In Communist China millions of Christians have been arrested since the revolution. Some have estimated that up to 50 million have been "purged" or killed in the name of preserving the ideals of the Chinese communist state. The crackdown on the Hong Kong protesters is but another example of the communists taking away freedom of religion. It was only a few months ago that the protesters in Hong Kong all held crosses up- even those who did not believe- as a symbol of their protests. This year the Chinese have been famous for cutting off the crosses on top of historic churches.
Now switch to what is happening in the United States. The protests over police brutality and racism have degenerated into simple rebellion against all authority but their own ideology. So Bibles were burned in Portland in front of the federal courthouse with scant attention by the media. So St. John's Episcopal Church (near the White House) was burned. Instead of focusing on the church's burning, the media focused on Trump's walking there and moving protesters out of the way. But why did they burn the church? Then a synagogue in Los Angeles was burned. Then four Catholic Church owned buildings in a single weekend were attacked. Now Bibles are burned in Portland. One survey says that 67% of Americans think religious freedom is not very important. We forget that the Pilgrims and Puritans in New England moved here for religious freedom. The Huguenots in New York and South Carolina, the Baptists in the Carolinas left their homes behind to find religious freedom in the new land. It is out of religious freedom that freedom of speech (including the freedom to protest) came. Even the Methodist Wesleys, Whitfield, and Asburys had more freedom to preach in America.
This degrading of religion is how communist totalitarianism works. The Bible has always been attacked by the Stalins, Maos, Kims, Pol Pots and Castros who saw the Bible and belief in God as a threat to their control. It is no accident that the downfall of the Eastern communist regimes started as a religious revival in Poland and Romania. This is not just a republican-democrat issue. It is not just a racial issue. George Floyd was a member of a Christian church. It seems Antifa's agenda has a louder voice than Black Lives Matter. There is a great editorial in Newsweek on this pointing out German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine's quote 200 years ago, "Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."
The Christian response to such things is to pray for those who persecute them (Luke 6:28). It is time to pray. Pray for the fire of revival in this land to extinguish the flames of persecution.
The Christian response to such things is to pray for those who persecute them (Luke 6:28). It is time to pray. Pray for the fire of revival in this land to extinguish the flames of persecution.
Prayer: Lord, may your Spirit bring revival on our land that we might honor you.
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