Chart of the Large-cap US Technology Companies. Why is it up 36% in the last two months?
Christian DeHaemer is the founder of Bull and Bust Report and an editor at Energy and Capital. Christian says he has no idea. As he explains, rational thoughts no longer apply. There was a time when creating money out of thin air was bad, much less creating $6 trillion or 25% of GDP.
There was a time when 30 million unemployed was bad. One might think a new cold war with your largest trading partner, China, might be bad for stocks. Not to mention, a hundred thousand new dead bodies packing the morgues. But no, it appears that these things are good for stocks. Our thinking has been all wrong. It seems we need more broken stuff and more money printing. Forgive all the student debt. Bailout the universities. Give $2,000 a month to all the folks. A trillion for the airlines –– billions for Ford, Hudson, and Studebaker –– more for Carnival Cruise Lines and Blackrock. Bailout Chicago, Detroit, and West Cucamonga. Heck, all those municipal employees are good hard-working people. People like money and the Fed can just print it! Let’s give the people what they want. It will be fine…
Christian is right rational thought no longer applies and commonsense tells you the outcome can’t be good. More government control is certain and no longer is the prophesied end times, “Mark of the Beast” fanciful.
As seen in the graphic, we can see several important geographical features, including the Mount of Olives, the traditional Temple Mount, the Kidron Valley, the Central Valley, the Gihon Spring, and the current site for the city of David. Below is additional information on each of these locations:
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge on the east side of the city of Jerusalem. At one point, it had olive trees covering its slopes. Today there is a Jewish cemetery with approximately 150,000 graves. This mountain ridge was a significant location during Yahshua’s ministry. It was the place where He delivered His Olivet Prophecy and where He retreated hours before His death, i.e., the Garden of Gethsemane.
The traditional Temple Mount is where many believe the Jewish temple once stood. Again, Muslims call this place the Haram esh-Sharif, translated as, “the Noble Sanctuary.” Both the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, and the Dome of the Rock reside on the traditional Temple Mount.
The Kidron Valley separates Jerusalem, including the city of David and the traditional Temple Mount, from the Mount of Olives. This valley continues east through the Judean Desert and toward the Dead Sea.
The Central Valley, also called the Tyropoeon Valley and the Valley of the Cheesemakers, is a rugged ravine on the west side of the City of David or the ancient city of Jerusalem and marks its western boundary, as the Kidron Valley does on the east.
The Gihon Spring is along the Kidron Valley near the ancient City of David. The name “Gihon” comes from the Hebrew gihu, meaning, “gushing forth.” It is one of the world’s largest intermittent springs and made life possible for ancient Jerusalem. While the water from the spring was used for irrigation in the Kidron, it was also central to temple worship. We will explore the Gihon further in this article.
The City of David is the location for the ancient Jebusite City that David conquered and renamed to the City of David or Jerusalem. It is approximately 12 acres in size. It begins at the Millo (i.e., a ravine that separated the City of David from the Ophel, which Solomon filled in during his reign) and extends southward.
Today the City of David is an Israeli national park and a major archaeological site. Archaeologists have discovered many subterranean tunnels, reservoirs, and possibly an ancient room that was used for animal sacrifices. Also discovered underneath the City of David is Hezekiah’s tunnel and the Gihon Spring. On the southwest side of the city is the Pool of Siloam.
City of the David = Zion
We begin our investigation for the real temple mount by turning to the Bible. As with so many other truths, Yahweh’s Word holds the key in unlocking the truth as to where the original temple stood. Following is a compilation of Scripture confirming that the city of David and Mount Zion (i.e., the location of the temple) are synonymous: “Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David,” 2 Samuel 5:7.
This passage clearly states that Zion and the city of David are the same. This point is critically important, as Scripture also shows that Mount Zion was the location of the temple.
“And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David,” 1Chronicles 11:5.
As noted in the previous passage, 1 Chronicles 11 confirms that Zion is also the city of David. The word “castle” here comes from the Hebrew matsuwd and refers to a place of defence. Because Jebus was located between the Kidron and Central valleys, it was a well defensible area.
“In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion,” Psalm 76:2.
The word “Salem” derives from the Hebrew shalem. Strong’s states that this word is “an early name of Jerusalem.” This passage is critically important, as it shows a connection between the ancient city of David, the temple, and Zion and offers indisputable evidence for the temple being located within ancient Jerusalem and not on the Haram esh-Sharif.
Remember that the old City of David only included the 12-acre plot of land between the Kidron and Central valleys. It did not include the 36-acre Temple Mount located a third of a mile north. The current Temple Mount platform was developed much later.
Using only the Bible as a roadmap and knowing the location for the ancient city of David, a strong case can be made for the temple being located within the City of David and not on today’s Temple Mount. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
The Akra, Millo, and Ophel
When it comes to the location of the temple, there are three terms to understand – the Akra, Millo, and Ophel. The Akra was another name of the City of David. The Millo was a ravine that King Solomon filled in. And the Ophel is where the temple was originally located.
In 2 Samuel 5:9 we find a description of the boundaries of ancient Jerusalem during the reign of King David: “So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.”
The word “fort” refers to the impregnability of the City of David. This was due to its location between the Kidron and Tyropoeon valleys. We see that David built his city from the Millo inward. Tis ravine separated ancient Jerusalem from the Ophel.
Scripture records that Solomon later filled in this ravine: “And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father,” 1Kings 11:27.
The word “repaired” here comes from the Hebrew cagar and is a primitive root meaning, “to shut up,” Strong’s. By filling in the Millo, Solomon shut up the ravine known as Millo. In doing so, he also connected the City of David with the Ophel.
This is why Psalms 122:3 describes Jerusalem as a city “compact together.” The word “compact” comes from the Hebrew chabar and according to Strong’s means to “join.” When Solomon filled in the Millo, he enlarged the City of David by joining it with the Ophel.
Now what connection do the Millo and Ophel have to the temple? According to 1 Maccabees 13:52 the Ophel is the location of the temple. The KJV with Apocrypha reads, “…Moreover the hill of the temple that was by the tower he made stronger than it was, and there he dwelt himself with his company.” As a secondary reference, the Catholic Study Bible states, “…He also strengthened the fortifications of the temple mount alongside the citadel, and he and his people dwelt there.”
Even though Maccabees is not considered inspired or part of the canon of Scripture, it still offers invaluable historical insight during the time of the Maccabees and Hasmoneans.
As seen in the above citation, the biblical temple mount or “temple hill” was located alongside the tower or citadel. As 2 Samuel 5:9 shows, the “fort” or “citadel” refers to the City of David: “So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David….”
This provides conclusive evidence for the temple being located on the Ophel and alongside the City of David. This also places the biblical temple mount approximately a third of a mile south from the traditional Temple Mount.
I will do another post on the Old City of David as it is an important end times sign.
Darrin Patrick, a megachurch pastor, author and speaker, has died. He died of what appears to be a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” according to a statement from the church. No official cause of death has been released.
Sadly this is not the first, I know of four in the past two years. Jarrid Wilson at 30 years of age was probably the most tragic. One has to ask what is the reason for this large number of suicides. Read what Darrin Patrick had to say about celebrity pastors -” It was recipe for disaster“.
Patrick had been a rising star among Reformed evangelical circles and was serving as vice president of the Acts 29 church planting network. He was fired from Journey for what church elders called misconduct including “inappropriate meetings, conversations, and phone calls with two women” and an abuse of power.
Patrick talked about losing his church in a podcast interview that was published this week. He talked about being part of a group of young pastors who became celebrities with book deals, speaking gigs, fame and money but little spiritual maturity.
“It was a recipe for disaster,”he said.
Patrick said his early success led to an obsession with keeping up his image rather than his soul.“I was spending a lot of energy creating and sustaining my image,” he told podcast host Charles Smith. “It’s so subtle; I am trying to influence people for the gospel—you have to have a social media presence, you have to speak at conferences.”
Patrick said he eventually became isolated from many of his friends when he was pastoring Journey Church. “I stopped pursuing friendships,” he said. “Another way to say that, I stopped being known. And that was the beginning of the end.”
David Beasley is the executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, and he recently stated that we are heading directly into “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two.” Hunger is rapidly rising all over the globe, and he believes that if dramatic intervention does not happen quickly we could see an astounding death toll.
According to Beasley, we could soon see 300,000 people around the world starve to death every single day, and that figure doesn’t even factor in the effect of this coronavirus pandemic:
“If we can’t reach these people with the life-saving assistance they need, our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period,” he upheld. “This does not include the increase of starvation due to COVID-19.
Even before COVID-19 became the biggest public health crisis to hit the globe in decades, enormous swarms of locusts the size of major cities were devouring crops throughout eastern Africa, across the Middle East and even in some parts of Asia. Now a new generation that officials are describing as “20 times bigger” has emerged, and the devastation that this new generation of locusts is causing is extremely alarming. These colossal locust swarms can travel up to 90 miles a day, and as you will see below, when they descend upon a field they can literally eat everything there in as little as 30 seconds. This new generation of locusts has been spotted as far south as Congo, as far north as Iran and as far east as India. In other words, the food supplies of billions of people are at risk.
In addition, another plague of “biblical proportions” has been killing off pigs in unprecedented numbers.
It is hard to believe that African Swine Fever has already killed off half the pigs in China and one-fourth of all the pigs in the entire world but this quote comes directly from New Scientist:
“A quarter of the world’s domestic pigs have died this year as a virus rampages across Eurasia, and that may be just the start. Half the pigs in China – which last year numbered 440 million, some 50 percent of the world’s pigs – have either died of African swine fever (ASF) or been killed to stamp out the virus.
ASF comes from East Africa. In 2007, it reached Georgia in the Caucasus in contaminated meat, and in infected wild boar. Now, it is all over Russia and eastern Europe and infected wild boar have turned up as far west as Belgium. It is also spreading in east Asia, killing many pigs in Vietnam and elsewhere.”
Never before have we seen so many catastrophic threats to the global food supply emerge at the same time. It appears that “the perfect storm” is now upon us, and I anticipate that global events will continue to accelerate in the months ahead.
Even in the West, in countries where famine is inconceivable, we are seeing reports that are of concern: Farmers all over America are seeing their hard work go to waste because broken supply chains have made it impossible to sell what they have produced. One industry expert is actually claiming that “billions” of dollars worth of crops have gone to waste as a result of this crisis:
Crops planted months before based on pre-pandemic demand spoiled without buyers. Billions of dollars’ worth of produce went to waste, much of it tilled back into the soil, said Cathy Burns, CEO of the Produce Marketing Assn., which represents produce companies. She said, I have a feeling that eventually we will greatly regret allowing so much good food to go to waste.
Australia, which made a rare purchase of Canadian wheat in the current marketing year, is expected to continue buying more wheat in the 2019-20 marketing year (October-September), as weather conditions remain difficult in key states, market analysts say.
Before and after fire devastation in Australia
Australia’s wheat output dropped 45.6% to 17.3 million mt in the 2018-19 marketing year from a record high of 31.8 million mt in 2016-17, owing to prolonged drought conditions, data from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics shows. This forced the country to import wheat for the first time in 12 years.
We still have quite a way to go before we get to the type of famines described in the Scriptures, but it certainly looks like the stage is being set for severe hunger on a global scale.
But Jesus didn’t warn us about these things so that we would live in fear. God knew about all of this in advance, He is in control and He has a plan.
Unfortunately, most of the world doesn’t want anything to do with the God of the Bible or His plan, and so they will be facing what is to come all by themselves. What about you and your church group?
God wants to involve you in getting the good news of the Gospel to your immediate family, friends and certainly your workplace, maybe even beyond. Are you spending time in the Word and prayer. Scripture clearly tells us, He is at the door knocking, will you let Him in and allow Him to reveal what it is He would like to involve you in, to achieve His plan?
The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. In 1988, the law was unanimously amended by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Thursday, May 5, 1988, designating the first Thursday of May as a day of national prayer. Every president since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.
The President and the First Lady pray for the Nation on National Day of Prayer
“On this National Day of Prayer, America is engaged in a fierce battle against a terrible disease,” Trump said. “In times of challenge, our people have always called upon the gift of faith, the power of prayer, and the eternal glory of God. I ask all Americans to join their voices on their hearts in spiritual union as we ask our Lord in heaven for strength and solace, for courage and comfort, for hope and healing, for recovery and renewal.”
“In recent days and weeks, our country has endured great, great hardship,” the President continued. We pray for every family stricken with grief and devastated with loss. We pray for the scientists and researchers pioneering treatments that they find therapies and vaccines and that they find them soon. We pray for the frontline workers keeping our nation fed.”
Trump also referred to Zephaniah 3:17 found in the Bible’s Old Testament.
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
“We have seen the grace of God through the love and devotion of our fellow citizens as scripture assures us the Lord our God is a mighty one who will save,” Trump said. “And I think it’s so true. Think of that. The Lord your God is in your midst. A mighty one who will save.”
Recognised by the President on the second anniversary of her “Be Best” initiative, Mrs. Trump presented her own special prayer during the event.
“On this National Day of Prayer, let us take a moment to express our deepest sympathies to the families of those who have lost their loved ones to COVID-19,” the first lady said. “Let us pray for the ill, the ones who are suffering, and those who are serving on the front lines.”
“When evil darkens our world, give us light,” Mrs. Trump prayed. “When despair numbs our souls, give us hope. When we stumble and fall, lift us up. When doubt assails us, give us faith. When nothing seems sure, give us trust. When ideals fade, give us vision. When we lose our way, be our guide. That we may find serenity in your presence and purpose in doing your will. Amen.”
Pence and his wife Karen opened the National Day of Prayer ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. The vice president spoke about how prayer has always been an important part of their family life.
What a blessing it is for the USA to have a President, Vice President and their wives praying for the nation. Pray they will be bold and courageous and take action against those things that God abhors – abortion, gay marriage and the transgender movement.
Jesus is the only way to heaven, hell is a real destination for those that don’t trust in Him,. How many people do you interact with every month that are on the road to eternal separation from God in Hell?
The existence of Hell is a painful, uncomfortable, but honest truth. So, here’s the million dollar question: what are we doing about it? What are we willing to do about it?
Who in your family and what friends will not join you in the first resurrection? It takes place when Jesus returns to rapture, first those dead in Christ, and then those Saints still living. At this time, we receive bodies capable of living eternally.
Remember unbelievers souls remain in Hades for a thousand years before they are raised for judgement at the White Throne Judgement. Following which they are cast into the Lake of Fire which is the second death.
Death and Hades delivered up the dead that were in them. And they were judged each one according to his works.” Revelation 20:13
“Then Death and Hadeswere cast into the lake of fire. This is thesecond death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.Revelation 20:14
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Jesus is the only way to God, Jesus is God, if you believe in Jesus you shall not perish. But if you don’t place your trust in Jesus, then you will perish. Jesus talks about this eternal perishing as second death in the Lake of Fire.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.
“The truly righteous man attains life, but He who pursues evil goes to his death.” Proverbs 11:19
“Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14
Jesus said, “ “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
That’s why the resurrection of Jesus is so central. He performed miracle after miracle, proving he was divine, including the ultimate miracle, when he rose from the dead, validating every exclusive claim he made about himself. So, when other religions honour Jesus as a prophet or a good teacher, but not the Son of God, they are not placing their trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, and Jesus himself said he’s the only way to heaven.
Sadly, because the Bible is no longer believed to be the inerrant word of God, largely due to the acceptance of evolution by Bible Colleges and some denominations such as the Catholics and Anglicans, the creation story in Genesis is no longer believed as true history. Once the foundational book of the Bible was toppled other truths such as Jesus is the only way to God went as well, certainly with the Catholics.
Can I suggest you connect with http://www.creation.com to get equipped to witness to your family and friends, to defend your faith, and deliver the gospel message in a compelling way to those that have swallowed the lie of evolution and billions of years and therefore jettisoned God’s Word.
Having pointed out in previous posts all of Trump’s impressive accomplishments. As well, I emphasised that the whole impeachment process was nothing but a cheap political sham. However, I now I feel I must add some critical comments that I think Trump well deserves.
Proverbs 16:18
President Trump is an insufferable egotist who brags ceaselessly about how wonderful and great he is. This is not just an annoying trait. It is a very dangerous one because the Bible makes it clear that God hates pride (Isaiah 2:12, Jeremiah 9:23 and James 4:6). It also teaches that “pride goes before a fall” Another very annoying trait of Trump is his incessant tweets which are often crude and rude and even vulgar. Even worse is the fact that most of them are vicious personal attacks full of reckless, juvenile name-calling. This points to one of Trump’s greatest weaknesses — namely, when criticised, he responds to the critic and not to the criticism. These personal attacks serve to intensify the hatred of him. In many ways, Trump is his own worst enemy. Evangelicals need to face up to President Trump’s very serious character flaws. We need to pray for him to develop some humility, some charity toward his critics, and some oral restraint. And the inner circle of Christian advisers who have access to Trump need to have the courage to confront him about his character flaws.
“Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24
When people visit Jerusalem’s Old City, they may believe it’s the same place King David set up as his capital more than 3,000 years ago. But that’s not the case. Archaeologists are uncovering the original city and telling others its amazing story.
As seen in the graphic, we can see several important geographical features, including the Mount of Olives, the traditional Temple Mount, the Kidron Valley, the Central Valley, the Gihon Spring, and the current site for the city of David.
Anarina Heymann serves as the outreach coordinator for the City of David.
“Welcome to the City of David,” Heymann told CBN News. “It’s the home to the ancient biblical Jerusalem and up until 150 years ago, everybody thought that the ancient biblical Jerusalem lies within the confines of the Old City right behind you in the wall—within the walls there. So the question is, what happened 150 years ago, and where is the ancient biblical Jerusalem?”
She then helped answer that question by explaining how the City of David lay hidden for nearly 2,000 years until a British archaeologist began a discovery that continues to this day.
“Chris, we’re standing at a magical place right now,” Heymann continued. “This is the place when Charles Warren came through the fascia that he found. He saw something. And when Charles Warren saw this, he knew that he rediscovered the ancient biblical Jerusalem.”
Asked if this Warren’s work was the beginning of the unveiling of the City of David in modern times, she responded, “Exactly, because we’re speaking of a 2,000- year period where nobody knew where the ancient city was. Most people thought when they—when they came—that what they saw in the Old City, that was ancient biblical Jerusalem. It’s only when he found this that they discovered … the ancient Jerusalem lies outside of what we call today the Old City.”
The discovery of the tunnel system known as Warren’s Shaft visually tells how King David captured the city and brings the Bible to life.
“When we saw this, we suddenly saw exactly how the picture came together,” Heymann continued. “And many times when we do excavations, we also don’t know what we’re looking at and then we have to go to the Bible and that starts explaining it. So it’s the Bible and then the excavations and the excavations and the Bible coming together, giving us the full picture of ancient Jerusalem.”
Anointing Israel’s Kings
Further down, archaeologists found where men became kings.
“Most of the kings of Israel were anointed where we’re standing right now. We are standing at the place of anointing. And Isaiah says you will draw forth water with joy from the springs of salvation,” she said.
In fact, the City of David echoes with the people of the Bible.
“Abraham, when he met Melchizedek, but then we get to David, to Solomon, we get to Isaiah when he was giving his prophecies on these very walls here,” she said. “Jeremiah, afterwards, when he had to speak about the destruction that was looming over Jerusalem … all those things happening exactly where we’re standing right now.”
More than 10 years ago, archaeologists uncovered another biblical site, the Pool of Siloam, which was fed by the nearby Gihon Spring. It’s the place where Jesus healed the blind man and also where the Jewish people would gather for the Feasts of the Lord.
“Three times a year, all the men had to come to the mikvah [ritual bath] in the pool and from there get ready to go to Temple Mount and this is the walk, the final ascent, that all the pilgrims can do again when they come to Jerusalem,” she explained.
Heymann sees this final ascent as a merger between archaeology and prophecy.
Opening a Door to the Future
“Something amazing is happening because you see that we are now excavating this road and again prophecy is being fulfilled because it says in Isaiah ‘build up, build up the road,’ the highway. And it says remove the stones for my people’s return,” she said.
One ongoing excavation is the tunnel leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. Heymann says it reveals the past and opens a door to the future.
One of the City of David’s most ambitious projects is an excavation called the Givati, where the entire history of Jerusalem is being revealed as if the rocks are crying out.
“You can see exactly how she [Jerusalem)] slowly disappeared from civilisation because one city was built upon the other, and you could see how probably the city could have lost hope, thinking ‘Who’s ever going to discover me again? Until God says, but in a time of favour, nothing can stop it and that’s what we see in Givati. Jerusalem is slowly being revealed,” she said.
She sees prophecy unfolding.
“We’re starting to see in the last decade, the blueprint. She’s starting to share what she looked like to us again. So you can see how prophecy is speeding up as we go. It’s said [Hebrew] ‘shake off your dust, arise, take your rightful place, Jerusalem.’ If you see the excavations here on a daily basis, you can see the buckets flying. You can see the dust literally flying about, how she’s shaking off her dust.”
Heymann considers her role in the City of David a privilege.
“I call myself the luckiest person in the world—the luckiest girl in the world—because I have the opportunity to take what we see here and tell the people about the City of David, about the ancient Jerusalem, and every person that is passionate about Jerusalem and serious about biblical prophecy needs to know this,” she said.
Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved
While Samaritan’s Purse has treated hundreds of COVID-19 patients at its field hospital in Central Park, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson demanded that the Christian charity leave the city over its biblical views on homosexuality.
“It is time for Samaritan’s Purse to leave New York City. This group, led by the notoriously bigoted, hate-spewing Franklin Graham, came at a time when our city couldn’t in good conscience turn away any offer of help. That time has passed,” Johnson wrote on Twitter Saturday. “Their continued presence here is an affront to our values of inclusion, and is painful for all New Yorkers who care deeply about the LGBTQ community.”
State Senator Brad Hoylman (openly gay member of the State Senate), who represents the district where Beth Israel is located said in a press release Friday: “It was bad enough that Donald Trump’s failure to prepare the nation for this pandemic forced New York to accept charity from a bigot like Franklin Graham. Inviting Graham to stay on longer is an insult to LGBTQ New Yorkers and sends the dangerous message that homophobia and transphobia are acceptable.”
Hoylman said. “On behalf of the LGBTQ community I represent, I demand they end their association with Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s Purse, or risk further reputational harm with LGBTQ New Yorkers and the wider public.”
Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, the undergraduate arm of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, responded to Johnson’s tweets and argued that Christians are the ones being discriminated against.
“This open hostility to Christianity is breathtaking. Christians have always believed that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that all sexual relations outside marriage are by definition immoral, It’s not a particularly popular point of view in the secular West, but it is what all faithful Christians everywhere throughout the 2,000-year history of the church have always believed. This is nothing new.
“What is new is the notion that real live Christians are unwelcome to live and work and practice their faith in New York. That is an innovation of recent vintage and is nothing more than unvarnished animus—invidious discrimination. If Christians are not allowed to practice their faith in NYC, rest assured that it is only a matter of time before they won’t be allowed to practice it anywhere in the U.S.”
Hormoz Shariat, president and founder of Iran Alive Ministries says, “Christianity has more credibility and respect among a large number of Muslims than Islam itself”. “Iranian Muslims used to say, ‘Islam is good, and it’s just the government that has a problem.’ No, Iran has passed that point. It has come to the point that many say, ‘Islam has major flaws and problems itself.’ People are fed up with the hypocrisy of what Islam has done to this society. And every time things happen [in the news], another layer of the veil of Islam is removed. People look at what Islam is, and a greater number of people will be abandoning Islam and coming to Christ.”
Shariat told Charisma Magazine, one Iranian Christian called to tell him that he got arrested after starting house churches. He had to seek medical treatment for the beatings he received. But the man told Shariat, “Pastor, do not give up. Don’t worry about us. I had the honour of being tortured for Christ. Do you remember Psalm 23? I had the honour of experiencing that verse in the torture chamber. How can you experience that if your enemies are not there? My enemies are there, but my sweet Jesus was there also.”
Shariat has spoken to many Muslims through his work with Iran Alive Ministries and says many of them are frustrated with Islam. Mosques across Iran are reportedly emptying.
VISIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS
Iranians’ increasing rejection of Islam has made them more open to other religions, including Christianity. And Jesus is utilizing supernatural means to reach some of these former Muslims, sources tell Charisma.
Though many American Christians don’t believe Jesus physically appears to people anymore, Joel Richardson, who co-produced Sheep Among Wolves, Volume II, describes a recurring phenomenon in the Middle East that challenges that belief. Multiple people describe remarkably similar encounters in which a “man in white,” identified by many as Jesus, appears to them.
While interviewing a woman from Afghanistan, Richardson referenced cessationist theology: “John MacArthur, a well-known preacher here in the States, says that Jesus is not really appearing to Muslims. What do you have to say about that?”
The woman responded, “I don’t know who John MacArthur is, but I do know the man in white who has been appearing to Muslims.”
Henry says he’s met many Muslims in Iran who report seeing this “man in white.” He even says one Muslim he met wrote down the entire Gospel of John due to the “man in white” appearing to him and telling him to do so. This Muslim—who lived in a mud hut and had no electricity, gas or phone line—had never even heard of Jesus.
The man told Henry, “A man in white knocks on my door every night. And every time I open the door, I can’t look at his face, but he tells me to write these things down.”
“How long has he been coming?” Henry asked the man, and the man gave him the notebook containing the words he’d been commanded to write. Henry was astonished to discover it was the entire book of John, verbatim. He concluded that Jesus had been visiting the man every night. Eventually, Henry says, the whole city came to Jesus because of this man’s testimony, and he was forced to flee for his life.
Bagheri says these kinds of miraculous visitations by Christ are actually the main way Iranians come to faith.
Hope the trailer inspires you to get both films
DISCIPLESHIP
Richardson says discipleship in Iran is the main reason why their churches are flourishing. That said, the Western model of church—such as the typical Sunday morning services—doesn’t work well in Iran.
“The way that we in the West do church is not always conducive to discipleship,” Richardson says. “In that sense, I would say it’s the focus on Sunday church that can be the problem in the West. ‘Christian’ [in America] is defined by someone who goes to church regularly, whereas biblically, a Christ follower—a Christian—is a disciple; it’s someone who’s actively engaged in an obedience-based relationship.”
Evangelical efforts within Iran are strictly based on reaching individuals, such as family members and close friends, as opposed to large groups. One-on-one evangelism is the safest and most effective model for the Iranian community.”
The leadership is decentralised and it’s distributed. It’s not based around a particular individual or skill set or gifting. It’s built around an Ephesians 4 framework of empowering everyone in the body [of Christ] to be all things to all men with the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit being manifest through all of us. … The entire body of Christ should have the yoke of leadership upon them for disciple-making, for the apostolic, for the prophetic, for the evangelistic, for the pastoral and for the teaching.”
“Virtually every woman in Iran probably has faced some level of sexual harassment or outright rape or abuse, either by bosses or by family members, ” Joel Richardson says. “In a place of profound brokenness in that culture, the Lord is using the most broken. These women—in their healing and their restoration—are among the most deliberate and passionate [evangelists], now that they have been set free from so much of the pain they’ve had to endure.”
Women have not risen to power in the church out of a desire to rebel against authority, according to the documentary. They are gentle and submissive—and willing to risk their lives to obey the Great Commission.
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