The same God??

The dreadful news from Mumbai (Bombay), this week, has surely shocked any decent person. We sympathise, as best we can, with those who have been injured, and with the relatives of those who have been murdered.

But the newspaper reports throw up a very interesting fact. According to one of these, one of the terrorists, Shadullah Babar, apparently telephoned a TV station – using a hostage’s mobile ’phone – and stated that: “We demand the release of all Mujahideen put in jails. Then we will release these people. Otherwise we will destroy this place. We, the Muslims who live in India, should not be harassed… We love this country; this is our country … but the issue is this; when our elders, our brothers are killed, didn’t these people see all this?” A second caller, Imran Babar, is reported as having said: “We are tired of facing tortures and injustice; we are forced to do this.”

Injustice is, of course, something that should always be opposed. The Bible is full of commands to act justly – “Do not pervert justice or show partiality.” (Deut 16:19); “YHWH works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.” (Ps 103:6); “For I, YHWH, love justice;” (Isa 61:8); “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practised the latter without leaving the former undone.” (Luke 11:42) – to give just a few references. However, there are ways of doing that that do not result in the death or injury of people who had no part in the injustice itself.

Sometimes, I am asked if Christians and Muslims worship the same God. This sort of major incident certainly suggests that they do not!

I posted a letter today, to a dear Christian brother in China. Chinese officials have yet to declare a new court date for Alimujiang Yimiti, a Christian house church leader and ethnic Uyghur in China’s northwest province of Xinjiang, detained since his arrest on Jan. 12, China Aid Association reported. In mid-October, Chinese state prosecutors returned Yimiti’s case to a Xinjiang court for consideration. Charges against Yimiti include “inciting secessionist sentiment to split the country” and “collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organizations,” CAA reported in June.

Yimiti converted from Islam to Christianity more than 10 years ago and became active in the growing Uyghur church. Media reports state that Yimiti’s friends have said they believe his faith is the real reason for his arrest. Officials have threatened to hand down a sentence ranging from six years in prison to the death penalty.

This dear man, and his family, are being treated in the same way as the Mumbai murderers allege that their friends are being treated. But the Christian answer is not to obtain machine-guns and grenades and cause mayhem. It is to pray for those who persecute them (see Rom.12:14), and to ask for prayer for themselves for strength to persevere in the midst of persecution. And this is true of Christians in some sixty countries in 2008.

Find out more by going to

http://www.salememail.com/specialoffers/VOM_Persecution/VOM_persecution_watch.aspx (please copy and paste)

and to the Release International and Open Doors links that you will find at the bottom of this blog. And, if you are a praying person, please pray for the persecuted church, on a daily basis. It’s the very least we can do, and still the most important.