Christians and the Environment

Yesterday, Earth Day was recognized globally. How should a Christian relate to the environment? When God made man, He gave man the responsibility of having dominion over the environment: “And God blessed them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth,” Genesis 1:28.

 However, dominion does not imply domination or wanton destruction. Man is to assume the role of a caretaker, carefully managing all aspects of the environment and how they relate to one another. We are to realize that God created all we need to sustain life on the planet, and He clothed His creation with beauty so that we might appreciate both the creation and its Creator. We are also to remember that the ability of creation to meet our needs is often limited, and we are to observe those limits. For example, in the Mosaic Law, God provided that the land should have rested one year out of seven, so the nutrients could replenish themselves. Anything that grew by itself in that year was reserved for the poor people and the animals (Exodus 23:10-11).

 After Noah’s flood, God gave man the right to use animals for food (Genesis 9:3). This, too, carries with it the responsibility to allow animals to reproduce in order to serve the needs of further generations of mankind. Several hundred years ago, millions of bison, or buffalo, roamed the open land of the western United States. When setters arrived, they killed these animals in what could only be called a wholesale slaughter and almost reduced them to extinction. By the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,000 were left. Fortunately, steps were taken to preserve this species.

 As life has become more complex in modern times with massive urbanization and industrialization, the challenges involving our stewardship of the planet have become more complex as well. Man-made pollution from automobiles, factories, and chemicals can, left unchecked, affect the land, sea, and air around them, and the wildlife that lives therein. As population increases, so does rubbish, while the areas available for its disposal shrink proportionally. Man has again responded to the challenge by implementing pollution controls, establishing recycling programs, and so on.

 Finally, it should be mentioned that environmentalism can be taken to a dangerous extreme. Some people advocate a “live and let live” approach to the environment that would allow any and all creatures to reproduce unhindered. This does not constitute wise stewardship of the environment. Extreme environmentalism can also be taken to replacing God and worshipping His creation instead.

 Until the day of Christ’s return, may we be good stewards of the world God has entrusted to us: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away,” Revelation 21:1,4.

United Nations Preparing to Create List of ‘LGBT Hate Groups’

A conservative group is warning that the United Nations is preparing to compile a list of “LGBT hate groups” that could be used as a “blacklist” to punish groups and organizations that subscribe to traditional beliefs about gender and sexuality.

 According to the Center for Family and Human Rights, “the UN rights office is collecting the names of anyone who opposes the LGBT agenda in any way.” The report addresses the contents of a “call for input to a thematic report” on the topic of “gender, sexual orientation and gender identity.”

 Issued by Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the United Nations’ independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, the call for input requests information on individual nation-states’ actions regarding issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in addition to asking for information about groups that oppose the idea that “the meanings attached to sex (and other) differences are socially created.” In other words, Madrigal-Borloz is seeking information about which organizations within a particular country subscribe to the idea that there are only two genders. He begins the call for input by noting that “many States have adopted gender as a key concept in laws and policies aimed at protecting women and LGBT persons against violence and discrimination.”

 He laments the fact that “within multilateral and regional organizations, among other fora, there are currently narratives that, under different lines of characterization (including the accusation of so-called ‘gender ideology’), seek to eliminate the gender framework from international human rights law instruments and processes, and national legislative and policy documents.”

 The stated purpose of the impending report is to “document how these narratives are being used to fuel violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and their particular impact on sexual and reproductive rights.” Madrigal-Borloz seeks responses from “States, regional and national human rights institutions, non-governmental organization, UN agencies, academic institutions, local governments and other relevant stakeholders.”

 The first four questions he seeks answers to deal with actions taken by individual states to establish definitions of gender, establish policies “aiming to address violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” establish databases detailing forms of violence and discrimination against LGBT people, and teach comprehensive sexuality education. The remaining questions ask about narratives that exist surrounding gender and sexuality within specific countries. These questions cause the Center for Family and Human Rights particular concern: “Are there examples where the concept of gender has been used in religious narratives or narratives of tradition, traditional values or protection of the family to hinder the adoption of legislative policy measures aimed at addressing or eradicating violence and discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity?” they ask.

 Additional questions ask about whether “‘gender ideology,’ ‘genderism’ or other gender-related concepts have been used to introduce retrogressive measures, in particular but not limited to LGBT communities,” and if there have been “initiatives taken by States in connection with the right to freedom of religion, belief or conscience (including the figure of conscientious objection) that have had the practical impact of limiting the enjoyment of human rights (including sexual and reproductive rights) of LGBT persons.”

 The Center for Family and Human Rights warns that “the UN LGBT czar appears to be adopting the approach of the Southern Poverty Law Center, of creating a list of ‘hate groups.’” The group noted that Madrigal-Borloz had previously urged states to “take decisive action” against “representatives of churches and faith-based groups” that “infringe on the rights of LGBT persons” using “hate speech.”

This is yet another example of officials targeting people of faith for their religious beliefs.

 PRAY: Pray for officials to allow people of faith to continue to hold traditional religious beliefs on sexuality without fear of repercussions.

American Church Membership Drops Below 50% for First Time in 80 Years

While America remains a highly religious nation with seven in 10 claiming affiliation with some kind of organized religion, for the first time in nearly 80 years, fewer than half of them now say they have formal membership, a new Gallup analysis. In 1937, says Gallup, when they first measured formal membership in houses of worship, some 70% of Americans had formal church membership and that measure remained steady for the next 60 years until it began a steady decline in 1998. In 2020, formal membership in houses of worship stood at 49%.

The Washington, D.C.-based analytics and advisory company was able to highlight several factors for the decline through responses from more than 6,000 U.S. adults each time across three-year aggregates from 1998 to 2000, 2008 to 2010, and 2018 to 2020 when formal membership in houses of worship first dipped below 50%.

One of the biggest factors Gallup found strongly correlates with church membership is age. Some 66% of traditionalists — U.S. adults born before 1946 — have formal membership in a church, compared with 58% of Baby Boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials. Current but limited data on members of Gen Zers who've already reached adulthood suggest their church membership rate is similar to millennials.

The analysis also pointed to the growing number of Americans who express no religious preference. In the last 20 years, the share of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998 to 2000 to 21% in the last three years. Only 4% of people from this group said they held formal membership in a church, synagogue or mosque. Between 1998 and 2000 that figure was 10%.

“While it is possible that part of the decline seen in 2020 was temporary and related to the coronavirus pandemic, continued decline in future decades seems inevitable, given the much lower levels of religiosity and church membership among younger versus older generations of adults,” wrote Gallup Senior Editor Jeffrey M. Jones. “Churches are only as strong as their membership and are dependent on their members for financial support and service to keep operating. Because it is unlikely that people who do not have a religious preference will become church members, the challenge for church leaders is to encourage those who do affiliate with a specific faith to become formal, and active, church members,” he added.

Among religious groups, Catholics suffered the steepest decline over the periods measured dropping from 76% to 58%. Protestants fell 9% from 73% to 64%. The data also showed that declining church membership in the last two decades was greater among Eastern residents and Democrats.

Political conservatives, Republicans, married adults and college graduates experienced lower declines and tended to have higher rates of church membership, along with Southern residents and non-Hispanic black adults, Gallup said.

In his analysis of data from the General Social Survey of five-year windows in which individuals were born spanning from 1965 to 1984 and published by the Barna Group in 2019, Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and pastor of First Baptist Church of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, showed that younger generations raised in the church weren’t typically returning to church when compared with members of the “Baby boomer” generation born between 1945 and 1964. For anyone concerned with church growth, Burge says, “this should sound an alarm.”

“Many pastors are standing at the pulpit on Sunday morning and seeing fewer and fewer of their former youth group members returning to the pews when they move into their late-20s and early-30s. No church should assume that this crucial part of the population is going to return to active membership as their parents once did,” he explained. “The data is speaking a clear message: the assumptions that undergirded church growth from two decades ago no longer apply. If churches are sitting back and just waiting for all their young people to flood back in as they move into their 30s, they are likely in for a rude awakening. Inaction now could be creating a church that does not have a strong future,” he added. While this falling away from the faith should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention to American culture, the numerical data does show that Christianity is on a significant downward slope in America.

Pray- Pray that God will send revival to America and that the nation will turn back to God.

No Place for God in American Politics?

The Declaration of Independence specifically cites “the Creator” as the source of human rights. However, many politicians are now claiming the there is no place for God in American politics. Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York chastised one of his colleagues for mentioning God and the Bible during the House debate over the Equality Act, saying: “God’s will is no concern of this Congress.”

 Rep. Greg Stuebe, R-Fla., said in his remarks on the House floor that the Equality Act is in opposition to Scripture. “The gender confusion that exists in our culture today is a clear rejection of God’s good design. Whenever a nation’s laws no longer reflect the standards of God, that nation is in rebellion against Him and will inevitably bear the consequences,” Stuebe said. “And I think we are seeing the consequences of rejecting God in our country today. And this bill speaks directly against what is laid out in Scripture,” he declared.

 The Equality Act passed in the House by a vote of 224-206 with only three Republicans joining Democrats in voting for the measure. Among the most contested aspects of the bill is the enshrinement of sexual orientation and gender identity as categories in civil rights law.

 The bill is an update of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that is considered by many to be the legislative legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 Steube previously introduced legislation to protect women’s sports and amendments to similar legislation that was being considered by the House, but all were voted down by Democrats. He reintroduced an amendment to ensure Title IX protections for women’s sports earlier this year.

 In his response to Steube on the House floor, Nadler said: “Mr. Steube, what any religious tradition ascribes as God’s will is no concern of this Congress.” This is a far cry from the type of language used by the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, or even Ronald Reagan.

 The 500-plus page Equality Act adds gender identity as a protected category in nondiscrimination law. That term, which is frequently used by media and transgender activists, refers to an “internal sense” of one’s gender.

 Opposition to the bill has manifested from across the political spectrum. Both conservative-leaning women and left-wing radical feminists have maintained that simultaneously protecting sex and gender identity within the law is impossible because gender identity has, unlike sex, no material meaning.

 Enshrining the concept into federal law would destroy women’s sports and other sex-segregated spaces such as shelters for women escaping domestic violence, rape crisis centers, and any other entity that receives federal dollars, opponents have warned.

 The Equality Act also forbids use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 law that was passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis and signed into law by former President Bill Clinton to provide religious exemptions. Now, Bill Clinton’s own party is trying to take away these very protections.

 CJV Vice President Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld added that Nadler had “unmasked” the true nature of the proposed law. “Far from valuing diverse opinions and beliefs, it tramples free exercise of religion and even demonizes free speech. Reading the Bible in public, per the Equality Act, could be called an exercise in bigotry and grounds for a ‘discrimination’ complaint. Without question, the true bigots here are those who support deliberate attacks upon the cherished beliefs of others,” Schonfeld said.

 The political left wants to eliminate all traditional held beliefs, including anyone who holds to the beliefs of traditional Christianity as outlined in the Bible. We must stand firm on our beliefs and trust God’s Word.

 PRAY: Pray this push by the left will be defeated and America will again care about God’s input in our lives.

Current News Update

Christian Adoption Agency Changes Policy

 Based in Michigan, Bethany Christian Services is the largest Christian adoption agency in the United States with operations in 32 states. They recently expanded their services to include “Christians with diverse beliefs,” now placing children with LGBT couples for foster care and adoption.

 Many evangelical and Christian leaders are disappointed in what is perceived as Bethany’s capitulation to the government rather than traditional Christian beliefs.

 Jim Daly, head of Focus on the Family, tweeted that “Bethany Christian Services should not have to choose between holding to their deeply held religious convictions and serving children and families. No government should tell any ministry how to run their ministry, let alone violate deeply held biblical principles.” 

Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote “Children need a dad and a mom in a healthy, biblical home. God’s Word is clear.”

Xavier Becerra Confirmed by Senate as Health Secretary

 In a 50-49 vote, last week the U.S. Senate voted to confirm California’s attorney general Xavier Becerra, head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). One Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, joined Democrats in support of his confirmation (Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii did not vote).

 Becerra is radically pro-abortion. He sued Little Sisters of the Poor -- Catholic nuns – to force their health care plan to pay for contraception which goes against their deeply held religious beliefs. Along with Vice President Kamala Harris, Becerra prosecuted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for their investigation of Planned Parenthood and the sale of aborted babies’ body parts. He attacked pro-life pregnancy centers attempting to force them to promote government-mandated messaging on abortion inside their facilities and in their advertising. Becerra also “successfully” led the fight through appeals to reinstate California’s law legalizing assisted suicide.

 Last year, along with 15 other attorneys general, Becerra called on the Trump administration and the HHS to end its research ban on fetal tissue to aid the US’s medical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not a stretch to believe that now he is head of the HHS, this will be reinstated as well. He is hardly the moderate nominee put forward by President Joe Biden.

Abortion and the Equality Act

 While it is noted that the Equality Act will expand LGBTQ+ protections at the expense of religious freedom, there are provisions in the act to boost the abortion industry. Refusing to participate in an abortion could qualify as sex discrimination because of the way the Equality Act has drafted a new definition to include abortion as a medical condition.

 The Equality Act would also eliminate protections for pro-life individuals and entities from participating in practices that violate their sincere moral, ethical, or religious convictions. This act considers disagreements about fundamental moral and religious beliefs to be discrimination. Health care providers, hospitals and health insurance plans could be discriminating on the basis of sex if they refused to perform, allow or cover abortions.

Catholic Clergy May Not Bless Same-Sex Unions

 Earlier this month, the Vatican responded to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless same-sex unions by releasing a formal document stating God “does not and cannot bless sin.”

 Approved by Pope Francis, a written answer clarifies that any sexual activity outside of marriage – an indissoluble union of a man and a woman – goes against God’s design. Since gay unions are not intended to be a part of that plan, they cannot be blessed by the church.

 The article reinforced that the church would welcome and bless gay people, treating them with respect, compassion, sensitivity and without discrimination.

Israeli Elections

 At the time of this writing, Benjamin [Bibi] Netanyahu does not have enough support to form a right-wing majority government. The Israeli election consisted of 13 different parties passing a threshold to hold seats in the Knesset. Each party will join with others in forming coalitions.  

The pro-Netanyahu coalition needs 61 seats to form a government, but it looks like they will only have 52 solid seats. The anti-Netanyahu coalition has only 50 seats.  

Joel Rosenburg writes in the All Israel News that “all eyes are on an obscure Arab-Israeli political leader named Mansour Abbas and his Ra’am party.” Ra’am, an Islamist political party, is Israel’s equivalent of the Muslim Brotherhood. “Now Netanyahu has a huge decision to make – will he try to persuade Abbas to join his team? If he does, and is successful, that could, in theory, give Bibi 64 seats,” said Rosenburg.   

Continue to pray for the uncertain leadership and continued political gridlock in Israel.

Rise in Christians Killed Worldwide in 2020

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

Romans 8:35

In their annual report, Open Doors USA, a Christian persecution watchdog group, noted that in 2020 there continued a global rise in persecution and repression of the Church. The report revealed a 60% increase in believers killed due to Islamic violence against Nigerian Christians as well as anti-Christian governments around the world using COVID-19 restrictions to persecute Christians.

“This past year 2020 has been a year of uncertainty and fear. We’ve been all fighting a virus that we cannot see with the naked eye. Less known but equally as viral has been the discrimination, isolation and violence against Christians by using COVID-19 as a leverage and as justification,” Open Doors President and CEO David Curry stated.

In Nigeria, over 2,200 Christians were murdered by radical Islamists. This number makes up slightly less than half of the 4,761 Christians killed for their faith worldwide, according to Open Doors statistics. Most of the Christians killed in 2020 gave up their lives to extremist groups, not governments, Curry said. “Extremists […] are emboldened by government weakened by COVID-19 restrictions, knowing that they can steal food and medical supplies from already embattled Christian communities around the world,” he continued.

Violence by Islamists in Nigeria amounts to genocide, Curry said. Attacks have spilled over into neighboring countries. Across Africa, even countries with sizable Christian majorities like Mozambique and Burkina Faso have suffered from Islamic persecution. It only takes a few extremists to commit violence against Christians.

Other persecution hotspots around the globe include China and India, Open Doors announced. In China, the Communist Party has cracked down on Christians by using surveillance technology. In the last year, it has integrated its social credit and video security system, enabling it to track its people and punish them for attending church.

In India, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has encouraged persecution of Christians by sanctioning Hindu extremism, Open Doors research found. The party has told its nation that only Hindus are truly Indian. Political leaders have discouraged police from responding to attacks on Christians.

“I put the responsibility at the feet of the ruling party, the BJP, which is very nationalistic. Their message to the population has been, ‘we want India to be a Hindu nation,’” said Curry. “I have a strong belief that if most Indian citizens knew what was happening in these Christian communities they would vote for different people.”

In many countries, Christians lose their jobs because of COVID-19. Then, governments refuse to provide aid to believers and employers don’t hire them back. It looks like more suffering caused by COVID-19, but it’s a quiet persecution. “In the northeast of Nigeria, Christians have been reporting only 15% of the emergency rations that others have gotten. COVID has clearly affected all of us around the world, yet for some their faith has made them more vulnerable,” Curry noted.

For the first time, every country in Open Doors’ list of the top 50 persecutors has very high or extreme levels of persecution. And, it seems that this trend will likely continue.

“The embedded forces that are driving these scores up, religious extremists, Hindu extremism in Nepal, Hindu extremism in India, the Islamic extremist groups which we most recognize as ISIS or al Qaeda, that’s an ideology that does not need a territory. When ISIS was conquered, that cancer has metastasized around the world. That trend is growing in strength. You also have governments now who have the ability to use surveillance to watch private behavior,” said Curry. “Christians face the most persecution worldwide because they are the largest minority faith in many countries.”

PRAY: Pray for the persecuted church throughout the world as many put their lives on the line every day for the cause of Christ.

Danish Christian Leaders Fear Proposed Sermon Law Will Harm All Faiths

Christian leaders in Denmark fear that a draft law aimed at monitoring the growth of Islamic extremism would restrict their religious freedom because it would require all sermons to be translated and submitted to the government. The Danish government says the proposed law, which is scheduled to be reviewed this month in parliament, is required to curb Islamic extremism because imams in mosques deliver their sermons in Arabic, not Danish, according to La Croix International.

CBN News quoted sources as saying that churches had been included in the measure because Europe likes to be politically correct and cannot put restrictions only on mosques. There are about 270,000 Muslims in Denmark. The law would seek to “enlarge the transparency of religious events and sermons in Denmark when these are given in a language other than Danish,” according to The Guardian, which also reported that the Church of England’s bishop in Europe, Robert Innes, has expressed his concerns in a letter to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who’s from the Social Democratic Party.

“I am sure it comes from a genuine concern about the security of the estate and the monitoring of all religious minorities who might be perceived as a security risk,” Innes told the British newspaper. “I share the ambition of the Danish government to ensure safety and security and the desire that all religious organizations in Denmark conduct their act peacefully but to require translation of sermons into the national language goes too far. It goes in a concerning anti-liberal direction.”

Innes further explained that not all Christian clergy prepare the full text of their sermons and may prefer to write just some notes. “They might preach extempore as the archbishop of Canterbury sometimes does and there are questions of idiom and nuance which requires a high level of skill in translation of course. It is a high bar. It is a skilled art and it is an expensive skill as well.”

Thomas B. Mikkelsen, chairman of Evangelical Alliance Denmark, argued that “radical groups tend to establish themselves on the margins, in a parallel society, and never apply for official recognition. I do not think a new law will affect them in any way,” according to Evangelical Focus Europe. “The law will have negative consequences for many religious groups, such as evangelicals, moderate Muslims, and other officially recognized communities who now have to spend time and money on translations,” Mikkelsen added. “I do not consider the law a direct breach of international standards on freedom of religion or belief, but it is still a significant step in the wrong direction.”

German-speaking churches, which have been using their language in churches for eight centuries in Denmark, are also concerned. “There is much concern,” Rajah Scheepers, the main pastor of German-speaking St. Petri church in Copenhagen, was quoted as saying. “We do not only hold services on Sundays, but also baptisms, weddings and funerals, throughout the week. It is not realistic to expect that we simultaneously translate all these gatherings or that we translate them in advance.”

Roman Catholics are also opposed to the proposal. “All church congregations, free church congregations, Jewish congregations, everything we have here in Denmark — 40 different religious communities — will be placed under general suspicion by this law... Something is happening here which is undermining democracy,” General Secretary of the Nordic Bishops Conference, Anna Mirijam Kaschne, was quoted as saying.

However, “there appears little likelihood of a Danish backlash, if this bill becomes law, because it affects so few citizens,” wrote the Rev. Ben Johnson, on Action Institute Powerblog. “Nearly three out of every four Danes (72%) say religion is ‘not too’ or ‘not at all’ important in their lives,” Johnson, executive editor of the Acton Institute’s Religion & Liberty journal, pointed out. “Only 68% of Danes who call themselves Christians believe in God, according to the Pew Research Center. Regular church attendance plummets to the single digits.” If this becomes the norm in Denmark, it could easily spread to other European countries. It also creates a slippery slope in which the state could require all pastors to submit their sermons for “government approval”.

Pray- Pray that safeguards will be in place for religious liberty to continue to exist in Denmark and Western Europe.

Pro-Life News

During his first few weeks in office, President Joe Biden reversed key pro-life victories of the Trump administration. With the stroke of his pen, he pulled the United States from the Geneva Consensus, reversed the Mexico City policy, and nominated pro-abortion California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The U.S., under former HHS Secretary Alex Azar, led a total of 35 countries in opposing the United Nations’ stance that abortion is a human right. The Geneva Consensus Declaration states there is no international right to abortion and aimed to “achieve better health for women, preserve human life, strengthen the family, and defend countries’ right to set their own policies to protect babies.”

The Mexico City policy was enacted back in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan to prevent U.S. government funds from supporting foreign family planning organizations that provide abortions. Former President Trump expanded this policy to block funds from all global health organizations that offer abortions. Since Reagan, every Republican administration had implemented the policy and every Democratic administration has reversed it.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is radically pro-abortion. He sued Little Sisters of the Poor -- Catholic nuns – to force their health care plan to pay for contraception which goes against their deeply held religious beliefs. Along with Vice President Kamala Harris, Becerra led the prosecution of David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for their investigation of Planned Parenthood and the sale of aborted babies’ body parts. He also attempted to force pro-life pregnancy centers to promote abortion as part of the services they discussed.

State Abortion Legislation:

Last week, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed the Fetal Heartbeat Bill into law banning the abortion of a baby with a detectable and audible heartbeat. Planned Parenthood has already filed a lawsuit and a federal court has granted a two-week temporary restraining order to stop enforcement of the bill. A hearing over the lawsuit is scheduled for March 9.

Almost a dozen other states have similar bills and have also faced court battles preventing all of them from taking effect. Pro-life advocates believe one of these laws will make its way before the Supreme Court and will force a challenge to Roe v. Wade. South Carolina State Attorney General Alan Wilson said, “we believe the Heartbeat Law is constitutional and deserves a vigorous defense to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.”

Many pray that by going before the Supreme Court, the justices would reconsider the standard for legal abortion which is usually viability outside of the womb and make it the development of a heartbeat. The human heart begins to beat between 16 to 22 days post-fertilization. At this age, the baby already has eyes, a brain and lungs beginning to form.

Legislatures in New Mexico have voted to approve Senate Bill 10 which would ensure abortion is legal up until birth in the state, even if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has said she will sign it immediately when it comes before her.

And finally, both houses of the Virginia General Assembly have passed a bill overturning a state ban on taxpayer-funded abortions in the plans offered on the state’s health care exchange. It is expected to be signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam immediately. Northam is a pediatric neurologist and is extremely pro-abortion. Previously he has made statements suggesting support of infanticide. He has already removed restrictions which allow nurses and physician assistants to commit abortions, many safety regulations, as well as the 24-hour waiting period.

Pray: Continue to pray against the evil of abortion. Pray for a change of heart for our president and his administration. Investigate and stay up to date with what is going on in your state with regards to abortion restrictions or de-regulation efforts. Pray for and support your local pregnancy centers as they give aid to women facing unplanned pregnancies.

Israeli Government Dissolves, New Elections on the Way

Israel’s divided government collapsed last year on December 23, thus triggering a need for the country’s fourth election in under two years. The next election will be held on March 23 and brings an unprecedented threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lengthy stay as prime minister.

Netanyahu finds himself confronted by a trio of disgruntled former aides who share his hard-line ideology, led by a popular lawmaker who recently broke away from the prime minister’s Likud party. Whether Netanyahu can fend off these challengers or not, the country is almost certain to be led by a right-wing politician opposed to concessions to the Palestinians, complicating hopes of the Biden administration to restart peace talks.

The prospects of Israel’s center-left bloc appear worse than in previous contests because its leader, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, entered the ill-fated alliance with Netanyahu. Gantz has lost the support of much of his disappointed base and the bloc has been left leaderless.

Netanyahu and Gantz formed their coalition last May after battling to a stalemate in three consecutive elections. They said they were putting aside their personal rivalry to form an “emergency” government focused on guiding the country through the health and economic crises caused by the pandemic. Under the deal, Gantz assumed the new role of “alternate prime minister” and was assured he would trade places with Netanyahu next November in a rotation agreement halfway through their term.

The immediate cause of the collapse was their failure to pass a budget. That caused the parliament to automatically dissolve and set new elections for late March. In the previous three elections, Netanyahu was unable to put together a majority coalition with his traditional religious and nationalist allies. Yet he controlled enough seats to prevent his opponents from cobbling together an alternate coalition.

According to recent opinion polls, that equation may be changing, with several rivals poised to control a parliamentary majority without him. Those rivals are led by Gideon Saar, a stalwart in Netanyahu’s Likud party who announced this month that he was breaking away and forming a new party. Saar, who once served as Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary, has accused the prime minister of turning the Likud into a “personality cult” focused on ensuring its leader’s political survival.

If elections were held today, Saar’s party would finish second behind the Likud, appearing to give him a veto over a Netanyahu-led government, according to polls. Saar has vowed he will not serve under Netanyahu.

Naftali Bennett, another former aide who had a falling out with Netanyahu, leads a religious right-wing party that also has surged in the polls. And Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff and a longtime Cabinet minister who now leads his own party, also says the prime minister is unfit to lead.

These rivalries are more personal than ideological, meaning Israel’s next government — led by Netanyahu or not — almost certainly will have a right-wing ideology that opposes Palestinian independence and supports continued Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. The recent polls indicate that Gantz, who appealed to left-wing voters in previous elections, may not receive enough votes to even enter the next Knesset.

Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, appears to be gaining some of those voters, but not enough to lead the next government, according to the polls. The left-wing Labor Party -- which established Israel and led the country for its first 30 years -- is not expected to cross the threshold of votes needed. The far-left Meretz party is expected to barely cross the threshold.

PRAY: Pray this election will not lead to greater instability in the region and for ultimately God’s will to be accomplished through the election.

China's Communist Leaders Fear Christian Population May Reach 300 Million by 2030

The prospect that China’s Christian community might reach a staggering 300 million people by 2030 has unnerved communist leaders who fear “they'll have to share power” as the Church increases in size and influence, according to Open Doors’ Ron Boyd-MacMillan. Boyd-MacMillan, director of Strategic Research, told the Express UK that the Chinese Communist Party, led by President Xi Jinping, is becoming increasingly concerned about the Christian population’s growth and is cracking down on religion as a result.

“We think the evidence as to why the Chinese Church is so targeted, is that the leaders are scared of the size of the Church and the growth of the Church,” Boyd-MacMillan said. “And if it grows at the rate that it has done since 1980, and that’s about between 7 [percent] and 8 percent a year, then you’re looking at a group of people that will be 300 million strong, nearly by 2030. And, you know, the Chinese leadership, they really do long term planning, I mean, their economic plan goes to 2049, so this bothers them. Because I think if the Church continues to grow like that, then they’ll have to share power.”

Open Doors ranks China at No. 17 on its World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted. The organization notes that while the Church is enjoying “strong growth,” life for Christians is anything but straightforward. The policy of “Sinicizing” the Church — or merging it with Chinese identity — is being implemented across the country as the CCP relies strongly on Chinese cultural identity to stay in power by limiting whatever it perceives as a threat to its control on society.

Churches are being monitored and closed across the country, whether they are underground or part of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the officially sanctioned Protestant church in China. The government has also imposed a ban on the online sale of Bibles.

China also uses high-tech surveillance to oppress and monitor believers. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens have been forced to hand over their personal details to the CCP, allowing government officials to increase their surveillance campaign.

The crackdown on religion isn’t isolated to Christians, however, as Uyghur Muslims, a community that resides mostly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, have been subject to mass internment, forced labor, and forced sterilization at the hands of the CCP. In response, the former Trump administration accused the Chinese government of human rights violations and issued sanctions on CCP members.

“After careful examination of the available facts, I have determined that since at least March 2017, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), under the direction and control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has committed crimes against humanity against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other members of ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang,” then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement released on Jan. 19, which the Biden administration has since removed. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki did not answer whether the Biden administration would maintain the Trump administration’s declaration that China is committing genocide against its Uyghur population. Psaki told reporters at a press briefing that Biden has “spoken before to the horrific treatment” of Uyghurs, but she will “check” what the Biden administration's policy will be, RCP reported.

In efforts to strengthen adherence to the CCP and stifle dissent, China’s government imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in June. Since then, multiple pro-democracy activists have been arrested, and some sentenced to jail, accused of violating the national security law and subverting state power.

Pray- Pray for the continued growth of the Christian movement in China and for protection from persecution for our fellow believers.

Covid-19 Leads to Increase in Bible Reading and Online Sermon Viewing

While 2020 was an extremely difficult year with the coronavirus, on positive outcome to come from the increase strain and pandemic is that bible reading and online sermon viewing increased through the pandemic. Bible sales increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to LifeWay Christian Resources, one of the world’s largest providers of Christian books and educational material. Carol Pipes of LifeWay told CBN News that Bible sales have “remained strong since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S.” in April and increased through June.

The company’s CEO, Ben Mandrell, added that the increase in Bible sales is no accident, as people often go to the Bible as a source of hope in times of crisis and uncertainty. People draw hope from Scripture because in it they see a God who is with us during our suffering. The Bible, as God’s words to us, is a reminder that He doesn’t leave us to walk through difficult times alone,” he said.

Fellow faith-based publisher Tyndale House Publishers said they also saw an increase in Bible sales amid the pandemic. This includes their Life Application Study Bible sales going up 44% and sales of the Immerse Bible going up 60%, according to Jim Jewell, an executive at Tyndale. Jewell said he believed concerns over the pandemic “has upended almost everyone’s lives in some way. It’s not surprising that people turn to the comfort and clarity of the Bible in times of trouble and uncertainty,” he said, adding that social media engagement for Tyndale was also growing. “On [our Facebook page for the] New Living Translation, where we post Bible verse memes, engagement was triple what it was last March and up 72% from just last month.”

In April, book sales data provider Nielsen BookScan revealed that biblical and liturgical texts had been rapidly climbing the charts. The group said the increase in purchases was an “unusual pattern in comparison to the same period in recent years.” Nielsen cited the closure of churches as a factor, adding that “perhaps people are turning to scripture for comfort in these abnormal and melancholy times ... or perhaps people are curious as to whether the coronavirus is prophesied in Revelations.”

David Jeremiah, senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, and host of the radio program “Turning Point,” said that ever since the shutdown began, viewership of his online services has dramatically skyrocketed. “The church is alive and well and maybe more responsive now that I can ever remember except for the possible exception of 9/11,” he said.

“What we’ve learned from all of this is God doesn’t need a building for there to be a church. I’m preaching right now to more people than I have ever preached to my life,” he said, adding that a sermon he delivered in which he addressed whether COVID-19 is mentioned in biblical prophecy received over 1 million views on YouTube. We’ve never had anything on YouTube get that kind of traction,’ When everything in which we have trusted is taken away and we are left with ourselves, we have to ask the hard questions. ‘If this is it, what happens to me now?’ There’s a renewed interest in the Gospel and a desire to know what the Bible has to say. Is this the beginning of a revival? This may not be a revival in the truest sense of the Great Awakening, but I believe we are seeing an online revival” said Jeremiah.

While the pandemic is “frightening” and “frustrating” for many people, Jeremiah stressed that God is clearly in the midst of it all, adding: “He is with us wherever we are. You don’t have to be in a crowd to have God. You just need a quiet moment.”

PRAY: Pray this renewed emphasis on the Bible and on the things of God will continue this year, even after the effects of the pandemic have subsided.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day

Days before leaving office, President Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation recognizing today as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. This directive began by declaring: “Every human life is a gift to the world. Whether born or unborn, young or old, healthy or sick, every person is made in the holy image of God. The Almighty Creator gives unique talents, beautiful dreams, and a great purpose to every person.”

This year marks the 48th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade which made abortion a national right. Due to rising political tensions and Covid-19 concerns, the annual March for Life held in Washington D.C. has moved to a virtual event on January 29. We encourage everyone to take time over the next week to intercede for our country and to pray for the protection of the unborn.

NBC News is reporting that newly sworn-in President Joe Biden plans to do a sweeping rollback of the Trump-era abortion policies. “We have a ton of work to do to undo the harm over the last four years, but knowing we have champions there who understand what needs to happen in the first 100 days is tremendously exciting,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood.

Biden has indicated he will rescind the Mexico City Policy which bars foreign organizations that receive U.S. family planning assistance from providing information, referrals, or services for abortions. He also plans to restore Title X money to clinics such as Planned Parenthood that provide abortions or refer people to abortion providers.

Also in discussion is the revival of the contraceptive coverage mandate which forced employers to cover birth control and emergency contraceptives -- abortifacients that kill a newly formed embryo. The Hyde Amendment will be revisited as well. This amendment bars federal taxpayer dollars from being used for abortions, except in the case of incest, rape, or medical necessity.

In 2020 during Covid-19 lockdowns, we saw a debate rage whether state governments could classify abortion procedures as elective or essential. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia deemed abortion an essential medical procedure and made exceptions for abortion facilities to continue. Eleven other states instituted restrictions, calling abortion elective. Judges ultimately blocked those orders, resulting in most states lifting restrictions.

 However, Operation Rescue, a pro-life group, proclaims Missouri as the first “abortion-free state” in the U.S. Their report, The Status of American Abortion Facilities in 2020, out last week confirms, “a total of 45 abortion facilities closed or halted abortions nationwide in 2020, leaving one state without an active abortion facility.”

“Reproductive Health Services Planned Parenthood in St. Louis was the last abortion facility in Missouri. It remains open, but Operation Rescue has confirmed that no abortion appointments have been available there for months, and none are available anytime in the foreseeable future.”

What can we do today? We do not know the challenges we will face in the coming year, but we can support mothers and fathers. We can speak for the unborn through our votes, in our churches, in our communities and with our families.

 PRAY: Pray for God to bend the hearts of judges and elected officials to protect the unborn. Pray for other states to follow Missouri’s lead. Pray and work for ways in your community to create a culture of life!

Jupiter and Saturn: The Christmas “Kiss”

During this year’s winter solstice, on December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will look like one brilliant star. Called a conjunction by astronomers, the two largest planets in our solar system will align just in time for Christmas. It has been since the Middle Ages when these planets were so close. Dr. Brad Tucker, an astronomer from the Australian National University, called it the Christmas “kiss.”

 Patrick Hartigan, Rice University astronomer and professor of physics and astronomy, wrote: “Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another. You’d have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.”

 On a clear night, you can already see the planets inching closer to one another. Between December 16 and 25, look to the western sky about an hour after sunset. However, on December 21, Tucker says to look for “a thin crescent moon and two bright objects right next to it.”

 How does this relate to the Star of Bethlehem?

 When the Wise Men came to Jerusalem, they asked:

 “… Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him,” Matthew 2:2.

 The appearance of this star is the fulfillment of a prophecy in the Old Testament made by Balaam, an apostate prophet who was forced to speak as the Lord commanded him. He said:

 “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…,” Numbers 24:17.

 In other words, in the distant future (from the prophet’s standpoint), a ruler will come from Israel, and His arrival will be signaled by the appearance of a star. Jesus’ birth fulfilled this prophecy. 

When the Wise Men indicated they had seen this star “in the east,” this phrase came from a Greek word meaning “in the rising.” This word refers to the visibility of a star or a planet on the horizon just before the sun rises or after it sets. 

Over the years, many have speculated about the identity of this star. Some have suggested it could have been a comet (a moving body with a long, luminous tail) or a nova or super nova (a flaring or exploding star). There is no evidence that anyone, but these Wise Men, had noticed it or given it any consideration, so these possibilities are somewhat lacking in credibility. 

What is more possible is a planetary conjunction – the alignment of two or more planets, or of a planet and a star. This would have produced the appearance of a body somewhat brighter than normal, but not as intense as a comet or nova. Only those skilled in astronomy, as the Wise Men probably were, would have noticed it. 

We know Jesus must have been born no later than 4 BC, because that is the year in which King Herod died. Herod obviously had his interaction with the Wise Men before then and responded by the slaughter of the innocent children of Bethlehem, also a fulfillment of prophecy (Matthew 2:16-18). 

Although the dates cannot be verified precisely, it is interesting that astronomers have determined there were three conjunctions of the planet Jupiter and the star Regulus in the first few years BC, and a conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus in the same time frame. It is possible it is one of these phenomena the Wise Men observed. 

We cannot dispute the miraculous. It is quite possible God made a special star visible for a time, prompting the Wise Men’s interest and response. They were obviously familiar with the Hebrew Scripture foretelling of this star, and, though their journey was long, they responded by being among the first Gentile worshippers of the King of the Jews. 

There is just one week until Christmas. During this time, may we pause and reflect on the prophecies foretold and the prophecies fulfilled by Christ’s birth. If the sky is clear where you live, try to view the Christmas “kiss”, the planetary alignment of Jupitar and Saturn on December 21.

Being Thankful in Troubled Times

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run,

and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Are you weary with all that is going on in America today? As followers of Christ, we know that nothing surprises God. He is in control. He has a plan. When you are feeling low or overwhelmed, I encourage you to dig into Scripture. One of the most vital things we can do in these uncertain times is to take an eternal perspective.

 We have entered November, a month when traditionally we take time to reflect on all that we are grateful for. Even in a year like 2020, we can find so much for which to be thankful. Psalm 136 is a Psalm of thanksgiving which begins with the verse: “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever,” Psalm 136:1. Further, every verse in this Psalm concludes with the phrase, “for his mercy endureth forever.”

 Charles H. Spurgeon, the great preacher of the nineteenth century, said the following about Psalm 136 in his work, The Treasure of David: “We know not by whom this Psalm was written, but we do know that it was sung in Solomon’s temple (2 Ch. 7:3,6) and by the armies of Jehoshaphat when they sang themselves into victory in the wilderness of Tekoa. From the striking form of it, we should infer that it was a popular hymn among the Lord’s ancient people.” 

Thus, ancient Israel, after the bondage of Egypt, the wandering in the wilderness, and fierce warfare to conquer their Promised Land, found reason to thank and praise God, as should we.  

The word “mercy” is especially significant when used in the Psalms, for it indicates God’s love for His people. He has made a covenant relationship with us, and He is loyal to that covenant. 

Jesus stressed the importance of thankfulness when He healed ten lepers in Luke Chapter 17. Of the ten, only one returned to thank Him. This man happened to be a Samaritan, a natural enemy of the Jews, but he was grateful enough for this miracle to thank Jesus, a Jew, for this miraculous cleansing. 

Jesus Himself expressed thanks to His Heavenly Father. As part of His prayer when He raised Lazarus from the dead, He said, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me” (John 11:41). At the Last Supper, He took time to give thanks for the elements of the first Communion service (Matthew 26:27), although He was just hours from the events that would ultimately lead to His death on our behalf. 

No matter how bad times are—as a whole, or for us as individuals—we can find something about which we can express our thanks to God. If nothing else, we can be thankful that He has led us by His Holy Spirit into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ that has provided us with an eternal home in glory. We can thank Him for the opportunity of living in a nation that allows us the freedom to vote. We can thank Him for family and friends who are a reflection of His love for us. May we be mindful of these things.

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

A Call to Pray and Vote!

One of the reasons I’m convinced that God has blessed America all these years is because America was founded by Godly men and women who were concerned to take the Bible seriously, and to live out its truths in their lives.

 Secondly, they took the whole issue of freedom seriously, a freedom that was guaranteed to everybody as one of the unalienable rights given to us by our Creator. They understood that we are not here by accident. We are not simply here by convenience. We are here by the Divine sovereign choice of God Himself. God called those Pilgrims and Puritans to come to this new world, to establish this new nation to the glory of God.

You and I are the recipients of the blessing of God because our forefathers paid the price to establish this nation based on the principles and truths of the Word of God. They did it with a sense of dignity, with a sense of freedom that would allow everybody of every religious persuasion to come to this country in order to serve God by the choice and the dictates of their own hearts.

As time has gone on in American history, there have been many challenges along the way. God has intervened on many of those occasions. In the Revolutionary War, at a very crucial point, General Washington and his army were about to be defeated by the British in New Jersey. A fog came rolling in and covered them as they retreated across the river and escaped from being trapped at the end of that peninsula.

There were times in the Civil War when God again moved in to preserve the union of this nation. And there are certainly times when God moved in, in the 20th century. You see, God has placed into our hands incredible opportunities, incredible potential as a nation. But He also holds us accountable for what we do with that potential.

For if we want to continue to see the blessing of God on America, we need to be a people who are on our knees, seeking God, calling out to God, turning our hearts and our lives over to God. In a crisis, in a tragedy, we are quick to pray. We are quick to say, “God bless America.”

But when everything is going well, and the crisis has passed, when the blessings are flowing, do we then remember to get on our knees and again say, “God bless America. Convict us where we need to be convicted. Challenge us where we need to be challenged. Encourage us where we need to be encouraged. Bless us even when we don’t deserve your blessing”?

God has wonderfully blessed the United States of America, far beyond anything we deserve. And though we are not a perfect nation, and though there are many problems and challenges and difficulties, it is still one of the greatest nations in all of the world.

Let us come before the Lord with repentance and a humble spirit and plead for Him to continue to bless America! This is a nation in which there is freedom of religion, freedom of choice, freedom of opportunity for you and me to open the Word of God. To preserve these freedoms and so much more, if you have not already done so through early voting, I encourage you to prayerfully vote on Tuesday, November 3.

Pope Endorses Same-Sex Civil Unions

In the documentary “Francesco” released this week, Pope Francis calls for civil union laws for same-sex couples. These remarks are a clear break from the Catholic Church’s official teaching.

“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered,” Pope Francis said in the film.

During his time as archbishop in Buenos Aires, he endorsed civil unions for homosexuals as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, up until now, as pope he has never commented publicly in favor of civil unions.

To date, Francis has not changed Catholic doctrine that marriage is between one man and one woman. Currently, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith teaches that “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society.

“Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level of marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behavior, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself.”

Will it be just a matter of time before this biblical teaching is reversed?

Largest Mennonite Denomination Divided

The Mennonite Church (MC) USA Conference’s relaxed approach to same-sex marriage and LGBT pastors has some congregations evaluating whether they can stay connected to the conference. MC USA has membership guidelines based on the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, which considers homosexuality a sin and marriage as between one man and one woman for life. It also prohibits pastors from performing same-sex marriages.

However, congregations and regional conferences have decided whether they will adhere to the guidelines or not and the MC USA does not actively enforce them. According to the MC USA, it has four credentialed leaders who identify as LGBT.

Pastor Bob Yates of Bethel Mennonite Church of Inman, KS, commented “There has been way too much leeway for every congregation and conference to do what they want, basically. There seems to be no standard.”

Bethel, founded in 1875, decided to disaffiliate with MC USA. “We question the direction MC USA is headed … in addressing what sin is, whether the Bible is true, how we’re called to live, and who defines that,” said Yates.

Netherlands to Expand Euthanasia to Children

Earlier this week in the Netherlands, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge pushed a proposal to expand the use of euthanasia for terminally ill children between the ages of 1 and 12. If done by a physician, end of life procedures are already available for babies up to one year old and for anyone over 12 years old.

The Christian Post reports that under what is known as the Groningen Protocol — a 2004 set of Dutch medical directives with criteria under which doctors are allowed to perform “active ending of life on infants” without fear of legal repercussions — babies in the Netherlands can be euthanized for serious disability and terminal illness.

By expanding the euthanasia laws, traditional “gray areas” will be redefined as palliative care where children are put into an artificial coma and dehydrated to death.  De Jonge said that the termination of life should be possible for “a small group of terminally ill children who agonize with no hope, and unbearable suffering.”

Sedation and withholding nutrition over an extended length of time is not care, it is euthanasia in slow motion! It is unbelievably cruel.

Wesley J. Smith of the Discovery Institute wrote that he did not believe the “terminally ill” requirement will last. Smith commented “Dutch death doctors always use the ‘gray area’ excuse to expand the caste of the killable. Once death is in the driver’s seat, it never hits the brakes.”

The Bible is clear all life is created by God’s direct intention according to His infinite knowledge. Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7 teaches that God created the very first human life and Psalm 139:13-16 indicates that God Himself forms every subsequent human life in the womb!  Furthermore, Jeremiah 1:5 reveals God knows every individual before He forms them in the womb. Therefore, the intention of this expansion of law in the Netherlands clearly attempts to supersede the role of God!

Frighteningly, the Bible tells us to expect such efforts as the last day draws near. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 teaches us that in the last days much of humanity will be lovers of themselves while denying the power of God. Similarly, many Bible teachers believe such medical technology equates to the “knowledge [that] shall be increased” in “the end of time” as taught in Daniel 12:4. The Bible is clear every human life is precious to God and directly created in His image. Humans should be extremely cautious as we encroach on this divine directive.

PRAY: Pray for leaders in the Netherlands to reverse course and to work to protect the divine sanctity of life. Pray for Christians to see this as a call to strengthen their relationship with their heavenly Father and spread the message of His love to their unbelieving countrymen.

Are We Nearing the Rapture?

One of the signs of the end times and return of Christ, mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, is a falling away or a great apostasy (Greek, apostasia). Many have wondered when this type of falling away from the faith would occur and it is possible that we may be seeing the beginning of this event. The major areas that are contributing to this quick decline in belief in the Western world are the decline of faith in Europe, the decline of faith in the United States and the impact of the coronavirus.

First, Christianity is on major life support in Europe. Once a dominant Christian stronghold that sent missionaries all around the globe, Europe no longer has any strong Christian presence. For example, a recent Guardian report showed that 59 percent of young people aged 18-29 never attend religious services and 70 percent identify as non-religious. Secularism has destroyed Christianity throughout most of Europe and entire generations are no being raised in completely secular environments. The bastion of Christendom for so many centuries is now devoid of Christ.

Second, the United States, while not as secular as Europe, is quickly as it way to following in its footsteps. Secularism is on the rise and Christianity is suffering greatly. Even basic Christian beliefs are being thrown aside by the culture at large and even many who claim the Christian faith. In a recent State of Theology survey produced by Lifeway, 52 percent of Americans believe that Jesus was simply a great teacher, but not God. Even more troubling, 30 percent of self-identified Evangelicals also agreed that Jesus was a great teacher but not God. This is not a highly contested or debated theological concept but is a foundational theological belief in order to consider oneself a Christian. These types of surveys show that American Christianity is rapidly on a similar trajectory to that of Europe.

Finally, the coronavirus may also help to contribute to this rise in apostasy. Many church attenders have not been able to attend church for many months. Some have been able to watch digitally but many do not have access to the technology that allows for easy streaming. Churches are also struggling to survive during this pandemic. A recent Barna study showed that twenty percent of churches in America could be in danger of closing within the next 18 months, both because of financial struggles and because many churchgoers who attended prior to the coronavirus have not returned when the churches have been able to reopen. It is possible a decline in the coronavirus could help with these numbers, but it is still a significant blow to churches in a time when churches are needed to stem the tide in secularism. These trends could change and a great apostasy away from Christianity can be avoided.

Perhaps while Europe and America decline, other regions of the world will drive Christianity forward. However, it is also very possible that the stage is being set for the return of Christ and this rapid turn away from Christianity is another step in this direction. We need to be in prayer for our nation, for our churches, for our pastors and we need to be prepared to reach a world that is no longer accepting of basic Christian beliefs and morality. While we anxiously anticipate the return of Christ with an eye to the sky, we also need to work as diligently as possible to reach as many as we can with the Gospel of Jesus.

Pray our nation will experience a great revival and turn away from the roots of secularism that have taken hold in so many through our nation and the world.

China Orders Christians to Stop Believing in God

House churches across China have experienced intensified persecution in recent months, with Communist officials telling Christians they are not permitted to believe in God in the atheist country. Bitter Winter, a publication produced by the Center for Studies on New Religion which covers human rights issues in China, documented numerous instances where Christians were threatened and harassed by Chinese Communist Party officials.

In June, a group of officials in the county-level city of Leiyang, in the central province of Hunan, raided a house church. They confiscated the church’s donation box and destroyed Bible verses on the walls, telling the Christians their actions were “the result of their disobedience” and that it was “illegal to hold religious gatherings without a permit or joining the Three-Self Church.”

In May, the Religious Affairs Bureau in the province’s Yongzhou city shut down a house church for “holding illegal gatherings without permits” and confiscated all valuables in the venue, including a computer, a photocopier, and Bibles.

In April, police in Dengzhou city in the central province of Henan raided a house church, confiscated its Bibles and hymnbooks, and took eight congregation members to a police station for interrogation. One Christian later revealed that a police officer said to him that they could “not believe in God in China.” The believer also revealed that half a month later, police visited the eight arrested members at home to ask if they had continued to attend religious gatherings. Officers warned them that they would be sentenced to three to five years in prison if they gather again.

“We don’t break any law by believing in God, but the government treats us this way,” the believer said. “The government wants to eliminate all religions and threatens us with the future of our family members, forcing us to give up our belief. It’s really shameless.”

Protestant Christianity is one of five approved religions alongside Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Catholicism in China. Religious organizations must register with one of five state-sanctioned patriotic religious associations, which are supervised by the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

Christian churches that refuse to register with the government, known as “house churches,” are illegal. However, even Three-Self churches — those registered with the government — have experienced an uptick in persecution in recent months.

Numerous reports have revealed the persecution Christians have endured at the hands of the CCP, including arrests, detentions, imprisonments, and church attacks. Such persecution is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to abolish religion and enforce greater control over people’s lives.

The magazine reported that “countless number of churches” were also ordered to remove their crosses in Jiujiang, Fuzhou, Fengcheng, Shangrao, and a few other cities in the province in April.

Persecution watchdog Open Doors USA ranks China as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians. The organization notes that all churches are perceived as a threat if they become too large, too political, or invite foreign guests.

This type of persecution should not surprise anyone. Everywhere communism has spread, religious persecution has quickly followed. Communism, combined with the rise of secular atheism, has created a worldwide environment where persecution has risen dramatically. If the United States continues to become more secular and moves toward communistic ideals, then persecution could quickly follow and soon it could be illegal to go to church, read a Bible, pray or even believe in God.

PRAY: Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in China who are being targeted for their faith. Pray that America will turn away from secularism and turn back to God.

Could the Coronavirus be setting the stage for the Rise of the Antichrist?

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.

Revelation 13:17

One of the questions that many Christians are asking is how the coronavirus could be impacting prophecy and the end times. While the virus itself is not a prophetic event, it could be setting the stage for the antichrist in three main areas: stronger government regulations (especially with regards to religious services), a push for a one world government and a possible move to both a cashless and global economy.

First, the coronavirus has created stronger government regulations throughout much of the world, even in most of the democratic nations that tend to be the most free. While some government regulations are necessary, continually increasing power and control in the hands of a few politicians and allowing them to make decisions on when people can leave their houses, which stores are allowed to be open and even when or if people are allowed to attend religious services. While it is true that many of these regulations may be lessoned if the virus lessens, it is also establishing a framework that would allow very few people massive control throughout the world. Perhaps the antichrist will one day be able to use this same type of structure to control and regulate the world, especially if people assume that the Rapture is some type of pandemic event.

Second, many, such as Al Gore, have taken the pandemic as an opportunity to push for a stronger one world government. When you combine this push for a single power in control with the stronger regulations that have occurred, it becomes very easy to see how someone like the antichrist could easily gain control of enough power to take control of the major nations of the world. Some have always wondered how the antichrist could possibly gain so much power and make so many changes so quickly during the time of the Tribulation. Perhaps this pandemic has shown us a blueprint of how something like this could occur. We would never have dreamed that so much of our daily life could be changed as quickly as it did in March. The Rapture, perhaps seen by the world as some type of pandemic, could very well be a catalyst that then allows the antichrist to rise to power in a similar manner.

Finally, the coronavirus has caused and will continue to cause dramatic changes to not only the economy of the United States, but also the entire world. Many have already been pushing for a cashless society for years and the pandemic has even heightened these calls.

A recent New York Times article was published entitled “Our Cash-Free Future Is Getting Closer: The pandemic is propelling a shift toward a cashless society in ways that no other single event has.” Liz Alderman writes, “Cash was already being edged out in many countries as urban consumers paid increasingly with apps and cards for even the smallest purchases. But the coronavirus is accelerating a shift toward a cashless future, raising new calculations for merchants and enriching the digital payments industry.”

Why would this be important? For centuries people have wondered how the antichrist could use the mark of the beast to control buying and selling of goods (Rev. 13:17). All of the different currencies and cash would make that a very difficult proposition. However, a cashless society makes this much easier, as the government could simply block off someone’s account and cards and completely cut off their ability to purchase goods. While it is not definitive that the coronavirus is setting the stage for the antichrist’s rise, these events do offer a blueprint on how his rise to power could occur in the future.