Scripture of the Day

Psalms 93
1. The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
2. Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
3. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
4. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5. Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

Chick-fil-A Responds With Perfect Bible Verse After San Antonio Bans Them Over ‘Legacy of Anti-LGBTQ Behavior

Read it here.

The nonsensical battle against the country’s favorite fast-food restaurant is continuing, with the latest battle taking place in San Antonio.

On Thursday, administrators with the San Antonio City Council rejected a potential Chick-fil-A location at the San Antonio International Airport, citing the Atlanta-based chain’s “legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior,” according to KTSA-FM.

The decision to scrub Chick-fil-A from its list of considerations came when the council inked a seven-year contract with Paradies Lagardère, a travel retailer that operates stores and restaurants in airports. The deal is expected to generate around $2 million in revenue for the city.

Chick-fil-A was presented as an option because of its extreme popularity and the health-conscious menu options the restaurant offers.

Regardless, the eatery won’t be allowed in the airport’s terminals because it just isn’t inclusive enough, a progressive trope dating back to 2012, when Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy expressed his personal belief that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.

Councilman Robert Treviño said providing travelers with the option of eating at Chick-fil-A would make them feel unwelcome.

“With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion,” Treviño claimed. “San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”

He added, “Everyone has a place here and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport.”

How did Chick-fil-A respond?

A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A responded to the council’s decision, citing the restaurant’s “code of conduct,” which promotes actual tolerance: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The reference is of course to the Golden Rule found in the Bible, like in Luke 6:31.

“The 140,000 people who serve customers in our restaurants on a daily basis represent and embrace all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity,” the spokesperson said, according to Fox News. “Our intent is to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Chick-fil-A even extended an olive branch. The spokesperson revealed the restaurant’s intention to reach out to the San Antonio City Council to have a “thoughtful dialogue” about the matter.

“It’s unfortunate that mischaracterizations of our brand have led to decisions like this,” the statement added. “The sole focus of the Chick-fil-A Foundation is to support causes focused on youth and education. We are proud of the positive impact we are making in communities across America and have been transparent about our giving on our website.”

Why does it matter?

Here’s the truth: Just about everyone in the country — political persuasion aside — really likes Chick-fil-A, because people just want good food.

But that hasn’t stopped a really loud minority from doing their level best to create a conflict where there really isn’t one. Earlier this week, for example, the left-wing blog Think Progress declared Chick-fil-A has continued to donate to “anti-LGBTQ” groups.

After reading the story, it’s revealed the restaurant donated north of $1.6 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, $150,000 to Salvation Army and $6,000 to the Paul Anderson Youth Home. Each of those three Christian organizations simply hold to mainstream Christian theology when it comes to marriage.

Christian Mom Receives Backlash for Telling Gay Man on Live TV His Lifestyle ‘Is a Choice’

The irony in all of this is the very people who claim to champion tolerance and pluralism just can’t seem to stomach allowing a restaurant whose CEO they have a personal beef with to continue to exist for other people to enjoy.

Those on the far left have intentionally conflated tolerating something and offering that same thing full-throated endorsement. In reality, those two actions are — by their very definitions — polar opposites.

If Chick-fil-A’s critics were actually concerned about genuine tolerance and not spurring on some nonsensical culture war, they’d concede it’s perfectly acceptable to coexist with Cathy and his mainstream Christian theology on marriage without embracing it as their own worldviews.

The moral of this story should be rather simple: If people tolerate their differences of opinion with Cathy, they can fully embrace his restaurant’s wonderful chicken. And then we all win.

Scripture of the Day

John 6

4. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6. And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9. There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10. And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
12. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

Predominately Christian Town Under Attack in Syria

Learn more at http://www.OpenDoorsUSA.org/PrayerApp

According to International Christian Concern, the Jaysh al-Izza faction of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) recently carried out a second attack on Mhardeh—one of the largest Christian-majority towns in Syria. Sadly, the FSA had previously attacked the same town in September 2018, leaving at least 10 Christians killed and 20 wounded. The city has also been frequently targeted by al-Qaeda and their splinter groups.

Henriette Kats, Persecution Analyst at World Watch Research, comments, “Although in this last attack there were no reports of human loses, this news shows that peace is still far off, despite the fact that the levels of fighting in the Syrian civil war are currently not as high as they have been in the past. Fighting continues particularly in areas close to the frontline where government-held territory—like Mhardeh—borders on areas controlled by rebel militias. But according to Syrian Christians these attacks are not just about the strategic position of Mhardeh; they also suspect an anti-Christian element since neighboring Muslim-majority towns have not been attacked.”

Please pray for peace in Mhardeh and for the Christians there to be beacons of Christ’s love to their neighbors in the midst of persecution.

Pray the war in Syria comes to an end completely.

Pray Syrians’ hope is renewed and revived.

*Representative names and photos are sometimes used to protect identity.

Scripture of the Day

John 7

16. Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
17. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
18. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him

ISIS Beheads 50 Yazidi Sex Slaves as Parting Gift

In a final act of depravity, fleeing ISIS beheaded 50 Yazidi sex slaves, dumping their heads into trash bins for coalition soldiers to find.

ISIS fighters were besieged in their last stronghold – a small area in Baghuz located in eastern Syria. One hundred ISIS jihadis were killed in the final battle in which British Special Forces (SAS) fired 600 mortar bombs and tens of thousands of machine-gun rounds against the terror group.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, a source said:

“In their hour of defeat, the jihadis’ cruelty knew no bounds. They conducted a cowardly slaughter of these desperately unfortunate women as a final act of depravity and left their severed heads behind for us to find. The motivation for such a sickening act is beyond comprehension for any remotely normal human being.

“None of the SAS troops who entered Baghuz will forget what they saw, which some soldiers likened to a scene from the film Apocalypse Now. Their only solace is that they have contributed to bringing Islamic State’s reign of terror to an end.”

Surviving ISIS fighters tried to escape by going underground to a system of tunnels they constructed under the town. However, SAS mortar teams and U.S.-French artillery units pounded the openings of the tunnels which were located by drones.

About 200 jihadis still hold an area of about one-fifth of a square mile outside Baghuz where intelligence sources say an equal number of civilian hostages are held. The terror group once controlled 34,000 square miles of territory between western Syria and eastern Iraq, which they called their “caliphate” and ruled over close to 8 million people according to brutal sharialaw.

In 2014, when ISIS roared into Iraq, close to 3,000 women, teenage girls and young boys were abducted by the group. The hostages were Yazidis, Christians, Turkomen and Shabak – all minority groups in Iraq. The women and girls were turned into sex slaves and the boys were recruited as the next generation of jihadis. During the takeover operations, ISIS simply slaughtered the men and teenage boys.

Read it here.

Christians living in a Muslim country ‘143 times more likely’ to be killed by a Muslim than vice versa

Read it here.

Terrorist attacks against Muslims in the Western world, like the one that took place in Christchurch, are extremely rare.
Friday’s carnage in two mosques in New Zealand, with the death toll currently at 50, is the first major event of its kind since the Quebec City mosque shooting over two years ago – which killed six persons, conservative writer Srdja Trifkovic states in Chronicles Magazine.
Nonetheless, this terrible incident will dominate the headlines infinitely more than any comparable carnage involving Christians, notably the 2017 Palm Sunday church bombings in Alexandria, which killed 45 people, and was all but ignored by the Western media and politicians.
If we put Friday’s killings in perspective, that perspective should include the fact that some 30 million Muslims reside in the Western world today, which makes the probability of any one of them falling victim to a deplorable attack in any given year roughly one in ten million.
261 persons have been killed and many more injured, in attacks by Muslims on non-Muslims, in less than four years, in only one country, France (pop. 66 million).
With 66 dead a year on average, Frenchmen are exactly ten times more likely to be murdered by a Muslim than a Muslim being killed by a non-Muslim terrorist anywhere in the Western world.
The score is incomparably worse if we look at the situation of Christians in the Muslim world. It is the most egregious example of human right violations in today’s world: according to “Open Doors”, at least 4,305 Christians known by name were murdered by Muslims because of their faith in 2018.
Aid to the Church in Need, in its latest “Religious Freedom Report”, warned that 300 million Christians, overwhelmingly in the majority-Muslim countries, were subjected to violence, making it “the most persecuted religion in the world.”
This makes the odds of a Christian in a majority-Muslim country being murdered by a Muslim – simply for being what he is – approximately one in 70,000.
Which means that a Christian living in a majority Muslim country is 143 times more likely to be killed by a Muslim for being a Christian than a Muslim is likely to be killed by a non-Muslim in a Western country for being what he is.
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Pray for New Prayer Campaign

Learn more at http://www.OpenDoorsUSA.org/PrayerApp

In the near future, Open Doors USA will be launching our Hope for the Middle East Prayer Campaign that will focus on praying for persecuted Christians in countries like Iraq and Syria. We’re asking God to restore entire Christian communities, homes, schools, churches and ministry centers—in the wake of ISIS—and to bring back hope.

You will be able to access monthly prayer requests and other updates on our Hope for the Middle East prayer center on the ODUSA website.

Please pray that God will continue to be in the details of planning and launching the Hope4ME Prayer Campaign.

Pray that Open Doors staff working on the Prayer Campaign would have wisdom and leading from the Lord.

Pray that God will stir the hearts of His church in the U.S.A. to join the movement of prayer alongside our brothers and sisters in the Middle East.

*Representative names and photos are sometimes used to protect identity.

Scripture of the Day

Titus 3

3. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Scripture of the Day

1st Corinthians 6

9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Scripture of the Day

1st Corinthians 3

11. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13. Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Scripture of the Day

1st Corinthians 2

3. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5. That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
6. Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7. So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8. Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Iranian Officials Interrogate 65-year Old Christian Woman

Learn more at http://www.OpenDoorsUSA.org/PrayerApp

Open Doors is saddened to report that Iranian authorities continue to arrest Christians, including a 65-year old woman who was held in detention and interrogated day and night for ten days.

A few days before Christmas, security officials raided Ruhsari Kamberi’s home in Karaj while she and four other female Christian converts were present, reports Middle East Concern (MEC). The officers also confiscated belongings such as mobile phones, Bibles and Christian literature.

Ruhsari was eventually released on bail of 30 million Toman—approximately $7,000. However, earlier this month, she was still charged with “acting against national security” and was told to receive “instruction” by a religious leader and consider a return to Islam.

It is still not known where the other four women were taken.

Friends of Ruhsari have been shocked by the disrespectful treatment of an elderly woman and report that the experience upset her greatly.

Please pray God will help all Christians who are arrested and interrogated in Iran to stand firm in their faith.

Pray God will bring His peace, comfort and encouragement to Ruhsari and the other women arrested with her.

Pray God will also bring His comfort to Ruhsari’s husband and children and the relatives of the other women.

Pray the people responsible for the mistreatment of the women and the violations of their rights will repent of their actions and find Christ.

*Representative names and photos are sometimes used to protect identity.