35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
I think it's important to try to take our spiritual walk to a higher level. We can avoid a victim's mentality, especially as we face challenges or barriers to the expression of our faith. We know from the Scriptures that we are victors in Jesus Christ, and He will speak through and express His nature through us as we yield to Him. He is calling us to trust Him, to walk free from fear, and to enjoy the life to which He has called us.
In our current spiritual climate, it would certainly be easy to think of ourselves as victims in a society that has pockets of hostility toward people of faith. But rather than victims, we should look at ourselves as victors in the Lord. Psalm 27 says:
(1b) The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
Tonight, when the Brandon High School band of Mississippi takes the field for its halftime performance, it's likely that one particular song will not be part of the program. You see, last week the band was slated to play the hymn, "How Great Thou Art," as part of its halftime show.
According to the Fox 6 website out of Birmingham, the band did not perform at halftime during the season-opening game last Friday night. A statement from the Rankin County School District says a July federal court order is the reason the band was banned from Friday night's halftime show.
Parent Kimberly Moore is concerned. She's quoted as saying, "It bothers me because you look at the schools and all of the school shootings and all the bad things that are happening, and wonder why. It's because we're allowing evil to step in." (Interestingly enough, the same news source reports that there were shots fired at a football game in Birmingham the same night - and people don't realize that the awareness of and dependence of the greatness of God is a powerful solution to so many of the problems we face in our society.)
The report says that Moore and dozens of parents and students sang the hymn during halftime Friday night in response to those who banned its performance.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves issued a court order on July 10, which said "defendants are permanently enjoined from including prayer, religious sermons or activities in any school sponsored event including but not limited to assemblies, graduations, award ceremonies, athletic events and any other school event. That means administrators, teachers and staff of the Rankin County School District may not participate in any religious activity, or solicit or encourage religious activities at school or while performing duties as a RCSD employee.”
The district made the decision to ban the halftime show after learning the hymn was included in the performance.
Meanwhile, in Madison, Alabama, the city school district is facing demands from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, according to WAFF 48. Yes, they received one of "those" letters - sent to Madison City Schools Superintendent Dee Fowler last month demanding that Fowler and the district begin an immediate investigation.
The FFRF alleges that the head volleyball coach at Bob Jones High School requires volleyball players to participate in a "prayer circle before and after every game or practice." Another allegation is that a pastor leads pregame prayer over the school loudspeaker and post-game prayer in the middle of the field at every Bob Jones football game.
Finally, the FFRF says they were told that a local FCA leader is allowed access to Bob Jones students during PE "practice blocks" during regular school hours, during which the leader carries a Bible, quotes scripture and questions students about their faith "while promoting Christianity."
Again, you have attempts to somehow extract the influence of religion, especially Christianity, from public life, and the FFRF is leading the charge, now even writing letters to a number of universities calling for them to restrict or eliminate the work of team chaplains.
In an AL.com opinion piece by Leada Gore on that story, she provides an excellent paraphrase of the First Amendment:
When I report these types of stories concerning religious freedom, I don't want to merely come across as complaining or even whining. I think it's important that we are aware of threats to our free expression of our faith, and that can challenge us to be more intent on speaking out boldly - and praying.
It is important that we are praying for our leaders. We are called in 1st Timothy 2 to pray for our officials so we can live in peace. And, when we are frustrated because of the actions of the judiciary, because on the Federal level these are unelected officials for a life term, we know we can do something about it - we can pray. We can recognize that there are people that have aligned themselves against the principles of Almighty God, who in some cases are hostile toward spiritual truth and ignorant of the spiritual foundation upon which this nation was founded.
We are facing spiritual battles today - as the Church has encountered for ages. And, the words of the apostle Paul about donning our spiritual armor, praying without ceasing, praying in the Spirit, and recognizing that our enemies are not flesh and blood - these resonate for us today.
+++++
In our current spiritual climate, it would certainly be easy to think of ourselves as victims in a society that has pockets of hostility toward people of faith. But rather than victims, we should look at ourselves as victors in the Lord. Psalm 27 says:
(1b) The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
Tonight, when the Brandon High School band of Mississippi takes the field for its halftime performance, it's likely that one particular song will not be part of the program. You see, last week the band was slated to play the hymn, "How Great Thou Art," as part of its halftime show.
According to the Fox 6 website out of Birmingham, the band did not perform at halftime during the season-opening game last Friday night. A statement from the Rankin County School District says a July federal court order is the reason the band was banned from Friday night's halftime show.
Parent Kimberly Moore is concerned. She's quoted as saying, "It bothers me because you look at the schools and all of the school shootings and all the bad things that are happening, and wonder why. It's because we're allowing evil to step in." (Interestingly enough, the same news source reports that there were shots fired at a football game in Birmingham the same night - and people don't realize that the awareness of and dependence of the greatness of God is a powerful solution to so many of the problems we face in our society.)
The report says that Moore and dozens of parents and students sang the hymn during halftime Friday night in response to those who banned its performance.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves issued a court order on July 10, which said "defendants are permanently enjoined from including prayer, religious sermons or activities in any school sponsored event including but not limited to assemblies, graduations, award ceremonies, athletic events and any other school event. That means administrators, teachers and staff of the Rankin County School District may not participate in any religious activity, or solicit or encourage religious activities at school or while performing duties as a RCSD employee.”
The district made the decision to ban the halftime show after learning the hymn was included in the performance.
Meanwhile, in Madison, Alabama, the city school district is facing demands from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, according to WAFF 48. Yes, they received one of "those" letters - sent to Madison City Schools Superintendent Dee Fowler last month demanding that Fowler and the district begin an immediate investigation.
The FFRF alleges that the head volleyball coach at Bob Jones High School requires volleyball players to participate in a "prayer circle before and after every game or practice." Another allegation is that a pastor leads pregame prayer over the school loudspeaker and post-game prayer in the middle of the field at every Bob Jones football game.
Finally, the FFRF says they were told that a local FCA leader is allowed access to Bob Jones students during PE "practice blocks" during regular school hours, during which the leader carries a Bible, quotes scripture and questions students about their faith "while promoting Christianity."
Again, you have attempts to somehow extract the influence of religion, especially Christianity, from public life, and the FFRF is leading the charge, now even writing letters to a number of universities calling for them to restrict or eliminate the work of team chaplains.
In an AL.com opinion piece by Leada Gore on that story, she provides an excellent paraphrase of the First Amendment:
We don't want laws requiring people to be a part of any religion. At the same time, we don't need regulations that prohibit the free exercise of anyone's religion. If a particular university wants to allow a chaplain to be part of its sports program, then that's free exercise of religion. If a player wants to be a part of a chaplain's programs, that's fine. Should there be consequences for players that don't take part? Of course not. But outlawing the program is just as ridiculous as requiring everyone one in a football jersey to join in.She then provides a list of some of the harassment in which FFRF has engaged:
They complained about a Kansas school having a portrait of Jesus hanging on the wall. They sent a letter to Pensacola, Fla., asking the city to take down a cross that's in a public park, a spot its held since the 1940s. They balked at New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce's trip to Belarus to speak to the country's parliament about religion's role in the founding of the United States including, as the foundation pointed out, lessons from the 10 Commandments.
You know. Really controversial things like "don't steal" and "don't kill."And, that leads us back around to the Brandon High School band and whether the school district, the band leaders, and the students have the right to free exercise of religion. And, in this case, I think it may be more of a case of artistic expression. So, now you're going to keep bands from playing songs with religious themes because someone might be offended? Give me a break!
When I report these types of stories concerning religious freedom, I don't want to merely come across as complaining or even whining. I think it's important that we are aware of threats to our free expression of our faith, and that can challenge us to be more intent on speaking out boldly - and praying.
It is important that we are praying for our leaders. We are called in 1st Timothy 2 to pray for our officials so we can live in peace. And, when we are frustrated because of the actions of the judiciary, because on the Federal level these are unelected officials for a life term, we know we can do something about it - we can pray. We can recognize that there are people that have aligned themselves against the principles of Almighty God, who in some cases are hostile toward spiritual truth and ignorant of the spiritual foundation upon which this nation was founded.
We are facing spiritual battles today - as the Church has encountered for ages. And, the words of the apostle Paul about donning our spiritual armor, praying without ceasing, praying in the Spirit, and recognizing that our enemies are not flesh and blood - these resonate for us today.
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