Happy Friday

God's Care For His Children!

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus..."  Philippians 4:19

When the Israelites' supplies ran out, they accused Moses and Aaron of leading them out in the wilderness to kill them.  Their complaint was really against God, for He was the one who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt. Now, you'd think they would quickly learn the lesson of the bountiful provision of God!  But here they are, putting on a repeat performance and forgetting the long chain of miracles whereby God had delivered them, served them, and fed them.  God didn't forget His people, and once again He met their needs.

In addition to God's provision of food and water, He sent them a management consultant in the person of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law.  Jethro watched Moses in action and saw that he was overworked and needed to delegate some responsibilities.  He gave Moses some sound advice: "You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him" (Exodus 18:19).  Then he said,  "Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform."  He had to teach them the Word of God and then lead by example. So in these three chapters, we see the God who provided food to eat, water to drink, and leadership to help meet their spiritual needs.

What is the greatest need in your life today?  Maybe you need more money to meet the obligations of life.  Or maybe you need a companion, friend, or advisor to help you through a time of aching loneliness or critical decision making.  Whatever your need, let me encourage you to depend on God to meet it.

Prayer

"Lord, I trust You to meet all my needs.  Amen. "

God doesn't deal with us as we deserve . God is love!

Daily Smile:
A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me ... They must be Gods!

A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me ... I must be a God!

In The News:
Syrian Christians Caught in the Crossfire

Syrian Christians are the victims of disproportionate violence and abuse as sectarian violence continues to engulf Syria, Open Doors USA reports. Christian women are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse, while Christian men are facing pressure from both sides to join the battle, according to a new report, Vulnerability Assessment of Syria's Christians, coordinated by the World Watch List's Dennis Pastoor with analysis from political commentator Nicholas Heras. The result, the report claims, is that Christians are scared to engage in public displays of worship, while proportionally more Christian refugees are leaving Syria than any other religious or ethnic group. Vulnerability Assessment of Syria’s Christians acknowledges that many of the struggles facing Christians in Syria are shared by the entire population, but says Christians are "soft targets" and "particularly vulnerable" to some things, including hostility in refugee camps, targeting by Islamist groups and criminals and confiscation of land. Christians are "caught in the crossfire of the strife between government and opposition forces and suffer violence from both parties," writes Pastoor. Christians are not always targeted deliberately, he says, but this "does not mean they are not a vulnerable group…and implies they are in varying degrees liable to suffer specific threats." More than two years have passed since the beginning of the civil war between President Bashar al-Assad's government forces and the Free Syrian Army and the fight is increasingly taking the shape of a "jihad" against the Syrian government, writes Heras, as opposition forces are ever more "Islamized." Meanwhile Syria’s Christians are called victims of "systematic militarization," which Heras predicts will become a "significant trend" in the near future.

Christians Don't Feel Safe in Egypt, Fleeing to U.S. and Europe to Seek Asylum

Many Coptic Christians are fleeing to the United States and Europe because they no longer feel safe in Egypt, the Christian Post reports. They feel the Islamist government is not doing enough to protect them against discrimination and hate crimes, so they are resorting to fleeing the country. Many Copts are electing to go the United States, a country in which Egyptians now rank as the second highest nationality receiving asylum. In 2010, only 531 Egyptians received asylum in the U.S.; however, 2,882 Egyptians received asylum in 2012, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Copts are also fleeing to Georgia and the Netherlands because both countries have decreased restrictions on those seeking asylum. This comes at a time when escalating sectarian violence appears to be going unchecked by the government. In April, eight people were killed in sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims, and Cairo's St. Mark's Cathedral was attacked, prompting Coptic Pope Tawadros II to criticize President Mohammed Morsi for not protecting the church. Other examples of sectarian incidents include the Muslim Brotherhood's leading cleric's decision to advise Muslims to refrain from wishing Christians a Happy Easter. His justification was that the Christian holiday is un-Islamic. Copts face further discrimination when trying to build new churches, as the Egyptian president must issue a presidential decree in order to build any new churches. After one year in office, Morsi has only sanctioned one new church to be built. Copts are Egypt's largest minority, making up nearly 10 percent of its 85 million people.

Florida Professor in 'Jesus Stomping' Case Reinstated

Florida Atlantic University has reinstated an instructor who had students stomp on a piece of paper with the name "Jesus" written on it, CBN News reports. The school exercise provoked a strong reaction, including a request from Florida Gov. Rick Scott that university officials investigate the matter. "This incident gave me great concern over the lessons we are teaching our students," Scott wrote in the letter to chancellor Frank Brogan. "The professor's lesson was offensive, and even intolerant, to Christians and those of all faiths who deserve to be respected as Americans entitled to religious freedom." Instructor Deandre Poole said the point of the lesson was to show the power of words, not denigrate Christianity. Meanwhile, Heather Coltman, interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters, defended the university's decision to retain Poole. "We thought it was in the university's best interest," Coltman said. "We need experienced, qualified faculty members, and all things considered, we decided he would be a valuable asset to the college. I understand this decision may not be popular with all members of the community. But it was based on months of thorough research and consideration." Poole will only teach online because of security concerns.

Rick Santorum: Faith-Based Movies Will 'Rival Hollywood'

ST. LOUIS (RNS) -- It’s not the message you might expect to hear from Rick Santorum, the Christian-conservative former presidential candidate: Faith-based films tend to be lousy, and Christians should quit trying to lock modern popular culture out of their lives.

Instead, Santorum says, Christian conservatives should acknowledge that modern popular culture is here to stay, and use that platform to produce Christian-themed films that will also have quality and popular appeal. It’s a strategy he says he intends to pursue in his new role as CEO of a ground-breaking faith-based film studio.

In an interview here, Santorum also stood by his strong views against same-sex marriage, citing the necessity to adhere to religious teachings — but then disputed his own religion’s leaders on the issue of immigration.

Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and darling of the religious right in the crowded GOP field for the 2012 presidential nomination, was in St. Louis Monday (June 24) to promote his own foray into popular culture. He has been named CEO of EchoLight Studios, which bills itself as “the first movie company to produce, finance, market and distribute faith-based, family films across all releasing platforms.”

“For a long time, Christians have decided that the best way to fight the popular culture is to keep it at bay, to lock it out of their home. … That’s a losing battle,” Santorum said in an interview at America’s Center Convention Complex, where he was attending the International Christian Retail Show.

With “the pervasiveness of [media] right now, the content just seeps through. The only option is to go out into that arena and try to shape the culture, too.”

Santorum said one problem with Christian-themed films was that they’ve traditionally been aimed at just Christian audiences, rather than attempting to appeal to audiences that don’t necessarily share the movie’s messaging going in.

He blamed that limited appeal on what he said were often the “hokey” and “cheesy” feel of such films, with all the filmmakers’ attention focused on the message and not enough on artistic quality.

“Quality. Quality acting, quality directing, quality scriptwriting. That is going to be a watchword for me,” Santorum said at a news conference talking about the studio’s pending projects. He said the goal was to produce movies “that rival any good Hollywood film.”

Dallas-based EchoLight’s first theatrical release, “The Redemption of Henry Myers,” is slated for release in the fall. Promotional material describes it as a Western about a bank robber who finds redemption from a widow and her children who take him in after he’s wounded.

Santorum’s St. Louis visit came as the nation awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal marital benefits to same-sex couples. It also comes as the national immigration debate heats up in Congress.

Santorum dismissed the suggestion from some Republicans that the GOP should soften its official opposition to gay marriage rights to widen its appeal to young people. Among his reasoning is that a federal stamp of approval on gay marriage would be a direct affront to religious teachings and would hurt religious institutions.

“The destruction of the institution of marriage and a redefinition of it will not only harm the family but will do incredible damage to the church” by labeling church teachings as outside the mainstream, said Santorum, who is Roman Catholic. “It’s going to do great damage to the church and its ministries, and I think, therefore, the country.”

But on the issue of immigration, Santorum himself voiced opposition to his own church’s position. He stood by his hard-line view against federal legislation that some conservatives claim provides amnesty for unauthorized immigrants, even as Catholic leaders embrace it as a humanitarian approach.

“Certainly, the Catholic bishops have a very different point of view than I do” on the immigration bill, Santorum said. “I think it’s wrong, I think it’s short-sighted. Every country has a right to protect its border. [The bishops] don’t see that right as legitimate.”