CHRISTIAN CANCEL CULTURE

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Sorry, I missed putting up a post on each of the last two days. I was attending a Full Gospel Businessman’s (FGBFI) Convention where we had 20+ Indonesian Christian businessmen and wives in Australia to revive FGBFI in Australia. Christians from a Muslim country were here to revive Christians in a former Christian country. They were on fire for God. We obviously need more persecution to set us on fire.

Promise Keepers, an Evangelical organization in the USA founded in 1990 that holds men’s rallies in stadiums nationwide, has seen several scheduled events at churches and other venues canceled in recent months.

As recently as June, Belmont University, a private Christian university in Nashville, cancelled a Promise Keepers event after the national Christian men’s ministry posted a blog criticizing LGBT pride month. The university accused the organization of “unnecessarily fan[ning] the flames of culture wars.”

Promise Keepers’s “Daring Faith” tour, is one of several events that were later canceled by Christian venues, including Hope Church in Cordova, Tennessee, and The Fountain of Praise in Houston.

“Chairman and CEO of Promise Keepers, Ken Harrison said the cancellations were “disheartening” given that they came not from secular groups, but overtly Christian ones. One venue was worried that we would offend people by expressing our belief, rooted in Scripture, about gender and sexual identity,” he told The Christian Post via email. “Others said they didn’t want to draw protesters or simply didn’t give us a reason. 

In 2021, a USA Today editor called on the Dallas Cowboys organization to bar Promise Keepers from holding a men’s conference at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, over Harrison’s views on men competing in women’s sports. 

“The spirit of the age we live in is fear — of being criticized, disliked, canceled. As Promise Keepers, we refuse to give into that fear,” he said. “We choose to pursue and share God’s truth over being liked by all.

Jesus told us that in the time before Jesus returns to restore righteousness to Earth that Christians will endure increasing tribulation.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“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 24:7-12

But the good news is that Jesus will take us to heaven with the Rapture event prior to pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements.

“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.“ Revelation 3:10

We are told at the sixth seal that celestial signs appear in the sky that herald Jesus coming to gather the Saints and also God’s wrath has come.

“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:15-17

It is at the trumpet blast of the seventh seal that the Rapture takes place and shortly thereafter John sees the raptured Saints before the throne of God.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 7:9-12

CHURCH AS JESUS INTENDED

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Returning to a no-frills practice of following Jesus will be good for all of us. We will remember what our faith is all about. This is why in the last days before Jesus returns He needs to purify His church. Apostasy in denominational churches is rife as demonstrated by the acceptance of gay marriage and homosexual pastors. They no longer believe in the inerrancy of God’s Word. Like the world, they have been caught up in the evolutionary myth of billions of years of Earth’s history. They no longer believe that God judged mankind with the worldwide flood of Noah’s day and yet it is the only explanation for the existence of billions of dead things buried quickly all over the world, including the fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas (the result of buried forests). They have discounted both Noah’s flood and the short timescale of Scripture determined by Genesis 1-11. When you study geology from a biblical standpoint and use the geological model of the Flood to connect the real-world observations of geology you discover it is superior to the prevailing old-earth frameworks in explaining the data. (Biblical Geology 101 by Michael Oard and Robert Carter 2021).

An exciting training development, one which could help us prepare for church without buildings, has gained great popularity in the body of Christ over the past several years by readying people for possible service on the mission field, particularly among Muslims. TOAG, or “Training Ordinary Apprentices to Go,” (Global Mobilisation Network). It seeks to teach people to “do church” in small group settings, away from large worship gatherings that will not be available abroad. Participants spend ten months learning how to reach unreached people groups and develop an authentic community in a small group setting. Families with children are welcomed in, and future workers for Christ are much better prepared than earlier generations of believers. I’ve heard from a few that have participated in TOAG that it is difficult, yet rewarding. The method’s founders state the goal of the training: During TOAG, interns learn to be a Kingdom Community without including Western structures that often hinder movements. They experience life in community with other interns, something more akin to the Book of Acts. By taking them out of present ecclesiastical structures, which include powerful (& professional) music, well-crafted homilies (by highly trained professionals) in safe, comfortable surroundings (expensive buildings), interns experience first-hand what is and is not required for believers to be a ‘Kingdom-Community,’ experimenting with simple, organic structures capable of sharing the life-changing power of God’s Kingdom and reproducing into movements. … These are just some of the reasons why many Americans benefit from the hands-on learning experience of TOAG.

We need to prepare for the prophesied persecution that is coming and expect God to grow us through it as never before. Literally, millions of Christians around the world can testify to this truth, as Paul testified clearly in this Scripture.

“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5:

Whether you use TOAG or some other training method you need to get with like-minded believers who understand the times and get into step with what God is calling us to do in these last days to make sure we complete the Great Commission in the community where God has placed us.

Check out http://www.lastdaysovercomer.org for the free ebook Prepare for the Last Days – Fulfilling God’s Purposes at the End of the Age.

MAINLINE CHURCHES HAVE CONFORMED TO THE WOKE AGENDA

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Calvin Robinson, a British priest who has gained a significant international following as a fearless and often provocative social commentator, speaks with guest host Justin Brierley about his views on wokeism, gender, sexuality, and race. Robinson believes the mainline churches have lost their way conforming to a so-called “woke” agenda that he deems antithetical to the gospel. Calvin Robinson has a regular show on GB News and is very active on Twitter, where he’s gained nearly 300,000 followers. Like most conservative British clerics, he wears a clergy collar and he articulates his old-school values in a posh English accent. Unlike most of his colleagues, however, Calvin Robinson happens to be black and just 37 years of age. After his ordination in the Church of England was blocked, he was eventually ordained in the Free Church of England. For this episode, Justin Brierley will ask Calvin why he believes it’s time for the Church to return to Biblical inerrancy and liturgy, the church tradition in which he has found a home.

Calvin Robinson speaks the truth in love and is being used by God mightily in these last days. Make sure you send this video on to family members and friends. They will thank you for it.

PROPHESIED END TIMES CHURCH

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This week, nearly two million people attended a mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Portugal on the occasion of World Youth Day. A couple of days before that, 200,000 people attended a religious celebration at Fatima, the site of an appearance in 1917 to three children of the Virgin Mary. It’s also been a site of miraculous cures ever since. That’s some pulling power.

The striking thing about these giant congregations is that they were overwhelmingly young people. Francis can thank the greatest of the modern popes, John Paul II, who founded WYD in the mid-1980s.

WYD is a key experience for millions of young people and typically leads to spikes in religious vocations and spiritual life generally. However, even this astounding good moment is mired in the strangest contemporary confusion.

Portuguese bishop Americo Aguiar, who has just been elevated to the rank of cardinal by the Pope, assured the world: “We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or the Catholic Church or anything like that.”

Say what? If a bishop doesn’t want to convert people to Christ, surely he’s in the wrong line of work. Why not become a game show host or a diversity officer at a university? Good callings but, unlike bishoping, they don’t require you to preach Christ.

Bishop Aguiar said the main purpose of WYD was to celebrate diversity so all young people could walk happily together. This is almost literally insane. Of course, diversity’s a good thing. But it’s not the only thing or the main thing. It would be like a cancer hospital declaring it was no longer interested in actually treating cancer but would instead focus on celebrating the wide range of people who came along.

Jesus told us that in the last days before He returns to restore righteousness that much of the church will compromise with the world, that there would be apostasy, a great falling away, and even worse.

“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

Taken from an article in The Weekend Australian by Greg Sheridan – Pope’s brand of liberalism is ‘entombed’ in the ’60s

GOD’S PROTECTION – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

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“The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” Psalm 121:7-8
Sometimes Christians ask, ‘Given the Bible’s promises about God’s protection, why do Christians still experience hurtful, even evil, events?’ Psalm 121:7-8, quoted above is a good example of such promises.

This psalm has four stanzas—the first states that our help comes from God; the last three make illustrative promises about how God helps us (verses 3-4, 5-6, 7-8). These promises, taken literally, suggest that nothing bad will ever happen to God’s people. But that’s not the psalmist’s point. Rather, he says that God will watch over His people wherever they go and whatever they do; God will not ‘slumber nor sleep’ (verse 4). David expressed God’s watchfulness in detail in Psalm 139:1-12. And Paul summarized God’s care in Romans 8:39: Nothing ‘shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord‘.

God is with you today—right now—watching over you and your whole life. Nothing passes through the filter of His will and awareness, ‘even forevermore.’ Nevertheless, we need to be like David and say:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalm 139:23-24

Look what God says to His end times church. The church that He raptures to heaven so they will not experience the wrath of God poured out with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements. They have come through the prophesied tribulation, even great tribulation for six years of the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to set up His Millennial Kingdom. Look also at what He says to the church that is left behind to face the wrath of God.

Each seal of the seven seals that Jesus opens represents what transpires during each year of the last seven years and the first six match the six signs that Jesus gives us in the Olivet Discourse. It is at the sixth seal that John sees the celestial signs that precede the Rapture and the Wrath of God poured out with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements.

THE SIXTH SEAL

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:12-17

Each of the seven churches represents the state of the church in each of the seven years. It is the sixth church, the Church of Philadelphia that is raptured and it is the Laodicean church that is left behind to face the wrath of God but God still calls them to be zealous and repent.

THE SIXTH CHURCH – CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA (Philadelphos – love for a brother. What remains of the faithful church will be bound by brotherly love)

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name... Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” Revelation 3:8, 10-11

THE SEVENTH CHURCH – CHURCH OF LAODICEA (Laodicea is a combination of two Greek words (LAO, meaning “God’s people”; and DIKE, meaning “justice or judgment”) Judgement of God’s people

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.“ Revelation 3:15-19

“God watches and weeds us, and continues His labour upon us, till he brings us to the end of his promise.“
Richard Sibbes

PROPHESIED END TIMES CHURCH

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PCUSA pastor teaches on Psalm 139, says she ‘felt God’s presence,’ ‘no sin’ after 2 abortions

The sermon by Rev. Rebecca Todd Stephens PhD alleges ‘anti-choice’ Evangelicals have ‘colonized our minds’ with ‘toxic theology’

A female Presbyterian pastor for over 25 years who is also a Planned Parenthood advisor delivered a sermon in which she said she felt “God’s presence” when she aborted two pregnancies and blasted Evangelicals for their “toxic theology” on the subject.

In a sermon delivered July 9, 2023, at the Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Rev. Rebecca Todd Peters spoke candidly about her own experience with abortion and how she views Scripture through that lens.

Wearing a pink stole emblazoned with the Planned Parenthood logo, Peters opened her message bemoaning the state of pro-life Evangelicalism, with its “talking fetuses, aggressive bumper stickers and saccharine billboards quoting Scripture and invoking God’s wrath.”

Peters referenced the state’s recently passed law banning most abortions after 12 weeks. She said the bill’s passage is an example of Evangelical culture setting the political tone on abortion.

Peters spoke about how what she called the “abortion is sin” message has been “internalized not only by Christians but by Jews and Muslims,” calling it “one of the most disturbing things” she and her team learned in their interviews with over 500 “religiously identified people who have had abortions.”

After claiming that “the Bible doesn’t say anything about abortion,” she appeared to describe her own statement as “astonishing because the Bible has a lot to say about how people are to live what is and isn’t allowed. … [B]ut to reiterate, it says nothing about abortion.”

In one of the more shocking moments of the sermon, Peters referred to pre-born life as a “zygote” and criticized the “anti-choice” position that life begins at conception.

“The lens through which anti-choice Christians read the Bible is the theological belief that from the moment of fertilization, a zygote is biologically, morally, ontologically, and in every other way indistinguishable from a baby,” she said. “When they then read Scripture through this lens, they abrogate all manner of text to support that position.”

But for Family Research Council’s David Classon, Peters’ assertion that the topic of abortion is not in the Bible is simply a “fundamental misreading of Scripture.”

While the word “abortion” itself does not appear in the Bible, Classon told CP Thursday the concept of “human life beginning at the moment of fertilization is all over the pages of Scripture.”

Peters said her reason for choosing Psalm 139 as the sermon’s primary text was because she views it as “one of the anthems of the abortion imaginary.”

“As a person of faith, I’m outraged by the Religious Right’s co-optation of God, and whether you believe in God or a sacred presence or a divine order in the world or something else entirely, I expect that many of you might also be troubled by how Scripture and God are being used in the public debate about abortion,” she said.

“I refuse to cede the sacredness of Scripture or its interpretation to those who would wield it as a weapon.”

Classon, however, cited two of the more well-known passages, including Psalm 139, the same text from Peters’ sermon, showing how God views life from conception. 

“The author, David, talks about his development in utero, and he praises God for fearfully and wonderfully making him in his mother’s womb,” he said. “It’s a profoundly pro-life text.”

He also pointed to Luke 2, where Mary, who is pregnant with Jesus, goes to visit her relative Elizabeth, who is also pregnant with the child who would become known as John the Baptist.

“The unborn John the Baptist leaps for joy … she refers to Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord,'” Classon said. “Jesus is a couple of weeks in utero, yet Elizabeth recognizes Jesus as her Lord and Mary as the ‘mother of my Lord.’

“So the idea that the Bible says nothing about abortion, and has nothing to teach us about abortion, is patently false.”

Calling Psalm 139 a “liberating message of justice and light,” Peters then read from the text, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Peters shared her appreciation for both the psalmist and the Psalm itself and appeared to affirm, along with Jeremiah and Job, “their certain knowledge that God was with them in the womb.”

She revealed that as a mother of two, she had previously aborted two other pregnancies.

“I, too, feel that I am known by God in these ways, as a woman who has borne two children. I can affirm that I felt something sacred happening in my gestating body during those pregnancies,” said Peters. “I can also attest that I felt God’s presence with me as I made the decision to end two pregnancies and I felt no guilt, no shame, no sin.”

While acknowledging his inability to know Peters’ innermost thoughts, Classon said he finds it hard to believe Peters’ claim about not experiencing any shame or guilt over her decision to terminate two of her unborn children.

“I don’t know her heart, I can’t get inside of her mind, but I think it’s inevitable for the folks who go through terminating a pregnancy to think about it,” he said. “It’s not an easy decision.

“But to protest it as strongly as she does, ‘no guilt, no shame, no sin,’ if she really does feel that way, it would betray a conscience that has been seared, a conscience that no longer can hear the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit.”

“Guilt and shame, are appropriate responses to doing things that are morally blameworthy. And if it’s true that she feels no guilt or no shame, that speaks to a conscience that has been seared, likely by decades of protesting and trying to convince herself that abortion indeed is not what it actually is, which is the intentional ending of human life.”

Peters further offered her views on what she termed “forced pregnancy.”

“If pregnancy and gestation are to remain holy mysteries, they require cooperation,” she said. “A forced pregnancy or birth is not holy.”

Her sermon culminated in a stated theological position in which she suggested Bible-believing Christians can be both pro-life and pro-abortion.

“As complicated, thoughtful morally capable people, we are able to hold both of these realities in tension: that the gestation and birth of a child is a wondrous event to be celebrated and that not all pregnancies will or need to culminate in a birth,” she said.

“This is theologically consistent with the belief that prenates are not yet human beings.”

Peters did not respond to a request for comment from The Christian Post. This story will be updated when a response is received.

According to her bio, Peters has been active in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for over 25 years and currently represents the denomination as a member of the Faith and Order Standing Commission of the World Council of Churches. Peters is also a professor of religious studies and founding director of the Poverty and Social Justice Program at Elon University in North Carolina.

She is also listed as a member of Planned Parenthood’s Clergy Advocacy Board, which supports “access to safe, legal abortions and other sexual and reproductive health care,” according to a statement from board chair the Rev. Burl Salmon.

Article is taken from Christian Post by Ian M. Giatti, a reporter for The Christian Post

Considering Peter’s position on abortion and the fact she has had two abortions herself and does not consider them a sin, it is hard to comprehend how she became a Presbyterian minister so long ago and now has senior positions in the denomination, at Elon University, and Planned Parenthood. Jesus said there would be a great falling away and apostasy in the end times church. It is just one of the end times signs unfolding in our day. Be watchful and be one of the Christians that Jesus describes in the church that is raptured (Church of Philadelphia).

“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:10

Do not be like the people in the church that is left behind (Church of Laodicea) to face the wrath of God.

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19

They will face the wrath of God but they still have the chance to repent though they will be refined in the fire.

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOUSE CHURCHES

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We are told that prior to Jesus’ return that there will be a great falling away. Apostasy will be rampant. Already, we are seeing Institutional churches compromising with the world on Biblical inerrancy, gay marriage, and homosexual leadership. The church needs to get back to the House church model expounded in the Book of Acts. Church as God intended. We have seen the effectiveness of the House Church model in China when all Mission groups were expelled at the time Chairman Mao came to power. We are also seeing it in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries where Christians are being persecuted.

Practical House Church Functioning, Disciplining, & Multiplying:

Can I challenge you to search for Biblical answers to the following questions? You will be challenged about the way you think about church.

  1. Why the symbolic elements in the Lord’s Supper are important.
  2. Why wine vs grape juice.
  3. Why a full meal during the Lord’s Supper versus only taking a bit of bread and a cup.
  4. Why have the Lord’s Supper with a full meal every week?
  5. Why does trying to imitate an unbiblical traditional church model kill the Lord’s New Testament house church model?
  6. Why and how we need to have everyone contribute in the Word, the meal, and prayer – how this impacts spiritual growth and discipleship far more than any modern-day, man-made discipleship program.
  7. Why baptism* as described in Scripture is so important. Infant baptism and sprinkling with water do not achieve God’s purpose for baptism.
  8. Why modern traditional churches resist God’s ordinance of head coverings related to men and women praying and prophesying in church versus God’s headship – in church, family, and society.
  9. Why and what about music.
  10. Why teaching children Biblical history including Noah’s worldwide flood versus Evolution and billions of years is so important.
  11. Why about when, how long, and what order of activity during church, and scheduling vs Spirit leading.
  12. Why and what to do about problem people.
  13. Why traditional church leadership & leaders versus N.T. leadership & leaders.
  14. Why, when, where, and with whom should we break off to start another house church.

Can I encourage you to get Jim McCotter’s book Church Revolution Today – How N.T. Christians Reached The World. You will find all the answers you need on church as Jesus intended in Jim’s book.

*The scriptural examples of baptism, such as Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:16) and the Ethiopian eunuch’s baptism in a body of water (Acts 8:36-39), indicate immersion demonstrates one dying to self and emerging a new creation in Christ. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” Acts 2:38. This Scripture reveals baptism is a symbolic act representing the cleansing of one’s sins through faith in Jesus Christ.

HOW TO BE A LAST DAYS OVERCOMER

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Let’s look at how Christians are reacting in real-time to Great Tribulation-like persecution. The primary responses we see in Arab Spring countries, some of which Jesus endorsed, include:

1. Running from the persecutors.

2. Remaining on-site and taking up arms.

3. Remaining on-site and insisting on legal protection. ​

4. Yielding to persecutors while actively ministering to them

Option 1: This has occurred in several Middle Eastern countries over the past decade and threatens the extinction of Christianity in that region of the world. Even prominent government leaders are beginning to acknowledge this fact.
Option 2: Sadly, this option has gained a little headway, due to calls like Greek Orthodox Bishop Lukas al-Khoury in Syria to have Christians take up arms “to protect Syria, churches, and convents.” Some believers undoubtedly have, but the loudest voices have decried this exhortation, saying that it violates the spirit of Christianity. Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo responded to the call to arms in this way: “As men of the Church, we cannot incite Christians to take up arms and to take part in the conflict. We cannot say these things; it is insane. It goes against the gospel and Christian doctrine.” I have not come across any reports that indicate Syrian Christians are standing and being resistant militarily to Islamist attacks.

Jesus certainly didn’t condone option 2 as He spoke in Matthew 24. He recommended option 1, in this specific circumstance: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.” Matthew 24:16-20

But in other passages involving persecution, He argued for option 4. Christ never encourages a running towards martyrdom. Paul, too, never seemed to advocate seeking to be killed for Christ’s sake. Rather, he fled several times when he knew that his life was threatened, twice within the space of a few verses in Acts 9 (Acts 9:25, 30; 14:6, 17:10)! We know of Paul purposefully leaving at least four towns because of threats to his life. If you count other places where he left soon after starting an uproar, that number could climb to nearly ten. Don’t let anyone tell you that Paul never ran. He did! Self-preservation, the most basic human instinct, seems to be compatible with sold-out Christian living. I think we can make a very strong biblical case for running in the midst of persecution. In a similar way, I do not see convincing biblical evidence for having a death wish and actively seeking martyrdom, something Muslims do to “guarantee” a place in paradise. God does not call us to be cowardly, but Christ Himself advocated flight, and Paul lived out that commandment many times in his ministry. Remember these truths when the heat turns up and someone near you is insisting that God wants everyone to stand and fight, be outgunned, and go down in a blaze of glory. Once you are gone from this earth, you are gone, and you won’t be able to win anyone else to Christ. You also might leave your family heartbroken and in great need. We need to be careful that we don’t adopt a martyr complex, as Muslims have heartily done around the world.

Reverend Khalil Fawzi, the pastor of the largest evangelical congregation in the Middle East, Kasr El Dobara Evangelical Church, said recently that Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt want to begin a civil war and would be helped in their quest by Christians turning violent. “They hoped the Christians will retaliate by killing and a civil war would start. I praise Christians for their patriotic attitude.”

Turkey’s defense of its mass killing of Armenians in the early twentieth century is a prime example. So if we do stand and fight, Muslims will have an easy out for killing men, women, and children who would otherwise be innocent bystanders.

Options 3 & 4: We can learn much from our brothers and sisters in the Middle East who have selected options 3 and 4. Here are the primary lessons I see from where Christians are being persecuted by Muslims: ​1.  ​They understand once and for all that the church is not a building. Two days after the famed Archangel Michael Church was destroyed in Cairo, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II reminded his flock of what Jesus preached: “If the hands of evil kill, destroy and torch, then God’s hands are greater and they build. Christ’s commandments to us are to love your enemy, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who abuse you.”
The reaction to this charge, and other similar exhortations, has been Christians calmly meeting for worship in the areas of their churches that have not been completely burned to the ground, as seen in the 60 Minutes segment on Coptic Christians. The moving sight of Christians sitting in a room with one wall missing and the smell of burned wood still lingering, worshipping Jesus in a simple service, speaks volumes about understanding that the church is not a building. I think many Americans have come to realize this truth, as small groups have gained popularity over the past twenty years or so. That is a good realization to hold onto because we could very well come to a time when we are not allowed to meet in buildings.

Ralph Stice, author of Arab Spring, Christian Winter recounts this story: “I was struck by this possibility as I toured a literal underground church in Turkey’s Cappadocia region, mentioned in Acts 2:9 and 1 Peter 1:1. Our Muslim tour guide took us down a hole through which the four members of my family could barely squeeze. We walked among intricate hallways carved from stone and were told where meals were prepared and where people slept. It was an incredible experience to imagine living under the earth with brothers“.

In these last days as persecution intensifies we need to heed the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25. Be watchful. Be ready. Be found faithful. Be on His mission, to spread the Good News.

Remember, Biblical prophecy tells us that Jesus is coming back and we are already seeing many of the prophecies playing out in our time. You can use these prophecies in your evangelism efforts to show unbelievers that God’s Word is true. We know the end of the story and for believers it is wonderful but for unbelievers, they will undergo the terrible wrath of God; the Trumpet Judgements outlined in Revelation 8 and the Bowl Judgements outlined in Revelation 16.

HILLSONG

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Hillsong Church’s International Ministry Director Darren Kitto claimed he would need to cover nearly $50,000 in pool expenses in 2018 as part of a $125,000 housing allowance for a Newport Beach, California, home he purchased in the Santa Ana Heights neighborhood for $1.85 million that features a “portable spa.”

The details on Kitto’s housing allowance claim for 2018 were highlighted in a trove of documents first made public on March 9 by Andrew Wilkie, an independent member of the Australian Parliament, thanks to the work of a whistleblower.

Last days church: what did Jesus have to say about the church that is left behind after the rapture of the Saints.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19

MANY EGYPTIANS ARE TURNING TO CHRIST DESPITE VIOLENCE AND PERSECUTION

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Back in 2019, pro-Islamist President Mohammed Morsi supporters took to the streets. Thousands took part in the protests in Alexandria, Suez and other cities calling for Morsi to be reinstated and urging military leader General Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to step aside.

According to David an I.N. Network worker, these protests put his family at risk. David says protesters surrounded his home for 50 days.

“They consider the area as a holy place, and they try to come back to the area again and again,” he says. “So the police and the army surround the area. Every Friday there is a big group of the Muslim Brotherhood. They try to come back, and they fight with the army and police.”

While David and his family have had to leave their home for a time, they are safe.

Since the Muslim Brotherhood took power, Christians have been the targets of violence. Once the government was sacked, Christians had hoped that would change. But, David says, it hasn’t.

“They are still creating troubles and problems,” he says. “The militants want to destroy the country. They attack many churches. Many churches have been burned. Many Christians have been killed.”

David says that’s why the I.N. Network has established an emergency fund to help survivors of the violence.

“Winter is approaching in Egypt,” he says. “And many families—especially in the south—don’t have enough clothes. They need blankets, so we’re doing a project to distribute blankets.”

While the violence has been difficult, David says there is good news.

“Churches are united together. And the spirit of prayer is happening in all the churches. People are praying all the time,” he says.

The response to the violence against burned churches has also been remarkable. Christians posted signs on their burned-out churches that read, “You burned our church, but we love you.”

David says,”It’s a great message of forgiveness. This makes many Muslims discover the reality of Christianity, and many of them come to know Jesus.”

While Muslims are turning, that’s creating another problem.

“Until now, they find difficulty for security reasons to join local churches, so they meet underground in a secret way,” David says. “They worship the Lord together, and they’re growing.”

As Muslims come to Christ, they’re uniquely qualified to share the gospel. “The easiest way to reach Muslims is through converted Muslims,” David says.

While David isn’t praying for more persecution, he’s excited about the Holy Spirit working. “It’s always like this,” he says. “When there is pressure over the churches, the Holy Spirit is working, and many people are coming to know Jesus as Savior.”

One reason why “many people are coming to know Jesus as Savior” is because once you have been directly persecuted as a Christian, any fear or shame you had about sharing your faith evaporates. Here’s how one believer in the Middle East put it: “Once you experience persecution, the fear goes away … you lose it. Persecution has made me bolder in sharing my faith.

Almost 5 years on and David says the church is still powering on for God and seeing many saved. This gives us a picture of what I believe the “last days” church will look like only “in spades”.