Josh Benner

Tag: Asia

  • Easter terrorist attacks hit Christians in Sri Lanka

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    Sri Lankan citizens in the aftermath of Easter terrorist attack: Twitter

    If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
    -John 15:18

    A series of coordinated terrorist attacks rocked Sri Lanka on Easter morning. More than 290 people lost their lives in the attacks, with hundreds more wounded. The attacks were carried out against churches during Easter services while other bombings targeted hotels.

    Many of the details are still being sorted out. According to the BBC, at least 24 arrests have been made but the Sri Lankan government has not yet identified suspects or a group that they are representing. Extreme measures such as a governmental shutdown of social media sites and an imposed curfew were enforced in an attempt to regain control of the situation.

    Sri Lanka is an island nation located to the south east of India. It’s a country with a population of 21 million. Christians make up about 7% of the population.

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    Josh Benner  has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.

  • President Trump meets with Kim Jong-un: let’s see what happens

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    Yesterday, President Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
    Some are mocking this, others are celebrating it as a great political and diplomatic victory.
    At this point, it’s too early to tell of any longterm success in this meeting. Regardless of what Kim Jong-un has agreed to, the North Korean leadership has a history of not living up to agreements that they make.
    Time will tell.
    But regardless of a person’s politics, regardless of if someone likes or dislikes President Trump, we should all hope and pray that this meeting will lead to diplomatic success. For the sake of the North Korean people who are suffering under an iron fisted tyranny, for the security of the region, and for the overall safety of the world, we should all want this meeting to lead to good results.
    The welfare of the Korean people who are kept in abject poverty, who are fed propaganda and not food, who are kept in Soviet style gulags by the tens of thousands, needs to improve. And we need to see North Korea finally honor their commitments to dismantle their nuclear program. If those things don’t happen, the photo op, the political goodwill, it’s all meaningless.
    If this meeting doesn’t help lead to significant change, the photos will be infamous of a sitting president and a dictator. Sound bites of the president complimenting Kim for his leadership will forever be to Trump’s mockery.
    As others have pointed out, there is no middle ground in this deal. It will be a success or a total failure.
    Time will tell. Prayers for North Korea.


    Josh Benner     is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.