Assailants tied up three people at a publishing house that distributes Bibles in Turkey and then slit their throats Wednesday, adding to a string of attacks apparently targeting the country’s tiny Christian minority.The killings occurred in Malatya, a city in central Turkey known as a hotbed of Turkish nationalism and is the hometown of Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)
“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” (Revelation 6:9-11)
Ian Woods with Sky News has the story of St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia, where thousands of people come daily to be healed of HIV/AIDS. “The church claims that more than a thousand people have been cured in the past two years.” Men, women, and children gather in the nude as priests drench them with holy water. In order to receive the holy water, they must stop taking medication.
At Addis Adaba’s leading hospital, Dr Amone Wodoson understands why Orthodox Christians may seek help from their church, but is angry at the suggestion that they must choose between religion and science.
. . .
Kessis Kefyalew Merahi is a scholarly figure, who says that both medicine and faith have a role to play in treating AIDS. He insists that the holy water is a proven cure.
“Some of the patients are okay. They still have the sign of the virus, but the virus has no power on their body and blood because it is controlled by the grace of Our Lady.”
Scot McKnight is reading Steven Keillor’s new book, God’s Judgments, and starts a discussion on the relationship between catastrophes and God’s judgment. McKnight opens his post with this:
Here’s my simple contention: if you believe God is in control of all, then you are driven to think either (1) that catastrophes are divine judgments or (2) that God has surrendered “control” to cosmic or human forces.
But does this really present all the options? Doesn’t this create a false dichotomy? Take Job for example. That God was in complete control of the tragic events in Job’s life is without question. Are we then forced to draw the conclusion that Job was being judged by God? Certainly not. That was the fundamental flaw of Job’s friends. If we learn anything from Job, we learn that there is another answer to the question of why bad things happen. God is in complete control, but He may bring hardship for reasons other than judgment.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood McKnight’s contention. Perhaps he will clarify further in a later post. But so far, it seems to me that McKnight starts the discussion with too few options.
Read the first post at McKnight’s blog, Jesus Creed.
Leigh Crockett, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Anderson, IN was diagnosed last August with stage four cancer and given less than a year to live. Now, the cancer is completely gone. The doctors are baffled, calling it a miracle.
Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor of Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, OH, was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. A note and a very encouraging letter have been posted on his website. I’m sure he and his family would appreciate your prayers during this trial.
.
Scot McKnight
Leigh Crockett, pastor of 
