Tag: Martyrs

ISRAEL

ISRAEL  — GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.

The whole of the Bible is centred around ISRAEL.    It is HIStory, — God’s record of His chosen people, past, present and future.   The Bible is the history of the nation whom God called  “The apple of my eye”.   Zec 2:8 For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says:    “In pursuit of glory I was sent to the nations who plundered you, because “whoever injures you,  injures the pupil of my eye.”  (ISV).   

Nations of the world today should be very very careful of how they treat Israel, because world history shows that when a nation blesses Israel and treats them well, they in turn are very blessed and prosper exceedingly.    The latest nation to be blessed because of their stand for Israel was the USA, until they decided that they needed ARAB OIL more than they needed Israel.    To gain Arab Oil, meant they had to side with the Arab nations and the Palestinians against Israel, and call for the division of Israel, by giving back Judea, Samaria and the West Bank to the Palestinians.    This decision was a very bad choice, as from that time on America began its steady decline into debt and into the constant fear of terrorism, both of which were unheard of in America until then. 

The nation prior to the USA to bless Israel was the UK who brought forth the BALFOUR DECLARATION, which gave Israel back their own land again in 1917, and it was said later the sun never set on the British Empire, as wherever it was daytime the sun was over a British Colony somewhere in the world.    However, that ended when Britain refused entry to the Jewish people from EUROPE during World War Two, and sent thousands of Jews back to Germany, where they became victims of the holocaust, another very bad choice, and for that God removed His blessing from the UK, and it declined to the mediocre power it is today, lagging behind many other countries in the world.

God promised that this would happen right back at the very beginning in Genesis chapter 12  where he promised Abram, later to be called Abraham, Gen 12:2   “I’ll make a great nation of your descendants, I’ll bless you, and I’ll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing.”  Gen 12:3  “I’ll bless those who bless you, but I’ll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed.”  (ISV).     God, being the faithful God He is, has honoured that promise down through the ages, and is still honouring that promise today, despite Israel’s unfaithfulness to God for so much of the time.   

God’s word is truth, you cannot escape from it, God told Israel He would punish them if they turned away from Him and worshipped false god’s, and He has been faithful to His word  all the way through.    All who worship God are blessed, those who worship false gods are being, or will be, punished.

Bad choices, choices made against God and against His Word the Bible, always result in bad outcomes.    Let us look at some prophecies concerning the “last days” or the “end times”.   These prophecies are currently in progress.

Zech 1:18 & 19  Then I looked up and saw four horns.    I asked the angel who was talking to me, “What are those?” So he answered me, “Those are the forces that have dispersed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”  (ISV)   (Horns in scripture nearly always refer to Empires, or World Powers.  See also Daniel 7:24  &  Rev 17:7    —-   The four horns spoken of here are the four known today as “The Quartet”  —  the United States, – the EU,  –  Russia and the United Nations.   These four powers or “four horns” are working together to create a “Peace Plan” which will divide God’s land, – ISRAEL, and give half of it to the Palestinians.     Let me say here that ALL the nations who work together and vote together with the four horns, to take God’s land away from Israel and give it to God’s enemies will be judged by God for doing that.   See  Joel 3: 1 & 2.

 Joel 3: 1 & 2  “Look, now! In those very days and at that time, when I restore prosperity to Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations, bringing them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will set out my case against them there,  (I will judge them) on behalf of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, apportioning my land among themselves.  (ISV).

ISRAEL’S ENEMIES.     I believe that Israel’s enemies, are of necessity also enemies of God, or God’s enemies, because of God’s covenants with Israel.    It is not my intention here to go through naming nations, as we are only dealing with God’s Land – Israel, and the surrounding nations which are mentioned in the Bible.    It is very interesting to note, but also logical, that Israel’s enemies today, are the very same enemies Israel battled in the Bible.     It is also very interesting to note that those enemies of yesteryear, have all become Islamic nations, and without exception, all swear to exterminate the Israelis from the face of the earth.     Also of note those same nations are also virulently anti Christian, and have vowed to cleanse the earth of all Christians as well as all “Jews”.  (Read Israelis).   

Jer 46:10 That day belongs to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. It is a day of vengeance to take vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour and be satisfied, and will drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the Euphrates river.  (ISV)   We were created in the likeness and image of God.   Are you capable of hate?  so is God.   Are you capable of jealousy?  so is God.   Are you capable of vengeance?  so is God.    The difference is that God’s hate, jealousy, vengeance etc.etc. are just and holy, whereas ours are driven by passion and often go beyond being just.    That is why the Lord tells us in Rom 12:19 Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord.” 

Eze 30:3 “For comes now the day—comes now the Day of the LORD, the day of clouds! The time of the gentiles is fulfilled!   Compare with      Rom_11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.   (ISV)    Ezekiel prophesies here that the Day of the Lord will come when the Gentiles is finished.

ISRAEL  —  GOD’S CLOCK.  

I think we need to understand these passages clearly so we have no misconceptions as to what the Lord is telling us here.   What the Lord is saying here is that when the day of the Lord comes, at that time the Gentiles domination of the world will cease.    The Day of the Lord is a time of Judgement upon the unsaved peoples of the world.    During this time, the Lord is trying desperately to bring sinners to salvation, knowing the end is near.   

The success of this time of judgement is seen in Rev 7:9 where we are told that “After these things ( i.e. After the first six seals of God’s wrath have been executed) I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”   In verse 14 we are told where this great crowd of people have come from, when the Elder tells John, “So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These are the people who have seen that God is serious about cleansing the earth of sin and all manner of evil and wickedness, and they have been prepared to become martyrs in order to gain salvation and eternal life, by putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.    The rest of the world continue in their unbelief, in their evil and wicked ways, cursing God for what is happening, but not prepared to give up their evil and wicked practices.

I believe that the times of the Gentiles is perilously close to coming to an end, as more and more pressure is brought against God’s chosen people Israel to give up some of  God’s land to God’s enemies, and when they force Israel to accede to their peace plan, then God will say “Finish” and the times of the Gentiles will be over, and God’s judgement will commence.  

President Trump and his team of peacemakers are believed to be on the cusp of making an announcement right now.    It is believed that both sides will have to give up some of their demands, but that both sides will also gain previously unattainable concessions from the other side.    If this is correct, and a date is set for the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians and the Arabs etc. then look for 1Thess 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman; and they shall not escape. 

As the whole world cries out for peace and safety at any price, keep your eyes on Israel, Israel is God’s clock, and they will be the ones who have to pay the main price in this “peace at any price” deal with the Palestinians, and while watching Israel, don’t forget to keep your eyes on the Lord as HE brings to pass HIS word.

FUNDAMENTALISM – PART ONE.

Fundamentalism  – According to the Collins Concise Dictionary the Christian view that the Bible is divinely inspired, and is therefore literally true.

According to the New Webster’s dictionary Fundamentalism means: “A belief that the Bible is to be accepted literally as an inerrant and infallible spiritual and historical document; an early 20th century protestant movement stressing this belief; any similar belief and movement”.

In another dictionary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English), Fundamentalism has been defined as: “Maintenance of the literal interpretation of the traditional belief of the Christian religion, such as the accuracy of everything in the Bible’.

Fundamental.   Of or relating to the foundation or base; – elementary – basic or essential to.   So the fact that the Bible is divinely inspired, and is therefore literally true, is fundamental to the “True Christian’s” faith and doctrines, as it is the foundation of their belief.

Fundamentalists.  All Christians who believe that the Bible is divinely inspired, and that the statements in the Bible are literally true.

Fundamentalism and Fundamentalists strictly speaking should refer to Christianity and to Christian believers, however, the modern meaning of the word fundamentalism and fundamentalists has expanded greatly, into the media, science, business, government, the arts, etc. etc.   When it is used today in its original meaning describing the Bible as divinely inspired, and therefore as literally true, it is almost always used to express contempt and disapproval.

These once Christian terms have now expanded to include unquestioned adherence to any fundamental principles or beliefs, and are often used in a pejorative sense. Nowadays we hear about not only Protestant evangelical fundamentalists, but Catholic fundamentalists, Mormon fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists, Hindu fundamentalists, Buddhist fundamentalists, and even atheist, secular or Darwinian fundamentalists.

Now the English lesson is over and the “End Times” lesson begins.

I am about to show you the danger that lies ahead for fundamentalists, as the world prepares for One World Religion and One World Government.

PART ONE – FUNDAMENTALISM and the One World RELIGION.

There is no doubt that the one world religion is being set up at the present time.  The current Pope has been appointed as the leader of this one world religion.   To many people, and especially committed Catholic Christians, Pope Francis is somewhat of an enigma.   From a strictly Christian perspective, many of the things he says and does are very Christian, and very Christlike, however as we shall see, there are other things which are completely against the teachings of Jesus and indeed of the whole Bible.

This however is exactly what one would expect from the One World Religion leader.  As a counterfeit, he has to have many things which look and sound identical to, — Jesus, YHWH (Jehovah), Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, Shiva, plus all the Fukujin gods of Japan and the 109 gods of China, and all other gods of all the other major religions from all the other countries, otherwise he cannot unite them into one religion.

The best way to achieve unity among all religions, is the very path that Pope Francis has taken.  See article below.

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?popular_news_slot=2R         Pope Francis Says “All Major Religions Are Paths To The Same God.”    Everybody from every religion worships the same God, it’s just that we follow different paths to get there.

But Jesus himself said in John 14:6  “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to God the Father except through Me.”  It is the many comments Pope Francis makes like this, and the following one in the next article, where the counterfeit shows itself.

The Pope criticises “Fundamentalism”   See article below.    https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/pope-francis-continues-his-critique-religious-fundamentalism     

“Religious fundamentalism must be combated.   It is not religious, God is lacking, it is idolatrous.”  Note Carefully  Pope Francis is not just talking here about Protestant Christians, but against Catholic Christian believers also, in fact in the context he is using the accepted modern day usage of the word to include all religions whose believers are totally committed to their own particular faith.

What about all the minor religions, do all their paths lead to God also?

The Book of Revelation makes it clear that everyone who refuses to worship the Antichrist will be decapitated.     Rev 7:9  After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb.   Rev 7:13  Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?” Rev 7:14  And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.”    This scene is clarified for us in Rev 13:12 which tells us,  “He, (The Religious World Leader) exercised all the authority of the first beast, (The Antichrist) and he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.”

It is interesting that in approximately 1140 AD Archbishop Malachy, who later became St Malachy, foretold that the 112 th Pope from then, would be the final Pope.  Coincidental or prophetic, who knows, time will tell, but Pope Francis is the 112 th Pope from St Malachy.    See below article.    http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/st-malachy-predicted-pope-benedicts-successor-will-be-last-pope-190715001-237789421

It is also interesting to note that Catholic Popes down through the dark ages, and beyond, indeed up until 1960 have murdered, conservatively, between 50 million to 70 million Protestants.     See article below.    http://webwitness.org.au/estimates.html     “Brownlee apparently revised the 69 million figure downwards to 68 million.  So the figure of 68 million has several sources in the early 1800s.  The source for some of Brownlees’ figures appears in the following quotation:”

As the article says, this figure does not include Catholic “dissidents” Moslems or Jews, nor does it include those who died from injuries, starvation and disease because of the crusades, nor does it include the Crusaders themselves who died in battles during the crusades.

Another interesting fact is that the most blood thirsty of all Popes have always been from the Jesuit Order, the same as Pope Francis. Jesuits are the true fundamentalists of Catholicism.

The number of 50 to 70 or 80 million however, pales into insignificance when compared to the number the final One World Religion leader will have slaughtered during the Great Tribulation, see Rev chapter 7  After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count etc.

I am, like all “True Christians” a brother in Christ with the many, many “True Christian” Catholics around the world, some of whom I am privileged to have as extended family, others as good friends.   I am not in any way anti Catholic, in fact I am humbled by the bravery and witness of my Catholic brothers and sisters in Iraq, Syria, North Africa, and in many other parts of the world, who are currently being tortured, raped and murdered, for their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.    But as Jesus said, in Matthew chapter 13, the enemy has sown “Tares” amongst the wheat, and sadly these tares now occupy the highest positions in many of our churches and denominations today.

It is these “Tares”, officers of the “One World Religion” who will bring about the slaughter and destruction of those who are left behind at the Rapture, but who then realising their mistake, turn to Jesus Christ in repentance for forgiveness and salvation.  During the Great Tribulation, as Jesus says in Mar 13:12  The brother (a tare) shall betray the brother (a Christian) to death, and the father (a Tare) shall betray the son; (a Christian) and children (tares) shall rise up against their parents, (Christians) and shall cause them to be put to death.

Mar 13:13  And you (Christians) shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The message therefore is make sure of your salvation before it is too late.    Or as the Contemporary English Version says in  Philippians 2:12  My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved.

PART TWO – FUNDAMENTALISM and the One World GOVERNMENT will be coming soon.

God bless you all,

Lex Cullen.

Of Dispensations and Pre Tribulation.

I have noticed recently that “Dispensationalists and Pre Tribulation Teachers” have been coming in for some harsh criticism from anti dispensationalists, and anti pre tribulation teachers, so I thought I would give my reasons as to why I am both a Dispensationalist and also a Pre Tribulation believer. I will not however be engaging in criticism of other Christians, as I do not believe that is God glorifying, but I will be stating my beliefs and backing them up with scripture, and I will make comments on why I do not accept some of their allegations against us, or some of their beliefs about the timing of the rapture.

I believe that there are time periods set by God for certain things to take place in the plan of God.   These time periods are called dispensations.  The word dispensation comes from the Greek word “Oikonomia” which means the order or running of the household.    You could say dispensations are like agenda items, when you complete one agenda item you move on to the next.    To my way of thinking if there are no dispensations, the Bible becomes a book of contradictions, mysterious to the uninitiated, and difficult to understand, whereas in fact it is God’s revelation to us of His plans for mankind.

Revelation means to reveal, or to disclose, to make clear and understandable.   Without dispensations the Bible becomes a minefield for Christians, and a paradise for non Christians of every other religion and or persuasion, it becomes a book where men have to put their own interpretation on much of what God is saying.   It becomes a mystery not a revelation.

I think that there are some things which apply to one dispensation but not others, and that there are some things which apply to all dispensations, but without dispensations, you have a big mess of contradictions.  I believe and note here also, that dispensations are taught in the Bible, and a classic example of this is found in Eph 1:10 where it says “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”   In this verse we can see clearly that there will be another dispensation called the fullness of times, which appears to come after the Millennial dispensation.

Dispensationalism is also seen in the writings of early Christians such as Paul, as seen above in Eph 1:10, it is also used by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 9:17, and again in Eph 3:2 and Col 1:25.   It is also noted in the writings of early historians such as Justin Martyr, (A.D. 110-165), Iranaeus (A.D. 130-200)   and Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-220) to name just a few.

Contrary to most other theological beliefs, Dispensational Theology believes that Israel and the Church are two distinct entities, operating in two distinct dispensations.   I am convinced that although both have had special relationships with God, they are not essentially one and the same.   Israel as a nation, is not and never was the church, and the church is not and never was the nation of Israel.   There are Israelis and Jews in the church, and in fact the church was founded by Jews.   When we gentiles become Christians, we are grafted into the family of faith, the father of whom was Abraham, father of the Israeli nation, but we are not grafted into the nation of unbelieving Israel!

When comparing Israel and the Church in the Bible, the word church is never seen or used in the Old Testament, and it is never seen or used after the Rapture takes place in Revelation 4:1.

I believe that it is only with dispensations that you can take the Bible literally.    Without dispensations, much of the Bible has to be interpreted according to what men think God meant rather than by what the Bible actually says.      Dispensationalists realise that there are many parts of the Bible which are allegorical, but we believe the majority of the Bible is literal, and we can see that so far, all the fulfilled prophecies have been fulfilled literally, and that those currently in the process of being fulfilled, are also shaping up to be fulfilled literally.

Allegorical passages of scripture are usually easy to recognise, such as parables and poems etc. but allegorical interpreters are very often seen to be at odds with each other, having different interpretations, because different people will always have different views on what the passage might mean.

Without dispensations you cannot have a Pretribulation Rapture.   The Pretribulation Rapture depends entirely on a literal interpretation of the Bible wherever it makes sense to interpret it literally.     Without a Pretribulation Rapture you must have God pouring out His wrath and judgement upon Himself, because He is dwelling in true believers in the person of the Holy Spirit!  That would not make sense at all.   Neither would God pouring out His wrath on the Bride to be of His only Son, who gave His life to cleanse and purify her make any sense.   God is NOT about to pour out tribulation of any type, nor His wrath upon Himself or the Bride to be of His Son!

Will the church go through tribulation?  ABSOLUTELY!    The church has gone through tribulation from its beginning, and much of that tribulation has been terrible and unbelievably cruel.   The inquisition was a time of terrible tribulation when millions of Christians were slaughtered for their faith in Jesus Christ.   The Communist countries butchered millions of Christians when they came to power in Russia and China.   Millions of Christians have been butchered by Moslems since the day Muhammad began the religion of Islam right up until today.

Much of the church is going through terrible tribulation right now in Moslem countries, in China, in India, in North Korea and in over 120 other countries around the world today.    But it is Satan and not God who is pouring out his wrath on the church today.    Satan knows that his time is up, and because of this his fury is being unleashed upon God’s people all around the world and it is spreading rapidly to the rest of the world.

Billy Graham’s Warning to American Churches: ‘Prepare for Persecution’

The Rev. Billy Graham has issued a written warning to America’s churches: “Prepare for persecution.” The renowned preacher and founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association penned a commentary that was posted on his website last week and is slated to appear in the November edition of Decision magazine.    His son Franklin Graham wrote “Persecution and targeting of Christians isn’t just in Iran or the Middle East, it’s right here in America,” wrote Franklin Graham.

I believe that if the Lord does not come back soon for His bride, that we shall soon see Christians in Australia being targeted by the world for our stand against sins of every type, most notably same sex marriage and sexual perversion of every type.   You can see it already beginning to build here in Australia as it has already in America.   But Jesus said, ‘If they hate you, remember they hated me before they hated you,’ (John 15:18).”

The accusations made by anti Pre Tribulation rapture teachers that we are afraid of tribulation, is to me both ridiculous and repugnant.   The belief that True Christians will suffer the wrath of God in the tribulation, is unscriptural and nonsensical.   Jesus has paid the full price for our sins; to have God pour out His wrath on True Christians, is to say that God was not satisfied with the sacrifice of His own son on the cross, and so Christians must pay a bit more.    That is not what the Bible says.

Yes, we must prepare ourselves for persecution and tribulation, but at the hands of wicked people who are driven by Satan, that has been the portion of the church from the beginning, and will be until Jesus comes back for us.

But persecution and tribulation do NOT come to the True Church from the hand of a loving God who says in Rom_5:9  “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”  And again in 1Th_5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

The Price of Being a True Christian.

The following account of true Christianity in practice affected me deeply, and I had to question the depth of my own commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.   I felt I should share this article, and I pray it may draw all of us into an even closer walk with the Lord, and into more prayer for our brothers and sisters in Jesus who are suffering so dreadfully in Islamic countries particularly, but also in all countries where Christianity is not accepted and predominant.   Our prayers should be “Even so, come quickly, come soon Lord Jesus”    Article taken from :- http://www.christianaid.org/News/2015/mir20151001.aspx

At several steps on their path to death by beheading and crucifixion last month, 11 indigenous Christian workers near Aleppo, Syria had the option to leave the area and live. The 12-year-old son of a ministry team leader also could have spared his life by denying Christ.

The indigenous missionaries were not required to stay at their ministry base in a village near Aleppo, Syria; rather, the ministry director who trained them had entreated them to leave. As the Islamic State (ISIS), other rebel groups and Syrian government forces turned Aleppo into a war zone of carnage and destruction, ISIS took over several outlying villages. The Syrian ministry workers in those villages chose to stay in order to provide aid in the name of Christ to survivors.

“I asked them to leave, but I gave them the freedom to choose,” said the ministry director, his voice tremulous as he recalled their horrific deaths. “As their leader, I should have insisted that they leave.”

They stayed because they believed they were called to share Christ with those caught in the crossfire, he said.

“Every time we talked to them,” the director said, “they were always saying, ‘We want to stay here – this is what God has told us to do. This is what we want to do.’ They just wanted to stay and share the gospel.”

Those who chose to stay could have scattered and hid in other areas, as their surviving family members did. On a visit to the surviving relatives in hiding, the ministry director learned of the cruel executions.

The relatives said ISIS militants on Aug. 7 captured the Christian workers in a village whose name is withheld for security reasons. On Aug. 28, the militants asked if they had renounced Islam for Christianity. When the Christians said that they had, the rebels asked if they wanted to return to Islam. The Christians said they would never renounce Christ.

The 41-year-old team leader, his young son and two ministry members in their 20s were questioned at one village site where ISIS militants had summoned a crowd. The team leader presided over nine house churches he had helped to establish. His son was two months away from his 13th birthday.

In front of the team leader and relatives in the crowd, the Islamic extremists cut off the fingertips of the boy and severely beat him, telling his father they would stop the torture only if he, the father, returned to Islam. When the team leader refused, relatives said, the ISIS militants also tortured and beat him and the two other ministry workers. The three men and the boy then met their deaths in crucifixion.

“All were badly brutalized and then crucified,” the ministry leader said. “They were left on their crosses for two days. No one was allowed to remove them.”

The martyrs died beside signs the ISIS militants had put up identifying them as “infidels.”

Eight other ministry team members, including two women, were taken to another site in the village that day (Aug. 28) and were asked the same questions before a crowd. The women, ages 29 and 33, tried to tell the ISIS militants they were only sharing the peace and love of Christ and asked what they had done wrong to deserve the abuse. The Islamic extremists then publicly raped the women, who continued to pray during the ordeal, leading the ISIS militants to beat them all the more furiously.

As the two women and the six men knelt before they were beheaded, they were all praying.

“Villagers said some were praying in the name of Jesus, others said some were praying the Lord’s prayer, and others said some of them lifted their heads to commend their spirits to Jesus,” the ministry director said. “One of the women looked up and seemed to be almost smiling as she said, ‘Jesus!'”

After they were beheaded, their bodies were hung on crosses, the ministry director said, his voice breaking. He had trained all of the workers for their evangelistic ministry, and he had baptized the team leader and some of the others.

Hundreds of former Muslims in Syrian villages are in danger of being captured and killed by ISIS, which is fighting to establish a caliphate in which apostasy is punishable by death. The underground church in the region has mushroomed since June 2014, when ISIS began terrorizing those who do not swear allegiance to its caliphate, both non-Muslims and Muslims. Consequently, the potential for large-scale executions has grown along with the gains in ISIS-controlled territory.

“When we put a project together now, we’re trying to say, ‘This is only for persecuted people; this is only for parents who have lost a wife or husband and still have kids,'” the ministry director said. “It is very hard. The number is big. We continue by faith, but it’s overwhelming.”

Some relatives of slain Christians are still in Syria, unable to leave because they lack funds and/or legal papers required at border crossings. In many cases, they have lost loved ones whose work provided the only sources of income. The ministry assisted by Christian Aid Mission is providing resources and trying to find ways to evacuate these families by other routes.

Many of the ministry’s teams also remain in Syria. Christian Aid Mission assists those who do not or cannot leave with the means to survive and operate their outreaches.

Even those who leave, however, may encounter ISIS militants and other criminals in refugee camps, said the leader of another ministry that Christian Aid Mission assists. He spoke of a Muslim from northern Syria who, like all men in areas that ISIS takes over, was coerced into joining the caliphate or being killed.

Recruited into ISIS, he fled the country after his brother was killed in the fighting. Disillusioned with ISIS but still adhering to Islam and its teaching that Christians and Jews are unclean “pigs,” he went to Amman, Jordan, as he had learned that relatives there were receiving aid from Christians.

The Muslim, whose name is withheld for security reasons, went to a Christian meeting with the intention of killing the aid workers gathered there. Something kept him from following through on his plan, though, and that night he saw Jesus in a dream, the ministry director said.

Aleppo was prized by rebel and government forces since fighting began in 2011. (Wikipedia)

“The next day he came back and said, ‘I came to kill you, but last night I saw Jesus, and I want to know what are you teaching – who is this One who held me up from killing you?'” the director said. “He received Christ with tears, and today he’s actually helping in the church, helping out other people. We’re praying for lots of such Sauls to change to Pauls.”

The sorrow of the ministry team leader who lost 11 workers and one of their children last month has been deep, but he takes heart that their faithfulness could help change the hearts of persecutors.

“They kept on praying loudly and sharing Jesus until their last breath,” he said. “They did this in front of the villagers as a testimony for others.”

He asked for prayer for surviving family members and for himself.

“These things have been very hard on me,” he said. “What wrong did those people do to deserve to die? What is happening is more and more people are being saved. The ministry is growing and growing – in the past we used to pray to have one person from a Muslim background come to the Lord. Now there are so many we can barely handle all the work among them.”

If you wish to contribute, you can do so by going in to the article, where there is a place right at the end to do so.

 

God’s Amazing Blessings For True Christians.

The Bible warns us continually to beware of false Christians; in Matthew 13:25  Jesus calls them TARES (weeds that look very much like wheat, but are not real wheat).   Jesus tells us that Satan, His enemy has planted these false Christians in the Church to try and drag the TRUE Christians away from Jesus.    Jesus also tells us clearly that in the last days, referring to our time period, that the majority of Christians will not be true Christians, but false Christians. See Revelation 3:14 forward.

We are going to look at some verses in the Bible which will paint the picture for us, of what the true Christian should be, and of the amazing blessings God has in store for them.

Romans 8:14 tells us that “the true children of God, are the Christians who are led by the Spirit of God’. v 16 goes on to say that “the Spirit of God gives us the assurance in our hearts that we are God’s children”.   v 17 says “if we are God’s children then we are also His heirs, and we are Joint Heirs with Christ and if we suffer for Him we shall also be glorified with Him.” 

So how do we suffer for Christ?  For many people in many countries today, this involves being killed because of their testimony of faith in Jesus, becoming a Martyr.    For us here, it is through the persecution that we go through from our worldly friends and work mates when they taunt us and ridicule us for being Christians, and because we refuse to go along with them and be part of their wicked ways.

2 Peter 1:4 takes us a step further and tells us that “God has made exceedingly great and precious promises to us, that through these promises we can share with Him in His divine nature, —  because of the fact that we ran away from corruption and from the desires and lusts of the world”.

It gets even better as we are told in Eph 1:4  “Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes, v 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave him great pleasure.”

We have been adopted by God the Father to be part of His family, sons and daughters of God.   As 1 John 3:2 tells us, “Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is”.

So what other surprises does God have for us?

Well I have what may be a surprise to many people, and even to many true Christians.    Spiritually a true Christian is no longer a Gentile, he has become a Jew.     Paul puts it like this.   Rom 11:17 “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree, some of the Jews, have been broken off ” (because of their unbelief) “and you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, were grafted in,” (you now become part of Abraham’s tree, that is Israel), “so now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in God’s rich nourishment of his special olive tree.”  

Who are God’s chosen people?   Israel are, so if we are now part of God’s chosen people and have been adopted by Him, we therefore become Jews in God’s eyes, spiritually at least, even if not in the worlds eyes.   Spiritually we are Jews, and Satan knows that, and that is why he wants all the Jews (Israelis) dead, and he wants all Christians dead just as much!!!

Finally, we are engaged to be Jesus’ Bride.   As in Jewish custom, Jesus made an offer of marriage to all who would trust in Him.   The “Bride Price” he paid, was His own life.   He also gave his bride a gift before He left her, (like we give an engagement ring) Jesus gave His bride the Holy Spirit as a gift to help keep her strong until He comes back.   Then He told her to wait and be ready and watching.

In Jewish custom, the bridegroom can come at any time, night or day, and he would expect his bride to be packed and ready to leave with him for his fathers house immediately.   That is Jewish custom, and that is what Jesus has done for us.   Paul says in  2Co 11:2  I am jealous over you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.  True Christians will be part of Jesus’ spiritual bride.

So then, let us summarise the amazing blessings of the TRUE Christians?     1. They have become God’s children.   2.  They have been adopted into God’s family.   3.  They will share in the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children   4.  They have been made joint heirs with Christ in all God’s blessings.   5.   They will be transformed and made just like him when He comes.    6.  They will participate with Christ in the divine nature of God.    7.  They are Spiritually, part of God’s chosen people Israel.   8.   They will be part of Jesus’ Spiritual Bride.

That means we are no longer free to do as we want, we cannot continue living in sin.  We cannot continue to live for ourselves, or for our own pleasure.  1 Cor 6:19 says, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, v 20 for God bought you with a high price, So now you must honour God with your body”.   We belong to Jesus.  We are engaged in a legally binding contract.  Therefore we must guard our life from sin and evil, and keep ourselves pure for Jesus, to the very best of our ability,  (no one is perfect – yet, but we must rtry to be.)   In Summary :-

True Christians will keep themselves pure for Jesus, their bridegroom.

True Christians will be ready, watching and waiting for the return of their bridegroom at ALL times.

True Christians will run away from the desires and lusts of this world.

True Christians will love Israel, and Israelis, Jesus earthly family.

True Christians will be led by the Holy Spirit.

True Christians will be prepared to suffer or even die for Jesus sake.

True Christians WILL be counted worthy to receive these amazing blessings.