13 Christians Who Risked Everything to Defend Biblical Truth
The Benham Brothers
Things were going great for twin brothers Jason and David Benham in 2014 when they had established a successful business of flipping houses and were awarded a show on HGTV called "Flip it Forward."
In the first days of filming, the network canceled the show after liberal activist groups pressured the network about the brothers' open and conservative views opposing gay marriage and abortion.
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"The fear inside of us wanted to say, 'Hey, it's okay. We'll stop tweeting. Whatever it takes, we're going to keep the show because it will give us so much influence for Jesus,'" the book quotes David Benham as saying. "But that was Satan luring us out of the fight, something we weren't able to let happen."
Aaron and Melissa Klein
The Kleins, who owned the Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery in Gresham, Oregon, discovered this summer that standing up for religious convictions in today's secular society can cost a pretty hefty price.
The couple was fined $135,000 by the state after they refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage ceremony in 2013 on the grounds that doing so would violate their religious beliefs.
After refusing to provide cake to the couple, the Kleins were forced to shut down their shop due to harassment from LGBT activists.
"We sold birthday cakes to homosexuals and probably a lot of other people whose lifestyles we disagree with, but we draw the line at marriage," Aaron Klein explained. "We once had someone come in and wanted us to design a cake celebrating her divorce, but we refused. Marriage is sacred to us."
Angela Hildenbrand
In 2011, an agnostic family filed a lawsuit that resulted in a federal judge banning speakers at Medina High School's graduation ceremony from issuing any type of public prayer.
Being that the Texas high school had a longstanding tradition of beginning graduation ceremonies with an invocation and ending with a benediction, student Angela Hildebrand was not going to let extreme opposition or the threat of jail time deter her from issuing her own prayer at graduation.
"I had seen a copy of the ruling, and it was clear that anyone who violated it would be incarcerated," Hildenbrand said.
Fortunately for the high school senior, an appeals court overturned the federal judge's ruling and determined that prayer issued by students does not mean that they are "school-sponsored."
Mariam Ibraheem
In May 2014, the Sudanese Christian mother was arrested for apostasy because a court ruled that she should have followed the religion of her Muslim father.
Ibraheem was given three days to renounce her Christian faith, but refused. She was then sentenced to death by hanging.
"I am Christian and will remain Christian," Ibraheem told a Sudanese judge. During her detention, she was shackled to a wall with iron chains and forced to give birth to her second child while her legs were chained together, which she claims caused her baby to be born with disabilities.
Ibraheem was released in June 2014 by order of a Sudanese appeals court.
"The situation was difficult, but I was sure that God would stand by my side," Ibraheem recalled during an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly.
