The Word and the Cross/ the Blog: 2025

Church: Not yours or mine... HIS!

Let's set the record straight again. There's only ONE Body of Christ. It has no name but His name. It has no creed but the Spirit-anointed Book with 66 parts. It has no head but Christ. Its members are wildly diverse in thinking, looks, skin-color, and giftedness.

That means that my group is not the only group. That means I can't draw circles around my group that exclude you. Even doctrinal circles. Our understandings are growing. No denomination has arrived. They are all flawed. The perfect churches are the ones on fire with God's awesomeness and being persecuted by the fires of man's awfulness. "Perfect" does not mean only doctrinally pure.

No Pope or Chief Elder or Superintendent died for your sins. They are not worthy to lead. True men of God in the church of Jesus will submit to each other and all to Christ. Little lords are not needed. One big One is enough. Men who are lording over God's inheritance need to step down.

No label fits the child of God. No doctrinal or denominational title says it all. Throw me a label and I will throw it back. I will not be written off or written out because someone has said I do not belong. If my sins are washed away, and if the Word of God is true, and if there is one Lord and one church, I do belong, forever.

"Ah, so you are an ecumenist!"

You see, here come the labels already! No, Christ excludes from his church all who are not born again, regardless of their seemingly glowing credentials. Not everyone will be saved!

"A legalist then!"

No, the grace of God cuts across assemblies where most of us would not be found dead. Oh the surprised looks there will be when saints are raptured out of groups we had assigned to Hell! Oh the despair as those who attended "good" churches are lost forever!

The church has invisible borders. Only those with God-trained eyes know where the borders run. Follow the blood trail. The blood of Christ. The blood of the martyrs. There is the Church. Not your little group or mine. Not your little ideas or mine. When it is over, only God's Word and those in whom it dwells will stand.

Thanks for your visit! Go to https://www.icommittopray.com/ for regular updates on the persecuted church. Check out my books at Amazon.com. Send me a message at bobdiakonos7@gmail.com

Visit the podcast, too: wordandcross.com

INDEX to HACKBERRYHOUSEOFCHOSUN.COM at BUZZSPROUT

INDEX to my BUZZSPROUT Podcast (The Word and the Cross)

Browse the list.
Find a topic that interests you. Highlight and copy it.
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Paste that topic in the search there.

1. 30 Years Among South Sea Cannibals (Paton autobiography)

2. Antichrist

3. Baxter (Richard)

4. Beeke, Joel

5. Bennett (Richard)

6. Bible Questions (Covers the entire Bible. Answered by Bob Faulkner)

7. Birds

8. Boettner (Loraine)

9. Bonar (Horatius)

10. Bounds (E.M.)

11. Brainerd, David (Life of)

12. Bunyan (John)

13. Calvin (John, and Calvinism)

14. Carey (William)

15. Charnock (Stephen)

16. Childrearing

17. Christ

18. Christian in Complete Armor (Gurnall)

19. Church

20. Colossians (study)

21. Daniel (study)

22. Drummond (Henry)

23. Edwards (Jonathan)

24. Election (grace, predestination)

25. Ezekiel (study)

26. Fanny Crosby

27. Flavel (John)

28. Food for the Lambs

29. Galatians (study)

30. Goforth (Jonathan)

31. Haggai & Zechariah

32. Hebrews (study)

33. Henry (Matthew)

34. Hyde (Praying)

35. Ironside (Henry)

36. Jesus

37. Job (study)

38. Joel (study)

39. Jude (study)

40. Kingdom

41. KJV

42. Knox (John)

43. Koran (Islam)

44. Livingstone, David (Life of)

45. Love

46. Luther (Martin)

47. Manton (Thomas)

48. Marshall (Peter)

49. McCheyne (Robert)

50. Millennium

51. Muhammad

52. Muller (autobiography)

53. Music

54. Nash (Daniel)

55. Newton (john)

56. North Korea

57. Out of the Depths (Newton autobiography)

58. Owen (John)

59. Passion (Translation)

60. Payson (Edward)

61. Persecution (and suffering)

62. Pilgrim’s progress (Bunyan and Spurgeon combined)

63. Poems

64. Prayer

65. Pretrib (pretribulation rapture discussed Biblically. Also other “last things”: Tribulation, etc)

66. Ravenhill (Leonard)

67. Resurrection

68. Revelation (Bible book of, study)

69. Revival

70. Romans (study)

71. Ryle (Bishop J C)

72. Scarlet Threads (Mystery Babylon)

73. Sibbes (Richard)

74. Simpson (A.B.)

75. Smith (Oswald J)

76. Spirit (Holy Spirit and the spirit world)

77. Spurgeon

78. Studd (C.T.)

79. Suffering

80. Testimony (Miscellaneous stories, inspiration etc)

81. The Bible and Modern Science (Henry Morris)

82. Thessalonica (Commentary, Thessalonians)

83. Titanic (Hero John Harper)

84. Universalism

85. Vicious Wolves (Heresy study)

86. Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses)

87. Watson (Thomas)

88. Wesley (John)

89. Whitefield

90. Wurmbrand

Persecution: Visits Used by God or by Men?

Most of you are aware that high-ranking churchmen from our country have visited persecuted lands recently and in years past and come back with glowing reports of how free and easy it is to be a Christian in those lands. They are not aware that when they leave, some of the believers that they helped "flush out" by what seemed to be a thaw of the government's policy, are rounded up and put in prison or worse. They are -seemingly - not aware of the way they are being used by the government for propaganda. If they are aware they write it off as a decent bargain for the opportunity of preaching Jesus. Which means they are also unaware that Jesus is being preached in those lands already by the nationals.

Why do our brothers feel they must visit these lands? The answer to that question, when given by me, can only sound like a judgment. And I am not their Lord or their Judge. I leave it with them and with Him. But how I wish I could encourage them to stay home.

There are many ways to help the suffering church. Many many believers worldwide are praying, supporting, sending material goods, writing letters, visiting secretly, even moving to harsh countries as teachers and businessmen to be near the saints in trouble. The big-name evangelists don't seem to fit into that pattern of help. And when they come back reporting to us that suffering hardly exists, what horrible insults they give to those who are already hurting enough.

Tonight in Ethiopia an elder of a Mennonite church sits in prison for allegedly "insulting" the prophet Muhammad. What he did was to refuse to sell his property to a nearby mosque.

In Kashmir, India, this evening a family tries to recover from the murder of their husband and father, Tantray. He dared to convert to Christ from Islam.

In Vietnam, a nation that even our government is now saying does not persecute, a manual has been found that outlines a plan to subdue the rapid growth of Protestantism.

In Pakistan, two Christians have been assaulted in their own church by armed and drunken Muslims.

If our famous men visit these countries, will they bring back such reports, or only stories of the great crowds who gathered to hear them? Will they help us to see the true picture of the cross or only pictures of their "crusade"?

Oh yes, Christ is preached, and we must be glad. But does Christ ask His men to deceive for the privilege of preaching? Is there any clue in the New Testament that God's men are to behave this way? Did not God's true men risk their lives to preach the truth? Join me in praying for God to block the entrance of men who will do more damage than good. And that God will continue to use the "little" men and women and children of persecuted lands to bring about His glory.

Prophecy: The coming of Wormwood

On Thanksgiving Day 2006 I read in the news that a 25-million ton asteroid was hurtling through space at that very minute, and was scheduled to pass uncomfortably close to Earth in 2029. The call is going out from NASA for a hero who will, Hollywood-style, find a way to avert this disaster.

No, really, that was in the news!

And I read in my Bible that a great star-like mass "burning like a torch" is scheduled to arrive here one day affecting one-third of our water supply in such a way as to poison "many." Is there a match here? There was a time when the Book of Revelation seemed so "far out", but now we begin to see He meant exactly what He said.

One thing is certain. When God sends "Wormwood", the poison star of Revelation 8:10-11, there will be no rescue by mankind. Mankind, minus the remnant and the Kingdom, will be finished! When the rain of judgment begins to fall here, it will not stop pouring until God has completed the task with a fiery deluge far surpassing the watery one of 4500 years ago.

This judgment is not for true believers. We give thanks to God for His creation and His new creation (that's us!), and the coming renewal of the creation, the new heavens and the new earth. We've only just begun and there's all of eternity to be thankful for.

As for Thanksgiving Day: It was a unique blessing that America had the foresight to set aside a day for such a worthy cause as giving thanks. Oh that more of His people will turn from football and feasting on days like that and other holidays, and turn to thanking God for His great store of blessings and repenting of national and personal sin.

Baptism: Where do you stand?

It is an indication of the confusion in which the professing church finds itself to view each group's stand on baptism.

Some do not stand at all, ignoring this command of God altogether. Far worse than the "baptism-isn't-really-important" crowd who finally get around to leading their people to the water, this group is in denial that God ever intended such an "outward" "physical" thing to happen to His kids. To them, the Christian life is all "inner."

Others, mentioned above, take a weak stand, a take-it-or-leave-it stand. Hey, if you feel "led", then baptism is for you. And while you are choosing, you can choose the mode. "Sprinkling" is more convenient? Go for it! You're in a "dunking" congregation? Then get dunked. No big deal, they say. Some of these folks actually believe in their heads that God's Word is inspired. But what they actually practice is no better than liberal scholarship teaches: only the parts of it that "touch" you are really "the Word." They call it "rhema" these days, but that's another issue.

Then there are the ones who insist that baptism is so essential that it should even come before faith! Just get 'em to the fountain at the earliest convenience! The act itself will save them, even newborns. Rome and her daughters still hang on to this invention of men.

As to the mode, may I offer, the Greek word means to dip, plunge, or immerse. Ask a Greek. Ask a scholar. It never meant anything else. But how does a good King James Bible translator in the 1600's dare say that, when the Church of his day is sprinkling people? And his conscience will not allow him to say "sprinkle" in the text of Almighty God.

Thius was born the one-size-fits-all hybrid, "baptize." It can mean what you want if you really do not want to know. Those who care a little more know that baptism is a sign, a picture. And the picture is burial. The old man that we were, being buried in a watery grave.

And regarding the motivation, Does baptism save? Catholics and company say yes. Most evangelicals, no. What does God say through Peter the apostle? (I Peter 3:21, paraphrase)

"...baptism now SAVES YOU (yes!), but NOT by putting away the old sinful nature (no!) , but by the fact that the cleansed conscience is now responding to God."

Baptism is a response to salvation. Not a cause of it.

So is it necessary, people ask ? And I ask, Is any command of God to be obeyed, or left up to man? What a horrible question, Is it necessary! God says, Repent and be baptized! (Acts 2:38) and we say, Is it really necessary?

I was baptized three times. At a very young age, my Catholic mom dutifully hauled me over to St. Gabriel Church in Columbus, Ohio. In Catholic eyes, I was saved that day.

Later, the denomination of which I was a part stressed the importance of believer's baptism. I was only about 12, but I wanted to do the "right" thing. My friend said he was going to be baptized on a certain day, so I went ahead too. I was told afterwards that now I was saved (they had taken my public confession of Christ as evidence that I believed in Him) and had the Holy Spirit. All I remember was a little relief that it was over, and a mild gratitude to God that "something" had happened...

My third baptism... I'll have to tell you about that one another time ...

Christian Life: Submission

II Peter 2:18-25.

It's all about how servants should treat their masters. Tough stuff for Westerners to grasp until they realize that anyone who works for someone else is his "servant" . Very few of us are "masters" .

As for me, I'm a paid servant of a major American school system. That means I have a lot of masters, from my principal, to the people at the district level, the people "downtown" , even the mayor! And let's not forget the state, where federal dollars are flowing in and expected to be spent well.

Some of my masters are cool people who treat me just fine. Others are not. Peter says to respect and honor and obey all of them equally well. That's a tough pill to swallow. But with God's help, we are called to swallow it anyway.

The only exception would be those times when the boss says to in some way deny Christ. Peter would be first to "amen" this statement, because he was indeed a conscientious objector in his day. He kept on preaching in the face of the State's command to stop. And went to jail for it. More than once.

I've not faced anything quite that severe. Back when I was beginning my march out to the world to conquer it for my denomination, I found myself in the Albany, New York, area. The church was helping me but I needed to support myself too.

I found a job in the public schools up there. Knowing I had some influence in children's lives, I used it to invite them to after-school Bible studies. They showed up. It was a Catholic neighborhood. You can imagine the rest! I was fired. Chalk it up to no wisdom, or was I really being persecuted?

I broke the law in another public school system. We were told to teach the wildly unbelievable theory known as the survival of the fittest, pinning the origin of all things to a primordial soupy mush. Evolution. I shut my door and told the students about the creation and the Creator. About how life has been DE-volving from the beginning. About the second law of thermodynamics. And a whole lot more.

There were several bits of history in social studies classes that got messed with by this teacher, too. So far I have not been accused of anything. And before they come after me, one would hope they'll go after the gays, lesbians, adulterers, and abortionists, who live their life and spread their propaganda before these young minds.

There will be a reward for those who served their employers well in spite of obvious persecution for Christ's sake. The stories abound in the Communist and Islamic world of harrassed believers just being believers at work and paying for it.

But Peter is just as adamant in declaring that those who suffer for their own shenanigans receive no praise from God. How I wish I did not have further self-anecdotals on this subject. How I wish I had never been angered enough to slap that child, and to shake another, and to yell at still others. Losing control gained me only a deserved reprimand from the boss, and a weakening of my chances to be the light that Christ had so wanted in the darkness of that system.

Everyone needs someone to submit to, I think. In submission we learn Christ. Peter spends the rest of this passage convicting us, shaming our poor behavior, as He compares it to that of the Son of God, Who was treated despicably, but did not answer in kind. He ends by telling us where all that led: our salvation.

What will our perfect submission lead to? The same thing. Many will come to Christ when they see Who He really is... in us.

North Korea: The absence of Sun, indeed

Years ago I read Helie Lee's book about her rescue of some family members out of North Korea (In the Absence of Sun). I must hasten to add that although Helie has a healthy "respect" for Jesus because of Halmoni (grandma), my personal faith resembles that of Halmoni more than Helie. I do not condone the expressed lifestyle of this young Korean American, but I am captivated by the story and the very many details she shares of a land that I still wish to visit myself.

In telling the story, she mentions Kim Il Sung's "Ten Principles", a not-so-veiled replacement of God's Ten Commandments, created in an attempt to obliterate all things Biblical. All ten have to do with Kim Il Sung himself, his ideology, loyalty to him, his authority, his revolutionary thought, his centrality, confidence in him, the passing on of his thoughts to the next generation.

From page 101 & ff:

"The Ten Principles came with very specific guidelines. For example, Principle No. 3 went on to elaborate that ‘Kim Il Sung's portraits, plaster figures, statues, badges containing his pictures, publications carrying his pictures, paintings portraying his image, monuments or public notices containing his instructions...must be carefully handled and protected from being spoiled.'

"In 1985, Burundi's ambassador to Beijing checked into the Botonggang Hotel in Pyongyang. When he unpacked his bags and saw that his shoes were flattened, he stuffed a sheet of newspaper into them. A bellboy reported the ‘crime' to the police because the newspaper contained Kim Il Sung's picture. The ambassador was accused of damaging the dignity of the Great Leader, nearly causing a diplomatic incident."

Time and space fail me to record in detail Helie's reporting of the little 3-year old who caused her parents to be arrested by accidentally urinating on a Kim Il Sung booklet...

Let us allow the images of North Korea to disturb us, but only enough to pray. Depression and despair are not the goal of this blog. God will hear. God will rise up. He suffers long for His own purposes. But He is a jealous God and will not be mocked forever.

Remember Israel in Egypt 430 years! But He does arise. Is this His time?

North Korea: "Deny Christ, or die."

North Korea. There is a constant price to pay for one's faith there.

Voice Of the Martyrs, persecution.com, tells of 29 persons arrested there one morning years ago in the remote village of Goksan. Among the group is a mother and her young daughter. They and the rest of this Christ-loving group, with their pastor, are bound and placed before a crowd of Communists.

They are told by a guard: "Deny Christ, or die." They all refuse to deny Him.

The guard addresses the adults: "Deny Christ, or we will hang your children." The young girl looks up at Mom and grips her hand. She knows she is loved. Her mother whispers to her, "Today, I will see you in Heaven."

For those who are looking for a happy ending to this story, you should stop reading now.

All of the children are hanged.

The adults, in agony already, are now forced to lie down on pavement in front of a large steamroller. "Deny this Jesus or you will be crushed." But they are already crushed. Their children are gone. And their life is hid in Christ anyway. they are ready to meet Him, and see their children again.

The driver starts the engine, and the villagers softly sing (in Korean). "More love, O Christ, to Thee, more love to Thee."

Please pray for North Korea tonight. Unimaginable horror continues...

And pray for America. What is it that makes many Americans desire Communism for our own people?

Temple Mount Faithful: "It's coming!"

Don't tell an Orthodox Jew you don't believe a literal Temple is coming to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The plans have been laid for years and only politics, angel-restrained politics, hinder its rise. Listen:

"As our forefathers in the biblical times did when they made the pilgrimage on the Feast of Succoth (the Feast of Tabernacles), the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement made an exiting pilgrimage to the Temple Mount, the location of the First and the Second Temples and the location of the Third Temple which is soon to be rebuilt on the 17th of Tishrei 5767 (October 9, 2006).

"This major event was an important part of the historical campaign of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement and her mission to build the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in our lifetime. It was another important step in the intensive activities of the Movement. The Faithful Movement marched to the Temple Mount with a large model of the Temple and other vessels reconstructed to be used in the Third Temple which attracted a lot of attention from thousands of Israelis who came to be blessed . . . "

That's from the "Temple Mount Faithful" web page. Yes, they've missed the date again, but there's a date circled on the Heavenly calendar that will not be missed.

Are you asking, "Why is it the 'third' and not the fourth?" I mean, there was Solomon's (I Kings), and Zerubbabel's (Ezra), Herod's ...not so fast, not so fast. Herod's was merely a major renovation of Zerubbabel's, not a third Temple.

But the Third is on the way. Regularly a cornerstone is carried in procession toward the Mount, and regularly it is stopped by Muslims who believe the Mount is theirs.

I believe that part of the treaty that antichrist will sign with the government of Israel will involve Muslims relinquishing their rights to the "Dome of the Rock", and perhaps forcing Jews to internationalize Jerusalem.

Revelation 11:2 tells us that in the final 3 and 1/2 years of history, Jerusalem will be "trodden down" by the Gentiles. Yet we know there is a Temple in Jerusalem during that time also, because Paul (II Thessalonians 2) says that antichrist, the man of sin, will go to that Temple and be the last and worst abomination the world will ever have to endure: he will claim to be God and demand worship from that very edifice.

A Gentile-trodden city with a Temple for Jews. Incredible days are coming.

God and His words are in the news regularly. The Jewish conflict is a continuation of Genesis. The rise of Europe and Islam (see last week) is from Daniel. The Temple is also Daniel, along with Paul and John.

And after the Third Temple, and after the impostor who sits there, and after the world has all but forgotten the grace and power of God, Jesus Himself returns.

Watch! Watch! Watch!

Prophecy: The Earth's Final Power (before Jesus comes)

The Bible is always in the news when one's senses are in tune enough to see it. Study Bible prophecy enough and many diverse events that take place on the planet will begin to stand out in bold relief.

For example, think about Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Daniel 2. God has shown us that from the days of Christ to the days of the end, one empire shall reign. This phenomenon is demonstrated by two legs on a statue. Rome has been the only world empire since it first arose. It even divided into an eastern and western section to fulfill exactly the picture in the vision. Though it reached a great low, it was never totally disbanded and reigns now in the person and kingdom of the Pope, in an empire that affects one out of every five persons on earth!

But Rome's final disposition is in the two feet of the statue, or more specifically the "ten toes." The number two will not suffice to describe the final world alliance. There will be a coming together of ten entities instead. We all held our breath years back when the "Common Market" moved to 10 members. There! There is revived Rome, we shouted. Then came number 11 and 12 and... I think there are 25 members anticipated at present. Where did we miss it?

There are two feet. Left and right. East and west. And Daniel saw a mixture of "clay" and "iron", perhaps strong and weak governments. Communist and capitalist. Kingdoms and democracies. European and Muslim.

For you see, the old Roman Empire surrounded the Mediterranean Sea (called the "Great Sea" in Scripture). It is out of the midst of the "Great Sea" that antichrist arises. Compare Daniel 7 to Revelation 13 for that item.

What if the nations presently surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, European and Muslim, the world's two rising super-powers, were to rise together in a pact of agreement? What if at first the pact even included Mediterranean Israel, for the sake of world peace? How awesome a power would that be?

Even now, a united Europe alone far surpasses the American economy. Add to it the oil of Islam. Then put the Catholicism of old Europe together with Islam, so that 2 out of every 5 people of the earth now have a common religion.

I go past the factual here, but know for certain that the Word of God does point to the Mediterranean as the earth's final power, and does foresee an unusual combination of strength and weakness that will be overseeing the world with the man of sin at the helm.

Let's not jump to conclusions, but let's not ignore what is unfolding before us.

North Korea: Imagine a Mexican...

2008. I had slowly become aware of the migrant problem in our country, but somehow I didn't get it at the time. My best friends - or so it seemed - were "illegals." Never bothered me at all, then.

And I was thinking much about North Korea in those days... This is what I wrote:

I really don't want to get into the whole illegal alien thing. Whether they are justified or we are right and all that. Some of my best friends fall into that category. Finest people I've ever met. Just wanted to work. To earn money. To eat, etc. But I'll leave it there.

I was struck though by the very stark contrast between a Mexican "migrant" to America and one from, say, North Korea, going to China. Imagine a Mexican being not only sent back to Mexico, but being brutally tortured or even killed upon being sent back. Imagine a Mexican being charged with leaving his home village as though it were a criminal offense.

But in North Korea it is a criminal offense.

Imagine a Mexican being tried in court for not showing up at work. Imagine the accusation of "leaving the country." Leaving the country is an internationally guaranteed right, assuming of course that the other country is willing to receive another citizen or tourist.

After being found guilty of all of the above, imagine a Mexican being sent to a short-term (2-3 years?) labor camp where there is below subsistence-level food rationing and high possibility of death and the hardest of labor. Imagine grueling interrogations geared at determining the poor hungry soul's dedication to the Mexican regime.

Hard to imagine in this hemisphere? But everyday stuff in Chosun (North Korea), aided by China's supportive hands. Whenever possible the Chinese police, expecting a bonus of some sort, send North Koreans back to their own land. Of course, it's not always possible. As here, "illegals" are quite often assimilated into the culture and the economy.

But part of that economy is slave trade "over there". Imagine that. A Mexican risks his life to get to a place where there is food, and is trapped at the border by a citizen of the host country. He or she is sold into sexual slavery, or forced into a marriage to some desperate American...

Maybe not so hard to imagine, but very common at the Chinese border.

Imagine local businesses in America being raided from time to time, as illegals are swept out the back door like so much vermin and sent back to Mexico (I know some have proposed this). Imagine Mexicans having been treated so poorly here, and punished beyond words in their home land, actually attempting to make the trip here again. Imagine that a trip to the United States may mean the killing or imprisonment of all their family in Mexico. (In 2008, I didn't realize that was the possibility here)

Imagine that during interrogation at home in Mexico, the Mexican is asked if he went to a Christian Church. Imagine that with a positive response to that question he is executed. Imagine a Mexican begging the interrogator to kill her so as to avoid any more punishment.

Imagine a Mexican who has become pregnant in the States being forced to abort her child, or kill her already-born infant, so that the holy ethnicity of the Mexicans can remain intact.

Can't do it, can you? Can't imagine such horrors in our part of the world? But David Hawk in his Hidden Gulag (available free online) documents that all these things and more have happened in Chosun.

I ask you once more to pray with me for North Korea. Fervently. Daily. God will hear us. God will change North Korea and the men responsible for damaging the Korean people.

The Homework Game of North Korea

Based on a true story from North Korea, adapted from "Link Activity Book" of Voice of the Martyrs, published especially for young people.

The homework game

"No written homework?" Mi Soon could hardly believe her ears. She looked around her third grade classroom. The boys were shouting, "Hooray!" The girls were smiling and whispering to each other. The teacher was quietly letting them enjoy the moment.

Every night, the children spent hours at home writing Korean words. They also worked many math problems. After they were done with all their homework, they were eager to tumble into bed. It was hard for Mi Soon to stay awake long enough to hear a story from the book her mother and father loved to read to her.

But tonight, they would have nothing to write! "How kind this teacher is!" thought Mi Soon. After the communists took over North Korea, many classrooms got new teachers. Mother and Father were worried about what this might mean. Mi Soon couldn't wait to tell them about the teacher's kindness! Maybe that would stop them from worrying.

"Children, children!" The teacher was rapping on her desk with a ruler. "Tonight, instead of writing your homework, I want you to play a game!" the teacher said. "It will be like a secret treasure hunt!"

The children got quiet and listened. They liked games.

"When you go home tonight," the teacher began, "I want you to look for a black book. Some of your mothers and fathers read this book to you before you go to sleep."

Mi Soon's eyes got wide. She was so surprised! How did the teacher know about the bedtime storybook? The teacher must be very smart as well as kind.

"Sometimes this book is hidden," the teacher was saying. "You may have to search for it. But don't tell your parents what you are looking for! It's a secret!"

Mi Soon had never kept secrets from her mother and father. For a minute, she wondered if it was a good idea to start now. But she was sure this nice teacher knew what was best. And besides - it was just a game.

"When you find the book, " the teacher went on, "bring it to school tomorrow. Whoever does a good job on this homework will get a wonderful prize!"

"A prize!" Mi Soon thought. "I've never gotten a prize for homework before!" Sometimes some of the other children got prizes for very neat handwriting or perfect math work. Mi Soon's work was always good, but never the best. She couldn't wait to get home and start on the homework game....

The Book

Mi Soon ran all the way home after school. Then she wished she hadn't gone so fast. There was nothing to do but wait until her parents went to bed so she could look for the book.

At supper, Mi Soon told her mother and father how much she liked the new teacher. "She is very wise!" Mi Soon told them. But she didn't tell them about the homework game.

Mi Soon got ready for bed early. Her parents were surprised. "We thought you wouldn't be tired tonight since you had no homework," said her mother. As Mother tucked Mi Soon warmly in her bed, Father went to the kitchen to get the book. Mi Soon listened carefully. She heard a strange scraping. It didn't sound like a drawer opening. It wasn't a cabinet door. Where could Father be keeping the book?

Father came back with the book and sat beside Mi Soon's bed. "Would you like to choose a story tonight?" he asked Mi Soon. Mi Soon thought and thought. She liked the story about the man in the big boat with the pairs of animals. The one about the man in the den with the hungry lions was exciting, too. What would she choose?

"I know!" she said. "Read me the one about the people who were in a little boat when a big storm came. They were scared, but the man called Jesus told the storm to be still!"

Mother smiled. "That's a good story, Mi Soon. I'd like to hear that one, too." Father read the story, then Mi Soon's parents kissed her and told her good night. She listened as Father put the book away. Again she heard the strange scraping sound. "If I can figure out what that sound is, " she thought, "it will help me find the book."

It seemed like such a long time until her mother and father went to bed! But Mi Soon had no trouble staying awake. She was too excited to sleep. She thought about how happy her parents would be when she brought her prize home.

At last her parents went to bed. Mi Soon waited a few more minutes. Then slowly she crawled out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen. This would be the hard part of the game. Where would the book be hidden?

Suddenly, a stone in the kitchen wall caught her eye. It was not in line with the other stones. It stuck out too far. Mi Soon pushed the stone gently. It moved - with a scraping sound! Ever so slowly and quietly, Mi Soon pulled the stone out of the wall. As she had guessed by this time, the book was hidden behind the stone in the wall.

Mi Soon took the book out of the hole in the wall and carefully replaced the stone. She sneaked back to her room, trying very hard not to make any noise. Safely in her room, she put the book in her school bag. Happily, she snuggled under her covers and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a wonderful day!

The prize

The next day, school was even better than Mi Soon had thought it would be. Only 14 of the 60 students in the third grade class had done a good job with the homework. At a big meeting in the school gym, each of the 14 was called up to the stage to be honored. All day, they were treated like princes and princesses. Best of all, they each received a big bright red flag and a red scarf to keep.

Many of the children at the school wore red scarves. They got the scarves when they joined the communist children's club that met after school. But Mi Soon didn't have one. Her parents had said they wanted her to come home after school. Mi Soon liked to please her mother and father, so she didn't join the club. But now she had a red scarf and a red flag!

Mi Soon ran home from school even faster than she had the day before. Her new scarf was around her neck and she carried her flag. "Mother, Mother!" she called when she reached her house. "LOOK WHAT I GOT!" But mother wasn't in the kitchen. "That's funny," thought Mi Soon. "Mother is always in the kitchen fixing supper when I get home."

Mi Soon ran from room to room in the small house calling for her mother, but the house was empty. "Of course, " thought Mi Soon. "Mother is in the barn doing the evening chores early." Mi Soon ran across the yard to the barn. "Mother!" she called as she burst into the barn. "Come and see my wonderful prizes!"

But Mother wasn't in the barn, either. "How strange," Mi Soon said out loud to no one. She walked back to the house, planning how she would hang up her flag to surprise Mother and Father when they got home.

Mi Soon changed into after-school clothes and hung the flag on the wall by the front door. She washed her face and hands for supper. She even worked some of her math problems for school the next day. But still Mother and Father didn't come home. "I'm so hungry!" cried Mi Soon.

She lay on her bed. Tears fell on her pillow. Soon she was asleep. Staying up late the night before to find the book and all the excitement of the day had made her very tired.

A Sad Time

When Mi Soon woke up, the sun was coming up. "What a dream I had!" she said. "I dreamed I was all alone in the house." Sleepily, Mi Soon went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. No one was there! It wasn't a dream! She was all alone!Mi Soon ran fearfully to the front door. Three policemen were walking to the house. The policemen packed all of Mi Soon's clothes and books, and even her new flag. They took her to a government home to live.Mi Soon cried and cried for many days. She missed Mother and Father. No one would tell her where they were. Worry and fear raced through her mind like a raging storm. Sometimes she dreamed that the man named Jesus came and told the storm to be quiet. In her dream, she felt very peaceful. Then she woke up and cried again. Jesus was just a man in a storybook. Even if He had really lived, He was surely dead by now.

Many Years Later

"I wish I had never done that homework!" Mi Soon said sadly. Mi Soon was visiting a house church with friends in China. It was 40 years since she had seen her mother and father. She was still very sad.

The Christians were kind to Mi Soon. She felt safe with them. She told them the whole story of her sad life. She even told them about the book, and about her dreams of the man named Jesus. The people in the house church explained to Mi Soon that her parents' black book was a Bible. They told her that her parents had probably gone to prison, because owning a Bible in North Korea was against the law there.

Then one of the Christians said, "Mi Soon, I am very sorry for all the sadness you have been through. But I think I have some good news for you." "Good news?" said Mi Soon. "Yes," said the Christian. "It's about Jesus. He isn't just a story in a storybook. He really lived on earth!"

"That's nice," said Mi Soon. "He must have been a very nice man." Mi Soon still didn't sound too happy. "But Mi Soon," said one of the house church leaders. "There's more good news. Jesus is alive!"

"He is? He must be very old!"

"Jesus died, but He rose from the dead," explained one of the Christians. "We can't see Him now. But we can pray, and our sins will be forgiven, and Jesus will fill our hearts with His love." "You mean Jesus is like God?" asked Mi Soon. "Yes!" said another Christian.

"But I don't believe in any God," said Mi Soon. "Because if there was a God, He wouldn't have let me do my homework." "God loves you very much," said the house church leader. "He loves the whole world. That's why He sent His Son Jesus to save us. He didn't cause the bad people to take you away from your mother and father. But, Mi Soon, there's one more bit of good news. Your mother and father believed in Jesus. So they are with Him now in heaven. You can see them again someday if you go to heaven!"

Mi Soon's mouth fell open. "I can see my mother and father again?" she exclaimed. For the first time in 40 years, Mi Soon felt hopeful.

After Mi Soon heard the Gospel story, she gave her life to Him and forgave those who had done her such evil. She even began to pray for the other 13 students who had done their homework. She learned to know the peace of Jesus that had only been a dream before.

Bible study: So What's Wrong with Religion?

Every time I hear a preacher bashing "religion" these days, I have to go home and check to see if the book of James is still in the Bible. I have similar episodes when I see a woman mount the pulpit, but that's another issue, for which I must ask your pardon for now, and a hearing some other day.

I must now resort to the Greek. If ever there existed a Bible student who is not a Greek scholar it is I. (Notice I did not say, "It is me," which proves that at least I know English.)

It was the Greek language in which brother James addressed the church of this day. Therefore a translation of his words into English ought to resolve the dilemma before us.

"But James was not an apostle!" I hear someone say. True enough. This is not the apostle James, this is that James, who along with his brothers, and probably sisters too, denied the claims of their half-brother in the flesh, one called Jesus.

Not until after His resurrection did James see the light. But he was quick to grow. His letter is probably the first of the New Testament writings. You can believe that it was written under the close scrutiny of the apostles, who by the way, also appointed James to be the leader of the church in Jerusalem, spoiling forever Rome's claim to Petrine lordship over that or any church of the first century. But that too is an issue that has to wait...

So we have established James' authority and his language. Moving right along, we look at what he actually said about this "religion" matter. You can read along at the end of James chapter one for yourself. He said that a person who cannot control his tongue has a vain empty religion. He said that a person who cares for others and leads a holy life has a good religion.

So why are folks saying today that religion in and of itself is a bad thing?

I said I would talk Greek to you, so here it is. James' "religion" is threskeia. It is a ceremonial observance. That same word is used by Paul in Colossians 2:18, but is there translated "worshipping." So what is it, "religion" or "worshipping?" I believe that if you can step back in your mind long enough to think of an idea that embraces both words, you will have the full truth.

Deeper into the Greek. threskos is the adjective. "Religious." But Strong, from whom I glean all these facts, says that it means "ceremonious in worship," or "pious." We liberated believers do not like the sound of either of these ideas. Nevertheless James contends, and I will contend with him, that there is a good side of piety, religiosity, even ceremony. Hang on just a minute.

Both of these words come from the verb thre-o, which means "to wail or clamor." By implication, to frighten! And the word is translated in your Bible, "to trouble." It is used, for example, in the book of Acts, after sleepy Eutychus fell to his death during an especially long sermon of Paul. Paul immediately ran to him, ministered to him, then told the hushed and worried crowd, "Don't thre-o yourselves, his life is in him." Don't wail, clamor, frighten yourself.

One more enlightening view of this word family is in the related thriambeu-o. Are you still there? This is really going somewhere... This word depicts a noisy song sung in honor of the god of wine, Bacchus. It has come to mean "conquer" or "give victory" or "triumph."

So! Put all this together. We can assume, I believe, that first century worship was loud, clamorous, exciting, victorious. There was a ritualism attached to it, even as is attached to even the "freest" of services today. You come in, you expect there will be a "worship" service first. There are certain kinds of instruments, usually being used to play a certain number of songs. There are perhaps interruptions and differences here and there, but those who cry the loudest against ceremony have usually created their own! It is so different your first visit, but becomes quite predicable in time.

Against none of this activity does James speak! Clamor all you want. Make your noise! Have your weekly ceremonies. But go out from church and fill that same heart and mouth with words of anger or ridicule or foolishness, and all that worship is vain! Your life in Christ is seven days, not two hours, a week.

And when it comes right down to it, the worship the Lord seeks among His people is a life given not only to prayer and praise but to service and holiness. All of this together is what shows the heart to be what it is. Those who make noise but no fruit are vain worshipers whether they are at a Roman Mass or a Pentecostal convention.

Trouble with all that I just said is that some will read it and excuse themselves from the fullness of worship. That too would be a mistake. Though love and separation are teachings valued by the Lord, He also is not too happy to see a half-hearted meeting of the saints where the leader must use a sound system, music from this world, or constant begging to get people involved.

No, our religion, and that is a good word, my friend, must include the entire body, soul, strength, mind, and heart, 24/7. Through the Spirit's aid, this can be done!

Antichrist Clues

Here are some Biblical facts about antichrist, called by Paul "the man of sin" and by John the "beast". We may not get the full illumination of Scripture into our hearts until the time is upon us, but let's use the obvious knowledge we have now to lay a foundation of understanding. Those who do not know what the Word says are candidates for deception.

Warning: the following information is not in trendy "end-times" literature and movies, but it is in your Bible!

1. He is the 8th in a series of world-class emperors/kings. (Revelation 17:9-11)

2. Though he is the eighth, he is also one of those seven. (Revelation 17:9-11)

3. Therefore, unless he is the seventh one, and I believe facts point otherwise, he has already lived on the planet.

4. As a resurrected emperor, he will not be born and raised all over again! All attempts to locate him on the planet now or at any time are therefore futile. Especially because,

5. (Revelation 17:8) "...he will ascend out of the bottomless pit..." This gels perfectly with Paul's words in II Thessalonians 2:9-10. Here Paul tells us that the coming of antichrist will be Satan-powered, deceptive, miraculous. Perhaps he will try to mimic the coming of Christ, and deceive many.

6. So that there is no mistake in his identity, Daniel goes into great detail in his book (ch. 11) to pinpoint the man who is transformed into antichrist. He originally lived in the Middle East, and he has some unfinished business with the Jews. I'll let you dig for the rest of his id.

7. He will commit the ultimate "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15). We know that that phrase has been thought to refer to the defiling of the Temple by idols and pigs. Those events were only previews of the real thing coming.Paul says in II Thessalonians 2 that this man will himself enter the (newly constructed third) Temple and declare that He is God. A living abomination that will be the signal for chaos on the planet.

If any of this sounds new or bizarre to believers reading, may I suggest that God's people lay aside the novels and speculations and pop theology and just read what God has told us!

Thanks for your visit! Go to https://www.icommittopray.com/ for regular updates on the persecuted church. Check out my books at Amazon.com. Send me a message at bobdiakonos7@gmail.com

Me 'N Music

Okay old-timers, listen up.

I'm speaking to people 95 and above, with a few young whipper-snappers in there too, like me. I'm only 79, but I "get it" when you talk about some of the music in the church.

Here's the deal. Growing up, my church, probably your church too, had these books. Remember the books? Huge collections of songs written anywhere from the Middle Ages to Isaac Watts, the Fanny Crosby era, to just a few years back. We sang it all. What we didn't understand, the better song-leaders would explain, and our comprehension of the things of God grew in every song service.

No one style was honored above another. There were fast bumpy tunes and majestic making-you-want-to-worship songs. Songs we could relate to and songs that were "out there" to be discerned on another day.

Fast forward. It's the twenty-first century. By and large, youth have taken over the music program in many churches. It was wiser, we thought, to give them sway, than to see them go down the street to another church that was "woke", or to no church at all. And all of their "homies" (remember that word? That was contemporary just a few years ago, now smiled at) would be able to hear about Jesus. We would grin and bear it.

And. The music they brought in was often theologically sound, even if the other "sound" was unpleasant to half the congregation. But the music they brought in was the only music we heard after awhile, not that great mixture I described above. Monolithic. One relatively small group of musical offerings. Gone were the Middle Ages. Gone Isaac Watts. Gone Fanny Crosby. Only the cool stuff with an occasional bone sent out to the 95 and over crowd to let them know they were in church...

Yes, us old guys can still learn. We can "move on" if we must. But does it have to be at the price of a treasured collection of music God has given His people over the centuries?

C'mon, dust off those books. Some of us are so old we can't see your screens and we certainly don't know the words and we can't rock to the beat. Give us a break, yes? Let us know that the church we helped bring into the world wants to bring us back into the church.

Thanks for your visit! Go to https://www.icommittopray.com/ for regular updates on the persecuted church. Check out my books at Amazon.com. Send me a message at bobdiakonos7@gmail.com

North Korea: I Used to Hate Americans

That's what she said. That North Korean.

In 2009 I was in Korea on a mission endeavor. I wrote notes back home and posted them as a blog. This was from June 27:

Thanks for staying with me on this trip to Seoul.

My assignment on the first full day of work was to help the American team from Portland, Oregon -here for one week- get to know the North Korean "Underground University" students .

"UU" is a group of 15 intrepid North Korean defectors who are being equipped for ministry, some in North Korea itself. They meet only on Saturdays, because the holding of a job is one of the requirements for entry into the program. Though some ministries actually pay North Korean students to come to school, even to go to church, Seoul USA feels this is the wrong message to be sending out.

Anyway, the method we were to use for get-acquainted , I was told, had to be fun. So we started out with a snowball fight. Ever tried this? In late June? What happens is, everyone writes three things about himself or herself, wads up the paper, and starts throwing it at other members of the group. After a short "fight" everyone retrieves a snowball, un-crunches it, and tries to guess the person described.

I share this so that I can tell you, if you did not already know, the vast difference in mentality between westerners and North Koreans. Not meant to condemn. Only to inform.

The Americans wanted people to know things like, "I love to eat", and "I am a ski-er." Valid enough, no problem. But the NK's entered information like, "I just lost a loved one," and "I want to go back to North Korea to minister," or words to that effect.

A telling, almost embarrassing, moment.

It was an important evening. One of the students said, "I was trained to hate Americans, and here I am fellowshipping with them" (again a loose translation).

We beg your intercession for North Korea and the believers suffering there.

-----

It was an intense summer...

Dying for Jesus in North Korea

... from Mission Network News, January 10 , 2007. (But the saga continues to this day in 2025 in the "Hermit" Kingdom of North Korea.)

North Korea (MNN) - We've heard the stories. Thousands of North Korean Christians have been killed for their faith. Many more are in work camps. Today another chilling story [A prominent Christian worker] says North Korean Christians are becoming increasingly uneasy about possessing a Bible. He brings sobering news from their worker there.

"A man that's known to be an 'evangelist.' - He's probably not an evangelist to anyone other than his family members - was caught with two of our Korean New Testaments in his possession and he was executed for that."

This is just one of many stories coming out of North Korea.

"A North Korean Army General who became a believer and was trying to evangelize some of the people in his unit, was executed by a fellow officer."

Another story included a woman who was washing clothes, "She bent over to rinse her clothes. A New Testament fell out. Somebody reported it and both she and her grandmother were quickly executed."

There seems to be no sign of the persecution easing any. "What you have is a leader [Kim Jong Il then, Kim Jong Un now] who is proclaiming himself to be god. It's prescribed that they daily worship him. And, refusal to do that and being caught worshiping God just brings that kind of governmental response. And, as best we can tell the tempo of that is not lessening."

[The worker] says it's obvious what that increasing pressure on Christians is doing to Bible smuggling. "It becomes more and more difficult to get a person to risk their life to carry those in to North Korea." With rivers frozen, it's a perfect time to smuggle Bibles into the country.

"Despite the oppression, there are positive signs," he says. God seems to be working. "In response to a very, very oppressive government (and) human injustices, people are looking for an answer other than their own government. And, I believe that's awakening the resilience of believers in North Korea to say, ‘we have another answer. There is another way to believe.'"

The Gospel is getting in. It's only a matter of time before God's people will be free. Your prayers will help.

Bob.

Thanks for your visit! Go to https://www.icommittopray.com/ for regular updates on the persecuted church. Check out my books at Amazon.com. Send me a message at bobdiakonos7@gmail.com