In response to God’s call to “My people who are called by My name” in 2nd Chronicles, Call 2 Fall is organizing a national day of repentence and prayer on July 5, 2009. In their own words:

The Call2Fall is nothing fancy.  It is not a slick new program.  No big production is necessary.  It is simple.  We are just talking about a definite time during worship on Sunday, July 5^th when we get on our knees and faces before the Lord in repentant prayer, pleading with God to reshape our lives, renew our land, and send times of refreshing (See 2 Chronicles 7:14; Acts 3:19).

For more information on Call 2 Fall, and to participate, see their web site: Call 2 Fall. You can also share the news on Facebook: Call2Fall | Facebook.

Intercessory prayer is vital for victory in spiritual warfare. Christians are taught to pray for our own needs, but especially commanded to intercede in prayer for the needs of others: our families, our churches, our neighbors, our leaders, our nation, and the kingdom of God. See  Spiritual Warfare Prayers for scripture references, teachings, encouragement, and examples of intercessory prayers.

The Puget Sound Baptist Association (PSBA) will hold it’s annual missions conference May 15 – 17, 2009 at First Baptist Church of Lakewood, WA. The conference will feature Dr. Jerry Rankin, President of the  International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Covention (SBC), plus Dr. Jim Slack, Dr. Bill Crews, and other IMB leaders.

The missions conference’s theme is “Mobilizing the Church for God’s Glory”. For more information and registration, see PSBA Global Missions Conference .  (map)

Jerry Rankin will speak on the topic of spiritual warfare in Christian discipleship. He recently published a book entitiled Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God’s Glory . “As believers in Christ we know that victory over the world is ours because of His sacrifice. The battle is not over, however, and Satan stands ready to attack at every opportunity. Temptation to become influenced by the world and allow God’s glory to be stolen is very real. The battle is raging and IMB President Jerry Rankin boldly exposes the nature of the enemy in this new book. Better understand the fiery darts of deception in feelings of resentment, anger, doubt, pride and adversity in Spiritual Warfare.”

A friend of mine and Director of Church Planting at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Jack Allen, is teaching a continuing education course on church planting at the Providence Learning Center in New Orleans, LA. The next class within the course is on Spiritual Warfare in the Local Church, which will be held in a condensed workshop format over two days in March, 2009. Update: This class has been cancelled, but another will be scheduled in the new future.

For more information about future course dates:

Spiritual Warfare in the Local Church
at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
March 16-17, 2009  was cancelled due to economic hardhips.

See also:

• Jack’s Buzz – Profile of Dr. Jack Allen
• Jack’s Church Planting Blog

The plight of persecuted Christian’s worldwide, who still too often suffer martyrdom, seldom makes the headlines of the major news organizations. But the July 23, 2007 issue of Newsweek highlights the escalating flight of Christians from the Middle East as radical Islamists increasingly are issuing life-or-death ultimatums:

‘He refused to leave Baghdad, even after the day last year when masked Sunni gunmen forced him and eight co-workers to line up against a wall and said, “Say your prayers.” An Assyrian Christian, Rayid Albert closed his eyes and prayed to Jesus as the killers opened fire. He alone survived, shot seven times. But a month ago a note was left at his front door, warning, “You have three choices: change your religion, leave or pay the jeziya“—a tax on Christians levied by ancient Islamic rulers. It was signed “The Islamic Emirate of Iraq,” a Qaeda pseudonym.’

The ultimatums aren’t new even if they are news worthy today. The jihadists were practicing the same doctrines for hundreds of years prior to the Crusades. Our Jewish friend Debbie Schlussel, albeit with a very sharp tongue,  calls Islam the “Religion of Eradicating Christianity” while she is valiantly trying to educate the western world as to the dangers of the modern, militant variant of Islamic jihad. Thanks Debbie.

For more news about Christians who are suffering persecution and martyrdom see Christian Persecution Information.

The press reported Ruth Graham died today surrounded by her husband and all five children. My condolences to Dr. Graham and all of the family. I know the grief, and the joy, of a loved one passing over the river Jordan into glory land.

 What the media didn’t report was the reunion and celebration in heaven! See you someday soon Ruth.