“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” This was the sobering yet accurate observation made by Tertullian in the second century AD as he watched the gospel spread throughout the Roman world and beyond. Jesus left His disciples with a clear expectation of what was awaiting them: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” So it was for the early church and so it has been for every Christian martyr down through the ages ever since. What of us today? Compared to believers in any other place and at any other time throughout history, we know levels of security, prosperity, and comfort that would leave them speechless. But has all this come at great cost? If Jesus returned today, would He recognize us as ones baptized in the Spirit… and in fire?