July 16, 2025 • 35 mins
A devastating genocide is unfolding against Christians in Nigeria, with over 60 murdered by Muslim Fulani terrorists in coordinated attacks that specifically target Christian communities. Nigerian reporter Masara Kim provides firsthand accounts of horrific violence, including the brutal killing of children as young as three, while the Nigerian government misrepresents these attacks as mere clashes between farmers and herders.
• Attacks follow a pattern: terrorists shouting "Allahu Akbar" attack at night, targeting churches and Christian homes
• Children and women form the majority of victims, with particularly brutal methods of killing
• Over 200 Christians killed in Nigeria's central region since April
• Nigerian government deliberately distorts the narrative to downplay religious motivation
• Evidence suggests a calculated agenda to eliminate Christians and establish an Islamic caliphate
• More than 150 previously Christian communities have been captured, becoming staging grounds for further attacks
• The Muslim-Muslim leadership in Nigeria appears unwilling to protect Christian citizens
• Contrast between Islamic extremism and Christ's teachings on persecution and peacemaking
• Biblical guidance on how Christians should respond to persecution through prayer and solidarity
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The genocide against Christians in Nigeria took an
egregious turn for the worsethis weekend.
Yet another horrifying reportis coming out of Nigeria, as
over 60 Christians have beenmurdered by Muslim Fulani
terrorists in what is beingcalled a genocide.
Where is the global outreach?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Terrorists shouting Allahu Akbar, have embarked on a
mission.
You know a village, a massvillage, burning mission.
This attack started on theevening of May, the 25th on a.
(00:49):
Sunday evening with the murderof a pastor.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
All right, welcome back to the Equipped for Life
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We have a really, really dopeepisode today.
Not dope because it's cool oranything, but it's sad, it's
heartbreaking, but it'shappening and so we have to
(02:53):
address it.
And it's a topic of genocide.
That's right.
Genocide, you say, well, areyou throwing around that word
loosely?
I know a lot of people do.
But no, we are being veryauthentic.
We don't want to have any cap,as we say okay, we want to make
sure that we're honest and we'rereal, but, yes, if you don't
know what's going on in Nigeria,you need to be aware.
So we're going to listen to thisinterview that I saw about a
(03:18):
gentleman in Nigeria who istrying to ring the alarm bells
about what's happening in northcentral Nigeria, above Abuja, a
little bit east of Abuja, inwhat they call the plateau
region, in the Joss Plateau, andChristians are being killed in
numbers, massacred, murderedwomen and children, and we just
(03:40):
don't seem to care because we'rejust too busy, you know,
consuming our cultural Americancontent, and if it doesn't
appeal or apply to us, then wejust kind of act like it doesn't
happen.
And also because the worlddoesn't really care that
Christians are getting killed.
Ok, and that's a part of it.
So for those of us that arebelievers, I think we have to
recognize that, that the worldjust doesn't really care, you
(04:00):
know.
So we can talk about politics,we can talk about all these
other things, but we asbelievers have to be aware of
the fact that our brothers andsisters across the world are
being killed for Christ, whilewe just kind of enjoy some of
our luxuries here as Americans.
But you know, I don't want tocriticize this.
I want to make it known so thatwe, as believers know how to
(04:22):
pray and walk alongside ourfellow brothers and sisters in
Christ that are being persecutedaround the world.
So let's hop into this content.
If you haven't heard about it,you're going to want to know,
and this is one of many thingsyou might have said.
Well, I already heard aboutthis.
Well, it's happening again.
It's happening all the time,year over year.
Christians are being massacredand killed in Nigeria
(04:45):
specifically, and I thinkthere's some nefarious things
going on with the government,and we'll get to that here a
little bit later in the episode,but let's hop into it.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Is a genocide against Christians happening right now
in Nigeria.
Well, Masara Kim, a reporterfor Truth Nigeria, joins us now.
Well, Masara, you recentlywrote an article calling this an
anti-Christian pogrom.
What is actually happening inNigeria?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Okay, real quick.
Pogrom is like a fancy word forgenocide or massacre.
It's actually a Russian wordthat it means violent riot
incited with the aim ofmassacring or expelling an
ethnic or religious group, andit was particularly used for
Jews and it was an organizedmassacre in about the 20th
(05:34):
century in Europe.
And this is a Russian word.
So a pogrom is a is a massacre.
He's being fancy with his words, so if you heard that word no,
he's not talking about pilgrim,he says pogrom, p-o-g-r-o-m.
Pogrom.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Simplest way to describe what is going on in
Nigeria is a genocide that youknow.
Just as you said, it isentirely a religious cleansing
targeted at Christiancommunities, and this has been
ongoing for several decades nowwithout the world paying
(06:08):
attention or at least turning ablind eye.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So, again, I had to make this point.
Is that the reason why theworld is turning a blind eye?
Because the world doesn't careabout Christians.
The world is run by theadversary.
We know this right.
When Jesus was tempted for 40days and 40 nights and the
adversary took him and showedhim all the kingdoms of the
nations, the nations of theearth, he said if you bow to
(06:33):
them, if you bow to me, I willgive all this to you.
Well, you don't give what youdon't have authority over and
the world system and the nationswithin it.
They are not interested inspreading the gospel.
Ok, so this is the reason why,no matter what American
president you have, whether it'sa Democrat or Republican in
office, they don't really tendto care about matters of
(06:54):
persecution.
We just saw Donald Trumpmeeting with the new president
of Syria, while the newpresident of Syria is massacring
Christians and Alawites all outthe country.
I don't know if thatconversation was even had when
they met.
Okay, because the world is notfond of Christians, because it
pushes back against the economyof the world, it pushes back
(07:17):
against the agenda of the world,and this is the reason why you
hear in scripture that it saysthat anyone that has love for
the world, the love of theFather, is not in them.
Okay, so just keep that in mindas we.
As we watch this and you wonderkind of why does nobody talk
about it?
Nobody cares.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In the last couple of days, precisely uh, from the
Sunday, the 25th um, we have hadongoing relentless attacks
against Christian Christiancommunities approximately 55
miles south of Jaws, the capitalof Plateau State, and these
attacks are part of a pardon youknow they follow a pardon of
(07:54):
violence that has killed morethan 200 Christians in the
central region of Nigeria sincethe holy month of April.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
So real quick, just so that you know, joss is in
Plateau State.
It's north central Nigeria.
One of the things that I thinkis important to note I think a
part of the problem is thatwe're so far away in America we
don't understand the history orthe cultures there.
So the Hausa and Fulani tribesare the predominantly Muslim
(08:25):
tribes in that area.
They came to Islam in betweenthe 8th and 9th century, and the
Mali Empire was one of thefirst empires to convert to
Islam.
And you see Islam spreadingthrough West Africa as a result
of the Mali Empire's success intravel and trade, and also
(08:46):
Muhammad and his Muhammadiansokay, the Muslims.
They spread all throughoutnorthwest Africa and they spread
Islam through these regions,right, so the Hausa and the
Fulani are the predominantIslamic tribes there.
In north-central Nigeria, theChristian tribes are
predominantly the Birom and theNagas or the Angus tribes.
(09:10):
Okay, and they came to faith inChrist well, some would say
through missionaries in the 18thand 19th century.
But what's interesting aboutboth these tribes the Birom and
the Angus tribe, is that theymigrated from Ethiopia and Egypt
.
In fact, the Nagas tribe, theyhave an Afro-Asiatic language
(09:34):
that they speak.
Okay, and the Afro-Asiaticlanguages are Shemitic tongues,
berberic tongues and Kushitictongues.
So it's quite interesting thatyou see these people migrated.
The Bera migrated from what weknow as Ethiopia down into the
Sudan, then to Chad, then toNiger and now, where they have
(09:56):
settled, into the Joss Plateauin north central Nigeria.
So it's quite interesting.
It almost seems like God ispursuing these people because if
they had for thousands of yearsbeen occupying the northern
half of parts of Africa and theymigrate over time, I wonder
what caused those migrationpatterns and what do those
(10:17):
people believe and understandabout God, and how did they have
a faith and knowledge of whoYeshua is, and why did the
missionaries come to thoseplaces specifically?
So those are just questions Iwant you to think about, as
we're kind of seeing the eveningafter celebrating Palm Sunday
with shouts of hallelujah.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
There were thunderings, there were
thunderous gunshots all over thecommunity and more than 55
people were massacred at aninstant and dozens of houses
were burned down.
And interestingly, or rathermore heartbreaking, is the fact
that children and women form thevast majority of the victims of
(11:19):
these massacres.
In one particular room, Iwalked into a room where I saw
the bodies of eight childrenfrom ages between three and
eight that were literallyslaughtered.
They were literally slaughteredand you could see their brains
plastered with walls and youcould see the room was entirely
(11:43):
flooded with their blood.
And I could not I just couldnot imagine what manner of human
being would do that.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
And yet, this is terrible.
I mean, who kills children?
I mean, I think that this is apart of the problem, right, when
you get into theseconversations about equality as
it relates to religion.
And in the Western world, wehave this moral relativism and
it's this idea that all beliefsystems are equal and they're
(12:10):
not Okay.
Any belief system that wouldgive justification for murdering
and killing people is a flawedideology, and you have to look
at what these beliefs teach.
I think it's very telling to me, because, when you have to look
at what these beliefs teach, Ithink it's very telling to me
because when you go to the Bibleand you see what Jesus and his
(12:31):
disciples taught, it wasn't arejoicing in death and it wasn't
a murderous intent 2Corinthians, 10, 4 and 5, for,
though we live in the world, wedo not wage war as the world
does.
The weapons we fight with arenot the weapons of the world.
On the world, we do not wagewar as the world does.
The weapons we fight with arenot the weapons of the world.
On the contrary, they havedivine power to demolish
strongholds.
We demolish arguments and everypretension that sets itself up
(12:55):
against the knowledge of God,and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient toChrist.
It is a spiritual battle thatwe are fighting, not one of a
physical nature, because wedon't need to oppress people to
make them believe in Jesus.
We simply just walk in love.
You look in John, chapter 18, 10through 11, and you see how the
Messiah behaved when his owndisciples tried to incite
(13:18):
violence when they were takinghim away to be crucified.
And Peter takes out a dagger orit's a sword, it says, but
really it's like a small dagger,it's a small, you know, kind of
pocket sword, if you will andhe cuts off the temple guard's
ear and the Messiah's responseis put your sword away.
Shall I not drink the cup myfather's given me?
(13:40):
This is this idea that I havenot come to wage war against
mankind for we battle notagainst flesh and blood, not
against flesh and blood,ephesians 6 says, but the
principalities in the heavenlyplaces and heavenly realms.
So as Christians, we're notcalled to take up arms, okay, in
war against people of differentfaiths and different cultures
(14:03):
that differ than us.
We're called to pray for them,to love them.
On the contrary, in the Quranit's very clear what it teaches,
surah 929, fight those who donot believe in Allah in the last
day, nor comply with what Allahand his messenger have
forbidden, nor embrace thereligion of truth from among
those who are given thescripture until they pay the tax
(14:25):
, willingly submitting, fullyhumbled.
This is in the surahs, okay.
So they're instructed tooppress and to tear down and to
break down those who do notbelieve in Allah and his
messenger, in surah 2, 191.
And do not fight them at thesacred mosque, unless they
(14:55):
attack you there.
If they do so, then fight them.
That is the reward of thedisbelievers.
So violence is the reward ofthose who don't believe.
For those of us that areChristians, for those that don't
believe, the reward is the factthat you get separated from God
.
But it's not ours to wage warand to push you out.
But again, I think that theNigerian government is up to
(15:16):
something and we're going tolearn more about that here.
This gentleman is going to tellus all about it.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
You sent me a video before we got started of and
again, if you're watching thisand you're a little queasy, I
think it's important for theworld to see this you sent us a
video of basically a mass grave.
What happened there?
When was this of?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
basically a mass grave.
What happened there?
When was this?
Yeah, so I was trying todescribe a situation, an
incident that happened and it'sstill ongoing in an area called
Mushere M-U-S-H-E-R-E, locatedin the Bocos County, where
terrorists shouting Allahu Akbarhave embarked on a mission you
(16:00):
know, a village, a mass villageburning mission.
This attack started on theevening of May, the 25th, on a
Sunday evening, with the murderof a pastor.
He was attacked in hisresidence and killed.
His wife was injured and leftfor dead, alongside with another
(16:21):
resident in the house.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Evildoers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Once again, if you're coming inthe name of a God or a spirit
that is calling you to killbabies, to rape and kill men's
wives, to burn down their homes,to come into their village in
the dead of night like vipersand you're going to say Alu
(16:50):
Akbar, alu Akbar, god is great.
While you're doing it, I haveto ask you what God do you serve
?
I'm not quite sure, but I knowwhat Jesus says and I know what
Revelation says.
Revelation 21, 6 through 8 sayshe said to me it is done.
I am the Alpha and Omega, thebeginning and the end.
(17:10):
To the thirsty I will givewater without cost from the
spring of the water of life.
Those who are victorious willinherit all this and I be their
God and they will be my children.
But the cowardly, theunbelieving, the vile, the
murderers, the sexually immoral,those who practice magic arts,
the idolaters and all the liars,they will be co-signed to the
(17:31):
fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death.
This is what is written in ourscripture.
So anything that's against that, any God or any spirit that
calls you to take arms and tokill children, is not.
We don't worship the same God,and so you have to dispel this
idea that Yahweh and Allah arethe same.
(17:52):
They're not.
The Quran is not the same asthe Bible, it just isn't.
In its plainest day, revelations22, 12 through 15 says this
look, I am coming soon, myreward is with me and I will
give to each person according towhat they have done.
I am the Alpha and Omega, thefirst and the last, the
beginning, the end.
Blessed are those who washtheir robes that they may have
(18:14):
the right to the tree of lifeand may go through the gates
into the city.
Outside are the dogs.
Those who wash their robes thatthey may have the right to the
tree of life and may go throughthe gates into the city.
Outside are the dogs those whopractice magic arts, the
sexually immoral, the murderers,the idolaters and everyone who
loves and practices falsehood.
And so this is a stark warningfor those that would want to
embrace these ideas or say OK,well, you know, these things
(18:37):
happen around the world, it'snot a big deal, but what manner
of man do you have to be to goin and to bash a child's head
into a wall, or to shoot a childor to rape a woman in the
presence of her husband.
That's not God honoring, butyou're shouting Allahu Akbar
while you're doing it, and so,again, my question is perhaps we
don't have the same God, maybewe're worshiping different
(18:59):
entities?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
By the following morning, just when the survivors
were being conveyed to thehospital and the body of this
pastor was also conveyed to themortuary, these terrorists
returned and killed seven morepeople.
Right and after, the militaryintervened and pushed back these
(19:23):
invaders.
The following morning, whilethe mass burial for these eight
people these seven people thatyou saw in that video was
ongoing, these terroristsmobilized and came back again,
this time around in a largernumber.
Residents and witnessesdescribed the force as more than
(19:46):
500.
They estimated the force thatattacked the mourners to be more
than 500.
And they literally abandonedthe corpses in that mass grave
and flee for their lives, beforesoldiers later accompanied a
few people much later at nightto bury them.
(20:07):
But then it didn't stop there.
By 8 pm I was awake up to 3 amthe following day, making phone
calls and appealing to soldiers,persuading them to intervene,
Because this time around, morethan eight communities were
flooded at the same time andChristian houses and churches
(20:29):
were set up simultaneouslyacross these communities.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Oh, my goodness, once again, look at the level of
intentionality that you have tohave in order to commit these
acts of atrocity.
There's a level of anger andwrath inside of things.
You're not pleasing the MostHigh God because you go in in a
coordinated attack and killpeople and burn down their homes
and you know again.
It's such a stark contrast whenyou look at the Word of God and
(21:11):
you see things like 1 John, 4,7 through 12.
Be loved, let us love oneanother, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been bornof God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
love.
In this the love of God wasmade manifest among us that God
sent his only Son in the worldso that we might live through
him.
In this is love, not that wehave loved God, but that he
(21:32):
loved us and sent his Son to bethe appropriation of our sins
Beloved.
If God 1 John he goes intotalking about, how can you say
that you love God but yet hateand despise your brother?
(21:55):
Say that you love God but yethate and despise your brother?
So for men, 500 in number, togo in into the dead of night
while people are sleeping in thepeace of their home and to
bring a spirit of chaos.
That's not.
If that's your God, then Idon't want to serve your God.
I'll just be honest.
There's no way that we canserve the same God.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
And those attacks according to information
originals are still ongoing aswe speak.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Well, masara, we're talking about anti-Christian
pogroms.
We're talking about mass graves.
We're talking about terrorism.
We're talking about kids beingkilled because they're Christian
.
Why is no one literally no onein the West reporting about this
?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, because the Nigerian authorities who are, by
the way, Literally no one inthe West reporting about this
distort the narrative to churnout false narratives, describing
(22:56):
these attacks as mere clashesbetween sedentary farmers, who
are chiefly Christians, andsemi-nomadic cattle herders.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
So they're lying.
I mean, and they're lyingbecause if you study what's
happening in Nigeria, there isthis Muslim-Muslim controversy
it's the Muslim-Muslim ticket iswhat they call it essentially
where the president and the vicepresident are both Muslims and
the state of Nigeria the countryof Nigeria is approximately now
(23:26):
52 percent Muslim.
There are many in that, in thatenvironment, that want it to be
an Islamic state.
So the theory is that if youkill out Christians, you're
getting rid of those populationgroups and you're making more of
the country more Islamic innature.
(23:47):
Okay, so therefore, you can nowbring in an Islamic caliphate
and you have groups like BokoHaram and ISWA, which is the
Islamic state West Africa, thatare operating in these
territories and they're beingunchecked by the government.
Imagine in America, imagine thisyou hear a story about 500
(24:08):
people being massacred inGeorgia, north of Atlanta.
Do you think that the peoplethat did that atrocity would
just be walking around in thegovernment playing it down and
saying, oh, it's just somepeople clashing with each
other's different ethnic groupsclashing.
No, they would be apprehended.
That's the benefit of us livingin America is that we have at
(24:31):
least the ability to recognizeOK, right from wrong in that
regard, and we know that killingand murder is vile and you
don't do that.
Now we have our own problems,of course, with school shootings
and these kinds of things, andit's just, it's horrendous that
those things occur in ourcountry.
But imagine if we were seeinggroups of people being killed
(24:56):
indiscriminately in our countryand the government just did
nothing about it.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It appears that the US authorities, particularly
under the previousadministration of President Joe
Biden, have bought into theselies and have continued to
spread the lies, you know,distorting the narrative, hiding
the truth about the attacks,making the world believe that
this is not a situation to beconcerned about and therefore
(25:24):
let's just allow them to dealwith their issues.
These are just clashes betweendifferent ethnic groups or
people of different groups, andtherefore let them deal with
their problems.
But again, what is going on isan agenda a clear-cut,
calculated agenda to eliminateChristians in Africa's most
populous nation and impose anIslamic caliphate, a caliphate
(25:49):
governed by extremist ideologies, governed by Sharia.
And I say this confidentlybecause I have been covering
this violence for the past 15years and I have seen
communities Christiancommunities uprooted and
replaced with Muslims, and thosecommunities are not just turned
to no-go zones for Christians,but they are also converted to
(26:12):
staging grounds for more terrorattacks.
Converted to staging groundsfor more terror attacks.
I remember a particular incident.
I mean on a couple of years ago, on June, the 23rd of 2018, I
(26:33):
was attacked.
My team was attacked at alocation approximately 30 miles
southwest of Jaws, at anintersection leading to a town
called Mahanga.
Now you can look that up on theinternet.
On Google Maps, search the townMahanga, m-a-h-a-n-g-a.
Now, that town was initially aChristian town that was attacked
precisely on September 11, 2001.
(26:54):
Now this is a story that theworld does not even know.
Even the Christians and therest of the people in the United
States do not know.
While Al-Qaeda terrorists werewreaking havoc in the United
States, where they eventuallykilled more than 2,900 people in
(27:14):
a terror attack that remainsperhaps the largest and the most
devastating in history, anotherset of terrorists, also
shouting Allahu Akbar, marchedto this town, which was
originally known as Rankum,spelled R-A-N-K-U-M and killed
more than 200 people anddisplaced the remaining
(27:37):
residents and instantly tookover the town.
As we speak, that town has notjust served as a staging ground
for more terror attacks, but hasproduced more mahangas like it.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I hate to say it, but this is what Islam is about.
I mean, let's look at it.
Muhammad was a warlord and aconqueror.
He was, that's just a fact.
He conquered Medina.
He conquered Mecca.
He went all throughout theIberian Peninsula.
He went all throughout NorthAfrica.
(28:11):
He went all the way east in theMongolian states.
He went all the way north intoEurope.
He was pushed back by Europeans, but not until he conquered
Constantinople, which is nowmodern day Turkey, or Istanbul.
Conquered Constantinople, whichis now modern day Turkey, or
Istanbul.
Ok, they, they, they.
They take over, but Mohammedand Islam cannot drive out the
(28:33):
Holy Spirit.
And where there is persecution,the gospel will continue to be
preached, and Jesus said thisvery clearly to those of us that
are followers of him Matthew,chapter 24, verse 9 through 14.
Then you will be handed over tobe persecuted and put to death,
and you will be hated by allnations because of me.
(28:54):
At that time, many will turnaway from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, andmany false prophets will appear
and deceive many people.
Because of the increase ofwickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, but the one whostands firm to the end will be
(29:17):
to me in this verse is thehearts will grow cold.
A group of people that, becauseof their belief system, think
that they have the authority togo in and kill and murder and do
vile acts in the name of theirGod.
Once again, you have toquestion what is the source of
(29:42):
the information?
Are they themselves pervertingthe scriptures or are they just
living out and being a modelexample of their leader?
For those of us that areChristians, our model is Jesus,
and Jesus was the even.
According to the Quran, esau wasperfect.
He was a man with no sin.
He committed nothing, no harm,no violence against anyone.
(30:05):
On the contrary, muhammad wasan individual who had quite a
bit of transgressions and sordidpast, and the Quran says very
clearly that Muhammad had torepent of his sins, that and we
don't even know if he wasexcused from his sins.
Whereas Esau, who we call Jesus, they call Esau, he is at the
(30:27):
right hand of the father.
He was taken up.
So who would you rather follow?
A perfect man without sin, or aman who was a warlord and a
conqueror and went and subjectednations and people groups all
throughout his lifetime?
I think it's very clear andobvious who we should be
following.
(30:47):
But there are those around theworld that would disagree, and
that's fine.
We can do that.
We can disagree, but there istruth and there is right from
wrong and it's obvious to me tosee that killing people, killing
children and women, burningdown villages is wrong,
unequivocally.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
More than 150 communities that have been
captured by terrorists acting onthe orders of their superiors,
their warlords, their commandersin Mahanga, or with active
collaboration of terrorists inMahanga to capture more
communities.
And this is happening over andover again.
So the area that has sufferedthe latest attacks is one of
(31:28):
those that has managed tosurvive the attacks through the
efforts of civilian guards,civilian volunteer guards who,
by the way, just managed todefend with makeshift weapons,
chiefly homemade single-shotpipe guns and hunting rifles,
which are never in any wayeffective to repel these attacks
(31:51):
.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Wow, this is heavy.
It really is.
It's heavy on my heart tolisten to this because, you know
, they don't even have weaponsto fight.
They have no violent intentagainst their attackers, they're
not even prepared.
They're having to get makeshiftweapons just so that they don't
(32:12):
get massacred.
I mean, this is crazy that weare having to deal with these
kinds of things and, honestly,it gives me more confidence to
know that what I believe is true, right, that it is the gospel,
is offensive to those that don'twant to submit or surrender to
(32:32):
the truth, because why would youhave the need to drive somebody
else out of a place unless youwanted to silence them?
And you want to silence truthwhen you want to live a lie, and
this is what people do whenthey're trying to avoid
accountability.
You get rid of those that wouldhold you accountable because
(32:54):
their very lives, their veryexistence, bothers you, and this
is an issue that we have in ourworld.
But I'm encouraged at the endof the day, because the question
is what should our response beas Christians?
Well, our response should be tobe like Jesus, our response
should be the Beatitudes, andI'm going to leave us with this
(33:17):
passage, because I think it's aphenomenal passage for us to
reflect on and remember thatJesus gave us a very clear
blueprint of how to handlepersecution, and he said this in
Matthew, chapter 5, 1 through12.
And this is the infamous, orthe famous, sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
(33:38):
heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for theywill inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hungerand thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, forthey will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children
(33:59):
of God.
Blessed are those who arepersecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is thekingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when peopleinsult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evilagainst you.
Because of me, rejoice and beglad, because great is your
reward in heaven, for in thesame way they persecuted the
(34:20):
prophets who were before you.
And so, when I look at this,blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are those that givemercy.
My prayer is that those thatcommitted these things would
have would find forgiveness.
I pray for their souls.
I pray for them, because therehas to be a level of darkness
inside of you to make you go inand do something like this.
(34:41):
And I pray that, when they goto bed at night, that the Holy
Spirit convicts their hearts andminds that they repent and that
God forgives them and they cometo a place where they recognize
the truth.
And the truth is that God islove, jesus is his son and he
came to cleanse the earth of ouriniquity, to take away our
(35:04):
strife, to take away the pain,to take away the fear, to take
away the intentions that areselfish inside of us.
And it's only the evil one thatdrives someone to kill and to
murder and to persecute.
And I pray for these peoplethat are committing these acts
because they do not know whatthey do.
(35:25):
I hope you've been blessed bythis.
I am Brandon C Ricks.
This is Equipped for Life.
Once again, be blessed and bestrong on your journey.
The genocide against Christians in Nigeria took an
egregious turn for the worsethis weekend.
Yet another horrifying reportis coming out of Nigeria, as
over 60 Christians have beenmurdered by Muslim Fulani
terrorists in what is beingcalled a genocide.
Where is the global outreach?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Terrorists shouting Allahu Akbar, have embarked on a
mission.
You know a village, a massvillage, burning mission.
This attack started on theevening of May, the 25th on a.
(00:49):
Sunday evening with the murderof a pastor.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
All right, welcome back to the Equipped for Life
podcast.
Happy to have you all hereagain.
We're like, just keep knockingthese episodes out.
I am your host, brandon C Ricks.
Eflmencom is the websiteEFLmencom.
If you want to know more aboutwhat we do here at Equipped for
Life, once again, always rock inthe Fly merch.
(01:25):
This is the Trust, the Processt-shirt, because the Holy Spirit
is always sanctifying thebelievers and it's a process.
Salvation and sanctificationthey go hand in hand.
Don't be a fire insuranceChristian, okay, and what that
means is you just want salvationand nothing else, right?
So EFLmencom, eflmencom,eflmencom.
(01:45):
You can find us on allplatforms.
We have group studies throughoutthe week, on Tuesdays, fridays
and Saturdays.
If you are in the Dallas-FortWorth area, come by, check it
out, come fellowship with us,you'll love it.
We got people of all ages,walks of life, cultures,
backgrounds, all the way from 17to 88.
Yes, indeed, we are a uniquefellowship of men.
(02:09):
Got to give a shout out to myawesome crew behind the scenes
Reed, jaden, santiago, in thehouse today, the young bucks
holding it down, you know, forme, for these old heads in the
building, you know so they arethe future, they are the new
generation and we got to showthem a whole lot of love.
You'll be seeing more of theirfaces on TikTok and IG, so make
sure you check out Equipped forLife Media.
(02:31):
Equipped for Life EFL on allplatforms.
All right, and, as always, likesubscribe.
Do what you got to do.
If you're listening to audioexperience, go on over to
YouTube.
Check out the YouTube, becauseyou're missing it.
We have a really, really dopeepisode today.
Not dope because it's cool oranything, but it's sad, it's
heartbreaking, but it'shappening and so we have to
(02:53):
address it.
And it's a topic of genocide.
That's right.
Genocide, you say, well, areyou throwing around that word
loosely?
I know a lot of people do.
But no, we are being veryauthentic.
We don't want to have any cap,as we say okay, we want to make
sure that we're honest and we'rereal, but, yes, if you don't
know what's going on in Nigeria,you need to be aware.
So we're going to listen to thisinterview that I saw about a
(03:18):
gentleman in Nigeria who istrying to ring the alarm bells
about what's happening in northcentral Nigeria, above Abuja, a
little bit east of Abuja, inwhat they call the plateau
region, in the Joss Plateau, andChristians are being killed in
numbers, massacred, murderedwomen and children, and we just
(03:40):
don't seem to care because we'rejust too busy, you know,
consuming our cultural Americancontent, and if it doesn't
appeal or apply to us, then wejust kind of act like it doesn't
happen.
And also because the worlddoesn't really care that
Christians are getting killed.
Ok, and that's a part of it.
So for those of us that arebelievers, I think we have to
recognize that, that the worldjust doesn't really care, you
(04:00):
know.
So we can talk about politics,we can talk about all these
other things, but we asbelievers have to be aware of
the fact that our brothers andsisters across the world are
being killed for Christ, whilewe just kind of enjoy some of
our luxuries here as Americans.
But you know, I don't want tocriticize this.
I want to make it known so thatwe, as believers know how to
(04:22):
pray and walk alongside ourfellow brothers and sisters in
Christ that are being persecutedaround the world.
So let's hop into this content.
If you haven't heard about it,you're going to want to know,
and this is one of many thingsyou might have said.
Well, I already heard aboutthis.
Well, it's happening again.
It's happening all the time,year over year.
Christians are being massacredand killed in Nigeria
(04:45):
specifically, and I thinkthere's some nefarious things
going on with the government,and we'll get to that here a
little bit later in the episode,but let's hop into it.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Is a genocide against Christians happening right now
in Nigeria.
Well, Masara Kim, a reporterfor Truth Nigeria, joins us now.
Well, Masara, you recentlywrote an article calling this an
anti-Christian pogrom.
What is actually happening inNigeria?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Okay, real quick.
Pogrom is like a fancy word forgenocide or massacre.
It's actually a Russian wordthat it means violent riot
incited with the aim ofmassacring or expelling an
ethnic or religious group, andit was particularly used for
Jews and it was an organizedmassacre in about the 20th
(05:34):
century in Europe.
And this is a Russian word.
So a pogrom is a is a massacre.
He's being fancy with his words, so if you heard that word no,
he's not talking about pilgrim,he says pogrom, p-o-g-r-o-m.
Pogrom.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Simplest way to describe what is going on in
Nigeria is a genocide that youknow.
Just as you said, it isentirely a religious cleansing
targeted at Christiancommunities, and this has been
ongoing for several decades nowwithout the world paying
(06:08):
attention or at least turning ablind eye.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So, again, I had to make this point.
Is that the reason why theworld is turning a blind eye?
Because the world doesn't careabout Christians.
The world is run by theadversary.
We know this right.
When Jesus was tempted for 40days and 40 nights and the
adversary took him and showedhim all the kingdoms of the
nations, the nations of theearth, he said if you bow to
(06:33):
them, if you bow to me, I willgive all this to you.
Well, you don't give what youdon't have authority over and
the world system and the nationswithin it.
They are not interested inspreading the gospel.
Ok, so this is the reason why,no matter what American
president you have, whether it'sa Democrat or Republican in
office, they don't really tendto care about matters of
(06:54):
persecution.
We just saw Donald Trumpmeeting with the new president
of Syria, while the newpresident of Syria is massacring
Christians and Alawites all outthe country.
I don't know if thatconversation was even had when
they met.
Okay, because the world is notfond of Christians, because it
pushes back against the economyof the world, it pushes back
(07:17):
against the agenda of the world,and this is the reason why you
hear in scripture that it saysthat anyone that has love for
the world, the love of theFather, is not in them.
Okay, so just keep that in mindas we.
As we watch this and you wonderkind of why does nobody talk
about it?
Nobody cares.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In the last couple of days, precisely uh, from the
Sunday, the 25th um, we have hadongoing relentless attacks
against Christian Christiancommunities approximately 55
miles south of Jaws, the capitalof Plateau State, and these
attacks are part of a pardon youknow they follow a pardon of
(07:54):
violence that has killed morethan 200 Christians in the
central region of Nigeria sincethe holy month of April.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
So real quick, just so that you know, joss is in
Plateau State.
It's north central Nigeria.
One of the things that I thinkis important to note I think a
part of the problem is thatwe're so far away in America we
don't understand the history orthe cultures there.
So the Hausa and Fulani tribesare the predominantly Muslim
(08:25):
tribes in that area.
They came to Islam in betweenthe 8th and 9th century, and the
Mali Empire was one of thefirst empires to convert to
Islam.
And you see Islam spreadingthrough West Africa as a result
of the Mali Empire's success intravel and trade, and also
(08:46):
Muhammad and his Muhammadiansokay, the Muslims.
They spread all throughoutnorthwest Africa and they spread
Islam through these regions,right, so the Hausa and the
Fulani are the predominantIslamic tribes there.
In north-central Nigeria, theChristian tribes are
predominantly the Birom and theNagas or the Angus tribes.
(09:10):
Okay, and they came to faith inChrist well, some would say
through missionaries in the 18thand 19th century.
But what's interesting aboutboth these tribes the Birom and
the Angus tribe, is that theymigrated from Ethiopia and Egypt
.
In fact, the Nagas tribe, theyhave an Afro-Asiatic language
(09:34):
that they speak.
Okay, and the Afro-Asiaticlanguages are Shemitic tongues,
berberic tongues and Kushitictongues.
So it's quite interesting thatyou see these people migrated.
The Bera migrated from what weknow as Ethiopia down into the
Sudan, then to Chad, then toNiger and now, where they have
(09:56):
settled, into the Joss Plateauin north central Nigeria.
So it's quite interesting.
It almost seems like God ispursuing these people because if
they had for thousands of yearsbeen occupying the northern
half of parts of Africa and theymigrate over time, I wonder
what caused those migrationpatterns and what do those
(10:17):
people believe and understandabout God, and how did they have
a faith and knowledge of whoYeshua is, and why did the
missionaries come to thoseplaces specifically?
So those are just questions Iwant you to think about, as
we're kind of seeing the eveningafter celebrating Palm Sunday
with shouts of hallelujah.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
There were thunderings, there were
thunderous gunshots all over thecommunity and more than 55
people were massacred at aninstant and dozens of houses
were burned down.
And interestingly, or rathermore heartbreaking, is the fact
that children and women form thevast majority of the victims of
(11:19):
these massacres.
In one particular room, Iwalked into a room where I saw
the bodies of eight childrenfrom ages between three and
eight that were literallyslaughtered.
They were literally slaughteredand you could see their brains
plastered with walls and youcould see the room was entirely
(11:43):
flooded with their blood.
And I could not I just couldnot imagine what manner of human
being would do that.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
And yet, this is terrible.
I mean, who kills children?
I mean, I think that this is apart of the problem, right, when
you get into theseconversations about equality as
it relates to religion.
And in the Western world, wehave this moral relativism and
it's this idea that all beliefsystems are equal and they're
(12:10):
not Okay.
Any belief system that wouldgive justification for murdering
and killing people is a flawedideology, and you have to look
at what these beliefs teach.
I think it's very telling to me, because, when you have to look
at what these beliefs teach, Ithink it's very telling to me
because when you go to the Bibleand you see what Jesus and his
(12:31):
disciples taught, it wasn't arejoicing in death and it wasn't
a murderous intent 2Corinthians, 10, 4 and 5, for,
though we live in the world, wedo not wage war as the world
does.
The weapons we fight with arenot the weapons of the world.
On the world, we do not wagewar as the world does.
The weapons we fight with arenot the weapons of the world.
On the contrary, they havedivine power to demolish
strongholds.
We demolish arguments and everypretension that sets itself up
(12:55):
against the knowledge of God,and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient toChrist.
It is a spiritual battle thatwe are fighting, not one of a
physical nature, because wedon't need to oppress people to
make them believe in Jesus.
We simply just walk in love.
You look in John, chapter 18, 10through 11, and you see how the
Messiah behaved when his owndisciples tried to incite
(13:18):
violence when they were takinghim away to be crucified.
And Peter takes out a dagger orit's a sword, it says, but
really it's like a small dagger,it's a small, you know, kind of
pocket sword, if you will andhe cuts off the temple guard's
ear and the Messiah's responseis put your sword away.
Shall I not drink the cup myfather's given me?
(13:40):
This is this idea that I havenot come to wage war against
mankind for we battle notagainst flesh and blood, not
against flesh and blood,ephesians 6 says, but the
principalities in the heavenlyplaces and heavenly realms.
So as Christians, we're notcalled to take up arms, okay, in
war against people of differentfaiths and different cultures
(14:03):
that differ than us.
We're called to pray for them,to love them.
On the contrary, in the Quranit's very clear what it teaches,
surah 929, fight those who donot believe in Allah in the last
day, nor comply with what Allahand his messenger have
forbidden, nor embrace thereligion of truth from among
those who are given thescripture until they pay the tax
(14:25):
, willingly submitting, fullyhumbled.
This is in the surahs, okay.
So they're instructed tooppress and to tear down and to
break down those who do notbelieve in Allah and his
messenger, in surah 2, 191.
And do not fight them at thesacred mosque, unless they
(14:55):
attack you there.
If they do so, then fight them.
That is the reward of thedisbelievers.
So violence is the reward ofthose who don't believe.
For those of us that areChristians, for those that don't
believe, the reward is the factthat you get separated from God
.
But it's not ours to wage warand to push you out.
But again, I think that theNigerian government is up to
(15:16):
something and we're going tolearn more about that here.
This gentleman is going to tellus all about it.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
You sent me a video before we got started of and
again, if you're watching thisand you're a little queasy, I
think it's important for theworld to see this you sent us a
video of basically a mass grave.
What happened there?
When was this of?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
basically a mass grave.
What happened there?
When was this?
Yeah, so I was trying todescribe a situation, an
incident that happened and it'sstill ongoing in an area called
Mushere M-U-S-H-E-R-E, locatedin the Bocos County, where
terrorists shouting Allahu Akbarhave embarked on a mission you
(16:00):
know, a village, a mass villageburning mission.
This attack started on theevening of May, the 25th, on a
Sunday evening, with the murderof a pastor.
He was attacked in hisresidence and killed.
His wife was injured and leftfor dead, alongside with another
(16:21):
resident in the house.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Evildoers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Once again, if you're coming inthe name of a God or a spirit
that is calling you to killbabies, to rape and kill men's
wives, to burn down their homes,to come into their village in
the dead of night like vipersand you're going to say Alu
(16:50):
Akbar, alu Akbar, god is great.
While you're doing it, I haveto ask you what God do you serve
?
I'm not quite sure, but I knowwhat Jesus says and I know what
Revelation says.
Revelation 21, 6 through 8 sayshe said to me it is done.
I am the Alpha and Omega, thebeginning and the end.
(17:10):
To the thirsty I will givewater without cost from the
spring of the water of life.
Those who are victorious willinherit all this and I be their
God and they will be my children.
But the cowardly, theunbelieving, the vile, the
murderers, the sexually immoral,those who practice magic arts,
the idolaters and all the liars,they will be co-signed to the
(17:31):
fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death.
This is what is written in ourscripture.
So anything that's against that, any God or any spirit that
calls you to take arms and tokill children, is not.
We don't worship the same God,and so you have to dispel this
idea that Yahweh and Allah arethe same.
(17:52):
They're not.
The Quran is not the same asthe Bible, it just isn't.
In its plainest day, revelations22, 12 through 15 says this
look, I am coming soon, myreward is with me and I will
give to each person according towhat they have done.
I am the Alpha and Omega, thefirst and the last, the
beginning, the end.
Blessed are those who washtheir robes that they may have
(18:14):
the right to the tree of lifeand may go through the gates
into the city.
Outside are the dogs.
Those who wash their robes thatthey may have the right to the
tree of life and may go throughthe gates into the city.
Outside are the dogs those whopractice magic arts, the
sexually immoral, the murderers,the idolaters and everyone who
loves and practices falsehood.
And so this is a stark warningfor those that would want to
embrace these ideas or say OK,well, you know, these things
(18:37):
happen around the world, it'snot a big deal, but what manner
of man do you have to be to goin and to bash a child's head
into a wall, or to shoot a childor to rape a woman in the
presence of her husband.
That's not God honoring, butyou're shouting Allahu Akbar
while you're doing it, and so,again, my question is perhaps we
don't have the same God, maybewe're worshiping different
(18:59):
entities?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
By the following morning, just when the survivors
were being conveyed to thehospital and the body of this
pastor was also conveyed to themortuary, these terrorists
returned and killed seven morepeople.
Right and after, the militaryintervened and pushed back these
(19:23):
invaders.
The following morning, whilethe mass burial for these eight
people these seven people thatyou saw in that video was
ongoing, these terroristsmobilized and came back again,
this time around in a largernumber.
Residents and witnessesdescribed the force as more than
(19:46):
500.
They estimated the force thatattacked the mourners to be more
than 500.
And they literally abandonedthe corpses in that mass grave
and flee for their lives, beforesoldiers later accompanied a
few people much later at nightto bury them.
(20:07):
But then it didn't stop there.
By 8 pm I was awake up to 3 amthe following day, making phone
calls and appealing to soldiers,persuading them to intervene,
Because this time around, morethan eight communities were
flooded at the same time andChristian houses and churches
(20:29):
were set up simultaneouslyacross these communities.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Oh, my goodness, once again, look at the level of
intentionality that you have tohave in order to commit these
acts of atrocity.
There's a level of anger andwrath inside of things.
You're not pleasing the MostHigh God because you go in in a
coordinated attack and killpeople and burn down their homes
and you know again.
It's such a stark contrast whenyou look at the Word of God and
(21:11):
you see things like 1 John, 4,7 through 12.
Be loved, let us love oneanother, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been bornof God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
love.
In this the love of God wasmade manifest among us that God
sent his only Son in the worldso that we might live through
him.
In this is love, not that wehave loved God, but that he
(21:32):
loved us and sent his Son to bethe appropriation of our sins
Beloved.
If God 1 John he goes intotalking about, how can you say
that you love God but yet hateand despise your brother?
(21:55):
Say that you love God but yethate and despise your brother?
So for men, 500 in number, togo in into the dead of night
while people are sleeping in thepeace of their home and to
bring a spirit of chaos.
That's not.
If that's your God, then Idon't want to serve your God.
I'll just be honest.
There's no way that we canserve the same God.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
And those attacks according to information
originals are still ongoing aswe speak.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Well, masara, we're talking about anti-Christian
pogroms.
We're talking about mass graves.
We're talking about terrorism.
We're talking about kids beingkilled because they're Christian
.
Why is no one literally no onein the West reporting about this
?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, because the Nigerian authorities who are, by
the way, Literally no one inthe West reporting about this
distort the narrative to churnout false narratives, describing
(22:56):
these attacks as mere clashesbetween sedentary farmers, who
are chiefly Christians, andsemi-nomadic cattle herders.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
So they're lying.
I mean, and they're lyingbecause if you study what's
happening in Nigeria, there isthis Muslim-Muslim controversy
it's the Muslim-Muslim ticket iswhat they call it essentially
where the president and the vicepresident are both Muslims and
the state of Nigeria the countryof Nigeria is approximately now
(23:26):
52 percent Muslim.
There are many in that, in thatenvironment, that want it to be
an Islamic state.
So the theory is that if youkill out Christians, you're
getting rid of those populationgroups and you're making more of
the country more Islamic innature.
(23:47):
Okay, so therefore, you can nowbring in an Islamic caliphate
and you have groups like BokoHaram and ISWA, which is the
Islamic state West Africa, thatare operating in these
territories and they're beingunchecked by the government.
Imagine in America, imagine thisyou hear a story about 500
(24:08):
people being massacred inGeorgia, north of Atlanta.
Do you think that the peoplethat did that atrocity would
just be walking around in thegovernment playing it down and
saying, oh, it's just somepeople clashing with each
other's different ethnic groupsclashing.
No, they would be apprehended.
That's the benefit of us livingin America is that we have at
(24:31):
least the ability to recognizeOK, right from wrong in that
regard, and we know that killingand murder is vile and you
don't do that.
Now we have our own problems,of course, with school shootings
and these kinds of things, andit's just, it's horrendous that
those things occur in ourcountry.
But imagine if we were seeinggroups of people being killed
(24:56):
indiscriminately in our countryand the government just did
nothing about it.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It appears that the US authorities, particularly
under the previousadministration of President Joe
Biden, have bought into theselies and have continued to
spread the lies, you know,distorting the narrative, hiding
the truth about the attacks,making the world believe that
this is not a situation to beconcerned about and therefore
(25:24):
let's just allow them to dealwith their issues.
These are just clashes betweendifferent ethnic groups or
people of different groups, andtherefore let them deal with
their problems.
But again, what is going on isan agenda a clear-cut,
calculated agenda to eliminateChristians in Africa's most
populous nation and impose anIslamic caliphate, a caliphate
(25:49):
governed by extremist ideologies, governed by Sharia.
And I say this confidentlybecause I have been covering
this violence for the past 15years and I have seen
communities Christiancommunities uprooted and
replaced with Muslims, and thosecommunities are not just turned
to no-go zones for Christians,but they are also converted to
(26:12):
staging grounds for more terrorattacks.
Converted to staging groundsfor more terror attacks.
I remember a particular incident.
I mean on a couple of years ago, on June, the 23rd of 2018, I
(26:33):
was attacked.
My team was attacked at alocation approximately 30 miles
southwest of Jaws, at anintersection leading to a town
called Mahanga.
Now you can look that up on theinternet.
On Google Maps, search the townMahanga, m-a-h-a-n-g-a.
Now, that town was initially aChristian town that was attacked
precisely on September 11, 2001.
(26:54):
Now this is a story that theworld does not even know.
Even the Christians and therest of the people in the United
States do not know.
While Al-Qaeda terrorists werewreaking havoc in the United
States, where they eventuallykilled more than 2,900 people in
(27:14):
a terror attack that remainsperhaps the largest and the most
devastating in history, anotherset of terrorists, also
shouting Allahu Akbar, marchedto this town, which was
originally known as Rankum,spelled R-A-N-K-U-M and killed
more than 200 people anddisplaced the remaining
(27:37):
residents and instantly tookover the town.
As we speak, that town has notjust served as a staging ground
for more terror attacks, but hasproduced more mahangas like it.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I hate to say it, but this is what Islam is about.
I mean, let's look at it.
Muhammad was a warlord and aconqueror.
He was, that's just a fact.
He conquered Medina.
He conquered Mecca.
He went all throughout theIberian Peninsula.
He went all throughout NorthAfrica.
(28:11):
He went all the way east in theMongolian states.
He went all the way north intoEurope.
He was pushed back by Europeans, but not until he conquered
Constantinople, which is nowmodern day Turkey, or Istanbul.
Conquered Constantinople, whichis now modern day Turkey, or
Istanbul.
Ok, they, they, they.
They take over, but Mohammedand Islam cannot drive out the
(28:33):
Holy Spirit.
And where there is persecution,the gospel will continue to be
preached, and Jesus said thisvery clearly to those of us that
are followers of him Matthew,chapter 24, verse 9 through 14.
Then you will be handed over tobe persecuted and put to death,
and you will be hated by allnations because of me.
(28:54):
At that time, many will turnaway from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, andmany false prophets will appear
and deceive many people.
Because of the increase ofwickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, but the one whostands firm to the end will be
(29:17):
to me in this verse is thehearts will grow cold.
A group of people that, becauseof their belief system, think
that they have the authority togo in and kill and murder and do
vile acts in the name of theirGod.
Once again, you have toquestion what is the source of
(29:42):
the information?
Are they themselves pervertingthe scriptures or are they just
living out and being a modelexample of their leader?
For those of us that areChristians, our model is Jesus,
and Jesus was the even.
According to the Quran, esau wasperfect.
He was a man with no sin.
He committed nothing, no harm,no violence against anyone.
(30:05):
On the contrary, muhammad wasan individual who had quite a
bit of transgressions and sordidpast, and the Quran says very
clearly that Muhammad had torepent of his sins, that and we
don't even know if he wasexcused from his sins.
Whereas Esau, who we call Jesus, they call Esau, he is at the
(30:27):
right hand of the father.
He was taken up.
So who would you rather follow?
A perfect man without sin, or aman who was a warlord and a
conqueror and went and subjectednations and people groups all
throughout his lifetime?
I think it's very clear andobvious who we should be
following.
(30:47):
But there are those around theworld that would disagree, and
that's fine.
We can do that.
We can disagree, but there istruth and there is right from
wrong and it's obvious to me tosee that killing people, killing
children and women, burningdown villages is wrong,
unequivocally.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
More than 150 communities that have been
captured by terrorists acting onthe orders of their superiors,
their warlords, their commandersin Mahanga, or with active
collaboration of terrorists inMahanga to capture more
communities.
And this is happening over andover again.
So the area that has sufferedthe latest attacks is one of
(31:28):
those that has managed tosurvive the attacks through the
efforts of civilian guards,civilian volunteer guards who,
by the way, just managed todefend with makeshift weapons,
chiefly homemade single-shotpipe guns and hunting rifles,
which are never in any wayeffective to repel these attacks
(31:51):
.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Wow, this is heavy.
It really is.
It's heavy on my heart tolisten to this because, you know
, they don't even have weaponsto fight.
They have no violent intentagainst their attackers, they're
not even prepared.
They're having to get makeshiftweapons just so that they don't
(32:12):
get massacred.
I mean, this is crazy that weare having to deal with these
kinds of things and, honestly,it gives me more confidence to
know that what I believe is true, right, that it is the gospel,
is offensive to those that don'twant to submit or surrender to
(32:32):
the truth, because why would youhave the need to drive somebody
else out of a place unless youwanted to silence them?
And you want to silence truthwhen you want to live a lie, and
this is what people do whenthey're trying to avoid
accountability.
You get rid of those that wouldhold you accountable because
(32:54):
their very lives, their veryexistence, bothers you, and this
is an issue that we have in ourworld.
But I'm encouraged at the endof the day, because the question
is what should our response beas Christians?
Well, our response should be tobe like Jesus, our response
should be the Beatitudes, andI'm going to leave us with this
(33:17):
passage, because I think it's aphenomenal passage for us to
reflect on and remember thatJesus gave us a very clear
blueprint of how to handlepersecution, and he said this in
Matthew, chapter 5, 1 through12.
And this is the infamous, orthe famous, sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
(33:38):
heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for theywill inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hungerand thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, forthey will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children
(33:59):
of God.
Blessed are those who arepersecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is thekingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when peopleinsult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evilagainst you.
Because of me, rejoice and beglad, because great is your
reward in heaven, for in thesame way they persecuted the
(34:20):
prophets who were before you.
And so, when I look at this,blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are those that givemercy.
My prayer is that those thatcommitted these things would
have would find forgiveness.
I pray for their souls.
I pray for them, because therehas to be a level of darkness
inside of you to make you go inand do something like this.
(34:41):
And I pray that, when they goto bed at night, that the Holy
Spirit convicts their hearts andminds that they repent and that
God forgives them and they cometo a place where they recognize
the truth.
And the truth is that God islove, jesus is his son and he
came to cleanse the earth of ouriniquity, to take away our
(35:04):
strife, to take away the pain,to take away the fear, to take
away the intentions that areselfish inside of us.
And it's only the evil one thatdrives someone to kill and to
murder and to persecute.
And I pray for these peoplethat are committing these acts
because they do not know whatthey do.
(35:25):
I hope you've been blessed bythis.
I am Brandon C Ricks.
This is Equipped for Life.
Once again, be blessed and bestrong on your journey.
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