Tortured For Christ

The Beginning

As of late, I have had the pleasure of reading a book, “Tortured For Christ” by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand. I must confess that it has brought me to the brink of tears on several occasions. It is a powerful and moving account of a faithful pastor, who was imprisoned in Communist U.S.S.R. for 14 years. The accounts of the beatings, abuse and mistreatment is powerful, however, more powerful is seeing this man's heart for people. He was kidnapped off the street in February of 1948, and his first imprisonment lasted 8 ½ years. When I look at all of the horrible things he and his family endured perhaps one of the things that pains my heart the most was this: “My wife was visited by the secret police who posed as released fellow-prisoners. They told her that they had attended my burial.” What a wretched evil, vile thing to do. Think of the pain, really imagine it. It wasn't enough that he was taken, but that he wife was told that he was dead to pain her also. However, I don't find that the thing that was most striking. Every story he told, was powerful, yet I can not quote the whole book.

Father, Son and Murder

For your digestion I offer you this, the first story of his I read. Granted, it is something that happened to someone other then him, nevertheless, the pain of simply knowing the man must have been inconceivable.

A pastor by the name of Florescu was tortured with red-hot iron pokers and with knives. He was beaten very badly. Then starving rats were driven into his cell through a large pipe. He could not sleep because he had to defend himself all the time. If he rested a moment, the rats would attack him. He was forced to stand for two weeks, day and night. The Communists wished to compel him to betray his brethren, but he resisted steadfastly. Eventually, they brought his fourteen-year-old son to the prison and began to whip the boy in front of his father, saying that they would continue to beat him until the pastor said what they wished him to say. The poor man was half mad. He bore it as long as he could, then he cried to his son, “Alexander, I must say what they want! I can’t bear your beating anymore!” The son answered, “Father, don’t do me the injustice of having a traitor as a parent. Withstand! If they kill me, I will die with the words, ‘Jesus and my fatherland.’” The Communists, enraged, fell upon the child and beat him to death, with blood spattered over the walls of the cell. He died praising God. Our dear brother Florescu was never the same after seeing this.

While the pain of torture and beating, abuse, murder man seem like the primary story here, I think that the greater story is that of Brother Florescu raising a faithful son. Oh how I long to know that my son would choose death rather then betray Christ or have others betray him. That is faithfulness, that is Godly parenting. Perhaps, I (we) should make Proverbs 1:10 our prayer - My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. Flee Sin, Run Far from it. Do not let your eyes take pleasure in wickedness. My son, do not betray Christ. He is worth more then all the riches this life can give you.

My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.

Proverbs 6:20.

Do you have cause to think that man is Good? Let me Remove it.

I don't think that there is a political system of governance that causes people to become wicked. I think and believe that it is there nature, it is inborn. They have the nature of there father Adam, fallen depraved and full of anger, hate and malice. Often times I have quoted portions of Scripture that attests to this fact, however, as a refresher, allow me to briefly state the bible case:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (Genesis 6:5-6 ESV)

And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. (Genesis 8:21 ESV)

Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth. (Job 4:17-19 ESV)

To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. (Psalms 14:1-3 ESV)

Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"? (Proverbs 20:9 ESV)

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV)

"Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me, declares the LORD.

(Jeremiah 2:29 ESV)

The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. (Micah 7:2-4 ESV)

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19 ESV)

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:9-18 ESV)

For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:16 ESV)

Of course this is only a handful of texts, and there are many many more, yet I think that some have devalued the word of God in there sinfulness as to not have these be an authority. I offer you accounts of this depravity from Pastor Wurmbrand's experiences.

What the Communists have done to Christians surpasses any possibility of human understanding. I have seen Com­mu­nists whose faces while torturing believers shone with rapturous joy. They cried out while torturing the Christians, “We are the devil!”We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of evil.... I often asked the torturers, “Don’t you have pity in your hearts?” They usually answered with quotations from Lenin: “You cannot make omelets without breaking the shells of eggs,” and “You cannot cut wood without making chips fly.” I said again, “I know these quotations from Lenin. But there is a difference. When you cut a piece of wood it feels nothing. But here you are dealing with human beings. Every beating produces pain and there are mothers who weep.” It was in vain. They are materialists. For them nothing besides matter exists and to them a man is like wood, like an eggshell. With this belief they sink to unthinkable depths of cruelty. The cruelty of atheism is hard to believe. When a man has no faith in the reward of good or the punishment of evil, there is no reason to be human. There is no restraint from the depths of evil that is in man. The Communist torturers often said, “There is no God, no hereafter, no punishment for evil. We can do what we wish.” I heard one torturer say, “I thank God, in whom I don’t believe, that I have lived to this hour when I can express all the evil in my heart.” He expressed it in unbelievable brutality and torture inflicted on prisoners. I am very sorry if a crocodile eats a man, but I can’t re­proach the crocodile. He is not a moral being. So no reproaches can be made to the Communists.... They boasted that they had no pity in their hearts. I learned from them. As they allowed no place for Jesus in their hearts, I decided I would leave not the smallest place for Satan in mine.

Does this bring Romans Chapter 1 to mind for anyone else?

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18-23 ESV)

Taking a Beating for Christ

I must say, that when Pastor Wurmbrand, speaks of another pastor whom he was imprisoned with, Pastor Milan Haimovici, I was shaken to the core. While what is said about him is very brief, I have to say that this man is the greatest evangelist I have ever known about. Here is his Story – The heroic examples of those in prison greatly inspired the brethren who were still free. One of the really great heroes of the faith was Pastor Milan Haimovici. The prisons were overcrowded and the guards did not know us by name. They called out for those who had been sentenced to get twenty-five lashes with a whip for having broken some prison rule. Innumerable times, Pastor Haimovici went to get the beating in the place of someone else. By this he won the respect of other prisoners not only for himself, but also for Christ whom he represented.

Think about it for a moment... Would you take 25 lashes for someone else, simply to show love like Jesus? We are all about showing love like Jesus did in this country, but how far are we really willing to take it. Money, Time, Food, Hospital Visits, ect? How about 25 lashes? Of course this isn't the only beatings that were taken and given. It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners, as it is in captive nations today. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal: we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching; they were happy beating us—so everyone was happy. The following scene happened more times than I can remember. A brother was preaching to the other prisoners when the guards suddenly burst in, surprising him halfway through a phrase. They hauled him down the corridor to their “beating room.” After what seemed an endless beating, they brought him back and threw him—bloody and bruised—on the prison floor. Slowly, he picked up his battered body, painfully straightened his clothing and said, “Now, brethren, where did I leave off when I was interrupted?” He continued his gospel message! I have seen beautiful things!

Beautiful things indeed – How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! How much do you enjoy encouraging your Christian brothers and getting the joy of suffering for it.

This is a powerful book. I would fully recommend it to all to read. I hope that we can learn from the faithfulness of these men and women, who have suffered before us, so that we may suffer for our savior.

Thoughts from A .W. Pink

The more fully we are conformed unto the image of Christ—the less power will the world have to
attract us. When I say that, I refer to something more than its amusements and grosser sins; I
mean also its pretty things.

One of the marks of a child is to value a thing not according to its worth and usefulness—but
according to its attractiveness to the eye. The more we are really growing in grace—the less shall we be attracted by such baubles, and the more attention shall we give to the adorning of our souls.

One half of practical godliness, is a dying unto the world; the other half is a living unto God: the mortification of self-love; and the strengthening of love to God. "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, andI unto the world." (Galations 6:14) That is the language and the experience of a mature saint—dead to the world. It no longer has any attraction for him, nor power over him.

A. W. Pink

What do we truly "Glory" in? Is it The Cross?
Do you realize that saying,"We Glory only in the Cross" is ( to paraphrase John Piper) Like saying:
"I glory in Lynching"
"I glory in the Electric Chair"
"I glory in Lethal Injection"
Think about how offensive that would be to say today, and that is how offensive

the Cross Truly is.

The Perfect Man-God, Jesus Christ, Was nailed to the Cross For OUR sins.

Now that is something to be offended over.

10 Ways to Blaspheme the Name of God

Oh my G-D!

Does it bother you when you hear that? It really bothers me, to the point
where I have told complete strangers to not say it
I hate Blaspheme, there is almost

NOTHING WORSE
then taking the name of the God who gave you
LIFE, BREATH, EYES TO SEE, YOUR FAMILY
AND EVERYTHING ELSE
and using it to express just how disgusted with something you are.
You have never used your mother's name
in that manor
yet you use
GOD'S NAME
in that way.

So I figure that you my readers should care about his subject as much as i do, so here is an essay
that might just change how you view the concept of how often and how easily we blaspheme God
This is puritan theology those of you who are afraid, just read on and I pray you will be changed.

Taking the Name of God in Vain
By. Dr. C. Matthew McMahon

The third commandment is often the most memorable because we often hear people using the name of God in vain. We are reminded of the third commandment especially if we work in a secular environment, or we have relatives who show forth their rebellious nature without qualms in the language they use. But in looking closely at the third commandment we will find more than we bargained for. We as Christians break the third commandment more often than any pagan who may be screaming "God D_____t" or "Jesus Christ!"

What does the third commandment say? "Thou shalt not use the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who uses His name in vain." What does this commandment principally teach? The third commandment forbids all profaning and abusing of anything whereby God makes Himself known. (Malachi 1:6-8; Lev. 20:3; 19:12; Matthew 5:34-37; Isa. 52:5.) It is not simply a matter of cursing or using the name God or Jesus vainly in that way. It is true that God's name is not to be used in that manner. We are not to say "God bless you" frivolously when someone sneezes, or say "Oh my God" when we are excited or ecstatic. Truly, we use His name in vain when we say those kinds of things. But the use of God's name is hardly restricted just to language. The commandment shows us how to worship God aright, as God designs the first four commandments in this way. The third commandment is rightly divided into two parts. The first part is the explicit command that we should not take His name in vain. That is obvious. The second part of the command is not so obvious. It is the practical implications of the right use of His name, namely, that we should honor and revere His name every time we use it.

What is this commandment primarily directed against? The commandment is primarily directed against the heart and the tongue. The heart is where a man's actions come forth from. If our heart is irreverent towards God, then we will use His name in vain, or in an ignoble fashion. Remember, the heart controls the tongue. This commandment is a bridle for our tongues. It is the bit where God turns us onto His right path. The commandment is setting up a right attitude for the heart, and then consequently a right use for the tongue. So be warned, we are forbidden to use God's name in any other way but in the right way.

What does it mean to use God's name in vain? Simply, this means to misuse God's name in any fashion. It is not just directed against cursing, though that is one way in which His name is dishonored by people and is used in vain. What are some ways people take God's name in vain? There are many, but let us look at just a few.

The first way is when we profess God's name but do not live answerably to it. It means we live hypocritically. Thomas Watson said, "pretended holiness is merely double wickedness." Whenever we do not live up to the call of the Christian life, we take God's name in vain. We are mirrors that should reflect the perfection of God. If the mirror claims to be Christ's and reflects tendencies of hell, then we use the name of Christ in vain, and people see that.

Secondly, when we use God's name in idle discourse we are vainly using His name; like telling a joke with God or Jesus in it. God is to be revered by us, not spoken of in a light and jesting manner. When we speak lightly of God we use His name in vain because God is not to be taken lightly by anyone.

Thirdly, when we worship with our lips and not our hearts we take His name in vain. We say we follow Him, and then worship Him in the secret place of our heart as the hypocrite. How many Sunday mornings have you come to church, worshipped, and then left the same as you entered? In doing this you take His name lightly, and use it in vain. God is a God of promises. When you are not changed by the hearing of the Word, or the worship given with the saints, you mock God and all His promises to the church. You take His name in vain.

Fourthly, when we pray to Him but do not believe Him we use His name in vain. How many prayers have you prayed in doubt? God promises to make good on all those prayers prayed in His will. Do you doubt His will? Do you doubt His promises? Do you doubt when you pray? If you do, you use His name in vain. This is not positive confession or the power of positive thinking. Rather, when you pray and doubt, God says you are like a double-minded man unstable in all his ways. You are like one who forgets his face after looking in a mirror just a second before. What God is saying is that when you pray and doubt, you are forgetting the God you are praying to, and thus, you take His name in vain.

Fifthly, when we, in any way, profane or abuse His Word, we are using God's name in vain. Every theological error, misquoted Scripture, every jot and tittle not remembered in the right way is using God's name in vain. God's name is tightly bound to His Word. When we have bad theology we use His name in vain. When we misquote the Bible when a friend asks us to cite a verse or two, we use His name in vain. Imagine how many times we are theologically incorrect! Imagine how many times we have misquoted His perfect and precious Word! Imagine how many times, in this way alone, we have used His name in vain!

Sixthly, when we swear by God's name falsely, we use it in vain. Whenever we make a promise and do not keep it, we are lying as a Christian and making a mockery of God's name. When we make an oath to God and do not keep it we use His name in vain. When we make an oath to covenant with the body of believers, and then leave the church over some non-essential doctrine or ill-feeling, we are taking the Lord's name in vain. Jesus even warned us in Matthew 5:33ff not to make false oaths in God's name. The Pharisees tried to swear by other names-heaven, the earth, the city of Jerusalem, or by their own heads- so they would not directly swear by God's name. They thought that by substituting one of these other "important" phrases that it would allow them to make oaths, and have a way of escape just in case they did not keep the oath because they did not formally swear by God's name. Jesus sets them straight; heaven is God's throne, the earth is God's footstool, the city of Jerusalem is the city of the great King, and your own head is God's. So there is no substitution. It all belongs to God and subsequently should not be used in a false oath. Making a promise and not keeping it can bring dire consequences when dealing with God. He commands that we do everything that comes out of our mouths when we make an oath. So when we make an oath to each other or to God and do not live up to it, we are using God's name in vain because we are Christians who are to be honest always.

Seventhly, when we set God's name next to any wicked action we use His name in vain. An example of this would be when we baptize a wicked person, or baptize someone in the wrong way. The wicked and heathen have no right to be baptized, only the saved are to be. And Matthew 28:19ff tells us we are to baptize people in the name of the "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." We use their names in vain when we baptize those who ought not to be sealed with their name.

Eighthly, when we use our tongues in a way that dishonors God’s name we use His name in vain. This is when we curse and swear. It is when we say "O my God" or any such time when the Lord's name is used in an irreverent way. Even when we are in prayer or praise to God and we continually repeat the name "Jesus" or "Father" irreverently through vain repetition, we use God's name in vain. It is a sacred name and should be held in high esteem no matter when we invoke it. For invoking the name of God is a weighty matter and should not be taken lightly.

Ninthly, when we make rash vows we use God's name in vain; like Jephthah's vow in Judges 11:31. Jephthah rashly vowed to the Lord that if he came back victorious from the battle, he would sacrifice the first thing which came running out of his house; pig, cow, horse, whatever. When he returned from the battle victorious, his daughter ran out of the house to greet him, and he had to sacrifice her to keep his vow and so he did. Such a terrible evil twice over! Let us not make rash vows to God.

Tenthly, when we speak evil of God in a circumstance He is bringing us through we use His name in vain. How often do you grumble and complain against God? Do you find His ways hard? Is the path that He is leading you down weary to your feet? Do you want to hop over the fence into the plush meadow to comfort your aching bones? Do you gripe at the perfect, concise, eternal, unchangeable plan of God? If you do or if you have, then you have used God's name in vain. God has the perfect plan laid out for you. When adverse circumstances come by you should praise Him as Job did, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21b) Do not grumble or gripe like Job's wife who said "Curse God and die," but be humble before Him knowing that everything He does for you is for your good. When we grumble against God in hard circumstances we give a bad witness and consequently use His name in vain.

Lastly, when we falsify a promise as if we were to do a thing if God does something for us, then we use His name in vain. When we barter with God to get something we act irreverently before Him and use His name in a way that does not glorify him. We say, "Oh God, if you would just take this or that away then I will never do such and such again." But this is using His name in vain. We are not to barter with Him but accept His will as it stands.

This is a very short list of ways which we may use His name in vain. We are to be lights in the world bringing forth His name in purity and truth. We must not grumble, but be content. We must not vow rashly, but let our "yes be yes and our no be no." We must reverently invoke God's name in worship and prayer with an attitude of fear and trembling for it is a privilege to even have His name marked upon us. We are to take heed in our beliefs, so that we do not misrepresent Him and His name in our theology. There is much involved in keeping the third commandment and in keeping His name holy. For God says "I will not hold him guiltless who takes My name in vain." How guilty are we?

Think about how many times in the past week you broke the third commandment? Christians do not go a day without breaking it in some fashion. This causes us to mourn our sinful condition. All our sin is not yet mortified. This causes us sorrow and rushes us to the the cross since we sin this way against our Lord and Christ. But we thank God for Christ. Thanks be to Christ who lived a perfect life! Thanks be to Christ who fulfilled the Law perfectly for His people and imputed to His people His righteous deeds which they did not deserve. Without His sacrifice we would be doomed to hell for just the sin of breaking the third commandment over and over.

Ponder upon the holiness and purity of Christ. He kept ALL the commandments perfectly. Every time He worshipped, He did it with His heart. Every promise He made He kept. Every time He invoked God's name He used it with reverence and dignity. Never once did he break the third commandment. So let our eyes be open to see what the third commandment requires of us, and pray that the Lord would aid us to keep His name holy every day, and never use it in vain again.

What Makes Christians Unique?

Have you ever considered the question, what makes Christians different or unique from non-Christians? I heard it posed today and in my desire to respond I figured that it would be prudent to write it here. When considering the question there is one thing that jumps out at me before anything else, and that is rebirth. Human nature is abundantly sinful, we are enemies of the things of God and our hearts are desperately wicked (Isa 64:6 and Romans 5:10). This is not true of Christians. We have been reborn, remade, reformed into something that doesn't look anything like what one used to be. However that does not become immediately obvious.

Another thing that is not always apparent but I think is a clear mark of Christians is that God dwells in them. This is often difficult to measure, as we must look for the fruit of the spirit in someone's life. However, when doing this one must also distinguish Godly fruit from righteous ( in human terms) actions. This is the difference between a Christian serving the needy and a Buddhist serving the needy. They are equal in human terms but far different in heavenly terms.
Christians also have a far different perspective, then non-Christians. Most Christians ( true Christians, not cultural or pretend christians) perspective is that all there actions are purposed for the glory of God. That is there end and all that they do is working towards that end. Non-Christians have a far different end, self. Their end is self-serving. They are enemies of God and lovers of self.

Here is another one for you, and a will warn you that there is theological content in this paragraph, so if you can't handle that... (ok, I was trying to be funny and witty here, but i think i sounded like more of a jerk.) Christians are unique because in there life they are not trying to be "good people" [ whatever that is as no one is good as we are guilty of breaking the commandments of God] but they are trying to follow the Four Commands of Christ. Quick can you name them? Well, i will supply them for you, because i am just that nice.

1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37
   
2. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
   
3. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. - John 15:12
4. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

So How did you do? Christians strive to follow these commands, it shows that they are really Christians and that they really love Christ ( The person who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and reveal myself to him. - John 14:21). This is something that is unique to Christians, keep in mind that non-Christians, are enemies of God.

I think that something else that Christians can do that other people can't do is logically defend there belief system and holy text. Honestly, I would challenge someone, anyone to find a factual error that can not be attributed you scribal error ( there are about 50 known scribal errors in our modern bible, which for an ancient document is amazing). This is far from true for a group like Muslims and the Qur' an. This is even true for such recent books like the Mormon scriptures, (aka book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham) which have far more errors and outright changes in them compared to there originals which are less then two hundred years old, in comparison to the Law of Moses which is about 3,000 years old.

Anyways, I have been writing this entry for quite a while, three weeks or so, quite contemplatively and wish to continue as it strikes me, but want to at least put this out there for consideration.