Frequent deadly clashes with dominant Muslim sects in some regions of Nigeria have not thwarted the rapid growth of Evangelical Christian denominations in the North Central and South East, South South, and South West regions of that country.
Of 4,998 Christians killed for their faith last year, the majority – 90 per cent – were brutally murdered in Nigeria, the most populous of the African nations.
The global persecution of Christians continues to rise, says Open Doors’ annual World Watch List, which reports that over 365 million believers faced persecution last year – up five million from 2022.
Over the past decades, 1993 held the record for extreme levels of persecution of Christians in 40 countries. This number has nearly doubled to 76 countries in 2023. Without doubt the COVID debacle and vaccine mandates added to the worrying trend between 2021 upwards, but the truth is, Christians have been facing intensifying levels of violence discrimination and exclusion for some 30 years.
Today, one out of every seven Christians suffers high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.
In recent years, the increased, overt and covert push by the LGBTQI community to advance its reprobate agenda across the globe, and especially in African nations and resistant Caribbean, has seen to further castigation of the Church.
Hate speech laws, imprisonment on spurious charges and economic sanctions have become part and parcel of the enemy’s arsenal against believers and their countries that fight back. In some Muslim nations, Christians have no freedom of worship, and if discovered practising their faith, they are hauled off to labour camps, if not death. Even owning a Bible is considered a serious crime that could attract severe punishment in some nations.
The sad truth is that going forward, the news is likely to get even worse for the body of Christ.
Persecution is almost like a rite of passage in the life of every believer. In fact, believers were persecuted from the very birth of Jesus Christ. King Herod was the master persecutor. He ordered every boy child murdered to prevent the King of kings from advancing the God assigned mission, which was the Salvation of humanity.
Historically, John the Baptist too, was persecuted in unimaginable ways. He was eventually beheaded at the behest of the queen.
Jesus, himself was targeted for persecution and even when he was finally arrested, tried and found innocent, the persecution moved from the governors to the governed who chose his crucifixion in an unfair exchange for the freedom of a common thief. Unknowing to the wicked lot, this unfathomable exchange was the epic foreshadowing of the amazing Grace of God that would divinely pardon their sins and save them all from the death that they justly deserved.
The disciples suffered untold persecution as they established the Church, spreading the gospel across nations. Beheadings, stonings and other forms of brutality were a dime a dozen, despite this often gruesome reality, they were faithful to the mission.
As the Satanic agenda of the one-world order, coupled with the reprobate LBTQI+ advances, the principles of righteousness will come under even greater pressure and those who stand for God will be severely persecuted.
During the height of the COVID pandemic, we saw how intense things can become, even in so-called Christian countries. The vaccination experience was a foreshadowing of what the future will look like in countries where Christian worship is usually persecution-free.
The unprecedented pressure, harrassment and open hostility leveled against those who refused the vaccines, even from families and close friends, were mind-boggling and mind-blowing.
Suddenly, some who once applauded and celebrated friends, colleagues and families, gladly disrespected, persecuted and crucified them on account of their refusal of the jab.
Make no mistake, issues such as the definition of marriage, abortion on demand, gender and appropriate sexual relations will become even more fractious and divisive and eventually drive some to persecute their very own for standing with God.
Already, Christians in many developed countries have been branded as right-winged, bible-thumping bigots and irrational maniacs who should be silenced, ignored, if not corralled into some corner where they are monitored or tethered and gagged so that they cannot upset the unrelenting global reset.
New age thought has replaced prosperity gospel within religious circles, capturing the imaginations of many, including some of our young people who scoff at Biblical teachings they have labeled archaic, mythical and irrelevant.
Big money is the new god, driving industries, politics, careers, dreams and relationships.
Even in the church, some who hold fast to the teachings of Jesus Christ, the leading of the Holy Spirit and the truths of the Scriptures, come up for a form of persecution by members who see them as overly zealous and unyielding to the sugary temptations of the world.
Those who resist the infiltration of the enemy through closet homosexuality, feminism or lodge affiliates into the Church of the True and Living God face certain persecution.
Global Satanists are pushing for the complete annihilation of all true Christians. This is no surprise, for it is written.
Christians, whether in ancient or modern times, are seen as the enemy of the secular societies, in a similar way as Christ Himself was seen as a threat to Herod’s reign and the government and governance of His day.
Do not think it odd that you are pushed back or pushed down when you stand up for Jesus Christ. Know this: Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
