Painting above: The Raising of Lazarus, Rembrandt, approx. 1630 ************************ From my sermon at the funeral of my mother-in-law, November 5, 2010.  The sermon text is John 11:1-44.    John chapter 11 begins with these words, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick.”  JoAnn’s family in this past year has seen plenty of what […]
432) Sickness Unto Death; First Century and Today Read More »
By Johann Gerhard (1582-1637), a German Lutheran pastor and professor of theology. Â He wrote dozens of books, including Sacred Meditations, a collection of 51 meditations published in 1606. Â This piece was taken from the chapter 41 of that book, The Principles of Christian Patience. Â Â Â Â Â Rest in the Lord, and bear
431) Patience in Suffering Read More »
   A previous meditation (#395) described the tremendous growth of the Christian church in China.  Under Mao ZeDong persecution of the church was widespread and brutal, and today Christians in many areas are far freer to practice their faith than 30 years ago.  But many restrictions continue to exist, and persecution, even severe, is
410) “In Chains for Christ” Read More »
Painting above: The Martyr’s Last Prayer, John Leon Gerome, 1883 ******************************* From EyeWitness to History at  www.eyewitnesstohistory.com  (2004)    The Roman persecution of Christians began during the reign of Nero and persisted until Christianity was recognized as a legitimate religion by the Emperor Constantine 249 years later.  This persecution was justified by the belief
404) Death of a Martyr, 203 A. D. Read More »
From EyeWitness to History at  www.eyewitnesstohistory.com  (2000)    A generation after the death of Christ, Christianity had reached Rome in the form of an obscure offshoot of Judaism popular among the city’s poor and destitute.  Members of this religious sect spoke of the coming of a new kingdom and a new king.  These views
403) Nero Persecutes the Christians, 64 A. D. Read More »
By John Stonestreet at http://www.breakpoint.org , March 4, 2014    For Reverend Canon Andrew White, an Anglican priest from Great Britain, ministry is anything but routine at his parish—St. George’s Church in Baghdad.  His work involves distributing food and medical care to both Christians and Muslims.  And he also tries to bring together Muslim, Jewish,
370) The Vicar of Baghdad Read More »
FOR HIMSELF: Â Â Â O God, most merciful Father, who by many diseases hast admonished me of my approach to the end of life, assist me by thy Holy Spirit that I may look back upon the sinfulness of my past with pious sorrow, and effective repentance, that my resolutions of amendment may be rightly formed
341) Prayers During Illness by Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) Read More »
By Randy Alcorn, from his January 3, 2014 blog at http://www.epm.org    In this conversation from my novel Deception, Jake and Clarence challenge Ollie’s desire for both freedom to choose and freedom from evil’s consequences: ——————————————————— “You believe in free choice?” Jake asked. “Yeah.” “Doesn’t free choice demand the freedom to choose evil?” “Not
279) Real Choices Without Consequences? Read More »
From The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) newsletter, November 2013, page 3-5, by P. Todd Nettleton.  See website at  www.persecution.org   Most Americans have seen the graphic images of bombed-out Syrian cities and citizens killed by chemical weapons.  But amid these stories of chaotic civil war and tragedy is another, less publicized story.  Christian churches in Syria continue to spread hope
221) Christians in Syria (part two) Read More »
From The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, November 2013, page 2, written by James Dau, VOM executive director.  See website at  www.persecution.org    Christians in Syria today are caught in the crossfire between a ruthless authoritarian regime and jihadist warriors who have swarmed to the region to fight what they consider a holy war to reclaim land.
220) Christians in Syria (part one) Read More »
