Friday, May 27, 2011

New Nigeria emerges

What visionary Christians saw a year ago, of a new Nigeria emerging at the dawn of Jubilee, is now visible to about everybody. The clear hand of God intervening in the affairs of Nigeria should be evident to anyone who has eyes to see. Not only did God confirm an easy-going, God-trusting patriot as the President of Nigeria, God did so in such a way no one else but Himself could claim the glory. God did it at the expense of fire-breathing desperadoes carrying awesome credentials of capacity to generate considerable chaos - both in the physical as well as spiritual realms The story is repeated several times in the various other elections – governorship, and both state and federal legislature.
It is interesting to observe that after the first rounds of elections to the federal legislature, when it became evident that people’s votes would count and actually determine the winners, politicians quickly adapted, and started reaching out to the people, soliciting their votes. The street rallies and house-to-house vote-seeking campaigns of the politicians easily rivaled the evangelistic outreach of many a Christian mission during the Easter period which coincided with the elections!
Of course, it is no time to rest on our oars. The prayers and vigilance must continue. As we enter the period of harvest, it is important that every son in the Kingdom braced up and get to work (Prov 5:10)

End-times Implications

It is instructive that just as most of the so-called advanced and stable countries of the world are tottering under various intensifying storms – economic, moral, political, natural disasters, etc, Nigeria is having her own positive turn-around. Watch out as Nigeria takes the centre stage in world affairs, confounding the calculations of the antichrist confederacy – until the Church is eventually raptured.
In other words, we believe that the course and timing of current events in Nigeria are not mere happenchance. We are predicting that Nigeria’s leadership in world affairs, already manifest in evangelical Christianity, will soon spill over into several other spheres of life. With Nigeria’s influence, the projections of the dark forces behind the One World Government and One World Religion moves, required to usher in the Antichrist, will continually suffer sundry setbacks - until it will please the Lord to remove the Church (via Rapture). Thereafter may it be permitted the eventual manifestation of the man of sin, the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:6-8)

New Agers pummel Islam: Jews, Christians next in line

Given a level playing field, who wins – religious restraints or human lusts?
The stage is again being set for yet another determination of this recurring theme. The venue for what might as well be the Grande Finale global demonstration of the issue, is the Islamic Empire spanning North Africa and the Arabian peninsula. With dictatorship on its way out in many of those countries, the previously repressed masses are at the moment euphoric over their new-found power. A common animosity towards Israel is further helping to stoke the fire.
But all these won’t last. The race is already on to fill the vacuum in power structure left by the vacating dictators. For now it looks like a one-sided competition with the pan-Arab MuslimBrotherhood joining forces with other local Islamic groups to make sweeping gains and push for Islamic fundamentalism. This is already happening in a place like Egypt where Coptic Christians are feeling the intense heat (see http://www.khouse.org/enews/2011-05-17/#1) But also at play here is one little-acknowledged entirely new factor – the very ‘spirit’ behind liberalism and democracy! All the turbulence in the Arabian kingdoms, with the macabre Sunni/Shiite-based selective intervention of the UN/NATO, cannot be fully explained without considering the roles of the spirits and people pushing the New World Order (NWO) agenda.
The politically-savvy Moslem Brotherhood is indeed set to take over Arabia – either through democracy or otherwise. However, one important change is now in place: the playing field is less tilted and “Islamic fundamentalism and piety” will have to compete fair with ”human lusts” to determine who rules the land. Now with the death of Bin Laden (and consequent destabilization of Al Qaeda – with those hard disks in US custody!); together with the defiant spirit introduced by the pro-democracy riots and consequent opportunity for massive strategic infiltration by ground forces of the NWO, etc, one major implication is that fundamentalist Islam will discover that it has lost its traditional coercive powers over people in that region. Famously known as ”the Koran or the sword” doctrine, it has provided invaluable backbone for Islam since inception. The issue, in short, is this: Can Islam survive in an educated, democratic setting devoid of any religious coercion? The Bible is emphatic that no religion at all can (see Rom 7.22-24, Jhn 14:6, etc!!)!
Expect a soaring of incidences of raw vices – homosexuality, open prostitution, family breakdowns, drugs, school-shootings, abortion, porn-TV, state-sponsored mind control, life-style related chronic diseases and conditions, microchip implants, etc in those lands as non-coercive Islam is proven to be no match for human lusts and depravity. Why, even in Osama’s haven in Abbottabad, pornography was part of the staple diet! Such a new Dar al-Islam will be mince-meat for the Antichrist when he is eventually revealed. This is akin to the phase the United States entered two years ago when the ultra liberal team headed by Obama got on the driver’s seat. The Islamists and liberal Christians (Rick Warrens, etc) no doubt think they are winning. But they are contending against phantom foes. The real battle is with the decay and lusts in society – actively being promoted by N ew Agers! Soon all the world, united by common and overwhelming problems, will wait with bated breath for the appearance of the man who seemingly has the answers. That man, who would offer to bring to the world “life more abundantly” without the “restrictive” holiness requirements of the Bible (Psa. 2:3), is none else but the Antichrist soon to be revealed.
Let’s examine the situation in a little more details. Islam, as it really is, is caving in to a new un-koranic Islam (not necessarily a bad development!). It may not be politically correct to push this point, but the real Islam is more like that practiced by the Osamas and the Ahmadinejads. It is the Islam of beheadings of apostates, “honor killings” of close relatives, summary divorcing of women as pleased the man, scriptural fallacies – such as confusion of Miriam, Moses sister with Mary, Jesus mother etc (see Jacob Prash, part 2), etc. If truth is to be told, the face of true Islam is the Taliban, Al Qaeda, the Egyptian Salafists, the Somalian Al shabaab, the Borno Boko Haram, etc! The world, through the New Age movement, is up in arms against this genuine form of Islam.
While every reasonable person might as well applaud this development within Islam, we should take a little time to understand where things are ultimately headed for. The Scriptures are clear that the political leader who will be the antichrist will actually be preceded and introduced by a religious leader – the False Prophet (see Rev 13:11-12ff). As we have explained in several past editions, the False Prophet will head a New global religion, which necessarily must be pantheistic – “no one superior personal God: all roads lead to the same heaven doctrine”. The only serious opposition to this development are the monotheists who insist there is indeed one, and only one, ‘true’ God - theirs ! These so-called Abraham-sourced faiths are Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
We have cited in past editions (eg vol 14 no 1) both the Bible and New Age writings to establish the point that the way the New World Religion will attempt to crush the monotheist religions and install itself is more like the ‘sifting of the wheat’ approach (cf Luk 22:31), rather than direct confrontation . In other words, the religions are to be infiltrated, deprived of their essence, and left only with carcasses of themselves! (See also 2 Tim 3:5). We see this method demonstrated by the Babylonians of old who exchanged the top hierarchy of a conquered nation, either with docile, compromised crop of leaders (e.g.2 Kings 25:18-22) or outright strangers who will introduce the populace to new, previously repugnant ideas 2 Kings 17:24ff). The best in each vanquished land is further brought to the Babylonian capital to be assimilated into their global inter-faith outlooks (eg. Dan 1:3-4; 3:13-14). It is not for nothing that new agers and homosexuals are fighting tooth and nail to be allowed to contest for leadership positions in campus-based Christian fellowships in the US (see Vol 13 No 4). Indeed, the whole goal of the “Hate Crime” laws which forbids Churches to “discriminate” against people on basis of their “sexual orientation and lifestyle” is simply to infiltrate the Church with people who live in open defiance of Scriptures!
The key point of this article should be clear by now: The treatment meted out to Islam awaits the other two monotheisms. Of course, this has been on-going at various intensities for several decades, but we say watch out, the end games are here! With Islam dealt with, more efforts, resource, and justifications, will soon be available to mete identical treatments to Judaism/the State of Israel and evangelical Christianity. As Rick Warren once said, “ fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be 'one of the big enemies of the 21st century.' (see http://www.newswithviews.com/PaulProctor/proctor90.htm). In other words, people not willing to compromise their basics and integrate with others are the problem.
It is quite evident that unprecedented pressure is mounting on Israel, home of the Jews from ancient times. While Palestinians hopes to provoke clashes with Israeli;s Defence Force during the March 15 Day of Rage didn’t amount to anything, the threat of actualizing a similar mass demonstration in Israel as in the Arab lands is still real. For instance, another Gaza-bound flotilla, more determined and better organized than the previous one stopped by the IDF on May 31, last year, is in the works.( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42766164/ns/world_news-europe/t/activists-prepare-new-gaza-flotilla/) . It will be near impossible to accurately predict specific course developments will take in the next few weeks. However, the more serious challenge for Israel might as well be the deadly antagonism and rivalry between secularism and Judaism in Israel (see vol 11 no 5, based on http://morielbealertblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/israeli-left-unmasked.html). Success of external attacks are usually facilitated by prior internal decays.
A possible scenario is the UN going ahead to recognize a Palestinian State with capital in Jerusalem as the Arabs are planning for this September. Then, as in Cote D’ivoire, Libya etc (perhaps mere test cases), the UN may decide to “enforce the protection of civilians” in the newly recognized state. It seems likely the Russians will not mind spearheading such a “humanitarian” force, and the EU are guaranteed to offer supports. The United States under Obama will certainly find reasons to stay “neutral”!
However, dear friend, don’t bank on the final smashing of Israel/Judaism or Christianity as being the next global event on the end-time schedule. Even as the assault to sift the true Church intensifies, we have the assurance of the Word of God that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. As a matter of fact, the ever-living Head of the church has another plan in mind – incorporating, among other events, the evacuation of the Church in what is popular referred to as the Rapture.
According to Rev 12:13-14, after the Man-Child is suddenly raptured to heaven, the attacking Dragon, now cast down, will divert its wrath to the woman who had brought forth the Child. However, the Lord has a plan for her too as a place in the wilderness has been reserved for her nourishment and preservation throughout the 3 ½ years rampage of the antichrist – starting midway into the final 7 year covenant (see Daniel 9:27). Thereafter, God’s plan to secure “fundamentalist Jews”(not the same as the esoteric new age Talmudic Judaism) will unfold (Rev 12, Zech.14, Psa. 2, 83, etc).
The next event then, with no dates announced, will be the Rapture. And the good news is that you can still book a space on that glorious flight by turning to Jesus, today ( Rom 11:25). This is not fantasy. It is real and well within your reach today. Act NOW - Pray, make a phone call, find a Bible-believing Church….. Do something!

Human Lusts no child play

Apparently, there is never going to be an end to stories of top celebrities making a public mess of themselves. One of the current examples is the now ex-Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Frenchman Dominique Strass-Khan (DSK). He jumped on a young Guinean maid doing cleaning service in his $3,000 a night hotel suite and attempted to rape her. He is currently in detention awaiting prosecution, having been denied bail.
DSK is certainly not the first and is not likely to be the last man of influence to be involved in stinkers as these. Famous Arnold Schwazenneger, big screen star and two-term governor of California in the USA is also in the news and amidst a can of worms was reported as having a “a history of groping women”. (Los Angeles Times). Arnold reportedly concurred later, admitting that he "behaved badly sometimes."
The big question is: Why do they do it? One would think that with open and closet prostitutes on the increase, nobody with enough cash to spare would need to force a woman again? Nope! The sexual promiscuity demon is a fire which once started easily gets out of control, demanding more and more, insatiably. This explains the passion of the new sexuality folks to kindle their ugly fire in as many in the society as possible. From marketing hard porns and drugged prostitution, these innocent-looking folks have virtually taken over the entertainment industry (TV, movies, music) and will not be satisfied until they get right into the schools, infecting the educational curriculum with their poison, right from the elementary school level to the University. They know exactly what they are doing. And that’s why they are soo dangerous.
For the individual toying with this fire, we say: Watch out! That “blessing” from the devil has strings, ugly strings attached to it! And those strings, responsible for those ugly urges/deeds you still are secretly managing in the closet will eventually end in open ridicule and destruction someday – unless you run to the Lord Jesus Christ, TODAY. (see John 10:10).

Stiglitz – 1% Controls 40% of US Wealth

As the Middle East clamours to be like America, An American professor is warning that America too is on its way to becoming like the Middle East.
In the words of Joseph Stiglitz, “As we gaze out at the popular fervor in the [Middle East], one question to ask ourselves is this: When will it come to America? In important ways, our own country has become like one of these distant, troubled places.“
Stiglitz, who is a professor at Columbia University. was fired as chief economist of the World Bank in 2000 for criticizing its policies. The article begins: It’s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. ….In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. “
After a lengthy fact-laden economic analysis that many may agree or disagree with, he reaches an incontrovertible conclusion: America is losing its famed pragmatism - the understanding that: looking out for the other guy isn’t just good for the soul–it’s good for business! In closing Stiglitz writes: “ The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.”
One thing Prof Stiglitz seems unaware of though: The top layer of the top 1% are not too dumb not to understand the points Stigltz is making! Might it be they simply want to create similar problems all over the globe, so they can eventually come out with their global solution? Institution of Global governance is simply the next card on the table. As James Paul Warburg put it in a statement made before the US Senate on Feb 7, 1950: "We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent." (www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Illuminati/quotes_on_the_new_world_order.htm)

End of the World – May 21 Hype!

To most of the world, there is no difference between the latest hype that the world would end on Saturday May 21, 2011 (about 6.00pm, US time) and the numerous previous ones. But people in the catchment area of the $180 million worth propaganda machinery of Mr Harold Camping were not so unaffected. Confronted daily by dozens of imposing high tech bill-boards and other messages (2,000 bill boards and regular program on 66 radio stations), many found it rather difficult ignoring Mr Camping message. It is another evidence of the deteriorating mental state of people in this technology-saturated manipulative age that several people would still take such a message seriously, with many donating all their livelihoods to help spread the message. Thankfully, other Christian ministries prepared ahead to help the deceived face the new reality come Sunday May 22!
Of course, May 22 also saw a swell in the number of people who got hardened to the message of Jesus’ imminent return – at a date when no one thinks. Oh that we would get a few “mad” folks too, who would be as mad as the Apostle Paul in preaching the Gospel! If Mr Camping and his associates could be so sold out on a lie, why do people who know the truth and claim to love the Lord find it so difficult becoming sold out for the Gospel? MARANA THA!

Mind control moves to Gadgetry

As sign of immense steady progress in the science and technology of mind control, spin-offs from highly classified military and medical research are now being openly traded in the entertainment industry.
A new video game was exhibited at this year’s annual Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show (CES). Describing the new game, FoxNews.com (Jan 9) reports, “Gamers set aside their joysticks … All they needed instead? The power of thought.”
The technology of Thought Controlled Computing as it is called, is already finding its way into several products. Other products demonstrated at the CES by the Canadian digital innovations company, InteraXon, included the thought-controlled 3D glasses which can detect the mood of the wearer and automatically offer a series of appropriate movie or televised content – from the almost infinite choices available round the clock. Hmm..hedonism just moved to the next level!
All these are however still “days of small beginnings”, apparently. Speaking to FoxNews, a company spokesperson said: “This is just the beginning of an enormous industry to understand brain activity, to use it, and to have intelligent responses to brain-activating activities…Ultimately, we’ll have an intelligent response simulation that can modulate to what you are thinking… (It) is going to be a multi-billion dollar industry.”
Another expert concurs: “In the short term, we’re going to see these kinds of systems integrated in home devices like cell phones and televisions. But in the long term, it’s going to be the way we control the world on a regular basis.”
All these are evidently exciting and fascinating. However, we have always pointed out, there are a number of problems that may not be easily waved aside. One of these is the reversibility allowed by the technology such that not only can outputs from the mind be read, but inputs could by the process also be supplied into the mind. In simpler terms, thoughts can be put into your mind. Unfortunately, there are too many people and organizations interested in such application not to actually put it into practice if provided the opportunity. All these of course are, sometimes unwittingly, being goaded along that line by the disciples of the coming antichrist – the New Age movement. Except for those intimately involved with organizations such as the United States DARPA, now one knows how really advanced the mind control technology has gone – but the level of sophistication in the mere spin-offs allowed into the entertainment industry do tell a tale! As these New Agers will say, talking about their expected messiah of mankind: if we prepare the way, he will come (see www.cuttingedge.org/News/n1222.cfm).
If only genuine Christians will take the preparation of the way of the Lord Jesus Christ with similar zeal!

Drugs of the future will be designed specifically to control the human mind

In the last edition, we discussed the unstoppable resolve of Secret service units to control the human mind – with reference to the MK NAOMI project of the CIA in particular. Confirming that such development is actually now coming mainstream, NaturalNews, on Friday, April 15, 2011 is reporting that modern conventional medicine is furiously working to develop ways to change the moral states of humans through pharmaceutical drugs. This is specifically to control the way people think and act in various life situations. According to NaturalNews, “These new drugs will literally have the ability to disrupt an individual's personal morality, and instead reprogram that person to believe and do whatever the drug designer has created that drug to do.”
The report quotes one of the top practitioners in the field, Dr. Guy Kahane from the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics in the UK, as saying " Studies show that certain drugs affect the ways people respond to moral dilemmas.”
NaturalNews was careful to explain that the issue here is not just the well-known dangerous side effects of existing drugs which could be used to achieve mind control (http://www.naturalnews.com/mind_control.html), but rather, that “designer drugs specifically designed to not only alter one's mental state, but also to change the way that person thinks about situations from a moral perspective” are in the works. “The end result”, NaturalNews concluded, “ is literally a type of drug-induced mind control where human subjects will be controlled by someone else, and unable to make conscious decisions for themselves.”
To worsen the matter, the “already mind-numbed masses” are being further numbed into accepting the idea as a good thing! Check the full article and references at www.naturalnews.com/032088_mind_control_drugs.html

Fire on Persecution unrelenting: China, Algeria, Zimbabwe

While clowns like Harold Camping were garnering all the publicity with his Rapture date-setting, the saints of God continue to suffer various persecution all around the world. A few samples:

Chinese Government Cracks down on Shouwang Church
Over 500 Christians, about half of the membership of the Shouwang Church in Beijing, were placed on house arrest, in the efforts of the Chiinese government to prevent the Church, from celebrating Easter outdoors. This however did not deter the others from still showing up. According to ChinaAid, “As happened the previous two Sundays, police and police vehicles were waiting at the plaza, and church members were bundled onto a waiting bus.” At least 34 of them were detained by police. Shouwang, a Church of mostly young professionals and students, is forced to having outdoor meetings as the tenancy of the Church’s rented space was not renewed by the owners – following pressure mounted by the Chinese government. Similarly, the keys to the $4 milion property the Church paid have not been released by the seller – also due to pressure from the government.
ChinaAids further reports: “Among those who were held under informal house arrest were Shouwang’s pastors and lay leaders, including founding and senior pastor Jin Tianming. These church leaders have not been allowed out of their homes for more than two weeks. Also detained were all the members of the Shouwang choir, reputedly the best of the Beijing house church choirs. The choir had been practicing for months for the Easter celebration. As a result of the on-going showdown, some church members have lost their jobs or rented homes—or both.
For its effective efforts to publicize the persecution of the Shouwang Church, Texas-based ChinaAid has found its website under severe attacks in recent times – from Mainland China.
http://www.chinaaid.org/2011/04/500-shouwang-church-christians-under.html

Algeria demands closure of all Protestant Churches
The International Christian Concern is reporting that Algerian authorities have ordered the Algerian Protestant Church Association (EPA) to close all churches under her authority throughout the country. Seven churches in particular, in the province of Bejala, were to be closed with immediate effect. The May 8 notification was ordered by the governor of the Bejala province and signed by the Police Commissioner Ben Amar Salma. It is supposedly based on Ordinance 06-03 which was established in 2006 to regulate the worship of non-Musllims by requiring churches to obtain government permission to hold services. According to the notification received by the EPA, the churches are to be closed permanently “for exercising religious worship other than Islam without authorization or the compliance of the National Commission for Non-Muslim Religious services.” This requirement is however in gross violation of the country’s constitution which, in article 36, admits that freedom of creed is inviolable. See details at http://www.persecution.org/2011/05/25/seven-churches-forced-to-close-in-algerian-province/

Zimbabwe:
A truckload of riot police stormed a prayer meeting held in a Harare suburb on Saturday April 9 and assaulted worshipers gathered to pray for peace. The police rushed into the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah and used tear gas to force the worshippers, including community leaders, out of the church hall. The police then fired tear gas canisters at homes and other local churches and eventually drove numbers of people out of the suburb. The police even arrested passersby who walked by the church after the congregants had been arrested or chased away. Why the rampage by Robert Mugabe? See further details at http://www.khouse.org/enews_article/2011/1762/print/

Jacob Prasch on Mormonism

“Joseph Smith was a convicted swindler and Brigham Young, with 23 wives, a proven false prophet. Nobody in their right mind would believe that someone who said Quakers living to be 1000 years old resided on the moon, as Smith did, nor on the sun as Young did in his Journal of Discourses Volume 17. Only an ignorant bigot would believe that black people are the descendants of fallen angels and are ugly, wicked and mischievous, and that any white person marrying a black should be killed, because of the Mormon law of atonement. Yet, this is what Brigham Young taught. It is simply not reasonable to believe such evil men were God's prophets. The first requirement of being a Mormon is to abandon any sense of reason”
This is part of a recent article by Jacob Prasch, of Moriel. The full article titled “Death of Reason and Return of Jesus may be accessed at http://www.moriel.org/pfp/discernment/church_issues/death_of_reason_return_of_jesus.htm

Cash limits gets to Nigeria

Two editions ago (Vol 13 No 6, 2010), we reported on on-going global efforts to transit to a cashless society as governments all over the world continue to create more and more hurdles to render large cash transactions unattractive. Nigeria is clearly in tune with these moves, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (whose governor has just received the Bankers’ Global and African Central Banker of 2011) has now announced limits and penalties on cash transactions (withdrawals or deposits) in the country. To take off in five commercial nerve centres of the country as from June next year, the new rule stipulates a fine of N100 per extra N1,000 of cumulative cash transactions above N150,000 per day for individuals; while corporate organisations who deal with cash above a total of N1,000,000 per day will pay a fine of N200 per extra N1,000.
Of course, there are sound social and economic reasons to justify the new policy. According to the CBN, it will “reduce the high usage of cash, moderate the cost of cash management and encourage the use of electronic payment channels.” http://odili.net/news/source/2011/apr/29/328.html
However, as we pointed out in the previous article, even though reasons cited by various countries vary, the one inevitable result of these moves to a cashless society is more central control, necessary in the establishment of a one-world government to be headed by the antichrist.

David Wilkerson gone to be with the Lord

“David served the purposes of God in his generation, then he died” (Acts 13:36).
With these words, Gary Wilkerson began his tribute to his father, the much beloved and highly respected David Ray Wilkerson. David went to be with the Lord during a car crash on Wednesday April 27. 79 year old David was driving himself and had his wife of 57 years, Gwen by his side Mercifully, Gwen survived the accident..
A common expression used to describe brother Dave is his “unlimited faith”. He believed God could change the lives of gang members and transform the most desperate drug addicts. He believed that a dynamic church could be launched in the heart of Times Square, New York City (perhaps the very centre of the world’s depravity). He believed he could be a man who loved his wife and children well. And from clear evidences, including testimonies from friends and family, all these he did creditably with the help of the Holy Spirit.
According to Gary, “Dad was not one for fanfare, acclaim or ceremony. He turned down invitations to meet with world leaders yet would give everything he owned to support a poor orphan or a widow in distress…. He preached with uncompromising passion and relentless grace. He wrote with amazing insight, clarity and conviction. He ran his race well and when his work was done, he was called home.”
According to Dave’s close friend and New York Times reporter, McCandlish Phillips, “His method was an absolute model of simplicity, directness and total non-sophistication—he just went out on the streets and mixed with the kids and reasoned with them face-to-face, often quoting the Bible—and it worked.”
Outcomes of his faith and spirit-led boldness include the Teen Challenge ministry, a Christ-centered drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. The ministry became well known though the book The Cross and the Switchblade, which has sold over 50 million copies and been translated into 30 languages. The ministry has grown to more than 1,000 centers in the United States and 80 other countries. David Wilkerson was in Nigeria for a pastoral visit a few years ago.
According to Carter Conlon, Senior Pastor of the Church at Times Square “I get tremendous personal comfort from the thought of Brother Dave dancing around the throne of God.”. Son Gary echoed similar sentiments when he wrote: I don’t think my father would have retired well. I don’t think he was one to sit in a rocking chair and reminisce about times past. I believe that Jesus, knowing this, graciously called him home.
David was born on May 19 1931 to a line of devoted Pentecostal preachers. His body was laid to rest in Lindale, Texas on May 2, 2011. During the funeral service, attended by members of Wilkerson's family and close friends, including evangelist Nicky Cruz. a tribute video was shown to those who attended. The video may be viewed on http://pleasepassthebread.org/2011/05/02/a-tribute-to-david-wilkerson/

Dilemma for Bauchi Pastors – “To carry guns or remain unarmed”

As a Bauchi Pastor was being handed an 18-month jail term for possessing guns for deterring Islamic attackers, other Pastors in the state who chose to remain unarmed continued to be sitting ducks for Islamic militants.
Pastor John Andrew of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), in Dass Local Government, Bauchi State, after being attacked thrice by Islamic militants thought it was time he procured an AK47 riffle.. “When I got the arms, I thought of using them to protect myself and members of my family, because of the incessant attacks on us, by some unidentified persons,” he told journalists.
According to The Sun (March 8) Pastor Andrew was full of remorse as he explained why he resorted to procuring a gun for self-defense: “Honestly, I’m sorry, particularly, to the members of my church, who I have always told to be peaceful and law-abiding citizens. Also, I have always told them to learn how to live peacefully with their neighbours, irrespective of the level of provocation. But we were being attacked on regular basis, and you know, we in the villages need to protect ourselves from such attacks. That was why procurement of the arms became necessary for our self-protection,”
But the State insisted the excuse was too lame. The trial Magistrate, Emmanuel Danjuma, said he took cognizance of the fact that the convicted pastor was a first offender and a cleric, and thereafter handed him a two years imprisonment sentence on one of the charges. Another 18 months jail term was handed down on a second charge. Mercifully there were options of fine for the two sentences which were to run concurrently.
Unfortunately, dozens of Christians have been killed in Bauchi with nothing done by the government. No one can query the jail term handed down to Pastor Andrew for illegally acquiring guns (which he has not yet learnt how to use). One only wishes that those who do the actual killings will also be brought to justice by the authority!
Meanwhile, within 2 months of Pastor Andrew being handed his jail terms, at least FIVE pastors and SEVERAL family members have been murdered in the same Bauchi state. The latest incident occurred in the night of May 14 when 56-year-old Pastor Irimiya Maigida and his wife were shot and matcheted at Jaruma village in Toro Local Government area of Bauchi State. Wife Kezia survived while Irimiya Maigida gave up the ghost on the 110km trip to the Teaching Hospital in Bauchi, especially after prolonged delays at a police check point where the police insisted on having a police report explaining the wounds. Before the gruesome murder of Maigida (who left behind seven children and four grandchildren), another pastor of COCIN, Pastor Joshua Reke narrowly escaped death when his church was attacked by gunmen. Reke’s wife and three children were among the 16 people, mostly women and children, brutally murdered.
In describing the security intelligence efforts that nabbed Pastor John Andrew , the prosecuting counsel, Geraldine Longtsen, told the court that officers and men of the State Security Service (SSS), acted on a tip-off, How come the security forces have been unable to respond to the several tip-offs that could have stopped the routine butchering of Christian families in Bauchi? Hopefully, the new dispensation in the country will address this fundamental issue so that the country can make progress.
Meanwhile, Pastor Maigida, slain after diligently serving his Lord for over 30 years in the ministry, had since been buried at the Christian Cemetery at Yelwa Zurfi in the state capital .

Islamic Chieftain advocates Amnesty for Boko Haram.

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), Alhaji Lateef Adegbite, has urged the Federal Government to meet with the leadership of the Boko Haram, an organisation that has been launching violent attacks on state institutions and personalities.
Comparing the Jihadists with the Niger Delta militants, Alhaji Adegbite told the Nigerian Compass newspaper, that such a meeting would help the government understand the ” motives and grievances” of the group.
It is amazing that the highly placed officer of Islam would claim ignorance of the well stated “motives and grievances” of Boko Haram – which they never fail to clearly state with each killing they carry out. Unlike the Niger Delta militants who are asking for schools, hospitals, jobs and better conditions of living, Boko Haram militants are demanding, on the authority of Islamic scriptures, that western education, facilities, rule of law, etc are “haram” and must be done away with as the condition for peace! They further consider being killed for such a demand is about the only guarantee of a blissful after-life for them, rewarded with 72 virgins for each man!
The top echelon of Boko Haram has to be firmly dealt with. Expecting a peaceful resolution with them would be like requesting the United States to discuss with Osama bin Laden to understand Al Qaeda’s “motives and grievances”.

Post Election Violence turned anti-Church

Although the top Moslem contender in the last Nigerian Presidential election won the majority of the Northern votes and lost woefully in the South (half of where he never even bothered to campaign), he still felt the results should have been otherwise. However, the supposed spontaneous “protests” against the election results soon turned into an organized militarized campaign against the Church in the North. Eye-witness accounts told Church Arise! of a systematic sacking of churches and cold blooded murdering of Christian families around the Zaria metropolis; but the mother of all sacking was probably that in Kafanchan.
A formal report by the catholic non-govermental organization, the Justice and Development Commission has provided a detailed eye-witness account of the horrific killings in Kafanchan, beginning around 10.00pm Monday 18th April, following an unusual call to prayer (Kiran sallah) at the mosque, and lasting several hours till the next day, without anyone daring to intervene on account of the intensity of the attack and the sophistication of the guns involved. At least THREE HUNDERED people were given mass burial, not counting those given individual burials by their families.
The report and analyses, raising a number of fundamental questions, can be found on the website of the Catholic News Service of Nigeria.

HOPE IN THE COMING STORM - By David Wilkerson

David gives us a clear picture of Jesus’ attitude in the face of the coming storm. He speaks prophetically of Christ, saying, “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved” (Acts 2:25). The literal meaning here is, “I was always in his presence, beholding his face.” David quoted Jesus as saying, “Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope” (2:26).
Here is the secret: Jesus kept the Father always before his face! Jesus continually sought out secret places to be shut in with his Father. And it was only after being in God’s presence that Christ came forth to minister, fully persuaded that his Father was always with him. “He’s at my right hand—and nothing on this earth can move me.” The Greek word for move here means “agitated or shaken, disturbed.” Jesus was saying, “None of these problems, evils or coming events can cast me down or shake my confidence. My Father is in complete control.”
Beloved, if we’re going to face the coming storm, then we need to be prepared so nothing disturbs our spirit. And the only way to do that is to spend time in the Father’s presence beholding his face. We have to be shut in with him—on our knees, practicing his presence, seeking him—until we’re thoroughly persuaded he’s at our right hand.
God is clearly telling us, “Don’t be moved or agitated by anything you see. Keep your eyes focused on me and you’ll retain your joy.” And, according to David, Jesus testified, “Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance” (Acts 2:28).
It’s as if Christ is telling us, “I faced everything you’re going to face in the closing days of time. I had the same foreboding feelings, because I saw the coming storm. But I ran into the presence of my Father, and he lifted all my concerns. He showed me the outcome to it all. And in his presence I found all the joy, hope and rest I would ever need—to the very end. I have peace and joy because I’ve been with him.”
“My flesh shall rest in hope” (2:26).
David Wilkerson
Daily Devotion forWednesday, April 20, 2011. http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Key Agenda for the President

Nigerians’ basic requests to Mr President is a short list: Energy, Education and Jobs.

Church Arise! agrees with these basics, but feels there is by far ONE most urgent fundamental issue the President must settle, so he can truly settle down to effective governance. It has to do with a solemn promise the president had to repeat several times in the past few months: the promise to allow the law take its course with respect to those who killed other Nigerians with impunity in the recent past.

From sponsors of the Jos killings, the Independent Bomb Blasts, the post PDP primary election bomb blasts, the pre-national elections bomb blasts (Suleija, Maiduguri, Kaduna), to finally, the post-election massacres. It’s only if and when, by God’s grace, the deadly snakes behind these events, now stunned, are finally beheaded that David can truly celebrate over Goliath. President Jonathan, please strike the blow by putting patriotic, firm and bold people in the right offices, with clear mandates. We saw this approach work in the case of INEC. By God’s grace, it will work again.

Goodluck, just do it! The LORD is with you!