Surprises and Assurance
Just 2 days ago (Sep. 20th), the wealthy and politically dominant Thai minister, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup during his attendance at the UN's General Assembly in New York. The new military leaders said Mr. Thaksin could return to Thailand but may face trial. Today, it is reported that The Pakistani president Mr. Pervez Musharraf said during his address in the same UN's General Assembly that following the attacks of September 11, the US threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it joined the fight against al-Qaeda. Are these 2 pieces of news any surprise to you?
Another piece of surprising and sad news is the execution of three Christians today (Sep. 22nd) in Indonesia for leading attacks on Muslims six years ago that left at least 70 people dead and setting off fresh sectarian clashes on the Sulawesi Island. Ironically, the Muslim militants involved faced a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment only. “Justice” is really in the hands of the ruling and the powerful!
What an incredulous and absurd world we are living in! It is well known that the military has had a dramatic presence in the politics of Thailand. This is obvious from the confusing array of coups and coup attempts that have occurred since 1932 (see THAILAND: MILITARY INTERVENTION). As of today, the coup against Thaksin is something like the 18th in the array. Amazingly, people in Thailand are so used to them that the impact of the September 20th coup to their daily lives is so minimal!
The Apostle Paul's teaching about terrible times in the last days (II Tim. 3:1-5) is so vivid. He prophesied that people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,… slanderous, without self-control, … treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Beloved, what shall we do then? First, let's learn to protect ourselves by avoiding and turning away from those sinful acts and those having a form of godliness but denying its power. Secondly, let's not give up the mission to lead people to Christ while staying as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matt.10:16) in our footsteps to follow Jesus for we are citizens of the Eternal Kingdom.
Just 2 days ago (Sep. 20th), the wealthy and politically dominant Thai minister, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup during his attendance at the UN's General Assembly in New York. The new military leaders said Mr. Thaksin could return to Thailand but may face trial. Today, it is reported that The Pakistani president Mr. Pervez Musharraf said during his address in the same UN's General Assembly that following the attacks of September 11, the US threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it joined the fight against al-Qaeda. Are these 2 pieces of news any surprise to you?
Another piece of surprising and sad news is the execution of three Christians today (Sep. 22nd) in Indonesia for leading attacks on Muslims six years ago that left at least 70 people dead and setting off fresh sectarian clashes on the Sulawesi Island. Ironically, the Muslim militants involved faced a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment only. “Justice” is really in the hands of the ruling and the powerful!
What an incredulous and absurd world we are living in! It is well known that the military has had a dramatic presence in the politics of Thailand. This is obvious from the confusing array of coups and coup attempts that have occurred since 1932 (see THAILAND: MILITARY INTERVENTION). As of today, the coup against Thaksin is something like the 18th in the array. Amazingly, people in Thailand are so used to them that the impact of the September 20th coup to their daily lives is so minimal!
The Apostle Paul's teaching about terrible times in the last days (II Tim. 3:1-5) is so vivid. He prophesied that people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,… slanderous, without self-control, … treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Beloved, what shall we do then? First, let's learn to protect ourselves by avoiding and turning away from those sinful acts and those having a form of godliness but denying its power. Secondly, let's not give up the mission to lead people to Christ while staying as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matt.10:16) in our footsteps to follow Jesus for we are citizens of the Eternal Kingdom.
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