Nov 13th - International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church

IDOP is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

In the traditional church calendar, “All Saints Day” and “All Souls Day” stand out in the month of November, set apart to remember the saints of the church and the souls of those who departed this world. It is fitting, then, that the modern church has set apart the month of November to remember and pray for the persecuted church, through the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).

There are many countries in the world today where Christians are martyred for their faith. Believers in Afghanistan are facing death threats; Christians in Uzbekistan, Nigeria and many other countries all around the world face violence, imprisonment and even death. There are other places in the world such as North Korea where acts of persecution take place, but we don’t see or hear of it. Brother Andrew of Open Doors once said, “Our heroes are not with us simply because they are in prison.”

We invite you to explore this website and hope you will join Christians worldwide in praying for persecuted Christians this November.

Please note that while Sunday, November 13 (Sunday, November 6 in the UK and Ireland) is the designated date for IDOP, you are free to choose another date if you wish.

(reposted from http://www.idop.org/)

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A Gift of a Penny Leads 1500 People to Christ

About a century ago, a dear Christian lady began preparations to send a box of goods and supplies to missionaries from her church. A neighborhood child heard of her project and desired to help. But being only a small child, she had very little that would be useful to the missionaries. The child did have a penny, however—a gift from a favorite uncle—which she cheerfully presented to the dear lady to help her friends on the mission field.

Touched by the child’s heartfelt generosity and not wanting to offend her in spite of her small gift, the lady graciously accepted the penny. But the child’s gift was too small to purchase supplies and the lady was uncertain how she could put it to good use. Then an idea occurred to her, and she used the child’s penny to purchase a single gospel tract.

On the day when all the necessary supplies had been gathered, the lady asked the child to help her prepare the box for shipment. One by one, the lady and the child packed the items, being careful to include the gospel tract purchased with the child’s penny. The box was finally sealed and addressed, and together the lady and the small child took it to the post office to be shipped to their friends halfway around the world.

Some weeks later, the box reached the missionaries, who joyously unpacked it. The supplies it held brought sweet relief to their modest circumstances. Near the bottom of the box, the missionaries discovered the gospel tract, which they soon gave to one of the local people.

The tract was passed among the people, eventually reaching a great chief who lived in a nearby region. Intrigued by its message, but unsure of its meaning, the chief called for the missionaries to come and explain the teachings. They came and began to share the gospel, and in time the chief accepted Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. The chief told the story of his conversion to his people, many of whom also believed. Eventually a church was established and over fifteen hundred people were brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

This remarkable story, started by a gift of a child’s penny that culminated in the salvation of many souls, marvelously demonstrates the power our gifts can have on the work of the Kingdom.

(reposted from Henry M. Morris IV, Acceptable Gifts of Power, Acts & Facts, October 2011, Institute for Creation Research)

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"Living Fossils" - another Bait and Switch Evolutionary concept

The term "living fossil" was coined by Charles Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species.  It is used to describe species that have survived for millions of years, exploiting niches that are so stable that there is little pressure on them to evolve.

Another living fossil announced recently is a “primitive” looking eel found swimming in a cave on Palau in the Pacific Ocean. According to Physorg.com, "it is astonishingly similar to the first eels that swam some 200 million years ago, biologists reported."

Evolutionists love to have it both ways.Their theory supposedly explains extreme diversification, even exploiting multiple simultaneous evolutionary paths to produce similar organisms. But when it is convenient, they bring out the "living fossils" idea to explain away extreme stability in pockets that have been somehow isolated for millions of years. It is explaining opposite things with equal ease. Therefore, the idea of “living fossils” explains nothing.

Stop letting Darwinists get away with these bait and switch word games!

(based on David Coppedge, Living Fossils Rise from the Dead, Creation Evolution Headlines, also published in Creation Matters, a publication of Creation Research Society, Volume 16, Number 4, July/August 2011, to appear at http://www.creationresearch.org/creation_matters/pdf/2011/CM16%2004%20low%20res.pdf)

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The Witness in the Mosque

From a Muslim woman who gave her life to Jesus: "Islam says if you change your religion you can't go to heaven. This makes everybody frightened. But Iranians are looking for God. They hate Islam and they hate the government. Seeing the results of this system they are depressed. Everybody is serious faced. They are under such pressure. When they hear about Jesus and see our happy faces or the happy color of a scarf we wear, like red, yellow or white, they are surprised and want to know why. The happiness, joy and kindness Jesus brings to people who accept him draw others to them.

"Before we go out to tell people about Christ, we pray and ask God to show us who really needs God and loves God, and God shows us which people to speak to.

"I have gone into the mosque about a dozen times. There the women must sit behind a divider and cannot see the men. We must all wear our black chador in the mosque. I take gospel tracts with me, and I sit there on the rug among the women and ask God if he will show someone to me. In one mosque they had a library. I put a Bible in the library. The next time I went, they were searching all the bags of the women as we went in. On Tuesday when I go to the mosque, we give the leaders a prayer request. I print a small note about Jesus, fold it up and hand it back to them.

"With the personality God has given me, I do nor fear at all. Nothing is more important for me in these times."

(from Voice of the Martyrs, October 2011 prayer letter)

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I'll Reconcile IF...

An attitude that is often heard: "'I'll reconcile IF ... "

Where would we be now if God had held us to his own standard of holiness before entering into relationship with us? Where would Abraham be, or Peter? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? We are not only positive toward reconciliation; we have to pursue reconciliation. To make the first move, as God did and still does. Love is not about principles, love is in our hearts and minds, and shows in the way we act.

(Jamie Hilsden, Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, LCJE Bulletin, September 2011)

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