Joel Rosenberg: All Eyes on Turkey: Pastor Andrew Brunson and Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Pictured at very top Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Putin, representing pure evil.

New post on Joel C. Rosenberg’s Blog

All eyes on Turkey: The strange and disturbing cases of Pastor Andrew Brunson and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. by joelcrosenberg (Colorado Springs, Colorado) — As I finish several weeks of speeches and meetings in the U.S. and prepare to return to Israel, I’ve been following two very different and yet strangely linked stories. Both are drawing global media attention. Both involve Turkey and the regime of Turkish President Recep Erdogan. And both deserve your attention and prayer. Let me explain. Story #1: Andrew Brunson, the American Evangelical Christian pastor that the Turkish government arrested and kept in prison for more than two years, was finally set free today. The latest reports are that Brunson is on his way out of Turkey back to freedom in the United States. Evangelicals have been praying for years for Brunson’s protection and release. I thank the Lord those prayers have been answered, and am grateful for all the White House, State Department and other senior U.S. officials have done to secure the pastor’s release. Story #2: Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist at times close to the royal family in Riyadh and more recently quite critical, has disappeared in Turkey. It seems clear from closed circuit TV evidence that Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. It is not clear, however, that he ever left. The Saudis say he did. The Turks say he didn’t. The Saudis have not yet offered video proof that he left. The Turks have not yet offered any evidence that something sinister actually occurred. I am praying for Khashoggi’s safety, protection and freedom, and ask you to join me in those prayers. That said, let’s be clear: the Turkish media is filled with macabre tales that the Saudis have either arrested Khoshoggi and secreted him out of the consulate back to the Kingdom, or even murdered and dismembered him with a bone saw. Global media — including the U.S. media — has run with the wildest leaks and unnamed, unsourced quotes from Turkish officials. Such officials anonymously say they have all kinds of hard, factual, intelligence proving the most sinister of actions by the Saudis, yet they have released nothing concrete or compelling so far. Indeed, as I write this, all we actually know for certain is that the Saudi journalist is missing. Nearly everything else is conjecture. If the Turkish allegations are true, this would be a very serious and disturbing turn of events. And the consequences could lead into uncharted waters for the Saudis. President Trump, Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo — along with many House and Senate members — have rightly called for a full and transparent investigation by both countries. If Khashoggi is alive, where is he? If not, what happened? We need answers. We need facts. Then we can assess such information and draw conclusions and implications. Someone is lying. But whom? What we don’t need are wild, unsourced allegations by one U.S. ally in the Middle East against another, both of whom deeply distrust, even despise, each other. We should certainly be cautious about accepting unproven allegations from the government of Erdogan, which is steadily turning against the United States, Israel and the Sunni Arab world and allying itself with Russia, Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Keep in mind: for more than two years, Erdogan’s government has made the most brutal, heinous, and slanderous allegations against this innocent American Evangelical pastor, Andrew Brunson. Yet the allegations were all false. Several so-called “witnesses” have now recanted. The charges were ultimately thrown out. Thank God, Brunson is now a free man. But in the process we have learned just how horrible the Turkish government can be. Is Turkey telling the truth this time about Khashoggi? Maybe yes. Maybe no. Until we see hard facts, we should be slow to make any judgments. Let’s take a breath. Let’s let the investigation play out. And let’s not stop praying for Mr. Khashoggi and his family. ————————————— PRE-ORDER — To pre-order a copy of THE PERSIAN GAMBLE on Amazon, please click here. (Note: Right now, Amazon is the only place I can find online that is pre-selling the novel. I will post links to others sales options when they become available.) To order a copy of The Kremlin Conspiracy — the New York Timesbest-selling political thriller, now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats — please click here, or order from any of your favorite general market or Christian bookstores. To order copies of the new mass market paperbacks of the J.B. Collins novels — my most recent trilogy of novels about ISIS plotting attacks on the U.S., Israel, Jordan and Egypt — please click here. —————————- Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.com)? This is the non-profit organization that my wife, Lynn, and I founded in 2006 to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, to care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks so much!     You Might Like joelcrosenberg | October 12, 2018 at 9:44 pm | Categories: Epicenter | URL: https://wp.me/piWZ7-8Iz

PTL!!!!!

Trump meets with freed American pastor Andrew Brunson in Oval Office
Fox News

President Trump will meet with freed American pastor Andrew Brunson in the Oval Office Saturday afternoon — and said that there was “no deal” made with Turkey for Brunson’s release. Read the full story

Shared from Apple News

FGGAM NEWS just received this news release! PTL!!!

Welcome Home, Pastor Brunson:

From Victim to Leader on Behalf of Persecuted Christians Worldwide  

Pastor’s Release Demonstrates the Effectiveness of America Holding Persecutors Accountable 

WASHINGTON—The Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC) Coalition rejoices in the freeing and safe return home of Pastor Andrew Brunson, an exemplary Christian brutally persecuted for his faith.  Now that his torture and suffering at the hands of the government of Turkey is at an end, the STPC Coalition believes that he will become an even more important example of, and leader among, those working to end such oppression and to advance religious liberty.

President Trump is to be commended for having demonstrated his profound conviction and commitment to freedom of religion and the imperative of protecting it through all available means.

In particular, the STPC Coalition applauds President Trump for putting into practice on behalf of Pastor Brunson, and thereby proving the effectiveness of, two techniques the STPC Coalition was formed to promote:  1) Holding persecutors accountable, 2) Imposing real costs for their crimes against humanity.

The Trump Administration should continue to use these techniques until the Turkish government frees other imprisoned Christians and ceases its persecution of members of that faith.

The STPC Coalition joins President Trump in welcoming Pastor Andrew Brunson back to the land of the free and the home of the brave.  We look forward to working with both of them in bravely advancing the cause of freedom, especially for persecuted Christians everywhere.

“This has been a long road of persecution for Pastor Andrew Brunson,” said founding Coalition member and Save the Persecuted Christians Director Dede Laugesen. “We are joyful and so thankful for Pastor Brunson’s long-awaited freedom. We praise God for this wonderful turn of events and thank the many people who worked on his behalf, including President Trump himself and high-ranking officials within his administration as well as influential and committed attorneys. Despite the joy we feel today, we must never forget there are millions of Christians who are not free to believe in Christ. Many remain jailed, persecuted in their own communities or even shunned in their own homes. We pray all will someday experience the freedom Andrew Brunson is savoring today.”

The STPC Coalition, which advocates on behalf of 215 million Christians facing heavy persecution worldwide, continues to work diligently to disseminate actionable information about ways in which the American people can help those like Pastor Brunson who are being persecuted for their faith.

Especially in light of headlines surrounding Pastor Brunson’s release, raising awareness about Christian persecution is crucial, as violence toward and imprisonment of Christians occurs so routinely it rarely makes the news. For example, according to Open Doors, 255 Christians are killed worldwide every month. 104 Christians are abducted. 180 Christian women are raped, sexually assaulted or forced into marriage. 160 Christians are detained or imprisoned without trial. And 66 churches are attacked. Every month.

With such staggering statistics, and the knowledge that most of these crimes are not covered in the media, the STPC Coalition developed a special news aggregator—www.ChristianPersecutionNews.com—to capture current instances of persecution that do make the news and to provide readers an easy way to share these heartbreaking stories with others.

One of the simple and economical ways Americans can render support is by encouraging their pastors and faith leaders to visit www.SaveThePersecutedChristians.org and to order a free banner to display in front of their houses of worship. These simple banners feature a graphic “Save Us” plea with a cross and the coalition’s website where Americans can learn about the global persecution of Christians and find out more about what they can do to help stop it.

With so much of the world’s population attacked, imprisoned or exiled for their beliefs, the time is fitting for the work of the STPC Coalition. The Coalition is building a movement like one in the 1970s that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—so as to impel policy changes that will hold the persecutors accountable and increase the costs for their crimes against humanity. Building such a movement is necessary to provide American policymakers the leverage needed to influence change worldwide and to alleviate the suffering of those who are being persecuted merely because of their faith in Jesus Christ