Izmir, Turkey: Pastor Andrew Brunson Update

pc: World Witness

Turkish court decides to keep US pastor Andrew Brunson behind bars

- via hurriyetdailynews.com

The panel of judges overseeing the trial of jailed pastor Andrew Brunson, in a case that has inflamed tensions between Turkey and the United States, has decided to reject his demand to be released during the trial.

At the end of the hearing on May 7, the court in the Aegean province of  İzmir (NT: Smyrna) decided to keep Brunson in jail up until the next hearing on July 18.

During the hearing Brunson denied the allegations of three secret witnesses who accused him of helping the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, referred to by the authorities as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). 

Brunson, the leader of a small Protestant Christian church named “Yeniden Diriliş” (Resurrection), rejected all accusations in the second session of his trial, insisting that he “never permitted politics in church.”

“I do not accept the charges. I would like to say openly and clearly that the PKK is a terrorist organization … I do not support any Kurdish group that carries on terrorist activities against Turkey. If we were sympathizers of the PKK those Turks would not stay in our church,” he said.

“My service that I have spent my life on, has now turned upside down. I was never ashamed to be a server of Jesus but these claims are shameful and disgusting ... What more should I say? I want to return to my home,” he added, requesting to be released pending trial.

Read the full story H E R E

09.30.2017
A Pastor Becomes a Pawn

Andrew Brunson

Still Behind Turkish Prison Bars

Bernie Sanders: Anti-Christian on the warpath

I've read that Mr Sander is an atheist (though from a Jewish background). Then why does it bother Bernie to have a person believe in God/the Bible -- a god who he says does not exist?

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont this week lambasted one of President Donald Trump's budget nominees over a post he wrote last year that discussed Christianity and Islam.

As Russell Vought, Trump's pick for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, appeared before the Senate Budget Committee for a confirmation hearing Wednesday, Sanders doggedly questioned him about a January 2016 post he had published by conservative outlet  The Resurgent .

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In the post, Vought wrote about a controversy involving a professor at his alma mater,  Wheaton College .

"Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned," Vought wrote.

Sanders – an independent who last year ran for the Democratic presidential nomination and who serves as the committee's ranking member – asked Vought whether he thought the post was Islamophobic. Vought said no and attempted to defend his writing against Sanders' repeated questions, stating, "I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith."

But Sanders was not appeased.

"Are you suggesting that all of those people stand condemned?" he asked Vought. "What about Jews? They stand condemned, too?"

"Senator, I wrote a post based on being a Christian and attending a Christian school that has a statement of faith that speaks clearly with regard to the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation," Vought said at the end of the exchange.

Some have said Sanders' line of questioning pushed the boundaries of the U.S. Constitution, which states "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust of the United States."

Russell Moore, who has been a vocal Trump critic and is president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, called Sanders' comments "breathtakingly audacious and shockingly ignorant – both of the Constitution and of basic Christian doctrine.

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by Megan Trimble ... an associate editor of social media for the News division at U.S. News & World Report.

Link to article ---> Bernie Sanders Blasts Trump Nominee

Wheaton College: A couple of guys you should know in early 2017

pc: AP

W.C. Alumni in Trending News, January 2017.  Prayers, please.

(A) Andrew Brunson, '88 (and wife Norine, '89).

Mr Brunson, an American citizen from North Carolina, held in a Turkish prison since October 2016.  He has been a Christian pastor in Turkey for the past 23 years. Turkey's government, led by an Islamic party whose head is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , has been increasingly paranoid since a failed coup attempt.  They have been cracking down on Christians.  

Andrew's unjust imprisonment is just the tip of the iceberg of the turmoil in Turkey.  He is accused of being part of a terrorist organization -- without any evidence! Please, please pray for this godly man currently held in an Izmir prison cell.  Read more on this very dangerous situation here

pc: ACLJ

(b) Senator Dan Coats, '65

Former Indiana Senator; and Ambassador to Germany (2001-2005), Dan Coats, has been recently nominated by  President-elect Donald Trump to be the Director of National Intelligence.

pc: wikipedia

Trouble with Pinterest

My account shows that I've posted the picture below (twice!) on one of my Pinterest boards, yet there's no public picture as of a couple of days ago. Guess their computer flags it. Their reason could not possibly be because it is untrue.  

pc: unknown