State calls Christian counseling ‘harassment’

August 5, 2015 — WND.com reports: “The head of Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice has doubled down on his agency’s decision to dismiss a pastor who had been a longtime volunteer counselor to troubled youth, describing Christian counseling as ‘harassment.’

The state, according to the letter from Bob Hayter, commissioner of the state agency, pursues ‘a zero-tolerance policy against any form of sexual abuse or harassment by staff, volunteers or contractors.’

That argument justifies, he suggested, the dismissal of ordained Christian minister David Wells, who had provided voluntary spiritual counseling and mentorship to juvenile inmates under the control of the Department of Juvenile Justice for years.

The issue of the pastor’s status had been raised by officials with Liberty Counsel, who had written Hayter earlier demanding that Wells be reinstated.

Hayter’s letter did not mention Wells, but simply stated his position: that the agency ‘seeks to protect the rights of all youth in its care and custody regardless of sexual orientation or committing offense.’

‘To this end, the department prohibits its staff and volunteers from discriminating against youth based on sexual orientation or gender identity,’ he wrote…” (Judaism and Christianity will become the most persecuted and slaughtered religious people ever. Jesus said in Matthew 24:9 – 13: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” See the next four reports.)

 Ban Christianity from Classrooms for the Sake of ‘Community Cohesion’, Demands Minister

August 5, 2015 — Breitbart.com reports: “The Welsh Government is poised to oust religious education and ban Christianity from schools to ‘rise to the challenge of community cohesion’ and ‘extremism.’

Welsh Minister for Education and Skills Huw Lewis, told Senedd, The Welsh Parliament:

‘My contention would be that we rename the [religious education] curriculum and transform it into the religion, philosophy and ethics element of the curriculum – where there is an explicit commitment to allowing children to ponder ideas around ethics and citizenship and what it means to be a citizen of a free country.’

He argued that the Welsh government must ‘rise to the challenge of community cohesion’ through reforming religious education.

At the end of June an ‘Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales’ by Professor Graham Donaldson, a former chief inspector of schools in the principality, urged that pupils in Welsh schools should be ‘ethical, informed citizens of the world.’

Earlier in the month, a report was published examining the role of religion in the English curriculum. It recommended that daily act of ‘predominantly Christian’ worship should be scrapped and all religious instruction should be made at home or in Sunday schools and madrasas…”

 Islamic State militants ‘abduct Christians’ in Syrian town

August 7, 2015 — BBC News reports: “Islamic State militants have abducted dozens of people, many Christian, from a Syrian town captured on Thursday from pro-regime forces, reports say.

They were seized when the jihadists swept through al-Qaryatain in Homs province, monitoring groups say.

Many of the Christians had fled to al-Qaryatain to escape fighting in Aleppo province to the north.

Islamic State (IS) has treated Christians harshly in other places under its control.

The group follows its own extreme version of Sunni Islam and has previously ordered Christians to convert, pay jizya (a religious levy), or face death.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 230 people were seized by Islamic State (IS) fighters in al-Qaryatain.

Some were taken from inside a church, SOHR said. It said IS was hunting down a list of people it suspected of ‘collaborating with the regime’….”

 Boko Haram Slits the Throats of Sixteen Christian Fishermen

August 2, 2015 — Breitbart.com reports: “Boko Haram militants slit the throats of sixteen Christian fishermen on the shores of Lake Chad in the Nigerian state of Borno.

The massacre took place last Monday, but the news was released only yesterday because the area of Lake Chad is devoid of any type of telephone; survivors had to reach Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, to raise the alarm.

Earlier reports stated that ten men were killed, but the number has since been adjusted upward. According to Abubakar Gamandi, head of the fishermen’s union in Borno State, on Monday around 4 pm ‘Boko Haram attacked three villages on the shores of Lake Chad where they slaughtered 10 people, all of them fishermen.’

‘Boko Haram decided not to use guns so as not to attract the attention of soldiers from Baga. This is why they used knives to slaughter their victims,’ Gamandi said.

The victims are all citizens of Chad, where in recent months there have been numerous attacks by Islamist radicals…”

 Garissa’s Christians told ‘worship here and you’ll die’

July 27, 2015 — CNN.com reports: “Christians have come under repeated attacks in North Eastern Province in Kenya at the hands of Al-Shabaab militants who have killed hundreds.

It’s sunrise over the Tana River. Traffic starts to flow over the bridge and morning rush hour begins. What looks like the beginning of a normal workday here has a much darker undertone. Most of the commuters are day laborers, people going into their offices, but also many Christians who are too scared to sleep inside Garissa town. They have decided to move themselves and their families across to the other side of the river to safety…

At Sunday Mass in Garissa’s Cathedral, Our Lady of Consolation, the benches are full. The congregation is praying under armed guard but they’re praying nonetheless.

Each Sunday brings with it new threats from Al-Shabaab. Garissa’s Christians are told that if you worship here, you’ll die. One of those attending Sunday Mass, Patrick Gitau tell us that despite the risks: ‘Every Sunday I’m here it’s my cathedral. Yeah I’m here I was baptized in this church.’…”

 ‘Largest Public Satanic Ceremony in History’ to Take Place in Detroit

July 27, 2015 — Breitbart.com reports: “A Satanic reproductive rights group is promising to unveil a one-ton bronze statue of a goat-headed Baphomet Saturday in Detroit, in a private ceremony open only to bearers of $25 tickets.

Organizers are billing the event as the ‘largest public satanic ceremony in history,’ despite the fact that its secret location will only be revealed to ticket-holders and attendance is strictly controlled. Tickets go for $25 for ordinary seating and $75 for those wishing VIP treatment, including the chance to be photographed seated on the Baphomet monument.

A spokeswoman said that funds from the event ‘raise money to support Satanic Temple campaigns such as our reproductive rights legal action fund.’

The ticket website states that the Satanic Temple ‘invites you to join us for a night of chaos, noise, and debauchery at the Unveiling, a hedonistic celebration introducing the controversial Baphomet monument accompanied by provocative performances and installations.’

Though the organizers of the ceremony call themselves Satanists, their propaganda suggests that the event may be a double ploy to make money and protest against religious Americans. The Satanic Temple works to promote abortion rights and to gain acceptance for same-sex marriage.

The leader of the Satanic Temple of Detroit, Jex Blackmore, said Wednesday that she can’t reveal the location of the unveiling because she wants to protect the safety of her guests…” (My heart is heavy. I am a Detroiter. Is this the beginning of demonic control globally? It’s coming globally during the rapidly approaching Tribulation hour, not only in Detroit, but in all the cities of the world. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon [including Detroit] be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” – Revelation 18:20 – 24.)

 Former Imam who attacked churches converts to Christianity, ‘The Bible became my weapon’

August 4, 2015 — ChristianToday.com reports: “A former Muslim cleric who converted to Christianity after meeting Jesus in a dream was abandoned by his family and brutally beaten. He now says his faith taught him how to forgive.

In an interview with World Watch Monitor, Tofik (not his real name) described his training as an extremist Muslim cleric in West Africa. As a young man he was taught to hate Christianity, and he and his fellow pupils ‘went to the nearby town and met believers. We beat them and then attacked the church.’

‘Our teachers would tell us every time there was a new church in town and we were told to go and attack the people and destroy the church. So that’s what we did,’ he explained. Many students burnt Bibles, but Tofik says something stopped him from joining in. He even kept a Bible for many years, not knowing why, though he says he ‘now understand[s] it was God holding my hand’…” (Conversion to Christ makes a difference in mankind’s hearts and lifestyles. “…If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” – II Corinthians 5:17. The Apostle Paul added in I Timothy 1:12 – 17: “…I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”)

 Chinese church leaders: ‘Each time they take a cross down, we will put more up’

July 28, 2015 — ChristianToday.com reports: “Catholic leaders have pledged to ‘make the cross flourish throughout China’ following the removal of more than 1,200 crosses from churches in Zhejiang province.

‘Each time they take a cross down, we will put more up,’ one church leader told the Guardian at a protest on Friday. ‘We are even considering making flags and clothes with cross patterns. We will make the cross flourish throughout China.’

The crackdown on churches in China has been widely reported over the past year. The majority of those that have had their crosses forcibly removed or that have been torn down completely have been in Zhejiang, on the east cost of the country. A significant number were state-sanctioned buildings, and many located in the city of Wenzhou – known as the ‘Jerusalem of the East’ because of its large Christian population.

It was in Wenzhou that an estimated 20 church leaders gathered on Friday to protest what many Chinese Christians see as a curtailment of their religious freedom by the Communist government (CPC). According to the Guardian, the group held a banner outside a government building in the city that read: ‘Maintaining religious dignity and opposing the forced removal of crosses’…” (“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen” – I Timothy 6:12 – 16.)