Good News - May 2019

WORLD 22 MAY 2019 Good News • South Florida Edition E he t rolpx h siwee J f s o tooR naitsirh C !yti f o o l earsf I t ohgi ! Ldlro e wht swe no tivnp i ihswollec F inaisseM se sro n ve a o eht tuobn a rae o l u t os ye f s o tooh r s iwe J 5 na uo | 1341-737-16 y d bewolloy f dut e s lbi d B epxd enh a tian f aitsirh r C giL.www swolled f ns a tnemhserfer inaisse f M y ooe j he t cneir moc.LlFaersIfOth u t oe yeo s e t poe h . Wpih e a l bli e wreh . Tpihsro c w OthigL | !ereh pihsro f w e omi t LlFaersIf On the Targeting of Churches and Christians Jerry Newcombe , D.Min. The Easter bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka remind us that it is dangerous to be a practic- ing Christian today in many parts of the world. The Wall Street Journal re- ports, “There were at least eight ex- plosions, most blamed on suicide bombers. Six of the attacks were coordinated and were carried out by seven suicide bombers, accord- ing to a preliminary examination of scattered body parts by the coun- try’s official experts.” The bombs, of course, went off on the high Christian holiday of Easter, killing almost 300 people. And the Journal adds, “Au- thorities took 24 people into cus- tody in connection with the bombings, making arrests in sev- eral locations in and near the capi- tal, Colombo, where the bombings were focused….The government has ordered round-the-clock secu- rity at all churches.” Wendy Wright, the president of Christian Freedom International, said, “This coordinated mass bombing by Islamists against Christians in Sri Lanka packed into churches to celebrate Easter should drive us all to pray for vul- nerable Christians. And for God to transform hearts.” Wright noted, “Easter cele- brates Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead – proving His power over death and the certainty of His promise of eternal life. As Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.’” She also added that some Muslims are sickened by this kind of Jihadist violence: “On the day of the Sri Lanka massacres, Christian Freedom International’s director in a restricted country said a young Muslim man in his country showed up to learn about Jesus. ‘He has lost all his faith and honor in Islam because of seeing the brutal, inhu- mane acts of Islam in this world. He is seeking a better God to serve. Please pray for him.’” Some in Sri Lanka have asked, “Where is God?” But the at- tack on Christians and churches have gone on from the beginning of the Christian church to the present. Jesus told us it would be danger- ous to followHim. But, as theApos- tle Paul noted, “if only for this life we followChrist, then we should be the most pitied of all men. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, so one day, those who believe in Him will one day inherit a resurrected body like His. And when Jesus re- turns, He will judge the world in per- fect justice – including those who perpetrate attacks like this. You can’t go and find some church building (that I’m aware of) that predates AD 313. Why? What happened then? The Roman em- peror Constantine, professing to be a Christian, issued the Edict of Milan, making Christianity legal for the first time. Only after 313 could they start building official church buildings. Some of the most beautiful buildings ever built are Christian cathedrals, like Notre Dame, a fore- runner to other cathedrals. Con- struction on Notre Dame began in 1163. The investigation into what caused Notre Dame’s fire last week has not been completed. We are told it was not deliberate arson, but in the meantime, there have been consistent attacks on churches in France. 875 churches were report- edly vandalized in France alone in the last year. Open Doors, which exists to aid the persecuted church, notes: “Today, just like in the book of Acts, Chris- tians are persecuted all over the world for fol- lowing Jesus.” Open Doors notes that “1 in 9 Christians experience high levels of persecution world- wide.” They write: “Every day we receive new re- ports of Christians who face threats, unjust im- prisonment, harass- ment, beatings and even loss of family be- cause of their faith in Jesus.” They add, “Every month, on average: 345 Christians are killed for faith-related reasons 105 Churches and Christian buildings are burned or attacked 219 Christians are detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned.” Many years ago, I interviewed Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors. Perhaps he’s best known for the book he wrote called, God’s Smuggler. Brother Andrew, from the Netherlands, would smuggle copies of the Bible into all sorts of places where the holy book was forbidden – such as in the Soviet Union or the Eastern bloc nations. He said, “Today there is prob- ably more persecution than ever before….We at Open Doors work hard to publish that fact.” What happened in Sri Lanka is a reminder to continually pray for the persecuted church. Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is an on-air host/senior producer for D. James Kennedy Ministries. djkm.org @newcombejerry www.je rrynewcombe.com Christian St. Sebastian's Church Negombo Sri Lanka is the site of a church bombing on Easter Sunday that killed more than 100 people.