faith of the martyrs

The whole world is watching what is unfolding in Afghanistan right now--the chaos and heartbreak has caught so many of us off guard. With the Taliban taking complete control, the people are facing an unimaginable future. The reports coming out of the country are almost surreal, and definitely impossible for most of us in the United States to understand.

What has hit me as the most spectacular, though, are the reports we are hearing from the followers of Christ who are in Afghanistan. They are fleeing their homes and trying to protect their families, but at the same time they are saying they plan to meet Jesus face to face within the next couple of weeks.

Planning to meet Jesus.

God, give them strength. Give them peace. Give them mercy.

And give us a small fraction of their faith.

⁹When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the heavenly altar the souls of those murdered for holding fast to the word of God and their testimony. ¹⁰They cried out in a great, singular voice.
Martyrs: How much longer, O Lord, the holy One, the true One, until You pronounce judgment on the inhabitants of the earth? Until You avenge our blood?
¹¹Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest for a little while longer—soon their number would be complete. In a little while, more of their fellow servants, brothers, and sisters would be murdered as they had been."
Revelation 6:9-11

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a little bit of physics (don't be scared!)

"by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." hebrews 11:3 this is one of my favorite verses--i call it my physics verse because to me it is tying together my faith and subatomic particles. no, really--i mean it! when i first started working on a degree in physics and a minor in biology, somebody (i don't remember who anymore, but it seems like it was somebody on some kind of discussion board...) told me that i would forget about all that dumb "christianity" (<--spell checker doesn't like that. hmm...) stuff. once i had been educated, i would see that faith was superstition and a pointless waste of time, something for the ignorant, uneducated masses. while i'm sure that is the conclusion some people come to, it sure wasn't for me. ...

Psalm 19

"The celestial realms announce God’s glory; the skies testify of His hands’ great work. Each day pours out more of their sayings; each night, more to hear and more to learn. Inaudible words are their manner of speech, and silence, their means to convey. Yet from here to the ends of the earth, their voices have gone out; the whole world can hear what they say." (Psalm 19:1-4, VOICE)

what's next?

My husband and I were talking to our kids the other day about how important it is for them to learn to stand for their beliefs and live the life God has called them to now, while it is easy. We were talking about how one day in the future, they will most likely be forced to either cave to the world or stand for God, and in that moment the decision will mean a whole lot more than just social standing. Right now, Christians in the United States have been given a reprieve. The election of Trump was honestly not something I expected. I've written for quite a few years now about the decline of our nation, and I know I'm not the first--or only--one to point out the downward spiral of morality that we've been seeing for decades. As a nation founded by men who claimed the protection of God, I truly believe we chose to be held to the standards of the covenants we entered. God keeps His side of His promises--the good and the bad. That means that broken covenants have consequences. Wh...

life. faithful.

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