As I think about different things that are going on in the U.S. as far as our society and culture relates to Christianity, some good, some bad, it's important for me to take the proverbial "step back" and try to see what God is doing throughout the world. Regardless of your view on Dispensationalism or Covenant theology, most would agree that the U.S. is not God's "chosen nation" in the same way Israel was. He has been gracious to our country, and we should be thankful for that, but we worship a God that works throughout the entire world, and we need to worship him by better understanding the scope and majesty of what he's doing everywhere!
I wanted to start this new theme of posts called "Thinking Globally" to help us do just that. Even as this past Sunday we prayed for some of our people going out on summer missions trips, I was convicted of my lack of interest in God's glory outside of my little sphere of comfort.
I read this article on the BBC News website about some Algerian Christian converts who were arrested and fined for allegedly holding an "illegal religious ceremony" and also perhaps "attempting to convert other Algerians to Christianity," and it really captured my attention.
This quote from the article shows how serious the government is about keeping a tight reign on Christianity:
A 2006 law forbids non-Muslims from trying to convert Muslims and limits religious worship to specific buildings approved by the state - a clause that has been used to close more than a dozen churches in the past six months.
Several Mosques have also been closed under the same provision.
I don't think I can even imagine the police charging into our service on Sunday morning and arresting us for holding an illegal religious ceremony! We need to be so thankful for the freedom we are blessed with, and we need to pray for Christianity as it spreads in other parts of the world, despite efforts to stop it and kill it.
The way our country is going, with the new aggressive forms of Atheism, and the increasing "non-religious" population, would it be that surprising if we faced similar persecution in the future?
1 comment:
Yes, Paul. We are jaded. We do need to wake up. We probably won't suffer the kind of abuse the Algerians do in the next few years, but leave it alone and eventually our kids will.
lg
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