How voluntary was the death of our Lord Jesus! Five times we read that He “gave Himself.” He gave Himself for our sins (Galatians:1:4).
He gave Himself a ransom for all (2 Timothy:2:6).
He loved the church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians:5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it).
How blessed it is to know that He gave Himself for us (Titus:2:14).
But what a personal privilege to be able to say that He loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians:2:20).
—Jim Flanigan, Choice Gleanings 2011 (Quoted in Berean Call)
Tag: love
China Detains Beijing house church leaders in latest crackdown on unregistered churches
By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Monday, September 28, 2026
Authorities in China have detained several pastors and church workers from Beijing Jiaquan Church, an independent house church operating in the capital.
The U.S.-based group ChinaAid said it has received firsthand accounts of the arrests, though the number of people held and the charges against them remain unknown.
The group said it was checking whether Jiaquan congregations outside Beijing were hit.
A coordinated operation in several places, if confirmed, would mark another major move against churches outside the state-run religious system, the group said.
ChinaAid’s founder and President Bob Fu said his organization is “urgently concerned for the safety, health and legal rights of every Jiaquan pastor and church co-worker who has been taken away.” He asked authorities to name the detainees, disclose where they’re being held, provide the legal grounds for their apprehension and detention, and allow them to see independent lawyers.
Jiaquan has operated in the capital for over two decades, has 1,000 members, and has built churches and meeting locations in several parts of China, people familiar with the church said. It draws younger Christians in cities with discipleship, contemporary worship music and interactive fellowship.
Its leaders have run Noah Music School in Beijing for over 10 years, training worship leaders and musicians for house churches around China.
The arrests occurred days before Xi’s summit with President Donald Trump, and follow a Sept. 16 Washington forum on religious freedom, where advocates highlighted cases of Christian persecution ahead of Xi’s visit.
Fu called the arrests part of a growing campaign aimed at several of China’s most influential city churches. He said these churches differ in history and ministry and share a resolve to run church life free of government political control.
House churches stay outside the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the government-approved Protestant body, and other Protestant structures under state control. Rules on unregistered religious groups have tightened in recent years, and there have been verified cases of raids, surveillance and prosecutions.
In October 2025, authorities began coordinated raids on Beijing Zion Church, among the biggest house-church networks in China. Members were detained in several provinces, and 18 were formally arrested.
The group reported on Sept. 10 that eight Zion pastors and co-workers were still in custody in Beihai, a city in the southern autonomous region of Guangxi, on charges of “fraud” and “illegal business operations.”
Police have also repeatedly acted against Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital in southwestern China. On June 14, police broke up a church meeting at a hotel in the city of Jiangyou, northeast of Chengdu, and detained more than 30 members.
On Sept. 10, police detained 11 Christians, most of them older than 60, at a small reading group in a teahouse. Authorities banned Early Rain after mass arrests in December 2018, and its founding pastor, Wang Yi, was later sentenced to nine years in prison.
A lawyer for Zion Church pastors has fled China with her spouse and their two children as authorities pressed her law firm to dissolve. Ruth Wang is a partner at the firm, VDoor, and since October 2025 has been on the legal team for Zion founder Pastor Ezra Jin and other detained members.
Taiwan has given the family temporary humanitarian housing, according to the news account Visegrad 24. The Malaysia Sun reported that Wang arrived on the island earlier this month.
Taiwanese officials reportedly told Wang the island cannot grant asylum to mainland Chinese under its rules, citing tensions between Beijing and the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Wang is considering a move to the U.S. or Canada and has said the family’s future is uncertain.
In a separate case, authorities released Lian Xuliang, pastor of the unregistered Xi’an Church of Abundance in Shaanxi province, over four years after they opened a national security case against him and two others. He went home earlier this month, according to the rights group Weiquanwang.
The rights group Church in Chains said the three spent six months held apart in small rooms of a former hotel while their families heard nothing. It said they were starved, beaten, drugged and denied bathroom use for long stretches.
Why Communist and Leftist Governments Hate Christianity.
Why Communist and Leftist Governments hate Christianity.
Author: Robin Schumacher
Source: Christian Post
If you’re someone who thinks Christians aren’t persecuted much in today’s world, I have a challenge for you. Subscribe to Voice of the Martyrs magazine, read three issues, and then let me know if you’ve changed your opinion.
The current VOM magazine (March 2020) provides an excellent reality check for those who believe Communism is on the way out and gives a drill down into recent activities in Communist China. After the cultural revolution (1966-76) that resulted in China being placed firmly in the hands of Communist control, the campaign to stomp out Christianity has now risen to a point where churches are routinely bulldozed, Christians are consistently harassed, interrogated, and imprisoned, and pastors get ‘disappeared’.
Why is it that Communist and Leftist governments persecute and hate Christianity so much? To answer that question, we need to peel back the theological, philosophical, and historical covers to get a better understanding of what motivates these anti-God worldviews, where their humanistic pursuits take them, and their tragic end results.
The theological foundation
Jesus provides a succinct explanation for why these worldviews and forms of governments hate Christianity when He says, “The world … hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil” (John 7:7). He speaks to the same thing earlier in the book of John: “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (John 3:19-21).
When you tell an adherent of one of these belief systems and their oppressive government that their actions or ideas are wrong, it produces an egocentric rage that quickly manifests in authoritarian actions that first move to silence such ‘hate speech’ and then go further to squash the persons themselves. The Bible says we shouldn’t be surprised at this kind of aggression because “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Rom. 8:7).
The natural outworking of this, from a governance standpoint, is the rejection and outlawing of liberties and freedoms (especially religious) of the general public. In rejecting God, tyrannical governments and their underlying worldviews suppress the fact that God is a free being, and since we are made in His likeness, we are also free beings who have innate freedoms that naturally flow to us from our Creator.
And for authoritarian governments, that just can’t be allowed.
The philosophical permission slips
Churchill once said that, “the empires of the future will be empires of the mind”.[1] By this he meant worldviews, ideologies, and belief systems power human actions and have consequences. Humanity always looks to some foundation of knowledge or learning to justify what it does, and when we look at the philosophies behind both Communism and Leftism, we find teachings that do everything in their power to reject Christian thinking.
As most know, the philosophy of Karl Marx gave birth to and supports the Communist philosophy. Marx thought religion was a mechanism of control used by society’s elite to manipulate the masses. But he went further to say, “Religion is the self-consciousness and the self-feeling of the man who has either not yet found himself, or else (having found himself) has lost himself once more. This state, this society, produce religion, a perverted world consciousness, because they are a perverted world. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people” (Marx’s original emphasis).[2]
While most understand Marxism, what’s not so well known is the philosophy of Leftist thinking. It was given birth to in 18th century France, with the origination of its mindset being cloaked beneath the cover of the Enlightenment and sheltered under seemingly reputable names like Rene Descartes, Sir Issac Newton, Sir Francis Bacon, and John Locke. Much like Marxism and Communism, it purported to use its philosophy to combat poverty and unfairness.
In truth, the actual set of principles powering Leftist thinking came from Voltaire, a French writer, historian, and philosopher who introduced the common argument against religion of ‘reason over superstition’. He and his lover (Émilie du Châtelet) concluded their formal examination of the Bible by saying it was nonsense. Voltaire and Émilie called Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount “trite, ridiculous, absurd” and His resurrection “comedy”.
Voltaire’s snide and caustic attitude are captured by British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay whose words not only portray the man but also define what is representative of the entire Leftist movement: “He could not build – he could only pull down; he was the very Vitruvius of ruin.”[3]
Other philosophers that aided Voltaire included Denis Diderot who provided a sneak peek into the Left’s use of violence with a quote that is commonly attributed to him: “Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”[4] Beyond hostility, another attribute characterizing the origins of the Left was muddled thinking, which is represented well by Jean Jacques Rousseau who complained that people’s woes are the result of society, evidently overlooking the fact that societies are comprised of people.
The gods, priests, and prophets of Communism and the Left
It’s a historically verifiable fact that when you hold God’s funeral, someone will take His place. And that replacement is always one of us.
The deification of man that you see today in Communist governments like China and North Korea are nothing new. Look back to ancient Egypt, and you will find the pharaoh being thought divine and elevated above his subjects, who were expected to deliver nothing short of absolute obedience.
Then came other in-place-of-God rulers such as Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (who assumed the name Theos Epiphanes or “God Manifest”) and various Roman Caesars like Domitian who demanded to be addressed as “Dominus et Deus” (Lord and God).
The interesting thing about emperor worship is noted by historian William Barclay who observed, “The extraordinary fact is that emperor worship was not imposed on the Roman Empire from above; it grew from below.” Romans populations, pleased with their fragile peace and economy, took things too far in the worship of their emperors not realizing the monster they were creating. The exact same thing happened in Nazi Germany.
As the gods of the ancient world had their own priests and prophets, the same is true today. Deified political despots have their enabling politburo members, senators, etc., that the people look to in hope that interventions will be made on their behalf to the current ruler. And the propaganda machines and mouthpieces of the media take the place of prophets with their aim being to serve and glorify their chosen monarch, bury any negative impressions, and proclaim new revelations and insight from on high.[5]
How does it start?
The inauguration of the Communist and Leftist gods, priests and prophets that make up oppressive governments is usually done in a manner that resembles the events that took place during the French revolution of 1789. The American Revolution of 1776, we should remember, was motivated by a faith-based view of humanity and desired freedom from governmental oppression. Its aim was to recognize freedom based on innate human worth, absolute truth, and a morality underpinned by Judeo-Christian values that contained checks and balances to prevent any abuse of power.
By contrast, the French Revolution of 1789 chased a different type of freedom – one that was characterized by the pursuit of absolute power and secularism that included a mob-driven and forceful de-Christianization campaign. Discarding God, it was typified by an untrustworthy moral fluidity that expunged the idea of religious moral boundaries and grounded its ethics in pragmatism and ever-changing right and wrong.
The horrifying end results
The outworking of the French Revolution (and others like them) reflect the worst of modern-day slasher films and bear witness to an important truth for those who participate in them: Communist and Leftist movements are cannibalistic in nature; i.e. they eat their own. Their actions personify what novelist Walter Jon Williams once said: “I’m not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels. I’m afraid of what real human beings do to other real human beings.”[6]
The two primary weapons employed by these movements are the lie and violence. History has shown that the tongue of Communist and Leftist governments, and their enablers, is forked and patterned after their spiritual father: “Whenever he [the devil] speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Witness the current COVID-19 lies and coverup from Communist China as just one of countless examples.
In addition to falsehood, violence is another hallmark of Communism and the Left. Again, they mirror their spiritual father who is “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
While these oppressive worldviews have criminal records that wrap around the earth hundreds of times, a tired tactic they employ to take the spotlight off their bloody past is to accuse religion as being the real culprit behind the moral brutality that’s occurred down through history. The only problem with that claim is that it is 100% false.
It’s true that atrocities have been committed in the name of religion (e.g. ISIS, the Crusades, the Thirty Years’ War, etc.), but they barely register on history’s violence Geiger counter compared to the carnage and body count produced by secular governments. Historians Philip and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars shows that, of the 1,763 wars waged over the course of human history, only 123 of them have been religious in nature. [7] That amounts to an amazingly low 6.98% of all wars being the result of religion.
Further, when wars carried out in the name of Islam are subtracted, the percentage falls to 3.23%, meaning that all religions combined – minus Islam – have been responsible for less than 4% of all humanity’s wars and violent conflicts.[8]
The sobering fact that secular despotic governments account for over 93% of all violence and war in human history is summed up by political science professor R. J. Rummel this way in his book, Death by Government: “Almost 170 million men, women and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed or killed in any other of a myriad of ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. The dead could conceivably be nearly 360 million people. It is though our species has been devastated by a modern Black Plague. And indeed it has, but a plague of Power, not germs.”[9]
Afraid but not afraid
So why do Communist and Leftist governments and their adherents hate Christianity? “The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil” (John 7:7). “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18-20).
Ironically, though, for all its hatred of Christian teaching, Marxist and Leftist philosophy end up abducting God’s first commandment of “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:3) and modifying it to be, “You shall not have God before me.”
This anti-God mandate along with today’s prevailing post-truth and anti-Christian thinking of Marxists and Leftists is something that has proven itself to be deadly. Their human condition is summarized well by political researchers Mark L Melcher and Stephen Soukup who speak to the birth of the Left in France: “Their atheism has left them with stunted moral values. Their utopianism has rendered them incapable of assessing the secondary and tertiary consequences of their actions. Their lifestyles provide us with the first glimpse into the sickness inherent in the nihilism that would come to be the progeny of their efforts. Finally, the petulance and outsized egos presage the terrible violence that awaits France.”[10]
However, even in the face of such promised violence and persecution, Christians such as those in China’s Early Rain Covenant Church continue their faithfulness to Jesus. They are afraid but yet not afraid, knowing that God remains sovereign over everything. Theirs is a realism that acknowledges the spiritual evil behind their Communist government’s actions but yet looks upward to pursue a purpose spoken to by their pastor, Wang Yi, before he was arrested:
“The goal of disobedience is not to change the world, but to testify of another world.”[11]
[2] “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Introduction,” in On Religion, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, tr. Reinhold Niebuhr (Chico, CA: Scholar’s Press, 1964), pp. 41-2.
[3] Thomas Babington Macaulay, Life of Frederick the Great (American Book Exchange, 1879), 143-4. Vitruvius was a Roman author, architect, civil engineer, and military engineer during the 1st century BC.
[4] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/53247-men-will-never-be-free-until-the-last-king-is
[5] One thing different in the current American media is the shift from news reporting to full biased, opinion-driven communication where, in a very real way, the media are actually trying to govern through their bullying tactics.
[6] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/walter_jon_williams_250112
[8] For a PowerPoint presentation on this material, see: http://www.slideshare.net/schumacr/does-religion-cause-war.
[10] Mark L Melcher and Stephen Soukup, Know Thine Enemy (Murrells Inlet, SC: 2018), Kindle Edition.
[11] Voice of the Martyrs magazine, March 2020, 7.
Robin Schumacher is a software executive and Christian apologist who has written many apologetic articles, appeared on nationally syndicated radio programs, and presented at various apologetic events. He holds a Master’s in Christian apologetics and a Ph.D. in New Testament.
The Danger of Complacency
“I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins. They think the LORD will do nothing to them, either good or bad.” Zephaniah 1:12
It’s been said that we become like the gods we worship. Whatever we continually behold, we consistently reflect. Some of God’s own children have so lost sight of His Majesty, power, and authority that they shrugged their shoulders and chose to live the way they so desired. They reduced God’s influence to that of a lifeless idol. Furthermore, they projected their own indifference onto him, thinking he cared very little as to whether people did right or wrong, as if he himself would never react to sin or respond to righteousness. The word complacent in this passage is akin to the process of curdling, thickening, or settling into. In other words, when we let go of our own conviction, and when we stop caring about sin (and worse yet, when we somehow think that God is on the same page), something destructive settles within us. Our faith curdles; our sin becomes like quicksand, and we shrug our shoulders over the consequences of it all. God will have none of it. He is not indifferent about anything. God will have none of it. Never confuse God’s patience with complacency. Sin has its consequences and righteousness has its rewards. If you know someone who is complacent in their sin, pray and fast for them. It’s no small thing to God. A day of reckoning is coming unless they wake up and repent.
Ask the Lord to show you if you’ve misjudged Him in any way.
Author: Susie Larson, Prevail, Day 214
Powerful warning! Let us be people of faith who fear (reverence) God.
Thank you for your time.
Carl
Who Will NOT Inherit the Kingdom of God
The Bible warns that in the last days many will be deceived by false prophets (preachers) and false teachers who proclaim another Jesus and another gospel besides the biblical Jesus and His Gospel. They will lead many to hell instead of heaven.
An example is found in a Christian Post article concerning the former president of Exodus International, a once-prominent Christian ministry that sought to help people with unwanted same-sex attraction. The ministry closed in 2013. He is quoted as saying:
“Someone’s relationship with Christ isn’t dependent on the things that they do or the behaviors that they’re involved in.”
And
“there are so many gay and lesbian people that I know, transgender people, bisexual people, you name it, who have a vibrant relationship with Christ and their sexual narrative doesn’t negate their righteousness or holiness.”
The following Scriptures are presented in love as a warning to show that these type of comments are deceptive and wrong. There are people who the Bible plainly teaches will not inherit the kingdom of God. This means they do not go to heaven but to eternal torment when they physically die. Do not be found among them. Flee to the real biblical Jesus who said, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Carl
Scriptures:
Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Lord Jesus – Matthew 10:32-33
But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time, and shall begin to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.
Lord Jesus – Matthew 24:48-51
But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.
Lord Jesus – Matthew 24:13
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral*, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate**, nor homosexuals***, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy****, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
*sexually immoral (pornos) is one who engages in sexual immorality (Moody), i.e. fornication, adultery, homosexual, lesbian, bestialities, abuse of children, etc.
**effeminate are “men who fill the sexual role of the female” in homosexual activity. (Moody)
***homosexuals means literally “males who take other males to bed”. (Moody)
****greedy: covetous, “those who would like to have more” and act unethically to get it.” (Moody) This person has made mammon his god and is an idolator.
I Corinthians 6:9-11
But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them…
Ephesians 5:3-7
…when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction,away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
Colossians 3:5-7
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no one violate the rights and take advantage of his brother or sister in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you previously and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
I Thessalonians 4:3-8
Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him; and their time of punishment would be forever.
Psalm 81:15
There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things [abominations] the Lord your God is going to drive them out before you. 13 You are to be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations, which you are going to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
Deuteronomy 18:10-14
The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
…and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 21:8, 27
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
Revelation 22:14-15
Conclusion : Jesus warned us that in the last days there would be much deception. Many in the attempt to justify their behavior before God have sought out false preachers who will tickle their ears by misinterpreting the Word of God or outright lying to justify their lifestyle. John, a disciple of Jesus, tells us very plainly about how we can tell we are deceived:
If we say that things in common we are having with Him [God], and thus fellowship, and in the sphere of the aforementioned darkness are habitually ordering our behavior, we are lying, and we are not doing the truth.
[In other words, the person is deceived and God does not approve of their behavior but condemns it and instead of fellowshipping with God, they are actually fellowshipping with a false Jesus/God who is a demon. ] Then John goes on to say:
But if within the sphere of the light we are habitually ordering our behavior as Himself is in the light, things in common and thus fellowship we [God and the believer] are having with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son keeps continually cleansing us from every sin.
I John 1:6-7 Wuest Expanded Translation
Following Scripture explains the Biblical standard concerning conduct.
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that He [Jesus] appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.
I John 3:4-10
Lord Jesus came to free us from our sins and purify us for Himself:
For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all people, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of ]our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.
Titus 2:11-14
The next Scripture tells us how to be saved from our sins:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:8-12
If you see yourself in these Scriptures and realize that you are continuously practicing one or more of these sins and are subject to God’s wrath, repent (turn) from and confess your sins to God and call upon the Lord Jesus today to wash away your sins with His precious blood. He will save your soul delivering you from the wrath of God. He will give you His Holy Spirit to live in you. He, the Spirit of God, will teach you and empower you to become free from practicing sin and live a life pleasing to Him.
God is merciful to those who are repentant and contrite of heart. He will save you regardless of what you have done if you will confess your sins and ask Him to have mercy on you. Call out to Him today.
Carl
Notes:
- All Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible (1977 Translation or later) unless otherwise indicated.
What is the Deceitfulness of Sin?
The writer of the Book of Hebrews in the Bible warns us of the following:
Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13
Drawing from the history of the Jewish people, the writer exhorts us not to be like those who had unbelieving hearts, fell away from the living God and died in the wilderness.
The Holy Spirit is speaking through the writer to warn us about our heart [our inner man- who we truly are] becoming hard [unbelieving] toward God and His Word [the Bible] because of the deceitfulness of sin.
Here is some of the ways sin deceives us:
Offers False Promises of Pleasure – sin acts as bait, dangling immediate, fleeting satisfaction or gain while hiding the inevitable pain and ruin it produces.
Progressive Hardening of the Heart – sin dulls spiritual sensitivity over time, moving a person toward apathy, disobedience, and an inability to recognize evil.
Self-Deception – The Bible warns that our own hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), prompting us to rationalize wrongful behavior and believe we can escape consequences.
Distortion of Truth – Sin mask itself as wisdom or enlightenment, just as it did in the Garden of Eden, causing us to doubt God’s word.
Misleading About God – It makes God’s commands seem unreasonable or restrictive, trying to make us believe that God is against our best interests.
Did you recognize any of sins deceptions? Unfortunately, I recognize them all. They have tricked me at times into forsaking church attendance, not reading/studying my Bible, not praying, being prideful and arrogant, thinking I’m special when I was just sinful, not loving my fellow Christian and the unbeliever, being consumed with my agenda and not God’s, lying, lusting, being rebellious, unloving, and stubborn….and I could go on all day.
What should we do if we find ourselves with a hard, unbelieving heart today? We need to confess our sins and pride to God the Father. He already knows our sins. He is not surprised by them. He has promised the following to His children:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. I John 2: 1-2
and
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9
In Proverbs there is a Scripture that says a righteous man falls seven times but he always gets back up. So if you find yourself convicted by this post, get back up, turn from your sins and confess them to God, receive God’s forgiveness, believe God’s Word, be led by the indwelling Holy Spirit and perform the good works God called you to.
Be a blessing and an encourager to someone who needs mercy and grace.
May He richly bless you in your obedience.
Carl
Do Not Forget Any of His Benefits
Bless the Lord, my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your guilt,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with favor and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The Lord performs [b]righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His deeds to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always contend with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who [c]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our wrongdoings from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him.
14 For He Himself knows [e]our form;
He is mindful that we are nothing but dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place no longer knows about it.
17 But the [f]mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who [g]fear Him,
And His justice to the children’s children,
18 To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts, so as to do them.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His [h]sovereignty rules over [i]all.
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you His [j]angels,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, my soul!
(Psalm 103 – New American Standard Bible Translation, emphasis added)
Praise Him for all of His benefits! May we be like the early believers who were “…going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit… (Acts 9:31)
His blessings be upon all that love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Carl
(Scripture and footnotes from Bible Gateway)
Footnotes
- Psalm 103:5 Or desire
- Psalm 103:6 Or deeds of vindication
- Psalm 103:11 Or revere
- Psalm 103:13 Or revere
- Psalm 103:14 I.e., what we are made of
- Psalm 103:17 Or faithfulness
- Psalm 103:17 Or revere
- Psalm 103:19 Or kingdom
- Psalm 103:19 I.e., the universe
- Psalm 103:21 Lit hosts
“Dreaming” in Jude – A Warning Against Immorality
“Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh,…” Jude 8
Welcome back as we continue our study of the false teachers in Jude:
3. Our opening scripture means they indulged in what we would call pornography. “Dreaming” means metaphorically “to be beguiled with sensual images and carried away to an impious course of conduct” (Thayer). As a result they were defiling their physical bodies with acts of immorality.
The term “in the same manner” refers to verse 5 – 7 where it says:
Now I want to remind you, though you know everything once and for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Jude compares the false teachers to the fallen angels who left heaven and committed fornication with the wicked women of the earth (Genesis 6) and to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who committed “gross immorality” (NASB) or “fornication” (KJV). God has the fallen angels in prison for their sin TODAY awaiting the final judgment and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah are still “undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” TODAY. Both are held up as an “example” which means “something held up to view as a warning” (Wuest). Jude holds both of these exhibits up to the brethren as a warning that God will not be mocked, He will not be “outwitted or evaded”. These examples are still a warning to us today.
These false teachers, while claiming to be God’s spokesman, were participating in fornication and adultery. Not only them, but, as we will see, the Lord’s bond servants they deceived. God plainly reveals His will about sex outside of marriage and adultery in the New Testament:
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;…” (I Thessalonians 4:3-5)
May we heed His warning and keep ourselves from sexual immorality.
God bless you.
Carl
Understanding the Threat of Islamism to Christians and Western Values
The global surge of Islamist activity, marked by violent acts, protests, and religious tensions, has sparked significant concern for Christians and Western societies. From terrorist attacks in New Orleans and violent demonstrations in Europe to widespread grooming and abuse scandals in Britain and brutal persecution of Christians in Africa, these events reflect both historical patterns of conquest within Islam and the modern implications of Islamism. This escalating threat underscores the urgent need for vigilance, prayer, and support for persecuted Christians worldwide.
The rough start to 2025 did not start on January 1. On New Year’s Day, a U.S. Army veteran plowed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans in a terrorist attack done in the name of the Islamic State. A few hours later, pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked Sixth Avenue in New York, calling to globalize the intifada. Across the Atlantic, a report was released about Muslim “grooming gangs” preying on lower-class white girls in Britain, although “grooming” is too mild of a descriptor for what the report claimed.
Since 2000, 250,000 British girls have been drugged, sexually assaulted, and trafficked. Those who reported their assaults were blamed or ignored. Fathers who attempted to rescue their daughters were arrested. People who tried to expose this behavior were imprisoned. Apparently, officials were afraid of being labeled racist or being accused of inciting racial tensions. They were more fearful of being insensitive than protecting girls from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Across Europe, Christmas markets were attacked and disrupted by Muslim demonstrations. In many European cities, Muslims regularly pray publicly in areas in acts designed to cause maximum disturbance. This is something rare in actual Islamic nations and indicates the intent of Muslims to claim new territory as their own. On New Year’s Day, immigrants, mostly Muslim, rioted in Brussels, Berlin, and other cities.
Also, in what’s become a terrible tradition on holy days in Nigeria, Christians again suffered a series of murderous attacks over Christmas at the hands of Islamic Fulani herdsmen and ISIS-related groups. According to a report from Open Doors, at least 25 were killed, some while returning from a Christmas Day church service. 21 Christians were also killed in Christmastide attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Most Muslims are peaceful and would condemn such attacks in the name of their faith. However, a significant percentage of Muslims are Islamists, and Islamists who believe that Islam is destined to rule the world often think that jihad is how this domination will happen. Islamism is not an aberrant form of Islam, as is often claimed. In view of the history of Islam, Islamists more closely reflect the life of Mohammed and the history of Islam than is often acknowledged.
Mohammed, a merchant turned religious leader turned warlord, initially attempted to convert the surrounding Arabs by preaching to them. When that failed, he turned to raiding and sought conversions by military conquest. As his power expanded and Mohammed’s raiding extended into Persia and the Byzantine Empire, he allowed his warriors to take non-Muslims as sex slaves, similar to what is happening today in Britain.
Mohammed’s successors also expanded Muslim territory by conquest. In fact, conquest is the primary means by which Islam has spread across the world. Some groups, like the Turks, converted to Islam to avoid slave raids. Others allied with the Caliphate for economic reasons or to obtain better military technology. In some areas, Muslims were welcomed as merchants and granted concessions until, when they were strong enough, the Muslims took over those regions. A recent parallel is Lebanon, once a majority Christian country until Palestinian refugees consolidated enough power to topple the government.
Muslims often claim that jihad does not mean “religious war” but rather “struggle” and that the “greater jihad,” according to the Qur’an, is the struggle to submit to the will of Allah. That is true according to the Qur’an, but in Islamic literature and history, jihad overwhelmingly refers to religious warfare. In principle, jihad as warfare is to be defensive. However, in practice, and according to Mohammad, anyone who is called but refuses to convert to Islam is a threat to the Islamic community and subject to jihad.
The early chapters of the Qur’an contain statements prohibiting coercion in religion, as well as positive statements about Christians and Jews. However, these statements are considered by Islamists to be abrogated by later statements prohibiting friendship with Christians and Jews. Included in these later passages are particularly vicious statements against the Jews. Historically, in Muslim countries, Christians and Jews were considered second-class citizens, with limited rights and increasing prohibitions on their behavior, often designed to humiliate them.
Many critics and scholars suggest that Islam needs a Reformation, like what happened in the sixteenth century within Christianity. Arguably, Islamism is that reformation, a return to the authoritative sources of Islam, a literal reading of the Qur’an, an embrace of Sharia law, and an emphasis on the personal example of Mohammad.
Clearly, the rise of Islamism around the world holds serious implications for Christians and the West. Even more, the implications are immediate for our persecuted brethren in Islamic countries and in borderland territories like Nigeria. Pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ living under Islamic rule.
By John Stonestreet – President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program.
Source: Christianity .com
From ‘Borderline Satanism’ to God Encounter: Former Lesbian Says Jesus ‘Completely Transformed’ Her
Melanie Rivas’ joy for Jesus is contagious. In fact, a recent video about how God changed her life has gone viral on social media, garnering nearly 400,000 views.
Yet, just nine months ago, the 22-year-old was homeless, broke, and fleeing from an abusive same-sex relationship.
“My ex-wife stole all my money and locked me out of all of my accounts. So I had nothing,” she told CBN News.
Rivas says she was despondent and on the brink of suicide. However, a strange email notification led her to randomly purchase a Bible at a local Walmart. Rivas said that as she began to read the New Testament, the Spirit of God filled her car and her life was “completely transformed” in that moment.
Early Years
The Chicago native grew up in a Catholic home familiar with the traditions of the faith, such as baptism and communion. She shared, “It almost felt like a routine for me.” Rivas admits her relationship with Jesus was “like (a) procedure,” and devoid of any connection to Him.
She told CBN News that because she didn’t have a solid relationship with Christ, she was led by the wrong influences.
“I was just following the world, and I was super (impressionable), because I didn’t have Jesus,” she said. “When you don’t have Jesus as your anchor, like you’re just looking at what’s around and you want to be a part of it.”
“I go into this high school where they’re telling me that it’s actually weird that I’m not homosexual,” she shared, explaining that was when she began “entertaining homosexual relationships.”
With little guidance and direction, Rivas also began to experiment with drugs.
“I was in a rebellious state too,” she recalled. “I started doing a bunch of drugs. That’s when I got into weed, and then weed turned into acid and then acid turned into shrooms, and then it turned into cocaine. And I’m doing this as a high-schooler!”
Rivas said she also struggled with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. All of that was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the height of lockdowns, social distancing, and isolation, she turned to TikTok.
As CBN News reported, the popular social media platform known for quick videos, one-minute dance challenges, and viral trends, became a big hub for witches and warlocks around the pandemic.
Videos with the hashtag #WitchTok had amassed more than 30 billion views and made it easier for would-be witches or those interested in the occult to learn more about it, according to a 2022 BBC report.
Rivas was one of its viewers. “Like I said, for a teenager who doesn’t have Jesus, the culture impacts you so much. So it’s almost like being a witch was cool,” she recalled. “I didn’t think of it as like a witch, like a warlock or something like that. I just thought it was cute.”
The young woman explained that she began to go deeper into witchcraft after she met a girl who worshipped the “idol of death.”
“We’re all created to worship God,” she pointed out. “That’s literally why we’re created to have a personal relationship with Him. But when you don’t have that relationship with (Jesus), you look to worship other things. Like you’re so open to it. I was searching for that missing aspect of my life.”
“I’m sitting there worshiping death. And it’s borderline Satanism,” she added.
The 22-year-old said she eventually married that girl, but the relationship was “very controlling and very toxic.”
Rivas said that the woman convinced her to join OnlyFans. The subscription-based platform is widely recognized for its explicit content. Rivas said she joined just before the platform became popular, but she quickly found herself “deep in the rabbit hole.”
Finding Jesus
Rivas shared that things in her life went from bad to worse overnight.
“(My former relationship) got to the point where we had a really bad fight. It ended with the marriage certificate being ripped in my face, my clothes were in trash bags outside, and I was getting kicked out,” she recalled. “In a single day, I lost my home, I lost the person I thought I was going to be with for the rest of my life and I lost my way of getting income…I ended up sleeping in my car.”
Rivas recounts that she spiraled into a depression. “I even tried therapy, and the therapy didn’t work, but the therapist did give me antidepressants.”
The artist said she began to be tormented by thoughts of committing suicide.
“I remember getting to a point where I thought I had tried everything. I tried drugs. I tried spiritual spells… like all this stuff. Nothing worked. I even tried therapy, and the therapy didn’t work. And so I was like, you know what? Like, I am so done with life. I don’t want to be here anymore. And so I ended up planning (to take) my life.”
Rivas remembers sitting in her car with a bottle of pills in her hand. She then made a decision that would change the trajectory of her life – she checked her email.
“I got this weird email from like a horoscope email, and it said, ‘You need to go get a book right now,'” she recalled, adding that she felt deep in her heart to go to the nearest store.
“I had a Walmart two minutes away from me, and I was like, okay, I’ll go,” Rivas said. With five dollars to her name, she perused the book aisle.
“My ex-wife stole all my money and locked me out of all of my accounts. So I had, I had nothing. And so I went to the book section, and there were all these (expensive) books,” she told CBN News. “They’re (books) that are $50, $60. I thought this was pointless.”
“And then I keep looking, and there’s one book, and it’s one dollar, not a $1.50, just a plain dollar,” she said. “It’s the New Testament Bible. And I remember looking at it and was like, ‘You can’t even get a candy bar for a dollar.'”
Rivas says she was shocked and intrigued by her find. She purchased the book, went back to her car, and sobbed as she read the Bible.
“As soon as I opened it…I don’t even know how to explain it. It was like I got this warm feeling in my body,” she said. “I genuinely felt the Holy Spirit.”
Rivas describes feeling God’s love for her, His compassion for her, but also a sense of sadness for how she was living.
“I felt His mourning for me…like He has seen me try and live this life alone…like He’s just been missing me.”
A Voice to Her Generation
It was an encounter with God that has impacted her. Rivas says she has fully surrendered her life to Him and now spends her time proclaiming the Gospel message on social media.
“I got baptized, and that was nine months ago,” she said, adding that God has called her to make an Instagram account to share what He has done for her.
“He’s grown it in like seven months from zero to 78,000 followers. And that’s all Him,” Rivas expressed. “I just proclaim Jesus everywhere I go.”
Her message has been getting out to the masses. Recently, Lila Rose, the president of Live Action, shared one of Rivas’ videos to her social media page, and it has gotten nearly 400,000 views.
Rivas says she will continue to share her story because it reveals “how merciful and how abundant our Father is.”
She is encouraging GenZ to turn to God because a world that promises answers in drugs, sex, and alcohol can only give you destruction in return. Rivas says true peace comes from Jesus alone. She says she hopes her story will help someone open their heart to Him.
“He’ll completely transform your life,” she said.
Source: CBN News
Atheist Filmmaker Abandons Unbelief For Jesus
Please visit the following link for a true fascinating journey of an atheistic filmmaker who finally finds salvation in Jesus Christ. God bless you and yours. Carl
www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2026/january/atheist-filmmaker-abandons-unbelief-for-jesus
“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
Is God ALMIGHTY?
In the gospels Christ teaches that God is almighty. But there is so much suffering in the world that God sometimes seems to be powerless. His Son, who was executed like a common criminal, continues to suffer every time a Christian is martyred. And atheist rulers try to chase Him from their countries. If God were almighty, wouldn’t He end the injustice and suffering?
A Communist prosecutor in the Soviet Union before its dissolution, lured or coerced a number of Christian children to disclose the names of their Sunday school teachers. As a result, four leading Christians in the town were sentenced to prison. Although these children could not have known the consequences of their actions, their consciences may forever accuse them as Judases.
Also in the Soviet Union, the children of a Christian family were placed in a home for mentally disabled children because they believed in Christ. One year later, their parents succeeded in getting them out of the home and having them evaluated by doctors in another town, and the children were found to be mentally healthy. Will these children ever recover from what they suffered?
Why does Almighty God ordain or even allow so much suffering? Is He almighty, or is He powerless? The suffering that all of us must endure prompts us to ask the same question.
First, we must examine our understanding of the word might. Many of us probably view the word as meaning the power to crush, subdue, suppress, or punish. But the word can also be used in a more positive way, as in the might to love, to be patient and quiet, to suffer innocently and to be good to wrongdoers.
While beating a Christian, a Communist officer told him, “I am almighty, as you suppose your God to be. I can kill you.” The Christian boldly replied, “The power is all on my side. I can love you while you torture me to death”. Such is God’s might which is reflected in the deep tranquility of the souls of saints. They do not ask “Why all the sorrow?” because they have learned to love the cross, accepting rejection and discomfort. When we take this attitude, our perplexity ceases.
Suffering drives some to despair and torments their soul, while others are grateful for it. I have seen faithful Christian prisoners dancing for joy. They recognize God’s might and patiently show love towards their torturers. God’s love will conquer.
We cannot understand God’s reasons for allowing suffering, but someday we will know as we are known by God (1 Corinthians 13:12). And cannot God compensate in eternity for suffering endured here for a little while? The saint is not a man who is illuminated by God. He is nothing, through whom God’s power shines to love even the worst of men. Who knows if today’s murderer may not be a future disciple?
We bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, advancing on the path of faith without tormenting ourselves with endless questions about suffering. May we embrace these unanswered questions as we learn to glorify Christ joyfully.
Author: Richard Wurmbrand (1909 -2001) was imprisoned in Communist Romania because of his faith in Christ. You can read his complete story in Wurmbrand: Tortured for Christ – The Complete Story.
Ancient British Triad
Believe in God who made thee.
Love God who saved thee.
Fear God who will judge thee.
Triads of Ancient Britain – quoted in Saint Paul in Britain – Reverend R.W. Morgan (1860): The Covenant Publishing Company, London
Singular Fruit
“Someone has beautifully analyzed the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5: 22, and shown that all the graces there mentioned are but various forms of love itself. The apostle is not speaking of different fruits, but of one fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, and the various words that follow are but phrases and descriptions of the one fruit, which is love itself. Joy, which is first mentioned, is love on wings; peace, which follows, is love folding its wings, and nestling under the wings of God; longsuffering is love enduring; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in activity, faith is love confiding; meekness is love stooping; temperance is true self-love, and the proper regard for our own real interests, which is as much the duty of love, as regard for the interests of others.”
― Albert Benjamin Simpson, (December 15, 1843– October 29, 1919, founder of The Christian Missionary Alliance, The A.B.Simpson Collection).
Berean Call
“Secrets for Sufferers” From A Sufferer
Dear Reader the following was written by Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001) who was imprisoned in communist Romania for fourteen years because of his faith in Christ. In 1965, he and his family was ransomed out of Romania for $10,000 and eventually moved to the U.S where he started a global ministry that became known as The Voice of the Martyrs. He testified before the U. S. Congress to the cruel treatment of Christians under communism. Removing his shirt, he showed the Senators and Representatives the stripes and wounds he received from the communist. Pray for those who are suffering everyday for Christ. Pray that the comfort of the Holy Spirit would be with them and they would be faithful unto death if need be. Be encouraged, do your part for the church, and prepare yourself. Carl
“Jesus promised “not peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34), and ever since He uttered those words, committed Christians have been targeted relentlessly by pagan and religionist alike: crucified, burned at the stake; tortured on the rack; hunted in mountain passes, forests and caves; starved; beaten; brainwashed; tormented.
Only a devil could brew the consummate evil that has been meted out to Christ’s humble disciples over the centuries, reaching a horrendous climax in our own bloody era.
Is suffering, whether intended or circumstantial, a waste, or can it be redemptive? How should Christians respond? Jesus said, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44) — but can you love the devil incarnate in another human being, evil personified?
I would like to propose that today’s Christians in repressive countries can provide a model for those of us in the free world.
Christians in the West often quote the text, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), giving it a positive spin. But Paul had just said he had learned to endure all things –humiliation, hunger and want, as well as the satisfaction of his needs. Persecuted believers take Paul’s words as a promise that Christ will strengthen them to endure suffering, because they know a Christian can’t escape tribulation.
I think of a young girl of our Romanian underground church whose activities were discovered by the secret police. She had been guilty of secretly distributing Gospels and teaching children about Christ. To make her arrest as painful as possible, they decided to wait a few weeks for her wedding day.
When she dressed for the event every woman looks forward to, the police suddenly broke in. Anticipating their intentions, she held out her hands, which they handcuffed roughly, looked lovingly at her groom, then kissed the chains, saying, “I thank my heavenly Bridegroom for this jewel He has presented to me on my marriage day. I thank Him that I am worthy to suffer for Him.”
She was dragged off to prison, leaving behind weeping Christians and a weeping bridegroom. Five years later she was released, haggard, broken, looking 30 years older. She had remained faithful. And her intended had waited for her.
A Soviet prisoner who was mocked unmercifully said, “Many fear suffering: in the past, I too feared. But the presence of the Lord in jail has given me so many happy experiences that I would not have changed them for years of easy living in freedom.”
How impressive is the prayer of a woman in a Siberian camp: “O God, accept all my sufferings, my tiredness, my humiliations, my tears, my nostalgia, my being hungry, my suffering with the cold, all bitterness accumulated in my soul….Dear Lord, have pity also on those who persecute and torture us day and night. Grant them, too, the divine grace of knowing the sweetness and happiness of Your love.”
How do the persecuted view their torturers, who often take fiendish delight in inflicting maximum pain? May are able to look at them with love, knowing that without Christ they are eternally lost. Believers exemplify what Jesus preached: “Love your enemies … pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” And they practiced what He taught: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Once when I was in prison, a pastor was thrown into our cell. He had been horribly beaten and was covered with blood. Some prisoners cursed the communists. Half dead, groaning in pain, he said, “Please don’t curse them. Be quiet! I want to pray for them.”
Once I was in the same cell with a man I had brought to Christ. He left behind a wife and six starving children. I asked him, “Have you any resentment toward me for bringing you to Christ and for the fact that your family is in such misery?”
His reply typifies the attitude of so many martyrs down through the centuries: “I have no words to express my thankfulness that you have brought me to the wonderful Savior. I would not have it any other way!”
In Ukraine, the Christian Terelya was put in a psychiatric asylum. The sadist psychiatrist told him, “The fact that you call yourself a Christian shows already you have a serious and irremediable sickness. Faith in God is a mass psychosis, a kind of schizophrenia.”
But instead of brooding about his suffering, Terelya brought officers of the secret police to Christ. They provided him with paper and pencil and smuggled out a whole notebook of his with joyous poems praising God.
Out of the mire of suffering grows the lily of joy in the Lord. ”
Richard Wurmbrand–faithful witness and pastor under Stalin’s communism, founder of The Voice of the Martyrs
How Should Jesus’ Followers Respond To The Chaos?
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you….And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same…But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Jesus The Messiah Luke 6: 27, 32, 35-36
Lord Jesus in Luke is speaking to people who were living under the iron hand of the Roman Empire. These words must of been shocking to them….just as they were to me when I reread them last week. Yes, shocking I say. So against my human sinful nature which wants to rail, condemn and hate the anarchist, Marxist and communist who are working tirelessly to destroy my America.
But Lord Jesus says “And why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
It is ONLY our responsibility to obey and not argue with Him. To submit to his Lordship and not rebel. Therefore, let us repent of hate and put aside our “old man” or “old self” and put on our “new man” created in Christ Jesus and conduct ourselves in newness of life by the power of His Spirit. Then we can love our enemies just as He loved us …… when we were His enemy, ungrateful and pernicious (evil).
“…that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth….and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us…” Ephesians 4: 22-24, 5:2
Carl
Muslim convert on ‘miraculous’ ways God is ‘radically transforming’ Iran despite persecution – The Christian Post
Dedicating his life to sharing the Gospel with Muslims in Iran was never something Hormoz Shariat, head of Iran Alive Ministries and founder of the largest Muslim convert church in the United States, thought he would do.
— Read on www.christianpost.com/news/muslim-convert-on-miraculous-ways-god-is-radically-transforming-iran-despite-persecution.html
New Orleans Atheist Changes His Mind
Desmond Boudreaux was bitter from past church experiences as a child and eventually became an atheist as a young adult. He helped form a Marxist group in New Orleans which he hoped would help silence Christianity.
He said,
“The group I was with hated churches and Christianity. Once I got into it, I realized there was no peace in what I was pursuing. That’s when I met Justin and found Christ. The whole time I was searching for peace and truth, but could never find it. Whenever I found Christ, that’s when I truly found what I was looking for.”
The person who lead him to Christ was Refuge Church Pastor Justin Haynes. It was Christian love displayed by Pastor Haynes and other members of the church that caused a change of heart in Desmond. On April 8th, he was plunged beneath the baptistery waters to publicly display his newfound faith.
(Condensed from Baptist Message)
Bravo for Brother Desmond! Another soul rescued from the snare of the devil.
Maybe you, like Desmond, are looking for peace and truth; rest for your soul. The Risen Lord makes the following offer to you today:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you , and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
For my yoke is easy, and My load is light”. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Carl
God Made It Simple – Part 2
After posting, God Made It Simple, I felt the urge to write a follow up. While researching in Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, I found the following. I share it for our edification and encouragement:
“God shows His wonderful love in calling us children of God; as expressing community of nature, rather than sons, which expresses the position of privilege.
The world, therefore, does not know us, even as it did not know Him.
We are children of God; and in this fact lies enfolded our future, the essence of which will be likeness to God, coming through unveiled and transfiguring vision.
The result of such a relation and hope is persistent effort after moral purity. “Every one that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself even as He is pure.”
This attempt to purify corresponds with the fulfillment of our true destiny which Christ has made possible. Sin is irreconcilable with a right relation to God, for Christianity emphasizes the law of God, and “sin is lawlessness.” The object of Christ manifestation was to “take away sin”; therefore, “everyone that abideth in Him sinneth not.” “He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.” “He that committeth sin is of the devil”; but the Son of God was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil. The divine seed –the divine principle of growth– the germ of the new life is in the true believer; and the idea of divine Son ship and sin are mutually exclusive.
The being a child of God will manifest itself not only in doing righteousness, but in love— the love of God, taking shape in love and ministry to the brethren. This is the highest expression of righteousness. The whole aim of the Gospel is the creation and strengthening of love; and the type of life in God through Christ is therefore the direct opposite of Cain, who being of the evil one, slew his brother.
Over against this love is the world’s hatred. This is bound up, as love is, with the question of origin. God’s children share God’s nature, which is love. The children of the world are the children of the evil one, whose nature is lawlessness and hatred. Love is the outgrowth of life; hatred, of death. He that loveth not, abideth in death. For ourselves, children of God, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.
Christ is the perfect type and revelation of love, since He gave His life for us. We, likewise, ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The practical test of our brotherly love is ministry. The love of God does not dwell in us if we refuse to relieve our brother’s need.
The fruit of love is confidence. “In this,” —-the consciousness of active and sincere love to the brethren resting upon and moulded by the love of Christ—-in this, we perceive that we are of the truth; and, perceiving this, we shall assure our hearts in the presence of God, in whom we live and move and have our being. It is of the very essence of Christian life that it is lived and tested before God. No assurance or confidence is possible except from being in right relation to God.
Through the consciousness of love, then, which is of God and which marks the children of God , we perceive that we are children of God—of the truth; and in this knowledge we find assurance and confidence before the very highest tribunal. “We shall assure our heart before Him.” Vincent
Wasn’t that concise and rich! I want this “love” to be manifested in my life toward my God, my brethren and those in need of the gospel. He shall bring it to pass if we cooperate with His Spirit.
God bless you!
Carl
