Into the Flip Side

here are some important articles/links in regards to the situation in Zimbabwe. The elections are coming next Friday 6/27.

from The Zimbabwe Guardian through All Africa: Britain is seeking more sanctions in preparation of what could happen (and looks likely) if Mugabe does not give up the presidency after the run off election.

Also joining the call to Mugabe for a fair election is "Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano" reports All Africa. According to the article the open letter that he has signed along with "40 prominent African personalities" calls "for the restoration of "full access for humanitarian aid agencies". The regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has shut down the operations of international NGOs, even though an estimated four million Zimbabweans (almost a third of the entire population) are in need of food aid." Mugabe is simply allowing his people to starve. So why do we care that Chissano signed the letter? "That Chissano has signed this letter is of considerable significance, since in the past he has been very close to Mugabe (and was Mugabe's best man at his marriage to his second wife, Grace)." Very informative article make sure to read the whole article.

Here is another article in regards to the open letter that was signed by the "forty Prominent Africans". This article comes from the Zimbabwe Standard linked and posted at All Africa. "Africa Seeks Mugabe Assurance on Poll". I believe this is a prime example of how the more we focus on Mugabe, the more attention we draw to him, the more he will not be able to hide the atrocities that he is committing. As I think this article makes clear, Mugabe does not have plans to step down regardless of the will of the people of Zimbabwe. from the article: "Mugabe told supporters on Thursday he would immediately take Zimbabwe back to war if Tsvangirai beat him on 27 June."

Again, please pray for the people of Zimbabwe who are paying the price through starvation. Please also talk about this. Talk about it with friends, with family, with your church. We need to talk about what is going on in our world. we can not turn our heads any longer. The more we talk the more aware people will become and the more attention will be drawn to the situations around the world.

A.W. Tozer in one of the greatest prayers I have ever heard prayed to God that he would desire to desire God more. Along those lines, I need to pray that I would have more and more compassion for God's creation that is hurting. That I would desire to desire God's will more. This is how I believe in many ways faith works. The more I desire to know God the more I search God, the more time I spend in pursuit of God, the more fruit is produced through it. I will naturally (or super naturally) be more loving, more forgiving, more peacefull, more faithful or faithfilled (see the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians). Read your bible, read what Jesus says is important to Him, then read what is happening around this world. The poor, the weak, the oppressed, the homeless, the suffering, the widowed. Not only in Africa or Asia, but also in our own neighborhoods.

This is what I want for my life and the life of my family; I want to be so consumed with the passions of God's heart, with the desires of God's will, that I can not be comfortable in "the comforts" of our culture. I mean after all isn't this what we are called to? I am not there. I love T.V. and food, and nice clothes. I love having a home and two cars and toys for my kids. Is there anything wrong with that? The question is, do I love them more than I love God? Do I love them so much that I put them before what God has called me as His child to?

It is all about fear. Piper gets to this issue in his book Future Grace. I fear that God is not better than T.V. is not better than the "nice" things I have attained. I fear that I will not be as "happy" if all is stripped away and all I have is my family, food for my family, shelter for my family, and God. You know what though, there are countless people around this world who do not even have that yet are filled with the Joy of Christ, who live and die only to hear God's word one more time, only to be able to be called God's children.