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That WE might be persecuted. I said “well thanks, I guess, but could you please have them stop!”

Nobody ever says 'oh, boy, give me persecution," but IMO nothing else will ever cause the Christian element in America to get serious again. We all worry about everything the world does - money, political power, success. The truth is, only Jesus Christ can bring us into peace, and if we have manufactured our own security and peace, frankly, we act like we don't need Him. We should be praying that the Chinese church fulfill its calling, and that the American church needs to wake up.

My dear sister you are absolutely correct. As I travel it becomes clear that the US is the most comfortable place in the world. Our poor are rarely hungry. They wear designer clothing, drive cars,have free health care and watch color TV. In exchange they sell their freedom to the government. For all their hardships, winos on the street consider themselves the freest among us, enslaved only to booze.
Oppression by the world is an essential proof of the Christian life. If this Godless world is sinful then we capitulate to sin by seeking comfort and safety in the arms of government, industry, even family and home. Yes, and even the church; for, it, too, is an institution of power and corruption.
Chinese Christians know that their reliance upon Christ is their only hope. They seek salvation not through a perfect state but through the perfection of Christ. We have so convoluted the message of Christ that we earnestly believe financial success and community status are God's blessing when they are more commonly Satan's curse.
A Christian who lives in Christ is at war with the world. Persecution is a mark of the Christian life. The sweetness of love and the persecution of the world are both gifts of the Holy Spirit.