Extreme Encounters, Extreme Devotion

Are you up for a challenge? Did not our Lord Jesus say – "If any man will come after me, Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16: 24-25).

Serious followers of Jesus pay price and extreme followers often pay the ultimate price. Such extreme encounters bring out the extreme devotion of His people. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Below are the real accounts of the lives of God's people, in times past and recent to provoke you to reflect on the cost of following Christ.

Pakistan: Tahir Iqbal and Raymond Lully

"I will kiss the rope but never deny my faith!" exclaimed Tahir Iqbal. The soldiers lifted the paralytic pastor out of his wheelchair and slipped the noose around his neck. Today he walks freely in heaven with Christ.

In Pakistan, another seasoned pastor heard a gunshot right outside his house. The bullet narrowly missed him and lodged into the wall behind his chair. He thanked God for another day that he could share Christ in the Muslim-dominated nation.

Raymond Lully left a comfortable position as an Oxford professor and spent most of his life suffering for the gospel. He wrote, "Once I was fairly rich and tasted freely the pleasures of this life. But all these things I gladly resigned that I might spread the knowledge of truth. I have been in prisons; I have been scourged… Now, though old and poor, I do not despair; I am ready, if it be God's will to persevere unto death."

Believers like these have a unique understanding of the term "shield of faith". They realized it would not necessarily prevent their suffering, but it gave them courage to face it if necessary. The shield of faith gave them the resolve to continue doing spiritual battle for the cause of Christ no matter what it cost them here on earth.

The above account is adapted from the Voice of The Martyrs.

Korean Hostages

A group of 23, 18 woman and 5 men were sent by a Christian church in Seoul to do relief work in Afghanistan. They were all kidnapped from a bus about 2 weeks ago and held hostage by Afghan insurgents, who demanded the release of Afghan prisoners in exchange for the release of the hostages. At time of writing (6:30pm 1/8/07), two men have been shot dead and 2 female seriously ill.

How will things turn out? Only God knows but the prospect seems to be diminishing with the passing of each hour. An agonizing vigil in Seoul has been kept; a prayer chain of Christians set around the world through smses and emails and an appeal has been made to the United States to intervene.

Reflections

Here is a crisis that defies our understanding. Why would anyone perpetrate such senseless acts of abduction and murder? It is the product of a depraved and grotesquely sick mind. What have these innocent Christians done to deserve to be so accosted? What is the basis of such monstrosity? These are but a few of the legitimate questions to add to the already long list of questions concerning God's mysterious dealings with men.

But this one thing I know, brethren, "Be not deceived. God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galatians 6:7- 8)

Letters from Rev Okman Ki

For the last few days, I could not rest well because of the hostage situation in Afghanistan. Probably most of you know that one hostages was killed a day ago.

He was a pastor in one of the Presbyterian churches. He died on his birthday, and his wife (35 years old) and a daughter (9 years old) are in Korea. His father is an elder of a Presbyterian church. I heard him preaching just briefly over the internet, and he preached about Christian suffering. I must say that he lived as he preached. His body was bullet ridden (head, stomach, and all over his body).

There are twenty-two more hostages, and the Taliban threatened to kill a hostage each day. Among the remaining 22 hostages, 18 are women. They are either nurses or healthcare related workers. They had been helping people without hospitals and health services. I may question about their wisdom to travel in the country without security conveys. However, I do admire their courage and selfless service for the people in spiritual darkness. Some of the hostages do have health problems, and I cannot imagine how greatly saddened when they found out that their beloved pastor was already martyred.

I cannot stop crying as I think of them and their families. Whenever I leave home for missionary work, I do recognize that I may not be able to come back. I do pray that the Lord will take care of my church and family. I wonder what thoughts that pastor had when he knew that his final moment finally came.

Maybe today, would you remember the hostages and the victims' families in your prayers? We are to weep with the ones who are weeping. If it is God's will for them to come back to their families, hopefully they will come home soon. If not, let us pray that the Lord will give them courage and boldness as they face the final test of their faith.

In your happy and joyful moments, would you remember them in your thoughts and prayers?
Have a blessed day! By the way, as we think of the brevity of our life, let us not waste our time by not loving others. Let us love one another as if today is the last day of opportunity to love each other.

Pastor Ki

Background of 2nd Person Slain

He is 29 male, IT personnel, who loved especially physically disabled people. He quitted his job to help people in country side. He was also a Sunday school teacher for disabled children. Sources have it that the man was talking to captors about the Lord, which provoked them to kill him .Both his body and that of the pastor's have been donated to Medical Schools for the advancement of Medical Science.

Pastor Ki

Dearly beloved, these events defy our understanding .Regardless of the outcome; we know that we have a God, who is still on the throne. He is still the Sovereign God .The depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God cannot be mined. His judgments may be unsearchable and His ways inscrutable for now, but rest assured, He is in control and by and by, His divine purposes will be made plain. Like the psalmist, we may be tempted to ask "How long, O Lord? "But has God forgotten His people? No, never. This is His promise to us and, even, if they are not fulfilled on this side of eternity, they will be when He comes." Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." Isaiah 49:15 to 16.

Let us not cease to intercede to the Lord for His mercies upon our brethren and their families in their present crisis. Let us pray for their deliverance but let us also take comfort that God is on our side and He will bring His purpose to pass.

"God moves in a mysterious way.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour:
The bud may here a bitter talk.
But sweet will be the flower."

William Cowper

Amen.

Lovingly in the Lord,
Elder Lim Yew Cheng

Adapted from Evangel Bible-Presbyterian Church,
Elder Lim Yew Cheng. 5th August 07.