MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

And not because they’re being whisked away in a secret pre-trib rapture, unfortunately. For so many of our Christian brothers and sisters across the world, tribulation has already begun. But there is a Light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. He is the Amen in our prayers. He is the Bearer of our peace. He is the Deliverer of His people. And His Day is approaching quickly …

Acts 14:22, “… continue in the faith … we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

Mark 13:13, “… you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

• Recommended: The Revelation Of Jesus Christ And The Rapture Of The Church
• Recommended: Lost In Translation: ‘Not Appointed Unto Wrath’ – What Scripture Is Really Saying

Our Heavenly Father Sees All And Has Prepared An Answer For Those Who Mourn

CNA – “Two Iraqi archbishops are seeking ‘faith and hope’ in Iraq, while bewailing the continuing exodus of Christians from the country amid continued violence.

Archbishop Yousif Mirkis heads the Chaldean Archdiocese of Kirkuk, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

He said that he ‘quite definitely’ fears the end of Christianity in Iraq.

‘We are in the process of disappearing, just as the Christians in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and North Africa have disappeared. And even in Lebanon they now constitute only a minority,’ he told the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need July 8.

Archbishop Mirkis said he is not resigned to defeat, but ‘trying to be realistic.’

‘There is still the hope that faith brings,’ he said. While he himself will not leave Iraq, he said he understands why young Christians are leaving in the wake of so many violent deaths.

‘In the past ten years we have lost a bishop and six priests. In addition there are about a thousand of the faithful who have died in attacks.’

‘Not everybody shares the faith and the hope.’

The Christian population in Iraq has plummeted to 400,000, down from about 1.5 million before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Their situation has worsened further since June, when insurgents with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant seized a sizeable amount of territory in north-western Iraq.

According to U.N. figures, acts of violence and terrorism killed at least 2,400 Iraqis and 1,500 civilians in June alone. The violence has also driven more than 1 million people from their homes.” Read more.

Flashback: Men Running, Women Pleading For God’s Mercy, Children Screaming Out Of Fear: ‘Cleansing’ In Iraq Of Christians Continues Unabated – “Since June 26, 2004, Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) churches have come under attack more than 80 times. The most widely publicized assault came on Oct. 31, 2010, when Islamic terrorists wearing suicide vests invaded Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad during mass, shot two priests and then blew themselves up. When it was over, 62 people were killed and 78 injured. For many people in the United States, news of this attack was their first exposure to the Assyrian people, whose history dates back to 4750 B.C. in Mesopotamia …” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Cleric In Iraq Issues New Fatwa To All Iraqi Christians: Choose Islam Or Be Killed – “An Advent of light and shadow for Iraq’s Christians, who are celebrating the reopening of the cathedral of Baghdad but at the same time subjected to new – and heavy – threats from a radical Shiite Muslim leader. From studies of a television broadcaster based in Egypt, an Iraqi Ayatollah launches a fatwa against the religious minority on the eve of Christmas: ‘Conversion to Islam or death.’… Labeling them as ‘polytheists’ and ‘friends of the Zionists’, the extremist leader stressed that they must choose ‘or Islam or death,’ while ‘their women and girls may legitimately be regarded wives of Muslims.’” Read more.