You are here: Home / Archives for Ken Blue

Pastor to be executed in Iran!

by

Muslims must be proud of a religion that can only keep their followers by killing all non Muslims, or execution any who convert to other religions. That mafia concept is so foreign from anything taught by Christianity, it is impossible for them to comprehend it. If you think Islam is a friend of America or any other religion on earth, you don’t understand their religion or culture.

 

 

Iranian Pastor Faces Execution for Refusing to Recant Christian Faith
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published September 28, 2011 | FoxNews.com

An undated photograph circulated by religious rights organizations shows Youcef Nadarkhani and his family.

An Iranian pastor who has refused to renounce his Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran’s Gilan Provincial Court ruled. Iran’s Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

An undated photograph provided by the American Center for Law & Justice shows Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor who faces execution for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: “Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”

“To the religion of your ancestors, Islam,” the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

“I cannot,” Nadarkhani said.

Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January 2011. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported.

An Assyrian evangelical pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi, was imprisoned for 54 days for allegedly converting Muslims prior to his release in March 2010, Elam officials told FoxNews.com.
Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country’s Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International.
Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for apostasy last September based on religious writings by Iranian clerics, including Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the fact that there is no offense of “apostasy” in the nation’s penal code, Amnesty International reports.
In June, the Supreme Court of Iran ruled that a lower court should re-examine procedural flaws in the case, giving local judges the power to decide whether to release, execute or retry Nadarkhani. The verdict, according to Amnesty International, includes a provision for the sentence to be overturned should Nadarkhani renounce his faith.
Elise Auerbach, an Iranian analyst for Amnesty International USA, told FoxNews.com that an execution for apostasy has not been carried out in Iran since 1990. Nadarkhani’s sentence is a “clear violation of international law,” she said.
“The key is to keep up the pressure and to publicize the story because it obviously outrages most people,” Auerbach said. “It’s part of the pattern of persecution based on religion in Iran.”
Kiri Kankhwende, a spokeswoman for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization that specializes in religious freedom, told FoxNews.com that Nadarkhani was asked for the fourth time to renounce his faith during a hearing early Wednesday and he denied that request.
“We’re waiting to hear the final outcome,” she told FoxNews.com. We’re still waiting to hear what they’ve decided.”
Kankhwende said Nadarkhani could be executed Wednesday or Thursday.
“Iran is unpredictable,” she said. “We can’t say when it might happen. It’s a very real threat, but we can’t say when exactly.”
Officials at the U.S. State Department declined to comment when reached on Wednesday. Attempts to reach his attorney, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, were not successful.
House Speaker John Boehner said Nadarkhani’s case is “distressing for people of every country and creed,” according to a statement released on Wednesday.
“While Iran’s government claims to promote tolerance, it continues to imprison many of its people because of their faith,” the statement read. “This goes beyond the law to an issue of fundamental respect for human dignity. I urge Iran’s leaders to abandon this dark path, spare [Nadarkhani’s] life, and grant him a full and unconditional release.”
Father Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of New York and an analyst for Fox News Channel, said Nadarkhani’s case is “unmistakable evidence” that Iran is executing Christians simply because they refuse to become Muslims.
Morris continued: “Will President Obama, and the free world, allow the United Nations to continue in its cowardly silence on this matter?”

This was forwarded to us by Dr. Richard Flanders, a friend of our ministry. He was one of the key-note speakers in Kurdistan during our school for Pastors.

LET’S STUDY REVELATION # 6

by

Revelation

John says he was “…in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Not by any stretch of the imagination is John saying he was “filled with the Spirit on Sunday.” John was not in “a state of spiritual exaltation” on a Sunday morning. Rather, he was carried away by or in the Spirit as illustrated in the book of Ezekiel. “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1).

Just as Ezekiel was literally in Babylon among the captives, John was literally outside the land of Israel on the isle of Patmos. Likewise, as Ezekiel was transported in the Spirit to Jerusalem, John was transported in the Spirit two thousand years forward into the “Day of the Lord.” This is the key to understanding the Book of Revelation. “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy” (Ezekiel 8:3). Another example is in Ezekiel 37:1, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” Note also the following: “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne” (Rev. 4:2). “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 17:3). “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” (Rev. 21:10).

When John was transported forward into the Day of the Lord, that day was already in progress (see verses 19-20). Not only does John state this, but it is also implied in the verse under consideration. Verse 10 says, “…and heard behind me a great voice…” When John heard the “voice behind” him, he “turned” to see the One commanding him to write.
The voice, which sounded like a trumpet, was for clarity and preparation for war. God’s judgments on Israel and the kingdom of the Beast are preceded by the sound of trumpets.

THE RAGING SEA AND THE ANTICHRIST

by

By Ken Blue

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Revelation 13:1.

As we witness the dismantling of the nations located in the revised Roman Empire, we should be aware that this turmoil is part of a process that will pave the way for the Antichrist. The masses are referred to as the sea in Scripture. They are “raging,” and coming apart and the citizens must be perplexed about what is happening. However, there is an unseen power behind it all for a final showdown.

“The Mediterranean Sea, because the nations under Antichrist surround it on 3 sides. Sea represents peoples in symbolic passages (Rev. 13:1; 17:1,15; Dan. 7:2-3,17).
Beast rise up out of the sea 13: He will be a man (Rev. 13:18. He will rise out of the sea of humanity (Rev. 13:1; Dan. 7:24; 9:27; 11:36-45. He will become ruler of the territory of the 7 kingdoms symbolized by the 7 heads (Rev. 13:1; 17:8-17. He will become ruler of the 10 kingdoms that are yet to be formed inside the old Roman Empire territory (Rev. 13:1; 17:8-17; Dan. 7:23-24”. —Dake’s Study Notes.

Keep your eye on those nations. You will see ten nations join is a loose alliance. These, perhaps, make a covenant of peace with Israel. Of the ten, a dominant leader will come out of Syria. He will destroy three of the ten nations. The remaining seven will give their kingdoms to him. He will later move his headquarters to Babylon.

He will be kept busy trying to maintain peace within his kingdom. Also, nations outside his kingdom, from the north and the south, will wage war with him. After defeating them, he will move his headquarters to Jerusalem where he will attempt the “final solution,” the annihilation of all Jews. That will be his fatal and final mistake.

LET’S STUDY REVELATION # 5

by

Revelation

“1:7-11 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”
In verses 7-8 we have a preview of the manner of His coming and the reaction of some at that event. John tells us that he will come to Israel just as He departed.
Acts 1:9-11 declares, “…he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” This speaks of the Second Advent, which takes place at the end of the tribulation.
Not only does Jesus come as He departed, He returns to the very place. Zechariah, the prophet, speaks of this event in chapter 14:4. “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”
The statement, “every eye shall see Him,” should be understood as a figure of speech. It is sometimes used as an exaggeration (hyperbole), which adds more to the language than is intended, as when the Pharisees said: “the world is gone after Him.” John 12:19. See Luke 2: l, which says, “…there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” John 3:26 says, “…Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan…all men come to him.” See also 1 Cor. 4:15: “For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers…” (See Jas. 3:6, 4:1.) The same figure of speech is used when one says, “everybody does it,” or “You never like how I look.”
No doubt, small infants will not see Jesus’ Second Advent. Not every person throughout the Gentile world will see Him. There will be many who will not see Him or even know of His exact return. The intent of the Holy Spirit is to amplify how public and startling Christ’s return will be to the nation of Israel and the armies encamped against Jerusalem. It will be as the lightening in the east can be seen in the west. Dake says it means, “All eyes in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem where He lands (Zech. 14:1-5). People in distant parts of the earth will not see Him until later (Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 66:19-21; Zech. 8:23).” All who survive within the land will “know Him.” However, many within the Gentile world will not know Him and must be evangelized during the Millennium.
“..they also which pierced him: and all kindreds (related tribes) of the earth (land) shall wail because of him..” (Rev. 1:7). The wailing is actually the mourning of Israel over their sins and rejection of their Messiah at His first coming. “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zech. 12:10).
His sovereignty is declared in verse 8.
John identifies himself with the recipients of his letter in verse 9. He is their “brother,” a fellow Hebrew and a partaker of their suffering for the testimony of Jesus Christ. There is no proof that John was banished to the isle of Patmos as some claim. Rather, he was there to receive the revelation God gave him. Paul was sent to Arabia to receive God’s revelation concerning the church. John was sent to Patmos for the revelation of the Day of the Lord.
Verse 10 is the key to the understanding of this great book, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” We have commented briefly on “The Lord’s Day.” That day is the great day of God’s judgment as declared throughout Scripture. We give the following references for those who may have passed over the introduction. (See Joel 1:15; 2:1; Ps. 37:13; Isa. 13:6-9; Eze. 7:2-12; 12:22-28; Zeph. 1:14-18; Luke 19:41-44; James 5:9; Rev. 6:17.)
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says concerning the Day of the Lord: “The idea is a common Old Testament one. It denotes the consummation of the Kingdom of God and the absolute cessation of all attacks upon it (Isa 2:12; 13:6,9; 34:8; Eze 13:5; 30:3; Joe 1:15; 2:11; Am 5:18; Zep 1:14; Zec 14:1). It is a “day of visitation” (Isa 10:3), a day “of the wrath of Yahweh” (Eze 7:19), a “great day of Yahweh” (Zep 1:14). The entire conception in the Old Testament is dark and foreboding. In the New Testament it is eminently the day of Christ, the day of His coming in the glory of His father… there is a dark background to the bright picture, for it still remains a “day of wrath” (Ro 2:5-6), a “great day” (Rev. 6:17; Jude 1:6), a “day of God” (2 Pet 3:12), a “day of judgment” (Mt 10:15; 2 Pet 3:7; Ro 2:16). Sometimes it is called “that day” (Mt 7:22; 1Th 5:4; 2Ti 4:8), and again it is called “the day” without any qualification whatever… In that day He comes to His own (Mt 16:27), and therefore it is called “the day of our Lord Jesus” (2Co 1:14),”the day of Jesus Christ” or “of Christ” (Php 1:6,10), the day when there “shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven” (Mt 24:30).”
Since the Day of the Lord is in the future, the whole of Revelation concerns the things belonging to a future time. The book is a prophecy. Chapter 1:10 declares that the day of the Lord is a time of God’s “judgments.” It is “the day of vengeance” (see Isa. 61:2; 63:4.). It is the completion of Daniel’s vision concerning the fourth beast and the ten kings. In Daniel it is foretold; in the Revelation it unfolds.

HAROLD CAMPING’S FALSE PROPHECY FOR OCT. 21, 2012

by

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2 Cor. 11:14-15.

The above passage describes Harold Camping better than any other Scripture. He is a deceitful worker, and a minister of Satan. His interpretation of the Bible is like a backlash on a spinning reel. His allegorical method of interpretation leaves you with no way to correct him, or get a handle on his teaching.

He has already prophesied, and given dates for the rapture, and both of them failed. Now, he has set the date of October 21 as the end of the world. He was wrong on the others, and will be wrong on this one. It may be the end of the world for Camping’s ministry. As gullible as people are, I can’t imagine anyone being so stupid they would continue to follow him. Nor can I believe he will show his face again.

No one on this earth knows when the rapture will take place, when the Tribulation will begin, who the Antichrist is, who the false prophet is, or when the end of the world will come. None of these can be known from Scripture. Therefore, all who pretend to know these things, are lying, or deceived. Let them bring forth their PROOF. (Notice that on the side of the bus these words, “The Bible Guarantees it.” It does not! This is the damage Camping is doing. He is telling the world that the Bible tells when these events will happen. Then when they do not, people say, “See, the Bible is wrong.” Again, the Bible is not wrong. It NEVER gives the time of those events.)

If you are a Christian, I suggest you ignore Harold Camping and all teachers and preachers who mishandle the Word of God. The Bible should not be allegorized. If the Bible uses types, it will be clear from the context. The safe and right method is to read it naturally as you would read any other book. It will make sense to you when you do.

Don’t worry about October 21. That will not be the rapture or the end of the world. However, those things are coming in their time sequence as set by God. If you are not saved, you can accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior right now. Just tell Him that you are accepting Him as your Savior. Find a King James Bible and start reading the book of Romans. You will be glad you did.