Repost | Pray For Youcef: Iranian Pastor To Be Executed For Refusing to Deny Christ

The news is breaking that an Iranian Christian pastor likely faces execution due to his refusal to recant of his Christian faith.  Please pray for him, his family, and ultimately the gospel.  Christian history has proven that such methods of silencing the gospel are futile, but that does not negate the heartache and pain that such evil leaves behind.  It is well documented that Iran is changing from the inside and Islam is slowly losing its grip on its people despite of its leaders efforts to suppress movements like Christianity.

The Christian, Youcef Nadarkhani, is quite bold in the faith.  Consider the following paragraphs from Fox News and pay particular attention to his words:

An Iranian pastor who has refused to recant his Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran's Gilan Provincial Court ruled. Iran's Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

An undated photograph provided by the American Center for Law & Justice shows Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor who faces execution for refusing to recant his Christian faith.
The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?"

"To the religion of your ancestors, Islam," the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

"I cannot," Nadarkhani said.

Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported.





Fox News - Iranian Pastor Faces Execution for Refusing to Recant Christian Faith 
The Blaze - Iranian Pastor Must Disavow His Christian Faith This Week…or He’ll Be Executed


For more:
Blogizomai - Pray for the Persecuted: Memorial Day & the Persecuted Church
Blogizomai - Pray For Our Brothers and Sisters in Iraq   
Blogizomai - Punishing Prejudice By Being Prejudice:  The Lesson and Legacy of Hate Crimes
Blogizomai - Repost | Coming Out of the Closet As Christians?: Welcome to the New World
Blogizomai - The (In)Tolerance of the Homosexual Movement: See, I Told You So

Blogizomai - The (In)Tolerance of the Homosexual Movement: A Response

Blogizomai - Where Does The Madness End? Where the Homosexual Agenda Leads - Part 2

Blogizomai - Feel the Rainbow:  Is There a Hate Crime For That?  

Blogizomai - D'Souza: The Equal Protection Hoax

Blogizomai - Colson: A New Form of Discrimination

Blogiomai - Mohler: "An Enforced Secularism" -- A Threat to the Pulpit

Love Your Enemies: Even If He is a Murderer

Tomorrow we will discuss Jesus' command to love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.  When we live in a fairly safe community, this seems like an easy command.  As we'll see, this is not an easy task.  Imagine if you will if your spouse or parent was killed during church by a crazed murderer.  How would you respond?

That is the situation that the family of Pastor Fred Winters found themselves in.  Winters was murdered during a church service in front of his congregation.  Days later, his wife appeared on national TV on CBS offering her forgiveness to the murderer and praying that he repent and turn to Christ.

Would you have done the same?



CBS: Pastor's Wife Forgives Accused Gunman

A Divine Kick in the Pants: Jim Elliot and the Call to Go Out

Sometimes God just kicks you in the pants and wakes you up. Here is one of those moments. Jim Elliot was a missionary who was killed while trying to reach a people group who had never heard of the gospel. His story is told in a number of books, movies (like "End of the Spear" which I highly recommend) and documentaries (like "Beyond the Gates of Splendor" which I also highly recommend).

Here is what he said:

Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don't 'feel called' to the mission field. We don't need a call; we need a kick in the pants. We must begin thinking in terms of 'going out,' and stop our weeping because 'they won't come in.' Who wants to step into an igloo? The tombs themselves are not colder than the churches. May God send us forth.

Amen! We should go out rather than expect them to come in. This is exactly what Paul says about the local church (Ephesians 4:12). The primary responsibility of the local church is to train believers for the purpose of going out into the world to reach the lost. Those reached then come to the church to be trained and sent out. Let Jim Elliots words ring in our ears tonight.

Sometimes we just need a Divine kick in the pants.

H/T: Between Two Worlds

July 19, 2009: Hebrews 11:30ff - The Legacy of Suffering Joy

Audio is not available (so don't click on the title for the link) but my notes have been made available. To view them, click here.

July 19, 2009: The Joy of Persecution

Notes.

Weekly Recommendation: "Foxe's Book of Martyrs"

When I was a teenager, something that both frightened and encouraged me while always leaving me fascinated was stories of various martyrs throughout history. One of the first books I picked up recounting the many accounts of martyrs throughout the history of the church is John Foxe's "Foxe's Book of Martyrs." I have read this book a number of times and to this day find myself fascinated, encouraged, and frightened. I am always reminded of the truth that compared to these great men and women who were willing to suffering greatly for the gospel, I am an utter and complete wimp.

Oh, if only I had faith like these great men and women of God!

The stories in this book are rather grotesque as many have been rather creative in how to torture and murder God's elect. Christians were beheaded, crucified, burned, boiled, dragged, decapitated, branded, inpaled, eaten alive, raped, frozen, shot, and other horrific forms of execution.

But there is one thing that the reader must be aware of: Foxe is writing in a time, as a Protestant, when Catholics were the enemy. Much of Foxe's book covers the many wars, battles, fights, and executions between Protestant and Catholics during the centuries of Reformation. Foxe is very bias towards Protestants and says strong things about the Catholic Church. This bias clouds his judgments at times. Foxe frequently condemns the blood shed on account of Catholic barbarity and yet ignores the same ruthless acts of Protestants. Nonetheless, one is blown away by the boldness of Christians throughout the centuries regardless of the cost.

This book also serves as a good survey of Church History especially regarding the Reformation. Foxe gives special attention to men such as John Wycliff, William Tyndale, John Huss, Martin Luther, and the St. Bartholew Massacre. This is a fascinating read that will leaving you nausiated, and yet with a new sense of boldness.

The reason I am recommending this classic book (originally published in 1563) is because this Sunday we will be looking at Matthew 5:10-12 where Jesus says that Joy belongs to those who are willing to be persecuted for the sake of the gospel. Christians in America are clueless to what it means to be persecuted for their faith. The best we can do is to loose a friend, to be ignored, or to not get a promotion at work. Sadly, we think this is normal. A brief look of a book like this will bring us back to reality.

At the same time, I want us to think about why Christians aren't being persecuted so heavily in our culture. The culture is increasingly becoming post-Christian. Although there are increasing signs of persecution through taxes, hate crimes, etc., most Christians are oblivious to persecution. Why? I think it is because Christians have adopted a false gospel. The gospel is an offense. That is why so many of our brothers and sisters have been persecuted throughout the years. People only get angry when offended, and sadly, the cheap grace we preach today does not call men to repent leaving them either spiritually broken or offended.

I encourage everyone to read this book and be gripped by the hard truths of the gospel and go out boldly and live the faith Christ has called us to live.

For More:

You can read the entire book online by clicking here.

You can also download and listen to the entire book for free by clicking here.

See also the Voices of the Martyrs, USA ministry webpage which continues the legacy of John Foxe

DC Talk has also published two books in the tradition of Foxe called Jesus Freaks: Volume 1, Volume 2