‘We’re Not Allowed to Print Anything’ about Jesus, Chinese Print Shop Tells Church

By Michael Foust
Christian Headlines    

Christians in China’s Henan province hoping to celebrate the new year with Christ-centered calendars learned in recent days that such items are prohibited.

A member of De’en Church in the district of Xigong told Bitter Winter that his congregation prepared a calendar for members but was told by a local printer that faith-based calendars are banned by the government.

Bitter Winter, which follows stories about the persecuted church in China, visited two print shops. Both said they would not print Christian material.

“A desk calendar or a picture to hang on the wall -- we’re not allowed to print anything if it has any content related to Jesus,” the owner of the small print shop told Bitter Winter.

Government officials from the Bureau for Industry and Commerce “frequently” visit the shop, the owner said.

“They have always prohibited us from printing such things,” the owner said. “If they discover that we have printed religion-related items, the government will punish us according to the quantity printed. Now, the control is even stricter. If anyone dares to print religious materials secretly and is caught, in minor cases, they will be fined, and their shops will be closed down; in severe cases, they will face the prospect of being detained.”

The manager of a medium-sized print shop agreed.

“The government doesn’t allow printing of materials related to religions like Buddhism and Christianity. Sometimes, a small printing house secretly prints religious materials. As soon as the government catches them, a fine will be imposed. Formal print shops never dare to print [religious materials],” the manager told Bitter Winter. 

“If anyone is found [to have printed religious materials], they will be fined a large amount of money. The print shops that have been cracked down on and forcibly closed are not in the minority.”

Website: Christian Headlines 

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The Cost of Faith for Egyptian Christian Converts: Part 1

By International Christian Concern

When Bashar grad­uated from high school, his life appeared to be on track. But five years ago, every­thing changed. Shortly after graduation, Bashar began watching Christian satellite programs. He would come to know Christ, and overnight, lost everything that had previously defined his life.

Looking at the various types of Christians in the Middle East, Muslim-background believers (MBBs) are the fastest growing group. Sadly though, if their conversion becomes public knowledge, their life as they’ve known it is immediately over. They lose their family, their job, and sometimes even their life.

Bashar knows this firsthand. When his brothers discovered his new faith, he was severely beaten and left bound by ropes on the house’s roof. For three days, he was fed nothing except scraps reserved for the family’s chickens. While he was eventually released by his sister, his family was unfor­giving. They stripped him of his inheritance and kicked him out of the house. For days, he slept in remote coffee shops until he was able to find work. Today, Bashar is only 26 and struggles with the severe consequences of his choice to follow Christ.

Zaki, who ministers to MBBs, explained, “[Sometimes], when the family of an MBB discovers that he became a Christian, they make a complaint in the police station. Then, the police arrest the MBB and give him a hard time.”

Thankfully, Bashar escaped this situa­tion, but Zaki knows of many examples where this has happened. He recalled an incident which happened last year. When the police discovered that a Muslim named Mohammed converted to Christianity, they arrested him. They beat Mohammed relentlessly, demanding that he deny Christ and return to Islam.

“Many police officers think that when a Muslim decides to change his religion, that he has strayed from the right path,” contin­ued Zaki. “The police officer considers any way to let him return to Islam by any means, as is his duty as a Muslim. The more he is violent and heartless in treating the MBB, he believes he is pleasing God because he is defending Islam.”

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming tomorrow.

Website: ICC Persecution 

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Rwandan Genocide Victim Learns to Forgive, Befriends Man Who Cut Off Her Hand

Alice Mukarurinda (R) shares her personal experiences as a Tutsi during

the Rwandan genocide of 1994 with a group of reporters on Feb. 18, 2019,

at her home in the village of Nyamata, Rwanda. To her left is World Vision 

staffer Goreth Mbabazi. To Mbabazi's left is Emmanuel Ndayisaba, the man

 who cut off Mukarurinda's hand. | WORLD VISION / BRIAN DUSS

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

She had her hand chopped off, her head bludgeoned and saw her 9-month-old daughter split in two, but 25 years later, 48-year-old Alice Mukarurinda and the man responsible for cutting off her limb, Emmanuel Ndayisaba, are now good friends.

The two have preached the need for forgiveness and reconciliation that has encompassed the central African nation in the last quarter-century since one of the worst human rights atrocities in world history took place — the genocide against the Tutsi.

In April 1994, Alice and her husband were among the hundreds of thousands of Tutsis left to die after being beaten, hacked, speared, burned, smashed or shot to death by mobs of angry citizens and security forces driven by an extremist ideology pushed by officials in Rwanda’s Hutu-led government.

The goal was to “exterminate” their social class. Many were killed by their neighbors and friends they thought they could trust.

Although they were brothers and sisters in Christ, toxic propaganda incited the majority Hutus to try to completely drive the minority Tutsis (portrayed socially as tall, wealthy cattle herders favored by Belgian colonists) into extinction.

As the strong majority of the Rwandan population is uneducated, the ideology spread through propaganda radio broadcasts and newspapers. It corrupted the minds of many Hutus, including church leaders. Others were coerced into participating out of fear of their own lives.

In the span of three months beginning in April 1994, it is estimated that as many as 1 million were killed in the 90 percent Christian country with many of them massacred inside churches.

Most were Tutsis and others were moderate Hutus who refused to participate in the extermination of Tutsi "cockroaches" that the government at the time considered to be fake Rwandans.

Fortunately for Alice and her husband, they survived despite the physical harm they suffered. However, their baby daughter, her mother, her siblings and many of their neighbors were not as fortunate.

Christian Post article continues here

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Supreme Court Lets Ruling Protecting Texas Bishops From Subpoena on Abortion Talk Stand

Planned Parenthood went back to the district court and asked for a
temporary restraining order to block the law late Tuesday
night, May 29, 2018. | Pixabay/Free-Photos

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from a case on whether a Texas-based Roman Catholic Church body must disclose its private discussions on abortion and fetal burial.

In an order released Tuesday, the high court denied certiorari in the case of Whole Woman’s Health et al v. Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, allowing an earlier decision in favor of the Catholic body to stand.

Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, a law firm involved in the case on behalf of the Catholic Bishops, celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Thank goodness the Supreme Court saw this appeal for what it was: a nasty attempt to intimidate the bishops and force them to withdraw their offer to bury every child aborted in Texas,” said Rassbach in a statement released Tuesday.

“Abortion groups may think the bishops ‘troublesome,’ but it is wrong to weaponize the law to stop the bishops from standing up for their beliefs.”

In 2016, multiple abortion providers filed a lawsuit against Texas over regulations requiring that aborted fetuses be given a proper burial rather than disposing of them in landfill or sewers, as previously allowed.

The abortion providers argued that the regulations violated Due Process rights by placing a burden on the woman seeking an abortion to find and arrange for a dignified burial.

At the preliminary injunction hearing, Catholic Conference Executive Director Jennifer Allmon testified in favor of the regulations, noting that the Conference was willing to work with Catholic churches to provide free common burials.

In March 2018, the abortion providers served the Catholic Conference a “third-party subpoena” demanding all documents regarding abortion, embryonic and fetal tissue remains, as well as all communication, including confidential, the bishops may have had with state government officials or the state legislature.

In response, the bishops filed a motion against the subpoena in April of last year, arguing that the order violated the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Last July, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 2-1 in favor of the bishops, with Circuit Judge Edith Jones writing the majority opinion.

Christian Post report continues here

Future of Homeschooling: Less Religious, More Regulated?

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post

The homeschooling movement in America is experiencing potential changes in its religious makeup and new challenges from government regulation.

Steven Craig Policastro, founder and executive vice president of the International Association for Creation, told The Christian Post that in recent years, the biggest change in state-sponsored resistance to homeschooling has been a “shift” from attempts to ban homeschooling to “extremely oppressive” regulations.

“Opponents of home education have realized that since they are unable to make homeschooling illegal, they can at least attempt to place extremely burdensome regulations on parent-led, home education to make it difficult or nearly impossible,” said Policastro.

“There also are constant attempts by school districts all over the country to require things of homeschool students and parents that are not required by law. There are times in which the school districts do not properly know the law, but in other instances the school board leaders do not care and they want their regulations mandated regardless of the law.”

The International Association for Creation is a Christian Young Earth organization and will be hosting its annual “National Homeschool Day” observance on Feb. 23. Speakers from dozens of locations will address people worldwide in a livestream online to discuss topics related to homeschooling and Christian resources for home education.

On regulation, Policastro noted the importance of “state organizations” and the Home School Legal Defense Association in monitoring proposed legislation and maintaining good communication with school districts.

“Such government oversight is a continual battle, it has not let up; it has merely changed forms, going from the outlawing of parent-led education to now having parent rights constantly in jeopardy due to ever-changing regulations,” he noted.

“The famous quote, ‘the price of liberty is eternal vigilance,’ is very apropos here because that's what all of us who believe in educational freedom and parental rights do. We seek to be vigilant so that our God-given right to train up our children is not impeded upon by bureaucrats and legislatures.”

A recent example of this regulation effort can be found in Iowa, where earlier this month Democrat State Rep. Mary Mascher introduced House File 272, which if passed would, among other things, require school districts to conduct "health and safety visits" for homeschooled children. 

Christian Post article continues here

Muslim Who Sought to Kill Christian Cousin Embraces Faith after Jesus Appears in Dream

By Leah MarieAnn Klett
Christian Post

An Egyptian Muslim who planned to kill his cousin for converting to Christianity has shared how he embraced the religion he once hated after Jesus delivered a powerful message to him in a dream.

Mostafa, a new convert in Egypt, recently shared with persecution watchdog Open Doors how he traveled to Cairo with the intention of killing his cousin, Mohammad, who had converted from Islam to Christianity.

In Egypt, converting from Islam to Christianity is seen as a betrayal of one’s family and heritage. Christian converts risk losing their family, friends, and even their lives.

After finding his cousin sitting in a Christian worship service, Mostafa slipped behind him and waited to make his move. But as he listened to the songs and prayers, he noticed that the words he was hearing appealed to him.

Following the service, Mostafa approached Mohammad with tears in his eyes: “I came all the way from our family’s village to spy on you and see if you had indeed become a Christian,” he said. “I should inform your family about what I saw, but I just can’t. I think the choice you made might have been the right one. Can you tell me more? Why did you leave Islam for Christianity?”

That evening, the cousins spent hours talking about the Gospel. That night, Mostafa had a dream. He saw Jesus on the cross, looking at him and saying: “I did all of this because I love you, and I want you to be free from your sins.”

The next morning, Mostafa told Mohammed what he saw in his dream and asked his cousin to pray together with him for his salvation.

Mostafa recalled telling God: “I planned to kill my cousin, Your follower. But now I am prepared to give my life for You myself.”

The following month, Mostafa was baptized with his cousin standing next to him. He hasn’t told his family that he and Mohammed are now followers of Jesus, and the two men are currently living as secret believers.

Egypt is No. 16 on Open Doors' World Watch List and continues to be a country that poses extreme danger and violence for Christians, according to the persecution watchdog. Various Islamic extremist groups remain the largest persecutors of Christians in the country.

Despite continued persecution, a number of Christians across the Middle East have embraced Christianity. Officially, about 10% of the 95 million population are Christian, although many believe the figure is significantly higher.

Continue reading Persecution Unveiled report here

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Florida Professor Who Demanded Student Stomp On Jesus Gets Just Deserts

 

By John Hawkins

Right Wing News

Apr, 2013: It all started with a conflict between an antagonistic professor and one brave student at Florida Atlantic University. Ryan Rotela was told by his professor to write Jesus Christ’s name on a piece of paper and stomp on it. Rotela defiantly refused and in retaliation, a formal disciplinary action was started against him.

But, before the system could roll over Rotela, a funny thing happened. The word about what was happening to him got out, Christians became outraged, and suddenly the university’s tune quickly changed. “FAU’s Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Charles Brown, has since issued a groveling formal apology.” Next thing you know, the disciplinary action was waved off.

Now, comes word that the professor, Deandre Poole, has been put on administrative leave following a withering public response, that included complaints from the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott.

It’s just like Norman Vincent Peale used to say, “Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” Ryan Rotela stood up and it turned out that the bullies at his college weren’t as tough as they thought they were.

Website: Right Wing News
 

California Christians Found ‘Not Guilty’ of Reading Bible Near Gov’t Offices

By Warner Todd Huston

Night Wing News

August 2013: A court has said that a pair of Christians were “allowed” to read the Bible aloud outside the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hemet, California. Wasn’t it kind of the government courts in California to say that these Christians were allowed to have their rights to free religious expression?

Back in 2011 Mark Mackey and Bret Coronado were arrested and charged with misdemeanor offenses for reading the Bible outside the DMV location.

But on August 13, Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer found the men “not guilty” of any offenses.

Prosecutors had to prove that the men needed a permit for their Bible reading, but were not able to make that case.

According to a full report at Advocates for Faith and Freedom,

In order for the prosecution to prove that a permit was required under Title 13, Section 1860 of the California Administrative Code, it was required to prove that the defendants were engaged in a “demonstration or gathering” as defined in Section 1851. Judge Freer ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the men conducted either a “demonstration or gathering.” 

Both definitions require that the conduct of defendants was such that it had “the effect, intent or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers” and the prosecution couldn’t prove that to be the case.

“The prosecution failed to meet its burden of proof that our clients committed a crime when they read the Bible aloud in front a line of people,” said AFF attorney Robert Taylor. 

Interestingly, the judge also pointed out that the law prosecutors tried to invoke was likely unconstitutional as it gave law enforcement overbroad powers to quash public gatherings in the first place. Sadly, this case did not go toward settling the constitutionality of the law, but it was a victory of sorts to have the judge even mention the fact.

Website: Night Wing News

10 Times Democrat Senators Questioned Trump Nominees' Religious Beliefs

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., asks CIA Director Mike Pompeo 

questions about his beliefs during a Senate Confirmation 

Hearing, April 12, 2018. | (Screenshot: NBC News)

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

One of the nation’s leading Christian conservative advocacy organizations has called out 12 senators who have employed “unconstitutional religious tests” on Trump nominees in the past two years.

Since the Trump administration came into power in 2017, a noticeable trend has occurred in which Democrat senators have questioned Trump judicial and political nominees about their religious beliefs and religious affiliations as to suggest that such beliefs and affiliations should disqualify them for public office.

The Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council released on Wednesday a new publication that documents 10 incidents over the past two years in which senators have interrogated nominees concerning their personal religious beliefs even though Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states that there shall be no religious test for public office.

The document was written by Alexandra McPhee, the director of religious freedom advocacy at Family Research Council.

“It is important to distinguish what questions should generally be considered appropriate or inappropriate,” the document “Rebels Without a Clause: When Senators Run Roughshod Over the ‘No Religious Test’ Clause of the U.S. Constitution” explains.

 “For instance, ‘[m]erely asking a nominee whether their beliefs might stop them from fulfilling their Constitutional duties is a relevant question.’ But ‘[r]ejecting someone over their faith alone is unquestionably a religious test.’”

The document stresses that a senator should not deem a nominee “fit or unfit according to his or her formal affiliation with one religious group or another.”

“And as Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) explained, ‘asking [a] nominee about the particulars of his or her religious beliefs’ is inappropriate because it will ‘inevitably expose those beliefs as somehow a qualifier or a disqualifier for public office,” McPhee wrote.

Neomi Rao

Earlier this month, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a candidate for president in 2020, questioned Trump judicial nominee Neomi Rao, who currently serves as the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, during a confirmation hearing.

“Do you believe gay relationships are a sin?” Booker asked the nominee selected to replace Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. appellate court.

Rao responded by saying: “Senator, my personal views on any of these subjects are things that I would put to one side and I would faithfully follow [the precedence of the Supreme Court].”

“Senator Booker suggested this was an appropriate line of questioning because ‘religion [has been] used as a ruse to discriminate against African Americans,” the FRC document explains.

Booker’s question came during his line of questioning about Rao’s previous writings on past court rulings that favored gay marriage.

William Barr

Trump’s nominee to replace Jeff Sessions as attorney general, William Barr, who served as attorney general during the George H.W. Bush administration, was questioned by Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in January.

Whitehouse brought up a 1992 speech in which, according to Whitehouse, Barr “blamed secularism for virtually every contemporary societal problem.”

Continue reading Christian Post article here

FOUR YEARS AFTER MASS BEHEADINGS, FAMILIES OF 21 MARTYRS SHARE HOPE OF HEAVEN

By Linda Lowry
Open Doors USA

“We only knew martyrdom from films, but martyrdom was reintroduced and it strengthened our faith because these people, these 21 martyrs, lived among us.”

For Malak, the reintroduction of modern-day martyrdom on a worldwide scale is especially sobering. He is the father of one of the 21 martyrs killed by Islamic State militants on the Libyan coast. Few will forget the graphic images of the mass beheadings in a video released and paraded online around the world.

Today, February 15, marks the fourth anniversary of the deaths of 20 CopticChristian men from Egypt (Copts are the native Christians of Egypt) and one Christian man from Ghana—all 21 martyrs for their faith.

In the days and weeks leading up to their deaths, ISIS captors reportedly tortured the men who had traveled the 1,200 miles to Libya to find work and support their families. Militants attempted to persuade them to deny Jesus in return for their lives. They all refused. In fact, during the barbaric execution, the men repeated the words, “Lord Jesus Christ.”

NEW BOOK CAPTURES FAMILIES’ FAITH

A new book, The 21: A Journey Into the Land of Coptic Martyrs, by German novelist and poet Martin Mosebach includes interviews with families of the men who were killed.

Reportedly, what he found was “a completely different point of view of martyrdom.”

“No lamentation, no mourning, no pity, but, instead, pride and happiness. This was not seen as an injustice or an incident that should not have happened. On the contrary, mothers, widows, brothers, and fathers all spoke the same language.”

Mosebach commented on the hope of Heaven and faith of the families he spent time with in Upper Egypt: “There was really the presence of the supernatural in the lives of these very simple people who were not mystics at all. These were people with very simple theologies, but it was a real theology,” he said.

‘THE FAITH OF ALL OF US GREW’

Mosebach’s observations align with the words of families who spoke about their loved ones–and their own faith–last year when the church dedicated to the martyrs opened. Strengthened by visibly seeing and hearing the faith of their martyred loved ones, family members responded quickly. Only three months after the video released, they initiated the building of a church in honor of all 21 men.

Continue reading Open Doors USA article here

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China Hearing Gospel Via Africa; Church Growing Amid Brutal Persecution

If U.S. State Department figures are any indication, the number of Christians in China is approximately 70 million. Should current growth rates continue apace, the nation will soon have more Christians than any other country in the world.

A new system installed in at least 16 cities, municipalities, and provinces across
 China could pick out a face from a crowd with 99.8% accuracy,
according to Chinese state media. Pixabay/moerschy

By Brandon Showalter  

Christian Post

As the Chinese economically invest in and build infrastructure in Africa, Africans are evangelizing the Chinese.

In 2014, trade between China and Africa reached an all-time high in 2014, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University and McKinsey & Company. Billions of dollars in loans from China to Africa in addition to foreign direct investment have increased significantly in recent years.

Meanwhile, as a result of the influx of Chinese resources and approximately 10,000 Chinese-owned companies, the estimated 227,000 to 1 million Chinese working on the continent are hearing the message of the Gospel from African evangelical Christians.

"Many local African churches have reached out to Chinese workers, including incorporating Mandarin into services. A number of Chinese, in turn, have welcomed the sense of community and belonging that these Christian churches offer," according to UnHerd Wednesday.

"And a small but growing number of ethnically Chinese missionaries from Taiwan and other countries are specifically targeting Chinese nationals in Africa, preaching to them with a freedom they’d never be allowed in the People’s Republic."

This connection to the Gospel presents a challenge to the Chinese government which has a long history of brutally persecuting Christians under Communist dictator Mao Zedong, oppression that has been reinvigorated today as crackdowns on churches are occurring again. 

The government has blown some of them up and has arrested whole congregations. The government hostility to religion extends beyond Christianity and its activities; the Uighur Muslims have been detained and abused in Chinese government-run camps, according to reports.

Some outside groups estimate that between 25 to 50 percent of the Chinese population are believers in some kind of religion, to the chagrin of the government. When those evangelized Chinese Christians return home from Africa, they bring their new faith with them.

"Visitors to the coastal province of Fujian, for example, now hear South African accented English and see houses adorned with crosses. African migrants are also moving to China in larger numbers, many of them practitioners of very evangelistic forms of Pentecostal Christianity who are willing to flout the rules placed on religious activity in China," UnHerd reported.

"Despite its best efforts, China is losing its fight against Christianity, and the growing influx of citizens returning from Africa is shaping up to be another hopeless front in that war."

Continue reading Christian Post article here

North Korean Christian Imprisoned for Her Faith Tells of Torture, Beatings in Prison

By Gina Goh
International Christian Concern

A North Korean Christian, identified only as “Prisoner 42” for security reasons, told Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors the torture and beatings she endured for her faith and how God stayed with her through the brutality.

She became a Christian after fleeing to China in the midst of North Korea’s great famine during the 1990s. She was however captured there and sent to a North Korean prison camp, where she was put in solitary confinement for a year.

With her head shaved, she faced repetitive harsh questioning from the guards: “Why were you in China? Who did you meet? Did you go to church? Did you have a Bible? Did you meet any South Koreans? Are you a Christian?”

She had to lie in order to stay alive. “Am I a Christian? Yes. I love Jesus. But I deny it. If I admit that I was helped by Chinese Christians, I will be killed, either quickly or slowly,” she said. “They will murder me in this North Korean prison. Every day, I’m beaten and kicked — it hurts the most when they hit my ears. My ears ring for hours, sometimes days.”

She sustained her faith by singing and praying in her head. She also met another Christian woman after she was forced to divorce her husband, released and transferred to a re-education camp.

“Inside this North Korean prison, we ended up forming a secret church. When we met and felt safe enough, we prayed the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed,” she added. “She was actually much braver than I was. She spoke to others about Christ as well.”

Eventually this other Christian was taken away. “Prisoner 42” on the other hand, was released after two year. She wants to find her husband and children so she could share the gospel with them.

North Korea has repeatedly topped the lists of countries persecuting Christians both by the NGOs and the U.S. government. It’s ranked as the most difficult place for Christians to live in, because the state views Christians as their number one enemy.

Website: ICC Persecution

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

DC Comics Cancels ‘Blasphemous’ Jesus Series after 220,000 Sign Petition

By Michael Foust
Christian Headlines

DC Comics says it is canceling a series about Jesus that many Christians labeled heresy, although the writer implied on social media that the series may resurface elsewhere.

The series, Second Coming, presented Jesus coming back to Earth to fight evil alongside Sun-Man. The series plot described Christ as having limitations in knowledge and power.

“Witness the return of Jesus Christ, as He is sent on a most holy mission by God to learn what it takes to be the true messiah of mankind by becoming roommates with the world's favorite savior: the all-powerful superhero Sun-Man, the Last Son of Krispex!” the plot summary for the first issue read. “But when Christ returns to Earth, he's shocked to discover what has become of his gospel -- and now, he aims to set the record straight.”

The plot for the second issue was just as problematic: “An unexpected death leads to God showing off his heavenly kingdom to the son He wished He had, while the Son He has catches up on the earthly plane.”

More than 220,000 people signed a petition urging DC to cancel it. The first issue was scheduled to be released on March 6.

Scripture teaches that Jesus is God and thus, all-knowing and all-powerful.

Newsarama.com reported that DC has told retailers it is cancelling the series.
The series writer, Mark Russell, confirmed the cancellation and said DC had given him the rights.

‘The: DC/Vertigo’s cancellation of the orders for Second Coming, just so you know, DC did not do anything untoward to me,” Russell wrote on Twitter. “I asked for the rights back and they gracefully agreed. They’ve been a pleasure to work with and it will still be released, albeit with a different publisher.”

Prior to the cancellation, Russell had given more details about the plot: Jesus doesn’t know everything that is taking place on Earth until He arrives.

“God was so upset with the fact that he got crucified the last time that he wouldn’t even let him look through the celestial keyhole at Earth to keep up,” Russell said. 

“He still gets to talk to people when they come to Heaven so he has a rough idea of what’s going on down there. He doesn’t know how sideways things have gone until he’s come down to Earth and sees it for himself.”

 Continue reading article here

District Council in Pakistan Votes to Employ Only Christians as Sweepers

By Olivia Miller
International Christian Concern 

In January, the Swabi District Council, located in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, voted to only employ Christians as sweepers in the district’s hospitals. This vote reinforces a negative stereotype of Christians in Pakistan simply because of their religious identity.

The members of the Swabi District Council adopted the measure unanimously and demanded that all Muslims currently posted as sweepers be transferred to other jobs, such as guards. According to Akmal Khan, a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the measure was adopted in accordance with a court order.

However, when questioned by SAMAA Digital, Khan was unable to specify when the court gave that order and in what case it was given.

Due to widespread religious discrimination, Pakistani Christians are often treated as second class citizens. For many Muslims in Pakistan, Christians are considered spiritually polluted and untouchable because of the religion that they follow. In the professional setting, this discriminatory status relegates Christians to menial and dirty jobs.

This discrimination is readily apparent when looking at statistics regarding sweepers and sewer workers, often thought of as Pakistan’s filthiest jobs. Although Christians only make up only 2% of Pakistan’s total population, they represent 80% of Pakistan’s sweepers and sewer workers.

With the Swabi District Council voting that only Christians should be sweepers in district hospitals, they are reinforcing a stereotype that views Christians as second class citizens.Website: ICC Persecution

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

Cathedral Bombing Appears to Make Terrorist Statement after Referendum in Philippines

Suicide bombings are rare in the Philippines, and Año reportedly said the Indonesian bombers sought to sow sectarian dissension and set an example 

for other terrorists on the islands.

By Phillipines Coorespondent
Morning Star News

Christians in the insurgency-scarred southern Philippines who hoped for peace after the region won official status as an autonomous, Islamic sub-state last month received a mortifying message when Islamist terrorists bombed a Catholic cathedral on Jan. 27.

Members of the Islamic extremist rebel group Abu Sayyaf, which claims allegiance to Islamic State, aided the suicide attack and turned themselves into authorities over the weekend, lending credence to speculation that Islamist terrorists were sending a message in the bombing: There will be no peace.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año stated on Friday (Feb. 1) that Islamic State-affiliated terrorists were responsible for the twin suicide bombing of the worship service at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu Province, which killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 100 others.

Islamic State (IS) representatives took responsibility for the bombings in online postings shortly after the explosions, one inside the cathedral on Jolo, a small island off the coast of Mindanao, and another about 12 to 15 seconds later outside the doorway. Año said two Indonesian suicide bombers, one who went by the nom de guerre Abu Hud and his wife (unnamed), were guided by local rebels from the Islamic extremist Abu Sayyaf, which claims allegiance to IS.

Abu Sayyaf was excluded from the rebel-government negotiations that led to the Jan. 21 referendum that put five provinces under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) heading a group taking over administration. Abu Sayyaf rejected the peace deal that created the BARMM, preferring instead that the region belong to a broader southeast Asian caliphate.

Results of the referendum were announced on Jan. 25; two days later, the Indonesian couple aided by Abu Sayyaf bombed the cathedral. Año said local terrorists who aided the attack included Kamah Pae, a member of the Ajang Ajang, a sub-group of Abu Sayyaf, and Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who is said to have succeeded former Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed when he led a five-month rebel siege of Marawi, Mindanao, in 2017. These groups have sworn allegiance to IS, according to Año.

Kammah Pae and four other Abu Sayyaf rebels turned themselves in to authorities over the weekend, security officials announced today (Feb. 4). Oscar Albayalde, the national police chief, said at a news conference that Kammah Pae conspired with the Indonesian couple who blew themselves up, according to the Straits Times. Authorities are searching for 14 other suspects.

In a 2015 video, Islamic State leaders stated that 16 of their 35 “provinces” were outside Iraq and Syria, including one in the Philippines, according to The New York Times.

Suicide bombings are rare in the Philippines, and Año reportedly said the Indonesian bombers sought to sow sectarian dissension and set an example for other terrorists on the islands.

Life under Islamist Administration

MILF Chairman Murad Ibrahim told Philippine media that the new Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) creating the officially Islamic region aims for peace and “will protect not only the rights of Muslims but also non-Bangsamoro [non-Muslims], like Christians.”

He and local Christian leaders condemned the Jolo cathedral bombing.

“We condemn this act of terrorism that has taken place only days after the plesbiscite on the BOL as we also condole with the families of several soldiers and civilians who were killed by the explosion,” Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) leader Romulo Valles said.

While some Christians are concerned as a result of the attack and wary of the Islamic government transition – Sulu Province voted against the referendum measure – they plan on continuing to live out their faith.

Continue reading Morning Star News report here

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

Persecution Report Claims India is at a Tipping Point

The report claims that attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship in India have increased dramatically in the last four years. 

By ICC Persecution

A recently released report by Open Doors, entitled “We-re Indians Too”, claims that the situation for religious minorities in India is “at a tipping point”. As a result, Open Doors has included India in the top ten of its World Watch List, a report that identifies 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

The report claims that attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship in India have increased dramatically in the last four years. Much of this has to do with the rise and rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist political party.

In 2014, the BJP rose to power in India’s Central Government. That year, the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) documented 144 violent attacks on the Christian community across India. After only three years of BJP rule, that number more than doubled. In 2017, EFI documented 351 violent attacks on India’s Christian community.

According to the new report by Open Doors, the number of incidents reported in just the first three months of 2018 was greater than the total number of attacks reported in the whole year of 2014.

With this dramatic rise in religiously motivated violence, many are calling on India’s political leadership to take more direct action. To date, the BJP-led Government has done little to curb the rising tide of religious intolerance.

Website: ICC Persecution

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

China Shuts Down Many Churches Involved in Defectors Ministry

"The Chinese authorities have been coming after both authorized and unauthorized churches, which has in turn undermined the defector rescue work
carried out by missionaries.”

By International Christian Concern

China’s crackdown on Christianity is not just toward Chinese Christians, the North Korean defectors who live in the northeast of China and the missionaries who help them also are victims of such religious oppression. Things especially started to deteriorate after China enacted revised religious regulations last year.

A source in China close to North Korean affairs told Daily NK News, 

“A lot of churches in China closed down following restrictions enacted last February. The Chinese authorities have been coming after both authorized and unauthorized churches, which has in turn undermined the defector rescue work carried out by missionaries.”

Traditionally, North Korean defectors who crossed the border to seek refuge in China have depended on South Korean missionaries and churches in China to protect and bring them to South Korea.

Another missionary in China also told Daily NK, 

“The Chinese authorities shut down a church in Dandong back in September and all the affiliated missionaries were deported. This left the defectors they had been helping without support.”

While his organization has not yet had any issues with the Chinese authorities, another missionary shared that they had nevertheless “significantly curtailed their activities due to the current climate.”

“Humanitarian work transcends religion doesn’t it? Shouldn’t we be able to work with the Chinese government in that respect?” he said.

Beijing has a twofold purpose on clamping down these church groups. First is to diminish Christianity and its social impact. Second is to not jeopardize its relations with North Korea, which the state has close ties with.

Website: ICC Persecution

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

Asia Bibi Unable to Leave Pakistan After Supreme Court Upheld Acquittal

By International Christian Concern

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman recently acquitted of blasphemy, is still unable to leave Pakistan even after her acquittal was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court. According to a friend, the 54-year-old is becoming increasingly frightened and frustrated with the uncertainty of her future.

Aman Ullah spoke to Bibi by telephone last Friday and reported Bibi has no indication of when she will be allowed to leave Pakistan. Bibi and her husband have reportedly been moved from a secret location near Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad to a new location in Karachi.

According to Ullah, diplomats working to get Bibi and her husband out of Pakistan were told that her departure would come in the “medium term”. For now, Bibi reportedly remains locked in a single room of a house where the door is opened only at meal times. However, she is still allowed to make phone calls in the mornings and at night.

On October 31, 2018, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted Bibi of the controversial blasphemy charges that had kept her on death row for nearly a decade. This acquittal sparked three days of protests by religious extremists that nearly brought the country to a standstill.

Following the protests, the Pakistani Government agreed to have the Supreme Court review its decision. On January 29, the Supreme Court upheld Bibi’s acquittal and many thought that she would finally be free to leave Pakistan and join her daughters who have sought asylum in Canada.

Website: ICC Persecution

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

St. Valentine: This Early Church Martyr's Real Story Is All About Promoting Christian Marriage

By David Kithcart 
CBN News

Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance. That's what Valentine's day is all about, right? Well, maybe not.

The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn't romantic at all—at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O'Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday—St. Valentine.

"He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time," Father O'Gara explains.

"He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died."

"I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived," says Father O'Gara. "Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this."

"The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict."

Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine's actions while in prison.

"One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, whose daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result."

In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius' daughter. He inspired today's romantic missives by signing it, "from your Valentine."

"What Valentine means to me as a priest," explains Father O'Gara, "is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that —even to the point of death."

Valentine's martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint.

Continue reading CBN News here

Iranian Judges Sending Christians to 'Torture Factory' Must be Sanctioned by Trump Admin., NGO Urges

“Christians have faced degrading and inhumane treatment for no other reason than their faith. Yet, despite this intense persecution, they firmly held onto their faith. 

Evin House of Detention in northwest Tehran, Iran.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

On the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran, a prominent Christian persecution watchdog group is calling on the U.S. Treasury to sanction the Iranian judges who are responsible for sending Christians to a “torture factory.”

International Christian Concern, a nonprofit advocacy organization that highlights human rights and religious freedom abuses against persecuted Christians worldwide, has submitted the names of three Iranian Revolutionary Court judges and the infamous Evin Prison to be subject to punishment under the Global Magnitzky Act.

The legislation, signed into law in 2012, allows the U.S. Department of the Treasury to target perpetrators of human rights abuses by seizing U.S. assets or issuing travel bans.

“The Global Magnitsky Act is a monumental piece of bipartisan legislation that empowered the fight for human rights around the world in a brand new way,” ICC's Advocacy Director Matias Perttula said in a statement. 

“This legal tool empowers the U.S. government and the civil society community to target individuals and entities guilty of oppressing people and violating their God-given human rights with the full force of the United States sanctions capabilities.”

The judges recommended by ICC for sanctions are Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, Mohammed Moghiseh, and Ahmad Zargar.

“February 11 marks the 40-year anniversary of the founding of the modern Islamic Republic of Iran,” an ICC report states. “Since then, Iran has been ruled by elites who have fused hardline Islam with governance. Christians are viewed as a national security threat and prosecuted under these judges and then imprisoned in the infamous Evin Prison, commonly referred to as the ‘torture factory.’”

As Christianity is illegal in Iran and Christians can be arrested for just having a Bible, Christians are regularly arrested for standing strong in their faith. Some Christians are sentenced to years in prison after being accused of charges like trying to establish an underground church network. Many of them are sent to Evin Prison.

Evin Prison is located at the foot of the Alborz mountains in the outskirts of Tehran and has become notorious for being where the regime holds its political prisoners. Officials at the prison have been accused of torturing political dissidents and religious minorities.

Evin Prison was where American pastor Saeed Abedini, a former Muslim convert who became a naturalized U.S. citizen, was held in prison for more than two years before his release in 2016. Abedini was charged with compromising national security. He said he was physically and emotionally abused during his time in Evin Prison.

Last year, the U.S. government called out Evin Prison for what it said were “brutal tactics inflicted by prison authorities” that include “sexual assaults, physical assaults, and electric shock.” Some prisoners were beaten to death.

Continue reading Christian Post article here

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.