The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world | Fox News

By  Published May 07, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Link to original: The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world | Fox News.

May 4, 2013: Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
May 4, 2013: Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway.  Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other.

We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.”  In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion:  Iraq was the earliest indicator of the fate awaiting Christians once Islamic forces are liberated from the grip of dictators.

In 2003, Iraq’s Christian population was at least one million. Today fewer than 400,000 remain—the result of an anti-Christian campaign that began with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when countless Christian churches were bombed and countless Christians killed, including by crucifixion and beheading.

The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg.

Now, as the U.S. supports the jihad on Syria’s secular president Assad, the same pattern has come to Syria: entire regions and towns where Christians lived for centuries before Islam came into being have now been emptied, as the opposition targets Christians for kidnapping, plundering, and beheadings, all in compliance with mosque calls telling the populace that it’s a “sacred duty” to drive Christians away. Continue reading “The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world | Fox News”

Morning Reading: Luke 22:47-53 NLT- darkness reigns

Reading: Luke 22:47-53 NLT

Judas KissBut even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.

But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – When I find myself overwhelmed by betrayal and darkness… remind me that, in the end, you win. Amen.

Spiritual: “What do you think about Jesus” (He’s alright)

Morning Reading: Luke 22.39-46 NLT – your will

Reading: Luke 22:39-46 NLT

Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives.

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There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.

He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.

“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father – Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. Thy will be done… in me. In Jesus’ name, I ask it. Amen.

Hymn: “Go to Dark Gethsemane” – James Montgomery (1825)

Morning Reading: Luke 22.35-38 NLT – armed and ready

Reading: Luke 22:35-38 NLT

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?”

“No,” they replied.

packing light“But now,” he said, “take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one! For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: ‘He was counted among the rebels.’ Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true.”

“Look, Lord,” they replied, “we have two swords among us.”

“That’s enough,” he said.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – I understand packing and getting ready to travel. And I understand the counter-culture threat your followers pose to prevailing societal norms. But I don’t understand arming myself… except with the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”  So give me both wisdom and and innocence… that I might be a faithful bearer of your Good News – fully clothed in your heavenly armor… and prepared to go when you call. Amen.

Hymn: “Song for the Nations” – Chris Christensen

2013 Orthodox Easter Sunday – Καλό Πάσχα — Χριστός έχει αυξηθεί

Peanut Gallery: Today is Easter Sunday for millions of Christians around the world. Happy Easter – Christ is risen!

Message from John Kass

Message from Coptic Pope Tawadros in Egypt

Holy Fire in Jerusalem

Orthodox Scouts Celebrate Easter in Jerusalem