"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Northwoods is a ministry dedicated to refreshing Christians and challenging them to search for the truth in Christianity, politics, sociology, and science
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour
Thousands of migrants cross the Ceuta border from Morocco
Thousands of people are entering the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco: authorities are calling for a state of emergency and military support.
Thousands of people crossed the border on Thursday to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, with crowds running through the gates, climbing the barriers and entering the territory.
Videos filmed on Tarajal beach showed people bypassing the breakwaters before heading towards the crossing point.
The authorities in Ceuta have asked the Spanish central government to declare a national state of emergency and to deploy the army to deal with this influx.
This latest crossing comes after a recent surge in attempts to reach the enclave, mainly by swimming, and is reminiscent of the border crisis of May 2021, when more than 8,000 migrants entered Ceuta in the space of two days.
The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe's borders.
I have spoken with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. Italy will not stand by and watch. We are convening the relevant bodies, and following these meetings, we are prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain.
On illegal immigration, we will not yield an inch: defending the borders, stopping human traffickers, and ensuring effective repatriations will continue to be the line of this Government.
The overarching goal is to terrorize the civilian population into submitting to Islamic rule. Terror is a tool in this enterprise because the Qur’an prescribes it:“Make ready for them all that you can of force and of warhorses, so that by them you may strike terror in the enemy of Allah and your enemy…” — Qur’an 8:60
At least 10 civilians killed in new rebel attack in eastern Congo
Suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 10 civilians Mangina Mayor Nicolas Kambale, said Thursday.
The attack, which tool(sic) place overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, occurred in the district of Mangina, located in the Beni territory of North Kivu province, said Kambale.
He said the assailants “wielding knives and firearms launched simultaneous attacks” in separate villages taking advantage of the darkness.
“Ten people were killed, but the death toll remains provisional as the search for several missing people continues,” he told reporters in Beni.
Kakule Vunyatsi, a civil society leader in the district, said they started hearing gunshots at around 6 p.m. local time (1600GMT) on Wednesday.
He urged the military to pursue the attackers in their hideouts to help restore security.
In addition to the killings, Vunyatsi said the rebels burned several houses and damaged property.
The latest attack brought the death toll from ADF attacks in the area to 14 in just 48 hours and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes, according to local media….
Democratic Republic of Congo: Muslims murder 16 people, including gold miners, in jihad massacre on village
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – At least 16 people, including miners, were killed in the latest attack by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, local authorities said Thursday.
The attack took place Wednesday afternoon in Mandeite village in Mambasa territory, 165 kilometers (about 102 miles) southwest of the provincial capital, Bunia, Janvier Kinyongi, a local official, told reporters in Bunia.
“Many of the victims are gold miners. The death toll is provisional as attacks are still being reported in the vicinity,” he said.
The attack came days after suspected ADF members abducted several people in the same area.
The ADF remains a major threat to the civilian population in the Democratic Republic of Congo….
The ADF, which has been active in eastern Congo for several years, is affiliated with the ISIS (Daesh) militant group….
US condemns brutal murder of pastor’s family in Nigeria who warned ‘fear has become a way of life’
Mourners gather at the funeral of Christians killed Aug. 28, 2025, in Kauru County, Kaduna state, Nigeria. | Christian Daily International-Morning Star News/Iliya Tata
The United States has condemned the recent killing of nine relatives of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, a Nigerian pastor whose earlier appeal had warned that “fear has become a way of life” in the country’s Middle Belt.
Frank Garcia, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, raised the killings with Nigerian officials the previous week and said that more had to be done to stop such attacks, according to a statement from the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs.
Garcia called the continued violence against Christian communities and other at-risk groups in the region “deeply alarming.” The agency said perpetrators had to be held accountable and security strengthened without delay.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ families and all those affected. As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts like those yesterday," the statement reads.
"The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities. The United States remains committed to working with the Nigerian government and our partners to combat terrorism, counter violent extremism, and ensure that Christians and all Nigerians can live and practice their faith freely without fear of violence or persecution."
The renewed focus had followed a video of Dachomo seeking U.S. intervention that President Donald Trump reposted.
In his prayer request Thursday, Dachomo wrote of walking each day into villages gripped by fear, comforting widows whose husbands were killed for their faith and praying with children left orphaned overnight. His team traveled knowing they might not return, heard gunfire at night, and kept on because the love of Christ compelled them, he wrote.
Nigeria’s roughly 230 million people divide almost evenly between Islam and Christianity, with Muslims forming the large majority in the northern states, 12 of which apply sharia law, and Christians predominating in the south. The Middle Belt, the central band that takes in Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Nasarawa, is where the two faiths mix and where most of the killings tied to Christian communities occur.
Radical Islamist groups have killed dozens of people in the country’s north in July, among them nine of the pastor Dachomo’s wider family, according to Truth Nigeria, which first reported the deaths.
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The July 11 attack on Rev. Dachomo’s family hit a remote village to the south of Jos, the Plateau state capital.
Several other attacks in Plateau and Benue states followed.
One left four people dead 56 miles to the southeast of Jos, in an area thought safe because nothing of the kind had struck there before.
Gabriel Dewan, a former speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, told a mass funeral for the victims this week that the killings had come after unidentified helicopters were seen setting down in Fier district forests, in the Takkas area of the Pankshin Local Government Area, Truth Nigeria reports.
Dewan said that when helicopters land in isolated spots in the country’s northeast and northwest, it means weapons are reaching terrorists, and he urged the police and army to clear those areas. He said those responsible had to be arrested and prosecuted, and he asked for the U.S. role to reach the Middle Belt states.
The condemnation came amid fresh debate in the U.S. Congress and closer cooperation between Washington and Abuja on counterterrorism.
Members of the U.S. Congress recently raised the bloodshed and the Nigerian government’s response to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz.
During a hearing this week, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, said Christians remained the main target of radical Islamists and that Muslims who spoke out faced danger too. He named Boko Haram, the jihadist group ISIS West Africa and Fulani militants, and said more had to be done.
"Yes, we are taking the persecution of Christians very seriously," Waltz said. "And we've seen the Nigerian government move as a response to the president's attention, our attention. ... They're cooperating with us more than they were on counterterrorism. They're cooperating in terms of their security force capacity. They still have some work to do, frankly, in terms of the Sharia law that is in place in many of these local provinces. And make no mistake, churches are being burned, pastors are being executed, people are being arrested literally for just wearing a cross around their neck."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticized Nigeria’s handling of the crisis in a post on X and praised the House for keeping attention on it. Nigerian officials, he wrote, had created conditions that let mass violence proceed against Christians and other faith minorities through blasphemy and sharia laws, while turning away from jihadist attacks.
Cruz said he was pushing a bill to sanction the officials responsible. Those officials, he said, had run a public relations campaign against critics rather than answer U.S. concerns.
"They were confident in that campaign and in their ability to continue the status quo, and I am heartened that the House has just definitively proven them wrong," Cruz wrote.
Surely Imam Hassan Musa couldn’t have had anything to do with the murder of Pastor Bernard Mulongo, right? After all, Islam is a religion of peace, right? A Muslim cleric must know that above all people. So an imam certainly wouldn’t get involved in an act of violence over Islam, right? He knows that when Allah says “Kill them wherever you find them” (Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, 4:91, cf. 9:5), he doesn’t really mean it, right?
Pastor Bernard Mulongo, Morning Star News
Young Pastor Killed after Religious Debate in Uganda
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – An imam who debated a pastor at an interfaith dialogue in Uganda is a suspect in the killing of the church leader after the event on Saturday (July 18), sources said.
Bernard Mulongo, a 25-year-old pastor at New Restoration Church of Christ in Butebo District, was killed nine miles from Mbale in Jami village late that night, his traveliing companion said. He is survived by his wife and two children, ages 4 and 7.
A pastor present at the interfaith dialogue and debate, David Omala, said Imam Hassan Musa was angry with the Pastor Mulongo after the event, at which two prominent Muslim women publicly converted to Christianity.
Pastor Mulongo spoke convincingly at the debate, and afterward Musa warned him, “Bernard, you deserve death for blasphemous deeds and leading our people to that false religion. It is not right for you to use the holy book, Quran, to mislead our members,” according to Pastor Omala.
He added that Musa made additional comments encouraging violence against Christians….
Pastor Muloong left the radio station in Mbale city with a friend, Robert Mukisa, on the same motorcycle, Mukisa said. On the way to the place where they were lodging, when they were nine miles from Mbale, several men on motorcycles passed them and stopped ahead of them, he said….
Pastor Omala said he later received a telephone call from an elder of Pastor Mulongo’s church informing him that he had been killed in Jami village. The pastor called Pastor Mulongo’s father, and they rushed to the site….
Musa is a suspect in the killing, and at this writing the imam was absconding, sources said. Police were investigating but have made no arrests. The pastor’s family has called for a thorough investigation into the killing and for those responsible to be prosecuted….
