A $250 million dollar movie only raked in $87 million internationally. You'd think they would have learned their lesson after the failed Star Wars: The Acolyte series. But alas, you go woke, you go broke. Is this yet another message to progressives that people are not really buying what they are selling? In this case, literally.

Is there a Christian Passover?

Another question is who is a Christian, one who keeps the commandments of God and has the faith of Jesus, or one who abrogates the commandments of God?

As an anti-type, Jesus was the Passover lamb, yet God passing over and bringing us out of Babylon, and Egypt is still future.

Jesus said, “Eat the unleavened bread and drink the blood of the grape, in memory of me as the Passover lamb.” Eating the unleavened bread and drinking the blood of the grape was already a function of the Passover feast, what is new is recognising and remembering Jesus as the Passover lamb. The Passover involves three days of eating unleavened bread, so I wonder, was Jesus's three days and three nights in the grave encrypted into the Passover feast all along.

The Eucharist is a place where the Catholic Bible is different to the Protestant Bible, I don't recall what the difference is, but I have had a Catholic Bible and in the past I knew. Every Mass, the Catholic Church eats the biscuits and drinks the wine but does this have any thing to do with the Passover, what is their purpose for the Eucharist, what do they remember, is it the memory of God passing over, is it the memory of the crucifixion (from a Roman perspective). Protestants do the Lord's super, but do they do it on the 14th day of Nisan or eater Sunday, and what is it they remember? Protestants have been burned at the stake (metaphorically) over whether the14 day of Nisan or Easter Sunday.



Some relevant scriptures:

Matt 26:28, 2, 17,18,19.

Mk 14:1, 12-16.

Lk 2:41, 22:1, 7, 8, 11-15.

Jn 2:13, 2:23, 6:4, 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28,39, 19:14.

Are Trump and the Republicans going to put an end to Social Security for Americans on Social Security/Disability?

Just the News was alerted to the conference and to Boasberg’s attendance by a retired Democrat-appointed judge, who was concerned the July 2024 conference’s focus on judges’ role in a democracy was too close to a political party’s theme for comfort.

No one should be surprised.

“I would hope that would be investigated and that we would see whether or not it was an anomaly or something else that happened on election night in America when Kamala Harris was filling up stadiums with people who supported her and Donald Trump was not able to do that,” O’Donnell said. “So it’s curious to me, and as an American and a believer in democracy, I would hope that we would be able to look at all of the reasons why this happened in our country.”
If you believe the major media then this is a reasonable reaction.

FMCS seemed, quite clearly, to exist for the benefit of those on its payroll, and not much else. One employee told me: “Let me give you the honest truth: A lot of FMCS employees don’t do a hell of a lot, including myself. Personally, the reason that I’ve stayed is that I just don’t feel like working that hard, plus the location on K Street is great, plus we all have these oversized offices with windows, plus management doesn’t seem to care if we stay out at lunch a long time. Can you blame me?”

Democrats should not be using taxpayer funding for such purposes.

“We are going to follow the law and we are going to protect Americans,”

Amen.

The subject matter has to do with our relationships with God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit (James 1:1-18). We must be for him, and not against him. We must not accuse him falsely of what he did not do, but we must be reasonable and biblical in our judgments. We must accept trials and tribulations as coming from God, for our good, and we must not put God to the test. If we pray for wisdom, we should do so in faith, not doubting God and his wisdom. Otherwise, we are double-minded, unstable in all our ways, and we should not suppose we are to receive anything from God.

And then we are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. We can certainly apply this in our relationships with other humans, and I have done so plenty of times, I am certain. But, in context, the more that I read this, the more I came to the realization that this has more to do with our listening to God than it has to do with us listening to other humans. It has more to do with us hearing his words, without us quickly responding with our own opinions, or in anger, “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” If we are angry with God, we will not obey him.

Sadly, many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ today will only read the Scriptures which they have come to believe will agree with their lifestyles, or that do not confront them in their sins and call them to repentance and to obedience to our Lord’s commands. Thus, they ignore the Scriptures that they do not like to hear and they focus solely on the ones which make them feel good, which are often ones which are taught out of context and made to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate context. So, if the Scriptures they are reading confront them in their sins, they ignore them.

But, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to put out of our lives, by the Spirit, by the grace of God, all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and we are to receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our souls. And Jesus Christ is THE WORD, and the Scriptures are the Word of God, and as followers of Christ, Christ is now to be living within us, in the person of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit within us is to be teaching us all things about Christ. And we are to be students of the Scriptures who are hiding the Word of God within our hearts.


But it is not enough just to read or to study the Scriptures, which must be studied in their appropriate context, but we must be those who, by the Spirit, are putting the Word (taught in the right context) into practice in our daily lives. And why is context so important? For example, many people read Ephesians 2:8-9 and they ignore verse 10. So they come to the conclusion that they can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and that no works are required of them at all – no repentance and no obedience to God. And so they create their own gospel of salvation that is not of God, not of his word.

However, in verse 8 it lets us know that this is not of our own doing, not of our own “good works” of the flesh, so we have no cause to boast. Thus, we cannot create our own version of our salvation from sin. And it lets us know that our salvation only comes to us by the grace of God, through faith, both of which are gifted to us by God, and not of our own doing. And the word “faith” in this context means to be persuaded by God. And God persuades us as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to follow Jesus in obedience (Luke 9:23-26).

And God’s grace, which is gifted to us by God, delivers us from our slavery to sin so that we can now follow Jesus in walks of obedience (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23). And God’s grace is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (see Titus 2:11-14). And “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

So don’t believe those people who are telling you that you don’t have to repent (turn away from sin), and that you don’t have to obey God and his commands, for they are lying to you. We must be those who are doers of the Word who obey our Lord and his New Covenant commands, as a matter of life practice, and who do not make sin our practice. Read the Scriptures in their full context and you will see what they teach. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith in Jesus we claim to possess. Take this to heart!

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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We Must Be Doers of The Word
An Original Work / March 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Our pastor's preaching has become increasingly off-note. The revised common lectionary has difficult material, of course, but I feel like that's not an excuse. Her preaching has become moralistic in tone over the past year. I miss good evangelical Episcopalian/Anglican or Lutheran preaching. I feel like I'm wandering through a spiritual desert.

I gently approached the pastor today and asked her if by chance she wasn't raised Methodist, and she said she went to a Methodist seminary. I am not a fan of Wesleyan theology, and I think that partly explains what is going on. My orientation is towards Neo-orthodox Lutheran or Reformed theology as a touchstone, with significant influences of theological liberalism and post-liberal theology. Not Wesleyanism, which I consider too American, too enamored with human freedom and fundamentally anthropocentric, and with too light a view of human sinfulness.

I tried explaining to her my (mostly Lutheran) understanding of faith and baptism and it went over her head. Later, we had another conversation over lunch and I used another conversation as a way to try to reintroduce those topics gently, and I think it might have helped her appreciate my perspective . But it's always a difficult issue to talk theology in a sensitive manner.

I appreciate the relationships I have built at church, but theologically, my UCC congregation's worship is like cotton candy. Sweet, but also bland, empty of substance and not particularly good for you. I may have to be re-evaluating what church I go to. It's something I need to prayerfully consider.

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty (1 Corinthians 15:14).

If the Gospel were false, Stoicism and Confucian-Daoist philosophy represent humanity’s best hope for an ordered, virtuous, and meaningful life. They echo Jesus’ ethical teachings through natural reason and lived experience, offering guidance rooted in the sovereignty of God and the idea that God has ordered a moral universe. Stoicism offers virtue (arete/virtus) as the highest good, mastering control over our emotions (cultivate the healthy ones and learn how to tame the negative ones), rational thinking as a remedy to overthinking (those logismoi that bother us all... Evagrius Ponticus is a great writer on this), and surrender to the Divine Logos that orders all things. Confucianism and Daoism offer us moral cultivation through virtuous living, an ordered universe (The Five Relationships for example), an example that man can live up to, namely, the Junzi (Gentleman/Noble Man) and the Zhenren (True Person), and acceptance of the will of Tian (Heaven) regardless of whatever the outcomes may be. If Christ was not raised from the dead, His ethical framework would not be unimportant. But... Christ is the Son of God risen in three days as foretold by the Prophets. Christ is the fulfillment of all things. But hypothetically if He wasn't, man still must strive to do the good; We would either give into nihilism or relativism.

In 2021, Columbia University professors put out a study on depression among 12th graders, looking at data from 2005 to 2018. They found "female liberals reported worse internalizing symptom scores over the study period than all other groups."

A 2017 study by a Penn State University professor noted "politically conservative participants were significantly more optimistic and satisfied with life than their liberal counterparts."

The implication is that liberals are depressed because they care so much about the world's problems.

While this is a factor, there's a deeper explanation.

Feminists originally argued for equal opportunity in voting, education and the workplace. That happened. But second-wave feminists went further. They disparaged marriage and religion as tools of the patriarchy. They didn't view children as a source of deep meaning and fulfillment, but rather as an obstacle to career success.



These findings aren't all that surprising. When you consider the words of Simone de Beauvoir (arguably one of the most prominent philosophers of modern feminism) who said that women shouldn't be given the option of saying home and raising children, because too many women would make that choice.

That statement, alone, is an acknowledgment of the fact that many women actually do prefer the (much maligned) "traditional gender norms", and forcing them into roles they never wanted in the first place in the name of "progress" perhaps was a bit haphazard.

Regardless of the many Christians who still do not accept that air pollution
has radically changed the regularity of weather, the insurance companies
work on STATISTICS, not personal opinions.

And these statistics mean that insurance companies, (and banks), are
pulling out of many coastal areas that are being hit by increasingly
frequent wild fluctuations of weather. That includes wild fires, and
worse flooding than residents have ever seen before.

Home designs that will float, and highly fire-resistant homes, may be the
only type of home that will be insurable in many coastal areas of the
United States.

Around two years ago, I was in a bad place in life and I was trying to find ways to improve myself and I got into self improvement content. Ever since last year, I would have doubts that I would become the person that I was meant to be. I would be having these negative thoughts about people abusing me and messing with me in the worst ways possible and stopping me from becoming who I was meant to become. It felt so real. Later on, these thoughts manifested into vivid visions of me crying and I would feel like crying but not physically. It's like I cried but I didn't physically cry at all. I would have visions of abuse happening to me and it would feel like the abuse actually happened. I would feel as if my spirit/subconscious was acting out in the real world for me. These were fueled by feelings of fear and that my freedom and way of life that I loved would be taken away from me. The worst part is that I would put way too much energy into this stuff. I would feel like someone would come along and hurt me badly. It then got worse as later on in 2024, I would be having these weird and strange mental visualizations/visions in my head that show me being disrespected and humiliated. These visions was caused by intense anxiety and fears of something taking away my freedom and life from me. Over the upcoming months, I would start to believe that I had high ambitions, high purpose and life would seem so fun to me. This is not mania or psychosis because I was just having a confidence and a normal ambition in me that everything would work out great. I would believe that I had a higher calling and some kind of purpose. Over the following months leading up to November 14th, I would feel extreme fear and anxiety that something was going to take me over and take away my way of life and control me or something. It's crazy and strange. Then I started getting visions that I was being brutally tortured by someone. However, the people who were torturing me and abusing me in these visions included people that existed in real life. So these are visions of people that exist in real life that are torturing me in these visions. These were the same people who were abusing me and making me feel down in my other visions of abuse. It happened out of nowhere suddenly. I was just closing my eyes and I get these weird sensations and mental visualizations of me being tortured by someone and then it would be very vivid, more vivid than any other type of visualization or dream that I had in the past. When I think about these visions, they don't progress into anything anymore. It feels like I am dead. This all happened and then suddenly this is my ongoing issue in my life:


My mind feels weird and I feel like my personality, identity, and my character died. I feel like my mind isn't operating as a part of me anymore. My mind is not working right. I had some intense mental visualizations/imaginations/visions that included in me being tortured by someone or being abused and all of a sudden, I feel strange. I feel like I was really connected to those visions in some way. It was as if the damage that was done in the visions was connected in some way. I feel like major parts of my identity and personality have been diminished and weakened. It's like the traits and characteristics that made me myself get affected and weakened so severely that I can't even recognize them anymore. It's very subtle. It's as if it is not a part of me anymore. It is very, very similar to what people would describe as an ego death. These are my cognitive issues: Severe issues with learning, memories issues, severe lack with logical thinking skills, critical thinking lacking skills, struggling to think things through, struggles with thinking for myself, struggles with understanding and comprehending information immediately, not being sharp as I used to be, etc. Things that I was, things that I liked and hated now seem diminished to me in feelings. I feel as if my personality is not operating fully in me at all. I have strong brain fog that blocks me from thinking critically and logically as well. It's hard for me to think deeply, learn new things and to improve my life better. I was heavily into personal development in my life. When this happened to me, I lost all of the motivation and drive to improve my life in different areas. I was not sad when this happened. It's like I had the momentum taken away from me. When I try to think about the thoughts that I had about improving my life and to better myself and anything that happened in the past, I feel like it's so foreign and different to me, as if it happened in a different reality. I can't even seem to remember the past and it's like I have to fight back to get the feelings and sensations that I once had. There are times when I can't even discern the thoughts that I have in my mind, whether it's intrusive thoughts, impulsive or rational feelings. How do I get help from this? The key to understanding this is that I seemed to put way too much energy into all of this paranoia and negative thoughts here but it shouldn't have manifested into something like this. I need serious help here. I won't take going to a psychiatrist as an answer here because I need serious help for certain. I have a deep conviction and common sense to understand that this is definitely not mental health related issues. What exactly is this? I need a word here. I just want to get back to normal and I don't want to keep living like this. It's horrible.

"Abstain from all appearance of evil."

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Sen. Bernie Sanders did not want to answer question about AOC possibly running for Senate​

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., got up during a pre-taped ABC "This Week" interview that aired Sunday, and accused Jonathan Karl of asking a "nonsense" question about whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., should run for Senate.

Continued below.

'Logos all over the place': Trump administration pitching corporate sponsors for WH Easter Egg Roll​

According to reporter Betsy Klein, “sponsorship offers range from $75,000 to $200,000, with the promise of logo and branding opportunities.”

In a series of tweets Sunday, Klein posted a "9-page pitch document" she obtained outlining the various sponsorship tiers

“A former official involved in planning the event” told CNN, “This is not your grandmother’s Easter Egg Roll where people lined up outside the gate and go and roll an egg and get a little gift bag and walk out.”

“This is an enterprise,” the former official said.

After these messages, stay tuned for the Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll 'They Are Risen' halftime show.

We don't have to worry about being polite anymore. "Politically correct" language no longer required. We are now more free to say whatever we want regardless of who might be offended. And we have a role model in chief to show us how to do it. As a culture we have chosen impoliteness, rudeness, discourtesy, vulgarity, and crudeness. Certainly television , movies and social media confirm this choice. Yes, rudeness has always been present but it seems to have become the norm.

Make no mistake. It is un-Christian. It is true that correction and accountability offered in love can come across or seem rude to the person receiving it. So, we must be careful within ourselves as to what we are really about, what we are trying to do. On this forum, for example. The art of discussion involves presentation of ideas, correction, debate and possibly change of mind. How we do it makes all the difference in how effective we will be. It is so easy to let our emotions obliterate our politeness filter.

The hardest part is when we, ourselves feel insulted. We have a choice: retaliate or model the behavior we would like to see. Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is a simple rule that pre-dates even Jesus. If we want to be "salt" we need to change.

Check it out. Trump bans CBDC.

And what I believe is the "real" Christian response in alignment with the teachings of Jesus.

A Priest Holds A Mirror To The U.S.​

“We are called to pray in Lent. And that may be the greatest motivator to bring to God’s ears what we need to change in our own lives and the lives of those less fortunate. Prayer can lead us, as it led Dorothy Day to oppose nuclear arms and violence, Martin Luther King Jr. the evils of racism, and Emma Lazarus, whose Statue of Liberty message welcomes ‘The tired, the poor, those yearning to breathe free.’
“[This is] not like Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s now ubiquitous `advertisements on the airwaves giving homage to Trump for the demeaning and dehumanizing expulsion of migrants — except those who can afford a $5 million green card.
“We all need to repent for complicity in licensing Trump to unleash an agenda of retribution and meanness throughout the world. Symbolically, the period of Lent leads to new life. We can only hope it comes to the United States soon — very, very soon.”

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Whoever would have thought that we would have to defend empathy to supposedly Christian pastors?

Does Reformed theology teach that Christ's body is now in Heaven only?

Israeli PM Golda Meir once told a troubled Biden when he was just a 30-year-old senator that Israel had a secret weapon. It was 1973 on the eve of the Yom Kippur war, and he was on his first trip to Israel. “Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “We have a secret weapon in our conflict with the Arabs.” He leaned in to hear more… “You see, we have no place else to go,” she told him.1 That’s Israel’s secret weapon: we have no choice but to fight for our survival—and win. Losing would be unthinkable, so our forces are formidable. They have to be. But did you know about the secret weapon in Iran?

The not-so-secret weapon, hiding beneath the surface in Iran​

Perhaps you know about it and perhaps you don’t but an estimated 50,000 mosques have closed and the gospel is spreading like wildfire in Iran. Many are turning their backs on the Islamic faith as a direct result of the brutal regime which beats and murders women for showing their hair, songwriters and poets for expressing dissent, and executes atheists and converts to Christianity. Despite the intense persecution of believers, Iran has the fastest growing church in the world, and it’s been that way for quite a few years now. It’s all underground though, and happening in secret—on the surface the Iranian regime presents the appearance of Islamic respectability, blustering and threatening and bullying everyone in the neighborhood. The Iranian regime (to be differentiated from Iran itself, as Iranians will earnestly insist) is the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world. Much of that it is targeting the one Jewish state not far from its borders, but Iranian sponsored terrorism has hit many nations around the world, especially in the West.

Under the veneer of Islamic extremism then lies a mighty underground church. This is Iran’s secret weapon, and it’s aimed at it’s own leadership: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But there’s more:

An army of Esthers rising up​

One of the most remarkable things about this underground church is that the weakest and most vulnerable members of society are spearheading the multiplying movement of discipleship. Many brave women are spearheading the church under very dangerous circumstances, much the same as they are in China.

“The fastest-growing church in the world today is in the Islamic Republic of Iran” reports Frontier Alliance International2, “and it’s mostly led by women.”

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When we consider attitudes towards women in Iran, it’s extraordinary that God has chosen the mothers, the daughters, and the sisters of Iran to rise up and intercede for their people, just like in the story of Esther from the old Persian Empire.

An imam in the regime has been recorded saying in a sermon that, “women are no different from cows, sheep, horses, or mules. God made women resemble humans so they wouldn’t frighten men.”3 The level of contempt, even hatred, is shocking. Just as in neighboring Afghanistan, women are despised, abused, and mistreated. Isn’t it just like Jesus to raise those women up for this noble calling?

“God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

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How ironic. The underground church, and much of the revolution in general, is being led by women. More than that, the majority of the Iranian church (and people in general) love and support Israel. It’s the exact antithesis of Iran’s Islamic extremist, sexist and Israel-hating regime.

The love-link between Iran and Israel​

Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian president (who met his death in a mysterious helicopter crash in May 2024) had signed a decree in the summer of 2022 to impose harsh punishments for women failing to meet strict dress requirements. In September Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd, was beaten into a coma by the morality police from which she never recovered. Her death sparked an uprising of brave Persian women against the cruel oppression they were suffering, in which many more have given their lives. But guess who has been front and center, supporting these women in their cause? That’s right, Israel.

On October 29th, 2022, a huge protest erupted on behalf of these Iranian women in Israel. The Ministry of Foreign affairs posted on Facebook the following day pictures from the protest, with the words:

“Tel Aviv last night: hundreds of Israelis come out to support the citizens of Iran who are fighting for their basic freedoms. Our message is loud and clear: Israel stands with the people of Iran.”

The post also tagged then deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan, who has been one of the most vocal supporters of this women-led revolution. The movement spread across the world, and Persians also gathered to protest in California. It was there that Hassan met Iranian-born Christian, Hooman Khalili. He had been challenged by San Francisco’s Art Commissioner to start a campaign of murals highlighting the issue. Hassan immediately invited him to Israel, saying she wanted murals on the subject in Israel . Khalili felt God was in it, saying to him, “I want you to do this”. He later said that he “really felt it was a heavenly assignment”.

There are no murals supporting Iranian women in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, the UAE, as Hooman says, The only country in the Middle East that is standing with them is Israel. And the amazing thing is that Iranians have supported Israel right back when war erupted after the Hamas massacre on October 7 a year later.

Better than Israel’s Iron Dome, the God of Israel is a mighty warrior. He promised to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel (Genesis 12:2). By throwing their lot in with Israel and rallying alongside them in the bitter fighting against Iranian proxies, the Iranian people are siding with God’s purposes against the powers of darkness and their own wicked rulers.

Activate the Esthers​

“I started in January 2023 and I’ve done 17 trips in 21 months,” Khalili told me. He has just completed his eighteenth and final mural which is now proudly displayed in Jerusalem’s First Station. “I thought a lot about last mural has a lot of components to it.”

“In previous murals I talked about Esthers of the world rise up but on this one I put Esthers are rising up: it’s happening right now, in front of our eyes. They’ve heard and call and are rising up.”

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“This revolution is happening through women. They are bringing change in the Middle East for those will have eyes to see and ears to hear.” Hooman’s murals make visible the invisible women of Iran, and give a voice to the voiceless. He shares his hope that they serve as an inspiration and encouragement to everyone fighting for their freedom, to know that their sacrifice is not in vain. “They are not only remembered but they are remembered in the Holy Land”.

He emphasized, “I want the world to see the Jews, the Israelis standing alongside the people of Iran as they fight for their freedom – that is the point of these murals in the Holy Land is for the world to see the People of Israel standing with the freedom fighting people of Iran against the Islamic regime.”

“The relationship between the Persians and the Jews is biblical and every single one of these murals is rebuilding that bridge.” ~ Hooman Khalili

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In the speech he gave at the unveiling, Khalili drew the connection between the Iranian Jews who fought against Hamas and the women of Iran fighting against their own regime. “This mural is a testament to the strength and courage of the women who have been murdered and the women who are still fighting. This mural also has the faces of two Persian Jews killed by Hamas on October 7th Shirel Haim Pour and Sahar Saudyan.”

These murals show the world that Israel is the only country in the Middle East standing with the freedom fighting women of Iran, and equally, Iranians have proved to be some of the bravest and most prominent allies we have had as the world has turned against Israel in this war. And you know what the Bible says about being a blessing to Israel…

The hand of God​

The Iranian regime kills more Christians than almost any other country in the world, yet the women there have the courage to dance, show their hair, study the word of God and serve in underground churches. This is Iran’s secret weapon. The viciously oppressed prayer warriors of Iran are calling on the God of Israel, and He will hear them. Iran is full of hidden Christians, along with many atheists and dissenters who stand against the regime. The vast majority want to see an Israeli victory, and many are aligning with and praying for Israel.

Khalili prayed this priestly blessing over Iran:

“May the Lord bless Iran and guard and protect her people
May the Lord make his face to shine on Iran
And be gracious to the women of Iran
May the Lord turn his face towards the freedom fighting people of Iran and give them peace.”

Let’s join him in his prayer, and petition God for the regime to be utterly ended. A new Iran free of oppression would take out the support of all the terror proxies surrounding Israel. Just imagine a world with an incapacitated Hamas, Hezbollah, the end of Islamic Jihad and Houthi capabilities to fire at Israel. No fire power or equipment to carry out another October 7, and no more terror tunnels. This is what would happen if the Iranian regime comes to an end. Freedom not only for the Iranian people, but a reprieve for the whole Middle East. There could be a time where we could travel to one another’s countries, and the gospel could spread unhindered.

Iran’s secret weapon is the underground church, the Persian women and men who bravely stand with Jesus, with Israel, and who pray for the fall of the regime. Here is a passage Iranian believers hold to as a promise that God will work miracles in their nation. Let’s join them in prayer

“I will terrify Elam [Iran] before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the Lord. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord. But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 49:37-39)

We who live on this earth, who live in flesh bodies, will face trials and tribulations, whether or not we believe in Jesus Christ. There will be earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, wars, infestations of various kinds, famine, hunger, deaths of loved ones, illnesses, afflictions, physical defects, economic crashes, poverty, prejudices, abuses, miscarriages of justice, divorces, unfaithful spouses, coups, takeovers of governments, rebellion, violence, and privatized militaries, and the like.

And for those who are following the Lord Jesus Christ with their lives, in walks of obedience to his commands, and in surrender to his will for our lives, who are denying self, dying to sin daily, by the Spirit, and who are no longer living in addictive sin, but who are living holy lives, pleasing to God, in the power of God, we will face spiritual persecution. Especially if we are obeying our Lord in sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world, we will be hated, rejected, cast aside, and treated with disdain.

For we live in a day and age when the character of God/Christ, and of his gospel, and of his church, are all being diluted and altered to make them more acceptable and appealing and appeasing to human flesh. “Jesus” has suddenly become very popular here in America, and perhaps in other countries, too. But so many are not teaching the Jesus of the Scriptures, but the Jesus being presented in movies and in TV series and in cartoons and in “Christian” songs and literature, and via the mouths of movie stars.

Therefore, many are adopting an altered Jesus and an altered gospel and an altered “church”, because these altered versions of Christianity are more widely accepted, less offensive to human flesh, and do not demand death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord as requirements of biblical faith which comes from God, is gifted to us by God, and which is persuaded of God. But Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but to righteousness.

And if that is the truth that you are believing, and that you are sharing with others, i.e. that faith in Jesus requires death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, then your faith in Jesus Christ is going to be tested, because our enemy Satan will be after you to try to break you and to get you to cease speaking the truth. And he will send his messengers against you to try to get you to fold, and to quit, and to give up the fight. But we are to remain steadfast under trial, for this will work God’s will in our lives.

For trials are for our good, to test us, and to strengthen us, to teach us perseverance, and to get us to rely on the Lord and not on ourselves, and to draw us closer to our Lord in walks of fellowship with him in holy living, in doing what pleases him. They also prepare us for worse days ahead when the persecutions and the trials will increase in severity. And they help to make us strong so that we can stand against the lies and the opposing forces and remain steadfast in faith and in practice, for the glory of God.

And in the end, when our Lord returns for his faithful ones, to take us to be with him for eternity, we will receive the crown of life, which God promised to those who love him. And those who love God obey him. If we do not obey him, in practice, but sin is our practice, instead, we do not love him, we do not know him, we are not born of God, and we are not in fellowship with God. And if we claim to know him and to be in fellowship with him, we lie. Therefore, heaven will not be our destiny unless we repent and obey God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

How Long Till the Morning

Scripture: I Thessalonians 4:17
By C. E. Couchman

Consider the mornings of this mortal land,
Each a new beginning from the Maker’s hand.
While the storms may gather ‘gainst the evening sky,
The day breaks cloudless in the morning.

Rise up to the battle, for the skies dawn clear.
Let us gather courage while the foe draws near.
Though the night falls weary, saints of God, march on!
And He’ll raise our banner in the morning.

When the trumpet sounds to signal Heaven’s day,
Resurrection Morning when the dead shall wake,
What a glorious gath’ring when the Lord descends
And we rise to meet him in the morning.

How long, my Lord? Till we see the morning?
How long, O, my Lord, till we see your face?
O my Lord, guide us through our troubles
Till we rise above them in the morning.

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The Testing of Our Faith
An Original Work / March 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Shalom, dear brothers and sisters,

Thank you for your prayers!!!

May the Lord bless Israel in Jesus' name, Amen!

I'm currently in a financial rut, I have a lot of debt (approx. €60,000) and no job...

-> I ask you, could you pray to God for abundance and prosperity for me (3 John 2; Psalm 66:12; 2 Corinthians 8:9) in Jesus' name??

I thank you and pray that God may also bless you abundantly in Jesus' name, Amen (Luke 6:38).

Sole Deo Gloria

PS And I pray that the Lord sends out harvesters into His harvest (Matthew 9:38).