Amen for these brother. I also think that every Christian should read Foxes Book of Martyrs. I re-read it every few years just to remind me how genuine Christianity began.

There was a group of foriegners taken Hostage by extreme Muslims. Each of them were be-headed and it was video-taped and it ended up on the internet. Now clearly these mad-men were showing the people of the east how weak the people of the west were. There was one man whose video tape did not end up on the internet. Apparently he was an Italian. He told his captors"I will show you how an Italian dies." He refused to beg for his life and offered his neck, they killed him.

Between 100 and 300 AD, many Christians ended up in the arena. Whole families. Tradition tells us that they took their place in the center of the arena, kneeled down, held hands and prayed as the lions approached to do their deadly work. The crowds often booed because they had come to see panic and mayhem, people running and fighting for their lives, they did not see this with the Christians. They did see Spirit filled people filled with a courage that was supernatural. And all many of them had to do was deny their faith and acknowledge Caesar as a God. They would not, and for this they would die.

Now I understand that very few of us will be called to martyrdom, but consider this Scripture...

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives until death.

We often leave the last part out. It is by this attitude that they overcame. The Bloood of the Lamb, yes. The Word of their testimony, yes. And they were willing to die for what they believed in. God, raise up a people who are willing to die for their God..............Frank

"And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." [i]- Acts 16:23-25[/i]


"Haven't we heard this through the ages, about all the Martyrs, flung to the lions, roasted on coals, burned at the stake, and they sang praises until their voices were shut. There must be from God some dispensational grace, some special enablement, some, some intimacy with God in the fellowship of His suffering in that express moment that none of us can even imagine that enables men not only to endure, but gloriously to testify to a world about the reality of the Messiah Jesus, and the God of our fathers, in the hour of their cruelest suffering - to this hour we have been called." [i]- Art Katz[/i]


The Spirit of the Lord 1 of 2 [i]by Art Katz[/i]

The Spirit of the Lord 2 of 2 [i]by Art Katz[/i]

Thanks for posting this!

I agree, this is a powerful display of what Christ does to a man. He regenerates him, gives him new life, with new passions and an ardent love towards God. In this I also saw how Christ empowers his people in hard times and works in them to will and do his good pleasure clinging to him until the end Jer 32:40. These men and women really had the aroma of christ upon them. They were selfless, full of love, and burning with love for their fellow man. Thanks for this post it is truly a wonderful addition to SI.

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Demetrius

Very good resource. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of it.

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Hal Bachman

Thanks for posting this, this set of recordings are excellent and I highly recommend them. :-)

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Darren Broadhurst