Good Friday

Friday was the day Jesus suffered before the kangaroo courts of the then hypocritical Jewish religious leaders and the Romans. He went through six courts and five trials. None wanting responsibility for convicting Him.

Being fasley accused, He knew this was His moment, when all of eternity was watching & waiting.

In the end He took the cross for you & I, for our friends & family, for those we’ll never know or see.

On that day, while hanging from the piece of wood all of the sins & wickedness of mankind, was laid upon Him.

He suffered for our transgressions, He was wounded for our iniquity. Why? Because He is the last blood sacrifice we’ll ever need, for without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin.

We read in Hebrews 10:7. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

He came for a reason, to reetablish a lost relationship. His death was necessary, He chose to be that final sacrifice. With His blood we are forgiven & sanctified. Only through Him, Jesus, can we ever hope to see the Father.

We read in Luke 24:45. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

This is why.

Scripture of the Day

Psalm 110
A Psalm of David.
1. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Scripture of the Day

1st Timothy 1

3. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
5. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
6. From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;
7. Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

Scripture of the Day

1st Thessalonians 2
9. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
10. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
11. As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
12. That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
13. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
14. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
15. Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
16. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
17. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
18. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
19. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
20. For ye are our glory and joy.

Scripture of the Day

Colossians 19. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11. Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

UPDATE: Susanna Koh Asks for Prayer

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

Susanna Koh, wife of abducted Malaysian pastor—Raymond Koh, has informed Open Doors that the Suhakam Inquiry will release its findings on the abduction on April 3rd. The findings of the inquiry will include recommendations to the Malaysian Government on next steps for the case.

According to Susanna, the new Malaysian Government has not reached out to the family to provide any updates on the case thus far.

Susanna sent us the following prayer requests:

Please continue to pray and advocate that the Malaysian Government be involved in solving the abduction case.

Please pray that whatever recommendations the Suhakam Inquiry makes will be taken seriously and acted upon quickly and expediently. Continue to pray for wisdom to know how to move forward from here.

Pray God gives Susanna Koh and her family strength and grace to continue the fight for truth and justice.

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

Scripture of the Day

Second Corinthians 3

11. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
12. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
13. And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14. But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
15. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
16. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
17. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

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.

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 Family and Church of Murdered Pastor in Myanmar

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

Friends, please join us in praying for the family and church of Pastor Tun Nu who was recently kidnapped. Pastor Tun Nu served in Rakine State, Myanmar and was abducted from his home by a local insurgency group.

Sadly, Pastor Tun Nu is now reported to have been killed by the insurgency group. The incident has created an atmosphere of fear amongst other pastors in the area.

Please pray for comfort and strength for Pastor Tun Nu’s wife and three children.

Pray Pastor Tun Nu’s church would have peace and courage.

Pray for the safety of church pastors and believers in Rakine State.

*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

Romans 15

4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
5. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
6. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.