Today, in churches all around the world, it is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Continue reading
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Joyce Leaving the Prosperity Gospel
What I am about to say could offend some people, but it is the truth. Continue reading
Taking Compassionate Action: Remembering Dolores O’riordan of The Cranberries
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Dolores O’Riordan’s death. She was the lead singer of a rock band from the 90’s called The Cranberries. There is one song that The Cranberries wrote that I feel is very relevant to our current social climate and all that is happening in Northern Nigeria. It is called “Zombie.” Read these lyrics:
“Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence, caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?
But you see, it’s not me,
It’s not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fighting
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head they are crying
… Another mother’s breaking
Heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken…”
It is hard to care for those whose pain seems out of sight, out of mind. While The Cranberries are talking about another war, it is very fitting for what is going on in Nigeria—a place that, for the most part, people don’t truly care hearing about.
Dolores left an amazing legacy, one that causes us to take compassionate action. It is my Hope that she knew Jesus (she was cited as being Catholic), and that those who follow her footsteps would find Christ as well.
May we love like Jesus Loved—sacrificially, even when it is inconvenient. And even when the people we are to love live far, far away.
Do you know Jesus?
No matter who you are—King or beggar, celebrity or the marginalized, you matter to God. So much, in fact, that He died for you. Learn more about Jesus, and why He died for you, here.
Please pray for (find the prayer sheet here)…
- The celebrities of this world, that they would be humbled and saved by Christ.
- The Chibok Girls, and Leah Sharibu.
- That more people would seek Jesus and become an advocate for those who need to be heard, supported, and loved.
Prayer for Three Kidnappees in Burkina Faso
In a place called Burkina Faso (which means “Land of Honest Men”), approximately three people have gone missing, with muslim terrorists to blame. Burkina Faso is a poor country with many natural gold mines, and it has undergone many droughts and terrorist attacks since it is so close to Niger and Mali. Continue reading
The Fight Against Evil
This last week, Al-Shabab, a muslim terrorist organization, blew up cars outside of a Nairobi hotel called the Dusit hotel complex and then proceeded to set off bombs within the hotel. The death toll is confusing; it is either 14 or 47 innocent people1 who were killed in the terrorist attack.
Again, evil seems to reign.
Pictures taken at the scene are full of people crying, shocked and saddened by the carnage in front of them. But one does not need to experience a terrorist attack to know what evil is. Like an insidious cancer, evil in this world has been in action since Adam and Eve took a bite of that forbidden fruit. We, humanity, brought evil into this world; and with evil, comes death.
How does one look at such evil in the face, and live? How can one not be swallowed up by evil, becoming more like it every time their hearts become more and more calloused to the world around? Such pain, anger, and darkness that is void of hope is bound to darken a person’s outlook on life.
But I want to hug these people affected by terrorism. I want to cry with them, knowing that no amount of kind words can heal the lacerations all over their hearts.
But most of all, as I look into the eyes of the people in these pictures, I want to lovingly point them to the only Hope we have: Jesus.
I want to tell them that He is the God of All Comfort. That He did not cause this evil, but rather allowed it, and is yearning to comfort those who are so affected by it.
I won’t pretend that these words don’t hold questions. I do not claim to completely understand evil or why it happens.
All I know is that there is One who has ultimately defeated it, forever. And that, as I look at these tragic photos, gives me Hope.
He is making everything new. Come back, Lord Jesus! Let it be so.
PHOTO CREDIT: ALAN LABISCH
1 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/explosions-gunfire-heard-kenyan-capital-nairobi-190115130845511.html; https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2019/0115/1023365-nairobi-attack/
Do you know Jesus?
Jesus came humbly into a world full of messiness, illness, and darkness. Learn about what He did—and how it changes everything—here.
Please pray for (Get the prayer sheet here)…
- Those affected in this attack in Nairobi.
- The worldwide Church, especially in Nairobi. May the Church come to comfort, love and support those hurt in this event.
- The Chibok girls, as well as Leah Sharibu.
- The fight against Boko Haram and Al-Shabab; much more, the fight against evil.
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The Honesty Report
I have been one that has rallied for information about the war on Boko Haram, as well as the whereabouts of the remaining Chibok girls & Leah Sharibu—and I am not the only one. Continue reading
