Second Synagogue Discovered in Mary Magdalene’s Hometown

Archaeologists say a second synagogue dating back to the Second Temple period has been discovered in what is believed to have been the birthplace of Mary Magdalene of the Bible and is “changing our understanding of Jewish life in this period.” While excavating the Galilean town of Magdala, known today as Migdal, archaeologists say they found the remnants of a second synagogue dating back to the Second Temple period — which in history was a time that is believed to have lasted between 515 or 516 B.C. up until 70 A.D. 

 “This is the second synagogue from the Roman period that has been uncovered in the village — and the first case of the existence of two synagogues in any locality from the Second Temple period, a period when the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing,” the Israel Antiquities Authority shared on Facebook.

 Prof. Adi Erlich,  who heads the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, and Dina Avshalom-Gorni, who directs the excavation of the site on behalf of the University of Haifa, believe the discovery “sheds light on the social and religious life of the Jews in the Galilee during this period.” They contend that the finding “indicates the need for a special building for studying and reading the Torah and social gatherings.”

 The first synagogue in Migdal was uncovered in 2009 through an excavation that found ritual baths, streets, a marketplace and industrial facilities in the ancient village. The second synagogue was first discovered by probes conducted by Barak Tzin of the Israel Antiquities Authority and lies less than 200 meters away from the first synagogue. The IAA statement states that the discovery of the second synagogue is “changing our understanding of Jewish life in this period,” IAA stated.

 “We can imagine Mary Magdalene and her family coming to the synagogue here, along with other residents of Migdal, to participate in religious and communal events,” excavation co-director Avshalom-Gorni told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

 The discovery was made amid a plan to build new infrastructure in the town of Migdal. But while the areas were being excavated — a typical practice in advance of construction —  the second synagogue was discovered by the IAA, Y.G. Contractual and the University of Haifa.  Avshalom-Gorni told the newspaper that the first synagogue had a decorative mosaic floor and the second one had a compacted, plastered and earthen floor, thus the second synagogue is said to be smaller and not as ornate as the first.

 The first synagogue was in an industrial area, while the second was located in a residential street, which suggests they were built “within the social fabric of the settlement,” Avshalom-Gorni told The Times of Israel, who reported that the second synagogue consisted of the main hall and two side rooms. A stone bench was also recovered. Archaeologists found bases for two of the building’s six pillars that held up the roof. The walls of the synagogue were colorfully decorated and covered in plaster. Archaeologists believe that a room at the south end of the main hall with a shelf may have stored scrolls.

Christian doctor to have case heard at UK tribunal

A Christian doctor who lost his job for refusing to use trans pronouns will appear before a tribunal in the United Kingdom to challenge a ruling that held that biblical beliefs on gender are “incompatible with human dignity” and not “worthy of respect in a democratic society.” Dr. David Mackereth, a physician who in July 2018 was forced out of his job in the Department of Work and Pensions, will challenge the ruling at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London.

“My case affects everyone, not just me and Bible-believing Christians, but anyone who is concerned by compelled speech and transgender ideology being enforced on the NHS and other public services,” Mackereth said in a statement. “The judgment from two years ago said to Christians, ‘you have to believe in transgender ideology.’ That is totalitarianism. It made out Christianity to be nothing, the Bible to be nothing. That cannot be allowed to stand.”

The case comes about a week after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told members of Parliament that “when it comes to distinguishing between a man and a woman, the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important.” In the two-day hearing, lawyers are expected to cite Maya Forstater’s tribunal victory last June, maintaining that an earlier decision against her “erred in law.” Forstater served as a senior researcher at a think tank in London and was fired in 2019 for tweeting that “men cannot change into women.” She criticized the decision to house a trans-identified biological male in a woman’s prison.

In 2018, Mackereth was terminated as a medical assessor after refusing to identify clients by their chosen gender identity. In 2019, he took his case to an Employment Tribunal in Birmingham, claiming harassment and discrimination based on his Christian beliefs. Mackereth said during proceedings that he was asked in a conversation by his line manager: “If you have a man six foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as ‘she’ and ‘Mrs,’ would you do that?” And Mackereth replied that in good conscience, he could not. His contract was subsequently terminated. But the tribunal ruled in October 2019 that the Department for Work and Pensions had not breached the Equality Act of 2010 by firing the physician, who now works as an NHS emergency doctor. “A lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others,” the judgment read.

The Christian Legal Centre argues that the employment judge “effectively put ‘transgender rights’ ahead of freedom of conscience.” The legal group contends that the consequence of the decision is that it “authorized employers to compel Christians to use pronouns preferred by customers who believe in gender-fluidity. It is believed to be the first time in the history of English law that a judge has ruled that free citizens must engage in compelled speech,” a statement from the Christian Legal Centre reads.

Mackereth believes that NHS employees are “being forced to accept a massive change to our concept of the medical reality of sex, with no scientific basis for that change. No doctor, or researcher, or philosopher, can demonstrate or prove that a person can change sex,” Mackereth said. “Without intellectual and moral integrity, medicine cannot function and my 30 years as a doctor are now considered irrelevant compared to the risk that someone else might be offended.” As Christians are called to be “love all people,” Mackereth asserts that followers of Christ can’t “love people truly when we live and disseminate a lie.”

Christian Legal Centre Chief Executive Andrea Williams said if the judgment against her client is upheld, it will have “seismic consequences” for “anyone in the workplace who is prepared to believe and say that we are created male and female. The teaching of Genesis 1:27 is repeated throughout the Bible, including by Jesus Christ himself. It is fundamental to establishing the dignity of every human person but is, in a bizarre ironic twist, being branded as incompatible with that dignity,” Williams said.

Pray- Pray that this left-leaning push to drive out the Biblical foundation of man and woman will be defeated and order will again be restored.

Pandemic Opened Door for Greater Persecution Around the Globe

A new survey is slated to reveal how adverse treatment of certain religious groups in several countries significantly worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. The SMART survey, conducted as part of the Religious Freedom Institute’s Freedom of Religious Institutions in Society (FORIS) Project, was designed to fulfill an “unmet need for policy-relevant data to identify, understand and address religious freedom restrictions on religious communities across the globe.”

Rebecca Shah, a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and principal investigator for the Religion and Economic Empowerment Project (REEP), elaborated on the results. “The SMART survey stands for Simple, Meaningful, Accessible, Relevant and Timely,” she said. While the survey initially received funding to question experts on the ground about the state of religious freedom in Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Iraq, the survey was later expanded to other countries, about 10 countries, including India, Egypt, Mexico, Turkey and Greece.

According to Shah, “policymakers … needed reliable reports that drew on the deep expertise of individuals who could analyze religious freedom violations on the ground in key global locations and provide policymakers with real-time and reliable data on strategic countries.” While “a lot of reports on religious freedom restrictions, both individuals and religious institutions,” existed prior to the SMART survey, Shah stressed the need for “information that comes from local experts on the ground in their own countries, rather than, say, somebody’s desk in Washington, D.C., or Geneva.” She contended that the findings of such a survey were “more likely to be owned by actors in the country and in the region.” The “local experts in these different countries” who participated “were asked to fill out the survey from the perspective of a minority religious community or a majority religious community” based on expertise or membership in a particular religion.

“We started the survey before the pandemic, but as soon as the pandemic hit, we were able to retool the questionnaire to some extent and resubmit the questions to the experts and ask them to fill out COVID-related questions. And so, a lot of the data we got was over the COVID-19 period … at the height of the Delta variant and others, where we were able to examine and explore the impact of restrictions on religious communities as the pandemic was ongoing,” Shah said.

The survey found “an increase in deliberate and direct attacks on houses of worship … and religious and charitable and other religious institutions across the globe.” Specifically, “In Nigeria … 85.7% of respondents writing about minority Christian communities in northern parts of Nigeria said they were aware of direct attacks of houses of worship in their country. In Iraq, 30% of respondents reporting about minority communities, which included Yazidis and Christians, said they were aware of attacks on houses of worship in their countries. Again, when asked who, in their view, were the perpetrators of these attacks, our data revealed that political actors, which might include local government officials, were responsible for 60% of high or very high levels of restrictions on religious institutions, which include houses of worship … religious and charitable institutions,” she added.

Respondents were asked if they knew of “any acts of discrimination perpetrated against individuals or communities on account of their religion or belief that may have been prompted by the current COVID-19 pandemic.” The results revealed “one out of three respondents from India said they were aware of such types of religiously motivated discrimination” during COVID. Additionally, “one out of five respondents in Indonesia said the same and 10% of Nigerian respondents also said they were aware of this type of … discrimination.” Thus, the global pandemic has allowed for nations to persecute believers to an even greater extent than before and is making persecution more accepting in many countries.

PRAY: Pray for the persecuted church that is dealing with increasing amounts of persecution through the global pandemic.

Russia and China Use Ukraine to Pressure Biden’s Foreign Policy

As Russian tanks amassed along the frozen marshes of the Belarus border with Ukraine on January 25, President Joe Biden put 8,500 U.S. troops on high alert for possible deployment. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) moved additional fighter jets and naval ships toward Eastern Europe. “I have made it clear early on to President Putin that if he were to move into Ukraine, that there’d be severe consequences,” Biden said.

However, the opposite has happened: Putin’s gamesmanship has exacted damaging consequences on the U.S. and the Biden Administration. Putin wants to assert Russia’s relevance on the world stage, embarrass Biden, and test the unity of NATO countries. He’s already well on his way to achieving those ends. Putin has dragged Biden into responding to a frustrating series of escalations, complicating the U.S. response to Russia’s actions, distracting from other diplomatic priorities, and upping the political stakes for Biden. His approval ratings sagged after a turbulent withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer led the Taliban to take control of the country. Ukraine is Biden’s second major foreign policy test as President.

Putin’s gamble is paying off—at least in the short term. “He’s back in the center of attention,” says Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and former director of European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. “Putin craves being at the table and profoundly laments the Soviet Union’s dismantlement and Russia’s fall from grace.”

Putin now has the world’s attention, forcing the U.S. and NATO to hand formal written responses to Russia’s list of demands that Western forces withdraw from Eastern Europe and disallow any other former Soviet-bloc nations, like Ukraine, from joining the alliance. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned NATO would not close its “open-door” policy to new members but said there was room for negotiation in other areas. “Whether they choose the path of diplomacy and dialogue, whether they decide to renew aggression against Ukraine,” he said, “we’re prepared either way.”

The standoff is proving a major challenge for Biden. So far Putin has played his hand to his advantage. Putin has “shown that he is still very relevant in geopolitical terms,” says Matt Pottinger, who was President Donald Trump’s deputy national security advisor. “He’s amassed leverage to extract concessions that Russians have wanted since soon after the close of the Cold War 30 years ago.”

Biden’s aides spent days cleaning up his confusing responses during a January 19 White House press conference. He said if Putin launches a “minor incursion” the U.S. and allies will “end up having a fight about what to do and not do.” The next day, Biden tried to clarify that “any assembled Russian units” moving across the Ukrainian border would be considered “an invasion” and there would be a “severe and coordinated economic response.”

Putin’s show of force comes at a time when Biden’s foreign policy apparatus wants to focus on countering China’s growing influence in the Pacific. While much of the world’s attention was on the crisis in Ukraine, China flew a large formation of warplanes toward Taiwan. “The White House, they want to focus on China, because they correctly see that as the big strategic challenge for the next three or four decades, and they were sort of hoping that Russia would remain quiet. Well, Russia didn’t accommodate,” says Steven Pifer, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000.

Ryan Crocker, a retired diplomat who served as ambassador in Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan over his 37-year career, believes Biden’s mishandling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan caught the attention Russia and China. Following his decision to abruptly pull out of America’s longest war, Biden failed to closely consult and coordinate with Western partners, essentially leaving them to scamper for the exits, Crocker said. “The whole world saw what happened,” Crocker says. “He’s got to show that he can do a whole lot better on another major international issue than he did on Afghanistan.”

PRAY: Pray for wisdom for President Biden and his foreign policy advisors and for opportunities to deescalate rising tensions.

Will Climate Change Kill National Sovereignty and Increase Globalism?

As we collectively hurtle into the era of climate change, international relations as we’ve known them for almost four centuries will change beyond recognition. This shift is probably inevitable, but it will also cause new conflicts. Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, diplomats — in peacetime and war alike — have, for the most part, subscribed to the principle of national sovereignty. The Charter of the United Nations says foreign countries have no right “to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.”

The concept was born, along with the entire system of modern states, in the physical and psychological rubble of the Thirty Years War. Starting in 1618, European powers intervened in one another’s territories at will. Round after round of war left about one in three dead. It was in that continental graveyard that statesmen stipulated it was best if every state henceforth minded its own business.

Nobody at the Peace of Westphalia was deluded enough to think this realist notion would end war. After all, by acknowledging sovereignty, the system accepted that countries pursue their national interests, which tend to clash. But at least the new consensus offered the chance of preventing additional indiscriminate bloodletting. Even then, the principle of sovereignty was never absolute or uncontroversial. For a long time, the best idealist counterargument was humanitarian — countries have not just the right but the duty to intervene in other states if, say, those are committing atrocities such as genocide.

Now, however, there’s an even more powerful push against sovereignty, put forth by thinkers such as Stewart Patrick at the Council on Foreign Relations. It’s that in a world where all countries collectively face the emergency of global warming, sovereignty is simply no longer a tenable concept.

An early demonstration of this shift in international relations was the dust-up in 2019 between Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and French President Emmanuel Macron. Bolsonaro was allowing fires to burn wide swathes of the Amazon rainforest. Speaking for many, Macron accused Bolsonaro of abetting “ecocide.” Sounds like the new genocide, doesn’t it? Bolsonaro shot back that Macron was a neocolonialist, a European power again trying to force his ideas on another sovereign nation.

The underlying issue is sovereignty: Is a rainforest located in Brazil the business of Brazil or of the world? Would, in a hypothetical future scenario, an alliance led by France be within its rights to declare war on Brazil to prevent ecocide? This opens a new line of thinking about world affairs. Policymakers are already steeped in analyses of the new types of conflict that global warming will cause within and between countries. Those include wars over access to freshwater, the disappearance of arable land or mass migrations.

Will some powers or alliances contemplate military interventions in other states to end what they will define as ecocide? Others may even go to war if they believe rival countries are taking unilateral measures against climate change that threaten their own interests.

This has caused many to claim national sovereignty should be forfeited and the need for an ecological equivalent to what the World Trade Organization is to commerce: A new international body that makes the conundrum explicit and attempts to maintain order. This sounds very much like a global government that can force individual nations to do whatever it deems “best for the globe”. Could this push lead to a stronger emphasis on globalism and a one-world government? It certainly looks like it could be a possibility, and something strongly pushed by progressives in the future.

PRAY: God has called us to be good stewards of the land. Pray for those seeking to establish a one-world government to achieve their goals.

Christian Evangelist Beaten and Left for Dead by Family Members

A 34-year-old Christian evangelist’s Muslim family beat and tied him up to be burned alive after he returned home for his grandfather’s funeral in eastern Uganda, saying, “Allah will reward them in Jannah [garden paradise] if they kill” him. Malingumu Bruhan’s uncles attempted to kill him in their home in the Nawaikoke area’s Muhira village in the Kaliro District.

 Narrating the incident, Burhan told the persecution news outlet that after the funeral on Feb. 6, his Muslim uncles requested that he visit their home. After other visitors left, an uncle, identified as Ndifakulya Musa, started scolding him. “My uncle accused me of embarrassing them by holding Christian evangelistic, open-air meetings and debates with Muslims,” Bruhan was quoted as saying. “He accused me of being an infidel by converting to Christianity, and that Allah will reward them in Jannah [garden paradise] if they kill me.” The victim added, “He said to me that it is now the right time for me to receive punishment from Allah, whereby I was going to be burned alive and the birds of the air will enjoy me as their meat.”

 Bruhan remained silent, which infuriated his uncles. “They started beating me up as others gathered firewood, while another was sent to go for petrol because they wanted to use it to burn me alive,” he said. In the meantime, another convert from Islam who had accompanied Bruhan to the funeral came looking for him and found one of his shoes that had come off as his uncles dragged him off to kill him. After tracking Burhan, who was found tied up near a stack of firewood, he tried calling the police which scared the attackers and they fled. However, Burhan had already sustained injuries to his head. This was the 11th murder attempt on Burhan, who had been ostracized by his relatives after his conversion in 2017.

 While most people in Uganda are Christian, some Eastern and Central regions in the country have higher concentrations of Muslims. The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project estimates that about 11.5% of Uganda’s population is Muslim, mostly Sunni. Armed attacks and murders of converts are not uncommon in the region.

 “Radical Islam’s influence has grown steadily, and many Christians within the majority-Muslim border regions are facing severe persecution, especially those who convert from Islam,” a Voice of the Martyrs factsheet notes. “Despite the risks, Evangelical churches in Uganda have responded by reaching out to their neighbors; many churches are training leaders how to share the Gospel with Muslims and care for those who are persecuted after they become Christians.”

In Matthew 10:37-38, Jesus told the disciples “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”

 In the United States, we take these verses for granted in many ways, as no one is currently trying to attack us, and our families are not out to murder us. However, in other parts of the world today, these verses are very much a real possibility, especially in parts of the world where converting to Christianity can ostracize you from the community, cost you your job, your house and your resources and even have your own family disown you or even try to murder you.

 Pray- Pray for the persecuted Church across the globe as they put their lives on the line to follow the cause of Christ.

Did the United Nations Create the Beast of Revelation 13?

A new giant statue installed outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan is being likened to an End Times “beast” described by the Apostle John in Revelation 13:2, which states, “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”

 The U.N. released a statement about the new statue. “A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor’s Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico … It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles,” the U.N. says in a tweet that includes a photo of the statue.

 This new statue has led many to identify it as the beast of Revelation. This has led to some confusion, with some wondering if this is a sign that we are now in the Tribulation. However, there are several problems with this idea. First, the two beasts in Revelation 13, the beast out of the Sea and the beast out of the land, are not actual beasts but are symbolic representatives of actual people in the future. This is very similar to the four beasts found in Daniel 7, which are not actual beasts either but represented the nations of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome. In Revelation 13, the beast out of the Sea represents the future Antichrist and the beast out of the land represents the future False Prophet.

 The characteristics of these beasts are symbolic of their power and abilities. For example, the “ten horns” of the beast represented the power of the beast, given to him by ten future kings that will empower his empire. Much of the symbolism that John writes about in the Book of Revelation comes right out of the Book of Daniel. If the beasts in Daniel were symbolic, then it should be clear that the beasts in Revelation are similarly representative of other things. Thus, the beast statue should not alarm us into thinking that the Tribulation period has started in any way. There is no literal future beast figure that is coming that matches the physical descriptions given in Revelation, but instead the Antichrist and his False Prophet fulfills these future beasts.

 Second, the assertion that this statue in any way means that we are somehow in the Great Tribulation is also inaccurate. The Rapture of the Church has yet to occur. The Antichrist has not risen to power. It is only with these two event that the Tribulation can occur. Therefore, we should not be worried about this statue representing any beginning of the Tribulation.

 However, while we should not view this statue as any “sign of the apocalypse”, what it should do is alarm us at the increase of wild speculation that the COVID pandemic has brought into our culture. Instead of being faithful to the Biblical text, people are jumping at whatever they see that vaguely resembles anything from the Bible and trying to make it fit into their narrative. They are reading the newspaper first and then trying to make the Bible fit with current events. Instead, what we must always do as good followers of the Biblical text is to try to understand it in its proper meaning. For example, the Beast of Revelation 13 cannot mean we are already in the Tribulation because the Bible makes it clear the church will not be in the Tribulation. We must be wise and biblical in our interpretation and make sure we are always following the true meaning of the text!

 PRAY: Pray for believers to be wise and biblical in interpreting the Bible and world events.

Did the United Nations Create the Beast of Revelation 13?

A new giant statue installed outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan is being likened to an End Times “beast” described by the Apostle John in Revelation 13:2, which states, “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”

 The U.N. released a statement about the new statue. “A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor’s Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico … It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles,” the U.N. says in a tweet that includes a photo of the statue.

 This new statue has led many to identify it as the beast of Revelation. This has led to some confusion, with some wondering if this is a sign that we are now in the Tribulation. However, there are several problems with this idea. First, the two beasts in Revelation 13, the beast out of the Sea and the beast out of the land, are not actual beasts but are symbolic representatives of actual people in the future. This is very similar to the four beasts found in Daniel 7, which are not actual beasts either but represented the nations of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome. In Revelation 13, the beast out of the Sea represents the future Antichrist and the beast out of the land represents the future False Prophet.

 The characteristics of these beasts are symbolic of their power and abilities. For example, the “ten horns” of the beast represented the power of the beast, given to him by ten future kings that will empower his empire. Much of the symbolism that John writes about in the Book of Revelation comes right out of the Book of Daniel. If the beasts in Daniel were symbolic, then it should be clear that the beasts in Revelation are similarly representative of other things. Thus, the beast statue should not alarm us into thinking that the Tribulation period has started in any way. There is no literal future beast figure that is coming that matches the physical descriptions given in Revelation, but instead the Antichrist and his False Prophet fulfills these future beasts.

 Second, the assertion that this statue in any way means that we are somehow in the Great Tribulation is also inaccurate. The Rapture of the Church has yet to occur. The Antichrist has not risen to power. It is only with these two event that the Tribulation can occur. Therefore, we should not be worried about this statue representing any beginning of the Tribulation.

 However, while we should not view this statue as any “sign of the apocalypse”, what it should do is alarm us at the increase of wild speculation that the COVID pandemic has brought into our culture. Instead of being faithful to the Biblical text, people are jumping at whatever they see that vaguely resembles anything from the Bible and trying to make it fit into their narrative. They are reading the newspaper first and then trying to make the Bible fit with current events. Instead, what we must always do as good followers of the Biblical text is to try to understand it in its proper meaning. For example, the Beast of Revelation 13 cannot mean we are already in the Tribulation because the Bible makes it clear the church will not be in the Tribulation. We must be wise and biblical in our interpretation and make sure we are always following the true meaning of the text!

 PRAY: Pray for believers to be wise and biblical in interpreting the Bible and world events.

The Russian Bear is on the Prowl!

When Communism collapsed in the old Soviet Union thirty years ago, many in the West naively assumed Russia was no longer a threat to world peace. For three decades America and its NATO partners have had to carry on a dangerous political “dance” with Russia’s political leaders. In the current climate of “political correctness”, many foolishly have advocated peace through compromise, negotiation and economic co-operation. They have assumed that if we are nice to other nations, they will reciprocate nicely as well.

All of this tactic is based upon an unrealistic view of human nature. Unregenerate people are not naturally “nice” people. The Bible reminds us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As a result, “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mask their ways; and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:15-18).

The cold, icy stare of Vladimir Putin reveals his cold heart, which is evidence of his evil intents. When the Soviet Union collapsed, even many Bible teachers assumed they had been wrong about identifying Russia and the ancient people of Magog in Ezekiel 38:1. Perhaps Ezekiel had some other nation in mind they suggested. In the meantime, serious students of prophecy warned that while the Soviet Union had disappeared, the Russian Bear was still on the prowl and would eventually re-emerge as a major threat to world peace.

Many of us who have been to Russia can testify to their incredible history of survival, the strength of their people and their amazing cultural heritage. But Russia has suffered under the iron grop of czars, oligarchs, and dictators for centuries. Mistreatment, mismanagement and misdirection have often plagued the Russian people because of their leaders.

While we in the West are sickened and saddened by Russia’s harsh treatment of neighboring Ukraine, we need to pray for God’s divine intervention for the sake of true believers in both countries who are caught in the middle of this current crisis. War is an ugly thing because it reveals the ugliness of human depravity at its worst.

No matter how the current conflict ends, this will not be the end. Greed, corruption and hatred are the results of unregenerate and unredeemed hearts. The Spirit of God inspired the prophets to look down the tunnel of time into the distant future and warn His people that Satan is always prowling about seeking who he may devour. And he uses leaders and nations to fulfil his evil desires. No wonder he is called, Apollyon, the Destroyer (Revelation 9:11).

Dr. Ed Hindson

Swedish Company Creating a Prototype for the Mark of the Beast?

Epicenter, a Stockholm-based startup, unveiled a new way of carrying around a COVID vaccine passport – in a microchip implanted under your skin. The implant can be read by any device using the near-field communication (NFC) protocol – technology used for contactless payments and keyless entry systems. In a video shared by Epicenter, Hannes Sjöblad, chief distribution officer, has the chip in his arm and simply waves a smartphone over it to pull up his vaccination status. “Implants are very versatile technology that can be used for many different things, and right now it is very convenient to have COVID passport always accessible on your implant”, he said in a statement.

 Many venues, restaurants, bars, concert halls and museums, across the US are requiring visitors present their vaccination status to enter the building and Epicenter wants to make presenting this information as easy as possible. “In case your phone runs out of battery, it’s always accessible to you. So of course, that’s how we use this technology today, next year we are going to use it for something else,” said Sjöblad.

 The microchip sits directly beneath the skin, either in the arm or between the thumb and forefinger. According to Sjöblad, the procedure is “completely reversible” and does not require a special phone app. This technology in its current development is meant to allow for easier access to one’s vaccine passport, but it is easy to see how the technology could be further developed for other means.

 Epicenter’s implanted microchip is not a new innovation, as the company has been using it for years – and with its own employees. In 2015, the company announced it had implanted the microchip in more than 100 of its employees, which allows them to open doors, operate printers, or buy smoothies with a wave of the hand. The chip is implanted with a simple injection of a syringe and with a click, a microchip is injected in the employee’s hand. When activated by a reader a few inches away, a small amount of data flows between the two devices via electromagnetic waves. And although the microchip passports are not yet ready for market, it is safe to assume that is how they will be implanted.

 While putting a vaccine passport on this type of technology is clearly not the mark of the beast from Revelation 13, the technology being developed could be laying the foundation for the future mark. If this technology is implanted into the human body, then it could not be faked. Unlike a tattoo or some other physical mark, this “mark” would be digitally read and impossible to fake. If this technology allows for your vaccine passport to be read, then other data could also be placed in this as well.

 For example, if the technology is used to identify a person and can be used for payment or even for opening doors, it could easily be tweaked into a type of mark. Revelation 13:17 states, “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Perhaps in the future, this technology, or something like it, could be used to allow access to grocery stores or the technology could be used to check out through your bank account instead of using cash, ensuring that you had the mark of the beast before you were able to purchase your goods.

 While the technology alone is not necessarily a negative thing and could be used for good in many cases, it may also be possibly laying the foundation for a future Tribulation period.

 PRAY: As the world seems to move closer to the Tribulation period and the return of Jesus Christ, pray for the expansion of the Gospel and for people to come to salvation.

Most millennials, Gen Z adults support bans on abortions when baby's heartbeat is detected

A new poll released ahead of the annual March for Life reveals that most young Americans support efforts to ban abortions after a baby's heartbeat can be detected. The poll, conducted on behalf of the pro-life organization Students for Life of America from Jan. 5–11, asked 834 young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 for their views on abortion and the United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide. The poll’s release comes as pro-lifers were set to gather in Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life that's held in the nation's capital around the anniversary of the Roe decision.

The survey informed respondents that “the human fetal heart begins to beat 21 days after conception, at 3 weeks gestation” before asking if they supported banning abortions after a heartbeat is detected. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they supported banning abortions after a heartbeat can be detected compared to 48% who opposed. Denise Harle, an attorney with the religious liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, reacted to the poll’s findings in an interview with The Christian Post. “I think that is fantastic news,” she said. Harle told CP that she was “so encouraged” because “it means that … our younger generation understands what medical science shows us and what biology teaches us, which is that … life begins at conception, it’s a human right and it should be protected.”

Some of the young Americans who participated in the poll changed their views on abortion once they received more details about Roe v. Wade. Initially, 60% of respondents expressed some level of support for Roe, with 21% saying that they very strongly supported the decision, 26% reporting that they strongly supported the decision, and 12% telling the pollster that they did “not strongly support” it. The share of respondents who expressed some level of support for Roe decreased after they learned that Roe allows abortions to take place throughout all nine months of pregnancy, right up until the moment of birth and allows women to abort their children if they do not like the sex of their baby, fear it has an abnormality like Down syndrome or believe that the baby might be same-sex attracted or one day identify as transgender.

Additionally, the poll informed respondents that Roe has “been used to justify sending U.S. taxpayer dollars to perform abortions or off-set other expenses of abortion vendors/providers,” allows women to use abortion as contraception and “ends a disproportionate number of minority lives.” At the end of the poll, support for Roe had dropped to 50% among those surveyed.

When asked for their views about abortion in general, 25% agreed with the statement asserting that “I support an abortion at any time without exception.” Twenty percent expressed support for “abortion after a heartbeat is detected, up until the fetus can feel pain.” Twenty-eight percent opposed abortions after a heartbeat can be detected, while supporting exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. Seventeen percent opposed abortions at all times after a heartbeat can be detected, except to save the life of the mother. The remaining 9% opposed abortion in all circumstances.

The Students for Life of America survey, as well as this year’s March for Life, come as the Supreme Court weighs whether or not to uphold a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi. A ruling in favor of the state of Mississippi, which is seeking to uphold the ban, would significantly weaken the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. Harle finds herself “very optimistic” about the future of abortion policy in the U.S. based on the oral arguments in the case surrounding the Mississippi abortion law, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which took place last month: “It’s quite possible that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, which would mean that this issue would be returned to the states so that Americans can decide and enact policies consistent with their values, policies that protect life, that protect women’s health.”

Pray- Pray that the push against abortion will continue to gain prominence and America will one day stop the slaughter of the innocent.

Israel Could Take Unilateral Action Against Iran if Sanctions Lifted

Earlier this week, a message coming out of Iran expressed a willingness to engage directly with the United States over its nuclear deal if sanctions on Iran are lifted. During a live broadcast, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said, “If the parties are ready to lift the oppressive sanctions, it is quite possible any agreement can be reached.”

Yahoo News reports that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, indirectly gave the green light to the Iranian negotiation team to talk with the U.S. and said negotiating and interacting with the enemy does not mean surrender.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. However, lifting sanctions on Iran could lead to military action by Israel, officials in Jerusalem warned world powers.

Israel claims that if the US lifts sanctions – along with international sanctions soon to be lifted under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal – Iran could reach the nuclear threshold within six months. At that point, Israel could find it necessary to take unilateral action.

In a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called for the world to ramp up the threat to Iran in order to deter it from developing a nuclear weapon. Lapid emphasized that Israel views the talks as an attempt by Tehran to stall as it advances its nuclear program, and the world must have a plan B. “Sanctions must not be lifted from Iran,” Lapid said. “Sanctions must be tightened. A real military threat must be put before Iran because that is the only way to stop its race to become a nuclear power.” The meeting with Macron came a day after Lapid relayed a similar message in a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Israel opposes the JCPOA because it insufficiently limited Iran’s uranium enrichment, and, in fact, legitimizes further enrichment after the agreement expires, which paves the way for an eventual nuclear bomb. In addition, the JCPOA did not address Iran’s other malign actions in the region. But worse than the JCPOA, Israeli officials say, would be an interim deal that would barely restrict Iran’s nuclear program. Jerusalem has grown increasingly concerned that the U.S. is considering such an agreement, which some diplomats have called “less for less,” to have the U.S. lift some sanctions in exchange for Iran freezing – not rolling back – its nuclear program, which has advanced far beyond the JCPOA’s restrictions. Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz said in an interview with KAN that this should be called “more for less,” as Iran would be getting a cash influx while conceding almost nothing.

Israel’s diplomatic efforts are overwhelmingly focused on the US, in order to convince Washington not to lift sanctions. France, Germany and the UK have been sympathetic to Israel’s messages, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said, and Russia has been attentive. While there has been communication between China and Israel about the Iranian nuclear threat, Beijing has been less receptive. Diplomats from the E3 – France, Britain and Germany – in the Vienna talks told Reuters that there will be a problem if Iran does not show that it is taking the negotiations seriously. Reaching an agreement is urgent, the diplomats said, but they did not want to impose an artificial deadline.

Iranian officials continued to maintain that the talks are about lifting U.S. sanctions, as opposed to their country’s nuclear program, even though the Joint Comprehensive Plan of action, as the 2015 deal was called, limited uranium enrichment in addition to gradually lifting sanctions. Russia’s Ambassador to International Institutions in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said that the U.S. reaffirmed that it was willing to lift all post-JCPOA sanctions if Iran returns to full compliance with the agreement. In addition, Iran demands a “guarantee by America not to impose new sanctions...The talks are about the return of the U.S. to the deal, and they have to lift all sanctions and this should be in practice and verifiable,” Bagheri said. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said they will “not accept anything less than sanctions removal and we will not commit to anything more than what is in the JCPOA.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated that the talks with Iran are at a “decisive moment,” and warned that Washington and its allies may need to change tactics if a deal regarding its nuclear program isn’t reached soon.

Israel Envoy Claims UN Trying to “Erase Jewish History”

Israel protested the United Nations marking the 74th anniversary of the historic vote on the partition plan, which called for a Jewish state alongside an Arab one in the British Mandate of Palestine, by holding a Palestinian solidarity event. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called the decision to hold an event in the General Assembly aimed at strengthening the Palestinian “right of return” on this day “outrageous.”

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to recognize the establishment of a Jewish state in parts of the Mandate. Jews jubilantly accepted the plan, while the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states rejected it and launched what would become Israel’s War of Independence. “On November 29th, exactly 74 years ago, the UN recognized the Jewish people’s right to a state. The Jews and Israel accepted this partition plan and the Palestinians and the Arab countries rejected it and tried to destroy us,” said Erdan.

“The Palestinians and the Arab countries not only attacked Israel, the Jewish state, they also persecuted, massacred, and ultimately expelled the Jewish communities in their own countries,” he added, accusing the international community of ignoring those events and only focusing on the Palestinians. “Instead, the UN has the audacity to hold a solidarity event for the Palestinians on the anniversary of the Palestinians’ own decision to choose violence. And on the day that the Palestinians chose violence, the UN also dares to advance… the outrageous, the false ‘demand of return,’ a demand that would lead to the total obliteration of the Jewish state,” he said.

A “right of return” is one of the key core issues of dispute in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians claim that five million people — tens of thousands of original refugees from what is today’s Israel, and their millions of descendants — have a right to return to their ancestral lands. Israel rejects the demand, saying it represents a bid by the Palestinians to destroy Israel by weight of numbers. Israel’s population is almost nine million, some three-quarters of whom are Jewish. An influx of millions would mean Israel could no longer be a Jewish-majority state. Because Israel is a democratically-led nation, the Jews understand that loosing this majority would be catastrophic. If the Palestinians were to gain a numerical superiority, they could take over the government and establish their own system in place of the mainly Jewish government.

To highlight the issues, Israel’s mission to the UN launched a campaign with the World Jewish Congress that will see trucks driving around New York with the message “Don’t erase Jewish history.” Erdan particularly wants to highlight the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were expelled from Arab lands and their properties confiscated after the establishment of the State of Israel. “By advancing and amplifying on the one side the false and dangerous narrative of the Palestinians and by silencing… the true… tragic stories of the Jewish refugees who were expelled from the Arab countries and from Iran, the UN is erasing Jewish history and distorting the truth and we will never allow this to happen,” Erdan said.

This is yet another example of the United Nations continual assault on the Israeli people. The UN continues to place a favorable bias in favor of the Palestinians and attacks Israel every change that it can get.

Many Say Faith in God Not Required to Enter Heaven

More than three years after Pope Francis sparked a firestorm of religious debate by telling a young boy that his deceased atheist father might still end up in Heaven, a new study from the Pew Research Center shows a majority of Catholic and mainline Christians also believe people who don’t believe in God will go to Heaven. Data for the study, conducted Sept. 20-26, was collected from a nationally representative sample of 6,485 U.S. adults.

 Pew researchers decided for the first time to tackle deep philosophical questions like the meaning of life, the purpose of suffering and why bad things happen to people. The national study was released amid a backdrop of major life-changing events for many, most notably the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed millions of lives globally.

 In discussing American views on the afterlife, the study showed a majority of U.S. adults believe in both Heaven and Hell, but significantly more believe in Heaven. Some 73% reported belief in Heaven, while 62% reported belief in Hell. When it comes to Christians as a group, the study showed that the overwhelming majority supported belief in Heaven. Protestants from historically black and evangelical churches were more likely than mainline Protestant Christians or Catholics to express belief in Hell. And while 39% of all American adults, in general, believe people who don’t believe in God can still go to Heaven, 68% of Catholics and 56% of mainline Protestant Christians were found to hold this belief compared to 21% of evangelicals and 31% of Christians from historically black churches.

 When it comes to suffering in the world, few respondents in the study blamed God. In general, most agreed suffering is due primarily to the actions of people. For majorities of black and evangelical Christians, though, Satan is believed to have a hand in human suffering, too, the study shows. Some 86% of American adults say suffering is at least due in part to random chance. Overall, 44% of respondents said the phrase “sometimes bad things just happen” captured their perspective very well. Another 42% said the statement reflected their views somewhat well.

 Despite this widely held view on the reason for suffering, however, most people didn’t also see suffering as something negative. Some 68% believed “everything in life happens for a reason” and suffering exists “to provide an opportunity for people to come out stronger.”

 For many respondents in the study, the way they view suffering was also connected to their ideas about God. The study found that 91% of Americans believe in God or a higher power, and 80% of this group say that most of the suffering in the world comes from people rather than from God. Some 70% of this group also believe that humans are free to go against God’s plans or that of a higher power.

 While just 44% of all U.S. adults polled for the study said Satan is responsible for most of the suffering in the world, this view had much stronger support among black and evangelical Protestants. Some 69% of respondents in the study who attend historically black churches blamed Satan for most of the human suffering in the world, while 73% of evangelicals were found to believe the same. Less than half of mainline Protestant Christians and Catholics blamed Satan for suffering in the world.

 A move away from the traditional Christian belief that one must believe in God in order to be saved and go to Heaven should not surprise us. In fact, Paul warned that people would “not endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3) and that there would be a “falling away” from the faith (2 Thess. 2:3). With large sections of “Christendom” no longer holding onto basic and fundamental doctrine, we may be on our way to this great rise in apostasy.

 PRAY: Pray for Christian churches to rise up and boldly preach the TRUTH of God’s Word.

School District Reinstates “Pornographic” Books Despite Parents' Concerns

The largest school district in the United States said it's reinstating two books to its high school libraries after a review into concerns raised by a mother that they contain “pornography” with graphic descriptions of sex acts between men and boys. Two committees that reviewed and assessed Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe have unanimously recommended that they remain in public school libraries as “diverse” reading material for students with underrepresented identities Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia has announced.

 “I’m glad that the book has been reinstated, where I hope it will continue to inspire and comfort young adult readers who have been marginalized economically, racially, or by virtue of their sexual identification, so that these young people might find their rightful place within the large culture,” The Washington Post quoted Kobabe as saying in response to the school district’s decision.

 Stacy Langton, the parent of a student in the Fairfax public schools who confronted the school board about the content being accessible to a juvenile audience, said she will appeal the decision in the school system. At a school board meeting in September, Langton had read aloud sexually explicit material and shared graphic images featured in the two books. “After seeing a September 9 school board meeting in Texas on pornography in the schools, I decided to check the titles at my child’s school, Fairfax High School,” she said during the meeting. Langton held up the two books singled out at the Texas school board meeting that are also available in several public high schools in Fairfax County. She said that “both of these books include pedophilia, and sex between men and boys.”

 As Langton asserted that the books' inclusion was “not an oversight at Fairfax High School,” a school board member interrupted her and said the books' content wasn't appropriate for public reading at the board meeting because “there are children in the audience here.” Langton, who didn't appreciate the board member's interruption of her time to speak, added: “Do not interrupt my time. I will stand here until my time is restored and my time is finished. These books are in stock and available in the libraries of Robinson, Langley and Annandale High Schools.”

 A school board member then suggested that teenagers' access to the books is okay because they're only available “for high school students.” However, the majority of high school students are younger than 18, which is the age of consent in Virginia. The sexual activities graphically described in the books between adults and children are a crime. The fact that the board is not even willingly to replace the book with other LGBT books shows just how powerful this movement has become in American society.

 This is yet another example of the evil agenda that is being promoted throughout the United States. Things that would have been abhorrent even ten years ago are now being accepted and even championed. These pedophilia laden books were not simply an oversight by the school districts but are now being defended as legitimate reads for high school students, some that are as young as 14-15 years old. These types of admissions will only further the issues that we have in our nation in regard to sexuality. The Fairfax school board is not the only school board that is pushing these kinds of agendas throughout our public school system. America will continue to devolve into more and deeper levels of sin as long as these types of things are allowed in the lives of our children.

 PRAY- Pray that school boards across the nation will turn away from these types of evil agendas and stand firm on the Biblical principles that our nation was founded upon.

State Department Celebrates First Nonbinary Gender ‘X’ US Passport

The Biden administration announced that it has issued the first-ever U.S. passport for citizens who identify as nonbinary or intersex by using the “X” gender marker instead of “M” for male or “F” for female. Ned Price, the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, said in a statement that the department had “issued the first U.S. passport with an X gender marker. We look forward to offering this option to all routine passport applicants once we complete the required system and form updates in early 2022,” Price added. “The Department also continues to work closely with other U.S. government agencies to ensure as smooth a travel experience as possible for all passport holders, regardless of their gender identity.”

Price said additional updates on the implementation of the X gender marker on passports for people who identify as nonbinary would be found on the U.S. Department of State website. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in June that the State Department would allow people to choose their gender identity for passports even if it contradicts with their biological sex or the gender identity listed on other official documents. “The Department has begun moving toward adding a gender marker for nonbinary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a passport or [Consular Report of Birth Abroad],” Blinken said at the time.

“We are evaluating the best approach to achieve this goal. The process of adding a gender marker for nonbinary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons to these documents is technologically complex and will take time for extensive systems updates.” The policy change came partly in response to Dana Zzyym, a U.S. Navy Veteran who identifies as nonbinary and intersex who filed a lawsuit to get a passport that reflecting this new identity.

Previously, the State Department had defended the gender binary for passports by arguing that it ensured accuracy, helped identify eligibility, and made passport data useful for other agencies. The department had also previously contended that there was no medical consensus on determining intersex identity and that creating a third designation for sex, such as an “X” mark, was not feasible.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in May 2020 that three of the five reasons argued by the State Department “lacked record support” and sent the case back down to the district court level. The circuit panel still considered the reasons of helping identify individuals ineligible for passports and helping to make passport data useful for other agencies valid. According to a Rasmussen Reports poll from September, 54% of American adults disapproved of the State Department’s new gender identity passport policy, while 35% said they approved.

This move by the State Department creates two major challenges. First, it shows just how far America has slide from its Judeo-Christian foundation. Even simple facts like the amount of genders, accepted for millennia, are now not only being questioned but are being changed because of the radicalization that has occurred. Things that would never even be dreamed about even twenty years ago are now being accepted. Satan is clearly on the offensive in America.

Second, the State Department’s actions will make it very difficult to make any changes to this policy in the future. Once a number of people have these passports, then it will be difficult if not impossible to then say that they are no longer valid. American will most likely be flaunting this sin to the world for generations to come.

Biden HHS to Revoke Trump-era Religious Freedom Policy

A leaked document reveals that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans on reversing a Trump administration delegation that allows the Office of Civil Rights to investigate religious freedom complaints. One Biden administration official believes the Trump-era policy acts as “a sword to impose religious beliefs on others.” The document is a memorandum from the director of HHS’s Office of Civil Rights to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

 In the memo, OCR Director Lisa Pino expresses support for reversing a practice implemented in late 2017 by the Trump administration that delegated to OCR broad authority to enforce violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. “Prior to the delegation in 2017, no division was singularly responsible for the Department’s compliance with RFRA or the First Amendment,” she wrote in the memo. “That model recognized that all components of HHS had a responsibility for compliance and that OGC [Office of General Counsel] was a central partner in providing key legal advice on RFRA and defending the Department when RFRA claims were raised.”

 The Trump administration’s delegation followed a May 4, 2017, executive order directing the U.S. attorney general to issue guidance to federal agencies “interpreting religious liberty protections in Federal law.” Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued the guidance on Oct. 6, 2017. Sessions asserted that RFRA “broadly [defines] the exercise of religion to encompass all aspects of observance and practice, whether or not central to, or required by a particular religious faith.” Pino maintained that “Rescinding the delegation to OCR does not lessen the commitment of the Department to compliance, but ensures that it is not used by any one agency to enact a broad, proactive agenda.”

 “While nothing in RFRA legally restricts an agency to work proactively to address a complainant’s (or ‘would be’ complainant’s) religious needs or rights, there is a serious concern that such an approach broadens the effect of RFRA in a way that may not be legally required and while causing significant detriment to civil rights and public health protections,” Pino’s draft memo reportedly states. “The prior Administration took an expansive view of the use of RFRA that resulted in negative impacts for underserved communities,” Pino added. She expressed particular concern about “broad-based exemptions from nondiscrimination requirements to child welfare agencies,” which she characterized as hampering “the ability of children and youth to obtain safe and loving foster and adoptive homes.” Pino accused the Trump administration’s interpretations of RFRA of sending a “signal to LGBTQ+ communities that the Department did not recognize their civil rights, including the right to marry.”

 “While the Department will need to continue to comply with RFRA, removing this delegation demonstrates our belief that RFRA is meant to be a shield to protect the freedom of religion, not a sword to impose religious beliefs on others without regard for third party harms, including civil rights,” she wrote. While Pino signaled opposition to a legal interpretation that would allow faith-based foster agencies to uphold policies preventing the placement of foster children with same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July against the city of Philadelphia after it excluded a Catholic foster care agency over its policies preventing children from being placed with same-sex couples.

 Roger Severino, who headed the HHS civil rights office during the Trump administration, argued in a tweet that the leaked memo proves that HHS “plans to effectively end religious freedom enforcement at HHS. The Biden Admin declared open season on people of faith some time ago, this would make it official,” he declared.

 The forthcoming memo is not the first time the Biden administration has taken action deemed hostile to religious liberty by critics. In August, the Department of Justice dropped a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against a Vermont hospital that coerced a pro-life nurse to assist in an abortion, a practice that violated her conscience. When a federal judge struck down a mandate requiring doctors and hospitals to perform gender transition surgeries even if doing so violated their religious beliefs, the Biden administration appealed the ruling.

 PRAY: Pray that the liberal agenda threatening religious freedom and Christianity will be defeated.

Old Testament Prophecies and Christ’s Birth

There are over 100 prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Christ’s First Coming. Six of them, in particular, relate to His birth, including the first prophecy of the entire Bible. After the fall in the Garden of Eden, God said to the serpent:

 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,” Genesis 3:15.

 This is a prophecy of both the birth and the death of Christ. Concerning His birth, it refers to Him as the seed of the woman. As it is a man who has “seed,” and not a woman, this indicates that Jesus would be born of a woman, but not in the usual way. The angel spoke to Joseph of its fulfillment in Matthew 1:20. This brings us to the next prophecy, that of the virgin birth:

 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,” Isaiah 7:14.

 This would find its fulfillment in Mary’s own admission when the Angel Gabriel announced Jesus’ coming in Luke 1:26-35. Isaiah’s passage also contains another prophecy, that of our Savior’s name, “Immanuel,” Hebrew for “God with us,” a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus according to Matthew 1:22-23.

 The Savior’s birthplace at Bethlehem was prophesied by the Prophet Micah, and was fulfilled in Matthew 2:1.

 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,” Micah 5:2.

 When the wise men came to visit Jesus in his infancy, King Herod would display his insecurity about his own position by attempting to kill this new “King of the Jews” by slaughtering all the young male children in the Bethlehem area. This slaughter of the innocents was prophesied by Jeremiah:

 “Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not,” Jeremiah 31:15.

 To insure that no harm came to the Christ child, Joseph was instructed to take Him and His mother to Egypt, then to bring them back when the danger posed by Herod was over (Matthew 2:13-23). This flight into Egypt and return was prophesied by Hosea:

 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt,” Hosea 11:1.

 From these verses alone, it is easy to accept that Jesus Christ, by His birth, was the prophesied Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World. But when we consider that there are still over 100 prophecies related to other aspects of His First Coming that were just as accurately fulfilled, the evidence is unmistakable and irrefutable. The Apostle John put it well when he wrote towards the end of His Gospel:

 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name,” John 20:31.

Focusing on God this Thanksgiving

One of the main issues in discussing Thanksgiving is the One to whom thanks should be given, and that, of course, is God.

 Looking back to the first American celebration of Thanksgiving, we know that the Plymouth colonists landed in the late fall of 1620, just before the dead of winter. Not able to plant, most of them stayed aboard their ship, the Mayflower, through the winter, where about half of them died from exposure or disease.

 When the survivors emerged in the spring, a bilingual Native American by the name of Squanto aided the colonists by showing them how to cultivate crops, hunt, fish, and avoid danger in their new environment. The Pilgrims’ first harvest was a success, and the result was a three-day celebration of thanks in November 1621, in which they invited their new Native American friends who had helped them so graciously.

 However, the Pilgrims knew that in spite of their hardships the previous year, it was ultimately God who had provided them a new home in the New World. Had they landed a few miles away either north or south, they may have missed their encounter with Squanto, had a disastrous first crop, and all perished. But God’s provision had sustained them.

 From its inception as a nation, the United States recognized that its blessings come from God. George Washington called upon Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1789, in gratitude for a successful conclusion of the Revolutionary War and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In the dark days of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official American holiday, but asked that citizens request of God to “commend to His tender care of all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

 With these thoughts in mind, it is clear that thanks should be given regardless of the outward circumstances in which we find ourselves. Many of us find ourselves facing difficulties, just as our American ancestors did. In these difficult economic times, many of us may even have to scale down the size and the cost of our Thanksgiving celebrations. Sickness and death take their toll at all times and in all places, and there may be some empty places at the table that were filled last year. But we must look at what we do have, rather than what we lack, just as was done by those who have preceded us, and give thanks accordingly:

 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ephesians 5:20.

 When we concentrate on the blessings of God, particularly His greatest gift of salvation through Jesus Christ for those who have placed their trust in Him, we will strengthen our relationship with Him and look at our circumstances with a new and more positive outlook.

 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” James 1:17.

 This in turn will give us more impetus to trust God to provide for all our needs and to direct our paths. If you will open your heart and life this Thanksgiving to the Savior who loves you and gave Himself for you, this could be the greatest Thanksgiving you have ever experienced!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Dr. Ed Hindson and the World Prophetic Ministry team

Human rights groups document over 300 acts of persecution in 2021 in India

Human rights groups in India say they have documented over 300 incidents of Christian persecution in just the first nine months of 2021, warning that this year might be the worst in terms of the number of such incidents in the country’s history. While Christians make up only 2.3% of India’s population and Hindus comprise about 80%, radical Hindu nationalists have been carrying out attacks on Christians under the pretext of punishing the minority for using force or monetary rewards to convert Hindus to Christianity,

 A.C. Michael, the National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum, said at a press conference in Delhi, “The brutal attacks have taken place across 21 states. Most of the incidents are taking place in northern states and 288 instances were of mob violence,” he added, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern. The press conference was held jointly by the United Christian Forum, the United Against Hate, and the Association of Protection of Civil Rights, which released a fact-finding report titled “Christians Under Attack in India.”

 “This is a scary situation, raising critical questions over the role and the position of the National Human Rights Commission and the Home [Interior] Ministry and their failures in stopping this violence,” Michael added. “Over 49 FIRs [police complaints] have been registered, too, but no substantial action has taken place.” Recently, a mob of 200 radical Hindu nationalists left a church damaged and at least three Christian women seriously injured in an attack in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The attackers accused the church of “illegally” converting people to Christianity.

 The mob attacked the church in Roorkee city’s Solanipuram Colony and was comprised of members of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party and radical Hindu nationalist groups associated with the party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal. As the service was about to begin, the mob reportedly barged into the church, thrashed the congregants and vandalized church properties, injuring at least three Christian women who were taken to a hospital in Dehradun city.

 Several Indian states have “anti-conversion” laws, which presume that Christians “force” or give financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity. While some of these laws have been in place for decades in some states, no Christian has been convicted of “forcibly” converting anyone to Christianity. These laws, however, allow Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks on them under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion.

 The law states that no one is allowed to use the “threat” of “divine displeasure,” meaning Christians cannot talk about Heaven or Hell, as that would be seen as “forcing” someone to convert. And if snacks or meals are served to Hindus after an evangelistic meeting, that could be seen as an “inducement.” India ranks as the 10th worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2021 World Watch List. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. State Department to label India as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating severe religious freedom violations.

 Open Doors USA warns that since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased. The group reports that “Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences. Hindu extremists believe that all Indians should be Hindus and that the country should be rid of Christianity and Islam,” an Open Doors fact sheet on India explains. “They use extensive violence to achieve this goal, particularly targeting Christians from a Hindu background.” This is another example of Christian persecution continuing to expand throughout the globe, something that will only continue to rise as we get closer to the Rapture and the Tribulation.

 Pray- Pray for the persecuted church across the globe that is under attack because of their faith in Christ.