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Enjoy Life, Enjoy God


Dale Patterson

IN CHAINS

August 16, 2010

Imagine being in chains because you have chosen to follow Christ, to be a Christian. It's almost impossible, I suspect, for most of us to imagine such. But it's not at all difficult to be reluctant about our faith, reserved, embarrassed about the faith.

And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. - Philippians 1:14 TNIV

Paul is in chains because of his faith. He writes to tell the Philippians that his misfortune has had a paradoxical effect: it's encouraged other Christians to be bolder in pointing others to Christ.
Could it be we need a little less comfort and maybe a dose of persecution to make us more bold in the faith? By the way, I'm not volunteering, but... Today there are sisters and brothers in Christ at places in the world who are in chains, are attacked for the faith, and coincidentally, the Christian faith is booming in those places, as opposed to American Christians who flit from one church to the next. The faith is booming when chains show up and it becomes less than comfortable to follow Jesus.
Joyfully,
Dale Patterson