Antioch, Turkey

For the true followers of Christ who comprised the church at Antioch, Turkey, they had to have felt as though they were roses growing the pig sty of an extremely immoral pagan population, where murder, extortion and fornication were common place among the majority population.

Can you imagine what it would have been like remain true to the faith with people trying to pull you back into doing the terrible things everyone else was doing? And not only did they successfully resist these social norms of immorality, they were able to increase in number!

It was here that the followers of Christ were first called "Christian" and now we know just what pressure they faced from Antioch society to revert to the majority sinful ways of those around them. They were like roses growing in a pig sty.

Note: Some USA inner-cities are now majority tolerant of crime, figuring that it is an inescapable part of life. So sad for so many.

Rik Charbonneaux is a retired NE Iowan who loves all of God's Word and all of His creatures.