As we noted in last week's blog post 
"What Can We Do?" - Christians around the world are being targeted for violence because of their faith. 

The world is watching - and it is stunned. A great article today in the Daily Beast quotes people from all walks of life as being astonished at the silence from large churches and from Christians. Are we ignorant of the attacks? Do they not seem tangible because so many are on the other side of the world? Are we not sure what action to take or how to make our voices heart?

Do we care?

Read the article in the Daily Beast.   


Why are we silent?
Pray.
Educate.
Speak out.

It is time.-

Cara & Patti

               Persecution of the Church is not new. But persecution of Christians, Christian churches, and even Christian schools has intensified over the past months to a point where a new incident seems to occur every time we flip on the news.

               Non-Muslims were targeted in a mall massacre in Kenya yesterday. Today, double suicide bombers blasted a Pakistani church of 500-600 people, killing 75 at last report, and injuring over a hundred. An American citizen, a pastor, has been imprisoned in Iran's most notorious prison for a year now. In Syria, the civil unrest has made it so difficult for Christians that many are in hiding. In Egypt, in Afghanistan, and in nations around the world - persecution is escalating.

               Be aware. Christians are dying for their faith today. Be aware. Evil, rogue leaders of some countries - such as the member of Parliament in Afghanistan yesterday  - are calling for the wholesale slaughter of Christians. Be aware. Foxe's Book of Martyrs has nothing on what is happening this very day in our world in 2013.

               So what are we to think? What are we to do? I have three ideas. Maybe you have more.

               First, we need to stop thinking of prayer as something we do before meals and bedtime. Prayer brings us into the throne room of Almighty God. Spiritual battle is effected in prayer. Get real about your prayer life and intercede for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Do it consistently. Start today. Remember those who are truly suffering for the name of Christ. Call on God for peace, and pray for evil plans to be exposed before evil deeds can come to fruition.

               Secondly, stand with our brothers and sisters boldly, doing whatever we can to help them. In Hebrews 10:33-34, "...Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions."  

               Here in the West, we have a voice. So start using yours. Find out who your representatives are. Call them. Write them. Physical letters have more political weight than an email. Phone calls have more political weight than an email. An email has more political weight than nothing. Do something. In American, you can find your representatives -  FIND YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS HERE - and tell them your thoughts. Don't let them get sidetracked into politics. Keep coming back to the fact that Christians are being killed for their faith.

               Third, tell people. Many people  get their news from family and friends or social media sites. Newspapers, news reporting, and news magazines are all cutting back on staff and cutting back on what they can cover. Take it upon yourself to let people know what is going on.  In your church, your family, your friends - educate them!

               Finally, and I realize how this sounds coming from the comfort of an American living room, but we have to remember that persecution is not unexpected. Jesus told us, in John 15:18, " If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." But we are also told, in Romans 12:21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  We do not have the luxury of just staying on the sidelines.

               This is a spiritual battle. We need to "arm ourselves" (Ephesians 6:10-18). We need to focus attention on the problem . We need to bring this battle into the throne room of grace by praying over our brothers and sisters across the world.  And then, "...after you have done everything, stand."( Eph 6:13b). Stand with them in prayer. Stand with them by using our voices to call for justice. Stand with them by calling creating more concern among our own people.

Start today!

Cara and Patti

Classic Christianity

Tonight I felt it for the first time. There is a change of seasons in the air, a little chill sidling up to my summer evening. I knew it was coming. I have been waiting, anticipating the cool nights and crisp bright autumn mornings that are all the seasonal change Southern California can muster. Here our days are deceitful. An October day might bring a triple digit blast of heat known locally as a Santa Ana wind – or “East Wind” to the real old timers – but the evenings give themselves away. Summer slips out of our grasp one hour at a time, with the earlier setting of the sun. Granted, it never completely leaves us…here in the land of year-round sun, summer can make a mischievous appearance in January, if she so chooses. And sweater-weather isn’t relegated to January! In fact, a June-gloom morning is as likely to require an extra layer as the winter months, and the Fourth of July’s fireworks are nearly always accompanied by snuggling together under a light quilt as we watch the fog roll in to meet the smoky remnants of the rockets’ red glare.

I’m feeling another change of seasons in the air, too. Sidling up, grasping at my heartstrings, tugging insistently at the corners of my mind is the knowledge that a change in my life’s season is lurking just a few flips of the calendar away. I had just acclimated to the fact that I have a daughter graduated from college and working full time. I had approached that transition gingerly, like dipping my toe into middle age. But the water was fine, and I went wading right on in. Having one child grown and self-sufficient isn’t so different. It’s the evenings that give it away, you know. The days are deceitful. With the younger kids to get through school, my days had the same rhythm as they have for twenty years. Research for lessons, grading papers, park days, and bleacher-sitting fill my every waking hour just as they have for two decades now. But, in the evenings there is a silence that creeps around the house occasionally, only to be interrupted by the whoops and hollering that I know and love.

I have noticed it more, this second time around. Our second child packed up and moved off to college just last weekend, and the normal rhythm is noticeably off a bit. He is a big presence, and leaves a large hole in our day with his absence. I can’t help looking at his younger brother as well, realizing that this little world of mine is beginning to wobble in its orbit. My universe is still spinning round, but a change is coming. Soon my days will not be characterized by barely organized chaos, but by a smooth, empty page of time stretching out before me, waiting. For so long, my task-oriented heart has reveled in the sheer exhilaration of riding life like a roller-coaster, barreling from one thing to the next, flying here and there, slowing down only to relish the camaraderie that is our family life.

Most seasons I have welcomed, having envisioned them, planned for them, and rejoiced in their coming. This season is different. I have never pictured what this portion of my calendar might hold. I’m not eager to begin it, and I’m glad that, like the Southern California autumn, the season will change slowly, hour by hour introducing me to the next page on my planner. There is no worry, just a sense of nostalgia for each “last” thing we do now. When will we take the last camping trip for the five of us? The last Holiday before we are joined by a newly married-in member? Ultimately, I look forward with eyes of faith to the next season being just as fulfilling, just as sweet, as each that has come before in its turn. I do not know the future, but I rest confidently in the protection of He who does. I feel the change in the nighttime breeze, and I’m so glad I can trust the One who sent it.

Blessings,
Cara & Patti
Classic Christianity

“We then, as workers together with Him….”  II Corinthians 6:1

        This Labor Day, let's reset the way we view our own work. We must see beyond our work to its true meaning; then we find even the plainest jobs not only bearable but a source of satisfaction, pride, and joy.

           God can use us all in His great work-shop. There He has an opening for every one of us.  It is when men learn to do their work in partnership with God and honor Him in their tasks that the spirit of man will soar with purpose and dignity. Jesus teaches us that if we do something as simple as give a cup of cold water in His name we will be blessed. 

            The work we do is important, but who we are as we do it is critical. The testimony we give, the attitude and care we use in our everyday work - those are eternal.

            Christianity makes common things holy and in daily service we find the greatest expressions of life’s devotion. Let us as Christians rededicate the labor of our hands and the tasks of our lives to the service of God. Whether employee or employer, we can do whatever we do to the glory of God. 

           Lord, let me remember my employees, honoring them with fair wages and respect. Let me see in their faces the face of my Lord and treat them as Christ would want to be treated. For, once He labored with His hands for others also. Amen.

          Dear God, help me to be a faithful and trusted employee. Let my attitude be one of service, gratitude and diligence to Your glory. May I see my co-workers and my supervisor as people You have brought into my life to serve and uplift, and may I recognize and accept that they are sometimes Your instruments of training and refining. Amen


From Classic Christianity, A Year of Timeless Devotions, Vol II.