Tag Archives: repent

Scripture of the Day

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Leviticus 26
1. Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
2. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
3. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4. Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

Lies and Deceit

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Morning coffee, work day looming with the breaking sun. Perusing the newswires, both secular & religious, seeing two attributes of humankinds sinful nature burning across most of the headlines.

Those two are lies and deceit.

I could ramble on that our world is worse today than earlier ages, I prefer to think its only because all of our dung/news is instantly thrown in everyones face, there’s very little that goes on in the world today that cannot be read about or seen in short order.

From the sins of the Catholic Church to transgressions across the Protestant & Evangelical congregations; sin abounds. From fake hate crimes to environmental absurdities lies foment discord. From the halls of educational establishments throughout the corridors of law & government, lies and deceit rule the day.

All of this, the only thing that comes to mind is Jeremiah 5:30. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Also a why, Genesis 6:5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Yes, there are stories of GOD’s Grace, of His Love, of mercy & forgiveness. Also stories of heroism & courage, but all of this, in our day, is overshadowed by two sins, lies & deceit. Like dark clouds rising before a tempest, to me, these are forerunners to a greater storm coming soon.

Centers of Hope Bringing Life Back to Syrian Christians

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Great work is being done at the 15 Centers of Hope that are run by churches in various gathering spaces in communities across Syria. These centers serve as an extension of the church to reach out to people and gather them into a more closely-knit community. Here, “… Christians could feel like they’re more of a family,” says Ibrahim*, an Open Doors staff member.

Besides the usual food donations and house visits, these centers touch on issues that are “customized towards the needs of the congregation,” explains pastor Edmund, another Open Doors’ staff.

One example of programming to help support children who have been traumatized by war is the opportunity to get outdoors and engage in sports and teamwork. The Centers of Hope of Damascus’s and Aleppo’s Alliance churches have highly successful football programs. “We try to include as many church backgrounds in the program,” says Vera, “and the kids are loving it!”

The struggle of the war put a strain on people when it came to staying active, socializing, and receiving quality health care. This is especially true for women who couldn’t leave their homes as often as men and often set aside their wellbeing in order to take care of their families. These struggles were addressed in the first of many medical-awareness lectures that took place at the opening night of a Center of Hope in Damascus.

Please join us in thanking God that the Centers of Hope are helping bring life back to weary Christians across Syria.

Praise God He is using these programs to bring healing to men, women, children and families in these communities.

Pray that this work would continue strong.

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

Scripture of the Day

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Psalm 51
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.
1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Scripture of the Day

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John 21

19. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
21. Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
24. This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
25. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written

Scripture of the Day

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Psalm 46

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.
1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

 ‘IN THE CLOSET OF THE VATICAN’ 

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The book is a ‘startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican’, according to British publisher Bloomsbury.

Read it here.

The Catholic Church is not Christian, it is Roman Catholic. The Christian Church we see in the Bible was started by Jesus Christ, while the Catholic Church is the creation of pagan political Rome that was designed to keep the empire alive. And in regards to that, it has been fantastically successful. Pagan Rome is alive and well, wrapped inside the wolfish veneer of the counterfeit church. To the world’s 1.5 billion Roman Catholics, please prayerfully consider the following verses as part of your invitation to be partakers in eternal life.

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Revelation 18:4,5 (KJV)

The book ‘In The Closet Of The Vatican’ is going to be released on the exact same day that Pope Francis will be holding a summit on sexual abuse of children at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops. The Catholic Church is a snake pit, and the Vatican is the hold of every manner of vile and unclean spiritual devils. I pray that this book will be the necessary means of motivation to free many prisoners of the Catholic counterfeit.

Eighty percent of Vatican priests are gay according to explosive new book which claims to uncover double lives of homophobic priests who use male prostitutes

FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: The 570-page expose, titled In the Closet of the Vatican, claims that four in five clerics in the Roman Catholic Church are homosexuals – but aren’t necessarily sexually active.

French sociologist and journalist Frederic Martel, who spent four years conducting 1,500 interviews for the book, found that some priests maintained discreet long term relationships, while others lived double lives having casual sex with gay partners and using male prostitutes.

He found that a number of clerics spoke of an unspoken code of the ‘closet’, with one rule of thumb being that the more homophobic they were, the more likely they were gay.

Two-Year Anniversary of Pastor Koh’s Abduction in Malaysia

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As of today, no one has seen Pastor Raymond Koh in exactly two years. Twenty-four months ago, he disappeared as a result of a coordinated abduction carried out in broad daylight. Sadly, Pastor Koh remains missing to this day and there are still more questions than answers.

Remarkably, in the midst of the pain of grief, good things are still happening. Last night about 100 people attended a gathering held to remember and pray for Pastor Koh. Those gathered also prayed for the missing Christian convert Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth, as well as Amri Che Mat—a Shia Muslim who disappeared in circumstances similar to what happened to Koh.

The group consisted of church members and leaders from across the denominations. “It is a miracle that one family’s life has united all of us,” said a participant.

Even in the midst of her sorrows, Susanna—Pastor Koh’s wife—is able to see how God has been at work since her husband disappeared. She shared that churches in Malaysia have come together to say that these disappearances are not acceptable. “This is the first time we see the evangelicals and the Roman Catholics come together. They hold hands and pray. And I know that God is pleased with this.”

Please pray for strength for Susanna as she continues to wait for justice for her husband.

Pray the memorandum submitted to the Prime Mahathir Bin Mohamadtoday will find favor with him and that he will seek to resolve these disappearances.

Pray that the unity that has been sparked by these disappearances will continue to grow.

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

Photo: Facebook/Everybody Loves Raymond Koh

Scripture of the Day

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Jeremiah 18
7. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8. If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
11. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
12. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Is the LORD unjust when He judges peoples and nations? I think not, if they repent of their evil & wickedness He spares them from the judgment prepared for them.

Yet mankind in all their glorious ignorance continually rejects the GOD who created them saying “…
There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. ...”

Fire Destroys Election Office in Nigeria

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In regions where Christians are persecuted, elections can be important. Depending on who is elected, a vote could potentially increase the threat to believers in the region. In other situations, elections could increase protections for minority groups. And, sometimes, elections sometimes offer little change at all.

We are sad to report, then, that Nigeria—which is 12thon the Open Doors 2019 World Watch List—is facing several challenges related to their coming elections. Just days before Nigerianshead to the poles to votein presidential elections, an election office in Qua’an Pan has been burned to the ground. The BBC reports that fire destroyed everything needed to vote, including ballot boxes and voting slips. A spokesperson called it a setback in preparing for the elections.

In the coming vote, President Buhari’s All Progressives Congress is expected to suffer loss in the Middle Belt region due to its failure to deal with communal violence there. The president, who is seeking re-election, has already warned about internal conflict over the elections, telling The Pulse, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised concerns over laundered money being funneled into vote buying.”

Please pray for peaceful, free and fair elections.

Pray for the Lord’s protection over His children. Pray that they will vote in large numbers this Saturday and vote wisely. Pray for their safety as they vote.

Pray that the Lord will put in power a president that respects human rights and can bring much needed stability in Nigeria.

Pray that the Church will be a faithful witness for Christ during the elections.

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

Photo: INEC

Pray for Family of Pastor Murdered in Colombia

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Open Doors has learned that a 24-year-old pastor and youth leader has been murdered in Colombia.

On Saturday evening (February 9, 2019), Pastor Leider Molina, 24, was murdered as he was leaving the church where he had just preached a message in the rural community in Caucasia (the country’s northwestern region). He was shot five times.

Known for his passion for preaching the Word of God, the young pastor was a youth leader known for actively serving his community and church. The region where he was killed is also home to Pastor Galarza who was murdered in front of his family last September 2018.

Both pastors murdered in Colombia were known for their commitment to actively work for the betterment of their communities and to not succumb to the threats of criminal groups.

Over the last four months, the Caucasia area has suffered record-high violence, due to the presence of armed groups that dispute the control of drug trafficking routes and the ownership of illicit crops. These groups see the Christian church as an enemy to be eradicated.

Please pray with the family and church of Pastor Molina (he had no wife or children) and the widow and children of Pastor Galarza.

Pray with the church in the Caucasia area and throughout Colombia as they face this ongoing violence. Pray for protection and boldness as they continue to stay in the area and be a light in increasing darkness.

Pray with Open Doors children’s centers in Colombia that minister to young people who have been rescued from paramilitary and criminal groups; or are children of Christians leaders whose families are often targeted.

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

Divine remonstrance against the shepherd / pastors

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Ezekiel 34
1. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3. Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
8. As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
11. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
17. And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?
19. And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
20. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.
21. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;
22. Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
23. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
29. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
30. Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.
31. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

UPDATE: Supreme Court Rejects Appeal to Overturn Asia’s Acquittal

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Pakistan’s Supreme Court has upheld its decision to acquit Pakistani Christian mother Asia Bibi—clearing the way for the 47-year-old woman to now leave her home country where she spent eight years in a prison on death row.

On October 31, 2018, the Court overturned Asia’s 2010 blasphemy conviction and death sentence. Outraged by the acquittal, Islamic extremists filed a petition to challenge the court’s decision and staged violent protests, calling for her death.

“Based on merit, this hardliner’s petition is dismissed,” Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said in court on Tuesday.

Asia—also known as Asia Noreen—was unable to leave Pakistan while an appeal request was pending. In November under protective custody, she left the women’s prison and was flown to Islamabad to an undisclosed location for her safety, authorities said.

She is now free to leave her home country.

Pray for Asia’s continued protection and safety, her family and others around her as she makes her way out of Pakistan and to her family.

Pray for Asia’s lawyer Saif-ul-Malook, who sought refuge in The Netherlands after the violence erupted in Pakistan in November, returned to Pakistan to defend Asia. Because he returned, he loses his asylum status. Pray for his protection.

Pray for peace in Pakistan. Ask God to intervene against plans for any violent protests and attacks on Christians and churches.

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

Restaurant to Pay $7K in Penalties,

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Restaurant to Pay $7K in Penalties, Legal Costs After Employee Tells Man Not to Use Women’s Restroom https://christianjournal.net/news/restaurant-to-pay-7k-in-penalties-legal-costs-after-employee-tells-man-not-to-use-womens-restroom/

WASHINGTON — A restaurant in the nation’s capital has agreed to a settlement that includes the payment of $7,000 in penalties and legal costs after the attorney general of Washington, D.C. found the eatery guilty of discrimination against a man who identifies as a woman.