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Dear Thomas, In a few hours many of us will go with grateful hearts to worship a risen Savior who paid the ultimate price for our sins. The same fallen nature which caused his tormenters to capture and torture him is the same fallen nature which resides in those who have taken you. That nature is doomed to eventual failure and the prayers of the people today will bring eventual victory. It is written in the Word. I wish you could know, Thomas, of the love going up to Heaven for you and your family today. Our hearts are broken as we see your picture and we realize your sacrifice for our freedom. I know the Holy Spirit is with you and I am praying that He will effect the hearts and minds of your captors so that they will allow you to go free. It is difficult but we also must pray the words of Jesus as he hung on that cruel cross.."Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The same fallen nature which caused his tormenters to capture and torture him is the same fallen nature which resides in those who have taken you.

Amen to that. The shame of the despots of the Middle East is that they have taken their once proud people down into the gutter. They have denied them a real education and civil rights. They have let tribalism flourish in order to protect their own power. Now the religious fanatics are stepping in, claiming to really care about their people, and all the while getting their children prepped for suicide and death. They are truly a fallen people.

Prayers for our soldiers and hostages.