If you were put on trial for your faith, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Within the huge community of Christians living throughout the world, said by some to number more than 1 billion people (the Lord alone knows how many are truly His) there are many who live comfortable, middle class lives, suffer no particular hardships materially or spiritually and lead what we would call a “normal” life according to the cultural environment in which they live.

One thing characterizes the lives of true followers of Jesus Christ, and that is that they have turned around (repented or made a 180 degree turn) to leave this world’s relative values behind to follow the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Imagine what would happen if you were driving along a major road in heavy traffic and decided to do a U turn and drive against the oncoming traffic on your side of the road. There would inevitably be a clash or crash of vehicles with very severe repercussions. It reminds me of the story of the man who was driving along a major road. His wife phoned him on his mobile phone to warn him that there was a report on the travel news that someone was driving the opposite way to the rest of the traffic on the road where he was travelling and he should take care. Looking out from his car he replied to his wife, “hey dear, there’s not just one car, but loads of them!”

Ever since the Church was born at Pentecost about 2,000 years ago, Christians have been called to be witnesses to their Lord, a word which translated from the Greek means the same as martyr, one who is prepared to die for what they believe. We know that Stephen was the first Christian martyr and Saul, who later became known as Paul was there, giving approval to the event, was standing there keeping watch over the coats of the men who stoned Stephen to death. Paul was one of the greatest persecutors of the very first Christians before his dramatic conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus, on his way to arrest Christians and take them in chains to Jerusalem. He later says that at the time he was convinced that he was doing the right thing.

Throughout the history of the church there have been those who have been called on to suffer for their faith because their values are in opposition to those of this world and today we know them as the persecuted church. There are currently many Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, in places such as Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan and North Korea, to name just a few places.

It is Pakistan I wish to talk about, because I am in daily contact with Christians there and have recently been made aware of a serious humanitarian situation involving persecuted Christians in a remote region of the country called Gojra. In 2009 a very serious confrontation occurred there, now referred to as the GOJRA INCIDENT. This was a very serious clash between Christians and Muslims which resulted in a church being burned to the ground, 40 Christian houses being destroyed by fire, the death of 7 Christians and the injury or harm of a further 18. There are many videos providing evidence of these events. If you go to YouTube and type GOJRA INCIDENT in capital letters you can see much graphic footage and images of what took place there.

I read an article a few days ago which indicated that somewhere between 100-200 million Christians are currently suffering or being persecuted for their faith around the world. We are told when we come to Christ that we are to take up our cross daily and follow Him, and that Christianity is not the road to health, wealth and prosperity or the instant solution to all our problems as some preach so eloquently in their designer suits on their dedicated TV channels. Our great Lord and master was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His life was one of service to the poor, needy and suffering and we are called to follow in His footsteps.

The situation in Gojra has deteriorated to such an extent recently, not helped by severe flooding in Pakistan, that I was recently asked by a Christian living in Gojra to ask if we could help to provide funding for food and clothing. They are currently living through Winter conditions in that region of the world and suffering from food and clothing shortages, producing a very accute need for humanitarian assistance. I immediately put the organization working on behalf of the Christians in Gojra in touch with Barnabas Fund and later Open Doors, also contacting these Christian ministries myself. Both these organizations are active in Pakistan.

Let me describe a few things I have been told about what it is like to declare your faith in Christ if you live in Gojra. You would be unable to get a job with an employer unless it was a menial one like sweeping streets or doing domestic chores, even if you were highly educated and qualified. Many Christian women work in Muslim households and are paid a pittance, but have to do this work as it is the only source of income for their families because their husbands can’t get jobs.

Donations can currently be made to help the extreme needs of our brothers and sisters in this area. We are told that when one member of Christ’s body suffers, we all suffer with him or her. This is how I have felt during the past few weeks. I have felt the weight of the problems of these persecuted brothers and sisters so heavily and at times almost moving me to tears.

Then, a few days ago I was contacted by a Christian pastor in Lahore, which is apparently only 4 hours drive away from Gojra. He knew nothing about my involvement with Gojra or the needs of the brothers and sisters there. I believe God led Him to me to bring his awareness to the needs of fellow Christians on his own doorstep. He has indicated that his church can provide some funding to help the Gojra Christians in their current circumstances. I believe we are beginning to see God break into this situation and bring Christian brothers into contact who can work together to help this part of the persecuted Church.

Once we establish contacts with Barnabas Fund, Open Doors or both, we hope to be able to send donations more easily and efficiently to where the needs are greatest through one or both of these ministries. Until then, please give as the Lord leads you through the channels open to us currently. The good news is that the Pakistani Rupee is very devalued and continues to devalue very quickly at the moment, so your donation, however small it may seem to you, could meet a lot of needs!

Please visit my open group “Help for Christians in Gojra, Pakistan” on Facebook if you want to receive updates on the Gojra situation and sign up to the group if you feel you want to declare your support for this small part of the persecuted church.

We may be grateful to them in the near future for their help to us when we are being persecuted for our faith in Christ. They have already told me that they are praying for us!

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” ~ Matthew 5:11-12

Just a closing thought. “If you were put on trial for your faith, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

GRACE, POWER AND MARTYRDOM

The stoning of Stephen

A pirouetting ballerina is graceful; a charging bull is powerful. We do not often think of the terms "grace" and "power" as going together. To refer to a martyr as "full of grace and power," as Stephen is described in Acts 6:8, may seem strange. A martyr is powerless, a victim of those who hold the power of life and death. Also, martyrdom is far from a graceful affair. Bones are crushed under a hail of stones, limbs are severed between the teeth of Colosseum lions, flesh melts in the heat of a blazing fire. It is far more gruesome than graceful.

In the book of Acts, there is more to martyrdom than may at first be apparent. The Greek word "martyr" means, literally, "witness." That is precisely what Stephen was, even before his death, and when he preached grace, he did so with power. Luke describes him as a "man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" Acts 6:5. Jesus had promised His followers, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Acts 1:8. They bear witness to God's grace and bear witness by God's power. In the person of Stephen-and in all witnesses and martyrs of the Church - we see this central theme of Acts.

WITNESSES TRUE AND FALSE

As the events of Stephen's death make clear, all witnesses are not equal. When Stephen gave testimony of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, the human wisdom of his opponents could not refute him. So, Luke tells us, "they set up false witnesses." Acts 6:13. They falsely charged that Stephen had blasphemed against God and His prophets and rejected the divine law of Israel. But as Stephen narrated to them the history of Israel, it quickly became apparent that his accusers were the ones guilty of rejecting God's Law and prophets. Stephen's testimony exposed them, so they killed him.

The sham trial of Stephen bears remarkable likeness to that of his Lord. As Christ stood before Caiaphas, "the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward, Matthew 26:59-60. When Jesus finally opened His mouth to confess truthfully that He was the Son of God, He was promptly charged with blasphemy and sentenced to death.

Jesus before Caiaphas

Just as false witnesses are found throughout Scripture, so false martyrs abound even today. From suicide bombers, in the Middle East to imprisoned terrorists starving on hunger strikes, we are often led to believe that all who commit suicide in the name of a cause, even when wrong or misguided, deserve a certain amount of respect for the strength of their convictions. Many would argue that they at least deserve a headline. They are, we are told, martyrs. However, we do well to recall the sentiment of the early Christians. Death does not make a martyr, they would agree, but the content of one's testimony while still alive does.

THE SEED OF THE CHURCH

Tertullian

Basil the Great

The early Christian writer Tertullian (c160-c225) asserted, "The blood of Christians is the seed of the Church." Through the spectacle of martyrdom, he meant, the Church gained victory over those who would destroy it. The patient suffering of Christians inspired more people to follow Christ. Basil the Great, another ancient Church teacher, wrote: "the blood of the martyrs, watering the Churches, nourished many more champions of true religion, each generation (preparing) for the struggle with the real zeal of those that had gone before."

However, other Christian writers recorded stories of zealous but confused believers who went to great lengths to seek out martyrdom. For example, the mother of a young man named Origen was forced to hide his clothing in order to prevent him from leaving his house in search of a martyr's death.

But Scripture is clear, the death of sinners, even the death of those who are also saints, is not the foundation on which the body of Christ is built. The Church is built on one foundation: Jesus Christ. Only the proclamation of His death and its saving benefits is responsible for the Church's growth on earth. And only those who by the Spirit's power proclaim God's grace in Christ are truly His witnesses, or martyrs. This is so even if they do not meet death for their faithful testimony.

SEEING HEAVEN OPEN

Though you may not experience the dramatic death associated with martyrdom, you certainly cannot expect to escape death itself. Death entered our world on account of sin St. Paul reminds us. "Death spread to all men because all sinned." Romans 5:12. The fact of your mortality is a constant reminder that you are a sinful being living in a sinful world. Nothing within your power can change that.

But you, like the witnesses and martyrs of the earliest Church, have not been left to your own power. God bestowed on you His own grace and power when you received Him as your Saviour and Lord. Like Stephen, even you are "full of grace and power." By His grace, you are saved and by His power you can now testify to the salvation He has provided for all. This, in fact, is precisely what you have been called to do. This is what the Holy Spirit has empowered you to do. You are to be a witness. You are to be, in the original meaning of the term, a martyr.

You may not, as Stephen did, see heaven open as you fall under a hail of stones. That is probably good news to you! But what is certainly good news is that you will indeed see heaven open when you depart this earthly life. And there you will see the Saviour in all His power and glory, graciously welcoming you home.

Adapted from the Lutheran Study Bible

Some Thoughts and Comments on Psalm 145

David playing the harp

PSALM 145

1Praise. By David: I will praise you to the heights, my God, the king; I will bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is ADONAI and greatly to be praised; his greatness is beyond all searching out. 4 Each generation will praise your works to the next and proclaim your mighty acts. 5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on the story of your wonders. 6 People will speak of your awesome power, and I will tell of your great deeds. 7 They will gush forth the fame of your abounding goodness, and they will sing of your righteousness. 8 ADONAI is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and great in grace. 9 ADONAI is good to all; his compassion rests on all his creatures. 10 All your creatures will thank you, ADONAI, and your faithful servants will bless you. 11 They will speak of the glory of your kingship, and they will tell about your might; 12 to let everyone know of your mighty acts and the glorious majesty of your kingship. 13 Your kingship is an everlasting kingship, your reign continues through all generations. 14 ADONAI supports all who fall and lifts up all who are bent over. 15 The eyes of all are looking to you; you give them their food at the right time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 ADONAI is righteous in all his ways, full of grace in all he does. 18 ADONAI is close to all who call on him, to all who sincerely call on him. 19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20 ADONAI protects all who love him, but all the wicked he destroys. 21 My mouth will proclaim the praise of ADONAI; all people will bless his holy name forever and ever.

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I was greatly blessed by hearing some excellent exposition and comment on this Psalm yesterday whilst visiting my mother's church and what a wonderful Psalm it is in uplifting and exalting our great God high above everything and all principalities and powers that ever have been, are now or ever shall exist. David declares here that he is resolved to bless God every day for ever and ever. As followers of Yeshua, are we resolved in our hearts to do the same as the example set by the Psalmist King of Israel who most likely wrote the original musical setting to this Psalm? How I would love to have heard that original performance, but unfortunately the CD hadn't been invented then.

We learn from this Psalm that David praised God for His work in Creation, abounding goodness, compassion and righteousness. Here David declares in verse 10 that all God's creatures and faithful servants will bless Him. He then goes on to declare His kingship and the fact that His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, in stark contrast to the passing and fading governments of the kings and presidents of this world. Do you know and recognize the Kingship of God in your life today?

We then discover in verse 14 that God is a support to all who fall and lifts up those who are bent over or stooped. In verses 15 and 16 we see that He is our provider of food and clothing and satisfies the desires of every living creature. Have you experienced His provision in your life, particularly during hard times?

In verse 19 we see that He fulfils our desires and hears the cries of those who call out to Him, and responds by saving them, as He did when the Israelites needed deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Have you known His saving hand and deliverance in your own personal experience? Do you know what it is to be set free from sin and slavery to sin, addictions or bad habits of one kind or another?

If you cry out in your need, whatever it may be today, God will bring deliverance, salvation, healing and wholeness through the perfect sacrifice of Yeshua who died to take away our sin and reconcile us to God. You will then be only too willing and prepared to praise God and bless His holy name for ever, day after day, just as David declared he would in this wonderful Psalm.

This article was originally written for the Messianic Faith and Public Policy group on Facebook.