SERVING GOD VERSUS SERVING EVIL

One of the saddest things that is happening is that people who say they believe in Jesus also support alt rt white supremacist rhetoric and violence. Some have tolerated and encouraged all that has led up to where we are with the kind of demonstrations and violence that occurred in Charlottesville, VA, last night and today. They have demonized those who follow Jesus by taking care of those in need and working for peace, justice, equality and righteousness by calling them liberals as if that is a dirty word. These are examples of how evil is disguised as goodness supposedly in line with the Word of God. Instead, they just use the Bible with their own twisted interpretations to persecute people and to under gird their economic and political power.

But God is not mocked. People reap what they sow. Violence begets violence and those who live through the use of violence and oppression are not part of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

The true Body of Christ has been co-opted and assaulted from within. The Holy Spirit has been supplanted by the Bible being turned into an idol to worship. 

It is a really a tool used by the Holy Spirit to help people understand God's relationship to Creation and with human beings. The Bible is important, but what is more important is allowing the Holy Spirit to truly reveal Jesus Christ to you.

When you come to know who God is Love and believe that Jesus is God incarnate -- His Son who is able to dwell in your heart, to guard and guide you, and to give you the ability to love others and to share the Gospel of love and light and life in Jesus -- then you become able to be an instrument of His peace.

Those who support this administration and the evil that is rising all around us and still call themselves followers of Jesus Christ will come to know someday that they have allowed themselves to be deceived and have been used for evil. I feel sad for them and I know it will be hard to see the true Light that has come into the world because they prefer the darkness of their own desires to have power over people, to teach them lies and to encourage the evil-doers. All their hatred and greed for material worth and power is so far from the teachings of Jesus.

They quench the Holy Spirit and turn their backs on those who are poor, hungry, naked, imprisoned spiritually by addictions and mental illnesses or incarcerated in physical prisons. They worship a god created in their image as the rulers of our society at the moment. They are deluded and corrupted.

As the ever-increasing acts of white supremacist and nei-Nazi violence and demonstrations continue, they are not only encouraged my the sick megalomaniac in the WH, it is not only the fringe elements of their movement who are at fault. The leadership of the Republican Party and everyone who voted for them is also responsible.

We are at a crossroads and the Lord is asking that ancient question, "Who will you serve?" You can serve God or choose to serve the ruler of this world. There are only two choices.

The politicized labels of "conservative" and "liberal" have been co-opted by religious fanatics who have never been in the majority of professing Christians who truly live out the Gospel of God's Redemption and Reconciliation in Jesus Christ, just as the "moral majority" was never a majority. It was propaganda mean to to deceive.

We are on the brink of an upheaval in our nation where fascism is encroaching on our rights and freedoms and the executive office has been overrun by people with an evil agenda who will do their best to stay in power. 

We must be the ones who stand up against them and work with God on the side of love not hate; justice and righteousness instead of bigotry and oppression; caring for everyone in need in our society instead of casting out those who are already dealing with the inequality and lack of opportunity perpetuated by the systemic racism that continually must be fought against.

We have to have courage as we choose to be on God's side because we are on the defensive. We have somehow allowed this evil to become manifest by allowing 45 to be elected. It will be a long haul and we have our work cut out for us. But we will win because the battle belongs to the Lord and He always has the victory.

In Christ we are the light of the world because He is the way, the truth and the light. During our time on earth we continually have before us the choice to either serve God or not. When we choose love instead of hate and work against the evil that surrounds us, we will come to know His strength and power. Some day we will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Meanwhile we need to rest in Him and trust Him. We need to keep praying, keep listening for His guidance and keep stepping out in faith to do His will no matter what the odds seem to be.

The battle belongs to the Lord and He always has the victory.

We have been appointed as watchmen and have to responsibility to warn others of the evil that is coming to attack us. If we see the danger coming and do not sound the alarm, we will be held accountable. So keep watching, keep praying, and keep sounding the alarm so that we can all work against the evil that is beginning to try to take over.

"But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes, and takes any one of them; that man is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand." [Ezekiel 33:6 (RSV)]