Friday Focus: Hope for older people
11 Aug 2017
Statistics show that a third of older people don't speak to another person in a week, and half cite TV as their main company. Loneliness and isolation are the cause of devastating physical and mental health problems. How can we as the Church intentionally address this need by tackling loneliness and isolation in older people?
Friday Focus: Hope for older people
11 Aug 2017
Statistics show that a third of older people don't speak to another person in a week, and half cite TV as their main company. Loneliness and isolation are the cause of devastating physical and mental health problems. How can we as the Church intentionally address this need by tackling loneliness and isolation in older people?
Iranian Christian released from prison
11 Aug 2017
Mission Network News reports that Maryam Nagash Zargaran, a Christian convert from Islam, was charged with being a danger to national security and imprisoned four years ago. She was kept in Iran’s Evin Prison, which is known for its harsh conditions. Maryam was in poor health before being imprisoned, but now that she has been released, her physical ailments are even worse. She was reportedly beaten in the prison - once until her leg was broken. She also has suffered mentally. In addition to these hardships she engaged in hunger strikes to protest her unjust imprisonment in conditions lacking suitable food and having poor sanitation.
Christian poetry reaching out in Arabic culture
11 Aug 2017
Poetry is significant in Arabic culture, and Christians in the Arabian Gulf are using it to communicate with Arabs about Jesus. Through a series of short films, local believers from a Muslim background are writing and filming poems to communicate the life-changing power of Jesus in their lives, using a medium that their audience respects and understands. ‘Historically, when Arabs lived among other lands, they didn’t know if someone was a true Arab,’ says Basma, a local believer and poet who is one of the producers of the series. ‘When in doubt, they would often test someone by asking him to recite poetry. If his poetry was good, they knew he was a true Arab’ Many Arab Muslims perceive Christians representing a ‘Western’ culture. By speaking about their newfound faith through poetry, Christian converts are removing the stereotype and showing it is possible to be a Christian without abandoning their cultural heritage.
Breath prayer
10 Aug 2017
With prayer, 'one size doesn't fit all'! There are many ways to pray and our Flourish blog will be featuring some prayer styles and ideas for you to try and find what suits you best. Once you find what works for you, you can connect with God in a more intimate way.
Breath prayer is a short petition, repeated in the space of one inhalation-exhalation cycle, that acknowledges the natures of both the Lord and the petitioner.
- Sit comfortably with your back straight and close your eyes.
- Pay attention to your breathing. Focus on breathing will probably exaggerate the intake and output a little. Wait until a comfortable rhythm has returned.
- Ask Jesus to be present, to lead, to guide, and to protect. Invite him to draw you into the community of the Trinity.
- Wait silently until you feel ready to begin praying.
- When you are ready, pray in your breathing rhythm.
Inhale: Lord, Jesus Christ,
Pause: Son of God,
Exhale: have mercy on me, a sinner. - Use a prayer rope, touching one knot or bead for each repetition. A typical prayer rope is strung with a sequence of one large bead to every ten small ones. The small beads remind one to focus on the prayer. The large one allows for a pause. You may simply touch each of your fingers in succession. Through the first ten repetitions, you might pray aloud, considering the words of the prayer. As distractions arise, gently return your concentration to the words. (Suggestions for dealing with distractions can be found under Lectio Divina/Practice/4.)
- When you reach the large bead on the prayer rope or your tenth finger, pause. With the first pause you might converse with the Lord about any sin that has risen to your mind. You might tell him about distractions.
- Begin the next ten when you are ready, praying silently, attending to the flow of air and how it merges with the words. Perhaps on the second pause, a person or situation may come to mind for whom you wish to pray, “have mercy.” Perhaps “on me” will shift to “on us.” Maybe you will appropriate the significance of the words to a particular concern of your own, or the plea for mercy will become a praise for mercy obtained. Take time to share these with God.
- As you begin the next ten repetitions, listen for the Lord speaking in your heart. Perhaps on the next rest, you will pause to let his words flow.
- As the prayer repetitions begin to move from your head to your heart, you may feel a desire to still even the echo of the words and to sit quietly with the Lord in peace. When you are ready, you may begin the prayer again or move on to other disciplines of the day.
- When the silence is gathered and before you move on to the day’s tasks, write down anything that particularly stood out to you during your meditation. It may be that the prayer returns to you throughout the day with this nuance. The next time you practice the breath prayer, perhaps this will function as a starting point in your move to stillness.
- Exercises other than breathing may also provide a physical rhythm that can fuse with the repetition of the prayer. You may wish to try an uninterrupted walk or bicycle ride in a quiet place, reciting each phrase of your prayer with every step or pedal-pump that you take.
- Other short petitions in Scripture or some personal breath prayer may be used instead of the Jesus Prayer, for example “Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you” (2 Chr 14:1) or “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on me” (John 1:29). As you regularly practice breath prayer, it will eventually enter into other daily activities like a song you cannot get out of your head. If the repetition becomes annoying or void of meaning, return with intention to the words, retaking them as a prayer for the moment.
Source: TenWaysToPray.com
New Zealand: Income equality and housing
04 Aug 2017
New Zealanders will elect 120 parliamentarians for its House of Representatives in the general election on 23 September. The Anglican Diocese of Wellington see the housing crisis as ‘a key issue’. Many can’t afford a home, struggle to pay rent, are forced to pay for a motel or sleep in their car because of the lack of social housing. Children get sick because their home is too damp and cold. Bishop of Wellington, Justin Duckworth is calling the diocese to a period of prayer, reflection and action ahead of the election. ‘As homeowners, renters, landlords, communities and voters we will consider the part each of us can play, and listen to God’s call.’ he said. Throughout August, the diocese is encouraging Anglicans to use reflection, resources and videos of other Christians’ creative responses so that their hearts and lives are opened to respond personally to this crisis. On 27 August churches will hold ‘services of lament’ for people living without stable or adequate housing.
Laos: Homeless
04 Aug 2017
‘A’ woke up to the sounds of someone burning her house down. She grabbed her baby son and escaped. This was one of many hardships she had faced since deciding to leave her tribe’s traditional religion and follow Jesus. Laotians believe Christianity is an American religion. When someone in the community becomes a Christian, the community worries that the spirits they worship will be offended, and that the community might also suffer ill-effects as a result. ‘K’, his wife and daughter were recently evicted from their home by their eldest son. ‘K’ is a Christian leader of a church that he planted years ago after moving to the unreached region as a missionary. ‘K’s son despises his parents’ faith and drank and used drugs. He demanded his inheritance from his father and said that the house should be his portion. K and his family now live under a roof in a rice field.
North Korea: What is the real threat?
04 Aug 2017
An award-winning professor and author of four books on North Korea says that not only is North Korea’s current instability, violent attitude and weaponry, including missiles a threat to Asia, United States, key regions in the Middle East and Africa, but there is also the threat that North Korea’s collapse could unleash a variety of their military systems into the black market for sale to Iran and Syria. He, and others, believe that the two ways to contain this threat are tactical and strategic. A tactical approach would be an increased ballistic missile defence system providing a realistic umbrella against nuclear attack. The strategic way means going after banks and front companies globally where Pyongyang launders the dirty money it uses (much of it gained from military proliferation). It is important to note that when it comes to targeting North Korea’s dirty money there are mafia-like illicit financial networks in Singapore, Malaysia, Africa and China.