{"id":5649,"date":"2026-09-12T17:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:09:02","slug":"from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\/","title":{"rendered":"From Parliament to Persecuted Christian: Standing Firm in Jesus, Encouraged By God’s Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Finland found P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen guilty under a legal statute concerning “War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.” R\u00e4s\u00e4nen has been a member of Finland’s parliament since 1995 and is a former Minister of the Interior for the nation. Her “crime” was writing lessons for her church clearly communicating what the Bible says about human sexuality.<\/p>\n

The criminal case against R\u00e4s\u00e4nen\u2014a medical doctor, wife and grandmother\u2014began in 2019 when she posted a picture to social media showing her Bible open to Romans 1:24-27, with a caption asking why her church’s leaders had signed on to co-sponsor a “Pride” event. A police investigation recommended no charges be brought; the prosecutor brought charges anyway and then appealed not one but two<\/em> lower-court findings of innocence.<\/p>\n

Listen as R\u00e4s\u00e4nen shares her incredible story of Christian persecution in a Western democracy that claims to protect religious freedom and where a majority of the people identify as Christians. She will also share how God has encouraged her through the Scriptures and through fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n

She’ll give an update on her legal case, which she has now appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your\u00a0iOS<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Android<\/strong><\/a> device today.<\/p>\n

Listen to this episode on VOMRadio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Finland found P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen guilty under a legal statute concerning “War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.” R\u00e4s\u00e4nen has been a member of Finland’s parliament since 1995 and is a former Minister of the Interior for the nation. Her “crime” was writing lessons for her church clearly communicating what the Bible says about human sexuality. The criminal case against R\u00e4s\u00e4nen\u2014a medical doctor, wife and grandmother\u2014began in 2019 when she posted a picture to social media showing her Bible open to Romans 1:24-27, with a caption asking why her church’s leaders had signed on to co-sponsor a “Pride” event. A police investigation recommended no charges be brought; the prosecutor brought charges anyway and then appealed not one but two lower-court findings of innocence. Listen as R\u00e4s\u00e4nen shares her incredible story of Christian persecution in a Western democracy that claims to protect religious freedom and where a majority of the people identify as Christians. She will also share how God has encouraged her through the Scriptures and through fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ. She’ll give an update on her legal case, which she has now appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your\u00a0iOS\u00a0or\u00a0Android device today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vom-radio","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Parliament to Persecuted Christian: Standing Firm in Jesus, Encouraged By God's Word - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Parliament to Persecuted Christian: Standing Firm in Jesus, Encouraged By God's Word - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Finland found P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen guilty under a legal statute concerning "War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity." R\u00e4s\u00e4nen has been a member of Finland's parliament since 1995 and is a former Minister of the Interior for the nation. Her "crime" was writing lessons for her church clearly communicating what the Bible says about human sexuality. The criminal case against R\u00e4s\u00e4nen\u2014a medical doctor, wife and grandmother\u2014began in 2019 when she posted a picture to social media showing her Bible open to Romans 1:24-27, with a caption asking why her church's leaders had signed on to co-sponsor a "Pride" event. A police investigation recommended no charges be brought; the prosecutor brought charges anyway and then appealed not one but two lower-court findings of innocence. Listen as R\u00e4s\u00e4nen shares her incredible story of Christian persecution in a Western democracy that claims to protect religious freedom and where a majority of the people identify as Christians. She will also share how God has encouraged her through the Scriptures and through fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ. She'll give an update on her legal case, which she has now appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your\u00a0iOS\u00a0or\u00a0Android device today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-12T17:09:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"From Parliament to Persecuted Christian: Standing Firm in Jesus, Encouraged By God’s Word\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-12T17:09:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":280,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"VOM Radio\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/from-parliament-to-persecuted-christian-standing-firm-in-jesus-encouraged-by-gods-word\\\/\",\"name\":\"From Parliament to Persecuted Christian: Standing Firm in Jesus, Encouraged By God's Word - 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