PRAISE GOD! . . . from another FR thread at:
Another example of end times evangelism and Holy Spirit's move amongst Moslems.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308267/posts
Thousands Turn To Christ In Iran
BushCountry ^ | 12/25/04 | Jeremy Reynalds
Posted on 12/25/2004 1:39:08 AM MST by freedom44
Iranians are turning in droves to Christ.
"This should cause any missiologist to wonder why (so many people from) the nation which had become a model for the rest of the fundamental Muslim world to emulate – the same country that introduced suicide bombing to the world – are now turning to Christ," said Shah Afshar, Foursquare Regional Coordinator for the Middle East, in an e-mail interview.
This phenomenon didn't take place through the efforts of foreign missionaries, Afshar said, because after the country's Islamic revolution of the late 1970's, all foreign missionaries were expelled from Iran.
Much of the evangelism of Muslims in Iran, Afshar said, has been done through shortwave radio and satellite television programs by Iranians who came to know Christ while outside their own country.
"With the revolution there also came a mass exodus of almost 6 million Iranians out of Iran to various countries around the world," Afshar said. "It was there that for the first time many of these exiles were exposed to the gospel, and eventually a great number of them became followers of Jesus—50,000 by some estimates. It is because of these exiled believers and other faithful ones who never left Iran that (this) phenomenon is unfolding."
Understandably, the Iranian authorities are concerned that their influence is waning. One employee of the country's Ministry of Education, Hasan Mohammadi, hired to teach Islamic precepts to high school and university students in the country run by Islamic clerics, encouraged his audience to "Be aware young men; safeguard your beloved Shiite Islam."
When issuing this admonition at a gathering of senior high school students in the north of the Iranian capital in April 2004, Afshar said Mohammadi underscored his point by saying, "Unfortunately, on average, everyday 50 Iranian girls and boys convert secretly to Christian denominations in our country."
According to Afshar, reportedly quoting from a comment made by the 47-year-old cleric and heard by Hamad Egbali, whose son Ali was in the audience, Mohammadi "unknowingly admitted the defeat of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a theocratic regime in promoting its Islam."
Afshar said it was average everyday believers who evangelized these exiles. He said, "For example, over 30 years ago, a group of what were then called ‘Jesus Freaks,' took the time to share the love of God with (me), which eventually led to my salvation. Because of that simple act of obedience and love, today thousand of Iranian Muslims have heard the contextualized gospel in their own language, which has caused many of them to come to the Lord."
Afshar said those individuals who shared Jesus Christ with him were not trained in Islamic evangelism. But they "were willing to reach out to a scared lonely Muslim boy for Christ's sake. Their motive was not as much converting me as it was just to love and accept me. And today the Lord is asking the American believers to do the same."
Afshar said he is issuing a challenge to believers worldwide.
"Next Sunday ask your church how many of them know any Muslims," Afshar said. "You might be surprised to find out the number of people at your church who work, go to school, or are neighbors to these immigrants whom God has brought to our doorsteps. We have a mandate from Christ himself to go into the whole world."
Afshar said for those wanting some formal training he suggests organizing a seminar at church focusing on successful evangelism to Muslims. Afshar said in addition that Foursquare Missions International staff are also happy to provide assistance.
From:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/7895/com041219.html
RFID AND MARK OF THE BEAST UPDATE
We are living in the days before the rapture of the church. As soon as God raptures home His people, the devil will be free to bring to power his antichrist. During the reign of the antichrist, people will be given the choice to worship Satan and the beast. Those who do will be given a mark. Those who refuse will be killed.
This mark of the beast will allow a person to do economic transactions in Satan's kingdom of the antichrist. This mark will have the ability to interface with computers so that good citizens of the antichrist can be identified.
For many years people thought that mark would involve the use of the bar code currently on all products. But there is already talk of the death of the bar code. In its place will be RFID chips. These computer chips give off a low radio signal that can be picked up and read by terminals connected to a computer. Not only can all products be tagged with RFID chips, so can people!
Rev 13
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
So have a look at the below article and see how much progress has been made in setting up Satan's mark of the beast technology!
Here is a thought! If the mark of the beast technology is being setup right now, then how close must the rapture be! Are you saved? Are your sins forgiven? Or will you die rejecting the Saviour, the Lord Jesus and perish in your sins? Make your choice and do it now!
Applied Digital Announces Six Point Privacy Statement at ID World Congress in Barcelona, Spain
Monday November 22, 8:30 am ET, Company Outlines Privacy Standards as U.S. Distributors Begin to Market VeriChip(TM) to the Medical Community; Michael Krawitz, Esq. named Applied Digital's CHIEF PRIVACY OFFICER
DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 2004-- Applied Digital (Nasdaq: ADSX - News), a provider of security through innovation(TM), announced today that its Chairman and CEO, Scott R. Silverman outlined the Company's new six-point privacy statement as part of his Keynote Address at the 2004 World ID congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Recognizing the Company's role in the development of RFID technology world-wide, Mr. Silverman stated in his speech at the conference that: "It is our duty educate and unite rather than isolate and divide...We as leaders in the RFID industry must be proactive in our privacy efforts...We must engage, and, in turn, educate and unite world leaders, privacy groups and, most importantly, the world population."
The Company's six-point privacy statement is as follows:
1. VeriChip should be voluntary and voluntary only. No person, no employer, no government should force anyone to get "chipped."
2. Privacy must be a priority at the highest levels of our organization and as such we will have a Chief Privacy Officer who, with privacy experts, will be charged with addressing the day-to-day global evolution of this technology.
3. We will immediately address privacy and patients' rights in all consumer, distributor and medical documents related to VeriChip
4. VeriChip subscribers are able have their chip removed and discontinued at any time.
5. Privacy means different things to different people, so only the VeriChip customer should designate the groups that may have access to his or her database information.
6. We pledge to thoughtfully, openly and considerately engage government, privacy groups, the industry and consumers to assure that the adoption of VeriChip and RFID technology is through education and unity rather than isolation and division.
Mr. Silverman noted that the Company's role in the development of RFID technology world-wide had changed since the FDA granted clearance for it to market the VeriChip(TM) for medical applications. "We recognize that the since the FDA granted us clearance to market the VeriChip(TM) for medical applications and leading medical device distributors such as Henry Schein, Inc. have agreed to market the product, that it is incumbent on us to ensure that we can secure the medical records of all VeriChip(TM) subscribers. We will work closely with all of our key constituencies, including consumers, distributors and hospitals to make the rapid adoption of the VeriChip(TM) as broad as possible. With significant opportunities for VeriChip(TM) in other areas such as security, we will strive to apply these standards consistently and uniformly across all of our target markets."
As part of Applied Digital's privacy policy, it has appointed Michael Krawitz to the position of Chief Privacy Officer. Mr. Krawitz currently serves as the Company's Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Krawitz, 35, will work closely with privacy experts, medical experts and community leaders to immediately address privacy and patients' rights issues.
"VeriChip's principal attribute is its ability to deliver information and verification," Krawitz said. "To ensure that this attribute is a benefit and only a benefit, we are making privacy our priority and our commitment. It's good business and it's responsible behavior for a leader in an area of RFID technology."
About VeriChip:
VeriChip Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital. The VeriChip product is a subdermal RFID microtransponder that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and healthcare applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip device contains a unique verification number that is captured by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the VeriChip. In October 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared VeriChip for medical applications in the United States. VeriChip is not an FDA-regulated device with regard to its security, financial, personal identification/safety applications.
About Applied Digital
Applied Digital develops innovative security products for consumer, commercial, and government sectors worldwide. Our unique and often proprietary products provide security for people, animals, the food supply, government/military arena, and commercial assets. Included in this diversified product line are RFID applications, end-to-end food safety systems, GPS/Satellite communications, and telecomm and security infrastructure, positioning Applied Digital as the leader of Security Through Innovation. Applied Digital is the owner of a majority position in Digital Angel Corporation (AMEX: DOC - News). For more information,
visit the company's website at
http://www.adsx.com. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041122/225384_1.htmlAnother from BILL SOMERS' SITE:
He Hugged Me!
Conrad Lampan
Christmas time. A good time for reflection, and a time to remember what He has done for us. I feel like sharing a very personal testimony with you all, and I pray that you may be encouraged.
It was back in the beginning of year 1993. I suddenly learnt how God takes our prayers to the letter. I had just asked the Lord to “organize” my life, only to find out that God has a rather different concept of what “organize” means. Too late. I had already prayed and God was only too eager to answer that prayer. My life had been sort of messed up, so I just told God to take control. Frankly, it was like trying to quench a fire with gasoline. But then it happened; in the middle of turmoil Jesus hugged me; just like that, and everything changed.
I usually went to my room at about 8 PM to read and pray before going to bed later on. I would put some music and read some book, read my Bible and pray, or just “be” there with the Lord. That particular day in the summer of 93 I was at my brother’s house at about 4 PM and I began to feel an urgency to go back to my place and pray, although I did not have a prompt to pray for any specific issue. I took off somewhat startling everybody as I had just arrived a few moments ago, and arrived at my house about one hour later.
All the way home this desire, and hunger inside grew to an almost unbearable level. As I arrived at my place, I just went upstairs to my bedroom and immediately went to my usual kneeling place by a chair and knelt down. I could feel the presence of God in a rather unusual, very strong way, and although I wanted to pray, I was there without know what to say. I just knelt down and I said: “Jesus, would you hug me?” while at the same time I actually wrapped my arms around as if I was hugging someone. And then it happened.
All of a sudden the place was inundated by warmth as I had never experienced before. Suddenly I was literally hugging someone, I was touching someone physically; we were embracing each other. I could feel a head resting in my left shoulder, and could feel the touch of soft hair on my left cheek. I didn’t dare open my eyes, I wanted to see Him but at the same time I was scared. It was at the same time awesome and awful. I didn’t dare move either, I was just stuck there feeling this amazing love and at the same time experience the fear of the Lord in a way I never felt before.
I began to cry almost uncontrollably; the only way I can describe is like when babies cry so much that they stop breathing for moments (in Spanish this is medically called “sobbing spasm”); the fact is that I could not breathe, I just wept and wept and wept. After some time –I actually lost sense of time- I managed to speak, and I just said: “Lord, I want to go with you, I just want to go up hugging you”, for the first time in my life I heard an audible voice, if from the outside or from the inside I don’t know, I only know I heard Him say: “Conrad, I still want you here” Slowly He began to “withdraw” until I could not feel Him any more in a physical way, but His presence remained there and I can say it is still with me.
When things seem to go wrong, or I do feel down, or frustrated; when all the forces of hell seem to be loosed, and there are troubles of every kind, and trials; when it seems that all the things I gave my life too have been lost, and that all I have is ashes; and when people do not seem to understand, or even worse when people scoff or laugh at me –sometimes I even feel that some people literally laugh when reading this testimony- then I remember that night back in time and I can say “He hugged me!” Then, as the old song goes: “It is well with my soul”
Conrad Lampan