Prayer and Connection

When we, as the people of God, realize that we are not alone and that God is with us and available for us to call on, we can know we have the capacity to see Him do incredible things. In Matthew 18, Jesus taught:
18 Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

The believer in Christ can kneel in prayer and bow before the Maker of the Universe, the Ruler of Heaven and Earth - we have been granted that access and authority to align ourselves with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, as well as with fellow believers. When we cooperate and connect as the body of Christ, there is great power that can be released; in our agreement, God shows up and faithfully responds in order to do according to His will.   

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There is great spiritual power available to the believer in Christ, and we access the resources of heaven as we seek God's face and call on His name. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

We are on the eve of the National Day of Prayer, which galvanizes people to join together physically and spiritually together in agreement for different areas of our society.  Events will be occurring around the nation and throughout the Faith Radio listening area tomorrow, as communities and churches will be coming together to pray in a more normal fashion than we experienced last year during COVID.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the way we celebrated the National Day of Prayer last year and it gave rise to a new prayer feature on social media.  ReligionNews.com reported recently on a new feature that Facebook is testing out: "Prayer posts. The function will allow members of Facebook groups to ask for and respond to prayer requests."

The story, which refers to a Facebook spokesperson who confirmed this is in the testing stage, states: "The idea for prayer posts grew out of the myriad ways users have connected over Facebook while distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the spokesperson."

Nona Jones, who is the head of Global Faith Partnerships at Facebook - yes, that is a real position, believe it or not, states: "Our mission to give people the power to build community extends to the world’s largest community; the faith community..."

The article goes on to say:

In its Year in Review, Facebook noted that the week of Easter and Passover 2020 — which fell in early April, about a month into lockdowns across the country — saw the most group video calls ever on Messenger, Facebook’s private messaging app. It also saw the most Facebook Live broadcasts from “spiritual” Facebook pages.

Again, this is in the testing stages, and the article gives some insight into how it will work, stating:

Group administrators must opt in to allow members to use the feature, which gives members the option to post prayer requests in the group.

Other members can then click a “pray” button to let the original poster know they have prayed for their request. They also can choose a reaction, leave a comment or send a private message to the poster.

Christianity Daily, in reporting much of the same information about the new feature, did point out that: "The move comes after backlash over Facebook was accused of censoring conservatives...The tech giant claimed, however, that 'the right is better at connecting with people on a visceral level,' as reported by Politico."

Much of the discussion over Facebook's alleged censorship centers around government protection it receives under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The National Religious Broadcasters website quotes NRB CEO Troy Miller: “Much has changed since Section 230 was written in the 1990s. It has essentially protected Big Tech from lawsuits regarding content removal and has certainly been abused, in particular regarding conservative and religious content. As such, it needs to be reexamined in light of its original intent,” adding, “We look forward to working with Congress, the administration, and tech companies to ensure that our members can continue to preach the gospel uninhibited.”

Bottom line: we love Facebook, we use it, but there are Christians who have found themselves suspended or banned from the platform.  There are those that would blame it on the algorithms, but there is legitimate concern over some speech that is consistent with Biblical values that has disappeared from the platform due to its content.  

But, to its credit, Facebook is seemingly making an effort to accommodate people of faith by testing out its prayer feature. And, we know how social media and texts, complete with emojis in some cases, can be encouraging to people who are in need of prayer.  It's not that Facebook has found religion, but it is wise to not alienate a sizable portion of its user base.

Finally, we can always be reminded to pray for one another.  And, let one another know that we are doing so. We don't need to throw around the words, "I'll pray for you," and not do it; we should follow through and perhaps even let the person know we have done so.  In the body of Christ, we are family, and we can bear one another's burdens and go before the Lord in prayer.

Guardian

We are approaching the National Day of Prayer, and one of the seven centers of influence about which ministry leaders will be praying on Faith Radio this Thursday is government. 1st Timothy 2 instructs us to pray for our leaders. Under their authority and under God's authority, we have so many individuals who serve in carrying out the role of government. Romans 13 states:
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
4 For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.

We are people under authority - we are ultimately accountable to Almighty God, who has established earthly authorities to whom we submit.  We also have what verse 5 alludes to, that is, our conscience.  The conscience within us, if it has been programmed correctly and is submissive to the Holy Spirit, gives us a sense of right and wrong, and we can train ourselves to pay attention to it.  The conscience keeps us obedient to earthly and heavenly authorities and you could say that it ensures that we obey even when no one's around to check up on us. 

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God is our ultimate defender, and we find that He places human beings in the position to love and serve one another, and He has established earthly authorities to carry out His justice. Psalm 82 states:
2 How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.

The nation was intently watching the trial of a Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty in the death of George Floyd.  There have been other police-involved incidents in our land, as well, in which the justification of the use of force has been questioned.

These types of encounters throughout the years have sadly been used to paint a negative picture of those whom God has placed in authority to keep us safe.  We could certainly use some more positive portrayals of these individuals in our communities who put their lives on the line in their occupation.  There are very few lines of work in which the employee may run the risk of not coming home to his or her family. Police work is one of them.  

So here's a story I came across.  It's actually from a few months ago but the principles here ring true. 

Last summer, there was a Philadelphia woman who was walking to her home and was hit by a truck, according to The Epoch Times. The story says:

On July 21, 80-year-old Maryalice McGrath was crossing an intersection in Port Richmond, Philadelphia, when she was hit by an oncoming truck. Maryalice, a lifelong resident of Port Richmond, was on her way home, reports WPVI.

Officer Frank Lynch was driving behind the truck that hit Maryalice and attested that neither the elderly pedestrian nor the truck driver saw the other one coming.

What he did next was remarkable:

Lynch called for an ambulance but quickly determined that Maryalice was not going to survive. He braved the burning asphalt and lay down in the street next to the elderly woman, offering her what company and comfort he could in her final moments.

The selfless police officer was later treated for burns at the local hospital.

McGrath's niece, Molly Quinn, said: “I think he was there for a reason and he was her guardian angel,” adding, “and he went above and beyond the call of duty by just lying in the street next to this poor woman when she needed him.”  

Lynch posted on Facebook: “I’ve been reading everyone’s comments and trying to keep my composure during this ordeal...It was a horrible thing to happen to such a loving sweet woman.” He went on to say, “Many of the comments used to describe me was the word hero...I was nothing but a compassionate human being who stayed with Maryalice in her remaining time on this Earth … I’d like to take this time and thank ALL of the officers that helped that day … I couldn’t have done what I did without all of their help.”  He also asked for people to keep the driver of the truck in their prayers.

Lynch doesn't want to be known as a hero, and, realistically, he's not an "angel," either.  But, the term, "guardian angel," in our cultural vernacular has come to be a complimentary expression.  We do know that God has provided angels for us, supernatural beings, who are called in Scripture, "ministering spirits," who are assigned for purposes of protection and even direction.  We can be encouraged that these beings are sent by God to engage in spiritual warfare on our behalf.

And, we do have human protectors, who are in essence doing the work of God, as outlined in Romans chapter 13.  An overwhelming amount do their job seriously; we know that some have erred, and unfortunately in the real world of split-second decision-making, mistakes are bound to happen. 

We also recognize that even though it appeared the 80-year-old woman in this story who had been hit by a truck would not make it, the officer did not leave her side - he comforted her.  Thank God for those who walk with those who are living in their final days, and those that come along side of them and their families!   

Kindness of Strangers

God will use the compassion that He has given to us in order to meet needs in His name.  Coming up, on The Meeting House, you will hear a story of a person described as a "good Samaritan."  That 
parable is found in Luke 10 - we find a man beaten and robbed and left by the road. Our Lord teaches:
31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

The compassion moved him to action. Verse 34 says, "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him." Then the man left money with the innkeeper to further take care of the man. Jesus asked:
36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"
37 And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Jesus says to love our neighbor as ourselves, and this parable was His answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?"  Two men walked by, the Samaritan stopped - he ministered to the broken man's needs...He demonstrated the mercy of God, which we have been given because we know Christ.  We can be looking for ways to show His mercy, because Jesus has shown mercy to us.  

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We are called to sow seeds of love, life and truth into people's lives, and our Heavenly Father is the one who provides us with those seeds, according to 2nd Corinthians 9, which says:
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

A Texas man named Kenneth Smith was down and out.  He found himself "hungry and homeless," according to a Faithwire article, and was outside a local restaurant and a women asked him if he was OK; he told the woman who asked that he was not. 

The article relates:

“I told her, ‘No, I’m not OK at this time,’” Smith recalled to WFAA-TV, telling the outlet the woman then gave him a $100 gift card to the steakhouse so he could have a warm meal.

After sitting in the booth for a while, Smith struck up a conversation with the restaurant’s managing partner, Laura Hodges. 

Hodges told the TV station, “I said, ‘Hey, I don’t ever want you to want for food or go hungry,’” adding, “I want you to always have somewhere that you can get a warm meal.” She handed Smith her business card and told him to come by "any time."  He began to drop by to eat for five months and asked Hodges for a job - he is currently employed by the steakhouse.

But, in the meantime, he needed a place to live.  Faithwire reports that, "Hodges took to a local Facebook group — the Fort Worth Foodies — to ask if any of the members knew of a nearby motel with affordable nightly rates."  It turns out that group members took care of his hotel stay for six weeks and have given Kenneth over two-thousand dollars!

Smith is quoted as saying, "I think it’s so much of a good blessing," adding, “And it’s wonderful just to have people these days that’ll do things for you.” He apparently recognizes the hand of God in his life, stating, “This is a whole new beginning that God has blessed me with...so I’m trying to get on this right, good track that He wants me to stay on.”

And as Laura Hodges points out, it started with the woman who gave Kenneth a gift card.  She stopped and asked the man if he was OK.  Kenneth said he wasn't.

Does it or perhaps should it occur to us that by saying we're OK when we really aren't prevents a move of God in our lives?  I think there is a human tendency to say we're fine, and we end up missing a blessing for ourselves and denying a blessing to someone who may want to minister to us.

And, we should always be willing to ask the question when we see someone who may be in need - sensitivity is a key, and the openness to respond when we get the answer. That could certainly result in a prayer, but it could also result in an actual step or two in actually meeting the need. Or, perhaps, like to lady who surrendered her gift card, we can take what we have available - what God has given to us and recognize that is the purpose. 

You could say that God had not forgotten about Kenneth Smith - He wanted to do a work in His life.  And, we can remember that the Lord is orchestrating events in our lives.  Maybe you can recollect times in which He has brought the right person or provision in your life - that can strengthen our faith and bring Him glory. 

Regulating Speech

We have the potential to be powerfully persuasive as we devote ourselves to speaking God's Word - Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, and recounted their reception of the truth:
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;
11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,
12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

Here we see a narrative in which God is working by His Word, activated by His Spirit, resulting in changed lives.  That's the power of persuasion that comes from a devotion to God's Word. We have the opportunity as citizens of this nation to speak God's truth; even though we see challenges on the horizon - yet, at this cultural moment, we can continue to be bold to live and speak the truth of God and allow Him to work in the lives of those to who we speak. 

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The apostle Paul is a great example for us of a man who operated very well in public discussion and debate, as we see in Acts 17, where we can read:
15 So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

Erika "Kika" Nieto is described as a "Columbian social media star."  And, recently, in an "Ask Me Anything" video on YouTube, she said this: “God created man and woman so that they could be with each other. I don’t consider men being with men or women being with women to be good, but I tolerate that."  That's a quote from her, translated from Spanish, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International, which reports that the video was seen by her "millions of followers."

That's her opinion, and ADF International contends she has a right to say it. Tomás Henríquez, Director of Advocacy, Latin America and the Caribbean for ADF International, stated: "Nieto’s right to freely express her views and share them publicly is protected by the Colombian Constitution. Freedom of speech, and religious freedom, are fundamental human rights guaranteed by every major human rights treaty. If someone feels offended, the best response is debate, not censorship."  The organization is supporting Kika's case, which is the second that has arisen from the same video.  In the first case, according to the piece on the ADF International website: "In a separate case that arose from the same video, the Colombian Constitutional Court has already ruled that Nieto’s speech on marriage is constitutionally protected. However, another activist took Nieto to court, complaining that this same comment about marriage was offensive and discriminatory. This time, a lower court considered the video to contain 'hate speech' and thus ordered its removal from YouTube."  

And, that's all because she stated she believed that men and women are created for one another, not for same-sex relationships, which she described as not being good, yet she, using her word, "tolerated" that. I think a better expression would be to say that you love the LGBTQ individual, but do not agree with it. I contend that we should never tolerate sin. 

The stateside Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a case involving a Pennsylvania teen who, after not making the cheerleading squad, went on a profane rant on Snapchat, which resulted in her suspension.  According to the SCOTUS Blog (Caution: post contains inappropriate language), ADF states that “religious students both on and off campus often find themselves persecuted because of their speech," and encourages the Court to “make clear that schools cannot regulate speech based on the effects that speech has on its listeners.”

As the blog points out, this is a case that revisits areas of law that were staked out in the Tinker case.  The Casetext website says in its summary of the case that:

"Holding that students who wore black armbands to protest Vietnam War engaged in expressive conduct "'closely akin to pure speech'"

The Court's ruling stated, "First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

The SCOTUS Blog points out that the question before the justices in this case is "whether Tinker also applies to speech by students that occurs off campus. In the internet era, in which cellphones and social media are omnipresent and many schools and parents worry about cyberbullying, the court’s ruling in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. could become a landmark decision on student speech."

There are people in power who seem to continually want to regulate what you say or think. We see this in current conditions surrounding Big Tech outlets who determine the type of speech they would like to have or not have on their platforms, and Christians are concerned that they may be regulated out of discussions in the public square.  That should not intimidate us from speaking, and we have to recommit ourselves to speaking the truth.  

We also have to be careful not to want to shut down the speech of others, to keep people from being able to say things from which we disagree. Because that could come back on us.  Disagreement can lead to polarization, certainly, but it can also lead to productive discussion, during which persuasion can occur.  If we believe in the superiority of Scripture arguments, then we don't have to be threatened by opposing views.  God will give us the words to say in order to make His truth known in a compelling, accurate way.  

Decline

Jesus gave His life so that men and women can come to be in a relationship with Him and with His people in the body of Christ, His Church, which has outposts in local churches around the world. 1st Corinthians 12 says:
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

Bottom line - we belong.  Certainly, we belong to God and He has brought us into fellowship with Himself through Christ.  And, we belong to one another - we are now part of His body, and He desires for us to come together in unity for His purposes in the church, so that the people with whom we interact, through cities, counties, and communities, may see His love in operation.  We are not to merely be receivers of His love, but we are called to be active participants in His work.
 

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We are united in Christ and bond together around the truth of His Word and the hope we possess in Him. Hebrews 10 states:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The practice of attending church is pointed out to us in Hebrews chapter 10, yet across the religious spectrum, membership in local bodies has been on the decline. A relatively new Gallup poll summary relates that...

Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.

When Gallup first started polling this question - in 1937 - church membership was at 73% and stayed around 70 percent for about 60 years, until things started declining in the 2000's.  The summary states:

The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference. Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in 2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years.

Most of the rest of that decline has to do with the lack of formal church membership of those who have expressed a preference. And, the concept of church membership does seem to be germaine to older generations; as Gallup states: "66% of traditionalists -- U.S. adults born before 1946 -- belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials." There is limited data for Generation Z members who are now adults.

And, there's this statistic: "Currently, 31% of millennials have no religious affiliation, which is up from 22% a decade ago. Similarly, 33% of the portion of Generation Z that has reached adulthood have no religious preference."

So, that's the "what." But, why is this happening? The Gallup summary offered a small amount of analysis, stating, "The U.S. remains a religious nation, with more than seven in 10 affiliating with some type of organized religion. However, far fewer, now less than half, have a formal membership with a specific house of worship." It also says that, "Because it is unlikely that people who do not have a religious preference will become church members, the challenge for church leaders is to encourage those who do affiliate with a specific faith to become formal, and active, church members."

The surface "whys" are lack of religious preference and those that have one not becoming church members.  But, there is no doubt an assortment of reasons why people are not affiliating with a local church.

I would offer several.  One is that there are different ways to worship.  People now engage online, especially since the pandemic, but the "electronic church" has seemingly been trending for years. The traditional sense of "belonging" to a church is not what it used to be.

We also have to consider the role of church membership.  There is certainly an emphasis on church attendance, but is there a de-emphasis on being a member?  Just asking. The Bible teaches us to not forsake assembling together, and I would submit that churches do offer opportunities for involvement, whether or not the participants are church members.  The benefit of church membership is to give those members a place to belong and remind them of their Christian duty to participate in the work of His Church. 

But, by and large, the decline in church membership is related to the condition of the heart. It's not hard to discern that there is a departure from living according to religious principles.  A person who is not devoted to growing in Christ is likely not going to be an enthusiastic participant in the local church. And, if the local church body has departed from upholding the truth of God's Word, then people will not be fed the right spiritual nutrients in order to grow and develop in his or her walk.  Our dedication to the centrality of Scripture and living it out will attract people to know the God whom we claim we serve.

Label

If you wear the label, "Christian," you should actually act like you know Jesus and are devoted to following His ways. That description is more than a religious term or a demographic one - when we bear the name of Christ, we are called to act like Him. 1st John chapter 2 states:
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Jesus said that the person who abides in Him will bear "much fruit" - we can examine the degree to which we are abiding in Him by evaluating the harvest of fruit that is there. The production of fruit for the glory of God is directly connected to how connected we are to Him. Everett Piper spoke on The Meeting House yesterday about the determining of the God that a person serves - is it the God of the Bible or the god in the mirror?  He is the One who will enable us to bring honor to the name of Jesus and live up to the name, "Christian."

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In Romans 1, Paul issues a stern word of warning to men and women who engage in behavior that is not appropriate toward those of the same sex. He writes, regarding those who had rejected God:
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Why a professing Christian would choose to publicly acknowledge same-sex attraction as part of his or her identity is beyond me.  It is a sinful desire that should be devoted to the cross and certainly not regarded as something from which someone cannot be set free. 

The word, "Christian," should not be taken lightly.  People and institutions may be called Christian these days, but that doesn't mean that Christ is first place, that He is governing actions and decisions. We can be challenged to make sure that we know what it means to be "Christian."

This seems to be an issue in higher education these days, as you hear about Christian institutions that have allowed worldly teachings and actions to become acceptable.  If you bear the label, "Christian," to me that means that the policies that are accepted should be consistent with the teachings of Scripture.  And, there is great pressure to compromise on the teachings of Scripture.

One area is on sexuality.  I have two stops to make on our journey today.  First of all, Seattle Pacific University; ChristianHeadlines.com reports that:

The employee handbook says faculty are “expected to refrain from … sexually immoral behavior that is inconsistent with Biblical standards, including cohabitation and extramarital sexual activity,” according to the newspaper. A university “Statement on Human Sexuality” says, “We affirm that sexual experience is intended between a man and a woman.”

Recently, the Board of Trustees affirmed this material, and over two-thirds of the faculty gave the Board a vote of "no confidence."  The Christian Headlines article related in a story last Friday:

The controversy was sparked in January when Jéaux Rinedah, an adjunct nursing professor, alleged in a lawsuit that he was denied a full-time teaching position because he is gay.

The faculty Senate said in a Monday statement, “The Board’s decision to maintain SPU’s discriminatory hiring policy related to human sexuality, as well as its manner of delivering that decision, have regrettably compelled the faculty of SPU to pass a vote of no confidence in the SPU Board of Trustees.”

Board of Trustees chairman Cedric Davis is quoted as saying that the Board is “cognizant of historic orthodoxy and the Wesleyan and evangelical tradition in SPU’s 130-year history and in SPU’s Statement of Faith.”  What happens now?  It is up to the Board, presumably, to uphold the teachings upon which the school is founded.

We now move a bit closer to our area, to College of the Ozarks in Missouri, which has filed a lawsuit against a government policy.  An article on the National Religious Broadcasters website states:

The lawsuit challenges a directive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that forces schools to open their dormitories (including dorm rooms and shared shower spaces) to members of the opposite sex. By requiring entities covered by the Fair Housing Act to not “discriminate” based on sexual orientation or gender identity, this directive forces religious schools to violate their beliefs.

ADF Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake stated in response: “Women shouldn’t be forced to share private spaces—including showers and dorm rooms—with males, and religious schools shouldn’t be punished simply because of their beliefs about marriage and biological sex. Government overreach by the Biden administration continues to victimize women, girls, and people of faith by gutting their legal protections, and it must be stopped.”  

School President Jerry C. Davis said: “To threaten religious freedom is to threaten America itself. College of the Ozarks will not allow politicians to erode this essential American right or the ideals that shaped America’s founding.”

There is confusion over matters of sexuality and gender these days, and God's Word can bring us great clarity.  It's not a matter of how we feel about ourselves, but about faith in what God has to say - he has made us male and female and in Romans 1, Paul lays out the sinfulness of men and women possessing improper feelings for one another.  And, the good news is that when God points out sin, He also offers the antidote.

The fact is, in our culture, pressure will come.  And there is great temptation for people and institutions to conform.  Yet, we can continue to hold fast to the teachings of Scripture and honor God by following His Word.  We are not called to follow fads or faux versions of reality; we are called to uphold the time-honored traditions that are spelled out for us in God's Word and know that His blessing comes as we adhere to it.

Going Under

There is a story found in the book of Acts about a sorcerer named Simon, who had apparently wowed the people with his magic acts, to the extent some thought that he was doing God's work. Acts 8 tells us that the authentic power of God was so compelling that even Simon believed on Jesus. We can read:
12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.
13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

We can be careful not to believe counterfeits to the presence of God and not be deceived.  We can also not regard an experience with the Lord as some sort of "good luck charm." We can rejoice in the change that takes place inside a person when he or she accepts Christ, and we are placed on a course of obedience to Him: that is communicated through the act of baptism. We can rejoice in the new birth and embrace the spiritual reality of what has occurred in our hearts. 

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The picture is clear: our old self is dead and our sins have been buried with that old self; we have been raised to new life, and we have the power to express that. Romans 6 tells us:
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

The practice, or sacrament, of water baptism is an outward expression of the inward work of God in a person's life - it can be a powerful tool used in the hand of God to demonstrate what God does when someone is born again. 

On the Sunday before Christmas last year, Long Hollow Baptist Church outside Nashville had scheduled "around a dozen" people to be baptized, according to an article at ChristianHeadlines.com, which reports:

...dozens more – for a total of 99 – followed through with baptism that day, according to Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In December, Pastor Robby Gallaty called it a “movement of God that I’ve never experienced.”

On the Sunday after Easter, the church passed 1,000 baptisms since that Sunday in December. On Easter Sunday, over 200 were baptized.  Baptisms are taking place throughout the service and following the service. The pastor "estimates that about 70-75 percent of the baptisms are first-time confessions of faith."  

The article relates that:

The revival began after Gallaty became introspective following the deaths of two close friends, Jarrid Wilson and Darren Patrick. Each committed suicide.

“Both of those men preached at Long Hollow within six months of their passing,” Gallaty told Baptist Press. “They both sat at my dining room table. It made me realize that the last person to say he’s burning out or that ministry is tough is usually the one burning out. The Lord allowed me to take an introspective look at my own life. I was tired. Tired of trying to keep people happy. Tired of trying to keep them from leaving. I went to my porch to pray for the Lord to fix the problems in our church and our country. God showed me that the problem … was me.”

The article adds, "Gallaty began praying more and listening to God more."

The pastor stated to Baptist Press: “I really believe that if all of us, as pastors, begin to press in and seek the Lord in prayer, calling out for God to move in our churches, that’s a prayer He’s going to answer,” adding, “The greatest hindrance to a move of the Holy Spirit is formality and structure. If God wanted to break into our services today, we’d have no time for Him. [At Long Hollow] we still have a plan, but we’re OK if God interrupts the service.”

I want to isolate that phrase from the pastor, who said "we're OK if God interrupts the service."  We have to make sure that we don't misinterpret God's interruptions as inconveniences.  We can become so married to our plans that we don't allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in our lives - and that can be true for a worship service or our lifestyle of worship.

God can use baptism in our own lives because it is an act of obedience to Him.  But, it is also a powerful expression of the inward work of the Holy Spirit. Our sins have been cleansed and we have been raised to new life.  In the work of redemption, we identify with His death and appropriate His new life. The act of baptism testifies to the exhilaration of the new birth, a message that we continue to carry throughout our lives.