DYING WELL
There are two things that no one reading this can avoid – birth and death! It has been said that Christians die well! Why and how? It is reported that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world – the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity says that 900,000 Christians have been ‘martyred’ in the last decade, equating to 90,000 a year and one every six minutes. Three hundred thousand Christians in North Korea live in fear for their lives with incentives being offered for information leading to their arrest. Many other countries have strong opposition and persecution for Christians. When the church was young, the Roman Empire persecuted Christians for fun. Stephen was the first martyr and died well because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, walked closely with God and at the end he caught glimpses of heaven, crying out as they stoned him, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’ (Acts 7:59). Although we can see no stairway to heaven, there are steps leading there. Christ Jesus came from heaven so we could eventually join him there and he promises to be with each one who follows him.