Blog note:  Christian Persecution. Jesus indicated that many would hate and persecute Christians because of His name. This has always been the case and is increasing in intensity and frequency.

Psalm 25:19. Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

Psalm 38:19. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

Psalm 41:7. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

Psalm 69:4. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

Psalm 69:14. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Matthew 10:22. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mark 13:13. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Luke 6:22. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

Luke 14:26. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 19:14. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

Luke 21:17. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

John 7:7. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

John 15:18. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

John 15:23. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. End of note.

China’s ‘Ultimate Goal Is to Eliminate All Religion,’ Priest Warns

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter | Oct 20, 2018 11:55 AM

A Roman Catholic priest has warned that China’s ultimate goal is “eliminate all religion,” urging the Vatican to reconsider a major deal with the Communist government.

Father Paul of Hebei province, as the priest was identified by International Christian Concern, was responding to discussions about how Chinese Catholics should feel about the deal, when he said that the current Chinese regime’s “ultimate goal is to eliminate all religion.”

As evidence, Paul pointed to the revised Regulations on Religious Affairs that were implemented in February, and have seen church closures, congregants being detained, Bibles burned, and students being forced to sign documents renouncing their faith.

Other religious minorities, including Muslims, have also faced widespread crackdowns, including detentions at so-called “re-educational” camps.

Paul’s warnings, which came in response to a recent Religious Affairs Committee seminar, also pushed back against government officials who are demanding that Catholics regulate their religious activities to protect government interests.

The controversial Vatican deal in question refers to allowing the Chinese government to select its own bishop candidates. The Holy See announced in September that it had reached a provisional agreement in order to end seven decades of conflict with China.

While supporters of the move have said it would lead to improved relations between the church and China, activists and other Christians have insisted that the Vatican shouldn’t be legitimizing the atheistic regime.

“CSW is deeply concerned about the timing of this provisional agreement between the Chinese government and the Vatican,” said Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers last month.  “While we understand some of the motivations behind the Vatican’s effort toward an agreement, there are significant concerns about the implications for freedom of religion or belief in China.”

China Aid President Bob Fu added that while the Vatican’s search for cooperation with China is understandable, the deal would serve as “nothing but a betrayal of both the millions of suffering persecuted Christians in China and the global Catholic Church.”

“This could be a repeat of the 1940s Hitler’s Germany, when the German state church consented to the persecution and slaughtered millions of Jews. Ironically, how can the Vatican respond with a good clear conscience for this appeasement deal while the CCP just launched a secret war vowing the wipe out of underground Catholics and Protestants?” Fu warned.

Pope Francis has vowed to take full responsibility for the move, however, and even said that he received a “sign from God” in the form of a message backing the deal.

“The Chinese faithful wrote and the signature of this writ was from a bishop, let’s say it this way, of the traditional Catholic Church and from a bishop of the patriotic Church, together and faithful, both of them. For me, it was a sign from God,” Francis said at the end of September.

Still, the Roman Catholic leader admitted that “both sides [will] lose something.”

“I think of the resistance, the Catholics who have suffered. It’s true. And they will suffer. Always, in an agreement, there is suffering. They have a great faith,” he said.