SUFFERING for FAITH

I work and play at Pagoda Ridge Golf Course. One day each week I am a marshall, a player's assistant. And one day a week I play golf.  At Pagoda I am working with and playing with mostly non-Christians. It's amazing that the Trinity is so closely associated with the game of golf. A player blasts a drive out of bounds and I hear him say, "Goddammit." Another player hits a bad shot and Jesus' name is mentioned as an expletive. I have told some of them, "I hear Jesus Christ's name more often out here than I do in churches." I can get away with that because I live in Canada, and I am thankful for my freedoms.

Asia Bibi is a Christian and does not share my freedom. I don't share her pain. I know nothing about it but what I read. She lives in Pakistan. She is married and she has two daughters. Her family is safely out of the country. She has been in prison for 8 years under sentence of death. In 2009 she was harvesting fruit with some neighbourhood women. She dipped a drinking cup in bucket of water and the women said they couldn't touch it now because her faith had made the water unclean. She rejected that accusation. They told her to convert to Islam and she countered that her faith is in Christ as Saviour. The women reported her as having blasphemed the prophet Muhammad. She was convicted and sentenced to death. The sentence has been delayed by her legal appeals. Two weeks ago Pakistan's Supreme Court acquitted her because it ruled that here conviction was based on unreliable evidence and a confession extracted under the threat of death. She was released early this month and was to be flown to freedom and safety.  Then the 98% of Pakistan's population being Muslim, created chaos, threatening strikes and shutdowns and violence. The government rearrested her and is awaiting a review of the court decision. 

If you could write a letter to Asia and other Christians in Pakistan, what would you tell them? What could I write so far removed from their suffering? Occasionally a person asks whether I am retired? Yes. What did you do for work? I was a Christian pastor for over four decades. Oh! There's no opposition in that casual conversation. Most of us have yet to feel ostracized for identifying as Christians. But Pakistani Christians comprise only 2% of Pakistan's population yet they comprise the majority of custodial, garbage, sanitary and sewer workers?  That's all they are good for. It's the only work they can get. Those jobs are advertised with "only Christians should apply.' That work is considered unclean for Muslims. Now write your letter.  What would you say? 

When you began studying 1 Peter, in chapter One you were introduced to the theme of the letter. Peter expressed how Christians should live in a non-Christian world when suffering for their faith was routine. What do you and I know about suffering for our faith? Almost nothing. It's easy for me to live in my non-Christian world. It wasn't easy for Peter. It hasn't been easy for Asia Bibi. At one point Herod provoked a persecution in Jerusalem and James, the brother of John was killed and Peter was among those arrested and scheduled to die. Now he was writing to others for whom living in a non-Christian world was a challenge. Peter wrote this letter to Christians from Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia which is modern Turkey, who had become exiles because of their faith in Jesus.

Let's read 1 Peter 4:1-19.

Today, you arrive at chapter 4 and to do our study today we will look at it in three sections, verses 1-6 as one section and 7-11 as another section, and 12-19 as the final piece. With each section I will express a commitment that I encourage you to make with me. 

Because of what I read in vss 1-6, let's start with this as a first commitment.

I COMMIT MYSELF TO DOING GOD'S WILL EVEN IF I MUST SUFFER BECAUSE OF IT. vss 1-6

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 

2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 

3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 

4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.

5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 

6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

Peter's audience consisted of people who were suffering threats against them, for no other reason than that they believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God and that he was commissioned to earth to die a substitutionary death that became the basis for God's forgiveness of their sins when they trusted Jesus. 

'Standing Strong Through the Storm.' is a manual written by my friend Paul Estabrooks. He collaborated with our mutual friend Jim Cunningham. Paul served 38 years with Open Doors, a mission that for 60 years has worked in the most oppressive countries, strengthening Christians to stand strong. This SSTS manual is filled with lessons learned from the real life experiences of persecuted Christians as well as relevant scripture addressed to such people. Together, these men travel to many countries and teach large groups of Christian leaders how to be strong like Jesus.

This letter of 1 Peter was written to troubled people who needed this letter. Even as it prepared the readers for the likelihood of hardship, it contains hope. It is filled with vision and encouragement and inspiration and promises, and reminders of a reward that transcends life itself.     

In glaring contrast to those ancient people, you and I live relatively undisturbed lives. As soon as we begin reading 1 Peter there is an emotional and relational disconnect. Consequently, we approach 1 Peter as an historical document rather than a word from God to us. It doesn't seem relevant. I want us to be more receptive to this content because we need it even if we don't yet realize it.  One of the reasons we need this letter is because the U.S.A and Canada are experiencing a cold civil war between conservative and liberal politics, ethics and values, and Christianity is in for a conflict. It's a cold civil war now because it's still mostly rhetoric. To boldly live by convictions based on scripture and to express them is predictably met by leftist liberal sentiment and journalism and even legislation and court rulings. But elsewhere in the world Christians feel like refugees. Some have gone into hiding. We all hope it will never be like that here. But we are still living in a secular world. How should we live? 

How can I possibly be strong enough to make such a commitment to do God's will when suffering may be involved? Where can I find an example to follow? We can start where Peter does in vs.1.

 Vs. 1.Therefore, since Christ sufferedin his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.This is where language is so helpful.  

"Therefore since" immediately informs us that there is something that preceded this which requires this responding outcome. You've heard this silly play on words before. "What is therefore, there for?" We will find out but first the word "Since" points us to the preceding section 3:17-22. 

17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 

19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

A practical approach to keeping my commitment to do God's will at any cost will be to tell myself several practical truths, personal confessions and assurances, the first of which is this one. 

Jesus is my example with respect to suffering because though he was sinless, he suffered for my sins. Vs. 1a

A paraphrase summary of 3:17-22 sounds like this. SinceJesus the altogether righteous One suffered for everyone who is unrighteous in order to provide them with an approach to God, and his suffering included both dying and then coming to life again and he is currently seated at the right hand of the Heavenly Father while all other heavenly inhabitants bow to him, "therefore," I should equip or arm myself with Christ's way of thinking, or with the same attitude Jesus showed to obey God's will. Jesus is the example to follow.

We can't know exactly what Jesus was thinking about suffering but we can come close. Jesus suffered unjustly as one who did nothing but good. He detested sin so much that even when treated unjustly he was willing to die in order to deal with it. This is the point. Peter was telling those Christians from Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia that as they lived holy lives in a godless environment, they should be prepared to suffer unjustly. For an example all they must do is to look to the One in whom they have put their trust, Jesus.

If you became a Christian when you were a child, or even as a teenager, your litany of shameful sins is likely short. Someone who has lived 40 or 50 years may have done so many more things he or she regrets. Perhaps older people are more inclined to say this next practical confession it but all of us should say it. 

I have already wasted enough time on sin. Vs. 1b-3

3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 

I just restated the verse by personalizing it. Rather than third person, I made it first person. I am sure that some non-believing people in Richmond and Surrey are inspired by selfless and altruistic motives. Most however are driven by physical passions and material cravings, like getting a superior education, enviable job, money, fast cars, newest cell phone, and international travel and they spend their lives pursuing those. 

People in Peter's time were also materialistic, but beyond that in this verse Peter mentions a category of human passions that by the grace of God I only know by name and not by experience. He references unrestrained immorality and lust, drunkenness and excessive feasting and wild parties, and forbidden worship of idols as lifestyle activities that the initial recipients of this letter and their many godless friends did all the time. These Christians had been saved from this behaviour. Peter was encouraging them never to return to that life. The same is true for you. You are done with all that sin. You are dead to it. Enough time was spent on sin.

Another practical purpose statement by which to fulfill our commitment to do God's will at any cost is,  

I will commit the remainder of my life exclusively to God.  Vs. 2 This is a way of expressing the verse positively.  

Vs.  2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 

A year has the same number of days for each of us. I know that but I sometimes feel that my days and years are on the bullet train, speeding by and you have such a long trip ahead. As I look at you, it appears that most of you have many decades of life yet to live. If you have already trusted in Christ, then you are done with sin. Case closed. No matter how many more years you have isn't it your intention now to be obedient exclusively to the LORD? Why not tell Him that? 

It's hard to be holy. We are all living in the midst of challenges to faith and purity. Cultural contamination pressures us. Every week you and I live with choices to be made about entertainment, enjoyment and relaxation. The temptations are real. Being holy does not mean we are limited to doing only activities that are overtly Christian, like praying and Bible reading, but we also need to be careful to evaluate what we are doing and watching and reading. For the rest of our lives we choose to engage in activities Jesus would approve. 1 John 2:6 says, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."   

Wanting to do God's will all the time, I can also remind myself of this reality. 

I understand that some people will not appreciate my repudiation of sin. Vss 4-6

Vs. 4 They (the pagans of vs. 3 with whom the Christians once engaged in all that sinful stuff) are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.

When Peter's audience put their faith in Christ they determined to live to serve the will of God. Naturally, their friends could not understand why they no longer wanted to engage in everything they used to call fun. That resulted in condemnation by their friends. In the days that remained to them on earth they were committing themselves to live sin-free. If they would suffer because of righteousness, it would mean that it had become obvious to everyone that they were saying no to sin, cutting it out of their lives. And they were paying the price for that. And they were okay with that. That's what it would mean to have the same mind, the same attitude as Jesus. The suffering that is foreseen derives from the reaction that an unbelieving secular neighbourhood, community, institution, government and the world has about you when your light is shining.

It may be needless to say but I'll say it anyway. This applies to us too. Like every other letter of inspired scripture aimed at an original audience in the first century A.D., its wider audience includes us in 2018. We have to have this same mind as Jesus, to abhor sin so much that abstaining from it may result in suffering somehow. 

Verses 5 and 6 disclose that judgement does await everyone, and everyone is accountable to God, even those who ridicule, or malign, or harass or injure Christians because of their faith. 

5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 

6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

It was because of this imminent and certain judgement that the gospel of Christ with forgiveness of sin and promise of eternal life has been proclaimed, so that those who are dead in their sins, would believe, and would come alive spiritually so they can live holy lives pleasing to God by the power of the Spirit of God, so that even though they will die, they will live. But some people do not believe. The frightening distinction here is that unbelievers will be themselves fully accountable to God, whereas Jesus bore liability and punishment for sinners, the efficacy or value of his sacrifice will be only applied to those who have put faith in him, 

Without Jesus there is no remission from this judgement, not even for the kindest, gentlest, most brilliant human being. The late Stephen Hawking, the renowned British physicist and cosmologist wrote, “We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God ... No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realisation: there is probably no heaven and afterlife either. I think belief in the afterlife is just wishful thinking ...There is no reliable evidence for it, and it flies in the face of everything we know in science. I think that when we die we return to dust. But there is a sense we live on, in our influence, and in the genes we pass to our children.”

But Peter wrote what his Saviour taught him, that everyone must give account to the one who is prepared to judge us all.  

In view of this, it's natural for Peter to remind us of the brevity of time and the nearness of the end of everything as we know it. That's the start of vs.7. And it begins the second large commitment I ask you to make with me today.

7 The end of all things is near…… so, 

I COMMIT MYSELF TO DOING GOD'S WILL BECAUSE THE TIME IS SHORT. vss 7-11

While pastoring in Toronto, there came a day when I was to officiate the funeral service of a fine young man named Drew. He was everyone's friend. He was handsome, He was an athlete. Some weeks before this, he had written my daughter to tell her that he had straightened out his relationship with the LORD. At 21 years of age his time was short and the end was near. The Sunday prior to this funeral, two policemen entered our church following a service to tell me that Drew had been killed in a vehicle accident. It was a huge emotional blow for an entire congregation.

When you read about the 1960's you recognize it was a troubled decade. For Christine and I, our young adult lives from ages 18-27 were lived during the turbulent 1960's.We met at Bible College in 1963, married in 1967, graduated in '68 and '69 and our first baby was born, and we began our first pastoral work. Of course there were unsettling events in Canada during the 60s but then as now, we were more affected by scary events elsewhere than in our own country. There was so much unrest and violence in the world that we were not sure what our futures might be or whether there would be a world in which to live.

The Viet Cong communist insurgents were entrenched in North Vietnam in 1960. The U.S. became heavily invested with troops on the ground and war ships and casualties in 61-63. African Americans were beginning to assert themselves to gain equal rights in restaurants, on buses, in universities, you name it. They didn't have it. In 61 America's CIA assisted Cuban exiles to launch a coup against communist dictator Fidel Castro and it failed. In 61 Soviet USSR tested a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb, largest explosion in history, throwing the West into panic. In 62 Russia built nuclear missile sites in Cuba. U.S. already had similar installations in Turkey aimed at Russia. Nuclear annihilation seemed possible. President Kennedy and the Soviet's leader Khrushchev settled it peacefully, both removing their nuclear installations. In Aug 63 Martin Luther King during a Civil Rights march on Washington delivered his 'I have a Dream' speech. President Kennedy was assassinated in 63. The modern feminist movement was launched in 63. The U.S. war in Viet Nam escalated as U.S. dropped 700,00 tons of bombs, killed several hundred thousand civilians, lost 800 U.S. pilots. In June 64 Ku Klux Clan murders three young civil rights activists. In July 64 Congress passed the Civil Rights Acts outlawing discrimination on race, colour, religion, sex and national origin.  By '68, 500,000 Viet Cong were dead. Hundreds of thousands of Americans at home protested the war, marched on the United Nations and on the Pentagon from 66-68. Police beat demonstrators. In 68 Martin Luther King was assassinated and shortly after than Robert F Kennedy was assassinated. In 69 two million people demonstrated across the country to end the war. In 69 U.S. and USSR curbed nuclear capabilities with a treaty.  And in 69 the Gay Liberation Movement was born. --------- The end seemed near at times.

But the end of which Peter speaks is not doom and gloom but like a dawning, like the end of the night and the beginning of the great new day when the kingdom about which Jesus spoke so much is unveiled to all who are prepared to enter. We all may be living at the end of an age.  So if time is short, how should that awareness affect us?

None of you young adults want to hear this of course. I understand. But here is the thing. For you and I to be conscious that whether it's ideologically, politically, accidentally or the cataclysmically introduced, the end of all things is near, means that we should each make healthy commitments, like this one.  

I Know Time Is Short So I Must Commit To Praying Effectively, vs. 7

For me, the brevity of time concerns me most in respect to my grandchildren. That's the stage of life where I am. I want each of my five grandchildren to know Christ personally, to obey Him and to live for him. I cannot guarantee that outcome, so I am grateful that I can talk to the Lord about them.

Jesus the Son of God talked to his Father in Heaven and he encouraged people to similarly speak to God by calling God Father, as in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who are in heaven." Two things to be stressed here is prayer itself and effective prayer. Do we pray? A continuing problem is that we get sleepy like Jesus' disciples did when at a critical time he asked them to pray through the night. Three times Jesus came back to them and found them asleep. Peter was one of those. He knows. We are too tired to watch and to pray. Too preoccupied with our hand-helds and screens is what we are. We might say that sleepiness for us may not be fatigue but preoccupation with so many more pleasurable activities. Or tough things in life may overcome us and we don't know how to pray. So God have us His Spirit to help us. Romans 8:²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Peter tells his readers, them and us, tobe alert and of sober mind so that we may pray. Alert and clear-minded assumes that we are done with sin and we are living holy lifestyles because what's the point of praying if our lives are out of sync with God. God doesn't just answer a stack of requests when our spirituality is lousy. ATMs don't cough out money if there are no assets in the account. God is not naïve. We want to pray effectively? We know what to do, live holy lives. Then ask in faith and expect God to answer. 

Another commitment is,

I Know Time Is Short So I Will Love Others, vs. 8

My daughter in law Gina, well she's ourdaughter in law, Christine's and mine. That's how it works. Gina sat with us one afternoon and spoke about her friends and a conversation she had with them. The subject was about conservation and greening the planet, and protecting animals. Some were saying I love nature and I love elephants. Gina told them, "I think I love people. It's not that I don't feel strongly about our planet but I love people." Then she said to us, "I feel that God has been telling me to love on people." She has new next-door neighbours, refugees, a Kenyan family consisting of a mom and dad and four children and all of them do not know a lick of English. A church is sponsoring them in that house and she told the church people she will do all she can to make them feel welcome. She will love them.

Do you love the people at work? At school? At home? Here at church? Time is short.  He really emphasizes loving fellow Christians doesn't he? The hurt I have felt from people at some few moments in church life was not the disagreement or the issue but the sudden absence of love in talking about it or treating me.  I may well have been guilty of demonstrating a lack of love myself. So here is a reminder of the need to be sincere about loving one another.

One of the key applications for love is that it covers sins, all kinds of sins. Well we know this to be true as it concerns God, loving us even when we were yet sinners and sending Christ to die for our sinful humanity. So that's the supreme example. And in everyday terms, love for someone prevents us from condemning him or her or criticizing or finding fault or thinking the worst.  I Corinthians 13 tells us that love “thinks no evil.” Peter was not talking about love that conceals sin, but rather the cover is a blanket of unconditional tenderness and acceptance and forgiveness.

I Know Time Is Short So I Will Be Good-Naturedly Hospitable, vs. 9

Peter has spoken about loving one another and in the next verses he states ways that this can be done. First he mentions hospitality. 

We may grumble about hospitality because in our culture we have associated it with a spotless house, and an extraordinary meal served. Too bad. People give kudos to your hospitality when they experience loving affection in your company. 

When thinking of biblical examples of hospitality I think immediately of Mary and Martha and their open home policy where Jesus and his disciples were welcome any time.  The closest that Martha came to grumbling while being hospitable had nothing to do with the work involved but rather that her sister Mary was just sitting on her butt talking to Jesus and was not helping. 

If you still live in your parents' home you may feel this doesn't much apply to you and you may be correct. Yet there must be a way that you can demonstrate kindness, warmth, friendliness, correct, and to do it without grumbling?  If Peter were talking with us right now, I have a feeling he would tell us that the principle here applies broadly. When mom asks, "please empty the dishwasher and put everything away?" - or when there's vacuuming to do, or dusting or taking out garbage … just mundane duties that help someone else may well fit this service oriented commitment when time is short. 

I Know Time Is Short So I Will Use My Gifts To Serve Others For The Glory Of God. Vss 10,11"

Every one of us has received spiritual gifts and we serve one another through those gifts. If we neglect using them or serving with them, we do not love one another. Don't say you are too busy to serve. It’s our responsibility. Not only should we be hospitable, sociable, friendly, welcoming and generous, but we should also be growing in truth so much that we are able to teach others. Whatever we say to people will be taken seriously when our lives back it up. God is strong and he bestows that strength to us for serving others. And we do this so that he will be glorified. 

I COMMIT MYSELF TO SUFFERING IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL. 4:12-19 

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 

13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 

14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 

15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 

16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 

18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

I commit to enduring trials with the right attitude, vss 12-13

What's the right attitude then? Instead of fixating on our suffering and thinking that fiery trials are strange occurrences we understand them to be part of the territory. Jesus took part in our humanity and that required him suffering for us. It is reasonable that if identifying with him results in our suffering too, we willingly participate so that finally when His will is accomplished and he is revealed in all of His glory, we are going to be ecstatic.  

I commit to suffering as a Christian rather than as an evildoer, vss 14-16

There is a big difference between suffering as a Christian and suffering as a sinner. To suffer reproach, censure, accusation, or rebuke for the name of Christ is actually a blessing for the simple fact that it reveals who you truly are, a child of God who lives to obey the will and purposes of God. You glorify God. But those who denounce or condemn you are actually blaspheming God. The kind of suffering you might experience differs plainly from the suffering to be visited on people who sin unrepentantly no matter what the sin is, whether murder or theft or gossip or anything else. Suffering as a Christian is nothing to be ashamed about, even though the world may despise the suffering Christian. One suffering is underserved but the other is deserved.  Don't ever allow yourself to be compromised and to shame the name of Christ Instead, we should glorify God in these matters.

I commit my soul to God in the midst of my suffering, vss. 17-19

Fire is not bad. Sure it consumes forests but it also purifies gold. The fire is the same in each case but its purpose is different and the effect is different. So if both ungodly people and Christians experience judgement, the purpose and the effect are different. And our judgement is now but judgement of unbelievers comes later. The fire we might endure now purifies us. Fire later will punish the ungodly. There is no punishment for believers in our suffering now, only purification. Our punishment was settled at the cross when Jesus endured it. The sufferings we might experience in this life are the worst we will ever face. Those who reject Jesus have seen the best of life that they will ever see.

God uses judgement as a purifying agent among Christians so in that sense judgement starts here with us, in the house of God. Christians profess to be regenerate don't we, born again, a holy people and we should be, so it is right that judgement should begin with us so that we are not hypocrites. 

18 - This verse can be easily misunderstood. Peter is not suggesting that it is difficult for us to earn salvation as though it's something we earned or we deserve. No, no. It's understood that salvation is a free gift from God through Jesus Christ. However, living out our salvation as an obedient disciple and casting away our sins and idols is hard. Genuinely following after Christ is not easy. Peter has quoted Proverbs 11:31 "the righteous one is scarcely saved."    

19 - Putting money in a trust fund is common now and it's covered by legalities that insure the banking institution must return the money to the entitled person. In Peter's time, money might be deposited with a trusted friend. It was an honour system. It was viewed as a sacred duty to protect that money and then to return it entirely to the friend. That idea of trust is inherent in the word used in vs.19. Peter urges those who live to obey the will of God but suffer according to the will of God, not to panic or despair, or lose heart but rather to 'trust' themselves, their souls, entirely to the Creator and simply carry on living righteously. You are safe. It's what Jesus himself said as he was suffering death, "Father into your hands I commit my spirit." Like 23:46 The sovereign Creator is faithful to keep his promise.

Conclusion: 

You and I have joined a caravan of believers moving from here to our new home. We have already gained admission. It's guaranteed to us. Open arms will be waiting when we get there. Angels already attend to us in ways we never imagine. Not only do we have each other. This caravan is an enormous size consisting of kingdom seekers in every country of the world. No matter where you go in this world, if you find Christians and identify yourself as one, and you are welcomed. They don't even know you but they love you. They'll take you in, feed you, and worship with you. The challenge we all have as we journey is letting our lights shine in the darkness because the darkness wants to snuff out the light. Light exposes the pleasures of sin. When countries have actually legislated to endorse some sins, our light is in opposition. Christians in some countries really suffer so much.  We need to pray for one another and love them and aid them any way that we can. Whatever we have we should use it to help brothers and sisters because ultimately the glory is all directed God's way.