2 Timothy 3:12 – “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Yeshua Ha’Mashiach will be persecuted.”
Many are the signs pointing to the imminent return of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach and the beginning of the Tribulation period. In Part Two of the Burgeoning Signs Series, we examine the signs primarily regarding the growing persecution of Christians and Christianity.
Christians Are Being Greatly Persecuted
Christians worldwide are being arrested or killed for their faith. An American teacher in Yemen was killed for “proselytizing” on March 18, 2012. Jihad has been unleashed against Christians living in Iraq, causing them to flee to Syria. Unfortunately, Syria is now experiencing a level of persecution against Christians never before seen. By March 26, 2012, militant Islamists had expelled the majority of Christians from the city of Homs, according to one report.
Read More: Reuters Article
Read More: Frontpage Mag Article
Read More: Gatestone Institute Article
Read More: Christian Post Article
Persecution International reports several attacks on Christians in Turkey and in India, as well:
Read More: Persecution Org Article
Read More: Persecution Org Article
Nigeria has seen some of the worst attacks against Christians. On Sunday, March 11, suicide bombers approached St. Finbar’s Catholic Church, were forced to detonate their bomb early, killing at least nine church members.
Read More: Persecution Org Article
Tom Horn reports that more Christians are dying for their faith in the twentieth century than at any other time in history, chiefly outside of the United States, but statistics show that persecution of Christians is also on the increase within the United States.
Read More: Worthy News Article
Christians Are Being Forced Out of Their Homelands
Coptic Christians in Egypt, because of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, may force them to leave their homeland. “Tolerance is not a characteristic Islamists embrace,” said Michael Rubin, Middle East analyst for the American Enterprise Institute.
Read More: WND Article
South Sudanese Christians are facing a deadline to leave Sudan no later than April 8, 2012 or face being killed. The ultimatum will affect an estimated 500,000-700,000 people.
Read More: Persecution Org Article
Christians are also leaving Gaza and other Palestinian territories, due to the continued rise of Islam’s political power. Today there are virtually no Christians left in the Gaza Strip, and the recent victories of Islamist parties in elections in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt is causing concern in those nations.
Read More: Ilsussidiario Article
Christianity is Being Targeted
Is Christianity really being targeted? If so, what are the targets? Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas and Nativity scenes are targets. Businesses and public areas have been the targets of lawsuits because they have had a Nativity scene displayed out front. Humanists and Atheists attack the Bible claiming that it just a book of superstitions and myths. Numerous Christian businesses have been sued for refusing to rent to homosexuals. School children are disciplined or suspended for bringing Bibles to class or for talking about Jesus to their classmates. Prayer before athletic games and other events is forbidden. Christianity is being forced out of any governmental rulings. The Pew Research Center has found that many Americans believe political leaders express too much faith and prayer. But these are just the a small part of the ways in which Christianity is being targeted.
Read More: Examiner Article
Read More: WND Article
Read More: Fox News Article
Read More: Prisoner of Conscience Article
Read More: Guardian UK Article
Read More: Philly Com Article
Read More: Washington Post Article
On Friday, January 20, 2012, the Obama administration finalized a regulation that ordered all Americans to purchase government approved health insurance that covers sterilizations and contraceptives, including drugs that cause abortions, without any fees or co-pay, as part of the implementation of “Obamacare”. This ruling violates the faith of many Christians who consider sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion to be a violation of God’s commandments against murder and adultery.
Read More: CNS News Article
Members of an Internet hacker group took down three church websites on March 2, 2012 and changed their sites to show a Richard Dawkins clip and a statement declaring that all religion is a sickness. Other groups, such as Anonymous, continue to accuse religion and Christianity as being a source for most of the wars that have occurred throughout history.
Read More: Christian Post Article
A foreign group called Sexual Minorities of Uganda has sued a Massachusetts pastor under a law that is usually used to target torture, genocide, war crimes and summary executions. “This lawsuit against Rev. Scott Lively is a gross attempt to use a vague international law to silence, and eventually criminalize, speech by U.S. citizens on homosexuality and moral issues,” said Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.
WND Article
Churches And Home Meetings Are Being Targeted
Last April, the city of San Juan Capistrano issued a notice to the hosts of a Bible Study claiming that the meetings violated the city’s Municipal Code for Residential Districts by holding meetings for an “organization” in a residential area. Regular gatherings of more than 3 people, they claim, require a CUP and warned that future infractions would carry a heftier penalty of $500, up from a June fine amount of $200.
Read More: Lifesite News Article
Read More: LA Times Article
In August, the City of Mission, Kansas, passed the so-called “driveway tax”, a controversial charge designed to raise revenues that forces churches to pay a “tax” based on the number of times their driveway is used, despite the state’s Attorney General’s statement that such a tax is illegal.
Read More: WND Article
Read More: Press TV Article
Read More: Fox News Article
Other city and county governments have found another rather unique method of backdoor taxation on nonprofits. They simply double the water bill for all churches and schools.
Read More: Charisma News Article
Banks are foreclosing on America’s churches in record numbers as lenders become less willing to grant forbearance to those that have defaulted or are struggling to make timely payments on their mortgages.
Read More: Reuters Article
Palestinian Authority Officials on Saturday, March 10, 2012, informed Bethlehem’s First Baptist Church that it has no authority to function as a religious institution. The church can still gather to pray for now, but the PA will not recognize church documents verifying births, deaths, marriages, etc. The PA’s announcement came right on the heels of the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference.
Read More: Persecution Org Article
Jerusalem churches, cemeteries, and schools are being vandalized, including Narkis Street Baptist Congregation, and a Christian cemetery on Mount Zion. In attacks, the vandals spray paint slogans such as “Jesus is dead,” “Death to Christianity” and “Mary was a prostitute.” They also includ the by-now customary “price tag” slogan.
Read More: LoonWatch Article
Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al al-Sheikh, the grand mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, declared to a terrorist group that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches in the Arabian Peninsula”, says the National Review. The Kuwaiti parliament has been seeking to demolish churches or at least prohibit the construction of new ones within that country’s borders for quite some time, now, as it is not permissible for any other church besides Islam to coexist in any country ruled by Islam.
Read More: National Rreview Article
Conclusion
This year, 2012, shows all the signs of being another remarkable year and who’s signs are pointing to the perception that the end of the age is drawing near. The growing persecution of Christians and Christianity is real and growing. Prophecy continues to unfold as foretold by the Hebrew prophets. The stage is being set. That being said, one can only ask: “How imminent is the return of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach?”
The Burgeoning Signs Series
Part One: Burgeoning Signs 1
Part Three: Burgeoning Signs 3
Part Four: Burgeoning Signs 4
Part Five: Burgeoning Signs 5
Rapture Party 