The Life of a FarmGirl

I just read an article in the St. Louis Metro Voice, a newspaper that we get from church. The name of the article was "House agrees to muzzle Pastors with 'Hate crimes' Plan". It was talking about this new federal "hate crimes" bill that the house approved on April 29th. This bill is basically to try keep Christians from speaking out against this so called "alternative lifestyle" that these people have chosen (that's right I said "chosen", no matter what they say about "being born that way" it's not true, no one is made that way). The article said that the bill "will provide special protection to homosexuals but leave Christian ministers open to prosecution should their teachings be linked to any subsequent offense, by anyone, against a "gay"." Sounds like an attack waiting to happen to me. Oh sure its to "protect" people, yeah right, it's just allowing more junk and problems run unchecked in our society. Also according to a Texas representative, it will divide the country into "groups of more favored versus less" favored groups of people. I agree with that because once someone has protected status, anything you say or do toward them gets twisted into a supposed attack on them, giving them an opportunity to charge people without question. Look at this for example, "In Philadelphia several years ago a 73 year old grandmother was jailed for trying to share Christian tracts with people at a homosexual festival." If that is not persecution I don't know what is.

The other day I was shopping with my mom and I had on a T-shirt that had three crosses and the verse Phil 4:13 on it. When I saw it a mirror in the dressing room I got to thinking about what that shirt could do. I mean it pretty much says what I believe right there for the world to see. It made me think, what could happen in a few years (if even that long) from wearing that shirt or one like it? I started to think: Am I willing to take that persecution, whether it's being laughed at or being thrown in jail like Paul? I would like to think that I would take a stand for my faith, wear the shirts, and spread the word in the face of potential persecution. But I guess I won't know, and really none of us will, until we're put in a situation like that. We can only hope and pray that we'll be strong enough when that storm comes.

You know, we hear about these things that are happening in our world, sometimes we see it with our own eyes, and yet it still doesn't seem real, like we have to be dreaming because those things don't happen anymore, right? We read stories about persecution in the early church. But in our minds that's where it stays; in the early church, in stories. We need to prepare ourselves for whats coming up. Will we stand up for our faith or will we cower in a corner? Is our faith strong enough to keep us going or will we run the other way like Peter when things get tough?