Church pushes on despite desperate satanic endtime attacks

Our faithful Lord and Master, Jesus, continues to be faithful to His promise to build His Church and make her undefeatable by the Devil (Mathew 16:18).  Through the ministry of faithful teachers and watchmen, the Church continues to stand strong against potentially deadly but subtle doctrinal heresies and falsehoods.  Please visit websites of organizations such as Lighthouse Research, (www.lighthouseresearch.org)  Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org) , Moriel (www.moriel.org) among others to celebrate Christ’s faithfulness through His chosen vessels being used to keep the Church untainted and undefiled.

In the regions of the world, where the attacks are more direct and physically brutal, the Lord has also proven equal to the task of preserving His people and keeping them hopeful.  Communism and Islam remain the top persecutors of Christianity all over the world, yet they have continued to fail miserably, despite their desperate attacks.

For instance, various encouraging news have been emerging from the heart of communism itself, China.  One report from that country, based on on-line survey, indicates that despite the unrelenting persecutions, Jesus and Christianity are actually more popular in China than Chairman Mao and Communism. (see Jesus may be more popular than Mao in China)  Other physical indicators confirm that Communist officials are getting frustrated with the continued multiplication of the Church.  For instance there was the case of Communist officials deciding to bulldoze a Church deemed too big.  Even though the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou submits to the Three Self Patriotic movement doctrines of the Communist Party (submitting to rigorous monitoring by the state, including having to send sermons to be preached to state officials for vetting ahead of church services), officials still found the sheer size of the auditorium too intimidating that they decided to send in bulldozers.  Thousands of Chinese Christians were reported to have mounted, round-the-clock human shield around the church to prevent the actualization of the threat  (see Christians form human shield around church in 'China's Jerusalem' after demolition threat).  Another report, reporting on such Churches as the 5,000 capacity Church at the relatively small town of Liushi  goes on to predict that China  is on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10776023/China-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation-within-15-years.html).  

Elsewhere, the Church by the grace of God is holding up high Her head.  From Russia came the report that The Harvest Church of St. Petersburg, Russia was closed by the Russian government without warning. Government officials reported that the church was conducting unregistered educational activities, namely holding Sunday school classes during the week without explicit permission (Church in Russia Closed for Holding “Unregistered” Sunday School Classes. (http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/church-in-russia-closed-for-holding-unregistered-sunday-school-classes.html). 

In Kenya, six people have so far died from the assault on a church in Likoni near Mombasa.  Gunmen burst into a sunday service on March 23 and started shooting indiscriminately. Several more are seriously wounded and are receiving medical attention. The attackers managed to escape on foot before police arrived (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26712771). 

And reports continue to confirm that the on-going conflict in Syria is not blind to the presence of Christians who are considered fair targets by all warring sides.  For instance The Takfiri Jihadist group ISIS, reportedly operate “actual and literal Islamic human slaughterhouses” specifically for Christians in the region.  The horrifying report was based on eye-witness account of a survivor. (https://shoebat.com/2014/03/17/actual-literal-islamic-human-slaughterhouses-christians-discovered/).  In all these, the persecuted Church remains committed to the Lord Jesus, Praise the Lord!

These reports should encourage each of us to continue to be steadfast to Christ as we face our own share of the endtime satanic assaults (Rev.12:12)..  We should also endeavour to lift up one another in prayers for deliverance and strength as may be deemed appropriate by the Lord (please see Acts 12:5-7 and Luke 22:43-44)