Beyond Jesus Dreams: The Matthew 11 Verse That's Turning Muslim Hearts to Christ - LYNDSEY KOH/MISSION NETWORK NEWS CHARISMA NEWS

Displaced Iraqi people, who fled from Qayyara because of Islamic State violence, gather at a refugee camp. (REUTERS/Azad Lashkari )

Beyond Jesus Dreams: The Matthew 11 Verse That's Turning Muslim Hearts to Christ

8/11/2016 LYNDSEY KOH/MISSION NETWORK NEWS  CHARISMA NEWS

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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We've kept you updated on the situation in Fallujah, Iraq, the town under ISIS control that was recently reclaimed by Iraqi troops. Thousands of people from Fallujah had fled to a nearby refugee town dubbed the City of Refuge.

Frontiers USA tells us in the last 18 months, through the work of indigenous missionaries, over 140 of those people in the City of Refuge have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

As Iraqi forces now work to secure Fallujah and resume public sanitation, Frontiers' President Bob Blincoe says some of these new Christians want to go back to their homes and share the hope they've found through Christ for the first time in Fallujah!

"They are attracted to go home because that is the place they knew as where they lived their lives. And there's no future for them in the refugee tents in the City of Refuge. But now they have a mission, and they feel jubilant in the Lord. They have been baptized, most of these groups that they're working with have been baptized, which is the real step of faith in the Muslim world."

What is it about the gospel message that strikes such a chord with Muslim refugees?

Blincoe shares, "For the first time, there are enough Muslims who have come to faith to actually do the kind of surveying to understand from their perspective what was the attractive thing about the gospel. More than any other answer, they refer to Jesus' words, 'Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. Learn of me, I will give you rest for your souls, for I am meek and humble.' This way of the Lord, this unexpected hope for miserable people, for desperate people, is the No. 1 reason."

The possibility for a growing and flourishing Church in Fallujah and the City of Refuge is having a domino effect. What started as a handful of local missionaries sharing Christ with their neighbors in the City of Refuge now has those new believers turning and doing the same with their family and friends as well.

"This is driven by Muslims who have come to faith themselves, which is the thing that of course must happen. ... Frontiers works directly with the leaders of this movement. There are five or six essential church-starters, all of them from a Muslim background. So we don't know hardly any of the people that have come to faith. We only know the people that are making disciples, which is really how it should be," says Blincoe.

"We have to set in place the kind of disciple making that does not depend on the missionaries for the extension and the creation of new groups. We have to set in place the idea that once you come to faith, you are born again to make other people come to faith as well."

Testimony From Fallujah Refugees

Blincoe shares one of the testimonies of a new family of believers who escaped Fallujah:

"In Kurdistan, Iraq where many refugees have fled to for safety, I heard one story that tells the whole story, and that's about Layla and her husband and children who fled on foot from ISIS in the city of Fallujah.

"They fled on foot, losing ground to the upcoming cloud of the enemy cars and trucks heading their way when, to their great surprise, a pickup truck slowed down and stopped and [the driver] said, 'Get in the back.' They scrambled into the pickup truck and off they zoomed to the nearby city, which we call the City of Refuge where we are working.

"Once they were safe and in a blue tarp tent on the edge of town like thousands of other refugees, they closed the chapter on their lives [and] couldn't go back for now. [They] lost everything but the shoes on their feet and the clothes on their back.

"Then God gave this woman, Layla, this vision of a man who would tell her about Jesus. That happens, I'm not going to say 'often,' but it's often the entry into people hearing from the Lord. That fellow ... was distributing goods and he came to her house the next day and offered to open up the Bible with them.

"This was not a single occurrence, but over several weeks of reading the Bible, the death and resurrection of Christ is finally what caused them to accept the message of the Lord and soften their hearts.

"So over a year ago, they came to faith and since that time they have started a whole network of about 20 groups of Muslim-background believers, mainly families, who are now studying the Word of the Lord through them, through these Muslims who have come to faith. And what she says is, 'God has now given us the pickup truck.' That is, we were saved by others, now He's given us the chance to save others.

"In fact, she is planning to go back to their city of Fallujah, a city that no westerners could possibly show up in, and bring the hope of Jesus Christ to that war-torn city."

The Soul of Iraq

Looking ahead, the church in Iraq is poised for something big. The harvest is so ready, and individuals and families are hungry for a deep and satisfying spiritual hope that can be found only through God's Holy Spirit and His Word.

"Now the real contest for the soul of Iraq begins," says Blincoe.

"We have a sense that we are on the frontlines of the free world. That everything depends on winning the people that have been displaced by ISIS, them going back to their homes, and winning those parts of Iraq where no missionaries can set foot.

"So pray for the extension of the gospel into these places, to the Fallujahs of Iraq, and that would be the beginning of what our children may very well say was, 'When did this all begin? The conversion of the Muslim peoples of Iraq?' We may be seeing it in our time."

It's time for believers and churches all over the world to answer God's call to make disciples of all nations, and to respond to the deep needs for the gospel within the 10/40 window.

One of the best ways you can help is by equipping and supporting the local missionaries in Middle Eastern countries like Iraq to spread God's message to their own hometowns and communities. Frontiers USA is doing just that.

"We can help churches get to the frontlines where there are no campfires, no pushpins, to use that analogy, and start original work among Muslims who are prepared by God through what the Bible calls the man of peace, the person of peace, who God has prepared—as it seems that God has prepared Layla and her husband," challenges Blincoe.

"There are more like that out there still beyond the reach of any missionary. Let's go to those places." 

This article originally appeared on Mission Network News. 

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

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The Hidden Jewish Treasures in Saddam Hussein's Basement - ISRAEL VIDEO NETWORK

The remarkable discovery that tells the story of one of the most ancient Jewish civilizations The Jews of Iraq are one of the oldest civilizations in the world. For more than 2,500 years, they called the land in the heart of the Fertile Crescent their home. It’s where they celebrated births and where they mourned deaths. It’s where they worked, studied and prayed. It’s where some of their most important holy writings originated. It was May 6, 2003 when one of the most extraordinary collection of ancient Jewish texts was discovered in the most unlikely of places.

ISIS Burns 19 Yazidi Women Alive in Metal Cages - CBN News

ISIS Burns 19 Yazidi Women Alive in Metal Cages

CBN News 06-08-2016

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JERUSALEM, Israel – Nineteen Yazidi women who refused to become sex slaves of their ISIS captors were caged and burned alive in Mosul, Iraq, late last week before hundreds of spectators that included their husbands.

"They were punished for refusing to have sex with ISIS militants, local media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News Agency.

The women, along with thousands of others, were kidnapped in August 2014 when ISIS took control of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq. Many of the women were sold as sex slaves.

The Kurdistan regional government says ISIS is holding at least 1,800 women captive in Iraq and Syria, while the U.N. estimates the Islamic State is holding some 3,500 Yazidi women captive.

Last year, ISIS caged and burned alive Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, a 26-year-old Jordanian pilot, posting the execution on line as it had done of beheadings. The Jordanian government made good on its pledge toexecute two imprisoned ISIS terrorists.

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: ISIS launches chemical weapons attack in Iraq injuring 600.

New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

As top officials warn ISIS will attempt “direct attacks” in U.S. homeland in 2016, ISIS launches chemical weapons attack in Iraq injuring 600. Here’s the latest. by joelcrosenberg There is a real and growing and chilling concern among top intelligence officials that ISIS is steadily developing the ability to launch massive, genocidal attacks against its enemies using chemical weapons. Whether ISIS is planning such attacks inside the U.S., in Europe or only within the Middle East, is not yet clear. Ghastly attacks of precisely this sort are the premise of my two most recent novels,The Third Target and The First Hostage. When I began researching and writing the series, however, there was no actual evidence that ISIS possessed -- or had access to --  weapons of mass destruction. But the situation is changing for the worse. Last month, CIA director John Brennan admitted on "60 Minutes" that he now fears chemical attacks by ISIS. Also last month, James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, told a security conference in Munich that ISIS has chemical weapons and wants to use them against the United States. "It is pretty clear that they [ISIS] have used this [chemical weapons] numerous times," Clapper said. "It is very clear aspirationally they would like to do more and it is a concern to us in the United States because the indications are that they would like to use chemical weapons against us.” Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Congress that ISIS "will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in Europe, and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2016." Now, just this week, we've learned that ISIS has just launched two attacks in the city of Kirkuk using chemical weapons. At least 600 Iraqis have been injured by the attacks. One little girl is dead. Hundreds of other Iraqis have fled for their lives. Iraq's Prime Minister is vowing revenge for the attacks. Recently, U.S. special forces captured ISIS's chemical weapons chief. "Sleiman Daoud al-Afari was snatched close to a month ago in the town of Badoosh, north-west of the Isis stronghold of Mosul," reported the UK Guardian. "A senior Iraqi official said he was an industrial engineer in former dictator Saddam Hussein’s military and had been a member of Isis throughout all its earlier incarnations." This week, U.S. forces handed over the terrorist to the Iraqi government. U.S., Iraqi and Kurdish forces have been attacking ISIS chemical weapons production facilities. It is likely that knowledge of these facilities came from intel provided by al-Afari. But the risk is increasingly high that ISIS is planning "enormous and spectacular attacks" in Europe, the U.S., in Israel or in a Sunni Arab country, as a top British security official recently warned. Excerpts from the Los Angeles Times story on this week's chemical weapons attack in Iraq: The Islamic State group has launched two chemical attacks near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing a 3-year-old girl, injuring some 600 people and causing hundreds more to flee, Iraqi officials said Saturday. Security and hospital officials say the latest attack took place early Saturday in the small town of Taza, which was also struck by a barrage of rockets carrying chemicals three days earlier. “There is fear and panic among the women and children,” said Adel Hussein, a local official in Taza. “They're calling for the central government to save them.” Hussein said a German and an American forensics team arrived in the area to test for the presence of chemical agents. The wounded are suffering from infected burns, suffocation and dehydration, said Helmi Hamdi, a nurse at the Taza hospital. He said eight people were transferred to Baghdad for treatment. U.S. and Iraqi officials said U.S. special forces captured the head of the ISIS unit trying to develop chemical weapons in a raid last month in northern Iraq. The U.S.-led coalition said the chemicals ISIS has so far used include chlorine and a low-grade sulfur mustard which is not very potent.... The coalition began targeting ISIS' chemical weapons infrastructure with airstrikes and special operations raids two months ago, Iraqi intelligence officials and a Western security official in Baghdad told the AP. Airstrikes are targeting laboratories and equipment, and further special forces raids targeting chemical weapons experts are planned, the officials said.... joelcrosenberg | March 15, 2016 at 8:49 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-4rS

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) - In Honor of our 2 Millionth Viewer Today, This Damascus Jewish Woman Put on her Finest, 1865

Jeune fille juive de Damas en grande toilette.  A Jewish girl of Damascus in her best outfit. (Paris, Musée d'Orsay) Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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In Honor of our 2 Millionth Viewer Today, This Damascus Jewish Woman Put on her Finest, 1865 Posted: 27 Feb 2016 Sometime today, our 2 millionth visitor will open this site.   Flash (2:32 PM EST)  All time history  2,000,014 Researching a recently digitized collection in France, we decided to celebrate and share one of the pictures we found this week. The photo was taken by French photographer Charles Lallemand in 1865 and can be found in the archives of the D'Orsay Museum in Paris.  The young woman welcomed us in her fanciest outfit, wearing on her feet elaborate platform shoes used in the hammam (Turkish baths). Some of the shoes at the time were inlaid with mother-of-pearl and silver. This site has published features on early pictures of lost Jewish communities in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.  We recently published 19th century pictures of other Jewish girls from the Middle East, including Syrian/Damascus Jewish girls, found by the British Library in an endangered Beirut collection of Bonfils photographs. "Jewish girl from Syria" (Bonfils, British Library) "Jewish girl from Damascus" (Bonfils, British Library) Jewish home in Damascus (1901, Library of Congress)

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: “The First Hostage” hits #1 on best-seller list one day after CIA director warns ISIS using chemical weapons.

“The First Hostage” hits #1 on best-seller list one day after CIA director warns ISIS using chemical weapons. by joelcrosenberg On the day after CIA Director John Brennan told the CBS News program "60 Minutes" that the Islamic State is using chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq, a novel about ISIS using chemical weapons against its enemies in the Middle East has hit #1 on a national best-seller list. I'm pleased to report that The First Hostage has just become the nation’s #1 best-selling novel in the North American Christian book market, according to the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association. It is also the #7 of all Christian best-sellers, both fiction and non-fiction, this month. In January, The First Hostage spent four weeks on the Publishers Weekly hardcover fiction best-sellers list. It also hit the USA Today list, though it did not hit the New York Times list. This is the second in a series of thrillers about J.B. Collins, a fictional foreign correspondent tracking the threat posed by ISIS to the U.S., Israel, Jordan, and a group of other Mideast countries. The previous novel, The Third Target, was released in January 2015. They are both the first -- and, thus far, the only -- novels in the world about the threat of the Islamic State. On behalf of my wife and me -- and the entire Tyndale House Publishing team -- please let me say thank you so much for your enthusiastic support of this thriller, and The Third Target before it, which hit all the general market lists when it released last year and was also a #1 best-seller in the Christian market. We deeply appreciate how so many of you are blogging and Tweeting and writing on Facebook about both novels, and writing so many positive reviews on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, and other book sites. Since many of you keep asking, please rest assured that I am hard at work right now on the third novel in this J.B. Collins series. We expect this next one to release in January 2017 and I'll certainly keep you posted on my progress along the way. ————————– Order The First Hostage today — a new political thriller (four weeks on the Publishers Weekly best-seller list) about ISIS plotting a chemical weapons attack against Israel, Jordan and the United States — it’s now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. FACT SHEET: The Iranian leadership’s Apocalyptic Beliefs FACT SHEET: The Islamic State’s Apocalyptic Beliefs What the next US president will need to know about Iran and Islamic State.(my column in The Jerusalem Post) What’s the difference between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology & Biblical eschatology? And why does it matter? (Video & sermon notes) ——————- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and make a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution before the end of the year. Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | February 15, 2016 at 3:11 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-4gQ

Muslim Family Says Jesus Appeared to Them With a Specific Message - MARK ELLIS/GOD REPORTS/ASSIST CHARISMA NEWS

Muslim Family Says Jesus Appeared to Them With a Specific Message

2/15/2016 MARK ELLIS/GOD REPORTS/ASSIST  charisma news

Above: A formerly Muslim family says they converted after Jesus told them about a coming missionary. (Courtesy/God Reports)

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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Tyler Connell with the Ekballo Project has been touring college campuses around the U.S., sharing stories and video from his most recent trip to Middle East, where he documented a dramatic move of God among Muslims, particularly with refugees.

In the last few months, he and his team visited Harvard, MIT, Iowa State, Clemson, and the University of Georgia, among other campuses. "In every stop we saw the presence of Jesus break in to these college campuses and touch students, with bodies healed, people saved, and people giving their lives to serve in the mission field," Connell exclaims.

College students are amazed to learn what God is doing in Iraq and the surrounding region. "Jesus is moving in these Middle East nations," he says. "Many there are disillusioned and broken and just want to know the truth. Now more than ever there is a harvest among Muslims that has not been seen in history."

His first film chronicles a young missionary named Daniel (whose name has been changed for security reasons), 24, originally from Vermont. Two years ago Daniel moved to the Middle East to work with Syrian refugees.

"They go house to house and visit these Muslim families and sit with them and talk with them and find out their names, their stories, and love them. As trust is built, they begin to open up about the Gospel."

One afternoon Daniel walked into a white tent with a family of eight people inside. "Hi I'm Daniel and I'm here to tell you about Jesus," he announced.

He wasn't quite prepared for their reaction. "The family freaked out, they looked at each other, almost turned white. The father was excited, yelling."

What's going on? Daniel wondered.

The interpreter explained that the night before Daniel's visit the whole family was sitting in their tent having tea together and a man in white opened the door to their tent and stood at the entrance. The man was glowing.

"Hello, My name is Jesus and I am sending a man tomorrow named Daniel to tell you more about me." Then he disappeared.

So when Daniel arrived at their doorway and told them his name, they were completely undone. "They asked him to tell them more about Jesus and he gave then the Gospel and the whole family gave their lives to Jesus," Connell reports.

The father had been a part of the Free Syrian Army. "He had known bloodshed. He was a devout Muslim. This man and his family are now planting underground churches and are seeing a harvest among Muslims."

Recently the father was dismayed by a large cell phone bill and he asked his 15-year-old daughter about it.

"It's because I'm telling all our relatives in Saudi Arabia about Jesus," she said.

"We felt God told us to go to these places, the dark places, and capture what He is doing thru the lives of missionaries that have given their lives, left everything they had here to live overseas. We follow them with our camera and capture what God does and show it on college campuses to ignite students to live for something bigger than themselves."

In May 2015 his team spent eight days in the Middle East, going house to house among the refugees. "They were all Muslims but they all said they were disillusioned with Islam and they didn't know what they believed anymore," he observes.

"They asked, 'What is the truth?' There was a perfect cocktail of circumstances that caused them to be open to the preaching of the Gospel."

Going to the Middle East his team had to confront their fears. "We realized that intimidation and fear was only a smokescreen. On the other side of that fear was our greatest breakthrough of joy and laying down our lives and seeing Jesus move like we never imagined."

In another Syrian refugee family, Connell felt God's presence break through in a powerful way. "The joy that broke out among these people was incredible," he notes. "Jesus' presence was stronger than I have ever felt, in that little dirty room, with cat pee everywhere."

"There was about 25 people in there and Jesus' presence was stronger than any conference, any prayer room, any camp-high moment. Jesus was there in the middle of the desert, in the dirt, with Muslims. He is attracted to the broken hearted, the contrite, the desperate. The King of Heaven was right there with the poor in spirit."

Over the last three years, Connell and his team have responded to an assignment from God to capture what He is doing in the most unreached parts of the world, the 10-40 window. "This window has the three giants of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Currently there are 2.9 billion unreached, who have yet to hear that Jesus is the way to the Father."

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

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Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog - "To defeat ISIS, we need to retake Iraq & cut the Caliphate in half." (Radio interview with Hugh Hewitt)

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

To defeat ISIS, we need to retake Iraq & cut the Caliphate in half. (My radio interview with Hugh Hewitt on Apocalyptic Islam) by joelcrosenberg (Washington, D.C.) -- Over the course of the last month, as I've been traveling across the country on The First Hostage book tour, people have been consistently asking me a series of excellent questions: How do we defeat ISIS? What should the Obama administration be doing that it isn't? If this administration can't or won't get the job done, what should the next President do? Should we send a ground force into Syria? What about the ancient Islamic prophecies that the West will get slaughtered in the Syrian town of Dabiq? On Wednesday afternoon, I was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt on his nationally syndicated talk show host. I have grown to respect Hugh as a serious thinker as well as an excellent interviewer, both on radio and in his role helping to moderate the CNN presidential debates. Hugh, a devout Christian and a skilled lawyer, reads voraciously and has an insatiable hunger to learn. Often when I'm in Israel, I enjoy listening to the podcast of his interviews not only with the presidential candidates but with key experts on foreign policy and national security matters. During our conversation about The First Hostage -- my last interview on this book tour -- we discussed each of these questions, as well as how I write novels and do my research. You can listen to the podcast of the full interview by clicking here. That said, here's a slightly more detailed explanation of my view on how to defeat ISIS: Yes, a coalition of U.S., Iraqi, Kurdish, Jordanian, Egyptian, and other Sunni Arab military forces can and must crush the Islamic State. This is a winnable war, but not with the current strategy of half-measures, pinprick bombings, and political tough talk not backed up by a serious military approach to win. What the Obama administration should be doing is pursuing a "Take Back Iraq First" approach. Since the first Gulf war in 1991, and then with the war to liberate Iraq in 2003, followed by the surge strategy in 2006-2008, the American people have identified Iraq has a strategically important country to us. Getting Iraq right matters. We have invested heavily in liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein and from the clutches of al Qaeda and other Radical Islamic terror groups. Withdrawing all our forces in December 2011 was a terrible and foreseeable error. It created a vacuum that ISIS exploited. Now we're seeing genocide against Christians and Yazidis by the Islamic State, the wicked fruit of Apocalyptic Islam. Thus, the goal now must be to re-take Iraq -- and cut the Caliphate in half -- using decisive military force. We likely need 20,000 to 40,000 U.S. boots on the ground, primarily special forces. We need to heavily arm the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. We need to strengthen the Iraqi military. We need to increase arms (and humanitarian aid and other economic assistance) to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, our most faithful Sunni Arab ally in the region. We also need to work closely with Egypt, the Saudis and the Gulf States and get their active participation. The mission: to storm across northern Iraq, crush ISIS wherever they are found, liberate Mosul -- Iraq's second largest city -- set the captives free, crush ISIS once and for all, and drive whatever remains of the terror group back into Syria. This could likely be done by the end of 2016 if the U.S. took the lead and was fully committed to victory. By cutting the Caliphate in half, it would deal a serious blow to ISIS morale and their sense that they are invincible. If President Obama won't pursue such a strategy, then we need to elect an American President who understands the threat of Radical and Apocalyptic Islam and has the courage and wisdom to fight to win, beginning with re-taking Iraq. No, I don't believe we should send U.S. ground forces into Syria. That Arab nation is imploding. It's engaged in a Hellish civil war. Now the Russians and Iranians are fighting there on behalf of Bashar al-Assad and his evil regime. There are no good options. There are no rationale leaders that we can identify at this point who could truly govern the country in a civilized way, even if we could defeat ISIS, remove Assad, and pacify the civil war. Syria is a hornets' nest. My heart breaks for the people of Syria. The U.S. and other world powers need to help Jordan and Lebanon care for the millions of Syrian refugees that have flooded their borders. We should not take Syrian refugees into the U.S. because we cannot vet them and determine who is a terrorist and who is not. We should use air power to consistently degrade ISIS forces, infrastructure, oil reserves, and so forth. But we should not launch a ground force into a country that we have no plan -- or ability -- at this point to truly rescue. While there are many reasons at this point not to launch a ground war into Syria, fear of ancient Islamic prophecies about an end of the world battle in Dabiq is not on the list. Those are false prophecies. ISIS is driven by them. But they are not Biblical prophecies. They are not based on truth. They are based on false teaching. We needn't fear false teaching and false prophecy. Since we can degrade ISIS in Dabiq (and Raqqa, and elsewhere) from the air, that's what we should do for now. Once we have worked with our Sunni Arab allies in the region to re-take Iraq, and degrade ISIS forces in Syria from the air, then we can re-evaluate and develop the next phase of our strategy. But while we need to understand how Apocalyptic, genocidal, Islamic eschatology motivates ISIS leaders, we need not hesitate confronting them because of their apocalypse-addled thinking. ————————– Order The First Hostage today — a new political thriller (#9 on the Publishers Weekly best-seller list) about ISIS launching a chemical weapons attack against Israel, Jordan and the United States — it’s now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. FACT SHEET: The Iranian leadership’s Apocalyptic Beliefs FACT SHEET: The Islamic State’s Apocalyptic Beliefs What the next US president will need to know about Iran and Islamic State.(my column in The Jerusalem Post) What’s the difference between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology & Biblical eschatology? And why does it matter? (Video & sermon notes) ——————- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and make a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution before the end of the year. Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | February 5, 2016 at 1:04 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-4dh

The United States Is Not the Center of the Universe - J. LEE GRADY

If you are a Christian, you are a global citizen. (iStock photo)

The United States Is Not the Center of the Universe

 2/3/2016 J. LEE GRADY  charisma magazine

My friend Kelechi is a brave Nigerian evangelist who has gotten himself kidnapped several times so he could share Christ with armed militants. More recently he has been involved in dangerous evangelism efforts in northern Nigeria, where Islamic jihadists have killed 17,000 people in the past five years.

A few days ago, Kelechi sent me a disturbing email, asking for prayer. He had just learned that a young man he was discipling, Boulous, was killed by militants while trying to get some Christians out of a village that had been targeted for a surprise attack.

Kelechi wrote: "Please would you pray for me and ask your friends to lift us before the Lord? It is a very trying time. We are the only people doing evangelistic work there, so we cannot stop. Also pray for me as I go to the area next week when I think it will be safer."

I feel helpless trying to raise awareness of Kelechi's cause. One of the worst waves of terrorism on planet earth has hit Nigeria, yet the world's media gives it scant attention. The Islamic group operating there, Boko Haram, killed more people in 2014 than ISIS terrorists in Syria. Last week in the Nigerian village of Dalori, Islamic militants bombed homes and burned children alive.

The death toll in Dalori was 86. But did you hear anything about the attack? It wasn't on any news channel I listen to. All the major networks were talking nonstop about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the Iowa presidential caucus—along with the controversy stirred by Beyoncé's new music video.

In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Christian schoolgirls from the Nigerian town of Chibok—and for a few weeks people on this side of the Atlantic Ocean paid attention, especially after First Lady Michelle Obama tweeted her support for the girls.

Almost two years have now passed, and the girls are still missing. They are most likely living as slaves in a Boko Haram camp on the Chadian border. Most likely they have been forced to marry their abductors. And most people have forgotten about them.

All these foreign problems are just too stressful to think about. And too far away. Besides, we have a Super Bowl to watch.

I'm not trying to put anybody under a guilt trip. I am blessed to live in the United States, and there isn't much I can do to stop Boko Haram from torching African villages. But it concerns me that so many of us are completely oblivious to the needs of the rest of the world.

Just a few days ago, Islamic terrorists linked to the group Al Shabaab killed four Christian in Kenya. One of the believers was beheaded. I have to rely on a relatively obscure Christian news service for this information because mainstream media outlets rarely report on Christian persecution.

Wars are going on today in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ukraine, Israel, Iraq, Nigeria and South Sudan—which is also dealing with a famine. But when I checked the latest headlines in USA Today, the focus of the news was on the New Hampshire presidential primary and pro football star Peyton Manning's legacy.

And this just in! Beyoncé will perform during the Super Bowl halftime show!

That's a shame. Especially when you do the math and realize that the United States has a population of 319.4 million while the global population is about 7.2 billion. That works out to a 4.4 percent share of the world's population. Who do we think we are?

We are not the center of the universe.

I'm not going to hold my breath until mainstream media improves its reporting. People are always going to be more interested in Kim Kardashian's latest reality show than in how we can stop global sex trafficking, how we can help abused women in Somalia or how we can protect Syrian refugees while they flee the terror in their country.

But Christians should care. We may live in the United States, but we are citizens of God's kingdom and we are called to pray—and care—for the whole world. Paul told Timothy: "Therefore I exhort first of all that you make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone, for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Tim. 2:1-2, MEV).

Please be a global Christian. Look at the big picture. Stay informed of world events so you can pray with understanding. Make friends with people from other cultures and see the world through their eyes. Pray for the nations.

You can start by praying for Nigeria—and for my friend Kelechi, who will be risking his life to share the gospel this weekend while millions of Americans watch a 17-minute halftime show that will cost $12 million.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.

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