CHALLENGED BY ISIS BRUTALITY: SYRIAN MUSLIMS FIND JESUS

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Syrian Christians have shared how they converted from Islam to Christianity after witnessing the brutality of Islamic extremist groups like ISIS, who carried out barbaric acts in the name of Allah.

Members of the recently-established Church of the Brethren in Kobani  — the first local Christian place of worship for decades — shared with NBC News how Christianity appealed to them after living under Sharia law.

‘Christianity was the religion I was searching for’ said Farhad Jasim. Farhad, 23, who works as a mechanic, converted to Christianity late last year. He told NBC he was jailed by ISIS for six months in early 2016 after the militants discovered he didn’t know the basics of Islam. During his time in captivity, he was tortured and forced to read the Quran.

“After I witnessed their brutality with my own eyes, I started to be sceptical about my belief,” Jasim said.

After hearing about the Church of the Brethren, which opened in September and is part of a denomination that dates back to 18th-century Germany, Jasim decided to visit: “It didn’t take me long to discover that Christianity was the religion I was searching for,” he said.

Jasim told the outlet his family has rejected him because of his newfound faith and expressed hope that one day, his loved ones will not only forgive him but embrace Christianity, too.

“If ISIS represents Islam, I don’t want to be a Muslim anymore,” he said. “Their God is not my God.”

Firas, a 47-year-old farmer, told NBC he converted to Christianity after living under ISIS for two years. He recalled how militants would terrorise anyone who didn’t adhere to their particular brand of Islam.

“I saw men and young teenagers being whipped on the streets because they were caught smoking. I saw dead bodies of young men being thrown from high buildings for being gay,” Firas said. “This was their Islam.”

“If heaven is made for ISIS and their belief, I would choose hell for myself instead of being again with them in the same place, even if it’s paradise,” he added.

While ISIS was driven out of the city, located along the Syrian-Turkish border, over four years ago, converting to Christianity remains taboo  — and even dangerous — in the Muslim-majority region. Persecution watchdog Open Doors notes that even in more secure parts of Syria, Christians who have converted from Islam face pressure and discrimination from their communities. Kobani is home to about 300 Christians, according to estimates.

Omar, 38, who serves as church administrator, said that even before ISIS overtook the region, it was strictly forbidden to change religion from Islam to Christianity. But under ISIS, converting to Christianity “wasn’t even imaginable,” he said, adding: “ISIS would kill you immediately.”

“Most of the brothers here converted or come to church as a result of what ISIS did to them and to their families,” he said. “No one is forced to convert. Our weapon is prayer, the spreading of the spirit of love, brotherhood and tolerance.”

The story of Farhad reminds me of the Muslim taxi driver I met recently when I took a taxi from my home to Sydney, (Australia) airport.

When I got into the taxi, I noticed that the mandatory photo, driver’s name and taxi registration number was not on the front windscreen. A proverbial “red flag” went up and I felt led by the Lord to ask the driver his name. The way I said it was “my name is Ron, what is yours?” It was obvious from his response, he did not want to tell me. I persisted and he eventually blurted out. “it’s Mohammed and I am ashamed to be a Muslim.”

Woops! “Why is that Mohammed?” I said. He asked me if I had seen this picture. He could not get the image out of his mind and the thought that Allah would want these 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians beheaded because they would not renounce Jesus. I felt led to respond with, “You know what Mohammed, God calls us to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbour as our self.” I then put my hand on his shoulder and said, “God calls me to love you Mohammed”. Well, I almost didn’t get to the airport. Mohamed cried out “That’s it! That’s it! and we almost mounted the footpath. It was like the light went on for Mohammed, this is the God I want to serve. When we got to the airport, Mohammed did not want me to go so I gave him my business card and told him to contact me when he was next in the area where I live.

How many other Muslims must be wrestling with the same issues about a god of death, definitely not a god of love.

CHURCH AS GOD INTENDED

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Great teaching on the church by Francis Chan and David Platt. It’s a short video, under 5 minutes. Church is all about making disciples. Go to this website for further great teaching on church – http://www.multiplymovemet.com

POPE CELEBRATES MASS WITH CATHOLICS AND MUSLIMS

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Tens of thousands of Catholics and several thousand Muslims attended an unprecedented public celebration of Mass on Tuesday by Pope Francis, the first pontiff in history to visit the Arabian peninsula.

About 135,000 worshippers gathered in Zayed Sports City stadium in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to see the pope, who is in the Gulf Arab country to promote inter-faith dialog.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to hold a mass at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Catholics from about 100 nations were expected to attend the Mass, along with about 4,000 Muslims, including government officials, organisers said. We should not be surprised as the pope has said many times that all major religions are meeting God in different ways – apostasy of the first order. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” John 14:6.

The pope, who arrived on Sunday at the invitation of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, has used the visit to condemn regional wars, including that in Yemen, and to call for greater cooperation between Christians and Muslims.

Newspapers in Saudi Arabia, where churches are banned, ran pictures of Francis’ meetings with the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince and Dubai’s ruler.

The Pope entered the stadium in a white open top jeep to roars from the crowd. People wearing white baseball caps emblazoned with the visit logo packed the stadium stands and snapped pictures on their smartphones.

The Mass was “a moment of divinity that will stay with me forever,” said Josephine Periera, a 68-year-old retired teacher who had travelled from the Indian Ocean nation of Sri Lanka to attend.

As I have said before this pope could well be the False Prophet the Bible prophesies in the “last days” who will lead millions astray. What is unfolding also fits with an Islamic Antichrist that the False Prophet teams up with; expect him to emerge speaking PEACE.

 

DOES SCRIPTURE REVEAL JESUS WILL RETURN AFTER 2,000 YEARS?

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Another challenging video from Nelson Walters. Using a little used Scripture from Hosea, Chapters 5:14  and 6:3 Know that Nelson is not date setting in this video.

“After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight” Hosea 6:2

“Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2 Peter 3:4

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8

Will Jesus return after 2,000 years? You review the Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to give you revelation.

 

Donald Trump: All Children—Born and Unborn—Are Made in the Holy Image of God

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President Donald Trump affirmed pro-life position during his State of the Union address.

“There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our Nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth,” Trump said.

“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children—born and unborn—are made in the holy image of God,” Trump said.

Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address.

LGBTQ ACTIVISTS AGENDA

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Activists believe that a major oppressor of LGBTQ young people are their parents with Christian moral values. The mere teaching of those values is enough to cause harm to a vulnerable LGBTQ child and therefore ought to be stopped. So “conversion therapy” really comes to mean anything less than positive affirmation of a child’s felt gender identity of sexual orientation at any given time. It could become “conversion therapy” to affirm your male child as a boy if he feels like he might be a girl after speaking with the school counsellor. It could become “conversion therapy” to uphold a Biblical sexual ethic in the family home. Same goes for Christian schools, everybody including our Prime Minister and many Christians agreed that legislation needs to be reformed to prevent gay students being expelled from religious schools. However, the dark side of this legislation is that it would make it impossible for Christian schools to uphold a Biblical sexual ethic in the conduct of their staff and student body.

The laws which enshrine the outlawing of conversion therapy are nothing less than an excuse for the long arm of the government to reach into homes and label Christian parents “domestic and psychological abusers” (words taken from the Australian Labour Party’s conversion therapy policy).

They would also prevent pastors, counsellors, and other Christian professionals from teaching the truth that change comes through Christ; the very gospel itself. This is perhaps one of the most insidious political agendas at work today, and yet it presents as totally compassionate.

It is no wonder that Solomon later wrote: Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. [Prov 4:7] Let us be those who are wise, understanding the times in which we live, and discerning what is right and what is wrong in the agendas that are pushed all around us.

Hebrews 5 calls us to become “those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

“In the last days they will call evil good and good evil”.

POWER OF PRAYER & FASTING

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Every pastor needs to see this video. Four cities where Satan had control of its citizens, sin and lawlessness abounded. In every case, it took one or two, usually pastors coming into the city who realised that they could do nothing to change the situation and that unless God turned up nothing would change. Desperate prayer and fasting followed. God made His presence known and with faith and persistence transformation took place. In many cases at great cost, even martyrdom, but God was responsible for the transformation and He certainly gets the glory. You will be blessed and hopefully challenged by this God inspired video.

ISLAM IN END TIMES PROPHECY

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This video covers probably two of the most important problems that surface with regard to “end times” eschatology. 1. Daniel 9:26 “and the “people of the prince to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”. 2. From which people group will the Antichrist emerge.

Joel then gives a good option for Mystery Babylon but he is certainly not dogmatic in his finding. He leaves it up to us, to search the scriptures and come to a conclusion.

Want to know more about these cities Mecca, Sheba and Dedan, Edom, Kenan, Bozra, Petra, and where they fit in “end times” the you need to watch this important video. Another great contribution from Joel Richardson.

Take a look at http://www.powerpointsermons.net to download the Power Point sermon “Islamic Antichrist“.

TIMING OF GOD’S WRATH ON THE EARTH

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Abbreviated version of Alan Kurschner’s (Eschatos Ministries) article: Revelation 6:16–17 Is NOT a ‘Summary Statement’ of God’s Wrath

KEY VERSE: “They said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?’” Rev 6:16–17

It is the wicked who are exclaiming this! They are running to the caves during the sixth seal—not because the wrath of God is in the past—but because they realise that the day of the Lord is about to come upon them. This suddenness of the day of the Lord is consistent with the apostle Paul’s teaching regarding how the day of the Lord will come upon the wicked: “sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!” 1 Thess 5:3

The sixth seal, the context of Rev 6:16–17 is drawing from Joel 2:31 “The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the colour of blood, before the day of the LORD comes– that great and terrible day!” Joel 2:31 

Jesus’s teaches in Matthew 24 that the wrath of God begins when he returns to raise the saints from the dead and rapture the saints still alive, God separates the righteous and the wicked. This is when Jesus says the celestial disturbances will happen just before the wrath is poured out on the wicked (Matt 24:29–31; cf. Luke 21:25–28).  

The fifth seal martyrs cry out to God asking when the wrath of God will begin: “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” (Rev 6:10). Their heavenly answer to them is to wait for the wrath “a little longer” (Rev 6:11). In other words, it is still in the future. . The martyrs understand that they were not killed because of God’s wrath. And they understand that God will pour out his wrath in the near future. They receive their new resurrected bodies depicted in Rev 7

Between the sixth seal and the seventh seal there are two groups of people being delivered (resurrected and raptured saints). Why would they be delivered at a point after God’s wrath? Rather, they are being delivered from what is about to occur when the seventh seal is opened and the trumpet is sounded which introduces the trumpets and bowls of God’s wrath.

 

 

THE TIMING OF JESUS RETURN

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Another great video from Nelson on the timing of Jesus return. He brings to light what are new Scriptures for me, which throw light on the amazing depth in the Scriptures for those prepared to spend time in them. The Holy Spirit will always reveal more to those who will be Bereans and search the Scriptures. Definitely not date setting.

I am so grateful Nelson agreed to be on the Board of PPS http://www.powerpointsermons.net. Go there to find power point sermons based on Nelson’s books and more videos by Nelson on specific topics. We are in the process of putting Nelson’s new End Times Series up on the website.