Today, the President admonished Pastor Jones, encouraging him to "listen to those better angels" who recommend not burning the Quran. There is a united consensus among leaders in America that Pastor Jones should not burn the Muslim books. Political leaders, religious leaders, media elites have uniformly condemned the act. I heard this morning that some--including... Continue Reading →
Burning Fears (Again)
I am posting below an e-mail I received from Barnabas Fund, a Christian organization based in the UK which supports and encourages persecuted Christians. I post it because it makes a great follow-up point from my post yesterday. I really only made the first part of an important point in yesterday's post because I wanted... Continue Reading →
New TV Show on Persecution?
I just came across this information concerning a TV series on persecution. Looks like Anglicans and Roman Catholics are taking the lead. Let's get with it, protestants! You might check this out to see if you can watch the shows. http://archstl.org/archstl/post/suffering-church-%E2%80%93-new-tv-series-ew
Still Here in the Real World
Yet another story from this fearful, fallen place. The real world is not one in which righteousness reigns (at least not yet). This story is from Prisoner Alert. Check out this and other stories at Prisoner Alert's web site. Location: Pakistan Arrested: June 2009 Print Fact Sheet 10/30/2009 Update Asia Bibi, a 37-year-old Pakistani woman... Continue Reading →
Back in the Real World
Pastor killed by gunman A dynamic Christian pastor has died after being shot in the head as he was leaving church, in what is being seen as a bid to intimidate converts from Islam in the strongly Islamic republic of Dagestan. Artur Suleimanov (49), himself a convert from Islam, was murdered by a gunman who... Continue Reading →
World Cup vs. Christ’s Cup
The World Cup exalts one team of individuals above all others. The World Cup exalts a nation, feeding that nation's patriotic self-worship. Surely, it is a lot of fun, especially if yours is the nation exalted. It is glorious to make it to the final 32 teams that enter the World Cup competition. Even more... Continue Reading →
Christian Persecution
There is an occasion of persecution against Christians prevalent in the news right now in the U. K. The case of Dale McAlpine in Great Britain is getting a lot of press (as it should). The case is clearly one of persecution. Mr. McAlpine was neither abusive nor offensive in his actions. The offense clearly... Continue Reading →
Bonhoeffer Not a Martyr
I got into a little back and forth yesterday over at Justin Taylor's blog concerning Dietrich Bonhoeffer. While Bonhoeffer was laudable in some respects, he should not be afforded the title martyr for the simple reason that he was not persecuted as a Christian. His suffering occurred as a result of his political actions against... Continue Reading →
Honor Explaining the Fear
I thought I would offer a brief biography of the men who served as my supervisory committee for the Ph.D. I post this information as a way of honoring these men and explaining why I was so afraid of them! I hold them in very high esteem, and I am still having trouble believing they... Continue Reading →
Morocco
I just read this news article from Morocco (a little behind on my news stories). It prompted me to send a letter to the officials at the bottom of the news article. You may want to do the same.
Gracing Cain
Can you imagine being kind to the thief who stole your new mp3 player? On two different occasions, my wife has had her purse and its contents stolen. I can recall many of our thoughts in response to the theft: anger, cursing, bitterness. We had a strange feeling of being violated and vulnerable, realizing just... Continue Reading →
Not Exactly
World Evangelical Leader and House Church Perspectives Diverge on Status of Religious Freedom in China ChinaAid December 19, 2009 BEIJING--Just before Thanksgiving, the World Evangelical Alliance issued a report on their visit with Three-self and state church leaders in China, calling the meetings "historic" and casting a positive light on the health of religion in... Continue Reading →
Is Islam a Dangerous Religion
To the question of whether Islam is dangerous, I would answer absolutely (strongly agree). Obviously, as a Christian, I think Islam is spiritually dangerous. As a citizen of a western (Judeo-Christian) culture, I would also strongly agree that Islam is dangerous because its adherents have a stated goal of eliminating all such non-Muslim peoples. (Or,... Continue Reading →
Crusades Not Jihad
The persecution blog posted a nice consideration of the distinctions between Islamic jihad and the Crusades. I have included the following paragraph to give you an idea of the thrust of the post: Nor were the Crusades "thoughtless explosions of barbarism," as Riley-Smith accurately characterizes their reputation today. They had a sophisticated underlying rationale, elaborated... Continue Reading →
Muslims Killing Our Brothers
According to this Baptist Press article, our Christian brothers are being hunted down like animals and killed in Somalia. Muslims have killed 13 Christians so far in this manhunt. So, this morning, a wife has no husband, and a daughter has no daddy--all in the name of Islam. No, I don't think all muslims are... Continue Reading →
Gregory C. Cochran 