Monitor The Strategic Trends

Introduction:

Tolerance is the buzz word ricocheting around politically correct circles over the past few years. What that really means is that all political, philosophical and theologically correct viewpoints must be tolerated, and any other viewpoints must be mercilessly squelched. The bottom line of this whole rhetoric is that the Christian viewpoint is hateful and must be silenced.

Throughout the country and throughout the world a new world religion is being drummed into our thoughts by countless organizations yelling that hate and intolerance originate with Christianity and that there has to be a better way to promote love, peace, and environmentalism. That way boils down to global pantheism, where god is in everything, especially nature, and everything is god.

The only people who can't join the converging streams toward universal oneness are devout monotheists, such as Jews, Christians and Muslims, who base their faith on the Bible or the Koran. Their religions preach one God, one sacred Book, and one door to eternal life. They can accept no other and must refuse to model their beliefs to fit an all-inclusive global spirituality. As such, groups refusing to go along with the new global ethic of universal "tolerance" will not be tolerated in the name of tolerance. This means that Biblical Christians are on a collision course with the new paradigms of thought that are emerging and taking root in all out public institutions.

Taking the tolerance ethic further, we now have a move toward the codification of thought in "hate crimes." Traditional values that clash with the new global standards for tolerance have become tantamount to hate, and Christians who cling to Biblical boundaries are labeled both intolerant and hateful - no matter how kind their actions. Today's social leaders have redefined hate, identified a new group of haters, and are gathering public support for monitoring and punishing the guilty.

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This is critical for your family, your career, and every aspect of the times ahead.

1. These trends are monitored through our monthly Christian intelligence news journal, Personal UPDATE.
2. They are also the subject of specific briefing packages consisting of two tape cassettes and supplemental study notes with diagrams, references, and a comprehensive list of sources for further study.
   
3. Make it a personal commitment to learn your Bible! See our "Getting Started" Briefing Package audio set.

Understanding the Emergent Church March 26, 2013

As Bound With The Persecuted Church February 19, 2013

The Last Pope February 12, 2013

Epiphany and the Magi January 01, 2013

Youcef Nadarkhani Freed, Time To Keep Praying September 11, 2012

The Sikhs and Wade Michael Page August 07, 2012

Persecution From Iran to China July 10, 2012

The Last Pope? by Steve Elwart

The Lure of the Occult by Chuck Missler

Global Religion: Spirit Guides: Coming to a Church Near You? by Leisa Garcia, Director of Issachar Studies

Strategic Trends Update: Coming to America: Tony Blair Faith Foundation by Leisa Garcia, IDB Folio Specialist

Strategic Trends Update: The Placebo Effect of Mystical Experience by by Leisa Garcia, IDB Folio Specialist

Strategic Trends Update: Whatever Happened to the New Age? Part 2 by Leisa Garcia, Folio Specialist

Issachar Report: Whatever Happened to the New Age? Part 1 by Leisa Garcia, Koinonia Institute

Surprising Doctrinal Reversal?: The Pope Begs Forgiveness! by Chuck Missler

News Sources

Successor of the Apostle Peter - Pope Francis became absorbed in prayer and repeated with a loud voice the three professions of Peter: “Lord, You are the Christ, Son of the Living God”; “Lord, to whom do we go? You have the words of eternal life”; “Lord, You know all things! You know that I love you!” At that moment, we had the distinct impression that the life of Peter rose out of centuries past and became present and living in the current Successor of the Apostle Peter.

Pope Benedict Will Live Last Years At Vatican - Pope Benedict's decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say. In 2010, for example, Benedict was named as a defendant in a law suit alleging that he failed to take action as a cardinal in 1995 when he was allegedly told about a priest who had abused boys at a U.S. school for the deaf decades earlier. The lawyers withdrew the case last year.

Pastor Imprisoned in Iran Needs Support - The American pastor sentenced to eight years in Iran's Evin Prison after being persecuted for his faith questions whether enough is being done to help free him. Saeed Abedini mentioned his doubt during a visit with relatives on Monday. It was a second time he was allowed to see members of his extended family since he was convicted. Abedini expressed apprehension and concern to his relatives about his fate and openly asked if there were international efforts to secure his freedom, according to advocacy group American Center for Law and Justice. It is believed that Abedini's downtrodden spirit is due to abuse and brain-washing techniques used by officials at Evin Prison. Please pray for his freedom and for God's power and love to work in him and his fellow prisoners during his time at Evin.

The Flight Of Middle East Christians - The Middle East's Christian population has been gradually dwindling and is on the defensive with respect to its identity - and even its very existence. In the early 20th century Christians made up some 20 percent of the Middle East's population. Today they amount to less than 5 percent. The assault on the Christians in their home countries stems mostly from the processes of Islamization, which push them away from the Arab collective.In Lebanon, where Christianity was dominant, the Christians have recently lost their status and are currently trying to find their way amid the rise of Hezbollah. Syria's Christians are probably in the worst situation of all. Assad's regime protected them for many decades as part of the attempt to present itself as secular and pluralist. The civil war has dramatically affected the Christians, who found themselves caught in the test of loyalty to the Assad regime and to the Arab nation and have become a persecuted minority that is seeking asylum in Lebanon and several other countries.

Koreans Give Up On Christmas Lights At Border - A South Korean church group has scrapped plans to display Christmas lights near the border with North Korea after residents voiced fears Pyongyang might shell the illuminations. The Military Evangelical Association of Korea had planned to set up the giant display on three tree-shaped steel towers on hills near the heavily fortified border, as has been done for many years. The proposal required approval from the defense ministry as the hills are within three kilometers of the frontier. According to the ministry, local residents had protested against the plan on the grounds it might provoke a military response from North Korea. As a result, the church group agreed last week to shelve the proposal.

Tunisia: Plot To Kidnap Local Jews Foiled - Tunisian security forces arrested four people for allegedly plotting to kidnap local Jews and hold them for ransom, an Interior Ministry official said on Thursday. There are less than 2,000 Jews in Tunisia, mostly living in Zarzis and the nearby island of Djerba in the south of the country. "The security forces aborted a plan to kidnap young Jews in Zarzis. Police arrested four young men and seized two weapons," the official, Lofi Hidouri, told Reuters.

Chinese House Church Raided - On September 13, 2012, a house church in Kucha, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was raided and suppressed by the local police and agencies in charge of civil affairs and the church service was forced to stop. Four Christian brothers and sisters were taken to the police station and their Bibles, Bible study materials and computers were confiscated. According to sister Luo who attends this house church, the church has approximately thirty attendees. Some local government agencies harshly persecute house churches, making it especially difficult for believers to gather and worship God on Sundays.

Anti-Semitic Hungarian Politician Admits He's Jewish - As a rising star in Hungary's far-right Jobbik Party, Csanad Szegedi was notorious for his incendiary comments on Jews: He accused them of "buying up" the country, railed about the "Jewishness" of the political elite and claimed Jews were desecrating national symbols. Following weeks of Internet rumors, Szegedi acknowledged in June that his grandparents on his mother's side were Jews - making him one too under Jewish law, even though he doesn't practice the faith. His grandmother was an Auschwitz survivor and his grandfather a veteran of forced labor camps. Since then, the 30-year-old has become a pariah in Jobbik, and his political career is on the brink of collapse.

Mayan Archeological Find Argues No Apocalypse in 2012 - A newly discovered Mayan text reveals the "end date" for the Maya calendar, but ancient Maya did not expect the world to end on that date, researchers said. "This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy," Marcello Canuto, the director of Tulane University Middle America Research Institute, said in a statement. "This new evidence suggests that the 13 bak'tun date was an important calendrical event that would have been celebrated by the ancient Maya; however, they make no apocalyptic prophecies whatsoever regarding the date." The Maya Long Count calendar is divided into bak'tuns, or 144,000-day cycles that begin at the Maya creation date. The winter solstice of 2012 (Dec. 21) is the last day of the 13th bak'tun, marking what the Maya people would have seen as a full cycle of creation.

Two More Nigerian Churches Bombed In Jos - Nigerian authorities say gunmen and a suicide bomber targeted two Christian churches on Sunday, killing 3 people and wounding at least 41. The attacks took place in the country's restive northeastern region and the so-called "middle-belt" in central Nigeria. The middle belt divides the country's mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south. The first attack took place in the central city of Jos, where a suicide bomber detonated his car outside of a church. Local officials say two people were killed and 41 wounded. Christian youths assaulted local Muslims in retaliation. Please pray for protection for the people of Nigeria, that the power of God's love would heal the enmity between people and bring a multitude of souls under the blood of Christ.