What If I Deny the Lord?

List all the verses that scare people and this one would be near the top: “If we deny him, he will deny us” (2 Tim. 2:12).

Having been raised on a diet of Chick Tracts, I used to worry that I might lack the courage to maintain my faith in the face of persecution. As an occasional Bible smuggler, I sometimes wondered what I might do to avoid a Chinese prison sentence.

If someone held a gun to my head would I deny the Lord? And if I did, would he deny me? Would he kick me out of the ...