Posted by kat on August 05, 2002 at 18:09:05:
In Reply to: Re: Kat's Questionnaire posted by john on August 03, 2002 at 23:16:57:
:
: : What is your ideal death experience? -
: : To be martyred screaming the name of Jesus while making eye contact with one child who sits transfixed, seeing full well the truth in my eyes and thereby deriving courage and inspiration.
: : This answer seemed so strange to me yet so classic John McGee. Wow! Bizarre!
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: I think one of the most beautiful things we can do as parents is teach our children not to fear death, especially death that has meaning. I know this sounds bizarre, but there is something that stirs at the deepest point in me when I hear a small child say they are willing to die for Jesus. I have read many accounts of this happening in recent years. I think of two particular images that you may not think I would know about, but one is the video for an old song by Ray Bolz. It starts with a father and son in a very militaristic looking room and the father is telling the son about the great martyrs of the past, then at the end of the song these people come in and drag the father away to be executed in front of the child's eyes and the look on that kid's face is so powerful. The second image is auditory, from a Rebecca St James song about standing firm to death and midway through a very small child comes on and says, "until you find something worth dying for, you're not really living." The child is barely old enough to speak, but already has a deep fire of truth burning inside, a recognition of reality beyond this temporal and temporary existence.
: As Christians, our legacy is not one of peace and harmony, but one of persecution and violent death, even today... we grow complacent in such a padded country, but true Christianity is still very much a deathwish in many modern parts of the world.
Great Organization! I recently read "Tortured for Christ" by Richard Wurmbrand. It left a lasting impression on me, as I have been ignorant about the persecution of Christians in the modern world.
Anyone who wants to read the book I will gladly give it to you, Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned for 14 years in Communist Romania for being a believer. he was repeatedly beaten and mentally tortured during his trial, and the story he tells is about the steadfastness of the Christians even in prison, to hold onto their faith and the courage and strength God provided them even when faced with starvation, torture or death. I think every believer should read it.