Polycarp
As the decades passed, the Christian movement found itself increasingly under threat from the Roman Empire. Though Empire-wide persecution would not come for a couple of centuries, even in those early years Christians lost their lives for nothing more than their allegiance to Jesus. Polycarp, the Bishop in Smyrna, was one of them. He had been a student of John the Apostle, and the story of his death is told in the aptly named Martyrdom of Polycarp. As we venture beyond the pages of scripture and into stories of the early church, is crucial for us to know and remember that Christians, to this day, are martyred for their faith in Jesus. How are we blessed by their loyalty to God?