Posted on 11/16/2001 9:21:11 PM PST by Weirdad
"In addition to Taubmann and Duerrkopf, the other employees of Germany-based Shelter Now International who were captured after Mercer and Curry were arrested Aug. 3 by the Taliban were Germans Margrit Stebnar and Kati Jelinek, and Australians Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas. The 16 Afghan natives arrested in August with them were released after the Taliban fled Kabul, wire reports say."
Great News!
It's almost like... justice.
The Atheists (personally and individually, deep down) are really threatened by functioning Christianity.
Before the rescue, 80% of the informational/encouragement posts on the subject of the aid workers brought out comments by a FEW that were void of feeling for those affected by the situation, and were virtually gloating that the American women were going to die. They were also outraged that the US forces might try to save them. (Guess they wanted to separate church and state?) Any possibility for the workers getting out safely was discounted, and there were taunting comments along the lines of "well if you think your God is so powerful then they don't need the military's help anyway, right?"
But after the miracle those few 'atheists' (in the roughest sense) are much more silent on the rescue, and those who do speak are giving the Glory to people rather than to God.
So BEFORE they tell you "no way they will live," but AFTER they tell you to thank the military and not God.
As recorded in the Book of Matthew 11:15-19 (NIV Translation) Jesus said:
He who has ears, let him hear. 16 "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 17 "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
They won't recognize God, so they can't explain the safe return of the hostages.
In reviewing the various stories on the matter, it seems to me that ordinary soldiers who happened to be under the command of the Taleban took the aid workers from Kabul.
They protected the workers from harm on what was truly a battlefield when they locked them up in that IC.
God, through the ages, has revealed a number of what we call Divine Truths to humanity. He has worked through various prophets and teachers, in many ways, in many places. Many believe that God can directly counsel a man's mind to do right.
There in Afghanistan, a wild land full of wild men, God's counsel would appear to be in short supply, yet ordinary soldiers in the service of our enemy chose not to kill non-combatants.
A thought - where was it these rough men heard God? Who taught them?
More accurately, it says it all.
Hope my daughters turn out to be half the women these two are.
The one thing which strikes me about her is that gorgeous smile. My wife, who adores her, says that when Sxxxxx smiles the whole room brightens. I truly believe one can see Christ in her eyes and smile.
It's not too early to pray for 100's and 1,000's of others to be in similar situations in coming months. . . the prayer bank is always open--and prayers for preventative actions on the part of various leaders in and out of The Church are also possible.
BUT THE ABIDING TRUTH IS:
GRADUATION FROM THIS LIFE will be a celebration for those who truly Love God, live under the Redemptive forgiveness and covering of His Son's Blood and walk in His Spirit listening attentively and obediently to His Voice.
Praises with Thankgivings unto our Jesus!!
Amen,...........More Grace and Mercy,...........In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen!!!
(Remembering Ted Maher too!!)
It took enormous courage for these missionaries, and their families, to even walk the path. God has truly smiled on them.
"I slept and dreamed that life was beauty. I awoke -- and found that life was duty."
-Ellen Stugis Hooper
Your words are the kind of words that we like to hear others express when we ourselves have looked at something amazing, something that stirs the souls of men.
When a group of people, hiking, come out of thick wood, upon the edge of a canyon, over which the sun is setting, and everyone stops and looks and takes in the miracle, when someone finally speaks, what do they say? And when you talk about the moment over coffee a week later back at home, how do you then describe the moment? Different people see different aspects of the miracle, and when we hear those word, we relive it in a new way.
When God helps people to see Him a little more clearly, and to follow their consciences despite how seared they have become in an atmosphere like Afghanistan, it's just as much of a miracle as when he walks upon the water, and I appreciate you bringing that out with your keen observation. It is indeed a beautiful miracle.
I think that Jesus is the Way, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. But the Lord Jesus is as near to all people as they will let Him be, even those yet unsaved. And He is standing at the door knocking, and ready to come in to any heart that will have Him.
These wild men of Afghanistan, presumably without much knowledge of Jesus, ignored the prevailing unholy group-think in that land, listened to the nature that God gave them, and did very well.
The Apostle Paul, inspired by God, in his letter to the Romans [2:12-15 (NIV translation)] said:
12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
All men know what is right, and sometimes we do it, usually when God helps us to do it. But since no one even lives up to his own standards, without Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins, and without us each agreeing to permit Him to make that payment on our behalf, we are all lost. Praise Jesus for making a Way.
So "where was it these rough men heard God? Who taught them?" God taught them. They did well. I pray they keep listening and seeking.
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