Yes, Geigh, you are certainly right. We do still have freedom of religion right now. But as the end-time comes, we are told that the Christians left will be more persecuted than ever before in history. Sadly, there are those who call themselves Christians and are totally intolerant of other races. I talked to a friend once quite innocently really, because our surrogate brother is from Ghana. My first love at age 5 was a young Afro-German orphan. My parents, most actively my mother, had always taught us respect and love for anyone who was different in any way. My father, like me, wasn’t much of a talker but we try/tried to live our faith.

Anyway, I used to go to this one church member’s house to do my laundry when I had no close laundry facilities. She was nice and kind and one day we were talking about films. I happened to mention that I like Denzel Washington as an actor and that I couldn’t remember ever hearing any gossip about him. “Ah,” she said, “but I have.” “Oh,” I replied “what was it about?” “Well, I can’t tell you right now but I have definitely heard some things.” She wouldn’t tell me anything more but I realized that day why a friend of ours, Afro-Canadian with a Mohawk Iroquois grandmother, had told my mother and me about the discrimination she faced at our church. I could hardly believe it at that time thinking that she might have been overly sensitive. After that day at Anne’s house, I realized that Marion was right. I had also seen a news-clip on TV when we had an election in which a party that called itself “Christian” propounded the theory that Canada was accepting too many and too varied peoples as immigrants. Right in the front row sat two women I knew.

Huh, I got off topic again. But irks me so much when people are stereo-typed according to nationality, race, language and it must certainly grieve God very much when His children are martyred or marred for love of Him. I remember a native Indian preacher, from India, telling us about being called to bring the message of Christ to a somewhat hostile area in India. A few of the people became believers and in response non-believers, I think burned down his house or something like that. I’m not exactly sure of all the facts anymore but I think he went to the men suspected of having set his house on fire and forgave them. This astonished them so much that they wanted to know for themselves why someone would forgive them for such an act. As a result, quite a number of people in the area came to be saved.

Only God can give us the grace and strength to forgive others for a sin they have perpetrated against us and for us to forgive sins we perpetrated against them. Even non-Christian psychologists know that to refuse to forgive someone is at the heart of many psychological problems whether it’s someone else or even ourselves. May He always give us that grace.

One of the missionaries I used to work with told me that when she went to the Middle East, she met a woman who’s face had been partially blown off for refusing to denounce Christianity–and she was a new Christian. Well, she survived the shooting and this missionary, when she saw her, just fell at her feet in humilty.

Pastors in Chica are being burned alive. Christians are being beheaded in Muslin countries.

So we are truly blessed to be able to have the freedom to serve God and the freedom to “proudly” say we are Christians.

Now the enemy is trying to slither its way into the US and gradually cause us to lose our freedom of religion here. I hope the saints can see what he’s up to!!