Radical Experiment-FBCW: 2014

2014-07-09

Secret Church

ANNOUNCEMENT: Secret Church 15 Date and Topic

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 11:17 AM PDT

It may seem like Spring is a long way off, but we want to give you plenty of time to make plans for the next Secret Church gathering/simulcast.

Secret Church 15 will take place on April 24, 2015, two weeks after Easter. Tickets to the live gathering will go on sale this January, and simulcast registration opens on October 1, 2014. The topic will be “Christ, Culture, and a Call to Action.” Here’s the synopsis:

The culture around us is constantly changing, and successive changes are often accompanied by significant challenges. So how does the call of Christ compel us to respond to these challenges? How does a Christian respond to the rapid rise of so-called same-sex marriage and the increasing acceptance of homosexuality? How does a Christian live in a world of sex slavery and rampant pornography, a world where babies are aborted and widows are abandoned? How does a Christian think in a culture of pervasive racial prejudice and limited religious liberty? What does a Christian do in a church that exalts prosperity amidst a world of extreme poverty? During this Secret Church, we will explore biblical foundations for answers to these questions and come to significant conclusions regarding how Christ calls every Christian to engage culture with a firm grip on the gospel in the church and a fervent passion for God's glory in the world.

We must not be ignorant of what the Bible says about some of the biggest issues Christians face today. So mark it out in your calendar; mention it to your friends and family; talk with your church leaders about potentially hosting a simulcast; begin making plans, whatever they are. Just make sure you don’t miss out on Secret Church 15.

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2014-07-03

Secret Church

Persecution: The Basics

Posted: 02 Jul 2014 10:01 PM PDT

Every once in a while, it’s good to get a refresher on concepts we generally think we understand. When’s the last time you’ve heard a good explanation of persecution?

Below, you can listen to a good overview of what persecution is, how it may look, and why it occurs.

Jonathan is the (well-traveled) Pastor of Global Disciple-Making at The Church at Brook Hills.

When it comes to the persecution of Christians, Open Doors is also a great resource. They have a good general overview of persecution as well as country-specific information.

~ The goal of persecution is to silence witness. ~

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Pray for Susan Ithungu and Her Testimony

Print these prayer requests and keep them with you throughout the week.

Jul. 03, 2014 | Uganda
Pray for Susan Ithungu and Her Testimony

Susan Ithungu was 13 years old in 2009 when she accepted Christ. The Ugandan teen stood up for her faith even though her father beat her and locked her in a room for six months with little food or water. She weighed just 45 pounds when she was rescued, and it has taken time for her to recover physically and emotionally. Susan is now thriving in her new boarding school and is in good health and spirits. She clings to her faith in Jesus, has hope for her future and shares her faith with classmates and peers. Her guardian, Dedra Biira, is doing well in her business and is able to help provide for Susan as well as her other children.

Post Your Prayer

Susan, who survived persecution from her own father in Uganda, is shown hugging her guardian, Dedra

Jul. 03, 2014 | Nepal
Pray for Pastor's Faithful Endurance

Pastor "Michael" and his wife have been beaten, burglarized and threatened with death if they didn't leave their city, but God continues to provide for them as they serve in an area of Nepal where few Christians would go. Within a year of being called to the area, which is known for violence, the pastor had gained the respect of many in the town and had seen 10 people come to Christ. Soon, however, he began to face persecution by those opposed to his work. The pastor persevered through many difficulties, and a new believer recently contributed a large sum of money to help him continue his work in the church, which now has 150 members. Although the church faces great opposition, the pastor hopes to see it grow to 500 members. He said he has seen the love of Jesus transform the worst of offenders.

Post Your Prayer

A church leader in Nepal faces persecution in his country.

Jul. 03, 2014 | Tanzania
Pray for Pastors Charged with Blasphemy

A group of 43 Tanzanian pastors, most former Muslims, have been charged with blasphemy for teaching biblical foundations to their church members. In addition, they have been fined the equivalent of nearly $3,000, which they are paying in order to continue their ministry work and to avoid multiple court hearings. If convicted of blasphemy, they could face up to 14 years in prison. Many of the pastors have been persecuted by their families and continue to face pressure in the largely Muslim areas where they work.

Post Your Prayer

A pastor in Tanzania shows some of the rubble after his church was destroyed.

2014-07-01

Secret Church

Another Way to Respond to Persecutors with Unwavering Faithfulness to God

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 10:05 PM PDT

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, "What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name." So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Acts 4:8-22

Here’s the last example we pointed out:
One Way to Respond to Persecutors with Unwavering Faithfulness to God

2014-06-26

Pray for Pastor Quang

Print these prayer requests and keep them with you throughout the week.

Jun. 26, 2014 | Vietnam
Pray for Pastor Quang

Several hundred people, including police and local officials, attacked a Bible School in southern Vietnam on June 9, injuring more than 20 pastors and students. The mob, which broke through a gate to enter the school, beat the believers, ransacked the building and tore off several doors before leaving nearly two hours later. The school’s founder, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, suffered injuries to his head and chest during the attack. Pastor Quang, an outspoken Christian leader in the area, has been arrested in the past and had his home demolished by authorities. He is determined to continue the work of the college despite the attack and intimidation.

Post Your Prayer

Pastor Quang, the Bible school founder and outspoken Christian leader, was recently injured in an attack on the school.

Jun. 26, 2014 | Syria
Pray for Christians Suffering Amid Civil War

Christians in Syria continue to suffer as a result of the ongoing civil war there. On June 12, a Christian worker living in Aleppo, Syria, lost her home when it was destroyed by a mortar shell, and a VOM contact reported that five families in his church also have lost their homes recently as a result of bombings in the city. In addition, Aleppo has been without running water for more than two weeks. Families often must wait in line for up to three hours to get a couple gallons of water.

Post Your Prayer

Many homes in Aleppo, Syria have been damaged or destroyed by mortar shells, including this home of a Christian woman.

Jun. 26, 2014 | Sri Lanka
Pray for Pastor and Christians Beaten during Worship Meeting

A pastor and three other believers were severely beaten on May 12 when more than 40 people in their Sri Lankan village broke through a security fence and began attacking them with poles. The day before the attack, the villagers had warned the Christians to stop their worship meetings. After knocking the pastor unconscious with a blow to the head, the attackers dispersed, thinking they had killed him. Police questioned the Christians for more than seven hours, and the magistrate's office finally ordered the arrest of the attackers. The pastor was hospitalized for four days, and the three injured believers were hospitalized for two days.

Post Your Prayer

This Sri Lankan pastor is committed to sharing the Gospel despite threats of attacks.

2014-06-25

Secret Church

The High Cost of Following Christ in a Muslim Family

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 10:01 PM PDT

“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Matt 10:21-23

Josef’s home is in Pakistan, but he is no longer welcome there. In fact, that’s quite an understatement. His brother–Ibrahim–is currently pursuing him, murder in his heart. But “murder” is not how Ibrahim would probably view it. As far as he is concerned, Josef has rejected his family’s faith, and as a worshipper of Allah, his angry determination to kill him is right.

For now, Ibrahim knows only the general whereabouts of his brother: Kabul, Afghanistan. So he is there, too … insistent upon Josef’s death in a country that’s more than sympathetic with Ibrahim’s stop-at-nothing pursuit of his apostate brother.

Meanwhile, Josef is holed up in a basement somewhere in the capitol city. He is exiled from his homeland, rejected by his family, and apart from his wife and son … but he’s never been more sure of himself.

Read his story in this New York Times article:

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a dank basement on the outskirts of Kabul, Josef read his worn blue Bible by the light of a propane lantern, as he had done for weeks since he fled from his family in Pakistan.

His few worldly possessions sat nearby in the 10-by-10-foot room of stone and crumbling brown earth. He keeps a wooden cross with a passage from the Sermon on the Mount written on it, a carton of Esse cigarettes, and a thin plastic folder containing records of his conversion to Christianity.

The documents are the reason he is hiding for his life. On paper, Afghan law protects freedom of religion, but the reality here and in some other Muslim countries is that renouncing Islam is a capital offense.

Josef's brother-in-law Ibrahim arrived in Kabul recently, leaving behind his family and business in Pakistan, to hunt down the apostate and kill him. Reached by telephone, Ibrahim, who uses only one name, offered a reporter for The New York Times $20,000 to tell him where Josef was hiding … READ MORE

(HT: Albert Mohler)

2014-06-21

Pray for Pastor Umar Mulinde

Print these prayer requests and keep them with you throughout the week.

Jun. 20, 2014 | Uganda
Pray for Pastor Umar Mulinde

After spending more than two years in Israel receiving treatment for severe acid burns, Pastor Umar Mulinde was welcomed home to Uganda by his family and church on May 25. On Christmas Eve 2011, Pastor Umar was walking to his church when he was attacked by a group of Muslim men. One man poured acid on his face while others poured it down his back. The men shouted "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great!) as they ran from the scene. Pastor Umar lost his right eye in the attack and underwent extensive facial reconstruction at a hospital in Israel before returning home to Uganda. Pastor Umar said his recovery is "a turn of events for a wonderful testimony."

Post Your Prayer

After surviving an attack by radicals who poured acid on his face and back, Pastor Umar Mulinde is returning to his family and church home in Uganda.

Jun. 20, 2014 | Laos
Pray for Sort, Believer Tied to Post

A Christian man in Laos was arrested on May 29 and tied to a post after refusing to recant his faith. Sort, who has been a Christian for the past year, was approached by a police official and the village leader on May 15 and threatened with expulsion from the village if he would not give up his Christian faith. "I've embraced the Christian faith over a year, and I have not broken any law!" he told authorities. They then took the equivalent of $500 from Sort and tied him to a post as punishment.

Post Your Prayer

A Christian leader in Laos has faced persecution for following God.

Jun. 20, 2014 | Kazakhstan
Pray for Viktor Kandyba, Imprisoned for Faith

Viktor Kandyba, leader of a Baptist congregation in Kazakhstan, was sentenced to 10 days in prison for refusing to pay a fine his church received last year for holding unregistered prayer meetings. The prayer meetings were considered illegal because all religious activity in Kazakhstan must be registered.

Post Your Prayer

Believers in Kazakhstan who gather to pray or read the Bible must register or face severe fines and imprisonment.

2014-06-18

Secret Church

Believers in Iraq

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 02:08 PM PDT

If you’ve been keeping up with the news over the last few weeks, you know that the situation in Iraq is quickly worsening at the hands of ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). The al-Qaeda offshoot is one of the most extreme Islamist organizations in the world, and they are rapidly overtaking cities throughout the country; the most recent to fall under their control–Baqouba–is only 40 miles from the capitol city, Baghdad.

Currently, ISIS also occupies Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. That siege induced 500,000 of Mosul’s 1.8 million residents to flee. Among those who fled were Iraqi troops and up to 1,000 Christians (almost emptying Mosul of believers).

Christians in Iraq have become increasingly sparse over the last 25 years, decreasing from around 1.2 million to 300,000. ISIS brings a whole new threat to the already hostile environment of Christians living in Iraq. It is feared that ISIS will impose strict anti-Christian laws and restrictions on believers who fall under their authority … a fear that increases with each ISIS gain.

Christianity Today’s “Thousands Flee as Terrorists Take Over Iraq’s Christian Heartland” was the main source for this story.

(HT: Trevin Wax)

2014-06-12

Secret Church

One Way to Respond to Persecutors with Unwavering Faithfulness to God

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:01 PM PDT

Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?"

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

Daniel 3:13-18

Pray for Qhua Ha, a Hmong believer

Print these prayer requests and keep them with you throughout the week.

Jun. 12, 2014 | Vietnam
Pray for Qhua Ha, a Hmong believer

On April 14, a family of Hmong believers in Vietnam were beaten and forced from their home. For months, local authorities and villagers had pressured Qhua Ha, 37, his wife and their four children to renounce their faith, but they refused. After beating the couple and their 9-year-old son, authorities forced the family to leave, seizing their home and property, including 10 bags of rice and 125 chickens. Qhua Ha and his wife became Christians in February 2013 and were the only Christians in the village. VOM contacts ask for prayer for Qhua, his wife and their four children, ages 9, 6, 4 and 1.

Post Your Prayer

This Hmong family lives in Vietnam, where Hmong believers frequently face persecution from family members and village authorities.

Jun. 12, 2014 | China
Pray for Prisoner Alimujiang Yimiti and family

The wife of Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti reports that her husband, who is being held in a prison in China, has lost a lot of weight since her last visit to the prison and that he looks pale. However, she said he is still doing well spiritually. She asks that we continue to pray for Alimujiang's strength to overcome the difficulties he faces in prison, such as unkind guards. Gulimar and her two children are allowed to visit Alimujiang for only 15 minutes every three months. The couple's oldest son, who is 15, is sad and discouraged about his father's continued imprisonment, and their 8-year-old son misses his dad and remains anxious for his return. Alimujiang was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 15 years for "illegally providing state secrets to foreign nationals."

Post Your Prayer

Gulimar and her two sons, now ages 15 and 8, need prayer and are awaiting the return of husband and father Alimujiang Ymiti, who is serving 15 years in a Chinese prison for his faith.

Jun. 12, 2014 | Nigeria
Pray for Christians Killed in Two Attacks

Dozens of Christians were killed and many others injured in two attacks by Boko Haram in Borno state, Nigeria on June 1 and June 3. On June 1, at least 27 believers were killed and another 50 severely injured when hundreds of militants invaded the Christian community of Attagara during church services. Two days later, Boko Haram militants disguised as army officials entered the same village and lured Christians to a supposed meeting about security problems. All 45 Christians that came to the meeting were shot to death. Militants also attacked the north of the village and some surrounding Christian communities, killing dozens of women and children who tried to flee into the hills.

Post Your Prayer

Gabriel Stephen survived a gunshot wound to his hip when his village in Nigeria was attacked by Boko Haram militants in February 2014.

Radical Experiment-FBCW

Bible Gateway Beginning Reading Plan (NASB)

For Families

IMB Prayer Lists

NAMB Prayer Lists/News

2014-07-09

Secret Church

Secret Church

2014-07-03

Secret Church

Secret Church

Pray for Susan Ithungu and Her Testimony

2014-07-01

Secret Church

Secret Church

2014-06-26

Pray for Pastor Quang

2014-06-25

Secret Church

Secret Church

2014-06-21

Pray for Pastor Umar Mulinde

2014-06-18

Secret Church

Secret Church

2014-06-12

Secret Church

Secret Church

Pray for Qhua Ha, a Hmong believer