Israel: ‘risk of civil war’
‘Israeli society is heading for civil war and the country must take steps to counter it’, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo stated last week, in his first public remarks since stepping down as the spy agency director in January. ‘The internal threat must worry us more than the external threat,’ he told a press conference. ‘If a divided society goes beyond a certain point, you have, in extreme circumstances, a phenomenon like civil war. To my regret, the distance to that point is shrinking. I fear that we are going in that direction.’ Pardo said. He added that there was more to unite than divide but some in Israel sought the intensity that came with division, and ‘there are some for whom it’s comfortable to emphasise that which divides and not that which unites. I can’t put my finger on a group or a leader. It exists within all the country’s groups.’
Asia: pastoral training
Many would be surprised if they discovered their pastor had very little knowledge or understanding of the Bible and didn’t even own a concordance or Bible dictionary - yet that is the situation in many parts of Asia. ‘They don’t have the tools we take for granted,’ says Jim Davis, founder and international director of Pastoral Training of Asia (PTA). Davis was a Calvary Chapel pastor in California for 13 years before he went overseas in 1987. Recognising a tremendous pastoral training need, he started PTA, which has a special burden for the Karen people along the Myanmar-Thailand border. ‘Many of them are Anglican priests without much theology other than the catechism and their prayer book,’ he says. ‘They don’t have Bible dictionaries, commentaries or computers with Bible software. They’re already pastors, so they can’t drop everything and attend Bible school. The answer is to take training materials to them. Asia has the largest population in the world and the smallest percentage of pastors, missionaries and Christian workers’.
Hajj starts today
Today begins the life-long aspiration and spiritual climax for one-fifth of the world - the Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam. Every Muslim who can afford it is required to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, at least once. Pilgrims will perform sacred rituals, following the steps of Muhammad, seeking forgiveness of sins and a chance of eternal life. Jesus loves Muslims and died for them and the Hajj is an incredible opportunity for Jesus to reveal Himself to seeking pilgrims. Our prayers during this crucial time could change someone's eternity. Millions are seeking forgiveness and eternal life from a god who cannot hear and will not answer. While increasing millions are turning to Muhammad instead of Christ, Jesus continues to reveal himself lovingly to seeking hearts. Pray for Muslims to encounter him through visions, dreams and faithful witnesses. Pray for all efforts to silence the Gospel to propel it across the Muslim world instead.
North Korea: nuclear weapons and lies
The official North Korean news agency, KCNA, said that the leader wants the nation to ‘continue making miraculous achievements in bolstering the nuclear force’. The statement came after test-firing three missiles into the sea on Monday as world leaders met for the G20 summit in China. The missiles had a range of 620 miles and were fired without navigational warning to Japan. More worryingly, today it was announced that a fifth nuclear test had been successful. Meanwhile North Korean defectors are sending pamphlets and DVDs in balloons over the barbed-wire border from South Korea to North Korea. These defectors are hoping to inspire others to make the same dangerous journey to the South. One said, 'How could our country, North Korea, lie to us so completely?' See:
