Just because God loves us does not mean that He does not get mad at our behavior. Some ancient Jews practiced abortion, infanticide and other forms of child killing. Psalm 106:37-40 Complete Jewish Bible says, "They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. Yes, they shed innocent blood, the blood of their own sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to Kena‘an’s false gods, polluting the land with blood. Thus they were defiled by their deeds; they prostituted themselves by their actions, For this Adonai’s fury blazed up against his people, and he detested his heritage."
The reasons for abortion, infanticide and other forms of child killing may change with the times, but sadly the practices are still common today globally. God didn't like these practices in the past, and He hasn't changed His mind in the present. Hebrews 13:8 Amplified Bible says, "Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages)."
God created us as sexual beings. Sexuality has multiple beautiful, balanced, Biblical expressions. One expression of sexuality that pleases God is when a married couple enjoys sexual relations and in addition to the closeness of the couple, a new life is created. While sex is the means through which new life may be created at certain times of the month, God is the one determining if new life will be created. The author of human life is God and not the government or any other human being.
But in China and other places, human beings are trying to take the place of God. China has a one-child policy which includes forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
The New York Times "Chinese Filmmaker Is Investigated by Family Planning Officials" May 10, 2013, article by Edward Wong says, "China's most celebrated film director, Zhang Yimou, is being investigated for a potential violation of family planning laws, an official said Thursday, confirming reports in the state news media.
Family planning officials are examining discussions on the Internet that say Mr. Zhang has fathered up to seven children with four women. If he is found to have violated the laws, he could be fined nearly $27 million because the fines are based on the offender's income, according to a report in the online edition of People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party."
Chinese authorities do not just use fines to enforce China's one-child policy. In October 2012 Actor and Activist Christian Bale presented Chen Guangcheng, a blind, self-taught lawyer and human rights activist, with an award at the annual gala of Human Rights First. Bale said, "He [Chen] had exposed a program of forced abortion and sterilization in Shandong. A program of forced abortion means that women are being dragged from their homes against their will. They are being forced to have abortions, sometimes late-term -- imagine that -- with some women reportedly dying in the process. Now this is true horror. And in this insane world, this man, Chen, who was helping these women -- who was living by some of the most simple, brave and universally admired values -- values that we teach our children every day, and helping our fellow man -- for this, this man was imprisoned and beaten for over four years."
In 2005 Chen Guangcheng filed a class-action lawsuit against a local Chinese government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy. Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife, Yuan Weijing, and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Last spring He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing, so that he could escape house arrest in Shandong, China. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
After Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy, the US and China worked out a deal, and Guangcheng escaped to the United States.
Guangcheng and his nuclear family got out of China, but his extended family is being intensely persecuted. Freedom Now, a human rights group, has written an April 29, 2013, letter to the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Torture seeking to get Chen Kegui, Guangcheng's nephew, to a hospital for urgently needed medical treatment and out of jail for a sentence that appears to be retaliation for Guangcheng's outspokenness on Chinese forced abortions and forced sterilizations and other Chinese human rights violations. Also yesterday morning, Guangcheng's brother, Chen Guangfu, was beat up by unidentified men who stopped him while he was riding his electric bike.
Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin. The April 2013 Freedom Now letter says in part:
"Chen Kegui is currently suffering from appendicitis, and although prison authorities may have administered intravenous antibiotics, he is in severe pain, has been denied access to a doctor, and has not been taken to a hospital despite reports that his appendix has begun to rupture.
Chen Kegui, 33, was detained by Chinese authorities shortly after his uncle, a prominent human rights advocate, escaped from illegal house arrest and sought refuge at the United States Embassy in Beijing. On April 27, 2012, police, local party officials, and government thugs stormed the family's home and arrested Chen Kegui's father, Chen Guangfu, beating and interrogating him about Chen Guangcheng's whereabouts. Authorities returned to the home and savagely beat Chen Kegui and his mother, Ren Zongju. When Chen Kegui attempted to defend himself from the intruders, a local party official was injured. After disappearing Chen Kegui for a number of days, the government formally arrested him in early May and ultimately sentenced him to three years and three months in prison on November 30, 2012, after a trial that failed to meet international standards for due process."
Families are being torn apart by China's one-child policy. Kegui and his son, Chen Fubin, are just one family that has been separated. Families are also being torn apart due to our American immigration policies.
Samuel Rodriguez, president of The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, America’s largest Hispanic Christian Organization with more than 40,000 member churches, writes in a "Trust Act Seeks to End Trivial Immigrant Arrests" editorial for the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Finally, as a pastor in the Hispanic community, I am constantly confronted with families that have been torn apart when a parent is deported, often times after minor contact with police. The long-term consequences for the children are devastating."
Let's stop China's one-child policy, anti-family immigration policies and abortion/involuntary sterilization everywhere.
A Yoruba Nigerian love poem called "The fulfilment of this earth's law is love" says:
"The fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practice love!
With love two can live happily in the smallest of rooms
Without love even in a palace two cannot live in peace.
O, the fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practice love!
The fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practise love!
Love is above the law, and it is the law completely,
Without love there'll be no help of one another.
O, the fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practise love!
The fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practice love!
Love comes before marriage of a man and a woman,
Without love cause for separation is not hard to find.
O, the fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practise love!
The fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practise love!
With love two may enter the closest friendship,
Without love even twins may be irreconcilable.
O, the fulfilment of this earth's law is love,
So, brothers and sisters, let us practise love!"
Please share Nigerian and other people's love songs, poems and prose by writing to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on the social media Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
The greatest love of all is the love of God because it is effective for people in the past, present and forever. God loves people, and He desires from His creyentes (believers) to act like las reinas y los reyes (the queens and kings) He made us to be. God's royalty helps the oppressed. Proverbs 31:8-9 New Living Translation Bible says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice."
Showing posts with label He Peirong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label He Peirong. Show all posts
Friday, May 10, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Fatherhood and New Chen Guangcheng Family Persecution
In the movie Selena, Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla (portrayed by Edward James Olmos,) loves his daughter, family and life with enthusiasm, commitment and creativity.
Abraham is protective of Selena (portrayed by Jennifer Lopez) while also pushing her to be her best. What movies have you seen with inspiring, intimate father/daughter relationships? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on the social media Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
When Selena and Chris Perez fall in love, Abraham can't handle it, and in a fit of hot anger forbids the young lovers to see each other. Chris (portrayed by Jon Seda) is the guitarist for the band Selena and the Dinos. Selena and Chris meet secretly for a while. Then Selena proposes marriage. Chris accepts. They elope.
Chris waits in their Porsche get-away-car while Selena goes into her parents home first to tell Abraham about her and Chris' marriage. Abraham is not the erupting volcano they fear. He has cooled off and has become capable of acknowledging that Chris and Selena really love each other, that they are ready to be married and that he compelled them to elope. The happy couple don't need the Porsche get-away car.
But He Peirong and Chen Guangcheng needed their get-away car. He Peirong is a key member of a group of human rights activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, is a self-taught lawyer who in 2005 filed a class-action lawsuit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife, Yuan Weijing, and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Last spring He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing, so that he could escape house arrest in Shandong, China. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
After Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy, the US and China worked out a deal and Guangcheng escaped to the United States. He Peirong didn't loose Guangcheng like Harriet Tubman didn't loose runaway slaves while helping them to escape slavery in American slave states to freedom in American non-slaves states and in Canada.
On April 9, 2013, Chen Guangcheng testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
God the Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) says in Matthew 7:12 Complete Jewish Bible, "“Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets." A Twi African proverb says, "Love is the greatest of all virtues."
Abraham in the movie Selena came to love Chris as his son-in-law. Currently, Chinese authorities are not loving the Chen family and those who dare to defy China's one-child policy which includes forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
“They can’t do anything about Guangcheng, so they are taking revenge on me,” says Chen Guangfu, a brother of Chen Guangcheng, about an attack this morning where two unidentified men stopped him from riding his electric bicycle and beat him ("Exiled activist Chen Guangcheng's brother beaten in latest attack against family" South China Morning Post May 9, 2013, article by Verna Yu.)
The Chen family has been persecuted for a number of years.
Guangfu's son and Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, is currently in jail and is being denied medical treatment for appendicitis. Freedom Now, a human rights group, has written an April 29, 2013, letter to the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Torture seeking to get Kegui to a hospital and out of jail.
“They can do nothing to control what I say to the international community, so they are threatening and oppressing (my relatives) in order to shut me up,” Guangcheng told Verna Yu by telephone. He also told her, “I will always speak the truth, I will never hold back.”
Abraham lost his daughter's life through a troubled employee. With timely action, Chen family members can be protected. Pastor Bob Fu, Founder and President of China Aid, spoke with Guangcheng today regarding today's attack on his brother, Chen Guangfu. Fu said in a May 9, 2013, China Aid "Chen Guangcheng's Elder Brother Chen Guangfu was Violently Beaten" article, "To employ mafia style actions in order to silent a fellow citizen's voice represents a new low for China's leaders. It is time for President Obama to immediately intervene with this worsening situation. The US leaders and international community should hold the Chinese top leaders accountable for their miserable failure to deliver its own solemn public international commitment that was made a year ago to both Mr. Chen and Mr. Obama, which was to protect the safety and civil rights of Mr. Chen's family members and investigate years' of abuses and torture to Mr. Chen, his wife and other family members."
Abraham is protective of Selena (portrayed by Jennifer Lopez) while also pushing her to be her best. What movies have you seen with inspiring, intimate father/daughter relationships? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on the social media Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
When Selena and Chris Perez fall in love, Abraham can't handle it, and in a fit of hot anger forbids the young lovers to see each other. Chris (portrayed by Jon Seda) is the guitarist for the band Selena and the Dinos. Selena and Chris meet secretly for a while. Then Selena proposes marriage. Chris accepts. They elope.
Chris waits in their Porsche get-away-car while Selena goes into her parents home first to tell Abraham about her and Chris' marriage. Abraham is not the erupting volcano they fear. He has cooled off and has become capable of acknowledging that Chris and Selena really love each other, that they are ready to be married and that he compelled them to elope. The happy couple don't need the Porsche get-away car.
But He Peirong and Chen Guangcheng needed their get-away car. He Peirong is a key member of a group of human rights activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, is a self-taught lawyer who in 2005 filed a class-action lawsuit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife, Yuan Weijing, and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Last spring He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing, so that he could escape house arrest in Shandong, China. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
After Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy, the US and China worked out a deal and Guangcheng escaped to the United States. He Peirong didn't loose Guangcheng like Harriet Tubman didn't loose runaway slaves while helping them to escape slavery in American slave states to freedom in American non-slaves states and in Canada.
On April 9, 2013, Chen Guangcheng testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
God the Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) says in Matthew 7:12 Complete Jewish Bible, "“Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets." A Twi African proverb says, "Love is the greatest of all virtues."
Abraham in the movie Selena came to love Chris as his son-in-law. Currently, Chinese authorities are not loving the Chen family and those who dare to defy China's one-child policy which includes forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
“They can’t do anything about Guangcheng, so they are taking revenge on me,” says Chen Guangfu, a brother of Chen Guangcheng, about an attack this morning where two unidentified men stopped him from riding his electric bicycle and beat him ("Exiled activist Chen Guangcheng's brother beaten in latest attack against family" South China Morning Post May 9, 2013, article by Verna Yu.)
The Chen family has been persecuted for a number of years.
Guangfu's son and Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, is currently in jail and is being denied medical treatment for appendicitis. Freedom Now, a human rights group, has written an April 29, 2013, letter to the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Torture seeking to get Kegui to a hospital and out of jail.
“They can do nothing to control what I say to the international community, so they are threatening and oppressing (my relatives) in order to shut me up,” Guangcheng told Verna Yu by telephone. He also told her, “I will always speak the truth, I will never hold back.”
Abraham lost his daughter's life through a troubled employee. With timely action, Chen family members can be protected. Pastor Bob Fu, Founder and President of China Aid, spoke with Guangcheng today regarding today's attack on his brother, Chen Guangfu. Fu said in a May 9, 2013, China Aid "Chen Guangcheng's Elder Brother Chen Guangfu was Violently Beaten" article, "To employ mafia style actions in order to silent a fellow citizen's voice represents a new low for China's leaders. It is time for President Obama to immediately intervene with this worsening situation. The US leaders and international community should hold the Chinese top leaders accountable for their miserable failure to deliver its own solemn public international commitment that was made a year ago to both Mr. Chen and Mr. Obama, which was to protect the safety and civil rights of Mr. Chen's family members and investigate years' of abuses and torture to Mr. Chen, his wife and other family members."
Monday, April 29, 2013
Embrace Godly Emotions
Having emotions and expressing them are part of the life of creyentes (believers) who are reinas y reyes (queens and kings.) God made each one of us with unique finger prints, eye prints and scents. We will express our emotions in diverse ways. Expressing godly emotions is not a sign of being unbalanced, but is something to engage in with enthusiasm.
King David cried in public to petition God. King David says in Psalm 69:9-12 New Living Translation Bible, "Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. When I weep and fast, they scoff at me. When I dress in burlap to show sorrow, they make fun of me. I am the favorite topic of town gossip, and all the drunks sing about me."
God doesn't make fun of or belittle our godly emotions. God has emotions. He created our emotions and encourages emotional expression inspired by Him. A woman kissed and wept over Jesus Christ in Luke 7:38-47 New Living Translation Bible, and Jesus Christ commended her: "Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”"
God likes passionate people. Not only does He accept tears but also laughter and many other emotional expressions. God wants us to do likewise. Romans 12:15 Complete Jewish Bible says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Are you around people who can accept laughter, tears and other expressions?
Some people may weep when praying to free Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini, who is being tortured in an Iranian prison for his Christian faith. They may also be inspired to laugh at the devil regarding the fact that more than 575,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending support to Pastor Abedini who in January 2013 was sentenced by Iranian authorities to an eight-year prison sentence for "threatening the national security of Iran;" Pastor Abedini had been involved in setting up house churches in Iran and also an orphanage. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org.
The devil rejoices to harm people. Reinas y reyes rejoice to help them. Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.
Please also write a letter about forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one-child policy and human rights abuses of Chen Guangcheng's family and friends to:
Secretary of State John Kerry
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Chen Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, is a self-taught lawyer from China who helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife, Yuan Weijing, and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Since China's one-child policy was implemented in the 1970s more than 336 million babies have been killed by abortion; in America since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion 55 million babies have been killed.
Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape. Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin.
"He (Chen Kegui) must be heavily injured, I'm worried about his physical state," Liu Fang said to Reuters reporter Sui-Lee Wee for her May 24, 2012, article "Brother of blind China activist flees village." Liu Fang also said about her husband and Guangcheng's nephew, "Inside, he might be subject to beatings."
Torture and other reprisals by Chinese authorities are happening to family and friends of Guangcheng since his escape from China to the US one year ago.
On April 24, 2013, Chen Kegui's mother, Ren Zongju, and Chen Kegui's uncle, Chen Guangjun, were told by Chinese authorities to answer questions about whether they “harbored a criminal” by helping Chen Kegui before his capture. Chen Guangjun is a bother of Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangfu, another brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Chris Buckley of The New York Times for his April 24, 2013, article, "Chinese Officials Order Questioning of Exiled Activist’s Relatives," “I think that this is really about Guangcheng;” “I’ve heard that he spoke at the U.S. Congress and leveled accusations against officials. In my view, that infuriated them.”
Truth infuriates workers of iniquity. There is such a thing as righteous anger; stir it up to move out evil.
King David cried in public to petition God. King David says in Psalm 69:9-12 New Living Translation Bible, "Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. When I weep and fast, they scoff at me. When I dress in burlap to show sorrow, they make fun of me. I am the favorite topic of town gossip, and all the drunks sing about me."
God doesn't make fun of or belittle our godly emotions. God has emotions. He created our emotions and encourages emotional expression inspired by Him. A woman kissed and wept over Jesus Christ in Luke 7:38-47 New Living Translation Bible, and Jesus Christ commended her: "Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”"
God likes passionate people. Not only does He accept tears but also laughter and many other emotional expressions. God wants us to do likewise. Romans 12:15 Complete Jewish Bible says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Are you around people who can accept laughter, tears and other expressions?
Some people may weep when praying to free Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini, who is being tortured in an Iranian prison for his Christian faith. They may also be inspired to laugh at the devil regarding the fact that more than 575,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending support to Pastor Abedini who in January 2013 was sentenced by Iranian authorities to an eight-year prison sentence for "threatening the national security of Iran;" Pastor Abedini had been involved in setting up house churches in Iran and also an orphanage. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org.
The devil rejoices to harm people. Reinas y reyes rejoice to help them. Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.
Please also write a letter about forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one-child policy and human rights abuses of Chen Guangcheng's family and friends to:
Secretary of State John Kerry
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Chen Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, is a self-taught lawyer from China who helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife, Yuan Weijing, and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Since China's one-child policy was implemented in the 1970s more than 336 million babies have been killed by abortion; in America since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion 55 million babies have been killed.
Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape. Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin.
"He (Chen Kegui) must be heavily injured, I'm worried about his physical state," Liu Fang said to Reuters reporter Sui-Lee Wee for her May 24, 2012, article "Brother of blind China activist flees village." Liu Fang also said about her husband and Guangcheng's nephew, "Inside, he might be subject to beatings."
Torture and other reprisals by Chinese authorities are happening to family and friends of Guangcheng since his escape from China to the US one year ago.
On April 24, 2013, Chen Kegui's mother, Ren Zongju, and Chen Kegui's uncle, Chen Guangjun, were told by Chinese authorities to answer questions about whether they “harbored a criminal” by helping Chen Kegui before his capture. Chen Guangjun is a bother of Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangfu, another brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Chris Buckley of The New York Times for his April 24, 2013, article, "Chinese Officials Order Questioning of Exiled Activist’s Relatives," “I think that this is really about Guangcheng;” “I’ve heard that he spoke at the U.S. Congress and leveled accusations against officials. In my view, that infuriated them.”
Truth infuriates workers of iniquity. There is such a thing as righteous anger; stir it up to move out evil.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sexuality In the Service of God
On Saturday, October 29, 1864, Abolitionist and Women's Rights Activist Sojourner Truth and US President Abraham Lincoln met. Toward the end of their meeting, Truth asked Lincoln to sign her Book of Life, which was a combination scrapbook and autograph book. Truth used her Book of Life to enclose personal letters and newspaper clippings and to collect signatures of people she admired and respected.
Truth and Lincoln were not lovers; they were friends. Everyone didn't make it into her Book of Life. Truth also met with President Andrew Johnson, but she did not ask him to sign her Book of Life.
God has the names of creyentes (believers) written in His Book of Life. Creyentes can make their own books of life like Sojourner Truth's Book of Life. Married creyentes can even turn their books of life into Chinese pillow books. Chinese pillow books are small, sex-instruction manuals, each on a specific topic with illustrations. You can include erotic poems written by you or someone else, pressed flowers, cards, mementos, clippings from magazines and/or books with your notes, prose of your own on special paper and whatever you and your spouse enjoy. Books can be titled Touch Me Like This, Play Time, Hot Dates, Beautiful Butts, Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Intercourse Positions, S & M Alternatives or something in a code known only to each other. What are the titles of your Chinese pillow books?
Sex is an integral part of a marriage relationship. Sex is good. Sex is created by God. Sometimes people abuse or fail to appreciate God's creative work. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Amplified Bible says, "But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast."
Un dicho (a proverb) says, "Pueblo dividido, pueblo vencido." ("A people divided, a people conquered.") Chinese pillow books and books of life can build relationships by helping people to appreciate and to understand each other and to seek unity. We all do not think alike and may be surprised to learn certain things about our spouses and friends.
Some people are afraid of and try to suppress open communication. Iranian authorities put Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children because Pastor Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 574,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org.
Cherish the God-given ability to communicate. Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.
"I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions," says a character in the book Night by Elie Wiesel. The most important relationship to have is a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost (1 X 1 X 1 = 1). Matthew 22:36-40 English Standard Version Bible says, "“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”"
China is not treating neighbors well. "I escaped so I could tell the world about the situation in China," Chen Guangcheng said in an April 24, 2013, article by Dai Ying for Deutsch Welle.
Guangcheng is from China. He is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape. Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin.
"He (Chen Kegui) must be heavily injured, I'm worried about his physical state," Liu Fang said to Reuters reporter Sui-Lee Wee for her May 24, 2012, article "Brother of blind China activist flees village." Liu Fang also said about her husband and Guangcheng's nephew, "Inside, he might be subject to beatings."
Torture and other reprisals by Chinese authorities are happening to family and friends of Guangcheng since his escape from China to the US one year ago.
On April 24, 2013, Chen Kegui's mother, Ren Zongju, and Chen Kegui's uncle, Chen Guangjun, were told by Chinese authorities to answer questions about whether they “harbored a criminal” by helping Chen Kegui before his capture. Chen Guangjun is a bother of Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangfu, another brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Chris Buckley of The New York Times for his April 24, 2013, article, "Chinese Officials Order Questioning of Exiled Activist’s Relatives, “I think that this is really about Guangcheng;” “I’ve heard that he spoke at the U.S. Congress and leveled accusations against officials. In my view, that infuriated them.”
Creyentes are called to infuriate the enemy of good relationships. We are all sexual beings, but all are not using sexuality in the service of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. 1 John 3:7-8 the Message Bible says, "So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways."
Write a letter about forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one-child policy and human rights abuses of Chen Guangcheng's family and friends to:
Secretary of State John Kerry
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Truth and Lincoln were not lovers; they were friends. Everyone didn't make it into her Book of Life. Truth also met with President Andrew Johnson, but she did not ask him to sign her Book of Life.
God has the names of creyentes (believers) written in His Book of Life. Creyentes can make their own books of life like Sojourner Truth's Book of Life. Married creyentes can even turn their books of life into Chinese pillow books. Chinese pillow books are small, sex-instruction manuals, each on a specific topic with illustrations. You can include erotic poems written by you or someone else, pressed flowers, cards, mementos, clippings from magazines and/or books with your notes, prose of your own on special paper and whatever you and your spouse enjoy. Books can be titled Touch Me Like This, Play Time, Hot Dates, Beautiful Butts, Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Intercourse Positions, S & M Alternatives or something in a code known only to each other. What are the titles of your Chinese pillow books?
Sex is an integral part of a marriage relationship. Sex is good. Sex is created by God. Sometimes people abuse or fail to appreciate God's creative work. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Amplified Bible says, "But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast."
Un dicho (a proverb) says, "Pueblo dividido, pueblo vencido." ("A people divided, a people conquered.") Chinese pillow books and books of life can build relationships by helping people to appreciate and to understand each other and to seek unity. We all do not think alike and may be surprised to learn certain things about our spouses and friends.
Some people are afraid of and try to suppress open communication. Iranian authorities put Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children because Pastor Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 574,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org.
Cherish the God-given ability to communicate. Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.
"I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions," says a character in the book Night by Elie Wiesel. The most important relationship to have is a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost (1 X 1 X 1 = 1). Matthew 22:36-40 English Standard Version Bible says, "“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”"
China is not treating neighbors well. "I escaped so I could tell the world about the situation in China," Chen Guangcheng said in an April 24, 2013, article by Dai Ying for Deutsch Welle.
Guangcheng is from China. He is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape. Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin.
"He (Chen Kegui) must be heavily injured, I'm worried about his physical state," Liu Fang said to Reuters reporter Sui-Lee Wee for her May 24, 2012, article "Brother of blind China activist flees village." Liu Fang also said about her husband and Guangcheng's nephew, "Inside, he might be subject to beatings."
Torture and other reprisals by Chinese authorities are happening to family and friends of Guangcheng since his escape from China to the US one year ago.
On April 24, 2013, Chen Kegui's mother, Ren Zongju, and Chen Kegui's uncle, Chen Guangjun, were told by Chinese authorities to answer questions about whether they “harbored a criminal” by helping Chen Kegui before his capture. Chen Guangjun is a bother of Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangfu, another brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Chris Buckley of The New York Times for his April 24, 2013, article, "Chinese Officials Order Questioning of Exiled Activist’s Relatives, “I think that this is really about Guangcheng;” “I’ve heard that he spoke at the U.S. Congress and leveled accusations against officials. In my view, that infuriated them.”
Creyentes are called to infuriate the enemy of good relationships. We are all sexual beings, but all are not using sexuality in the service of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. 1 John 3:7-8 the Message Bible says, "So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways."
Write a letter about forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one-child policy and human rights abuses of Chen Guangcheng's family and friends to:
Secretary of State John Kerry
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Freedom-Loving Friends
Some Southerners spread rumors that Frederick Douglass was never a slave because he spoke so well. Partly in response to these rumors, Douglass wrote his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass that gave specific information about slave owners, slaves and places where his time in slavery happened. Under the Fugitive Slave Law Douglass, who left a slave state for a free one, could be returned to slavery. So Douglass left the United States and went to England.
In England he gave speeches against African-American slavery and in favor of Irish freedom, women's rights and world peace. Douglass made a lot of freedom-loving friends, but his heart was to be in America fighting primarily for the freedom of African Americans.
Proverbs 17:17 Complete Jewish Bible says, "A friend shows his friendship at all times — it is for adversity that [such] a brother is born." Douglass' English abolitionists friends purchased his freedom, so that Douglass would be safer from the Fugitive Slave Act.
We all need to welcome and live in a wide variety of relationships. Chantal Sicile-Kira categorizes relationships in her article, "The Transition To Adulthood: Planning Ahead," for the magazine, Autism File, that is applicable to all people. She describes four circles of relationships:
1) The Circle of Intimacy includes those with whom we share our secrets, dreams and values. These are our best friends and are usually family members, but can and should also include others. We know and share a lot about what is going on in each others lives, our thoughts and feelings. We feel safe enough in these relationships to support each other spiritually and emotionally. Jesus encouraged intimate relationships beyond biology. Mark 3:33-35 New Living Translation Bible says, "Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
2) The Circle of Friendship includes friends or relatives whom we see for occasional social activities, such as for a movie or to eat a meal, but who are not our closest friends. The Bible records that Epaphras and Paul shared some time in jail and time spreading the Gospel, but not with the intensity and intimacy of the relationship between Timothy and Paul.
3) The Circle of Participation includes people who we participate with in our life, such as on the job, business or ministry, our place of worship, schools, sports teams, social clubs and other organizations. This circle contains people who may eventually be in the Circle of Friendship or even the Circle of Intimacy. We can socialize with members of our church, other churches and other groups. Luke 9:49-50 New Living Translation Bible says, "John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t in our group.” But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.”"
4) The Circle of Exchange includes people who are paid to be in our lives, such as medical professionals, teachers, counselors, governmental officials, sales associates, auto mechanics, etc. These people can also be cultivated to move into the Circle of Participation, Circle of Friendship and even the Circle of Intimacy. Everyone is a potential friend/disciple. Matthew 28:18-20 the Message Bible says, "Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.""
Like Frederick Douglass had abolitionist friends who purchased his freedom, Chen Guangcheng has friends who helped him to obtain his freedom.
Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Being able to spend the rest of life with a spouse is a privilege that can be plucked away at any time whether we are a US citizen or a citizen of another country. Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape. Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin.
"He (Chen Kegui) must be heavily injured, I'm worried about his physical state," Liu Fang said to Reuters reporter Sui-Lee Wee for her May 24, 2012, article "Brother of blind China activist flees village." Liu Fang also said about her husband and Guangcheng's nephew, "Inside, he might be subject to beatings."
Torture and other reprisals by Chinese authorities are happening to family and friends of Guangcheng since his escape from China to the US.
On April 24, 2013, Chen Kegui's mother, Ren Zongju, and Chen Kegui's uncle, Chen Guangjun, were told by Chinese authorities to answer questions about whether they “harbored a criminal” by helping Chen Kegui before his capture. Chen Guangjun is a bother of Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangfu, another brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Chris Buckley of The New York Times for his April 24, 2013, article, "Chinese Officials Order Questioning of Exiled Activist’s Relatives, “I think that this is really about Guangcheng;” “I’ve heard that he spoke at the U.S. Congress and leveled accusations against officials. In my view, that infuriated them.”
Iranian authorities are infuriated by the Christian faith and works of Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini. Pastor Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 573,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."
In another letter to his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, Pastor Saeed Abedini wrote, "... In the Bible we are all considered brothers and sisters despite our race, color or nationality."
Even though we have many Christians in America, not everyone is treated like a brother and sister. Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost welcomes all kinds of people and calls creyentes (believers) friends. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 8:11 English Standard Version Bible, "I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." He says in John 15:14 Amplified Bible, "You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do."
In England he gave speeches against African-American slavery and in favor of Irish freedom, women's rights and world peace. Douglass made a lot of freedom-loving friends, but his heart was to be in America fighting primarily for the freedom of African Americans.
Proverbs 17:17 Complete Jewish Bible says, "A friend shows his friendship at all times — it is for adversity that [such] a brother is born." Douglass' English abolitionists friends purchased his freedom, so that Douglass would be safer from the Fugitive Slave Act.
We all need to welcome and live in a wide variety of relationships. Chantal Sicile-Kira categorizes relationships in her article, "The Transition To Adulthood: Planning Ahead," for the magazine, Autism File, that is applicable to all people. She describes four circles of relationships:
1) The Circle of Intimacy includes those with whom we share our secrets, dreams and values. These are our best friends and are usually family members, but can and should also include others. We know and share a lot about what is going on in each others lives, our thoughts and feelings. We feel safe enough in these relationships to support each other spiritually and emotionally. Jesus encouraged intimate relationships beyond biology. Mark 3:33-35 New Living Translation Bible says, "Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
2) The Circle of Friendship includes friends or relatives whom we see for occasional social activities, such as for a movie or to eat a meal, but who are not our closest friends. The Bible records that Epaphras and Paul shared some time in jail and time spreading the Gospel, but not with the intensity and intimacy of the relationship between Timothy and Paul.
3) The Circle of Participation includes people who we participate with in our life, such as on the job, business or ministry, our place of worship, schools, sports teams, social clubs and other organizations. This circle contains people who may eventually be in the Circle of Friendship or even the Circle of Intimacy. We can socialize with members of our church, other churches and other groups. Luke 9:49-50 New Living Translation Bible says, "John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t in our group.” But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.”"
4) The Circle of Exchange includes people who are paid to be in our lives, such as medical professionals, teachers, counselors, governmental officials, sales associates, auto mechanics, etc. These people can also be cultivated to move into the Circle of Participation, Circle of Friendship and even the Circle of Intimacy. Everyone is a potential friend/disciple. Matthew 28:18-20 the Message Bible says, "Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.""
Like Frederick Douglass had abolitionist friends who purchased his freedom, Chen Guangcheng has friends who helped him to obtain his freedom.
Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Being able to spend the rest of life with a spouse is a privilege that can be plucked away at any time whether we are a US citizen or a citizen of another country. Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape. Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin.
"He (Chen Kegui) must be heavily injured, I'm worried about his physical state," Liu Fang said to Reuters reporter Sui-Lee Wee for her May 24, 2012, article "Brother of blind China activist flees village." Liu Fang also said about her husband and Guangcheng's nephew, "Inside, he might be subject to beatings."
Torture and other reprisals by Chinese authorities are happening to family and friends of Guangcheng since his escape from China to the US.
On April 24, 2013, Chen Kegui's mother, Ren Zongju, and Chen Kegui's uncle, Chen Guangjun, were told by Chinese authorities to answer questions about whether they “harbored a criminal” by helping Chen Kegui before his capture. Chen Guangjun is a bother of Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangfu, another brother of Chen Guangcheng, told Chris Buckley of The New York Times for his April 24, 2013, article, "Chinese Officials Order Questioning of Exiled Activist’s Relatives, “I think that this is really about Guangcheng;” “I’ve heard that he spoke at the U.S. Congress and leveled accusations against officials. In my view, that infuriated them.”
Iranian authorities are infuriated by the Christian faith and works of Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini. Pastor Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 573,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."
In another letter to his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, Pastor Saeed Abedini wrote, "... In the Bible we are all considered brothers and sisters despite our race, color or nationality."
Even though we have many Christians in America, not everyone is treated like a brother and sister. Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost welcomes all kinds of people and calls creyentes (believers) friends. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 8:11 English Standard Version Bible, "I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." He says in John 15:14 Amplified Bible, "You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do."
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Hasty and Happy Don't Often Go Together
An African proverb from Kenya and Ethiopia says, "Hasty marriages bring hasty divorces."
Sometimes we can fall in love and marry a fantasy. How many people thoroughly communicate their beliefs about spirituality, sex, money and other areas of life and seek to learn these from their potential spouse and his/her family before marriage?
Many people in America have participated in sex outside of marriage. Not everyone has the same beliefs about it. Some spouses are able to receive forgiveness from God for participating in sex outside of marriage, but they don't extend that forgiveness to their spouse and distrust their spouse for some or all of their marriage. Some spouses also misinterpret uninhibited sex as a sign of sexual infidelity. Many other marital, sexual misinterpretations and mistreatment goes on.
What precisely are your expectations of marriage?
Jesus Christ says in Matthew 7:12 Complete Jewish Bible, "“Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets."
Don't you want someone to understand and appreciate the real you? Wouldn't spouses, family and friends want likewise? Communication and compassion are critical.
While we can share a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost with whosoever, whosoever cannot be in our circle of intimacy.
Proverbs 18:22 Amplified Bible says, "He who finds a [true] wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." A true wife wants a true husband. A good marriage is the fellowship of two spiritually mature Christians who are continuously cooperating with God to change into His likeness.
Many people receive Christ, but refuse to grow in their relationship with Christ, themselves and other people. The Bible gives us the blueprint for living after having received a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and Messiah Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Some people want to succeed in their relationships and other areas of life, but they are not willing to do what it takes to succeed. Love includes discipline. Brian Tracy writes in his book No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success, "One of the most important requirements for success, once you have decided what it is that you want, is the quality of willingness. Successful people are willing to pay the price, whatever it is and for as long as it takes, until they achieve the results they desire. Everyone wants to be successful . . . . But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they may be wiling to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price. They always hold back. They always have some excuse or rationalization for not disciplining themselves to do everything that they need to do to achieve their goals."
Many of the qualities we seek in a spouse are desirable for friends too. He Peirong is not married to Chen Guangcheng; they are friends and human rights activists. He Peirong was not one of Chen Guangcheng's first followers, but later she became a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China.
Standing up for human rights in China is a threat to one's own life and the lives of one's family and friends because China is not a free and open society. Making these decisions should not be done lightly neither should the decision to marry someone be made lightly.
Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
"Abre tu boca por el mudo en el juicio de todos los desvalidos," dice Proverbios 31:8 Biblia Bilingue Version Reina-Valera 1960. Proverbs 31:8 Bilingual Bible New King James Version says, "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die."
Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 572,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."
Sometimes our relationships are difficult because we made wrong choices to enter certain relationships and/or wrong choices within the relationship. Other times our relationships are difficult because we are growing spiritually and are being attacked by the kingdom of darkness. No matter the reason for relationship difficulties, a beautiful hymn to sing that Abolitionist and Women's Rights Activist Sojourner Truth sang is:
"In my trials -- Lord walk with me.
In my trials -- Lord walk with me.
When my heart is almost breaking
Lord walk with me . . . "
Sometimes we can fall in love and marry a fantasy. How many people thoroughly communicate their beliefs about spirituality, sex, money and other areas of life and seek to learn these from their potential spouse and his/her family before marriage?
Many people in America have participated in sex outside of marriage. Not everyone has the same beliefs about it. Some spouses are able to receive forgiveness from God for participating in sex outside of marriage, but they don't extend that forgiveness to their spouse and distrust their spouse for some or all of their marriage. Some spouses also misinterpret uninhibited sex as a sign of sexual infidelity. Many other marital, sexual misinterpretations and mistreatment goes on.
What precisely are your expectations of marriage?
Jesus Christ says in Matthew 7:12 Complete Jewish Bible, "“Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets."
Don't you want someone to understand and appreciate the real you? Wouldn't spouses, family and friends want likewise? Communication and compassion are critical.
While we can share a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost with whosoever, whosoever cannot be in our circle of intimacy.
Proverbs 18:22 Amplified Bible says, "He who finds a [true] wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." A true wife wants a true husband. A good marriage is the fellowship of two spiritually mature Christians who are continuously cooperating with God to change into His likeness.
Many people receive Christ, but refuse to grow in their relationship with Christ, themselves and other people. The Bible gives us the blueprint for living after having received a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and Messiah Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Some people want to succeed in their relationships and other areas of life, but they are not willing to do what it takes to succeed. Love includes discipline. Brian Tracy writes in his book No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success, "One of the most important requirements for success, once you have decided what it is that you want, is the quality of willingness. Successful people are willing to pay the price, whatever it is and for as long as it takes, until they achieve the results they desire. Everyone wants to be successful . . . . But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they may be wiling to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price. They always hold back. They always have some excuse or rationalization for not disciplining themselves to do everything that they need to do to achieve their goals."
Many of the qualities we seek in a spouse are desirable for friends too. He Peirong is not married to Chen Guangcheng; they are friends and human rights activists. He Peirong was not one of Chen Guangcheng's first followers, but later she became a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China.
Standing up for human rights in China is a threat to one's own life and the lives of one's family and friends because China is not a free and open society. Making these decisions should not be done lightly neither should the decision to marry someone be made lightly.
Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
"Abre tu boca por el mudo en el juicio de todos los desvalidos," dice Proverbios 31:8 Biblia Bilingue Version Reina-Valera 1960. Proverbs 31:8 Bilingual Bible New King James Version says, "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die."
Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 572,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."
Sometimes our relationships are difficult because we made wrong choices to enter certain relationships and/or wrong choices within the relationship. Other times our relationships are difficult because we are growing spiritually and are being attacked by the kingdom of darkness. No matter the reason for relationship difficulties, a beautiful hymn to sing that Abolitionist and Women's Rights Activist Sojourner Truth sang is:
"In my trials -- Lord walk with me.
In my trials -- Lord walk with me.
When my heart is almost breaking
Lord walk with me . . . "
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Not Famous But Fundamental To The Kingdom Of God
Not all of Jesus Christ's 12 apostles have the same level of fame. For example, Peter is more recognized than Bartholomew. Matthew 10:1-4 New Living Translation Bible says, "Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. Here are the names of the twelve apostles:
first, Simon (also called Peter),
then Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James (son of Zebedee),
John (James’s brother),
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew (the tax collector),
James (son of Alphaeus),
Thaddaeus,
Simon (the zealot),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him)."
Being less famous does not mean that someone is not fundamental to the Kingdom of God.
Many have heard of Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks, known as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Few have heard of Civil Rights Activist Jo Ann Robinson. Both were essential to the Civil Rights Movement. Before Rosa Parks many black men and women had been asked to get off the bus because they were black including Jo Ann Robinson and two teenagers named Mary Louise Smith and Claudette Colvin.
It was Jo Ann Robinson and her teacher friends and fellow activists who wrote the following letter and distributed it through 52,500 leaflets in black neighborhoods igniting the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott to end racial segregation:
"This is for Monday, December 5, 1955
Another Negro woman has been arrested and thrown into jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down.
It is the second time since the Claudette Colbert (sic) case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing This has to be stopped.
Negroos (sic) have rights, too, for if Negroos did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negroos, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother.
This woman's case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don't ride the buses to work, to town, to school, oranywhere (sic) on Monday.
You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no other way to go except by bus.
You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off of all buses Monday." (Freedom Walkers The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman)
Not only did African Americans and others stay off the bus on Monday, they stayed off for more than one year, which helped the US Supreme Court and Montgomery, Alabama, government to end racial segregation on the public buses and other areas of life.
Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
He Peirong, a human rights advocate and blogger, is also a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China.
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
He Peirong is in China.
How many human rights activists will seek to leave China? Eva Pils, an associate professor of law in Hong Kong told Mark McDonald of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times in his May 7, 2012, article "In the Chen Case, Collateral Damage," that for activists to leave China is “a hugely difficult decision, even for those who have been badly tortured.”
Chen Guangcheng said, "Recently, many friends and neighbors who I have been in touch with by phone have been taken into custody by the authorities for questioning. They have been threatened and made to describe what our conversations have been about," (January 29, 2013, Reuters article entitled "Blind dissident urges global pressure on China over rights" by Paul Eckert.)
Nevertheless, some risk going into undemocractic countries and pay a high price for it. Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The U.S. State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 570,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."
An African proverb from Kenya says, "On the way to one's beloved, there are no hills."
What are some hills you have climbed on the way to your beloved?
first, Simon (also called Peter),
then Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James (son of Zebedee),
John (James’s brother),
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew (the tax collector),
James (son of Alphaeus),
Thaddaeus,
Simon (the zealot),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him)."
Being less famous does not mean that someone is not fundamental to the Kingdom of God.
Many have heard of Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks, known as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Few have heard of Civil Rights Activist Jo Ann Robinson. Both were essential to the Civil Rights Movement. Before Rosa Parks many black men and women had been asked to get off the bus because they were black including Jo Ann Robinson and two teenagers named Mary Louise Smith and Claudette Colvin.
It was Jo Ann Robinson and her teacher friends and fellow activists who wrote the following letter and distributed it through 52,500 leaflets in black neighborhoods igniting the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott to end racial segregation:
"This is for Monday, December 5, 1955
Another Negro woman has been arrested and thrown into jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down.
It is the second time since the Claudette Colbert (sic) case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing This has to be stopped.
Negroos (sic) have rights, too, for if Negroos did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negroos, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother.
This woman's case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don't ride the buses to work, to town, to school, oranywhere (sic) on Monday.
You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no other way to go except by bus.
You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off of all buses Monday." (Freedom Walkers The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman)
Not only did African Americans and others stay off the bus on Monday, they stayed off for more than one year, which helped the US Supreme Court and Montgomery, Alabama, government to end racial segregation on the public buses and other areas of life.
Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.
Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night.
Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?
He Peirong, a human rights advocate and blogger, is also a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China.
A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
He Peirong is in China.
How many human rights activists will seek to leave China? Eva Pils, an associate professor of law in Hong Kong told Mark McDonald of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times in his May 7, 2012, article "In the Chen Case, Collateral Damage," that for activists to leave China is “a hugely difficult decision, even for those who have been badly tortured.”
Chen Guangcheng said, "Recently, many friends and neighbors who I have been in touch with by phone have been taken into custody by the authorities for questioning. They have been threatened and made to describe what our conversations have been about," (January 29, 2013, Reuters article entitled "Blind dissident urges global pressure on China over rights" by Paul Eckert.)
Nevertheless, some risk going into undemocractic countries and pay a high price for it. Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The U.S. State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 570,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."
An African proverb from Kenya says, "On the way to one's beloved, there are no hills."
What are some hills you have climbed on the way to your beloved?
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