North Korea’s population continues to live under government surveillance and with a propaganda machine controlled by the national leader’s personality cult.

It actually is not unlike George Orwell’s classic book 1984, John Choi* comments, a Christian human rights advocate who escaped from North Korea and now lives in the UK:

“Life [in North Korea] is very rough. Frequent food shortages, power cuts, typhoons, floods and other natural disasters; [these are] just some of the challenges North Koreans still have to deal with. Add to that gross human rights violations, total lack of freedom, information censorship, propaganda and the ongoing political mismanagement and you can see why living in North Korea is like living in Orwell’s 1984,” he says.

Under the “god-like'” leadership of the Kim dynasty from the 1950s onward, thousands of Christians have been sent to labor camps as they are seen as hostile to the regime and have to be eradicated.

“Many fled, others were captured and/or killed. But a small remnant was able to go underground. They survived as secret believers, which is a God-sized miracle,” says the activist.

He estimates that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Christians in the DPRK, of which 50,000 – 70,000 are in the prison system: “The others have managed to keep their faith secret and continue to stay faithful under the most difficult circumstances.” Imprisonment, torture and death are the potential risks—not only to oneself, but to one’s family.

The country is No. 1 on the 2018 Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian.

Christian references

It wasn’t always like that. Between the two Koreas, the North was always more open and tolerant than the traditionally agricultural backwater of the South. With its position bordering the rest of the East Asian continent, it was the place for commercial and cultural exchange with China and Manchuria. It was also the place where Christianity flourished. In the early 20th century, Pyongyang came to be known as the “Jerusalem of the East,” with so many church crosses dotting the horizon.

The present leader Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, “the great leader” Kim Il-sung, came from a Christian family. He was raised for most of his life by his grandparents who were deacons in the church, but his parents were committed Christians as well, according to Choi.

“His father, Kim Hyung-Jik, didn’t like communism because communists did not accept Christian love and equal rights. The Protestant Chilgol Church in Pyongyang is dedicated to his mother, Kang Pan-Suk. Her name means ‘rock’. She was named after the apostle Simon, named ‘Peter’ (Rock) by Jesus”, he says, adding, “What a tragedy that this church is now one of the four showcase churches in the country.”

Choi says that it is very likely that, as a child, Kim Il-sung joined his family in going to church, and that this might explain why there are so many Christian references in Kim’s personality cult: “For example, they have their own trinity with Kim Il-sung as the father, his son Kim Jong-il as the son and the Juche (self-reliance) ideology in the role of ‘Holy Spirit.’ There’s even a nativity-like story for Kim Jong-il’s birth. People don’t go to church on Sunday, but they have to go to the local Kim Il-Sung Research Center on Saturday and study the leaders’ scriptures.”

‘Divide-and-rule Approach’

So what happened to Kim Il-sung that made him turn against the religion of his fathers?

“What may play a part is that some of his first—and strongest—opponents were actually Christians,” says Choi. In the time between the end of 30 years of Japanese occupancy (at the end of World War II) and the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with Kim as premier, Soviet authorities helped him implement communist policies. This led to opposition.

“The Christian Social Democratic Party (CSDP) was founded in September 1945, and the Korean Democratic Party—led by a Christian—in November 1945. In 1947, some Christian ministers founded the Christian Liberal Party,” explains Choi.

“Kim Il-sung especially had to deal with Cho Man-Sik (the best-known nationalist leader in the North) and the Protestant community, which supported Cho and other Christian leaders. There were several violent clashes between pro-communists and anti-communist groups. Christians led most of the anti-communist activities at the time.”

“Through a clever divide-and-rule approach, Kim Il-sung eventually won the battle,” Choi continues. “Many Christian leaders were arrested, with a significant percentage of them executed. Cho himself died in captivity in 1950, soon after the start of the Korean War. It’s believed he was murdered in prison.”

Christians in North Korea then were given three options: to become communist and abandon their faith, become a martyr, or escape to South Korea. According to Choi, between 1946 and 1953 up to 1.5 million North Koreans, mostly Christians, chose the last option and moved south.

But Kim Il-sung wasn’t successful in his attempt to wipe out the Christian church in North Korea, and neither were his successors.

* John Choi (not his real name) also pens a series of blogs for Christian charity Open Doors International. {eoa}

This article originally appeared on World Watch Monitor.

This song has come to haunt me this morning: “When I Lay My Isaac Down” by Mike Upright.

At times, God asks back what He has promised us: Our God-given dreams, families and ministries can get in the way of His work in our lives. This verse rattles me: “Most of us I dare to say we have an Isaac that is in God’s way/ But on the altar God will prove, it’s not your Isaac that He wants, it’s you/ When I lay my Isaac down with a broken heart for my Father’s crown/ On the altar there I see, it’s not my Isaac God wants, it’s me.”

I believe the Lord is saying to many of us as this new year begins on God’s calendar, “Lay down your Isaac.”

I believe the shofar of God is blowing into our lives as we lay our Isaacs down on His altar of sacrifice. We need to be released from them so God can finish the work He began in our lives and in the lives of our Isaacs. I will never forget the moment God showed me Abraham, taking his son of promise up the mountain to sacrifice him. Abraham came down that mountain a “dead” man. Dead to his dream, but that’s when God began to bless Isaac.

Let this verse rattle you: “On this mountain you will prove: It’s you and Isaac or it’s Me and you.” {eoa}

Bill Yount has been a member of Bridge of Life Church in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the past 40 years and is in leadership. He faithfully served in prison ministry at Mount Hope Inc. for 23 years and now travels full time, ministering in churches and Aglow circles. He is currently an adviser at large for Aglow International. Bill has authored several prophetic books. His latest book is The Power of Real / Transparent Prophetic Encouragement. His prophetic email list is: . Visit Bill’s website at .

The first principle of spiritual warfare is humility. Whenever we notice that we are under attack and in the midst of spiritual warfare, we need to humble ourselves. Most people associate battling in the spirit with aggressive prayer and shouting at the devil. Those may have their place, but if we do not understand the role of humility and submission, our potential victory will turn into a defeat.

“‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James. 4:6-7, 10).

Notice in these verses that submission and humility are a necessary part of resisting the devil. Successfully opposing the devil is dependent upon the act of humbling ourselves.

The reason for this is that the very character of the devil is bound up in pride. Pride is what motivates him, and he specializes in all things connected to it. If you have pride, you leave yourself open to the strategies of the devil. Your pride makes you an easy target for the devil’s attacks.

When the devil came in the form of a serpent to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he appealed to them through spiritual pride:

“You will be like God” (Gen. 3:5);

and through intellectual pride: “Knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5b).

Intellectual and spiritual pride are still primary roots of demonic activity today. When we resist these by humbling ourselves and submitting, we close the door to the devil’s activities.

The Bible tells us that when Satan decided to attack God, his rebellion was fueled by his pride: “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom” (Ezekiel 28:17).

The Hebrew word for “lifted up” here is gaavah, and is similar to the root of the word “pride” ga’avah. Pride can lead us into bad attitudes towards those around us, especially those in authority over us, eventually causing division. Most division in the church is caused by pride. If one of the parties will humble themselves, it is almost always possible to bring reconciliation.

Give No Place to the Devil

Yeshua taught that, “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation” (Luke 11:17). The devil wants to make God’s kingdom fall. He seeks to do this by inspiring division and rebellion. Division and rebellion find their source in pride. Pride is fertile ground for the devil’s seeds. When we humble ourselves, we deny the devil that ground.

Often pride is a coverup for personal insecurity or fear of rejection. When a person is insecure, he may puff himself up like a blowfish to compensate for the insecurity. A person who can humble himself is actually reflecting a degree of psychological wholeness and inner strength.

One of the symptoms of pride covering up insecurity is the tendency for a person to become “offended.” Sometimes a person wants to hide his pride and insecurity by saying “I’m very sensitive.” A person who does not have much pride is not easily offended.

Sometimes the person who is so sure that he is right, is the very one who is in pride and is the source of the problem. The offended person, the smartest one, the most anointed one or the one causing a division, may be the one through whom the devil is working. If you recognize yourself in this description, repent, humble yourself, seek reconciliation and be victorious over the devil. {eoa}

Asher Intrater is the founder and apostolic leader of Revive Israel Ministries and oversees Ahavat Yeshua congregation in Jerusalem and Tiferet Yeshua congregation in Tel Aviv. Asher was one of the founders of Tikkun International with Dan Juster and Eitan Shishkoff and serves on the board of the Messianic Alliance of Israel and Aglow International. He and his wife and full-time partner in ministry, Betty, have a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew and unity of the body of believers worldwide.

This article originally appeared at .

Pastor Díaz-Pabón, you are an evangelist as well as general editor for The Fisher of Men Bible. How do these roles complement one another?

For more than four decades I have ministered from the United States and to the entire world, always with a marked orientation towards evangelism and discipleship. The Fisher of Men Bible has become an extension of my ministry. With the tools in this Bible, every believer can be prepared to answer the questions of unbelievers as well as new believers.

The Fisher of Men title was inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 4:19b, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The first disciples were ordinary fishermen and of limited academic preparation. When Jesus called them, He used terminology with which they were very familiar and which perfectly illustrated the task they would perform with their teacher. Helping readers understand Scripture, even if it is new to them, was one of our top priorities.

Is The Fisher of Men Bible designed for pastors or for Christians in their daily walk?

The Fisher of Men Bible is designed for every believer in their daily walk. We have avoided theological or professional terms so that it may be easily understandable to all. Perhaps that is why this Bible is a favorite among new believers and those with no previous experience in the study of Scripture.

Our editorial team included a thematic index to help Christians find appropriate verses on specific topics, such as salvation, prayer, evangelism, finances and worship. These verses are helpful for personal study as well as discipleship and evangelism. We seek to support Christians in their unique place of mission, wherever they serve God and evangelize or counsel others.

The Fisher of Men Bible was first published in Spanish and Portuguese. Tell us about the English edition, which just released this summer.

The Fisher of Men Bible was originally published in Spanish and Portuguese, and has been extremely well received. I believe God has blessed us with The Fisher of Men Bible at a moment of great need, and I am grateful to see it published in a third language. We chose the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) translation for the English edition due to its clarity and reliability. This study Bible seeks to make Scripture understandable while providing resources for discipleship and evangelism.

The world is our mission field, and churches must be ready to fulfill their evangelistic responsibility in all languages—both in the United States and around the globe. Christians are responding to the Great Commission by sharing the living Word of God and becoming “fishers of men.”

Luis Ángel Díaz-Pabón serves as president of the Global Missionary Society, pastor of La Capilla del Rey (The King’s Chapel) in Miami, Florida, and general editor for The Fisher of Men Bible (Holman Bibles).

President Trump recently cut funding to UNRWA, the UN body responsible for Palestinian refugees. While there has been uproar over that decision, critics of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) point to its education system, claiming it could be encouraging a new generation of terrorists.

One example is Dalal Mughrabi. She’s pictured in textbooks as a harmless, beautiful young woman in a Palestinian headscarf.

“But who is this? Dalal Mughrabi, who led a terrorist attack and murdered 38 people, including 13 children, on the coastal road of Israel in 1978,” said David Bedein, founder of the Israel Resource News Agency.

Her picture appears in the fifth-grade Arabic-language textbook. It’s part of a four-page lesson that hails Mughrabi as a martyr “who painted with her struggle a picture of challenge and heroism … the text in front of us provides a glance on the path of her struggle.”

“In these four pages, they’re praising her and saying what a hero she was and how the younger generation needs to act exactly the same as she did,” Israeli Knesset Member Sharren Haskel said. “This is the kind of education that the younger Palestinian generation receives.”

Haskel and Bedein spoke to journalists about reforms they believe need to happen.

Click here to read the rest of this story from our content partners at CBN News.

Almost 50 years ago, a great spiritual awakening known as the Jesus Movement swept across America. Time magazine called it the “Jesus Revolution”, which is interesting, considering it was during the time of a sexual revolution as well. Moral standards were replaced with “free love,” and sexual promiscuity was wildly rampant. And let’s not forget about the drug revolution that took over the country as well.

The Beatles led the charge on this, starting with their early hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and then on to “I’d Love to Turn You On.” Things got even darker in America, especially in 1968. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April, and just two months later, presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed. He was the brother of President John Kennedy, who was shot and killed in Dallas in 1964.

The country was reeling.

God decided to send a Jesus revolution, and let me tell you—it changed America dramatically, and in many ways, it saved an entire generation. It seems to me it’s time for another spiritual revival. As believers, we want God to heal our land and change our nation for the better, but as we look at the problems in our country, it’s sometimes easier to just point at someone else. We say the problems in our country are because of the White House or Hollywood, but God says the source of the problems is actually His house, the church.

God lays out His prescription in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Notice God says, “If My people who are called by My name …”

He doesn’t say a thing about secular culture. He talks to His own people—that’s you and me. We don’t have time to point fingers when we’re picking up our crosses and following after Him.

There’s no doubt that America needs another spiritual awakening, but the church needs a revival just as much. We often use the words “revival” and “awakening” interchangeably, but there is a distinction. An awakening is when a nation comes alive spiritually—when it sees its need for God and turns to Him. A revival is when God’s people come back to life again. Revival simply means “to restore.” It’s time for the church to wake up and shine its light into a dark world.

“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14b, NIV).

As C. S. Lewis once pointed out, “A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping.” In other words, if you think you’re a great person with no problems, you are knocked out asleep and don’t even realize it.

Revival is a choice to wake up, it’s an intentional decision to get back to the Christian life as it was meant to be lived. Revival is being in the bloom of first love for a lifetime, walking closely with the Lord. You can’t always have those initial emotions you had as a new believer any more than you can have the same butterflies in your stomach you had when you first met your husband- or wife-to-be. That is unrealistic, but here’s the thing: Your love can grow deeper, stronger and bolder, it just takes intentionality.

That is how we ought to be as followers of Jesus. We need the faith of the Christians of the first century who turned the world upside down. Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God. Or as it has been described, “a long obedience in the same direction.”

Only God can send an awakening to America, but I believe whole-heartedly that revival can happen right here, right now. May it start with you and me.

Back in the days of the Jesus Movement, we used to do mass baptisms at Pirate’s Cove beach in Southern California.

Thousands showed up, and hundreds would be baptized.

Major news outlets showed up an did feature stories on this phenomenon.

We just held a baptism in September of this year, and we baptized over 550 people. It seems to me, if we want to see revival again, we should do “revival-like” things. {eoa}

Greg Laurie is the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California and is also the evangelist for the Harvest Crusades. Over 500,000 people have made professions of faith at these large-scale evangelistic events. Laurie is also the author of the newly released book, Jesus Revolution that he wrote with New York Times best-selling author Ellen Vaughn.

Operation Blessing International, the Virginia Beach-based humanitarian organization, will prestage two disaster relief teams ahead of an expected strike by Hurricane Florence.

An advance team will be prestage in Emporia, Virginia, beginning Wednesday afternoon. Emporia is strategically-located west of the coast and is also adjacent to Highway 95, which runs south towards what is anticipated to be the hardest-hit areas from Florence. This team will ride out the storm in Emporia and deploy as quickly as possible afterwards with the following equipment:

• Mobile kitchen with the capability to serve 1,000 hot meals a day
• Construction trailer loaded with tools and emergency supplies
• Dehumidifier trailer with the capability to dry out and sanitize flooded homes
• Two box trucks full of emergency relief supplies (two pallets of bottled water, four pallets Home Depot flood kits, MREs, enough food to supply the mobile kitchen to prepare 9,000 hot meals, two field kitchen ovens, tools and supplies to support volunteers responding with OB)

A second team will prestage at the CBN campus on Centerville Turnpike to aid in local recovery efforts and coordinate volunteers.

The CBN property is at a higher elevation and is not expected to flood.

The deployment team will ride out the storm and deploy as quickly as possible afterwards. Equipment includes:

• Mobile command center
• Mobile kitchen
• Construction trailer (full of tools for volunteers to help affected residents)
• Kohler shower trailer with auxiliary 1,500-gallon tank
• 80-kw generator
• Box truck full of emergency relief supplies (two pallets of bottled water, Home Depot flood kits, MRE’s, food to supply the mobile kitchen to prepare 3,000 hot meals, tools and supplies to support volunteers responding with OB)

Operation Blessing team leaders are working in conjunction with local emergency management officials in Hampton Roads and may adjust plans if the storm changes track. The organization expects to call for volunteers after the storm departs; stay tuned for further details on how and where to volunteer. {eoa}

For more information on Operation Blessing International, please visit .

Dr. Claudio Freidzon sees revival springing up all over the world as he travels and preaches—but he’s believing for something even bigger. You may know Claudio as one of the main spiritual leaders God raised up during Argentina’s massive revival in the 1980s and 1990s. He now pastors a powerful church in Buenos Aires called Iglesia Rey de Reyes (King of Kings Church).

But Claudio’s legacy goes beyond Argentina’s revival. Many may not realize that Claudio actually played a significant role in the Toronto Blessing. In November 1993, John and Carol Arnott heard about the Argentinian revival and flew down to receive an impartation. They visited services of several revivalists, including Hector Gimenez, Carlos Annacondia and Claudio Freidzon.

The way John tells the story, Carol was so overcome with the Spirit, she couldn’t walk. And in one of the services, Claudio singled John out and said, “Do you want the anointing?” When John replied yes, Claudio said, “Then take it!” and slapped John’s outstretched hands.

After that powerful encounter, John and Carol went back to their church in Toronto and saw a revival bigger than they could’ve imagined.

I had the opportunity to interview Claudio recently at Heidi Baker’s Live to Love conference in Orlando, Florida. He told me he sees revival blazing in hungry continents like South America and Africa. And although he doesn’t see the same level of hunger in North America, he is praying, believing and challenging American believers to make this generation the one that sees a massive move of God.

“Every time I come here in North America, I have that kind of challenge and expectation to see in this generation the great move of God—with people coming to churches with a new hunger to listen to the Word of God,” he says.

But Claudio says that all hinges on one goal: Seek and save the one.

“The people have to pray that in their families and every neighborhood and every house of their neighborhood, one house and one family will receive Jesus as Savior and be born again,” Claudio says. “That’s the prayer. And if we have in each house of the neighborhood people who are totally changed by the Holy Spirit and are born again, something will happen in the country.”

The United States has certainly seen pockets of revival lately. Just look at Greenville, Tennessee; Cane Ridge in Bourbon County, Kentucky; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Dawsonville, Georgia. But Claudio is right—it’s not enough. We need more of the Spirit in this nation.

For that reason, I encourage you to listen to my entire interview with Claudio below. I believe his words will refresh and inspire you to receive more of the Holy Spirit and His power in your life. If you hunger for God to awaken this nation, share this article on your social media and inspire someone else toward revival.

Instead of living the abundant, fruitful life that Jesus promised, some Christians are living in a quagmire of slumber and defeat.

New York City pastor Carter Conlon says in his new book, It’s Time to Pray, that never have believers had so many resources, tools and places to fellowship as they do in today’s society, yet in the abundance of these things, Christians have never been more ineffective and lukewarm in their faith.

“We are rich and have need of nothing,” Conlon says. “In many ways, Revelation Chapter 3 describes the church in America. ‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.’ There is an abundance of Bibles to choose from—different translations, different study notes and even designer covers. Some homes have multiple Bibles lying around—but how often are they opened? We can go online or to a bookstore and get all kinds of resources that help guide us in our daily walk. And yet, we are largely still living with one foot in the Spirit and one foot in the flesh. There are megachurches on almost every corner in our communities, but we are more disconnected from one another than we have ever been.”

Conlon is the well-known senior pastor of Times Square Church in New York City, an interdenominational church with more than 10,000 people in attendance, representing more than 100 different nationalities. In his new book, It’s Time to Pray, releasing Nov. 6 with Charisma House, Conlon will help readers understand how prayer is vital in their lives, their community and the world.

“The Holy Spirit is willing and able to direct us in the narrow way that leads to the more abundant life if in humble self-denial we submit to His unerring supervision,” Conlon says.

Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of founding pastor David Wilkerson, who launched Teen Challenge and wrote the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade. Conlon was appointed senior pastor of Times Square Church in 2001.

It’s Time to Pray challenges Americans to make prayer more than a moment and, instead, a lifestyle. Conlon explores many areas of prayer in 10 different chapters that focus on praying for salvation, life, strength, serving, the impossible, forgiveness, faith, peace, freedom and awakening.

With a foreword by national radio personality Eric Metaxas, It’s Time to Pray also acknowledges that there are far too many Christians who are dejected, depressed, hopeless, powerless and struggling with sin. Yet this is not what the Christian life is or should be.

Conlon continues to be a voice for God far beyond the pulpit of Times Square Church by speaking at numerous conferences across the country and around the world. His weekly radio spots air on 1010 WINS, the nation’s longest-running all-news station, and his one-minute devotional and 30-minute program, called “A Call to the Nation,” are currently syndicated on over 350 Christian radio stations worldwide. He is the author of several books, including The 180-Degree Christian, Fear Not and Unshakable.

For more information on It’s Time to Pray, visit .

It’s Time to Pray is published by GPC Books, an imprint of Times Square Church’s partnership with Charisma House. Charisma House has published books, including 14 best-sellers, that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians.

All Things Possible Ministries, led by high-risk missionary Victor Marx and his wife, Eileen, will deploy to Iraq for its ninth humanitarian trip to the region later this fall with the goal to deliver comfort toys to children and dignity kits to women in the region.

The ministry will deliver 2000 specially outfitted plush lion and lamb toys that aim to decrease trauma through specially selected music along with words in Arabic and Kurdish played through a special audio component. To date, more than 30,000 Lions & Lambs Life Packs have been donated to people of the Middle East. Additionally, the ministry will distribute 4000 kits with personal care and feminine hygiene items.

“Through our work in the country since 2014, we noticed a continual need for the basics,” said Marx. “Half of the displaced 3.3 million Iraqis are children. They’re traumatized, hurt and still face terrorist threats. Because of the broken infrastructure, young women often lack personal necessities which contributes to loss of opportunities, dignity and feelings of hopelessness. We’ve fundraised specifically to help address these issues.”

Marx’s K9 protector and companion, Scout, will also minister to the children one-on-one. A highly-trained Belgian Malinois, Scout now doubles as a therapy dog.

“Despite her specialized training to apprehend and protect, Scout has a unique therapeutic ability to bond with children,” said Marx. “Scout is often the highlight of our Iraqi children’s program.”

Under constant threat from extremists, including a public call for his beheading, Marx cannot publicize the dates or exact location of the upcoming humanitarian mission.

A former Marine and renowned martial arts expert, Marx is also an author, speaker and international child advocate with a love for people of the Middle East who have been brutalized by ISIS and warfare in the region.

“One mission led to another, and then another and suddenly, we found ourselves with a significant foothold in-country and relationships with many high-ranking government officials.”

All Things Possible directly supports a number of persecuted Christian Iraqi families as well as Muslim and Yazidi Children—even orphaned children of ISIS fighters. The organization supports one orphanage in the region and operates the Third Option program where local leaders can receive specialized resources for dealing with ISIS.