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| IRANIAN PASTOR CONDEMNED TO DIE FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN. Image from nowtheendbegins.com via google.com |
"... in fact, the hour is coming
when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God."
Being a Christian is a very dangerous state of life.
There are places on earth where the practice of religion is limited to the religion of the ruling majority. In such areas, the practice of Christianity is tantamount to committing a suicide.
But there are also places where religion supposedly can be exercised freely - especially in places where Christians are in the majority - and yet the expressions of religion are stifled due to the respect for other ideologies that run counter to Christian ideals and values because the minority deserves to be protected.
Hence Christians are almost anywhere under some form of persecution - even from those who profess faith in God, even from those who claim to be Christians themselves.
The Lord has warned us about this. The original warning was addressed to the Apostles but the same warning is still relevant especially today. For the present age is more concerned about the so-called minority rights to the detriment of the majority. The extreme advocacy for freedom creates new forms of bondage - which most often are being applied to those who stand up for the truth, for what is right, for what is proper, for what is good.
We, Christians, are being persecuted for standing up for God and God's laws. We are being put to trial for the things that have made our present society more humane and civilized. We are being considered outdated and outmoded for keeping the faith which influenced many significant developments and progresses in the treatment of peoples especially the marginalized.
Many might raise their eyebrows and say, REALLY? remembering the many sad episodes in the history of the Church and how Christians treated the people they colonized. But the moving forces behind those were politics, economics and militarization not religion. Unfortunately, religion was misused to justify the first three. For where religion truly prospered, people benefited.
Persecutions will never stop as long as there are people who cannot accept and won't surrender to God. As long as they let themselves be dominated by the devil. But we must never give up nor give in. The Lord promises glory to those who will remain in His love.
We must always remember what He said, "Remain in my love" [see John 15:9].
There are places on earth where the practice of religion is limited to the religion of the ruling majority. In such areas, the practice of Christianity is tantamount to committing a suicide.
But there are also places where religion supposedly can be exercised freely - especially in places where Christians are in the majority - and yet the expressions of religion are stifled due to the respect for other ideologies that run counter to Christian ideals and values because the minority deserves to be protected.
Hence Christians are almost anywhere under some form of persecution - even from those who profess faith in God, even from those who claim to be Christians themselves.
The Lord has warned us about this. The original warning was addressed to the Apostles but the same warning is still relevant especially today. For the present age is more concerned about the so-called minority rights to the detriment of the majority. The extreme advocacy for freedom creates new forms of bondage - which most often are being applied to those who stand up for the truth, for what is right, for what is proper, for what is good.
We, Christians, are being persecuted for standing up for God and God's laws. We are being put to trial for the things that have made our present society more humane and civilized. We are being considered outdated and outmoded for keeping the faith which influenced many significant developments and progresses in the treatment of peoples especially the marginalized.
Many might raise their eyebrows and say, REALLY? remembering the many sad episodes in the history of the Church and how Christians treated the people they colonized. But the moving forces behind those were politics, economics and militarization not religion. Unfortunately, religion was misused to justify the first three. For where religion truly prospered, people benefited.
Persecutions will never stop as long as there are people who cannot accept and won't surrender to God. As long as they let themselves be dominated by the devil. But we must never give up nor give in. The Lord promises glory to those who will remain in His love.
We must always remember what He said, "Remain in my love" [see John 15:9].
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