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Tuesday 19 June 2012

NIGERIA – More than 50 killed in third week of church bombings


Suicide bombers have attacked Christians in Nigeria during Sunday worship for the third week running, with the death toll this time rising to more than 50.
In what is becoming an all too familiar pattern of extremist attacks, a suicide bomber rammed a car into a barricade outside the Evangelical Church Winning All church in Kaduna city on Sunday.  At least 24 people were killed and 125 were wounded.
Within a few minutes, explosives were detonated at Christ the King Church in Zaria, also in Kaduna state, killing at least 16 and injuring dozens more, some of them critically. Many of the wounded in this second attack were children. Then a Pentecostal congregation called Shalom Church in Kaduna city was bombed, killing at least ten, according to the Red Cross.
The BBC reports that Islamist extremists Boko Haram have claimed responsibility for the three attacks – as they did for attacks in Plateau and Borno states on June 10 and in Bauchi state on June 3 (Prayer Alert, June 6 and 12).
Riots in Kaduna sparked by Sunday's bombings killed at least 52 people, according to Reuters news agency. Kaduna state government imposed a 24-hour curfew on Sunday to restore order.

(Sources: AP, BBC, Compass Direct, Reuters)
For more news and a country profile about Nigeria, click here• Pray for an end to extremist violence which has claimed more than 500 lives in Nigeria this year already. Pray too that those who live in affected areas will not seek reprisals, and that God would bless the efforts of those who are working to build bridges between Christian and Muslim communities.
• Pray for all those grieving or injured after this spate of bombings. Pray that they will draw near to God and draw on His strength to face the future 
with hope.  
• Ask God to protect our partners in Nigeria who are supporting the victims of the violence.

Monday 18 June 2012

Urgent Prayer Alert: Triple suicide bomb attacks on Nigerian churches


This week, your prayers for the nation of Nigeria are desperately needed.

On Sunday, three suicide bomb attacks took place on three churches in Kaduna.This is the third consecutive Sunday that has seen gun or bomb attacks on churches in northern or central states.

Church services bombed in Kaduna
Last Sunday a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the ECWA Good News Church in Zaria, destroying the children’s church and killing a child and a young man.  Several people were wounded, including CSW Nigeria's Coordinator for the area.

On the same day, two suicide bombers in separate cars attacked Christ the King Catholic Church as the congregation was leaving mass, killing sixteen people and injuring several others.
Meanwhile, in Kaduna City, another bomb exploded at the Shalom Pentecostal Church as ushers were interrogating the bomber, killing three people.

As with the attack on the previous weekend in Jos, the bombings sparked violence as angry youths took to the streets to protest the seeming inability to prevent the incessant bombings. A 24-hour curfew is now in place, although the situation is still very tense.
ECWA Wusasa_Children's Church.jpg


“Weekends are now a terror for Christians in central and northern Nigeria”
According to our contacts and partners on the ground, without urgent prayer the future of Nigeria looks desperately bleak.

Speaking of his heartbreak at the incessant bombings, Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashi, said, “Weekends are now a terror for Christians in northern and central Nigeria.  My heart truly bleeds at the unnecessary killings and I am deeply saddened that in a nation like Nigeria there are people who sponsor, plan, train and support people to execute evil specifically targeted against worship of God on Sundays by Christians in churches."
CSW-Nigeria’s CEO told us, “Attacks on Christians while they legitimately worship on Sundays are now a common occurrence. Unless the culture of impunity is overcome, our country will slowly slip into another civil war that will be fought along religious lines."
Christians in Nigeria are asking for worldwide prayers to help bring an end to this horrific violence. In the words of the Archbishop, “Christians and well meaning people everywhere must rise up for peace and speak out against injustice, seeking every opportunity for reconciliation and forgiveness so that Nigeria will be restored. I call for concerted prayers throughout the Church worldwide in order that those who are working for peace will not grow weary in well doing."

Please can you:
• Forward this email and prayer points below to everyone you know, asking them to pray and encourage others to do the same.
• Ask your church leader or prayer coordinator to include prayer for Nigeria in this week’s prayer meetings and next Sunday’s services.
• Every  Saturday please remember to pray for the safety and protection of Sunday services in northern and central Nigeria.
Thank you so much for your support.
Blessings,
The CSW Team

Prayer points – please use these prayer points to guide your prayers:
• Pray for all those who have lost loved ones in attacks by Boko Haram, asking God to comfort and uphold them, sustaining them with His peace.
• Pray for CSW-Nigeria’s Coordinator for Zaria who was injured in one of the attacks.  Pray for full healing for him and others who were injured during the other attacks.
• Ask God to move in power to expose Boko Haram's plans, members, funders and backers and bring an end to every aspect of the violence perpetrated by the group.
• Pray for the protection of CSW-Nigeria staff as they seek to support victims of the violence.
• Ask God to grant wisdom, courage and strength to church leaders as they seek to lead and guide their congregations through these turbulent times.








































CSW is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)
PO Box 99, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 3YF

Sunday 12 February 2012

Not to all men, not to any man always does God give
complete abundance. To all men sometimes, to some men in long
stretches of their lives, come the abasement times,--times of
poverty, times of ignorance, times of friendlessness, times of
distrust and doubt; but God does not mean that these times
should be like great barren stretches and blanks in our lives
only to be travelled over for the sake of what lies beyond. To
him who, like Paul, knows how to be abased, they have their own
rich value. They do for him their own good work. To have our
desire set on nothing absolutely except character, to be glad
that God should lead us into any land where there is character
to win,--this is the only real explanation of life. He that has
it may be more than reconciled to living. He may do more than
triumph over his abasements. He may make close friendships with
them, so that he shall part from them with sorrow when he is
called to go to the right hand of God where there is no more
abasement, nothing but fulness forevermore.- Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), The Light of the World, and Other Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1904, p. 175


There is only one thing for a man to do who is married to a woman who enjoys spending money, and that is enjoy earning it. - Ogden Nash, 1902 - 1971

Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935

Saturday 11 February 2012

Jesus’ preaching about hell is part of His gracious ministry to a lost world. It is His way of showing unbelievers their need of Him. They, in turn, inevitably make one of two responses. Some display ingratitude for His warnings and reject Him. Others, however, gratefully own Him as the One who alone can rescue them. Instead of experiencing the wrath their sins deserve, they will taste the sweet victory won by His death and resurrection.- Robert A. Peterson, Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment, P&R Publishers, 1995, p.50.

What is meant by calling the writings of Moses and the
Prophets [the] "Old Testament"? Do they not set forth the
covenant of grace? The doctrine of justification by faith: does
not Paul in his Epistle to the Romans prove it from Genesis
(case of Abraham) and from the Psalms (case of David, Ps. 32)?
Where is the doctrine of substitution and the vicarious
sufferings of the messiah set forth more clearly than in
Leviticus and in the 53rd of Isaiah? The term "Old Testament"
leads people to fancy it is an antiquated book; whereas, in
many respects, it is newer than the New Testament, referring
more fully to the age of glory and blessedness on the earth
which is still before us.-Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 140

Monday 23 January 2012

Christianity is a battle--not a dream.- Phillips (1811-1884), speech, April, 1869, Wendell Phillips: the agitator, William Carlos Martyn, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1890, p. 368

Sin and departure from God, are the true reasons why people are everywhere laboring and heavy-laden. Sin is the universal disease which infects the whole earth. Sin brought in thorns and thistles at the beginning, and obliged man to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Sin is the reason why the "whole creation groans and travails in pain," and the "foundations of the earth are out of course." (Rom. 8:22; Psalm 82:5.) Sin is the cause of all the burdens which now press down mankind. Most people know it not, and weary themselves in vain to explain the state of things around them. But sin is the great root and foundation of all sorrow, whatever proud man may think. How much people ought to hate sin!~ J.C. Ryle, Tract: Christ's Invitation

What are [most] rationalizations based on? One lie. The most pernicious, heinous, Satanic lie of all. They are based on the lie that God really isn’t good after all; that God is neither able nor willing to do for our souls or bodies what they so desperately need done; that therefore God can’t be trusted with our fears and doubts and hopes and hurts. Since God doesn’t care and can’t be trusted, we’ll find satisfaction somewhere else. And so often, we do.- Sam Storms, Sexual Morality, November 6, 2006,www.enjoyinggodministries.com.

Sunday 22 January 2012

It is one of the greatest dangers of the Church in a
democratic country--and one of the greatest temptations for
churches which for their support are dependent on the good will
of their congregations--to present the gospel message in a way
agreeable and inoffensive to those who are to hear it.-Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Scandal of Christianity, London: SCM Press, 1951, reprint, John Knox Press,
1965, p. 113

All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.- Ambrose Bierce.

Speak when you are angry, and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.- Ambrose Bierce

If God has given His Son to die for us, let us beware of doubting His kindness and love in any painful providence of our daily life. Let us never suppose that He can give us anything that is not really for our good. Let us remember the words of Paul, "He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all—how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things." (Rom. 8:32.) Let us see in every sorrow and trouble of our earthly pilgrimage, the hand of Him who gave Christ to die for our sins. That hand can never smite us except in love. He who gave us His only begotten Son, will never withhold anything from us that is really for our good. Let us lean back on this thought and be content. Let us say to ourselves in the darkest hour of trial, "This also is ordered by Him who gave Christ to die for my sins. It cannot be wrong. It is done in love. It must be well."~ J.C. RyleTract: Faith!

Saturday 21 January 2012

Trials, we must distinctly understand, are a part of the diet which all true Christians must expect. It is one of the means by which their grace is proved, and by which they find out what there is in themselves. Winter as well as summer--cold as well as heat--clouds as well as sunshine--are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity. We do not naturally like this. We would rather cross the lake with calm weather and favorable winds, with Christ always by our side, and the sun shining down on our faces. But it may not be. It is not in this way that God's children are made "partakers of His holiness." (Heb. 12:10). Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Job were all men of many trials. Let us be content to walk in their footsteps, and to drink of their cup. In our darkest hours we may seem to be left--but we are never really alone.~ J.C. RyleExpository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 338,339. {John 6:15-21}

If there were no gratified hearers of ill reports, there would be an end of the trade of spreading them.- C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Psalm 15.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Often, if there is no risk of loss or painful consequences, one will never know if one has integrity. One will never know if what motivates you is moral conviction or moral convenience until you are forced to suffer loss for standing your ground or keeping your word.- Sam Storms, Integrity, November 6, 2006,www.enjoyinggodministries.com.

Be prepared for the hostility of the gates of hell. Put on the whole armor of God. The weapons of our warfare have been tried by millions of poor sinners like ourselves, and have never been found to fail. Be patient under the bitterness of the gates of hell. It is all working together for your good. It tends to sanctify. It keeps you awake. It makes you humble. It drives you nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ. It weans you from the world. It helps to make you pray more. Above all, it makes you long for heaven, and say with heart as well as lips, "Come, Lord Jesus."~ J.C. Ryle Tract: The True Church

The greatest good and the most profitable gain come when we are up against a blank wall. Then we learn to pray in plain language.- Arthur Lynip

Saturday 7 January 2012

"Resurrection" is the word that, of all words in the Bible,
wants to tell us in the strongest and most unambiguous way: God
is not a thought, God is not a word, God is not a feeling. God
is the Great One, the True One, the Real and Living One, who
waits to meet us precisely at that point where our thoughts
about him end.- Karl Barth (1886-1968), from "He Himself" in Come Holy Spirit: Sermons, New York: Round Table Press, 1933,reprint, Mowbrays, 1978, p. 162

Anger is never without an argument, but seldom with a good one.- Indira Gandhi, 1917 - 1984

India wants to avoid a war at all costs but it is not a one-sided affair, you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.- Indira Gandhi, 1917 - 1984

Regarding the debate about faith and works: It's like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important.- C. S. Lewis, 1898 - 1963

It is useless to preach the Kingdom when we do not carry
into the centre of life the control of a King. The first duty
of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master. And
the first charge of every Church is to offer, nay to mediate,
Him.- P. T. Forsyth (1848-1921), Positive Preaching and Modern Mind, New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1907, p.42

Thursday 5 January 2012

It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.- Lillian Hellman, 1905 - 1984

Nobody outside of a baby carriage or a judge's chamber believes in an unprejudiced point of view.- Lillian Hellman, 1905 - 1984

Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.- Os Guinness

Affliction is one of God's medicines. By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort, are what all naturally desire; but losses and crosses are far better for us, if they lead us to Christ. Thousands at the last day will testify with David, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." (Psalm. 119:71).~ J.C. Ryle,Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 255,256. {John 4:43-54}

We can never make too much of Christ. Our thoughts about the Church, the ministry, and the sacraments, may easily become too high and extravagant. We can never have too high thoughts about Christ, can never love Him too much, trust Him too implicitly, lay too much weight upon Him, and speak too highly in His praise. He is worthy of all the honor that we can give Him. He will be all in heaven. Let us see to it, that He is all in our hearts on earth.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 174. {John 3:22-36}

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Moral guidelines are oppressive and legalistic only to those who still love their sin. For example, the only reason integrity should be a burden to you is if you enjoy being dishonest. Righteous deeds will be bothersome only because you prefer unrighteous ones. Speaking the truth will hurt only because it feels good to lie. Obedience to the righteous commands of God is easy for those whose hearts have been gripped by grace and whose lives are empowered by grace (Dt. 30:11; Mt. 11:29-30; 1 Jn. 5:3).-Sam Storms, Integrity, November 6, 2006,www.enjoyinggodministries.com.

The reason we resist God’s laws and pursue our own sinful strategies is because we believe that we can do better at securing our happiness than God can -Sam Storms,Integrity, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.

We can never make too much of Christ. Our thoughts about the Church, the ministry, and the sacraments, may easily become too high and extravagant. We can never have too high thoughts about Christ, can never love Him too much, trust Him too implicitly, lay too much weight upon Him, and speak too highly in His praise. He is worthy of all the honor that we can give Him. He will be all in heaven. Let us see to it, that He is all in our hearts on earth.~ J.C. Ryle,Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 174. {John 3:22-36}

Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does
not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting
the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will
be made evident to others from the love which he imparts to us.-Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), Reality and Religion: meditations on God, man, and nature, London: Macmillan, 1924, p. 24-25

Tuesday 3 January 2012

I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence. - Robert Burns, 1759 - 1796

A quotation in a speech, article, or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority. - Brendan Behan, 1923 - 1964

Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; but the Father, for love (see Romans 8:32)! -Octavius Winslow

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-
driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness,
prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.
We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift
toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward
superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of
lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward
prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have
escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince
ourselves we have been liberated.-D. A. Carson (b. 1946), For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God's Word, v. II [1999], reprint, Good News Publishers, 2006,

But when self-confidence is removed — when the soul is stripped by conviction — when the light of the spirit reveals the loathsome state of the heart — when the power of the creature fades, how precious is Jesus! As the drowning mariner clutches the floating’ spar — as the dying man looks to some great physician — as the criminal values his pardon, so do we then esteem the deliverer of our souls as the Prince of the kings of the earth.~Charles Spurgeon

Monday 2 January 2012

Courage can't see around corners, but goes around them anyway.- Mignon McLaughlin, 1913 - 1983

Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers.-Mignon McLaughlin, 1913 - 1983

Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.- Mignon McLaughlin, 1913 - 1983

In adversity we usually want God to do a removing job when He wants to do an improving job.-Author Unknown

If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God? If man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?- Blaise Pascal

Sunday 1 January 2012

Oh, how greatly has the man advanced who has learned not to be his own, not to be governed by his own reason, but to surrender his mind to God!-John Calvin

While much is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.- Thomas Hardy, 1840 - 1928

Take courage, fainting Christians: you are encompassed with a great cloud of witnesses! The race that you are running has been run by millions before; you think that no one ever had such trials as yourself—but every step that you are journeying has been safely walked by others; the valley of the shadow of death has been securely passed by a multitude of trembling, doubting ones like yourself. They had their fears and anxieties, like you—but they were not cast away. The world, the flesh and the devil can never overwhelm the weakest person who will set their face towards God. These millions journeyed on in bitterness and tears like your own, and yet not one perished—they all reached their eternal home.~ J.C. Ryle,The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Christian Race”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 129.

Obstinacy can bring only a penalty and no reward.- John Maynard Keynes, 1883 - 1946

There is no harm in being sometimes wrong — especially if one is promptly found out.- John Maynard Keynes, 1883 - 1946