International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, 2020

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, 2020 And before I give the info about these states so we can pray, let me make a common sense statement that applies to all these measures. First, not allowing churches to open up violates the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution. We all have the right to not only believe but to practice our beliefs in the open. Second, just because a church is open, does not mean someone has to attend. People are free to attend or not, according to the dictates of their conscience. To me, this is where it most appalling. Third, Scripture does command us to meet together. Hebrews 10:25 tells us to not neglect meeting together. There's only so much that can be done with a screen. God has designed us to be together, in-person with one another. This is the approach that Grace Community Church with multiplied thousands has taken. As I mentioned, we are going to pray for our brothers and sisters in 3 states, beginning with California. Under the direction of Gov. Newsome, he has made contradictory statements and taken such measures that by any evaluation, one has to conclude that it's churches he and his administration are targeting. Liberty Council offers the following information. The latest being a Tiered system of increasing restrictions, beginning with Tier 1: no worship is allowed, not even in your own home with someone who does not live there. This "crime" is punishable by up to one year in prison. However, those same buildings found in the Tier 1 area can be used for other things with no problem. You can even hold nonreligious meetings in the same church building with no restrictions on the number of people present. But as soon as the gathering transitions to a religious gathering, the total ban kicks in. Tier 2 - Churches may allow people inside with 25% capacity, but no more than 100 people - no matter the size of the sanctuary. Yet, there is no maximum limit of people for laundromats, warehouses, grocery stores, big-box centers, malls, destination centers, swap meets, museums, gyms and fitness centers. With Tier 3: Churches are limited to no more than 200 people, no matter the size of the buildings. Added to the list above that have no numerical limit, Tier 3 throws in family entertainment centers, cardrooms, and wagering sites, among others. As late as last month, members of a number of churches face daily criminal threats and fines. Each criminal charge is punishable by up to one year in prison. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters who are feeling the pressure to worship but are conflicted. Romans 13 tells us to obey our governing authorities. Also, the health concerns are huge as well. We need to pray for Gov. Newsome to have a change of heart and make everything fair and for him to listen to accurate information. Finally we need to pray for pastors to have the wisdom and courage to do as the Lord would have them to do. For example, John MacArthur has been fined $500.00 a weekend for violation of having the building open so people can worship. I guess this would be considered the price of doing ministry. But there are thousands of small churches who don't have the ability-like ours-to pay $500 a week to stay open. Pray Illinois: In an appalling example of persecution levied on one who actually lived it before coming to the states, Cristian Ionescu Pastor of Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church not only fled Romania, while it was under communist rule, he ran into persecution in Chicago. Similar to what Gov Newsome is doing in California, Gov Pritzker, accompanied by Chicago mayor Lightfoot have put in place heavy measures which are definitely unfair to the church. When the COVID crisis began, Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church willingly closed, out of an abundance of caution for its parishioners, as well as in respect for the "two weeks to flatten the curve" announcement by Illinois officials. But when Gov. J.B. Pritzker began allowing big box retailers, abortion clinics and recreational marijuana stores to open while churches were still restricted to just 10 people no matter their sanctuary size, the largely Romanian immigrant population of Elim Pentecostal grew uneasy. When Pritzker later announced that churches could be allowed to increase attendance to 50 people only after a mandatory vaccine was to be released in 12-18 months, Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church said "no more!" See, they did everything required of them: an extremely good filtration system at great cost, continual deep cleaning, masks, social distancing-you name it, they did it. But it was not enough. So, when Pastor Ionescu pushed back, eventually the situation became very heated between the church and the state. So much so, that the church received an official notice from the Chicago Health Department declaring Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church to be a "nuisance," and as such the city threatened "Summary Abatement" - a process whereby the city could immediately and without notice seize and destroy all church buildings and property-to raze it to the ground. The situation is still tied up in the court, and the hope is, it will wind up in the U.S. Supreme court. We need to pray for Pastor Ionescu, that he will continue to have the courage and wisdom to navigate the waters of persecution. We need to pray for the leadership in Illinois, to include Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker that their eyes may be opened to see the blatant unfairness of how they are treating Christians. Pray that the members of Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church will continue to receive the comfort and courage as Christians in the midst of these very trying times. Pray that the Lord will be glorified in this all important situation. How the Supreme Court decides the case will have huge ramifications for all of us. Pray In a brazen act of defiance against the 1st Amendment rights of his own people in Kentucky, Liberty Counsel has defeated KY Gov. Andy Beshear's unconstitutional church restrictions. But Kentucky's governor still refuses to learn his lesson. He was ordered three times to stop his war on Christians for attending church. Not to be deterred, Beshear tried again to fight the legal battle in September and failed once more to convince the courts to allow his flagrant abuse of Christians' rights. Liberty Counsel represents Maryville Baptist Church in Kentucky, whose attendees were put on the equivalent of a 14-day house arrest for attending a stay-in-your-own-car parking lot Easter Sunday service. Of course it was under the guise of quarantining for covid. Gov. Beshear had already been warned about interfering with churches in another Kentucky county when he sent the State Police to Maryville Baptist Church. Gov. Beshear should have taken that county court's order against the mayor of Louisville as a clear indication that he dare not harass Christians. But he refused to listen. Liberty Counsel took Gov. Beshear to court. The Court of Appeals granted them two 3-0 emergency injunctions pending appeal. Then the lower federal court granted them a preliminary injunction. Three strikes and you're out! But not for the defiant Beshear! On March 19 and 25, Gov. Beshear doubled down on religious restrictions and signed executive orders prohibiting all religious services in Kentucky, while allowing many secular businesses like liquor stores, abortion clinics and big-box shopping centers to stay open and operate largely unrestricted. To add insult to injury, Beshear further mandated that churches could host an unlimited number of people for food, shelter or social services like job training, but the very same people, in the very same church building, could not open the Bible, preach the Word, or worship God. The governor's own Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, filed a brief against him in support of Liberty Council's case. U.S. Attorney General William Barr also warned governors to not violate the First Amendment rights of churches. Again, the courts ruled against Gov. Beshear three times - once in the lower federal court and twice in the Court of Appeals. During Liberty Council's recent argument at the Court of Appeals, Gov Beshear insisted that the four judges who ruled against him and his own attorney general were wrong. He requested that all these decisions be reversed. Kentucky: We know the statement: "power corrupts and absolute power . . ." Gov Beshear seems to have fallen prey to this. We need to pray for him that the Lord would have his way in the life of the Governor. We need to pray that the Lord would continue to encourage the people of Maryville Baptist Church to remain steadfast in Christ. And those who are able to fight against Gov Beshear that that the Lord would use them as a means to humble the Governor. Above all, we need to pray that the Lord be glorified, and that all of God's people in Kentucky would become spiritually strong through all this. We need to pray for the legal process to play itself out, and, Lord willing, to be successful in the courts, as God counts success. PRAY Now we turn our attention to our brothers and sisters in other countries. How they need us to pray for them. How we need to pray for them-to demonstrate unity in the body of Christ. The reports and prayer requests once again, come from Open Doors, the ministry we use every week as we remember our persecuted brethren weekly. North Korea: If North Korean Christians are discovered, they are deported to labor camps as political criminals or even killed on the spot. Driven by the state, Christian persecution in North Korea is extreme and meeting other Christians to worship is nearly impossible unless it's done in complete secrecy. A recent increase in diplomatic activity, starting with the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, has not changed anything for Christians in the country. Christians must keep their faith completely secret. If a Christian has a Bible, or part of one, it will be carefully hidden and only read when the believer is sure they are alone. Most Christians do not even tell their own children about their faith until the kids are older teenagers, for fear that they may let something slip. When Christians are discovered, they will be arrested and imprisoned in one of North Korea's terrible labor camps, where they are worked like slaves and often tortured; most are never able to escape. The news tells stories of the country's ambitions on the world stage. Yet behind the headlines, a massive underground church of 200,000-400,000 Christians is growing in North Korea. And tens of thousands of these secret believers are held in North Korea's infamous labor camps. It is a miracle that this underground church is able to exist. But more than that, it is thriving and growing. One Christian has shared: "One day the borders will open and we will unite with the South Korean and the Chinese church to bring the gospel to some of the darkest places on this earth." There have been raids against Christians and killings, but no details can be published for security reasons. Pastor Dong-cheol Kim-arrested in 2015-and two Korean-American Christian lecturers at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), Tony Kim and Hak-song Kim, arrested in April and May 2017 respectively, were all accused of espionage but released ahead of the U.S.-North Korean summit in June 2018. In a change of hiring policy, PUST is now reportedly looking for non-US staff, a logical consequence of United States' travel ban on American travel to North Korea. There have been more reports coming from North Korea, but for security reasons, no details can be given. PRAY Somalia remains mired in civil war, tribalism and violent Islamic militancy. Conversion to Christianity is regarded as a betrayal of the Somali family and clan. If Somalis are suspected of being converts, family members and clan leaders will harass, intimidate and even kill them. Christians with a Muslim background are regarded as high-value targets by al-Shabab operatives and have often been killed on the spot when discovered. The violent Islamic terrorist group, al-Shabab, advocates Shariah law as the basis for regulating all aspects of life in Somalia. This group has repeatedly expressed its desire to eradicate Christians from the country. Foreign jihadists are also present in the country, but Islamic oppression is not limited to militants only. Christians also face serious persecution from family, extended family members and the community at large. In every sphere of life-private, family, community, and national-being exposed as a convert to Christianity means life-threatening danger, often leading to on-the-spot execution. This persecution pattern is exceptional and puts Somalia high up in the category of extreme persecution. As a result, most Somali Christians keep their faith completely secret. But despite the risks, Somali people are coming to faith in Jesus-some in miraculous ways. Over the last years, the situation appears to have worsened. Islamic militants intensified their hunt for people who are Christian and in a position of leadership. An attempt to reopen a church in Hargeisa, Somaliland, in August 2017 also failed, as the government was forced to shut it down due to pressure from the local Islamic population. In the 2020 World Watch List reporting period, Christians remained very vulnerable to attacks by Islamic militants. In the interests of security, no examples can currently be published. PRAY Yemen: An ongoing civil war in Yemen has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory, making an already difficult place for Christians even harder. The war has allowed radical Islamic groups to expand their operations in certain areas, leading to Christians being abducted and killed. Open church activities are forbidden and leaving Islam is not allowed. Muslims who decide to follow Jesus could face the death penalty. Yemen is a strongly Islamic nation, and all Yemenis are considered Muslims. The maximum scores in the national and church spheres of life is typical of a country where Islamic oppression is the main persecution engine and most Christians come from a Muslim background. The Church in Yemen is composed mostly of Yemeni Christians with a Muslim background who need to live their faith in secret. They face persecution from the authorities (including detention and interrogation), from family and from radical Islamic groups who threaten these believers with death if they do not re-convert to Islam. Tribal law prohibits members from leaving the tribe, and the punishment for denouncing Islam can be death or banishment. Both male and female converts to Christianity married to Muslims risk divorce and losing custody of their children. Christians suffer from the general humanitarian crisis in the country, but Yemeni Christians are additionally vulnerable since emergency relief is mostly distributed through Islamic organizations and local mosques, which are allegedly discriminating against all who are not considered to be devout Muslims. Various Christians were detained for faith-related reasons during the 2020 World Watch List reporting period. According to sources, both religious and non-religious factors are often involved in these cases. At least a dozen Christians were mentally or physically abused as a result of their faith and the war situation, the threat mostly coming from families and communities. Several Christians had to leave their houses and relocate in the country out of fear of assassination for their faith or for war-related reasons. PRAY Columbia: Church leaders are harassed, extorted and even murdered by guerrillas or other criminal groups. This violence is often the direct result of Christians working for the defense of human rights or supporting a peace agreement that would restrict illegal activities of militant groups. The violence may also stem from Christians who work for environmental rights, working with youth or who denounce corruption and violence. In indigenous communities, there is a significant opposition toward Christian missionaries and indigenous converts, who, as a result, face imprisonment, physical abuse and the confiscation of property, among other forms of punishment. In addition, because of rising secularism, there is an increasing intolerance to Christian references and religious opinions in the public sphere-especially about issues concerning life, family, marriage and religious liberty-because they are considered discriminatory and "hate speech." Colombia rose six spots in the 2020 World Watch List from 2019. This is primarily due to increased pressure from criminal and ethnic groups and the increase in the number of Christians killed and church buildings attacked. Church leaders are being threatened, harassed, extorted and even murdered as a result of the violence perpetrated by guerrillas or other criminal groups who are often protected due to corruption of the local authorities. Sometimes the violence is directed toward the church leaders' families and entire communities to discourage anyone wanting to convert to Christianity. Christians are also ridiculed when they attempt to participate in public debate especially concerning gender, marriage and abortion. Political parties and ordinary citizens reject faith-based opinions and try to enforce agendas that contradict Christian values. Indigenous people who convert to Christianity and missionaries risk imprisonment, torture and the confiscation of property. In August 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled that the scope of protection for the respect of Christian public personalities is not guaranteed in the same way as for those exercising the right to freedom of expression to criticize them. According to the ruling, freedom of expression must be protected even if the expressions aired diminish the reputation of Christians, just because they are publicly known. This ruling has affected one Christian YouTuber and a pastor. According to Open Doors sources, in March 2019 an indigenous community in northern Colombia arrested a young woman because of her Christian beliefs. The leaders aimed to force her to marry an indigenous man in order to prevent the spread of the Christian faith inside the indigenous community. A priest of the diocese of Santa Rosa de Osos of the rural town of Cuturú was threatened with death in December 2018 for refusing to pay protection money to one of the armed groups in the area. The priest had to be transferred for security reasons. PRAY I came across the backstory of North Korea and the dramatic political shift it had, but it served to make our brothers and sisters very strong spiritually. The church in North Korea is alive and well. The Lord Jesus said he would build it and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. This story from Christian History magazine. It is a little long but most definitely worth our while to experience it together. Professor Cho grew up in Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea-North Korea, as it is popularly known. A devoted patriot, he fought against United Nations forces for North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung during the Korean War (1950-1953). Following the war he left military duty, graduated from a university, and worked as a college professor for 30 years. But upon his retirement, the professor and his family were expelled onto the streets. There is no such thing as a pension in North Korea. Cho had enjoyed a comparatively high standard of living, but the "Arduous March"-the North Korean government's name for the perfect storm of flooding, crop failure, and the collapse of Soviet support devastated the country from 1994 to 1998, and caused the economic situation of nearly all North Koreans to plummet. The government, the sole supplier of food, stopped feeding all but a few of its 22,000,000 citizens. Factories shut down. Trains ground to a halt. Water was turned off. Deaths due to starvation may have exceeded 3,000,000. A new social class arose: Kotjebi, meaning "worthless birds." These homeless North Korean children wandered the streets in packs. These circumstances led more than 1,000 North Koreans to attempt to flee to South Korea through China every year with the assistance of South Korean missionaries. But North Korea's army made this a dangerous undertaking. Only a comparatively small number survived. Cho and his family were counted among the survivors. In March 2001, thoughts of imminent danger filled Cho's mind as he gripped the hand of his adult son and sprinted toward the Tumen River separating North Korea from China. The chill wind pierced him to the bone. Thick ice had formed on the river, and snow on top of the ice buried his feet. Almost immediately a dog began barking. A soldier with a rifle swung his searchlight along the riverbed. Cho and his son threw themselves down flat on the ground, motionless. Suddenly the word "God" leapt into Professor Cho's mind. Instinctively clasping his hands together, he cried out silently, "God, help me." Just as quickly the soldier turned away, dog in tow. Professor Cho was certain that this was the work of God. Choked with emotion he whispered, "Thank you, God," over and over. Cho was a Communist Party member, pledged by North Korea's Ten Principles to "make absolute the authority of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung." But deep within him was a nearly forgotten memory from childhood. A friend had once invited him to church, where he had heard of a God who loved him. Cho was in middle school then, in the time before the Korean War when there were so many churches in Pyongyang that the city was known as the "Jerusalem of the East." Crosses dotted the Pyongyang skyline. Young Cho watched with curiosity the many evangelists on Pyongyang's main street in the daytime shouting, "Believe in Jesus and go to heaven!" When one of Cho's childhood friends invited him to church, he accepted. Church people welcomed him in, served him lunch, and gave him notebooks and pencils as gifts. He sang a song that he would remember 50 years later about how God always remembers the poor. After his visit to church, young Cho eagerly shared the experience with his mother but begged her not to tell his father. But soon Cho's father discovered the secret and scolded him harshly. His father said he would not forgive Cho if he ever went to church again. So Cho did not go to church or think about God anymore. Cho's father was one of the "original Communists," a revered group who joined the Communist Party right after Korea's liberation from Japanese rule in August 1945. By party requirement the elder Cho detested religion deeply. As a reward he was permitted to live in Pyongyang-as long as he and his family stayed in the good graces of the government. So the younger Cho grew up in the capital city of North Korea, witnessing firsthand the establishment of the Communist regime. When he watched North Korean propaganda movies, he cursed at the Americans he saw on the screen. He learned from the regime that American imperialism was North Korea's greatest enemy and Christianity its preferred tool. Christians represented the largest voluntary social group in Korea before the Korean War. There were more than 2,000 churches in the country in 1942. After the 1945 partitioning of the country, the North Korean government attacked the church over the next 3 years and greatly weakened the church At the same time, Kim Il Sung nominated one of his mother's relatives, Christian Pastor Kang Yang Wook, as a representative of the Chosun Christianity Federation, a group established to support the Communist Party while absorbing the existing Christian associations. On September 9, 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was officially established in the north. Government officials trumpeted the end of religion in North Korea. No more steeples. No more long-haired evangelists. No more notebooks or pencils or gifts. No God except for Kim Il Sung. In late 1949, as the north was preparing for the Korean War, Communists arrested everyone who attended religious activities. They raided homes of Christians in search of religious books, which were regarded as "seditious circulars." In a country where Japanese occupying forces had shut down 200 churches and arrested some 2,000 Christians 20 years before this, the season of martyrdom had returned. By the time the Korean War began in June 1950, the government routinely arrested and persecuted Christian leaders on charges of sedition. During the retreat of North Korean troops, Kim Il Sung ordered the indiscriminate slaughter of Christians. There is no record of the number, but some estimate it in the tens of thousands. Tens of thousands more escaped to South Korea, founding a number of churches including Young Nak, one of the 40 largest churches in the world in 2014. Ultimately, and amazingly, the refugees from North Korea contributed to make South Korea the most Christian country in Asia. Following the war the North Korean government prohibited rebuilding church buildings that had been destroyed. Churches in Cho's neighborhood that were still standing were converted into schools or hospitals. That is how Cho and his fellow citizens came to forget about God. But as he held his son's hand in the swirling snow of the frozen Tumen River, Cho had a revelation: like most North Koreans, he had forgotten God. But God had never forgotten North Korea. Cho and many others escaped to safety in South Korea. While North Korea remains cut off from traditional journalism, historians are beginning to document the 100,000 Christians still living there. In 2013 the North Korea Human Rights Record Center revealed detailed information drawn from surveying North Korean defectors in South Korea. Significantly more people had seen Bibles in North Korea than previously thought. But defectors also told a story of religious suppression: more than 60 percent of those caught in religious activity were sent to political prisoner camps. But no matter how fierce the suppression, more North Koreans were beginning to call on the God whom they had forgotten. Cho and other North Korean defectors are now serving as missionaries; more than 200 defectors have graduated from South Korean seminaries. Through shortwave radio broadcasts, balloon launchings of Bibles, and missionary trips, they are not a new trend in North Korean Christianity but the oldest Christian trend of all: ordinary men and women like Professor Cho who cannot help speaking about what they have seen and heard in the most closed nation on earth. I relay this story to us to remind us that the Lord Jesus is indeed King of all nations. He is Lord of all lords, including the ones who demand to be worshiped like a god. It only took a few years for the political landscape to change in North Korea. Did you catch the part where Korean Christians were martyred by the Japanese, had a reprieve, then another wave of martyrdom occurred? We in our country are on the knife edge of adopting socialism-the bedrock of North Korea's government--as our form of government. If the history of socialism is consistent, then we could go by the way of North Korea, where in a few years after socialism takes over, churches will be shut down and we will suffer. It may not happen. The Lord may have more work for us as Americans to do; God is sovereign over all nations. But if this American experiment of self-governance fails and we go by the way of Marxism, then we need to be ready to faithfully serve the Lord, even in socialist America. Let me remind us of what brother Paul Washer said a few moments ago. We won't be persecuted so much for loving Jesus. But we will be persecuted for being very politically incorrect. True Christians derive their values from the absolutes of Scripture. And anybody committed to the Lord Jesus wholehearted trusts what this book says, which automatically puts us out of step with what the world values. And the more out of step we are, the more of a threat, perceived or otherwise we will be to the movers and shakers of our culture. So to close out our time of prayer today, I want to offer an equipping moment. In your bulletin, you will find a list of very politically incorrect affirmations and denouncements. It is Christianity 101, but as I read through them, we can see how out of step they are with our culture. I invite you to take this and keep it handy. I also invite you to read it with me as I make these pronouncements. I have asked Liam to make the affirmations and I will make the denouncements. Let me emphasize here. These are not meant to be snarky. I, and hopefully we, aren't making these pronouncements to pick a fight. But these are simple, practical reminders of the words of the Lord Jesus right before he went to the cross, himself being very politically incorrect: that we are in the world but not of it. So, follow along, and if you are inclined, make the proclamations along with us. I hereby draw a line in the sand of my unwavering countercultural affirmations and denouncements. I am aware of the price that I may pay for following Jesus in our culture. 1. I Affirm: There are two genders: male only, female only I Denounce: One's sexual orientation and gender identity arising from any source other than biological, while realizing that "the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick." 2. I Affirm: Marriage is between a biological male husband and biological female wife, for the first man and first woman were God's special, unique creations. Sexual activity is to be only between husband and wife within a covenant of marriage, primarily for procreation and secondarily for pleasure, to fulfill God's command for fruitfulness and prosperity. I Denounce: Any sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage of one biological husband and one biological wife, while acknowledging the tragedy of divorce and remarriage; by the grace and mercy of God all sexual sin is forgivable. 3. I Affirm: God has made all people in his image, after his likeness; every person is descended from our original parents. Therefore, every person is equal regardless of one's melanin shade and possesses inherent dignity, worthy of respect and care. I Denounce: Systemic racism, critical race theory, and intersectionality, which are barriers at best and evil deceptions at worst, hindering or preventing fellow image bearers of God from loving and serving one another. 4. I Affirm: Every person was created, in part, to take care of the earth, as God said, to subdue the earth, knowing that the "earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." I Denounce: Earth worship, which has its source in macro evolutionary theory, and denies humankind's unique place in the world to take care of it and not merely be considered as one species, equal among all other species of animals. 5. I Affirm: God has called us to live according to his ways, impossible apart from a saving relationship provided by the Lord Jesus Christ, obtained by repentance of sin and commitment to his gospel. I Denounce: Any religion, or system of theology that denies the truth of only one God, the full deity and humanity of Christ who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and rose again from the dead, and salvation coming from repentance of sin and faith in Christ alone. With those affirmations and denouncements ringing in our ears, let's seal our commitments and prayers to the Lord at this time.