Tag: christian

Christian Persecution September 25-October 2 2026

Posted on by Leave a comment
Security personnel stand outside a historic stone church

Recent reporting (roughly September 25–October 2, 2026) on Christian persecution centers on continued lethal violence in Nigeria, house-church detentions in China, and related pressures elsewhere.

Nigeria

Attacks attributed to Fulani militants continued in Plateau State’s Barkin Ladi area and nearby communities. Around September 19–20, gunmen killed a Baptist pastor (Samuel Nandi) and others while they were traveling to church; at least nine people died in related incidents that weekend, according to local reports and Christian monitoring groups. Further killings followed through late September, including ambushes of travelers, night attacks on villages, and shootings near a Christian academy and mining sites. Local accounts and advocacy outlets put the September death toll in Plateau alone above 50 in some summaries, with mass burials reported.

A mid-to-late September report from the U.S.-based group Equipping the Persecuted (drawing on field reports through September 8) counted 4,216 Christians killed in Nigeria from January 1 to September 8, 2026—an average of about 16.8 per day, or one roughly every 86 minutes—along with more than 5 million displaced and over 600 Christian communities destroyed or emptied. The group has urged the UN to treat the pattern as genocide and said a weekend terror alert via its Truth Nigeria network helped limit casualties in one recent assault that still left dozens dead. An earlier independent tally by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) reported thousands of Christians killed and abducted in the first eight months of 2026, concentrated in the Middle Belt. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs was reported to have affirmed accounts of the recent Plateau attacks and restated concern for affected communities.

Separately, Nigeria’s Senate advanced legislation that would expand oversight of organizations receiving foreign funding, which monitors say could hinder churches and groups documenting the violence.

Nigeria (Southern Kaduna, separate from Plateau)

Truth Nigeria reported that between September 13 and 21, Fulani militias abducted at least 34 Christians in Chikun and Kajuru areas (including a mass seizure of 26 in one forest incident), killed at least one man, and imposed “harvest taxes” of roughly ₦1–2 million per village before Christian farmers could enter their own fields.

China

On September 29, police in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, detained preacher An Yankui of the unregistered Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church on suspicion of “organizing illegal religious activities.” ChinaAid and Chinese rights reports said he was taken from his home; subsequent accounts indicated a 15-day administrative detention. The church operates outside the state-sanctioned Three-Self system and has faced prior raids and detentions.

Coverage also continued around Pastor Ezra Jin (of Beijing’s Zion Church), released after roughly 266 days in custody. He has publicly called for the release of remaining detained church leaders and described ongoing pressure on unregistered congregations alongside expectations of growth under restriction.

Beijing Jiaquan Church: Pastor Zhou Zixun (also known as Cui Xianfeng) and seven coworkers remain in criminal detention on suspicion of “fraud,” according to a September 29 account from his wife relayed by ChinaAid. Police disrupted preparations for the church’s 20th anniversary on September 4; about 50 members were processed and most released, while eight people stayed in detention. The congregation is an unregistered urban house-church network.

Guangzhou: After three Christians from Guangfu Church distributed fans printed with Gospel messages near a school on September 16, police questioned them, accused them of illegal proselytizing, and the church was forced out of its rented meeting space (reported September 30 by ChinaAid).

Anhui (mid-September, still circulating): Officials raided a house-church site in Jinzhai County, confiscated phones, and ordered young believers not to sing hymns containing “Jesus,” “God,” or “Lord,” directing them toward songs praising the Communist Party.

India and other locations

In Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district, more than 40 churches announced that worship would be restricted to Christians only, citing security concerns after sustained local pressures (reported around September 28 by International Christian Concern).

Other items in the same window include worsening conditions reported for a small Christian subset of the Rohingya (roughly 1,500 people), circulating accounts of a Baptist pastor killed by Myanmar military personnel in Chin State, and a September church raid in Azerbaijan in which police detained dozens of members of a Protestant congregation. On the policy side, World Relief criticized the U.S. FY2027 refugee ceiling for continuing to limit admissions of people fleeing religious persecution, noting that FY2026 saw no resettlements of persecuted Christians from the countries of highest concern tracked by Open Doors.

Figures on killings and displacement come primarily from Christian advocacy and local monitoring networks rather than official government tallies; Nigerian authorities have often framed Middle Belt violence in terms of farmer-herder conflict, banditry, or criminality, while the groups cited above emphasize religious targeting alongside ethnic and land factors.

Myanmar

Reverend Dal Thawn Tuang, 49, assistant pastor of Lamzang Baptist Church in Chin State (22 years of service), was shot three times and killed on September 14 while returning from ministry in a neighboring village. Barnabas Aid, the Burma Research Institute, and local Baptist sources attribute the shooting to the military (Tatmadaw). His funeral was held September 16. Advocates note it follows the June killing of another Chin State Baptist pastor, Reverend William, and a fellow Christian after detention without trial. A resistance group claimed the shooters may have been escaped military prisoners; other accounts treat the wounds as deliberate.

Algeria

Special police raided a Christian gathering at a humanitarian shelter on September 4 and arrested 12 believers for an unauthorized non-Muslim religious service; Bibles were seized. The case drew fresh coverage in the September 19–21 window.

Pakistan

Two Christian men arrested in August on blasphemy allegations—Amir Masih (Gujranwala area) and Samuel Arif, 26 (Lahore)—remained in detention as of mid-to-late September reports. One charge can carry the death penalty. A separate September case involved the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Christian woman in Rawalpindi by a Muslim neighbor.

Sri Lanka

Courts sentenced 15 men to more than 200 years each for roles in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed at least 267 people at churches and hotels (sentencing reported around September 29).

Iran

UN experts publicly demanded an explanation for the confiscation of the country’s oldest Protestant church and the eviction of its congregation (coverage mid-to-late September).

Source: (2) Grok / X

For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
Proverbs 8:35

Plague in Russia?

Russian authorities have sought to allay global worries over the death of a young woman who worked at a Siberian anti-plague laboratory. But moves to isolate her…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Christians Came Together to Help Defeat UK’s Assisted Dying Bill

Posted on by Leave a comment
Houses of Parliament and Big Ben beside the River Thames

When Alicia Edmund heard the Parliament vote count for the UK’s assisted dying bill last week—286 noes to 270 ayes—her immediate reaction was shock. The bill had been defeated.   As head of policy for the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, Edmund had spent countless hours in the past two years briefing evangelicals on how to share their concerns with their members of Parliament (MPs) and coordinating campaign efforts with other Christian groups to defeat the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

While sitting in the public gallery of the Palace of Westminster as the House of Commons gathered last Friday, she had already prepared herself for defeat and the need to “go again” at fighting the legislation, she said. Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again. “When the deputy speaker said 286 against, I thought, That’s not high enough. And when she said 270 for … I was silent,” Edmund recalled. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Normally a lot of our work is making the case for delay and disruption, whereas this one we won outright and it felt quite weird,” she said. “It felt different. It was a momentary celebration of ‘Lord, you can do all things.’” The vote followed nearly two years of passionate debate over assisted dying in England. Kim Leadbeater, a Labour Party MP from the North of England, first introduced the bill in October 2024.

The bill would have allowed adults to request assistance from doctors to end their own lives, provided they had mental capacity, were terminally ill, and were in their final six months of life. The bill passed narrowly in the publicly elected House of Commons by just 23 votes last year. But it stalled in the appointed House of Lords, where members submitted more than 1,200 amendments and time ran out, prompting supporters to complain that the bill had been “undemocratically filibustered by a small number of peers.” The legislation returned to the House of Commons in June, presented by another Labour MP, Lauren Edwards, who described it as “one of the most important, compassionate, and empowering changes to healthcare we’ve seen in a generation.”

The legislation generated intense debate not only in Parliament but also among the public as people debated what dignity, choice, and compassion mean when it comes to dying. More than a decade ago, supporters of assisted suicide presented a similar bill to MPs, and it was easily defeated.

The Group

Members of the Evangelical Alliance, which represents 30,000 individual members and 3,000 member churches, let the organization’s leadership know early in the bill’s journey that they were concerned, Edmund said. It was not difficult to mobilize them to campaign against its passage. “Of all of our public policy areas, death is probably the most common experience: People have experienced a loved one who has died, they themselves have a view on that, and faith engages very directly to the heart of that,” she said. Not every Evangelical Alliance member opposed the bill.

Edmund recalled attending one local church meeting in 2025 where some congregants spoke out in favor of the legislation. For instance, George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury who held evangelical beliefs, announced in 2014 that he had changed his mind on euthanasia after witnessing the suffering of Tony Nicklinson, a man paralyzed by locked-in syndrome. Nicklinson died shortly after losing a High Court battle to gain assistance to end his own life. But among the Evangelical Alliance’s base, Edmund found overwhelming opposition to the change. Part of her team’s work entailed educating evangelicals about what was at stake and “myth busting,” she said.

Some in the church needed to be “reawakened” to Christianity’s distinctive theological framing: from Genesis’s description of humanity as made in God’s image to the tension of waiting for the new heaven and earth.

Behind the Scenes

The Evangelical Alliance was also working behind the scenes as part of a coalition of Christian advocacy organizations and disability groups while seeking members who could speak from their own experience and expertise. This included medical professionals working in palliative care as well as those particularly vulnerable should the bill pass, including elderly people, ethnic minorities who have less access to palliative care, and those living with disabilities. Prayer was also pivotal, Edmund said: “Where some people were not confident to meet their MP on the specifics or share their story and provide case studies, they could be holding weekly prayer meetings around their local MP’s decision-making.”

As a heated national conversation developed, some criticized those holding religious beliefs. When the bill initially passed in the House of Commons last summer, conservative MP Nigel Huddleston regretted MPs’ “somewhat dismissive attitude expressed towards those with religious beliefs.” It is “perfectly legitimate for religious beliefs to influence one’s views on assisted dying,” he argued. He said religious people should be “respected, not sneered at.” Rather than dialing down theological content, the Evangelical Alliance was always “unapologetic” about its standpoint, Edmund said. “We are not removing [our faith] from the table.” It’s a perspective that resonates with Richard Bastable, a Church of England vicar in West London who penned a public letter opposing the legislation. “If we try to evacuate our point of view, our opinions, our ethical beliefs, our Christian principles, then we end up saying something that doesn’t really need listening to,” Bastable said.

The letter, which was published in The Daily Telegraph in November 2024, described the assisted dying bill as “a dangerous threat to our society.” The Christian faith offers a defence of the dignity of life and a call to improve the quality of life for all those living—including those who are dying,” it said. It continued,

To reduce the value of human life to physical and mental capacity and wellbeing has sinister implications for how we as a society view those who experience severe physical or mental issues, and risks that those undergoing such suffering come to see their life as of less value than others.

While Bastable initially sent the letter only to a handful of friends to add their signatures, more than 1,000 members of the clergy, including 15 leading Church of England bishops, ended up signing the letter. But what he found even more remarkable than the number of signatories was the “cross-factionalism consensus” reached: Every wing of the Church of England was represented. “It’s not always the case that the traditions within the [Church of England] can find common cause over something, especially something that has that edge of controversy about it,” he said.

“There was a sense that this was relieving people’s frustration and powerlessness in the face of something they were opposed to, but alone they wouldn’t have known how to voice that opposition.” Before MPs first debated the bill, Sarah Mullally, then bishop of London, signed an open letter from faith leaders, including the most senior leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the UK, the chief rabbi of Britain, and representatives of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh communities. Last year, more than 100 women of different faiths signed another open letter warning that the bill “could create a new tool to harm vulnerable women,” including those in abusive or coercive relationships.

Edmund, who was among the signatories, said unanimity on life issues is not unusual among church leaders: She works regularly with Catholic leadership and the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church. But when it came to assisted dying, she said, the Church of England spoke out “in a way they probably wouldn’t speak out in the way that Catholics and evangelicals do on the beginning of life.” The Church of England holds the belief that life begins at conception but allows for limited conditions—such as threat to the mother’s life or health—where it believes abortion is morally preferable.

Mullally, current Archbishop of Canterbury, has spoken out in the House of Lords (where she is one of 26 bishops who serve as legislators) about how her faith and her experience as a chief nurse led her to reject the bill. “Moving from nursing into ordained ministry means much of my life has been spent at bedsides alongside people as they cope with suffering and death,” she wrote in The Daily Telegraph shortly before the vote. Christians “have lived experience with those nearing death or on the margins of society, and, above all, we carry a belief that it is hope, not fear, that should guide us.” On Friday, the hopes of those opposing assisted dying were fulfilled in a narrow vote that saw the legislation fall—at least for now. Opponents composed a diverse coalition. Evangelicals stood with disability advocates, medical professionals, Christians of many different traditions, and philosophers—some of faith and some of none.

For Edmund, it was both a “victory” and a “miracle,” but she is already scanning the horizon: What comes next is not only the return of similar legislation but also a call on the church to continue the conversation about care for those at the end of life. She noted that it was a Christian woman, Dame Cicely Saunders, who pioneered the hospice movement in the country. “We as a church need to embody that in 2026,” Edmund said. “What is the vision for end-of-life care that we can provide locally, that we are prepared to invest in, to finance, to build institutions around and then create laws that facilitate?”

Source: Christians Came Together to Help Defeat UK’s Assisted Dying Bill – Christianity Today

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 John 5:21

2 Timothy 3:12 

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted Paul was reminding Timothy that following Christ does not guarantee an easy life. When…

Keep reading

John 15:18–20

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

The Power of Forgiveness in Christian Relationships

Posted on by Leave a comment
Hands clasped in prayer beside an open Bible on a wooden windowsill

When life feels overwhelming, one of the most powerful ways to reflect Christ is simply to be present for someone else. God calls us to pray for others, forgive freely, and carry one another’s burdens, revealing His love through both our words and our actions.

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

Our Daily Bread, February 14.

One of the greatest ways we can reflect the heart of Christ is by being there for others. God’s love is not distant or indifferent. He cares deeply about people and desires that they know His truth, experience His grace, and receive His salvation. As followers of Jesus, we are called to share that same concern for those around us.

praying hands of a person on white textile

Being there for others often begins with prayer. Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy that God desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth. When we pray for family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and even strangers, we participate in God’s work in their lives. Our prayers become an expression of His love and our willingness to care about what matters to Him.

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 

1 Timothy 2:3-8

God’s desire is far greater than we often realize He wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth and experience salvation through Jesus Christ. These verses remind us that Christ willingly gave Himself as a ransom for all, bridging the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God. Because of this incredible gift, believers are called to pray for others, including leaders and those in authority, so that God’s peace and truth may spread. Our prayers should reflect God’s love for people, free from anger, division, or selfish motives. As we seek God, we become partners in His mission of reaching the world with the gospel.

But being there for others also requires forgiveness. Relationships are rarely perfect. People disappoint us, misunderstand us, and sometimes hurt us deeply. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6 that forgiveness is essential for those who have experienced God’s mercy. When we choose forgiveness, we remove barriers that can keep us from loving and serving others well. Forgiveness creates room for compassion, healing, and restoration.

Sometimes being there for someone means offering encouragement. Other times it means listening without judgment, helping carry a burden, extending grace, or simply showing up when someone is struggling. These acts may seem small, but they can have a lasting impact. Through them, people often experience a glimpse of God’s love in a tangible way.

women embracing each other

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15

We can see that Jesus taught that forgiveness is not optional for those who follow Him. Having received God’s mercy, we are called to extend that same mercy to others. Forgiveness does not mean excusing wrong behavior or pretending the hurt never happened. Instead, it is a decision to release bitterness and surrender judgment to God. Unforgiveness can harden the heart and hinder our fellowship with the Lord, while forgiveness brings freedom, healing, and peace. As we remember how much God has forgiven us through Christ, we find the strength to forgive those who have wronged us and walk in the grace He freely gives.

Today, ask God to help you see people through His eyes. Pray for those around you, forgive freely, and look for opportunities to serve. Your presence, prayers, and compassion may be exactly what someone needs to experience the love of Christ.

Thought to Ponder

Who in your life needs your prayers, forgiveness, encouragement, or support today?

Journaling Prompt

Write down three people God has placed on your heart. How can you intentionally pray for them and demonstrate Christ’s love to them this week?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for being present in my life through every season. Help me reflect Your heart by caring for others as You care for them. Teach me to pray faithfully, forgive generously, and serve willingly. Open my eyes to those who are hurting, lonely, or in need of encouragement. Use me as an instrument of Your love and grace, so that others may see Christ through my words and actions. In Jesus Name Amen.

Getting to Know Him

Do you want eternal life? Do you want to enter heaven through the only guide that can help you navigate your way there? To enter His home, get to know Him better, and make Him your Lord and Savior CLICK HERE…...

Galatians 1:6-10

“When truth becomes negotiable, faith becomes vulnerable so know the Gospel, stand on God’s Word, and seek His approval above the world’s applause.” “I am astonished that you…

Keep reading

Proverbs 21:23

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. This verse emphasizes that people who carefully watch what they say will protect themselves from serious…

Keep reading

Psalm 5:8

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. In the verse David is praying in the morning while people…

Keep reading

Finding Truth and Life in Jesus

In a world filled with competing voices, confusing paths, and endless distractions, Jesus doesn’t simply show us the way He declares, ‘I am the way.’ When everything around…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Faith Under Pressure

Posted on by Leave a comment
Lighthouse shining beam over rough ocean waves during stormy weather

Pip: Drink of Jesus is a site that treats ancient Scripture the way a good contractor treats load-bearing walls — you don’t move them just because the room looks dated.

Mara: Today we’re covering three stretches of territory from Drink of Jesus: God as a steady refuge when life turns chaotic, the inner discipline of staying faithful and guarding your heart, and what the church owes its people when it comes to unity and leadership. Let’s start with what it means to find solid ground when everything around you is shaking.

God as Refuge When the Ground Shakes

Pip: The question this territory is really asking is: when the world feels genuinely unstable, what does a believer actually stand on?

Mara: “God: Your Unshakeable Refuge in Troubling Times” goes straight at that with Psalm 46, and the setup is stark: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

Pip: So the upshot is that the scale of the chaos — mountains, seas, the whole thing — is almost beside the point. The post is making a structural claim, not just an emotional one.

Mara: Exactly. And it lands on a pointed self-diagnostic: “If God is truly my refuge, why do I sometimes run to fear before I run to Him?” That’s the real tension the post is sitting with.

Pip: “Finding Stability in Chaotic Times” picks up the same thread and carries it practically — the foundation holds, but you have to keep choosing to stand on it.

Mara: Both posts are pointing at the same discipline: trust isn’t a feeling you arrive at, it’s a direction you keep choosing, especially when the ground is moving.

Pip: Which brings up the question of what that choosing actually looks like day to day — and whether it holds when you’re just tired.

Staying Steadfast, Guarding What’s Inside

Pip: This segment is about two related problems — the exhaustion of faithfulness when results are invisible, and the slow drift that happens when you stop paying attention to what’s shaping you.

Mara: “Stay Steadfast: Your Efforts Matter Forever” anchors itself in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Pip: The practical weight of that is real — the post is speaking to the person who is tired, unseen, and genuinely wondering if any of it registers.

Mara: And it answers directly: eternity will reveal what earth concealed. The measure isn’t today’s visible impact; it’s what God has promised permanently.

Pip: “Guard Your Heart: Protecting Your Inner Life” runs alongside that and narrows the focus inward — because you can’t stay steadfast if what’s filling you is pulling you the wrong direction.

Mara: That post draws on Proverbs 4:23 and makes a practical point: guarding your heart doesn’t mean closing off, it means filtering emotions and influences through truth. Your thoughts, relationships, and habits all pass through it.

Pip: So the two posts are really one argument — keep going, and watch what you’re letting in while you do.

Mara: From endurance and inner vigilance, the next question is what that looks like when the community around you is the source of the wound.

When the Church Divides or the Shepherd Fails

Pip: This segment sits with a harder problem — not external chaos, but fracture from within, and leaders who were supposed to protect people and didn’t.

Mara: “Unity in the Body of Christ: Breaking Down Barriers” opens with a warning from Matthew 12:25: “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” The post names the quiet entry points — offense, ego, competition — and argues that often the core issue isn’t theology, it’s the condition of the heart.

Pip: Division as a heart problem, not a doctrine problem. That’s a harder diagnosis to argue with.

Mara: “Shepherds Who Neglect the Flock” takes the accountability side of that and grounds it in Ezekiel 34 — God’s direct rebuke of leaders who fed themselves while the vulnerable went uncared for. The post is clear that Scripture does not excuse that failure.

Pip: And “The Weight of Leadership” makes the same case from James 3:1 — those who teach are judged with greater strictness. The post is careful to separate the leader’s failure from God’s character.

Mara: It puts it plainly: that leader’s failure does not change who God is. The Good Shepherd remains, even when the human ones don’t.

Pip: Refuge, endurance, and accountability — it keeps coming back to the same anchor.

Mara: Whether the instability is external chaos, internal weariness, or a wound from inside the community, the posts keep returning to the same ground.

Pip: The anchor holds. The question is just whether you keep choosing to stand on it. More on that next time.

For God so Loved the World

“God loved you enough to send His Son, Jesus loved you enough to give His life, and through faith, you are offered a hope this world can never take away.” “For God…

Keep reading

2 Timothy 3:12 

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted Paul was reminding Timothy that following Christ does not guarantee an easy life. When we choose to live…

Keep reading

John 15:18–20

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are…

Keep reading

Galatians 1:6-10

“When truth becomes negotiable, faith becomes vulnerable so know the Gospel, stand on God’s Word, and seek His approval above the world’s applause.” “I am astonished that you are so quickly…

Keep reading

Proverbs 21:23

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. This verse emphasizes that people who carefully watch what they say will protect themselves from serious trouble. “Guarding your…

Keep reading

Slow to Speak: The Secret to Wise Reactions

Talk less, listen more, because wisdom speaks after it understands, not before. If you want stronger relationships and real influence, master this: control your tongue, calm your anger, and lead with…

Keep reading

Psalm 5:8

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. In the verse David is praying in the morning while people who hate him…

Keep reading

Stockton church hosts fundraiser to reopen local school

Posted on by Leave a comment
People at tables with baked goods and charity auction in church hall

The City of Stockton has been working to revitalize Main Street. To help, a local church hosted a bazaar to raise funds that go directly into the community. “It’s a small community, but a really hardworking one,” Saint Gertrude Summer Festival organizer Monica Mercado said. This all happened Sunday in the courtyard of Saint Gertrude’s Catholic Church. Vendors and organizers had one goal in mind: raise enough money to do their part in revitalizing Main Street on the east side of the city. “I know a building that looks really nice for the community will always bring the community back,” Mercado continued.

“We’re just trying to throw a rock in there to try to say we could save our church and bring it back to how it used to be.” But that’s not all they’re doing. The weekend-long event was meant to build community, repair the church, and reopen a much-needed school. “They want to get the school going again,” Vendor Jose Lara explained. “We got to get the kitchen back up to be able to bring in the children and help them learn.” The school has been closed for more than two decades. With few options locally on the east side of town, they say the repairs are essential to this community and the next generation. “It’s very important because there’s not a lot to do around here and it’s good to have a place where they can come and they feel safe,” Lara shared. On top of raising money for a good cause, the church says it’s an event to bring the community back together. “We use it a lot and we want to keep up,” Vendor Rafael Murillo explained.

“This is a way of also being able to manage and acquire, not only that but just to give to the community so they can come and enjoy it too.” “When you’re doing something from the heart, you can’t mess up. You really can’t,” Mercado continued. Event organizers say they’ll need to raise nearly $200,000 to make the necessary repairs to their building and reopen the school.

Source: Stockton church hosts fundraiser to reopen local school – CBS Sacramento

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

Isaiah 45:2

“I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, This verse reminds us that…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Heaven is for Real Movie

Posted on by Leave a comment

“Heaven is for Real” is a faith-based family drama inspired by a Nebraska Pastor Tood Burpo’s best-selling book about his 4 years old son (Colton Burpo) who had visited heaven and describes his journey. His family is facing a financial difficulty and the young Burpo used by God.

Source: (687) Heaven is for Real Movie 2014 – YouTube

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24

Heaven is for Real Movie

“Heaven is for Real” is a faith-based family drama inspired by a Nebraska Pastor Tood Burpo’s best-selling book about his 4 years old son (Colton Burpo) who had visited heaven and describes…

Keep reading

God’s Here

After losing his wife and son in a tragic accident, a firefighter wrestles with grief and forgiveness. Starring Kevin Sorbo (God’s Not Dead), Sarah Elizabeth Reeves Director: Bill McAdams Jr. Writer: Bill…

Keep reading

Jesus Revolution

In the 1970s, young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) is searching for all the right things in all the wrong places: until he meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher. Together with…

Keep reading

Letters to God

Tyler Doherty is an extraordinary eight-year-old boy armed with strong faith and courage as he faces his daily battle against cancer. Surrounded by a loving family and community, Tyler’s prayers take the…

Keep reading

War Room

Pharmaceutical salesman Tony Jordan and his wife, realtor Elizabeth Jordan, appear outwardly successful; they have a large house, plenty of money, and a beautiful daughter named Danielle. Behind the façade, however, Tony…

Keep reading

God’s Here

Posted on by Leave a comment
Firefighter in full gear standing on mountain ridge with hose and axe at sunrise

After losing his wife and son in a tragic accident, a firefighter wrestles with grief and forgiveness. Starring Kevin Sorbo (God’s Not Dead), Sarah Elizabeth Reeves Director: Bill McAdams Jr. Writer: Bill McAdams Jr. Stars: Kevin Sorbo, Sarah Elizabeth Reeves, Luke Ray Bentley, Madi Bentley, Mary Jean Bentley

Source: (687) God’s Here (2025) | Inspirational Drama | Kevin Sorbo | Bill McAdams Jr. | Sarah Elizabeth Reeves – YouTube

Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
Ecclesiastes 7:10

Reflecting Christ: The Power of Being Present for Others

Posted on by Leave a comment
man in white shirt helping an elderly person

When life feels overwhelming, one of the most powerful ways to reflect Christ is simply to be present for someone else. God calls us to pray for others, forgive freely, and carry one another’s burdens, revealing His love through both our words and our actions.

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

Our Daily Bread, February 14.

One of the greatest ways we can reflect the heart of Christ is by being there for others. God’s love is not distant or indifferent. He cares deeply about people and desires that they know His truth, experience His grace, and receive His salvation. As followers of Jesus, we are called to share that same concern for those around us.

praying hands of a person on white textile

Being there for others often begins with prayer. Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy that God desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth. When we pray for family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and even strangers, we participate in God’s work in their lives. Our prayers become an expression of His love and our willingness to care about what matters to Him.

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 

1 Timothy 2:3-8

God’s desire is far greater than we often realize He wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth and experience salvation through Jesus Christ. These verses remind us that Christ willingly gave Himself as a ransom for all, bridging the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God. Because of this incredible gift, believers are called to pray for others, including leaders and those in authority, so that God’s peace and truth may spread. Our prayers should reflect God’s love for people, free from anger, division, or selfish motives. As we seek God, we become partners in His mission of reaching the world with the gospel.

But being there for others also requires forgiveness. Relationships are rarely perfect. People disappoint us, misunderstand us, and sometimes hurt us deeply. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6 that forgiveness is essential for those who have experienced God’s mercy. When we choose forgiveness, we remove barriers that can keep us from loving and serving others well. Forgiveness creates room for compassion, healing, and restoration.

Sometimes being there for someone means offering encouragement. Other times it means listening without judgment, helping carry a burden, extending grace, or simply showing up when someone is struggling. These acts may seem small, but they can have a lasting impact. Through them, people often experience a glimpse of God’s love in a tangible way.

women embracing each other

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15

We can see that Jesus taught that forgiveness is not optional for those who follow Him. Having received God’s mercy, we are called to extend that same mercy to others. Forgiveness does not mean excusing wrong behavior or pretending the hurt never happened. Instead, it is a decision to release bitterness and surrender judgment to God. Unforgiveness can harden the heart and hinder our fellowship with the Lord, while forgiveness brings freedom, healing, and peace. As we remember how much God has forgiven us through Christ, we find the strength to forgive those who have wronged us and walk in the grace He freely gives.

Today, ask God to help you see people through His eyes. Pray for those around you, forgive freely, and look for opportunities to serve. Your presence, prayers, and compassion may be exactly what someone needs to experience the love of Christ.

Thought to Ponder

Who in your life needs your prayers, forgiveness, encouragement, or support today?

Journaling Prompt

Write down three people God has placed on your heart. How can you intentionally pray for them and demonstrate Christ’s love to them this week?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for being present in my life through every season. Help me reflect Your heart by caring for others as You care for them. Teach me to pray faithfully, forgive generously, and serve willingly. Open my eyes to those who are hurting, lonely, or in need of encouragement. Use me as an instrument of Your love and grace, so that others may see Christ through my words and actions. In Jesus Name Amen.

Getting to Know Him

Do you want eternal life? Do you want to enter heaven through the only guide that can help you navigate your way there? To enter His home, get to know Him better, and make Him your Lord and Savior CLICK HERE…...

The Distraction of Fear

Fear has a way of making tomorrow feel more real than today. But you were never meant to live inside a future that hasn’t happened yet, you were…

Keep reading

Too Busy to Hear God

You can be so busy doing things for God that you never stop long enough to hear from God. Sometimes the biggest distraction in your life isn’t rebellion,…

Keep reading

Who Has Your Attention?

Your attention is one of the most valuable things you own, and everyone wants a piece of it. The question isn’t whether something is getting your attention—the question…

Keep reading

Finding Strength in God

You don’t have to carry this alone, He is your safe place and your help in every moment of need.  Bible Verse:God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Global persecution report raises concerns about erosion of religious freedom in the West

Posted on by Leave a comment
Wooden cross on cracked dry ground with sun rays shining through dark clouds

International Christian Concern (ICC) has released its 2026 Global Persecution Index (GPI), a report that details the plight of persecuted Christians around the globe. The report looks at over 20 countries, most of which are in Africa or Asia, and shines a spotlight on three world leaders, although it also includes a section on “hindrances to religious freedom in the West”. In terms of the West, the GPI raises a number of high profile cases concerning freedom of religion and speech, notably the conviction of Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen under hate speech laws.

It also expresses concerns about abortion clinic buffer zone laws and convictions relating to silent prayer, as well as cases of teachers being fired over their Christian beliefs.  Highlighted in the report are a number of cases in the UK, including that of Dr Bernard Randall who was dismissed by a Christian school after telling pupils they did not need to agree with LGBT ideology, and the case of Dr Aaron Edwards, who lost his job as a Methodist college for posting a tweet that supported the biblical view of marriage.  The report expresses particular concern that “growing Islamization in Europe encroaches on Christianity and other faiths”.

“While Christians in Western nations don’t experience the same horrific persecution that believers in other hot spots face, religious freedom in corners of the West is eroding,” the report says. On a worldwide level, the GPI states that religious freedom is under “mounting pressure”. Governments hostile to Christianity are increasingly clamping down on believers not only within their borders, but externally. The report also states that “Western technologies and markets”  are sometimes used to enable or sustain persecution. China in particular was singled out for repressing its religious minorities overseas, with members of house churches, Uyghur Muslims and Falun Gong practitioners all being targeted – apparently with the help of Silicon Valley hardware and software, which ICC says is being used for surveillance.

Looking at Nigeria, the deadliest country for Christians, the GPI states that while President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not create the sectarian violence that plagues parts of the country, he stands accused of “deepening” the rift between Christian and Muslim when “he abandoned the longstanding tradition of presidential candidates choosing a running mate from a different faith”. Since coming to power two years ago, it is estimated by Amnesty International that over 10,200 people have been killed in sectarian or bandit attacks in Nigeria.

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was also placed under the spotlight by the GPI. Modi, the report argues, “has overseen a sharp rise in Hindu nationalism and a corresponding decline in religious freedom across India.” While not as deadly as Nigeria, the GPI states that in India in the year ending 1 July 2026 there were 94 attacks on Christian homes or business, 42 religious buildings destroyed, and 1,134 Christians forced to flee their homes. Moving to the Americas, the GPI took Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua to task.

Although in office since 2007, a real downturn in the situation there started in 2018 when the security services violently put down protests. “Since then,” the GPI states, “Ortega has expelled Catholic charities, confiscated church property, shut down faith-based universities, and stripped citizenship from prominent priests and bishops.” ICC President Shawn Wright said of this year’s report, “This year’s Global Persecution Index is a sobering reminder that millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ continue to pay a high price for their faith.

“Behind every statistic is a real person: someone who has chosen faithfulness to Jesus over safety, comfort, or even life itself. Our hope is that this report not only informs decision-makers and stakeholders, but moves readers to act with urgency, conviction, and compassion.”

Source: Global persecution report raises concerns about erosion of religious freedom in the West – Christian Today

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
1 Peter 4:7

A study of the Mesha Stele

The Mesha Stele, also famously known as the Moabite Stone, is a 3-foot-tall black basalt monument dating back to circa 840 BCE. It is one of the most vital archaeological…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Christian and pro-life groups reject Amnesty report branding them ‘anti-rights’

Posted on by Leave a comment

Christian and pro-life groups have rejected a report by Amnesty International accusing them of being “anti-rights”.   The report, titled “A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK”, was widely condemned in the days following its publication. It has been “temporarily” withdrawn while Amnesty carries out an internal review, the organisation said in response to the backlash.

It drew anger over the inclusion of an extensive list of civil society organisations that supposedly “form part of a wider anti-rights ecosystem – a network of groups that work on different issues but share similar goals and often support each other’s efforts to roll back human rights protections”, specifically the rights of women and LGBT+ people. 

The report claimed that “anti-rights” organisations are “fostering moral panic”, and “often create or amplify fears about minority and marginalised groups”. The organisations were assigned to a specific category “based on their main characteristic or specialism” but these categories are “not watertight”, the report says. 

“For example, the Christian Institute is classified as an ultra-conservative Christian policy and advocacy organisation, however, their focus encompasses abortion, trans rights, education as well as other issues,” the report reads. The Christian Institute was one of dozens of Christian organisations to be blacklisted by Amnesty.

Others included the Evangelical Alliance, Christian Concern, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, the Christian Medical Fellowship, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Christians in Parliament, CARE (Christian Action, Research and Education), Premier, the Centre for Bio–Ethical Reform (CBR UK), the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF UK), and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association UK. 

Other organisations included crisis pregnancy centres (CPCs), a support service for female victims of sexual violence founded by JK Rowling, and gender critical organisations campaigning to protect single-sex spaces for women and girls.  Of crisis pregnancy centres, the report said, “They are established by anti-abortion organisations and seek to discourage women and pregnant people from accessing abortion care.

“Many present themselves as providers of impartial information and support. However, they are not affiliated with the NHS, are not subject to a specific regulatory framework, and have the objective of discouraging abortion.”  The report called on the Charity Commission to review the charitable status of the listed organisations and said that the NHS should not signpost patients to crisis pregnancy centres.

Christian and pro-life organisations have rejected Amnesty’s characterisation of them as “anti-rights”.  Peter Lynas, UK director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: “If standing up for religious freedom, women and the rights of the unborn puts you on Amnesty’s naughty list, then we are happy to be there.”

He added, “It’s sad to watch Amnesty abandon rights in favour of the latest ideologies.” CARE’s Director of Communications and Engagement, James Mildred, said: “Our vision at CARE is to see politics renewed and lives transformed. “We engage in politics for the sake of some of the most vulnerable in society, believing that every life, from conception, has equal dignity, worth and value.

“From championing age checks to improve online safety, to advocating for better human trafficking laws, stronger palliative care, a fairer tax system to help low-income families, help from those impacted by gambling related harms, laws to protect pre-born babies and their mums.

“It is sad to see an organisation that claims to champion human rights spend valuable time and effort on this sort of report.” Others expressed sadness that Amnesty has drifted from its roots – the organisation was founded in 1961 by Peter Benenson, a devout Catholic, to campaign on behalf of prisoners of conscience, including those imprisoned for their religious or political beliefs. 

Ciarán Kelly, Director of The Christian Institute, said: “Amnesty has fallen a long way from its origins defending prisoners of conscience. Now it has a pick ‘n’ mix approach to human rights.   “Tragically, this doesn’t include the right to life for babies in the womb, the rights of women being exploited through prostitution, or the rights of freedom of conscience and speech.”

Pro-life advocate Fleur Elizabeth Meston said: “It is rather sad to see Amnesty International, founded by a devout Christian to defend prisoners of conscience, now branding people with the ‘wrong’ consciences as ‘anti-rights’. “Its founder, Peter Benenson, built Amnesty around freedom of thought, conscience, religion and expression.

Today, Amnesty treats disagreement on abortion and sex-based rights, and even belief in Christian teachings, as though they were a threat to humanity. “Saying biological sex matters is not anti-rights. Campaigning to protect unborn children is not anti-rights. In fact, those of us who hold these beliefs just want human rights for women and babies too. “Amnesty can waste its time creating these reports, rather than helping those in real danger around the world, but smearing lawful, mainstream organisations as ‘anti-rights’ is completely unworthy of its founding mission.”

Michael Robinson, executive director of SPUC, said the report “conflates faith with being anti-choice and bizarrely part of some large Machiavellian conspiracy”. He said Benenson, having been motivated by his faith to set up Amnesty, would be “shocked” by the report.

“I am sure he would also be alarmed at branding groups which champion single sex spaces, religious liberty, the rights of the unborn, and defend the rights of disabled people at the end of life, as anti-right in this way,” he said.  He continued: “It is a shame that Amnesty, which claims to champion human rights, remains silent on so many issues, such as Christians being arrested for silent prayer if they are deemed to be standing in an abortion centre buffer zone.  “But should we be surprised? Amnesty has long since abandoned any pretence of defending the ultimate human right – the right to life. 

“In recent years, Christians have faced growing hostility and, as a former Archbishop of Canterbury said, being forced out of the ‘public square’. And ideologically captured campaign groups pick and choose which rights they think are important and worth defending.

It is so sad that they never appear to be those of Christians.” Christian pro-life group CBR UK said it was “remarkable” it had been labelled an “anti-rights” group.  “We are standing for the right to life of babies in the womb and for the right of their mothers – and society as a whole – to know the facts about the humanity of the unborn child and the reality of abortion,” it said.  “Meanwhile, Amnesty International campaigns for babies to be killed by abortion throughout the whole nine months of pregnancy – a far cry from its original mission.” 

Other organisations singled out in the report were the Core Issues Trust and the International Foundation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC), which support therapy for those with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria. The report accused the IFTCC of promoting “conversion practices”, something it denies, and said it should face increased scrutiny.  IFTCC founder Dr Mike Davidson said, “A genuinely rights-based society should protect freedom in both directions.

“It should protect those who seek identity-affirming care, and it should equally protect those who voluntarily seek other lawful forms of therapeutic or pastoral support.  “Human rights should safeguard individual conscience and choice, not privilege one contested ideology while excluding all others.” 

Christians were not the only ones denouncing the report.  JK Rowling said it suggests “Amnesty believes certain kinds of humans don’t deserve rights”.  For Women Scotland (FWS), which won the Supreme Court ruling establishing a biological definition of sex under the Equality Act, accused Amnesty of defaming women’s organisations. 

“FWS is only ‘anti-rights’ if you don’t consider women to be entitled to any rights in law or public life. It’s a sad state of affairs that Amnesty has sunk so low as to defame prominent women’s organisations, including a rape crisis centre and support networks for abused wives and children,” it said.  

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton told The Scotsman: “It is astonishing that Amnesty International has chosen to brand organizations defending women’s rights and supporting female survivors of sexual violence as ‘anti-rights’.”

Murdo Fraser MSP said he was “appalled and disgusted” by the report and had written to Amnesty to demand “an urgent explanation and apology”.  “I fully intend to raise this matter with the Charity Commission. You should be ashamed,” he said.  A spokesperson for Amnesty said, “We have temporarily removed this briefing while it undergoes an internal review.  “Amnesty International UK remains committed to researching and campaigning on human rights issues, including our vital work defending trans rights.”

Source: Christian and pro-life groups reject Amnesty report branding them ‘anti-rights’ – Christian Today

Amnesty International UK expresses ‘regret’ over report that branded Christian groups ‘anti-rights’

Amnesty International UK has expressed “regret” over the publication of a report that labelled dozens of Christian, pro-life and gender critical organisations as “anti-rights”. 

The report was hastily removed from Amnesty’s website last week after it triggered a huge backlash, with JK Rowling and John Cleese among the high profile figures denouncing it. 

At the time, Amnesty said the report had been temporarily withdrawn so that an internal review could be carried out. 

In a further statement addressing the furore on Monday, Amnesty International UK said the report had not gone through the proper internal checks before being published on its website. 

“We regret that this briefing was uploaded to our website without going through the established internal review processes that are in place to ensure consistency, accuracy and alignment with Amnesty International UK’s positions,” a spokesperson said. 

“Its use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK which is why it was promptly removed.

“We remain committed to defending human rights, including both the rights of women and the rights of trans people.

“Human rights protections are strongest when they apply equally to everyone, and no community should be singled out for unfair treatment or denied their dignity and rights.”

The report had claimed that the UK faced a “growing threat” from an “anti-rights movement” which it alleged was “fostering moral panic” and working to “roll back human rights protections”, especially for women and LGBT+ people. 

The report called on the Charity Commission to review the charitable status of an extensive list of organisations that supposedly formed this “anti-rights movement”. 

Numerous Christian and pro-life groups were listed, including The Christian Institute, the Evangelical Alliance UK, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, Christian Concern, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), and CARE – all of which are socially conservative. 

They rejected being labelled “anti-rights” and expressed regret over Amnesty’s drift from its roots, having been founded by a devout Christian to be a voice for religious and political prisoners of conscience. 

Ciarán Kelly, Director of The Christian Institute, said: “Amnesty has fallen a long way from its origins defending prisoners of conscience. Now it has a pick ‘n’ mix approach to human rights.  

“Tragically, this doesn’t include the right to life for babies in the womb, the rights of women being exploited through prostitution, or the rights of freedom of conscience and speech.”

Many of the organisations on the report’s blacklist were pro-life and crisis pregnancy centres. 

Pro-life advocate Fleur Elizabeth Meston said: “It is rather sad to see Amnesty International, founded by a devout Christian to defend prisoners of conscience, now branding people with the ‘wrong’ consciences as ‘anti-rights’.

“Its founder, Peter Benenson, built Amnesty around freedom of thought, conscience, religion and expression. Today, Amnesty treats disagreement on abortion and sex-based rights, and even belief in Christian teachings, as though they were a threat to humanity.

“Saying biological sex matters is not anti-rights. Campaigning to protect unborn children is not anti-rights. In fact, those of us who hold these beliefs just want human rights for women and babies too.

“Amnesty can waste its time creating these reports, rather than helping those in real danger around the world, but smearing lawful, mainstream organisations as ‘anti-rights’ is completely unworthy of its founding mission.”

Amnesty faced particularly strong criticism for including on the list Beira’s Place, a service for female victims of sexual assault that was founded by JK Rowling. 

Also accused of being “anti-rights” was For Women Scotland, which secured the landmark Supreme Court ruling declaring that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. It was among the groups demanding an apology. 

Source: Amnesty International UK expresses ‘regret’ over report that branded Christian groups ‘anti-rights’- Christian Today

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

‘There is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China’

Posted on by Leave a comment
Weathered wooden cross wrapped with rusty barbed wire on ground

The Chinese government is increasingly cracking down on state-sanctioned churches as well as underground churches, leaving no “safe place” for Christians, according to International Christian Concern. A new report by ICC tracks persecution of Christians in China since July 2021 and records 32 cases of arrests and detainments, five raids on Christian schools, and 20 cases of the Sinicization of churches – where churches are forced to align their faith with the social and political messaging of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  The ICC said that exact numbers were likely to be far higher because of the challenges of receiving information from China. “The government’s scrutiny of Christians is part of a wider effort to Sinicize the country by coercing religious groups to submit to the communist CCP ideology,” the report said.  “The Religious Affairs Bureau and the CCP have one single goal regarding religion: to prevent religious influence from threatening their communist control.”

State-sanctioned churches are especially susceptible to the Chinese government’s Sinicization efforts. “All state-approved churches are required to raise the national flag, place regulations on worship, incorporate core socialist values into sermons, and maintain traditional Chinese culture,” the report said. The ICC report says that a new measure implemented by the Chinese government in June, called the ‘National Religious Organizations Common Initiative on Cultivating Frugality and Abstaining from Extravagance’, has allowed it to “tighten its grip” on major religions in China. “State-sanctioned churches today are increasingly at the mercy of laws and non-legislative regulations introduced by the government,” said ICC. “State-vetted churches have decided to follow the regulations, thereby pressuring unregistered churches to follow suit. “Three-Self churches are part of the legal framework the CCP uses to systemically curb Christianity. If a church is not registered as a state-sanctioned church, the church is violating the law and the CCP can step in at any time to shut down churches, prosecute individuals, and put enormous social pressure on attendees. “With the intensified crackdown against churches— both state-vetted and underground—there is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China. Covid-19 has also had a lasting impact on religious liberty in China as the pandemic was used as a pretext to introduce more restrictions on religious activity.  “Restrictions on religious activity have spread as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While public and commercial places such as malls, markets, restaurants, and libraries were allowed to open, church activities were banned by the government. “One report revealed that the state used epidemic prevention as a pretext to prevent churches from gathering to celebrate Christmas in Shandong, Anhui, and Guangdong provinces,” the report said. Even meeting online has become difficult after the Chinese government announced in March that it was banning online religious activity.  Under the ban, Chinese churches and religious organizations must register with the state and receive permission to post religious content online. “The regulation was established to ensure all religious activity aligns with the Communist Party’s agenda,” ICC said. Data in the report has been drawn mostly from the ICC, ChinaAid, the Union of Catholic Asia News and Radio Free Asia. “ICC’s incident report continues to be a testament to China’s intensified crackdown against Chinese Christians and churches despite Beijing’s repeated claim that ‘respecting and protecting freedom of religious belief is the basic policy of the CCP and the Chinese government in dealing with religion’,” said Gina Goh, ICC’s regional manager for Southeast Asia.

“In every aspect of a Christian’s religious life, the CCP wants to interfere and insert its ideology, a control that is detrimental to China’s religious liberty.”  Jay Church, ICC’s advocacy manager for Southeast Asia and co-author of the report, said that the international community “must pay attention to China’s ongoing campaign against religion”. “There’s no excuse for continued inaction,” said Church. “The Chinese government does not allow religion except to the extent it can manipulate religion into a tool to increase the power of the CCP. “It is to be hoped that this report will serve to increase the volume on an issue that is too often quietly ignored in halls of power around the world.”

Source: ‘There is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China’ – re | ChristianToday Australia

Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:6-8

Hope in the dark

Pip: A mountain village, a wandering stranger, a mother weaving a basket by the river — Drink of Jesus has been building a world where ancient scripture…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Christian street preacher cleared of hate speech charges

Posted on by Leave a comment

Pastor John Sherwood, the Christian street preacher arrested last year in West London for alleged homophobic hate speech, has been cleared in Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court. His colleague Peter Simpson confirmed his acquittal on April 7 to the Conservative Woman website. Mr Sherwood’s defence centred on his freedom “to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority” as set out in Article 10 of the 1998 Human Rights Act, Mr Simpson said. On April 23 2021 Metropolitan police officers arrested the pastor near Uxbridge tube station. He had been preaching on Genesis 1:27 and said that the family unit as ordained by God consisted of a father and a mother, not two fathers or two mothers. Some passers-by complained to the police that he was using homophobic hate speech.

The pastor, then 71, was arrested, held overnight at a police station and in September was charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which outlaws “threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress”. The nature of Mr Sherwood’s arrest, which was captured on video, was condemned as “brutal” by campaign group Christian Concern. At the trial almost a year later, “the public gallery was full with Christians showing their support for a man of God who is willing to stand up for the truths of Scripture,” Mr Simpson reported. Pastor Sherwood defied the convention in English courts since the Covid outbreak of defendants and witnesses not holding a holy book but instead reading out from a card the affirmation that they will speak the truth. He insisted on bringing his own Bible and the presiding judge allowed him to swear on that. “How appropriate to swear on the book which would form the basis of his defence,” Mr Simpson said.

Source: Christian street preacher cleared of hate speech charges | ChristianToday Australia

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15:13

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Churches and clergy among targets in anti-Christian incidents across Europe

Posted on by Leave a comment

Anti-Christian hate crimes remained elevated in Europe during the month of June, with arson attacks continuing to target Christian sites across the continent.  The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) documented 40 anti-Christian hate crimes last month, placing June second only to March (41 cases) for the number of recorded incidents in 2026. The incidents targeted churches, Christian institutions, clergy, religious symbols, converts to Christianity, and individual believers across Europe. According to the report, the cases included 12 arson-related attacks, nine acts of vandalism, eight occurrences of desecration, three incidents of physical violence, three thefts of religious objects, two threats, one case combining vandalism and violence, one incident of disruption to a worship service, and one attempted seizure of a religious site.

France recorded the highest number of incidents with 11, followed by Germany at eight, Italy at seven, Poland at four, and both Belgium and Spain at two.  Three incidents were reported in the UK and one in Switzerland, while additional cases were documented in the Netherlands and Estonia.  Among the incidents highlighted as “particularly serious” were the intentional torching of a liturgical book inside a church in La Chapelle-Caro, France, and an incident in which Catholic worshippers were disrupted while praying in Poissy by protesters shouting “Allahu Akbar” and anti-Christian slogans. The report drew attention to an online threat linked to ISIS calling for attacks on Pope Leo XIV and venues during his forthcoming visit to Spain, and expressed concern about a suspected arson attack that destroyed the former Convent of Mercy in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, as well as crosses being set alight during a music festival in Poland OIDAC said one of the clearest trends throughout June was the ongoing wave of arson attacks.

“June recorded 12 arson-related attacks, only one fewer than the exceptional peak of 13 recorded in May, making June the second-highest month for recorded arson during the first half of the year,” the report said. Vandalism remained widespread, with nine documented incidents – the highest monthly total since March – ranging from churches being deliberately flooded to objects being fired at church buildings and crosses being damaged or destroyed. The organisation said there was a pattern of repeated targeting.  Cowdenbeath Baptist Church in Scotland came under attack for the eighth time, while Hanau’s Holy Spirit Church in Germany was targeted for a second month in a row, and Belgium’s St Peter’s Church in Lommel was hit by another suspected arson. While churches remained the primary targets, OIDAC said June’s figures illustrated the risks faced by individual Christians. Among the three recorded assaults were violence against a Christian street preacher at Speakers’ Corner at London’s Hyde Park, an attack on a Catholic woman inside a cathedral in France, and the assault on a parish priest during a burglary at his presbytery in Levie, in Corsica. 

The report singled out threats against Belgian Catholic religion teacher Ahmed Yetrib, a convert from Islam, who said he had “never been so worried” after receiving threatening messages because of social media content explaining his conversion. OIDAC said such cases highlighted “the vulnerability of Christian converts from Islam, whose situation remains under-reported but raises significant concerns for religious freedom and security”.  Alongside the hate crimes included in its statistics, the organisation recorded dozens of additional incidents involving thefts, break-ins, fires and vandalism affecting churches where “an anti-Christian bias could not be clearly established” and which were therefore excluded from the official total. The report concluded that “anti-Christian hostility remained at a high level throughout Europe” during June.

“As in previous reporting periods, the figures presented reflect only incidents documented by OIDAC Europe at the time of publication and therefore cannot capture the full extent of anti-Christian hostility in Europe,” it said.  Official figures from the French Ministry of the Interior, cited in the report, documented 843 anti-Christian crimes in France last year – comprising 734 attacks on property and 109 attacks on individuals – representing a 9% increase on the previous year.  Attacks against individuals went up by 70%, including the killing of Iraqi Christian refugee Ashur Sarnaya, who was fatally stabbed in Lyon while livestreaming about his faith on TikTok. The June report follows OIDAC’s May findings, which recorded 37 anti-Christian hate crimes across Europe, including a record 13 arson-related attacks.

Source: Churches and clergy among targets in anti-Christian incidents across Europe – Christian Today

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.
Proverbs 25:28

Revival Grips Brazil’s Amazon: ‘We Baptized 14,500 People’

Posted on by Leave a comment
Silhouettes of people paddling canoes on a calm river during colorful sunset

A profound spiritual transformation is unfolding in the Amazon.  For centuries, the Catholic Church held a near-monopoly in the region. Today, evangelical Christianity is reshaping the region’s spiritual fabric, leading to new converts and churches. CBN News traveled to Brazil’s northwest Amazon region to witness it firsthand for this exclusive report. Linger on the banks of the Amazon River and you’ll uncover more than the rich tapestry of life amid the natural splendor.  For many, such as Ramos, the river isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a sanctuary. “My family and I all grew up here. My grandmother, grandfather and my parents lived and died in this house. I was born in this house and I’m also going to die here,” Ramos told CBN News. As an 83-year-old resident of the Amazon River, Ramos refuses to trade his floating bamboo house for life in any Brazilian city.

“It’s so much cooler here than in the city. You cannot walk freely in the city. It’s very dangerous, many cars, many people. I’m free here. I keep my windows open. The doors are always open. At my age, I’ve never faced danger,” Ramos said. Spanning more than 6 million square miles of South America, 60% of the Amazon rain forest is in northwest Brazil. The approximately 30 million Amazonians currently living here are experiencing an unprecedented evangelical revival. “God is everything for me. God is my father and without Jesus I’m nothing,” Ramos told us. Ramos epitomizes this spiritual shift.  Growing up Catholic, he remembers when the faith dominated his riverside community. Not anymore. The Amazon River here in the northern part of Brazil is filled with hundreds of these small tributaries that in essence snake through the jungle, and over the many years evangelical Christians have been traversing these waters in an attempt to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Amazonian people.

“Those early days were definitely much, much more difficult than today,” said Josué Bengtson, pastor of Belem Foursquare Church. Bengtson has spent decades traversing the river’s intricate network, first as a missionary then as a pastor spreading the evangelical message of salvation. “Back when we started evangelizing in this region, we had just a few workers and, in some municipalities, pastors had to walk 10 to 15 km to open a congregation,” Bengtson told CBN News. “Today, almost all medium-sized churches in the Amazon have a small boat.” Bengtson helped establish one of the Amazon’s first Foursquare churches.  Today, he says the evangelical presence here is undeniable, with 3,200 Foursquare congregations alone flourishing across the region.

“In the first six months of this year we baptized 14,500 people. Our goal for this year is to baptize over 30,000 people,” said Bengtson. We obtained a video that captures a remarkable mass baptism in the Amazon River, where hundreds including, men, women, the elderly, young adults, and children — publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ. And this growth goes beyond numbers, reaching the hearts of many like Esequiel Santo.  “I was 15 years old when God called me to reach the unreached peoples of the Amazon,” Santo told CBN News. Santo spent 32 years as a missionary in the jungle’s interior. “One of the biggest challenges was the isolation and getting used to living among the indigenous or riverside communities,” Santo said. “But God was with us in the work, we saw lives being transformed, so many people heard the gospel and now we are seeing the fruits.”

Santo says sharing the gospel here can be full of challenges. “I’m from Rio de Janeiro, and back then since I couldn’t afford a plane ticket, I had to take a 6-day bus journey to Belem. From there I went by boat for another six days to the outskirts of the Amazon basin,” Santo said. “Once I got there, it took at least 15 days by canoe, not a motorized boat, to paddle up the Solimões River and the Purus River, until we reached the remote communities where we worked. Sometimes it would take 35 days just to get to these remote areas.” José Eustaquio Alves, a leading Brazilian sociologist, says evangelical churches here benefit from long term pastors or missionaries like Santo who foster deep community ties and growth.  “The Catholic Church has a lot of difficulty in training new priests, so it is very common to see Catholic Churches in the Amazon but not enough priests to lead congregations,” Dr. Alves said. “A priest goes once a month or once every semester to the Amazon and is often far from the community. Evangelicals, on the other hand, quickly train pastors who integrate into the community and for a long time.” Today, small evangelical churches like this one are springing up in remote riverside communities.

“I think that the revival that we have been waiting for here in Brazil is happening in the Amazon,” said Alves. Brazilian senator and evangelical Pastor Damares Regina Alves sees this movement as a miracle that’s not only reshaping spiritual practices but also fostering a sense of community and empowerment.  “For many years, people looked at the Amazon and only saw rivers and trees. Today, people are beginning to remember that there are people living there who need to be taken care of, need to hear the gospel and whose lives need a transformation. The church is making this revolution happen,” said Alves. Evangelical Christians often must rely on small canoes or medium-sized boats to hold church services and other ministry activities as they reach remote regions. Meanwhile, church teams from Brazil’s major cities send volunteers here to conduct educational, humanitarian, and medical missions.   This outreach often helps introduce people to the gospel message. These pastors, missionaries and many others laboring in this vast expanse believe the shift is more than just a change in religious practice – it’s a movement that promises to redefine the region’s spiritual and social landscape for generations to come.

Source: Revival Grips Brazil’s Amazon: ‘We Baptized 14,500 People’ | CBN News

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:11

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Police arrest Christian victims after attack on Coptic church

Posted on by Leave a comment
a person with handcuffs

Egyptian police arrested four Christian men who had been assaulted by a mob during an attack on a Coptic place of worship in Egypt, and freed them two days later once they abandoned the complaint they lodged against those who beat them. The attack took place in the Upper Egyptian village of Tal Al-Quiblya in Minya Province on Wednesday, according to the United Kingdom-based religious freedom advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), citing the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). A crowd of Muslim residents, most of them women, children and teenagers, reportedly pelted the building with stones while chanting sectarian abuse. Several Christians suffered injuries. Witnesses on the ground say that the structure and the priest’s car had been damaged. Officers arrived rapidly and restored order, though only after taking the four Christian men into custody. Their release came on Friday, conditioned on the withdrawal of their complaint against the attackers. 

An unknown number of Muslim residents were also arrested. No permanent church had existed in the village for many years. Believers gathered for prayers and Sunday services in one another’s houses in rotation, an arrangement that left some unable to attend regularly because of the travel involved. They eventually converted a building among their homes into a place of worship, doing so with the awareness of security officials as well as their Muslim neighbors. The parish priest, Fr. Pavlos Kamal, warned security officials of incitement and harassment at earlier services, according to CSW, which said no preventive action followed before the violence erupted. CSW President Mervyn Thomas said his organization is deeply troubled by the newest assault on believers in the region and by the recurring reluctance of officers to intervene before crowds turned violent. “The fact that four victims of violence were detained and were only released upon withdrawing their complaint against their assailants is a lamentable indication of an abiding inequality before the law,” Thomas said. “We call on local and state authorities to ensure that justice is served, and urge the Egyptian government to increase efforts to crack down on those responsible for the dangerous rhetoric and hate speech that emboldens extremists and mob groups to attack Christians with impunity.”

Christians routinely face legal and social pressure in Egypt. Earlier this year, an Egyptian court dismissed a bid to designate Easter as a national holiday. Judges rejected the request on procedural grounds, ruling that the matter lay with the prime minister and not the courts, and left its substance unaddressed. Sunday counts as a normal workday in Egypt, so believers who take leave for Easter risk forfeiting wages and meeting hostility at their jobs. Pupils and students who skip lessons for the occasion can be penalized academically, according to religious freedom advocacy organization ADF International, which supported the bid. Last December, the Ministry of Labor allowed Christian employees in the private sector to take Easter leave, while excluding those on the public payroll. That same ruling handed Coptic Christians a larger allocation of paid days than it gave Evangelicals or Catholics. Christians constitute close to a tenth of Egypt’s population. The Coptic Church traces its origins to St. Mark’s ministry in Alexandria in the first century.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged that Egypt be added to the State Department’s Special Watch List, which marks states that have carried out or tolerated grave abuses of religious freedom. Prosecutors have used the country’s blasphemy statutes against people for voicing or defending their beliefs, imposing anything from fines to jail. In January, Augustinos Samaan, a Coptic Christian YouTuber and researcher, was sentenced to five years with hard labor over videos in which he defended his faith. Dozens of comparable prosecutions are before the courts.

Source: Police arrest Christian victims after attack on Coptic church – Christian Today

The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
Psalm 34:10

Feeling Alone? God Sees You

Even when you feel invisible in your struggle, God sees every tear, every burden, and every silent prayer. Your exhaustion has not escaped His attention. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and…

Keep reading

Climbing Your Mountain

Pip: A mountain village, a wandering stranger, a mother weaving a basket by the river — Drink of Jesus has been building a world where ancient scripture lands like it’s happening right now,…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

‘A choice to die will become a duty to die’: Churches challenge assisted dying plan for the Isle of Man

Posted on by Leave a comment
person monitoring a dextrose

Churches on the Isle of Man are urging members of parliament to reject an assisted dying bill they say is rushed and fails to protect vulnerable people. Churches Alive in Mann represents the Church of England, Methodist Church, Catholic Church, United Reformed Church, Living Hope, Elim Onchan, Salvation Army, and Broadway Baptist. The bill is not yet law. Royal Assent was declined once over human rights concerns raised by the U.K. Ministry of Justice, and following amendments in June, the bill has been re-submitted. If assent is not granted by Aug. 13 — when the Manx parliament, known as the House of Keys, dissolves for general elections — the bill would fall. The Rev. Bill Leishman, minister of Broadway Baptist Church and assisted dying spokesman for Churches Alive in Mann, told Christian Daily International the bill was not “a done deal.” “In reality, there is still a slim chance that it will fall,” said Leishman. “Lots of Christians on this Island are praying for this,” he said. “

As to concerns should the Bill pass, the biggest issue is the impact on vulnerable people.” Leishman said the churches had noted real evidence of coercion in contexts where assisted dying has been legalized, including in Canada, the Netherlands, and Belgium. “Even without explicit and hard-to-spot coercion, there would be a subtle societal pressure,” he added. “In Oregon [U.S.], over the last few years, roughly half of people who have died through the Death With Dignity Act stated burden on family or loved ones as a reason to choose an assisted death,” said Leishman. Too many elderly or vulnerable people already feel a burden to their families, he said, without adding the pressure of assisted dying. “We are also deeply concerned about the impact this has on suicide prevention. To say to one group of people ‘Your life is worth living’ while facilitating another group to end their lives is a mismatch of values.” Leishman said the death penalty had been abolished on the Isle of Man and in the U.K. decades ago because innocent people were killed — a punishment with no remedy.

He drew a direct comparison with the bill’s effect on vulnerable people and said, “it’s the same.” “How many vulnerable people would be needlessly killed, or how many people might be coerced without detection?” he asked. “How many of those would make it worthwhile to give others a choice? We believe the risk is too great.” “Alongside our Christian calling to speak up for the voiceless and to protect the neediest in our society, the Churches on the Isle of Man are clear that life is sacred. “We have consistently called to fund Hospice more adequately, as the only safe way to help people have an end of life choice and a good death.” Churches Alive in Mann issued a statement last month titled “Response to Assisted Dying Bill Amendments,” raising concerns about the safety of the proposed law with particular focus on the most vulnerable members of Manx society. The churches welcomed several protections in the proposed Tynwald Amendments regarding mental capacity, coercion and reporting, but said “deep concerns” remained. Key protections had been “very rushed” without the usual parliamentary scrutiny, they said. The churches said the island’s democratic processes had never seen such a quick turnaround — apart from minor procedural changes — certainly not on matters of life and death.

Calling for fuller scrutiny, the churches raised concerns about the impact on hospice and palliative care funding, alongside concerns from the Isle of Man Medical Society: that the bill would spark a healthcare recruitment crisis, leave vulnerable patients exposed to undetectable coercion, and force clinicians to make unreliable life-expectancy predictions. Specific concerns remained about the requirement that an attending doctor in an assisted dying case need not have specific experience in diagnosing or managing terminal illness. With only one medical professional required — and that person not required to be a doctor despite the risk of complications — the churches warned of a lack of transparency or protection against coercion. A doctor would also be free to ignore conclusions of safeguarding and psychiatric referrals in certain circumstances, and the churches said conscientious objectors could face unemployment if they refuse to participate. “The very existence of this legislation will inevitably cause some of our elderly, disabled or vulnerable people to feel more of a burden,” the churches said in their joint statement.

“More worrying still, we believe the proposed amendments don’t go far enough in guarding against coercion. “As churches, we are often there to support people experiencing pain and difficulty, and we speak up now out of deep concern and compassion for all who would be impacted by this legislation. “For thousands of years, ‘Do not kill’ has been an ethical foundation for many civilisations. We believe that all human life is a sacred gift from God. The value of any member of our society is not determined by variable measures of the quality of life. The premature ending of individual lives will inevitably diminish the high value we place on all lives.” The churches called on Tynwald members to reject the rushed package of amendments. Dr. Graham McAll, a retired family physician on the Isle of Man and a member of Manx Duty of Care — an informal group of healthcare workers, social care workers, and others opposed to the bill — told Christian Daily International that the U.K. Ministry of Justice, which advises King Charles III, determined the bill lacked basic human rights protections under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

“Under ECHR, governments are required to protect the lives of their citizens, especially the vulnerable,” said McAll. “This Bill failed on that count and had no independent review mechanism for deaths.” A short timescale before the election led to “some inadequate rushed corrections” being proposed, bypassing the usual process, he said. For that reason, Manx Duty of Care issued a warning of a possible legal challenge in the European Court before the amendments were voted through. Now that the bill is back with the Ministry of Justice, McAll expressed concern that any resulting law could lead to unnecessary deaths. “We are very worried that this Bill could shorten people’s lives unnecessarily, that doctors will make mistakes in their prognosis, that abuse victims will be coerced, that palliative care will be undermined and underfunded, and that, in the end, a choice to die will become for many a duty to die,” said McAll.

“We, Manx Duty of Care, along with the charity Autism In Man, the Isle of Man Medical Society, and all the church denominations on the Island are firmly against this Bill. It is clear from Canada, Holland, and Belgium that once euthanasia is normalized, it spreads to those without terminal illness, and undue influence becomes common. And no drugs are licensed for this purpose anywhere in the world.” McAll called for competent Christians to stand for political election on the basis of the assisted dying issue and other relevant matters. “All candidates in the upcoming election will need to be quizzed hard on their attitude to this complex issue. It could turn centuries of medical and social ethics upside down, and our government’s suicide prevention strategy.”

Source: ‘A choice to die will become a duty to die’: Churches challenge assisted dying plan for the Isle of Man – Christian Daily International

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:14

Peace in the Storm

God does not always remove the storm immediately, but He promises peace in the middle of it. His presence calms fearful hearts.  Bible Verse: “Peace I leave with you; my peace…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

A Father After God’s Own Heart

Posted on by Leave a comment
Man and child walking hand in hand on dirt path by ocean at sunset

The world does not need perfect Dads, it needs godly fathers who are willing to follow God and lead their families with faith, humility, and love. A father who walks with God leaves a legacy that can influence generations long after he is gone.

  • “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)
  • “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
  • “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

Being a dad is one of the greatest responsibilities God has given to a man. When you become a dad there are many things in our life that compete for our attention; career, finances, hobbies, and personal ambitions. God calls dads to a higher purpose: daily leading their families toward Him.

Being a good dad is not measured solely by his ability to provide financially. Yes, provision is important, God’s definition of fatherhood reaches much deeper. A godly father will additionally provide spiritual leadership, emotional support, wisdom, discipline, and be a living example of what it means to follow Christ.

An example of a good dad in the bible was Joshua and he declared, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Notice that Joshua did not leave the spiritual direction of his home to basic chance. He made a deliberate decision to lead. Fathers today must make that same commitment. Our children need to see faith lived out consistently. They need fathers who pray, read Scripture, attend worship, and seek God’s guidance in everyday life.

A good father will demonstrate love. There are many people who struggle to understand God’s love because they never were able to experience healthy love from an earthly father. A godly fathers will reflect the heart of our Heavenly Father through patience, kindness, forgiveness, and compassion. While discipline is necessary, discipline without love produces resentment. Ephesians 6:4 reminds fathers not to provoke their children but to raise them in the instruction of the Lord. No dad is perfect. Every dad has made mistakes and fallen short, we are humans. The promising truth is that God does not require perfection; He requires faithfulness. King David was not a perfect man, yet he was known as a man after God’s own heart because he continually returned to God in repentance and obedience. Fathers who admit their mistakes, seek forgiveness, and strive to grow spiritually teach their children one of life’s most valuable lessons: everyone needs God’s grace.

A good dad will also leave a legacy. Money, possessions, and achievements eventually fade away, but a solid spiritual legacy endures. When fathers pray for their children, teach them biblical truth, encourage godly character, and model integrity, they plant seeds that can and will bear fruit for generations. The influence of a faithful father often extends far beyond what he can see in his own lifetime.

Today and everyday, God is calling fathers to stand strong. Not in pride or self-reliance, but through dependence on Him. He calls fathers to lead with courage, love with compassion, to discipline with wisdom, and serve with humility. The greatest gift a dad can give his children is not wealth, success, or comfort, it is a life surrendered to Jesus Christ.

As fathers draw closer to God, they become better husbands, better leaders, better examples, and better fathers. When a father follows Christ, he gives his family a living picture of faith in action.

May every father choose today to say with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Thought to Ponder

If your children followed your example more than your words, what would they learn about God from your life?

Journaling Prompt

What specific areas of fatherhood is God asking me to strengthen—spiritual leadership, prayer, patience, discipline, love, consistency, or godly example? What practical step can I take this week to become the father God has called me to be?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for being the perfect Father who loves us, guides us, corrects us, and never abandons us. Today we lift up all fathers before You. Give them wisdom to lead their families, strength to stand firm in faith, patience to nurture their children, and courage to follow Your ways.

Help fathers to love as You love, forgive as You forgive, and serve as Christ served. Strengthen those who are weary, encourage those who feel inadequate, and remind them that Your grace is sufficient for every challenge they face.May every father become a reflection of Your heart within his home. Let their lives point their children and future generations toward Jesus Christ. Bless their families with unity, peace, faith, and a deep desire to serve You. In Jesus Amen.

Getting to Know Him

Do you want eternal life? Do you want to enter heaven through the only guide that can help you navigate your way there? To enter His home, get to know Him better, and make Him your Lord and Savior CLICK HERE…...

Matthew 4:7; It is Written

Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.” This verse records Jesus’ response to Satan during His temptation in the wilderness:…

Keep reading

A Father Who Stands Strong in Faith

The world continually challenges fathers to compromise their values and convictions. God calls fathers to stand firm in faith and lead their families with courage. “Be on your…

Keep reading

A Father Who Leads with Wisdom

Godly leadership requires more than strength; it requires wisdom. Dads are called to seek God’s direction so they can guide their families according to His truth.  Bible Verse:”Trust…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Complete Guide to Bible Versions: Comparison, History, and Philosophy of Top Bible Translations

Posted on by Leave a comment
Stack of seven Bible versions with an open Bible displaying text on a wooden desk

This is an awesome article that we found that we that will help you decide which bible translation will work the best for you.

If you’re new to Bible reading — or even if you’re not — you might feel completely bewildered by the array of Bible versions, translations, and editions available today.  Whether you’re browsing the Bible section at your local bookstore or comparing Bible Gateway’s own library (which features dozens of English translations, let alone the huge variety of other languages), you might feel overwhelmed by the alphabet soup of abbreviations in front of you. You’re not alone — Bible decision fatigue is real. In fact, it’s not uncommon for shoppers to leave stores empty handed rather than risk buying the “wrong” Bible version. Here’s the good news: with very few exceptions, there is no “wrong” version of the Good News.

But depending on what you’re looking for, there are better or worse places for you to start. This guide will help you sort through the major Bible versions available today and make a choice that suits your personal circumstances. You’ll also learn a bit about the different translation types, or philosophies, and a crash course in their histories. When you’re done, you’ll have no trouble telling your NIV from your ESV, your NRSVUE from your NABRE, and your KJV from your NKJV. Why Are There So Many Bible Versions?

Why are there so many Bible versions, anyway?

How different can they really be? If you’ve ever compared a few translations side by side, you know the answer: they can differ greatly. Sometimes it’s hard to believe both passages come from the same source text!  The books of the Bible were written over hundreds of years in various locations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew (with a few passages in Aramaic) centuries before the birth of Jesus, while the latest books in the New Testament were written in Greek decades after his death and resurrection. 

Needless to say, a lot has changed in the world since then. Rendering words written thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away — in very different languages and contexts than our own — intelligible to a modern English reader is an enormous challenge. There are a lot of good reasons for the variety of different ways an original passage from the Bible can be translated. Here are just a few of them:

No One-to-One Correlation

Words in one language seldom have exact matches in other languages. There are often shades of meaning lost in translation — all the more so when separated by thousands of years.  Common examples include the Hebrew word ruach — which can be translated either “breath” or “wind” — and of course the Greek logos, which can variously mean “word,” “reason,” “thought,” or “speech.”

No Punctuation

Unlike modern English, most ancient languages have little to no punctuation to clarify where one phrase or sentence ends and another begins. To make matters worse, early Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts used all capital letters, and often didn’t include spaces between words. Hebrew didn’t even include vowels!

IMAGINETRYINGTOTRANSLATETHISSENTENCEWITHNOVOWELSIFITWASNTYOURNATIVELANGUAGE. Now imagine trying to do that for hundreds of pages (not to mention backwards: Hebrew is written right-to-left)!

Idioms

One of the greatest challenges trying to translate texts across languages and cultures is figuring out what to do with idioms, or common cultural phrases that mean something very different from what they appear to in the literal sense.  Do you convert them to the target language as closely as possible, so readers know exactly what images the original writers used, even if they don’t understand what was originally meant by them? Or do you try to get the point across by adjusting the words to something more meaningful to us today?

Imagine someone in Thailand — or for that matter, on Mars — two or three thousand years from now trying to make sense of phrases like “break a leg” or “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and you can start to get a sense of the problem.  These sorts of phrases abound in both Hebrew and Greek. Many of them have now entered our own lexicon — so much so that we don’t even realize they’re from the Bible — but others, like the many uses of covering or uncovering one’s feet — remain contested.

Times, Genres, and Styles

The books of the Bible were written by many hands over hundreds of years. Some books were carefully crafted by scholars, while others are the live-spoken testimony of holy men and women. Some of them are histories, some are poetry, some are letters, or collections of sayings, or prophecies. Often a single book will include several of these genres within it. 

The fact that God chose so many hands to write his Word is part of what makes reading the Bible such a vibrant, dynamic, and engaging experience. When translating such a wonderful variety of voices, it’s possible to purposely or accidentally smooth them all out into a single, more consistent one. 

There are reasons to do so — such as helping to highlight the thematic and narrative throughlines of the entirety of Scripture. But you also run the risk of losing the freshness and particular feeling of the individuals God selected and inspired to deliver his message.

Types of Bible Translation>>Keep Reading>>

Source: Complete Guide to Bible Versions: Comparison, History, and Philosophy of Top Bible Translations [Updated 2025] | Bible Gateway News & Knowledge

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
1 John 3:2-3

A Father Who Loves Like God

A Dad’s love can leave a lasting imprint on a child’s heart. God calls dads to reflect His unconditional love through patience, grace, and compassion. “Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

What is the Pentateuch?

At times, another person’s insight can help us see God’s Word in a fresh and meaningful way. In this article, we share content designed to encourage your faith, deepen your understanding of…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

1 Peter 1:6–7

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

1 Timothy 1:13-15

Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

James 1:14–15

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Proverbs 13:20

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. This reminds us that the people we spend time with have a powerful influence on our thoughts,…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals. We can see here that Paul gives a powerful warning: the people and influences we allow into our lives can shape our character, beliefs,…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. This verse reminds us that our words carry tremendous power. That what we…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Proverbs 23:7

For he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. This verse reminds us that our thoughts shape our character,…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Luke 6:45

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

A House Divided

Division within the church is one of the enemy’s greatest tools because it weakens unity, damages witness, and distracts believers from the mission of Christ. I personally believe that all of the…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: In the Book of Ecclesiastes verse 3:1, we’re reminded that life moves in seasons, every moment has a…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Amos 3:7

 “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. This verse reveals that God does not act without warning His people first. The verse teaches that the Lord…

Keep reading
by Drink of Jesus

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

What is the definition of theology?

Posted on by Leave a comment
Ancient parchment scroll with text and wax seal on wooden table with quill and candle

The word “theology” comes from two Greek words that combined mean “the study of God.” Christian theology is simply an attempt to understand God as He is revealed in the Bible. No theology will ever fully explain God and His ways because God is infinitely and eternally higher than we are. Therefore, any attempt to describe Him will fall short (Romans 11:33-36). However, God does want us to know Him insofar as we are able, and theology is the art and science of knowing what we can know and understand about God in an organized and understandable manner. Some people try to avoid theology because they believe it is divisive.

Properly understood, though, theology is uniting. Proper, biblical theology is a good thing; it is the teaching of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The study of theology, then, is nothing more than digging into God’s Word to discover what He has revealed about Himself. When we do this, we come to know Him as Creator of all things, Sustainer of all things, and Judge of all things. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things. When Moses asked who was sending him to Pharaoh, God replied “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The name I AM indicates personality. God has a name, even as He has given names to others.

The name I AM stands for a free, purposeful, self-sufficient personality. God is not an ethereal force or a cosmic energy. He is the almighty, self-existing, self-determining Being with a mind and a will—the “personal” God who has revealed Himself to humanity through His Word, and through His Son, Jesus Christ. To study theology is to get to know God in order that we may glorify Him through our love and obedience. Notice the progression here: we must get to know Him before we can love Him, and we must love Him before we can desire to obey Him.

As a byproduct, our lives are immeasurably enriched by the comfort and hope He imparts to those who know, love, and obey Him. Poor theology and a superficial, inaccurate understanding of God will only make our lives worse instead of bringing the comfort and hope we long for. Knowing about God is crucially important. We are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about God. The world is a painful place, and life in it is disappointing and unpleasant. Reject theology and you doom yourself to life with no sense of direction. Without theology, we waste our lives and lose our souls.

Source: What is the definition of theology? | GotQuestions.org

And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
Exodus 1:21

The Brave New Age of Trust-Fund Socialism

Democrats are in the midst of a fun and terrifying transformation. Hating Trump is no longer sufficient to win elections in blue states. Democratic primary voters—specifically the party’s core constituency…

Keep reading

Prayer for Boldness; Acts 4:24-31

When opposition rises against God’s people, the natural response is often fear. Yet the early church teaches us that the answer to intimidation is not retreat, but prayer to have…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

What is the Pentateuch?

Posted on by Leave a comment
Four monks in brown robes studying ancient scrolls on a wooden table in a stone room with candles.

At times, another person’s insight can help us see God’s Word in a fresh and meaningful way. In this article, we share content designed to encourage your faith, deepen your understanding of Scripture, and draw you closer to Jesus Christ.

The Pentateuch, pronounced like ˈpen.t̬ə.tuːk, is the first five books of the Bible that conservative Bible scholars believe were mostly written by Moses. Even though the books of the Pentateuch themselves do not clearly identify the author, there are many passages that attribute them to Moses or as being his words (Exodus 17:14, 24:4–7;Numbers 33:1–2; Deuteronomy 31:9–22). While there are some verses in the Pentateuch that would appear to have been added by someone later than Moses, for example, Deuteronomy 34:5–8, which describes the death and burial of Moses, most if not all scholars attribute the majority of these books to Moses. Even if Joshua or someone else actually wrote the original manuscripts, the teaching and revelation can be traced from God through Moses. No matter who actually wrote the words that make up the books of the Pentateuch, the author of those words was God through His prophet Moses, and the inspiration of these five books of the Bible is still true.

One of the most important evidences for Moses being the author of the Pentateuch is that Jesus Himself refers this section of the Old Testament as the “Law of Moses” (Luke 24:44). The word Pentateuch comes from a combination of the Greek word penta, meaning “five” and teuchos, which can be translated “scroll.” Therefore, it simply refers to the five scrolls that make up the first of three divisions of the Jewish canon. The name Pentateuch can be traced at least as far back as AD 200, when Tertullian referred to the first five books of the Bible by that name. Also known as the Torah, which is the Hebrew word meaning “Law,” these five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jews generally divided the Old Testament into three different sections, The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings.

The Law or Torah consists of the first five books of Scripture that contain the historical background of creation and God’s choosing of Abraham and the Jewish nation as His chosen people. They also contain the instructions and law given to Israel at Mount Sinai. Scripture refers to these five books by various names. In Joshua 1:7 they said to be the “law (Torah) which Moses My servant commanded you” and “the law of Moses” in 1 Kings 2:3. The five books of the Bible that make up the Pentateuch are the beginning of God’s progressive revelation to man. In Genesis we find the beginning of creation, the fall of man, the promise of redemption, the beginning of human civilization, and the beginning of God’s covenant relationship with His chosen nation, Israel.

Following Genesis we have Exodus, which records God’s deliverance of His covenant people from the bondage of slavery and the preparation for their possession of the Promised Land that He had set aside for them. Exodus records the deliverance of Israel from Egypt after 400 years of slavery as promised by God to Abraham (Genesis 15:13). In it we find the covenant God makes with Israel at Mount Sinai, instructions for building the tabernacle, the giving of the Ten Commandments, and other instructions on how Israel was to worship God.

Leviticus follows Exodus and expands on the instructions for how a covenant people (Israel) were to worship God and govern themselves. It lays forth the requirements of the sacrificial system that would allow God to overlook the sins of His people until the perfect and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ would provide redemption and completely atone for the sins of all of God’s elect. Following Leviticus is Numbers, which covers key events during the 40 years that Israel wandered in the wilderness as well as additional instructions for worshiping God and living as His covenant people.

The last of the five books that make up the Pentateuch is Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is sometimes referred to as the “second law” or “repetition of the law.” It records the final words of Moses before the nation of Israel crosses over into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:1). In Deuteronomy we find God’s Law and standards that were given to Israel at Mount Sinai repeated and expounded upon by Moses. As Israel was to move into a new chapter of their history as God’s chosen nation, Moses is reminding them not only of God’s commandments and their responsibilities but of the blessings that would be theirs by obeying God and the curses that would come from disobedience.

The five books that make up the Pentateuch are generally considered to be historical books because they record historical events. While they are often called the Torah or the Law, in reality they contain much more than laws. They provide an overview to God’s plan of redemption and provide a backdrop to everything in Scripture that would follow. Like all of the Old Testament, the promises, types, and prophecies contained in the first five books of Scripture have their ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. They provide the important historical background needed to set the stage for the coming Kinsmen Redeemer.

Source: What is the Pentateuch? | GotQuestions.org

The Gospel Still Works in a Changing World

Posted on by Leave a comment
A tree bending in strong wind with extensive roots visible underground

This is a great message we found from biblehub.com and wanted to share the message with you.

Every age feels unstable in its own way. Ours moves fast, argues loudly, and often treats old truths as if they have expired. Many believers wonder how to speak clearly in a culture that is suspicious of certainty and impatient with conviction. Yet the answer is not to rewrite the message. It is to remember what God has already said and to trust that He still does what He has always done through the good news of Jesus Christ.

A Changing Culture Does Not Change Christ

Methods may change, technologies may multiply, and public opinion may turn, but the Lord does not move with the tide. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The foundation of the faith is not a trend, a personality, or a strategy. It is the living Christ, crucified and risen. That is why Scripture remains steady when the world is unsettled. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). A church that believes this will not panic when the culture shifts. It will listen carefully, speak wisely, and keep its footing because truth is not decided by majority vote.

The Gospel Still Meets the Deepest Need

The world changes, but the human heart does not. People still carry guilt, fear death, wrestle with shame, and search for meaning. No amount of progress can remove sin or reconcile a sinner to God. That is why the gospel is never out of date. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The gospel is not mere advice for better living. It is the announcement that sinners can be forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He did not offer one path among many.

He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). That exclusivity troubles many people, but it is also our hope. If Christ alone saves, then salvation rests on His finished work, not on our efforts. And where this message is believed, real change happens. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The gospel still works because God still saves, restores, and transforms.

Stand Firm in Truth Without Losing Tenderness

Some believers are tempted to soften the message so that it sounds less offensive. Others are tempted to speak the truth harshly and call it faithfulness. Scripture leaves no room for either mistake. We are to be clear about truth and careful about tone. “But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). That kind of witness requires a renewed mind.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). We will not speak with conviction if we are shaped more by headlines, entertainment, and online outrage than by Scripture. Christians do not help the world by echoing its confusion. We help by bringing light, patience, and the words of life. Faithfulness also means speaking when it would be easier to stay silent. “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

There is courage in that verse, but there is also patience. The Lord’s servants are not called to win arguments at any cost. We are called to tell the truth as those who know they have received mercy.

Ordinary Faithfulness Has Real Power

Many people want a dramatic answer for a difficult time, but God often works through steady obedience. The gospel spreads not only through pulpits and platforms, but through homes, workplaces, friendships, and local churches. A calm, holy, Bible-shaped life is not small. It is a witness.

  • Begin each day in Scripture. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
  • Obey what God has said. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).
  • Speak openly about Christ. People do not need vague spirituality; they need the Savior who died for sinners and rose again.
  • Stay committed to the church. Believers need worship, sound teaching, prayer, fellowship, and accountability. Isolation weakens courage.
  • Let your life support your words. “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

None of these steps are flashy. All of them are powerful when joined to the work of the Holy Spirit. God has always used ordinary believers who trust His Word, pray, repent, serve, and refuse to hide the name of Jesus.

Hope for a Restless World

It is easy to become discouraged when evil is celebrated and truth is treated as a problem. But despair is not faith. The risen Christ is still building His church, still saving the lost, and still keeping His people. The gospel does not depend on cultural approval to remain true or powerful. So this is not the time to retreat from the message that gives life.

It is the time to believe it more deeply, live it more visibly, and share it more confidently. The Lord who saves has not grown weak, and His promises have not worn out. He still says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). In a changing world, that is the kind of hope that does not fade.

Source: The Gospel Still Works in a Changing World; biblehub.com

The King is Coming

They shouted “Hosanna” like a King was arriving, but didn’t realize a Savior was surrendering. Don’t just celebrate Jesus for what you want Him to do, honor Him…

Break Free and Run the Race

Break free from sin, and run your race like it matters. We must understand, getting rid of our anchors will still keep us in the race. ⚓️ 📖Therefore,…

Letting God Take the Lead

God doesn’t guide the loud, the proud, or the self-sufficient, He leads the humble who are willing to follow. Lay down your pride, and watch how clearly His…

What does Hosanna Mean?

Hosanna: Getting to Know Him Do you want eternal life? Do you want to enter heaven through the only guide that can help you navigate your way there?…

Matthew 25:21

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into…

2 Peter 2:1-3

But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who…

Recognizing the Trap of Offense

A wounded heart builds walls higher than pride ever could, harder to win back than a fortified city. Choose your words carefully, because one broken relationship can become…

❤️The Heart of Worship🛐

What the world calls waste, Jesus calls worship, your sacrifice for Him is never overlooked. Bold, extravagant faith stands out in a culture that misunderstands true devotion.  “She…

🌹To the Mother Who Keeps Going🌹

Dear Mother, We know that you may not hear it every day, but what you do matters more than you know. Every early morning, every late night, every…

Matthew 1:22-23

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” This…

Romans 12:19

 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” This verse teaches believers not…

Guarding Your Heart

Your life is moving in the direction of your heart, whether you realize it or not. What you allow in today will shape who you become tomorrow. Keep…

Grace, Not Perfection

God does not ask you to be flawless before coming to Him. He asks you to come as you are. For by grace you have been saved through…

Prophesy and His Timeline

The God who created time is not controlled by time, He rules over it. Every prophecy fulfilled is proof that history is not random, but written by the…

Watchfulness Without Fear

God never called His people to panic about the future. He called them to be awake, ready, and full of hope. “Watch therefore: for ye know not what…

God’s Delays Are Not Denials

What feels late to us is often perfectly timed by God. Heaven’s clock never runs behind schedule. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise… but is longsuffering…

Grace, Not Perfection

God does not ask you to be flawless before coming to Him. He asks you to come as you are. “For by grace are ye saved through faith……

When You Feel Alone

When life feels like you’re walking into the battle alone, remember this: you never take a single step without God beside you, His strength goes before you, His…

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate…

Deuteronomy 8:3

He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that…

Matthew 12:25

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. This verse…

The Secret to Peace in Uncertain Times

Anxiety grows when we depend only on our own understanding. Peace begins when we place our confidence in God’s wisdom.  📖Trust in the Lord with all your heart,…

Matthew 4:6

And said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘On their…

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am…

Titus 3:3

For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. This verse reminds believers of…

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped…

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. In this verse it declares the eternal power and authority of Jesus Christ: “Heaven and…

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Non Christian Director Steven Spielberg says ‘Disclosure Day’ will touch on Christianity

Posted on by Leave a comment
gray alien mask with big black eyes

Director Steven Spielberg suggested during a Sunday interview that his new film about extraterrestrials might raise theological questions among some Christians regarding the nature of the cosmos. Speaking with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Spielberg said “Disclosure Day,” his upcoming movie about a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert exposing the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial secrets, will touch on the implications such a revelation would have for religious people.

“There’s a faction in the film that represents a pretty good position of why — possibly because of ontological shock, social dislocation — if this truth… were just known overnight, if the government announced, ‘Yes, we have been keeping this from you since 1947,’ that would mess up a lot of people.” Spielberg also said the film, one of whose characters is a former Roman Catholic nun, “also takes the position of the [Catholic] Church.” “What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God, our God, only on this planet, or is God a God for every system where there’s civilization, intelligent life and even developing life?” he said of the questions the movie will raise.

Mankiewicz teased that the nun character in the movie “is a really important role” with an important line, presumably drawn from the text of the Lord’s Prayer. A clip of Spielberg’s comments went viral on X from an account that framed them as claiming that extraterrestrial disclosure would shake the faith of Christians, which many users pushed back on. “No it won’t. Hollywood is obsessed with the idea that the discovery of aliens will rock Christian faith. It’s weird,” said Christian podcaster Josh Daws. “The only people who think the existence of aliens would mess with Christianity are non-Christians who don’t understand the first thing about Christianity,” said Eric Sammons, who is editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine.

“Disclosure Day” is slated for a theatrical release on Friday and comes amid heightened debate among Christians regarding the nature of so-called extraterrestrials and UFOs, with some claiming the phenomena are inextricable with the occult and demonic. Last week, Cardinal Robert McElroy removed Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, a priest with the Diocese of Syracuse, as an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Washington after he went viral for expressing his opinion that “probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are, in fact, demons.” Despite his removal, Rossetti’s views align with those expressed by other Catholic clergy, including Father Chad Ripperger, who serves as an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Denver.

Some occultists have also historically linked UFO phenomena to sorcery. The late British ceremonial magician Kenneth Grant, who studied under the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley, attributed the wave of UFO sightings beginning in 1947 to occult rituals conducted the year before by NASA rocket engineer Jack Parsons and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The potentially spiritual nature of UFOs, extraterrestrials, interdimensionals and related phenomena has increasingly emerged as a topic of discussion on influential podcasts and among prominent officials in recent months.

Last month, a group of Charismatic pastors raised eyebrows and stoked controversy for claiming they had a meeting about UFOs with U.S. officials, who reportedly warned them to prepare their churches for the theological implications of disclosure. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., who reportedly called into the meeting, pushed back against the claim.

Source: Steven Spielberg says ‘Disclosure Day’ will touch on Christianity | Entertainment

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
James 1:19

Robin Williams as the American Flag

Robin Williams portrays the American flag in “I Love Liberty,” a two-hour television special created by Norman Lear and presented by People For the American Way. Source: (630) Robin…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Psalm 1:1–3

Posted on by Leave a comment
Open Bible opened to Psalm 23 alongside previous Psalms pages with a lit candle on wooden surface

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

crooked trees growing over river

These verses paint a picture of a person who chooses God’s way over the influence of the ungodly. Rather than following sinful advice or embracing worldly values, they delight in God’s Word and meditate on it continually. As a result, they become spiritually strong and fruitful, like a tree planted beside a flowing stream that never lacks nourishment. Even through difficult seasons, they remain rooted, steadfast, and productive. This passage reminds believers that true blessing, stability, and spiritual growth come from a close and consistent relationship with God and His truth.

Getting to Know Him

Do you want eternal life? Do you want to enter heaven through the only guide that can help you navigate your way there? To enter His home, get to know Him better, and make Him your Lord and Savior CLICK HERE…...

Blog

Subscribe

Enter your email below to receive updates.


Christian Persecution June 2 – May 28, 2026

Posted on by Leave a comment
Shattered stained glass pieces scattered on stone floor under a broken stained glass window in an old church

Christian persecution published between May 28 and June 4, 2026. These come primarily from specialized monitoring organizations like International Christian Concern (ICC) and Global Christian Relief. No large-scale violent incidents (e.g., mass killings or church bombings) were reported in major outlets during this exact window, but several specific cases of arrests, physical attacks, restrictions, and official reports emerged. persecution.org

June 3, 2026 – France

Anti-Christian, Anti-Semitic Attacks Spike in France
A new report from France’s Interior Ministry documented a clear rise in reported abuse and attacks targeting both Jews and Christians, identifying them as the groups facing the largest number of such incidents in the covered period.persecution.org

June 2, 2026 – Multiple countries (ICC reports)

  • Vietnam (Central Highlands): Pastor Siu Yúi (68) and church member Siu Dok (40), both Montagnard Vietnamese Christians, were arrested in Gia Lai Central Province. Details on charges were not specified in the initial report. persecution.org
  • China: Three leaders from Maizhong Reformed Church—Pastor Zhang Sen, Pastor Chang Shun, and Elder Ma Tao—have been denied access to Bibles while imprisoned, highlighting ongoing restrictions on religious materials for Christian prisoners. persecution.org
  • Pakistan (Punjab): Alayan Johnson, a 22-year-old Christian auto-rickshaw driver, was shot by police after they mistakenly identified him as a suspect. Authorities are now reportedly pressuring him to drop any investigation into the incident. persecution.org
  • Sri Lanka (Southern region): On May 21 (reported June 2), a group of Buddhists threw stones at Zion Church while nearly 20 Christians were inside praying during evening services. No injuries were detailed in the initial account. persecution.org
  • Malaysia: Non-Muslim (including Christian) communities continue facing bureaucratic barriers to worship, such as sudden bans on using shoplots/commercial spaces for services due to land shortages and administrative rules. This is framed as part of a broader pattern affecting religious minorities. persecution.org

June 2 & May 28, 2026 – Nigeria (Global Christian Relief)

  • June 2: Christians in certain areas of Nigeria have been ordered not to pray together after dark, adding to existing pressures and restrictions on communal worship amid ongoing persecution in the region. globalchristianrelief.org
  • May 28: A reflective piece examined how Nigerian Christians practice biblical forgiveness amid extreme persecution, drawing on real experiences of violence and hardship faced by believers there. globalchristianrelief.org

These stories reflect the pattern of low-level but persistent pressures (arrests, physical intimidation, worship restrictions, and prison conditions) that monitoring groups track globally. Broader annual reports (such as Open Doors’ World Watch List 2026) continue to cite high overall levels of persecution in places like Nigeria, but no new aggregate statistics specific to this 7-day window were released. osvnews.com

For the latest developments, check dedicated sources like persecution.org or globalchristianrelief.org, as incidents are often reported quickly by on-the-ground networks.

Source: Grok / X

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12

The Story of America: John Adams

The White House Salute to America 250 Task Force has partnered with Hillsdale College to provide a history series that tells the remarkable story of American Independence. It will highlight…

Keep reading

George Washington on Freedom of Speech

George Washington never wrote a single famous statement that exactly says “freedom of speech” in the way many internet memes claim. However, throughout his writings and public addresses, he strongly…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’

Posted on by Leave a comment
baptism ceremony at clemson community church

17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’, Michael Foust – Read breaking news headlies with a Christian perspective and commentary from Michael Foust. A gathering at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., served as the focal point for the May 24 global event, featuring worship, personal testimonies, and live updates from participating churches around the world. Attendees watched baptisms take place across multiple nations as believers publicly professed their faith.

Baptize the World grew out of a movement led by Pastor Mark Francey of Oceans Church in California, whose previous initiatives – Baptize SoCal, Baptize California, and Baptize America – drew thousands of participants.

“This was never about one event or one location,” Francey said. “This was about the body of Christ coming together around the world to lift up the name of Jesus and publicly declare new life through baptism.”

He added, “From Washington, D.C., to nations around the world, we witnessed people saying yes to Jesus in a way that was visible, powerful, and deeply personal.”

Francey launched the movement after sensing about four years ago that God was calling him to organize a large-scale baptism event. Like its predecessors, Baptize the World was a multi-denominational effort that united churches around the public declaration of faith through baptism.

The movement began with more than 4,000 baptisms at Baptize SoCal in 2023 and grew to roughly 12,000 baptisms during Baptize California in 2024, held simultaneously in churches across the state and along the Huntington Beach shoreline.

“Psalms 133 says that where God’s people are in unity, God commands a blessing,” Francey previously told Crosswalk Headlines. “And so interdenominationally, from one side of the church world to the other side, we have some of the great Baptist churches, evangelical churches, Pentecostal churches, all linking arms together around one of the major creeds of the faith.”

Organizers received video updates and baptism reports from nations across the world, including Australia, Uganda, Pakistan, South Korea, Brazil, Romania, Switzerland, the Philippines, and Canada.

“Among the stories emerging from the global movement were baptisms in Tajikistan, where Christians make up less than 1% of the population, and in Equatorial Guinea, where nine siblings were baptized together,” a Baptize the World report said. “Organizers said additional stories from international churches are continuing to come in as more nations and churches report baptisms.”

Source: 17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’ – Michael Foust | Crosswalk.com

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Pastor Shane Idleman Diagnosed with Head and Neck Cancer

Posted on by Leave a comment
doctor office table desk and black chair with stethoscope and white paper

California pastor Shane Idleman recently broke the silence about his battle with head and neck cancer following his diagnosis earlier this year.  Idleman, who pastors Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, told Billy Hallowell of CBN News, spoke about his cancer diagnosis despite being a longtime health advocate.    “The first 30 years of my life, I was a prodigal. … There’s a lot of damage you can do with the party lifestyle and things like that, No. 1,” he explained. “No. 2 is: there’s no guarantees in life.” “Some of the healthiest persons still get sick, and we just don’t know in this life, and that’s why my motto has been, ‘God’s sovereignty is my sanity,” he added.  Idleman recalled feeling unwell in January, with night sweats and exhaustion.

Source: Pastor Shane Idleman Diagnosed with Head and Neck Cancer – Milton Quintanilla | Crosswalk.com

Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.
Psalm 25:8-9

Judge PROTECTS ILLEGAL Immigrant Voting

Judge Sparkle says you cannot remove illegal immigrant from voter rolls because maybe it removes citizens blocking Trump from securing US elections Source: (604) Judge PROTECTS ILLEGAL Immigrant Voting |…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Calls for an end to the sexualisation of children in schools

Posted on by Leave a comment
woman writing on a whiteboard

The Coalition for Marriage (C4M) has called for an end to the sexualisation of children in schools and has denounced plans for a “summer of sex” at Westminster. C4M pointed to official guidelines on sex education as well as some concerning cases that suggest many children are being exposed to inappropriate material and are being indoctrinated into a certain view of sex and sexuality. According to government guidelines children as young as three can be taught about where babies come from, while from age five they can be taught that same gender parents are the equivalent of opposite gender parents.

At age 12 they can be taught that it is their right to have sex, despite it being illegal to do so until age 16. Richard Lucas, leader of the Scottish Family Party, told C4M that such material “corrupts young minds”, adding that such education rarely, if ever, mentions marriage as the proper and most stable framework within which sexual relations can take place. C4M reports that sex education has sometimes gone so far that even secular authorities have felt the need to intervene. It pointed to a school on the Isle of Man, which in 2023 suspended sex education after 11-year-old children were allegedly traumatised by lessons that covered oral and anal sex, how an artificial penis can be created for a sex change operation, and the number of genders there supposedly are.

In one incident, a drag queen allegedly sent an upset child out of class after the child insisted there are two genders, rather than the 73 being claimed by the drag queen. The school later said that the pupil had been temporarily removed from the room by a teacher, not the drag queen, and not because of the guest speaker’s conversation about inclusion but to remind the pupil that they did “not have to agree with the guest speaker” but “must show respect”. C4M has also taken issue with plans this summer by Labour MP Samantha Niblett to launch a “summer of sex” in collaboration with Cindy Gallop, founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, which, despite the name, is in fact a pornography website.

MakeLoveNotPorn claims to differ from “traditional” pornography by featuring ordinary people having sex as opposed to professional “performers”. Gallop also runs a sex education site which is aimed at ages “0 to 18 and beyond”. Dr Tony Rucinski, Director of Supporter Strategy at C4M, suggested that the “summer of sex” was yet more evidence of the mainstreaming of inappropriate sexual material in public. The Christian Institute has also hit out at the plans, with spokesperson Angus Saul saying: “Explaining to children and other young people that pornography presents a distorted view of relationships is a laudable objective, but this campaign is only going to give a very mixed message by suggesting that some porn is good and some is bad.

“This will only confuse people further, and will surely detract from the work going on elsewhere to limit children’s access to pornography and reverse the damage this material has wreaked on society.”

Source: Calls for an end to the sexualisation of children in schools – Christian Today

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Not Meant For the Government

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” Patrick Henry Patrick…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

3 Pastors Killed Returning from Peace Conference

Posted on by Leave a comment
close up image of rifle magazine on ground

Three tribal church pastors from the Thadou Baptist Association (TBA) of India were killed, and four others were injured in an armed ambush on May 13 in Kangpokpi district of Manipur. Roughly 10 armed men used automatic weapons to shoot two vehicles carrying the church leaders as they returned from a peace and reconciliation conference in Churachandpur. The murders triggered a wave of retaliatory abductions and hostage-taking between rival armed groups across several districts, fracturing the already fragile atmosphere. The incident caused immediate panic and deep outrage across tribal communities statewide, sparking spontaneous protests and highway blockades.

The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and the Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) alleged the involvement of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF), specifically the Kamson faction, possibly in coordination with valley-based insurgent groups in the ambush and killings. Rev. Dr. Sitlhou was a prominent advocate for peace, having recently led a delegation to Nagaland to broker reconciliation between the Kuki and Tangkhul Naga communities. He was a notable bridge-builder working on dialogues between the two. Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has condemned the incident and urged swift justice. Singh condemned the ambush as a “senseless act of violence” and promised full state resources to bring the perpetrators to justice. The chief ministers of Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram similarly expressed deep outrage.

Hostages Released Manipur’s conflict landscape involves three major ethnic groups: the Meiteis, the Nagas, and the Kuki-Zo communities. These groups largely live in separate geographical belts and pockets where each forms a local majority. The killing occurred amid persistent tensions between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities following the ethnic violence that broke out on May 3, 2023. “What began over issues of Scheduled Tribe status, land rights, forest governance, and demographic concerns has now expanded into a dangerous triangular confrontation involving Meiteis, Kuki-Zo, and Nagas,” John Dayal, a noted human rights activist, stated in media reports.

Following the pastors’ deaths, heavily armed factions — largely aligned with Kuki-Zo and Naga groups — began detaining civilians from opposing tribal factions in the Kangpokpi and Senapati districts. State officials reported that as many as 38 civilians, including women and other religious figures, were taken hostage by rival militias in retaliation and moved to undisclosed locations. The crisis sparked widespread fears of civil war. To prevent further deterioration, Manipur government officials, security forces, and church leaders initiated emergency negotiations.

Source: 3 Pastors Killed Returning from Peace Conference – International Christian Concern

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Matthew 5:13

Psalm 1:1–3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law…

Keep reading

Galatians 6:7

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. This reminds us that our choices have consequences. God is not fooled by outward appearances,…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

The News Part 2

Posted on by 1 Comment
female spokesperson giving press interview outdoors
topless men in sport rivalry

Dear Heavenly Father, as I enter this day please give me the words that I need to share who you are and help me present your love to all that seriously need you Lord. Thank you for the awesome gifts that you have given me. In Jesus Name Amen

As we sit here being splashed with rainbows and the talk of love and acceptance being told we are the intolerable ones. We wonder where the love and acceptance is when as Christians we are getting bashed left and right. Pictures of people disrespecting the way we believe; yet telling us that we have to respect them. All the time wondering where the “love” everyone is talking about went. It gets kind of hard to be respectful, sometimes hard to share the true love that Christ commanded us to allocate. Jesus told us that this would happen and gave us directions on how to deal with it and how we should react.
John 15: 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Jesus told us that people would not understand the way we believe:
Mark 4:11 “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”
Matthew 13:14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

He has been telling us this as far back as the Old Testament:
Isaiah 6: 9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”


So if they do not understand what they are doing how can we figure that they will not do anything different then what they are doing: 2 Corinthians 11:14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Satan is good at the lies that he presents when he disguises everything that is wrong as something that is good it makes us feel like the wrongs are right. He uses shame to keep others quiet, he uses our own fears and tries to make so we use our feelings as our guide.

That is why we need to pray: Philippians 4: 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And when you do this remember what was said: 1 Thessalonians 17 Pray without ceasing

God put together a guide (Holy Bible) for everything that we face on a daily basis the answers are in that guide. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I know that looking around we see the lack of respect, the intolerance, hate, murders, rapes, stealing the list could keep going on and on. It is hard to not just sit back start pointing fingers and talking down to others or not have any interaction with society. The current surroundings can cause a sense of anxiety.

We are reminded that we are no better than anybody else a sin is a sin:
1 Corinthians 6: 7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

For us to put ourselves on a pedestal and act like we are better than anyone else is not what we are told. When Christ was on this earth he surrounded himself with sinners, the people that where considered the worst of the worst. He wants everybody to either know or to at least receive the opportunity to have that relationship with him. I know we all know that felling, we feel when some self-righteous person is standing over top of us pointing there finger acting like they are either better or know more than we do. It can happen anywhere work, play, you name it. We will shut down, ignore it, or get up and fight; this is human nature. This is what they feel we are doing to them right now, there have been people that are not using Gods message of Love, and they are letting their feelings guide them and not Gods.

As Christians we have now all been placed in the same category as the ones that are using their feelings and not Gods. But Christ did tell us:
Mark 2:17 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.


When we are standing here looking at the current events that surround us we need to STOP and take a deep breath. We need to remember that we are sinners too; we are guilty of doing things that do not please God.
1 John 1 :8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
God commanded us to love our neighbors and if we are replying to our neighbors in the same manner as they are we are not doing what we are told.

Remember Jesus said:
Mark 7 :20 “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come.

So how do you define yourself? Is it from Christ or is it from this world?

Always remember to love 1 Peter 3: 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.…

Keep reading

Matthew 6:22

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, In this verse Jesus teaches that what we…

Keep reading

Christian Persecution June 2 – May 28, 2026

Christian persecution published between May 28 and June 4, 2026. These come primarily from specialized monitoring organizations like International Christian Concern (ICC) and Global Christian Relief. No large-scale violent incidents…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

The News Part 1

Posted on by Leave a comment
journalists hands holding microphones around man in suit
men wrestling on dirt

Dear Heavenly Father, as this is read give understanding and conviction to those reading this. May there be understanding where there needs to be understanding and conviction where there needs to be conviction. Please soften the hearts of those reading this and open them to receive Your message. In Jesus Name Amen


Over the last few days I have seen all of the fighting, the name calling, insults, character bashing and I wonder why. We as Christians and human beings are told that we should not return evil with evil: 1 Peter 3: 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

That is one definition of Respect. With that said I do not blame any of the uncertainties that there are out there. I will just say one thing and that is CAKE, we all know what happened. But we have been commanded: Romans 12: 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

I know that when we observe the respect that we are expected to give others yet receive disrespect in every manner that you can imagine, it gets disheartening. We are still told that 1 Peter 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

We should always respond with meekness: Matthew 5: 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

We have been instructed to follow in the footsteps that Jesus gave us, to walk on the path that he took. 1 Peter 21: 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

There are two things that we should never forget, his commandments to LOVE one another: Matthew 22: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. And with that said never forget: Luke 6: 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. Jesus did not say these things were acceptable but he did say we need to Love everyone. Continue……