Unconventional But It Worked

The following is a true story as told to me by my son-in-law who is a North American Mission Board missionary. Only the names have been changed.

While talking with a pastor friend, the pastor related how Young Man had just asked Jesus Christ into his heart, been born again, and joined the church. The pastor was concerned because Young Man had a lot of zeal but lacked knowledge on how to be a witness to his friends. He was afraid he would turn people away from Christ instead of drawing them to Him.

Meanwhile, Young Man was out witnessing to his friends about their need for a Saviour to escape Hell. He carried a cigarette lighter in his pocket. He witnessed to his friend Tim by grabbing Tim’s arm and putting the cigarette lighter underneath his forearm and apply the flame to the skin. You can imagine Tim’s surprise as he jerked his arm away from the flame.

The next Sunday, the pastor runs into Young Man before church and Young Man tells him how he had witnessed to Tim, his friend, with the cigarette lighter. The pastor realizing that he was right about the Young Man, says to the Young Man, ” I have to talk to Tim right after the service. Where can I find him?”

The Young Man says, “Oh, Tim is seated in the church, he wants to be baptized.”

Tim had received his friend’s unconventional witness concerning his need to have his sin washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ so he could escape the justly deserved flames of Hell. In other words, Tim was born again and wanted to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism to testify to the world that he had been born again.

Do you need the flame of a cigarette lighter applied to your arm to get your attention?

The New Testament warns us there is coming a day “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed –for our testimony to you was believed.” II Thessalonians 1:7-10

Today is the day to believe on the Lord Jesus and what He has done for you at the Cross by shedding His precious blood so your sins could be covered. Do not put it off.

Carl

Why We Should Prepare to Meet God

“The greatest reason why you should prepare to meet your God is because you MUST meet your God.”

It is not optional.

No excuse slips will be accepted. Your physical death nor your grave will keep you from it. There will be no back door to escape. No escape anywhere. No escape.

Unless your case is settled out of court through a meeting with the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, you MUST appear the judgment bar of God and are going to meet with yourself in the presence of God.

What a terrifying thought to meet with yourself, all your evil thoughts, evil words and sinful actions revealed in the presence of a pure, sinless Holy God who hates sin. A Holy God whose Son you have rejected as your Savior and whose precious blood that was shed for the forgiveness of your sins you have trampled under your feet. A Holy God who is described as a consuming fire.

“But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shall escape the judgement of God.”

Romans 2: 2 tells us that man’s judgement will be according to truth. Every individual sees himself in the distorted mirror of his own imagination. We have seen mirrors in amusement parks which make a tall man look short and a thin man look fat. The human imagination makes the individual see himself in some sort of comparison with others, and always in a light more favorable than is justified by the truth. The coming of the judgment will destroy that distortion; a “hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies” (Isa. 28:17).

You will be forced to look upon yourself as you are in reality, that is, as you are in the sight of God.

And verse 3 says that there will be no escape. No escape. Don’t forget that –no escape.

No, there is no escape. But wait! There is a way of having your case settled out of court. You must move fast. You must come to Christ now. For now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Everywhere the Bible teaches us that the issues of eternity are settled in this life. There is no second chance. The Lord said, If ye “die in your sins; wither I go, ye cannot come….for if ye believe not that I am he [Jehovah] ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:21, 24).

Today His mercy calls. You are guilty, but you can yet escape through Christ. If you refuse God’s mercy, you must face His wrath.

Come Today To Christ!

Carl

Excerpts from Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans 1, pp. 12-14, 22

What Marianne Williamson, Presidential Candidate, Believes About Jesus Christ

(This article was first published before the 2020 Presidential Election but her beliefs have not changed and, since she is running again in 2024, I thought we should revisit this post.)

A Christian apologist who once believed in New Age spirituality criticized Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson’s teachings about Jesus Christ.

In a video posted to his YouTube channel Wednesday, Steven Bancarz — whose story of leaving the occult and turning to Christ was reported on by The Christian Post in September 2016 — unpacks the central error of the New Age philosophy espoused by Williamson, which is that accepting Christ is merely “a shift in self-perception.”

Promoted as a favorite author of Oprah Winfrey, Williamson is among the most visible New Age teachers in the world and has authored several New York Times best-sellers. 

In the Democrat presidential race, she currently stands in the bottom tier among the top 13 candidates, less than 1% nationally, according to today’s RealClearPolitics average of polls. 

Williamson has received positive reviews and heightened interest due to her debate performances, however. According to Google, Williamson was the most internet searched candidate during CNN’s July 30 debate. During that debate, Williamson used the phrase “dark psychic force,” which also trended in Google searches. 

“If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days,” Williamson said in response to a question about the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. 

In a 2016 interview with BeliefNet, Williamson said Jesus was a human who “completely self-actualized and fulfilled in all ways the potential glory that lies within us all” when he was on Earth.

“To say there is ‘only one begotten son’ doesn’t mean that someone else was it, and we’re not. It means we’re all it.”

“Jesus actualized the Christ mind, and was then given the power to help the rest of us reach that place within ourselves. He was sent down by God — as we all are.”

Bancarz says that while Williamson’s words are a distortion of the real Jesus, her teachings fulfill some prophetic utterances Jesus made about the end times.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

The Gospel in a Nutshell

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. “ Colossians 1:21-23

“In these few verses (Colossians 1: 21-23) we have the most amazing summary of the gospel and, indeed, the most compact summary of the whole Christian life. It can be summed up in three very simple words: once…but…if.

“Once you were alienated” (v21). Paul sums up the entire unbelieving world in these words. They are essentially aliens, and it is a relational alienation due to sin. And like all people, we willfully chose to cut ourselves off from God before we were Christians.

“But now he has reconciled you” (v22). Enemies are now friends, aliens are now family, all because of Christ’s death on the cross. Jesus’ death does not just bring us back to God; it also has a future focus–that he might present us holy in His sight, without blemish, free from accusation. The image here is of judgement day, when the bride of Christ is presented to her husband. The question is: are you worthy to enter the kingdom? The psalmist says only the one with clean hands and a pure heart can ascend His holy hill (Psalm 24:4). The good news is that you can confidently reply, “Yes, I am worthy.” On that day we will not fear any voice challenging our claim, because Jesus has died for us to make us worthy.

“If you continue in your faith (v23). Of course, our salvation is secure, but we must continue in this gospel. We have been reconciled to God, and we must not go back to being His enemy. His death has made us holy , so we do not deliberately or willfully give ourselves to a life of ungodliness.

This is our spiritual biography: once…but…if. “

Journey Through Colossians and Philemon by Mike Raiter, p 18.

Whitewashed… or Washed White…

There are a lot of people whitewashed with religion who are not washed white in the blood of Christ. This is indeed a true saying. Nicodemus was a most religious man, but he needed to be washed white. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee” said the Saviour, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) And when Nicodemus expressed his surprise at the Lord’s teaching, he was met by the solemn declaration, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7) You may be respectable, moral, upright, kind, amiable, and religious, without being washed white in the precious blood of Christ. (I Peter 1:19; I John 1:7).

A professing Christian was awakened out of her slumber of death in a very remarkable way. A high Church dignitary advised her to burn some Gospel tracts given to her by a relative. As she watched the destruction of one of them, her eye caught the words of one of the pages, “I was going respectably and religiously to hell.” The Holy Spirit revealed to her the fact that though she was “whitewashed” she was not washed white; that, in fact, she was “going respectably and religiously to hell!”

The Lord Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7: 13, 14) Multitudes throng the broad way, some on the clean footpath, and others on the dirty footpath. Few find the strait gate; they mistake other gates for the strait one. Some mistake ‘religion’ and ‘churchanity’ for Christ and Christianity.

Which road is the reader traveling — the broad or the narrow? Which class do you belong to —-the whitewashed or the washed white? Are you regenerated? Have you been ‘converted’ to, and by, God? If not, hearken to Christ’s declaration: “Except you be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). If you have never experienced this great change, you are an unsaved, unsanctified, unforgiven soul. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be cleansed from every stain (Acts 16:31). — A.M.

A tract from Pilgrim Tract Society, Randleman, NC 27317. Contributions send tracts to many nations. Send postage for 100 samples of tracts)

For more information on the Narrow Way, please search this blog for the “Narrow Way”. It is the most read post. Thank You. Carl

Former psychic blasts Fox News for divination segment with astrologer: ‘Extra deception’

Dear Reader: this post is an Christian Post article. I John 5:19 warns us that “… the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” This pernicious one is intensifying his attack on humanity in our days to deceive as many as he can because he hates mankind. Do not be deceived. Let us flee to Jesus Christ who took the wrath of God for us because of our sins, was raised from the dead, lives forever more and defeated satan and all his demons. Yes, take shelter in Him. Carl

A former psychic who repented of occultism to become a Christian blasted Fox News for inviting an astrologer on “Fox & Friends” last week to read the horoscopes of the anchors, marking the second divination segment on the channel in recent months.

Jenn Nizza, an author and podcaster who runs Ex-PsychicSaved.com, told The Christian Post that she believes Fox News is driven solely by ratings and money, but that the network potentially poses a spiritual danger to its viewers by airing light-hearted interviews with occult practitioners.

Astrologer Susan Miller joined “Fox & Friends” hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones last Thursday to explain how the moon and Monday’s solar eclipse could affect not just someone’s mood, but their entire life for at least six months.

“It’s not just your mood,” she said. “It’s everything if it touches a planet in your chart, and on AstrologyZone.com — which is my website — I delineate how specifically a solar eclipse is actually a new moon. I know it sounds [like] it should be a full moon, but it’s not. It’s the new moon, always. And it will affect you for six months or more.”

Miller went on to offer vague, broad predictions for each of the “Fox & Friends” anchors based on their astrological charts.

Earhardt, who offers a streaming Bible study on Fox Nation, replied to her horoscope reading by noting that she leans on God during hard times, and also pressed Miller to explain how she reconciles her astrological practices with her supposed Roman Catholic faith.

“God talks to me, actually,” Miller replied with a laugh before the segment wrapped up because of time.

Despite its breezy tone, Nizza is concerned that segments like the one with Miller could be used by dark spiritual forces “as a way to reach people that otherwise wouldn’t be aware as much of divination.”

“It makes it seem like it’s a big old joke, it’s just entertainment,” Nizza told CP. “If Satan masquerades as an angel of light, if he can make this seem like something that it’s not, if he can make it seem like this is light-hearted and just entertainment, he’s desensitizing people to it.”

Nizza emphasized the “extra deception” posed by Fox News effectively promoting divination with the aid of hosts who portray themselves as Christians.

“Fox is deceived, but they’re promoting themselves at times to be Christian, to care about God,” she said. “And then you have [the hosts] talking about God and talking about their Zodiac signs as if it’s just OK; as if you can comingle Christianity and the New Age, which is in direct rebellion to God. You can’t have both.”

“If the enemy can make you think that something is either holy or godly, then you would feel safer doing it; you would feel more comfortable doing it,” she continued. “But did you go to the Word and check? A lot of people aren’t going to. They’re relying on these people claiming to be Christian.”

“So unfortunately, the responsibility still lies on us to go to the Word and check and see what God says — to ‘test the spirits,’ of course,” she added, referencing 1 John 4:1.

Nizza, who said she is increasingly “fed up” with Fox News for broadcasting occult practices and drifting further into sensationalism, also accused the network in January of pushing a “demonic agenda” when opinion host Jesse Watters invited the so-called “English Psychic” Paula Roberts on his primetime show to divine the country’s political future with tarot cards.

Citing her own experience as a former medium, Nizza told CP at the time that the cardboard and pictures of the tarot do not offer any insight by themselves, but that the purported information psychics obtain from them is “channeled” from demonic sources.

“A tool of divination is one that’s actually accessing the demonic realm, the spirit realm, and you’re going against God’s will of boundaries; God says not to,” she said, citing Deuteronomy 18:10-12, which prohibits witchcraft and divination as “detestable” practices that incur divine judgment.

As with tarot cards and any other form of divination, Nizza said astrology taps into demonic sources of knowledge, which she said threatens to rope in practitioners even if the predictions are not always accurate. She has written about how dabbling with tarot cards at age 13 dragged her into a life of demonic oppression for years.

“They can get 100 things wrong and one thing right, and you can hang on to that one thing that’s right, because you’re going to be so intrigued,” she said. “And that’s the hook. That’s the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of your face.”

“Where planets were when you were born is meaningless,” she continued. “A planet doesn’t know if you’re wise with money, if you are personable, if you’re going to have a new love in your life. They just know nothing about you. There’s no wisdom in planets.”

“It bothers me,” she added regarding Fox’s occult content. “It’s a news channel. Why are you even reporting on divination? Why are you getting into the supernatural?”

Nizza also posted a TikTok video on Monday exhorting Fox News to stop promoting divination.

“Fox News, do me a favor: please stop putting diviners on your channel, I’m begging you,” she said, adding that “the devil is using you guys” to put divination in the minds of people who are simply trying to watch the news.

“This is what the devil does, this is his agenda,” she said. “I understand the desire for ratings and for money, but you’re not going to take that with you when you go. I would really think about that: serving God and pleasing God, not man.”

Last July, an investigation by The Blaze revealed that Fox Corporation was willing to match Fox News employee donations of up to $1,000 to a number of far-left organizations, including The Satanic Temple.

Fox News never publicly addressed the revelation that emerged from multiple sources within the company, though it reportedly removed The Satanic Temple from its giving portal days after Blaze Media founder Glenn Beck broadcast the story.

Flattery: A Tool of the Devil

I recently did a teaching on the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young and how to tell the book is a channeled book. She is channeling an unidentifiable spirit being who self identifies as ‘Jesus Christ’. But by examining what this spirit tells her in the light of the New Testament, you can tell that it is not the real Jesus Christ but a deceiving, seducing, evil spirit whose goal is to lead God’s people into occultic practices.

There are many ways to discern this deception: by comparing what the spirit says to what the real Jesus Christ said and did in the New Testament, how she used God Calling*, another channeled occult book, as her inspiration, misquoted Scripture, plus others means.  

One of the ways you can tell is by the flattery and romantic non-sense that is used in the text.

Some examples are: 

Let My gold-tinged Love wash over you and soak into the depths of your being.

When you seek my Face in response to My love call, both of us are blessed.

Look into My Face and feel the warmth of My Love-Light shining upon you.

When your joy in Me meets My joy in you, there are fireworks a heavenly ecstasy.

Take time to rest in the Love-Light of My Presence.

When you trustingly whisper My Name, My aching ears are soothed.

When you walk through a day in trusting dependence on Me, My aching heart is soothed.

Feel your face tingle as you bask in My Love-Light.

I am aching to hold you in My everlasting arms, to enfold you in My Love.

As you listen to birds calling to one another, hear also my Love-call to you.

Now if you have read the New Testament, it does not take long for this type of verbiage to raise an alarm.  I never read in the New Testament where Lord Jesus talked to Peter, John, James, or any of the other disciples this way. I can see ole Peter shaking his head and saying that Jesus never talked to him that way.

Apostle Paul warns us about the enemy of our soul using flattery to entrap us:

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”  (Romans 16:17-18)

Paul warns us not to be ‘unsuspecting’ Christians, not to go through life thinking that the enemy does not have designs on us to bring us into captivity to their master satan. There are evil workers of the antichrist spirit (I John 4:3) who will use smooth and flattering speech to gain our trust and confidence resulting in our bondage.

Jude, the Lord’s half-brother, also warns us about flattery as a tool of deception:

“These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”   Jude v16

These sinners Jude is warning about are seeking power and control; power and control over you and me so we can help them accomplish their own wicked goals that are cloaked in a false robe of righteousness. The Lord warned us about those who look like sheep but speak like dragons (Rev.13:11).

The Old Testament prophet Daniel tells us that flattery (or smooth words) will be a tool of the ultimate human evil, the Antichrist. Daniel 11:32 says in part:

“…with flattery he will corrupt those who act wickedly toward the covenant…” (HCSB).

Truly what Proverb 26:28 says concerning flattery is true:

A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin.  

Watch out for this tool of the devil. Protect yourself from religious deception. Read the New Testament and know the Truth that will set you free from bondage to religion and sheep in wolf clothing.

Bless God for His provisions!

Carl

Evidence of Sodom’s Destruction? A Cosmic Airburst in Middle East.

Archaeologist excavating the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam reported in November at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, their discovery of evidence of a “cosmic airburst event that obliterated civilization,” wiping out Middle Bronze Age cities and towns of the plains in Middle Ghor, north of the Dead Sea, about 3700 years ago.

Some researchers identify Tall el-Hammam as the former Sodom.

Genesis 19 describes how God “rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah destroying all the plain…and what grew on the ground.”

Meanwhile, the scientific team, which includes experts from the Comet Research Group, an international society of comet impact scientists, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the largest science and technology institutions in the world, said evidence points to an instantaneous devastation of an area “approximately 500 km2” that left only the “stone foundations” of mud brick walls, and destroyed the soil with “a super-heated brine of Dead Sea” salts.

The researchers estimated 40,000 to 65,000 people were killed instantly by the catastrophe.

(From Cultural News, Baptist Message December 13, 2018)

When Jesus Christ comes the second time to earth, everyone is going to believe the Bible is true ….but it will be too late then.

Blessed are those who order their lives according to the Holy Scriptures now.

“God is not a man, that He should lie…” Numbers 23:19

“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandments of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The judgement of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them, Thy servant is warned; in keeping them is great reward.

Psalms 19: 7-11

God Bless,

Carl

Salvation

“The word that is used in the original language for salvation covers the entire work of God on behalf of the human soul. I am sure that not one of us, not even the one who has spent the most time in the study of the word of God, can fully comprehend the height and the depth of the vast subject of salvation. The depth is our need, the height is the provision that God has made. Salvation begins when the sinner recognizes the fact that he is less perfect than God and therefore under condemnation.

 In order to make this very practical, I shall appeal to you directly concerning your own salvation. God comes to you today, just as you are. There is nothing that you have to do in order to draw his attention to you. You do not have to make yourself better in order for him to start his work. There is an old hymn that puts it well:

Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream.

All the fitness He requireth

Is to feel your need of Him.

God comes to you whatever your background of education or the lack of it. He comes to you with your prejudices, however they may have been formed. He comes to you with the declaration that you are in a position that is desperate without His help, but he tells you that He is ready to furnish the help you need. Unfortunately, there are those who turn away from Him because they live in a world where illusions are so plentiful. A man is in vigorous health, making good money, and relatively happy. It is easy to think that since you are getting along so well in your progress through the world that you are also getting along well in your progress towards God. The fact is that you are lying in the embrace of death and do not realize your need.

A Chinese evangelist was once preaching on the street in a town in China. He spoke of the weight of sin and a heckler called out to ask how much that weight was. Fifty pounds? One hundred pounds? The evangelist answered: if you have a corpse lying in his coffin, will he feel a one hundred pound weight on his chest any more than a fifty pound weight? So the weight of sin is upon the human soul, and it is only when the Holy Spirit makes us conscious of need that we can feel the weight of sin and turn to the Saviour who is able to lift it.

If you fancy that you have an ability that can help you, you have never understood your own inability or the magnitude of the task which is demanded of you. A man might be the world’s champion Olympic swimmer, but if he were suddenly thrown overboard in the midst of the ocean, the distance to the shore would be totally beyond his powers. And God declares that you are overboard in the sea of sin and that  estranges you from him. No breast-stroke of emotion can bring you to the shore. You must recognize your lost position and submit yourself to his sovereign grace. God commands men everywhere to repent. And repentance does not mean an emotional state of being sorry for your sins. It is derived from a Greek expression for the military command of “right about face”. You have been facing yourself, trusting in your own ability while Christ has been behind you, despised and rejected by you. You must about face. You must despise and reject your own efforts for salvation and realize that God has done all the work through the Saviour and that He requires you to put your trust in him.”

For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  

Quote from Donald Grey Barnhouse, Man’s Ruin (Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids), pp. 169-171

Scripture: John 3:16 NASB

“In the Name of Jesus”: What Does It Mean?

Question: Jesus said, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). I’ve heard thousands of prayers that were offered, in reliance upon that promise, “in the name of Jesus” or even “in the mighty name of Jesus,” sincere prayers from simple people that were never answered. Wouldn’t these many unanswered prayers offered “in the name of Jesus” prove that Christ doesn’t or can’t keep His word?

Response: “In the name of Jesus” is not a magic formula like “Open Sesame,” which merely had to be spoken once in order for the secret door to the thieves’ treasure to swing wide open. Merely repeating the words “in the name of Jesus” doesn’t make it so. For a prayer to be truly “in the name of Jesus,” it must be as He would express it if He were praying. It must be for the furtherance of His interests and to His glory. His name must be stamped on the character and engraved on the heart and life of the one praying “in His name.”

Many years ago I managed the affairs of a multimillionaire. In order to do so, I had been given the authority to act in His name. Powers of attorney giving me the right to sign his name and to conduct business in his name were registered in various counties and states. There was nothing on the face of the documents that would prevent me from making out a check for a million dollars, signing his name to it, and depositing it in my own bank account. Had I done so, however, he could have recovered from me in a court of equity.

Though the documents didn’t state it explicitly, it was understood that I had the power to use another person’s name only for his good and in his best interests, not my own. And so it is with our Lord. There are no restrictions stated in His promise that he will do whatever we ask in His name. It is understood, however, that to pray in His name is to ask as He would ask for His interests and glory.

Tragically, all too many Christians imagine that “in the name of Jesus” are magic words that, if added to a prayer, no matter how self-seeking, will enable a person to get from God whatever he or she desires. When the desired response doesn’t come from God there is often great confusion as to why earnest prayers aren’t answered, and even at times resentment against Christ for not keeping what is perceived to be His promise. James explained it well:

Ye ask [in prayer] and receive not because ye ask amiss, [not to God’s glory, but] that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3).

Source: The Berean Call

Nephilim in the Bible: Who are they and what is their significance.

(Following is from the Biblical Archaeology Society. I have read one of the articles mentioned at the end and found it very enlightening. The views expressed by the Society are not necessarily the views of this blog.)

Who are the Nephilim? In Hebrew “Nephilim” literally means “fallen ones” and Genesis 6:1–4 tells us they were the offspring of members of the heavenly host and human women that went on to become legendary warriors. Their exploits, however, are not mentioned and the author of Genesis seems to imply that they are responsible for the great wickedness that spread across the earth, forcing God to send the Great Flood.

The mysterious Nephilim are only mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible one other time, in Numbers 13:33, when the Israelite scouts make fearful claims that Nephilim and their gigantic offspring, the Anakim, inhabit the land of Canaan.

In the book of Deuteronomy, the gigantic ancestors of these same Anakim are called Rephaim and we learn that Og, King of Bashan, was the last of their remnant. (Deut. 3:11) The book also claims that the Moabites and Ammonites drove out races of giants from their lands before they took possession of them (Deut. 2:10-11, 20-21).

It is not clear when the Nephilim of Genesis 6 began to be equated with the gigantic Rephaim mentioned in Deuteronomy, however, by the Intertestimental Period, the Nephilim had taken on their gigantic and monstrous qualities, fully acquiring their negative reputation.

In the literature written during that time, such as the Book of Enoch, Jubilees, and others found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nephilim are the giant offspring of human women and a group of fallen angels known as the Watchers. The Book of Enoch, an apocryphal collection of texts that reimagines the account of Genesis 5–6, states that the Watchers shared secret knowledge with their Nephilim children that led to the corruption of the world. The giants ravaged the earth, filling it with destruction and evil, depleting the world’s food supply, and terrifying humankind. And these actions triggered the flood as punishment for all their terrible deeds.

When Enoch confronts the Watchers about their impending doom, the Watchers implore Enoch to intercede on their behalf. Enoch agrees—but to no avail. The Watchers’ petition is not granted, and they and their Nephilim sons are not able to escape their punishment—the flood.

And if you’ve ever seen the movie production of Noah starring Russell Crowe, you’ll have a contemporary visual of how these giants might appear—at least according to Hollywood scriptwriters. The fallen angels in the movie Noah are loosely based on the Watchers mentioned in the Book of Enoch.

The Hollywood blockbuster Noah has generated its fair share of controversy, with some saying the movie took too many liberties with the Biblical text. Certainly, the movie is not a straightforward retelling of the flood story in Genesis 6, but the flood story has been reimagined in both Christian and Jewish texts, such as the apocryphal Book of Enoch, for millennia.

Learn everything about Noah and the Flood

The flood story is one of the best-known Biblical narratives. The Book of Genesis describes God’s call to Noah to build an ark for his family and to preserve two of every animal. In time, the earth would be flooded and the world would begin anew. Questions surrounding the historicity of the Biblical narrative, however, have plagued historians and archaeologists for centuries. What do textual and archaeological sources actually tell us about Noah and the flood story? In the BAS Library Special Collection Noah and the Genesis Flood, BAS editors have hand-selected articles from Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible Review that examine the Genesis flood, its interpretations, and what the similar Babylonian flood stories can teach us.

Indeed, this Special Collection is filled with parable and high drama, making it a must-read for any student of the Bible, not just those particularly interested in the Book of Genesis, Noah, and the flood.

Whatever intrigues you about the varying stories of the Flood, you’ll find it in this in-depth collection, Noah and the Genesis Flood.

It might surprise you to learn how much there is to know about Noah and his ark, yet this collection includes all of these revealing studies:

As a member of the Biblical Archaeology Society Library, you are able to enjoy this remarkable collection of scholarly articles now. Remember, this collection, Noah and the Genesis Flood, is just a tiny sample of what you have access to in the BAS Library with your All-Access pass.

The Occulting of Culture (and the Church)

The event, so central to Scripture and, indeed, salvation itself, seems as though it is being reduced to a “sideshow” in what is the increasing paganization of culture and even the church. Dr. Peter Jones warned about this 22 years ago in his excellent 2001 book Pagans in the Pews. For way too many, the focus is now on them and not on the One who came to redeem us all.

In Soft Occultism, Patricia Patnode describes: Young women looking for meaning are enchanted by a new paganism elevating ego and material desire.
Young men are also being “enchanted by a new paganism” for pretty much the same reasons. It elevates “ego and material desire.” It affirms and directs worship to the being they most love – themselves.

The paganism that is all the rage is not really new, of course, and has been part of the human condition since shortly after the fall. However, paganism in the Western world faded far away as Christianity ascended in the early centuries. It only seems to us starker and more pronounced today because it follows the Christian era and is strongly resurgent now that Christianity is being pushed aside. God and His Son have been pushed to the background of society and even the church, it seems.

Patnode writes: The new, default spiritual identity for young people in the West is soft occultism, or casual witchery. This identity can easily accompany an existing religious affiliation, and often does since it is so obviously integrated in most aspects of modern Western culture. Some may want to argue that this is only true in the culture outside the church, but the same transformation is happening in many of the “Seeker Sensitive,” “Purpose Driven,” narrative-focused churches, along with many other churches where we may not have expected it to have taken root. Like so many other infections, it seems small and merely bothersome until it is suddenly malignant and, everywhere, a threat to the body.”

It is interesting that Patnode points out that popular lifestyle gurus and life coaches borrow their material from the church!

The root of all kinds of evil is indeed the love of money, but the reason we love money so much is because we love ourselves, and money can, we think, make us happy. Self-love is the root of the root. The search to “uncover hidden knowledge of ourselves” entices us away from the clearly revealed knowledge about ourselves in the word of God. Sound biblical teaching and discipleship in the local church by the pastors, elders, and more mature believers is being gradually replaced with “Christian Life Coaching” and profiling systems. The soft occultism that is pervading much of the church entices and draws the unwary into its grip through “spiritual tools” from occultism like the Enneagram. It too often is embraced and grows through the aid of the pastors in those churches, as well as through Bible Colleges, seminaries, “Christian” publishing houses, and magazines.

A few years ago, I heard of an intriguing new personality test straight from the pulpit….I went home that day and took the test, thinking it was all fun and games and absolutely safe, of course, because I had heard it at church. Upon discovering my number, I was completely won over. At the time, I thought that beyond the pleasant emotional pull of simple “self-awareness,” it was a great tool of transformation, which pointed out my strengths and weaknesses and the blind spots that I had never noticed before but which were keeping me from being the best I could be. I thought it would help with the relationships in my life and could be a great way to authentically connect with others on a deeper level. What ended up happening, though, was the complete opposite. I became hyper-focused on my alleged “type,” and with crazy eyes, I shared it with my friends, family, acquaintances, and even absolute strangers in the grocery store.

I began placing everyone in a box according to what I viewed their “type” to be. In doing this, I felt that I was protected in a way from people I could never hope to comfortably mesh with. I took control into my own hands and steered clear of “certain types” and, for two years, dove headfirst into progressive Christianity without realizing it. I read books by a guy named Richard Rohr (whose occultic teachings, by the way, not a lot of pastors seem familiar with), listened to his followers, and read books by Ian Morgan Cron, Suzzane Stabile, and David G. Benner. I listened to podcasts about the types and read a slew of books based on false doctrine and a specific false view of God known as panentheism. Panentheism teaches that God is in everything. I read about the false self versus true self2 and how to properly relate to others with this spiritual tool. I began psychoanalyzing my family, friends, and close acquaintances, and for two years walked in this way.

Then, two very close friends warned me about this system and ideology that had obviously taken control of my life. The second they warned me about this tool, I realized I already knew the truth in my heart. For a while, though, I continued to double back to it because of the sway it held in my church at the time and many other churches in the Nashville area.…What I found was absolutely astonishing!…What I can mention is that the types originate from a form of automatic writing, which is an allegedly “spiritual way” of making contact with the “spirit world.” It is strange that no one seems to question who these “spirits” might be or whether making contact with these “spirits” is even a safe idea, let alone Christian! Indeed, the practice has origins in the occult and the demonic. I can say without a doubt that this “Tool” isn’t helpful at all, but a blind walk onto a pagan spiritual path – into which many Christians are walking blindly towards and/or have fallen into step with today. It’s getting in touch with an exciting “self” outside of the gospel – a self where you don’t need Jesus at all. I believe that this harmless seeming “Personality test” is an unholy Spirit in the church today, leading Christians out of truth, which is horrifying.

So many pastors and church members walk right into this false religious practice with a big smile on their face and joke with their friends about their types, all the while not realizing exactly what they have attached themselves to. Without thinking, Enneagram adherents start to place others in “personality boxes,” too, which is not kind. I have to wonder what’s truly being “made” of it all by sinister forces beneath the surface. Using it in our churches and messing around with this ideology is dark – horribly dark – and I’m saddened that very few seem to be paying attention.

All of my Christian life, I’ve listened to pastors preach about staying away from evil, and now I plead with you to do your own deep research and throw this evil out of the church. The flock needs protecting and shepherding like never before.https://midwestoutreach.org/2023/12/07/the-occulting-of-culture-and-the-church/
Source: Berean Call

“His Love Has the Power to Change Even the Most Ruined Life”

The son of a saloon keeper, Mel Trotter had learned bartending from his father when his dad was too drunk to pour a drink at the bar. As a young man, Trotter had resolved to escape the saloon, leaving home to take up barbering. Unfortunately, he was so successful as a barber that the income gave him the opportunity to gamble and drink at will.

Trying to escape big city temptations, Mel Trotter moved to Iowa about 1890 and managed to stay sober long enough to marry. But his wife soon discovered that she was married to an alcoholic. He repeatedly vowed to straighten out his life, once staying sober for 11 months. But even the birth of a beloved son could not keep him from drinking. After one 10 day binge, Trotter returned home to find his wife weeping over the dead body of their two year old son.

Trotter left his son’s funeral for a saloon. Then he hopped a train for Chicago, running from his failure, from alcohol, and from the certainty he could not conquer his addiction. He knew his life was running out, but he resolved to end it in anonymity.

The night of January 19, 1897, homeless, hatless, and coatless, Mel Trotter sold his shoes for one last drink before planning to commit suicide. The alcohol barely warmed him as he trudged barefoot through a Chicago blizzard, trying to find lake Michigan so he could drown his sorrows forever. Passing the darkened businesses on Van Buren Street, Trotter stumbled. A young man stepped out of the doorway of the only lit building, helped Trotter up, and invited him inside. Trotter followed, too numb to read the sign over the door: Pacific Garden Mission.

The man sat Trotter down in a warm room full of derelict men. The missions Superintendent, Harry Monroe, was in the middle of his evening message but broke off his comments when he saw Trotter. Monroe felt compelled to pray aloud, “Oh, God, save that poor, poor boy.”

Monroe then shared the story of his own troubled life before he had met Christ. “Jesus loves you”, he concluded, “and so do I. He wants to save you tonight. Put up your hand for prayer. Let God know you want to make room in your heart for him.” Barely understanding what he was doing, Trotter raised his hand. Something inside him rose up and accepted the invitation in simple faith. And in that moment the shackles of alcoholism and despair fell away.

Trotter spent the next 43 years ministering to the men and women he met on the streets, as lost and hopeless as he had been. His message was simple: “God loves you in the midst of the deepest failure and despair and his love has the power to change even the most ruined life.” He was ordained in 1905 and for 40 years served as a supervisor of a rescue mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Alumni of his mission founded 68 other rescue missions across the United States, and Trotter became an international evangelist.

That dark night in Chicago Mel Trotters life didn’t end — it began!

Have you ever struggled with an addiction, whether alcohol, drugs, sex, or something else? God is in the business of delivering men and women from addictions. He did it for Mel Trotter, and he can do it for you.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  Psalms 40:2

Source: E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, The One Year Christian History (Tyndale, 2003) pp. 38-39 (If you are a looking for an historical daily devotional, I heartily recommend this book.)

Do not stay in the chains of addiction. Let Jesus Christ deliver you today. Humble yourself and ask him to do it today, right now. God bless you.

Carl

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTENDOM

It is impossible to understand the present condition of Christendom except in the light of History.      Henry H. Halley

If we wish to understand why the “visible” Christian church looks like it does today, we need to understand what has transpired since Lord Jesus ascended into heaven as recorded in the Book of Acts in the Holy Bible.  I would also add if we wished to properly understand the End Times, we need to understand what transpired in the past.

To help my descendants understand church history and to preserve it for my yet to be born descendants, I have created a website called Christian Church History. Though it is still under construction, I want to now open it up to the readers of this blog.

The site contains videos I have made and on the Resource page there are certain documents I believe are relevant.

Please drop in and look at the site when you have time. You can reach it by going to https://www.carljohnsonministry.com/ or clicking on any of the links in this post.

Any comments, corrections, suggestions, etc. are welcome.

Thank you.

God bless,

Carl

Archeology Confirms The Holy Bible

Pray you and your family are having a great Christmas and New Year Season.

God has a sense of humor.

When the 19th century university elites of Germany began to say the Holy Bible was just a collection of old tales compiled from stories told around the campfire for generations and not reliable, God just sent some men with shovels and spades to the Middle East and had them dig in the ground to show these university elites who professed to be wise that they were fools. 

I was recently reminded of this fact when I discovered a new YouTube Channel entitled “Expedition Bible” (link to website) that shows how archeology and ancient history confirms the Bible. 

The videos take one archeological discovery in the Middle East (Iraq, Jordan, Israel, etc.) and shows how what was discovered confirms the places, people, and events mentioned in the Bible. The author adds certain tools (arrows, lines, camera angles, graphics, context, etc.) to the videos to help you understand what you are looking at, from what viewpoint and how it fits into the Bible narrative. The explanations and subject matter are the most comprehensive I have viewed.

An example would be the YouTube video concerning Nineveh. I understand if you’re afraid to click on published links, so in that case just go to YouTube and search for Expedition Bible.

Another bonus of the videos is that the author, Joel Kramer, a born-again archeologist, refers to some of the earliest published writings of archeologists who were early or the first to excavate places like Ur, the homeplace of Abraham; Babylon, where the Jews spent seventy years in exile and the birthplace of worldwide idolatry, and Nineveh, where Jonah preached and contains the palace of Sennacherib, who conquered parts of Israel.  I have been able to find these out-of-print old titles online for free and in downloadable formats. If you are interested in ancient history, these books are a must have.

An example is the title Ur of Chaldees – A Record of Seven Years of Excavation by Leonard Woolley and published in 1929. Woolley was the archeologist in charge. Ur was where the biblical Abraham lived at one time and today is in modern Iraq.

Following is a link to the About page where you can learn about the author and his goals and, by scrolling down, you can see his statement of faith.

I hope you will check out the content and see how archeology confirms the Bible. Then share the information with your friends who still believe the lies of those old foolish university professors.

Happy New Year

Brother Carl

Our Focus

“If you want to be distracted, look around; if you want to be disgusted, look within; if you want to be delighted, look at Him.”

If we want to be distracted from our fruit bearing produced by our reverence for God, all we have to do is look around at the world and the seemingly hopelessness and futility of it all. We will soon find ourselves depressed and hopeless, distracted and overcome in spirit and soul by the world.

If we start to focus on our lack of fruit bearing and the sin that so easily besets us, we will be disgusted by what we see within ourself. We surely have sinned and come short of the glory of God…as born-again believers. We find ourselves still carrying on our back the corpse of the “old self”, our crucified sinful nature (Romans 6:5-7 & 7: 15-25). Truly disgusting.

But, if we focus on our Savior and Deliverer Jesus Christ and all He accomplished for us through His death and resurrection and His continued intercession for us, there is bright, living hope and assurance and Holy Spirit power for living a Christian life that is pleasing to Him.

And He alone can truly delight our soul!

Amen. 

Carl

One Example of The Dangers of Yoga

AP Photo/Mariam Ilies

The following article concerns the arrest of a Romanian yoga guru who is the leader of a multi-national tantric yoga organization called Atman Yoga Federation and is charged with the indoctrination of his female followers for sexual exploitation. The sexual abuse of female and male followers by yoga gurus is well documented going back to when the Beatles started going to India in the 1960s to receive “enlightenment” which was actually a descent into spiritual darkness. Carl

PARIS (AP) – A 71-year-old Romanian yoga guru and 14 others were handed preliminary charges by a Paris magistrate on a raft of counts linked to an international ring that for years allegedly subjected followers seeking enlightenment to sexual exploitation.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said that six of the 15 people interrogated were ordered held on Friday, while nine others were freed but under judicial surveillance.

Gregorian Bivolaru was among two of the six handed a string of preliminary charges that included human trafficking in an organized band, kidnapping, sequestration or arbitrary detention of numerous people along with rape and “abusing the weakness of a group” via psychological or physical subjection. None of the 15 was named but a judicial source said that Bivolaru was among the two facing the longest list of charges.

A trimmed-down version of the preliminary charges were handed to the other suspects. An investigation will now determine whether the preliminary charges lead to a formal indictment and a trial.

The arrest this past week of Bivolaru and 40 others in the Paris region ended a six-year manhunt in several countries. The police unit that combats sect-related crimes freed 26 people described by authorities as sect victims who had been housed in deplorable conditions.

Accounts from alleged victims detailed in the French media portray Bivolaru as a guru who coerced women into sexual relationships under the guise of spiritual elevation in a career spanning decades and continents.

Bivolaru’s group, initially known as MISA, for Movement for Spiritual Integration Toward the Absolute, was later known as the Atman yoga federation. Non-consensual sexual activities under the facade of tantric yoga teachings were allegedly at the heart of the organization, according to a French judicial official who spoke last week on condition of anonymity because the person, like other judicial officials, wasn’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The group’s “ashrams” were centers for indoctrination and sexual exploitation disguised as spiritual enlightenment, according to the official. One appeared to be exclusively dedicated to satisfying the desires of the leader, with women transported there from elsewhere, the official added.

MISA said in a statement on its website in Romanian that Bivolaru had been targeted by media campaigns since the 1990s to “discredit and slander” him, calling any charges against him in France “absurd accusations.”

The Atman federation meanwhile described the situation to The Associated Press in an email as a “witch hunt,” disclaiming responsibility for the private lives of students and teachers at its member schools. It also highlighted that some member schools had won cases at the European Court of Human Rights, demonstrating human rights violations against them.

The alleged sexual abuses spanned Europe. In 2017, Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation issued an international arrest warrant for him for alleged aggravated human trafficking. Bivolaru had obtained political refugee status in Sweden in 2005, which delayed legal proceedings in Romania. In France, yoga retreats were held in and around Paris and in the southern Alpes-Maritimes region. However, it was not immediately clear how long he had been in France.

Source: Breitbart News

The Point of Departure

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17: 9

Many years ago, in the early days of radio, an incident took place which I may well recount as a crystallization of the aims and purposes I had before me in undertaking this task: the exposition of the epistle to the Romans. In a certain city in central Pennsylvania, listeners were attempting to get my program from a distant station that was broadcasting on a wavelength so near to that of another station that the two programs sometimes became confused. From New York a certain minister was preaching his sermon at the same time that my Bible study was going forth. Friends told me that a woman who was trying to unscramble the two broadcast said, “If I hear a voice talking about the dignity of human personality, I know that I have the New York station. If the voice says that a man must be born again, I know that I have Dr. Barnhouse from Philadelphia.”

Within that exaggeration there is a profound truth, and within that truth there is the expression of the ministry which I seek to exercise. I am convinced that the ministry which seeks to exalt mankind can, in the end, do no good for mankind. On the contrary, the ministry which will reach the truths of man’s complete ruin in sin and God’s perfect remedy in Christ, can best reach the heart of the need of the human race and can bring the only remedy that can heal the heart which God has declared to be humanly incurable.

Quotation from: Donald Gray Barnhouse, Man’s Ruin – Romans 1: 1-32 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company 1952) p. 1

Iranians secretly translating the Bible into their heart languages to share Christ with their People

Iranian Christians attend the New Year mass at the Saint Targmanchats Armenian Church in Tehran on Jan. 1, 2023. | Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

(Dear Reader please pray for our brother and sisters in Iran. Carl)

As the underground Church continues to grow in Muslim-majority Iran, Bible translators are putting their lives on the line to bring the Gospel into the local dialects so that their friends and neighbors can have access to the written word of God for the first time. 

Through the work of the translation agency unfoldingWord, Christians in Iran and across the globe have been able to translate the Gospel themselves into more native languages.

The Christian Post interviewed a representative from unfoldingWord, Evan Thompson, who preferred to use a fake name or pseudonym for his safety.

“There are 1.45 billion people in the world who speak about 5,500 languages that do not have the whole Bible in their heart languages. … The Church has expanded exponentially in the last 20 years. And what these folks have learned is that you can lead someone to Christ, but if they don’t have a church, they don’t survive on their own,” Thompson said. 

“You can start a church, but if that church doesn’t have the Bible in its heart language, it will typically only last one generation. Iran, for example, has churches operating underground. And there are thousands of underground churches in many other parts of the world,” he added. 

UnfoldingWord, a nonprofit organization that has been around for roughly seven years, “works with Church leaders around the world who are seeking to establish their churches in sound doctrine, but lack access to Bible translations in the languages their people speak.”

A day in the life of Iranian Bible translators 

The Christian Post heard from two Iranian women risking their lives to help translate unfoldingWord’s Open Bible story resources from Farsi into other Iranian dialects for evangelizing.

Both women Bible translators have chosen not to give their real names for this article to protect their identities and maintain their safety. 

The first woman, using the name Miriam, said she gave her heart to Christ after coming to the realization that she is “God’s child and daughter.”

Miriam is part of a people group in Iran that is made up of millions of natives. She says she is often treated as a second-class citizen because of how those from other people groups view her status in her people group.

Miriam’s life could be in danger if the Iranian government finds out that she follows Jesus in the Islamic Republic, which Open Doors ranks as the eighth-most hostile country for Christians.

“God is my Father. I feel deeply honored to be part of this work of bringing God’s Word to my people,” Miriam said. 

Despite having children and knowing that her life is at risk for believing in Jesus, Miriam said she will not stop working to translate the Gospel into her heart language. 

“I cannot even imagine leaving this work unfinished. I must complete this work and see the result. I want to see my beloved ones experience salvation in Christ. This is my dream; that my people can talk about God and speak His name freely without any hesitation; without any fear they can talk about God,” she said. 

Miriam was introduced to Christianity through a friend in college who gave her a Farsi New Testament. She had to read the Bible alone and in secret, an act that left her without much of a clear understanding of the Christian faith. 

After college, Miriam married into a strict Muslim family. But, no matter how hard she tried to adapt to the strict religious practices of Islam, she could not find God as a Muslim.  

Miriam said she didn’t give her life entirely to Jesus until after she heard about Transform, an online class offered in Iran that covered the basic teachings of Christianity. 

She watched the classes secretly through various digital platforms. And during one of the class sessions, she gave her life to Christ. 

Following her conversion, Miriam’s husband caught her one day watching the Transform Iran pastor on television.

Miriam could no longer hold back the truth about her faith from her husband. 

“By the grace of God, he did not get angry. He said, ‘I know you are a serious-minded woman, and if this is important to you, it’s OK,'” Miriam recalled. 

Miriam’s husband began watching the class with her, and several months later, he also gave his life to Christ. 

Before her husband’s conversion, the Transform Iran pastor asked her if she would get involved in Bible translation because of her expertise in her heart language. 

Miriam accepted the offer even if that meant risking her life to help translate the Bible into more Iranian tongues. 

“We are not allowed to study our heart languages in Iranian public schools. This is a limitation for our people. I have this language specialty and experience, this expertise so that I can help my own people. People like my mother can read this book,” Miriam said. 

“I have a Bible in Farsi, and I can read it. But I cannot understand the more complicated concepts in it because Farsi is not my heart language. I couldn’t establish a relationship with the Bible in Farsi. I’m very fluent in Farsi. I studied hard and had great teachers. Still, I cannot establish a relationship with the Bible in Farsi,” she continued. 

“How about other people who don’t have my educational advantages? My family and friends? Having the Gospel in my heart language makes it much easier to talk to my family about Jesus. They can understand and accept Him easily.”

‘Jesus fed me’

Another Iranian Bible translator who is using the pseudonym Stella accepted Jesus into her heart after her husband died of cancer.

Following her husband’s death, Stella was left alone to care for her young son. During that time, she relied on the peace of God as her only hope. 

“God has helped me. The Name of Jesus Christ was in my life. I didn’t need anybody. Jesus fed me, put clothes on me and gave me peace,” she said. 

​​Stella learned more about God through a Bible translated into Farsi. At first, she thought Christianity was a religion. But, now she understands that Christianity is a relationship. 

“When I was a new believer, I was thinking that, ‘OK, I’m going to just switch religions.’ But, when I got to know the Holy Spirit, I understood that this is a relationship, not religion,” Stella said. 

Stella is currently working on a Bible translation in her heart language. Her sister-in-law became a Christian thanks to her work translating the Bible. Stella worked for five years alongside her family as they helped her review the translation of the Bible, and now she works as part of a larger Bible translating group.

“I love my mother language. I’m telling the poetry; I write the context. I write the sentence. I record it. … I know all of this is God’s work for us. God wants us to do this. … I am thinking about my mom, my father, my childhood. And everyone that doesn’t have it right now. I really want to bring God to my town and my people,” she said.

A dire need for Bible translations

Before unfoldingWord was launched, traditional Bible translation agencies across the globe have done “marvelous work” and continue to do so, Thompson noted. 

However, he said the number of Western Bible translators that Bible translation agencies can send overseas is dropping, and the demand for Bible translation is increasing rapidly. 

“The group that founded unfoldingWord developed a way to address this problem. We call it church-centric Bible translation. … It’s Bible translation incorporated into the life of the Church as part of its discipleship,” Thompson noted.  

“Most of those unreached people have neighbors who know Christ, and they’re taking the Gospel to them. And what unfoldingWord does is we equip the Church in every people group with a goal of translating the Bible in every language.” 

To help local churches translate the Bible, unfoldingWord provides people groups with open-source software and open-licensed biblical content that’s breaking the copyright barriers to source texts.

The organization also has comprehensive translation guides to answer difficult Bible translation questions. The organization offers essential doctrinal education to protect the theological integrity of the translations.

“unfoldingWord provides training for indigenous Bible translation teams over Zoom and sometimes in neutral locations,” Thompson said.

The training locations are kept secret to protect participants in certain countries where practicing Christianity is not accepted.  

“Our training allows for indigenous Bible translation teams to be able to use best practices when they are translating the Bible for themselves. One of the ways that I like to say it is: ‘We don’t make Bible translations. We help develop Bible translators.’ Because that’s what the Church really needs all over the world.”

Issues bringing translations to Iran  

Thompson said unfoldingWord has aided Iranian natives who have translated the Bible into dozens of native languages.

However, he said there are some unfortunate limitations to the organization’s ability to aid translators in Iran. He cited strict government policies prohibiting Iranians from studying their heart languages or their native tongues in public schools. 

“All of these oppressive countries, like Sudan, like Iran, and some others we could name, are trying to Islamasize their whole population. And one of the ways that they do that is by forcing them to speak this one national language, and it’s causing their heart languages to die out,” Thompson said. 

In Iran, the government recognizes Farsi as the national language. However, many natives speak other Iranian dialects more fluently.  

“It’s very much like anybody that comes to America from someplace else, and we put them in American schools to learn English. Unless their family makes it a point to keep their native languages … alive in their families, by the second or third generation, the kids can’t speak their native language anymore,” Thompson said. 

The few responsible for the many

Miriam believes God has blessed her with a huge responsibility to help translate the Bible into more Iranian languages.  

“This is not just a scientific book. This is God’s Word. I felt some tension. I was scared that I would not do the work well enough, but I’m very happy to make it available so that my people can establish a relationship with the Bible. That’s why I got involved with this Bible translation project,” she said. 

When asked if she can imagine the day when the Bible is completed in even more  Iranian languages, Miriam said it will take many years, and she doesn’t know if she’ll live long enough to see the project’s conclusion. 

“I want my children to experience the result of my work so that they can know Jesus through their heart language. I never thought this project would grow like this. But I’ve learned that it’s not just about me,” Miriam said.  

“I need this team that has been pulled together. For safety, we have many people working on this project secretly. There may be several Christians in one Iranian family, but they cannot share their faith with each other openly,” she continued.  

“We need more people who can speak my heart language to continue working on this project. … I want to ask for prayer … to recruit people into the project who know our language well.”

By: Christian Post staff