Months ago a friend handed me a little book entitled “Have A Little Faith,” written by Mitch Albom. Honestly, it sat on my shelf for a long time gathering dust. It’s not that I was uninterested; I was plowing through some dense reading material and figured that Albom’s book was a little too light for what I had my teeth sunk in at the time.

I thought I would turn to it when I needed something lighter, like cleansing your palate after a heavy meal. But what a fantastic surprise! This little book has turned out to be proof that big things indeed arrive in small packages. Mitch says more in a few pages than I can say in writing a year’s worth of columns.

Further, ten percent of the profits from the book go to refurbish places of worship that aid the homeless. You really should go buy a copy. You can read Mitch’s words for yourself, and help your neighbor in the process (No, this is not a paid advertisement).

To whet your appetite, the book tells the story of Rabbi Albert Lewis, who asks Mitch to deliver his eulogy when the time comes. It was a strange request, as Mitch had pretty much abandoned faith. But over the last few years of Albert’s life, Albert rekindled Mitch’s faith through deep friendship and the telling of story after beautiful story. One of those stories is called “Salesman.”

Albert told the story like this: “There’s this salesman, see? And he knocks on a door. The man who answers says, ‘I don’t need anything today.’ The next day, the salesman returns. ‘Stay away,’ he is told. The man gets very angry and yells and threatens the salesman.

“On the third day the salesman returns once again. ‘You again!’ the man screams. ‘I warned you!’ He gets so angry, he spits in the salesman’s face. The salesman smiles, wipes the spit off with a handkerchief, then looks to the sky and says, ‘It must be raining.’”

Albert explained to Mitch – to us all – that love is just like that. If they spit in your face, you say, “It must be raining,” and you go back tomorrow. You stay at it. Albert would agree, I think, that such love mimics the endless, relentless love of God. He stays at it.

No, this isn’t warm and fuzzy talk. This isn’t the power of positive thinking. This is the real love and grace of God poured out on us without condition and without end. God’s love for us does not depend upon who we are, the good or bad we have done, or the mistakes we have made. God’s love depends upon his own nature and goodness. Even when we spit in his face, he keeps coming back.

That is why the worst of your personal failures, the worst crimes you have committed, your divorce, your drug abuse, your emotional baggage and weakness, your arrest record, your selfishness, your adultery, your addiction, your dishonesty, stupidity, and your bone-headed decisions – fill in the blank – can never separate you from God’s love.

Yes, we have all been guilty of having the “uns” at points in our lives. We have all been unworthy, undeserving, unprepared, unemployable, undone, unnoticed, unthankful, unjust, unfair, uninsurable, uneasy, and unaccepted.

We have been unknown, underdogged, unapologetic, unhinged, unraveled, undesirable, unbearable, unclean, unethical, underhanded, uninterested, unkind, and untouchable. We have been unwanted, unlucky, unnerved, unpopular, unpredictable, unqualified, and unstable: But none of us have ever been unloved.

God is not keeping his distance. He arrives at our doorsteps with open hands and an open heart, loving us to the point of infinite sacrifice, doing anything – and has done everything – to make us feel welcome, safe, and able to trust him. So even if we shake our fist at him in rage, spit in his face, and do everything we think possible to spurn his love, God will be back; standing on the porch in the rain of our refusal, eager and ready to love us through our rejection.

Along with politics, it is one of two things we don’t talk about at parties: sports and religion.

Football has always been a religion to some. But now, thanks to Denver quarterback Tim Tebow, sports and religion have become the topic du jour.

Arguments over Tebow’s path to the Hall of Fame can be waged, but he is surely the only proper noun (Tebow) that can become a verb (Tebowing) by dropping to one knee.

“Tim is who he is,” said Brent High, the associate director of athletics for spiritual formation at Lipscomb University, who saw an event sell out when Tebow was a guest speaker there. “If you are a Christian, he is your absolute flag-bearer in the sports world. You cheer for him and you hurt for him when he takes the beating that he takes.”

But …

“If I am putting myself in the shoes of someone who is offended … and Tebow is getting down on one knee with all cameras trained on him, that’s in my face. … So I can see why it’s like the fingernails on the chalkboard to those people.”

Tebow’s actions aren’t new; athletes have been thanking God longer than they have been thanking mom, and fans have pledged loyalty to a higher being in exchange for a touchdown, a first down or a fumble.

“We’ve had athletes being very vocal about their faith and using their status as athletes to promote their faith for a long time now,” said Tom Krattenmaker, author of “Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers.”

“But Tebow seems to have taken it to an extra level of intensity.”

So why is a quarterback who has started barely a dozen games in his professional career the dividing line in how we like our religion and sports?

“People have a sense that he is shoving religion down our throats,” said Patton Dodd, managing editor at Patheos, a website that is dedicated to religion and spirituality, and author of “The Tebow Mystique.”

Dodd, who believes “it is a little bit unfair” to criticize Tebow says “there developed a piety about his piety.”

Not all religion and sports connections are controversial.

High used to work for the Nashville Sounds, a minor league baseball team, and was a co-creator of “Faith Nights” at minor league baseball parks where he said the only thing “you might have seen was a memo on the video board in the fourth inning.”

High added an important note: God sells. A Faith Day event could mean between $250,000 to $500,000 to the bottom line, he said.

“Christians are a huge demographic,” High said. “Eighty-eight percent of people in America will identify themselves as some type of Christian. If you are sitting in a executive seat for the Colorado Rockies or St. Louis Rams or a hockey team, you would be foolish not to pay attention to that demographic the same way you pay attention to real estate agents, schools and scouts.”

But it is not 88 percent of the Christians that former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer was referring to when he said of Tebow that “when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I’ll like him a little bit better.”

Tebow, of course, had an answer for Plummer: “Is it good enough to only say to your wife I love her the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity?”

Steven Waite, a football fan from Brandon, Miss., and Stuart James, an Alabama fan from Virginia, aren’t bothered by Tebow’s open professions of faith.

“We are a nation founded upon religious freedom and expression,” Waite said. “We’re a melting pot. But instead of respecting and embracing our differences we’re becoming more and more intolerant. To me, that’s more egregious than anything Tim Tebow has done or will do. It’s sad, really.”

Added James: “If him taking a knee and thanking God after a win offends your sensibilities or upsets you, you don’t have to watch.”

There is no debate that Tebow, the son of evangelical missionaries, is passionate and true about his beliefs. Krattenmaker and Dodd point to the “John 3:16” eye black Tebow wore as the star quarterback at the University of Florida as the tipping point.

“Athletes had been wearing their faith on their sleeve, quote, unquote,” Krattenmaker said, “but he’s a guy who had it right on his face.”

In the end perhaps it comes down less to whether Tebow is “the guy” and more to the fact that Tebow is “their guy.”

“At times, if you are an evangelical Christian, it feels like the faith is being beat up on and marginalized,” said Krattenmaker. “To see someone like Tebow to come along, that boosts them all and makes them feel kind of proud. He is a real champion for the faith and makes them want to defend him.”

Hundreds of people spent the Fourth of July demonstrating at a cemetery in Texas because the cemetery director banned the use of the words “God” and “Jesus” during burial rites.

In a rally that was organized by the Houston Area Pastor Council people came wearing red, white and blue colors and waving American flags. They gathered at the Hemicycle of the Houston National Cemetery, demanding the resignation of its director, Arleen Ocasio, The Houston Chronicle said.

Included among the demonstrators were people from a number of veterans groups and residents from the area. They affirmed support for a lawsuit filed by Liberty Institute, a nonprofit group, on behalf of Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4, American Legion Post 586, and National Memorial Ladies, according to the AP.

The lawsuit says Ocasio and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the invocation of the names “God” and “Jesus” during burial rites and also stated that religious messages must first be submitted to her for approval by families of the deceased, The Houston Chronicle said.

“The local director needs to be removed because of the harshness in which she violates the First Amendment – free exercise of religion and freedom of speech,” U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Houston, said in a letter to DVA, the AP reported.

Poe also sought an independent investigation saying, “Really, this cemetery doesn’t belong to the VA. It belongs to those buried here and their families,” according to the AP

A civic duty

Among those attending the rally were Steve Cranston, 58, who is both a pastor and a Marine veteran. He came with his wife Judy, 66.

Cranston told The Houston Chronicle, “We felt it was one of the best ways we could have spent this time of the Fourth of July. We feel like its our duty.” His wife added, “I believe the ones who are already buried here would be right with us.”

Another demonstrator, Kathleen Carpenter, told the AP, “To be able to take away the chapel where people pray, to be able to take away the right to say God and God bless America…many of these soldiers love God.”

Slap in the face

Vietnam veteran Jim German said to The Houston Chronicle, “I have a lot of friends who are buried out here, and who paid the ultimate price. To have the director of this facility try to censor religious speech, to censor the name of God, is a slap in the face to not only every American who believes in God, but it’s a slap in the face to every veteran who fought for our freedom.”

Sources:

http://www.ksat.com/news/28443664/detail.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/military/7639350.html

The Obama administration’s U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom said recently that she plans to apply a more hands-on, faith-based approach in dealing with global faith issues.

Rev. Suzan Johnson-Cook told Michel Martin on NPR’s radio program Faith Matters that she hopes to put a face on religious freedom and to perform her duties more strategically.

The recently sworn in ambassador-at-large told Martin, “[W]hat we’re trying to do is have a faith approach to some very real issues that are global. And I think people have not had a hands-on, frontline experience before. And so what they will see now is a face of religious freedom…a woman who’s…[m]oving forward strategically,” NPR reported.

In her new position, Cook will be monitoring religious freedom issues globally and will report directly to President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. The latter has said of Cook, “To many, she is more than a minister, more than a spiritual leader, although she is certainly that. She is a passionate advocate for the God-given rights of people everywhere, no matter which god they believe gave them those rights in the first place,” Beliefnet said.

Clinton, during Cook’s swearing-in ceremony, said in her speech which was reprinted in the U.S. Department of State website that she will be working “in very close partnership” with Cook to uphold religious freedom, citing issues of violent extremism geared to exploiting sectarian tensions, abusive authoritarian regimes and threats to religious freedom whether through “quiet intolerance” or “violent attacks.”

When questioned by NPR about what Cook can do regarding religious freedom issues in countries with ties to the U.S., such as Saudi Arabia and the People’s Republic of China, Cook said, “I’m the poster child of religious freedom,” and added that she plans to “elevate” these issues with U.S. allies, NPR said.

Cook told NPR, “[Y]ou work with the allies that we have as partners and then you begin with diplomacy [with countries that are not allies] where there are pragmatic openings, begin to sit down and strategically plan to see if there could be partnerships where there have not been in the past.”

For 21 years, Cook was a chaplain with the New York City Police Department, which has a longstanding reputation for being at odds particularly with minorities including African-Americans and Latinos.

When asked how she mediated the role as chaplain of the NYPD and a voice for a beleaguered minority of which she is part, Cook told NPR that she saw herself as representative of her “culture and their concerns.”

Cook told NPR, “You need people from all sides of the world. You need some who are outside, who are the activists. You need some who are inside. When you have a department that’s 50,000 people strong, you’re going to also have minorities within the department…So I think you look at the opportunities that have been open and where you have been placed by God and by the Almighty.”

Cook, who in 1996 founded Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, told NPR that she measures  measures success by knowing that she has done her best with each day, enabling her to sleep peacefully at night.

She also noted to NPR that success is measured in due time by how one is remembered in history. But for herself, “[E]ach day I awake and I ask God to use me for that day in the best way that God [wants] and that I might make a difference for the people whose lives I touch and who touch mine.”

A Christian aid group launched recently a major campaign for Christians in North Korea, a country which is viewed by many to be the cruelest nation in the world.

Release International, an organization that assists persecuted Christians globally, says Christians in North Korea face greater peril in 2011 because the country faces growing instability and political change, according to their website.

Andy Dipper, CEO of Release said in its website, “North Korea is considered by many to be the most repressive nation on earth. And as the nation grows more unstable, persecution is set to get even worse. That’s why Release is turning the spotlight on North Korea for 2011 by launching a major campaign.”

Dipper said, “2011 is likely to be increasingly precarious for Christians in the North, as military tensions grow between the two Koreas, famine continues, and the North grooms heir apparent Kim Jong-un to take over from his father. Add to that continuing concern over the North’s nuclear program, and it all points to tougher times ahead for Christians.”

Last year, Open Doors ranked North Korea No. 1 in their World Watch List for having “the deadliest level of persecution in the world.” (See http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/09/north-korea-ranks-no-1-for-deadliest-persecution-of-christians-13638).

The Open Doors report said that persecution of Christians is common including beatings, mutilation, torture, jail and murder. Christians are also used to test biological and chemical weapons, and entire families, including grandchildren, are often imprisoned if just one family member is found to be Christian.

Prior to communism, there were perhaps 300,000 Christians in North Korea and its capital city, Pyongyang, was so influential in forwarding the Christian faith that it was called ‘Asia’s Jerusalem,’ Release International said.

Today, BBC estimates that there may be 30,000 Christians in North Korea despite severe persecution. Dipper said, “The Release campaign will be a timely opportunity for both prayer and advocacy to support persecuted Christians in the North.”

Other countries that Release cited as hotspots of Christian persecution are Eritrea (a stepped up campaign is ongoing against evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/11/eritrea-governor-detains-11-christians-in-undisclosed-locations-14414), China (Christian persecution intensified in 2010, see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/christians-in-china-unfazed-remain-optimistic-despite-continued-persecution-14165), Iran (government has blamed house churches for undermining Islam), Pakistan (Asia Bibi is the first woman to be handed a death sentence under its blasphemy law, see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/12/pakistani-official-dismisses-clergy-offer-of-reward-for-bibi%e2%80%99s-death-14750 ), Sudan (a referendum is slated on Jan. 9 to determine the independence of southern Sudan, see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/11/christian-leaders-lend-unified-support-to-fair-and-free-sudan-referendum-14502), and Iraq and Nigeria, where Christians faced violence during Christmas (see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2011/01/multiple-blasts-attack-christian-homes-across-baghdad-at-year%e2%80%99s-end-14952 and http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/12/christian-muslim-leaders-in-nigeria-decry-christmas-eve-bombings-14928) .

Question: “How should a Christian respond to persecution?”

Answer:
Theres no doubt that persecution is a stark reality of living the Christian life. The apostle Paul warned us that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus told us to expect persecution from the world because if they persecuted Him, they will persecute His followers also. Jesus has made it very clear to us that those of the world will hate us because they hate Him. If Christians were like the worldvain, earthly, sensual, given to pleasure, wealth, ambition, the world would not oppose us. But Christians do not belong to the world which is why they hate and persecute us (John 15:18-19). Christians are, or should be, influenced by different principles from those of the world. We are motivated by the love of God and holiness, while the world is driven by the love of sin. It is our very separation from the world that arouses the world’s animosity toward us. The world would prefer that we were like them; since we are not, they hate us (1 Peter 4:3-4).

As faithful Christians, we must learn to recognize the value of persecution and even to rejoice in it, not in an ostentatious way, but quietly and humbly because persecution has great spiritual value. First, persecution allows us to share in a unique fellowship with our Lord. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul outlined a number of things he surrendered for the cause of Christ. Such losses, however, he viewed as rubbish (Philippians 3:8), or dung (KJV), that he might share in the fellowship of Christs sufferings (Philippians 3:10). The noble apostle even counted his chains as a grace (favor) which God had bestowed upon him (Philippians 1:7).

Secondly, in all truth, persecution is good for us. James argues that trials test our faith, work or develop (endurance) in our lives, and help develop maturity (James 1:2-4). For as steel is tempered in the flames of the forge, trials and persecution serve to hone down those rough edges that tarnish our character. Yielding graciously to persecution allows one to demonstrate that he is of a superior quality than his adversaries. Its easy to be hateful, but an ugly disposition throws a light upon our human weakness. It is much more Christ-like to remain calm and to respond in kindness in the face of evil opposition. Without question this is a tremendous challenge, but we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us and the wonderful example of the Lord to encourage us. Peter says of Jesus: When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23).

Third, persecution enables us to value the support of true friends. Conflict sometimes brings faithful children of God together in an encouraging and supportive way they might not have known otherwise. Hardship can stimulate the Lords people toward a greater resolve to love and comfort one another and lift one another to the throne of grace in prayer. Theres nothing like an unpleasant incident to help the more mature rise toward a greater level of brotherly love.

So, when we think about it seriously, we can move ourselves forward, even in the face of antagonism, whether from the world or within the church, and press on. We can thank God for His grace and for His patience with us. We can express gratitude for those whom we love in the Lord and who stand with us in times of distress. And we can pray for those who would accuse, misuse, or abuse us (2 Corinthians 11:24; Romans 10:1).

Recommended Resource:
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs by John Foxe