From Voice of the Martyrs:

Maryam, 27, and Marzieh, 30, were arrested and sent to Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. The two women did not rob a bank, kill a man or beat up someone.

Their crime? Loving Jesus. And it is for this reason alone they are still imprisoned.

In August during a court hearing, the two were questioned repeatedly about their faith.

They were told to return to Islam.

“We love Jesus,” was their reply. Prosecutors asked the women, who had already spent five months in prison, if they regretted being Christians.

“We have no regrets,” they said. “We will not deny our faith.”

The judge sent them back to Evin Prison – notorious for its brutality – to “think about” their decision.

“We have already done our thinking,” they told him.

Maryam and Marzieh are among dozens of Iranian Christians arrested, detained or interrogated in Iran in recent months. The harassment is the radical Islamic government’s response to an Iranian revival that has thousands of Iranians coming to Christ each month.

Please pray for these two sisters and millions more across the globe who face daily threats and violence for their Christian faith.

“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” (Hebrews 13:3)

I believe we all want to be part of something greater than ourselves, to touch lives and make an impact that will outlast our short lives under the sun.

One of the greatest ways to do this is to be committed and involved in a local church. Those who think they are doing great and noble things for God’s kingdom apart from His church are driving down a dead-end street. Ray Ortlund writes…

Suppose I said, “My passion isn’t to build up my marriage. My passion is for Marriage. I want the institution of Marriage to be revered again. I’ll work for that. I’ll pray for that. I’ll sacrifice for that. But don’t expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani. I’m aiming at something grander.”

If I said that, would you think, “Wow, Ray is so committed”? Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind?

If you care about the Kingdom, be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church. Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, participate in your church every Sunday with wholehearted passion.

We build great churches the same way we build great marriages — real commitment that makes a positive difference every day.

HT: Justin Taylor

On Saturday, October 17th, 2009, First Southern Baptist will host an evangelistic harvest festival open to the public. There will be free food, kids games, door prizes, a bounce house, and country music concert.

The BBQ begins at 4:30 pm, followed by the Christian country band Southland at 5. Right after the concert, we’ll have ice cream and a raffle drawing. Come join us, and bring a friend!

Ephesians 5 is one of the clearest passages in all the Bible dealing with marriage and the family. But what’s so fascinating about this passage is that Paul is teaching on two levels at the same time.

First, Paul is describing the literal level, that a man is to love his wife; that a woman is to submit to her husband; and that they are joined together as “one flesh.” There is intimacy, permanence, and mutual respect in marriage.

But there’s a second level Paul is teaching on. In verse 32, he says something extraordinary. “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32). Wait a second, Paul, weren’t you just speaking with reference to man and woman in marriage?? Well, yes. But he was also speaking of something deeper and even more wonderful: the union between Christ and His bride, the church. This is the second level.

I love being married. I’m so thankful the Lord has given me a wonderful bride Natalie. But Ephesians 5 teaches there is an even more wonderful union that Christ is producing in us. Marriage is temporary, but union with Christ is permanent. Marriage is wonderful, but fellowship among believers and our Savior is in many ways actually superior.

Jayne Clark explains how the joyful relationship of Christ with His church outshines the relationship between husband and wife:

Consider Genesis 2 through the lens of the New Testament. As surprising and awesome as it must have been for Adam to open his eyes and see a woman who was like him but not like him, how much more awesome it is when we meet brothers and sisters who differ from us in innumerable ways—culture, background, social class, political views, education, interests, everything imaginable—but with whom we still have a sense of recognition and connection, a sense of familiarity that says, “I feel like I know you. Have we met before?”

As beautiful and miraculous as it is for a husband and wife to become one flesh, how
much more beautiful and miraculous it is to be the body of Christ, so connected with one another that if one part suffers, we all suffer. If one part is honored, we are all honored. We are all the bride of Christ together.

As incredible as it is for a husband and wife to come together so that they can be fruitful and multiply, how much more incredible it is that Christ should multiply and grow His kingdom by sending flawed people like us to make disciples of all nations.

As wonderful as it must have been for Adam and Eve to be naked and unashamed with each other, how much more wonderful it is that dirty, rotten scoundrels like us should have our sins washed away by the blood of Christ and now stand clothed in His righteousness! We no longer need to hide behind fig leaves when our sin is exposed. Now we can confess our sins one to another. (“Loneliness: God’s Remedy,” Journal of Biblical Counseling, Fall 2005)

This is a strong cure for the sorrow of singleness and loneliness that many people face. Whether we’re married or single, we have much to be thankful for in our union with Jesus Christ and one another. Marriage is great, and it does offer great companionship in this life, but it’s still only a picture of a spiritual unity even more permanent and profound, a relationship available to all people, that will outlast this life and carry on through the rest of eternity.

“Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18).

J. C. Ryle says of this passage:

“Great is the wisdom wherewith the Lord Jesus Christ builds His Church! All is done at the right time, and in the right way. Each stone in its turn is put in its right place. Sometimes He chooses great stones, and sometimes He chooses small stones. Sometimes the work goes on fast, and sometimes it goes on slowly. Man is frequently impatient, and thinks that nothing is doing. But man’s time is not God’s time. A thousand years in His sight are but as a single day. The great Builder makes no mistakes. He knows what He is doing. He sees the end from the beginning. He works by a perfect, unalterable and certain plan. The mightiest conceptions of architects, like Michaelangelo and Wren, are mere trifling and child’s play, in comparison with Christ’s wise counsels respecting His Church.” (Ryle, Holiness, p. 213)