Adopt a Terrorist
by Tom Neven on 04/10/2008 at 11:55 AM
Ted has raised some interesting questions about what should be our response to the undeniable evil being perpetrated by Robert Mugabe. (I have a personal interest, too, having lived in South Africa during the apartheid era and visiting its immediate neighbor to the north when the country was still called Rhodesia. In fact, I have a souvenir sculpture of a springbok whose plaque reads, "Made of the finest Rhodesian copper.")
If I might gently correct Ted, though, I think there's a third option not being considered. We must pray for Mugabe. Prayer does not necessarily preclude other actions but it might make them unnecessary.
I know I often turn to prayer as a last resort when it should be my first resort. But I was reminded of this when I saw this recent news report. The fact that Pope Benedict XVI would want to pray for the redemption of terrorists during his upcoming visit to Ground Zero in New York City should not be remarkable, yet it is causing controversy in some quarters. Why?
In fact, let's go one better. Let's adopt a terrorist for a personal prayer bombardment. Instead of letting hatred fester or living in fear, let's deploy the greatest weapon we have. We worship a God of great wonders and power. Let's urge Him to show mercy toward and soften the hearts of so many who are today twisted with hatred.
1. Ted Slater said the following at 12:10 PM on Apr 10:
Good post, Tom. You're right.
2. Sam Sutter said the following at 12:24 PM on Apr 10:
I like that a lot :-) It's hard to balance the tension between fighting evil and loving our enemies.
3. IMO said the following at 1:08 PM on Apr 10:
Great Post! Thank you.
God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them.
-E.M. Bounds
4. Matt from DC said the following at 1:09 PM on Apr 10:
Great post Tom. I really like your idea. I'll pray along with any of you who want Osama Bin Laden to submit to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I think we should pray for this daily for the next 30 days.
Who will join me?
5. Matt from DC said the following at 1:12 PM on Apr 10:
Also, I've written the ATFP administrators and have asked to facilitate internet discussion since I have some/all of the resources to do this. Keep an eye on http://www.myatfp.com/t.usama.bin.laden/usama.bin.laden.html for updates.
I can't wait to see God move in response to these prayers!
6. Marie said the following at 2:43 PM on Apr 10:
Matt from DC, I'm in! I'll pray for Osama bin Laden for the next 30 days.
7. A.M.C. said the following at 3:49 PM on Apr 10:
Fake quote of the day: "Why would you want to hunt for [insert name of terrorist] if he could be transformed into today's Apostle Paul?" ;-)
8. Rachael said the following at 3:57 PM on Apr 10:
Wow! I'd never heard of such a concept (adopting a terrorist for prayer)...!! Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Interesting that there's a website devoted to this.
9. Sebastian said the following at 4:44 PM on Apr 10:
Bravo!
This is the smartest thing I've heard in a long time.
Nobel Peace Prize!!!
10. Matthew said the following at 5:57 PM on Apr 10:
This is an awesome post and a great idea... count me in!
11. Jacqui said the following at 6:34 PM on Apr 10:
I agree whole heartedly - and ALSO think we should be praying specifically for those army generals who are holding Zimbabwe to ransom as well : Perence Shiri and the like.
12. Leah said the following at 1:16 AM on Apr 11:
Wow. I don't really want to pray for Osama bin Laden because I tend to think there are other people more "worthy" of prayer, but really, who is more worthy than anyone else? Nobody. We're all sinners, just as unworthy of forgiveness as each other. It's difficult to comprehend.
13. Matt from DC said the following at 12:09 PM on Apr 14:
I have some news about the Pray for Osama website under myATFP.com. Lord willing, I will be the lead moderator for the Osama page. I am looking for two others to assist me in moderating the site. I am looking for people who can and want to pray for Osama and who have time to commit to moderating the community.
Here's a quick summary of the moderator's mission:
"We facilitate healthy Christian community on the website focused on prayer for the salvation of Osama Bin Laden by stimulating online conversation and events and stifling negative and offensive behavior."
If you are interested please write me at mattlawson@mattlawson.com, subject ATFP Osama.
Matt