MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Dear Lord, give our brother the strength to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to stand firm in the faith …

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

By Michael Carl – “Beatings and solitary confinement are two of the tools being used by Iranian officials to pressure a Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani condemned for blasphemy to recant his faith, according to reports.

Iran has planned to execute Nadarkhani, but he remains alive because of the international furor created by the Islamic republic’s plan to destroy a man who says he never was a Muslim.

Compass Direct says the Church of Iran pastor who has been on death row since his blasphemy conviction in September 2010 “is in deteriorating health,” according to a member of Nadarkhani’s denomination, who requested anonymity.

Compass also reported this week that the information is sketchy because communication is very limited.

Aidan Clay, International Christian Concern’s Middle East specialist, says Nadarkhani is enduring harsh treatment.

‘Recent reports indicate that Pastor Youcef has been struck by authorities during frequent interrogations and has been placed in solitary confinement for extended periods of time,’ Clay said.

Clay said Nadarkhani is also under continual pressure to recant his Christian faith.

‘He has also reportedly been given materials aimed at discrediting the Bible and affirming Islam. The renunciation of faith is the only ground by which the court hopes to release Pastor Youcef,’ Clay said.

Nadarkhani was sentenced to death after a Rasht, Iran, court declared him guilty of ‘leaving Islam,’ in spite of the fact that Nadarkhani says he was never a Muslim.

However, Colorado journalist Jack Minor reported last week that a high-ranking Muslim cleric says that Nadarkhani’s claims of never following Islam are not enough.

Minor points out that Islam teaches that everyone on earth is born a Muslim.

‘On page 28, in the introduction of a copy of the Quran, printed by Ansariyan Publications in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the translator, M.H. Shakir in the section ‘Islam and Muslims’ states, ‘In fact, every child that is born is a Muslim. It is the parents who make him a Jew, Christian or Hindu,” Minor said.

‘Based on this teaching, even if Nadarkhani had never visited a mosque a day in his life he is still considered a Muslim. Therefore, when he accepted Christ as his savior and became a Christian he left the Muslim faith whether he knew it or not,’ Minor also reported.

Clay said the pastor’s faith is holding firm.” Read more.