185 Sermon Illustrations on Persecution

1. Trust for Deliverance Psalm 7:1 (NKJV)

O LORD my God, in You I put my trust;

Save me from all those who persecute me;

And deliver me,

2. Opposition

a. You have heard of people with a persecution complex … every annoyance, every hardship, every difficulty, is because “someone is out to get them”

b. But if he has the least amount of objectivity, even the most critical reader of the life of David must admit David had a fair amount of difficulty in his life; when he refers to “those who persecute me” it is not just a persecution complex he had

i. in keeping his family’s sheep he faced a bear and a lion

ii. every time God worked through him to gain victory for Israel, it increased the antagonism and machinations of King Saul against him

iii. he was constantly having to reign in his most loyal supporters from committing some atrocity

iv. after he became king, his own son Absolom usurped his throne and sought to kill him

v. his ablest counsellor deserted to Absolom’s side

vi. and there are many other instances

c. it is highly unlikely that any of us will face the variety and the intensity of opposition that David faced

i. yet even so, just has David trusted the LORD to deliver,

ii. we may have his same confidence

iii. in the LORD, the Eternal one,

iv. who can and will deliver

v. either through or out of the opposition

vi. to the praise of His glory.

We continue meditating on the eighth and final Beatitude. One of the questions that has often puzzled people concerning this matter of suffering and persecution is this: Why is it that Christians, when they do good, are often persecuted, while non-Christians who do the same kind of good are adored?

One commentator suggests the reason for this is that when non-Christians do good, other non-Christians find it easy to identify with them and say to themselves: “These people are just like me when I am at my best.” The thinking that goes on below the threshold of a non-Christian’s mind when he sees other non-Christians doing good is along the line of: “I am probably capable of the same thing myself if the opportunity came my way.” The admiration that is then given is a way of paying a compliment to oneself.

The Christian who does good has about him or her the atmosphere of another world, and because of this, the non-Christian observes, not just their act of good, but the different motivation that underlies the act. They sense that there is something different about this person, and because they cannot understand or explain the difference, they react with fear and the fear then turns to hostility. Psychologists have a name for this fear — xenophobia. It means fear of someone we do not know or understand.

This is why the scribes and Pharisees hated our Lord so much. It wasn’t because He was good; it was because He was different. This is the effect Jesus Christ always has upon the world. And to the extent that you reflect His spirit, to that extent you will experience the same reaction. “A Christian’s reason for doing good is different”

PRAYER:

O Father, I see that if I just try to do good, the world will applaud me, but if I try to become Christlike, it will hate me. Nevertheless I long to be Christlike. Help me, dear Father, for apart from Your grace, I know it is not possible. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY: Phil. 1:1–14; Col. 4:3; 2 Tim. 1:7–8

1. How did Paul view persecution?

2. What was his charge to Timothy?

This is the prison diary of a young woman martyred in Carthage in A.D. 202 or 203. The beginning and ending are related by an editor/narrator; the central text contains the words of Perpetua herself. It is a very moving account of persecution in the early church, and rare in that it is contemporary.

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THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITAS

A number of young catechumens were arrested, Revocatus and his fellow slave Felicitas, Saturninus and Secundulus, and with them Vibia Perpetua, a newly married woman of good family and upbringing. Her mother and father were still alive and one of her two brothers was a catechumen like herself. She was about twenty-two years old and had an infant son at the breast. (Now from this point on the entire account of her ordeal is her own, according to her own ideas and in the way that she herself wrote it down.)

While we were still under arrest (she said) my father out of love for me was trying to persuade me and shake my resolution. 'Father,' said I, 'do you see this vase here, for example, or waterpot or whatever?'

'Yes, I do', said he.

And I told him: 'Could it be called by any other name than what it is?'

And he said: 'No.'

'Well, so too I cannot be called anything other than what I am, a Christian.'

At this my father was so angered by the word 'Christian' that he moved towards me as though he would pluck my eyes out. But he left it at that and departed, vanquished along with his diabolical arguments.

For a few days afterwards I gave thanks to the Lord that I was separated from my father, and I was comforted by his absence. During these few days I was baptized, and I was inspired by the Spirit not to ask for any other favour after the water but simply the perseverance of the flesh. A few days later we were lodged in the prison; and I was terrified, as I had never before been in such a dark hole. What a difficult time it was! With the crowd the heat was stifling; then there was the extortion of the soldiers; and to crown all, I was tortured with worry for my baby there.

Then Tertius and Pomponius, those blessed deacons who tried to take care of us, bribed the soldiers to allow us to go to a better part of the prison to refresh ourselves for a few hours. Everyone then left that dungeon and shifted for himself. I nursed my baby, who was faint from hunger. In my anxiety I spoke to my mother about the child, I tried to comfort my brother, and I gave the child in their charge. I was in pain because I saw them suffering out of pity for me. These were the trials I had to endure for many days. Then I got permission for my baby to stay with me in prison. At once I recovered my health, relieved as I was of my worry and anxiety over the child. My prison had suddenly become a palace, so that I wanted to be there rather than anywhere else.

Then my brother said to me: 'Dear sister, you are greatly privileged; surely you might ask for a vision to discover whether you are to be condemned or freed.'

Faithfully I promised that I would, for I knew that I could speak with the Lord, whose great blessings I had come to experience. And so I said: 'I shall tell you tomorrow.’ Then I made my request and this was the vision I had.

I saw a ladder of tremendous height made of bronze, reaching all the way to the heavens, but it was so narrow that only one person could climb up at a time. To the sides of the ladder were attached all sorts of metal weapons: there were swords, spears, hooks, daggers, and spikes; so that if anyone tried to climb up carelessly or without paying attention, he would be mangled and his flesh would adhere to the weapons.

At the foot of the ladder lay a dragon of enormous size, and it would attack those who tried to climb up and try to terrify them from doing so. And Saturus was the first to go up, he who was later to give himself up of his own accord. He had been the builder of our strength, although he was not present when we were arrested. And he arrived at the top of the staircase and he looked back and said to me: 'Perpetua, I am waiting for you. But take care; do not let the dragon bite you.'

'He will not harm me,' I said, 'in the name of Christ Jesus.'

Slowly, as though he were afraid of me, the dragon stuck his head out from underneath the ladder. Then, using it as my first step, I trod on his head and went up.

Then I saw an immense garden, and in it a gray-haired man sat in shepherd's garb; tall he was, and milking sheep. And standing around him were many thousands of people clad in white garments. He raised his head, looked at me, and said: 'I am glad you have come, my child.'

He called me over to him and gave me, as it were, a mouthful Of the milk he was drawing; and I took it into my cupped hands and consumed it. And all those who stood around said: 'Amen!’ At the sound of this word I came to, with the taste of something sweet still in my mouth. I at once told this to my brother, and we realized that we would have to suffer, and that from now on we would no longer have any hope in this life.

A few days later there was a rumour that we were going to be given a hearing. My father also arrived from the city, worn with worry, and he came to see me with the idea of persuading me.

'Daughter,' he said, 'have pity on my grey head -- have pity on me your father, if I deserve to be called your father, if I have favoured you above all your brothers, if I have raised you to reach this prime of your life. Do not abandon me to be the reproach of men. Think of your brothers, think of your mother and your aunt, think of your child, who will not be able to live once you are gone. Give up your pride! You will destroy all of us! None of us will ever be able to speak freely again if anything happens to you.'

This was the way my father spoke out of love for me, kissing my hands and throwing himself down before me. With tears in his eyes he no longer addressed me as his daughter but as a woman. I was sorry for my father's sake, because he alone of all my kin would be unhappy to see me suffer.

I tried to comfort him saying: 'It will all happen in the prisoner's dock as God wills; for you may be sure that we are not left to ourselves but are all in his power.'

And he left me in great sorrow.

One day while we were eating breakfast we were suddenly hurried off for a hearing. We arrived at the forum, and straight away the story went about the neighbourhood near the forum and a huge crowd gathered. We walked up to the prisoner's dock. All the others when questioned admitted their guilt. Then, when it came my turn, my father appeared with my son, dragged me from the step, and said: 'Perform the sacrifice -- have pity on your baby!'

Hilarianus the governor, who had received his judicial powers as the successor of the late proconsul Minucius Timinianus, said to me: 'Have pity on your father's grey head; have pity on your infant son. Offer the sacrifice for the welfare of the emperors.'

'I will not', I retorted.

'Are you a Christian?’ said Hilarianus.

And I said: 'Yes, I am.'

When my father persisted in trying to dissuade me, Hilarianus ordered him to be thrown to the ground and beaten with a rod. I felt sorry for father, just as if I myself had been beaten. I felt sorry for his pathetic old age.

Then Hilarianus passed sentence on all of us: we were condemned to the beasts, and we returned to prison in high spirits. But my baby had got used to being nursed at the breast and to staying with me in prison. So I sent the deacon Pomponius straight away to my father to ask for the baby. But father refused to give him over. But as God willed, the baby had no further desire for the breast, nor did I suffer any inflammation; and so I was relieved of any anxiety for my child and of any discomfort in my breasts....

Some days later, an adjutant named Pudens, who was in charge of the prison, began to show us great honour, realizing that we possessed some great power within us. And he began to allow many visitors to see us for our mutual comfort.

Now the day of the contest was approaching, and my father came to see me overwhelmed with sorrow. He started tearing the hairs from his beard and threw them on the ground; he then threw himself on the ground and began to curse his old age and to say such words as would move all creation. I felt sorry for his unhappy old age.

The day before we were to fight with the beasts I saw the following vision. Pomponius the deacon came to the prison gates and began to knock violently. I went out and opened the gate for him. He was dressed in an unbelted white tunic, wearing elaborate sandals. And he said to me: 'Perpetua, come; we are waiting for you.'

Then he took my hand and we began to walk through rough and broken country. At last we came to the amphitheatre out of breath, and he led me into the centre of the arena.

Then he told me: 'Do not be afraid. I am here, struggling with you.’ Then he left.

I looked at the enormous crowd who watched in astonishment. I was surprised that no beasts were let loose on me; for I knew that I was condemned to die by the beasts. Then out came an Egyptian against me, of vicious appearance, together with his seconds, to fight with me. There also came up to me some handsome young men to be my seconds and assistants.

My clothes were stripped off, and suddenly I was a man. My seconds began to rub me down with oil (as they are wont to do before a contest). Then I saw the Egyptian on the other side rolling in the dust. Next there came forth a man of marvelous stature, such that he rose above the top of the amphitheatre. He was clad in a beltless purple tunic with two stripes (one on either side) running down the middle of his chest. He wore sandals that were wondrously made of gold and silver, and he carried a wand like an athletic trainer and a green branch on which there were golden apples.

And he asked for silence and said: 'If this Egyptian defeats her he will slay her with the sword. But if she defeats him, she will receive this branch.’ Then he withdrew.

We drew close to one another and began to let our fists fly. My opponent tried to get hold of my feet, but I kept striking him in the face with the heels of my feet. Then I was raised up into the air and I began to pummel him without as it were touching the ground. Then when I noticed there was a lull, I put my two hands together linking the fingers of one hand with those of the other and thus I got hold of his head. He fell flat on his face and I stepped on his head.

The crowd began to shout and my assistants started to sing psalms. Then I walked up to the trainer and took the branch. He kissed me and said to me: 'Peace be with you, my daughter!’ I began to walk in triumph towards the Gate of Life. Then I awoke. I realized that it was not with wild animals that I would fight but with the Devil, but I knew that I would win the victory. So much for what I did up until the eve of the contest. About what happened at the contest itself, let him write of it who will.

[Here Saturus tells the story of a vision he had of Perpetua and himself, after they were killed, being carried by four angels into heaven where they were reunited with other martyrs killed in the same persecution.]

[Here the editor/narrator begins to relate the story]:

Such were the remarkable visions of these martyrs, Saturus and Perpetua, written by themselves. As for Secundulus, God called him from this world earlier than the others while he was still in prison, by a special grace that he might not have to face the animals. Yet his flesh, if not his spirit, knew the sword.

As for Felicitas, she too enjoyed the Lord's favour in this wise. She had been pregnant when she was arrested, and was now in her eighth month. As the day of the spectacle drew near she was very distressed that her martyrdom would be postponed because of her pregnancy; for it is against the law for women with child to be executed. Thus she might have to shed her holy, innocent blood afterwards along with others who were common criminals. Her comrades in martyrdom were also saddened; for they were afraid that they would have to leave behind so fine a companion to travel alone on the same road to hope. And so, two days before the contest, they poured forth a prayer to the Lord in one torrent of common grief. And immediately after their prayer the birth pains came upon her. She suffered a good deal in her labour because of the natural difficulty of an eight months' delivery.

Hence one of the assistants of the prison guards said to her: 'You suffer so much now -- what will you do when you are tossed to the beasts? Little did you think of them when you refused to sacrifice.'

'What I am suffering now', she replied, 'I suffer by myself. But then another will be inside me who will suffer for me, just as I shall be suffering for him.'

And she gave birth to a girl; and one of the sisters brought her up as her own daughter.

Therefore, since the Holy Spirit has permitted the story of this contest to be written down and by so permitting has willed it, we shall carry out the command or, indeed, the commission of the most saintly Perpetua, however unworthy I might be to add anything to this glorious story. At the same time I shall add one example of her perseverance and nobility of soul.

The military tribune had treated them with extraordinary severity because on the information of certain very foolish people he became afraid that they would be spirited out of the prison by magical spells.

Perpetua spoke to him directly. 'Why can you not even allow us to refresh ourselves properly? For we are the most distinguished of the condemned prisoners, seeing that we belong to the emperor; we are to fight on his very birthday. Would it not be to your credit if we were brought forth on the day in a healthier condition?'

The officer became disturbed and grew red. So it was that he gave the order that they were to be more humanely treated; and he allowed her brothers and other persons to visit, so that the prisoners could dine in their company. By this time the adjutant who was head of the gaol was himself a Christian.

On the day before, when they had their last meal, which is called the free banquet, they celebrated not a banquet but rather a love feast. They spoke to the mob with the same steadfastness, warned them of God's judgement, stressing the joy they would have in their suffering, and ridiculing the curiosity of those that came to see them. Saturus said: 'Will not tomorrow be enough for you? Why are you so eager to see something that you dislike? Our friends today will be our enemies on the morrow. But take careful note of what we look like so that you will recognize us on the day.’ Thus everyone would depart from the prison in amazement, and many of them began to believe.

The day of their victory dawned, and they marched from the prison to the amphitheatre joyfully as though they were going to heaven, with calm faces, trembling, if at all, with joy rather than fear. Perpetua went along with shining countenance and calm step, as the beloved of God, as a wife of Christ, putting down everyone's stare by her own intense gaze. With them also was Felicitas, glad that she had safely given birth so that now she could fight the beasts, going from one blood bath to another, from the midwife to the gladiator, ready to wash after childbirth in a second baptism.

They were then led up to the gates and the men were forced to put on the robes of priests of Saturn, the women the dress of the priestesses of Ceres. But the noble Perpetua strenuously resisted this to the end.

'We came to this of our own free will, that our freedom should not be violated. We agreed to pledge our lives provided that we would do no such thing. You agreed with us to do this.'

Even injustice recognized justice. The military tribune agreed. They were to be brought into the arena just as they were. Perpetua then began to sing a psalm: she was already treading on the head of the Egyptian. Revocatus, Saturninus, and Saturus began to warn the on looking mob. Then when they came within sight of Hilarianus, they suggested by their motions and gestures: 'You have condemned us, but God will condemn you' was what they were saying.

At this the crowds became enraged and demanded that they be scourged before a line of gladiators. And they rejoiced at this that they had obtained a share in the Lord's sufferings.

But he who said, Ask and you shall receive, answered their prayer by giving each one the death he had asked for. For whenever they would discuss among themselves their desire for martyrdom, Saturninus indeed insisted that he wanted to be exposed to all the different beasts, that his crown might be all the more glorious. And so at the outset of the contest he and Revocatus were matched with a leopard, and then while in the stocks they were attacked by a bear. As for Saturus, he dreaded nothing more than a bear, and he counted on being killed by one bite of a leopard. Then he was matched with a wild boar; but the gladiator who had tied him to the animal was gored by the boar and died a few days after the contest, whereas Saturus was only dragged along. Then when he was bound in the stocks awaiting the bear, the animal refused to come out of the cages, so that Saturus was called back once more unhurt.

For the young women, however, the Devil had prepared a mad heifer. This was an unusual animal, but it was chosen that their sex might be matched with that of the beast. So they were stripped naked, placed in nets and thus brought out into the arena. Even the crowd was horrified when they saw that one was a delicate young girl and the other was a woman fresh from childbirth with the milk still dripping from her breasts. And so they were brought back again and dressed in unbelted tunics.

First the heifer tossed Perpetua and she fell on her back. Then sitting up she pulled down the tunic that was ripped along the side so that it covered her thighs, thinking more of her modesty than of her pain. Next she asked for a pin to fasten her untidy hair: for it was not right that a martyr should die with her hair in disorder, lest she might seem to be mourning in her hour of triumph.

Then she got up. And seeing that Felicitas had been crushed to the ground, she went over to her, gave her hand, and lifted her up. Then the two stood side by side. But the cruelty of the mob was by now appeased, and so they were called back through the Gate of Life.

There Perpetua was held up by a man named Rusticus who was at the time a catechumen and kept close to her. She awoke from a kind of sleep (so absorbed had she been in ecstasy in the Spirit) and she began to look about her. Then to the amazement of all she said: 'When are we going to be thrown to that heifer or whatever it is?'

When told that this had already happened, she refused to believe it until she noticed the marks of her rough experience on her person and her dress. Then she called for her brother and spoke to him together with the catechumens and said: 'You must all stand fast in the faith and love one another, and do not be weakened by what we have gone through.'

At another gate Saturus was earnestly addressing the soldier Pudens. 'It is exactly', he said, 'as I foretold and predicted. So far not one animal has touched me. So now you may believe me with all your heart: I am going in there and I shall be finished off with one bite of the leopard.’ And immediately as the contest was coming to a close a leopard was let loose, and after one bite Saturus was so drenched with blood that as he came away the mob roared in witness to his second baptism: 'Well washed! Well washed!’ For well washed indeed was one who had been bathed in this manner.

Then he said to the soldier Pudens: 'Good-bye. Remember me, and remember the faith. These things should not disturb you but rather strengthen you.'

And with this he asked Pudens for a ring from his finger, and dipping it into his wound he gave it back to him again as a pledge and as a record of his bloodshed.

Shortly after he was thrown unconscious with the rest in the usual spot to have his throat cut. But the mob asked that their bodies be brought out into the open that their eyes might be the guilty witnesses of the sword that pierced their flesh. And so the martyrs got up and went to the spot of their own accord as the people wanted them to, and kissing one another they sealed their martyrdom with the ritual kiss of peace. The others took the sword in silence and without moving, especially Saturus, who being the first to climb the stairway was the first to die. For once again he was waiting for Perpetual Perpetua, however, had yet to taste more pain. She screamed as she was struck on the bone; then she took the trembling hand of the young gladiator and guided it to her throat. It was as though so great a woman, feared as she was by the unclean spirit, could not be dispatched unless she herself were willing.

Ah, most valiant and blessed martyrs! Truly are you called and chosen for the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord! And any man who exalts, honours, and worships his glory should read for the consolation of the Church these new deeds of heroism which are no less significant than the tales of old. For these new manifestations of virtue will bear witness to one and the same Spirit who still operates, and to God the Father almighty, to his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is splendour and immeasurable power for all the ages. Amen.

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From "The Acts of the Christian Marytrs"

texts and translation by Herbert Musurillo

(c) Oxford University Press, 1972

[see also #26683]

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About 250 years ago, Tibeto-Burmese tribal groups settled in the hills where India, Bangladesh, and Burma meet. Since then, they have struggled to earn a living and maintain their cultural identity.

In Burma, they're called the Chin. Since the turn of the twentieth century, they have been overwhelmingly Christian, around 90 percent. For many years, crosses dotted the mountaintops and villages in the Chins' homeland.

Not anymore. According to Benedict Rogers of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, these crosses are being torn down and replaced by Buddhist pagodas by orders of the Burmese government. Just as the crosses once testified to the Christian faith of the Chin, their removal testifies to the persecution of these Christians.

As Rogers writes in the latest issue of CRISIS magazine, to add insult to spiritual injury, the Chin are also forced to financially support Buddhist projects and festivals. And the Burmese government often denies privileges to faithful Christians that it extends to others, like education and exemption from forced labor. Often Christian children are removed forcibly from their homes never to be seen again.

Still, these practices pale before what some of the Chin and two other significantly Christian ethnic groups, the Lachin and Karen, suffer. The Burmese army tortures village leaders. Christian women are gang-raped by soldiers, killed, and their mutilated bodies placed on display as a warning to others.

But despite their suffering, Burmese Christians maintain what CRISIS calls an “unbroken faith.” After the Burmese Army burnt down one village, the Christians returned, rebuilt the church, and gathered for worship under a sign quoting Revelation 2:10: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

Their extraordinary circumstances has led to some extraordinary assistance, none more so than by a former Special Forces officer who attended Fuller Theological Seminary. His group, the Free Burma Rangers, risks their lives by infiltrating Burmese territory to provide assistance to Burmese Christians.

Their missions, which sometimes bring them within inches of the Burmese Army, provide medical care and spiritual sustenance to thousands of Christians, and they cover hundreds of miles. They also document the persecution of our Burmese brethren.

But their valor will be for nothing if the documentation doesn't produce action. And that's where we come in. Christians in the West, especially in the United States, need to see the plight of Burmese Christians as a matter of the highest concern. While Burma is a pariah state, it is not immune to external pressure. This pressure is what has kept Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi alive.

The place to start, of course, is to get informed. Contact us here at BreakPoint (1-877-322-5527) for resources on the plight of Burmese Christians. Then share what you learn with others, and in your churches: We've got to build a public backlash. While few of us are called to be God's commandos in the jungle, we're all called to help our brethren bear their burdens, even if they are halfway around the world.

FOR FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:

• Benedict Rogers, “Faith Unbroken: Persecuting Christians in Burma,” Crisis, June 2004.

• Learn more about the crisis in Burma, and what you can do, from Christian Solidarity Worldwide: http://www.cswusa.com/Countries/Burma.htm

• Learn more about the Free Burma Rangers: http://www.freeburmarangers.org/

• Visit the Free Burma Coalition website: http://www.freeburmarangers.org/

• Benedict Rogers, A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma's Karen People (Monarch Books, 2004).

• BreakPoint Commentary No. 040503, “Touching the Untouchable: India Targets Christian Converts.”

• “Paramilitary Hindu group to restrict Christian conversions,” AsiaNews, 26 May 2004.

• Learn more about helping the persecuted Church at Stand Today's website: http://www.freeburmarangers.org/

• Kristin Wright, “Standing with the Persecuted Church,” BreakPoint Online, 6 November 2003.

• Nina Shea, In the Lion's Den (Broadman and Holman, 1997).

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Copyright (c) 2004 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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We continue focusing on the fact that many Christians are persecuted, not because of identifying with Christ, but because of their tactlessness and folly. This eighth Beatitude — “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” — does not apply to such people. Let us be quite clear about that.

There is a great difference between persecution for the sake of righteousness and persecution for the sake of self-righteousness. Many Christians are foolish in these matters. They fail to realize the difference between prejudice and principle, and thus bring unnecessary suffering upon themselves. The same applies to those who are over-zealous in their witnessing. They make a nuisance of themselves and interpret the persecution that comes as persecution for righteousness’ sake.

The scripture teaches us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. The writer of the Proverbs puts it powerfully when he says: “He who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30). We are not told in this eighth Beatitude, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are over-zealous, neither are we told, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are fanatical.”

I was once asked by a church to counsel one of their members who had a compulsion to witness. The man got into so many difficulties because of this that the church threatened to discipline him unless he agreed to receive counseling. I found his compulsion to witness came not from Christ, but from his own inner drives. He needed to witness so as to feel significant. Witnessing should be a constraint, never a compulsion.

PRAYER:

O Father, show me how to distinguish between what is a compulsion and what is a constraint. And help me to see that if I don’t find my significance in my relationship with You, then I will attempt to find it in other ways. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY: Acts 9:1–29; 1 Cor. 4:12; 2 Cor. 4:9

1. Who was Saul really persecuting?

2. What was his early experience of proclaiming Christ?

A young believer's Christ-like response to persecution shines brightly in this story found in “Voices of the Faithful,” author Beth Moore's new book of daily devotionals from missionaries around the world:

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not” (Romans 12:14).

The local religious leader began to stir up the town’s people against a new follower of Jesus, a young man called N. Stones were gathered, and the villagers rushed to lay hold of N., dragging him to the predetermined place for stoning.

Just as the first stones were raised in the villagers' hands, a sudden storm with a mighty wind and rain materialized. The deluge drove the villagers away. N. was shaken, but unharmed.

This angered the religious leader even more, and he made a plan with others to try again. Several days after the attempted stoning, the same young men seized N., holding him down while they kicked him, beat him and cut his throat. The young victim survived this brutality and was hospitalized.

We visited N. in the state hospital, offering legal advice and medical assistance. I told him, “This is illegal and is against your constitution. We can go to the state prosecutor, who will assist you.”

His response, however, was, “Thank you for your offer of help, but the Bible says to forgive those who persecute you. I am going back home and will visit with those who beat me. I will tell them that God forgave my sins. I forgive them.”

I was amazed at the spiritual maturity of this young believer. God revealed that even though a believer might be new in his faith, he is empowered by the Holy Spirit to withstand such persecution and to forgive. I was humbled by his example and resolved to learn from new believers.

________

Submitted by a Southern Baptist worker in Central Asia

*

The interview was wrapping up when a reporter with the International Mission Board asked a prominent leader in the rapidly expanding Chinese house church movement how American Christians could pray for house churches in China. “Stop praying for persecution in China to end,” he responded, “for it is through persecution that the church has grown.”

“What astounding faith!” I thought when I heard the story. However, my admiration of his faith was quickly tempered by what he said next.

“We, in fact, are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution,” he said, “so revival would come to the American church like we have seen in China.”

Once I recovered from the shock of such a profound statement, I thought about the irony: We in America keep praying for God to bless us –- and Christians in other nations are praying God will allow us to experience persecution so that we’ll act like the blessing we were made to be. I shudder at the thought that we are on the road to persecution, brought on because of our own arrogance.

I recently wrote a column titled, “Are you Chasing Donkeys?” In it, I said that the book of Isaiah is replete with examples of God humbling the haughty. Arrogance followed by judgment is a recurring theme; survey the Old Testament and confirm it for yourself. However, before dismissing those examples as ancient history, flip to Revelation and read Christ’s seven letters to the churches. More specifically, read what Jesus says to the church of Sardis: “I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die....” (Revelation 3:1-2, HCSB).

I also referenced two prophetic voices –- David Watson and John Burke –- who, speaking 25 years apart, made indicting statements about the state of the church. Burke wrote, “Unless Christians leading the church in America change, and unless the church begins living out the magnetic attractive force Jesus had on the world, the Christian Church in America will be completely marginalized within decades.” His concern is rapidly becoming reality.

A cover story in the Aug. 11 edition of USA Today confirms his concern. The article’s title is “Religion Takes a Back Seat in Western Europe” and details the 25 percent drop in church attendance in Western Europe in the past 20 years. The reasons identified for the drop are “Europe’s turbulent history, an increasing separation between the church and government and the continent’s unprecedented affluence.”

The USA Today article reports the social changes implemented in Spain since its new Socialist prime minister took office last year. Divorce is quicker, embryonic stem cell research is allowed, “gay marriage” is legal and religious education is becoming elective in schools. The undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice in charge of religious and social affairs says that “Spanish society has become much more open, more tolerant, more secular.”

Sound familiar? We in America are being bowled over by the ball of secularism. The church doesn’t have enough muscle to support the pillars of our culture built on the foundation of the Bible.

Many will say, “Well, that’s Europe and it’s got nothing to do with us.” That’s arrogance and it’s got everything to do with us! What makes us think history is going to give us an exemption? Why should we be any different than history’s other self-destructed “superpowers” that arrogantly turned their backs on God and relied on their affluence?

This article should be a splash of cold water in the face of North America’s sleeping Christianity. This isn’t a clarion call to political activism by the “religious right,” as we are called. It is important for us to be involved in the political process, but politics directed by man is temporal and corruptible. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is eternal and incorruptible. A changed America will come not from ballots in a box or amendments to the Constitution, but from changed hearts that guide godly lives. Research shows that the majority of “unchurched” people are not antagonistic toward the church, but have simply never been invited by a Christian to attend church. We’ve mobilized the church to flex our political muscle in our culture, but when is the church going to flex its missional muscle and become Jesus to a self-destructing culture? Put another way, when are you going to become Jesus to your next-door neighbor?

Christians, we have to make a choice: Continue on our present trajectory of self-absorbed arrogance confined to our self-contained little worlds and reap the inevitable consequences; or humble ourselves, ask for revival and “strengthen what remains” so that we can be the blessing we were made to be.

They are watching. Our brothers and sisters around the world are praying ... and waiting.

*

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, — Matthew 5:10.

Persecution and slander, in themselves so much to be dreaded, for righteousness’ sake, i.e., for Christ’s sake, are blessed and a cause for rejoicing for three reasons. Those who thus suffer may know that:

1. They are in good company (the prophets, Matthew 5:12) ;

2. Their reward in Heaven will be great (Matthew 5:12) ;

3. Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:10) .

We welcome still Thy faithful word,

“The cross shall meet its sure reward.”

For soon must pass the little while,

Then joy shall crown the servant’s toil,

And we shall hear Thee, Saviour, say,

“Arise my love and come away”;

Look up, for thou shalt weep no more,

But rest on Heaven’s eternal shore. — J. G. Deck

When Diocletian became emperor of the Roman Empire in 284, Christians were encouraged because of rumors that his wife and daughter were believers. And, in fact, during the first nineteen years of his reign, Christians lived in relative peace and prosperity.

Gradually, life became more difficult for Christians. Deciding that religious unity would strengthen his empire, Diocletian published three edicts to guarantee the supremacy of the Roman state religion.

On February 23, 303, the day of the Roman feast TERMINALIA, an edict was posted that ordered all copies of Scripture to be burned, all churches destroyed, their property confiscated, and Christian worship forbidden. The Great Persecution had begun.

In early 304 another edict insisted that everyone in the Roman Empire sacrifice to the Roman gods. Every Christian was in jeopardy. Finally, the years of the Great Persecution ended with an edict of toleration by Constantine in 313. It granted religion liberty to Christians and pagans alike.

“...we decree still further in regard to the Christians, that their

places, in which they were formerly accustomed to assemble...shall be

restored to the said Christians, without demanding money or any other

equivalent, with no delay or hesitation... For by this means... the

divine favor toward us which we have already experienced in many matters

will continue sure through all time.”

________

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), pp 108-9

*

As Afghan Adbul Rahman seeks safety in Italy after dodging a death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity, other Christians worldwide continue to face extreme persecution from countrymen who oppose their beliefs.

While Rahman’s case gained national media attention, thousands of others facing similar plights go unnoticed, according to organizations like VOICE OF THE MARTYRS, a non-denominational agency devoted to helping persecuted Christians.

Todd Nettleton, director of news services for the Oklahoma-based group, said Rahman’s case gained an unusual amount of media attention partly because of how it emerged. In Rahman’s case, the presiding judge explained the situation on national TV in Afghanistan, which garnered media attention. International protests soon followed.

“From there, it just sort of exploded,” Nettleton told Associated Baptist Press. “It just sort of stuck in everybody’s craw.”

Plus, Nettleton said, the already-tense situation in Afghanistan and presence of U.S. soldiers made Americans especially interested in the outcome of Rahman’s trial.

The new Afghan Constitution, drafted since the American invasion in 2001, protects religious freedom. But another section establishes Islam as the supreme law of the land. That ambiguity, coupled with local Afghan leaders wielding additional authority, leaves Christian converts vulnerable.

At least two other Afghan Christian converts have been jailed in recent days, according to COMPASS DIRECT, another Christian group that monitors persecution. However, the agency declined to disclose details about the cases.

Although Rahman escaped execution, other Christian converts do not, says Carl Moeller, president of California-based Open Doors.

“In most places where Christians face persecution for their faith, it’s by mobs or their family,” Moeller said. “Honor killing ... is a cultural phenomenon. We know of hundreds of Christians who die in this way every year.”

Some persecution goes unpunished -- especially in Muslim areas like the Sudan and Saudi Arabia -- because of the dishonor families face when a family member converts. To avoid that deep disgrace, non-Christian families or neighbors often take it upon themselves to kill the new Christian, said Moeller.

Although the gravity of Rahman’s ordeal sparked international interest, Afghanistan doesn’t top most organizations’ lists of countries most dangerous for Christians. That distinction goes to such hotspots as North Korea, Saudi Arabia and China, according to private and government organizations.

China, for example, has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of State as a “country of particular concern.” In its 2003 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom described the Chinese government as “a particularly severe violator of religious freedom. Persons continue to be confined, tortured, imprisoned and subject to other forms of ill treatment on account of their religion or belief.”

Because of famine in North Korea, Christians in China often harbor starving Koreans who cross the border. When newly converted refugees return to North Korea, they face arrest or death. As many as 100,000 Christians are in North Korean labor camps -- one fifth of the estimated Christian population -- according to reports.

On a broader scale, experts estimate roughly 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest or even death for their faith, while 200-to-400 million more face discrimination and alienation on a regular basis. Besides North Korea, Saudi Arabia and China, most groups list Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Vietnam and Yemen as particularly dangerous for Christians.

But just because a nation doesn’t make the top 10 doesn’t mean it’s safe for new converts.

Indonesia remains a dangerous country for Christian converts as well. Open Doors reported more than 600 churches were destroyed and more than 20,000 people were killed in Muslim-Christian clashes in Indonesia in recent years.

The most recent instance of Indonesian violence toward Christians occurred March 26, as hundreds of Muslims descended on Sunday services at a church building in Gunung Putri, West Java, according to Voice of the Martyrs. The mob forced Pastor Daniel Fekky to cease holding services in the building, which the mob claimed was “misused” according to Indonesian law.

And in Sudan alone, more than 2 million people have died by war, genocide and famine since 1983, Open Doors said. The number includes a large population of Christians, who are often the targets of church bombings, destruction of hospitals and schools, massacres, and murders of church leaders.

In the face of such maltreatment, Moeller said, concerned Christians should pray for their foreign brothers and sisters.

Nettleton agreed. “I think the first thing that we can do is pray. That’s always the first step,” he said. “The next step is to educate yourself.”

Both Nettleton and Moller encourage those who are interested to write and call government representatives on behalf of the incarcerated. In some cases, concerned parties can write directly to those who are jailed. Several organizations, including Voice of the Martyrs, publish names and addresses of incarcerated Christians.

Observers say such an outpouring for Rahman made a difference.

“Thousands of people actually sent letters and called the Afghan embassy for the Rahman case,” Nettleton said, “so much so that they actually posted on their website, ‘Yes, we have heard you.’”

*

In the mid-1930s, a German Protestant pastor was abducted from his church. Suspected of aiding and abetting Jews, he was thrown into prison without a hearing, a trial, or even a phone call to his family.

The prison guard outside his cell hated everyone associated with Jews and purposefully skipped the pastor’s cell when meals were handed out, made him go weeks without a shower, and gave him the most difficult job on the labor gang.

The pastor, on the other hand, prayed that he would be able to love this guard with God’s love. As the months went by, the pastor smiled at the guard, thanked him for the few meals he did receive, and even got to talk about Agape love.

The guard never said anything; but he heard it all, and one night he cracked a smile. The next day the pastor received two meals and was able to shower for as long as he wanted. Finally, one afternoon the guard personally made the long-awaited call to the pastor’s family, and a few months later, he was released.

It is against our human nature to love someone like that prison guard; but through His power, God can give us the ability to love the unlovables.

________

Source: Turning Point Daily Devotional; http://www.turningpointonline.org

*

[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

Sermon in Matthew 10 series. Matthew 10:11-20

DUMPERS AND DUMPEES

===================

I. Houseguests from Hell.

II. We dump ourselves on the world.

A. The first mission strategy.

B. Disciples had only two things to offer.

C. The harshest rejection.

D. God expects a response to his message.

III. How much better to receive Jesus.

A. Receiving apostles is like receiving Jesus. (see 10:40)

B. How open are we to accepting those who present Jesus?

C. Destiny stands before us.

IV. Sometimes the world dumps on us.

A. Jesus saw the world as a dangerous place.

B. Sheep among wolves. 10:16

C. Shrewd as snakes, and as innocent as doves.

V. Some people will want to destroy us. 10:17

A. Opposition.

B. Torture.

C. Called before authorities. 10:18

D. God gets the last word.

Some headlines are intended to startle as much as they inform. This morning I read several: “Study Reveals Religion Does Not Lead to Healthier Society,” “Prayer Does Not Heal the Sick, Study Finds,” and “North Korea’s Christians Face Execution.”(1) While the first two headlines piqued my interest, the claims themselves may have held the intention of shock but were met merely with intrigue. Whatever a scientific study can say about prayer, it usually says more about the formula we’re try to measure and very little about the God before whom the prayerful stand. Likewise, there are many things that can be said about healthy societies and the impact of religion, but it was Jesus who perhaps said it best: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Luke 5:31).

But the last headline actually did startle me, and the article continued what the title began. “[To be Christian in North Korea] is really seen as treason against their whole political system -- a system built to deify the leader.” Thus, the current regime “has a history of persecuting believers in the most savage of ways, including public execution.” Such an article startles those who are at ease to reflection. How sacred is the faith of one who is willing to die for it? How treasured the Bible that must be buried in the backyard for protection? And why is it so easy to forget those who are being persecuted when the rule of faith we follow is supposedly the same?

For the early persecuted church, the Rule of Faith, or REGULA FIDEI, was the essential message, the fixed gospel through which they saw the world. It was the foundation that set the Christian apart and often put them in danger: profession of one God, salvation in Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was also the foundation on which they stood when all else was stripped away. In the life of a confessing Christian, the Rule of Faith was seen as the normative compendium, the communal account of the story that held the individual through daily trials and united them with the believing community. The Rule was not a rival of the Scriptures; on the contrary, it was the worldview that emerged from Scripture, but also the worldview with which they APPROACHED the Scriptures, their lives, communities, and afflictions.

In a world averse to rules and intent on independence, it may be all the more tempting to deem the REGULA FIDEI a relic -- and hence an irrelevancy -- of the early church. But to men and women persecuted in North Korea, the REGULA FIDEI, the very heart of the Story for which they suffer is the rule by which they live. To them we owe the startling reminder: we are not islands of spiritual autonomy, but pilgrims who think, live, and serve with the truth and power of a thoughtful chorus.

To be Christian is to follow God’s Way in the world, a Way that compels us to move along with it. For some this will mean persecution, even martyrdom; for others it will mean laboring to avoid becoming at ease in Zion, moving to the beat of a drum that may take us where we don’t want to go. But movement it will require of us: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’” (Matthew 28:18-19). The REGULA FIDEI is the heart of the scriptural story. And thus, it is something quite like the heart of God, which brings rhythm to a chaotic world and sweeps many up into its mission.

________

1. Matthew Provonsha, “New Study Reveals that Religion Does Not Lead to a Healthier Society” SKEPTIC, Vol. 12, No. 3.

Sam Knight, “Prayer Does Not Heal the Sick, Study Finds,” TIMES ONLINE, Mar. 31, 2006.

Christian Caryl and B. J. Lee, “Houses of the Hidden: North Korea’s Christians Face Execution,” NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL, Oct. 1, 2007.

________

Copyright © 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

But Muslim students allowed to skip classes for Ramadan prayers

The banning of a Christian couple’s home prayer meeting while Muslims are permitted to pray at school and work has spotlighted the “overt hostility” by government bodies to Christianity, the American Family Association (AFA) said today.

The separate incidents reflect “the closing in of the walls on the Christian church and an expansion for those religions that are not Christian,” said Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney at the AFA’s Center for Law and Policy.

His comments followed an Associated Press report that Robert and Mary Murphy in New Milford, Conn., were suing the town’s zoning commission after being ordered to stop holding weekly prayer meetings at their home.

Zoning officials said their ban was because of parking problems caused in the neighborhood, but American Center for Law and Justice lawyer Vincent McCarthy, who is representing the Murphys, said the action was “one of the worst forms of religious discrimination.” The Sunday afternoon meetings had been held since 1995 and were typically attended by no more than 25 people.

Meanwhile “The New York Post” reported that one Brooklyn high school was allowing Muslim students to be late for classes and turn the auditorium into a makeshift mosque for daily prayers during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Teachers even help students catch up on what they miss in class, one senior told the newspaper.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., technology companies employing Muslim staff are allowing them to adjust their work schedules to accommodate fasting during Ramadan and even take time off for Friday worship. Some have set up special prayer rooms, reported “The (Colorado Springs) Gazette.”

Fahling said that zoning laws were being used across the country to prevent Christians from holding home Bible study or prayer meetings, while in other situations Christians were being prevented from praying in schools. At the same time, accommodations were being made for Muslims.

On the one hand there was “overt hostility by government bodies against Christians and on the other hand [an] open arms approach to other religions,” he said. “The principle that has been established is you can’t treat religious groups disparately. You can’t allow one to do something and not another.”

In another case, the AFA is challenging the legality of a forthcoming “Winter Gathering” celebration at a State College, Pa., elementary school that features Hanukkah and Kwanza but excludes any reference to Christmas other than what litigation counsel B.J. Brown called “mercantile silliness.”

The AFA is acting on behalf of David Saxe, an assistant professor at Penn State University and a member of the Pennsylvania school board, who was shocked when he attended last year’s event at his children’s school. He said: “It’s scandalous for the school to stage a holiday program in December that does not include any recognition of the birth of Jesus Christ.”

School officials have argued that the program-in which the Christmas tree becomes a “giving tree”–is intended to encourage inclusiveness. A federal court dismissed Saxe’s suit, but the AFA has lodged an emergency appeal. Brown said that the judge’s decision illustrated “the myopia plaguing the federal judiciary when it comes to religion.”

Knowing that her father gave his life for his faith has made 82-year-old Yelisavyeta Krukova a lifelong prayer warrior.

Krukova is a longtime member of the Baptist church in Novokuznetsk, a city of more than 500,000 in southern Siberia. She organizes overnight prayer vigils for every Wednesday and Friday. She enlists people to pray and if anyone has a scheduling conflict, that person must notify Krukova so she can find another church member to fill in. For her and the church, the prayer time is a serious ministry that cannot be broken.

Krukova, who vividly remembers the times of fear and persecution for the evangelical church in Russia, shared her family story:

“My father, Nestor, was a Christian evangelical minister in Russia before the Russian revolution of 1917. My father and mother moved to western Siberia, to what was then called Kuznetsk, in 1912.

“My father shared the Gospel with all around him. After the revolution, he continued to preach and teach despite the dangers. He was arrested and sent to prison twice when I was a child -- one time for six months, another time for a year. Not so long. He came home to my mother and us, but he would not stop preaching and teaching.

“In 1938, my father was arrested again and sent to another prison, this time for 10 years. But even in prison, he would preach, and in December of 1944 he was shot and killed there because he would not stop preaching.

“My family relied on prayer for our every existence. Times were hard. I had nine brothers and sisters, 10 of us in all, but five died. Only five of us lived to be grown. Life was hard. But we loved each other and loved God.

“This city has had three names, Kuznetsk, Stalinsk and now Novokuznetsk. Our family lived here and in 1944 we joined the Baptist evangelical church.

“I met my husband and we married and had 10 children. I have 57 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren. I live with my husband, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in a beautiful house my children built for me. My family loves me and respects me.

“We older women must pray. We pray well because we know it is important. I am in charge of our prayer ministry. People know we must take it seriously.”

Christians who grew up thinking about a candle’s light when singing “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine” have entirely the wrong idea about what it truly means to be a Christian light shining in the world, said the Benham brothers in a recent talk in Herdon, Virginia.

The identical twin brothers said that most think of a candle’s flame when singing the lines from the song about not letting Satan “blow it out.” But Christian faith, they said, is not meant to be extinguished when faced by the winds of opposition, but to become more inflamed. That’s why the image of a candle in the song needs to be replaced by the image of a coal, they said.

“You see, the same wind that extinguishes the candle’s light ignites the coal’s light,” said Jason.

“What’s the difference between a candle and a coal?” he asked. A candle is lit from the outside while a coal burns from the inside,” he continued.

Jason quoted from the prophet Jeremiah (20:9) who called the word of God in his heart a blazing “fire” that could not be contained inside himself.

“Do you know how God gets the light that’s inside of you out into the world?” asked Jason. “He puts you in situations and around people in certain contexts where the devil is trying to extinguish your light. And the very act of the devil blowing as hard as he can to extinguish your light will actually ignite the light that’s already inside of you.”

Jason said Christians must become on fire for the faith like a “coal” so that they can “burn brightly” for Jesus.

But David pointed out how the “wind of culture is blowing” in an attempt to extinguish Christian lights. The wind comes in the form of politically correct pressures to accept “gay marriage,” “abortion on demand,” and “rampant perversion.”

Many Christians, David said, have unfortunately fallen for the trap of hiding their light under a basket “whenever it is not convenient” for them to shine in the darkness.

The brothers related how they themselves fell into the trap of turning off their own lights when they were first approached by home improvement television network HGTV a few years ago to film a reality show based on their wildly successful real estate business.

But in doing background checks on the brothers, HGTV lawyers discovered an article by pro-homosexual website Right-Wing Watch that accused the brothers of being “anti-gay, anti-Choice extremists.”

When the show’s producers asked the brothers if they were “anti-gay,” the brothers thought they were going to lose their chance at making the show. They related how they immediately began to experience a “heaviness” and a “fear.”

The brothers decided to draft an email to HGTV based on what they called a “man-pleasing spirit.” They outlined their Christian belief in marriage, stating, however, that when representing the HGTV network, “we’ll be quiet about [our beliefs].”

But before sending the email to HGTV, the brothers decided to run it by a spiritual mentor. “Three minutes later [our mentor] sent an email back saying: ‘How dare you boys write an email like this. ... You don’t even know who you are anymore. ... How do you know that God hasn’t put you in this situation to tear down the stronghold that’s ransacking this nation? People are operating in fear, and now you are too. You both need to repent.”

The brothers said the mentor’s words pierced them. They immediately got down on their knees and begged God to forgive them for being so “blind” and willing to “betray” the Lord by being quiet about His truth.

The brothers went on to explain the essence of the trap they had fallen into. “We were operating out of a man-pleasing spirit, not a God-pleasing Spirit,” said Jason. “We were operating out of the fear of man instead of the fear of God. We took our focus off of the person of God and put it onto that platform that he put there in the first place.”

“And guess what, anything that God puts into your hand, if you’re not willing to let it go, it’s that thing that’s enslaving you. You are now controlled by this thing that you’re not willing to let go. And oftentimes, it’s a good thing that God put there in the first place, and [you compromise to protect your platform, saying] you’re ‘doing it for the Lord,’” he added.

The brothers gave an example of how this trap works in the real world. They said if a religious leader refuses to speak Biblical teaching about homosexuality from the pulpit because he’s afraid of retribution or losing his congregation, then he has fallen into the trap of “operating out of the fear of man instead of the fear of God.”

Such a religious leader is “enslaved” and must learn to let go of his man-pleasing spirit, said Jason.

The brothers said that falling into the “man-pleasing” trap taught them a crucial lesson in how to be a real Christian. They realized that the moment a Christian begins to focus on the “platform or the promise ... or whatever it is” instead of the person of God who put it there in the first place, such a Christian begins to operate according to human strategies, not according to God’s ways, which are found “spiritually in the heart.”

“Strategies are good, but they have to follow the Spirit,” said Jason.

The brothers never sent the email. A few weeks later, HGTV contacted them to sign the contract for the show. The brothers were already months into filming and the first episode was about to run when the network suddenly capitulated to homosexual-driven attacks against the twins and decided to cancel the show.

When HGTV informed the brothers of the decision to cancel, the brothers realized that the time had come for them to let their light shine by taking a bold stand for the Lord and his truth about marriage and the family.

“[We realized that] this is a ‘bully agenda’ that will not go away, and that it is bullying every single person of faith into submission,” said David.

As the brothers encountered the winds of opposition blowing on them because of their Christian beliefs, they experienced the inner coals of their faith ignite into a blazing flame.

They went on to appear in about 200 interviews with major television networks and radio programs across the country where they spoke in defense of their Christian beliefs on marriage and the sanctity of life.

They would never have been able to proclaim God’s truth so widely and effectively to so many people had they surrendered to their fear and compromised on their faith by deciding to be quiet about their beliefs.

Jason explained that Christians will only begin to be a blazing coal of light in the culture when they surrender their dreams and ambitions to the Lord (their platforms and positions) and face their greatest fear.

“When you face your fear, God takes over the fight,” said Jason. “And let me tell you, if you are willing to face your fear, God promises you this: your greatest blessing is only found on the other side of your greatest fear.”

The brothers said that when Christians are willing to face their fears and let everything go to follow the Lord, then they can expect miracles.

“Boldness [in facing your fear] precedes the miraculous,” Jason said.

“Let go of that thing you’re holding onto. Step out onto the field of battle and you do business with God,” he added.

David said all Christians, whether they be business leaders, stay-at-home moms, politicians, or pastors, need to be “bold” today because “now is our time, this is our moment.”

“And we’ve got to embrace this [fight], whatever the cost,” he said.

In 1977, Natan Sharansky was abducted by the KGB outside his apartment and charged with treason. He spent nine years in Lefortovo Prison, where he symbolized President Reagan’s description of the “religious dissident trapped in that cold, cruel existence.” Sharansky later said: “They wanted to use me to destroy Jews who hoped to leave for Israel.”

In prison, Sharansky befriended Volodia Poresh, a Christian. The two secretly started each day reading the Old and New Testaments. They called these Bible sessions “Reaganite readings.” Why? Because Reagan had declared that year the “Year of the Bible,” a designation dismissed by the Kremlin, and by some Western elites, but which inspired Sharansky and Poresh. They gained strength from that Bible, coping with the “evil” (Sharansky’s word) they faced. When Sharansky was freed, he met Reagan in the White House. The president awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

________

Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

On Palm Sunday, 2017, suicide bombers attacked two churches in Egypt, killing 49 people. The bomber of the second in Alexandria had aimed for the Coptic Pope Tawardos, but guard Naseem Fahmi prevented this. He was killed in the effort. His widow Samira mourns the death of her husband but chooses to forgive.

“I am sure Naseem has been happy to give his life for Christ,” Samira says, dressed in black as she mourns. This Sunday wasn’t the first time a church was attacked, and Naseem was extra vulnerable because of his work as a guard. “When we talked about this one day... he said he would be willing to defend the church with his own blood. Last Sunday he did.”

Naseem was one of the men guarding Saint Mark’s church in Alexandria that Sunday. When the suicide bomber tried to enter the church, Naseem stopped him and asked him to pass through the metal detector first. There the bomber blew himself up. Naseem didn’t survive, but his swift action saved the lives of many others.

“I am proud of what my husband did,” Samira says, “but life has become hard for me after his death. He was everything in my life.”

Then the widow remembers another part of her conversation with her husband: “He told me he knew me and the kids needed him, but he also knew God would take care of us if something might happen.”

“Naseem’s life was at the church, and now his life is in heaven. I know he is in a good place,” says Samira.

She has a loving message for the killer and those in Egypt that think like him: “I forgive you. And I ask God to forgive you.”

Naseem was a husband and a father of two adult sons. In two months he would have become a grandfather for the first time. He was also a beloved church member and served the church for over 20 years. He died at the age of 54.