Story

I was in Colorado Springs last weekend for  the Peak Fiction Writers Conference and was reminded again of the importance of story.

God, of course, knew that and connected with our minds and emotions through story.  The Bible is filled with narratives about people who came to understand God better through some amazing circumstances.

Here's the summary for the story of Ruth: two widows are destitute but God redeems them.  The book of Ruth is so much better!

Look at this one:  A boy trusts God and defeats a giant soldier with a stone.  Or read the story of David and Goliath.  No comparison.

So go read a story today!

Morocco: Christians arrested

On Feb. 4, Moroccan military authorities raided a Christian meeting and arrested 18 people. The authorities also confiscated Bibles and personal belongings, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts.

“We were surprised by more than 60 Moroccan Gendarmes attacking the house [where we had just started our Bible study],” a VOM contact said. “Eleven believers (including an American), two non-believers and five children… were [held] by the Moroccan government for 14 hours.”

After 14 hours in detention, the American was deported and the others were released. Authorities kept the American’s laptop computer, along with Bibles, books, a laptop, a digital photo camera and a cell phone that belonged to the others arrested.

“It’s the first time in our current Moroccan church history that the Moroccan government used this size of a legion to attack a small Christian meeting,” VOM contacts added. “All the time they kept repeating that this was ordered personally by the new Moroccan Justice Minister [Mohamed Naciri] and by the highest level General of the Gendarmerie [Housni Benslimane].”

The Voice of the Martyrs encourages you to pray for believers in Morocco. Pray that God will protect these believers and grant them peace as they face these new challenges. Also pray that the authorities will return their confiscated belongings. Ask God to draw the persecutors into fellowship with him.

“Our Moroccan brothers and sisters have asked believers here in the US to speak out on their behalf,” said Todd Nettleton, VOM’s director of media development. “They believe international attention and pressure can make a difference in getting their possessions returned, and in protecting future Christian activities.”

VOM encourages you to write to the Moroccan Embassy at the address below to protest this abuse of religious freedom:

Moroccan Ambassador:
H.E. Aziz Mekouar
1601 21st St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
Fax: 202-265-0161

Also send an email to the Deputy Chief of Mission, Ms. Aicha Afifi, at aafifi@moroccous.com. You can contact the United States embassy in Morocco by visiting http://rabat.usembassy.gov/ or sending an email to ircrabat@usembassy.ma.

Some fruit

Fruit?  In that wilderness?  Adadiah leaned back against his father’s knee, listening to the reader with some concern.

    The story had gripped Adadiah as the reader recounted the adventures.  Adadiah had especially liked the part where the thundering cavalry seemed ready to capture the people, but had been tricked and defeated.  That army had thought it was so strong but not against God!

    But the narrative had now taken the group to the edge of the land promised to them.  Adadiah was astonished that they were fearful but listened intently as the people crafted a good plan:  send in spies and see what they were up against.

    The spies had brought back fruit.  Adadiah had expected the wilderness to be rocky and dry.  The whole region seemed to him to be a desert.  He hadn’t been there, of course, but he had heard about the caves and cliffs.

    But there had been all those big juicy grapes that had made his mouth water.
 
    He was intrigued by the fruit, because it reminded him of another section of the story.  What was it?

    This new land had been filled with sweet fruit like some other land.  What land?

    Ah!  He had it.  When the reader had first unrolled the scroll and began reading.  At the beginning of the story.
 
    When God had created the world, he had made a garden filled with trees heavy with fruit.  Lots and lots and lots of fruit.  The man, Adam, didn’t have to work for his food like Adadiah and his father had to work.

    What kind of god would give his people lots of sweet fruit?

    Adadiah had heard about the gods in Babylon, even though his father scolded him for listening to the tales. They were supposed to be mighty in battle, with great strength, but they demanded sacrifices or they’d turn their power on the people.  They didn’t give anything freely.

    Who was this God who gave so much fruit?  Adadiah knew he had to learn more.

A giveaway!

My good friend Maxine over at The SG Notebook is holding a giveaway right now. Hop on over, leave her a comment, and tell her I said hi! She's committed to serving Jesus in so many ways, including through Christian gifts, so take a look at her site.

New cartoon

I'm trying an experiment here. I have linked to Jeff Larson's The Back Pew cartoons and the only place those fit on this page is at the top. I don't really like it there, but we'll see if I get used to it - or get another idea. In any case, I hope you enjoy Jeff's humor. If you'd like to use his cartoons in some way, you can ask for permission at his site.

Pray for Europe

A good friend who has worked in Europe for over 20 years send this information to me. Maybe you'd be interested, too:

"Hey friends!

"This is just a quick note to invite you to join me and boatloads of folks around the world in praying for Europe during lent (which starts tomorrow, by the way!!). So many major moves of God in the world have been preceded by concerted times of prayer in the body of Christ (think back to all that took place in the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe). Well, this lent is your chance to join the body of Christ in praying for the “prodigal continent” of Europe!!

http://www.prayeurope.com/prayerupdate.php

At the gate

Maybe Uncle Eli had dropped him a little roughly today but Samuel was always glad that someone carried him to the gate. He settled himself into his familiar spot, anxious for his day to begin.

Behind him, the doors of the gate rose majestically. It took several men to push wide the gigantic gates and Samuel always marveled at the ornate bronze plating illuminating the wood. These were beautiful gates and he knew that many people would soon be making their way through them into the temple.

Samuel had never seen inner part of the temple, although he often tried to imagine it. He’d understood all his life that he’d never go in. His legs were crippled at birth, making him unclean. He could never enter the temple to worship. His focus was always to learn his trade well.

“Alms!” he cried out suddenly as a cluster of people approached. Jews, he knew, were encouraged to give to the poor as part of their worship. And he heard the sound of coins clattering into his basket.

The sun was shining brightly, warming Samuel. He pushed his limp legs out to make his uncleanness even more evident.

He saw two men approaching the gate. “Alms for the poor!” he called out.

Then he heard a strong voice: “Look at us.” Samuel was confused, for he knew his uncleanness was repulsive to most. The people ignored him, tossing in a coin to meet their worship duty, before marching into the temple courts. He had learned to keep his eyes down.

“We have no gold or silver,” the man said to him. Samuel glanced at the second man and then back to the first. Why was this man addressing Samuel if he had no alms?

“But what I have, I give to you.” He strode to Samuel’s side and extended his hand. When Samuel gripped his hand, the man lifted him to his feet. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Fear shook Samuel but then he realized that he was standing. His legs were no longer weak. He took a step.

“What…” Samuel couldn’t speak for a moment. And then the reality of these muscular legs filled him. He tested them. He walked, ran, jumped. They worked.

But suddenly a greater reality hit him. He could enter the temple now. He was no longer unclean.

Walking and leaping and praising God, he joined the two men in the temple to worship.

He didn’t understand fully, but he knew that this Jesus Christ had removed his uncleanness so that he could go into the presence of God.

For Samuel, the worship had only begun.