The Persecuted Church

Last night, I was reading an article about the U.S. Army telling troops that American Family Association should be classified as a "domestic hate group".  This basically means that to them, people who hold to Biblical Christian values and "Traditional family values" fall under the same category as the K.K.K., Black Panthers, and Islamic extremists.  Is anyone really surprised that under this Administration we are seeing this?

You will not find this post to be all about politics, I promise.  First of all, I am not near intelligent enough to debate politics.  Secondly, I have one passion and His Name is Jesus!  He governs everything anyway!  I don't need to wait and see how this unfolds because I know the end of the story.....JESUS WINS!

The thing I want to talk about is the fact that I saw someone post on Facebook that the Church in America is under such persecution.  REALLY?  Apparently, the "American Church" has no idea what persecution looks like. 

In the world, there are approximately 60-65 restricted countries/states.  This means that these places have a government restriction on the Gospel of Jesus Christ being shared.  Of the 60-65, 2 of them are in Mexico and 2 are in South America.  The rest are found in the eastern hemisphere.  THE CHURCH IN THESE PLACES ARE BEING PERSECUTED.  What might that look like?  Believers are being skinned alive, burned alive, tortured, and made to watch their spouses and children tortured and killed.  If they are lucky to escape with their life, they are left with no shelter and no belongings.  Most of these believers meet in what is called secret church.  Most of them walk for hours in the middle of the night to meet in a secluded place to hear someone share the precious Words of the Gospel.  Some of these secret churches are lucky to have a Bible, while others have one page of the gospel that they tore out of a Bible before it was burned.  Real people smuggle in Bibles and provision to help the persecuted church.  There are people martyred every day!

These believers have made up their mind that at all cost they will not deny their Savior.  They are my heroes!  They can read the words of Paul and actually know what he was going through. 

I see a line in the sand for the American Church.  For far too long, Christianity has cost us hardly anything.  We have churches on every corner.  Some of them are much like attending a concert and listening to a feel good "talk" so we can have our "Best Life Now."  Very few believers are ever made fun of, much less persecuted, for their belief because the evidence is not there to prove that they might actually be a Christian.  It is time for the church to rise up in boldness and say, "No matter the cost, I will proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ." 

Oh that we would have the courage to say, " For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21)  Get these words in the context they were written.  Paul was in prison in Rome.  (His first Roman imprisonment.)  He wasn't sitting in a McDonalds eating a Big Mac with his favorite soda or preaching to a large congregation in a state of the art, Billion dollar building.   

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come

and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit,

with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 

²⁸ and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition,

but to you of salvation, and that from God. 

²⁹ For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him,

but also to suffer for His sake,

  ³⁰ having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me. 

Philippians 1:27-30 

If you are interested in learning more about the Persecuted church, check out Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors International.