Friday, March 15, 2019

Putting on the Squeeze      
    
   Who among Christians are most isolated from the worldwide Body of Christ - those of us with religious freedom, or those suffering persecution?

   Mindy Belz, WORLD magazine, says the 2019 World Watch List confirms high levels of persecution in 73 countries. State authoritarianism and nationalism contribute to the rise. 

   The top four offenders are North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya, countries "whose repression impoverishes their own people." Christians in Iraq and Syria face extinction. [Just noticing...those where U.S. power has been most engaged in recent years..... JD




   It is finished




  
   Roughly 70 percent of world Christians live without the right to worship freely. The 30 percent of us with religious privilege have much to learn from the persecuted church, Belz says. We are isolated from the global perspective. 

   Belz, who travels the world, reminds us of John's definition of love in 1 John 3:16-18: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ...let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.

   She offers a plan:

   Pray. Consider using a prayer guide. 

   Support missionaries and others who stand against the tide in areas of persecution.

   Receive. Receive the work of Christ on the cross and add nothing to it. 
Allow news of persecution to deepen our appreciation for the cost of following Christ. 





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