We’ll All Understand…By and By

Scripture

Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

~Isaiah 57:1, NLT

Quote

For reasons we don’t understand, bad things happen to good people, and perhaps even more inexplicable is that good things happen to bad people.

~John Hamby

Pat Summit, the legendary coach of the Tennessee Volunteer women basketball team died yesterday morning early at the age of 64. She had suffered from Alzheimer’s for the last six years. This means that her quality of life dropped drastically at age 58 and that my friend is young. I’ve had a lot of friends to die young. The number is so large, I would be afraid to list them. Perhaps all of them were better men than myself; some of them for sure and it left me wondering: Lord, why would you take them and leave me. Why did you take them and leave drug pushers, wife beaters, dead beats, crooks and child molesters? It doesn’t make sense to us, does it?

Josiah was the best king  in Israel’s history: yes, he was a much better man than David. Josiah was a puritan with bulldog tenacity. He set out to destroy the pagan altars in Israel and his crusade lead him into the North where he was not recognized as a king. He hated Baal with a passion and he loved Yahweh. He got killed in battle at the age of 39 but the Lord allowed this to protect Josiah from seeing the evil that was to come. God has a way of turning our deepest grief into our greatest joy. My oldest brother died as an infant. My mother almost gave way to despair and she did have a root of bitterness. God gave her three more sons and all three broke her heart more than once. She told me once, “The only son that I’m sure will be in heaven is the one I gave up.” God took her grief and turned it into a comfort. He is an amazing God.

• You never know what a day will bring. I met Sammy and Kathy at the 4-way in Danville this morning. Little did I know what was happening. Sammy has suffered a major stroke and is fighting for his life. Doctors say the next 24 hours is critical. Pray for Sammy Crow and family.
• BUMPER STICKER OF THE DAY: “Heaven, don’t miss it for the world!
• GATHERING tonight at 6:30
• SUNDAY SCHEDULE: Deacon’s and wives meeting in the sanctuary at 9:05, LCBS at 9:15 and worship at 10:15. No pm worship.

Hope

Scripture

But those who die in the LORD will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!

~Isaiah 26:19, NLT

Quote

Blessed are those who can live with unanswered questions, who can rest in what they see and who can wait patiently for God to reveal what they can’t see.

~Charles Rozell Swindoll

When it comes to questions, I have them and it took time and grace for me to learn to live with unanswered questions. There is a lot we will not know in this life. Our understanding of reality is very dim but God has given us this blessed thing called “Hope.” How miserable we would be if we had no hope. Job had questions, lots of questions. One is found in Job 14:14…Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death.

God created both the natural and spiritual world with the natural reflecting the spiritual. When it comes to the resurrection, our Creator has given us signs in all direction. A nights of restful sleep and then the awakening is a picture of the resurrection. Spring time is a picture of the resurrection–everything appeared dead but has sprang back to life. Plants are a sign of the resurrection. The same olive trees that Jesus prayed beneath are still in existence. Didn’t Titus the Roman have them cut to the ground? Yes, but that doesn’t kill and olive tree, they shoot branches from the stump. Seeds are another sign. I have all kinds of garden seed in the freezer. There is no apparent life in them but soon I will be planting them and they will come up.

Feed your faith, starve your doubt, cling to hope and trust God with all your unanswered question.

• EASTER SUNDAY…can you believe it!
• Sunrise @ 8:00…Breakfast @8:30…LCBS @ 9:15…Easter Parade @ 10:10 and Celebrate Jesus @ 10:15
• Today is your last chance to get SWAMP JOHN’S TICKETS.
• I finished Dr. Graham’s latest and probably last book, “Where I Am” last week and I highly recommend it. It would make a good gift for a lost friend who is seeking.

NEW YORK – JUNE 25: Franklin Graham, with Bible in hand, addresses the crowd before his father Billy Graham speaks during his Crusade at Flushing Meadows Corona Park June 25, 2005 in the Queens borough of New York. Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the site for Graham’s sermons on June 24-26, which looks to draw thousands of people from across the country, and will purportedly be the aging Christian evangelist’s final crusade. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

Jesus Took The Sting

Scripture

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”

~John 11:25, NLT

Quote

“Life cannot be hidden.”

~Warren W. Wiersbe

The gospels record Jesus raising the dead three times. This does not mean that Jesus only raised three: it means we have a record of three. In two of the three cases {Lazarus and Jairus daughter} Jesus referred to the physically dead as sleep. In the third instance, Jesus used the “get up” command as in awakening a sleeper.

Why was Jesus view of physical death so radically different from our human point of view? The answer is simple: Jesus was standing on earth but He could see into heaven [eternity] and there is no death for believers in eternity. Whatever else physical death may be, it is a temporary condition which is why Jesus referred to it as sleep.

Do you dread going to bed each night? The only time we really dread sleep is when we are afraid we will not wake up. If you have assurance about waking up, you will not fear going to sleep. Jesus will wake us from death in the same manner as He did the Widows son, Jarius’ daughter and Lazarus: He will do it with His word. Jesus said, “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.” {John 5:25}

• The girl on AMERICAN IDOL last night is from West Limestone. She is a granddaughter to June’s first cousin. Her dad was a couple of years old when I served the church is West Limestone where they attend or did at that time. Its a small world and a kid from West Limestone is on her way to Hollywood.
• Bill Wilbourn, brother to Debbie Gilliland and Charlie Wilbourn passed away yesterday morning. I don’t have any arrangements at this time. Bill had a lot of problems and his quality of life had gotten very bad. Bill make a profession of faith about 15-20 years ago while he was in the hospital at DGH. Bill was tired and ready to go. Debbie was his primary caregiver. If you know Debbie, now would be a good time to send her a text: she loved her brother.
• LORD willing we will baptize Sunday and all deacons meetings are at 8:15 unless I tell you otherwise. Adam calls the shots, I relay the message. The weather folks have changed their predictions again, and they will change them again before the day is over. June says  we will get snow tomorrow and Saturday and black ice on Sunday. I predict cold rain and we will alter our plans for Sunday when the time comes but right now, it is full speed ahead. Guess what parents, “They are shutting school down early tomorrow.”

 

 

 

Life’s Mission

Scripture

When they finish proclaiming their message, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will fight against them. He will defeat them and kill them, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, where their Lord was crucified.

~Revelation 11:7, GNT

Quote

If we are fearful about dying physically, there is little chance we will have the courage to die spiritually [to sin and self].

~Ya’akov

The two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11 are prophets in the mold of Moses and Elijah. In John’s vision God sent two witnesses dressed in sackcloth to proclaim God’s message for 1,260 days. These witnesses or prophets are under divine protection; no one has the ability to harm them until their mission is complete.

Once their mission is complete, Satan makes war on them and kills them. The world celebrates their death. To show their lack of respect, they leave the bodies of the two prophets in the street to rot. The world mocks their death and disgrace. But after 3 1/2 days, the Ruach of God breathes new life into their bodies and they rise. Then they here a voice from heaven calling, “Come up here!” Suddenly they ascend heavenward and disappear in a cloud. After they are gone, all hell breaks lose.

Three quick lessons:

1. You are not going to die until your mission is complete. You are under divine protection.
2. When you die, you are not going to stay dead. You will hear the voice and you will rise. Physical death is an illusion: it appears final but it is not. Death is not the final sleep; it is the final awakening. {Sir Walter Raleigh}
3. Seek neither more nor less than God’s will for your life. {Chip Ingram}

• Our Grace Ministry Guatemala offering stands at $20,791.31. This means we need three consecutive offering of $2,500 or more. This means we need a miracle. For those who are giving, it is time to pray. One way or the other, we need divine intervention. I am not going to worry and I am not going to brow-beat. I am going to pray.
• I noticed some new names on our pray list this week; people who are battling cancer. Also remember those in the hospital: Buford Burgess and Roylean Lewis.
• Kane did not have to get blood Monday but he may go in Thursday {Huntsville}.
• The Deacons elected Adam Glenn to be their chairman several weeks back and yesterday via teleconference, Jerry Wayne Segars was elected as chairman of the Budget Committee. Their first meeting is Wednesday night January 6. They will meet at 6:45, right after the GATHERING.
• I will be on light duty for awhile. I go see Dr. Ward today so I may know more tomorrow. I can still sit, thank goodness but my walking is restricted. I only move when necessary. LORD willing I will be at the Gathering but definitely no standing. We are going to have to find my stool. Sunday night I could stand better than sit. The back is a strange thing.

No Place Like Home

Scripture

Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

~Luke 16:9, NLT

Quote

“He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I have lived in many houses, apartments, etc. but in my 66 years I have really had only two homes. While my parents were living, I considered Sardis Springs my home but now my earthy home is in Danville or Rocky Ford, if you want to be technical. A house is made of brick and beams, a home is made by hope and dreams. A house has no eternal significance but home has infinite worth.

Bro. Inman use to say, “Everyone needs three homes, a Christian Home, a Church Home and a Heavenly Home.” Thank God for a Christian home and for a church home but the best is yet to come. I’ve had an easy life but many of my friends have had deal with sorrow upon sorrow.

I visited one of the sweetest ladies I know on Wednesday and she has stood at the grave side of three children: not one, not two but three and has a sweet spirit and wonderful attitude in spite of the sorrow.

I have a cousin who can’t remember a healthy family. His father had rheumatoid arthritis and sugar diabetes. His oldest brother had MS, his only sister had a rare disease that I can’t spell. His mother had a bad heart and his baby brother was a chronic diabetic, two insulin shots per day since he was 10 years old. His dad and older brother died in their 50’s, his mom, sister and baby brother died in their 60’s. At age 70, he has outlived everyone in his family by three years. No one else got past 67.

I am sick of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and all the other forms of illness that bring pain and sorrow to families. Do I have perfect peace in this world? NO! I see hurting people almost every day of my life and I am looking forward to going home, my real home where we will experience infinite joy, peach and love–with no sorrow, sickness or death.

• Another great THANKSGIVING service. I loves things that are simple and we had a service in which our children could participate. When Braden Bass grabs the mic, I thought, “There is no telling what he is going to say,” but the little fellow was clear, articulate and right on the money. If his dad had been there, he would swelled up like an old dead dog. Renee was so moved, she could not say a word. Granny T came with Sue and when it came her time she said, “I am thankful for Teddy.” Just kidding, she said, “I am thankful for Sue.” Sue is so high on Granny’s list that she can be the center of a family photo. They still make Adam stand on the edge in case he needs to be cropped out someday. Granny would have sung for us but June could not find the sheet music. We’ve booked her for next year.
• Gary Garner had his final chemo on Wednesday, we pray.
• Dropped in to see David and Kay: David is doing well but also being careful to follow the doctor’s orders. He may get out Sunday if everything falls into place.
• Also stopped by to see Mrs. Jewel Roberts who has not been out in 5 weeks but she may get to come Sunday weather permitting.
• Folks, I had a great THANKSGIVING. I am thankful for a lot but at 1120 Ironman, Big Mama is the MVP. I didn’t mention that at church or with the family but we all depend on Big Mama and she does a terrific job taking care of the family. I am very blessed! All Bailey’s have sinned and come short of the perfection we see in Jesus but all things considered, I am very proud of my children and grand children. I hope you had a good day also.

A Message From A Box of Bones

SCRIPTURE

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to do this. He said, “God will certainly come to help you. When he does, you must take my bones with you from this place.”

~Exodus 13:19, NLT

QUOTE

Faith is the radar that sees through the fog.

~Corrie ten Boom

Only Benjamin was younger than Joseph but Joseph preceded his brothers in physical death. The good die young I suppose. Joseph assured his brother, “God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” Joseph made his brother swear an oath that they would not leave his remains in Egypt. Moses was familiar with this promise and he would not leave Egypt without the coffin with Joseph bones.

What is the message from the box of bones?

1. God is faithful: He always keeps His promises.
2. Egypt is not our resting place–don’t take ease in Egypt {world}.
3. Physical death is not the final sleep; it is the final awakening.
4. The body may die but our influence lives on.

Someone has suggested that the box of bones may have spoken to the Israelites who carried them:

A little chuckle from a knuckle,

A little glee from a knee

Or a little grin from a chin,

You know there was a lot of ribbing.

{I did not write the rhyme, found it in some old notes}

• God is good, what can I say….What a day! Three or four folks including one of my daughters liked the service yesterday morning. David and the guys {that includes Mrs. Linda} did an outstanding job. I am telling you folks, I experienced some heaven yesterday. It was a busy day but a good day: Thank YOU Jesus!
• I made an official announcement last night: be sure you read this correctly and repeat it correctly. My retirement date {LORD willing} is December 31 2016. People have been congratulating me on my retirement and I keep telling them, I am not retired; I am planning to retire. Catfish is going to help me separate the blogs from the Church domain. We hope to do that in the next few months. I will probably order my new office building after the first of the year and will move a few things next Summer.
• Pray for Allison and Ken Blackwood: they have some hard decisions to make in the next few weeks.
• In light of our retirement: the DEACONS are working on the By-laws and a transition plan. At this point, no one knows what the church will do. They want to update the By-Laws first. They will of course bring all this back to the church. Their plans are to amend, omit, and add. We need guidelines on the transition, marriage policy and child care. They will be doing this on Sunday mornings from 7:45 to prayer time or to LCBS time. I will not be participating. This is something that you need to decide. I will help if called on, otherwise I will give my time to prayer and study of the word. As a CONCERNED MEMBER you have some options. You can attend one of these meetings and share your input in person, you can talk to one of the deacons or you can write your recommendation on paper and submit to one of the deacons. They will take any recommendation that has a signature. They will throw unsigned suggestion in the waste basket. Since everyone does not read the blog, I will repeat the above in the Sunday bulletin. You can pass the word and you are free to question any deacon–they will fill in the blanks. We have some bright minds in this group and they love DBC: they will do what is right. You are very fortunate to have these Deacons: they are capable leaders and they have the interest of the church at heart.
• I also want to tell you how relieved and thrilled I am to see everyone doing better: last weekend and last week was a time of anxiety for me. I am not bragging, I am confessing. Kane and Gary are better and I think Keri is better but her dad is hurting. Kelvin fell from a roof Saturday and shattered the bones in his left leg right above the angle. The X-ray looks like a bomb exploded inside his leg. Kelvin is hurting and Tracey is wore out. Mavis will be at CRMC a couple more days. She was in good spirits yesterday evening.
• The biggest news of the day is that Zed has become an LSU fan. He wore and LSU shirt to church last night. I think he is serious.
• Have a great week!

Totally Committed

SCRIPTURE

 But I don’t care what happens to me, as long as I finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do. And that work is to tell the good news about God’s great kindness.

~Acts 20:24, CEV

QUOTE

True greatest is to serve unnoticed and to work unseen.

~Chip Ingram

MY THOUGHTS

Do you consider yourself a devoted follower of Christ? We humans are driven by instinct and possibly the strongest instinct is self-preservation. I was debating with an older gentleman who had been voting for democrats. I explained their position on abortion and homosexuality: I said, “You do not support these two things do you?” He said, “No, but the republicans will cut out my social security and I have to live.” I said, “That’s where you are wrong, you don’t have to live.” For the record, this is where America is wrong.

Do you see Christ call and purpose as being greater than your physical life? Do you consider yourself expendable? Texas would be speaking Spanish today had it not been for the heroic exploits of the brave men at the Alamo. They believed in a cause worth dying for: they saw themselves as being expendable.

On February 23, 1836, the Mexican army of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, arrived in San Antonio  and surrounded the Alamo. The next day, Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis, leader of the Alamo’s defenders, sat down to write a letter addressed to “the People of Texas & All Americans in the World.” Travis appealed for help, but expressed no fear or despair at the ever-mounting odds against his men [25 to 1]. Instead, he vowed to “never surrender or retreat,” but to fight to the death. As we all know, help never came and Colonel Travis and his men died courageously but their sacrifice was not in vain. They heroic efforts was the key to Texas winning their independence.

Once a man commits himself to a cause greater than himself and sees himself as being expendable, as did Paul; he becomes a walking dead man who can wreak havoc on the enemy because his life has no sway over him: he is ready to die for the cause.

The Disciples of Christ were not martyrs when He called them. They were young, inexperienced, green, ambitious and very insecure. Jesus forged them into a fighting force, men of courage who came to view themselves as expendable. They laid down their lives for Jesus and changed the world in the process.

• SCHEDULE FOR TODAY: Deacon’s meeting at 8:15, LCBS at 9:15, Worship at 10:15 and 6:00. Band Practice at 3:00, First Priority Pray meeting at 5:45 [at the three schools].
• Great response to the plea to pray for Gary.
• I got a record number of HAPPY B’day Text yesterday: thank you for that outpouring of love. I forgot it was my birthday until June mentioned it and reminded me that we where going to Hannah’s for breakfast. It is hard to believe, I am 63 years older than Chloe. I don’t want to go back but I would like to have a 40 year old body. Yes, I would try to take better care of it than I did this one. A lot of birthday’s yesterday: Bill Wood, Jean Narrell, Courtney Nichelson, Mike Trout, Keith Carradine, Kohl Sudduth [41] Mel Tillis [82], Connie Stevens [76],  and Dustin Hoffman [77].
• This is BLOCK PARTY WEEK and there is nothing like it. June says they are predicting cooler weather–wouldn’t that be great. Actually, yesterday wasn’t too bad. I have never seen a year go by as fast as 2015.
• I slap dab forgot to tell you NASCAR fans that Richard Petty was on the ship with us and I bumped into him in the elevator, he and two beautiful young women. I guess it was daughters or granddaughters. Probably daughters because they were in their prime [40]. He was as nice as he could be: I looked at him and said, “You are Richard Petty, right?” He said, “That’s right and stuck out his hand for a shake.” We chatted briefly. I told him that my wife was going to kill me for not having the camera and he said, “I’ll see you later and you can get a pic.” I didn’t see him again. He didn’t have on his cap or sun glasses which I understand is rare. I would have forgotten it but June reminded me.

Swallowed By Life

SCRIPTURE

While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.

~2 Corinthians 5:4, NLT

QUOTE

Death is not the final sleep, it is the final awakening.

~Sir Walter Scott

Just as light is greater than darkness, so life is greater than death. We tend to think the opposite because it appears that death is final. At one time, man was convinced that the sun orbited the earth once per day because he appears to be so. Then we discovered our solar system and the earth is actually orbiting the sun which is the exact opposite of what we thought. It was the rotation of the earth on its invisible axis that creates the days which means our first impression was an illusion. The moral of the story is that things are seldom as they appear. Death appears to be dominant and to have the last word but the opposite is true. Life, not death, is dominant and it will swallow death.

• We have a cold front coming in next week: the highs are in the low 90’s. June tells me that they are giving triple digits for the weekend. Praise the LORD for electricity and AC, amen!
• Count down to Alaska is 3 days. We are scheduled to leave Monday morning at 5:00.
• Joe David did the hospital visitation yesterday and I have not talked with him: I will be going today. I know we need to continue to pray for Kane, Keri and Gary
• Full slate this Sunday: Deacons meeting at 8:15, LCBS at 9:15 and Worship at 10:15 and 6:00. I am thinking about a Pizza Fellowship Sunday night after church, can I get an amen?
• BLOCK PARTY August 15
• SWIM PARTY August 16 from 6:00-8:00 [Hartselle City Pool]: if we have 300 David will do a flip off the high dive naked. That is Wood not Hopper.

Ring Around the Roses, Pocket Full Of Posies

SCRIPTURE

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned.

~Romans 5:12, NRSV

QUOTE

 Death is a debt we all must pay.

~Euripides [Greek Poet]

As a small child, I sang “Ring Around The Roses, pocket full of posies, Upstairs, Downstairs, we all fall down”. When we played, we held hands, formed a circle and danced around as we sang the rhyme, when you heard the word “down”, you fell to the ground or floor as quickly as possible. The last one to fall was considered a rotten egg. They say this rhyme was written during the Black Plague [1665 in England]. They did not know the cause of the plague but thought that it had something to do with clean air because sneezing and coughing always preceded death. People put rose petals in their pockets hoping that the fragrance from the flowers would drive away the bad air. The original version actually went like this: “Ring around the roses, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down”. On the last verse “Atishoo” [sound of a sneeze replaced the word ashes]. They burned all the bodies during the plague, thus the ashes. In a manner of speaking, we are still filling our pockets with posies like money, plastic surgery, health foods or what have you are not going to prevent our appointment with physical death. The greater sin is not to fear physical death but to deny its reality. Since it is inevitable, would it not be wise to be prepared?

• Wednesdays are busy days; so I have made a habit of going back in the archives and pasting an old blog. The above was written December 11, 2011.
• Gary Garner is in UAB. LORD willing, I will be going down this morning. Carman Livingston is still at DGH with a bad fluid problem and Preston Grammer is also at DGH with a staff infection. I am asking you to pray about all three of these situations. Pray for Joe David and myself: I’m going one way and he is going the other.
• We had a GREAT SERVICE last night: no one had as much fun as I. The music on Wednesday night is awesome. The guys are relaxed and they create. Pray for David and Rebecca, they leave for vacation on Friday.
• Jason is going to let me teach his class again this Sunday. I am looking forward to teaching David Wood. He was out of town last week.

Looking Forward

SCRIPTURE

But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

~2 Peter 3:13, NLT

QUOTE

A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.

~C.S. Lewis

Without something to look forward to, all humans give way to despair. We need a future event to set our hopes on. For the young and able, it could be a vacation at the beach or a cruise. For those who have to work hard, it could be a Sabbath. For those who work but not that hard, it could be a weekend but we all need something in which to look forward or else we become gloomy, pessimistic and hopeless souls. What about a man who has a massive stroke: can’t talk, can’t sit up and cannot feed himself; does he have any reason to look forward? What about a person with stage 4 cancer? No believer in Christ is ever hopeless. We can all look forward to heaven.

You have probably heard the story of the Christian woman who was dying with cancer: she made all her arrangements in advance, the dress, the make up, the entire nine yards and she insisted they put a fork in her hand. When her family questioned her, she said, “When mother told us to keep our forks, it meant desert was coming. When people ask you why there is a fork in my hand, you tell them she understood that the desert was yet to come. Jesus always saved the best for last.”

• Another Great Day in VBS/VBX…194 total. VBX goes to CARING PLACE tomorrow. If you want to donate can goods or bring clothes, have them at church by 9:00 a.m. Today is Evangelism Day in VBS.
• VBS Commencement program Sunday Night at 6:00 followed by picnic.
• GOLDEN GIRLS Saturday morning at Cracker Barrel…9:00 am. 

 

• A Gallup poll released earlier this week suggests that nearly 50 percent of Americans continue to believe that God created human beings “in present form” in the past 10,000 years.
• The World Watch List (WWL) Research team of Open Doors International has released  a top ten list of the countries who persecute Christians: this research is based on persecution incidents between Nov. 1, 2012, and March 31, 2014, is topped by Nigeria. The others, in order, are: Syria, Egypt, Central African Republic (CAR), Mexico, Pakistan, Colombia, India, Kenya and Iraq. For a complete country summary of the Top 10 Violence List, go to https://www.opendoorsusa.org/downloads/pdf-downloads/violence-top-10-countries-2014.pdf.In all countries where Christians are persecuted, researchers recorded 3,641 churches and Christian properties destroyed and 13,120 other forms of violence against Christians such as beatings, abductions, rapes, arrests and forced marriages.