You may remember a few weeks ago I wrote a post about how some Christians were doing an experiment with copying the bible by hand so that they could identify with the persecuted church. Well, last night as I was going through some blogs I normally read, I saw this story about a man who just completed writing the bible by hand. It took him 40 years!

Are you zealous? Is there anything in your life that you are passionate about and that you pursue with a vengence because you just can't help it? Well, if you are, then you are a person with zeal and a person who some may call zealous.

He was called by God to preach the gospel. He traveled to lands far away from his home. He was beaten with rods. He was thrown in jail numerous times and he rejoiced in all that he went through. Who was he? It was the Apostle Paul.

One of the moral issues persecuted Christians are faced with is lying to protect themselves or church members. Most likely, many don’t think about it before they are forced into a situation where they must choose. The situation might be as dramatic as being in front of the police or a government official in India (where they have anti-conversion laws) and being asked if you are a Christian. Or it might be more subtle, like a young Muslim man who is asked by his family why he no longer participates in daily prayers after the Holy Spirit has revealed to him the truth of the Bible.

When I went to Israel last week one of the things that I was looking forward to was meeting the people of the land. I didn't go on a full biblical tour of Israel like many Christians. Instead I had the opportunity to meet the Jewish people of the land including a few holocaust survivors, a victim of a suicide bomber and a member of the Israeli military.

Imagine with me for a moment that you were born in a country where you were born into a certain religion and you couldn't leave that religion. And imagine if you wanted to change to another faith and your government didn't want you to.