Islamic Republic of Iran: Sharia court sentences Christians to 80 lashes for drinking communion wine



A SHARIA court has sentenced three Christians to 80 lashes each after finding them guilty of blasphemy for drinking holy communion wine.
Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammed Reza Omidi will be flogged in public after being arrested at a house church gathering in Rasht, Iran, earlier this year. 
The trio spent weeks in prison before finally being released on bail, but will now be subjected to the cruel and degrading punishment after being found guilty by Islamist judges. 
Security agents also raided the home of their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and his wife Fatemeh Pasandideh and arrested them at the same time, but they were not detained. 
Iranian authorities later charged converts Mosibzadeh, Fadayee and Omidi for consuming alcohol during a communion service. 
It is not illegal for Christians to drink alcohol in Iran but under Islamic law, Muslims are forbidden from drinking and it is illegal for Muslims to convert. 
The trio’s conversion from Islam to Christianity is not recognised by Iranian authorities who subscribe to Sharia law.
An Iranian court sentenced the trio to 80 lashes each as punishment for their actions. 








Less than a week after India’s surprise move to scrap its highest denomination cash notes, another front in the War on Cash has intensified down under in Australia.
Yesterday, banking giant UBS proposed that eliminating Australia’s $100 and $50 bills would be “good for the economy and good for the banks.”
(How convenient that a bank would propose something that’s good for banks!)
This isn’t the first time that the financial establishment has pushed for a cashless society in Australia (or anywhere else).

In September 2015, Australian bank Westpac published its “Cash Free Report”, suggesting that the country would become cashless by 2022.
In July 2016, Australian payments firm Tyro published an enormously self-serving blog post touting the benefits of a cashless society and saying, “it’s only a matter of time.”
Most notably, two days ago, Citibank (yes, THAT Citibank) announced that it was going cashless at some of its Australian branches.

This is how it works.
The government, media, banks, and even academia have formed a single, unified chorus to push this idea out to consumers that “cashless” is good for everyone.


And it’s happening across the planet, from Australia to India to Europe to North America.

Governments would benefit from a cashless society because all savings would be in the banking system, and they have full regulatory control over the banks.
This means that your politicians would have more control over your savings and fewer obstacles to impose capital controls or engage in Civil Asset Forfeiture.
Even policy wonk academics would have a rare opportunity to take their lousy theories and PhD dissertations for a test drive.
Everyone benefits from a cashless society… except for you.

For individuals, cash still has plenty of important advantages.
Cash is one of the few remaining options for financial privacy that doesn’t create a permanent record of every purchase or transaction you make.

There’s also the fact that, the moment you make a deposit at a bank, it’s no longer your money. It becomes the bank’s money.
And they can do with it as they please, whether it’s freezing you out of your account or making idiotic investments with minimal reserve requirements.
You have no say in the matter.
As a bank depositor, you’re nothing more than an unsecured creditor of a financial institution which may or may not allow you to withdraw your own savings.
If you don’t believe me, take a trip down to your bank and ask to withdraw $25,000. See how quickly they treat you like a criminal terrorist.









America has been called back to the God who founded her. There is still a remnant of God's people who hear that cry and respond. Singer Matt Redman led a crowd of thousands in Times Square earlier this year and the results have to be seen for themselves.
Award-winning Christian music artist Matt Redman publicly worshiped the Lord Jesus Christ in the middle of Times Square and thousands joined him in a song of praise.
Take a look at the video posted to YouTube on August 1, 2016.
If you are wondering, the song is titled 10,000 Reasons and is available at Amazon.
While the siren calls of the world were flashing about, people were lifting up holy hands to God and praising his holy name for what He has done and continues to do.
A passage often cited in calling God's people back to him is from 2 Chronicles 7:14.
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

This should remind us all that we are not to look to men to deliver us out of our bondage and woes, though God does indeed use men. Rather, it should remind us to go back to the Scriptures, which President Andrew said, "That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests."

When will America look around, see the state of our nation, drop to her knees and cry out to God to turn us from our sins and back to Him? Jeremiah prayed such a prayer in his day.

Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. –Lamentations 5:21

The only hope we have in America is in Jesus. May He grant us true repentance and deliver us from all our enemies.