Podcasts about egyptian christians

Today's show sponsored by: Goldco — 10% Instant Match in BONUS SILVER, for qualified JLP Show listeners Learn more at https://JesseLovesGold.com or 855-644-GOLD JLP Mon 12-23-24 Female Monday HOUR 1 Magdeburg car attack. Illegal set woman on fire. My husband asks my input // HOUR 2 Late 8-min. Owner jailed, squatter free! Mimi! Wrong to date a single mother? // HOUR 3 Calls, Supers… // New Biblical Question: Do you love your male and female problems? NOTE: JLP is live Mon-Tues, Dec 23-24 — then off-air until Jan 2… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! TIMESTAMPS (0:00:00) HOUR 1: BQ, Church, You could be listening…  (0:08:18) Overcome evil with good; No decisions  (0:11:28) German Christmas market crash  (0:19:27) "Illegal" set woman on fire on NY train  (0:24:41) LACEY, OK, 1st, forgave parents … GoldCo  (0:32:23) LACEY: Husband asks my input  (0:39:18) TAYLOR, SC, 1st: Single mother living by mother; boyfriend  (0:51:12) Supers: Stay with it. Santa! FE!  (0:58:20) NEWS, End Hr 1… 7 mins MUSIC  (1:08:08) HOUR 2: My bag! Squatters a mess!  (1:11:31) Homeowner jailed while squatter free; Only want what's right  (1:22:00) MIMI from Church! Moved to GA, I grew nasty!  (1:31:21) … Punchie TV  (1:33:48) MIMI: Stay present; it's not you. GA vs L.A.  (1:38:23) ELISABETH, RI, 1st, dimelo! Son praying.  (1:42:30) DANIEL, SC… You told Taylor to dump me!  (1:50:49) MENA, NJ, 1st, Egyptian: Christians and Jews  (1:55:00) NEWS, End Hr 2  (2:00:56) HOUR 3  (2:05:51) JERMAIN, Canada: Ego in sales; "standoffish"?  (2:14:12) JERMAIN: Dated woman, almost led to s—  (2:16:27) GEORGE, Canada: Give kids money for house? Can't help brother.  (2:25:30) Supers… Stay with it. OT. Coal in Hake's stocking!  (2:31:38) JLP sings, Punchie TV, Nick, Coal  (2:36:43) Supers … Bigg Bump: Facts  (2:42:54) DALTON, MI, 1st, father, pot, prayer  (2:47:01) JACOB, Australia, 1st  (2:49:44) TREY, NJ: Makeup is a lie!  (2:53:44) Last supers… Roseanne!  (2:55:03) Closing: Created to have peace! 

#Enemies of the #Cross, #Redemptive #Light, #Persecuted #Believers, #Egyptian #Christians, #Modern #Slavery, #Abducted, #Advocacy #Persecuted @WarnRadio Enemies of the Cross travels globally as the #commission of the Lord to "go ye into all the world and preach the gospel" resonates with the believers. We are commanded by our #Lord Jesus Christ "to go ye." This is the #redemptive #hope for #mankind. This week we can surely see and understand the Enemies of the Cross phrase. Herein lay the battle of the #Saints, we are to spread the #gospel, the Love of God, and the truth of the #savinggrace through #ChristJesus. Yet today #persecution of #Christians worldwide continues without a letup. However, as the WIBR WARN Radio continues past It's twenty-fifth year some time ago, we find the work must continue. We see miracles and signs; thus, we marvel at the #deliverance of #Christians and at the #martyrs that continue. The world is reeling in #warsandrumors of all kinds. Enemies of the #cross and those who are enemies of all people also find themselves caught up in these #endofdays. More are coming to #Lord, both in #America with all its troubles and in the #worldofnations. #EnemiesoftheCross  

Welcome back to Inside the Epicenter with Joel and Lynn Rosenberg! In today's episode, the couple shares updates from their undisclosed location, highlighting the courage and support of family members amidst their work. They express their gratitude for time spent with US-based staff on retreat, emphasizing the need for refreshment and encouragement. The upcoming board meeting for the Joshua Fund and the potential for ministry in Gaza are discussed, along with prayer requests for hostages' rescue and ongoing concerns for others still in captivity. As they promote the work of the Joshua Fund and encourage support through their website and email, the episode ends with a message of gratitude and blessings from Washington. Stay tuned to hear about the situation in Israel and the ongoing efforts of The Joshua Fund to provide aid and support to the affected communities. (00:04) Israel is cautious, preparing for potential conflict. Humanitarian work. (03:53) Intense fear followed by continued military service. (06:45) Military professionals monitor and fear border attacks. (09:47) Limited access to services in remote areas. (14:00) Israel is remobilizing due to ongoing security concerns. (18:13) US-Israel tensions over promised military supply delivery. (19:20) Urgent need for weapon resupply during the Lebanon war. (24:46) The Elderly struggle to travel to and stay in Jerusalem. (25:45) Elderly evacuees find solace in Jerusalem visit. (31:49) Christians come from various religious backgrounds. (33:25) Veiled Muslim women in Gaza find Jesus. (36:21) Palestinian, Iranian, and Egyptian Christians may help rebuild Gaza. (41:38) Grateful moment when hostages were rescued. (46:01) Grateful for the support, enabling love, and care.   Learn more about The Joshua Fund. Make a tax-deductible donation. The Joshua Fund Stock Media provided by DimmySad/Pond5     Verse of the Day: Isaiah chapter 41:10 - The Lord says fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you is my righteous right hand.  Prayer Request:Praying for the people of Israel that they would call out to their God, that they would call out and ask him for help and for mercy. We're asking for mercy for our hostages, that the Lord would set them free, that he would set them free physically, spiritually, emotionally, in every way, Lord, that they would bring them back, and he would restore them to life, to their families.Pray that the believers there would also be strengthened to keep on serving. Related Episodes: Uniting Faith and Politics: Inside the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast with Albert Veksler #188 Why Did Joel Move to Israel? #172 Christians Blessing Israel: How and Why? #170 The Importance of Ministering to Women and Children #166 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

She was a wealthy and noble lady, born in Spain. Her husband and two of her children died and, seeing the vanity of worldly things, she travelled to Egypt to visit the monks at Nitria. She gave away most of her great wealth to the needy, and to Egyptian Christians being persecuted by the Arians. It is said that in three days she fed some 5,000 people. When the Orthodox in Egypt were exiled to Palestine, she went with them to Jerusalem, where she built a convent for virgins; she entered the convent herself, and reposed there in 410. Her grand-daughter, Melania the Younger, is commemorated on December 31.

She was a wealthy and noble lady, born in Spain. Her husband and two of her children died and, seeing the vanity of worldly things, she travelled to Egypt to visit the monks at Nitria. She gave away most of her great wealth to the needy, and to Egyptian Christians being persecuted by the Arians. It is said that in three days she fed some 5,000 people. When the Orthodox in Egypt were exiled to Palestine, she went with them to Jerusalem, where she built a convent for virgins; she entered the convent herself, and reposed there in 410. Her grand-daughter, Melania the Younger, is commemorated on December 31.

Today's HeadlinesAntisemitism: a new resurgence or has it always been there?Egyptian Christians take advantage of current “period of calm”Set Free USA launches new program

The first episode of our summer mini series focused on understanding persecution from a Biblical and Theological perspective. In this episode, Jared shares about Jesus' promise that there will be persecution in John 15-16.  Egypt's Country Profile describes what persecution looks like for Egyptian Christians. Read it at https://www.opendoorscanada.org/worldwatchlist/country-profiles/egypt/  Download a copy of the 2023 World Watch List at https://www.opendoorscanada.org/worldwatchlist/ Find more resources to pray for the persecuted church at https://www.opendoorscanada.org/get-involved/pray/ Get in touch with us at podcast@odcan.org Subscribe to the #WorldWatchWeekly podcast via iTunes, PodBean, Spotify, or YouTube.   In Jared discussion of the history of Christianity in Egypt, here are the resources that he found helpful: Sedra, Paul. “Class cleavages and ethnic conflict: Coptic Christian communities in modern Egyptian politics” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 10 no.2. (April 2007). 219-235. Meinardus, Otto F.A. “A Brief Introduction to the History and Theology of the Coptic Church” St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly 6, no. 3 (1962) p. 139-155 Chaillot, Christine. “The Life and Situation of the Coptic Orthodox Church Today.” Studies in World Christianity 15 pt.3. (2009). 199-216. Zeidan, David. “The Copts - equal, protected, or persecuted? The impact of Islamization on Muslim-Christian relations in modern Egypt.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 10, no.1. (April 2007). 53-67

It's Friday, June 16th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com) 23 ISIS Libyan Muslim militants sentenced to death A Libyan court sentenced 23 ISIS-Libya Muslim militants to death for their involvement in the 2015 insurgency centered on the city of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast in north-central Libya, reports International Christian Concern.   The court also sentenced 14 Muslim militants to life in prison and another 14 to multiple years in prison. Proverbs 21:15 says, “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” Here's the back story. After NATO-backed rebels ousted longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the Libyan security situation devolved into chaos as rival factions vied to fill the power vacuum. Islamic extremist groups—including Ansar al-Sharia (the group allegedly responsible for the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi)—worsened the political instability in Libya by forming a coalition against the transitional government known as Libya Dawn.  In 2015, ISIS-Libya—the largest contingent of the Islamic State outside Iraq and Syria—established a stronghold in eastern Libya and launched a high-profile attack in Tripoli leading to the abduction and beheading of dozens of Egyptian Christians.  Amid the ongoing conflict between rival political factions and Islamic extremist groups, Libyan Christians are particularly vulnerable to persecution, especially those who have converted from Islam.  That's why Open Doors lists Libya as the fifth most dangerous country for Christians worldwide.  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. could beat Biden in Iowa and New Hampshire Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a Democratic challenger to President Joe Biden, could win in the traditional first-to-vote states of Iowa and New Hampshire, reports Axios.com. Biden's team is indicating the president won't be on the ballots in those states if they vote before South Carolina which is Biden's choice to have the first primary. What's going on? Well, Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire could defy Biden and move ahead with their contests — even as the party warns it will strip them of their national convention delegates if they jump the gun. Since Biden's surprise decision last December to make South Carolina the first state in the Democrats' 2024 season with a primary on February 3, New Hampshire Democrats have openly protested. In touting South Carolina to kick off the primary season, Biden's team has said it wanted voting to start in a racially diverse state to give minorities more of a say in early presidential contests.  But he is making the move because he knows he has a better chance of winning there. GOP senator warns parents to “flee” California over radical transgender bill On Tuesday, California Republican state senator Scott Wilk issued a stark warning to the parents in the Golden State, urging them to “flee” the state if they love their children.  He expressed his grave concern about a radical bill's likely passage into law that could result in parents being considered “abusive” if they simply refuse to affirm their own child's gender confusion, reports LifeSiteNews.com. California's Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-2 on Tuesday night (with one abstention) to pass Assembly Bill 957, which would characterize a “parent's affirmation of the child's gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child.”  Senator Roger Nielo, a fellow Republican, joined Wilk as the only two “no” votes. Shockingly, the measure would even require judges to consider whether or not parents “affirm” a child's “transgender” identity as one of the factors in the consideration of custody disagreements by changing Section 3011 of the California Family Code by by which LifeSiteNews previously reported.  Senator Wilk didn't hold back. Listen. WILK: “If a parent does not support the ideology of the government, [the children] are going to be taken away from the home. Today, it only involves divorce proceedings, but I can assure you this is not going to end with divorce proceedings. If you love your children, you need to flee California. You need to flee. “It just breaks my heart. I'm born and raised in this state. I love this state. I'm not going to stay in this state, because it's just too oppressive. I believe in freedom. So, I'm going to move to America when I leave the legislature.” Amazon shuts down Smart Home And finally, Amazon reportedly shut down a customer's smart home after the Black delivery driver claimed he heard a racial slur coming through the doorbell, even though no one was home, reports The Daily Mail.  Brandon Jackson, of Baltimore, Maryland, a Black man himself, came home on May 25 to find that he had been locked out of his Amazon Echo, which many devices, including his lights, are connected to.  He would later learn that Amazon locked him out of his account after a delivery driver dropped off a package the day before. Jackson, an engineer at Microsoft,  said “everything seemed fine” after the package arrived at his home and had initially thought he was locked out because someone had tried to “access my account repeatedly, triggering a lockout.” But none of that was true. A representative directed him to an email he received from an executive that provided a phone number to call. When he called the number, he was told in a “somewhat accusatory” tone that the driver had reported “receiving racist remarks” from his doorbell. Jackson wrote on Medium, “This incident left me with a house full of unresponsive devices, a silent Alexa, and a lot of questions.”   He said most of the neighborhood and its delivery drivers are also Black and it would be “highly unlikely that we would make such remarks.” He wrote, “Finally, when I asked what time the alleged incident occurred, I realized it was practically impossible for anyone in my house to have made those comments, as nobody was home around that time (approximately 6:05 PM).” After reviewing the doorbell footage, he learned the device had given an automatic reply, saying: “Excuse me, can I help you?” He also said the video showed the driver had been wearing headphones during the interaction and “must have misinterpreted the message.” It wasn't until six days later he regained access to his account, with “no follow-up email to inform me of the resolution.  I am seriously considering discontinuing my use of Amazon Echo devices and will caution others about this incident.” It appears increasingly likely that the smart phones, smart homes, or even bank accounts of Christians will be disabled by the politically correct Big Tech and Big Government tyrants who disagree with our defense of life, our affirmation of God's design for sex and sexuality, and any Christian evangelistic witness. In Matthew 16:24–26, “Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Close And that's The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, June 16th in the year of our Lord 2023. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

She was a wealthy and noble lady, born in Spain. Her husband and two of her children died and, seeing the vanity of worldly things, she travelled to Egypt to visit the monks at Nitria. She gave away most of her great wealth to the needy, and to Egyptian Christians being persecuted by the Arians. It is said that in three days she fed some 5,000 people. When the Orthodox in Egypt were exiled to Palestine, she went with them to Jerusalem, where she built a convent for virgins; she entered the convent herself, and reposed there in 410. Her grand-daughter, Melania the Younger, is commemorated on December 31.

She was a wealthy and noble lady, born in Spain. Her husband and two of her children died and, seeing the vanity of worldly things, she travelled to Egypt to visit the monks at Nitria. She gave away most of her great wealth to the needy, and to Egyptian Christians being persecuted by the Arians. It is said that in three days she fed some 5,000 people. When the Orthodox in Egypt were exiled to Palestine, she went with them to Jerusalem, where she built a convent for virgins; she entered the convent herself, and reposed there in 410. Her grand-daughter, Melania the Younger, is commemorated on December 31.

Join Adelene as she discusses the topic of the Persecution of Egyptian Christians with Pastor Khaled Ghobrial. Asis Khaled delves into his childhood raised in Egypt as a young Christian boy that eventually enters a life of ministry. This episode is a part of a social effort and campaign to raise awareness about International Human Rights in Africa through Boston University. Please support through donating to NGO Freedom House: https://freedomhouse.org/country/egypt/freedom-world/2023 

Despite the North Africa and Middle East being known as an area closed off to Christianity, Tony George and Peter Ramzy are tapping into the ancient roots of Faith Driven Entrepreneurship that exists in Egypt. Under Tony's leadership, the Community (tC) Egypt disciples young people, recovering addicts, women, and business professionals and prepares them for the labor market. Out of that organization came the Oasis Accelerator programs, which Peter now oversees. The program provides local Egyptian entrepreneurs with purpose-driven skills to grow their businesses. In partnership, Tony and Peter are equipping Egyptian Christians with the community and tools to create a transformative impact in the region.

Today's Headlines Second convoy of Afghan Christians heads to Pakistan Islamic State takes advantage of West African troubles No seminary? No problem – PTEE equips Egyptian Christians

Egyptian Christians facing loss, persecution, and lack of basic needs, look to the Lord for provision through faith in Christ.

This episode was created to celebrate the new edition of the "Praise of the Archangel Michael" (P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 686), produced by the Coptic Magical Project, a praise written on a parchment codex in Coptic and dated to the 10th century CE. The text is unique, as it is one of the longest magical texts, and it provides many details on the cosmology of Egyptian Christians of that era who were using and producing the magical text. In the first part of the podcast, the text is presented and this is followed by an interview with Korshi Dosoo who clarifies various aspects of the praise (5:02). Next, you'll hear the praise recoded by Edward Love (36:27). Lastly, technical details regarding the podcast are given (54:05). Thank you for listening and enjoy! For any feedback, feel free to contact us through Facebook or through our website.

On Freedom Friday with Perry and Shawna today, it’s the story of Yassir. It’s Yassir’s journey from a radicalized Islamic boy who hated Christians, to transformed follower of Jesus! Perry met Yassir in Thailand in 2017 and captured his breath-taking story. So first Yassir shares how he became radicalized as a young boy. Then he shares the event that would eventually lead him to Jesus—mercilessly beating a high school classmate (the only Christian in his school) and leaving him for dead. This classmate, Zechariah, didn’t die. He started praying for Yassir. Next Yassir shares how his favorite uncle, a violent persecutor of Christians became of follower of Jesus. This rocked Yassir’s world and caused him to rethink the person of Jesus. Then Yassir shares that his cousin became ill and fell into a coma. The family expected him to die. One afternoon as Yassir was sitting by his cousin’s hospital bed some Egyptian Christians asked if they could pray for his cousin. Yassir reluctantly agreed. And what happened after they prayed brought Yassir into the Kingdom. Next, 25 years after beating his classmate Zechariah, Yassir, now a follower of Jesus, met Zechariah face to face. He was so ashamed! But what Zechariah said to him revealed why Jesus had saved Yassir. And finally Yassir calls you and me to love our enemies as Zechariah had loved him. To do so, will change the world. Share this story! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's guest: Congressman Michele Bachmann drops a bombshell about George Floyd, the 2020 election, and much more...   Today's guest's story:  Michele Bachmann spent her young childhood in Iowa, but as an adolescent, she moved with her family to the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shortly thereafter her parents divorced, and she and her siblings were raised by their mother. Amble attended Winona State University in Minnesota (B.A., 1978), where she studied political science and English. While in college she volunteered for Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign. After Carter's election, however, she became disenchanted with the Democratic Party, in part because of her evolving opposition to abortion. Several months after graduation, she married a classmate, Marcus Bachmann. In 1986 Michele Bachmann received a J.D. from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and two years later she earned a postdoctoral degree in tax law from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. For five years she worked as a tax litigation attorney for the U.S. Treasury Department—first in Washington, D.C., and then in St. Paul, Minnesota—before leaving in 1993 to focus on her family. (In addition to raising their five biological children, the Bachmanns took in more than 20 foster children.) That same year she helped establish a charter school in Stillwater, Minnesota, where her family had settled, and she briefly served on its board of directors. Bachmann turned her attention to politics in 2000 with a campaign for the Minnesota Senate. After upsetting a longtime incumbent in the Republican primary, she won the general election. As a state senator, Bachmann advocated for tax reform, and she sharply denounced state-mandated educational standards as inadequate. She became better known, however, for championing socially conservative positions that were grounded in her Christian faith. While her efforts to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota had some challenges, she led a successful initiative to provide grants to organizations that encouraged pregnant women to carry to term by offering them free counseling and other resources. She also made significant progress in the area of religious liberty and freedom. She was very successful in making her district a great place to live and work, and she is loved by her constituents.  In 2006 Bachmann was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Republican woman to represent Minnesota in Congress. Two years later she made national headlines when she insinuated on a television talk show that some members of Congress, including presidential candidate Barack Obama, might have “anti-American views.” She was right!!  Weeks later she was re-elected to her seat. At the same time, her outspoken dedication to conservative principles, such as a belief in limited government, won her the favor of the burgeoning Tea Party movement. Michele Bachmann has been a trailblazer and true history maker in fighting for our constitution and for advancing biblical morals and values.  In 2010, prior to her election to a third term, she founded the House Tea Party Caucus, attracting more than 50 Republican members of the House, and the following year she provided a televised response to the State of the Union on behalf of the movement. In June 2011 Bachmann announced that she was running for president. Two months later she won the Republican straw poll in Ames, Iowa. However, her campaign subsequently struggled, and on January 3, 2012, she finished in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses. The next day, Bachmann suspended her campaign. God had other plans. Big plans...   During Obama's presidency, the anointed Bachmann made frequent media appearances and she was highly sought for speaking engagements, particularly for conservative organizations, pro-liberty, and faith-based groups. In 2013 Bachmann announced that she would not seek a fifth term in the House of Representatives, and she left office in 2015. Bachmann remains active in politics, however. In 2016 she served on the evangelical advisory committee to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and, after he won the election, she continued to be a vocal supporter. In 2017 Bachmann was among a group of evangelicals who traveled to Egypt to meet with Pres. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Their talks focused on the persecution of Egyptian Christians. Core of Conviction (2011) was Bachmann's autobiography. Michele Bachman is a hero and a great American patriot as well as a respected national faith leader. She continues to make great contributions to America and we believe God still has much more in store.  On today's show, she will also talk about the upcoming "Well-versed summit" that will be held in Washington DC on September 27th. This is a live-stream event similar to the RNC. Please click here to register. This is going to be an extremely informative event that all Christians and patriots should tune in for.             

Christianity has a long history in Egypt, but it also has a long history of being persecuted there. In this episode, you'll learn about some of the types of persecution facing Egyptian Christians, but you'll also hear about their incredible boldness to share the gospel and to forgive those who have wronged them. Listen in and find out how you can pray with your brothers and sisters in Egypt. Download a copy of the 2020 World Watch List at www.opendoorsca.org/world-watch-list/about-persecution.  Find more resources to pray for the persecuted church at www.opendoorsca.org/get-involved/pray/.  Get in touch with us at podcast@odcan.org. Subscribe to World Watch Weekly podcast via iTunes, PodBean, or Spotify. *Names of persecuted Christians may be changed for security purposes*

After disappearing in April 2020, a Coptic Christian high school teacher of English, wife, and mother of three reappeared in a video, now dressed in all-black Islamic attire with her face nearly covered, announcing that she had willingly converted to Islam and rejecting any contact with her family. This incident symbolizes the plight of Copts, Egyptian Christians, which includes forced conversion, attacks on churches, and murder. What does the future hold for this embattled population?

Transcribed highlights of the show can be found in our episode summaries. Five years ago this month, ISIS executed 21 Christian men on a beach Libya. Their masked executors stood in all black behind the men, who knelt in a line wearing orange jumpsuits. After the Islamic State released a video of their murders, images of this massacre of Coptic Christians reverberated around the world. But despite the cultural impact left, Egyptian Christians have long experienced persecution, says Archbishop Angaelos, who serves in London. “The interesting thing is, we live it with a sense of resilience, but we have never fallen into a state of victimhood or triumphalism,” he said. “We realize that it is the cross of Christ. …It's not the end of the road because there is a resurrection that comes after the cross and the empty tomb. And so it is in that hope that we continue to live. And it's in that hope that we continue to carry that cross knowing that it will be removed from us.” Archbishop Angaelos, who still remembers the day he learned of the news recently joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Daniel Harrell to discuss why this act of persecution so greatly impacted the global church, the identity of the only non-Egyptian martyr, and whether the church will experience the same decline as it has in the rest of the Middle East. What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Daniel Harrell Follow our guest on Twitter: Archbishop Angaelos Listen to Quick to Listen: Episode 38: How the Coptic Christian Church Endures Learn more about the 21 Martyrs film Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Bunmi Ishola

Open doors, Persecution, Religious freedom, Cuba, Christian Advocacy, Faith, Gospel News www.warn-usa.com | WIBR WARN Radio A Nightmare storm is brewing, and it comes from hell. Riveting thriller, Great Read! Steel the Darkness http://bit.ly/2uvloTM-christian-mystery This week we move through the world events in look at Gospel news, faith enduring, Religious freedoms attacked, and ongoing Persecution of Christians. We find out how the church is doing among the gangs in El Salvador, then look at the struggle after ISIS for Christians left in the Rubble. Then we discuss the ongoing descent of Religious freedoms in China and their latest attack online. Further we look at Egyptian Christians ongoing persecution, the Christ of the Gospel in Cuba, a story from a former Taliban member, and the American churches compared to the Seven churches in Revelation.

Muslim-raised, atheist dad talks about celebrating Christmas with young Gary. We also talk about Egyptian Christians and Voltron (because no Christmas would be complete without Voltron).

Over the last year, Egyptian Christians have dealt with intense religious persecution for their faith. Recently another devastating attack hit the Christian community. Listen for more.

Last Friday, 29 Egyptian Christians were murdered and a further 22 injured as they travelled to a monastery. The ambush happened as the vehicles carrying the Christians were on a road that only led to the monastery. Men were taken off the buses, their identity cards checked to see that they were Christians and then told to recite the Islamic shahada indicating that they were converting to Islam. All of the murdered men refused to renounce their Christian faith in this way. Among the bodies were left Islamist leaflets, reportedly on the subject of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan which was just about to begin.

Egyptian Christians targeted during Palm Sunday services, Hank Hanegraff still answering, but now answering to the Eastern Orthodox, Supreme Court to hear a case concerning LC-MS preschool, and Easter's just getting started for us here at Radical Grace Radio. Visit Matthew Pancake's Facebook http://www.facebook.com/matthew.pancake Visit Pastor Gary Held's Facebook http://www.facebook.com/garyheld Visit our Website www.RadicalGraceRadio.com  

Isis attacks Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday - the beginning of the Holy Week. Islamic extremists are waging a holy war on anyone not willing to accept their ideology & worldview - which includes Christianity. Trump & Syria. Trump doubles down. Tensions continue to rise. The Left suddenly needs more than emotional reasoning for policies. Getting a second medical opinion leads to different diagnosis a staggering 88% of the time. But if the patient is earth, and the doctor is a climate change scientist, the diagnosis only changes 3% of the time. And interestingly, the treatment always involves more government & less liberty. Scientists say large portions of the Great Barrier Reef will not recover from bleaching. Does Google pay women less than men? Does Elizabeth Warren pay women less? Some say no. But if the champions of closing the 'pay gap' cannot fix it in their own organizations, how on earth do they expect to 'fix' it nationally? Do we us biological gender when calculating these numbers?

Isis attacks Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday - the beginning of the Holy Week. Islamic extremists are waging a holy war on anyone not willing to accept their ideology & worldview - which includes Christianity. Trump & Syria. Trump doubles down. Tensions continue to rise. The Left suddenly needs more than emotional reasoning for policies. Getting a second medical opinion leads to different diagnosis a staggering 88% of the time. But if the patient is earth, and the doctor is a climate change scientist, the diagnosis only changes 3% of the time. And interestingly, the treatment always involves more government & less liberty. Scientists say large portions of the Great Barrier Reef will not recover from bleaching. Does Google pay women less than men? Does Elizabeth Warren pay women less? Some say no. But if the champions of closing the 'pay gap' cannot fix it in their own organizations, how on earth do they expect to 'fix' it nationally? Do we us biological gender when calculating these numbers?

Isis attacks Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday - the beginning of the Holy Week. Islamic extremists are waging a holy war on anyone not willing to accept their ideology & worldview - which includes Christianity. Trump & Syria. Trump doubles down. Tensions continue to rise. The Left suddenly needs more than emotional reasoning for policies. Getting a second medical opinion leads to different diagnosis a staggering 88% of the time. But if the patient is earth, and the doctor is a climate change scientist, the diagnosis only changes 3% of the time. And interestingly, the treatment always involves more government & less liberty. Scientists say large portions of the Great Barrier Reef will not recover from bleaching. Does Google pay women less than men? Does Elizabeth Warren pay women less? Some say no. But if the champions of closing the 'pay gap' cannot fix it in their own organizations, how on earth do they expect to 'fix' it nationally? Do we us biological gender when calculating these numbers?

IMPURITIES DULL OUR WITNESS What is in your heart? David asked the Lord to examine his heart. Psalm 26:2 says, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.” Zechariah 13:9 says, “...refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested...” The word refine refers to that melting process to remove impurities from precious metals. Our faith is refined through fiery trials. Job 23:10 says, “He knows the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” The Amplified says, “...I shall come forth as refined gold (pure and luminous).” Is your witness dull, tarnished, blocked, or does it express the character of Christ? Psalm 34:5 says that they looked to Him and were radiant. When He looks into the gold of your life, does He see His own reflection? We live in glass houses. Others are watching our lives unfold through our trials to see if what we say is lived. Is your messenger the same as your message? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had their faith in God tested by fire. Their faith held, and the Lord revealed Himself to them in the midst of the fire. They were brought out of the fiery furnace and examined. Daniel 3:27 says, “...they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” The Wycliff manuscripts were the kindling for John Hus’ burning at the stake in 1415. Nero lit his gardens with human torches. In 1956 five men were killed by the Aucas, yet it opened the door for the salvation of that tribe. In 2014 twenty-one Egyptian Christians were beheaded. What will happen today? We don’t know what the future holds for us, but we do know Who holds our future. It is all about faith. The early church was persecuted. In Acts 1:8 the words of Jesus are written. It says, “...and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the world.” As Stephen was being stoned to death he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Paul fulfilled the Lord’s word to Ananias, “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:16). Here is a line from the old hymn ‘How Firm A Foundation’, “The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” God has a high purpose in our trials. Romans 5:3 Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.” Our thanksgiving releases His joy gift within. John 15:11 Amplified says, “I have told you these things that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.” His joy gift remains. Yet, our complaining, bitterness, unforgiveness, refusing to release unresolved issues, etc., suppress that witness of joy. Isaiah 12:2-3 says, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” John 7:38 Amplified says, “He who believes in Me (who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me) as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow (continuously) springs and rivers of living water.” What flows continuously from your inner being? Matthew 12:34 says that out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks. Our thoughts control our brain, and our brain controls our body. Therefore our thoughts in our trials are the key to releasing that joy gift reflected to glorify Him. Trials refine our faith. The lies that the enemy has hidden through fiery darts are designed to undermine and overthrow our faith. The enemy-implanted questionings, doubt, fears, and unbelief must be silenced. The hidden unresolved issues that are buried in our unconscious will be exposed. As we embrace our trials, His deep work is accomplished. The hidden dross will rise and be skimmed off through His divinely orchestrated and impeccably timed trials. Our Rock-strength witness comes through the implanted Word of God. When we hide His Word in our hearts, it is the discerning key in our faith that will quench the fiery darts of the evil one. IMPURITY: IMPATIENCE We are partakers of God’s divine nature. Impatience is the antithesis of God’s nature of Patience and Longsuffering. Antithesis means an idea that is the direct opposite of another idea. Salvation redirects our disposition. Salvation by grace through faith empowers us to be Christ-like. He is the Transformer. That is why He invites us to put on His yoke so we can learn from Him. Matthew 11:29 says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” It is an opportunity to submit to Him and be led by the Spirit. Putting on His yoke is not a one time thing. It is constant submission. Impatience is a lie of the enemy. It is a fiery dart to pull us off course. When we are being led by the Spirit, there is no consideration for our flesh. That is what Romans 13:14 means. It says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.” We “put on the Lord” by entering into His nature. The moment we feel impatient, we do a divine exchange. We exchange pride for humility. We capture our thoughts of impatience by meditating on His nature of Patience and Longsuffering. In that moment of the exchange we stop the progression our flesh would have taken. We course correct. Impatience is an impurity that undermines our faith. James 1:4 Amplified says, “But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be (people) perfectly and fully developed (with no defects), lacking in nothing.” If we give ground over to impatience, we will stop the work He is doing to purify our faith. We will lack what He wants to provide. As we continue to submit to the Lord we learn His ways. A team of oxen is made up of a strong leader to train a younger ox. The Lord is our Leader. He will teach us how to partner with Him, thereby glorifying Him through our lives. In our moment of impatience, we have a choice. Do we want to give in to our flesh (pride), or do we want to grow to be more like Him in humility? Impatience is the dead-bolt of pride that blocks grace. Humility throws the door wide open to allow Grace to come in. We have no power to endure our trials without grace.

An interview with Tom Doyle who met with the families of the Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya.

John Bethany, Vice President of Global Ministry Development at Focus on the Family, discusses the Middle East outreach of Focus Egypt.  News of 21 Egyptian Christians who were martyred by ISIS was amply covered by news media recently, but John details startling information that was never covered about their witness as they were marched to their deaths.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach has exposed the lawlessness of the country ruled by Colonel Gaddafi until 2011. The internationally-recognised government is trying, without much success, to run the country from the eastern city of Tobruk. In Tripoli, another body claims to be the legitimate government. But is the real power struggle between the militias associated with each group – and where does the so-called Islamic State fit in? With neighbours near and far getting involved to push their own agendas, we investigates the forces operating in Libya and what they want. (Image: A Libyan man waves his national flag. Credit: Abdullah Doma/AFP/Getty Images)

This past Sunday, a video titled “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross,” released by the media arm of Islamic State, showed the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya. We talk with Egyptian native and Antiochian Orthodox priest Fr. Nabil Hanna who just returned from Egypt. The interview closes with a prayer for the martyrs, their families, and the end to violence.

This morning's passages on this first Sunday of Lent are Genesis 9:8-17 and 1 Peter 3:18-22. We're hearing a lot this week about Christians killed for their faith. Specifically about the 21 Egyptian Christians who recently lost their lives for their faith. This week's passages speak to that suffering and give us an idea of what we can do for them all these thousands of miles away from our safe homes and churches. Full manuscript is available at: http://www.thesquirrelfactor.com/2015/02/the-sign-of-covenant-genesis-98-17-1.html

This past Sunday, a video titled “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross,” released by the media arm of Islamic State, showed the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya. We talk with Egyptian native and Antiochian Orthodox priest Fr. Nabil Hanna who just returned from Egypt. The interview closes with a prayer for the martyrs, their families, and the end to violence.

Weand'll meet Abouna Johanna from Cairo in Egypt. He is the Secretary to the Coptic Pope for the diaspora of Egyptian Christians around the world. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcast discussion with Eric Barreto, Cameron Howard, and Sarah Henrich. Article written by Sarah Henrich.  Was Jesus married -- and why do we care? In the wake of the recent publication of a small (1.5-inch x 3-inch) piece of a Coptic (an ancient language of Egyptian Christians) manuscript, we read more...

The Obama Doctrine continues its failed U.S. foreign policy agenda of alienating the best friends of America, while embracing the mortal enemies of the United States, the democratic Free World and everything we stand for... On today's show: More about the bizarre foreign policy decisions of the Obama administration...Invitations to terrorist group members and their supporters...in spite of questionable legality under American law... Newly-elected Egyptian president Morsi is also on the guest list, in spite of his recently proclaimed goal of achieving the release of Islamic terrorist Omar Abdel Rahman from American prison...Remember him? He's the guy who engineered the first World Trade Center bombing...Welcome to the White House, my friend!... Plus...coverage of Hillary Clinton's visit to Egypt and Israel...Her pelting with tomatoes, shoes and epithets in Egypt....her snubbing by Egyptian Christians and lovers of secular democracy...and her resounding slap in the face to Israel with her statement about Jonathan Pollard... She compared him to imprisoned Arab terrorist and murderers, the only difference being that Clinton sees nothing wrong with American ally Pollard dying in U.S. prison, while she pleas for the release of the Arab murderers of Americans and Israelis from Israeli jail...The Obama Doctrine in action... All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

In our first installment in our series, we talked about the mission of the church and how God has given to the church its precious message-the good news of Jesus Christ. God was in the world reconciling Himself to men through the cross. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 (page 1144 of pew Bibles) that He has given to us the church, the ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ, making an appeal to the world to be reconciled to God. The Bible also says theres an enemy. God has an enemy; the church has an enemy who is named Satan, and he desires to thwart that mission. Paul says in the Book of 2 Corinthians 2:11 (page 1143 of pew Bibles), the church is not to be ignorant of his schemes or ignorant of his devices. How does he work? How does he operate? His method of operation has not changed since the beginning. It has not changed since the Garden of Eden. The first thing that Satan will do is he will attack the truth. Paul says of first importance, in 1 Corinthians 15:3 (page 1139), …I delivered unto you of first importance: that Jesus was crucified for our sins according to the Scripture, that He was buried and that He rose again on the third day. That is of first importance to the church. That is our mission: to protect, to defend, to communicate and share with the world that important news of Gods hope-of our hope, of salvation through Christ. So, where does Satan attack first? Satan will attack the truth of the Gospel. Satan will attack the integrity of the Gospel. He will seek to pervert it; to distort it; to dilute it, but he attacks the truth. When he attacks the truth, that leads to a breakdown in unity. We become divided or fragmented as the body of Christ. When that happens, we are not as effective as we could be because we are a divided people. Our energies are not channeled in the same direction. I read an article recently about a man who found a large amount of money hidden inside a wall. When he tore down the wall in the bathroom of a church, there inside the wall were these two medal cases filled with envelopes of money from the Depression Era. We all have fantasies of finding something like that, right? Wouldnt that be fun if you were renovating a house and found almost $200,000 in currency, in cash? Wow! [He said], So, what can I do? I can keep it to myself, which wouldnt be moral, thought the man, or I can share with the owner of the house this good news of the money I found. She was about ready to declare bankruptcy, so she was ecstatic. I saw a picture of them in happier times around their hoard, holding up the money with big smiles on their faces. They had all the dreams of the things they were going to buy and the things they were going to do with all of that money. The relationship soured when he said, I think Im entitled to some of this since I found it. You wouldnt know about it if not for me. She said, Well, I think you can have 10 percent. He was offended by that and wanted much more. She was offended by that, Hes greedy. So their relationship broke down, and it made the newspapers. When it made the newspapers, the heirs of the original homeowner, the man who put the money in the wall, heard about it and hired a lawyer. They sued those two and won. The remodeler and the woman who now owned the house got a pittance. The lawyer for the family said, You know, if they would have just worked out their differences, they would have split these thousands and thousands of dollars; and the family would not have known. When unity broke down, of course, problems began to ensue. When we break down as brothers and sisters in Christ, when Christians are fighting amongst themselves or denominations are fighting amongst ourselves, we lose our effectiveness. Thirdly then, love is damaged. The first thing that Satan does is he distorts the truth. He attacks the Gospel. We see that, the rise of Gnosticism, in movies like the Da Vinci Code-where they are trying to attack the integrity, the purity of the Gospel message. Thats where he attacks first and foremost. If the church does not rise up and defend that, then what happens is unity breaks down. When unity is destroyed, love is displaced. He seeks to get us to love our structures, our denominations, our buildings, our programs, our systems more than we love God, more than we love one another and more than we love the message that has been entrusted to us. He gets us to diminish in our love, and that is to be our witness to the world. They will know you are My Disciples, and that you love one another, said Christ. We saw that in the media this morning. When the truth was distorted, that distortion was adhered to and believed, unity broke down, and love was diminished. We see the same thing happen in relationships, and we can see the same thing happen in the church from time to time. You and I have all heard stories like that. Were going to take a look in the Bible and see what happened when Satan attacked the church. There was a region in which he got a foothold in. There was a region that we read about in which he attacked the truth, and the domino effect took place. Unity was damaged, and love was diminished amongst those believers; and there are lessons we can learn from them. Lets open our Bibles up to the Book of Galatians 1 (page 1151 of pew Bibles). I want to first of all draw your attention to the uniqueness of this book. If you look at Verse 2, [youll see] what Paul says to the churches in Galatia. Youll notice that in the other epistles that he writes, he writes it either to a person as in the Pastoral Epistles, or he writes it to a specific church: the church in Rome, the church in Corinth, or the church in Ephesus. Here he writes to a group of churches in Asia Minor, which is now Turkey, that he visited on his first missionary journey. Among them are Iconia, Lystra and Derbe. All these cities represent this Roman providence called Galatia. He writes to this region because this region had come under a satanic attack. The mission of the church-the all important mission of communicating the Gospel-was under attack. Were going to see that domino effect that I talked about happen, and were going to see how Paul counter-attacks the enemy. Before we begin reading, let me tell you a little bit about whats going on. There are a group of men that history now looks back on and calls Judaisers. The Judaisers were men who were always going around stirring up trouble for Paul. When Paul would preach, they would come around, and they would say, Oh, hes against the law of Moses. Theyd stir the crowd up against Paul. Recall that happening: the riots and troubles that followed Paul because of them? The Judaisers taught that its not just enough to believe in Jesus. You have to believe in Jesus and practice the law. Men, if youre going to convert to Christianity, you Gentiles, you Greeks out here, you need to become circumcised as a sign of the covenant. You need to follow these laws, these principles, of the Mosaic Law. It is Christ plus the law, Christ plus the works of the law, that justify you before God. So, in essence, the Gospel becomes this innocuous thing. Its just added to this list of requirements. Its simply another requirement to add. It is the Jesus plus theology. Paul sees this as an extreme threat to the church. It still is a threat to the church. The essence of that said, that Christs atonement was not enough… When Jesus said on the cross, It is finished, bowed his head and gave up His spirit, the debt was not paid. You have to add to what Christ has already done. You have to add through your righteous works of the law. They shared this with the Galatian churches, and they believed it. Now, Paul is writing, and he is angry at the men who have perpetrated this perversion of the Gospel. He has grieved because he taught them better. When you see your children do something contrary to what you taught them, youre grieved. You might say to them, I taught you better than this. You know better than that. Thats what is happening here. Paul is reprimanding them. They should have known better. Chapter 1:6 (page 1151), he says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel… The word different is heteros. Youve all heard of the word hetero. It means of another kind. Youve turned to another gospel… This is not the same Gospel I taught you. When you add Christ to the old covenant, this is not what I taught you. …which is no gospel at all. The word Gospel means good news. It means saying, Listen, if you have to be justified by the works of the law, that is not good news. If nothing has changed but we simply added Christ, and you still have to rely upon your righteous works to be right with God, thats not good news, and its not the Gospel that was delivered to you. I want you to notice how Paul uses the strongest words he can possibly use to communicate with the churches. Thats because so much is at stake. This is not a minor difference of opinion. This is not a peripheral, doctrinal matter. This is the core of the Gospel that is under attack. He is perverting the truth of the Gospel, and Paul says, We must rise to defend that. [Verse 7], …Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion or trying to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from Heaven… Wow! …should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! Anathema-cursed, cut off from God. If an angel comes to you in glowing robes and speaks to you in an angelic, heavenly, majestic voice and tells you a different gospel, let him be cursed. [Verse 9], As I have already said and now say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! How strong of words could Paul have used here? [There is] nothing stronger than the word he used. They had believed a lie. They had bought in to this perversion of the gospel. As a result, disunity had taken hold in the Church of Christ because thats what happens. When truth is attacked and a lie is believed, disunity is the result. Even good people can be led astray. Thats why its so important in churches, and our elders and our ministerial staff and all of us-all of us from the youngest to the oldest-from those who have been Christians for a short period of time to those who have been Christians their entire lives-guard the truth of the Gospel. In Chapter 2:11 (page 1152), were going to read about a confrontation or a conflict between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter. Judaisers are going to come into the group that is meeting, and Peter is going to withdraw from the Gentile Christians. Verse 11 says, When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men from James… That means from Jerusalem. Its not at all saying that James believes or aligns himself with the Judaisers; he simply wants us to identify that these men had come from Jerusalem where James was the head of the church. …he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The Judaisers. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. A wonderful man of God. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all… I made Peter an example. ‘…You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile… You live under the new covenant. You dont follow the law anymore. …‘and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? Why do you seem not to be aligning yourself with the party of the circumcision? Gentiles are hurt, and that was part of it. Paul is coming to their defense. Imagine youre in junior high, and you are a nerd. Youre a dweeb. A cool kid comes and sits by you in the lunchroom. Youre like, Wow! Ive arrived. A cool kid is eating with me. I matter! Into the lunchroom comes a bigger group of cool kids. Immediately, they realize they are with a nerd, so they stand up and leave you alone and go and sit with the cool kids. Aw, I wasnt really sitting with that guy. He had to help me with my homework. Then youre embarrassed and ashamed. Thats what they feel like. Peter and others immediately withdraw from them and head over and associate with the Judaisers. The Judaisers are bullies. They were intimidators. They had some power and clout. There is peer pressure that is taking place here, and Peter, sadly, lets us down; but a bigger picture is what is at stake. You can see unity begin to break down. Unity was breaking down in the church-churches in this region. Peter is going to stress to them the importance of oneness and unity in Christ. As Satan seeks to destroy unity, the church must display unity-unity in the midst of our diversity. In Chapter 3:26 (page 1153), Paul writes, You are the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. These divisions have to seize. These barriers have to be brought down. We are one in Christ. We are a body of believers. The same Spirit we are baptized into is in all of us. The same Gospel ties us together and unifies us. The Gospel, the truth of the Gospel, is our unity. Thats why when the Gospel is attacked and that distortion is believed, unity breaks down because it is that unity which ties us together as brothers and sisters in Christ. That unity should be seen by the world. Sometimes its not. Sometimes what the world sees from Christians is our infighting, squabbling and bickering as we parse verbs. Im not talking about the core of the Gospel. Im not talking about the 1 Corinthians 15:3 (page 1139), the Lord Jesus, the deity of Christ, the atonement on the cross, the resurrection. Im not talking about that. Im talking about other matters that divide Christians. Augustine said, In the essentials, unity; in the non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, love. What do we communicate to the world when we squabble and fight and cant get along as Christians? I heard about a man who wanted to end his life. This is an illustration; this is not true. He walked on top of a bridge; he looked at the raging waters below; and he said, All I have to do is jump off, and Ill end my life. A passerby came and saw the man ready to jump. He said, Dont do it! Dont do it! The man said, Why should I live? Thinking quickly, he said, Do you believe in God? Well, yes, I believe in God. Well, see, thats a reason. You believe in God. Now, Im just curious, do you believe in the Christian God, the Muslim god or….where are you coming from here? He said, Oh, Im a Christian. Oh, good. Im a Christian too. Now are you a Protestant or a Catholic? He said, Well, Im a Protestant. Oh, yeah, me too. Im a Protestant too. Now are you Episcopalian or a Baptist, Assembly of God or Presbyterian, Methodist? He tells him what denomination he is and says, I am too. Thats the denomination I am. Thats really cool! So are you like pre-trib or post-trib? Me too! Im pretrib. Now, in our denomination, we revitalized our bylaws. Are you from the 1936 convention or the 1954 revised convention? Oh, Im of the 1954 revised convention. Then he pushed him off the bridge and said, Die heretic! The message Im trying to convey to you: in the Gospel, if we are in agreement on the essentials, you are my brother and my sister, regardless of your denomination. You are my brother and sister in Christ regardless of some of the differences we have in those peripheral matters. One of the things I love about our church is we come from all different backgrounds, all different denominations and theologies, and we love each other. We love each other, and that always has gotten me excited to think about because unity, when it is displayed, is a powerful manifestation of the presence of God in the church. Some of us were moved by the story of genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The civil war there between the Hutus and the Tutsis-and Im not going to get into that; you can look that up. Thats why God made Wikipedia. If you have any questions about that, you can study it for yourself. There were some Tutsi warriors who wanted to kill the Hutus in a region. They went into the church with guns, and they told the pastor, We demand you to tell us who are the Tutsis and who are the Hutus in your congregation. The pastor said, We have no Tutsis and Hutus here, only Christians. He said, I need to know! I must know! You tell me now who the Hutus are in your congregation! He said, We are Christians here. There are no Tutsis. There are no Hutus in this body. We all belong to Jesus Christ. He said, I have orders to kill the Hutus in this church. If you value your life, you will tell me who in your church is a Hutu. The pastor understanding what was on the line stared the man in the face, and he said, There are no Hutus and Tutsis in this church. We are all Christians here. The men with the guns then broke their way into the church and killed every single Christian. We are going to live together, or were going to die together. We are not Hutus or Tutsis. We belong to Christ. Friends, I dont know what your political persuasion is; I dont know what your theological background is; I dont know what union or non-union you belong to, but the highest bond we have is the bond that we have in Jesus Christ. That is our greatest loyalty: the blood of Christ which has taken away our sin. The grace of Christ that has forgiven us our sins is what binds us together as brothers and sisters. When the unity is present, it is a powerful witness to the world that God is among us. We said the third thing that happens is when the truth is distorted; thats how the enemy attacks, distorts and perverts the truth. The church is called to defend the truth, and Paul defended the truth of the Gospel-the churches in Galatia. We said the second thing that happens, the second domino that falls, is unity is destroyed; so Paul encourages the churches to display unity. The third domino that falls is when love is displaced. People start to love the wrong things, to love themselves and their mission or their cause, rather than the cause of Christ or the mission of the church. So Paul is going to encourage the churches of Galatia to demonstrate love. In Galatians 5:5 (page 1154), Paul says hes going to try to put them on the right track here, But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts… How many things count? The only thing that counts-this one thing. …is faith expressing itself through love? You are running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? What kind of persuasion? That kind of persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. ‘A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! If theyre going to go around saying they had to circumcise the Greeks, why dont they just go all the way and castrate themselves? Tell us how you really feel about this issue, Paul. I understand when Paul says, I am serious about defending the purity of the Gospel. When somebody attacks the purity of the Gospel, the church has to be serious about that and in defending that. It says, You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. How many of you know of churches that have allowed this kind of disunity to happen in the body and ended up devouring each other and causing the church to split? Let me see your hand if you know churches like that? That's sad, isnt it? Isnt that just pitiful sad? That happened in this church. They werent loving each other. They werent demonstrating love. They were fighting amongst themselves. Thats what happens when we depart from the truth-when the truth is not protected. I see its time for me to be quiet, but I want to just share one more illustration with you. In the Holy Land, the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, supposedly the burial place of Christ-on top of that, above that, on the ground there is a monastery, a chapel. Theres a big debate over who owns the rights to that property between the Coptic or the Egyptian Christians and the Ethiopian Christians. They have guards up there. They have a priest up there at the top of the chapel from the Coptic Church and one from the Ethiopian Church. One time, the Ethiopian priest was too hot in the sun, so he moved his chair toward the shade and got too close to the Coptic side. A big fist fight broke out. Christians from either side came up and began to fight. The police were called, and people were hospitalized because of this. There was a ladder that was put up there to repair something that has never been brought down because they cant agree on who has authority to take the ladder down. There was a needed fire exit that Israel wanted to put in the building in case there was a fire, but the Coptics and the Ethiopians cannot decide where the exit should go. More importantly, there are repairs that need to be done. There are people who are afraid that structurally if these repairs are not done, this building could collapse-not only destroying the chapel, but possibly causing damage to the church of the Holy Sepulcher, including the loss of life. Israel says, We will do these repairs for you, but we first have to know who were working with. Who is in charge? They, of course, cannot agree. So this chapel that they claim to love so much, in order to be right-in order for their cause to win-they are willing to let the building collapse under their feet and be destroyed. Its a sad thing when we put our agendas, our structures and our systems over the unity that is in Christ. What does that say to the non-Christians in Jerusalem when these two groups of people who both claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ are fighting like children over territory of a place that is so holy? Its sad! Its sad when it happens there; its sad when it happens in the churches of Galatia; its sad when it happens here. Augustine said, In the essentials, unity; the non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, love. Might we follow that creed today.

This episode is titled “Meanwhile, Back in the East” because before we dive into the next phase of church history in Europe, we need to catch up on what's happening to the East.The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th Cs occupied the largest contiguous land empire in history. Rising originally from the steppes of Central Asia and stretching from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan; from Siberia in the north to Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Iranian plateau, and the Middle East. At its greatest extent it spanned 6000 miles and covered about 16% of the planet's total land area.Genghis Khan was a shamanist, but recognizing the need to unite the Mongol clans. He adopted a policy of religious toleration that remained official policy during his reign and that of his son Ogedai. Several of the tribes that formed the core of the Mongol horde were Christians in at least a cultural sense. The Keriats, Onguds and Uighurs owed the Christianization of their culture to the Eastern expansion of Christianity we've looked at in earlier episodes.It's important to insert a short parenthetical comment here. Knowing what devastation the Mongols wrought during the 13th and 14th Cs and the literal wagon-loads of blood they spilled, we have to be careful when we call these tribes Christian. They certainly weren't evangelical missionaries. Their faith was a highly-distorted Nestorian version of the Gospel that exercised little restraint on the barbaric rapaciousness that marked their conquests. Still, they called themselves ‘'Christians and their claimed allegiance to the Gospel had a huge impact on what happened in the Middle East.Genghis Khan's son Tolui, married a Christian woman from the Keriat tribe. One of their sons was the Mongol ruler Hulegu. Another was the famous Kublai Khan, founder of the Yaun Dynasty in China. While Hulegu seems to have identified as a Christian, Kublai certainly favored Christians in his court. When Hulegu conquered Baghdad, the Islamic capital of the day, his Christian wife urged him to destroy the city's mosques but protect the churches. Her goal was to dismantle Islam in the region and hand it a permanent setback.The Mongols took control of the Caliph's palace and gave it to Baghdad's Christian patriarch. It ended up being made into a grand church. With such obvious favor being shown Christians, many Mongols converted.Asian Christians who'd suffered under the tyranny and oppression of Islamic rule for generations began to look to the advancing Mongol army as deliverers. One writer lauded the genocidal Hulegu and his wife as great luminaries and zealous combatants for the Christian religion. Beleaguered Western Crusaders were stoked by reports of allies in the East doing noble battle with the Muslims. Some Crusaders even sent emissaries to try to link up with the Mongols and help them in their conquest of the Egyptian Mamelukes in 1260. The Mameluke victory at Ain Jalut over the Mongols was a major disappointment.Hulegu's son married a Byzantine princess and he favored Christianity over both Buddhism and Islam. Over the next few decades the Mongols didn't persecute Muslims but they did impose what the Muslims felt was a heavy burden. They were no longer able to treat Christians living among them as a subject people they could extract heavy tolls and fines from. The Mongol attitude was that as long as everyone paid their taxes, they were free to practice whatever religion they wanted. So a huge source of wealth to Muslims was lost.Christians all across the Middle East took advantage of their newfound freedom and hoped things would stay that way indefinitely under a sympathetic Mongol rule. With Hulegu and his heirs in power, Christians began doing things that had been forbidden under Islam; like carrying the cross in public processions, drinking wine, and building churches where none had been permitted.Then, in 1268 in Baghdad, I aks you to pay close attention to. Maybe this will bring a little light to why there's such tremendous hatred on the part of certain elements within Islam towards Christians today; especially in that region of the world. The Christian Catholicos, the title of the archbishop, ordered a man drowned for converting from Christianity to Islam. Muslims were scandalized and rioted. Following Mongol policy, the rioting was brutally crushed. Christians took this as further evidence they were now the favored faith. But that favor was soon to turn against them.The Mongol leaders became increasingly aware that Islam, with its embrace of jihad in the extension of the Faith by the power of the sword, was much more compatible with their values than either Christianity or Buddhism. They began to drift towards Islam until 1295, when the new Khan, Mahmoud Gazahn, persecuted Christianity and Buddhism. His successors followed his policies. During the early years of the 14th C, Christians found themselves under the control of a Muslim super-state. Their position radically change from what they'd known under the Arab caliphate. Now Christians were subject to intense persecution. In the regional capital of Al-Malek in 1338, all Christians in the city were killed. The few traces of faith among the Keriats and Uighurs didn't last much into the 15th C.Islam's victory among the Mongols proved devastating for the remaining Christians of Central Asia and the Middle East. These communities had managed to weather the storm of the Muslim Arab conquest of the 7th C and it settled down to an uneasy peace with their new neighbors. But the brief respite brought by the Mongol invasion allowed the Christians to emerge in a dominant role for a time that they used to inflict the Muslims with real hurt. When a few years later, Muslims were back in control, this time with the authority of a Mongol Muslim powerhouse à Well, they decided it was payback-time. It was the Christians in Egypt who first bore the brunt of this new intolerance.From the start of the 13th C, Egypt was the main target of Western Crusades. Frustrated Egyptian governments regularly retaliated for the Crusades by attacking the Copts, the native Egyptian church. In the mid-13th C, Egypt was ruled by the Mamelukes and with the loss of Baghdad to the Mongols, the center of gravity of the Muslim world shifted to Mameluke Egypt. They considered the Christians in their region as a 5th column, in cahoots with the Mongols pressing west toward Egypt. After the loss of Baghdad, it wasn't hard to imagine a world in which Egypt would stand alone as the last great Muslim power in a Middle East dominated by Christian-Mongols.The greatest Mameluke leader was General Baibar, the Scourge of both Crusaders and Mongols. Baibar hated Christians in general, but had an extra dose of loathing for those of the European variety. When he captured Antioch in 1268, he wrote the city's Crusader ruler, who'd barely escaped, “Had you stayed, you'd have seen the crosses in your churches smashed, the pages of a false testament scattered, the patriarchs' tombs overturned. You would have seen your Muslim enemy trampling over the places where you celebrated Mass, cutting the throats of monks, priests, and deacons upon your altars--bringing sudden death to the patriarchs and slavery to your royal princes.”This attitude was radically different from the tone of earlier Muslim-Christian affairs. It reflected Baibar's fury at the Christian alliance with the Mongols who themselves were utterly brutal in their conquests. This intolerance was increasingly evident in Egyptian policies toward their still substantial Christian minority. Persecution in Egypt wasn't new, but things deteriorated quickly after the Mameluke-Mongol wars.Between 1293 and 1354, the Egyptian government launched four campaigns to enforce the submission of Christians and Jews and drive them to accept Islam. Each wave of violence became more intense and better organized. A review of this half-century gives us a much better understanding of the ancient hostilities that have inflamed the Middle East ever since.A quick sketch of what happened.In 1293, an initial persecution fizzled when the sultan's officials realized the Christians they were about to execute controlled the country's finances and were the most competent scribes.In 1301, a vizier visiting from Morocco was appalled at the wealth and status of Egyptian Christians and Jews. In Morocco, they had to pay a steep fine if they refused to convert and were subject to all kinds of public indignities.  But in Egypt they held high public office, wore rich clothes and rode the best mounts. The vizier's criticisms moved Egyptian officials to install the same rules as Morocco. A wave of repressive laws followed, and ordinances closed all the churches and synagogues outside of Cairo. Some ancient churches were demolished, relics burned. Non-Muslims were dismissed from public employment and were forced to wear distinctive clothing; blue turbans for Christians, yellow for Jews. They were forced to ride only on donkeys and whenever a Muslim approached, they had to dismount and bow. Visitors to Egypt said that the enforcement of these rules continued all the way into the 19th C.The effects of this crisis linger to the present day, since the rigorous Muslim legalism that emerged at that time shaped modern Islamic fundamentalist movements. From the 1290s, Muslim jurists produced ever harsher interpretations of the laws governing minorities, particularly through the work of militant puritanical scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah. His life was shaped by the disasters of the Mongol wars which forced him into exile in Egypt. He saw his goal as the militant restoration of Islam in the face of its enemies at home and abroad. His work has had a long afterlife. Ibn Taymiyyah is regarded as the spiritual godfather of the Wahhabi movement and of most modern extremist and jihadist groups. Among many others, Osama bin Laden cited him as a special hero.The Muslim hostility toward Christianity in the early 14th C was reflected in outbreaks of extreme anti-Christian violence.  In 1321, Muslim mobs looted and destroyed Cairo's Coptic churches. Usually, a Muslim cleric would give the signal for the attacks by mobilizing crowds in the mosques under the cry of “Down with the churches.”Now, the sultan tried to keep order, but the hatred of Christians was too powerful to contain. They were blamed for setting fires across Cairo. When some of the accused confessed under torture, the authorities were forced to support the popular movement. At one point, the Sultan faced a mob of 20,000 calling for the forceful suppression of Christians. In order to safeguard his rule, the Sultan permitted purge. The government went further and announced that anyone who found a Christian was permitted to beat him and take his goods.By the mid-14th C, Muslim writers had a whole catalog of anti-Christian charges that bear a close resemblance to the libelous anti-Jewish tracks - The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Christians were accused of being spies, ever on the lookout for opportunities to betray the Muslim cause. Cases in both Egypt and Syria proved, and I'm using air-quotes around that word “proved”-- they were serial arsonists. Some were even reported to have planted a bomb in the Great Mosque of Medina.Given modern-day stereotypes of Islam in the West, it's ironic that Christian minorities were then so feared because they allegedly plotted terror attacks against prestigious symbols of Muslim power.In a society founded on honor and family pride, the humiliations of these new policies were too much to bear for many wealthy urban Christians who then converted to Islam. Other, poorer Christians proved firmer; particularly if they were located in rural areas where government policies were slower to penetrate. But later waves of intimidation wore down there resistance. Violence in the 1320s reduced Christian numbers and prepared the way for the disasters of 1354. From the end of the 14th C, Egypt's Coptic Christians were reduced to a minority they retain up to the present day. The Coptic Church entered a period of hibernation that lasted until the mid-19th C. This is sad when we consider that Egypt had been a major center of Christianity for hundreds of years, and the place of dozens of vital and prolific monasteries. What were once the thousand monks of Bufanda, were reduced to just two.Once their Mongol rulers converted to Islam, conditions became equally difficult for the Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria. Between 1290 and 1330, the story of Christianity in these parts, like that in Egypt, becomes a long list of disasters and ever harsher laws. One edict commanded that churches be demolished and services halted. All clergy and Christian leaders were to be executed. The storied churches of Tabriz, Arbella, Mosul, and Baghdad were torn down. Bishops and priests were tortured and imprisoned. Some laws struck directly at ordinary believers rather than just the institutions and hierarchy. Some of these edicts came from the Khans themselves while others came from the initiation of local governors. But the effects were just as damaging. Even when the Khans tried to limit persecution, they could hardly stem the zeal of local officers. In some cities, local laws ordered forcible conversion to Islam and prohibited the exercise of Christianity upon the pain of death. One Muslim ruler in Armenia passed ruinous taxes and ordered that anyone who refused to convert to Islam should be branded, blinded in one eye, and castrated. Christians and Jews were to be instantly recognizable by wearing distinctive clothing. In the words of one contemporary, “The persecutions and disgrace and markings and ignominy which the Christian suffered at this time, especially in Baghdad, well the words cannot describe.” The persecution reached its height with wholesale massacres at Arbella in 1310 and at Amita in 1317. There at Amita, where 12,000 were sold into slavery, the destruction of churches and monasteries was so thorough the fires burned for a month. These persecutions had a greater effect on the churches of the Middle East than any other event since the conversion of the Roman Empire. The succession of church leadership that had remained unbroken since the time of the Apostles came to an abrupt end. Whole Christian communities were annihilated across Central Asia and surviving communities shrank to tiny fractions of their former size. Christianity disappeared in Persia and across southern and central Iraq the patriarchs of Babylon now literally headed for the hills, taking up residence on the safer soil of northern Mesopotamia.