Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Letter From a Martyr

How are you feeling right now? Discouraged with life? Anxious? Worried? Or is all well? No matter how you might answer these questions, I want you to go read a precious letter that was just posted on the Persecution Blog. Please take a few minutes to read it--I guarantee that it will strengthen you in the faith. On my other blog, I recently posted the hymn "Am I a Soldier of the Cross" in honor of a couple of people I know who were slain. These words "Soldier of the Cross" have been echoing in my mind ever since. So I thought of this as I read this letter from yet another fallen soldier. It's precious--it's all about what it means to forsake all and follow Him.

This is also a request for prayer for this man's family.

8 comments:

Susan Skitt said...

Oh Maxine, I am moved by this, his entire letter, spoken with love, yet not willing to deny Jesus. His parting words, "May my Lord show you his truth", is my prayer too. There are so many lost around us who don't know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life... (John 14:6)

Beka said...

Wow. That was powerful. Thank you for pointing us to this letter. I thought of our slain friends who are now with the Lord in glory, as I read this, and I thought about how I need to search my own heart and make sure I, too, am indeed a "soldier of the Cross."

Anonymous said...

Hello Maxine,

This post really touches my heart. Our church has missionaries in Turkey who have planted several churches. They knew this Christian brother that was martyred. There is a good post at the following link that describes what happened to this pastor and if you read the comments, you will see some updates concerning his family.

May the Lord Jesus Christ strengthen our faith for His glory.

http://faithwalk.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/pray-for-our-brethren-in-turkey/

Scotti

Maxine said...

Susan and Beka, I am so pleased you were moved by this letter, as I was. It really does put everything in perspective, doesn't it?

Scotti, thanks so much for this link. I will definitely go and check it out. We also know a missionary in Turkey who is helping the widow and family of one of the victims. This is a real battle and our soldiers in these certain areas need much prayer.

Susan said...

Dear Maxine,

Wow, this was so awesome... Thanks for sharing this with us.
I will be in prayer for this man and his family.

I hope you don't mind I added your awesome blog to my list on mine.

I always leave here so encouraged.

Blessings to you,

Susan

Mimi said...

Maxine,
thank you so much for directing me to the letter... I reminds me that I have all the freedom to worship openly and freely.... and AM I as open with my worship as I should be?
Do I take advantage of all my freedom to spread the gospel as I should?
or do I just remain placid at times when I should be passionate about our Savior??
I will pray for this man's family!

Maxine said...

Cami, you are right. The day is coming when we no longer will have to wrestle against flesh and blood. Thank God. You're also right about the fact that hatred for the true gospel can be found right here in our country. I'm sorry to hear that you have this in your family, but I know how real a struggle this can be. I'll say a prayer for you sister!

Susan, Welcome to Blogger! Thanks for your kind visits here in times past; I'm glad that now I'll be able to come visit you! I know you'll be praying for this man's family. I hope we'll all take note of Scotti's link and keep updated on this situation so we can pray even more intelligently.

Mimi, things like this really do cause us to think about our own commitment to the gospel, don't they? Lately, because of hearing about the recent martyrdom of several saints in our day, we've all been called to evaluate how far we are going and would go to forsake all for Christ's sake.

Vicki said...

Oh Maxine, I have this letter posted in a draft for one of my upcoming posts....it SO moved me. I even read it to my husband. I'm glad you shared it.