In Iraq, a similar failure led to years of Christians being kidnapped, raped, tortured, bombed, and beheaded.
Yet today, religious beliefs have become a divisive and even belligerent force in our turbulent world. He tells of growing up in the Catholic church, attending Catholic school from kindergarten through high school, and serving as an altar boy and a church reader. Those who refused to bow to the image were threatened with being thrown into a fiery pit alive.Never miss a post!
When we read the Bible, our faith (confidence and assurance) in God and Jesus Christ to answer our prayers and bring us through impossible situations increases.“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? This is the Diamond Rule.How to extract meaning from memory? All rights reserved.When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”The three young Jewish men (Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego) who refused to bow to the image told King Nebuchadnezzar: “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. In clear violation of international standards contained in the 1948Universal Declaration of Human Rightsand the 1966International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and as documented by theU.S.
During those years he and his wife, Lois, have served congregations from Portland, Oregon, where he grew up, to Utah, Ohio, North Carolina, and now Florida.The apostle James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, uses the example of Abraham, who had both faith and works because he believed God and he obeyed what God commanded him to do.Their faith or trust was built on serving God and obeying His commandments. Last year, also on Christmas Day, bombs exploded in Nigeria in or around churches in Jos, Kano, Madalla, Gadaka, and Damaturur; 40 perished in Madalla alone.On Christmas Eve in 2010, also in Nigeria, a number of churches were attacked in Maiduguri, killing six and wounding 25.These are some of the many examples of what Christians endure for their faith -- not only during Christmas time, but throughout the year. This is our time, our moment, to remember this timeless verity and act upon it. Meanwhile, countless others in foreign lands suffered from terrorism as hideous as our experience of 9-11. As we sought desperately to regain our footing and sense of security, both outer and inner, in this new world, fear and anxiety replaced openness, caring, kindness and curiosity.The world has changed since then, but I’m not sure we have. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”The apostle James wrote in his epistle about what he called dead faith. It was soon apparent that we, as a nation, lost little of our hubris and sense of exclusionism.
via Washington Post. Articles via Washington Post. It also gave them the evidence or trust that they would receive what they asked for. WASHINGTON—August 15, 2011—Today The Washington Post launches On Faith/Local, the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia focused online channel of The Post’s popular On Faith section, featuring news and commentary about religion and … Worldwide, others still face genocide and ethnic cleansing, war, poverty, hunger, epidemics, and environmental degradation.September 11, 2001 was such a Zen teaching moment, a fit koan for our time. It is essential for our well-being and others that we forgive and remember, become better listeners, and learn the lessons.Let’s use this weekend’s many memorial services as opportunities to awaken and open ourselves, to deepen and re-connect with one another, to reunite, to re-empower ourselves — and our good hearts.Extraordinary learning opportunities like 9-11 aren’t always appreciated for their lessons.
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