Thanks for this video. It reminds me of a passage in Revelation 20:4 I read last night ... "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God..."
And I also think of Revelation 12:11 ... "They triumphed over [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
I am not comforted that in my own life I fully identify with the sacrifice that these believers have made. I think of the price that belivers around the world are paying for their faith, while as Francis says, we in North America, at least, many of us, stick to the ordinary, safe Christian life. We are often afraid of speaking out too boldly about God's truth ... about sounding "legalistic" or "self-righteous," which is something to guard against but not to the point that many of us are taking it to.
A few days ago a missionary was sent a video of an indigenous believer in a nearby region who was brutally beheaded because he refused to renounce Jesus ... it was taped and sent out for others to see. I wondered ... could I make that sacrifice? Would I refuse to renounce Christ to the point of brutal murder? Yet, sometimes the price God has asked me to pay is much less, and still I have been afraid. May He give us all the grace and courage to take risks, big and small, for the sake of his Word and his kingdom.
Thanks for this video. It reminds me of a passage in Revelation 20:4 I read last night ... "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God..."
And I also think of Revelation 12:11 ... "They triumphed over [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
I am not comforted that in my own life I fully identify with the sacrifice that these believers have made. I think of the price that belivers around the world are paying for their faith, while as Francis says, we in North America, at least, many of us, stick to the ordinary, safe Christian life. We are often afraid of speaking out too boldly about God's truth ... about sounding "legalistic" or "self-righteous," which is something to guard against but not to the point that many of us are taking it to.
A few days ago a missionary was sent a video of an indigenous believer in a nearby region who was brutally beheaded because he refused to renounce Jesus ... it was taped and sent out for others to see. I wondered ... could I make that sacrifice? Would I refuse to renounce Christ to the point of brutal murder? Yet, sometimes the price God has asked me to pay is much less, and still I have been afraid. May He give us all the grace and courage to take risks, big and small, for the sake of his Word and his kingdom.
2 comments:
Thanks for this video. It reminds me of a passage in Revelation 20:4 I read last night ... "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God..."
And I also think of Revelation 12:11 ... "They triumphed over [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
I am not comforted that in my own life I fully identify with the sacrifice that these believers have made. I think of the price that belivers around the world are paying for their faith, while as Francis says, we in North America, at least, many of us, stick to the ordinary, safe Christian life. We are often afraid of speaking out too boldly about God's truth ... about sounding "legalistic" or "self-righteous," which is something to guard against but not to the point that many of us are taking it to.
A few days ago a missionary was sent a video of an indigenous believer in a nearby region who was brutally beheaded because he refused to renounce Jesus ... it was taped and sent out for others to see. I wondered ... could I make that sacrifice? Would I refuse to renounce Christ to the point of brutal murder? Yet, sometimes the price God has asked me to pay is much less, and still I have been afraid. May He give us all the grace and courage to take risks, big and small, for the sake of his Word and his kingdom.
Thanks for this video. It reminds me of a passage in Revelation 20:4 I read last night ... "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God..."
And I also think of Revelation 12:11 ... "They triumphed over [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
I am not comforted that in my own life I fully identify with the sacrifice that these believers have made. I think of the price that belivers around the world are paying for their faith, while as Francis says, we in North America, at least, many of us, stick to the ordinary, safe Christian life. We are often afraid of speaking out too boldly about God's truth ... about sounding "legalistic" or "self-righteous," which is something to guard against but not to the point that many of us are taking it to.
A few days ago a missionary was sent a video of an indigenous believer in a nearby region who was brutally beheaded because he refused to renounce Jesus ... it was taped and sent out for others to see. I wondered ... could I make that sacrifice? Would I refuse to renounce Christ to the point of brutal murder? Yet, sometimes the price God has asked me to pay is much less, and still I have been afraid. May He give us all the grace and courage to take risks, big and small, for the sake of his Word and his kingdom.
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