Foxe's Martyrs

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. A while back, I had the honor of interviewing a young Russian immigrant to California on my radio show. Only 16 years old, she had been suspended from her high school in Sacramento because she bore public testimony to her faith in Jesus. I remember asking her if she felt discouraged at this mistreatment. Surprised, she looked at me and said, “In Russia, we were trained to suffer for Jesus. It’s what Christians do. Isn’t it?” I was humbled, and for a moment, speechless. Our Christian generation needs to wake up to this kind of commitment. Others have. Did you know that for 150 years, the most popular book among European Christians, other than the Bible, was Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which was a graphic history of the torture and deaths of hundreds of Christians? I’ve read it, and it puts anything Steven King ever wrote into the comic strip category. The stories are horrifying. But it shows this lesson: The early church didn’t fear suffering; it honored it. So should we. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.