equipping the saints for the work of ministry – ephesians 4:12
As a Salvation Army office, my mom encountered a lot of broken humanity herself. But with all that, she seemed the epitome of the verse in James 1 that talks about keeping oneself “unspotted by the world.”
We should be well aware that this persecution of Nigeria’s Christians is not new. Attacks on churches, imposition of Sharia, killings of individuals – even mass slaughters – have been going on for decades on Christians of every denomination.
Beautiful St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Arlington, TX hosted the One Body: Hope for the Persecuted conference last September. St. Mark’s is also home to the Bishop Keith Ackerman baseball field!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus was standing out of honor of the first martyr. Jesus knows what it is like to be a human and experience painful death. Did He say to the angels, “That’s My son, Stephen! He’ll be here soon!” I think so.