“We here in the West have little idea of the horrible conditions many Christians are suffering in elsewhere in the world. Don’t forget to keep them in your prayers and if possible support organizations that are helping them.” Admin I am traveling back from the Nuba mountains of Sudan, where I joined VOM workers for nearly a week traveling in the bush inside Sudan. It is impossible to adequately describe the devastation and suffering of Christians in this place. I will spend several blog posts sharing stories and insights from our family members there. The best place to begin is
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Dr. Charles Stanley sermon.
“Good article and some interesting reader comments after the article.” Admin They’re falling away from the Church in droves, but what actually keeps youth grounded in their faith and committed to regular church fellowship? A Closer LookOne high school pastor recognizes the modern-day dilemma Christian parents find themselves in when they desperately ask him with tear-filled eyes, “What do we do about our kids?” “[T]hey weren’t talking about 16-year-olds drinking and partying,” The Gospel Coalition Contributor Jon Nielson shared. “Each had a story to tell about a ‘good Christian’ child, raised in their home and in our church, who had
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Italian made movie of the old testament story of Joseph and his brothers.
Tori Rasmussen is a missionary to Tanzania, focusing on spreading God’s Word into African villages and equipping and training national Christians to become missionaries themselves. In this week’s episode of VOMRadio he shares about his work in Tanzania, about the persecution Christians there are facing and about the challenges of equipping tribal believers for outreach to other tribes and cultures. He also shares thoughts for American Christians about gospel outreach to Muslims right here at home. Listen Persecution Blog: VOMRadio: Tanzania.
“Who do you want to sign it, Georgie?” one of my friends asked that Friday as we stood in a circle in the schoolyard, holding our little autograph books for our friends and teachers to write in before eighth grade graduation. It was exciting figuring out who to approach next. “Oh, it doesn’t matter,” I said, flipping through the pages of my book. “Just so long as I get all my friends and favorite teachers.” The group nodded in agreement, but I wasn’t being totally honest. There was one of those who mattered most: Mrs. Lucky. She was my teacher
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From her perch atop El Panecillo hill, the 148-foot winged Virgin kept watch over the city of Quito. I lingered in her shadow long after my classmates had snapped their photos and left. When the coast was clear, I stuck a crumpled note into a crack at the base of the statue. I’d scribbled five simple words across it, my heart’s deepest desire: Please send me an angel. It was week two of my college study abroad semester in Quito, Ecuador, 6,000 miles from my home in Norway, and I was desperately homesick. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for travel.
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My job as community relations manager for a United Way after-school program involved providing information to parents’ groups, but while I was comfortable on the phone or speaking one-on-one, presenting to large crowds terrified me. I’d started attending weekly Toastmasters meetings, trying to get over my fears. My boss misunderstood and assumed I was a pro. She decided I should give a fundraising speech to a stage agency of 400 employees, hoping they would make a payroll-deduction pledge. I nervously composed my speech, incorporating attention-getting techniques and humor, just as I’d learned. I developed visual aids and compiled anecdotes. I
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Take your problems to the Lord. That had always been my policy. But as I pulled out of my driveway one morning, my biggest worry was…simply worrying. My concerns were nothing out of the ordinary: a big project at work, a to-do list of household repairs, trying to keep in touch with family. There was nothing I could do about any of it at the moment. I was on my way to work. And yet no matter how many times I told myself to stop, I couldn’t stop going over and over it all in my head. “Lord,” I said
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The bleeding had gone on for days, sometimes coming in a sudden gush. A complete evaluation revealed the cause. One that was rare so early on in a pregnancy. “You’ve had a severe partial abruption,” the doctor said. “The placenta has torn away from the uterus.” My husband, Mark, squeezed my hand. “You won’t carry this baby to term. I’m sorry.” As a registered nurse, one who had worked in OB-GYN, I knew there was no treatment that could stop the placenta from detaching completely, and there was no way to reattach my baby’s life support system in the womb.
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A recent study conducted by the Barna Group has divulged where the 100 biggest U.S. cities fall when it comes to going to church … and avoiding it. “Every week, nearly half of Americans attend church,” Barna researchers discovered. “Nationwide, just over two in five Americans (42 percent) are ‘very active’ churchgoers — meaning they attend church weekly. That’s a substantial number — yet it’s only four percentage points higher than the number of Americans who haven’t attended church in the past six months (38 percent) — people Barna Group defines as ‘churchless.’” Many cities, however, divert from the norm
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“It does us well to listen to such stories since we can see the signs of Christian intolerance starting here.” Admin House church leaders in China teach new believers that to be a faithful follower of Christ, one must be willing to suffer for his faith. Bob Fu led a double life in China, making his living as a teacher in a Communist Party school then working after school to lead people to Christ and build up China’s house churches. It wasn’t long before his own willingness to suffer was tested. Today, after fleeing to the West, Dr. Fu is
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“Please remember to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters.” Admin Persecution of Christians in China reached its highest level in more than a decade last year as the government cracked down on church growth perceived as a threat to Communist Party power, according to a U.S.-based advocacy group. Texas-based China Aid Association (CAA) this week reported 572 cases of religious – mainly Christian – persecution last year, a 300 percent increase over the previous year’s 143 cases. The number of people affected in those cases jumped from 7,424 to 17,884 people. More than 1,592 were church leaders, compared with
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“An alternative organization based on Christian values is the American Heritage Girls.” Admin A traditional values leader is exposing the Girl Scouts for its continued move toward far-left causes. The latest announcement, says Linda Harvey of Mission America, is that little boys from kindergarten through high school can join the Girl Scouts, if the boy considers himself a girl. “In other words, he calls the shots,” Harvey says of young males. “He is the one that determines the rights and privacy of authentic girls.” Regarding transgender youth, the website for the Scouts states that if a boy is recognized as
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“Little Boy,’ a movie that aims to “capture the soul and heart of America” and show it to the world, will debut in theaters April 24. An exclusive clip has been made available to WND of the movie, which features Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin James and Jakob Salvati in the title role. “Little Boy” tells an all-American story of a devoted 7-year-old son whose father goes missing in World War II. Motivated by Jesus’ words that faith can move mountains, the boy asks a priest how he can increase his faith to move a mountain and bring his missing
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Heaven or hell … heaven or hell … heaven or hell … One hundred years from now where will we all be? If it’s heaven, what will be your standing? What will be your eternal reward? What will be your eternal position with Jesus? And what of your family, friends and neighbors? And what of all the lost people you know? Where will they be? God wants to fill your belly with inspiration for the fulfillment of the great commission and a reaping of the precious fruit of the earth that remains. “For we cannot help but declare what we
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“Good advice for any Christian.” Admin When a woman of God awakes each morning, heaven, earth and hell should take notice! She is a vital contributor to her community and a gatekeeper of her home. Her friends, coworkers and family feel secure in her presence; her church relies on her faithful service. Who is this supernatural woman? Not superwoman, supernatural woman! She understands the source of her strength. She humbly acknowledges her dependence on God and accepts the help of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 31:30 tells us, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the
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“There’s a scarlet thread of redemption that the Lord weaves through our lives,” Doug Stringer shares. “Just as God has done throughout history, so it is true in our present day.” As Doug shared at the University of Houston’s Baptist Student Ministry that night, he reminded the young adults of past revivals. “God takes seemingly impossible or unlikely situations and uses them for good. One such example occurred in the midst of World War II,” he said. The Lord raised up a young Japanese American believer in the midst of World War II and used him to spark a revival
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“Excellent article.” Admin In 2 Corinthians 10:11, Paul tells us that the things that happened to the Old Testament saints were examples for us and that their stories were written for our admonition, instruction and warning. It has been said that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” and Paul would have us learn from those who preceded us and not repeat their mistakes. I was reminded of this during a recent time of prayer. As I prayed, my heart was heavy about the seeming powerless state of the church in the face of the deteriorating
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“It airs Sunday nights on NBC.” Admin Roma Downey and husband Mark Burnett share the motivation behind the ‘A.D.’ series which follows the highly successful hit of 2013, ‘The Bible.’
Muslim women face oppression in society and even in their own families, sometimes forced to hide even their very faces from the world. JoAnn Doyle leads an outreach to share the truth with Muslim women that they are Not Forgotten, that Jesus Christ loved them so much He even gave His life for them. Listen in as JoAnn shares how we can reach out to Muslim women, even through simple acts of kindness and conversation. We’ll also answer a question from a reader about how Christians inside the world’s most closed nation—North Korea—pray and worship Jesus Christ. Listen Persecution Blog:
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Recently a VOM international worker made a trip to visit persecuted Christians in China. He kept a video diary of the trip, which we will be sharing this week on the Persecution Blog. Day 1 On this first day, he attempts to attend services at a church in Beijing that has been forcibly closed down by the government. Day 2 On this second day, he visits a house church pastor in southwest China, a pastor recently released from prison. Listen in on their conversation about the benefits of persecution for Christian believers. Day 3 Today our worker travels to Hefei
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“Great story.” Admin Bill Geist takes back to 1993, when he profiled Bernard Coffindaffer, a West Virginia businessman who’d made it his life’s work to erect clusters of 3 crosses – thousands of them – next to highways across America. Today, more crosses are being raised, thanks to one woman who’d never met Coffindaffer but who continues his mission as her own.
“Please remember to keep him in your prayers.” Admin American Pastor Saeed Abedini was permitted to have a visit with an Iranian family member today in the prison. It was the first visit in the last five weeks. He continues to suffer for his faith, wrongfully imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian. The prison guards have become increasingly hostile. He faces a near constant demands that he recant his faith in Christ and become a Muslim. Iranian officials are also psychologically tormenting him, telling him that he will face an extended sentence even after he completes his current eight-year
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New York Times’ best-selling author Jonathan Cahn knew the super Shemitah was coming, but even he was startled when the biblical cycle revealed itself on national media. A throwback to Pharaoh’s dream in Genesis, on Sept. 25, a cow with the number seven was born and hit the news wires. Now, Cahn says the mystery deepens. Watch the video to see what he says about the cow. WATCH: Jonathan Cahn Shares Startling Prophetic Mystery About the Seventh Cow.
I know from personal experience that God’s messengers are ready to come to our aid in times of crisis. You will probably remember the disaster that happened in 1986 at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in the former USSR (now Ukraine). The zone of damaging radioactive contamination was still spreading when I traveled to Minsk, Belarus, to serve as a prophetic intercessor for a festival outreach for Jewish people. I had gone there with my two friends David Fitzpatrick and Richard Glickstein, with whom I had prayed a lot in New York City and other places in the United
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For those of you who like digging into clinical studies for more detailed information on something you can do so here:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=tumeric The above link is to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health using the keyword of “tumeric” to pull up the studies about it. You can enter any keyword you want in the search box at the top of the page.