Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Christian pastor facing the death sentence update
The latest news is that Iran has issued for Youcef Nadarkhani to be hanged at some point in the future.
In the past he was allowed another chance to recant and if he did not recant his faith he can be executed at any time. What a testimony this pastor is being to believers and unbelievers, that his faith is Christ is real. If it were not real, why go through all this trouble? His faith is being spoken of all over the world, what a wonderful thing.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is a Christian pastor facing the death sentence in Iran, for spreading Christianity. In spite of the efforts of the enemies of his Christian faith, there is actually much hope for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani the Bible says: “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10 God promises special rewards to those who are martyrs. Most of the disciples died a martyrs death. This shows the reality of truth found in the Christian faith. Notice that Baptists have never used force or threats to make any one a Christian. Why? Because being a true Christian has to take place in ones heart. It is not a set of rules you follow or do not follow. It is believing Jesus died for your sins and asking him to be your savior. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ” Romans 10:9 Nothing can change that or take it away once he is your savior, and no one can force you to accept him. “to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.” Philippians 1:21
“Jim Elliot a Christian martyr said before he died “He is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
click here to read the rest of his story: http://www.creationartist.com/2011/04/jim-elliot/
This is what I have been reading about this Christian pastor Nadarkhani:
” Pastor Nadarkhani is repeatedly being asked by the court in Rasht to renounce his faith in order to avoid execution and that the last chance he will be given to do so is tomorrow (Wednesday 28th September), after which he could be executed at any time.”
- Pastor Nadarkhani has been charged, and faces execution, solely on the basis of his adopting Christian faith. As such, the Islamic Republic of Iran is violating its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 18 includes a provision for the right to “have or to adopt†a religion, which has been interpreted authoritatively by the UN Human Rights Committee as including the right to change one’s religion.
- Iran’s constitution sanctions Christianity as a legitimate minority faith and asserts that Christians are allowed to freely carry out their religious rites. Article 23 asserts that no one may be “reprimanded simply because of having a certain beliefâ€.
The lawyer of an Iranian pastor sentenced to death for refusing to renounce his Christian faith is hopeful an appeals court will acquit his client.
Attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah says he believes in a “95 percent chance†of acquittal for 32-year-old Yusuf Naderkhani.
Dadkhah told The Associated Press on Thursday that he has appeared before the appeals court over the past four days and expects a ruling by the end of next week.
He says neither Iranian law nor clerics have ever stipulated the death penalty as punishment for converting from Islam to Christianity.
The pastor would rather die than renounce Jesus Christ as his Saviour! He is a modern day hero of the faith.
When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: “Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?â€
“To the religion of your ancestors, Islam,†the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.
“I cannot,†Nadarkhani said.
Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ take a stand for Him around the world.
Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January 2011. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported.
An Assyrian evangelical pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi, was imprisoned for 54 days for allegedly converting Muslims prior to his release in March 2010, Elam officials told FoxNews.com.
Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country’s Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International.
Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for apostasy last September based on religious writings by Iranian clerics, including Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the fact that there is no offense of “apostasy†in the nation’s penal code, Amnesty International reports.”
These are links to where these articles are found:
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Pray for this pastor and his family that god willing he may be spared although death for a Christian is nothing to be feared.
“We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8
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