Friday, November 23, 2018

Expression of Faith in the Public Arena

Why does it seem that in the United States that the minority of people who oppose the expression of religious freedom in this nation have greater rights than those of us who adhere to primarily the Christian faith?  How many times have you read a story across the land where one person or a family brings to the attention of a public school that they are offended by the expression by someone’s faith whether it being with Bible reading, praying, etc., and then the school proceeds to shut down the entire program, offending everyone else who voluntarily choose to do this in the first place.
 
An example of this occurred in Huntington Indiana where an after school program, completely voluntary, in which parents allowed their students to attend a Bible class after school.  However one family complained that this was being done on public property and the school, after thirty years of service, shut it down over that one complaint.  Political correctness has robbed us of our freedoms and instead of liberating us is restricting the freedoms that were given to us by God and our founding fathers of this nation.  We are seeing what was considered deviant behavior being embraced while those who uphold traditional morals of right living per our faith and its practices are told to sit down and take it, because we are considered to be “holier than thou” and narrow minded bigots. 

I believe that Americans should be allowed to express their faith in public events as long as their expression does not cause harm to people and their property.  There is no such thing as we will all agree to everything that we all may want to participate or believe in so limiting a majority of people’s views because they offend yours is not acceptable unless there is true harm being created by it.  What has made this country great has been our freedom of the exchange of ideas and I tend to believe that if we continue on this path that we are creating without a return to what our Founders gave us, it will be only a matter of time that we shall no longer recognize what that foundation looks like and what we will be building upon at that time will be nothing more than sinking sand.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Where is the Kingdom ? Heaven or Earth?

In the world we live in today the Church of Jesus Christ is irrelevant.  When decisions are being reached that affect the moral climate here in the United States no one mentions the Church unless it during an election cycle.  It is during this time that you see the media mention the Church because of the influence it has had in electing a person like Donald Trump into office.  Outside of that you don't here the Church mentioned unless we raise our heads and start pushing back against the spirit of the Antichrist and its agenda of political correctness.  In this story from Fox News Colorado bakers, who opposed making a wedding cake for a gay couple because of their belief that it is a lifestyle they can't support, have lost nearly everything for what they believe to be right.  It is stories like this Christians are brought out by society as the bad guys and it is the way that the devil uses this to keep the Church suppressed by placing fear on our hearts that we could be faced with the same thing if we dare defy the spirit of the Antichrist and his agenda of political correctness.

This is not the Kingdom of God way.  Jesus told His followers to pray the following, " Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is heaven".  The will and desire of our God is to bring Heaven to Earth.  Christians need to be salt and light in this generation and we must be willing to let our light shine in the dark places of the world.  That means we must take our place on the battlefield of the world and bring God's Kingdom into all that are engaged in.  What does that look like? For me that means I must shine the light in places where I work, go to school at in the parking lot or shopping centers of the nation.  I must make my voice be heard by loving people with the love of Christ no matter what the cost.  Where the kingdom of God is in Heaven there is not sickness, there is no pain, no poverty or fear.  We must bring that presence with us and let it permeate those we are called to influence.  The Church is made of people.  We are called to be an Army of God bringing healing and deliverance in our hands.  Let us not be afraid but stand in faith and declare that the Kingdom of God in near and than let it manifest through us to those God has given us to show His goodness to.  It is time to take up a call of arms.  Are you ready to join me in the rally cry of the Spirit of Christ to bring forth the Kingdom of God for such a time as this?