What's Behind Islamic Jihadist Brutality?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the declared caliph of the Islamic State, [ISIS] holds a doctorate in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad—distinguishing him as highly knowledgeable of Islamic law, history and culture. Unlike these Western leaders, he is thoroughly familiar with the beliefs of Islam and teachings of its holy book, the Quran.

As caliph, the supreme ruler of the new Islamic nation carved out of Syria and Iraq, his determinations of what is allowable or forbidden is the law of the land. And as recent headlines have shown, Al-Baghdadi and his followers, like Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda before them, see no conflict between their tactics of murder and mayhem and their practice of Islam. In fact, they boast that what they do is the practice of Islam.

What, then, is the real truth? Is Islam a religion of peace, as western politicians say, or is it something drastically different? To understand the answer, we need to examine Islam's holy book, the Quran.

What are some of the teachings of the Quran that are leading to violence and bloodshed around the world?

The clear teaching of the Quran is that Islam is the supreme and only true religion, and that eventually the entire world will come under Islamic rule.

For example, Surah 61:9 states: "It is He [Allah] who has sent for His apostle [Muhammad] with guidance and the true faith [Islam] , so that he may exalt it above all religions, much as the idolaters may dislike it" (all Quran quotes from the Dawood translation, 1999). In the Quran, "idolaters" refers to all who practice non-Islamic religion including Christianity and Judism.

In line with this belief in the supremacy of Islam, Surah 2:193 gives this clear command: "Fight against them until idolatry is no more and [ Allah's ] religion reigns supreme." Again, "idolatry" in the Quran refers to any religion other than Islam, which would include Christianity and Judaism and any other belief system. To those who follow this verse and there are millions who do, if you don't worship Allah by the dictates of Muhammad, you are considered an idolater and therefore a legitimate target of this command. 

In the worldview of Islamic scholars and leaders, the world is divided into two spheres—the sphere or lands of dar al-Islam, meaning "the domain of Islam" (where Islam is dominant) and dar al-harb, meaning "the domain of war." A fundamental aspect of this worldview is that all non-Muslim lands must eventually be absorbed or conquered by Islam, preferably by peaceful conversion, but by force if necessary, thus they are "the domain of war." 

Most if not all of the Muslim world is united against Israel because it is considered an abomination of the land that was once dar al-Islam, part of the land of Islam, but has reverted to dar al-harb, or fallen back under control of the infidel, whether Jews or Christians.

This is a key reason why Muslims are so determined to bring the physical territory of Israel back under Muslim domination. Keep in mind that the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964, three years before Israel captured the West Bank and Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War—so Muslim determination to "liberate" Israeli lands long predates Israel's control of these areas and extends to all of Israel, period.

This is why Muslim leaders openly boast of their desire to liberate the land "from the sea to the sea"— from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, meaning no more Israel. This is why the founding documents of terror organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah openly call for the elimination of Israel.

Western governments, failing to understand this Muslim belief, regularly pressure Israel to negotiate with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for a peaceful solution. But in fact there is no peaceful solution when the negotiating partners believe with all their heart and soul that Israel's land belongs to them and that it must be ethnically cleansed of Jews as stated repeatedly by Hamas and Palestinian Authority leaders. 

If Islam is to become the supreme and only true religion in the world as taught by the Quran, how is that goal to be accomplished? 

The answer is jihad or holy war against non-believers. The Quran commands violence and conquest to spread Islam. It contains literally dozens of such commands, such as these:

Surah 9:5 states: "When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them."

Surah 9:73 reads: "Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate."

Surah 9:123 commands: "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them. Know that [ Allah ] is with the righteous."

Harvard University professor of government Samuel Huntington, commenting on the disproportionate involvement of Muslims in warfare and terrorism around the globe, coined the phrase "the bloody borders of Islam" in his 1997 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. At that pre-9/11 time he had no idea how prophetic the phrase would be.

In the 2005 book Religion, Culture and International Conflict: A Conversation (Michael Cromartie, editor), Professor Huntington wrote: "While groups from all religions have engaged in various forms of violence and terrorism, the figures make it clear that in the past decade Muslims have been involved in far more of these activities than people of other religions . . .

If you look around the Muslim world you see that in the 1990s Muslims were fighting non-Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kashmir, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Middle East, Sudan, Nigeria, and other places. 

He went on to note that in the year 2000, 23 of the world's 32 armed conflicts involved Muslims. Similar numbers hold true today. A glance at a world map shows that nearly all of the world's wars are taking place around the edges of the Muslim world where Islam is pressing outward against non-Muslims. 

Whereas the Bible teaches us to love our neighbors, the Quran teaches Muslims to "make war on the infidels who dwell around you”— to fight your neighbor. 

It's also worth noting that many Muslims believe that the only sure way to enter paradise (in their view of the afterlife) is to become a martyr fighting for Islam. They draw this belief from Surah 22:58: "As for those that have fled their homes in the cause of Allah and afterwards died or were slain, Allah will surely make a generous provision for them in paradise. [Allah] is the most munificent provider. He will surely admit them with a welcome that will please them. All-knowing is Allah, and gracious."

In Islamic thinking, as soon as a martyr sheds his first drop of blood, he is guaranteed a place in paradise. And when he arrives, he has waiting for him 72 young, dark-eyed, beautiful virgins to be his perpetual companions in paradise. This is one reason so many young Muslim men are willing to die as suicide bombers, because they are guaranteed entry into paradise as soon as they blow themselves up, since they are dying in the cause of jihad.

The Quran also says that Allah will punish those who do not wage jihad as he commands. Surah 9:39 warns: "If you do not go to war, [ Allah ] will punish you sternly, and will replace you by other men." In other words, if you're a Muslim and don't wage jihad, you will be punished and Allah will choose someone else to fight in your place. 

The Quran also commands using terror and cruelty in waging jihad. Surah 8:59-60 states: "Let not the unbelievers think that they will ever get away. They have not the power so to do. Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your command, so that you may strike terror into the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides them who are unknown to you but known to Allah." 

This is why the Sunni fighters of the Islamic State [ISIS] are so viciously cruel. Knowing this verse, they use terror to strike fear into their enemies to demoralize them and cause them to give up their will to fight. Those whom they capture, Shiites whom they consider apostates or non-Muslims, they brutally execute in accordance with what they read in their holy book.  

The Quran even mentions specific methods to sow terror, which the Islamic State fighters are using. Surah 8:12 states: "[Allah] revealed his will to the angels, saying: 'I shall be with you. Give courage to the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers!'"   So what the Quran tells them to do, they do. When their holy book tells them to strike off heads, they do exactly that.

The civilized world has been horrified to see Islamic State fighters, like al-Qaeda fighters and Iraqi terror groups before them, brutally decapitate captive soldiers, as well as Western journalists and aid workers. Perhaps you have seen clips from some of the beheading videos shown on news reports or posted on the Internet. You may have wondered as I did, what the Arabic-language shouting and chanting signified.

Most of us already knew the meaning of the shouts of "Allahu Akbar"—"Allah is great" or, more properly, "Allah is greater" (than any who would oppose them). With a little research I learned the significance of the chanting often accompanying the shouts. The murderers are chanting verses like the one above telling them to behead infidels. They are simply quoting their scriptures in the Quran.

Yet Western leaders assure us, as President Obama did in a Nov. 16 White House statement after the beheading of American hostage Peter Kassig, that such acts "represent no faith, least of all the Muslim faith . . ."

Another Surah that illustrates Allah's cruelty is Surah 5:34-35: "Those that make war against [Allah] and His apostle [Mohammad] and spread disorder in the land shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land. They shall be held up to shame in this world and sternly punished in the hereafter."

Here Allah commands torture, crippling and maiming of prisoners. Crucifixion is a horrible form of torture and execution, and they practice it with relish. A brief search of the Internet will produce hundreds of photos showing Islamists carrying out and celebrating such practices.

What does the Quran teach about slavery? Although little is said about it in Western media, slavery remains alive and well in parts of the Muslim world. While the slave trade in the Americas during the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s has been rightfully condemned, the focus has largely been on the white slave owners and slave traders, with little said of the Arab Muslims who first enslaved Africans and sold them to whites from the American colonies.

This, too, was approved in the Quran. Surah 47:4 says: "When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly." Those who follow the Quran literally have long understood this to mean that when Muslims defeat their enemies, they are allowed to either kill them or enslave them.

According to early Muslim writings, Muhammad—who is viewed as the ideal man whom Muslims are to emulate—sold, traded and confiscated slaves, clearly making himself a slave trader.

A particularly appalling aspect of recent Muslim conquests is women and girls being taken captive to be used as sexual slaves. This happened with the capture of Yazidi towns in northern Iraq by the Islamic State and the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by the Islamic Boko Haram movement in Nigeria. This, too, is specifically allowed in the Quran. Notice these verses:

Surah 23:1-6 says: "Blessed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers, who avoid profane talk, and give alms to the destitute, who restrain their carnal desires, except with their wives and slave-girls, for these are lawful to them."

Surah 33:50 states: "We [that is, Allah speaking of himself in the plural] well know the duties We have imposed on the faithful concerning their wives and slave-girls. ( We grant you this privilege [satisfying their sexual desires with slave girls]) so that none may blame you."

A Nov. 5, 2014, report by the International Business Times was headlined "Shocking: ISIS Official 'Slave' Price List Shows Yazidi, Christian Girls Aged '1 to 9' Being Sold for $172." The article went on to describe a price list for sexual slaves on an Islamist website: "In the name of Allah, most gracious and merciful. We have received news that the demand in women and cattle markets has sharply decreased and that will [affect] Islamic State revenues as well as the funding of the Mujaheddin [jihadist fighter] in the battlefield. We have made some changes. Below are the prices of Yazidi and Christian women."

At the same time a video posted online appeared to show Islamic State fighters at what one of them called "slave market day" while quoting Surah 23:1-6 (cited above). The men discuss prices for girls and women from $100-300 depending on the age and eye color—with green or blue eyes bringing a higher price.

An October online edition of Dabiq magazine (published by an Islamic State jihadist group) boasted after the capture of the Iraqi town of Sinjar that "the enslaved Yazidi families are now sold by the Islamic State soldiers." It then explained that "the Yazidi women and children were then divided according to the Shariah [Islamic law] amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated in the Sinjar operations." Thus, as war booty, they were divided up and sold as pieces of property.

The sad truth about the Middle East today is that we are seeing a revival of the original Islam Muhammad brought to the world in the seventh century.

Muhammad's new religion caught fire, fueled by power and plunder. The Islamic State is repeating Muhammad's early conquests—burning churches, looting monasteries, enslaving and forcibly converting the powerless, and callously executing those who stand up to them. It is vigorously enforcing sharia law—cutting off the hands of thieves, stoning adulterers and blasphemers, whipping criminals and banning anything that stands in the way of Islam.

In defiance of the major Western powers, it has brutally butchered American and British citizens, decapitating them and posting videos of the murders on the Internet for the world to see. The message is unmistakable: Allah is on their side, and they have nothing to fear from the major world powers.

Until Western leaders wake up from their willful blindness and face the grim reality of the jihadist worldview that is motivating the Islamic State as well as Hamas, Hezbollah and countless other groups and movements, that part of the world will remain a powder keg waiting to explode and take down much of modern civilization with it. 

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The Tragedy of Human Trafficking in Thailand

For all of us being a child means playing, laughing, eating ice cream, being surrounded with loving and caring parents. For many many children in Thailand, this is just a mere dream of the impossible. 

Thousands of Thai children are tricked, drugged and then sold or abducted into prostitution.   Some are sold away by financially desperate parents, on the promises that their children will have a better life, a job and a bright future.

Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of prostitution is described as “the modern day slavery”. As Orlando Patterson, a Sociologist at Harvard University defined it, “slavery is the permanent, violent domination of impoverished, alienated and generally dishonored persons”. It robs the individual of her honor, self respect and self consciousness. 

For decades, THAILAND has been a well known destination country for migrant children and adults in search for better economic conditions. The true nature of this kind of Human trafficking in the "land of smiles" is often underestimated by the government and international non-governmental agencies.

WHY?  We might ask, why would this modern form of slavery exist today? There are several factors: (1) it generates tremendous profit for the criminal organizations that perpetrate the sex trade; (2) poor parents sell their daughters and in some cases even young boys into prostitution, often unaware of what they have done;  (3)  debt bondage to afford basic necessities like food, land or tools. 

It’s very simple and looks quite innocent; a well dressed Thai criminal playing a rich broker arrives in the small mountain village of northern Thailand to “hunt” for new fresh bodies, preferably young and innocent virgins because they bring higher price and pose less of a threat of exposure to STD’s. He lures parents into selling their daughters by bribing them with few hundreds dollars or pretends to represent a factory worker from far off a land who is not related to sex trade and who recruits new workers for his factory. The parents sign the debt agreement (with a mutual understanding that the daughter may only return once she has paid her debt through the labor). Many of the girls being sold believe that they are going to work as housemaids, in beauty salons, shops, bars, or restaurants. 

In reality they are transported to a southern brothel usually in Bangkok, where they are introduced to prostitution forcefully by being beaten, raped, and put to work servicing 10 to 20 men a day.  The immediate and forceful application of threats and terror is the first step in successful enslavement. Their abductors use a combination of physical and mental abuse, threats of revenge and even death.  At first, the young girls try to resist sexual encounters, but are then badly beaten and some even killed. As a form of psychological control the girls are constantly raped to degrade, humiliate, and to break down their resistance by destroying one crucial thing, their sense of self worth. 

Most of the brothels are surrounded by electrical fences making it impossible for the girls to escape.  They have only a few days off a month, and a daily allowance of about $1.20, that must must pay for their food and all other expenses. 

This harsh treatment causes a tremendous psychological trauma for those young children. Just within few hours of being brought into the brothel those girls are still in shock from the fears of being taken from their homes and families. The youngest of the children have little understanding of what is happening to them.  The experience is overwhelming and causes horrible lifelong psychological trauma.

Another major reason why child prostitution in Thailand exists and flourishes is due to governmental corruption and a political system which enables the issue of sexual slavery to be ignored and minimized. 

It is documented fact, that many high ranking Thai law enforcement officials are paid of by pimps and brothels’ owners and are themselves regular customers.  Thus not only overlooking the social problem, but also supporting it by participation.  Currently it is illegal under Thai law to have sex with girls less than fifteen years of age. Many Thai politicians and community leaders want the age limit raised to sixteen or eighteen and include boys as well since there is no mention of them in the law. However the pervasive corruption and financial return stands in the way of improving the conditions and punishing those responsible.

It should be noted that Thai culture regards sex not as sin but as a normal, every day “leisure” activity depicting women as sex objects for the pleasure of men. Wives often send their husbands to brothels because they view this unattached form of sex as not threatening to martial stability.   In some parts of Thailand prostitution became a fastest and most convenient way of making good money and many are not willing to give that up even if it means hurting the innocent.

What are the statistics on child prostitution in Thailand?  Thailand is currently known as a “Disneyland for pedophiles” and has up to 600,000 AIDS cases and a huge sex-for-sale industry that impacts the Thai economy to such an extent that government is not motivated to restrain its proliferation.  The sex-trade is driven mostly by European and American tourists who come to “rent” what they want. It is estimated that the number of prostitutes in Thailand  is more than 2 million. Among which 20% of Thailand prostitutes are 18 or younger. 

It’s called SEX TOURISM.  The Thai government has found that since tourism is a quick way to earn foreign dollars it cannot easily stop, (nor does it want to), this lucrative and degrading business.  A beautiful country, beautiful women, and inexpensive living enable the sex industry to annually earn more money than any other economic segment of the Thai economy, including the drug trade, weapons sales, lotteries and sports gambling.

There are two parts to the Thai policy of promoting tourism: one is to sell the physical and cultural beauty of the country; the other is to promote the Thai people, which of course includes sex-related services. "Amazing Thailand," an ongoing tourism campaign, promotes to foreign men, to come and see Thailand’s beautiful women… and to enjoy the thriving sex industry.

The men arrive from Europe and the US, and often find a tour bus waiting at the airport to take them straight to the girls. All of this is organized through the Internet — and not only in Bangkok, but Chiang Mai and the other tourist cities of Thailand. There is an urgent need to control this trade. The men pay the girls $4, sometimes $5. After the pimp and brothel has taken their share, the girls are left with less than the price of a meal.

Child prostitution is a serious social problem in Thailand. Prostitution is a form of enslavement that currently involves more than 2 million; perhaps 800,000 of that number are children under the age of sixteen, bought and sold for profit.  

The Thai culture has a long history of prostitution but the problem has never been as grave as it is at present. Prostitution has been a way of life in Thailand from time immemorial, and has not been considered an evil by Thai society. The blame can be found in the habits of Thai men, the government’s focus on foreign tourism, and in the inactivity and lack of concern by the minority Christian community and even Buddhist temples. The latter take the position of "Hear no evil; See no evil; Speak no evil," and do little or nothing to counter the evil of prostitution.

THE IMPACT of turning a blind eye.... Two girls who suffered and paid the ultimate price...

One is a girl named Nang Hom who was sold into prostitution by her father when she was just seven years old. The money from the transaction went into financing father’s heroin addiction.  She was drugged and forced out of her home in neighboring Burma to one of Thailand’s brothels where she lived for five years.  that would make her 12 or 13 years old.  She was serving 20 men or more a day and engaging in various distorted sexual activities for no pay.  She was finally rescued by police.  However it was too late, she was tested HIV positive and some time later died.

Another Thai girl named Fon dropped out of school at the age of 12 because of her family had no money to provide uniforms and tuition.  She was lured into a big city with promises of a job and a better life.  She was imprisoned and forced to have sex in a local brothel with many different men every day.  Her attempts to escape ended in severe beatings.  Because of the severe beatings she became very sick and couldn’t perform daily sexual services, so the owner of the brothel seeing no profit from her, tossed her out on to the streets. Later, she had a baby who died of AIDS related illness at birth and she herself died a short time later.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!  Nobody worries about these kids, about their needs, about their hopes and their dreams.  Virtually all of them experience some form of post traumatic stress disorder. They experience images of trauma like beating, rape or screaming ever day, crying in despair is the closest friend they have. These children constantly think of reasons why their parents sold them, why their pimps mistreat them and blame themselves for all the pain in their lives. “What is wrong with me?” is the question they ask.

These are the thoughts that haunt these lost and forgotten children of the sex-trade in Thailand and all across southeast Asia. These kids don’t think about bicycles or ice cream or going to school... they live every day in pain and darkness, with little hope for a future.  

WHAT CAN BE DONE...?

Thailand focuses almost exclusively on the victims and doesn't addressed the demand side. 

Adults are the end users of sexual exploitation. Foreign men from Europe and America.  More needs to be done to educate people about the legislation that prevents such acts as well as the importance of the rights of the child in Thailand.

Focus on the quality of education in Thailand. Education is the key to countering the exploitation of people in the long-term, and benefits society as a whole – including the key players in modern-day slavery: from victims to perpetrators and communities, behaviors and attitudes are changed with education.

Experts concede that human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world and one of the most lucrative. Overall the International Labor Organization estimated the human trafficking industry at over $51 billion per year.   Some estimate that as many as 34 million people exist in slavery worldwide, more than twice the number of slaves transported during the entire Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The problem is clearly large and growing. 

What does the Bible teach about human trafficking? This question cannot adequately be answered without a clear understanding of God’s value of human life. The Bible records that when God created humans, He created them in His image (Genesis 1:26). Every life is of infinite value and God loves all individuals.

How can people today practice these biblical principles of helping those in the bondage of slavery? First, we must pray for those in bondage.  As James 5:16 notes, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  The enslavement of young girls and boys in Thailand the purposes of the sex-trade the sex is a clear need that requires God’s power for any adequate change to occur.

Second, we must speak out on behalf of those in need (Proverbs 31:8-9). Missionaries from all denominations serving in Thailand must begin to address this situation through educational and focus discussions among tribal peoples. Mission organizations that serve southeast Asia, especially Thailand, must begin to align with rescue organizations that literally invade brothels and snatch young girls to safety.  Once safely away, these girls need to be brought into a nurturing and loving home-like environment to begin the long recovery process.  Perhaps God is calling you to be one of the people who would speak out and help provide justice to those without a voice... in Thailand?

Third, we must act to help those in bondage. These actions can involve a variety of means, ranging from volunteering with anti-trafficking organizations to financial giving to teaching about the topic where you live.   

A growing number of organizations have emerged in recent years that provide new opportunities for Christians to serve in this area. International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org) provides many international opportunities, while others, such at Mercy Movement (www.mercymovement.com) concentrate on addressing the issue in the United States, where many girls from Thailand end up working as prostitutes on the streets of America’s cities.

In summary, human trafficking is a gross indignity against men, women, and children who have been created in God’s image. 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have a responsibility to pray, to speak out against human trafficking and modern slavery, in thailand and anywhere it exists in the world, and to live in ways that help create change in the lives of those impacted by this tragic crime against our children.

Freedom of the Press is emerging in Myanmar

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not rights guaranteed to Burmese citizens.   In fact, such concepts have been almost unknown to the people of Myanmar since the mid 1960s.

The Myanmar Information Ministry has publicly announced that any Myanmar national wishing to publish a daily newspaper will be able to submit an application to do so. New papers will be allowed to begin printing in April 2013 in any language.

The move was an expected part of new press freedoms President Thein Sein has introduced as part of wider democratic reforms since taking office last year, after a half-century of totalitarian military rule.

Freedom of the Press is a significant reform from a regime not known for extending freedoms to its people. In August 2012, the government abolished direct censorship of the media and informed journalists they would no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication as they had for almost half a century.

Myanmar has state-run dailies which serve as government mouthpieces and more than 180 weeklies, about half of which cover news while the rest feature sports, entertainment, health and other subjects.

Private dailies in Burmese, English, Indian and Chinese languages were once vibrant in the former British colony, previously called Burma. But all were forced to close when late dictator Ne Win nationalized private businesses in 1964.

Under Ne Win's one-party Socialist government the standard of newspapers diminished to propaganda sheets. The most recent military regime ruled by Gen. Than Shwe used the country's three state-owned dailies as junta mouthpieces, which continue to be unpopular with low circulation.

Until just two years ago, this Southeast Asian nation's reporters were regarded as among the most restricted in the world, subject to routine state surveillance, phone taps and intense censorship. The censorship board would shut down newspapers temporarily for violations. Journalists were tortured, imprisoned, sometimes murdered and subjected to constant surveillance.

For the last 50 years, Myanmar’s journalists have fled to the Thai and Indian borders, where they provided some of the only insights available to Burmese inside the country and outside observers alike — into the brutal actions of the military government. Some were driven outward in patterns flowing from their ethnic belongings: the Kachin, Shan, and Karen went east and southeast into Thailand. Supporters of the pro-democracy movement fled to Thailand or Europe, where they sent radio and TV signals and print media back home to Burma.

But media has been slowly changing. Testing their new freedoms, journalists and private publications have become bolder. They have printed once forbidden items including pictures and stories about anti-government demonstrations and sectarian violence. The once highly taboo images of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are now often displayed, even in state-controlled media.

Myanmar is poised for dramatic change.  Media, and a free press will help to lead and drive that change.  Myanmar is called a “greenfield” country,  because of it burgeoning opportunities on every front.  In media communications the potential is staggering... over 90 percent of its 60 million people lacking mobile phones, Internet service, or bank accounts.  Real business decisions are being formulated by global companies in anticipation of the tens of millions of Burmese expected to be newly-wired with phones with Internet connections by 2015.

Following two heralded reform elections and a two-year period of economic opening, today the primary city of Yangon [the fabled city of Rangoon] sprawls with development projects and capitalistic fervor amid its decaying British-colonial buildings.

Myanmar is on the verge of becoming one of the most sought after places on earth for economic development, social and political change.  Stay tuned.. watch as an exciting future emerges for the Burmese peoples!

EDITORS NOTE:  What will this new found freedom of the press do for the Christian Gospel?  Will we see openings in the near future for foreign missionaries to return to Myanmar and spread the message of Jesus Christ?   It’s an exciting time for Myanmar.   Pray that all of these freedoms will enable the Gospel of Jesus Christ to move faster, deeper and wider than ever before!

The dominate Buddhist faith is strong in Myanmar. The religion's influence reaches beyond hearts and souls and is a source of the country's national pride.  Buddhist monks have been influential in leading the pro-democracy movements. Yet the True God of Heaven is moving mightily in the Burmese people's hearts.   Native missionaries enjoy good relationships with local officials and are hard at work sharing the Good News of Jesus.

After years of tension, persecution and many difficulties, the native missionaries continue serving faithfully, and thousands are choosing to follow Christ.  Will God open the door for Christians who have a passion for Myanmar to go and live among the native Christians, working should-to-shoulder in building God’s Church?  Pray for God’s Will to be done in Myanmar!

The Unfinished Task of Global Gospelization

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18–20

So reads what is commonly called “The Great Commission,” as presented in Matthew’s Gospel record. The basis of the Lord’s “marching orders” is his authority. “All authority... has been given me,” declares our Savior.  

Christians believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's good news for the whole world, for all peoples, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christ's commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of every nation.

How are we doing in completing the task He has set before us?

The following statistics represent some of the challenges facing the church in the unfinished task of world evangelism:

As of 2013, there are approximately 7 billion people on Earth.

Approximately 750 million (or about 11 percent) of those are willing to claim Jesus as personal Lord and Savior.

In the Middle East... for every million unreached Muslims there are less than 3 missionaries available to share the Gospel.

In Afghanistan there are 17 million people, 48,000 mosques…but not a single Christian church.

In Turkey there are 44 million people, but less then 200 Christians

In India... 500 million people have yet to hear the Gospel

About 2.6 billion people (or 38 percent of the world's population) have heard the Gospel but have not accepted Christ yet.

At present, just over 50 percent of the world's population (or 3.5 billion people) have not heard the gospel and most of them do not have a realistic opportunity to hear the Gospel.

Here's another way to look at the challenge of world evangelism:  Of the 11,646 distinct people groups on the planet, 6,734 people groups (roughly 60 percent) contain between zero and two percent Christians. Many of these 6,734 people groups have no churches, no Bibles, no Christian literature, and no mission workers who are seeking to share the Gospel with them.  These 6,734 peoples groups are effectively unreached by the Gospel. Unreached means that, at this time, there is no availability of the Gospel within a reasonable distance, within the framework of their own language and culture.

The New Testament has been translated into the languages of 80% of the world’s population. However the remaining approximately 20% will require over 5,500 new translations.

The countries with the most unreached people groups in descending order; India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh.

98% of all unreached people groups are located in the “10/40 Window”. 

THE GREAT COMMISSION IS STILL UNFULFILLED!  How can we talk of the Second Coming, when so many people have never heard about the First?  Regardless of your denominational persuasion... “pre-trib”, “post-trib”, “mid-trib” or some other “trib”, we must all acknowledge that there is something desperately wrong with this type of doctrinal thinking... being elated by the prospect of Christ’s return while billions of people are lost. Where is the heart of Jesus in that thinking? “…that none would perish, but that all would come to repentance.”

Food for thought: Jesus died more then 2,000 years ago.... iff it was God’s ultimate goal to rapture us all out of this “world that is passing away”, then why are we still here? What are we still waiting for? 

Heb. 10:12, 13 says... “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.”  

Since committed Christians are his hands and feet, then He must be waiting for us to do the work we have been commissioned to do!  This is why Jesus told his disciples emphatically... “GO” into all the world and preach the Gospel.”  No more waiting and debating…just Go and PREACH the Good News of Christ.

We can trust in the abiding presence of Christ as we work to complete His command. Jesus declared that if his people carry out the commission as directed, he would “be with [them] always, even to the end of the world.” 

Is there a more comforting New Testament passage [Matthew 28:18-20] emphasizing the providential support of our Savior? We’re not alone and the mission must be completed.

America... Once a Great Christian Nation... Now, not so much.

America, has been known for more than 300 years as... “The land of the free and the home of the brave”.  Known as the country that inspired the rest of the world with its freedom and democracy, a nation “under God” a Christian nation known for sending thousands of gospel preaching missionaries to all part of the world.

Is American still the Christian country it claims to be?  Is it what most of our founding fathers meant for it to be when they drafted a bill of rights and a constitution that stood for liberty as well as “freedom of religion?” 

Sadly, the nation that was once the greatest force for missions in the world, has become the field in greatest need of mission outreach. 

There is no argument that American preachers and churches have inspired positive outreach around the world.  However, their ability and willingness to continue doing so is being threatened by a culture that ignores truth and biblical principles while openly mocking those who cleave to Godly principles and values. 

The evidence of openness in America to proclaim the gospel remained strong for over 300 years.  It was important for early church planting evangelists to see that every community had a church.  With the great migration west in the 1800s, the gospel swept across America and the church was the focal point in every community. The church was one of the first buildings constructed as communities were established. Many of those churches were the homes of the first schools.  The preacher and his wife were often the first teachers and the Bible was the first text book.  Our great grand parents learned to read from the Holy Bible.  Even when schools moved from churches to a pubic setting, “The Pledge of Allegiance” and prayer were part of every morning.  

From the earliest days of America, dedicated believers called “missionaries” left the security and comfort of their homes, families, country and church to take the “good news”, the “gospel”, across the known world. 

This is how it had been for more than three hundred years, until something went very wrong.  The church as we have seen it for three centuries has changed drastically.  Many of the small town American churches have simply closed their doors.  Large mega Churches became regional worship centers serving a number of small towns with newer facilities, larger youth and children’s programs, up to date style of worship and other activities that met the needs of increasingly secular families more concerned with social matters rather than truth and spiritual growth.

God, the gospel of salvation, the care and concern for others have been marginalized by the secularization of Christianity in America.   In the book, Resurrecting the Church, author Frank Fears says this... “Our ranks are swollen with non-believers unable to articulate a salvation testimony, or even a grasp of the biblical plan of salvation. Most of our churches, if not completely dead, are paralyzed. This is the result of walking by sight, and consistently operating in the flesh. It is time to return the church to her rightful owner. It is time to repent and slaughter the sacred cows of political correctness, passivity, and “don’t ask–don’t tell Christianity”. What the Lord said of the church at Sardis, is completely true of a majority of our churches today. They have a reputation of being alive, but are actually dead.” 

Mr. Frank continues, “Those of us who were born before 1950, received as our birthright, citizenship in a Christian nation. This is now post-Christian America. It was lost on our watch.  Only 40% of the largest evangelical denomination (Southern Baptist Convention) that are on the rolls are in attendance on any given Sunday.”

The reason churches are dead is because a large percentage of those sitting in the pews are spiritually dead church goers.   

Beginning in the year 1990, there were a number of efforts started to reach every home for Christ.  To literally saturate the American people, every home with the message of Christ.  There were citywide and nationwide campaigns to distribute full length Christian films to each home in every community in the United States while other organizations committed themselves to getting as much gospel literature into the hands of every adult in targeted areas through mailings or phone calls.  Church planters organized campaigns to start 40,000 churches in 10 years, as they believed that new churches would be the most effective way of consistently reaching new people that might have had negative experiences at long established churches. 

Over a 10 year period, from 1990 to 2000,  over 5,000 independent organizations with the purpose of evangelism was registered with the IRS.  It was reported that over 100 million tracts and Bibles were distributed by high school ministries, rescue missions and door to door efforts.  In addition, the revenues from Christian books and music exceeded $1 billion every year.  As much as 10% of that total was associated with products that were purely evangelistic.

Did any of this massive effort work? 

American ministries did in fact saturate the country with the gospel, but the results didn’t turn out as planned.  Blanketed and saturated yes, but not in a good way.  If you have ever witnessed what happens in severe rains, when the ground becomes so saturated with water that it simply runs off without doing any good, that’s what happened with the gospelization of America.  Noted researcher George Barna summarizing the evangelical activities of that 10 year period says this... “We have learned that being exposed to information does not mean that people absorb it, understand it or embrace it.”

Many American missionaries serving in foreign countries will tell you that America and the American church are the focal point of prayers around the globe. Christians in the underground church in China, as well as believers in restrictive regions of India and throughout the impoverished Third World nations, are praying for a revival of the American church.  They still believe America should remain the strongest of lights in the dark world and a source of support to mission outreaches and those in need throughout the world.

In a recent blog entry, the president of Asbury Theological Seminary writes:  "The Millennial generation self identifies as approximately 7% Christian. This is only 2% from being eligible to be classified as an unreached people-group."  In America, a class of people are on the verge of becoming a qualified unreached people’s group? 

North America, a Christian nation, once a beacon of light to the world, is the fastest growing mission field in the world.   Why has this happened?

There are several serious issues with America’s Christian heritage.  Recent studies show that a majority of Americans say they have no religious affiliation at all.  Many so-called Christians [in name only] claim an affiliation through some vague, family tie or cultural kind of alliance or allegiance.  For more than 60 years, America has been growing increasingly secular and humanistic.
 

Another challenge facing American Christianity... most people now see Christianity as merely a moral system.  While morality is important to a healthy society, it should not be the first message Christianity... the first and foremost is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel saves, morality preserves the good order of society and cultures.

These things are true, the evidence abounds. What can be about it?

The apostle Paul was unashamed to say, "What you have worshiped in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”  America today, is a nation of people unaware of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The solution for restoring America as a Christian nation begins with putting God back on top, in first place in American society, culture, schools, government in every aspect of American life.   Then, it is a matter of preaching the gospel, the truth of God’s Holy Word, the Bible, unvarnished, undiluted by contemporary morays. The power of the unchanging gospel message builds bridges, start conversations and engages with people who are far from God.

Churches and their ministries from the pulpit and in community outreach must be less about us and more about Jesus, His Kingdom and His mission.  If we're going to retore the America’s Christian heritage, to be faithful in faithless times, the faithful are going to have to leave where we are comfortable. We're going to have to go and tell, not just wait for them to come and hear. That may mean reshaping the ways we preach and lead the church. We must build a Biblically faithful church.  

It is not too late for America, but now is the time to “humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways” and watch God spiritually restore and heal our land.

May we all be bold and wise as we engage an increasingly hostile and confused culture with the greatest news the world has ever known... Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

A Sadistic Plague in Africa

DATELINE: UGANDA – CENTRAL AFRICA:  A school dropout described as a "gentle boy" by classmates, has become one of the most sadistic and murderous leaders in Africa.  His name is Joseph Kony.  He is 50 years of age.  He is a living plague on the innocent peoples of Uganda and neighboring countries.

Joseph Kony born 1961, is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army, often referred to as the LRA, a guerrilla group that is engaged in a violent campaign to establish a theocratic government in Uganda, which Kony claims is a mission of purification based on the Ten Commandments.

His early childhood and teen years reveal much about the man and his violent temperament. Kony was born in Odek, a village east of Gulu in northern Uganda. He was the son of farmers. He was friendly to his siblings, but he was known for being harsh and aggressive with anyone who crossed him, particularly with his siblings.  

During his teenage years, Joseph Kony apprenticed as the village “witch doctor” under the tutelage of his older brother, and when his older brother died, he took over full responsibility for continuing in his brothers role as the village witch doctor.

When confronted, he often resorted to fists and violence rather than communication. He was teased in school about his size and the teachers gave him a hard time because he didn't seem too bright. His father was a lay apostle of the Catholic Church and his mother was an Anglican.  Kony served as an altar boy for several years. He stopped attending church at about the age of 15 and shortly after dropped out of high-school.

Kony first came to prominence in January 1986, in his mid 20s. His group was one of many premillennialist groups that sprang up in Acholiland in the wake of the wildly popular Holy Spirit Movement introduced to the peoples of central Africa by Alice Auma (aka Lakwena). 

Originally, Kony's group was first known as the United Holy Salvation Army (UHSA) and was not considered to be a threat to civil order. By 1988, amid internal tribal tensions and various factions clashing with the government of Uganda, Kony’s group began to supplement its remnant troops through forced recruitment of children as young as 12 and 13 years old and the United Holy Salvation Army became a formidable resistance army, in opposition to the government of Uganda. 

In time, the bulk of his foot soldiers were children. He is estimated to have taken 104,000 or more boys and girls since the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) started fighting in 1986.  Kony often kills entire families and neighbors when abducting the children forcibly recruited to fight for him. 

Many international efforts at peace and an end to the abduction of children by Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army have been attempted between 1996 and 2001. All of them failed to end the abductions, rapes, child soldiers, and civilian casualties including attacks on refugee camps.   After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Kony’s Lord's Resistance Army was declared a terrorist group and Joseph Kony a terrorist.

The Lord's Resistance Army is one of the larger terrorist organizations in the world and operates without fear of outside interference. It has killed more people than many other violent groups, yet few Westerners have ever heard of it, since nearly all its violence is perpetrated in the border region between Uganda and Sudan in East Africa.

Joseph Kony considers himself to be quite a good Christian, and he wants Uganda to be a Christian nation.  His primary strategy to bring this about, is the Lord's Resistance Army, and the LRA has been at civil war against the Ugandan government for the past 24 years. If the LRA wins its struggle against the Ugandan government forces, Kony has promised that Uganda will become a “theocracy” with laws based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Kony's LRA has kidnapped more than 100,000 children over the years for use as fighters and sex slaves. As part of their initiation, these children are often required to kill their own parents. One of heinous and horrific methods of executing the mothers is to blind fold their sons, forcing them to insert the barrel of an AK-47 into the vagina of their mother and pull the trigger.  The boys do not know what they are doing until the blind folds are removed and they see with their young eyes the horrifying carnage done to their mother.  Children are commanded to kill in order to stay alive. (It's not clear which of the Ten Commandments this aspect of Kony's strategy is based on.) 

Children are used as pack mules, carrying LRA supplies until they are too weak to walk, at which time they're killed or simply left to die in the bush and hot sun. Kidnapped boys also serve as targets and decoys, sent to the front lines... unarmed... whenever the Ugandan Army engages the LRA. Kidnapped girls that Kony or his senior commanders find attractive become their "wives" (Kony is reputed to have more than 60). If children do escape, they are never the same again.  Troublesome captives have their noses, lips, and/or ears cut off, and are then made to eat their own flesh.   

Kony has some strange ideas about religion and God.  He uses passages from the Pentateuch to justify mutilation and murder. He promotes a demonic spirituality crafted from an eclectic mix of Christianity, Islam, and African witchcraft.  He says he gets strategic advice from a multinational host of spirits, including a Chinese phantom. He says there are eight angels who regularly speak to him... three American, two Sudanese, two Chinese, and one Congolese.  He sees himself as self-styled messiah and prophet.

Today, no one thinks Kony and his movement represents a loving God and the ideals and principles of Christianity.  Isn’t it clear?  Kony is a sadistic killer.  Everything he has done is about demonic control of children, boys and girls, young men and women, doing the bidding of a deranged and evil man.  Many of the leaders in his army were abducted 10 or 12 years ago, and have known nothing but death, savagery and destruction. 

The world does nothing to stop this man’s carnage.  Kony’s LRA has created another holocaust—one so horrifying that U.N. officials call it... "one of the worst human rights crises of the past century."

The perpetrators commit atrocities with such malevolence that even the most irreligious people familiar with the LRA's acts describe them as "unrestrained evil." The targets of the butchery are innocent children.  They rape, mutilate, and kill them with a rapaciousness that staggers the imagination. Worse, as noted in this report, they compel children to kill one another and their own families, fighting as "soldiers" in an armed force deliberately composed of children.

Perhaps the greatest atrocity is teaching these children that they spread this carnage by the power of the Holy Spirit to purify the "unrepentant," twisting Christianity into a religion of sadism and horror to their victims. It is spiritual warfare at its very worst, and it could not be more satanic.

NO POLITICAL SOLUTION IN SIGHT

Does no one care about what's happening in Uganda?  Consider the FACTS and you decide.

FACT:  The LRA rebellion has become a political quagmire. Although the LRA claims to be fighting for Ugandan transformation to a theocratic government, the LRA has no political platform or clear objectives upon which to base negotiations for a peaceful settlement to the horror. Nevertheless, the Ugandan government and concerned intermediaries continue to attempt negotiations.

FACT:  Even while LRA terrorism directed against children has intensified, the U.S. government has not made the conflict a high priority. Many believe that without U.S. involvement, the abductions, killing, and maiming will continue.

FACT:  In August 2004, the U.S. government enacted the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act, which essentially calls LRA terrorism a great tragedy, offers limited support for a negotiated solution, and warns Sudan not to support the LRA.

FACT:  The previous Bush administration placed the LRA on tier-two of its Terrorist Exclusion List, which means the LRA is judged not to be a threat to U.S. interests.

FACT:  Several congressmen have visited northern Uganda to witness the devastation firsthand, while sympathetic, they see no end in sight. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, from Wisconsin said... "I will remain committed to stopping the horror that has stolen the innocence of so many Ugandan children."

FACT:  The Obama Administration has done nothing.  There is no significant leadership to move the issue to the point where congressional hearings can be held to review the severity of the issues.   Hearings is the first step in focusing the U.S. government on bringing about a strategy and solution.

WILL KONY AND THE LRA BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

FACT:  In an effort to save children by ending the conflict in any way possible, the Ugandan government passed an Amnesty Act in 1999, which shields from prosecution any LRA fighter who surrenders to the government. The act also offers surrendered fighters $150 in "starting over" money. Terms of the act extend to Kony and his top commanders.

FACT:  The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Kony and his top four commanders on October 13, 2005 but all attempts to serve the warrants as a means to mediate the conflict have repeatedly broken down.  In reality, there is irrefutable evidence that the fighting has become more savage and sadistic in the past 5 years.

FACT:  Western and European governments, the World Court, the United Nations, and most all governmental agencies have either given only lip-service to the carnage or chosen to ignore the problems of the LRA entirely.

FACT:  Kids in Uganda—kids just like yours—are taken every night and enslaved, raped, mutilated, murdered. You can make a difference. Talk to your government. Help bring an end to Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Liberation Army.  

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The people most familiar with LRA terrorism agree that the best hope for ending the carnage is putting it on the radar screen of the Western world.

Ordinary Christians can help stop LRA terrorism. Presenting the issue to churches, continuing in intercessory prayer over the conflict, donating to Christian agencies that work with Ugandan children, and pressing U.S. government officials for action all work to save LRA victims.

Here are key Christian and charitable organizations that work with the victims of the LRA conflict in northern Uganda.

Far Reaching Ministries

www.farreachingministries.org

951-677-4474

World Vision

www.worldvision.org

www.seekjustice.org

888-511-6548

Save the Children

www.savethechildren.org

800-SAVETHECHILDREN

Oxfam

www.oxfam.org.uk

www.oxfamamerica.orgp

800-77-OXFAM

Jesuit Refugee Service

www.jesref.org   

202-462-0400

Write your local congressman: www.house.gov/writerep