By Theodore Shoebat
Muslims kidnapped a Christian pastor and demanded a $120,000 ransom, and held him in captivity for two months. The family ended up paying the money for the return of the pastor. The Muslims cut him up into pieces, put them in a box and sent it to the family. I did a whole video on this martyrdom:
John Newton of the Aid to the Church in Need recounted the story:
Christians have become a form [of] currency in this tragedy… I know of one priest who was kidnapped for two months … they asked for a ransom of $120,000, which the family managed to raise and deliver. … But hours later, the priest was killed and his body cut up, with pieces of him sent in a box to the family.
The martyr’s death appears to be filled with dolor, but the angels comfort him. For an angel of Heaven visited our Lord, “strengthening him” (Luke 22:43) for the battle that He was about to commence. It does not matter who kills you, what matters is that you endure unto the end in this cosmic battle between good and evil. God was crucified, and the whole universe quaked in the midst of pure awe, in the presence of the One Who contains the cosmos — God one with Humanity — leading a war for the cause of humanity, against those who hate humanity. Pure Love gave Himself up, so that we could give ourselves up to be one with Love.
And now this martyr sits in Heaven, one with God, in the pureness of Love, free from all carnality and mental slavery, in union with Justice, and crying out for justice to be made against the enemies of the Cross. The holy David asked the question, “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?” (Psalm 15:1) And the answer given is, “He who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Pslam 15:4). This man swore an oath to God, and it was to his own death, and yet he continued the path. He ran the race to the finish line and endured like a militant athlete. He followed the words of the prophet, “walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.” (Proverbs 2:20) And now where is this martyr but in the tabernacle of God? He is “with the greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Hebrews 9:11). “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” says our Lord, “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10) And this martyr, once in the earth, is now an eternal citizen of Heaven’s Kingdom.
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