Sunday,November 13,2011 is International Prayer for the Persecuted Church Day. If your Pastor is not aware of this special opportunity to pray for those in the world-wide Church who are suffering under persecution,then do bring it up to him.
In this day of enlightenment it is hard to believe that people are being persecuted for expressing faith in Yeshua. The UN is more active than ever,there are perpetual committees defending human rights. The World Court prosecutes cases of genocide. One would assume that the number of atrocities against humanity would be on the decline. Not so fast,there is another force at work in the world today. The civilized world is under attack by barbarians who would take the world back into the stone-age,if they could.
Today Christians in many nations are being systematically slaughtered,imprisoned,displaced,and extorted. In an age when we see the greatest advances in science and technology we also observe in many countries a swing toward thrusting off the yoke of civility and modernization.
The greatest number of modern day martyrs of the Christian faith are victims of the Islamic Revolution,a subject of many of our writings here at Builders of Zion. The Islamic Revolution is essentially a movement of Islamic fundamentalists across the globe who are bent on dominating the world for their pseudo-god. These revolutionaries are merely faithful Muslims holding steadfastly to the teachings of their perverted prophet,Muhammed. According to their twisted teachings anyone who refuses to submit to Islam by becoming a Muslim,are to be enslaved or killed.
There may be a few scattered instances of persecution against Christians among other religious groups,but they are few. Islam accounts for the lion’s share of attacks on Christians in recent years. Perpetrators range from small bands of zealots coming out of Friday prayers at the local mosque,to State Governments,as in the case of the Iranian Pastor sentenced to death for refusing to convert to Islam. Asia Bibi is a Pakistani woman being falsely accused of blasphemy against Muhammed,she is sentenced to death. In Sudan,after the break away of mostly Christian South Sudan,Christians are suffering attacks and are being driven out of the northern Sudan homelands where they have lived for generations. Sudan was taken over by Muslims and an Islamic lead government is now ruling the land. In Nigeria more than 150 were killed,mostly Christians,by Islamic Jihadists,a group known as Boko Haram. Eleven Churches were burned down and people were asked if the were Christian or Muslim,affirming that you were Christian meant death,many were martyred for their faith in Yeshua.
With the advent of the “Arab Spring”Christians are becoming the target of ethnic cleansing in the movement being heralded as a great movement toward freedom in the Arab world. Christian Copts are not feeling so free as their neighborhoods are ransacked,their ancient Church buildings are burned down,and family members are being murdered in the streets,all at the hand of the newly liberated Muslims. Israel is bracing for what Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg,the IDF Home Front Commander,refers to as an “Islamic Winter.”
The Islamic Winter is already being felt by hundreds of Christians under the influence of the newfound Arab revival. As parishioners sit in their cozy pews on this day,let us pause to offer up a petition to the Holy One,asking for Grace to those who are going under the fire of the Islamic Revolution. Consider making this petition a regular habit of your congregation. With the culmination of Redemption being brought to a close,we will be seeing a sharper distinction between darkness and light,those closest to the darkness need your spiritual support.
