In one of the calls I received from Pastor R this past week, I had the amazing opportunity to speak with three of the new graduates from HOB’s School of Ministry. These three men, whose names were Mahmud, Abdullah, and Gaze, knew very little English but were able to greet me on the phone. They felt it a blessing to […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 12/4/2016
As I read one news article after another, I think of a great event that is soon to come. Soon, the Lord of Glory will return to this world which today is spinning out of control, and He will take full control over it once again. The Psalmist penned these words in Psalm 24: The earth is the LORD’s, and […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 10/27/2016
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil; therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17: I think many of us, as professing Christians, do not think enough about what the will of the Lord may be. We have very […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 8/16/2016
The death toll in Syria is now nearing 600,000 according to some estimates. I have not been able to find any statistics for Aleppo and its surrounding area. The reports coming out of this region of Syria, however, are horrific. Clarissa Ward, a CNN correspondent who has reported on wars for more than a decade, provided a testimony to the […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 5/18/2016
(caution, some photos below are pretty graphic) In the fourth chapter of John we find a passage of Scripture that I would like to use as an introduction to today’s Mideast Update. It begins in verse 31: …His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 5/10/2016
As I write this update, both the chaos of war as well as the supernatural intervention in the lives of people continues. The struggle for control of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, continues with Syria’s dictator Assad sending the Syrian military in full force, indiscriminately killing militants and civilians alike. Hospitals, clinics, and even refugee camps have been hit, leaving many […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 4/18/2016
The update is not going to be a long one today, but I do want to get out the latest information that I have received. I was very happy to receive a phone call from Pastor R this weekend. His voice was not quite normal, but that is to be expected due to the chemical poisons he was exposed to […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 3/21/2016
A second century Church father was quoted as saying this: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” From the time that Stephen, the first official Christian martyr, was stoned to death in AD 36, Christians have been laying down their lives for the One who gave His life for them. I believe God has a special […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 3/11/2016
After receiving the tragic news of the death of brother Omar and his wife a few days ago, I decided that I would write an update this week around them and what their lives have meant to the Kingdom of God as they worked as missionaries through House of Blessing. As regular readers will know, our contact with House of […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 2/13/2016
In the last few days, I’ve received several calls from Pastor R from his location near Damascus. As always, there is good news as well as news of tragic events that have transpired. There is now not a day that goes by in the Middle East without a multitude of events unfolding. We are the generation Jesus spoke of that […]