religion of peace? In January 2012, ISIS fighters invaded the area where Samia’s sister, Rajaa, lived with her husband, Fouad, and their infant daughter. Rajaa learned that the Islamists had a list of Christians’ names to target for execution. The following month, the area around Rajaa’s house was consumed by a full-scale battle. When extremists shot out the windows in their home, Fouad told Rajaa to take their baby and hide while he went outside to fight. Fouad was wounded and captured by ISIS militants. They injected diesel fuel into his veins and left him on the porch of his house so his family would witness his agony. In great pain and struggling to breathe, he was able to tell Rajaa what had happened before he died. “They attacked him because he was Christian,” Rajaa said. Rajaa took her baby and fled to her parents’ house, moving in with them and her sister, Samia. As ISIS fighters gained control of more territory, the two sisters and their family were again in great danger. The family was forced to flee. After walking for about a week with a 5-month-old baby and their elderly parents, they finally reached a neighboring country, where they received emergency housing and basic supplies. For two years, the family lived in a tent at a refugee camp, where Rajaa and Samia’s father died of a stroke. Most of the other refugees were Muslims who didn’t accept them. But with help from the global body of Christ, they eventually found a more secure place to live. A local pastor also started teaching them more about the Bible. “When the pastor told us all the Good News, I felt like I am a little baby,” Rajaa said. “I was really born again.” Samia experienced a similar revival of faith. The two sisters, along with their pastor, now regularly deliver aid and share the gospel with Muslim refugees. They hope, someday, to return to their Syrian homeland. “We want to go back and tell them about Jesus,” they told their pastor. They hope to somehow utilize their parents’ bombed, roofless home. Despite, and partly as a result of, their deep suffering and personal loss, the sisters long to share the hope of Christ with their countrymen who are in desperate need of reconciliation with one another and the God who loves them. Rajaa’s Story - The Voice of the Martyrs
"Turn the other cheek..." Bah! Rubbish! It never works. Evil needs to be confronted in order to be stopped, doesn't matter if its ISIS or Russians invading another country. Should that not happen then evil simply grows, larger, more confident and more active. I'm glad the sisters found peace through Christ, but it does nothing to stop this from happening to someone else.
Regardless of your bad experiences, but God does a great many things in those lives dependent on Him. Jesus Christ is not obligated to intervene in the lives of those not devoted to Him. God does not reward those yet in rebellion. though you may. The Holy Spirit looks on the heart, but He will not defy your will, nor can He be deceived with false words though men try. Being tortured Jesus turned the other cheek, He went to the cross for your sake and the sake of the word so man could regain fellowship with God as it was in the beginning before Adam fell. Christians are to pray for their enemies. God does amazing things when we seek His intervention and influence in affairs that we have no control. not that we manipulate God but that we cooperate with Him and He teaches us how to pray. Often the problem is far beyond our limited perspective, but not beyond that of God, and He knows all the potentials in a person's life. I trust that God would have me live till my work is done and no longer and that's fine with me. I have had men threaten me but, in their anger, could not touch me only inches away. Soldiers have passed through wars and their uniform riddled with holes, yet their body untouched. Ther are some that will die of natural causes and some die in accidents, and some will be required to endure a test of their devotion. God has His reasons. I one's faith is only for this life, they are missing the whole point.
I'm all for God, hell, he is the one that has stood by me, protected me, and kept me sane all these years! However, those that do evil, like inject diesel into someone's veins, rape children, behead innocents need to be confronted and put in the ground or on a funeral pyre. I am a very strong believer in God and also that 'God helps those that help themselves', and nothing annoys me more than those that stand around yapping and waiting around for God to do the heavy lifting instead of rolling up their sleeves. God will help and give you the strength but it's one's own decision whether to confront evil or do nothing.
