I received an important prayer request today concerning two related groups of Lutheran missionaries in the Middle East who were then within ten minutes of ISIS fighters, fighters who were ruthlessly beheading Christian children in front of their own parents. The Christian children refused to recant their faith in Jesus Christ. Not one child gave in. But all were killed. We need to pray for the missionaries and the Christian parents in their extreme grief at this time.
False religion can involve any religion other than Biblical Christianity or possibly Biblical Judaism. Any religion which does not believe the whole Bible, the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament or the Greek Scriptures is a false religion.
Any religion whose adherents go about beheading innocent children and adults because they do not recant their faith in Jesus Christ is surely a religion inspired by demons from hell.
But false religion can involve groups, denominations, movements, within the Christian faith as well. Some of these are known as false cults.
Such false religions are just as devastatingly perilous as are the Muslims in ISIS. Jesus plainly said “by their fruits ye shall know them.” The fruit of Muslim belief in the Middle East has not improved since their false religion began before the Middle Ages. Sharia Law has no place whatsoever in the United States of America, and should be utterly opposed. We don’t need a return to barbarism here.
Jesus said broad is the road to destruction, and many are on that road. He said narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it.
The only people on this earth who are on the way that leads to life are those who are getting their truth strictly from the Bible.
The best way to get the truth from the Bible is to read and study it for yourself. Study it by doing Real Bible Study!
Here is the message I received that prompted the above post:
ISIS Beheads Christian Children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9JuMZ8spFQ#t=17
URGENT–Pray now please!
We do not know that all the information below is correct. However, we do know that we are dealing not just with ISIS, but satanic forces. There is a battle between good and evil. We need to pray daily and watch how God is going to use what is happening in this part of the world to bring His ultimate will to fruition.
Just received in our KS district office.
Please pray for this urgent request.
Prayer Request from Dan and Marilyn Wilson missionaries who are in the areas that are being attacked by ISIS are asking to be showered in prayer. ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But not the parents. The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families – even if it means their own deaths. They are very afraid, have no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have had seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called them for some reason to be His voice and hands at this place at this time.
Even so, they are begging for prayers for courage to live out their vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children, accept martyrdom if they are called to do so. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance.
One missionary was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn’t say it, but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten — no matter what. Please keep them all in your prayers.
This came this morning…
Just a few minutes ago I received the following text message on my phone from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief International (CRI). We then spoke briefly on the phone and I assured him that we would share this urgent prayer need with all of our contacts.
“We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!”
Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region. May I plead with you not to ignore this email. Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible. Send it to everyone you know.
Thank you for all your prayers.
Dr. Becky Peters
Professor of Education
Director of Lutheran Teaching Programs, Colloquy, & Lutheran Placement
Concordia University Irvine
949-214-3355
Janice Hedrick
Admin. Assistant to President Henke
Oklahoma District, LCMS
PO Box 70
Owasso, OK 74055
Email: OKPres@aol.com <mailto:OKPres@aol.com
Phone/Fax: 918-396-9629
http://www.okdistlcms.org/< http://www.okdistlcms.org/>
Thanks to Doug R.
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it would appear that someone is playing a cruel trick on you. The email you received is a year old and would appear to be a hoax.
We should, of course, pray for persecuted Christians the world over. It saddens me that people would denigrate and dishonor their suffering by giving false reports to trusting people like yourself.
Dr. Peters denies any connection with this outrageous hoax. This is from the out-of-office/on sabbatical automated message I got from her today:
If you are contacting me concerning an email regarding an urgent prayer request and missionaries who are being attacked by ISIS, please know that I did not write that message and cannot verify any of the information in it. It has been circulating for at least a year. Please do not forward the email and let the person who sent it to you know that it is quite possibly a hoax.
Blessings!
Becky
—
Dr. Becky Peters
Professor of Education
Director of Lutheran Teaching Programs,
Colloquy, & Lutheran Placement
Concordia University Irvine
Thank you for this update.
If your update is true, it reminds us of the peril of trusting some public sources of information.
Nevertheless, it is certain that ISIS and the so-called religion it represents are up to no good, are absolutely not of God, and do not believe the Bible.
False religion remains as perilous as ever. It will send those who believe and follow it straight to the Lake of Fire on Judgement Day.