The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), which is the largest school district in Canada, recently banned students from attending a book fair scheduled for 2022, because they might come in contact with Nadia Murad, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, who recently wrote a book how ISIS had kidnapped her when she was 14 and turned her into a sex slave.
One ancient tradition states the tomb of the prophet Jonah is located near the remains of the city of Nineveh. This particular site has been considered Jonah’s tomb since the 4th century and resulted in the construction of a Christian church and monastery at the site. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and call the city to repent of its sins. Fearing the city would escape God’s judgement if it responded, Jonah refused and sailed off to Tarshish located on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. However, God stirred up a storm that eventually resulted in Jonah being tossed overboard and swallowed by a large fish. Stuck in it’s stomach for three days, Jonah repented and was coughed up on land. He went back to Nineveh who then responded to Jonah’s message. If this tradition is right, Jonah must have stayed on in Nineveh. However, this is not universally accepted. Other traditions state that Jonah returned to his home town of Gath-Hepher where he died. The Assyrian church initially built at the shrine located just …
According to USA Today, the Islamic terrorist group, ISIS, is urging radical followers to attack Christians attending New Year’s eve church services. This was based on a report issued by the SITE Intelligence Group, an organization that regularly tracks Jihadist websites, forums and social media. SITE states that Jihadist social media messages are encouraging lone-wolf attacks against churches. The report specifically noted four countries were listed as targets — Canada, US, Holland and France. Confirming this report, the FBI issued a warning to churches in the US to be vigilant about possible ISIS attacks during New Year services. The FBI said it has picked up increased chatter of possible strikes against churches and though there were no specifics it issued a general warning. According to Vocatv, Islāmic groups are increasingly using a social media app called Telegram to communicate with followers. It reported on a similar message in Arabic issued by a user who went by the name Abu Marya al-Iraqi: “for bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year … turn the Christian New Year …
On August 4, 2013, American Kayla Mueller, 24, from Prescott, Arizona was working as a humanitarian aid worker in Syria when ISIL captured her and a friend, Omar Alkhani, as they were leaving a Doctors without Borders hospital in Aleppo. Omar who was a contractor for Doctors without Borders was released a few weeks later. Meanwhile, hoping for a ransom, ISIS moved Kayla to various locations throughout Syria. In 2014, the Islamic extremists notified Kayla’s parents of their daughter’s kidnapping. However, nothing could be worked out and after 18 months in a brutal captivity, Kayla died in February 2015 after an air strike by the Jordanian air force. Recently in an interview with ABC’s news program 20/20, four hostages who shared a cell with Kayla came forward with a story about her remarkable faith in Christ. It appears ISIL was purposefully trying to force Kayla to recant her faith. But in the face of the unrelenting torture, Kayla remained strong to the end. According to ABC, her torture included “verbal abuse, prolonged isolation, sensory deprivation, stress …
In early May, Italian police reported they stopped a planned ISIS terrorist attack on the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome. They believe six people were involved in this plot — three men and three women. Four Moroccans were arrested. Two others, a Moroccan man and his Italian wife have apparently fled to either Iraq or Syria. The police became aware of the plot through phone taps of conversations between members of the group. In a transcript released to the public, one of the arrested men allegedly said: “I swear I will be the first to attack them in this Italy of the crusaders, I swear I’ll attack it, in the Vatican, God willing.” This isn’t the first time that the Italian police thwarted a terrorist attack on the Vatican. Last year, at almost exactly the same time, Italian police broke up an Al-Qaeda plot planned against the Vatican that may have included a possible assassination attempt on the Pope. Nine people were arrested (Afghans and Pakistanis) in raids and police were looking for …
Recently, someone burned Bibles in the city of Mosul in Iraq. Christians have left the region, so their enemies burned their books. Someone wants to exterminate Christians, and that is bad news. It is easy to miss that this is also a good news story. Christians are suffering, and that is tragic, but part of this story is good. It’s a picture of disruption. “Innovative Disruption” refers to a new idea that replaces a “market and value structure.” It erodes critical mass which is the minimum amount required to maintain a venture. One good example is the smart phone that you probably have in your pocket. I remember when phones were mostly black and had dials. The system worked well, but now we all want the new thing. Cell phone vendors don’t hate dial phones, they just promote their new thing. Traditional phone companies had us all, their critical mass, and then lost us. Now they are free to sell antique designs to a few, but they need us all in order to succeed. In …
You have to read the story behind this song, Even Unto Death, just released by Christian singer Audrey Assad. It is part of her new album, Inheritance, scheduled for release on February 12. She wrote this song after watching the martyrdom of 21 Egyptian Christian men on the shores of the Mediterranean by the Muslim extremist group ISIS. In the video, ISIS led the 21 men, dressed in orange, to the beach where they were beheaded simply because they believed in Jesus. To live, all these Coptic Christians had to do to was renounce their faith in Christ. Audrey wrote: “You must remember that night, months ago, when I saw the video of those 21 precious Egyptian men kneeling on a Mediterranean beach. I stared at the procession … I knew that I was looking into the sickening, quaking black hole that is death. The captives prayed, their lips moving silently, their eyes closed or raised to the heavens. What were they whispering, in those last, fast-fading moments of their lives? Were they afraid? What …
As ISIS works to set up a Muslim Caliphate in the Middle East with hopes of extending its influence into even Europe, there is only one country it fears — Israel. This is according to a German reporter who spent 10 days with ISIS in 2014. Because of a unique relationship he had developed with ISIS leaders, Jurgen Todenhofer received permission to embed with the Islamic extremists. During this time he was able to interview several Jihadi fighting in Iraq and Syria. Though several countries such as America and Britain have military in Iraq, Todenhoffer said in an interview with Jerusalem News that ISIS is not scared of them because they lack the commitment and experience needed for city guerrilla warfare. As one fighter pointed out, Mosul, Iraq has 1.5 million people and ISIS has 10,000 fighters scattered throughout the city and Western armies lack the experience for that type of urban fighting. ISIS’s headquarters is based in Mosul. In addition, ISIS fighters are prepared to die for their cause, and they do not believe …
It has been an eventful year, so what were the top most read stories on opentheword.org? From first to tenth, actually eleventh due to a virtual tie for last place, here they are: Did the Bible predict beheadings by Muslim extremists? With gruesome stories coming out of the Middle East about ISIS beheading Christians, it is not surprising many Christians are wondering if this was mentioned at all in the Bible particularly as it related to the end times. Not surprisingly it does. This story topped the list with 7,868 reads in 2015. Sir Isaac Newton predicted world would end in 2060 AD End times events are on many people’s minds these days. Researchers studying the writings of Sir Isaac Newton, who died in 1727 AD, stumbled upon his prediction when Christ would return. Newton studied the Bible and particularly end time events. Why did he date Christ’s return to centuries later — in our day? One more thing, from his study Newton also determined that Israel had to be restored back to the Promised …
Washington Post columnist Peter Holley recently wrote about the super powers of ISIS fighters that makes them fearless in ISIS’s battle to set up a Muslim Caliphate in the Middle East. He says the reason is a small pill called “Captagon.” The highly addictive drug is illegal in the West. It was initially produced as a cure for such things as depression or hyperactivity. However, because of its severe negative side affects and addictive qualities the drug was banned in 1986 in most Western nations. Some of the side effects included hallucinations, psychosis and even brain damage. While banned in the rest of the world, the easily manufactured drug remained in production in the Middle East. Today, Syria and Saudi Arabia are the main producers of the drug which over the years has become increasingly toxic. According to Holley, ISIS leaders are giving their fighters the drug because it produces an euphoric state in the person, causing them to lose any sense of fear. It also results in the person being able to go for …
Fighters from ISIS have shot and bombed and beheaded thousands in the last two years. We all know they attacked many innocent people in Paris France, and Russia has joined the fight in Syria. Now China is involved, because ISIS beheaded one of their citizens. The mess is starting to look like a small world war. So do a few devout religious people in the desert imagine they can win against the whole world? The question is like a joke. But they are winning, and they know it. A recent article in the BBC asked the question, “Do terrorists really think they’re going to win?” The analysis includes ISIS, and yes terrorists can win. ISIS can win because it is a religious movement. The trick is as old as the Bible; score a bull’s eye every time, just move the target. Every religion has values. It wouldn’t be a religion if it didn’t. ISIS can win by wanting what they want, and not wanting what we want them to want. In better English, they can …
Gospel Herald is reporting another conversion of an ISIS militant because of a dream. The report came via the Christian Aid Mission (CAM) who provides aid to indigenous groups in various countries around the world. The ministry was providing help to a refugee family in Amman, Jordan. When a jihadist fighter of the family heard his relatives were receiving help from Christians, he decided to visit and deal with the “unclean pigs.” When he arrived, the man actually went to a Christian meeting intending to slaughter the CAM missionaries. However, for some unknown reason he was unable to follow through with his plan. According to director of CAM for the Middle East, that night the jihadist had a dream where Jesus appeared to him. The next day he showed up at their ministry stating: “I came to kill you, but last night I saw Jesus, I want to know what you are teaching — who is this one who held me up from killing you.” The missionaries shared the Gospel with the terrorist and he …
In his newly released book, Ten Days in the Islāmic State, German journalist Jurgen Todenhofer, 75, reports on his disturbing 10-day encounter with ISIS terrorists. Using Skype, Todenhofer was able to negotiate his visit that involved stays in two Islamic State controlled cities — Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria. He was babysat at times by none other than British terrorist Jihad John who gained his notoriety through beheading videos. Todenhofer added that those videos were purposefully done to intimidate and spread fear. It is believed ISIS allowed Todenhofer to embed with the group because he opposed the US invasion of Iraq. The journalist didn’t really trust ISIS and admitted preparing a will before joining the group because they had previously beheaded journalists. One of the most disturbing things that Todenhofer had to say is that ISIS’s goal is to use atomic weapons to create a “nuclear tsunami” that will result in the largest religious cleansing the world has ever seen. He says the west is “drastically underestimating the power of ISIS.” According to the journalist, …
“You believe that because you are an Orthodox Jew allied with Evangelical Christians.” Those words offend many people, especially Jews and Christians. Recently a Jewish man named Steve Maman, originally from Morocco, was interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The interview was in Montreal, and in French. The CBC is the state funded broadcaster in Canada. Also note, this is an election year in Canada and people are choosing sides. Steve Maman represents a charity that rescues women from terrible slavery under ISIS in the Middle East. He identifies the female victims as Yazidi and Christian. Most of the world believes he is a good man doing a good thing. To me, the CBC is bland and boring, a government-funded news source that never takes sides. It’s an expense for the taxpayers, and financial cuts are always possible. A brief interview in French, about an obscure charity, could not go wrong, but it did. Steve Maman praised the Government of Canada for its support of his charity and said that Canada was their most …
[by Dean Smith] A YWAM (Youth with a Mission) worker is reporting a Middle East ISIS fighter. who apparently killed Christians. has converted to Christ. According to the Christian Post, YWAM representative Gina Fadely provided the report on the Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network. YWAM, with over 1,200 bases around the world, is one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. Initially set up in 1960 to mobilize youth for missions, it now accepts people of all ages for ministry work. According to Fadely, a YWAM worker based in the Middle East was introduced to an ISIS militant through a friend. The terrorist said he killed Christians and even admitted that he “enjoyed doing it.”
[by Dean Smith – updated April 18, 2015] Italian police are reporting that Muslims on board a refugee boat crossing the North Mediterranean Sea from Libya threw 12 Christians off the boat. The 12 were murdered simply because they were Christians. The rubber boat held 105 people when it left Libya on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. Somewhere along their journey Muslims on board became aware of the Christians. The Muslims were from Senegal, Ivory Coast and Mali. [Since we posted this story, there have been more revelations on what happened on board the raft carrying the 105 refugees. Apparently, the rubber boat started leaking and people began praying. The Muslims on board became enraged when they heard a boy praying to God instead of allah. Screaming allah is great they threw the boy overboard. When other Christians tried to help the boy, the Muslims turned on them as well.] The murdered Christians were from Ghana and Nigeria and were likely fleeing the escalating Muslim violence against Christians in those countries.
According to reports in London’s Daily Mirror, Islamic State fighters (ISIS) are losing a battle to a pesky, miniscule enemy — a sand fly. The ISIS fighters are being plagued with a flesh-eating disease that can cause sores all over a person’s body. Called Leishmaniasis, it is spread by biting sand flies which pass on a parasite that causes the infection. Left untreated it can result in death. It is estimated between 20,000 to 50,000 people die each year from the disease. In addition to large gaping wounds, Leishmaniasis can cause a fever and enlarged liver and spleen. It can also make a person anemic.
James O’Keefe runs Project Veritas. Using video, his group goes undercover to record and expose corruption and questionable activities among the political élite of America. In their most recent video, they showed officials at Barry University, a Catholic school, essentially supporting the setting up of a pro-ISIS club on campus. ISIS is the Middle East terrorist group brutalizing Iraq and Syria. We recently posted a story of the organization beheading 21 people in Libya because they were Christians. Media also seems to release daily reports on horrific atrocities being committed by ISIS.
[by Sandy McIntosh] World leaders seem paralyzed by the Islamic State. The most recent news is that IS is bulldozing ancient ruins. Apparently they are destroying the historical heritage of the entire human race, with the attitude, we don’t need a past, we just need their future. Future generations have lost part of their heritage forever. The problem is us, not them. The world has no solution to this horrible problem. I believe the failure comes from our western bias, we believe in our own success but we are confronted by a victorious enemy. World news is grim. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria continues to shock the world and no-one can stop them. Thousands of Russian soldiers are in another country, Ukraine and they won’t leave. Iran seems close to building a nuclear bomb, and Saudi Arabia has responded by planning to build its own.
[by Dean Smith] This past week, horrific photos surfaced of the terrorist group Islāmic State (IS) amputating the hand of a suspected thief in the Iraqi city of Mosul. IS is setting up a Caliphate or Muslim state ruled by a supreme leader known as a Calif in an area covering parts of Iraq and Syria. It comes with a full implementation of Sharia law that provides for amputation of a thief’s hand for a first offense. After the second, IS starts lopping off feet. The photo documentary shows the brutal punishment from its first stage inside a crowded van as they drive to a market for the public punishment. On the trip, the man’s arm is tightly bandaged to slow blood flow. The victim is then pumped full of drugs to reduce the pain and further restrict blood loss after the hand is hacked off.
What Nehemiah Did and How You Can Do Anything: Chapter 5 and conclusion, Locate the North Star. [by Sandy McIntosh] Today we have ISIS, a militant group that has kidnapped and sold young women as slaves, beheaded Egyptian Christians with knives, and burned a Jordanian pilot with gasoline, in a cage. The group strives with great energy, but success eludes them. We also have Vladimir Putin in Russia who lost controlling influence over Ukraine when its corrupt government collapsed. He responded by occupying Ukrainian Crimea, resulting in the devastation of that region’s economy. Crimea was followed by the subversive invasion of eastern Ukraine. Affected areas of Ukraine are now in ruins and the population is growing desperate. Success also eludes Mr Putin, in spite of his great efforts.
[by Dean Smith] For now I will call it a coincidence, but this past Wednesday, Israel announced the finding of a huge cache of gold coins by amateur divers off the coast of Caesarea. At first they thought the coins were fake because they were in such good condition. But the divers turned them over to a specialist for examination who discovered these were actually gold coins dated to the 10th and 11th century. But here is where it gets interesting, the coins were part of a Muslim caliphate that ruled North Africa during the tenth century. A caliphate is an Islamic state ruled by a political/religious leader called a caliph with either spiritual or hereditary connections to the prophet Muhammad. A Caliph’s power is absolute and the state is under Sharia law.
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) announced this month it will be training women as tank commanders. Initially, the women would function as back-ups and only join crews in emergency situations. But it is expected, they will eventually work into regular rotations. By including women, the IDF will increase the number of people it can draw from to fill positions by 50%. But there may be more to the decision than that.
[by Dean Smith] Arutz Sheva — an Israeli news site — reports the Islamic State (which go by a variety of acronyms IS, ISIS, ISIL) has just declared Christians as its number one enemy. This news was broadcast loudly on the most recent cover of the organization’s propaganda magazine called Dabiq. In its fourth edition, the cover of the English version featured a photo-shopped picture of the Black ISIS flag on top of the Egyptian obelisk in the Vatican’s St Peter’s square. The magazine — titled “The Failed Crusade” — compared the West’s efforts to stop IS to the Roman Catholic crusades.
[by Dean Smith] Years ago, I stumbled upon a verse in the New Testament that puzzled me. Found in the book of Revelation, it was strange, because based on my experience at that time it made no sense. Eventually I forgot about the passage. But recent events brought it back to my memory and I started looking for it. It took a while to find it. At one point, I wondered if I had just imagined seeing it, but eventually I tracked the verse down. The Book of Revelation speaks of a vision by the Apostle John about the apocalyptic events that would occur before the Second Coming of Jesus. At the end of Revelation, John sees a special reward being given to two groups of people who had undergone extreme persecution. They would be raised from the dead before the thousand-year reign of Christ and live with Christ during this period. The rest would be raised from the dead at the end of the thousand years. So who were these two groups?
According to Khalid Mahmood, a British MP from Birmingham, England, there are more British Muslims fighting for Islamic State (IS) extremists in the Middle East than there are serving in the British army. The IS — which goes by various acronyms including ISIS (Islamic State in Syria) — is attempting to set up an Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East. The British army says there are 600 Muslims serving in the British army. MP Khalid Mahmood believes over the last three years 1,500 British Muslims have joined the IS in its fight in the Middle East.
It was inevitable. After weeks of purposefully endangering their lives, the people of Gaza are starting to turn against Hamas. Hamas has brutally ruled Gaza since it took control in 2005. Every two or three years it attacks Israel. In its most recent conflict, as it did in the past, the terrorist organization is purposefully launching its rockets from Gaza suburbs and even hospitals hoping Israel’s retaliatory strikes would result in human casualties or at the very least destroy people’s homes. According to a report by the Associated Press, Gazans are starting to openly criticize Hamas. This is a very rare move and extremely dangerous as Hamas, similar to its ISIS cousins in Iraq, will kill fellow Muslims with little provocation. The lucky ones who criticize Hamas’ are thrown in jail. The AP article stated:
Something amazing happened in this world recently, and most of us missed it. We know that violence has spread like a fire in the Middle East, recently. Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Egypt is fighting a smaller parallel war on the southern border of Gaza. Both are fighting Hamas and its allies. Egypt and Israel are co-belligerents, if not allies in a war against Arab Muslims. On the eastern border of Egypt, Libya is collapsing into a violent civil war and hundreds of thousands are running for their lives. Many of the refugees are Egyptian workers. Countries like Canada have evacuated diplomatic staff. North of Israel, starting from the valley of the Euphrates river, the Islamic movement Isis, or Isil, or the Islamic State has conquered large parts of Syria and Iraq. Iran, the ancient Persia, has sent fighters to support Syria and Iraq. Thousands have died, many more are refugees, and entire nations are being destroyed. A world war may be emerging from the Middle East, like an ancient Bible story with guns …
A few months ago, Isis, the Islamic State in Syria was a terrifying organization. In Syria, they murdered Christians and crucified their fellow Muslims. By some accounts, they killed their victims first and then put dead bodies on crosses, if that helps. Recently, Al Qaeda, the leader among Muslim extremists denounced Isis and refused to work with them. They were too bad to run with the bad boys, terrorists to the terrorists. More recently, Isis attacked Iraq and conquered a third of the country. Now they control a national territory in Syria and Iraq with vast oil wealth. Also they inherited American weapons when the Iraqis dropped everything and ran. Billions in American investments are now in the hands of their worst enemies. I believe it is only a matter of time before attacks are launched outside of the Middle East; and that puts you and me at risk.
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