Not Ashamed

The apostle Paul declares in Romans 1:
15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.




Paul said that he was eager to preach, and he was not ashamed, or hesitant to communicate the message.   There's an amazing video of a segment on "Follow the Money", a show on the Fox Business Network featuring host Eric Bolling, who dismissed an atheist guest from his program because of his insults to Christianity, declared his faith in Christ, and interviewed a Congressman who quoted John 3:16 and Benjamin Franklin's call to prayer from the Constitutional Convention.   Here it is:




The atheist was Dan Barker of the so-called Freedom from Religion Foundation, aptly renamed the "Freedom from History Foundation" by Lars Larson, a panelist on the FBN segment.   Barker is married to Annie Laurie Gaylor, who heads the Foundation (sounds like a small operation to me).   According to Mediaite,
Barker said that the nativity scene...

represented “an insult to human nature that we are all doomed and damned,” before being interrupted by a defensive, though polite Bolling, who tried to get the conversation back to the much less interesting discussion of of how different local municipalities govern and free speech. But Barker seemed eager to insult Christianity, saying again “what an insult that we are degraded to be praising the exact Jesus created a place of hell.” Bolling quickly interjected, reminding his guest that it was “his show” and that he would not abide having a guest denigrate the name of Jesus Christ on his show.

Bolling, visibly shaken, but having declared that he was a Christian and offended by Barker's remarks, turned to U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, who quoted John 3:16 and Benjamin Franklin's call to pray in order to break a stalemate in the negotiations in Philadelphia to craft a new Constitution.  

In the whole timeline of our nation, it's only recently that you have had so-called free speech advocates balk at the idea of having religious, specifically Christian, displays on governmental property.   In fact, you can travel across America, from the nation's capital to state capitals and municipalities and see a plethora of religious acknowledgments - so we're not on a slippery slope allowing Nativity scenes to be displayed, as one of Eric Bolling's panelists contended - it's been going on for years...it's comparatively recently that we've seen challenges - through small but vocal activist groups who inject themselves into local matters and through a misinterpretation of the First Amendment.  

And, in Athens, Texas, they're fighting back, and so is noted Christian apologist Ray Comfort, who specializes in tweaking atheists...by speaking the truth in love.   Comfort had declared that any time that the Freedom From Religion Foundation tries to remove crosses, nativity scenes, etc., he will make some calls. "Whenever they try and bully people with their anti-God agenda, we will make that place ground-zero for an evangelistic campaign. The majority of Americans believe in God, and many of them have had enough of intolerance towards the things of God. Atheists may use the law to make a mayor remove a cross from a water tower, but we will then make it our business to take the cross to thousands."    Comfort's ability to communicate is quite impressive, having had over 1.8 million views of his video "180" and working with volunteers to give away 180,000 copies of the DVD on some 100 university campuses recently.

And, he's assisting the faithful in Texas:  He said, "'180' is getting the gospel to the unsaved and at the same time inspiring Christians to share their faith. So I made contact with Pastor Lorick, who is standing up against these atheists (along with 73 other area pastors), offered to give free '180 Courses' to the area churches, and also offered to send in teams to evangelize the area. The pastor loved the idea and was delighted that we wanted to help."

The situation involving Eric Bolling and the nativity scene in Texas has been termed by Mediate's Colby Hall, albeit snarkily, a “War on Christmas” miracle.   Well, the situation has attracted national attention and given Christians in that area and across the nation an opportunity to pour truth into the discussion, and hopefully by used by the Holy Spirit to change hearts.