Monday, October 15, 2007

Christian Martyred in Afghanistan:

Just a few hours before I sat down to update True North's website, the bullet-riddled body of a male, South Korean Christian was found in central Afghanistan. Ten bullet-holes were discovered in his head, chest and stomach according to MSNBC. Who was this Christian anyway, and what was he doing in Afghanistan? He was one out of a group of twenty-three, short-term missionaries, mostly women, who were recently abducted by Muslim terrorists and are still being held hostage after a trip to the city of Kandahar.

The team of Christians were there to provide medical releif, a great service to an area that has a shortage of medically trained personnel. I have already read comments from many bloggers on mainstream media websites, questioning why these so-called "proselytizers" were there imposing their ideas in the first place. It is ironic, however, that more people are questioning the victims than are questioning the suspects.

Could it be that radical Islam has succeeded in raping the Western mind to the point where we expect their assaults on humanity, and are more shocked and appaled at Christian love than we are at Islamic terror? The West continues to fabricate politically correct causes as to why there seems to be this constant outbreak of what some are now calling, "sudden jihad syndrome" among Muslims in Western countries, and jihad as a way of life in Islamic countries. Some of the politically acceptable causes often cited are: "poverty", "Israeli occupation of Palestine", "US occupation of Iraq", and in the case of these Christian missionaries being taken hostage, "intollerant Christianity." Yet, the same jihad has been going on since the Seventh Century, long before many of these causes were even thought of, and that jihad will continue long after they are gone if the true cause is not addressed.

Okay, so now you're asking, "what cause can you point me to?" Sorry to disappoint you, but I do not intend to address that issue here. If you're anxious to answer that question now, go to your local book store and pick up a copy of the Qur'an (Particularly note Sura 9 aya 5).

I want to draw attention instead to the Christian faith of this young, South Korean that was willing to lay down his life today because of his faith in Christ. As our culture continues to ignore the Islamic incursion we will inevitably face over the next several decades, it will become increasingly more apparent that the only hope for our age is found in the message of Jesus Christ and the example of sacrafice he showed. Instead of ending his life in order to end the lives of others, he laid down his life to give life to millions. The following is a quote from the World War II era that may surprise you. At that time the threat was not Islam, it was Hitler. Yet, while we faced a different enemy, the only hope for salvation was the same:

“Having always been an ardent partisan of freedom, I turned to the Universities, as soon as the revolution broke out in Germany, to find the Universities took refuge in silence. I then turned to the editors of powerful newspapers, who but lately in flowing articles, had claimed to be the faithful champions of liberty. These men, as well as the Universities, were reduced to silence in a few weeks. I then addressed myself to the authors individually, to those who passed themselves off as the intellectual guides of Germany, and among whom many had frequently discussed the question of freedom and its place in modern life. They are in their way turn very dumb. Only the Church opposed the fight which Hitler was waging against liberty. Till then I had no interest in the Church, but now I feel great admiration and am truly attracted to the Church which had the persistent courage to fight for spiritual truth and moral freedom. I feel obliged to confess that I now admire what I used to consider of little value” – (Albert Einstein).

Now a word of caution! Never fall victim to the media's propoganda in denigrating the Church that Jesus purchased with His own spilled blood. And never forget that the Church is Christ's own body. If the world is going to see the example of Christ, it will only be seen in the sacraficial example of His beloved disciples; who make up the greatest institution in the world today; the Church (Ephesians 1:22). May God bless the witness of this young Christian man who gave his life while only seeking to preserve life. And may many people find life as his story is told.

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