Letter of Appreciation for my Work on "Heralds of the Truth"

Well, THAT just made my day....I just received the following letter, from a colleague of Pastor Hristo Kulichev in Sofia:

Dear Mrs. Notcheva,

It is with pleasure that I am writing to you because the Rev. Hristo Kulichev, and old-time friend, told me you have edited the above-mentioned book. I finished reading it and want to applaud your language expertise and editing skills. It is a notable volume of historical significance. Your contribution makes it even more valuable. What also amazes me is that you have freely given of your time and talent while caring for your family including four children.


May God bless you and reward you for doing His work.


Sincerely, Alice Litov

That was nice of her! By the way, my article about Kulichev's life, ministry and involvement in Bulgaria's Underground Church will be published (with my photography) in the May-June issue of "Modern Reformation" magazine.

American Roots, Slavic Zeal, Divine Will

The book that I spent over a year editing, translating and formatting for my former Bulgarian pastor, Rev. Hristo Kulichev, has been reviewed by William Fillebrown in "The Congregationalist Magazine".  The original review is viewable on page 21. A mutual friend of mine and Pastor Hristo, Anne, tipped me off that it had been reviewed - she was disappointed that my name was not mentioned, as the book would not be available in English had I not volunteered my time to edit and produce it. Still, I personally am very glad that Rev. Fillebrown has given it such a glowing endorsement, as it will greatly stirr interest among American Congregationalists with an interest in Church history! May God get all the glory.

Review of Heralds of the Truth:

The History of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria
by Hristo Kulichev
Lulu.com, 184 pages, $12.00

Our friend Hristo relates the birth and grown of his nation’s evangelical church



by William Fillebrown

Pastor Hristo and Tsvete Kulichev are dear to our hearts. They have visited our churches and stayed in our homes. We have heard their passion and their pain as they have told their stories time and time again. We have marveled at their resiliency and commitment to the gospel.


In 2006, I was part of a group that visited Bulgaria. While in Plovdiv, we visited the church planted by the Rev. William and Susan Meriam, missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, who died tragically in 1862. Their story of sacrifice made the experience of leading devotions from the pulpit of their church profoundly moving for me. Multiply this experience exponentially and you will have a sense of the significance and value of Hristo’s second book, Heralds of the Truth: The History of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria.

The fact that the book exists is a miracle in itself. The earlier portions were duplicated on a mimeograph machine many years ago. Over time, all but one copy was lost. Providentially, Hristo and his brother Dimitar came into possession of that one copy. To this, Hristo has added material that brings the history up to date.

My overwhelming impression on reading this book was of hearing the voices of a great cloud of witnesses. Names, dates, and events are listed; but behind them all is a zeal for the gospel born of a deep love of God and a compelling passion to proclaim Christ to the unreached and to live out a genuine faith that affects and impacts every facet of life. The movement of the gospel in Bulgaria began with American Congregationalist missionaries, but it was taken up and fueled by the Bulgarian people themselves. In some regions, Bulgarians advanced the gospel without the aid of missionaries. The common approach was simple: Booksellers went from town to town, selling books and preaching. They planted house churches, many of which grew into larger congregations and erected houses of worship.

We can only imagine the stories beneath the words that describe so plainly the efforts to reach the people of Bulgaria. Those who advanced the Gospel were driven by a desire to reach all kinds of people, regardless of who they were—Turks (oppressors), Gypsies (social outcasts), or even Communists enemies of the gospel).

There is evidence of many failures, and doors were slammed shut. But there is greater evidence of the supernatural work of God in opening doors and changing hearts even in the most desperate and seemingly impossible situations and circumstances. One line in the book is written in all capital letters. It summarizes the message of the book and epitomizes the history of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria:

YET THE PRESENCE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD IS NOT DUE TO THE WORLD'S BENEVOLENCE, BUT RATHER TO THE WILL OF THE LORD.

I am deeply grateful that this book has been written, so that the names of these servant saints will be recorded and remembered, and that Hristo’s story within the larger story of Bulgaria will be known. My prayer is that they will stand as a testimony to the faithfulness of God and will inspire us to greater efforts for the gospel and God’s Kingdom.

Since 2000, the Rev. Dr. William P. Fillebrown has served as pastor of Chiltonville Congregational Church, Plymouth, Mass. He and his wife, Deborah, have served Congregational churches since 1976. His 2007 doctoral degree in Ministry to Postmodern Generations has ignited his passion to convey the gospel generationally and internationally.

Good News from Belarus...

Last year, I wrote about the orphanage/post-orphan ministry Spring of Revival is doing in Belarus, a country with 36,000 orphans and the most repressive in Europe regarding religious freedom. Last fall, Olga visited here in Massachusetts with her husband and children, and despite opposition (and the deportation of most American volunteers), they are continuing to minister to the "least of these". The children are thriving, spiritually and otherwise....a true miracle, considering their circumstances.

This morning, I received the latest ministry update from Belarus, with great pictures from the Christian summer camp SoR runs for kids from two orphanages. For more information and previous newsletters, see the Stoneworks International site.

Camp Time in Belarus
June 11, 2010

Olga Goncharenko just sent this wonderful update from Belarus about Camp that started May 28th:
There are 180 children at camp. We have brought 40 kids: 20 of them are from Stankovo orphanage (7 girls and 13 boys) and 20 are from Mozyr area that remains polluted by Chernobyl (8 girls and 12 boys).

Days at camp are full of different events. Every morning the children get up at 8 and then they do morning exercises. After that they get ready, clean their rooms and go to breakfast.

When breakfast is finished the children go to Bible class (there are 3 classes for different ages 7-9, 10-12, 13 and up).

When Bible class is finished it is time for a big game, in which the whole camp takes part.

Then it is lunch and after lunch it is quiet time when children stay in their rooms and read or take a nap.

Following nap time is snack and then it is movie time or time to play different sports, such as volleyball, golf, running, rope-jumping, etc.

Next, it is dinner and group time; afterward it is ’second dinner’ time. At the end of the day it is a meeting for the whole camp, where the director tells the results of the day and wishes everyone good night.

The children all sing together a good night song and go to their rooms. Then they get ready for bed, read Bible, talk and pray together. And then they all go to sleep.

That is how we spend each day at camp. The children learn more about God and Bible and also they get to have a good time.

...And Just in Time for St. Stefan's Day...

As some of you may know, today, December 26th is the day which honors the feast of St. Stefan, the first Christian martyr. Acts chapter 7 details the fearless testimony Stefan gave before the Sanhedrin, before being dragged outside to his death (by stoning). I was so impressed by this young, politically-incorrect hero of the faith that I named my second son Stefan in his honor. (In fact, if we were adherents of the Eastern Orthodox faith, we'd be celebrating his "name day" today. Maybe I'll just read him "Stefan Stands Strong" before bed tonight.)

Stefan of the first century immediately came to mind this morning as I read the AP report below. This Korean-American witness for Christ is almost certainly walking to his death, a fact he must know. Very few people come out of North Korea alive - even fewer of the Christians.

This guy doesn't seem fazed by what they do to people in the gulags. Amazing witness for Christ.

Activist: US missionary crosses border into NKorea

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Kwang-tae Kim, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – A Christian missionary from the U.S. has entered North Korea carrying a letter to leader Kim Jong Il in order to call attention to the tens of thousands of political prisoners believed held in the communist state, an activist said Saturday.

Robert Park, a 28-year-old Korean-American, crossed the frozen Tumen River into North Korea from China on Christmas Day to urge Kim to release political prisoners and shut down the "concentration camps" where they are held, said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the issue's sensitivity.

It was unclear Saturday if Park was in North Korean custody. Illegal entry into the country is punishable by up to three years in prison. The communist regime held two American journalists for nearly five months earlier this year before freeing them during a visit by former President Bill Clinton.

Park is a missionary from Tucson, Arizona, according to the activist, who works for Pax Koreana, a conservative Seoul-based group that calls for North Korea to improve its human rights record.

"I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you," Park was quoted by two activists as shouting in Korean as he crossed the North Korean border, according to the activist who spoke to The Associated Press.

He said Park was last seen by the two other activists, who saw him enter North Korea near the northeastern city of Hoeryong from the poorly guarded border late Friday afternoon. He added that the crossing was videotaped and the footage would be released Sunday.

North Korea holds some 154,000 political prisoners in six large camps across the country, according to South Korean government estimates. The North has long been regarded as having one of the world's worst human rights records, but it rejects outside criticism and denies the existence of prison camps.

North Korean state media did not mention any illegal crossing. The country's criminal code punishes illegal entry with up to three years in prison.

Park carried a letter to Kim calling for major changes in how the country is operated, according to Pax Koreana.

"Please open your borders so that we may bring food, provisions, medicine, necessities, and assistance to those who are struggling to survive," said the letter, according to a copy posted on Pax Koreana's Web site. "Please close down all concentration camps and release all political prisoners today."

The activist said that Park also carried a separate written appeal calling for Kim to immediately step down, noting alleged starvation, torture and deaths in North Korean political prison camps. The second letter was addressed to the leaders of South Korea, China, the U.S., Japan and the United Nations.

North Korea is expected to react strongly because Park raised the issue of its political system, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University.

Demanding Kim step down is "a kind of hostile act" and "the North won't likely compromise on such an issue," Koh said, predicting it will take time to resolve.

Kim wields absolute power in the communist state of 24 million people. Any acts seen as hostile to him and his leadership carry harsh punishment, said Choi Eun-suk, a professor on North Korean legal affairs at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it is looking into Park's case, but it had no details.

"His fate to us is unknown," said embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson. She said a charitable organization, which did not identify, had notified the State Department in Washington of Park's actions.

The activist said Park came to South Korea in July and stayed there until leaving for China earlier this week to enter the North.

"I would not go to North Korea to live. Even if I die, world leaders should really repent for keeping silence" on North Korea, Park said in Seoul before leaving for China, the activist said.

The activist said Pax Koreana is affiliated with another organization called Freedom and Life For All North Koreans, which is a coalition of advocacy groups for North Korean human rights. Park is a member of the broader group, he said. The coalition and other activist groups plan to hold rallies in New York, Tokyo, Seoul and other cities from Sunday to Thursday.

In August, North Korea released two U.S. journalists it had sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for trespassing and "hostile acts." Their release came amid a trip to Pyongyang by former President Clinton aimed at winning their freedom.

American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were captured by North Korean guards near the Tumen River in March while reporting a story on North Korean defectors.

Park's reported entry comes weeks after North Korea held one-on-one talks with the United States and signaled its willingness to return to international negotiations on ending its nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang said earlier this month it would try to resolve remaining differences with Washington.

___

Associated Press writer Cara Anna in Beijing contributed to this report.

Nepali Minister released; Son of Hamas Leader Meets Christ

God still works miracles, my staunch cessationist position notwithstanding.

What an awesome, patient, faithful Father we have. Even though I spend far too much time screen-sucking, I am glad I booted up the ol' laptop this afternoon, as in a few minutes time I have had the pleasure of reading about two glorious works of God. Feel free to rejoice with me.

The first is a testimony of God's faithfulness in a prison in Nepal. For those of you who have followed Gospel for Asia's ministry for any length of time, you may remember the gross injustice of Pastor Manja Tamang, one of the very few GFA native missionaries in that country. He was framed for murder and imprisoned for 20 years by an anti-Christian group in Nepal, after he reported a dead body in the river to the police. During his imprisonment, which GFA supporters around the world have prayed to end for nearly a decade, Tamang led many fellow prisoners to Christ. Here is a brief excerpt of the story:

Gospel for Asia native missionary Manja Tamang was released from a Nepali prison Friday after serving 9 years of a 20-year sentence. Manja was imprisoned in 2000 after being falsely accused of murder.

Manja was freed along with 13 others in his prison and 120 others from jails around the country. His release was the cause of celebration among Christians in Nepal and was praised by GFA Founder and President K.P. Yohannan.

"We rejoice that our faithful brother has been released from prison," said Dr. Yohannan from his Carrollton, Texas, office. "He was unjustly accused and has spent nearly a decade in jail. But his testimony is a parallel with the testimony of the Apostle Paul. Even in prison, our dear brother was preaching the Gospel and bringing people to Christ. Whatever has happened has been used by the Lord to bring even more people to Him."

...All through his imprisonment, Manja continued to be a joyful witness, sharing the Gospel with the other prisoners. He organized and led Bible studies and worship services, with at least 30 inmates attending many of those services. And several men in his little "prison congregation" chose to follow Christ. Manja also taught social studies classes in the prison's education system.

"Manja's patience in bearing all these difficulties and injustices is a lesson for all of us to learn," said N. Sharma, GFA's leader in Nepal. "Whenever I saw Manja in prison, he was always smiling. He reminded me often of the Apostle Paul's own statement from prison ‘rejoice in the Lord always.' This is a quality that can only be developed through bearing pain from within, such as our brother Manja has done."

Manja's wife, Rati, was equally as strong during his long imprisonment. During her time as a "single" mother of two, she completed studies at a GFA-affiliated Bible college and carried on her husband's ministry. She also works with the Women's Fellowship and teaches the children in the GFA Bridge of Hope Center in her village. Manja was reunited with Rati and their two children on Friday. He was also welcomed back to freedom by Sharma and other pastors from both Nepal and India.

"The Body of Christ from literally around the world has been praying for this day, and now we can all rejoice together at what God has done in releasing our dear Brother Manja," Dr. Yohannan said. "Let us continue to pray for him as he and his family begin a new chapter of their life—together for the first time in many years,"

You can read the full story here and watch a slide show of Tamang's release and family. Many praises to the God of all comfort for this answered prayer!

Concurrently, the son of an imprisoned Hamas leader has embraced Christ and is encouraging other Muslims to leave the religion he described in an interview as "a drug". The Palestinian terrorist organization virtually controls the West Bank region where Masab Yousef grew up. A "chance" meeting with an Evangelical tourist caused him to start questioning the foundation on which Islam was based, and after one reading of the Bible Yousef gave his life to Christ. He is now living in southern California and hopes soon to return to his Palestinian hometown. Becoming a Christian in Yousef's culture takes "counting the cost" to a whole new level - he is now an outcast and if he returns, his life will be in very real danger.

Watch this interview, "Escape from Hamas":



Demographically, the Muslim world seems poised to take over within another 50 years or so. Even so, we know Who is on the throne and His individual dealings with His elect - from every tribe, nation and unlikely sociological background - are astounding. What an amazing God!

U.S. Military Destroyed Christian Bibles

This report comes from OneNewsNow and appeared yesterday:

The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan.

Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty -- including those based in places like Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion.

Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said "I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed."

According to the military officials, the Bibles were sent through private mail to an evangelical Christian soldier by his church back home. Reuters says the soldier brought them to the Bible study class where they were filmed.

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon briefing Monday that the military's position is that it will never "push any specific religion."

Well, that's bleeping brilliant, now isn't it? We've had troops in these Taliban-run hellholes for.... how many years has it been now? - ostensibly "keeping the peace" and trying to return some semblance of sanity to a volatile, satanically-controlled region, a soldier has God's Word sent to him from his church halfway around the world, and our own military destroys the Bibles so as not to give offense. Sheer genius. By all means, let's keep out the Gospel. Wouldn't want to be all "politically incorrect" now, would we? Who knows what exposing these brainwashed genocidal maniacs to Christianity might do.

This poll ran as part of the article:

Results from our related poll

What's your reaction to the decision by the U.S. military

to destroy the soldier's Bibles?

The Church's Response to Treachery and Persecution

The following is an excerpt from "Heralds of the Truth: The History of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria" by Rev. Hristo Kulichev of Sofia, Bulgaria. I edited the English translation of the book, and it should be published later this year. In this chapter, Kulichev is not speaking about the Inquisition or counter-Reformation atrocities. Rather, he refers to the period of Christianity's greatest persecution in Bulgaria, under the Communists (1944-1989); then subsequently during a backlash directed at the growth of Gospel-preaching churches in the mid-ninetees. I attended his church, First Evangelical Church of Sofia, from 1992-1995.

"Throughout its existence, the Church has encountered numerous trials wherein it persevered in the truth. In doing so, it has also received many blessings in leading souls to Christ, through the accomplishment of its calling to proclaim His Gospel. The Church has also fallen when it has deviated from its call to seek the well-being of the world. During a prolonged period of trials and persecutions, some church leaders became obsessed with the satanic idea that the existence of the church hinges on the goodwill of the world and the indulgence of the authorities ‘who granted us the right to live’.

In such times of tribulation one could frequently hear the words, ‘Let us be cautious and circumspect’, ‘Let us preserve the Church’, or, ‘Let's spare our strength for more favourable times’. Many of the Christians saying such things were in leadership positions in the church. In this manner they actually sought to disguise their concern and self-serving worry. They had no understanding that God had placed us not to be keepers or guardians of his Church, but rather to be servants and ministers within it. God has no desire for our zeal of tomorrow; He seeks our faithfulness of today. The general counsel was, ‘Let us be cautious’, and not, ‘Let us be bold for the Lord’.

The history of the early Church was forgotten. When threats were extended to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, the believers in Acts 4 gathered together and lifted up their voice to the Lord in one accord. Their prayer, however, was not something like, ‘O Lord, have a look at the hardships and the intimidations we are facing; remove the obstacles placed by Satan before Your Word!’

No, their prayer was, ‘And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word’ (Acts 4:29).
In their ‘concern’, many Christians were willing to conceal their fear for themselves, their cowardice, and their unwillingness to endure sufferings for Christ. Who can destroy a Church over which even the gates of hell cannot prevail? Who can destroy the body of the living, resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, whom the chains of death and hell could not hold in the cold grave?
The Word of God reveals to us the truth that no one ever hates his own body, but feeds it and takes care of it. The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ provides for his own body. He wants us to be obedient and docile members of His body (Ephesians 5:29-30).

Knowing that the whole world is in the wicked one, and we are not of the world but of God (1 John 5:19), what co-existence and friendship could there be between the Church and the world? Should the Church compromise with the world in order to evade the hardship and trials? Is it pleasing to God that we should allow compromises? Any case of compromising with the world is sinful, since it is a retreat from God's will.
If it existed by the will of the world, the Church would have been destroyed long ago. That is why the world forces the Church into all kinds of compromise, as if the existence and subsistence of the church was dependant on the world's good pleasure. YET THE PRESENCE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD IS NOT DUE TO THE WORLD'S BENEVOLENCE, BUT RATHER TO THE WILL OF THE LORD.

The will of God is the sovereign will, and the Church, having persevered in all things, will one day triumph in the glory of its Lord.
In the times of struggle for upholding truth and purity, many martyrs and heroes emerged from within the Church. Unfortunately, it also brought out many backsliders, apostates and traitors. Faithful and devoted children of God worked in the Church, but it was also infiltrated by false teachers, false brethren, false apostles and false prophets who took advantage of their freedom in Christ to accomplish their own interests and ambitions. Along with the chastity of Joseph, fervency of Moses, the power of Elijah, the diligence and earnestness of Paul, the gentleness of John, the Lord’s people have also seen prophets like Balaam, kings like Saul, disciples like Judas, workers like Demas and leaders like Diotrephes.

However, God’s children have always been found in the Church. In the power of the Spirit, they have persisted in their defiance of the spiritual powers of ungodliness. These saints have contended for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3), and have earnestly guarded the purity of the Church of Christ that it may be without ‘spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish’ (Ephesians 5:27).

We should not be surprised at the variety and the number of Satan’s attacks against the Church, but we should always be wary and alert to resist him so that he will flee from us (James 4:7). Neither should we think that having once repelled and driven him back we have chased him away forever. He will always try in a different way, through other vehicles, to sneak into the Church. He will either employ sweet and flattering words, or resort to brute violence. We need the wisdom and insight of Christ to discern his wicked craftiness, and not to succumb to his deceptions. We need God's power to withstand the ordeals he might inflict upon us. And, above all, we should always have in mind that Satan is a defeated enemy.

He knows he is running out of time to exert his power, and he will grow still more wicked, ferocious and ruthless. (Revelation 12:12b). But in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and redeemed us through His death on Calvary (Romans 8:37). The Bible says that the saints will be able to overcome Satan through the blood of the Lamb and through the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives so much as to flee death (Rev. 12:12)."

What Peter Says in Response to Persecution

This morning, while reading 1 Peter, I realized something about myself. Later in the day, when Barbara sent me the link to a great blog, "Far East Russia for God's Glory", I realized it anew.

I don't deal well with persecution.

What I mean is this: I care deeply about the persecuted church. I am bothered by apathy in the Body about it, and I burn with anger when I read of Christians being mutilated in Turkey, burned to death in India, or being tortured with power drills in Pakistan. I am consistently dismayed by the deliberate lack of coverage this receives in the media, which attempts to portray Christians as bigots and buffoons at every turn.

Apart from these cases of overt, barbaric, physical persecution, closer to home, the more subtle oppression of Christians in Eastern Europe is a pet peeve of mine. I have written about society and governmental perception of Bible-believing Christians in Bulgaria and the more hard-line regime against them in Belarus here before.
Widely considered cultists, loonies and heretics, the Church in Eastern Europe experiences a uniquely passive-aggressive form of persecution which is the result of smear campaigns, media propaganda and jealousy from the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the 19th century, this took the form of Orthodox-led riots, pogroms and burnings of Protestant property; nowadays registration permits are denied, rumors are spread, and the mass media are used to publicly discredit evangelicals.

This infuriates me.

But here's the interesting thing: it seems to bug the Christians caught in the fray far less than it does me.

When I was in Bulgaria again last summer, the elderly congregants at the Baptist church were the most joyful, contented individuals I noticed the entire time we were there. Half of the 2.5 million people in Sofia look angry; the other half look clinically depressed. But not the Christians. They don't seem to give a rat's patootie that they are still a maligned minority; they've got Jesus, and He's all they need to be joyful.

When I spent time interviewing my former pastor, he passionately said his years in prison were the best gift God could have given him. Most of his books center around the theme that as disciples of Christ, we must expect persecution and be ready at all times to make sacrifices for our faith. He related anecdotes of recent media attempts to cast Christians in a bad light - most of them instigated by the Orthodox Synod (itself the center of a political controversy). Despite the slander, he held not a hint of animosity.

Recently, I posted a review of an earlier Bulgarian pastor's 13-year ordeal at the hands of the Communists. When I read details of how deranged men tortured, beat and starved Christ-followers within an inch of their lives, I seethe. My anger is all the more intense knowing how this evil, godless ideology has sucked in naive people. People who are close to me, and are thoroughly brain washed. Pastor Popov prayed for and warned against hating the Communists. But you know what? I hate the Communists. HATE them. I hate extremists in India who slice open pregnant women and pour kerosene on Christians, just to watch them burn. Two years ago, when I read of the attack on the Australian missionary family whose father and sons were burned to death, I felt rage.

And then the widow forgave the killers. The Indian believers continue to praise God, knowing each service might be their last. The Belarussian Christians hold their illegal meetings surreptitiously, and the Bulgarian evangelicals doggedly continue to feed the hungry and counsel the prisoners.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

They get it. I struggle to rejoice, because according to my human logic, it's just so wrong.

Even closer to home, I do not do well with the even smaller, also annoying barbs that come from my parents for my being a Christian. Part of the reason I am so well-versed in Scripture and apologetics is to be able to give a ready response to the attacks my father makes on my faith. (Oh, he likes to be sneaky about it - I call it back-door antagonism). To be sure, as Beth Moore once wrote, "I'm not sure we can really relate to religious persecution in this country, and it's rather nauseating when we try." (That's the one and only time I'll quote Beth Moore on this blog. In this case, though, her point happened to be well-taken.)

I keep a calm demeanor and a rational tone when countering attacks, but inwardly

I want to slap the snot out of I am a bit irritated. Why don't people open their idiot eyes already and just believe on Christ? The Bible's authenticity has been proven many times over; how hard is it to get a library book on apologetics?!?

Here's Peter's advice (I dearly love the apostle Peter; especially that sword episode with Malchus' ear):

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:8-9; 14-17).

Lord, change my heart. Somewhere deep down inside, there's a quiet and gentle spirit just dying to get out.

Yeah, I just am finding the balance between righteous anger and the acceptance of suffering with joy (especially other people's suffering, when they don't deserve it) hard to find. Amazing that those in the midst of it handle it with so much more grace and acceptance than I can find possible.

Below is a September 2008 posting from the Russian Christians in Siberia:

Dear brothers and sisters! We ask you to pray for our ministry to the Far East Russia.

«With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel…" Eph. 6:18-19

1. Following a week September 18th in our city will the big Christian concert.Please pray, that the government our city to open their hearts to cooperation and to not interfere in carrying out of a concert.Also that it is a lot of people which not know the God could to come on this concert and to hear the gospel.

2. In the begun October Nika will organize regional Christian conference for women .Please pray, that the God to give her a wisdom and Holy Spirit to change a life many women through this conference.

3. In connection with event in Georgia and South Ossetia the government has changed attitudes to Christians. The main religion Russia - Orthodoxy. Many Christians Protestants cannot spend public a meeting and cannot openly preach the Gospel.Please pray, that the government has changed the attitude and has opened a door for the sermon of the Gospel.

4. Pray, that the God has given new work (jab) for Zhenya that he had more time for our ministry in Birobidzhan. Time for personal preparation a pray and reading the Bible, also for a meeting with people for the Bible studying. That the God has filled our financial need.

5. Pray for greater Christmas meeting that much our friends have come to our house and to learn about love the God who was given His son for them.

6. Pray, that the God has given us a building for church.

Your in Christ Zhenya and Nika Aksutin

Extremists Halt Church Construction

(from Gospel for Asia)

Religious extremists from a popular radical Hindu activist group have brought a church construction project to a halt. They have set up a tent outside the unfinished building to conduct rituals to their gods.

The extremists descended on the church, which is under construction in Uttar Pradesh, India, on December 17. They placed vermillion-red flags on the church building, which is a sign that it has been taken over for Hindu use. The extremists, who belong to the radical RSS movement, then proceeded to offer pujas (Hindu prayers) to their gods and goddesses.

GFA missionary Kushal Samuel heard about the incident and rushed to the church. He tried to talk to the extremists, but they had called the police, who arrested Kushal and took him to jail. While he was being held in jail, the extremists attacked the GFA district leader, Harish Kumar, who had come to the site to help Kushal. The extremists beat Harish for about 30 minutes and then took him to the police station. They made up false stories about Kushal and Harish and accused them of many crimes.

The police allowed Kushal and Harish to speak, and they explained, in detail, what the church does. After hearing their explanation, the police released Kushal and Harish. But they halted the church construction.

In the meantime, the Hindu extremists set up a small tent in front of the unfinished church building. They are sitting in the tents conducting their rituals and are pressuring believers to turn their back on Christ and return to Hinduism.

The church was complete, except for the roof, when the extremists commandeered the site. GFA's zonal leader, Lamu Tekam, has met with the police in an effort to get permission to continue the construction project.

• Please pray for Lamu, that his talks with the police will bear fruit and that the police will allow construction to resume.


• Pray for the extremists who desecrated the church property. Pray that they will come to know Christ.


• Pray for Kushal as he works in that village. Ask the Lord to give him grace and wisdom in the midst of the difficult situation.


• Pray for the believers, that God will strengthen them and that they will stand firm in their faith.

NOW Violence in India is Getting Press Coverage

195 dead. Over 200 wounded. Blood all over the train station. By now we have all seen the coverage of the three horrifying days of attack in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on the news and in the press.

Americans and British citizens in particular were singled out by gunmen who took (and killed) hostages in the luxurious Taj Mahal hotel and attacked Western diners in restaurants. The tragedy has been everywhere in the news this week. An hour ago, a local rabbi was on our nightly news discussing the committed Chabad House couple who were killed yesterday. He lamented how such good-hearted, giving individuals would be attacked for the religious beliefs that they held.

There's just one question that's been bothering me.

Why now? Why, just now, since religious extremists in India have been on the rampage since August, is this finally getting the world and the media's attention? Could it just be that....because a half dozen Americans were killed? Now the massacres qualify for "crisis" status. Before this week, the thousands of Indian Christians who were murdered in cold blood didn't even register on the world news' radar. (They're still finding rotting corpses in the jungles, by the way). As I posted earlier this week, the bounty for a dead pastor is now $250. The terrorists even provide the kerosine and matches to light them on fire.



Just in case you've missed my periodic updates on open season on Christians in Northern and Central India, here are a few of this month's news briefs from GFA and Voice of the Martyrs:

India: More than 70,000 Displaced Christians in Orissa
Extremists Demand End to Christian Activity in Orissa
Orissa Attacks Described
Attacks on Christians in India Spread Beyond Orissa

Here is a telling survey result table from VOM. It indicates that fewer than 11% of those polled have even seen any reports about India's violence against Christians anywhere in the secular media:

Have you seen coverage of the widespread attacks on Christians in Orissa, India…

Only from The Voice of the Martyrs 26.55% 1518 votes From VOM and in the Christian media 24.07% 1376 votes In both Christian and secular media 10.93% 625 votes I’ve not seen any reports of these attacks 38.43% 2197 votes Total: 5716 These results were generated on Nov 29, 2008 20:02:45. powered by www.survey-tech.com This survey is not scientific and reflects the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate.

Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?

Here's but one of the attacks that never made international headlines:

7 Month's Pregnant, Kamalini Naik Cut into Pieces for Her Faith

As narrated by an independent writer:

Mrs. Kamalini Naik's husband was asked to become a Hindu for which the fanatics threatened to kill his mother. Seeing his mother under their grip Mr. Naik denounced his faith.

Then they called his wife Kamalini Naik who was 7 months pregnant. She strongly stood for her faith in Christ and immediately the fanatics cut her into pieces and her one and half year son in front of her husband and other Christians.

But now, Westerners are involved so the violence has been deemed "newsworthy". Being mutilated or set on fire just for being a Christian just isn't important enough to make the papers.

Going rate to kill pastor: $250

This from The Berean Call and GFA, originally posted on WorldNetDaily:

Rewards offered for murdering Christians, destroying homes, churches

(GFA) Extremists are offering rewards to continue violence like this.

Hindu extremist groups are offering money, food and alcohol to anyone who murders Christians and destroys their homes.

The violence is nothing new in Orissa, India, where India's Communist Party estimates that more than 500 Christians have been killed by Hindu mobs in Orissa since late August, 12 times more than official government claims of only 40 homicides.

But now the stakes are even higher – and pastors have a bounty on their heads.

Faiz Rahman, chairman of Good News India, said Hindu militants are targeting Christian leaders, the Christian Post reported.

"The going price to kill a pastor is $250," he said.

Rahman, a head of several orphanages in Orissa State, said he's helped 25 pastors to leave refugee camps, but 250 Christian leaders are still in shelters.

"All of the pastors are high value targets," Rahman told the UK-based Release International. "We've got to get them out of the refugee camps."

An All-India Christian Council spokesman said, "People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties. They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and weapons. They are given petrol and kerosene."

One official said he personally authorized "cremation of more than 200 bodies" found in jungles after Christians were blamed for the death of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 24. They continue to be persecuted even though Maoists openly admitted to murdering Saraswati.

Thousands of homes and churches have been destroyed, and an estimated 50,000 Christians have been forced to flee the violence. Mission Network News estimates 5,000 Christian homes have been burned and 200 churches ruined. According to the Christian Post, 30,000 people remain in government-operated refugee camps. Tens of thousands are living in forests – many seriously wounded.

Father Manoj, based at the archbishop’s office in Bhubaneshwar, said Christians remain in hiding.

"They are too scared to go home. They know that if they return to their villages they will be forced to convert to Hinduism."

Religious rights group Barnabus Fund told the group Hindu militants "forced" Christians in Orissa to "convert" to Hinduism by threatening them with rape if they refused.

Neighbors reportedly gang-raped a Hindu woman after her Christian uncle refused to renounce his faith, according to reports.

Another Christian woman named Jaspina was told by neighbors, "If you go on being Christian, we will burn your house and your children in front of you." She and her family were forced to eat cow excrement to "purify" themselves of Christianity.

Other Christians were doused with gasoline and told to participate in conversion ceremonies or be lit on fire.

This week, Hindu extremists said they have set a deadline for the capture of Saraswati's murderers. If the killers are not caught by Dec. 15, they promised to begin a massacre on Dec. 25, Christmas day.

According to the latest report, Orissa's Catholic bishops wrote an ominous letter to the state's chief minister. It read, "This conflict is a calculated and pre-planned master plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal in order to realize the hidden agenda … of establishing a Hindu nation."

KGB is "Interested" in the Activities of Church Minister

This is from the updated webpage of Belarus' New Life Church, just outside of Minsk. In October, I posted about a Christian ministry which operates within the country and does much good to improve the lives of impoverished and abandoned children. Unfortuantely, I had to remove it for security reasons (Christian activity has become illegal in Belarus, which has reverted to a police state).

On November 10 one of the helpers of New Life church’s pastor, brother Sergei Vashkevich has come to the Department of KGB of Minsk and Minsk region in accordance to the summons paper received by him earlier. KGB officers talked with Sergei for over 2 hours. During this talk they were asking him questions concerning the act of terror that had taken place in Minsk on July 4 this year and the past activities of Sergei in one of local NGOs. During this talk KGB officer wanted to take Sergei’s finger prints, to which, as well as to having to sign the protocol of his interrogation, Sergei refused. Sergei has argumented his position as follows: “as an evangelical, and as a church minister as well, I definitely could not have participated in such act of terror”. At the end of this “talk” KGB officer has promised not to invite Sergei for such “talks” in the future.

Several years ago, after passing the most repressive law on religious freedom in Europe (the EU has compared it to Stalin's 1929 decree on religious associations) the Lukashenko government tried to reposess New Life Church's building, an unheated, abandoned cow barn which the then-800 member congregation personally restored and was using for worship. Pastor Slava Goncharenko stood up to the police, as he had before, and 180 members of the church held an in-building hunger strike for weeks. The incident made international news and gained support around the world. While they retained their right to meet for worship, the government claimed they could not use the barn for anything other than a barn (although the land it stood on was residential and no longer agricultural). It is not unusual in Belarus for new laws to be invented spur of the moment at the whim of an official. The government was to "buy" the church back, at a tenth of it's real estate value.

I recently learned that the KGB has been operating once again at full force, and the communist youth organizations Young Pioneers and Komsomol have once again become de riguer - notwithstanding that a whole generation has grown up post-communism.

Also recently, deportations of other Christian pastors:

On the night of 15-16 of October border (frontier) services of the Republic of Belarus in the airport Minsk-2 detained, placed into detention unit for deportees and deported a famous Christian minister, Bishop Benjamin Brukh. The detention and the deportation were done without explanation of any reasons.

Benjamin Brukh is a protestant bishop and a pastor, a famous minister in Belarus, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ in Minsk, one of the largest protestant religious communities in Belarus. He served as the pastor of this church during 1991-2002. Borys Chernoglaz, the senior pastor of the Full Gospel Church of Jesus Christ, expressed his concern over this fact: “While the visa ban has been lifted on high-ranking state officials, the person who has contributed quite a lot to the spiritual development of the nation is not permitted entry into the country. I do not understand why without presenting any reason explanations Bishop Benjamin Brukh was not admitted into Belarus. In the last years not once he entered the country, he did not violate any laws, and there were not any claims against him. On this night he was detained and taken into the custody as a criminal”.

Benjamin Brukh is the citizen of Ukraine. During the time of his ministry in Belarus, his church and he personally have done a lot work in the spiritual and social spheres. In the last years he has been in Belarus on numerous occasions, as well as for a longer period of time, in compliance with the procedures established by the legislation of the republic of Belarus.

“We will make our utmost efforts to receive Belarusian state authoritities official explanation on Benjamin Brukh's deportation. In any case, it is obvious that in this situation human rights are violated, the rights of a protestant pastor in particular, and the image of our country is seriously harmed”, the lawyer and human rights consultant Sergei Shavtsov says.

New Life's congregants worshiping outside:

May they be spared any more "visits" from the KGB.

Is this Orissa....or Michigan???

You people have to read this. (Thanks to Glenn of Watchman's Bagpipes for sending it in). A Lansing blogger named Nick wrote it.

So, the question of the day is.....since it's the Mid-west and not the Mid-east, does it qualify for a "persecuted church" label? You decide.

I'll be back with an original entry later - off to Bible study right now.

Michigan liberals attack Lansing congregation in the middle of Sunday worship

This is what we're up against.

On Sunday morning, amidst worshiping congregants and following unifying prayers that our President-elect be granted wisdom as he prepares to lead our nation through difficult global, social and economic challenges, the Michigan left declared open war on peaceful church goers.

They did it with banners, chants, blasphemy, by storming the pulpit, by vandalizing the church facility, by potentially defiling the building with lewd, public, sex acts and by intentionally forcing physical confrontations with worshipers.

This didn't take place in some dystopian, post modern work of fiction and it didn't take place in San Francisco or Berkley. This was the scene at a Bible believing church in Lansing, Michigan.

I returned home myself yesterday, from church and an afternoon watching football with the family, to find an email in my inbox from a friend in the Capitol City. Isn't surprising to see her name in the inbox as she and I often compare notes on our Sunday services.

Truth be told, I've done my best over the last year to start a friendly little rivalry with her. My church is better than hers, I insist, and I have been known to tell her why. Hers is superior to mine, she reminds me, and lists the reasons. (I admit I'm maybe a tad hyper-competitive, but my church really is the best in the world.) Yesterday's email began with an understated proclamation; "So church today was exciting..."

On Sunday, November 9, 2008 Michigan liberals sat peacefully through announcements, worship and prayer for the sick, our nation and our President-elect before staging a coordinated, disgusting and repulsive attack on worshipers and the broader concept of the church itself at Lansing's Mount Hope Church.

The lefties were a part of a liberal organization known as Bash Back Lansing and their collection of radical blogs, including one of the state's most widely read "mainstream" progressive blogs (and none which will receive a link on this website) called on "queers and trannies" from across the state and the region to converge on Lansing for what they refer to as an "action." While many of the members claim to be anarchists (they drove on roads, ate non-garden grown foods, printed materials on products created by government protected free markets, wore clothing, talk incessantly about "organization," etc etc etc) their broader goal is stated plainly on one of their lefty blogs.

"I can tell you that we are targeting a well-known anti-queer, anti-choice radical right wing establishment."

Mount Hope, for the record, is an evangelical, bible believing church whose members provide free 24 hour counseling, prayer lines, catastrophic care for families dealing with medical emergencies, support groups for men, women and children dealing with a wide variety of life's troubles, crisis intervention, marriage ministries, regular, organized volunteer work in and around the city, missions in dozens of countries across the globe, a construction ministry that has built over 100 churches, schools, orphanages and other projects all over the world and an in-depth prison ministry that reaches out, touches and helps the men and women the rest of society fears the most. They also teach respect for all human life and the Biblical sanctity of marriage as an institution between one man and one woman.

This is what Michigan liberals label a "radical right wing establishment," and over 30 of them showed up in force yesterday. Wearing secret-service style ear pieces and microphones they received the "go" from their ringleader and off they went.

Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.

Their other props? I'll let them tell you in their own words... from another of their liberal blogs:

"(A) video camera, a megaphone, noise makers, condoms, glitter by the bucket load, confetti, pink fabric...yeh."

The video camera they put to good use as they attempted to provoke a violent reaction. The image of the pink-clad folks above is one of theirs, stating in a picture worth more than a thousand words the goals of the Michigan left.

The "open minded" and "tolerant" liberals ran down the aisles and across the pews, hoping against hope to catch a "right winger" on tape daring to push back (none did). And just in case their camera missed the target, they had a reporter in tow. According to a source inside the church yesterday there was a "journalist" from the Lansing City Pulse along for the ride, tipped off about the action and more interested in getting a story than in preventing the vandalism, the violence and anti-Christian hatred being spewed by the lefties. We'll see what he files and what his editors see fit to print.

Props were readily on display too, though some of the condoms may have been put to even more nefarious use.

An hour after police and security had collected and removed who they thought were the last of the liberals, a volunteer security person discovered two more, hiding, together, in a public restroom. While their compatriots engaged in openly violent protest in front of everyone these two snuck away to potentially stage their own protest of sorts, and only by the grace of God did one of the hundreds of kids at the church not happen upon that particular restroom in those moments. Precisely how long they'd been there and precisely what they'd been up to we don't know.

The church's response? After things settled down, the blasphemy ended, the lewd props removed and the families safe from fear of additional men and women running into and past them the pastor took the stage and led the congregation in one more prayer... not for retribution, or divine justice or a celestial comeuppance (that's what I'd have prayed for) but instead that the troubled individuals who'd just defiled the Lord's house, so full of anger and hate, would know Jesus' love in their lives and God's peace that exceeds human understanding.

Yesterday morning defined the difference between a church of believers and Michigan liberals. It also illustrated in shocking, painful detail precisely what we're up against.

Freedom to Worship in America Not Taken For Granted by Sudanese Christian Refugees

This article ran in The Tennessean on November 1, 2008. In view of the election results and the anxieties of many, it's a good reminder of the incredible freedom we American Christians enjoy.

Bol Lam Puk, a native of the Sudan, goes to church on Sunday openly worshipping God in his own way. He has not always been able to do that. In fact, it is an act that could have meant persecution in Sudan.

Puk arrived in the United States 13 years ago, settling in Middle Tennessee as he fled his home country's civil war. He spent eight years in an Ethiopian refugee camp.

Now, along with his fellow church members, Puk will celebrate the seventh anniversary of the Sudanese Presbyterian Church in Gallatin on Sunday.

"There was no freedom to worship your God as you wished," Puk said of Sudan. "Here I have the freedom to pray to my God 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Much of Puk's time is now spent at the Sudanese church in Gallatin; a church he said that has changed his life.

"It has given me a lot of experiences," Puk said, adding that he also has the privilege of serving his fellow congregation members and the community.

The Sudanese civil war that broke out in 1953 pitted the northern provinces, which were Muslim, against the south, populated mainly by Christians. The north came to power and the persecution of Christians began.

A group of Sudanese refugees who had escaped their country came to Middle Tennessee in 1997. Many of them were Presbyterian, as missionaries from that denomination spread Christianity to Sudan in the early 1900s.

Forming the church was not easy for members of the Sudanese community, said the Rev. Dr. E.B. Newsom, who serves as pastor of the Gallatin congregation.

"Fifteen originally came to Nashville and wanted to worship in their own language in their own way," Newsom said.

Other Nashville-area churches helped them form a congregation and the group met at the Old Hickory Presbyterian Church for two years. Although not Sudanese, Newsom, who served on a committee helping the group, was called as their pastor.

While the Sudanese were grateful to other congregations for allowing them the use of their buildings, they wanted a church building of their own.

"We looked at about 30 different sites, and we found the one in Gallatin," Newsom said.

What is now their church was once a welding shop, but it had plenty of open space,
2 acres of land and a lot of potential, the pastor said.

In November 2001, the 40-member church purchased the building with the financial aid of other area congregations. "It was as if God was leading us to that exact spot," he said.

Pastor feels blessed

For Newsom, serving as the group's pastor has been both a blessing and a challenge. Formerly a Navy chaplain, he said the military leadership skills he learned have come in handy as he helps his congregation.

He finds that he is part spiritual leader and part social worker as he guides members in finding the help they need to thrive in their new homeland.

Now with 118 members, drawing from Murfreesboro to Nashville, the Gallatin congregation takes pride in their place within the community.

"We feel at home here," Puk said, adding that the Sudanese enjoy sharing their heritage.

Recently sponsoring a Sudanese festival at the church, congregation members enjoyed showing those in the community some of their traditions, language and culture. They regularly visit other congregations, telling them about Sudan and the struggles of Christians to survive and worship.

According to Newsom, giving back to the community is important to the Sudanese, because the people of Middle Tennessee have given so much to them.

They also want people to understand how lucky they are to have as one of their rights the freedom to worship.

"There is nothing like that in Sudan," Puk said.

Leaving Islam Means Death...

When Muslims Become Christians
(from BBC News)

There's a widespread belief that the penalty for leaving Islam is death - hence, perhaps, the killing of a British teacher last week. But Shiraz Maher believes attitudes may be softening.

Ziya Meral's parents disowned him when he converted from Islam to Christianity.

"They said 'go away, you're not our son.' They told people I died in an accident rather than having the shame of their son leaving Islam."

FIND OUT MORE... Shiraz Maher (right) presents Could I Stop Being a Muslim? on Radio 4 on 22 April at 2000 BST, repeated 27 April at 1700 BST. Or listen to it on the BBC iPlayer

Born and raised in Turkey, he decided to convert to Christianity after moving to university. He knew telling his parents would be a difficult moment even though they're not particularly observant Muslims, and he planned to break the news to them gently.

In the end, events overtook him. Before heading back to Turkey for the holidays, Ziya briefly visited a Christian summer camp where he was filmed eating a bowl of spaghetti.

The first his parents heard of his conversion was when they saw Ziya on the national news being described as "an evil missionary" intent on "brainwashing" Turkish children.

His parents decided they would rather tell people that he was dead than acknowledge he was a Christian. And Ziya, who now lives in the UK, is not alone in this experience.

Sophia, which is not her real name, faced similar pressures when she decided to become a Christian.

Coming from a Pakistani background but living in east London, 28-year-old Sophia spoke about the extreme cultural pressures her family put her under.

SENTENCED TO DEATH Hashem Aghajari, a history professor in Tehran (pictured), was sentenced to death for apostasy in Nov 2002 He had said Muslims should not follow clerics "like monkeys" The sentence sparked off a month of student protests and was quashed by Iran's Supreme Court Abdul Rahman began a new life in Italy after his trial for apostasy in Kabul collapsed

"They kept saying: 'The punishment is death, do you know the punishment is death?'"

In the end, Sophia ran away from home. Her mother tracked her down and turned up at her baptism.

"I got up to get baptised, that's when my mother got up, ran to the front and tried to pull me out of the water.

"My brother was really angry. He reacted and phoned me on my mobile and just said: 'I'm coming down to burn that church.'"

For Sophia and Ziya, a lot of the prejudice they faced seemed to be borne out of cultural ideas, which are particularly ingrained in the South Asian community relating to notions of family honour.

Aghajari's death sentence sparked protests and a review

But it's too easy to say this is just a cultural problem. Dig a little deeper and you find that there is a theological argument which advocates the death penalty for apostates, which has serious implications for British society.

Last week, British teacher Daud Hassan Ali, 64, was shot dead in Somalia. His widow, Margaret Ali, said her husband was targeted by Islamists who "believe it is ok to kill any man who was born into Islam and left the faith".

Those renouncing their faith for atheism or agnosticism are viewed in a similar way to those who adopt another faith.

A poll conducted by the Policy Exchange last year suggested that over a third of young British Muslims believe that the death penalty should apply for apostasy.

Until recently, I would have shared that view, but since personally rejecting extremism myself, I've been re-examining the issues which I once regarded as conclusive.

Discretion

I was staggered to learn that the Quran does not say anything about punishing apostates and that its proponents use two hadiths instead to support their view. Hadiths are the recorded traditions and sayings of the Prophet which, in addition to the Quran, provide an additional source of Islamic law.

The hadiths which relate to apostasy are linguistically ambiguous and open to interpretation. Distinguished scholars told me that the hadiths actually speak about a death penalty for treason, not apostasy. And even then, they stressed the punishment is discretionary.

I believe the classical law of apostasy in Islam is wrong and based on a misunderstanding Usama Hassan Scientist and imam

Dr Hisham Hellyer is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at University of Oxford, and has researched classical Islamic law.

He believes the death penalty punishment is no longer applicable and should be suspended under certain circumstances.

Usama Hassan, a Cambridge-educated scientist and an imam, goes further and says the classical scholars were wrong in how they interpreted the Quran. He is unequivocal in denouncing those who advocate the death penalty.

"I believe the classical law of apostasy in Islam is wrong and based on a misunderstanding of the original sources, because the Quran and Hadith don't actually talk about a death penalty for apostasy."

Last year Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, unequivocally told the Washington Post that the death penalty for apostasy simply no longer applies. It provoked a flurry of debate in Egypt and the wider Middle East.

Traitor

The idea of killing apostates has become a resurgent theme in recent years, a fact closely-related to the increasing politicisation of Islam since 9/11.

It epitomises the "us and them" mentality felt by many Muslims between themselves and the West. And there's an uncomfortable conclusion to all this.

Muslim attitudes towards apostasy are a metaphor for the wider struggle taking place within Islam Shiraz Maher

If there is a death penalty for treason, then who defines what treason is?

Earlier this year a group of men from Birmingham pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to kidnap and behead a British Muslim solider because they regarded him as a traitor. Joining the British army was to them treason against Islam.

So while the debate surrounding one aspect of apostasy continues, it is simultaneously throwing up an entirely new series of challenges around other issues including what should be considered treason against Islam.

When Ziya talked about what happened to him, he was just finishing a report on the experiences of apostates, called No Place to Call Home. He had interviewed 28 apostates in six different countries as part of a year-long research project.

His report found that although the death penalty is rarely applied through the courts, apostates still face gross and wide-ranging human rights abuses at the hands of the state, radical groups and local communities."

It seems that Muslim attitudes towards apostasy are a metaphor for the wider struggle taking place within Islam, between those who argue for a progressive form of Islam and those who argue for more dogmatic interpretations.

Attitudes to apostasy may be a useful barometer for judging where it's headed.