God bless Fatima, a Christian martyr in Saudi

A young Christian woman was killed several months ago in Saudi Arabia. Fatima Al-Mutari didn’t die in one of Saudi’s 93,000 car crashes a year; and she didn’t die at the hands of a stranger. Fatima’s father, a member of Saudi’s powerful Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vie (PVPV) cut out her tongue then burned he alive because she dared to love Jesus.

And she dared to say it out loud.

Being a Christian in Saudi Arabia is no safe path, especially for someone like Fatima who walked away from Islam. Being a Christian here can be a death sentence.

Not a lot is known about Fatima.

We don’t know how she came to Christ, for example.

We do know she read about Christianity extensively online and participated in online Christian forums – often contributing under a string of aliases.

And we know she spoke to others about her forgiving Savior, Jesus Christ.

Doing so is what got her killed.

As part of her testimony to the family, she proclaimed that the way of Christ is the most pure and most holy way of all. After sharing with her family, she found her brother in her room with her laptop open before him…Her laptop contained notes about her spiritual journey, which he was searching in order to find more evidence against her. Her brother locked her in the room for four hours, during which time she wrote a final letter on the Internet. Fatima was killed soon thereafter.

Fatima’s final letter is in the form of a poem, and it’s slowly making its way out of Saudi Arabia and into the world – a world which didn’t know Fatima when she was alive, and couldn’t comprehend the courage it took for her to choose Christ.

Here’s Fatima’s poem.

And We For the Sake of Christ All Things Bear
~A poem written by Fatima Al-Mutairi before her martyrdom~

May the Lord Jesus guide you, Oh Muslims
And enlighten your hearts that you might love otherrs
The forum does not revile the Master of the prophets
It is for the display of truth, and for you it was revealed
This is the truth which you do not know
What we profess are the words of the Master of the prophets
We do not worship the cross, and we are not possessed
We worship the Lord Jesus, the Light of the worlds
We left Mohammed, and we do not follow in his path
We followed Jesus Christ, the Clear Truth
Truly, we love our homeland, and we are not traitors
We take pride that we are Saudi citizens
How could we betray our homeland, our dear people?
How could we, when for death---for Saudi Arabia--- we stand ready?
The homeland of my grandfathers, their glories, and odes---for it I am writing
And we say, “We are proud, proud, proud to be Saudis”
We chose our way, the way of the rightly guided
And every man is free to choose any religion
Be content to leave us to ourselves to be believers in Jesus
Let us live in grace before our time comes
There are tears on my cheek, and Oh! the heart is sad
To those who become Christians, how you are so cruel!
And the Messiah says, “Blessed are the Persecuted”
And we for the sake of Christ all things bear
What is it to you that we are infidels?
Enough---your swords do not concern me, not evil nor disgrace
Your threats do not trouble me, and we are not afraid
And by God, I am unto death a Christian---Verily
I cry for what passed by, of a sad life
I was far from the Lord Jesus for many years
Oh History record! and bear witness, Oh Witnesses!
We are Christians--- in the path of Christ we tread
Take from me this word, and note it well
You see, Jesus is my Lord, and He is the Best of protectors
I advise you to pity yourself, to clap your hands in mourning
See your look of ugly hatred
Man is brother to man, Oh learned ones !!!
Where is the humanity, the love, and where are you?
As to my last words, I pray to the Lord of the worlds
Jesus the Messiah, the Light of Clear Guidance
That He change notions, and set the scales of justice aright
And that He spread Love among you, Oh Muslims.

God bless you, Fatima. And may your death not be in vain.

Seven inventive spurring techniques for Christians

Years ago, I remember reading about a group of women who wanted to lose weight. They tried several methods and schemes, but nothing seemed to well and truly motivate them to diet. Then one of them suggested something radical, outrageous and thoroughly inventive - dog food!

Her plan went something like this: Each woman set a realistic and achievable weight loss goal over a specified period of time. At the end of that period, there would be a weigh-in and anyone who had not met their goal would willingly consume an entire can of dog food in front of the group.

From memory. I think all the ladies met their goal!

Sometimes all it really takes to change a behavior is some encouragement, some motivation, and some creativity, whether we're trying to lose weight, drop a bad habit or even adopt a new one.

In Hebrews we're challenged to make a change, to be creative in encouraging ourselves and others to be more loving and God-focused.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV)

Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. (The Message)

What are some creative ways you could motivate yourself to help others? To fellowship more regularly and more often? To live a life more pleasing to God?

What about the ways you could motivate others to do the same? 

Maybe you could invite a group of people over after worship to continue the fellowship or offer someone a ride to church? Maybe you could give a workshop on tolerance or write a poem about God's peace in your life. Maybe you could organize a meet-your-neighbor-at-church event, a parent-child Bible study or a couples-only evening of praise and thanksgiving.

God has given us limitless creativity, and asks only that we use that creativity to His glory. What better way to use that gift than to spur ourselves and others on to bigger, brighter and more Godly behaviors!

Don't let them tell you God is obsolete

It's called Humanism and, although it is nothing new, it is getting a lot of press these days, both in the States and abroad. According to one expert, humanists believe that humans can live moral, happy, and productive lives on the basis of human reason and experience alone, without any reliance on the supernatural.

In other words, "thanks anyway, God, but we have this handled."

These new humanists have come up with a whole dictionary of buzzwords to talk about their beliefs. Anytime you hear words like "attracting abundance", "law of attraction" or "co-creating reality", you can be pretty sure you're listening to a humanist. Same thing with phrases like "a new form of spirituality",  "many paths to the same place", and "taking God out of the box".

There have always been people who want to put man above God, who want to believe - and make others believe - that the work of God was completed a long, long time ago. Today, they tell us, is in our hands and our hands alone, and if you believe otherwise you are old fashioned or ignorant or simply unhip.

Paul knew all about folks like that. In fact, he warned the people of Colossus about them, saying:

Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. 

Humanists would have us believe that God is obsolete. That we as humans are capable of anything and everything on our own, and that the lessons of the Bible are outdated history lessons rather than lessons on living in the here and now.

But Paul reminds us that humanists - whether they were practicing their deception two thousand years ago on a street corner in Colossus or attracting millions of viewers on television today - get it wrong. God is not obsolete. He is as present and pertinent and in control today as He was when He created the world.

But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. (Colossians 2:8-10 The Message)

As Christians living to please God, we're faced with a lot of choices, including what and who we pay attention to. We need to be aware of the messages we listen to, cognizant of the messengers we allow into our lives. We need to be cautious and attentive, judging everything against the Word of God and basing our decisions - and our lives - on what is pleasing to Him.

Let's spend some time today really listening to what others are saying and remembering that, no matter what others might say, we know God is not obsolete. He is not history. He is here and now and, as Paul writes, His power extends over everything.

Praise be to the living God!

The Ultimate Holiday Party Plan

Susan over at MUD Splats has graciously asked me to guest blog at her site this week. The topic is Sharing the Light of Christ this Christmas Season, and I wrote about the party plan Jesus outlined in Luke 14.


Here's an excerpt, but I urge you to visit Susan's site to read the rest of her guest blogs this December!

The Ultimate Holiday Party Plan by Ava Semerau

Grab your little black dress, reindeer tie and hostess gifts folks, it's Christmas party time!

I couldn't find any statistics on how many people actually attend – or even host – holiday parties, but feel like anecdotal evidence supports my belief that nearly everyone does either one or the other. Me? I tend to do both. My calendar is dotted with wine and cheese tastings and corporate bashes, Secret Santa lunches, private dinner parties, and family get-togethers for the next several weeks – and those are just the ones I'm invited to!

When it comes to hosting parties over the holidays, things can get a little sticky. After all, if I'm invited to Mary's shindig, I have to invite her to mine. If Wilsons serve a three-course meal, then I'm pretty much obligated to serve a four-course meal. And if Barbara and Phil invite a dozen, my guest list has to grow accordingly, too, right?

Wrong!

There's a better party plan out there. In fact, it's not just better it's amazing and a sure fire way to change your idea of holiday cheer!

Curious? Here it is:

The next party you throw, ditch the status quo and do something fresh, bold and biblical. Instead of inviting the same old same old, look outside your social circle for people you might not know – maybe the lady at the bakery who smiles shyly at you every morning, or the bus driver, the grocery clerk or the young kid at the dry cleaners....Read the rest here!

How to have confidence in precision praying

I have become a fan of Twitter. Surely not a devotee, but a fan nonetheless, partly because it gives 140-word insights into the thoughts, minds and even faith of other folks.

The other day, someone posted a prayer request – not an uncommon occurrence among the people I follow – but what struck me was one woman’s reaction to the request.

She wrote back wanting details. She wanted the name of the person she was praying for, their location, some idea of why the person needed praying for. “I know God already knows all these things,” she wrote, “but I want to pray a specific prayer.”

Her request gave me pause, and reminded me of a quote I keep around. It’s from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a well-known preacher and author in 1800s England, and it goes like this:

“There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision, It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would get killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed.”

Or put another way, if we don’t offer specific prayers, how will we know when those prayers are answered?

When I worked in marketing we had a similar saying for those times when we were unsure of or lacked confidence in what we were pitching and how it would be received: Throw enough spaghetti on the wall and something is bound to stick.

Lack of confidence tells us to splatter pray, to pray and pray and pray, hoping something will stick.

Faith tell us to ask for what we want. To be specific.To pray with precision, confident our prayers will be both well-received and answered in accordance with God's will.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5.14-15 NIV)

Ask. Be specific. Name names. And know that God is listening.

Thanksgiving for a bigger God

This was going to be a brilliant day. It was, after all, already Thanksgiving here and we have so much to be thankful for this year. The alarm went off and, instead of jumping up like I usually do, I remained still, and with my eyes closed, thanked God for His presence in my life, for the blessings He has showered on me, and for the gift of being able to enjoy those blessings.

When I was done – is it even possible to be done thanking God? – I got up and went on with my routine. Diet Coke (yes, for breakfast!), a quick check of emails and the world news.

That’s when I read about the terrorist attacks in India and my heart stopped.

As an expat, terrorist attacks that happen outside the US are more than just headlines or sound bytes to me. When an incident happens anywhere in the world, my life changes, for you see, global terrorism has touched me. It has haunted me and it has, a time or two, nearly paralyzed me.

Fear can do that if we let it, but as a believer in the one true God, I no longer give fear what it wants. I refuse to let terrorism - the very manifestation of evil - win.

In the darkness of global terrorism, and specifically today, as we watch with horror the events going on in India – I’d like to share some of the verses which have comforted me in the past and for which today, I am giving thanks.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9 NIV)

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. (Psalm 27:3 NIV)

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4 NIV)

And finally, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

God is bigger than anything evil can throw at us, and for that, I am and will be eternally thankful.

Sending God a thank you note

My grandma was a strong believer in thank you notes and, I'm happy to say, she passed that belief onto me, and I've passed it onto my kids. I keep a stack of blank thank you notes at my desk, and send them out to anyone who makes my life better or easier, or helps me out. I send thank you notes to the people I interview, to booksellers and reviewers, to folks who visit this Web site, to people who go the extra mile for me. 

Good thing I buy them in bulk!

I've always thought - and been taught - that saying thank you is good, but taking the effort to send a note is even better. Few things are as simple to give or as nice to receive as a sincere thank you note, and few things prove thankfulness as sincerely either.

With that in mind, this Thanksgiving, I'm sending a thank you note to God.

After the turkey and dressing, after the cranberry sauce  and pumpkin pie, I'm going to make a list of all the things I'm thankful for. I'm going to take inventory of the big things and the little things, and I'm going to make the effort to thank the One who provides me with them.

I'm going to send a thank you note to God. And I encourage you to send one too!