And Are We Yet Alive?

And are we yet alive, and see each other’s face?

Glory and praise to Jesus give for His redeeming grace!

Preserved by power divine to full salvation here,

Again in Jesus’ praise we join, and in His sight appear.

What troubles we have seen, what conflicts we have passed,

Fightings without and fears within, since we assembled last!

But out of all, the Lord has brought us by His love;

And still He doth His help afford, and hides our life above.

Then let us make our boast of His redeeming power,

Which saves us to the uttermost, till we shall sin no more.

Let us take up the cross, till we the crown obtain,

And gladly reckon all things loss, so we may Jesus gain.

Charles Wesley (1707-88)

Every year at this time I look up the words to this Charles Wesley hymn. “And are we yet alive” seems like a good title, and a good question, for a Religious Liberty e-newsletter. If anyone has good reason to question “are we yet alive?” it is our brothers and sisters of the persecuted church. We may believe that we have seen “troubles” and passed through “conflicts” here in the United States or here in our church denominations, but they pale in comparison to what our brothers such as Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and other believers in Iran, or the members of the Beijing’s Shouwang Church, or Christians in Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, North Korea, and elsewhere suffer for the sake of Christ.

Today as, I finished writing a story about South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s recent trip to Israel, I received news that the Islamist Government of Sudan had just staged an aerial attack inside South Sudan, in Western Bahr al Gazal. Seventeen people were reported killed. This is outrageous. Khartoum got away with bombing South Sudan thousands and thousands of time during the war, when the people of South Sudan were its own citizens. Now will they bomb another sovereign nation with impunity? Please pray for the people of South Sudan, and for all of Sudan’s marginalized, oppressed people.

How many Christians in Egypt (recently crushed by tanks in Cairo during a peaceful protest) or Nigeria (blown to bits in bombings during Christmas services) must continue to take up the cross in such a literal fashion – with little display of righteous anger or fervent prayer from other Christians around the world? Please pray for these brothers and sisters.

Watch my first video message below to hear how you can help!

Related articles:

• Protesting the Butchers of Sudan’s DC Lobbyist
• Noisy Religious Left Silent on Islamist Egypt
• David Cameron’s Christian Understanding