Isaiah James May was born a little after 5 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2009, and was scheduled to die this past week – on Wednesday, Jan. 20 – just short of his three-month birthday.

That was the day chosen by Canada’s publicly funded, government health service as the deadline for Isaiah to recover from his traumatic birth or be taken off life-support.

“There is no hope of recovery for Isaiah,” reads a letter from Alberta Health Services delivered to Isaiah’s parents and dated one week before the health care system intended to pull the plug on the baby it has determined irreparably brain damaged.

“Your treating physicians regretfully have come to the conclusion that withdrawal of active treatment is medically reasonable, ethically responsible and appropriate,” the letter states. “We must put the interests of your son foremost, and it is in his best interests to discontinue mechanical ventilation support.”

Parents Isaac and Rebecka May, however, immediately appealed to the courts for more time, encouraged by signs that their boy was growing and moving, pointing to instance after instance where Isaiah had already proven the doctors wrong.

“He is doing everything they said that he would not do. Every day he does something new. So that helps us to fight,” the baby’s 23-year-old mother told CBC News. “His eyes dilate. He opens his eyes. He moves his limbs. He’s growing. He’s gaining weight. He’s living. They told us he would never do any of that.”

Then, the day before the hospital planned to allow Isaiah to die, a judge granted Isaiah a few more days of life.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Michelle Crighton gave Isaiah’s parents one week, until Jan. 27, to find an independent expert – to determine if or when the baby should be taken off life-support.

article by drew zahn

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please pray for baby Isaiah and his parents, Isaac & Rebecka.

pray right now.

read the whole article here.

support the May’s on their facebook page here.

maranatha.

MISSIONARIES ATTACKED AND ACCUSED OF BRIBERY

India (MNN) ― An anti-Christian extremist group attacked two Gospel for Asia missionaries after the missionaries showed a film about Jesus.

The missionaries, Jayant Mehta and Dayanand Tambe, were attacked late on the night of August 8 as they packed up their film and audio equipment after they showed the “Man of Mercy” movie in Maharashtra, India. The screening, which was held at a believer’s home, was deemed successful by GFA as many of the villagers came to watch the film.

After the film concluded, however, a group of about 45 extremists rushed Mehta and Tambe, beating them and grabbing their film equipment. They then shoved the men in their van and took them to the police station to have them arrested for illegal conversion.

According to GFA, “The merciless beating continued until they reached the police station, where they brought their false complaints against Jayant and Dayanand.”

The group accused the two men of “bribing people to convert to the Christian faith” and made up names of people who would testify against them.

Early the next morning, the two missionaries were finally released from police custody when a GFA leader asked for their discharge.

On August 10, their film gear was returned by the extremist after the groups claims were falsified by police.

Their attackers were not detained.

This attack comes after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently added India to a “watch list” of countries “which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately,” according a BBC News story.

India was included on the list along with counties such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.

{ read the entire article }

there’s a lot going on in the world that we can pray for today, especially the persecuted Church.

maranatha.

The story is told of a group of visitors to Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. They wanted to meet the great English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and see the sanctuary, his office, and the education rooms. Spurgeon himself guided their tour, but they were surprised when he said, “Let me show you the boiler room.”

They followed him to that lowly space and were even more astonished to find 50 people there, on their knees. The assembly was praying for the church’s ministry, the staff, their community, and the world.

Why choose such an inauspicious place for prayer? As the power-center for heating the entire building, the boiler room symbolized for them the source of power in ministry—prayer! A major component of that church’s impact was the effectual and fervent prayer of humble people meeting in a shabby, out-of-the-way room.

last night we kicked off our first ‘event’ of 2009 @ calvary hanford. we’re calling it Even 1. you can find a fuller description on the website, but here are the basics…

when Jesus went to the garden of gethsemene to pray on the evening before His crucifixion, He asked His disciples to pray for Him, for themselves, for what was going to happen in the future.

we know the story. they fell asleep.

a bunch of times.

Jesus found them and said this to Peter:

could you not watch with Me one hour?
Matthew 26:40

hours before His horrific crucifixion, the Lord showed grace to His disciples, suggesting that just one ‘hour’ of prayer would have been immensely helpful to Him and to Peter.

the Lord put that verse on our heart a few months ago and we started thinking about what it could mean for our church.

then we realized that when you look in the Bible you find that it’s not just about one ‘hour’ of prayer…you find something very precious.

in Nehemiah, one man praying opened the door for God’s people to return from captivity. in fact, just one quick prayer was enough for Nehemiah to lead that venture with boldness and confidence.

in Daniel, one man praying led to the sharing of the Gospel with Darius, the pagan king.

one group of Christians praying led to the release of Peter from prison.

one city praying stayed God’s judgement on Nineveh and began a revival.

the more we thought about prayer the more we wanted to make more time to do it! we have a weekly prayer meeting on saturday nights, but as we start a new year we want to begin with more prayer. lots more.

Even 1 is a week-long set of prayer meetings, just 1 hour at a time. we’ve been collecting hundreds of prayer requests and we’ll be praying for lots of other things.

we want to pray for you. if you have a request, a report, or anything you’d like us to pray for, here’s what you can do:

- email me: gene@genepensiero.com

- leave a comment on this post with your request

- send me an @ message or direct message on twitter (twitter.com/genepensiero)

- call it in: 559-582-5532

it doesn’t matter if we know you or not. we still want to pray for you.

prayer does amazing things. it works. it is necessary. it is wonderful.

last night’s meeting was fantastic and we’re quite excited to go to the Lord again tonight and throughout the week.

confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5:16

maranatha

–
at our men’s morning group (which meets on wednesdays @ 6:30am for any area fellows who would like some free peets coffee) we have a short section where my dad reads various news items that discuss the current state of the world and, hopefully, spark points of prayer for us.

today there was an interesting and saddening article that i’d like to share.

The Greatest Story Never Told: Modern Christian Martyrdom
- susan brinkmann

here are some highlights

while christians in the secular west languish in spiritual mediocrity, christianity remains a deadly serious matter almost everywhere else.

dying for Christ seems almost surreal to most westerners. we live in a part of the world where Christianity rarely makes the news unless it is to be mocked or defamed.

Even the average church-going christian is not likely to know that 45.5 million of the estimated 70 million christians who have died for Christ did so in the last century.

the true extent of christian persecution during the past 100 years is believed to be of staggering proportions.

in the past 50 years, 300,000 christians in north korea have vanished without a trace.

in bangladesh christians are being denied access to water wells and are frequent targets of physical violence and destruction of property.

the situation in india has become particularly problematic…there have already been more than 200 episodes of anti-christian violence this year…

‘christians are, in fact, the most persecuted religious group in the world today, with the greatest number of victims.’ (ninashea, director of Freedom House’s Puebla Program On Religious Freedom)

read the rest of the article here

lots to pray for.

lots of work set before us by the Lord to accomplish.

God is good and His mercy endures forever.

voice of the martyrs

if i’m honest, i’m just a little heavy-hearted today. it seems that no matter where you go you can’t escape the anger and hostility and hatred against our president that is currently the national pastime.

it’s everywhere. it’s in headlines and on the front of magazines. it’s in movie trailers and commentary. it’s ingrained in our conversation and our thinking. and that is terrible.

not because we’re not allowed to have ‘opinions.’ we can and do. that’s one of the hundreds of reasons america is the greatest country in the world.

but the problem with our ‘opinions’ is that we almost always think more of ourselves than we should and then we start believing that we’re entitled to think and to say anything that we want about other people.

i don’t want to get into a huge, drawn out post. i really don’t.

instead, i’d like anyone reading this to pause and consider this:

can you imagine what it would feel like to be george bush? to be one of his family members?

can you imagine what it would feel like to have people saying the things that are said about him to your wife? or to your husband?

can you imagine what it would be like to have your entire life filmed and photographed and catalogued and then for the entire world to sit in the comfort of their homes and judge whether they think what you’ve done today is acceptable or not?

i think it’s safe to say that most of my readers are Christians. that’s great. we’re moving into an election month and i’ve found myself complaining. and generalizing. and speaking negatively. and though we’re free to do so in america, i don’t think that those attitudes are God’s highest and best for our lives.

today i was reminded of this:

1 Timothy 2:1-2 – Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. giving of thanks be made for all men,

you don’t have to agree with our president.

you don’t even have to ‘like’ him.

you don’t have to support every decision he makes.

but, as Christians, as people who are citizens of God’s Kingdom, we need to pray for our president and our government.

and we need to complain less.

and we need to control our tongues.

let’s pray for our leaders today.

blessings.

pray for the laurie family.

christopher, son of pastor greg laurie, was killed in a car accident today.

you can leave encouragement and condolences on pastor greg’s blog.

and behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’
[ Matthew 8:1-2 ]

india.

it’s considered by many as a bustling, developing economic power. it has industry and science, even bollywood.

but, underneath the innovation and industrialization we find this:

They are approximately 300 million people who are deemed “untouchable” and comprise the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system. Since the origin of this system 3,000 years ago, the Dalits have lived in bondage to the code of caste. They have been unable to escape their fate and are deprived of even the most basic liberties and privileges, including the freedom to decide where to live, work and worship.ⁱ

just to put that number in perspective, as of 2007 the population of the united states was 301 million people.ⁱⁱ

300 million people deemed untouchable, like the lepers of Galilee. relegated to a life of burden and isolation.

Jobs allotted to the 300 million Dalits of Asia include unclogging sewers, making bricks in scorching heat, washing soiled clothing and working as meagerly paid field hands. Because of their poverty and low social status, Dalits do not have adequate access to food, housing, clothing, education or health care. This is the life of the Dalits.

Bonded labor is prevalent among Dalits, even their children, who often work in slave-like conditions to pay off family debt. With estimates as high as 150 million working children, India has the largest child labor force in the world. Abuse is common, with long hours in miserable conditions and no hope of escape. This is the fate of the Dalits.ⁱⁱⁱ

in many cases the ‘family debt’ is what keeps these dalit children in slavery.

i had my breath taken away one sunday when i saw a GFA film which revealed that in some cases the total of that debt is as little as $13.00.^iv

living in the land of opportunity it’s hard to imagine how a caste system can operate, but for the dalit, it is the only life available…until now.

in 2001 Gospel For Asia began reaching out specifically to the dalit caste through a ministry called Bridge of Hope. now, over 42,000 children are being bought out of bondage, given an education, school uniforms, medical care, having physical needs met, and, most importantly, are being presented with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the God who will touch them, the God who is not afraid to touch anyone.

we can partner with Gospel For Asia in touching the dalit caste.

check this out…are you ready for it?

of any money donated to GFA, 100% goes to the field.

100%

not 50% or 75%

100%

while GFA’s primary goal is to plant churches, the native missionaries also work to dig wells, alleviate illiteracy (as high as 90% in many dalit communities^v ), establish radio programs, outreaches to regional slums and muslim communities, building homes, churches and Bible colleges, and much more.^vi

you can be a part of touching the untouchable. GFA makes it easy.

One Time Donation – any amount at all. you can designate it toward a specific need or simply send it where it is most needed.

Sponsor A Missionary – $30 a month supports a native missionary in some of the most unreached parts of the world.

Sponsor A Child – $28 a month supports a child in the Bridge of Hope program.

for more on Gospel For Asia visit this page, or visit their official site.

above all, join us in praying for the work being done in india, especially in the dalit community.

our God is the God who reaches, cleanses and embraces.

praise the Lord.

Dalit News

1. http://www.gfa.org/dalit↩
2. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.html↩
3. http://www.gfa.org/dalit/reaching-the-dalits↩
4. http://www.calvaryhanford.com/videos/bringingthemhope.avi↩
5. http://www.gfa.org/dalit/reaching-the-dalits#dalit4↩
6. http://www.gfa.org/donation/major-ministries↩

part i – introduction (mine  ::  luke’s)

part ii – chapter 1 & 2

part iii – chapter 3 & 4

part iv – chapter 5 & 6

:: read the book yourself ::

part v – chapters 7 & 8

little prayer is the characteristic of a backslidden age and of a backslidden church. whenever there is little praying in the pulpit or in the pew, spiritual bankruptcy is imminent and inevitable. (page 59)

bounds’ writing style is interesting: generally simple concepts (not in nature but in conveyance) repeated over and over again from every possible angle, with great passion and urgency (in fact, he reminds me of a Christian hemmingway). each chapter of Purpose In Prayer is like the single blooming of a flower, petal by petal, bit by bit, until the single blossom is fully revealed.

chapters 7 & 8 continue in the exhortation to pray with purpose and to pray with fervor, to pray often and to pray expectantly. however, these chapters also reveal a new edge to bounds’ sermon.

first, prayer is meant to create intimacy with God. it is an excellent reminder that “the goal of prayer is the ear of God,” not just the activity of God. we do not pray simply for help or for miracles, but we pray so that we might have the very ear of the Almighty. that alone is a fantastic adjustment that i can work on each day for the rest of my life.

we are encouraged by bounds (and Jesus) to “pray always and not to faint” (pg. 53 / luke 18:1), and we are then shown that constant prayer and devotion is the key to spiritual vigor. a prayerless heart is a dying heart.

and, to return to the vital point, secret praying is the test, the gauge, the conserver of man’s relation to God. the prayer chamber, while it is the test of the sincerity of our devotion to God, becomes also the measure of the devotion. the self-denial, the sacrifices which we make for our prayer chambers, the frequency of our visits to that hallowed place of meeting with the Lord, the lingering to stay, the loathness to leave, are values which we put on communion alone with God, the price we pay for the Spirit’s trying hours of heavenly love.

chapter 7 is the revelation that real prayer, prayer that bounds has been discussing for the last 6 chapters, leads inevitably to intimacy with our Eternal God. prayerlessness leads not only to unfamiliarity with God, but also spiritual decline, decay and eventually despair.

chapter 8, entitled “Prayer, The Remedy For All Evils,” is a great case study in both New Testament and later times when prayer led to revival, redemption, restoration, to miracles and to God’s movement on the earth. for me, it was a good reminder that menare needed to pray. bounds explains that the Bible presents prayer as supremely important for men: both for the work of God on the earth and for their family lives. bounds points out paul’s letter to timothy as admonishing men to prayer “in contrast to, and distinct from, the women.” (pg 64)

this chapter reminded me of bounds’ earlier work Power Through Prayer because it spoke more of church activity, church leadership and the like. Power Through Prayer is definitively written for pastors, Bible teachers and church leaders, though it is a great read for any Christian.

chapter 8 reminds us that we have a job on the earth, in a church, for the Lord. it reminds us that all of the ‘great’ men and leaders of the Bible were praying men.

what would God’s leaders be without prayer? strip moses of his power in prayer, a gift that made him eminent in pagan estimate, and the crown is taken from his head, the food and fire of his faith are gone.

bounds continues with examples like elijah, paul, luther and wesley, proving his point well. in his own day and age he was worried that churches and Christians had become too goal oriented, too movement oriented, too numbers oriented. how much further many of us have ventured into those deceptions!

many church leaders seem to think if they can be prominent as men of business, of money, of influence, of thought, of plans, of scholarly attainments, of eloquent gifts, of conspicuous activities, that these are enough and will atone for the absence of the higher spiritual power which only much praying can give. but how vain and paltry are these in the serious work of bringing glory to God, controlling the Church for Him, and bringing it into full accord with its divine mission! (pg 67)

just this morning i was reminded of this very principle as i read in matthew when the disciples asked Jesus why they failed to cast a demon out of a boy, to which He responded “this type does not come out but by prayer and fasting.” all the gifting (heavenly or earthly), all the ability, all the education, all the good intentions fail when they are not accompanied by prayer.

as chapter 8 reminds us, God is concerned with the man not the methods. i was encouraged, and i hope you are too, to maintain the man today, rather than the methods of my trade.

Purpose In Prayer is excellently shaping a way of thinking about communion with God that will lead to personal closeness, personal triumph and personal growth with the Lord.

blessings.

–

whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.‘ask and ye shall receive.’ it is a rule that never will be altered in anybody’s case.

our Lord Jesus Christ is the elder brother of the family, but God has not relaxed the rule for Him. remember this text: Jehovah says to His own Son, ‘ask of Me and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.’

if the royal and divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that He may have, you and I cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favor.

why should it be? what reason can be pleaded why we should be exempted from prayer? what argument can there be why we should be deprived of the priviledge and delivered from the necessity of supplication? i can see none, can you?

God will bless elijah and send rain on israel, but elijah must pray for it. if the chosen nation is to prosper, samuel must plead for it. if the jews are to be delivered, daniel must intercede. God will bless paul, and the nations shall be converted through him, but paul must pray.

pray he did without ceasing; his epistles show that he expected nothing except by asking for it. if you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, i beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and i beseech you to abound in it.

- charles spurgeon (purpose in prayer - pg. 50-51)