Force For Good

We may face discouragement when we consider the state of world today. We may be facing disturbing, even overwhelming circumstances and experience fear at the thought of what we may encounter. But, we can look to the God who is with us. Psalm 31 states:
21 Blessed be the Lord, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!
22 For I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You.
23 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.
24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord.

Proverbs 18 contains this reminder: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe."

The apostle Paul reminds us in 2nd Corinthians that when we are weak, He is strong. So, in our times where we feel weak, we can rely on the presence of the indwelling Christ and be assured that He is with us. We can think or even act impulsively and think that God is not with us, that He has somehow forgotten, but in our times of trial, we can know and be confident that He is right there, sustaining us and calling us closer to Himself.

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God is the source of courage and confidence for us, empowering us to testify to the presence of Jesus in us. In Luke 12, Jesus teaches:
8 "Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.
9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
10 And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.
11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.
12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

Recently, Cheryl Chumley of the Washington Times and Higher Ground Times wrote about a U.S. pastor who prayed prior to a session of the U.S. House of Representatives, invited by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.  She related that, according to The Christian Post, the pastor...

...used language like “repentance” and “holy fear” and spoke of “national sins” — as if these words and phrases were antithetical to America’s guiding doctrines, model of governance and founding principles.

Unfortunately, some House members took the pastor, Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California, to task, filing a complaint saying that he "embraces the false and exclusionary Christian nationalist narrative that the United States was established as a ‘Christian nation,’ and he has repeatedly flouted separation of church and state by working to institutionalize Christian prayer and Bible readings at local school board meetings.”

Chumley compares the words and ideology of Hibbs to signers of the Declaration of Independence - you know, that founding document that says that rights come from God, a concept that a certain Politico reporter seems to have a hard time with.  She writes:

Elbridge Gerry, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Constitutional Convention, framer of the Bill of Rights, had this to say to his fellow Massachusetts citizens — whom he also served as governor: “ … for our unparalleled ingratitude to that adorable being who has seated us in a land irradiated by the cheering beams of the gospel of Jesus Christ … let us fall prostrate before offended deity, confess sincerely and penitently our manifold sins and our unworthiness of His divine favors, fervently implore His pardon through the merits of our mediator,” as Capitol Ministries noted.

Cheryl Chumley also notes:

Josiah Bartlett, a military officer and signer of the Declaration of Independence, called on the people of New Hampshire, whom he governed, to “confess before God their aggravated transgressions and to implore His pardon and forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ,” Capitol Ministries also reported.

She reinforces the notion that "America’s greatness comes from the ideal that all are created in the image of God; that all have worth and value and talents and skills from God; that all are born into sin and need God for moral direction and teaching — to stay on the godly path; and that government exists solely to serve in humble roles to preserve and protect those inherent, natural, God-given rights and liberties."

But, as former HUD Secretary Ben Carson and former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker write at FoxNews.com: 

Recently, 11 anti-abortion protesters were convicted for peacefully protesting and praying at a Tennessee abortion clinic in 2021. Their crime? Arriving at an abortion clinic before it opened and sitting in prayer while handing out flyers that shared the value of human life.

These pro-life activists were convicted under the "Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances" (FACE) Act, a 1994 statute that makes it a federal crime to interfere in any way with a person’s attempt to get medical services. 

But, Carson and Whitaker contend that "the FACE Act is primarily being used to go after people of faith who stand up for what they believe and protest to protect innocent life. Each of these 11 peaceful protesters now faces up to 10 and a half years in prison and fines of up to $260,000 for participating in that day of prayerful protest."

They point to this incident as an example of the "weaponization" of the federal government against people of faith.

Other examples they cite include:

... in 2021, the Biden administration released a memo instructing the Department of Justice to go after concerned parents at school board meetings after receiving a letter that compared these parents to "domestic terrorists." Last year, it was also revealed that the FBI mounted a spying program on traditional Catholics (particularly those interested in the Latin Mass) and identified them as individuals who might be part of the "far-right nationalist movement."

They relate that "unprecedented acts of weaponization of the Justice Department" they mention in the piece are examples that the current administration "is eager to deploy the full force of the federal government against its perceived political enemies while letting real crimes, such as the D.C. riots and the destruction of federal property, go unpunished."  They state:

As Americans continue to fall victim to rising crime and violence in their neighborhoods, the Biden administration should focus on keeping our communities safe and putting real criminals behind bars. The Department of Justice should never be used as a weaponized arm of the executive branch to harass, intimidate, and stifle political opposition.

Calling good evil and evil good - that's a hallmark of some government officials these days. And, that is by no means an attempt by me and others to paint Christians as "victims."  But, we should not be characterized as "villains," either.  Our desire as believers should be to spread the love of Christ to a chaotic world.  There is much good, as it's been pointed out, that has been done by the Church throughout history, and Christians who live out their faith publicly should not be demonized for their desire to influence culture with God's absolute truth.  Same as others who are attempting to inject their god-less ideology into the fabric of our society.

Around the world, we have saints who are suffering - the persecuted Church.  They are facing imprisonment and death for living out their faith.  By and large, we haven't reached that point in America as of yet where it is common, but the conditions are there; the negative mindset has permeated the hearts and minds of some public officials.  The Mark Hauck case, in which a pro-life individual's home was stormed by armed federal agents because of a past incident in front of an abortion clinic, in which Mark was defending his son from harassment, a case dismissed by local authorities, gives a glimpse into what people in authority are capable of.  And, as our friends in other countries who are being persecuted, they count it a privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ - we are not victims; rather we are servants of the Most High, who has redeemed our souls and imparted to us His victory inside.