Suffering Persecution
Acts 16:16-24
23 "And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely."
23 "And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely."
Persecution of Christians did not end with the early expansion of the church. Just last year a mob broke down the walls of the Nigerian Baptist Seminary in Kaduna and burned the library and other buildings. Hundreds of men, women, and children were inside the high walls of the seminary compound. These faculty and student families would have been trapped except for the providence of God. Several ladders were standing against the inside of the high back wall so that hundreds of intended martyrs were spared as they escaped over the wall.
Christina persecution has become so severe that Mr. A.M. Rosenthal, a Jewish columnist for the New York Times, wrote an editorial decrying this murderous behavior. His editorial is a bright spot in our media; for the most part the global killing and persecution of Christians has been ignored. Yet more Christians have died as martyrs in this century than at any time in history.
Lord, please protect my brothers and sisters in Christ as they serve You around the world.
