Persecution: A Biblical Perspective (Talk)

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A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to give a talk at the New Life Conference 2009 giving an broad overview of what the Bible says about persecution and offered some thoughts as to how we as Christians should think about the idea of being persecuted for our faith.

The talk is in 4 parts, I hope you find it helpful – as I mention at the start, this was the first time I’d done a talk on that scale, so any feedback or thoughts in the comments would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

Part 1 (9:34)

Download Part 1 here.

Part 2 (9:41)

Download Part 2 here.

Part 3 (10:14)

Download Part 3 here.

Part 4 (5:46)

Download Part 4 here.

You can find out more about the persecution faced by Christians around the world today through Open Doors: www.opendoorsuk.org

5 thoughts on “Persecution: A Biblical Perspective (Talk)”

  1. Do you work for open-doors as-well? I don’t have time to listen to your talk now but I’ll do so tonight, great to hear another young guy sharing about the persecuted church!

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Dan,
      Thanks for stopping by – I don’t work for Open Doors, though have been involved with them lots in the past, especially with ‘underground’, which was the youth-oriented side of their work (now called Open Doors Youth). I also had the privilege of going on an overseas trip with them as well, which was brilliant as I had the chance to meet persecuted believers face-to-face and hear their stories.
      What’s your involvement with Open Doors? They are a great organisation!
      Do let me know what you think of the talk, feedback always appreciated!
      Thanks,
      James 🙂

      Reply ↓

      • Hi James, I managed to find time to listen, I think you did a grand job by the way especially since you hadn’t done anything to that extent before! It was a good summary of what’s to be said regarding persecution in the scriptures. You mentioned that suffering isn’t due to condemnation from God, that’s a vital point because there are many groups of Christians who teach that if you are in the will of God you will have a problem free, rich, healthy and prosperous life..this is obviously untrue if you apply that definition to Jesus, Paul etc. One thing I’m always careful to distinguish between is marginalization and persecution although it does depend how you would define persecution. I try and get across to people is that the goal of persecution is to keep Christians quiet..to stop us talking about Jesus. There’s no need for out-right persecution here in the west because our secular culture achieves the same results without requiring it.

        Awesome to hear you’ve been on a trip, where did you go? I work as a volunteer speaker for OD, so I pretty much do OD presentations at churches and try to encourage people to get involved and praying.

        Can I ask whereabouts you are based?

        I’m in Guildford, Surrey.

        Thanks,

        Daniel

  2. Hi Dan,
    Thanks for that feedback, tis encouraging to read! You’re right that there is an important distinction between persecution and marginalisation, especially with some people trying to claim there is ‘persecution’ of Christians in the UK, when it is more just marginalisation with a particularly secularist twist.
    I went on a Bible Courier trip to a certain large country in East Asia, which was an eye opening experience, amazing to meet with and hear perspective of people who have suffered so much for their faith.
    I’m based in Farnborough, Hampshire, so not too far from you really, but I work in London for CARE. Which church are you based at in Guildford? Hope you enjoy the blog, must get round to writing some more soon, just very busy at the moment! 🙂

    Reply ↓

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