Category Archives: Advocacy

A Short Bible Study: Matthew 5:10

tied hands and a cross

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

This verse is part of the Lord’s teaching known as the Beatitudes. It is an encouragement to those who are under an oppressive, unjust, and cruel treatment because of their faith in Jesus.

Without such a great promise — to be blessed for being subject of persecution — one would ask himself “Why am I suffering? Is it in vain?” But the words of Jesus are a promise that standing for the righteousness of God in this world has a great reward — the kingdom of heaven. In God’s kingdom eternal righteousness and justice reign. Those persecuted on earth will inherit this kingdom — it is theirs, it is their home, their inheritance. Those formerly mistreated for being citizen of this eternal kingdom will now live in it, they will be its rulers.

Standing with righteousness against the unrighteous, and paying a price has a great reward in waiting.

A second notion is that wherever there is a kingdom there is a system of justice. The justice of the eternal kingdom of God is founded on the just and eternal God. The suffering of those who stood for the name of God and His Son, under the persecution of the wicked kingdoms of this world, will be redeemed with the reward of heaven. For those who are faithful justice will mean their sacrifice will be their badge of honor before the King of kings.

Victory against Religious Restrictions Bill

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Evangelical Christians in Bulgaria take to the streets to oppose new anti-religious laws at the end of 2018

Evangelical Christians in Bulgaria take to the streets to oppose new anti-religious laws at the end of 2018

 

Anti-Christian persecution in Bulgaria does not come with violence and imprisonment but by legislature and intimidation. In the 17 years since the last religious law was adopted in 2002 more than 17 attempts to introduce restrictions on religious freedom by a change of the law were attempted by various political factions.

In May last year, all major political parties proposed two highly restrictive bills which if adopted would have ended freedom of religion in Bulgaria and driven the church underground.

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Is the defense of religious freedom a legitimate Christian ministry?

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“Nobody should be persecuted because of their faith,” says Robin David, the ADF International allied lawyer defending the pastors in court. “In India, many citizens face fierce harassment because they belong to a religious minority.”

These Christian pastors in India are being persecuted not because they are a minority but because they are Christians.  While “nobody should be persecuted for their religious belief” may be a nice sentiment, the reality is that persecution occurs on a daily basis. In fact, anti-Christian irrational hatred and the resulting persecution is amply talked about and predicted in the Lord’s teachings and throughout the New Testament.

It is right and proper for us to support each other as believers and stand up against persecution and the injustice it represents. The NT teaching that Christians must be ready to embrace suffering for the name of the Lord does not constitute a surrender to the claims of evil without opposition on our side. Jesus suffered ultimately but He never stopped to assert His divine right to be recognized as the Son of God, the Son of Man, and the Savior of the world. We see the same example through the lives of the apostles and the martyrs of the faith.

Being subject to persecution should never be seen as a reason for Christians to approve of persecution, even if they gladly embrace it as a sign of their loyalty to Christ.

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Answers to Questions in a Worldly, Post-Christian Culture

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Holy Bible

Bible

Who shapes our outlook on this life and the life to come? God and His Word, or the words of the culture around us, dominated by the prince of the air?

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” When we don’t want to listen to the truth of Scripture we have ways of reasoning faith away by simply ignoring the Biblical teaching or by twisting it to mean something different from what it actually means. Christians have an obligation to teach those who accept the Gospel of Christ to obey all that He has commanded (Matt. 28:16-18). The Great Commission mandate is not just to listen to and marvel at the Lord’s teachings, but to instruct the nations to obey these teachings.

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God Appoints Rulers

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One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor, states Proverbs 29:23.

With political passions engulfing the globe one must ask if believers should stay away from politics? The answer is negative. Simply our “politics” is different. It is of the Kingdom of God, and not of the kingdoms of this world. When Christ declared to Pilate in John 18 that His kingdom is not of this world He did not mean that He is an escapist. Neither did He want that for His disciples. He  meant that the way He and His followers engage in this world defies its principles of corruption and rebellion. Just the opposite, Jesus’s own mission and the one He gave to the church is one of full engagement with the Gospel with all peoples and worldly powers (Matt 28:16-18).

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Faith That Works: Worshiping God or Caesar?

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manif-9 septI grew up in communist Bulgaria when public false worship of the national false god was mandatory. One of the major roles of the government, and why not the main purpose, was to ensure obedience to the ideology of the ruling cult – the communist party.

The  photograph o the left has recorded a so called “manifestation” of the people in Bulgaria under communism. All schools, universities, factories, and all workers had to show up for these parades and shout worshipful slogans to the communist party, the state and its leaders. The socialist utopia was at its highest frenzy.
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Religious Hatred and the Role of the State [in Bulgaria]

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By Viktor Kostov

Published initially in Dnevnik, a daily Bulgarian newspaper, on April 25, 2011, after a violent attack on Jehova’s Witnesses building and assembly indoors in the Bulgarian city of Burgas
Link to video UNAVAILABLE
http://youtu.be/TH6adGKoSOA )

The attack on a religious minority in Burgas is not accidental. Violence against people who had gathered peacefully, without weapons, indoors, on their private property by hooligans whose supreme achievement is to mentally distinguish the colors of their favorite team and that of the opponent and to consider whether the match result is a loss or win.

When under the guise of its power the state violates its own laws the result is violence and division in society.

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