The Great Separation

I'm Out'ta Here!

Road Trip! - I won't be around till the first of next week.

I'm helping some dear friends move their two dogs, two cat's, baby on the way, and the contents of their house something like 400+ miles away.

So, I guess you could say I'm going dark for a few days.

Wish me well. I'm going turn on the holding pattern for all comments and trackbacks since I won't be here to monitor them as they come in. This is because I've been getting a fair number of spam of late.

So feel free to leave a comment. If it's legit it will get posted when I get back. If it's not legit, down the virtual drain it will go.

Scripture for This Week. John 14: 25-27.

Stand in it. - Food to rely upon:

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 14:25-27 NIV

The Great Separation continues.

Presence. A Poem.

Cold bruised sky
Bends beating limbs low.

Hard flash strikes the pulse
Of rolling stones given voice.

First the pat-a-tat-tat
Than the patter-pat-patter.

Soon the roar of three voices made one,
Cleansing in red, sins not seen.

Then the patter-tat-pat followed
By the pat-pat pat-pat tat-tat.

©Hal Paxton

Washington Nationals Suspend Chapel Leader.

The intersection of religion and sports. - I'm not exactly certain how to classify this post. I don't believe it falls in the Christian Persecution section, though I came across it via an automated search I set up for items fitting that category.

This post is more in the faith section and how it intersects with the world.

Brian Westly reports for the AP, found on WTOP Radio Network. that the baseball team, the Washington Nationals, suspended Jon Moeller as their chapel leader. Jon is not allowed at the clubhouse at the moment because an investigation is underway.

Westly reports:

According to an article published Sunday in The Washington Post, Nationals outfielder Ryan Church said he asked Moeller if Jews are "doomed" because they do not believe in Jesus. Church said Moeller nodded, the Post reported.

So Moeller got suspended for telling Church what he believed the Bible has to say on the subject of salvation. Something, I guess you could say, Christ got suspended for too.

On the Washington Nationals website, Bill Ladson also reports on this story. He quotes Church's question of Moeller and his response:

"I said, like, Jewish people, they don't believe in Jesus. Does that mean they're doomed?" Church said. "Jon nodded, like, that's what it meant. My ex-girlfriend! I was like, man, if they only knew. Other religions don't know any better. It's up to us to spread the word."

Later Church issued the following apology in response to the Washington Post article:

"Those who know me on a personal level understand that I am not the type of person who would call into question the religious beliefs of others. I sincerely regret if the quote attributed to me in Sunday's Washington Post article offended anyone."

I should note that outfielder Church wasn't suspended.

Example of What Christian Women Face in Islamic Egypt.

They hate you because of me - Received this from Voice of the Martyrs:

(Compass Direct) Coptic Christian Rezk Shafik Attallah has not seen [his] 20-year-old daughter, Marianna Rezk Shafik Attallah, since she disappeared from work May 30th. He is convinced that she was kidnapped by a former police constable while running an errand for work in El- Fayou, 60 miles south of Cairo. Police have obstructed efforts by her fiancé, Bishoy Hosni, and her father to find her. An Egyptian security official reported that former policeman Ali Mahmoud Abdel Rasoul had taken the young woman and moved 250 miles south to Sohag. But the official warned her fiancé and father to stop looking for her, saying she had left of her own free will. "If she went of her own free will," Hosni told Compass, "then why didn't she come to say that (to us)?" Reportedly Rasoul had previously been fired from the police force for "bad behavior."

Pray God will move in His mighty and merciful power to protect Marianna and return
her to her family. Pray the Holy Spirit will convict Rasoul of his actions and the light of
Christ will overcome the darkness in his soul. Pray the Lord will empower Christians in
Egypt to stand up for Jesus, showing His love toward their oppressors.

Hold Marianna before the Lord of hosts.

The Great Separation continues.

Born in silence. A Poem

Born in silence,
Wrapped in promise.
In a hoary mantle shorn
Building paths in the wilderness.
Proclaiming one man's eminence
To scribes and teachers remorseless.
Repent! The cry
     from the desert.
Bring his head! The command
     from soiled marble halls.
None greater. The words bestowed
     from only He who can.
Elijah has come.

          © Hal Paxton

The Dirtiness of Our Pasts.

Forgiven. - There are few things more difficult for us as Christians to deal with than our pasts. But there are also few things more wonderful.

The sins of our pasts leave wounds that do heal and some become scars, if not upon our flesh, then upon the flesh of our souls. Those scars, tender and sometimes unbearably painful, are never more real to us then when we fall broken at the feet of our Lord.

For at His feet we lie in the light of the Father and His magnificent light exposes our shame and our failings.

So we, like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned, desire to hide but can find no place dark enough to escape His righteousness. Our sins are exposed and naked before God.

Lying there, we are ashamed and the serpent seeks to use that shame against us.

Satan would accuse us and remind us of how unworthy we are to be in that light. He would storm our mind with images and fears and failings for the purpose of drawing us down and away from Christ and the life our Savior offers us. He would point out to us just how broken and sinful we are for the single purpose of hurting not us, but Christ. For if that serpent can convince us of our wretchedness and steal us away from the love we see in the Lamb of God, if he can stop us from looking into that light and receiving from Christ the love God is offering to us, then the snake thinks he has wounded God through breaking us and separating us from the Father.

How often do I struggle with my past? How often do I stop myself from holding or encouraging or meeting the need of another because I have failed to look upon the Light of Life and instead could only see the scars of my past and that dirtiness which brings shame and fear?

How often do you let yourself fall victim to the regrets and sins of your past?

These failings occupy our minds too often and become a stone around our necks, pulling our eyes down to the ground.

Thankfully, even with our heads bowed so that we can only see the dusty earth, we find before us the feet of Christ. And there, we hear our Savior say to us and our accuser that we, His bride, "Is worth the blood that I spilled. Go ahead, Satan, say what you will about my bride. It matters not, for though to you she is worthless, I love her and cover her with My righteousness given Me from My Father. In me beloved you are made new."

It's then that the tears break from the prison of our past to fall upon the feet of Christ and we find ourselves cracking open the alabaster jar of ourselves upon those precious, pierced feet.

It's then that we discover that Christ covers those scars of our past, not in shame, but in love and desire to be a balm that strengthens our weaknesses turning those failures into victories found in His love and blood sacrificed.

For what can be more wonderful than the horrible actions of our pasts - those deeds in darkness, those words bitting, those failures - miraculously transformed at the feet of Christ and those sins erased in a sea of red?

In Micah we find that delightful sea:

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry for ever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:18-19 NIV)

In Revelation we learn that the sea full of our sins will not exist one glorious and eternal day:

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea exists no more.” (Revelation 21:1 Darby)

In that eternal bliss promised to us, our scars will also cease to exist and in that place the truly magnificent glory of our God will be revealed.

While here upon this earth, the scars are not to be forgotten for they are testimonies of what Christ saved us from and post markers for where we are not to return.

For now, the Lord leaves us the scars but covers them in His righteousness so that we may learn of His power, desire to lean upon Him in our weakness, and know what it means to care for the afflictions of others. But we cannot do any of this if we focus too much on the past, too much upon the scars, not daring to look up and see to where our Lord leads and forward to the fulfillment of His promise.

So trust in the name of our Lord and rise up and stand firm. Not in our power, but in the saving power of the Lamb which takes those sins of the past, casts them from us to a distance that is as far as the east is from the west, and transforms our lives which we break upon his perfect feet.

          © Hal Paxton

Lab Mice Carrying Bubonic Plague Missing!

Oh that's comforting. - Hat tip to Drudge.

BreitBart.com has an AP report titled, "Mice Infected With Bubonic Plague Missing.

Three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory about two weeks ago, and authorities launched a search though health experts said there was scant public risk.

The mice were unaccounted-for at the Public Health Research Institute, which is on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and conducts bioterrorism research for the federal government.

"Scant public risk"? Doesn't that just make you feel all safe and sound?

The article reports that officials claim the mice would likely have died soon after escaping, if they did indeed pull a Pinky & the Brain escape.

It's also possible that other lab animals ate them for lunch or, even more believable, they were lost in the government paperwork.

Are You Listening? A Poem.

I don't typically like to explain my poetry, partly because each person brings their own images, feelings, and experiences to poetry. But with this one I will make an exception and just say, there are times in my walk with Christ that I sometimes wonder if my petitions are being heard or if God even remembers I'm here. This little piece arose out of such a time and I feel like sharing it.

Are you listening?
I've done what you said.
But there's a wall betwixt you and me.
Light can't penetrate.
Sometimes I see it still and solid,
Other brief moments a shadow is spied.
No crevices for scaling,
No device to chip with.
Just a voice with which to hale.
Awaiting, 'Hello, I'm still here.'

© Hal Paxton

Christian Persecution Round Up.

They hate you because of me - Here are four items to consider today when you pray to God the Father.

From International Christian Concern:

Vietnam Burns Homes of Christians; 'Christian Religion is America's Religion, and is Not Allowed Here':

The Washington, DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC - www.persecution.org) has received reports that the Vietnamese government recently burned more than ten homes of tribal Christians in Suoi Rut hamlet, Doi Sau village, Quang Ngai province. The affected families were forced to flee their village on July 21, 2005, and are now searching for a new area to reside in.

The homes of ten Hre tribal Christians were destroyed because they refused to deny their faith. The victims belonged to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN), which has formal recognition by Vietnamese government. The local Communist authorities of Son Thuong village, Quang Ngai province have publicly stated that "the Christian religion is America's religion, and is not allowed here."

From The American Daily: Christian Charged with Blasphemy in Pakistan.

Younis Masih, 27, a resident of Chungi Amer Sidhu, Lahore, was arrested on Sept. 10 2005.

According to a news release from the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, APMA, on Sept. 9, Masih went to the house of Baba Chaby, and told him the loud Islamic music he was playing was disturbing people and stopping them from sleeping.

APMA stated that Chaby refused to turn down the music, saying his Muslim friends were listening to the songs. When Masih reiterated his request, APMA reported that the Muslims in attendance became angry and "abused him for asking (them) to turn down the volume."

The music listeners the next day beat Masih unconscious and beat his wife. He was later charged with blasphemy after trying to report it to the police.

The police arrested him and his cousin who were in the station to file the complaint. They reportedly tortured the two men.

Be sure to follow the link for the complete story.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Asia Pacific reports this headline: "Another two Christian churches in Indonesia blocked by militants":

In Indonesia, another two Christian churches in the capital, Jakarta, were blocked by Muslim militants over the weekend, forcing 500 Christians to conduct services in the street.

Muslim hardliners have closed more than 30 churches across Indonesia over the past year.

And finally, Asia News reports this headline, "Father Agnos, a tribal Catholic priest, dies a 'martyr for peace'":

Simdega (AsiaNews) – Church leaders and local human rights activists are convinced that “the sinister hand of the nationalist Extreme Right” could be behind yesterday’s murder of a Catholic priest of Tribal origin in the diocese of Simdega (Jharkhand) where Tribals (aka Adivasi) are a majority. According to initial investigations, Hindu fundamentalists were responsible for what happened.

...A group of men armed with knives, arrows and swords stormed the rally. Fr Anand Jojo, vicar general of the diocese, told AsiaNews that the more than 40 Hindu aggressors riding some 15 motor bikes tried to disperse the 3,500 demonstrators shouting and making threats. They shouted that Tribals should stop demonstrating and accept instead the court’s decision [taking away council seats which the Upper caste Hindus wanted]; they then started using violence.

During the clashes, Fr Agnos Bara, assistant to Baba Bira parish priest, was knifed to death as he tried to calm and defend the demonstrators.

The Great Separation continues.

For more information on the persecuted Church see the Persecution Blog.