God’s Perspective in Persecution: Equipping the Church to Endure

**This podcast is taken from our Global Video Report: EMPOWER CONNECT May Edition**

00:01:05 – Why national leaders boldly preach the Gospel
00:03:10 – John 3:16 – 18: Salvation, judgment, and eternal life
00:05:00 – From darkness to Light: global transformation stories
00:07:20 – Luke 13: The narrow door and who will be saved
00:09:00 – The danger of spiritual assumption and missed salvation
00:10:45 – The eternal state of the lost: no second chances
00:12:15 – Hell is real — and it fuels global evangelism
00:13:30 – The balance: preaching Christ and meeting needs
00:15:00 – Final thoughts: The Gospel is eternal, not just earthly

Hello again, friends.

Today I’m sharing a shorter message, simply because the rest of this Empower Connect edition is a bit longer — with extended interviews from leaders around the world, particularly those serving in the 1040 Window.

So I want to briefly pass on something I’ve been learning — something that came to light in recent conversations with national leaders. These are the people I often bounce ideas off of. And this time, I asked them a simple question:

How do you prepare your pastors, leaders, and believers to deal with hardship and persecution?”

I’ve asked that question over the years, and the responses this time came from leaders in India, China, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. What struck me is how unified their answers were, even across different regions. And what they emphasized was one simple but powerful word: perspective.

God’s Perspective in the Face of Persecution

They told me, We teach our people to look at life and hardship from God’s perspective.” That means taking a step back when they face resistance or suffering and seeing the bigger picture.

One leader explained it like this: We walk people through the Word of God. We show them how the early church faced persecution — and what the apostles said to encourage them.”

As I studied it myself, I noticed the same thing. Almost every New Testament letter written to persecuted churches starts with God’s big-picture view: the Gospel, the mission, and the cost of following Jesus. Only after that do the writers address personal struggles and practical concerns. It’s always rooted first in eternal truth.

So these national leaders tell new believers early on: This is your future. Hardship is coming. But here’s how to view it through God’s eyes.”

Stephen: Seeing from Heaven’s Viewpoint

One brother pointed to Acts 7 — the story of Stephen. Before Stephen is stoned, he gives this long, sweeping summary of how God’s plan unfolded from the Old Testament to Jesus. Then he challenges the crowd for resisting the Spirit, and they turn on him.

But right before they kill him, Stephen sees something incredible: The heavens were opened.” He literally sees from God’s perspective—and that gives him the courage to face death with confidence.

That’s what these churches are giving their people: solid ground to stand on when everything else gets shaken.

The Storyteller Village in India

I heard a fresh example of this just a week ago, when I was in India. I met with a leader of the largest church-planting network in the country. He told me about a village outreach where several young people gave their lives to Christ during a small crusade in a nearby area. They were baptized, and then they asked the leaders, Can someone come to our home village and share this story with others?”

It was a resistant village — but they sent someone. Interestingly, they didn’t send a preacher. They sent a storyteller. And in these areas, that’s often more effective.

The storyteller began sharing Bible stories — not sermons, not theology — just powerful, Spirit-filled storytelling. Not just children listened—everyone did. Men, women, youth. People leaned in.

Over time, about six families came to faith and made a firm commitment to follow Jesus. But then the persecution began. The other villagers:

Eventually, they were completely expelled — forced to live on the edge of the jungle, in an area infested with large biting flies. Life there was miserable. You’ll see the video or pictures showing people constantly waving flies off, clawing at the air — nonstop torment.

And yet… they would not renounce Jesus. They refused to turn back.

The pastor told me, We gave them perspective.” Eternal perspective. We taught them verses like John 3:16—reminding them that this isn’t just about temporary comfort. This is about eternity. That’s what gave them the strength to stand.

What North America Can Learn

This is biblical Christianity. And it’s what the global church is teaching believers today.

In contrast, here in North America, we often don’t approach hardship this way. Many sermons are short, trying to fix surface-level problems quickly. But what we really need is to train our people to back up, look at the big picture, and adopt God’s perspective.

What is truly important? What can we let go of? What does God’s Word say about eternity, sacrifice, and standing firm?

We need the heavens to open for us, like they did for Stephen. Because the truth is: hard times are coming. And we need to be prepared to live with unshakable faith.

That’s what I wanted to share with you today.

Let’s equip the Church — not just with solutions, but with perspective.

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