Heb 13:3 Don't forget about those in prison. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies. (NLT)
It's such a joyous time for those of us in America this week. We share such a bounty with our families and friends that it's sometimes hard to talk about difficult or sad things. In the middle of the turkey and stuffing and the pleasantries of this wonderful thanksgiving I am still going to throw a bit of a wrench to keep things in perspective. This week, I got my Voice of the Martyrs calender and it reminded me that we have so much to be thankful for here.
There is tremendous suffering going on in the world for many people of our faith. February has a family thrown out of their home for their faith, March shows a young women reading an illegal Bible to her children. May is so brutal because it shows a young women who suffered severe burns on 40% of her body and face because she wanted to worship Jesus. July tells of a terrified Christian family who was forced to flee their burning neighborhood in Pakistan. Muslims burned 57 homes in a Christian colony there. (And we are opening the doors for this faith here like they are bring heaps of love and pounds of goodness.)
I think most of you get the picture that I am trying to paint. Tim Tebow, a Jesus-loving quarterback for the Denver Bronco's, is always tormented by the "worldly others" because he talks about Christ with such affection and warmth. There is so much to be thankful for if you are at peace right now - wherever you are. This Thursday, remember that in a world context, we are the very few who really enjoy religious freedom. There is a reason for that, I think it is called 'the founding fathers.' You know the ones who got the whole thanksgiving thing going in the first place.
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