The story slipped out from behind the Iron Curtain in the days of fierce Russian communism and the ruthless suppression of Christianity in the mid-1970’s, that a group of over 100 Christians were singing hymns and worshipping God in an underground church when the service was abruptly interrupted by KGB soldiers equipped with automatic weapons of destruction.
The singing immediately became deathly silent as the guards demanded that all true followers of Jesus Christ stand-up while those not willing to confess Christ were free to leave. With fear and trepidation, a couple of dozen devout believers stood on their feet knowing the next sound they’d probably hear would be the sound of gunshots dealing to them their final breath of life on this earth. Many others desperately fled for their lives out the front door of the building.
When the scuffling ended and silence prevailed in the room, one of the KGB gunmen spoke up, “All right, we too have defected to Christianity and we just wanted to know who the true Christians were. Now let’s have a real worship service together.”
No, we don’t live in the old USSR, nor is the United States communist, but this “one nation under God” can be awfully cruel to Christians sometimes. Saying “no” for the sake of your conscience can bring on persecution pretty readily in high school life today. Standing-up openly for Jesus is always subject to potential ridicule.
Isn’t it nice to know that when Jesus stood-up for you, He subjected himself not only to ridicule, but to persecution and death! What an encouragement His sacrifice for us brings us as we stand-up for Him today!The story slipped out from behind the Iron Curtain in the days of fierce Russian communism and the ruthless suppression of Christianity in the mid-1970’s, that a group of over 100 Christians were singing hymns and worshipping God in an underground church when the service was abruptly interrupted by KGB soldiers equipped with automatic weapons of destruction.
The singing immediately became deathly silent as the guards demanded that all true followers of Jesus Christ stand-up while those not willing to confess Christ were free to leave. With fear and trepidation, a couple of dozen devout believers stood on their feet knowing the next sound they’d probably hear would be the sound of gunshots dealing to them their final breath of life on this earth. Many others desperately fled for their lives out the front door of the building.
When the scuffling ended and silence prevailed in the room, one of the KGB gunmen spoke up, “All right, we too have defected to Christianity and we just wanted to know who the true Christians were. Now let’s have a real worship service together.”
No, we don’t live in the old USSR, nor is the United States communist, but this “one nation under God” can be awfully cruel to Christians sometimes. Saying “no” for the sake of your conscience can bring on persecution pretty readily in high school life today. Standing-up openly for Jesus is always subject to potential ridicule.
Isn’t it nice to know that when Jesus stood-up for you, He subjected himself not only to ridicule, but to persecution and death! What an encouragement His sacrifice for us brings us as we stand-up for Him today!