Taking A Stand For The Persecuted Christians In China!

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“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
James 4:17

Taking a stand for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ in China.
The spotlight of the world will soon be shining on China as they host the
upcoming Summer Olympics.  While each day I challenge people of faith to
witness to others, in China, men and women who know Jesus are being
imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for telling others about Jesus.  For
most in the United States who know Jesus as their Savior, going to church is
nothing special, some even view it as a great sacrifice.  In China, it
really can be a great sacrifice to go to church, since Christians are
routinely thrown into prison, beaten, and even killed just for attending
church services.

While the focus of the world in a few months will be on China, the Chinese
government will be doing their best to show China as a wonderful place.  You
will see all of the “feel-good” stories showcasing their modern industries
and economy.  I highly doubt anyone will have the guts to tell the truth
about what is happening to Christians in China, and the persecution they
face for being a follower of Jesus Christ.  I know calling for a boycott of
the Olympics to protest the persecution of Christians is a wasted effort.
If the politicians really cared about this issue, they would have already
acted in some meaningful way, other than having our diplomats telling China
that we don’t agree with them on how they treat Christians. So after much
prayer, here is the plan the Holy Spirit gave me that we are going to be
working on for the upcoming Olypmics in China.

Liveprayer is going to be in contact with the athletes of not just the
United States Olympic team, but ALL of the Olympic athletes who will be
competing in Beijing this August.  I am going to challenge those athletes
who know the Lord as their Savior to take a black marker and put a cross on
the palm of their hand, as a sign of solidarity with our brothers and
sisters in Christ in China who are being persecuted, even killed, for their
faith in Jesus. I pray that every Christian athlete will compete with the
black cross on the palm of their hand, and those who God leads to win
medals, will open their hand on the medal platform for the world to see.

Will this simple act end the persecution of Christians in China?  No.
However, it will be a reminder to the world of what the Chinese government
is doing to Christians who live in their country.   It is also an
acknowledgment of all those Christians who have been martyred in China for
their faith in Christ, as well as recognizing those brave soldiers of Christ
throughout the world who have sacrificed, and are sacrificing each day, to
bring the Gospel to the Chinese people.  I pray that one day very soon, the
Chinese government will relent and allow the Chinese people to have access
to Bibles and the Gospel without restriction, to have church and worship the
Lord without interference or censorship, and to freely witness to others
their faith in Jesus Christ.

James 4:17 is often referred to in theological circles as the sin of
omission.  The fact is, it is the sin most Christians commit each and every
day.   It is just as much of a sin in God’s eyes as a sin of commission such
as adultery, murder, or any other sin.  To not do the good we know we ought
to, is just as much a sin as any sinful act we might commit.  We simply
don’t have the luxury of sitting back and watching unrighteousness and not
speak out.  We were first introduced to Saul of Tarsus in Acts Chapter 7 as
he was committing the sin of omission, giving his approval to the stoning of
Stephen as he held the coats of those who were stoning him to death.  Even
though he didn’t hurl one rock, he was as guilty as those who did by his
silence as they killed an innocent man.

I have never been what someone would call a Christian activist. I appreciate
those who are led to work in this area, but I have always taken the approach
that true change is made one heart at a time.  We can’t eliminate
pornography from the Internet, but we can change the hearts of those who
look at it. We will never win the mythical drug war by locking people up,
seizing shipments of drugs, or burning the fields they are grown in. We win
by changing the heart of the person who is using drugs. The way to
ultimately stop abortion is by changing the hearts of the women who make the
decision to kill their baby. So my approach has always been to attack the
root of the problem, sin, and help people find a new life in a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. However, I cannot sit back and watch things
go on around me that are just absolutely wrong and keep silent.

So many Christians are content to sit on the sidelines, listening, watching,
experiencing the fullness of the Christian life vicariously through others.
One of the popular Christian magazines each month has become little more
than an advertising vehicle for this Holy Ghost Conference, that Camp
meeting of the Millennium, the annual Partners Only Crusade, Women’s
meetings, Men’s meetings, and on, and on, and on. The point I want to make
is that the people of God have gotten very fat and lazy with all of the
Christian celebrities and the Christian entertainment that our culture has
produced. Too many of God’s people have become lazy and more comfortable
sitting on the sidelines watching, which was never God’s plan.

I am a big believer in education and listening to God’s anointed teachers of
the Word to learn all we can. But while we are hearing the Word, we, also,
must be DOING THE WORD! All of the commands in the Gospels, the Book of
Acts, Paul’s letters, and the other New Testament writings were to be active
participants in our faith-helping others, witnessing, teaching new
believers.  God gives spiritual gifts to His people to be active DOERS of
the Word, not idle bystanders. He has given each one of His children gifts
and abilities to help advance the Kingdom of God. Jesus taught in many
parables that it is a sin to not utilize the gifts God has given you.  I
want to make sure you clearly understand today, that it is a sin to not use
the gifts and talents God has blessed you with to serve Him.

That does not mean you have to quit your job and become a missionary to a
third-world country, or sell everything to start a ministry. God may call
you to do that. However, for most of His children, He has called you to
serve Him exactly where you are today. It is no accident you live where you
live, go to school where you do, work where you do, or recreate and shop
where you do. God has placed you there strategically to be a light to
others. The most effective way we can serve God is in our normal day-to-day
life. Letting our Godly lifestyle be a living testimony to those we come in
contact with. Helping those around us in a time of need. Getting involved in
projects and ministries through our local church.

I love you and care about you so much.  Please pray today for the Lord to
bless this effort to bring the world’s attention to the plight of our
brothers and sisters in Christ living in China.  Pray for those who bravely
take the Gospel to that nation each day, literally risking their very lives
to do so.   I will be praying for you today, that these words will cause you
to stop and reflect on your life. Ask yourself if you are on the sidelines
or are actively living the Christian life God has called you to live. Are
you using your gifts and talents for Him? Take inventory today of whether
you are not only hearing the Word, but DOING the Word.  I want to see you be
all you can be and all God has called you to be for Him.

Remember, our greatest and most effective service is rarely those big things
we may be involved in for the Kingdom, but the quiet, one-on-one ministry to
someone who is hurting and looking for hope. Everyone who knows Christ can
tell someone that Jesus loves them. Everyone that knows Christ can testify
to what Jesus has meant in their life. Everyone who knows Christ can share
the love and hope we have in Him with someone. Become a DOER of the Word and
don’t be guilty of the sin of omission!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY?  The fact is you will die one day.  At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God your creator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.cfm

***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now available via AUDIO each day.  Simply go to http://www.liveprayer.com/Audio.cfm Also, you can now listen to the Daily Devotional by phone by calling, 1-727-342-5673 or 1-845-510-2722.

(C) Copyright 2008, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved.

Roman Catholic Church Moving To Reclaim Martin Luther For Roman Catholicism!

Original post from Christian Research Network. My guess is that it means that the ecumenical movement between Roman Catholics and evangelical Christians is moving along swiftly and excellently. If Pope Benedict reverses the excommunication order of Martin Luther, then there will be nothing preventing granting Protestants some sort of official status. Of course, they will do this for the Orthodox Churches (Russian, Greek, etc.) first before they start wading into the hornet’s nest of Protestantism. However, the Protestant denominations that are already members of the apostate World Council of Churches - and other groups that have strong ecumenical ties with Roman Catholicism and have been moving away from the authority of scripture doctrines - will have no problem whatsoever.

That Martin Luther? He Wasn’t So Bad, Says Pope

Published March 6th, 2008 by Ken Silva in Catholicism, General News

Times On Line with a breathtaking example of fence-straddling and double-speak from the Pope, which comes close to rivaling emerging church guru Brian McLaren himself, the master of talking much and saying nothing:

Pope Benedict XVI is to rehabilitate Martin Luther, arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices.

Pope Benedict will issue his findings on Luther (1483-1546) in September after discussing him at his annual seminar of 40 fellow theologians — known as the Ratzinger Schülerkreis — at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence. According to Vatican insiders the Pope will argue that Luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic…

Perhaps the Pope–usurper of the place of the Holy Spirit–ought to think on the following. Here’s Martin Luther as cited in Has the Roman Catholic Church Really Changed:

The negotiation about doctrinal agreement displeases me altogether, for this is utterly impossible unless the pope has his papacy abolished. Therefore avoid and flee those who seek the middle of the road. Think of me after I am dead and such middle-of-the-road men arise, for nothing good will come of it. There can be no compromise.

<!– –>

Now this is all part of the “unity” movement that virtually all of Christendom is speaking of these days, especially the neo - evangelicals like Rick Warren and the emergent church. Brother Silva at Apprising Ministries has several entries on that movement and Roman Catholicism, Southern Baptists, and MORMONS:

TRUE UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTICISM AND THE EMERGING CHURCH

WALTER MARTIN SPEAKS ON THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE CULT OF NEW LIBERAL THEOLOGY WITHIN THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: A DIFFERENT GOSPEL

MORMON CHURCH IS NOW CHRISTIAN

Between the Purpose Driven works - centered theologians, the emergents, the ecumenical movements, and the Oprah Winfrey New Age movement, the false prosperity doctrine that Pat Robertson and the Chinese government are working together to enslave that nation with, and the emergent Muslims (posts one and two about this at Slice Of Laodicea) we are veering towards one world religion at breakneck speed. All that is needed to push it along is a fantastic economic collapse of global proportions. Well, based on this post by Independent Conservative, looks like that is in the works too!

Pollution Turns River Red In China!

worthynews.com/news/iht-com-articles-2008-02-27-asia-china-php

Cannibalism: Aborted Fetuses Served As Soup In Chinese Restaurants

Wonder what their advocates Pat Robertson and Hillary Clinton have to say about this one.

Book Reveals Fetal Soup Served in Chinese Restaurants

The Seven Sorrows of China gives heart-wrenching accounts of the brutality of China’s one-child policy

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

February 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Mark Miravalle’s sobering
book, The Seven Sorrows of China, gives, in heart-wrenching detail,
accounts of the brutality of the one-child policy and its effects on
the Chinese people.

Dr. Miravalle’s account of his often intense experiences as he
travels through modern China provides a disturbingly realistic picture
of life outside of Beijing.

The following is an excerpt from Part III of Dr. Miravalle’s book,
entitled The Third Sorrow: Abortion Without Conscience: The
Indoctrination of a Nation: “The most alarming,” he writes, “the most
depressing, the most Copernican revelation of all that I have been
exposed to (including the yet more grisly examples to follow), is the
repeated refrain that the great majority of the people in China have
lost any concept that there is anything at all wrong with having an
abortion. It is considered less significant than a flu shot, a minor
procedure like going to the dentist, a simple solution to a simple
problem that doesn’t merit any soul searching for any alternative
plans.

“China has become a nation who without conscience aborts their own
future generations. And this is Satan’s ultimate victory here. Is this
conscience loss regarding the transcendent dignity and inherent right
of human life to be blamed exclusively on atheistic Communism? Have not
the recent influences of Western morals of secular humanism,
materialism, hedonism, and ultimately unmitigated egoism, also
contributed to this Chinese terrorism of the womb? In any case, the
combination amounts to self-inflicted Chinese genocide, which so
saddens the God that creates and loves the ethnical uniqueness of China.
 
“New macabre manifestations of this conscienceless abortion mentality
include the recent opening of five restaurants in the region of X,
which began serving ‘fetal soup’ at the price of 300 Yuan
(approximately $40) a bowl! Recent medical publications have praised
the exceptional health benefits for the consuming of ‘fetal remains’
(this jargon allows them to overlook what this really is-unborn baby
bodies). Therefore, local entrepreneurs jumped on the opportunity to
distribute this new health breakthrough to the chosen few who could
afford the price. So evil and scandalous is this fetal soup trade that
the Government shut down the Web sites advertising the restaurants, in
fear that they would scandalize the reputation of the People’s Republic
to outside countries and businesses.

“Is it possible that the abortion holocaust and its rejection of
life’s sacred dignity has also contributed to the recent practice of
‘ghost wives,’ as recently reported in Chinese news sources? This is
the practice of providing a woman’s dead body to be buried with a
deceased man so that the man will have company in the ‘next life.’
Distributors of the dead bodies of women found that men were willing to
pay much more for a ‘new’ dead body of a woman, rather than one
previously preserved. Murder of women from out-of-the-way places ensued
to fill the new demand for the fresh ghost wives.
 
“When human life in the womb is not safe, no human life is safe. How
can China regain the natural law dictates of conscience that tells
every human heart that it is always wrong to directly kill an innocent
human being, regardless of race, religion, health, age or location,
including the womb (historically man’s most secure location, and now
his most dangerous)? Through God, through prayer, through education,
and through the witness of individual heroes, saving one person, one
unborn child, at a time.

This part of the book also goes on to describe more of the process
of the one-child policy:”A certificate of permission is required to
have a baby in a Chinese hospital. The government tells you how many
children you can have and when. In the city, married couples are
limited to one child. In the farming regions a family, if the first
child is a girl, can sometimes be permitted to try for a boy as a
second child because of the need for boys on the farm. Even in this
case, the government will control when they can try for the boy, with
the requirement that it be at least five years after the first child.
The government also uses psychological pressure to keep the policy. If
a couple in the country have only one child, then this child will
probably be able to have two children. The policy varies from region to
region.
 
“A couple must go to the hospital with their permission certificate to
deliver their child. If they arrive at the hospital without the
permission certificate, hospital officials contact the Population
Police. At this point, the Police decide, based on the circumstances of
the family and the history of the couple, what is to be the fate of the
family. The child will be injected with poison on the spot. Or the
couple will be fined and their home burnt down. Or the couple could
lose their jobs, and in some cases, cause the loss of their employees’
jobs (one teacher told me that if his wife didn’t abort her second
child, he and the school principal would both lose their jobs). One
Protestant woman refused to abort her second child and lost her own job
at the hospital she worked at. Still another possibility is that the
child does not receive official recognition that it exists and does not
receive the ‘Chinese Social Security Card.’ The child therefore is not
technically a citizen, nor can he or she go to school or participate in
any right of a citizen. One remedy is to try to find a retired and
sympathetic midwife who can deliver the child at home. This saves the
baby’s life, but does not guarantee his registration”.

The Seven Sorrows of China by Dr. Mark Miravalle is available from the publisher: Queenship Publishing Company (http://www.queenship.org/productdetails.cfm?sku=3102), other online booksellers, and Christian book stores.

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Prisoner Alert: Chinese House Church Pastor Li Mei

Location:China
Arrested: July 2007

Print Fact Sheet

In July 2007, 42-year-old Li Mei and nine house church leaders were arrested, when they were discovered having a Sunday worship service. They were charged with singing Christian hymns to villagers, showing the JESUS film in a nursing home and praying for healing for a disabled elderly man. The nine were sentenced to re-education through labor for 12 to 18 months. Li Mei served part of her one-year sentence in a hospital with both hands chained to her bed. Repeated beatings and torture caused her to require a hysterectomy. She is currently serving the remainder of her sentence at home under house arrest.

www.prisoneralert.com

PrisonerAlert.com Update: Pastor Zhang Rongliang

The Voice of the Martyrs recently received an update that Pastor Zhang Rongliang’s health is
failing. If he is not released from prison soon, he will likely die. We
encourage you to write a letter of encouragement to Pastor Zhang. Your
letters and prayers are making a difference. Pastor Zhang has been
strengthened by the prayers and help of believers like you. Also, write
to the Chinese government requesting he be released. Forward this
e-mail to those you know have a heart for God’s people and encourage
them to write and pray too. Get involved! Pray for and write to Pastor
Zhang today.

Location:
China
Arrested: December 2004

Print Fact Sheet

Pastor
Zhang Rongliang was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. According to
China Aid Association the July 4 verdict was issued by Zhongmu County
People’s Court.

Pastor Zhang Rongliang, a prominent Chinese
house-church leader, was arrested in a rented apartment at Xuzhai
village the afternoon of December 1, 2004. Zhang already had spent 12
years in prison for his faith during five separate detentions. He
experienced harsh torture, including electric shock, during his
previous prison terms. After being held in prison for a year, the
officials attempted to transfer him from the prison in Xinmi to one in
Zhongmu. Fearing that because of his fragile condition he might die,
officials at Zhongmu would not accept him. He was instead taken to a
hospital in Xinmi. Pastor Zhang suffers from diabetes and high blood
pressure in addition to other chronic health problems. Later he was
transferred to a Zhongmu City hospital where he spent most of February
and March 2006.

He appeared in court April 6, 2006, more than
16 months after his arrest, for his third hearing on charges of
“attaining a passport through cheating” and “illegal border crossing.”
At this hearing the court acknowledged there was insufficient evidence
for the case and asked for legal advice from a higher court.

Since our last communication
with you, the PrisonerAlert for Zhang Rongliang has been viewed over
18100 times, and over 2300 letters of encouragement have been sent.
What a blessing this must have been to Zhang Rongliang — and what a
message it will have sent to the officials, that this person is cared
for internationally.

Now imagine what could happen if we could double, triple or increase by
ten or one hundred-fold the number of people, around the World, that
are praying and writing on behalf of those imprisoned and persecuted
for their faith.

You can help. Please forward this email to those you know have a heart
for God’s people and encourage them to sign-up too. It’s the work of
friends telling friends that will bring the greatest response to those
who need it most. As the email does its work, you can revisit the chart
below to see the effect that you have had.