One Teacher, One Father
Jesus, speaking to the his disciples and the crowds about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees:
They love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Worldwide efforts to ban, slander or rewrite the Bible
In 2025, a university in England placed a deceitful warning label on the Bible for English Literature students who would be reading it as part of their coursework.
In the United States, the Canyon Independent School District in Texas, containing elementary through high school institutions, removed the Bible from its libraries in 2024.
In Africa, authorities in Mauritania and Somalia make Bible ownership nearly impossible.
In the Middle East, nations like Afghanistan and Yemen so severely restrict the Bible that simply owning one can result in the death penalty or imprisonment.
In Iran, the Bible can’t be translated into Farsi, Iran’s native language. Individuals caught with Farsi-language Bibles are subjected to harassment, imprisonment, and death penalties.
Read more: https://persecution.org/2026/02/05/age-of-concealment-how-the-bible-is-banned-and-slandered/
The Risk of Attending Church as a Convert in Egypt
Egyptian ID cards clearly list a person’s religion. And to prevent jihadist bombings, many churches in Egypt tend to require that unfamiliar visitors show an ID card before gaining entry.
Such a protocol is understandable, but it also makes things very difficult for converts to Christianity: Because basically all Egyptian converts must be discreet about their status, their ID cards still say they are “Muslim.”
Read more: https://persecution.org/2026/02/16/the-risk-of-attending-church-as-a-convert-in-egypt/
If the World Hates You
Jesus, speaking to his disciples during their final meal together before his death:
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Remember what I told you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.
If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: “They hated me without reason.”
The Days of Noah
Jesus, at the Mount of Olives, describing the end of the age to his disciples:
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect him.