Persecution is coming and at what price will we in the west be willing to pay. NO, we are not talking about the persecution that fringe groups like the gay sodomite community like to proclaim that they and their perverted followers are undergoing. That is NOT persecution for the desire of that community is to get the world to accept their abominations as acceptable and also desire DEMAND that our children be subjected to their perversions. It is AND ALWAYS will be contrary to the laws of God!
My friend, I am speaking about standing up for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is costing our true brethren in Christ their homes, their children, and even their very lives around the world all because their faith is in the One and Only True Sovereign, God Who is the Maker of heaven and earth!
WorldNet Daily in this post is reporting about government persecution of a home Bible study in San Diego, California. Here’s one quote from the article:
“The Western Center for Law and Policy is troubled by this draconian move to suppress home Bible studies,” said the law center in a statement. “If the current trends in our nation continue, churches may be forced underground. If that happens, believers will once again be forced to meet in homes. If homes are already closed by the government to assembly and worship, where then will Christians meet?”
There’s something in the air. You can’t see it, you can’t smell it, but you can feel it. It’s not necessarily tangible but you can sense its impending approach.
It is persecution. And not just “they-laughed-at-me-because-I-go-to-church” persecution that we’ve all come to consider as persecution here in America, but an intense, relentless, horrifying persecution. A persecution of the likes of which we have never seen.
I’ve pondered posting the following thoughts earlier but I did not want to sound like an alarmist, a conspiracy theorist or jump to any conclusions. However, I just viewed the short video at the bottom of this post and realized that I am not the only one who can see the thunder clouds on the horizon. The video encouraged me to pen my thoughts on this matter to share with those who also hear the clapping of the distant thunder.
The tide is changing, the pendulum is swinging, and the winds are shifting. Although the American government, legal system, churches, and mindset of the masses have been changing for quite some time now, it seems like lately those changes have been increasing in speed.
Intolerance, antagonism, opposition, and hostility against Christians are growing not only from outside the Church, but even more so from within.
This coming persecution will not affect those merely professing Christianity (like the average Emergent or mega-church attendee for example). Instead this persecution will be waged against those who tenaciously hold to the exclusivity of the Gospel; that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
I once believed that the coming inevitable persecution would be against all who claim Jesus as their Savior, but I’ve come to realize that this is not true. Those who are merely professing Christians who just go to church need not fear. The persecution will be directed at those whose lives and doctrine actually reflect and bear the mark that God has called them out of this world because all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).
We are warned of the great Falling Away from the Faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3) and that the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12) and that Christians will betray one another (Matthew 24:10). Those who are secreted within the true Shepherd’s flock that are currently among us but have never been of us (1 John 2:19) are the ones that will give us over to whatever persecuting body comes down the pike. It’s those who we once counted as brethren–those whose books we purchased, those whose sermons we listened to, and those sitting next to us in the pew–that will eventually deliver us up with a Judas kiss.
* We’ve seen many who claim the name of Christ—who fully believe they are bound for Heaven—fall under the charming spell of a political leader who is responsible for the bloodshed of countless children. These professing Christians cast their ballots for this king to rule over them and they justified it!
* We’re seeing laws being proposed to squelch any speech the government deems as “intolerant” or “hateful.”
* We’re seeing sinful lifestyles being given a protective status while anyone who disagrees is deemed an enemy and their right to free speech is being revoked.
* We’re seeing false teachers rise up from the floorboards like cockroaches at such an alarming rate that they’ve deluged our churches with their diseased false doctrines and have sickened the Body of Christ.
* We’re seeing those who’ve stood along side us (nodding their heads in agreement when we take on cults like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses), only to turn on us with a savage bloodlust when we hold their favorite “evangelical” leaders to the same Biblical standards and doctrinal integrity we hold the cults to.
* We’re seeing once respected men in the Faith begin holding hands with the enemy and push for a religious ecumenicalism that will eventually try to stamp out all those who believe Jesus meant what He said when He said He was the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
These and many other signs are coming together to create the perfect storm. When things begin heating up and moving forward, expect to see sites like DefCon taken down for violating some fairness or tolerance law. Expect to see pastors (who take a stand for the purity and exclusivity of the Gospel) removed from the pulpit and jailed as is already happening. And as things get worse, expect to lose your job, your home, your family, your friends, and even your very life as those who call themselves Christians pick up stones to kill you, thinking they’re doing God a service (John 16:2).
Those who have come to cherish the fellowship and encouragement of fellow believers on blogs such as this (because they’re outcasts at their local church), and those who rely on sound Biblical teaching from sermons on the internet (because their pastors are doing yet another “sermon” series on sex) will suffer as this once thriving venue dries up under hate crime laws.
It won’t be long before the true believers of Jesus Christ will be forced to go underground, not because of a lack of churches, but because of persecution and the fact that leaven has infected almost every church in America and those who resist will not be permitted to exist.
The blood of the martyr is the seed of the Church. It was in times of prosperity that Israel turned her back on God and it is with us as well. It wasn’t until Israel suffered greatly that they returned to their Creator. Whatever is soon to happen–no matter how terrifying it may be–we must remember that God has ordained it to accomplish His purposes.
History testifies this is going to take place, current trends indicate this is about to take place, and Scripture reveals this will take place.
We must be ready and prepared. We must do everything possible to make our families ready and prepared. We must remain steadfast and we must trust that God is sovereign in the storm as much as he is in the calm.
And we humans have no compassion whatsoever to talk to our neighbors about Jesus Christ. They are lying in the roadway of hell, destined to be run over and consumed by Satan. Unless, we as Christians, are willing to go against the stream of traffic, and drag, pull, kick, whatever it takes, to bring our neighbors to safety, then we don’t have the common sense that God gave us.
AND OTHERS SAVE WITH FEAR, PULLING THEM OUT OF THE FIRE; HATING EVEN THE GARMENT SPOTTED BY THE FLESH-Jude 23.
The cross we carry is not one made of plastic. It is heavy, it can cause splinters, it will consume your time, it will come with a cost attached to it. But it is well worth it! You will face persecution because of your faith in Jesus. You will not always have bright sunny days waiting for you when you wake up. But the one thing you do have is HOPE. Hope for a new day found in Christ Jesus.
As we prepare to celebrate Resurrection Sunday (Easter to those C&E people [you know, they only attend church on Christmas and Easter]), let us not forget that people are dying every day. And unless they have put their faith and trust in Jesus alone for their salvation, they are headed for hell. They are lying on that freeway of life, just waiting to die. They are hurting (and some of them don’t even know it!). Do you love your neighbor enough to save them? Not save them in the sense that they are saved because of what “you” do, but save them in the sense that you give them God’s Holy Word. Then wait upon Him to do the rest! God’s Word will not return void. It is quick and alive! Not dead, just sitting on a piece of paper. It is more than able to open their eyes. When we use God’s Law to show people how sinful they are in God’s eyes, it will awaken them to the reality that they are lying in the middle of a freeway and are about to be steamrolled by a semi-truck!
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life! John 3:16
The dog saved the life of that other dog.
Have you risked anything for the sake of the gospel?
A day might be coming soon when you will be persecuted here in America because of your faith. I am not talking about persecution in the sense of people saying bad things about you, I am talking about the kind of persecution where you will lose all of your rights as a citizen and as a Christian. Your voice will be silenced, your right to speak to others about Christ will be taken away.
But have no fear, we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us! No matter what Obama tries to do to our country, and our rights as Christians, we shall not be silenced. May you always go against the worldly flow for the sake of Jesus, who died on the cross for you that you might have eternal life!
One final thought, regardless of whether the dog lived or not, it is the act of heroism that is to be admired.
This death threat was uttered from an Iranian judge spoken to an underground Believer in Iran as quoted in the latest Voice of the Martyrs publication (2009 Special Issue page 8).
It got me thinking about the difference between those who become Christians in nations where it means a death sentence, and those who become Christians in the West. It raised the following questions for me:
– What if we were faced with the same proclamation that this judge gave to this man?
– How would we react in this same situation?
– Are we prepared to face this possible life or death situation?
– If Christianity was made illegal tomorrow and we were brought before a court for the crime of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in the average life of an American Believer to convict them?
Tough questions, but questions we may one day have to face no matter what comfortable, prosperous, and secure nation we live in today.
I want you to beware of that self-righteous spirit that defines these crises as a judgment on America; that may be true, but beloved, even if it is a judgment on America, even if we’re going to see a greater meltdown – I’m not making predictions here, I am not here as a prophet, I don’t know what’s going to happen – but we do have enough principles in the scriptures to be able to discern these things.
And while these crises may be a judgment on America, you must understand that that would be secondary purpose in the intentions of God and it would be secondary to His discipline upon His own church. His discipline upon everybody that professes to know the name of Christ…
The Bible says that God’s judgment begins with the household of God (1 Peter 4:18). And listen to me, this is really important, think about the broad scope of things in that which has passed as Christianity over the decades.
After decades, decadesof insipid preaching, compromise with Catholics and cults, charismatic charlatans, academic arrogance, corrupt spiritual leadership, political power brokers, and unscrupulous publishers who give a platform to them all, beloved; God’s discipline on His own people is way overdue.
It’s time to clear out the money changers from the temple and if it takes an economic crisis, if it takes political change of massive proportions to bring that about, to purge out the false elements and to purify His church to speak with boldness in a time of spiritual darkness, then we as His people should be willing to embrace that because the surpassing priority in our lives is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind and to see the purity of His purpose advanced because the consequences to us are secondary.
God and His kingdom are the supreme priority and if it takes a massive world calamity to shake all this garbage out from within the walls of the church and to cause the rats to flee when the light goes on, thenbring it!
Bring it!
Let’s bring it so that the purity of the church can be restored. God is much more concerned, beloved, with the holiness of His people and the holiness of His church than He is with the state of American economics and politics.
President Obama had not even finished his inaugural address today before his agenda was posted on the WhiteHouse website, where he promised to “overturn” the Supreme Court’s precedents on discrimination claims and to demand new laws requiring employers to provide special protections for homosexuals and others with “gender” issues.
Second on the list of priorities is Obama’s demand for federal “hate crimes” laws, which opponents fear could be used to make basic Christian beliefs subject to federal penalties and prohibitions as already has happened in other nations.
Seven Christian students in Quebec have been handed suspensions in the last few days – and could face expulsions – for refusing to participate in a new mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture course that, according to a critic, is a “superficial mishmash of trendy theoretical platitudes” with the goal of convincing children that “all religions – including pagan animism and cults – are equally ‘true.'”
I’ve decided to create a new category on DefCon entitled Christian Persecution. I foresee this phenomenon only increasing in the years to come in the West (it’s nothing new elsewhere in the world) and feel there’s no better time than now to begin chronicling it.
So for our first entry in this new category I present to you the militant homosexuals who are turning up the heat.
In this article the Lasing State Journal reports that homosexual rights protesters disrupted a church service at Mount Hope Church in the Delta Township. Law enforcement responded but no arrests were made. The protest included the pulling of a fire alarm and the display of an inverted pink cross. The Catholic.org website reporting on this same incident describes in this article how the protesters used megaphones to chant “Jesus is a homo.”
OneNewsNow.com reports in this article that homosexual activists are becoming increasingly confrontational and aggressive.
WorldNetDaily.com is also reporting on this new wave of homosexual intolerance as a mob of activists swarm Christians (see the article and video here).
And apparently now E-Harmony (the online dating service) is being required by law to provide their service for same sex dating (check it out here).
And finally, Crosstalk America did a show on this very topic which you can download on their website here.
Back in September, Pilgrim posted a video of Voddie Baucham (pronounced BAHK-um) talking about the American public ejuhkashun, I mean, edgumaqatian, um, skrool system, and how “If we continue to send our children to Caesar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans.”
Lately I have been noticing how the society we now live in is very similar to the days of the Roman Empire.
For example…
Rome
Romans’ popular cry was “Bread and Games!”
Romans delighted in gladiators and chariot races.
Romans put a high emphasis on knowledge, physical skills and attributes.
Romans were easily amused by theater.
Romans were given to drinking much wine.
Rome allowed you to belong to any religion you wanted so long as you understood that the Caesar was God.
Rome did everything they could to destroy Christians.
America
America Fills itself with potato chips and football.
America delights in Ultimate Fighting and NASCAR.
America puts a high emphasis on trivia, glamour, and physical attraction
America is easily amused by TV and movies.
America is given to much wine, beer, whiskey, Scotch, vodka, malt liquor, wine coolers…
America allows you to belong to any religion you want so long as you remember that the government is God.
How long until America begins doing everything it can to destroy Christians?
Sharia-following Islamic nations demanding anti-‘defamation’ law
Dozens of nations dominated by Islam are pressing the United Nations to adopt an anti-“defamation” plan that would make Christians criminals under international law, according to a United States organization that has launched a campaign to defend freedom of religion worldwide…
The discrimination is “wrapped in the guise of a U.N. resolution called ‘Combating Defamation of Religions,'” the announcement said. “We must put an immediate end to this most recent, dangerous attack on faith that attempts to criminalize Christianity.”
The “anti-defamation” plan has been submitted to the U.N. repeatedly since about 1999, starting out as a plan to ban “defamation” of Islam and later changed to refer to “religions,” officials said. It is being pushed by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference nations, which has adopted the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, “which states that all rights are subject to sharia law, and makes sharia law the only source of reference for human rights.”
To those who ask me why I can’t be bothered about this year’s Olympics in Beijing and why I never say nice things about the Chinese government, let these news stories tell you why:
China Continues Crackdown On Christian Earthquake Relief Efforts, Christians Say
BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)– Chinese security forces continue to arrest Christians involved in helping survivors of the recent earthquake, which killed at least nearly 70,000 people in southwest China’s Sichuan province, with many thousands more missing and likely dead, representatives said Wednesday, June 4. Read more here…
In other news, persecution of Christians is intensifying in the lead-up to the Olympics:
China Crackdown On Christians Ahead Of Olympics, Report Claims
BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)– With two months to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a major human rights group on Sunday, June 8, released a report detailing what it called a “current government crackdown on China’s unregistered Christians.” Read more here…
Pray for our persecuted brethren and sisters in China.
WorldNet Daily 
This death threat was uttered from an Iranian judge spoken to an underground Believer in Iran as quoted in the latest 
I want you to beware of that self-righteous spirit that defines these crises as a judgment on America; that may be true, but beloved, even if it is a judgment on America, even if we’re going to see a greater meltdown – I’m not making predictions here, I am not here as a prophet, I don’t know what’s going to happen – but we do have enough principles in the scriptures to be able to discern these things.
From WorldNetDaily by Bob Unruh:
I’ve decided to create a new category on DefCon entitled Christian Persecution. I foresee this phenomenon only increasing in the years to come in the West (it’s nothing new elsewhere in the world) and feel there’s no better time than now to begin chronicling it. 
Christ Alone Wyoming 