Tuesday 8 September 2009

Modern Day Martyrs

A lot of us have facebook, right? It's a very good way to communicate with friends and family. Well, some people I know have used it to communicate things like miracles and other Christian related subjects.

Not five minutes before beginning to write this, I read one such story. It was the first story of a modern day martyr I had ever read. And it happened to a family close to a friend of mine.

Basically what had happened was one night, a young girl had opted NOT to hang out with her old, druggy friends, and instead attend a youth group. She and her sister spoke several times over the phone to make sure everything was OK. She said she'd be home around 10:30.

10:30 came and went. Her sister called her and the pastor several times after that. The pastor answered, saying she had just left. (Her house was only a couple minute walk away).

The pastor then walked outside, and saw someone lying on the sidewalk. It was the girl. Her head had been smashed against the concrete and kicked, and a note lay beside her: "Let this be a lesson; we hate bible thumpers". That's what the note read.

She died later in hospital, on September 7, 2009, at sixteen years old.


A sixteen year old martyr. That's not sad. That's outrageous. A pathetic display of cowardice and contempt on behalf of those who did it.



What I find many Christians fail to realize is that we are fighting a war. Martyrdom is a product of war, regardless of how subtle that war may be. And rest assured, this is no subtle war.

What I have seen and heard in the last year is nothing less than outright scary. I'm not scared of much. This scares me.

We as Christians need to realize that we are fighting a war, a war against the forces of darkness. A war against Satan, and his minions. I have seen battles won; this is a battle lost.

It's real. It's big. Awareness needs to be spread. We are called to shout the truth from the hilltops. And yet we sit at home, comfortable in our beds and safe. We are afraid to take chances.

This girl was NOT afraid to take a chance, take a stand. And she died in the name of Jesus Christ, her Lord and Saviour. So even in the shadow of death, God can bring good. What Christian is afraid of dying for their Saviour? I'm not. But still, awareness must be spread. Just because good can come out of a murder, it doesn't make it right.





I'm going to do a series on this, because the briefly put-together spiel above is confusing and to some may seem contradictory. I think that's where a lot of people either don't believe, stop believing, or don't know WHAT to believe. So over the next few days, I'm going to do the best I can to clear up some questions.


In the meantime, I hope this at least made SOME sense, you know where to post questions/comments, it's nearly one in the morning so I need to go.


But think about this. About the reality of what we're dealing with.

And have a good night/morning/day.



----Mike----

2 comments:

Natalie said...

These are the type of stories that more people need to be aware of. I've run into so many who have no idea about the battle taking place, and they make themselves into targets way too easily. Can't wait to read more on this topic!

Joƫlle said...

wow, it is really true!
I can not wait to wait to read more about this. Thank you so much.


Joelle