Extreme Truth

The godless professor smiled at the photo of Lenin hanging next to the door and then stepped up to the pitcher of water sitting on a table. He pulled out a packet of powder, and as he slowly poured it in, the water turned red.

“This is the whole miracle,” he began his lesson. “Jesus had hidden in his sleeves a powder like this and then pretended to have changed the water into wine in a wonderful manner. But I can do even better than Jesus; I can change the wine into water again.”

He pulled out another packet of powder and put it in the red liquid. It became clear. With another packet, it became red again.

One of the students sat at his desk, shaking his head, unimpressed. Finally, he challenged the professor: “You have amazed us, Comrade Professor. We ask of you just one more thing—drink your wine!”

The professor chuckled and said, “This I cannot do. The powder is poison.”

The Christian replied, “This is the whole difference between you and Jesus. He, with his wine, has given us joy, whereas you poison us with your wine.” The professor angrily stomped out of his room and had the student arrested and thrown in prison. But news of the incident spread very far and strengthened many in their faith.

The enemy’s promise of an easy exchange is a lie. Most department stores have a user-friendly return policy that allows customers to exchange their purchases in order to be satisfied. People stand in line to swap a smaller size for a larger one or one color for another in hopes that it will make them look thinner or prettier or just plain happier. Likewise, many people in life are standing in line, God’s truth in hand. They are told to swap God’s truth for anything, and it will make them satisfied customers. We always end up disappointed in the end. God wants you to see through the enemy’s lies. Hold on to God’s truth—at any cost.

Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs

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Extreme Family

In the Cambodian jungle, Haim and his family were given shovels and told to dig their own graves. They were hostages of the Khmer Rouge who considered Christians “enemies of the glorious revolution.”

The soldiers allowed Haim and his family to kneel, hold hands, and pray. Haim then urged the soldiers to repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The soldiers were puzzled by the compassion in his voice in the face of death.

As he spoke, one of his sons jumped up and fled into the woods. The soldiers started after him, but Haim stopped them. His calmness convinced the Communists to see what he would do.

While his family knelt with the soldiers’ guns trained on them, Haim stepped to the edge of the forest. “Son, can stealing a few more days of life as a fugitive in that forest compare to joining your family here around a grave, but soon free forever in paradise with Christ?” After a moment, there was a rustling of some brush as Haim’s son tearfully walked out and knelt down with his father.

Haim looked at the soldiers, “Now we are ready to go.”

But none of the soldiers could pull their triggers. Soon, however, an officer came by who had not witnessed the boy’s return, scolded the soldiers as cowards, and killed the Christians.

Some families are known for being extremely close-knit. Others pride themselves on being extremely wealthy. Still other families point to their extreme busyness for significance. While God can use these other things, his idea of influence is very different. What makes a family useful in God’s kingdom? Extreme obedience. It’s not the size of a family’s minivan that counts; it is their commitment to Christ. God designed family as a place where parents lead by example in order for children to learn how to obey Christ. While Haim’s scenario is unique, we can be just as obedient in our own situations. How would you characterize your own family’s commitment? Whose family is an example of an extreme family?

Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs

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Extreme Devotion

Before burning at the stake for teaching the Bible, Dr. Rowland Taylor wrote these beautiful words:


“I say to my wife and to my children, the Lord gave you to me, and the Lord has taken me from you and you from me: Blessed be the name of the Lord! I have ever found him more faithful and favorable than is any husband or father. Trust in him by means of our dear Savior’s merits: Believe, love, fear, and obey him. Pray to him, for he has promised to help. Count me not dead, for I shall eternally live and never die. I go before, and you shall follow after, to our eternal home.

“I say to you my dear friends of Hadley, and to all those who have heard me preach, that I depart from here with a quiet conscience concerning my teaching, for which I pray you thank God with me. For I have, in keeping with my little talent, declared to others those lessons that I gathered out of God’s book, the blessed Bible. Therefore, if I, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you another gospel than that which you have received, God’s great curse be upon that preacher!

“Departing from here with sure hope, without any doubting of eternal salvation, I thank God my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ my certain Savior.”

Rowland Taylor

Can you recall your most memorable childhood teacher? Perhaps it was a certain perfume she wore. Maybe it was the peculiar way he smoothed his bald spot. Something about the person remains in your mind. However, when we grow older, we value teachers for different reasons. We recall what they taught us—lessons we’ll never forget. We’ll always remember the one who first taught us God’s Word. We cannot afford to forget the basic truths our teachers shared with us about God’s love and his salvation. When someone else comes along in the name of enlightenment or academia, God’s truths will protect you and help you recognize falsehood. They are more than mere memories. They are your most valuable possession.

Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs

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Extreme Devotion

The people of Hadley begged Dr. Rowland Taylor not to go see the bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor. They knew the bishop was furious at the teachings of Dr. Taylor.


For nearly twenty years, the English Bible had been legally distributed in England. Dr. Taylor had simply taught all those in his church to read the Bible for themselves and to follow its teachings. In contrast, religious leaders under the brutal rule of Queen Mary I called for strict adherence to the customs of the church.

After being insulted and accused by the bishop, Rowland replied, “I am a Christian man. I have not blasphemed against the church. In fact, by your own charge, you are the heretic. Christ died once and for all for the sins of mankind. It is sufficient. You and your traditions can offer nothing more.”

For the next two years, Dr. Taylor was a prisoner. When he learned that he would be burned at the stake outside Hadley, he leaped for joy. He was not concerned for his safety. Instead, he rejoiced at the thought of traveling through Hadley and once again seeing his brothers and sisters in the faith.

Dr. Rowland Taylor was martyred in the winter of 1555.

Love is spoken in many different languages. People need to hear love in their own language in order to recognize it. Some husbands serve their wives breakfast in bed to demonstrate their love. Still other spouses need a thoughtful gift in order to hear “I love you” loud and clear. Greeting card companies hope we’ll say it with words. Jesus, however, says that his love language is obedience. That is how we express our love to him. When we obey him, we show that we love him. Taylor was martyred for teaching his followers to speak Jesus’ love language. He taught them to read the Bible and obey its teaching. Show Jesus you love him, and honor Dr. Taylor’s memory today.

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Extreme Devotion

They huddled inside the room while hearing the screams of fellow Christians being butchered outside. Pastor Hendrick Pattiwael and his wife were helping to lead the Indonesian youth camp, and they felt responsible for the young people in their care.

The camp had been a joyous time of spiritual growth and worship. Then they were attacked.

When the radical Muslim mob surrounded the building where they hid, Pastor Pattiwael went outside. Distracting the bloodthirsty mob’s attention away from his wife and the young people, the pastor was attacked while the others escaped.

“Jesus, help me.” They were his final words.

His wife next saw him lying in a coffin. Ugly wounds crisscrossed his torso and arms. In shock and anger, Mrs. Pattiwael cried out to God. “How could you let this happen? Why didn’t you protect my husband?”

But the Holy Spirit reminded her of her husband’s words only days before the attack. “If you love Jesus, but you love me or your family more, you are unworthy of Christ’s kingdom.” He told her that he was ready to die for Christ’s kingdom.

Remembering those words, she refused to become bitter. She still works with her church in Indonesia. The advice that she would give Christians in free nations is simply this: “Seek God more earnestly, so that you can stand in the midst of more trouble.”

We don’t have to go looking for trouble. It already has our address. Jesus often reminded his disciples that trials are part of daily living. Seeking God more earnestly does not mean seeking more trouble for our lives. No, the benefit of seeking a deeper relationship with God is to better prepare us for the inevitable. We don’t have a choice about what troubles come our way. However, we can choose to have a relationship with God that prepares us for trouble. Some trials may mean losing our lives for Christ's sake. Yet this is not the real sacrifice. The extreme sacrifice must come long before. We must sacrifice selfishness at every level in order to develop intimacy with God ahead of time. When we have sacrificed all to pursue a preeminent relationship with Christ, we will have already done the hardest part.

Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs

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Extreme Letters

Philippians 3:18

Dear Mom and Dad,

I greet you with the love of Christ. I am doing well and feel very blessed. One of my schoolmates, Varia, is a member of the Communist Youth Organization. I have been witnessing to her, and I think I am finally starting to get through to her. Recently she said, “I cannot understand you at all. So many of the students insult and hurt you, and you love them anyway.”

I told her that God has taught us all to love, not only those who are kind to us, but especially those who are unkind—that they might see God within us. Varia has been one of the ones to join in the mocking and insults, but that has only made me pray for her even more.

Today, she asked me if I could really love her too! We embraced and both began to weep. I believe she is very close to receiving Christ. Please pray for her.

When you listen to those who loudly deny God, it seems like they mean it. But life shows that many of them really have a great longing in their hearts. And you can hear the groaning of the heart; they seek something and try to cover their inner emptiness with their godlessness.

I will write soon. Please send my love to everyone at home.

Maria

God created human beings with a spiritual space within them that can only be completely filled by him. When we run across someone who is hostile to Christianity, we can remind ourselves of the tremendous needs in that person’s life. Imagine a cavernous space in the chest cavity of your enemy—a body without a heart. This inner emptiness is what drives many people to a spiritual search. They either respond in faith, wanting to accept Christ’s offer to fill the void, or they respond with bitterness, rejecting Christ altogether. Often, a Christian’s presence simply reminds those who reject Christ what they are missing in their own lives. They are not resenting you personally. They resent what you represent.

Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs

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