Eating the Bible

Mozafar, a Muslim living in Cairo, had been commanded by his mullah, or Islamic leader, to read the Bible so that he could write an argument to expose and defeat the Christians. The mullah had recognized Mozafar's fierce loyalty to Islam; his zeal had led him to attack churches and to persecute and burn the property of Christians. He had even spent time in prison for his radical actions on behalf of Islam.

But when Mozafar opened the pages of the Bible, he was stunned by the mercy and grace offered by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. He was so drawn to the gospel that he rented a hotel room so he could read the Bible and other Christian books without interruption.

Mozafar's brothers, angered by the changes they saw in him, took him to a mental institution, where he was subjected to shock treatments to rid his brain of radical spiritual ideas like "loving your enemies." But the greater shock in Mozafar's life was God's truth revealed through his Holy Spirit. Once he had been exposed to the gospel, he was desperate to learn more about Jesus. "I would go into the bathroom of our home and lock the door," Mozafar explained. "Then I would take the Scriptures, memorize them, and eat them so that my family could not find them." (Mozafar's story and the testimonies of other Egyptian converts can be found in the VOM book Into the Den of Infidels.)

Unlike Mozafar, many of us don't have to read Scripture behind a locked door and eat the pages. We have this potential feast lying out in the open in our living rooms and bedrooms. The necessary food for our spiritually malnourished world is right in front of us. Please pray for our workers who risk their lives to feed those hungry for the gospel ... then pass the Bread.

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." - Ephesians 1:13

(Tom White, Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, January 2012)

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Should Wishful Thinking be part of Science?

As we proceed into the 21st century, secular scientists are still attempting to eke out a purely material explanation for the origin of the universe and life on this planet.

Marko comments: It seems that they can only succeed by employing that great tool of evolutionary science, wishful thinking! Here are some recent examples from scientific literature:

“Perhaps the big bang was just nothingness doing what comes naturally.”¹

“Life must have begun with a simple molecule that could reproduce itself.”²

“There must have been something like a cell right from the start, to contain the replicator and keep its component parts together.“²

“One day soon, someone will fill a container with a mix of primordial chemicals, keep it under the right conditions, and watch life emerge. That experiment will be done.”³

(from Frank Sherwin, Basic Questions Remain for the Secular Scientist, Acts & Facts, January 2012, Institute for Creation Research)

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References (selected)

1. Gefter, A. 2011. Existence special: Cosmic mysteries, human questions—Existence: Why is there a universe? New Scientist. 2822:29.

2. Marshall, M. 2011. First life: The search for the first replicator. New Scientist. 2825:33, 35.

3. John Sutherland, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, quoted in Marshall, p.35.

Last will and testament in North Korea

In 1998, James Kim managed to cross the border into North Korea to deliver food and clothing to destitute orphanages. He was arrested as an American spy and imprisoned, he was convicted and sentenced to death. He made out his last will and testament, in which he donated his organs for medical research. What happened next shows how God moves in mysterious ways...

(Excerpts from Larry Vardiman, ICR Research Impacts North Korea, Acts & Facts, March 2012, Institute for Creation Research)

Larry Vardiman writes: North Korea is a secretive country that threatens to attack its neighbors with missiles if provoked. It spends most of its limited resources on weapons and military personnel, which results in starvation for many of its citizens. The country has rejected all attempts to reconcile with South Korea or to end its nuclear ambitions.

James Kim (Kim Chin-kyung), was a Christian citizen of South Korea and the United States and honorary citizen of China. Kim founded the Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST) in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of northeastern China in 1992. Kim crossed the border between China and North Korea for several years ferrying donations of food and clothing to North Korean orphanages. During one such trip in 1998, he was arrested as an American spy and imprisoned. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

In his last will and testament, Kim donated his organs for medical research in Pyong-yang, the capital of the countries. Leaders in North Korea were so impressed that six weeks later he was released and given permission to freely enter and leave the country as he wished. He was made an honorary citizen of North Korea!

And then another incredible event occurred in 2001,when North Korea gave approval for Kim to build a technical university in North Korea similar to YUST. The new university, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), was dedicated on September 16, 2009, and began offering classes in October 2010. Kim was appointed president of the new university.¹ The first group of 160 undergraduate and master’s students was chosen by the North Korean government, selected from the top North Korean colleges, and chosen from political and military sponsors. The university currently has about 275 students and eventually plans to have a student body of about 2,500 and a faculty of 250, with classes in public health, architecture, agriculture and life sciences, electrical and computer engineering, and construction engineering.

Almost the entire faculty of 25 are Christian. However, no Christian proselyting or even explicit religious discussions are permitted at the school. There is no campus chapel at the university, and there are no plans for one in the future. But neither are there any official portraits of the North Korean leaders, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, or Kim Jong-un, which hang in every other school and public building in North Korea. The primary influence on the students comes through personal relationships developed with the faculty. Exposure to Western technology and thought will affect the entire country in the future because the students will eventually become the top economic, political, and military leaders of North Korea.

It is amazing to see God at work in the godless country of North Korea. Please pray that He would open door for more courageous Christians to go where no one else will go.

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References (selected)

1. Stone, R. 2009. The Force Behind North Korea’s New Science University. Science. 325 (5948): 1610-1611.

The concept "Natural Selection" is Magical!

Apologetics Professor James Johnson observes: Bait and switch is a tactic often used by evolutionists, but it was used by the Creator’s detractors long before Darwin and Huxley. The serpent baited Eve, in Eden, with the promise that eating the forbidden fruit would make Adam and Eve “as gods” (Genesis 3:5). This was the first and worst case of false advertising.

But Darwin’s sophistic marketing phrase “natural selection” likely holds the record as the slickest bait and switch ploy of evolution’s marketing team. By using the word “selection,” Darwin necessarily implies a “selector,” a decision-maker capable of making an information-based choice.¹ Yet, by using the adjective “natural,” Darwin appears to remove the supernatural—i.e., God the Creator. An inanimate “pond” of mythical “soup” has no intelligence for selecting anyone or anything, so the phrase “natural selection” is itself a semantic bait and switch—implying intelligent decisions, then switching to a physical environment of nonliving “stuff” incapable of intelligent selection.

This is a fatal flaw in the attempted logic of evolutionary theory, because the magical phrase “natural selection” is absolutely needed to provide a theoretical mechanism to allow the possibility of past and present diversity of life (in their breedable kinds) on earth, apart from a Creator just like the God of the Bible.

But, there is no natural “selector” to substitute for God. So, because evolutionary theory cannot explain the arrival of earth’s living creatures, there are no logical candidates to be the “survivors” who are “fittest.”

(from James J. S. Johnson, Bait and Switch: A Trick Used by Both Anglerfish and Evolutionists, Acts & Facts, January 2012, Institute for Creation Research)

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References (selected)

1. Johnson, J. J. S. 2011. Slow Death for a Tarantula: A Lesson in Arachnid Apologetics. Acts & Facts. 40 (10): 10-11.

Muslims on the Far Side of China turning to Jesus

The following testimony is from a Uyghur brother in far northwestern China who grew up as a conservative Muslim:

"After I married, I was crippled in an accident. I couldn't move and my legs were in constant pain. A friend gave me a Bible, and I began reading it. When I reached the place where Jesus healed the paralytic I began crying and asking God to heal me. I fell asleep with the Bible on my chest and dreamed that a radiantly white man approached me. He reached out His hand and said 'Get up and walk.' When I woke, my legs were healed! That encounter with Jesus has transformed my life. Now I live for Him alone."

Thank the Lord for His marvelous grace. Pray that many other Uyghur Turks will have supernatural encounters with Christ and become his disciples. We are told there have been several recent baptisms.

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Ask for God's blessing on Christian radio broadcasts and other media reaching China's Xinjiang province. Pray that many Muslim Uighur Turks in this predominantly Turkish district will tum to Christ as a result of these programs.

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Also, please continue to pray for Alimjan, a Uighur brother in Xinjiang sentenced to 15 years in prison because of his faithful witness. He faces harsh conditions daily. Please also uphold his wife Gulnur and their two children, who are constantly monitored by the state.

(from a Christian prayer letter, January 2012)

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