MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

They were celebrating the birth of the Jewish Messiah when, if recent statements from the Islamist government are any indication, they should have been celebrating the birth of the Islamic “messiah” instead …

Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

Mohabat News – “Reports from Iran indicate that five Christian converts from a house-church in eastern Tehran were arrested during a Christmas celebration. Iranian Christian converts face constant restrictions and persecution.

According to Mohabat News, Iranian security authorities raided a house, owned by Mr. Hosseini, where a group of Christians had gathered to celebrate Christmas on Tuesday, December 24. They arrested Mr. Hosseini , Ahmad Bazyar, Faegheh Nasrollahi, Mastaneh Rastegari, and Amir-Hossein Ne’matollahi.

The report received by Mohabat News stated: ‘These Christians had gathered to worship and celebrate birth of Jesus.’

The Committee of Human Rights Reporters reported that armed plain-clothes security officers raided the house-church, insulted and searched those in attendance, thoroughly searched the house and seized all Christian books, CDs, and laptops they found. They also took the Satellite TV receiver.

The authorities also searched a neighboring house , because those present were observing the raid. They insulted and beat the father of the family and warned them not to speak with anyone about what they had witnessed.

There is still no update about the whereabouts or condition of these arrested Christians.

In recent years the authorities have intensified their pressure and threats against Christians around Christmas, and increased their surveillance of churches.” Read more.

Flashback: The Law Of “Allah” Hath Spoken: Iran Sentences Christians To 80 Lashes For Taking Communion – “Yes, 80. According to Muslims, taking communion in remembrance of Christ’s ‘it-didn’t-even-happen‘ sacrifice on the ‘it’s-an-evil-symbol‘ cross is grievous enough as it is, but to do so with wine? Boy, that’ll leave them seeing red. Which begs the question: What in ‘Allah’s name’ will they do about all those rivers of wine in Mohammed’s glorious ‘paradise’? Contradictions. Where would Islam be without them?” Read more.

Flashback: Iran Intensifies Violent Crackdown On Christians, Even Imprisoning Nursing Mothers For Being Non-Muslim – “Iran’s hard-line regime has intensified its violent crackdown on Christians and other religious minorities, even imprisoning nursing mothers for practicing their faith, according to a new UN report. The March report provides a rare, detailed view into the shocking treatment of Christians in Iran, where American Pastor Saeed Abedini is serving an eight-year sentence for his alleged work with Christians. ‘The persecution of Christians has increased,’ said Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s expert on human rights in Iran.” Read more.

Flashback: Unable To Buy Or Sell: Iran Refusing Business License For Convert To Christianity, Orders Businesses Not To Employ Christians – “Iranian authorities refuse to allow a young man to start his own company because he converted to Christianity and was previously detained on charges of ‘apostasy’, or ‘abandoning Islam’, Iranian Christians said Saturday, July 14. The Iranian Christian, who was not identified, had reportedly been trying to obtain a business license for ‘a technical company’ in northern Iran… Outside prison, government offices are reportedly ordered not to employ Christians and Christians have been deprived from high school or university education, or running their own schools, according to Iranians with close knowledge about the situation.” Read more.

For peaceful purposes …

Hadith, Sahih Muslim 1:33a, “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish [Islamic] prayer …”

The Christian Post – “Copts in the village of Tarshoub, Beni Suef, Upper Egypt, are experiencing intimidation after extremists attacked them on Monday. Aggressors threw stones at Coptic homes, burned a tuk-tuk truck owned by a Copt named Magdy Fathi Rizk and a store owned by Badr Maher.

They also destroyed the fronts of some houses and called for the closure of the church, which dates back more than 40 years in the village.

Father Malak Shehata from the Fashn Diocese told Mideast Christian News that the village of Tarshoub has been served by Father Andrawis, who moved to serve in another location. When the Fashn Diocese delegated a new priest to serve in the village and Copts tried to prepare a residence for him in the church, some Muslims gathered and refused to let the priest enter the church. This was led by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in the village.

During a reconciliation meeting held yesterday to resolve the situation, the Brotherhood members mobilized the villagers to attack the homes of Christians and prevented the priest from entering the village. They closed the church and Copts could not practice their prayers.

A witness from the village said that they had prayed in the church for many years and there was no problem with their Muslim neighbors until a new priest was ordained. When Copts started to furnish a residence for the priest in the church, a Brotherhood-associate named Ramadan Wahballah mobilized his supporters to reject the reconciliation meeting …” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: ‘Panic And Terror’ Reported As Muslim Brotherhood Islamists Mark Christian Homes – “The Christian Copts of Shubra al-Khaima, Egypt, are in a ‘state of panic and terror’ as ‘a number of supporters of ousted President Muhammad Morsi have been placing markings on Christian homes in the area for [future] targeting.’ Speaking anonymously, one Copt from the region told Veto News agency that they ‘recently noticed strange movements in the streets. When they went to inspect, they discovered large numbers of bearded men, who began to quicken their steps. They tried to catch up with them but couldn’t. When they returned, they discovered ‘X’ marks in black on the homes of Copts, separating them out [from Muslim homes].’” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: If You Don’t Repeat the Islamic Statement of Faith, You May Not Be Able to Buy From Muslim Stores – “A friend from Egypt, who lives in Cairo says that she is regularly greeted in Muslim places of business with ‘lā ilāha illà l-Lāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu l-Lāh’ (There is no God other than Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger). If she does not respond in kind, she is asked to leave.” Read more.

Egypt: Thousands Of Muslims Shouting ‘Allah Is Greater’ Destroy Christian Social Services Building Fearing It Would Become A Church – “… Mosques in surrounding villages called on their microphones this afternoon on Muslims to go and help their Muslim brethrens in the village of Fanous, because Christians were ‘building a church.’ According to rights activist Nader Shukry of Maspero Coptic Youth Organizations, nearly 5000 Muslims took part in demolishing the church property with their hammers, while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ He said no one was arrested, not even the imams who called on Muslims to demolish the building; their calls fall under the crime of ‘enticement to violence.’” Read more.

And not in the spirit of giving …

Qur’an Sura (9:123) – “O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers [non-Muslims] who are near to you and let them find in you hardness…”

Firstpost – “Youths threw petrol bombs at two Kenyan churches on Christmas day, police said on Thursday, in the latest bout of violence against Christians on the country’s predominantly Muslim coast.

Police and witnesses said the churches on the edge of port city of Mombasa were attacked in the early hours of December 25 after churchgoers held services to usher in Christmas.

Police had no suspects but were exploring the possibility that the attacks may have been launched by Muslim militants or by supporters of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), an illegal movement that wants the coastal region to secede from Kenya.

Many Muslims on the Indian Ocean coastline feel marginalised by Kenya’s predominantly Christian government and the historically cordial relations between the two communities have suffered strains in recent years.

Police said Muslim youths believed to be controlled by radical preachers with links to Somali militant group al Shabaab might be behind the attacks, which left one church completely destroyed.

‘The churches are located in an area mainly inhabited by Muslims, and church members had reported threats before from some youth who told them to close the churches down,’ said Robert Mureithi, the Likoni area police chief.” Read more.

Flashback: Kenya: Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility For Church Attacks, Will Continue To Kill Those Who Do Not Worship Allah – “Somalia militia group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s twin attacks on two churches in Garissa County that left 17 people dead. The latest development came even as muslim leaders in Kenya agreed to form self-defence groups to protect churches following the deadly attacks. In a tweet on Wednesday morning, the insurgents said they carried out the attacks in retaliation for Kenya Defence Forces (KDF)’s incursion in Somalia. An Al-Shabaab loyalist Sheikh Hassan Takar said that the militia killed people who did not profess allegiance to Allah.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Prepare For Disaster’: Islamists In Tanzania And Kenya Threaten To Destroy Christian Homes And Churches – “A militant Islamic group known as Muslim Renewal has threatened to burn ‘homes and churches.’ They say they ‘are not finished, at Easter, prepare for disaster.’ The Al Shabaab-linked group is believed responsible for the murder in Zanzibar last month of Catholic priest, Father Evarest Mushi. It may also have been involved in the killing of Pastor Abdi Welli in Garissa, Kenya. Militant Muslims have killed church leaders and they’ve attacked more than 30 churches in Tanzania and Kenya in the past year.” Read more.

Flashback: Kenya: Devout ‘Religion Of Peace’ Devotees Toss Grenade Into Packed Christian Church During Sunday Service – “At least 10 people were wounded in two separate attacks in Kenya, police said Sunday, including a blast at a church in Mombasa and a grenade hurled in a crowd in Nairobi. In the port city of Mombasa, attackers on a motorbike threw a homemade bomb into a church service, wounding seven, while in Nairobi, a grenade was thrown in the largely ethnic Somali district of Eastleigh, police said. The attacks are the latest in a string of grenade blasts or shootings to have hit Kenya, although it was not immediately clear if the two attacks were connected.” Read more.

For pee-ful purposes. If the “prophet” Mohammed — Islam’s epitome of holy behavior — treated Christians and their churches like garbage, then why can’t every “good” Muslim? …

Qur’an Sura 8:55, “Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve [non-Muslims] …”

Qur’an Sura 9:29-30, “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day … nor acknowledge the religion of [Islam], even if they are of the People of the Book … the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them …”

Qur’an Sura 33:21, “Indeed in Allah’s Messenger (Mohammad) you have an excellent example to follow for him who hopes in (meeting with) Allah and the Last Day …”

In Serbia – “Orthodox church dedicated to the Beheading of St. John the Baptist in the village of Samodreza near Vucitrn, was desecrated and turned into a garbage dump. The altar of this Serbian shrine, built on the place where Prince Lazar received communion with the army before the Battle of Kosovo, Albanian children turned into a public toilet, writes ‘Kurir’.

All attempts to stop the desecration of the Orthodox church were unsuccessful because the Albanian population is against its renewal. The church was burned, vandalized and desecrated for the first time in 1999 after international forces arrived in Kosovo, writes the daily.

The roof of the church was destroyed, windows and the metal door on it broken, and over the apse a large hole was breached. The interior of the church is turned into a public garbage dump and a toilet in which people and the cattle relieve, writes ‘Kurir’. The wall around the church is destroyed. This Orthodox church is literally cluttered with garbage, according to the daily.

‘The holy temple was destroyed back in 1999, and in recent years Albanian children keep throwing garbage in it. We tried several times to stop the further desecration through the international community and proposed placement of brass doors and windows, but the Albanian community opposes renewal,’ said Bishop of Raska and Prizren Teodosije for ‘Telegraf’.” Source – In Serbia.

Flashback: Radical Islamist Leader Warns That Terror Attacks Will ‘Liberate’ European Nations That Once ‘Belonged To Islam’ – “Radical Islamist leader Omar Bakri has warned that terrorist attacks would be launched against Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and other countries in the region. The reason for this, the Syria-born extremist told Bulgaria’s newspaper 24 Chasa, is that those were ‘territories that belong to Islam’. Bakri further explained: ‘When Islam enters a territory, it becomes Islamic, therefore Islam is under obligation to eventually liberate it.’ The Mediafax news agency is also reporting that he listed all ‘Muslim territories’ as follows: ‘Spain, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia’” Read more.

For peaceful purposes …

Qur’an Sura 9:29-30, “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of [Islam], even if they are of the People of the Book [Christians] … the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!”

By Sinan Salaheddin, The Associated Press – “Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday.

In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church in the capital’s southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said.

Earlier, two bombs ripped through a nearby outdoor market simultaneously in the Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21, the officer said.

The Iraq-based leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Louis Sako, said the parked car bomb exploded after Christmas Mass and that none of the worshippers were hurt. Sako said he didn’t believe the church was the target.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but Iraq’s dwindling Christian community, which is estimated to number about 400,000 to 600,000 people, often has been targeted by al-Qaida and other insurgents who see the Christians as heretics.

Along with Christians, other targets include civilians in restaurants, cafes or crowded public areas, as well as Shiites and members of the Iraqi security forces, attacked in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and stir up Iraq’s already simmering sectarian tensions.” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Cleric Issues Fatwa Against Christmas Because It Promotes Belief In The Trinity – “The Christian faith teaches us that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh who was born to be the Savior of the world, sent to die for the sins of all mankind as the final sacrificial Lamb of God. However, according to Islamic teaching — which fails to even correctly understand many basic Christian doctrines – Jesus Christ was not God in the flesh and considers this foundational tenet of Christianity the worst of sins that anyone can commit, called ‘shirk‘. In Islam, it is an unpardonable sin that Allah will never forgive. But in Christianity, it is the key to everlasting life.” Read more.

For peaceful purposes …

Qur’an Sura 9:29, “[Mohammed said] Fight those who believe not in Allah … (even if they are) of the People of the Book [Christians], until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

Qur’an Sura 3:64, “Verily Allah has cursed the Unbelievers [non-Muslims] and has prepared for them a Blazing Fire to dwell in forever. No protector will they find, nor savior … ‘Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a very great Curse!’”

By Ryan Morgan, ICC – “I watched as the pastor began to cry, tears welling up in his eyes as he described the scene to me. It was May 18th, 2012, and there were hundreds upon hundreds of screaming fanatics hurling rocks, dirt, and even bags filled with urine at his congregation as the police stood by and watched. Signs hanging near his church read ‘Jesus is a dog’ and ‘Kill the Christians.’ The rioters claimed the pastor had never obtained the proper permits to operate his church, and the local government agreed, sealing the building and prohibiting the pastor and his congregation from ever returning.

My interview with Pastor Palti Panjaitan of the GKI Yasmin church was eye opening. For years the world, including the United States, has lauded Indonesia as the prime example of a tolerant, Muslim democracy. The largest Muslim-majority nation in the world, Indonesia embraces a welcoming political philosophy known as ‘Pancasila,’ composed of five ‘inseparable’ principles, including social justice. The vicious attack Pastor Palti described hardly seemed synonymous with Indonesia’s pristine reputation. After further investigation, it proved to merely be the tip of the iceberg.

Across Indonesia in 2012, International Christian Concern (ICC) found that at least 50 churches like Pastor Palti’s were forcibly shut down, almost always under pressure from radical Islamic groups. These groups usually claim the church lacks the proper permits to operate, based on a 2006 zoning law that requires ‘places of worship’ to obtain signatures of approval from surrounding neighbors. The law is well-known to be a charade, as it is almost never applied to anyone except religious minorities. It is also well-known among Indonesia’s church leaders that obtaining a permit can be nearly impossible and usually requires hefty bribery of local officials. In 2012, I was told of one very large church which had to spend more than a million U.S. dollars to obtain a permit that is, officially at least, supposed to be free.

By early 2013, the closure of churches had begun to garner international attention. In March, photos and video of a Batak Protestant Christian church being demolished by the government was picked up by international news agencies. The video showed radical Muslims cheering and applauding as the building was torn apart, all while members of the congregation stood by and watched helplessly. The next month, ICC took the issue to Congress and the State Department. Soon after, reports of churches being sealed shut by local governments plummeted to almost zero.

That is, until three weeks ago. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, a new rash of church closings appears to be sweeping across Indonesia.” Read more.

Flashback: The Indonesian Model of Moderate Islam

• Hundreds Of Islamists Attack Christian Church During Prayer Service
• Bomb Planted At Christian Junior High School By Suspected Extremists
• Six Christian Schools Threatened With Closure … For Not Teaching Islam
• Anti-Christian Incidents Nearly Double in 2011, Worst May Be Yet to Come
• Gov’t Shuts Down 16 Christian ‘Houses Of Worship’ After Muslim Complaints
• Hundreds Of Muslims Attack Christians Gathering Near Site Of Future Church
• Muslim Mobs Throw Stones, Human Waste At Christians During Church Service
• Hundreds Of Islamists Brutally Attack Christians Gathering For Sunday Worship
• Increasing Intolerance Against Christians Force The Closure Of 17 More Churches
• Gov’t Put Christian Children In Muslim Schools, Send Them Home To Spread Islam
• Massive Increase Of Radical Islamism Spreads Throughout Indonesia, Including ‘Top-Quality’ Universities

For peaceful purposes …

Qur’an Sura 4:89, ”They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies … seize them and kill them wherever you find them …”

By Habibou Bangre, AFP – “The bodies of at least 21 people have been found after a grisly attack in eastern DR Congo in which several women and children were raped, mutilated and beheaded, the UN peacekeeping mission said on Monday.

The UN mission MONUSCO said the victims, including a baby, were hacked to death in an attack of ‘extreme brutality’ in a wave of violence in North Kivu last week.

A local civil society organisation blamed the rampage on the Muslim Ugandan rebel group ADF-Nalu, one of the oldest but least known armed organisations based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

‘The victims, including women and children — the youngest of which is thought to have been only a few months old — were hacked to death on December 13 and 14,’ the MONUSCO statement said.

‘Three girls under 18 are reported to gave been raped by the attackers and then beheaded. The mutilated and dismembered body of a child is said to have been found in a tree, in the village of Musuku.’

The attacks took place in several villages near Beni, a town which lies about 150 miles (250 kilometres) north of the provincial capital Goma, MONUSCO said.

MONUSCO chief Martin Kobler expressed his ‘deep disgust’ at the attack.

‘These atrocities will not go unpunished,’ he vowed in the statement.

The UN peacekeeping force, one of the world’s largest, has been tracking down armed groups in the region in recent months but did not provide details on who the attackers might be.

However, the North Kivu Civil Society umbrella organisation swiftly issued a statement charging that ‘the carnage was perpetrated by ADF-Nalu’s Ugandan rebels’.” Read more.

Flashback: Islam In Africa: ‘An Invisible Genocide Where Sadistic Killers Slaughter And Execute Thousands Of Christians’ – “The UN does nothing, the world is silent, and most Western citizens, who know little about Africa, do not know it is happening. The goal is creating a big African-Islamic continent. Christians must be killed or expelled. Fom Nigeria to Sudan, it is raging, the ‘Odium Fidei’, the war of religion. A genocide epitomized not by the images of Sydney Pollack’s ‘Out of Africa’, which presents a continent that is rich and attractive, but by the Nigerian village of Dogo Nahawa, where Islamists, armed with machetes, killed 300 Christians, mostly women and children.”Read more.