Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (7:00 PM LHF time, Wed., Nov. 8, 2000)

This verse is a part of Paul's encouragement to Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy of his own life and his teachings -- of his faith, patience, love, endurance -- and of the persecutions he has endured. He says that God rescued him from all of them. (vv 10, 11) Then he tells Timothy that, in fact, EVERYONE who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Do we want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus? Are we persecuted? I think that all of us want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus. As a church as, well as individually, we want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus.

We usually think that there is not much persecution in this country against Christians. There are a few incidents. Churches have been vandalized by militant homosexuals, for example, and sometimes people are discriminated against in employment because they attempt to maintain lives of honesty and integrity. Also, the government and the people in the news media frequently try to suppress Christianity and Christian values. Sometimes we are accused of "hate crimes" by various activists. But we all know that there are other places in this world where Christians are put in jail, beaten and killed just because they are Christians. What we have here seems very little by comparison.

The church in the United States has been accused of having little persecution because we are not much different from the world. We blend right in. No doubt this is true to a considerable extent, but that's not the direction I'm heading in what I want to say. Usually we think of persecutions as coming through men, but I don't think they have to. Our enemy is the devil. He can persecute us through men or through all kinds of troubles, problems and afflictions that we normally think of as things that "just happened." For those that are trying to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, these things don't just happen. We are told to expect them. "EVERYONE who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus WILL be persecuted." Also, the apostle Peter tells us that we are not to be surprised at the painful trials we are suffering, as though something strange were happening to us, but to rejoice that we participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that we may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12,13) And Paul told Timothy that God had rescued him from every one of his persecutions.

I want to quote just one more scripture now before I'm done. It's 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5. Here it is: "We ought to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering."

So let us not think that it's strange, brothers and sisters, that we have trials and persecutions, but rejoice that we are enduring and are counted as worthy of the kingdom of God. Our faith is growing more and more, and so is the love we have for each other. (If you haven't quite learned to rejoice in all of this, come and pray.)

Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Love in Christ,
Dean

PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer request back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for it.