ESCALATING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN INDIA

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A wave of violence in India’s northeastern state of Manipur has left a trail of death and destruction, with the latest incidents resulting in six fatalities and numerous homes set ablaze. The ongoing unrest, which has already claimed over 180 lives and displaced thousands, has now become a significant factor in a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Three victims, identified as members of the majority Meitei community, were killed in the Kwakta area of Manipur’s Bishnupur district, The Times of India reported, adding that they had been living in relief camps and were killed the day they returned.

Retaliatory attacks ensued hours later, the media outlet said. Armed men targeted the area’s neighboring villages belonging to the Kuki-Zo community, resulting in two deaths and 13 severe injuries on Saturday.

The violence erupted in early May following a controversial court order for the state to consider extending special economic benefits and quotas, previously reserved for the tribal Kuki-Zo people, who are predominantly Christian, to the Hindu Meitei population. It would also give the Meiteis the right to buy land in the hills where the Kuki-Zo people live.

Opposition parties, under the newly formed India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, have accused Modi of “brazen indifference” to the violence, according to Financial Times, which said they have successfully placed a no-confidence motion against Modi’s government on parliament’s agenda, with a vote expected this week.

Last month, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging the Indian government to urgently restore peace in Manipur. “There have been concerns about politically motivated, divisive policies promoting Hindu majoritarianism, and about an increase in activity by militant groups,” the resolution stated. There are also “accounts of partisan involvement by security forces in the killings have increased distrust in the authorities.”

In response to the resolution, India’s Ministry of External Affairs criticized the European Parliament, saying the issue was entirely an “internal matter.”

This escalating persecution of Christians was prophesied by Jesus and included in the three Gospels so we should not be taken by surprise it only confirms that God is in control of all events on His planet, Earth. He is refining His church before He returns first to rapture His Saints and then to pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world.

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”.

ALL-OUT WAR ON CHRISTIANS IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

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If you think it is the norm that men and women are fully interchangeable, that marriage is open to any combination, and that killing babies is just peachy, then you will fit in just fine with the Victorian Labor Party, the Herald Sun, and all those of the secular left.

Late last year in the Herald Sun there was a horrific hatchet job on the newly elected Liberal politician Moira Deeming. Her crimes, she thinks it is a crime for babies to be murdered in the thousands; marriage is between a man and a woman; and males cannot become females and vice versa. Oh, and worse yet, she is a biblical Christian! So crucify her already. We can NOT allow such horrible people to be anywhere near our political process. Sack her now!!

As a former high school teacher, Ms. Deeming has critiqued the education sector in Victoria since her win at last year’s state election. In one email, Deeming said that she did not win her Liberal preselection on “merit”, rather it was an act of divine intervention. “I did not win (Liberal Party preselection) on merit … I won because God arranged it,” she said.

Now her own Liberal party wants her sacked despite the fact she was the only new liberal candidate to win a seat at the last election. Liberal leader John Pesutto put forward an expulsion motion condemning Ms Deeming for allegedly organizing, promoting, and attending the anti-trans rights rally headlined by controversial British activist Posie Parker. Ms. Deeming addressed the Let Women speak event on March 20, which saw anti-transgender inclusionary activists and LGBTQI+ advocates clash before Nazi sympathizers hijacked the event. Ms. Deeming publicly denied any extremist associations and condemned the demonstrations.

A two-hour Liberal Party meeting at Parliament House on Monday resulted in a nine-month suspension for Ms Deeming. It is a sad day for free speech and a sad day for women – women Moira was seeking to champion. For daring to let women speak, she is now in the political wilderness – at least for three-quarters of a year.

This is just one more example to confirm the Biblical prophecies that in the end times prior to Jesus’ return there will be increased persecution of Christians, in fact as the following prophecy indicates Christians will be hated and eventually killed because they will not take the mark of the Beast (Antichrist).

“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

Are you and your church ready for what is coming? You cannot say God did not warn you. As I have said many times on this website, there are over 1800 Biblical prophecies of Jesus’ second coming. There were 300-plus prophecies of Jesus first coming to earth and the Pharisees and Sadducees totally missed it. Sadly, there are many more prophecies of His second coming and the church at large is missing it. For the last 12 years the Lord has prompted me and many other Christians to get back to God’s Word. I was fortunate that almost 40 years ago now God connected me with Creation Ministries (CMI); they helped me overcome my stumbling block; belief in evolution that is taught as fact in our schools and universities. CMI showed me that the scientific evidence supported Creation and the Biblical account of history far better than evolution and billions of years. The geologic evidence supports catastrophe not slow gradual change of uniformitarianism. Millions of dead things, buried quickly all over the world as evidenced by fossils and fossil fuels; coal, oil, and natural gas are evidence of the truth of Noah’s flood, The first time God poured out His wrath upon the world. The time is coming soon when He will pour out His wrath again with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements. The world needs to be told this is coming. It is called apocalyptic evangelism.

YOU MUST BOW AT THE LGBT ALTAR OR ELSE

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Article by Michael Brown, Christian Press Op-Ed Contributor

Do you remember when the main goal of LGBT activism was creating an atmosphere of “tolerance and acceptance”? Those days are long gone, and the goalposts have been moved dramatically. Today, if you do not partake in the public, mandatory celebration of LGBT pride, you will be marked and you will be ostracized. If you don’t believe me, just ask NHL hockey player Ivan Provorov.

Provorov, who is from Russia and plays for the Philadelphia Flyers, declined to participate in pregame warmups for the Flyer’s LGBT pride night since he would have been required to wear a pride-themed jersey.

He explained to reporters, “I respect everybody and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion [which is Russian Orthodox]. That’s all I’m going to say.”

In other words, if someone identifies as LGBT, that’s their business, and he respects that. He has his own religious beliefs which dictate how he lives, and he would ask others to respect that. Live and let live.

Flyers coach John Tortorella was supportive of Provorov’s choice, explaining that the team made clear where it stood on LGBT pride. As for Provorov himself, Tortorella said that “he is being true to himself and to his religion. This has to do with his beliefs and his religion. That is one thing I respect about Provy, he is always true to himself, so that’s where we’re at with that.”

But not everyone was as tolerant (remember that word?). According to hockey journalist Pierre LeBrun, if Provorov really respected the LGBT community, he would have participated in the event and worn the jersey. To paraphrase, “Who gives a hoot about his religious convictions? To respect someone means to celebrate who they are and what they do, even if it is in fundamental contradiction to one’s own beliefs and convictions.”

Hockey commentator Gord Miller seconded LeBrun’s sentiments, adding that Provorov should have been banned from playing in the game. After all, he tweeted, “Freedom of expression doesn’t give you freedom from the consequences of your words or actions.” To paraphrase again, “Failure to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride has serious professional consequences!”

Sports and comedy writer Rachael Millanta was even more blunt, calling Provorov “ignorant, obnoxious, and homophobic,” also referring to people like him as “bigots” who “hide behind their cherry-picked religion.”

Oh, the beauty of open-minded, liberal tolerance!

So, by Provorov following the consistent Christian teachings of the last 2,000 years (or, more broadly, the consistent biblical teachings of the last 3,000+ years), he is an ignorant, obnoxious and homophobic bigot who is cherry-picking his beliefs.

The same can be said for the tens of millions of Russian Orthodox Christians who share these beliefs, along with many hundreds of millions of other Christians of like heart and like mind.

In short, you cannot graciously disagree. You cannot respectfully opt-out. Instead, you must deny your convictions, rewrite the Bible, run roughshod over your faith, and publicly celebrate something you believe to be wrong. Otherwise, you are a crass human being and a small-minded bigot. Those are your only choices!

Already in 2011 in my book A Queer Thing Happened to America, I could point to the Riddle Homophobia Scale, used in schools to evaluate whether the students were “homophobic.” According to the scale, both tolerance and acceptance were considered homophobic, since homosexuality was not something to “tolerate” or “accept.”

Instead, the only way not to be homophobic was to embrace a “positive” attitude which called for “support, admiration, appreciation, and nurturance.”

Yes, if you don’t want to be a homophobe, you must admire your lesbian friend. You must nurture your transgender colleague’s new identity. Otherwise, you will be marked.

Are you surprised? Well, consider this: “The Riddle homophobia scale was developed by Dorothy Riddle in 1973–74 while she was overseeing research for the American Psychological Association Task Force on Gays and Lesbians.”

That’s how far back it goes, although it wasn’t widely released until 1994. That’s why I started my article with this question: “Do you remember when the main goal of LGBT activism was creating an atmosphere of ‘tolerance and acceptance?’”

Most young people, including young adults, do not remember this time because they never experienced it. Instead, they have grown up with the choice to celebrate LGBT pride or be branded, to comply publicly or be ousted.

That’s why one of the chapters in my forthcoming book Why Have So Many Christians Left the Faith is titled, “If Gay Is Good, Christianity Is Bad.” That’s how much the tables have turned, even though the testimony of Scripture remains as clear today as it has ever been.

One of my colleagues, who is now a pastor, worked for years as a computer programmer with Bank of America. He told me that little by little, he was getting pushed out of his job through LGBT activism. By the time he quit, every employee, let alone higher-level managers or executives, could see on your bio whether you identified as an LGBT ally. If not, you could virtually kiss your career advancements goodbye.

Provorov is just the latest example of this reverse bigoted, small-minded, judgmentalism which leaves us with only one ethical choice: We will continue to love our LGBT neighbor as ourselves and we will refuse to back down on our convictions regardless of cost or consequence. That’s what Jesus would have us do.

There is a week-long celebration of Gay Pride in Sydney at the moment with 12.000 marchers including our Prime Minister and other politicians.

Article from “The Age” newspaper February 25th, 2023

“Anthony Albanese made history on Saturday night when he became the first Australian prime minister to march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

“It’s unfortunate that I am the first, but this is a celebration of modern Australia … a diverse and inclusive Australia,” he said.

“We need to be a country that respects everyone for who they are.”

Marching in his 35th Mardi Gras, Albanese paid tribute to the 78ers – the protesters from the original march 45 years ago ″⁣who were thrown in jail”.