“I am Yahweh; that is My Name! I will not give My glory to anyone else, nor share My praise with carved idols.” (Isaiah 42: 8)
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The Rapid Rise of Christianity in Iran
“Christianity” is the faith of Abraham. It’s based on faith in and obedience to Yahweh. For details, see His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition and The Trilogy.
Yahweh is drawing to Himself people from all over the world who were born and raised to believe in pagan religions. He is leading them out of darkness and into light. He is showing them that they can trust Him to redeem and save them and that their mission in life is to follow Him.
Nowhere is Yahweh’s work more impressive than it is in Iran today. Amid Islamist terrorists and a government that supports them, Yahweh is calling out people for Himself who put their lives at risk to abandon Islam.
See “Christianity is Rapidly Growing in Iran”:
Islamic Clerics are warning against the spread of Christianity in the most Islamic City in Iran.
House churches are hunted down and conversion to Christianity is viewed as an action against national security in Qom, Iran.
Christianity has been growing at a fast rate in the last couple of decades in Iran, that has caused the Islamic government a lot of concern, according to Mohabat News, an Iranian Christian News Agency.
A high profile Islamic seminary official, Ayatollah Alavi Boroujerdi, stated “accurate reports indicate that the youth are becoming Christians in Qom and attending house churches.”
Another most senior Islamic Shi’ite cleric, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has repeatedly expressed his concern over the spread of Christianity among the youth in the country.
He and his other colleagues blame foreign influence for the conversion of young Iranians to Christianity.
Mohabat News also reports that this high rate of conversion is occurring despite the rigorous Islamic indoctrination of the youth in their families and education.
The Islamic government of Iran gives large amounts of money to the support of Islamic organizations that promote Islam among their youth within and beyond Iran’s borders.
However the Iranian youth are becoming increasingly distant from Islam, which is becoming a great concern for the Iranian government.
See “Iranian Youths Mass Converting to Christianity Despite Islamic Indoctrination, Government’s Efforts”:
The massive rise of Christianity in Iran, especially among youths, continues despite the Islamic government’s efforts to suppress the faith. Even Islamic leaders admitted that more and more young people are choosing to follow Christ.
According to Mohabat News, which reports on the persecution and state of Christianity in Iran, the “exponential rate” of Christian growth has been a factor for the last couple of decades.
Now even leading Islamic seminary officials, such as Ayatollah Alavi Boroujerdi, have pointed to “accurate reports indicating that the youth are becoming Christians in Qom and attending house churches.”
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has also been raising alarm over the number of Iranian youths becoming Christians, and has blamed “foreign influence” for the conversions.
Other ayatollahs, such as Wahid Khorasani, have slammed government officials “for their negligence in preparing counteracting strategies to stop the spread of Christianity.”
What about Christianity in Western nations?
To me, it’s interesting that while Yahweh’s Spirit is calling out people in places like Iran, many if not most Christians in Western nations adhere to traditions and rituals that contradict what Yahweh requires. It isn’t even close to what Yahweh said He wants and expects.
The best example of this is about a month away: Christmas.
Christmas is a pagan religious festival to honor the sun god with a thin veneer to make it acceptable to contemporary churchgoers. See “Christmas: It Isn’t What You Think”:
I’m not Ebenezer Scrooge, and I’m not saying “bah humbug” under my breath, but did you know that…
December 25th is the day that most Christians celebrate as the Messiah’s birthday. However, we know that He was born in the fall of the year during Sukkot—the Feast of Tabernacles. We also know that in the 300s A.D. under the leadership of Roman Emperor Constantine and his embryonic Catholic church, the winter solstice was chosen as the day to celebrate the Messiah’s birth because that day coincided with an existing Roman holiday honoring the sun god, Sol Invictus.
Christmas is a counterfeit tradition, yet it is so well-entrenched that many Christians view pointing it out as an assault on their fundamental beliefs. I believe that Christmas is a perfect example of placing misguided traditions above Yahweh and His commands. It ranks right up there with the Jewish tradition of forbidding speaking Yahweh’s Name even though He commanded us to declare His Name to the world.
Whatever the Roman leaders’ motives may have been when they combined worship of the Messiah with a debauched festival honoring a pagan deity, they were way off the mark. Their actions profaned Yahweh’s Name by associating Him with pagan gods. Regrettably, we celebrate Christmas to honor the One who commanded us not to mix the clean with the unclean.
Ironically, Yahweh mandated Sukkot, but Christmas falls into the same category as other pagan festivals that Yahweh condemned. As Yahweh told Ezekiel, “Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.” (Ezekiel 22: 26) That’s exactly what Christians have done with Christmas.
The Truth in a Nutshell
The Messiah is Yahweh. He came in Person to be the sacrifice for our sins so that He could redeem and save us.
To understand what that means, read His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition and The Trilogy. I hope and pray that you will take the time to read both books.
Regrettably, in most churches today, telling the truth about Christmas is regarded as heresy. That’s true about Easter, too.
It’s ironic that the two most important days on church calendars are pagan festivals. People who are serious about Yahweh need to examine the facts and let Yahweh’s Spirit lead them away from darkness.
Switching Gears
See “Israel vows to destroy Iranian positions within 40 km of Syrian border”. No bluff. No bluster. Just the facts. Will Iranian terrorists heed the magnanimous warning?
See “Portents of a quagmire in Syria”. Iran is a huge part of the problem in Syria and Iraq. Iranian terrorists will try to make sure that Syria and Iraq remain quagmires because it serves their purposes.
See “Iran TV videos target 2 detainees accused of espionage”. These are straightforward cases of kidnapping and extortion. Iranian leaders are shameless thugs and criminals. It makes no sense to treat them any other way.
See “Iran vows to put Europe in missile range if threatened”. This is an example of nuclear blackmail. If Iran ever has nuclear weapons, there is not doubt about how they will use them. Bottom line: Iran should never be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Iran is like North Korea on steroids.
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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)
See “His Name is Yahweh”.
