faceless enemies

Is it easier to fight an enemy when you can see it? Of course it is. 20+ years ago the cold war was just about still on, churches and christians worked tirelessly to aid christians and the spread of christianity in communist countries, many smuggling bibles and literature into these oppressed countries. Everyone would know of someone who had something to do with this work.

During WW2, there were days of national prayer, when this country stood and prayed for what was going on, brilliantly this was instigated by king George VI.

In many countries right now there are stories of miracles, stories of revivals, things really happening in churches in countries where christianity is oppressed, where now people face torture and death because of who they are and what they stand for. Recently in Eritrea hundreds of christians have been arrested for being christians and are being held and tortured in camps, threatened with worse pain unless they renounce who it is they follow.

I have mentioned it before, in a book I read called 'God Chasers' by Tommy Tenney, he speaks about his father welcoming an Ethiopian minister to his church, this minister had faced horrible oppression and poverty and Mr Tenney asked the congregation to pray for the minister in his poverty, the minister stopped him and asked that instead he pray for them in their prosperity.

It is so easy to lose focus, after all people have 'jobs', 'lives', 'family commitments','hobbies','tv', etc...

I say this to myself, it is so easy to become the above picture, it is so easy that we forget when we said we gave our lives to Jesus, we were really meant to give our entire lives?

The enemy today is lethargy, procrastination, priorities, prosperity.... They are harder to see than persecution, poverty, torture and death, they still need fought, or when the persecution, poverty, torture and death come, we might have to make an excuse, because we didn't really sign up for that did we?

James 4:17 says 'it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.'

This is a bit strong for today, just something that has been on my mind, a kick up the bum.