PROPHECY NEWS
January 2007-issue
C
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
"Every
Christian is either a missionary or an impostor." -Charles
Haddon Spurgeon
I
want to bring to the Open Seal a new feature. Every week I will post a news
article not written by me, but one that I found to be interesting. I will
give you the web address if the subject matter interests you. I will call
this new feature: GUEST ARTICLE.
This week's Guest article is about the Emergent church and their
acceptance of homosexuals in the church. It
will also give you the benefit of finding new sites for yourself to bookmark.
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secure/cwnetwork/article.php?ArticleID=1392
THE
PERSECUTED CHURCH:
In
the coming year of 2007, we can expect that almost 250 million Christians
worldwide will face persecution for following Jesus Christ.
I got this information from a Chinese source called Release International
out of England.
It will come as no surprise that
persecution is growing the fastest in the Muslim world. Most
persecution takes place in four distinct "zones." Islam, Communism, Hinduism
and Buddhism. Governments in even moderate Muslim countries often fail
to protect their Christian minorities. As some of us already know, Rick Warren
was called on the carpet by several major Christian leaders for kissing up
to the president of Syria
and bringing home a report filled with outright lies that stated Syria
was a model of Christian and Moslem cooperation. Warren
said that Christians and Jews were perfectly safe in Syria.
(He was quoted on You-tube in a live video that has since been removed at
his request.) The content of what he said is far from true. Jews and Christians
suffer persecution like Christians and Jews suffer in any other Moslem country.
Abuses suffered by Christians include kidnapping, forced conversion,
imprisonment, church destruction, torture, rape and execution.
One of the world's worst abusers of religious freedom is Saudi
Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, the cities of
Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia
forbids all other religions to be practiced on their soil. A
Muslim found "guilty" of converting to Christianity could face the death sentence
for apostasy. And anyone who leads a Muslim to Christ faces jail, expulsion
or execution. A Christian cannot
bring even a page of the Bible into Saudi
Arabia without facing a jail term or expulsion.
There is no free- choice here. While Saudi
Arabia bans all Christian literature, it
does spend billions in the promotion of Islam each year. Since the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the world has been made dramatically aware of extremist
Islamist global networks. Although the best known is Al Qaeda, there are others
who exploit religious tensions for their own political ends. "A
rising number of extremists interpret the call to jihad as a call to violence.
They seem to regard it as their religious duty to force Christians and non-Muslims
to convert to Islam. Those who refuse must be driven out or killed," said
a representative from Release International.
There is a growing movement to impose Islamic or Sharia law, which
results in increased pressure on Christians in Moslem countries. In
Nigeria,
militants have driven Christians from their homes and plan to enforce their
strict version (Sharia) of the Koran on everyone. RI also reported that: "Despite
the spectacular collapse of communism in Europe, persecution of Christians
continues in China, Cuba,
Laos and Vietnam,
while the dubious accolade of the world's worst persecutor of Christians
goes to North Korea."
Communist governments remain ideologically opposed to Christianity
and have pursued systematic programs to weaken and destroy the church. India
has also introduced
laws against forced conversion, but these are wide open to abuse. Christians
face most pressure in rural areas, where militants have destroyed churches
and threaten and attack and often kill church leaders.
In the Buddhist world, Christians face violence and persecution in
Bhutan, Burma
and Sri Lanka.
Buddhist militants regard Christianity as a threat to their national identity
and unity. In 1966, Burma
expelled most of its Christian missions. Today, the repressive military regime
still maintains controls over religious activity. There have been many cases
of forced conversion to Buddhism. China
has the dubious honor of detaining more Christians than any other country.
Believers and leaders who want
nothing more than to worship freely face imprisonment, torture and even death.
Many pastors are routinely jailed.
NOT
ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS BUT MOST TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIM.
To
ad to the above is a Washington-DC based human
rights group, International Christian Concern, (ICC) has just released its
annual Hall of Shame Awards.' This list details the world's top
ten persecutors of Christians. In order, ICC has ranked the world's worst
persecutors as: North Korea,
Iraq, Ethiopia,
Saudi Arabia, Somalia,
Iran, Eritrea,
China, Vietnam,
and Pakistan.
IRAN
EXPECTS THEIR MADHI THIS SPRING!
The
Islamic Messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi" is expected to
make his earthly appearance in the Spring of 2007, according to the Iranian
government. The Iranian calendar ends the year on March 20th, the
usual date of the Spring Equinox and Iranians are expecting him to appear
between the 10th- 25th of the month. The Islamic Republic
of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website says the world is now in its "last days."
It claims that the Mahdi will first appear in Mecca,
and then Medina.
He will conquer all of Arabia, Syria,
Iraq, and then go forward
to destroy Israel.
He will set up a "global government" with his power base in Kufa,
Iraq. (Iraq
is the home of the city of Babylon)
Iran does not
expect their Madhi to come from Iran,
oddly enough. Such Islamic eschatology (end times theology) is driving Iran
to desire the destruction of Israel.
This expectation' might also explain why Iran
would not be afraid to use nuclear weapons or defy the West. Iran's
president, the looney Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, (I made a dinner jacket!), believes
and promotes this vision. Iranian
television has run a series called "The World Towards Illumination," which
has been running since last November to help answer the many questions Iranians
have about the end of the world as we know it. The series explains the signs
of the last days and what to expect when the Islamic Messiah arrives. The
program also says that Jesus is coming back to earth soon as a Shiite Muslim
leader! This Jesus' will act
as the Madhi's lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and establishment
of justice in the world." He will not be the Son of God but serve as the
deputy to the Madhi. (Sort of the Islamic version of Barney Fife!)
This Jesus will also denounce "born again Christians" for supporting
"the illegal Zionist state of Israel."
Meanwhile, the Madhi will form an army to defeat all of the enemies of Islam
in a series of apocalyptic battles and will overcome his arch-villain in Jerusalem.
Madhi will defeat Dajjal' the Impostor, or the anti-Christ. I
do not know if Ahmadinejad wants to make good on his threats to humiliate
America and Israel,
but it seems like he is up to something this Spring.
The Iranians expect a very handsome Madhi in neat clothes' (polyester
from J.C. Penney's I assume, due to the hot climate over there, although
it should not be all that hot in March when he comes.) He will also have a
smell. Something like paradise' according to Iranians. I don't know
what paradise smells like but guessing the point of view is Middle Eastern,
he will no doubt smell like hummus or Basmati rice, or perhaps a nice fat
camel! I predict he will be late…neat
clothes, smells, bells and all! However,
there will be a REAL Messiah coming soon- His name is Jesus!
He is the King of Kings! He is the ONLY Lord! There is none other!
Bye
For Now-Your New Lady- Hollis Caravetta 'Holliscar@aol.com