February 2022 Newsletter
Romans 13:3 ESV For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.
Isolated, this verse can be used to subject a people, but Scripture tells us of God establishing and bringing down kingdoms for His own purposes. We know that the primary role of government is to protect freedom and establish order. Governments that fail to do so stand under judgment and must be opposed. We are fortunate, locally, and for the most part, in our region to have governments that support freedom and order. It is difficult to have freedom without order.
We are free to gather, to show support for one of our own, pray and give thanks to God...
If you were not able to make it downtown Thursday, I urge you to watch one of the many videos posted.
When I found out Layla Jamison and her family would be turning right from Winter Street to Main Street, I made a trip to Honey Bees Florist for helium-filled pink balloons and ordered as many as I could carry in my truck cab so that she saw a welcome sign as she turned right. I took out my wallet to pay and was told nothing. The balloons were to be placed along the front rail outside the sanctuary. The person whose name escapes me…said she knew why I wanted the balloons. I was not prepared for the emotion that swept over me and the hundreds gathered near City Hall. The convoy turned left by Floorz N More, drove the back street and circled back through downtown so they saw every business decorated in pink.
Speaker after speaker welcomed Layla. Prayers were said thanking God for His faithfulness. A hospital spokesperson followed business, government and school representatives and echoed what many of them said. “First of all, I want to make sure Christ receives the honor and praise....” The speakers Thursday prayed, gave testimony and praise because this community supports their message. We affirmed them. When the prayers were said, they had a greater impact because we’ve prayed for a young person many of us have never met but we prayed and continue to pray because she is one of us and because we care.
Much of the world envies this freedom and there is a growing restlessness to reassert what is in the Declaration of Independence saying life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are God-given attributes. We are made in the image of a God who is absolutely free to be free. Freedom is not doing whatever the world says to do. That is slavery to sin. Freedom is doing what you were created to do.
Over the past week thousands of truckers in Canada, hundreds of thousands in Brazil and around the world gathered to protest governmental oppression. It is about more than vaccine mandates. For decades freedom of speech has been eroded, biblical texts labeled as hate speech, parents losing con-trol to make choices for the benefit of their children, opportunities to open small businesses who lack the resources and influence to lobby for preferential treatment - all suppressed by an increasingly draconian group of elites who think they know better.
I do not take our freedom for granted. But for those who are Christian, this freedom has responsi-bility. Cherish and use this freedom!
Brother David