Tribulation is for Christians...

Christians in parts of Africa and the Arab world are going through great tribulation. In fact Christians are the most persecuted group of people on the planet. It's breathtaking. From Nigeria to Iraq to North Korea and China, Christians are being murdered, arrested, beaten, systematically impoverished, and driven from their homes. And yet many Christians in the west persist with the happy illusion that Christians will escape "The Tribulation."

Not only is a pre-tribulation rapture of the church a recent theological innovation which relies on tortured hermeneutics, it denies the clearly biblical teaching that tribulation is for Christians.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"Therefore they are before the throne of God,
  and serve him day and night in his temple;
  and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
  the sun shall not strike them,
  nor any scorching heat.

 "For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
  and he will guide them to springs of living water,
 and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
(Revelation 7:9-17)

UPDATE:
Just found this helpful post over at TGC - 9 Reasons We Can Be Confident Christians Won't be Raptured Before the Tribulation

Not a prison but a parish...

HT: Trevin Wax

A dangerous place to be a Christian...

Afghanistan continues to be a place where it is dangerous to be a Christian. It is particularly dangerous to convert from Islam to Christianity. Such a conversion carries with it a death sentence. Those who do convert know that they are potentially laying down their lives.

Thanks to Denny Burk for posting this:

Another Afghan convert is facing possible execution for his Christian faith. His name is Shoaib Assadullah, and he is 23 years old. Michael Foust has done some excellent reporting on this story, and I hope and pray that it will help to focus attention on Shoaib’s case. Intense international scrutiny led to the release of Said Musa last week. Let’s pray that the same might happen for brother Shoaib.

Michael Foust has printed a translation of the entire text of a letter that was smuggled out of Shoaib’s prison cell. I reprint that letter in full below. After you read the letter, please pray for Shoaib. Pray that he might be released to safety and that he would bear faithful witness to Christ no matter what happens.

Please pray for the protection and perseverance of Shoaib Assadullah, our brother in Christ.

Pray for our brother Said Musa

Imprisoned in Afghanistan, Said Musa faces execution for converting to Christianity.

The Daily Mail reports:

An Afghan physiotherapist will be executed within three days for converting to Christianity.

Said Musa, 45, has been held for eight months in a Kabul prison were he claims he has been tortured and sexually abused by inmates and guards.

Mr Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, has worked for the Red Cross for 15 years and helps to treat fellow amputees.

He was arrested in May last year as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy following a crackdown on Christians within Afghanistan.

He claims he was visited by a judge who told him he would be hanged within days unless he converted back to Islam.

But he remains defiant and said he would be willing to die for his faith.

He told the Sunday Times: 'My body is theirs to do what they want with.

'Only God can decide if my spirit goes to hell.'

Defence lawyers have refused to represent him, while others have dropped the case after receiving death threats.

Mr Musa was arrested after a TV station showed western men baptising Afghans during secret ceremonies.

There are political realities to consider. The United States can place pressure on the Afghan government on behalf of Mr. Musa. Astonishingly, President Obama has remained silent.

Paul Marshall comments:

If the actions of a Florida pastor who threatened to destroy a book holy to Muslims deserved public and presidential attention, then the actions of the Afghan government, ostensibly a ‘democratic’ ally, to destroy something holy to Christians, a human being made in the image of God, also deserve public and presidential attention.

HT: Justin Taylor

Pray for our suffering brothers and sisters in North Korea

From Randy Alcorn:

On the second night of the Third Lausanne Congress taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, an 18 year-old girl from North Korea shared her story.

She was born into a wealthy family, her father an assistant to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong II. Eventually her father’s political fortunes shifted, and after being politically persecuted by the North Korean government, he, his wife, and his daughter escaped to China.

In China a relative brought her family to church where her parents came to know Jesus Christ. A few months later, however, her pregnant mother died from Leukemia. Her father started to study the Bible with missionaries and eventually the Lord gave him a strong desire to become a missionary to North Korea. But in 2001 he was reported as a Christian, was arrested by the Chinese police, and was returned to North Korea. Forced to leave his daughter behind in China, he spent three years in prison. During this time the girl shared that it only "made my father’s faith stronger” and that he “cried out to God more desperately rather than complain or blame Him."

After three years he was able to return to China where he was briefly reunited with his daughter. Soon after, however, he gathered Bibles having resolved to return to North Korea to share Christ among that hopeless people. He was given the opportunity to go to South Korea, but he turned them down.

In 2006 he was discovered by the North Korean government and was arrested. There has since been no word from him. In all probability he has been shot to death publicly for treason.

In 2007 this girl, who at the time was not a Christian, was given the opportunity to go to South Korea. While still in China waiting at the Korean Consulate in Beijing to go to South Korea, she saw Jesus in a dream. Jesus, with tears in his eyes, called her by name and said, "How much longer are you going to keep me waiting? Walk with me. Yes, you lost your earthly father, but I am your heavenly Father and whatever has happened to you is because I love you."

She knelt and prayed to God for the first time and realized that “God my Father loves and cares for me so very much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for me.” She prayed, “God here I am. I just lay down everything and give you my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. Please use me as you will.”

Now God has given her a great love for North Korea. She shared that, "Just as my father was used there for God’s kingdom, I now desire to be obedient to God. I want to bring the love of Jesus to North Korea."

She closed with the following words:

I look back over my short life and see God’s hand everywhere. Six years in North Korea, 11 years in China, and a time of being in South Korea. Everything that I experienced and love, I want to give it all to God and use my life for His kingdom. I hope to honor my father and bring glory to my heavenly Father by serving God with my whole heart.

I believe God’s heart cries out for the lost people of North Korea. I humbly ask you, my brothers and sisters, to have the same heart of God. Please pray that the same light of God’s grace and mercy that reached my father and my mother and now me will one day come down upon the people of North Korea… my people.

Slaughter in Nigeria

The mainstream media has been largely silent about the ongoing Muslim massacre of Christians in Nigeria. One notable exception has been an article in the NY Times by Adam Nossiter. Still it would be nice if the media were as outraged by the murder of Christians as they are by the mistreatment of dogs.

The mood in Jos was tense Monday. Troops were deployed in the streets, shops closed early and residents remained indoors.

A few miles south of the city nearly 400 of the victims were buried in a mass grave in Dogon Na Hauwa, the village where the worst violence occurred. Some of the bodies had been mutilated.

There, women cried unconsolably amid crowds of mourners, and the smell of burned and decomposing flesh hung in the air. Officials combed a large area around the village, continuing to find bodies during the day.

Shehu Sani, president of Civil Rights Congress, said in a phone interview on Monday that members of his group counted 492 bodies, mainly in Dogon Na Hauwa. He said that security forces had not been much in evidence in the “vulnerable areas” south of Jos. Mr. Sani said that the attackers were motivated at least in part by a large theft of cattle by members of the same Christian ethnic group as the victims.

“We were at the scene of the violence,” Mr. Sani said, suggesting that the local government figure of 500 was not an exaggeration.

“We have counted as many bodies as that,” he said. “There are not enough functional mortuaries to take them. It’s possibly even more than that because many were buried without documentation.”

Read the entire article HERE.

And though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the Ruler yet

Their Blood Cries Out

The following video footage records the torture of murder of Christians in India. It is disturbing. I am convinced however that Christians in America need to know what is happening in various parts of the world to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for those who are being handed over to death for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

Persecution in India: Unedited Footage from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25)

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.” (Job 8:22)

Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! (Psalm 7:9)

The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. (Psalm 11:5)

Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, (Psalm 17:13)

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. (Psalm 37:17)

For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. (Psalm 37:28)

The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies. (Psalm 119:95)

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. (Psalm 140:12)

Peaceful Coexistence?

From Paul McCain over at Evangel:

Muslims and non-Muslims who live in nations where Islam is not the law of the land talk a lot about how Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. Christians who live in Islamic nations tell a different story. I picked this up from Ron Dreher’s blog, who writes: “If you want to know what it’s really like to live under persecution for your Christian faith and culture, listen to this presentation by Bishop Thomas, a Copt who serves in Assiut, an area of intense Islamic persecution of Christians. I met him once, and the man is so luminous, and peaceful. It’s almost humiliating to be an American Christian, with such an easy life despite it all, and to hear what life is like for Christians in Egypt and elsewhere. If you don’t have time to watch the whole nine minute video, start at about 2:45:

The "peaceful" religion of Hinduism

Over at Times Online Rhys Blakely writes about the continuing problem of Hindu violence against Christians. I am posting it here because the mainstream media is usually quite deaf to the sounds of Christians being murdered.

Blakely reports that Hindus are being paid to kill Christians. He writes:

The US-based head of a Christian organisation that runs several orphanages in Orissa – one of India’s poorest regions – claims that Christian leaders are being targeted by Hindu militants and carry a price on their heads. “The going price to kill a pastor is $250 (£170),” Faiz Rahman, the chairman of Good News India, said.

A spokesman for the All-India Christian Council said: “People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties. They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and weapons. They are given petrol and kerosene.”

Read the entire article HERE.