In Exile: Cadences of Home

“In Exile: Cadences of Home—
Really, Really Faithful Under Fire”
www.newperceptions.tv

»Four very short stories

»Four very simple reasons

• #1—Persecution is the expected modus operandi of the devil (“evil”
with a “d”) in his “great controversy” warfare to the divine allies and exiles on earth.

• 2 Timothy 3:12—“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be .”

• #2—Trials and tribulations character and dependency
on God.

• John 16:33—“‘I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have . But take heart! I have the world.’”

• 1 Peter 4:12-13—“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to you [as gold purified in the fire—1:6-7], as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

• #3—Persecution keeps the line of demarcation between the exiles and the culture of the captor .

• Walter Brueggemann: “The great problem for exiles is cultural . The primary threat to those ancient Jews was that members of the community would decide that Jewishness was too demanding, or too dangerous, or too costly, and simply accept Babylonian definitions and modes of reality.” (Cadences of Home: Preaching among Exiles 41)

• Lee Beach: “While integration with culture is necessary, to it in all aspects is not.” (The Church in Exile: Living in Hope After Christendom 89)

• #4—Persecution actually the Kingdom of God on earth!

• Esther 8:17—“And many people of other nationalities became because fear of the Jews had seized them.”

• Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream—the king at Daniel’s feet in obeisance to Daniel’s God (Daniel 2:46).

• Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and Nebuchadnezzar’s image—the king their God above all other gods (Daniel 3:29).

• Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar after his insanity—“I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and the King of heaven, because everything he does is right” (Daniel 4:37).

• Daniel and Darius the Great—“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of .” (Daniel 6:26)

• Tertullian: “The blood of Christians is .”

• Frederick Dale Bruner: “In Matthean and biblical teaching the tribulation of the latter days is a Christian experience and ‘runs from the first advent to the second.’ We’re in it! . . . The tribulation of persecution is the essence of Christian . . . . A winnowed, persecuted, purged, minority church—paradoxically,
evangelically— .”
(Matthew: A Commentary 2:483-484, 292)

• Acts 8:1, 4—“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were throughout Judea and Samaria. . . . Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

• Ellen White: “The two armies [faith communities] will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of God’s commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place in the battle, . . . many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be for Christ’s sake in standing in defense of the truth.” (Maranatha 199)

• Jesus: “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute also.”
(John 15:20)

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and .” (Cost of Discipleship 99)

• Frederick Dale Brunner: “Though the church is winnowed down, betrayed, arrested, and martyred, nevertheless, like the betrayed, arrested, and executed Jesus himself, it experiences resurrection after crucifixion. The slaughtered lamb becomes a lion!” (492)

If persecution grows the Kingdom—
why not?