Greece

Pray for Greece

(Listed 6-1-2010)

We just want to thank the Lord for the Greek

Orthodox Church and how they have stood for the

Gospel for two centuries now. Peter and Paul both

spoke of a day when evil men “walking according to

their own lust,” would creep in and water down the

promises given to the fathers that fell asleep. Even

Orthodox Greeks will admit that the Orthodox Church

is no longer a transforming institution in the Greek

culture. As we pray and contend for the lost souls of

Greece, we can’t ignore the Greek Orthodox Church.

Let us remember the following scriptures as we pray

for the Greek Orthodox Church.

Acts 17: (13)

But evil men and impostors will grow

worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (14)

But you must continue in the things which you have

learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you

have learned them, (15) and that from childhood you

have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to

make you wise for salvation through faith which is in

Christ Jesus.

2 Peter 1:

(2) that you may be mindful of the words

which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of

the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and

Savior, (3) knowing this first: that scoffers will come in

the last days, walking according to their own lusts, (4)

and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For

since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they

were from the beginning of creation.”

Jude

(16) These are grumblers, complainers, walking

according to their own lusts; and they mouth great

swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. (17)

But you, beloved, remember the words which were

spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

(18) how they told you that there would be mockers in

the last time who would walk according to their own

ungodly lusts. (19) These are sensual persons, who

cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

1) Lord Just as, (Jude 9) "

Yet Michael the

archangel, in contending with the devil, when he

disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring

against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord

rebuke you!”,

We too rebuke the Devil and his attacks

on the Orthodox Church.

2) Lord can You redeem a weak and dying

institution that once proclaimed Your name? Lord we

know that all things can be done through You. Lord

we ask You to breathe life on the old Orthodox

Church.

3) In the GOC the apostles are held in great

esteem. May the Greek people return to the

teachings and warnings of the Apostles.

4) Lord, we pray for the priest in the GOC. May

they be visited by the Holy Spirit and turned into new

men ready to proclaim the Full-Gospel. That they

would no longer be, “sensual persons, who cause

divisions, not having the Spirit.”

The English word "evangelism" comes from the

Greek euangelizo, literally "to announce good news,"

and the English word "gospel" a translation of the

Greek euangelion, "good news." Inherent in both of

the Greek terms is the notion of proclamation.

5) Lord, raise up evangelist from the Greek

people. It was mainly the Greek evangelist of the first

and second centuries that took the gospel to Europe.

Let it happen again Lord.

6) Lord, we thank you for the evangelical

churches in Greece, especially the way the

Pentecostals have proclaimed the Gospel. May the

evangelicals not let those that cause divisions come

in.

7) Anything that has been lost in the evangelical

churches, Lord, restore.

8) Just as we ask that the Lord visit the priest, so

may He visit the pastors. They are all shepherds

watching over the Lord’s flock.

9) Lord, we pray for a move of the Holy Spirit in

Greece. As a nation, Greeks have lost touch with

Your blessings. May they call upon You Lord and be

saved.

Greece looks like it is about to disintegrate. On May

5, over 30,000 demonstrators overran the streets of

Athens. They began their protest at the Field of Ares—

named after the Greek god of war. Many were there

to do battle—Molotov cocktails, gas masks and sticks

their weapons of choice. “It’s not unusual in Greece

for a small minority to cause trouble during a protest,

but on Wednesday the rage ran deeper…

More on

this article

10) Lord we pray for the economic condition of

Greece. Economic ministers have been irresponsible

with their financial responsibilities. Lord bring justice

into this situation. Those that are ranting and raving,

may they consider their own personal responsibilities

first and how they bought into a system that was

doomed to fail. Lord we ask for calm.

11) Lord, You only know the lessons that need to

be learned out of the financial crisis in Greece. Lord,

as You pass a judgment on Greece, we pray for the

poor that You would supernaturally meet their needs

and draw them to You, the true source of substance.

The Greek government has announced it will start

taxing churches as part of its efforts to get out of its

financial crisis. A new draft bill to be tabled in

parliament next week (June 2010) imposes a 20 per

cent tax on the Orthodox church’s real estate

income, reportedly worth over 10 million Euros (US

$14.8 million) a year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

More of this article

12) If they tax one group of churches, they will tax

all. May this law not pass.

Let us believe that Greece will be a shining light

once again.

Also see the Blog at

www.freebalkans.blogspot.com

Europe and the far right
Friday June 19, 2009

A friend and reader of this blog just returned from a trip to Greece and Italy.
He writes that in all his years visiting the region, he has never seen it so
tense. The sense of anger at immigrants, and mistrust of the political
elites, is palpable.

I was reminded of a conversation I had with the driver who took me to
Heathrow last weekend. We were talking about the recent election of two
members of the far-right, openly racist British National Party to the
European Parliament. The driver fretted a bit about it, but said it was no
surprise to him. As he put it, none of the mainstream political parties in
Britain will talk about the very real problems the country faces, which, in his
view, clash with the establishment's commitment to globalism and
multiculturalism. The driver said when the mainstream parties are
determined to wish these things away, and to demonize ordinary people
who try to bring them to the establishment's attention, they shouldn't be
surprised when radical political parties with nothing to lose draw support.
More at:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/06/europe-and-the-far-right.html

Information about the Greek
Government

According to the Constitution,

executive

power is exercised

by the

President of the Republic

and the

Government. From the

Constitutional

amendment of

1986 the President's

duties were

curtailed to a significant

extent,

and they are now largely

ceremonial; most political power

thus

lies in the hands of the

Prime Minister.

The position of

Prime Minister,

Greece's head of

government, belongs

to the

current leader of the political

party that can obtain a vote of

confidence by the Parliament.

The

President of the Republic

formally

appoints the Prime

Minister and, on his

recommendation, appoints and

dismisses the other members of

the

Cabinet.

Legislative

power is exercised

by a

300-member elective

unicameral

Parliament. Statutes

passed by the

Parliament are

promulgated by the

President of

the Republic.

Parliamentary

elections are held every

four

years, but the President of the

Republic is obliged to dissolve

the

Parliament earlier on the

proposal of

the Cabinet, in view

of dealing with a

national issue

of exceptional

importance. The

President is also

obliged to

dissolve the Parliament

earlier, if

the opposition manages to

pass

a motion of no confidence.

Women's suffrage was

guaranteed

with a 1952

Constitutional amendment.

The

Judiciary

is independent of

the

executive and the legislature

and

comprises three Supreme

Courts: the

Court of Cassation

(Άρειος Πάγος), the

Council of

State (Συμβούλιο της

Επικρατείας) and the Court of

Auditors

(Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο).

The Judiciary

system is also

composed of civil

courts, which

judge civil and penal

cases and

administrative courts, which

judge disputes between the

citizens

and the Greek

administrative

authorities.

Historical Background

Thessalonica

was located at the intersection of two major

Roman roads, one leading from Italy eastward (Ignatia

Way) and the other from the Danube to the Aegean.

Thessalonica’s location and use as a port made it a

prominent city. In 168 B.C. it became the capital of the

second district of Macedonia and later it was made the

capital and major port of the whole Roman province of

Macedonia (146 B.C.). In 42 B.C., after the battle at

Philippi, Thessalonica was made a free city.