I scan through the news everyday. My web browser is set to automatically open Drudge, NY Times, and Washington Post pages so I can keep up with world events. I listen to a daily news briefing and analysis from a Christian worldview. I confess that there is too much news to be properly outraged at. I know that so much information is coming down the pike that I rarely stop to simply ponder the news. I also know that if I stopped to grieve over every news story coming my way I would have little time for anything else. But, today is a different day.
As the Islamic State has just released its latest terror I have to stop and grieve. 21 Egyptian Christians were beheaded over the weekend and my emotions are incredibly disjointed. I’m angry, heartbroken, ashamed and hopeful.
Angry at the evil of this world that would take life in the name of God.
Heartbroken for families who have lost their fathers and husbands and sons.
Ashamed that I rarely experience the sufferings that my Christian brothers and sisters have come to expect for faithfully following Jesus.
Hopeful that their death has won untold victories for the kingdom of our Savior Jesus. Hopeful that one day all things will be made new. Hopeful that in the death of Christ we will find the life of Christ.
Take a moment today and pray for the church. Ask that the blood of these martyrs will be seed, planted in fertile soil, producing a harvest of souls who grow up into Christ. And grieve. Grieve for our world that waits to be delivered from death into life.