Hi, I'm Jim Denison with Dennis and Form asking today the faith question, why does God allow the ungodly to persecute the godly?

On March 2, 2011, Shabazz Bhati, was martyred. The only Christian in the Prime Minister's cabinet in Pakistan,

he advocated tirelessly for the persecuted of all faiths and communities. He met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of Congress for his courage.

He was ambushed by the Pakistan Taliban, and he was shot to death.

Shortly before his death, he recorded a statement in which he declared,

I'm ready to die for the cause.

I'm living for my community of suffering people, and I will die to defend their rights.

I prefer to die for my principles and for the justice of my community rather than to compromise on those threats.

Last November, November of 2020, a group of Orthodox Christians meeting for a religious festival

in Ethiopia was massacred. Priests, the elderly, young, entire families, including more than 20

children were marty. Scholars estimate that 100,000 Christians die every year for their faith

around the world. Others think that number is far greater. I've been to Cuba

10 times over the years. I can attest personally to the suffering I've seen of believers there.

When they come out for Jesus, when they're baptized publicly as followers of Christ, their children

often get the worst schools or the worst military assignments, the worst jobs, they get the worst housing.

And oftentimes they're jailed and sometimes even worse than that.

When I was in Beijing some years ago, I was meeting with underground church pastors and

they were describing what they go through to serve Jesus, to follow Jesus and the daily

persecution they face.

In North Korea, there are work camps composed of tens of thousands,

maybe more of that, believers, who are being punished for no reason except the fact that they're

believers. Well, the big question Christians always have to face is the issue of innocent suffering.

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