MY PEOPLE

(November 01, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares … 

Over these past few weeks we have been shocked, sickened and stressed by the horrendous events that have been taking place in Israel. We have been confronted by the graphic details of unimaginable acts of human depravity.

This has not just a battle between Gaza and Israel about ‘land rights.’ It is intrinsically much more profound than that.  What lies behind all this hatred and hostility which has caused such unimaginable carnage?  Why is this tiny nation of Israel the focal point of so much animosity?

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IT’S NO LAUGHING MATTER – THIS SO-CALLED ‘HAPPY’ HALLOWEEN!

(October 29, 2023) Stuart Reynolds challenges so-called October 31 ‘fun’ …

Unfortunately me and mine have had the horrendous experience of having our home burgled … and more than once!

The most frightening occurrence was the time I was actually in our house. In anticipation of my wife Helen returning home from a night out, I had left the front door closed but unlocked.

No laughing matter!
Assuming it was Helen returning I didn’t react and check when I heard the door opening – it was a shock to discover later that some intruders had quickly stolen a mobile phone and snatched some car and house keys with the intention of returning later for more plunder!

Just five minutes prior to the break in, I had taken my two young children to bed – right past that closed but unlocked door! No danger at that moment – but what might have happened had we been there in that spot when the thieves came? Even now I shudder to think.

That incident of leaving the door open – unbolted – was definitely no laughing matter! Neither are unbolted doors to the occult

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APPLES OF GOD’S EYE

(October 28, 2023) Robert McQuillan shares most sincerely…

Currently the eyes of the world are on the Middle East, especially Israel. There are fears that has happened, is happening, will spread involving several countries in war. Even nations endeavouring to support disadvantaged trapped victims with supply of badly needed food, water and medical supplies – or to fly people home – could become entrapped in whatever happens next.

The unfolding crisis has affected nations globally – for example here in Australia we’ve had protest rallies, a ‘significant contingent’ of troops and two aircraft being dispatched to the Middle East, increased fuel prices, cost of living threatened. In short, many people are looking for answers.

More importantly, souls everywhere need to discover Jesus, the coming king of peace and comfort who has all the answers, primarily salvation!

God can be trusted
Without sounding superspiritual, some weeks back I was reminded of David’s Psalm 122:6 that calls for prayer regarding Jerusalem… and I did so, including all Israel, in my general daily prayers. Now, like so many others, I too am deeply saddened by what has been happening in the Middle East.

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EXTRAORDINARY FAITH ACCOMPLISHES EXTRAORDINARY DEEDS!

(October 20, 2023) Angeline Selvakumari encourages us to achieve great accomplishments for God…

Jesus knew that attaining extraordinary faith is not possible through ordinary means – that’s why He promised the Holy Spirit, who will empower us to display our strength (faith).

Acts 1:8 states, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.’ This gift of God gives you strength to be His witness, displaying your faith in every situation! On examining the lives of Jesus’ disciples, we observe a significant difference before and after they experienced the Holy Spirit. Peter, for example, had denied Jesus three times before a small number of people, but was enabled to boldly preach the good news to thousands.

Courageous faith
Where did Peter find this courage? The Holy Spirit’s enabling power as he moved in faith!

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ROMANIA SUMMER MINISTRY REFLECTIONS

(October 16, 2023) David McGuire, based in Sighișoara, Romania encourages leaders in their calling, and Christians to operate the 1 Corinthians 12 supernational gifts of the Spirit, boldly engage in spiritual warfare, and to share the gospel message and love of Jesus. He also builds homes for the disenfranchised, especially the local gypsy community.

David, originally from England, and Rodica, his Romanian wife, reach many children, many of whom have never heard of Jesus, through their cartoon DVDs outreaches. David has been called The Missionary With The Camera. He often conveys update reports to readers with his camera, not words! Here he shares some recent summer ministry experiences, including a  reminder that Romanian Christians and churches are still boldly assisting troubled Ukrainians with needed supplies.

David shares (adding photos of course)…
This has been a very full summer with organising conferences in Romania and Ukraine on subjects of counselling, healing evangelism, prophetic and general equipping, such as…

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HAMAS ATTACKS ISRAEL; Triggers War: Christians Imperilled: Threats and a Smokescreen

(October 12, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, reports…

  • At 11:30pm on Friday  October 6, Gaza-based Islamic terror group Hamas started firing the first of 5000 rockets into Israel.
  • At 1:15am Saturday October 7, Hamas announced the start of a military operation dubbed ‘Al-Aqsa Flood.’ By 1:45am, Israel was returning fire; and at 3:34am Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was at war. As the sun rose on Israel, some 1000 Hamas terrorists invaded the ‘Gaza envelope’ (populated area within 7km of Gaza) by land, sea, and air.
  • By Monday the death toll had risen to over 1500 including some 900 Israelis, mostly civilians (including whole families, even infants) who were slaughtered in cold blood. A further 2500 Israelis had been wounded and around 150 abducted – including small children and an elderly holocaust survivor – taken as hostages and human shields into Gaza [see Live Updates, Al-Monitor].
  • On October 8, HizbAllah official Hashem Salhab delivered a speech in Lebanon where he claimed that ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ is just a manoeuvre in advance of a larger and multi-arena operation that will eliminate Israel [MEMRI, Oct 9]; indicating that what we have seen is just the beginning.

MEMRI’s August warning
MOSAD (Israel), MI6 (UK) and the CIA (USA) might have been taken by surprise, but MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) was not. Using nothing but open source material, MEMRI warmed back on August 31, ‘that a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023.’

Included in MEMRI’s list of indicators was the fact that: ‘In this context [of escalating provocations on every front] the heads of the resistance axis [specifically leaders from Iran, HezbAllah (Iran’s proxy in Lebanon), Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)] held a series of meetings in Lebanon.’ [NOTE: the Iran-led, Shi’ite dominated ‘Axis of Resistance’ is comprised of groups – Shia and Sunni – that are committed to ridding the Middle East of US bases and the state of Israel. The Axis of Resistance rejects alliances with the US and any peace/normalisation with Israel.]

This much is obvious: in Israel and in Gaza, Christians are going to die. However, the threat extends way beyond the obvious. All around the wider Middle East, the danger facing remnant Christians will escalate in direct proportion to the escalation in Islamic zeal all around them. As I wrote in After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, 2016): ‘There is a popular Arabic war cry which never fails to make the blood of Middle Eastern Christians run cold. Whether Muslims are spray-painting it on walls, whispering it in ears, or chanting it in the streets ‘Ba’d as-sabt biji yom al-ahad’ (After Saturday comes Sunday) is issued as a threat, meaning: As sure as Saturday (the day of Jewish worship) is followed by Sunday (the day of Christian worship), first we’ll kill the Jews, then we’ll kill the Christians.’

And as I demonstrate in the book, this is no idle threat. In a country like Iraq where Jews have already been eliminated, Hamas’ terrorism is being celebrated and vulnerable remnant Christians are gravely imperilled. Even further afield, it is routinely the case that vulnerable minority Christians in Northern Nigeria and Pakistan receive ‘blowback’ (unintended consequences) – mostly in the form of Islamic anti-Christian pogroms – when events in the West (includes Israel) inflame Islamic passions.

Smokescreen
Compounding the risk is the fact that a war in the Middle East involving Israel will devour the world’s attention, creating a smokescreen behind which other agendas can be advanced and atrocities committed. If the war continues and escalates, then Turkey and Azerbaijan might assess that now is the perfect time to advance their pan-Turkic agenda across the South Caucuses at the expense of even more Armenians.

The military junta in Burma/Myanmar might assess that now is the perfect time to eliminate resistance, once and for all. At 11:30pm on Monday October 9, the Burmese junta launched a military strike on a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Laiza – a city in predominantly Christian Kachin State, killing 29 IDP, including many women and children and wounding 56. (The junta has denied responsibility.)

Those intent on dispossessing, disinheriting and disenfranchising remnant Assyrian Christians in Northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains might assess that now is the time to enact the final solution [see RLPB 702, Christian Crisis in Azerbaijan and Iraq, July 19, 2023]. After all, the lesson of Nagorno Karabakh [RLPB 712 (Sep 27)] is this: when geostrategic power and influence and supply of gas and oil are involved, then some people are simply expendable. We must continue to watch and pray for all our imperilled brothers and sisters.

Prayer requested
Please pray that our merciful God will:
* Intervene to redeem all this horror and suffering for his good purposes; may peace be forthcoming and may many seek God and find the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:1-7). ‘Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand’ (Proverbs 19:21 ESV). ‘…for his steadfast love endures forever’ (from Psalm 136 ESV).
*Protect Christians in Israel, in Gaza, in Iraq and the wider Middle East, in Northern Nigeria and Pakistan and in every place where the possibility of violence against vulnerable Christian minorities is now elevated. Lord have mercy!
* Grant imperilled vulnerable Christians great wisdom and discernment as they navigate their changing and possibly increasingly hostile environment. Lord have mercy!
* Fan into flame that deep yet simple faith that moves believers to pray and ‘rest’ in the love, gentleness and faithfulness of God. (Matthew 11:28-30).
* A psalm to meditate on and pray through as we advocate in the Heavenly Court of The King of Kings for our vulnerable, imperilled brothers and sisters: Psalm 56.

‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’ (powerful and effective) James 5:16b.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com. Above updates excerpted from RLPB reports.

Elizabeth, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, Melbourne School of Theology, has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne) which offers a biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA).
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WHERE’S THE BAND?

(October 10, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

Okay… it’s not Christmas yet – but it soon will be! So I take this opportunity to remind us to –

  • Start getting ready, knowing that the story of Christmas is pivotal to our salvation.
  • Understand the importance of learning attitudinal responses we must have to Jesus.
  • Examine the attitudes of those who first saw Jesus and worshipped Him.

The Magi
Among the first worshippers of Jesus were the Magi (Evil king Herod whom they visited, could have been a worshipper of Jesus – claimed he wanted to, but didn’t!).

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STUNNED, SCARED, SHEPHERDED

(October 08, 2023) Robert McQuillan shares a breakthrough experience to encourage others, especially young believers feeling inadequate in serving Jesus…

According to Dr Fred Luskin, Stanford University, we have approximately 60,000 thoughts per day – 90% being repetitive!

Well, I woke up with one repetitive thought going round and round in my mind… and couldn’t switch it off! A simple but so meaningful eight-word scripture that’s had my back for decades. Then I started recalling the time some 50 years ago when that verse’s reality hit me, becoming an inner strength that I’ve never forgotten.

‘Which scripture?’ you ask, probably thinking everyone has some Bible verse that’s so meaningful to them.

  • True… John 3:16 for example: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ 
  • Maureen,  my darling wife, delights in Romans 15:13 – ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ 
  • What’s your favourite that you cling to in times of troubles?
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HARVEST TIME REFLECTIONS

(October 07, 2023) Brian Bell shares reflections on two harvests of God’s blessings…

As Moses approached the end of his earthly life, he reminded God’s people about the festival of harvest (Deuteronomy 16:10) which was one of the three festivals they were to celebrate each year.

These festivals were an opportunity for God’s people to reflect, remember and recognise the Lord’s blessing on them.

Here in Northern Ireland, Harvest Sunday is for the most part, still a fairly traditional celebration, usually in the colder, wetter, and darker months of September and October and held especially for folk in our farming/agricultural communities.

God’s handiwork
On Sunday, October 15, we will celebrate harvest in my home church and while we would not be described as being folk who live in a designated farming/agricultural community, some of our folk do come from such backgrounds.

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