PERSECUȚION

Dear Ardleean Viorel, Francis Chan is one of my favorite preachers because he really understands persecution.  In 2017, ICC joined forces with Chan at our Bridge (Awaken) Conference at Saddleback Church to share about the persecuted Church in North Korea. I recently re-shared his message on our podcast, Into the Deep.  Speaking of Hebrews 13:3, Chan asked us, “What would it look like for me in San Francisco to remember those who are in prison as though I were in prison with them?”  He then shared an amazing story about a couple dozen South Korean Christians who were captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and going to be killed. About to be executed, two of them debated as to which one of them should die first. The one man claimed age; the other though eventually trumped him because he was a pastor.  Later, in freedom, those who lived gathered together and they all shared how they missed their time on death row because in that moment, they felt the most intimate relationship with God they’d ever experienced. All they had was God.  That last sentence is the key to why the Church that is tortured, raped, imprisoned, and murdered grows the fastest. It also is the key to understanding our Western predicament.  The persecuted continually come to a fork in the road where they choose Jesus at the risk of losing more of their treasure here on earth (wealth, health, job, loved ones, etc.). This process slowly transforms them and weeds out the less fervent followers.  You and I don’t face the same fork in the road, but God is still taking us through a similar process and it involves your pain and suffering.  In the end, God is trying to get both of us to the same destination. That is the place where Jesus is much, much more than a revered hero or even our King.  He wants you to get to the point where Jesus is your treasure. Actually, it’s where Jesus is your TREASURE above and beyond all else.   Take a moment and take stock of your life. In your mind, line up your own treasures one by one. See if they fit on the altar He has built in your inner being.  If you are like me, this simple exercise (that the persecuted go through in actuality) will be revealing and show you what holds you back from giving Him everything.  For this is the trade you need to make for Jesus to truly become your treasure: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Be Blessed, Jeff King President of International Christian Concern Author of Islam Uncensored and The Last Words of the Martyrs Host of Into the Deep Podcast

Give Today

PS: If you would like to read more and be challenged in this vein, then read my book, The Last Words of the Martyrs. I also highly encourage you to listen to Francis Chan’s full speech on our podcast, Into the Deep. International Christian Concernwww.persecution.org