{"id":1180,"date":"2012-08-21T23:50:09","date_gmt":"2012-08-21T20:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2012-12-04T07:51:28","modified_gmt":"2012-12-04T05:51:28","slug":"pussy-riot-and-preaching-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/pussy-riot-and-preaching-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Pussy Riot and Preaching the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve often heard it said that Ukraine is about 3 years behind its big brother Russian when it comes to political changes. \u00a0Unfortunately that statement has been proven on many occasions to be true. \u00a0That is why my antenna go up when I hear what is currently happening in Russian to the punk rock group Pussy Riot.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2att1HJqH2o?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Yes, you heard that right, 2 years in a Russian prison for singing an anti Putin song. \u00a0I am in no way advocating the group Pussy Riot but I do believe this ruling indicates an alarming trend of a cracking down on free speech which could eventually spill over to churches.<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean for Ukraine? Well, nothing yet&#8230; however, I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised to see similar rulings here in the next few years. I don&#8217;t think it is something we need to go and protest but as followers of Christ there are a few things that we all should be doing. Below is a short list of things that came to my mind.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. We need to Pray<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>First of all, then, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1 Timothy 1:1-2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Paul clearly instructs us to pray for those who are in authority. \u00a0I have to admit this is something that I haven&#8217;t done a lot of in the past. \u00a0Not only are we to pray for them but we are to give <strong>THANKS\u00a0<\/strong>for them! \u00a0Sometimes that is\u00a0difficult to do especially when the authority is not part of our favorite political party.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>2. We need to Love<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:44<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Again God&#8217;s Word asks us to do something that seems the opposite of our natural instinct. \u00a0When we experience real persecution we can&#8217;t lash out with revenge or spew hateful remarks like we so often see in political rallies. \u00a0Instead God calls us\u00a0to love and to bless, both extremely difficult but powerful actions in the time of persecution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>3. We need to Preach the Gospel<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right before God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. Acts 4:18-19<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Every follower of Jesus has a responsibility to boldly share the good news of forgiveness and eternal life found only in Christ. \u00a0Sometimes we are kept silent by cultural norms and societal pressures and sometimes we are kept silent by laws that curtail our freedom of speech. \u00a0Neither of these are valid reasons not to share Jesus with the world. \u00a0I love how Paul puts in his letter to the believers in Philippi.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually caused the gospel to advance. \u00a0As a result, it has become clear to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that I am in prison for preaching about the Messiah.\u00a0Philippians 1:12-13<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Question: What&#8217;s holding you back from sharing Jesus with those around you?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve often heard it said that Ukraine is about 3 years behind its big brother Russian when it comes to political changes. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[193],"tags":[196,197,194,195],"class_list":["post-1180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ukraine-2","tag-persecution","tag-preaching-the-gospel","tag-pussy-riot","tag-russia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/pussy-riot.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-j2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":393,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/palm-sunday-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":0},"title":"Palm Sunday in Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What happens on Palm Sunday in Ukraine?The children from Sunday School prepared verses to recite and even a violin solo. A donkey showed up at church for the kids to ride on!Everywhere you look people are carrying pussy willows and sometimes flowers too. These babushkas were pleased to have their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Updates&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5355,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/53-manipulative-preaching-vs-persuasive-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":1},"title":"#53 Manipulative Preaching vs. Persuasive Preaching","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 11, 2015","format":"audio","excerpt":"What's the difference between preaching that manipulates people for the preacher's own purposes and preaching that persuades people in the truth claims of Scripture? We talk about persuasive preaching and more in this episode of \"Now Is the Time.\" My guest is professor and author Dr. Larry Overstreet (interview starts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Gospel Today&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pablo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pablo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pablo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13904,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/on-the-front-lines-of-the-ukraine-war-in-donbas-with-churches-who-wont-quit-preaching-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":2},"title":"On The Front Lines of The Ukraine War in Donbas With Churches Who Won\u2019t Quit Preaching The Gospel","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 22, 2022","format":"video","excerpt":"I spent the last 72 hours near the front lines of the war in Ukraine with churches who are continuing to minister and preach the gospel in very difficult times.\ufffcIn this video we visit some some points along the front lines near Donetsk. Despite the last eight years of fighting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ukraine&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3484,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/revolution-and-revival-ukraine-in-turmoil-podcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":3},"title":"#19 Revolution and Revival, Ukraine in Turmoil -Podcast","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"December 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Ukraine is in turmoil! In the last few weeks the world's eye has been on Kiev and the clashes between protesters and riot police. In this episode of\u00a0Now is the Time\u00a0I describe for you the scene as I experienced it earlier this week walking around downtown Kiev. You can now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Gospel Today&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/berkut.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/berkut.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/berkut.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4147,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/when-will-persecution-come-to-american-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":4},"title":"When Will Persecution Come to American Churches?","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"July 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Persecution of Christians is still on the rise in Eastern Ukraine where Russian separatist have taken control. Just a few days ago in the city of Donetsk the separatist seized Donetsk Christian University along with about 20 staff. For the last 23 years there really was not any significant persecution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/persecution-flag-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/persecution-flag-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/persecution-flag-001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19739,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/persecution-of-christians-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":5},"title":"Persecution of Christians in Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 17, 2025","format":"video","excerpt":"Recently, I\u2019ve heard claims\u2014mainly from conservative media in the West\u2014suggesting that the Ukrainian government is persecuting churches. Is this true? In this video, I share firsthand insight into Ukraine\u2019s religious freedoms, the constitutional protection of faith, and the real reason behind the 2023 law concerning churches tied to Moscow. While\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Gospel Today&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Americas-identity-crisis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Americas-identity-crisis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Americas-identity-crisis.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Americas-identity-crisis.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Americas-identity-crisis.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Americas-identity-crisis.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}