Archive
Richard Dawkins: The Idea Of An Intelligent Creator Is ‘Not So Ridiculous’ After All
Although there may not be any imminent conversion of Richard Dawkins just yet, we know that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). As the Spirit moves across the world before the return of our King, may we remember to keep men and women who would never seemingly come to Christ in our prayers, praying that the seed of Truth finds its way to fertile soil in the lives of Dawkins and others, that it not be snatched away by the enemy or fail to take root upon stony ground …
Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Nigeria: Hundreds Of Christians Escape Death As Police Defuse Powerful Bomb In Abuja Church
By Catherine Agbo, Silas Ezeugwu, and Peter Obioh – “There was pandemonium at Dunamis Gospel Centre, Nyanya/Mararaba branch, on Wednesday night, after a security man discovered a bomb in the church and raised the alarm.
Over 1, 000 worshippers ran helter-skelter and are still counting their blessings after they survived what would have been a massive bomb attack. The bomb was said to have been placed in the church during their evening service but failed to detonate.
The anti-bomb squad of the police, which defused the bomb yesterday morning, described the bomb as foreign-made and capable of bringing down not only the church but surrounding buildings as well.
When LEADERSHIP visited the church yesterday, a church security man, who gave his name as Moses Uzoka said he discovered the bomb during a routine security sweep of the church. After the evening church service, he said, at about 9:30pm, he noticed a suspicious object in a bag under a seat at the children’s section of the church.
He said: ‘I have never seen a bomb in my life but when I saw the object, it resembled the type of bombs I have seen in movies and I quickly shouted and everybody fled the church. We called one SSS man who lives near the church and he told us it was a bomb.’
Uzoka narrated how he and others ran to the security post nearest to the church at ‘checking point’, on the boundary between the FCT and Nasarawa State. He said the security agents insisted that they would not come on the grounds that the area was not within their jurisdiction and referred them to the Abacha police station. He said when they ran to the Abacha Road police station, the personnel there in turn referred them to the Mararaba police division.
‘It was between midnight and 1am when the police from Mararaba came. When they saw the bomb they ran back and called their DPO. He too came to see it and went back. Later they brought an anti-bomb squad from Abuja to come and handle the bomb,’ Uzoka said.
LEADERSHIP learnt that it was later in the morning, about 11am, that an FCT anti-bomb squad arrived at the church to defuse the bomb and take it away.
Uzoka told our correspondent that a member of the anti-bomb squad said it was a foreign-made bomb and bigger than any he had seen since he started working on bombs.
He said: ‘The leader of the anti-bomb squad was shocked at the size of the bomb. He said that, if the bomb had gone off, not only would it have flattened the church and everything inside it, but that it would have destroyed the surrounding buildings as well.'” Read more.
Lebanon: Muslim Woman Converts To Christianity After Dream About Christ, Flees Saudi Arabia
By Tafeel Al-Yousif -“AL-KHOBAR — A Saudi girl who recently embraced Christianity and fled the country for refuge in Lebanon told the host of a religious program on an Arabic TV channel that she was tired of performing prayers and fasting during Ramadan.
The girl, who said her name was Maryam, said praying and fasting did not bring her any benefits. She also criticized the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) and claimed that she was raised to hate Judaism and Christianity but fell in love with the religions after she found peace in Christianity.
She said she became a Christian after she had a dream one night. In it, she climbed to the skies and heard God telling her that Jesus is His son. She said that she had been living in the Kingdom since she was 17.
Meanwhile, Christian groups of all denominations in Lebanon have dismissed reports that the Saudi girl is living in a church in the country.
Maryam’s father filed a complaint against her two former co-workers, a Saudi and a Lebanese, accusing them of helping his daughter illegally flee the Kingdom and embrace Christianity. The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) in Al-Khobar accused the men of forcing the girl to convert and arrested them. However, both men were later released on bail while their case has been referred to a court in Al-Khobar.
The Lebanese man, who is accused of playing a major role in the girl’s conversion, has had his name put on a travel ban list.
The Saudi Embassy in Beirut is coordinating with the concerned authorities in the country to convince the girl to return to the Kingdom. It is expected that the Al-Khobar District Court will look into the case, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, soon.” Source – Saudi Gazette.
Flashback: Dreams And Visions Moving Muslims To Christ – “… The film documents and dramatizes Ali’s story and several other Muslims who came to faith in Jesus through a dream or vision. ‘We’re seeing that all around. We’re hearing about people that have never even thought about Jesus as savior,’ Tom Doyle, with e3 Ministries, said. ‘They’re content Muslims and they’re having dreams over and over.’ Doyle and his wife Joanna take the gospel to the Muslim world. He’s also the author of the upcoming book, Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?… The phenomenon of dreams and visions has surfaced throughout the Muslim world, from Indonesia to Morocco.” Read more.
Book: 200,000 Muslims Convert To Christianity
Leaving the faith of Mohammed for the faith of Christ is infuriating the Beast. Please pray that the Spirit of God move throughout the Islamic world …
“WASHINGTON – It’s not easy to leave Islam in a Muslim country.
It can put one’s freedom and very life at risk.
But thousands are doing it, according to a new book by Jerry Trousdale, director of international ministries for City Team International. In fact, he writes in “Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love With Jesus,” some 200,000 Muslims have converted to Christianity in just the last six years. And they include sheiks, imams, Muslim leaders and ordinary devotees of the faith.
‘There is tremendous dissatisfaction and discouragement among the very people who know the Quran the best and who are themselves desperate for assurance in their own religion,’ says Trousdale.
City Team has locations in California, Pennsylvania and Oregon and partnerships in 42 countries around the world. Since 1998, the organization has cared for people around the world by training, equipping, mentoring and coaching local leaders to care for those in need in their communities. This includes training 600,000 new Christians who have started over 18,000 new churches in the past seven years.
‘We’re starting a whole new thinking about the nature of church,’ says Trousdale. ‘The model of the church that is emerging is so very different from traditional church. Disciple-making movements are reaching entire nations around the world. It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of seeing people’s lives radically changed by the gospel.'” Read more.
Officials: Canada A Refuge For Persecuted Egyptian Christians
Viva la Canada! …
By Daniel Proussalidis – “OTTAWA – Christians in Egypt will increasingly see Canada as their chance to escape from a country whose president belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, immigration officials warn.
‘The (permanent resident application) volume continues to trend upwards and the number of applications submitted may accelerate, given the election of a new, Islamic government in Egypt,’ a Canadian immigration program officer said in documents obtained by immigration lawyer Richard Kurland through Access to Information requests.
Other Egyptians will seek a shorter stint in Canada through a temporary resident visa (TRV).
‘With the resulting political and economic instability in Egypt, combined with the new government, the push factors are now stronger than ever,’ the program officer said. ‘The minority Christian community is especially concerned and they have been seeking exit from Egypt in record numbers.’
While 2012 statistics on permanent resident and temporary visitor visas in Egypt are not available, figures from previous years show numbers were on the rise even before Islamist Mohamed Mursi won the country’s presidential election last month.” Read more.
Flashback: Canada Condemns Egyptian Anti-Christian Violence, Obama Remains Silent – “Even as he renews his outreach to Muslims, President Obama should seek to stem the growing tide of violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt by condemning last weekend’s attacks that left a dozen people dead and scores injured. The attacks, about which Obama has been silent, also resulted in the burning of Coptic Orthodox churches and the destruction of Christian homes and businesses… Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday ‘strongly’ condemned the violence, saying, ‘We stand behind the Coptic Christian community and their right to practice their faith in safety and security, free of persecution.’ The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Obama is preparing to try to reengage Muslims with a speech…” Read more.
Flashback: Canada: Canadian Government Preparing To Carve Out New Role For Canada As A Champion Of Religious Rights Abroad – “The Harper government is preparing to carve out a new role for Canada as a champion of religious rights abroad, another sign of the Conservative shift in foreign policy and one that has roots in the tragic 2011 assassination of a Pakistani cabinet minister. Early in 2012, the Tories will finally flesh out a campaign promise to install the Office of Religious Freedom within the secular confines of the Department of Foreign Affairs – a controversial pledge that has drawn accusations of vote pandering and blurring lines between church and state. The Conservatives are unapologetic about making a defence of the right to worship a central objective of Canadian foreign policy, noting, as a recent Pew Centre study found, that assaults around the world on religious freedom have increased in recent years.” Read more.
Texas: Pakistani Christian Scarred In Acid Attack Finds New Life In Houston, Learns To Forgive Muslim Attacker
Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
By Susan Carroll – “She was 16 years old, working as an operator in a tiny, public call office in Pakistan, when a man walked in and saw the silver cross dangling around her neck.
He asked her three times: ‘Are you a Christian?’
Julie Aftab answered, ‘Yes, sir,’ the first two times, and then got frustrated.
‘Didn’t you hear me?’ she asked.
They argued, and the man abruptly left the little office, returning 30 or 40 minutes later with a turquoise bottle. Aftab tried to block the arc of battery acid, but it melted much of the right side of her face and left her with swirling, bone-deep burns on her chest and arms. She ran for the door, but a second man grabbed her hair, and they poured the acid down her throat, searing her esophagus.
A decade and 31 surgeries later, Aftab is an accounting major at the University of Houston-Clear Lake with a melodic laugh. She spoke no English when she arrived in Houston in February 2004, but is poised to take her citizenship test later this month.
Doctors in Houston have donated their time to painstakingly reconstruct her cheek, nose, upper lip and replace her eyelids. Over time, her scars have faded from hues of deep wine to mocha.
And, with time, the 26-year-old said, she has learned to forgive.
‘Those people, they think they did a bad thing to me, but they brought me closer to God,’ Aftab said. ‘They helped me fulfill my dreams. I never imagined I could be the person I am today.'” Read more.
Dreams And Visions Moving Muslims To Christ
Acts 2:17, “‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.”
Acts 17:26-27, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us …”
By Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl, CBN News – “Several years ago, Ali took the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca known as Hajj.
‘Of course when I went to Mecca I was going there in order to pay hommage to the Kabba and to fulfill the requirements in Islam,’ he recalled.
But the trip became more of a spiritual journey than he could ever imagine.
‘That night I saw Jesus in a dream. First, Jesus touched my forehead with his finger. And after touching me, He said, ‘You belong to me,” Ali recalled.
‘And then He touched me above my heart,’ he continued. ‘You have been saved, follow me. You belong to me,’ he said.’
Ali’s story in Mecca was told and dramatized in a DVD called ‘More Than Dreams.’
‘I decided I’m not going to finish the Hajj, the pilgrimage. Whatever it takes, I’m going to follow that voice,’ he explained.
The film documents and dramatizes Ali’s story and several other Muslims who came to faith in Jesus through a dream or vision.
‘We’re seeing that all around. We’re hearing about people that have never even thought about Jesus as savior,’ Tom Doyle, with e3 Ministries, said. ‘They’re content Muslims and they’re having dreams over and over.’
Doyle and his wife Joanna take the gospel to the Muslim world. He’s also the author of the upcoming book, Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?
‘I think our God is a fair God, that He’s righteous and just, and people are seeking and they don’t know where to go,’ Doyle said.
‘Maybe they don’t have a Bible, maybe there’s no missionary in the village,’ he said. ‘He’ll get the message to them somehow.’
The phenomenon of dreams and visions has surfaced throughout the Muslim world, from Indonesia to Morocco.
‘In the church if you ask how many people came to Christ, 80 percent will say, ‘I saw Him in a dream’…” Read more.
Why I Love Jesus But Reject Islam
Tip of the hat to Walid Shoebat: “Here is a short video from a man named Ivey Conerly. The black culture could use more rap like this.”
Iran: Christian Convert Released After 180 Days In Evin Prison
Mohabat News – “This Christian convert who had been arrested by plain clothes security authorities in his house was released after 6 months in custody under certain conditions. During this time he was subjected to interrogation and accused of evangelism.
According to reporters of Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, Fariborz Arazm, a Christian convert, was conditionally released after six months imprisonment in notorious Evin prison.
After his arrest, Mr. Arazm was held in Rajaei-Shahr prison of Karaj but after some time officials transferred him to Evin prison for further interrogation.
News sources told Mohabat News that a court announced he was charged with being in contact with missionaries and also of promoting the Christian faith among Iranian Muslims.
Eventually, Mr. Arazm was conditionally released on April 11 after six months of uncertainty in Evin prison.
Three other Christian converts were also named in Mr. Arazm’s case and their arrests had been planned as well. However, they left Iran before security authorities could arrest them.” Read more.
Report: Some Members of Iran’s Armed Forces Are Converting to Christianity
Please pray for our new brothers and sisters in Christ in the Islamic world. If discovered, they will undoubtedly lose either their jobs, their relative “freedom”, or even their lives …
Mohabat News – “Obtained reports and reviews by experts and Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, show that Christianity is growing increasingly among Iranians, especially among the armed forces.
According to Iranian laws, non-Muslims are not allowed to be employed in any armed forces. In addition, it is mentioned in the employment conditions that the employee should believe and have a practical commitment to the Supreme Leader and also should believe in the Islamic Revolution and the regime of the Islamic Republic. The laws state that these conditions are binding. Failure in any one of these conditions can result in the punishment and exile of the violator…
Although news on military organizations are not reflected in the media regarding the ideologically closed atmosphere ruling on armed forces, suffice it to say that Muslim cleric Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi, the representative of the Assembly of Experts and a former representative of the Supreme Leader in the army, who was also a parliamentary candidate, was disqualified according to Section one of Article 28 of the constitution for not having a ‘practical commitment to Islam and the regime’ which this article requires for parliamentary candidates!
However, the reports indicate that despite this limitation ‘Christianity’ is growing among military personnel and their family members. It is only because of their sensitive situation that few news reports about this are leaking out.
The situation of Christian staff within the armed forces, however, is concerning. Because of their job, they can never apply for a passport and so they have to leave the country via underground means for fear of their lives.” Read more.
Flashback: Islamic Militants Calling Themselves ‘The Unknown Soldiers of The Hidden Imam’ Threaten to Hunt Down and Execute Christians Who Flee Iran – “Islamic militants with suspected ties to Iranian security forces have been terrorizing evangelical Christians with threats to ‘repent’ or die, it was reported Sunday. Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported that 11 Iranian Christians who fled Iran in the wake of a government campaign against Christianity have received threats via email to ‘repent’ or face extrajudicial execution, from a group identifying itself as the ‘The Unknown Soldiers of The Hidden Imam.’ The threatening emails that were sent to each individual on Sept. 14 aspired to extend the arm of Iranian Islamic militancy beyond the borders of Iran by implying that, although the recipients have left Iran, they have not escaped the ‘acute eyes of the unknown soldiers.’” Read more.
Flashback: Fearing ‘The Growth of Christianity Like Never Before’ Iranian Authorities Escalate Crackdown on Christians in Ahwaz, Shiraz, Esfahan and Kermanshah – “The Islamic Republic of Iran has intensified its crackdown on Iranian Christians during recent weeks. This has resulted in the arrest of a number of Christians in Ahwaz, Shiraz, Esfahan and Kermanshah… ‘Today, the regime of Iran crackdowns on Christians, especially Christian converts, for it is observing the growth of Christianity like never before. This fact has made them concerned… What this religious regime tries to demonstrate is that there is only one legitimate religion and all other religions are illegitimate… During past years underground or house churches were the main targets of arrests and pressures. However, gradually the Islamic regime’s authorities also included evangelical churches among their targets.'” Read more.
Former Moroccan Jihadist Comes to Know Christ Through ICC-Sponsored TV Program, ‘I Became a New Person in Christ’
“Hasan was a devout Muslim from a conservative Moroccan family before he heard about the love of Christ on an ICC-supported satellite television broadcast.
‘I loved and feared Allah,’ Hasan wrote to an ICC ministry partner. ‘I was terrified of death, especially from the torture in the grave that Islam teaches about. I wanted to please Allah to get to paradise, so I learned more about Islam and followed the teachings of Sharia law. I joined militant groups and jihad groups so I could get the highest reward from Allah.’
‘However, I started doubting Allah’s nature because he commands us to kill infidels and Jews. When I asked about this teaching, nobody would give me a straight answer. I started asking God to lead me and help me, and then, as if it was planned all along, I turned on the television and heard about Christ and the Christian faith for the first time. I watched the television program everyday and started reading the Bible online. I could see the love of Christ in his teaching and his life. What a difference from the teachings of Islam! I eventually believed in the Lord Jesus and his teaching. My life changed and I became a new person in Christ.’
ICC-supported satellite television and radio is sharing the love of Christ to Muslims throughout the Islamic world. In many countries, Muslims rarely have opportunities to hear the Gospel. Please pray that new believers like Hasan grow in faith and find a church body to fellowship with.” Source – ICC.
Intriguing Dead Sea Scroll Says Messiah to Come, Die, and Rise on Third Day
Matthew 1:21, “She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name YESHUA, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
Isaiah 12:2-4, “Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD, the LORD, is my strength and song; and he has become my YESHU’AH. Therefore with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of YESHU’AH. In that day you will say, ‘Give thanks to the LORD! Call on HIS NAME. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that HIS NAME is exalted!’”
By Joel C. Rosenberg – “A respected Israeli scholar and professor at Hebrew University is making an intriguing and compelling case that it is a distinctly Jewish notion to expect the Messiah to come, die as a ‘suffering servant’” as an atonement for sins and the redemption of Israel, and then to rise from the dead on the third day. Based on his many years of research, and fairly recently analyzed archaeological evidence — including a previously unstudied Dead Sea Scroll – the scholar is also arguing that this notion of the Messiah rising on the third day is a pre-Christian concept that dates back to before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem Ephratah. The case made by Dr. Israel Knohl has attracted significant attention, including a major article in the New York Times and several articles in Biblical Archaeology Review — see here, and here, and here.
The Times story, which ran under the headline, Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection, begins as follows: ‘A three-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days. If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time. The tablet, probably found near the Dead Sea in Jordan according to some scholars who have studied it, is a rare example of a stone with ink writings from that era — in essence, a Dead Sea Scroll on stone.’ The tablet has been named by scholars as ‘Gabriel’s Revelation’ because it suggests that the angel Gabriel was instructed by God to direct that the Messiah be raised from the dead on the third day.
Admittedly, this isn’t news. The stone tablet was discovered about fifteen years ago and is owned by a Israeli-Swiss Jewish man by the name of David Jeselsohn who didn’t understand its significance when he purchased it. The Times article was published in 2008. Dr. Knohl then published a book about all this in 2009 entitled, Messiahs and Resurrection in ‘The Gabriel Revelation.’ That was a follow up to his previous book, The Messiah Before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls (first published in Hebrew in 2000 and then in English in 2002). In the book, Dr. Knohl explains the various Jewish theories about the Messiah, including the idea of a ‘Messiah son of David’ who will be a reigning king on the earth like King David was, and a ‘Messiah son of Joseph’ who will be rejected by his brothers, mistreated, left for dead but will eventually reappear and save not only the nation of Israel but the world like Joseph did in the book of Genesis.
Why do I bring it up now? Because it absolutely Read more…




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