Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Land owner falsely charges young man with illicit sex, calls villagers to beat, burn him.

SARGODHA, Pakistan, October 29 (CDN) — A Muslim land owner in Pakistan this month subjected a 25-year-old Christian to burns and a series of humiliations, including falsely charging him with having sex with his own niece, because the Christian refused to work for him without pay.

Fayaz Masih is in jail with burns on his body after No. 115 Chitraan Wala village head Zafar Iqbal Ghuman and other villagers punished Masih for refusing to work as a slave in his fields, said the Rev. Yaqub Masih, a Pentecostal evangelist. The village is located in Nankana Sahib district, Punjab Province.

Sources said neither Fayaz Masih nor his family had taken any loans from Ghuman, and that they had no obligations to work off any debt for Ghuman as bonded laborers.

Yaqub Masih said the young man’s refusal to work in Ghuman’s fields infuriated the Muslim, who was accustomed to forcing Christians into slavery. He said Ghuman considered Masih’s refusal an act of disobedience by a “choohra,” the pejorative word for Christians in Pakistan.

On Oct. 3 Ghuman and 11 of his men abducted Masih from his home at gun-point and brought him to Ghuman’s farmhouse, according to Yaqub Masih and Yousaf Gill, both of nearby village No. 118 Chour Muslim. Gill is a former councilor of Union Council No. 30, and Yaqub Masih is an ordained pastor waiting for his denomination to assign him a church.

Question: “How should a Christian respond to persecution?”

Answer:
Theres no doubt that persecution is a stark reality of living the Christian life. The apostle Paul warned us that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus told us to expect persecution from the world because if they persecuted Him, they will persecute His followers also. Jesus has made it very clear to us that those of the world will hate us because they hate Him. If Christians were like the worldvain, earthly, sensual, given to pleasure, wealth, ambition, the world would not oppose us. But Christians do not belong to the world which is why they hate and persecute us (John 15:18-19). Christians are, or should be, influenced by different principles from those of the world. We are motivated by the love of God and holiness, while the world is driven by the love of sin. It is our very separation from the world that arouses the world’s animosity toward us. The world would prefer that we were like them; since we are not, they hate us (1 Peter 4:3-4).

As faithful Christians, we must learn to recognize the value of persecution and even to rejoice in it, not in an ostentatious way, but quietly and humbly because persecution has great spiritual value. First, persecution allows us to share in a unique fellowship with our Lord. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul outlined a number of things he surrendered for the cause of Christ. Such losses, however, he viewed as rubbish (Philippians 3:8), or dung (KJV), that he might share in the fellowship of Christs sufferings (Philippians 3:10). The noble apostle even counted his chains as a grace (favor) which God had bestowed upon him (Philippians 1:7).

Secondly, in all truth, persecution is good for us. James argues that trials test our faith, work or develop (endurance) in our lives, and help develop maturity (James 1:2-4). For as steel is tempered in the flames of the forge, trials and persecution serve to hone down those rough edges that tarnish our character. Yielding graciously to persecution allows one to demonstrate that he is of a superior quality than his adversaries. Its easy to be hateful, but an ugly disposition throws a light upon our human weakness. It is much more Christ-like to remain calm and to respond in kindness in the face of evil opposition. Without question this is a tremendous challenge, but we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us and the wonderful example of the Lord to encourage us. Peter says of Jesus: When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23).

Third, persecution enables us to value the support of true friends. Conflict sometimes brings faithful children of God together in an encouraging and supportive way they might not have known otherwise. Hardship can stimulate the Lords people toward a greater resolve to love and comfort one another and lift one another to the throne of grace in prayer. Theres nothing like an unpleasant incident to help the more mature rise toward a greater level of brotherly love.

So, when we think about it seriously, we can move ourselves forward, even in the face of antagonism, whether from the world or within the church, and press on. We can thank God for His grace and for His patience with us. We can express gratitude for those whom we love in the Lord and who stand with us in times of distress. And we can pray for those who would accuse, misuse, or abuse us (2 Corinthians 11:24; Romans 10:1).

Recommended Resource:
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs by John Foxe

What makes everyone think artist Leonardo Da Vinci uncovered some big Christian secret?

Writers and religious skeptics have always come up with alternative narratives about Jesus’ life and ministry. But author Dan Brown brought it to center stage in a spectacular way, with his blockbuster 2003 fiction, The Da Vinci Code, followed by the movie and all its sequels and franchises.

Brown provoked speculation in both secular and theological circles—all the way to the Vatican:

Did Leonardo Da Vinci write an encrypted code on his famous Vitruvian Man? Was Mary Magdalene married to Jesus? Is there really a Holy Grail?

Seven years later, even Christian magazines are still asking questions like, “Why weren’t there women in Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting?” (Light & Life Magazine, March, April 2010, pp. 10-11).

I’d like some answers from you, Mr. Da Vinci…may I call you Leo?

How is it that you lived from 1452 to 1519—over 14 centuries after Jesus—yet you have all the secrets of his ministry that not even his contemporaries revealed, or the prophets were inspired by God to write?

Surely, a Renaissance man like yourself, jack of many trades, was able to construct a Time Machine. Is that how you went back and did the portrait of Jesus at the Last Supper, and hid at least one woman in the background, as some say?

What about those who claim you purposefully left women out of the picture?

Grid reproduction of Da Vinci's "The Last Supper"

Let’s spend some time on this unfounded “women missing from The Last Supper” claim. Before we ask why Da Vinci left them out of his painting, we could ask why they were left out of the Last Supper accounts, when we see women mentioned in many other New Testament scriptures.

All four disciples who wrote the gospels found it important enough to mention that women were the first to see Jesus’ empty tomb (Matthew 28:8-10; Mark 16:9-10; Luke 24:8-11; John 20:10-18). John speaks of the Samaritan woman at the well to whom Jesus offers “living water” (John 4:7-42), and the woman whom Jesus saved from punishment for adultery (John 8:3-11).

Matthew 14:21 specifically mentions women as being present, yet outside of the 5,000-man count at the five loaves and fish miracle. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, are mentioned in Luke 10:38-41 and John 11:1-40.

Throughout the book of Acts and his later writings, the apostle Paul mentions by name many women who participated in spreading the gospel. In 2 Timothy 1:5, he gives credit to Timothy’s mother and grandmother for how they raised the young disciple.

So why, then, would women be left out of the Last Supper accounts? And why would Da Vinci leave them out of his painting?

Simple answers to these questions:
A Boston Museum of Science website devoted to Da Vinci’s works quotes the artist:
The most praiseworthy form of painting is the one that most resembles what it imitates.

I doubt Da Vinci, having said this, would have put brush to canvas for The Last Supper without first reading the Biblical accounts of its occurrence. Therefore, he imitated what he saw in scripture.

He didn’t read anything between the lines like people love to do with the Bible today in order to discredit the Book itself and its sources. He didn’t add women for one simple reason…they weren’t there.

And, I’m sure Da Vinci would say Jesus wasn’t married either.

But the most important answer comes from a Christian’s own faith: What’s in the Bible was divinely inspired by God through the hands of man, and God knew what books would be canonized.

The New Testament’s writers had a hunch their stories would seem unbelievable and questionable. That’s why Luke 1:1-2 states:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been  fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses.

And 2 Peter 1:16 says:
We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Why should Christians stick with what the Bible says?

As Christians, we must learn to trust the Lord with all our heart rather than leaning on our own human understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Our faith grows through hearing and reading the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

In other words, the greatest faith in knowing that Jesus was who He said He was, and that things went down exactly as they appear in the Bible, comes from believing the book itself…not through the speculations of man.

The people who write these modern-day things can’t prove what they’re saying; neither have they yet proven the Bible is false.

Scriptures quoted in italics within this commentary are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Moroccan palace gate

The government of Morocco has suddenly expelled large groups of Christians on the charge of “proselytizing” Muslims.

The sudden expulsion of more than twenty Christian house parents and workers from an orphanage has left thirty-three Moroccan children without the only parent figures they have ever known.

According to Australia’s Christian Today, the Village of Hope orphanage, registered with the Moroccan government since 2002, has always included workers from America, New Zealand and other countries who were open about their Christianity.

The house parents were not allowed to adopt the children, as only Muslims are allowed to adopt Moroccan children. So they acted as foster parents.

World Magazine’s Jamie Dean states that beside the orphanage workers, a number of Christian businessmen and their families who have lived in Morocco for years were given one day’s notice to leave the country. World Magazine has been covering the deportation event.

Dean was interviewed on Moody Christian Radio’s Prime Time America show in April 2010.

When asked in the interview about what might be changing, Dean explained there has been a rise in terrorist activity in Morocco since a suicide bombing in 2003. The magazine staff speculates that the government may be succumbing to threats if they don’t strengthen their Islamic stance against the influence of other faiths.

Separate research by the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism shows that nine convicted terrorists escaped from a Moroccan prison in 2008. Their current activities are unknown.

The deported workers, both from the orphanage and businesses, are denying any efforts to evangelize the Muslims around them.

About Morocco’s Islamic government and laws
Morocco won independence from France in 1956. It constituted into a Kingdom, ruled by a constitutional monarchy in 1972.

The kingship of Morocco (currently Mohamed VI, ruling since 1999) is a hereditary position. The king is considered a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed, and as such the protector of the country’s Islamic faith. He appoints a Prime Minister. There is a Supreme Court and an elected Parliament. Although the legal system is based on Islamic law, they rule by review, taking into consideration French and Spanish civil laws.

Morocco, long considered a vacation haven, has been known as the most progressive Islamic nation – open to Christians, Jews and other faiths who have been free to worship openly – but not to evangelize. It is against the law to proselytze Muslims.

The issue of Christian marginalization has gained new heat as the National Secular Society (NSS) recently accused Christian church leaders, including former Archbishop Lord Carey of Canterbury, of seeking special treatment at the Court of Appeals (CA).

In a separate instance Shirley Chaplin, a nurse, was banned by Devon and Exeter NHS Trust from wearing her crucifix on the job although she had done so without incident for the last 30 years.

This has sparked new debate among Christians, Muslims and secularists about the issue of discrimination of Christians in favor of secularists.

Stephen Evans of the NSS said “Equality for all before the law must be non-negotiable.”

However, Paul Diamond of the Christian Legal Centre filed the request on behalf senior church leaders after religious activists had already lost several cases of church discrimination.

Diamond also represents Gary McFarlane, who was fired from his job for refusing to give sex therapy to gay couples.

The church is requesting that McFarlane’s case is heard by a specialist panel of five judges with a proven understanding of religious issues.  They also requested that the panel is headed by Lord Judge and the Lord Chief Justice.

The Christian Concern For Our Nation (CCFON) website noted that senior churchmen felt the CA judges are biased against them.

Lord Carey and others said that in the long term there is a need to appoint a panel of judges – of all religious faiths – to hear sensitive religious rights cases.

In a separate instance Shirley Chaplin, a nurse, was banned by Devon and Exeter NHS Trust from wearing her crucifix on the job although she had done so without incident for the last 30 years.

Others Protest

Dr. Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford said secularism in Britain is “virulent”, and that Britain should be defending Christianity as the faith of the British majority instead of marginalizing it.

Hargey said “As a Muslim, I am filled with despair at the attitude of our politically correct officials towards Christianity” in his article entitled “What Has Britain Come to when it takes a Muslim Like me to Defend Christianity?”

Hargey expressed regret that the core of religious liberty, which was a “…cornerstone for our democratic, respectful and tolerant nation” is slowly ebbing.

Donald MacLeod, principle of the Free Church college in Edinburgh was featured in guardian.uk.com saying “Muslims may wear their burkas, gays their earrings and Sikhs their turbans, but Christians may not wear crucifixes.  Marriage is attacked because of presumed links with Christianity, and euthanasia promoted because it is presumed to have none.”

In the same article Mary Warnock said “We need an established church.  There are occasions when the cultural traditions and ceremonies of religion are essential, and nothing else will do.  Christianity is not just a private but a public matter, woven into our constitution and our shared imaginative life.”

This is Part 2 of our interview with Usama Dakdok of the Straight Way of Grace Ministry. See Part 1 here.

In this part, we explore what Americans may not know about today’s terrorism:

Q: Is there any element of unconditional love and forgiveness in Islam?
A: There are 350 verses in the Quran teaching hate; 37 teach to perform jihad – holy war; 79 verses say to kill. Muslims are taught to hate Jews and Christians. Allah is angry at the Jewish people and Christians are called lost (Quran 1:6, some versions 1:7).

Q: Has “extreme Islamic terrorism” (as Americans call it) departed from Mohammed’s original ideals?
A: No. Mohammed denied the deity of Christ and taught that believers in Jesus as a deity were infidels. According to the Haddith (sayings of Mohammed) C9B1N31, he commanded his people to fight with infidels until they testify there is no god, only Allah, and to believe he was the messenger sent by Allah.

Q: Why do we need to fear widespread extreme Islamic terrorism?
A: These terrorists do not want peace. Quran 47:35 says “Do not be weak. Do not call for peace when you have the upper hand.” What we need to fear most is Americans who are being indoctrinated into Islam and used as terrorists. Foreigners are too obvious to be used most of the time anymore.

Western countries should also fear the extent to which our political correctness has gone. For the sake of “being tolerant,” America is being naïve. It is like loading bullets into our own guns to kill our own children.

Q: Are there really such things as terrorist “sleeper cells” in America?
A: There are sleeper cells in every walk of American life from the poorest to the highest. There are people with government titles [I could name] already working within the American government, under false names and pretenses, to influence us toward Shariah Law.

Q: Why don’t we know about them?
A: They (those in sleeper cells or undercover positions) can pretend to be good law abiding citizens when they actually have terrorist mentality. This is a lawful way of lying, according to the Quran 16:106 and 2:25. They can falsely deny their true Islamic faith, as long as they don’t actually “open their heart (chest)” to another faith.

Quran 2:106 says: “Nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Allah is able to do all things.”

Q: What can bring peace between Israel, Jews, Christians and the Arab/Middle Eastern nations?
A: Only Jesus’ return as Messiah will bring true peace.

Q: So how can American Christians be good witnesses to Muslims and share the love of Christ?
A: Christians should know about Mohammed and should learn the Quran. I use the Quran itself in speaking to Muslims, showing them how the love of Christ is more desirable.

Dakdok’s Web site shares articles instructing how to testify to Muslims, and also informs us that the Muslim faith does not include the concept of original sin or free grace.

The views expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the views of The Underground.

Nigerian Christians and Muslims clash yet again near Jos. This time leaving 500 dead. Vanguard Image.

Nigerian officials say more than 500 Nigerian Christians are dead after attacks by neighboring Muslims in Dogo Nahauwa, Nigeria, a town just south of Jos on Sunday.

According to CNN, the marauders, stormed the settlement at 3 a.m. Sunday (9 p.m. Saturday EST) and remained there for more than two hours, setting edifices such as churches on fire and executing people with machetes.

The attacks on the people of Dogo Nahauwa, who are primarily from the Berom tribe, are thought to be retaliation for attacks on the Fulani, a predominantly Muslim tribe, that took place in January nearby.

Though, according to AFP, the archbishop Abuja, John Onaiyekan, told Vatican Radio that the “violence was rooted not in religion but in social, economic and tribal differences,” others are not so sure.

Nigerian publication, This Day published a statement from the Christian Elders Forum, in which the group called this a religiously-motivated attack and blamed the government for not adequately protecting its citizens.

“Their dead bodies are still lying in their own pool of blood as we speak. The attack, yet another jihad and provocation of the Christians, started at about 1.30 a.m. last night. We are in touch with the survivors though many of them are still in trauma,” the statement said.

In response to the massacre, Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan put the area and nearby states on red alert and began operations to capture those responsible.

In a news release, Jonathan asked Nigerians to remain calm and not to try to retaliate.

“He calls on all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law abiding, since violence only begets further violence,” the release said.

“He also sympathizes with those who have lost relatives and friends in these attacks, asking the Almighty to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.”

So far, according to AFP, nearly 100 of the culprits have been captured.

“We have been able to make 95 arrests but at the same time over 500 people have been killed in this heinous act,” Dan Manjang, an advisor to the Plateau state government, told AFP.

The BBC reported that Jos has been under a military curfew since the January attacks.

Christian Heroines of the Holocaust

As mentioned in Part 1, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem has a feature called “Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations.” Here, the museum honors Christians and others who assisted the Jews at the risk of their own lives.

Many people have heard of Oskar Schindler, a Polish businessman who saved 1,000 Jewish people by employing them and falsifying their records, through the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List.”

Along with Schindler, here are some Christian heroines of the Holocaust who are also honored at Yad Vashem.

Miep Gies, Holland – Miep Gies was a Christian secretary to Otto Frank, a Jew. She concealed the Frank family for over two years. Gies is the person responsible for saving Anne Frank’s diary (the famous Diary of Anne Frank, who died in Bergen-Belsen only two weeks before the concentration camps were liberated).

Anne Frank’s diary ended up being instrumental in some of the post-war Nazi trials.

Miep Gies recently died at 100 years old (January, 2010), and was the last survivor of those known for helping the Jewish people during the Holocaust. She was Austrian, but had married a Dutchman.

See a succinct telling of Gies’ life and heroic acts here at Associated Press.

Irena Sendler, Poland – Irena Sendler single-handedly organized efforts to save 2,500 Polish children. She and other non-Jewish volunteers worked tirelessly, every day at the risk of their own lives, to smuggle the children through all sorts of channels.

Cleverly, Sendler devised a plan for the Jewish children to be adopted into Protestant and Catholic families to conceal their identity. She saved every single child’s name and location in glass jars so they could be re-united with their families after the war.

When Sendler was discovered, she was tortured with both legs and feet broken. But a German officer listed her as executed and helped her escape.

Sendler, who passed away in 2008, was nominated for a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. It went to Al Gore for his global warming work. But her story of bravery is captured here at the “Life in a Jar” Project by a group of Kansas schoolchildren.

Corrie ten Boom and Betsie ten Boom, Holland – The ten Boom sisters and their father Casper were avid followers of Jesus. They owned a clock shop in Haarlem, Holland (now a Museum).

They used a hidden room in their upstairs residence to hide a large number of Jewish people. When it was thought safe, the people would come out into the house for meal and prayer times. The ten Booms even provided kosher food.

Upon discovering the room, the Gestapo arrested all three ten Booms plus a nephew who had helped them. They were placed in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Corrie was the only one of the four to survive the death camp. She is famous for writing the book, “The Hiding Place” (with John and Elizabeth Sherrill), telling all the events that happened in occupied Holland and at the shop.

In the book, Corrie also tells of the miracles of how she smuggled a Bible into her barracks, and how she and Betsie shared the Gospel with many Jewish captives.

Corrie ten Boom later established halfway houses for survivors of the Holocaust to get re-adjusted and relocated into outside life.

Her most amazing testimony came at a speaking engagement, where she was approached by an ex-officer of the Nazi regime – one of the very men who had guarded her in prison. He had come to know Jesus, and was begging her forgiveness!

Corrie said,
“I discovered it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself” (page 215, The Hiding Place).

Auschwitz buildings today. From Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as an annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Why Jan. 27? It was on this day in 1945 that the largest World War II concentration camp, Auschwitz, was liberated.

Auschwitz, a network of three camps, was operated in Poland under German occupation from 1940-1945. It probably accounted for the death of over one million Jews. Among other well-known “death camps” were Dachau, Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen.

Claims that the Holocaust Didn’t Happen
Currently, there are claims being made that the Holocaust never happened. These claims are frightening and outrageous to Jewish people, and could not be farther from the truth.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. houses more than 85,000 Holocaust photographs, twenty percent of which can be viewed online. There are traveling exhibits and several stationary USHMM branches around the U.S.

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem has archived 62 million pages of documents, photos, testimonies of survivors and other articles as proof of the Holocaust.

How/Why did the Holocaust happen?
Adolph Hitler intended to create the perfect Aryan race, eliminating those people who didn’t fit his description of “perfect.”

Beside the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, it is estimated that two million other people lost their lives for either assisting the Jewish people or being imperfect themselves.

Extending beyond his takeover of Germany, Hitler wanted to rule at least all of Europe, and perhaps the world. See a history with more details here at USHMM.

Do Christians hate the Jewish People?
Because some churches and Christian organizations either looked the other way or went along with Hitler’s bidding due to their own fear, some Jewish people are convinced to  this day that Christians hate them.

However, Yad Vashem has a special memorial called “Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations” dedicated to Christians and others who lovingly and bravely assisted the Jewish people at the risk of their own lives (watch for Part 2 of this article for portraits of several Christian “Holocaust Heroes”).

There are many organizations of Christians and Jewish people working alongside each other today to make the way for better relationships between Christians and Jews, to erase rumors that the Holocaust never happened, and to stand against anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity.

Want to get involved in this effort? Here are a few such organizations:*
American Alliance of Jews & Christians
Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc.
Christians United for Israel
Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation (JAACD)

*(The Underground is not connected to these organizations, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of these organizations.)

Underground staff writer Sheryl Young is the author of What Every Christian Should Know about the Jewish People: Improving the Church’s Relationship with God’s Original Chosen Nation.