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God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

Nothing is more important than our understanding of worship, for our concept of worship is inescapably tied to our understanding of God and His sovereign authority to reveal the worship He desires, deserves, and demands.
Albert Mohler

The Bible simply records the occurrences of six suicides without making a moral evaluation: The case of Abimelech in Judges 9:50-57; the case of Samson in Judges 16:28-30 (although some are not convinced this is suicide in the strict sense of the term); Saul and his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 31:1-6; 2 Samuel 1:1-15; 1 Chron. 10:1-13; Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23; Zimri in1 Kings 16:18-19; and Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5. It is worth noting that in each of these cases the suicide is the end to a life that did not (at least in its latter stages) meet with God’s approval. Is there any significance in the fact that the only recorded instances of suicide in the Bible are of those in moral and spiritual rebellion against God?
Sam Storms

    • Released South China Church prisoners re-arrested by Chinese police

    Posted on

    Released South China Church prisoners re-arrested by Chinese police

    by Glen on 2002-10-15 21:25:20

    Four women who were turned loose by the Jingmen Intermediate Court last week have been re-arrested by officers of China’s Public Security Bureau (PSB), and sent away for three years of “re-education through labor.”

    The four women had been released only hours earlier after a re-trial ordered by the Hubei Province Supreme Court. They had planned to file a lawsuit against guards and officials who had tortured them repeatedly during their incarceration.

    Feng Ping Xiang, 32, Xicun Meng, 27, YingPing Li, 28, and Xian Zhi Liu, 31, were arrested only hours after the court had freed them. They had been facing prison sentences from two years to 12 years before the retrial.

    “The police in Jingmen clearly acted to prevent these women from suing them,” said Todd Nettleton, spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs. “How could they possibly have committed a new crime in the few hours they were free?” The four women were sexually molested and repeatedly tortured–including having electric shocks to their breasts and genitals–until they signed documents saying that Pastor Gong Shengliang had raped them. Gong, the founder of the South China Church, was convicted on rape charges last week and sentenced to life in prison.

    “Obviously, the Chinese government thought Christians around the world would forget about these women once they were released from prison,” said Nettleton. “We have not forgotten, and we urge Americans to write or call the Chinese embassy to request the release of these Christian women. After all they have already suffered, they should not spend another day in a labor camp.”

    Police in China can send a prisoner away for up to three years without a formal trial or formal charges.

    China’s President, Jiang Zemin, will be meeting with President Bush in Texas later this month.

    “We hope that President Bush will raise this case with President Jiang, and urge the release of all South China Church Christians,” said Nettleton.

    Reported at www.persecution.com

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