Here’s a quick summary of the top stories on :

Military Dogs Still in Danger, Await Rescue From Afghanistan

While the last U.S. military troops withdrew from Taliban-overrun Afghanistan on Monday, many Americans and Afghan allies were abandoned. But they weren’t the only ones left to that fate.

A total of 51 contracted working military dogs were abandoned in Kabul. Veteran Sheepdogs of America, which tweeted it had raised $ million—the cost for a 737 plane out of Kabul—had hoped to evacuate the dogs, but an animal rescue organization, American Humane fell through with its share of the funds, Fox News reported.

‘So, we are scrambling to cover their (American Human) amount of $500,000 of the $ million, Veteran Sheepdogs tweeted.

Christians, There Is No Reason for You to Go to Social Media Jail

Treading foolishly on social media will cost the church its voice.

NEWSMAX reports, “Last month, the former president brought class-action lawsuits against the three big Tech giants requesting unspecified damages for alleged First Amendment violations.”

It’s commonly believed that social media giants have censored, banned and caused all sorts of trouble for conservatives. This includes Christians who find themselves in so-called Facebook jail after expressing forbidden viewpoints.

Convoy of Hope Working Through Struggles to Reach Ida Victims With Relief

Over the years of humanitarian ministry, team members at Convoy of Hope have had to learn to improvise and “play things by ear” when it comes to natural disasters.

Such is the case with Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm that ripped through Louisiana over the weekend and left catastrophic damage in its wake. Many media reports have said Ida was a stronger hurricane than Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast 16 years ago to the day on Sunday.

Convoy of Hope Vice President of Public Engagement and National Spokesperson Ethan Forhetz, who is on the ground with 23 other members of the Convoy team, said Monday in a phone interview with Charisma News that this storm has caused particular problems in the organization’s efforts to get relief supplies to people who need them. Those issues, however, have not deterred the team from carrying out its mission or its overall kingdom mission, “to feed the hungry and bring help and hope to communities that need it most.” {eoa}

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Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Science for revoking a student’s religious exemption request against the COVID shot mandate. Now Liberty Counsel has filed a complaint against RPI with the New York Division of Human Rights.

“Jane Doe” was notified of the COVID shot mandate in April 2021. Ms. Doe submitted the required religious exemption form and it was granted without issue. Her tuition was paid, and she was considered properly enrolled at RPI. More than two months later, she received a “Letter for Exemption Requirement” in reference to RPI’s requirements and protocols for COVID-19 non-vaccinated students.

She signed and returned the letter via e-mail to the Student Health Center. The university then sent an e-mail dated August 18, 2021, seven days before her date of arrival for the fall 2021 semester on Aug. 25, 2021, notifying her that the exemption had been revoked without an appeal process based on “guidelines” by RPI because “too many have been granted.” However, the school’s legal counsel stated that RPI was “treating everyone equally, because it was denying all religious exemption requests” filed after the arbitrary April cutoff date.

Doe holds sincere religious beliefs that prohibits her from receiving the COVID shot. She opposes the injections because they all used aborted fetal cell lines in the testing phase, and Johnson & Johnson also uses aborted fetal cell lines in the deployment or distribution phase. She is the surviving twin of a naturally conceived identical twin pregnancy, and her twin sister died in utero during the pregnancy. Doctors advised her parents to have an abortion and said she would likely be born with Down syndrome. Miraculously, Ms. Doe was born without any disabilities. God’s sovereign hand in her life story forms part of the basis for her sincerely held religious beliefs that prevent her from participating directly or indirectly in abortion or the destruction of human life.

The Equal Protection Clause of the New York State Constitution explicitly states that it is unlawful discriminatory practice for an educational institution to deny the use of its facilities to any person otherwise qualified, or to permit the harassment of any student or applicant, by reason of his race, color, religion, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, age or marital status, except that any such institution that establishes or maintains a policy of educating persons of one sex exclusively may admit students of only one sex.

RPI has no authority to attempt to revoke a student’s religious exemption, on the basis that “too many students have now requested this exemption,” and others similarly situated could keep their religious exemptions “because they had them prior to April 2021.” This would be akin to RPI saying that (in RPI’s view) there are “too many students” of a particular race, color, disability, national origin, sex or other protected categories on campus, and that others of those categories would only be allowed to remain if they were admitted “prior to April 2021.”

The COVID shots cannot be mandatory under authorization of emergency use. On March 27, 2020, the Health and Human Services declared that circumstances exist justifying the EUA of drugs and biological products for COVID-19. That means people must be told the risks and benefits, and they have the right to decline a medication that is not fully licensed. All of the COVID-19 shots (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson) have received only EAU authorization and not full FDA approval.

The federal Emergency Use Authorization law and the FDA, including the FDA Fact Sheet, state unequivocally that each person has the “option to accept or refuse” the shots. In addition to federal law, the FDA includes the Nuremberg Code and the Helsinki Declaration on its website, emphasizing the fact that people cannot be forced to take experimental drugs without their full consent.

Furthermore, COVID shots cannot be mandatory under Title VII. In general, employee vaccine religious exemption requests must be accommodated, where a reasonable accommodation exists without undue hardship to the employer, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many people hold sincere religious beliefs against taking any vaccines, or taking those derived from aborted fetal cell lines, or taking those sold by companies that profit from the sale of vaccines and other products derived from abortion.

Title VII, as amended, prohibits two categories of employment practices. It is unlawful for an employer: “(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin; or (2) to limit, segregate or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin.”

Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “It is shocking that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Science would violate federal and state law and deny a student’s religious exemption to succumb to an experimental drug which is associated with aborted fetal cells. We will not allow the rights and free choice of students to be violated. No school may force or coerce anyone to take these injections, and certainly not when doing so violates sincerely held religious beliefs.” {eoa}

For the original article, visit .

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Most of the world is watching in horror as Afghanistan continues to be overrun by Islamic extremists. Many people are shocked at the extreme violence being displayed by the Taliban, especially towards women and children. There is an overarching cry of “How did this happen?”

Bestselling author Dr. Michael Youssef discussed the dangers of Islamic extremism in one of his newest books, Hope for This Present Crisis. Born in Egypt, Youssef grew up surrounded by different world religions. Being a Christian in the Middle East provided Youssef with a great understanding of the potential concerns the extremist Islamic viewpoint poses.

Youssef states in his book, “One Muslim scholar told me, ‘Islam spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa by the sword. But Western culture will be handed to us on a platter. The people of the West are led about by their feelings and sentimentality. Their passions rule them. Soft and undisciplined, they are no match for the determined soldiers of Islam. The West will fall into our hands like overripe fruit.'”

These frightening assessments are merely foreshadowing the current catastrophe happening in Afghanistan now. While world leaders struggle with how to respond to this threat, Youssef urges the government to remain strong in the face of such adversity.

“We in the West have assumed that our democratic institutions, culture and way of life would go on forever,” Youssef says. “We expected our economy to always be strong, our military to remain invulnerable and our traditions to endure. But empires and civilizations have collapsed again and again in the past.”

Only by staying strong and pushing back against those who hope to overthrow the American government will Western ideology continue to thrive.

Youssef adds, “I have had many conversations with Muslim thinkers, and they believe the fall of the West is already well underway—a result of the decline of Christianity. They tell me that, as Christianity disintegrates, it is leaving a spiritual vacuum in the West. Their extreme form of Islam is already rushing in to fill that void.

“The blind spot that both the Obama and Biden administrations have to that ideology will only embolden them,” he says. “Weakness on our part is always an open invitation for Islamists to strike against everyone. We must remain steadfast and strong in the face of these trials.”

In addition to being born in Egypt, Youssef lived in Lebanon and Australia before coming to the United States and fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an American citizen. He holds degrees from Moore College in Sydney, Australia, and Fuller Theological Seminary in California, with a Ph.D. in social anthropology from Emory University. He founded The Church of The Apostles, which was the launching pad for Leading The Way’s international ministry. Youssef has authored more than 50 books, including popular titles like Saving Christianity? and Hope for This Present Crisis.

Youssef hosts the popular TV and radio broadcast, Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, which airs more than 13,000 times every week across six continents in 27 languages—reaching audiences in nearly every major city in the world. His programs attract tens of millions of viewers weekly in the U.S. on major TV networks, including TBN, Daystar, Fox Business, Lifetime, GOD TV, CTN, NRB TV, and more.

Equipped with a keen understanding of the Bible, the Middle East, sociological trends in the Western world and popular Christian worldview issues, Youssef is a sought-after voice whose expertise is regularly requested on both secular and Christian media, including Huckabee, Fox & Friends, Eric Metaxas, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Christian Post, Fox News, Hannity, Glenn Beck, The 700 Club and more. He and his wife reside in Atlanta and have four grown children and 11 grandchildren. {eoa}

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August has definitely been a turning point, and in recent weeks we have had the opportunity to watch some incredibly shocking events unfold which will change the course of history permanently.

At this moment, Hurricane Ida is the biggest story that everyone is discussing. As I warned about on Friday, Ida went through a period of rapid intensification in the Gulf of Mexico before coming ashore in Louisiana on Sunday as an absolutely monstrous storm. It hit New Orleans exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina did, and many are pointing out that this seems to be a really strange coincidence.

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana in 2005, it was a Category 3 storm, but Hurricane Ida was actually a Category 4 storm when it made landfall near Port Fourchon.

Hurricane Ida’s initial impacts began early Sunday as the outer bands brought heavy rain to the Louisiana coast early Sunday. The Category 4 hurricane, packing sustained winds of 150 mph came ashore at 11:55 a.m. CDT near Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Ida became the first landfalling hurricane on United States soil in 2021, and AccuWeather forecasters, expecting extreme impacts for the Gulf Coast, have rated Ida a 4 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes.

The extremely high winds tore roofs from countless homes and buildings, and in some cases, power lines have been snapped in two.

From an economic standpoint, one of the biggest concerns is that nearly all of the oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico have been forced to temporarily close.

More than 95% of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil production facilities have been shut down, regulators said Sunday, indicating the massive storm is having a significant impact on energy supply.

Six refineries in the New Orleans area—including PBF, Phillips, Shell, Marathon and two Valero refineries—are shut down right now, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, a Houston-based consulting firm, told CNN Business. “It’s now a waiting game to assess whatever wind and flooding damage will be caused as the hurricane passes through the area.”

Needless to say, this is likely to cause another supply crunch, and we already being warned to expect significantly higher gasoline prices.

The Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts for 17% of the country’s crude oil production and 5% of its federal offshore dry gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Lipow said Saturday that if the New Orleans refineries take a direct hit from a Category 4 storm, gas prices would likely rise by about 10 cents a gallon in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic markets.

Meanwhile, the greatest foreign policy debacle in modern American history continues to unfold in Afghanistan.

The way that the Biden administration has handled this crisis has been utterly shameful, and it has resulted in the deaths of 13 service members.

As Hurricane Ida was pummeling Louisiana on Sunday, President Joe Biden and his minions were overseeing the transfer of the remains of those service members.

In a silence broken only by the sobs of bereaved families, Biden stood Sunday, hand over his heart, to pay tribute as the remains of the U.S. service members killed in the Kabul bombing attack were transferred from a military C-17 cargo plane to a closely parked row of gray hearses.

But Biden grew impatient at one point, and footage of the event actually shows him checking his watch.

If you have not seen this shocking moment yet, you can view it right here.

Did he really think nobody would notice?

Later on, reporters wanted to ask Biden some questions about Afghanistan, but he abruptly refused.

‘I’m not supposed to take any questions, but go ahead,” he said as he turned to the travelling press pool.

“On Afghanistan…,” said a reporter before he cut him off. He snapped: “I’m not going to answer Afghanistan now.”

The president turned away from the press pool to talk to FEMA staff as the reporter continued with a question about whether he still believed “there was an extreme risk at the airport.”

This crisis has clearly demonstrated that our new “woke military” has become weak and pathetic, and it is being led by weak and pathetic brass at the Pentagon.

Of course. these days “weak” and “pathetic” are words that are often used to describe the man who is currently residing in the White House.

The Biden administration desperately needs a new distraction, and it appears the one has conveniently come along.

We are being told that the most extreme COVID variant yet has been identified in South Africa.

A new coronavirus variant, , has been detected in South Africa and a number of other countries, with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines, according to a new preprint study by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform. The study is awaiting peer review.

Scientists first detected in May 2021, finding that it was descended from C.1, which scientists found surprising as C.1 had last been detected in January. The new variant has “mutated substantially” compared to C.1 and is more mutations away from the original virus detected in Wuhan than any other Variant of Concern (VOC) or Variant of Interest (VOI) detected so far worldwide.

There are now dozens of variants running around out there, and each new variant is a threat to cause another new “wave” of this pandemic.

Prior to 2020 I was warning that it would be “one thing after another” once we got into the “perfect storm” that we are currently experiencing, and we are now being told that Americans are developing “disaster fatigue” because of all of the bad things that have happened over the last couple of years.

Sadly, many believe that much more chaos is dead ahead.

These are extremely troubled times, and we desperately need strong leadership from our representatives in Washington.

Unfortunately for all of us, Washington has become a complete and total cesspool, and the whole world is laughing at the endless stream of incompetence emanating from the White House. {eoa}

For the original article, visit .

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As school starts back this fall, parents are enrolling students and filling out forms. Be careful what you sign.

In Putnam County, Indiana, Indianapolis parents received medical forms to require they inform the school if their child had been vaccinated for COVID-19. Further into the document, if signed, it gave the staff permission to “order injection” for the student among other provisions as the school deemed necessary in an “emergency” situation.

We watch as schools and their boards are rising to new heights of manipulation regarding both teachers and students attempting to override parental control.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a teacher wrote, “I am a teacher for Tulsa Public Schools. Friday, they issued a decree for a mask mandate for all staff and students unless we can provide a medical exemption. It is illegal according to State Bill 658. However, they are now calling themselves a ‘business’ to try to get around the mask issue, but they don’t fit the business requirements! Help!”

(For tools and help in this area refer to: Can Your Employer Force You to take the Vaccine?)

In conjunction with the renewed mask mandate and forced vaccination push, Fauci has announced it’s a “good idea” to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for schoolchildren. That combined with the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine means school boards feel emboldened. School districts are now being offered up to 140 million if they follow CDC mask and vaccine mandates for students. That would be yet another bribe offered to force compliance.

These federal subsidies are creating a greedy overreach by school boards. In Florida, they are attempting to defy the governor’s orders and laws coming out of their own legislatures. According to Dr. Jane Ruby, a Washington, D.C., health economist, “On July 1 the Florida state legislature passed the Parent’s Bill of Rights into law which was a major victory. This gives parents the right to make education choices and health choices here in the state. But Democrat-run county boards are literally ignoring their own state laws. The lawlessness is rampant, and unfortunately, police are complicit.”

Ruby went on to tell how a Palm Beach County father was arrested by 10 Palm Beach County sheriffs at a school board meeting simply for standing up in the back of the room after the school board chair, attorney Frank Barbieri, decreed that it was now against the rules.

The sheriffs forcibly removed the parent and dragged him outside for standing up to ask a question. Where is the justification for this force?

That same board forced a child to repeatedly wear masks despite a medical exemption. According to Ruby, the child now has a staph infection. The parents brought their child, who now has a peripherally inserted central catheter line in place to fight the infection caused by the masks, to the school board meeting to show the result of their tyrannical mask mandates. Do they care? Obviously not.

In Wayne County, Indiana, health department official Christine Stinson, in a recent meeting, went so far as to try to describe the mandate placed on students, “You have to eat alone. You take your mask off and you eat. And then you put your mask on. You can’t participate in sports. You can’t participate in band and take your mask off. You’re masked at all times. You can go to school, basically, is what you can do with the mask on.”

Is this behavior normal? It is not.

It is the definition of a hypochondriac. Hypochondria is a mental illness and it is what Fauci, the CDC and the media are instilling in many across our nation with their constant fearmongering of COVID-19.

According to an article on , “What Is a Hypochondriac and 7 Signs That You Could Be One,” some of the symptoms include:

1. Fear of future illness.

2. Fear of progressive illness.

3. You have germaphobia.

4. You have a pharmacy in your purse.

Although the COVID-19 Wuhan virus is real, it is not necessarily a death sentence, especially if early treatment of now proven effective meds such as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, Budesonide or Regeneron is received soon after symptoms appear. All four have produced successful results, but which the CDC denies.

Why do we continue to be held hostage by this virus, and why are we letting school boards dictate and manipulate our students’ physical and mental well-being? {eoa}

Karen Hardin is a literary agent and writer. She is the author of Infected: How to Stop the Global Spread of Rage, Deception and Insanity. Her work has been published in USA Today, Western Journal, World Net Daily, Intercessors for America, Charisma, and more. She is also the co-founder of the prayer movement to take back our cities and nation.

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Being on the spectrum, and having disorders like autism, Asperger’s and obsessive-compulsive disorder, brings with them a constant umbrella of fear. Yet if we look into the Scriptures, the Bible tells us that we are created by God, in His image; and He gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control (2 Tim. 1:7).

Why has this happened, you might ask? Well, there are what is known as generational or intergenerational yokes and bondages, which are spiritual conditions manifested as physical conditions passed down through family lines. I know this because in my family, my uncles and my great Gran were on the spectrum throughout my father’s lineage. As I was being healed, I started to work out that this is a bondage.

Scripture tells us He gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control (2 Tim. 1:7), and with obsessive compulsive disorder, there is no self-control. People who have OCD have a compulsion to do things randomly and repeat tasks over and over again. I used to wash my hands a 1000 times, which was triggered by fear and the lies of the enemy. Then God brought me to this Scripture that God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

The book of Romans chapter 12 verse 2 (MEV) tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” So when the mind is telling you to wash your hands 1000 times, or to open the cap or the door 500 times, or whatever it is because you are going to die if you don’t, or something will happen to your parents if you don’t, start to take control of that mind and tell it God has created you in His image and given you a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.

Connect with Reg Morais on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and his own website. You can also look into the private Facebook group, #breakingthespiritofautism, and find the free chapter link to Fast and Pray. {eoa}

Reg Morais is the senior pastor of Living Faith Community Church, launched from Anoint the World Ministries, which he founded 15 years prior. Each week he runs seven services, reaching a global audience through social media platforms. Learn more about him and his ministry at .

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We have been given authority in Jesus’ name, through the blood of Jesus and through the cross of Calvary to subdue an oppressive spirit. Jesus sets the scene for us in the book of Matthew chapter 16, verse 21 (NKJV): “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.”

We then see how subtly the oppressive spirit works in the life of someone, in just a few short words, when Peter “took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'” (Matt. 16:22, NKJV).

Jesus, when confronted by Peter, knew his words came from the work of an oppressive spirit and, “He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men'” (Matt. 16:23, NKJV).

You see, God has given us the authority to tell the oppressor to get behind us. Your sons and daughters can be set free from spectrum disorders, like autism, Asperger’s and obsessive-compulsive disorder, by subduing the oppressive spirit that is not only undermining the work of God but also exploiting and playing games with your child.

Many pastors do not know what to do when they are presented with someone on the spectrum and, sadly, many children are not set free or healed from the oppressive work of the enemy; but God has a divine inheritance in store for those parents who carry the huge responsibility of their children out of the labour of their love. The God whom we serve sees their labour and will always reward or give them the desires of their hearts to see their children set free. Jeremiah 17:10 (NKJV) says, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

Connect with Reg Morais on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and his own website. You can also look into the private Facebook group, #breakingthespiritofautism, and find the free chapter link to Fast and Pray.

Reg Morais is the senior pastor of Living Faith Community Church, launched from Anoint the World Ministries, which he founded 15 years prior. Each week he runs seven services, reaching a global audience through social media platforms. Learn more about him and his ministry at .

Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.

As born-again believers, we have been given authority in the name of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus and through the cross of Calvary to subdue an oppressive spirit. Jesus sets the scene for us in the book of Matthew 16:21, where it says, “From that time on Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.”

In the next verse, we are able to see how subtly an oppressive spirit works and, in this instance, through the few words of Peter when he “took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'”

Jesus knew Peter’s words came from the work of an oppressive spirit and, “He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God but of the things of men'” (Matt. 16:23).

You see, God has given us the authority to tell the oppressor to get behind us, which shows us that a child, young adult or adult can be set free from the oppressive spirit responsible for autism, Asperger’s or obsessive-compulsive disorder. That oppressive spirit that keeps a person locked up in his or her own head can be subdued and stopped from exploiting and playing games that undermine the work of God.

The enemy will work to undo everything God has done and is doing in the life of someone with autism, Asperger’s or obsessive-compulsive disorder. But Jesus, He came to give life and life to its fullest. I can testify to His goodness because when I encountered Jesus, my world changed forever.

The Bible tells us that “Jesus healed every sickness and every disease among the people; and He was moved with compassion for them.” It was out of His compassion that the gift of healing operated very powerfully, and many people with various illnesses and diseases were healed.{eoa}

Reg Morais is the senior pastor of Living Faith Community Church, launched from Anoint the World Ministries, which he founded 15 years prior. Each week he runs seven services, reaching a global audience through social media platforms. Learn more about him and his ministry at .

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It’s one thing to hear reports about our brothers and sisters around the world being persecuted for their faith. It’s another to receive a firsthand report from friends, replete with graphic pictures.

But that’s what happened to me last week when some of my closest friends in the world, Christian colleagues in India, sent me this note:

“Hi Mike. We just wanted to share a very sad and painful incident of persecution with you that happened earlier this month in the state of [name removed]. A young 16-year-old pastor who was conducting daily prayer meetings in his house was warned to stop by [name removed] radicals. He didn’t stop, so while he was selling vegetables in his village, they threw acid on him.

“85% of his body is burnt. We have been paying his hospital bills and through connections we are seeking for his perpetrators to come to justice. We appreciate your prayers for this young man N— as he is suffering so much, for quick healing and for sufficient blood for needed transfusions.

“We recently started financially supporting many pastors in [name removed], and he is one of them. We are deeply hurt by this situation and just wanted to share it with you for prayer.”

The note was accompanied by seven gut-wrenching pictures. (The image used in this article, with N—’s face blurred, is real.)

This is the price of preaching the gospel in his region. This is what happens when you refuse to bow the knee to religious radicals. You get beaten. You get burned. You might even get killed.

Yet, remarkably, this young man, knowing that his life could be endangered, continued to hold prayer meetings in his house.

That’s because he knew that his life was not his own. That he was bought with a price (the blood of Jesus). And that to save his life was to lose it, but to lose his life for the gospel was to save it.

Over the course of 27 trips I have taken to India since 1993, I have the had the privilege of serving thousands of pastors and church planters and local evangelists.

I do not engage in proselytizing while there. Instead, I serve the local ministries and participate in graduation ceremonies for a key ministry school while visiting my friends there.

To date, as many as five (or more?) of the young men who graduated from that school have been killed for their faith. Yet, knowing the dangers that await them, they count it a privilege to be sent out and preach and serve their communities. After all, their people are lost without Jesus and only He has the words of eternal life. How can they not go and preach?

As for being beaten and persecuted for the gospel, they consider it a sacred privilege.

During one meeting with a few hundred Christian leaders, I asked them, “How many of you have been physically attacked for preaching the gospel, not just verbally attacked, but physically attacked?”

About three-quarters of them raised their hands. That was striking enough. But what was more striking was how they raised their hands. It was nonchalantly, as if I had asked them, “How many of you had breakfast today?”

No big deal. Just physically attacked for Jesus. It comes with the turf. It hurts, but we rejoice and keep reaching out.

As for this 16-year-old pastor who is suffering from terrible acid burns, remember that, as a Christian in his state, he is in the tiny minority. That likely explains why he is serving as a pastor at such a young age. There are few Christian workers, and as quickly as a leader can be trained, he begins his mission.

As for bowing down to the demands of local religious radicals, that was not something he was inclined to do. He loved Jesus and his own community more than he loved his own life. And now he is suffering terribly for it.

Can we join together with him and lend a helping hand? Can we stand with him in prayer, asking for healing and restoration? And can we stand with the ministry that is now covering his medical bills and supporting other pastors in his region? I can vouch for their absolute integrity and for their godly stewardship of every dollar you send.

Click here to give, and in the Comments box, designate, “For young pastor burned with acid or for his fellow-workers in his state.” (To find out more about my friends’ ministry in India, click here.)

The Lord is visiting India mightily, and many are coming to faith in Jesus. They are also paying a price. May their courage inspire us! {eoa}

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Minutes after the lights dimmed in the sanctuary of Nashville’s Mount Zion Baptist Church on the evening of Friday, Aug. 27, the room erupted in praise.

Led by worship leader Jordan Welch, 1,200 women stood from rows of wooden pews and raised their hands. Their voices rang out and filled the room as they sang, “We will praise the name of Jesus, that great name.”

This was the first night of Glory, Lifeway Women’s brand-new event featuring Bible teacher Jackie Hill Perry. Over two days, Hill Perry led these women in a study of the doctrine of God focused on His holiness.

Drawing themes from her latest book, Holier Than Thou, Hill Perry said this topic is critical for women to engage, especially in a moment in history like this.

“There’s too much happening for us to not have some substance to cling to, to anchor our faith,” Hill Perry said. Her book, Holier Than Thou, debuted on the USA Today’s Best-Selling Books list, coming in at No. 37.

She opened the event by sharing a classic quote from A.W. Tozer’s 1961 book, The Knowledge of the Holy: “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Hill Perry spent the weekend unpacking this idea, showing women the connection between what we believe about God and how we live our lives. In doing so, she encouraged women to get down to the core of what they really believe.

“At the root of all sin is unbelief in the Word and worth of God,” Hill Perry said. “And that, my friends, is why it is so hard for us to be holy sometimes—because we keep trying to modify our external behavior without dealing with the belief systems way at the bottom of them.”

Pointing to God’s holiness, Hill Perry reminded the room they should instead prioritize heart and mind renewal, which will ultimately lead believers to desire God more than anything else.

“Desiring God above all things is the soil from which holiness is grown,” Hill Perry said. “We are already empowered through the Spirit to flee sin, and we will want and choose to put to death what is earthly in us when we believe that God is infinitely better than everything we are tempted to leave Him for.”

Friends Ally Johnson and Katrina Reed came to the event together, and they both said they felt its uniqueness.

“It was so good,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t like any other women’s conference I think I’ve ever been to.”

In addition to in-depth biblical teaching from Hill Perry, the Glory event also featured powerful, extended times of worship led by Welch. For Hill Perry, this approach to worship was intentional as well.

“If you know me, you know I love music—a lot—and that’s why I really wanted Glory to have a significant amount of time for worship,” she said. “Because I think it’s just as important as the Scriptures, to be honest. I think it helps us to engage our emotions and to praise God and confess.”

Both the teaching and the worship connected deeply with Nina Straub, who attended Glory with a friend from her church.

“God knew—God knew what words to say [through Hill Perry and Welch],” Straub said. “It was just perfect. We were meant to be here for a kairos moment.”

As Glory concluded, Hill Perry challenged women to continue to grow in sanctification and holiness by drawing close to God through His Word. However, she also recognized this challenge may intimidate some.

“As women, there might be the temptation to believe you are too incompetent to understand the Scriptures,” Hill Perry said.

She pushed back against this belief. Made in the image of God and equipped with the Holy Spirit, Hill Perry reminded women they have everything they need to engage God’s Word.

“You can get in the Bible and understand it,” Hill Perry said. “You don’t have to be a theologian. But you can be a faithful woman.”

Ultimately, it is through the Scriptures that women will begin to behold and become more like our Holy God, Hill Perry argued.

“Everything is fighting for our affections, but we have a choice,” Hill Perry said. “Either God is worth that much, or He isn’t, and I can promise you that He is. The Bible tells us if you read it, you will see that He is the glory in all of it.”

Lifeway has two more Glory events scheduled this fall: Sept. 10-11 in Washington, D.C., and Oct. 1-2 in Atlanta, Georgia. Learn more at {eoa}

Helen Hummel is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee.

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