Freep this poll -- About the burning of the New Testament in Hebrew, in Israel

I'd let the missionaries make the call. I think if they are true missionaries, they'd want to meet with the principal and the teacher and the students, of course. They'd get more positive publicity by explaining publicly what their true motives are and by being gracious to the two Truth burners. Already there are editorials in their favor and most of the public is going to be aware that the New Testament is getting singled out for hostility, which doesn't make logical sense, only spiritual sense. God has a way of working this out when we obey him.

And if the principal and the teacher don't apologize or express remorse, I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

Dimitru Duduman was a Romanian pastor of Open Doors and you should hear his testimony about smuggling Bibles into Romania and USSR. The irony of the story is that Duduman was the son of a pastor who turned his back on God and was originally employed in the military and part of his duty was to search for Bibles on the ships coming in and report missionaries to the government. A Communist enemy of the gospel who wouldn't stop persecuting the Gospel died in such a way that the other Communists were fearful of God and let Duduman go.

I read about the conversion of Paul and I have always thought about those martyrs that he had killed. Some of them had to have prayed for him right before they got killed. Maybe the martyrs that prayed for Paul were some who witnessed Our Lord's death and heard his words, "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing."

Because we serve the living God, the Name above all Names, and have His Spirit, we should ask His Spirit for love and forgiveness towards our enemies. At least give them a chance to hear the true gospel, not the lies they've heard about Christianity.

Dana Currey was treated worse in Afghanistan by the enemies of the gospel and she is praying for those who are controlled by principalities and powers.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

That's great. I was in Budapest in July on a personal vacation and I met my second or third cousins. Even though I've been told there are still some 50-60 percent of the population who want Communism back, they are hungry for the gospel there. There was a Bible in my hotel room. I could talk about Jesus to anyone that understood me, but more than that, I noticed many were using terms like "Thank God" "God willing", etc. Those terms weren't used during the time the Communists were in power, people were too afraid. When I went to the apartment house where my relatives used to live to see the place my great grandparents would have known before they came here, there was a pastor listed on the apartment directory.

My husband wanted to go and see Vienna since it was, I think, 3 hours away. It was rich and beautiful but I discerned a spiritual oppression and I couldn't wait to get back to Budapest. I wanted to kiss the ground when I got to the Hungarian border. Recently I found out that witnessing or travelling as missionaries is against the law in Austria, so what you did in Czechoslavakia couldn't be done in Austria. So go figure, doors open and doors close. Ironic that Austria needs our prayers more than Eastern Europe.

Of course Christians pray for others, including enemies and those who do them wrong.

The Christian response of loving others and praying does not exclude other actions such as, when justified, putting them in jail or even going to war.

If we were to simply pray and love others and do nothing else, every nation that was largely made up of Christians would be run over and thoroughly abused by other nations. Meanwhile there would be no one in prison because of our obligation to forgive everyone. God made us in His image and that includes acting reasonably and, as best we are able, to do what is just here on earth. In the face of injustice we are not obligated to simply wait for God to sort things out. Our wisdom may be imperfect, but to act as if we have none would be to trade our divine gift for that of animals.

Back to the subject at hand. There may be sizeable number of responses to this teacher which would be considered "Christian." One of those responses is firing the guy, and that's the one, I believe, that does justice to the severity of the act he perpetrated.

I'm not advocating pacifism or forgetting about civil justice. I posted this story, The Elim Massacre Revisted once to FR but I can't find it in the archives.

Somehow I don't think this principal or teacher will ever try this stunt again. Make them read the New Testament and quiz them on it. Heap hot coals of fire up on his head and the Lord will reward thee. Proverbs 25:22 and Romans 12:20. That teacher and that principal are going to find out that Jesus is more Jewish than any Jew in Israel. That's what they are inwardly afraid of and that's why they have an aversion to the Gospel. Romans 12:21: Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.