Every time I hear some white Christian right evangelical whine about being so persecuted, I have to chuckle...
...because I think of these verses written by Paul...
Can you imagine the reaction of our prissy & precious brothers & sisters
if they had to endure just one of these things Paul endured?!
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2 Corinthians 11
23b I have worked harder,
been put in prison more often,
been whipped times without number,
and faced death again and again.
24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned. (dan note: & Paul was left for dead.)
Three times I was shipwrecked.
Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.
26 I have traveled on many long journeys.
I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers.
I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles.
I have faced danger in the cities,
in the deserts,
and on the seas.
And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.
27 I have worked hard and long,
enduring many sleepless nights.
I have been hungry
and thirsty
and have often gone without food.
I have shivered in the cold,
without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this,
I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.
29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness?
Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.
31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying.
32 When I was in Damascus,
the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me.
33 I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him.
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