Today the Lord spoke about the importance of correcting  and disciplining  children.

One of the characters about whom, much description is given in the Bible, is David.  Even though David  achieved a lot, his failures are also described in the Bible.

1Ki 1:6  His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom.

David had many children. The above verse depicts clearly David’s failure in the fatherly duty.

Pro 22:6  Train a child in the way appropriate for him, and when he becomes older, he will not turn from it.

Today’s society puts so much restrictions on disciplining a child.

Pro 23:13  Don't withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with a rod, he won't die.

Many countries have put legal bans on uttering the word “Jesus”, ‘God’ ‘Sin’ to their kids and the younger generation. But Bible teaches the opposite. Bible teaches about disciplining a child strictly.

Why should we discipline a child?

Pro 29:15  The rod and rebuke bestow wisdom, but an undisciplined child brings shame to his mother.

Here we see in Adonijah’s case, he brought shame not only to his mother but also to his father, to his siblings, family and to the Israelites.  Finally he was  killed by his  own brother which brought misery and sorrow to his parents.

Note the word,

“ *His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?”

David’s failure in his fatherly duty is emphatically mentioned 3 times.

1. David had not displeased him
2. At any time
3. Never asked “Why have you done so?”

Are you prepared to displease your child?

Yes. Parents will have to get the displeasure of their children if you discipline them. Are you afraid of displeasing your child? How much effort, energy  and time  have you put in disciplining  your child?

Pro 22:15  A child's heart has a tendency to do wrong, but the rod of discipline removes it far away from him.

Bible confirms that the tendency ‘to do wrong’ exists in a child. In other words, a child does not know how to choose and select the right thing. Bible acknowledges 100% that children will make mistakes in selections and decisions. Only the rod, (can be physical or other strict measures)  can remove it far away from them. 

Most of our families are becoming 'child centred' and it is not a good sign as per the above verse.

Let’s look into our family. What are the negative tendencies in my child?

Have I ever taken efforts to find them out?

If not, allot time today itself, to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you. Don’t postpone it to tomorrow.

Is it jealousy? Hatred towards spiritual things? Imitating human beings? Aversion to Bible reading?  Spending too much time with friends? Misusing mobile? Addiction to mobile games? Depression? Loneliness? Inferiority? Worldliness? Discriminating others, covetousness, stinginess, pride, short temper? intolerance,  Negativity? Hurting others? Stealing? Disrespect? Suppressing others? Manipulating or exploiting others? Disobedience etc..

Why did David hesitate in disciplining Adonijah? The next verse says,

“Adonijah was very handsome and had been born after Absalom”. 

Was David  proud of his two handsome sons?

Never hesitate to discipline your ‘intelligent’, ‘handsome’, ‘rank holder’, ‘smart’, ‘efficient’ child.

If you do not correct him/her  at the appropriate time, the child's life will be damaged. The will become  a headache, and a nuisance to you, your family, his/her own family which he/she is supposed to raise, and to the society.

This is the greatest spiritual erosion that has taken  place in the ‘once reputed' Christian nations.  They failed to discipline their children.

God sent them a powerful delusion so that they believed a lie. “If given maximum individual freedom, without any disciplining, children will choose the right from wrong.”. This generation has proved that it was a deception. By the time we found it out,  many generations suffered irreparable damage. Many died spiritual deaths, and  the countries’ government went into the hands of satan. 

God loves India. These days He is disciplining our Church, our nation in many ways. Let us know more about His plans. Be open to all His ways. Discipline your family, your Constituency. By doing this, you are saving a nation from erosion and destruction.

Arrange schools of Deliverance, Healing, Worship, Hospitality, Financial Discipline and Family Building in your Constituencies. They will discipline your people and teach them the  Law of the Lord.

Odisha - 9^th December to     14^th   December 2019  - Language (Hindi)

There was a family where a father and his daughter attended 8 weeks of troop church.

God has done miracles tremendously, now they are filled with ecstasy and glorifying God.

He asked apologies from his wife and daughters Brothers changed and now the family is in peace. There is growth in spirituality,financially and studies. God has blessed them abundantly.

Glory to Jesus.

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A Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On: Mt Rainier & New Madrid Fault

Mt. Rainier and the New Madrid fault zone are both shaking, and a catastrophic seismic event at either location would cause death and destruction on an unimaginable scale. Mt. Rainier in Washington State has been called "one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world", and scientists tell us that it is just a matter of time before a major eruption occurs. When that day finally arrives, Mt. Rainier has the potential to bury hundreds of square miles with a colossal tsunami of super-heated mud that is literally several hundred feet deep.  And since Mt. Rainier is very close to major population centers, we are talking about the potential for the worst disaster that we have seen in modern American history.  

But a massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault zone actually has the potential to be far worse.  A very deep scar under the ground that was created when North America was originally formed has made that part of the country very mechanically weak, and many experts believe that a big enough earthquake along that fault zone could literally rip the United States in half. But before we discuss the New Madrid fault zone, let's talk about what just happened at Mt. Rainier first.

According to the USGS, Mt. Rainier was hit by a magnitude 3.6 earthquake on Sunday afternoon... After a spurt of seismic activity this weekend, Mount Rainier National Park was shaken by a 3.6 magnitude earthquake Sunday afternoon. The quake hit at 12:31 p.m. and was felt as far as Kent, WA nearly 80 miles away, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The relatively shallow quake was centered roughly a mile beneath the earth's surface.

In addition to that quake, there have been quite a few others in recent days. In fact, it is being reported that Mt. Rainier has been hit by "more than a dozen" earthquakes since Thanksgiving day.

The Seattle Times is assuring us that this is perfectly normal, but they are also warning their readers that they "should prepare for what might happen in the event of an eruption" just in case... Regardless, people living near Mount Rainier should prepare for what might happen in the event of an eruption, said Wes Thelen, a research seismologist at the Cascade Volcano Observatory. Specifically, an eruption could cause lahars -- large volcanic mudflows -- to rip down the side of the mountain.

Many of my readers clearly remember the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, but a catastrophic eruption of Mt. Rainier would be so much worse that the two events would not even be worth comparing.  The following comes from Wikipedia... If Mt. Rainier were to erupt as powerfully as Mount St. Helens did in its May 18, 1980 eruption, the effect would be cumulatively greater, because of the far more massive amounts of glacial ice locked on the volcano compared to Mount St. Helens, the vastly more heavily populated areas surrounding Rainier, and the simple fact that Mt Rainier is a much bigger volcano, almost twice the size of St. Helens. Lahars from Rainier pose the most risk to life and property, as many communities lie atop older lahar deposits. 

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), about 150,000 people live on top of old lahar deposits of Rainier. Not only is there much ice atop the volcano, the volcano is also slowly being weakened by hydrothermal activity. 

According to Geoff Clayton, a geologist with a Washington State Geology firm, RH2 Engineering, a repeat of the 5000-year-old Osceola Mudflow would destroy Enumclaw, Orting, Kent, Auburn, Puyallup, Sumner and all of Renton. Such a mudflow might also reach down the Duwamish estuary and destroy parts of downtown Seattle, and cause tsunami in Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Rainier is also capable of producing pyroclastic flows and expelling lava. A lahar is essentially a giant tsunami of super-heated mud, and they can be hundreds of feet high.  If you live in that region, you might be thinking that you will just outrun any lahar that is headed your way, but the truth is that the highways will instantly be jammed once an eruption happens and a lahar can travel at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.  The following is how one author described the danger that those living in the area could potentially be facing...

The numerous towns and cities that occupy the surrounding valley would all be at risk for not only severe destruction, but complete annihilation. Residents of cities like Orting, Sumner, Buckley, and Enumclaw are estimated to have no more than 30 minutes before the lahar, speeding down from the many rivers that flow from Mount Rainier, buries their homes and businesses beneath as much as 30 feet of mud and debris. Even the larger cities like Auburn, Puyallup, and Tacoma itself are not safe. Auburn and Puyallup, with nearly 80,000 residents between them, would be covered in 20 feet of mud in less than an hour, and Tacoma, at almost 200,000, is estimated to be hit with nearly 10 feet from the lahar.

As you can see, the death and destruction would be off the charts, and let us hope that such a disaster does not arrive any time soon. And as I mentioned earlier, a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault zone has the potential to create even greater death and destruction.

According to scientists, the New Madrid fault zone sits directly above a very deep geological scar that was created when North America was formed.  According to Wikipedia, this immense scar makes "the Earth's crust in the New Madrid area mechanically weaker than much of the rest of North America".

Today, the New Madrid fault zone is approximately six times bigger than the San Andreas fault zone in California.  It covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and the largest earthquakes in the lower 48 states have happened in this region.

Scientists assure us that it is just a matter of time before more catastrophic earthquakes hit this fault zone, and that is why what has been happening near the town of Ridgely, Tennessee in recent days is so concerning... A swarm of at least 15 earthquakes reaching up to 2.1 magnitude rattled Ridgely, Tennessee -- a small town near the Mississippi River -- over a two-day period, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The other quakes in the swarm ranged from 1.1 to 1.5 magnitude, according to the USGS. Most Americans have never heard of Ridgely, and it is definitely a very small town, but what makes this so important is that Ridgely sits directly inside the New Madrid fault zone...

Ridgely is home to just 1,657 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and sits less than four miles from the banks of the Mississippi River. It's also part of the New Madrid Seismic Zone -- which the Missouri Department of Natural Resources refers to as "the most active seismic area in the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains." In 1811 and 1812, four absolutely massive earthquakes along the New Madrid fault zone opened up very deep fissures in the ground, they caused the Mississippi River to actually run backwards in certain places, and they were reportedly felt as far away as Washington D.C. and Boston.

Fortunately, very few people populated the region in those days, but if such a quake happened today the death and destruction would be unimaginable.  The following description of one of the quakes that happened in 1811 comes from Smithsonian.com, and for a moment I would like for you to imagine what would happen if such an earthquake happened in our time... The Midwest was sparsely populated, and deaths were few. But 8-year-old Godfrey Lesieur saw the ground "rolling in waves." Michael Braunm observed the river suddenly rise up "like a great loaf of bread to the height of many feet." Sections of riverbed below the Mississippi rose so high that part of the river ran backward. Thousands of fissures ripped open fields, and geysers burst from the earth, spewing sand, water, mud and coal high into the air.

The New Madrid fault zone has altered the course of the Mississippi River before, and someday it will happen again. We live at a time when our planet appears to be getting increasing unstable.  In addition to the other earthquakes that I have already mentioned, Alaska was actually hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake on Monday.

Unfortunately, most Americans are not going to start caring about the warning signs until a major disaster has already happened. Most people will simply not wake up without a major amount of shaking, and let us hope that such a day can be put off for as long as possible. 

Warfare prayer of the soldiers of the Army of Jesus to bind and destroy the works of the devil

Let us bind and destroy the works of the devil in the name of Jesus Christ who has conquered sin, satan, curse and death on the cross

Pr  20:1  The spirit which leads astray man by wine and makes  him a  mocker 

Be Formed and Form is a 5 day short term course. This training is a challenge to the present Church. Because our Lord Jesus Christ (Head of the Church) wants the Church to be transformed according to Eph 5:26,27. To make her holy, (cleansing her by the washing with water through the word), and to present her himself as a radiant Church. Today the Church is ignorant about the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this BFF training , the Church awakes and arises to shine in the world.

The educated as well as the uneducated can apply . Contact no. Ph : 9952040052

It's a unique Christ designed course, transforms souls, delivers people from bondage, enlightens people on true knowledge of Christ and the word of God, Anointing of the Holy Spirit is abundant all through the programme.

Come, be blessed and bless others.

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Space Wars: Satellite Warfare Could Be America's Achilles Heel

No one could have predicted technology would improve at such an incredible rate in the decades to follow. Here we are approaching 2020 and as the last Star Wars movie approach its release - we are reminded that a "star war" is a very real possibility. Much of the technological advantage enjoyed by the United States and other world powers is owed to the use of satellites. 

Troop movements can be precisely coordinated with GPS, drones can be flown from bunkers on the other side of the globe, battlefield commanders can communicate over vast distances and high-resolution cameras can provide insight into enemy positions. We have become so dependent upon satellite technologies that without them it would be fair to say we would be "flying blind" both figuratively and literally. Some experts have even warned that our dependence upon them has created an Achilles heel due to their potential vulnerability to our adversaries.

Steve Isakowitz, CEO of The Aerospace Corp., a government-funded think tank that serves as the military's leading adviser on space said the U.S. can no longer afford to take its dominance for granted. "That supremacy in space has enabled us to have the world's greatest war-fighting capability ... whether it is our soldiers on the field, our drones that fly overhead, our bombers that travel around the world, intelligence we collect," he told POLITICO. "More and more every day, literally, we become more dependent on it.

"And our adversaries know that."  It is the old error of having all one's eggs in one basket. Air Force Gen. John W. Raymond, commander of the Pentagon's new Space Command, said last week that the threat of attacks against vital American satellites is real.

"I can tell you from my perspective, the scope, scale and complexity of that threat is alive and well and very concerning," Gen. Raymond told an audience Nov. 18 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A previous report by the Department of Defense warned that if the U.S. is to avoid a 'Space Pearl Harbor,' it needs to take seriously the possibility of an attack on the U.S. space system.

Clearly, any nation that can destroy its opponent's satellites gains a considerable advantage, and that is exactly what Russia and China are now preparing to do. The United States is deeply concerned that Russian movements in space indicate the country is building an offensive military space force that could knock out American satellites. Assistant secretary for arms control, YleemPoblete, categorized the developments as both "unprecedented" and "very abnormal" as Russia develops both a combat laser system and specialized missiles that can be launched from an aircraft mid-flight to destroy American satellites. 

Russia is also reported to have launched an orbital kinetic kill vehicle, a sort of kamikaze satellite, known as the Kosmos 2499.  Already traveling at incredible speeds, the satellite would target American satellites in orbit and obliterate them with a simple collision. 

The Chinese military's Joint Staff in 2018 said it's goal is to achieve "space superiority" -- controlling space without interference from ground-based or space-based threats. To that affect, China has launched its own satellite killer, one equipped with grappling arms, called the Shiyan. Other weapons pulled from the pages of science fiction include lasers and magnets. The Chinese Shiyan satellite has performed at least one successful capture using its grappling arm, capable of throwing other satellites out of orbit or stripping them of their useful parts.

China is even planning a permanent base on the moon as part of it's dual military and commercial program. Russia has also been spotted using what has been dubbed 2014-28E, a rather enigmatic name for a secret military satellite. Launched clandestinely along with three Russian communication satellites, it was at first believed to be simply debris resulting from the launch. When the object began to change orbit however, its propulsion capabilities became apparent. Russia has kept quiet about the craft but many believe it to another example of an erstwhile Soviet-era program called Istrebeitel Sputnik, or Satellite Fighter. These are not proposals or prototypes of what Russia and China could launch, they are offensive satellites already orbiting the Earth with a singular purpose: removing American satellites from above the field of battle. 

Gen. Raymond, commander of the Pentagon's new Space Command,  disclosed during his Senate nomination hearing in June for the first time that the Pentagon is working on "counterspace weapons" to conduct offensive and defense military operations in space. He further warned "China is pursuing a full spectrum of threats to our space capabilities, including reversible jamming, directed energy weapons, cyber threats, orbital threats, and kinetic energy threats from ground-based missiles.

Rick Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, warns that the biggest key to thwarting Chinese dominance in space will be denying Beijing control over the moon and the region of space between it and the Earth. "If America fails to beat China back to the moon to secure commanding positions that can help deter conflict, we are then condemning our country and military forces to many future wars with China," Mr. Fisher said.

Warfare prayer of the soldiers of the Army of Jesus to bind and destroy the works of the devil

Let us bind and destroy the works of the devil in the name of Jesus Christ who has conquered sin, satan, curse and death on the cross

Isaiah 59:3  The spirit  which makes one  speak  lies and the  tongue  mutter perversity

Praise the Lord,  We thank the Almighty God for all His mercy and grace to start BFF in the state of Telangana.  BFF 494 batch was started and conducted from

Oct 29, 2019- Nov 3 , 2019 at Jillelguda Hyderabad with 5 participants. Totally 9 faculties were involved in teaching. Sol. Sangeetha was the Co-ordinator for this batch.

Each day we experienced the move of the Holy Spirit.

During the gift of Deliverance class, one participant Sol. Mahima saw a dark man. She was weak. While all the participants started rebuking and binding the spirit, she was delivered.

The Lord's anointing was poured during the healing sessions, (Isaiah 10:27) The cords of sins, curses and diseases were broken. Participants were filled with joy and peace.

On Prophecy gift day, all the participants started Prophecising, see visions and moved in Prophecy flow. The Holy Spirit imparted the gifts in each participant.

One participant Sol. Keerthi took baptism. All the participants were keen on attending Troop church. Sol. Keerthi who was young among the participants does not know Telugu and Bible too. The Holy Spirit made her bold to convey God's warning during Troop Church message time.

1. Chennai  North zone (Joel, Haggai & Amos zones) - Nazareth School of Family Building  - 23 & 24 November 2019 at Anna Nagar
2. 23 & 24, November 2019 – Joseph School of Financial Discipline (National Level) KVR Nagar, Chennai 
3. Nov. 30 & Dec. 1, 2019 – Nazareth School of Family Building (National Level) Deva Shanthi, Madurai
4. Nov. 23 & 24, 2019 –David School of Worship, Gujarat

* This class was very useful to me. I failed to bring my child in the Lord. I thought they have to live according to my wishes. I realized my mistake. I feel this is the cause of many divorces in our society.

* I understood how to build our family. I also understood the power of family prayer

* Very useful program. I learnt the problems the family faces. How and how not a family should be.

* It helped me to rectify my flaws. Testimonies shared by the team touched me

* Introduction shared by sister quoting Romans 9: 8 gave lots of reference. It made me to spend a sleepless night. Curse breaking and symbiotic curse classes were useful to me

* I learnt how to be a good husband              

*Curse breaking useful to me

* Identified the curse which was continuing in our family for 3 generations and broke it in the name of Jesus and blessed the generation and surrendered to the Holy Spirit. I learnt that we should receive God’s plan for the children and act. I also learnt the importance of family prayer.

* It was very useful for me, came to know Gods purpose for the family

* Family unit in the Lord’s Army touched me

* Family unit in the Lord’s Army and God’s purpose for the family were very useful to me

* I can correlate many things in my life through these classes

* Curse breaking with practical was impressive

* Learnt the importance of following Godly order and the blessings and the protection we receive from God out of it. I liked the explanation about Roles of husband and wife

• Symbiotic curse touched me
• I was impressed about the way young couples took class (Husband spoke about man’s role and his wife spoke about women’s role )

Praise God for RML emergency, ICU hospital visit myself,  Poonam , Usha sister vineeta and Kamla had a blessed time we spoke to 16 people. Their patients were critical. We went inside ICU to pray..and all families were touched and they opened their heart to the Lord. We prayed for their healing, shared God's word. They heard the word of God and were touched by the Holy Spirit. We got their phone numbers will contact them on phone for further prayers and will invite them to join. For next gift school training meeting and BFF. We glorify Jesus for what the Holy Spirit did in the hospital. Please keep Pinky the young lady  in your prayers. She totally burnt and fighting for life in ICU.

One lady got instant healing in the arm and leg which she couldn't move and had infection on her leg. She glorified Jesus and accepted the Lord . Hallelujah

New troop church started at Balaji enclave Govind Puram Gaziyabad

Troop name – Troop Elohim

Troop leader - Sol. Bunty

Troop members – Aarti, Laxman, Aadarsh, Ram Sevak, Mannu sister, Thee children

I just want to share something. Days ago we had night vigil prayers among our area troop churches at that time while we prayed for fulfillment of vision 2020, God gave Isaiah chapter 65 for our country but I forgot to share it. And right now again God remind me this. So, I think I should share with you this.

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Will Artificial Intelligence Create Pathway To The Antichrist?

In the Hollywood blockbuster The Terminator, humans create a powerful network of computers, an artificial general intelligence named Skynet. Skynet develops the ability to think for itself and decides to eliminate humans. War breaks out between humans and "the machines" - with an advanced artificial intelligence in control of the machines.  Is this our future? Some say yes.

For example, speaking at MIT in 2014, Elon Musk called artificial intelligence our "biggest existential threat." He also said "with artificial intelligence, we're summoning the demon." In the same year, Stephen Hawking told the BBC, "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded. Is all this true? Is artificial intelligence humanity's greatest threat? No. In my mind, it isn't. Artificial intelligence won't destroy the human race. While it's certainly possible, that doesn't make it likely. No doubt, artificial intelligence will be extremely powerful.  But what is greater? The creator or the created (Isaiah 45:9-10)? Stephen Hawking thinks it's the created. He foresees a future where machines advance at an ever-increasing rate while humans are left behind. But I don't think that will happen.

As humans, I don't believe we'll allow our own technology to surpass us. Our collective ego is too big. Our pride is too great. Instead, we'll simply merge with artificial intelligence. Think about it. What's more powerful? Artificial intelligence or humans augmented with artificial intelligence? I argue it's the latter. Think it's absurd to believe people will merge with technology? It's not. In fact, it's been happening for a long time. People already merge with technology to improve their health or natural abilities. Examples include pacemakers, artificial heart valves, cochlear implants, and prosthetic limbs.  In the near future, people will continue to merge with technology. But the technologies they merge with will be far different. They'll include devices to implant artificial intelligence in brains and connect humans to wireless networks. Artificial intelligence won't be a threat to humanity, and the reason why is simple. Artificial intelligence and humanity will be one and the same.

Artificial Intelligence as a Tool

If artificial intelligence isn't a threat to the human race, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, right? Not necessarily. Even if it doesn't try to destroy the human race, the world won't morph into a utopia anytime soon.In a way, the doomsayers are right. Artificial intelligence will conquer the world and dominate the human race. But it won't do so alone. It will have help. Humans will use it to conquer the world. It's inevitable. Why? Because the emergence of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies will end the era of mutual assured destruction (MAD). When MAD becomes obsolete, the threat of nuclear war will disappear forever. But this won't lead to peace on earth. Why? Because a new threat will take the place of nuclear war. That new threat is an arms race between nations with post-MAD weapons. Such an arms race will be highly unstable - much more volatile than the nuclear arms race. When it erupts into war, it will destroy the entire planet. So while the threat of nuclear war will end, the threat of global destruction will not. In fact, the odds of global destruction will increase.But such a war is not a certainty. As an example, consider this. What if Germany had been the first nation to develop the atomic bomb? Do you think Hitler would've used his advantage to conquer the Allied Forces and dominate the globe? 

On the other hand, the United States was the world's first nuclear power. The United States could've used its advantage to prevent other nations from acquiring nuclear weapons. It could've used its position to create an impregnable world empire. In a similar fashion, the first nation to develop artificial intelligence and post-MAD technologies will have the option to create its own global empire. With its first mover advantage, it could prevent other nations from developing such capabilities. The path would be clear to conquer every nation on earth.

In a post-MAD world, many people will recommend this path. They'll see only two options: 

1) An unstable arms race ending in global annihilation, or 

2) Global government

Think I'm wrong? Vladimir Putin doesn't. In September 2017, he said, "the one who becomes the leader in this sphere will be the ruler of the world" (emphasis mine). Putin was talking about artificial intelligence. He understands the stakes. He knows a race is on. It's a race to create artificial intelligence and post-MAD technologies. The second place nation gets nothing. The first place nation gets the whole world. I'm sure Putin imagines he'll win the race. But regardless of who wins, the nation that does will draw the same conclusion he did - global government is inevitable. 

The Worship of Artificial Intelligence

The power of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies will be enormous. As Putin said, those in possession of artificial intelligence will rule the world. The processing speed and knowledge base of artificial intelligence will be so great, it will seem all-knowing to most. Linked to a global network of cameras and audio devices, those in control will seem all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful. Made of non-biological materials and having already conquered the earth, artificial intelligence will also seem immortal. These are all characteristics typically used to describe God. So it should come as no surprise some people will seek to worship it. In fact, it's already happening. In 2015, a former Google and Uber engineer named Anthony Levandowski, created a new church called "Way of the Future." Its stated purpose is to create "a peaceful and respectful transition of who is in charge of the planet from people to people + 'machines'." Way of the Future church activities will focus on the worship of "a Godhead based on artificial intelligence developed through computer hardware and software."

In March, a Buddhist Temple in Kyoto, Japan made headlines all over the world. That month, they unveiled a sutra-chanting android named Mindar. The robot has a human-like silicon face and hands, and it's pre-programmed to recite The Heart Sutra - a revered Buddhist text. 

Temple visitors can ask the robot questions, and using artificial intelligence, Mindar answers in Japanese while English and Chinese subtitles appear on a wall behind it. With built-in cameras, Mindar makes eye contact with questioners, creating the illusion it's alive and interacting with people.  It's so life-like, people worship it. That's right. You can see the video here. People are actively engaged in the worship of a robot idol.

Why It Matters

So why do I bring all this up? I bring it up because the speed with which AI will come to dominate our world will come as a shock to many people. A world ruled through artificial intelligence isn't a futuristic dream. It's an imminent event.  According to Ray Kurzweil, a computer will pass the Turing Test in 2029. This means a computer will develop the ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. In that same year, Kurzweil estimates $1,000 worth of computing power will equal one human brain. This means a company such as Apple (which sits on a cash reserve of over $100 billion) could effectively "hire" 100 million "employees." This is forty times as many employees as currently work at Wal-Mart, the world's largest employer.  But these "employees" will never go on vacation. They'll never take smoke breaks. They'll work 24/7, and they'll never get tired. They'll also become ever more productive as they re-design themselves to be faster and more efficient. Billions of humans deploying billions of super intelligent machines will create a world of profound and rapid change.

The world is fast approaching a time when global government is certain. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Without global government, a post-MAD arms race is certain. And such an arms race will destroy the world. So whether it's for noble purposes or selfish reasons, the first nation to develop artificial intelligence and post-MAD weapons will gladly choose global empire over global destruction. 

For those who read the Bible, this comes as no surprise. This is exactly what the Bible foretold centuries ago. Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. We're on the threshold of the end times. All the signs Jesus and the prophets said to look for are present:  

The Jewish people are back in the land (Jeremiah 23:7-8) and back in Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28)... The Gospel is being preached throughout the world (Matthew 24:14)... Travel and knowledge are rapidly increasing (Daniel 12:4)... And enemies surround Israel on every side (Psalm 83:4-12)... The coming arrival of artificial intelligence is just one more sign pointing to the soon return of Jesus. Why? Because the Bible says one man will come to dominate the globe (Revelation 13:7).He'll be so powerful, no one will be able to oppose him (Revelation 13:4). He'll control every aspect of global commerce (Revelation 13:17). The world will even worship him (Revelation 13:12-15). For centuries, these events seemed impossible. Outside of the supernatural, they probably were. Now, our generation is on the verge of a world where such global domination is not only possible, it's imminent. 

Warfare prayer of the soldiers of the Army of Jesus to bind and destroy the works of the devil

Let us bind and destroy the works of the devil in the name of Jesus Christ who has conquered sin, satan, curse and death on the cross

Rev   3:1  The spirit  which makes one dead  having a name that one is  alive

Be Formed and Form is a 5 day short term course. This training is a challenge to the present Church. Because our Lord Jesus Christ (Head of the Church) wants the Church to be transformed according to Eph 5:26,27. To make her holy, (cleansing her by the washing with water through the word), and to present her himself as a radiant Church. Today the Church is ignorant about the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this BFF training , the Church awakes and arises to shine in the world.

The educated as well as the uneducated can apply . Contact no. Ph : 9952040052

It's a unique Christ designed course, transforms souls, delivers people from bondage, enlightens people on true knowledge of Christ and the word of God, Anointing of the Holy Spirit is abundant all through the programme.

Come, be blessed and bless others.

1. Chennai South Zone (Zephaniah & Malachi zones) Nov. 16 &17 - Nazareth School of Family Building at Panaiyur
2. Chennai North zone (Joel, Haggai & Amos zones) - Nazareth School of Family Building - 23 & 24 November   2019 at Anna Nagar
3. 23 & 24 November 2019 – Joseph School of Financial Discipline ( National Level ) KVR Nagar, Chennai
4. Nov. 30 & Dec. 1, 2019 – Nazareth School of Family Building ( National Level ) Deva Shanthi, Madurai

I would like to share with you what God spoke to me today  (on 7/11/2019 )

While I was praying for the hill horses those who are not  working for the vision and sitting in the churches and saying

"I am comfortable here." God gave this verse from the  scripture  to me  to pass it on to all the hill horses.

Esther 4:12-14  

12.And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.

13.Then Moradecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the kings's PALACE you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

14.For if you keep silent at this time ,relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will Perish, and who knows whether you have not come to the  kingdom for such a time as this ? "

Note :- Moradecai - Yahweh God 2.Esther - Hill Horses 3. Kings palace - Church 4. Fathers house- Church and Pastor

Sol. Ivonne AOJ

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Too Many To Count: The Global Persecution Of Christians

Today is one of the International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). Initiated over 20 years ago by the World Evangelical Alliance, 100,000 congregations around the world and millions of Christians participate on this day. "This November let us unite in prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters," IDOP noted in a brief video that highlights a few examples of recent persecution, including the Easter Sunday church bombings in Sri Lanka and the ongoing slaughter of Christians by Islamic groups in Nigeria and, increasingly, Burkina Faso. 

Discussing this day's significance, Vernon Brewer, the CEO and founder of World Help, a Christian humanitarian organization, wrote: 

"It's easy to go about our lives and forget that in places like Nigeria, Iran and North Korea being a Christian can often lead to death. After all, for the most part, persecution for our faith isn't something most of us face... But I can't forget the believers I've met in Iraq, China or at the North Korean border. I can't forget their scars or their haunted eyes and horrific stories... The more I travel, the more I see that in many countries Christian persecution is worse than ever before." Statistics bear out this grim assertion: "4,136 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons," noted Open Doors in its World Watch List 2019. "On average, that's 11 Christians killed every day for their faith." Additionally, "2,625 Christians were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned" and "1,266 churches or Christian buildings were attacked."

The report further states that more than 245 million Christians around the world are currently suffering from persecution. In other words, "1 in 9 Christians experience high levels of persecution worldwide." Typically women fare worse: "In many places, they experience a 'double persecution'-- one for being a Christian and one for being a woman." As for specific numbers: "At least six women every day are raped, sexually harassed or forced into marriage to a Muslim man under the threat of death for their Christian faith..." The "Independent Review into the global persecution of Christians," led by Rev. Philip Mounstephen, the Bishop of Truro, and published in early 2019, states:

"Evidence shows not only the geographic spread of anti-Christian persecution, but also its increasing severity. In some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the UN." The bishop's detailed report, which was commissioned by then British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, concluded that the persecution of Christians is near "genocide" levels.

Both studies make clear that most of the persecution occurs in the Muslim world. In seven of the top ten worst nations, "the primary cause of persecution is Islamic oppression," notes Open Doors. Additionally, 38 of the 50 nations that persecute Christians the most are Muslim-majority.

The Bishop of Truro's report gives specifics: "The persecution of Christians is perhaps at its most virulent in the region of the birthplace of Christianity -- the Middle East & North Africa." "Christianity now faces the possibility of being wiped-out in parts of the Middle East where its roots go back furthest. In Palestine, Christian numbers are below 1.5 percent; in Syria the Christian population has declined from 1.7 million in 2011 to below 450,000 and in Iraq, Christian numbers have slumped from 1.5 million before 2003 to below 120,000 today."

"In countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia the situation of Christians and other minorities has reached an alarming stage." "There is mass violence which regularly expresses itself through the bombing of churches, as has been the case in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia."

"The single-greatest threat to Christians in Nigeria ... came from Islamist militant group Boko Haram, with US intelligence reports in 2015 suggesting that 200,000 Christians were at risk of being killed... Those worst affected included Christian women and girls 'abducted, and forced to convert, enter forced marriages, sexual abuse and torture.'"

"An intent to erase all evidence of the Christian presence [in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, north-east Nigeria and the Philippines] was made plain by the removal of crosses, the destruction of Church buildings and other Church symbols. The killing and abduction of clergy represented a direct attack on the Church's structure and leadership." Outside the Muslim world, the persecution of Christians is also getting significantly worse, particularly North Korea, where "never-ending pressure and violence" is directed against Christians. In India, for the first time in modern history, Christians are experiencing "extreme persecution."

In the end, numbers and statistics will never adequately capture the magnitude of the problem. "Too many to count, too many unknown," states the video by International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, "All because they bear the name of Jesus."

Warfare prayer of the soldiers of the Army of Jesus to bind and destroy the works of the devil

Let us bind and destroy the works of the devil in the name of Jesus Christ who has conquered sin, satan, curse and death on the cross

1 Cor 1:22 The spirit which makes one request a sign

1. Chennai North zones ( for Joel, Haggai & Amos zones) - Nazareth School of Family Building   - 23 & 24, November   2019
2. Chennai South Zone (Zephaniah & Malachi zones) Nov. 16 & 17 - Nazareth School of Family Building
3. Nov. 30 & Dec. 1, 2019 – Joseph School of Financial Discipline, KVR Nagar, Chennai

Lakhimpur in Assam is the 1st individual Constituency to conduct Shadow Parli and appointed 30 prayer warriors! Glory to God!

SP successfully conducted in lakhimpur district of Assam

Organiser : Sol. Sunanda,  Co-ordinator: Sol. Shankar

Dear worshipers, Praise God for giving us this opportunity to organise worship for the first time in Ponda Taluka.  We had an attendance of 13 students. All of them experienced the hand of God throughout the classes.  They found the topics news revelations very thrilling and new.

They received the teaching with complete agreement to its content and even were convicted in many areas. During the troop church many saw visions. We believe that in many the gift of prophecy has been activated. One lady who had suffered a shoulder fracture was still experiencing pain despite treatments, called up later in the night to testify complete healing from the pain. Territorial spirits were identified during troop church intercession. There was a sense of God's peace as we wound up the school. During planning, despite their lack of educational background,

we could bring out: 3 new organizers, 2 new teachers, 2 Kannada translators,  1 Marathi translator.

All Glory to God Keep worshiping the Lord in the beauty of His Holiness. May the David School of Worship break barriers and move ahead like fire.

Pro 29:15  The rod of correction gives wisdom,  but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother. Pro 29:17  Correct your son,(daughter) and he will give you peace;  yes, he will bring delight to your soul.  Mothers, are you worried about your sons/daughters not being wise?

The Lord is giving an invocation to all the Mothers today. Make an analysis of the way you brought up your  son or daughter. If he/she is not wise in his ways in leading family life, in handling money, in loving her husband/wife,  in dealing with in-laws in the  upbringing of children, in taking the right decisions, in making a budget for the family

In being virtuous, in protecting oneself from sinful ways, in keeping himself away from all unrighteous men, in eating the heavenly manna daily, in seeking the face of the Lord in disposing himself for the building of God's Kingdom on earth, in making disciples for Jesus on the earth, in not liberating others from captivity, in  using all the gifts and skills  for "fishing men" in indulging in evangelism in his workplace, in witnessing Jesus 24 hours

 If there were flaws, repent and cry to God!  Young Mothers, this is your turn now!

Did you leave your child to himself/herself,  in selecting friends In seeking God?  In making choices, in making decisions,  in spending holidays, in spending money,

In choosing the career,  in all his/her ways.

This is the cause of shame to a mother, Mothers of the nation, Mothers of the Churches, Mothers of countries

Empires have been destroyed, Kingdoms have been brought to  '0',  Countries which were in the topmost place are collapsing! Christianity is "fading away" in many countries!

Awaken India!  Indian Church!

Save and  safeguard what you have inherited from your heritage, culture, religion, Church, tribe, ancestors, in "Correcting your son/daughter" This only will bring   Peace to your soul! Peace to your country, Peace to your Church, The peace you seek. Amen.

A training will be conducted on 8 & 9 November for the employees who are in need of job.

Digital Currency Coming Soon? Worldwide Push To Kill Cash

In a sign of the times, Hasbro has released a new cashless version of it's classic board game Monopoly, designed for the digital age. In Hasbro's latest edition of Monopoly, gone are the paper money and Community Chest cards. Instead, the board game now comes with a voice-controlled, artificial intelligence device shaped like a top hat to help control the digital transactions. Countries from around the world have been eager to implement a cashless society but none have moved as fast as Sweden.

Notes and coins now make up less than 1 percent of Sweden's economy which is ironic considering it was the first European country to issue modern banknotes, in 1661. "No cash accepted" signs are now the norm in shops across Sweden as payments go digital and mobile but many Swedes want to take it to the next level as they blend tech with the human body. Microchip implants that give people the ability to conduct financial transactions, monitor their health and even replace keycards to allow them to enter offices and buildings are the new rage as thousands have already been implanted.  Many experts believe this is the next logical step in a digital society that is quite happy to give up privacy for convenience.  Cash is one of the last vestiges of anonymity but with every transaction digital there is a record that is being logged, analyzed and stored..potentially forever.

Realizing the danger of such a cashless society Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency has issued a guidance warning to every household telling residents to stockpile 'cash in small denominations' for use in emergencies, such as power failures, hackers or even a cyber war which could disable the digital economy.  In such a crisis, the economy would literally go back to the dark ages overnight as people would be forced to barter with no means of cash. Last year a "systems issue" prevented customers from the CIBC, one of Canada's largest banks, from accessing their bank accounts for an entire business day.  The sentiments of normally patient Canadians were ... tense.  Imagine if it had been longer - how long would you be able to survive without your credit/debit cards?  It served as a reminder to Canadians and everyone else who rely on everything digital how vulnerable we all are. 

Such troubles have not stopped The Bank of Canada from considering launching a digital currency that would help it combat the "direct threat" of crypt to currencies and collect more information on how people spend their money according to a report from "The Logic".  The report details how Canada's proprietary digital coin would initially coexist with coins and paper money, eventually replacing them completely in a phased out scenario. In other words from voluntary to mandatory.

One of the ways this is already taking place around the world is the elimination of large currency notes and transactions of cash over certain amounts resulting in stringent reporting rules.  For example Australia's "Black Economy Taskforce" wants to put people accepting over 10,000 AUD in cash in jail for up to two years, or fine them up to $25,000, in an ostensible bid to fight black market economies based on cash transactions. Transactions equal to, or in excess of this amount would need to be made using the electronic payment system or by cheque so that everything is recorded and monitored.

Canada is still only at the exploratory stage but many experts estimate it is coming soon and economic realities may force it to be introduced sooner rather than later.  Canada is far from the only country exploring a digital currency. Last month, Switzerland's central bank started exploring the use of digital currencies for trading. Sweden and Singapore both have research efforts underway. China appears ready to be the first to launch, with plans to have its own digital currency up and running either late this year or early next. More and more countries are jumping on the bandwagon to establish a centralized digital signal that signal a global push to kill paper money in the name of safety, security, and financial inclusion. However, it's not just countries getting into the digital currency game. In addition to Facebook's Libra, JPMorgan is already using a digital coin and Vanguard is testing a blockchain-based currency trading system.

Our vulnerabilities to the cashless society are not only technical but political as well. Facebook - in partnership with major banks, payment processors, and e-commerce companies - has announced plans to launch a digital currency called the Libra. Unlike decentralized, free-floating cryptocurrencies, Libra will be tied to national fiat currencies, integrated into the financial system, and centrally managed.

Critics warn Libra is akin to a "spy coin." Many of the companies involved in Libra (including Facebook itself) routinely ban users on the basis of their political views. Big Tech has booted scores of individuals and groups off social platforms for engaging in "hate" speech. If Libra one day becomes the predominant online payment method, then political dissidents could effectively be banned from all e-commerce.

A lesson from the past is the Bush administration's attacks on the credit card processors of pornography sites more than a decade ago.  While we might applaud the effort to shut down pornography sites, the financial targeting set a precedent as New York's Comptroller, Thomas Dinapoli, appealed in a letter to major banks and credit card companies to block all transactions associated with firearms.  The efforts failed but we have seen recent attempts in a similar way with MasterCard and Visa being pressured to deny service to those that promote "hate", or put another way - Christian and Conservative businesses that don't act politically correct.

In the past, if credit cards and banks refused transactions involving something they disagreed with an individual could simply pay in cash, but once physical currency has been eliminated such purchases will require the permission of both corporations and government. A mark of loyalty/allegiance to a government ruler in your right hand that controls your ability to buy or sell based on your political/religious loyalty is exactly what is described in the book of Revelation and is often referred to as "the mark of the beast".  

Those who like to dismiss the book of Revelation as mere allegory may want to take another look. The technology described in Revelation is already here and the next step is taking place before our eyes as the masses are being conditioned to accept it's spread.  Slowly but surely we are also seeing our ability to conduct commerce becoming linked with our political/religious views.  Are we prepared for what will happen next?

The Percentage Of Christians In America Has Hit An All-Time Low         

The decline of the Christian faith in the United States continues to accelerate, and the latest numbers that we just got are absolutely staggering. Most European countries are already considered to be "post-Christian" nations, and the U.S. appears to be headed down the exact same path.  But when America was originally founded, it is estimated that 98 percent of the colonists were Christians.  

The Christian faith played a critical role in the development of our form of government, and down throughout history every generation of Americans was overwhelmingly Christian.  But now things are changing in a major way.  

According to a brand new survey that was just released by the Pew Research Center, only 65 percent of Americans now consider themselves to be "Christians", and that represents the lowest level ever recorded... The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. 

Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular," now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009. When it comes to religion, a 12 percent drop in a single decade is not just a decline. In reality, it is a mass exodus. As a Christian, this alarms me greatly.  Year after year we have seen a steady decline in the percentage of Americans that consider themselves to be Christians, and this has been helping to fuel the rapid growth of the "nones"...

Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population - a group also known as religious "nones" - have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as "nothing in particular," up from 12% in 2009. Members of non-Christian religions also have grown modestly as a share of the adult population. The Pew Research survey also showed that there is a tremendous generation gap when it comes to religious affiliation.

Older Americans still overwhelmingly identify with the Christian faith, but at this point less than half of all Millennials consider themselves to be Christians... Furthermore, the data shows a wide gap between older Americans (Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation) and Millennials in their levels of religious affiliation and attendance. More than eight-in-ten members of the Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945) describe themselves as Christians (84%), as do three-quarters of Baby Boomers (76%). In stark contrast, only half of Millennials (49%) describe themselves as Christians; four-in-ten are religious "nones," and one-in-ten Millennials identify with non-Christian faiths.

The Millennials are the first generation in American history in which Christians are a minority. Just think about that.  We have never seen a religious shift of this magnitude, and it has tremendous implications for the future of our society.

The percentage of our young adults that are "nones" has nearly quadrupled since 1986.  That is a mind blowing statistic, and it is one of the clearest indications that the left has been winning the culture war. As a result of this mass exodus from the Christian faith, churches are closing down in droves all across the country. In fact, it has been estimated that somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 churches are shut down in the United States every single year, and that means that over 100 churches will die this week alone.

As a result, we have a whole lot of empty church buildings on our hands, and many of them are being converted into hotels, bars and indoor playgrounds... A large number of abandoned churches have become wineries or breweries or bars. Others have been converted into hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and Airbnbs. A few have been transformed into entertainment venues, such as an indoor playground for children, a laser-tag arena, or a skate park. But just because the Christian faith is declining in America does not mean that it has to stay that way.  Throughout U.S. history, the greatest spiritual awakenings have often erupted when things seemed the bleakest.  The message of Jesus is timeless, and we have an opportunity to show an entire generation of young people what it really means to be a Christian. 

Just because they aren't going to church does not mean that Americans have lost their spiritual hunger.  Sadly, these days they are just searching out other outlets to satisfy it. Of the 65 percent of Americans that still consider themselves to be "Christians", many of them never really go to church or practice their faith at all.  Church attendance in the U.S. has been plummeting for years, and the influence that faith has on our political process has also been waning. At one time, it was exceedingly difficult to run for public office in this country if you did not consider yourself to be a Christian.  But today, being a Bible-believing Christian is considered to be a huge political liability in much of the nation.

The faith that was once the foundation of our republic is now mocked, ridiculed and laughed at on television and in our movies.  It has been pushed out of our government, out of our schools and out of the mainstream entertainment industry. We wanted a godless society, and so that is what we got.But if we ever do intend to "make America great again", we need to get back to what made it great in the first place.

Chinese Church Fined $1,400 for Owning ‘Wrong’ Version of Bible

A Chinese church was fined this year the equivalent of $1,400 in U.S. for having a copy of the Bible in a different language, according to a religious watchdog.

The congregation, Fengyang Road Three-Self Great Church in the northeastern province of Liaoning, is a member of the officially recognized Three-Self network of Protestant churches that face severe restrictions.

In April, Chinese Communist Party officials found copies of South Korean Bibles in the church’s possession – an illegal action that sparked a fine of $10,000 RMB (about $1,400 USD), according to Bitter Winter, which monitors religious freedom in the country. 

“The church was also prohibited from selling Bibles,” Bitter Winter reported.

The fine was part of the Communist Party’s effort to “eradicate pornography and illegal publications” – and the latest example of the party’s crackdown on Christianity. 

“Many believers have reported that the Three-Self churches to which they belong have been subjected to sudden inspections by the government,” Bitter Winter reported. “All newspapers, hymnbooks, gospel leaflets, and especially Bibles that weren’t published and printed by the state were confiscated and even burned.”

The government even has forced churches to hang banners promoting the campaign against illegal books. In August, Fengzhuang Three-Self Church in the central province of Henan was forced to display a banner urging its members to help “eradicate pornography and illegal publications.” 

Some members of the Fengzhuang Three-Self Church objected to the banner because it implied the congregation was hiding either pornography or illegal publications.

“The government’s campaign to ‘eradicate pornography and illegal publications’ has actually swept into churches. This is slanderous to God!” one of the church’s co-workers told Bitter Winter.

A second Christian agreed.

“This isn’t just slanderous, but is a trap laid by the devil to make people mistakenly believe that there is a severe problem with the church’s ethos,” the second Christian said.

Benevolent Teenager Raises over $12,000 for Local Food Pantry

Thirteen-year-old Joshua LeRette has spent the past four years raising thousands of dollars for his local food pantry. He recently donated $12,583 that slowly accumulated over the years, according to KCCI.

The Iowa teenager started his compassionate venture in the third grade after he heard one of his classmates didn’t have food at Thanksgiving. In response, Joshua asked his friends and family to donate canned goods in lieu of his birthday presents. He was able to gather 100 cans from his request to donate to the local food pantry in Red Oak and hasn’t stopped since.

Joshua slowly built up the cash for his most recent donation with bake sales and lemonade stands. “I’ve seen people pay more than $50 for one of his pies,” his mom, Dawn LeRette said. The teenage entrepreneur has also invited other community members to donate their pies as well.

But Joshua doesn’t take in just high donations. One woman who could only contribute a dollar was allowed to choose anything on the bake sale table. “Those are the people we do this for,” Dawn said.

The motivation behind Joshua’s benevolent work is to help kids in school.

“He thinks if kids are not thinking about being hungry, they will be more focused on school,” Dawn said.

According to the Christ Cupboard, a food pantry run by First Covenant Church in Red Oak, recipients of the donated goods are often struggling to make ends meet. Many of them have low-paying jobs or don’t qualify for governmental assistance. Others are recovering addicts or recent prison charges who need help while getting back on their feet.

With the Thanksgiving holiday on the horizon, volunteers are always needed to help local food pantries sort, organize and serve food. Some also accept other donations, such as cosmetic or hygiene products or baby supplies. 

Four Lessons from The Biggest Riots In Decades

If you've been following the news, you might have seen reports about civil unrest in Chile - the worst in decades. I lived in Chile for more than seven years before moving to Puerto Rico; I still have business interests there, along with hundreds of employees (both foreign and local), many of whom I've been speaking to over the last few days.

First things first, Chile is ordinarily a quiet, stable, peaceful country.

The last time Chile went to war was 140 years ago back in 1879. They even skipped both world wars. And while there are occasional protests, Chile is quite tame by Latin American standards. It's also the most modern and advanced nation in the region- this is not a destitute, impoverished country. Chile has thriving industries and a large middle class that's in better shape than just about anywhere else in the region. But just like every other country in the world, there are countless imperfections. Inflation has eaten away at the purchasing power of workers' incomes, and a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet.

The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was a 3% increase in metro fares. It's nothing. But it was enough to make thousands of people become completely unglued, resulting in riots, looting, arson, and all-out mayhem.

Let's talk about some of the key lessons from this:

1) It can happen anywhere.

It's not just Chile. Looking around the world right now we can see major demonstrations and even violence in places like Hong Kong, Spain, Haiti, Lebanon, etc. The 'yellow vest' movement in France in late 2018/early 2019 brought hundreds of thousands of people out into the streets to torch cars and destroy property, all apparently in protest of rising fuel prices. Political tensions, social tensions, economic tensions... they exist everywhere, in rich countries and poor countries alike. People everywhere are tightly wound, and it doesn't take much for them to become unhinged. If you think this can't happen where you live, think again.

2) It can happen faster than anyone realizes.

The weather in central Chile is one of the great benefits of living there; it's warm, sunny, and dry... southern California climate. And this past Friday was a particularly beautiful day. By lunchtime, people were out in the parks enjoying the weather. It was calm, peaceful, and joyful. Within a matter of hours the city had turned into a war zone. Hour One of my team members told me on the phone yesterday, "If you had said on Friday afternoon that Santiago would be in chaos by nightfall, I would have laughed... And then it happened."

3) It only takes a few idiots.

There are roughly 18 million people living in Chile. And there may even be a few million people nationwide who are deeply frustrated about the rising cost of living. But only a few thousand have been stupid enough to cause such chaos and devastation; they've destroyed dozens of metro stations, buses, and even lit office buildings and grocery stores on fire. Innocent people have died. And almost everyone else has had their lives heavily disrupted. They can't get to work. Schools are closed. Grocery store lines are crazy. There's a curfew. Tanks are in the streets. Most people are rational and peaceful. They might be angry about certain issues, but they know that torching property and killing innocents won't solve anything.

Only a trivial fraction of a percent of the population are acting like cowards- the ones who steal a bunch of flat-screen televisions from the neighborhood electronics store before setting it on fire. And they're selfish and delusional enough to believe in their own righteousness- that their actions are justified as payback because of some economic injustice. Yeah. Because nothing proves your moral superiority more than looting flat-screen TVs.

4) They often think Socialism is the answer.

Human beings seem hardwired to think that they can solve any economic injustice with Socialism. More often than not, people don't even think through the issues. They feel symptoms- difficulty making ends meet, difficulty getting ahead in life, etc. and they get angry. And that's where the analysis stops. There is no analysis actually. It's just anger. A rational person thinks things through- why is my cost of living increasing? Why aren't I getting ahead? What's the root cause of these problems? How can I fix it? Again, Chile isn't perfect. Not by a long shot. But think about the 18-year old kid taking selfie videos while lighting a grocery store on fire because he's angry... angry that his education was sub-par, angry that he can't find a good paying job. And he's partially right. Public education in Chile is pretty bad, and he doesn't have the skills for a high-paying career. But I wonder how many books he's read this year? How many free online courses has he taken? What has he done to solve his own problem? Instead of torching buildings, he could have been at home watching countless videos on YouTube learning how to code in Python. For free.

And in developing real, marketable skills, he would become much more valuable and able to command a substantial wage and work remotely for prospective clients and employers worldwide. But the Socialist mentality is not about solving your own problems. Socialism means that you don't have to lift a finger (except to light a match). You just have to throw a temper tantrum until someone else solves your problems... even if you can't even define your problem or present a reasonable solution. I don't want to make light of the issues; there are several problems that protesters have bought up which I agree with. But neither Socialism nor burning buildings ever solved any problems. It may take time, but Chile is undoubtedly going to recover from this nightmare and move on. The 'sane' population (i.e. the vast majority) is already fighting back and defending their neighborhoods. But I can't help but wonder- where's next?

So Far, 296 Unborn Babies Have Been Saved During 40 Days for Life Campaign

Nearly 300 women have opted not to get an abortion thanks to the work of volunteers for 40 Days for Life, the annual campaign that involves prayer, fasting and peaceful vigils outside abortion clinics. As of Sunday, 296 unborn babies had been saved from abortion, according to the 40 Days for Life blog. 

The campaign began Sept. 25 and runs through Nov. 3. It is the largest-ever 40 Days for Life, with volunteers participating in 505 cities and 30 countries.

The 40 Days for Life blog recounts hope-filled stories from the campaign. In Portland, Ore., a mother who already had two children, ages 9 and 11, traveled to the abortion clinic to end her pregnancy.  “I could tell she was very uncertain about what she was going to do,” said Carissa, a 40 Days for Life volunteer. “I approached her and told her we were here for her and loved her … we had help for her, and I gave her a hug.” The mother accepted the resources from Carissa and left the clinic “Please keep them both in prayer,” Carissa requested.

In Hollywood, Fla., the owner of a house adjacent to the abortion clinic is pro-life and allows protesters to use his property. This also allows the volunteers to pray for and observe both entrances to the facility. 

The clinic’s owner called the police.

“Two police cruisers were dispatched to speak with us,” said Nancy, a 40 Days for Life volunteer. “The officers could not have been nicer.”

An even bigger victory, though, came when a young pregnant woman changed her mind after hearing the peaceful volunteers and seeing their pro-life signs.   

She smiled and waved and told them, “You don't have to worry about me … I'm keeping my baby!”

The 40 Days for Life campaign in 2009 resulted in Abby Johnson, the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic, quitting and joining the pro-life movement. Her story was recounted in the movie Unplanned. 

China Demolishes 3,000-Seat Mega church during Worship Service

Communist authorities destroyed a 3,000-seat megachurch over the weekend, using a large excavator to tear apart the building as members and citizens watched helplessly, according to China Aid.

The large building – which resembled many large church buildings in the United States and was topped with a spire and cross – was located in the province of Anhui, which rests in the eastern part of the country and has about 60 million residents. 

The congregation was part of China’s officially recognized network of churches. Communist officials lacked the proper legal paperwork to order the destruction, China Aid reported. China Aid monitors religious persecution in the country. 

A China Aid video shows the excavator pulling the building apart, as pieces of concrete tumble into a pile of rubble on the ground. 

“This is yet another clear example showing the escalation of religious persecution today by the Chinese Communist regime,” said Bob Fu, president of China Aid. “The total disregard of religious freedom's protection as enshrined in the Communist Party's own Constitution tells the whole world [Chinese] President Xi is determined to continue his war against the peaceful Christian faithful. This campaign will surely fail in the end.”

The officials also detained the church’s pastors, Geng Yimin and Sun Yongyao, on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order,” China Aid reported. 

China officially recognizes two Christian bodies: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Churches within the two networks, though, don’t have the freedom to worship as they choose. In the past, Communist officials have edited sermons, forced the removal of crosses, and banned Sunday Schools for children. The law prohibits the conversion of minors. 

The lack of religious freedom is one reason millions of Christians have gone underground to worship in illegal house churches. 

Earlier this year a Three-Self pastor told Bitter Winter, a religious watchdog, that the government was “subtly changing our faith” by forcing pastors to follow unbiblical requirements. That pastor was ordered to preach about Confucius.

“This is the erosion of Christianity,” the pastor said. 

Terror Attacks In France: A Culture Of Denial

On October 3, 2019, a knife-wielding Muslim employee of the Paris Police Department Intelligence Directorate stabbed to death four other employees at police headquarters in the center of Paris, before a trainee police officer shot and killed him. While it was not the deadliest terror attack France has experienced in recent years, the fatal stabbings that took place at the Paris police headquarters were perhaps the most worrisome. Its author (a French public servant employed by the police), its highly sensitive target, and the catastrophic handling of the aftermath of the attack reveal the failure of the French institutions.

As it was the case for all recent terror attacks, French media and authorities first tried to downplay what happened. The attacker was initially described through potentially mitigating factors, such as his handicap (the killer is partly deaf and mute). It took 24 hours before it was eventually revealed that he was an Islamist militant who had carefully planned his attack.

That a radicalized militant had been able to remain undetected in a critical security institution for years sent shockwaves throughout the country. Members of the parliamentary opposition asked for the resignation of Home Affairs Minister Christophe Castaner, who at first had said that the attacker "had never shown any warning signs or behavioral difficulties." For the record, this "very normal behavior" included cutting down to a bare minimum communication with women (he had for months being avoiding all women but his wife), attending a notoriously radical mosque, and having a phone full of Islamist contacts. His colleagues reported that already in January 2015, he had cheered the murderous Islamist terror attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in front of other police employees. In many countries, a mistake of this scale would be enough for a government minister to resign, but not in France.

The whole picture of the attack, which is still not clear, demonstrates an incredible failure of internal control inside the French police. The French Parliament is now asking how the murderer managed to fly under the radar when everything in his behavior clearly signaled an increasing radicalization.

Notably, this is the first time that the French state and its institutions were directly targeted. Also for the first time, the victims were not journalists (as was the case for the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January 2015), Jews (who have been targeted several times in recent years) or civilians (such as the massive coordinated attacks in Paris on November 2015 that caused more than 131 deaths and 413 wounded). This latest attack also demonstrates how inadequately prepared France is to tackle the problem. The killer was not just any civil servant: his security clearance allowed him to have access to sensitive files such as the personal details of police officers and individuals monitored by the department, including several individuals suspected of terrorism.

After Charlie Hebdo, the Bataclan in Paris, the truck-ramming massacre in Nice, and countless other attacks, French institutions have failed repeatedly. However, instead of recognizing this failure and assuming a share of responsibility, instead of hitting the problem of religious radicalization head-on, French President Emmanuel Macron regularly describes it as a "societal problem," that "institutions alone will not be able to solve." It is necessary first to recognize and name a problem in order to tackle it. In the current state of affairs, French political institutions are a long way from success in the fight against terrorism. Beyond the political sphere, there is also a culture a denial of the Islamist threat in the French media. Journalists, academics and politicians, with a few exceptions, have consistently played down not only the risk of terrorist attacks but also the threat of growing Salafist radicalization in the country. A growing number of Muslims, while not advocating the use of violence, desire to live under Sharia law, separate from the rest of French society. According to a study by the Montaigne Institute, 29% of Muslims in France believe that Sharia law is more important than French law. This means that almost one-third of French Muslims live according to values that are fundamentally incompatible with French or Western standards.

Although France is the European country most targeted by Islamists (263 killed since 2012), politicians are paralyzed by the fear of being accused by the mainstream media of discrimination against Muslims, of creating an amalgam between terrorists and Muslims or of "fueling tensions."  Senior figures acknowledge a major problem only when they are no longer in charge. In a book published after he stepped down, the socialist former president François Hollande wrote: "Islam? Yes, there is indeed a problem with Islam. Nobody doubts this. The Islamic veil is a form of enslavement. We cannot continue welcoming migrants without any form of control in the context of increased terror attacks." Hollande never would have said such a thing when he was president. Like others, he sheepishly ignored the problem.

The same happened with Christophe Castaner's predecessor, Gerard Collomb, after he resigned as Interior Minister. He warned against no less than the risk of civil war in France."In some suburbs (...) it is the rule of the strongest, of drug dealers and radical Islamists that prevails instead of the laws of the Republic... Today we live side by side, next to each other, but tomorrow, I fear that we might end up facing each other. It is important to note that theses quotes are not from right-wing thinkers or activists. Both François Hollande and Gerard Collomb were long-time eminent figures of the Socialist Party.

These are typical examples of what some call "la démission des élites" (the abdication of the elites): refusing to act on a situation of which they are perfectly aware but afraid to mention because of the dominant ideology of political correctness.In the meantime, France's police officers are increasingly unmotivated and demoralized. Since the start of the year, more than 50 police officers have committed suicide. They face increasingly difficult working conditions, in particular, rioters in the suburbs of cities like Paris, Marseille, Lille or Lyon -- suburbs that are progressively escaping the control of the French authorities. Attack after attack, the ritual is the same. There are flowers, tributes and words for the victims, political leaders affirm their resolve to act to protect the people. But after a few days, the news cycle ends and things go back to normal -- until the next terrorist attack.

China’s War on the Bible: If You Can’t Ban it, Alter it

A recent article at WORLD Magazine reported how the Chinese-language app called “WeDevote” recently surpassed 10 million downloads. That number, as well as the overall success of “WeDevote,” is even more remarkable given the back story, one that illustrates Beijing’s ongoing war on the Bible. “WeDevote” is a Bible-reading and devotional app known for its “aesthetically-pleasing” design and respect for copyright laws, a rarity in China. The month after its launch, China’s biggest app store listed WeDevote as a “Recommended App” right on its homepage. The Communist Party’s crackdown on Christianity in recent years meant that both the app and its developers faced increasing government scrutiny. Eventually, they were given a choice: shut down the app or face jail time.

Well, a third option, transferring ownership of the app to a Hong Kong-based company, provided a temporary respite from the ultimatum, but the government has now banned “WeDevote” from Chinese app stores. Though the developers are actively seeking some kind of work-around, it’s a struggle to get the app in the hands of users on the mainland. The government’s shut down of “WeDevote” is part of a disturbing trend. Last year, China banned online Bible sales. Of course, that doesn’t mean Bibles are unavailable in China. Chinese publishers continue to print Chinese-language Bibles. Some are exported, of course, but plenty remain in China. That’s good news. The bad news is that soon, at least spiritually speaking, Chinese-language copies of the Bible may not be worth the paper they’re printed on. According to the Guardian, the Communist Party has plans “for ‘retranslating and annotating’ the Bible,” in order to “establish a ‘correct understanding’ of the text.” Is there any doubt this “correct understanding” will include reinforcing the primacy of the Communist Party? As one pastor told the Guardian, “The Chinese Communist party . . . wants to be the God of China and the Chinese people. But according to the Bible only God is God.” The reality on the ground is that “The government is scared of the churches,” and is cracking down on them.

Any attempt to control and re-write the Bible is a tacit admission by the Communist Party that it’s failing to eradicate Christianity. It’s way too late for that, of course. Depending on who you ask, there are between 60 and 100-plus million Christians in China. Since they cannot eliminate Christianity, the Party’s goal is to pervert it, creating a version of Christianity that doesn’t threaten the Party’s claim of ultimate authority. This demand for sole allegiance not only targets Christians, but other religious minority groups, like the Muslim Uighurs. Anyone who believes that “only God is God” is a threat to the Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping. Such repression also reflects that the Party is concerned about its rule. As many experts have pointed out, China’s stability rests on an implicit bargain: The Party promises economic growth and broad-based prosperity in exchange for the Chinese people giving up the kinds of political freedoms taken for granted in the West. With the Chinese economy slowing down, the demographic legacy of China’s “one-child” policy, the pervasive corruption and the ever-widening chasm between urban “haves” and rural “have nots,” it’s not clear the Party will be able to hold up its end of the bargain. More and more the Party is looking like yet another would-be “god” that has failed its worshipers. We know, given China’s tumultuous history, the sort of bloodshed and chaos that comes from disappointed worshipers there. We also know, given the inherently religious nature of human beings, that such dissatisfaction will only catalyze the growth of the Church and the spread of the Gospel. That means we should pray that God’s Word will prosper in China ... and that God will protect all those who preach it.

Ex-Drug Addict Baptized at Church He Vandalized 6 Months Earlier – ‘God Is Real’

A homeless drug addict who broke into an Arkansas church and vandalized $100,000 worth of property was baptized at the same congregation six months later – all because the staff and church members displayed grace and got him much-needed help. Brenton Winn, 23, was arrested in February after breaking into Central Baptist Church of Conway, Ark., and destroying $100,000 in church property. He threw the soundboard over the worship center balcony. He set part of the family life center on fire. He destroyed laptops. At the time, the church’s senior pastor, Don Chandler, told KTHV it was “about as messy of vandalism as you could possibly imagine.” Winn, who was homeless and high on drugs, faced multiple charges and seemed destined for years behind bars.

But Chandler, while meeting with the prosecutor, chose to extend grace, according to Baptist Press. Chandler wanted Winn to get help. “You can't preach something for 50 years without practicing it, especially in front of your whole church,” Chandler told Baptist Press. “Had we not shown some grace to him, everything we've talked about and encouraged, would have gone by the wayside. It was simply the right thing to do. This was not a hardened criminal. This was a young man who had made some mistakes. He was on drugs and alcohol when he did what he did. But he was redeemable.”

The judge gave Winn an option: Face up to 20 years in prison or voluntarily enter a 12-month rehab and recovery program run by a Christian-based ministry, Renewal Ranch. Winner chose the latter, Baptist Press reported. Winn had been doing methamphetamines and other drugs, off and on, since age 14. “Before I knew it, I had a full-blown drug addiction,” Winn told Baptist Press. “From the time I was 16 until a few months ago, my life was nothing but chaos, suicide attempts and brokenness.” Winn accepted Christ at one of the Renewal Ranch Bible studies. In August – six months after his crime – he was baptized at Central Baptist Church, the same congregation he tried to destroy.

“As I'm starting to understand how God works, I've realized I didn't pick the church that night. God picked me,” Winn told Baptist Press. “If it had been any other church, I think I'd be sitting in prison right now.” He added, “I used to think it was a coincidence [that I chose to break into the church that night], but now I call it confirmation that God is real, and He answers prayers. What was weighing on my heart was that I needed a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

No Place To Hide: DHS' New HART Database Uses Scars, Tattoos, & Voice ID

These days, you can't really go anywhere without encountering cameras.  Going into a store? Chances are there are security cameras. Getting money at an ATM? More cameras. Driving through the streets of a city? More cameras still. Your neighbors may have those doorbells from Amazon that are surveilling the entire neighborhood. And many of these cameras are tied into facial recognition databases, or the footage can be quite easily compared there if "authorities" are looking for somebody. But as it turns out, it isn't just facial recognition we have to worry about.

DHS has a new recognition system called HART.

Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology system is the alarming new identity system being put in place by the Department of Homeland Security. DHS is retiring its old system that was based on facial recognition. It's being replaced with HART, a cloud-based system that holds information about the identities of hundreds of millions of people. The new cloud-based platform, called the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology System, or HART, is expected to bring more processing power, new analytics capabilities and increased accuracy to the department's biometrics operations. It will also allow the agency to look beyond the three types of biometric data it uses today--face, iris and fingerprint--to identify people through a variety of other characteristics, like palm prints, scars, tattoos, physical markings and even their voices.  Incidentally, the cloud hosting for HART is being done by none other than Amazon - you know, the ones with surveillance devices like the Ring doorbell and the Alexa home assistant and the Nest home security system. Does anyone see a pattern here? Also note that Amazon Web Services also hosts data for the CIA, the DoD, and NASA.

More about HART

As HART becomes more established, that old saying "you can run but you can't hide" is going to seem ever more true. The DHS is delighted at how much further the new system can take them into surveilling Americans. And by freeing the agency from the limitations of its legacy system, HART could also let officials grow the network of external partners with whom they share biometric data and analytics capabilities, according to Patrick Nemeth, director of identity operations within Homeland Security's Office of Biometric Identity Management. "When we get to HART, we will be better, faster, stronger," Nemeth said in an interview with Nextgov. "We'll be relieved of a lot of the capacity issues that we have now ... and then going forward from there we'll be able to add capabilities." 

The DHS wants to break free of the limitations of the old system with their new and "improved" system. HART will use multiple pieces of biometric data to increase identification accuracy. Today, when an official runs a person's face, fingerprint or iris scans through IDENT's massive database, the system doesn't return a single result. Rather, it assembles a list of dozens of potential candidates with different levels of confidence, which a human analyst must then look through to make a final match. 

The system can only handle one modality at a time, so if agent is hypothetically trying to identify someone using two different datapoints, they need to assess two lists of candidates to find a single match. This isn't a problem if the system identifies the same person as the most likely match for both fingerprint and face, for example, but because biometric identification is still an imperfect science, the results are rarely so clear cut. However, the HART platform can include multiple datapoints in a single query, meaning it will rank potential matches based on all the information that's available. That will not only make it easier for agents to analyze potential matches, but it will also help the agency overcome data quality issues that often plague biometric scans, Nemeth said. If the face image is pristine but the fingerprint is fuzzy, for example, the system will give the higher-quality datapoint more weight.

"We're very hopeful that it will provide better identification surety than we can provide with any single modality today," Nemeth said. And palm prints, scars, tattoos and other modalities are added in the years ahead, the system will be able to integrate those into its matching process. 

HART will also use DNA.

Remember a while back when we reported that DNA sites were teaming up with facial recognition software? Well, HART will take that unholy alliance even further. The phase-two solicitation also lists DNA-matching as a potential application of the HART system. While the department doesn't currently analyze DNA, officials on Wednesday announced they would start adding DNA collected from hundreds of thousands of detained migrants to the FBI's criminal database. 

During the interview, Nemeth said the agency is still working through the legal implications of storing and sharing such sensitive data. It's also unclear whether DNA information would be housed in the HART system or a separate database, he said. Nifty.

The DHS is operating without any type of regulation.

Currently, there's no regulation or oversight of government agencies collecting and using this kind of data. Civil liberty activists and some lawmakers are alarmed by this, citing concerns about privacy and discrimination. This hasn't slowed down the DHS one iota, however. Critics have taken particular issue with the government's tangled web of information sharing agreements, which allow data to spread far beyond the borders of the agency that collected it. The Homeland Security Department currently shares its biometric data and capabilities with numerous groups, including but not limited to the Justice, Defense and State departments.

In the years ahead, HART promises to strengthen those partnerships and allow others to flourish, according to Nemeth. While today the department limits other agencies' access to IDENT to ensure they don't consume too much of its limited computing power, HART will do away with those constraints. 

Mana Azarmi, the policy counsel for the Freedom, Security and Technology Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology is one of those people voicing concern. A person might give information to a single agency thinking it would be used for one specific purpose, but depending on how that information is shared, they could potentially find themselves subjected to unforeseen negative consequences, Azarmi said in a conversation with Nextgov.

"The government gets a lot of leeway to share information," she said. "In this age of incredible data collection, I think we need to rethink some of the rules that are in place and some of the practices that we've allowed to flourish post-9/11. We may have overcorrected."  You think?

Many people voluntarily provide biometric data.

Many folks provide biometric data without giving it a second thought. They cheerfully swab a cheek and send it into sites like Ancestry.com, providing not only their DNA, but matches to many relatives who never gave permission for their DNA to be in a database.

Then there are cell phones. If you have a newer phone, it's entirely possible that it has asked you to set up fingerprint login, facial recognition, and even voice recognition. It isn't a stretch of the imagination to believe that those samples are shared with folks beyond the device in your hand. Add to this that your device is tracking you every place you go through a wide variety of seemingly innocuous apps, and you start to get the picture.

You can't opt-out. Back in 2013, I wrote an article called "The Great American Dragnet".  At that time, facial recognition was something that sounded like science fiction or some kind of joke. Our drivers' licenses were the first foray into creating a database but even in 2013, it far exceeded that.

Another, even larger, database exists. The US State Department has a database with 230 million searchable images.  Anyone with a passport or an immigration visa may find themselves an unwilling participant in this database.   Here's the breakdown of who has a photo database:

- The State Department has about 15 million photos of passport or visa holders

- The FBI has about15 million photos of people who have been arrested or convicted of crimes

- The Department of Defense has about 6 million photos, mainly of Iraqis and Afghans

- Various police agencies and states have at least 210 million driver's license photos

This invasion of privacy is just another facet of the surveillance state, and should be no surprise considering the information Edward Snowden just shared about the over-reaching tentacles of the NSA into all of our communications. We are filing our identities with the government and they can identify us at will, without any requirement for probable cause. Some people don't even seem to mind that their identities have been tagged and filed by the US government. And even those of us who do mind have no option. If you wish to drive a car or travel outside of the country or have any kind of government ID, like it or not, you're in the database. Six years ago, I wrote:

The authorities that use this technology claim that the purpose of it is to make us safer, by helping to prevent identity fraud and to identify criminals.  However, what freedom are we giving up for this "safety" cloaked in benevolence? We are giving up the freedom of having the most elemental form of privacy - that of being able to go about our daily business without being watched and identified. And once you're identified, this connects to all sorts of other personal information that has been compiled: your address, your driving and criminal records, and potentially, whatever else that has been neatly filed away at your friendly neighborhood fusion center.

Think about it:  You're walking the dog and you fail to scoop the poop - if there's a surveillance camera in the area, it would be a simple matter, given the technology, for you to be identified. If you are attending a protest that might be considered "anti-government", don't expect to be anonymous.  A photo of the crowd could easily result in the identification of most of the participants.

Are you purchasing ammo, preparedness items, or books about a controversial topic?  Paying cash won't buy you much in the way of privacy - your purchase will most likely be captured on the CCTV camera at the checkout stand, making you easily identifiable to anyone who might wish to track these kinds of things.  

What if a person with access to this technology uses it for personal, less than ethical reasons, like stalking an attractive women he saw on the street?  The potential for abuse is mind-boggling.

If you can't leave your house without being identified, do you have any real freedom left, or are you just a resident in a very large cage? 

When I wrote that, it still seemed far-fetched but remotely possible, even to me. This was before we were really aware of anything like the social credit program in China or how crazy the censorship was going to become or how social media would change the very fabric of our society.

Now, it's here and it looks like there's no stopping it.

Christian Family in Hiding after Hindu Extremist Mob Assaults Them in India

NEW DELHI, October 3, 2019 (Morning Star News) – A retired pastor, his wife and their sons are in hiding from police after a Hindu extremist mob injured them in a gruesome assault in northern India, sources said.

Patram Mangala, retired Church of North India pastor now helping to run St. John School in Sohna, Gurugram District in Haryana state, sustained injuries to his nose when he was hit with a spade in the face, and his 28-year-old son Abhishek Mangala lost four front teeth and ruptured blood vessels in his eye in the Sept. 22 attack. 

Pastor Mangala’s 65-year-old wife Sarla Mangala sustained an injury under her right eye apart from internal injuries to her body, and their son Raj Kumar Mangala, 40, sustained internal injuries in the attack, which appeared to be rooted in a recent court judgment against the Hindus in their attempt to erect a Hindu idol on the property, the retired pastor said.

The 68-year-old Pastor Mangala and his wife were cleaning their front yard in the early evening when a group of Hindu extremists with wooden sticks surrounded them and began to assault them, he said. Between 30 to 40 other people then joined in the assault.

Pastor Mangala’s sons ran to help their parents but were also attacked. The pastor said he could identify only some of the assailants, and that those who joined in had been notified earlier for a well-planned attack.

“Two men, Anil Kumar and Danny, smashed a stone on Abhishek’s face, breaking four of his front teeth,” Pastor Mangala told Morning Star News. “His mouth was profusely bleeding, and his face was covered with blood. Abhishek’s lip tore, and his left eye blood vessels ruptured.”

Their home is part of the St. John’s school premises, and the assailants picked up a spade used for repair work on the institution in the attack, he said. They also struck them with rocks lying outside the gate, along with sticks.

“They began to hit me with their legs and fists and manhandled my wife by pushing her and hitting her,” he said. “They abused us using vulgar language and threatened to kill us. The attackers snatched the gold ring that I was wearing in my finger and snatched my son Abhishek’s cell phone as well.”

Besides the injury to his nose from the spade, Pastor Mangala sustained injuries to his thigh and other parts of his body, he said.

The family reported the assault to city police in writing on Sept. 24, but officers registered no complaint for nearly a week – in stark contrast to a false complaint registered against the Christians the day of the attack, he said.

“The culprits have been threatening us to kill us, and they have warned us that if we go to the police, they will kill us,” Pastor Mangala reported in his complaint, translated from Hindi. “In the future if I or my family members are attacked, these people named in the complaint should be held responsible. I request that strict action be taken against these hooligans and a First Information Report be registered and they be arrested. I pray that justice be given to me and my family.”

Local news media broadcast the Hindu extremists’ false charges as stated by a police official and the main accused in the pastor’s complaint, Anil Kumar. Officer-in-Charge Arvind Dahiya told Punjab Kesari News Channel that an FIR had been registered against Pastor Mangala, his wife and their two sons for “breaking the Hindu temple and illegally trying to take possession of the Hindu temple land under the Indian Penal Code.”

They were also charged with rioting, being armed with a deadly weapon, unlawful assembly, disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant, injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation, he said.

Kumar told media that the Christian family attacked him and the others.

Denying all allegations, Meenal Mangala, the daughter of Pastor Mangala, told Morning Star News that she felt helpless as she does not know who to contact for help.

“The allegations against us are false and fabricated,” she said. “We don't know what to do. It is our property, and we have the papers to prove it. They forcefully wanted to worship their god on our land. Through court we stopped that and won the legal battle, but now they are spreading a false and fabricated story through media, and it is being telecasted on local TV.”

Meenal Mangala said the family has submitted a CD to the police containing footage from CCTV cameras installed at the school facing its front gate. The cameras captured the entire assault and show how the Hindu extremists beat the family, she said.

Fearing arrest, the Christian family has left their home and gone into hiding since being released from the hospital.

Only after Morning Star News spoke to Investigating Officer and Assistant Sub-Inspector Shish Ram asking why no action was taken on the complaint of trespassing and assault filed by the Christian family did officers register a case against the assailants on Friday (Sep. 27).

Ram said a case was registered against the Hindu assailants under First Information Report 608 for rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapon, unlawful assembly, disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

He said justice would be done, though no action has been taken yet.

The land on which the St. John’s School was built was purchased in Sarla Mangala’s name on Sept. 30, 1985, according to official records. She and Pastor Mangala were running the school and residence in 2015 when some Hindus trespassed and erected a Hindu idol and brought construction material onto the campus, Sarla Mangala charges in a lawsuit.

“On June 10, 2015, in the evening between 6-6:30, some anti-social elements came to our land and tried to enter forcefully,” Pastor Mangala said. “They threatened to kill my wife if she did not leave the property, hence we filed a complaint in the court claiming that the property is ours and that no construction should be done on that land. I approached the court against the trespassing four years ago and got a stay from the court. The court pronounced judgment in our favor two months ago.”

Tehmina Arora, director of legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom-India, said in a press statement earlier this year that India must enact laws to protect religious minorities from such attacks.

“Nobody should be persecuted because of their faith,” Arora said. “It is worrying to see these horrendous acts of mob violence continue. It is high time special laws are enacted to protect Christians and other religious minorities from being attacked and then imprisoned under false accusations.”

Mob attacks are not isolated incidents in India, added Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF-International.

“While the right to religious freedom is protected by the Indian constitution, we nonetheless see Christians face persecution and denial of their fundamental rights,” he said. “Sadly, the recent mob attacks are not isolated incidents but testify to what many Christians experience in India today. All people have the right to freely choose, and live out, their faith.”

India is ranked 10^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has been worse each year since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014. 

‘Give Your Life to Christ’ — Brother Forgives, Hugs Ex-Cop Who Killed Botham Jean

The brother of a man shot and killed in his own apartment by a former Dallas police officer shocked the courtroom and sparked a national debate Wednesday by forgiving his brother’s killer and urging her to turn her life to Christ. 

The brother, Brandt Jean, then hugged the officer who had killed Botham Jean. The interaction even brought the judge to tears. 

“I forgive you,” Jean said before urging the former officer to “... Give your life to Christ.”

Amber Guyger was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2018 fatal shooting of Botham Jean. Guyger had mistakenly entered the wrong apartment and believed he was in her apartment. 

Brandt Jean, who is 18, took the witness stand after the sentencing and addressed Guyger.  

“I don't want to say twice or for the hundredth time ... how much you've taken from us. I think you know that,” Jean said. “But ... I hope you go to God with all the guilt [and] all the bad things you may have done in the past. Each and every one of us may have done something that we're not supposed to do. If you truly are sorry – I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you. And I know if you go to God and ask Him, He will forgive you.”

As he spoke, sobbing could be heard throughout the courtroom. 

“But I love you just like anyone else. And I'm not gonna say I hope you rot and die just like my brother did, but I personally want the best for you,” Jean added. “And I wasn't gonna ever say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you. Because I know that's exactly what Botham would want you to do. And the best would be [to] give your life to Christ.”

Seconds later, Jean turned to Judge Tammy Kemp and asked, “Can I give her a hug? Please?”

Kemp, wiping away tears, responded, “Yes.”

Jean and Guyger hugged in front of the courtroom for nearly a minute. 

Later, Kemp gave Guyger a Bible. 

Some on social media said Brandt Jean went too far. 

“Why on earth would anyone with a brain hug his brother's murderer?” one person on Twitter asked.

Most people on social media, though, were in awe at the moment. 

“There is hope for the country with young men like this,” one person wrote. “If only there were more.”

When The Culture War Comes For Your Kids            

In the October edition of The Atlantic, there is a fascinating and revealing long-form essay by George Packer titled "When the Culture War Comes for the Kids." Packer, who appears to be an old-school liberal with a few progressive sympathies, writes about his family's decision to remove his son from an elite private school and send him to a public school in New York City, where he will be exposed to more diversity and give the family a chance to participate in a community. For the first several years, he writes, they were happy with their choice--until, around 2014, the school community began to be seized by wokeness.

The first sign of this was the school's attempt to do away with traditional grading systems as well as test-taking. Test-taking, the parents were told, was too stressful for children and often discriminatory towards minority students (the racism of low expectations present in this surge of sympathy, as always, went unnoticed). Soon, the staff were actively discouraging parents from permitting their children to take tests, and there was enormous pressure to get with the new political program. 

Additionally, Packer says, identity--sexuality, race, disability, etc.--became such a focus that Packer grew concerned that the school was entrenching differences rather than reducing them. In fact, he wrote, several other schools in New York "had taken to dividing their students by race into consciousness-raising 'affinity groups,'" which caused several mixed-race families to transfer their kids out because they were sick of the focus on race. They didn't need their children to start with the identity politics at such a young age.

And then, Packer writes, the "bathroom crisis hit our school...A girl in second grade had switched to using male pronouns, adopted the initial Q as a first name, and begun dressing in boy's clothes. Q also used the boys' bathroom, which led to problems with other boys."  The school began searching for a solution, but instead of simply creating a single-stall bathroom (one already existed), they decided to "get rid of boys' and girls' bathrooms altogether." This, they presumed, would handily eliminate any confusion, and the problem would be solved, and "within two years, almost every bathroom, from kindergarten through fifth grade, had become gender-neutral."

Every previous generation could have predicted that this would end in disaster, but with minds addled by wokeness and identity politics, the school staff somehow forgot some very fundamental facts about children--and human beings in general. Packer's description of the confusion experienced by the school children as a direct result of the decisions of deluded adults is genuinely sad to read: Where signs had once said boys and girls, they now said students. Kids would be conditioned to the new norm at such a young age that they would become the first cohort in history for whom gender had nothing to do with whether they sat or stood to pee. All that biology entailed--curiosity, fear, shame, aggression, pubescence, the thing between the legs--was erased or wished away...The school didn't inform parents of this sudden end to an age-old custom, as if there were nothing to discuss. 

Parents only heard about it when children started arriving home desperate to get to the bathroom after holding it in all day. Girls told their parents mortifying stories of having a boy kick open their stall door. Boys described being afraid to use the urinals. Our son reported that his classmates, without any collective decision, had simply gone back to the old system, regardless of the new signage: Boys were using the former boys' rooms, girls the former girls' rooms. 

This return to the familiar was what politicians call a "commonsense solution." It was also kind of heartbreaking. As children, they didn't think to challenge the new adult rules, the new adult ideas of justice. Instead, they found a way around this difficulty that the grown-ups had introduced into their lives. It was a quiet plea to be left alone.

Fortunately, at least some of the parents were outraged when they discovered what had taken place, and a crowd of them showed up at a PTA meeting to protest this policy, where they faced off with parents who proposed a series of profoundly stupid ideological solutions to the problem:

The parents in one camp declared that the school had betrayed their trust, and a woman threatened to pull her daughter out of the school. The parents in the other camp argued that gender labels--and not just on the bathroom doors--led to bullying and that the real problem was the patriarchy. One called for the elimination of urinals. It was a minor drama of a major cultural upheaval. The principal, who seemed to care more about the testing opt-out movement than the bathroom issue, explained her financial constraints and urged the formation of a parent-teacher committee to resolve the matter. After six months of stalemate, the Department of Education intervened: One bathroom would be gender-neutral.

It is interesting to note that it is again students--in this case children--who are pushing back against the delusions that adults are imposing on them. As I reported back in April, teenage girls have staged school walkouts to protest biological males identifying as females being permitted into their bathrooms. 

In Sussex, England recently, a large crowd of female students protested outside their high school, furious that the staff was enforcing a change to "gender neutral" uniforms and eliminating the traditional--and feminine--skirts. In Alberta, Canada, students rebelled against a gender-neutral bathroom policy and started a petition to demand a return to the old system. "I don't know whose idea this was," one student remarked bitterly, "but it wasn't a very good one." I sometimes wonder if the adults creating and imposing these policies remember anything at all about growing up, going through puberty, or being a teenager. Would they have wanted to sit in the bathroom stall next to the girl they had a crush on? Or vice versa? Would they have wanted to use the same change rooms as awkward teens from the opposite gender, just as their bodies were changing and they were trying to make sense of everything? 

Did they not stop to consider that essentially eliminating privacy for boys and girls--or pretending, with brazen asininity, that there is no difference between the two--would make difficult years even harder? Obviously the ideologues do not remember such things, or perhaps they have forgotten them. But perhaps it will be children and teens who will be forced, out of embarrassment and necessity, to lead the pushback. It is possible, after all, to force your ideology on to other people. But it is not possible to conform the natural world to your will, no matter how hard you try.

The 'Fastest Growing Church' in the World Is 'Spreading Like a Wildfire' in Iran: New Documentary

Large numbers of Iranian Muslims are walking away from Islam and toward Christianity, a new documentary says. According to the Frontier Alliance International Studios’ Sheep Among Wolves Volume II documentary, inside of Iran — a country where the majority of the citizens are Muslim — the “fastest-growing church” in the world is blossoming underground. 

One unidentified Iranian church leader even went as far as to say that “Islam is dead” in Iran. The church leader — who remained anonymous for their protection — asked, “What if I told you Islam is dead? What if I told you the mosques are empty inside Iran? What if I told you no one follows Islam inside of Iran? Would you believe me?” “This is exactly what is happening inside of Iran. God is moving powerfully inside of Iran,” the church leader asserted.

The church leader also shared that they believe that Ayatollah Khomeini is “the best evangelist for Jesus.”  “The ayatollahs brought the true face of Islam to light and people discovered it was a lie ... After 40 years under Islamic law — a utopia according to them — they’ve had the worst devastation in the 5,000-year history of Iran,” the leader said.

According to Fox News, the church is without buildings, property or central leadership, but still, it is steadily growing. The movement's aim is not to plant churches, but to grow discipleship. “The seismic shift that’s happened in the church of Iran is, when all these church planters found out that converts run away from persecution, but disciples would die for the Lord in persecution,” the church leader said.

"Disciples forsake the world and cling to Jesus 'till he comes. Converts don't. Disciples aren't engaged in a culture war. Converts are. Disciples cherish, obey, and share the word of God. Converts don't. Disciples choose Jesus over anything and everything else. Converts don't. Converts run when the fire comes. Disciples don't," the leader asserted.

The underground movement — which is pro-Israel and is largely led by women — is being dubbed by film director Dalton Thomas, the “Iranian Awakening.” One believer said in the video that they understand the danger of participating in the Iranian Awakening, but it is a risk they must take. “We know that if they get us, the first thing they will do to us as a woman is rape us and then they will beat us and ultimately they will kill us. “This is the decision we have made that we want to offer our bodies as sacrifices. Because I have this thought when I wake up, that when I leave, that door I might not come back."

Ransom Paid, but Kidnapped Pastor's Wife Is Killed in North-Central Nigeria

Muslim Fulani herdsmen this month kidnapped and killed a pastor’s wife in north-central Nigeria’s Kaduna state three days after suspected herdsmen killed a Baptist pastor in another part of the state, sources said.

Unaware that Esther Ishaku Katung had been killed after being kidnapped in Bagoma, 122 kilometers (75 miles) west of Kaduna City on Sept. 14, her family paid a 250,000 naira (US$690) ransom before discovering her body, said the Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

Her husband, the Rev. Ishaku Katung of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) congregation in Bagoma, escaped but was wounded by gunfire when the herdsmen broke into their home on church premises at 11:30 p.m. as they slept, Pastor Hayab said.

“Information we got from some of the kidnapped victims who escaped from the herdsmen’s enclave shows that Esther Katung and two other victims had escaped from the herdsmen’s captivity, but she was recaptured by them,” Pastor Hayab told Morning Star News. “She attempted to escape with two others after they were kidnapped by the herdsmen; this infuriated the herdsmen, leading them to kill her. They broke her legs in order to prevent her from escaping and smashed her head too. This led to her death.”

The kidnappers dumped her corpse in the bush, he said.

“After they had killed her, they were still demanding the ransom without telling her family that they had killed her,” Pastor Hayab said. “It was only after the ransom was paid that it was found by her family that she had been killed by her abductors.” 

Baptist Pastor Slain 

In Jema’a County some 230 kilometers (142 miles) south of Kaduna City, suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot a Baptist pastor dead on Sept. 11, sources said.

The Rev. Alhamdu Mangadus, pastor of Nasara Baptist Church in Asso, was killed while working on his farm at about 1 p.m., said the Rev. Danladi Boyis Hassan of the ECWA church in the Ungwan Kadara area of Kaduna City.

Given the high level of killings and kidnappings by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in southern Kaduna in recent years, Christian leaders suspect herdsmen killed the pastor. Pastor Hassan, a native of the slain pastor’s village, visited the area after the killing and was told that the assailants were Muslim Fulani herdsmen.

“Pray along with the church and family as they mourn the barbaric act by Fulani terrorists,” Pastor Hassan told Morning Star News.

Pastor Hayab of the CAN also said Fulani herdsmen were behind the killing.

“He was shot dead on his farm, and the attackers injured another fellow from Tanda,” he said. “The corpse of the pastor was taken away by the Fulani herdsmen but was eventually recovered in the bush after a frantic search by our brethren in the area.”

Pastor Hayab said the killing of the pastor was one too many for Christians in violence-wracked Kaduna state.

“We are going back to the era of senseless killings. When will people be safe to go out and seek food to feed their families?” he said.

Nigeria ranked 12^th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.