The other Iraq war

There is another war going on today in Iraq about which little is heard. It is a war against Christianity. Christians in Iraq are a comparatively small, windling minority: fewer than 800,000, merely 3 percent out of a population of 26 million. Though Iraqi Christians are a minuscule minority, they suffering unrelenting Muslim persecution. The Iraqi Christian population, once was more than 15 percent, decreases daily due to emigration to safety in Western countries. Muslim persecution in Iraq of Christians was highlighted in January when Archbishop Basil Georges Casmoussa in Mosul was kidnapped. Cooler Muslim heads must have prevailed because he was released the next day. Iraqi Christians have historically played an important role in the country. Tariq Aziz, 69, now in coalition custody, and once a familiar face on Western TV, is a Chaldean Catholic. During Saddam's dictatorship, he was Iraqi foreign minister and later deputy prime minister and at one time was even targeted in an assassination attempt by Iranian Islamic terrorists.

800,000 Christians in a country -- and they are powerless to do anything. It makes me think of the situation with Terry Schievo. All are impotant, helpless, unwilling to put themselves in harms way to help another. In Florida there are many churches of 1000+ members, there are churches larger than 10,000 members -- Rodney Howard Brown comes to mind -- who is "In the Midst of Revival" He heals the sick he has at least two poepl in the congregation that have been raised from the dead -- and yet neither he nor one of his highly annointed co-pastors his evangelists or his hundreds of deacons could put themselves at risks to walk 50 yeards to give a woman a cold dink of water.

A church that preaches the prosperity Gospel that its annual budget for all it ministries proabably exceeds 20,000,000 a year could purschase nothing to aid the woman of her family to save her -- (After all they are catholic they are not members of our church) These are a people that preach faith and all power and yet they could not beleive to be protected long enough to carry a cup of cold water to a dying invalid's room.

I'm feeling a lot of things about all this. The entire religious right in the us has been like the 800,000 christians in Iraq. How could such a small number do anything against 26 million.

Well they could preach the porsperity gospel become rich and then bribe all the muslim masses around them. I wouldn't call it gospel but 800,000 people would seem to have some financial clout.

They could all move together in some walled monastic enclave as beleivers have done for centuries -- I wouldn't call that gospel either

They could all flee the country in an enactment of the rapture and leave everyone else there to burn and die in hell while saving their own skin -- that doesn't really seem like gospel either.

Oh hot idea they could band together and try to with elections take over a few provinces and while they are at it they could tell everyone they are they are building an earthly kingdom and ruling and reigning now. This is preached and many beleive this is the Gospel-- the problem is that everyone's flesh loves it so it has become almost irresistable -- but in this scenario terry schievo still dies becasue well she's some muslim woman from another province that is not under our rule so we are still impotant

Revival is not filling your church with the wealthy, revival is not joining the church where we recevie the greatest physcial promises and benefits for our attendance

Revival is giving cold cups of water visiting the sick comforting the broken hearted, visiting those in prison and these are not supposed to be members of your church -- they are supposed to be strangers those who can in no way repay your service and kindness.

This is how christian conquer, this is how the kingdom is gained. We might lay our life down for a friend and carrying placards and chanting is not laying your life down -- that is trying to use the playbook from 1960's and 1970's war protestors and the like -- what has that to do with the gospel? Blame Bush Prez and Gov? Blame congress and threaten them? Where is that in the Gospel?

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

And just think in the prosperity gospel you can gain the whole world . . .

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