CHRISTIAN DEATH SENTENCE

An Iranian pastor who has refused to renounce his Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran's Gilan Provincial Court ruled. Iran's Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country's Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International.

Father Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of New York and an analyst for Fox News Channel, said Nadarkhani's case is "unmistakable evidence" that Iran is executing Christians simply because they refuse to become Muslims.

Morris continued: "Will President Obama, and the free world, allow the United Nations to continue in its cowardly silence on this matter?"

CLASS BOOTH FOR "COUNTRY FAIR"

The Grace Baptist Annual Fall Picnic is on October 16th this year. The theme is " Country Fair". Sunday School Classes are responsible for coming up with an activity or booth that they will maintain during the party. Adults 4 Christ will have a pitching booth. Prizes will be given out such as cupcakes, cookies , or candy bars (while they last) to anyone that can throw a strike from an appropriate distance.  A "TOP GUN" award will be given to three people. The people who throw the fastest recorded strike from the 3 age appropriate mounds will receive a trophy. A softball mound (35ft) and 2 baseball mounds (46ft (60ft) will be provided. Adults can win a prize but are not eligible for "TOP GUN" trophies.

CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT DISCIPLESHIP

I've been haunted by a quote I read recently by Detrich Bonhoeffer:

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

This statement is up-front in saying that without discipleship, Christianity doesn’t exist, because following Jesus activates the Christian faith.

Sadly, non-discipleship “Christianity” dominates the thinking of the American church.
Many Christians are walking around with a “grace and forgiveness only” theology.

Dallas Willard once said “We have not only been saved by grace, we have been paralyzed by it.” How will you change this mindset with yourself and the people God has entrusted to you?

Questions to consider:
1.What is your understanding of discipleship? Compare it to how Jesus discipled.
2.Are you pursuing and practicing discipleship as a follower of Christ or have you settled for “grace and forgiveness only” theology?
3.Are you using the doctrine of justification by faith and God’s grace to teach that people don’t really need to follow Jesus to be Christians?
       Mark Satterfield Blog

ALL ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS

It is an interesting fact that Jesus never tried to 'convert' people. When he healed the Roman centurion's servant, for example, he did not demand that the centurion become one of his followers. He simply commended him for his faith: 'Not even in Israel have I found faith as great a this' (Lk.7:9). Jesus did not try to convert the gentile Syrophoenician woman, but simply told her that her daughter would be cured (Mk. 7:24-30).

Rather, Jesus entered into dialogue with people of other faiths, sharing his story with them, reaching out to the mystery of God active in their lives. He was never coercive; nor should we be. The Good News of Christ's life, death and resurrection should give wings to the feet, and voice to the tongue. Christians of all denominations are called upon to share the Good News with one another, because they simply cannot bottle it up, not because they don't respect others' beliefs or think that other people cannot be saved. We cannot truly pray to God the Father of all if we treat people as other than sisters or brothers, for we are all created in God's image. Treating people in this respectful way fosters reconciliation and peace among peoples everywhere.

GOOD NEWS

The good news is, God’s pencil has no eraser. Before you breathed your first word, God knew how you would respond to His offer of grace. According to His foreknowledge, He wrote your name in the book of life. And there it shall remain forever. Jesus said it this way:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. —John 10:27-28

Stanley, C. F. (1990). Eternal security : Can you be sure?. Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books.

A BLIND SPOT IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

What is the difference between someone who willfully indulges in sexual pleasures while ignoring the Bible on moral purity and someone who willfully indulges in the selfish pursuit of more and more material possessions while ignoring the Bible on caring for the poor? The difference is that one involves a social taboo in the church and the other involves a social norm in the church.

We look back on slave-owning churchgoers of 150 years ago and ask, "How could they have treated their fellow human beings that way?" I wonder if followers of Christ 150 years from now will look back at Christians in America today and ask, "How could they live in such big houses? How could they drive such expensive cars and wear such nice clothes? How could they live in such affluence while tens of thousands of children were dying everyday because they didn"t have food and water? How could they go on with their lives as though the billions of poor didn't even exist?"

Is materialism a blind spot in American Christianity today? More specifically, is materialism a blind spot in your Christianity today? 
Surely this is something we must uncover, for if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to question just how effective we will be in declaring the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth. More pointedly, if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all.  In the end will your wealth serve to be a blessing for you or a millstone around your neck?

DAVID PLATT - FROM THE BOOK "RADICAL"