A young Christian man was gunned down by Muslim landowners allegedly jealous of his success as a farmer in the first reported killing of a Christian in Pakistan in the new year, sources said.
India’s famed Emperor Ashoka was an ancient convert from Hinduism to Buddhism. He demonstrated that a person is NOT forced by others to convert from one religion to another. Today, “religious conversions are forced,” is the flawed premise of all anti-conversion laws of India. Who could have forced mighty Emperor Ashoka to change his religion? The Emperor’s famous religious conversion was his choice.
The situation for Iranian people is more dangerous now than before the recent war with Israel and the United States of America. Even more so for Christians who represent a growing minority religion in the staunchly Shia theocracy. Under threat, the ruling regime has increased its morality terror with brutal force.
In a perfect world, where legal systems hold political power to account and protect minorities against human rights abuses we might expect an end to persecution. But we do not live in a perfect world. People with power continue to act with impunity against those who think and live differently to them. Christians have a way to cope with this reality and a real and living hope for a future free of persecution.
New political winds are blowing with increasing force as the push-back against globalization grows with increasing nationalisms. The demand to pledge allegiance to something other than God in Christ will put renewed pressure on the Church and we need to be prepared to hold true to our faith. Here is a stern warning that Christians must take to heart.
A proposed regulation in Sri Lanka targets Christian churches in the Buddhist-majority country, according to an evangelical association.
A Christian woman in Pakistan has been arrested and charged with blasphemy after a Muslim prayer leader accused her of burning passages of Islamic scripture, sources said.
A 17-year-old Christian who has been incarcerated for 16 months for charges in three blasphemy cases will spend Christmas in jail, but he obtained bail in one of the cases, sources said.
Another church building was targeted in Sudan on Friday (Dec. 20) in an air strike by the Sudanese Air Force (SAF) that also destroyed at least five houses of civilians, the church pastor said.
A Christian mother of five children in Nigeria who spent 19 months in jail on baseless blasphemy charges was acquitted last week, according to legal advocacy group ADF International.
At least 39 civilians including children were killed by Jihadists in Niger while another nine died in central Mali after militants attacked and shot at residents in Segue village. Niger’s defense ministry termed the two separate incidents as ‘barbaric’ adding that the ‘horrific tragedies’ happened in Libiri where 21 people were killed and 18 in Kokorou near the border with Burkina Faso.
Personal tributes are pouring in for Chuck Girard, a pioneering voice of the 1970s Jesus Movement whose music shaped contemporary Christian worship, as friends and family prepare to celebrate his life on Aug. 26 in Franklin, Tennessee. Girard, known for his songs “Sometimes Alleluia” and “Rock ’N’ Roll Preacher” and for co-founding the band LoveSong featured in the film Jesus Revolution, died Aug. 11 after a battle with cancer. He was 81.
