URGENT: Please Help a Persecuted Christian Sister

The persecution of Christians has become more visible lately. Please join in me in trying to help a Christian woman and her children. They are in danger of losing their lives. Your money is not necessary. The funds already exist for her transportation. But please petition the United Nations and your representatives. It will only take a few minutes of your time. Letters are provided below. The following information is from an email written by Rev. Thomas W. Bartzsch in Grand Rapids.

Pastor Afzal Masihs' daughter Tahseen and her children Rain and Trinity fled from Pakistan to Sri Lanka to seek asylum from religious persecution. They now have had their passports confiscated and have been given the threat that they will be deported from Sri Lanka back to Pakistan within the week. We have been praying for them, and now we also need to advocate for them with the authorities as the persistent widow before the unjust judge. It is sad, but these cases are often not decided on their merits but on "volume" - how many people step forward on behalf of the petitioner.

If you are willing, please go to the contact form on the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees website:

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/contact_hq 

1) Under "Your Concern" - choose "Individual Cases" 

2) Under "Your Country" - choose "United States of America" 

3) Enter your first and last names and email address. You may choose to put in your city and state. 

4) Type in the Security Code - it is case sensitive. 

5) In the "Question" field you may copy and paste this: 

UNHCR Case number: 640-13C00464 

I am writing on behalf of Tahseen Kanwal, an asylum-seeker from Pakistan residing in Sri Lanka with her two minor children, son Rain (5) and daughter Trinity (4). She was interviewed by the UNHCR on May 26, 2014 regarding her religious asylum-seeking status and a decision has yet to be rendered. Her parents and sisters and brothers are members of our community here and we desire the family to be reunited. 

On Sunday August 3rd, the Sri Lankan authorities confiscated the family's passports and threatened them with deportation back to Pakistan within the week. The family has already suffered the loss of a family member for religious reasons at the hands of the Pakistani authorities, so we are justly fearful for the lives of Tahseen and the children. 

I am asking that you expedite the case and provide Tahseen and her children with the necessary travel documents to emigrate to the United States where she and the children will be welcomed and supported by her family and our community. 

Thank you very much for your help and consideration in this matter. 

6) VERY IMPORTANT - UNCHECK the box that says "I wish to receive informational emails" so that you are not bombarded by emails. 

7) Click on "Send" When the screen refreshes, you may or may not see a confirmation. Do not exit until you're sure the new page is done loading. 

Thank you and God bless you for your work on behalf of our sister Tahseen and her children.

Send and email to your senators and state representative using the following format:

Here is a subject line to use:  

URGENT: Religious asylum for 3 Pakistani refugees - family lives in Grand Rapids 

US CIS I-797 Receipt No. WAC-12-902-71043 

UNHCR Case number: 640-13C00464 

I am writing on behalf of Tahseen Kanwal, an asylum-seeker from Pakistan residing in Sri Lanka with her two minor children, son Rain (5) and daughter Trinity (4). Her father, Rev. Afzal Masih, is a naturalized US Citizen residing in Grand Rapids who has an approved I-130 immigrant petition for relative - see I-797 receipt no. above. Pastor Masih is a member of our Lutheran faith community here. 

In addition, she applied to the UNHCR for religious asylum. She was interviewed by the UNHCR on May 26, 2014 regarding her religious asylum-seeking status and a decision has yet to be rendered. Her parents and sisters and brothers are members of our community here and we desire the family to be reunited. 

On Sunday August 3rd, the Sri Lankan authorities confiscated the family's passports and threatened them with deportation back to Pakistan within the week. The family has already suffered the loss of a family member for religious reasons at the hands of the Pakistani authorities, so we are justly fearful for the lives of Tahseen and the children. 

I am asking that you do whatever is in your power and sphere of influence to assist in the expediting of this case so Tahseen and her children can be provided with the necessary travel documents to emigrate to the United States where she and the children will be safe, welcomed, and supported by her family and our community. 

Thank you very much for your help and consideration in this matter.

Feel free to call their offices if you'd rather. And again, forward to whoever you like. And we'll all say a prayer of thanks for where we live tonight.

J.D. Hall and the Troubled Conscience

There's all kinds of stuff all over the internet regarding the suicide of Braxton Caner following his conversations with J.D. Hall. Unfortunately, I'm not incredibly surprised this kind of thing happened. I've only briefly interacted with J.D. Hall on Facebook in the past but he exhibited certain traits that I've noticed among certain types of pastors whom I've known in real life and on the internet that have resulted in scandals, church-splits, and even criminal charges. They exist across denominational lines but most of these types tend to be pastors of Baptist churches. I don't think most of these pastors would be allowed to continue or even be called into the ministry if not for Baptist church polity. Most of these pastors are also limited somewhat educationally. They have not had classes in pastoral care and taken the time to learn from the mistakes of others. They shoot from the hip and often make decisions that the average person regards as absolutely insane. They are often very kind and caring to those who praise them and hang on every word they say but personally attack anyone who questions or contradicts them. They develop a loyal following from those who regard their antics as courage and conviction.

But all of these crazy actions are the result of a troubled conscience. They do not embrace Christ's Words when He says,"Your sins are forgiven." And they do not preach these words to others. They tend to avoid preaching directly to the sins of those in their own congregation and instead preach about the sins of those (real or imaginary) of those outside of the church they serve head. They attempt to distract themselves from their own sins by preaching against the sins of others. Of course sometimes they will preach excessively about one particular sin and act as if that particular sin is unforgivable. Later it is discovered that they themselves are engaging in that very sin. Pastors who fail to deliver Christ-crucified in every sermon should not be tolerated. They are not Christian pastors. Constantly preaching against various sins is necessary but by itself will only lead to greater sin. The only real victory we kind find over our sin is in Christ-crucified and in His absolution. He washes of our sins in baptism and says, "Your sins are forgiven." In the preaching of the Word He proclaims, "Your sins are forgiven." In the Supper He feeds us with His very body and blood and says, "Your sins are forgiven."