Fallen Brothers

Recently I was watching on of my favorite shows Seal Team and when I saw a particular episode where a seal was killed. It got me thinking about the fallen brothers and sisters in Christ. My time in Iraq I lost friends and even after I left my brothers were still being killed. As I have watched the news from time to time and I’ve seen terrorist organizations murder innocent Christians. The persecuted church worldwide is an ever growing death toll passing genocidal proportions. Knowing what was coming doesn’t make the reality any easier. We watch from the TV and the newspapers, and as we understand the world is a dangerous place we must remain faithful in Christ and understand our hope is above not here in this life, but an eternal life with our creator.

Romans 13:4 (NKJV)4 “For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to executewrath on him who practices evil.”

The Lord watches over and will repay with swift justice when the time comes. The sword of righteousness will fall on the enemies and vengeance will be the Lords.

We cannot allow the losses we see to stop us from continuing the mission. We have to take our brothers and sisters sacrifice and never allow that be in vein. In Revelation you see the martyrs who’ve died proclaiming the word of God. You see their sacrifice was not in vein, and we must continue to fight the fight and never grow weary. Rev 9“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;” Rev 20“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Faith isn’t easy when the world around you crumbles to ruin. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:26 (NASB)26 “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” In some circles it is believed that 255 Christians are killed every month, and more are raped, abducted, or detailed without a trial. Just recently we saw a Pastor released after a long imprisonment. As terrible as it is to watch from afar, it’s worse when you have to see it in person. Loosing fellow soldiers in the line of duty was heartbreaking. The world it seemed was unfair as the lives of good men were extinguished far, far too early. The brothers and sisters that have died in the name of Christ have gone onto a better life. Those who die are far better off as they go to a far better place. 2 Timothy 2:3 (NASB)3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” The hardships we face are in this life. “Living is not for the weak.”(Arrow) and those of us still living will be the ones to continue facing the fight. We should not pity the dead, but pity the living.