END TIMES PROPHECIES BEING FULFILLED IN OUR DAY

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Article in The Weekend Australian (major Australian Newspaper) by Greg Sheridan Foreign Affairs Editor

Christianity and individual Christians are blamed for all Western sins, real and imagined. The West will not survive, as the west, if it abandons its belief in God. But while it’s true that Christianity shaped Western civilisation, Christianity comes from the east. The vast majority of Christians alive today are not in the West. Western chattering classes believe the West is uniquely evil, and that more traditional societies embody superior human wisdom and justice. The woke folk should apply these strictures to themselves. It’s only in the West that atheism is ascendant. Christianity is on fire in Africa and Asia. It is only the West, in its present cultural confusion and distress, that has wandered down this strange atheist cul-de-sac.

In Nigeria, Ondo State governor Rotimi Akeredolu (3rd L) called it a “vile and satanic attack”

On Sunday, June 5, in the little Catholic church of St Francis in the town of Owo, in southwest Nigeria, a crowd gathered for Sunday morning mass. This was the most offensive thing they could do in the eyes of some fellow Nigerians. Gunmen drove up and opened fire, killing 50 worshippers, and injuring many more. Ordinary Nigerian folks, men, women, and children, seeking peace with God and neighbour, just saying their prayers, all slaughtered. The global media is dominated by the West, and the Western media cannot bring itself to regard Christianity, as a sympathetic subject and therefore avoids awarding them victim status wherever it can. Christianity is the most persecuted religion on the planet.

Beijing continues to ratchet up active restrictions on Christians but it has not been successful. In 1949, when the communists took power, there were about 4 million Chinese Christians. Now it’s between 60 and 120 million. For the past decade, Beijing has intensified surveillance and pressure, shutting churches, making it illegal to sell Bibles in non-church bookshops, banning anyone under 18 from attending Christian worship, severely restricting believers’ careers, kidnapping, and imprisoning pastors and subjecting them to psychologically brutal re-education. In the Middle East, the Copts in Egypt, the Maronites in Lebanon, and Christians have been mostly chased out or killed. In many locations, Christian women are subject to sexual assault, forced marriage, and human trafficking.

Thank goodness Jesus told us that persecution/tribulation would be the lot of Christians in the “last days” before His return to earth first to rapture the Saints and then pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant people.

“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.” Matthew 24:9-13

Source: The Weekend Australian

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS ESCALATES

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30 Christians Jailed in India as Persecution Escalates

06/02/2022 India (International Christian Concern) – At least 30 people were imprisoned in India during May because of their faith. According to persecution watchdog, International Christian Concern (ICC), the arrests were justified by filling charges of forced conversion. In one incident a mob of radicals broke into the home of a local pastor, who was praying with his family and beat him before handing him over to police. The police then imprisoned him under the charge of “deliberate and malicious acts against another religion”. Anti-conversion laws, adopted in 11 Indian states, are often used against Christians as it allows authorities to jail them with little regard for due process. “We have arrived at a critical juncture, where practicing faith of our choice is equated as crime and punished accordingly,” a local Christian leader told ICC.

36 Christians Kidnapped in Nigeria’s Kaduna State

07/28/2022 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – On Monday, July 25, an estimated 36 Christians were kidnapped from a village in Nigeria’s Kaduna state. The kidnappers are estimated to be Islamic extremists who performed door-to-door kidnappings in the village.  

An area resident described the kidnappings to Morning Star News. They said, “The Muslim terrorists attacked the community at about 9 p.m., shooting at the people, and broke into their houses and forcefully took away the victims to an unknown place.” 

Hmong Christians Suffering Daily Persecution in Vietnam

07/31/2022 Vietnam (International Christian Concern) – Hmong Christians in the Nghe An province of Vietnam are suffering from severe persecution.  

According to Morning Star News, officials in the province are trying to create “Christian-free zones” where they are able to operate “with no conscience or humanity,” as if the religious freedom violations were occurring a country other than Vietnam, where such acts are not legal.  

Other forms of persecution come from within their own communities. Most Vietnamese follow traditional animist teachings, and many who convert to Christianity from the traditional faith face rejection and even persecution from their family members and communities.  

Additionally, Vietnamese authorities pressure animist relatives of Christian converts to drive Christians from their homes and exile them. The only hope these Christians have of rejoining their communities is if they renounce their new faith.

Christians Prevented from Worshipping in Burkina Faso

7/30/2022 Burkina Faso (International Christian Concern) – According to Aid to the Church in Need International, Catholic churches in Burkina Faso are suffering interference by Islamic groups in the country. In many cases, militants are entering the churches during the service and forcing men and women to sit separately. In other instances, the sermons are being replaced with Islamic sermons. With this being the case, many people in the villages are not receiving proper pastoral care, and the pastoral care that is occurring is only because it is permitted by Islamists.

This recent interference comes on the heels of an attack that killed 20 people on July 3.

Lebanese Christians Concerned Over Political Future

07/30/2022 Lebanon (International Christian Concern) – As Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s six-year term approaches its October 31 close, Christians in Lebanon are concerned for their nation’s future. Lebanon’s historically Christian presidency, an important vestige of the religious community’s declining influence in the country, could worryingly fall to one of four individuals, none of whom are particularly popular with the nation’s Christian community. 

Overall, Christians in Lebanon face an unfortunate political reality. The Christian presidential candidates Aoun, Bassil, and Frangieh are all sympathetic to Hezbollah, and the other likely option to fill the role besides them is the Muslim Prime Minister Mikati. Unfortunately, this conundrum well reflects declining Christian political influence in the state of Lebanon

Cemeteries of Religious Minorities Targeted in Turkey

07/31/2022 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – Radicals have targeted another minority cemetery this month in Turkey. On July 15, a Jewish community discovered that their local cemetery in the Haskoy neighborhood of Istanbul had sustained serious damage. Vandals had desecrated 81 gravestones, excavated graves, and left the site in disarray.

 This month’s attack comes specifically on the heels of a similar incident against a Christian community in Turkey. On June 29, local Christians found the perpetrators had desecrated their cemetery, which was dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, just prior to an annual celebration dedicated to the two saints. 

Source: Premier Christian News

PERSECUTION ESCALATING AS PROPHESIED

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In Australia in the State of Victoria, the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 ( It ensures LGBTQ Victorians are able to live their lives authentically with pride and makes clear that a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity are not broken and do not need to be fixed.) comes into force today.  

Here’s how this new legislation will restrict Christian’s freedom to live out their faith, wherever they live in Australia …

This law gives broad powers to locate, investigate, and punish anyone who holds to and teaches Christian convictions on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Penalties could be as much as 10 years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.

Complaints can be reported by “any person”, even those who are not affected and can be made anonymously – even about conduct in other states.

Those opposed to the Christian faith will be able to harass and silence churches, organisations, and individuals they don’t agree with.

No other law in Australia has this power to limit your religious freedom.

It could land anyone in jail for failing to toe the line on LGBT issues and, more disturbingly, it could imprison anyone who carries out religious practices such as prayer.

We should not be surprised to see this happening as Jesus told us beforehand that prior to His second coming to put things right, persecution of Christians and even being “hated by all for my name’s sake” will be the law of the land.

“And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Mark 13:11-13

Many Australians are already facing unfair treatment – people like …

  • Hannah, who was banned from a café for reading the Bible
  • Ian, a teacher whose job was threatened for expressing his religious beliefs on social media
  • Jereth, a doctor who was suspended by the Medical Board and has been unable to practise for two years because of his social media posts.

The real fight is not political: it’s spiritual and only with us preaching the Gospel and the Holy Spirit transforming minds will God’s truth be made known.

Be Prepared to Handle Persecution Like Päivi Räsänen

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Christian MP says prosecution for tweeting Bible verse on homosexuality is a ‘privilege’

Finland, Päivi Räsänen

Finnish Parliament Member Päivi Räsänen authored a 2004 booklet on sexual ethics describing marriage as between one man and one woman. She also expressed her views on a 2019 radio show and tweeted church leadership on the matter.

Päivi Räsänen, who was interrogated by police for over 13 hours and questioned on how she interprets the Apostle Paul’s letters in the Bible, will appear in court next Monday over criminal charges for voicing her belief on marriage and sexuality. She faces the possibility of six years in prison for sharing her deeply held biblical beliefs on sexuality and marriage. Räsänen shows amazing courage in saying that it’s “quite a privilege” to be interrogated for her religious beliefs.

“I could never have imagined when I worked as the minister of the interior and was in charge of the police that I would be interrogated and asked that kind of questions in a police station,” the lawmaker who led the Christian Democrats party from 2004 to 2015 said.

She said police also asked her if she was ready to “renounce” her writings. “But I answered that I will stand on what I believe and I will speak about these things and write about these things also in the future because they are a matter of conviction, not only an opinion,” she said. 

“I thought it was quite a privilege to have these kinds of discussions with the police,” Räsänen said in an interview with Alliance Defending Freedom International, a legal nonprofit that specializes in religious freedom cases and is supporting the 62-year-old former interior minister.

“I had many times during these hours the possibility to tell to the police the message of the Gospel, what the Bible teaches about the value of human beings, that all people are created in the image of God and that is why they all are valuable.”

It was like “giving Bible studies to the police,” she remarked.

Persecution of Christians is only going to escalate as the final prophesied tribulation that precedes the rapture of the Saints (trumpet blast at the opening of the seventh seal) and God’s wrath being poured out (Trumpet and Bowl judgements) on the unrepentant, unfold. We need to be prepared to be part of God’s disciples like Päivi Räsänen who will proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to all the world.

“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

END TIMES PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

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A Hindu nationalist religious leader called for fellow Hindus to behead Christian converts at a mass rally in India’s central Chhattisgarh state. Swami Parmatmanand, a prominent leader in the Hindutva movement, called for the targeted killings at a protest earlier this month. The protest was organised against an alleged rise in conversions of Hindus to Christianity.  Speaking to an audience, which included senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Swami Parmatmanand said: “Keep a lathi (stick) at home in our villages, people keep hand-axes. Why do they keep axes? Behead them – those who come for conversion. Now you’ll say that I am spreading hate although I’m a saint. But it’s important to ignite the fire sometimes. I am telling you; anyone who comes into your house, street, neighborhood, village, don’t forgive them.” The Swami continued: “I want to tell those Christians who converted, why did you leave the ocean for the well? “I want you to talk to them politely first. Stop, protest, shoot.”

Who is motivating this Hindu nationalist leader who says he is a saint despite urging his followers to kill fellow Indians on the basis they are Christians? It is certainly not the God of love who tells us to love our neighbour as ourselves. I would suggest it is Satan himself.

Note the placards signifying Christians are PEACE LOVING

Dr David Landrum, Director of Advocacy for Open Doors UK & Ireland, said: “What we are seeing in India is a coordinated campaign against Christians by Hindu nationalists. Violence is being incited by local political and religious leaders who see the public vilification of Christians as an easy way to shore up their Hindu vote bank. Police are complicit and state actors ignore and even condone persecution. The way Hindu nationalists spread the message of hatred through these rallies and protests is unbelievable. This self-perpetuating cycle of violence and intimidation has now become socially acceptable.”

Satan knows his time is short and he is doing his utmost to take as many people (people made in God’s image) down with him.

GOD CREATED INDIVIDUALS NOT SOCIETIES

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Prior to the advent of Christianity individuals belonged to the city, body and soul. If an individual had any value at all it was only by reference to some organised collective. Christianity changed all of that, the proclamation by the apostles that God had become man obliterated this view that individuals had no value that had predominated in the ancient world.

If Jesus is a person as the apostolic and patristic fathers of the early church proclaimed and He died and was raised as a representative of the entire human race then we are infinitely more valuable than society and the state makes of us. Suddenly, our identity is in view, we were created by our Heavenly Father in His image.. Our separation from Him was of our own making i.e. our rejection of His lordship over our lives.

How liberating is the following verse.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

This concept of the value of the individual is being attacked as society increasingly rejects God and His followers. People are increasingly identifying themselves and others in terms of the groups they belong to. The God group is of course being increasingly marginalised. It is from the group they obtain their solidity and source of meaning. Critical Race Theory and Black Lives Matter are good examples of this onslaught. The unique person made in God’s image that is underneath these labels, the person Jesus died on The Cross to redeem is lost. Jesus said that in the last days lawlessness will abound and that Christians will be persecuted. Sadly, many will fall away but the one who endures will be saved.

“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 because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-10, 12-13

Start living your lives now with an eternal perspective. Trust God and His promises and He will use you for His purposes in these last days. The Holy Spirit will direct your steps and you will move in power with the gifts of the Spirit evident. You will truly be a light in a dark place. Many will be saved through your witness and acts of kindness.

Prophesied end times signs

CANCEL CULTURE HAS CHRISTIANITY IN ITS SIGHTS

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Actor Kevin Sorbo said this week he plans to “look into” how his Facebook page got deleted from the platform, calling the website’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, “a big ole wuss.” In mid-February, the Christian entertainer’s Facebook account was scrubbed from the social media site, according to CBN News.

As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by their parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.

Cancellation, unlike criticism, seeks to silence the opponent.  It specifically seeks to take away the forum for articulating the disputed opinion. Cancelers often define the mere act of disagreeing with them as a threat to their safety or even an act of violence.

Cancellers create a climate of fear by promoting guilt by association, threatening the same punitive action against the target’s employer, professional organizations, and anyone who comes to his or her defense.

Cancellers are willing to assert inaccuracies, distortions, and falsehoods.  And they will stick with them even after they are demonstrated to be untrue.

Cancellers seeks to punish.  If cancellation is successful, you lose your job.  The person who is cancelled must be made to suffer. In Australia, one of our best rugby players, Israel Folau is a good example where he cannot now play any form of rugby because he quoted a Scripture verse on Facebook which states God will send homosexuals to hell, i.e. along with all others guilty of sexual immorality as defined by God. Mind you, Israel also told people of how they can avoid God’s judgement by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. The reality is, cancel culture is just another ploy Satan is using to destroy belief in God and His Word.

The following Scripture is just one of many that reveals intense persecution of Christians is prophesied for the days prior to Jesus second coming to earth.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty (persecution). For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:12-13

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION OF WOMEN

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Persecution of Christian women worldwide has risen dramatically in the last year as a new study released by Open Doors International (ODI) found that forced marriages have increased by 16%, and physical violence against women has increased 31%.

Gender Specific Religious Persecution (GSRP) has risen to the highest level recorded in the three years since the report was first issued in 2018, as women face a higher potential risk of religious persecution than men. The report’s data comes from the top 50 countries on the group’s annual World Watch List between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sep. 30, 2020.

Helene Fisher, a global gender persecution specialist for Open Doors International and one of the authors of the report, told The Christian Post that the increased threat to women is often because women have fewer rights in most of the top 50 countries for religious persecution. “Because [women] have fewer rights and fewer protections, they’re just an easier target,” Fisher said. “They can also be targeted with impunity, which means that if there is a population that doesn’t want the Christians to thrive, they can go after the women and girls and there aren’t consequences for those aggressors. So, it is a question of the women and girls having fewer rights for legal protections. [Women] are more vulnerable in the society, and they are just the easiest way to disable the Christian population.”

People pray as they gather for a ceremony on Christmas eve at Central Brooks Memorial Church in Karachi, Pakistan, December 24, 2016.

The five most common “pressure points” among women in the top 50 countries on the World Watch List for religious persecution are forced marriage, sexual violence, physical violence, psychological violence and forced divorce. Each category increased since last year’s study.

Ninety percent of the top 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted report forced marriage as a pressure point, and 86% of countries report sexual violence.

Targeting women, the child bearers, and forcing them to convert is a tactic used to destabilize the future generation of the Church, the development of families and the raising of Christian children.

Trafficking women as a form of religious persecution is on the rise, particularly in Asia and Africa, the report finds. Christian refugees or internally displaced peoples are especially vulnerable to this.

“Trafficking as a form of religious persecution continues to pose a threat in all regions on the World Watch List and it is rising, particularly in Africa and Asia. Globally, 17 countries (up from 10 the previous year) reported incidents of trafficked women and girls,” the report adds. “Countries engaged in conflict were most likely to report instances of sexual violence and trafficking.”

Research from the World Watch List shows more than 340 million Christians globally endure high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, which amounts to one in eight Christians around the world.

Jesus told us that persecution of Christians will increase in the last days before His return. It is just one of the end times signs He has given us. Israel, apostasy in the church, Covid and increased lawlessness are other very significant signs.

THE BLACK LIVES MATTER STORY

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This is a must see video to really understand what is happening in the USA. Juan Riesco grew Nini’s Deli from its humble origins to #1 in Chicago on Yelp before the Black Lives Matter movement cancelled it in early June 2020. His parents, immigrants from Cuba and Mexico, started the small business. Juan took the reigns during a transitional period in his life, in which he converted to Christianity, after living as a homosexual in San Francisco. After the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement promoted posting a black square on social media to show solidarity with the cause. When Juan failed to take this step, hundreds of people went online to accuse him of racism. Juan gently responded to each individual by explaining that he was a Christian and could not endorse the anti-Christian beliefs of the Black Lives Matter organization, but that he did believe black people, as well as all people, mattered to God. The next day hundreds of protestors showed up to protest Nini’s Deli. Juan preached the gospel to them. The next day thousands of people showed up. Juan received thousands of death threats and had to flee the city in the middle of the night to escape. Juan lost his corporate contracts and Nini’s Deli closed. Even as he lost his business and experienced betrayal by friends, Juan’s faith in Christ and resolve grew. Juan considers the story of Nini’s to be a victory story as many have come to Christ and been inspired by his courage.

PERSECUTION WILL INTENSIFY

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Pro-Abortion Doctor Accuses Lila Rose of ‘Domestic Terrorism’ for Posting Pro-Life Tweet

Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Late last week, Rose, founder of the pro-life group Live Action, tweeted: “Abortion is violence.” In response, Torres condemned Rose, accusing her of “domestic terrorism.”

Torres said Rose’s three-word tweet “is objectively false and meant to incite others to commit crimes against clinics, patients, and health care providers.”

Dr. Leah Torres — the OB-GYN who had her medical license suspended in 2020 following a controversy over a since-deleted tweet in which she seemingly bragged about cutting unborn babies’ vocal cords — is now accusing pro-life leader Lila Rose of publishing “violent rhetoric.”

Rose’s tweet is, of course, not intended to “incite” violence. Rather, she was simply posting a tweet with a message foundational to those who oppose abortion, which is that, scientifically, life begins at conception. As such, Rose and other pro-lifers have argued, abortion is violent because it has the intention of ending of viable human life.

Torres’ claims against Rose’s tweet comes on the heels of Twitter’s decision to permanently ban outgoing President Donald Trump from its platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” referring to potential future tweets by the Republican leader.

Additionally, as CBN News reported Sunday night, the conservative Twitter alternative, Parler, has been removed from the Apple App Store, Google Play, as well as Amazon’s cloud hosting apparatus, Amazon Web Services, essentially scrubbing the website from the internet altogether. The AWS Trust and Safety team told Parler’s chief policy officer, Amy Peikoff, the Twitter alternative, which prioritizes speech freedom over censorship, hosted content on its site that didn’t adhere to Amazon’s terms of service.

As for Torres, while one tweet isn’t likely to spark action against Rose, it is worth noting one post was all it took to get Abigail Shrier’s book critical of the transgender agenda briefly removed from Target’s shelves.

Most of big tech is led by progressives, and Democrats are just days away from assuming control of every level of the federal government — two realities that have many conservatives concerned about the restriction of free speech and the flow of information.

In just a matter of days, it seems, we’ve found ourselves at the beginning of a very slippery slope that could lead to the censoring and silencing of those who simply hold to differing perspectives, beliefs, and world views. This is “end times” stuff folks.