I hope you enjoy the warm week ahead! Temperatures expected to be in the mid-70’s all week with a high on Thursday over 80!
I received an email this morning from Christianity Report speaking about persecution. Christianity Report is an organization that gathers faith-based news from several sources and compiles some of the highlights in one place. I decided to do a little research into the worldwide persecution of Christ followers going on in the world today. Interesting stuff. Remember the quote I shared from Tertullian, the early church theologian, this past Sunday? He said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”.
The actions we find in Acts chapter 8 carried out by a man named Saul are alive in our world today. Verse 3 says Saul began to destroy the church. He was going home to home, dragging off men and women to prison. Open Doors International’s world watch list says that 1 in 7 Christ followers around the world are persecuted. The rate in Asia is 2 in 5 and in Africa that number is 1 in 5. Open Doors estimates that approximately 310 million Christ followers face high or extreme levels of persecution. I didn’t use “Christian” here because it is hard to define. Some studies show that a number of people identify as Christian in religious surveys just because they aren’t Jewish or Hindu or Islam. Some identify as Christians because they occasionally attend church. I am using “Christ-follower” here because if you go through some of what these persecuted followers do, you aren’t just checking a box because you don’t identify with other faith backgrounds or you occasionally attend church. In many countries attending occasionally and picking the wrong Sunday can land you in prison!
In Syria right now, an Islamic coalition is using extreme oppression to stop Christianity. They are using starvation by restricting food into certain communities, cutting the pay of workers identifying as Christian, threatening violence and overturning Christian cemeteries. Reports of suicide bombers awaiting orders to attack churches are being heard. Despite being one of the oldest Christian communities in history ( first century AD) the number of Christians has drastically dwindled in the past 15 years of so. In 2011 it was estimated there was about 1.5 million Christians in Syria and today the estimate is closer to 300,000. Violence, homes being taken by force or having neighborhoods where power was cut off forced many Christians to “scatter.” (See Acts 8:1)
In other news, countries that are experiencing the greatest growth in the number of “Christ followers” include the Asian countries of China, Indonesia and Malaysia. Remember, 2 in 5 Christians in Asia are being persecuted! In these countries, the church is highly regulated by the government. In these countries the church is highly regulated by the government. Censorship of content is almost assured. In China, no one under 18 can attend church. The growth is coming from underground churches where the risks are the greatest. You are not a nominal Christian in these countries…you have to really love the Lord your God with all you have. No hokey-pokey “Christian” is going to risk loss of job, home, family or the threat of prison for being partially in on Jesus.
Keep this in mind as we move through the next couple of chapters in Acts. The threat in many places is just as great today as it was in the first century AD
Pastor Rick
But you man of God, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. I Timothy 6:11
