Beloved Friends in Christ,

Just ten minutes from the Olympic village in China, local Chinese Christians are experiencing severe persecution. During the past year, in preparation for the Olympics, foreign missionaries have been expelled, Christian leaders jailed, house church members threatened and told to give up their faith, Bibles confiscated and Christian bookstores closed. Yet even with such persecution, Chinese Christians are willing to follow the Lord. One pastor, active in an "illegal" house church, and in spite of many arrests, said, "It is better to follow God than the government."

How different from many Christians in North America. When it comes to regular worship, growing spiritually and sharing our faith, many of us are all too easily persuaded to neglect these. No threat of arrest or persecution is needed; just the threat of losing out on a weekend at the beach will do. Of course, a simple request by someone not to talk about personal convictions or matters of faith will suffice as well.

Somehow, it seems, that the devil has blinded our eyes from seeing the obvious, namely that we are being seduced into obeying the comforts of life rather than God. On a regular basis, we are being tempted to put things like entertainment, shopping, sports and job security ahead of God. This is just the opposite of what the apostles, as noted in the verse above, boldly did before their persecutors. They obeyed God by acknowledging Him.

Jesus calls us to do the same, saying, "Everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven." For us, acknowledging God will likely never have any connection with physical threats or jail time. It may however include giving up a weekend event in order to have time for worship, or turning down a job promotion that might result in a compromising personal values.

These are the sorts of challenges that are before us. We do not have to look to China to see examples of Christians boldly following God. We need only look at ourselves. Here, by God's grace, we will see His people boldly confessing Him. May God grant us the same this summer and always.

In His service,

Pastor Richard A. Frey