New martyrs??

Pastor Terry Jones and his Church have decided it to be a worthy stand for God by burning copies of the Koran on Saturday in Florida. Political, military, and religious leaders around the country have denounced this plan as one that will bring possible retaliation against our military and possibly citizens, along with the fact that Islamic extremists will use this as a recruiting tool to foster more violence. Jones states that we have to take a stand. Who knows what he means by this, but it looks like he is willing to make some martyrs.

I guess it is much easier to make a stand in the confines of your own community as long as trouble stays on either side of the ocean. Other innocents will be put in harms way for this stance. Terrorism is not going away anytime soon, but do we need to pour gas on the fire. It is easy to become a martyr with Christian extremism. Go to an Islamic country and burn a Koran...you can probably be martyred quickly. If we look at the history of martyrs, they were all standing up for Christ and Christ's ways in hostile or unknown territory promoting the Gospel. I cannot think of any martyrs who stayed home and denounced another religions beliefs with a challenge and stated they were in danger also and could possibly be harmed. They were in harms way seeking to spread the name of Jesus only.

A martyr stands for Christ and does not seek martyrdom. It is a gift from God to be chosen for that honor. We don't seek martyrdom and we do not offer other people for the task. Christianity does not need to pick fights...Jesus states to turn the other cheek. This pastor has hundreds of Scriptural references to back down gracefully on his position and hopefully, he finds the wisdom to do that.