American Christians Should 'Take Seriously' Terror Threats

By World Net Daily
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The religious war launched by Muslims against Christianity is nothing new, notes Charl Van Wyk, who heroically returned fire during a terrorist attack on his own church in South Africa.

“Over 400 million Christians live in 67 countries which severely restrict and persecute believers,” Van Wyk said. “Open Doors USA says that in an average month, 332 Christians are killed for their faith, 214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed and 772 forms of violence, such as beatings, abductions, rapes, arrests and forced marriages, are committed against Christians worldwide.”

Van Wyk was present during an attack on the St. James Church in Cape Town, South Africa in 1993 in which terrorists opened fire with grenades and automatic weapons. Van Wyk hit one of the terrorists with his snub .38 revolver. He chronicled his experience in “Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self Defense.”

Van Wyk said Christians have always been under threat of violence.

“Yes, Christian churches are directly under threat of terrorism,” he said. “But this is not foreign or ‘new’ to the church, the body of Christ, worldwide. What is happening is that those who have lived fairly sheltered lives, in what were Christianized nations, are now also seeing and feeling the heat of this curse.”

Carl Gallups, a pastor, former law enforcement official and author of Carl Gallups, a pastor, former law enforcement official and author of “Be Thou Prepared: Equipping the Church for Persecution and Times of Trouble,” agreed the history of Christianity has always been about coping with terrorism and persecution.

“I do not suggest that Christians live in paranoia and constant fear,” said Gallups. “Since the birth of Christianity, God’s people have been persecuted, murdered, hunted down, targeted and terrorized – many times by government decrees and legally opened doors that made it all possible. So, this is not a new thing to the Christian world. What is new, like Van Wyk says, is how this threat is spreading to nations like America.”

Churches throughout Europe are on alert after ISIS warned of new attacks. Only a few days after a French priest was beheaded during a worship service, churches in the United Kingdom were told by the British Home Office to review their security procedures. However, some religious leaders are resisting the move, saying churches must always remain a place of sanctuary.

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