Christianity, Persecution, Blessing

The persecution of Christianity in its simplest terms, historically and worldwide, can be outlined progressively:

               1. Social Persecution
               2. Legal Persecution
               3. Violent Persecution

Graphic from
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/publiccatholic/2013/03/degrees-of-christian-persecution-where-does-america-fit/

Where are we in America?

Social persecution of Christianity is commonplace – even fashionable. Disapproval, insults, hatred, ridicule and criticism. By and large, the media will not tolerate any expression of Christianity.

We have been wading into the waters of Legal persecution of Christianity for years. How many court cases have targeted or successfully hampered the free expression of Christianity? The Gospel of Peace is now officially “hate speech”.

At least we haven’t experienced Violent persecution yet . . . or have we? Take some time and see for yourself. It’s buried, but it’s there. In this country there have been an increasing number of violent crimes and murders against Christians for no other reason other than their faith. But if Social persecution already exists, which it does, you can expect the media to avoid such stories like the Plague.

Whether you are a Christian or not, you need to know how this relationship works. Numbers of people are really inconsequential. Temperature is what matters. The spiritual temperature of Christianity is almost always directly proportional to the degree of persecution.

CHRISTIANS! Have you ever noticed that the capstone of Jesus’ Beatitudes is this:

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Everyone wants a blessing, but they won’t take what the Lord gives. Stop fighting and arguing with those whose understanding is darkened. Stop useless boycotts with no power behind them. Stop feeding your natural desire to get even and win and stand up for your rights. Stop wasting your life.

READ THE WORD.

DO WHAT IT SAYS.

GET READY.

Perilous Laughter...Good for you?

I had a rough day today. My littlest boy is sick, and I don't feel well. I didn't sleep good last night. The country appears to be falling apart. Whine, whine, whine, etc. Anyway, I came across this note I wrote on Facebook back on Friday, April 24, 2009. I don't think it was a coincidence either that I happened across it on a bad day almost 4 years later. Thank you LORD. Y'all enjoy:

Bad day for the guy with the scooter

Have you ever remembered something that was kind of funny when it happened, but when you remembered it, it was the funniest thing of all time? That happened to me while I was eating my lava-hot left-overs today.

Just to set this up, Sunday evening when we were all at the Ponstein's house, there was a show on about a dead whale that exploded in the middle of a city in China or something. That's funny, but that's not it. Wednesday night, me, Chris, and Tommy were talking about that show, and all of the possible scenarios that would have accompanied this Chinese inner-city whale explosion. It took about 5 minutes for us to get as silly as a bunch of little girls.

Well, as I was eating, I remembered our little silly session, and one thing in particular that was a little bit funny to me at the time. It doesn't even matter what it was, what was amazing was how funny it was this time. I started laughing hard, like comedy club hard. Next thing I knew I blew Dr. Pepper out my nose and my arms are all sticky, and I'm laughing harder than ever. Now I'm doing that crying, coughing, choking laughing, and to make matters worse, I'm also laughing at how funny my own laughing is. I almost fell out of my chair. That kind of laughing could kill a person.

What's weird is that it made me think of a verse in the Bible: 

A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. (Proverbs 15:13)

There's plenty of us that have things going on that can make us sad and crush our Spirit. I read that "The indulgence of a disposition to sighing tends to destroy life. Every deep sigh throws off a portion of the vital energy." That's the truth. Anyone who's ever been down knows that it sucks the life out of you. 

It's much better to have a glad heart, even if you almost die from laughing. There's another verse that says: 

All the days of the afflicted are evil,
but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. (Proverbs 15:15)

I can't control all the circumstances in my life. I can't just decide not to be afflicted if tough times are here for a spell. But because of God's Spirit in me I can have a good attitude, and I can be cheerful even when it may seem to some there's no reason to be. I'm thankful for those little laughing episodes, and all the cheerful and silly people I know that lift people's spirits. 

So, in the words of Meher Baba (capitalized on by Bobby McFerrin in the 80's):
"Don't worry, Be happy."