I watched the movie Silence on the plane yesterday. It tells the story of missionaries being martyred for their faith in Japan. It was hard to watch. 

Then this morning I've been reading The Insanity of Obedience. The subtitle is "walking with Jesus in tough places." It's a theme that those of us who live in comfortable places would do well to meditate on.

What do we know about walking with Jesus in tough places? One of the challenges of my life is the challenge of trying to live a radical life in a comfortable world. It's the challenge of not becoming a comfort-seeker even as I navigate an environment fixated on comfort.

It's a nearly impossible task. Comfort corrodes faith. Faith is a muscle that must be exercised - only in places of dependence can it grow. And comfort dumbs us down; it keeps the faith muscle inert.

That's why it's so important to read books about persecution and the exercise of faith. It helps us to see spiritual reality for what it is.

So on this Memorial Day, I want to propose that we not only remember those who suffered and died for our country in its wars. I'd like to propose that we also remember those who have suffered and died for our faith.

Looking at Scripture, we know that we are citizens of another kingdom (Phil. 3:20). Peter describes as "aliens and strangers" (1 Peter 2:11). What will it take for us to live that way?

A good place to start is to remember those who have bled and died so that we might be free to worship God. Books help. Foxes Book of Martyrs used to be the best resource for putting one's faith in historical context.

If you're looking for other books to jumpstart that for you, let me suggest The Heavenly Man, or Bruchko - both are excellent books.