Proof The Bible Is True

“The article details how you can write to imprisoned Christians overseas and be an encouragement to them.” Admn I stepped into the simple office from the dark hallway. As my eyes adjusted, I saw a man sitting against the far wall, quietly. I didn’t know it yet, but I was about to meet Mohammed Hegazy, one of the most infamous converts to Christianity in Egypt. After he converted, he insisted on legally changing his religious status from Muslim to Christianity. While his case languished in the courts, Mohammed and his family had to go into hiding after extremists began calling [More]

“As things become more difficult for Christians in this country this falling away of cultural Christians will accelerate.”  Admin The Roman historian Tacitus described Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians: “In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and torn to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights.” In spite of what you may have read or heard, the recent Pew Research Center report “America’s Changing Religious Landscape” was better news for [More]

During my time in seminary I took a leadership course taught by the late, great Howard Hendricks. As we studied the life of David, Hendricks shared a study he conducted with a group of men in full-time ministry who had fallen into a morally disqualifying sin. At the time, I had only been a Christian for a few years, but unfortunately the subject was all too relevant. During my early days I had witnessed several men whom I loved and respected fall into serious sinful compromise. At one point in those days, the falls came so frequently I felt as [More]

Americans have a surprising openness to Christian churches, even those who are supposedly turned off to religion, a new survey finds. No matter which denomination is in the name of a church, fewer than half the nonreligious say “it’s not for me.” Their views are more favorable than unfavorable toward a wide range of faiths—Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Assemblies of God, and non-denominational. These findings, based on a new survey of denominational opinions by LifeWay Research, may come as a surprise to those who’ve seen recent headlines. Growing numbers of people who don’t identify with any church have gathered considerable [More]

“One of our YWAM workers in the Middle East was contacted by a friend earlier this year and they met up and he was introduced to an ISIS fighter who had killed many Christians already. I mean that’s a horrible situation, and admittedly, he was probably on guard,” Gina Fadely, director of Youth With A Mission Frontier Missions, Inc. (YWAM), said during a recent appearance on The Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network. YWAM, a nonprofit missionary organization active since 1960, describes itself as “a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving [More]

Working alongside believers who are actively serving God in some of the most dangerous places on earth is incredible! It is staggering to hear story after story of miraculous interventions in their lives. It is also humbling. We meet regularly with Christians who are willing to forsake all to follow Jesus. As I chat with colleagues in my office following these visits, our conversation often leads into spirited discussions about the “living book of Acts” that we are honored to witness. The Acts of the Apostles has 28 chapters, but, many times, it seems like we are seeing Chapter 29 [More]

According to United Bible Societies’ 2014 Global Scripture Access Report, Bible Societies helped complete translations in 51 languages spoken by more than 1.3 billion people – including 1.2 billion Chinese speakers and 146 million speakers of other languages. Andrew Hood, managing director of communications for the American Bible Society, explains the translations are all the more remarkable given the escalated level of trials and tribulations against Christians in 2014. “Even in the midst of Boko Haram attacks and the Ebola outbreak, you had the translators working through those crises faithfully,” he tells OneNewsNow. “That they were still able to launch [More]

More than thirty percent of the world’s population is “unreached,” meaning there is no church among their people. It’s hard for American Christians to imagine more than two billion people living their entire lives without ever hearing the name of Jesus or meeting a believer in Christ. Gina F. and Kevin S. are part of the leadership of Youth With A Mission’s Frontier Mission teams, sending gospel workers to those places where there is no church and the people have never heard of the love of Christ. Listen in below to meet them and hear what kind of workers are [More]

“I’ve read quite a few reports of various kinds of miracles happening when this movie is shown at places around the world.”  Admin God’s power reigns in the most pagan of environments. Even in cultures where evil is worshipped, God is still working. This was made clear to Alex Mbewe. Alex is a team leader for The JESUS Film Project, which strives to spread the message of Jesus around the world by showing a movie about the Savior’s life. It started when Alex’s group was showing the film in Zambia. A witch became angry when she found out the movie [More]

On a recent Sunday, I arrived at church early and noticed two women that didn’t appear to be regulars in our church. They wore hijabs. Immediately, a number of questions raced through my mind. What were they doing? What would others think of them? While I have heard of many Muslim-background believers, it seemed like a bold step to set foot in a church. It’s a bold step for a seeker from any background. Some looked at them with curiosity. Others approached with a smile. The pastor had questions. It didn’t appear as though anyone had security concerns, and no [More]

I read an interesting article from CNN awhile back in which author Kenda Creasy Dean, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, warned that American teenagers are embracing what she called a moralistic, therapeutic deism. As she interviewed teenagers about their faith, she discovered that “many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good.” In other words, they were fake Christians. Now, let me explain. A fake Christian is not a struggling Christian, because every Christian struggles. Every Christian has times of falling short and sinning and slipping up. But that is not a fake Christian. [More]

Early Sunday mornings I take an hour’s walk before church and often find myself pondering my many blessings. This Sunday—Mother’s Day—I had a lot to be grateful for. My daughters had both sent lovely cards, one from Arizona, the other all the way from California. Back when my daughters and I lived in the same place the girls used to bring me flowers. How I loved seeing my daughters at the door with a bouquet of fresh blossoms just for me. Of course I knew the girls didn’t love me any less now. They never forgot me on Mother’s Day! [More]

One of my favorite memories is of a trip to North Africa some time ago. It was on this particular trip that I had the opportunity to stay in a remote village and visit with the people who live there. I remember walking the dusty village streets and being captivated by the sights and sounds of village life. On occasion passing the local people and exchanging glances, and when appropriate a smile — that needed no translation, and was mutually understood by all. It was during one of those days that I came upon a young boy. He sat quietly [More]

“Yes, God still moves in supernatural ways for those who are truly seeking his will… believe it.”  Admin Dr. Ben Carson, retired pediatric neurosurgeon and recently announced Republican presidential candidate, gave a moving personal speech at the National Day of Prayer event in Washington, D.C., May 7. One key story he shared was of a prophetic dream that changed the course of his life while he was a pre-med student at Yale. Failing his chemistry course, a prerequisite for medical school, he had one last opportunity to pull off a passing grade. But the night before his final exam, still [More]

Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teen who made national headlines in 2009 when she ran away from her Muslim family after secretly converting to Christianity, writes in her new book that nearly six years after her escape she still lives in fear but does not regret her decision. Born Fatima Rifqa Bary, the Sri Lankan native moved with her family to the US in 2000, when she was 8 years old, ostensibly to seek medical treatment after an accident involving a toy airplane left her blind in her right eye. At age 12, Rifqa secretly became a Christian. When her devout [More]

A prominent evangelical college is defending its decision to allow the formation of homosexual student group on campus. Wheaton College is a private evangelical school located near Chicago. Established in 1860, the school enrolls approximately 3,000 students and operates under the motto “For Christ and His Kingdom.” Due to the college’s Christian heritage, Wheaton’s Student Handbook requires all students to “abstain from … same-sex sexual behavior,” and the school’s Community Covenant condemns “homosexual behavior and all other sexual relations outside the bounds of marriage between a man and woman.” However, two groups of Wheaton-affiliated students and alumni have recently presented [More]

Last week I worshipped in Hong Kong with hundreds of believers at the Wing Kwong Church, a Pentecostal Holiness congregation that has grown from 28 members in 1978 to more than 13,000 today. The modern megachurch, which meets in a sleek six-story building completed in the year 2000, gives thousands of dollars every year to fund international missions work. Under the leadership of Pastor Donavan Ng, the church sent a missionary couple to Kenya in 2006 to reach Chinese immigrants who have moved to that African nation. “God has entrusted to the Chinese church a special mandate for the 21st [More]

There are people who will never get inside the four walls of the church until we get outside of the four walls of the church and show them God’s love. When we mention the words evangelist or prophetic evangelism, people often respond with, “I am not an evangelist,” “I am not interested in doing that,” or “I don’t know how to evangelize.” People think of going out and getting people saved and into a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Inadequacy of not knowing the Scriptures and how to answer tough questions concerns people. Fear rises up and prevents people from [More]

“Even if you take my life here in front of my wife…I will not deny Christ.” The Iraqi Christian stood at an ISIS check point. The fighters’ guns were pointed at him. Their instruction was clear: deny your faith and become a Muslim. He said no, and … Listen  Persecution Blog: VOMRadio: “Even If You Take My Life”.

I recently had the privilege of speaking with a Muslim convert to Christianity. Thousands of Muslims have experienced dreams and visions of God, and “Baris” took the time to share how a vision of Jesus changed his life. When I asked Baris to share his testimony, he spoke about his devout Muslim family who means everything to him. He arrived in the United States as a graduate student more than a decade ago, and now owns several businesses. In Turkey, he was a “missionary” of the Islamic faith, and he continued to live as a good Muslim here in the [More]

An Iowa teen and her parents are crediting the hand of God for saving her life after she suffered an irreversible brain injury and was unplugged from life support with no hope of recovery. Taylor Hale, now 17, was injured in 2011 after she slid off the hood of a friend’s car. She and another girl were joking around after a football game, and as they didn’t want their friend to leave just yet, they sat on his car. However, as he backed up the vehicle with the two girls sitting on it, Hale fell and hit her head hard [More]

A report released this week by the Pew Research Center states that the number of professing Christians is in decline in America—statistics that some have noted indicates a falling away largely in denominations held to be apostate. The organization released its report “America’s Changing Religious Landscape” earlier this week, claiming that “the Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing.” From June 4 through Sept. 30 of last year, the organization surveyed 35,071 Americans about their religious beliefs, and found an eight percent drop [More]

“Will this be the way that revival comes to the US, in a time of trouble and persecution. Looking at the sad state of the church today it may be the only way it can come.”  Admin For years the Christians in Syria prayed for God to bring revival to their country. Little did they know that revival would come, but it would come in the midst of war and suffering and death. This week “Brother John” shares the story of that revival, and the amazing ways that God is working in Syria today to strengthen and unify His church [More]

Is it easy to reach Muslims with the message of salvation through Christ? No. But Prem Kumar says, “We believe in the power of the gospel.” Prem is training church planters and sending out gospel workers all over South Asia…including some of the region’s most difficult areas. This week on VOMRadio he tells us how they prepare those workers to face persecution without losing their faith, and about the challenges they are facing and how they overcome. He also shares ideas for reaching out to Muslims, and help us pray more effectively for missionaries working on the front lines. Read [More]

“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 [More]

“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 [More]

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.