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"I adored and feared you knowing you'd break my heart, my heart that had never before been broken because never before so exposed."

~Joyce Carol Oates, Three Girls 

//Stories about Terrorists

Last Tuesday, Breakaway, a Bible study on the campus of Texas A&M, launched the Shalom project. It is a movement to respond to the hatred and terrorism in Nigeria, Iraq, and Iran with the victorious love of God. That night, I became starkly aware of the heart-wrenching extent of religious persecution worldwide. Admittedly, I knew it was happening, but the fact that persecution today is more rampant than any other time in history blindsided me. At first, I wanted to cry for my brothers and sisters enduring unimaginable horrors. Then I became so angry at the faceless men running the terrorism show. And then God showed up with His revelation.   

GUYS. Paul, the most influential person to Christianity after Jesus, was a terrorist before he met God. He persecuted and killed countless Christians. Check out Acts 9:1-19 for the details, but essentially:

PAUL WAS THE ISIS OF HIS TIME.

But, continue reading the New Testament and examine how God RADICALLY changed Paul’s life... it's CRAZY. My point is:

NO ONE IS EVER TOO FAR GONE FROM THE SAVING LOVE OF JESUS.

YOU

ARE NEVER TOO FAR GONE

WE CAN NEVER GIVE UP HOPE ON ANYONE.

God can change the ugliest of hearts into something unimaginably beautiful for His glory. We cannot hate the terrorists of ISIS and the other factions. Yes, what they are doing is abhorrent, unjust, and evil, but we have to respond with love, prayer, and forgiveness. God promises in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Let me reiterate: HE IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. There is no sin too great that He will not forgive it.

Who knows if the next Paul - a person who will rise up in these turbulent end times more boldly than New Testament Paul - just hasn't traveled his road to Damascus yet?

~~~

alicia//

http://breakawayministries.org/Events/Shalom-Project