True Faith

I just saw a story on cnn.com about Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who is facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. A few thoughts on this:
1. Praise the Lord for Mr. Rahman's faith. A faith that he is apparently willing to die for if necessary. Would that all our faith be so strong. Pray that Mr. Rahman would be protected and that his faith would be strong through this trial. Pray that if the Lord is willing Mr. Rahman's life would be spared.
2. Praise the Lord that a secular news organization such as CNN would deem this to be front page worthy. The case of Mr. Rahman is not an unusual one in extreme Islamic countries. It is not unusual for Christians in these countries to be persecuted - whether it be individuals or the official Islamic government doing the persecuting. Pray that the news coverage of this event would raise more awareness of the persecution that Christians in certain Islamic countries, and around the world, face.
3. Praise God for the freedoms that we have in the United States - freedoms that we often take for granted.
4. Contact your Senator and urge him to have the United States continue to apply pressure on Afghanistan relating to this persecution and others. You can find your Senator's contact information at this site: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm


"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
- Matthew 5:10-12

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to dies is gain"
- Philippians 1:20-21

I pray that I would say this confidently with Paul, and now with our brother Abdul Rahman.