The Persecuted Church

11:17:00 PM



Three Church of Iran Pastors in Prison

Pastor Behnam Irani of Karaj, Iran is in prison serving a five year sentence for crimes against the order. As we reported previously his crimes were being a pastor and possessing Christian materials. In the recent past we received reports that he was being beaten by fellow prisoners with the approval of prison authorities. While he was in prison his hair turned fully grey. Pray that God keeps him healthy and strong in faith.Brother Petros Forouton, a minister of the Gospel from Shiraz, Iran also remains in prison, serving a one year sentence for crimes against the order.  Previously he was held in solitary confinement and in the area where the drug abusers were kept. He is now in the regular area of the prison.Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, as you know, is still in prison and is waiting for his verdict to be delivered.Several other pastors and ministers are under intense pressure as a result of the Iranian government’s policy against Christians. Several have fled the country to go through UNHCR’s refugee process.Please continue to pray for these brothers and their families. They need your prayers and support. If you wish to support some of them you can do so here. Also, please share this post with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
 An article by Present Truth Ministries



I was reading the article above about the Brothers in Iran and thinking today about what I wrote last night. Sometimes the waves look really big from the shore...and sometimes they actually are a Tsunami rolling in. I thought of Psalm 69 (posted below)- David was literally drowning. Like the waters were overwhelming him and more than he could bare. The Lord takes us to those places too. Where the waves are really more than we can handle. But the anchor is the same- Jesus. Jesus is still the sustainer, the hope, the anchor- and probably more than ever- when you are literally drowning. And David praises God amidst the flood. We still look ahead- at Jesus. Like Peter- the waves were too much for Him- but when He looked at Jesus in faith- He was able to walk on them- but when his eyes turned to himself, to his situation, to what was possible in his flesh- he drowned. And so even if the Lord leads me to deep waters, I know where to look- eyes fixed on Jesus. 

Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to tLilies. Of David.

69 Save me, O God!
For uthe waters have come up to my neck.1
2 I sink in deep vmire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood wsweeps over me.
3 xI am weary with my crying out;
ymy throat is parched.
zMy eyes grow dim
with awaiting for my God.
4 bMore in number than the hairs of my head
are cthose who hate me dwithout cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
ethose who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you fbe put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become ha stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother's sons.
9 For izeal for your house has consumed me,
and jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled2 my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made ksackcloth my clothing,
I became la byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who msit in the gate,
and the drunkards make nsongs about me.
13 But as for me, my oprayer is to you, O Lord.
At pan acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in qthe mire;
rlet me be delivered from my enemies
and from sthe deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or tthe pit close uits mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your vsteadfast love is good;
according to your abundant wmercy, xturn to me.
17 yHide not your face from your servant;
zfor I am in distress; amake haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my breproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 bReproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in cdespair.
I dlooked for epity, but there was none,
and for fcomforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me gpoison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me hsour wine to drink.
22 iLet their own jtable before them become a snare;
kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.3
23 lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
mand make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 nMay their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they opersecute him whom pyou have struck down,
and they recount the pain of qthose you have wounded.
27 rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.4
28 Let them be sblotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be tenrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, uset me on high!
30 I will vpraise the name of God with a song;
I will wmagnify him with xthanksgiving.
31 This will yplease the Lord more than an ox
or a bull zwith horns and hoofs.
32 When athe humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, alet your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let cheaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For dGod will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

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