Luis Alberto Alves
The time has come when persecutions against Christians have increased. Before, in the first 200 years of our era, we had death in the coliseum, in Rome, when our first brothers in the faith served as food for lions, in addition to the various tortures they suffered so that they would deny faith in Jesus Christ.
Today, suffering is psychological, to hurt the mind and of course the soul. Subtly, politicians from different countries create laws to hinder the preaching of the Gospel, in addition to preventing Christians from publicly manifesting their faith.
It is a fierce dictatorship disguised as democracy, where enemies can say anything about us and we cannot reply, because we are accused of being fundamentalists. That is, you can speak badly and mock me, but I am prevented from making any manifestation.
legions
In Rio de Janeiro, considered a beautiful postcard of Brazil, because of its worldly party, Carnival, rocked by legions of prostitution spirits, a bill has already been presented to the state government prohibiting evangelization in the streets.
In this case, the Christian is prevented from talking about the love of Jesus in public, that is, on the subway, buses, trains, in the streets, squares, bars, restaurants or bakeries. If you're going to visit hospitals, you should just stick to talking about the gospel to the patient you're visiting. You cannot direct the Word to anyone else.
The proposal is to lock the Christian inside the temples. Only there will it be possible, for the time being, to speak about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Outside that location, any evangelistic attitude will be considered an invasion of privacy.
Medicine
Even in the face of a case with someone possessed by demons and who is fallen and attacked by an evil spirit, the Christian needs to keep quiet. Without showing any kind of reaction, waiting for medicine to resolve the situation, applying injections of tranquilizers to make him fall asleep.
A few days ago I witnessed a similar situation, with a hotel employee manifested by several legions of evil spirits. Her state was so violent that more than 5 men could not hold her.
The demonic spirits made her scream terrible names, scaring anyone who passed close to the place where she was squirming on the ground. After almost 2 hours, two military police officers arrived at the scene. When faced with the scene, they did not show any kind of reaction.
Strength
After much struggle, they managed to tie the woman's arms with several strips of cloth, in an attempt to keep her immobilized. I remember that one of the policemen looked scared in the face of that situation, where physical force has no positive effect.
This is the typical case where the mighty Word of Jesus Christ needs to prevail. For Medicine, someone possessed by demons is in a psychotic break. Needs to receive strong injections of tranquilizers to calm down. However, evil spirit rejects any kind of remedy. They are expelled only through the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately there are excesses, with denominations that decided to give the devil more ratings, leaving the Word of God in the background. When he preached the Gospel, during his three years of ministry, Jesus Christ, in addition to healing, delivered many demon-possessed people.
Process
But today everything has changed. What is wrong has become right, and what is right has become wrong. It is only possible for a Christian to open his mouth to speak amen. Even in the face of absurd situations, he cannot say anything, otherwise he runs a serious risk of legal action.
In my adolescence and early youth, in the 1970s and 1980s, I felt firsthand the absurdities of a dictatorial regime. I noticed how the police reacted against critics of the military regime that was in power from 1964 to 1985 in Brazil.
At that time it was forbidden to listen to certain songs, especially those that spoke of freedom and justice. Meetings with several people, mainly to discuss politics, were prohibited. Certain books could not be sold, let alone read in public.
Nightmares
When someone disrespected the rules imposed by the dictatorial regime, he died under physical and psychological torture. After 38 years, we live in a democratic Brazil, where people no longer suffer the nightmares of the military dictatorship. On the other hand, Christians became the persecuted of the time.
In theory, evangelicals are free to profess their faith in Jesus Christ. However, in theory this is not what happens. They are ridiculed by the media, through soap operas, films, miniseries, debauchery songs, plays attacking the life of Jesus. All in the name of democracy.
The Christian, on the other hand, needs to remain silent. If you open your mouth to respond to offenses, you are soon classified as fundamentalists and intolerant. That is, someone can invade your home, but you cannot use physical force to expel him from there. This attitude will be interpreted as undemocratic.
Images
You've already heard cases in Brazil of demonstrations where people made fun of the Christian faith. In one of them, a group of women took crucifixes and rubbed them in the genital areas, in addition to destroying images of Catholic saints. All in public. When questioned, they said that artistic expression was free.
There have already been cases of burning the Bible in public, on the grounds that it was a fundamentalist book, not in line with the existing ideals of this 21st century. The authorities were silent. They treated the subject as freedom of expression. That is, wrong becoming right.
In some large companies, mainly in the area of communication, professionals who declare themselves to be evangelicals suffer all kinds of persecution and discrimination. They are treated as if they were someone with a contagious disease. Both men and women became the butt of malicious jokes.
Error
The other employees who profess another type of faith are seen as special people without experiencing any type of discrimination or offenses. It is up to the evangelical to always get it right. If he makes any kind of mistake, he runs the risk of losing his job or being harassed.
As Sadrach, Meshach and Abdenego did when refusing to eat the king's delicacies in Babylon to avoid the spiritual contamination of that nation, today if evangelical officials do not accept consuming alcoholic beverages at the traditional end of year festivities, this attitude will be seen as fundamentalist.
Even with the Brazilian Constitution ensuring the free manifestation of religious freedom, in practice this type of situation does not happen. Subtly, the evangelical is hunted, as in ancient Rome, not to be thrown into the arena to be devoured by lions.
Home
But to suffer all kinds of humiliation. If you become ill and cannot attend work. Soon someone will say that Jesus Christ stopped healing the sick. He didn't come to work because he decided to stay at home. Even without physical and psychological conditions, it is necessary to go to work.
Already other colleagues who serve other gods, none of this happens. Even when they suffered stomach problems from excessive drinking. This attitude is seen as something of someone who enjoys life. Nothing is wrong. Just a fatality.
If an evangelical woman claims that she intends to date, get engaged and get married in a religious ceremony conducted by a pastor in a Christian denomination, she will soon become the target of malicious jokes in the workplace; it will be classified as old-fashioned.
Registry
According to the rules of the world, the correct thing is to move in together, without any matrimonial bond before the Law of God and men, with a marriage certificate issued at the registry office. In the view of most people who are ignorant of the Lord's commandments, this attitude is the right one.
A modern employee or student, in tune with the 21st century, is the one who consumes all kinds of drugs, licit and illicit. Who corrupts himself, does not respect the law, attacks his neighbor with words and commits all kinds of absurdities. This does not suffer any kind of punishment.
As the prophet Isaiah said, when he stated that “woe to him who makes right wrong and wrong right”. This Word is fulfilled in this 21st century. With the darkness investing strongly against the servants of God, using all kinds of weapons, aiming to destroy the communion with Jesus Christ.
Mateus
On the other hand, all these attacks must be well regarded by evangelicals, because the Word of the Lord is being fulfilled, as written in Matthew 24/9: “And because of my name, you will be hated by all. But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
These persecutions will increase. Even to serve as a mechanism to prove who really serves Jesus Christ, even paddling against the strong tide of evil. The day is not far off when the Bible will be considered a subversive book, with words that should never be quoted, even in churches.
The secret is to remain firm in faith in the Lord, aware that we are not from this world, where the evil one lies. The refreshment that when we die we will go to Glory and there we will be beside Jesus Christ. In eternity we will enjoy true peace, which never existed on this planet. Stand firm through the trials.
Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário