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PASTOR'S CORNER by Nathan Jackson
Iheard a wise pastor
make a very profound
statement this past
week. Afterwards I
had a conversation about it
with many other believers,
induding my cousin and
brother in Christ
Jimmy Martin.
Below is an over-
view of these
conversations
The pastor said
"Many Christians
in our country
today are guilty
of thinking that
God's Word has
had the impact
that it has had NatiOn
on our nation
because of legal protection
through the freedom of
religion. Through this we
have become guilty of think-
ing that aright for religious
freedom is aright to preserve
the power of the gospd in
our land.
Truth is, religious free-
dom is nice to have and we
should certainly stand up
for our constitutional rights
in this country; but more
importantly what we should
be doing is taking advantage
of the freedoms we still cur-
rently have to.freely wor-
ship and share the Gospel
of Jesus. You see the power
of God's Word has never
been dependent on man's
protection of it or on man's
restriction of it'.' Therefore
the only way for a Nation to
turn to ]esus is not through
laws and forced government
action, but through the
sharing of and standing on
God's word alone.
In the book of Acts we
see the persecution of
the church begin almost
immediately upon Jesus
ascending to Heaven.
Peter and John are arrested
(Acts 3), thrown before
the courts and told to stop
sharing this gospd of Jesus
(Acts 4). So what did they
do upon their release? Did
they go elect their friends
and pass laws to protect
themselves? NO they went
out and kept on sharing the
Gospel of Jesus at risk of
getting arrested again.
Later in Acts 5 the
apostles are arrested again
and this time placed in jail.
Well this time an angel of
the Lord came and opened
the prison doors releasing
them. They were told "go
stand in the Temple and
speak to the people all the
words of this Life" (what
Life? The Life of Jesus
through which salvation
comes.)
Well this made the courts
mad so they reconvened
and said that
Paul should get
a good flogging.
Ha. Upon their
release; beaten
and cursed they
went out and
rejoiced because
they had been
counted worthy
of suffering for
the name of
Jackson Jesus.
Later in Acts 7
another Christian named
Stephen is accused of
preaching the Gospel of
Jesus. Stephen in turn
keeps preaching the Gospel
and is therefore stoned to
death. Did this stop the
Gospel of Jesus? Did it stop
other believers from going
out and sharing the Good
News of Jesus Christ? The
answer to both questions is
a resounding NO.
You see one of the main
themes of Acts is to show
the triumph of Christianity
in the face of bitter perse-
cution. How does that ap-
ply to today? Well you see,
while Christianity is obvi-
ously not the official reli-
gion of the United States,
we as Christians in this
country enjoy tremendous
privilege and opportunity.
That is not necessarily a
good thing. If Christianity
thrives under persecution,
as in Acts, then it tends to
flounder and wilt under
freedoms, as in America.
Christianity has become
so embedded in American
culture and history that
it appears as though the
church has gotten lazy.
The reality is that many
Christians around the
world live with those
possibilities; sometimes
probabilities. In many parts
of the world, people take
the'tr safety, their family's
safety, and even their lives
into their own hands for
simply uttering the name
of Jesus. They risk severe
punishment should they
be found with a Bible, or
simply a portion thereof.
Despite all of these ob-
stades and threats to their
safety, people choose to
follow Christ.
Here in the United States,
we get up on Sunday mom-
ing and happily drive to the
local church. You can't do
that in other parts of the
world, where to do so is an
act against the governrrient
that could cost your life
Yet people in those places
continue to make this
choice because they know
what most Americans have
managed to forget: The
only path to salvation is
complete and total obedi-
ence to Jesus Christ.
Jesus commanded:
"Give up everything you
have and follow me" That
is a choice and it is one
many people take serious-
ly-to the point of death.
Paul suffered willingly
because he believed in
the power of God's Word! Sun y
Timothy came behind Paul
and did the same. Chris-
tians throughout history
have suffered because of
the word of God.
Take China for example:
"Before the Communist
conquest in the late 1940'S
and early 1950's, there were
more than 700,000 Chris-
tians in China. During
the subsequent "cultural
revolutions at least 30 mil-
lion Chinese were slaugh-
tered, including most of the
Christians.
Yet, after more than 40
years of brutal oppression,
imprisonment, and execu-
tions, the church of Jesus
Christ in that vast country
has a current membership
estimated to be over 30
million. Although written
copies of Scripture ate still
scarce, the truth of God's
iiii ii~
Word endures in their
hearts. Its power cannot be
bound. The more it is as-
sailed, the more it prevails"
Fellow Believer, remem-
ber who you have been
called to serve and the
Power of God's Word you
have been equipped with.
Stand firm on the rock of
Jesus Christ and nothing
can come against you.
Nathan Jackson is Student
Pastor at New Providence
Baptist Church, 2560 High-
way 41, Smart:. The Pastor's
Corner is sponsored by the
Monroe County Miniaeri
Association, which meets
on the second Thursday of
each month at8 a.m. at The
Pickled Okra, 33 W Johnston
St. on the Square.
7 : ::iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiii:ililil i :
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