Ozzone 9-10 > Are you locked and loaded, ready for the crisis? The workshop of missionary munitions is the hidden, personal, worshipping life of the saint!

 

Islam - Asia > Muslims break up worship service with machete; Burning churches, Bibles, etc., in Pakistan

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Muslims with Machete, Club Halt Worship in Indonesia

Morning Star News, September 5, 2023:

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A machete-wielding Muslim threatened to kill members of a house church in Indonesia as he and family members on Aug. 29 broke up a worship service, sources said.

In West Sumatra Province, the Sola Gratia congregation of Bethel Indonesia Church (Gereja Bethel Indonesia, or GBI) was meeting the evening of Aug. 29 in a rented house in Jalan Banuaran, Banuaran Nan XX village, Lubuk Begalung Sub-District, in Padang, when a Muslim woman broke the home’s windows with stones and told those inside to stop worshiping, the church pastor said.

Pastor Hiatani Ziduhu Hia told outlet radarsumbar.com that the woman claimed she was the owner of the house in the attack at about 8:35 p.m.

Later the woman’s husband came to the house with a machete, accompanied by another man with a wooden club. Brandishing the machete, the Muslim shouted at the congregation that he was going to cut their throats into pieces and told them to stop worshiping, Pastor Hiatani reportedly said.

“We continued to pray,” the pastor told radarsumbar.com., adding that the husband later returned and continued demanding that they cease worship.

“We stayed calm, trying to explain the situation to them,” Pastor Hiatani said. “But they didn’t pay attention to us.”

The woman, later identified as relative of the landlord, claimed that the church could not worship in “her home,” the pastor said.

“We know that the owner of the house is not her, because we pay someone else,” Pastor Hiatani said. “Those who receive our money also know that we occasionally use the place for worship. The head of the neighborhood already knows about our activities. As for the perpetrators, we know that they are the relatives of the house owners, not the house owner.”

The house tenant, Juni Anton Zai, told BBC News Indonesia that 20 congregation members were holding a worship service when they heard the screaming woman approach from the backyard and break the windows.

“We were shocked, and our worship was dismissed,” Juni told BBC News. “My son was shocked. The mother screamed, and we canceled our worship.”…

Juni offered to sit down and discuss the matter calmly, but they refused, he said.

“Instead of having a nice talk, they threatened us,” Juni said. “His younger brother was also carrying a machete; he scared us. After that, his younger brother came. He came bringing a wooden club. He wanted to hit my little brother, who was sitting on the motorbike.”…

’They (Muslims) piled up Bibles and hymn books and set them on fire’

Open Doors, September 6, 2023:

Last month, thousands of Muslim extremists brought devastation to Christians in Jaranwala, Pakistan, by attacking more than 20 churches and almost a hundred homes in response to allegations that two believers had desecrated the Quran. The three stories below highlight the horror experienced by some of the victims. The awful incident has affected more than 1,600 people – thank you for your continued prayers and support for them….

For 50-year-old Asad*, church was not just part of his weekly routine, but also his daily routine – that was until the devastating events of 16 August.

On that day, just like any other day, he had flatbread, curry and tea, before taking his daughter to the bus stop where he made the sign of the cross on her forehead before she headed to college. On his way back, he stopped by his church, a 1,500-square-foot space on which a tent stood that was owned by a cluster of families. He swept the tent, spent time in prayer and returned to his nearby home.

It was then that he heard loud angry screams. “The mob is coming, and they are angry!” said locals as they fled the area, but not Asad. “My daughter will come home from college,” he said. “If she doesn’t know and she comes home, I want to be here for her. I can’t leave my home.”

Asad ran up to the roof and hid behind a derelict wall. From there, he could see his church as well as another nearby church. “I saw them immediately target the church in the next street,” he recalls. “They took anything that could be sold and loaded it onto trucks. They then poured acid over the items. I saw them trample the crosses and Bibles. I saw them throw the Bibles out onto the street and jump on them. It looked like they had no sense at all – just blind hate. They poured fuel from their petrol bombs, lit the Bibles on fire, and watched them burn, only walking away when satisfied.”

Asad was grateful that his church remained untouched. “They did not recognise it as a Christian space,” he says. But then he saw one of his Muslim neighbours call the mob back. “They came back, pulled down our beautiful precious tent of prayer and worship, and threw it all to the fire.”

Asad stayed hidden behind the wall for the entire day. Fear grew when his daughter didn’t return when she normally did. “Where is she? Why is she so late? Did something happen to her?” He eventually heard her voice call out to him. She had come from her auntie’s home, which is where she went after hearing about the attacks.

“Today, I have nothing,” Asad continues. “I saw my house and my place of worship burn in front of my eyes. I was helpless. I saw my neighbours betray us. We have never done them any harm; we always respected them. Then why? Why did they become part of an agenda that was so anti-Christian? What about my daughter? What will become of her?”…

Why did they become part of an agenda that was so anti-Christian? - Because they are Muslims, of course.

Ozzone 4-1 > Does this present crisis push you away from The Lord, out of worship with Jesus?

 

Muslim Radio Station Suspended for Broadcasting 25 Hours of ‘Al-Qaeda Speeches’

A British radio station has been suspended after it broadcast more than 25 hours of lectures by a suspected Al-Qaeda recruiter during Ramadan that called for “holy war” and “encouraged violence.”

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has temporarily revoked the license of Sheffield-based Iman FM for playing lectures by radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a hate preacher who was killed by a US drone strike in 2011.

Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, gives a religious lecture in an unknown location in this still image taken from video released by Intelwire.com on September 30, 2011. © Intelwire.com  Google will not censor ‘pied piper of Jihad’ who inspired 7/7 London bombings

Ofcom said it received a complaint from a listener in June. When contacted by the watchdog, the radio station said it decided to broadcast a series of pre-recorded lectures during Ramadan as the regular presenter was not available.

In one, Awlaki said, “prepare whatever strength you have for holy war in the cause of Allah. This is a form of worship,” according to the Daily Mail.

Imam FM told Ofcom it searched the internet for lectures “on the life of the Prophet Muhammed” and “lectures on Seerah,” adding that the lectures it broadcast were “freely available.”

Under broadcasting rules, hate speech must not be included in TV or radio shows except where justified by context.

Iman FM’s chief executive, Mohammad Mughal, has been given 21 days to provide an explanation for the broadcast before the station is shut down, according to the Daily Mail.

“This is very, very sad because none of us had any idea this lecture was preaching hatred. We are not just a Muslim radio station - we regularly feature Christian presenters,” he told the newspaper.

Ofcom dismissed Imam FM’s claims that it was unaware of Awlaki’s background and hadn’t checked the material before broadcast as “not credible.”

Iman FM broadcast a show on June 23 condemning the lectures and apologizing to its listeners.

The radio station said in a post on its Facebook page: “This is to inform you that Imam FM has temporarily stopped broadcasting, this has resulted due to the regulator suspending its licence for the next 21 days, on the basis that unwittingly some controversial lectures were broadcast.

“Please note that we are trying our level best to remedy this situation and look forward to broadcasting as soon as possible. We thank you for your continued support in the meantime.”

Awlaki, a US-born radical of Yemeni descent, who has been called “the Bin Laden of the internet” was linked to a series of attacks and terrorist plots around the world.

His lectures are believed to have inspired attacks such as the assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in 2015 and the Fort Hood mass shooting in Texas in 2009.

His sermons were attended by at least two people who would later carry out the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Both the UN and the United States labeled Awlaki a “specially designated global terrorist.”

In 2002, Awlaki moved temporarily to the UK before going back to Yemen, where he was killed in a US drone strike in 2011.

Coptic Cave Church Really Knows How to Rock (Video)

A CAVE turned into a Church to Worship Jesus in Egypt

70,000+ gather every week to worship

The cave church in Egypt is one of the largest churches in the country, a place where more than 70,000 Christians gather every week to worship and praise the name of Jesus.

Being in the Arabic world, surrounded by all Islam dominated countries, it is very hard to maintain the custom and continue their Coptic culture. Yet, their uncompromising faith to gather and praise the ‘Name that’s Above Every Other Name’ “Jesus” in the Cave Church.

Coptic Christians have actually built 7 churches into Mokattam Mountain in Cairo, all in the second half of the 20th century. This church is called 'the Virgin Mary and St. Simon Cathedral'.

Inside the spacious caverns, beautiful engravings cover the walls, each representing stories from the Bible. St. Simon’s Hall, a large seating arena that accommodates 2,000 people for spiritual meetings, sits on the upper level.

The Monastery also includes an education center, an area for children, as well as a school for the deaf.

A special Arabic song ‘Emmanuel” sung by about 20,000 in the cave church gives goosebumps to people to hear it. Watch the video here.

Churches in Egypt have seen their communities decline in recent years as Egypt has faced political turmoil, a slumping economy and a growing militant insurgency. The exodus of Christians has intensified fears for the future for Christianity in the Middle East (Arab World), as some now worry for the fate of Egypt’s Christians, one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.



“Mostly they’re travelling to US to find better opportunities because of uncertainties in Egypt,” said Rev. Markos Ayoub, a priest who leads the Sunday liturgy at St. Mark in English. “It’s not easy to be a Coptic Christian in the Middle East these days considering the militant insurgency in Egypt.

    Cave church, Cairo

Worship - According to Tozer

Worship – Another paraphrasing of A.W. Tozer

The kingdom of God has suffered a great deal from men who would rather fight than pray. It has also been done great harm by men who would rather be nice than be right.

False worship:
Cain worship – Assumes God to be different than Who He is,

- Assumes a relationship to God that isn’t there,

- Assumes sin is not as serious as it really is.

Samaritan worship – Heretical worship
- Picks out what you want to believe and rejects or ignores the rest.

True worship:
“Worship must lie within the confines of eternal truth. God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Only the Holy Spirit can enable man to worship God acceptably.

Only the Holy Spirit can pray acceptably, or do anything acceptably. I believe that all the gifts of the Spirit not only ought to be but have been present in His church all down the centuries.”

To worship him in truth, I must believe what God says about Himself, about His Son, about me, about sin, and about grace.

We must never edit or apologize for God.

We must believe Jesus is our Saviour and Lord.

We must believe all that God says about us – what He will do for us, and that we are as bad as He says we are.

We must believe that sin is repulsive to God, and unacceptable in Eternity.

We must believe that God’s grace is as great as He says it is.