The Ultimate and Final Evil

We hear every week of Christians killed in Muslim majority countries.  Often the police in these countries will stand by as Christians are dragged out of their houses, churches are burned and property destroyed.  According to Open Doors, a worldwide ministry that serves the persecuted church, each month more than 300 Christians are killed because of their faith and over 200 churches are destroyed.  While there have been times when persecution has strengthened the church, persecution has also at times completely wiped out Christianity in large areas and left completely absent any witness for Jesus Christ.  

We should be concerned because these are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are reminded that the human rights to life and liberty are inalienable and need to be safeguarded regardless of the political divide.  We also care about persecution because we are told that we are one body.  In 1 Corinthians 12:26, the Apostle Paul said, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

For the first five centuries, Christianity flourished in the Middle East. Modern day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Turkey were known as the cradle of Christianity.  Three of the five Patriarchs (ruling Bishops) were those Bishops of Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch which were major centers and Christian philosophy and teaching.  However, by 641, followers of Muhammad conquered much of Egypt and destroyed the Library of Alexandria dating back to Alexander the Great.   Syria had fallen to the same Muslim armies a few years before and all the Middle East and North Africa were controlled by Muslim armies within 60 years.

Most non-Muslims don’t understand that Islam is not a religion, but as Dr. Peter Hammond, author of “Slavery, Terrorism and Islam,” noted in his book, “Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components.”

While Christianity has always and will always face persecution, the threat to Christianity and much of Western Civilization from Islamic religious, political and cultural demands is by far the greatest evil we have ever faced.   It is likely the Islam is the ultimate and final evil that will be brought to a conclusion by nothing less than the return of the King of Kings.

Stand Your Ground

There are many promises of Jesus that we can find in the Bible. While there are over 200, here are just a few: He promised that He would die and in three days rise from the dead.

He promised He would send the Holy Spirit and that He would come back again. He promised that He would draw all to himself. And finally but not least, He promised his followers that they would be hated and persecuted.                                                                              

Jesus said,

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles."  

"But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."  

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." (Matthew 18:16-23)

Jesus tell us that we will be handed over, flogged, brought before governors and kings. We will be arrested, betrayed, hated and put to death. However, He tells us to 'stand our ground.' When we hear of 'Standing your ground' we may think about self-defense or being assertive or exercising our rights. However, this is not what Jesus means as this is all about our witness and our faith.

The context of the above verses is the 10th chapter of Matthew. Jesus is providing final instructions to His disciples. Jesus has been teaching them for three years and he's about to send them out. They have been following but soon will be on their own; He's giving them their job description. Just prior to these verses Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”(Matthew 10:8)

That’s a great charge to these disciples! Some commentators have said that this chapter 10 of Matthew is the disciples’ ordination ceremony. For those that may be unfamiliar, let me provide some insight.

Ordination is ‘setting apart the individual for the work of the ministry’. For churches and denominations that take this process seriously, there are very similar steps or processes. It begins with a selection process, an examination of the individuals, and then an examination of the individual’s credentials – typically both practical as well as academic or theological training. Finally, the candidate kneels and others that have gone before, often the elders and pastors, lay hands on the candidate.

I still remember the charge I was given when I was ordained: I was told to: 1) Love God,  2) Love His Word, and 3) Love His People. While there were a number of scripture verses that were recited during the service, one of the verses that was emphasized was in Acts 20:28-31

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!”

I believe that that these verses in Acts 20:28-31 that are similar to Jesus instructions above in Matthew 18 are valuable instructions as well as warnings for ALL of us. Jesus said that while people are offered light, they will prefer darkness because their deeds are evil. That evil in the hearts of those that prefer darkness leads to the trials, the persecutions and the hate. When these attacks come, it can easily lead to compromise, silence, withdrawal and capitulation and surrender.

Our response however is to stand firm. We are to acknowledge Jesus before men and are promised that Jesus will acknowledge us before His father. We have the truth that sets people free, we are the light in the midst of darkness.

Stand your ground!

Running On Empty

It’s been a while since I’ve run out of gas in my car.  Back when I first started driving, the possibility of running out of gas seemed to be a much more likely occurrence.  Today, with the reminders from the electronics in front of the driver, the distance to empty that is ever present on the dashboard and my wife’s verbal reminders, I rarely drive my car on empty.

When it comes to my spiritual life however, it seems like just the opposite.  When I first became a believer, it seemed like my spiritual life was constantly being recharged.  Prayer, Bible study, fellowship with other Christians, and two church services on Sunday and one at midweek were constantly keeping my ‘tank’ full.   I have to admit that now, almost forty years later, it’s easier to find that I’m running too close to empty.  

While the reasons may be many, prayer is one of the ways we keep our relationship with our heavenly Father and our spiritual life full. The famous 19th century Baptist preacher from England, Charles Spurgeon said, “I know of no better thermometer to your spiritual temperature than this, the measure of the intensity of your prayer.”

Prayer is likely the most significant key to our spiritual life.  We can easily find ourselves going through the motions, being somewhat moral in our outward behavior and Christian in conduct while being deficient and lacking in prayer.

The remedy however for an impaired spiritual life is as close as a silent prayer.   I have found that the simple, heartfelt prayers are the ones that can quickly restore my relationship with God my Father.  My habit has been to be thankful for any of the many blessings that God has provided and to enter into a time of thanksgiving and praise before I remember the petitions that can quickly come to mind.

Prayer is our primary means of communication with God.  Prayer is also worship as we humble ourselves to our God and Father.  In prayer, we acknowledge that God is present, that he is able to hear our prayer and uniquely know our hearts intention.  As he is Almighty God, He alone is the necessary requirement for a full spiritual life.

God desires to fill us with His presence.  That concept of being ‘filled’ or what Paul describes as the ‘fullness of God’ is found in Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height; to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

We don’t need to ever be empty again.

Rome, People of the Cross, and the Crusaders

Recently, I taught a college-level class called "The Story" that reviewed 2,000 years of church history to a very bright group of adults.  

It was the last class of nearly an 18-month journey that included classes on the Bible, leadership and ministry.  It was a favorite class of many of the students and we tried to not just inform but to challenge as well.

My co-instructor and I enjoyed teaching this Church history class, particularly with the fast pace that we had to journey through the early church, the rise of monasticism, the Middle Ages and Reformation.  In addition, each year we also spent some time on the various Crusades from the 11th to the 15th century.

The Crusades don't have the best reputation, likely deservedly.   At the same time, we tried to be faithful to tell the whole story including the rapid expansion of Islam beginning with their prophet Mohammed. Soon after the death of Muhammad in 632 AD, there were many military expeditions and a more aggressive posture interpreting the Jihad of Islam to be necessary.    Islam very quickly acquired territory militarily from Arabia into Egypt, the Middle East, all of North Africa and into the heart of Europe.

Regardless of the endless criticisms of the Crusades and/or the defense of the 'peaceful rule' of Islam the fact remains that by the time of the first Crusade in 1095 AD, Christianity had become strictly a European faith as three-quarters of what had been Christian territory in Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Africa and Hellenized Byzantium (Modern Turkey) had been wiped out by Islam.

Most scholars agree that other than the First Crusade, the remaining Crusades were largely unsuccessful.  Nearly all scholars forget to mention that Christianity had been fighting and losing a defensive war against Islam for more than 450 years.  Islamic Caliphates controlled more territory than Rome at its greatest expansion and the last and largest caliphate of Islam, the Ottoman Empire, wasn't dissolved until after World War I.

The most important lesson however is that this history lesson is still fresh in the minds of ISIS, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and others of the same mind.   Note that the propaganda announcements by these groups often refer to vengeance against "Rome", "People of the Cross", and the "Crusaders."  

When Islamic radicals use these terms they are meant to be broad.   It's meant as a reference to the entire West.  In addition, it includes People of the Cross wherever they may be found leading to the brutal persecutions of Christians in Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Indonesia.   Jews are not forgotten in Islamic radicals hatred and persecution and are often singled out and murdered.

While scholars and historians may argue about the means of the expansion of Islam from the 7th through the 14th centuries, we are presently seeing the cruelest resurrection of Islamic barbarism.  This is truly the "Clash of Civilizations" framed by political scientist Samuel Huntington back in 1992.   It is also the worst representation of a religion that appears to be hijacked by those committed to evil and fueled by ill-informed ancient memories of religious wars best forgotten.

The 50/50 Marriage is yielding a 50/50 Result

By Berni Dymet

The apostle Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, laid down some very good guidelines for husbands and wives. To the men he said, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25). To the women he said, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22). That kind of relationship brings about a lack of tension in marriage.

The husband should be willing to sacrifice himself for the wife's good.  If he loves her enough that he is willing to give himself for her, even as Jesus did for the church, then the wife will be willing to submit to his leadership. She will know that he is always looking out for her good and always willing to put her interests ahead of his.

By the same token, a wife has the ability to make her husband the head of the household by urging him to take his proper role in the home. She should encourage him to seek God, to find out what God is telling the family to do. She can build her husband up and, by being willing to submit, give him a sense of responsibility so that he will assume his proper role.

The one who always insists on "rights" will destroy the marriage relationship. If the husband says to the wife, "You must obey me because the Bible says so," he is going to alienate her. At the same time, the wife who refuses to submit to the husband and fights him all the time will make him apprehensive about following the Lord. He will start thinking, What if I get a message from God? All I am going to get is opposition from my wife, so I might as well just follow my own desires and let her follow hers. Such attitudes will pull couples apart, whereas God's standards should draw them together.

It is important to remember that husbands and wives are partners. Someone has rightly pointed out that woman was taken from the side of man, not from his head or foot. She is not to dominate her husband, nor is she to be supine and let him walk over her as if she were a doormat. A husband and wife are to be partners in life and are to share a living relationship that acknowledges that the man is the head of the family as long as he is submitted to Christ.

In the United States almost 50% of all marriages end in divorce.  It may be likely because many marriages including marriages between Christian people are a 50/50 approach is yielding a 50/50 result.    In marriage a 50/50 arrangement looks something like this: Well, he’s watched the football on TV all afternoon so tomorrow I get to go shoe shopping. Or – She’s just spent money having lunch with her friend so I’m going to get that new cell phone. Or He should have cared that I was feeling down, it’s not fair that he didn’t notice, he owes me. 

Those responses are based on the 50/50 principle. If the other one gets something, then I have to get something too – that’s only fair.  It’s about trade offs all the time. But underneath there’s this deep destructive thing called the 50/50 mentality. Her 50 becomes conditional on his 50, his 50 becomes conditional on her 50. This is a relationship based on conditional trade offs. It’s a relationship based, let’s be blunt about it, on what I get out of it.  50/50 is about saying, I’m entitled to my cut of this relationship, I’m entitled to my 50.

How different would your marriage be if you accepted your husband or your wife for who they are? How different would your marriage be, if your main goal was to make your wife or husband happy, and if their main goal was to make you happy?

How different would your marriage be if your soul-goal was to make sure that your soul-mate got 80, 90 – even 100 – no matter how well they ‘performed’ and no matter how little you feel that you’re getting? 

Do you know what that’s called? It’s called love. Unconditional love. Precisely the sort of love that you promised your life long soul-mate on the day you married them.

Likely on the day you married you heard exactly what you promised to do.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.              (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

(reprinted from ChristianityWorks