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Friday, June 1, 2012

What Modern Youth Group Should Look Like
_{Steven Long 6/01/12}

From the most recent issue of Voice of the Martyrs. Support the persecuted church with your prayers and financial gifts.

Eulalia—A.D. 304
Thirteen-year-old Eulailia yearned to die for Christ. She live in Merida, Spain, during the "Great Persecution," when Christians in the Roman Empire were commanded to sacrifice to the gods or face execution. Eulalia's parents, afraid of what she might do, sent her away from home to live in the coutnryside. But Eulailia's fiery spirit could not be quenched. She escaped the house where she was staying one night and appeared before the Merida tribunal the next morning.

"Ar you not ashamed to cast your own souls and those of others at once into eternal perdition by denying the only true God, the Father of us all, and the Creator of all Christians, that you may put them to death?" Eulalia asked the tribunal. "Behold, here am I, an adversary of your satanical sacrifices. I confess with heart and mouth God alone." She told the tribunal that she would not worship their three pagan gods or the emperor. Enraged, the tribunal judge called an executioner and demanded that Eulalia be tortured. Before the executioner began his work, the judge offered Eulalia freedom from the severe punishment if she would sacrifice to an idol.

The young Christian did not feel the need to respond. She upset the images, altar, censor and sacrificial books that sat on the table before her. Two executioners immediately stripped her and tortured her with hooks and torches.

As she counted the gashes in her body, Eulalia exclaimed, "Behold, Lord Jesus Christ! Thy Name is being written on my body; what great delight it affords me to read these letters, because they are signs of Thy victory! Behold, my purple blood confesses Thy holy Name." She spoke with great happiness and peace; she didn't even seem to feel pain as the blood poured out of her body.

After piercing Eulalia's body repeatedly with their hooks, the executioners applied burning lamps and torches to the wounds in her side and abdomen. Finally, they ignited her hair and she suffocated. Eulalia died loving her Savior more than her own life.

Perhaps our youth should be learning more of this than playing games and listening to "cool" music. I would much rather my children emulate this kind of devotion than trying to be cool for the world.

Labels: Devotion, Persecution, Youth Group

8 Comments:

At June 1, 2012 at 5:41 PM , Unknown said...: I'm wrestling with this one brother. While I do appreciate her faithfulness, her rebellion from her parents is itself sinful. Because of that, I do not believe that this is a good example that our children should seek to follow. Be bold, have zeal for Christ, but do not forsake obedience to one part of Scripture for the sake of another.
At June 2, 2012 at 6:44 AM , StevenL said...: Adam,

I think you're missing the point of the entire post.

First, the point was that modern youth seems to be about all fun and games when they should be more concerned about faithfulness to Christ in even in the midst of suffering.

Second, you've only read a snippet of this young girl's life. If you've ever studied or read anything about this particular time of persecution under Diocletian you would know that the emperor actually demanded that Christians sacrifice to the pagan gods. This girl's parents did not send her away because she had a rebellious spirit, they sent her away to "protect" her from the persecution. We don't know the whole story but perhaps young Eulalia didn't want to be "protected" but wanted to show her loyalty to Christ like so many others who were slaughtered around her.

It was even reported that the massacre of was so great around some of the surrounding villages that the blood ran in small creeks.

So no, I do not believe it was out of rebellion to her parents that she went to face the tribunal. Maybe you disagree but it's okay. I'll still forgive you ;)
At June 2, 2012 at 9:07 AM , Unknown said...: I understand that there is a larger story at play here but even in this short snippet we see her not obeying her parents. I didn't say they sent her away because of her rebellion but that she rebelled in fleeing from their protection when they sent her away. Was their decree for their daughter unbiblical that she would be justified in not heeding their protection from persecution? I do not think so. Regardless of the cultural context, she was still obligated to God to obey her parents. Think,of it this way, if my son wanted to go street preaching but I told him to wait until I returned from work should he rebel against me and go preach the Gospel anyway? What if he returned saying that several people professed Christ that night because of his preaching? Is he now justified for his actions? If they said "stay" and she didn't, is that not rebellion?
At June 2, 2012 at 9:42 AM , StevenL said...: Adam, you respond too quickly without understanding the full story. We don't know the circumstances or the events that surrounded this story other than there was a persecution. We don't know the parents told her "to stay," or to do anything like you've suggested. You are way too quick to speak without knowing all the facts surrounding something. Your street preaching illustration doesn't even come close to paralleling this situation simply because of the context, and yes, the cultural context has a lot to do with it. A better parallel, I think, would be something along the lines of this:

The government demands that all Christians confess that homosexuality is a normal lifestyle. If they do not they will have their property taken and thrown into jail. I send my children to live with relatives but they are so convinced and their consciences are so stricken about what the government has decreed that they publicly denounce that it is wrong. They are both punished and sent to jail.

Would I be grieved? Absolutely! However, could I really force "safety" upon them when Biblical truth is at stake? No!

But again, you seem to be getting tunnel vision focusing on the fact that this girl left the country in defiance of her parent's wishes when we don't really know what their wishes were other than to protect their daughter.

Be sure to have the whole story before making a final decision.
At June 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM , Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.
At June 2, 2012 at 10:02 AM , Unknown said...: I understand what you are getting at, however you too must make an assumption in order to justify your conclusion as well. But let's look at your scenario, which is a great one...likely to be upon us before we know it.

Are you forcing safety upon them? Yes. Is it at the sake of biblical truth? No. As fathers we are called to protect our children without forcing them to compromise Scripture. If our desire in sending them away is to protect them, then we are fulfilling that God given role. If we tell them not to speak out and allow ourselves to take the brunt of that conviction, is that unbiblical or is it a true testimony of what it means to be a godly father?

Why did her parents send her away? In the story it seems that their intent was to protect her. I am interpret that wrongly and if so, how are you interpreting it? How should I interpret this sentence: "Eulalia's parents, afraid of what she might do, sent her away from home to live in the coutnryside" ?
At June 2, 2012 at 10:52 AM , StevenL said...: I never accused you of interpreting it wrong. I simply stated there was a whole lot more to consider then what we've read. And yes, I am supposing certain things, but not as fact, simply as trying to look at the scenario as a whole rather than bits and pieces. I am certainly not trying to assume anything, and if that's how it was interpreted it was certainly not meant to be my intention.

But in response, if I, out of fear, tell my children to be silent and not take a stand for Christ then I myself am in violation of Scriptural principles of loving my family more than Christ. Any time we act out of fear rather than faith we violate Scripture. I want to teach and emulate to my children to love Christ even unto death. If my children get in trouble at school for speaking out for Christ then I could never tell them not to simply to protect them from consequences that might ensue.

But I guess that both of us have our own convictions on this particular context. What matters in the end is that God ordained this girl to die on that day and in that manner and that either way, whether she rebelled against her parents or not, God received the glory as a result of her death.
At June 2, 2012 at 11:16 AM , Unknown said...: I agree with a majority of that response. In fact you bring up another issue that neither of us know for certain. What if her parents sent her away solely out of fear? Would this be a sin? I think so! Fear shows a lack of trust in the sovereignty of God. The reason I would want to do so though would be out of obligation to God as the father of my children and because I believe Scripture teaches that I am to be their defender. But again, I know her testimony of faithfulness has inspired many believers. I would personally look for a better model to motivate my children to be godly youth. This is why we love having our kids read the biographies of missionaries. My oldest son absolutely loves David Livingstone's story. Looking forward to other posts! SDG!

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Friday, June 1, 2012

What Modern Youth Group Should Look Like
_{Steven Long 6/01/12}

Eulalia—A.D. 304

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Friday, June 1, 2012

What Modern Youth Group Should Look Like Steven Long 6/01/12

Eulalia—A.D. 304

8 Comments:

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What Modern Youth Group Should Look Like
_{Steven Long 6/01/12}