a tale of three congregations

in soviet russia, believers met in secrecy. some met in basements, others met in wooded areas outside the cities. the following are stories documented by voice of the martyrs.

one day, deep into winter, a congregation was raided by the kgb and all the men were arrested. these men were shipped off together to a remote area to be "re-educated." after days of torture in effort to get these men to recant, the kgb still had not caused anyone to give up his faith. the men were then driven out to a lake where they were stripped naked and marched out to the middle of the ice. on the edge of the lake, soldiers dug fire pits and lit warming fires. the men were then informed that if they wanted to warm up, they would have to give up their faith.

the night was harsh, as most russian winter nights are, and the winds whipped about the frozen surface of the lake. the men huddled together to try to keep warm. after remaining for two complete nights, one single man stood, walked to the edge of the lake and gave up his faith.

so compelled by the belief and faith of the men on the ice, a soldier stripped off his clothes and ran to take the other man's place. within a matter of days, all the men had frozen to death out in the middle of the lake.

the second story also comes from russia and is documented by v.o.m.

one night, as a congregation met in secrecy in a wharehouse, it was raided by masked soldiers with automatic weapons. without discharging a single bullet, the soldiers began to shout their simple ultimatum, "whoever wanted to live, had better leave now." after a few minutes and several people left, the men threw down their guns, took off their masks and shouted, "brothers! now that we have weeded out those who don't believe, let us meet with Jesus!"

i have no doubt in my mind that we will see more persecution and martyrdom in the world as we move into tomorrow, and there has been a movement that has energized today's christian youths to be willing to die for their faith, but the next question begs, are they willing to live for their faith? are you? am i? do our lives bear proof of it?

i heard an interesting challenge one day, someone said live your life in such a way that if christianity ever became punishable by death there would be enough proof to convict you. where does the proof come from? from deeds? outward appearances? no. the proof is in a life of holiness.

God doesn't want lip service. we get sick and tired of people lying to us after we've been put over by them two or three times. He's had to endure thousands of years of it. we, as christians, often come to a place of lethargy after we think that we have "arrived." we struggle. as humans, we all struggle. when we as christians struggle, we reach out of the mirey clay and grasp the outstretched hand of God. in that moment, nothing can seperate us from Him. but, when things are going well, we forget to give Him the glory. We forget to seek Him when things are going well. the penalty for not seeking Him is forgetting how.

choosing to live and not just survive will cost something. there will be discomfort, there will be pain, but there will also be the incredible reward of a life well spent. i can’t afford to stroll through life. none of us can. there are too many people on this earth who do not know God. there are too many children waking up each day watching their families die because of disaster, disease, and famine. there are too many people wandering through life not knowing the answers, not knowing their purpose, not understanding what their life could be like.

this is it...we each have somewhere between one more day and 60ish years to run...to be used by God to advance His kingdom. that is not much time...can we afford to put it off one more day?

what's the story of the third congregation? i don't know, you tell me.

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...