Christian doing Good (Spread the Gospel), Mother Teresa

 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

India parliament disrupted over Mother Teresa 

The Rajya Sabha was briefly adjourned on Thursday after opposition members denounced comments by the leader of a Hindu group who said Roman Catholic missionary Mother Teresa had tried to convert people to Christianity.

Religious conversion has become a highly emotive issue in India recently, with debate whipped up by some supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who see multi-faith Indian as a Hindu-first nation.

Members of the upper house criticised Mohan Bhagwat, head of the country's most powerful Hindu organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who recently said Mother Teresa helped the poor to make them "obligated so that they become Christian".

Political opponents of Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which the RSS supports, said right-wing Hindu groups were fanning religious tension in a country where violence between members of different religion has been common for decades.

"First, they're trying to de-iconize Mahatma Gandhi," said P. Rajeev, a member of parliament belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), referring to comments by a BJP lawmaker that described Gandhi's Hindu-nationalist assassin as a patriot.

"Now, they are trying to de-iconize Mother Teresa," Rajeev said.

There has been no major religious violence since Modi came to power in May. But at least seven Christian institutions have been vandalised or have reported arson or theft in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, the government pledged to increase security at hundreds of churches in New Delhi.

Bhagwat's comments came days after Modi made a long-awaited speech on religious tolerance, vowing to protect all minorities.

Sunil Lucas, a communication director for the Archdiocese of Calcutta (Kolkata), told Reuters it was "terrible" that Bhagwat's comments came so soon after Modi's assurances.

Mother Teresa "acted in faith and responded to the call of Jesus, but the outcome was social good and uplift of people," Lucas said.

This week, senior BJP member Meenakshi Lekhi sought to distance her party from the controversy, telling reporters the government had nothing to do with Bhagwat said.

However, Lekhi also defended the comments, saying Mother Teresa herself had said her job was to spread Christianity, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

Mother Teresa, who was born in Macedonia and became an Indian citizen, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work in the slums of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.

In the last year, the RSS has been working to expand its base in West Bengal, stoking tension by asserting the superiority of Hinduism over Christianity and Islam.

Pray for Christians around the World 2

What causes war? Religion human's greed?

Islamic State militants have abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria they had raided, Christian Syrian activists said on Tuesday.

A Syrian Christian group representing several NGO's inside and outside the country said it had verified at least 150 people missing, including women and elderly, who had been kidnapped by the militants.

"We have verified at least 150 people who have been adducted from sources on the ground," Bassam Ishak, President of the Syriac National Council of Syria, whose family itself is from Hasaka, told Reuters from Amman.

Earlier the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 90 were abducted when the militants carried out dawn raids on rural villages inhabited by the ancient Christian minority west of Hasaka, a city mainly held by the Kurds.

Syrian Kurdish militia launched two offensives against the militants in northeast Syria on Sunday, helped by U.S.-led air strikes and Iraqi peshmerga.

This part of Syria borders territory controlled by Islamic State in Iraq, where it committed atrocities last year against the Yazidi religious minority.

Islamic State did not confirm the kidnappings. Supporters posted photos online of the group's fighters in camouflage attire looking at maps and firing machine guns. The website said the photos were from Tel Tamr, a town near where the Observatory said the abductions occurred.

Many Assyrian Christians have emigrated in the nearly four-year-long conflict in which more than 200,000 have people have been killed. Before the arrival of Kurds and Arab nomadic tribes at the end of the 19th century, Christians formed the majority in Syria's Jazeera area, which includes Hasaka.

Sunday's offensive by Kurdish YPG militia reached within five km (3 miles) of Tel Hamis, an Islamic State-controlled town southeast of Qamishli, the Observatory said.

At least 14 IS fighters died in the offensive, in which Assyrians fought alongside Kurds, it added. Eight civilians were also killed in heavy shelling by the Kurdish side, which seized several Arab villages from Islamic State control.

Last year, Islamic State fighters abducted several Assyrians in retaliation for some of them fighting alongside the YPG. Most were released after long negotiations.

Military experts said militants were trying to open a new front to relieve pressure on Islamic State after several losses since being driven from the Syrian town of Kobani near the border with Turkey.

"Islamic State are losing in several areas so they want to wage an attack on a new area," said retired Jordanian general Fayez Dwiri.

Since driving IS from Kobani, Kurdish forces, backed by other Syrian armed groups, have pursued the group's fighters as far as their provincial stronghold of Raqqa.

A resident of Hasaka, jointly held by the Syrian government and the Kurds, said hundreds of families had arrived in recent days from surrounding Christian villages and Arab Bedouins were arriving from areas along the border.

"Families are coming to Hasaka seeking safety," said Abdul Rahman al-Numai, a textile trader said by telephone.

Deuteronomy 20:10-20
10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them? 20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

Religious Investings, Land Lord?

Seek first the Kingdom of God and all the riches will be blessed upon you.... Prosperity Gospel. 

$25m hub for churches in Jurong hits a snag

Lutheran Church must shoulder most of the cost after some pull out
 
The Lutheran Church has hit a bump in the road in its bid to develop a $25 million multi-denomination hub in Jurong for small and medium-sized churches.

Some of the congregations which had initially pledged to jointly develop the complex have pulled out, citing a lack of funds.

It means the Lutheran Church, which told The Straits Times of its church hub plans last February, will now have to shoulder most of the development's cost.

Its bishop Terry Kee said the new arrangement puts more pressure on them to raise funds.
"It is a challenge for us financially, but we are pushing forward in view of the great need for religious space in Singapore, as the population and Christian community continue to grow."

There are more than 500 Protestant churches today and Christian worshippers have almost doubled from about 588,000 in 2000 to around 930,000 in 2010.

The site for the hub is currently leased by the Lutheran Church's Jurong Christian Church, with about 50 years left on the land lease.

The old two-storey Jurong Christian Church building was demolished on Jan 2. Piling works for the new five-storey complex started on Jan 26.

The hub is expected to be ready by September next year.

The Lutheran Church, which has so far raised $10 million for the project, will now act as the landlord. It will rent out the space to churches such as the Jurong Tamil Methodist Church, King of Glory Church and possibly New Life Baptist Church.

The only church contributing to the project's development cost is S-Word, a branch of the Evangelical Free Church.
It will pump $6.3 million into the development and occupy half a floor there for 30 years, with an option to renew.
Bishop Kee said the new building will have three service halls that can seat 400, 500 and 600 people.

The 60,000 sq ft hub will also have classrooms, a kindergarten, offices, multi-purpose halls, as well as a prayer chapel and garden on the rooftop.

Bishop Kee said the hub aims to address the space crunch faced by religious groups.

He has been meeting the authorities over the past four years to explore solutions to the lack of space for religious use.
Last December, the Ministry of National Development called a Request for Information to seek views and proposals on the idea of housing multiple groups of the same religion in multi-storey buildings.

The ministry said that these hubs will likely be located within or on the fringe of industrial areas.

Pastor T. Jeevanantham of Jurong Tamil Methodist Church said religious hubs make sense for small churches, which often struggle to find their own place.

"It's convenient to share the place with other churches as we are resource-tight and cannot pay large sums upfront for a new building," he said.

Church elder will complain "$ no enough" but but....  "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:33

Pray for Christians around the World

As news of 21 Egyptian Christians kidnapped and beheaded along the beach of Libya, my heart sink deep with despair. Senseless killing by these terrorist - ISIS!

http://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org/2015/02/19/21-egypt-christians-praised-christ-before-beheadings/

There is a price to be Christian, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 2 SAMUEL 24:24


"We stand convicted and convinced that terror and intolerance cannot, and will not, extinguish the light of God's grace, truth and love," said Rev. Rodriguez, president of The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who is part of the call for Christians to remember and honor the 21 Egyptian Coptic martyrs.

"We hope leaders around the world will join us in honoring those who have lost their lives, praying for those suffering, and repudiating all acts of terror," added Rodriguez, who represents more than 100 million Hispanic Evangelicals throughout the world, in a statement released by the leaders.

May You grant them PEACE...

Wishing everyone a Prosperous Lunar New Year

The Chinese New Year traditions that focus on LOVE.

Chinese new year - a Christian perspective

The symbols, traditions and festivals of the Chinese New Year are deeply rooted in more than 5,000 years of human civilization, culture, mores and beliefs. The Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days and most Chinese households will observe traditional celebrations and practices.

Unfortunately, some of our Chinese New Year celebrations focus too much on our temporal earthly life and tangible success. Chinese Christians, much as they value their culture, must seek to understand its symbolism and be careful to avoid religious elements that do not accord with Holy Scripture.

We must put God first, before our culture, while at the same time honoring God in the enjoyment of our cultural heritage. We must not contaminate our celebration with materialistic or religious beliefs and practices that are unedifying or displeasing to God.


Chinese lunar calendar
The Chinese generally have adopted the Western calendar since 1911, but the lunar calendar, based on astrology and the cycles of the moon, is still used for festive occasions such as the Chinese New Year.
Astrology is one of China's most ancient philosophies - perhaps more than 3,000 years old. It claims to predict what will happen to people, countries, economic trends, conflicts and much more.

Traditionally, Chinese dating methods were cyclical - as in the method of recording years by the twelve animal signs. Every year is assigned an animal name or 'sign' according to a repeating cycle - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar - so that the same animal 'sign' reappears every twelve years.

Astrology
One Chinese legend attributes the animal signs to the semi-mythical Yellow Emperor in 2637 BC. According to another legend, Buddha summoned all the animals before he departed from Earth but only twelve came to bid him farewell. As a reward, he named a year after each one in the order that they arrived.

There is a superstitious belief that the animal ruling a person's birth year exercises a profound influence on his or her life. Horoscopes have developed around the animal signs, much like monthly horoscopes in the West relating to astronomical signs. For example, a Chinese horoscope might predict that a person born in the Year of the Horse would be 'cheerful, popular, and love to compliment others'.

These religious horoscopes, though popular, are dangerous superstitions. The practice of astrology is condemned in the Bible - Isaiah 47:12-13 reads, 'Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries ... Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee'.

Superstition
The occultic use of charts, or the worship of celestial bodies like the moon, sun and stars to predict behaviour, businesses, relationships or the future, is strictly forbidden in the Bible (2 Kings 23:5-7). And that includes consulting a geomancer or feng shui master, bomoh or shaman as well (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).
As Christians, let us be careful not to propagate, in the name of culture, superstitious practices that are clearly disallowed or even condemned in the Word of God (Leviticus 19:26-31).

Greetings and Ang Pows
In wishing one another a blessed new year, ang pows - red packets containing money - are given to children, parents, grandparents or others. It is good to show love and filial piety, and giving ang pows is acceptable as long as we understand them as gestures of love and appreciation rather than symbols of an unhealthy preoccupation with wealth.

The colour 'red', which to many people represents gold, is indifferent for Christians - who should not be enamoured with materialistic prosperity, wealth and worldly success. In our Chinese New Year greetings, it is not appropriate for Christians to wish people Gong Xi Fa Cai, which refers to tangible or financial wealth for that person. Wishes for peace in the new year, or eternal joy from God, are more appropriate.

We have reason to be joyful because we are blessed of God by his saving mercies and pardoning grace. We have Christ as Lord and Saviour of our lives - who died for us, redeemed us and rose from the dead, having destroyed sin and death, and brought us everlasting life. For the Christian, only Christ is the basis of our hopes in the new year.

Some hang paper pineapples in their homes because in Chinese the pineapple is called ong lai, meaning 'prosperity comes to our homes'. Others put the Chinese word for prosperity upside down on the wall 'to bring in the prosperity'.

During Chinese New Year also, some older folks resort to gambling with cards or mahjong, while pictures of gold bars are displayed to symbolize prosperity and wealth. All such practices should be avoided by Christian families because they reflect an ungodly covetous spirit (Exodus 20:17; 1 Timothy 6:6-10).
Rather, as Deuteronomy 8:18 says, we should 'remember the Lord [our] God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day'.

House spring cleaning
On the first day of Chinese New Year, one superstition demands that we should not sweep the house. Some even hide their brushes because brooms and sweeping are all 'bad luck' - they will sweep out the 'prosperity' and the 'good luck for the year'.

Conversely, spring cleaning may signify a new beginning, the false idea of getting rid of the 'bad luck' of the previous year - an idea which Christians cannot accept.

Some also say that we should only speak sweet words and eat nian gao (sweet cakes, fried with eggs and flour). These are supposed to sweeten the mouth of the 'kitchen god' who returns to heaven at the New Year - according to popular folklore.

Other superstitious Chinese take care not to break anything on the first day of the New Year because it will bring 'bad luck' for the rest of the year.

All such superstitions are meaningless and yet dangerous, and should be completely avoided by Christians.
Lion dance and firecrackers

Another Chinese New Year tradition is the lion and dragon dance - considered to bring good luck because the prancing lions and dancing dragons chase away the 'bad omen' in businesses or shops. Most, if not all, such practices have their origins in Buddhist temples and martial arts groups which are religious in nature.
The use of noisy fire crackers - which by tradition is intended to ward off the evil monster nian - is a thing of the past for Singapore, but is still widely practised in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

It is banned in Singapore because firecrackers have caused accidents and even fatal fires. But even without these safety considerations the practice has unchristian origins and Christians should avoid it.

Focus on Family
However, we should maintain good Chinese New Year traditions - visiting families and relatives; exchanging oranges and greetings; giving ang pows for the children; and wishing God's blessings and peace to our friends and neighbours. These are meaningful social and family encounters and part of our Chinese culture.
When we wish somebody a 'blessed or peaceful Chinese New Year', we need to pray for them and seek God's help to live in a manner worthy of our calling as Christians.

For us, it is a seasonal celebration of the deeper meaning of Xin Nian (new year), representing as it does a year of new opportunities to serve and glorify God. The God of the Bible is our Redeemer, the reason and foundation of our confidence and joy for the new year - for 'if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new' (2 Corinthians 5:17).

There are many other relevant Scriptures we can contemplate at this season. For example, Paul advises: 'Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God' (1 Corinthians 10:31). Let us rejoice and offer praise, 'giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (Ephesians 5:20).

Consider also 1 Thessalonians 5:22: 'Abstain from all appearance of evil'. Let us avoid worshiping idols by burning incense, visiting temples, worshiping ancestors, or any other form of religious or moral compromise.
However, 'Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way' (Romans 14:13). 'For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another' (Galatians 5:13). We are to remember our accountability to God and to show genuine love and concern for one another during the festive season.

May our gracious Lord grant us true joy, peace, grace and hope in this Chinese New Year season, as we pray and witness for Christ to our relatives and friends with the gospel of salvation.