All posts tagged: Russia

‘God give us strength’ found scrawled on the walls of a Russian torture chamber in Ukraine

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After Ukraine liberated the city of Kherson earlier this month, they discovered the horrors of a Russian torture chamber, where one person had scrawled the words, “God give us strength,’ along with a cross, on a wall. The Russians had captured the city during the early days (February to March) of its invasion of Ukraine but were forced to abandon the capital city of the Oblast Region after relentless pressure from Ukraine. The Daily Mail reports: Among the sinister finds were gas masks and bottles of liquid – now being analysed – while inmates had scrawled ‘God, give us strength’ on the walls and made markings to count the days they had been held. In inhumane conditions, the invaders interrogated ‘local patriots’ who ‘refused to cooperate with the enemy’, said the Ukrainian government. The torture chamber is the latest of several that have been uncovered in the city, abandoned by Russia as they faced defeat at the hands of Ukraine’s advancing army. Horrifying testimony has started to emerge from victims of Russian torture while investigators …

Russia closing down non-orthodox churches and arresting pastors in its illegally seized territory

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According to a report by Release International based in the United Kingdom, Russian forces that have illegally occupied parts of Ukraine are shutting down non-Russian Orthodox churches and in some instance arresting their pastor, Premier Christian News report. This includes the closure of a Grace Baptist Church in Melitopol on Sept 11, 2022, which was raided by armed Russian troops during its Sunday morning worship service that was being broadcast live. Melitopol, located in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast region of East Ukraine, was occupied by Russian forces in late February. The Russian soldiers entered as church members were singing a hymn. They ended the service, took down the names of all the attendees and arrested several of those leading the service. The senior pastor, Mikhail Brisyn was ordered to leave the city within 48 hours. Other churches were also raided and shut down in August including Melitopol Christian Church, which has a 1,000 seat auditorium and is the city’s largest church. But the raid of a church in the small town of Chkalovo revealed what may …

Chinese agents spying on Britain’s nuclear power plants and military bases

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According to the British news site, The Express, Britain’s security service is reporting that agents working for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are using drones to spy on Britain’s nuclear power plants and military bases. The Express reports: Defence chiefs believe Beijing agents are responsible for 18 drone sightings at military sights and power stations across the UK in just two years. Details of the drone activity were uncovered through a Freedom of Information request. The drone sightings happened between 2019 and 2021 but details of the military bases were withheld for defence and national security reasons. One nuclear site’s report reads: “Security personnel reported a drone being flown close to a facility.” While another said: “Drone landed in the area and secured by security personnel.” READ: UK nuclear bases infiltrated by China as mysterious drone sightings sound alarm Meanwhile, in the US: READ: U.S. charges target alleged Chinese spying at Harvard, Boston institutions READ: 5 charged with spying for China inside US; 3 arrested, 2 at large READ: Suspected Chinese spy reportedly slept with, …

Joining together in praying for Ukraine

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Several years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a service at a Ukrainian Orthodox church. Having come from an Evangelical background, there was one thing that I found very unusual. Even though the church was based in North America, as the priest performed various rituals, he prayed for the military at least three or four times during that one service. I can’t remember a time during an Evangelical service when someone actually prayed for the military. This is not to say it didn’t happen, but it never caught my attention like it did that morning. But it shouldn’t surprise anyone. For a church that finds its roots in Ukraine, it reflects the country’s deep insecurity, as it has been the target of war and occupation by megalomaniacs and tyrants for centuries. People still remember Josef Stalin’s forced starvation of millions of Ukrainian farmers under the country’s brutal occupation by the former Soviet Union after it supposedly rescued Ukraine from its occupation by Nazi Germany. So, the church prays for the country’s military. And today, …

Healing

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By Rick Renner How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil….— Acts 10:38 During our early years in the former USSR, I preached a series of meetings in Riga, Latvia. Several thousand people showed up for these special services — many of whom were first exposed to our ministry through our TV program — and our team witnessed thousands of people come forward to surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It was absolutely thrilling to see people’s response to the Gospel message. After all the meetings were concluded, the local church leader who organized the event came to me and asked me to pray for his disabled teenage son. His boy had suffered severe, permanent injuries after being physically beaten by a gang of hoodlums. In fact, they smashed his head into the concrete street so many times with such force that his brain had become dislodged from his skull. He was literally …

Russian supporters unveiling massive banner portraying an dangerous bear and the words "Russia Forward" prior to Euro 2008 soccer match against England Credit: Roman Kovrigin/Wikipedia

Is Russia’s first missile attack against Israel and the appearance of a Super Blood Moon a coincidence?

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When looking at the Bible’s end times prophecy one thing keeps showing up, blood moons. The prophet Joel refers to a blood moon appearing before the great and terrible day of the Lord (Joel 2:31). As well, the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John’s vision of end times events, speaks of a Blood Moon (Revelation 6:12). But Blood Moons are a regular occurrence and take place when the Sun’s light is reflected through the earth’s atmosphere during a lunar eclipse. Some describe it as the red of an earth’s sunset appearing on the moon. So because of that, Blood Moons in themselves are only significant in Biblical end times as they appear along with other events. Joel speaks of columns of smoke (Joel 2:30) that suggests volcanic activity in association with the Blood Moon and the Book of Revelation speaks of a great earthquake and the world being pummeled with either meteors or asteroids along with its Blood Moon. So when an article on Foxnews, announced there will be a rare “super blood moon” appearing …

The Kremlin and St. Basil Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. Photo: Mariano Mantel/Flickr/Creative Commons

Russian government makes it illegal for believers to share their faith privately

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The Russian government just passed a bill severely curtailing religious expression in that country. According to reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already signed off on the bill and it will come into effect on July 20, 2o16 The legislation was part of a package of bills intended to counter terrorism. However, many are concerned due to its broad reach, the law could be used by local authorities to persecute the Christian church. Among the many features of the bill, evangelism would be limited to regular church services and would only be allowed by people licensed with an organization registered with the government. Essentially, this would stop church members from sharing their faith privately. This can include something as innocent as reading a Bible in the presence of non-believing friends. It also forbids using the internet to share one’s faith which means that people and churches could run foul of the law by simply inviting someone to church via an email. The law that was first drafted in April also prevents believers from holding church …

Robert Downey Jr Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Is Robert Downey Jr interested in Biblical end-times?

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Robert Downey Jr is one of my favourite actors. I enjoyed his roles as Tom Stark in the Iron Man series and as Sherlock Holmes. Sometime back, Downey  was being interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, when he made this surprising statement in response to Stewart’s question on optimism: “Here’s what I heard.” Downey said. “This was a discussion between a Russian military guy and Chuck Missler, who’s a Christian. … Love Chuck. … He asked the Russian guy is there hope for Western civilization,” “The Russian guy said you have to understand the difference between an optimist and a pessimist.