Kristi Griem has written a new ebook that should interest many.  Kristi is a ministry partner who has worked closely with Last Letter. Kristi and her husband have been involved in missions advance for as long as I can remember.  The concise e-book hits some important topics and connects the reader to key links for future projects.

Check it out!

Mark Morris

Sustainability is also available for yourAmazon Kindle or Kindle App.

Sustainability is an eBook for anyone interested in helping or currently working with artisan or producer groups to develop products and grow their market in the US. It includes practical steps for how to develop products, market them, and ship products that are made globally to the US.

Sustainability covers five different areas and includes templates and forms that can be customized for your group or business.

• Fair Trade (and what it is)
• Product Development
• Banking and Payment
• Marketing
• Shipping and logistics

If you or someone you know would benefit from Sustainability, hop on over and get your copy now at Amazon.

I have had the joy over the past four weeks to teach a World Religions course at Victory University. What a privilege to interact with 27 students regarding their own faith in Christ in light of a study of Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, several cults and new religious movements.

We began our course with Christianity, taking a look into what it means to be an effective cross-cultural worker for Christ. So far we have studied ancient religions of Iraq and Iran, Judaism, and we are about to dig into Hinduism. We hope to visit a Hindu temple this weekend.

We are reminded that God reigns supreme.  He is Lord of all. He is the one true God and there is no other before Him.

Each of us who knows Christ has a responsibility to know what we believe, understand what others believe, pray for them, learn effective cross-cultural Gospel communication, and give an answer for the faith we have in Jesus. This knowledge of Christ is faith that requires a response. A lack of response, is actually a response with clear results.

My growing concern is that we Christians don’t even know what we believe, much less, how to relate our own faith with people from another religions.

Find out, today, what it is that you believe and in whom it is that you put your faith.

That All May Hear

Mark Morris

So what will happen in Afghanistan, now that Ace of Spades (Ben Laden) is dead? STRATFOR is an exceptional intelligence report that comments extensively on what is next in that part of the world. Evidently, multiple definitions of “success” are shaping the argument. The question is how quickly and how significantly will the US depart? A followup question is what will be the results of the dramatic draw down of US troops?

See below several articles on the subject from this week’s STRATFOR report.

is republished with permission of STRATFOR.??????

U.S. and Pakistan: Afghan Strategies

June 21, 2011 | 0846 GMT

By George Friedman

U.S. President Barack Obama will give a speech on Afghanistan on June 22. Whatever he says, it is becoming apparent that the United States is exploring ways to accelerate the drawdown of its forces in the country. It is also clear that U.S. relations with Pakistan are deteriorating to a point where cooperation — whatever level there was — is breaking down. These are two intimately related issues. Any withdrawal from Afghanistan, particularly an accelerated one, will leave a power vacuum in Afghanistan that the Kabul government will not be able to fill. Afghanistan is Pakistan’s back door, and its evolution is a matter of fundamental interest to Pakistan. A U.S. withdrawal means an Afghanistan intertwined with and influenced by Pakistan. Therefore, the current dynamic with Pakistan challenges any withdrawal plan.

There may be some in the U.S. military who believe that the United States might prevail in Afghanistan, but they are few in number. The champion of this view, Gen. David Petraeus, has been relieved of his command of forces in Afghanistan and promoted (or kicked upstairs) to become director of the CIA. The conventional definition of victory has been the creation of a strong government in Kabul controlling an army and police force able to protect the regime and ultimately impose its will throughout Afghanistan. With President Hamid Karzai increasingly uncooperative with the United States, the likelihood of this outcome is evaporating. Karzai realizes his American protection will be withdrawn and understands that the Americans will blame him for any negative outcomes of the withdrawal because of his .

The link at the end of this post takes you to a NY Times article about the imprisonment of two Afghan followers of Jesus. Both remain imprisoned solely for Faith in Jesus Christ.

In Feb 5, 2011’s NY Times, RAY RIVERA published a straightforward article about the predicament of Afghanistan’s dependence upon the West for it’s own freedom from the oppression of the Taliban, while remaining ambiguous on religious freedom for Afghan citizens.  Currently at least two Afghan Christians remain in prison with no ability to receive representation. These two men are followers of Jesus Christ, despite the fact that their government oppresses and imprisons those who adopt faith in Jesus as God and Savior of all who repent of their own sins and believe in Him, confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Afghans view Jesus as a prophet, but not as the one True God, in whom eternal forgiveness can be found.

The dilemma for the two Afghan prisoners of faith, Sayed Mussa and Shoaib Mosawi is that they waste away in Afghan prisons, refusing to denounce their faith in Jesus as the Messiah, in spite of what seems to be a guaranteed death sentence for leaving Islam. Apparently these two men would be freed if they denounced their faith.  Afghanistan has signed the International Human Rights Agreement guaranteeing religious freedom, yet their civil law seems to conflict with their equally potent Sharia (religious) law. Sharia, according to some experts demands death for these two “apostates” or anyone who leaves Islam for a faith other than the one handed down to them from their parents. So, in fact, religious freedom is being put to the test in Afghanistan.  These two men did NOT ask for this situation. They didn’t appeal to the government for the right to be Christians. Both were simply practicing their faith when the government stepped in.

Mussa recently wrote a letter in which he declared his willingness to die for his faith. So what do we as Christians do? Particularly, those of us who live in a land that provides us the opportunity to change our faith as many times as we wish? I will not attempt to play God for you by offering an answer to that question for you. I’ll speak for myself.

I must pray for these two men and others like them, as if they were my own brothers, my own children, or my earthly father. These are OUR family of faith. As God hurts for them, I must hurt for them.

I must reflect on my own faith?  Do I really believe? Do I actually follow Jesus to the point that He asks? Am I truly obedient in my freedom?  I have no government inflicted prison walls closing in on my faith. So am I exercising the freedom gifted to me by God?  So how far should I travel, to what extent must I restrict my own leisure in order to extend God’s gift to others who don’t know faith in Christ? Lord help me to walk by faith, truly living as a follower of Jesus, truly sharing my faith with others. Help me to extend water to the thirsty, and freedom to the imprisoned. Lord help me to live obediently for you, by you, and with you. Lord forgive me for failing to do so.

Is there anything else that I can do for Mussa and Mosawi? That’s a difficult question and I’m looking for guidance on the appropriate answer. Too much attention may complicate matters for these two men. Yet doing nothing seems insensitive and uncaring, even inhumane.  I await the advice of those wiser than me who are closer to the situation.

I did chose to publish this post, because a circulation (NY Times) much broader than mine, has gone public about the information. I prayerfully pass it on to the readers of MissionLeader.com.

Read the Article in NY Times

A great friend, Drew Cline has developed a robust web site that you need to visit. I just read his latest post on Transparent leadership. He’s also in the process of developing a new emerging church in the Franklin, TN area.

Here’s an excerpt from his recent post.

Many business books talk about leading strong, making decisions and staying the course, even if you’ve made a bad decision or regret how you’ve led, don’t show weakness, but keep your head up and keep going in the same direction. That’s not good leadership, that’s arrogance and a HUGE lack of awareness – in fact it’s sin.

Read Drew’s Entire Post on Transparent Leadership

God is doing a mighty thing as churches in the Northwest come together for solemn assemblies. Scott Brewer recently challenged pastors to consider what God might do in them and in their congregations through such sincere and heartfelt gatherings. The following article is from Baptist Press.

Posted on Dec 8, 2010 | by Erin Roach

In response to a challenge from Scott Brewer, president of the Northwest Baptist Convention, pastors and lay leaders at the annual meeting went forward to pray about initiating a time of repentance and renewal in their congregations. Photo courtesy of the Northwest Baptist Convention

REDMOND, Wash. (BP)–A pastor in Washington state led his congregation to observe a solemn assembly this fall, to repent of sins and seek God intensely — and lives were changed. Now he is challenging other churches to throw off the grip of worldliness and set aside a day for repentance and renewed commitment.

“I’m absolutely convinced that if there is not a significant awakening in the church, we’re in serious trouble,” Scott Brewer, pastor of Meadowbrook Church in Redmond, Wash., told Baptist Press.

“We are well past answers found in new strategies and new innovations and the best that we can produce. I think by and large, our churches are void of a manifest sense of God’s presence that results in His empowerment of the mission,” Brewer said.

Though his idea for a solemn assembly grew out of a personal retreat with God a year ago, Brewer said he was encouraged by the call of Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright and other SBC leaders for churches to observe a solemn assembly in January.

“It basically served to confirm in my own heart something I felt like God was up to, not just in our region but across our country,” said Brewer, who is serving a second term as president of the Northwest Baptist Convention.

Once he believed God was leading him to initiate a time of solemn assembly at Meadowbrook, Brewer took the idea to fellow church leaders and they began having prayer and confession time during their meetings. At a fall retreat, Brewer presented the idea again and led in a preliminary solemn assembly.

The pastor taught on the holiness of God for four Sundays leading up to the church-wide event.

“Some of the remarks initially were more questioning about why I was giving so much attention and emphasis to sin and to holiness and to confession,” Brewer said. “I just kind of kept pressing forward, saying I think God wants us to continue on this note until He’s through, whatever that looks like.”

As the date of the solemn assembly, Oct. 16, drew nearer and people got more of a sense of what they would be doing, some were eager.

“They were like, ‘I can’t wait until this. I just feel like God’s going to do something special in my life.'”

Others were fearful of the idea, he said.

“They were like, ‘I think you’re going to ask me to do things I’ve never done before. I’ve been a Christian for 10 years and I’ve never confessed any sin to anybody. Why are you asking me to do this?’ That was a little more of the minority, but to their credit they were honest about it and then they showed up, overcoming their fears,” Brewer said.

The congregation averages 200 people on Sundays, and 67 adults participated in the solemn assembly on that Saturday in October. Brewer said more people would have come if childcare had been provided.

“It was a pretty strong percentage. It was higher than I anticipated,” he said of attendance.

Another obstacle for some, he said, was the length of the event. Church leaders had asked that participants commit to the entire five hours.

“I began the day with a brief reflection on Joel 2 and introduced the whole idea of a solemn assembly. After that, I invited everybody to engage in a private exercise of going through 20-something questions that kind of probed their life about whether they were in alignment with God on this or that or the other,” Brewer said.

“After close to an hour of that personal time, we reconvened. Then they got with a prayer partner of the same gender and basically spent the next 45 minutes in confession with one another, verbalizing what they had written down in the private time.

“It was the first time that the majority of them had ever had verbal confession with a trusted other on sins like that. It was pretty powerful. When we reconvened after that, I had everyone get into their small groups that they meet with every week, and in a similar fashion, they went through a Scripture text that had them praying for one another and confessing their sins to one another,” the pastor said.

Brewer had asked the group to fast for a day and a half before the solemn assembly, and they broke the fast with the Lord’s Supper during the gathering. Then they ate lunch together.

“Following lunch, we finished the whole time in an emphasis on what God has done with us individually and collectively with other churches. Basically, I cast a vision for being a catalyst for other churches and a catalyst for something that God might be stirring across our convention and across our town. At the point of commitment, everyone — 100 percent — stood in commitment to be faithful to follow God in that way,” Brewer said.

Katie Harris, who participated in the solemn assembly at Meadowbrook, told Baptist Press that the questionnaire at the beginning led her to realize she was “just a really busted, broken person.”

“Outwardly, I may have seemed like I was leading a good life, but inside I was harboring hurtful sins,” she said.

Harris had struggled with anger and jealously following a miscarriage, and it wasn’t until the solemn assembly that she realized those were sins that were separating her from God.

“That realization and following confession were like a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders, and I knew God led me to take part in the solemn assembly as a way of starting my emotional and spiritual recovery from our loss,” she said. “Over the following days and weeks, He kept working in me and speaking to me through others.

“I feel like without my experience at the solemn assembly, I would’ve been oblivious to His promptings and kept trying to put on the happy facade I’d been wearing for months. Now, the anger, bitterness and jealousy are gone. Instead, there is peace in my heart because I took that time at the assembly to fully examine myself for all that I am, and not just what others see of me,” Harris said.

Anna Delapaz, another church member, stayed at home with her children while her husband attended the solemn assembly, but God nevertheless spoke to her about getting her heart right.

“I really had to lay down a lot of things in my heart as far as selfish things, as far as worry and anxiety, and just step out in faith,” Delapaz told Baptist Press.

“… What I got from the idea of the solemn assembly was it was not just a purging of our selfish things or our internal checks but it was also for us to walk in His power and start seeing where God is answering prayers that maybe we’re not seeing,” Delapaz said. “It’s about being able to start walking in a faith that may be very uncomfortable for us. We’re seeing it. I’m seeing a lot of people start to wake up to sort of a new phase of what’s going on after all of this.

“For me, it’s been about really walking in His power. It’s not just an emptying but a filling up to be able to reach others. It’s not just about ourselves. It’s for others as well,” Delapaz said.

Brewer presented the idea of a solemn assembly during a Northwest convention executive board meeting earlier this year, and at least a couple other pastors led such events in their churches. They told their stories at the convention’s annual meeting in November, and Brewer told about Meadowbrook before issuing a challenge for pastors and lay leaders to initiate repentance in their congregations.

“I received 42 commitment cards from pastors that they would be pursuing the Lord individually in this kind of way as well as leading their church into a solemn assembly experience and to partner with other churches in their area,” Brewer said, adding that he is following up with those 42 and inviting others to join the emphasis.

In a video posted on www.pray4sbc.com, Wright, the SBC president, said the call to solemn assembly “is about returning to our first love of Jesus Christ.”

“In our convention, in our churches and our lives, we have allowed materialism, we’ve allowed hedonism, workaholism and busyness, technology obsession, all kinds of other interests of the world to just invade and, really, become bigger priorities than the priority of our relationship with Jesus Christ,” Wright said. “We need to fall in love with Jesus again in a new and fresh way. We need to return to our first love.”

Wright’s call was affirmed by members of the SBC’s Great Commission Council, which is composed of the heads of the convention’s entities. They issued a letter in November asking Southern Baptists to repent and come before God with a contrite heart.
–30–
Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press. To see Baptist Press’ initial story on the call for churches to engage in a solemn assembly in January, go to http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=34079.

Now is a good time to pray for Christians living in Muslim countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. During the coming week, some believers could be condemned to death simply for being a follower of Jesus.

See the CNN reports below.

Family waits to see if mother, accused of blasphemy, will be hanged

Itan Wali, Pakistan (CNN) — In this village in Pakistan’s Punjab province a tearful 12-year-old girl ponders if the Pakistani government will soon hang her mother.

“Whenever I see her picture I cry,” Isham Masih told CNN. “I want my mother back. That’s what I’m praying for.”

This month a Pakistani court sentenced Isham’s mother, 45-year-old Asia Bibi, to death, not because she killed, injured or stole, but simply because she said something.

Prosecutors say Bibi, who is a Christian, broke Pakistan’s strict blasphemy law by insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad, a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment according to Pakistan’s penal code.

Read More

Afghan Imprisoned, faces Trial for Conversion to Christianity

From Matiullah Mati for CNN:

An Afghan Christian, detained for months for allegedly converting to Christianity from Islam, could face trial as early as next week – and could face a potential death penalty, officials said Sunday.

Said Musa was arrested by Afghan Interior Ministry intelligence authorities near the German Embassy in Kabul because of the allegations, said Qamaruddin Shenwari, director of the Kabul courts’ north zone. The exact date of his arrest is not known.

The case against Musa has not yet been finalized, said Mohammad Najim Hamidi, director of public security at Zone 3 of the Kabul courts. He could face trial next week if the case is prepared by then, Hamidi said. It was earlier thought Musa’s trial would begin on Sunday.

The Afghan Constitution does not mention converting from one religion to another, so the judge will take Islamic law into account, officials said.

“According to Afghanistan’s constitution, if there is no clear verdict as to whether an act is criminal or not in the penal code of the Afghan Constitution, then it would be referred to sharia law where the judge has an open hand in reaching a verdict,” Shenwari said.

Under sharia law, converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death.

Read More

The following article is from MReport, providing daily updates from CapeTown’s Lausanne Congress.  Tom Little wrote his last letter in the form of a devotional in a journal that was found splattered in his own blood. His last devotional he shared with his team on that fateful day was about presenting ourselves to Him and His work, spreading the sweet aroma of Jesus in the hard places.  So, how are you spreading Jesus’ sweet aroma?

CAPE TOWN.  From MReport

I heard an unbelievably moving testimony on Wednesday at the Lausanne Congress.
Libby Little, the speaker, had been widowed for less than three months. Her husband, Dr. Tom Little, was pulled out of his car and murdered in Afghanistan on August 5. She calmly stood before 4,000 participants and another 1,000 volunteers and guests at Cape Town 2010 and told us, “Go spread the aroma of Christ in hard places.”
Dr. Little was one of 10 human aid workers killed in the Nuristan Province. The optometrist was on his fifth trip to the area, leading a team of nine other human aid workers who were compelled by Christ’s love to serve the Afghanistan people. Little had asked for permission to enter the area on his first trip, but had gone on subsequent trips at the invitation of the local people.
The Littles had raised their family in Afghanistan. On his final journey, he was only able to place one-minute calls to his wife. His last message to her before crossing a river into the area was, “We’ll call you from the other side. I love you.”

A blood stained notebook was recovered from Dr. Little’s body and presented to Libby. It contained what she believes to be notes from a devotional that he presented to the team less than one week before his death. She feels certain that he spoke that day on spreading the aroma of Christ. One of the scriptures he referenced was 2 Corinthians 2:15, “For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”
“If Tom were here today,” she told the gathering, “I think he would say that in these hard to reach places, grace has to be seen, has to be felt.”

Here’s the latest from the YouVersion team. This free mobile Bible has far surpassed anyone’s expectations.  Take a look at their update.

YouVersion Update

It’s official. You’re part of a revolution. Millions of people (9.1 million to be exact) are discovering that the Bible can and should be a part of their everyday life. It’s no small thing that people today can have free, simple, whenever-wherever access to God’s Word using an app for their mobile device. It’s taken centuries of sacrificial translation efforts, immeasurable investments from Bible Societies and publishers, and, more recently, leaps in technology and innovation to make it possible. And YOU are also a huge reason that so many have the Bible App in their hands today. Tens of thousands of you are sharing verses on Twitter and Facebook, telling your friends and co-workers, inviting the person sitting next to you at church to download it, posting it on your blogs, and doing so many other creative things to help more people experience what you already know – it works, it’s awesome, and it really is free. Thank you for making all of this possible!

The YouVersion team is expanding rapidly, and hundreds of volunteers are stepping up to help make it even easier for you to engage with and share the Bible with millions of others. Many new features and tools are coming soon, but we wanted to briefly celebrate and highlight a few things that can help you and others:

:: Record Growth in August ::
In just one month, almost 900,000 new mobile users downloaded a YouVersion Bible app and engaged with Scripture. And September is shaping up to be even bigger!

:: Create Your Own “Free Bible” Page ::
We launched a new tool that makes it simple for anyone to give away “free Bibles” just by sharing a link. We’ve seen great adoption of this tool by churches, bloggers, and other ministry organizations over the past several weeks. To create your own page, just visit http://youversion.com/free-bible.

:: A New App for Android Phones ::
The YouVersion Android app got a face-lift, some new paint, and a lot of new wiring recently. Some of the biggest upgrades were a new dashboard that makes it easy to reach different areas of the app quickly, a sleek redesign of the Bible reader, new reading plan features including a calendar view, and the ability to sync your bookmarks with your YouVersion.com account.  Download the new Android app now by visiting http://youversion.com/download from your Android phone.

Some of you non-Android phone users may be asking, “What about me? When can I have some of those new features on my phone?” The answer: very soon! New upgrades are coming to all of our mobile phone apps in the next couple of months.

:: Still Time to Start & Finish a Reading Plan in 2010 ::
Finally, we want to strongly encourage you to stay connected to God’s Word. Many of you have subscribed to a reading plan and are consistently reading The Bible. Others of you may have started, but got behind or distracted with the busyness of life. It’s never too late to start or re-engage. In fact, you still have time to read part or all of The Bible before the end of 2010.  You can sign up for the Bible in 90 Days, New Thru 30, or The Gospels from the Bible App or at http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/all.  What a great way to finish this year!

The next few months hold unlimited potential and we can’t wait to see how God works through you and YouVersion to help millions more engage with Scripture!

:: Connect with YouVersion:
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/youversion
Become a fan on Facebook: http://facebook.com/youversion

Get help with YouVersion: http://support.youversion.com

We are in the midst of the Islamic month of Ramadan, which is their month of fasting from dawn to dusk. For many Westerners, the last thing we want to do is pray for those we consider “enemies.”  Yet Christ teaches us to pray for them.  So during this month of Ramadan, consider this prayer as Muslims around the world go to prayers today.  Certainly we should be praying for them as they prostrate themselves in prayer this day.

Friday Prayer Focus
Today, even perhaps at this moment, Muslims worldwide will be preparing themselves for Friday prayer. Indeed, all week long practicing Muslims do ritual washing in order to be pure for prayer. Right intentions and a focused attitude toward God are specifically encouraged concerning prayer in Islam. However, it is certain that ritual cleansing, as well as the specific times, order and outward forms of prayer, definitely occupy most of the literature and instruction concerning Islamic prayer.
In Islam it is impossible to pray correctly without the ritual cleansing by water, or in the absence of water with sand. Islamic instruction about prayer is filled with long passages on exactly how to accomplish the cleansing process. None of the steps can be sidestepped or done in an improper way, otherwise Islamic prayer loses its merit and validity.
Here is a typical Muslim text about doing Wudu (the ritual cleansing):
1. A Muslim begins every action with intention. To yourself, make the intention to cleanse yourself for prayer, for the sake of Allah.
2. To yourself, say “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem” (In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful).
3. Wash your hands three times, making sure the water reaches between the fingers and all over the hands.
4. Bring a handful of water to your mouth and rinse it thoroughly three times.
5. Sniff water into your nose three times to clean it. Use your right hand to bring up the water, and your left hand to expel it.
6. Wash your entire face three times.
7. Wash your arms, up to the elbows, three times. Start with the right.
8. Use your wet hands to wipe over your head once, from front to back and front again.
9. Use your wet fingers to wipe the inside and outside of your ears, once.
10. Wash your feet up to the ankles three times. Start with the right.
11. Dry off.
Prayer Starters
While some aspects of the ritual washing may be helpful as a reminder about how sinful we are as human beings, ultimately the ritual cleansing does not lead Muslims to true righteousness or holiness.

§ Pray for Muslims to discover the depths of sin and God’s holiness so that they may forever be freed of the idea that water can ever make them fit to meet God. Pray this for people that you may know, pray for Muslims in your city and elsewhere (Heb 8:9-12).

Adapted from 30 Days of Prayer for The Muslim World