On one of the episode of Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, Mark Virkler taught about how to hear God’s voice
Credit : Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural
China Persecuted 5,576 Churches in 2019, Climbs to 23 on Worst Persecutors List
Christians in China experienced an unprecedented level of surveillance, control and restrictions of their beliefs within the past year, according to Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List, which saw the Communist nation rise four spots in the annual ranking of countries that persecute Christians the most.
China jumped from 27 to 23 on the list, driven by the government’s desire to “Sinicize” Christianity and other religions – meaning to make religious beliefs “fall in line” with the government’s interpretation of Communism.
The World Watch List, released annually, lists the 50 most dangerous countries for Christians to live.
North Korea remains No. 1 on the list, followed by Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen, Iran and India.
There were at least 5,576 government-approved attacks on churches last year in China, an increase from 171 the previous year.
China is home to an estimated 97,200,000 Christians. They comprise about 6 percent of the population, according to Open Doors’ estimates.
Open Doors is calling China’s persecution of Christians a “human rights nightmare”
“The Chinese government is nearly single-handedly responsible for the steep increase in churches and Christian buildings attacked in 2019,” said David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors. “Their newest policies are penalizing minority Christians in…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
102-year-old retires: How will you finish your race?
An Indiana state employee is retiring at 102. Here’s his explanation: “Your body tells you when it’s time to go.”
Bob Vollmer enlisted in the Navy after the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor in 1941. After the war, he graduated from Purdue University
with a degree in biological and agricultural engineering. He worked on
reservoir and flood control projects before coming to work for the Indiana
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in 1962.
He travels across the state collecting technical field data
and confirming boundary lines for DNR-managed properties, but he is finally
retiring after nearly six decades on the job.
Mr. Vollmer is not planning to slow down much, however. He will devote himself to reading and farming and will take trips to some of the South Pacific islands where he served during the war.
In a culture that seems obsessed with youth, Bob Vollmer
reminds me of Caleb, who testified at the age of eighty-five: “I am still
as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as
my strength was then, for war and for going and coming” (Joshua 14:11).
Every day on this planet is another opportunity to love God
and love others. Every day is another opportunity to fulfill our purpose and
glorify our Lord.
Then one day we can say with Paul, “I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Run well today.
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
Jerry Falwell, Jr. May Call for ‘Civil Disobedience’ if Virginia Passes New Gun Control Laws
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. said Wednesday in a radio interview that civil disobedience may be in order if Virginia’s Democrat-controlled legislature passes a series of gun-restricting measures.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to call for civil disobedience if the Democrats go through with this,” Falwell told the host on the Todd Starnes Radio Show.
A showdown over gun rights has been brewing since Democrats took control of the General Assembly in November for the first time in two decades. Gov. Ralph Northam—a Democrat who made headlines last year for saying he supported no restrictions on abortion—is reintroducing eight separate bills to restrict gun rights. Since Republicans have no way to stop the measures from passing out of the statehouse, gun rights advocates are urging citizens to exert pressure on Democrats. The NRA, for instance, has held numerous town hall meetings and thousands of people are expected to rally at the statehouse in Richmond.
The package of proposals include banning semi-automatic rifles or pistols with 10-plus magazine rounds, mandatory background checks on all firearms, reinstating a one-handgun-a-month law, implementing “red flag” rules that would temporarily remove weapons from those deemed a potential risk, and increasing penalties for loaded guns that are accessible to children. One of proposals…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Remembering the ‘Father of Prohibition’: The lasting power of reputation
“Who, in God’s name, would waste a perfectly good
bullet, a knife thrust or even a cup of ‘hemlock’ on such an infinitely despicable
specimen of the genus vermin as Andrew J. Volstead?”
That’s just one example of the hate mail received by the man known as the “Father of Prohibition.”
Andrew Volstead was a Republican congressman from Minnesota who wrote the law that confiscated beer, wine, and liquor in America.
Known as the Volstead Law, the act went into effect one
hundred years ago this week. It was enacted to enforce the Eighteenth
Amendment, which was ratified a year earlier. The lawmaker spent the rest of
his life trying to shed the reputation his act conferred upon him.
Volstead wanted to be remembered for accomplishments like a landmark farm co-op bill which allowed associations of farmers to collectively market their products. But, as the Washington Post notes, “‘Father of Prohibition’ had a better ring to it than father of the Co-Operative Marketing Associations Act of 1922.”
The lawmaker did not volunteer his services to produce the
act that became associated with him. As chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee, it was his job to write it.
The hate mail soon began arriving in droves. As did the
death threats.
The congressman was defeated in the 1922 election, just two
years after his Act took effect. A 1971 profile of him said he “lived as a
self-sacrifice to Prohibition” and died in 1947 “embittered”
about his legacy as a “caricature of the Dry movement.”
The lasting power of reputation
As Andrew J. Volstead reminds us, we cannot write our own
legacy. No matter what we believe we have achieved in this life, we cannot
control what people say about us when we are gone.
However, we can write our legacy in eternity.
When we are faithful to serve Jesus with the resources he
has entrusted to us, we will hear him say one day, “Well done, good and
faithful servant”…
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
Record Number of Pro-Lifers Join Marches to Kick off 2020
As abortion has come into sharp focus during the 2020 election cycle, pro-lifers have come out in heavy numbers to kick off the year.
In Colorado, thousands attended the “Celebrate Life” march to rally against late-term abortions, according to Faithwire. A new measure in the state, called “Initiative 120,” proposes that medical professionals who perform an abortion after 22 weeks—unless the mother’s life is at risk—could lose their license for at least three years.
Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, spoke at the event and recalled his time working at a hospital and seeing abortions.
“It is tragic and I remember being stunned,” he said. “I can still remember the horror on the young woman’s face [during the abortion].”
Despite the initiative only protecting fetuses after 22 weeks, protestors wanted their intentions made clear.
“We are not voting for abortion, nor are we saying we agree with abortion up to 22 weeks,” Aquila said. “What we are saying, is that we respect life, and we respect it for all the pregnancy.”
To the northeast, approximately 9,000 people appeared in Chicago to protest their beliefs in the “March for Life Chicago.” In 2014, only 1,000 showed to the event. This year’s theme was “Life empowers: Pro-life is Pro-Woman.”
“There’s more people in Illinois and the Midwest who recognize the urgency of this,” said March for Life president Dawn…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Remembering Dr. Lois Evans: Seeing ‘a glimpse of heaven’
“Do you see my mother? Do you see her? She’s right over
there by the fireplace?”
At Dr. Lois Evans’ recent memorial service, her husband told his church family that his wife began to see her family members in heaven shortly before she joined them.
Dr. Tony Evans explained: “One of the things that I’ve observed in life and in Scripture is that when people walk with God and he doesn’t take them suddenly, he will give them a glimpse of heaven while they’re still transitioning from the earth. He will let them know, not only that it’s time, but that it’s o.k.”
Lois not only saw her mother shortly before her homegoing. On another occasion, she said, “My father. There’s my father.” But “there was no one in the room physically. She was seeing something as the time of her departure got closer.”
In a culture that views the material as real and the
spiritual as subjective, it’s good to be reminded that “we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1a). As a result, “let
us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us” (v. 1b).
As we continue our race, we are to keep “looking to
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (v. 2). And we can know
that as we look to him, he is “interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).
You may not be able to see your loved ones in heaven today,
but the One in heaven who loves you most can see you. Right now.
How will that fact change your life today?
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
Tony Evans Shares that His Wife Saw ‘A Glimpse of Heaven’ before She Died
Pastor Tony Evans recently shared that just before his wife died, she told her family she saw “something outside earth’s realm.”
According to CBN News, the family had gathered around Lois Evans in late December to say goodbye. Lois, 70, had been battling biliary cancer.
Evans, who serves as the senior pastor at the Oak Cliff Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas, says his wife saw a “glimpse of heaven.”
“One of the things that I’ve observed in life and in scripture is that when people walk with God and He doesn’t take them suddenly, He will give them a glimpse of heaven while they’re still transitioning from earth,” he said. “He will let them know, not only that it’s time, but it’s okay.”
Before she died, Lois told her family that she could see her late mother and then later, she said she saw her late father.
“For example, she said to some who were gathered in the room, ‘Do you see my mother? Do you see her? She’s right over there by the fireplace.’ Do you see her? Why can’t you see her? On another occasion, she said, ‘My father. There’s my father.’ And there was no one in the room physically. She was seeing something as the time of her departure got closer.”
Evans also said that she had said, “Two days, two days, take me up.”
He said two and a half days later, she died on Dec. 30.
“She heard something, she saw something as the time of her departure got nearer. Like…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Tennessee To Pass Bill Allowing Faith-Based Adoption Agencies to Refuse Same-Sex Couples
Tennessee lawmakers started off their annual session by passing a controversial new bill prohibiting faith-based adoption agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex couples.
As reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the bill passed the Republican-led Senate last year with a 20-6 vote and was handed to Republican Governor Bill Lee, who is likely to sign it.
“To the extent allowed by federal law, no private licensed child-placing agency shall be required to perform, assist, counsel, recommend, consent to, refer or participate in any placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies,” the bill reads.
Nashville-based Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention pushed for the legislation.
“This was a high priority,” tweeted ERLC. “We engaged on this bill because it was based on the principle of freedom for anyone to help children; the freedom for faith-based organizations, like the [Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home] to keep doing their good work consistent with their principles.”
In other states, adoption agencies have been forced to shut down because legislation required allowance of same-sex couples, according to Sen. Paul Rose, who introduced the bill.
“This bill does not restrict any rights to place a…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Bill de Blasio’s bagel blunder: The power of influence
You know politics have become divisive when a mayor’s
declaration of his favorite bagel draws scorn.
Celebrating National Bagel Day yesterday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that his go-to bagel was whole wheat with extra cream cheese, toasted. Except the bakery he cited does not toast its bagels. And bagel aficionados immediately protested that bagels should not be toasted, anyway.
The mayor later deleted the reference to toasting bagels, but the damage was done.
On a planet with 3.2 billion social media users, more people
than ever can tell the world what they think about anything. That’s bad news
for Mr. de Blasio but good news for Christians as we seek to take the gospel to
“the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
How will you use your influence to tell someone about Jesus today?
For more content like this, watch the Denison Minute on Instagram.
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
