Archive for September, 2013

THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS, PART 2

Saturday, September 14th, 2013


As we watch our brothers and sisters persecuted not just in the Syrian civil war, but the 1,000,000 Chaldean Christians run out of their 2000 year old homes when the US military handed the Iraq (Babylon) government over to the local Shiite government.
As we watch our Coptic brothers lose their lives and their churches in Egypt.
As we watch Christian news broadcasts about Nigerian islamic terrorists raiding Christian boarding schools and killing teachers and children….and on and on…what are we to do? How are western Christians to respond and react to these atrocities against the Ekklesia (Body of Christ)?

Most folks in our churches do not know it is even happening because, well, frankly, most north American church leadership (Canada and the USA) do not really care about our brethren being persecuted in foreign lands. Some may mention something about it in a passing prayer, but that’s it. It took a US congressman – Frank Wolfe (R Virginia) to embarrass two nationally known preachers into responding to the plight of the persecuted…which they did almost like a cheap politician would. So it is really up to the individual Christian to care about this because God will hold us each accountable….and the church leadership of the West will be held to a much higher standard than we are going to be held to.

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THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS, PART 1

Saturday, September 14th, 2013
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  (Matthew 5:10-12, ESV)
When the terrorists in Syria recently charged the ancient Christian village of Maaloula in the Syrian mountainside where the minority Christians lived for almost 2000 years, do you think they felt blessed? According to eyewitnesses, the moslem terrorists told villagers “‘Either you convert to Islam or you will be beheaded,”. The village of Maaloula is one of the last on this earth which still spoke the ancient language of Aramaic. Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus Himself and can only be found in Syria, in these last days.
What has been happening during the violent Syrian civil war has already been repeated in Iraq, with one million Chaldean Christians being persecuted, killed and displaced and in Iran and other middle eastern countries. Pakistan and India are catching up with their cousins in the middle east and doing the same to God’s people.
These are just some of the latest examples of what has been happening to followers of Jesus Christ since before He was even crucified in 33 AD in Jerusalem. Jesus warned of this and this warning has been fulfilled time after time after time for almost 2000 years now. Persecution is occurring in not just these Arab countries, but in almost every corner of this earth.