Vol 10 No 1: January – February, 2007	   	     Promoting a Christian Agenda for the End Times

ALL-OUT WORLD-WIDE WAR ON 
EVANGELISM 
Pastors murdered for preaching the Gospel in Igangan, South West  Nigeria
     Not only is the on-going satanic war against Christian soul-winning intensifying, it is also spreading to regions Christians would previously have considered as ‘safe’.  As we pointed out in the last edition, virtually every edition of CA! in the past one and half years has carried stories of gruesome murders of Christian evangelists in Nigeria. However, those murders, involving various Church denominations, had been confined to the Sharia-endemic northern region of Nigeria.
     One of the latest assaults, on Wednesday 26th.March, however was at the small town of Igangan at the Ibarapa North LGA of Oyo State, down in South-West Nigeria.   There, two pastors (a male and a female) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), who had reportedly gone to join a local ministry in rural evangelism were brutally matcheted to death  in an ambush by desperate anti-proselytization forces in that spiritually dark enclave. Five others were, according to the Punch newspaper, “seriously” injured. (A brief report of the incident could be found in the April edition of the Redemption Light, the official publication of the RCCG).  As has become common in recent killings of Christian evangelists in Nigeria (see last edition for instance), elements of the Nigerian Police who attempted to intervene also ended up as part of the casualty.  At Igangan, one of them was killed.

Pitiable but predictable Media Response 

     As usual, local media houses don’t carry such news - in the name of promotion of public peace.  It is difficult to determine which is worse, those who keep mum or those, attempting to straddle the fence, publish half-truths.  The Punch newspaper, while  cont’d on pg 2

Temple Institute Prepares Linen Garments 
     For the first time in 1,938 years the linen garments of the lay priests are being produced in preparation for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. The last priestly garments to have been worn were those worn by the priests who were martyred by the Roman legions who brutally invaded and destroyed the Holy Temple on the ninth day of the month of Av, in the year 70 AD. See details and vivid illustrations at 
(www.templeinstitute.org/garment_manufacture.htm)

Our hot-selling Seeker Sensitive model not that effective, after all – Bill Hybell 
     Last edition, while we rejoiced at leaders (referring particularly to Wheaton College and Cedarville University) realizing their faults and backing out of unprofitable alliances, we lamented that others might have already been unduly and irreversibly influenced wrongly.  Meaning that all must be careful in learning from leaders.  The Paul test in 1 Cor. 11:1 would be particularly useful.  Below is another turn-around of some sort by another influential leader.  
        The Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago is the leading expounder of the so-called “seeker sensitive movement” which defines new paradigms guaranteed to bring explosive church growth, over the traditional method of growing a church via sound biblical discipleship and grooming in the Word.  For well over a decade, the words of Bill Hybell were received as the gospel truth as far as church growth is concerned.  However, in a new book which reports on the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of this program and philosophy of ministry, Willow Creek has admitted to making a big mistake in their paradigm.  In the words of Hybell: 
“We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”
       Commenting on this development, Bob Burney of CrossWalk was blunt when he writes: “The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples.”  According to Burney, this means in summary: “If you simply want a crowd, the ‘seeker sensitive’ model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust.”
(www.crosswalk.com/news/commentary/11558438/page2/ )
     Clearly, even if only from their efforts to carry out the study and their honesty for boldly reporting it, it must be concluded that Willow Creek has been promoting their paradigm with the best of intentions and clear conscience.  But the question again comes up, how do the thousands of ministries who have been
 led astray by all these seeker-sensitive methods now undo decades of following a faulty model – one that treats sound Biblical doctrine as out-dated?  How many of them would even hear of this latter developments!  For another commentary on the report from Willow Creek, see www.crosswalk.com/root/11560219/page0/.

Christian Persecution (continued from front page)
 giving details of persons involved (including their car number), however gave the impression that the killings were cases of “mistaken identity” and that the evangelists were taken for kidnappers!  In a similar incident at Izom (Niger state) on June 28, 2006, the same Punch newspaper had become advocates for the murderers of the 20 year old Christian lady evangelist killed at the instructions of Islamic elders.  At that time. the Punch had not only suggested that the young lady was a lunatic, but it carefully tucked the story into the middle pages -  under its Crimes section!  (See CA! Vol 9 no 4 or Punch June 29, 2006, page 6).

      The frequent resort to gruesome murder of Christian evangelists speaks volumes about the desperation and despair Satan is going through, watching the steady conversion of millions from dead religious set-ups to a living relationship with the Lord Jesus every day.  Such intense persecution is however a global phenomenon not restricted to Nigeria alone.  It is indeed true that anywhere people are moved by the love of Christ to dutifully and boldly preach the gospel, results always abound; and the enemy is always moved to show his true murderous colour.  The only concern of CA! at this time is that too many Christians still do not think that evangelism is worth the effort or trouble.  If this is correct, why then would some people [moved by the Enemy] be willing to commit murder in order to discourage it?  Think about it!  If you are one such people inoculated with satan’s lethargic anti-evangelism potion, it’s time you woke up and be up and doing.
       Following are sample stories of similar occurrences in other regions of the world, within the same period of time as the incident at Igangan

Moslem Matchet-men invade Church at Ethiopia:
     On Sunday March 2, while about 200 people were worshipping God at the Kale Hiwot Church, in Nensebo Chebi village, Ethiopia, a group of Muslim radicals surrounded the Church and barricaded the doors shut.  They then broke in through the windows and started hacking at the worshippers with machetes. In the attacks, 45 years old Tula Mosisa lost his life, while 17 others were brutally wounded, many with permanently severed limbs.  Some thought to be dead actually revived at the hospital.  
     The latest development about the incident is that the mastermind of the attack, one Hussein Beriso, house speaker of the Nesenbo District council, has now been released  on bail while further hearing has been postponed to April 25.  Berriso, after calling for local Muslims to resist any attempts to convince them to leave Islam, had bought and distributed machetes which were used in the attack.  According to International Christian Concern, 150 machetes were discovered in his house after the attacks. 
       Furthermore, a week later (on March 10), the religious murderers visited and burnt down the house of a local evangelist who had helped to transport eight seriously wounded Christians to a local hospital thus saving their lives.  Some of these Christians later spoke with the ICC at the hospital where they were recuperating.  When asked if he knew his attackers, one of them said: “Our attackers are our neighbors, with whom we ate and drank.”  
From INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN, PRAYER POINTS  APRIL 11, 2008.  ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. See also www.persecution.org/suffering/newsdetail.php?newscode=7454

VIETNAM:  Release International has completed a fact-finding mission and reports that in certain areas in Vietnam, Christians are being tortured and starved in an intentional strategy by authorities to slowly wipe them out. Several pathetic incidents were reported by ICC, including the case of a Christian leader who “was beaten with a spiked club, attacked by a vicious dog, and his unconscious body was then dragged along a road behind a vehicle.”  The brother is alive and recuperating even as the authorities might as well repeat the whole torture again as they decide! 
         These are NOT movies stories, but real events happening to real people even these very moments! (www.releaseinternational.org/pages/posts/the-vietnam-war-rumbles-on--with-christians-as-the-enemy--pix-video-audio-available354.php)

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”  1 Pet. 1:13

US elections: Clinton, Obama, McCain
      The impending US elections are obviously of global interest.  Even though a dying superpower, the US still remains the only one at the moment.  And the fact of its increasing numerous socio-economic problems only make the election even more crucial!
      As a Christian, one would wish for a stable US.  Basically as the only remaining viable opposition to the advances of global governance advocates, who must destroy national sovereignty before they could implement their programmes in preparation for the anti-christ, the US is prime target for these forces. The agenda for the destruction of the US has been under implementation for over a century; and it seems the climax is now here. The choice of who leads the United States in these trying times is therefore most crucial.
    The Republicans used to be the evangelical church’s choice – leading the war against liberal tendencies as homosexuality, abortion, earth-worship, secular humanism, evolutionism etc; as well as fighting to maintain a constitutional sovereign government for the United States.  However, with the US Church seriously compromised as it is, the Republicans appear to be seriously destablized and fragmented, giving the Democrats a fairly good chance of taking over at the White House this November.
     That leads to two hypes: the first female or the first black president?  Read the rest of this article on our blog www.churcharise.blog.

US faces economic woes: One-World Government agencies move in for the kill!
     The continued free fall of the American dollar will certainly be one of the major issues facing an incoming US President.  Not only is the dollar no longer welcome in certain shops in countries like India
 (see Dollars no good for the Taj Mahal, 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7098370.stm), and countries like China and Japan  are diversifying their foreign exchange reserves previously stored in dollars  (www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aMPLuto8wxK4&refer=news; www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/09/business/AS-FIN-Japan-Iran-Oil-Yen.php), even  some shops in New York itself are not only encouraging customers to pay in Euro, they are actually beginning to reject the dollar!(“Even New Yorkers Say No To USD”, Gold-Prices.biz, Feb.9, 2008).
        The handwriting is clear.  As we have been saying over the years, One-World government agencies are cashing on the US myriad problems (economic, terrorism, immigration, immorality, crime, etc), which are all clearly engineered, to justify the introduction of One World government goals for the US.  For instance, while the falling dollar values will obviously favour Arabs (oil merchants) over the Israelis (one of the largest recipients of US financial support), it will also pave the way for the introduction of the Amero, the proposed unified currency of North American Union (comprising of the US, Mexico and Canada).
       IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn hit the nail right on the head when he recently declared in Paris: "The financial crisis which started in the United States is more serious and more global than it was a few weeks ago," Continuing, he said "The risks and dangers are very high. The economic environment is still worsening." Finally, he dropped the bombshell: “The current crises will require a ‘global answer.’” (www.france24.com/en/20080408-imf-to-sell-gold-reserves-revenue-strauss-kahn&navi=ECONOMIE?q=node/55488)
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The FOREX Invasion Of The Nigerian Church 
       The Scriptures record in more than one account how the Lord Jesus Christ, consumed by the zeal for the House of God, brought in physical whips as he overturned the tables of the money changers who were turning God's house into a place for merchandise. Well, 2000 years after, the money changers are back - literally and physically too!    
      It is certainly no news (and of little interest to us) that virtually all radio and TV houses have been taken over by FOREX trainers, promising a steady mouth-watering income for all who would just log in to an e-mail account for about 5 minutes every day, and the wonder robot and ingenious software would do the rest. Hundreds of dollars would begin to flow in every blessed day just by trading foreign currency on the Internet. Since this steady flow of money represents gains from trading, it follows that some presumably less-trained or more gullible traders must exist elsewhere in cyberspace, steadily losing all this money. It is no wonder that considerable 'investment' must be made for such wonder, less-than-1-week training, that turns barely computer literate fortune-seekers into more than match for the professional FOREX-traders out there in cyberspace!
       Where the story has become infuriating to us, however, is the steady massive infiltration of the Church in the search for more candidates to recruit into a probably saturating market. It's amazing that godly and sincere men of God could prove so gullible in their anxiety not to miss a supposed God-sent rescue from poverty for their Church members. So it becomes that what is done in places like the US involving recruitment of the ethnic minorities through trusted leaders is being replicated in (South West) Nigeria, using trusted pastors.  Read the rest of this article on our blog at 
http://churcharise.blogspot.com/2008/01/forex-invasion-of-church.html
London cops to receive mandatory microchip tags
     The Daily Mail in Great Britain is reporting that every police officer in London - from the average bobby pounding a beat on up to London Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian Blair - will soon be implanted with a microchip that will allow their movements to be tracked all over London, whether they're on the street or in a pub or deep in the underground, or just at home.  The penalty for refusing to be "chipped", says the story in the Daily Mail, is that a police officer will lose his or her job.
       In actual fact the Police department as well as the company, Telent, which is providing the facility are not forthcoming with details of where the new tracking device will be implanted.  It is quite likely to be located, as an initial measure, on some essential equipment (probably some vital communication gadget) which officers already have to carry.  The Daily Mail however, not unreasonably, fills in the gap, predicting exactly where such development will eventually lead with its screaming headline: Met Police officers to be 'microchipped' by top brass in Big Brother style tracking scheme.  This is especially logical in the face of the puzzling threat that cops who opt out will get fired. 
       Obviously not many police officers share the enthusiasm of the Police department on the matter -  fearing that the new system will turn them into 'Robocops' simply obeying instructions from above rather than using their own judgment. Many also cannot fail to notice the similarity between the new device and the electronic tags placed on prisoners. According to the Daily Mail, “One officer, working in Peckham, south London, said: "They are keeping the exact workings of the system very hush-hush at the moment - although it will be similar to the way criminals are electronically tagged. There will not be any choice about wearing one. “   Incidentally, as we reported in the last edition, the electronic bracelet tag worn by British prisoners could soon be changed into a microchip implant in the body. (See original article at http://cryptogon.com/?p=1879)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=558597&in_page_id=1770

Companies to monitor Consumers via TVs and PCs at home
      Camera devices are being developed that would be incorporated into televisions and personal computers which will monitor people as they enter the room, and based on their previously set preferences, the device can begin to make appropriate offers – like Albert in the Bank PHBs car- that- drives- itself advert!  Reporting in Newteevee.com, Chris Albrecht describes the Comcast version of the proposal as he heard it from Comcast’s Senior VP, Gerard Kunkel: “The idea being that if you turn on your cable box, it recognizes you and pulls up shows already in your profile or makes recommendations. If parents are watching TV with their children, for example, parental controls could appear to block certain content from appearing on the screen. Kunkel also said this type of monitoring is the “holy grail” because it could help serve up specifically tailored ads. Yikes.” 
(http://newteevee.com/2008/03/18/comcast-cameras-to-start-watching-you/ ).  
     Though Comcast feebly tried to refute the report, Albrecht’s story was unassailable.  As a matter of fact, rival companies to Comcast, have already taken verifiable steps along that direction already.  In 2005, TiVo applied for a patent allowing customization of TV remotes and viewing preferences via an RFID chip the consumer would attach to his or her body - which is just one step away from an embedded microchip in the body. (See details of the patent at www.zatznotfunny.com/2005-11/tivos-rfid-remote-control-patent/).  Microsoft also has applied for a patent that would utilize, "a camera sitting on top of a television set to detect the presence of viewers and identifying them using facial-recognition software -- or perhaps a fingerprint scanner in a remote control,"  (www.multichannel.com/blog/100000410/post/860012686.html).  
      Already,   latest models of PCs and TVs already have in-built microphones to monitor the environment.  The idea of the camera is to complement this device.  Surely it is not hard to imagine, in the event of the emergence of a global leader in a One-World Government scenario, all these devices being put to use in the service of the anti-christ – just as the Bible foresaw, over two thousand years ago!
       For more details including the many more companies and corporations currently planning or already implementing similar programmes, see http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2008/032508_comcast_denies.htm

Homeschooling harrassment gets to the United States
     The attack on the homeschooling movement, much pronounced in Germany as we reported in some of our past editions (see for instance vol 9 No 5) has got to the United States.  Citing an old, often overlooked law, a California appeals court has  ruled that parents who have no teaching qualifications appropriate for the age grade each child is in, cannot homeschool such a child themselves.  
    In California state, an estimated 166,000 children are taught at home by their parents who are disillusioned at the evolution-based education offered at public schools with the attendant moral and crime problems.  In order to meet the requirement that children be taught by appropriately credentialed teachers, many of these parents also enroll their children with other institutions that provide long-distance supervisory roles with a specific number of visits each year.  Others who can afford the means avoid truancy laws by registering with the state as a private school and then enroll only their own children. The law requires that every child between the ages 6 to 18 must attend a full-time day school, either public or private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child's grade level.   Failing this, the parents could be prosecuted and required to do community service with heavy fines; and the children could also be removed from them under allegations of educational neglect.
       Germany, based on a law dating to Adolf Hitler’s time, has been at the vanguard of nations requiring that all children receive state indoctrination, ostensibly to inculcate in them patriotic values and protecting the public welfare.  Unfortunately, these values are extremely scarce commodities in public schools in most developed countries today, with their emphasis on global citizenship and virulently anti-god indoctrination. In Vol 10 No 3, we reported the statistics supplied by the Southern Baptist Convention that, in the United States, there is a 70 – 80 percent likelihood that a Christian child will abandon the Church and their faith in a public school career!
      It is interesting that the law in California had been unapplied in over 50 years until the Appeals Court referred to it, in a case that was not even the main case before it!  Though we are not sure what exactly the books say in Nigeria about truancy in the new compulsory Universal Basic Education scheme, the lesson from California is that the law is the law; and even the best-intentioned law could be manipulated by any government or judge at any point in time. 

Pope visits US amidst hot catholic scandals
As Pope Benedict begins a historic visit to the United States, he was received with very hard knocks by respected Christian commentator, Jacob Prasch, based on the stinking pedophilia cases the Church had been quagmire with in the United States.   In one of his previous assignments at the Vatican, the then Archbishop Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) had signed  the directive that priests and nuns who had sexually abused young people attending their parishes  must be protected at all costs.  Such priests and nuns were merely moved to new locations where they repeated over and over again their sexual crimes against innocent little children who had sought spiritual succor from the catholic church.  So widespread is the practice that right now, as many as 177 out of  the 179 dioceses of Roman Catholic church in the USA were found culpable in court of protecting child molesting clergy. And in just one week, the archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Diego had to pay $790 million to victims just to keep one Cardinal Mahoney, out of prison for his role in these sordid most unchristian acts.
     It is difficult to determine the extent of such practices outside the USA where legal institutions are less strong and the catholic church held in more awe.  Check Dr Prasch’s fire-spitting statement and references at Moriel’s website:  Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. 

First Catholic church for Saudi Arabia
      Negotiations are underway to build the first Catholic church in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah lending his support for its construction.  Vatican Radio reports the Vatican and the Saudi government are currently in talks to allow the church despite the kingdoms ban on allowing the construction of any  non-Muslim place of worship.
       No religion other than Islam is allowed to schedule public services, and even the possession of bibles, rosaries, and crucifixes is forbidden.  While Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, King Abdullah became the first reigning Saudi monarch ever to visit the Vatican last November. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7080327.stm]
      However, some “Middle East experts” are leading calls that the Vatican must first recognize Mohammed as a prophet of God before churches are allowed. [http://truediscernment.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/will-the-pope-recognize-mohammed/].   There is at least one major requirement, even if unspoken, of course – no conversions of Moslems.  This requirement is eloquently demonstrated by the outrage being displayed by prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi with respect to the  baptism of a Muslim-born journalist, Majdi Allam, by the Pope during the last Easter Mass .  Describing the event as a “provocative and hostile act against Muslims”, Qaradawi, lamented that “We try to seek peace with the Vatican and the World Council of Churches but in vain. They keep provoking us by their hostility.”
     However, considering the on-going inter-faith agenda of the Vatican, and the concerns about declining figures, (check the factsheet at 
http://www.futurechurch.org/fpm/cardinals/facts.htm)  it would appear the Vatican is set to embrace these conditions – even if it will have to give the impression of being unwilling!  Meanwhile, the catholic church has on Saturday March 15, celebrated it’s first mass in Qatar, another Islamic enclave, according to Agence France Presse, “despite threats from Islamic radicals”
 
Trips to Lourdes in 2008 will cut time spent in purgatory – Pope 
      The Catholic church is going through some hard time with its figures, necessitating various measures being taken by the Vatican to secure the future of the Church.  Apart from declining attendances leading to forced closure and merger of several parishes – at times with dramatic responses from the Parishioners who resist (see an example at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/nyregion/10church.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin),  there is also the declining enlistment of Nuns and Priests (BBC News, Feb 5).  Hence the catholic church is finding itself having to fall back more and more to her old, time- tested traditional measures.
      In the latest efforts to shore up the attendance figure to the Marian shrine at Lourdes, Pope Benedict XVI has, last December, offered relief from purgatory to Roman Catholics who travel to Lourdes this year – the 150th anniversary of the appearance of an apparition in that little French village.  In the words of the Vatican, Pilgrims to the shrine will receive "plenary indulgences" from the Pontiff, which the Church says reduce the time spent being "washed" of sin after death. For those who cannot make the journey to France, the Pope will also grant indulgences to Catholics who pray at places of worship dedicated to the Madonna of Lourdes from Feb 2 to Feb 11.   See Original Report at
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1967940/posts
      Reports about apparitions of Mary (supposedly the mother of the Lord Jesus) are rife among catholic faithful.  Please see CA! Vol 4 No 5 to learn the truth about Marian apparitions.  Meanwhile, the London Daily Telegraph (March 16) has reported that at least 50 people have lost their sight in India after they persistently stared at the sun hoping to see an image of the “Virgin Mary”.

Moslems converting to Christianity in massive droves
  It is not for nothing that Islamic radicals have developed absolute zero tolerance to Christian gospel preachers (and perhaps why nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia are opening their gates to Catholicism, to at least give the people a form of Christianity, if not its Gospel-based power).  On a live interview given in Decemebr 2001, a leading Saudi cleric, Sheikh Ahmad al Qataani, gave figures of Moslems turning to Jesus: “In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity,” For emphasis, he added “Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity…..A tragedy has happened”     
          Respected Christian commentator, Joel Rosenberg, (Rosenberg, The Free Republic, 12/26/2006, <http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/2006/12/record-number-of-ex-muslims-celebrate.html>) confirms that Qataani was not necessarily exaggerating the situation.  Describing scenarios where ”many Muslims throughout the Middle East and even in the United States are seeing dreams and visions of Jesus,” he related that these former moslems come to churches “explaining that they have already converted and now need a Bible and guidance on how to follow Jesus.”  He further cites data upon data from various countries backing up these claims.  Countries covered include Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Iazakhstan, Egypt, Iran and Sudan.  At Sudan, Rosenberg reports that more than 1 million Sudanese have made decisions to follow Jesus Christ just since 2001 – despite (or perhaps because of) a ferocious civil war, genocide and widespread religious persecution, particularly in the Darfur region.  Read the entire report at http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/2006/12/record-number-of-ex-muslims-celebrate.html>.
       One of the mighty effective end-timer harvesters in the moslem world is Coptic priest, Zakaria Botros.  So effective is this saint’s ministry among the moslems that he had been labeled Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid . Along with fellow missionaries — mostly Muslim converts — he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., “Life TV”). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance  His excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East.  A very informative and challenging account of Zakaria Botros (http://www.fatherzakaria.net/) is making its way round the internet.  Read this heart-warming story on http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Ibrahim-Islams-Public-Enemy-Number-One.php
       Rosenberg’s authoritative article concludes on a beautiful note:
“Is life easy for these Muslim converts? By no means. They face ostracism from their families. They face persecution from their communities. They face being fired by their employers. They face imprisonment by their governments. They face torture and even death at the hands of Muslim extremists. But they are coming to Christ anyway. They are becoming convinced that Jesus is, in fact, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father in heaven except through faith in Jesus' death on the cross and powerful resurrection from the dead.”

Mobile phones and Public Health Concerns
A highly respected neurosurgeon and cancer expert, Professor Vini Khurana has published what has been described as “the most devastating indictment yet” of the health risks of mobile phones.  According to Khurana, mobile phones are far more dangerous than smoking or asbestos.  In the study which involved people who have used handsets for more than 10 years, the study concluded that “using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer”.  Since cancers take at least a decade to develop, official safety assurances based on earlier studies involving people who have been using mobile phones for less than 10 years are not really valid.
         While Khurana admits that mobiles can save lives in emergences, he believes that the next decade might as well witness brain tumours in people at epidemic proportion unless government and industry take immediate steps to reduce the amount of radiation involved in these modern-day gadgets. Not surprisingly, the Mobile Operators Association did not agree with the findings.  The Association dismissed the Khurana's study as "a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual”.  So the politics and uncertainty continue.  See full report at http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/mobile-phones-more-dangerous-than-smoking-or-asbestos-802602.html?r=RSS].  Dr Khurana’s impressive peer-reviewed paper, Mobile Phones and Brain Tumour – A Public Health Concern can be downloaded from http://brain-surgery.us/mobilephone.html.
          Similarly, scientists and physicians from academic centres and independent organizations in the USA, Europe and Asia, came together in mid-2007 to form the Bioinitiative Working Group. The group's goal was to document proposals for safer standards regarding public exposure to electromagnetic fields based on their comprehensive review of the literature. Its 610-page Report, which reviewed over 2000 published studies in the area of electromagnetic radiation and health, can be downloaded from (http://www.bioinitiative.org/report/docs/report.pdf)
        One may liken the current uncertainties about the hazard posed by microwave radiation from handsets to the situation with ionizing radiation (e.g. x-rays)  at the turn of the last century.  One big difference however is that whereas in that situation, only a few hundred individuals unintentionally received deadly exposure, (and it was job-related), about 3 billions are simultaneously being exposed today.  And the full verdict may not be in till about a decade from now!
           Some health issues about mobile handsets are however not being contested anymore.  In a recently published study sponsored by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, representing the main handset companies, it has been conclusively demonstrated that radiation from mobile phones can affect sleep, leading to headache, confusion and other serious medical and social consequences.  According to the report published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium, “using the handsets before bed causes people to take longer to reach the deeper stages of sleep and to spend less time in them, interfering with the body's ability to repair damage suffered during the day.”  This should sound an alarm bell for young people who use their phones late at night, especially in view of the free or cheap call rates, offered by most companies at night time.  Ironically these young people are the very ones who need a good night sleep most.  According to the report, failure to get such needed long and deep sleep can lead to “mood and personality changes, ADHD-like (Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) symptoms, depression, lack of concentration and poor academic performance.”
Read the full Report at 
www.truthout.org/issues_06/012208HA.shtml
           Earlier this year, in January, the French government warned against the use of mobile phones, especially by children. Germany, as well as the European Environment Agency have also called for exposures to be reduced.  A statement by the French Ministry of Health, Youth and Sports gave suggestions on how to reduce exposure: "One should use a mobile phone with good judgment, avoid calling when reception is poor, or during high-speed travel, and finally, keep the telephone away from sensitive areas of the body by using a hands-free kit," 

Global Food Crisis  (continued from back page) 
Gwynne Dyer, a London-based independent journalist gives an apt summary: “A huge amount of the world's farmland is being diverted to feed cars, not  people.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/07/nriots107.xml
       In the last edition, we commented on the insistence of the New World Order advocates, with spurious scientific support, that carbon-dioxide being produced by man is the cause for global warming; and their requirement that the world be fundamentally re-structured to reduce carbon-dioxide emission.  Like we had mentioned, such restructuring is only to pave way for the one world government agenda, as the current situation with the food situation is clearly showing.  To us, one of the most significant developments in the on-going food crisis is the willingness of many countries such as Mexico to soften their opposition to genetically-modified (GM) foods .  See for instance the article
www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/31/business/food.php). 
     As we show in the article Global Famine, GM foods and the End-time Famine available on our blog (http://churcharise.blogspot.com, GM foods, which often come sterile or sterilized and therefore can not be re-planted will form the very basis for the great famine predicted in the Bible for the end times.
     And finally, why are the Rockefeller and Gates foundations teaming up to push a GMO-style Green Revolution in Africa  while quietly financing at the same time, a ‘doomsday seed vault’ on Svalbard, near the remote Arctic Circle ‘so that crop diversity can be conserved for the future’?  Check www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529  for answers to this intriguing question.
EXHORTATION: 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT IS COMING
      It is certain; a day of judgment is coming. It will be a costly assumption to think and live as if there will be no day of judgment.  That day, it will be too late to repent and do the will of God.  Now is the time to prepare for that day.
     The Lord’s warning on the great day of judgment is evident thoughout the scriptures.  He speaks with all finality and gravity it deserves.  What will you say to Him on that day?  Sometimes we see the day as if it is so far away and not so near; yet death terminates every improvement any man can make on his life.  It makes men to only wait helplessly and fearfully for that great day.  And death is as close to each of us as just a step away.  What is your preparation to meet with your Lord?
     Again, spiritual gifts are given to men as a divine favor from God.  The Holy Spirit gives them to every Christian severally as He wills.  They are given by mercy, not by merit.  It is therefore quite possible for a man to manifest spiritual gifts when his life is not yet correct.  Great works done in the name of Jesus are never true indication of a man’s personal strength or holiness.  To accept man’s praise, coronation, awards and rewards for woks of grace done in His Name rather ascribe the glory to God, is erroneous.  Divine abilities, gifts of the Spirit, and ministries extended to us by mercy [are] never to become our personal credentials before God.  Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord even if that man be the greatest of preachers or miracle workers that ever lived.  To grow inwardly in conformity to the image of Christ as we grow in outward ministry is God’s delight.
    Therefore, take heed unto your life, O man or woman of God, lest on that day, the Master says to you, ‘Honestly I know you not, depart from me, you workers of iniquity.’  May the Lord give you deep understanding in Jesus’ name.  Amen.
Bro. Gbile Akanni
Culled from his book, The Kingdom Lifestyle (pg146 & 153)
TOPICAL ISSUE:  GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS BREWS SILENTLY
      What many thought was only a temporary local hike in food prices is fast turning out to be a sustained crisis that is affecting virtually every nation of the world.  According to UN figures, global food prices have risen 65% since 2002, with a sharp increase of 35% last year. World Bank data of 80% increase in the price of staple foods in the past 3 years is even more grim.
        In Nigeria, after the clearing of the haze of the usual price hikes  attributable to the religious-season and instabilities in fuel prices; citizens are faced with the reality of skyrocketing food prices. Despite government’s reported release of the nations strategic grains reserve to the public, prices have remained at the ceiling and currently a bag of rice is going for around N10,000!  But things are still better in Nigeria, it would seem.  The government of Haiti was sacked on April 12 when senators fired the prime minister after more than a week of riots over food prices, in which 7* people, including a Nigerian UN peacekeeper, had died. In Egypt, four people were reported killed in riots over subsidized flour that was being sold for profit on the black market.  Similarly Burkina Faso, Cameroon,  Morocco and Senegal  have witnessed food riots.  In Indonesia, the media are reporting deaths by starvation. In  Thailand, farmers are sleeping in their fields because thieves are stealing rice, now worth $600 a ton, right out of the paddies!  
www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/31/business/food.php

Church Arise! is published bi-monthly by the Church  Arise! LivingWater Ministries (CALM), P.O. Box 1674, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. 
Editor: Joshua O. Ojo
Advisory Team:   Ademola Adesina, Joanna Ojo
Dupe Adebajo, Laja Osoniyi, Emmanuel Ariyibi, Taiwo Oriola

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       Although a number of factors – including bad weather (floods in the rice paddies), rising demands, and even rodent attacks in India have been identified as responsible for this situation, the general concession is that by far, the greatest contributing factor is the diversion of agricultural products into production of fuel ethanol in the desperate paranoia-fed efforts to reduce carbon-dioxide production on earth, by all means.  
       Reporting on  the Progressive Governance Summit held in Watford (4-5 April), the Telegraphs wrote that “Many at the meeting blamed the price hikes on US and European Union moves to use biofuels such as ethanol to curb greenhouse gas emissions.”  Even Bill Clinton, who had joined Al Gore in his campaign to the Baptist churches to push for radical steps to fight his imagined carbon-dioxide based global warming (see Vol 11 No 1), concurred with the other attendees at the Watford summit.  According to Clinton, “What's really hurting the food markets is America moving into ethanol. People there are moving into corn and you have pasta riots in Italy related to what some people are doing in farming in America.”  continued on page 7