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Category Archives: Current Events
90,000 Christians Martyred (Excluding India and China) in 2016
I remember that back in the 1990s, according to the Voice of the Martyrs, the number of Christians martyred each year worldwide for their faith was around 50,000. The number is about double that now. Revelation 6:9 describes the fifth seal and the martyrdom of saints in the last days. Revelation 7:14 mentions the great tribulation. Are we living in those days? No matter what, keep watching, praying and preparing for Yeshua’s return! — Natan
From Russia Today — https://www.rt.com/news/372184-christians-killed-faith-study/
1 Christian killed for their faith every 6 minutes in 2016 – study
Ninety thousand Christians were murdered for their faith around the globe this year, which amounts to one being killed every six minutes, Italy’s CESNUR religious study group said.
Christians are now the most persecuted religious group in the world, Massimo Introvigne, director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), told Vatican Radio.
According to CESNUR statistics, around 500,000 Christians around the globe are unable to practice their faith completely freely, Introvigne said.
Seventy percent of the killings of Christians in 2016 occurred during tribal conflicts in Africa, he said, referring to data from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.
The large number of deaths may be explained by the fact that many devoted Christians refuse to take up arms, he added.
The remaining 30 percent, or 27,000, lost their lives in terrorist attacks, the destruction of Christian villages, or persecution by the authorities, Introvigne said.
However, he said that the number of Christian killings has decreased, compared to 105,000 deaths in 2015.
The data in the report may be incomplete as it doesn’t include India and China, where the Christian community survives in secrecy, he added.
The religious study group is due to release the full statistics on Christian persecution in January.
Introvigne also said that the Catholic Church is currently considering sanctification for Christian individuals killed by terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria and Iraq.
Earlier this year, the Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, said that during the five years of the Syrian conflict, the Christian population of the country had declined from 1.5 million to 500,000.
25 Reasons I Don’t Celebrate Christmas
- Christmas is not the day on which Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was born. He was likely born in the autumn during the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. In ancient times, December 25 was considered the birthday of the demon-sun god by many heathen religions. This was definitely not the birthday of Yeshua!
- There’s no biblical command to celebrate Christmas.
- Christmas has become a pagan substitution for YHVH’s true biblical holidays or festivals, which are listed in Leviticus 23. These are the same biblical festivals that Yeshua and his apostles celebrated. They never celebrated the Messiah’s birth.
- Christmas is the Christianization of various ancient pagan sun god, sex-worship rituals having to do with the winter solstice. “Cleaning up” a pagan custom is contrary to the biblical truth of turning away from the practices of the heathen and having nothing to do with them after one chooses to follow Elohim and his Word as found in the Bible.
- Christmas is laced with heathen and Satanic rituals and traditions. These are things the saints should have nothing to do with!
- The Bible forbids placing any trees or tree-like objects near an altar (or in a church building), since this is a heathen practice (Deut 16:21). Most Christians violate this command when they place Christmas trees in their church sanctuaries near their altars every year at Christmas.
- The Bible forbids the heathen practice of incorporating trees into any religious service (Deut 12:1–4). Elohim hates pagan religious practices that happen under trees (Isa 57:5; Jer 3:6).
- Celebrating Christmas is friendship with the world which is an act of hatred toward Elohim. In this area, it makes one a friend of the world and an enemy of Elohim (Jas 4:4).
- Elohim condemns, forbids and calls an abomination bringing any pagan items into our houses (Deut 7:24–26), of which Christmas trees and nearly all Christmas’ associated accoutrements, paraphernalia and traditions are associated.
- The Bible commands the saints not to put up anything that even remotely resembles a Christmas tree. Jeremiah 10:1–5 is almost a perfect description of a modern Christmas tree — and it was a pagan custom 1000 years before Christmas became a Christian holiday in the Catholic Church.
- Christmas perpetuates the lie of Santa Clause to one’s children. Lying is not a value one wants to pass on to their children. Lying is a violation of the ninth of YHVH’s ten commandments and is a sin.
- The Bible commands the saints not to learn or practice the ways of the heathens (Jer 10:2; Lev 18:3; 20:23).
- Christmas is about syncretizing biblical truth (i.e., the birth of Yeshua) with pagan and satanic customs. In the Bible, YHVH commands his people not to be like the heathens, turn from evil, and don’t learn their evil customs. Yeshua commanded his disciples to be in the world, but not to practice its evil ways (John 17:11, 14). Christmas is practicing the evil ways of the heathens.
- For many, the main focus of Christmas is on self (“What gifts am I getting?”), rather than on Elohim’s gift to mankind, which was Yeshua the Messiah (who wasn’t even born in December). Christmas generally promotes a culture of selfishness and self-centeredness. These are values that were antithetical to everything that Yeshua and his disciples lived and taught.
- Christmas promotes an atmosphere of greed, covetousness and materialism.
- Christmas is a tradition started by the Catholic Church, and I’m not a Catholic and I don’t take my spiritual marching orders from any pope — especially when he tells me to do something contrary to the Bible, the Word of Elohim.
- Christmas is a short, one day long holiday. Too much emphasis is placed on this one day. The devil has tricked and shortchanged Christians into substituting Christian holidays like Christmas for the biblical ones. YHVH gives his saints seven biblical holidays with two of them lasting for seven days each (see Lev 23). These biblical holidays are called feasts, and they are spiritual and guilt-free celebrations focusing on rejoicing and righteously partying with family, friends and Elohim around godly and biblical themes all involving the gospel’s plan of redemption. They are totally righteous with no paganism mixed in. This can’t be said about Christmas.
- Do your homework. You will find that even the phrase “Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas” is sacrilegious and blasphemous.
- If Christmas day turns sour for people (e.g., because of bad family experiences and unfulfilled expectations), then one’s year is ruined until next Christmas when one gets another shot at it in hopes it’ll be better the next go around. How pitifully sad!
- Christmas as celebrated by the majority of people ends up taking the focus off the glorious event of the Savior’s birth, trivializes it and then places the emphasis on gift-giving, partying and mindless unbiblical pagan traditions and rituals.
- The Bible commands us to abstain from all appearances of evil (1 Thess 5:22). There is much evil, Satanic and idolatrous baggage associated with Christmas; therefore, those who are serious about their biblical walk of righteousness and want to be obedient to YHVH Elohim should not be going near it.
- Those who celebrate Christmas in the traditional way are honoring or worshipping pagan deities. Anytime anyone puts a pagan practice or tradition ahead of obedience to Elohim and his Word, this is, by biblical definition, idolatry. Whether it’s Christmas lights on the house, wreaths, evergreen foliage, mistletoe, the Christmas tree with its red balls, gifts under the tree, Santa Clause, or even the Christmas greeting of “Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas,” it all originates from ancient Satanic, idolatrous and lewd sex worship practices originating from pagan religions. This is not something with which the true saints of YHVH Elohim wants to be involved.
- Christmas puts a lot of people into financial debt. Debt is bondage and evil.
- Christmas was become a major money-making venture for merchants, and I refuse to be suckered in by their marketing schemes to purchase their products.
- Celebrating Christmas is following a multitude to do evil — something YHVH forbids (Exod 23:2).
Now that you have received the light of the truth about Christmas, you are responsible before Elohim to live up to that truth. Will you put obedience to the Word of Elohim and his truth first in our life, or continue to walk in sin? To obey Elohim means to cast out of your life all idolatrous practices and cease doing that which is evil and sinful. This is then followed by choosing to obey YHVH Elohim in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23–24). “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (Jas 4:17).
Come out of [Mystery Babylon the Great], my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and Elohim has remembered her iniquities. (Rev 18:4–5)
And what agreement has the temple of Elohim with idols? For you are the temple of the living Elohim. As Elohim has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their Elohim, And they shall be My people. Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate,” says Adonai. “Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (2 Cor 6:16–17)
Shabbat Shalom from snowy Oregon
Let Us Give Thanks
A word to the cupcake and snowflake generation (round two): Suck it up!
From http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/11/an-open-letter-to-americas-college-cupcakes-on-veterans-day/
An open letter to America’s college cupcakes on Veterans Day
By Ray Starmann
Dear College Cupcakes:
America has watched for the last year or so, as our nation’s universities have been consumed by a new strain of left wing totalitarianism that has all the traits of the haunting Marxist dictatorships of the past.
Free thought and expression and discussion are disappearing from college campuses and being replaced by behavior and lexicons out of 1984.
In the greatest arenas of free speech across this land, you shriek and howl and cry and stamp your feet like two year olds when someone disagrees with you.
You have mental meltdowns when reading passages from the world’s greatest literature that somehow offend you in every conceivable way, shape or form.
You feel oppressed and terrorized when viewing someone in a Halloween costume that you dislike.
You are triggered by opposing views from Presidential candidates, who do nothing more than say things that you may disagree with.
When triggered by every imaginable word, phrase and action on this planet, you find it necessary to retreat to so-called safe spaces, where you will be further coddled by counselors, Play Doh and Bubble Guppy videos.
Like raving martinets, you accuse anyone you disagree with of being a racist, a rapist, a sexist or any other derogatory term you can create to soothe your tender and warped psyches.
You have been told for your whole lives how special you are and these fantastical words have been reinforced by the ridiculous behavior of helicopter parents and idiotic teachers who found it necessary to control every facet of your lives and ensure that each of you precious little snowflakes received a trophy, even though many of you only deserved a kick in the behind.
Your latest irrational tirades concern the election of PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP. Inspired by the lunatic behavior of your socialist professors, you are the laughing stock of the rest of the country as you hold cry-ins, need therapy dogs and hide under the covers in your dorm roomsbecause a man was elected President.
Today is Veterans Day, when we honor those who served, which I have no doubt none of you ever have. The nation particularly honors our combat veterans who drained deep the chalice of courage and who fought against real racists, like the Nazis; real boogeymen like the Imperial Japanese Army, the Chinese, Victor Charlie, the Republican Guard and the Taliban.
Today, at this very moment, as you tearfully meltdown because Donald Trump is our next President, our current military is in harm’s way in Mosul, fighting real sexists who call themselves ISIS.
King George, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Saddam, these were real threats, some of the greatest madmen the world had ever seen and our veterans fought and defeated them in hot and cold wars.
Our veterans, men and women, many of whom were your age at the time they served, never had the luxury to wallow in self-pity over imagined nonsense and monsters.
Their threats weren’t created in the hallowed ivory towers of Harvard Yard. Their threats were created in the British Parliament, in Bavarian beer halls, in jungle outposts and jettisoned across the globe to cause havoc and death. The only thing that stopped them, the only thing that prevented the world from descending into darkness was the US military and our veterans.
There were no safe spaces on Iwo Jima or Omaha Beach. There were no cry ins on Bunker Hillor at the Frozen Chosin. There were no counselors in the Ia Drang Valley or at Khe Sanh. There was no time to protest imaginary enemies at Fallujah. The enemies were real and were doing their damnedest to kill Americans and destroy our way of life.
As I stated, our enemies were fighting against Americans who were mainly your age. I and many Americans have serious doubts that you aggrieved marshmallows could rise to the occasion and fight anyone, much less the Redcoats or the Waffen SS.
How and why America has gotten to a point where being a wimp is looked upon as normal behavior for young people is the subject of another article and a disgrace in itself.
Instead of claiming half the nation is racist for voting for Donald Trump, you precious little snowflakes might want to get off your asses and read about men who overcame real prejudice and racism and fought for their country; like the Tuskegee Airmen.
Instead of being offended by words in books, you precious little cupcakes might want to step out of your safe spaces and read about American matadors at places like Trenton, the Wheatfield, Seminary Ridge, the Meuse-Argonne, the Bulge, New Guinea, 73 Easting and Tal Afar.
As for the election, get used to saying President Trump.
Suck it up buttercups.
Ray Starmann
Editor in Chief, US Defense Watch
A word to all you spoiled brat, whining, cry baby “progressive” leftists: GROW UP!
From Zero Hedge at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-11/few-cold-hard-facts-snowflakes.
A Few Cold Hard Facts For Snowflakes
by Tyler Durden
Nov 11, 2016 6:00 PM
It’s simple…
1. You are unique, but not particularly special. No one really cares about your feels.
2. Rewards are for merits, not for showing up. You want something, work for it.
3. Success is not guaranteed, to anyone, ever.
4. Chelsea Clinton is not a typical case. Stepping out of college with a ridiculously overpriced degree in a totally worthless discipline does not entitle you to a corner office, a six-figure income, and keys to the Executive Shitter. Chelsea is a Clinton, and Clintons get special treatment.
5. You are allowing yourselves to be pawns of the Left who have been grooming you your whole lives to be their frontline in an uprising. Saul Alinsky called people like you “useful idiots”. You are happily following a group of rich, sequestered out-of-touch actors and “singers” who have no intentions of getting in the trenches with you. You are participating in riots funded by George Soros who has his own agenda and doesn’t give a shit about your hopes and dreams. He’ll cheerfully walk on your corpses to reach his goal.
6. Life is hard. You don’t always get to do what you want, when you want. And no one owes you anything. There is satisfaction in hard work and delayed gratification.
And you’ll learn all of this if and when you grow the […] up.
Triggered?