Dear Friends,
Today, more than ever, the church needs men and women of bold
faith. Those who step up, not step back who will stand up, and not shut up.
Our Christian values are under siege, attacked by those
championing philosophies and ideologies that run counter to our Christian
faith. The world is seeking to undermine our Christian values by promoting
abortion rights, critical race theory, sex education in schools, and radical
gender ideology.
One by one states are approving the legalization of marijuana,
motivated by the hopes of increasing revenue which includes paying for the
building of addiction facilities to treat the growing numbers of those
addicted!
It’s time for men and women of the church to stand up and speak
out and say, “Enough is enough.”
Sometimes, like Peter and the apostles, we must stiffen our
spiritual backbones and go for it. When the authorities found Peter and the
other apostles teaching about Christ in the temple courts, they had them
arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. They were ordered to cease teaching
about Jesus. “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” Peter and the
other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29
Billy Graham once said courage is contagious. “When a brave man
takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. “The Right to Lead,
John Maxwell, p. 23.
I close with an example of the kind of courage that all of us
should pray to possess.
A 19th century circuit riding preacher named Peter Cartwright was
preparing to deliver a sermon on Sunday when he was warned that President
Andrew Jackson was in attendance and was asked to keep his remarks inoffensive.
During the message, he included the statement: “I have been told that Andrew
Jackson is in this congregation. And I have been asked to guard my remarks.
What I must say is that Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn't repent of
his sin.”
After the sermon, Jackson strode up to Cartwright. “Sir,” the
President said, “If I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world,”
I think that this is the kind of boldness that has often been
lacking in both the church and in our individual lives. Too often we are
paralyzed by the fear of the consequences of boldly proclaiming the name of
Jesus, whether it might be in a public school, our home, school, or in the
marketplace. We need to pray that we would be more like the apostles, filled
with the holy boldness, and the courage to proclaim Christ wherever and
whatever the cost may be.
It is true that courage can be defined by a three-letter word and
the word is YES.
May there be more “Yeses” in our vocabulary.
Yours and ministry,
Tom
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