Coast Guard Rear Admiral William D. Lee is under attack for giving a Bible to a serviceman who had tried to commit suicide. There is a major effort to forbid all witnessing of the gospel in the military.

The British Telegraph newspaper recently reported that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group. It quoted a study that warned that Western political leaders have been "blind" to the extent of the persecution in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Militant Islam is identified as the most dangerous threat. Christian converts in Muslim countries are subjected to severe persecution including prison and execution. If a country allows a sizable group of Muslims to settle there, they soon begin to request special treatment in line with Islamic law that tends to marginalize Bible believers.

If something like the Arab Spring rises up and Islam gains political control, Christians are soon made to feel very unwelcome. Developments in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria are recent examples. Hundreds of thousands of "non-Muslim" refugees have fled these countries in recent months.

This persecution has been largely ignored by Western governments and media because of a basic misconception about Islam. In the West, the separation of religion and politics is held sacred. This blinds leaders from seeing that, in Islam, they are one and the same.

It is now becoming obvious that tolerance of the "religion" of Islam is a Trojan Horse. Muslim leaders are dedicated to using freedom of religion to gain political dominance and then impose Sharia law. It is easy to see what happens then to Christians by looking at Sharia-dominant Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The study further points out: "The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally."

This only hints at a huge fact that most historians ignore: Nowhere else in the history of mankind has the common man enjoyed the freedoms and prosperity as he has during the "Christian" era. Only after the Reformers threw off the bondage of Roman Catholicism, and published the King James Bible, did true freedom "ring."

Today, that "canary in the mine" is slowly choking to death on the poisonous gas of godless humanism. If we do not recognize the danger and return to obedience to the God of the Bible, He will repeat His Old Testament strategy.

When Israel wandered into idolatry, God sent pagan nations to punish them. Do we not see the hoards on the horizon? Do we not understand the implications of 9-11, Boston Marathon, shoe bomber, and Fort Hood? Are not these "terrorists" the advance sappers of the invading pagan army? God will not long bless a nation that legalizes sins like abortion and sodomy. At some point His attitude turns and He becomes our enemy, just as He did to Israel when they forsook Him.

The study also talks about a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a "Western creed" which can be used to undermine them. This fear is justified because when the common man realizes what Christ has done for him, he will enact governments that protect religious freedom and throw off tyrants just like America`s founding fathers rose up against Britain`s King George. However, there is also a false "church," ruled by a pope, that has always tried to replace one "oppressive regime" with another one, posing as Christian. In the past, Jesuit "missionaries" invaded countries in the Orient and tried to take them over politically. This has added to the fear of "Christians" and hampered the work of true Bible believers.

As we watch these clouds gathering, we need to redouble our efforts at getting out the truth. Gospel tract saturation has almost always preceded revival.
Soulwinners, we have much work to do.