November 11, 2024

The “Unstoppable” Christian

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This post has already been read 297 times!

Baroness Warsi “Militant secularisation threatening religion in Uk.”  The Uks first female Muslim cabinet minister warned that Europe need to be more comfortable in its Christianity and is herself encouraging believers not to deny and dilute their faith but rather stand up for it.

While her effort and boldness as a politician is valuable, our perspective as Christian’s is however quite different! Christianity itself needs no defence! Our God and Savior told us “those that live Godly shall suffer persecution.” Persecution reveals who we really are, its our cross which we choose to carry and without persecution, godliness  can never be seen in our nation.

Unlike Islam we need no law for social protection or political group to stand up for our rights. Whilst one may change laws and bring our status to public attention, christianity itself cannot be protected. The moment faith becomes protected it ceases to be authentic and of itself of any value to both the believer and to the society in which he dwells.

It’s not unjust laws or anti Christian backlash that threaten the church, but our own comfortablity! Our cross is our faith, persecution reveals the life we live. Injustice is not our demise but rather reveals  our light. Persecution furthers our cause, and like our master we know that Life comes out of death and victory always comes forth from defeat, that’s why we’re unstoppable!

The BBC article can be read here

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brandmyhre
12 years ago

Greetings,First off great read. All you conclusions are well founded, biblically and historically. Indeed, in times of great persecution and suffering more people come to Christ than in eras of, say, “peace and safety.” My initial thought concerning your entry was one of appreciation of this cabinet minister, but I began to see some danger as well.We live in a world where tolerance is preached but it never seems to come to pass. Even among its most devout followers, the abstract conception of tolerance is understood, but never put in to practice. Though we Christians are seen as intolerant, the truth is God shows no favoritism, and anyone can come to Christ, thus in reality, we possibly are the most tolerant worldview anywhere.Yet, there is this push for interfaith dialog, which I am curious about and sense some danger in. Not that civility is a bad thing, not at all, but that there seems to be no dialog at all. What it comes down to is, you leave us alone, we will leave you alone. Thus religion is told to hush up completely, and because so many Christians fear persecution, this request for silence is gladly accepted. The effect has been that the lines distinguishing religious doctrine have been blurred. Indeed, many in the states view Christianity to be just as dangerous as Islam and all religions have been grouped together by Neo-Atheists so that many cannot even tell you the doctrinal differences.It isn’t that there isn’t persecution in the world, there certainly is, but Christians, including myself, are addicted, as you pointed out, to our own comfort. This comfort keeps us quiet and hinders the Gospel from being spread and due to this same comfort we are afraid to take the public stance to stand up for our Lord, and thereby share the message to a much larger audience.My question, finally, is this: Should there be such large scale public defense of the gospel? Though I am inclined to think this, yet I have heard arguments from the other school of thought that says we should focus on individuals and relationships, rather than get on a soapbox, so to speak, and share the Gospel in that way. I just wanted to know what you thought about this particular topic, if there was a right way/wrong way, for Christians not only to present Christ but to defend Him (though He doesn’t need it from mere man) when He is made a mockery of before the masses? Thank you for your time, and again, the enjoyable read.God Bless,Brandon

brandmyhre
12 years ago

Paul,Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. Even more so I thank the Lord for the confirmation of that which weighs heavily on my heart. The complacency of the comfortable Christians, is something I find quite alarming. It has been said that the “claims of God’s death have been greatly exaggerated.” In fact, the liberal, God hating minds, that shape the world, are only a mere fraction of the whole and represent a minority. Yet, they seem to be put in strategic places, universities, politics, media, and their kin. How do we get that spirit back, that spirit of Paul, who stood up among all the decadence in Rome and preached the word of our Lord? Again, I appreciate you taking the time to correct some of my ignorance. Though it should be mentioned I am not ignorant for lack of seeking, but rather I have doubts when I dwell upon commentary which offers contradictory messages and even doctrines inside the body of Christ. There are many disagreements in ways to witness, gifts of the Spirit and so on and so forth. Yet, I feel that we are all individuals and have individual purposes set forth by our Lord since even before the beginning of time. This is my second question: I am sure there are wrong ways to witness, but is there only one right way to be a witness? Can one be called to focus on his immediate community to spread the message of reconciliation, and another on his family, while still another to a large audience? I see myself and others get tripped up by this question, and this is why the inquiry into it is so important. If the Lord has a specific role for you, is it in accordance with the word to juxtapose what your role is, upon what the roles of others are? Should we be convinced that one doesn’t have the Spirit to a fullness because they don’t have the gifts that we ourselves have been blessed with? I appreciate our discourse and I look forward to hearing your reply concerning these questions. Thank you again my friend.God bless,–Brandon Myhre

Paul
12 years ago

Hi Brandon, thanks for your input here and also your question, its appreciated.In reply to your question,… should we be convinced that one doesnt have the spirit to a fulness because they dont have the gifts?.. I believe that when one has the Holy Ghost as the scriptures declare, one has all of the Spirit (Acts 2:38). The “part” “portion” or “measure” could be in reference to the demonstration of a thing like a ministry gift or one of the nine gifts of (1Cor 12). v6 and v7 talk of manifestations and operations of these gifts which manifest themselves differently in people according to service. In answer to the first part of your question about the role one plays when God calls you, The role of the apostles for example is found in Acts. The role of the prophets is found in the prophets, Their ministry is a pattern, model and ideal. Think of this If we could do what they done, wow! let’s aim for that! (Heb 6:12 13:7 1Cor 11:1) but of course our individual assignment will vary, but scriptures and its heroes remain our ideal, standard, and model for imitation. Hope this helps.The Lord bless you my brotherPaul.

brandmyhre
12 years ago

Again, thank you much for your prompt reply. I was curious if I could have your permission to link to your pages upon mine, for I find your work insightful and your ministry inspirational. Please let me know if this is okay with you and I await your response. God bless,–Brandon

Paul
12 years ago

My brother thank you, thats so kind of you, I’ll do the same.

Lee Goodall
12 years ago

Your right Paul, it’s not our job to defend the bible but to only do as it says. Jesus never ended up in pointless debates. We can’t save people, that is Gods job, but we can point them in the right direction.

Paul
12 years ago

Thank you my brother for your response and visit today, The Lord bless you! may next week be fabulous for you..

nightshade130
12 years ago

what a great discussion. I really like what you said here : “Its not unjust laws or anti Christian backlash that threaten the church, but our own comfortablity! “How true that is and yet we cannot ignore how unattractive Persecution is to us. No one wants to be persecuted but at the same time…can we truly live with ourselves if we succumb with being comfortable with worldly tolerance to sin by way of secularism, humanism and other religions that stray from the true path of salvation? Can we truly live as “closet Christians” and allow the days to get more evil and more evil if we shy away from telling people the truth about real salvation through Christ? Can we live with ourselves and watch others succumb to worldly ignorance and the devices of the evil one that keep them from realizing the truth about who they really are or should be “In Christ” and allow them to continue to deny that Jesus is real…Christianity is the way and that Hell does in fact exist and it is a very real place? Does the cost of avoiding persecution keep us in right standing before our Lord when the time calls for the Truth to be boldly declared? I think that what it boils down to is that the Walk of Truth comes at a price that was already paid at the cross and now it is our turn to carry our cross because Christ came to save us so that we could help people get saved with us. Persecution is a path that is inevitable when it comes to Truth because Truth is what sets people free. If we end up choosing “Comfortability” at the price of the Truth….then do we not deny the power of the Truth in our complacency? We cannot afford to be comfortable when the truth demands us to act on it. This is just my two cents. What do you think Paul?God Bless. Sherline.

Bishop O.W. Prince
12 years ago

POWERFUL COMMENTARY!!! Those that live Godly shall suffer persecution. “Our cross is our faith.””Like our master we know that Life comes out of death and victory always comes forth from defeat, Thats why were unstoppable!”Amen! Enmity with the world identifies us as a friend of God.

Paul
12 years ago

Thanks Bishop… your line sums it all up!….

Pastor Philip Roman
12 years ago

John 16 the whole chapter. It reveals to us the things that people will do, just because we follow after Christ. So to be persecuted for preaching about the Savior is something that will happen. If your not being persecuted maybe your not living godly. I second what Bishop Prince stated, Those that live Godly shall suffer persecution. Church, they persecuted Jesus so why not persecute you? Thank you Paul for the news article and your diligence to being a Christian. Christ like all the time!

Paul
12 years ago

Hi Brandon. many thanks for taking time to give a quality reply and provoke thought. Thankyou! To answer you question should there be public defense of the gospel? I believe we should “contend” for truth and “defend” the faith once delivered. Both were practices of the early church especially its apostles. However persecution comes as it must, for its evidence of our witness and stand for truth. Hope this answers your question. If it dont please feel free to elaborate.(ps wish we had a forum we could get some good chat going here)Paul.

Paul
12 years ago

Pastor Phil thanks for your input here. Living in Uk politicians seem to be trying to “help us Christians out” as if our gospel has no power or legs to stand on! To me If I can’t stand for my faith maybe I should question it! It’s also strange to see a Muslim Politician stand up for Christian’s, there again she’s probably part of the interfaith movement, Quite the opposite message to Jesus who said, take no thought for tomorrow, carry a cross and your pay will be. O yes, you will be hated, for my names sake…… anyway stay on the cutting edge and thanks for youre inputHave a great day.Paul.

Lee Goodall
12 years ago

Thank you Paul 🙂

TSOTIA
12 years ago

“Its not unjust laws or anti Christian backlash that threaten the church, but our own comfortablity!”this beautiful sentence sums up the whole point. We are the reason why Christianity seems so fragile. We look too weak because we are not really, unlike the early Christians, ready to bear persecutions. we seek protection from the very world our Lord told us will afflict us.Let’s forget about ourselves and focus on the Christ.Well done brother; great piece.

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