We've Been Trained to Adore Safety

Insightful analysis from Owen Strachan:

1. We are, in relative terms, beneficiaries of an era of unprecedented wealth. Capitalism comes in for hard critiques, but studies show that its advent coincides with soaring life-longevity and material prosperity. When you reach this state, you don't want to leave it. 

2. We have grown up in a church-friendly culture (now under major renovation). I don't decry this history as some do. But we all have to acknowledge that being a majority culture will cause us to be less prophetic, less daring, than we might otherwise be. 

3. We live in the age of the mega-watt spiritual celebrity, people who promise us wealth and ease and unending upward mobility. Whether we know it or not, easy-believism affects us all. 

4. We've bought into a theology of grace that softens every edge and cushions every fall. More than we know, we're therapeutic and psychologized. There's a "gospel-driven" form of this problem. I call it "gospel self-help." Just like the secular kind, it makes us the focal point of our faith. Narcissism easily suffocates a courageous spirit. 

5. We want to fit in more than ever, in part because our identities—even as evangelicals—are so this-worldly. We care tremendously what other people think of us. The worst thing for an undergrad today isn't an injury—it's to be "awkward" (in sing-song). We all fear man now. God and his inter-galactic holiness seems far off; your self-aware neighbor with her judgey gaze seems all too near.

Read the rest.  

God Loves To Give You More Than You Can Handle

Jon Bloom:

God certainly does give us more than we can handle. And he does it “to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). If you’re facing some overwhelming adversary or adversity and you wonder how God could possibly deliver and work it for your good (Romans 8:28), then take heart. He is granting you the joy of experiencing the reality of Judges Seven, Romans Eight, and Second Corinthians One.

Please read the rest.

A Simple and Sober Reminder from Randy Alcorn

Randy Alcorn:

In an interview I was asked, What is your advice on how believers should deal with a culture that is increasingly hostile to Christianity? 

Jesus said, “No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). Followers of Jesus should expect injustice and misrepresentation. I’m grateful there are organizations working to protect the rights of Christians. But I’m concerned if we view ourselves as one more special interest group, clinging to entitlements and whining when people don’t like us. God’s people have a long history of not being liked. 

Of course, this does not mean being hateful or seeking to be hated. It's important that we represent the Gospel well, and I am all for graciousness, kindness and servant-hearted love as we speak the truth. Romans 12:18 says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." 

But the fact is, while the gospel is good news, it is also insulting. Many people don’t like being called sinners and told they deserve to go to hell. Peter said, “Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). 

If our eyes are on anyone but Jesus, we’re not going to have the stamina to put up with criticism or outright hostility. Paul said, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). 

Jesus is the Audience of One. We will stand before His judgment seat, no one else’s. We should long to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” What other people think won’t matter.

Books by Randy Alcorn:

• Heaven
• If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil
• Money, Possessions, and Eternity
• The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving (LifeChange Books)
• Heaven for Kids
• Safely Home

Grieving That Your Children Could Lay Down Their Lives For The Nations

Jim Elliot, writing to his parents about his plans to go to South America and witness for Christ to native peoples there:

I do not wonder that you were saddened at the word of my going to South America. This is nothing else than what the Lord Jesus warned us of when He told the disciples that they must become so infatuated with the kingdom and following Him that all other allegiances must become as though they were not. And he never excluded the family tie. In fact, those loves which we regard as closest, He told us must become as hate in comparison with our desires to uphold His cause. Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly. Remember how the Psalmist described children? He said that they were as an heritage from the Lord, and that every man should be happy who had his quiver full of them. And what is a quiver full of but arrows? And what are arrows for but to shoot? So, with the strong arms of prayer, draw the bowstring back and let the arrows fly–all of them, straight at the Enemy’s hosts.

He was martyred 58 years ago today.

I was recently remarking to a friend about that fact that my children could grow up someday and actually take my preaching about the nations quite seriously.  When you think about it like that is sobers you up quite quickly.  May this quote be a refuge for me.

(HT:  JD)

Pray For Brothers and Sisters in Afganistan

Radical.net:

An Afghan public official recently said, “Numerous Afghans have become Christians in India. This is an offense to Islamic laws, and according to the Quran, they need to be executed.” According to news sources, this is just the latest of numerous such statements, all calling for extreme measures in resisting and suppressing the spread of Christianity among Afghans. 

This most recent statement, made by Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, specifically referred to Christian conversions in India, a country that has become a sort of haven for 200-250 Afghan Christians living in Delhi. Afghan Christians who fled to Delhi were originally welcomed and assisted by the Delhi Bible Fellowship, but due to the safety concerns that came with their presence, the Afghan believers have since established their own separate church – the Afghan Church of New Delhi. 

To make matters worse, India is not obligated to grant asylum to our Afghan brothers and sisters. This often makes simple tasks like buying a SIM card or renting a room precarious. This predicament probably weighs heavily on Afghan believers, because, as evidenced by Hanafi’s statement, the Afghan government isn’t oblivious to what’s happening in New Delhi. Many members of parliament are outraged that Afghan Christians in India are sharing the gospel with other Afghan visitors or residents. To them, any threat of conversion is a threat to Afghan culture. As a result, the Afghan National Security Committee is investigating the situation further. 

All this simply goes to show that the Afghan government is staunchly committed to Islamic law and actively opposed to Christian conversion. This obviously has huge implications for Christians in Afghanistan as well as abroad; our prayers ought to reflect these implications. 

Pray

• … for Afghan Christians to be both bold and wise as they live out their faith in an extremely hostile environment.
• … for Afghans abroad to come to know the Lord and grow strong in their faith, unashamed of the gospel and intentional in their declaration of it.
• … for the church abroad to to support the Afghan church wherever it may be – Afghanistan, India, the US, or anywhere in between.
• … for missionaries in Afghanistan to act wisely as they faithfully share the Word and encourage Afghan believers.
• … for Christ to be exalted by Afghan Christians in Afghanistan and in all nations. 

Information for this post was gathered from Voice of the Martyrs and The New York Times.

How To Respond To The Bombing of Christians in Pakistan

Radical.net: 

1. Bless The Attackers “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (3:9). Blessing those who curse or harm you requires supernatural grace. Thankfully, God is not stingy with such grace. By his Spirit, we can say with Jesus, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

2. Prepare Yourself “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (3:14b-15). In God’s sovereign, other-worldly wisdom, at your weakest, most vulnerable point, the potential for gospel proclamation is strongest. May each incident of persecution remind us to prepare ourselves well for the next, that we may be able give gospel answers that explain our gospel hope. 

3. Rejoice “But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (4:13). Just as unnatural as blessing our enemies is rejoicing in persecution. It is the height of Christlikeness, it is motivated by the promise of glory to come, and it can occur only because of God’s grace. 

4. Endure in Faith” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (4:19). God is sovereign, and his suffering children are suffering “according to [his] will.” This alone is not all that comforting. However, when taken with the promise that he is our faithful Creator to whom we can entrust our souls, his sovereignty couldn’t be more encouraging. Having faith that, no matter what happens, God will see us through, leads to a heavenly perspective. 

5. Pray “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (5:6-7). Our sinful unbelief tends to make even the simplest of privileges difficult. If we saw God for who he is, our mighty and faithful Creator who cares for us, how easy would it be to trust him in prayer when we’re faced with suffering! May God give us eyes to see the loving care he has for his people so that we can then humbly surrender all our anxieties to him, both for ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Pakistan, Kenya, and the rest of the world. 

6. Resist Temptation “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (5:8-9). None of us are alone in our suffering. We must not buy into the devils’s malicious schemes to convince us otherwise. 

All of these reactions are rooted in the promise that “after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace , who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (5:10-11).

Gene Simmons Defends Tim Tebow and Waxes Eloquent on Calvin's 2nd Use of the Law

Wait... What?

Yeah, right here.

Whatever The Cost

How Do You Endure Solitary Confinement for Jesus?

An Epistle in Prayer for the Forgotten Church in Syria

Michael Milton:

Dearly Beloved of God in Syria: 

May the peace and protection of the living Christ be known by you, for He who raised you to new life does surely walk through the turmoil, into the insidious carnage of chemical weapons, and beyond the shadow of inhumanity and into the rising, dark cloud of war. He who walks among you, though you may not fully discern His presence, is the very One who walked on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of another storm. He is not only calling His Church in Syria to recall your glorious place in the Body of Christ: the preaching of Peter, the baptism of Saul of Tarsus, St. Paul’s evangelistic ministry in the marketplace there, all the way to the faithful who stood against the Nestorian controversy at Chalcedon (the denial of Christ’s two natures—fully God and fully Man, not Man assuming Deity but God in the flesh born of the Virgin Mary), and courageous church planters who are establishing Golden Lamp-stands even now—He is calling you who are under threat to join with the glorious company of prophets, apostles, martyrs, persecuted believers and anonymous faithful, known fully by God, who did not bow the knee to Baal or deny the blessed name of Christ. Your brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus in all of the beautiful parts of the mosaic of the Body of Christ catholic remember you: 

As we pray for you; 

As some of you in the Church in Syria have been granted a voice for righteousness, to speak for those who cannot—whatever their creed, for they are made in the image of God;

As you share Christ Jesus in Word and deed; 

As we seek to follow your Godly example; and 

As we see the transcendent glory of Jesus in our times through your tears and cries for Him. 

We are not what we should be as intercessors and we repent, asking that your suffering and your faithfulness will bring about a revival of prayer in the West, thereby removing the scales from our eyes as your father, Ananias, did unto Saul in Damascus. 

Thus we pray through the Holy Scriptures remembering you, loving you in pleas for your protection before the throne of Grace, and praying through these Scriptures which we dedicate to believers in chains in Syria and throughout the world: 

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:12, 33-37 KJV). 

As we pray for others in these times we pray for you O Church in Syria, believing that through you, we may see the genuine revival from on high coming down to transform millions in the Middle East to our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who reigns with Thee O Father and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence

John Piper:

Being Christian exiles in American culture does not end our influence; it takes the swagger out of it. We don’t get cranky that our country has been taken away. We don’t whine about the triumphs of evil. We are not hardened with anger. We understand. This is not new. This was the way it was in the beginning — Antioch, Corinth, Athens, Rome . . . It never occurred to those early exiles that they should rant about the ubiquity of secular humanism. The Imperial words were still ringing in their ears: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:13). This was a time for indomitable joy and unwavering ministries of mercy.

Read the rest.  

(HT:  Jared)

At the Border of Faith and Doubt

Stuart McAllister:

It seemed like yet another routine border crossing in what was then Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia. The year was 1981; Leonid Brezhnev was the head of the Soviet Union, and half of Europe languished under the Communist vision and control. As a young and eager Christian, I had joined a mission whose primary task was to help the church in Eastern Europe. This involved transporting Bibles, hymn books, and Christian literature to believers behind what Winston Churchill called the “Iron Curtain.”

It was indeed an iron curtain: a vast barrier made of barbed-wire fences, mine fields, exclusion zones, guard towers, heavily armed soldiers, and dogs. Although designed allegedly to keep the West out, it was in actuality a vast system of control to keep those under this tyranny in. On this occasion my task was to transit through Czechoslovakia into Poland to deliver my precious cargo of Bibles and books to a contact there.

The literature was concealed in specially designed compartments, and my colleague and I had gone through our routine preborder procedures. We bowed our heads and prayed that God would protect us. We then proceeded to the border crossing between Austria and Czechoslovakia.

It was a cold, bleak, early winter day. It all seemed normal. We entered Czechoslovakia, and the huge barrier descended behind us. We were now locked in. As usual, the unfriendly border guards took our passports, and then the customs inspector arrived. I had been trained to act casual, to pray silently, and to respond to questions. I sensed this time it was different. 

Read the rest.

Direct Persecution vs. Indirect Persecution

Jonathan Lenning:

Not all persecution is as glaringly evident as that of believers suffering the horrors of North Korean prison camps or Nigerian church bombings. A lot of persecution is indirect, and though less obvious, the difficulty it brings is just as real. It may be helpful to think about indirect persecution as “squeezing,” whereas direct could be considered “smashing.”  This is how Open Doors differentiates between the two. But what does it mean for the church to be squeezed?

Think pressure. If we relegate persecution to instances of direct violence, we inevitably miss a lot of the areas where Christianity is still completely oppressed. In fact, according to Open Doors, “sometimes the degree of persecution is so intense, and so all-pervasive, it actually results in fewer incidents of persecution, since acts of public witness and defiance are rare.” In other words, some of the worst persecution does not exhibit itself in beatings or imprisonment, but in total, silent suppression. It’s been said that many persecutors would even prefer indirect persecution to direct, believing their attempted suffocation of the church to be more effective.

But if you’re like me, you need some examples to help you think about what it can look like for Christians to be persecuted indirectly like this. Open Doors cites the Maldives, a country in which Christians “are surrounded on every side with massive pressure from friends, neighbors, family, and the government, which means they can hardly express their faith.” Unfortunately, we don’t need to look past last week to find other examples.

Open Doors issued a prayer update on June 5 in which Indonesia’s radical Islamists are waging a new kind of battle against the Christian church planting there. They have turned to threatening fellow Muslims by denying them a proper Muslim burial if they approve of a church building being constructed in their area. Pressure.

The day before, Voice of the Martyrs reported a church closing in Iran last month. The church leaders had been ordered to conduct services only in Armenian, a language less than two percent of the population speaks. To be sure, the actions that led up to the church closing included imprisonment of church leaders, a form of direct persecution. However, by prohibiting the church from using the most effective language for spreading the gospel among Iranians (53 percent of the population speaks Farsi), the government’s tool of choice is now indirect; they aren’t prohibiting Christianity or even Christian churches, just the speaking of the people’s language. Squeezing.

So let’s remember these forgotten sufferers in our prayers. They may not be in the headlines for bombings, shootings, or torture, but they’re just as much persecuted and just as much in need of our prayer support.

Saeed's Wife Speaks Out

CNN.com has the story.

The Enemy Within

“The persecution of the true church, of Christian believers who trace their spiritual descent from Abraham, is not always by the world, who are strangers unrelated to us, but by our half-brothers, religious people, the nominal church. It has always been so. The Lord Jesus was bitterly opposed, rejected, mocked and condemned by his own nation. The fiercest opponents of the apostle Paul, who dogged his footsteps and stirred up strife against him, were the official church, the Jews. The monolithic structure of the medieval papacy persecuted all Protestant minorities with ruthless, unremitting ferocity. And the greatest enemies of the evangelical faith today are not unbelievers, who when they hear the gospel often embrace it, but the church, the establishment, the hierarchy. Isaac is always mocked and persecuted by Ishmael.”

John. R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians (London, 1968), page 127.


(HT:  Ray Ortlund)

They Didn't Stone Stephen Because He Was Vague

Click on the image to see larger.  

From Adam4d.com

No Free-Riders When Persecuted

It would seem that costly demands must always make a religion less attractive. And indeed, the economists’ law of demand predicts just that, other things remaining equal. But it turns out that other things do not remain equal when religions impose these kinds of costs on their members. Costly demands strengthen a religious group by mitigating “free-rider” problems that otherwise lead to low levels of member commitment and participation. Sacrifice and stigma mitigate the free-rider problems faced by religious groups.

- Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, p. 177

(HT:  T-Wax)

Keller on Turning The Other Cheek

Tim Keller:

When people come to me and say, ‘What does the Bible teach I should do when I’m persecuted?’ I say, ‘It’s simple. You want to not go get them and hate them. The Bible says reverse that. You have to go get them and love them.’ What do people say? ‘Impossible. That’s ridiculous.’ Of course, that’s what the Bible says you’re supposed to do. That’s what turn the other cheek means. Turn the other cheek does not mean you let people walk all over you. Absolutely not. Paul didn’t; he appealed to Caesar. Jesus didn’t; he protested when he was struck. ‘Hey, this is illegal,’ he said. The Bible always says you uphold justice for the sake of justice, but you let God be the judge. You give over the ultimate judgment of that person’s character to God and you go after justice without any vengefulness in your heart. You forgive.

Books by Tim Keller:

• The Prodigal God  
• King’s Cross 
• Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything 
• The Reason for God  
• Counterfeit Gods  
• Generous Justice

What To Say When Piers Backs You Into a Corner and Calls You Offensive

Dan Phillips:

"You know, TaPierRosEllRy, when you ask me about X, you're obviously picking a topic that is deeply offensive to non-Christians — but it's far from the most offensive thing I believe. You're just nibbling at the edge of one of the relatively minor leaves on the Tree of Offense. Let me do you a favor, and just take you right down to the root. Let me take you to the most offensive thing I believe.

"The most offensive thing I believe is Genesis 1:1, and everything it implies.

"That is, I believe in a sovereign Creator who is Lord and Definer of all. Everything in the universe — the planet, the laws of physics, the laws of morality, you, me — everything was created by Another, was designed by Another, was given value and definition by Another. God is Creator and Lord, and so He is ultimate. That means we are created and subjects, and therefore derivative and dependent.

"Therefore, we are not free to create meaning or value. We have only two options. We can discover the true value assigned by the Creator and revealed in His Word, the Bible; or we can rebel against that meaning.

"Any time you bring up questions about any of these issues, you do so from one of two stances. You either do it as someone advocating and enabling rebellion against the Creator's design, or as someone seeking submissive understanding of that design. You do it as servant or rebel. There is no third option.

"So yeah, insofar as I'm consistent with my core beliefs, everything I think about sexuality, relationships, morals, the whole nine yards, all of it is derived from what the Creator says. If I deviate from that, I'm wrong.

"To anyone involved in the doomed, damned you-shall-be-as-God project, that is the most offensive truth in the world, and it is the most offensive belief I hold.

"But if I can say one more thing, the first noun in that verse — beginning — immediately points us forward. It points to the end. And the end is all about Jesus Christ. That takes us to the topic of God's world-tilting Gospel, and that's what we really need to talk about."

I mean, why quibble about minor offenses, when we know how to take them right to the mother lode of all offense — that God is God, and we are not?

Read the rest.

I doubt that they'll let you change the subject but might be worth a shot.

Our Brave New World

It's not really new (you know the cliché), but in a sense it is completely new.

John Piper:

As I hand off my leadership role at Bethlehem to Jason Meyer, the world he and you will face is very different than when I came almost 33 years ago. It would have been unthinkable to suggest that anyone would seriously propose defining marriage as between two men or two women; and it would have been even more unthinkable that in a mere thirty years America would have lost its soul so profoundly that most American’s would approve of a definition of marriage that no society in the history of the world has ever embraced. And it would have been unthinkable that instead of rejecting the unreality of so-called same-sex marriage, the culture would begin to criminalize the naming of same-sex intercourse as sin — which it is.

And along with this tragic loss of our moral compass, has come the increasing loss of freedoms and the increasing compulsion from government to conform to unbiblical views. Freedom of speech is disappearing as the secular consensus grows that our shame is our glory (Philippians 3:19), and that to use biblical language to describe sin is hateful and already in some places prosecuted as illegal. Freedom of worship is disappearing as metropolitan commissions and councils take the prerogative to prohibit worship spaces and activities.

And along with the loss of freedoms to act in biblical ways, comes the governmental compulsion to act in unbiblical ways — to fund the killing of unborn children, to endorse the legitimacy of sinful behavior, and soon to participate in it (for example, if you are a military chaplain), and the compulsory normalizing of sin in public institutions that will probably force most biblical Christians out of the public schools.

In view of these dramatic developments it seemed good to me to leave you with some biblical guidance about how the church should live in view of this new emerging marginalization, and intimidation and even criminalization of biblical speaking and acting.

Click over to listen or read his admonitions.

(HT:  Denny Burk)