living in a churchianity age

churchianity

noun church·i·an·i·ty \ˌchər-chē-ˈa-nə-tē\

Definition of CHURCHIANITY:  a usually excessive or narrowly sectarian attachment to the practices and interests of a particular church. [1]

---

In 2014- October11, I published a post about the Coexist Movement. This spiritual compromising initiative is both very dangerous and is gaining ground throughout mainline denominations across America.

http://awordfrommalachi.com/2014/10/11/a-common-word-chrislam/

There is another movement, for the most part less prevalent, but just as dangerous, and maybe the more, due to the subtleness of its doctrine, in light of the scripture. Along the spiritual spectrum it is 180° in the opposite direction of Coexist. It’s followers are often the product of institutionalized religion.

Allow me to share a personal testimony…

Last summer I was out mowing my front yard when a small bus load of youth, accompanied by as many adults, unloaded at the end of the street and started to visit homes door to door in my neighborhood.

As I was approached by one of the adult men in the group, I shut down the engine on my lawn trimmer and begun a cordial discussion with the visiting gentleman.

He started of the conversation identifying the local church they were associated with and wanted to talk to me about Jesus. I shared my unadulterated conversion experience, whereby 30-year ago Christ had reached down and brought me out of a miry pit of sin I was immersed in and planted my feet firmly at the The Cross of Calvary, and for the past 20-years I had lay-pastored a small community church in our local town. For about 15-20 minutes we conversed in Christian circles and agreed in society’s need for Christ in this evil day.

To some what of my surprise, the kind brother requested he leave a pamphlet with me to which I agreed. I must admit after sharing my testimony, I felt that the tract would be of better use if shared with a wayward neighbor down the street or in another neighborhood.

I continued the grooming of my front yard, but made it a point of priority to keep the tract to read at a later time.

Once I had cleaned up and retired for the evening, I got out my copy of the scripture and had remembered the tract that was handed out by the fine looking gentleman passing through the neighborhood earlier that day. As I read the tract it became pretty apparent to me, that the object they were promoting was not Jesus Christ, but their church or it’s denomination.

Now I understood why the visitor felt the need to leave me the tract. The fact that I was not co- joined with their denomination, I guess the redemptive work the Lord had done in me 30-year ago was something less than the “New Testament Salvation”.

Now this is not all that uncommon. There are some churches that feel that their teaching (doctrine) is the only teaching that lines up with the bible. That their denominational religious rites seem to give them the spiritual skinny that places its adherents closer in fellowship with God than other ‘protestant denominations’. These particulars can be the cloths we wear of don’t wear. The music we listen to or don’t listen to, or what we eat or drink, or how we worship, how much we tithe, etc…  In fact they have a regimented list of scripture that seemingly validates their pious biblical stance, thereby thwarting other denominational positions.

In this churchianity day we are living, we would do well to consider what Christ told the religious folk of His day,

Mat. 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. [2]

Luk. 16:14  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
Luk. 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. [3] 

We must guard our self against the same error that permeated the religious folk in the day of Jesus. They were guilty of propagating the do’s and don’ts of the scripture and the teaching of the same and overlooked the fact that they had transgressed the commandments of God by the tradition of their fathers.

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the heart. [4]

We would all do well to heed this admonition… “there is a way that seemeth right to a man, but end thereof are the ways of death”. [5]

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit sayeth!

brother malachi

[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/churchianity

[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A15&version=KJV

[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+16%3A14-15&version=KJV

[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+14%3A12&version=KJV

[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+21%3A2&version=KJV

 

the trying of your faith worketh patience…

Chart is from Curt Bowers documentary ‘Agenda: Grinding America Down’ 2010

The Naked Communist is a 1958 book by an ex FBI agent, United States author political theorist Cleon Skousen.

The author posits and seeks to describe a geopolitical strategy by which the Marxist–Leninist Soviet Union was attempting to overcome and control all the governments of the world that were not members of the Communist bloc. At the time that the book was published, during the Cold War, fear of communism was common among people in non-communist nations.

The list of alleged communist goals contained in the book was read into the Congressional Record by U.S. Congressman Albert S. Herlong, Jr. of Florida, on January 10, 1963.

President Ronald Reagan said of the book: "No one is better qualified to discuss the threat to this nation from communism. You will be alarmed, you will be informed and you’ll be glad you heard him (W. Cleon Skousen)." [1]

List of Communist goals

U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces.

Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

Do away with all loyalty oaths.

Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

Gain control of all student newspapers.

Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

Control art critics and directors of art museums.

Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture—education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.

Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity, masturbation and easy divorce.

Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use "united force" to solve economic, political or social problems.

Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

Internationalize the Panama Canal.

Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.

---

Proverbs 11:10  When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
Proverbs 11:11  By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

brother malachi

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Communist

modern day spiritual taboo…

Hindu god Shiva- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Sri Maha Mariamman Temple

Shaivism is the oldest of the four major sects of Hinduism. Shaivas believe that Shiva is the Supreme Being and consider him All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. In the Hindu religion, Shiva is revered as the quintessential  destroyer. According to Hinduism, as ‘the destroyer’, his role is to destroy all the worlds at the end of creation and dissolve them into nothingness.

* * * * *

In the second epistle of Peter we find that creative and destructive power rest in YAHWEH, and Him alone.

2Pe 3:1  This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2Pe 3:2  That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

 

---

a nation’s sin…

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
Deu 8:2  And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deu 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Deu 8:4  Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Deu 8:5  Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Deu 8:6  Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
Deu 8:7  For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
Deu 8:8  A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
Deu 8:9  A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
Deu 8:10  When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Deu 8:11  Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Deu 8:12  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Deu 8:13  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Deu 8:14  Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Deu 8:15  Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Deu 8:16  Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Deu 8:17  And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Deu 8:18  But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deu 8:19  And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
Deu 8:20  As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

America will be without excuse.

---

repentance – a nation’s leaders…

A Presidential Proclamation

Whereas, the Senate of the Unitewd States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme  Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence  upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in  humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy  and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures  and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are  subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear  that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a  punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of  our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the  choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace  and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation  has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand  which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us;  and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these  blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated  with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity  of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess  our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Abraham Lincoln –1863

---

repentance – the people of God…

Dan 9:3  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; Dan 9:5  We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Dan 9:6  Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
Dan 9:7  O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
Dan 9:8  O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
Dan 9:9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
Dan 9:10  Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Dan 9:11  Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
Dan 9:12  And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
Dan 9:14  Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
Dan 9:15  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Dan 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

---

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

I fear  that what the LORD requires to stay His judgment upon America is spiritual taboo!

the city’s demise…

How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. Lamentation 1:1-2

 
brother malachi

drinking from His cup

The Last Supper – Philippe de Champaign c.1652

 

^{”Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”}

---

μάρτυς
martus
mar’-toos
Of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally [judicially] or figuratively [generally]); by analogy a “martyr”: – martyr, record, witness.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and Greek Dictionary

---

Hebrews 2:14-16

14.  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15.  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16.  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

In this portion of the Holy Scripture, the writer to the Hebrews is telling his readers why it was imperative hat God became a man. If the Creator was to dye for the creation,  He must Himself, take on flesh and blood, in order to redeem those condemned under the penalty of sin. Believest thou this?

The devil’s power is in the realm of sin and the sting of sin is death, but for the believer in Christ, neither hath any power. So for those, who all their lifetime were afraid to die, no longer in bondage to that fear.

Fear is the emotion that is synonymous with terror. It is quite the norm to fear someone or something that is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. But in the case of the believer, there resides a Spirit, and that Spirit is greater than one’s fear.

We see evidence of this Spirit in the first century (AD33) witness of Stephen. The account of this testimony can be found in the book of the Acts of the apostles, 6:8-7:60. Stephen was arrested for being a follower of Jesus Christ and doing great wonders and miracles among the people. In his only defense, he gave credence to the fact that Jesus of Nazarath was Yeshua ha Mashiach.

When the religious folk heard such a testimony, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth in anger. But Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost (the Spirit that conquers the fear) did not see the dire straits of his circumstance, but looked steadfastly toward heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

The word of God tells us that Stephen was cast out of the city where he was stoned calling upon God and saying “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”.

This same Spirit was alive and well in the believer’s in the 16th century as well…

 

Thomas Hawkes (Hauker)

Thomas Hawkes came from a respectable family in England. Serving as a page at the court of King Edward VI, he was known as a handsome young man with gentle manners. When he became of age, he entered the service of the lord of Oxford, where he remained for some time, being liked by all the household.

When King Edward died, religion changed, and protestants began to be in danger. Rather than change his faith, he left his position with the lord of Oxford and went back to his own home. Having married while in Oxford, a son was born to him not long after he returned home.

He did not want the child baptized by a Catholic priest and so he put off the baptism for three weeks. His enemies on hearing this, had him brought before the magistrate charged with being unsound in religion. After a hearing he was sent to London and tried before the bishop of London who after being unable to get Hawkes to recant his faith, placed him as a prisoner in the Gate-house of Westminster.

During Hawkes imprisonment, various plans were tried to make him recant – but all proved useless. Thomas’s constant answer to all who spoke to him on the subject was “I am no changeling.” When responding to the Bishop of London who urged him to give up his faith, he said: “No my lord, that I will not, for if I had a hundred bodies I would suffer them all to be torn in pieces rather than I will abjure and recant.”

Unable to get him to recant, they passed the awful sentence of death upon him. To this he firmly replied, that he would rather suffer death than renounce his faith in the gospel.

While in prison waiting till he be taken to the stake, Hawkes was allowed to see his friends. Several of them asked him if it would be possible for him to give them some token to show that a man could suffer the fire without despairing. Hawkes promised, “by the help of God, to show them that the most terrible torments could be endured in the glorious cause of Christ and his gospel, the comforts of which were able to lift the believing soul above all the injuries men could inflict.”

It was agreed between them that if the pains of burning were bearable, the martyr should lift up his hands toward heaven before he died as a signal to his friends.

On April 10, 1555, Thomas was led to the place of execution, where he mildly and patiently prepared himself for the fire, being fastened to the stake with a strong chain about his middle. He addressed the multitude of onlookers, including his accusers, pointing out the sin and dreadful consequences of shedding innocent blood.

After Hawkes had made a prayer, pouring out his soul unto God, the flames were kindled around him, and soon blazed with such fierceness that his speech could not be heart by the flame’s intensity. As the fire burned a long time, his skin was drawn together, and his fingers were consumed, and having not moved, the people thought him dead. Suddenly and contrary to all expectation, Thomas, mindful of the promise he had made to his friends, raised his hands still burning with flames high above his head, and, as if in an ecstasy of joy, clapped them together three times.

A great shout followed this wonderful circumstance, and then this blessed martyr of Christ, sinking down into the fire, gave up his spirit.

The story above, was a compilation from several online sources and the book Jesus Freak –  VOM (Voice Of The Martyrs)Jesus Freak –  VOM (Voice Of The Martyrs

World Christian Trends AD30-AD2200; interpreting the annual Christian mega census, is a report that was compiled by David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson in 2001. The report estimated that some 69,420,000 Christians have been martyred between AD33 and AD2000. [1]

While we can’t guarantee the exact number, as there is a lot of muddy water in the statistics, the same is true in cataloguing the murder of the unborn in America since 1973. But we can rest assured of this one fact, Christ knows exactly each and every one that has falling to such horror and they will most assuredly be met with just recompense on that day.

We are living in a day in which we see an vehement unleashing of the anti-Christ spirit. It is pouring its vengeance out against anything associated with YAWEH, whether it be Israel or the Christian faith. This violent spirit is gaining preeminence throughout the world, while all along the church in America is lying in the midst of it’s slumbering-religious spirit. I am afraid that by the time the church in America realizes that the opposition is at its very door step, it will be too late to make preparation to stand.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit saith!

brother malachi

[1] Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
World Christian trends, AD 30-AD 2200 : interpreting the annual Christian megacensus / David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson ; associate editors, Christopher Guidry, Peter Crossing. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87808-608-0 (alk. paper)
1. Church history. 2. Christian sects. 3. Ecclesiastical geography. 4. Christianity—Statistics.
I. Barrett, David B. II. Johnson, Todd M. III. Guidry, Christopher. IV. Crossing, Peter.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

the Balm of Gilead’s sweet aroma

Myrrh gum is commonly harvested from the species Commiphora myrrha, which is native to Yemen, Somalia,Eritrea and eastern Ethiopia. Another farmed species is C. momol. The related Commiphora gileadensis, native to Eastern Mediterranean and particularly the Arabian Peninsula, is the biblically referenced Balm of Gilead,also known as Balsam of Mecca. Several other species yield bdellium and Indian myrrh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrrh

 

 

 

Where there is no cross, there is no crown. This lesson cannot be learned from books, and men do not usually taste this sweetness. This rich life does not exist in a comfortable environment. If the spices are not refined to become oil, the fragrance of the perfume cannot flow forth; and if the grapes are not crushed in the vat, they will not become wine.

FROM A CHINESE CHRISTIAN

He was the most wanted criminal in all of Saudi Arabia. He was not wanted for robbery, or murder, or rape. He was wanted for being a Christian pastor and for leading a large secret church in the Saudi Arabian capital city.

    Without being charged, the pastor was taken from his home and into a room with three men. There he was slapped, kicked, and punched. The most painful abuse was the lashes on the bottoms of his feet. When the lashing was done, his hands and feet were the purple color of eggplant.
    In the midst of that pain, the torturers ordered the Christian to stand. “I cannot,” he told them. Every square inch of his feet hurt, and there was no way to support his weight. “Please just allow me to kneel.” The torturers refused.
    While the three men beat him, the pastor prayed for them. His prayers reminded him of a verse. “For he will command his angels . . . they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11–12). In spite of his feet, Wally stood straight up among the men. They were shocked that he could stand after such a beating.
    “I was standing on the hands of God’s angels,” the Christian pastor  later said. “They could not see angels, but I felt that they were there to help me stand.” – VOM

---

• 15 out of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were Saudi citizens
• Osama bin Laden, was born and raised in Saudi Arabia
• Reports by the U.S. Congress and its disclosure of what the U.S. press called "incontrovertible evidence" linking Saudis to the financing of al-Qaeda operatives in the United States

Jerusalem Center for Pulbic Affairs- No. 504     5 Tishrei 5764 / 1 October 2003

---

And a Christian pastor is the most wanted criminal in all of Saudi Arabia?

Just for the record, Saudi Arabia’s support for anti-Christian activities does not take the Body of Christ by surprise, nor does the United States support for Saudi Arabia. There is a kindred spirit that opposes the Christ and His gospel… and that spirit is alive and well, throughout the whole world.

”The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20b

 

Map – Persecution of Christians in the Muslim World  Islamization Watch Blog

From the above map we start to understand why a Christian pastor would be the most wanted criminal in Saudi Arabia. The “RELIGION OF PEACE” doesn’t tolerate any religion but Islam. The strange thing is, the whole world seems to have believed the ‘LIE’!

Pray for our brothers and sisters that are living in anti-Christian world.

“The life of man is a continual death, unless it be that Christ lives in him.”—Ignatius

brother malachi

merry Christmas ‘a word from malachi’

For over sixteen-hundred years the birth of Christ has been celebrated on December 25th, even though  for the church’s first three centuries, Christmas wasn’t in December, or on the calendar at all.

There has been much time and attention given to searching the scriptures n an attempt to find ‘the date’ in which Jesus was actually born. One in depth study even places the birth of The Christ Child around September 3BC. The September –3 BC comes from a study "The Birth of Christ Recalculated". The author, Dr. Ernest L. Martin, claims to have calculated the exact date of Jesus Christ’s birth based on the celestial charts for that era. The date of Christ’s birth, based on the famous Star of Bethlehem, is calculated to be September 11, 3 B.C..

 

Many biblical scholars, theologians, historians, and astronomers say that the Star of Bethlehem, signifying the birth of Jesus Christ, can be calculated to within a few hours of September 11, 3 B.C., based on celestial charts and alignments for that time. Historian Dr. Ernest L. Martin first article on the subject appeared in 1976, and in 1981 he published his research in "The Birth of Christ Recalculated". In 1991, the book was re-released as "The Star that Astonished the World." Dr. Martin revealed in his book, that the signs in the sky on the night of Jesus’ birth occurred on only one day in 3 B.C., and they occurred exactly on September 11, 3 B.C. between 6:15 pm and 7:49 pm EST.

One of the scriptural links to Ernest Martin’s study is found in the book of the Revelation 12:1-2

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. “ Revelation 12:1-2

The astronomical synchronism of this sign by supposition occurred in the year of Christ’s birth in 3 BC.

• Virgo occupies, in body form, a space of about 50 degrees along the ecliptic (The head of the Woman actually bridges some 10 degrees into the previous sign of Leo and her feet overlap about 10 degrees into the following sign of Libra the Scales].

• In the year of Christ’s birth, the Sun entered the head-position of the Woman about August 13, and exited her feet about October 2.

• But the apostle John saw the scene when the Sun "clothed" the Woman" (to be mid-bodied], and this happens between about 150 and 170 degrees along the ecliptic, which occurs over about a 20-day period each year, which in 3 BC was from about 27 August and 15 September.

• If John in the Book of Revelation were associating the birth of Christ with the period when the Sun is mid-bodied to the Woman, then Christ would have been born within this 20 day period. From the point of view of the Magi back in their homes in Babylon, this would have been the only logical sign under which the Jewish Messiah might be born. Especially if He were to be born of a virgin [Even today, astrologers recognize that the sign of Virgo is the one which has reference to a messianic world ruler to be born of a virgin. Devore, Ency. of Astrology, p. 366]. http://www.versebyverse.org/doctrine/birthofchrist.html

---

Now to be sure the spiritual air is relatively clear, there is nothing in the ‘Holy Scriptures’,  at least considered black & white, that would validate this September 11, 3 B.C. date, so one can only base these findings on supposition at best.

So if December 25th is NOT the actual day of Jesus’ birth, where did that date come from?

 

“In 274 A.D., the Romans designated December 25 as the birthday of the unconquered sun, being the time when the sun begins noticeably to show an increase in light, resulting in longer daylight hours. By 336 A.D., the church in Rome was adapting this festival, spiritualizing its significance as a reference to Jesus Christ and calling it the ‘Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.’ Attempting to Christianize and incorporate the pagan traditions of antiquity, the church in Rome adopted this midwinter holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god as one of its own observances, somewhat changing its significance, but retaining many customs of the pagan festival. As the Roman church spread its influence religiously and militarily, this holiday of December 25 became the most popular date in Christendom to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. A special mass was established for Christ, hence, the name, ‘Christmass,’ abbreviated ‘Christmas.’” Promised Seed of Christ

The pagan origins of the December 25th Christmas date, as well as  many of the customs associated with our modern day celebration (feasting, partying, gift giving, etc.…) of Christmas, were also  associated with the Roman Saturnalia to honor the god Saturn.

Many of the decorations characteristic of the Saturnalia celebration involved greenery – swathes, garlands, wreaths, etc… and were hung over doorways and windows, and adorned  stair-ways. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

Ornaments in the trees included various articles of decorations, sun symbols, stars, and faces of the god Janus (the god of gates and door, beginnings and endings). Trees were not brought indoors (indoor Christmas trees began as a German tradition), but decorated where they grew. Even the hanging of mistletoe and burning of the Yule logs, were part of the pagan holiday. http://www.novaroma.org/religio_romana/saturnalia.html

When one considers the origin and celebrations associated with the Roman Saturnalia, it is pretty obvious that “Christmas”, and thereby its seeming association to the birth of Jesus Christ, is nothing more than "paganism wrapped with a Christian bow" or “the mixing of oil and water” the naysayers argue. The sad truth is, that the pagan aspect, (fleshly and selfish appetites) have become the reason for the season instead of the worthy recognition of the fact that God became a man.

So what are we to do?

Was the church for the first three centuries correct?

Due to the fact that God in His word, has not given us the exact date of Jesus’ birth, should the body of Christ abstain from any type of  Christmas celebration?

 

“The life of man is a continual death, unless it be that Christ lives in him.”

—Ignatius

It is paramount for one to understand that Jesus Christ was born to die. The Creator taking on Himself flesh and blood that He might die for the  SIN of His creation. Could this be the reason He confirmed, to the exact date, His death and not His birth?

As Ignatius is alluding to, it is the same for the creation… we are born to die.

“It is appointed unto men once, to die, then the judgment of God”.

If a man trust in this Christ he shall never die… believeth thou this?

We might do well to consider this as we go about our celebration of Christmas. It is more about one’s attitude than all the decorations or even the celebration itself, as God looks not on the outward appearance but at the content of the heart.

My only thoughts on this is “let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” So whatever you do, do it for the honor of Christ.

 

"Hear the angels, as they’re singing

On the morning of His birth!

But how much greater will our song be

When He comes again to earth!"

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Brother Malachi

pray for america

 

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. So it is senseless to pay tuition to educate a fool who has no heart for wisdom.            -Brother Malachi

The scripture teaches us that “if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him”. 1Jn 5:14-15

The obstacle to our desired petitions (prayers) is the lust of the flesh. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”. Jas 4:3

Sometimes the hardest thing to pray for, is the will of God. America should consider Daniel’s prayer for his nation…

Dan 9:3 and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek [by] prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

Dan 9:4 And I pray to Jehovah my God, and confess, and say: `I beseech Thee, O Lord God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness to those loving Him, and to those keeping His commands;

Dan 9:5 we have sinned, and done perversely, and done wickedly, and rebelled, to turn aside from Thy commands, and from Thy judgments:

Dan 9:6 and we have not hearkened unto Thy servants, the prophets, who have spoken in Thy name unto our kings, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Dan 9:7 `To Thee, O Lord, [is] the righteousness, and to us the shame of face, as [at] this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, in all the lands whither Thou hast driven them, in their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee.

Dan 9:8 `O Lord, to us [is] the shame of face, to our kings, to our heads, and to our fathers, in that we have sinned against Thee.

Dan 9:9 `To the Lord our God [are] the mercies and the forgivenesses, for we have rebelled against Him,

Dan 9:10 and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in His laws, that He hath set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets;

Dan 9:11 and all Israel have transgressed Thy law, to turn aside so as not to hearken to Thy voice; and poured on us is the execration, and the oath, that is written in the law of Moses, servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.

Dan 9:12 `And He confirmeth His words that He hath spoken against us, and against our judges who have judged us, to bring in upon us great evil, in that it hath not been done under the whole heavens as it hath been done in Jerusalem,

Dan 9:13 as it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil hath come upon us, and we have not appeased the face of Jehovah our God to turn back from our iniquities, and to act wisely in Thy truth.

Dan 9:14 And Jehovah doth watch for the evil, and bringeth it upon us, for righteous [is] Jehovah our God concerning all His works that He hath done, and we have not hearkened to His voice.

Dan 9:15 And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought forth Thy people from the land of Egypt by a strong hand, and dost make for Thee a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

Dan 9:16 `O Lord, according to all Thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray Thee, Thine anger and Thy fury from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people [are] for a reproach to all our neighbours;

Dan 9:17 and now, hearken, O our God, unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, and cause Thy face to shine on Thy sanctuary that [is] desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

Dan 9:18 `Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that [are] many.

Dan 9:19 O lord, hear, O Lord, forgive; O Lord, attend and do; do not delay, for Thine own sake, O my God, for Thy name is called on Thy city, and on Thy people.’

B’Shem Yeshua HaMashiach

brother malachi

if God is real, why does He allow His people to be martyred?

The Murder of St. Peter the Martyr, 1509, Giovanni Bellini.

I’ve come to believe that God, in his wisdom, allows martyrdom in every generation in part because, without them, the reality of Christ’s death for us becomes increasingly blurry. . . . As we look at [the martyrs], the mist that sometimes enshrouds first-century Golgotha is burned away, and we see . . . the Lord nailed to the cross.

MARK GALLI – senior managing editor Christianity Today

I have tracked the persecution of Christians for a number of years, so I was intrigued by this quote from Mark Galli, senior managing editor for Christianity Today. Even though I have some reservations with the entire quote, Galli does address a spiritual deficiency that the believer must constantly guard against… forgetting what God has done for us. For scriptural support read Deuteronomy 8:10-20.

The lesson is this, when God allows His people to enjoy abundant blessings, we tend to envelope ourselves in the pleasure of the blessing and not only forget how we got to where we are, but we begin to convince ourselves we are responsible for the outcome.

WARNING: Blessing is the greatest enemy for the people of God, unless they keep the blessing in its proper perspective. It should alarm the church in America that ‘BLESSINGS’ seems to be its spiritual focus.

Galli’s quote may be apropos for the church in America, in that the vast majority of the people attending church with some regularity, very rarely if ever, give thought to the work of God at Golgotha, but this is quite the contrast for our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world. “Taking up their cross and following Jesus is a normal way of life.

I was reading the VOM’s Extreme Devotion post about an Iranian pastor who had escaped to the West. In Iran, arrest and police harassment were common experiences. This pastor had lost his home and job because of his faith. Now living in the West he was free to live and worship wherever he wished. How could he long for the days of persecution. “Sometimes I miss those days”, he said, “because I was so alive. I felt every day that Jesus was with me.” Very few faithful church attendees in America  would echo these sentiments.

I find Galli’s quote still leaves the believer somewhat short sighted of what Christ expects from His followers. “As we” only see what the martyrs endure, it gives us in America nothing more that a faint picture of the events of Golgotha. This blurry view of Golgotha is then overwhelmed by the seeming blessings the church enjoys in America. But when we endure the same level suffering that Christian (Iranian pastor) all around the persecuted world are enduring, we not only live the events of Golgotha but see with all clarity the very LORD of Calvary.

So to understand why God allows His people to suffer as martyrs we need look no further than the scripture…

 

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”  John 15:18-25

So what was Jesus telling his disciples?

The world hates the believer- If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

This is a hard saying… who can understand it? We, in America, understand little about the world hating the believer. Now I am not speaking to the isolated incidences where there are certain individuals and even groups that hate what the church represents, but overall the church in America does not experience the hatred of the world.

The only explanation is that the church in America is so immersed in the world, that it is little more than a religious extension of the world. We could liken it to Hinduism in India, Buddhism in East Asia or Islam in the Middle East.

This is not the case in the rest of the world. To name the name of Christ or call oneself a Christian in most of Asia will put one in jeopardy. Jeopardy of loosing ones job, their material possessions, subject to beatings, imprisonment and even death. In other words, most professing Christians in America would not fit the bill in other parts of the world, nor could they endure the opposition the body of Christ is confronted with on a daily basis in North Korea, China, etc…

This hatred of God is a willful rejection of Him and His Christ- But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.But now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

It is important that we clear the religious fog that shrouds Christianity in America. Many associate Christianity with religion… religion with God. That is not the case at all. Christianity is NOT a religion. Christianity is comprised of individuals that are Born Again by the Spirit of God, resulting in these same individuals being placed spiritually into the Body of Christ. These individuals (Christians) which have been born again make up the True Church mentioned in the Word of God. Therefore a better description of Christianity would be that of a living organism instead of an organization. Just because someone is a member of a religious institution or attends a church with regularity does not make one a Christian. Just because an organization espouses a religious doctrine is no guarantee that they even know God. In fact if they do not align themselves with the Word of God it is evidence that they do not know God or His Christ, hence not born again or Christian at all. For there is no other name under heaven whereby a man may be saved… Jesus The Christ

Now when we think of religions that oppose the word of God, Wiccan, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Atheism, etc…comes to mind. What is very alarming, and becoming more common place, is the rise of this anti-Christ (religious) spirit in the church (organization not the organism) in America.

Just to reiterate, the anti-God / anti-Christ spirit can be borne by the likes of Methodist, Baptist, Lutherans, Catholics, Assemblies of God, etc…We could liken them to the religious folk of Jesus day. They were not only ignorant of God’s word but opposed His Christ at every turn, seeking to eradicate Him from their society.

The evidence that there are religious folk that hate God in the church can been seen in the opposition of His word. If the word of God is hated, the Word that was made flesh would receive the same if he were to stumble into the temple (church) today. This is a hard saying but he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith.

The servant of Christ is the only one left that the hating world can touch- If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

Time and time again we saw the religious leaders of Christ day move to take up stones to kill Him. This vehement hatred came from there father the devil. The lust of their father they desired to do .

Now Satan cannot touch God, for He is the Creator and Satan the creature. He can not touch Christ as He is seated at the right hand of the Father. This only leaves His body. It’s a trickle down effect and the Christian (the body of Christ, the believer) is the only one left for the world to persecute.

If you follow the persecuted church, the persecution is not because of the churches criminal activities or any wicked deeds they have done. They are persecuted simply for associating themselves with Jesus-Christianity. This vehement anti-Christ spirit prevailing in the world today can only kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but the believer is commanded not to fear him; rather fear Him which is able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell.

 

Take up your cross and follow me-

The persecution that the body of Christ is meeting head on did not take God by surprise. In fact He told His believers it would come and the reason they would experience it.

It is in the midst of this grievous suffering that we get a sweet, in depth, intimate vision of Jesus Christ. This may seem sadistic at the surface, but it has scriptural support.  The body and the soul of the believer belongs to the LORD, and He is God!

 

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned [him]: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:55-60

When Christ exhorts us to take up ‘our cross’ and follow ‘Him’, rest assured He does not expect us to carry the cross, He will carry the cross for us. He has already carried His own and is fully capable of taking ours.

For my brothers and sisters that are suffering for the cause of Christ, rest assured, He is strong an faithful and will not leave you to your own!

Prayerfully consider the voice of Justin…

“If you are scourged or beheaded as a criminal, do you believe you will still ascend to heaven?” asked Rusticus, the city official.

“I believe that if I endure these things I shall have what Jesus promised me,” Justin said. “For I know his gift of life stays with all who remain in him, even until the end of the world.”
“Do you think then that you will receive some reward there?”
“I do not think it; I know it. I am certain of it.”
Rusticus sat back with impatience. “You must agree to offer a sacrifice to the gods.”
Justin stood unmoved. “No right-thinking person slanders communion with God by going to the godless.”
Rusticus had had enough. “Unless you obey, you will be mercilessly executed.”
“I know if I die for his testimony that I need not fear. I count dying for such a reason to be our salvation and confidence before Christ.” Justin answered.
The others who stood with Justin said, “Do what you will, for we are Christians and do not sacrifice to idols.”
Rusticus pronounced the sentence on the Christians who refused his demands. “These people, who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and do not obey the dictates of the emperor, shall be scourged and beheaded according to the law.”

Justin was a wise man… he listened to the voice of truth.

brother malachi

For Which Good Deed Do Ye Stone Me?

While browsing the Voice of the Martyr newsroom, I ran across an article that was posted on February 29, 2008, entitled ‘JORDAN- Government Expels Christian Missionaries’ The article states “The government in Jordan has admitted it expelled missionaries for “illegal” activities. According to Compass Direct News, On February 20, Acting Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, told the Jordanian parliament that authorities had expelled missionaries operating ‘under the cover of doing illegal charitable work.’”

The reason for the expulsion could only be for one of two reasons. One for doing the charitable work or secondly for ministering the gospel while doing the charitable deeds. We might be able to learn from what we see when the Lord walked this sod.

When Christ became a man he made this statement….

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19

And that He did. He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk and even the dead to live. For which of these deeds did they seek to kill Him? It was not for the charitable deeds that He performed that drove the people to give Him over to the cross, but the fact that those mighty deeds gave credence to the fact that He was Yeshua ha Massiach.

It’s not about the deed but the gospel. It’s not about the temporal, but the eternal.  Pray not only for our brothers and sisters in Jordan, but all of our brother and sisters that are faithfully carrying the Light of the gospel in the persecuted land.

malachi