U.S. condemns Iranian pastor's conviction
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/29/iranian-pastor-refuses-to-reject-religion-faces-execution/?hpt=hp_t2
By Dan Merica, CNN
Washington (CNN) – The White House Thursday condemned the conviction of an Iranian pastor, who may be executed in Tehran for refusing to recant his religious beliefs and convert from Christianity to Islam.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani "has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for people," a White House spokesman said in a statement. "That the Iranian authorities would try to force him to renounce that faith violates the religious values they claim to defend, crosses all bounds of decency and breaches Iran's own international obligations."
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent advisory group appointed by the president and Congress to monitor religious freedom around the world, Wednesday expressed "deep concern" for Nadarkhani, the head of a network of Christian house churches in Iran.
After four days of an appeals trial for apostasy, Nadarkhani refused to recant his beliefs, the commission said. Chairman Leonard Leo said the pastor "is being asked to recant a faith he has always had. Once again, the Iranian regime has demonstrated that it practices hypocritical barbarian practices."
While the trial is closed to the press, Leo said the commission collects information from sources in Iran and around the world.
The commission's statement also called the trial a sham and said Iran is violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a party.
"A decision to impose the death penalty would further demonstrate the Iranian authorities' utter disregard for religious freedom, and highlight Iran's continuing violation of the universal rights of its citizens," the White House statement said. "We call upon the Iranian authorities to release Pastor Nadarkhani and demonstrate a commitment to basic, universal human rights, including freedom of religion."
Nadarkhani was first sentenced to death in November 2010, the commission said, and in order to avoid the death penalty, he is being asked to recant his beliefs and convert to Islam. Leo said an apostasy trial is rare in Iran; the last occurred in 1990.
Iran's claim stems from the pastor's Muslim parents. According to Leo, the court needed to verify if Nadarkhani had ever been a Muslim. In order to be given what Iran claims is the opportunity to recant his beliefs, Nadarkhani must have never been a Muslim before the age of 15, Leo said.
Because he was given the opportunity during the four-day trial, it is apparent that the Iranian court found he was never a Muslim and therefore Nadarkhani could have converted.
According to a source close to the situation within the Commission on International Religious Freedom, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, would have to sign off on the execution. Speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity, the source said such cases in Iran are difficult because of the lack of transparency in leaders' decision-making.
The source also said that in the past, political prisoners have had their prison time and punishment reduced by the Iranian government. Though they did not say that was guaranteed in this situation, the source indicated it was a possibility.
The American Center for Law and Justice, a right-leaning organization founded by television evangelist Pat Robertson, reported Wednesday night that Nadarkhani's death sentence had been overturned, meaning that the pastor would be receiving a lesser punishment. They sourced the claim to someone in Iran.
Those reports could not be independently verified by CNN. The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United Nations failed to comment on the ruling.
Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, said the outcry from Christians in America has been loud and sustained.
"American Christians, like never before, are engaged in this," Sekulow said. "This is evidence that Christians in America over the past decade have done a better job engaging in the persecution issue."
Friday, 30 September 2011
Are "Spiritual Fathers" Supported by The New Testament?
Are "Spiritual Fathers" Supported by The New Testament?
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/commentaries/470-are-qspiritual-fathersq-supported-by-the-new-testament.html
Kato Mivule | September 27, 2011
One of the popular teachings today in Evangelical circles is that of “Spiritual Fathers”, individuals who are supposed to act as mentors, guides, and accountability partners between a Christian and Jesus Christ. Often success, prosperity, fame, blessings, and attaining “the anointing” are tied to this mentor, a.k.a. Spiritual Father, without whom, the believer cannot attain the full blessings of God.
This teaching has become popular due to the trend that Christians today have in the pursuit of monetary success and prosperity. The teaching is also tied to the “Breaking the Curse” teaching, in that believers who don’t have a “Spiritual Father” often “suffer” the prolonged consequences of curses and lack of monetary success and prosperity.
However, the question that critical thinking Christians must ask themselves before submitting to one of the “Spiritual Fathers”, is this teaching biblical, is it supported anywhere in the New Testament? What did Jesus Christ say about “Spiritual Fathers”?
The New Testament does not at any time support the teaching on Spirituals Fathers. The word “Spiritual Father” is not found anywhere in the New Testament. Just like many other extra biblical teachings, the proponents of “Spiritual Father” often take one or two scriptures in the New Testament out of context and then build on that with heavy out of context reliance on the Old Testament as their back up.
Matthew 23:8-10 (NKJV)
8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
Jesus Christ was very clear that we do not call anyone ‘father’ here on earth as we have one Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Spiritual Father, God Creator of Heaven and Earth. The New Testament uses Father in reference to God in Heaven and He is the only one who has authorized blessing for us believers through Jesus Christ, by Grace and not works. No “Spiritual Father” on earth or inside your Church can grant you any blessing, none…
Ephesians 1:2-4(NKJV)
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
On the contrary, The New Testament does support Christian Church Leadership and that must not be confused with “Spiritual Fathers”. Yes, the New Testament speaks about leaders in the Church, Paul the Apostle appointed various leaders in the Churches he opened. However, never did he refer to them as “Spiritual Fathers”. Never did Paul state that blessings and success come from “Spiritual Fathers”.
The concept of "Spiritual Fathers" is used by some for control, manipulation, and monetary gain, driven largely by a Christian’s fear of being “cursed”. The more people who call some individual a “Spiritual Father”, the more that “Spiritual Father” can gain in terms of influence.
When it comes to “Receiving the Anointing”, there is no New Testament backing for such teachings and a Christian does not need a “Spiritual Father” to be anointed. As a matter of fact John the apostle tells us that we are all anointed by the Holy Spirit as Christians after we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
1 John 2(NKJV)
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
The anointing you received from The Holy Spirit is able to teach you all things, that is to say, The Holy Spirit should guide you through God’s Word and your mentor should be Jesus Christ and not a Man who will fail you the next day. The Teaching on “Spiritual Fathers” is about placing a level of trust in a human being but that is disastrous to your spiritual faith as you will discover that humans fail and therefore your true mentor should be Jesus Christ and what He taught and said.
Nowhere does it say in the New Testament that you receive an anointing from your “Spiritual Father”. Yes, we do have Church leaders and their duty is to guide you in your PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ so that you receive directly from The Lord and relate with Him personally, not to serve as intermediaries between you and Jesus Christ.
The most misquoted verse by the proponents of the “Spiritual Fathers” teachings is 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 in which Paul tells the Christians in Corinth that they may have many instructors but not many fathers …
1 Corinthians 4:15 (NKJV)
15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
Paul was not trying to act as an intermediary between Christians and Jesus Christ, he was not telling them to emulate to him per say, but rather that they should submit to Jesus Christ just as Paul had submitted to Jesus Christ. It is reason that Paul used the phrase, “imitate me”. Many proponents of the “Spiritual Fathers” teaching stop there but in 1 Corinthians 11: 1, Paul completes that phrase, “imitate me as I imitate Christ”.
1 Corinthians 11(NKJV)
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
The teaching on “Spiritual Fathers” is not found anywhere in the New Testament and contradicts the Teachings of Jesus Christ on that subject. You don’t need a “Spiritual Father” to be anointed and blessed. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ and anointed us by The Holy Spirit with an anointing that abides with us. Cultivate your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and have no spiritual intermediaries, let Jesus Christ and His Words be your Mentor, and let God of Heaven be your Spiritual Father.
God Bless You.
Kato Mivule
==========================================================
==========================================================
Are we giving fellow humans God’s glory?
Sunday Vision | 25th September, 2011| http://tiny.cc/it29q
THE FAITH DEBATE
Moses Mulondo explores the concept of spiritual fathers
LAST month, I attended a pastor’s conference at Zion Wakening Centre in Bweyogerere, where a Pentecostal bishop from Kenya told believers that those who wished to be successful in church ministry should have both a vision and a spiritual father. One of the participants opposed him, citing St Paul who never had a spiritual father nor any spiritual leader who taught him salvation, yet became one of the greatest apostles.
The pastor was referring to Galatians 1:11-17 where Paul says: “I want you to know, brothers the Gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Pastor Martin Ssempa also opposes the doctrine of calling fellow believers spiritual fathers. “This question needs to be resolved once and for all. There are many people calling themselves our spiritual fathers but let it be known that our one and only spiritual father is God the creator of heaven and earth,” Ssempa argues. The teaching of spiritual fathers has, for long, been emphasised in the Catholic Church more than in any other denomination, as evident in the head of the Catholic Church — the Pope, called the Holy Father.
The Pentecostal church, which started at the beginning of the 20th Century, never classified Jesus’s followers into fathers and children or sons and daughters. They believed that all believers related as equal brothers and sisters working together. They carried the notion that calling some spiritual fathers created inequality in the Church. But today, they teach the importance of having spiritual fathers.
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/commentaries/470-are-qspiritual-fathersq-supported-by-the-new-testament.html
Kato Mivule | September 27, 2011
One of the popular teachings today in Evangelical circles is that of “Spiritual Fathers”, individuals who are supposed to act as mentors, guides, and accountability partners between a Christian and Jesus Christ. Often success, prosperity, fame, blessings, and attaining “the anointing” are tied to this mentor, a.k.a. Spiritual Father, without whom, the believer cannot attain the full blessings of God.
This teaching has become popular due to the trend that Christians today have in the pursuit of monetary success and prosperity. The teaching is also tied to the “Breaking the Curse” teaching, in that believers who don’t have a “Spiritual Father” often “suffer” the prolonged consequences of curses and lack of monetary success and prosperity.
However, the question that critical thinking Christians must ask themselves before submitting to one of the “Spiritual Fathers”, is this teaching biblical, is it supported anywhere in the New Testament? What did Jesus Christ say about “Spiritual Fathers”?
The New Testament does not at any time support the teaching on Spirituals Fathers. The word “Spiritual Father” is not found anywhere in the New Testament. Just like many other extra biblical teachings, the proponents of “Spiritual Father” often take one or two scriptures in the New Testament out of context and then build on that with heavy out of context reliance on the Old Testament as their back up.
Matthew 23:8-10 (NKJV)
8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
Jesus Christ was very clear that we do not call anyone ‘father’ here on earth as we have one Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Spiritual Father, God Creator of Heaven and Earth. The New Testament uses Father in reference to God in Heaven and He is the only one who has authorized blessing for us believers through Jesus Christ, by Grace and not works. No “Spiritual Father” on earth or inside your Church can grant you any blessing, none…
Ephesians 1:2-4(NKJV)
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
On the contrary, The New Testament does support Christian Church Leadership and that must not be confused with “Spiritual Fathers”. Yes, the New Testament speaks about leaders in the Church, Paul the Apostle appointed various leaders in the Churches he opened. However, never did he refer to them as “Spiritual Fathers”. Never did Paul state that blessings and success come from “Spiritual Fathers”.
The concept of "Spiritual Fathers" is used by some for control, manipulation, and monetary gain, driven largely by a Christian’s fear of being “cursed”. The more people who call some individual a “Spiritual Father”, the more that “Spiritual Father” can gain in terms of influence.
When it comes to “Receiving the Anointing”, there is no New Testament backing for such teachings and a Christian does not need a “Spiritual Father” to be anointed. As a matter of fact John the apostle tells us that we are all anointed by the Holy Spirit as Christians after we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
1 John 2(NKJV)
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
The anointing you received from The Holy Spirit is able to teach you all things, that is to say, The Holy Spirit should guide you through God’s Word and your mentor should be Jesus Christ and not a Man who will fail you the next day. The Teaching on “Spiritual Fathers” is about placing a level of trust in a human being but that is disastrous to your spiritual faith as you will discover that humans fail and therefore your true mentor should be Jesus Christ and what He taught and said.
Nowhere does it say in the New Testament that you receive an anointing from your “Spiritual Father”. Yes, we do have Church leaders and their duty is to guide you in your PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ so that you receive directly from The Lord and relate with Him personally, not to serve as intermediaries between you and Jesus Christ.
The most misquoted verse by the proponents of the “Spiritual Fathers” teachings is 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 in which Paul tells the Christians in Corinth that they may have many instructors but not many fathers …
1 Corinthians 4:15 (NKJV)
15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
Paul was not trying to act as an intermediary between Christians and Jesus Christ, he was not telling them to emulate to him per say, but rather that they should submit to Jesus Christ just as Paul had submitted to Jesus Christ. It is reason that Paul used the phrase, “imitate me”. Many proponents of the “Spiritual Fathers” teaching stop there but in 1 Corinthians 11: 1, Paul completes that phrase, “imitate me as I imitate Christ”.
1 Corinthians 11(NKJV)
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
The teaching on “Spiritual Fathers” is not found anywhere in the New Testament and contradicts the Teachings of Jesus Christ on that subject. You don’t need a “Spiritual Father” to be anointed and blessed. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ and anointed us by The Holy Spirit with an anointing that abides with us. Cultivate your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and have no spiritual intermediaries, let Jesus Christ and His Words be your Mentor, and let God of Heaven be your Spiritual Father.
God Bless You.
Kato Mivule
==========================================================
==========================================================
Are we giving fellow humans God’s glory?
Sunday Vision | 25th September, 2011| http://tiny.cc/it29q
THE FAITH DEBATE
Moses Mulondo explores the concept of spiritual fathers
LAST month, I attended a pastor’s conference at Zion Wakening Centre in Bweyogerere, where a Pentecostal bishop from Kenya told believers that those who wished to be successful in church ministry should have both a vision and a spiritual father. One of the participants opposed him, citing St Paul who never had a spiritual father nor any spiritual leader who taught him salvation, yet became one of the greatest apostles.
The pastor was referring to Galatians 1:11-17 where Paul says: “I want you to know, brothers the Gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Pastor Martin Ssempa also opposes the doctrine of calling fellow believers spiritual fathers. “This question needs to be resolved once and for all. There are many people calling themselves our spiritual fathers but let it be known that our one and only spiritual father is God the creator of heaven and earth,” Ssempa argues. The teaching of spiritual fathers has, for long, been emphasised in the Catholic Church more than in any other denomination, as evident in the head of the Catholic Church — the Pope, called the Holy Father.
The Pentecostal church, which started at the beginning of the 20th Century, never classified Jesus’s followers into fathers and children or sons and daughters. They believed that all believers related as equal brothers and sisters working together. They carried the notion that calling some spiritual fathers created inequality in the Church. But today, they teach the importance of having spiritual fathers.
Impunity and Complicity in the Genocide in Rwanda and Congo: African Mercenaries for the American New world order system
Impunity and Complicity in the Genocide in Rwanda and Congo: African Mercenaries for the American New world order system
http://www.antipasministries.com/other/article181.htm
'Dear Brother Jean Baptiste Bagaza, we have the greatest honour to extend our sincere gratitude to you both for your financial and technical support in our struggle that has just ended with the taking of Kigali.
'Rest assured that our plan to continue shall be pursued as we agreed at our last meeting in Kampala. Last week I communicated with our big brother Yoweri Museveni and decided to make some modifications to the plan. Indeed, as you have noted, the taking of Kigali quickly provoked a panic among the Hutus who fled to Goma and Bukavu. We have found that the presence of a large number of Rwandan refugees at Goma and the international community can cause our plan for Zaire to fail. We cannot occupy ourselves with Zaire until after the return of these Hutus. All means are being used for their return as rapidly as possible. In any case, our external intelligence services continue to crisscross the east of Zaire and our Belgian, British and American collaborators, the rest of Zaire. The action reports are expected in the next few days.
Obama requests immunity for Kagame re Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars
http://sfbayview.com/2011/obama-requests-immunity-for-kagame-re-rwanda-genocide-and-congo-wars/
September 14, 2011
Reporting on the mass protest on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in Paris against Kagame’s visit, Susana Sanz Guardo of Basta de Impunidad en Ruanda (Stop Impunity in Rwanda) wrote that an unprecedented 1,300 people from several European countries marched to the Parliament Building protesting Kagame’s human rights abuses in Rwanda and Congo, calling him “genocidaire (someone who commits or advocates genocide).” “The biggest success has been, without doubt, that for the first time Rwandans and Congolese living in Europe, being victims of the policy of Kigali, have joined together in the same march and with one common voice,” she wrote. “For the first time the protest has been massive. This means that they have lost the fear, that we will not stop and that there is no turning back.”
KPFA Weekend News report broadcast Sept. 10, 2011
On Aug. 29, Barack Obama’s State Department filed “Suggestion of Immunity Submitted by the United States of America,” a request for immunity for Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the civil lawsuit Habyarimana vs. Kagame, which alleges Kagame’s guilt in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars and demands damages for the widows of assassinated Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira.
Obama seems to be requesting more legal immunity for a foreign head of state than he himself enjoys, after the landmark Supreme Court case Clinton v. Jones, which established that a sitting president of the United States has no immunity from civil litigation against him for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office.
Plaintiffs' complaint in Habyarimana vs. Kagame promises to prove that then Gen. Paul Kagame, now president of Rwanda, ordered the assassination of Rwandan President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994. The crash triggered the ethnic massacres known as the Rwanda Genocide.
Or will the Obama team argue that Kagame is immune from legal action for assassinating the Rwandan and Burundian presidents because that was part of Kagame’s path to seizing power and is therefore related to his office as president of Rwanda?
Plaintiffs’ counsel say they can prove that Kagame ordered the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents by shooting down their plane, which crashed into the presidential palace in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 6, 1994, triggering the panic and subsequent massacres that came to known as the Rwanda Genocide. The two presidents were returning from peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, called to try to bring an end to the Rwandan civil war of 1990-1994, which began when then Gen. Paul Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Army invaded Rwanda from Uganda on Oct. 2, 1990.
Habyarimana v. Kagame
Habyarimana v. Kagame alleges that Gen. Paul Kagame and nine of his top military commanders and officials are guilty of “wrongful death and murder, crimes against humanity, violation of the rights of life, liberty, and security, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, torture, and continuing conspiracy in furtherance thereof” in Rwanda and its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Plaintiffs allege that many of these crimes, including the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, were committed before Kagame succeeded in overthrowing the government and becoming first a government official and then president.
The suit demands a jury trial, in which evidence would become public record, and might then be included as evidence in a criminal trial.
Peter Erlinder and lawyers Kurt Kerns and John P. Zelbst filed the suit on behalf of Mesdames Habyarimana and Ntaryamira in the federal District Court of Western Oklahoma in Oklahoma City prior to Kagame’s April 30, 2011, commencement address at Oklahoma Christian University.
Kagame failed to answer the complaint within the time allowed, and the court thus declared a default judgment in favor of Mesdames Habyarimana and Ntaryamira.
This judgment could, however, quite likely be overturned if Kagame, Obama and the State Department were willing to let the case proceed on its merits to a jury trial.
Pierre Prosper, a lawyer who served as George Bush’s second United States ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues from 2001 to 2005, is representing Kagame in his claim that he was not properly served with the lawsuit and that he therefore cannot be expected to answer the lawsuit or be declared in default for failing to answer.
Kagame was not properly served?
It seems unlikely that the State Department would have intervened had they expected Pierre Prosper’s challenge of proper service, by a team of experienced lawyers and private investigators, to succeed.
Claude Gatebuke, with other Rwandans and supporters, protested the April 30, 2010, visit of Kagame to Oklahoma Christian University, where he was served with the lawsuit on behalf of the assassinated presidents’ widows. – Photo: Kendall Brown
But it’s difficult to argue that Kagame was not properly served and remains unfamiliar with the lawsuit, considering that his own prosecutors presented portions of it as evidence against law professor Peter Erlinder following his arrest in Kigali, Rwanda, in May 2010, after he arrived to defend opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.
Kagame’s prosecutors’ use of the lawsuit now as evidence against Ingabire herself make it even harder to argue. Ingabire stands in the dock in Kigali, facing a possible sentence on charges of terrorism and “genocide ideology,” i.e., refusing to deny that Hutus as well as Tutsis died in ethnic violence before, during and after the genocide.
Executive immunity after Clinton v. Jones
This is the first time that the U.S. State Department has requested immunity in a civil lawsuit for a foreign head of state in U.S. courts beyond that which U.S. presidents can claim after Clinton v. Jones, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting president of the United States has no immunity from civil litigation against him for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office.
The State Department has claimed immunity for Kagame’s alleged wrongful acts before he became the president of Rwanda, an immunity which Bill Clinton could not claim from Paula Jones’s lawsuit, which she filed when he was president of the United States, suing him for what he allegedly did while he was governor of Arkansas.
On Monday, the wives of the assassinated Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi filed their “Objections to the August 29 State Department Suggestion of Immunity on Behalf of Rwanda’s President Kagame” and cited the State Department statement of interest of the United States of America, No. 1:104 CV 1360 (Feb. 14, 2011) (LMB), declaring that immunity is only applicable to “official acts by a sitting government,” with which all parties agree.
Law professor Peter Erlinder
“It is astounding that the Obama-Clinton-Koh State Department would choose Paul Kagame as the first head of state on whose behalf to assert immunity for unofficial actions,” observes law professor Peter Erlinder, “wrongful acts before becoming head of state, in light of the clear legal guidance of Clinton v. Jones and the factual record of massive crimes committed by Kagame before he became titular head of state under questionable circumstances in 2000 and again in 2003 and considering negative White House comments that ‘an election is not democracy’ after opposition parties were outlawed and journalists expelled and assassinated in the rigged election in August 2010.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who would likely have prevailed over Paul Kagame had he allowed her to run in last year’s presidential election, has endured nearly a year in Rwanda’s maximum security prison and is now on trial.
“The objection on behalf of the presidential widows filed today lists French and Spanish indictments; four U.N. Security Council reports from 2001-2008; a 600-page UNHCHR report of Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity between 1993 and 2003 issued Oct. 1, 2010; and U.N.-ICTR prosecutor reports from 1994 to 2003, all of which confirm massive crimes committed by Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Front that are in the public record.
“The irony of the ‘Suggestion of Immunity’ is compounded because Victoire Ingabire, the would-be presidential candidate against Mr. Kagame whom I attempted to advise in Rwanda in May 2010, which resulted in my own arrest by Kagame on charges of ‘genocide ideology,’ is now in the dock in Kigali facing trumped-up terrorism charges, as reported in the New York Times Sept. 10, 2011, during the same week that the Obama administration has asserted immunity for massive crimes for which Mr. Kagame is charged in multiple criminal indictments and U.N. reports.
“The question is, why IS protecting Mr. Kagame so important for U.S. policy-makers, anyway?”
Habyarimana vs. Kagame, the civil lawsuit, is available here.
Suggestion of Immunity [Kagame’s] submitted by the United States of America is available here.
Objections to the August 29 State Department Suggestion of Immunity on Behalf of Rwanda’s President Kagame is available here.
Ingabire on trial, Kagame in France, Obama for Kagame immunity
Transcript of KPFA Weekend News report broadcast Sept. 10, 2011
KPFA Weekend News Host Cameron Jones: Victoire Ingabire’s trial will resume in Kigali, Rwanda, on Monday, where Ingabire is expected to testify in her own defense. Ingabire is on trial for terrorism and genocide ideology, which, in her case, means refusing to deny that Rwandan Hutus as well as Tutsis died in ethnic violence before, during and after the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.
Law professor Peter Erlinder, arrested last year when he went to Rwanda to defend presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire, is featured in this poster worn by a protester against Rwandan President Kagame’s visit to Paris Sept. 12, 2011.
As Ingabire prepares to testify, Rwandan President Paul Kagame is on his way to France in response to the invitation of French President Nicholas Sarkozy and President Obama has requested immunity for Kagame as a head of state in the civil case, Habyarimana v. Kagame, which alleges Kagame and his officers’ guilt in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars and demands damages for the widows of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira. Ann Garrison has this report:
KPFA/Ann Garrison: As Victoire Ingabire prepares to testify in her own defense, Rwandan President Paul Kagame is on his way to France at the invitation of French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Sarkozy has sent French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé to Asia for the duration of Kagame’s visit.
Juppé has publicly disapproved of the invitation and said that the official Rwandan report on French involvement in the genocide is a collection of lies assembled to stop the investigation of Kagame and his senior officers and government officials’ crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, an investigation conducted by the French court of Jean-Louis Bruguiere.
Susana Sanz Guardo is a principle organizer with Basta de Impunidad en Ruanda – in English, End Impunity in Rwanda – an international organization based in Spain. KPFA spoke to Sanz Guardo as she prepared to travel to France to join Rwandan, Congolese, Burundian and international human rights activists in protesting Sarkozy’s invitation and Kagame’s presence in France.
Susana Sanz Guardo: His visit is really surrounded by a strange atmosphere, and has awakened most human rights organizations, who have asked to be mobilized. Military diplomatic French people are also doing their work, who are all against Kagame’s visit.
KPFA: On Friday, in the United States, President Obama asked a federal court in Oklahoma City to grant Kagame immunity in the civil suit alleging his guilt in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars filed by William Mitchell law professor Peter Erlinder and Wichita lawyer Kurt Kerns. Rwandan American legal scholar Charles Kambanda, a professor at St. John’s University Law School in New York City, had this to say about Obama’s request:
Charles Kambanda: In this case, in my opinion, the interests of the people who have come to this court – of the United States court – are far greater than the interest the United States might have in protecting Kagame. Also the interest the United States has in protecting its image as the pioneer of fighting for the helpless people who are denied their rights by their leaders is far compelling to any interest the president of the U.S. can possibly think of in Kagame’s case.
http://www.antipasministries.com/other/article181.htm
'Dear Brother Jean Baptiste Bagaza, we have the greatest honour to extend our sincere gratitude to you both for your financial and technical support in our struggle that has just ended with the taking of Kigali.
'Rest assured that our plan to continue shall be pursued as we agreed at our last meeting in Kampala. Last week I communicated with our big brother Yoweri Museveni and decided to make some modifications to the plan. Indeed, as you have noted, the taking of Kigali quickly provoked a panic among the Hutus who fled to Goma and Bukavu. We have found that the presence of a large number of Rwandan refugees at Goma and the international community can cause our plan for Zaire to fail. We cannot occupy ourselves with Zaire until after the return of these Hutus. All means are being used for their return as rapidly as possible. In any case, our external intelligence services continue to crisscross the east of Zaire and our Belgian, British and American collaborators, the rest of Zaire. The action reports are expected in the next few days.
Obama requests immunity for Kagame re Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars
http://sfbayview.com/2011/obama-requests-immunity-for-kagame-re-rwanda-genocide-and-congo-wars/
September 14, 2011
Reporting on the mass protest on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in Paris against Kagame’s visit, Susana Sanz Guardo of Basta de Impunidad en Ruanda (Stop Impunity in Rwanda) wrote that an unprecedented 1,300 people from several European countries marched to the Parliament Building protesting Kagame’s human rights abuses in Rwanda and Congo, calling him “genocidaire (someone who commits or advocates genocide).” “The biggest success has been, without doubt, that for the first time Rwandans and Congolese living in Europe, being victims of the policy of Kigali, have joined together in the same march and with one common voice,” she wrote. “For the first time the protest has been massive. This means that they have lost the fear, that we will not stop and that there is no turning back.”
KPFA Weekend News report broadcast Sept. 10, 2011
On Aug. 29, Barack Obama’s State Department filed “Suggestion of Immunity Submitted by the United States of America,” a request for immunity for Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the civil lawsuit Habyarimana vs. Kagame, which alleges Kagame’s guilt in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars and demands damages for the widows of assassinated Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira.
Obama seems to be requesting more legal immunity for a foreign head of state than he himself enjoys, after the landmark Supreme Court case Clinton v. Jones, which established that a sitting president of the United States has no immunity from civil litigation against him for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office.
Plaintiffs' complaint in Habyarimana vs. Kagame promises to prove that then Gen. Paul Kagame, now president of Rwanda, ordered the assassination of Rwandan President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994. The crash triggered the ethnic massacres known as the Rwanda Genocide.
Or will the Obama team argue that Kagame is immune from legal action for assassinating the Rwandan and Burundian presidents because that was part of Kagame’s path to seizing power and is therefore related to his office as president of Rwanda?
Plaintiffs’ counsel say they can prove that Kagame ordered the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents by shooting down their plane, which crashed into the presidential palace in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 6, 1994, triggering the panic and subsequent massacres that came to known as the Rwanda Genocide. The two presidents were returning from peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, called to try to bring an end to the Rwandan civil war of 1990-1994, which began when then Gen. Paul Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Army invaded Rwanda from Uganda on Oct. 2, 1990.
Habyarimana v. Kagame
Habyarimana v. Kagame alleges that Gen. Paul Kagame and nine of his top military commanders and officials are guilty of “wrongful death and murder, crimes against humanity, violation of the rights of life, liberty, and security, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, torture, and continuing conspiracy in furtherance thereof” in Rwanda and its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Plaintiffs allege that many of these crimes, including the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, were committed before Kagame succeeded in overthrowing the government and becoming first a government official and then president.
The suit demands a jury trial, in which evidence would become public record, and might then be included as evidence in a criminal trial.
Peter Erlinder and lawyers Kurt Kerns and John P. Zelbst filed the suit on behalf of Mesdames Habyarimana and Ntaryamira in the federal District Court of Western Oklahoma in Oklahoma City prior to Kagame’s April 30, 2011, commencement address at Oklahoma Christian University.
Kagame failed to answer the complaint within the time allowed, and the court thus declared a default judgment in favor of Mesdames Habyarimana and Ntaryamira.
This judgment could, however, quite likely be overturned if Kagame, Obama and the State Department were willing to let the case proceed on its merits to a jury trial.
Pierre Prosper, a lawyer who served as George Bush’s second United States ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues from 2001 to 2005, is representing Kagame in his claim that he was not properly served with the lawsuit and that he therefore cannot be expected to answer the lawsuit or be declared in default for failing to answer.
Kagame was not properly served?
It seems unlikely that the State Department would have intervened had they expected Pierre Prosper’s challenge of proper service, by a team of experienced lawyers and private investigators, to succeed.
Claude Gatebuke, with other Rwandans and supporters, protested the April 30, 2010, visit of Kagame to Oklahoma Christian University, where he was served with the lawsuit on behalf of the assassinated presidents’ widows. – Photo: Kendall Brown
But it’s difficult to argue that Kagame was not properly served and remains unfamiliar with the lawsuit, considering that his own prosecutors presented portions of it as evidence against law professor Peter Erlinder following his arrest in Kigali, Rwanda, in May 2010, after he arrived to defend opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.
Kagame’s prosecutors’ use of the lawsuit now as evidence against Ingabire herself make it even harder to argue. Ingabire stands in the dock in Kigali, facing a possible sentence on charges of terrorism and “genocide ideology,” i.e., refusing to deny that Hutus as well as Tutsis died in ethnic violence before, during and after the genocide.
Executive immunity after Clinton v. Jones
This is the first time that the U.S. State Department has requested immunity in a civil lawsuit for a foreign head of state in U.S. courts beyond that which U.S. presidents can claim after Clinton v. Jones, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting president of the United States has no immunity from civil litigation against him for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office.
The State Department has claimed immunity for Kagame’s alleged wrongful acts before he became the president of Rwanda, an immunity which Bill Clinton could not claim from Paula Jones’s lawsuit, which she filed when he was president of the United States, suing him for what he allegedly did while he was governor of Arkansas.
On Monday, the wives of the assassinated Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi filed their “Objections to the August 29 State Department Suggestion of Immunity on Behalf of Rwanda’s President Kagame” and cited the State Department statement of interest of the United States of America, No. 1:104 CV 1360 (Feb. 14, 2011) (LMB), declaring that immunity is only applicable to “official acts by a sitting government,” with which all parties agree.
Law professor Peter Erlinder
“It is astounding that the Obama-Clinton-Koh State Department would choose Paul Kagame as the first head of state on whose behalf to assert immunity for unofficial actions,” observes law professor Peter Erlinder, “wrongful acts before becoming head of state, in light of the clear legal guidance of Clinton v. Jones and the factual record of massive crimes committed by Kagame before he became titular head of state under questionable circumstances in 2000 and again in 2003 and considering negative White House comments that ‘an election is not democracy’ after opposition parties were outlawed and journalists expelled and assassinated in the rigged election in August 2010.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who would likely have prevailed over Paul Kagame had he allowed her to run in last year’s presidential election, has endured nearly a year in Rwanda’s maximum security prison and is now on trial.
“The objection on behalf of the presidential widows filed today lists French and Spanish indictments; four U.N. Security Council reports from 2001-2008; a 600-page UNHCHR report of Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity between 1993 and 2003 issued Oct. 1, 2010; and U.N.-ICTR prosecutor reports from 1994 to 2003, all of which confirm massive crimes committed by Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Front that are in the public record.
“The irony of the ‘Suggestion of Immunity’ is compounded because Victoire Ingabire, the would-be presidential candidate against Mr. Kagame whom I attempted to advise in Rwanda in May 2010, which resulted in my own arrest by Kagame on charges of ‘genocide ideology,’ is now in the dock in Kigali facing trumped-up terrorism charges, as reported in the New York Times Sept. 10, 2011, during the same week that the Obama administration has asserted immunity for massive crimes for which Mr. Kagame is charged in multiple criminal indictments and U.N. reports.
“The question is, why IS protecting Mr. Kagame so important for U.S. policy-makers, anyway?”
Habyarimana vs. Kagame, the civil lawsuit, is available here.
Suggestion of Immunity [Kagame’s] submitted by the United States of America is available here.
Objections to the August 29 State Department Suggestion of Immunity on Behalf of Rwanda’s President Kagame is available here.
Ingabire on trial, Kagame in France, Obama for Kagame immunity
Transcript of KPFA Weekend News report broadcast Sept. 10, 2011
KPFA Weekend News Host Cameron Jones: Victoire Ingabire’s trial will resume in Kigali, Rwanda, on Monday, where Ingabire is expected to testify in her own defense. Ingabire is on trial for terrorism and genocide ideology, which, in her case, means refusing to deny that Rwandan Hutus as well as Tutsis died in ethnic violence before, during and after the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.
Law professor Peter Erlinder, arrested last year when he went to Rwanda to defend presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire, is featured in this poster worn by a protester against Rwandan President Kagame’s visit to Paris Sept. 12, 2011.
As Ingabire prepares to testify, Rwandan President Paul Kagame is on his way to France in response to the invitation of French President Nicholas Sarkozy and President Obama has requested immunity for Kagame as a head of state in the civil case, Habyarimana v. Kagame, which alleges Kagame and his officers’ guilt in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars and demands damages for the widows of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira. Ann Garrison has this report:
KPFA/Ann Garrison: As Victoire Ingabire prepares to testify in her own defense, Rwandan President Paul Kagame is on his way to France at the invitation of French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Sarkozy has sent French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé to Asia for the duration of Kagame’s visit.
Juppé has publicly disapproved of the invitation and said that the official Rwandan report on French involvement in the genocide is a collection of lies assembled to stop the investigation of Kagame and his senior officers and government officials’ crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, an investigation conducted by the French court of Jean-Louis Bruguiere.
Susana Sanz Guardo is a principle organizer with Basta de Impunidad en Ruanda – in English, End Impunity in Rwanda – an international organization based in Spain. KPFA spoke to Sanz Guardo as she prepared to travel to France to join Rwandan, Congolese, Burundian and international human rights activists in protesting Sarkozy’s invitation and Kagame’s presence in France.
Susana Sanz Guardo: His visit is really surrounded by a strange atmosphere, and has awakened most human rights organizations, who have asked to be mobilized. Military diplomatic French people are also doing their work, who are all against Kagame’s visit.
KPFA: On Friday, in the United States, President Obama asked a federal court in Oklahoma City to grant Kagame immunity in the civil suit alleging his guilt in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars filed by William Mitchell law professor Peter Erlinder and Wichita lawyer Kurt Kerns. Rwandan American legal scholar Charles Kambanda, a professor at St. John’s University Law School in New York City, had this to say about Obama’s request:
Charles Kambanda: In this case, in my opinion, the interests of the people who have come to this court – of the United States court – are far greater than the interest the United States might have in protecting Kagame. Also the interest the United States has in protecting its image as the pioneer of fighting for the helpless people who are denied their rights by their leaders is far compelling to any interest the president of the U.S. can possibly think of in Kagame’s case.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Are Christians Bound By Generational Curses? No!
Are Christians Bound By Generational Curses? No!
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/commentaries/469-are-christians-bound-by-generational-curses-no.html
Kato Mivule | September 20, 2011
An article appeared in the Ugandan Weekly, Sunday Vision September 17, 2011 that questioned if Christians are cursed. There is a popular teaching among Evangelical Christians in Uganda that Christians remain cursed until those curses are “broken” by some anointed Man or Woman of God. Usually, those who are deemed cursed are the poor, weak, destitute, unemployed, sick, and those facing various challenges of life.
One of the remedies for “breaking” the curse is to give “seed” money to preachers so as to “break” the curse. The teaching has become very popular given the current global economic malaise, that poor Christians will take the little savings they have and “sow the seed” into the ministries of these predatory preachers.
The popularity of these “breaking the curse” teachings caught the attention of media that the Ugandan Weekly, Sunday Vision published an article on the subject (see below). The catch phrase that these predatory preachers use is “if you are poor then you are cursed”. Thus many ignorant poor Christians give all they have as “seed money” so as to “break” the curse in hopes of getting a job.
However, the New Testament is very clear when it comes to the subject of being cursed. The only time the New Testament mentions about curses and deliverance is in Galatians 3; the New Testament is very clear that those who are in Christ Jesus have been redeemed from the Curse and by Grace and not works. This means that no one can buy their way out of being cursed by giving “seed money” to preachers for deliverance. Redemption from the Curse is a free gift from God through Jesus Christ by Grace and not works.
Galatians 3: 10- 13 (NKJV):
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Therefore don’t waste your time and money by giving it to predatory preachers who mentally try to sway you that you are cursed. You have been redeemed from all curses in Christ Jesus as a free gift and that comes with your Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Now, this does not mean that you will not go through hard times, yes, you will face challenges in life but that does not mean you are cursed. Jesus Christ suffered and endured, Paul the apostle endured sufferings and difficult times, many Christians have had to endure suffering and pain but that does not mean that they were cursed.
In fact they turned those life challenges into good. They saw those life challenges as stepping stones for the better. Remember that Jesus Christ did not save His own to turn around and curse them; that is a lie from Satan and not from Jesus Christ. You are blessed, yes, even when you go through hard times, and face difficult challenges of life; you are blessed in Christ Jesus.
Are Christians bound by generational curses?
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=525&newsId=765923
Sunday Vision September 17, 2011
THE FAITH DEBATE
Maureen Nakatudde asked several religious leaders to offer their advice... JONATHAN has been in the church for five years. He is a born again Christian, but has failed to find a job. Many of his schoolmates got jobs as soon as they graduated. He wonders what went wrong. To make matters worse, when the pastor comes to the pulpit, he says if you have been in a bad situation for long, you have generational curses. Jonathan’s pastor is not the only one who lauds the songs of generational curses. Many religious leaders do. But many other church leaders argue that immediately a person becomes born-again, the generational curse stops. So, what is the truth?
VINCENT KASHAIJA New Hope Missions, Matugga: “The Bible says all things become new when a person accepts Jesus Christ as his personal saviour. Therefore, there is no way a person can have generation curses if he or she is born again.” In addition, the Bible forbids people to say children pay for their parents’ sins. Jeremiah 31:29 states: “In those days, people will no longer say, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
Pastor Vincent Kashaija: Deuteronomy 24:16 says fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; instead, everyone will die for his own sin. The preachers who dismiss this teaching of curses among Christians also always make reference to John 8:36, where Jesus said: “He whom the Son sets free is free indeed!” Kashaija says today people have different doctrines, depending on the churches they belong to.
JAMES MBALIRE, Universal Church of God: “If a person gets saved and is not filled with the Holy Spirit, he or she can continue having the generational curses. In order to break the spell of a generational curse, Mbalire advises one to devote him or herself to prayer and repentance of all the sins committed. He adds that the person should turn away from evil; otherwise the curses will return and the person shall be worse off than before, so the Bible says. Even though as a Christian you have been sanctified, make sure that you leave no gap for the devil. Kashaija says the demons always look for an empty gap to fill and this time when they return, they will be more. (Mathew 12:45: The spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself). Mbalire concludes: “When you pray, always believe that God has answered your prayers and you are free from all the curses of the enemy.” He adds: “Christians should look out for any familiar traits in their families and tackle them so that they do not follow them or their children.”
Have you seen traits such as fornication, witchcraft, illiteracy, poverty and theft in your family? Analyse your life and see where it is heading to. If it inclines towards that direction, the best option is to have a will not to be like your relatives with those traits. Also, ask God to transform you. Remember God will help you if have faith in Him.
Published on: Saturday, 17th September, 2011
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/commentaries/469-are-christians-bound-by-generational-curses-no.html
Kato Mivule | September 20, 2011
An article appeared in the Ugandan Weekly, Sunday Vision September 17, 2011 that questioned if Christians are cursed. There is a popular teaching among Evangelical Christians in Uganda that Christians remain cursed until those curses are “broken” by some anointed Man or Woman of God. Usually, those who are deemed cursed are the poor, weak, destitute, unemployed, sick, and those facing various challenges of life.
One of the remedies for “breaking” the curse is to give “seed” money to preachers so as to “break” the curse. The teaching has become very popular given the current global economic malaise, that poor Christians will take the little savings they have and “sow the seed” into the ministries of these predatory preachers.
The popularity of these “breaking the curse” teachings caught the attention of media that the Ugandan Weekly, Sunday Vision published an article on the subject (see below). The catch phrase that these predatory preachers use is “if you are poor then you are cursed”. Thus many ignorant poor Christians give all they have as “seed money” so as to “break” the curse in hopes of getting a job.
However, the New Testament is very clear when it comes to the subject of being cursed. The only time the New Testament mentions about curses and deliverance is in Galatians 3; the New Testament is very clear that those who are in Christ Jesus have been redeemed from the Curse and by Grace and not works. This means that no one can buy their way out of being cursed by giving “seed money” to preachers for deliverance. Redemption from the Curse is a free gift from God through Jesus Christ by Grace and not works.
Galatians 3: 10- 13 (NKJV):
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Therefore don’t waste your time and money by giving it to predatory preachers who mentally try to sway you that you are cursed. You have been redeemed from all curses in Christ Jesus as a free gift and that comes with your Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Now, this does not mean that you will not go through hard times, yes, you will face challenges in life but that does not mean you are cursed. Jesus Christ suffered and endured, Paul the apostle endured sufferings and difficult times, many Christians have had to endure suffering and pain but that does not mean that they were cursed.
In fact they turned those life challenges into good. They saw those life challenges as stepping stones for the better. Remember that Jesus Christ did not save His own to turn around and curse them; that is a lie from Satan and not from Jesus Christ. You are blessed, yes, even when you go through hard times, and face difficult challenges of life; you are blessed in Christ Jesus.
Are Christians bound by generational curses?
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=525&newsId=765923
Sunday Vision September 17, 2011
THE FAITH DEBATE
Maureen Nakatudde asked several religious leaders to offer their advice... JONATHAN has been in the church for five years. He is a born again Christian, but has failed to find a job. Many of his schoolmates got jobs as soon as they graduated. He wonders what went wrong. To make matters worse, when the pastor comes to the pulpit, he says if you have been in a bad situation for long, you have generational curses. Jonathan’s pastor is not the only one who lauds the songs of generational curses. Many religious leaders do. But many other church leaders argue that immediately a person becomes born-again, the generational curse stops. So, what is the truth?
VINCENT KASHAIJA New Hope Missions, Matugga: “The Bible says all things become new when a person accepts Jesus Christ as his personal saviour. Therefore, there is no way a person can have generation curses if he or she is born again.” In addition, the Bible forbids people to say children pay for their parents’ sins. Jeremiah 31:29 states: “In those days, people will no longer say, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
Pastor Vincent Kashaija: Deuteronomy 24:16 says fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; instead, everyone will die for his own sin. The preachers who dismiss this teaching of curses among Christians also always make reference to John 8:36, where Jesus said: “He whom the Son sets free is free indeed!” Kashaija says today people have different doctrines, depending on the churches they belong to.
JAMES MBALIRE, Universal Church of God: “If a person gets saved and is not filled with the Holy Spirit, he or she can continue having the generational curses. In order to break the spell of a generational curse, Mbalire advises one to devote him or herself to prayer and repentance of all the sins committed. He adds that the person should turn away from evil; otherwise the curses will return and the person shall be worse off than before, so the Bible says. Even though as a Christian you have been sanctified, make sure that you leave no gap for the devil. Kashaija says the demons always look for an empty gap to fill and this time when they return, they will be more. (Mathew 12:45: The spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself). Mbalire concludes: “When you pray, always believe that God has answered your prayers and you are free from all the curses of the enemy.” He adds: “Christians should look out for any familiar traits in their families and tackle them so that they do not follow them or their children.”
Have you seen traits such as fornication, witchcraft, illiteracy, poverty and theft in your family? Analyse your life and see where it is heading to. If it inclines towards that direction, the best option is to have a will not to be like your relatives with those traits. Also, ask God to transform you. Remember God will help you if have faith in Him.
Published on: Saturday, 17th September, 2011
Lawrence Brewer Executed: White Supremacist Executed For Texas Dragging Murder
Lawrence Brewer Executed: White Supremacist Executed For Texas Dragging Murder
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/lawrence-russell-brewer-executed_n_974926.html
HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- White supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.
Byrd, 49, was chained to the back of a pickup truck and pulled whip-like to his death along a bumpy asphalt road in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history.
Brewer, 44, was asked if he had any final words, to which he replied: "No. I have no final statement."
He glanced at his parents watching through a nearby window, took several deep breaths and closed his eyes. A single tear hung on the edge of his right eye as he was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., 10 minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arms, both covered with intricate black tattoos.
Byrd's sisters also were among the witnesses in an adjacent room.
"Hopefully, today's execution of Brewer can remind all of us that racial hatred and prejudice leads to terrible consequence for the victim, the victim's family, for the perpetrator and for the perpetrator's family," Clara Taylor, one of Byrd's sisters, said.
She called the punishment "a step in the right direction."
"We're making progress," Taylor said. "I know he was guilty so I have no qualms about the death penalty."
Appeals to the courts for Brewer were exhausted and no last-day attempts to save his life were filed.
Besides Brewer, John William King, now 36, also was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row for Byrd's death, which shocked the nation for its brutality. King's conviction and death sentence remain under appeal. A third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life prison term.
"One down and one to go," Billy Rowles, the retired Jasper County sheriff who first investigated the horrific scene, said. "That's kind of cruel but that's reality."
It was about 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday, June 7, 1998, when witnesses saw Byrd walking on a road not far from his home in Jasper, a town of more than 7,000 about 125 miles northeast of Houston. Many folks knew he lived off disability checks, couldn't afford his own car and walked where he needed to go. Another witness then saw him riding in the bed of a dark pickup.
Six hours later and some 10 miles away on Huff Creek Road, the bloody mess found after daybreak was thought at first to be animal road kill. Rowles, a former Texas state trooper who had taken office as sheriff the previous year, believed it was a hit-and-run fatality but evidence didn't match up with someone caught beneath a vehicle. Body parts were scattered and the blood trail began with footprints at what appeared to be the scene of a scuffle.
"I didn't go down that road too far before I knew this was going to be a bad deal," he said at Brewer's trial.
Fingerprints taken from the headless torso identified the victim as Byrd.
Testimony showed the three men and Byrd drove out into the county about 10 miles and stopped along an isolated logging road. A fight broke out and the outnumbered Byrd was tied to the truck bumper with a 24 1/2-foot logging chain. Three miles later, what was left of his shredded remains was dumped between a black church and cemetery where the pavement ended on the remote road.
Brewer, King and Berry were in custody by the end of the next day.
The crime put Jasper under a national spotlight and lured the likes of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers, among others, to try to exploit the notoriety of the case which continues – many say unfairly – to brand Jasper more than a decade later.
King was tried first, in Jasper. Brewer's trial was moved 150 miles away to Bryan. Berry was tried back in Jasper. DNA showed Byrd's blood on all three of them.
Brewer was from Sulphur Springs, about 180 miles to the northwest, and had been convicted of cocaine possession. He met King, a convicted burglar from Jasper, in a Texas prison where they got involved in a KKK splinter group known as the Confederate Knights of America and adorned themselves with racist tattoos. Evidence showed Brewer had violated parole and was involved in a number of burglaries and thefts in the Jasper area.
King had become friends with Berry and moved into Berry's place. Evidence showed Brewer came to Jasper to stay with them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/lawrence-russell-brewer-executed_n_974926.html
HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- White supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.
Byrd, 49, was chained to the back of a pickup truck and pulled whip-like to his death along a bumpy asphalt road in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history.
Brewer, 44, was asked if he had any final words, to which he replied: "No. I have no final statement."
He glanced at his parents watching through a nearby window, took several deep breaths and closed his eyes. A single tear hung on the edge of his right eye as he was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., 10 minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arms, both covered with intricate black tattoos.
Byrd's sisters also were among the witnesses in an adjacent room.
"Hopefully, today's execution of Brewer can remind all of us that racial hatred and prejudice leads to terrible consequence for the victim, the victim's family, for the perpetrator and for the perpetrator's family," Clara Taylor, one of Byrd's sisters, said.
She called the punishment "a step in the right direction."
"We're making progress," Taylor said. "I know he was guilty so I have no qualms about the death penalty."
Appeals to the courts for Brewer were exhausted and no last-day attempts to save his life were filed.
Besides Brewer, John William King, now 36, also was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row for Byrd's death, which shocked the nation for its brutality. King's conviction and death sentence remain under appeal. A third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life prison term.
"One down and one to go," Billy Rowles, the retired Jasper County sheriff who first investigated the horrific scene, said. "That's kind of cruel but that's reality."
It was about 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday, June 7, 1998, when witnesses saw Byrd walking on a road not far from his home in Jasper, a town of more than 7,000 about 125 miles northeast of Houston. Many folks knew he lived off disability checks, couldn't afford his own car and walked where he needed to go. Another witness then saw him riding in the bed of a dark pickup.
Six hours later and some 10 miles away on Huff Creek Road, the bloody mess found after daybreak was thought at first to be animal road kill. Rowles, a former Texas state trooper who had taken office as sheriff the previous year, believed it was a hit-and-run fatality but evidence didn't match up with someone caught beneath a vehicle. Body parts were scattered and the blood trail began with footprints at what appeared to be the scene of a scuffle.
"I didn't go down that road too far before I knew this was going to be a bad deal," he said at Brewer's trial.
Fingerprints taken from the headless torso identified the victim as Byrd.
Testimony showed the three men and Byrd drove out into the county about 10 miles and stopped along an isolated logging road. A fight broke out and the outnumbered Byrd was tied to the truck bumper with a 24 1/2-foot logging chain. Three miles later, what was left of his shredded remains was dumped between a black church and cemetery where the pavement ended on the remote road.
Brewer, King and Berry were in custody by the end of the next day.
The crime put Jasper under a national spotlight and lured the likes of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers, among others, to try to exploit the notoriety of the case which continues – many say unfairly – to brand Jasper more than a decade later.
King was tried first, in Jasper. Brewer's trial was moved 150 miles away to Bryan. Berry was tried back in Jasper. DNA showed Byrd's blood on all three of them.
Brewer was from Sulphur Springs, about 180 miles to the northwest, and had been convicted of cocaine possession. He met King, a convicted burglar from Jasper, in a Texas prison where they got involved in a KKK splinter group known as the Confederate Knights of America and adorned themselves with racist tattoos. Evidence showed Brewer had violated parole and was involved in a number of burglaries and thefts in the Jasper area.
King had become friends with Berry and moved into Berry's place. Evidence showed Brewer came to Jasper to stay with them.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
THE DAY THE UGANDA MEDIA CONFRONTED THE ROTTEN PROSPERITY GOSPEL IN UGANDA
Prosperity and the gospel
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=525&newsId=577140
The Sunday Vision undercover report on prosperity preachers has ignited a debate about the authenticity of the prosperity gospel. Moses Mulondo sought out the views of Francis Katongole, a prominent prosperity preacher, and Alex Mitala, the chairman of the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches...
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Apostle Francis Katongole
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Is the prosperity gospel in line with the Gospel?
If the prosperity gospel is removed from salvation, then Jesus’ coming was in vain. Salvation is not only about one thing: it includes holiness, healing, faith, hope, and prosperity as well.
In Galatians 1:8, St. Paul tells the Galatians that if anyone preaches a gospel different from the one that he preached to them, should be cursed.
Paul was not referring to the prosperity gospel. This is because Paul himself was a preacher of the prosperity gospel. Read 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Apostle Alex Mitala recently advised Christians to run away from a church where a different gospel overshadows the gospel of repentance. What is your take on that?
Well, when what is preached overshadows the repentance gospel, it doesn’t mean that what is being preached is wrong. That doesn’t remove the truth. That doesn’t mean it should not be preached. All we need is to balance the different gospels preached. You have to preach about holiness, faith, healing and money. You get it, sow it and keep some.
What is repentance? I think repentance should be preached to the non-believers. Do you think people come to church to repent? Do you think we always have to be preaching repentance in the church to people who repented? The answer is no. If the dominant gospel preached in the church is of repentance, that means we are not yet saved.
But 1John 1:8 says: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
That means whether you are a pastor or an apostle we all sin somewhere somehow. What about that? I think the kind of repentance talked about in that scripture is that you don’t have to judge others, while thinking you are so holy.
So do you mean there are some people in the church who have reached a level where they no longer need repentance?
No. If the need of a person is repentance and yet there is no repentance gospel in the church, one is free to leave the church.
What did Jesus mean when he said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the rest shall be added unto you”?
The Kingdom of God is not only about holy living. It embraces a lot of things including the material wellbeing of believers. Seeking his kingdom, therefore, means seeking all the knowledge about his kingdom, including the prosperity knowledge. It is through the preaching of the gospel of prosperity that a person acquires the knowledge that will lead him to a prosperous life.
So if you are putting material things in the bracket of the Kingdom of God, what then is in the category of the rest that shall be added unto us?
The answer to that is simple. Once you have acquired the knowledge about how to become rich through the prosperity gospel, then afterwards riches will come to you if you have put that knowledge in practice. The kingdom is a package.
The gospel of repentance should be preached everywhere, but for those who are already saved, they need more than a repentance gospel. They need the gospel of hope, faith, healing, and prosperity as well. It is the combination of all these that makes up the salvation that Jesus brought.
If a person sows, gives, and tithes but when he or she is still walking under sin, will that person reap?
Instead it is an abomination and a sin for a person who is still a sinner to give and tithe. God is holy and looks at the purity of the hearts of those that give. He doesn’t reward those with impure hearts.
Is it true that the more money one sows in the church the more one prospers, as some prosperity gospel preachers say?
It is true. But it is matter of time. Some reap soon, others take longer. It is God, to whom the gifts are given, who decides the reaping time. In Luke 6 Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given back to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your lap. Another scripture in 2 Corinthians 9:6 says: “He who sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he who sows plentifully shall reap plentifully.
But there are many people who become rich without sowing.
That’s true. Actually there are three major ways of getting rich: working, begging, and stealing. You can get rich in any way, but once you are a child of God who has been washed by the blood of Jesus, God asks you to give to Him back part of your wealth. If you fail to do that, then there is a problem between you and your Maker. You are expected to use your money for the work of God and through that God, blesses you.
-----------------------------------
Apostle Alex Mitala
------------------------------------
Is the prosperity gospel the Gospel of Jesus?
First of all, people need to understand that there is nothing called the prosperity gospel. That description is a creation of the media and other misinformed people.
As a theologian, I know that the Gospel of Jesus is one but with different components or ingredients. It would be a serious mistake if I said sowing and giving offerings are not biblical. The truth is that they are components of the Gospel of Jesus. The mistake only comes in emphasising a particular component of the Gospel.
Does that mean that you believe in the teaching: The more you sow in a church the more you will reap?
The Bible doesn’t restrict sowing to the Church. That is the major thing people need to know. While the tithes and offerings are restricted to the Church, giving or sowing is not restricted to the Church.
You can sow outside the Church by feeding the hungry, helping needy people like orphans and widows, and in many other ways as you please. The Bible says God will reward you for that.
What is your interpretation of the scripture: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
To seek the kingdom of God is to do godly acts that propel you towards becoming a new creature that is in the nature of God. Jesus was mainly referring to nonbelievers who had not yet accepted him as their personal saviour. But after one has embraced the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, then all the benefits that are supposed to be enjoyed by the children of the kingdom come to them.
Is seeking riches part of seeking the kingdom of God?
Riches, cars, marriage, etc, are in the category of the rest, which have to be added unto us afterwards. It is God’s desire that your life is transformed before you can get all these things. That is because if you are not transformed you cannot be a good steward of these things. Even marriage cannot stand the storms of life if the marriage partners don’t have the character of Jesus Christ.
Many churches teach more on wealth than holiness. Is that okay?
It is not okay. The foundation of Christianity is the gospel of holiness. However, my message on this goes to all religions. I warn anyone who claims to be following Jesus Christ: If there is no move in your church to abandon our sinful nature, then run away from it. You can only claim to be a child of God if your deeds are godly.
In Romans 6, the Bible says the Kingdom of God is about holy living. That is what it means to be born again. And that is what Jesus meant when he said: “By their fruits you shall know them.
The media leaves out the positive news — like stories about people who were drunkards, prostitutes and witchdoctors, but who have changed their lifestyles after getting saved. When a mulokole steals it is news, but when a Catholic or Muslim steals, it is not news.
You are the leader of born-again churches in Uganda. What are you planning to do to counter the acts of pastors robbing their flock?
That is a common mistake the media makes. I am not the leader of all born-again churches. There are many umbrella organisations for balokole. I only lead one of them, called the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches. There are others like the Evangelical Fellowship. It doesn’t mean those who don’t belong to my organisation are not born-again Christians, and there are also many churches that don’t belong anywhere.
Pastors of such churches act independently for fear of checks and balances from the codes of conduct of the existing umbrella organisations. It is in that category that you get many churches like that of William Muwanguzi in Namulanda.
What you have said seems to give a picture of a church that is segmented. Don’t you think there is need for unity to bring all these churches under one leadership?
The thinking that churches are segmented is your assumption. The purpose of the umbrella groups I have talked about is for checks and balances, not leadership. Pentecostals don’t operate like the Catholics, who are under the leadership of one Pope.
We reserve that glory for Jesus Christ as the leader of the Church, because that is what the Bible teaches us.
For instance, the Anglican Church, which is under the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is currently grappling with the problem of gay bishops. Spiritual leadership is therefore not the problem.
What should be the way forward for the mushrooming fake churches you have talked about?
We have come up with a resolution requesting the Government to formulate an Act of Parliament regulating and guiding all religious denominations in the country. The act of registering churches or mosques as NGOs and companies should also stop.
Registration of churches should be removed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity. In this ministry, there is need to establish a strict religious affairs department to monitor religious activities in the country.
Otherwise, our people will continue to fall prey to the predatory hands of these ill-intentioned churches similar to that of Joseph Kibwetere in Kanungu. But of course these regulations should not deprive people of their freedom of worship.
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
Monday, 22 August 2011
Cabinet drops Bahati’s gay Bill
Cabinet drops Bahati’s gay Bill
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1223104/-/bjwa2vz/-/index.html
By SHEILA NATURINDA
Posted Monday, August 22 2011 at 12:57
Cabinet has finally thrown out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 on the advice of Mr Adolf Mwesige, the ruling party lawyer. However, Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, the architect of the Bill, insists the proposed legislation is now property of Parliament and that the Executive should stop “playing hide- and- seek games” on the matter.
The decision to throw out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was made at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday where Mr Mwesige, according to sources, told ministers that the Bill was unnecessary since government has a number of laws in place criminalising homosexual activities.
“We agreed that government should search the law archives and get some of the laws, enforce them rather than having another new piece of legislation,” a source said. “He [Mwesige] said the Bill is overtaken by events and that donors and other sections of the public were not comfortable.”
The Bill seeks to criminalise all same-sex relations in the country and proposes the death penalty for sodomy. Mr Bahati and his group maintain that the country should have stronger laws against homosexuality in order to protect the moral fabric that holds society intact.
“The future of this country’s children will be determined by the peoples’ representatives in Parliament,” Mr Bahati said during a phone interview on Saturday.
snaturinda@ug.nationmedia.com
Uganda strikes down bid to revive anti-gay bill
http://af.reuters.com/article/ugandaNews/idAFL5E7JN1YS20110823
Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:46pm GMT
KAMPALA Aug 23 (Reuters) - Uganda's cabinet has blocked an attempt by some legislators to reintroduce a bill that called for the death penalty for gays who are considered "repeat offenders".
The small but vocal anti-gay movement in Uganda, spearheaded by several MPs and a group of bishops, won notoriety when the legislation was originally introduced in 2009.
U.S. President Barack Obama denounced it as "odious" and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject it.
"We discussed that bill in cabinet last week and after views from everyone were heard and debated, a decision was unanimously taken to drop that proposed law," Ugandan Attorney General Peter Nyombi told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The position of the cabinet is that there's already sufficient law to take care of all crimes envisaged by the proposed anti-homosexuality bill."
The legislation was not passed during the east African country's last parliamentary session but a group of government MPs had vowed to reintroduce it. Political analysts in Uganda say the decision by the cabinet to come out publicly against it should mean it cannot be passed in the near future.
The bill had been quietly shelved under pressure from foreign governments and gay rights groups before, but activists feared it would end up being passed after President Yoweri Museveni's February election victory. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by Barry Malone; Editing by Richard Lough and Mark Heinrich)
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1223104/-/bjwa2vz/-/index.html
By SHEILA NATURINDA
Posted Monday, August 22 2011 at 12:57
Cabinet has finally thrown out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 on the advice of Mr Adolf Mwesige, the ruling party lawyer. However, Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, the architect of the Bill, insists the proposed legislation is now property of Parliament and that the Executive should stop “playing hide- and- seek games” on the matter.
The decision to throw out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was made at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday where Mr Mwesige, according to sources, told ministers that the Bill was unnecessary since government has a number of laws in place criminalising homosexual activities.
“We agreed that government should search the law archives and get some of the laws, enforce them rather than having another new piece of legislation,” a source said. “He [Mwesige] said the Bill is overtaken by events and that donors and other sections of the public were not comfortable.”
The Bill seeks to criminalise all same-sex relations in the country and proposes the death penalty for sodomy. Mr Bahati and his group maintain that the country should have stronger laws against homosexuality in order to protect the moral fabric that holds society intact.
“The future of this country’s children will be determined by the peoples’ representatives in Parliament,” Mr Bahati said during a phone interview on Saturday.
snaturinda@ug.nationmedia.com
Uganda strikes down bid to revive anti-gay bill
http://af.reuters.com/article/ugandaNews/idAFL5E7JN1YS20110823
Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:46pm GMT
KAMPALA Aug 23 (Reuters) - Uganda's cabinet has blocked an attempt by some legislators to reintroduce a bill that called for the death penalty for gays who are considered "repeat offenders".
The small but vocal anti-gay movement in Uganda, spearheaded by several MPs and a group of bishops, won notoriety when the legislation was originally introduced in 2009.
U.S. President Barack Obama denounced it as "odious" and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject it.
"We discussed that bill in cabinet last week and after views from everyone were heard and debated, a decision was unanimously taken to drop that proposed law," Ugandan Attorney General Peter Nyombi told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The position of the cabinet is that there's already sufficient law to take care of all crimes envisaged by the proposed anti-homosexuality bill."
The legislation was not passed during the east African country's last parliamentary session but a group of government MPs had vowed to reintroduce it. Political analysts in Uganda say the decision by the cabinet to come out publicly against it should mean it cannot be passed in the near future.
The bill had been quietly shelved under pressure from foreign governments and gay rights groups before, but activists feared it would end up being passed after President Yoweri Museveni's February election victory. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by Barry Malone; Editing by Richard Lough and Mark Heinrich)
Friday, 19 August 2011
Girl in Uganda Loses Use of Legs After Leaving Islam for Christ
Girl in Uganda Loses Use of Legs After Leaving Islam for Christ
Muslim father locked 14-year-old in room with almost no food or water for months.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/girl-in-uganda-loses-use-of-legs-after-leaving-islam-for-christ-54057/
Wed, Aug. 17 2011 09:44 AM EDT
NAIROBI, Kenya – A 14-year-old girl in western Uganda is still unable to walk 10 months after her father tortured her for leaving Islam and putting her faith in Christ, according to area Christians.
Susan Ithungu of Isango village, Kasese district, has been hospitalized at Kagando Hospital since October 2010 after neighbors with police help rescued her from her father, Beya Baluku. He was arrested shortly afterward but quickly released, sources said.
Susan and her younger brother, Mbusa Baluku, lived alone with their father after he divorced their mother. In March 2010 an evangelist from Bwera Full Gospel Church spoke at Susan’s school, and she decided to trust Christ for her salvation.
“I heard the message of Christ’s great love of him dying for us to get everlasting peace, and there and then I decided to believe in Christ,” she said from her hospital bed. “After a month, news reached my father that I had converted to Christianity, and that was the beginning of my troubles with him. Our father warned us not to attend church or listen to the gospel message. He even threatened us with a sharp knife that he was ready to kill us in broad daylight in case we converted to Christianity.”
Pastor Joseph Baluku of Bwera Full Gospel Church in Kasese said neighbors took her to the government hospital about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Kasese town after she was freed.
“He locked her up in a room of the semi-permanent house for six months without seeing sunlight,” the pastor said. “The younger brother was warned not to tell anyone that Susan was locked up in a room and was not given any food.”
Young Mbusa said that when their father was away, he roasted bananas for his sister.
“I also dug a hole under the door, where I could pour water through,” he said. “My sister could drink the water using her tongue. But most days she could only feed on mud.”
A nearby resident who requested anonymity said neighbors became concerned after not seeing her for several months.
“Her brother then disclosed to us that Susan was locked up in one of the rooms in the house,” the area resident said. “We then reported the case to the Harukunggu local council and then to the Bwera police station. The police went to the house and broke the door.”
Susan was immediately taken to the provincial government hospital about 17 kilometers (11 miles) away near Bwera town, where Pastor Baluku visited her.
“The miserable young Susan was bony, very weak, and not able to talk or walk,” said the pastor. “Her hair had turned yellow, she had long fingernails and sunken eyes, and she looked very slim, less than 20 kilograms [44 pounds].”
Members of the Full Gospel Church in Bwera prayed for her and visited her in the hospital, which like many government-subsidized hospitals in the region does not customarily bill until the patient is discharged, and at rates well below those of private hospitals. It is unknown when Susan will be released, but Pastor Baluku said area residents and church members will try to gather funds for medical costs incurred.
The pastor said billing from such government hospitals can often be deferred until enough money is raised.
“It could be a challenge, but we will try to do our best,” he said.
“By God’s grace Susan is still alive,” he said after a visit last week. “Though she can’t walk, she can now talk. She is still feeding on soft foods. The great news is that Susan is still strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. She needs prayers and support, so that she can resume her education soon.”
Muslim father locked 14-year-old in room with almost no food or water for months.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/girl-in-uganda-loses-use-of-legs-after-leaving-islam-for-christ-54057/
Wed, Aug. 17 2011 09:44 AM EDT
NAIROBI, Kenya – A 14-year-old girl in western Uganda is still unable to walk 10 months after her father tortured her for leaving Islam and putting her faith in Christ, according to area Christians.
Susan Ithungu of Isango village, Kasese district, has been hospitalized at Kagando Hospital since October 2010 after neighbors with police help rescued her from her father, Beya Baluku. He was arrested shortly afterward but quickly released, sources said.
Susan and her younger brother, Mbusa Baluku, lived alone with their father after he divorced their mother. In March 2010 an evangelist from Bwera Full Gospel Church spoke at Susan’s school, and she decided to trust Christ for her salvation.
“I heard the message of Christ’s great love of him dying for us to get everlasting peace, and there and then I decided to believe in Christ,” she said from her hospital bed. “After a month, news reached my father that I had converted to Christianity, and that was the beginning of my troubles with him. Our father warned us not to attend church or listen to the gospel message. He even threatened us with a sharp knife that he was ready to kill us in broad daylight in case we converted to Christianity.”
Pastor Joseph Baluku of Bwera Full Gospel Church in Kasese said neighbors took her to the government hospital about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Kasese town after she was freed.
“He locked her up in a room of the semi-permanent house for six months without seeing sunlight,” the pastor said. “The younger brother was warned not to tell anyone that Susan was locked up in a room and was not given any food.”
Young Mbusa said that when their father was away, he roasted bananas for his sister.
“I also dug a hole under the door, where I could pour water through,” he said. “My sister could drink the water using her tongue. But most days she could only feed on mud.”
A nearby resident who requested anonymity said neighbors became concerned after not seeing her for several months.
“Her brother then disclosed to us that Susan was locked up in one of the rooms in the house,” the area resident said. “We then reported the case to the Harukunggu local council and then to the Bwera police station. The police went to the house and broke the door.”
Susan was immediately taken to the provincial government hospital about 17 kilometers (11 miles) away near Bwera town, where Pastor Baluku visited her.
“The miserable young Susan was bony, very weak, and not able to talk or walk,” said the pastor. “Her hair had turned yellow, she had long fingernails and sunken eyes, and she looked very slim, less than 20 kilograms [44 pounds].”
Members of the Full Gospel Church in Bwera prayed for her and visited her in the hospital, which like many government-subsidized hospitals in the region does not customarily bill until the patient is discharged, and at rates well below those of private hospitals. It is unknown when Susan will be released, but Pastor Baluku said area residents and church members will try to gather funds for medical costs incurred.
The pastor said billing from such government hospitals can often be deferred until enough money is raised.
“It could be a challenge, but we will try to do our best,” he said.
“By God’s grace Susan is still alive,” he said after a visit last week. “Though she can’t walk, she can now talk. She is still feeding on soft foods. The great news is that Susan is still strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. She needs prayers and support, so that she can resume her education soon.”
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Bachmann Staffer Was Accused Of Trying To Start A Christian Nation In Uganda
Bachmann Staffer Was Accused Of Trying To Start A Christian Nation In Uganda
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/tremendous-bachmann-staffer-arrested-on-terrorism-charges-in-uganda-in-2006-2011-8#ixzz1VSN8UG4t
Zeke Miller and Grace Wyler | Aug. 17, 2011, 5:03 PM
An evangelical organizer whose "tremendous" effort helped Michele Bachmann win the Ames Iowa Straw Poll last weekend was arrested on gun possession charges in Uganda in 2006, The Atlantic reports.
The staffer, Peter E. Waldron, like many American evangelicals working in Uganda, has ties to the country's anti-gay movement, which last year sought to pass a law that would make homosexuality a capital crime.
According to NPR, Ugandan police suspected Waldron of seeking to establish a political party based on Christian values. He was arrested for possession of assault rifles and ammunition in February 2006, just days before the country's first multi-party elections in two decades.
Waldron, a longtime Republican operative, had apparently been in Uganda since 2002, where he worked with the born-again Christian community distributing anti-retroviral drugs to HIV/AIDS patients. According to a 2004 story in The New Republic, Waldron has ties to Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa, a major proponent of criminalizing homosexuality. Waldron also claimed to have a relationship with Uganda's autocratic president, Yoweri Museveni, and his wife, a well-known born-again Christian.
In 2006, according to the Kampala Monitor, police arrested Waldron at his house in Uganda, where they found four sub-machine gun rifles and 184 rounds of ammunition. A Ugandan police official told the Monitor that the seizures confirmed "suspicion of the terrorists."
The charges against Waldron apparently stemmed from his work for The African Digest, a newsletter apparently published in partnership with Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (Waldron has written for The Washington Times, another Moon publication).
The Atlantic reports that "the charges, which could have led to life in prison, were dropped in March 2006 after a pressure campaign by Waldron's friends and colleagues and what Waldron says was the intervention of the Bush administration."
Waldron's website says he was a consultant to the 1980, 1988 and 2000 Republican presidential campaigns, and the Republican National Committee. In 1998, he helped organize the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Alaska.
Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told reporter Garance Franke-Ruta that Waldron was a valued member of the Bachmann campaign team, organizing evangelical outreach in Iowa and South Carolina.
"Michele's faith is an important part of her life and Peter did a tremendous job with our faith outreach in Iowa," she wrote in an email. "We are fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to having him expanding his efforts in several states."
American citizen arrested over illegal guns
http://web.archive.org/web/20060305053348/http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news02228.php
The Monitor , News | February 22, 2006
PETER NYANZI & ALEX B. ATUHAIRE KAMPALA
police in Kampala are holding an American national who was allegedly found with four illegal guns and 184 rounds of live ammunition. Police Spokesman Assuman Mugenyi told journalists at a press conference at Kibuli Police headquarters yesterday that Dr Peter E. Waldron was arrested at about 8pm on Monday.
Waldron, 59, works as an Information Technology consultant for the Ministry of Health and has been living in Uganda since 2002. He was arrested at his home in Kisugu near International Hospital after a tip off.
Documents found on him indicate that Waldron is also an advisor to the President of Rocky Mountain Technology Group, Contact America Group Inc and Founder of City of Faith Ministries in Kampala.
Mugenyi told journalists that a good citizen saw three people carrying two bags from Waldron's house and they dropped them. When he inquired why they had dropped the bags, one of them drew a gun at him. The man made an alarm, which attracted the neighbourhood.
The suspects reportedly attempted to run but the boda-boda riders pursued them until they were arrested. "On searching the bags they were in possession of two SMG rifles and 90 rounds of live ammunition," Mugenyi said.
They pleaded with the mob not to lynch them saying they would show them where more guns were hidden. "The suspects led the police to Waldron's house in Kisugu and on conducting a search, two more SMG rifles were recovered with 94 rounds of ammunition in a wardrobe in his bedroom and copies of The Africa Dispatch newsletter," he said. One of the men who were arrested was a Congolese national.
Mugenyi said investigations were still going on and Waldron's girlfriend and his house girl were also being questioned. This brings the number of people arrested to five in the case. Mugenyi could not divulge their names pending the completion of investigations.
He said Waldron, also a freelance journalist, is the publisher of the newsletter. He said Waldron was among the diplomats at the High Court during the trial of Dr Kizza Besigye.
Terrorism
"This confirms our suspicion of the terrorists at the High Court and the subsequent deployment of the Joint Anti Terrorism Squad," Mugenyi said. Some of the pictures in the magazine show Waldron with diplomats in the High Court during the trial of Besigye. "You remember even at the Court Martial at Makindye, this gentleman was always moving with the diplomats," he said.
"We always thought he was a diplomat because he was so close to the ambassadors but we have just established that he is not."
Asked what charges Waldron is likely to face, Mugenyi said, "Definitely even before we investigate, there is the (offence) of illegal possession of firearms. I do not know what the Director of Public Prosecutions might advise.""If he says it is terrorism, I do not know but right now, the offence of illegal possession of firearms is very clear."
He cannot justify how he got those rifles because we do not license SMG rifles."
Friend to First Family
Mugenyi could not say what Waldron's Contact America Group is involved in or whether it is registered in Uganda. "We suspect that it could be either an NGO or a lobby group," he said. Despite Mugenyi's attempt to link Waldron to Besigye, Waldron says he has close relations with State House.
In an article titled Evangelicals v. Muslims in Africa: Enemy's Enemy and published in the US news magazine The New Republic in August 2004, Waldron says he had met President Yoweri Museveni. The American doctor also says he is a friend of the first family and a friend of Pastor Martin Sempa, according to the article, written by one Stuart Price.
The story in The New Republic says Waldron, who comes from Wyoming, told the congregation that he had once been a military man and that he used to travel around Africa a lot in the 1960s.
"He was vague about the nature of his work. ("I'm not at liberty to say," he later told me.) But he claimed that, on one occasion, it resulted in some good people getting executed by a firing squad. After that, he contemplated suicide, he told the audience. Then he found Jesus," the article reads.
The writer says after he met Waldron at a Kampala hotel several days later, the American doctor-cum-pastor told him more of his story. "At different times in his career, he said, he'd been a syndicated talk-radio host, a lobbyist, and a Republican political consultant. More recently, he had run sports programmes for underprivileged youths in Tampa, Florida. Now, he was in Uganda, trying to sell computer software to government ministries while preaching on the weekends," the article reads, adding:
Admired
"They embrace Americans here," he said enthusiastically. Indeed, as we sat together, a steady stream of young admirers who had seen Waldron in church came up to greet him. They made complicated handshakes, the way Ugandans do, and Waldron boasted to me that he had met privately with President Museveni and his born-again wife.”
“It struck me that, for many Americans of faith, Uganda - a country where homosexuality and abortion are outlawed, where politicians freely mix church and state, and where outward displays of religious devotion are the norm - represents a kind of haven." Waldron is said to have talked to several high-ranking government officials on arrest including some powerful ministers.
Efforts to talk to the ministers including Pastor Sempa , however, proved futile by press time. At one point Waldron was introduced as a friend of the first family at a high-profile function at Kampala Casino.
He is also said to have played a key role in setting up a meeting between the President and US billionaire Bill Gates of Microsoft on one of Museveni's visits to the United States.
It was not possible to check out some of these details by press time.
Friday, 12 August 2011
IS IDENTIFICATIONAL REPENTANCE BIBLICALLY SOUND ?
FIRST READ:
Leaders repent on Uganda’s behalf
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=478&newsId=762063
Pentecostal leaders repent on behalf of Uganda:
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/08/pentecostal-and-anglican-leaders-repent.html
IDENTIFICATIONAL REPENTANCE
By Stephen Green
First published in Christian Voice March 2009
www.christianvoice.org.uk/Articles/27%20Daniel%209.doc
Neh 1:6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
Dan 9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
Dan 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Identificational Repentance is the belief that Christians can and should repent on behalf of their nation. In this article I want to ask if Identificational Repentance is a Biblical concept.
Identificational Repentance is normally associated with groups of evangelicals who are interceding for the nation, in line with Paul's injunction to Timothy:
1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
But some intercessors go further, confessing the nation's sins and, as they believe, repenting on behalf of the nation, and regarding all that as part and parcel of intercession. Their proof texts are those above, the prayers of Nehemiah and Daniel, although Moses is often cited as well.
A few will even go as far as to say that theirs is the only way to turn our nation around, and that everyone else is wasting their time in witness, letter-writing, protesting in front of Parliament and so on. In Christian Voice we believe that everyone has a part to play, and that other ministries should not be belittled for doing according to what they honestly believe the Lord has laid on their heart, even if we believe they are not being effective or just plain doing it wrong. Is any of us the fount of all wisdom? Who knows what the Lord may do with a believer's prayers and actions? If every pot will have 'holiness to the Lord' on it, then He is gracious enough to let us get it wrong, see our heart, and turn it to His glory. Of course, it is better to be doing things according to His word than in opposition to it - time is precious. But I digress.
THE PROBLEMS WITH IDENTIFICATIONAL REPENTANCE
I see two problems with the examples of Nehemiah and Daniel cited in support of Identificational Repentance. The first is that although they confessed their nation's sins before God, they did not repent. They cried to God for mercy instead. Moses did not repent on behalf of his nation either; he told the people to repent.
The second problem is that none of us is in the position of Nehemiah or of Daniel (let alone that of Moses). Nehemiah was appointed governor of Judea by the Emperor of Persia. Daniel was a prince in Judah and Prime Minister of Babylon. They were like the Gordon Browns of their day, not the Stephen Greens. But even then, they did not repent on behalf of their nation. And why not? Because one person, or one corporate body, can not repent on behalf of another.
Let me put it this way. Let us try something a bit easier than repenting on behalf of our nation. Let's just repent on behalf of our next-door neighbour, who is a compulsive gambler who is leaving his wife and children destitute. Does our repentance on his behalf stop him gambling? Of course not. Our prayers might, but our repentance will not bring forth fruits, which is what God requires:
Luk 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance ...
The word of the Lord in the mouth of the prophet Isaiah says:
Isa 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
GOD WANTS THE EVIL TO STOP
Indeed, I believe God deals with us according to the lines of authority He has ordained. Each individual is responsible to Him. So is every family, every church (or denomination), and every nation. We simply do not have the authority to repent on behalf on our next-door neighbour, and no church, and no group of intercessors, has the authority to repent on behalf of the nation. It is almost verging on arrogance to think we can; it is certainly a diversion of the Lord's valuable time and resources.
When I asked one lady what had been the fruit of her identificational repentance over abortion in this land, she said it was the fact that in the recent Human Fertilisation Bill, the required permission of two doctors had remained and it had not been downgraded to just one.
I have to say, the fruit of repentance in the case of abortion would be to stop the evil of abortion and somehow to atone for it, not simply to carry on as we are. And such a massive change of heart can only happen in our land at the direction of the Queen in Parliament.
In every case of genuine repentance in the Bible, the person or nation in question stopped doing bad and started doing good. Zacchaeus is a prime example (Luke 19:8). And in every case where a nation turned away from evil and towards God and His righteousness that action was led by a king or judge in authority over the nation: Moses, Gideon (who started humble but became leader - Judg 8:22), Samuel, Asa, Josiah, the king of Nineveh all spring to mind.
INNOCENT BLOOD POLLUTES THE LAND
Repentance involves not just humbling ourselves and a sense of shame, but a turning away from evil and a doing of right. See 2Chr 7:14 (turn from their wicked ways) 2Kgs 17:13; Jer 18:8, 25:5, 26:1-4; Eze 18:21, 33:11,14,19; Dan 4:37, 9:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:8; Zech 1:4; Luke 19:8; Acts 8:22, 26:20; Rev 2:5.
In fact 2Chr 7:14 is often quoted as the cure-all for a nation's sins. It is taken as if it means that when the Church (or even a small group of believers) humbles itself, prays, seeks His face and turns from its own wicked ways, then God will heal the land. But the word of God says innocent blood defiles, or pollutes, the land. (Psalm 106:38) Sheer common sense says that if God did heal the land today, tragically it would be polluted again tomorrow. Of course a Church which en masse was in mourning and sorrow and genuine repentance for the blood of those innocents would in all probability be part of a repentant nation, in a revival bigger than anything we have ever seen in this land, with the possible exception of the great Evangelical Awakening of the 18th Century.
So I am sorry to say there are no short cuts. Identificational Repentance will not bring about the repeal of the Divorce Reform Act or the Sexual Offences Act or the Sexual Orientation Regulations or reinstate the Blasphemy Law. So what - or who - will?
SCRIPTURAL PRAYER AND WITNESS
Well, God will do it, but I believe He will want to see us doing the practical things He has called us to do specifically in His word, the Bible, before He will send the miracle we need. Now, I cannot see anywhere in Scripture where we are commanded to repent on behalf of another. That is because it is their responsibility to obey the command of the Lord, not ours. But we are commanded to pray and intercede, to seek the Lord, and to proclaim the truth of God's law-word in our nation. Isaiah (and his example is also to be ready to stand for political office!) is told:
Isa 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
That involves steadfast witness. It also involves cleansing ourselves of our own sins so that we shall not be hypocrites when showing the people - and the politicians - of this nation their sins. But I am sorry to say Identificational Repentance is a blind alley. I just pray that the Lord will see hearts of those who do it and mould their prayers into the ones he wants.
Churches fast for Independence
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1224876/-/bjvf39z/-/index.html
By Andrew Bagala
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 14:40
The Christians say it is important to kick-off the country’s jubilee celebrations by prayer and repentance because the political landscape has been marred by bloodshed since independence in 1962. They said prayer avails much as it unlocks hidden opportunities.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Christian leaders from various churches led by Dr James Magara, the chairman of the Church Jubilee committee and Coordinator of Intercessors for Uganda, said since attainment of self-rule from the British, the country has been shedding innocent blood that has “defiled” the land.
“From the teachings of scripture, innocent blood brings defilement on the land,” Dr Magara said.
During the fasting period, which starts on Tuesday next week, Christian believers will be expected to eat just one meal a day as they focus on petitioning God to usher in liberty, family reunion, amnesty and justice in the country.
The Church leaders also asked Christians to focus their prayers on others areas like debt release, economic emancipation, rest and restoration, which the clergy said will help to give “a chance to reset the clock and start again”.
Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi called for repentance by every Christian. Apostle Julius Oyet of the Born-Again Federation, said prayer would help restore the love of God so that Jesus can uplift Uganda.
Apostle John Mulinde of World Trumpet Mission and Prayer Mountain, Sseguku said while Ugandans have made mistakes, they are and still remain one nation.
“The growing return of idolatry and witchcraft in the society is worrying. We hearing things on the airwaves that were never said in public. These are things that we should refrain from after the Jubilee celebrations,” Apostle Mulinde said.
Dr Magara said evil reigns in the country today, with several believers immersed in immorality, corruption, witchcraft and human sacrifice. The Church trusts that with God’s hand, these evils will be discarded after the jubilee celebrations.
“The vices mentioned have occurred despite a recorded Christian population of 84 per cent of the whole population in the country,” Dr Magara said. “But one major key that the scriptures give us is the healing of any nation if God’s people, called by His name, will humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from their wicked ways.”
The General Secretary of National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda, Pastor Joshua Lwere, said celebrating jubilee in the Biblical sense is not only washing ourselves of past evils, but preparing for a new season.
“If we don’t prepare for the new season, it will be like a farmer who failed to sow seeds during planting period,” Pastor Lwere said. Health minister Christine Ondoa, a born-again Christian, graced the clergy’s meeting.
abagala@ug.nationmedia.com
Leaders repent on Uganda’s behalf
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=478&newsId=762063
Pentecostal leaders repent on behalf of Uganda:
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/08/pentecostal-and-anglican-leaders-repent.html
IDENTIFICATIONAL REPENTANCE
By Stephen Green
First published in Christian Voice March 2009
www.christianvoice.org.uk/Articles/27%20Daniel%209.doc
Neh 1:6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
Dan 9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
Dan 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Identificational Repentance is the belief that Christians can and should repent on behalf of their nation. In this article I want to ask if Identificational Repentance is a Biblical concept.
Identificational Repentance is normally associated with groups of evangelicals who are interceding for the nation, in line with Paul's injunction to Timothy:
1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
But some intercessors go further, confessing the nation's sins and, as they believe, repenting on behalf of the nation, and regarding all that as part and parcel of intercession. Their proof texts are those above, the prayers of Nehemiah and Daniel, although Moses is often cited as well.
A few will even go as far as to say that theirs is the only way to turn our nation around, and that everyone else is wasting their time in witness, letter-writing, protesting in front of Parliament and so on. In Christian Voice we believe that everyone has a part to play, and that other ministries should not be belittled for doing according to what they honestly believe the Lord has laid on their heart, even if we believe they are not being effective or just plain doing it wrong. Is any of us the fount of all wisdom? Who knows what the Lord may do with a believer's prayers and actions? If every pot will have 'holiness to the Lord' on it, then He is gracious enough to let us get it wrong, see our heart, and turn it to His glory. Of course, it is better to be doing things according to His word than in opposition to it - time is precious. But I digress.
THE PROBLEMS WITH IDENTIFICATIONAL REPENTANCE
I see two problems with the examples of Nehemiah and Daniel cited in support of Identificational Repentance. The first is that although they confessed their nation's sins before God, they did not repent. They cried to God for mercy instead. Moses did not repent on behalf of his nation either; he told the people to repent.
The second problem is that none of us is in the position of Nehemiah or of Daniel (let alone that of Moses). Nehemiah was appointed governor of Judea by the Emperor of Persia. Daniel was a prince in Judah and Prime Minister of Babylon. They were like the Gordon Browns of their day, not the Stephen Greens. But even then, they did not repent on behalf of their nation. And why not? Because one person, or one corporate body, can not repent on behalf of another.
Let me put it this way. Let us try something a bit easier than repenting on behalf of our nation. Let's just repent on behalf of our next-door neighbour, who is a compulsive gambler who is leaving his wife and children destitute. Does our repentance on his behalf stop him gambling? Of course not. Our prayers might, but our repentance will not bring forth fruits, which is what God requires:
Luk 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance ...
The word of the Lord in the mouth of the prophet Isaiah says:
Isa 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
GOD WANTS THE EVIL TO STOP
Indeed, I believe God deals with us according to the lines of authority He has ordained. Each individual is responsible to Him. So is every family, every church (or denomination), and every nation. We simply do not have the authority to repent on behalf on our next-door neighbour, and no church, and no group of intercessors, has the authority to repent on behalf of the nation. It is almost verging on arrogance to think we can; it is certainly a diversion of the Lord's valuable time and resources.
When I asked one lady what had been the fruit of her identificational repentance over abortion in this land, she said it was the fact that in the recent Human Fertilisation Bill, the required permission of two doctors had remained and it had not been downgraded to just one.
I have to say, the fruit of repentance in the case of abortion would be to stop the evil of abortion and somehow to atone for it, not simply to carry on as we are. And such a massive change of heart can only happen in our land at the direction of the Queen in Parliament.
In every case of genuine repentance in the Bible, the person or nation in question stopped doing bad and started doing good. Zacchaeus is a prime example (Luke 19:8). And in every case where a nation turned away from evil and towards God and His righteousness that action was led by a king or judge in authority over the nation: Moses, Gideon (who started humble but became leader - Judg 8:22), Samuel, Asa, Josiah, the king of Nineveh all spring to mind.
INNOCENT BLOOD POLLUTES THE LAND
Repentance involves not just humbling ourselves and a sense of shame, but a turning away from evil and a doing of right. See 2Chr 7:14 (turn from their wicked ways) 2Kgs 17:13; Jer 18:8, 25:5, 26:1-4; Eze 18:21, 33:11,14,19; Dan 4:37, 9:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:8; Zech 1:4; Luke 19:8; Acts 8:22, 26:20; Rev 2:5.
In fact 2Chr 7:14 is often quoted as the cure-all for a nation's sins. It is taken as if it means that when the Church (or even a small group of believers) humbles itself, prays, seeks His face and turns from its own wicked ways, then God will heal the land. But the word of God says innocent blood defiles, or pollutes, the land. (Psalm 106:38) Sheer common sense says that if God did heal the land today, tragically it would be polluted again tomorrow. Of course a Church which en masse was in mourning and sorrow and genuine repentance for the blood of those innocents would in all probability be part of a repentant nation, in a revival bigger than anything we have ever seen in this land, with the possible exception of the great Evangelical Awakening of the 18th Century.
So I am sorry to say there are no short cuts. Identificational Repentance will not bring about the repeal of the Divorce Reform Act or the Sexual Offences Act or the Sexual Orientation Regulations or reinstate the Blasphemy Law. So what - or who - will?
SCRIPTURAL PRAYER AND WITNESS
Well, God will do it, but I believe He will want to see us doing the practical things He has called us to do specifically in His word, the Bible, before He will send the miracle we need. Now, I cannot see anywhere in Scripture where we are commanded to repent on behalf of another. That is because it is their responsibility to obey the command of the Lord, not ours. But we are commanded to pray and intercede, to seek the Lord, and to proclaim the truth of God's law-word in our nation. Isaiah (and his example is also to be ready to stand for political office!) is told:
Isa 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
That involves steadfast witness. It also involves cleansing ourselves of our own sins so that we shall not be hypocrites when showing the people - and the politicians - of this nation their sins. But I am sorry to say Identificational Repentance is a blind alley. I just pray that the Lord will see hearts of those who do it and mould their prayers into the ones he wants.
Churches fast for Independence
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1224876/-/bjvf39z/-/index.html
By Andrew Bagala
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 14:40
The Christians say it is important to kick-off the country’s jubilee celebrations by prayer and repentance because the political landscape has been marred by bloodshed since independence in 1962. They said prayer avails much as it unlocks hidden opportunities.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Christian leaders from various churches led by Dr James Magara, the chairman of the Church Jubilee committee and Coordinator of Intercessors for Uganda, said since attainment of self-rule from the British, the country has been shedding innocent blood that has “defiled” the land.
“From the teachings of scripture, innocent blood brings defilement on the land,” Dr Magara said.
During the fasting period, which starts on Tuesday next week, Christian believers will be expected to eat just one meal a day as they focus on petitioning God to usher in liberty, family reunion, amnesty and justice in the country.
The Church leaders also asked Christians to focus their prayers on others areas like debt release, economic emancipation, rest and restoration, which the clergy said will help to give “a chance to reset the clock and start again”.
Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi called for repentance by every Christian. Apostle Julius Oyet of the Born-Again Federation, said prayer would help restore the love of God so that Jesus can uplift Uganda.
Apostle John Mulinde of World Trumpet Mission and Prayer Mountain, Sseguku said while Ugandans have made mistakes, they are and still remain one nation.
“The growing return of idolatry and witchcraft in the society is worrying. We hearing things on the airwaves that were never said in public. These are things that we should refrain from after the Jubilee celebrations,” Apostle Mulinde said.
Dr Magara said evil reigns in the country today, with several believers immersed in immorality, corruption, witchcraft and human sacrifice. The Church trusts that with God’s hand, these evils will be discarded after the jubilee celebrations.
“The vices mentioned have occurred despite a recorded Christian population of 84 per cent of the whole population in the country,” Dr Magara said. “But one major key that the scriptures give us is the healing of any nation if God’s people, called by His name, will humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from their wicked ways.”
The General Secretary of National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda, Pastor Joshua Lwere, said celebrating jubilee in the Biblical sense is not only washing ourselves of past evils, but preparing for a new season.
“If we don’t prepare for the new season, it will be like a farmer who failed to sow seeds during planting period,” Pastor Lwere said. Health minister Christine Ondoa, a born-again Christian, graced the clergy’s meeting.
abagala@ug.nationmedia.com
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Pentecostal leaders repent on behalf of Uganda: How about repentance for participating in Ecumenism, the prosperity gospel, false doctrine
My analysis
Recently Pentecostal and Anglican leaders in Uganda participated in a repentance retreat at Seguku Prayer Mountain. They forgot to repent for participating in Ecumenism, the prosperity gospel and false doctrine. The participants in this ‘repentance spree’ such as Pastor Kiganda continue to promote the false American prosperity gospel .They continue to Promote American Heretics such as; Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Copeland etc . The participants in this repentance continue to promote political Christianity, the false doctrine of generation curses, tithing, Christmas celebration, Easter celebration, Infant baptism etc. etc . Apostle Alex Mitala has always criticized Ecumenism(Ekipooli) but now it is evident that he has been over powered. Apostle Alex Mitala has always argued that repentance means(abawutani) changing course . These days repentance in the Pentecostal movement in Uganda is simply saying; we sorry God but we will not change anyway.
Apostle John Mulinde and George Otis, Peter Wagner false Transformation Revivals in Uganda
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2009/02/apostle-john-mulinde-and-george-otis.html
No Revival No Rain in Uganda but Spiritual Drought and Barrenness
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/apostasy-watch/324-no-revival-no-rain-in-uganda-but-spiritual-drought-and-barrenness.html
Open Letter To Pastor Alex Mitala NFBAPC Chairman
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/apostasy-watch/156-open-letter-to-pastor-alex-mitala-nfbapc-chairman.html
Bishop David Kiganda calls John the Baptist a fool: When Uganda Prosperity Preachers turn into Zombies
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/03/bishop-david-kiganda-calls-john-baptist.html
Bishop David Kiganda’s stinking Prosperity Gospel: Money in one hand and the bible in the other
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/07/bishop-david-kigandas-stiking.html
Leaders repent on Uganda’s behalf
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=478&newsId=762063
By Moses Mulondo
WHEN missionaries introduced Christianity in Uganda about a century ago, many people embraced the new faith, but remained rooted in their traditions and norms connected to evil spirits and their ancestors.
On the other hand, when the Pentecostal faith was introduced, it focused on promising people heaven and forgetting the need to establish God’s kingdom in our tribes and communities.
According to Apostle Alex Mitala, the head of the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches in Uganda, this has led many Christians to remain bound by things they do not know.
It is because of this paradigm shift that Church leaders have resolved to take the call to repentance down to the tribal level.
Leaders from various parts of Buganda gathered to repent on behalf of the region at Sseguku Prayer Mountain from Thursday to Saturday last week.
The leaders repented of various sins in the church like commercialisation of the gospel, pride, selfishness, divisions, homosexuality and other immoral practices, as well as the sins like tribalism, arrogance, treachery, witchcraft and corruption.
Many of the speakers made reference to the great East African Revival, whose strength came from the focus on transformative messages of repentance, forgiveness, holiness and unity. They prayed that what had started at Sseguku last week would result in another much more infectious revival, which will spread to different parts of the world.
The idea is said to have been conceived in the spiritual fathers’ monthly meetings which started a year ago to discuss how Uganda can become a morally upright God-fearing nation.
The meetings, which are convened every first Monday of the month at Namirembe Guest House, bring together both Anglican and Pentecostal church leaders.
According to Pastor John Ngendahayo, leaders of the two denominations repented for fighting each other, yet they are all promoting God’s kingdom.
“God is doing something in our country. Different groups of people have come up advancing repentance and revival to be the priority of all churches. I have a lot of optimism that the salvation of Uganda is in the offing,” Ngendahayo said.
Speaking at Sseguku on Monday, Mitala attributed the loss of Buganda’s glory, from 1966 to date to wickedness and rebellion against God’s call, which started in 1960 when a new Pentecostal revival started and the people of Buganda rejected it. The spiritual fathers have planned to take the repentance and revival drive to the districts, sub-counties and villages.
“Our next focus after Buganda will be Ankole and after that, we shall take this move to all the other tribes of Uganda.
Our key message is repentance of all ungodly tribal and individual practices that Christians have been involved in. At the end of this mission, we want to see Ugandan Christians detached from all kinds of evil strongholds holding them captive so that they can truly be the light and the salt of the world,” Mitala explained.
Although the Archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi, was out of the country, he, reportedly, promised to take a leading role in mobilising his home area and other communities in the northern region into repentance and to seek reconciliation with the south.
The church leaders at Sseguku took seriously a warning from a Kenyan prophet about an earthquake and Apostle John Mulinde led them in praying to God to save the country from the catastrophe.
Dr. James Magara, the leader of Intercessors for Uganda, presented a plan aimed at mobilising Uganda to observe the 49th and 50th independence anniversaries as a season for repentance, revival and reconciliation among Ugandans to usher in a new Uganda established on God’s principles of justice, righteousness and divine love.
Plans are also underway for a National Consultative Conference on how to bring the nation into genuine and fruitful repentance.
It targets church leaders, political leaders, and Christians occupying influential public offices in the country.
Published on: Sunday, 7th August, 2011
Recently Pentecostal and Anglican leaders in Uganda participated in a repentance retreat at Seguku Prayer Mountain. They forgot to repent for participating in Ecumenism, the prosperity gospel and false doctrine. The participants in this ‘repentance spree’ such as Pastor Kiganda continue to promote the false American prosperity gospel .They continue to Promote American Heretics such as; Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Copeland etc . The participants in this repentance continue to promote political Christianity, the false doctrine of generation curses, tithing, Christmas celebration, Easter celebration, Infant baptism etc. etc . Apostle Alex Mitala has always criticized Ecumenism(Ekipooli) but now it is evident that he has been over powered. Apostle Alex Mitala has always argued that repentance means(abawutani) changing course . These days repentance in the Pentecostal movement in Uganda is simply saying; we sorry God but we will not change anyway.
Apostle John Mulinde and George Otis, Peter Wagner false Transformation Revivals in Uganda
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2009/02/apostle-john-mulinde-and-george-otis.html
No Revival No Rain in Uganda but Spiritual Drought and Barrenness
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/apostasy-watch/324-no-revival-no-rain-in-uganda-but-spiritual-drought-and-barrenness.html
Open Letter To Pastor Alex Mitala NFBAPC Chairman
http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/apostasy-watch/156-open-letter-to-pastor-alex-mitala-nfbapc-chairman.html
Bishop David Kiganda calls John the Baptist a fool: When Uganda Prosperity Preachers turn into Zombies
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/03/bishop-david-kiganda-calls-john-baptist.html
Bishop David Kiganda’s stinking Prosperity Gospel: Money in one hand and the bible in the other
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/07/bishop-david-kigandas-stiking.html
Leaders repent on Uganda’s behalf
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=478&newsId=762063
By Moses Mulondo
WHEN missionaries introduced Christianity in Uganda about a century ago, many people embraced the new faith, but remained rooted in their traditions and norms connected to evil spirits and their ancestors.
On the other hand, when the Pentecostal faith was introduced, it focused on promising people heaven and forgetting the need to establish God’s kingdom in our tribes and communities.
According to Apostle Alex Mitala, the head of the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches in Uganda, this has led many Christians to remain bound by things they do not know.
It is because of this paradigm shift that Church leaders have resolved to take the call to repentance down to the tribal level.
Leaders from various parts of Buganda gathered to repent on behalf of the region at Sseguku Prayer Mountain from Thursday to Saturday last week.
The leaders repented of various sins in the church like commercialisation of the gospel, pride, selfishness, divisions, homosexuality and other immoral practices, as well as the sins like tribalism, arrogance, treachery, witchcraft and corruption.
Many of the speakers made reference to the great East African Revival, whose strength came from the focus on transformative messages of repentance, forgiveness, holiness and unity. They prayed that what had started at Sseguku last week would result in another much more infectious revival, which will spread to different parts of the world.
The idea is said to have been conceived in the spiritual fathers’ monthly meetings which started a year ago to discuss how Uganda can become a morally upright God-fearing nation.
The meetings, which are convened every first Monday of the month at Namirembe Guest House, bring together both Anglican and Pentecostal church leaders.
According to Pastor John Ngendahayo, leaders of the two denominations repented for fighting each other, yet they are all promoting God’s kingdom.
“God is doing something in our country. Different groups of people have come up advancing repentance and revival to be the priority of all churches. I have a lot of optimism that the salvation of Uganda is in the offing,” Ngendahayo said.
Speaking at Sseguku on Monday, Mitala attributed the loss of Buganda’s glory, from 1966 to date to wickedness and rebellion against God’s call, which started in 1960 when a new Pentecostal revival started and the people of Buganda rejected it. The spiritual fathers have planned to take the repentance and revival drive to the districts, sub-counties and villages.
“Our next focus after Buganda will be Ankole and after that, we shall take this move to all the other tribes of Uganda.
Our key message is repentance of all ungodly tribal and individual practices that Christians have been involved in. At the end of this mission, we want to see Ugandan Christians detached from all kinds of evil strongholds holding them captive so that they can truly be the light and the salt of the world,” Mitala explained.
Although the Archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi, was out of the country, he, reportedly, promised to take a leading role in mobilising his home area and other communities in the northern region into repentance and to seek reconciliation with the south.
The church leaders at Sseguku took seriously a warning from a Kenyan prophet about an earthquake and Apostle John Mulinde led them in praying to God to save the country from the catastrophe.
Dr. James Magara, the leader of Intercessors for Uganda, presented a plan aimed at mobilising Uganda to observe the 49th and 50th independence anniversaries as a season for repentance, revival and reconciliation among Ugandans to usher in a new Uganda established on God’s principles of justice, righteousness and divine love.
Plans are also underway for a National Consultative Conference on how to bring the nation into genuine and fruitful repentance.
It targets church leaders, political leaders, and Christians occupying influential public offices in the country.
Published on: Sunday, 7th August, 2011
London Riots: Symptom of a deeper Malaise
London Riots: Symptom of a deeper Malaise
http://www.christianconcern.com/blog/london-riots-symptom-of-a-deeper-malaise
Published: August 9th, 2011
The riots which are taking place in London are a symptom of a deeper malaise. A heavier police presence tonight may bring them under control, but it will only be dealing with an expression of a far deeper problem.
Britain is a power-keg of frustrations. Despite the incredible increase in living standards in the last 50 years, UK citizens are increasingly unhappy. Mental health problems are on the rise and people are feeling lost and isolated without family, community and faith.
The rioters are unlikely to have been taught to take responsibility for their actions or to respect authority. They do not mind if they destroy their own communities because they have little to lose. They will have been in schools which lacked discipline and where they learnt that they can behave how they like with few consequences for their actions.
People will say that the State needs to spend more money to solve the problem. The Government certainly needs to restore discipline in schools as part of its solution to these problems. Yet ultimately the answer does not lie with the State - we need a moral revolution.
In the past, the authority of teachers was respected in the classroom – can’t that be restored? How was it lost so quickly? As a nation we need to look after each other, but not create welfare state dependency without teaching people to take responsibility for their lives.
Then we have the breakdown of the family – how many of those rioting have fathers who take an interest in their lives? I would guess at very, very few. The breakdown of the family is a result of the nation choosing sexual liberation over sexual restraint, causing a huge surge in the divorce rate and in fatherlessness. The consequences have been disastrous for society. The Government needs to support marriage as a priority and address the decline of the family. But again, we need a complete moral revolution that will encourage people to take responsibility for their sexual behaviour, their marriages and their children.
The deepest problem of all is that Britain has, largely, rejected the Christian faith. This is why we now exist in a moral void. The Bible teaches us to train the young from an early stage to honour their parents, to honour authority and to honour God. If we do this, it will go well with the nation.
Yet instead of Christianity we have political correctness which providers the ‘moral’ compass for our political class and much of the establishment. What a terrible exchange. As discussed here, political correctness is a concept that arose from a Marxist Institute in the 1920’s. It is an ideology that is man-made and which is utterly hostile to the Christian faith. It is a morally relativist system which makes excuses for those who commit crime and portrays them as the victims. Political correctness is responsible for schools where the teachers cannot discipline the pupils and for an undermining of authority.
As we see the bad fruits of rejecting God, my prayer is that there will be a window of opportunity for this nation to wake up to the damage that has been caused and change direction.
And if these youngsters could be brought to Christ then that would be the greatest victory of all. They would have a new identity, a new purpose and a new calling in life. They would be able to live for Christ, not just live for cheap thrills.
Let’s start praying. We need a revival in this nation. We need a moral revolution.
Andrea
Andrea is the CEO of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre. She is married with four children.
Mental health remains the poor relation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/jul/21/mental-health-problems-increase
GPs are having to deal with the rise in mental illness, and a more integrated approach to physical and mental health is vital, say Martin Lindsay and Marc Lester
The gulf between physical and mental health is huge, with just £11bn of the National Health Service's annual budget spent on the latter.
It's the classic iceberg syndrome, and what is starting to emerge from beneath the waterline of public awareness is just how many people are affected by mental illness at some time in their lives.
The rise in mental illness and its impact on society has long been predicted by bodies as diverse as the World Bank, British Medical Journal and Royal College of Psychiatrists. One in four of us will be affected by mental illness during our lives. Dementia will beset more than one million people in the UK by 2015, and many GPs see as many patients for depression as high blood pressure, which is the commonest physical ailment.
This increase is evident in the number of patients showing up at surgeries across north London with mental health problems.
This is reported to be as many as 50% of consultations in some surgeries, with common conditions including depression and anxiety.
It is a major concern within our profession, because GPs are often isolated and at the coalface of the problem. We see the impact of poor mental health on a daily basis and wrestle with the dilemma of what can be done within the confines of a 10-minute appointment slot.
It may be that the newly emerging clinical consortia boards provide an opportunity to redress the balance if given adequate financial resources.
One solution would be for primary and mental health trusts to pay greater attention to what GPs have to say. This would improve efficiencies without necessarily increasing costs.
A positive experience of this is our work with Barnet, Enfield and Haringey mental health NHS trust, which asked GPs what sort of additional training and support they needed.
This is, of course, limited by financial austerity, but includes the recent launch of a "one-stop" mental health referral service offering a faster, more responsive service that triages, screens and signposts patients to the appropriate service within 24 hours. This co-operative and practical approach to problem-solving is the way forward.
The trust is increasingly shaping services in alignment with primary care physicians and their day-to-day needs. This includes a primary care academy, which will provide GPs with training days, workshops and interactive multimedia events where they can learn more about various areas of mental health and share experience and best practice.
There are many reasons for the rise in incidence of mental illness, but two of the biggest contributing factors we see are the stress caused by increasing the age of retirement and the dynamics of the modern family.
Our society's fixation on material wealth and status is exacting its price as we work longer and harder, to the detriment of our own wellbeing. The global recession, and some employers' unspoken expectation that we work longer and harder, are contributing to the problem.
In our increasingly busy lives, it is worth stepping back and realising that our most valuable possession is our health. It may be a cliche, but the majority of us really don't understand that until something goes wrong.
We often give our house or car more attention than our bodies, and we see all around us the devastating impact of that behaviour reflected in the steady rise of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and a host of other largely preventable conditions.
People need to really understand that physical and mental health are interwoven. If your body is run-down and unhealthy it will affect your mental wellbeing, and vice versa.
It's about greater self-education and awareness, but it's also about ensuring that health services work more closely in partnership with one another and reflect the synergy of our own bodies and minds.
• Martin Lindsay is GP lead for mental health in Haringey, north London, and Dr Marc Lester is clinical director of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey mental health NHS trust
What's Behind the London Riots?
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/08/whats-behind-london-riots/41021/
Uri Friedman Aug 09, 2011 2,652
As thousands of policemen prepare to confront a fourth night of rioting and looting in and around London, law enforcement officials and Londoners are scrambling to identify the hooded, masked young people who have been wreaking havoc following the fatal police shooting of a black man named Mark Duggan in Tottenham. The authorities are uploading images of rioters to Flickr as unofficial sites like Catch a Looter, Identify the London Rioters, and London Riots Facial Recognition spring up (there's even a debate about whether the perpetrators should be called "thugs" or "protesters"). Against that backdrop, British commentators and politicians are taking a step back from the minute-by-minute updates to ask three critical questions: Who are the protesters? What do they want? And what explains their behavior? Let's take a look at some of the most prominent theories to answer these questions (several analysts combine several of these points:
•'Opportunistic Criminality' London's acting police commissioner Tim Godwin has characterized the rioting as "pure criminality" capitalizing on the Duggan incident--a sentiment echoed by Prime Minister David Cameron. Lindsay Johns at The Daily Mail argues that there is "no 'legitimate grievance' behind the mass thuggery, only feral mob rule which should have no place in a civilised society."
•Austerity Measures Over the weekend, Labour Party MP Chris Williamson suggested that the ruling Conservative Party's austerity measures--a mixture of spending cuts and tax hikes--could in part be to blame for the unrest. "Why is it theTories never take responsibility for the consequences of their party’s disastrous policies," he tweeted.
•Simmering Problems Among Black Youth Stafford Scott, who was one of the first to learn of Duggan's death, notes at The Guardian that this weekend, "instead of imploding and turning inward and violent among themselves, as they have been doing for the past decade, the youths exploded." While the "trigger may well have been the killing of Mark Duggan and the insensitive treatment of his family," he adds, the "warning signs" "have long been there for those of us who engage with black youths."
•Simmering Problems Among All Youth The Globe and Mail's Doug Saunders claims the events of the past few days aren't "race riots" or "political riots" but rather an explosion of violence from Britain's "futureless youth"--a "'lost generation' of young high-school dropouts" that is "far larger than most other Western countries." He points out that the rioters, who are almost all under 20, hail from mostly poor neighborhoods, "thick with public-housing towers and short on employment opportunities."
•Hard Economic Times After dismissing police failures, ethnic tensions, unemployment, and spending cuts as root causes, The Telegraph's Mary Riddell points an accusing finger at a "global economy poised for freefall." London's riots, she explains, "are the proof that a section of young Britain--the stabbers, shooters, looters, chancers and their frightened acolytes--has fallen off the cliff-edge of a crumbling nation."
•Wealth Disparities The "policies of the past year may have clarified the division between the entitled and the dispossessed in extreme terms," writes Nina Power at The Guardian, and poverty, high unemployment, and resentment toward the police are all factors. But the bigger pictures is that the riots are taking place in "a country in which the richest 10 percent are now 100 times better off than the poorest" and where, "according to the OECD, social mobility is worse than any other developed country."
•No Silver-Bullet Explanation "The media is showing us hour after hour of Outraged Upstanding Citizen all saying the same thing because Upstanding Citizens tend to hit journalists less," British-Egyptian journalist Sarah Carr writes. "There is an echoing void when it comes to the other side of the story, a void that is being filled with image after horrible image and calls for looters to be flogged in public squares and theorising about the legitimate social political grievances that drove them to commit inexcusable acts. Both camps are as bad as each other."
http://www.christianconcern.com/blog/london-riots-symptom-of-a-deeper-malaise
Published: August 9th, 2011
The riots which are taking place in London are a symptom of a deeper malaise. A heavier police presence tonight may bring them under control, but it will only be dealing with an expression of a far deeper problem.
Britain is a power-keg of frustrations. Despite the incredible increase in living standards in the last 50 years, UK citizens are increasingly unhappy. Mental health problems are on the rise and people are feeling lost and isolated without family, community and faith.
The rioters are unlikely to have been taught to take responsibility for their actions or to respect authority. They do not mind if they destroy their own communities because they have little to lose. They will have been in schools which lacked discipline and where they learnt that they can behave how they like with few consequences for their actions.
People will say that the State needs to spend more money to solve the problem. The Government certainly needs to restore discipline in schools as part of its solution to these problems. Yet ultimately the answer does not lie with the State - we need a moral revolution.
In the past, the authority of teachers was respected in the classroom – can’t that be restored? How was it lost so quickly? As a nation we need to look after each other, but not create welfare state dependency without teaching people to take responsibility for their lives.
Then we have the breakdown of the family – how many of those rioting have fathers who take an interest in their lives? I would guess at very, very few. The breakdown of the family is a result of the nation choosing sexual liberation over sexual restraint, causing a huge surge in the divorce rate and in fatherlessness. The consequences have been disastrous for society. The Government needs to support marriage as a priority and address the decline of the family. But again, we need a complete moral revolution that will encourage people to take responsibility for their sexual behaviour, their marriages and their children.
The deepest problem of all is that Britain has, largely, rejected the Christian faith. This is why we now exist in a moral void. The Bible teaches us to train the young from an early stage to honour their parents, to honour authority and to honour God. If we do this, it will go well with the nation.
Yet instead of Christianity we have political correctness which providers the ‘moral’ compass for our political class and much of the establishment. What a terrible exchange. As discussed here, political correctness is a concept that arose from a Marxist Institute in the 1920’s. It is an ideology that is man-made and which is utterly hostile to the Christian faith. It is a morally relativist system which makes excuses for those who commit crime and portrays them as the victims. Political correctness is responsible for schools where the teachers cannot discipline the pupils and for an undermining of authority.
As we see the bad fruits of rejecting God, my prayer is that there will be a window of opportunity for this nation to wake up to the damage that has been caused and change direction.
And if these youngsters could be brought to Christ then that would be the greatest victory of all. They would have a new identity, a new purpose and a new calling in life. They would be able to live for Christ, not just live for cheap thrills.
Let’s start praying. We need a revival in this nation. We need a moral revolution.
Andrea
Andrea is the CEO of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre. She is married with four children.
Mental health remains the poor relation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/jul/21/mental-health-problems-increase
GPs are having to deal with the rise in mental illness, and a more integrated approach to physical and mental health is vital, say Martin Lindsay and Marc Lester
The gulf between physical and mental health is huge, with just £11bn of the National Health Service's annual budget spent on the latter.
It's the classic iceberg syndrome, and what is starting to emerge from beneath the waterline of public awareness is just how many people are affected by mental illness at some time in their lives.
The rise in mental illness and its impact on society has long been predicted by bodies as diverse as the World Bank, British Medical Journal and Royal College of Psychiatrists. One in four of us will be affected by mental illness during our lives. Dementia will beset more than one million people in the UK by 2015, and many GPs see as many patients for depression as high blood pressure, which is the commonest physical ailment.
This increase is evident in the number of patients showing up at surgeries across north London with mental health problems.
This is reported to be as many as 50% of consultations in some surgeries, with common conditions including depression and anxiety.
It is a major concern within our profession, because GPs are often isolated and at the coalface of the problem. We see the impact of poor mental health on a daily basis and wrestle with the dilemma of what can be done within the confines of a 10-minute appointment slot.
It may be that the newly emerging clinical consortia boards provide an opportunity to redress the balance if given adequate financial resources.
One solution would be for primary and mental health trusts to pay greater attention to what GPs have to say. This would improve efficiencies without necessarily increasing costs.
A positive experience of this is our work with Barnet, Enfield and Haringey mental health NHS trust, which asked GPs what sort of additional training and support they needed.
This is, of course, limited by financial austerity, but includes the recent launch of a "one-stop" mental health referral service offering a faster, more responsive service that triages, screens and signposts patients to the appropriate service within 24 hours. This co-operative and practical approach to problem-solving is the way forward.
The trust is increasingly shaping services in alignment with primary care physicians and their day-to-day needs. This includes a primary care academy, which will provide GPs with training days, workshops and interactive multimedia events where they can learn more about various areas of mental health and share experience and best practice.
There are many reasons for the rise in incidence of mental illness, but two of the biggest contributing factors we see are the stress caused by increasing the age of retirement and the dynamics of the modern family.
Our society's fixation on material wealth and status is exacting its price as we work longer and harder, to the detriment of our own wellbeing. The global recession, and some employers' unspoken expectation that we work longer and harder, are contributing to the problem.
In our increasingly busy lives, it is worth stepping back and realising that our most valuable possession is our health. It may be a cliche, but the majority of us really don't understand that until something goes wrong.
We often give our house or car more attention than our bodies, and we see all around us the devastating impact of that behaviour reflected in the steady rise of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and a host of other largely preventable conditions.
People need to really understand that physical and mental health are interwoven. If your body is run-down and unhealthy it will affect your mental wellbeing, and vice versa.
It's about greater self-education and awareness, but it's also about ensuring that health services work more closely in partnership with one another and reflect the synergy of our own bodies and minds.
• Martin Lindsay is GP lead for mental health in Haringey, north London, and Dr Marc Lester is clinical director of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey mental health NHS trust
What's Behind the London Riots?
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/08/whats-behind-london-riots/41021/
Uri Friedman Aug 09, 2011 2,652
As thousands of policemen prepare to confront a fourth night of rioting and looting in and around London, law enforcement officials and Londoners are scrambling to identify the hooded, masked young people who have been wreaking havoc following the fatal police shooting of a black man named Mark Duggan in Tottenham. The authorities are uploading images of rioters to Flickr as unofficial sites like Catch a Looter, Identify the London Rioters, and London Riots Facial Recognition spring up (there's even a debate about whether the perpetrators should be called "thugs" or "protesters"). Against that backdrop, British commentators and politicians are taking a step back from the minute-by-minute updates to ask three critical questions: Who are the protesters? What do they want? And what explains their behavior? Let's take a look at some of the most prominent theories to answer these questions (several analysts combine several of these points:
•'Opportunistic Criminality' London's acting police commissioner Tim Godwin has characterized the rioting as "pure criminality" capitalizing on the Duggan incident--a sentiment echoed by Prime Minister David Cameron. Lindsay Johns at The Daily Mail argues that there is "no 'legitimate grievance' behind the mass thuggery, only feral mob rule which should have no place in a civilised society."
•Austerity Measures Over the weekend, Labour Party MP Chris Williamson suggested that the ruling Conservative Party's austerity measures--a mixture of spending cuts and tax hikes--could in part be to blame for the unrest. "Why is it theTories never take responsibility for the consequences of their party’s disastrous policies," he tweeted.
•Simmering Problems Among Black Youth Stafford Scott, who was one of the first to learn of Duggan's death, notes at The Guardian that this weekend, "instead of imploding and turning inward and violent among themselves, as they have been doing for the past decade, the youths exploded." While the "trigger may well have been the killing of Mark Duggan and the insensitive treatment of his family," he adds, the "warning signs" "have long been there for those of us who engage with black youths."
•Simmering Problems Among All Youth The Globe and Mail's Doug Saunders claims the events of the past few days aren't "race riots" or "political riots" but rather an explosion of violence from Britain's "futureless youth"--a "'lost generation' of young high-school dropouts" that is "far larger than most other Western countries." He points out that the rioters, who are almost all under 20, hail from mostly poor neighborhoods, "thick with public-housing towers and short on employment opportunities."
•Hard Economic Times After dismissing police failures, ethnic tensions, unemployment, and spending cuts as root causes, The Telegraph's Mary Riddell points an accusing finger at a "global economy poised for freefall." London's riots, she explains, "are the proof that a section of young Britain--the stabbers, shooters, looters, chancers and their frightened acolytes--has fallen off the cliff-edge of a crumbling nation."
•Wealth Disparities The "policies of the past year may have clarified the division between the entitled and the dispossessed in extreme terms," writes Nina Power at The Guardian, and poverty, high unemployment, and resentment toward the police are all factors. But the bigger pictures is that the riots are taking place in "a country in which the richest 10 percent are now 100 times better off than the poorest" and where, "according to the OECD, social mobility is worse than any other developed country."
•No Silver-Bullet Explanation "The media is showing us hour after hour of Outraged Upstanding Citizen all saying the same thing because Upstanding Citizens tend to hit journalists less," British-Egyptian journalist Sarah Carr writes. "There is an echoing void when it comes to the other side of the story, a void that is being filled with image after horrible image and calls for looters to be flogged in public squares and theorising about the legitimate social political grievances that drove them to commit inexcusable acts. Both camps are as bad as each other."
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