10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ESTABLISHING A HOUSE CHURCH

Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh was convicted by an Iranian Court May 2017 to 10 years in prison on charges of “acting against national security through the formation and establishment of an illegal church organization in his home,” according to the Jubilee Campaign.

He has been in the notorious Evin Prison since January 2018 and had appealed his detainment and conviction, which was rejected.

Nasser has written open letters to the Iranian authorities, questioning his conviction.

“Would it even be possible for a committed Christian — who was born and raised in Iran and whose forefathers lived in this land for thousands of years, and who is a servant to the God who has called him to a ministry of reconciliation — to act against the national security of his own country?” he wrote in August 2018, according to World Watch Monitor.

“As the charges against me in my indictment states: ‘Action against national security through establishment of house churches,’ is the fellowship of a few Christian brothers and sisters in someone’s home, singing worship songs, reading the Bible and worshiping God acting against national security?” he continued.

“Isn’t it a clear violation of civil and human rights, and an absolute injustice, to receive [a] 10-year prison sentence just for organizing ‘house churches,’ which is a sanctuary sanctified as a place to praise and worship God due to closure of churches in Iran?”

Fortunately, Jesus told us that persecution of His children, Christians will increase in the “last days” before His return. Satan knows His end is near and is doing His utmost to take as many of the people God created in His image down with him. Note the strong warnings in the following Jesus prophecy, but also, that only when the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is proclaimed to all the world then the end will come. The Saints are taken up to heaven and then the wrath of God is poured out on an unrepentant world.

Only a Christian who knows his salvation is assured can smile and declare “I’m proud to be a Christian” before being put to death

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14

AROMA OF LIFE OR AROMA OF DEATH

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For to God we are the fragrance (the sweet smell) of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life and who is sufficient for these things?’ 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

As we go about our daily business, walking in the works God has prepared for us, The Holy Spirit is with us and, if we seek and ask, He will be answering our prayers. Read the scripture again He is always leading us in triumph. This should be our experience and if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us the aroma of Christ is being diffused, released around us.  We may not be aware, but others pick up the scent for life or for death.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesian 5:2 or Philip 4:18

As we approach the time spoken of by Jesus in answer to the the disciples question: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?Matthew 24:3, we know from His response that in the “last days” the world by and large has turned away from God and therefore we are the aroma of death leading to death to them.

Is it any wonder then that Jesus tells us that Christians living at that time will experience intense persecution.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.Matthew 24:9-12

Make sure you are one of the faithful: “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13

DECEPTION IN THE LAST DAYS

Darkness will cover the earth. We now live in a world that largely denies God’s existence and His ability to judge us. A world that is under the control of Satan. Jesus acknowledged His current sovereignty over this word. Just as the first man, Adam, rebelled against God, the Bible reveals that Satan an angelic being (created by God to serve Him in the heavenly dimension but able to impact and even manifest in our earthly dimension) rebelled against God wanting to be God. We are told that one-third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion and are now demons taking part in Satan’s demonic plan to subvert God’s redemptive plan.

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

A world that denies the true history of this world including the worldwide flood of Noah’s day when God judged and destroyed mankind and the animals except those on Noah’s Ark just 4000 years ago. Probably, the greatest lie that Satan has got the world to believe is the evolutionary origins of this universe.

The world also largely denies God ever established a nation to represent Him on this earth and from whom would come the redeemer, the one who can save mankind from sin, man’s rebellion against their Creator. The true history of this world from its beginning to its prophesied end has been given to us by God Himself through the prophets. Fulfilled prophecies already prove the Bible is God’s Word. Jesus came into His world and changed history forever. It is 2020 because God ensured this event could not be denied. When the resurrected Jesus departed this world He said He would return to the same place where He left it, Jerusalem. Extensive details of His second coming were revealed to the O.T. prophets and to the N.T. apostles particularly John in the book of Revelation. There are more prophecies about Jesus’ second coming to earth than there were about His first coming and there were plenty of those.

Christians we need to start living eternally now, ready for Jesus’ return. We can use the coming prophesied events to prepare the church for the coming tribulation and also for what I call apocalyptic evangelism.

available as an eBook on Amazon and from me ron@bakb.com.au in trade paperback format. Anyone who makes a donation of $20.00 will receive a book delivered anywhere in the world. You will need to email me your address.

WHAT IS EMPOWERING THESE ACTIVISTS?

November 6, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Last week, Jonathon Van Maren wrote a column on the public shaming of feminist Meghan Murphy. He wrote:

“The shouting crowd outside the Toronto Public Library made me nervous because of the sheer rage on the faces of those shouting for the head of a feminist woman who has been on board with every manifestation of the Sexual Revolution except the most recent one, the idea that biological men can become biological women.”

Image result for picture of LGBT crowd outside Toronto library

He asks the question: Why are LGBT activists so aggressive? Why the rage? His response is enlightening and should give us all cause for alarm.

“There are probably multiple answers to that question, but one in particular explains why there will never be any peaceable compromise that lets us get on with things and ignore each other: Envy. 

They are not going to let us have our schools, our beautiful children and our happy communities while they suffer. Look at their faces as they protest—these are not happy people, and they do not want us to be happy, either. 

Envy is one of the most potent forms of hatred, and they’re going to come after us with a vengeance. Even as the trans experiment comes crashing down around our ears and children find themselves infertile and impotent before even coming of age, we will be blamed for their misery. It will not be the revolutionaries, it will be the “transphobic” religious who get the blame.

I will admit that I fear their rage because I do not think we can compete with it. We have too many things that make us happy to be so angry. We cannot sustain that level of fury because we have too much to lose, and in most cases, our communities have not even recognized the threat that this movement poses, not really. 

We pretend we do, but we do very little. We think we can carry on accumulating wealth, enjoying our families, and going to church as if the entire world is not changing around us and as if the ground is not shifting beneath our feet. So ask yourself this: Could you have imagined, just a few years ago, that this would be happening? And if this is what they accomplished in such a short amount of time, what do you think they can accomplish in the next ten years?”

Think about it. Really think about it. Because this is your family, your church, and your children on the line. You may want to ignore them, but I promise you that these activists will not be ignoring you.