Iran To Execute Christian Pastor

These excerpts are from Fox News… (Click HERE)

An Iranian pastor who has refused to recant his  Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was  upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never  been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his  faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran’s Gilan Provincial Court ruled.  Iran’s Supreme  Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a  Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before  submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and  international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated  that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court  in Qom.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: “Repent  means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my  faith in Christ?”

“To the religion of your ancestors, Islam,” the  judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

“I cannot,” Nadarkhani said. (Emphasis mine, RE)

Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be  imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a  United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there  was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for  practicing their faith between June 2010 and January. A total of 202 arrests  occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in  prison as of January, Elam reported.

God bless, strengthen, and guide Youcef.  Needless to say, Youcef Nadarkani and his family need our prayers.  Americans… be thankful we live when and where we do (At least for the moment).

 

 

Why Forgive?

I am re-reading a book by Johann Christoph Arnold titled, “Why Forgive?”  I’m doing so after Bob Stone presented four sessions to HBC about our hurt and the way the Gospel overcomes them.  Below are some of the thoughts from Mr. Arnold’s book… (Free e-book download HERE).

Forgiving does not mean forgetting or condoning wrong… It does mean a conscious decision to stop hating, because hating can never help.  (Pages 4-5)

Whether or not people are judged on this earth or by a court of law means little… the last word rests with God (Page 9).

(Regarding forgiveness) Everything seems hard until you learn it.  Then it is easy.  The cruelest prison of all is an unforgiving mind and spirit (Page 14).

The strongest motivation for forgiving is always the (truth) that I myself have been forgiven (Page 17).

If there is to be peace, there has to be forgiveness (Page 27).

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.  (Page 28)

Whoever is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power of love.  (Page 29)

The forgiving act must always be initiated by the person who has been wronged, the victim of some great hurt, the recipient of some tortuous injustice, the absorber of some terrible act of oppression.  The wrongdoer may request forgiveness… but only the injured neighbor, the loving father back home, can really pour out the warm waters of forgiveness.  (Pages 29-30)

There are gems of wisdom throughout the book (Thus I just gave a few from the first 30 pages).  My guess is that some reading this need to forgive someone.  After all… one of the hallmarks of Christianity is forgiveness… of others… of our enemies… of those who have wronged us.  In closing, consider what is written in Ephesians 4:32…

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.