We realized afresh that we don't take this verse seriously and neither do the majority of American churches. The recent poll on the blog asks this question: "Have you ever heard a sermon or lesson on the Persecuted Church at your local church?" As of writing this it's neck-and-neck between "Yes, at least once" and "No". No one, thus far, as voted "Yes, often." I feel that that is so tragic! Remembering those in bonds AS IF WE ARE BOUND WITH THEM, would mean that we keep them in our minds and hearts and prayers and sermons.
Gana and I have purposed not to forget those suffering for their faith. And although we may not be
great at it (we, too, get caught up in our own little lives and our own insignificant worries) we have a new tool in the spiritual fight for the Persecuted Church.We ordered Remembrance Bracelets from Voice of the Martyrs. These bracelets are linked together. One says, "BOUND WITH THEM." The other says "HEBREWS 13:3."
Wearing these linked-together bracelets have helped me to remember to pray for my brothers and sisters suffering because they love and serve the Savior. And it's a constant witness to others. People sometimes ask, "What's your bracelet for?" And we can share with a person, who perhaps was previously unaware of the plight of Christians around the world, what is going on in the Church.
Perhaps you'd like to order one for yourself today! Not only will your own prayer life change but you'll be supporting a wonderful organization, VOM.
3 comments:
I really appreciated this entry. Our church supports a missionary family in China. It is dangereous to them and those who are in the famiy of God over there as Chinease citizens. It was sobering to me to hear their circumstances. I should have responded yes to your pole. I will look and see if it is still there. If you don't mind, I will be posting a blog to link to your post here because I think your point is well worth sharing.
Thank you for the reminder!
You may certainly link back to this. I would be honored!
We are part of a home "church." We often talk about the persecuted church--we pray for them and also read articles from VOM. Sometimes we watch a video put out by VOM. We involve our children in all that we do. Packing Action Packs through VOM is a good family project. One Sunday, we met in a small part of a garage (cement floor, in the winter), we all took shoes off, turned off the lights and left our Bibles outside the garage. We sat in there for several hours. We wept, sang hymns, quoted scriptures and prayed for our brothers and sisters that are persecuted. Our normal plentiful potluck lunch was bread and water.
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