THE ETHIOPIAN CHURCH JOURNAL

Buring the Qur'an By Mitiku Adisu The media seem to enjoy bashing anything Christian. They could not get enough of the news of Terry Jones wanting to burn the Qur'an. This, of course, is a proven strategy to sell ads and papers. That’s what’s happening in the latest big event. Reporters knew too well what kind of pastor Terry Jones was. But it didn’t matter a bit. They could have ignored Terry Jones and thus made his crusade irrelevant. We only wish the media would be impartial and show similar zeal when Bibles are burned here or abroad. For now the media is caught between defending Terry Jones’ First Amendment rights and pleasing Muslim cause. Even atheists are now against burning the Qur'an! In the North West part of the U.S. there was or is a plan to buy the Qur'an for every one that Terry Jones burned. In Minnesota they will be reading the Qur'an in church; these are “professed” Christians. Reading of the Quran would probably be more appropriate in a comparative...

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. [Psalm 65:5-...

The Sickle & the Cross By Mitiku Adisu   To Ethiopian ears the name Filippovich will sound familiar. Did not the Spirit of the Christ prompt Philip (Filippos ፊሊጶስ) the Evangelist to "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza" and once there, to approach the chariot of the Ethiopian dignitary on his way back from worshipping in Jerusalem? And did not Philip then explain that the reference in ኢሳይያስ Esaias [53] to One “led like a sheep to the slaughter” was in fact the same Jesus who hung on a cross outside the gates of Jerusalem for our salvation? (Has the Ethiopian been to Jerusalem and back for nothing then?) Finally understanding the meaning of what he was reading did not His Excellency profess his faith in Jesus and request water baptism there and then? And because of all this did he not go “on his way rejoicing?” How come Filippos of old now has a different sounding name? Well, it is because Filippovich is Russian and is none other than...

One Race, One Gospel, One Task HIM Haile Selassie's address to Evangelical Congress in Berlin, entitled: "One Race, One Gospel, One Task" [Friday, October 28, 1966] "As Jesus Christ has said: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." lt is therefore Our expressed hope that these words will be realized in their full significance in this great assembly. We are happy to be present in this famous City of Berlin where Christian leaders are assembled to consider ways and means of spreading Our Christian Faith in the world. We thank Mr. Billy Graham for inviting Us to address this meeting. The propagation of the Christian Faith among nations has become a task of paramount importance in this age as is evidenced by this great assembly of Christian leaders. As you all know, it is centuries past since Our country, Ethiopia, accepted the Gospel of Christ. We learn from the Holy Scriptures that the first Ethiopian who confes...

Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue that says, "We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips —who is our master?" "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them." And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. O LORD, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever. The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men. [Psalm 12]

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are y...

Chief Ojulu Okok Gilo passed away Source: Anyuak Media July 19, 2010 (GAMBELLA, Ethiopia) – A well known Anywaa Chief, Ojulu Okok Gilo (Ojulu Wara Akori) died on July 16, 2010. The late chief was enthroned last two years following the death of his brother Chief Chuleng. His inauguration ceremony too place in his ancestral village of Pokedi and was attended by over 5000 indigenous Anywaa from all over the four corners of Rivers along which the Anywaa people live; Openo, Gilo, Alworo and Akobo Rivers. During his live span, the Chief Ojulu Okok (Wara Akori) was known of his kindness and politeness towards his subjects and all people whom he interacted with. He was the first chief approached by the missionaries to spread the Good News and became an evangelist to reach Anywaa people with the Good News. He became the first Christian and we believe his soul is with our Lord. Chief Ojulu Wara Akori is brave man who loved his Anywaa home land and he tremendously opposed the land grabbing polic...

The Uniqueness and Universality of Jesus Christ Source: LWP How on Earth Did Jesus Become God? That is the title of a book by Larry Hurtado. Although this may look like an attack on the divinity of Christ, it is in fact a well-researched and well-presented defence of the traditional Christian doctrine that the man Jesus of Nazareth is not only the awaited Messiah of the people of Israel, but also the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine and thereby unique in a way that gives the word “unique” an altogether new and intensified quality. Why Does it Matter? When the Lausanne Covenant emphasises the uniqueness and universality of Christ in article three, it does so with good reason. Today we do well to remember this central emphasis, especially as it seems the forces of relativism have influenced the Church in an ever more intensive and pervasive way since the Covenant was written. Not only does the continuing rise of other wor...

A Theology of Evangelism in the Global South By Samuel Escobar Source: LWP One of the most forceful expressions of this Christological conviction that I know of is the chapter entitled “The Scandal of Jesus” in the book The Recovery of Mission by Sri Lankan theologian Vinoth Ramachandra. Ramachandra reminds us of Jesus´ claims to enjoy a unique filial relationship with God, to be a unique fulfillment of the Jewish scripture, and to be in a different category from other human beings. This uniqueness is part and parcel of the gospel we proclaim, and as Ramachandra very ably demonstrates in his book, it is truth that is consistent with the logic of the gospel story. It is this uniqueness that makes Jesus Lord of all and the Lord of mission. As an evangelist in Asia, Ramachandra knows that in the pluralistic religious world in which he proclaims the gospel, this uniqueness of Jesus brings controversy: It is this traditional claim—that in the human person of Jesus, God himself has come am...

Are there dangers in being 'spiritual but not religious'? By John Blake, CNN In survey, more "millennials" identify themselves as spiritual rather than religious. Jesuit author says spirituality without structure can "lead to self-centeredness." Spiritual blogger argues organized religion inevitably leads to tussles over power. Being a spiritual Lone Ranger fits the tenor of our times, a philosophy professor says. "I'm spiritual but not religious." It's a trendy phrase people often use to describe their belief that they don't need organized religion to live a life of faith. But for Jesuit priest James Martin, the phrase also hints at something else: egotism. "Being spiritual but not religious can lead to complacency and self-centeredness," says Martin, an editor at America, a national Catholic magazine based in New York City. "If it's just you and God in your room, and a religious community makes no demands on you, wh...

Source: The New Yorker, The American Prospect, NPR The practice of adoption goes back at least as far as Moses, who, the Bible says, was adopted by the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt. In ancient Greece and Rome, adoption was commonly used, in the absence of male heirs, to transfer property rights to protégés. International adoption, however, is a more recent development. In the United States, it grew out of orphan-rescue missions in the wake of military conflicts, beginning with the airlift of German and Japanese orphans at the end of the Second World War. Similar rescues followed the Korean War, in 1953, the Bay of Pigs debacle, in 1961, and the Vietnam War, in 1975. These “babylifts” were, in part, political, fuelled by a new superpower’s desire both to demonstrate its good will to the rest of the world and to rescue children from Communism, but the press covered them uncritically, as humanitarian mercy missions. International adoption became widely available to ordinary Americans ...

The dark side of Chinese adoptions Source: NPR When Americans adopt babies from China, most assume they've been abandoned. But a scandal in 2005, in which 6 orphanages were found to be buying babies, threw that in doubt. Scott Tong reports that baby selling may be more widespread. Kai Ryssdal : A key Russian politician said this week there's been no formal ban on U.S adoption of Russian children. There is, though, a new agreement being worked out between the two sides. Last month, a Tennessee woman sent her Russian-born son back to Moscow unaccompanied. Russia is the number three source of international adoptions for American parents. China has been at the top of that list for years. Beijing is generally assumed to run a clean program -- orphanages that are above board and children who've actually been abandoned. But a scandal five years ago shook a lot of that confidence. Six orphanages were found to have been buying babies who were then adopted by families from other coun...

The Deadly Virus of Celebrity Christianity Source: FireInMyBones Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them. Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I’ve learned that some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We’ve moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the 1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large segments of the church. “What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality.” One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister’s assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included: a five-figure honorarium a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane a manicurist and hairst...