MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Joseph Mayton – “CAIRO: Egypt has jailed a Christian man for 6 years on charges of showing contempt of religion and insulting the Prophet Mohamed, the country’s state-owned al-Ahram newspaper reported on Thursday.

The court, in the southern Egyptian province of Assiut, said that Makram Diab, a school employee, had made offensive remarks against Islam’s prophet, according to the report.

The remarks infuriated Diab’s Muslim colleagues, who went on strike until he was arrested and prosecuted.

The sentencing comes after a Cairo court earlier this week dismissed a lawsuit against the Christian business tycoon, Naguib Sawiris, who was accused of insulting Islam by tweeting images of Mickey Mouse with a beard and his counterpart Minnie wearing a veil.

Sawiris faces two other lawsuits over the same images.

Recent parliamentary elections have produced a strong showing for Islamists in Egypt, sparking concerns over freedom among liberals and Christians, who make up around 10 percent of the country’s 80 million population.” Read more.

“SIALKOT, Pakistan, February 27 (CDN) — Tensions are still high in a village near here following Muslims’ attempt to seize land from a Christian family by threatening to accuse them of ‘blasphemy.’

What began on Feb. 19 as a quarrel over a pigeon between Christian and Muslim youths at Nawa Pind Sabu Mohal village, in Sialkot’s Pasroor area in northeast Punjab Province, grew into an occasion to jail some Christians in the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim country, the Christians said.

Gulshan Masih, 20, told Compass that his younger brother, Saif Masih, 18, had quarreled with a young Muslim over a pigeon that led to about a half dozen boys from each group charging into a fistfight and later pelting each other with stones. With the Muslims throwing bricks and stones from inside a mosque at the young Christian men’s homes, the skirmish ended when an elderly female relative of the Christians was wounded in their courtyard, Gulshan Masih said.

A few hours later, police officers arrived and took his father, 55-year-old Bashir Masih, 55, and 50-year-old uncle, Pervaiz Masih, into custody.

‘The Muslims had accused us of desecrating the mosque by throwing stones at it,’ Gulshan Masih said. ‘My father and uncle were not even involved in the fight, yet they were taken into custody on false charges.’

Muslim villagers have tried to drive Christians from the village on similarly petty pretexts, he said.

‘We own land and cattle, and this may be one of the reasons why the Muslims keep on picking fights with us over minor issues,’ Masih said, recalling how relatives Saleem and Rasheed Masih were arrested on a false blasphemy charge in 1999 after a quarrel stemming from a Muslim ice cream vendor refusing to serve Saleem Masih from the same bowl used by Muslims. Rasheed Masih was not even present at the scene of the quarrel, Gulshan Masih said, but was also charged.” Read more.

“In the wake of a year of protests and violence, the volatile situation in Syria has brought great suffering to the entire population. Syrian Christians say their greatest need right now is prayer, according to Open Doors, an international ministry supporting persecuted Christians and religious freedom around the world.

The danger has prompted many churches across the country to meet only in daytime, many only on Sundays. On Fridays, the weekly Islamic day of assembly, many Christian schools now close. Because of rampant killing, theft and kidnapping of children, some parents have stopped sending their children to school. Syria also suffers a lack of fuel and electricity, an economy in shambles and few jobs.

‘Christians’ plights vary by place,’ said Dr. Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. ‘Damascus Christians seem to have the fewest difficulties; in contrast, many Homs believers have fled what has become a war zone.’

Some Christians want to stay; others desperately seek to emigrate, said Moeller. Many say they simply cannot flee.

‘Many believers tell us that Syria is where they belong and will remain, even if that means dying there,’ he said.

More than 80 percent of Christians have fled Homs, the city where fighting is the worst. Looters have invaded the homes of those who have fled. At least one evangelical church has been attacked. Those who remain have limited means of safe transportation. Few attend church services.” Read more.

Syria: Armed Attack On Catholic Monastery – “For the first time in the history of the conflict in Syria, an armed attack has been made on a Catholic monastery, reported Vatican Radio on Saturday. About 30 armed men wearing masks attacked the monastery, founded by Jesuit from Italy Paolo dell’Olio. Attackers demanded money and weapons. According to the abbot, no one was killed or wounded. ‘However, it is strange that the attackers sought weapons in a monastery, known as a center of dialogue and reconciliation between Muslims and Christians,’ – said the monk. According to the Catholic Archbishop of Damascus, maronite Samir Nassar, the situation in the country is spiraling out of control as the armed opposition spreads its influence to different regions of the state.” Read more.

Mohabat News – “The security authorities of Iran have taken action against the growth of Christianity and house church movement in Iran and have arrested many believers in different cities of Iran. In this connection, a 78 year old Christian lady has also been arrested in Esfahan.

According to reporters of Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, Ms. Giti Hakimpour, a Christian minister who resides in Esfahan was arrested in her flat by security authorities.

The security authorities raided Ms. Hakimpour’s home at 6:00 a.m. on February 22, 2012, at the same time as the attack on Mr. Hekmat Salimi’s home. They arrested and transferred her to an unknown location.

Ms. Hakimpour, who is 78 years old, is a member and minister of St. Luke’s church in Esfahan. She was living on her own in an apartment. Witnesses saw both police and private cars parking down below her flat from 6 in the morning.

Knowledgeable sources told Mohabat News, the intelligence officers initially interrogated her in her flat. Then they arrested her, thoroughly searched her apartment and confiscated some of her personal belongings.

Eyewitnesses said the officers were there for three hours until 9:00 a.m. and then took Ms. Hakimpour with them. No information is available concerning her whereabouts and health condition at the time of publishing this post. She has no relatives inside Iran. However, the news of her arrest has caused a wave of anxiety among her relatives living outside Iran. The Iranian Christian community calls on Iranian authorities to release her and take measures to exonerate her of any charges.

It has been reported that she had not been in a good health the night before her arrest and was using some medicines because of the knee replacement surgery she had undergone. Also the doctor had ordered that she should not be stressed and that she needs to be under special care. So, holding her in custody without basic facilities could cause her difficulties. The responsibility of life and any possible health problems for this elderly lady rest directly on Iranian authorities.” Read more.

By AHMED SAKA – “JOS, Nigeria (AP) — A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives outside a major church Sunday, killing three people and wounding 38 others in a restive central Nigerian city that has seen hundreds die in religious and ethnic violence.

The explosion struck the main headquarters of the Church of Christ in Nigeria during its early morning service, Plateau state spokesman Pam Ayuba said. The attack killed a woman, and a father and his child near the explosion, Ayuba said.

The bomber apparently ran down the woman while racing his car toward the church compound, said Mark Lipdo, a coordinator for a Christian group called the Stefanos Foundation. The blast left shattered glass all over the church compound, as an angry crowd of youths began smashing the windows of cars passing by the scene, witnesses said.

Emergency officials took 38 people to hospitals for treatment, said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman with Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency.

In a statement, President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack.

‘Those who seek to divide us by fear and terror will not succeed,’ the statement read. ‘The indiscriminate bombing of Christians and Muslims is a threat to all peace-loving Nigerians.’

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has launched increasingly bloody attacks across Nigeria, including attacks on churches. A Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic church that left at least 44 dead was claimed by the sect in Madalla, a town just outside the country’s capital of Abuja.

The group also claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on Christmas Eve that struck Jos, killing as many as 80 people.” Read more.

Greta Van Susteren begins her segment by noting that “A war on Christians is spreading throughout the Muslim world. Christians are being murdered, some by machetes, rape, jailed, forced from their homes, you name it. It is happening to them.” It is refreshing to see a more mainstream news program dedicating an entire segment to shed light upon the increasing, threatening darkness that has become the world of Islam. But it demands even more attention, not just from the media, but from our leaders. Much, much more. Watch the first 3:34 of the interview below, or watch the full 5:46 on Gretawire …

Rev. Franklin Graham: “The Qur’an demands [that] if a person leaves Islam they are to be killed… This is the law of Sharia, and it is a scary system. And Sharia Law governs all of life for a Muslim. It’s political. It’s military. It’s economic. Sharia Law governs everything … and no Western law is recognized. It’s only Sharia Law.”

Related: ‘Bloody’: Christian Persecution is ‘Coursing Through Muslim-Majority Nations from One End of the Globe to the Other’

Related: Sudan: Samaritan’s Purse Bible College Bombed by Islamic Government While Students Studied in Class

Romans 8:35, 38-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

By Raymond Ibrahim – “With only a 12% Muslim minority, and an 84% Christian majority, Uganda may not seem a hotspot of Islamic activity. Yet, in recent weeks and months, story after story of attacks on Muslim converts to Christianity have emerged, with troubling implications beyond the intrinsic level. Consider the following anecdotes:

AP – “MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Police discovered the body of a 79-year-old Christian woman killed in northeast Nigeria, with a note in Arabic left on her chest reading: ‘We will get you soon,’ a witness said Thursday.

The slaying raises religious tensions in Nigeria as a radical Islamist sect increasingly targets Christians in its bloody attacks. While police said they knew of no immediate suspects in the killing, witnesses blamed the attack on the sect known as Boko Haram, which has been blamed for killing at least 305 people this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

The dead woman was identified as Shetu Haruna Malgwi, a Christian living in the city of Maiduguri in Nigeria’s Muslim north. Assailants apparently attacked Malgwi on Wednesday, a day after she returned home from receiving an eye treatment in the city of Kaduna, Borno state police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said.

Her killers slit the woman’s throat, then wrote a note with red pen they left on her chest, witness Audu Ibrahim said. Ibrahim said the woman’s family believes the message is for her son, who is a pastor of a local church where the 79-year-old sang in the choir.

Authorities found a Bible placed under the woman’s feet, Ibrahim said. Police continue to investigate the killing and no arrests have been made, Tizhe said.” Read more.

Revelation 13:15, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

John 16:2b, “… the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”

By Lisa Daftari – “A trial court in Iran has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, according to sources close to the pastor and his legal team.

Supporters fear Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old father of two who was arrested over two years ago on charges of apostasy, may now be executed at any time without prior warning, as death sentences in Iran may be carried out immediately or dragged out for years.

It is unclear whether Nadarkhani can appeal the execution order.

‘The world needs to stand up and say that a man cannot be put to death because of his faith,’ said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).

‘This one case is not just about one execution. We have been able to expose the system instead of just letting one man disappear, like so many other Christians have in the past.’

It is also feared that Nadarkhani will be executed in retaliation as Iran endures crippling sanctions and international pressure in response to its nuclear agenda and rogue rhetoric. The number of executions in Iran has increased significantly in the last month.

‘This is defiance,’ Sekulow said. ‘They want to say they will carry out what they say they will do.'” Read more.

“Faisalabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) – A dozen armed Muslims stormed the Grace Ministry Church in Faisalabad, seriously wounding two Christians. Sajid Masih was hit by bullets and is in critical condition in hospital, the man risks having his amputated arm. Another member of the Protestant community, Boota Masih, was pushed from the roof – a height of about six meters – after being struck repeatedly with a rifle butt. The extremist raid was sparked by charges that church was trying to evangelize Muslims in an attempt to convert them to Christianity. The community several times in the past has been the subject of assault and the pastor and his family the subject of death threats.

Sources of Pakistan Christian Post reported that Sajid (pictured) and Boota were transported to hospital for a delicate operation, which lasted over four hours. Doctors have removed a bullet from Sajid’s arm, but his condition remains serious and they may decide to amputate the arm that is at risk of gangrene. The bullet pierced the arm and is lodged in his rib.

The attack took place at Grace Ministry Church yesterday and the Christian community is still in shock. Meanwhile, the police, instead of pursuing the perpetrators of violence, have opened an investigation against the Rev. Altaf Khan – pastor of the community – and 20 other faithful. The agents have already arrested the driver Pervaiz Masih, another Christian faithful called Nazish Nadeem, along with two guards, security officers, Rafiq Masih and Shahzad.

The Protestant church was founded in 1987 and has recently undergone intense pressure attacks, and allegations of proselytizing. Over the past two months, says Rev. Khan, ‘I and my family have received death threats from extremists and terrorists.’ The charge of proselytism was made by the only Muslim family, who lives in the street home to the Grace Ministry Church Faisalabad. ‘Some Christian groups and Muslims – said the rev. Khan -jealous of our ministry have financed and supported terrorist groups in their attacks.'” Source – AsiaNews.

“ISTANBUL, February 17 (CDN) — Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has ordered the last two officially registered churches holding Friday Farsi-language services in Tehran to discontinue them.

Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter’s Evangelical Church were the last two official churches offering Farsi-language services on Fridays in Tehran, according to Middle East Concern (MEC). Officials issued the order on Feb. 10

Authorities had ordered the Central Church of Tehran to close its Friday Farsi services in December 2009. The Central Church, an Assemblies of God (AOG) congregation, had conducted multiple services on Fridays.

Friday services in Tehran attracted the city’s converts to Christianity as well as Muslims interested in Christianity, as Friday is most Iranians’ day off during the week. Authorities told the churches they can hold the services on Sunday, a working day when most Iranians are not able to attend.

‘This decision means that there are now no Farsi-language services on Fridays in any officially registered church in Tehran,’ an MEC report issued this week stated.

Emmanuel and St. Peter’s are Presbyterian churches, and, along with the Central Church, are among Tehran’s few registered churches. They exist mainly to serve the Armenian and Assyrian communities. The three churches’ Armenian- and Assyrian- language services are typically held on Sundays.

Because these churches belong to minority groups, government officials cannot stop them from operating but are doing what they can to limit them and the spread of Christianity to Farsi speakers, an Iranian Christian who requested anonymity told Compass.

‘Authorities want church operations to stop, but because these churches are established by Armenians and Assyrians and their leaders are Armenian and Assyrian, they can’t stop them,’ the source said, ‘but they can stop the Farsi-speaking services.’

The source said that the newest restrictions have cut the two churches’ attendance by half.” Read more.