Pastor: Youcef Nadarkhani

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end (Hebrews 3:14)

On every Christian's prayer list should be the name of Pastor: Youcef Nadarkhani, scheduled to be hanged in Iran because he is a Christian convert from Islam. .

Every day, our senses are bombarded with news from the Middle East involving the extremes of Islam. Just recently, “supposed” burning of some pages of the Koran by the US military. ”Supposedly”, because pages were used to bring in intelligence information. We have a President and others who have apologized to Afghanistan leaders for American involvement, even though there have been no apologies for the many lives lost, the many wounded, in American attempts to improve the living conditions of people in that part of the world, with time and treasure. This writer, who has been in Afghanistan three times-almost killed in Kabul, remembers well the first time he was at the Khyber pass, a scene which could have taken place 2000 years ago, a camel train moving through the dust of that remote part of the world. This writer gets ill seeing a news broadcast telling us that 22% of all “Christians” believe that Jesus sinned during His time on earth, the perfect kinsman, redeemer. We could not be redeemed from heaven. God became one of us, perfect in every way-a kinsman redeemer... fulfilling the law, every jot and tittle. The basic truth of the church, God in Christ. His blood sacrifice on Calvary, sufficient for the sin of the world. We often inquire why so much blood in the Old Testament, the daily sacrifice of animals, one after another. It is because there was so much sin. Even at the dedication of Solomon's temple, 22,000 oxen slain-sacrificed, sheep, too may to number. “Jesus paid it all,” our churches still filled with scornful people, many cases, hearing the gospel over and over, there hearts hardened to the message. Pastor Youcef heard the message and was saved.

I knew Dr. Tom Little, missionary doctor to Afghanistan, (killed August, 2010), he and his wife there for many years caring for these desperate people, killed as his assistants yelled to the killers “We are Muslim.” His wife was in America at the time for the birth of another grandchild. There have been more Christian missionaries killed during the 20^th century than all of the previous 19 centuries. This side of the cross, the pivotal point of all history.

I have written many articles about my life as an antiquarian book collector. I did own the 1715 Isaac Watts songbook for children, in which we found the hymn “I sing the mighty power of God.”

To date, every promise, prophesy of the Bible has been fulfilled. God always picks a man, not a committee. He knew where to find Abraham, Moses, Paul. He told Abraham that his decedents would leave bondage-slavery rich. The children of Israel left Egypt loaded down with Egyptian riches. Even so, from then until now, a “stiff-necked” people. If one wants to prove the Bible, the existence of God, just one three letter word, “Jew”. How is it possible not to thrill at the joy of the history of the Jewish people? God's book relates to the rest of us, Gentiles, only as we relate to them. The marvel of the church, (Romans-Philemon) “The greatest story ever told.” The saints before us, named and unnamed, (Hebrews 11) were just the pacesetters.

The Lord's table is where we remember the atonement while Jesus still had blood in His veins, we were told to remember Him symbolically by the fruit of the vine. It is a sad commentary that Muslims will die and kill for a false religion, just a vision by Mohammed. Many “so-called” Christians never approach the Lord's table. One pastor told a friend, organist, “we don't want to hear anything about blood.”

This writer is a totally blind, 100% disabled, service connected, medical officer, veteran of the Korean conflict. When Target stores were asked to help sponsor a display of he Vietnam War memorial replica, a wall which contains the names of the 58,000 killed, the following reply from the French headquarters who owns Target: “Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education.”

France should remember what America gave for the liberation of France during WWI and WWII. This year could be one of the worst years for warfare in world history. Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a conflict between Iran and Israel would result in millions of casualties. We have witnessed the hatred of Muslims towards one another, Shiite, Sunni, etc. With so many Muslim countries aflame... Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, North Africa, etc., Europe and America will not escape their hatred.

The camels coming through the Khyber pass were loaded down, “burdened.” Christians in America and elsewhere will learn to place their burdens, for the world, on God