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Pastor's Corner by Pastor Larry

April, 2006

News broke out this week about a forty-one-year old man in Afghanistan by the name of Abdul Rahman. I initially heard this story from the Osgood File on radio. He confessed to being a Christian at a judicial hearing in Kabul, Afghanistan last Thursday (March 16, 2006). While in his country many years ago, he worked for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees. After that, he moved to Germany where he lived for nine years, and during that time, he became a Christian. Three years ago, he returned to his own country and tried to gain custody of his two daughters who had been living with their grandparents. He has to fight for custody of his own children from his parents because his family disowned him for converting from Islam to Christianity. In the custody battle, when it came out that Rahman was a Christian and carried a Bible, he was immediately arrested and charged with the crime of defecting from Islam, which, is punishable by death under the law. The prosecutor said that he is a reasonable man and offered to drop the charges if Rahman would convert back to Islam. Instead of succumbing, Rahman refused. Abdul Wasi, the prosecutor said, “He (Rahman) would have been forgiven, but he said he was a Christian and would always remain one.”

As this case began to surface to the rest of the western world, diplomats from several countries began to apply “pressure” on the Afghan government. According to one news report, Rahman now seems unlikely to be tried or executed. Prosecutors in Kabul said he might be mentally “unfit” to face trial because of his fanatic attitude towards his newfound Faith. Let us continue to pray for our brother in Afghanistan, that he can be released from prison and gain custody of his children. I sincerely thank this unknown brother in Christ who lives halfway around the world to remind me to stand firm in my Faith. Maybe we should be as “crazy” as he is.  

We who live in this free country have a difficult time comprehending what it means to pay a price to follow Jesus. We really don’t know the costs of being Christians in a hostile environment. To us, sacrifice for God only means giving up a little comfort or convenience. Even if it only means that, we still need to develop a willing attitude. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Well, where was Jesus going? He was on His way to Calvary. It was for this reason He came—to be the ultimate sacrifice for the Sin of the world. He invites us to follow His example of sacrifice.

Before I sign off, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that Jesus came in order to die. He willingly chose this road to Calvary so that we may have eternal life. The world and everything in it will pass away one day. Giving some of it up will not hurt us for too long, for if we are in Christ, we will be with God in eternity.

Pastor Larry

在這星期，傳媒發放了一段有關一位男士的新聞。他名叫Abdul Rahman，四十一歲，住在阿富汗，我最初是從電台的Osgood檔案中聽到他的故事。上星期四﹝3/16/2006﹞他在阿富汗的首都喀布爾﹝Kabul﹞的一個法院聆訊中承認他是一個基督徒。多年前在他的家鄉裏，他在一個幫助阿富汗難民的國際基督教機構中工作；然後他遷往德國居住了九年，在那個時候，他成為基督徒。三年前，他回到自己的國家，嘗試取回他兩個一直跟著她們祖父的女兒的撫養權。他要從自己父母的手中爭取自己女兒的撫養權，估計是因為他的家人為著他從一個回教徒轉成為一個基督徒而與他脫離關係。在這場撫養權爭奪戰中，結果是Rahman因為他是一個基督徒和手上拿著聖經而立即被拘捕，被控背叛回教的罪名，而在他們的法律中是一條死罪。主控官說他是一個講理的人，所以提出如果Rahman願意回轉成為回教徒的話，他就不再起訴。但Rahman拒絕而不背屈服，主控官Abdul Wasi 說：「他 (Rahman) 本來是可以被原諒的，但他堅持他是一個基督徒，並且說永不會放棄。」

當這件案件在西方國家曝光後，多個國家的外交官開始向阿富汗政府施壓。根據一個新聞報導，Rahman現在很可能不會被迫害或處死，主控官Abdul Wasi 說他可能因為對他新發現的信仰過於狂熱而導致精神問題而不適宜接受審訊。讓我們繼續為住在阿富汗的弟兄代禱，祈求他能夠被釋放和得到他女兒的撫養權。我衷心感謝這位住在地球另一面、我不認識的弟兄提醒我要堅守我的信仰，或許我們也要好像他一樣的〝瘋狂〞。

 我們這些生活在自由世界的人，很難去了解甚麼是為跟隨基督而付上代價，我們真不知道在敵對環境中作基督徒的代價。對我們來說，為神犧牲只不過是放棄一點點的安舒或不便而已。就算是這樣，我們也要培養一種願意的心態。耶穌說：「若有人要跟從我，就當捨己，天天背起他的十字架來跟從我。」﹝路加福音九：23﹞那麼耶穌去那裏？祂是在去各各他途中，祂是為這原因而來 – 為世人的罪成為最終的贖價，祂邀請我們學效祂犧牲的榜樣。

在我擱筆前，我希望藉此機會提醒你，耶穌是為要死而來，祂願意選擇這條通往各各他的路以至我們可以得著永恆的生命。這個世界和其中的東西有一天都會成為過去，放棄一些是不會令我們傷痛太久的，因為我們是在基督裏，我們將來會和神一起在永恆中。

唐若愚牧師

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