Read Newsweek to get a feel for the spirit of persecution that permeates the globe and is now coming to the U.S. Then read the reviews of thisissue by Christian leaders.

The Islamic State is turning Christian churches in Iraq and Syria into dungeons and torture chambers after stripping them of priceless artifacts to sell on the black market, according to reports.

The Disney Channel wanted to know what she was thankful for. So Lilly typed in her answer. “God, my family, my church and my friends.”
. . . A message written in red popped up on the screen. “Please be nice!” the message read.

"Worship is prohibited – this is at the center of the end of time." Once we "reach the fullness of this pagan attitude truly the Son of Man will come in a cloud with great power and glory."

"For Christians in the Middle East, 2014 has been a catastrophe. The most wrenching stories have come from Iraq, where the nascent Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL ...) has savagely persecuted ancient Christian communities, including Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syrian Orthodox."

Now observers say that the end of Christianity in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East is in sight. Only Egypt and Lebanon have a sizeable Christian population, and they too are being persecuted.

The article explores the history of persecution and the question about why God allows it. Examples are given of persecution resulting in Christian growth,especially in the case of China. The author concludes, "Suffering, Yes. Extinction, No."

Open Doors USA is inviting the public to join a live interactive webcast on Saturday (November 1), while churches are invited tojoin a special webcast designed for their Sunday night services on November 2.

Alliance Defending Freedom is now reporting that the City of Houston, fighting a lawsuit related to the ordinance, is demanding thatfive pastors turn over sermon notes and private communications with church members.

The advance by ISIS toward Baghdad shows that the group isn't weakening despite U.S.-led airstrikes in Iraq. ISIS executed 300 Iraqisoldiers last week during their march toward the Iraqi capital and attempted to break into a prison in northern Baghdad.

The Vatican has called on Muslim leaders to denounce unambiguously the persecution of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq – and hinted that it is consideringbreaking off dialogue with Islamic representatives if they fail to do so.

The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue said that all religious leaders, including those espousing Islam, must condemn these crimes if they want to continue dialogue with the Catholic Church.

"So I in no way want to suggest that we have effectivelycontained or that we are somehow breaking the momentum of the threat posed by Isil.”

Maryville did say that the US strikes have given US-backed Kurdish irregular forces, known as Peshmerga, “time to fortify their defensive positions.”

Up to a quarter of Iraq's Christians are reported to be fleeing after Islamic militants seized the minority's biggest town in the country.
The Islamic State (IS) group captured Qaraqosh in Nineveh province overnight after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.

According to a message from ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, non-complying Christians were permitted to "evacuate themselves only from the caliphate state" by 12 p.m. local time on Saturday or their "only option is the sword."

Earlier this year, Christians in Raqqa were threatened with death unless they converted to Islam. . . The militants are imposing strict sharia rules andcarrying out brutal penalties, including beheadings and crucifixions.

The U.N. experts said that the right to marry and found a family was a fundamental human right, and voiced particular concern that Ishag was being held with her 20-month-old son in "harsh conditions" at the Omdurman's Women Prison near Khartoum.

Today, that figure has dwindled to less than 10%. Intolerant and extremist governments are driving away the Christian communities that have livedin the Middle East since their faith was born.

Eyewitnesses have given a harrowing account of the murder in Cairo of a young Coptic Christian woman, hauled out of her car and beaten and stabbed todeath by a Muslim mob, apparently targeted because of a cross hanging from her rear-view mirror.

"It's the top case when it comes to the healthcare law and it's the top case when it comes to the life issue and abortion."

One [case] was brought by the owners of Hobby Lobby, an arts-and-crafts chain of more than 500 stores. Their founder, David Green, said the company is run onbiblical principles.

The second case concerns Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Pennsylvania cabinet-making company owned by a Mennonite family. They also say that they cannot complywith the contraceptive mandate.

The cases ask a question the court has never confronted: whether or not the Constitution or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that protects an individual’sexercise of religion extends to secular, for-profit corporations and their owners.

Government officials reported that the church was conducting unregistered educational activities, namely holding Sunday school classes during the week without explicit permission.

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said.

The persecution watchdog group estimates that last year about 100 million Christians around the world suffered persecution for their faith.