Tag Archives: persecution

Esther and Persecution

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Whilst we can understand Haman’s anger at Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to him, nothing prepares us for the full extent of his malice. He is intent not only to destroy Mordecai, but all the Jews (Esth 3:6).

Of course, Haman couldn’t just go about ethnic cleansing without some kind of legal justification, so he portrays the Jews as being rebellious against the king, following their own laws (Esth 3:8). As with many false accusations, this one succeeds because it contains an element of truth – the Jews did indeed live by another law, but as we have already seen, it was unfair to characterise them as bad citizens. It is interesting to note that Haman’s strategy is to portray God’s people as those who “should not be tolerated” – a phrase we are starting to hear increasingly in our own day.

I’m sure we know that persecution is sadly as prevalent as ever. A couple of weeks ago our church received the shocking news of the murder of pastor Artur from Daghestan (please pray for his family and church). Countless other stories of modern day persecution could be told, ranging from the extreme of martyrdom to more small-scale intimidation and discrimination increasingly faced by believers even in supposedly “tolerant” countries.

Behind this persecution surely lies the devil, who wants to eradicate Christianity. His strategy is threefold: to “kill, steal and destroy” (John 10:10). Literally, in some countries Christians are killed for their faith, as the devil, like Haman, seeks to wipe out the people of God. He also attempts to steal the truth of the gospel from us, to make us powerless and ineffective, and defeat us from within. And he seeks to destroy the church’s witness by undermining its reputation, whether by slanderous accusations, or by tempting its leaders into sin.

The New Testament calls on us to expect and endure persecution (1 John 3:13; Heb 12:13). This does not mean we are not to pray for protection for ourselves or those in dangerous places, but it does mean that we need to be those living with an eternal perspective who can say, with Paul, “to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

More resources on persecution

Book Review – Jesus Freaks

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I have to admit I felt a bit uneasy when I first saw this book several years ago. dc Talk were a hugely popular Christian band, and their “Jesus Freak” album is widely recognised as one of the all-time great CCM albums. So to see a book branded with the dc talk name and Jesus Freak design made the cynic in me wonder whether this was simply an attempt to sell merchandise on the back of the success of the album.

But when I opened it up and discovered it to be a book of stories about martyrs, my opinion changed. For martyrdom is a subject that, unlike dc Talk, is not “cool” in any way. This is in effect, a modern day “Foxe’s book of Martyrs”.

The book has been produced in association with “The Voice of the Martyrs”, an organisation started by Richard Wurmbrand, and contains stories and quotes spanning the centuries.

Each story is told in just a page or two. It includes stories from the Bible, from the Roman persecution of the church, through to the time of the Reformation, through to Communist persecution of believers, and contemporary persecution of Christians in Islamic countries. It is full of Scripture verses as well as quotes from persecuted Christians and extracts from the hymns that sustained them through their suffering.

Many of the stories are shocking and horrific, and yet the peace and joy so often displayed by the believers is a powerful testimony to the grace of God at work in their lives. Not all the stories are of actual martyrdom, several are of imprisonment and torture.

This will not make for comfortable reading. I wouldn’t even put it in the “inspiring” category. “Challenging” would perhaps be a better word. When I consider how much these believers were willing to sacrifice for their faith in Jesus, many of whom could simply have escaped pain by denying their beliefs, it puts to shame my timidity in sharing my own faith with others. These believers stand as a shining example of total devotion to Christ, and what it means to live with an eternal perspective.

There is a second volume available. Details of the books can be found at this website.

Persecution Resources

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On Sunday I preached on Matt 5:10-12, on the subject of persecution (you can listen here). It is of course a subject we naturally shy away from thinking or talking about, but must not be ignored. The more I looked into it, the more I realised that this subject is discussed right through the New Testament, but we can too easily skip over those verses as they don’t seem directly applicable to our less pressured situations.

As part of my preparation, I sought out a few books of stories of persecution and websites of current news. I thought I would share them here, first as a reminder to pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering for their faith, and second as an encouragement to us to live with an eternal perspective.

Websites:

Books:

Do let me know in the comments if you know of any others worth looking at.