Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Jailed for Easter Sunday worship?

What if they said you couldn't worship on Easter Sunday? Would you go to jail to do it?

While there are 1.2 billion Christians in the world who are celebrating the resurrection of Christ on Easter, there are millions who do so at the risk of their lives.

In Beijing China the Shouwang Church is growing, but those who worship do so at the risk of their lives. Religious freedom is nonexistent there. They bought a church and the government shut it down.They rented sites, the government shut that down, too. They tried to meet outside and the government arrested them all. The Chinese government won't allow it and has cracked down during this Holy Easter week.

Of course our government won't say anything because the Chinese own our debt and most of our major factories use the country's cheap labor to build everything from automobiles to cell phones.

Those who want to worship Christ must do so under threat of jail or possibly death, not just in China but all over the Middle East. Christians are being jailed and murdered in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and many other places in the world.

Yet, they continue to meet and worship, not with the hope of prosperity like many in America. They worship Christ for who He is, the risen savior. They pledge themselves to serve Him, even if it means death.

A bible passage says in Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."

The irony is that many in the free world, who do not face the threat of death or persecution, won't celebrate Easter in worship today, but will wash their cars instead.