From The Blaze.Com

It’s been almost eight months since TheBlaze first told you about the “Left Behind” feature film re-boot. The new project, set to star Nicolas Cage, Chad Michael Murray and Ashley Tisdale, will take on an entirely different tone from the first trinity of Bible-based, end-times-themed movies. So, what should you expect, you ask? We have new, exclusive details.

While the Christian message will still be at its core, the intended audience for the project is more far-reaching — and that’s only one of the intended changes. With “Left Behind’s” first, new installment less than a year away from theaters (spring 2014), we interviewed producer and script writer Paul LaLonde to learn more about the much-anticipated project.

Produced by Cloud Ten Pictures and Stoney Lake Entertainment — LaLonde’s Christian production companies — the motion picture follows a number of successful, faith-based entertainment projects, including Mark Burnett’s “The Bible” television series, among many others. With the religious entertainment market ripe for consumption, “Left Behind” could end up being a major blockbuster.

“Left Behind’s” Past Success — and Future Prospects

Anyone with an interest in Christian entertainment who was paying attention back in 2001 would know that LaLonde’s original film series was highly successful.

As for the favorable outcomes surrounding the past movies, LaLonde admitted that he was surprised by just how big the response was. That said, there was really no reason to think “Left Behind” wouldn’t make waves among audiences, especially considering his company’s previous track-record (all of their films had done well).

But success aside, the new re-boot is entirely different from the first “Left Behind” series on a number of fronts. From the scale to the intended audience, the scenario this time around parts ways quite a bit from the previous productions.

“This is a much bigger movie a much bigger investment — we are certainly aiming this time to have more of a crossover movie,” LaLonde told TheBlaze. “When we did the first ‘Left Behind, it was never an outreach. It was made by Christians for Christians … there was never an idea that we’re going to put this in the cineplex next to ‘Spiderman’ and compete for the same audience.”

The challenge with a more mainstream film — one that plans to stay true to its Christian values — is trying to walk a line that merges entertainment that can attract the masses with intricate faith themes. LaLonde said that he and his team had to work through an “outreach perspective,” while also making sure that the movie doesn’t feel too “preachy.”

“People don’t mind faith elements in movies. People don’t mind Christian characters,” he said. “What non-Christians don’t want is to just be preached to — and for it to just be a sermon.”

The new “Left Behind” will be a character-driven film — one that focuses on individuals’ lives and plights in the hours before and after the rapture. While many of the scenes will take place on an airplane (one of the main characters, Rayford, is a pilot), other portions of the film will capture the events on the ground.

“This isn’t a disaster movie. This is a character movie,” he added. “And its about the characters reacting to when the rapture happens … so that when we saw all of their different reactions to when the people disappear, we know who they are and we know where they were coming from.”

The new project has the support of Jerry Jenkins, too — one of the authors of the original book series. While the script remains true to the text of the first book, it will be more action-packed, as LaLonde is hopeful that “Left Behind” will make a real impact on audiences.

“I think it can open a lot of doors that would not have otherwise be opened,” the filmmaker said of the movie. “People are fascinated by it. People are fascinated by the idea of the rapture.”

LaLonde’s Start in Christian Film-Making

Considering the string of successful Christian films that LaLonde has produced over the past two decades, TheBlaze asked how he first got involved in the niche market of faith-based movie-making.

For the filmmaker, his foray into the entertainment sphere started when he and his brother, Peter, hosted a show called “This Week in Bible Prophesy.” It was originally broadcast on TBN, among other Christian outlets. Naturally, this led the brothers into the film industry after they also realized the power that Bible-based documentaries can have.

Apocalyptic Left Behind Movie Reboot Could Reach Millions With End Times Theology And TheBlaze Has Exclusive Details
Photo Credit: Cloud Ten Pictures

“We had a pretty big outreach…[but] we always needed to pay the bills, so we had to make products that we could sell,” LaLonde explained, noting that educational films were a natural way to do this.

For one of the movies, he and his brother created a dramatization of the rapture — an action that ended up having a long-lasting impact.

“It was unbelievably successful. People loved the video and this dramatization,” he said of the skit. “So we thought, ‘If we did this in five minutes, how hard could it be to make a movie?’”

Apocalyptic Left Behind Movie Reboot Could Reach Millions With End Times Theology And TheBlaze Has Exclusive Details
Actor Nicolas Cage and his agent Michael Nilon (Photo Credit: AP)

From there, the beginnings of Cloud Ten Pictures took root, with the brothers first making “Apocalypse,” a film that, quite naturally, focused upon Armageddon. After that performed well, LaLonde said they just kept making films. Eventually, they created the “Left Behind” series, which was predicated upon the monumentally-successful book series by the same name.

Lessons LaLonde Has Learned About Hollywood

Over the years, LaLonde — being in a unique position as a person of faith who also produces entertainment — has gained a unique perspective. When asked about the lessons he has learned about Hollywood over the past ten to fifteen years, he was candid.

“I think that the first thing — when you first go down to Hollywood and decide, ‘Okay, we’re going to try and make a big movie — a Hollywood movie — and you go down there thinking, ‘This is going to be a real challenge, because, in Hollywood, everyone hates Christians, everyone’s left-wing and they’re not going to like what we’re doing’ [you might be surprised],” he said.

LaLonde said that much of Hollywood’s aversion to Christian-based films is based on fear more than it is a dislike for people of faith.

“They see it as dangerous. I think that was the number one thing that I learned,” the filmmaker said of his Hollywood experience. “They don’t hate you because you’re making a faith based movie. This is all about, ‘Are you going to sell tickets, are you going to make money?’”

That said, LaLonde said that dealing with some agents has sometimes been a challenge. While working with talent has always been easy, some agents, due to the faith-based nature of scripts, have declined to pass the text on to their clients.

Obviously, that hasn’t halted LaLonde’s success.

- Prophecy News Watch.Com

From KHouse.Org

A large number of young people are leaving the Church after age 15, according to a 5-year study by the Barna Group. Nearly 3 out of 5 young people leave the church as teens, and while some return later as adults, a significant number never come back.

Too many young people are filled with pizza, without the necessary life transformation to carry them through the rough teen years in a world of cynicism. It isn’t that students don’t care about God, because they do, but they have found the church to be shallow and overprotective. They have also found the church irrelevant when dealing with the important issues that young people care about. Nearly one-fourth of those surveyed didn’t think the Bible is taught often enough or clearly enough, and one-fifth of those surveyed said, “God seems missing from my experience of church.”

They want deep, meaningful, personal touches from God. They want to know their faith is based on something real and well-researched and intellectually satisfying. They want to feel the love of God and their fellow Christians, to know they are safe to voice doubts and frustrations, to make mistakes and have confidence their church family has their back.

At the same time, young people are struggling through major battles without proper guidance to fight the influence of an ever-increasing tension between Biblical teachings and the culture. They struggle with the apparent antagonism of the church toward modern day science and sexual norms. While premarital sex and late marriage are considered normal these days, these young people struggle to remain chaste. They perceive the church as too narrow minded and judgmental of people who have made mistakes, a place where they are cannot find solid, intellectually satisfying answers.

What do we do to keep young adults engaged in a well-rooted, unshakable relationship with their God and Savior?

Former atheist-turned-Christ-apologist Anthony Horvath argues that one of the biggest issues is that Christian youth are not being taught to defend their faith. Kids have major questions;

• Why is there evil and suffering in the world if God is good?
• What is the evidence for God’s existence?
• What makes the Bible different from any other religious holy book?
• Are the events of the Bible historical?

Horvath argues that kids do not simply need to be taught what the Bible says, they need to know how to defend their faith, as 1 Peter 3:15 [show/hide]1 Peter 3:15 [15]but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (ESV)
says:

”But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Older Christians and Christian parents need to research and do their homework so that they can be ready to answer the questions of their young people. Churches should make sure that their youth groups do more than hang out, sing, and eat pizza. While youth ministries should be a lot of fun, they need to be places where kids are trained in the knowledge of God—not simply entertained.

Just as important, both Christian youth and Christian adults need to shun hypocrisy. The teen years can be the hardest years of a person’s life. They are often years of insecurity, filled with longings to be loved and accepted. If the Church fails to embrace these young people and demonstrate the true love and nurturing character of Christ, kids can be deeply hurt. It’s tragic when people feel safer and freer to be themselves in a tavern than they do in a body of believers.

Only by being filled with the Spirit and in touch with the true heart of God can we be the models of Christ that we need to be to the next lost and dying generation. Only by building up our young people to be warriors of the faith can they be prepared to battle the world’s philosophies as they grow into adults.

There are ministries available to teach young people how to defend the truth of their faith, to answer the hard questions, to lovingly help them deal with huge issues like sexual temptation, current events and arguments over science and new research, modern historical revisionism and the like. The links below can help you get started.

Above all, keep praying for the hearts and minds of our young people, that God will guide and protect them, that as they receive godly instruction, they will be taught by the Lord Himself.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

— Proverbs 22:6 [show/hide]Proverbs 22:6 [6]Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Related Links:

• Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church - Barna Group
• One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation - Pew Research
• Summit Ministries: Training Youth to Defend the Truth - Summit.org
• The Heritage Foundation - Heritage.org
• Wall Builders - Wallbuilders.com
• Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry - Carm.org

Online Apologetics Academy - Academyofapologetics.com

From News Yahoo.Com

It may sound like an unlikely No. 1 best-seller for any country, but in Norway — one of the most secular nations in an increasingly godless Europe — the runaway popularity of the Bible has caught the country by surprise. The Scriptures, in a new Norwegian language version, even outpaced “Fifty Shades of Grey” to become Norway’s best-selling book.

The sudden burst of interest in God’s word has also spread to the stage, with a six-hour play called “Bibelen,” Norwegian for “the Bible,” drawing 16,000 people in a three-month run that recently ended at one of Oslo’s most prominent theaters.

Officials of the Lutheran Church of Norway have stopped short of calling it a spiritual awakening, but they see the newfound interest in the Bible as proof that it still resonates in a country where only 1 percent of the 5 million residents regularly attends church.

“Thoughts and images from the Bible still have an impact on how we experience reality,” said Karl Ove Knausgaard, one of several famous Norwegian authors enlisted to help with the translation.

Scholars aren’t surprised at the success of the plays or the new Bible translation, explaining that faith is a deeply personal matter in this nation of taciturn Scandinavians who regularly withdraw from city life to spend holidays at remote cottages in the solitude of the mountains, fjords and forests.

“Church attendance is a poor measure of the Norwegian state of faith,” said post-doctoral fellow Thorgeir Kolshus at the University of Oslo. “Religion is a very private thing for Norwegians.”

Anne Veiteberg, publishing director of Norway’s Bible Society, said that increased immigration also probably has been a factor.

More than 258,000 immigrants have settled in the country during the last six years alone, adding diversity of race and religion. The Church of Norway estimates that around 60 percent of immigrants are Christian, while the rest are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu.

“Now that we’re exposed to other faiths, Norwegians have gotten more interested in their own faith,” Veiteberg said.

Released in October 2011 by the Norwegian Bible Society, the new translation replaces a 1978 edition, with the goal of improving readability and accuracy. For example, in the older version, Mary was called a “virgin.” In the new translation she is referred to instead as a “young” woman. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also made this change in its latest Bible translation from 2011, saying the change didn’t alter teaching about Mary, but was meant to address the possible different meanings of the Hebrew word “almah” in the text.

Norway’s Bible Society promoted the new translation like a pop fiction novel, stirring anticipation by giving out teasers of biblical stories before its release.

It turned to poets and authors such as Knausgard to make the text sing and resonate for a new generation. And it was packaged in a variety of ways, targeting teenagers with pink leather or denim covers, and adults with bridal or sophisticated literary covers.

“It’s easier to read,” says Helga Haugland Byfuglien, presiding bishop for the Church of Norway. “There is no over-interpretation of the text.”

It has sold nearly 160,000 copies and was Norway’s best-selling book in 2012. Church officials concede that hefty marketing campaigns helped explain the strong sales.

Like many other European nations, Norwegians have experienced decades of secularization as religion has taken a back seat to other pursuits. They are fiercely committed to jamming weekends with skiing, hiking and other outdoor activities, leaving little time other than Christmas or Easter to fill the pews.

Last year, Parliament unanimously decided to end the Lutheran church’s status as the official state religion.

Erik Ulfsby, artistic director at Det Norske Teatret, which staged the “Bibelen” play, said that even if Norwegians don’t go to church, they still see the Bible as an important part of their literary heritage.

“The (church) wants you to agree with their interpretation but the theater gives you the chance to think out loud and discuss the Bible,” he said.

The play, directed by Stein Winge, certainly offered a nontraditional interpretation.

For instance, rather than dying on a cross, Jesus was committed to a mental hospital and eventually executed via lethal injection. And, at the wedding at Cana, show-goers saw Jesus portrayed as being drunk when he changed water to wine.

“Bible” isn’t the first religious production to have Norwegians at the edge of their seats. Renowned actor Svein Tindberg has staged three monologues based on the Bible, each more successful than the last.

In the mid-1990s, “Gospel of Mark” was slated to run for 20 nights but was such a hit that Tindberg performed 220 nights. His latest production, “Abraham’s Children,” opened last year and has sold 52,000 tickets, compared to expectations of 1,000 — outselling “Evita” in Norway.

Despite the unorthodox artistic interpretations that are emerging, religious authorities in Norway are embracing the concept of experiencing religion through art.

“Even if you don’t believe the core of the message, the Bible has rich, meaningful stories,” Byfuglien said. “Culture breaks the religious shyness that people have in association with the church and it’s a way for those who have distanced themselves to experience it in an interesting way.”

- Prophecy News Watch.Com

From Daily Mail.Co.Uk

Set aside the fact that our Queen is the Defender of the Christian Faith. Ignore the 26 Church of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords.

Pay no attention to the 2011 Census that told us 33.2 million people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christians.

For if you want a more telling insight into religion in the United Kingdom today, just look at these photographs. The story they tell is more revealing than any survey.

What they show are three acts of worship performed in the East End of London within a few hundred yards of each other at the end of last month.

Two of the photos show Sunday morning services in the churches of St George-in-the-East on Cannon Street Road, and St Mary’s on Cable Street.

The third shows worshippers gathered for Friday midday prayers outside the nearby mosque on the Brune Street Estate in Spitalfields.

When the church was built in the early 18th century, it was designed to seat 1,230.

Numbers are similar at St Mary’s, opened in October 1849. Then, it could boast a congregation of 1,000. Today, as shown in the picture, the worshippers total just 20.

While the two churches are nearly empty, the Brune Street Estate mosque has a different problem — overcrowding.

The mosque itself is little more than a small room rented in a community centre, and it can hold only 100.

However, on Fridays, those numbers swell to three to four times the room’s capacity, so the worshippers spill out onto the street, where they take up around the same amount of space as the size of the near-empty St Mary’s down the road.

What these pictures suggest is that, on current trends, Christianity in this country is becoming a religion of the past, and Islam is one of the future.

In the past ten years, there has been a decrease in people in England and Wales identifying as Christian, from 71.7 per cent to 59.3 per cent of the population.

In the same period the number of Muslims in England and Wales has risen from 3 per cent of the population to 4.8 per cent — 2.7 million people.

And Islam has age on its side. Whereas a half of British Muslims are under 25, almost a quarter of Christians are approaching their eighth decade.

It is estimated that in just 20 years, there will be more active Muslims in this country than churchgoers — an idea which even half a century ago would have been utterly unthinkable.

Many will conclude with a heavy heart that Christianity faces a permanent decline in Britain, its increasingly empty churches a monument to those centuries when the teachings of Christ governed the thoughts and deeds of the masses.

On Sunday October 1, 1738, St George’s was packed twice during the day to hear the great evangelist John Wesley, who then preached at the church for the following week explaining, as he put it, ‘the way of salvation to many who misunderstood what had been preached concerning it’.

Today, there are no John Wesleys to fill up the pews. The church does its best, offering, for example, a monthly ‘Hot Potato Sunday’, during which the few congregants can discuss the readings of the day over a baked potato.

Canon Michael Ainsworth of St George’s puts on a brave face when he says: ‘What we are saying now is it is not just a matter of numbers. It is about keeping faith with the city and hanging in there — being part of the community.’

At St Mary’s, meanwhile, Rev Peter McGeary cannot explain why the numbers are so low: ‘It’s impossible to say, there are so many variables.’

When he is asked if he tries to boost his congregations, he simply replies: ‘We are not a company, we are a church.’

In contrast, there seems a remarkable energy attached to the mosque on Brune Street, which has been described as the ‘Mecca of the City’.

Here, come rain or shine, members of the Bangladeshi community perform the Friday prayer of Jumma under the open sky. It is a communal act which will surely only grow in popularity.

Sadly, that’s not something that can be said of the two nearby churches, and unless they can reinvigorate their congregations they may finally end up being deconsecrated.

When that happens, such large buildings will be attractive spaces for those who can fill them.

One day, in a few decades, St George’s may well again be packed with worshippers — but they will not be Christians.

- Prophecy News Watch.Com

From Christian Post.Com

A new poll measuring global self-perceptions on beliefs indicates that while 13 percent of the world identify themselves as atheists, nearly half of China’s population comprises non-believers. The United States is among the countries where religiosity is notably declining, the poll says.

A 2012 poll called, Global Index of Religion and Atheism, by WIN/Gallup International, asked more than 50,000 people in 40 countries whether they considered themselves “religious,” “not religious” or “convinced atheist.”

The question read, “Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious persons or a convinced atheist?” And 59 percent of the world said that they think of themselves as religious person, 23 percent said they see themselves as not religious whereas 13 percent said they were convinced atheists.

In the survey, around 47 percent of people living in China described themselves as atheists.

The poll had an error margin of between 3 and 5 percent.

The large atheist population of China can be attributed to its political history. The country’s republic government was originally atheist at the time of its formation in 1949.

China opened up in the 1980s and religious freedoms were expanded while the state began to support traditional beliefs like Taoism and Buddhism as an integral part of the country’s culture.

Article 36 of the 1978 Constitution provides for religious freedom. “No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens because they do, or do not believe in religion,” the policy reads. The Chinese state officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism.

However, the Communist Party of China continues to be highly suspicious of and persecutes organized religions.

At least 132 cases of persecution, affecting 4,919 believers, were reported in China in 2012, according to an annual report released by the U.S.-based group ChinaAid. It tracked detention of more than 1,400 Christians, sentencing of nine believers, and abuse – involving beatings, torture, and verbal, physical and mental abuse – of 37 Christians.

Yet, contrary to the Communist Party’s prediction that religion would disappear as society progresses, Christianity has seen a rapid grown in China.

According to Chinese academic Frank Lee, the country’s house churches had more than 10 million Catholics and up to 70 million Protestants a few years ago, and the official Three-Self Church had about 20 million people.

Apart from China, atheism is also widespread in Japan, where 31 percent of the people say they are atheists, according to the poll.

Other top atheist populations include Czech Republic, France, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Iceland, Australia and Ireland, respectively.

Even in the Islamic country of Saudi Arabia, five percent of the population describe themselves as atheists although atheism is considered a crime.

Top 10 countries experiencing notable decline in religiosity since 2005 include Vietnam, Ireland, Switzerland, France, South Africa, Iceland, Ecuador, the Unites States, Canada and Austria, the poll suggests.

In the United States, 73 percent of those polled said they were religious in 2005. In 2012, it declined by 13 percent, to 60 percent.

Globally, those claiming to be religious, dropped by 9 percent, while atheism rose by 3 percent.

On the other hand, top 10 religious populations include Ghana, Nigeria, Armenia, Fiji, Macedonia, Romania, Iraq, Kenya, Peru and Brazil, respectively.

“It is interesting that Religiosity declines as worldly prosperity of individuals rises,” the poll notes. “While the results for nations as a whole are mixed, individual respondents within a country show a revealing pattern. If citizens of each of the 57 countries are grouped into five groups, from the relatively poor to relatively rich in their own countries, the richer you get, the less religious you define yourself.”

- Prophecy News Watch.Com

From Telegraph.Co.Uk

A new analysis of the 2011 census shows that a decade of mass immigration helped mask the scale of decline in Christian affiliation among the British-born population – while driving a dramatic increase in Islam, particularly among the young.

It suggests that only a minority of people will describe themselves as Christians within the next decade, for first time.

Meanwhile almost one in 10 under 25s in Britain is now a Muslim.

The proportion of young people who describe themselves as even nominal Christians has dropped below half for the first time.

Initial results from the 2011 census published last year showed that the total number of people in England and Wales who described themselves as Christian fell by 4.1 million – a decline of 10 per cent.

But new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows that that figure was bolstered by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians, including Polish Catholics and evangelicals from countries such as Nigeria.

They disclosed that there were in fact 5.3 million fewer British-born people describing themselves as Christians, a decline of 15 per cent in just a decade.

At the same time the number of Muslims in England and Wales surged by 75 per cent – boosted by almost 600,000 more foreign born followers of the Islamic faith.

While almost half of British Muslims are under the age of 25, almost a quarter of Christians are over 65.

The average age of a British Muslim is just 25, not far off half that of a British Christian.

Younger people also drove a shift away from religion altogether, with 6.4 million more people describing themselves as having no faith than 10 years earlier.

Secular campaigners said the new figures showed that Christianity had now dropped below “critical mass” making the case for disestablishing the Church of England stronger.

But the Church insisted that while there had been a significant drop in “nominal” Christians, the core of the Church remained firm.

Prof David Coleman, Professor of demography at Oxford University, said: “This is a very substantial change – it is difficult to see whether any other change in the census could have been remotely as big.

“But I wonder how far it reflects an overarching change in society where it is more acceptable more normal to say that you are not religious or are not Christian.”

Dr Fraser Watts, a Cambridge theologian, said it was “entirely possible” the people identifying themselves as Christians could become a minority within the next decade on the basis of the figures.

“It is still pretty striking and it is a worrying trend and confirms what anyone can observe - that in many churches the majority of the congregation are over 60,” he said.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said the long-term reduction of Christianity, particularly among young people, was now “unstoppable”.

“In another 20 years there are going to be more active Muslims than there are churchgoers,” he said.

“The time has now come that institutional Christianity is no longer justified, the number has dropped below critical mass for which there is no longer any justification for the established Church, for example, or the monarch going through a religious ceremony at coronation.

“The expressions of optimism by the church are just completely misplaced.”

But a spokesman for the Church of England said: “These figures highlight the diversity of Christianity in this country today, something which has been increasing for decades and shows the relevance of Christianity to people from all backgrounds.

“These figures once again confirm that this remains a faithful nation and that the fall in the numbers identifying themselves as Christians is a challenge but – as you can see from the stability of Church of England attendance figures – the committed worshipping centre of the church remains firm.

“The challenge to the Church is to reconnect with the nominal.”

- Prophecy News Watch.Com

COMMENT from HANS ERDMAN, MISSIONARY: “We have largely ignored this languishing mission field in our own backyard”. I have been saying this to whomever would listen, for the past 5 years.

We became involved with Native American/First Nations missions after the doors closed to us in NW Russia, and have never regretted it. The fields are ripe for the harvest, but the workers are few. As Lee pointed out, we spend millions elsewhere, while domestic missions fall below the radar…”

————————————

THERE Are NO INDIAN RESERVATIONS In HEAVEN by J. Lee Grady

God´s heart is broken over the spiritual condition of the Native American community. Do you care?

I spent part of this week preaching at my friend Quentin Beard´s church in Sioux Falls, S.D. On Sunday-which happened to be Pentecost-I reminded the congregation that if we really want the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we must have more than just emotionally charged worship, speaking in tongues or miracles of healing. Those things are wonderful, but if we want full-blown Pentecost we must also tear down racial and ethnic barriers.

Later that morning, a tall Native American brother named Joe Marrowbone came to the altar for prayer. He is from the Lakota Sioux tribe, and he wanted the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Within a few moments, he was praying in tongues with his hands raised in the air. He told me later that He feels God will send him to share the gospel on some of the Indian reservations near Sioux Falls.

Joe was especially blessed when I addressed the issue of racism among whites and Native people in his home state. I told the church that when we get to heaven, there will not be a white section, a Hispanic section, a black section or a Native section.

“We are all one big family. There are no Indian reservations in heaven,” I said.

Seeing Joe filled with the Spirit was a highlight of my trip. But when I left Sioux Falls, I was burdened about the condition of the Native people in our nation. We have so much unfinished business when it comes to healing the breach that exists between us and our American Indian brothers. Consider these

facts:

oNative Americans have the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the United States. The poverty rate is 25 percent. Native people living in Indian country have incomes that are less than half of the general U.S. population.

oOnly 36 percent of males in high-poverty Native American communities have full-time, year-round employment.

oNearly 10 percent of all Native families are homeless. The rate of Native homes without electricity is 10 times the national average, and 20 percent of Native households lack running water. The infant mortality rate among Native people is about 300 percent higher than the national average.

oThe poorest county in the United States is the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where the unemployment rate is at a mind-boggling 80 percent. Life expectancy on this reservation is the lowest in the Western Hemisphere, except for Haiti.

oRates of violent victimization for both males and females are higher among American Indians than for any other race.

oFrom 1999 to 2004, American Indian males in the 15- to 24-year- old age group had the highest suicide rate compared to males of any other racial group.

oNative American men have been found to be dying at the fastest rate of all people in the United States.

What do those figures say to you? I believe it is an absolute travesty that those of us in the Christian community have not fully acknowledged our forefathers´ role in perpetrating genocide on our Native brothers. And it is pathetic that we have largely ignored this languishing mission field in our own backyard while we spend millions on our tech-savvy megachurches in white suburbs. God forgive us.

When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter declared from the book of Joel that one sign of the Holy Spirit´s outpouring would be the empowerment of the poorest of the poor. He said, “Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2:18, NASB [show/hide]Acts 2:18 [18]even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
).

Surely Native Americans were on God´s heart when those words were recorded. Yet many of us completely missed the point of Pentecost. We made it about us. We chased after the anointing, the chills, the hype and the charismatic circus-forgetting that the reason we are anointed by the Spirit is to minister to those who need Christ´s healing.

I am praying that the Spirit-filled community will renounce its self- absorbed immaturity and begin to fulfill our true Pentecostal mission. Pray for a spiritual awakening among Native people, both on and off the reservation. Explore ways that you can build bridges of reconciliation. And ask God how you and your church should respond to the needs of Native people.

-PLEASE COMMENT on this topic at the following website-

http://www.revivalschool.com/

-Article source-

http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/17810

ANDREW’s NOTE: I was really surprised (in a pleasant way) by this article sent out by Charisma magazine this week. It is written by their News Editor Jennifer LeClaire. See what you think-

——————–

by Jennifer LeClaire

When preachers tour like rock stars, it´s no wonder sinners flock to stadiums. Of course, preachers holding stadium-sized events packed out with lost souls is awesome-unless those preachers present a hyped-up, watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel that´s giving the assurance of heaven while sending people to hell.

I am convinced that too many people who claim to be Christ- followers are not really saved because too many false teachers and false prophets are propagating a “different gospel” centered on “another Jesus” (see 2 Cor. 11:3-4 [show/hide]2 Corinthians 11:3-4 [3]But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. [4]For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. (ESV)
). I am convinced that many self-professing saints are going to sit right next to sinners in hell when it´s all said and done-thanks, in part, to rock-star preachers presenting a hyped-up, watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel.

Especially in America, it´s easy to say, “I believe in Jesus.” It´s called mental assent. I believed in Jesus before I got saved, too, but I was still on my way to hell. Many who have “accepted Jesus into their hearts” have responded to a “different gospel” centered on a false Christ. This gospel is mixed with compromise. This gospel is impure and defiled religion. This gospel offers a humanistic, self-help message that taps New Age principles.

Indeed, these false teachers and false prophets are moving in a false anointing and presenting a false Christ. And it´s deadly.

Perverting the Gospel of Christ

This is not a new problem. More than 2,000 years ago, Paul wrote, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted-you may well put up with it!” (2 Cor. 11:3-4 [show/hide]2 Corinthians 11:3-4 [3]But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. [4]For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. (ESV)
, emphasis added)

Church, why are we putting up with this false gospel? Why are we spending millions of dollars on books filled with heresy penned by false teachers? Why are people flocking to stadiums to worship another Jesus?

They have been deceived by the serpent´s craftiness. Their minds have been corrupted from the simplicity of Christ. The gospel is not difficult to understand, and it´s not difficult to recognize false doctrine if you are a student of the Word. But members of the lukewarm, apathetic, bless-me-only church are too lazy to open their Bibles and read Scripture for themselves. Members of the lukewarm, apathetic, bless-me-only church want to be spoon-fed a feel-good 20-minute sermonette rather than be challenged to die to self, pick up their cross and walk the narrow road. They’ve turned away from the real Jesus to another Jesus. Paul felt the same angst in his spirit that I feel in mine.

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:6-9 [show/hide]Galatians 1:6-9 No Other Gospel [6]I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- [7]not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. [8]But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. [9]As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (ESV)
, emphasis added).

Fables and Fairy Tales

I´m also marveling at the masses that are paying to hear a different gospel, a perverted gospel-a gospel that will send them to hell if they embrace its doctrines. Some of those “gospels” insist there is no hell. Some of those “gospels” say we´re all going to heaven in the end. Some of those “gospels” give you a license to sin without penalty. False teachers are using familiar Scriptures to justify their stance, but they´ve essentially turned the Bible into a book of fables and fairy tales.

I don´t care who doesn´t like it. I´m taking the apostle Paul´s advice:

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:2-4 [show/hide]2 Timothy 4:2-4 [2]preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3]For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4]and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (ESV)
).

When the Lord called me into ministry, he gave me parallel Scriptures out of Ezekiel 3 [show/hide]Ezekiel 3 [3:1]And he said to me, "Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." [2]So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. [3]And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. [4]And he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. [5]For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel-- [6]not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. [7]But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. [8]Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. [9]Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house." [10]Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. [11]And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear or refuse to hear." [12]Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: "Blessed be the glory of the LORD from its place!" [13]It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. [14]The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. [15]And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. A Watchman for Israel [16]And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: [17]"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. [18]If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. [19]But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. [20]Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. [21]But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul." [22]And the hand of the LORD was upon me there. And he said to me, "Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you." [23]So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face. [24]But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself within your house. [25]And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. [26]And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. [27]But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. (ESV)
and Ezekiel 33 [show/hide]Ezekiel 33 Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman [33:1]The word of the LORD came to me: [2]"Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, [3]and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, [4]then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. [5]He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. [6]But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. [7]"So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. [8]If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. [9]But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Why Will You Die, Israel? [10]"And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?' [11]Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? [12]"And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. [13]Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. [14]Again, though I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, [15]if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. [16]None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live. [17]"Yet your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not just,' when it is their own way that is not just. [18]When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. [19]And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. [20]Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways." Jerusalem Struck Down [21]In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has been struck down." [22]Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. [23]The word of the LORD came to me: [24]"Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, 'Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.' [25]Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? [26]You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? [27]Say this to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. [28]And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. [29]Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed. [30]"As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.' [31]And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. [32]And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. [33]When this comes--and come it will!--then they will know that a prophet has been among them." (ESV)
. I´m a watchman called to warn the church. If I don´t open my mouth and people die in their iniquity-in their different gospel from another Jesus-some of the blood will be on my hands (Ezek. 3:17-19). I don´t want any blood on my hands, and I´m not going to shut up just because the false teachers-or anybody else-doesn’t like it.

Does He Know You?

Here´s the rub. Jesus is come back to separate the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32 [show/hide]Matthew 25:32 [32]Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (ESV)
). And I´m seeing too many goats sitting in the church saying amen to a false gospel centered on a false Christ.

Jesus put it this way: “Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,´ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?´ And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!´” (Matt. 7:21-23 [show/hide]Matthew 7:21-23 I Never Knew You [21]"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22]On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' [23]And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (ESV)
)

They never knew Jesus, and Jesus never knew them. They were following another Jesus based on a different gospel that was more convenient to their humanistic lifestyle, tickled their ears and promised peace when there is no peace (Jer. 6:14 [show/hide]Jeremiah 6:14 [14]They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
).

I shudder to think of the horror on that day, when masses who rushed to the stadiums and megachurches to hear rock-star preachers (or even no-name preachers in small congregations) present a hyped-up, watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel realize they´ve been duped. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And there will be suffering for eternity. God forbid. Let us pray that these false teachers and false prophets will be exposed and that discernment will rise among believers and non-believers searching for the true hope of the real gospel. Amen.

-PLEASE COMMENT on this article at the following website-

http://www.revivalschool.com/

-Original Source-

From KHouse.Org

A Modern Myth? The Myth of Persecution? by Dr. Steve Elwart

---

Revisionist history as illustrated in Moss’s book is indicative of a modern trend to discount the suffering Christians are enduring today.

Author Candida Moss recently wrote a book titled, The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom. In the book, Moss, a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame, posits that “…the ‘Age of Martyrs’ is a fiction and a ‘false history of persecution.’”

There was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were “pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches.”

Through her book, Moss asks Christians to abandon the notion that the world is out to get Christians and look to the “martyrdom stories” only for consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance.

The author writes that the persecution of Christians may have occurred, but the persecutions were sporadic, of short duration, and lackadaisical. Moss writes that Christians may have found themselves in Roman courts for any number of reasons, but when asked to defend themselves, they were prone to announcing, as a believer named Liberian once did, “that he cannot be respectful to the emperor, that he can be respectful only to Christ.” She compares this to “modern defendants who say that they will not recognize the authority of the court or of the government, but recognize only the authority of God.”

She believes that “for modern Americans, as for ancient Romans, this sounds either sinister or vaguely insane.”

Moss acknowledges that there may have been horrific executions during the first three centuries of Christianity, but discounts these as mere aberrations.

While Christian persecutions outlined in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs may not be 100% historically accurate, to discount the text and the early Christian martyrdom it documents as fiction flies in the face of the historical record.

Revisionist history as illustrated in Candida Moss’s book is indicative of a modern trend to discount the suffering Christians are enduring today.

Modern Persecutions

Persecution takes several forms and is well documented. In a new book titled Christianophobia, a Faith Under Attack,¹ Rupert Shortt, the Religion Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and a Visiting Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, illustrates that while many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution, Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.

A 2011 Pew Forum study² found that Christians are persecuted in 131 countries around the world with 200 million Christians (or 10% of Christians worldwide) being socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.

Throughout Africa, the Middle East, and the subcontinent, there is hardly a country that operates without some sort of restrictions on Christians. According to Anthony O’Mahony of Heythrop College, London, between one half and two-thirds of Christians in the region have left or been killed over the past century.

Over 100,000 Catholic civilians in East Timor were murdered by the Suharto regime during the period from 1970 to 1990. Two million Christians and other non-Muslims perished in Sudan’s civil conflict between 1985 and 2005, which the United Nations alternately called “tribal feuds” and “raiding parties.” In Nigeria, the Islamic group Boko Haram went on a rampage against Christians. Church bombings, machete attacks, and targeted killings were directed at church leaders and their flocks.

For the most part, the world was silent. A recent Wall Street Journal article titled “The Most Persecuted Religion”³ quoted Johnnie Carson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, who “sanitized the intentions of this murderous group” by claiming that, “The bulk of the Boko Haram movement is …trying to do everything in its power to show that the (Nigerian) government is ineffective.”

But as the article points out, “…two months before the official spoke, Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the murder of dozens of Christians in the city of Jos—just one of many such attacks.” Christians in parts of Nigeria live in fear of being attacked and there is ample evidence that the attacks are sanctioned by the Nigerian government.

Of course, it’s not just Nigeria. Entire Christian communities have disappeared in Iraq and in Syria; Christians are being targeted by Islamist radicals mixed in with the Syrian opposition forces. Persecutions are rampant in other countries as well. Some instances are well known and others have not been given much coverage in the media.

Egypt

For centuries, Egypt had a tradition of toleration in their country. Theirs is a society with the largest Christian minority of any Arab country. Fifteen per cent of the population was Copts as recently as two generations ago, with ten million Christians living in the country. According to Dr Ibrahim Habib, an Egyptian-born Copt, the wide-spread persecution of Christians started almost forty years ago with the Arab Oil Embargo.

The skyrocketing price of crude triggered by the embargo gave Wahhabi extremists in Saudi Arabia the finances to spread their brand of Muslim extremism around the world. (It was this creeping Muslim extremism in the country that forced Habib to eventually leave Egypt and take up residence in Britain.) According to Habib:

In Wabbabis’ eyes, Copts are…infidels and polytheists prone to hating Islam and conspiring against it… Anyone who follows the portrayal of Copts on dozens of satellite channels and Salafist websites is bound to be saddened. … There are countless examples, but I will cite here what I read on the well-known Salafist website “Guardians of the Faith,” which devoted a whole article to the subject, “Why Muslims Are Superior to Copts … Being a Muslim who fights to defend his honor and his faith is better than being a Christian who steals, rapes, and kills children … Being a Muslim whose role models are Muhammad and his companions is better than being a Christian whose role models are Paul the Liar [sic] and the whoremongering prophets.” As this enmity towards Copts spreads, is it not natural, even inevitable, that it should end in attacks on them? 4

Among the starkest examples of Islamist aggression against Christians in Egypt were the murders of 13 worshippers at the St George’s Church in Nag Hammadi, 25 miles from Luxor, in January 2010. Another example is the bombing of the Two Saints’ Church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve that same year. Twenty worshippers were killed, and seventy wounded in the attack, which was predicated on the rumor that two female converts to Islam had been kidnapped and held inside the church.⁵

The election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Muhammad Morsi as Egypt’s President in 2012 has led to a certain trepidation on the part of the Christians still left in the country. While Morsi’s popular election was a hopeful sign of possible full democracy to come, his ties with the radical Islamic sect remain a deep source of concern for the Egyptian Church.

Iraq

In 1990, there were between 1.2 and 1.4 million Christians in the country ruled by Saddam Hussein. By the time of the second Gulf war in 2003, this figure had fallen to about 800,000, down about half a million.⁶ Today, fewer than 200,000 Christians remain.

According to Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil in Northern Iraq, the killings of Christians began in earnest in 2003 when the first translator was killed in Baghdad. In 2006, the targeted killings of Christian leaders escalated when an Orthodox Christian priest, Boulos Iskander, was kidnapped, beheaded and dismembered despite payment of a ransom. In the following four years, 17 Iraqi priests and 2 Iraqi Bishops were kidnapped in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk. While they were being held captive, all of the clerics were tortured by their kidnappers. While most were eventually released, one bishop and seven other clerics were killed. In most cases, the kidnappers told their hostages they wanted Christians out of Iraq.

While much of the persecution is instigated by Muslims, they are not the only group that oppresses Christians. Many countries that don’t make the headlines, such as North Korea, Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka and Burma, and predominantly Hindu countries such as India regularly persecute Christians and have few or no ties to Islam.

India

Between August and October of 2008, the eastern Indian state of Orissa experienced the worst outbreak of Christian persecution since their Independence from Great Britain in 1947. Hindu extremists attacked over 150 churches, murdering at least 90 people and driving at least 50,000 people from their homes. Some of the displaced persons were Hindus who had tried to defend their Christian neighbors.

The victims included a Catholic priest and nun who worked in a Christian center in the area. The nun, Sr. Meena Barwa, was kidnapped, beaten, and assaulted before she was able to escape. At one point, their kidnappers wanted to burn her alive with the priest. At present, many Christians are still living in refugee camps, afraid to go home for fear of other attacks.

The more militant Hindu groups in India are known collectively as the Sangh Pravar. The Vishna Hindu Parishad (VHP) is the religious wing of the organization and has been implicated in many of the Christian persecutions. The VHP’s youth wing, known as the Bajrang Dal, is also often the source of violence against both Christians and Muslims in the country.

In Dinapur, a town west of Orissa, around 25 Hindu militants forced their way into the Believers Church of India on March 21, 2011. Once inside they confiscated stacks of Christian literature and threatened to come back and beat them if the church members did not leave the area. One member of the congregation, a government worker, was told that she would lose her job unless she renounced Christianity and returned to the Hindu faith. Police detained members of the Christian congregation for three hours, but supported the extremists.7

In another incident in Madhya Pradesh, approximately a dozen extremists entered an evening prayer meeting organized by the Evangelical Lutheran Church on April 17, 2010. Many members of the congregation fled, but later realized that their pastor, Amit Gilbert, was not with them. Gilbert’s body was later found in the village well.⁸

Burma

Burma (also known as Myanmar) is a country that has been dubbed “a giant prison without walls.” The country has been under military control since a coup toppled the government in 1962 and since then, there have been reports of systematic human rights violations.

While the military in the country has been relinquishing more of its control over the government in recent years, the persecutions continue. While the harsh treatment dealt to activists in the country such as Aung San Suu Kyi are well known, the targeting of people specifically for their religion has not been as well publicized. Anti-Christian discrimination has perhaps been the least-noticed problem of all.

Those who are particularly vulnerable are those that are a “double minority,” both by religion (Christian) and ethnicity (Chin). As one Chin Christian woman said: “If you are ‘double C’—being a Chin and being a Christian—you have nothing in Burma, not a bright future at all.”9

The facts prove her statement true. About 90% of the Chin are Christian, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) and while the Chin population estimated to be 1.2 million people, the CHRO estimates that less than half this number live within Chin state.

The Three Phases of Persecution

The religious oppression suffered by Christians in Burma was summed up by Johann Candelin, the Goodwill Ambassador of the World Evangelical Fellowship, but his words could apply to persecution of Christians everywhere:

Persecution seems to pass through three phases. The first is disinformation. Disinformation begins more often than not in the media. Through printed articles, radio, television and other means, Christians are robbed of their good reputation and their right to answer accusations made against them. Without trial, they are found guilty of all kinds of misdemeanors. The public opinion that easily results from being constantly fed such disinformation will not protect Christians from the next step, which is discrimination. Discrimination relegates Christians to a “second-class” citizenship with poorer legal, social, political and economic standing than the majority in the country. The third stage is persecution, which once the first two steps have been crossed can be practiced with impunity without normal protective measures taking place. Persecution can arise from the state, the police or military, extreme organizations, mobs, paramilitary groups, or representatives of other religions. In my opinion, it is vitally important to recognize this three-stage development, so that timely, firm and appropriate action can be taken the moment there is any sign of disinformation.10

So with all the persecution going on in the world, what do we do? First, learn more about what is happening. Do some research. You can go to the Facebook page: Praying for Persecuted Christians¹¹ to see recent reports of persecutions. Persecution.org also has a Twitter Feed¹² you can subscribe to for up-to-the-minute reports. Finally, Voice of the Martyrs¹³ is an excellent site for learning more about our persecuted brethren around the world.

Second, talk about Christian persecution to your family and friends. Support groups that help persecuted Christians. Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. Become involved. Contact the government officials that represent you and your concerns. Write letters to the editor.

Third, be a Watchman on the walls. Do not let people believe that persecution is a myth. Remember that persecution is characteristic of this world and Satan is the arch-persecutor of the church.

Above all, pray. Pray for those who “are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” For their sake, we cannot remain silent.

From Christian Post.Com

Defending what the Bible teaches about homosexuality can often lead to public condemnation from gay activists. In recent years especially, Christians have been ridiculed and called bigots for their beliefs. Here are five well-known Christian leaders who have been targeted for their beliefs.

Rick Warren

When President Barack Obama invited Rick Warren, head pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of the best-selling A Purpose Driven Life, to deliver the invocation at his 2009 inauguration, gay rights activists were furious. About 100 protesters demonstrated outside Warren’s church the Sunday before the inauguration.

“There is no substantive difference between Rick Warren and James Dobson,” Kathryn Kolbert, then-president of People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group, told CNN. “The only difference is tone. His tone is moderate, but his ideas are radical.”

Obama, who opposed gay marriage at the time, defended his decision saying the inauguration will feature “a wide range of viewpoints … and that’s how it should be, because that’s what America is about.”

Louie Giglio

The same controversy arose after Obama was re-elected. Louie Giglio, pastor at Passion City Church in Roswell, Ga., was chosen to deliver the benediction for Obama’s 2012 Inauguration. This time, though, Giglio withdrew from the ceremony rather than take the heat, and Obama did not rush to his defense as he did for Warren.

Passionate about the issue of modern slavery, Giglio had not even spoken publicly about homosexuality in many years. Some activists, though, discovered a 20-year-old audio of Giglio preaching about what the Bible has to say about homosexuality. He said that Scripture clearly indicates that homosexuality is a sin and he encouraged the congregation to “lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of, not all, but of many in the homosexual community.”

Rather that defend himself against the charges that he is “anti-gay,” Giglio penned a letter to Obama asking to be removed from the program.

“Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration,” Giglio wrote.

The Christian Post reported at the time that Obama may have disagreed with the Inaugural Committee’s handling of the Giglio controversy.

Greg Laurie

After successfully shaming Giglio into withdrawing, gay activists tried again when evangelist Greg Laurie was invited to participate in the National Day of Prayer.

Human Rights Campaign and OutServe-SLDN asked Pentagon officials to remove Laurie, founder of Harvest Crusades and the lead pastor at Harvest churches in Riverside and Orange County, Calif., for “his blatantly anti-LGBT message.”

“I won’t back down,” Laurie exclaimed, quoting a Tom Petty song.

“They do not want me to pray. They describe me as ‘homophobic’ and so forth. How can you deal with such a situation? We’re in a time in our country now where I’m attacked because I believe what the Bible teaches,” Laurie added.

Laurie participated in the May 2 event, praying, “Lord, we need Your help in America. In recent days, we have done our best to remove Your Word and Your counsel from our courtrooms, classrooms and culture. It seems, as President Lincoln once said, that we have ‘forgotten God.’ But Lord, You have not forgotten us! You can bless and help and revive our country again.”

Jim Wallis

Longtime evangelical left leader Jim Wallis has been frequently criticized by gay activists for his positions on homosexuality. In 2011, Sojourners, an advocacy organization founded by Wallis, declined to run an ad on its website sponsored by Believe Out Loud, a pro-gay Christian group.

Many activists have also complained about Wallis’ opposition to gay marriage, even though he supported civil unions, opposed the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays serving in the military, and participated in anti-bullying campaigns. Recently, though, Wallis announced he changed his position and now supports gay marriage.

That has not ended the condemnation Wallis receives from his fellow progressives, though. Just last week, Wallis was criticized for warning that immigration reform could be derailed if liberals insist on including benefits for gay partners.

AmericaBlog accused Wallis of stabbing gays in the back and implied that working with conservatives, such as Richard Land, outgoing president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and president-elect of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, is akin to working with the Ku Klux Klan.

Joel Osteen

Pro-gay marriage activists have also targeted megachurch pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen. Unlike the above examples, though, the interactions have been mostly affable.

Osteen’s preaching tends to focus on a positive message. Some have described him as a purveyor of “prosperity theology,” a charge he denies. He has also been criticized for “shallow” and “superficial” theology. Perhaps because of this, many in the media often seem surprised that he continues to defend traditional marriage, a topic he is asked about in almost every interview.

“When I’ve come back to the Scripture, as much as I am for everybody, I don’t see same-sex [marriage] in the Scripture,” Osteen said in a March interview on CNN.

In 2008, a group of 30 pro-gay Christians representing at least five different groups traveled to Lakewood Church in Houston to meet with Osteen. They were led by Jay Bakker, son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. They wanted to convince Osteen that homosexuality is not a sin.

After the meeting, a spokesperson for Lakewood Church told The Christian Post, “it was a very cordial, very nice meeting. But ultimately through our conversations, we continued to disagree with Soulforce and Jay’s position.”

- Prophecy News Watch.Com