CrossTies Devotional Articles

June 4, 2009




Introduction

It's been said that the through the years since its inception, the church
has always grown strongest during times of persecution. It seems to be
true. Today's article considers one thing that persecution does that
produces that strength. See what you think.



A Little Persecution
By Bill Denton

10"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11"Blessed are you when people insult
you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because
of Me. 12"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in
the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. -- Matthew
5:10-12 , NASB95

The cruelty of atheism is hard to believe. When a man has no faith in the
reward of good or the punishment of evil, there is no reason to be human.
There is no restraint from the depths of evil that is in man. The Communist
torturers often said, "There is no God, no hereafter, no punishment for
evil. We can do what we wish." -- Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured For Christ,
p. 36.

Richard Wurmbrand's book, Tortured For Christ, is a record of the
unspeakable torture he and others endured at the hands of Communists. It is
not a pleasant read, but it is an important one. What Christians endure for
their faith is not what one hears about in the media, and is seldom what is
portrayed in books and movies.

Today, you are more likely to hear about the abuse of animals than you are
to hear about the abuse suffered by people who believe in Jesus Christ.
There is almost a sense that today's world has grown beyond the sharp
persecution of years ago, but that would be to misunderstand the realities
of our time in history.

American Christians, in particular, are sometimes isolated from the news
about other believers in the world and what they must endure in order to be
believers. We are much more comfortable with theological arguments,
debates, and who is a notch up on the "I'm right and you're wrong" scale.
Much of the rest of the world is just trying to avoid pain and death because
they believe in Jesus.

Years ago, a friend of mine frequently prayed this: "Lord, send us some
persecution!" I would say to him, "Jim, leave me out of that prayer!" He
didn't really want to be persecuted, but he did believe that persecution
would urge us to get our minds focused on the important and abandon the
rest. I still don't want to be persecuted, but I haven't found the magic
answer to getting us focused on the really important and away from things
that just don't matter.

It's an interesting thing about this age in which we live. We seem to spend
more of our time focused on things that keep us apart than on things that
bring us together. Is it because we have the luxury of being able to do
that? Could it happen because we aren't driven to one another by pain and
death? Historically, it is said, that the church has always grown stronger
under persecution. Some of that must occur because people are driven to
what really matters. But the flip side of that must count as well. People
are driven away from unimportant things.

I still don't think I want to be persecuted, but perhaps we need to be
driven to the vitally important and away from junk. Which direction are you
headed?

C Copyright 2009, Dr. Bill Denton
All Rights Reserved


All Articles, Bible Studies, Blog Entries and other Resources

C Copyright 2009, Dr. Bill Denton

Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without
further permission by the author. Articles may be freely dittri buted via
email, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publica-tions
without further per-mission. Please keep this copyright and web site
information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to
subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.
http://www.crossties.org <http://www.crossties.org/>

Subscription Information for HTML formatted list

To subscribe: send a blank message from the address you wish to subscribe to
crossties-on@...

To unsubscribe: send a blank message from the address you wish to
unsubscribe to

crossties-off@...

Subscription Information for the text-only format list

To subscribe: send a blank message from the address you wish to subscribe to


crosstiestext-on@...

To unsubscribe: send a blank message from the address you wish to
unsubscribe to

crosstiestext-off@...