The strangest possible expression is used in Lk. 14:26 : " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Hate? It is not the persons that are to be hated, for why should they be excluded from the command to love our neighbors ? It is the hold which these persons have and by which they themselves are also gripped. It is the concentration of neighborly love on these persons, which really means its denial. It is the indolent peace of a clannish warmth in relation to these persons, with its necessary implication of cold war against all others. The coming of the kingdom of God means an end of the absolute of family no less than that of possession and fame.

Last update, we asked a few questions.

1.  Is there a difference between promoting religious liberties and supporting the persecuted church? What is the difference (if you think there is one)?

The general response here was that there is a difference and it primarily focused on the work's relationship to governmental work. One champion correctly identified though that working to support the persecuted church is contradictory to preferred government policies in closed countries. This can create a dilemma. If our work to support persecuted Christians conflicts with government policies, or possibly, even the efforts of other organizations to promote religious freedom, we have to consider what Peter said in Acts 4: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

2.  Can efforts to promote religious liberties be harmful to the support of the persecuted church? How so?

Some good responses, but consider the above situation for Peter and John. To build partnerships with a government to promote or change religious liberties in that country, we may have to cooperate, compromise, or maybe even sacrifice our support of the persecuted church, the Christians in that country. There is not always a clear line where those divide, but there is no question that they will divide when working with governments that are threatened by the Gospel.

3.  How far would you go to collaborate with the government of a closed country to promote religious liberties? What would be the reason to stop working with a government that was legitimately promoting religious liberties?

This can be a tough question. People in government can even use discussions and negotiations about religious liberties to distract and diminish efforts of the church. Over and over again, it is the Gospel that threatens regimes of oppression. Even in our Acts 4 story, we see that as long as the Gospel is not preached, the leaders were not threatened:

Acts 4:18 - So they called [Peter and John] and charged them not to speak and teach in the name of Jesus.

Some rough stuff going on in China these days. Next PPU, we'll have an update on the increasing scrutiny of our projects and how to maintain secure operations when the government wants to stop the spread of the Gospel.

1.  Pray for wisdom for world leaders in responding to NK's request for "emergency food aid" (see this month's links for more info). 

 
2.  Pray for the Lord to make each of us "living Bibles," able to memorize and impart the message of Christ without external supports, just like NK Christians must do. 

 
3.  Pray that NK Christian defectors-and each of us-can overcome the "siren song" of material prosperity in our "free" countries and embrace Christ's call to take up our crosses daily. 

 
4.  Pray for Christian missionaries and each of us to have the love and commitment of Japanese nuclear plant workers who are motivated by duty to country to lay down their lives. 

 
5.  Pray for tender hearts toward our persecutors as all of us-even those of us in "free" countries-seek to live a godly life in Christ Jesus (see 2 Timothy 3:12). 

The map above was created by WikiTravel.org user, Cacahuate, and is available here.  Click on map to view in higher resolution.