“But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:19-20
Countries all over the globe are filled with people of the persecuted church. According to Open Doors USA, “In the top 50 World Watch List countries alone, 245 million Christians in the world experience high levels of persecution for their choice to follow Christ.”
- 1 in 9: Christians worldwide experience high levels of persecution.
- 14%: The rise in the number of Christians in the top 50 countries on the 2019 World Watch List (WWL) who experience high levels of persecution. (from the 2018 reporting period to 2019’s)
- 4,136: Christians killed for faith-related reasons in the top 50 WWL countries.
- 2,625: Christians detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned in the top 50 WWL countries.
- 1,266: Churches of Christian building attacked in the top 50 WWL countries.
- 7 out of 9: In seven of the countries in the World Watch List’s top 10, the primary cause of persecution is Islamic oppression.
- 11: Countries scoring in the “extreme” level for their persecution of Christians. Five years ago, North Korea was the only one.
- 18: The number of years North Korea has ranked No.1 as the world’s most dangerous place for Christians.
Forbes Magazine’s contributing writer, Ewelina U. Ochab writes, “The World Watch List 2020 does not give much hope for the persecuted communities. Indeed, it presents a grim picture of the situation of Christians globally making it very clear that the persecution encountered by them continues to get worse.”
If these statistics are not bothersome to you, they should be, and if you think that living in America we are somehow immune to such persecution, you need to change your thinking. As we have witnessed a newly elected President enter the White House, we are also going to witness the beginning of real terror that will be released on Christians in this country. Make no mistake, I am not overreacting, I am not an old man with way too much time on his hands. We are heading into some very dark days to live as a Christian in this country.
So, how do I know all this? Do I have some inside information concerning the future of the Christian Church in America? Admittedly, I don’t have any “inside, info”, a special letter written by God directly to me… or do I? We will get to that in a moment.
What I do know is, that our new administration will not allow the evangelical church in America to exist without being targeted for their support of the last administration and the actions of those who stormed the Capitol Building. Whether or not you support the riot on January 6, 2021, there is a thing called “guilt by association”. I believe all evangelical Christians will be part of the bloodletting as the new administration will do everything in their power to take away the religious freedom U.S. citizens have experienced for over 200 years.
DO I SOUND LIKE AN ALARMIST? In case you may think I being an alarmist, let me quote for you from rollingstone.com, written January 31, 2021, entitled: “How the Christian Right Helped Foment Insurrection”—The article begins by making this statement, “Christian-right activists inside and outside government promoted the election fraud lie and claimed God told them to “let the church roar.” The article goes on to say, “White evangelicals have been Trump’s most dedicated unwavering base, standing by him through the cavalcade of abuses, failures and scandals that engulfed his campaigns and his presidency…” My suggestion is, read this article if you want to know how the match will be lit to persecute the evangelical church in America. It matters little whether or not you support the actions of the mob on January 6th.
For the record, I don’t, but voicing my stance will matter little as all Christians in America will held accountable for “all that is wrong” in America. And the only way the wrongs will be righted will be through censorship.
CENSORSHIP DEFINED: It is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.” Just in case you missed it, the “etc.” (et cetera) has to do with us. We are unacceptable and a threat to the security of the USA. It doesn’t matter that for most of us, we believe that Romans 13 is to be lived by and obeyed. We will be held accountable for the actions of a few through guilt by association. That is, guilt will be ascribed to us not because of any evidence but because of our association with the offenders. End of story? Not quite.
YOUR VOICE FOR JESUS—Between the pandemic restrictions, political upheaval, the continued hate being vomited out of the mouth of the mainstream media, and corruption at every level of government, there is one thing that can never be stopped unless we choose to do it. We still, and always will have, the freedom, opportunity, privilege, and right to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me be very clear, when I say, NO ONE CAN STOP US FROM SHARING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST… except you. I care little about my political rights and even less about my constitutional right of freedom of religion. Why? Because in the end, like the Apostles Peter and John, I cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. If we are going to be persecuted for being evangelical Christians, let it come for the right reason, not because of our political affiliation, but because of Jesus Christ. If the political left is going to censor us, let it be for the right reason. We must speak up for Jesus Christ and the message of the cross. In this alone, no one can stifle our voice. And in this we will be inline with our brothers and sisters around the world who suffer for Christ and say, “Welcome to our world!”
This is Pastor Pat FROM BEHIND THE PEN wishing you Joy In Jesus!