Dear Friend of the Persecuted Church—

            It never ceases to amaze me how truth can be manipulated or just plain ignored when it is convenient for an agenda.  Take the recent violence in Orissa, India.  While the majority of this violence took place last week, more persecution was being reported as recently as yesterday – all predicated on a lie.  A Hindu leader was killed, it is true, a tragic assassination that should not be tolerated or condoned, but he was killed by Maoist guerrillas.  The lie that Christians were the assassins has been used to cause untold suffering – churches and orphanages burned, men and women beaten and violated, families split up and left homeless.

            This is not the first time that lies have been used as an excuse to persecute Christians.  It has happened since the beginning of the church – for instance, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote, about the great fire of Rome, "Therefore, to stop the rumor (that he had set Rome on fire), he (Emperor Nero) falsely charged with guilt, and punished with the most fearful tortures, the persons commonly called Christians...”

            Perhaps it is ironic that these lies would be leveled against those who have claimed the truth of the gospel, or perhaps it is just evidence of the enemy that hates the Body of Christ.  No, the Orissa violence is not the first time that Christians have been falsely accused, and neither will it be the last, because the enemies of the gospel, having rejected the truth, have no weapon but lies.

            What a temptation it must be for Christians to abandon the truth that they know in the face of such persecution.  It must be a temptation to just give in to the lies, of course, but how easy it would be simply to respond in kind – to return insult for insult, accusation for accusation, and suffering for suffering.

            Let us pray this week that our brothers and sisters in Christ would stand strong against these temptations, reflecting the truth of the gospel in their words and actions as they cling to that truth for their salvation.

Yours for the Body of Christ,

Gabriel J. Waddell
Executive Director

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