Brother Nasser in Egypt is an evangelist who purposely creates opportunities to share Christ with others. But sometimes the example of his life shines brightly enough that opportunities come to him. Nasser lives in a Muslim neighborhood, like most Christians, who are just a tiny minority of the population in Egypt.

Sometimes I find myself in the mindset that sharing Christ with others is hard, especially in our culture, where many people are afraid to discuss religion. The example of our brothers and sisters in Egypt, however, showed me how easy it is to show Jesus to others through simple actions.

“If you are scourged or beheaded as a criminal, do you believe you will still ascend to heaven?” asked Rusticus, the city official.

In recent days we have referred to many cases, here in America, that involve prayer and specifically praying in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I am thrilled to let you know that a ban on praying in the name of Jesus has been reversed by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, that was enacted in 2008, by state police Col. W. Stephen Flaherty. Click here to read the full story.

Today I wanted to offer you some scripture to meditate upon and ask you to consider praying for our brothers and sisters in bonds and under persecution. Remember this was written by the Apostle Paul who himself was persecuted through beatings, imprisonment and ultimately martyred.

In his editorial for The Voice of the Martyr’s May newsletter, Dr. Tom White talks about how parents facing persecution decide to involve or not involve their children in suffering. What would you do? After all, children are young. They have their whole lives before them. Why should they suffer for their parent’s decisions? Read the May newsletter to hear what some parents have chosen.

Last weekend The Voice of the Martyrs had a conference out here in Southern California, and unfortunately I wasn't able to attend, but a dear friend of mine was. So I asked Kathi Macias, to share with us her experience at the VOM conference. Click here to visit Kathi's website and to learn more about her, she's a great writer.

Lately I've been doing a lot of examination concerning my spiritual life, and one area the Lord has been teaching me in concerns fasting. I don't know about you, but for most of my spiritual life I have never heard a sermon series on the subject of fasting in any church I've attended, and yet, I read the bible and I know the Lord talks about it.

The Whole Armor of God