Hong Kong: democracy cry and Beijing’s threat
30 Aug 2019
In 1989, the longest human chain in history (675 kilometres) was formed from north Estonia across Latvia to south Lithuania, as a moral protest against the illegal occupation of those lands by the Soviet Union. Thirty years later, thousands of protesters formed an unauthorised but peaceful human chain across Hong Kong in a movement against the erosion of liberties under Chinese rule. On 29 August, at 3 am, Hong Kong became alarmed as Chinese troops, armoured personnel carriers and trucks poured into the city in what Beijing called 'routine' troop rotation. China has made it clear recently that it considers a military intervention in the crisis a viable option, despite US warnings that this might lead to a repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. On 30 August, three prominent protesters were arrested. See
Uganda: Christian persecution
30 Aug 2019
Charity struggled with depression after her husband became a Muslim, abandoned her, and threatened to take their three children. ‘I just couldn’t let my children become Muslims, but I trusted the Lord to help us through this challenge’, she said. Her prayers were answered when a mission worker gave her persecution-response support. Charity’s children are now in school, and her financial burden is lightened. She asks us to pray that her husband will return to the Lord. Pray also for Sharifa, a Christian who was forced to flee home because she converted from Islam. 20-year-old Asuman needs your prayers. He was beaten and disowned by his family for becoming a Christian. In East Uganda a Christian primary school in the predominately Muslim Kabuna village was demolished because it educates Christian children who converted from Islam and whose parents remain Muslim. Christians across Uganda are experiencing death threats and chaos.
Iraq: who is behind attacks?
30 Aug 2019
Recently there have been four attacks on weapons storage facilities belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militia. Some factions of the PMU are believed to be Iran proxies, which might explain why there have been accusations of possible US and Israeli involvement. The latest attack took place even though prime minister Mahdi had closed Iraqi airspace to all unauthorised flights of drones, spy planes, jets and helicopters; including the US-led coalition. With Israel being suspected of organising these attacks, some claim that the United States and Russia have allowed them to do so. Iraq’s president said his country does not want to become a battleground for other countries at the expense of its people. ‘Iraq's interest comes first, and the nation will not allow others to turn it into a land for competition.’
Lebanon: escalation of tensions
30 Aug 2019
Lebanon opened fire on Israeli surveillance drones on 28 August, heightening the conflict between the warring neighbours. Lebanon does not usually attempt to down Israel’s unmanned surveillance planes, but its Hizbollah military wing said it was preparing a ‘calculated strike’ against Israel, in retaliation for an Israeli raid on its position near Damascus and a drone attack in Beirut on its Iranian missile-making equipment. Sources believe Lebanon will target Israeli soldiers on patrol near the border. Israeli media reported that Israel had targeted and destroyed machinery used for the production of precision-guided missiles. It is trying to disrupt the flow of weapons and technology from Iran to its proxies in Syria and Lebanon. In response to constant rocket attacks, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against Hizbollah and Iranian positions in Syria, so far with little response. Lebanon’s president is increasingly influenced by Hizbollah, which is also represented in the country’s parliament.
Israel: project unites settlers and Druze
30 Aug 2019
Emil Masud is an Arab Druze farmer who identifies as ‘for ever Syrian’, and Ofer Megged is a physics professor settler in the contested Golan Heights. The unlikely partners are working together to save the environment against Enrgix, an energy company which wants to erect dozens of turbines, some 64 storeys high, on cherry and apple orchards owned by the Druze. They promised jobs and financial incentives and about 40 Druze landowners agreed. Then news emerged of infrasound waves from the turbines that cause headaches, nausea and dizzy spells. The fertility of farmers’ bountiful agricultural lands was also at risk. ‘Our lands will be destroyed,’ Masud said. ‘We cannot allow this disaster to happen. Druze, Jews, there is no difference. We have joined hands against a common enemy to stop it.’ Many farmers who signed contracts with Enrgix have reneged, so Enrgix is preparing to file lawsuits.
USA: military suicides highest ever
30 Aug 2019
US military suicide deaths reflect a national trend. The national suicide rate has increased by 33% since 1999, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among people 10 to 34 years old. 325 active-duty members died by suicide in 2018, the highest number since collecting data began in 2001. The defence department said suicide rates among the military population are ‘devastating, unacceptable and not going in the desired direction’. Every life lost has a deeply personal story that shatters the lives of families. The defence and veterans affairs departments are working to reduce suicide in the ranks and among veterans, who die at an average rate of twenty a day. Between January and March 2019, ninety active duty service members committed suicide - 30 soldiers, 20 sailors, 26 airmen, and 14 marines.
USA: Labour Day hurricane warning
30 Aug 2019
On 29 August Florida residents were being told they should ‘prepare now’, especially in areas along the east coast, for a growing storm currently moving in their direction. The media said they should have a plan of action, a hurricane kit ready, and ‘stay tuned for updates’ as this forecast comes further into focus. A strengthening Hurricane Dorian is a growing threat to Florida’s Labour Day weekend. As it barrelled through the Virgin Islands and scraped eastern Puerto Rico, Dorian intensified from a tropical storm to a hurricane, with even more strengthening being predicted. Dorian is now forecast to approach the Florida coast as at least a Category 3 hurricane, with 115 to 130 mph winds and 8 to 12 inches of rain.
“Our Father in Heaven, your Kingdom Come…” -Matt 6:10
This second petition of the Lord’s prayer began to explode in me in our recent gathering in Hong Kong, July 22-27th. Several thousand Chinese came to pray in unity together as family from Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, and mainland China.
We joined with these precious saints to seek First God’s kingdom in the midst of a swirl of political chaos, turmoil, and increasing violence. Many protests have been launched against the Chinese government asking for democracy, religious freedom, and autonomy in the city. Several times during our gatherings, we cried out, “Father Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” with a great sense of urgency. To pray this second petition of the Lord’s prayer is one of the most radical things we can pray as human beings. It turns out that in this petition we are asking God to bring about the most massive revolution imaginable.
In using the term Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven the Hebrew writers were not just thinking of a place over which God would rule, but rather it was a way of expressing, “God is acting as King.” The Hebrew prophets longed for the day when God would impose his kingly rule over all of creation, ushered in by God’s Messiah, ‘the anointed one.’ On the final day, the ‘Day of the Lord,’ God would judge human wickedness, and wipe away all evil, forever reversing the effects of the fall of man! He would vindicate those who trusted in him and fill them with his Holy Spirit, bringing about the restoration of all things according to God’s original design!
Jesus asks to pray this way “Your Kingdom Come.” We are given the amazing privilege of inviting God’s glorious future, heaven invading and occupying earth! Not only is God’s kingdom coming, but Jesus declared in Mark 1:15, “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand.” The term at hand literally means, ‘come near.’ Jesus means that the reign of God, God acting as King has come near!
Does Jesus mean it is about to arrive and therefore we should get ready? Or does Jesus mean it has arrived and we should grab hold of it and enter in?! I believe he means both! It is here right now -already- and it is yet to come! Jesus is announcing that in him and because of him the future reign of God has now broken into the present!
When Jesus healed the sick, cast out devils, raised the dead, calmed the winds and the waves, multiplied bread and fish to feed the hungry, championed the poor and the needy, filled ordinary people in and with the Holy Spirit- that is the Kingdom – the blessing of the future breaking into the present! And yet Jesus also says several times that the Kingdom was still to come, sharing with his disciples several parables to be waiting and watching – ready for his return! Therefore, in Jesus, this glorious, redeeming, restoring ‘reign of God’ is already -not yet!
In another sense it might be compared to ‘veiled’ versus ‘visible.’ The already – not yet is a matter of ‘hidden’ versus ‘manifest.’ The really good news is that in Jesus, the Kingdom is already among us but often in a veiled and hidden form. When the King is present, so is the Kingdom! Indeed, the Kingdom is present only where Jesus Christ is King! Certainly, the King is here- right where you and I are – in our everyday lives, in our homes, at our workplaces, in our hospitals- and yet just behind that thin veil of hiddenness. At any point God could pull back the curtain and we would all fall on our faces and worship!
One of the interesting keys to understanding this prayer is to see how Jesus uses the verbs, ‘hallow, come, be done, give, forgive, deliver.’ Surprisingly the verbs are in the imperative. They are commands not requests. To pray the Lord’s prayer is to command not to request, “Be done - your will, Hallowed – be your name, Come - Your Kingdom” This may seem a bit audacious, but this is how Jesus taught us to pray. These verbs are also in the passive voice, which means only God can hallow his name, bring his kingdom, do his will!
The prayer is not what many believers have thought it to be, ‘let us hallow your name.’ ‘let us bring your kingdom,’ ‘let us do your will.,’ important as those things may be. Rather the prayer is, ‘Father you do it! You hallow your name on earth as it is in heaven. You bring your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. You do your will on earth as it is in heaven!
Professor Stendahl of Harvard university reminds us that the prayer, “asks for the establishment of the kingdom of God, by God for us, not by us for God.” We are asking God to do what only he can do!
So then how ought we to pray, “Your Kingdom Come?” Of course, with each of these simple phrases you can include the who, when, where, of places, circumstance, situations and peoples as the Spirit leads! It might sound something like this:
“Father before the coming Day of the Lord, Revealwhat is invisible, Manifest what is hidden!”
“Father Unveil your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.”
“Father let your Kingdom come in me, so it can come through me!”
“Father act as King! Extend your sceptre, reign and rule on earth as you do in heaven! May your Kingdom be established, be expanded, and be embraced!”
“King of Kings manifest your splendor, power and glory on the earth! Break through any darkness King Jesus! Make wrong things right! Heal the sick, bind principalities and powers, raise the dead, free the captives, reconcile enemies, reverse the effects of sin, restore broken humanity, Come and Reign without Rival on the earth!”
And at the end of each of these prayers as you add specific places, situations, peoples as the target of your prayers, you can also add, “So that’ your name might be hallowed! ‘So that’ your name might be honoredand treasured! ‘So that,’ your name might be treated as infinitely valuable here on earth (in your home, school, church, city, nation, etc.) as it is in heaven!
Come Thy Kingdom!
Dr. Jason Hubbard – IPC Executive Coordinator