THE ORIGIN OF VALENTINE’S DAY

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What is The Origin Of Valentine’s Day?

For this we have to go back to the Roman Empire, February 14, 269AD, when citizens were forced to worship the Roman gods, and “deified” emperors, by placing a pinch of incense on a burning fire before their statues.

Those who refused worship of the Roman gods were considered “politically incorrect” or “unpatriotic” enemies of the state and killed. Emperor Decian’s persecution specifically targeted Christians with legislation forcing them to deny their consciences or die.

During the first three centuries of Christianity, there were ten major persecutions in which the government threw Christians to the lions, boiled them alive, had their tongues cut out, and worse.

Roman soldiers would break into church meetings, catacombs, and homes, confiscating and destroying Christian writings, bibles, and church records. Because so many records were destroyed, details of Saint Valentine’s life are scant. Though several individuals may have had that name, it appears Saint Valentine was either a priest in Rome or a bishop in Terni, central Italy.

What little is known is mostly known from the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, compiled around 362 AD, and the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (Martyrology of Jerome), compiled around A.D. 460-544. Saint Valentine is mentioned in Legenda Sanctorum by Jacobus de Voragine in 1260 and in the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle.

In the 3rd century, it was against the law to be married as a Roman soldier. Saint Valentine risked the Emperor’s wrath by standing up for traditional marriage and secretly marrying soldiers to their young brides. When Emperor Claudius also demanded that Christians deny their consciences and worship pagan idols, Saint Valentine refused.

He was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to die. While awaiting execution, his jailer, Asterius, asked Saint Valentine to pray for his blind daughter. When she miraculously regained her sight, the jailer converted and was baptized, along with many others.

This resulted in Saint Valentine being beaten with clubs and stones, and when that failed to kill him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate on FEBRUARY 14, 269AD. Asterius, the jailer, and all the others who got converted were also put to death. Jesus said (Acts 1:8), “You shall be my witnesses.” The Greek word for “witness” is “martyr”. Many 3rd century people knew they would be martyred soon as they converted, and many were the same hour.

Right before Saint Valentine was executed, he wrote a note to the jailer’s daughter, signing it, “from your Valentine.”

In a “note” from Jesus He said (John 15:13), “Greater love has no man than this than a man lay down his life for his friends.” And Paul wrote (Romans 5:7-8): “Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person… But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Jesus and Paul’s mandate, how it happened in history, and how it can today – read it in Jim’s book Christian Manifesto (Vol. 1) at:www.JimsBookstore.com

Jim McCotter is well aware that tribulation – persecution of Christians will escalate in the last days before Jesus returns. Those that will not take the Mark of the Beast will be martyred as the early Christians were. At the opening of the sixth seal (Revelation 6:9) John was shown the souls of the martyrs they had not been raised with bodies at that point in time. The good news is that shortly, after the blast of the trumpet at the seventh seal John sees the raised saints with bodies standing before the throne with palm branches in their hands praising God the Father and Jesus.

“ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” Revelation 6:9–10

“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

HOW TO STAND STRONG IN THE END TIMES

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We are witnessing shakings that disrupt virtually every life, disrupting the world, setting cities on fire, changing governments, and ushering in an agenda that wars against God’s people. Is there a way to stand strong and immovable through it all? Jonathan Cahn tells us how to find it – and live it.

There is no doubt in my mind that God is using Jonathan Cahn to alert the church to what God is doing in line with end times Biblical prophecy. Regardless of what Satan does to deceive the world when the Antichrist comes on the scene, our hope must be in the fact that God is in control of history. Satan’s time of controlling the world is coming to an end. Make sure you are on the winning side.

NEW YEARS GREETING FROM TORBEN SØNDERGAARD – NOW SIX MONTHS IN JAIL

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New Year’s greetings to all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This year is soon over, and I’m sending this greeting to all of you, from Baker’s County Detention Center where I have now been locked up for six months – yes, a half-year! I could not imagine something like this was possible! But this shows that the times are changing and that we are in a spiritual war. Our enemy is busy spreading his lies and doing everything he can to stop the Gospel from going forth. But he will NOT succeed. GOD has the last word, and I truly believe we are standing in front of a breakthrough like we have never seen before!

Fortunately, Torben understands that GOD is in it! He has SPOKEN! He is FAITHFUL! Torben also knows that it is not just about him. He knows this is about Satan trying to destroy the Last Reformation Movement that is having a tremendous impact in spreading the Gospel around the world. Make sure you show you show your support by going to FriendsofTorben.com.

We need to remember that all of the O.T. prophets had to deliver messages of coming judgement to the people of Israel and most were rejected, persecuted, and killed. Likewise, all of Jesus’ disciples and Paul met similar ends.

“Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20

“Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalms 33:18-22

Our hope needs to be in our Lord Jesus Christ and the assurance of His second coming to put things right.

PROPHESIED END TIMES PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

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Persecution of Christians is on the rise in at least 18 countries, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, due to growing jihadism and nationalism, according to a report released by a Catholic group (Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that examined human rights violations against Christians in 24 countries where it is particularly difficult to be a Christian.

Thank goodness God warned us that this would happen and the good news is that it indicates Jesus’ return to put things right is not too far in the future.

Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28

Hopefully, this information will help you pray for the persecuted church. These countries include Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, India and Qatar, according to the report titled “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2020-22.”

Around the world, more than 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution just for following Jesus — that’s one in seven believers worldwide, according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List, which ranks the top 50 countries where Christians experience the worst persecution for their faith.

ACN said its report was presented in the Houses of Parliament in the U.K. this week with a keynote address by Nigeria’s Bishop Jude Arogundade, whose Diocese of Ondo was targeted by gunmen who killed more than 40 people at a packed Sunday service on Pentecost Sunday this year.

Bishop Arogundade said, “no one seems to pay attention to the genocide” taking place in swathes of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. “The world is silent as attacks on churches, their personnel, and institutions have become routine. How many corpses are required to get the world’s attention?” he was quoted as saying.

African countries saw a sharp rise in terrorist violence from non-state militants, with more than 7,600 Nigerian Christians reportedly murdered between January 2021 and June of this year, the Catholic group said in the report, adding that in May, a video was released showing 20 Nigerian Christians being executed by Islamist terror group Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West Africa Province.

In Asia, “state-authoritarianism” was behind the worsening oppression, especially in North Korea, where religious beliefs and practices are routinely and systematically repressed, it said.

The report also noted that religious nationalism has triggered increasing violence against Christians in the region, with Hindu nationalist and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist groups active in India and Sri Lanka, respectively.

The report noted that India witnessed 710 incidents of anti-Christian violence between January 2021 and the start of June, “driven in part by political extremism.” It cited an example of a mass rally in Chhattisgarh state last October, where members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party applauded as right-wing Hindu religious leader Swami Parmatmanand called for Christians to be killed.

In the Middle East, the report said, a migration crisis threatened the survival of some of the world’s oldest Christian communities.

In Syria, the Christian population declined from 10% to less than 2%, falling from 1.5 million just before the war began to around 300,000 today, ACN said, adding that while the rate of exodus is slower in Iraq, a community that numbered around 300,000 before the 2014 invasion by ISIS had halved to 150,000 by the spring of this year.

At this month’s G20 event centered on religions’ role in helping solve global problems, the Most Rev. Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, warned that Christianity in Iraq was “on the very edge of extinction.”

During his remarks at the G20 Religion Forum in Bali, Indonesia, the archbishop stressed that “sectarian violence” was a significant problem in Iraq. This country suffered the rise of an Islamic State stronghold during the last decade in which thousands of Iraqi religious minorities were killed, enslaved, or forced to flee their homelands.

“Without an end to this sectarian violence, there is no future for religious pluralism in Iraq, or anywhere else in the Mideast for that matter,” he said. “The brutal logic of this is that there does eventually reach an end point where there are no minorities left to kill, and no minorities left to persecute.”

Warda added, “As I share with you this experience, I pray that you will find in our story a clear warning to you all.” He noted that after around 1,900 years of existing in the region, “we Christians of Iraq now find ourselves on the very edge of extinction.”

There is “a fundamental crisis of violence within Islam” that “can no longer be ignored,” he said, adding that it “continues to affect the entire Middle East, Africa, Asia and beyond.”

The report includes information from ACN and other local sources, provides firsthand testimony, compilations of incidents, case studies, and country analysis on the extent to which Christians are targeted around the world.

Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List, which looked at incidents reported between Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, found at least 5,898 Christians were killed, 5,110 churches were attacked or closed, 6,175 Christians were arrested without trial, and 3,829 Christians were kidnapped. 2021 saw a 24% increase in Christians killed for their faith.

LAST DAYS PERSECUTED CHURCH

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Listen to what this pastor in Iran said: “In the east, hearing God’s voice is absolutely crucial. Being led by the Spirit is the difference between life and death. We can not afford to get away with the sins that so easily entangle. The disciple-making lifestyle accelerates your maturity in God. You must have an active relationship with God. You must pray and remain in prayer. You must be in the Word. This is the only way forward in the days ahead – total absolute reliance on God.

 Loving your enemies is unnatural, but you can only do that if you are seeing with spiritual eyes. Natural eyes tell us to stand and fight against oppression…but what if oppression brings harvest and grows the church? That’s our tension.”

Moves of God happen in the most desperate places, and right now, Iran is one of those places. The political upheaval, economic distress, resource scarcity, social unrest, and religious persecution are creating a perfect storm for the Gospel to spread like wildfire inside Iran.     

Just as these Iranian Christians have discovered, being sold out to God is what will be required to live the Christian life in the prophesied “last days” before Jesus returns. In the west, since Gay Marriage and LGBTQ issues are now law Christians are coming under increasing persecution and this will only intensify.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

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

TRUE CHURCH IS NOT IN DECLINE AND IS PREPARING FOR COMING TRIBULATION

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According to Gallup polls, the so-called American church is in decline. However, -Roger Olson, a scholar with a Ph.D. in religious studies who has studied American religious life (especially Christianity in all its expressions) for many years says that what is really happening is that new expressions of Christianity are popping up that are flying “under the radar” of critics who claim “the American churches” are losing members. People are flocking from many of the old, so-called “mainline” churches and many are attending new collective expressions of Christianity that may or may not be called “churches.” Throughout the South and Midwest thousands of “cowboy churches” are popping up. Most of them do not belong to any denomination or are only very loosely affiliated with, for example, a local Baptist association of churches. There are literally thousands of immigrant churches that are hardly noticed by the bean-counters. For example, the Redeemed Christian Church of God of Nigeria has at least seven hundred congregations in the U.S. I am told that many of these congregations are large and growing not only through immigration but also through evangelism and people leaving other churches to attend these.

Churches that are truly born again, Bible-believing churches are not in decline because they are empowered by the Holy Spirit and are doing what God has called them to do. They have a Biblical worldview and therefore know Jesus is returning to this planet in the not too distant future first to remove His Saints and then to pour out His wrath on an unrepentant lawless world and they are acting accordingly.

They also know what Jesus said about the time before His return. It will be a time of great tribulation for Christians as God deals with the rebellion both in the heavenly and earthly realms. Satan and His demons are finally cast out of heaven and Satan enters the Antichrist and increases persecution first Jews and then of the Saints.

“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.” Ezekiel 28:15-16

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” Revelation 12:7-10

“Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!” Revelation 12:12

“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.” Revelation 12:13-14

“Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” Revelation 12:17

SELLING THE TRANSGENDER STORY – GENDER AND SEXUALITY ARE DIFFERENT?

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In this very appealing video, we are told that tens of thousands of children out there identify as transgender. We are also told that the Whittington family is a typical American family. As well, we are told that gender and sexuality are different. I would suggest that all three claims are false.

Ryland’s mother said that the child spoke to them before she could speak that she was a boy. Prior to the child coming out as a boy at age five, the parents began sex experimentation with the child. Those facts should get the alarm bells ringing.

The following statistics are given to us: 60% of transgender youth turn to self-harm and 50% to suicide according to research by the Trevor Project ( The world’s largest safe space social networking community for LGBTQ youth). These statistics are alarming however the Trevor Projects’ solution to the problem is equally alarming.

In Australia and many other western countries, to offer God’s solution (the only true solution) to the transgender problem is a gaolable offense. Even presenting God’s solution to the parents in order to save their children would get you reported to the authorities.

God and his commandments have been rejected by the majority of people as they were by the people of Noah’s Day bringing God’s judgement upon them. Moreover, Jesus told us that at the time before His return will be like Noah’s Day when lawlessness abounded. Persecution of active Christians (living out their faith) will be considered just.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22

“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”” Luke 18:7-8

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS ESCALATES IN NIGERIA

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“The blood is still there. It’s still spread all over the floor.”

Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity International (CSI), shared these chilling words while discussing the vile attack on a Nigerian church Sunday that left at least 50 dead.

A police officer stands guard inside the St. Francis Catholic Church, a day after an attack that targeted worshipers in Owo, Nigeria, Monday, June 6, 2022. The gunmen who killed 50 people at a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria opened fire on worshippers both inside and outside the building in a coordinated attack before escaping the scene

“It was Pentecost Sunday in Nigeria, so the church was full of people,” Veldkamp said. “According to one report, the gunmen snuck in disguised as worshippers. And then other gunmen arrived on motorcycles from the outside and started shooting from the outside, and then the ones who were already inside the congregation started shooting as well.”

The assailants then reportedly placed bombs on the altar and around the church before detonating them.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, though some reports ponder whether radical Islamic terror groups could be culpable. The location of the attack — in a southwest region of Nigeria — is one of the factors that adds to the “distressing and disturbing” details, as that area is typically peaceful and unaffected by the terror that has gripped portions of northern Nigeria.

“There are a lot of fears that this is going to open up a new chapter in anti-Christian terrorism in Nigeria,” Veldkamp said.

Renewed critique emerged last month after a Muslim mob reportedly fatally stoned Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a 25-year-old Christian college student of Shehu Shagari College of Education was beaten and burned to death in Sokoto Nigeria, Friday, May 13, 2022, by fellow Muslim students after she was accused of making a blasphemous social media post.

THE GOSPEL IS AN AFFRONT TO THE NATURAL MIND

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The gospel tells us that we are lost in our sin, and there is no way we can save ourselves through good works. The moment we recognize the awfulness of our sin and cast ourselves upon God’s mercy and grace, He forgives, transforms, and justifies us. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 1:7–9). That is the gospel message.

That message is a problem for nonbelievers because the natural human mind cannot admit the gravity and horror of sin. The natural mind says, “I admit I’m not perfect, but I’m a good person. If there is a God, He will accept me. I don’t need a Savior. So keep your ‘sin’ talk to yourself. Don’t bother me with your gospel.”

The natural mind refuses to admit to having sinned so grievously that Jesus would have to die. “You’re telling me that Jesus died to save me? Me? Are you calling me a hopeless, helpless sinner? How dare you!”

A gay couple getting married in Norway

Most of the denominational churches have compromised with the world in an effort to keep bums on seats and money to pay the bills including the minister’s salaries. Preachers belonging to these denominations have stopped preaching the gospel of redemption from sin, and now preach a message of human virtue. They have stopped preaching the cross and the empty tomb and instead preach positive thinking. They have stopped preaching justification by grace through faith, and instead preach social justice propaganda.

In many of the charismatic churches, it is all about the preacher and his ego. He/She wants to be liked and admired by nonbelievers who will donate big money to a ministry that flatters their egos.

What did Paul tell Timothy to do in a world that is hostile to the gospel of salvation? Guard the truth!

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Timothy 1:13-14, NIV).

The “pattern of sound teaching” Paul writes of is God’s blueprint. The word translated “pattern” is the same word used for an architectural design. What happens if a builder decides to ignore the architectural blueprint? What if the builder decides he doesn’t want to bother putting up the pillars, crossbeams and archways that are specified by the architect? The building will collapse.

Though Paul is burdened by the subversion of the church, he is able to say, “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). What day? The day of the Lord’s return!

And that is why the apostle Paul, in the closing days of his life, pleads with Timothy—and with you and me—to please, please, please follow the blueprint of sound teaching. Please, please, please guard the deposit of truth that was entrusted to you. Don’t try to improve on it. Don’t deviate from it. Don’t modify it.

Paul’s message to Timothy and to us is to keep the pattern of sound teaching and guard the good deposit of truth that was entrusted to you. The Lord is faithful to His Word. He will never allow the light of the gospel to be extinguished. God has entrusted the gospel to us, but He has not abdicated. He is watching over His Word. He will preserve it, with or without us. Whether or not we remain faithful, He will always be faithful.

He is trustworthy. He will accomplish all things according to the counsel of His will.

His Word reveals that Christians will have a time of tribulation/persecution prior to His second coming. We need to be prepared and warn others as to what lies ahead. We need to realise that God is still in control of all that happens on His earth. What plays out in the last seven years with Satan and his Antichrist, God allows. During this time Christ’s church will be purified before He takes us to heaven with the Rapture and then pours out His wrath upon unrepentant earth with the seven Trumpet (Revelation 12) and seven Bowl (Revelation 16) judgements. It is all revealed in God’s Word.