Daniel Blake has written an article for the Christian Post titled 250 Million Christians Will Be Persecuted in 2007. The article begins by saying that Christians will face persecution simply for following Jesus. The persecution is growing the fastest within Muslim countries.

Not too long ago I was at a prayer meeting at my church that mainly consisted of me, my pastor, one elder and another women who attends the church. After the prayer meeting ended my friend who was the elder looked at me and said that I was a radical Christian - aka - Jesus Freak. Then my pastor said, "Hey, it's a good thing she's on our side!" That made me laugh because I can't imagine being on any other side than God's. Which is exactly why I love these one minute promos from the Jesus Freaks.

When Ercan Sengul committed his life to Christ in the Muslim nation of Turkey, some saw it as turning his back on his heritage and nation. When he said that he would do anything for God, he had meant it then. But what about now?

The new year is just around the corner - can you believe it! Well, I thought that I would end this year with a brief run down of the most famous martyrs we all know and love and how they died. Yes, I know this is uplifting isn't it...well, it really is when you consider why they died, for Whom they died, and you look at their examples for inspiration. These are the fathers of our Christian faith.

Today, December 28th, we see on the general Roman Catholic calendar of saints to remember the Massacre of the Innocents.

INDIA – On December 23, 2006, Hindu extremists burnt down a church and disrupted services in several Indian states. They continued their harassment and arrested carol-singers on Christmas Eve.

CUBA – A Cuban court acquitted Rev. Carlos Lamelas of human trafficking, but convicted him on previously unannounced charges of falsification of documents.

Yesterday after I found out it was St. Stephen's Day I did some research on how that day came to be. What I found out was really very cool. I found out that there is a calendar of saints that the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Canadian, Episcopal and Orthodox churches have to remember saints of old.

Here it is the end of 2006 and I'm not sure about you, but it feels like this year just started a few weeks ago. Maybe it's because I'm getting close to 40 and the years are flying on by! :) Or maybe it's just that I feel sentimental near the end of the year. Whatever the case, I'm amazed by all that has taken place this year regarding our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.

When the year ends we start wondering what changes have to be made in our lives for the coming year. Most of us want to lose weight, buy a membership to the gym or decide to take up a new hobby which will “enhance” our quality of life. Unfortunately, the excitement lasts until maybe March and then we fall off the wagon and slip back into our old habits.