Posts Tagged ‘Persecution’
A Living Faith Evidenced in Perseverance through Persecution (James 5:7-11) – Part 2
Click here to read part 1. James 5:7 clearly relates back to the previous section (“therefore”). Based on the reality of the situation described in James 5:1–6, James commands patience or perseverance. What are you to do if you find yourself in a helpless situation? Resistance is futile according to James 5:6. James returns to…
Read MoreDon’t Give Up Ministering the Gospel (Part 2)
Click here for part 1 of this series. I’m sure you have observed growing opposition to the Christian gospel and Christian ethics—not only in the culture around you but also within the self-proclaimed evangelical church. No doubt, troubles are hitting closer and closer to home: in our own local churches, families, or communities. There’s no…
Read MoreHow Did the Apostle Paul Stand for His Rights?
Religious liberty still is much on our minds as some jurisdictions still face Covid restrictions on church services. We’ve talked about these matters before, and thankfully, in many places, the restrictions no longer exist or are beginning to relax. Nevertheless, we should still think about the topic, looking to the Scriptures for specific guidance and…
Read MoreRunning with Our Eyes Fixed on Jesus
How would you respond if one day you turned on the news and the coverage was about your church? The story was not about any scandal or sin but in fact amounted to a public shaming simply because your church held to the teachings of Scripture. How would you respond if some of your fellow…
Read MoreUnderstanding and Responding to Persecution
Setting the Right Expectations Michael was the fastest kid on our soccer team. In eighth grade he held the best pace for the entire team at just over six minutes per mile. Although we were good friends, I typically didn’t run with him. I just couldn’t keep up. But on this particular afternoon, we were…
Read MoreThe Oppressed Church at Smyrna
This letter is the second in a series of seven letters written to churches in Asia Minor at the end of the first century AD. In these letters, John gave a personal message from Christ to each church. Each message expressed Christ’s up-close perspective on the spiritual condition of each one. Just as we benefit…
Read Moreeclectica 2018.1.26
Today I’d like to share a few links that might be of interest to you. Some are from current news, others are more eclectic. Religious Activists in HHS • Christian Courage Nelson Trial Worldwide Persecution • Archaeology • On Virtue (secular)
Read MoreA Good Soldier of Jesus Christ (2)
Mark Minnick [From yesterday’s introduction:] It would be hard to find any preachers of the last two centuries any more acquainted with outright warfare for Christ than Charles and his brother John. Their earliest journals are not only almost monotonously replete with references to it, but often the entries nearly spurt blood. Here are samples…
Read MoreA Good Soldier of Jesus Christ (1)
Mark Minnick We have a full thirty of them in our church’s hymnbook: songs by Charles Wesley. But it would take nearly eight hymnbooks of equal size to hold all the church songs Charles wrote. They amount to over six thousand, ten times those of Isaac Watts. So it’s understandable that we might envision that…
Read MoreThe Race That Is Set Before Us
Bob Condict Not one among us is permitted to chart out his own race. But each one of us must “run with patience the race that is set before us.” In our day of highly competitive athletics each runner wants to make sure that the race he must run is the same as that of…
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