Current Events

Current Events – Pope Opens Holy Year of Mercy

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On December 8, 2015 Pope Francis pushed open the great bronze doors of St. Peter’s Basilica to commence his Holy Year of Mercy.

Francis stood in prayer on the threshold of the basilica’s Holy Door, then walked through followed by the 88-year old Benedict with the help of an assistant. They were “the first of an estimated 10 million who will pass through over the course of the next year in a rite of pilgrimage dating back centuries. …

“The Vatican’s Holy Door, located to the right of the basilica’s main entrance, is decorated with 16 bronze panels depicting the redemption of man’s sin through mercy. Passing through it is meant to symbolize the pilgrimage of life’s journey and the sacrifices endured.

“Holy years are generally celebrated every 25–50 years, and over the centuries they have been used to encourage the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome to obtain an “indulgence”—the ancient church tradition related to the forgiveness of sins that roughly amounts to a “get out of Purgatory free” card.

“Unlike in Martin Luther’s time, these Holy Year indulgences are free and available to those who pass through the Holy Door.” The Arkansas Democrat Gazette, December 9, 2015.

To keep a low key during this Holy Year, the pope has instructed all cathedrals world-wide to open their Holy Doors to encourage the pilgrims to mark the jubilee at home rather than have to travel to Rome.

“We come to God by special invitation, and He waits to welcome us to His audience chamber. The first disciples who followed Jesus were not satisfied with a hurried conversation with Him by the way; they said, ‘Rabbi, … where dwellest Thou? … they came and saw where He dwelt and abode with Him that day’ (John 1:38, 39). So we may be admitted into closest intimacy and communion with God. … Let those who desire the blessing of God knock and wait at the door of mercy with firm assurance, saying, For Thou, O Lord, hast said, ‘Everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 131.

“He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” ’ ” Mark 7:6, 7.

Current Events – Time to Bury the Hatchet

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“The storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it?”

Testimonies, vol. 8, 315

It is the purpose of the church to combine religion with the state in order to control the consciences of the people. Protestant Christians should look at their roots and ask themselves what the protest of the middle ages was about and whether or not it has been resolved since that time. There has been a change over time in the beliefs of the Protestant world. Today, through ecumenism Protestant churches have incorporated into their beliefs Roman Catholic doctrines that they once protested.

Rome’s Holy Year of Mercy which opened on December 8, 2015 is presented as creating an opportunity for the world to look upon the pope as a holy man as he is portrayed kneeling before the confessional.

The pope said, “I have chosen the date of 8 December because of its rich meaning in the recent history of the Church. In fact, I will open the Holy Door on the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. …

“The Catholic Church, as she holds high the torch of Catholic truth at this Ecumenical Council, wants to show herself a loving mother to all; patient, kind, moved by compassion and goodness toward her separated children.”

Extraordinary Jubilee

The pope has “proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a special time for the Church, a time when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective. www.news.va/en/news/presentation-of-the-extraordinary-julilee-of-mercy

Indulgences, though this time not sold, are being offered to relieve the punishment of sins forgiven, but it should be remembered that it was the selling of indulgences that triggered the Reformation.

What can we expect in 2017?

In 2008 Jesuit Professor Eduard Kimman, then time General Secretary of the Netherlands Bishop’s Conference, proclaimed that there remains hardly any reason to remain a Protestant. He saw Protestantism as an action group that forgot to dissolve itself and a group that had not recognized the significance of a global, visible leadership personality such as that of the pope. Moreover, he stated that he doubted that the Reformation would still exist after 2017 (the year when Protestantism commemorates its 500th year of existence) and Protestantism, he said should return to the mother church.

Lutherans and Catholics Bury the Hatchet for Reformation’s 500th Anniversary

“The Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation released a joint document, From Conflict to Communion, in Geneva that said there is little purpose in dredging up centuries-old conflicts.

“In the document, the two churches recognize that in the age of ecumenism and globalization, the celebration requires a new approach focusing on a reciprocal admission of guilt and on highlighting the progress made by the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue over the past 50 years. …

“The document re-examines the history of the Reformation and the split it created, stressing that Luther ‘had no intention of establishing a new church, but was part of a broad and many-faceted desire for reform’ within the church.

“ ‘The fact that the struggle for this truth in the 16th century led to the loss of unity in Western Christendom belongs to the dark pages of church history,’ the document says. ‘In 2017, we must confess openly that we have been guilty before Christ of damaging the unity of the church.’

“After caricaturing each other’s beliefs for centuries, an honest theological confrontation between the two sides began after the modernizing reforms of the Catholic church’s Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the document says.

“It stresses that, thanks to the ecumenical dialogue of recent decades, Lutherans and Catholics ‘have come to acknowledge that more unites than divides them.’ ” http://ncronline.org/news/lutherans-and-catholics-bury-hatchet-reformations-500th

Current Events – Pope Compares Jihad with Christian Missionizing

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Addressing Catholic believers, the Bishop of Rome stressed the dire importance of exhibiting religious tolerance. During his hour-long speech, a smiling Pope Francis was quoted telling the Vatican’s guests that the Koran, and the spiritual teachings contained therein, are just as valid as the Holy Bible.

“ ‘Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace, all we need to achieve such a state is respect each others beliefs, for we are all children of God regardless of the name we choose to address him by. We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now. No longer shall we slaughter our neighbors over differences in reference to their God.’ ” http://nationalreport.net/pope-francis-followers-koran-holy-bible/#sthash.SnyeX4IX.dpuf

“The pontiff drew harsh criticisms in December after photos of the 78-year-old Catholic leader was released depicting Pope Francis kissing a Koran. The Muslim Holy Book was given to Francis during a meeting with Muslim leaders after a lengthy Muslim prayer held at the Vatican.”

http://nationalreport.net/pope-francis-followers-koran-holy-bible/

“Islam and Christianity share the ‘same idea of conquest’, and for that reason, Islam should not be viewed as a threat, said Pope Francis in a newspaper interview this week.

“ ‘It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam,’ he conceded to the French Catholic newspaper La Croix. ‘However, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest.’

“Ostensibly, the Pope was drawing a parallel between the Islamic ‘conquest’ known as jihad, a holy war or struggle waged against infidels, and Christian missionizing.

“The comparison was part of a larger conversation about the increasingly desperate refugee crisis currently facing Europe. Pope Francis has been an outspoken voice on the issue of Arab refugees who seek asylum, encouraging governments to take in migrants and “integrate” them into western societies despite widespread concerns that the largely Muslim populations might harbor extremist or terrorist elements.

“Francis has repeatedly argued in favor of coexistence, peace, and tolerance in all areas of life but especially towards Muslims. He set his own powerful example last month when he brought a dozen refugees from the Greek island of Lesbos back to Rome with him after a diplomatic visit.

“The Pontiff said that the Western attempt to ‘export’ democracy to Arab countries is partly to blame for the collapse of central control and rise in Islamic extremism in Middle Eastern states.”

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/67928/pope-francis-defends-jihad-says-christianity-has-similar-roots-in-idea-of-conquest-05-16/#gXj73oAjXgk5YmPu.99

Current Events – Collision of Two Worlds

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“For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, … they did not like to retain God in their knowledge …” Romans 1:20–22, 28. Also, see Genesis 1.

About 4.5 billion years ago, just after the solar system formed, the relatively small planetary body that would become Earth experienced something extreme. A planetary embryo—probably about the size of Mars—called Theia collided with Earth, spinning the moon off into orbit around the nascent planet.

Overall, scientists agree that this moon-forming collision happened, but a current debate raging in planetary science hinges upon just what that collision was like. A new study in the journal Science this week may help solve the mystery of what went down in the early days of the solar system.

Usually, each body in the solar system has different ratios of various elements. According to Edward Young, a co-author of the new study, it’s “almost unheard of” for two bodies to have the same ratio of oxygen isotopes. In fact, these ratios are usually so unique that researchers treat them as “fingerprints” for bodies.

However, a new analysis performed by Young and his team shows that the Earth and moon actually have a very similar—if not identical—ratio of oxygen isotopes.

Young and his team analyzed seven moon rock samples brought back from three Apollo missions to the lunar surface. Earlier analyses had shown that the oxygen isotope ratio is different on the moon compared to the Earth, but this new, detailed study appears to suggest that the ratios are essentially the same.

The new finding could mean that instead of dealing Earth a glancing blow, Theia’s impact packed a bigger punch, forcing the material that composes the two bodies to mix more than previously expected, due to a “high-energy, high-angular-momentum impact,” the study reads.

Young’s work supports computer models of the moon-forming impact that show Theia dealing Earth a devastating blow, effectively causing the two bodies to completely mix their compositions together, creating two cosmic objects with very similar if not the same oxygen isotope ratios.

“Our measurements essentially say that the moon and the Earth are identical within the precision [of the instruments],” Young said.

“Since they’re identical, it says that these newer models that have been coming out in the last couple years say there might be a way to slow the Earth and the moon down after the impact and therefore maybe the impact really was a planet-crushing head on collision.”

“Our work suggests that the people creating those kinds of models are on the right track.”

But it’s not a cut and dry case. The mechanism of that mixing—whether it was a direct impact from Theia or something else entirely—isn’t yet clear.

“I am not sure that Young et al demonstrate a mechanism that leads to thorough mixing, but they certainly document that there is a need for some process to mix all the materials to homogenize oxygen,” Jeff Taylor, a scientist at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology who wasn’t affiliated with the study told Mashable via email.

Scientists will need to tackle the mysteries of the moon’s formation from two different angles.

On the one hand, researchers need to refine comprehensive models that will explain how different forms of impacts could lead to our current moon, while research also needs to proceed to examine the chemistry of the lunar body and compare it to Earth.

By combining those two ways of attacking the issue, Young said, lunar researchers might one day be able to get a comprehensive idea of how Earth’s closest neighbor really formed.

http://mashable.com/2016/01/28/moon-formation-collision-isotopes/#eZdmFn253Gqx

Really? Genesis 1 has a much simpler and believable explanation of how this universe came into being. “In the beginning God created …”

Current Events – The Elevated Character of Women

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The influence of the female character is now felt and acknowledged in all the relations of life. I speak not now of those distinguished women, who instruct their age through the public press. Nor of those devout strains we take upon our lips when we worship. But of a much larger class—of those whose influence is felt in the relations of neighbor, friend, daughter, wife, mother.

Who waits at the couch of the sick to administer tender charities while life lingers or to perform the last acts of kindness when death comes? Where shall we look for those examples of friendship that most adorn our nature, those abiding friendships, which trust even when betrayed, and survive all changes of fortune?

Where shall we find the brightest illustrations of filial piety? Have you even seen a daughter watching the decline of an aged parent and holding out with heroic fortitude to anticipate his wishes, to administer to his wants, and to sustain his tottering steps to the very borders of the grave?

But in no relation does woman exercise so deep an influence, both immediately and prospectively, as in that of mother. To her is committed the immortal treasure of the infant mind. Upon her devolves the care of the first stages of that course of discipline which is to form of a being, perhaps the most frail and helpless in the world, the fearless ruler of animated creation, and the devout adorer of its great Creator.

Her smiles call into exercise the first affections that spring up in our hearts. She cherishes and expands the earliest germs of our intellects. She breathes over us her deepest devotions. She lifts our little hands and teaches our little tongues to lisp in prayer.

She watches over us like a guardian angel and protects us through all our helpless years, when we know not of her cares and her anxieties on our account. She follows us into the world of men, and lives in us, and blesses us, when she lives not otherwise upon the earth.

What constitutes the center of every home? Whither do our thoughts turn, when our feet are weary with wandering and our hearts sick with disappointments? Where shall the truant and forgetful husband go for sympathy unalloyed and without design, but to the bosom of her who is ever ready and waiting to share in his adversity or his prosperity? And if there be a tribunal where the sins and the follies of a forward child may hope for pardon and forgiveness this side of heaven, that tribunal is the heart of a fond and devoted mother.

Finally, her influence is felt deeply in religion. If Christianity should be compelled to flee from the mansions of the great, the academies of philosophers, the halls of legislators, or the throng of busy men, we should find her last and purest retreat with woman at the fireside; her last altar would be the female heart; her last audience would be the children gathered round the knees of the mother; her last sacrifice, the secret prayer escaping in silence from her lips, and heard, perhaps, only at the throne of God.

The Moore McGuffey Readers, Carter, 64–66.

Current Events – Pope insists conscience, not rules, must lead faithful

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NICOLE WINFIELD and RACHEL ZOLL, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis insisted that individual conscience be the guiding principle for Catholics negotiating the complexities of sex, marriage and family life in a major document released Friday [April 8, 2016] that rejects the emphasis on black and white rules for the faithful.

In the 256-page document “The Joy of Love,” Francis makes no change in church doctrine and strongly upholds that marriage is a lifelong commitment.

But in selectively citing his predecessors and emphasizing his own teachings, Francis makes clear that he wants nothing short of a revolution in the way priests accompany Catholics, saying the church must no longer sit in judgment and “throw stones” against those who fail to live up to the Gospel’s ideals of marriage and family life.

“I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion,” he wrote. “But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness.” …

He insisted the church’s aim is to reintegrate and welcome all its members. …

“It can no longer simply be said that all those in any irregular situations are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace,” he wrote. Even those in an “objective situation of sin” can be in a state of grace, and can even be more pleasing to God by trying to improve, he said.

The document’s release marks the culmination of a divisive two-year consultation of ordinary Catholics and the church hierarchy that Francis initiated in hopes of understanding the problems facing Catholic families today and providing them with better pastoral care.

The most divisive issue that arose during two meetings of bishops, or synods, was whether Francis would loosen the Vatican’s strict position on whether Catholics who divorce and remarry can receive Communion. Church teaching holds that unless these Catholics receive an annulment, or a church decree that their first marriage was invalid, they are committing adultery and cannot receive Communion.

Conservatives had insisted that the rules were fixed and that there was no way around Christ’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. Progressives had sought wiggle room to balance doctrine with mercy and look at each couple on a case-by-case basis, accompanying them on a path of reconciliation that could lead to them eventually receiving the sacraments.

Francis took a unilateral step last year in changing church law to make it easier to get an annulment. On Friday, he said the rigorous response proposed by the conservatives was inconsistent with Jesus’ message of mercy.

“By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and of growth and discourage paths of sanctification which give glory to God,” he said. “Let us remember that a small step in the midst of great human limitations can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties.” www.yahoo.com/news/pope-insists-conscience-not-rules-must-guide-faithful-100149710.html

“No one can be condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel! Here I am not speaking only of the divorced and remarried, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves,” the pope said. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-marriage-idUSKCN0X42TB

“ ‘Christ … has purchased for us a never-ending redemption. … His passion is … an eternal sacrifice, and everlastingly effectual to heal; it satisfies the divine justice forever in behalf of all those who rely upon it with firm and unshaken faith.’ Yet He clearly taught that men are not, because of the grace of Christ, free to continue in sin. ‘Wherever there is faith in God, there God is; and wherever God abideth, there a zeal exists urging and impelling men to good works.’ ”—D’Aubigne, b. 8, ch. 9. The Great Controversy, 180.

Report from Denver

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It was during the summer of 1992 that I first learned that the Pope was coming to Denver, Colorado, in August of 1993. At the Printed Page Camp Meeting in September of 1992, Evan Sadler, Carey Rowlendson, Rick Breckenridge, and myself formed a task force to meet the challenge. After consulting with Elder John Osborne and others, we decided to use this occasion to spread the three angels’ messages.

Earlier, in Australia, Carey Rowlendson had printed a million copies of the Protestant newspaper. Though this publication had met with opposition by the conference office, resulting in a lawsuit, we immediately laid plans for a special printing of the paper for America, for distribution in anticipation of the papal visit.

In October of 1992, I met Danny Vierra for the first time. He shared with me his billboard evangelism project. We saw this as an important part of the Denver campaign and settled on the use of a sign that said: The Bible says…”The man of Sin shall be revealed.” II Thessalonians 2:3. A free copy of The Great Controversy was offered, and our telephone number was given.

We signed a contract with Gannett Outdoor, a large billboard company, to place twenty-one billboards in Denver, starting just ten days before the Pope ’s visit.

Because we needed a substantial amount of funds to place these boards, we circulated a fund-raising letter. The Oregon Conference, having obtained a letter, faxed a copy to the North American Division, as well as the Colorado conference and the Midwest Union. This resulted in an emergency meeting about ten days before the billboards, causing a furor in the media and resulting in myself, as well as other members of my staff, being interviewed on several talk shows and by the newspapers.

On August 2, our billboards were to go up. We had raised the necessary funds and sent a cashier’s check and the posters that were to be used to Gannett Outdoor. I called the Gannett sales person to have a copy of the location map faxed to us, and she asked me if I had heard from the Denver office. I indicated that I had not, and she inferred that they might e wanting to break their contract because of the furor caused by those opposing it. You can imagine our surprise and chagrin to discover that it was not the Catholics who mounted the opposition, but the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We have since had it confirmed that it was the combined pressure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, government officials and the Catholics that led to Gannett’s breaking the contract.

We quickly called Root Outdoor in Fort Collins, Colorado. They agreed to post the billboards, and again, we sent out a cashier’s check, only to have them notify us the following day that they had changed their minds and would no longer post them.

At this point, we know that Satan did not want us in Denver. This only worked to strengthen our conviction that this was where God would have us go. We quickly contacted our printer, and in less than fort-eight hours, we had 50,000 copies of the Protestant printed. Several volunteers from the Troy Seventh-day Adventist Church helped us label them, and by the grace of God, we were able to mail them in time to coincide with the Pope ’s arrival.

While this was taking place, Bill Grimm, our street evangelist, David Musodole from Fiji, myself, and others, were converging on Denver with 100,000 tracts and several thousand copies of the Protestant.

We applied for, and received permission to pass out literature at Stapleton Airport, and this proved to be so effective that we intend to continue with an airport ministry in the future.

Some of us were able to gain an entrance to several of the papal events to videotape and photograph them. The young people, treated to what amounted a rock concert, were wildly enthusiastic as the pope mobile made a lap around Mile High Stadium. The procession of people, including high government officials that knelt before the pope ,  kissing his ring and hugging him, sickened us.

On the streets, Catholics had been deployed to stand right beside us offering “Catholic answers” including a tract that said Ellen White’s name adds up to 666. In all this, the Lord was glorified, however, as the attention drew the media and people who were interested in what we had to offer.

If we learned anything from our experience in Denver, it was that when we are undertaking anything of this nature, it is never wise to reveal your plans ahead of the event. On Friday, August 13, we brought to bear what had been our secret weapon—an airplane pulling a large banner on which it was stated: “pope =antichrist, free book 1-800-REFORMER.” This was on local news, and resulted in a number of phone calls, with requests for our free book, The Great Controversy.

On Sabbath we attended the Renaissance Seventh-day Adventist Church, and independent church, and were able to share what we had been doing. As a result, several members joined us in the afternoon when we went back to pass out literature. We were also joined by a former Catholic priest, as well as by other brothers and sisters who were in town on their own.

Even though the number of us who participated in this project was small, we felt the Lord’s blessing as we distributed thousands of tracts and copies of the Protestant newspaper. We were able to study the Bible with several people, some of whom accepted the Sabbath.

As we reviewed the week’s events, we were encouraged to set new goals. We ate planning to start a two week training school to train people in street evangelism. We urge you to prayerfully consider whether the Lord might not have you chare in this soul-winning experience. If you feel the Lord is calling you to receive more training in evangelism, contact our office by calling 1-800-REFORMER.

The End

Current Events – Brexit and Prophecy

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Recorded in Daniel 2 is the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in which he saw a huge statue. This statue had a head of gold, chest of silver, loins of brass, legs of iron and feet that were iron mixed with clay. Daniel interpreted this dream, telling the king that his dynasty was the head of gold which would be followed by Media and Persia, Greece and Rome symbolized by the various metals. Then the feet were represented by a mixture of iron and clay which cannot mix well together for strength. This mixture represents the countries of Europe. Some are strong and others are weak. It is often considered that the stronger countries meddle in the affairs of the weaker countries. Old hatreds, seemingly buried for many years in the ruins of World War II, are suddenly resurfacing.

The European Union has its roots after World War II when the people realized that to have peace there must be an economic base that would not cause any rivalry or hate. Many people do not understand that religion was and remains an important ingredient in the establishment of the economic union. The president of the E. U. wrote in 2000 that he believed there must be something cultural—not economic—to hold the countries together, suggesting that the one thing held in common was loyalty to the church. Many attempts have been made to make Europe into a powerhouse – Napoleon tried without success and more recently Hitler attempted but also failed.

Britain is one of the three biggest contributors to the Union. Their departure will leave a huge vacuum at its heart. Prophecy has foretold that there will not be another united Europe and all attempts at union will fail.

Professing to know little of why the British chose to leave the Union, Pope Francis made this comment:

“Give more independence, give greater freedom to the countries of the Union. Think of another form of union, be creative, something is not working in this massive Union.” He said that this current crisis did not mean “we throw out the baby with the bath water.”

In his Charlemagne speech in May, 2016, Pope Francis said that what Europe must now do is “promote an integration that finds in solidarity a way of acting, a means of making history.”

However, there was more to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. A rock, small at first, smashes the feet of iron and clay. That rock represents Jesus and His kingdom. As we see the events come to pass we have assurance that His kingdom will soon be established.

Current Events – Can Christianity Save China?

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The growth of Christianity in China has been astonishing. At this point, it’s no longer a question of if China will become a Christian nation, but when. The ramifications of this religious shift are massive, and will shake China’s culture and economy to their cores.

Since 1979, Protestant Christianity has been growing in China at a compound annual growth rate of more than 10 percent. There were 3 million Christians in China in 1980, compared to 58 million in 2010, according to Fenggyang Yang, director of the Center of Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University. By 2025, that number could swell to 250 to 300 million.

Surprised? That makes sense. The Chinese Communist Party has done all it can to downplay this phenomenon and keep a tight media lid on it. Meanwhile, Western media outlets are so taken with the idea that religion is an irrelevant (and declining) facet of modern life that they don’t pay attention to its growth in most places outside calcified Western Europe.

But this shift is happening, and it is astonishing, especially considering that China is officially an atheist country. From Chairman Mao’s accession to power until his death, China officially banned all religion, the only country in history besides Albania to do so. Then, in 1979, in keeping with its liberalization program, China cautiously allowed a few places of worship to open. But the government’s policy is still that religious expression must obey the party. Religion that is not officially sanctioned is still oppressed.

While it might seem surprising that Christianity could grow in the face of such repression, it is repression that prompted the growth of Christianity in the first place. In the third century, the church father Tertullian famously boasted that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”

To better understand what’s going on in China, let’s look back at the Roman Empire. There, both government and society had values that were at odds with Christianity. The religion was so foreign that the reaction to it was an incoherent mix of savage oppression, benign neglect, and attempts at cooperation.

Still, Christians eventually became the dominant group in the Roman Empire by compounding with a respectable yearly growth rate. But there was more to it than that. Christians were often over-represented among the intelligentsia, which gave them a strong cultural cachet, even as their innovative welfare work made them attractive to the poor. (Bone fragments show Christians were healthier and lived longer than pagans, almost certainly thanks to the church’s welfare system.) And of course, the church’s heroic work was great PR. After a plague, while most people fled to the countryside, Christians rushed in to help the people, like they did in China in the wake of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Under Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has stepped up its oppression of Christianity. As the Chinese writer and dissident Yu Jie writes in the magazine First Things:

An internal government document obtained by The New York Times in May 2014 shows that the church demolitions are part of a larger campaign to curb Christianity’s influence on the public. According to the nine-page provincial policy statement, the Xi administration wants to put an end to “excessive” religious sites and “overly popular” religious activities, but it names one religion in particular, Christianity, and one symbol, the cross.

If history is any guide, this will only increase the popularity of Christianity. As Yu writes: “One of the phrases I have heard most often among [Chinese Christians] is: ‘The greater the persecution, the greater the revival.’ ” Indeed, during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s, when oppression was at its fiercest, Christianity actually grew in China.

Interestingly, Protestant Christianity is growing much faster in China than Catholic Christianity, almost certainly because the Roman Catholic Church has practiced a doctrine of appeasement to the Chinese government. Given that Protestantism is a do-it-yourself religion, where anyone is empowered to decide doctrine based on their interpretation of the Bible, we could see the emergence of new and seemingly strange versions of Christianity, acculturated to China, and perhaps mixed in with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Today, China is pursuing a nationalistic foreign policy, combined with a domestic policy focused almost exclusively on economic growth and productivity. This comes at the expense of families, social welfare, and the environment. To say that these are not exactly Christian values is an understatement. It is not hard to understand why the Chinese leadership is not a fan of Christianity.

But Christianity could be China’s only chance to survive. Because of its one-child policy, and sex-selective abortion and infanticide, China is a fast-aging country with a massive gender imbalance. If you add to that the tensions wrought by breakneck crony capitalism and consumerism and inequality and pollution, the country is a powder keg. Most Westerners see China as a strong rival, but China’s actual leaders see the country as always teetering on the brink of collapse, which is why their grip on power is so white-knuckled. More deeply, decades of Communism have stripped China of so much of its cultural heritage and left its society and culture aimless.

Christianity’s enormous cultural and spiritual heritage, its emphasis on the rule of law, and its traditional focus on fertility are just what China may need to manage the next few decades without collapsing into civil war, revolution, or something equally terrible.

www.theweek.com/articles/635668/christianity-save-china

Current Events – Final Movements Will Be Rapid

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We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. …

“Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 11.

This was written over a century ago and today we see its fulfillment. The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation this month is being celebrated in unity by both the Protestant churches and the Catholic Church, confirming that the Reformation has come to an end and that they are uniting on points of mutual interest. One might wonder if Martin Luther and the many martyrs that stood for truth would celebrate with them. How the churches have backslidden in these latter days! It is certainly a call to prayer for those that still believe that the Lord was leading those brave souls who stood for Bible truth against the tyranny of the Roman Church.

Pedestrians, enjoying the summer evening in a crowded boulevard in a tourist area in Barcelona, were mowed down in two vehicle attacks killing 15 people and wounding more than 120 others. This was Plan B of a much larger assault with explosives. According to the police, the 12-man cell’s plan for a more lethal attack fell apart after the house, filled with bomb-making equipment, blew up and they resorted to using the vehicles to carry out their mayhem. There seems to be no end to these terrorist attacks.

Natural disasters are also on the increase. In southern Texas, USA, Hurricane Harvey could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with an estimated cost of $160 billion. Over 50” of rain has caused wide-spread flooding with a staggering death toll.

Earlier in the year, flooding and mudslides in Sri Lanka left more than 150 people dead and almost half a million displaced after the worst torrential rains to hit the tropical island nation since 2003.

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

“Now as He (Jesus) sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘… And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. … You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various placed. All these are the beginning of sorrows. … But he who endures to the end shall be saved’ ” (Matthew 24:3–13).

If ever there was a time for the people of God to pray, it is now!