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A TIME OF TROUBLE
by
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
We are presently
standing on the threshold of
a New Day!
The Church of the
Living God, the Bride of
Christ will soon be raptured.
But, even sooner the
Church will go through a 'Baptism
of Suffering'!
A baptism
such as we have never
believed possible in
North
America
and the Free World!
We will then, take
our place with those who
have fought the battle and
won, who have been diligent
to the very end and made it
through victoriously;
triumphing over evil,
unrighteousness and
wickedness!
We will come out of the "furnace of
affliction" with not even the smell of fire on our persons, the ropes of bondage
burned off and a testimony
so powerful for our Lord
that no one will be able to
repudiate!
We will then be a part of that glorious church without spot and wrinkle that will be presented to
our Heavenly Bridegroom by
the Blessed Holy Spirit, at
the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb!
The Bible says, "Let
us be glad and rejoice, and
give honour to Him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is
come, and His wife hath made
herself ready". (Rev.
19:7)
In other words, the bride was not ready
until a certain point in
time, when she decided to
prepare for the marriage
ceremony!
LAODECIAN
CHURCH
: NOT READY!
Jesus warned
concerning the Seventh and
Final Church Age.
The word, Laodecian
means: "The people rule or power to the people".
How indicative of the
age in which we live!
The democratic
process means
"government; by the
people, of the people, and
for the people".
Even the so-called
Socialistic and Communistic
regimes espouse the doctrine
of the proletariat, the
People’s Republic,
etc. Democracy is spreading
all over the world!
In the Church, we also see people
ruling: Popes, cardinals,
and archbishops, ruling
without the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Even many Protestant
churches are totally devoid
of God's blessings as the
people rule - Electing,
hiring and firing pastors
and other Church leaders in
the democratic process!
Jesus warned the final Church Age with
these words: "And
unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans write;
These things saith the Amen,
the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of
the creation of God; I know
thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot: I
would thou wert cold or hot.
“So then because
thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will
spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am
rich, and increased with
goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not
that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked". (Rev. 3:14-17)
The invitation, however, is always
there: "I
counsel thee to buy of me
gold tried in the fire, that
thou mayest be rich; and
white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed, and that
the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear; and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see."
WARN MY PEOPLE!
Approximately a year
ago, the Lord spoke to my
heart: "Warn
My people to prepare for a
time of trouble"!
I began to preach powerful messages on repentence and faith, end-times
and coming judgments,
preparedness and balance in
the Christian walk.
God gave me a
powerful message called 'Victory
in Adversity'.
In
that message, I tell of the
three times God gave me a
message for
Canada
and just recently, the fourth
time, with the warning
of 'Coming
Troubles'.
The first time God
spoke to me with a message
for our nation was in July 1967. I shared it by
printed page in ‘The Cry of His
Coming’,
and also over our national
radio broadcast.
The message was
called, ‘A SALUTE TO
CANADA
’. We were
celebrating our 100th
birthday, and God showed me
that
Canada
was a great nation because
of His rich blessings upon
us. We were a nation of
freedom, opportunity and
plenty, but that if we did
not repent of our sins and
humble ourselves before God,
we would lose our greatness
and much of His favour.
I quoted the Scripture: "RIGHTEOUSNESS
EXALTETH A NATION, BUT SIN
IS A REPROACH TO ANY
PEOPLE."
(Prov. 14:34)
Our magazine with the
Centennial Year Message ‘A
Salute to
Canada
’
was sent to elected
officials across
Canada
in civic, provincial and
national governments of our
nation.
I immediately received many kind
letters from government
officals thanking me for the
message.
One person who
responded very warmly and
enthusiastically was the
Justice Minister of
Canada
,
Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
MY MESSAGE TO P.M. TRUDEAU!
The years passed and
the young Justice Minister
became our 15th
Prime Minister.
Mr. Trudeau seemed to
be leading the nation in a
dangerous leftward trend.
Some of his policies
that caused deep concern
were: 1) abolition of
capital punishment. 2)
broadening of the Divorce
Laws. 3) legalizing
homosexuality, lesbianism
& bestiality. 4)
legalizing abortion (not on
demand). 5) seeking to
legalize marijuana.
He called an election!
God spoke to my heart
to bring another message to
our Nation. It was called, ‘My
Message to Prime Minister
Trudeau’! I sent it
out in booklet form by the
tens of thousands across
Canada
and other countries.
A copy of the booklet
as well as a cassette tape
of my radio message was sent
to the mayor of every large
town or city in Canada, the
Members of the Legislature
in each province, every
Member of Parliament and all
heads of major nations
across the world, both free
and Communist.
A copy of the message
was also sent to the Queen
of England, the Pope of
Rome, the Archbishop of
Cantebury, Dr. Billy Graham
and Dr. Oral Roberts!
I
received many complimentary
and kind letters from
leaders across the world.
Only one person
however, refused the
cassette and booklet.
Prime Minister Edward
Heath of Great Britain,
returned both with a
covering letter stating that
he could not accept them!
I was stunned that such a reaction
should come from a
Conservative PM of so-called
Protestant England!
I conferred with my wife Donna
and our Office Manager, Margaret
Graham. Sister
Graham asked if I wanted to
give her a letter to the
Prime Minister of England!
I said: "No, I will
wait for a more opportune
time"! We didn't have to wait
long.
Within a few months,
Edward Heath called a snap
election to increase his
seats in Parliament and gain
a majority.
Everyone seemed to
think that he would win, but
I KNEW DIFFERENTLY!
I summoned Sister Graham into my office
to take a letter to P.M.
Edward Heath.
Here is the substance
of that letter (which I
still have on file):
“When
you refused and returned the
cassette and booklet of the
Gospel Message, "My
Message To Prime Minister
Trudeau," you did not
reject my words or my
letter, Mr. Prime Minister,
you rejected the Word of
God, the Message of Jesus
Christ and God's Warning to
the Nations.
"IF YOU
WILL REPENT, GOD WILL
FORGIVE YOU.
However, if you do
not repent and register this
action in a letter to me, I
know that you will be the
recipient of God's judgment
for your actions.
“Furthermore,
I prophesy that you will not
gain a majority in the
forthcoming election, but
you will in fact lose the
election and go into
oblivion politically.
Your days of
political power are
numbered, Mr. Prime
Minister.
God's
Servant,
Max
Solbrekken
THOUSANDS HEARD ME
MAKE THE PUBLIC STATEMENT
I began to make known
what God had shown me.
In our crusades and
privately as well, I shared
the tremendous revelation of
God's displeasure with those
who had rejected the message
I had delivered as His
servant, to Government
officials across the world!
I
declared publicly to
thousands of people that God
had revealed to me that
because the Prime Minister
of
Great
Britain
had rejected this
message, God had rejected
him from being Prime
Minister!
My statement was, that if Mr. Edward
Heath did not lose that
Election, they would never
hear me preach again! That
is how certain I was of my
ability to hear God’s
voice! Jesus said, "My
sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow
Me."(John 10:27)
As the election drew near and more and
more people were reasonably
sure that PM Edward Heath
would gain the majority he
was seeking.
During my crusade in
Trinidad
,
W.I.
we heard the news.
Rev.
Dennis White,
who later became the
Superintendent of the
Pentecostal Assemblies of
the West Indies, was
chauffering me around the
Island
.
I had just spoken at
the West
Indies School of Theology,
where he was President. I
saw a small corner store and
said, "Dennis,
I wish to purchase a paper;
I want to see how badly Mr.
Heath has lost"!
He replied, "Are you kidding, why would you make such a statement"?
The
headlines screamed:
"POLITICAL
UPSET.
IT'S A CLIFF HANGER;
IT'S A TIE."
I said "Dennis,
tomorrow, we will read,
"Edward Heath loses the
Election"!
It
happened exactly as I had
stated!
The date was
February
28, 1974
.
WHAT WAS IN THE MESSAGE?
Although it was
called, 'My
Message to Prime Minister
Trudeau', it was
directed at all government
leaders instructing them to
repent of their sins and let
God rule in their lives and
in their decisions as
leaders.
I wrote of KING
NEBUCHADNEZZAR,
who became proud of his
accomplishments and said: "Is not this
Great
Babylon
,
that I have built for the
house of the Kingdom, by the
might of my power, and for
the honour of my
majesty". (Dan
4:30)
God
judged him and he lost his
mind!
For
seven years, the great king
wandered about like an
animal and ate grass as an
ox until he acknowledged
God.
In the message, I
told of KING
HEROD,
who made an oration.
They said: "It is the
voice of a god and not of a
man".
The Bible
says:
"He
gave not God the glory and
God smote him until he died
eaten of worms"!
(Acts
12:23
)
When Prophet Samuel entered
Bethlehem
,
the
CITY ELDERS
trembled in fear of God:
"...And
the elders of the town
trembled at his coming, and
said, Comest thou
peaceably?"
(1 Sam. 16:4)
Oh, how government
officials need to tremble
before the servants of God
again, in order to bring
back righteousness and
sanity to the nations.
St.
Paul
spoke to KING
AGRIPPA
and challenged him with the
glorious Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
The Scripture says
that Agrippa cried out: "...Almost
thou persuadest me to be a
Christian". (Acts 26:28) Again, when
Paul spoke to GOVERNOR
FELIX, he trembled because Paul spoke of "Righteousness,
temperance and judgment to
come"! (Acts 24:25)
The Bible says: "Righteousness
exalteth a nation and sin is
a reproach to any
people".
(Prov.
14:24)
Again, God's Word
declares: "When
the righteous are in
authority, the people
rejoice: but when the wicked
beareth rule, the people
mourn". (Prov. 29:2); "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord". (Ps. 33:12)
CANADA
TURN AROUND!
It happened in the
spring of 1978, in
Kelowna
,
British
Columbia
.
I was awakened at
8:00
AM
,
the morning after a powerful
meeting.
The voice of God had been speaking to my heart while I was sleeping.
The message of God
was already in my mind,
totally comprehendable and
ready to deliver.
I awakened with the words: "
Canada
Turn Around;
Canada
Turn Around;
Canada
Come Back To God" whirling around in my Spirit. So
powerful was this impression
that I leaped out of bed,
grabbed my Bible and note
paper, and wrote down the
message which I knew God
wanted me to deliver across
the nation and around the
world.
Canada
turn around, come back to
your senses!
Come back to God and
righteousness, decency and
reality! I began to preach, declare and dispense this message
across the nation; in
crusades, by printed
material, on television and
radio.
The impact of that
crusade was stunted somewhat
by two things.
I
was unable to get Canadian
people to understand the
importance of this message
enough to support it financially!
Also, due to three
hastily called elections, I
was unable to have some of
the National
and Provincial
Government Leaders appear with me on the television program, as they
had originally intimated
they would do!
WHAT WAS THAT MESSAGE?
It was a warning from
God's Word for everyone to
repent of their sins and
begin to live Godly lives in
the light of the Scriptures
and to seek God with great
intensity, honesty,
sincerity and urgency. It
underscored the truth that
time is running out for this
dispensation and the return
of the Lord Jesus Christ is
imminent!
The Bible says, "If
My people, which are called
by My name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and
seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will
I hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will
heal their land."
(2
Chron. 7:14)
God spells out the directive for a Holy
Ghost, Heaven-sent Revival!
Here is the recipe:
If God's people will do four
things, He promises to hear
our prayers and bring
healing to our Land.
What are these four things? Are
they pinnicles of spiritual
growth, never to be reached?
No, God would not ask
us to do what we could not
attain in the natural.
He is not
unreasonable.
The Bible says: "Come
now, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they
be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool". (Isaiah 1:18)
WE CAN DO THESE FOUR THINGS:
1)
HUMBLE
OURSELVES
2)
PRAY
3)
SEEK
GOD'S FACE
4)
TURN
FROM OUR WICKED WAYS
The Bible says: "God
resisteth the proud and
giveth grace to the
humble". We must look to God for help - not to ourselves, government officials,
business leaders, educators
or others.
Jesus said,
"Seek ye FIRST the
Kingdom
of
God
and all these things shall
be added unto you".
(Matt. 6:33)
We can and must HUMBLE
ourselves and get rid of all
dirty, filthy, sinful pride
as we reach out to love
everyone regardless of skin
color, racial background,
educational or social
standing or financial worth.
And
the Scriptural way to humble
ourselves is to fast.
We must realize that
we cannot save ourselves or
heal the hearts of people in
our strength.
God is our Source.
He is the Saviour and
Deliverer!
Let us begin to PRAY
to God on a regular basis as
we praise Him for His love
and grace. God wants us to
make our petitions known to
Him FIRST
before we ask our fellowmen
for help.
King Asa was diseased in his feet and
went to the physicians for
help instead of praying to
the Lord.
The Bible says, "Asa
sought the help of the
physicians and died".
(2
Chron. 16:12)
It is not wrong to
seek help of physicians so
long as you have sought God
first and have laid out
your petition to Him first.
It is God who rules in the lives of
men.
Let us not forget
that.
That is why
St.
Paul
stated, "Pray
without ceasing". (1
Thess. 5:17)
What did he mean?
Stay in an attitude
of prayer.
Keep your lines of
communication open between
God and yourself!
ONLY GOD CAN HEAL OUR LAND!
We can and must pray and go even
further.
Let us SEEK God with all our hearts. In
order to seek God, we must
walk close enough to Him to
see His face and feel His
power.
To
seek God means to desire His
presence!
It is to want to be
near Him and share all our
intimate and urgent needs
with Him.
And to spend time
praising and thanking Him
for all His goodness to us!
By God's grace, let us all TURN AWAY from the lusts of the flesh and the sins of the spirit and conduct
ourselves as true followers
of Christ in all humility
and righteousness.
We have His promise
that when we, the Church,
have done these things, then
God will hear our prayers
and answer in great
demonstration of Holy Ghost
power.
The Bible says: "Let
the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteousness man
his thoughts:
and let him return
unto the Lord, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for He will
abundantly pardon". (Isaiah 55:7)
St. Paul
warned, "Wherefore
come out from among them,
and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will
receive you. And I will be a
Father unto you, and ye
shall be My sons and
daughters, saith the Lord
God Almighty."
(2 Cor.6: 17,18)
"Be
ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship
hath righteousness with
unrighteousness?
and what communion
hath light with
darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14)
"This
know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall
come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves,
coveteous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to
parenbts, unthankful,
unholy,
“Without natural
affection, trucebreakers,
false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those
that are good, traitors,
heady, high minded, lovers
of pleasures more than
lovers of God; Having a form
of godliness, but denying
the power thereof:
from such turn
away."
(2 Tim. 3: 1-5)
TURN YOUR FACE TO THE WALL!
When
King Hezekiah became
ill, the prophet came to him
with a message: "...Thus
saith the Lord, Set thine
house in order; for thou
shalt die, and not
live".
(2 Kings 20:1)
The Scriptures
declare that King Hezekiah
turned his face to the wall
and "wept
sore"
(v.3) as he repented and
asked for mercy.
God heard his prayer
and gave him an additional
fifteen years of life.
Whatever problem you
may have, God is greater
than all the power of the
devil and sin.
He is greater than
sickness, disease, fear and
poverty!
Praise God forever!
The solution
comes when we turn our faces
to the wall and ask Jesus to
intervene!
His Word states: "And
call upon Me in the day of
trouble: I will deliver
thee, and thou shalt glorify
Me".
(Ps. 50:15)
It's high time to surrender to the
Lord's Word and will:
"...turn
yourselves from your idols;
and turn away your faces
from all your
abominations." (Ezek. 14:6); "...and
how ye turned to God from
idols to serve the living
and True God." (1 Thes. 1:9)
SHOWDOWN AT SUNSET
God's people had
corrupted themselves with
idol worship from the
greatest to the least.
Only Elijah
and a faithful silent group
of 7,000 who had not bowed
their knees to Baal.
The prophet Elijah
was grieved in his heart and
brought down God's judgment
upon that wicked nation in
the form of a drought.
After 3 1/2 years, ELIJAH showed himself and COMMANDED all the false prophets to gather on
Mount
Carmel
for a showdown.
This was his challenge: "...How
long halt ye between two
opinions? if the Lord be
God, follow him: but if
Baal, then follow him".
God's Word says: "My
people have committed two
evils, They have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living
waters, and hewed them out
cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no
water".
(Jer. 2:13)
God - in His great wisdom and
compassion - marvelled at
the foolishness of His
people.
It's almost ludicrous
that a man who knew God
would forsake Him, turn away
from the true God and be
deceived by the devil into
worshipping dead idols.
This
was the case with Solomon
when he became old! (1
Kings 11:1-10)
How anyone could leave the Church, the
Gospel and the goodness of
God, with it's fountain of
living water, and be turned
to the New
Age Movement, a Desert god, Mysticism,
dumb idols, sinful
practices, lustful
pleasures, greed and the
doctrine of works, I will never
know!
They are only broken
cisterns that can hold no
water. THEY
BRING NO
NO PEACE, NO JOY, NO
FORGIVENESS, NO HEALING AND
NO PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE!
The Bible says: "...In Thy
presence is fulness of joy;
at Thy right hand there are
pleasures for
evermore". (Ps. 16:11).
The answers to man's
perplexing questions and the
riddles of life, are found
only through Jesus Christ
our Lord and in His Divinely
Inspired and Sacred Word,
The Bible.
Here is my confession of Faith:
“My
hope is built on nothing
less, than Jesus’ blood
and righteousness.
I dare not trust the
sweetest frame, but wholly
lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid
rock I stand, all other
ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems
to hide His face, I trust in
His unchanging grace.
When all around this
world gives way, Then He is
all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other
ground is sinking sand!”
A TIME OF TROUBLE!
A segment of the
Christian community seems to
be living under an illusion
that the ‘rapture of the church’ will take place before anyone tastes
even a little bit of
difficulty and tribulation! Let
me say clearly, that that is
an absolute fallacy and
unscriptural teaching!
At the onset however,
let me clarify that I
believe in a ‘pre-tribulation
rapture’
and that the
Church
of
Jesus
Christ
WILL NOT go through the Great Tribulation
written of in the Book of
Revelation!
In fact, there are
three Tribulation Periods
spoken of in the Bible.
1). The
First Tribulation
began on the day of
Pentecost, and the devil has
been
persecuting the Church ever
since!
This first
tribulation period will
conclude when the last
gentile is saved by the
Precious Blood of Jesus
Christ, and He returns in
the first stage of His
coming!
Millions
of Christians have died
during great trials and
tribulations since the birth
of the Church until now!
Consider the fact
that multitudes died under
the iron fist of the Roman
Empire for the first
three hundred years or so,
then millions more perished
under the cruel hand of
Rome’s
‘Bloody Old Vatican Wolf’ for about 500 years during the Middle Ages!
And according to
statistician Dr.
David Barrett, who has
studied this phenomonen for
about 30 years, an average
of about 330,000 Christians have been martyred for the name of Jesus Christ
annually. The figure for
last year was more than
150,000.
-------------------------------------------------
In his article, ‘Dying
For Their Faith’, Richard H. Scheider, Guideposts Senior Staff Editor wrote: “When
Hitler attacked the Jews, I
was not a Jew, therefore, I
was not concerned. And when
Hitler attacked the
Catholics, I was not a
Catholic and therefore, I
was not concerned. Then,
Hitler attacked me and the
Protestant church and there
was nobody left to be
concerned:' I thought those
words attributed to German
theologian Martin Niemoller
were a comment on a
long-closed chapter of world
history. Then I learned that
there are people today. ..
DYING FOR THEIR FAITH
On
June 8 this year, I found
myself doing something I
never expected to be doing.
A churchgoing Methodist -
and not an activist by any
stretch of the
imagination - there I was at
the Community Synagogue of
Rye, N. Y., on a Sunday
afternoon, taking part in a
rally for a cause that I had
known nothing about until
one night just weeks
earlier.
I
had been feeling content
that evening. After
a productive day
at the office I had come
home to a dinner of my
wife's delicious pot roast.
One of our sons called, and
we made plans to meet over
the weekend for brunch. All
was right with the world.
Putting my feet up, I
settled back to read.
Then
my wife, Betty, asked, "Did I tell you what we talked about at my Women's Interfaith
Committee meeting
today?"
I
didn't even look up from my
book, assuming her group of
Protestant, Catholic and
Jewish women were sponsoring
another luncheon.
"Rabbi
Rothman wants us to join him
in a protest against the
persecution of Christians
overseas,"
Betty said.
A protest? Betty is
more of a doer than I am,
but she was hardly a
political crusader.
And, Christians being
persecuted? I remembered
Christians struggling to
observe their faith in the
Soviet
Union
back when the official
doctrine was atheism. But
the Communist regime had
fallen. Betty must have seen
my sceptical expression. "We've
got to take a stand,"
she said firmly.
"The rabbi says more
people have been persecuted
for their religious beliefs
in this century than any
other. People are suffering
just because they're trying
to observe their
faith."
As
a journalist I was aware
militant Islamic factions
cracked down on those they
considered infidels,
including Muslims who
believed in tolerance of all
religions. Still, I figured
those were isolated
incidents in other parts of
the world. What did
religious persecution have
to do with me?
"We
want this rally to wake
people up to the problem and
alert others,"
Betty insisted she meant
business, and I knew better
than to argue. A week later
I went to the synagogue to
speak with Rabbi Rothman.
The head of his temple for
31 years, he wasn't one to
take up causes lightly.
"Frankly,
Rabbi," I
said,
"I'm in the dark about
the religious persecution my
wife mentioned was going
on."
"I
was too," he said,
motioning me to take a seat
in front of his desk,
"until I read A. M.
Rosenthal's articles in The
New York Times." The
rabbi handed me a few pieces
by Rosenthal, the Time's former
executive editor.
I
read about the thousands of
Christians in
China
who have been imprisoned,
and the Copts in
Egypt
who are subject to constant
harassment. "Ignorance
of the history or huge
number of Christian
worshipers in faraway
countries [there are 600
million in
Asia
and
Africa
,
compared to 200 million in
North
America
]
tends to make American
Christians, and Jews too,
passive about the
persecution of
Christians," Rosenthal
wrote.
"As long as
passivity lasts, so long
will persecution
continue." The rabbi
gave me two books, Their
Blood Cries Out by
Paul Marshall and In
the Lion's Den by
Nina Shea. "Read these
and you'll see," he
said. "People
are being imprisoned,
tortured, enslaved and even
murdered because of their
religious beliefs. It's not
just Christians who are
suffering; in some countries
it is whoever belongs to a
religious minority."
"I
had no idea," I said.
"Neither do most
Americans," Rabbi
Rothman said. "That's
why we're having the
rally."
I
read the books as soon as I
got home. I also did some
research on my own. What I
learned shocked me. Millions of religious believers around the world, the majority
Christians, are under
attack, not only by
extremist groups but by
their own governments. Far
from being isolated
incidents, religious
persecution is systematic in
a number of countries:
China
.
The government restricts the
practice of religion to
those groups and places of
worship it has authorized.
Leaders of groups that do
not comply have been
arrested and beaten by the
police. Tibetan Buddhist
monks and nuns protesting
religious oppression have
been tortured, and their
temples and shrines
destroyed. The estimated 40
million Chinese Christians
worship in underground
churches, and more
Christians are imprisoned or
detained there than in any
other country.
Cuba
.
In the mid 1960s Christians,
were sent to forced-labour
camps, where many were
tortured. Official
repression of religious
activity continues today.
Private houses of worship
face harassment; churches
cannot operate schools, use
television or radio, or buy
printing supplies or
equipment from any Cuban
business; missionary
activity is forbidden.
Egypt
.
Despite
Egypt
's
being home to some 10
million Copts (the largest
Christian community in the
Middle
East
),
Christians face pervasive
discrimination in education
and employment, and are
obstructed from building and
repairing churches.
Terrorists seeking to
establish an Islamic state
have attacked and killed
hundreds of citizens,
targeting Christians in
particular.
Iran
.
Virulent persecution of
religious minorities-mainly
Baha’is, Christians and
Jews-begall after the
Ayatollah Khomeini's
takeover in the Islamic
revolution of 1979 and
continues unabated.
Non-Muslims cannot be
employed by state or
Muslim-owned businesses.
Conversion to a religion
other than Islam is
punishable by death. Baha'is,
regarded as heretical
Muslims, have no legal
rights, and are denied the
freedom to organize and
worship. Since 1979 more
than 200 Baha'is have been
executed.
North
Korea
.
The Communist regime in
North
Korea
has been attempting since
1948 to eradicate all
religions. By the early
1960s all church buildings
were shut down and all
Bibles destroyed. Religious
leaders were executed or
sent to concentration camps.
Only three Christian
churches have been allowed
to open since 1988, and
visitors report services
appear staged.
Pakistan
.
Militant Islamic factions
have launched violent
attacks against Christians
and moderate Muslims.
Christians are often denied
jobs and housing. They have
been falsely accused of
blasphemy, which is a
capital crime. Mobs have
beaten and killed those who
have not been formally
tried.
Saudi
Arabia
.
The practice of any religion
besides Islam is banned, and
conversion to another faith
is punishable by execution.
Non-Muslims caught
worshiping (even in
private), wearing religious
symbols such as crosses, or
uttering prayers have faced
arrest, imprisonment without
trial, torture and in some
cases death.
Sudan
.
Government policy mandates
the forced conversion of
Christians, animists and
other non-Muslims to Islam.
Even moderate Muslims have
been targeted. More than a
million people have died in
the 14-year-old civil war
between the Islamic north
and the Christian and
animist south. Many
Christians have been sold
into slavery and their
children forced into camps
to be re-educated as
Muslims.
Vietnam
.
Systematic repression is the
rule. Any religious
expression not echoing the
ruling Communist Party dogma
is quashed. Government
tactics include control of
all media, surveillance of
religious believers, and
detention and even murder of
religious leaders.
Buddhists, who comprise the
majority of the population,
are the main targets, and
Christians have also been
harassed, sentenced to
re-education camps (where
religious activity is
forbidden) and imprisoned.
I
had been so mistaken in my
complacence. All was not right
with the world. How could it
be when people cannot attend
worship services, read the
Bible or even say a prayer
without fearing for their
lives? How could it be when
people do not have the most
basic religious freedoms
that we in
America
take for granted?
After
I read a statement by Michael Horowitz, senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, a think tank in
Washington
,
D.C.
,
I felt even more strongly
that I had to take action. "I
am speaking out on behalf of
persecuted Christians
precisely because I am a Jew
in the most deeply rooted
sense,"
Horowitz said. "I
see eerie parallels between
the way the elite of the
world are dealing with
Christians (who have become
the scapegoats of choice for
thug regimes around the
world) and the way the elite
dealt with the Jews as
Hitler was coming to
power."
Horowitz's
words sent a chill through
me. I remembered what had
happened back then. In 1940
news about the persecution
of Jews was filtering out
from
Europe
.
But to most Americans they
were foreigners in a faraway
place. Even as a young
soldier going off to fight
Hitler's forces in 1943 I
had little notion of the
magnitude of the Holocaust. Few
of us did. We didn't act
until it was too late, and
six million Jews and other
minorities were murdered.
“We can't let that happen again”,
I
thought. “I
can't sit back and do
nothing”.
That's why I found myself at
the rally at the synagogue
this past June.
The
victims of religious
persecution today are
foreigners in faraway
places. It took a rabbi
reaching out to these
distant peoples -
Christians, Jews, Muslims,
Buddhists, Baha'is - to make
me see that we are, in the
end, all part of the same
community. If some of us
don't have the freedom to
practice our faith, we are
all in danger.”
------------------------------------
2). The
Second Tribulation
is that period of seven
years known as "Jacob's
Troubles" or "Daniel's 70th.
Week" and also the
"Great
Tribulation".
It will begin the
moment Christ's Bride is
taken away from this earth
and will conclude just
before the beginning of "The
Millenial Reign of
Christ".
This will be a time
when God outpours His wrath
on the Anti-Christ and a
wicked world!
I believe that a
great revival will break
loose among the people of
Israel and Jewish people in
general as the eyes will be
opened to the truth when
they that they have been
decieved by the Antichrist.
There will arise
among them great evangelists
who will proclaim that Jesus
Christ is their Messiah and
at least 144,000 Jews will
be converted during the
great tribulation period!
(Rev.14: 1-7)
3). The
Third Tribulation
begins when the feet of
Jesus Christ stand on the
Mount of Olives
in the second stage of His
return. (Zech.14: 4). The
resurrected glorified Son of
God and Saviour will then
mount a white horse, (Rev.
19:11) and ride out to the
Valley of Jehosophat, to
conquer the Anti-Christ.
This I refer to as
the Anti-Christ's
Tribulation!
JESUS CHRIST WILL THEN DESTROY THE
ANTI-CHRIST WITH THE BREATH
OF HIS MOUTH! The
unholy Trinity – Satan,
the Antichrist and the False
Prophet - will then be cast
into the Lake of Fire, where
they will be tormented
foever and ever! (Rev. 20:
20: 10).
“He (Jesus Christ)
which testifieth these
things saith, Surely I come
quickly. Amen. Even
so, come Lord Jesus.”
(Rev. 20: 20-21) Amen.
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