We have heard that 21 Coptic Christians died at the brutal hands of ISIS over the weekend. They are martyrs for their faith.<\/p>\n
As I was having my devotions this morning the words of an old hymn written by Frederick Faber came to \u00a0mind:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers living still<\/p>\n
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword:<\/p>\n
O how our hearts beat high with joy<\/p>\n
Whene’er we hear that glorious word!<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers holy faith!<\/p>\n
We will be true to thee till death!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,<\/p>\n
Were still in heart and conscience free:<\/p>\n
How sweet would be their children’s fate,<\/p>\n
If they like them could die for Thee!<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers holy faith!<\/p>\n
We will be true to thee till death!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers<\/p>\n
We will strive<\/p>\n
To win all nations unto thee,<\/p>\n
And thro’ the truth that comes from God,<\/p>\n
Mankind shall then be truly free.<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers holy faith!<\/p>\n
We will be true to thee till death!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers<\/p>\n
We \u00a0will love<\/p>\n
Both friend and foe in all our strife:<\/p>\n
And preach thee too as love knows how,<\/p>\n
By kindly words and virtuous life.<\/p>\n
Faith of our fathers holy faith!<\/p>\n
We will be true to thee till death!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
These 21 martyrs were true ’til death.<\/p>\n
The last verse is the hard one – to love both friend and foe. We are commanded to love our enemies. That does not mean to be weak. We have a God-given duty to protect our homeland and families from the evil that is crouching at our gate. And it is evil – pure and heinous evil – straight from hell itself. These militants, radicals, have one thing on us – they are committed to what they believe!<\/p>\n
Am I that committed to Jesus? Are you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have heard that 21 Coptic Christians died at the brutal hands of ISIS over the weekend. They are martyrs for their faith. As I was having my devotions this morning the words of an old hymn written by Frederick Faber came to \u00a0mind: Faith of our fathers living still In spite of dungeon,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,20,27,71,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-current-issues-in-the-news","category-death","category-martyrs","category-personal-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\n