Popular American evangelist Franklin Graham wants to give support to all the Christians who are currently being persecuted for their faith, and he is urging others to pray for their safety and wellbeing.
"Millions in many countries risk their freedom and—their very lives—to worship Him and claim His Name. Even under the threat of imprisonment, they faithfully follow, like Pastor Saeed Abedini and scores of others," Graham wrote on his Facebook page.
He admires these Christians because they cling on with steadfast resolution to their faith, even if they are already suffering under the hands of Islamist terrorists groups such as ISIS.
"They continue to gather to pray as we saw in Kenya this week with 147 brutally killed in cold blood," he said. "Even in America there has recently grown an ugly, anti-Christian bias and intolerance that is changing our nation from the inside out, opening doors for all kinds of discrimination and loss of religious freedom that we hear about daily in the news."
Franklin repeated the warning Jesus Christ gave to His followers that "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Jesus also reminded Christians that "if the world hates you, know that it hated me first."
During His time, Jesus was beaten, cursed at, and nailed to the cross even though He had no sins, before being betrayed by a friend and handed over to an unjust legal system. False charges were made against Him and the crowd demanded His death even though He was innocent.
When Christ suffered and took our sins to the cross, shedding His blood for each and every person, He died and was buried because of our sins, continued Graham. So if there is any one who knows what it is like to be falsely accused and suffer from injustices, then it is Jesus.
"Pray for all those across the globe who are suffering persecution and difficulty for His Name's sake," urged Graham.
