May 26 2017 – Click here to listen
Today I get back home for the first time in nearly two weeks. I can’t wait!!! So understandably I was in a great mood when I awoke this morning, only to scan the news and get bummed.
Egyptian state TV reported that gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians traveling just south of Cairo Friday, killing 23 and injuring 25. Fox news has a short article about it, but nothing so far from the rest.
What the heck?
Terrorists attacking in Manchester England received non-stop coverage, but a few more Christians being slaughtered by terrorists barely gets a collective worldwide yawn.
Instead of covering this major story, a quick check of the headlines will reveal that Republican Greg Gianforte won Thursday’s special election for the U.S. House in Montana, defeating Democratic challenger Rob Quist, despite being charged with misdemeanor assault the day before. The headline for most news outlets this morning is President Trump is to blame for this GOP candidate’s body-slamming of a liberal reporter who was badgering him and shoving a microphone in his face.
Huh?
Trump didn’t body-slam anyone, but the press claims he advocates violence against the media. I’m convinced that if President Trump gave everyone in the United States $100 out of his own fortune someone would accuse him of foul play. A recent study by Harvard shows that 93% of news coverage by the networks and cable news outlets is negative towards him.
How is it that the murder of 23 Christians and wounding of 25 more is less important than a misdemeanor assault case against a reporter by a candidate for Congress. Okay – Okay the press hates Trump and those who support him more than they care more about news of a few more Christians being slaughtered by Muslims.
It’s been less important for quite some time now.
Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world and yet there is hardly a whimper from the liberal anti-faith press.
One reporter, (Kelly James Clark), for the Huffington Post wrote: “Over the past year, I have written of the intolerance that Christians have shown to Muslims in the U.S. From Missouri to Murphreesboro, Christians have demonstrated both a lack of charity and a denial of the right to religious liberty by setting fire to old mosques and opposing new ones. But Christians in the U.S. are rank amateurs compared to the Muslim persecution of Christians in the Middle East.”
In fact, he is right. Nearly 90,000 Christians were killed for their beliefs in violent and gruesome attacks last year, according to a report by the Center for Studies on New Religions, making Christians the most persecuted group in the world. While some were killed as part of state-sanctioned persecution, as in places like North Korea, nearly one-third of the Christians who died in 2016 were executed at the hands of Islamic extremists. The study also found that as many as 600 million Christians were prevented from practicing their faith in 2016. That’s a lot of Christians folks.
Knowledge is power and the underreported facts don’t do anything about powering a solution to this problem. Reporters talk about Christian intolerance and herald Muslims as being persecuted. The average person who rarely looks at the news hardly notices. When it comes to persecuted Christians, there is no outcry; there are no prayers; and there is no global mourning with vows to eradicate these terrorists from our midst.
It is akin to the silence of the lambs. We march towards the slaughterhouse without even so much as a baa. Please stop what you are doing right now and pray for these innocent victims who were murdered simply because they follow Jesus Christ. Pray for their families and pray that someone will arise to put an end to this
Ugh . . . I hate to end the week with a post like this. I am reminded that God didn’t promise it would be easy and it wasn’t easy for Jesus Christ. We suffer with Him, but here is the encouraging word for the day: our 80 or so years on this earth is merely a small blip on the screen of life spanning zillions upon zillions of never-ending life with Jesus Christ. Think of eternity my friends – think of eternity . . .
2 Tim. 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday.