Examples of Persecution

[Trusting Jesus]

At the Wednesday night study class at my church we are talking about Christian persecution and how we, as Christians, need to stand on God's Word at all times. This coming Wednesday we are to have some examples of presecution that are happening. I know about a Christian photographer who was fined $6,600 for refusing to take photo's of a gay wedding, and a few more examples, but I was wondering if anyone here has experienced persecution or has read of any.

The point of this study is not to make us feel like "poor us, we are so picked upon" but rather to open our eyes to things happening around us and to see that one day soon we, too, will need to make a choice between following God or following man.

Thanks.

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Nathele

[EricH]

Even though there are times in the US where we may experience some less than wonderful treatment because of our faith, the real persecution of believers is happening overseas in countries where the gospel is illegal. There are people loosing their lives because of the faith in pretty large numbers

[glorywatch]

My husband lost a job because he is a Christian. When asked to do some unethical things, he refused and stated he would not because of his belief in God and the moral standards God has set. The owner told him to leave God out of it. They didn't fire him immediately, but they started cutting his pay, giving his bonus's to other people. This went on for about 6 months, all in an effort to force him to quit. Funny thing is, the more they took, the more God blessed us financially from other sources.

Interestingly, we all live in the Hurricane Katrina area. The two bosses and the one manager who was receiving my husband's bosses lost everything in Katrina. All their material possessions, but all we lost were a few shingles off the roof. Not long after that, they finally fired my husband. We knew they would not fire him on the heels of saying to leave God out of it, but in the end we know why they fired him.

Praise God!

[tigger398]

People who make fun of you is persecution, like call you bible thumper, or my favorite holy roller.

[Trusting Jesus]

Thanks for helping!

Eric, I agree that there is a huge difference in ther persecution happening in America as opposed to the rest of the world. I also believe that we will see more and more persecution happening here....especially after the up coming election.

Glorywatch, thank you. I will use your story in my class.

Tigger398, this is also a form of persecution. Unfortunately people tend to laugh and make fun of things they are afraid of. Yes, it hurts to be laughed at, especially when we know that it is truly a life and death choice to believe in Jesus or not. Thank you.

I just want to restate my reason for asking. It isn't to feel sorry for Christians, but our class is looking for examples of what's happening and to show our need for standing firm in God's Word no matter what the world says.

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Nathele

[spiritman]

What is the defintion of Persecution?

Merriam Websters online dictionary's definiton is as follows:

Main Entry: per

[irishcowboy]

My husband lost a job because he is a Christian. When asked to do some unethical things, he refused and stated he would not because of his belief in God and the moral standards God has set. The owner told him to leave God out of it. They didn't fire him immediately, but they started cutting his pay, giving his bonus's to other people. This went on for about 6 months, all in an effort to force him to quit. Funny thing is, the more they took, the more God blessed us financially from other sources.

Interestingly, we all live in the Hurricane Katrina area. The two bosses and the one manager who was receiving my husband's bosses lost everything in Katrina. All their material possessions, but all we lost were a few shingles off the roof. Not long after that, they finally fired my husband. We knew they would not fire him on the heels of saying to leave God out of it, but in the end we know why they fired him.

Praise God!

no, they will not use the reason as belief in God or anything like that, but will use a term such as INSUBORDINATION....

insubordination, covers a lot of territory.....

just a note about martyrs/persecution...... in 1996 alone, there was over 160,000 Christians martyred for Christ. this made no public news.... a good many of them in the Middle East and Asia....

Most places do not want to "fire" some one, cause then they have to answer for their actions, this caused questions to be asked, especially in states like Kansas, that the only way to collect unemployment is if you are fired or laid off... if you quit, that is doing it under your own free will and accord..... there is another way to go about this, and that is reporting it as being a hostile working environment, or reporting any illegal actions..... then if you are fired ( just like if you were doing union related activity) it is illegal and repercussions come back on the company....

in Mcdonald County Missouri, a good number of years ago, a young man wanted to join the military, and needed a day off from work to go do the processing (this does not mean he is going to get to join, just process)..... he asked the owner for a day off (a cafe) to do this, and the owner said if he took off to do that he would not have a job...... he signed up for delayed enlistment ( leaving in a few months) and when he got back he had no job.... it was not long after that a couple men came in and emptied the cafe out during lunch, no one had time to pay their tickets, and then they escorted the man out and locked the doors. the owner was fined and had to pay back pay to the young man.....

if your husband was fired, he could probably still go after them for illegal separation/discharge (firing).... if they were wanting him to do stuff that was illegal, and he refused, chances are they are still continuing in the same ways, and this would not be too hard to uncover or track..... and could end up with the owner(s) loosing a lot more then just back wages.

as far as this being persecution, some might say yes, some might say no.... hard to say, for it can be looked at from other angles then just being a Christian with morals..... there are non-Christian with morals as well...... i might say it goes deeper then just that.... but being a Christian, we should have the same morals and better morals then any other sect on the earth, save the Israeli's who should have even a higher standard then Christians being they are still (trying to live under the laws)

in the USA, we get our feelings hurt, more then we get persecuted, and we call getting our feelings hurt, or insulted being persecuted.......

mike

[spiritman]

so mike how many times have you witnessed to your co-worker or boss?. Work place harrasment is a very real concept.

I've experianced it myself. the boss actually had people come in and undo the work I was responsible for in order to say that I wasn't doing my Job. However when I got someone to witness me doing the job, and sign a piece of paper to fact, then the boss hire a martial arts expert to threaten and harrass, me. I would not want to go back to a job like that, the chances are If I would take them to court, they would just find another way to get rid of me. Not worth the hassle. IMHO.

My husband lost a job because he is a Christian. When asked to do some unethical things, he refused and stated he would not because of his belief in God and the moral standards God has set. The owner told him to leave God out of it. They didn't fire him immediately, but they started cutting his pay, giving his bonus's to other people. This went on for about 6 months, all in an effort to force him to quit. Funny thing is, the more they took, the more God blessed us financially from other sources.

Interestingly, we all live in the Hurricane Katrina area. The two bosses and the one manager who was receiving my husband's bosses lost everything in Katrina. All their material possessions, but all we lost were a few shingles off the roof. Not long after that, they finally fired my husband. We knew they would not fire him on the heels of saying to leave God out of it, but in the end we know why they fired him.

Praise God!

no, they will not use the reason as belief in God or anything like that, but will use a term such as INSUBORDINATION....

insubordination, covers a lot of territory.....

just a note about martyrs/persecution...... in 1996 alone, there was over 160,000 Christians martyred for Christ. this made no public news.... a good many of them in the Middle East and Asia....

Most places do not want to "fire" some one, cause then they have to answer for their actions, this caused questions to be asked, especially in states like Kansas, that the only way to collect unemployment is if you are fired or laid off... if you quit, that is doing it under your own free will and accord..... there is another way to go about this, and that is reporting it as being a hostile working environment, or reporting any illegal actions..... then if you are fired ( just like if you were doing union related activity) it is illegal and repercussions come back on the company....

in Mcdonald County Missouri, a good number of years ago, a young man wanted to join the military, and needed a day off from work to go do the processing (this does not mean he is going to get to join, just process)..... he asked the owner for a day off (a cafe) to do this, and the owner said if he took off to do that he would not have a job...... he signed up for delayed enlistment ( leaving in a few months) and when he got back he had no job.... it was not long after that a couple men came in and emptied the cafe out during lunch, no one had time to pay their tickets, and then they escorted the man out and locked the doors. the owner was fined and had to pay back pay to the young man.....

if your husband was fired, he could probably still go after them for illegal separation/discharge (firing).... if they were wanting him to do stuff that was illegal, and he refused, chances are they are still continuing in the same ways, and this would not be too hard to uncover or track..... and could end up with the owner(s) loosing a lot more then just back wages.

as far as this being persecution, some might say yes, some might say no.... hard to say, for it can be looked at from other angles then just being a Christian with morals..... there are non-Christian with morals as well...... i might say it goes deeper then just that.... but being a Christian, we should have the same morals and better morals then any other sect on the earth, save the Israeli's who should have even a higher standard then Christians being they are still (trying to live under the laws)

in the USA, we get our feelings hurt, more then we get persecuted, and we call getting our feelings hurt, or insulted being persecuted.......

mike

[irishcowboy]

actually, i understand what you are saying....

no, i would not go back to a job like that either.....

a cell phone camera can document the job being completed......

an employer such as this needs to be reported to the proper authorities.... this way the right people can investigate and put a stop to it..... some times it is hard to report something like this.... there are laws against it, but most people do not realize it.

and threats of physical harm are considered terroristic activities and are crimes, even if nothing ever happens.... a small tape recorder is a good thing to have on hand.... in some states, it is legal to have a recorder recording a conversation, so far as at least one person involved in the coversation knows it is there (usually the person with the tape recorder)

I had an incident, i wish i had thought far enough ahead to have had one with me, I have developed a heat intollerance due to being in the Persian Gulf.... and i brought this up to the safety manager that we needed the exhaust fans turned on to pull the hot air out and replace it with less hot air.... he told me that they were to be left off, and that if i had a problem with that, then i needed to look for work else where.... i was the only one privy to the conversation.... after that, i started carrying a tape recorder with me........ some cell phones now have voice recorders on them as well.....

sorry about your situation.....

remember, the Word of God tells us that we are a peculiar people...... and no where in the Word of God does it ever say it is going to be easy to be a Christian..... on the contrary, it tells us it will be a difficult life...... it is easy to die for Christ, the hard part is to live for Him....

now

as far as an investigation...... you do not have to even be involved..... depending on the state, depends on who needs to be contacted..... and they will put a plant in the organization..... and they will investigate it from the inside out....

mike

[spiritman]

Mike,

thanks for the encourgment, there is a saying, I'm not sure where it comes from, but I believe it is worth repeating: When God opens a door no man can close it, and when God closes a door no man can open it. Probably from Revelation 3:8. I'm not discouraged, for suffering this, because as many Christians, I'm looking forward to my reward. The enemey is getting smarter, when dealing with Chrisitans, as shown in all the news stories, from, a teacher getting in trouble because he had a Bible on his desk, to the lady that wasn't allowed to wear a cross. The enemey has been slowly systematicly, out lawing the Bible. Not to mention the laws against hate speech. soon will make it hard for a free Christians to preach against Homo-sexuality. I have as I'm sure many of you have had your share of tribulation, but praise God, it will be nothing compared to the reward. Let us count it all Joy amen!!!

actually, i understand what you are saying....

no, i would not go back to a job like that either.....

a cell phone camera can document the job being completed......

an employer such as this needs to be reported to the proper authorities.... this way the right people can investigate and put a stop to it..... some times it is hard to report something like this.... there are laws against it, but most people do not realize it.

and threats of physical harm are considered terroristic activities and are crimes, even if nothing ever happens.... a small tape recorder is a good thing to have on hand.... in some states, it is legal to have a recorder recording a conversation, so far as at least one person involved in the coversation knows it is there (usually the person with the tape recorder)

I had an incident, i wish i had thought far enough ahead to have had one with me, I have developed a heat intollerance due to being in the Persian Gulf.... and i brought this up to the safety manager that we needed the exhaust fans turned on to pull the hot air out and replace it with less hot air.... he told me that they were to be left off, and that if i had a problem with that, then i needed to look for work else where.... i was the only one privy to the conversation.... after that, i started carrying a tape recorder with me........ some cell phones now have voice recorders on them as well.....

sorry about your situation.....

remember, the Word of God tells us that we are a peculiar people...... and no where in the Word of God does it ever say it is going to be easy to be a Christian..... on the contrary, it tells us it will be a difficult life...... it is easy to die for Christ, the hard part is to live for Him....

now

as far as an investigation...... you do not have to even be involved..... depending on the state, depends on who needs to be contacted..... and they will put a plant in the organization..... and they will investigate it from the inside out....

mike