Worthy Brief - 3/1/2023
Friend, the enemy wants to kill ... before it's even birthed!
1 Cor. 3:3-4 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren't you fleshly, and don't you walk in the ways of men?
For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," aren't you fleshly?
During the Catholic inquisitions, as millions of Christians were being killed by the Jesuit Priests for apostasy, throughout Europe, Christians were fleeing. In Bohemia alone, there were an estimated 4,000,000 Christians before the Jesuit inquisition, and ten years later, only 800,000 people remained in Bohemia – all of whom were Catholic. These terrible events prepared the ground for one of the greatest moves of God that have ever been recorded, the Moravian Revival, which lasted for over 100 years. Gustav Warneck, the German Historian of Protestant Missions, testified, "This small church in twenty years called into being more missions than the whole Evangelical Church has done in two centuries."
It began with a young man, Count Zinzendorf, who was 27 years old when he opened his estate to welcome believers escaping persecution and inviting them to settle there. There were different groups, Bohemian Brethren, Moravian Christians, Reformed Christians, and unsatisfied Catholics. After a few years, this fragmented community of some 300 individuals with differing spiritual convictions and loyalties was so rife with conflict and disunity it seemed destined to fail.
One of the village founders, Christian David, got so caught up in apocalyptic fanaticism that he referred to Zinzendorf as the “Beast of the Apocalypse,” while the estate manager of the village, Johan Andreas Rothe was termed the “False Prophet." In this impossible environment, Count Zinzendorf devoted himself full-time to reconciliation and conflict resolution, visiting each home for prayer and exemplifying the persevering love of Christ.
Amazingly, this personal attention and devotion to unity and reconciliation opened the way for an awakening that would come in just a few weeks. Yet what would have happened if Count Zinzendorf had lost patience and, in justified frustration, thrown everyone off his estate? Instead of a 100-year spiritual awakening...NOTHING of spiritual significance would have happened. The enemy, working through the carnal attitudes of believers [1 Corinthians 3:3-4], continually slandered this young man and one another, but his response was to disarm those persecuting him with the love of Christ. The result was a genuine revival.
Friend, disunity, and slander are deadly to spiritual life and will absolutely kill any hope of enjoying God's presence. This is true in the smallest company of two or three, or in a local church community, or in any size gathering at all. When the Lord is moving, He will bring humility and love as Zinzindorf did. Let this humble Count be your example in any sphere of responsibility God places you. God is always desiring to birth something supernatural!
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Going to Christian College in Dallas, Texas)
Traveling north up I-95 on the East Coast (US)
Editor's Note: Latest YouTube Video: Is it time for the spring rain? George Whitten dives into the current events in Russia, Ukraine, and Israel. He goes into detail about the events taking place in the Asbury Awakening and postulates from the Bible whether or not we are at the last great move of God.
‘Ukraine To Join NATO In Long-Term”; Clashes Intensify
The secretary general of NATO effectively warned Moscow on Monday that Ukraine would become a military alliance member in the “long term” as frontline clashes intensified and Kyiv’s military hit targets deep inside Russia.
US Treasury Secretary Yellen In Ukraine After Deadly Drone Strike
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Kyiv to reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine's struggle against Russia’s invasion, hours after deadly drone strikes in Ukraine and a counterattack against a Russian warplane.
Trains Collide In Greece; Dozens Killed
Authorities say at least 32 people have been killed and 85 injured in northern Greece after two trains collided.
UN atomic agency confirms Iran has enriched uranium close to weapons grade
Inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog found uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent in Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear site, a report seen Tuesday by The Associated Press and other major news outlets said, confirming earlier reports.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
American Citizen Killed in Jericho Area Terror Attack as Judea, Samaria Violence Expands
alestinian terrorists killed an Israeli-American citizen in another deadly attack Monday on a main highway near the city of Jericho. The killing came on the same day that the family of two murdered brothers from a Jewish community in Samaria buried their sons at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl Cemetery.
Protesters launch nationwide ‘day of disruption’ against justice overhaul
The protest movement against the government’s justice overhaul plan was set to escalate its tactics on Wednesday in a “national day of disruption.”
Inside the United States
Number of Americans identifying as LGBT has doubled in last decade, poll shows
A new Gallup poll shows that the percentage of Americans identifying as LGBT has doubled in the last 10 years, the Christian Post reports. Released on Wednesday last week, the poll was based on responses from 10,700 American adults in 2022.
Pro-life activists ‘unlawfully arrested’ for protesting fetal organ harvesting outside San Francisco hospital By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter
Pro-life activists say they were unlawfully arrested for handing out flyers outside a San Francisco hospital they believe is using aborted babies' remains in fetal tissue research.
Christian News
Ancient Biblical city of Antioch was devastated in Turkey earthquake
The ancient Turkish city of Antioch, where the Bible says followers of Jesus were first called Christians, has been devastated by the catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria on February 6 and killed 42,000 people, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
Uganda: Forty Christian children rescued after abduction by Islamist, “we thank God”
Forty Christian children in Uganda have been rescued after being kidnapped by Islamists who may have planned to sell them to a militant group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. The children’s abduction is one of many documented examples of the intense persecution of Christians in Uganda.