Category: persecution

Each child of God should ask the question: “How am I to live for Christ in this world?” ‘Time in history’ and ‘location on earth’ have presented different challenges to those who love Jesus. A Christian who lived in Berlin, Germany in the 1930’s had to decide how to react to a ‘fuehrer’ who eventually made it clear he intended to kill every Jew on earth. Discerning the will of God in the midst of crisis is not always simple.

In 2008, a fourteen-year-old boy named Zaid was walking near his house in Mosul, Iraq. Three men confronted him and asked if he was a Christian. Zaid answered ‘yes’ and was shot and killed on the street. Zaid’s parents have not only lost a son but their home and all their possessions to ISIS. Eight years later they still trust Jesus in their war-torn country. Such trials face many of our brothers and sisters in certain nations, but we must also decide what it means to live for Christ in our world.

As we look to the Savior, we can be encouraged. While His goal was always the Father’s will, He had different seasons of life. “Didn’t you know I had to be about My Father’s business?” twelve-year-old Jesus asked His parents after they found Him in the Temple. But for the next eighteen years, we have no record of what exactly that meant. We assume Jesus lived as a carpenter in Nazareth, working hard and treating people as He wanted to be treated.

After His baptism, Jesus found Himself in a hostile world. The devil confronted Him in the wilderness and made it clear that God’s will would be opposed. As Jesus taught, healed, and loved the lost, He faced persecution from those who did not recognize the Messiah. So how did Jesus know what to do? How did He know what to say? How did He know how to live in a crazy world? The secret for Jesus is the secret for us: He lived in fellowship with the Father.

Day-to-day fellowship with the Father is the way the child of God successfully lives in this world. Whichever our generation, wherever we are on the earth, whatever dilemma arises, God is not confused… or surprised. We can ask what He thinks: “How would You handle this situation?” Then: “Lord, please give me the grace, strength, and courage to trust and obey.”

“I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught Me. The One who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” John 8:28-29

“For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.” John 6:38-39

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know You have sent Me. I have made You known to them and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.” John 17:25-26

(Zaid’s story is found in the December 2016 issue of The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, p 9)

I was quite surprised a few years ago to learn that my friend Mark, who works with Voice of the Martyrs, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Of course I called to encourage him and share some of my experiences with the disease. He is four or five years younger than me.

Mark had a stem cell transplant three years ago and recovered rather quickly. He never seemed to slow down in his work to help brothers and sisters in places of persecution. Not long after his transplant I asked if he could come share with our mission trip leaders at school regarding missions and the Body of Christ worldwide. He did a great job.

In such a humble manner, Mark takes the message of Christ and resources entrusted to him to bless those living in difficult places. Within this past year, he has been to Iraq, Nigeria, and Algeria where many suffer for being identified with the Name of Christ. His newsletters often read like the Book of Acts as he shares the stories of those who risk all for the Gospel.

Last week, Mark texted me regarding a health downturn. None of the drugs are working and his kidneys have now failed. When I spoke to him on the phone he sounded very weak. Now I can only get in touch with his sister as hospice has been called.

I just want to honor a hero of mine. Thanks for remembering Mark and his family in prayer.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
II Corinthians 4:16-5:1

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings – what kind of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:1-5, 10-17)

As we read the description of the world today and as we are reminded of the power and value of God’s written Word, we are also instructed about suffering and persecution. In the conflict between the kingdom of God and Satan’s kingdom, there should be no surprise that servants of Jesus are bound to face resistance.

Susan and I spent this past weekend at The Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, North Carolina with our friends from Mission India. Indian nationals Chirie, Kamala, Sam, Prabhu, and John joined almost two hundred American believers to hear of God’s work in India and the enemy’s resistance.

We heard the story of a pastor who had two of his children kidnapped by radical Hindus almost three years ago. He and his wife have had little help from local authorities, and they still have no news about their children.

Saturday morning, Prabhu received a tragic e-mail reporting that another of his fellow pastors in India was attacked and killed. Faithfully, they continue to proclaim Christ and show His love and kindness to their fellow man.

I spoke with Pastor John, our main speaker throughout the weekend, on two different occasions. He was giving encouraging messages from II Corinthians 4 & 5. Being curious about a story he told of a young boy being possessed by a demon in one of the rural villages, I asked him about Satan’s demonic activity. “I have witnessed this hundreds of times in the 350 tribal villages in which we work. Out of fear and superstition, parents invite the spirits into their homes without realizing the evil intent of the devil.” “How do you pray?” I asked. “We pray as teams. Several of us join in prayer until the demon obeys Jesus and leaves. The families then know the power of God.”

Pastor John continued, “It is very important that we follow up quickly with teaching from the Word of God; otherwise they will just want to add Jesus to the long list of Hindu gods. God’s Word is powerful and the Holy Spirit grants understanding. There are many, many people who had never heard of Jesus just a few years ago who are now becoming mature believers. God is gaining momentum in my country.”

Despite persecution, God is building His Church. Light expels darkness and we are told to “let our light shine.” Our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world encourage us to never give up… “Keep telling people about Jesus, keep demonstrating His kindness and character, keep teaching the Word, keep depending on His grace, keep loving the lost, keep praying, keep persevering… keep the faith.”

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Remember Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and give up.” Hebrews 12:1-3

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
II Timothy 2:8-13

There are four parts of this trustworthy saying:

1. God wants us to know we are dead… we died when Jesus died (past tense). He took our sin and our ‘old man’ to the cross. And since we died with Him, we live with Him. This is the good news. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know our old man was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6:5-7)

2. Now we must endure… and the secret to endurance is ‘fellowship.’ We cannot be saved on our own and we cannot endure on our own. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4) He gives us grace; He gives us His Spirit; He gives us peace. If Jesus is with us, we can endure.

3. We never disown him… I will always remember sitting in Ecuador early one morning this past February waiting on our mission team to come to breakfast. I looked at the news and saw twenty-one Egyptian Christians dressed in orange jumpsuits on their knees with twenty-one ISIS captors holding a sword to their necks. These men were given the opportunity to denounce Christ, accept Islam, and live. Each refused and each was executed as one who would not disown the One who died on the cross. “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

4. He remains faithful regardless of our faithfulness or faithlessness… Judas disowned Jesus; Peter was faithless. Peter was not as strong as he thought he was and Jesus knew it. “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today you will deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:34) Though Peter failed in the dark night, the Good Shepherd was faithful to him. Jesus died for him, rose from the dead, and personally restored his chosen ‘rock.’ “He cannot disown himself.”

‘What a Friend we have in Jesus.’

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” I Timothy 1:15-17

A year ago I posted a couple of writings about Barnabas Mam, a Cambodian survivor of Pol Pot’s reign of terror. Through a friend who works with ‘Ambassadors for Christ,’ Barnabas came to the house a couple of weeks ago and shared with our community.

In the Body of Christ, heroes of the faith are also dear brothers or sisters in Christ. Though he has suffered in prison, in refugee camps, and in a ravaged nation, Barnabas humbly encouraged American Christians to simply keep our eyes on the Good Shepherd, who knows each sheep by name and expertly leads us.

At the close of our time together, eleven-year-old John gave sixty-five year old Barnabas a big hug and said, “Won’t you eat with us?” Of course Barnabas accepted the invitation. It is beautiful to see the older children of God invest in the younger.

From 1975 – 1979, an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians were murdered in Pol Pot’s ‘Killing Fields.’ Barnabas is one of only about two hundred Christians who survived. Today he is part of an amazing work God is doing to welcome the lost into His Kingdom, as there are now approximately 500,000 Christians in Cambodia.

People are coming to Christ in droves. It isn’t rare to attend a baptism of 300, 500, 700, or even 1000 people. Local pastors perform these baptisms, and I, filled with joy, watch my younger brothers wade into the river or lake with so many new believers. It is a feast for my eyes.

The streams of God’s goodness are flowing in Cambodia today. And the result is exactly what the Psalmist said. One little phrase, slipped into the beginning of Psalm 23, reminds me of the Shepherd’s intended outcome through every twist and turn, every hill and valley, at every table.

He leads, we follow, and it is all “for His name’s sake.” Together, we are bringing honor to His name. In an amazing act of solidarity, the Shepherd and His sheep share the same goal: the glory of God.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Psalm 23:1-3

(Quote from Church Behind the Wire, by Barnabas Mam with Kitti Murray, ©2012 Moody Publishers, p 349)