Because Päivi Räsänen dared to quote from the Bible, all hell broke loose. For simply highlighting what the word of God has taught concerning homosexuality, the police began going after her just as passionately as Saul had gone after the early follower of Jesus. But now, after four long years, it seems she finally has been vindicated. After years of grief and turmoil, she is now hopefully finished with this ugly secular witch-hunt. 

The timing is interesting: In my morning perusal of Scripture I have again been reading about the amazing things God was doing with the early church as recorded in the book of Acts. The new believers in Jesus were persecuted terribly by the powers that be. Saul was one of those who was very eager to hunt down these pesky believers in Yeshua.

Yet he too had an encounter with the risen Christ, and that put an end to his anti-Christian bigotry. As I just posted on the social media: There are many biblical moments which would have been amazing to witness. The scenes of the newly converted Saul would have been one of them:

And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. (Acts 9:26-28)

Imagine the big grin on Paul’s face as he hugged the disciples and told them, ‘Hey, I am one of you now – I am a follower of Yeshua!’ But of course persecution continued, as it has for 2000 years now. But the church grew and grew. It spread throughout Europe, and we saw it becoming the real cradle of Western civilisation.

We had the Reformation, the great revivals and awakenings. So much has happened over the centuries. But sadly we have basically gone full circle since then. Europe today is almost as pagan as it was back when Saul was head-hunting believers. It certainly is the most secular and anti-Christian continent on the planet. It is in desperate need of being re-evangelised.

Because Europe has rejected what made it great – its Christian past – we see more Saul-types today doing all they can to silence Christians and intimidate those of the faith. There are countless examples of this. Let me highlight just one of them – but with a terrific outcome.

Over four years ago I wrote about one such case. It involved a Finnish politician who was being hounded by the powers that be because of her faith. Because Päivi Räsänen dared to quote from the Bible, all hell broke loose. For simply highlighting what the word of God has taught concerning homosexuality, the police began going after her just as passionately as Saul had gone after the early follower of Jesus.

In my piece I called her “the Finnish Israel Folau.” I concluded my article about her at the time with these words:

In my books Päivi Räsänen is a real champion. We certainly need more bold and sold-out Christian politicians like her. She puts to shame all the limp-wristed and cowardly Christians who refuse to take a stand and speak out, be it in parliament or in any other public forums. Please pray for brave Päivi. She is a wonderful witness for Christ. God bless you Päivi. https://billmuehlenberg.com/2019/09/16/quoting-from-the-bible-will-get-you-into-trouble/

But now, after four long years, it seems she finally has been vindicated. After years of grief and turmoil, she is now hopefully finished with this ugly secular witch-hunt.

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