More Than Half of US Pastors Not Informing Christians of Persecution — 74% of Christians Want to Know Truth about Persecuted Church & Followers of Jesus Christ
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 6, 2011
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3:12
~ King James Bible
As the persecution of Christians escalates in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere, a new poll shows that a majority of American ministers have chosen to not talk about the persecution of Christians with their congregations, saying that it is a “downer.” A vast majority of Christians, however, want to know the truth about those who denounce them, those who wish to silence and destroy them for their Christian beliefs.
A sobering article, WND Exclusive FAITH UNDER FIRE by Michael Carl:
Persecuted Christian? Don’t expect these pastors to speak up – Half don’t plan to mention martyrs – but 3 in 4 members say they want to know
About half of all the pastors in America’s churches today do not want to tell their congregations that there are forces in the world that persecute Christians for their beliefs, because it’s a “downer,” according to the results of a startling new poll.
The Barna Research Associates survey, commissioned by Open Doors USA, says a significant majority of American Christians, some three out of four, want to hear about the persecuted church.
But the same study showed that 52 percent of America’s pastors don’t want to talk about persecution and have no plans to talk about it.
In the nationwide poll of more than 800 Christians, 74 percent of America’s churchgoers want to hear about the persecuted church.
But the same survey said only 48 percent of the pastors want to discuss the issue.
“And so, we did a survey with Barna that was two parts. The first part was asking pastors when they think they might preach on persecution or the suffering church around the world,” Moeller said.
“We had several options there, but 48 percent said they weren’t ever planning on preaching about persecuted Christians. Some said they would be preaching on it sometime in the future and a few said they preach on it regularly,” Moeller said.
“That 48 percent kind of stuck with me. ‘Wow, 48 percent never plan to talk about the persecuted church,” Moeller said.
Moeller said the story was different in part two of the study.
“Seventy-four percent of American Christians who go to church regularly said they would like to hear sermons from time-to-time on the suffering church or persecuted Christians,” Moeller said.
“That was a huge gap, we thought. Almost half of the pastors in American were never planning on preaching on something but three-quarters, almost three-quarters of their congregations want to hear on it regularly,” Moeller said.
“We thought that that was worthy of reporting back to the American press and to the American church, pastors in particular,” he said.
“People are really hungry; they want to know, they want to pray. They want to do something, speak out, take action, on behalf of suffering Christians wherever they can,” Moeller said.
Christian human rights group International Christian Concern’s Middle East Area Specialist Aidan Clay believes the problem comes from the pulpits.
“The persecuted church reminds us that the decision to follow Christ is all or nothing,” Clay said. “It reminds us that Jesus promises persecution in the Scriptures and that the Christian life was not intended to be easy.”
Clay said the reality about Christian persecution isn’t popular.
“That’s a difficult teaching to swallow in some American churches today that are centered on self-improvement and feel-good sermons. And, perhaps pastors fear that the topic of Christian persecution will drive complacent Christians or those who are unsure what they believe out of the church,” Clay said.
In Iran, Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been imprisoned and is being pressured to convert to Islam, under threat of execution
Just one example of Christian persecution out of thousands… this news story about Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani being imprisoned and being pressured to convert to Islam, under threat of execution, was published November 4, 2011 by Fox News, Iranian Authorities Pressuring Jailed Christian Pastor to Convert to Islam, Sources Say:
Government officials in Iran are trying to convince a jailed pastor to return to Islam as he waits for the nation’s supreme leader to decide whether he should be executed for converting to Christianity, sources close to the case told FoxNews.com.
Iran’s secret service officials recently approached 34-year-old pastor Youcef Nadarkhani at his prison site in Rasht and presented him with a book on Islamic literature, telling him they would be back to discuss the material and hear his opinion, the sources said.
FoxNews.com obtained a digital copy of the book given to Nadarkhani, a 300-page compilation entitled “Beshaarat-eh Ahdein,” meaning “Message of the Two Eras,” referring to the New and Old Testaments. Through various narratives, the book claims Christianity is a fabrication and attempts to establish the superiority of Islam.
[...]
Nadarkhani remains in prison, awaiting a final verdict that has been drawn out and delayed amid heavy and targeted international attention to his case. Iran’s judiciary has been caught in a bind, fearing the ultimate decision will have far-reaching political implications.
If Nadarkhani is released, the judiciary risks appearing disrespectful of the tenets of Shariah law. But if he is executed, Iran will face increasing criticism from the international community, which continues to petition for the pastor’s release.
[...]
Nadarkhani came under the regime’s radar in 2006 when he applied for his church to be registered with the state. According to sources, he was arrested at that time and then soon released.
In 2009, Nadarkhani went to local officials to complain about Islamic indoctrination in his school district, arguing that his children should not be forced to learn about Islam.
He was subsequently arrested and has been held since.
Barrans said there has been much confusion in the story, in part deliberately caused by the Iranian regime through its state-controlled media. She said that in an effort to distract the media, the Iranian government denied that the charge against Nadarkhani was apostasy, or leaving Islam, and instead alleged that he was being held for rape and extortion.
But according to details provided by Barrans and confirmed by FoxNews.com with sources close to the case in Iran, Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 and was tried and found guilty of apostasy by a lower court in Gilan, a province in Rasht. He was then given verbal notification of an impending death-by-hanging sentence.
In December, his lawyers appealed the decision, and the case was sent to Iran’s Supreme Court, which by June stated that it upheld the lower court’s decision of execution, provided it could be proven that he had been a practicing Muslim from the age of adulthood, 15 in Islamic law, to age 19, the time when he converted.
In September, the lower court ruled that Nadarkhani had not practiced Islam during his adult life but still upheld the apostasy charge because he was born into a Muslim family. The court then gave Nadarkhani the opportunity to recant, as the law requires a man to be given three chances to recant his beliefs and return to Islam.
Nadarkhani refused.
From Jeremiah Project, War on Christianity:
Currently, over 200 million Christians worldwide are living under the threat of persecution.
Topping the list of countries which have mounted a campaign against Christians are China and Sudan followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Burma, Greece, Ethiopia, and Vietnam. (Washington Watch, May 1998). Increasing persecution is also found in Cuba, Laos, and North Korea.
Many Islamic-dominated nations have adopted a fanatical, militant doctrine of persecution against all “infidels.”
The militant Islamic Government of Sudan, for example, is waging a self-described religious war against Christian, non-Muslim, and moderate Muslim persons by using torture, starvation, enslavement, and murder. In Pakistan, the government has declared those that who “insult” Mohammed will be put to death. In Communist Laos more than 250 pastors and Christian workers have been arrested; more than 60 churches and Christian institutions have been shut down; and the government has forced many thousands of believers to sign documents to “renounce” their faith and belief in Christianity.
[...]
While the war on Christianity in America and persecution of Christians has not yet reached the feverish pitch of persecution as it has in other parts of the world, there is a battle being waged.
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