tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925011239177942231.post5104825086004093946..comments2024-03-04T10:47:31.894-08:00Comments on The Textual Mechanic: Gladiator Games and Early ChristiansTimothy N. Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696299768205488795noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925011239177942231.post-39692038751677795692016-01-10T17:38:31.349-08:002016-01-10T17:38:31.349-08:00Thanks Timothy for the article. It was sad to read...Thanks Timothy for the article. It was sad to read but soon will be coming to us, I fear. Maybe not in my lifetime but my grandchildren and children.Darlene Mitchellhttp://unionchapel.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925011239177942231.post-58569169365083911842015-10-13T09:26:15.701-07:002015-10-13T09:26:15.701-07:00Thank you, Timothy. Such circumstances are again i...Thank you, Timothy. Such circumstances are again increasing in this world. We Believers in Christ are coming under greater persecutions around the world. As Jesus predicted, "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.<br />These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me."Stephen Mitchellhttp://unionchapel.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925011239177942231.post-70013075385274213482012-03-22T12:00:53.834-07:002012-03-22T12:00:53.834-07:00Thank you for sharing the story about Zakaria Omar...Thank you for sharing the story about Zakaria Omar. It is very easy to forget about the terrible persecution occurring across the globe right now. Sitting in my comfortable armchair in veritable safety here in the USA, it easy to become complacent in voicing Christian truths. It is good to recall the cruelty and dangers of former times, such as what Paul, Ignatius and Tertullian experienced and what Pliny helps to reveal. Christians in peaceful western countries need to keep brothers and sisters who experience this level of persecution in our prayers.Timothy N. Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10696299768205488795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925011239177942231.post-85075243043578480592012-03-21T14:18:28.813-07:002012-03-21T14:18:28.813-07:00It was often a very fearful thing to announce your...It was often a very fearful thing to announce your status as a Christian. The writer of Hebrews noted that in Hebrews 10:32-34.<br /> "But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one."<br /> Yet, in spite of that, many, many Christians willingly exposed themselves to persecution in order to communicate the forgiveness that is available in Christ.<br /> Many Christians today also show such loyalty to Christ. For example, Zakaria Hussein Omar, a Sudanese believer who trusted Christ 7 years ago, knew his life was in danger there in the Sudan but refused to leave. His headless body was found on the outskirts of a small town in the Sudan in January. He was murdered by Muslims because of his faith in Christ.irenaeusnoreply@blogger.com