The Sudan

I recently attended a conference in Atlanta given by Open Doors addressing the needs of the Persecuted Church. Many times we forget they exist. Many times we forget their struggles. Many times we forget their sacrifices and even their martyrdom.

In less than 2 weeks, I will be going to an area in Sudan that is just south of Darfur. Leitnohm has recently been devastated by war, destruction, rape, and murder. I am going with a team of 5 others to minister to the people there.

Lloyd Shadrach and I will be discipling and teaching a large group of pastors who have a very limited education in Bible and Theology. He will be teaching on the topic of Marriage and Family, and I will be teaching on the topics of the Theology of Sin, and Spiritual Power & Authority.

The 4 others in our group will be interacting with the Women and Children in the areas of Trauma and Grief Counseling, and Marriage and Family. Keep in mind that this is a polygamistic society, so that is no small task!

I really hate writing letters appealing for financial support. It is most likely a pride thing. However, given where we’ve been for the past few years, it is necessary. I believe the Lord wants me to go to the Sudan because it is not something I sought, but is something I couldn’t seem to avoid though I tried.

Friends have told me that there are many who want to go, but can’t for one reason or another. However, they go vicariously through another by giving financially to support the missions effort.

The total cost of my trip is $3,000. That includes roundtrip airfare to Nairobi, food, lodging, visa, malaria meds, and then a chartered MAF flight into and out of the Sudan. If the Lord so moves your heart to join me in ministering to our brothers and sisters in the Sudan – either through daily prayer and/or through a financial contribution, please let me know by responding to this letter via email at olhamada@comcast.net.

All contributions are tax deductible when made out to ‘Fellowship Bible Church’. Please remember to put “Omar Hamada – Sudan Trip” on the Memo line and mail to Fellowship Bible Church, 1210 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027.

Thank you for your prayer and support.

The REAL Reason We Invaded Iraq

When I was in Afghanistan with the US Army Special Forces in 2002 - 2003, we began to notice a significant reduction in our air assets towards the end of 2002 (EC-130 Talons, AC-130 Spectres, AH-64 Apaches, etc...). This told us that regardless of whatever message the White House was delivering over the airwaves, the decision had already been made to launch a full-scale attack on Iraq in short order, as essential assets are never removed from an active battlefield to be used simply as a show of force or even placed in a staging or holding pattern in a different AO unless that engagement was imminent.

Most all of us were thoroughly puzzled and began voicing great concern that our CInC (Commander-In-Chief) was making a very bad decision. We were where the bad guys were. We had UBL (Usama bin Laden) in our sights more than once - and were told to stand down. We found numerous caches of Chinese weapons that we destroyed in place with C4 and diesel fuel. Though we were deployed to "seek and destroy our enemy and to prevent freedom of movement and deny sanctuary to them", we saw our mission change over a short period of time into policing various regions and burning opium fields.

The reasons Americans were given for us going to war with the Iraqis were myriad - and they changed with each passing week. In fact, the reasons changed so rapidly that it was next to impossible to keep up with what the current rationale was.

First, was the excuse that the Iraqis were involved in terrorism and were providing sanctuary and training to Al Queda (we KNEW this was untrue). Then it was the "fact" that they had weapons of mass destruction. Though it had been true 10 years earlier, that was quickly discounted as well, as sanctions and UN oversight were in fact working, and Hussein was known to be bluffing in order to keep the Iranians at bay. Then it became an issue of human rights and the provision of freedom to the Iraqi populace. In fact, one of the primary messages used to garner support for this argument was the gassing of Iraqis by Saddam Hussein in 1988, though, as CIA and US Army reports acknowledge, we knew that he was not the one responsible for this, but the Iranians were (the Iraqis had no such nerve agent in their arsenal). That did not stop the WH from using this misinformation to sway the American public towards supporting this war.

Other reasons that were floated were oil and economic control of the Persian Gulf (though we had been in complete control of the Gulf since GHWB's term as we had wrested it away from the Russians in the first Gulf War using Kuwait as bait), GWB seeking vengeance for GWHB's being targeted for assassination, democracy, Iraqi Freedom, violations of a UN resolution (though the leading violator of UN resolutions was and continues to be Israel), and on and on and on.....

Most all of these reasons were hollow, had little merit, and were easily seen through by most "in the know". However, the sales job on the American populace was rather effective.

The REAL reason we went to war in Iraq was for the sake of Palestinian autonomy and Israeli security. Every US president since Woodrow Wilson has been trying to bring peace to the area after he agreed to partition Palestine in order to give European Jews a homeland. Every US president since Wilson has failed. President GW Bush thought he could make it work. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

His motives were admirable. His plan was naive.

In order to make this happen and in order to secure Israel's safety, we agreed to eliminate Israel's biggest threat - Saddam Hussein. In exchange, PM Ariel Sharon formed a third party and agreed to remove settlements from occupied Palestinian territories, grant Palestinians autonomy, and work towards a two state solution. This plan was masterminded and negotiated by Paul Wolfowitz, John Ashcroft, and Donald Rumsfeld.

This was told me by a friend who had very close ties to the GWB WH and was then corroborated by several other independent sources - including one who serves on the Council on Foreign Relations, and another who is on staff at The Fund for American Studies. This scenario does seem to make the most sense. In fact, SEC Powell's statement, "The decision to go to war was made well before evidence was gathered" which he made around noon on the day of his resignation as he and his wife stood on the steps of the US Capitol, seemed to support this argument by weakening the other reasons given for the war. Food for thought.......

Rights of Conscience

The US Constitution lays out fundamental rights that preserve individual religious liberties and freedoms of conscience. 

For decades, workers in all sectors of our society have enjoyed legal protections with regard to their religious liberties and freedom of conscience. Of course, this unfortunately hasn't completely obliterated discrimination in the workplace, but it does provide the legal framework to protect the individual and to prosecute those who infringe on these rights. In general, these laws require that recipients of federal funds comply with all non-discrimination laws regarding race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, sexual preference, etc... 

Various legislation has been passed that prohibit recipients of certain federal funds from discriminating against individuals or coercing individuals in the health care field from participating in actions they find morally or religiously objectionable. However, recently some groups have come to believe that rights of conscience and individual self determination apply to all, except those within the health care field. 

The piece of legislation in question is nothing new, but simply raises awareness to the fact that religious freedoms and rights of conscience against performing morally objectionable acts are, in fact, also protected. 

A few examples: The Conscience Clauses in various legislation throughout the 1970s restate the same. The Public Health Service Act of 1996 signed by WJ Clinton reinforces these laws. The Weldon Amendment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2005 and 2008 as signed by GW Bush also strengthens these laws of our land. 

The most recent piece of legislation as signed by GW Bush and as castigated by BH Obama simply clarifies and further defines these specific laws which are already in effect, and have been so for almost 4 decades. These laws apply to hospitals, nursing homes, medical schools, dental schools, pharmacy schools, nursing schools, home health care services, etc.... and applies to an individual's rights of conscience with regards to elective sterilization, abortion, euthanasia, etc... 

The ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and other organizations and groups want to demand tolerance in all things except those things which are morally objectionable to Christians. In those areas they are insistent on compelling everyone to take part in some form or fashion, in abortion and sterilization, and eventually euthanasia. 

For some, the right of a woman to abort her child supercedes a physician's right and obligation to be true to his or her own conscience and his or her God. That is backwards. We cannot force people to act in a way to which they are strongly opposed. 

In fact, we take an oath to "do no harm, take part in no euthanasia or execution, perform no abortion, have no sexual relations with a patient, and to preserve the purity of life". Over the past 30 years many medical schools have abandoned this oath. Today only 14% of the oaths medical students take prohibit euthanasia, 8% prohibit abortion, and 3% sexual contact with a patient. 

We are losing our ethical bearing as a profession, as a society, and as a nation. These are important decisions that will determine how far the slippery slope we slide. Unfortunately, we are gaining speed with not much left to slow us.

Economics 101

Just got this email from Tom Cloud.  It certainly rings true!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

The Last Time

I want to ask you a question that I've been wrestling with over the past couple of weeks.  It seems that in the busyness of life at home, it's easy to ignore, not think about, actually forget about this.  But in the quiet loneliness of a hotel room, it screams at me.  In the absence of children's laughter mixed with the frustration of defiance and disobedience, in the absence of the constant nagging of email and ringing of phones, in the absence of being tied to such a strict schedule of daily chores and carpool lines, God's quiet voice speaks.

How aware are you of God's constant presence in your life?  How often do you speak to Him?  Really?  We know He's in our heart, but how much does He control our lives?  When was the last time you really talked to Him?  I don't mean the last time you asked Him for something.  I mean when was the last time you communed with Him with no other agenda save to get to know Him?  When was the last time you sat in still quietness to do nothing other than listen to His voice?  

It takes a while to clear our minds of all our "to do's".  We drift easily into day-dreaming and have to refocus ourselves onto the task at hand.  It's like talking to our spouses in some ways.  Our minds so easily drift onto tangential highways that it takes effort sometimes to focus on what it is that is really being communicated. It usually takes me a few minutes to stop thinking about my to do's, Tara, the kids, my dreams, my hurts, my embarrassments, my deadlines......and just, well, just quietly sit there and listen, and pray, and not ask for anything other than His Spirit to fill my life, His presence to take over my soul, His word to overwhelm my entire being.

It's not easy to find the time - or the will.

When was the last time?