Posted on 11/05/2006 1:40:08 AM PST by Silly
1. We're commanded to pray for those who hate us (and yes, he does hate Americans and Bush supporters).
2. He needs Jesus, and falls under the category of those targeted by the Great Commission (all creatures).
3. God does not wish anyone to perish, and we have absolutely NO reason to believe God is not reaching out to Saddam even now.
4. He has little time left to avoid eternal hell.
5. The death verdict (and setting of the execution date, if any) is a window of opportunity to reach him, a window he is experiencing. Facing death, even for reprobates and hardened hearts, can break them and cause their vanity and stubborness to give way to God's power.
6. It would be a tremendous witness to God's power if Saddam were to repent, openly profess faith in Jesus, and take his punishment willingly, while admitting to his crimes.
7. It would cause a lot of Islamists, Middle Easterners, and a lot of other folks to think twice about Jesus Christ and his gospel, and the power that it has.
8. Our praying would be a better witness for Christ than if we all cheered for his death.
9. It would show a side of FR few people expect to see.
10. It would give us a chance to humble ourselves and let God know we realize we don't deserve his salvation, and that we don't pride ourselves in our moral superiority (which we don't have). In other words, prayer changes us.
But I'm not a betting man, I am a praying man. And Saddam needs Christ like everyone else.
PRAY THAT SADDAM HAS MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO HEAR THE GOSPEL NOW, FROM GENTLE, LOVING PEOPLE.
Discuss.
And no, I'm not being,
(Silly)
Well said.
VEry good point. Also its a time to realize that sins that man views far less serious as Saddams can condemm us just like him
Thanks.
exactly !!!
But you have done things which have offended God, but God came and took your punishment for you.
This is the time to recognize that.
Regards, Ivan
I recognize that I am a sinner. You are talking about hundreds of thousands of people murdered by this man though.
You live in a dream world.
Maybe you missed this:
Jesus went nose to nose with evil, and became sin for us.
We are seriously deceived when we categorize people as "types who just wouldn't get Christianity," and when we do so with whole continents and countries and cultures, we sin gravely.
When Philip called after the Ethiopian in his chariot, it wasn't because Philip had a heart for the man, or a heart for the gospel. The Holy Spirit had to specifically remind him, because Philip would have passed him by. He had no cultural reason to talk with him.
Whenever you see someone with a turban, or someone who looks Middle Eastern, and you don't share the gospel because you don't think they are the "type", you are not walking in line with the gospel and not walking by the Spirit.
This is the tough end of the Christian message.
No-one is outside the Great Commisssion. No-one. God will do what is right and we will say 'Amen'. It shall be public on the day of Judgement.
So I'll pray for him. Not easy to do but I have to be obedient.
So which sinners do you preach the gospel to, and which do you decide don't "deserve" to hear it?
And why do you think you're one of those sinners who "deserved" to hear the gospel, and get saved? (Have you been saved?)
This is an opportunity for you to think differently about these things than you have in the past.
Some people deserve only to go to hell with no redemption or salvation possible. Saddam is one of them.
It has nothing to do with their ethnicity or origin. I would say the same if we were going to hang Hitler. The heavy lifting of repentance would have been on his end; he did not repent, for the record.
Referring to point number 7, the idea that somehow praying for Saddam's soul would impress the Islamic world is ridiculous. Can you cite a single example of such an act throughout history actually having this effect? Not even the murder of a nun in Mogadishu yielded any such results.
Ivan
Let these sinners stew in their broth and leave it to G-d to figure it out.
No, I was in midtown Manhattan when that happened. I saw the smoke from my office.
I distinctly remember what I was thinking when the towers were falling (I was quite calm):
"At this moment, people are calling out to Jesus for the first time, and he is saving them. At this moment, thousands are going to heaven, and thousands to hell. And God gave each of them an opportunity to find him."
The horror of the WTC attack, and the loss of those lives, is an EXTREMELY compelling reason to preach the gospel to all nations. We live in desparate times, and -- sorry to burst your dream bubble -- but conservative politics will NEVER save this world. Only Jesus will, and this is the time to start thinking differently than you have in the past.
It's times like this I'm glad I'm not a Christian. I cannot find it anywhere in my heart to pray for him.
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