TIME IS SHORT- MAKE EVERYDAY COUNT FOR ETERNITY

Posted on by

Time is short; God has an incredible plan, about to unfold, that will lead to the glorious return of his Son as King of the Earth. He wants every one of his bond-servants to buy into his plan 100%. He wants us all to be involved, but it means total surrender to His will – ” not as I will, but as You will.” Matt 26:39

During a recent prayer time, Holy Spirit revealed to me a definite end time message:

The Pharisees and the Sadducee’s had over three hundred prophecies of My first coming and they didn’t get it. Accurate prophecies of My birth location, My life, My ministry, My death and My resurrection, but because they did not reveal the Messiah they wanted, one who would release them from oppressive Roman rule, they were dismissed.

Sadly, the church has far more prophecies of my imminent second coming, and at best, they are ignoring them. My church is asleep. When was the last time your pastor delivered a sermon on Jesus second coming and that current events particularly those in the middle east and moral decay in the west would indicate we are in the last days – The Day of The Lord.

The Book of Revelation is the book of the Bible that best explains God’s plan to bring about the return of Jesus. Being of a category of biblical literature called “apocalyptic literature,” much like the book of Ezekiel or Daniel, Revelation features visions of strange coloured horses, dragons, thrones in heaven, scenes in the starry sky, etc. God has placed them in Revelation as a message to us. What do they all mean? In Nelson Walters timely, just released book, Revelation Deciphered, you are going to visit and make sense of these things.

revelation-deciphered

Revelation contains references to hundreds of Old and New Testament passages. These references decipher the meaning behind Revelation’s cryptic prophecies. If you have ever wondered what Revelation is all about, the answers were always there in Genesis, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Joel, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Zephaniah, Micah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc. Understanding Revelation in this new, fresh, biblical way organises all of biblical prophecy into one coherent whole. Revelation Deciphered shows how these puzzle pieces fit together. Nelson Walter’s method provides answers to questions whose solutions have lain concealed for centuries:

Is there a “Pattern of Seven Events” woven throughout all of scripture that identifies and explains each year of the upcoming time period our culture calls “the Tribulation?”

Does this “Pattern of Seven Events” help reveal the timing of the Rapture with precision?

Are the “Letters to the Seven Churches” in Revelation prophetic and not just historic letters or Church Ages? Do these unique prophesies provide the Church with detailed instructions on how to overcome the trials that lie ahead?

Does scripture predict a major Mideast war prior to the “Tribulation” that will launch the career of the Antichrist? Where does scripture predict he will arise?

What are the Four Horsemen and the Beast; and how are they related to the rise of Islam?

Most importantly of all, how should Christians apply what they’ve learned from Revelation to live victoriously in the days ahead?

You will be amazed and blessed by the new insights uncovered in Revelation Deciphered. This is unlike anything you have read before.

JESUS ON THE AGE OF THE EARTH

Posted on by

Jesus believed in a young world, but leading theistic evolutionists say He is wrong. article by Dr Carl Wieland, Creation Ministries.

The standard secular timeline, from an alleged ‘big bang’ some 15 billion years ago to now, is accepted by most people in the evangelical Christian world, even though many would deny evolution. Some would even say that to dispute billions of years is to place an unnecessary stumbling block in the way of any scientifically-minded potential converts.

This is in contrast to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator made flesh, as several of the biblical  authors, which makes it plain that this is wrong—people were there from the beginning of creation. But in the evolutionary timeline, people have only been around for one or two million years—this puts them toward the end of the timeline. This means that He is most definitely claiming that the world cannot be billions of years old.

For example, dealing with the doctrine of marriage, Jesus says in Mark 10:6 (bold emphases added):

“But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.”

In Luke 11:50–51, Jesus also says: “That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias … ”. And in Romans 1:20, the Apostle Paul says of God: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”.

Jesus, speaking around 4,000 years after creation, was correct to say that Day 6, when humans were created, was effectively ‘the beginning of creation’ as seen from thousands of years later.
Paul is plainly saying that people have been able to perceive these attributes of God in His creation ever since the creation of the world. Not ever since people were created.

Comparing the appearance of people on the timelines below, which are both to scale, is instructive. Jesus, speaking around 4,000 years after creation, was correct to say that Day 6, when humans were created, was effectively ‘the beginning of creation’ as seen from thousands of years later. By contrast, a creation fifteen billion years ago on the secular timescale would put humans at the end of the time scale. It shows clearly how the acceptance of the secular timeline starkly contrasts with the statements of Jesus.

Today, the vast majority of Christians in not only secular academia, but also theological institutions, Bible colleges, etc. believe—and many teach—that the secular ‘billions of years’ is fact. When one tries to find out how they deal with these repeated references, responses vary. But the ‘explaining away’ that takes place (whenever the problem is not simply ignored) invariably makes it plain that the authority being deferred to is not the Word of God, but rather current secular opinion.

Jesus and the age of the earth

The most striking (and sad) example of this switch in authority source I know of comes from a personal experience. In Melbourne, Australia, many years ago, I had arranged to sit down over a hot drink with a distinguished university professor, a Christian who was well-known for his active opposition to a straightforward view of Genesis. At that time, he was actually the head of a grouping of Christian academics which had been openly set up to provide opposition to the inroads our ministry was making. Over the years, this group has unfortunately been very effective in persuading most Christian training institutions that compromising on biblical creation in favour of secular thinking (evolution, long ages) is the only ‘respectable’ position. This professor himself, in addition to his secular science qualifications, was well regarded in the theological arena as well as being very biblically literate. He had at that time already been a frequent guest lecturer at several leading Australian evangelical training institutions.

During our courteous exchange, I asked him about the above comments by Jesus in relation to the age of the world. I asked, “Isn’t it clear that Jesus taught and believed that the world was young?”

A stunning response

I expected him to do as other Christian evolutionists have done—to try to find ways to torture the text to escape these obvious implications. Instead, he said that he totally agreed that Jesus believed in a recent creation of all things.

Somewhat taken by surprise, I said, “Well, how do you deal with that, then?” (He would of course have assumed, correctly, that I knew of the long-age position of this prominent organisation of theistic evolutionists.) His answer simply stunned me, to put it mildly. He said: “Jesus didn’t know as much science as we do today.”

His words burned themselves indelibly on my memory, while the recollection of my response has faded somewhat. But I recall saying something about Jesus being the Creator, God made flesh; He was there at creation, He does not lie, that sort of thing. To which his reply was once again unforgettable:

“Ah, but that’s where it gets very complex—it has to do with the theology of the Incarnation, where Jesus deliberately laid aside many of the things that had to do with His pre-incarnate divinity.”

Our conversation was nearing the end of its allotted period in any case, but I recall being so stunned by this that it took me till well afterwards to fully process the implications.

What it all means:

Firstly, and very importantly, the professor’s comments were a clear admission that the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as recorded in the Bible, confirm that He believed that things were recently created.

Remember that this professor was at the time the most prominent of all the professing evangelical academics that were being enthusiastically welcomed into Bible colleges and seminaries—to tell them why it was OK to believe in evolution and long ages. He obviously saw it as hopeless to try to claim other than what the Lord is clearly saying in this Bible text. And this is despite many attempts by others to ‘explain away’ this huge stumbling block for long-agers.

His way of being able to hold onto his theistic evolutionary view was to claim that Jesus was not lying, it was just that He was poorly informed. This was because when He as God the Son became flesh, laying aside aspects of His divinity included divesting Himself of all knowledge about what really happened when He had created all things.

If I had had the presence of mind, an appropriate response might have been to ask something like the following:

“OK, let’s assume for the sake of the argument that firstly, creation was by evolution, over millions of years of death and suffering—and that Jesus did perform some sort of lobotomy on Himself, so that He could no longer recall what really took place. So He just understood Genesis in the most natural straightforward way, not realising what the real truth was. What you’re claiming in that case amounts to this: That God the Father, knowing the real truth, permitted not just the Apostles, but His beloved Son, while on Earth, to believe and teach things that were utter falsehoods. Furthermore, it means that the Father permitted these false teachings to appear—repeatedly—in His revealed Word. With the result that for some 2,000 years, the vast majority of Christians were seriously misled about such things as not just the time and manner of creation, but gospel-crucial matters such as the origin of sin, and of death and suffering.”

[Added by author Nov 2014: The Lord Jesus repeatedly made it clear that His words and actions were on the Father’s authority, in all respects. Some examples are firstly John 8:28: So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me”. And John 12:49–50: “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”]

If even Jesus’ words in Scripture can’t be trusted on some issues, how are we supposed to trust anything in the Bible at all?
One thing is very clear from all this. Namely, that the erroneous belief that ‘science’ insists that evolution and long ages are ‘fact’ is the most serious challenge to biblical authority, and thus to the faith in general, that Christendom has ever faced. If even Jesus’ words in Scripture can’t be trusted on some issues, how are we supposed to trust anything in the Bible at all? See also the box about the ‘kenotic heresy’.

Other leading theistic evolutionists have similarly made plain their belief that Jesus was mistaken. For example, on the American theistic evolutionary site BioLogos, led by Francis Collins, there appeared the following:

“If Jesus as a finite human being erred from time to time, there is no reason at all to suppose that Moses, Paul, John wrote Scripture without error. Rather, we are wise to assume that the biblical authors expressed themselves as human beings writing from the perspectives of their own finite, broken horizons.”

This is all the more serious because Jesus and the apostles used the history they taught to back up the theology that they taught. The Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15), marriage (Mark 10:1–12), atonement (Romans 5:12–21), and Heaven (Revelation 21–22:5) are only a few of the areas in which compromising Christians are theologically crippled, because they don’t have the same strong stand on Genesis that Jesus and the apostles did when they taught about these areas.

What a tragedy that so many Christian leaders have been bluffed and intimidated into assuming that secular interpretations of the evidence should dictate their understanding of God’s Word. And right at a point in history when there are more scientific reasons than ever to confirm the utter rationality of trusting the Bible, not evolutionary conclusions.

ARE WE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS? HARVEST CRUSADE’S PASTOR GREG LAURIE, SAYS YES.

Posted on by
Interviewed on Christian Post by Samuel Smith: “You said not too long ago that we could be living in the last of days, what exactly did you mean by that and does that make events like SoCal Harvest even more crucial?” Greg  speaking to 32,000 at the SoCal Harvest Crusade, 8/26/2016, Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA
greg-laurie

Laurie: I do believe that we are living in the last days. I know this has been said before but there are events happening in our world right now that, to me, are what we call signs of the times.

The Bible says there are things that we should look for that signal the last days and one of them of course is the scattering and regathering of the nation of Israel, which we all know happened in 1948 when Israel was declared a nation. But the Bible tells us, for instance, that there is going to be a cashless society. The Bible tells us that there is going to be global instability and excessive violence in the End Times. As we look around right now at the way the world is changing, we look at the change economically, we look at the emergence of radical terrorist groups like ISIS that are incomprehensibly barbaric in the things that they do to people.

I just read today in The Christian Post about how they were using a blowtorch to kill people that defected. I can’t remember a time that we heard anything this awful since the Nazis. Now, with social media, which they use quite adeptly, this horror and wickedness has spread and people are radicalised online. Who would have even thought of such a thing 25 years ago. Yet, here it is happening right now.

The Bible says that in the last days that it will be like labour pains. As a woman is ready to give birth, the labour pains get closer and closer together. That’s what I think we are seeing that says we are in, maybe now, the last hours because the events are getting closer together. Maybe 20 years ago, there would be an event every few months or so, maybe once a year. Now, it just seems like every week there are things happening that remind us that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled and Christ is coming. Having said that, I think that should produce in the Christians, an urgency to share their faith.

Look, I don’t know when the end of the world is, but there are people that I speak to every night, the end of their world could be tomorrow because we don’t know when life will end. So, I preach as a dying man to dying men.

How are we living our lives in these last days? Can I suggest you start living eternal now.

 

JOHN HOPKINS PSYCHIATRISTS WARN AGAINST KIDS GOING TRANSGENDER

Posted on by

Almost Everything the Media Tell You About Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Is Wrong. A major new report, published today in the journal The New Atlantis, challenges the leading narratives that the media has pushed regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

Co-authored by two of the nation’s leading scholars on mental health and sexuality, the 143-page report discusses over 200 peer-reviewed studies in the biological, psychological and social sciences, painstakingly documenting what scientific research shows and does not show about sexuality and gender.”

What were the conclusions of this study? “The major takeaway, as the editor of the journal explains, is that ‘some of the most frequently heard claims about sexuality and gender are not supported by scientific evidence.'”

When it comes to the authors of this important new study, they are hardly right-wing, fundamentalist, conservatives. Hardly!

One of the authors, Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer, “is a scholar in residence in the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a professor of statistics and biostatistics at Arizona State University.”

He has taught at eight universities (including Princeton and Stanford) and, “His full-time and part-time appointments have been in 23 disciplines, including statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, social methodology, psychiatry, mathematics, sociology, political science, economics, and biomedical informatics.”

The other author is even more acclaimed. Dr. Paul McHugh is “university distinguished service professor of psychiatry and a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was for 25 years the psychiatrist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.”

Dr. McHugh “was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) in 1992. From 2002 to 2009, he was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics,” among his many accomplishments.

These certainly sound like formidable scholars, and so their 143-page report, which, as stated, “discusses over 200 peer-reviewed studies,” should be taken very seriously when it challenges many of the major talking points put forward by gay activists arguing: gays are not born that way and can possibly change; “non-heterosexuals are about two to three times as likely to have experienced childhood sexual abuse”; when compared to the general population, “non-heterosexual subpopulations are at an elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes”; and the idea that “a person might be ‘a man trapped in a woman’s body’ or ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’—is not supported by scientific evidence.”

Note carefully those closing words, which are a theme of the entire study: These foundational LGBT talking points are “not supported by scientific evidence.”

I can assure you, though, that rather than interacting with the scientific evidence presented in this formidable study, the vast majority of LGBT activists and their allies will dismiss it out of hand.

Why? Because, they will say, Dr. McHugh is an infamous transphobe who is totally out of touch with modern science while Dr. Mayer is unqualified to write on this topic.

Mind has Mountains

When it comes to Dr. McHugh, he committed the cardinal sin of opposing sex-change surgery during his tenure at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is why that surgical procedure was dropped under his leadership. But he did this based on years of interaction with those who identified as transgender, interviewing them before and after surgery, ultimately concluding that, “We psychiatrists … would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia.”

LGBT activists dismiss the most important consideration, we are made by God in His image. He is a loving God as shown by Jesus life, death and resurrection. God will answer the prayers of the parents who are concerned about the gender of their children and He will answer the prayers of the children.

Parents and doctors should be very concerned about taking the role of God with these children. Quoting Dr McHugh again: “We psychiatrists … would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia.”

DONALD TRUMP ON FAITH, FAMILY AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Posted on by

Donald Trump

Charisma magazine is endorsing Donald Trump. Our cover story and related articles in the October issue of Charisma magazine make the case for our decision.

Before we could write the cover story, we felt we needed to interview Donald Trump personally. We began asking for an interview in June. It happened on Aug. 11 in Orlando. Trump was in town to speak to some home builders and then to a group of about 500 pastors. He told the pastors that he had just spoken to home builders, but that they were home builders, too, which got a great response.

Before Trump spoke without a teleprompter (he said the prepared speech was so boring it would have put everyone to sleep), he was introduced by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. “Every year, everyone says it’s the most important election of our lifetime, Huckabee said. “But folks, I’m not messing—this really is the most important election of our lifetime.”

After his ad-libbed speech in which he talked about religious liberty issues and even repealing the 1954 “Johnson Amendment” that caused prayer to be taken out of schools (1963) and initiated the Roe v Wade abortion decision (1973). I met for 10 minutes in a back room with Trump for the interview. You can hear on it my Strang Report podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network.

I’ve interviewed a number of presidential candidates, governors and other politicians in my 45-year media career. But the opportunity to interview Trump in the midst of his unlikely campaign strikes me as markedly different.

With Trump, what you see on television is not what you get behind the scenes. A sense of humility surrounded the Republican nominee that many don’t see in liberal media soundbites. He still shot straight, but his sincerity was far more striking than what we can portray in black and white in a magazine.

In my brief interview with Trump, I asked him the questions I thought mattered most to our Charisma readers. I believe his answers show a confident, determined man who truly is committed to making America great again through government based on principles that honor God rather than defy Him.

The full interview will run in the October issue of Charisma along with a package of articles that make the case for how God is raising up Trump at a critical period in history and, conversely, how voting for Hillary Clinton and the far left platform she endorses should be opposed at all costs. There is also an interview with Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence.

While you must wait to read the interview, you can listen to it on my podcast. Dr. Steve Greene, who has his own popular “Greenelines” podcast, accompanied me to the Trump interview. He and I talk in the studio about the behind-the-scenes of how we got the interview, our observations of what happened that day and why we think electing Trump is right for America. (Charisma Assistant Online Editor Taylor Berglund accompanied us to the interview and wrote observations from a millennial point of view, which you can read here).

Steve Strang is the founder of Charisma and CEO of Charisma Media. 

‘ONE WORLD RELIGION’ Event Gathers Muslims, Jews and Christians to Pray

Posted on by

‘Unprecedented and potentially historic. That’s how organisers are billing the 2016 Mekudeshet Festival just around the corner this fall.

It might more accurately be dubbed a predecessor of the ‘one world religion’ prophesied in the Bible. Certainly an ‘end times’ event.

Christians, Jews and Muslims are expected to flock to the Holy City for a “spiritual gathering” dubbed Amen—A House of Prayer For All Believers. The self-stated goal is to create “a single home for the world’s three major religions to harness the city’s ancient powers to inspire artists, musicians and cultural figures from around the world to redefine their art and traditions and connect amid troubling times.”

“We will study, argue—yes, this is also allowed—and pray, together and alone,” says Mekudeshet artistic director Itay Mautner. “We will see if it is possible, despite all the corporeal difficulties and earthly obstacles, to create a new reality.”

You mean to create a one world religion?

Expect to see more of these kinds of gatherings in the months ahead. Although we should seek opportunities to love people of all faiths, events like Amen typically breed compromise in the name of unity.

As I’ve said before, dialogue is one thing. Compromising the tenets of Christianity is altogether different. Using art and culture as a shill, Amen appears to be nothing more than an attempt to redefine religion.

This reminds me of Pope Francis’ recent move to gather Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus together in prayer.

Disturbing video footage shows the pope receiving a demonic statue from a Buddhist and bending down to pray according to Muslim tradition.

“Many think differently, feel differently, seeking God or meeting God in different ways,” he says. “In this crowd, in this range of religions, there is only one certainty we have for all: We are all children of God.”

Here’s the problem: You can seek God in many ways, but there’s only one way to the Father. There is only one way to meet God, and His name is Jesus Christ. To even hint at anything else causes confusion at best and deceives many at worst. Events like Amen are a tool in the enemy’s hand to dilute the one true and living God’s gospel of salvation.

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. 

 

RIO 2016: FIJI TEAM GIVES THE GLORY TO GOD

Posted on by

fiji-rugby4

“First of all, I thank the Lord, he has been our source of strength… We reminded each other how God had taken us through the last two years and that the same God that we serve is here with us in Rio.”

That’s what the Olympic Rugby Sevens winners told the media when asked the reason for their success.

The island nation of Fiji has won its first ever Olympic medal – a gold – but while fans hailed one of the great Olympic achievements, the players have given the glory to God.

Rugby Sevens became an Olympic event this year for the first time. Though Fiji are ranked number one in the world, the country had never won a medal at any event before so the pressure was on.

The team came through that pressure to win the tournament – defeating Great Britain 43-7 in the final – and dominating far bigger countries such as New Zealand.

The players dropped to their knees and prayed upon the outcome of the match. Many pointed to the sky before joining in wild celebrations.

BE ENCOURAGED: HEAR WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Posted on by

Watch Joel Richardson interview Chris Mitchell, CNN Middle East Bureau Chief based in Jerusalem (16 years) on what is happening in the Middle East – ISIS, IRAN and ISRAEL. Chris has just released a new book: What you Need to Know about the Current Mideast Crisis and the Coming Mideast War.

Events are unfolding just as prophesied in God’s Word. The last reformation is underway in HIS church, make sure you are dead centre in God’s will for you in these last days.

NEW ARCHAEOLOGY DISCOVERY CONFIRMS BIBLE’S ACCOUNT OF JESUS MINISTRY

Posted on by

Second Temple-era synagogue unearthed in northern Israel

Jesus archaeological discovery

The recently discovered ruins of a first century synagogue in Israel confirm historic accounts of Jesus’ life found in the New Testament.

Located near Mount Tabor in the Nahal Tavor Nature Reserve in the lower Galilee at a site called Tel Rechesh, the synagogue ruins date back to the time of the Second Temple period, which ended in AD 79 when the Romans attacked Jerusalem.

Motti Aviam, a senior researcher at the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, explained in a statement the significance of the Tel Rechesh excavation find.

“This is the first synagogue discovered in the rural part of the Galilee and it confirms historical information we have about the New Testament, which says that Jesus preached at synagogues in Galilean villages,” explained Aviam, as reported by JNS.

Haaretz noted that while there have been seven other synagogues from the Second Temple period discovered before, the one at Tel Rechesh is the first to be found in a rural instead of urban setting.

“Inscriptions and historical sources show that the synagogues of the period were used for meetings, Torah readings and study, rather than worship. They had neither Torah ark nor regular prayer services,” reported Haaretz.

“One source mentioning synagogues is the New Testament, which states that Jesus ‘went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues.'”

In an interview with YNet News, Aviam explained why the findings at the Tel Rechesh site “makes the place very important for Christians.”

“During the same period Jesus was still a Jew who observed Jewish rituals and requirements and like many rabbis, he delivered sermons in synagogues. Christianity which developed after his (sic) placed an emphasis on his sermons at synagogues in the Galilee.”

Aviam added that he hoped “that when the work is completed the place will constitute a tourist attraction for Jews and Christians alike.”

This is not the first major find in Israel this year connected to the times of Jesus. In March it was reported that several artefacts from the first century Near East were located in an orphanage in Jerusalem.

As Jesus Himself claimed the Bible is inerrant. It is God’s Word to us, it can be trusted from Genesis to Revelation.

 

GOD’S PLAN FOR MIDDLE EAST IS WORKING PERFECTLY

Posted on by

Middle Eastern Christian Woman Tells Americans Not to Pray for Persecution to End

God’s plan for the Middle East is “working perfectly” even though the persecution of Middle Eastern Christians is seemingly getting worse by the day, a persecuted Christian woman told American churchgoers on Sunday.

The Christian woman, who is referred to by the pseudonym of “Maryam” for security purposes, was encouraged by a group of six pastors and ministry leaders from the United States to travel to America and share her family’s story of persecution and speak about the dedicated faith displayed by Christians in the Middle East.

As a whole, persecution and harassment are daily struggles for Middle Eastern Christians, Maryam said.

Although Christians in the west might view persecution as a bad thing, Maryam and many other Middle Eastern Christians view persecution as a necessity to help the Church continue to grow in a hostile part of the world.

“The persecution is getting worse and worse and worse,” Maryam said. “But on the other hand actually, what has encouraged me, encouraged my faith, encouraged my church, encouraged everybody Christian in [the region] is that the Church is increasing.”

Maryam explained that while some radical Muslims are brutally killing and persecuting so called non-believers and claim to be acting in the name of Allah, many other Muslims in the Middle East are starting to open their eyes and ask serious questions about the religion they espouse.

Isis beheading 21 coptic Christians

“A lot of Muslim people now, they are so confused about what is going on now. A lot of them are asking, ‘Who is this God whose name is Allah, who orders people to slaughter?'” she said. “They are confused and they are asking and wondering now days about ISIS and about what is going on. We are talking to them and asking them ‘Please, open your Quran and search what is written,'” Maryam continued. Yes, this God named Allah does call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. At least 109 verses promote violence.