If you haven't seen it and want to, don't worry. . .I'm not going to ruin it for you; just let me fill you in on the main story line a little bit. The story revolves around the clans of Scotland in the late 1200's to early 1300's. They were under the rule of the English, and wanted more than anything to have their freedom. . .so much that they were willing to give their lives for it. One man in particular was beaten, tortured, and beheaded because he refused to pledge his allegiance to someone who would ensure that he and all the people of Scotland would remain slaves. I was moved to the point of tears(a waterfall of them) not because of the movie itself, but because I began to think about the thousands of Christians who have died defending the one thing they clinged to the most: the freedom they had found in Jesus Christ, and they were not willing to pledge their allegiance to anything they knew would only put them in chains once again.

In Revelation 6:9 John writes, "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained." Then I remembered Stephen who, according to the book of Acts, stood before the Sanhedrin proclaiming the Christ without fear of the consequences and was stoned to death for it. The apostle Paul was flogged, put in prison numerous times, stoned, left cold, hungry, and naked, and was brought before men of authority, all because of the testimony he proclaimed about Jesus of Nazareth. And more recently, I read an account of a 12-year-old girl from the Philippines who found Christ through a missionary serving there. She went home joyful about the decision she had made to follow Christ and was severely beaten by her father when she told him. The missionary found her lying in the road near her home, bleeding profusely from her wounds, and took her to a safe place to care for her. They changed her out of the beautiful white dress she had been given to symbolize her purity in Christ, and just before she died she asked to hold it. "I want Jesus to know that I was willing to bleed for Him," she said simply.

Then the question rang in my heart, "Jennifer, are YOU willing to die for Me?"

When I was posed with that question it scared me to death. I don't particularly enjoy the thought of being beaten, stoned, or tortured physically in any way. As a matter of fact, it makes my heart pound inside my chest just to think about it. Would I be able to withstand physical pain and not renounce my faith in Christ? Could I be strong enough? Would I be brave enough to look someone in the eye and say, "My faith is in Christ Jesus and my home is heaven. He is my Lord and my God and all that I am belongs to Him. I will never renounce my faith in Him." On my own, I don't think that I could. But with the God of the universe providing me with His strength, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could. "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" (Jer.32:27) I don't believe that it's an accident that the Bible is full of stories of courageous men and women who were willing to die for His name. I think He did that specifically to show us that, if we should ever be put in the position of choosing between death or forsaking Him, we will be able to withstand. I challenge you to ask yourself the same question He asked me: Is your faith real? If it came right down to it, would you be willing to bleed for me? I ask that you would pray for God to give you that real faith, deeply rooted and unshakable, if you don't feel you have it. He'll give it to you! Just know that you may be called upon to suffer in some way for your faith. Have you ever noticed that every Christian mentioned in the Bible caused waves? Their faith was real and they were not about to hide it from anyone, regardless of the consequences. May we be equally as bold to testify the name of Christ to this generation.

Jen Travis

The GC