Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquila
Bro... the Apostles weren't running around calling people "f@gs" or "towel heads", and making people angry. The Apostles simply taught about Jesus and preached the power of his name. It wasn't about attacking the Jews or the Romans with sharp words... it was about telling EVERYONE about Jesus. If you "preach" using sharp words that inflames a Muslim or a gay person and they beat you up, you weren't "persecuted". In a way, you deserved it. LOL But if you were talking about the power of Jesus Christ, how he alone can save, how it is by his stripes that we are healed, and they attack you because of his name's sake... while you pray that God not lay that sin to their charge... now that's persecution.
I am not saying we shouldn't preach the Gospel and compare the grace of Jesus Christ to the teachings of Islam. But this has to be done with wisdom that the Holy Ghost can give us.
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Acts chapter 18 tells about how the Apostle Paul came to Ephesus around October AD 53. He first found some Baptists and told them about Jesus. They responded by believing and getting baptized in Jesus name. Then Paul laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost Baptism manifested by prophecy and speaking with tongues. He went into the synagogue and preached for about three months. He then used a school to hold meetings and was there about two years. Lives were changed. In the autumn of AD 55 he sent two workers into Macedonia but remained in Ephesus for a while. The silversmith's union which had been making money off selling idols became alarmed when so many turned from idols to Jesus and their business dropped off dramatically. They held a huge rally in the theater. I don't know how many were there but I've read that the theater could hold 30,000 people. For a couple of hours they cried out "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." Finally the town clerk got them quieted down enough to speak to them. He told them that they could get in trouble for rioting and that they could take legal action if they wanted to. He reminded them that Paul and his team "were neither robbers of churches nor blasphemers of their goddess." For two years Paul had preached, people had been converted, the idol business had dropped off, and Paul had done it without "blaspheming" their goddess. Maybe we could learn something from this.
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