Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

Matthew 16:24-25 New King James Version (NKJV)

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.



Thursday, July 25, 2013

An Open Letter to Christians About Religious Freedom

January 31, 2013|10:03 am
Talk, talk, talk just lead to opinions, opinions, opinions, and then to talking points. So what? It is time to do something.
If these words don't mean something to you, then we are lost:
"…As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15
For me, "House" means my primary family…we will serve the Lord, we will not compromise what God called us to do and be. If anyone in my house does not want to follow God or walk in His truth and live according to His Word, then my choice is God, not them. So, does that house simply mean my four walls? How about the house of God, the Bride of Christ? I am looking for those in this institution who want to take a stand. I am looking for those who will serve the Lord and stand on His Word. I am looking for those who will stand behind the nation as it was originally created and established, with a Constitution that demands that morality grows with power and intelligence.
There is a time in our society and the time is now that we need a black robe brigade. Those men and women who are not afraid to be misunderstood, do not shudder at the prospect of being rejected, and are emboldened by those who are constantly putting pressure on us to compromise what God has called us to do and to be. I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but I can speak for America, the home of the brave and a country that is becoming less and less the land of the free. Our constitutional right of freedom of religion is attacked every day in every way, by government that no longer respects, honors or believes in the forefathers who started our nation, whose focus was God and the Scriptures. Our forefathers stood and established the greatest nation that has ever existed. Why do we continue to put our heads in the sand as Christian ostriches and pretend it is not as bad as it really is? When you stick your head in the sand, he only thing left vulnerable is your rear end to be kicked over and over again by our leaders.
I am praying this open letter will resonate with Christians who are the only group of people today who can be discriminated against by the national media, government officials and civil rights fighters who all think we are exempt from discrimination.
Are you willing to take a stand? Are you willing to stand and fight for our constitutionally protected religious freedoms that hang in the balance? Why such little outcry? Have you been numbed and anesthetized to the truth of what's happening not only to America but also to the beliefs that made America great?
Are you willing to stand up and be counted, my Christian brothers and sisters? I especially ask this of those of you who call yourselves shepherds. Are you man or woman enough to join me in this black robe brigade to stand up for our weaker brothers who are being attacked every day before our eyes? Or are we going to be like so many of the Germans, French and Americans who stayed quiet as Hitler systematically destroyed the Jews?
Our freedom of religion is being eroded consistently and at an alarming speed. Are we willing to stand up and protect our religious freedoms? We are not facing gas chambers anymore but the prospect of the chambers of intolerance. Losing our religious freedom is just as deadly and permanent as what happened to our Jewish brothers and sisters for such a long time in history with no outcry. We are facing the chambers of homophobia, the chambers of having to submit to more and more and more taxes. They are not as deadly but much more subtle. The gas of progressive thinking is luring us into a deeper sleep until one day it will be impossible for us to wake up.
It is no longer theoretical. Consider these points:
• Forty-three Catholic institutions are under attack for resisting homosexual adoption policies and for not wanting to provide abortion-inducing drugs through their health insurance policies.
• A second-grader in New Jersey was not allowed to sing a Christian song in an after school talent contest.
• Five men in Virginia were threatened with arrest if they did not cease sharing the Gospel on a public sidewalk.
• An Arizona pastor is not allowed to hold Bible studies in his private home.
• A pro-life, New York nurse was forced to participate in a late term abortion or be fired by the hospital.
Can you imagine what tomorrow will look like in America if the opposition to freedom of religion is not stopped today?
Let me close with this quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.
"On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient?
And expedience comes along and asks the question, is it political?
Vanity asks the question, is it popular?
Conscience asks the question, is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor popular,
But one must take it because it's right."
Contact me if you are willing to be part of a black robe brigade to fight together as one.

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