Jeremiah 5:28

Jeremiah 5:28: They have become fat and sleek.They have also excelled in evil matters.They have not taken up cases,such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,and they...

British Government Affirms Christmas at Work

 

British officials are encouraging the country to put Christ back in Christmas—even in their workplaces.

“There are a lot of myths out there when it comes to dealing with religion at work. I want to put the record straight: It is OK to hold a party and send Christmas cards,” said David Isaac, chairman of the national Equality and Human Rights Commission.

This week, Christians and politicians alike welcomed Isaac’s assurance following the growing prevalence of more generic terminology in public and office celebrations, such as “season’s greetings” and “Winterval.”

“We have a very strong tradition in this country of religious tolerance and freedom of speech, and our Christian heritage is something we can all be proud of,” Prime Minister Theresa May responded. “We all want to ensure that people at work do feel able to speak about their faith and also feel able to speak quite freely about Christmas.”

The equality commission also released Friday a new report on anti-discrimination law for British workplaces. The report assessed current government policies, finding mostly reasonable, balanced guidelines for religious expression in the workplace—though employers don’t always follow them.

Continued, here. 

Charles Templeton: Missing Jesus

Charles Templeton (1915-2001) first professed faith in 1936 and became an evangelist that same year. In 1945 he met Billy Graham and the two became friends, rooming and ministering together during a 1946 YFC evangelistic tour in Europe.


But by 1948 Templeton’s life and worldview were beginning to go in a different direction than Graham’s. Doubts about the Christian faith were solidifying as he planned to enter Princeton Theological Seminary. Less than a decade later (1957), he would publicly declare that he had become an agnostic.
In his 1996 memoir, Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith, Templeton recounted a conversation with Graham in Montreat prior to entering seminary:

All our differences came to a head in a discussion which, better than anything I know, “explains” Billy Graham and his phenomenal success as an evangelist.
In the course of our conversation I said, “But, Billy, it’s simply not possible any longer to believe, for instance, the biblical account of creation. The world was not created over a period of days a few thousand years ago; it has evolved over millions of years. It’s not a matter of speculation; it’s a demonstrable fact.”
“I don’t accept that,” Billy said. “And there are reputable scholars who don’t.”
“Who are these scholars?’ I said. “Men in conservative Christian colleges?”
“Most of them, yes,” he said. “But that is not the point. I believe the Genesis account of creation because it’s in the Bible. I’ve discovered something in my ministry: When I take the Bible literally, when I proclaim it as the word of God, my preaching has power. When I stand on the platform and say, ‘God says,’ or ‘The Bible says,’ the Holy Spirit uses me. There are results. Wiser men than you or I have been arguing questions like this for centuries. I don’t have the time or the intellect to examine all sides of the theological dispute, so I’ve decided once for all to stop questioning and accept the Bible as God’s word.”
“But Billy,” I protested, “You cannot do that. You don’t dare stop thinking about the most important question in life. Do it and you begin to die. It’s intellectual suicide.”
“I don’t know about anybody else,” he said, “but I’ve decided that that’s the path for me.”

Their trajectories had been chosen. 

Fifty years later, Lee Strobel had an opportunity to interview Templeton, who had just a couple of more years to live. He was in his 80s and suffering from Alzheimer’s, but still a clear conversation parter. In A Case for Faith, Strobel recounts the ending of their wide-ranging conversation.

“And how do you assess this Jesus?” It seemed like the next logical question—but I wasn’t ready for the response it would evoke.
Templeton’s body language softened. It was as if he suddenly felt relaxed and comfortable in talking about an old and dear friend. His voice, which at times had displayed such a sharp and insistent edge, now took on a melancholy and reflective tone. His guard seemingly down, he spoke in an unhurried pace, almost nostalgically, carefully choosing his words as he talked about Jesus.
“He was,” Templeton began, “the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I’ve ever encountered in my life or in my readings. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world. What could one say about him except that this was a form of greatness?”
I was taken aback. “You sound like you really care about him,” I said.
“Well, yes, he is the most important thing in my life,” came his reply. “I . . . I . . . I . . . ,” he stuttered, searching for the right word, ‘I know it may sound strange, but I have to say . . . I adore him!” . . .
” . . . Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus. Yes . . . yes. And tough! Just look at Jesus. He castigated people. He was angry. People don’t think of him that way, but they don’t read the Bible. He had a righteous anger. He cared for the oppressed and exploited. There’s no question that he had the highest moral standard, the least duplicity, the greatest compassion, of any human being in history. There have been many other wonderful people, but Jesus is Jesus….’
“Uh . . . but . . . no,’ he said slowly, ‘he’s the most . . .” He stopped, then started again. “In my view,” he declared, “he is the most important human being who has ever existed.”
That’s when Templeton uttered the words I never expected to hear from him. “And if I may put it this way,” he said as his voice began to crack, ‘I . . . miss . . . him!”
With that tears flooded his eyes. He turned his head and looked downward, raising his left hand to shield his face from me. His shoulders bobbed as he wept. . . .
Templeton fought to compose himself. I could tell it wasn’t like him to lose control in front of a stranger. He sighed deeply and wiped away a tear. After a few more awkward moments, he waved his hand dismissively. Finally, quietly but adamantly, he insisted: “Enough of that.”

By Justin Taylor, PhD, source, here.

“His Beloved”

One of the fundamental questions we ask in life is: Who am I?

My simplistic answer to this question is this: My truest, purest, nonnegotiable identity is the beloved. And in spite of my checkered past, my fabulous flops, my painful history, my deepest flaws, my boneheaded screw-ups, and, yes, even beyond my own beliefs about myself, I am God’s beloved. This is my foundational identity and the foundational identity of every human being.

This is important because identity is the engine that drives the relationship not only with ourselves but also with God and others. If your identity is broken, your life is broken. If you define it incorrectly, you will carry that wrong definition into your story. If all you see are your limitations, you will miss out on the stunning possibilities God is creating in front of you.

When I am working with hurting people, probably the most tragic thing I witness is when they have accepted the lie that whatever ugly, can’t-talk-about-it, embarrassing thing has happened in their stories is beyond the grace of God. That his mercy doesn’t reach far enough. That his hand of grace is just beyond…

• the quiet addiction to painkillers;
• the shame of an unexpected divorce;
• someone’s sexuality and what it all means;
• the betrayal of a family member;
• the fear of growing old and being alone;
• a secret abortion and the sorrows of miscarriages;
• the depression, the sadness, and the eating disorder;
• the drinking and the bad choices;
• hidden regrets that you chose your career instead of your kids.

Yet God is reaching out in all these painful moments and whispers, Just reach back to me, my beloved! I am here. Please, I beg you. Just reach back.

People of the Second Chance by Mike Foster

You'll See It When You Believe It

When Jesus returned to Cana where He had changed the water into wine, He met a government official who begged Him to come to his home and heal his son who was about to die. Jesus’ response was not what you might expect, "Will you never believe in Me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?" (Vs. 48).

Was Jesus rebuking him? I don’t think so. I believe He was describing our human condition that says, “If I can see it, I’ll believe it!” But Jesus was about to turn that around! Jesus was teaching a principle of faith that says, “You’ll see it when you believe it.”

The official believed that if Jesus didn’t come to his home and heal his son, the boy was sure to die. He pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies!" (Vs. 49).

He made two common mistakes. He assumed that Jesus had to be present to heal his son, and that it would be too late if the boy died! But Jesus would show him that God works the miracle in His time and in His way. So He tells him, "Go back home. Your son will live!" (Vs. 50). What would you do? This was certainly not what he had expected.

Sometimes our expectations of what God should do and how He should do it get in the way. You have to give some credit to this official though. He made no further appeals. As desperate as he was, he chose to believe Jesus and started home. On the way home his servants ran to meet him with the good news that his son was alive and well! In fact, he discovered the miracle occurred at the exact time Jesus had told him to go back home!

Common sense says, “I’ll believe it when I see it!” but faith says, “You’ll see it when you believe it.” The official believed what Jesus told him and, when he acted on that assumption, he saw the miracle!
Are you in a crisis of faith? What has God said that you simply need to believe Him for today? Trust God to work the miracle in His time and in His way.

49  The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”   50Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.”And the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  
(John 4:49-50, MEV)

Source: The Bible App

Christian Converts in Iran Sentenced to 80 Lashes for Drinking Communion Wine

Three Christian converts in Iran are appealing their sentences after they were charged earlier this month with "acting against national security" and consuming alcohol during Holy Communion.
 

According to World Watch Monitor, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Saheb Fadaie and Mohammad Reza Omidi, all from Muslim backgrounds, were arrested back in May after participating in Communion and sentenced to 80 lashes. The outlet notes that non-Muslims are permitted to drink alcohol in Iran, but leaving Islam is forbidden, so any such conversions are not recognized.

Mossayebzadeh, Fadaie and Omidi have also been arrested before, according to The Christian Times. The police once raided their homes in February 2015 and confiscated Christian CDs, Bibles, laptops and other literature. Omidi was one of four Christians sentenced to 80 lashes in 2013 for drinking alcohol during Holy Communion, and could face the death penalty if convicted again.

The Christian men are appealing their convictions later this month. However, all three could face up to six years in prison, as they were also charged with "acting against national security", alongside Youcef Nadarkhani, a pastor once sentenced to death for apostasy.

WWM says the harsh sentencing of the Christians is just one example of the Iranian government's' brutal treatment of believers in the country. More than 200 Christians have been detained by Iranian authorities since 2015, and many remain in jail, while others have been released conditionally, pending sentencing or an appeal.

Iran is ranked by Open Doors USA as the ninth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution. Authorities in the Shia nation are widely known for their hostility towards Christians, prompting thousands of believers to worship secretly in house churches across the country. 

At least 43 Christians were arrested in August alone, according to Middle East Concern's Rob Duncan: "The Iranian regime is conducting a very active campaign against house churches at the moment and leaders of house churches are harassed and put under pressure," he said.

Despite such persecution, the number of believers in Iran grew by a staggering 19.6 percent in 2015, and there are believed to be anywhere from 450,000 to 1 million Christians living in the country.

 

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is actually the place in the world where the Church is growing the fastest, something that would be pretty surprising to most Christians," said Todd Nettleton from The Voice of the Martyrs.

"So it is a country that has worked very hard to eliminate Christianity, and particularly to eliminate Muslim conversion to Christianity. But it's the place in the world where the Church is growing the fastest."

Source

Franklin Graham Says America is Experiencing 'Great Deception' Thanks to Hollywood, Liberal Media

Franklin Graham has warned that Americans today are living through the "Great Deception" as Hollywood and the liberal media continue to celebrate and promote sin - the consequence of which is death.
 

In a Facebook post shared on Sunday, Graham, the leader of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Christian relief charity Samaritan's Purse, lamented the downward spiral of today's culture.

"In the 1930's America had The Great Depression. Now we have The Great Deception," he wrote. "Hollywood and media moguls want you to think sin is okay, even something to celebrate. It's not. Sin has a price, and the price is death--spiritual death."

The evangelist warned that God does not take sin lightly: "God is the righteous judge and the Bible says He is 'standing at the door,'" he continued. "One day 'says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess' (Romans 14:11)."

Billy Graham's son, who recently finished the last leg of his Decision America Tour in North Carolina with a crowd of over 14,200, frequently warns that the moral and spiritual trajectory of our nation will not change unless Americans elect God-fearing politicians to office.

"'If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked' (Proverbs 29:12)," Graham wrote in a recent issue of Decision magazine. "When the president of the United States and those around him actively adopt and promote iniquity, then that evil becomes systemic, spreading through the courts, schools, businesses, and state and local governments, infecting virtually every level of public life."

"This is why November's elections-local, state and national-are so critical...[We] must do what we can to make our voices heard through the electoral process," he said. "We must examine the issues and the candidates and vote for those we feel best fit our Christian worldview."

He urged Christians to study the candidates' stand on important issues that affect marriage, family, the sanctity of life and religious liberty, among others, and to evaluate these based on Biblical teachings.

Graham has previously insisted he will not endorse any candidate, as he believes America's hope is in God alone.

"I have absolutely zero hope in the Democratic Party," Graham told the crowd during the Indiana leg of his "Decision America" tour. "Now, before you Republicans start high-fiving each other, I have absolutely zero hope in the Republican Party. The only hope for this country is Almighty God."

However, he has also repeatedly emphasized the need to exercise one's right to vote.
he said: "I'm grateful for those who have been steadfast in their convictions, but they are too few. Ultimately, while doing all we can this fall to fulfill our civic responsibilities, our hope must remain in Almighty God alone."

Source: The Gospel Herald Ministries

Forced Transgender Boy Quickly Returns To Normal After Removal From Mother’s Care

A seven-year-old boy has been removed from his mother’s care by the high court, after he was found to be suffering “significant emotional harm” due to his mother raising him as a girl.

The judge in the case slammed social services who had simply accepted that the boy should be treated as a girl.
The High Court judge hearing the case, Mr Justice Hayden, told the court that he believed the mother had been “absolutely convinced” that the boy “perceived himself as a girl” and was therefore determined to treat him as a girl, according to reports.

However, the boy, who cannot be named and is now living with his father, has naturally reverted to having masculine interests since leaving the care of his mother, the court heard.

Family court proceedings began about three years ago after the father raised a complaint that he was not allowed access to his son. A lower-ranking judge authorised a “wide ranging” inquiry forcing local authority social services staff to begin investigations.

Justice Hayden said “flares of concern” for the boy’s wellbeing had been raised by a “whole raft of multi-disciplinary agencies”, and that he couldn’t understand why social services had “disregarded so summarily” those concerns.

He said social services staff had “moved into wholesale acceptance that [the boy] should be regarded as a girl”. He called on council to undertake a review of the “social work response” to the case; a council spokesperson said a review was already underway.
The judge considered evidence from boy’s parents, local authority social workers and a psychologist to make his ruling.

In his ruling, Justice Hayden said that the boy’s mother “told me that [he] was ‘living in stealth’ by which was meant, she explained, that he was living life entirely as a girl.
“He dressed, at all times, like a girl and, it transpired, had been registered at a new general practitioner’s as a girl.
“I was also left in no doubt that [the mother] was absolutely convinced that [the boy] perceived himself as a girl.”

Justice Hayden added that his “overwhelming impression” was that the mother “believes herself to be to fighting for [her son’s] right to express himself as a girl”.
The woman had told him that the boy “expressed disdain for his penis”, he said, adding: “I consider that [the mother] has caused significant emotional harm to [her son] in her active determination that he should be a girl.”

Justice Hayden commented upon the fact that the boy had settled in well with his father and his father’s partner, actively choosing, with no pressure from either adult, to pursue interests typically seen as masculine.
“I have been told that [the father] and his partner were shocked when they first saw [the boy] by the extent to which he appeared to be a girl, both in appearance and in mannerism,” said the judge. “However, what is striking is how well [the boy] has settled down.
“I have noted from reports that [the boy] has become interested in Power Rangers, SpongeBob, superheroes and is constantly finding new interests … It is striking that most of [the boy’s] interests are male-oriented.

He concluded: “I am entirely satisfied, both on the basis of the reports and [the father’s] evidence at this hearing, that he has brought no pressure on [the boy] to pursue masculine interests. [The boy’s] interests and energy are entirely self-motivated.”

Source: Here

Islam originally recognized Jews as owners of Israel

Israel National News reports: “In the wake of the latest UNESCO decision, Prof. Nissim Dana of the Middle Eastern Affairs Department at Ariel University discussed in an Arutz Sheva interview the early Islamic attitude towards the connection between Jerusalem and Israel and Judaism.

Dana stated that he had investigated the early Islamic sources and had even published a book on the subject entitled To Whom Does This Land Belong?: New Insights into the Koran, revealing that Islam absolutely does not have a claim on the Land of Israel – even by its own standards – as it recognizes the Jews as the owners of this country and of Jerusalem.

Nowadays, however, he explained, Muslims seem to be following the maxim ‘Don’t confuse us with the facts’ and it is impossible to change beliefs which they have assimilated over the last few generations even by presenting them with facts from their own sources.

Dana said that ‘Islam was born in the seventh century C.E. and the Jewish Temple existed many years before that so that it is impossible to mistake those historical facts. Hundreds of years before Islam there was a connection between Jews and Jerusalem.’…”

Source: JVIM

Hamas: The unity of ‘Palestine’ is holy

Israel National News reports: “Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a senior official in the political branch of Hamas, said at an Islamic Jihad event on Friday in Gaza that Hamas would extend its hand to anyone who helps to ‘liberate Palestine.’
‘We will not accept compromise or any international conception, unless it serves the Palestinian interest,’ he said.
In an apparent appropriation, for the purposes of Palestinian ideology, of the Jewish belief in the sanctity of the entire Land of Israel, Al-Zahar erased Israel from the map in his address, and referred to its geographical space as the Arab land of ‘Palestine.’
‘We emphasize the unity of the land, the people, the struggle, and the history, and we do not recognize the terminology of ‘The [West] Bank and Gaza’ as an expression of Palestine; rather Palestine borders on Lebanon and Egypt, and extends from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea,’ Zahar said, adding that the unity of the land was holy, permanent and unchanging…”

Source: JVIM

Union with Christ

Union and Communion

A name you’ve seen repeated throughout this book is John Owen (1616–1683), and that’s because he’s one of the writers who has thought best and most about communion with God. In his book Communion with God, Owen makes a distinction between union with Christ and communion with God that remains so helpful for us today.

On the one hand, our union with Christ is fixed and unalterable. It does not rise and fall with our faith or the quality of our lives, with what we’ve done or failed to do. Our union with Christ is as certain as Christ’s irrevocable love, which does not wax or wane. It is as sure as Christ’s grip on our lives, and his promise that nothing can snatch us from his hand (John 10:28).

On the other hand, our communion with God does change and vary. It is affected by our faith and what we choose to do or not do. To be clear, the love of God for us does not change, but our experience of it does. Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

Jesus is saying that the way we respond to God will affect our experience of him. If we trust God and obey him, then Jesus promises he will “manifest” himself to us. He will make himself more apparent. Jesus couldn’t be clearer that we will know God better by obeying him more.

Our response to God is not the root of his love; it is the fruit. But the fruit is where the nourishment drawn from the root manifests in sweetness and beauty. And the presence of fruit will give us greater assurance that our lives are rooted in him: “By this we know that we have come to know him, if you obey his commands” (1 John 2:3–6).

Now why is this distinction between union and communion so important for us? Because we naturally fall into the trap of assessing the security of our union (Does God really love me?) on the strength of our communion (How am I feeling? How am I doing?). And we get seduced into thinking it’s up to us to keep it up.

Abiding then becomes a chore, a box to check, a bar to clear—“Read your Bible!” comes across like, “Clean your room!” “Pray more” sounds like “Do more.” It then becomes easy to feel frustrated and think, “But I’m not getting anything out of this. So why bother?”
Don’t you see how this is like standing up in your sailboat and blowing on your own sail? Not only will you never move forward this way, not only will you exhaust yourself, but how could you ever rest? How could you ever have any assurance that God loves you if the ground of your confidence is your own frantic blowing?

Thank God that the basis of our acceptance is found outside of us in our union with Christ! Christ is always faithful, even when we are not (2 Tim. 2:13). We change, but he never does. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:5). One of the Puritan writers put it memorably, “Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by.”

Devotional is borrowed from the book Union with Christ by Rankin Wilbourne.

Allah's stabbing epidemic spreads to U.S. mall

The Cross Roads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, was shut down Sunday when an assailant made reference to Allah while stabbing four shoppers before being shot dead by an off-duty policeman.

Police said the suspect, armed with a knife, entered the mall about 8 p.m. Saturday.
“That individual made some references to Allah and we confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before assaulting them,” said St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson.
The free WND special report, “ISIS Rising,” by Middle East expert and former Department of Defense analyst Michael Maloof, will answer your questions about the jihadist army threatening the West.
According to authorities, the suspect was later shot by an off-duty police officer from another jurisdiction. Investigators say the suspect was carrying at least one knife.
Of the eight victims, one was admitted to the hospital. Investigators say the injuries were not life threatening.
Police believe the suspect acted alone. Authorities say the suspect was wearing a private security uniform at the time of the attack. They say they had contact with the suspect in the past, but all of those cases were for minor traffic violations.
“It has hit home for us,” said Anderson. “But I want everybody in St. Cloud to know that we will be diligent and we will get to the bottom of this.”
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What’s being called the “Knife Jihad” has been afflicting Europe and elsewhere this summer – a spree of seemingly random stabbings perpetrated by Muslim assailants attacking non-Muslims.
Below is a list of similar mostly stabbing attacks in the last three months:

• Aug. 30: A female police officer in Toulouse, France, was slashed in the throat outside a police station. It was immediately dismissed by authorities as being carried out by a “mentally sick” man. The suspect, a native of Algeria, tried to grab the officer’s weapon and when the attempt failed, he took a knife and slashed her throat. That attack came three days after a 26-year-old man was been detained after stabbing a picnicking couple in western Germany. The victims said he was shouting “Allahu Akbar!” as he stabbed them. Oberhausen police say the suspect was overpowered by one of his victims, a 57-year-old man who was seriously injured in the attack. The other victim, a 66-year-old woman, suffered life-threatening injuries.
• Aug. 24: In Cairo, Egypt, the state news agency says a knife-wielding attacker was shot and killed after he stabbed a guard at a Coptic church. The attack happened early Wednesday at the Virgin Mary church in Cairo’s western suburb of Nozha. The report says other church guards at the scene killed the assailant, “whose identity and motives were unclear.” Attacks on Coptic churches in Egypt have stepped up over the past years, especially after Coptic Christians sided with the Egyptian army in the military’s 2013 ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi.
• Aug. 22: Police shot and wounded a woman in Brussels after she spread panic by stabbing bus passengers, injuring two seriously and a third lightly, the city’s public prosecutor’s office confirmed. The incident had nothing to do with terrorism, according to Belgium authorities, who blamed it on mental illness. They did not release the woman’s name, saying only that she was “Asian” and shouted something unintelligible as she hacked the commuters.
• Aug. 20: At an apartment community in Roanoke, Virginia, 20-year-old Wasil Farooqui grabbed a butcher knife and went on a stabbing spree, seriously injuring two, while repeatedly yelling, “Allahu Akbar!” He told police he heard voices telling him to stab people.
• Aug. 19: In Strasbourg, France, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi was attacked near his home in broad daylight and left hospitalized by a knife-wielding Muslim yelling, “Allahu Akbar!” The incident was immediately scrubbed by French police as “not terrorism related” in what has become a pattern across Europe, Canada and the United States.
• Aug. 13: In Jeman, north-central Nigeria, at least seven were slaughtered in a Christian village by Fulani Muslim herdsman using machetes and guns. “The Christians were killed in their homes,” Golkofa resident Sunday Saleh told Morning Star News. “Some of the victims were shot while others were cut with machetes.”
• Aug. 13: A man killed a female passenger and injured at least five others in a horrific knife and fire attack on a Swiss train. They set the train ablaze with a flammable liquid and could not be questioned before he died. Authorities said the man was born in a neighboring region but did not release the man’s name or his ethnic or religious background.
• Aug. 13-14: Two people were killed and six wounded in a machete attack in an eastern region of Democratic Republic of Congo where Islamic rebels have been blamed for a series of civilian massacres against Christians. The Allied Democratic Forces or ADF, an Islamist armed group of Ugandan origin, is accused of carrying out the brutal slayings.
• Aug. 6: A man with a knife and shouting “Allahu Akbar!” launched himself at two policewomen in the Belgian city of Charleroi. The perpetrator, who inflicted serious facial wounds upon one of his targets, was then fatally shot.
• Aug. 3: In London, a Muslim man stabbed to death the wife of an American professor on the busy Russell Square, injuring five others. The perpetrator was an 18-year-old Muslim man of Somali origin who had been resettled in Norway but, again, British authorities said they had “no evidence of radicalization” and attributed the attack to mental illness.
• Aug. 2: In Gada Biyu, Nigeria, nine Christian villagers were cut down by Muslim terrorists who also burned three churches.
• Aug. 1: About noon in Ninte, Nigeria, two Christian women were hacked to death by Muslim herdsman. “They cut them with machetes. A woman and her daughter in-law were killed by the Fulani herdsmen while the man is still in the hospital as I talk with you,” an eyewitness told Morning Star News.
• July 26: Two ISIS terrorists entered a Catholic church in the northern French province of Normandy while a mass was in progress. They forced the elderly priest to his knees on the altar and slit his throat, filming the entire attack. A nun was also left fighting for her life, and more would have been killed if one nun had not escaped the church and called police, who arrived and shot the attackers dead.
• July 19: In Wuerzburg, Germany, it was reported that a 17-year-old Afghan refugee attacked people on a train with an ax and knife, injuring nearly 20 passengers, four seriously. The Afghan boy fled the train but was chased and shot dead by police. The Muslim teen’s motive was “not yet clear,” the BBC reported.
• July 18: In central Egypt a Muslim mob attacked a group of Coptic priests and their families with knives and batons, killing one and wounding several others. The attack came months after an armed Muslim mob stripped an elderly Christian woman and paraded her naked on the streets while looting and torching seven Christian homes in the same area, security officials said.
• July 15: In Nice, France, a man planned to hack to death mourners as they were praying at a memorial service for the 84 victims of a jihadist named Mohamed L. Bouhlel, a French Tunisian immigrant who drove a truck through a crowded promenade on Bastille Day. The perpetrator, a Muslim, was caught by cops carrying a “huge blade” as he approached the crowded prayer vigil. Cops are said to have pounced on the man who one witness reported was carrying a “machete.”
• July 9: A female pastor was hacked to death close to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. Police arrested six suspects believed to be Muslim.
• June 30: In the town of Obi, in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa, a father of seven, Rev. Joseph Kurah, was ambushed by two armed men after he arrived at his farm. His severely mutilated body, hacked to death, was later recovered from the scene. Fulani Muslim herdsmen are suspected in the killing, according to WorldWatch Monitor.
• June 30: In Israel, a 17-year-old Palestinian stabbed and killed Hallel Yaffa Ariel while she was sleeping in her bedroom in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba. The assailant was fatally shot by security guards. That same day, a Palestinian assailant stabbed two Israeli civilians in Natanya, north of Tel Aviv and was shot dead by an armed civilian.
• June 16: A “radicalized” 22-year-old Islamist was arrested by police in southwestern France with a knife and machete in his possession. He planned to attack “English and American tourists, then security forces,” according to French reports.
• June 13: A police officer and his wife were killed inside their home in what police called an ISIS-inspired knife attack near Paris, the Independent reported.

Read more at WND

For His Deeds

*What is the best present anyone could give you?

*Besides salvation, what is the greatest thing you’ve ever received from God?

Psalm 75:1 is a perfect verse of thanksgiving: “People tell of your wonderful deeds.” By telling of God’s wonderful deeds, we show our thanks and bring him glory. That’s the way to show gratitude!

In Psalm 75, the psalmist celebrates God’s perfect justice, the fact that good will be rewarded and evil will be punished. He celebrates God’s power in holding the world together despite all the wickedness in it. He celebrates the fact that those who are arrogant and wicked will one day get what’s coming to them. Those are the deeds the psalmist wanted people to know about. Because his words have survived to this day, we can celebrate with him.

If we were to make a list, it probably would look much different than the psalmist’s. We might celebrate the good things that have happened at work and school. We might celebrate the way we’ve grown spiritually at church. We might celebrate our family bond. We might celebrate our friends. We might celebrate our ministry opportunities.

It doesn’t really matter what we celebrate, only that we praise God and share with others the amazing things he has done in our lives.

Prayer

Dear God, we celebrate your goodness in our lives in so many areas. You give us everything we need and more. Amen.

Taken from Once a Day At the Table

YouVersion

God is Good

Thankful, in Spite of . . .

You think you’ve got problems? Yes, you surely do; we all have our own set of problems, some worse than others. But during World War II, Corrie ten Boom faced more difficulties than I can even imagine when she was confined with her sister in Ravensbruck, one of the most notorious Nazi prison camps in Germany.

One special problem Corrie and her barracks mates faced was a terrible infestation of fleas. The fleas were thick and biting, a very real health issue. (Just think of how aggravating one flea is to your pet and multiply that by thousands.) But while most women would have whined and complained about their circumstances, Corrie thanked God for the fleas.
How could Corrie be grateful for fleas? Because of the horrendous fleas, the cruel prison guards would not enter the barracks. So Corrie and her sister were able to conduct uninterrupted Bible studies with the other women, bringing many of them to Christ. They were focused on the bigger picture — souls over fleas. They knew that God had not forgotten them — he had blessed them with fleas!
What are the fleas in your life? Unruly teenagers? Financial stresses? Pesky relationships? You name them. Whatever they are, be thankful for a God who is bigger than your difficulties, a God who sees the whole picture of your life, not just this irritating moment in time. Learn to thank God for his blessings in spite of your current problems. Be grateful that he has not forgotten you. And, yes, be thankful for your fleas, because they may well be opportunities in disguise.

Mary Hollingsworth
Taken from Fulfilled

Thousands Embracing Christianity in Syria as Local Ministry Struggles to Raise Funds to Build New Church

A ministry leader in the coastal town of Tartus in Syria has revealed that his organization can barely keep up with the desire of refugees to learn about Christ and the Bible as they struggle to raise funds to to plant a new church.

According to Al-Monitor, an estimated 700,000 people from other parts of Syria have fled to Tartus amid an ongoing civil war between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, opposition units, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS).

"They may be living in makeshift shanties or tents, or on the streets of Tartus," an indigenous ministry director told Christian Aid Mission said. "The church is overflowing, so new church plants are needed to serve the displaced seeking a safe haven."

Disillusioned by the horror perpetrated by followers of Islam, thousands of refugees have come to Christ at the indigenous ministry's existing church. Because of the large number of congregants, there is standing room only in the church building's patio.

To meet the spiritual and physical needs of the growing number of Armenians, Kurds and former Yazidis, former Alawites and former Muslims putting their faith in Christ, the ministry is currently seeking to raise funds for the creation of a new church.

See, more.

Police: Iraq, Sudan Immigrants Allegedly Sexually Assaulted a Five-Year-Old Idaho Girl

Breitbart.com reports: “Police Chief Craig Kingsbury of Twin Falls, Idaho, confirmed Monday that three Sudanese and Iraqi boys allegedly sexually assaulted a five-year-old girl, and that two of them have been sent to a detention center after allegedly brutalizing the American child.
The suspects — two of whom are 10 and 14 years old — have been in Twin Falls for less than two years, he said, according to an Idaho TV station, KIVI-TV ABC 6. The news site used the word ‘rape’ while the police chief said ‘sexual assault.’
The news site also rushed to say no Syrian refugees were involved in the case without explaining why or how Iraqis and Sudanese came to live in the Idaho city, or why it’s in the interests of Americans to invite foreigners’ alien culture into their communities…”

Continued

Pregnant Woman, Husband Shot Dead for ‘Honor’ in Pakistan

Breitbart.com reports: “A pregnant woman and her husband in Pakistan were tortured and murdered by relatives who disapproved of their marriage, an incident that is part of what is becoming a growing trend in the south Asian nation.
According to CNN, ‘Aqsa Shakeel, 26, and her husband, Muhammad Shakeel, 30, were visited by a group of relatives on Wednesday.’ Aqsa Shakeel’s family did not approve of the marriage. After the family showed up to the family’s home in Thikriwala, in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, the two were abducted, tortured and killed by members of Aqse family, which included Aqsa’s brother, Muhammad Mauvia, and her mother, Majeeda Bibi.
Having not heard from his son, Muhammad Kushi, the husband’s father, notified authorities, who began a search for the couple.
The search came to a tragic end when both Aqsa and Muhammad Shakeel were found dumped in a canal. An autopsy concluded that they had both been tortured before being shot in the head…”

See more, here.

Turkey Prez Leaves US After Ali Funeral Snub

(ABC NEWS) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short his trip to the United States today after being denied permission to participate in critical aspects of Muhammad Ali’s funeral, according to a report published by Turkey’s Dogan news agency.
Erdogan traveled to the U.S. to partake in Ali’s funeral services. He decided to leave after reportedly being denied the right to drape a piece of ceremonial cloth on Ali’s coffin during funeral prayers. Before arriving on U.S. soil, funeral organizers had removed him from the list of potential speakers at Ali’s funeral, citing a limitation of time as the cause for his exclusion, according to Dogan.
Adding to an air of discord surrounding the Turkish president’s trip was a short quarrel that allegedly occurred between U.S. secret service officials and Turkish presidential body guards over a matter of standing room. A request for comment by ABC News to the U.S. Secret Service was not immediately returned.

Read more.

‘Tel Aviv attack is just like the terror in Europe’

FM Director sent a letter to 38 foreign ministers worldwide noting how Palestinians encourage terrorism rather than suppressing violence.

Following the shooting attack in Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market, Foreign Ministry Director-General Dr. Dore Gold on Thursday sent a letter to 38 foreign offices of his colleagues around the world.
In his letter, Gold explained how radical terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and ISIS, take advantage of the Ramadan observance in order to escalate tensions. He noted that the key to achieving peace lies in the willingness of the Palestinians to give up the use of terrorism and violence.
“The brutal terrorist attack that occurred yesterday in Tel Aviv had all the hallmarks of similar acts in which armed gunmen opened fire on innocent civilians – in Brussels, Nairobi, Paris and San Bernardino," Gold wrote to the foreign ministers.
"Many of the organizations involved in the recent attacks, from ISIS to Hamas, openly admit to taking advantage of the period of Ramadan in order to lead to a significant escalation in a new round of terror that will spread in our region,” he wrote.
Gold stated that "the attack proves once again that the fundamental obstacle to the advancement of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is the refusal of the Palestinian Authority to renounce the violence, which they use as a tool in attempt to implement their policy."

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First right-to-die clinic opens in California

The Washington Times reports: “For the tidy sum of $2,000, terminally ill Californians can now pay a doctor to help them commit suicide.
Dr. Lonny Shavelson, who heads Bay Area End of Life Options, said he charges $200 for an initial evaluation and $1,800 in other fees to help patients kill themselves.
The medical practice began offering the service Thursday, after a law permitting physician-assisted suicide officially went into effect…
He advocated legalizing euthanasia for several decades, writing a book in which he documented the underground black market for death…”

Continued, here.

France Deploys Special Forces in Syria as IS Loses Ground

Voice of America News reports: “French special forces in northern Syria are assisting Kurdish-led militias in a drive to retake a pocket of territory west of the Euphrates River from the Islamic State terror group, according to French officials.
The French news agency, AFP, reports the commandos are not participating in combat in the so-called Manbij pocket and are restricted to advisory and training roles. U.S. officials have also insisted about 300 American Special Forces in northern Syria and embedded with the Syrian Democratic Forces are not involved in combat.
‘The offensive at Manbij is clearly being backed by a certain number of states including France. It’s the usual support – it’s advisory,’ a French defense ministry official told AFP. Until now France has only acknowledged a ground deployment of around 150 members of its special forces in Iraq’s Kurdish region…”

Continued here.

IS Imposing New Dress Codes on Women

Islamic State has imposed new dress codes in areas it controls in Syria, forcing women to wear only black clothes and punishing those who don't obey, according to residents and activist groups.
For IS, any women's clothing that is not black is considered seductive.

"They [IS] arrested me because my wife and mother had colorful clothes on," Abu Hassan, a resident from the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, told a Syrian opposition website, All4Syria. He disguised his name for fear of retribution.

Abu Hassan said the women were in their house recently when religious police drove by and noticed their colorful clothing.
"They didn't release me until I paid the equivalent of one gram of gold," he told All4Syria on Wednesday.
His story could not be independently verified by VOA; but IS prohibits contact with outsiders in areas it controls.

Since gaining control of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, IS has imposed harsh guidelines on civilians, particularly women.
In addition to penalizing women for the way they dress, IS religious police — also known as al-Hisbah, Arabic for “accountability” — have arrested a number of women for hanging laundry on rooftops.

IS "considers anything related to women as tempting for men," said a resident in the IS de-facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, who insisted on anonymity. He told VOA that in order for his wife and two adult daughters to leave the house, he must accompany them.



He also recalled what happened to his ailing neighbor who let his wife visit her sister in a nearby district with no male escort.
"They gave him 40 lashes in public in addition to several days in prison," he said.
As the U.S.-led international coalition ramped up its bombing campaign against IS positions in Syria and Iraq, IS recently increased its already strict moral codes, local activists say.

"The bombing campaign has affected Daesh [IS] on so many levels," said Hussam Eisa, a member of "Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently," a group that reports on IS abuses in Syria.

Eisa said the U.S.-led coalition, Russian and Syrian government airstrikes against IS have made the group look weak in the eyes in locals. "And therefore, Daesh is desperately taking these measures," Eisa said, using an Arabic term for IS.

Despite these airstrikes, IS militants have made some advances in government-held areas of oil-rich Deir Ezzor in recent weeks. According to local reports, IS controls much of the area around a military air base that it has besieged for months.

Source

Nasrallah: We must be vigilant against the ‘Zionists’

Israel National News reports: “The Muslim world must be vigilant against ‘the Zionist regime’s moves’, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Sunday, according to the Fars news agency.

Nasrallah’s spoke in a meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, during which he expressed gratitude to Tehran for helping regional states in fighting against terrorist groups and establishing security in the region.

‘If the resistance forces had not sacrificed their lives in the fight against the Zionist regime and terrorism and if the martyred Iranian military advisors (in Iraq and Syria) had not extended their cooperation, there would have been no security left in the region,’ Nasrallah said during the meeting in Beirut on Sunday.

He then blasted certain states for ‘sowing discord’ among Muslims, and underscored the necessity for the Muslim world to keep an eye on Israel’s moves…”

More at here

Putin says Russia will 'neutralise threats' after US opens missile base

President Vladimir Putin has escalated Russian criticism of a new US missile defence station in Romania, saying his country will "neutralise emerging threats".

He argued it was aimed at weakening Russia's nuclear power and vowed to increase Russian defence spending.
US President Barack Obama voiced concern about Russia's "growing aggressive military presence".
Nato says the base is aimed at potential threats from the Middle East.
The US on Thursday activated the estimated $800m (£550m; €700m) missile shield in Deveselu, southern Romania.

Continued

Saudi TV host goes nuclear on terror 'hypocrites'

A female news anchor in Saudi Arabia blasted fellow Arabs for terrorism in a video clip that’s going viral.

Saudi columnist and television anchor Nadine Al-Budair harshly criticized Muslims in the Arab world as “hypocrites” for failing to admit terrorism does represent their faith. She said it was time for Muslims to own up to elements of their faith that encourage followers to commit terrorist attacks.

In an April 3 monologue on Saudi Arabia’s Rotana Khalijiyah TV following the Brussels attacks, Al-Budair said, “After the abominable Brussels bombings, it’s time for us to feel shame and to stop acting as if the terrorists are a rarity. … We must admit that they are present everywhere, that their nationality is Arab, and that they adhere to the religion of Islam.”

Read more at WND

Syria war: IS group killed 21 Christians in al-Qaryatain, says patriarch

Reports are emerging of the killing of Syrian Christians by Islamic State militants in the town of al-Qaryatain.

The town was retaken by Russian-backed Syrian forces and their allies earlier in the week.
Some 21 Christians were murdered when almost 300 Christians remained in the city after IS captured it last August, said the head of the Syrian Orthodox Church.
They included three women, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II told the BBC.

He said some died whilst trying to escape while the others were killed for breaking the terms of their "dhimmi contracts", which require them to submit to the rule of Islam.

Five more Christians are still missing, believed dead. Negotiations and the payment of ransoms have seen the remainder of the group re-join their families.

The patriarch said warnings had come that Islamic State planned to sell Christian girls into slavery.
But despite the murders, he said restoring harmony among faiths remained his goal.
"We lived this situation for centuries, we learned how to respect each other, we learned how to live with each other," said the patriarch. "We can live together again, if we are left alone by others."

The town is now utterly devastated, with street after street and building after building - including a 1,500-year-old Catholic monastery - in ruins.

Read more.