Allah

Christians in the crosshairs

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

Some Muslims even expressed their sentiments to Christians in Baghdad at a Sunday service.

“You are the true original people here, and we are sorry for what has been done to you in the name of Islam,” whispered one Muslim woman to a Christian woman fighting away tears, according to The New York Times.

This was from an article on the forced evacuation of Mosul (Nineveh) in Iraq. For a so-called “religion of peace”, Islam is not being very peaceful at all, especially with the Christians who have inhabited this city for over one thousand years. Mosul has been a Christian dominated city for at least that long, according to the information that I have been able to find.

Here is another quote from the UK:

“What are the moderate Muslims saying?” the Lebanese Catholic Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Rai, asked acidly last week. “We do not hear the voices of those who denounce this.”

Indeed not. The Caliphate’s threat to the Christians – convert, be taxed or die – contradict, in the words of the Chaldean Patriarch, Archbishop Louis Sako,  “1,400 years of history and of the life of the Muslim world and of coexistence between different religions and different peoples”. Archbishop Sako spoke, too, this week of how Iraq itself had become a “humanitarian, cultural and historical catastrophe”. But he added that Christians in the region must remember that the Koran demands respect for minorities and that the Christian people must also remain respectful to Muslims and show “patience and endurance”. Which, I would have thought, might be turning the other saintly cheek a bit too far.

We, as Christians, should help those in need if we can. I am not sure if the help that we provide would reach the ones needing it though, so I am not sure what to do. All that I can do right now is to pray for them and I ask all of you who read this to do the same. It seems that the American government is not offering any sort of help for these, yet they are willing to help the oppressors of Israel. Of course in the media, Israel is the oppressor of the Palestinian people not the other way around. Israel has belonged to the Jewish people since at least four thousand years ago according to the covenant made with Abraham and God’s covenant cannot and will not be broken.

When you pray about the trouble in our world today, please include a prayer for those Christians being persecuted in Iraq and those in North Korea and China as well. Pray for Israel and for God’s protection for them too. We need Him and they do too.

 

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In the course of time….

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

We, being the people of the United States, have done great things, both great good and great evil in the course of becoming a nation and a people, populated by people who claim to believe in God and in His laws. Some of us have used those laws and His Word to justify great and good things and very evil and vile treatment of people, especially those of color whether they were of African origin or Native American. Using the Word of God to justify the killing or maiming of anyone is wrong! There is no justifying these sorts of crimes, in the past or today, regardless of which Holy Book you claim to be following!

Killing someone is wrong and has been since the time of Cain and Abel, and using God’s Word or another so-called “holy book” to justify the killing of people because they don’t believe like you do or because of the color of their skin is something that God will hold you accountable for! Our history is replete with examples of this type of behavior, and so is the rest of the world especially in the area around Israel today. There is no True God which requires this and anyone who claims that Allah says to do this and then says that the God of Abraham is the same is a liar!

Our world is going through some tough times right now and will go through more as the time nears for Jesus’ return. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, it will happen. Although it may not be in the next five years or even ten, but it will happen. Nothing that was prophesied in God’s Word has failed to come to pass, although many try to scientifically explain away the things which have happened.

The killing of innocents will not go unpunished, whether they are children or fetuses, all will be avenged by God. Evil, in all of its forms and guises, will not prevail but will be defeated and all of the atrocities which happened or are happening because of people claiming to be doing “God’s will” by doing these things, will be avenged by God Himself, so whether you believe in Him or not, be warned.

Those of you who may have accepted Christ at one time in your life and then walked away from the church are only doing yourself a disservice. No matter what it was that drove you away from the church, or maybe it was a person or a preacher, you need to get back into it. God loves you and He hasn’t moved, you did. The more distance you put between yourself and God, the less influence He has in your life. Your spirit will not be convicted by His Spirit if you have distanced yourself from Him and quenched His power in your life. When this happens, there is less of Him showing through your life which is when people call you a hypocrite. Think about it.

Are we really that easy to fool?

/ Tracy Eldridge / 3 Comments

In recent years there have been new “religions” which have come into the world. Are we really that gullible as to believe something which man has devised from his own thoughts and feelings?

I suppose we must be since Scientology and other religions have been created just in the past one hundred years from man’s own mind. Imagination is good when it is used to write a book of fiction but it is another thing entirely when you are using it to create something that you follow as a “religion“.

In all sincerity you can make a religion out of most anything, from football to fishing or even your job or your status. But, if you do such a thing and you are wrong, what then? If the Bible and Christianity are true, which many people believe, then what will you do when you stand before God after you die? “Sorry” or “Oops” come to mind but they won’t be enough!

What about Islam and Allah? This religion was given to their prophet a little over a thousand years ago and it is reported to be a “peaceful” religion. Yet, according to their laws, you will be killed if you do not worship Allah and submit to Islamic traditions. It doesn’t sound peaceful to me.

Can you know God?

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

The answer to this is, YES! He reveals Himself to us through the Bible. All of His personality and character traits are there, all you have to do is study and pray while reading it and God will be revealed to you.

I know, there are many other so called “religions” which say that you can’t know God or Allah or whatever name they call Him by. But, you can! He wants to know you and He does but He also wants to be known by you. He created us for this and we are His creation. We are not an accident or some other random occurrence of natural processes.

God has a sense of humor and is compassionate toward his creation. In many churches you never hear of this. God is seen and preached as a stern figure which holds us to rules and regulations. He is much better than that. Why would He send so much quail into the camp of the Israelites that they would be sick of it if He didn’t have a sense of humor? They asked for meat to eat and He gave them more than they could handle!

The Pleiades which He hung in the heavens are as beautiful now as they were when they were put there. He asked Job, “Where were you when I hung the Pleiades and all the other stars during Creation?”

Is it possible to know Him as a friend? Yes, when you spend time in the Word of the Bible you will come to know Him as a friend. When you pray to Him daily and listen for His voice speaking back to you, then you will know Him as a friend. God is our Creator and our friend and He wants that relationship too. Our lives can be so much more productive for Him when we follow Him daily. Give Him your heart so that He can give you life!

God is in control, even when it seems that He isn’t

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, the list could go on and on. These are the signs of the end of the age and it is because of this end that these things are happening. God knew that they were going to happen and how many people would be affected by them long before they happened. He is not the cause of them but many people are asking “Where is God? Why didn’t He stop this from happening?”  Because it is part of the birth-pains of creation that is why.

Our Creator and His Son, Jesus, knew these things would happen before the end of the age. That is why Jesus told His disciples that they would happen before the falling away and before the end of the age. He did not specify where or what would happen only that it would be a sign to watch for.

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

   9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24: 4-13)

In many ways verse 13 confuses people when it refers to the “one who stands firm to the end will be saved”, this verse is not a reference to those of us living in Christ now because we are supposed to be taken to heaven before the terrible part of the tribulation begins. This verse refers to those who come to Christ during the tribulation and hold onto their faith without giving in to the Antichrist‘s demands that they worship him. Even though they may be killed because of this, their souls will be saved.

The time to come to Jesus and give your life and heart to Him is NOW! We are not guaranteed any time past each breath that we take and each breath is given by God. So, when you draw your last breath only God knows when that will be and hopefully you will be ready to meet Him at that time. No one can save your soul and grant you entrance into Heaven except Jesus and belief in Him, other than that you are wasting your time!

God loves you all and wants you all to be His, but that will not happen by wishing or hoping that you have been good enough. None of us can be good enough to merit a place in heaven on our own, even Abraham had faith in God and that is what was credited to him as righteousness. Your only hope of eternity is through Jesus, that is it! The pope can’t get you there, praying to Allah can’t get you there, Buddha can’t get you there, Scientology can’t get you there. None of these man-made religions can get you into eternity and Heaven! Only belief in and following Jesus can do that!

Give Jesus a chance in your life and leave everything in His hands from this point on. Once you do that, your Hope in Him will sustain and keep you until you meet Him and when you do, you will have an eternity to get to know Him and the Father and everyone else in Heaven.