Dear Friends,
“A Virginia. Restaurant has found itself at the center of controversy
after refusing service to a conservative Christian organization over the
group's opposition to abortion rights and same sex marriage.”
“On November 31st, Richmond
restaurant, Metzger Bar and. Butchery cancelled the reservation for a private event
from the Family Foundation, as first reported by Virginia Business.
The following day, Metzger posted about his decision on Instagram, citing the
organization's view. On abortion and LBGTQ rights as its reason for refusing
them service.”
“ ‘In eight years of service, we have very rarely refused service
to anyone who wished to dine with us,’ reads the Instagram post. Recently
they refused service to a group that has booked an event with us after the
owners of Metzer Bar and Butchery found out it was a group of donors to a
political organization that seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ plus persons of
their basic human rights in Virginia.”
“The restaurant then wrote that management has refused service in
the past to anybody who has made staff feel uncomfortable or safe, saying this
was the driving force behind the decision .” (CBS News
article taken from internet, Dec 2022
The culture war has reached the point where now Christians are
“making people feel uncomfortable and unsafe” and where those who hold to the
biblical truths will no longer be able to eat in some establishments because of
religious discrimination.
Just as one day blacks were unable to drink at water fountains,
Christians may no longer be welcome to eat at certain restaurants.
Our Christian values are under siege, attacked by those
championing philosophies and ideologies that run counter to our Christian.
Because one champions the life of the unborn, or opposes same sex
marriage, or disagrees with the agenda of LGBTQ groups you may no longer be
welcome to sit down and have a meal in certain restaurants.
Today, more than ever, the church needs men and women of bold
faith and grace filled action who will step up, stand up, and not be shut up.
It’s time for believers to speak up and say, “Enough is enough.”
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,
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