by Jason Joyner | Nov 9, 2007 | Blog, missions, prayer, social justice
This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. For those of us in the protected West, we have no excuse not to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who hold up the mantle of our Lord Jesus and those saints gone before who suffered for the gospel. We do not suffer persecution here. Any perceived persecution pales compared to that of Christians in Myanmar/Burma, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, North Korea, and numerous other places around the world.
Here are some resources for you to pray knowledgeably and effectively:
The website of Open Doors and their IDOP materials page. Another news page from Open Doors.
The Persecution Blog of the group Voice of the Martyrs.
Operation World has daily prayer guides for the world.
Please make time this weekend to pray for those suffering in Jesus’ name. That’s the least we can do if we are truly little Christs.
by Jason Joyner | Sep 26, 2007 | Blog, Burma, missions, Myanmar, prayer
Events in the news can and should push us as Christians to pray for events unfolding. One event in the news right now concerning a country most people know nothing about (and can’t even pronounce!) is the country of Myanmar. It is known by the name Burma, but the ruling junta renamed it Myanmar in 1989, even though the US and UK do not recognize the name change.
The last couple of weeks has seen a lot of peaceful protests by Buddhist monks, who are highly revered in Burma, against the military rulers. It was sparked by a harsh doubling of gas prices in this poor country, but it has taken on familiar democratic cries for freedom and elections. The junta behaved initially, but with the protests increasing in scope, they have initiated curfews and there are reports of deaths.
This country has a very small minority of Christians, mainly in the hill people known as the Karen. There is a lot of persecution for Christians in particular, even though people from all backgrounds suffer greatly in Burma. There was a report earlier this year that told of a government plan to wipe Christianity out of the country altogether.
Let’s all pray for peace for the country, and that justice would come to pass for those poor people under oppression there. We need to especially pray for the Christians for protection, and strive to see the country opened up for freedom for all.
Remember to use whatever comes your way through the day as opportunities to pray and inject the Kingdom of God into our world.
Edited on 9/27/07
For more information:
An insightful article about Burma and its last revolt.
Updates from the BBC.
A Q&A about the situation.
by Jason Joyner | Sep 26, 2007 | Blog, Burma, missions, Myanmar, prayer
Events in the news can and should push us as Christians to pray for events unfolding. One event in the news right now concerning a country most people know nothing about (and can’t even pronounce!) is the country of Myanmar. It is known by the name Burma, but the ruling junta renamed it Myanmar in 1989, even though the US and UK do not recognize the name change.
The last couple of weeks has seen a lot of peaceful protests by Buddhist monks, who are highly revered in Burma, against the military rulers. It was sparked by a harsh doubling of gas prices in this poor country, but it has taken on familiar democratic cries for freedom and elections. The junta behaved initially, but with the protests increasing in scope, they have initiated curfews and there are reports of deaths.
This country has a very small minority of Christians, mainly in the hill people known as the Karen. There is a lot of persecution for Christians in particular, even though people from all backgrounds suffer greatly in Burma. There was a report earlier this year that told of a government plan to wipe Christianity out of the country altogether.
Let’s all pray for peace for the country, and that justice would come to pass for those poor people under oppression there. We need to especially pray for the Christians for protection, and strive to see the country opened up for freedom for all.
Remember to use whatever comes your way through the day as opportunities to pray and inject the Kingdom of God into our world.
Edited on 9/27/07
For more information:
An insightful article about Burma and its last revolt.
Updates from the BBC.
A Q&A about the situation.
by Jason Joyner | Sep 17, 2007 | Blog, ministry, missions, Noel Richards, worship
I’ve been a little behind my preferred amount of blogging because I’ve been working on a special event my church, Harvest Foursquare Church, is hosting next weekend.
Our church is bringing in Noel Richards, a well-known worship leader from the United Kingdom. He has been to Pocatello before and is well aware of the challenges we face in this area.
Noel has been involved in leading worship since he was 15 years old. He’s worked with many other well-known worship leaders such as Matt Redman, Graham Kendrick, Reuben Morgan, and Delirious. He’s written numerous worship songs for the modern church, perhaps the best known of them being “All Heaven Declares”.
Noel has been involved the last 10 years in organizing worship events in large stadiums across Europe – believing that if people can pack these arenas for sports, why can’t we see them filled with people giving glory to the King of kings? He’s led events at Wembley Stadium in London and at Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
We are having Noel Richards come on Saturday, September 22. He will be giving a worship seminar from 1-4 pm at our church (see map here) for $10 per person. Noel will be presenting 3 separate sessions dealing with issues of leading worship and a lifestyle of worship.
Then at 7 pm we will be having a regional night of praise and worship, led by Noel and his wife Tricia. We’re anticipating a great night of worship and coming together in unity for southeast Idaho. This event is free, with an offering taken for the Richards that night.
On Sunday, September 23 Noel and Tricia will be speaking at Harvest. The morning service starts at 10:30 am and usually goes to around 12:30 pm. All are welcome to come and worship with us that day.
Noel will also be speaking in Idaho Falls on Sunday night, sponsored by another fellowship. When I have more details I will update this post.
If you live in southeast Idaho, I highly encourage you to come to one of these events. It is not often we have someone of Noel Richard’s caliber coming to our area. I would love to have as many people as possible partake in this. If you have any questions, leave a comment here with your email address (written as yourname [at] yahoo [dot] com to prevent getting picked up by a spammer) and I will be sure to contact you.
Let’s praise the name of Jesus together!
by Jason Joyner | Sep 17, 2007 | Blog, ministry, missions, Noel Richards, worship
I’ve been a little behind my preferred amount of blogging because I’ve been working on a special event my church, Harvest Foursquare Church, is hosting next weekend.
Our church is bringing in Noel Richards, a well-known worship leader from the United Kingdom. He has been to Pocatello before and is well aware of the challenges we face in this area.
Noel has been involved in leading worship since he was 15 years old. He’s worked with many other well-known worship leaders such as Matt Redman, Graham Kendrick, Reuben Morgan, and Delirious. He’s written numerous worship songs for the modern church, perhaps the best known of them being “All Heaven Declares”.
Noel has been involved the last 10 years in organizing worship events in large stadiums across Europe – believing that if people can pack these arenas for sports, why can’t we see them filled with people giving glory to the King of kings? He’s led events at Wembley Stadium in London and at Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
We are having Noel Richards come on Saturday, September 22. He will be giving a worship seminar from 1-4 pm at our church (see map here) for $10 per person. Noel will be presenting 3 separate sessions dealing with issues of leading worship and a lifestyle of worship.
Then at 7 pm we will be having a regional night of praise and worship, led by Noel and his wife Tricia. We’re anticipating a great night of worship and coming together in unity for southeast Idaho. This event is free, with an offering taken for the Richards that night.
On Sunday, September 23 Noel and Tricia will be speaking at Harvest. The morning service starts at 10:30 am and usually goes to around 12:30 pm. All are welcome to come and worship with us that day.
Noel will also be speaking in Idaho Falls on Sunday night, sponsored by another fellowship. When I have more details I will update this post.
If you live in southeast Idaho, I highly encourage you to come to one of these events. It is not often we have someone of Noel Richard’s caliber coming to our area. I would love to have as many people as possible partake in this. If you have any questions, leave a comment here with your email address (written as yourname [at] yahoo [dot] com to prevent getting picked up by a spammer) and I will be sure to contact you.
Let’s praise the name of Jesus together!
by Jason Joyner | Sep 10, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, Islam, ministry, missions, prayer
This week marks the beginning of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Islam. It is one of their holiest times of the year. As such, they fast from sun-up to sunset, spending time seeking Allah during the day and breaking fast at dusk with feasting.
The last 15 years has seen a coordinated effort by Christians to pray strategically for Muslims around the world during this time. This is the 16th edition of the effort, which has a worldwide reach.
We know that the conflict between the world of Islam and the West is a huge issue with lots of complexity and challenges. I encourage everyone to look into this material and participate with the prayers of thousands of Christians during this time. It has always been an insightful time of learning and blessing for my wife and I as we treat the prayer booklet as a nightly devotion.
You can get involved in a couple of ways. World Christian Books publishes a handy prayer booklet that gives you information on Islam and daily topics to pray through. You can still get one in time to start if you order right away! They even have a kids version of the booklet to do as a family. I’ve ordered this for the first time to do with my boys.
If you don’t want a booklet or have time to order, then there is an online reference you can use as well. It looks to have deeper information than what was put in the booklet.
Finally, in the materials I received with our booklets (our church participates in it), it had an advertisement for The Crescent Project, a ministry that strives to educate the North American church about Islam and equips us to reach our Muslim neighbors. There is a $35 online seminar that can be done through this group. I haven’t done this yet, but I think I will. I will report back on this if I do. This looks like a good resource for anyone with a heart regarding this matter.
As the church, we all have an opportunity to do something for the gospel to shine in such dark times and regions. We may not be called to go (although be honest, when was the last time we asked?) but we can intercede for Jesus’ light to be revealed and freedom proclaimed to the captives. Please take a look at this material further over the next month.
