Closet Calvinist

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Tag Archives: persecution

Persecution and the Christian Sojourn

02 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by cc_ in Government, Persecution

≈ Comments Off on Persecution and the Christian Sojourn

Tags

Apocrypha, Esther, Greek Esther, Homosexuality, John 15, persecution, Romans 1

I read this today, and it made me think, so I thought I would share it with you, hopefully it will make you think a bit too.

The Great King, Artaxerxes, writes the following to the governors of the hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia and to the officials under them.

Having become ruler of many nations and master of the whole world (not elated with presumption of authority but always acting reasonably and with kindness), I have determined to settle the lives of my subjects of lasting tranquility and, in order to make my kingdom peaceable and open to travel throughout all its extent, to restore the peace desired by all people.

When I asked my counselors how this might be accomplished, Haman–who excels among us in sound judgment, and is distinguished for his unchanging goodwill and steadfast fidelity, and has attained the second place in the kingdom–pointed out to us that among all the nations in the world there is scattered a certain hostile people, who have laws contrary to those of every nation and continually disregard the ordinances of kings, so that the unifying of the kingdom that we honorably intend cannot be brought about.

We understand that this people, and it alone, stands constantly in opposition to every nation, perversely following a strange manner of life and laws, and is ill-disposed to our government, doing all the harm they can so that our kingdom may not attain stability.

Therefore we have decreed that those indicated to you in the letters written by Haman, who is in charge of affairs and is our second father, shall all–wives and children included–be utterly destroyed by the swords of their enemies, without pity or restraint, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, of this present year, so that those who have long been hostile and remain so may in a single day go down in violence to Hades, and leave our government completely secure and untroubled hereafter.

(This is from the apocryphal additions to Esther, it is not Scripture.)

King Artaxerxes was convinced by the evil Haman that the Jews, due to their keeping of their own laws, rather than obedience to some of the king’s, in particular obeisance to Haman, were harmful to society and to the peace and stability of the kingdom. Because of this, it seemed best to kill every last one of them.

We aren’t diasporic Jews, but in a sense we too are aliens in a world that is not our own. Will the societies we live in turn on us like King Artaxerxes did? My mind wanders to the holocaust of World War 2 and to Christians currently living in heavy persecution in Muslim countries.

We live in a culture that is increasingly hostile to Christians, not because of Christ, in what they say, but because of our biblical views and what that says about the way people live. We know, of course, that this hostility toward Christian values is really hatred toward God, but many seem to think that we are the trouble makers in society. (John 15, Romans 1) We “hate the gays” as some clearly unbiased journalist has recently said. As society continues to seek further perversions, as it is wont to do, we will likely be seen as all the more divisive and against the common peace.

We know, in the book of Esther, that God worked through Esther and Mordecai to save the Jewish people, who Satan saw fit to destroy to kill off God’s chosen people, and more importantly to prevent the birth of the Christ. Will God deliver us should it come to this? Or, will this perhaps be part of the great tribulation that the Left Behind* series has engrained into my mind?

Of course, as usual, I have more questions than answers here, but, I think it is something worth thinking about.

*Regarding “Left Behind,” I’m not a dispensationalist, or a rapturist, though, I am well aware that my reading of Revelation and the other Apocolyptic writings in the Bible are likely negatively influenced by being taught those things early on.

First they came for Chick-Fil-A…

29 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by cc_ in Church, Government, Political

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Chick-fil-A, gay marriage, gay rights, homosexual agenda, Homosexuality, persecution

H8 Mor Chiken (It's the new Palin)The Chic-Fil-A controversy doesn’t seem to be going away. It seems if a business owner says he believes in the biblical definition of the family unit that people get a little upset. According to Gallup half of Americans support “gay marriage.” It is definitely a controversial issue.

We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

A few mayors of some very large cities have weighed in with their opinions, saying they don’t fit with the values of those cities, with some even saying they will fight to prevent Chic-Fil-A from expanding in to their cities.

Of course, there are also boycotts, and an anti-boycott among Christians and conservatives who have designated August 1st as Chick-Fil-A day.

My question, and concern, though, isn’t with Chick-Fil-A and whether or not they will survive this boycott. (I certainly think they will.) But, what will happen when this vitriol and hatred spreads to the Christian church. All true churches agree that the bible says homosexuality is a sin, and most Christians are in opposition to same-sex marriage.

As a Christian, I have to believe that homosexuality is not the biggest issue here, but rather it is that people in their fallen nature hate God. And, fighting for homosexuality, which God calls an abomination, is more of an act to oppose God and the way He created things than it is about homosexuality. Homosexuality is just the issue that seems to be leading the growth in persecution in the United States at the moment.

Will the statements by these mayors soon say Christian churches are not welcome in their cities because we don’t conform to their city’s values? What happens then? While I believe the First Amendment will offer us some protection in the short-term, I tend to think that won’t hold up for long, at least in its application to us. It might end up that stating that homosexuality is a sin will be considered hate-speech and will be prosecuted. (In the UK and Canada this is already starting.)

It may be that I’m wrong, I’m surely not claiming to be a prophet, but I do think this is the path we are headed down.

What happens next? Will these “tolerant” liberal cities tolerate our differing values, or will the local governments begin to persecute us? What should our response be?

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