This week as I have been reading through literature and some books on Christian persecution, because I will be presenting this information on Sunday, as my church observes the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, I found this wonderful song in a book called China's Christian Martyrs by Paul Hattaway. Read this song and compare it to the songs you sing in church.

Martyrs for the Lord

Chorus:

To be a martyr for the Lord, to be a martyr for the Lord
I am willing to die gloriously for the Lord

Those apostles who loved the Lord to the end
Willingly followed the Lord down the path of suffering
John was exiled to the lonely isle of Patmos
Stephen was stoned to death by an angry crowd

Matthew was stabbed to death in Persia by a mob
Mark died as horses pulled his two legs apart
Doctor Luke was cruelly hanged
Peter, Philip and Simon were crucified on a cross

bartholoew was skinned alive by the heathen
Thomas died in India as five horses pulled his body apart
The apostle James was beheaded by King Herod
Little James was cut in half by a sharp saw

James the brother of the Lord was stoned to death
Judas was tied to a pillar and shot by arrows
Matthias had his head cut off in Jerusalem
Paul was a martyr under Emperor Nero

I am willing to take up the cross and go forward
To follow the apostles down the road to sacrifice
That tens of thousands of precious souls can be saved
I am willing to leave all and be a martyr for the Lord.