But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” Acts 4:19

How can Saul, one earthly creature armed only with a letter from another, be said to “persecute” Jesus of Nazereth who sits at the Father’s right hand? The Lord did not say, “Why do you persecute my people?” Instead he asked, “Why do you persecute me?” Christ was certainly in the glory, but the Christ whom Saul persecuted was somehow also on earth.

Today's guest post is from Tami Yeager, who serves as the financial administrator for Eternal Perspective Ministry in Oregon. Because of her passion for the persecuted church, she also serves as a volunteer community voice coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. This post originally appeared on EPM's blog.

The northern shores of Africa teemed with Christians during the second century, but all were at risk. In 180 seven men and five women were captured carrying “the sacred books, and the letters of Paul, a just man.” On July 17, 180 they appeared before the Roman proconsul Saturninus in Carthage. Charges against them were read: “Whereas Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Donata, Vestia, Secunda, and the rest have confessed they live in accordance with the religious rites of the Christians, and when an opportunity was given them of returning to the usage of the Romans they persevered in their obstinacy, it is our pleasure they should suffer the sword.”

As Americans celebrate freedom and liberty this week, it is important to remember that persecution for faith in Christ is not only a foreign occurrence that’s never happened in our own country. With that in mind, we share today the story of martyr Mary Dyer, as told in FOXE: Voices of the Martyrs:

God’s grace arrives just as we need it, appropriate for every challenge. Even if we’re lonely? Even if we’re ill? Yes. Even if we’re tortured? Even then.

Each month VOM produces "The Jesus Freaks Minute," a daily radio-PSA that shares the stories of the persecuted church with Christian radio listeners all over the United States and around the world. Here's the script for one of the spots that will air next month, a spot entitled ANDRONICUS:

This week I received an email from a Christian contact in Turkey. He shared the news that, under authority of a new Turkish law, the five men who murdered three Christians in 2007 were being set free. Their court case has dragged on and on and on, and the new law says that if a court verdict is not reached within five years, the accused should be set free until the verdict is reached.

The following is excerpted from a letter written by German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and circulated to a hundred or so of his former students during World War II: