Tag Archives: Islam

Easter message from Pastor Abedini, imprisoned in Iran

Saeed Abedini with one of his children.  From http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign
Saeed Abedini with one of his children. From http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign

The following is posted at the ACLJ website, where you can read many different articles about Pastor Saeed Abedini’s imprisonment–his current unhealthy condition, President Obama’s response, how his family is doing, etc.–and sign a petition for his release (this link takes you to a separate site where you can learn about Abedini’s case as well).  You may think that these petitions don’t do any good when directed at a country like Iran, but, recently Abedini wasn’t being treated for his illnesses and international outcry did cause the Iranian government to at least move the pastor to a hospital bed.  Abedini wrote this message from the hospital.

Happy Resurrection Day.

On the Eve of Good Friday and Easter I was praying from my hospital room for my fellow Christians in the world.  What the Holy Spirit revealed to me in prayer was that there are many dead faiths in the midst of Christians today. That Christians all over the world are not able to fully reach their spiritual potential that has been given to them as a gift by God so that in reaching that potential, the curtain can be removed and the Glory of God would be revealed.

Some times we want to experience the Glory and resurrection with Jesus without experiencing death with Him.  We do not realize that unless we pass through the path of death with Christ, we are not able to experience resurrection with Christ.

We want to have a good and successful marriage, career, education and family life (which is also God’s desire and plan for our life). But we forget that in order to experience the Resurrection and Glory of Christ we first have to experience death with Christ and to die to ourselves and selfish desires.

Jesus said to His Disciples:  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

This means that we should not do things that we like to do (that God does not want us to do) and to do things that we do not like to do (but God wants us to do) so that He may be glorified.

So in addition to spending our days and night in doing the works of faith as described above, we should also transform our dead faiths into living and active faiths through the resurrection of Christ which is an active and constructive love that is effective.

In conclusion, let us resurrect our Dead faiths to living faiths by first dying to our selfish “resurrected” self and experiencing the cross of Jesus. Then we are able to experience the Glorious resurrection with Christ.

A Glorious life with Christ starts only after a painful death (to self) with Christ.

We will start with Christ.

Pastor Saeed Abedini
Prisoner in the Darkness in Iran, but free for the Kingdom and Light

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Iranian American Pastor Unlawfully Imprisoned in Iran

Saeed Abedini and his family.  From Fox News online.
Saeed Abedini and his family. From Fox News online.

The situation for American reverend, Saeed Abedini, is getting desperate as no progress has been made in having him released from Iran’s worst prison.  He was arrested in Iran on September 26, 2012, while visiting his parents and relatives.  His immediate relatives were placed under house arrest as well.  32 year old Abedini has a wife and two children.

The court in Iran implemented a bail for Abedini, which is large but which his family had acquired,  but no one has actually accepted the bail after several attempts at officially paying it.  Officials reject their paper work and funds and tell them to get lost.  Making the situation grave is the lack of diplomatic relations between the US and Iran.

When Abedini still lived in Iran he had converted to Christianity and helped found underground churches.  Having had many run-ins with the government, he moved to the US and signed an agreement with the them.  If he did not do any more Christian evangelical work, the Iranian government would leave him alone when he visited the country.  The government has failed to keep their side of the bargain, however.  Abedini has helped, and continues to help, in setting up an orphanage in Iran.  He has visited his family and helped with the orphanage during a number of visits to Iran in recent years, but during this year’s trip he was imprisoned without charges.

Please pray for Abidini and his family.  To find out more, visit this article:  American Pastor Imprisoned without Notice of Charges While Visiting Family in Iran.  See BosNewsLife and Persecution.Org for news of other Iranian detentions.

Just prior to Abedini’s arrest, there was great news that Iranian Pastor Yousef Nardakhani was released from prison there.  He had been imprisoned for almost three years and had faced execution.  Compass Direct on Yousef Nardakhani’s Release.

Female Hajj Pilgrims to Saudi Arabia Sent Back Home

This is from a very short article in Bloomberg online, and there are other articles to be found by googling:

Nigeria has protested to Saudi Arabia’s authorities over the detention of more than 1,000 female pilgrims who arrived in the kingdom for the annual Hajj pilgrimage without male guardians, state-run Radio Nigeria said. . . . Saudi Arabia enforces restrictions that are interpreted from the Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam. Women can’t travel or get an education without male approval or mix with unrelated men in public places.

As a Christian, I am at a loss as to why anyone would voluntarily become a Muslim in the first place, but when I see stuff like this, I am out-and-out flummoxed.  So, women must be controlled and herded like lesser beings, AND, they can’t even be in public with other men because . . . why???  Oh, men can’t control themselves.  They’ll just start doing some Mardi Gras moves in the street.  Really??  Belong to a religion that is so controlling, that seems to acknowledge and even promote the idea that human males are as good as randy rabbits, and that seems to not control its tyrannical and extremely violent members no matter what it does?  (And I won’t even get into all the persecution that goes on in the world against Christians at the hands of Muslims.)

Wow.  Sorry, but there is simply no comparison between Christianity and Islam.  And don’t go whining (atheists) about ancient pockets of “Christian” history (a lot of actual Christians died in trying to get false and violent actions to stop).  Sure, there have been wolves in sheep clothing that have done bad things in the name of Christianity.  It happens everyday in every area of life – I mean, charlatans seeking power and all of that, using whatever thing people have positive feelings about.   What you do is look at the founder of the faith.  Is s/he like that (false, after power, money, etc.)?  I won’t get into Muhammad here and the history of Islam, but I think it worth looking at Christ and the history of those who actually follow Him and his teachings.

Christ was sin-free and was not married; he didn’t go after multiple wives or even minor wives; he didn’t leave any heirs for everyone to argue about or over.  He lifted women UP from their low status at the time He visited us here on earth.  Women could follow Him and learn from Him.  In fact, He said it was better for a woman to learn from Him, to take the time and do that – as it was more important – than to serve Him or other men!!!  Wow!!  Why would any woman NOT want to follow Jesus?  If you want to know more and discover some pretty cool information that you just don’t hear about all that often, see New Testament Views of Women.   You may want to read about the woman at the well whom Christ talked with too.

In the future, I’ll try and post an article about the good in the history of Christ’s true followers, like those who founded hospitals (hospitals that were free) and universities.  People seem to have forgotten the parts of Christian history, too, when Christians died in order to stop those who did violence in Christ’s name.   In the meantime, if any Muslims come here, don’t go hatin’ on me.  Actions are actions, and the action reported on in the press was done and promoted by a whole country, and a whole section of Islam.  It’s no secret.  If you want to explain how your own sect of Islam is not like that in the comments, go ahead, but know that WordPress comments are always moderated.

The 9/11 Attacks and Protests in Libya and Cairo

Very briefly, since I’m leaving for work soon, the current US administration’s immediate response to the violent protests in Libya and Cairo was not only extremely lame, but anti-US law.  In an article I read last night, which I can’t yet locate this morning, administration officials said that such a film that sparked the violent events should not have been made and that American freedom does not extend to criticizing other religions too much.

Whaaa . . . . ?!?!?!  They didn’t use the words “too much,” but it was the diplomatic way of saying the same thing.  If this is so, then why, of why, have I had to experience militant atheists condemning Christianity and Christians – often in very vile and childish ways – for a number of years now.  Not long enough for the fascist government to locate them?

In a newer article this morning I see that the administration is doing some back-up and corrections.  Former President Clinton is saying that there is no excuse for the violent acts that happened yesterday.  Finally!!!  Our government needs to defend us, not militant Muslims.  We have freedom here.  We have freedom to investigate something and say what we think about it.  We even have the freedom here to make fun of that thing.  American government – please start defending us and stop making yourself out to be mega wimps to these people!

This wasn’t just about the film!  Has no one noted that these events took place on 9/11, yet the film has been out a while (the film being the Innocence of Muslims)?  People, please wake up.  These were not spontaneous acts, but planned acts.  And I bet the governments, or at least factions in the governments, knew about them.

Anyway, I simply couldn’t believe what I read last night.  If I find those quotes from US officials later today or tomorrow, I will publish them.  If America implemented what they said, we’d all be in trouble, and they also show the bizarrely weak and misguided spine of our government.  Thanks for reading.