Episode on Christian persecution, with Mentors, Manuals and Masters focus of today's message, with resources for further study at end of segment.
🔴 Unshaken: Voices for the Persecuted | True North Lif3 Broadcast | EP05
Are you ready to deepen your faith, stand firm in Christ, and learn how to support persecuted Christians worldwide? In this powerful episode of **True North Life Broadcast**, we explore the gripping stories of believers who are imprisoned for their faith in **China, North Korea, Eritrea, and beyond**. We highlight the legacy of **Richard Wurmbrand**, founder of **Voice of the Martyrs (VOM)** and author of *Tortured for Christ*, who endured 14 years of imprisonment under Communist rule for his unwavering faith in Jesus.
📖 **What You’ll Learn in This Episode:**
✅ The harrowing realities of Christian persecution worldwide
✅ How to equip yourself with **Mentors, Manuals, and Masters** for spiritual growth
✅ The **Bible as the Ultimate Life Manual** – your guide to thriving in Christ
✅ Why mentorship is crucial in your faith journey, just as it was for **Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus**
✅ How to take action: **Pray, fast, and support persecuted Christians**
🌍 **Explore These Vital Resources:**
🔹 Free **Voice of the Martyrs** magazine – [www.persecution.com](https://www.persecution.com)
🔹 Global prayer guide & prisoner alerts – [www.icommittopray.com](https://www.icommittopray.com)
🔹 Exclusive VOM radio insights – [www.vomradio.net](https://www.vomradio.net)
🔹 Connect with our **True North Lif3 Community** on Facebook: [facebook.com/9113bc](https://facebook.com/9113bc)
📢 **Take Action:**
🙏 Pray and fast for persecuted believers globally
🎥 Stay updated on the upcoming **Voice of the Martyrs film: *I AM N***
💡 Discover how **The Holy Spirit, the Bible, and godly mentors** guide your walk with Christ
🔔 **Subscribe & Join the Mission!**
📌 Subscribe now and hit the bell icon for more faith-building content: **[True North Lif3 Broadcast YouTube Channel]**
#ChristianPersecution #BibleStudy #TrueNorthLif3 #VoiceOfTheMartyrs #FaithInChrist #JesusIsLord #MentorsManualsMasters #PrayForThePersecuted #ChristianGrowth
Episode on Christian persecution, with Mentors, Manuals and Masters focus of today's message, with resources for further study at end of segment.
You're listening to a ministry of nine-eleven-three BC, the True North Life Broadcast, where faith is strengthened, purpose is ignited, and believers are empowered to thrive in their walk with Christ!"
Music bed – Louis Island – I know a Place
Introduction – Male Voice introduction: Welcome to True North Lif3 Broadcast with your host Freddie Hernandez
Unshaken: Voices for the persecuted: Imagine spending decades as a Christian Prisoner for your faith? That’s what twelve believers are currently enduring in China, North Korea, and Eritrea. Richard Vundemgant, author of “Tortured for Christ,” in 1967 founded The Voice of the Martyrs serving persecuted Christians in the world’s most difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. And today featured on our “Unshaken: Voices for the Persecuted.”
On our “True North Message:” “Mentors, Manuals and Masters,” These three essential instruments are the focus of todays teaching, keeping us “True North and on Course.”
And finally: On “Food for the Soul - our Weekly Resources Recommendations with The True North Lif3 Broadcast Insights.
Stay tuned we’ll be right back
Lower Third (“Unshaken: Voices for the Persecuted.”) while music bed plays:
Introduction:
Held 7,413 days twenty plus years in Eritrea, Gebremedhin Gebregergis, Held, 2,207 days six years in China, Li Juncai, Held, 3,779 days ten years in North Korea Zhan Wen Shi
These and many others continue to suffer behind the walls of prisons where they are incarcerated for their faith. Richard Vundemgant: Held, 5,110 days, fourteen years Romania and founder 1967 of Voice of the Martyrs, who suffered the same fate as these brothers and sisters, tortured and imprisoned under a Communist Regime for his faith.
Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is a Christian ministry dedicated to serving persecuted Christians Worldwide. Their mission is to bring practical and spiritual support to persecuted believers, raise awareness of their plight, and mobilize Christians to pray and take action. Richard Vundemgant documented his experiences in the book Tortured for Christ, which remains one of the most influential accounts of Christian persecution.
He has other books about him and his ministry which include Married to a Martyr by his wife, Sabina Wurmbrand, and Wurmbrand: Tortured for Christ – The Complete Story, it’s more of an indepth look at his life and impact.
After perusing the ministry’s website, something I recommend every believer do, it’ll fire you up, rekindle your faith and break your heart lovely, to action for your persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.
Visit Voice of the Martyrs where you’ll find a wealth of information
Free Voice of The Martyrs magazine
On our “True North Life Broadcast” Youtube channel as well as the podcast distribution sites I have provided a link with a special event for an upcoming production in the works by Voice of the Martyrs titled, “I AM N.”
What I can tell you about this Arabic letter is from personal experience: a friend of mine, Chaldean as well as Aramaic both shared this with me. When Islamic extremist take over a village they give the Christians options, convert, paytaxes, don’t pay taxes they give you a verbal warning, they come back with another option, cut a hand, the next time, they execute you by beheading. Yes – beheading. But that letter stands for Nazarene, they place that letter on your door to identify you as a follower of the Nazarene – Christ Jesus.
What the movie is about – Christian persecuation, what it’s not about, beheadings. That’s what happens when you’re identified as a Christian, labelled as such and because of those that have their roots in their land they wish to stay they pay high taxes to the point of losing everything and being treated abusively. This, I can tell you happens because I have friends that they or their family members have suffered. After a decade of working abroad in the middle east I can attest to these facts. Christian Persecution is very much happening globally and we need to thank God it isn’t as bad here in the US as it is else where. One last thing, the pandemic was just an excuse to shut that aspect of our religious freedoms as much as the censorship that happened behind it.
We need to pray and fast for our brothers and sisters under persecution, globally and in our own back yard. God bless.
Visit the www.persecution.com for more information.
This has been “Unshaken: Voice of the Persecuted” segment. If you wish to sponsor this segment of programing you may send your donations to www.9113bc.org/donate.
Until next week – Please keep this ministry in your prayers. Join our facebook community page and our private group page for exclusive content, studies, connect with like minded saints and find an accountability partner to help you keep the course in Christ Jesus @ facebook.com/9113bc.
**Mentors, Manuals, and Masters**
Had it not been for my Marine Corps mentors, manuals, and skilled master teachers in my life, I would not have been able to push through a decade of working abroad.
Seven years of that decade, I was a technician. On training day I was tossed a hard drive and told, “Read the materials, that’s all the training you’re getting from me.” My mentor, six years prior, had been working as a technician. His advice: “Hunker down, READ.” For five consecutive days, with little to no sleep, I read and read, navigating the material, the systems, making it daily reading. I became a proficient technician and enhanced my training experience to twenty seven years.
As an SME I maintained my Area of Responsibility, traveling throughout the region to other remote locations to maintain, repair, and train new operators. Had it not been for my mentors, manuals, and masters, I would not have nurtured a desire to improve my proficiency and skills as a technician.
Our walk with Christ takes a similar path. We need a source to supply us with the knowledge to become proficient and skilled disciples of Christ.
Our source is the Spirit of Christ, from which these three essential, reliable sources for learning the Bible flow: the Spirit of God as our personal Mentor, the Bible as the ultimate spiritual Manual, and a Master teacher proficient in Christian living through the indwelling Spirit of Christ, The Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God-The Mentor
It is the abiding mentoring Spirit of Christ, God, the Holy Spirit, in you (John 14:15-21), by which your spirit is regenerated—made new (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Your body becomes the residing place for the Lord, no longer confined to the tabernacle or temple, as foreshadowed in the Torah. The Spirit that created the heavens, the earth, and all living things now dwells in you and me. You now have the wisdom of God, Christ in you, according to scripture: 1 Corinthians 19-31
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [1]
This is a gift given by Christ, received by believing in your heart that Jesus is Lord and confessing with your mouth that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10). This confession, made by the power of your tongue (Proverbs 18:21-22), grants you eternal life and a personal journey with Jesus Christ. He then becomes your personal Mentor, abiding in you, and manifesting himself to you, (John 14, I'd recommend reading the entire chapter several times, I'd say about 20 times over. (John 1:1-5), and He is the living word of God, the Manual, the breath of life, the spirit that breathes life into the word of God - the Bible, for He is the living Word ofGod, and the thought of God, and finally He is our Teacher, our Rabbi (1 John 2:27) the anointing that teaches you and I.
The Bible-The Ultimate Manual
Imagine buying a complex piece of technology—like a smartphone, a high-tech car, or a powerful computer. Without the user manual, you might figure out the basics, but you’d miss out on its full potential. You might even misuse it, causing damage or frustration.
The Bible is the ultimate manual for life. It teaches us how to live, make decisions, and stay connected to our Creator. Like a good user manual:
Have you ever ignored a manual when putting things together? I have. And it took me longer to get the cabinet built. I’m pretty sure most of my listeners read the manual first then build. However, the eternal manual, the Bible, that manual is valuable, and we must not neglect God’s Word, which equips us for life’s journey towards eternity and are our basic instructions before leaving Earth.
Additionally, reading Psalms 119 you’ll notice a couple of things David mentions over and over again: that the word "of God" is mentioned in almost every verse of Psalm 119, which is the longest psalm in the Bible.
Psalm 119 conveys a profound and comforting richness. It's famous for being the longest chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses.
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). The Bible should be central to every believer’s walk, as it is the ultimate manual for every Christians walk with Christ.
A Rabbi – And a Master Teacher
Lastly, we need a master teacher. Even Paul, before encountering Christ, was mentored by Gamaliel. After his conversion, he was mentored by the Holy Spirit.
We all need someone in our lives to guide us through our spiritual journey. Who better than the abiding Spirit of Christ? Alongside the Spirit, we need godly men and women to mentor us, preparing us for our eternal journey.
Paul and Jesus Himself had a deep love for the Word. Jesus, as a child, was found in the temple, learning from the teachers. Paul was deeply trained in the Torah. Though they lived before the full gift of the Spirit was bestowed, their diligence in studying God's Word was evident. After Christ’s redemptive work, His disciples experienced something profound: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus spoke in Luke 24:49.
The Spirit of Christ brings us to the knowledge of who He is. When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16-19). Jesus affirmed that this revelation came not from human wisdom but from the Father in heaven.
There is a cycle in the life of those who follow Christ—a diligence in the Word, mentorship by the Spirit and godly individuals, and a mastery of Scripture that anchors them in Christ. Many unknown men and women are faithfully teaching the Gospel today, devoted to holiness and the truth of God's Word. They understand that the Bible builds the believer's soul, spirit, heart, and mind in Christ, the incarnate Word who redeemed us from our fallen state.
Without the Old Testament, there is no Christ. The Patriarchs of our faith—Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus Christ—all had mentors, manuals, and masters in their lives, guiding their decisions and walk with God. These influences made them the great figures we know today.
This same approach to Scripture guided me from Catholicism to a non-denominational faith, where I was told, “Your life depends on this book.” I took it seriously. Though it did not read like a technical manual, it contained everything I needed to walk in the knowledge of Christ and understand the spiritual systems He taught.
Four Key Figures
Four patriarchs illustrate this principle of mentorship, manuals, and masters: Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus. Each had a mentor, a sacred manual, and experienced teachers guiding them:
- **Moses** had Jethro, the Torah, and God's direct instruction.
- **David** had Samuel, the Law, and wise counselors.
- **Jesus**, fully divine and human, was instructed in the Torah and anointed by the Spirit of God.
- **Paul of Tarsus** had Gamaliel as his mentor, the Torah as his manual, and was later instructed by the Holy Spirit.
Each of these men maintained a continual relationship with God, surrounded themselves with wise counsel, and devoted themselves to God’s Word. As believers, we must do the same—mentored by the Spirit, anchored in the Bible, and guided by seasoned teachers of the faith.
**The GPS and the Guide** Slight 3-4 second pause before starting the concluding illustration
Imagine you are driving through an unfamiliar country. You have three essential tools to navigate:
A GPS (The Holy Spirit) – The GPS provides real-time guidance, ensuring you stay on course. It corrects you when you take the wrong turn and always leads you toward your destination. This represents the Holy Spirit, who abides in you, leading and mentoring you every step of the way.
A Map (The Bible) – Even with a GPS, a map is vital. It gives the bigger picture and foundational knowledge of the terrain. The Bible is our spiritual map, detailing God’s truth, promises, and instructions for the journey.
A Local Guide (A Spiritual Mentor) – The GPS and map are valuable, but having an experienced guide who knows the roads, the shortcuts, and the dangers makes the journey smoother. This represents a godly mentor or teacher who helps interpret the Bible and guide us in wisdom.
In the same way, our walk with Christ requires:
The Holy Spirit (our internal guide) Mentor
The Bible (our ultimate manual)
A trusted Master/Mentor (someone to teach and disciple us)
Without one of these, we risk getting lost, misinterpreting the map, or lacking real-time correction. But when all three are working together, we navigate life’s journey with confidence, knowing Christ, our Teacher, is leading us.
Today on Food for the Soul: weekly resources & True North Life Insights for Further Study** These are the following resources for further study and supplement your Christian Learning.
1. ***The Bible*** – Read through the Gospels and Paul’s letters to understand mentorship in Scripture.
2. ***"Knowing God"*** by J.I. Packer – A deep dive into understanding who God is.
3. ***"The Pursuit of Holiness"*** by Jerry Bridges – Learn how to grow in personal holiness.
4. ***"Disciples Are Made, Not Born"*** by Walter A. Henrichsen – Practical guidance on discipleship.
5. ***Sermons by Charles Spurgeon*** – Classic teachings from one of history's great preachers.
6. ***Bible Study Fellowship (BSF*** – A structured Bible study program for deeper learning.
1. ***A Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)*** is an international, interdenominational Christian organization that provides structured, in-depth Bible study programs for people of all ages, focusing on a four-step approach to explore scripture through personal study, small group discussion, teaching, and commentary, all at no cost to participants; essentially, it's a community-based method to deeply study the Bible together with trained leaders.
2. ***Podcasts & Online Resources***
1) **The Bible Project Podcast** – Explores biblical themes and theology with engaging discussions.
2) **Ask Pastor John (Desiring God)** – John Piper answers theological and practical questions.
3) **Renewing Your Mind (R.C. Sproul)** – Deep theological insights from Ligonier Ministries.
4) **Truth for Life (Alistair Begg)** – Practical, Christ-centered teaching.
5) **The Naked Bible Podcast (Dr. Michael Heiser)** – Focuses on biblical context and deeper study.
6) **Core Christianity** – Discusses foundational Christian beliefs and answers tough questions.
7) **The Bible Recap (Tara-Leigh Cobble)** – A chronological daily walk through Scripture with summaries.
By following the process of Mentors, Manuals, and Masters, we grow in Christ and build an unshakable foundation in Him. Perhaps these a much but you can always come back to them, write them down, pass these resources and the links to others.
This has been our weekly recommendations & Our “True North Message Insights.” Until next week: Stay the course, and **live the True North Life.**
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 1:19–31.
The True North Life Podcast aims to show, through scripture, real-life experiences, and personal testimony, that while living a Christian Lifestyle can be challenging, it is absolutely possible. By embracing the power of the Lord's teachings through the Holy Spirit, and with the support of community and personal accountability, we are empowered to thrive. These elements guide our lives, keeping us on a steady path in Christ and grounding us in His strength.
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