Jesus said, “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” — Matthew 5:11-12
Tom Doyle is a friend of ours. Dorothy and I first met Tom in Israel in 2009, when we spoke at the same church in Haifa pastored by our Arab Evangelical host, Philip Saa’d. It was then that we discovered we had something else in common besides being in Israel at the same time—Dorothy and I had given our hearts to Jesus at Heights Christian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Tom had attended his first prayer meeting there!
Tom’s ministry at the time was in the Middle East and he had just returned from Gaza where Rami Ayyad, the owner of the only Christian bookstore there had been robbed, tortured and killed by Muslim extremists two years before. His mantle had been taken up by the Gaza Baptist Church for a short season and Tom went there to encourage their work. His story was our first up close awareness of what Christian persecution looked like. Tom and his wife JoAnn have since gone on to be prolific authors and ministries, exposing the plight of the church throughout the world today. See Tom Doyle Books.
It is said that today 80% of the world’s population lives in a country under religious persecution—and 80% of those who are being persecuted are Christians. One only has to think of Afghanistan, Canada (yes, even good old Canada!), China, India, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, and Turkey, to name just a few of the top 50.
When Dorothy and I returned to the U.S. after that experience in Israel, we felt a call to speak out in behalf of the persecuted church to the American church as often as we could—so we volunteered with Voice of the Martyrs and Faith Comes By Hearing. and others.
It was during that time when we received a rude awakening—the American church was not ready for Matthew 5:11-12. We were way too comfortable and most of our pastors didn’t appear to want to change that dynamic. We gained few listeners!
So it took a worldwide so-called “pandemic” that allowed government authorities to close down or severely limit church activities—something that has never been done before in the history of our great nation—and it was done by fiat—while ignoring the First Amendment—and pastors by the boat load acquiesed. See my article, “Butts, Bucks and Buildings.”
This I believe was just the tip of the proverbial “iceberg.” So, for those who have the courage to speak up today, are we about to join our brothers and sisters around the world in severe persecution? One only has to remember the words of Jesus, who told us in advance what to expect in the last days and why:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me.” — John 15:18-21
Without a doubt, difficult days lay ahead for anyone committed to the truth of God’s word, the sanctity of human life, marriage between a man and a woman, sexual restraint, religious freedom and other conservative values. As a new sheriff in town misses a few steps (literally) and his accompanying sycophants that do his bidding for a healthy government paycheck, we can expect our Savior’s words to be trampled upon toward all who call upon His name and still believe in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). So here we go essential church—ready or not. Are you ready to be a blessed?
Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. — 2 Timothy 3:12.
So let’s be prepared church. Guess who wins!!! — Maranatha!
“God is good all the time. All the time God is good!”
