Jesus > Religion by Jefferson Bethke

Author:Jefferson Bethke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2013-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

My job can be taken.

My health can be taken.

My ability to type and write can be taken.

But my identity as a child of God can never be taken.

HAVING JOY DESPITE CIRCUMSTANCES

As long as we have the presence of an infinite loving God, we can do anything, even when our world is in chaos. It’s that power that looks strange to others. A nonbeliever doesn’t think twice when we praise God for giving us Bentleys, but they do think twice when we get evicted from our homes and still praise God. Having joy in God not because of circumstances but despite circumstances is what makes God look great—and it’s a true joy that comes from within.

The thing that most bothers me about the Santa Claus–Jesus Christianity is it completely mocks some of the most powerful testimonies of God’s grace. I can think of one story in particular in the persecuted church that makes me tear up every time I hear it. In Nik Ripken’s book The Insanity of God, he details many stories of people facing trials and hardships through persecution. Some are executed, some are tortured, and some are beaten. Somehow these Christians still seem to hold strong—and in most cases, their faith strengthens! God is most glorified in our lives when we show him to be most glorious regardless of what is thrown our way.

The story I’m thinking of that shows this so beautifully is about a man named Dmitri who fell in love with Jesus during the communist reign in Russia. Shortly after becoming a follower of Jesus, he opened his house to others to talk about Jesus, sing songs, and read the Bible. Quickly many people began to come. So many came, in fact, that the government noticed, and he was fired from his job. Still Dmitri continued to preach and read the Bible to others in his home. That’s when it got real interesting.

One night when he was holding church in his house, soldiers broke in. One grabbed Dmitri, slapped him around, and said, “We have warned you, and warned you, and warned you. I will not warn you again! If you do not stop this nonsense, this is the least that is going to happen to you.” As Nik Ripkin describes: “The officer pushed his way back toward the door, a small grandmother took her life in her hands, stepped out of the anonymity of that worshiping community, and waved a finger in the officer’s face. Sounding like an Old Testament prophet, she declared, ‘You have laid hands on a man of God and you will NOT survive!’”9

I want that old lady as my grandma—or my private security detail. There’s one thing I know for certain, and it’s that you don’t mess with an old lady on fire for Jesus. And she was totally right! Two days later the officer died of a heart attack. At the next meeting 150 people showed up, so Dmitri was thrown into jail for seventeen years.

He was separated from his family, his kids, and other believers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.