I just finished reading this article over at The Baptist Press website and I have to say that my heart is grieved to no end because of the rebuke of the Rev. Al Mohler who should know better.

The “controversy” is concerning the picture you see above, on the front of a bible. Mohler says that bible cover crosses the line of appropriateness, however, and this is a big however, Mohler does not offer a better solution to reaching those who are ensnared in the porn industry. (At least not in the article)

This is so tragic when an older saint rebukes a younger saint for actually attempting to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I wholeheartedly support Craig Gross of XXXChurch.com for the work that he has been called to do. I even had one of the best podcasts with Craig a few months back. In fact, you can hear Craig on his podcast Dirty Little Secrets if you really want to be informed about how the church reacts to Craig’s ministry, and also what the Lord is doing through XXXChurch.com.

The Baptist Press website has a wonderful story today about the link between religious persecution and terrorism. Here’s the quote I think we all need to ponder and think about.

Earlier today I wrote a post about how Chinese pastors are being arrested for “illegally” printing bibles and then handing them out. When I wrote the post I was thinking about how in America we have our religious freedoms because we have thousands of Christian book stores and ministries we can go to in order to get the Bible or other material.

Then I found this story on Agape Press concerning an American couple who have been arrested for praying and preaching in public!

Near the end of the article, the lawyer defending the couple says, The Constitution protects religious expressions, the ADF attorney contends. “Christians are not second-class citizens, and our speech, religious speech, cannot be treated any differently than any other speech,” he says. “Christians should not be arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights.”

It is easy to understand why in a communist country Christians are under attack, but it is hard to understand why in America, Christians who are simply doing what God has commanded them to do, are being arrested for sharing their faith. Unfortunately, this is nothing new to those of us who follow the persecution of Christians. America, over the past several decades, has been slowly snuffing out the Christian worldview. We can no longer pray in school, or declare the biblical belief that absolute truth exists, because we live in a post-modern age where everything is relative and acceptable - except the undeniable truth of Scripture and the claims of Jesus Christ.

If you’re not familar with what the conference is about, let me tell you - it’s an awesome conference about Christian persecution all over the world. Todd had the blessing of being there, and you can feel like you were there - in a small way - if you click on over to the Persecution blog to read what Todd has written.

Just as an example, Todd wrote about how Muslims are coming to Christ all the time now! Here’s one quote, “An Islamic scholar said recently on Al Jazeera that 627 Muslims come to Christ in the world EVERY HOUR!” Is that not awesome!

Todd shares testimony from Gary Witherall who had a wife who was martyred in Lebanon and his journey to and through forgiveness of her killer.

From their website…

We are men invested in the children of America and the protection of their futures from predators involved in the commercial sex industry.
We have joined together to take a stand, declaring that the sexual exploitation of children, using pornography, and buying sex is not something real men will tolerate.

Real men guard themselves and protect children with dignity. We invite you to join us and become a Defender.

It’s the role men have been called to fill. It’s a pledge worth making and it’s a pledge worth keeping.

Being a Defender is living a life of integrity and purity. We’re men who take seriously our role to be protectors and providers.

Yet being a Defender is more than a label, it’s also a lifestyle.