Articles for tag: Persecution

March 22, 2018

Christian Standard

The Bold Invitation

By Kevin Dooley   During Passion Week we reflect on Christ’s sufferings for us. We may also remember the sufferings of the apostles and the persecuted church throughout history. Today, millions of people around the world are boldly proclaiming the gospel in the midst of great suffering for their faith. They invite us to know Christ “and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” It is the key to reaching the unbelieving world with the gospel of hope.   My wife, Kim, and I have been privileged to serve alongside the persecuted church in countries that

March 17, 2018

Christian Standard

Archaeologists Unearth the Centrality of the Table

By Jim Nieman The discovery of a floor to what might be the earliest-known Christian church seems to confirm that early Christ followers came together around a table to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. In 2005, prisoners unearthed a 580-square-foot mosaic floor with three inscriptions likely dating to the third century. One of the inscriptions speaks of a table “offered . . . to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” The mosaic floor was discovered within a prison holding 1,200 Palestinian inmates, in Megiddo, on a hill overlooking the Valley of Jezreel—“the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16).

October 24, 2017

Christian Standard

The Increasing Challenge for Evangelism in India

Persecution is increasing in India. How will our churches respond?   By John Caldwell  The year was 1950 and colonial India was debating its constitution as a new, independent nation. Drafters of the constitution had written an article on freedom of religion that “each individual has the right to profess, practice and propagate his faith.” The constitutional convention engaged in much debate over that word, propagate. The Hindu majority feared that word would be used by a small Christian minority as an excuse to proselytize.   Ironically it was a Hindu delegate who stood to his feet and said the word propagate

August 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for August 7, 2016: More Than Conquerors (Romans 8:28-39)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the July 31 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  We have a grandson who can be hyper. Guess what? God is hyper, and so are we. Twice in our text the word for “hyper” appears (as a preposition in verse 31 and as a prefix to a verb in verse 37). God is hyper for (or on behalf of) us, and we are hyper conquerors

August 31, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for September 6, 2015: Praying for Boldness (Acts 4:23-31)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Dr. Mark Scott, who teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. Scott has also held preaching ministries in Missouri, Illinois, and Colorado. This treatment is published in the August 30 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Lots of things qualify as “acts” in the Book of Acts””miracles, speeches, encounters, persecutions, and even prayers. Prayer is an act. Persecution against the earliest church made prayer a red-hot act. This is the second prayer in Acts in which we are told the

July 8, 2015

Christian Standard

God Tastes Like Fire

By Jim Tune German Anabaptist teacher Hans Hut endured the heat of persecution when he refused to have his child baptized. He was arrested in 1527 during a meeting with other Anabaptist leaders in Augsburg, Germany. Hut was tortured horribly, and died of asphyxiation during a fire that consumed the Augsburg prison on December 6, 1527. The next day, the authorities sentenced his dead body to death and burned him. A man of deep convictions and reverence for God, Hut described the holiness of God: “God tastes like fire.” God appears as flame frequently in Scripture, consuming at one moment,

July 25, 2014

Christian Standard

Persecution Preparation

By Ziden Nutt (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The date: October 24, 1952. The place: East Gary, Indiana. I was sitting in the front row, in the third chair from the right side. A very frail gentleman stood on the platform speaking. He had just spent 15 months in a Communist China prison, from March 22, 1951, to June 20, 1952. Among the torture methods used was a giant nutcracker, large enough to apply pressure to a human head. He said the only thing to help him keep his sanity was quoting Scripture over

November 8, 2013

Christian Standard

A Pastor Among the Persecuted

By Darrel Rowland Ajai Lall once preached with AK-47s pointed at him. Another time he had 200 bullets fired into his bedroom for sharing the gospel. Many of his fellow Christians in India have been killed, raped, had their homes and church buildings burned, and/or were driven from their jobs and schools because of their faith. “We are a microscopic minority,” Lall says. “Either you are a committed Christian or you are not. You don”t compromise. You live out your faith.” When Lall looks to the United States, he sees how values and standards have slid as committed Christians become

November 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Persecuted Church, Prevailing Church

By Todd Nettleton “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). It”s not hard to see the truth in Jesus” words when you consider what our Christian brothers and sisters are enduring around the world. In Egypt, the “Arab Spring” was supposed to bring about more freedom and more democracy, but under the Muslim Brotherhood, persecution of Christians actually increased. While many Christians were pleased to see the recent overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) contacts say radical Muslims actually blame Christians for Morsi”s loss of power.

July 12, 2013

Christian Standard

Kingdom Clash

By Robert F. Hull Jr. In the closing of his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul includes this surprising note: “All God”s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar”s household” (Philippians 4: 22). What? There are followers of Christ in the emperor”s household? The same Caesar who is holding Paul in prison and who will eventually see to it that Paul is executed? Talk about a clash of kingdoms! Both Jesus and Paul were acutely aware there could be no merger of the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, but neither could

February 17, 2013

Christian Standard

Abundant Solitude

By Tony Twist He saw strangers coming toward his home. Years of persecutions had sensitized him to the schemes and seductions of the enemy, and alarm bells were ringing in his head. He quickly put his most precious possessions, his wife and two young daughters, in the hiding place. Sure enough, the men burst into the house looking for his girls (ages 9 and 11). Their intention was to gang rape, traumatize, and dishonor them so they would never have Christian children. For the radical Muslim leaders fighting “infidels,” this was a calculation of war. For our student, it would have been a devastation of his family. We now have almost 100

October 24, 2011

Christian Standard

Lesson for Oct. 30, 2011: Seeking True Happiness (Matthew 5:1-16)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for October 30) is written by Jonathan Hentrich, associate pastor with Christ”s Church of the Capital District, Guilderland, New York. ____________ Seeking True Happiness (Matthew 5:1-16) By Jonathan Hentrich I want to be happy. Not just to have little moments of smiles and laughter, but to have true happiness. I crave a confidence deep in my soul to know that I am content, full of purpose, and alive! Like David Thoreau once said, “I want to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.“   Jesus” Definition In today”s

May 26, 2011

Christian Standard

Wherever the Table Is Spread

By J. Michael Shannon “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord”s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The first Lord”s Supper was observed in a relatively obscure room in Jerusalem. It was a private gathering. Very few people were there. Those who were there did not understand its full significance. Jesus was making clear the meaning of his death. In the early church, Jesus” followers each Lord”s Day reenacted what happened in that room. Even though the events were fairly recent, they did not want a week to go by without remembering.

March 12, 2011

Christian Standard

Sharing the Stories of Martyrs

By Jennifer Taylor Trent Renner, lead pastor at Parkway Christian Church (Surprise, Arizona), read about hundreds of Christian martyrs as part of his morning devotions in 2010. When planning for 2011, he knew these stories would inspire and challenge his church. “The accounts of persecution and the way these heroes faithfully endured it for Christ really affected me,” he says. “It changed my perspective and made me more grateful for the freedom in our country.” At the beginning of the year, Renner invited church members to share the story of one martyr in one service on one weekend. “We have

November 26, 2010

Christian Standard

The Jonathan Project

By Graydon Jessup The objective of The Jonathan Project is to plant multiplying churches among the least-reached people groups on the planet. These are people who live under oppressive regimes, in inaccessible locations, and in areas where Christianity and Christians are the “infidel.” Nearly 2 billion people fall into this “least-reached” category. They have never heard the name of Jesus. They don”t have the faintest concept what a church is about. This 10-year-old ministry was designed by missionaries on the field in East Asia. The original goal was to plant a church a year, but the magnitude of the task soon

March 31, 2010

Christian Standard

This, too, Shall Pass

By Mark A. Taylor After one of the roughest winters in memory for many Christian Standard readers, Easter and the promise of spring couldn”t have come too soon. Even as we finish preparing this issue the first week of March, the lawns of our city are still half-covered with snow. Huge hills of the stuff””dirtied by car exhaust and gravel””still tower on the edges of many parking lots. It”s difficult for us to imagine little girls in pastel dresses posing in front of daffodils and Easter lilies as we hurry about our business still trying to shrug off the cold. But we

November 29, 2009

Christian Standard

Best Mission Practices in the 21st Century

  by Robert Reese “¢ As Americans, we must view non-Western Christians as our equals. The attitude of looking down on people because they are not as “developed” as we are comes from the period of Christendom when the West ruled the world. In the early church, the apostle Paul did not look down on people of other nationalities, but saw them as new creatures in Christ and heirs to all God”s promises (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:19). This allowed him to accept such people as coworkers. “¢ The rank and file of global Christians must be equipped to share

August 19, 2007

Kerby Rodgers

kingdom business

Planting Good Seed

A kingdom business can be both 100 percent business and 100 percent Christian. See how a milling operation helped farmers, strengthened livelihoods, and created opportunities for evangelism, baptisms, and new churches in a country closed to traditional missionaries.

September 4, 2005

Jon Weece

encouragement for missionaries

Dear Missionary

A heartfelt letter to missionaries serving overseas, offering encouragement, gratitude for sacrifice, and a reminder that believers at home are praying and ready to help in practical ways.

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