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But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led stray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ...2 Cor.11:3


For me the above verse speaks volumes. Our persecuted brethren and do not have the luxury of debating theology. To them Galatians 2:20 is a reality of being crucified with Christ. They also have the reality of Jesus living within them. To them Galatians 2:20 it's not a promise. But it is reality to these brothers and sisters who are in the shadow of the cross.

To those who are under persecution. Jesus is real. Jesus is a person. Jesus is not a theological construct. Jesus is not a theological system. But to our persecuted brothers and sisters. Jesus is real. Jesus is the One they cling to.

A VOM medical missionary in writing about the dear saints in Nigeria had this to say. He remarked these precious saints cannot articulate the finer points of the Calvinist/Arminian debate. But when a jihadust comes at them swinging a machete and says recite the shahada. These precious saints reply "NO! Jesus is Lord!" The VOM brother remarked their theology suddenly becomes very deep.

A few days ago I posted how 21 Jesus followers were marched out to their execution on the Mediterranean shores of Libya. They were slain by ISIS. Each one of these brothers died with one name on their lips. And that name was Jesus.

I doubt these precious brothers could have elaborated on the theology of the atonement. They probably could not have given you the doctrine of how one becomes a living sacrifice for Christ. But their lives and witness demonstrated that they were willing to be crucified with Christ. Their testimony and witness Illustrated that they were willing to be crucified with Christ. All in that so that Christ would live in them even in their martyrdom.

The persecuted have a very simple theology. Simply that is to walk out the purity and devotion to Jesus. May this speak volumes to our hearts. May we continue to remember brothers and sisters in prayer. May we continue to remember those who are in the shadow of the cross.

Simply my thoughts.

Bro Blaine

i remember reading something out of Corrie Ten boom's book The Hiding Place when she was five years old she asked her papa. Papa I don't think I could die for Jesus..and her Papa said to her Cory don't worry about that now if the time comes he will give you the grace to do it.so right now i know if God put me in a situation to have to suffer for His Name he would give me the fullest of his grace and strength to endure. i have read the book of martyrs

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My sister I think Corey also said you do not know how much you need Jesus. Until Jesus is all you have. I'm not sure if that's the exact quote. But it is certainly true. It is true of our brothers and sisters under persecution. And it should certainly be true of us today. May Jesus be all that we have.

Bro Blaine

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Eritrea ranks number 10 on the Open Doors World Watch L.ist.  This country has been described as the North Korea of Africa.  Approximately 1000 of our brothers and sisters are imprisoned in horrific conditions in Eritrea.  Some have been in prison for as long as 10 years. Some have been martyred for their faith in Jesus.

The government of Eritrea is influenced by Marxism. The president of Eritrea, Aisias Afwerkk, studied Marxism in China.  Consequently this country sees the followers of Jesus as a threat to state control of people.  In other words as in most countries that are influenced by Marxism, the state is god.

Below is a radio interview ny Tom Nettleton from Voice of the Martyrs.  He interviews Dr. Berhane from Eritrea. Dr. Berhane suffered for his faith in Christ by being imprisoned for 11 months.  The interview is very insightful about how our brothers and sister endure prison for the sake of Christ. The interview also provides Insight or how our brothers and sisters are enduring persecution in the church in Eritrea.

One thing this brother tells us. There are more Believers in Eritrea today than they were in 1993 when the government started closing down churches. Again this tells us that in the midst of persecution the followers of Jesus do grow. Truly the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-voice-of-the-martyrs/vom-radio/e/eritrea-how-do-we-understand-the-cross-43916778

Please do pray for our brothers and sisters in Eritrea.  Please do pray for brothers and sisters in the shadow of the cross.

For Him who was slain.

Bro Blaine 

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This is a story of a dear sister who was imprisoned in Eritrea for her faith in Christ a few years ago. Her name is Helen Berhane.  She is not related to Dr. Berhane whom I posted about this morning.

Helen describes how prayer sustained her in prison. She describes how she and other believers prayed and made an impact on the non-believers around them.

https://youtu.be/uJcG1vEDbJs

Please do remember our brothers and sisters in Eritrea in your prayers.  For they are truly in the shadow of the cross.

Bro Blaine 

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...Remember my imprisonment...

Three simple words out of Colossians 4:18 from our brother Paul,

... Remember my imprisonmen...

These would be three simple words from our brothers and sisters in the shadow of the cross,

... Remember my imprisonment...

Their heartfelt plea would also be,

... Please pray for me. Please do not forget about me...

And how do the persecuted ask us to pray for them.

...Please pray for my freedom, Please pray that I can come to America? Please pray that I can escape the persecutions? Please pray that I can have a comfortable life?...

Dear saints you may be surprised to know that our persecuted brethren have far different prayer requests then what we in the west would imagine.  

Their prayer request would go something like this.,

... Please pray that I will be faithful to the Lord Jesus in the midst of my trials...

... Please pray that I will not deny my Lord Jesus in the midst of my trials...

... Please pray that I will be be able to endure the sufferings of the cross...

... Please pray that I will love and forgive my persecutors...

...Please pray that my persecutors will come to the Lord Jesus Christ...

... Pllease pray that my nation will know the light of Jesus Christ shining in the darkness...

   Please pray that I will stand firm and renain in my nation to be a light for the Lord Jesus Christ...

...Please pray that I will keep my eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and have his eternal perspective...

...And so on...

My brothers and sisters as you can see the persecuted church has more of a kingdom orientation in their prayer requests.  They are not looking to sail to heaven on flowery beds of ease.  But rather are looking to carry their cross through the bloody stormy seas.

Let us to remember the prisoners as thoigh in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourself also are in the body...Hebrews 13:3.

Please do keep those in the shadow of the cross in your thoughts and prayers this day. Remember our brothers and sisters are not wanting to come to the safety and security of America. But are wanting to stand firm in the fires of affliction. They are wanting to remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of their persecutions.

For Him who was slain.

Bro Blaine 

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Hebrews 10:24-25

...Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near....

When I began my walk with Christ the above verses would be used to compel us to go to church.  Perhaps a better phrasing of the above verses would be, "Thou shalt o go to church on Sunday". 

And of course to us newbes in Jesus the church was that building down the street with the steeple and the cross on top.

Of course at the time I did not realize that I was looking at the verses of Hebrews 10:24- 25 in the context of a Western Christian.  I was reading into the text the Western mindset of a church being the building with the steeple and a cross on top. And the pastor at the front preaching and teaching the Bible.

But as I posted earlier in this thread the New Testament is best understood through the eyes of persecuted believers. Initially the New Testament letters and the gospels were written in a context of persecution. So to best understand the New Testament letters one has to realize that the readers of these letters were in the context of persecution.  And also to add that the writers of these letters, many of them being Paul himself, were in the context of persecution themselves. That is why I say the New Testament is a book written by the persecuted to the persecuted.

This is certainly true of the book of Hebrews in which the above verses are taken out of. The recipients of the book of Hebrews were believers who came out of Judaism.They were under persecution.  These believers were in danger of drifting back into Judaism to escape the harsh realities of persecution. The writer is encouraging them to stay true to Jesus with all of their heart.

Thus when the writer is encouraging them to not forsake the assembling of themselves together but to encourage one another.  To meet together and stimulate one another to love and good deeds period he is not telling them to go to church on Sunday. But in the context of persecution to meet together when they possibly can. Probably in secret. To come together and encourage one another the run the race in the shadow of the cross. The book of Hebrews conveys this message.

In Hebrews 3:13 we read,

...But enciurage  one another, day after day, as long as it is called  "Today,"  so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin...

So on a daily basis these believers were to get together and encourage one another in their journey with Jesus.  But in the context of persecution how do you do this?  Large groups of people can attract the  atrention of religious or the political authorities that persecute the followers of Jesus.

In Matthew 18:20 Jesus gives us the model of the church in the context of persecution,

...For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst...

The church in the midst of persecution will be small. It will be hidden. It will be in the context of a small underground gathering of believers.

The first century Church and in the centuries that followed met this way when persecution was evident.  Today in places like Eritrea and North Korea and Somalia the church meets in small groups. They meet in venues that will not attract the persecuting authorities.

Aas David Platt says in his book Radical, Jesus was a mini vhurch leader.  I am sure this would disappoint many of our mega-church pastors today. But the concept of a mega church in the midst of persecution is dangerous.

Let us remember our persevuted brothers and sisters who meet in small groups in the shadow of the cross.  Let us keep them in our prayers.

For Him who was slain.

Bro Blaine 

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Matthew 18:20 

... for where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst...

A brother once commented to me that our theology is best forged in the fires of persecution. Understanding the New Testament was written against the backdrop of persecution. Then we can understand what church looks like to our brothers and sisters under the shadow of the cross.

From the first century onword the believing remnant church under persecution has met in small groups. Jesus knew that His little flock would be persecuted. This is why He gave us the vision of 2 or 3 saints gathering together around His name. And His presence would be in their midst.

This paradigm flies squarely in the face of our American megachurch mentality. We think that bigger is better. But in persecuted nations smaller is far better. Because believers must meet in secret. Sometimes by 2 or 3 coming together.. Larger groups would invite the persecuting authorities to come in and imprison can torture these dear saints. 

Smaller groups are simple in their structure. Often their time is spent reading the word and praying. I have already shared in an earlier post what their prayer requests would  look like. Often they are praying that they would remain faithful in the midst of their persecutions. Their meetings would be the encouragement to stand firm in Jesus.

Persecuted believers in places like N. Korea cannot sing the hymns loudly. Nor can they pray out loud. To do so would invite the attention of the persecuting authorities.  

In the prisons and even in the death camps when believers are imprisoned. They find one another and church is started.  Again a simple meeting of saints that gather together to pray and encourage one another in the word.

I have seen pictures and videos, either actual or dramatized, of two or three saints hidden under a blanket or in a cave.  they would be hunkered down over a Bible under a  penlight reading and praying.  This is church in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus

The above is a little bit of what church looks like in nations hostile to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We would call this secret church. We would call this the underground church. Or we would call this the persecuted church. Or we would call this the church in the shadow of the cross.  By whatever name this goes by. This is a context in which brothers and sisters under persecution meet in.

Denominations are strangely absent in places like North Korea or Somalia. There are no persecuted Baptists. There are no persecuted Calvinists. There are no persecuted charismatics.  There are no persecuted denominations. There are only persecuted believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Thus the question of a denominational home is irrelevant in the shadow of the cross.

Nik Ripken has rightly observed that there is not the church. There is not the persecuted church. But there is just simply the church.

I would agree with this. But I would take it one step further. There is the church that is under persecution. There is the church that is in the shadow of the cross.

Please remember our pereecuted brothers and sisters as they gather together in secret and seek encouragement from Jesus and from one another.  Please do keep them in your prayers.

For Him who was slain.

Bro Blaine 

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father but through Me."

Acts 4:17-20

"But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name."  And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Acts 4:27-29

When they had brought them, they stood them before the council. The high priests questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."  But Peter and the apostles answered,  "We must obey God rather than men...



To say that Jesus Chriat is the only way of salvation in Islamic lands can certainly invite persecution and even martyrdom.  In places like North Korea to quote the Bible can certainly land one in a death camp.  To declare allegiance to Jesus Christ in a nation like Eritrea may very well put one in a shipping container.

But what happens when one preaches the Bible in a suppose a democratic nation like Great Britain.  What happens when one reaches the Bible can a Public Square in the nation of England. The link to the article below gives you the answer.

http://christianconcern.com/our-concerns/freedom-of-speech/street-preachers-convicted-for-quoting-bible-in-modern-day-heresy-tri?utm_content=buffer23335&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Remember this is Great Britain. A supposedly democratic nation with Christian values.  This is not Pakistan. And remember America derived its values from Britain.

Dear saints you still think it can't happen here.  You still think that we are going to be immune from persecution. Take a look across the ocean and see what is happening in Great Britain and prepare to be in the shadow of the cross.

Bro Blaine