Persecution & Martyrdom
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18–19). With these words, […]
In Evangelism in the Early Church, Michael Green highlights three Greek words used with the expansion of Christianity: martureo (and related words meaning “witness”), euaggelizomai (“telling good news”), and kerusso (“proclamation”).1 Of the three words, Green spends the least amount of time and attention on “witness.” This is understandable since the other words are used […]
Since director Martin Scorsese turned it into a film last year, many have written about Shūsaku Endō’s novel Silence. The novel is a compelling story that addresses two important questions by depicting the thoughts, emotions, and struggles of real historical characters and events. The novel combines personal letters and narrative prose, all from the perspective […]
Every day brings another gruesome story of men, women, and children in the Middle East being persecuted for their faith in Christ. Churches are destroyed, families are pushed out of their homes and villages, individuals have their throats slit—and the entire world watches with horror. Western Christians regularly pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters […]
Fear drives us more than we’d like to admit, and we’re drawn to it in a macabre sort of way—in horror stories, action movies, even news updates. Making up with hype what they lack in data and logic, pundits bully the public into agreeing with them through scare tactics and rhetoric. What would you list […]
No amount of freedom is worth the compromise of biblical teachings” (52). This maxim can serve as a reminder of Christian priorities at a time when religious freedom remains under threat throughout the world. In Marie Durand, Simonetta Carr reflects on persecuted Protestants in eighteenth-century France. After the revocation of the right to peaceful worship, […]
"Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." (Heb. 13:3) Although we should always remember our persecuted brethren around the world, many Christians will be specifically praying on Sunday, November 11’the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). Not […]
On a sweltering night in downtown Sofia, well-dressed couples pour into an overflowing stone church. First Evangelical Congregational Church is hosting a night of classical music commemorating the “Year of the Bible” in Bulgaria. As Rachmaninoff’s prelude fills the sanctuary, a silver-haired gentleman and his wife enter and are greeted by several attendees. It is […]
"We are praying for you." This was said to me by a Russian pastor to whom I had just secretly delivered Bibles in a city called Leningrad in what was the Soviet Union, locked behind an "Iron Curtain." We had spent the morning drinking coffee in the basement of his church, discussing the oppressive political […]
