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| Photo by Zarzaparrilla - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, |
Paul David Washer (born 1961) is an American Protestant Christian evangelist affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Washer reports converting to Christianity while studying to become an oil and gas lawyer at the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to Peru where he became a missionary for 10 years.
In 1988, while in Peru, Washer founded the HeartCry Missionary Society to support indigenous missionaries witnessing to people of their own culture. Washer later returned to the United States, and has resided in Radford, Virginia since 2010, where he continues as the missions director of HeartCry.
Persecution or a Great Awakening1 & 2
Paul Washer while serving as a missionary in Peru for ten years, planted many churches and they grew powerfully. However, they also suffered massive persecution. He would see fellow pastors stoned to death for not denying their faith in Christ.
He saw the government come after the Christian church's children. He saw how it raped and imprisoned women. He knows that persecution is at hand. He knows it didn't just appear out of thin air one day. He saw how it slowly crept into Peru. He lived through it and is uniquely qualified to speak about it.
In early 2008 he gave this prophetic warning to the church:
Transcript
The church in America is going to suffer so terribly. And we laugh now but they will come after us. They will come after our children. They will close the net around us while we are playing soccer mom and soccer dad. But we are arguing over so many little things and mesmerized by so many trinkets. The net even now is closing around you and your children, and your grandchildren and it does not cause you to fear.
You will be isolated from society as is already happened. Anyone who tries to run for office who actually believes the Bible will be considered a lunatic, until finally we are silenced. We will be called things we are not and persecuted not for being followers of Christ but being radical fundamentalist who do not know the true way of Christ which of coarse is love and tolerance. You'll go down as as the greatest bigots and haters of mankind in history.
They've already come after your children and for most of you they've got them. They got them through the public schools and indoctrination in the university, and indoctrination, and you wonder why your children come out not serving the Lord. It is because fed them right into the devil's mouth
So little by little the net is closing around, then it is not little by little. Look how fast things are going downhill in a matter of weeks, matter of weeks. But at the same time know this - persecution is always meant for evil, but God always means it for good. And is it not better to suffer in this life to have an extra weight of glory in heaven.
You must settle this in your mind. This is the one thing I want to say over and over. Do not believe... Down through history you have a wrong idea of martyrdom and persecution.You think these men were persecuted and martyred for their sincere faith in Jesus Christ. That was the real reason, but know one heard that publicly.
They were martyred and they were persecuted as enemies of the state, as child molesters, as bigots, as narrow-minded stupid people who fallen for a ruse who contribute nothing to society. Your suffering will not be noble. So your mind must be filled with the Word of God when all people persecute you and turn on you. And the spirit of God and common grace pulls back and you see even your children, and your grandchildren, tossing in the lot that you should die.
This is no game. You want revival and awakening, but know this. For the most part great awakenings have come only preceding great national catastrophes of the persecution of the church. I believe God is bringing a great awakening. But I believe he is raising up young men who are strong in trust in providence of God to be able to wade through the hell that's going to break loose on us. And it will be on us before we even recognize it.
Unless... Unless in God's providence, He is not done, He is not done. And note this is not silly talk. Apart from a great awakening, these things are going to come upon you. Be ready to lose your homes, you cars, and everything.
Closing
Will you be ready when this persecution comes? To be ready, you first must be saved. If you think you are already saved, then I recommend you take the Salvation Test, just to make sure. Otherwise, you can learn how to be saved here.
In Christ Alone!
Sources:
1 Wikipedia: Paul Washer [Backup]
2 Omega Frequency: Episode 4 (27:00)
3 "Persecution or a Great Awakening" - Paul Washer
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