Y llamando a la gente y a sus discípulos, les dijo: Si alguno quiere venir en pos de mí, niéguese a sí mismo, y tome su cruz, y sígame. Porque todo el que quiera salvar su vida, la perderá; y todo el que pierda su vida por causa de mí y del evangelio, la salvará. (SAN MARCOS 8:34, 35 RVR60)
The Danger in Being a Christian: It began as a Jewish sect; fierce persecution only helped it spread
Acts 8 Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. In some countries, a person who becomes a Christian forfeits a good education and job. And in a few countries, a person who converts risks his or her life. One church historian estimates that more Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all preceding centuries put together. Yet, strangely, more often than not, intense persecution of Christians leads to a spurt of growth in the church. An ancient saying expresses this phenomenon: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.” The First Big Advance For a while, the new faith enjoyed popular favor. But very soon it involved grave risk. In the book of Acts, the persecution that produced the first Christian martyr, Stephen, ironically brought about the advance of Christianity outside its Jewish base. Forced out of stormy Jerusalem, the scatterin...
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