in his trash he would be put in prison with a death sentence. After seeing these incidents first hand over the years I take comfort in Gen. 18:25 “shall not the judge of all the earth do right”!
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3233/?print=yes
WWW.SWI.ORG
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August 19, 2009
Now more than ever the Church needs to lift the lamp of Liberty through Jesus to a world wracked in turmoil and laden with refugees. The words of Emma Lazarus ring with prophetic tone for this world gone awry and reeling under the weight of sin.
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
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August 18, 2009
<a href="http://twitpic.com/ecifc" title="Family in rubble, one of the who babies is malnourished and t… on Twitpic"><img src="
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August 18, 2009
Burned bodies make way through the streets and thousands of mourners express their grief and rage and sorrow.
How will we heal was the question. It is hear that we introduce them to the Gentle Healer who was broken that we may be made whole.
—–
To: Kevin Turner <kevintswi@gmail.com>
Subject: photos of the funeral
Here are the photos of Today’s funeral. It was a big gethering
Country Director
Strategic World Impact
www.swi.org <http://www.swi.org>
See and download the full gallery on posterous
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August 18, 2009
Dear SWI team
This is to inform you about the current situation of Mardan and Swabi due to flood clamity.
Number of deaths increased to 27 in Mardan and Swabi areas while powerful stream of floods took away 5 persons in different areas of Azad Kashmir.
Nine persons went missing in Garyala, 2 in Kaganau camp and 2 in Balagarhi area of Mardan while in Ismailia area Swabi 2 persons are missing.
The deaths mainly occurred due to collapsing of roofs as a number of villages were inundated and fields damaged when floods hit the above areas.
A wide area came under water as floods made their way in Mardan and Swabi where 400 houses have collapsed so far.
Thousands of people are trapped in the flood-hit areas and efforts are underway to shift them to safer places.
Ismailia, Kalu Khan, Khat Kalay, Sheraghand and Nazar Kalay areas of Swabi are worst hit. Fields of corn, rice, sugar cane and tobacco have also been damaged in Swabi and Mardan.
The heavy floods have also swept away Kalu Khan bridge in Swabi while the communication network has been severely damaged.
I will be informing you about further updates by the time.
Regards
Northern Team Leader
Heavy number of casualities for snake bitting and number of children getting suffered by malaria in village areas.
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August 14, 2009
More ponderings in relation to Pakistan……
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, singing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever, Amen.” Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple and He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.” “They shall neither hunger anymore, nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor the heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:9-17
The precious people that we have come to serve in Pakistan will be before that throne of the Lamb one day, the throne that we will fall before on our faces. Today they live in severe persecution; having their lives mutilated , their families maimed or dead and their possessions destroyed, because of who they believe in. But one day, one very fine day, they WILL be wearing robes of white, waving palm branches and worshipping God. Jesus is among them now, just as He will be then and my prayer for them is that they will sense His divine presence and stay steadfast in their faith. Lord Jesus, please touch your believers. Please multiply their faith through this great time of struggle. Lord Jesus, please use our team, as you see fit, to bless them, to wrap Your arms around them and to assure them that You are there. May Your will be done with our time here and with our lives in this process.
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August 14, 2009
MEDITATIONS WHILE PREPARING FOR BATTLE 8/6/09 Pakistan 2009
Reflecting upon the redeeming love of God,I am constantly amazed by His work in fallen men. I first read this meditation one year previously when I thought I would never return to the field again. Not only did He give me strength, but He bolstered my heart and filled me with His burden once again. Amazing love!
Kevin Turner
Based on Numbers 32:6: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?” Kindred has its obligations. The Reubenites and Gaddites would have been most unbrotherly if they had claimed the land which had been conquered and had left the rest of the people to fight for their portions alone. We have received much by means of the efforts and sufferings of the saints in years gone by, and if we do not make some return to the Church of Christ by giving her our best energies we are unworthy to be enrolled in her ranks. Others are combating the errors of the age manfully and excavating perishing ones from amid the ruins of the fall, and if we fold our hands in idleness we had need be warned, lest the curse of Meroz fall upon us. The master of the vineyard says, “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” What is the idler’s excuse? Personal service of Jesus becomes all the more duty of all because it is cheerfully and abundantly rendered by some. The toils of devoted missionaries and fervent ministers shame us if we sit still in indolence. Shrinking from trial is the temptation of those who are at ease in Zion. They would feign escape the cross, and yet wear the crown. To then the question for this evening’s medication is applicable. If the most precious are tried in the fire, are we to escape the crucible? If the diamond must be vexed upon the wheel, are we to be made perfect without suffering. Who hath commanded the wind to cease from blowing because our bark is on the deep. Why and wherefore should we be treated better than our Lord? The firstborn felt the rod and why not the younger brethren? It is a cowardly pride for which would choose a downy pillow and a silken couch for a soldier of the cross? Wiser far is he who being first resigned to the divine will groweth by the energy of grace to be pleased with it, and so learns to gather lilies at the cross foot and like Samson to find honey in the lion.
C.H. Spurgeon
Morning and Evening August 5th
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August 13, 2009
Threat from Jhang
While the champions of Seraikistan and politicians of North Punjab jointly disavow any decline of South Punjab into a stronghold of religious terrorists, our National Assembly has echoed with warnings about the persistence in Jhang of the dominance of Sipah Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). In answer to an alarming report by an MNA, the interior minister, Mr Rehman Malik, told the house that the government had asked the provinces to “keep a watch over it”.
The PMLQ MNA Sheikh Waqqas Akram was in fact saying something else. He was worried about a conspiracy to allow some elements that had been subdued after a struggle of 15 years to stage a comeback in Jhang. Mr Rehman should have taken note of that and not dumped the entire thing on the provinces. Policy about what to do with militants is made at the centre, perhaps away from the scrutiny of the politicians.
Mr Akram was sketching in some detail the features of this comeback by the terrorist organization. He said Jhang was once again the stamping ground of armed clerics who have armies of young men at their command. Like everyone serving Al Qaeda, there is no dearth of funds for these militants in Jhang, and the government is intimidated by their growing power. But who is allowing the SSP to stage a comeback?
Clearly, lack of action on the part of the government and its law-enforcement institutions is a major factor. The lower courts are scared of convicting SSP men and it is now the foreign press that is reporting news about the imminent release of the most dreaded killer of SSP, Akram Lahori, because “there is no evidence against him”. There is little real reporting from the districts where the terrorists exploit a weak writ of the state to intimidate local journalists.
As for “permission” from the “centre”, the SSP made its comeback in 2006 after years of being hunted as a sectarian killer. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) handout of April 10, 2006, the SSP held its rally in Islamabad presumably with the approval of the administration. The Friday rally preached jihad and sectarianism. The police stood aside and watched, despite the fact that the literature being distributed was against the law. The SSP speakers were heard “thanking” the Islamabad administration for letting them stage the rally.
MNA Akram was pointing to a very specific case. He said that all the 200 Sipah Sahaba activists arrested in Jhang — after a judge took a suo moto notice of an incident of violence — had been released “one by one”; and that he had learned during a visit to Gojra that members of the same group had attacked the Christians in Gojra, burning seven of them alive.
He said more, for the attention of the interior minister: Why was a leader of SSP allowed to address his arrested group activists in jail and to go around the country despite the fact that SSP was a banned organization? His words were: “Don’t leave us at the mercy of these maulvis”. Mr Rehman kept saying it was a provincial subject, but down in Punjab the feudal politicians had decided not to crib openly about the armed maulvis, from the point of view of their own security.
Why are the South Punjabis skeptical about standing up to the old jihadis-turned-terrorists? The answer is quite near the surface if you talk to them. It is the centre and the agencies at the centre — who have handled these elements as “assets” of the state in the past — that send down signals that no one dare ignore. How can Mr Rehman Malik control these agencies? The last time he tried to bring one under his wings he nearly lost his job.
Talking of South Punjab, recent reports from Rahimyar Khan say a killer group from Dera Ghazi Khan has arrived in the district and is projecting its power on the basis of its links with the clergy of Lal Masjid of Islamabad. Worse, last week the lobby of retired army officers has issued another call in defence of Lal Masjid, asking the government to try General Musharraf for attacking it in 2007. Similarly, retired ISI officers are running human rights NGOs defending the very killers the people dread and are choosing as their masters because the state is shy to take on the killers. Significantly, the new spokesman of the Taliban Tehreek is Azam Tariq, named after the most feared SSP commander killed in 2003. *
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