Proof The Bible Is True

The Holy Spirit is raining down on Latin America with tens of thousands of people either laying prostrate on the ground or standing with hands raised as tears stream down their faces. Jennifer LeClaire, senior editor of Charisma, says she personally witnessed one such astounding revival during a Sunday service led by Pastors Ricardo and Patricia Rodríguez, founders of Central Mundial de Avivamiento (World Headquarters of Revival) in Bogotá, Colombia. “It was as if I stepped into a river of Holy Ghost fire,” she writes. “In one accord, over 25,000 people worshipped Jesus with all that was within them.” She [More]

I have just returned to the United States from a two-month personal fact-finding tour to assess the state of Christian civilization in the West, visiting 16 countries, including especially Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria in Eastern Europe as well as London for the Brexit vote. I also met with Christian social activists and conservative-minded citizens of…

The damned tormented by demons in Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” (This is the second of three-part series. Read Part I, “Psychiatrist goes demon hunting with exorcists.”) WASHINGTON – She was the world’s only fat and ugly fashion model. Or so she thought. The mirror said otherwise. But no one could convince her. In reality, she was…

The government’s continued crackdown on Christianity in China is now forcing seminary students to deny God and put the Communist Party first by living under “absolute obedience” to the state. Evidence of the state-run church being controlled by the government has been witnessed through a video mentioned by a Christian persecution watchdog organization, which tells of students being recorded while singing the Chinese anthem at Zhejiang Theological Seminary’s graduation ceremony. “It is obvious the seminary has degenerated into absolute obedience to the Communist Party’s so-called Christian pastors’ education base, becoming a Communist Party school dressed in the cloak of Christianity,” [More]

It was difficult to know what to expect as we met with the family of Yklas Kabduakasov, a Christian convert from Islam who is serving two years in a prison labor camp in Kazakhstan for sharing his Christian faith with Muslims. I hoped to both find out how his wife, Karlygash, and their children have been coping in his absence and to convey God’s love and our support.   Karlygash welcomed us into her pristine home, and I was impressed by her hospitality and warm spirit. This is the home where she and Yklas are raising their four youngest children. [More]

Technology and tradition are two valuable aspects of society. But in some situations, what is modern and commonplace can keep us from recognizing solutions that have been with us since the beginning of time. Orality method for sharing the Gospel is growing, but many people have yet to understand how versatile the applications are. Orality was first recognized as a valuable option for sharing the Gospel with people groups who had no written Scripture in their heart language. But more and more non-missionary individuals have now incorporated it into ministry efforts of discipleship and outreach in communities, immigrant populations, and prison ministries, [More]

Did you know that, according to The Joshua Project, 95 percent of India’s population is considered unreached with the Gospel? On top of that, 37 percent of Indian people are illiterate. So when we say there’s a need for audio Bibles in India, it’s a serious need. JP Sundararajan, Audio Scripture Ministries’ India-Asia Director, has an exciting update about their work on an audio Bible in India’s Bodo language. “We’re thrilled to report that the recording is almost done. It’s slowed down a little bit in the last few days because the main reader has developed a throat infection. So we [More]

Sometimes I get an attack of the “I’m not worthy” moments:   I look in the mirror and some pudgy old gal with wrinkles looks back. (The nerve of her!) Yes, that’s the “I’m so not pretty!” moment. Sigh. I meet some of my friends for lunch, I look at their fashionable beautiful selves and whisper, “I’m not ever going to look like that! Ever.” I start some tasks like cleaning out the storage room or scraping off old wallpaper, and it doesn’t take long for the “I’m not young anymore!” reality to set in. I read books and articles [More]

Have you ever thought about the fact that the word “focus” ends in “us?” When difficult circumstances come into our lives, it’s so easy to focus on “us,” to dwell on the negative things rather than the blessings God’s supplied.   Yeah, guilty as charged—and I suspect I’m not the only one.   I was reminded of that this week. I have a health problem that causes ear issues, lightheadedness, fatigue and weakness. I had the worst flare-up that I’d experienced in more than a year, and it’s hung around like overnight guests who outstay their welcome. I’ll be honest [More]

Sometimes I think our SUV’s GPS has a mind of its own—and not a very good mind in my opinion. That thing has taken us on some crazy trips! On one occasion, it was for an extra three-hour journey of all the back roads in South Carolina. I suspect we repeated some of them at least two or three times. Maybe four.   In other instances when we’ve been near our home, our GPS has suggested a route that we know isn’t the best way. And once when I was in a big city, the skyscrapers blocked out the signal [More]

Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh were bold evangelists in Iran, sharing their faith and distributing Bibles in that Islamic nation. Their evangelism work caught the attention of the authorities, and the two women ended up in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, where they spent 259 days. But even in prison, Maryam and Marziyeh saw God’s hand at work, providing for them and allowing them to be witnesses for Him. “We experienced in prison how we should trust God and how we should trust His plans,” Maryam says. This week on VOM Radio they share how they began their ministry, what happened [More]

How can I help? I wondered while scrolling through pages of prayer requests for health, conversions, Bibles, spiritual growth, as well as praises for healing and bravery during persecution. The quantity of needs is overwhelming. Countries desperate for encouragement and assistance are often too dangerous for someone like me to enter. I am powerless against governments and militant opposition. I am not a doctor, lawyer, or representative who can help. I am not rich. I have no experience or wisdom to share. All I have is compassion and love to give out of gratitude for what my Savior has given [More]

“This is really sad, if these pastors can’t see the difference between Trump and Hillary then they must be blind. This election is beyond critical if we want to have any hope of turning this nation around and back to God. To sit on the sidelines this year is indefensible.”  Admin Many are calling this election cycle the most important in a lifetime for conservatives and evangelicals. So why are evangelical pastors less involved in the political process this time around? The numbers from a American Culture and Faith Institute survey conducted last month show that compared with 2014, conservative [More]

In an age when madness is the new normal – like when the president says global warming and not radical Islam is our real enemy, and when the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is a career criminal and everyone knows it but supports her anyway, and when men who think they’re women are now actively recruited into…

An organization that long has fought persecution of Christians in locations where they are minorities, regions dominated by Islam, Hinduism, or other influences, now is expressing alarm about the surging attacks it is noticing in Western countries, where Christians for generations have been the majority. And the group is blaming, at least partly, government or government-backed…

The American Pastors Network is offering a toolkit to help churches counteract the transgender movement in public schools. Increasing numbers of boards of education are yielding to pressure from the federal government to implement guidelines allowing transgender students to use opposite-sex bathrooms and locker rooms. Pastor Gary Dull, executive director of APN’s Pennsylvania chapter, says his organization is offering an online toolkit to help oppose this mania. Read More: The Church, the schools, and transgenders

Recently, Pastor Han, pastor of a church in Chiangbai, China was brutally murdered by North Korean secret agents, sources revealed that he was hacked to death. The purpose behind the murder was to provide a “warning” to Christians in China, who actively assisted North Korean refugees. In addition to this warning, the Chinese government has warned Chinese and Koreans pastors to refrain from involving themselves. This warning has affected American pastors in the area, as well. Read More: Prayer Request Chinese Pastor Murdered | Stories | Open Doors USA

VOM Radio host Todd Nettleton recently travelled to meet with persecuted Christians in the Middle East. This week he shares highlights from the trip and stories of some of the Christians that he had a chance to meet, including a former prisoner in Iran, a pastor working with refugees from Iraq and Syria and a Turkish believer who shared the challenges of raising children in an overwhelmingly-Islamic culture. Todd and Dr. Jason Peters also discuss the importance of praying for Muslims during Ramadan, which is going on right now. Come along with VOM Radio this week on a visit to [More]

Hundreds of thousands of Christians across India are faced with a sobering ultimatum: hide their faith, or risk harassment, intimidation, and even death.   Threats against churches, arson attacks on Christian property, and the harassment and violent abuse of new converts to Christianity are all on the rise in India, where just 2.3 per cent of the population identifies with the faith.   Two young women who have experienced such persecution are Meena, 32, and her 25-year-old sister, Sunita (names have been changed to protect identity).   They were severely beaten by a group of men from their village in [More]

I think the United States of America is standing at a crossroads. We have never been in worse shape morally. Crime continues to explode. Families continue to splinter. The fabric of society continues to unravel. What we need in America today, and for that matter, around the globe, is a far-reaching, heaven-sent revival. Revival is a…

In a recent op-ed, writer Matthew Archbold decries the modern tendency to avoid religious language in public, promising “good thoughts” rather than prayers for people, in a bow to a secular environment where Christianity is seen as “the new secondhand smoke.” Archbold relates a series of instances where even religious people are cowed into offering a “good thought” rather than a prayer for people in need, for fear of appearing to “impose their values” on others, anathema in today’s social climate. In an effort to explain the underlying suppositions behind the new trend, Archbold offers three hypotheses as to why [More]

Something wonderful in the Christian sense is happening in Tibet, a region in China considered as the highest in the world and the home of Mount Everest, earth’s highest mountain rising more than 29,009 feet above sea level. Tibetans are mostly Buddhist, but there are also some Muslims and Christians, according to sources. Last year, one Tibetan Buddhist priest embraced Jesus Christ and became a Christian pastor after seeing the love of Christ shown by a group of Christian workers who helped out and provided relief goods to the people of the region when a major earthquake struck the area, [More]

The Bible continues to be the world’s most-read book of all time with more than 5 billion copies sold, but the latest research shows that Americans’ skepticism and interest in Christianity’s holy book continues to drop drastically — even with its increased access through Bible apps and other electronic means. “The steady rise of skepticism is creating a cultural atmosphere that is becoming unfriendly to claims of faith; the adoption of self-ful?llment as our culture’s ultimate measure of good is re-orienting moral authority; and the explosive growth of digital tools such as Bible apps, daily reading plans, study resources and [More]

Yesterday VOM’s Todd Nettleton was a guest on In the Market with Janet Parshall, aired nationwide on the Moody Radio Network. In the 30-minute interview with Parshall, Nettleton shared highlights from his recent visit with VOM contacts and Christian workers in the Middle East. Listen: Persecution Blog: Middle East Update on Moody Radio

Having experienced the presence and forgiveness of God prepares a person to forgive others and be a gracious influence in their lives. Gracia Burnham, along with her husband Martin, were abducted and held by Marxist guerillas in the Philippines. They were in captivity for a year. Martin lost his life in a rescue attempt by government forces. Gracia described Martin’s attitude and spirit during those days in the following terms: Read More: Persecution Blog: Being Christ to Our Enemies

“Hurry, get into the closet. Do not make a sound unless you hear my voice. Do you understand?” Rose heard the two small voices of her preschool children say, “Yes, Mommy,” then she bolted out the door and headed toward her daughter’s school, praying that it was not too late. At the proclamation of Sharia, or Islamic law, by the Nigerian government, pockets of violence broke out against Christian groups because they had opposed the laws. Rose’s oldest daughter was still at school during the rioting, and Rose was sure she would not be safe there. Read More: Persecution Blog: [More]

“Mike” and “Rose” serve the Lord in Mexico, where they planted a secret church in a tribal village hostile to evangelical work. They’d been warned that gospel work in that village was dangerous, but God’s call was clear. Several villagers came to Christ, and they began a secret Bible study. But the Good News didn’t stay secret for long, and Mike and Rose were evicted from their home and kicked out of the village. Listen in as they share how God moved through that difficult time to encourage them and empower local Christians stand strong in their young faith, and [More]