Captain's Log

Left Doha around 11 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT) for a short flight (only 6.5 hours vice the 13 hour flight to Doha).  Again blessed with babies who slept rather than wailed ... managed to get at least 3 hours of sleep enroute.  Passing over India ... thinking of a dedicated believer and his courageous wife ... ministering to Muslims in Kashmir and other states in northern India for 22 years with no visible fruit ... now after 33 years ... 169 families of former Muslims in 7 congregations ... praise the Lord for such a faithful, persistent couple.  Flying into Bangkok now ... out the plane windows to the north are what appears to be deliberately flooded fields ... perhaps rice paddies ... and to the south endless tall buildings ... Bangkok with its ten million people ... safe on deck in Bangkok ... in my hotel ... email to my bride ... sleep ... ZZZZZZ

Read an article this morning about a house church in Iran where each believer commits to give away one New Testament to a non-believer each day of the week.  At their weekly worship gathering, each member of the house church receives 7 New Testaments to give away.  In a country where such activity brings arrest, imprisonment, and often death, the courage of these faithful followers of Jesus is very humbling to me.  Why am I so reticent to share the gospel here in the United States where the only fear is personal rejection?  Father, forgive me for my failure to tell everyone I know about Jesus and help me to move beyond my silly inhibitions and share the Good News at every opportunity. 

As we prepare to observe Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, a recent study in Ephesians keeps popping into my brain.  Paul was trying to encourage the Ephesians in his letter by describing to them some of the blessings that are a part of their inheritance in Christ Jesus.  Paul in his prayer for the believers in Ephesus recorded in Ephesians 1:15-21 said the following:

"Therefore I also, after I  heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."

Do you understand what Paul is saying here?

The exceeding greatness of the power of God toward us who believe is the same resurrection power with which He raised Christ from the dead and seated Christ at His right hand far above all principalities and powers.  In other words, we as believers are in Christ, almost as if we were actually seated with Christ at God's right hand in the heavenly places.  And the resurrection power that is in Christ is resident in us as the Spirit of Christ lives in each of us and as Christ uses us, His body, to carry out His will here on earth.

So whom shall we fear?

On Good Friday we remember the persecution and crucifixion of Jesus Christ on our behalf.  In Matthew 15:20 Jesus said:  "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than His master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you."  If we are walking in Christ, we should expect to be persecuted.  But the story doesn't end on Friday.  Sunday is coming - Resurrection Sunday - the day we celebrate the risen Christ.

And the Scripture has told us that the resurrection power of God - the same power He used to raise His Son Jesus from the dead - that same power is within us as we are indwelled by the Spirit of Christ.  Now isn't that an incredible promise from our heavenly Father as we prepare to celebrate Easter?

No matter how dark or challenging the days ahead may seem, we can walk forward boldly and confidently in Christ - knowing that His resurrection power is resident within us - far above all principalities and powers.

So whom shall we fear?

Hana Hagos Asgedom, 41, was a disciple of Jesus Christ who was martyred for her Savior on January 24th, 2010 at a prison camp in Eritrea.  Eritrea is infamous for its persecution of evangelical Christians - warehousing several thousand believers in shipping containers without toilets, running water, or air conditioning.  

Hana had been incarcerated at Wi'a Military Camp since 2007 and had been transferred to the Alla Military Camp approximately 7 months ago when the Wi'a Camp was closed.  Voice of the Martyrs Canada reports that Hana was offered a final chance to renounce her faith when she arrived at the new camp.  "When she refused, she was placed in solitary confinement.  Shortly before her death, she reportedly endured beatings with an iron rod for refusing to 'make the chief commander in the camp a cup of coffee'."  Local Christians stated that the real order for which she was beaten involved a sexual advance.  Hana was then taken back to her cell where she was subjected to further punishment and eventually went on to her eternal reward. 

Here at Smyrna we learn about many new incidents of persecution every day.  Usually I just keep on reading.  Yesterday, however, as I was reading about Hana, I simply could not put her suffering out of my mind and continue on to the next account of persecution.  My heart cringed at how she must have felt at the unspeakable torture she endured. 

Ultimately, the Holy Spirit led me to Revelation 6:9-11 - concerning the Tribulation when the fifth seal is broken in heaven and John saw the martyrs under the altar:  "And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?'  And there was given to them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also."

Hana maintained her testimony to the end and is now at rest.  She is in the presence of Jesus.  I can envision her in her white robe.  And I long for the day when the number of her fellow martyrs will be complete.