Proof The Bible Is True

A scientific study aligns with the biblical account of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed by fire and brimstone from the heavens. The book of Genesis tells the story of God sending two angels to save Lot and his family from a city where men demanded to “be intimate” with visiting men, one of the clearest biblical condemnations of homosexuality. In response, God “rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire … out of heaven.”   It would be hundreds of years before life returned to the region.   And now scientists have found evidence of a cataclysmic event in that area, [More]

This week as you prepare to give thanks with family and friends, we want to say thank you for partnering with Open Doors and for letting God use you to bless and strengthen the persecuted Church around the world for His glory.   At Open Doors, we continue to hear from believers who are taking the gospel to others, strengthened by knowing that they are not alone … that Christ followers like you are praying with them and equipping them to share the Jesus they have found. These believers have learned the importance of living grateful lives.   Lessons in [More]

“These quotes from notable people show why it is important as a nation we honor God. Unfortunately we have been doing just the opposite and it has resulted in an increasingly divided and chaotic nation. Jesus says in Mark 3:25 if a house is divided against itself it cannot stand, if we continue on our present path how much longer will we as a nation stand.”  Admin   On Nov. 18, 1992, the New York Times printed Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice’s statement: “The less we emphasize the Christian religion the further we fall into the abyss of poor character and [More]

10/31/18 5 ways you can participate in the International Day of Prayer   During the 2018 International Day of Prayer this Sunday (Nov. 4), Open Doors is calling for 100,000 believers to stand with the underground church of North Korea.   Hea Woo watched her daughter die of starvation, her husband was killed for his faith and she herself was tortured for her faith in one of North Korea’s notorious prison camps.   Unfortunately, Hea Woo’s experience of being persecuted for following Jesus isn’t rare.   Every year, 215 million Christians face high levels of persecution in places hostile to [More]

10/31/18 Many times, Christian persecution comes in waves. In places like Nigeria, Christians are constant targets of multiple Islamic extremist groups, specifically Boko Haram and in the last few years Fulani militant herdsmen. Wherever they go, persecution follows for often internally displaced believers.   This is the case for 100 Christian families who have now been targeted and attacked repeatedly, first by Boko Haram three years ago in the city of Maiduguri. At that time, the families fled the city to a camp for internally displaced people in Nasarawa State. For the past three years since the brutal attack, these [More]

10/31/18 When Lee Joo-Chan was young, he knew his parents were different. Everybody called them “Communist parents” because they took care of the sick, the poor and the needy. He also remembers seeing his parents read from a secret book at night. He knows now it was part of their worship.   “They would whisper the words, and I knew it was their source of wisdom. I also knew that if I ever talked about this to someone else, our family would be taken away.”   Thirty years later in China, Lee would finally discover his family’s secret faith. Now [More]

Pepe was a black Chihuahua, but he had a personality the size of a Great Dane. When my dad called, “Here, boy,” Pepe jumped into his lap or followed him anywhere. Pepe even waited outside the bathroom door while my dad shaved in the morning and again when he brushed his teeth before bed.   Whenever we visited Dad my children liked to play with Pepe and wind him up to the point where their grandpa called Pepe “wild.”   “Have you tamed little Pepe yet?” my twins, Emily and Joey, loved to ask when they called Grandpa.   “Still [More]

A horrifying account of what it’s like for those who “suffer in prison” in North Korea   “Please remember to pray for believers there.”  Admin   10/10/18   The depth of persecution our brothers and sisters endure is often difficult to read about–and difficult for us to share. Some accounts, like the one of a North Korean prison camp below, are extremely dark. We share this important story to help all of us understand that the darkness is real and that, as the Apostle Paul writes, “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but “against the universal lords of this [More]

The United States is not specifically mentioned in end time Bible Prophecy. But, we are there in prophetic type, meaning prophetic symbolism. Before I reveal our prophetic type, I want to take a moment to explain what I mean when I talk about a prophetic symbol or a prophetic type. A prophetic type is a symbol of a prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. It prefigures a coming reality. It can be a person, it can be an event, it can be a ceremony, and it even can be an inanimate object. For example, the Greek tyrant, Antiochus Epiphanes, [More]

Have you ever wondered how to share the Gospel with somebody? From the vast narrative of God’s creation story, to the coming of Christ and the earth-shattering sacrifice of the cross, Christianity can be exceedingly complex to explain to someone in simple terms. But Pete Hughes, pastor of King’s Cross Church in London, England, has pieced together a fantastic video in which he distills the crucial aspects of Christianity into a lively three-minute presentation.   Watch: Pastor Perfectly Explains Christianity in Three Minutes Flat – Faithwire

09/21/18   In today’s 21st-century Iran, the church is increasingly under intensifying persecution from both society and the state, as Christianity—and anyone involved in spreading it—is seen as a threat to the Republic’s Islamic identity. But like the early church of Acts that expanded exponentially in the face of persecution, the persecuted church of Iran is also multiplying and experiencing explosive growth. Below, we offer a spiritual barometer on the depth of persecution in today’s Iran (No. 10 on the World Watch List) and share stories of hope that reveal God is indeed working His plan through mounting adversity and [More]

09/20/18   “Great article regarding the founders viewpoints on how morality and religion are indispensable in maintaining a just and stable government. When these twin pillars are removed chaos and repression follow. We see today how true their words are as our nation has become more despotic, carnal and divided because these twin pillars are increasingly being whittled away to our eventual destruction.”  Admin   He sat next to George Washington in the pew at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York during the religious service following Washington’s presidential inauguration. He helped ratify the U.S. Constitution. His name was Fisher Ames. [More]

09/09/18   Since introducing new religious regulations in February to align “religion with Chinese characteristics,” Chinese President Xi Jinping and his regime continue to tighten their grip on religious rights in the name of unification of the country.     According to the new regulations, religious leaders must “conduct religious activities in the Chinese context, practice core socialist values, carry forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation, and actively explore religious thought which conforms to the reality in China.”   This church in Luoyang in Henan province was required to display the Chinese flag. (Photo courtesy of China Aid) Across [More]

08/16/18 For Christians in Palestine, life is a Catch-22. Caught in the middle of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, their Christian faith makes them minorities within the Muslim-majority Palestinian Territories (No. 36 on Open Doors’ World Watch List). And their Arab ethnicity results in numerous restrictions on the Israeli side. Overall, Palestinian society deems conversion from Islam to Christianity unacceptable. And the degree of Christian persecution believers face in the Palestinian Territories depends on their tradition and heritage. Converts from Islam to Christianity bear the brunt of the persecution; they are rejected by their communities and families. And historical churches turn away converts [More]

08/16/18   Like so many young people growing up in Central Asia, Ulzhan* was headed for destruction. Throughout the former Soviet countries, increasing numbers of youth are turning to alcohol and drugs. Ulzhan needed larger and larger quantities of alcohol and drugs to fill the hole in his soul. When Jesus came into his life through the church, everything changed. Life became meaningful.   Today, he serves God in often very stressful circumstances in Central Asia. Open Doors recently spoke to the now underground church leader at a secret location. In this rare interview, Ulzhan reveals how God grabbed hold [More]

Most people pray for clear skies and then pack an umbrella, just in case. Not George Müller.   Müller was a Christian preacher, educator and philanthropist who lived in the 19th century in England. He established and directed a series of homes for orphans and schools for children, eventually caring for more than 10,000 children in his lifetime. Such efforts cost money, of course, but Müller decided early on that he would not draw a salary for himself, would not go into debt and wouldn’t even ask people for money. He decided, instead, to pray.   That’s right. He determined [More]

It’s easy to think that Jesus had a big advantage—being the incarnate Son of God, as He was—in praying and getting His prayers answered. But He did tell His followers, “You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it” (Matthew 21:22, NLT).   The first generation of Jesus’ followers apparently took his promises seriously. They prayed for boldness, and received it (Acts 4:29). They prayed for prisoners to be released, and it happened (Acts 12:5). They prayed for the sick to be healed, and they were healed (Acts 28:8). They even prayed for the dead [More]

07/24/18   When Esther was rescued from Boko Haraman extremist group that is located primarily in Northern Nigeria captivity, she thought her living nightmare of almost a year was over.   But it had only just begun.   Though the young Nigerian woman carried a child she thought she could never love, she was at least free from the violence, the constant rape, the incessant torment from her captors that she had endured ever since the day Boko Haram guerilla fighters attacked her village, killing her father and forcing her and other young Christian girls into waiting vehicles. They were [More]

07/24/18   What would cause most Americans to switch churches?   It’s not the music, youth programs or even a change in preacher. Instead it is a shift in the church’s beliefs. A new study has found that for the great majority of Americans, the number one reason they go to church is to hear sermons that teach about the Bible and how to apply God’s word to their lives.   It should come as a breath of fresh air for those worried about the over-the-top nature of some of today’s church services that 83% of Protestants say that sermons [More]

07/15/18   The Czech aid worker who spent 14 ½ months behind bars in Sudan has said he counted his experience a “privilege” because it enabled him to share his Christian faith with Sudanese prisoners, and praised the country’s “very courageous” Christian minority.   Petr Jašek also told World Watch Monitor that two Sudanese Christians who were arrested days after he was have been resettled in the U.S., along with their families, since their release in May 2017. A third has been released and remains in Sudan.   Jašek added that, of those with whom he shared a cell during [More]

06/25/18 “Someone to put on your prayer list for sure.”  Admin When a bomb exploded right next to Samiha Tawfiq at St. Peter’s Church in Cairo on December 11, 2016, everyone thought she was dead. But church bombing survivor Samiha miraculously survived the explosion that claimed 27 lives and injured 49.   The explosion also took away one side of Samiha’s face.   Since the attack, it has been an uphill climb for 55-year-old Samiha and her husband Koleny Farag, 79. She can neither hear, smell, nor see on the right side of her face and can barely lift her badly [More]

06/25/18   Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, persecution is coming at believers in West Africa, East Africa and Central Africa in full force. In the Horn of Africa (East Africa), the Muslim country of Eritrea is notorious for its intricate and inhuman prison system that often uses small shipping containers to hold prisoners. The country is estimated to be holding between 1,200 and 3,000 Eritreans on religious grounds.   For 11 years, Pastor Ogbamichael Teklheimanot spent his days imprisoned in Eritrea’s Mitire Camp infamously known as a military concentration camp. And because he refused to renounce his faith in Christ, Ogbamichael was subjected to [More]

06/08/18   On Monday, Gallup published their annual Values and Beliefs survey, which details the beliefs of American’s on 21 specific issues. The organization started their annual Values and Beliefs survey in 2001 and has helped detail American’s beliefs ever since.   As expected, the year’s study revealed that Americans believe that gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable. However, an unexpected study showed that pornography and polygamy are also morally acceptable.   Gallup Just Ranked 22 Professions on Levels of Honesty and Ethics — and There’s Some Troubling News for Pastors   The study revealed that America is split on whether [More]

05/16/18   “Interesting article, also contains surprising information on those converting to Islam.”  Admin   Many in the media, theologians and pollsters seem to be in a consensus that data shows American Christianity is in a steep decline. A series of polls from the last few years have revealed that the Church is hemorrhaging members at an alarming rate — particularly millennials. But, while analysts will continue to assess and contest the validity of such studies, one thing is clear — there is another faith community experiencing and even steeper decline, and very few are talking about it.   That religion is Islam. [More]

05/15/18   Two separate but complementary Christian organizations are stepping forward to help parents build character in children despite the confusing, frustrating times we live in.   The left-leaning Girl Scouts has been watching its numbers drop for years and now the long-respected Boy Scouts is imploding after first allowing open homosexuals and transgenders, and more recently, allowing girls.   Read More: ‘Progress’ keeps killing a wonderful organization

05/15/18   Polls show that over the past 15 years, the proportion of white evangelicals in the United States has steadily been on the decline, while the non-religious sector of the population continues to soar.   Even though the Protestant denomination is still America’s most prevalent religious group, a major analysis of ABC News/Washington Post polls conducted over the past decade-and-a-half indicates that the nation’s religious landscape has experienced a major shift during that time.   “On average last year, 36 percent of Americans in ABC News/Washington Post polls identified themselves as members of a Protestant faith, extending a gradual [More]

Archaeologists discovered part of a lost settlement they say may provide further proof of the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon.   Historians uncovered a building belonging to an ancient settlement in an area about 30 kilometers from Jerusalem they believe to be associated with King David, according to The Sun.   Archaeologists disagree on whether King David and King Solomon existed, but the age and location of the settlement lends greater credence to the Bible’s historical accuracy, professor and archaeological dig co-head Avraham Faust said.   Read More: Lost City Unearthed Near Jerusalem, Shakes Secularists Who Deny Bible