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Pastor Predicts Worsening Religious Persecution in U.S. Regardless of Election Outcome

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Pastor Andrew Brunson soberly predicted on Sunday that Christians in the United States will face increasing hostility regardless of whether President Donald Trump prevails in his legal battles regarding the presidential election.

Brunson, who was an American missionary to Turkey for 25 years until he was unjustly imprisoned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, owes his freedom in part to the hardline diplomatic measures that the Trump administration took against Turkey on his behalf.

Nevertheless, Brunson said, the most that American Christians could hope from a second Trump term is a “delay” of the persecution that he discerns to be inevitable for his home country, for which reason he urges people of faith to prepare for intense pushback.

Speaking Sunday evening to a group of Christians who gathered via Zoom to pray for the integrity of the U.S. election, Brunson explained how he has been burdened with “a new urgency” toward the U.S. since he returned after being released from his imprisonment two years ago.

“On my return to the U.S. just over two years ago, for the first time in my life—most of my life I’ve been focused overseas—for the first time in my life, I really, I have an urgency for this country, for the United States,” Brunson said. “And not just with this election. It’s not precipitated by this election, but it has been growing in me these last two years.” (Read more from “Pastor Predicts Worsening Religious Persecution in U.S. Regardless of Election Outcome” HERE)

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Terrorists Kill 24 in Attack on Burkina Faso Church

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Gunmen killed twenty-four people, including a pastor, in an attack on a church during Sunday mass in northwestern Burkina Faso, four security sources told Reuters on Monday.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, which comes as jihadist groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State seek to gain control over once peaceful rural Burkina Faso, fuelling ethnic and religious conflict.

Hundreds have died over the past year, and over half a million people have fled their homes.

The timing of the shooting, during a church service in the village of Pansi in the Yagha region, mirrors that of other attacks on Christians in the past year, including church attacks and assassinations of pastors and priests. . .

It said 18 people were also injured in the attack and an unknown number were kidnapped. It added that a pastor was killed but did not specify that the attack occurred in a church during mass. (Read more from “Terrorists Kill 24 in Attack on Burkina Faso Church” HERE)

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Catholic Church in Nigeria Appeals to the West: ‘Make Known the Atrocities’

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The president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference has launched an appeal to the West to “make known the atrocities” being suffered by Christians throughout the country.

Nigeria is living in an unprecedented climate of insecurity not seen since the civil war of 1967-1970, which is particularly affecting Christians, said the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Augustine Obiora Akubeze, Archbishop of Benin City.

While “in the past security problems were limited to the north-east of Nigeria, now there is insecurity throughout the whole country,” the archbishop said in an interview with the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

In the face of this “serious lack of security and the increase in anti-Christian attacks,” the prelate called on Western governments and media to “make known the atrocities” taking place in Nigeria. “In this way our government may feel pressure and act,” the archbishop said, and in this way the other nations of the international community may “feel a moral obligation to protect the lives of Christians and all Nigerians who are constantly attacked and killed by Boko Haram and the Islamist Fulani herdsmen.” . . .

Catholics are not the only victims of religious violence in the country, however. This past month, the Rev. Lawan Andimi, a local leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, was beheaded by jihadists in the northeast after having been kidnapped in early January by an armed group of the so-called Islamic State. (Read more from “Catholic Church in Nigeria Appeals to the West: ‘Make Known the Atrocities’” HERE)

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Freed Pastor Warns Christians to Prepare for Persecution

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The American pastor whose two-year imprisonment plunged Turkey into a diplomatic feud with the United States urged young Christians in his home country to prepare for the persecution he sees gathering for them on the horizon.

Pastor Andrew Brunson, 51, told the Washington Examiner how troubled he has been by the ominous trends he has observed in American culture during the year since his dramatic, high-stakes release from a Turkish prison. Drawing on the ordeal he recounts in God’s Hostage, his new memoir published Oct. 15, Brunson also offered insight into what he gained from his suffering and how he learned to be faithful to God even when he is silent.

“It’s actually very normal throughout history,” Brunson said, reflecting on religious persecution. “The abnormality is to not have persecution, but we haven’t had that much in the West. And so people don’t expect it, and when you don’t expect it, then you are not prepared for it.”

Brunson and his wife Norine had expected persecution of some kind during their 23-year ministry in Turkey, but it fell upon them suddenly in 2016. They were among the tens of thousands detained in the wake of an alleged coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Rights crumbled for everyday Turks as political turmoil roiled the NATO country, and many were imprisoned without a trial.

Thinking they had been summoned by local authorities to renew their residence permits, the Brunsons were instead arrested and told they would be deported. Norine was released after two weeks, but Brunson’s imprisonment would drag out for two years while Erdoğan used him as a political pawn. (Read more from “Freed Pastor Warns Christians to Prepare for Persecution” HERE)

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Christian Persecution 2019 a Scourge of ‘Mammoth Proportions’

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June 2019 is an “especially menacing time” for Christians both on the domestic and international fronts, writes Christian persecution expert John L. Allen in a report Sunday.

The U.S. Catholic Church is facing “one of the most serious potential violations of religious freedom in its history in the form of SB 360 in California,” writes Allen, author of the 2013 bestseller The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution, since the bill would compel priests to reveal information learned while hearing confessions as evidence against possible sex offenders. . .

On the international scene, “the scope of anti-Christian hostility is staggering,” Allen continues, with the number of Christians facing “harassment, physical assault, arrest and imprisonment, torture, and even death” on a daily basis estimated at around 200 million.

Christians in North Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and a host of other countries live under a constant threat of active persecution, as documented by Open Doors, a Christian persecution watchdog group. . .

“Just as one didn’t have to be Jewish to sympathize with the plight of dissident Jews in the Soviet Union, and didn’t have to be black to be outraged by apartheid in South Africa, similarly today one shouldn’t have to be Christian to recognize anti-Christian persecution as a human rights scourge of mammoth proportions,” Allen writes. (Read more from “Christian Persecution 2019 a Scourge of ‘Mammoth Proportions'” HERE)

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INCREDIBLE: Hong Kong Protesters Embrace Unexpected Christian Anthem

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A hymn sung by Christian groups participating in the anti-extradition Hong Kong protests has caught on and become an unlikely anthem for the movement of millions in the streets.

For the past week, “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” has been heard almost non-stop at the main protest site in front of the city’s Legislative Council, and at marches and tense stand-offs with police, Reuters reported.

Although only 10 percent of the population is Christian, church groups quickly rallied after being alarmed by reports of police brutality to make a safe haven for protesters as the government said it had to crack down on “organized riots.” . . .

“As religious assemblies were exempt, it could protect the protesters. It also shows that it is a peaceful protest,” Edwin Chow, 19, acting president of the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students, told Reuters. “This was the one people picked up, as it is easy for people to follow, with a simple message and easy melody.”

The simple hymn heard around Hong Kong was composed by Linda Stassen-Benjamin in the United States in 1974 for Easter.

(Read more from “Hong Kong Protesters Embrace Unexpected Christian Anthem” HERE)

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Report: Iran Increased Persecution of Christians in July

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The Iranian government’s persecution of Christians increased over the past month, according to information gathered by the nonprofit International Christian Concern.

Earlier this month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani claimed Christians have the same rights as others do in Iran. Despite the claim, a report from ICC, a Washington-based nonprofit that assists religious minorities from persecution through assistance, advocacy, and awareness, points to evidence from the month of July showing Christians have been targeted by the Iranian regime. Eight believers faced judicial action, “a noteworthy increase of publicized cases of Christian persecution in Iran,” according to ICC.

The report highlighted cases of Christians held by the government. On July 2, intelligence forces arrested and detained Massoumeh Taqinejad and her son. She was charged with proselytizing on the Internet. A couple weeks later, Ramiel Bet Tamraz received a four month prison sentence for allegedly acting against national security. In the following days and weeks, the report includes five others who were arrested, detained, or tried in court.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, another organization dedicated to supporting Christians suffering persecution, issued a statement that observed, “as the Iranian regime has grown more unpopular and citizens have become more vocal in their criticism of corruption in official circles, the government has become increasingly reliant on the support of hard-line ayatollahs, who favour increased pressure on religious minorities.”

Similarly, ICC’s regional manager, Claire Evans, said “the persecution of Christians in Iran is increasingly building as the regime struggles to maintain its grip over the hearts and minds of its citizenry.” (Read more from “Report: Iran Increased Persecution of Christians in July” HERE)

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Real Reason Christians Are Constantly Persecuted

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Today, sincere followers of Jesus Christ are under attack everywhere, not only in lands dominated by religions and governments hostile to Christianity, but increasingly in those parts of the world historically home to, and founded by, Christians.

Think of it. The most transcendent way of life a man or woman can embrace on this earth – one that commands not only that you love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself, but that you “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” – is cursed, hated and persecuted.

This persecution shows up in a broad spectrum of ways. In the United States it is, as a rule, far less overt and brutal than overseas, taking the form of censorship, demonization and criminalization – for example, the never-ending prosecutions of Christian businesses and individuals (including the jailing of a Christian county clerk) for being unwilling to actively participate in homosexual weddings. Then there are the ubiquitous assaults on Christian expression in the public square and within our public schools and armed forces, and the ongoing destruction of Christian memorials, crosses, nativity scenes and the like, and even the recent equating of Christianity with white supremacism and the open mockery of prayer. In September, several Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, questioned the confirmation of a highly qualified judicial nominee because of her mainstream Catholic faith . . .

By every measure, Christian persecution – and even more fundamentally, fear and loathing of biblical Christianity – is growing worldwide, even in the once-Christian West, including Europe, the United Kingdom and North America.

The most recent manifestation within the U.S. has been the appalling church shooting massacres, including September’s church shooting in Tennessee and November’s mass-murder in rural Texas when a militant atheist, calling believers “stupid,” slaughtered 26 churchgoers and injured dozens more. (Read more from “Real Reason Christians Are Constantly Persecuted” HERE)

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Attacks on Christians in U.S. Double in 3 Years

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Hostility toward religion in America has expanded dramatically in recent years, with florists targeted, bakers punished, nuns coerced and even retail companies facing discrimination for their faith, according to a new report from First Liberty Institute.

The new report, titled “Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America,” reveals a list that admittedly is not exhaustive but still totals 1,285 cases at the start of this year.

“These cases … show a clear expansion during this past year,” the report said. “Quantitatively and qualitatively, the hostility is undeniable. And it is dangerous.”

Kelly Shackelford, the chief counsel for First Liberty, explained that “hostility to religion in America is rising like floodwaters.”

“This flood is engulfing ordinary citizens who simply try to live normal lives according to their faith and conscience. It is eroding the bedrock on which stand vital American institutions such as government, education, the military, business, houses of worship, and charity. It has the potential to wash away the ground that supports our other rights, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and government by consent of the people.” (Read more from “Attacks on Christians in U.S. Double in 3 Years” HERE)

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Pastor Sends a Terrifying Warning to U.S. About Christian Persecution

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The challenges faced by Christian Americans right now are similar to the ones faced by Jews in Nazi Germany during the 1930s, Pastor Carl Gallups said during a recent guest appearance at CTN’s “It’s Time with Herman & Sharron.”

He warned Christians to be prepared for the worst forms of persecution since the attack on America’s faith-based groups is only getting started, according to a WND report.

“This is what Americans are beginning to see,” Gallups said. “We see these similarities [with the conditions faced by the Jews in Nazi Germany]. We know that we don’t live under government decree to persecute us like other Christians do, but we see the progression, or digression.”

He mentioned the following initial signs of Christian persecution in the US: the removal of prayer from schools; the banning of Christmas and Easter events in schools; the pending gun registration and eventual confiscation; the apparent fading away of free speech where the media only tell the government’s side; and pastors becoming fearful of addressing serious moral and political issues because of government intimidation.

Gallups said dangers confront Americans all over. As an example, he cited FBI confirmation that there are Islamic State cells in all 50 states. (Read more from “Pastor Sends a Terrifying Warning to U.S. About Christian Persecution” HERE)

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