By Michael Ashcraft —

The next time an atheist accuses Christianity of being responsible for untold mass murder throughout history, point out to him that atheism in the 20th Century alone killed 200 million people.

“Godlessness kills,” says Barak Lurie in his new book Atheism Kills. “Godlessness has resulted in far more mayhem and murders than all Judeo-Christian religion institutions combined. There is no comparison. Virtually every culture that has rejected God has collapsed or engaged in horrific mayhem. By contrast, virtually all cultures grounded on the Judeo-Christian tradition have flourished.”

Atheistic governments, seeking to impose their vision of utopia, feel compelled to eliminate any and all opposition, according to research from Atheism Kills:

• The French Revolution: up to 40,000 deaths.
• Stalin: 20 million deaths.
• Mao Tse-tung: up to 70 million deaths.
• Fidel Castro: up to 141,000 deaths.
• Ho Chi Minh: up to 100,000 deaths.
• Pol Pot: 2 million deaths.
• Kim Il-sung: 1.5 million deaths.
• Hitler: 11 million deaths.

The list goes on. “Being an atheist dictator advancing atheist doctrine has always led to brutality and killings,” Lurie observes.

By comparison, what is the tally of the bloodbath supposedly orchestrated by Christianity?

• The Spanish Inquisition: up to 5,000 killed.
• The Crusades: 1 million killed.
• The Salem Witch Trials: 19 killed.
• The Ku Klux Klan: 3,446 killed.
• Religious wars post Reformation: 11 million.

“Atheism killed hundreds of millions in the span of only 30 years,” Lurie writes. “The number of killings on (the alleged) behalf of Christianity (are) minor in comparison and ranged over approximately 800 years.”

Lurie decided to become an atheist at age 11 when he stumbled across the clever arguments wielded by atheists. Then he went to college and rediscovered God through philosophy classes.

Fyodor Dostoevsky was instrumental to his floundering faith in atheism. The Russian novelist explored the consequences of atheism — the resulting absence of all morals — in Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.

“It was he who first made me see the dangerous world of my own atheism,” Lurie writes. “His books show the consequences of living according to dangerous beliefs.”

Lurie graduated with honors from Stanford University before earning a law degree from UCLA and a master’s in business administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business in 1989. He now is a managing partner of Lurie & Seltzer, a law firm in Los Angeles.

He finished Atheism Kills in 2017.

“Atheism Kills is a robust, relentlessly interesting and intellectually invigorating read,” says Dennis Prager in the foreword.

The book does more than just compare death census data. It also shows how atheism spawns bigger government, progressivism and eugenics (and its modern version: abortion).

The book exposes the flaws of atheism: Its moral relativity breeds evil. It deprives man of purpose and significance. It stymies arts and science. It has given no charitable organization to the world. It teaches man only to live for his own pleasure and not to risk one’s life to save another.

The author profiles one notorious incident, when Marc Lepine systematically shot and stabbed 14 women to death and injured 10 others at the University of Montreal in 1989. A misogynist, Levine released all the men from the engineering class — and they did nothing to try to stop him. The author maintains this cowardly posture is a natural outcome of atheism, Lurie says.

By contrast, U.S. Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, captured during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, rallied his fellow Americans to support the Jews in his company. When the concentration camp ordered all the Jews to report for killing the next morning, Edmonds, a committed Christian, organized the entire group of POWs to “fall out” the next morning.

The Nazi commander was bewildered: “They cannot all be Jews,” the camp leader barked.

“We are all Jews here,” Edmonds responded. “If you are going to shoot, you are going to have to shoot all of us because we know who you are and you’ll be tried for war crimes when we win this war.”

The commander relented, and Edmonds saved 200 Jewish American soldiers.

This is what a belief in God leads to: convictions about what is evil and what is worth dying for, according to Lurie.

Atheism Kills also takes aim at the absurd passivity of progressive governments when faced with radical Islam. These liberal and atheistic — or atheistic-leaning — governments are in fact empowering today’s “greatest threat to civilization.”

Lurie sees in Western Civilization a slow degeneration much like the fall of Rome.

But he sees hope. Atheism must be attacked so that faith in God and the restoration of values can rescue America — and Europe.

“Without God there can never be any universal interpretation of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil,” Lurie writes. “In a world where the human reigns supreme, you can expect only two outcomes: a world descending evermore into chaos or a world without liberty.”

Michael Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy of Santa Monica.

Source: God Reports, April 17, 2018

This article is in BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL 

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BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

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BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

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Justin Bieber leads 98.5 million in worship on Instagram

Superstar Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber has 98.5 million followers on Instagram, the photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook.

On April 8^th he made another bold expression of his faith in Jesus by singing the worship song “Reckless Love” on the social media platform.

“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God. Oh, it chases me down, fights till I’m found, leaves the 99…There’s no shadow you won’t light up, mountain you won’t climb up, running after me,” he sang.

The song was originally written by Corey Asbury, a worship pastor for Bethel Music.

In 2015, the pop sensation made a very public and stunning turnaround in his relationship with Christ, saying he had learned from the error of his ways, following run-ins with the law and an embarrassing slew of bad-boy antics.

“I actually feel better and more free now that I know what I can do and what I can’t do,” he told COMPLEX in 2015. “I’m gonna use my voice for a reason. I think that people, as soon as they start hearing me saying I’m a Christian, they’re like, “Whoa Justin, back up, take a step back.”

Bieber said then he wanted to pursue Christlikeness with increased focus – and he seems to be following through with that renewed purpose. “I do not want to shove this down anyone’s throat. I just wanna honestly live like Jesus. Not be Jesus—I could never—I don’t want that to come across weird. He created a pretty awesome template of how to love people and how to be gracious and kind. If you believe it, he died for our sins.”

“This is the latest example of how the singer has turned his large social media platform into a pulpit. A source close to him says his next album, which is expected to be released late this year or in early 2019, is going to focus on his faith,” CBN noted.

A source close to the singer told The Sun: “He has always been religious but the last two years have seen him grow closer to the Hillsong Church and it has changed his entire life. He has a totally different outlook now.”

“After he finished his last tour he really wasn’t interested in recording any music for a while,” the source also said.

“But his time with the church has revitalized him and although he is working with a lot of the same people who helped to make his last album, Purpose, he is reshaping his sound so it is more in line with the church’s values and beliefs,” the source was quoted as saying, “There are key themes of love and redemption in the tracks he has ­created so far. It will certainly ­surprise some fans.”

At Easter, he told his Instagram followers, “Jesus has changed my life.”

“Easter is not about a bunny, it’s a reminder that my Jesus died on the cross for my sins and then rose from the dead defeating death! I believe this happened and it changes everything! I am set free from bondage and shame. I am a child of the most high God and he loves me,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

Source: God Reports

This article is on BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

College Professor’s Near Death Experience –
he saw two portals leading to heaven and hell

By Dr. Steven Long, edited by Ben Godwin —

Only 12 percent of people who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital live to tell about it. Miraculously, Dr. Steven Long was in that number. He and his wife Vicky are co-founders of Global Champions, an organization that teaches young people life skills and character development in schools and businesses in several countries.

Steven’s heart attack struck during a ministry trip to Taiwan. On May 1, 2014, the air was so humid Steven felt like he was inhaling hot water. He had just finished two exhausting weeks of speaking engagements, with sleepless nights, back-to-back meetings and a full agenda of ministry.

That fateful morning, when the heart attack began he fell to the bathroom floor and passed out. When he awakened, he took a nitroglycerin tablet hoping to prevent death and called 911. Somehow, he managed to open the apartment door to let paramedics in.

An ambulance rushed him to the nearest hospital, but his heart would not keep beating. It flat-lined six times in route, so the EMTs kept him alive by defibrillation.

The paramedics called the hospital’s top-rated heart surgeon to meet them at the ER. Though he was headed home after a long day at the hospital, he returned to treat Steven (surely an act of divine providence). God was in control of everything.

Steven was rushed into emergency, triple bypass, open heart surgery. His heart was defibrillated three more times during the operation, resulting in burns on his back from the electrodes.

Unaware of Steven’s heart attack, his wife, Vicky, boarded a pre-planned 12-hour flight from San Francisco to Taiwan to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Global Champions. A leadership team met her at the airport, informed her of Steven’s dire condition, and rushed her to see him in the ICU.

After she arrived, the doctor lowered the medication, so he could regain consciousness and to see if he could recognize her voice. Vicky’s tender voice awakened him, “Hi Steve, it’s Vicky. I love you. I am here now, and everything is going to be OK.”

He opened his eyes, recognized her and tried to speak, but with all the tubes in his mouth and nose, he couldn’t talk. He looked frightened and his only words sounded like “Die” and “Help me.”

During his 23-day hospitalization, Steven had several near-death and out-of-body experiences, which he documents in his book Evading Death’s Grip.

“Standing next to the bed, I saw two hateful-eyed, wicked, nasty, mean, malignant beings who strangely appeared to be human,” he recounts in the book. “They looked like hospital workers, but I knew instinctively they were death’s emissaries.

“One stood next to me glowering with bloody, red eyes. He looked like a Chinese man, dressed in a blue zippered jacket with five Chinese characters written on the back, 死亡的幽灵 (loose translation—“spirit of death”). Next to him was a seven-plus-foot-tall, skinny Asian woman dressed in black.

“Who were they? Were they real people trying to kill me, hallucinations or possibly actual demonic beings? Why were they allowed in the ICU and who let them in? All I knew was that they were in my hospital room and their intentions were evil.

“I thought to myself, Their eyes look like those of demons I’ve seen and even cast out in the past in the name of Jesus, but how could this be since they were also seemingly human?

“I quickly discovered that I could not simply speak and make them leave, as I had done in the past. Various tubes protruded from my mouth and nose, and I was not able to talk. I was convinced that there were people trying to kill me. Paranoid, I thought there was poison in the IVs and kept pulling them out from the back of my hands, arms, and even feet, while the staff kept finding new places to put fluids and medicine into my body.

“I was not able to physically fight them and seemed to be frozen and unable to move. I could feel the restraints on my arms and legs tying me down to the bed which kept me from resisting. Another reason I was restrained was I could not distinguish the doctors and nurses from these two uninvited and unwanted visitors and would strike out at the staff or doctors or kick them if they approached me.

“I remembered a statement I’d heard people say over the years, ‘When in trouble, call on the name of Jesus.’ So, I started weakly doing that; I would exhale a whisper, ‘Jesus’ and inhale, ‘Is my Lord’ with every breath. I had so little strength, but it was enough.

“Soon, supernatural strength filled me, and I could literally feel something like electricity flowing into my body. Somehow, I knew I needed to address the attackers. So, I stated, ‘In the name of Jesus, stop!’

“At the mention of the name of Jesus, they stopped, glared at me, turned and quickly left the room. The Bible instructs us to ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7) and it really worked!”

In another out-of-body experience while in the hospital, Steven saw a brilliant white room containing a window-like portal on the floor and the earth suspended in it. He watched as two paths shot out from the earth: one extended out into darkness that was so pitch black it could be felt, the other path stretched toward an amazingly brilliant light.

Curious, he put his foot on the path leading to darkness and was immediately overwhelmed by feelings of being completely lost. He felt loneliness and despair like never before in a blackness that kept intensifying and coming closer by the second. He could hear the terrifying groans and screams of lost people stumbling around in the dark, falling over one another. Other sounds were horrific beyond one’s imagination.

As this eerie darkness enveloped him, he removed his foot from that path and placed his other foot on the path leading toward the brilliant light. It contained a far greater spectrum of light than we have on earth. The dazzling colors were heavenly and standing way off in the distance at the end of the path, was a silhouette of a person.

He knew intuitively that it must be Jesus; His majestic white hair and beard and His fiery eyes were the same as he’d read about in the Bible (Rev. 1:13-15). A tidal wave of love washed over him. He was overwhelmed by the penetrating light and the purest love and knew that God was embracing him and welcoming him into heaven.

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:5-7, NKJV).

Steven was given a glimpse into both ends of the paths that our lives can follow. We all choose one path or the other.

Later, a physical therapist asked Steven, “Is it OK to wait until we get to the point of death to make the God-decision?”

“I believe I was given the vision/experience of the two paths to provide a greater understanding,” Steven replied. “We need to decide what path we will walk on before we enter death and our soul is separated from our body.”

“Paul urged his readers to decide to serve God without delay, ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’” (2 Cor. 6:2, NKJV)

Dr. Steven Long fully recovered from his 2014 heart attack and surgery and has increased his ministry efforts. Since that pivotal point in his life, Dr. Long has researched over 1,500 sources of near-death and out-of-body experiences and has become an expert in this intriguing field of study.

Many of his findings are included in his book in which he cites several documented cases that prove there is indeed life after death. Steven personally walked through the portal of death and returned to tell the world about the path that truly leads to eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. Steven is more than a cardiac arrest survivor—he’s a walking miracle and an eyewitness of the unseen spiritual realm that awaits us beyond time and into eternity.

If you want to know more about a personal relationship with God, go here 

Dr. Steven Long serves as an assistant professor of leadership and financial freedom via distance learning in two universities in Taiwan. His book is available at evadingdeathsgrip.com, deeperrevelationbooks.org, and amazon.com. He and his wife, Victoria, live in California.

Source: God Reports, March 2018

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX 

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

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Thank you so much for your financial and/or prayer support for my trip to Uganda. My expectations for the trip were exceeded far and above, and God did more within and through me than I could ever imagine. Without your support in prayer and intercession I doubt that it would have had so large an impact on my life. If I needed further confirmation that God is calling me to missions in developing nations, I certainly received it through this trip.

Highlights

There are too many highlights to count, but I will share a few of my favourite stories.

The first was an open-air crusade in the slum of Namatala, where I was asked spontaneously to preach. I spoke on the story of Lazarus, and Jesus being the Resurrection and the Life. Afterwards, our team collectively prayed for at least 100+ people, with many receiving Christ, people being healed and delivered, and children being connected to the Bible Clubs that JENGA runs.

A second highlight was meeting my sponsor child and his family, and getting to know him over several days. It was a blessing to see the fruits of JENGA’s ministry in his life – he is an orphan living with extended family, became a Christian (after being raised as a Muslim) through a JENGA Bible Club at the local church, and has become a hard-working and thriving student.

My third highlight is not ministry related, but rather the extended periods of time I was able to spend with God. This was one of the things I was looking forward to the most: living for 6 weeks without first world distractions, and being able to prepare myself spiritually for a season of hectic ministry in 2018. I was able to spend heaps of time in the Word, took up the underrated discipline of memorising chapters of the Bible (Romans 8, John 15, Isaiah 53, Matthew 5), and managed to read 22 books. This was one of the most valuable parts of my experience.

Challenges

After having to leave Schoolies early to fly to Uganda, I did feel a bit of FOMO [fear of missing out] early in the trip. Towards the end, my mind switched to mission mode in Australia, as I started to envision all of God’s plans for ministry this year aligning with mine.

The major challenge for me was existing within a team environment with people at various stages of Christian maturity. God taught me the importance of speaking and acting in grace and love, particularly over less important theological issues.

Changes

This trip was so fruitful in terms of the transformation that God made within me. I now have a clearer picture of my calling (South-East Asia/Pacific Islands) and how I could use my gifts serving long-term.

I have a clearer understanding of God’s voice, and am more confident in speaking prophetically into people’s lives, Christians and non-Christians. This came unexpectedly, but was mainly due to the many opportunities to do so at JENGA, out on the streets, during ministry times, and within our team.

My relationship with Christ has become so much stronger, through my dependence on His grace, provision, and plan for my life. I feel more equipped in my understanding of theology, evangelism, and leadership.

Again, I cannot emphasise how grateful I am for your support. It seems like 6 weeks is hardly enough time to make any lasting impact in any place, but God has shown He can do anything. This letter even seems excessive for such a short trip. But it has had an eternal impact on me. I’m hoping and praying that God will continue to send me to the ends of the Earth.

Love, Josh

Joshua Foo on Facebook – more photos

A Community Bereft

Mudit lived near a tea estate with thousands of other families. For years, their primary occupation had consisted of harvesting and processing tea leaves. The wages were never spectacular; sometimes they were barely enough for each family to survive. Then the estates started to close.

The communities quickly deteriorated as families struggled to make ends meet. Teenagers turned to thievery, cutting down public trees for lumber and stripping the area of metal to sell for scrap. Some families moved away, seeking to find a fresh start elsewhere. Many who remained took the daily risk of traveling in search of work, potentially wasting a day and travel expenses if work wasn’t available.

Mudit, despite being 65 and unable to do much physical labor, soon found himself among that group. If he found work, he could earn a small amount every day, but that only happened three or four days a week.

“I struggled to provide for my children’s education, for their clothing and food. If anybody is sick at home, I have to borrow money from people.”

“I struggled to provide for my children’s education, for their clothing and food,” Mudit explains. “If anybody is sick at home, I have to borrow money from people.”

He endeavored to grow potatoes and other vegetables to feed his young children, but wild elephants would occasionally help themselves to the produce from his small plot of land.

“I am not able to buy enough food for the children,” Mudit says. “What we have, we try to manage with that.”

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)