Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
When we read of persecution and hear of despicable things being done to Christian fathers, mothers and children by people filled with hatred and violence we should remember this was similar to the times of Habakkuk in the time of the Babylonian invasion. At a time when Habakkuk reports his belly trembled with fear, his lips quivered and he felt rottenness in his bones in the day of trouble. Yet his encouragement came from putting his trust in the one True God.
Consider this an encouragement and a poem to all those who have lost everything or are on the verge of losing everything to ISIS OR BOKO HARAM ….
“We have no reason to be discouraged and cast down if the religion we profess is not popular and few agree with us. We must remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in this passage: ‘The gate is narrow’. Repentance, and faith in Christ, and holiness of life, have never been fashionable. The true flock of Christ has always been small. It must not move us to find that we are reckoned singular, and peculiar, and bigoted, and narrow minded. This is the ‘narrow way’. Surely it is better to enter into eternal life with a few, than to go to ‘destruction’ with a great company” – J.C. Ryle
Imagine you have gone to visit your pastor at his home and there’s blood splattered over the walls. The pastor’s kitten is limping across the back garden and the assailants ask you, “Are you one of them?” It dawns on you that you have just unwittingly stepped into a raid on Christians in the area. One church youth group seems to have found itself in a similar rude awakening :
North Korean in prayer
A church tried to teach its youth group a lesson by staging a raid in which unsuspecting teens were ‘kidnapped’ at gunpoint, forced into a van and made to watch one of their pastors being assaulted in his house.
The ‘lesson,’ according to pastors at the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Middletown, Pennsylvania, was meant to teach them about what Christian missionaries are subjected to in other parts of the world.
However, at least one girl, 14, was bruised and battered after the object lesson, and has now filed a complaint with the police.
The girl, who has asked to remain anonymous, described her terror to abc27.com: ‘They pulled my chair out from underneath me, and then they told me to get on the ground,’ she told the station.
‘I had my hands behind my back. They said, `Just do as I say, and you won’t be hurt.’’
The girl said she and about 17 other teens were taken to the pastor’s house, where it appeared he was being assaulted, covered in what looked to be blood. …Read More!
At a time when being a Christian in some muslim countries is tantamount to a jail sentence and even possible execution, the reverse seems to be happening in the UK. You see…
With Muslims established as a privileged class and non-Muslims converting to Islam simply to avoid the misery of second-class status, British prisoners already sound like Sharia entities. “Prisoners convert to Islam for jail perks,” by Richard Ford in The Times, June 8 (thanks to Paul):
Inmates are converting to Islam in order to gain perks and the protection of powerful Muslim gangs, the Chief Inspector of Prisons warns today.
Dame Anne Owers says that some convicted criminals are taking up the religion in jail to receive benefits only available to practising Muslims. …Read More!
This bit of news will make Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield and John Owen spin in their graves. The land in which they joyously preached the Word of God seems to have lapsed into “intolerance”. Wait a minute, who is being intolerant? You be the judge:
Police in Lancashire have told the owner of a Christian café to stop displaying Bible texts on a video screen, because it breaches public order laws. …Read More!
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 