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Radical Christianity
Radical Christianity is a life-style, not just a mindset; radical Christianity is concerned with conquering, not cowering; with sacrifice, not superficiality; with victory, not verbiage; with scoring, not slumming; with penetration, not pandering. Radical Christianity is in first gear, neutral is nonexistent; radical Christianity is courageous but never constrictive constraining or cautious! Radical Christianity moves mountains; crosses Red Seas; pulls down walls; builds walls; walks on water; raises the dead; calms storms; feeds 5000 and walks through closed doors.
It suffers regularly; soars often; sweats daily; saturates everything and spreads everywhere. Radical Christianity calls sin black, hell hot, hypocrisy evil, Satan a liar and judgment sure. It doesn’t back down, sit down or stay down. Radical Christianity doesn't depend on the strokes of others to keep it going. It doesn’t acquiesce in the face of loud opposition, fold under pressure, wince under criticism, tarnish under time, die under duress, fade under technology nor rot under moisture. It doesn’t rust, retreat, renounce, reconsider, return or renege.
Radical Christianity always lifts up Christ; knocks down barriers; marches over objections; overwhelms pessimism; gobbles up cynicism; and tramples down skepticism.
Radical Christianity gives lavishly; prays relentlessly; claims abundantly; works feverishly; preaches powerfully; serves lovingly; perseveres patiently and believes expectantly! Radical Christianity dares to challenge the prevailing standard to make it God’s. It never plays to the grandstands; nor waters down its position; nor adjusts its principles, but rather is a thermostat that controls its surroundings, never a thermometer that merely adjusts to them. It is never big, popular, stylish, convenient, in vogue or in-step with the world. Its adherents are few; its sound clear; its philosophy unpopular and its rewards great. Its disciples aren’t rewarded by this world but are those to whom Christ will say, “Well done!”
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How radical is your Christianity?
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~ published by: Open Doors
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Christian Persecution in America
Jesus makes it abundantly clear in His Word (John 15:18-21) that those who choose to follow Him as His disciples will experience persecution. For the majority of the world's countries, this persecution is a way of life, and death, of which Christians face daily. Up until now, America has not had to face such persecution for holding true to the message of God's Word through the Bible - but that is changing.
For clarity, a Christian is a person that seeks to know, and do, God's will for their life. The revelation of God's will is only available by the Holy Spirit through the reading/hearing of God's Word (the Bible). Many claim to be Christians, but do not adhere to His instructions, or example, as found in His Word. These people are being deceived by the spirit of the anti-christ that is running rampant throughout the world today.
Christians are being ostracized within the American society by the "left-leaning, anti-christ agenda". We're being called racists, bigots, extremists, and terrorists for our belief and lifestyle of adhering to the Word of God, and standing against that which is spoken against, and abhorred, by God in His Word. Those of us who hold true to the Biblical principles are being classified as a "threat", and must be done away with.
As the father of American geography, Jedidiah Morse, stated while preaching in 1799:
“Our dangers are of two kinds, those that affect our religion, and those which affect our government. They are, however, so closely allied that they cannot, with propriety, be separated. The foundations which support the interest of Christianity, are also necessary to support a free and equal government like our own. … All efforts made to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”
Sounds a lot like the USA in 2022 to me.
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Persecuted
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” ~ 2 Timothy 3:12
One of the marks of a faithful disciple is perseverance. We may try to shortcut the process of success and side step troubles. But difficulties arising from living faithfully are not reasons to step away from a godly life; they are the very evidence of a life of faithfulness.
Cinderella found herself in the most troubling of circumstances. She was taken advantage of, discarded, ignored, and devalued. She was pushed aside. Yet she remained kind and compassionate, caring and humble. She refused to become what she despised. She behaved in a royal manner while living among the cinders.
It turns out Cinderella was made for royalty. And, amazingly, so are we. But we currently sit among the cinders of the world. And the world does not recognize our calling. The world will abuse us. It will attempt to beat us down, silence us, and strangle our potential into its own mold. It will not stop unless we join it, and become fellow abusers.
Like Cinderella, we were made for more. And, like Cinderella, we can refuse to succumb. We can choose a “godly life,” a life fit for family members of the King of all creation. Persecution is an expected part of living in a Christ-like manner. The world will not understand the faith of the disciple. But this world is not the disciple’s fate. Our true citizenship is in heaven.
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~ published by Yellow Balloons (https://www.yellowballoons.net)
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The Work Of Ministry To Others
We’ve been learning personal lessons from prison from Pastor Okuk Ojulu in Ethiopia as he shared them with Jim Cunningham.
He says, “The third lesson I learned is that imprisonment is for ministry to people in need. The thirty-six people who were imprisoned with me from Gambella in the Addis Ababa prison – 777 kilometers away from our families – had no strong faith in the Lord."
“I began to realize that the Lord put me there to minister to these people, to feed them with the Word of God in the prison. I ended up baptizing some of them in the prison although I was not an officially recognized pastor, for no pastor was allowed to do this work in the prison.”
I am always amazed at the positive lessons from reading prison memoirs of followers of Jesus. And so many times they come to this similar conclusion. They were there to serve others.
Mama Kwang of Project Pearl in China is a wonderful example. Carl Lawrence tells her story in his award-winning book, "The Church in China":
As she sat quietly in prison singing a hymn, the Lord gave her a message: “This is to be your ministry.”
“But,” she objected, “I am all alone. Whom can I minister to?” She continued to pray that her ministry would be fulfilled. Suddenly an idea came to her. She stood up and called for the guard.
“Sir, can I do some hard labor for you?” The guard looked at her with contempt, mingled with surprise. No one had ever made that kind of request before.
“Look!” she exclaimed, “this prison is so dirty, there is human waste everywhere. Let me go into the cells and clean up this filthy place. All you have to do is give me some water and a brush.”
Not to her surprise, she soon found herself on her hands and knees cleaning and preaching. She was looking into the faces of people no longer recognizable as human beings. Through continuous torture, they had lost all hope of ever seeing another human being who did not come to beat them.
“Oh, when they realized that they could have eternal life, they would get so excited. They would fall down on the dirty floor and repent of their sins, and do you know that very soon all the prisoners believed in Jesus Christ.”
Response:
Today I acknowledge that God can enable me to minister anywhere for Him — even prison.
Prayer:
Thank You Lord that even in a filthy prison dungeon you give ministry opportunities.
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~ Standing Strong Through The Storm is published by: Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
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The Daily Article — July 7, 2022
~ Two Pennsylvania churches cited for zoning violations after serving beyond the city’s definition of "church".
Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, has a poverty rate roughly 30 percent greater than the average for the state. So when the housing market boomed there in recent years, as it has throughout much of the country, many people were unable to keep up. Nearly half of renters there are considered rent burdened, when housing costs more than 30 percent of one's monthly income.
As a result, homelessness has become an increasingly large problem. Montgomery County, where Pottstown is located, has seen homelessness rise 118 percent in the last year, and there is little evidence that will change anytime soon.
Fortunately, several churches throughout the county have stepped up, offering support for those in need. Unfortunately, the borough has told two such churches that doing so places them in violation of the zoning code's definition of a "church."
What makes a church a church?
The borough's notice to the churches in question states that "it is the opinion of this office that the use of the property has changed, and by definition, is more than that of a church." Their definition of a "church" is limited to "a building wherein persons assemble regularly for religious worship and that is used only for such purposes and for those accessory activities that are customarily associated therewith."
Apparently, that definition does not leave room for ministries like free mental health support and counseling, free food and hygiene products, and weekly meals for the public, all of which were cited as examples of ways that the church was no longer acting as a "church."
The ministries were given the opportunity to apply for exceptions that would allow them to continue helping their communities in these ways, but they're hesitant to do so because of the precedent it would set. Clare Schilling is the director of Mission First, which is part of First United Methodist Church of Pottstown. She wisely notes, "If we do it for this, then we would have to do it for every other little ministry."
And even if they did apply, there is good reason to suspect the borough would not approve it.
After all, several other churches throughout the city offer similar services but have not received any notice of violations. Rather, these two appear to have been singled out because they're in an area that the borough wants to develop — and making it easier for the unhoused to remain is bad for business.
If that's the case, it wouldn't be the first time.
Earlier this year, Al's Heart Warming Center — the only shelter for the homeless in the area — was located a few blocks away from First UMC until it too was shut down.
To be clear, the borough is within its rights to take these actions. By the letter of the law, it does not appear that they have done anything illegal. Still, as Schilling notes, "it's a sad state of affairs."
The churches don't plan to back down, though, and are prepared to take the borough to court if necessary, noting that "we're not going to stop doing what we do because that's just what the church does. . . . We help people."
When Rome was content:
As we discussed yesterday, there are times when Christians will face opposition from other people and from the government because they don't like what we believe. What's going on in Pottstown, though, offers an important reminder that far more often that opposition will come when acting on those beliefs gets in the way of how others want to live.
The borough clearly doesn't mind churches helping the poor, or they would have sanctioned the other ministries who offer similar services as well. Rather, it was only when that help made their own goals harder to accomplish that they began to interfere.
The same principle dogged the early church's attempts to minister to those around them as well, and there are some helpful parallels we can draw from their example for navigating our present circumstances.
When you think back to the first centuries of Christianity and the persecution that those early believers faced at the hands of the Romans, it's understandable if your mind is drawn to coliseums, torture, and mass arrests of believers throughout the Empire. After all, those are often the stories that gained the most attention. But while those instances of oppression should not be minimized, they were also pretty uncommon.
Across the first three hundred years of the church, there were only a handful of times when Roman emperors made it a point to actively seek out and kill Christians. For the most part, it was only during circumstances like Nero needing someone to blame for the fire in Rome, Domitian seeing a refusal to worship their gods as treason, or natural disasters making people think the gods were angry and that Christians were really targeted. Otherwise, most of the time the Romans were content to let believers live and worship as they desired, so long as doing so didn't cause problems for anyone else.
Consequently, those early believers made it a point to live in such a way that the lost around them still valued their contributions, even if they disagreed with the faith that motivated them. As I discussed in How to Bless God by Blessing Others, no matter what the culture at large claims to care about, most individuals still appreciate and value the people who make their lives better.
That's why, despite the borough's best efforts, there are still many in Pottstown — both inside and outside the churches — fighting to keep those ministries going. And that's why it's vital that we do what we can to be the church by helping people, regardless of whether or not the lost around us reciprocate those efforts.
What the church did is what we will continue to do:
There will be times when living out our beliefs runs in opposition to how others want to live. When that happens, we shouldn't be surprised if it leads to conflict. And the further our culture turns away from God's truth, the more often those conflicts will arise.
That's unfortunate, but it's a reality all of us will face at some point. How you choose to respond in the face of that opposition, though, will go a long way toward defining how others see your faith.
Will you continue to focus on doing God's work in ways that bring him honor and glory or will you allow that persecution to make you angry and turn your focus inward?
Making the right choice will be far more difficult in that moment of trial than it is today. So decide right now how you will respond and then ask the Lord to help you keep that commitment when the time comes.
Clare Schilling was right: "helping people is what the church does, even when others may not appreciate it".
How can you be the church today?
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https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/two-pennsylvania-churches-cited-for-zoning-violations-after-serving-beyond-the-citys-definition-of-church/
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When Life Stinks, Our Perspective Shrinks
"Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey" ~ Exodus 3:7-8
God’s chosen people were enslaved in miserable bondage and were crying out to Him in their suffering. God speaks to Moses about it at the burning bush and reveals His sustaining care for His people.
First of all, they were in Egypt because God cared for them. He rescued the Israeli nation from death by famine during the time of Joseph who himself was rescued from injustice and suffering to bring a solution to the coming famine crisis. This saved both the Israeli and the Egyptian nations. But a Pharaoh came along in time who did not know about Joseph and chose to persecute the growing Israeli population because of his fear of them.
In this situation they were not forgotten by the God of their fathers. Though, for wise reason, He delayed to appear in their behalf for several hundred years, yet He was not indifferent to their sufferings. Every tear they shed was preserved and every groan they uttered was recorded as testimony against their oppressors. Only God sees the beginning from the end. We are time-bound creatures and as problems arise, our perspective becomes diminished. African-American preachers articulate it this way: “When life stinks, our perspective shrinks!”
Years earlier God spoke to Father Abram in his sleep:
“Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there…In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” ~ Genesis 15:13,16
In this situation God reveals His plan to Abram ahead of time and explains the “why.” He does not always do this, but from this example we learn we can trust His Father-heart.
So today we pray for Persecuted Church members who are suffering severely from Satan’s tactics of deceit and intimidation: loss of family members (Nigeria), economic deprivation (India), incarceration in metal shipping containers (Eritrea), lack of personal peace (Pakistan), fear of discovery (Middle East). As we pray, we can rest in the fact that they (and we) are part of God’s wise and caring plan, no matter how inscrutable that plan may appear to human eyes. There is hope because He hears the cry; He sees the misery; He is concerned about the suffering. When it seems dark and hopeless, the persecuted testify “God is good — all the time!"
Response:
I will live in the light of God’s loving care and view my problems from His perspective.
Prayer:
Pray that persecuted believers will trust God and not suffer from shrunken perspectives.
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~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a devotional published by: Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
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How Jesus' Apostles Died
1. Matthew: He suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
2. Mark: He died in Alexandria, Egypt after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
3. Luke: He was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
4. John: He faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Isle of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
5. Peter: He was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
6. James: The leader of the church in Jerusalem, he was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation of Christ following Jesus' 40 days of prayer and fasting.
7. James the Son of Zebedee: As a strong leader of the church, James was beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched in amazement as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
8. Bartholomew - (a.k.a. Nathaniel): He was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9. Andrew: He was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words, "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it". He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he died.
10. Thomas: He was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the subcontinent.
11. Jude: He was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12. Matthias: The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot. He was stoned and then beheaded.
13. Paul: He was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
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Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor to compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their times for the sake of the Gospel.
“Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name...But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved." ~ Matthew 24:9,13
Something to Think About:
• Why do we feel sleepy in prayer, but stay awake through a 3 hour movie?
• Why are we so bored when we look at the Holy Bible, but find it easy to read other books?
• Why is it so easy to ignore a spiritually encouraging post about God, yet we forward all the secular ones?
• Why are our prayers getting shorter and less specific, but bars, clubs, and social activities are expanding.
• Why is it so easy to idolize a celebrity, but very difficult to engage with God?
Make sharing this message part of your contribution to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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~ based upon a post by: I'm So Blessed Daily @Imsoblesseddaily
The Breastplate of Righteousness
"Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics [schemes, tricks, deception] of the Devil." ~ Ephesians 6:11
The soldier’s breastplate of the Roman times was to protect his vital organs. It was usually made of hardened slabs of leather or pounded bronze or a combination of both. The soldier’s rank and his country’s seal were affixed to it. It covered the soldier’s chest and stomach but not his back. So it was designed to face the enemy, not for retreat from the enemy.
Because we are waging a war against an invisible enemy, we must always be armed. Our breastplate is made not of heavy metal but is molded by the Spirit of the living God to fit us properly in our inner being. Our righteousness is not a metal front, but given by Christ to show to everyone in all our day-to-day relationships and circumstances.
Our enemy will point out your failures and shortcomings. He will try to convince you that you are unworthy to be a child of God. He is right. But your relationship with God is based on Jesus’ uprightness before God, not yours. Your sins have been wiped out. When God sees you, he sees Jesus. Stand tall before the enemy…in your breastplate of righteousness.
Mikail Khorev, a very effective evangelist in Russia, spent many years in prison for his continued public ministry. On one occasion his family was refused visiting rights and sent home. When the prison guard was taunting him about it, he replied:
“I would like to tell you that my God is fulfilling his plans through you and will use you for our blessing. I love my family very much and being together with them means a lot to me, but if it brings more honor to the Lord for us to part rather than be together, then why should I insist on seeing them? If his name is glorified more through my being in prison than through my being at liberty, then I tell you that there is no greater joy for me than to die on this prison bunk as a prisoner, as my father did and as many of my brothers in the faith have done.”
Mikhail is also quoted as saying, “I have to admit to you that prison is a very useful school for our education and for the testing of the genuineness of our faith...I’m grateful to the Lord for this school and for his leading.”
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~ excerpt from "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a devotional published by Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Are You Ready for Persecution?
“Just remember, when the unbelieving world hates you, they first hated Me.” ~ John 15:18
“For all who choose to live godly lives as worshipers of Jesus, the Anointed One, will also experience persecution.” ~ 2 Timothy 3:12
“If you were to give your allegiance to the world, they would love and welcome you as one of their own. But because you won’t align yourself with the values of this world, they will hate you. I have chosen you and taken you out of the world to be Mine. So, remember what I taught you, that a servant isn’t superior to his master. And since they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. And if they obey My teachings, they will also obey yours. They will treat you this way because you are Mine, and they don’t know the One who sent Me.” ~ John 15:19-21
“Do not yield to fear in the face of the suffering to come but be aware of this: the devil is about to have some of you thrown into prison to test your faith. For ten days you will have distress but remain faithful to the day you die, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.” ~ Revelation 2:10
The Lord spoke at great lengths concerning the persecution of His followers. For many countries of the world, persecution of God’s children in Christ is a daily circumstance. But for other countries the persecution of Christians is beginning to pick-up in momentum. Jesus told us that as His followers – true followers, not just head-believers – we will experience persecution. Jesus spoke it and it will occur – ready or not.
I would venture to say that all professing followers of Christ desire to “be ready” for the oncoming persecution and subsequent suffering. But how great is that desire within us? The first desire that we must have is to know and do the will of God – not our will, but His. This is a difficult pill to swallow for most people, as most of us have done things our way – or the best way that our human nature can ascertain – and only as an afterthought do we consider asking God what we should do, or even asking Him to bless “our way”. By doing life “our way” instead of seeking and doing life God’s way, we essentially drive a wedge between us and God. The Holy Spirit cannot – and will not – live within the heart of someone like this. And without the power and strength of the Holy Spirit living within us, we will not be able to stand strong in the face of persecution.
Do you want to be ready for persecution?
Daily get into the Word of God – preferably when you awake from sleep, and before starting your daily activities. Pray, listen to praise-n-worship music/lyrics, read various daily devotions from Godly men and women, Pray – did I mention Prayer? Conversation with God is key. And conversation is a 2-way street – a one-sided conversation is not conversation at all. Be still – and listen for the Lord. Ask Him questions about things that you don’t understand, or desire to have greater clarity on – and then be still and quiet – and listen. Being still and quiet is another difficult thing for us humans, and it may take some practice to accomplish this technique.
Why should I have a “quiet time” with the Lord after I wake up?
Only God knows what we will face during the course of our daily activities, and only God can adequately prepare us for those circumstances. God also desires the “first-fruits” of ourselves – this is not only monetary in nature, but time and resources as well. The “first-fruits” of our daily activities is before we do anything else during that day. By honoring God in this manner, He will bless our lives – and His blessings come in many different forms; protection, health, well-being, wisdom, strength, courage, etc.
Bottom-line is that as children of God, we need to live our lives as Christlike as humanly possible in order to be prepared for the oncoming persecution, and the only way to be more Christlike is to go to the source of this available knowledge, power and strength to draw nearer to the Lord. Only then, will the Holy Spirit from God indwell within us, and prepare us for life circumstances.
“Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” ~ James 4:8
“If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are greatly blessed, because the Spirit of glory and power, who is the Spirit of God, rests upon you.” ~ 1 Peter 4:14
“How enriched you are when persecuted for doing what is right! For then you experience the realm of heaven’s kingdom. How blessed you are when people insult and persecute you and speak all kinds of cruel lies about you because of your love for Me! So, leap for joy — since your heavenly reward is great. For you are being rejected the same way the prophets were before you.” ~ Matthew 5:10-12
“If your faith remains strong, even while surrounded by life’s difficulties, you will continue to experience the untold blessings of God! True happiness comes as you pass the test with faith, and receive the victorious crown of life promised to every lover of God!” ~ James 1:12
Christian on Trial in Finland for Quoting the Bible on Sexual Morality
“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.” ~ Proverbs 10:11
Päivi Räsänen is a former Finnish interior minister. In an online article, a radio interview, and a 2019 tweet, she made comments that Finland’s state prosecutor claims are likely to cause intolerance, contempt, and hatred toward homosexuals. For example, a photograph attached to a tweet contained verses from the Bible which, according to the BBC, “appear to describe homosexual acts as shameful.”
As a result, the BBC notes, “The court will have to decide whether citing the Bible can be considered a crime in some cases in Finland.” Prosecutors say her statements violate the equality and dignity of homosexuals and therefore go beyond the limits of freedom of speech and religion. The charges she faces could technically lead to a prison sentence, though prosecutors have asked that she receive a fine relative to her income.
Räsänen arrived at court last Monday holding a Bible and said she was “honored to be defending freedom of speech and religion.” She added, “I hope that today it can become clear that I have no wish to offend any group of people, but this is a question of saving people for eternal life.” Some are calling the allegations she faces “a modern-day inquisition.”
How Parents Could Spend Five Years in Jail:
The collision between religious liberty and sexual freedom is escalating daily. Laws banning “conversion therapy” have been passed by more than a dozen countries including France, New Zealand, and Canada. Critics claim that as a result of such legislation, private conversations with religious leaders, counselors, and parents are no longer protected. Born Perfect, a group seeking to outlaw “conversion therapy,” says more than twenty states in the US and Washington, DC, have passed similar laws.
A proposed law in Canada (Bill C-8) would also make it a criminal offense for parents to help their children accept their biological gender. Under this legislation, parents could spend up to five years in jail if they do not affirm their child’s gender transition.
As I have discussed frequently, the so-called “Equality Act” disallows any appeal to religious beliefs by American churches and ministries who wish to follow biblical sexuality standards in employment and other practices. Last year, the Religious Freedom Accountability Project filed a class-action lawsuit against the US Department of Education alleging that more than twenty faith-based colleges and universities “discriminate” against LGBTQ students and thus should not receive federal funds for student scholarships.
Invariably I am asked if there is any hope for our future. I’d like to offer a simple but profoundly transformative answer to that question today.
“The lips of the righteous feed many”...
I was reading Proverbs 10 yesterday and found these encouraging observations:
• “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life” (v.11).
• “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver” (v.20).
• “The lips of the righteous feed many” (v.21).
Each occurrence of the word "righteous" translates "saddiq", a Hebrew term meaning to be “just” or “upright.” It describes who we are as expressed by what we do.
When a person is righteous, the writer asserts that their mouth “is a fountain of life” and their tongue “is choice silver.” In the present moment, such people “feed many.” By “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), our words make a redemptive, proactive, transformational difference in our world.
How, then, can we be “righteous”?
Paul answers:
“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:21
Christ makes us righteous when we trust Him for our salvation and our sanctification. If we seek to be conformed to the character of Jesus (Romans 8:29) through Bible study, worship, obedience, and service, the Holy Spirit will make us holy and the world will know that we have “been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
Conversely, if we are not different from the world, why would the world want what we have?
“Meditate at all times on the things of God”...
So, the key to speaking words that change the world is to be changed by the One who is Himself the “Word” (John 1:1).
In a biblical exposition St. Ambrose exhorted: “We must always meditate on God’s wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips.”
He also notes, “When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking of Christ.”
As a result, Ambrose encourages us to “meditate . . . at all times on the things of God,” for then we will “speak the things of God.”
Here’s the bottom line: the more time I spend with Christ in his word, the more I become like Christ, and the more I will speak his word to the world with redemptive, transformative power. Then God promises that his word, empowered by his Spirit, “shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
What Awakenings Have in Common:
America has experienced four “Great Awakenings” in our history. They have two factors in common: each was preceded by desperation, and that desperation led someone to seek and speak God’s word with passion and power.
Historians cite Jonathan Edwards in 1734, Isaac Backus in 1784, Jeremiah Lanphier in 1857, and Evan Roberts in 1904 as catalysts for these spiritual and cultural movements. The first two were ministers, the third was a businessman, and the fourth was a coal miner.
Does America Need a Fifth Great Awakening?
Can God use you as a catalyst for such a transformative movement of his Spirit?
If not, why not?
_______________________
~ based upon an excerpt from: https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/christian-on-trial-in-finland-for-quoting-the-bible-on-sexual-morality/
Jesus spoke of the persecutions that would increasingly befall on His disciples as the end of the ages approached. We need to continue in daily prayer for all of the persecuted Church, and that the Lord would increase our faithfulness, stamina, courage and strength to stand strong in the face of it.
The Ignored Pandemic: 360 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide
by Raymond Ibrahim
February 13, 2022 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18226/christians-persecuted-worldwide
In short, the persecution of Christians, which was already horrific, has
increased by nearly 70% over the last five years, with no signs of
abating.
How long will it be before this seemingly irreversible trend metastasizes
into those nations currently celebrated for their religious freedom?
Lord, Search Our Hearts
Make no mistake about it - unless the Lord changes the path that our country is going down, ostracisation and persecution is quickly approaching those that will not bow to the globalist agenda - and yes, that includes the demonically-inspired mRNA vaccinations. For those that have "ears to hear", I strongly suggest that you earnestly seek the Lord's will, and then "walk in it".
Fear and deception is a very real lie from satan. If you're walking in the fear and deception of the current global narrative, then it is possible that you do not have the Spirit of Christ living within you, or, you have ignored His gentle urging's for so long that you are no longer able to hear Him.
Heart-felt, life-changing repentance may be in order - please don't delay.
In Nazi Germany no one spoke out against the evil regime until it was too late – it was the wrath of God (working through the allied forces) that brought the destruction upon the nation and its people.
By not speaking out against the evil that is destroying our nation (and world), we are no better than those that held their tongues in Nazi Germany; and God will likewise bring about the destruction of our nation unless we stand-up and speak-out against the spirit of the antichrist that is behind the current global agenda. Will we be persecuted for it? Absolutely – it has already begun with censorship and ostracization.
Standing Strong Through the Storm: What's Your Struggle?
Open Doors colleague, Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church”:
I’m often questioned about the main difference between a persecuted Christian and a Western Christian. My answer has not changed in twenty years. In the Persecuted Church, Christians realize they are in trouble, and go to God about it. In the Western church, Christians forget they are in a fight, and even if they do remember, never manage to find the time to go to God about it.
Persecuted Christians know they are in a fight. Every day they struggle. Not being conscious of a daily struggle may be sure sign that one is losing the battle of life. The ancient Psalmist looked at the rich elite of Israel and said, “they have no struggles.” They should have struggles if they wish to please God. But so many Christians in the world today seem surprised at the language of struggle today.
What struggles do the persecuted awaken us to?
There is, first of all, the struggle we are always in. Everyone that visits persecuted communities comes away with a renewed appreciation of the spiritual battle we are always engaged in.
Secondly, there is, the struggle we must awaken to. A persecuted Christian in Palestine said, “When you become a real Christian, you get reawakened to the fact that ‘the whole world lies in the hands of the evil one,’ and this reflects in your own culture.” She added, “What your culture worships, you have to struggle against.” In her case, it was a worship of extremist terrorists, who risked everything to kill Israelis. In standing out against that, she struggled to communicate to her neighbors who thought she was being “unpatriotic.”
We have to face up the same question. What is our culture worshipping? Is it, as Francis Schaeffer once said, “the god of personal peace and affluence,” where we don’t mind what goes on in the world so long as our space and prosperity is not affected?
Finally, there is, the struggle we must create. Brother Andrew tells the story of meeting Pastor Haik of Iran, who said to him in 1993, “Andrew, when they kill me, it will be for speaking, not for being silent.” Haik was killed in 1994. If he had stayed silent about the treatment of his Christian friend, Mehdi Dibaj, Haik would be alive. But he chose to enter, even create, the conflict. The fact is we can avoid struggle if we want. Each of us has to make a choice to speak up, defy the powers-that-be, and bring a struggle into being. Otherwise Satan wins.
Persecuted Christians are always in a fight. They struggle all the time, against their own sins, against idolatries in their own societies, and against the orchestration of the evil one who is out to take our worship away from God. Yet these struggles should mark our own lives and churches as surely as the devil does not live exclusively in China or Columbia. This world is the place of struggle. What’s your struggle? The persecuted force us to ask. Everyone ought to have one!
Response:
Today I will affirm and engage in the struggles I face in standing strong against the enemy.
Prayer:
Help me, Lord, not avoid the struggles the persecuted awaken in me.
___________________
“Standing Strong Through the Storm” is a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA (https://www.opendoorsusa.org)
Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
Missionaries kidnapped in Haiti: An update and God’s call to courage
~ By Dr. Jim Denison
“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” ~ 2 Timothy 1:7
“Please pray for us! We are being held hostage, they kidnapped our driver. Pray pray pray. We don’t know where they are taking us.”
This call for help was posted in a WhatsApp group Saturday as seventeen missionaries and family members were being kidnapped by a street gang in Haiti. The group included sixteen Americans and one Canadian and was made up of five men, seven women, and five children.
The missionaries work with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries and were returning from a site visit to an orphanage when they were abducted. Authorities believe the “400 Mawozo” gang, one of the most powerful in Haiti, is behind the kidnapping. As of this morning, no ransom demands have yet been made public.
Read more: https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/missionaries-kidnapped-in-haiti-an-update-and-gods-call-to-courage/
US religious group says 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A group of 17 U.S. missionaries including children was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti on Saturday, according to a voice message sent to various religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident.
The missionaries were on their way home from building an orphanage, according to a message from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries.
“This is a special prayer alert,” the one-minute message said. “Pray that the gang members would come to repentance.”
The message says the mission’s field director is working with the U.S. Embassy, and that the field director’s family and one other unidentified man stayed at the ministry’s base while everyone else visited the orphanage.
No other details were immediately available.
A U.S. government spokesperson said they were aware of the reports on the kidnapping.
“The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State,” the spokesperson said, declining further comment.
Haiti is once again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings that had diminished after President Jovenel Moïse was fatally shot at his private residence on July 7, and following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck southwest Haiti in August and killed more than 2,200 people.
Gangs have demanded ransoms ranging from a couple hundred dollars to more than $1 million, according to authorities.
Last month, a deacon was killed in front of a church in the capital of Port-au-Prince and his wife kidnapped, one of dozens of people who have been abducted in recent months.
At least 328 kidnapping victims were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH.
Gangs have been accused of kidnapping schoolchildren, doctors, police officers, busloads of passengers and others as they grow more powerful. In April, one gang kidnapped five priests and two nuns, a move that prompted a protest similar to the one organized for this Monday to decry the lack of security in the impoverished country.
“Political turmoil, the surge in gang violence, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions – including food insecurity and malnutrition – all contribute to the worsening of the humanitarian situation,” BINUH said in its report. “An overstretched and under-resourced police force alone cannot address the security ills of Haiti.”
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.N. political mission in Haiti.
The kidnapping of the missionaries comes just days after high-level U.S. officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for Haiti’s National Police, including another $15 million to help reduce gang violence, which this year has displaced thousands of Haitians who now live in temporary shelters in increasingly unhygienic conditions.
Among those who met with Haiti’s police chief was Uzra Zeya, U.S. under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights.
“Dismantling violent gangs is vital to Haitian stability and citizen security,” she recently tweeted.
___
AP reporter Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.
https://apnews.com/article/religion-caribbean-kidnapping-haiti-puerto-rico-d17832d664f210adb63a05702f6859a7
Buried Alive: Persecution of Christians, August 2021
by Raymond Ibrahim • September 26, 2021 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17800/persecution-of-christians
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The Witnessing Power Of The Holy Spirit
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about me everywhere...” ~ Acts 1:8 (NLT)
"So when they arrest you, don’t worry about how to speak or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will give you at that very moment the words to speak." ~ Matthew 10:19 (TPT)
Prior to her Christian husband being released from prison in Iran, Maheen, feared that she might be arrested too. So she seriously prayed, “Dear Lord, I am not ready to go to a solitary confinement because of my Christian faith. It is such a closed and dirty environment. As you know I was born and brought up in a wealthy family and had a comfortable life. Please don’t test me beyond my ability.” She told God she would not be able to handle being arrested and mentioned her fear that she might give the names of all believers in the house churches to the police or even deny Jesus.
Three days later, the secret police knocked at her door. She said to God, “I have already asked you not to put me in this temptation. So whatever happens, it is not my fault. Because I had already told you that I am not a strong person and can’t stand against these security people and can’t tolerate persecution.”
She said, “The police blindfolded me and took me to the solitary confinement. I was scared to death and felt sick as the place was very smelly.” They put her in a cell and a few hours later brought her in for interrogation. She added, “I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit very strongly. And I felt that God’s peace came down on me and my fear went away.”
When Maheen stood before the high official, she courageously testified of her Christian faith.
“It is an honor for me to talk to people about Jesus. I will be very happy to talk to you about Jesus and salvation too. Like all other people and Muslims, you also need Jesus in your life. Without Jesus a person does not have any peace and life is hopeless and without any purpose. Jesus laid his life down for you too so that you can have salvation and will not perish.”
The official responded in anger, “Do you know what the consequence of all this will be for you? You can’t evangelize me. It will cost you a heavy price.”
On the third night the official came to her cell. Maheen was frightened fearing that he came to abuse her sexually or to beat her up. But the official told her, “Don’t be afraid of me. I need your prayers. When you shared about Jesus with me, it had such a powerful impact on my life. I need to be saved. I need Jesus in my life. I believe God has sent you to come to this prison so that you can share about salvation with me. I am now completely aware of the fact that without Jesus I will be a miserable and hopeless person and I will perish. Please pray for me that I can be set free from this hell I live in.”
Maheen had the chance to share about Jesus for three hours with him and at the end he repented of his sins and committed his life to Jesus. The official testified that for the first time he experienced the real peace and love of God in his life.
Maheen and her husband were both released from prison and are in touch with this official and his wife secretly. The wife of the official has committed her life to the Lord too.
Response:
Today I will walk and talk in the power of the Holy Spirit and trust God to use me as a witness wherever He places me. Thank God for the power of His Holy Spirit among committed brothers and sisters in Iran, Afghanistan, and all countries where persecution is rampant.
_________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Their Goal Is Really to Eradicate Christianity": Persecution of Christians,
June 2021
by Raymond Ibrahim
August 8, 2021 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17610/persecution-of-christians-june
The Freeing Beauty Of Forgiveness
Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:21-35
In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a street-witnessing team became involved in an extraordinary situation. A young Mexican called Samuel would walk for two hours each day to join them and act as an interpreter. They discovered that Samuel's mother and sister had been murdered and that he witnessed the killings but, despite trying to intervene, was unable to stop them. He said he knew the man who did it.
He had a desire to go and avenge the killings, but then became a Christian and his whole attitude changed. He began a Bible study group now attended by twenty people. On the final night of the meetings, he saw the man he believed had murdered his mother and sister go forward to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior. Samuel made his way through the throng of people and shook his hand and welcomed him “into the Kingdom.” Samuel was able to forgive him.
In Jesus’ teaching, there is little doubt that, as a Christian, I MUST forgive those who have wronged me. Then our human, time-bound minds cry out with the loud fleshly inquiry — “WHY?”
Again Philip Yancey points out that through the process of forgiveness we realize we are not as different from the wrongdoer as we would like to think. And we end up linked on the same side.
In essence, God linked Himself with us humans in the incarnation. Somehow God had to come to terms with these creatures He desperately wanted to love. On earth, living among us, he learned what it was like to be human — yet without sin. But He put Himself on our side. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us.
Forgiveness is a key component of the victorious overcomer. This is the way of the cross to becoming “more than conquerors.”
As a young Christian in Cambodia, Cham witnessed a Khmer Rouge soldier — a youth he knew from school — bludgeon his mother to death by hitting her repeatedly over the head with a wooden board.
Cham suffered from severe depression over memories of that incident for many months. But eventually the Lord helped him gain victory over it.
Ten years later, Cham was walking down the main street of Phnom Penh and saw that young man who had killed his mother. The young man was very fearful of revenge when he recognized Cham approaching him. With moist eyes Cham looked at him and said, “In the name of Jesus, I forgive you!” Cham was free.
Response:
I accept today that forgiveness is a must for me as a follower of Jesus.
Suggested Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for so many rich examples of the freeing beauty of forgiveness.
___________________
~ Standing Strong Through The Storm, a devotional published by Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
The Signs of the End of the Age
“Master, tell us,” they asked, “when exactly will this happen? Can You tell us what warning sign to look for when it is about to take place?”
“Jesus responded, “Deception will run rampant and many will appear on the scene, saying I have sent them, or saying about themselves, ‘I am the Messiah!’ These doomsday deceivers will say, ‘The end of the age is now here!’ But listen to Me. Don’t let any of these imposters fool you.”
“There will also be many wars and revolutions on every side, with rumors of more wars to come. Don’t panic or give in to your fears, for these things are bound to happen. This is still not the end yet.”
“Jesus continued, “There will be upheavals of every kind. Nations will go to war against each other, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be terrible earthquakes and seismic events of epic proportion that result in famines in one place after another. There will be horrible plagues and epidemics, cataclysmic storms on the earth, and astonishing signs and cosmic disturbances in the heavens. But before all of this happens, you will be hunted down and arrested, persecuted by both civil and religious authorities, and thrown into prison. And because you follow Me, you will be on trial before kings and governmental leaders as an opportunity to testify to them in My name. Yet determine in your hearts not to prepare for your own defense. Simply speak with the words of wisdom that I will give you that moment, and none of your persecutors will be able to withstand the grace and wisdom that comes from your mouths.”
“You can expect betrayal even by your parents, your brothers and sisters, your relatives and friends — and yes, some of you will die as martyrs. You will be hated by all because of My life in you. But don’t worry. My grace will never desert you or depart from your life. Stand firm with patient endurance and you will find your souls’ deliverance.”
~ Luke 21:7-19 (TPT)
Beat, Raped, and Left for Dead": The Persecution of Christians, May 2021
by Raymond Ibrahim
June 27, 2021 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17504/persecution-of-christians-may
The boy eventually met up with his mother, and they went searching for Pastor Thomas. According to the wife, "As we continued doing the search, we found my husband in a pool of blood, beheaded and his tongue removed." His tongue was likely cut out as punishment for "speaking against Islam."
Although Azerbaijan claims to be repairing the damage it caused the cathedral, subsequent pictures and video footage suggest that they are defacing it more.... In the same area of Shushi where the cathedral is being profaned, Azerbaijan is preparing to build a "victory" mosque.... Finally, Azerbaijan is using gravestones from Armenian Christian cemeteries as building material.
Muslim men raped a Christian child and molested another. On May 2, Muhammad Awais, "beat, raped, and left for dead" Anum Bibi, an 8-year-old Christian girl, after he caught her trying to retrieve water with her 9-year-old brother. — Pakistan.
A group of Muslims attacked a Christian family and destroyed their home in an effort to seize their farmstead. "Muslims destroyed our mud house," the mother explained. "They stole our tin roof, took the rice, food, everything of value. They also beat me and my husband with a stick, even my children."... As a result, police failed to respond or make any arrests and instead asked for money from the victims. — Bangladesh.
Although Azerbaijan claims to be repairing the damage it caused to the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral (pictured), subsequent photographs and video footage suggest that they are defacing it more.... In the same area of Shushi where the cathedral is being profaned, Azerbaijan is preparing to build a "victory" mosque.... Finally, Azerbaijan is using gravestones from Armenian Christian cemeteries as building material. (Photo by Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)
The following are among the abuses inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of May 2021:
The Slaughter of Christians
Uganda: On May 3, hours after Pastor Thomas Chikooma engaged in a public debate about Islam and Christianity, Muslims severed his tongue and beheaded him. The well-known pastor, father of 11, had planted 50 churches in eastern Uganda. During the open-air event, to which Muslims had invited him, he used the Bible and Koran to make his points. He won over several people — including six Muslims, who went on to convert to Christianity — prompting angry Muslims in the crowd to cry "Allahu Akbar," prompted the pastor and his young son to rush away from the event.
"Two motorcycles carrying two Muslims each and dressed in Islamic attire speedily bypassed us," his son, a minor, later explained. "When we were 200 meters to reach our house, the two motorcycles stopped at the junction opposite Nalufenya primary school and the road near our house." The pastor told his son to wait while he went to confront the four men. "Immediately some commotion began as the men started talking about the open-air debate, and soon one of them slapped my father," said his son. "I got scared and fled ... and arrived at home." The boy eventually met up with his mother, and they went searching for Pastor Thomas.
According to the wife, "As we continued doing the search, we found my husband in a pool of blood, beheaded and his tongue removed." His tongue was likely cut out as punishment for "speaking against Islam."
Separately, Muslims poisoned and killed a Christian pastor over his land: whether a church or mosque would be built over it. Initially, Muslims in the area urged Pastor Yolonim Oduchu to sell them his land, so they could construct a mosque on it. According to the pastor's brother, Francis:
"Aliasa Opeduru and a number of [other] Muslims had approached my brother to sell them the piece of land several times, but my brother declined because their offer was small, and he also wanted to have part of the land set aside for constructing a church structure. Later my brother received a threatening message from Opeduru saying he would not negotiate with him again."
Eventually the Muslims "found a sponsor in Turkey to fund the construction of the mosque." Now the problem became that the Muslims did not want a church near their mosque, but Pastor Yolonim began clearing his parcel of land in preparation of construction. Then, one day, after eating at a hotel owned by a Muslim, "my husband," said his wife Mary, "took a motorcycle and arrived at home complaining of severe stomach pains, diarrhea and started vomiting. We rushed him to a nearby clinic, and he succumbed to poisoning." Soon after his burial, his brother saw blood sprinkled atop the pastor's grave with papers with Arabic writing.
"We then sought assistance from police, who came with a sniffing dog that directed the mourners up to Opeduru's home, where we found the suspect inside the house sleeping. When police asked him about the blood, he admitted to pouring the animal blood there because the pastor didn't respect him."
After being interrogated by angry residents, the hotel owner confessed that "Muslims had given him poison and instructed him to put it in Pastor Oduchu's food." The pastor is survived by his wife and eight children, ages 2 to 16.
Pakistan: A group of Muslims abducted, beat, and poisoned a Christian man, before leaving him for dead in the middle of a street. Thirty-two-year-old Arif Masih's crime was that he had tried to defend his younger sister from sexual harassment. According to the report, on May 20,
"Rehana Bibi, 18, had gone to the bazaar to buy some milk. Returning home, two young men, Muhammad Tariq and Muhammad Majid, began to harass her. The girl tried to escape and took refuge in the house. The two broke into the house and got into a fight with Arif [her brother]. The two young men also took the girl and dragged her to the bazaar, tore off her clothes and mocked her."
Although the family registered a complaint with police, the police failed to act. Instead, Masih began to receive threats from the two accused men to drop the complaint, or else. Then, on May 23:
"both perpetrators went to Arif's home and attacked him. They loaded him onto their motorcycle and then beat and poisoned him, throwing him on the street. Local people informed the family that their son was lifeless in the middle of the road."
He was rushed to two different hospitals but, "due to his injuries and the poison, he died." Because they could not get justice, Masih's family took his body and exhibited it in the middle of a road, stopping vehicles and begging for justice (picture here).
Germany: During court proceedings, it was learned that a Muslim migrant from Syria murdered his sister's boyfriend for being Christian. According to the May 18 report,
"[H]e had killed his sister's boyfriend because, as a Muslim, he would not tolerate his sister's relationship with her Christian boyfriend. According to the verdict, the man waited more than an hour in the backyard for the victim in January 2019. When the 25-year-old got out of the car, the defendant fired shots from close range. The man died in the hospital from his gunshot wounds."
Democratic Republic of Congo: The Allied Democratic Forces, designated by the U.S. as an Islamic terror group, massacred between 50 and 57 people in the Christian majority nation, and torched 25 homes between May 29 and 30. The group is committed to creating an Islamic Caliphate in Central Africa.
Burkina Faso: On May 18, Islamic terrorists attacked a Christian baptismal ceremony, where they massacred 15 Christians. "People are shocked and many are running," a native in contact with town residents reported at the time. It is the fourth such attack in the nation's Sahel region. According to the report:
"Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State extremists has left thousands dead in the West African nation over the last several years. In recent weeks, attacks have spiked in Burkina Faso's Sahel region and in the country's east. Two Spanish journalists and an Irish conservationist were among more than 50 people killed during one week in April. The violence has displaced more than 1 million people, and aid groups say it's also brought tens of thousands to the brink of starvation by disrupting aid operations to those in need."
South Sudan: On Sunday, May 19, a group of Muslims attacked and killed more than a dozen Christians. The attack and other forms of "senseless violence" have been taking place in the most northern part of the nation, particularly in Abyei, "an area that experiences Islamic encroachments followed by harassment, intimidation and frequent attacks carried out by Arab Islamic militias," said the Episcopal Church of South Sudan in a statement. Of the most recent attack, the Bishop of Abyei, Michael Deng Bol, said that the village of Dungob-Alei, had been "barbarically attacked by militiamen of Sudan since around 5.30 am on Sunday 16 May, killing 13 people and wounding eight others. "
"The fighting is still continuing up to now [late Monday night]... This is not the first attack of its kind. In 2020 Kolom village, 12km away from Abyei town, and Mabok Diil village, 18km east of Abyei town, were also attacked in the same way with 38 killed and 22 wounded, together with the abduction of 17 children and burning down of 77 houses including our prayer centres and medical facilities."
Nigeria: Some of the massacres of Christians at the hands of Fulani Muslim herdsmen reported throughout the month of May:
May 23: "Fourteen Christians were butchered to death, including children," a survivor from a raided village wrote in a communique. "Eight members of one family have all been killed. This is beside an additional six other Christians killed by the herdsmen in the village." More Christians were killed in another village on or around that same day, for a total of 37 dead. Survivors heard the attackers shouting the jihadist war-cry, "Allahu Akbar." Discussing the fate of her brother, one woman said,
"The armed Fulani herdsmen spotted him and shot him dead. I feel very sad about the way my brother was killed in cold blood. Why must we live in fear every day, not knowing the evil that awaits us as Christians in this country?"
May 21: Some Muslims shot to death a missionary pastor, Leviticus Makpa, 39, and his three-year-old son, Godsend (picture).
May 21: Fulani herdsmen killed two Christian men — both of whom left behind young families. The same day, a young Catholic priest's body was found thrown in the bush. "Sokoto Diocese has been struck again by another set of blood-sucking demons," church member Emmanuel Albert wrote in a text. "The Rev. Fr. Alphonsus is gone but will never be forgotten. He died because of his Christian faith, and as he has gone to meet his Maker, may eternal rest be granted to his soul." Another church member said, "My aging mother's wailing when I broke the news to her over the phone is jaggedly ringing in my soul... We pray for other priests and good people in captivity that God will bring them back home."
May 20: Muslim herdsmen killed two Christians, 21-year-old Ladi Jeffrey, mother to a 16-month-old child, and her nephew, during a nighttime raid on the family's home.
May 19: Fulani herdsmen murdered eight Christians and burned down a church.
Finally, according to another report published on May 12, between January and April of this year alone, 1,470 Christians were hacked to death by Muslim Fulani. On average this comes out to about 368 Christians killed every month for four months straight.
Attacks on Apostates, Blasphemers, and Evangelists
Pakistan: Another Christian nurse was falsely accused of blasphemy. Sometime in early May, Sakina Mehtab was shocked to see videos of her Muslim colleagues marching on hospital premises while shouting Islamic slogans and accusing her of blasphemy. Soon thereafter she began to receive anonymous threatening messages to "maim and kill" her — which prompted the Christian nurse to go into hiding. Her "crime" was to have shared a video on WhatsApp of a Pakistani Muslim in France criticizing the response of Pakistan to an EU resolution. "There was no religious element in it, but a group of nurses spread lies that the video was anti-Islamic and accused me of blasphemy," said Sakina, who was set to retire from the Punjab Institute of Mental Health in Lahore in two years. "My life has been put at serious risk with this false allegation, and I don't know how I'll be able to resume work at the hospital with the fear that someone might attack me from nowhere. My fear is not unfounded." According to the report:
"Hours after she shared the video, a large group of Muslim nurses and paramedical staff, some armed with clubs and sticks, staged a protest rally. Witnesses said the protestors intimidated Christian workers in hospital wards and repeatedly tried to provoke them into fights. There are about 345 Christians in the 600-strong workforce."
The Muslim mob then stormed into a hospital auditorium that Christian staff members and patients used as a church for worship and prayer. They "desecrated Bibles and other property and asserted that there would be no more Christian prayer gatherings there"; furthermore, they "took over the church and threatened their Christian colleagues with blasphemy cases if they failed to raze the church and convert to Islam."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, another Christian nurse said that such false blasphemy charges are part of a systematic plan to "replace them [Christians] with Muslims.... The administration's bias towards Christians is evident, because no action has been taken against the persons who brought the false charge against Sakina and put her life at risk." This is the third instance this year in Pakistan of Christian nurses being falsely accused of blasphemy. Earlier:
"On April 9, two Christian nurses complying with a supervisor's orders to remove stickers at a government hospital were arrested in Faisalabad after a Muslim employee attacked one of them with a knife over the removal of a sticker bearing Koranic verses.
"Nurse Mariam Lal and student nurse Navish Arooj were charged under Section 295-B of Pakistan's blasphemy statutes against 'defiling the Koran' after an Islamist mob demanded 'death to blasphemers' inside Civil Hospital... Conviction under Section 295-B is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine.
"The two Roman Catholic nurses are in judicial custody while their families have gone into hiding out of fear of Islamist mobs.
"On Jan. 28, Tabeeta Gill, a nurse at a Karachi hospital and a gospel singer, was slapped, beaten and locked in a room by a violent mob after a Muslim co-worker baselessly accused her of blaspheming Islam. Police initially cleared her of denigrating Muhammad but later succumbed to pressure of an Islamist mob and charged her with insulting Islam's prophet, punishable by death under Section 295-C. Gill has reportedly fled the country to avoid arrest."
Uganda: After beheading Kanifa Namulondo's husband some years back, some Muslims burned down her and her children's recently reconstructed home on May 2. Earlier, when the Muslim family had converted to Christianity, local Muslims responded by beheading her father in 2015, prompting Kanifa and her children to flee. On April 25, though, with the help of friends, the apostate family had moved back into the same home.. On May 2, Kanifa noticed that the Muslim calls to prayer were unusually early. Then, "around 4 o'clock [in the morning] I heard people talking near the door," she later recounted. "The husband betrayed our religion," One of the voices said. "We should do away with the entire family." She responded by hurriedly waking up her children, escaping through the backdoor, and breaking into her neighbor's home, where she and the children locked themselves in the bathroom. She soon saw flames through the window and realized that her home had been set on fire by the would-be murderers. As last reported, she and her children were "living in great fear in temporary quarters ... and must relocate far away, again."
In a separate incident, a Muslim motorcyclist intentionally targeted and struck Hassan Muwanguzi, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity and was long known for helping other persecuted converts from Islam. After he was struck and suffered a leg injury, passersby surrounded both men and prevented the attacker from fleeing the scene. "The mob wanted to beat him," the victim explained, "but he shouted, saying, 'This man has been a trouble-maker to our Islamic religion,' Soon the police arrived and arrested him." The Muslim was later released on bail. Before that, Hassan had been receiving threatening messages from Muslims. A recent one said:
"You have been converting Muslims to Christianity. We have been warning you about this several times. But you have refused to heed to our directive, so be ready with whatever action we are going to take."
Attacks on Churches
USA: Ali Alaheri, a 29-year-old Muslim man, went on an anti-Christian and anti-Jewish crime spree in Brooklyn, NY, until he was finally arrested and charged with hate crimes. During his rampage he knocked down and destroyed a large crucifix that had stood for eleven years outside of St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst, and burned the American flag on the premises. The damage was discovered on May 14. "It was a terrible morning," said Monsignor David Cassato. "It was probably the saddest day in my life, to see this desecration of a cross of Jesus and the desecration of the flag." Alaheri also deliberately set fire to a yeshiva and synagogue on 36th Street in Brooklyn. Surveillance video shows him piling and lighting garbage bags alongside the building. Firefighters responded in time to extinguish the flames. He also "allegedly attacked a man wearing traditional Hasidic garb."
Turkey: In the same village where Christians were earlier persecuted, the Marta Shimoni Church in eastern Turkey was desecrated and vandalized on May 11. A year earlier, the elderly parents of a Chaldean priest were kidnapped. The wife was later found dead; the husband remains missing. According to the report,
"Marta Shimoni is a cave church built into the mountains, and thus cannot be destroyed in the same way as other churches. Video footage ... shows that the destruction was primarily against the Christian items and relics inside the church. Crosses, pictures of Jesus, and rosaries were strewn across the path leading away from the mountain church's entrance."
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan continued to abuse the Christian heritage of the ancient Armenian territory of Artsakh, which was recently appropriated by its Muslim neighbor. In October 2020, for example, Azerbaijan shelled and damaged Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi. Although Azerbaijan claims to be repairing the damage it caused the cathedral, subsequent pictures and video footage suggest that they are defacing it more. Angles that sat atop the pillars of the main entrance are now gone, as are its domes. According to Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, Azerbaijan is seeking to alter the cathedral's appearance: "We have seen many times how Azerbaijan actually treats Armenian cultural values, and it is already clear what is hidden under the 'restoration work.' The goal is to eliminate traces of the Armenian presence." In a statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that "Azerbaijan carries out actions related to the church without consulting the Armenian Apostolic Church, which clearly violates the right of Armenian believers to freedom of religion." UNESCO experts have also been denied access to Armenian cultural heritage sites.
In the same area of Shushi where the cathedral is being profaned, Azerbaijan is preparing to build a "victory" mosque. On May 12, the same day Azerbaijani troops entered Armenian territory, President Ilham Aliyev laid the foundation for the new mosque on ancient Armenian land. Further underscoring that it is meant to be a "victory" mosque, the new structure was commissioned to resemble the figure 8, because Shushi was conquered on November 8, while its two minarets will represent 11, for the month of its conquest.
Finally, Azerbaijan is using gravestones from Armenian Christian cemeteries as building material. During a May 10 interview, Foreign Minister of Artsakh, David Babayan, said,
"There is evidence showing that the Azerbaijani are demolishing the Hadrut cemetery.... This is another manifestation of cultural genocide and barbarism with a political purpose. They are not only completely destroying the Armenian trace, but are also using it for economic purposes."
The gravestones, he said, are being used for the construction of the Hadrut-Shushi road, thereby allowing Azerbaijan to save money on construction material.
Indonesia: On May 31, police arrested 11 Islamic militants accused of plotting the bombings of several churches in the Christian-majority Papua province. The accused are members of a terror group affiliated with Islamic State and that has previously carried out several suicide bombings in Indonesia. Among the items confiscated during police raids were jihadi literature and bomb-making manuals, chemicals for explosives, and modified air guns capable of firing real bullets.
General Attacks on Christians
Pakistan: Muslim men raped a Christian child and molested another. On May 2, Muhammad Awais, "beat, raped, and left for dead" Anum Bibi, an 8-year-old Christian girl, after he caught her trying to retrieve water with her 9-year-old brother. She was later found unconscious in the field and taken to a hospital. Two days later, on May 4, Christians protested on learning that an 8-year-old Christian girl was sexually harassed by her teacher's brother. According to the girl's mother, "Muhammad Amir, the Muslim culprit, attempted several rounds of wrestling with my daughter to fulfill his sexual desire; however, he did not succeed. Jemima started shouting and crying very loudly. Finally, she managed to escape from Amir's arms and ran into the street." "The assaults," the report adds, "are only the most recent examples of the vulnerability of Christian women and girls who are targeted by sexual predators in Pakistan..."
Separately in Pakistan, after a petty dispute between some Christian youths who were cleaning their church, and their Muslim landlord — who accused them of throwing dust on them — a Muslim mob consisting of some 200 persons, on May 15, formed and terrorized the eighty Christian families living in the same village. Eight Christians were seriously injured and 15 Christian households ransacked. "They were armed with glass bottles, stones, axes, batons and bricks," recalled one Christian, who lost a thumb in the attack. "Others used stairs to climb to our roofs and started breaking our furniture. We pleaded to spare the women, but the attack continued for half an hour."
"They broke the locks, grabbed our hair and pulled us out one by one," another female survivor said. "Young girls were assaulted and left with torn clothes." The boys accused of dirtying their Muslim landlord were especially sought out and punished. "The weakness on the part of the administration encourages such attacks on religious minorities," said a local clergyman. "The culprits are usually let off scot-free. Religion is used to settle personal scores. The locals fear another attack."
Bangladesh: A group of Muslims attacked a Christian family and destroyed their home in an effort to seize their farmstead.
"Muslims destroyed our mud house," the mother explained. "They stole our tin roof, took the rice, food, everything of value. They also beat me and my husband with a stick, even my children." The attackers are from the same village, which contains only two Christian families; everyone else is Muslim. As a result, police failed to respond or make any arrests and instead asked for money from the victims. "Being Christian and a minority is a problem," the mother continued. "If Muslims want to, they can take over our land, occupy it quickly and easily. But let us not lose hope. We shall fight to keep our land." Although her family has been living on land that has long belonged to her ancestors, the Muslim attackers acquired land adjacent to the Christians' and want to absorb it.
A regional clergyman confirmed that the Christians "have valid property documents," but "those Muslims want to seize their land illegally. It's an injustice."
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
Previous reports
April, 2021
March, 2021
February, 2021
January, 2021
December, 2020
November, 2020
October, 2020
September, 2020
August, 2020
July, 2020
June, 2020
May, 2020
April, 2020
March, 2020
February, 2020
January, 2020
December, 2019
November, 2019
October, 2019
September, 2019
August, 2019
July, 2019
June, 2019
May, 2019
April, 2019
March, 2019
February, 2019
January, 2019
December, 2018
November, 2018
October, 2018
September, 2018
August, 2018
July, 2018
June, 2018
May, 2018
April, 2018
March, 2018
February, 2018
January, 2018
December, 2017
November, 2017
October, 2017
September, 2017
August, 2017
July, 2017
June, 2017
May, 2017
April, 2017
March, 2017
February, 2017
January, 2017
December, 2016
November, 2016
October, 2016
September, 2016
August, 2016
July, 2016
June, 2016
May, 2016
April, 2016
March, 2016
February, 2016
January, 2016
December, 2015
November, 2015
October, 2015
September, 2015
August, 2015
July, 2015
June, 2015
May, 2015
April, 2015
March, 2015
February, 2015
January, 2015
December, 2014
November, 2014
October, 2014
September, 2014
August, 2014
July, 2014
June, 2014
May, 2014
April, 2014
March, 2014
February, 2014
January, 2014
December, 2013
November, 2013
October, 2013
September, 2013
August, 2013
June, 2013
May, 2013
April, 2013
March, 2013
February, 2013
January, 2013
December, 2012
November, 2012
October, 2012
September, 2012
August, 2012
July, 2012
June, 2012
May, 2012
April, 2012
March, 2012
February, 2012
January, 2012
December, 2011
November, 2011
October, 2011
September, 2011
August, 2011
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Recent Articles by Raymond Ibrahim
"Tied Up and Tortured": The Persecution of Christians, April 2021, 2021-05-23
Biden Acknowledges the Armenian Genocide; What about the Other Current Genocides?, 2021-04-27
The Armenian Genocide Forges On, 2021-04-24
"Hatred, Enmity, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide": The Persecution of Christians, March 2021, 2021-04-18
Indoctrinated in Hate: 'This Is the Start of the New Caliphate', 2021-04-06
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14 Reader Comments
Charlene Roray • Jun 28, 2021 at 13:43
Salem witch trials were about stealing land.
Reply->
Bull Herman • Jun 28, 2021 at 13:13
These articles are the most difficult to read. I wish US government and those in EU would have imported Christians instead of the Islamists.
These narratives are extremely painful but very necessary, that all may know.
Reply->
cammo99 • Jun 28, 2021 at 06:41
Are there religious Muslims who uphold the values of peace? Certainly. But there are elements of its teaching and in places like Afghanistan where local Imams read to illiterates selected passages that endorse these sorts of horrors because the make literal some passages. Christians and Jews have been accused of the same sorts of theological distortions. The history of Christianity is replete with wars over some issues like how to make the sign of the cross.
We do not cast stones blindly. But we must acknowledge our past to have a better future.
I find that better future in Jesus the Christ who died for our sins. Today's marginal church turned ugly under socialism, in Germany it became the German Positive Church and tried to erase the Jewish heritage of our faith, Jesus the Aryan. Yet many radicals have sympathetic chords with the Nazis and Hitler remains a cult hero in some Islamic nations not because they share a common faith but common hatreds.
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Cedar • Jun 28, 2021 at 06:07
If we look at the big picture, we can clearly see that across the Middle East, there has been an ethnic cleansing of virtually all the smaller groups which used to make the region such a rich tapestry of cultures.
Afghanistan lost its last remaining Jew recently. There are barely any left outside Israel, as they were expelled - without compensation or right of return - from Arab countries, & those few are old and afraid. The Yezidis were massacred, raped, enslaved, and their culture will not recover, With the exception of the beleaguered Copts, & a small but growing population in Israel, Christians are now in danger of extinction in the region where they've lived for 2000 years, and from which the religion emerged, The Kurds are repressed and killed in Turkey, their leader and their MPs imprisoned or murdered. The Turks are bombing Kurds in Iraq, and in Syria, crushing them under tanks and letting loose jihadis to rape and massacre. The Women's Village, built by women for women to rest and recover from the traumas of war, has been destroyed. That Sunnia and Shi'a detested each other used to be some protection for minorities, but now, thanks to Qassem Suleimani, Hamas & Hezbollah are allies.
In the UK, the national curriculum has been challenged and modified as a concession to the homophobia of Islam. At Batley Grammar, the 3 Religious Studies teachers are in hiding and the headmaster read a grovelling apology for their offence, dictated by the mob outside the school. Gay men were murdered in a park for their transgression of Islamic rules. And all the government, the trade unions, and the local authorities ever do is offer constant appeasement. The former MP for Batley, now the West Yorkshire mayor, supported the mob, not the teacher who had to flee because his home address was posted on the Net. The Scottish Justice Minister, Humza Yusaf, recently almost succeeded in making criticism of Islam illegal, even inside private homes. He will try again. For the frogs, the water is coming close to boiling.
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Bull Herman Cedar • Jun 28, 2021 at 21:43
It is truly chilling to read this.
Is Canada as bad yet? If you know, please answer. As Trudeau hates guns the upcoming street battles will appear as modern-day crusade wars.
And yet here in US, so many refuse to see The Squad for the dangers now and the grave threats to our future freedoms.
The UK is under occupation.
We in US are still in the soft jihad stage.
Reply->
Tershia • Jun 27, 2021 at 13:47
If it weren't for Mr. Ibrahim's faithful reporting on Islamic crimes against Christians, few people would know of their plight.
Most nations seem not to care, even though persecution is spreading and increasing in Western countries, often with the enabling of local governing bodies. This is the consequence of rejecting God which in turn opens the door to the man of lawlessness to create chaos.
This is evident in Canada where the covid "pandemic" has given the government in all provinces the opportunity to close down churches who chose to obey God rather than Caesar. Those pastors have been arrested and jailed, after the RCMP humiliated and in some cases brutalized them in front of their children. In some cases police helicopters were used to attempt to flush out churches who had gone "underground" by continuing their Sunday worship in the woods.
Sadly a Muslim family out for an evening walk recently, was deliberately mowed down by a young man, killing four of five family members. I am not criticizing the national outrage and vigils held, with even Justin Trudeau in attendance, but rather pointing out the double standard when a Muslim commits a similar crime on ordinary Canadians, as has happened, the Muslim is excused on the grounds of "mental illness".
I wonder if the young man's anger or hatred towards Muslims was fuelled by Trudeau's frequent preferential treatment of them in Canada? We who don't fawn over Islam are now officially regarded as "Islamophobes."
Please be aware that June 29th is the commemoration of the Day of Christian Martyrs.
Reply->
chris • Jun 27, 2021 at 13:17
And while this is happening, the west continues to allow millions in from these countries - Christians are not prioritised, though.
Reply->
Ron • Jun 27, 2021 at 12:38
Every month without fail, we receive Raymond Ibrahim's deeply disturbing report of the world-wide persecution of Christians by Islamists. The grisly details of the wide-spread torture and murder of Christians by Muslims completely contradict the popular, politically-correct myth that is promoted by Islamists and their apologists in the west who claim Islam is the religion of peace. There is nothing peaceful about a religion that contains verses that unequivocally command the faithful to forcefully convert, enslave, or kill infidels wherever they are found. As a result, Islam desperately needs to be reformed to bring it into full compliance with the values of modern democratic societies.
Attempts to reform Islam have consistently failed and will continue to do so until Islamic scholars undertake a massive overhaul of its doctrinal framework to make all of its teachings theologically consistent and completely supportive of the values of western, democratic societies with the goal of transforming Islam into a genuine peace-promoting ideology that protects the human rights of everyone and requires the faithful to always demonstrate tolerance for the beliefs of non-Muslims. Until then, the slaughter of innocent unbelievers that began with Muhammad's war on infidels approximately 1,400 years ago will continue.
Reply->
Elizabeth • Jun 27, 2021 at 11:05
I read with grief all the horror and death inflicted on ordinary, innocent men, women and children by the blindly mad followers of an ideology from a primitive and brutal historic past. My one question is why are these atrocities not severely punished by the government leaders in these countries? Those who carry out these evil deeds are violent criminals, and yes, it is my firm belief that Turkey, Iran, Qatar and all those committed to the growth of this horrifying ideology are actively funding, promoting and encouraging this lunacy.
Reply->
Shirley Rosenhohn • Jun 27, 2021 at 09:55
But the "politically correct" woke ideology-indoctrinated's silence concerning these atrocities is deafening.
Reply->
Agnes • Jun 27, 2021 at 09:08
Why do I neither hear nor read the Vatican/Pope voice their horror, protestation, disgust and indeed their DEMAND that such atrocities cease. Then take action if it does not.
Or does the Pope want martyrs? Why?
Reply->
Cedar Agnes • Jun 28, 2021 at 06:15
The Christian authorities, Catholic and Protestant, have been shamefully silent. They could at least have argued that immigration should favour those whose cultures align with those of the West, and who deserve asylum because those individuals, & their entire people, are the subject of genocidal attacks.
The West is post-ChrIstian. That's irretrievable. But I had hoped that we were firmly in favour of secular democracy, for which our ancestors struggled for centuries. But we are a fragmented culture of narcissistic libertarians, and have no way of resisting a strong & repressive ideology which threatens to impose itself by force if we don't surrender voluntarily. So we make one concession after another, & imperil ourselves still further with every step.
Reply->
Homero Agnes • Jun 28, 2021 at 18:09
Very good and serious questions here. I hope my answers here will not sound terrible. But I see the present Pope as someone quite different to others before him. He has allowed the great popular pressure of "woke ideas" to influence him. True of so MANY others in power nowadays. IT IS POSSIBLE he fears losing power (as head of the Roman Catholic church) if he takes much action against the atrocities we read about here.The killers full of hate against those who think differently---they have put all the "declared Christian world" in the same boat---as enemies. They hope to see the total number of Christians become absolute ZERO one day. They outdo Hitler and Stalin for hate against the Jews as well. It takes courage to stand against the tyrants here. Courage that HE LACKS. A modern version of Pilate and Neville Chamberlain.
Reply->
Hamish MacDonald • Jun 27, 2021 at 05:51
Thank Raymond, you again for the coverage; eventually the public will wake up.
Reply->
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Churches being burned in Canada ....
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God Answers Prayer
"If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." ~ John 15:7 (AMP)
In the mid-1990’s, my Canadian co-worker, PJ, and I were leading a ministry trip of Canadians and Americans to Iran. This was the first trip with a sizable group of Americans so there was a lot of excitement about it. And as expected, it took us right to the wire (two hours before our air flight) to secure their visitor visas.
As we finally relaxed on the long air flight, we realized we’d been so busy with travel details we’d had no time to shop for gifts for the brothers and sisters we’d be meeting. So on the airplane, we bought every box of chocolates that were on the duty-free carts.
On arrival in Iran, our women were all conservatively dressed in their black chadors allowing them to travel anywhere in the country and be accepted. It also enabled many discussions with other women on the street. Only their shoes gave them away as Westerners.
One of our tasks was to deliver some funds for widow support for the several Christian widows of martyred pastors in the country at that time. We channelled this through Sister Takoosh who was the widow of well-known Pastor Haik, the leader of the evangelicals in the entire country until his untimely murder.
We sent our group of chador-covered ladies to meet Takoosh at night at her home. They were received with the traditional great hospitality of the Persian culture and Christian community. They drank tea together and enjoyed wonderful fellowship in Jesus after sharing the financial and other gifts they brought.
Just before leaving, one of the Canadians remembered something. She reached into her large purse and pulled out a box of chocolates. She handed it to Sister Takoosh and said, “The two Pauls sent this as a gift for you.”
Unexpectedly, Takoosh began to weep. She then wiped her tears and said, “I really love chocolate. And when I get any, I cut it into small pieces to make it last as long as possible. Just yesterday I ate my last piece. And I said to the Lord, ‘I know this is a very selfish request, Lord, but would You please bring me some more chocolate!’”
God is concerned about even the small things in our lives. Talk to Him about them.
Response:
Today I will talk to God about every detail of my life and trust Him with the answers.
Suggested Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, that You care about my every need. I will trust You to take care of every detail. In Jesus' name, Amen.
_________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Tied Up and Tortured: The Persecution of Christians, April 2021
by Raymond Ibrahim
May 23, 2021 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17394/persecution-of-christians-april
Persecuted for Doing Good:
"Why would anyone harm you if you’re passionate and devoted to pleasing God? But even if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you will have the joyful experience of the blessing of God. And don’t be intimidated or terrified by those who would terrify you."
"But give reverent honor in your hearts to the Anointed One and treat him as the holy Master of your lives. And if anyone asks about the hope living within you, always be ready to explain your faith with gentleness and respect. Maintain a clean conscience, so that those who slander you for living a pure life in Christ will have to lie about you and will be ashamed because of their slander. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if it is in God’s plan, than for doing evil."
~ 1 Peter 3:13-17 (TPT)
Are We Ready to Suffer for Christ?
Suffering and martyrdom for Christ Jesus is not a new concept, and has been around ever since He walked in human-form upon the earth. In many parts of the world the Christians ask the question: “What have you suffered for Christ today?” Because the persecution is on a daily basis. You may think, “But, that could never happen where I live”. My friend, in the current global politically demonic climate, we are well on our way to just that type of environment. Even now, millions of people that call themselves “Christians” are succumbing to the satanic deception that has taken root amongst even the fellowships of Christ.
Unless we are true disciples of Christ, continually in His word, seeking to draw nearer to Him, and to know and understand what He is conveying to us about all that is going on around us; about what to participate in and what not to participate in – then we are highly susceptible to being deceived by the prince of this world – without even being aware that we are being deceived. Why? Because through the hardness of our hearts, we are not able to hear the still and small voice of the Holy Spirit. For many, the cares of this world have drowned-out the Lord; more concerned about what we will do to hold on to our current life and well-being, then trusting the Lord with all the consequences of being obedient to Him.
So, back to the question: “Are we ready to suffer for Christ?” The current political push is to label Christians as “domestic terrorists” in order to silence us. Social media has already taken steps to silence us, and this trend will continue to develop and grow until every “Christian” will be forced to show our true allegiance – to God (through Jesus Christ), or to self (through the world). The true disciple of Christ has no reason to fear the repercussions of obedience to Him, and His word, as the Lord knows what is best for us. If we are faithful, and remain in the Lord, then we will reap the eternal benefits that are only available to the faithful in Christ.
“God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way — the path that brings me back to you.” ~ Psalm 139:23-24 (TPT)
The Supremacy Of Jesus Christ
Today we hear from co-worker, Jan Vermeer:
The inspired writer of the book of Hebrews says that everything was put in subjection under Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:5-9). Does His supremacy actually show in the country of North Korea full of idols, hunger and death camps?
The North Korean church consists of 200,000 to 400,000 members. Fiercely persecuted, all of them hide their beliefs from the authorities. The church is truly an underground church, divided into thousands of small networks and cell groups. Most Christians hardly know other Christians outside their families. In case of an arrest, not many other Christians are in danger. The most visible proof of their faith is the possession of a Bible, which is illegal and punishable by death. Probably nowhere else in the world are so many copies of God’s Word literally hidden underground!
But the church is definitely growing. Many Christians keep their faith secret and are surviving. Open Doors is able to support almost 60,000 Christians with Bibles, books, training, food, clothes and medicines. Yet it is the individual tragedies that make it difficult to see with spiritual eyes that Jesus Christ is supreme even in North Korea.
For example, a middle aged man was arrested after the police found a Bible in his home. He is being terribly beaten in prison, as we learn from released prisoners who witnessed it. “His face is deformed. He told us he is certain he will die.”
"How can Christ be supreme if one of his disciples is tortured so severely? I’ve known this man for a long time,” says a Christian friend of the prisoner.
He continues: “When he came to faith, he made the decision that one day he would die for Christ. Every Christian in North Korea has made that choice. Every Christian in my country has the spirit of martyrdom in him. If you lose that spirit for one second, you cannot carry the burden of being a follower of Jesus. My friend knew that one day he could get caught and on that day he had to be steadfast in the faith and loyal to Jesus. I am convinced he can take the suffering because he constantly reminds himself of the joy that is set before him.”
The suffering North Korean Christians reveal Christ’s supremacy because they look at the reward: Jesus Christ Himself. He is our Treasure. He calls us to Himself, to suffer outside the gate and bear the reproach He endured (Hebrews 13:8-15). The kingdom of the Kim’s is limited in size and time. The Kingdom of our Lord is eternal and will come with power!
Response:
I will rejoice in the supremacy of Jesus Christ, my Lord, over everything and everyone.
Prayer:
Lord, I too rejoice in the joy set before me with You. Keep me steadfast, faithful and loyal.
___________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through The Storm", a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Satan's Changing Tactics
"However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." ~ 1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Today’s devotional comes from our founder and friend, Brother Andrew:
Have you ever noticed the strategy Satan used throughout Old Testament history? His attacks were aimed at preventing the birth of the Messiah at Bethlehem, but, once Jesus was born, Satan’s tactics changed somewhat. In some instances, he tried to kill Jesus before the Lord could reach the cross. At other times, Satan engineered numerous attempts to discredit Him — to cause Him to stumble or to sin.
But Satan met defeat at the cross. He failed to understand God’s strategy, and his final blunder actually forced events so that Jesus, though innocent, was condemned to die. The Apostle Paul noted that Satan did not understand this in 1 Corinthians 2:8.
Since that time, Satan’s tactics have changed. He’s still concerned about preventing the Word — the Word that was with God and is God (John 1:1) — from reaching people who are under Satan’s dominion. His attack is now two-pronged.
First Satan concentrates on the life and name of Jesus which each and every believer bears as the Lord’s representative. I believe it is important for Christians undergoing persecution to realize the attack they are under is actually directed not at them, but at the life of Jesus in them, a life which they have power to transmit to others.
Satan will make every effort to discredit you, to frighten you and to silence your witness in order that the new life in you stops with you. Sometimes Satan overreaches himself, just as he did at the cross, and sends a believer to a martyr’s grave but that life lives on in other believers who continue to bear witness more gloriously and triumphantly than ever.
That the church not only survives, but grows under such persecution has been demonstrated beautifully by the church in China. After missionaries were forced to leave in 1950, and all ties were cut with the body of Christ, believers were put through the horrible experience of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Christians were killed or imprisoned, Bibles burned, and the remaining believers scattered all over China. The attack was clearly on the life and name of Jesus as manifested in believer’s lives.
As these sufferers scattered, they took the life of Jesus with them, and just as was the case with the early believers in Jerusalem, “Those who were scattered went about preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4). Now we see the harvest in China as millions of Christians are identified, meeting together for fellowship and worship in remote provinces.
I want others to have the one who makes me happy — Jesus.
Response:
Today I will be aware of Satan’s attempts to silence my witness for Jesus and resist him!
Suggested Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for the way You bring good from the evil tactics of the enemy of our soul. Help me to stand strong against his attack on the life and name of Jesus in me. Amen.
___________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through the Storm" - a daily devotion published by Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Loving Your Enemies
"I say to you, love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them. For that will reveal your identity as children of your heavenly Father. He is kind to all by bringing the sunrise to warm and rainfall to refresh whether a person does what is good or evil. What reward do you deserve if you only love the lovable? Don’t even the transgressors do that? How are you any different from others if you limit your kindness only to your friends? Don’t even the ungodly do that?" ~ Matthew 5:44-47
After preaching the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us to love and pray for those who persecute us. But that can feel like an impossible task: Why are evil, broken people — especially those who harm blameless believers for professing faith — deserving of our prayers?
Nonetheless, we should be encouraged to pray, knowing that both Jesus and Stephen did so for the people who caused their deaths:
"While they were nailing Jesus to the cross, He prayed over and over, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” ~ Luke 23:34
"He [Stephen] crumpled to his knees and shouted in a loud voice, “Our Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” And then he died." ~ Acts 7:60
Think of their words as a reminder that even persecutors are created and known by a God who loves them just as much as He loves us. Remember, the Lord can radically and miraculously change the heart of anyone, even someone who seeks to wound His church.
Think About It:
• Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). How can we do that in today’s world?
• Are you able to consider those who persecute Christians as people God loves?
https://www.intouch.org/read/magazine/daily-devotions/loving-your-enemies
From the Pastor's Heart — October 2020
The ultimate example for us to follow in times of persecution is the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered more injustice than anyone.
We naturally want people to be attracted to Christianity by our witness and good example. But we have to face the fact: This world is under the influence of Satan, and his influence is powerful. Many people are hostile toward Christ. Instead of being admired, we may be treated unjustly, maligned, or even persecuted for our faith. This is nothing unusual — it has happened to believers for centuries. Even today many Christians around the world face severe persecution. We need to learn how God wants us to respond in case we too face hostility for our faith at some point in our lives.
Jesus said something about this issue that might seem contradictory:
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” ~ Matthew 5:11-12
It’s difficult to comprehend how suffering for Christ could be a blessed condition unless we recognize that earthly life is like a puff of smoke compared to the blessings of our eternal home. When Peter wrote his first letter, he addressed the believers as aliens or sojourners, and that’s exactly what we are in this world. Yet sometimes we become too attached to this present life and think little about our eternal future. Persecution has a way of weaning us from earthly riches, pleasures, and concerns. It causes us to set our hope completely on the grace we’ll receive when Jesus is revealed:
"Therefore, with your minds ready for action,[a] be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." ~ 1 Peter 1:13
Peter’s letter included instructions to believers who were trying to live obediently and righteously under very difficult circumstances. They were dealing with slander, social ostracism, injustice, and persecution simply because they were Christians. So Peter reassured them, saying, “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed” (1 Peter 3:14). Then he gave them four commands.
• First: “Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled” ~ 1 Peter 3:14
In order to remain fearless and undisturbed by the attacks of people offended by Christianity, we need a biblical perspective of God’s care for us and sovereignty over our lives. Just a few verses earlier, we’re reminded that “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
Ultimately our persecutors will fail. Even if the Lord allows them to kill our bodies, they cannot destroy our souls because we belong to Christ (Matthew 10:28). And when we do what’s right, but suffer as a result, God’s grace encompasses us and strengthens us to patiently endure (1 Peter 2:20).
• Second: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” ~ 1 Peter 3:15
Responding to hostility in a godly manner requires devotion to Christ above all else and submission to His sovereignty over our lives — even when His will for us permits mistreatment, insults, or persecution. The Christian life is a journey to eternal glory, but the path includes temporal suffering. However, when we finally arrive in heaven, we’ll discover that our momentary suffering has produced for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).
• Third: Always be “ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” ~ 1 Peter 3:15
Keeping our eternal hope and living righteously while suffering injustice and hostility may open a door for us to share the gospel with our persecutors. We should always be ready to explain to them why we trust the Lord. Although we must be bold with the truth of the gospel, our attitude toward those who hurt us should be gentle and respectful.
• Fourth: “Keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame” ~ 1 Peter 3:16
Although we may be tempted to compromise in order to avoid persecution or repay evil with evil to those who hurt us, this only leads us into sin and ruins our witness. All vengeance should be left to God who alone knows every detail and judges rightly. The only way we overcome evil is with good (Romans 12:17-21).
The ultimate example for us to follow in times of persecution is the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered more injustice than anyone. “While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). Whether we face severe or relatively mild persecution for our faith, it is exactly what Jesus predicted: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). But God’s grace is always abundant in those times, and eventually all our suffering will end when we finish the course, having fought the good fight and kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Then all that’s left is rejoicing because of our great reward in heaven.
Prayerfully yours,
Charles F. Stanley
P.S. If the thought of persecution makes you afraid, remember God doesn’t want you to worry beforehand. You might not feel His grace to endure right now, but it will be there the moment you need it. Trust Him, because He will never leave or forsake you.
https://www.intouch.org/read/from-pastors-heart/october-2020
God Is Often Most Visible When Things Are Most Awful
"As they plot their crimes, they say, “We have devised the perfect plan!” Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning. But God Himself will shoot them with His arrows, suddenly striking them down." ~ Psalm 64:6-7
During the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11, many of the people who survived that fateful day were interviewed by the press. One was a man who lost his father to a heart attack as a young boy and outlived an IRA bomb blast in Britain as well as survived violent San Francisco earthquakes. Steve Gill was executive vice-president at Standard Chartered Bank and had just left his office in the World Trade Center for a breakfast meeting when he had to dodge the glass shards raining down from the North Tower after the plane had hit it. He successfully fled the scene on a ferry bound for Staten Island.
As a Christian, he has been repeatedly asked why God spared him but not thousands of innocent mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters. He has no definitive answer. But when reflecting on lessons learned he says, “I saw that God is often most visible when things are most awful, whether it’s Christ on the Cross or the World Trade Center attack killing three thousand people…I don’t know why bad things happen. But I see that God is most present when things are at their worst.”
There are a number of biblical examples. Perhaps Joseph’s situation stands out most. Languishing in a jail on unjust charges, he is even forgotten by those he befriends and helps. At his lowest point, he is brought to Pharaoh to interpret a dream and becomes the second in command of the nation and saves his people and the Egyptian nation from starvation.
The Persecuted Church also testifies that God is most present in the worst of times. Pastor Wang Ming Dao spent over twenty-three years in prison in China for his faith. On his release at eighty years of age he said of his imprisonment, “That was my honeymoon with Jesus!”
Muslim background pastor Medhi Dibaj in Iran spent seven years in prison with the last few years isolated in a small cramped cell. On his release he said, “The past few years have been the sweetest years I’ve ever spent with Jesus.”
Liviu Georgescu was a teenager when his father, Costel, was distributing Bibles in Romania during the communist regime. Open Doors asked him what he thought of the time when his father was in prison for his faith. Liviu said, “It was a very good time, because then we had more time and opportunities to give Bibles to people and to talk about the faith. Now there is more freedom, but we have to work harder and put in longer hours in order to get by. This means that we have little time or energy for the faith. There is less interest as well.”
God seems to be most visible when things are at their worst.
Response:
Today I will thank God for the difficult times and ask for help to see Him as visible in the good times.
Prayer:
Thank You God for obviously being there in the darkest hours before the dawn of a new day or era.
________________________
~ "Standing Strong Through The Storm" - a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Forgiveness Is Not An Option
"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing. But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.” ~ Mark 11:25-26
Our founder, Brother Andrew, says, “Forgiveness is the very core of the gospel message. I am a Christian only because God forgave me everything. There is no other ground on which to stand…not my repentance, not my praying the sinner’s prayer. Nothing made me a child of God except God forgave. And He did it two thousand years ago through Jesus on the cross. Jesus took all that sin and nailed it to the cross and He says, ‘Now, go, and put it into practice.’”
~ OpenDoors Founder Brother Andrew (https://www.opendoorsusa.org/about-us/history/brother-andrews-story/)
Fleeing Persecution
"When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another." ~ Matthew 10:23a
One of the clear biblical responses to persecution is to flee. But it is not the only response. Thus it is imperative that the persecuted believer is sure that running away is in the will of God. History is full of examples of Christians who relocated because of religious persecution.
The early Christians in Jerusalem were not obeying Jesus’ orders in Acts 1:8 (evangelize to the ends of the earth) so God allowed an Acts 8:1 (persecution) to send them on their way. The original text indicates the persecution accomplished the will of God for as they scattered abroad, they went “gossiping” the gospel (Acts 8:4). The first meaning of the word “gossip” was “to chat” or “rehearse.” The early Christians, when scattered by persecution, could not help but repeat the glorious message of the gospel to everyone they met.
The Apostle Paul left Damascus over the wall in a basket when a life threat was discovered early in his ministry. He was not just trying to avoid persecution, but he knew it was not yet God’s timing for his life and ministry to end. That occurred years later in Rome.
Today an Egyptian Christian leader is in hiding because he has the highest price on his head — four times more than Osama Bin Laden ever had. Zakaria Botross’ entire life story is that of defying death. The total price for his elimination (a fatwa), at last report, was one hundred million dollars. This is because his ministry to Muslims is so challenging, effective and productive. If his arguments cannot be countered then his voice must be silenced.
He was one of the most striking figures of the Coptic Orthodox Church. In 1964 he had a conversion experience which changed the direction of his ministry to thousands of people. Not only did Father Zakaria preach for conversions to Christ and to strengthen believers, he also effectively rebutted accusations against Christianity made by Islamic leaders. He is a scholar of ancient Arabic and knows the Koran and the Hadith (Islamic traditions) so thoroughly that Islamic scholars find it difficult to refute his teaching or counter his challenges.
His zealous activities could not help but attract the notice of the authorities of the State. He was removed from his church. Twice he experienced imprisonment for ministering to Muslims and leading them to faith in Jesus. He was accused of the ultimate crime, evangelizing Muslims and thereby inciting religious factionalism. Then he was deported and exiled from Egypt. His subsequent ministry in Australia and the UK was successful but not with everyone’s approval.
Today as an elderly senior, he lives in hiding in the West because more than sixty million people — most are Muslims — watch his satellite TV programs and visit his website. Countless millions across the Arabic speaking world are turning to Christ annually because of his ministry.
Like the Apostle Paul, Father Zakaria runs and hides, not because he is afraid of dying, but by defying death has been able to have the most effective ministry in the world to Muslim people.
Response:
Today I will resolve to run from persecution only when I know it is the will of God.
Prayer:
Pray for leaders like Zakaria Botross who have to live in hiding because of their effective ministry for the Lord and His church.
______________________________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through The Storm", a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Taking Away The Cross
A Western co-worker was visiting the Chinese city of Dandong which borders North Korea. He shares his challenging experience at a local house church meeting:
It was the first time I had ever been called “Satan!” But no one could fault the careful exegesis as this fiery Korean preacher bellowed to the 200-member house church.
“The third temptation of Jesus,” he declared, “was when the devil offered him the kingdom without the cross. The devil was basically saying, ‘Don’t go off and make all those sacrifices, touch all those lepers, spend nights in agony praying, and end up being tortured by soldiers and dying a horrible death. Just take it all now…from my hand!’” He went on, “The church often has the same temptation. The devil offers us power without suffering. And…I’ve got to say this even though our Western friend is here…this is a temptation one part of the church tempts another part of the church with. We have to call that part of the church ‘Satan,’ just as Jesus had to call Peter ‘Satan’ when he made the same suggestion later in his ministry.”
Good rip-roaring stuff, and thoroughly biblical. But I was intrigued as to why this pastor had singled out the Western church as the tempter. He was happy to explain over a meal.
“I hosted five pastors from North America last year. All Koreans. They came with reading material. Good stuff as far as it went, and they were supplying a sort of formula for church growth. But could one of them even bring himself to mention suffering? No! And when I heard those Korean pastors preach, it was also absent.”
He leaned forward and whispered, “When these pastors preach to the Persecuted Church, and mention everything but suffering, they are taking away the cross from the Christian life. That’s why I have to say that they are bringing a satanic suggestion. Anyone who says you can follow Christ but not carry your cross is no better than the old deceiver himself. Jesus said so. He said it to Satan, and he said it to Peter. And I’m going to say it to anyone else who dares to think they can be a witness for Christ from anywhere else but on a cross.”
Response:
Today I will focus on the things of God realizing they will always require me to carry my cross.
Prayer:
Lord, I will no longer try and eliminate the way of the cross from my Christian living. May I never again attempt to substitute power for suffering.
__________________________
~ "Standing Strong Through the Storm" - a devotional published by: Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Living for Jesus
Jesus spoke, "As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to Myself.” He said this to signify what kind of death He was about to die." ~ John 12:32-33
Manuel was an effective evangelist among the mountain Quechua people in Peru. He felt called by the Lord to take Bibles and share the gospel with the anti-government guerrilla soldiers who camped in hiding in the mountains. For the many illiterates he took the New Testament on cassette. It was a bold and risky ministry.
One day some Shining Path guerrillas with their big AK-47 guns intercepted him on the trail and ordered him to stop going to the mountains; stop handing out Bibles, cassettes and other Christian materials; and stop preaching about Jesus. They threatened his life if he did not desist.
Some months later Manuel did not return home when expected. A search party discovered his dead body at the side of the trail. It was more than just a cadaver. His feet, hands and tongue had been cut off. And with a knife they had carved on his torso a message in Spanish, “We told you to stop!” The chopped body parts completed the message, “stop visiting the villages; stop distributing Bibles; stop preaching about Jesus!”
There was a memorial service for Manuel attended by many believers. Hundreds of people came from the mountains to honor his memory. Our Open Doors co-worker reported that there were more people standing outside the rural church than sitting inside the crowded sanctuary.
An evangelist preached the memorial service message and challenged young people to come forward and take Manuel’s place. Ten young people made the commitment and knelt at the front altar.
An elder standing at the side asked in a loud voice, “But young people. What if the same thing happens to you as happened to Manuel?”
One of the youths at the front cried out, “If we die, a hundred will spring up and take our place!”
Living for Jesus is actually harder than dying for Jesus. It means I must die to myself every day!
Response:
Since Jesus gave His life for me, what more can I give Him than my own life. And until that day of physical death, I will die to myself daily.
Prayer:
Thank You Jesus, for giving Your life blood for me. I give You my life in service today and every day until You call me to be with You in Your heavenly home.
_________________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a devotional from: Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
The Word Of Their Testimony
"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah have now come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out: the one who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death." ~ Revelation 12:10-11
Overcoming believers also declare Christ’s love and forgiveness aloud to themselves, to Satan, and to the world. It is the second way we become “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).
________________________
Daniel was called by the Lord to the north of Vietnam where he soon found himself in the midst of a revival. People were coming to know the Lord and Daniel immediately started a training program to equip these new believers. He also witnessed the power of God as people were healed and many were delivered from their addiction to opium. The inevitable soon happened and Daniel was sent to prison, his “training school,” for three years. With a smile that illuminated the room, Daniel shared his experiences in prison:
“After my arrest I was put in solitary confinement and chained to the ground for six months. This was a very hard time for me. The cell was small, there were no lights in the cell and I only had one bowl of rice and salt a day. A piece of bamboo was stuck over my crossed legs and chained to the ground. Being chained to the ground for such a long time also resulted in my body swelling and creating a lot of pain. I felt totally deserted. I asked the Lord to take my life. It was too much for me. I prayed a lot but thankfully the Lord did not do what I asked."
“One night in my prison cell, chained to the ground, I saw a vision of the Lord. He did not speak a word. He just placed his hand on me and I felt how new strength filled my body. I cried and repented before the Lord. Then I knew the Lord was saying to me that He would not allow me to leave this world defeated, that when He takes me “home” it will be victoriously.
“The next day the police came and took me to another cell with other prisoners. Today I can see why God allowed this difficult time. I could share the gospel with many people in prison. After three years in prison there is a church in every area where I spent time in a prison and more than 200 inmates came to know the Lord while I was in prison. Three other prisoners who came to know the Lord also started churches in prison. When I was released from prison, I found my church in the village had grown to 500 people.”
As Daniel concluded his testimony, co-workers could positively see the grace and love of the Lord in this humble man. He looked at them and summed up a life of sacrifice with the following words. “I know that God has a good plan — He sent me to prison to preach the gospel and to become a strong warrior for Him.”
Response:
I will overcome today by speaking out the word of my testimony to myself, to Satan and to the world.
Prayer:
Lord, even though I am not in prison, I can be a faithful overcomer today by sharing your love with others I meet through the word of my testimony.
_______________________________________
~ "Standing Strong in the Storm", a devotional published by Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Satan's Changing Tactics
Have you ever noticed the strategy Satan used throughout Old Testament history? His attacks were aimed at preventing the birth of the Messiah at Bethlehem, but, once Jesus was born, Satan’s tactics changed somewhat. In some instances, he tried to kill Jesus before the Lord could reach the cross. At other times, Satan engineered numerous attempts to discredit Him — to cause Him to stumble or to sin.
But Satan met defeat at the cross. He failed to understand God’s strategy, and his final blunder actually forced events so that Jesus, though innocent, was condemned to die. The Apostle Paul noted that Satan did not understand this:
"None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind — God prepared this for those who love Him." ~ 1 Corinthians 2:8-9
Since that time, Satan’s tactics have changed. He’s still concerned about preventing the Word — the Word that was with God and is God (John 1:1) — from reaching people who are under Satan’s dominion. His attack is now two-pronged.
First Satan concentrates on the life and name of Jesus which each and every believer bears as the Lord’s representative. I believe it is important for Christians undergoing persecution to realize the attack they are under is actually directed not at them, but at the life of Jesus in them, a life which they have power to transmit to others.
Satan will make every effort to discredit you, to frighten you and to silence your witness in order that the new life in you stops with you. Sometimes Satan overreaches himself, just as he did at the cross, and sends a believer to a martyr’s grave but that life lives on in other believers who continue to bear witness more gloriously and triumphantly than ever.
That the church not only survives, but grows under such persecution has been demonstrated beautifully by the church in China. After missionaries were forced to leave in 1950, and all ties were cut with the body of Christ, believers were put through the horrible experience of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Christians were killed or imprisoned, Bibles burned, and the remaining believers scattered all over China. The attack was clearly on the life and name of Jesus as manifested in believer’s lives.
As these sufferers scattered, they took the life of Jesus with them, and just as was the case with the early believers in Jerusalem, “Those who were scattered went about preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4). Now we see the harvest in China as millions of Christians are identified, meeting together for fellowship and worship in remote provinces…
I want others to have the one who makes me happy — Jesus.
Response:
Today I will be aware of Satan’s attempts to silence my witness for Jesus and resist him!
Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for the way You bring good from the evil tactics of the enemy of our soul. Help me stand strong against his attack on the life and name of Jesus in me.
____________________________________
~ excerpt from: "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Pray With The Persecuted
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain..." ~ John 15:16
The first request of us from the Persecuted Church is that we pray for them. And correspondingly, they are usually great models of people of prayer which we can emulate. But we often need to be reminded that they do not ask us only to pray for them but also to pray with them. If we only pray for them, we will pray for their safety and the termination of their persecution. They want us to pray with them which means we will pray for: the advance of the gospel in their land; that they will bear fruit that will last; and for perseverance and fearless courage in the face of suffering.
Pastor Samuel Lamb from Guangzhou, China, has an interesting prayer for severe situations of persecution which expresses his trust in a great God. He prays: “Lord, I rejoice in how You are going to work this out.”
Moses Xie, a Chinese church leader who spent more than twenty years in jail for his faith, says that when asking visitors to pray for him he is really after three distinct outcomes:
“First, I want them to experience the blessing of prayer for themselves. They will go to God on my behalf, but they will receive a great blessing from being in the presence of God.
Second, I know that as they pray, their burden for the persecuted will increase, and as their burden grows, so their commitment to assisting us in all sorts of other ways will increase also. Prayer alone makes them be the body.
Third, I want them to release more of God’s power into our situation through intercession, since I know that God has bound Himself not to act until we ask.”
Today is a great day to glorify God in our lives and those of the Persecuted Church.
Response:
Today I will not only pray for the persecuted but I will also pray with the persecuted.
Prayer:
Lord, may my life glorify You today and may I be a lasting fruit bearer who only desires that Your will be done.
____________________________
~ "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a daily devotional published by Open Doors USA PO Box 27001 Santa Ana, CA 92799 US
~ Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
The Day of Persecution
“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. This is because they have never known the Father or me. Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning." ~ John 16:1-4
I am not trying to be a “negative nellie” here, but there is a deep darkness that is encompassing the face of the world – and it is getting darker by the day. The “darkness” has many names, but the name “anti-Christ” or “anti-God” would certainly cover all of the other names. That dark spirit has been alive and well throughout the world for thousands of years, and there are many parts of the world where Christ followers are being martyred daily for their unwillingness to bow down to it. This same spirit is growing in its ability to consume more-and-more souls of the lost and dying in the “free countries” – and it is only a matter of time (short in my opinion) before full-blown persecution of Christ followers will become the norm in every country.
In addition to being concerned for the “lost and dying”, I am almost equally concerned about the “believers" that are struggling with carrying out even the small, daily commands of the Lord for their lives. As Christ followers – if we are struggling with even the minimal amount of obedience to the Lord in our daily walk, then how will we be able to withstand the persecution that is coming straight at us?
If we are to be strong in the Lord when the day of our persecution comes against us, then we must train ourselves to be obedient in the small things first, and then the Lord will slowly increase our strength in Him to be able to handle whatever the darkness of the world throws against us. In order to be ready and willing in the strength of Christ (through the Holy Spirit), we must continue to build on our obedience to Him with each greater command that He gives to us.
Please begin, and/or continue to grow stronger in Christ by being obedient to the small things that He has been laying on your hearts to do – or to stop doing, and be ready for the day of persecution that is quickly approaching.
God bless!
Send a Secret Message to North Korean Christians
Under the cover of darkness with the volume turned down low, our brothers and sisters in North Korea listen to secret radio messages like these — messages that you send into North Korea to encourage the underground church.
Through a special covert broadcasting operation, the messages you send are translated and relayed to North Korean believers who are hungry for both food and spiritual refreshment.
This month, we’re asking Christians like you to write a one-sentence prayer for your family in North Korea.
Our hope is to send over thousands to be translated and read into homes throughout North Korea.
Click here to share your one-sentence prayer.
The message you write today could be the words of hope a mother needs to continue praying for her family. They may be the lifeline a father has been praying for to assure him he hasn’t been forgotten; or the prompt to share Jesus with their neighbor.
I believe you’ll feel so good, knowing that you took time today to let God use you to breathe life into the hearts and souls of His people.
Recently, we heard from a church leader in North Korea, thanking Open Doors for these messages and offering a prayer of blessing: “We pray that God will anoint all those believers who have sent us a message of encouragement. We pray that the Lord will bless all fellow Christians in the world this year. Thank you for your radio programs.”
We can’t wait to read your prayers!
Best,
Lindy Lowry, editor, Open Doors Weekly
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/pray-for-secret-believers-in-north-korea/
7,000 Churches Fasting, Praying Over Terrifying New Persecution Law
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an anti-terrorism law, but for the country's many churches, the signature sparked a demand for prayer and fasting.
The bill toughens punishment for acts deemed to be terrorism and for the organization of "mass unrest," according to the Los Angeles Times. It would also introduce prison sentences of up to a year for those who fail to report such crimes.
Furthermore, Great Commission Ministries Chairman Hanny Haukka tells Charisma News the law entails:
• Foreign guests are not permitted to speak in churches unless they have a "work permit" from Russian authorities.
• If a friend or relative from outside Russia wishes to share his/her faith in your home the guest will be fined and expelled from Russia.
• Any discussion of God with non-believers is considered missionary activity and will be punishable.
• Missionary activity will be permitted by special government permission. Example: If one traveling on a train shares his faith without written permission the offender will be taken into police custody for the duration of the journey and will be fined 50,000 rubles ($1,000).
• Offenders from the age of 14-years-old will be subject to prosecution
• Religious activity is no longer permitted in private homes. Most churches in Russia meet in homes.
• Every citizen is obligated to report religious activity of neighbors to the authorities. Failure to be an informant is punishable by law.
• One may pray and read the Bible at home but not in the presence of a non-believing person. You will be breaking the law and be punished.
• If the church has purchased property it cannot be converted into a place of worship.
• In church buildings, it is not permitted to invite people to turn to God. Worship services are permitted but making a non-believer a follower of Christ is against the law.
In response, thousands of churches across the country have come together to cry out to God.
"The church is appalled at the news of the new law. About 7,000 evangelical/protestant churches are in fasting and prayer at the moment over the news," Haukka tells Charisma News via email.
Churches aren't the only residents enraged by the law.
American refugee Edward Snowden tweeted: "#Putin has signed a repressive new law that violates not only human rights, but common sense. Dark day for #Russia."
What's more, critics are now declaring the Yarovaya laws, aka the "Big Brother," laws, as a sign of the end times:
• If these amendments come into force, prison sentences for certain non-violent "extremist" crimes will potentially be twice as long as, for example, murder committed in the heat of passion, which carries a maximum sentence of three years.
• Despite receiving nearly unanimous support in parliament, the Yarovaya laws have triggered a flood of apocalyptic commentary. Many wonder why Russia's already excessively harsh criminal laws are being made harsher.
The only official criticism of the legislation, however, has come from the Presidential Human Rights Council, which has highlighted ways in which the proposed amendments directly contradict the Constitution and existing laws. This criticism has been almost entirely ignored.
The Duma has already passed a number of laws that have harshened Russian law in the name of fighting terrorism and extremism. It criminalized "public calls for the violation of territorial integrity" and "rehabilitation of Nazism," a direct affront to the freedom of speech. In 2013, it passed a law that allowed the state to confiscate property from individuals affiliated with terrorists, including their relatives.
The government has long used the "fight against terrorism and extremism" to justify repressive laws, no matter how obviously senseless they may be. As a result, Russia's statutory framework can now be effectively used to target not only credible extremist threats, but also political opponents of the state. A large group of prominent Russian lawyers decried this problem in an open letter in 2013, saying that the "parliament's legislative work has acquired a distinctly prohibitive and repressive character."
In response, Haukka pleads with believers around the world to join with Russian churches in prayer and fasting.
"Russia is closing down in an awful way. The new law is in total conflict with the purpose and the task given to the church by the Lord. The law will send the church back into Soviet era Communist persecution," he says.
https://www.charismanews.com/world/58295-7-000-churches-fasting-praying-over-terrifying-new-persecution-law
The Poor In Spirit:
“The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs." ~ Matthew 5:3
Acknowledging our poverty in spirit is humility. It occurs when a man or woman realizes his or her own utter lack of resources to meet life and finds his or her strength in God. Such an attitude leads one away from attachment to things to attachment to God and heaven. The word for poor here means absolute, abject poverty. We can thus paraphrase the first Beatitude this way:
"Blessed are those who have realised their own utter helplessness and inadequacy and who have put their whole trust in God. Such a person will humbly accept the will of God and thus become a citizen of the kingdom."
Christians especially in countries like Pakistan find this a great comfort, for the majority of them are road sweepers and do menial jobs that others will not do. They are denied better jobs often because they are illiterate. Their children have no access to higher education and so the cycle of poverty continues with little hope of a break. Surely this message is also for them. As they put their complete trust and hope in the Lord, they are assured of a place in the Kingdom of God.
A Chinese Christian woman, a leader in her church, was arrested and put in prison. Led of the Lord, she volunteered to do hard labour, cleaning the filthy prison cells on her knees. This humble work gave her opportunity to sing and share Jesus with the prisoners in each cell. Through her words and actions many prisoners came to know the Lord in a personal relationship.
Response:
Today I acknowledge my helplessness and inadequacy and place my complete trust in God.
Prayer:
Lord, help me express true humility in practical ways today and show that my trust is in You alone.
_________________________
~ "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a devotional published by Open Doors USA, PO BOX 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
https://us13.campaign-archive.com/?u=4095fe8e93e66f79fa4625ef7&id=7284e2bc82
The Beatitudes
"One day as He saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around Him, and He began to teach them." ~ Matthew 5:1-2
For the next nine days we’ll look at Jesus’ greatest training program — the Beatitudes. It is important to remember that each of the eight Beatitudes has a two-fold nature: a “knowing” and a “doing” response. We must not only know them, we must also respond to what we learn from them.
Eight times in the Beatitudes it says, “Blessed are….” To understand the Beatitudes, we need to know the meaning of those words. Blessed are refers to Jesus’ evaluation of the kind of person He names in each Beatitude. Jesus was referring to His esteem for that kind of person. His meaning is, “I esteem highly any person who….” He was urging us to have that kind of attitude. His deeper meaning is, “All you who hear Me, choose to become like these kinds of people.”
One noted author calls the Beatitudes, “God’s radical reconstruction of the heart!” We must never consider that Jesus was promising happy conditions, as though He meant, “The one who is poor in spirit will feel good and always be joyful.”
The first four Beatitudes focus internally — that is, they speak to the heart of the one who wants to obey God. They can be viewed as four stepping stones to becoming an obedient servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are: humility, mourning, meekness and hunger for righteousness.
The second four Beatitudes focus on the external behavior of the servant who follows Jesus. They are: mercy, purity, peacemaking and persecution.
This teaching has particular relevance for Christians who live under Islam. Restricted, deprived, regarded as second class citizens, laughed at, despised, often living in fear, many times persecuted, the words of encouragement are precious and give fresh hope of another place and time when things will be put right.
While in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, there are greater freedoms and life is not so difficult, there are restrictions nonetheless. In others like Pakistan, Christians have suffered unjustly and are denied many basic rights. In Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Sudan, Nigeria and Morocco, the story is similar though the extent of suffering may vary. To all, Jesus gives this important message. We will look at each of the eight Beatitudes individually.
Response:
I will study Jesus’ Beatitudes so that I live the way Jesus lived.
Prayer:
Pray for Christians in Islamic countries that they will receive great encouragement as they seek to know and live the Beatitudes in their regions of restriction.
____________________________
~ "Standing Strong Through the Storm", a devotional published by Open Doors USA, PO BOX 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 USA
Open Doors USA is a 501(c)(3) compliant organization and a charter member of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability. All contributions are tax-deductible.
https://us13.campaign-archive.com/?u=4095fe8e93e66f79fa4625ef7&id=db3f3725d2
ISIS bombing attacks church in Syria - 11 people injured.
Christians are the most persecuted religious group on the planet,
yet there is barely any media coverage on anti-christian hate crimes.
Share if you support Christians living under persecution!
https://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-bombing-syrian-church-wounds-11-13-others-killed-car-bombing-afrin.html
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