I Want to be Pretty Like That!

   

"A pretty woman, with lovely soft features, kind eyes and dark hair. She was never angry, never impatient, never resentful, she patiently wore away prejudices and hatred by her gentle, gracious presence and her blameless life. She had all the firmness of a man, and yet a more gentle and womanly woman it would be hard to find."

Said of Lottie Moon, young single missionary to China


"She seemed endowed with a peculiar magnetism when you were in her presence so that you could not help thinking yourself in the presence of a being much higher than the ordinary run of humanity. I have heard her pray, and she could offer up the finest petition to the Throne of Grace of any person I ever heard in my life. She was always gentle and kind to the Indians, as she was to everyone else. She took an interest in every one at the mission, especially the children. Everyone loved her, because to see her was to love her."

Said of Narcissa Whitman, young married missionary to Native American Indians


“They say there is a young lady in New Haven who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on him… she has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in their affection… you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful…. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness and universal benevolence of mind…. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have someone invisible always conversing with her.”

Said of Sarah Edwards by her husband, Jonathan Edwards

To Love Their Children

The other day, I learned that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar announced that they are now expecting their 20th child!! ohmygoodness!

I am a big fan of their TV show on TLC and watch it as often as I am able on Tuesday nights and early on weekday mornings. I enjoyed watching the budding romance, engagement, and the wedding of their oldest son, Joshua, to Anna, along with the birth of their two children. I have loved reading their first book (the second is on my Christmas list) and prayed along with thousands as their 19th child, Josie, came into the world four months premature. So, yes, I am a fan. :) A lot of people have had derogatory and....well, let's just be honest....hateful comments about the Duggars and their way of life. I have to say, "Gracious, let them alone!" I, for one, am inspired at their obedience in letting the Lord have full control of every area of their lives, especially in the issue of children. That is when you can truly sing, "I surrender ALL." I'm amazed at how they run their home smoothly and with order with so many kids when I know of countless parents who cannot control the one or two kids they have. Grant and I are praying for Michelle as she sacrifices her body, once more, for the giving of life and for trusting the Lord to do all things well. :) God bless them.

With the Duggar family fresh on the brain, I have been thinking of motherhood.

John Wesley said, "I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England."

The impact of that statement is huge. What a powerful remark! Through his mother's diligence in teaching him about Christ and what it means to be a Christian, he learned what no professor could ever teach. He saw Christianity in action in his home; in the life of his own mom. I have read about his mother, Susannah Wesley. Susannah was the youngest of twenty-five children! (you're not quite there, Duggar family! :) She, herself, bore nineteen children with her husband, Samule Wesley. Many Godly women in history had the honor of bearing many children. Elizabeth Fry, a sweet Quaker woman who reformed prisons in England, bore eleven children. Sarah Edwards, the godly wife of Jonathan Edwards, was also the mother of eleven. Catherine Booth, the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth, gave birth to eight children.

Psalm 127 verses three and four says, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them...."


Happy is the man that hath his quiver full. For some, the Lord may say that one or two is a "quiver full." For others, a quiver full may be twenty or twenty-five! However many children we are blessed with, the Bible gives us, mothers, a great responsibility; mainly to LOVE our children.

Recently, I read a book that convicted me and inspired me to become a more godly wife and mother. It was a study of Titus 2 and, in reading and studying, I was constantly reminded of how I should be as a Christian woman....


Titus 2:3-5
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

It seems like such a no-brainer to love our children, doesn't it? But it doesn't always come so easily. In studying, I learned that the word, love, found in Titus 2 was the Greek word, Phileo, which is where we get the word Philadelphia (the city of brotherly love). This word isn't Agape love (unconditional love; sacrificing love; God-like love). Phileo is an affectionate love; a friendship love; a tender love.

Though Nathan hasn't yet reached the toddler years or the age where he challenges authority, I am working to display phileo love and to make it a lifestyle. Sometimes it's so easy to show sacrificial love and even unconditional love. We, wives and mothers, will clean up milk and kool-aid spills. We will wash dirty underwear and stinky socks. We will labor and sweat over meals. We will work and work and work....from sun up to sun down.... but will we show phileo love? Are we tender? Are we compassionate? Are we affectionate? In studying this word, I have seen my reflection in love's mirror and.... I'm afraid that I am guilty of not showing phileo as often as I ought to. To my husband, I am often quick-tempered and too "busy" to stop and gently kiss his cheek and ask him how his day was. Suffice it to say, I've been convicted. But I pray, with all my heart, that I will learn to make phileo as normal as breathing in and out. I hope the Lord will bless me and Grant with more children, but no matter how many arrows He places in our quiver, my heart's desire as a mommy is to be full of phileo love. When I am tempted to yell in anger or to let my emotions take over when I am irritated, I want to be reminded to LOVE my children. When they have me ready to pull my hair out, I want to remember that God instructs me to phileo my kiddos, even when their hands are covered in peanut butter and they smear chocolate on my purse.
   
With our world news full of stories of mothers who want to rid themselves of their children, I pray that we, Christian mothers, will resolve to rejoice over ours and to LOVE them....and show it.

Give Me Love Like This!

Many crowd the Saviour’s Kingdom,
Few receive His Cross,
Many seek His consolation,
Few will suffer loss,
For the dear sake of the Master,
Counting all but dross.

Many sit at Jesus’ table,
Few will fast with Him
When the sorrow-cup of anguish
Trembles to the brim-
Few watch with Him in the garden
Who have sung the hymn.

Many will confess His wisdom,
Few embrace His shame,
Many, should He smile upon them,
Will His praise proclaim;
Then, if for awhile He leave them,
They desert His Name.

But the souls who love Him truly
Whether for woe or bliss,
These will count their truest heart’s blood
Not their own but His:
Saviour, Thou who thus hast loved me,
Give me love like this.

—Amy Carmichael

The Perseverance: Evelyn Brand

Acts 2:42

And they continued steadfastly…..

In the Christian life, it is so easy to become discouraged and downcast when you’re playing tug of war with the Satan and the culture around us. Being pulled from every angle, it doesn’t take much to lose focus and get our eyes off of the glories of heavenly, eternal things and, instead, cast them upon ourselves and our troubles. Ironically, we forget that God Almighty knows the storms that come our way. In fact, we fail to see that He often brings a storm to test our faith and trust. I’ve seen it in my own life, how we fret and grow faint when the winds blow and the flood rises, forgetting completely that we serve the God who walks on the sea and calms raging waters.

One thing I have noticed in reading stories of great women is that they met with their share of trials, many experienced health problems and struggled with discouragement. Many were tortured and killed. Yet through every hardship, they persevered. What makes us stop? What makes us come to a sudden halt in our walk with Christ and decide that what we’ve done is enough? What makes us give up? What makes us lose sight of the goal? What turns our head and what turns our heart? Countless women of God were ignored and forsaken, yet they kept the faith and continued along the path of Christ. Many were thrown into the group of “religious radicals” and mocked, yet they remained strong and were full of heavenly joy.

One woman in history stands out to me as a striking picture of perseverance and spiritual grit. Her name is Evelyn Brand.

Born into a large but close family of eleven children in 1879 London, England, Evelyn Harris was the daughter of a well-to-do merchant, and a loving homemaker. Saved at an early age, Evelyn became drawn to ministry work. The Harris family was actively involved in missions and charity, her mother often giving their own clothes, shoes, food, and necessities away to anyone less fortunate. Growing up in a large but happy home, revolving around the Lord and the Lord’s work, Evelyn quickly acquired a heart for expressing the message of God’s love. It began with her art, as she sketched and painted the beauty before her. Her art continued throughout the rest of her life.
   

When Evelyn was 30 years old, she sensed a calling to become a missionary. She heard from a young missionary, Jesse Brand, who would soon become her husband, that the people of India needed to be reached. She listened as Jesse Brand spoke of the Kolli Moloi “Mountains of Death” - a place where malaria had claimed many lives, thus earning its name. The mountains were the home of a people who were a filthy, deprived, and full of sin, desperately in need of the Gospel. She was a rich, fashionable, city girl, yet she felt compelled to go. She must go! God would help her. Though such an occupation was far from the dreams others had for her, she insisted that a God-calling must be obeyed and so, after much persisting, she finally convinced her family to let her travel to India. She journeyed to Madras in the plains of India and fell in love with Jesse, who was also assigned to Madras. They were soon after married and they set their sights on the “Mountains of Death” - five mountain ranges that were untouched by civilization and completely destitute of the Gospel. Jesse and Evelyn worked vigorously in helping build houses and aid any sick villager. Jesse preached the gospel and relentlessly tried to convert a people that were afraid to turn away from their idol gods. The Hindu priests used fear to control their people and although plenty would listen to the words Jesse preached, they would always pull back from Christianity. After years of trying, unsuccessfully, to win the village to Christ, a breakthrough came! A Hindu priest was dying and sent for Jesse Brand. Jesse ran to his aid and was with him until the priest died. Before his death, the priest entrusted his children to the Brands because, at the hour of his death, they were the only ones who rushed to his aid. The villagers were amazed that it was the Christians who were so honored by their Hindu priest. Slowly, they began to come to Jesus.

   

Evelyn and Jesse had two children, Paul and Connie. They played amongst the children of India and acquired a strong faith from their parents who had given up everything to serve the Lord on the “Mountains of Death.” After several years, Evelyn and Jesse sent them to England to begin their schooling. Evelyn recalls that day to be the biggest test of faith God ever gave to her. As a new mother myself, I can only imagine how her heart ached to see them go. Yet like the mother of Moses, Evelyn let go of her children, entrusting them into the hands of God, while she stayed in the mountains. She and Jesse continued to work fervently in reaching the people in the village.

   

Then came the summer of 1929 when Jesse came down with a severe case of malaria. Soon after, the sickness turned into black water fever - one of the most deadly complications of that disease. He died shortly after. Evelyn’s heart, of course, was broken. Alone in the mountains, she prayed that the Lord would take Jesse’s death and use it to win more souls than his life had.

Soon after Jesse’s burial, Evelyn returned to England to her children, Paul and Connie - now young teenagers. After a year spent with her son and daughter, Evelyn knew she must return back to the Kolli hills. Missionaries were scarce and somebody must go back to the mountains. The mission boards found it difficult to let her go. Evelyn was strong, outspoken, opinionated…and an elderly single, and that made it very hard for the board to allow her to go. She was a 68-year-old woman who wanted to go, alone, to the “Mountains of Death” to start a new mission work in the hills. But she and Jesse had vowed to reach those five mountain ranges with the Gospel. One range had been won. There were four more yet to be touched. Evelyn knew God was calling her to fulfill that vow. Determined, she asked the mission board to let her go back for one more year. “I promise not to make any more trouble,” she said. “At the end of one year, I will retire.” They agreed.

When her year of mission work ended, Evelyn did retire - to India! She took on independent work in the hills, despite the many objections and protests from fellow missionaries. At age 70, she journeyed back to her beloved mountains and began teaching, aiding the sick, evangelizing, and discipling. Everyone called her “Granny” but she felt young and light. When she broke bones, she healed quickly and returned to the mission work. When she was struck with fevers, she carried on. When she was hit on the head with a rock and lost most of her balance, she went from village to village, walking with bamboo canes, rescuing children, distributing medicine, and telling everyone she came in contact with about Jesus. After many years laboring, the five mountain ranges were evangelized! A mission work was planted and established on each mountain. After that victory, of fulfilling the vow she and Jesse had made, Evelyn set her sights on two more mountain ranges. Eventually, they, too, were won for Christ.

  

Evelyn showed love wherever she went. She painted for people in hospitals, she reached out to the poor, she ministered to the needy and helpless, she told everyone she met about the saving love of God. She did so until her death in 1974 at age 95.

Throughout the years, we have come to a point where we, as Christians, are easily persuaded to give up. In our modern culture, we are lazy and have a couch potato version of Christianity that we cling tightly to. Evelyn was certainly no spiritual couch potato. She was a force of heavenly perseverance. She kept going.
      

The more I read about such amazing women of God throughout history, the more I am convicted, inspired and hungry to possess the stimulating life they live. Though they are met with trials of every kind and very often fail, they press on. And me? I sometimes grow discouraged over a stack of unpaid bills! Oh how much I have to learn! Evelyn Brand’s determination and spiritual backbone is what I long to possess when life throws me a curve ball and I’m hit with the harshest winds imaginable. When she lost her husband so suddenly, she could have chosen to sink into the muddy waters of defeat and depression and give up hope. She could have chosen to trade in her Bible and missionary shoes for a hammock under the shade trees, sipping lemonade. But instead, she persisted. She pursued a vision that held more for her than anything this life could offer. Though weary, she persevered down the pathway that is stained with tears of loss and discouragement from saints throughout history. This is the kind of determination we should possess. And oh, Father God, give me such spiritual perseverance!

The following poem by Amy Carmichael captures the heart of Evelyn Brand and is my prayer for myself:

Make us Thy Mountaineers;

We would not linger on the lower slope,

Fill us afresh with hope, O God of Hope,

That undefeated we may climb the hill

As seeing Him Who is invisible.

Let us die climbing. . . .

The Presence: Sarah Edwards

Exodus 33:14

And he said, My presence shall go with thee,

and I will give thee rest.

I dearly enjoy studying the lives of countless women throughout history with all their diversities and their challenges. I am so humbled and inspired when reading of great heroines of the faith who valiantly faced unimaginable torture and death as a result of simply trusting Christ as their Savior. There are stories of women who were jeered and ridiculed, yet stood steady in their faith. There are stories of women who endured pain of every kind. But I have also stumbled across a group of women who never faced the same challenges as Jane Grey or Vibia Perpetua. They faced a different kind of battle. Though they were not arrested and dragged to prison, they worked and served and struggled in their pursuit of living a consecrated and set-apart life. It would be rather easy to conclude that they never made much of an impact in the world, because of their absence from the limelight. But in truth, these women possessed the key to it all: the very Presence of the Creator.

Through their simple dedication to being Christ’s hands and feet, they altered the world in a heavenly, eternal way. They loved and served their husbands. They helped rear up Godly children. They worked in their community and sought to help all who were in need. Though they tended to shy away from the spotlight and the crowds, those who came into contact with these women saw the light of God glowing in their eyes. That light was a result of the presence of God Himself in their daily life. I don't know about you...but I want to be like that!

Several years ago, I was at a Bible Conference in Mississippi where I heard a powerful preacher tell the story of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Never before had I heard of a woman so in love with Christ that it spilled over into every area of her life. I remember the conclusion of his message, as he finished outlining those two great followers of Christ. He leaned against the podium and said, "I’m just wondering...is there any among us like that?" As I sat dumbfounded in my seat with tears in my eyes, I was filled with a burning desire to pursue that kind of existence; to abandon myself completely to Christ. I realized that it takes far more than living well, doing good deeds, being faithful to Church, and working hard not to sin. The foundation for it all was the presence of God in a life - in my life. Many of us, including myself, have a great desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to have Him near, yet we just can’t seem to make it work. We have little time to devote to enjoying His company. To justify our spiritual procrastination, we sometimes think that it’s the thought that counts, when it is not. Let me tell you the story of Sarah Edwards.

She was the wife of the great Reformation preacher, Jonathan Edwards. Sarah came from a well-to-do family and was taught all the social graces of a lady. Her father was the founder of Princeton college, where Jonathan Edwards graduated. Growing up into adulthood, they both saturated themselves with the Word of God. They both had a strong, unshakable belief in a big God who could do big things. They believed that man was depraved and God was divine and sovereign.

In their marriage, Sarah managed the home. She grew, produced, and cooked everything they ate. She was in charge of sheering the sheep, and sewing everything her family wore. She raised up eleven Godly children; eight girls and three boys; and she nursed and schooled all of them. No matter how many children the Lord decides to bless me and my husband with, I pray that I can be a mother like her!

Along with Jonathan, she taught the children the Scriptures and the ways of the Lord and instilled in them a deep respect for God and for others. The children admired their parents so much that they demonstrated their respect by rising from their seats when their mother or father entered the room. Sarah was fervent in dealing immediately with sin, ridding herself of ungodliness and instructing her children to do the same. There was always a calm and a happiness in the home, so much so that when guests would come over, they marveled at the peace and the love that was clearly seen. Sarah was a beautiful example of a helpmeet to her husband, clearing adoring him. One of her highest goals was to be a strong pillar for her husband, holding him up high in the home and out of the home. My, how I want to be a wife like that!

Jonathan spent long hours every day studying, many times working thirteen hours a day. Although such choices would typically often result in some kind of resentment, Sarah counted it her greatest glory in being a part of his ministry, serving God and her generation. She worked hard to make the home a peaceful and pleasant place, so Jonathan could devote the maximum amount of time to his work. Sarah spent her days tending to the home and teaching the children while Jonathan spent hours in deep study of the Scriptures. The late afternoons and evenings were spent in the company of each other, visiting, sharing, encouraging, and playing. Jonathan and Sarah would go horseback riding every afternoon, and each night, he would spend time with his children, playfully conversing with them. Sarah loved visiting and writing friends. She served the needy and, when her town was affected by Indian wars, she aided and helped feed the refugees. From the very beginning, it was Sarah’s deep commitment to God that drew Jonathan to her. Godly men of old would spend weeks at a time in the Edwards home and one man of God remarked that Sarah Edwards was the most holy lady he had ever met. She was a praised wife, an admirable mother, a hard-working servant, and a friend to all, yet those traits and commendations were a direct outflow of her time spent seeking the wonderful face of Jesus. What a role model!!

How many of us are truly content sitting still and quiet and fellowshipping with our Savior? How many of us smile when we think of Him, or glow with excitement and joy when we speak of Him? How many of us count Christ as our dearest Companion and our sweetest Lover? Many wish to raise their hands and say, "I do!" but, in truth, very few actually pursue His presence in their lives. I know I utterly fail so often. 
In many Churches today, there is such a grand parade of worship, that it has almost been made into a game. Programs, routines, conduct, dialogue - it all goes under the secret code of Church performance. We have become too well adjusted to the “feel good” religion and the “experience” of worship and praise that has taken the place of truth, that we fail to see much error anymore. We sing the mandatory songs, we pay the required tithe, we greet the members of our Church clique, and sit through the enforced sermon, and then we leave with no change of heart. It’s no wonder many reject Christianity after observing our actions each Sunday that is more out of obligation than eagerness. They are searching for something exciting and life-changing and, sadly, our version of the Gospel is far from that. The bells and whistles of our Sunday mornings attract attention, but they fail at gripping hearts. Our example of Christianity has become more of a mirage than a reality. In summation, we have lost the presence of God in our Churches, in our homes and, ultimately, in our lives. The great women of old had no power, no passion, and no ability without our Lord’s presence. They spent hours in prayer, they devoted their lives to seeking out His will, and they were in constant pursuit of His face.

I want to be like that!!


"But my God lives; and He has my heart. We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be." - Sarah Edwards

The Power: Maeyken Wens

I have many heroes who inspire me and encourage me in my walk with Christ. Some heroes, I know personally such as my grandfather, my parents, my husband, and various evangelist, preachers and speakers of the gospel. Then there are heroes in Christian history that I have never met such as John, Paul, James, Andrew, Mary of Bethany, Esther, Amy Carmichael, Sarah Edwards, Evelyn Brand and the Wurmbrands. But near the top of my ever-growing list of heroes is this woman - Maeyken Wens.

It seems like every day, I am increasingly disturbed by the infatuation with pop culture and how so many Christian girls idolize celebrities and the "stars" of this world. What we, young women of this generation, need is a shot of serious, radiant transformation. We need to get our eyes off of Hollywood’s would-be representations of womanhood and cast them upon the Godly beauties all over the world who change lives, inspire souls, and who make an eternal difference. People such as my heroes listed above go before us, preparing the way and giving us an example of Christianity that is so much more than the "feel good" messages we have today in Churches and Christian bookstores. They look back at you and I, bidding us to join them, and exchange our life for the life of Christ. We have the power within us, given to us by God Himself, to shake off the shackles of defeat and embrace His divine and exciting gift of real, bona fide living!

The belief of most Christians today will never change the world. The mindset that is so prevalent in the Churches today is powerless and mediocre. While pagan nations all over the world think nothing of flying into buildings, or strapping bombs to their chest - all in the name of their god - the "victorious Christians" who serve the only true God have been reduced to a compromised and cowardly people who are lifeless in their belief and powerless in their living. While the ungodly and the wicked die for a statue or animal or human being, we, as Christians, can’t even live for a God who has always been and always will be. Something has to change. It is time to go back to our roots; to a Christian life built upon the blood and sacrifice of those who diligently and passionately followed Christ Jesus. The Gospel, the glory of the saving Redeemer, is far from dull and bland, and the merciful grace and the unconditional, massive love of our sinless Savior deserves more than a mere two hours a week. Love so rich and unworthily poured out upon us demands our every waking moment. Women (and men!) all over the world and throughout the ages understood this, and they gladly offered up their every word, every thought, every deed, and every dream to the One who gives life, forgiveness, and a future more breathtaking than anything we could imagine. By surrendering ourselves to Him, He furnishes our inward souls with His power and love. The first step is yielding to Him everything we are and everything we have. He cannot use those who are unwilling to let Him have control.

Though very many women in Christian history experienced horrible pain and suffering, they reacted in Christ-like love, praying for those who used them and abused them. They were so full of the power of God, that they thought nothing of torment and shame. For what is life? Is it not simply an opportunity to reflect the power and presence of God? God is searching the world over to find the few who are willing to make such a choice. In every generation, there are a selected few who stand up and declare to the listening ears and watching eyes of the world that, The Lord is God and He deserves my all!

So let me introduce you to one my biggest heroes of the Christian faith, Maeyken Wens....

Maeyken Wens was a young woman who lived in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. She was the wife of a minister and mother of two sons. Known for her faithfulness and devout commitment to the Lord, she was loved by all and considered a God-fearing and pious woman of God. On a spring day in April, in 1573, Maeyken was taken and confined in the severest prison in the city. While in prison, she was pressed and demanded to apostatize her faith. She refused.

She wrote many letters in the following months.

In a letter to her husband, Mattheus, she wrote: We ought to thank the Lord in adversity as well as in that which is agreeable to the flesh; for if the Lord takes all from us, He takes from us no more than what He has lent us, for it belongs to us no longer….Oh that I could always thank the Lord as well when the flesh suffers adversity, as when it prospers - then we can thank the Lord indeed…Truly the Lord has said, "He that does not forsake everything is not worthy of me;" for the Lord well knew that it would come hard to the flesh. Oh, how easy it is to be a Christian, so long as the flesh is not put to the trial, or nothing has to be relinquished; then it is an easy thing to be a Christian.

Through months of severe torture, she continued to remain steadfast and unmovable. Her faith did not falter throughout physical torments, and no matter how many tried to persuade her to renounce the name of Christ, she would not be swayed. After six months, her sentence finally came: She was to be burned at the stake in the public square of the prison. The execution was to be carried out within twenty-four hours.

Though trembling in the flesh, Maeyken was fearless in spirit. That night, she wrote a final farewell. To faithful friend and fellow Christian, she wrote: ...I have been sentenced; nevertheless I was so full of joy, that I should not be able to express it with the mouth, the Lord be forever praised for the great grace He has shown me, who has feared so much. Oh, what a strong God we have, compared with what we see the wicked have. Oh, let us have good courage....

To her eldest son, Adriaen, she wrote: Oh, regard not the great multitude, or the ancient custom, but look at the little flock, which is persecuted for the word of the Lord.…My dear son, be not afraid of this suffering; it is nothing compared to that which shall endure forever. The Lord takes away all fear…

The following morning, she was brought out for her execution. To prevent her from testifying to the crowd or singing songs of praise, which was (and still is!) common among martyrs of the faith, her tongue was fastened to her palate with an iron screw. While the witnesses gathered, she was placed at the stake and then burned to ashes. Her son, Adriaen, was among the onlookers. However, he lost consciousness and remained on the ground until the execution had been carried out. When he awoke, he went to the place where his mother had been burnt and dug into the ashes until he found the screw which had held fastened his mother’s tongue shut. He kept it in remembrance of her.
It goes without saying that women like Maeyken Wens had tapped into a supernatural, unexplained power that transformed their very existence and shook the watching world. While we boast of our faithful attendance at Church, they risk everything simply by believing. While we shy away from persecution, they welcome it as a privilege. While we think of every plea bargain and loophole to prevent any discomfort, they stand firm upon the Word of God that says “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us” (2 Timothy 2:12)


Maeyken Wens was a true heroine and valiant servant of Jesus Christ. While most people would have tried every excuse to avoid such a horrific death, Maeyken did not flinch at the verdict. Though many would have begged for mercy, she did not. There are many of us who look upon such courage and fearlessness with skepticism and disbelief. How could one endure such unbelievable pain and yet consider it their greatest honor? How can they willingly welcome a horrific death with open arms and count it all joy? How can one walk boldly into agonizing torture and not faint? How can one praise the name of Jesus while their bodies are being slain and their voice never falter? The mystery of such peace and bravery stems only from one place: in the shadow of the cross. Maeyken, and thousands of others who have suffered for Christ, found strength, hope, and triumph in the intimate splendor of Christ. It was not found in and of themselves. They had no power to withstand, no victory to obtain, and no beauty to display on their own. But because of Christ, they had all that and more! He equipped them with a spiritual stamina, a timeless grace, and an eternal legacy....and He can - and will - do the very same for me and for you IF we yield to Him day by day.


2 Timothy 1:7
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Psalm 68:35
"O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God."

The Passion: Blandina

The women of old, and countless others all over the world, are true examples of God-designed womanhood and femininity. They are women who give themselves, just as Christ gave Himself for us. They are women who walk confidently and gracefully and captivate the watching world with their genuine love and contagious zeal and passion for Jesus Christ. Though they are surrounded by the same mendacious voices that we are bombarded by every day, only One Voice is heard and that is the voice of Christ alone.
 

The greats in the past passionately followed our God, pursuing HIM, and they had Him as the cornerstone of their existence, which very often cost them everything they owned and, in the end, their very lives as well. They suffered their share of pain. They were ignored, hurt, abused, misjudged, and misrepresented. They were beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and slain, yet they clung to the Lord Jesus. They possessed nothing out of the ordinary. They were common placed, not so very different from you or I. It was nothing more than their lifestyle that was so dramatically different from those around them. They were ordinary young women, yet their lives were consumed with an extraordinary God.

A spiritual revolution is what we need in this world that continually attempts to pass down a weak, human-scripted version of the Christian life. There is no victory. There is no courage. There is no wonder. There is no passion. It’s understandable that many shake their heads and walk away laughing at such a frail Gospel we assure others we have. They look upon us, who dare to call ourselves Christians, and never see a passion for our Savior or a burden for lost souls. They see a congregation of people whose faith has no life. They examine our actions and see nothing remarkable or desirable. They hear our thunderous claims of victory and fulfillment, but see only defeated and unsatisfied people trying to convince others, as well as themselves, that life couldn’t be better. They are hungering after something real, something that possesses a power and a reason for living. There is a Christianity that actually works but it cannot be found anywhere other than in passionately following and serving Christ Jesus. Over time, something happened to what was once fervent and beloved. While there was once men and women who loudly turned the world upside down, now there are only a chosen few scattered all over the world who continue to exemplify Christianity as it was made to be. While we sit in our Church pews, shadowed by stained glass windows and high steeples, they work in underground Churches and house meetings. While we sing choruses we pay no attention to, they sing praises of worship and adoration. We reveal a motionless Christian life that never reaches out and never makes an eternal difference while they pour out their lives in service and total abandon. They are filled with a passion for Christ so deep that it magnifies the very definition of passion. And we are sorely lacking. We lack the spiritual zeal and unwavering devotion that the great heroes and heroines possessed. We lack the heart of Jesus and the sacrificial love of God.

I enjoy reading stories of great men and women who have tapped into a power far greater than what we naturally possess. Hollywood gossip and news about the latest break-up or drug rehab is foolish and a waste of time, unless you spend a moment in prayer for those in California and New York. Their stories, if anything, should motivate us to have more passion to see the lost come to know Christ. They definitely should not fan a flame of obsession with Hollywood's latest buzz. Stories of utter devotion to Christ captivate me and inspire me. Stories of those who suffered and died horrible, horrendous deaths rouse and stir me and make me examine the conviction of my faith. These men and women gave their lives for the testimony of the Gospel of Christ, and it wasn’t for their glory, but for the Lord’s. They were selfless. They had servant’s hearts and their desire was to serve their King as long as breath was in their body. By making such a choice, it often meant losing their homes, their businesses, their families, their freedom, and ultimately their life. Most of them were not simply killed, but tortured and then slaughtered.

Very often, we tend to think suffering for Christ means ignoring a hateful comment or turning down a sinful offer. Many of us view torture and death as a thing of the past; persecution being a thing from long ago. We view the term “martyr” as something from the 13th century, but never see the gruesome reality of martyrdom today. The truth is, religious persecution and slaying began long ago, but it still goes on today all over the world.

By and large, most of us believe we could handle ourselves and confess the name of Christ if a gun were to our heads. In that, death is swift and painless. But could we bear the kind of unspeakable and horrific pain that so many all over the world have endured? Could we remain steadfast and unmovable through physical agony and shame or would we beg and plead for our lives? Could we embrace the honor of a martyrs death with joy? I often wonder if my faith is great enough, if my love is strong enough, or my witness and boldness fervent enough.

Looking back through history, we can see how many remarkable men and women of the faith faced the villain who attempted to steal glory from God Almighty. Hundreds upon thousands perished during terrible religious persecution. Some were placed in stocks; others were placed in a hot-iron seat where their flesh was burned. Some died in the arena as hungry lions tore at their flesh; others were covered with pitch and were set on fire as human torches to light the streets of Rome.

In the vast expanse of this earth, lived out by thousands of people around the world, there are a few such women who have found an existence that is more rewarding and fulfilling than any glamorous Hollywood celebrity life. They have found freedom. They have found truth. They have found a God worth living for and worth dying for. Through misery and physical anguish they had complete trust in a living, breathing, most holy God; not a religion or a state of mind, but a transcendent reality that gave them strength, boldness, beauty, and joy in the face of poverty and persecution.


Let's talk about Blandina....

In A.D. 177 terrible religious persecution came to Lyons, France. Under the emperor, Marcus Aurelius, the Christians there endured all kinds of shame and torture. They were forced out of their homes and businesses, underwent personal injuries, stonings, and beatings and finally imprisonment. Among the many was a slave girl named Blandina. She was arrested and put in a dark, cramped, jail cell along with other Christians who had pledged their allegiance to Jesus Christ. She was scourged and placed in a roasting seat, burning her flesh. After enduring torture and inhumane brutality, she was brought out with forty-seven other prisoners to the amphitheater to “entertain” the crowd. She was suspended on a stake to taunt the wild beasts. It was meant to terrorize her fellow Christians, looking on, and strike fear into their hearts, enough that they would reject their God. They were pressed to deny their faith and swear by idols. But instead, her torture stirred them and inspired them. As they gazed at Blandina suspended on a stake, it reminded them of Christ suspended on the cross, crucified for their sins, suffering for their shame. It reminded them of the sacrifice of Jesus and the great love He has for all of mankind.

Amazingly, none of the wild beasts attacked Blandina that day, so she was taken down and thrown into prison again. Days later, she was brought out, once more, to the amphitheater. They enclosed her in a net and threw her before a bull. After being tossed about by the animal, she was sacrificed. Her body, along with the bodies of her fellow Christians, were exposed for six days, then were burned into ashes and thrown into the Rhone river. The bodies of those who had suffocated and died in the prison cells were thrown to dogs and were guarded to prevent the remaining Christians from burying them.

Blandina courageously confessed her commitment to Jesus Christ and refused to accept the comfort of life over rejecting her precious Savior. In the face of danger and ultimately death, she honored God by her courage and her faithfulness. It was said of her, Blandina was filled with such power, that her ingenious tormentors, who relieved and succeeded each other from morning till night, confessed that they were overcome and had nothing more that they could inflict upon her. They were amazed that she continued to breathe after her whole body was pierced and torn asunder. In the midst of her sufferings, as she for a moment revived, she repeatedly exclaimed, ‘I am a Christian; no wickedness is carried on by us!’

When I first read the story of Blandina, I was blown away by her courage and steadfast character. She was so young, and yet filled with an incredible force of faith and passion. Jesus meant more to her than her life. Many of us often say similar things. We declare that Jesus is our all and we proclaim that He is everything to us, and yet we are nowhere close to possessing the passion of those such as Blandina. Though those words are only spoken by the devout and the pious, they are also spoken by those who literally give no thought to their own life. They are crucified with Christ and they understand the real, and somewhat terrifying, meaning of “dying to self.”

These days, we think more of exposing our dirty laundry than actually washing it and being rid of the stains of sin altogether. While the call is to die to the world and to our own flesh, we look for a way to bend the rules and ease such a high expectation. While the mission is to forsake all earthly enticements and all that extracts the truth from the Gospel, we slack on the job and cower down into a pitiful mess of a Christian. In our typical suburbia Church of the 21st century, “dying to self” has been replaced with the “just be real” mentality that splatters muck and mire on the beautiful and glorious image of a Christ-built existence. Instead of bravely hungering after the ancient pathway marked with God’s fingerprints, we retreat with little or no concern.

I cannot count the many numerous people I have watched slide down the slope of compromise and spiritual denial. God’s intention and destiny for us is a far cry from the lackadaisical lifestyle so prevalent in our culture today. He calls us all to discard this cursed earth with all its sinful lusts and choose to make a radical turn back to the Gospel and to the heavenly vision of our God. Blandina did not resist that call. She possessed the kind of faith that astounded the watching world. With a light in her eyes and a smile on her face, she embraced torture and death with open arms. It was a small offering when considering the debt Jesus Himself paid on her behalf. That kind of passionate love is what we have lost in our reckless attempt to live the Christian life under our own terms. True living is found nowhere other than in the passion of following and serving our Savior with complete and total abandon.

The Pathway to Radiant Womanhood: Rahab

I have been doing a lot of research on womanhood and lady-likeness - what it is now, in the 21st century, and what it used to be years ago. I have been studying the lives of our culture's "examples" of womanhood and I have been studying the lives of women who showcased REAL, radical womanhood in God's book.

The result? Well, so far, I have been overwhelmingly heartbroken.

We have been brought up in a culture that elevates the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Paris Hilton. We live in a day where Hollywood starlets are our mentors. The glamorous females that grace the covers of Seventeen, Elle, and Cosmopolitan magazines are the women we look up to as the ideal, the ones who set the pattern for who we are and who we’re supposed to be. Ironically, the standard and example for womanhood is set by women who have a history of multiple marriages, depression, drug and alcohol addictions, eating disorders, and suicidal attempts. And we look up to these women who say they have it all, yet who are searching….just like we are. We look to the pop idols and icons of Hollywood who live in discontentment, and we never take a second glance at the timeless beauty of the women throughout the ages whose legacy contains more than a pretty face or an entertaining song or movie.

All throughout history, beginning with Biblical times, there has been a remnant of young women who have found more, who have caught sight of the vision God has for them and who would not settle for anything less. I would like to begin discussing some of them.


Let's start with Rahab... (read Joshua 2 and Joshua 6)

All throughout her life, Rahab lived a life of idolatry and sinful shame. She was a prostitute in a city called Jericho and offered herself to one man after another. Such was her job. But like millions around the world today, she was searching.


Giving herself to one sexual partner after the next had long since scarred her heart and her body. She felt cheap and unimportant. She tried to detach herself from her emotions and become immune to the pain of being used and left alone after her work was done but, deep down, she was hurting and lost in a world that demanded from her all that was precious, delicate, and sacred. Years of paganism had taken their toll and she could no longer find any comfort or peace in the gods of her people. Nothing was real and she wondered if there was such a thing as truth. She remembered, from her childhood, her dreams of getting married and having children. She remembered the simplicity of her world back then. What had happened to bring her to this? How did she get here? Rahab was not born a prostitute. As a little girl, she never would have imagined her life could become this empty. But yet, there she was full of memories of laughter, innocence, and excitement, but surrounded by the reality of tears, shame, and anguish.


It was then that she remembered something. For weeks, she had heard talk and whisperings amongst the people of the city. The Israelites worshipped a God that, rumor had it, opened up the waters of the Red Sea. He had plagued the Egyptians with frogs, lice, boils, darkness, and all manner of terrors and pestilence. Their God, this Jehovah, had led His people out of captivity and had given them freedom from their oppressors.


She wanted that kind of God for her own.


It was at that moment that she encountered the one true God; the transformer of lives. She recalled the vision of greatness and fulfillment from her childhood and slowly began to believe that she could reach it, take hold of it, and have it as her very own. She realized that this Jehovah the Israelites worshipped had to be real, for the people were experiencing mighty victory. She, too, wanted victory. She wanted meaning and a reason to live that called for more than what was demanded of her each and every day. She longed for something greater than the emptiness of her profession. The God of all revealed Himself to Rahab and she believed, by faith, that He was who He said He was. She yielded her life - her very existence - to His ownership and became a woman of faith and redemption. She exhibited faith by the choices she made. She forsook her pagan belief, she left her sexual sin, and she placed her life into the hands of Jehovah God and said, The Lord God, He is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath.

We are very similar to Rahab. Maybe we have not been unfaithful to our spouse, but we are all guilty of being unfaithful to our Heavenly Bridegroom. Rahab was like many of us who search for love in all the wrong places. She was like us who accept the culture around us and give in to the belief that sex is up for grabs, and has no emotional, physical, or spiritual consequences. She was like us who try to forget fairytales and “happily ever afters.” She was like us who follow other gods and never bow and surrender to the only true God.

Yet Rahab found the answer to the age-old question, Can there be more to life than this? As she found the answer in the God of the Israelites, she relinquished her rights, her future, her comfort, and her very life and cried for more of His divine love and grace. Biblical history does not say if she fed the hungry, gave to the poor, or tended to the sick. It does not say if she traveled all over the world telling people about what had happened to her, but the Bible does say that she was a woman of faith, handpicked by God with a royal purpose in mind. She became one of the few women mentioned in the famous “Hall of Faith” found in Hebrews 11 and was even chosen and placed in the ancestry of Jesus Christ Himself.

The well-known performance Britney Spears presented at the 2001 American Music Awards is a very good picture of what most Christians do spiritually. It was said to be one of her greatest performances. She was dressed to maximum seductiveness as she sang, danced, and swayed to the music. As the crowd sat in awe of her performance, she picked up a large boa constrictor snake and with slow, sensual steps, she walked around the stage with the snake around her shoulders. Using this act was not simply to entertain and thrill millions with the excitement of danger, it was also to demonstrate to her growing fans that she was no longer a child, but a woman; a powerful, confident, sexual goddess with no need for anything. She had bought into the lie and believed the message Satan seeks to feed to all women which is the mentality of seductiveness, rebellion and self-display.

Rahab had once become wrapped up in the very same lie. Many Christians do the very same thing in their own individual ways. We listen to the whispers of the evil villain and believe our beauty, achievement, and power comes from ourselves and our feminine charms. We believe that to be successful, we have to take it for ourselves. We believe to be beautiful, we have to wear less. We believe to be a true woman, we must toy with minds and play with fire. And so we pick up a snake and prance around our stage proclaiming we have arrived as women, unaware of the full extent of the danger and our spiritual immaturity. In doing such, we fall farther and farther away from the truth.

Typically, the culture in which we live shines a blinding light down a highway of pleasure and gratification, yet that path we are directed in ultimately gets us nowhere. Plenty of “detour” signs and “short cuts to success” are promised, but whatever happiness we attain from those roads are temporary and unfulfilling. In return, we are mystified and left searching for the right pathway. Like Rahab, some women turn down the road of sexual sin because they desire physical pleasure. Some want to simply fit in and please others. Some are merely manipulated, and many a just want distraction. We often have a difficult time training our minds to look beyond what we see. The Lord always has the bigger picture in view. Rahab could not see the fulfilling wonder that God had in store for her in the future. All she could see was the emptiness of her life and the many mistakes of her past at that one moment. Let’s view our lives through Heaven’s eyes, shall we?


Let us get our focus off of physical indulgences and instant gratification and gaze upon the road less traveled, with its eternal joy and adventure.


Psalm 16:11
"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

True Ministry

The other night, my husband and I were discussing ministry and some of the great preachers and singers in Christian history who....let's just say, "had it!"  We talked of two in particular: Leonard Ravenhill, one of the greatest preachers of the 1900's from England, and Keith Green, probably our favorite singer/songwriter/musician of all time.

It was pretty fitting for us to end up talking about those two men, my husband being a preacher and me being a singer.

We talked about their urgency, their faith, their example and inspiration, and their uncompromising truth that they not only proclaimed - but lived. Above all, though, we talked about their passion! Being a singer, I never want to get to the point where I sing for the applause, for the attention, for the prestige, or for compliments. I never want to sing to put on a show. I never want to NOT sing because "I never get compliments" on this song or that song. I want to, as my grandfather used to tell me, just sing! And when I sing, I want to bless, to minister, and to connect with those listening. I want every song to move someone closer towards Christ. Otherwise, I waste God's time. Grant is no different. As we talked last night, he was telling me about a particular sermon he had listened to by Leonard Ravenhill and said, "I want to preach with that passion. I don't ever want to preach to just make myself better. I want to preach and see someone saved! I want to do what God called me to do...not so I will look good or get something out of it, but because He TOLD me to."

It is a great shame, nowadays, that most preachers and singers and proclaimers of the gospel care more about their own physical image, than the image of God. It is a shame that they think of their high calling as more of a business than a ministry. It is a shame when they care more about their paycheck than the lives that need to be led to Jesus. It is a shame that so many use the banner of "ministry" to build themselves up and draw eyes to their personal accomplishments than to Jesus Christ. It is a shame that many who call themselves "ministers" do more "entertaining" than true ministering.

God forbid that I miss Jesus.

God forbid that WE, as Christians, miss Jesus and our calling. Every one of us are called to minister in some form or fashion. It may be "on stage" as a singer, musician, preacher, or teacher. It may be in the jungles or desserts of other countries as a missionary. It may be simply in your workplace, school place, family, or community. Regardless of WHERE, we are all called to serve and to minister to those we meet. God forbid we forget....

My prayer for myself....and for you....is that we will continually take our eyes off of prestige and personal glory and cast them upon the cross; the bloody, uncomfortable, rough, and heavy cross that Jesus told us to "take up." And as we take it up and walk the narrow road, may we live for the applause of Christ as we reach the lost sheep that He came to save. That is true ministry.




Quotes by Leonard Ravenhill:
"Today’s church wants to be raptured from responsibility."

"If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere."

"Men give advice; God gives guidance."

"Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?"

"The only reason we don't have revival is because we are willing to live without it!"

"The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising."

"My main ambition in life is to be on the devil's most wanted list."

"If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified."

"God pity us that after years of writing, using mountains of paper and rivers of ink, exhausting flashy terminology about the biggest revival meetings in history, we are still faced with gross corruption in every nation, as well as with the most prayerless church age since Pentecost."




Quotes by Keith Green:

"This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!"

"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...? You'd be bored to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now!"

"If somebody writes a great poem, people don't run around applauding the pencil, saying 'Oh, what a great pencil'...I'm a pencil in God's hands."

"The only music minister to whom the Lord will say, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant," is the one whose life proves what their lyrics are saying, and to whom music is the least important part of their life. Glorifying the only worthy One has to be a minister's most important goal!"


"I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into Godly jealousy or to sell out more completely to Jesus!"


1 Timothy 1:12
"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry."


2 Timothy 4:5
"But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."

Choices in Christianity

Yes, I drink

Yes, I am living with so-and-so

Yes, I'm fooling around

Yes, I listen to ungodly music

Yes, I swear a little

Yes, I'm a Christian....

Does that bother you or is it just me? I hope it isn't just me...

God has burdened my heart lately about those I know (and don't know) who live exactly like that. They call it "modern Christianity" forgetting that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.

While I was thinking on this, I thought about greats in the past. They lived their lives, just like you and me. They woke up in the morning, slept, ate, went to bed at night...but they had something more. What was it? I'll tell you: they truly loved Christ. They followed Him. They obeyed Him. And that is what separated them from all the, shall I say, plastic flowers. They didn't just live Christ on Sunday, they lived it every day, every moment. They "came out and were separate.." They were "in the world, not of the world..."

John 10:27

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"

Luke 9:23

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

Joshua 24:16

"And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;"

 

1 John 2:4

"He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

It is not a matter of upbringing, tempting situations or anything else that determines what we will and will not do. It's our choices, not our past, that bring things about.

Study the lives of Jim Elliot, Amy Carmichael, David Livingstone, Gladys Aylward, John Hyde, Mary Slessor, Maeyken Wens, Martin Luther, Fanny Crosby, Billy Sunday, Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, Hudson Taylor, Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, William Tyndale, E.M. Bounds, Isobel Khun, Esther Ahn Kim.....need I go on??

I cannot see those great men and women of Christian faith going to the bar, living with their boyfriend/girlfriend, smoking or dancing, or fooling around, or swearing, compromising, or playing with fire....I can't see it. Just like I cannot see Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, or John living like that. Or... Jesus. Can you see Jesus Christ blending in the world today? Can you see Him at the bars? The clubs? In the backseat? Why then would you???

The great men and women of God heard and obeyed when Jesus called them to "deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me."  (Matthew 16:24) They denied themselves the simple pleasures that we call "our rights." They took up their cross - whatever "cross" it may have been. Hurt, abandonment, betrayal, rejection, laughter, loneliness, money problems, health problems, whatever they had to bear, whatever their "thorn in the flesh" was, they took it. And they followed. They went to the ends of the earth. They struggled, they fought, and they prevailed! They led many souls to glory!

There are choices in Christianity. I encourage you - LIVE in such a way that when others see you, they don't see YOU, they see HIM!

Deny? Never. Burn Me Up!

This woman is one of my biggest heroes. Her story is one of many stories in Christian history that is a glorious testimony to the power of a consecrated life; a life yielded to our God. Taken from my upcoming book, I want to share her story with you....so that you will burn for the name of Jesus Christ!

Maeyken Wens was a young woman who lived in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. She was the wife of a minister and mother of two sons. Known for her faithfulness and devout commitment to the Lord, she was loved by all and considered a God-fearing and pious woman of God. On a spring day in April, in 1573, Maeyken was taken and confined in the severest prison in the city. While in prison, she was pressed and demanded to apostatize her faith. She refused.

She wrote many letters in the following months.

In a letter to her husband, Mattheus, she wrote: We ought to thank the Lord in adversity as well as in that which is agreeable to the flesh; for if the Lord takes all from us, He takes from us no more than what He has lent us, for it belongs to us no longer….Oh that I could always thank the Lord as well when the flesh suffers adversity, as when it prospers - then we can thank the Lord indeed…


Truly the Lord has said, "He that does not forsake everything is not worthy of me;" for the Lord well knew that it would come hard to the flesh. But I hope that the Lord will also help me through even as He has helped many, and for which I can simply trust Him. Oh, how easy it is to be a Christian, so long as the flesh is not put to the trial, or nothing has to be relinquished; then it is an easy thing to be a Christian.

Through months of severe torture, she continued to remain steadfast and unmovable. Her faith did not falter throughout physical torments, and no matter how many tried to persuade her to renounce the name of Christ, she would not be swayed. After six months, her sentence finally came and she was to be burned at the stake in the public square of the prison. The execution was to be carried out within twenty-four hours.

Though trembling in the flesh, Maeyken was fearless in spirit. That night, she wrote a final farewell. To faithful friend and fellow Christian, she wrote: I do not have much, and hence I cannot give much. And now I can also not write much, because I have been sentenced; nevertheless I was so full of joy, that I should not be able to express it with the mouth, the Lord be forever praised for, the great grace He has shown me, who has feared so much. Oh, what a strong God we have, compared with what we see the wicked have. Oh, let us have good courage; we shall devour our enemies like bread.

To her eldest son, Adriaen, she wrote: Oh, regard not the great multitude, or the ancient custom, but look at the little flock, which is persecuted for the word of the Lord, for the good persecute none, but are persecuted.…My dear son, be not afraid of this suffering; it is nothing compared to that which shall endure forever. The Lord takes away all fear…

The following morning, she was brought out for her execution.

To prevent her from testifying to the crowd or singing songs of praise, her tongue was fastened to her palate with an iron screw. While the witnesses gathered, she was placed at the stake and then burned to ashes. Her son, Adriaen, was among the onlookers. However, he lost consciousness and remained on the ground until the execution had been carried out. When he awoke, he went to the place where his mother had been burnt and dug into the ashes until he found the screw which had held fastened his mother’s tongue shut. He kept it in remembrance of her.

Maeyken Wens was a true heroine and valiant servant of Jesus Christ. While most people would have tried every excuse to avoid such a horrific death, Maeyken did not flinch at the verdict. Though many would have begged for mercy, she did not. Her name lives on to this day.

It goes without saying that men and women like Maeyken Wens had tapped into a supernatural, unexplained power that transformed their very existence and shook the watching world. They were unmovable followers of Christ. In the midst of intense pain and torture, they fixed their focus upon the God they had forsaken all to serve. While we boast of our faithful attendance at Church, they risk everything simply by believing. While we shy away from persecution, they welcome it as a privilege. While we think of every plea bargain and loophole to prevent any discomfort, they stand firm upon the Word of God that says “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us”

What Kind of Christian Am I?

A Sudanese Christian boy has his knees and feet nailed to a board and he is left to die. When rescued he says he forgives the man who did this because Jesus was also nailed and forgave him.

A Vietnamese pastor is sentenced to two years in prison. When he is offered an early release, he declines stating that he has a group of new Believers in the prison he has to disciple.

A Colombian missionary is kidnapped and told she only has two hours to live. She tells her captors that if she only has two hours to live, she wants to spend it telling them about Jesus.

The persecution of Christians around the world is a tragic reality. Our brothers and sisters are beaten and tortured simply for their faith in Jesus Christ. And some pay with the ultimate price. However, in the midst of this persecution is some of the courageous stories of faith.
http://www.persecution.com/

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This brief "article" mixed with over an hour of surfing the World Changers website last night has me asking this question:

What kind of Christian am I?

Am I a Sunday-morning Christian? Am I a Churchgoing, good person Christian? Am I a "I don't all those really bad things" Christian? Am I a Christian only by my words...and not my actions? Or am I a sold-out, unmovable, God-seeking, God-fearing, bold and committed Christian? One who lives for God alone; One who lives for His applause only, not the applause, praise, admiration, or acceptance of other people; A Christian who knows his/her place and gets IN it. Am I a devoted Christian? A disciplined Christian? A Christian who will not be shaken, moved or swayed by the world's loud appeals?

What kind of Christian am I?

Reading the above, I almost cried thinking, Goodness, do I have the kind of Godly, selfless love in me where I would instantly forgive someone who nailed my knees and feet to a board?

Do I have the kind of Christlike mindset where I would forsake the comfort of an early release, choosing to stay longer in a prison so as to lead more souls closer to Jesus?

Do I have the kind of unwavering faith in me, where when I am to die in two hours, my only thoughts are those of my captors' lost souls?

I'd like to stand up, raise my hand, and shout YES I DO! with a very big grin. But I don't think I do. I'm almost ashamed to say that if I had my feet and knees nailed to a board, I would be angry at my enemy, and would probably be filled with bitterness. If I was put in prison for my faith, then offered an early release, I would probably take it immediately and not give one thought of staying to disciple those in my cell. If I was kidnapped and told I would be killed in two hours, I would probably spend those two hours shaking with fear and praying to be delivered from such a fate! I would probably wonder why such things would fall upon me. I would probably wonder what I did to "deserve" such horrible treatment. I would probably doubt God. I would, more than likely, question His ways of running things. I may even doubt His love. I'm not sure what exactly I would do, how I would be or what I would think, but I'm afraid I may succumb to such selfish thinking. And I wonder, HOW could I think of myself? How could my thoughts be on me and my comfort INSTEAD of on the souls around me who are on their way to hell? Instead of on Jesus???

How could I even be so haughty and foolish to think and believe that I deserve better?! My goodness....did not nearly all the great followers of Jesus die horrible deaths? Flayed? Sawed in half? Crucified? Crucified upside down? Beaten? Stoned? Beheaded? Burned? Bound in chains and thrown into the sea?

And I dare to say I don't deserve persecution! I dare to say I don't deserve to live and/or die in "this" or "that" way.

God help me.....

I've read stories of Christian men and women around the world who were attacked, speared, forced to watch their families murdered in front of them, burned alive, raped, tortured, humiliated and viciously killed.

Here I am, in an air conditioned building. I have clothes and shoes. I spent an hour getting ready this morning (complete with shampoo, conditioner, makeup, hair gel, blowdryer, and perfume). I have plenty to eat! I can drive to my destinations. I can go to Church whenever I want and not have to wonder if I will be caught and killed for it. I am free. I can sing a gospel song loudly outside or leave my Bible in plain view in the car. I have friends. I have a wonderful family. I have a TV, a stereo, an iPod, a phone, a camera, a laptop, etc. I have so many "luxuries" and so many blessings....maybe too many. And yet, I sometimes complain about my persecution. Someone hurt my feelings. Someone spread rumors about me. Someone doesn't like me. Ah me, I am persecuted!

*shakes head*

Although, it IS a form of persecution, it can't come close to the unimaginable horrors that Godly men and women - both young and old - are undergoing every day all around the world. And yet....when they are being beaten, burned, stoned, hanged or nailed to boards, they don't complain! Rather, they rejoice that they are counted worthy of such an honor! To be hurt and hated and despised....was not Christ? And they praise God for letting them be worthy enough to share such pain. They don't complain. They don't try to get even. They react in selfless love. They pray for their enemies. They pray for those that "despitefully use them" and they reach out to them, even when they are about to die.

What kind of Christian am I?

Am I bold about my faith? Do I put my God before ALL ELSE? Do my actions back up my words? Do I have a heavy burden for my friends, my coworkers, my family members - total strangers! - who are lost? Do I cry for them? Am I saddened when a Christian isn't living as he/she should? Am I brokenhearted when a lost person dies? Does any of it affect me at all? Do I have a desire to be close to God always? Am I ever satisfied with where I am in my walk, thinking I don't need to be any better? Am I willing to do whatever it takes to be the Christian God wants me to be? Am I willing to step out of my comfort zone and forget about everything except what Christ wants of me?

Am I willing to die for my Savior? I would say yes, I am.

BUT, the bigger question is this:

Am I willing to LIVE for Him?

Not with words alone. Not with Church membership or Church attendance. Not with good intentions. But with the same passion as the greats. The same selfless love. The same perspective. The same mindset.

What kind of Christian am I? What kind of Christian are you?