VOM, Sri Lanka:

The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) reports the wife of martyred Pastor Edirisinghe is recovering from severe injuries sustained during an attack that killed her husband. "The NCEASL chairman visited Shiromi yesterday. She is experiencing a great recovery, she speaks, breathes well and has been transferred to Kandy General for surgery to remove [the] bullet," NCEASL reported. Mrs. Edirisinghe was critically injured on February 17 when two assailants gunned down her husband outside their home in Ampara, Sri Lanka. She sustained critical injuries to her stomach and their two-year-old son was also injured in the attack. Pray for her quick recovery from the remaining surgeries. Ask God to heal her emotions and to touch their son with the love of Christ. Pray God will give them supernatural ability to forgive the assailants and for their testimony to draw nonbelievers into fellowship with Christ.

Michael Spencer on Art, Industry, and the Evangelical Resistance:

Evangelicalism is industrial. Technological. A culture of consumption, getting more, winning the game, having the best. One need not buy into the “prosperity gospel” to be part of a movement that advertises itself as young, hip, relevant, edgy, successful, hot and trend-setting.

Christian spirituality, however, is art. Creation. It is poetry, not the work of an assembly line. It is spiritual, not industrial. It is not produced by methodology purchased in a kit or acquired by subscription service. It is not the result of surveys or research. It is God’s Kingdom work, now as always.

HT: Ben Witherington

Greg Boyd is writing a series on violence in the Old Testament. Here's the first two posts.

Greg also recently read and reviewed Chuck Colson's God & Government, and later added a follow-up post to provide some additional clarification.

Some brilliant writing from Victor Davis Hanson (scroll down to "Ode to an Orchard").

VOM, Jordan:

The government in Jordan has admitted it expelled missionaries for "illegal" activities. According to Compass Direct News, "On February 20, Acting Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, told the Jordanian parliament that authorities had expelled missionaries operating 'under the cover of doing illegal charitable work.'"

The expulsions violated Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Jordan adopted in 2006. According to Compass, recent expulsions included two Egyptian pastors married to Jordanian women. "On February 10, authorities expelled an Egyptian pastor with the Assemblies of God church in Madaba, one of five evangelical denominations registered with the government. Married to a Jordanian citizen, and the father of two children, Sadeq Abdel Nour, was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to the port city of Aqaba. There he was placed on a ferry to Egypt. The previous week an Egyptian pastor from a Baptist church in Zarqa was also arrested, held for three days and also returned to Egypt by ship from the port city of Aqba," the Compass report added.

Pray for believers in Jordan who are experiencing increased persecution. Ask God to encourage and minister to the pastors and their families. Pray God will use their testimonies to draw non- believers into fellowship with Him.