Western Christianity in Trouble Because of Collapse of Family?

J.P. De Gance, the founder and president of Communio, a nonprofit that equips churches to strengthen the marriage and relationship health of its members, recently discussed the results of the Communio Nationwide Study on Faith and Relationships at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. During his speech, De Gance said the study’s results suggest that the decline in resident fatherhood and the collapse of marriage are likely explanations for the increase in religious non-affiliation throughout the United States.

The study’s conclusions are drawn from a nationwide survey completed by 19,000 attendees at 112 different churches across 13 different states. The survey also analyzed a variety of denominations, including Protestant and Catholic churches.

Overall, the survey found that 80% of church attendees grew up in a home where their mother and father stayed married, a trend that remained true regardless of age. In addition, 87% of all 25- to 29-year-old never-married men in church had parents who remained married. “So what this means is folks in church on Sunday are categorically more likely to have grown up with a resident dad in the home than someone who is not in church on Sunday,” De Gance said, noting that the results are not “definitive,” as one in five people in church grew up without married parents. “But it does make it less likely for those folks to show up on Sunday morning,” he said.

Presenting the data on the growth of non-religious affiliation, De Gance said the findings show that religious non-affiliation began to increase between 1986 and 1991 and then rapidly grew in the mid-90s. According to De Gance, this result makes sense, as the children who grew up in homes where their parents didn’t remain married became adults. He asserted that a “married dad” is the “missing ingredient now,” citing an Oxford University Press longitudinal study referenced in the Faith and Relationships study. The longitudinal study followed 3,000 adults and 350 families within a 40-year time frame.

One of the study’s most notable findings, according to De Gance, is that adults who reported a close relationship with their fathers were more likely to report having the same faith as their parents by 25 percentage points. On the other hand, the study found that a closer relationship with their mother did not appear to have a statistical effect on whether an adult had the same faith as their parents.

De Gance referenced a book by Paul Vitz titled Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism, which analyzed 30 of the world’s most well-known atheists. Throughout the book, according to De Gance, there is a reoccurring theme of absentee fathers or broken relationships with a dad.

Biblical Connections: It should be no surprise to followers of the Bible that the statistical data backs up the idea that family matters when it comes to faith. God Himself established the family in the early chapters in Genesis and the Book of Deuteronomy has a strong emphasis on how the family is the main unit for sharing faith. For example, Deuteronomy 6:6-7 states, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” The breakdown of the family is a massive tragedy that has not only occurred in our culture but has also occurred in our churches. This breakdown of the family leads to a breakdown in faith and a loss of passing down our faith to the next generation.

PRAY: Pray this attack and destruction of the family unit in America will change and God’s design for the family will once again became the normal structure in society.

Young Woman Sues American Academy of Pediatrics Over Trans Procedures

A 20-year-old woman who detransitioned after being placed on cross-sex hormones as a young teenager is suing her doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for allegedly lying about their long-term effects. Isabelle Ayala and her lawyers are accusing the defendants of “civil conspiracy, fraud, medical malpractice and other related causes of action” related to what she alleges was a misleading “gender-affirmative” model of care, according to the lawsuit first reported by The Daily Wire.

Ayala, whose suit characterizes her as “an unfortunate victim of a collection of actors who prioritized politics and ideology over children’s safety, health, and well-being,” names the AAP, the Rhode Island-based Lifespan Physician Group, as well as Drs. Jason Rafferty, Michelle Forcier, Meghan Gibson, Gillian Morris, Brittany Allen, Ilana Sherer, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Jill Wagner.

The young woman alleges that when she was first hospitalized for suicidal ideation at age 14, Rafferty and others rushed her down the “path of ‘gender-affirming’ medicalization” after a brief meeting instead of recommending psychological counseling. She claims that after six months of testosterone treatment, she attempted suicide. Ayala’s suit pinpoints AAP’s 2018 policy statement, spearheaded by Rafferty, as especially egregious, alleging it enabled an “entirely new model of treatment” that was based on “outright fraudulent representations.”

The lawsuit further notes Ayala experiences regret because of the experimental procedures performed on her, and that she “longs for what could have been and to have her healthy, female body back. The changes the testosterone have had on her body are a constant reminder that she needed an unbiased medical expert willing to evaluate her mental health and provide her the care she needed, rather than a group of ideologues set on promoting their own agenda and furthering a broader conspiracy at her expense,” the suit says.

Ayala further claims that Rafferty and the other defendants have continued “to promote and profit off” their gender-affirming model of treatment, which she said have rendered her and other young people “victims of a conspiracy entered into and perpetuated to the present day by certain ideologically captured individuals in positions of power at the American Academy of Pediatrics.” “[Rafferty] has gone from a little-known resident during his time drafting the Gender Policy Statement to having a highly successful practice in pediatric gender care and considered a leading authority on the subject, all while operating under the imprimatur of the authority he falsely created,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit further claims that the defendants have continued to advocate for the gender-affirming model despite mounting international skepticism. In 2020, the Finnish Health Authority recommended psychotherapy as the first-line treatment for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. In October 2021, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists also released a statement citing a lack of quality evidence and emphasizing the necessity of receiving a proper mental health evaluation before undergoing irreversible and disfiguring trans procedures. In February 2022, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, urged “restraint when it comes to hormone treatment,” which was followed by similar guidance from the National Academy of Medicine in France later that month.

Advocates of gender-affirming care, as laid out by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, have pointed to the AAP’s endorsement of such standards to shut down debate about such practices. “There is no debate in the medical community about the medical or scientific validity of gender-affirming care,” a spokesperson for Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine told Fox News Digital last year, noting that WPATH’s standards of care have been endorsed by the AAP, as well as the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Biblical Connections: In Mark 9:37 Jesus stated, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” We must protect our children from the forces of evil that wish to pervert them.

PRAY: Pray that America will wake up to the long-term damage that it is enabling to its children.

Abortion a Leading Election Issue

Pro-life organizations are criticizing a new advertisement released by President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign targeting his potential Republican rivals’ positions on abortion. The ad, published on YouTube and titled “These Guys,” is part of a 16-week, $25 million advertising campaign targeting swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The campaign ads will air on broadcast and cable television programming, including NFL games and the World Series.

The advertisement opens with a narrator declaring, “Reproductive health care decisions are among the most personal a woman will ever make,” adding, “They are choices that you and your doctor should make.” The video then airs several of the statements made by the Republican contenders on the abortion issue, including former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. The narrator asserts: “The last people who should be involved [in making decisions about abortion] are these guys.”

Pro-life groups reacted to the ad’s premise that Republicans have an “extreme” position on abortion by calling the Democratic Party’s position on the issue extreme. In a statement, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser lamented, “President Biden is spending millions of dollars on campaign ads attacking his GOP opponents on abortion. Tellingly, Biden’s ad never states a single limit he would support — not even to protect babies from brutal late-term abortions after they can feel pain, a standard over 70% of Americans including many rank-and-file Democrats favor,” she added.

She recalled how “Biden used to embrace commonsense limits on abortion based on science” before expressing disgust that “he and his party are fully in lock step with the radical abortion lobby position of abortion on demand at any time for any reason, paid for by the taxpayer.”

Dannenfelser stated that “Americans deserve to know where all candidates stand” on abortion, saying that the ad skirted around the Biden administration’s authentic position on the issue. “Everyone should be asking where the Democrats draw the line — is it 38, 39 weeks?” she asked. Dannenfelser took issue with the absence of “any mention of how the country can come together to support mother and child” from the video. “Women want to hear the president’s plan to ensure they can access tangible resources, including financial help, so they never feel forced into unwanted abortions,” she asserted. “Will Democrats support critical relief for moms like the Providing for Life Act? Or will they continue to demonize pregnancy centers and other life-affirming nonprofits while pushing pills and surgery as a cure-all instead? This callous ‘solution’ of killing the child fails to address many of the core problems experienced by pregnant women.”

The Biden campaign’s ad targeted to voters in swing states comes as Republicans and Democrats have embraced divergent federal policy proposals following the Dobbs decision. While the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the Women’s Health Protection Act last year, it failed in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate. The bill has not been brought up in the U.S. House in the 118th Congress now that it is controlled by Republicans. While Democrats tout the measure as a codification of Roe, Dannenfelser characterizes it as “an extreme bill forcing abortion on demand up until birth on all 50 states, even painful late-term abortions.”

Biblical Connections: The Bible clearly argues for the preservation of life from the moment of conception. A nation that refuses to allow for the continuation of human life is a nation that has largely turned away from a Biblical worldview. That much of the West has allowed for abortion on demand shows that many nations that were once anchors of Christianity have instead abandoned God.

PRAY: Pray for the elections next week and for godly, pro-life candidates to be elected. Pray that the right to life will be a right that everyone once again acknowledges and that the senseless slaughter of the unborn will finally be stopped.

Judge Rules Parents Do Not Control Child’s Education

One of the most controversial issues in education in the West, especially in the United States, is whether parents have the right to control what their children are taught at school or whether that is controlled by the government. This has become an even more controversial with the addition of LGBT curriculum being added into public education.

This debate came to a head recently in Maryland. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish parents did not like that the Montgomery County Public Schools enacted a no-opt-out policy for curriculum that includes LGBT elements for kids as young as pre-K through fifth grade.

The parents complained to the school board and were rejected, causing them to file a lawsuit against the district. The lawsuit did not seek to ban the LGBT books from the classroom. Instead, it only sought to allow the parents the right to decide whether or not their children had to be exposed to this content. The case went to U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, who had been appointed by President Biden. She rejected the parents’ motion for a preliminary injunction that would have restored the opt-out clause for this school year.

In her ruling Boardman stated that the parents “have not shown that the school district’s use of the storybooks crosses the line from permissible influence on potentially impermissible indoctrination. The evidence suggests that, generally, teachers will occasionally read one of the handful of books, lead discussions and ask questions about the characters, and respond to questions and comments in ways that encourage tolerance for different views and lifestyles,” the judge wrote. “That is not indoctrination.” Imagine a judge saying the same thing if a teacher tried to read and discuss the Bible in a public school? It would never be allowed in today’s environment.

According to the judge’s ruling, the school decided to introduce the no-opt-out policy in March following a meeting with a small group of principals, with the school board feeling that the growing number of opt-out requests disrupted the classroom environment. The school board members claimed they were concerned about the high number of student absenteeism and the perceived impracticality of managing a large number of opt-outs. In addition, the school board purportedly believed that allowing students to opt out would expose other students and families to “social stigma” if they felt the LGBT-themed books represented their lifestyle.

In a statement, Becket, a nonprofit law firm that filed a federal lawsuit on the parents’ behalf in May, said the parents plan to ask a federal appeals court to protect their parental rights and religious freedom. “Parents know and love their children best; that’s why all kids deserve to have their parents help them understand issues like gender identity and sexuality,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel for the Becket, stated “The school board’s decision to cut parents out of these discussions flies in the face of parental freedom, childhood innocence, and basic human decency. The court’s decision is an assault on children’s right to be guided by their parents on complex and sensitive issues regarding human sexuality,” he continued. “The School Board should let kids be kids and let parents decide how and when to best educate their own children consistent with their religious beliefs.”

Biblical Connections: Throughout the Bible, you can see a pattern of how sin works. First, it is merely an option that one must choose. However, as sin flourishes in a society, eventually it will get to the point that sin becomes the dominate view and then nothing else is tolerated. James 1:14-15 states, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

PRAY: Pray that these corrupt forces will be defeated and that children will stop being forced to listen to an ungodly agenda at school.

AI Creates Fake Jesus Quote that Jesus Accepts Transgenderism

A fake Bible passage reportedly generated by ChatGPT about how Jesus accepts trans-identified individuals has generated responses from Christian scholars as some media outlets have touted the passage as an example of “much needed” tolerance. In July, one Reddit poster who was “feeling sad” shared a “fake biblical passage” that he asked ChatGPT to generate about “Jesus accepting trans people.”

The quote posted in the “r/trans” channel by user Psychological_Dog527 sounded eerily like a legitimate Bible verse, even going so far as to echo the cadence of the Gospel writers.

“And a woman, whose heart was divided between spirit and body, came before him. In quiet despair, she asked, ‘Lord, I come to you estranged, for my spirit and body are not one. How shall I hope to enter the kingdom of God?’” the fake passage states. “Jesus looked upon her with kindness, replying, ‘my child, blessed are those who strive for unity within themselves, for they shall know the deepest truths of my Father’s creation. Be not afraid, for in the kingdom of God, there is no man nor woman, as all are one in spirit. The gates of my Father’s kingdom will open for those who love and are loved, for God looks not upon the body, but the heart.”

While the passage is nowhere in Scripture, the poster said, “I know it’s not real, but it gave me some comfort.”

Pro-LGBT outlet The Advocate was among those outlets to hail the fabricated verse with a headline reading “ChatGPT Writes Trans-Affirming Bible Verse,” calling it “an affirming example of tolerance.”

Astrology columnist John Sundholm of YourTango went a step further, writing the AI-generated verse “is likely much needed given the all-out attacks being launched against transgender people by America’s right-wing, nearly all of it in God’s name.”

He added, “This verse has special resonance in 2023 because of the virulent transphobia and anti-[LGBT] sentiment and legislation that continues to sweep the country — much of it supported and funded by Christians.”

While it is not the first time a chatbot has generated theological controversy, the post raises questions about the role AI will play in offering interpretations of the Bible that may not conform to the authors’ original intent.

One of the real dangers in the modern age is that many people simply do not know their Bible in the way that previous generations did because of a reliance on technology. “Why memorize Scripture when you can just look it up on your phone?” is the anthem of many younger Christians. Whereas previous generations had entire books memorized, many Christians today in the West have very little memorized.

This creates a major problem if someone is attempting to “pass off” created verses that are clearly not in the Bible. If someone is not aware of what actually is in the Bible, then they are going to be much more susceptible to fall for these fake verses. Also, if they are reliant on technology to look up verses, what happens when AI begins to make websites and add these verses into the text? It will be almost impossible for many Christians to identify true passages for false passages.

We as Christians need to be wary of these types of additions that AI is creating for the text and to understand that not everything on the internet is legitimately from the Bible. Satan has always been a master at trying to corrupt the Word of God and will use any means possible to drive people away from the Scriptures.

Biblical Connections: 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. God’s Word is perfect just the way that it is, and we do not need AI to “fix” God’s Word to make it more tolerable to sin.

PRAY – Pray for wisdom and guidance for believers in a world full of deception. Pray that believers will be students of God’s Word so they will not fall for the lies of the enemy.

Archaeologist’s Research Support Bible’s Claims about King David

While some scholars have argued that the Bible’s description of King David ruling over a great kingdom is exaggerated, new research suggests that the land overseen by the Old Testament king was more well-developed than some critical experts believe. Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University theorized in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology that King David ruled over an urban network of fortified cities, which supports the Bible’s description of his kingdom. Garfinkel outlined five different sites in his study — Khirbet Qeiyafa, Beth Shemesh, Lachish and Tell en-Naṣbeh and a country hill — finding that these locations had a fairly similar layout. Three of the sites had what’s known as a casemate wall, a double wall that typically protects a city or fortress. Some sites also contained Canaanite inscriptions, which the study suggested showed an “increasing demand for communication and a marker of centralized authority.”

As The Times of Israel reported, those who believe King David ruled over a few thousand Bedouin shepherds near Jerusalem fall into the “minimalist school” of archeological thought. The other school of thought aligns with the Bible’s description of King David ruling a vast kingdom. While Garfinkel’s paper appears to support the Bible’s account of King David’s kingdom, the professor said proving the Bible’s accuracy was not the purpose of the study. The scholar acknowledged that there are differing opinions on the usefulness of the Bible, but he argued, “that’s not science; that’s theology.”

“I hate to use the term ‘trying to prove the Bible’ because I’m not trying to prove anything,” Garfinkel told the outlet. “There are biblical traditions, and we can see if these have historical memories or not. … It doesn’t mean that everything, 100 percent, is historical memories. Sometimes there are mistakes. Sometimes there is wishful thinking. Sometimes there is ideology.”

Prof. Aren Maeir of Bar Ilan University believes that Garfinkel’s research is an “oversimplification,” referring to what he described as the paper’s “generalizations” as “problematic.” One of the issues is the controversy about whether Khirbet Qeiyafa was a Judahite or Canaanite city, according to Maeir. While the Bar Illan University professor agrees that historically, King David existed, he does not see enough evidence to determine the size of his kingdom.

“It’s like when a fisherman tells you about the type of fish he caught, and with each story, his arms get wider and wider,” Maeir told TOI. “Is it a sardine, a mackerel, or a blue whale? If you read the biblical text and take it literally, then it’s a blue whale. I think that probably there was a small kingdom in Jerusalem, but we don’t know the influence that this kingdom had.” Maeir, clearly in the minimalist camp, will find any out that he can to deny the data found in the Biblical text.

While archaeology will always be limited it what it can definitively “prove”, these types of archaeological finds are very important in the area of apologetics to show that the Bible’s history is not some made up myth or legend but is based on facts. Minimalists will always try to downplay these discoveries because they are unwilling to accept the historicity of the Bible. But as more discoveries are made, the historicity of the Bible gains stronger credibility.

Biblical Connections: The Bible clearly describes King David as being a king over a large empire. If the Bible is inspired by God, then these archaeological finds help to establish this with extra-biblical support.

PRAY: Pray that more and more discoveries will continue to be unearthed and that as they are found, it will lead unbelievers to the truth and validity of God’s Word.

Atheist Group Demands Auburn University Stop Coaches from Showing Their Faith

An atheist advocacy group is seeking information related to Auburn University coaches' participation in a campus revival event, where head football coach Hugh Freeze reportedly baptized a player, contending such actions violate the U.S. Constitution. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for a strict separation of church and state, sent a demand letter to Auburn President Christopher Roberts objecting to what FFRF attorney Christopher Line called "ongoing constitutional violations occurring in Auburn University's sports programs."

Line expressed concern that Freeze, Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl and Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson participated in a Sept. 12 event titled "Unite Auburn." According to reports, the event was held at Neville Arena, and over 100 people were baptized. The letter said the purpose of the "religious worship service" was "dedicated to worship and giving messages to Auburn students seeking to grow their faith in God or who were curious about Christianity" and to "unite the Christian community of Auburn under one roof to worship God." "In a video urging students to attend, head baseball coach Butch Thompson said Unite Auburn would allow students to 'come together and lift the name of Jesus,'" Line wrote. "After the official event ended, it is our understanding that Coach Hugh Freeze participated in a baptism event where he baptized one of his players."

FFRF contends that the Alabama-based university is a public institution, claiming it is "inappropriate and unconstitutional for University employees to use their University position to organize, promote, or participate in a religious worship event." Line believes the "ongoing and repeated constitutional violations at the University" run afoul" of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. He summarized the constitutional provision as dictating that "the government cannot in any way show favoritism toward religion."

The letter served as an open records request asking the university to provide "all records relating to the 'Unite Auburn' event," "all communications, including emails, sent or received by any athletic department staff members regarding the 'Unite Auburn' event, including Hugh Freeze, Bruce Pearl, and Butch Thompson, and their staff members" and "all financial records related to the 'Unite Auburn' event, including any payment to the University for use of its facilities." "Auburn's sports programs are full of young and impressionable student athletes who would not risk giving up their scholarship, giving up playing time, or losing a good recommendation from their coach by speaking out or voluntarily opting out of any team religious activities — even if they strongly disagreed with his beliefs," the letter added. "Coaches exert great influence and power over student athletes and those athletes will follow the lead of their coaches."

"Using public university coaching positions to inject religion into its sports programs amounts to religious coercion," Line argued in his letter. "Auburn University should not lend its power and prestige to religion excluding its non-Christian students, including those students who are a part of the 49 percent of Generation Z who are religiously unaffiliated. The repeated constitutional violations occurring at the University alienate and exclude a significant portion of your students." Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of FFRF, suggested that the coaches' participation in "Unite Auburn" amounted to an "abuse of power."

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, who also serves as the director of the nonprofit legal organization's Academic Freedom Center, disagrees with FFRF's arguments. ADF has won several religious freedom cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. "Freedom From Religion Foundation's twisted interpretation of the First Amendment has the potential to crush both students' and their coaches' essential right to live out their faith," Langhofer said in a statement shared with Fox News. "Public universities are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas and have an obligation to protect and promote free speech and free exercise of religion." "As the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed in the Coach Kennedy case, religious coaches and students have the right to engage in religious activities on campus in their private capacity. FFRF's desire to silence religious students sends a clear message: 'You are not welcome here,'" he continued. Langhofer described FFRF's demands as "unconstitutional."

Biblical Connections: When people are arguing that a “government employee” no longer has the ability to act in normal ways of faith, then it is meant to drive out any Christians of faith from working in the government at all. Matthew 6:24 states, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

PRAY - Pray that the people who are attempting to silence believers in the public square will be stopped and believers will be able to live out their faith in public.

New Digital ID System Attempts to Create a Global ID System

After three years in development, digital ID platform Worldcoin has officially launched. Worldcoin aims to provide its users with a verified digital identity, plus a cryptocurrency token named Worldcoin (WLD)—and a crypto wallet app. According to Worldcoin, advances in artificial intelligence have made it increasingly difficult to tell whether online activity, written text, digital artwork or really anything that exists on the internet came from real humans or AI. The company proposes to help resolve this confusion by deploying a sort of digital passport, based on what it calls “proof of personhood.”

Worldcoin’s platform verifies a user’s identity by scanning their iris to create personal, secure identification codes. The codes are saved on a decentralized blockchain, and the company claims they cannot be duplicated or spoofed to create false identities or engage in fraud. The company says that it signed up more than 2 million users in the beta testing stage. It now plans to roll out scanning operations in dozens of cities in 20 countries worldwide.

Much like fingerprints, every person’s iris pattern is different. The Orb scans a user’s iris and uses its structure to create a unique identification code called an IrisCode. The code is not associated with a user’s personal information—it exists solely to prevent people from acquiring more than one World ID. Worldcoin Orbs are available in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Paris, Lisbon, Mexico City, São Paulo, Nairobi, New York, San Francisco and approximately 25 other cities around the world.

The World App is the repository for your World ID. Worldcoin claims that the app preserves users’ privacy while also providing access to a growing roster of decentralized finance applications. The app functions as a crypto wallet, but its primary purpose is to store user credentials so that users can verify themselves on any third-party application. Besides your World ID, the app can hold Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC, and the company says more cryptos will be supported in the future.

The project has already received a fair amount of criticism for its lofty goals and dubious methods. After launching, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin expressed his concerns about Worldcoin in a blog post. He argued the platform’s iris scans could be harvesting more information than the company is letting on, or that someone could potentially scan someone else’s iris in order to determine whether they had a World ID. Worldcoin has also been criticized for widely promoting the platform in the developing world. A significant portion of new users are in Asia and Africa, raising concerns about exploitation.

Biblical Connections: During the Tribulation period, the kingdom of the Antichrist will attempt to control the economy of the entire world (Revelation 13:17). People for centuries have wondered how this could be possible? How could the Antichrist and the False Prophet truly control the entire global population and economy? It seemed impossible for so many centuries of Biblical interpretation. Systems like this Worldcoin will be needed in order to control the global economy. A system that could register the entire world could easily be used by the Antichrist and the False Prophet to control and dominate. If you combine a system like this identity system with another system that controls a global currency, then you could easily see how the events described in Revelation 13 could be accomplished. While Worldcoin itself is not some kind of evil corporation, systems like this could show that we are getting closer and closer to the time of the Tribulation.

PRAY: Pray that if we are getting closer to the day of Tribulation and the return of Christ in the Rapture that evangelism will continue and as many people as possible will be saved.

United Nations Attacks Traditional Values on Marriage

A key advisor for the United Nations suggested in a recent report that “discriminatory positions of prejudice” are not protected by religious freedom rights, a report one advocacy group said could have “exceptionally radical” implications for Bible-believing Christians. Costa Rican lawyer Victor Madrigal-Borloz, whose official title is “Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity” for the U.N., made the statement in a presentation to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

In his report to the council, Madrigal-Borloz blamed “religious communities” for “violence, discrimination and exclusion” toward gays, lesbians, bisexual and trans-identified people. After receiving testimony from various LGBT-identified people over the last six years, Madrigal-Borloz said he frequently came across situations in which someone who wished to “pursue happiness by embracing their sexual orientation or gender identity” was deterred by the prospect that “the religion in which they were born would consider them as sinful, or evil; as inherently immoral, or not worthy of transcendence.”

In one of the report’s more targeted allegations, Madrigal-Borloz referenced “dark corners where LGBT people are regarded as sinners,” an obvious reference to the biblical teaching of various Christian denominations. He also blamed such theology for aiding in the denial of the “right to equality” for LGBT-identified people. “Laws enacted with the aim of mandating standards of conduct purportedly demanded by interpretations of religious dogma effectively deny LGBT and other gender diverse persons the right to equality and, often, equal recognition under the law,” he wrote.

Madrigal-Borloz equated “hate speech” against LGBT-identified people with “positing LGBT individuals as a threat to the traditional family and interpreting religious doctrines to exclude and promote violence and discrimination against homosexuality and gender nonconformity.” Religious freedoms, he added, are not adequate legal protection for anyone who uses their beliefs for not only violence but also “denial of the human rights of LGBT persons.” “Violent and discriminatory positions of prejudice are beyond the international legal protections of religious or other beliefs,” he said. While the report does not establish any new U.N. policy or guidelines, the Office of Independent Expert — which works on a voluntary basis — acts as the “eyes and ears” of the body and presents recommendations.

What does all this mean for Christians and people of other faiths? Arielle Del Turco, the director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council called the report “staggering” and warned it could potentially lay the groundwork for more religious interference from the U.N. While purporting to address violence against LGBT-identified groups, Del Turco said the report does not speak to violence but rather “the failure of religious groups to affirm LGBT identity or behavior.” “So by the U.N. independent expert making this report and supposedly trying to find a way for LGBT rights and religious freedom to coexist, we see even that at the very core of the report is a huge elevation for LGBT rights,” she stated.

Another troubling issue, Del Turco said, is that with this report, the U.N. appears to be acting as a theological or ideological authority for the religions of the world. “Essentially, this U.N. expert is telling religious groups that we ourselves are interpreting our own religions incorrectly, and actually, our religions probably do affirm some of these LGBT behaviors, do affirm gender ideology,” she said. “That is exceptionally radical.”

Del Turco said what is at stake is not merely religious freedom, but freedom of speech. She pointed to one section of the report: “hate speech and incitement,” which includes a discussion on how religious communities discuss LGBT topics. “For example, when Christian communities talk about sin, according to their reading of the Bible, that’s a problem to these LGBT activists who are now running the United Nations,” she said.

Biblical Connections: In John 15:18, Jesus said “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”

PRAY: Pray that these extremists in the leadership of the UN will stop this madness and allow for the truth of the Bible.

Iran Develops New Weapons to Threaten Israel and US

When many think of Iran, they immediately think of their nuclear missile program, which is itself a dangerous endeavor. However, Iran also has been working on building up other areas in their military arsenal. They are already known as a major player in drone technology and recently have unleashed some new weapons and technology.

First, Iran recently announced a new generation of Ghadir midget submarines and Fateh submarines will be made for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy. The Iranian navy is historically quite small, but Iran does operate several submarines, including several Russian submarines it has used since the 1990sas well as these newly constructed midget submarines. While it is unlikely that Iran would be able to meet the West on the open seas soon, a submarine force could cause trouble in the region.

Second, Iran continues to advance their drone technology to rival the United States and Israel. Recently, Iran unveiled a new armed drone that resembled the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, claiming that the drone even has the ability to reach Israel from its launch sites in Iran. The drone can fly non-stop for 24 hours with an operational range of around 1,200 miles and is capable of carrying a bomb payload of up to 660 pounds, according to the state-run IRNA News Agency. It also can reach a maximum speed of 130 mph and is "equipped with electronic warfare and intelligence-gathering systems," a report from IRNA added.

"Today, we can firmly introduce Iran as an advanced and technologic nation to the world," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said. Iran has in the past captured U.S. drones or pieces of them, but there's no evidence that it has taken a General Atomics' Reaper, which is flown by the U.S. Air Force and allied American nations as a "hunter-killer" drone that can operate at high altitudes for long hours and follow a target before attacking. North Korea in July showed off drones mirroring the Reaper, possibly designed from publicly available information about the aircraft.

This is not the first time that Iran has attempted to copy American drone technology. In December 2011, Iran seized an RQ-170 Sentinel flown by the CIA to monitor Iranian nuclear sites after it entered Iranian airspace from neighboring Afghanistan. Iran later reverse-engineered the drone to create their own variants. In 2019, Iran shot down a U.S. Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk in the Strait of Hormuz amid high tensions over its collapsed nuclear deal with world powers. Some experts are also concerned that Iran will get their hands on some of the military equipment that was left over from the US withdrawal from Iraq and try to reverse engineer more military technology wherever possible.

Perhaps these new technological advancements have also boosted Iran’s confidence in a potential conflict with the West. At the event marking the creation of the new subs, Iran officials stated “The presence of the US military and the military in Syrian territory is completely illegal. The Syrian government has not invited the American military, and the official request of the Syrian government is the withdrawal of the American military forces from the territory of this country as soon as possible.” Tehran’s comments appear to be a warning to the US that Iran could encourage proxy groups to continue to target Americans in Syria. The Iranian Foreign Ministry says the US is the “source” of instability in Syria. “We consider the US presence in the region to be contrary to regional peace,” Iran said. “This presence has always disturbed peace.”

Biblical Connection: Iran is one of the nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39 in the war of Gog and Magog against the nation of Israel. Their continued military buildup, along with their strong ties to Russia, continue to possibly lay the groundwork for this future war.

PRAY: Pray that Iran’s military aggression will be limited and will not lead to a war in the region in the immediate future.

Israeli Judicial Reform Protests Continue

For months, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Israel in the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen. The protesters rose out of opposition to a judicial overhaul spearheaded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The proposals include a bill that would allow a simple majority in parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Another would give parliament the final say in selecting judges. Last month, the first piece of that legislative package passed: Israel’s parliament approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.” Netanyahu’s allies say the package is meant to restore power to elected officials and reduce the powers of unelected judges.

While protests are not unknown in Israel, these protests have taken on a new push as many of the protesters have said they will not show up for their military duties if the laws are passed. Israel has mandatory military service for most of its citizens and so having protesters ignore their military duty would be a major blow to their national defense.

The protesters fear the overhaul will push Israel toward autocracy. They say it is a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his allies.

Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives judges’ excessive powers over decision making by elected officials. Israel does not have a constitution in the same manner as the United States. This means the judiciary are not judges whether laws are “constitutional” but instead are simply “reasonable”, a much vaguer term. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.

Protesters say Netanyahu and his allies want to change the law so they can appoint allies to government posts — and particularly so that they can fire the country’s independent attorney general, according to Amir Fuchs, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

The measures “make it more difficult to conduct oversight” over arbitrary decisions of elected officials, said Yohanan Plesner, the institute’s president. “This is one chapter of a broader plan and program of the government to weaken the checks and balances.” Netanyahu has dismissed accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations as absurd. “This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said.

Israel has minimal local governance and lacks a formal constitution. This means that most of the power is centralized in parliament, where Netanyahu’s coalition has a majority. The “basic laws” — foundational laws that experts describe as a sort of informal constitution — can be changed at any time by that majority.

While this is strictly a dispute within the government structure of Israel, it has not stopped others outside of Israel from addressing the protests. President Biden, in a phone call with Netanyahu, told him that he was rushing the process and did not have a mandate to pass the laws, even though Netanyahu has a majority in his parliament. It is rare for a foreign leader to address another nation’s internal political situation, but Israel has always been under more scrutiny than other nations.

Biblical Connection: The Bible has a clear emphasis on justice within the government. As long as the Israeli government does not abuse this power, it fits within a Biblical structure.

Church Attendance Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Religious worship service attendance in the United States is still below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels despite a slight increase in the last two years, with a slightly steeper decline among Catholics than Protestants, survey data suggests. Gallup released updated results of a long-running polling data asking Americans about their religious practices Monday. The poll, conducted May 1-24, is based on the responses of 1,011 adults and has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.

Overall, Gallup found that 31% of Americans attended religious services at a church, mosque, synagogue or temple in the past week online or in person, an improvement from the 30% who said the same in 2020 and 2022 as well as the 29% measured in 2021. The 31% weekly attendance rate remains lower than the 34% recorded in 2019, the last full year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to restrictions on in-person church services and the ascent of virtual church services. From 2016 through 2019, Gallup’s church attendance rates registered at 34%, dropping to 31% between 2020 and 2023.

While 44% of Protestants said they attended church services in the last week on average during 2016-2019, that percentage dropped to 40% between 2020-2023, according to the data. The share of Catholics who attended church dropped from 37% in 2016-2019 to 30% from 2020-2023. “Sample sizes for those in other religious groups are too small to provide reliable estimates for the period covered in this analysis,” Gallup stated in the analysis.

“It is not clear if the pandemic is the cause of the reduced attendance or if the decline is a continuation of trends that were already in motion,” the analysis continued, but added, “the temporary closure of churches and ongoing COVID-19 avoidance activities did get many Americans out of the habit of attending religious services weekly.” The survey also found that the pandemic has impacted how people attend services, with a handful of Americans continuing to prefer online worship even after restrictions on in-person services were lifted.

The percentage of Americans attending church services in person consistently increased over the past three years and was measured at 26% in Gallup’s May 2023 survey. By contrast, the percentage of Americans who attend virtual worship services has declined, reaching a low of 5% in May 2023. Among the Americans who attend church services weekly, Gallup found that 84% do so in person while 16% tune in to virtual services. This shows that while online worship services were very popular during the pandemic, the majority of people quickly returned back to in-person services. There is simply no substitute being in person with the body of Christ.

Gallup finds that the decrease in church attendance rates extended across political subgroups. From 2016 through 2019, 45% of Republicans said they attended church in the past week, along with 30% of independents and 28% of Democrats. Between 2020 and 2023, 40% of Republicans said they attended church in the last week. In that four-year time frame, the share of both independents and Democrats who attended church was measured at 25%.

Biblical Connections: Hebrews 10:25 states, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” While it is good to see some of the increases in church attendance on the rise, it is still significant that only a third of Americans attend church regularly. This sharp decrease is one of the major reasons for the decline of morality in American culture.

PRAY: Pray for revival in America.

How Does Russian Chaos Impact Prophecy?

The recent Russian attempted coup by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has created some chaos in Russia. Prigozhin was furious at the leaders of Russia’s Ministry of Defense, whom he repeatedly accused of sending tens of thousands of Russian soldiers to certain death through their corruption, incompetence, and cowardice. Over 20,000 of his own fighters were killed in the bloody battle for Bakhmut – a town of only 70,000 inhabitants before the war. He publicly blamed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov for Russia’s casualties and battlefield struggles. This led him to try to a mild coup, which ultimately failed and led to his exile to Belarus. While the coup did little to impact Russia today, it did show that the nation is in serious chaos with the war in Ukraine.

This was by far the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule. On the one hand, you’re not supposed to be able to defy Putin in Russia this way and get away with it. Yet the men who shot down and killed an estimated 13 Russian pilots on their way to Moscow were pardoned. And the man who openly defied Putin’s orders, discredited his rationale for the war in Ukraine, and whom Putin declared a traitor on public television, is still alive (at least for now). Putin has jailed and killed people for a lot less, so this makes him look weak before the Russian public and the elites.

On the other hand, Putin’s regime was tested over the weekend, and the regime ultimately held together. Yes, there were a lot of people who didn’t fire to stop Wagner troops from advancing, but there were virtually no defections inside the Russian government, the military, or among elites. The government is still functioning normally, and the war in Ukraine is going the way it did before the mutiny. Putin is more vulnerable on the back of it, but that’s more a long-term than an immediate issue. The likelihood of regime change in Russia remains near zero … until it happens. But these events show that the risks are more than initially thought.

How does this coup impact the war in Ukraine? The incident is a problem for Putin’s credibility with elites and the Russian public, and this political vulnerability could make him more sensitive to major battlefield losses in the coming months. If we get to a point later in the summer or fall where Ukraine starts to threaten Crimea or the land bridge, the risk of a major Russian escalation (such as blowing up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant or using a tactical nuclear weapon) in response would go up.

Biblical Connection: How does this chaos impact Russia in prophecy? When the Ukraine war began, many students of Biblical prophecy saw this aggression as a sign that Russia could be moving toward the Gog-Magog prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39. However, with the weakness of the Russian forces in Ukraine, it is clear that Russia is not as strong military as many thought. If Putin feels threatened or feels desperate, then he really only has two options. First, he may try to sue for peace and turn his resources to reestablishing his strength in his own nation. This would seem to point away from more Russian aggression in the near future. However, if Putin feels pressure to continue to show Russia is strong on the world stage, it could lead to more Russian aggression, which could lead to something like the Gog-Magog situation, especially if Putin turns to Iran to help its military exploits across the globe.

PRAY: Pray that the situation in Ukraine would end peacefully and that Russian aggression would be limited and halted.

World Economic Forum Calls for AI to Rewrite Bible

A top official with the World Economic Forum (WEF) has called for religious scripture to be “rewritten” by artificial intelligence (AI) to create a globalized “new Bible.” Yuval Noah Harari, the senior advisor to the WEF and its chairman Klaus Schwab, argued that using AI to replace scriptures will create unified “religions that are actually correct.” Harari, an influential author and professor, made the call while giving a talk on the “future of humanity.”

According to Harari, the power of AI can be harnessed and used to reshape spirituality into the WEF’s globalist vision of “equity” and inclusivism. Speaking with journalist Pedro Pinto in Lisbon, Portugal, Harari told the elitist audience: “It’s the first technology ever that can create new ideas. You know, the printing press, radio, television, they broadcast, they spread the ideas created by the human brain, by the human mind. They cannot create a new idea. You know, Gutenberg printed the Bible in the middle of the 15th century; the printing press printed as many copies of the Bible as Gutenberg instructed it, but it did not create a single new page. It had no ideas of its own about the Bible: Is it good? Is it bad? How to interpret this? How to interpret that?”

Harari then revealed that he and his allies at the WEF have a solution to the supposed problems he’d just highlighted. “AI can create new ideas; it can even write a new Bible,” he declared. “Throughout history, religions dreamt about having a book written by a superhuman intelligence, by a non-human entity,” he added. “In a few years, there might be religions that are actually correct … just think about a religion whose holy book is written by an AI. That could be a reality in a few years.”

Harari noted in another recent gathering that software like ChatGPT has mastered human languages and can harness that function to influence culture. “For thousands of years, prophets and poets and politicians have used language and storytelling in order to manipulate and to control people and to reshape society,” he said. “Now AI is likely to be able to do it. And once it can… it doesn’t need to send killer robots to shoot us. It can get humans to pull the trigger.”

Harari frequently pushes ideas that involve humanity being replaced by machines. He gloated last year that “we just don’t need the vast majority of the population” in today’s world and that most of the general public has now become “redundant” and will be of little use to the global elite in the future.

“The future is about developing more and more sophisticated technology, like artificial intelligence and bioengineering. Most people don’t contribute anything to that, except perhaps for their data, and whatever people are still doing which is useful, these technologies increasingly will make redundant and will make it possible to replace the people” he stated.

Biblical Connections: Romans 1:22 states “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” Throughout history people have tried to replace God and His Word with their own creations. In Biblical times, it was with pagan idolatry. Now, the invention of AI has given a new way to try to replace God. Sinful man will always try to find ways to replace God with the things of the world.

PRAY: Pray that those people who are trying to replace God and His Word with the inventions of man will understand the errors of their ways.

Fox News: Donate to Satanic Temple but not Christian Organizations?

Fox News donated money to several left-leaning advocacy organizations, including The Satanic Temple, according to a recent report, as the network comes under fire for its behind-the-scenes embrace of LGBT ideology and other progressive causes. Fox News has developed a reputation as the go-to media outlet for conservative Americans. However, whistleblowers who either currently work at or once worked at the media outlet recently said that Fox News’ parent company is willing to match donations of up to $1,000 to several left-wing advocacy groups through its “Fox Giving” app.

Blaze Media’s Director of Programming Rikki Ratliff-Feldman spoke with two Fox News employees and one former Fox News producer who revealed that the company matches donations to three notoriously liberal advocacy organizations: abortion provider Planned Parenthood, LGBT activist group the Trevor Project and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Fox also matches donations to The Satanic Temple, which is known for its After School Satan Club launched to counter the Good News Club.

Screenshots provided in the Blaze report back up the whistleblowers’ accounts. A close-up screenshot of the company portal’s page offering employees the opportunity to donate to Planned Parenthood describes the company as “a respected leader in educating Americans about reproductive and sexual health.” The portal makes no mention of the company’s role in performing nearly 400,000 abortions in fiscal year 2021-'22. As for the Southern Poverty Law Center, the organization came under fire recently for listing the parental rights group Moms for Liberty on its “hate map” alongside the Ku Klux Klan. The SPLC has developed a reputation for labeling opponents of progressive ideology as “hate groups.”

Ratliff-Feldman reported that “I watched one source physically log in to their company portal, at Myfox.okta.com to confirm the giving app and to see some of the questionable charities and the donation match option for myself to verify nothing was photoshopped.” The former producer who spoke with Blaze Media cited the company’s willingness to match donations to the far-left advocacy groups as evidence of “complete disregard and hatred for Fox’s core audience, which is a huge part of the country.”

While some can argue that as long as the company is consistently matching donations to other groups as well, then it is not a big deal. However, Fox’s internal donation policy stresses that the company “will not match or provide volunteering rewards to: Donations to organizations that discriminate on the basis of a personal characteristic or attribute, including, but not limited to, age, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity characteristics or expression, marital status, … pregnancy or medical condition either in its selection of recipients of the organization’s services, funds, or other support; in delivery of services or in its employment practices.” Additionally, the company does not match “donations made to organizations that are private and non-operating, or political, religious, or fraternal in nature.”

This means that Fox is fine with donating to these liberal leaning groups but will not match the same type of conservative leaning groups because they are “political or religious” in nature. How can Christian groups be considered religious, but the Satanic Temple not be considered religious? It is a double standard that makes no logical sense. It is clear that the head of the company making these decisions is picking and choosing which organizations they will support and not support, even while claiming to be a neutral or even a conservative leaning organization.

Biblical Connections: 2 Corinthians 11:14 states “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” Satan has always attempted to make himself seem as a legitimate option in comparison to God and yet true believers know that this is clearly a deception that only fuels the powers of sin and darkness.

PRAY - Pray that these companies that donate to radical anti-Christian agendas will see the error in their ways.

Are Technological Advances Moving toward Mark of the Beast?

The Elon Musk-founded Neuralink, the medical device company developing implantable brain-computer interface microchips, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to start human clinical trials as early as this summer. The company announced what it calls “an important first step” and expects to share more information on recruitment for the clinical trial in the near future. “We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study!” the company tweeted. “This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people. Recruitment is not yet open for our clinical trial. We’ll announce more information on this soon!”

While details are still scant, the trial is expected to focus on Neuralink’s brain-computer interface (BCI), a Class III medical device that connects the brain to an external computer using a Bluetooth signal. With this connection, the device — a coin-sized chip called the “Link” — allows for continuous communication and is designed to not only “read” neural activity but “write” signals into the brain. Musk has said Neuralink could potentially restore eyesight and motor function for disabled patients and offer the ability to control electronic devices mentally. Neuralink does not currently have any clinical trials available for enrollment but has created a patient registry for those interested in participating in future trials.

Musk has said his inspiration behind the company in the first place was to be a “risk mitigation for digital super-intelligence.” “The reason I created Neuralink long-term as a risk mitigation for digital super-intelligence, in that if we are able to effectively achieve symbiosis with digital intelligence, then … the collective human will is better able to steer things in the direction that we’d like, or even with benign AI, at least go along for the ride,” he said in a 2021 interview. Among other goals, Musk said he’s confident Neuralink will ultimately allow paraplegic or even tetraplegic to operate a phone “faster than someone who has … working hands.”

Dr. Travis Losey, the vice-chair of the department of neurology and co-director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Loma Linda University in southern California, said in a 2021 interview that when it comes to the use of brain interface technology, the purpose should be to heal something that was harmed by disease or a disorder. “The core ethical issue with the brain-computer interface is similar to issues with medication,” he offered. “I think it’s only ethical to use medications when they are being used to restore function that has been lost or affected by a disease. The same principles would apply to brain-computer interfaces.”

Biblical Connections: While the technology that Mr. Musk and others are creating could be a great benefit in the medical field, it could also be possible that this type of technology or something close to it could be used in the future to create the Mark of the Beast, written about in Revelation 13. If one combines the idea of a completely digital currency with the combination of neurochips like this technology, then one could easily see how a Mark of the Beast could be pushed through in the times of the Antichrist that cannot be faked, that could be taken everywhere and that would allow for access to the global markets. While we should not reject technology meaninglessly, we also should recognize that the advancements could be getting us closer to the Rapture and the Tribulation.

PRAY: Pray that these types of technological advancements will be used worldwide for good and to truly help people.

North Korea Sentences 2-year-old after Parents Caught with Bible

If Christians in North Korea are found possessing a Bible, they face the death penalty, and family members, including children, are sentenced to life imprisonment, reveals a report by the U.S. State Department. This report includes an incident where a 2-year-old child was sentenced to life in a prison camp after his parents were caught with a Bible.

An estimated 70,000 Christians are incarcerated in North Korea. Prisoners face harsh conditions and physical mistreatment, says the State Department’s recently released 2022 International Religious Freedom Report.

The report attributes 90% of documented human rights abuses against both Christians and adherents of Shamanism to that country’s Ministry of State Security. It cites Korea Future, a nonprofit organization working on human rights in North Korea, as saying that the North Korean government engages in severe persecution of individuals who practice religious rituals, own religious items, or associate with religious individuals, with punishments ranging from arrest and detention to torture, forced labor, deportation and denial of the right to life.

Educational materials in North Korea are anti-religion according to people who have escaped from the country. They recount textbooks containing sections on Christian missionaries, characterizing them as committing “evil deeds,” such as rape, organ harvesting and murder. While North Korea’s constitution officially guarantees religious freedom — the communist dictatorship points to churches it has constructed in Pyongyang as proof — the State Department report contends these churches function merely as “showpieces for foreigners.”

One victim was quoted, “Officials worked us hard without feeding us properly … I suffered from malnutrition and was sure I would not survive. I kept having diarrhea, even when I only drank water, and I weighed just 77 pounds. Today I weigh 132 pounds, so I was like a skeleton back then.” Others described or showed signs of being beaten, ingesting contaminated food, being forced into uncomfortable positions for long periods of time, and verbal abuse.

For Christians, the report points out, the sentences are significantly more severe than for other religious beliefs, ranging from 15 years to life in prison. One case involved the 2009 arrest of a family based on their religious practices and possession of a Bible. The entire family, including a 2-year-old child, were given life sentences in political prison camps.

In December, the United States co-sponsored a United Nations resolution deploring North Korea’s “systematic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights.” The resolution expressed significant concern about abuses, including summary executions of individuals exercising their freedom of religion or belief.

In its 2021 report, “Organized Persecution – Documenting Religious Freedom Violations in North Korea,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said the violations it documented in 2020 were “seemingly designed to remove all traces of Christianity.” “The campaign to exterminate all Christian adherents and institutions in North Korea has been brutally effective, and continues through the work of the Ministry of State Security, networks of informants that stretch into China, the presence of ‘no-exit’ political prison camps, executions, and an educational and organizational system that deters adherence through schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods,” said the report, which was based on interviews of survivors, witnesses and perpetrators of religious freedom violations.

For years, North Korea has ranked as the worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USA’s World Watch List. “Being discovered as a Christian is a death sentence in North Korea,” says Open Doors USA, adding, “If you aren’t killed instantly, you will be taken to a labor camp as a political criminal.”

Biblical Connections: It is sometimes easy to forget that there are Christians around the globe who place their lives on the line every day for the cause of Christ. One day in the future, this type of persecution will become global during the reign of the Antichrist.

PRAY: Pray for the believers in North Korea that God will protect them and their families. Pray for the persecuted church around the globe.

Digital Currency Continues to Create Controversy

Florida has become the first state in the nation to ban the use of any federally adopted central bank digital currency (CBDC) by excluding it from the definition of money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code. Under Senate Bill 7054, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law, both domestic and foreign-issued CBDCs are prohibited in order to “protect consumers against globalist efforts to adopt a worldwide digital currency.” “The government and large credit card companies should not have the power to shut off access to your hard-earned money because they disagree with your politics,” DeSantis said in a statement.

The signing of SB7054 comes just over a year after President Joe Biden signed an executive order last March to explore the creation of a U.S. version of a CBDC, which is a digital form of a country’s sovereign currency. Part of the reason for SB7054, said DeSantis, was that any CBDC “aims to increase government control over people’s finances, and we will not allow it.”

In a statement, DeSantis warned that any federally sanctioned CBDC, as proposed by the Biden administration, would “diminish the role of community banks and credit unions in our financial system as CBDC currency would be a direct liability of the federal government, rather than of a chartered financial institution, shrinking market lending power. “In Florida, we value personal freedom and won’t allow self-interested elites to chip away at our liberty,” he added.

While any Federal Reserve-backed digital currency won’t be used in Florida anytime soon, Texas is also taking steps that would allow the state to issue its own digital currency backed not by the U.S. dollar but by gold. Senate Bill 2334 would grant authority to the Texas comptroller to establish a digital currency backed by gold and to mint coins so that each unit of the digital currency would represent a particular fraction of a troy ounce of gold, the traditional unit of gold weight, according to the bill’s text.

If passed, SB2334 would also authorize the state comptroller to contract with a private vendor to establish the digital currency, as well as “a means to ensure that a person who holds the digital currency may readily transfer or assign the digital currency to any other person by electronic means” for everyday use. Those with digital currency accounts would see their balances fluctuate based on gold prices, which are currently around $2,000 per ounce.

While gold has been a trusted storage of wealth for millennia, it’s usually considered as either insurance or an investment rather than for everyday commerce. However, with central banks across the world increasing their gold reserves sharply in 2022 — up as much as 18% from the previous year — last year, the Federal Reserve of New York, along with other major banks, launched a pilot program for a digital dollar that will test the use of such tokens in the U.S. banking system.

According to Chuck Bentley, CEO of Crown Financial Ministries, since roughly one-third of all retail transactions in the U.S. are still conducted in cash, the implementation of a cashless economy is still likely a ways off. “It is not likely that this will go away as quickly as we may think for a couple of reasons: retailers want to retain the customers who use cash, and policymakers want to be sure that the ‘unbanked’ are not discriminated against,” he said. Still, the movement away from traditional forms of currency and to digital currency that could easily be controlled through a central governmental force could be a sign we are getting closer to the type of economy needed for the rise of the Antichrist.

Biblical Connection: Revelation 13:17 states “and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

PRAY: Pray that as we are moving toward the end, that God will spare more time for unbelievers to come to salvation.

Aborted Pregnancies in England, Wales Soars to New High

Sometimes it is easy to think that the tragic slip away from a countries Christian foundation will have little impact on the culture of that nation. However, that could not be further from the truth. England has moved away from its Christian principles and the results have led to a catastrophic disaster. The number of aborted pregnancies in the United Kingdom soared to a record high last year, according to government data. Between January and June 2022, the number of pregnancies that were aborted in England and Wales soared to 123,219, up more than 14% compared with the first half of 2021, according to data released by the U.K.’s Department of Health & Social Care. The 2022 number topped the previous high of 110,299 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Christian Concern, a British Evangelical advocacy group, said the record number equates to roughly 680 pregnancies aborted in England and Wales every day, or the equivalent of “28 lives ended every single hour.” “It is with heavy hearts that we witness the devastating toll upon innocent lives. Each number represents a precious child, fearfully and wonderfully made, but whose lives have been cut short,” said Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern. “May God, in His mercy, use these sorrowful statistics to ignite a renewed determination within society to protect the lives of unborn babies, to offer compassionate support to those who need it and support families through good policies.”

While data for the second half of 2022 have yet to be released, the sharp jump in the latest numbers indicated they could top 2021’s numbers. The jump in the number of aborted pregnancies last year, said Williams, comes as more DIY at-home abortion products are becoming available, along with other factors, including a “cost-of-living crisis and a lack of pro-family policies.”

Just two years after government officials voted in favor of allowing women to undertake abortions in their own homes without medical supervision, DIY at-home abortions accounted for 54% of all aborted pregnancies in the first six months of 2022, up slightly from 52% in 2021. In August 2022, lawmakers amended the 1967 Abortion Act to allow eligible women in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy to continue to take both medicines for early medical abortion at home. Thus, the United Kingdom not only allowed for all sorts of abortions, but also simplified the process to allow it to occur at a much greater frequency.

“The sheer scale of these statistics underscores the urgent need for a collective awakening, a return to valuing and protecting every human life, no matter how small or vulnerable,” Williams said. “Our culture's embrace of abortion as a solution to complex problems is a chilling reflection of our diminished respect for the sanctity of life. Let us strive for a future where we, as a nation, choose compassion and hope in the recognition that every life, from conception to natural end, is a precious gift from God.”

Biblical Connection: The sanctity of life is one of the hallmarks of the Christian faith. Psalm 139:13 states “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” Jeremiah 1:5 states “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” We have seen the Western world at large move away from the Christian faith and the results have led to a complete disregard for human life.

PRAY: Pray that the United Kingdom, once the leading mission-sending country in the world, would turn away from such blatant disregard from Biblical principles and would choose life.

Military Maneuvers in the Middle East

The U.S. military is arming aircraft sent to the Middle East with “bunker busting” bombs. A squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft — otherwise known as “Warthogs” — have been saddled with the structure-penetrating payload in response to increasing aggression from the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal. The warthogs are each capable of carrying approximately 16 bunker busters, otherwise known as GBU-39/B bombs.

Additionally, the Biden administration sanctioned Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization, accusing it of wrongfully detaining Americans. Iran’s Guard Corps was sanctioned at the same time as Russia’s Federal Security Service.

“Today, and every day, our message to Russia, Iran and the world is holding hostage or wrongfully detaining Americans is unacceptable. Release them immediately,” Biden said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Iran renewed threats to target former President Donald Trump and top members of his former Cabinet, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for the 2020 killing of its top military commander, Qasem Soleimani.

“God willing, we are looking to kill Trump [and] Pompeo … and military commanders who issued the order should be killed,” Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force, told Iranian state television. The threats themselves were nothing new, though they came as Tehran announced a new long-range cruise missile capable of flying more than 1,000 miles, which could give it additional capabilities to strike U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Iran has shipped over 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition to Russia across the Caspian Sea in the past six months, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Iran has mostly used cargo flights to ship weapons to Russia, which are nearly impossible for Western countries to stop, and blocking the shipment of weapons in the Caspian Sea would require the agreement of former Soviet republics in the area. US-allied British forces in the region have also intercepted several Iranian weapons smuggling attempts over the past few months. The US Fifth Fleet is based out of Bahrain and is active in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Arabian Sea. Among their many responsibilities is maritime security in the region, which includes combating attempted Iranian smuggling efforts. For example, recently the US Navy managed to intercept an Iranian ship that was smuggling several weapons over to Yemen, where they would have gone to the Iran-backed Houthis.

This all comes amid deepening ties between Moscow and Tehran. This stronger relationship was forged amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Iran providing Russia with drones and Russia providing Iran with cash and seized Western weapons. Exactly how Iran manages to ship these drones to Russia is unclear, though a report indicated that many of them were smuggled by way of Iranian ships on the Caspian Sea. Iran has continued to try to smuggle as many munitions and drone technology as possible to Russia for use in Ukraine. They are doing this so that Russia will continue to cover for them, both in the United Nations and in a renewed nuclear deal. They hope that the threat of Russian intervention would protect them from any western interference if they ever went to war with Israel. Indeed, Iran knows that it cannot defeat Israel if they are backed by the American military. However, if America is limited by Russia, then Iran believes that they and their proxy allies could attack Israel in the future.

Biblical Connections: Ezekiel 38-39 has Iran, Turkey and possibly Russia in a future alliance with a few other nations in an invasion of Israel. Forty years ago, people questioned how Iran and Russia would ever work together. That seems to no longer be an issue in our modern context.

PRAY: Pray the threat of western interference will cause Iran to back down from their aggression and peace will be restored in the region.