"Have I become a carnal man? Has my message become so worldly that no one any longer persecutes me?"Just then a man came along down the road with a brick or a stone in his hand and he threw it at Wesley. It grazed Wesley's nose, and at that moment, Wesley looked up and said:
"Thank you, God."As hard as it may be, we Believers in Christ must find the joy in persecution... because we know we are being persecuted for the Truth. And as terrible as it sounds, when there isn't any persecution in any form shape or size you can pretty much know that something is not right.
In the episode of "Christianese Radio" (Episode #15, aptly titled: "Be a Man"), we looked at America's Pastor, Rick Warren. Just before the election, Warren issued a video in which he proclaimed that we as Christians should support Proposition 8 because the Bible defines marriage as being between a man and woman. Of course, as this video made its way into the public... the persecution came. Gays and Gay supporters worldwide pointed the finger at Warren. He most likely lost a lot of attenders at his ginormous church. And you know what? As time went on... the weight came down upon him. And it was "too much" for him. He couldn't handle mere persecution, forgetting that Christ Himself persevered through persecution and a horrific death. Rick Warren went on Larry King this past April to make it clear that he was "not Anti-Gay Marriage". Um.... In his endorsement video of Prop 8 he explains that marriage should be between a man. How is this not anti-Gay. Warren went on to apologize to the Gay community and even went further on to say that he was oblivious to the new Gay-Marriage rulings in Vermont.
In this episode of "Christianese Radio" I compared Rick Warren to the awesome young lady at Columbine who was shot to death because she was a Christian and openly admitted it. A young lady, staring down the barrel of a gun, looking into the eyes of Death, was more courageous than America's Pastor who was merely accused and called names.
We have seen another example where Rick Warren was put to shame. I know everyone has probably heard about the occurrence at the Miss USA pageant with Miss California. Miss California, when asked by one of the judges, Perez Hilton, who himself is a homosexual, (paraphrased) "[What is your stance on gay marriage?]", answered "I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman." Reports say that she probably would have won the crown were it not for her answer. In recent interviews, Miss California stated that as she was answering, she began to direct to a worldly answer, but she came to realize that God was testing her, so she swiveled her answer around and laid down the "hammer of God" :) She has been asked several times that if she could do it all over again with the knowledge that if she answered "politically correctly" she would win, would she give the same answer? Her answer in all those interviews: "Yes". She said that she gave the Biblically Correct answer, not the Politically Correct answer.
Now, while parading around in a bikini on stage in front of millions of people is very questionable for a woman of God, the fact that, unlike Rick Warren, she was able to stand firm--and STILL TO THIS DAY stand firm--in her beliefs just seems to overwhelm that. Now there, of course, is a danger. As a caller on David Wheaton's "The Christian Worldview" radio program rightly stated, the more "power" she gets the more dangerous it is going to become for her and the easier it will be for her to go back on her word. Because all those who gain power fall under more and more pressure. This is what is happening with Rick Warren. So pray that she will continue to stand strong. And I hope the inspiration will continue to be there for her to do so; she stated in an interview that she has received thousands of friend requests and comments from people on Facebook, supporting her. She said that she hasn't really gotten much "hate"-fans... besides Perez Hilton, that is. He really does seem to be the only one in the world who is taking this to a ridiculous level.
Christians, take this as inspiration that you can stand strong. And that while you risk persecution here on Earth, God will reward you for your faith! Do not deny the Word of God! Stand strong! Brave the storm! Because we know what's going to happen at the end of this life, no matter how hard it is. We will rejoice with our Creator and Savior in Heaven and on the New Earth forever!
The Truth is Offensive to the World!
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable* and perfect" - Romans 12:2* "acceptable" - as in: you can accept/receive it.
