I'll believe politicians want "equality" when I see the following . . . .

It's definitely an election year.

You can tell because only in election years do millionaire politicians start talking about "equality" for everyone.  Now, don't get me wrong- there is nothing wrong with equality.  I don't like unfairness and believe that people deserve to be treated fairly.  The problem is that the word "equality" when spoken by politicians rarely ever means what we think it means.

When I was in 7th grade, I read the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.  In it, a farm containing all different kinds of animals make their own form of government, with the mantra being "all animals are equal."  The pigs, who are the most clever of all the animals, begin to slack off, boss the other animals around, and live in luxury while all the other animals worked.  They change the mantra to "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

The pigs' definition of "equality" was equal luxury for themselves and equal misery for the rest of the animals.

Now, enter all the calls for "equality" from today's reigning politicians.  They are calling for pay equality between men and women.  I think this is probably a more complex issue than they are making it out to be, because workers aren't created equally, don't work equally, don't produce equally, don't work equal amounts of hours, don't have equal amounts of schooling or training, and haven't worked for the company for equal amounts of years.  So, determining pay equality would be very difficult indeed.

You can say, "Dave, you're a man.  You are against this "wage equality" because you are the beneficiary.  You want to keep women down!"

Well, I have a wife and two daughters.  They are all very hard workers.  My wife is a nurse and my daughters are in school.  Do I want my wife to be paid less than a man for doing equal work?  No.  Do I want my daughters to be paid less when they establish careers than a man who does equal work?  No.

I just have read Animal Farm and know exactly what politicians mean when they say, "Equality."  It is equal luxury for themselves and equal misery for the rest of us.

However, I can make this whole "equality" thing a great deal easier.  I will support our politicians' demands for "wage equality" when the following things happen:

1) When the president of the United States calls for "travel equality."  He will pay for his own plane tickets and eat the same food we do when flying.  All members of Congress will drive their own vehicles, paying for their own gasoline, taxes, repair and maintenance.

2)  When the president of the United States calls for "vacation equality."  The president of United States will actually pay for his own vacations like the rest of us do and stop taking $100 million vacations to Africa on the taxpayer dime.

3)  When the president of the United States calls for "food preparation equality."  The POTUS will fix his own meals using groceries he paid for out of his own money, just like the rest of us, instead of having a private chef prepare his meals.

4)  When the president of the United States calls for "education equality."  The POTUS sends his kids to Washington DC public schools instead of high-dollar elite private schools.

5)  When the president of the United States calls for "graduation equality."  The POTUS will address the fact that 60% of college degrees go to women and only 40% to men.

In other words, when millionaire politicians who have their food prepared for them by private chefs and who take $100 million dollar vacations on the taxpayer's dime talk to me about "equality," I get a little nervous.  The pigs in Animal Farm loved to talk about equality . . . .  for all the rest of us, not them.  I see the same thing here.

Now, if a regular person, working a regular job raising a regular family, were to call for equality, I'd be more apt to listen.  However, this is not the case.  America, remember exactly who is telling us that we need to care about "wage equality."  It certainly isn't anyone living like you or me.

The "honesty" I'd like to hear about church that no one seems to be saying

"I've been burned by the church."

This sentiment is everywhere, and for good reason.  There ARE people who have been "burned" by the church, including me.  As a pastor, especially as a former youth minister, I have experienced more pain and heartache and insults and meanness at the hands of church people than I ever have by non-Christians. 

Seems like every week there is a new diatribe against the church, how the church judged them, let them down, was too hypocritical, etc.  Yes, we've all read them.

However, there is one truth that is not being told, and I'd actually respect someone for saying it.  It's a truth that all of us pastors, and most Christians in general, have experienced, yet no one ever says it out loud.

It is the other side of the coin.  Just for once, I'd like someone to be honest and admit it publicly.

"I treated the church like crap."

Just for once, I'd like for someone to write an article saying the following,

"I'm the reason I left the church.

I really liked church, but I felt really uncomfortable both going to church and living with my girlfriend (or I liked my porn, or liked my drugs, or whatever your sin of choice was).  So I chose my sin.  I quit going to church, not because the church "burned" me, but because I prefer my sin over God.

Then I started treating the church like crap.  I didn't tell them I was leaving; I just quit showing up.  When people from church, who were my friends, called and texted wondering where I was, I didn't respond.  See, if I had responded, then I wouldn't be able to say that "no one cared that I left."  Then I started bad-mouthing them (even though they had never been mean to me, of course).  I told all my friends that I had left that church because it was "judgmental."  Then, to justify myself further, I began to point out all the sins of the people who went to that church.  Now, these were people who had never been anything but nice to me, mind you, but that didn't matter.  Church is an easy target, and there is always an audience ready and willing to hear anything awful about a church.

Yes, I treated the church like crap.

Yes, I'm mean and judgmental.

Yes, I'm everything I accused the church of being.  Yes, I'm actually being honest.

I avoid people that I used to go to church with, because I don't want to see them.  They always make me feel guilty.  No, that's not right.  They don't say or do anything, actually.  It's ME that feels guilty when I see them.  They remind me that what I'm doing is wrong.  And I hate that.  Therefore I hate them.

See, the problem is me.  They're not doing anything.  However, if I can blame them, I can avoid looking at my own life.  If I can make the church the scapegoat for all my guilty feelings, all the things I'm doing wrong, and my rejection of God and His ways, then I can avoid having to deal with the sin in my life.

That's why I bash the church.  If I'm being honest, I just don't want to deal with the mess that my life is now.  The church is like a mirror that makes me look at my true state.  And therefore I hate it.  I hate it with a passion.  But all my hate is my own problem; my own embarrassment, and my own guilt.

Hello, my name is ___________, and I am a church-basher.  I treat the church like crap.  I insult it, malign it, judge it, and lie about it.  I treat people in church like crap.  I avoid them.  I'm rude to them.  I purposefully point out their sins, even though they've done nothing like that to me."

Alas, we'll never hear that side of the church situation.  We'll never hear people admit that the problem might be within themselves.  We'll just keep talking about how the church is "burning" people, how awful church people are, how terrible they treat people, yada yada yada.  I, for one, would just like to hear from one person, just one person, who will admit that THEY are the reason.  They treated the church like crap, and the church didn't deserve it.

Like I said before, I'd actually respect someone who was honest enough to admit this.  It happens all the time.  Yet, I've never actually known someone honest enough to come right out and say it.  

Fifty Shades of Gray, Magic Mike, and Noah

I've seen plenty of Christian postings talking about Russell Crowe's new "Noah" movie.  Most are against it, saying that it doesn't follow the Biblical story very closely.  I honestly haven't seen the trailers or done the research on it to know for myself.

However, are the people boycotting the "Noah" movie exposing a blind spot in their lives?

What other movies do I need to boycott because they don't follow the Biblical story very closely?

Let me see.  My favorite movie of all time is "Braveheart."  That has lots of violence in it, plus a scene on William Wallace's wedding night where there is nudity.  If I applied the same criteria to "Braveheart" as I am hearing from "Noah," I wouldn't go see that movie.

"Back to the Future" movies blaspheme the name of God over and over and over again, yet I don't hear Christians calling for a boycott of those movies.

And those movies are fairly tame compared with Magic Mike.  My social media feeds blew up with reports of women, who identify themselves as Christian, fawning over Channing Tatum and posting all kinds of remarks about how "hot" he was.

And we fly into a conniption when a movie about a Biblical character comes out? 

I wonder if "Noah" will have any nudity, pole dancing, taking the Lord's name in vain, or any of the other things that Christians are so quick to overlook in movies.  It probably won't, yet, Christians will boycott it. 

I wonder if the review for "Noah" which convinced a Christian woman not to see the movie is sitting on the nightstand next to her copy of "Fifty Shades of Gray."

Christians, sometimes what we get incensed about doesn't make a lot of sense.

Like I said, I haven't seen the "Noah" movie.  I might go see it, I might not.  But I think it is time that we take a look at the blind spots in our viewing choices.  Why is it that we will put up with Jesus' name being used as a swear word?  We don't boycott those movies. 

Why is it that we put up with movies showing couples living together outside of wedlock?  We don't boycott those movies.

Why is it that we put up with perversion, gossip, violence, and other things that are against the Christian faith?  We don't boycott those movies.

But a movie that comes along that doesn't have any of those things in it, we boycott.  Simply because they used artistic license and told the Noah story badly.  We have defined ourselves as people who will gladly support movies that blaspheme God, glorify extramarital sex, celebrate pole dancing and sadomachism . . . .  and can't handle a wholesome story about a guy who saves animals from a flood.

Let's take a real close look at what we get upset about.  I think we have some serious blind spots to deal with in our lives.

What Fred Phelps understands now

Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro "Baptist church" died Wednesday.

I feel no anger, no satisfaction, no smugness, and no joy over his death.  He caused a lot of people grief and anger, and he made my job as a pastor much more difficult.  By calling himself a pastor, he soured the title in the eyes of many.  He caused grieving people even more pain by picketing funerals, shouting hate in the media, and berating anyone who disagreed with him.  He was above all a bully.

However, I feel no anger towards him. 

In his last days, he was in hospice care, lingering on the verge of death.  Helpless.  As I read the news stories, I found myself admiring the courage and dutifulness of the hospice nurses who cared for him.  Undoubtedly they didn't like him much, yet they cared for him.  That's pretty impressive to me.  But back to the story . . . .

While we are on this side of heaven, we never fully know the whole story.  I don't really know there is a God.  Neither do you.  I have FAITH that there is, but this side of heaven, I don't really KNOW.  I believe in God.  I have faith in God.  But I don't really KNOW.  No one does.  That's why it's called faith.

I also don't KNOW if God's grace is bigger than my sin.  I believe it is.  I have faith that it is, and I've staked my whole life on it.  However, I still don't KNOW.  I also don't know, fully, if my understanding of God is the correct one or if Fred Phelps' understanding of God is the right one.  I have faith, but I don't really know.

However, Fred Phelps does now.

Fred Phelps doesn't have faith anymore.  He knows.  And what he knows now, I believe, is how unbelievably wrong he was his entire life.

Fred Phelps now knows, as he is now face-to-face with God, what God meant when he said, "Pride goes before a destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall."  Fred didn't die in a hail of gunfire.  He died an inglorious death in a hospital bed, most likely eaten up by cancer and helpless as a newborn baby.  The man who made a career out of insulting and intimidating and judging- as a healthy adult- was now helpless and immobile.

Fred Phelps now knows that his entire belief system was wrong.  He now knows that he spent his entire life causing God's name to be blasphemed among the nations.

Fred Phelps now knows that his entire life's work was completely wrong.  Everything he dedicated himself to, everything he believed, everything was completely wrong.  He is looking back now over his life and has nothing but regret.  I imagine that he is saying over and over again, "I wasted it.  I wasted it.  I wasted it."

Fred Phelps now understands that his legacy- what he left behind in this world- was terrible.  His name will be reviled for generations.  His name will never be spoken of in good terms.  And that is the biggest shame of all.

Those of us on this side of heaven- we should take note.  All of us die eventually.  All of us will face our Maker.  All of us will leave a legacy.  And it is up to us whether or not that legacy is a good one.

Parents, you will leave a legacy to your children.  Will your legacy be brokenness and dysfunction?  Will your children sum up your entire life with the word, "Selfish?"  Or will your children praise your name as someone who lived with integrity and love?

Husbands and wives, you will leave a legacy.  You will be remembered.  The question is- will you be remembered with the disdain that people remember Fred Phelps?  You may not be picketing funerals, but are you a loving spouse?  Do you insult your spouse daily?  Do you speak in harsh tones?  Or are your words loving and gracious, full of forgiveness?

We will all leave a legacy.  Christians, what will your legacy be?  Will you, at the end of your life, say with tears, "I wasted it!  I had the opportunities.  I had the education.  I had the financial resources.  I had religious freedom.  I had all those things, and I wasted them!  I didn't hand down the legacy I wanted to hand down.  I didn't do what God wanted me to do.  I was not sold out to His Kingdom.  I was lukewarm and distracted. I wasted it!"

Or will you hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," from your Lord and Savior?

We all die.  We all leave a legacy.  At the passing of a man who left a terrible legacy, I am more determined than ever to not waste my time here.  I am more determined than ever not to waste this one shot at life that God has given me.  I am more determined than ever to live intentionally, on mission, and on target.  Death comes to us all.  A legacy comes to us all.  It's up to us what that legacy will be- it is up to us what we leave behind us in the world.

"Only one life; 'twill soon be past.  Only what's done for Christ will last."

God bless you.

"That's okay- I ate turkey by myself today. I'm good."

My family was expecting me for Thanksgiving Day.

My wife had spent all morning fixing and cooking the turkey.  My daughters had fixed the cornbread dressing.  My mom and dad had fixed this amazing sweet potato pie.  My brother's family had fixed all kinds of awesome desserts, and we were all planning on eating at lunchtime.

We do that every year.  We know what time Thanksgiving meal at the Kibler's house is.

Lunchtime rolled around.  I wasn't there.

My cell phone rang.  It was my wife.  "Where are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I was busy," I said.  "This has been a pretty stressful week.  But, don't worry about me- I stopped at a deli and had turkey by myself.  I'm good."

The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening.  "What do you mean?" she demanded. 

"Well," I said, starting to get a lecture-type tone in my voice, "I don't really feel the need to eat Thanksgiving dinner with the family.  The point of Thanksgiving is eating the turkey anyway.  I can do that by myself.  I can still be an American and give thanks and eat turkey without coming and being part of the family."

"Plus," I went on, "family gatherings bother me.  There are some relatives I don't like.  I don't always like everything on the table, either.  Sometimes the turkey is too hot, or the desserts are too cold.  But, don't worry about me!  I ate turkey today, so I'm good!"

My wife was silent.  "I can't believe I'm hearing this," she said.  "That was quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life."

"Now you're judging me," I said.  "Listen, I don't need a family dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I ate turkey, okay?  I'm good to go.  It's not like I didn't eat turkey on Thanksgiving.  I think that's good enough!"

"Listen," my wife said, anger rising in her voice.  "Do you think the purpose of Thanksgiving is just to eat turkey?"

"Well," I said, "that's what we do, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said.  "That's PART of what we do.  But that's not ALL we do.  We laugh.  We spend time together as a family.  We celebrate together.  We eat together.  We sit back and enjoy each other.  The turkey is really only about 10% of what goes on at Thanksgiving dinner.  And now, you've missed it.  You've shown us exactly what you think of the rest of us- you've shown us that as long as you're eating turkey, the rest of it doesn't matter."

I hope you know that this story isn't true.  I have never missed a Thanksgiving day dinner with my family.

But on the other hand, it IS true.

Too many times than I care to mention, when someone misses church and I call them up to ask how they are and if they are okay, they will tell me, "Yeah, I know I wasn't there.  But I spent Sunday morning studying the Bible."

That's like telling a family that you know you weren't there for Thanksgiving dinner, but you spent the day eating turkey.

The point of Thanksgiving dinner isn't the food you eat.  Well, yes it is, to some extent, but it's not the point.  Eating a meal TOGETHER is the point of Thanksgiving dinner.  The same is true of church- it is worshiping God TOGETHER that is the point of the Christian life.  So many of us miss that.  So many of us think that the end-all-be-all of the Christian faith is the personal study time, and as long as you have that, you're good.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

God intended Christianity to be celebrated together.  We are to be the church, not individuals eating turkey on the last Thursday in November.  We are to experience our faith together, grow together, interact together.  That is the purpose.  That is God's plan.

Plus, I would imagine that you would horrendously insult the rest of the family if you told them you weren't showing up for the family meal but were eating by yourself. 

Why?  Because your family LOVES you.  They want you there.  They don't particularly care about what you eat.  They care about YOU.  And to purposefully skip the family meal is an insult.  It damages relationships and leaves the rest of the family wondering how much they really matter to you.

Same is true of church. 

Some of us may have inadvertently been hurting the people that care about you.  Yes, it's possible to hurt your church family.

Resist the temptation to individualize the Christian faith.  It is meant to be lived out collectively.  Enjoy the faith with your church family.  Don't tell them, "That's okay- I ate turkey by myself today.  I'm good."

"Dude, you're not even on the team."

My senior year in high school we won the state soccer championship.

We reported for summer practice on a grueling, hot, Kentucky July day.  We did two practices a day for three weeks, beating ourselves into shape and gelling as a team.  Preseason soccer workouts are absolutely horrible, as anyone who has played high-level soccer knows.

We won 21 games that year, but we also had six losses.  We won, we lost, we persevered- we had to pick ourselves up after losses and find out a way to win.  We had a low point where we lost four out of six games- a slump- that we had to fight our way out of.  In the state finals, we met the #1 team in the state, Male High School out of Louisville, who had beaten us on our senior night three weeks before.

At the end of the game, the score was 2-1, us.  We had won.

We began the celebrations immediately.  Our fans stormed the field and surrounded us, shouting and cheering.  I was interviewed by reporters from Lexington and Louisville newspapers.  Cameras were flashing.  People were high-fiving.  The players took the state championship trophy and took a victory lap around the field.

Then we gathered in the goal for a team photo.

Something happened.  A guy that went to our school ran up and got in the picture, saying, "We did it!  We won!"  The rest of us looked at him.

One of the players said, "What are you doing here?"

The guy said, "What do you mean?  It's the team photo!  We won the State Championship!"

The player responded, "Dude, you're not even on the team."

He continued, "We've been busting our butts since July 15.  We did the two-a-days.  We practiced every day after school.  We stayed home on Friday nights and didn't go to the parties.  We slugged it out on the field.  We picked ourselves up after a defeat.  I don't remember seeing you there.  You've been watching from the stands the whole season, while we've been out on the field making it happen."

Then he said, "Get out of the picture.  You don't deserve to be here.  You may like soccer and you may have enjoyed watching us work, but this is not a picture for spectators.  Only the players who were on the team and sacrificed to make this happen deserve to be in this picture."

The guy, who was all smiles the second before, was crushed.  He left sad.

I think my biggest fear in life is that I am that guy.

I read the stories of the apostles in the Bible- stories of Peter and John facing down authorities, being imprisoned and beaten and killed for their faith.  I read stories of Daniel, who would rather be thrown into the lions den than miss one night of prayer with God.  I read stories of Christians in North Korea, who would rather see churches planted and the gospel spread than save their lives.  I read stories of Christians in Pakistan, under threat of death, converting Muslims and preaching Christ, all the while having their property confiscated, their daughters and wives raped, etc.

I'm afraid that when I die and stand before God, I will be that guy.  I'll see the team- the people I just named- gathered and I'll run in, saying, "Yes!  We did it!  Look at all we accomplished for the Kingdom!"

And they will look at me and say, "Dude, you're not even on the team."

They will continue, "You couldn't even wake up for Sunday morning service.  You couldn't even tithe.  You couldn't even share your faith in the workplace because you were afraid of what people would think.  You couldn't even stand up to your kids' coach when he scheduled games on Sunday mornings, and you were at the ball fields on Sunday mornings more than you were in church.  You looked outside on Sunday morning and if it was raining, you didn't go."

"Do you really think we worship the same God?  The God we worshiped while we were alive told us that in order to follow Him, we had to give up everything.  We've been slugging it out in the trenches, planting churches, loving our enemies, fasting, being thrown in prison, seeing our families destitute and starving, enduring persecution, and walking in close fellowship with God."

"You had a choice.  You had more resources than any of us.  You had more money, more time, more education than any of us.  You had freedom of religion- we didn't.  You were free to preach, free to witness, free to do everything the faith required you to do, and you didn't.  You could have been out there on the field with us, but you sat in the stands and watched.  You applauded all the sacrifices and even posted on Facebook when you heard a story of true faith, but in reality, all you were was a spectator.  You never joined the team."

"So get out of the picture.  You don't deserve to be here.  You may like Christianity and enjoy watching us work, but heaven is not for spectators.  Only the ones who surrendered everything and lived for the glory of God deserve to be here."

And I, who was all smiles before, will be crushed.  I will go away sad.

I realize this blog will get me in trouble.  "Dave, you're making heaven all about works.  You're being legalistic.  You're being (insert whatever word you use to describe people who annoy you)."  I get that.  The problem is- Jesus said this would happen.

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’- Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus looks at all the people and says, "Dude, you're not even on the team."

Except He takes it one step further.  He calls them "evildoers."

I think this will be a terrible day for all the spectators who watched the Body of Christ in action.  I think this will be a terrible day for people who, like that spectator, thought of himself as part of the team.  It wasn't that he had done anything horrible.  It's just that he didn't do what the team did.

In Jesus words, he didn't do the will of His father in heaven.  

I think it is time that the church takes the call of Jesus seriously.  We follow a Savior who called us to come to Him and die.  Yes, literally die.  Die to ourselves and die to worldly passions.  Die to worldly fame and fortune.  Die to ourselves and our goals.  Die to everything that is not of God.  Then begin to live.  Begin to live for the glory of God.  Sacrificing everything, even our own lives- our comfort, our popularity, our time, our money, our energy, our safety- everything.  That's what being a Christian means.  I don't know where we got this other definition of "Christian" as someone who has prayed a prayer and been baptized in a tub of water.  

Christians, realize that one day, you will be standing before the throne of God, and around you on all sides will be people who sacrificed all for the Kingdom.  To your right will be North Korean believers who were sentenced to death for planting churches and spreading the gospel.  To your right will be a pastor who watched his family killed because he refused to give up the names of the people in his congregation.  Behind you will be a person who was imprisoned and tortured under Communist rule and kept his faith in Christ.  In front of you will be a person who converted to Christianity and was killed by her family for embarrassing the family.  

Will you be worthy to stand beside them?

Or will Jesus look at you and say, "Dude, you're not even on the team?"

The real reasons 33 Christians were sentenced to execution in North Korea

At this moment, thirty-three Christians are under death sentence in North Korea because of practicing their faith.  We have heard the news story that the reason they were arrested and convicted was that they helped plant more than 500 churches in North Korea- the most difficult country to be a Christian in on the planet.  These are not ministers.  They are ordinary Christians who took the Great Commission so seriously that they risked imprisonment and death to see God's church grow in North Korea.  At least, that's what the story is.

However, new information has shown us that "church planting" and "spreading the gospel at risk of life" was not the cause of their imprisonment and death sentence.  That's because Christians don't do those things.  They were convicted of doing "Christian" things- things that are much more prevalent in the lives of Christians than things like church planting and spreading the gospel.  We have obtained the official transcript of the courtroom proceedings:

The accused, from henceforth to be known as "Christians," are found guilty of the following:

1) The accused regularly attend church  . . . about once a month when their favorite sports team is not playing, when their children don't have sports to play, when they aren't tired or worn out from the week, when they aren't working, when there isn't a guest speaker speaking that morning, when it isn't raining, and when it isn't too nice outside. 

2)  The accused have regularly been known to complain about church youth programs, childrens' ministries, color of the carpet, decibel level of music in worship, style of coffee cups, and other highly important things found in the Bible.

3)  The accused have routinely discouraged their children from going into full-time mission work, citing the lack of safety and the fact that doing so will "ruin their lives."

4)  The accused have routinely left churches after brief stints, moving around from church to church to find one that "fits their style" and one where there "aren't so many hypocrites."

5)  The accused were actually arrested in their beds at 10 am this past Sunday morning, stating that "because of the time change we couldn't get out of bed and make it to church."

6)  The accused were found to have the exact same attitudes about sex, marriage, profanity, drinking, and use of money that the non-Christians around them have.

7)  The accused were found to have more knowledge about celebrities, pop stars, and movie actors than they do about Jesus.



Now, suppose there were two countries.  In Country A, it is a death sentence to worship God, to mention His name, to baptize, to plant churches, to own a Bible, or to even call yourself a Christian.  In Country B, it is a death sentence to practice items 1-7 on the list above. 

In which country would you receive a death sentence due to the evidence available to convict you?

When I see the bravery and courage of those 33 North Korean Christians- who knew full well the penalty for their actions, knowing that they face an inhumane and painful death at the hands of a complete psychopath (Kim Jong Un) and yet planted more than 500 churches to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ- I look at the state of the church in America and ask, "Where do I even start?"

How do we, as American believers, even consider ourselves worthy to stand alongside them as brothers and sisters?  Now, to our credit, America has some extremely devoted, dedicated Christians.  To be sure, many of us would choose to do the exact same thing that those North Korean Christians chose to do, regardless of the consequences.  But let's face it- most, if not the vast majority, wouldn't.

Most of us would prefer to live in Country A because we would receive no persecution whatsoever.  Most of us would avoid County B like the plague because most of us would be dead.

I am asking you to do two things:
1) Pray for the North Korean believers- pray for a miracle that God would spare their lives and bring justice to the tyrants in North Korea.

2) Allow the example of the North Korean believers to inspire you.  Root out any lukewarmness that you see within you and honor their sacrifice by living with their degree of passion for the gospel.  Live life with such dedication that you would count yourself worthy to stand beside them on judgment day.  Be inspired by their sacrifice- be inspired to take up their calling and accomplish the tasks that they haven't been able to complete because of their arrest.

We are the body of Christ.