* THE DEADLY VIRUS OF CELEBRITY CHRISTIANITY * UPDATE ON NATURAL DISASTERS IN BURMA AND CHINA * EGYPTIAN STUDENTS DECLARATION OF FAITH IN CHRIST GETS GLOBAL ATTENTION * THE TUMOUR IS GONE * POPE'S AIDE WARNS OF THREAT BY ISLAM * CHINA PUTS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS ON POTENTIAL OLYMPIC TROUBLEMAKERS LIST ----------------------------------------------- THE DEADLY VIRUS OF CELEBRITY CHRISTIANITY Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them. Just when I thought we had finally taken enough abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I've learned that some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We've moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the 1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large segments of the church. "What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality." One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister's assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included: * a five-figure honorarium * a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane * a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker * a suite in a five-star hotel * a luxury car from the airport to the hotel * room-temperature Perrier This really makes me wonder how the apostle Paul, Timothy or Priscilla managed ministering to so many people in Ephesus, Corinth and Thessalonica. How did they survive without a manicurist if they broke a nail while laying hands on the sick? It gets worse, if you can believe it. At a conference in an East Coast (USA) city recently, a pastor stood on a stage in front of a large crowd and smugly announced that the guest speaker was "more than an apostle." Then the host asked everyone to bow down to the person, claiming that this posture was necessary to release God's power. "This is the only way you can receive this kind of anointing!" the host declared, bowing in front of the speaker. Immediately, about 80 percent of the audience fell prostrate on the floor. The few who were uncomfortable with the weird spiritual control in the room either walked out or stood in silent protest. So today, I guess it's not enough to feed a celebrity preacher's ego by treating them like a rock star. We also are required to worship him. And apparently in some places you even have to pay big bucks to speak with him. In a city in the South, a well-known preacher is known to ask for money in order to secure a five- or 10-minute counselling session. The minister uses Proverbs 18:16, "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men" (NASB), to support this bizarre practice. Some people are known to give more than $1,000 for a short meeting. People on fixed incomes need not apply. (That would include lepers, blind beggars, Samaritan women or any other social outcasts who were welcomed and healed by Jesus without payment.) Source: J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine ----------------------------------------------- UPDATE ON NATURAL DISASTERS IN BURMA AND CHINA The death toll in China's worst natural disaster in 30 years has passed 40,000, and the government estimates that the figure could climb to as many as 60,000 people. In addition another 60,000 have been hospitalised and 160,000 injured. The Chinese government said it had already deployed more than 130,000 military and relief workers in devastated parts of Sichuan Province, where thousands are still believed to be buried in the ruins and where perhaps a hundred thousand people or more have been left homeless. And for the first time, Beijing has allowed international relief experts to help in a domestic operation. Rescue efforts have been hampered all week long by bad weather, treacherous mountain terrain and thousands of aftershocks, some of them quite severe. The government has started to try to find homes for orphans of the disastrous earthquake, repeating a similar plan that was instituted in 1976 after 240,000 people were killed by a massive earthquake. Pray that Chinese and international aid be rushed to victims in towns, villages and remote areas. Ask the Lord to preserve life and that the Chinese church would rise up and spread the message of the Kingdom. In Burma the country's military regime continues to block aid from reaching 2.5 million survivors. Only around 10 per cent of victims are believed to have received any aid at all. The United Nations reports that children are believed to make up 40% of the victims of the cyclone. Torrential rain continues compounding the misery of survivors. There are reports of disease, and accounts of hungry villages gathering along roadsides in the rain and mud, begging passing vehicles for food with clasped hands. Food and clean drinking water are practically unavailable in most places. There is ample evidence from history that God changed nations in answer to prayer. Pray that the Lord overrules leaders in Burma and allows international aid to flow into the country. Intercede that the Lord will fulfil his purposes for this nation. Ask the Lord to preserve life and that the Burmese Church would rise up and spread the message of the Kingdom. Source: Compiled by APN from various sources ----------------------------------------------- EGYPTIAN STUDENTS DECLARATION OF FAITH IN CHRIST GETS GLOBAL ATTENTION Egyptian schoolboys, Mario Medhat Ramses and Andrew Medhat Ramses, face a future without educational opportunities even though they had been classified as "brilliant" students at the French Lycee school of Alexandria. Why? Because when they were ordered to take a school test that would result in their conversion to Islam, they wrote, "I am Christian." The boys knew in advance that by declaring their faith on the exam paper they would lose their education. "What brought the case to the public's attention is the categorical refusal of the two kids to pass the Islamic exams and convert to Islam, stating, 'they will not deny their Christianity and convert to Islam no matter what it would cost them,' said Sam Grace, a spokesman for Coptic News. "We need all human rights organizations to try to force Egypt to respect the human rights conventions, and Egypt is a signatory for all these human rights conventions. Grace said the boys already are serving as deacons in their Christian church, and have gone on Egyptian talk programs to express their dedication to Christianity. As a result of this incident, the report notes that a U.S.-based organization is lobbying for international pressure on Egypt to quit forcing Christians into such no-win situations. Source: WorldNetDaily ----------------------------------------------- THE TUMOUR IS GONE Chaitanya John pastors a Gospel For Asia affiliated church in Andhra Pradesh, India. He and his wife Achala have been married for eight years and have been praying for quite some time that the Lord would bless them with a child. In early 2007 Achala conceived, but a doctor's appointment soon after revealed that Achala had tumours in her womb. This led to a miscarriage. Grieved and discouraged, Chaitanya and Achala admitted that they sometimes wondered if they would ever have children, but they did not give up hope. Chaitanya and Achala asked all the believers in their church, and all the pastors they knew, to join with them in prayer for Achala's healing. One night while she was sleeping, Achala heard a voice tell her that the tumours were gone, and that she was healed. So Chaitanya and Achala went to the doctor again who confirmed that the tumours were gone. The Lord had answered their prayers. As a result of this miracle many of the villagers, who had once mocked the couple for being childless, were amazed. Suddenly, they were open to knowing about Jesus Christ. Chaitanya and Achala rejoice at the Lord's work in their lives, that He is not only taking care of them, but using their lives to draw others to Jesus. Chaitanya asks for prayer that the Lord will keep Achala in good health and that He will give them a child, and also that the Lord's name will continue to be honoured and lifted high in this community. Source: Gospel for Asia ----------------------------------------------- POPE'S AIDE WARNS OF THREAT BY ISLAM The Pope's private secretary has given warning of the Islamisation of Europe and stressed the need for the continent's Christian roots not to be ignored. "Attempts to Islamise the West cannot be denied," Monsignor George Gaenswein was quoted as saying in a copy of the weekly Sueddeutsche Magazin. "The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness," the magazine quoted him as saying. He also defended a speech that the Pope gave last year that linked Islam and violence, saying it had been an attempt by the pontiff to "act against a certain naivety". In the speech during a visit to Germany in September, the Pope appeared to endorse a view, contested by most Muslims, that Islam's followers spread their religion in its early days by violence.The Pope quoted Manuel II Paleologus, the 14th-century Byzantine emperor, who said: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Muslims around the world protested against the speech. Source: Telegraph UK ----------------------------------------------- CHINA PUTS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS ON POTENTIAL OLYMPIC TROUBLEMAKERS LIST China's intelligence agency is reportedly compiling a list of potential troublemakers at this year's Olympics Games in Beijing that includes human rights activists, non-governmental organizations, and evangelical Christians. Government spy agencies say that Christians threaten to mount demonstrations against China's religious freedom violations. With the Olympic price tag at $40 billion and China's public image on the line, the Chinese government is leaving no room for foreign protestors to spoil China's moment in the spotlight. Open Doors, a ministry working with persecuted churches is blanketing China in prayer during a one year campaign to pray for a spiritual change in China which commenced on August. 8, 2007 and will continue until the games open on August. 8, 2008. Meanwhile, other Christian mission groups around the world have said they plan to evangelize at the Beijing Games despite China's ban on foreign missionaries. Source: Christian Post
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