Americans, and specifically Americans who claim to be Christians, are quick to blame politicians and other public figures for the state of affairs today.
But these blamers are blind to the painful truth. It's not the public figures, it's we the people who are to blame, specifically those who claim to be Christians. Which brings me to my point.
The real threat is not a flu virus that has a nearly 99% rate of recovery. It's fear and the lengths churches to which will go to satiate same.
As a minister, it's troubling that so many supposed believers are paralyzed with fear by this manufactured global hysteria called COVID-19. I cannot stress strongly enough that God's Word is immutable, i.e., it's unchangeable. God doesn't say one thing in the Bible and authorize disobedience to it in our daily personal lives. I find nowhere in Scripture that disobedience to God's Word was given an OK because of fear. As born-again Christians, our first allegiance is to God, and we're to let nothing and no one prevent us from obeying God.
Fear has caused the church to betray God. Biblical atheism has done the rest and is rampant among churchgoers. A biblical atheist is one who claims to believe in heaven, hell, God and Christ but not the power of God. They're quick in claiming to pray, but praying without belief is powerless.
Moses stood on the bank of the Red Sea with an uncrossable expanse of water in front of him and Pharaoh's horde behind him. But armed with faith, he confidently told the Israelites: "Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD which he will show to you today" (Exodus 14:13 KJV). Hours later, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, specifically because they trusted God.
The Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church admonished them: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV). Paul reminded Timothy: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV).
In God we trust is more than a saying on our currency that reprobate atheists find objectionable. It was the essential belief of our Founding Fathers as they labored to create a "nation under God, with liberty and justice for all."
At a time when the people of America need the witness and testimony of the church, its leadership and people are cowering in the corner, afraid of their own shadow.
Out of an abundance of caution, I'm unable to share the name and location of the following missionary work; but suffice to say it's had many years of faithful ministry in a foreign country under Muslim interlopers. The missionaries and those to whom they minister are under intense threat to their very lives. The country's government has unleashed an onslaught of terrorism in an effort to silence this ministry. But as the missionary families refuse to succumb to fear and intimidation they've seen God answer their prayers and sustain them in miraculous ways.
In some countries people face death for even owning a Bible, not to mention for going to church. Yet Christians in these countries won't be deterred. They trust and believe God and are committed to being obedient to his Holy Word.
How many churches in America have closed their doors without even a whimper? The church in America has allowed the progeny of Satan to dictate how services are conducted and who can attend. Instead of displaying obedience to God, many invoke pablums justifying disobedience to God's Word.
America is indeed under attack, but it isn't an attack from outside. America is being overrun because the one constant against tyranny has been neutered by fear. The church, which should be the shining candle of hope, is being shuttered because of fear.
Throughout the ages and specifically in America the church has been a place of refuge, moral authority and a symbol of the work and ministry of God. No longer can that be said.
The late Bible teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee once famously declared: "In olden days we had wooden ships and men of steel; today we have steel ships and paper dolls."
This isn't a call for a social ministry; it's a call for the church to be what God intended. As a man of God, my example will be fearless obedience to God's Word.
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