If you have followed our YouTube videos, it may surprise some of you that we have made a video about yoga.
But the truth about yoga is more shocking than we ever imagined it could be.
Well over 10 million Americans are now practicing some form of yoga, but the vast majority of these people have absolutely no idea what they are involving themselves in.
The truth is that you can't take yoga out of Hinduism and you can't take the Hinduism out of yoga.
For instance, did you know that "yoga" is literally a Sanskrit word that means to yoke with Brahman?
Did you know that many of the mantras that yoga instructors have their followers chant are actually the names of Hindu gods?
Did you know that many of the practices of yoga are specifically designed to call forth Hindu deities?
Did you know that a large percentage of people who get involved with yoga also get involved with Hinduism, New Age religion and the occult?
The reality is that yoga and Christianity are completely opposed to each other.
If you are a Christian that is involved with yoga then you really need to watch this video:
*At least housing is more affordable now. With a winning bid of just $1.75, a Chicago woman has won an auction for an abandoned home in Saginaw, Michigan.
Most Christians do not know that much about Scientology.
Most know that Tom Cruise and John Travolta are members, but the truth is that most Christians do not have the foggiest idea about what they actually believe.
For example, did you know that they are a rabidly anti-Christian organization?
Did you also know that L. Ron Hubbard was "good friends" with Aleister Crowley?
Did you know that Hubbard even had a secret plan to derail the second coming of Jesus Christ?
Check out this video report on what Scientology really believes:
We are incredibly excited to announce the release of our brand new YouTube video entitled: "Proof That Jesus Christ Was NOT Born On December 25th". The video is embedded at the end of this post, and we hope that you will watch it and let us know what you think about it.
This new YouTube video explores the following questions among others:
-Would it have been way too cold for the shepherds to be out with their flocks at night in late December?
-Can we prove from the Scriptures that Jesus was NOT born in the winter?
-Do the Scriptures give us information about when Jesus actually was born?
-Was there a real, historical reason why the inns were full when Mary and Joseph were looking for a place to stay?
-Is there a holiday that was instituted by God over a thousand years before Jesus was born that prophetically foreshadowed the circumstances of His birth?
-Does the God of the universe cause His most important events to fall during the holidays that He instituted in the Scriptures?
What you have never been taught about the birth of Jesus may shock you.
You are not going to hear these things in the vast majority of Christian churches.
Watch the video below with an open mind - perhaps it is time for all of us to learn the truth about Christmas.
So, you may ask, why do Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th?
The truth is that there was a late December pagan holiday that was celebrated for centuries before Jesus was ever born, and many of the "Christmas traditions" of today can be directly traced to pagan religious practices of centuries past.
The Roman Catholics decided to "christianize" that pagan holiday starting in 336 A.D. and turn it into a celebration of the birth of Christ.
What would you do if someone stuck a gun in your face and told you to deny your faith?
Are you prepared for that moment?
It actually happens to Christians are the world.
This story is originally from The Voice Of The Martyrs. Let this story be an encouragement and a challenge to us.....
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They were singing choruses when the two soldiers entered with rifles. The service came to a halt as the Russian soldiers stared at the believers with wild eyes.
"What are you doing here?" they shouted. "Worshipping your imaginary God?" The church members cowered in the pews, wondering if there were more soldiers and more guns outside.
"All those who are faithful to God, move to the right side of the church," said one of the soldiers, his face a mask of hatred. "You will be shot for your faith. You who wish to go home and keep your life, stand on the left side. You must decide to live or die. Those who are faithful to this 'God' will die. Those who deny him can live freely."
Ten minutes earlier, everyone had sung praises equally. Now it was a question of life and death. Some stood to the left, looking sadly or waving apologetically to those on the right. Some stood on the right, their eyes closed in last-minute prayers.
"You on the left are free to go," one of the soldiers said moments later. Those people filed out, taking one last look at those who would soon be dead.
When only those on the right remained, the soldiers put down their weapons. "We, too, are Christians," they said, "but we wish to worship without hypocrites."
Did you know that Oprah Winfrey claims that her New Age religious beliefs and Christianity are 100 percent compatible?
As millions of Christians sit in churches each Sunday morning, they are sitting there with a lot of confusion in their heads.
Some churches are teaching the truth about the foundations of the Christian faith, but the majority of churches are not. But what makes things worse is the hours upon hours of television these Christians are absorbing each week where they hear negative messages about the traditional Christian faith from celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah claims that the New Age principles she is teaching do not contradict Christianity while at the same time she viciously attacks the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith and publicly rips them to pieces:
Most Americans are not aware that Christianity is the most persecuted religion on the planet. It is illegal or severely restricted in 51 different countries. Fundamentalist Muslim nations, fanatical Hindu countries and hardline Communist regimes are not shy about their hatred for Christianity.
Christians in the United States do not realize how easy they have had it. In many areas of the world following Christ means paying a high price - and often the price a believer must pay is with their life.
For example, Iran's parliament has passed a new law which makes it illegal for a Muslim to become a Christian, and that any Muslim that does become a Christian must be executed.
In many areas of India, Christians who try to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ are regularly attacked by Hindu extremists.
The following is a recent example of this persecution that was emailed to me by The Voice Of The Martyrs:
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On April 25, Pastor Mohan Babu and two other believers were severely beaten by 35 Hindu extremists for holding a Vacation Bible School (VBS) near Bangalore City, in Karnataka State. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts in India, the three-day VBS was organized by Ragigudda Baptist Church. VOM sources said, "Around 60 children from different backgrounds were attending the VBS. As they were worshiping, about 35 people belonging to a Hindu extremist group forcefully entered the hut chanting slogans and demolished the hut. The extremists mercilessly beat Mohan, Samuel and Krishna, alleging forceful conversion. The perpetrators chased the children without any courtesy and tore the Bibles. Mohan was severely injured on his lips and was profusely bleeding. The believers are living in fear and did not lodge complaint with the police." Pray for healing for all those injured in this attack. Pray they forgive their attackers and for the children who were attending VBS to continue growing in their faith despite the attack.
But it is not just in a few areas where Christians are persecuted. It is truly a worldwide phenomenon.....
* It has been estimated that more Christians were martyred in the 20th Century than in the previous 1,900 years combined.
* There were more than 26 million documented cases of martyrdom in the 20th century alone.
* More than 200 million Christians in over 60 nations face persecution each day, and it is estimated that over half of these are children.
* It is estimated that between 150,000 and 165,000 Christians are martyred each year.
The following is a partial list of countries where Christians are currently being persecuted:
China Religious Freedom Rating: 6 (7 is worst) Widespread persecution of church leaders and members, especially those in unregistered (underground) churches, which may represent as many as 100 million believers.
Indonesia Religious Freedom Rating: 5 (7 is worst) Militant Muslims have waged periodic Jihad (‘Holy War’) against Christian communities in the Molucca Islands and Sulawesi. Over 600 churches have been destroyed since 1996.
Nigeria Religious Freedom Rating: 5 (7 is worst) The imposition of Islamic Sharia law in more than 10 states has caused thousands of Christians to flee, and has exacerbated differences between the predominantly Christian south and the Islamic north.
North Korea Religious Freedom Rating: 7 (7 is worst) Over 100,000 people, including many Christians, are believed to be imprisoned in North Korea’s barbaric death camps. The brutal dictatorship of Kim Jong Il suppresses all religious activities, and imposes a personality cult based around the ‘Great Leader’.
Pakistan Religious Freedom Rating: 6 (7 is worst) Pakistan’s poorly-drafted 295c blasphemy laws, which carry the death penalty for ‘blaspheming Mohammed’, have been misused against Christians and other minorities. Militant Muslims are increasingly attacking churches and Christian organizations.
Sudan Religious Freedom Rating: 7 (7 is worst) Famine and the long-running civil war between the Muslim North and Christian/animist South have led to over two million deaths in the last two decades. Thousands of Southern Sudanese have been literally enslaved after being seized in government raids.
Cuba Religious Freedom Rating: 6 (7 is worst) The church was initially persecuted by the Communist regime of Fidel Castro, when church leaders were sent to labour camps. Christians now enjoy greater freedom, although house churches are still subject to repression.
Colombia Religious Freedom Rating: 4 (7 is worst) Pastors have been targeted by guerrilla movements such as FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), with 400 churches being forced to close in areas under the control of armed groups. Christians have also been killed for speaking out against violence and the widespread drug trade.
Morocco Religious Freedom Rating: 4 (7 is worst) Anyone converting to Christianity can face charges of treachery and illegal contact with foreign missions. A small Moroccan church is emerging, estimated to number some 500 indigenous believers in 2000.
Mauritania Religious Freedom Rating: 6 (7 is worst) Islam is the state religion, and conversion from Islam is strictly forbidden. The Catholic Church is the only recognised religious group outside of Islam. Sharia law is intermittently applied.
Algeria Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) In recent years Christians have been attacked by the Islamic Salvation Front, and Islamic fundamentalists are pushing for the implementation of Sharia law.
Libya Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Sunni Islam is the state religion, but secular influences are strong. There are very few Libyan Christian believers. There is a limit of one church per denomination per city.
Egypt Religious Freedom Rating: 5 (7 is worst) The constitution gives preference to Muslims, and Christians are often treated as second-class citizens, denied political representation and discriminated against in employment. The Egyptian Coptic Church is by far the largest body of Christians in the Middle East.
Somalia Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) The small Somali church has been driven underground, and exists mainly in the south. A number of believers have been martyred, others have been publicly named as targets for execution.
Turkey Religious Freedom Rating: 5 (7 is worst) The Christian Population has declined from 22 per cent in 1900 to 0.32 per cent today. There is increasing openness by the government to recognise Turkey as a multi-cultural, multi-religious country. Periodic acts of violence against non-Muslim institutions.
Syria Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Christian minorities are tolerated and have freedom to worship and witness within their own community, but all activities that could threaten the government or communal harmony are carefully watched.
Kuwait Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Christians are free to live and work in Kuwait, but must worship in a recognized location. Evangelism to Kuwaitis is forbidden.
Saudi Arabia Religious Freedom Rating: 7 (7 is worst) Saudi Arabia is the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. Any citizen who converts from Islam to another religion faces the death penalty. Islamic Sharia law is the main source of legislation.
Qatar Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Criticism of the ruling family monarchy or Islam is a crime. However expatriate believers are allowed to practice their faith.
Yemen Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) It is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity, and those Yemenis who do face many social pressures. Most Christians in the country are expatriates, many being Ethiopian refugees.
Oman Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Churches and church activities for expatriates are allowed, but evangelism of Muslims is forbidden. There is a handful of indigenous believers.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Islam is the state religion. Expatriate Christians, representing many different language groups, have freedom to worship and witness to their faith.
Iran Religious Freedom Rating: 7 (7 is worst) Shi’a Islam is the state religion. Conversion from Islam to another faith is a capital crime. There is a ban on the printing of all Christian literature, and constant surveillance of churches and those who attend them.
Iraq Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) After the fall of Saddam Hussein, members of underground churches are struggling to practice their faith. The Christian community is largely Assyrian, with some Armenians. About one-third of all Christians fled Iraq in the 1990s.
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Religious Freedom Rating: 4-7 (7 is worst) The CIS comprises Russia and 11 other republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Christians face harassment and repression from both old-guard Communists, and Islamic militants.
Afghanistan Religious Freedom Rating: na (7 is worst) Public persecution of Christians has once again emerged, and Christians still face constant harassment from militant Muslims.
Nepal Religious Freedom Rating: 5 (7 is worst) Militant Hindus are targeting Christians with hostile propaganda and violence; while Maoist guerrillas, who control one-fifth of the country, have also attacked Christians.
India Religious Freedom Rating: 5 (7 is worst) States such as Orissa and Gujarat have been racked by violence as radical Hindus have attacked Christian communities. Six Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws that impose prison terms and fines against anyone using force, fraud or allurement to convert another.
Bangladesh Religious Freedom Rating: 6 (7 is worst) Islam is the state religion, and radical Muslims are pushing for the introduction of full Islamic Sharia law. Hindus, Christians and Buddhists have all experienced religious discrimination and attacks by militant Muslims.
Sri Lanka Religious Freedom Rating: 4 (7 is worst) Buddhism is given the ‘foremost place’ in the Constitution. Militant Buddhists have increasingly instigated mob violence against evangelical Christians in rural areas. 65 churches were attacked in 2003.
Bhutan Religious Freedom Rating: 6 (7 is worst) All public worship and evangelism by non-Buddhists is illegal. The king wields absolute power, and there are no legal guarantees on freedom of religion.
Burma (Myanmar) Religious Freedom Rating: 7 (7 is worst) The State Peace and Development Council attempts to control every religious activity. All gatherings of five or more people are illegal. Ethnic minorities, such as the Karen, have been targets of repression.
Malaysia Religious Freedom Rating: 4 (7 is worst) Although the constitution guarantees religious freedom, fundamentalist Muslims do everything in their power politically to inhibit Christian evangelism. Ethnic Malays are not allowed to have a Christian place of worship.
Laos Religious Freedom Rating: n/a (7 is worst) Communist leaders in some districts have implemented a program called ‘New Mechanism’ in which anyone who does not convert to Buddhism or animism is forcibly removed from their district. Christian villagers have been forced to sign documents renouncing their faith.
Eritrea Religious Freedom Rating: n/a (7 is worst) Evangelical Christians have come under increasing pressure. Only four religious groups are allowed to hold public meetings: Muslims, Catholics, Orthodox and Lutheran. Evangelical Christians have been imprisoned.
Maldives Religious Freedom Rating: n/a (7 is worst) This popular holiday destination in the Indian Ocean hides a repressive regime. Free speech is not respected for the press or non-Muslim religions. In 1998 all known Maldivian Christians were arrested.
Tibet Religious Freedom Rating: 7 (7 is worst) Christians find themselves caught between pressure from both Buddhism and Chinese communism. In 1999 the Chinese Communist Party in Lhasa decreed that atheism is necessary to promote economic development in the region, and to assist the struggle against the Dalai Lama (who fled in 1959).
Most Western Christians truly have NO IDEA what life has been like for some Christians in other areas of the world.
Pastor Florescu couldn't bear to watch his son being beaten by the Communist officers. He had already been beaten himself, and he had not slept for two weeks for fear of being attacked by the starving rats the Communists had forced into his prison cell. The Romanian police wanted Florescu to give up other members of his underground church so that they, too, could be captured.
Seeing that the beatings and torture weren't working, the Communists brought in Florescu's son Alexander, only fourteen years old, and began to beat the boy. While Florescu watched, they hammered his son's body unmercifully, telling the pastor that they would beat his son to death unless he told them the locations of other believers.
Finally, half mad, Florescu screamed for them to stop.
"Alexander, I must say what they want!" he called out to his son. "I can't bear your beatings anymore."
His body bruised, blood running from his nose and mouth, Alexander looked his father in the eye. "Father, don't do me the injustice of having a traitor as a parent. Stand strong! If they kill me, I will die with the word Jesus on my lips."
The boy's courage enraged the Communist guards, and they beat him to death as his father watched. Not only did he hold on to his faith, he helped his father do the same.
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But perhaps you don't think it could happen in the United States?
Just check out this stunning footage of a mob assaulting a Christian woman and stomping on a cross:
The Christian life is not nearly as complicated as some people make it out to be. There are certain basic elements to living a successful Christian life that are as true today as they were 2000 years ago.
The reality is that the Christian life is kind of like a wheel. The diagram posted below has always been extremely helpful for me in assessing where I am at in my Christian walk.
You see, there are 3 main parts of the wheel below.
The first, and most important, part of the wheel is the hub. Jesus Christ (Yahshua) must be the center of our lives or we will quickly find ourselves in a mess. Ask any strong Christian what has happened when they have drifted away from the Lord. Inevitably their lives started going downhill and things started getting out of control. The same thing would happen quickly to any wheel if you took away the center of that wheel.
Galatians 2:20 says this:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Once we have Christ as the center of our lives, then we can focus on getting the vertical spoke and the horizontal spoke working correctly.
You see, the Christian life is about our relationship with God and our relationships with others.
In Matthew 22, Jesus (Yahshua) summed this up perfectly when he was responding to a question about which commandment is the greatest:
Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Do you see what Jesus (Yahshua) is saying here?
He is telling us that we must love the Lord with everything that we have, and we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
In fact, if you look at the 10 Commandments, the first 4 deal with our relationship with God, and the last six deal with our relationship with others.
That is one of the reasons why I love this wheel diagram so much.
The vertical spoke is all about our relationship with God. In order to have a healthy relationship with God, we need to be talking to God through prayer (and fasting) and we need to be letting God speak to us through His Word.
The horizontal spoke is about our relationship with others. We need to be in regular fellowship with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to be sharing the love and truth of God with the world through our evangelism.
If any of these areas are a weak point for you, the good news is that if you work on them you can strengthen your walk with the Lord.
I would encourage all of you to meditate a bit on this diagram and to evaluate where you are at in each area and where you can make improvements in your own Christian life:
According to WorldNetDaily, Barack Obama told the Palestinian leadership during a trip to that region in July that he supports a Palestinian state and a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, but he asked them to keep his remarks secret, according to a Lebanese newspaper.
So Barack Obama wants to divide up the land of Israel and give the Palestinians a capital in east Jerusalem.
As if we didn't have enough problems.....
Not that John McCain wouldn't have been much better. He was completely committed to the "two state solution".
Don't our political leaders realize what they are doing?
In Genesis 12:3, God warns that those who curse Israel will be cursed when he promised this to Abraham:
"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
In the book of Joel, God warns specifically against dividing the land of Israel.
Joel 3:1-2 states, "...I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up my land."
Bill Koenig, the author of Israel: The Blessing or the Curse, has said, "We know for a fact that God gave this land, through the Abrahamic covenant, He gave the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, and this land is God's land."
In the Scriptures, the prophet Zechariah warned the nations about the city of Jerusalem in particular: "On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." (Zechariah 12:3)
So is there any evidence of a curse on those who try to divide the land of Israel existing today?
Consider some examples.....
#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.
The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.
#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.
Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the bullseye for deadly twisters, reducing what was left of businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoes of May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.
#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by the first President Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.
That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.
#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. The talks continued to focus on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving a 32 billion dollar disaster.
#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.
On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.
#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate the settlers from Gaza.
On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. The storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.
#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel to attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan, a plan calling for among other things, cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.
On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".
There are many more examples of this phenomenon listed here:
Just when you've totally given up on California.....
On a day when Californians overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama, California voters approved an amendment to their constitution banning same sex marriage, overturning the California Supreme Court decision that gave gay couples the right to wed just a few months ago.
With almost 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Proposition 8 was leading 52 percent to 48 percent.
The battle over Proposition 8 was one of the most intense fights over a ballot initiative in American history. The "Yes on (Proposition) 8" campaign had raised 35 million dollars and had sent out about 100,000 volunteers all over the state of California.
The "No on 8" faction had raised about 38 million dollars and had about 10,000 volunteers.
Campaign donations for this fight came in from all across America, with Christians and Mormons donating for the constitutional amendment, and gay rights activists and Hollywood stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and Brad Pitt donating to oppose it.
Chip White, the co-campaign manager for the "Yes on (Proposition) 8" campaign said this after seeing the results: "Momentum continues to be on our side as California recognizes the serious consequences if gay marriage remains legal."
Florida and Arizona also voted Tuesday to ban gay marriage, joining dozens of other states that define marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman. In both Florida and Arizona, there were laws that already defined marriage as a heterosexual institution, but supporters pushed to amend the state constitutions, claiming that doing so would protect marriage from future legal challenges.
So it ended up being a really great election for the opponents of gay marriage.
However, it is important to note that the California vote against gay marriage was not as strong as it was eight years ago.
Eight years ago, Californians voted 61% to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. So Tuesday's vote was substantially weaker.
But it still passed, and that is something to be thankful for.
President George W. Bush believes that Christians, Muslims and all other religions pray to the same God. In stunning public statements, Bush has admitted that he prays to the God of Islam, that non-Christians and Muslims will go to heaven and that he has "nothing but praise" for Islam.
You don't believe us?
President Bush has said these things publicly over and over.....
CHARLES GIBSON:Do we all worship the same God, Christian and Muslim?
PRESIDENT BUSH:I think we do.
CHARLES GIBSON:Does ...
PRESIDENT BUSH:We have different routes of getting to the Almighty.
(Later in the interview.....)
CHARLES GIBSON:Do Christians and non-Christians and Muslims go to heaven in your mind?
PRESIDENT BUSH:Yes, they do. We have different routes of getting there.
But it wasn't just during the Charles Gibson interview that Bush declared himself to be a universalist.....
In a stunning interview with Al Arabiya television, Bush said, "I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God."
During that same interview Bush also said, "I believe there is a universal God. I believe the God that the Muslim prays to is the same God that I pray to. After all, we all came from Abraham. I believe in that universality."
As we get closer to the return of Jesus Christ, the persecution of Christians is going to get more intense, and more Christians will be facing the prospect of dying for their faith.
Will modern Christians have the courage to hold on to their faith in the face of torture and death?
There is much we can learn from the past. In particular, there is much that we can learn from the story of a 12 year old Japanese boy.
After they all had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to die, twenty-six Christians were marched to the place where crudely made crosses stood. Almost three months earlier, they had been arrested in Kyoto, Japan, and charged with following Christ. One of the convicts was named Ibaragi Kun.
Seeing how young Kun was, an official took him aside and urged him to recant his faith to save his life. Looking the official in the eye, Kun said confidently, "Sir, it would be far better if you yourself became a Christian. Then you could go to heaven with me."
The officer stared, startled by the young man's faith. Finally, Ibaragi asked, "Sir, which cross is mine?"
The bewildered official pointed to the smallest of the twenty-six crosses. Young Kun ran to the cross, knelt before it, and embraced it. When the soldiers began to nail his hands and feet to the cross, he did not cry out in pain. He courageously accepted the path God had laid out for him.
The crucifixion of twenty-six Christians on November 23, 1596, was the beginning of a period of intense persecution of Christians in Japan.
Over the next seventy years, as many as one million Japanese Christians would be killed for their faith. Many would embrace their own crosses to follow the example of Ibaragi Kun, a very mature twelve-year-old boy.
Greatest Scam In History?
