Remember Them That Are In Bonds

"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body" Hebrews 13:3 KJV

Hebrews 13 starts off by saying "Let brotherly love continue." I'm sure we have read this chapter of Hebrews and remember some very important things that the writer wrote for us so that we can "let brotherly love continue."

We usually remember that we should be sure to entertain strangers, because it says that we may have entertained angels when we weren't even aware. We tend to remember the fact that marriage is to be honourable and the bed to be undefiled. We remember that we are to be content, not covetous and to also honor those whom God has appointed over us.

But, how many of us remember verse 3 daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? At all?

This verse tells us that we ought to remember those in bonds, even as if we were also in bonds with them. We should love and care for these brothers and sisters as we care for ourselves and our families. And in the case of those which suffer adversity, are we truly caring for them as we should? These people, mostly in other nations around the world that are hostile towards Christ and His gospel, are not simply foreigners. They are full-fledged members of the body of Christ, suffering for the sake of the gospel!

Are we praying for Evangelist Girmay Ambaye, who was arrested in Eritrea back in 2005 for witnessing about Christ to people on a city bus? This wasn't his first time being arrested. Evangelist Ambaye had been arrested at least twice before, yet he continued to preach Christ.

Evangelist Ambaye

How about Son Jong Nam? He was arrested in January 2006 for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in North Korea. He is now awaiting public execution for his "crime."

Son Jong Nam

There are many stories like this that the majority of us probably have no idea about. Are we praying for the persecuted church around the world? Are we even concerned to know what's going on with our brothers and sisters around the globe? Have we become so comfortable in our own Christianity in America that we don't look beyond the borders of our "free and democratic" society and really reach out to help our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?

Let brotherly love continue!

How can we help? How can we be actively involved in the lives of our brothers and sisters? Well, thankfully, the Lord has provided a wonderful organization that seeks to do just that. I've been a supporter of this ministry, both financially and through prayer, for the last 2-3 years. The ministry I am referring to is Voice of the Martyrs. Many of you may have heard of this organization, but weren't sure if you'd get involved. I encourage you today to consider it, as it is a great way to "let brotherly love continue."

So, what is Voice of the Martyrs all about? (from http://www.prisoneralert.com/vompw_faq.htm):

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand founded VOM over 30 years ago. He was in prison in Romania for 14 years for his faith in Christ. In the `60s he and his family were ransomed out of Romania for $10,000 and came to the U.S. where he began traveling, educating the free world of the atrocities committed against Christians in Communist and other restricted countries. VOM's five main purposes are based on Hebrews 13:3. They are:

1. To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their involvement in propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ. We accomplish this by providing Bibles, literature, radio broadcasts, and other forms of aid.

2. To give relief to the families of Christian martyrs in these areas of the world.

3. To equip local Christians to love and win to Christ their enemies who are opposed to the gospel in countries where believers are actively persecuted for their Christian witness.

4. To undertake projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives and Christian witness in countries that have formerly suffered Communist oppression.

5. To emphasize the fellowship of all believers by informing the world of atrocities committed against Christians and by remembering their courage and faith.

There are many ways we can help our brethren. Here are a few ways:

1. Prayer- We need to keep our brothers and sisters in prayer as they suffer though various trials for the sake of Christ. We need not only pray that persecution may decrease, but that their faith would increase as they endure the agonies of suffering at the hands of enemies.

2. Financially- I know we are going through tough economical times in America right now, but if you can still spend extra cash on items of entertainment, can you spare some extra money for those whose families have been severely burdened by the loss of a father/mother to imprisonment or death as a result of religious persecution? Many will go out this year, despite the economic recession, and spend lots of money on gifts. How much better would our time and money be spent praying and giving to those who need it?

3. Send encouraging letters to those imprisoned- VOM has a minsitry called Prisoner Alert (www.prisoneralert.com) in which they have set up a way for you to write to imprisoned Christians around the world. Each month they update the website with a profile of a Christian who is currently in bonds for preaching the gospel, or simply having Bibles in their possession. I highly encourage you to do this, if you can.

4. Send letters to government officials- Prisoner Alert also has an option to write short, to the point and respectful letters to government officials in countries who claim to promote religious freedom, yet deny those freedoms to Christians.

5. Preach the gospel- This is one thing that we really need to do more of, myself included. Here in America, we currently have no serious restrictions preventing us from freely and openly preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified to those who are lost. We need to be on our knees thanking God for such freedom, but we can't stay on our knees. We need to get up, get out, and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe (Romans 1:16) and we ought not be ashamed of it. How better to prove that we care about the sufferings of our brothers and sisters than to risk that same type of suffering ourselves?

I believe if more people in America were concerned with evangelism, we would receive persecution. But, as it stands today, there's no real reason for our pluralistic society to be that concerned. There's only really a handful of us out on the frontlines. Perhaps fear of man and what he can do to us is what's really behind the lack of concern for evangelism. But why fear man, who after they kill us, can do nothing else to us? We need to fear God over man. We need to seek to please Him and not men.

So, today, I just want to encourage you to head over to Voice of the Martyrs' ministry Website at: http://www.persecution.com or to the Prisoner Alert Website at: http://www.prisoneralert.com

"Let the brotherly love continue!"