Has Egypt’s experiment with Islamism failed?

By Dan Murphy JewishWorldReview.com |

The Muslim Brotherhood’s dominance may be over but its members may yet rejoice.

Making sense of the rough and tumble of politics in the shadow of the pyramids

CAIRO — (TCSM) When mass protests broke out against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Jan. 25, 2011, the Muslim Brotherhood was on the cusp of a historic opportunity.

The Brothers didn’t start or organize the protests. That honor belonged to a loose coalition of leftists, democratic reformers, and Internet activists who used the murder of a young businessman by Egypt’s thuggish police, and the example of Tunisia’s own revolt, as the springboard for a history-altering uprising. The Brotherhood, fearful of a government crackdown as always, didn’t even join the protests until the handwriting was on the wall.

But the Brothers knew they were Egypt’s most popular and best-organized grass-roots movement and were perfectly poised to take advantage of a political opening. They grabbed the opportunity.

Now, 2-1/2 years later Mohamed Morsi, the man the Brothers propelled to Egypt’s presidency, is under house arrest, and his allies swept from political office and influence by the military. Brotherhood news media have been shuttered and arrest warrants issued for the group’s leaders. The same military that gave them their chance at power when it deposed Mr. Mubarak booted them from office in a second coup after protests that dwarfed those of 2011.

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Christian Persecution is Motivating Muslims ‘To Know Christ’

By Janet Parshall – Special to CP – May 13, 2013

With all of the unrest being reported in countries like Egypt, Syria and Libya, perhaps the real untold story is the record number of Christians leaving the Muslim world.

According to Open Doors USA, at least 100 million Christians in 65 countries suffer persecution. For example, as the situation in Syria continues to intensify, it is very easy to forget the plight of Syrian Christians who are fleeing the country.

In his new book, Crucified Again, Raymond Ibrahim writes that Christians in that country are being targeted for kidnapping, plundering and beheadings. He reports that regions and towns that were once populated with Christians are now emptied.

Ibrahim was raised by Egyptian Coptic Christians and has detailed how, in October of 2012, the last Christian was murder in Homs, a vibrant Christian community that was once home to 80,000 believers. Tom Doyle, of e3 Partners, has said the Syrian situation is one of the “largest humanitarian disasters in the Middle East in probably the last ten years.”

But the crisis for Christians goes beyond Syria. Nigeria is now the country with the highest number of slaughtered Christians. Last year, more than 900 Christ-followers were victims of the Boko Haram group and other Islamic militants.

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Christians are harassed in more countries — 130 — than any other religion in the world

Kirsten Powers – USA Today – April 2, 2013

Christians are harassed in more countries — 130 — than any other religion in the world.

  • Tragically, Christians have been forced to abandon homelands they have occupied for thousands of years.
  • Prosecution of Christians in the Middle East needs more attention.

“Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world.” So asserted German Chancellor Angela Merkel late last year, causing a stir. Merkel echoed a concern expressed by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who warned in a 2011 speech that Christians face a “particularly wicked program of cleansing in the Middle East, religious cleansing.”

Not ‘War on Christmas’

Now, this is not about clerks who say “Happy Holidays” or bans of nativity scenes in public schools. Merkel spoke of real persecution of hundreds of millions of Christians around the world. Indeed, a 2011 Pew Forum study found that Christians are harassed in 130 countries, more than any of the world’s other religions.

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Muslim Cleric: ‘I Hate Christians and Am Disgusted by Them’

April 3, 2013 By Raymond Ibrahim of Frontpage Magazine

 Dr. Abdullah Badr—an Egyptian Muslim scholar, Al Azhar graduate, and professor of Islamic exegesis, who spent ten years in prison under Mubarak, but, along with any number of Islamic terrorists and agitators, was released under Morsi—recently gave an excellent summation of the second half of the highly divisive Muslim doctrine of wala’ wa bara’ (or, “Love and Hate”)—namely, that the true Muslim should love and help fellow Muslims, while hating and being disgusted by non-Muslims.

During a conference last week (see video below, with English subtitles) he explained how he is so “disgusted” by Christians, to the point that, if a Christian were to touch his cup, he would not drink from it:

[It’s] not a matter of piety, but disgust. I get grossed out.  Get that?  Disgust, I get grossed out man, I cannot stand their smell or … I don’t like them, it’s my choice.  And they gross me out; their smell, their look, everything.  I feel disgusted, disgusted.  I get disgusted not only by that, but by many things.

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Such horrific persecution – Bill Muehlenberg of CutureWatch

April 12, 2013 - Bill Muehlenberg of CultureWatch-  http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/ Dear friends One. We will one day stand before our Lord and give an account of why we frittered away our…

Continue ReadingSuch horrific persecution – Bill Muehlenberg of CutureWatch

Will New Kenyan President Work to End Christian Persecution?

3/14/2013 World Watch Monitor – Charisma News

Among their first formal meetings as president and deputy president-elect of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto met senior religious leaders on Tuesday, even ahead of meeting outgoing President Mwai Kibaki.

Kenyatta emerged the winner by garnering 6173,453 votes, meeting the threshold of the country’s Constitution which required a 50 percent +1 vote of all total votes cast. This was the first election to be held under a new Constitution passed by Kenyans in 2010.

The threshold requirement was the first of its kind in the country, aimed at ensuring Kenya does not slip into a situation such as the last elections in 2007, where disputed presidential results led to post-election violence. Over 1,000 people were killed and 660,000 displaced from their homes.

Kenyatta, son of Kenya’s first post-Independence President Jomo Kenyatta, and his deputy face indictment at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, charged for their alleged role in organizing that 2007-8 post-election violence.

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Rick Warren Calls ‘The Bible’ Series the Best He’s Ever Seen

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter – March 1, 2013

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California commented on the much-anticipated “The Bible” TV series, which premiers on the History Channel on Sunday, saying it is by far the best Bible movie he has ever seen.

“I have seen probably every film made on the Bible in the last 50 years. This is by far the best one,” Warren said, giving top marks to the 10-hour series, which will air each Sunday until Easter, March 30.

The best-selling author has been eagerly promoting the upcoming project, created by TV producers Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. On Saturday, the California pastor will air a 90-minute simulcast featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the production of “The Bible.”

“One way to build a bridge between God’s Word and the issues of our day is to tie a sermon series into some cultural event, something that has already caught the attention of many people,” Warren stated.

“For instance, when we enter the current economic crisis, I preached a series on God’s principles for money management. It taught people that the Bible offers wise and practical advice on how to handle your finances.”

The project, which was filmed in Morocco, covers hundreds of years of history, beginning with the story of Isaac’s sacrifice in the Old Testament, and ending with the crucifixion of Christ. Other major events that will be covered in the show include Samson destroying the pagan Philistine temple and David’s fight with the giant Goliath.

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The United Nations Has Been Morally Bankrupt For Decades

FEBRUARY 5, 2013 – Isi Leibler

Israel was the first country to boycott the annual human rights review presented at the bogus United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Despite being tacitly rebuked by the US, Israel was justified in doing so. For years, whilst ignoring the rampant denial of human rights and the butchering of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians throughout the world, the proceedings of this despicably biased body were concentrated on relentlessly condemning, demonizing and delegitimizing the Jewish state.

Recent examples include the defamatory 2009 Goldstone Report – subsequently recanted by Goldstone himself – accusing Israel of willfully engaging in war crimes, despite having a track record of minimizing civilian casualties in war unmatched by any other country. A year later it again condemned Israel for “attacking” Turkish terrorist “humanitarians” on board the Mavi Marmari of the Gaza ”peace” flotilla.

Israel’s decision to boycott the hearings was vindicated on January 31 when, based on largely fabricated Arab and hostile NGO sources, the UNHRC proclaimed that Israel’s settlements over the green line were in breach of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and accused it of indulging in gross “violations of human rights law”. The review made no reference to the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians by Palestinian terrorists.

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UK Lawyer Andrea Williams warns Australia about Multicuturalism & Islam – Warning very graphic footage of Christians being persecuted

Dear family & friends in Christ,

On Sat night, Sun morning & evening, our Guest Speaker was Andrea Williams from the UK. This woman of God who is a Barrister who stands and fights for the rights of Christians in the UK and other nations.  She had just finished speaking for the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen before coming to speak at RUAP & CTFM.

At our meetings she challenged the people and said,  “Do not let what’s happened to us in the UK happen to you. You still have an opportunity to protect your nation, but the UK & Europe is in great trouble.”

The BBC reporter covered 2 out of the 3 meetings. We will try our best to send you the link as soon as it is available.

Mrs Williams stated, “The church unfortunately is on MUTE. Thus, now the government has decided to silence the church and make it private. Church leaders are happy to continue to be politically correct and not speak up against what’s wrong, while secular humanism and Islam are having a free run.

Where there is a vacuum something comes in and fills it up. Unfortunately, because the church is on MUTE, people are turning to Islam which is on an onward march right through Europe. Everyone is scared to speak out against it. Multiculturalism has been our great down fall.

A Christian wearing a cross is considered offensive, but wearing the hijab is fully accepted in places of work. She also warned Australia not to let Sharia Law into the country. Since the UK has now embraced parts of Sharia law, some places are now turned into no go zones for non-Muslims.

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Human Rights Activist: Many Christians ‘Ignorant’ of Extent of Persecution

By Michael Gryboski , Christian Post Reporter – January 9, 2013

WASHINGTON – A human rights activist with more than 25 years’ experience in ministering to persecuted Christians said Tuesday that many Christians are “ignorant” of the extent of persecution globally.

Dr. Ron Boyd-MacMilan, chief strategy officer for Open Doors International, told The Christian Post that the church in America and elsewhere should spread greater awareness of what is happening to Christians in many parts of the world.

“I think the key thing though is that the church needs to get its story out to the worldwide church better,” said Boyd-MacMilan. “There are still far too many Christians in the world that are either just ignorant or even deliberately so of the true extent of Christian persecution.”

Boyd-MacMilan also told CP that he felt that “we can get out our story better, that there are literally hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who cannot exercise their freedom of worship.”

His remarks came as he was one of two featured speakers at a press conference on Tuesday morning sponsored by Open Doors at the First Amendment Lounge of the National Press Club. There were two major themes of the event: first was the release of Open Doors’ annual “World Watch List” which ranks the countries where persecution of Christians is severest.

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12 Hot Spots for Holy Ghost Revivals

Charisma News – J. Lee Grady- 11/23/2012

The Holy Spirit is working in places you might never expect. The move of God happening in these 12 locations is notable, and these hot spots are great places for evangelists and missionaries to set their sights.

China.  Nothing in the history of missions rivals the success story that is China. Mao Zedong tried to wipe out Christian faith in the 1970s when there were only 2.7 million believers. Today, the most conservative estimate is that China had 75 million believers in 2010. A few years ago the greatest growth was among rural “house churches.” Today Christianity is also growing in China’s major cities, and charismatic renewal has infiltrated state-sponsored churches.

India. Despite language barriers, tribal divisions and violent attacks by Hindus, indigenous church-planting movements have flourished all over India in the last 40 years. Fifteen years ago in Andhra Pradesh, a woman who heard a gospel radio broadcast, asked if someone could plant a church in her remote village. Within the first year after a pastor came, the church had 75 converts. After a church building was constructed in 1994, this church planted 125 churches with a combined membership of more than 5,000. This type of growth is occurring throughout India today.

Iran. Despite crackdowns on church gatherings, arrests of pastors and confiscation of Christian videotapes and other materials, Iranian believers are finding increased openness to the gospel in this stronghold of Shiite Islam. The leader of one indigenous ministry says, “Everyone we share the gospel with wants to become a Christian.” His ministry actually considered limiting outreach until it could obtain more Bibles and train workers to handle the overwhelming response. (more…)

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Why President Obama Does Not Defend Persecuted Christians – By Egyptian Christian Author

By MidEast Christian News – January 13, 2013

Writing in the monthly conservative Townhall Magazine, Michael Youssef has asked why President Obama, a self-proclaimed Christian, has failed to defend the cause of the harassed and persecuted Christians around the world.

Dr. Michael Youssef, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen who has authored 27 books including ‘Blindsided: The Radical Islamic Conquest,’ examines Obama’s dealings with Egypt over the past two years.

In his article, Youssef suggests a number of factors that could explain Obama’s position regarding Christians around the world. He says that on the outbreak of the January 2011 uprising, Obama urged Mubarak to step down. In fact, writes Youssef, Mubarak was a secular and capitalist dictator and his regime was corrupt for sure. However even after Mubarak’s departure, the situation has not changed and corruption is still present under what Youssef calls “the Islamic dictator who replaced Mubarak.”

The presidential elections (May 2012) ended by a narrow victory for Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate. Even though the presidential elections were allegedly marred by fraud and Christians reportedly prevented from voting, Youssef says that the White House and the U.S. State Department were quick to “embrace Morsi as the victor.”

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JIHAD AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN AFRICA

Dr. Peter Hammond – 22nd Feb 2013

Pastor Beheaded in Tanzania

Pastor Mathayo Kachili of the Tanzania Assemblies of God in Buseresere was beheaded by a Muslim mob. The Geita Regional Police Commander’s office issued a statement that the murder occurred during a confrontation when Muslims demanded the immediate closure of butcheries owned by Christians. Muslim youth armed with clubs and machetes attacked Christians, injuring several people, some of whom are in a critical condition.

Meat Monopoly Move by Muslim Minority

Pastor Kachili was murdered on Monday, 11 February, when a Muslim mob attacked the Assemblies of God Church in Buseresere. This was part of a nation wide campaign to force all meat industries in Tanzania to be run in accordance with Shari’a law and controlled by the Muslim minority.

Christian Response

ASSIST News Service quoted the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Tanzania, Barnabas Mtokambali: “Our response as a Church is not one of violence and hatred, reflecting the attitude of those committing such crimes, but that of Christ and reflecting His image, by loving and praying for those who humiliate and persecute us, and not holding such sins against them.”

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A Congressman’s Crusade for Human and Religious Rights

Front Page Magazine – January 15, 2013 By Faith J. H. McDonnell 

Evoking the moral apathy and failure of the past, U.S. Representative Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) recently asked church leaders around the United States to use their influence for those who are persecuted. In his January 9, 2013 letter to over 300 Catholic and Protestant leaders, Wolf reminded them of the words of German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis during World War II. Bonhoeffer, when “faced with the tyranny and horror of Nazism, famously said, ‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act,’” recalled Wolf.

“And that is precisely what many in the church did, or failed to do, as Hitler unleashed his murderous plans,” Wolf continued. Writing with passion and urgency to such representative Christian leaders as the U.S. Catholic bishops, the leaders of Protestant denominations, and the pastors of some of America’s largest “mega-churches,” the congressman then told the story of a German Christian shared in the book When a Nation Forgets God:

I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust.  I considered myself a Christian.  We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because, what could anyone do to stop it? 

A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks.  We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by.  We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!

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Reinhard Bonnke: Why Americans Take the Holy Spirit for Granted

Charisma News – 1/12/2013 – Reinhard Bonnke 

“AFRICA SHALL BE SAVED.” I heard God’s message so clearly. In response my family moved from Lesotho to South Africa in 1974. But how was Africa going to be saved? Clueless, I sat with my head in my hands. As unknowns, we moved out into the unknown, with no prospects mapped out for us, hoping for further instruction from the Lord.

And sure enough, God spoke again. I was to rent the National Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana, for a gospel crusade. The only group willing to work with us was a church of 40 members.

I walked through the little city, not knowing how to put the loose ends together, and made a provisional booking for the stadium by faith. It was the right move.

To my disappointment the campaign began with only 100 people in attendance but then God entered the field. Before I had prayed for the sick or said anything at all about healing, my sermon was interrupted by dramatic healings. It was as if Jesus just could not wait to do His wonders! He was “itching” to start.

As a missionary I knew what it was like to preach to no more than five people at a time, but now I had 10,000 of them, with many receiving salvation and many being healed. As the news spread, the stadium filled up and the miracles of salvation and healing multiplied.

Then came another impulse from heaven: “Pray for converts to be baptized in the Holy Spirit!”

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