I have tons to say about the terrible shooting, murder, assassination and apparent "martyrdom" of a Christian witness.
I have written very little this week because I have covered and reiterated and worn out the same subjects, "the ISSUES" (as they were called by those who chose not to put their lives and their families on the line for Jesus) for the past 45 years. Not only have I cried aloud and spared not, but I have also led my people in a very unpopular life of spiritual warfare that has cost them their careers, their material wealth, belongings, their homes, their relationships with friends and family members, their planned ministries and services to God. Some were faced with the very real threat of losing their children to the State and going to prison for their faith. This is not froth, this is fact. As believers, and as individual Christians we lost our testimony in the minds of fellow Christians and other church bodies. We were accused of cultism and "man following."
All of this because we not only addressed the rising tide of a God hating Laodicedan world, which would reject the most basic of Christian beliefs and common sense, but we chose practical responses to the rising attacks on Christian faith and practice in a changing world. People and churches saw the encroachment of darkness but did no more than raise an eyebrow and maybe a little verbal disagreement. People and their pastors were not willing to put their lives, their wealth, their social standing, their politics, their reputations their families or social advantages at jeopardy for choosing to follow Jesus rather than the world. They compromised away the Lordship of Christ over their lives and His Headship over His Church.
Though my people suffered these losses (as minor as they may seem to have been), they gained much greater benefits. They drew closer to God, they grew in grace and knowledge, they grew in brotherly love. We learned deeper lessons about living by faith, and following Him in every situation.
Our children benefited and our grandchildren benefited. They were brought up with Christian education and ethics that have protected them from the drug, perversion, insanity, Libertinism, Nihilism, Materialism, Secularism, baseless Scientism, errant Intellectualism, hopeless Naturalism and oppressive Statism. Our children were raised unapologetically to be Bible believers.
The very things we were ostracized for and the very things that people called "issues" have become the hallmarks of the most insane period of human culture in history.
This is not to say that we never lost anyone along the way or that no one ever wavered in their journey. But Sinsanity and Idiocracy have taken a much smaller toll on our folks than on the general Church population. Some of those people have entered this present period of chaos, violence, perversion and godless intolerance as well trained, hopeful, veterans of spiritual warfare.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying it is always the fault of the parent when children who grow up to be rebellious. After all, Adam and Eve had every benefit anyone could ever have, but they turned away from God. Each person makes his or her own choices. Still, we as parents should give our children every possible benefit to meet and surrender to Christ as soon as possible.
So, it is not that I don't have tons of things to say about today's chaotic world. I have more to say than I have time to say it. But I am amazed as I hear politicians, media people, government leaders around the world, celebrities, intellectuals, champions in athletics, religious leaders, Christian leaders finally say the very things that they condemned us for saying 40 years ago, and for actually taking action to resist, reject and renounce the dark agenda of the god of this world.
From all reports, Charlie Kirk was first and foremost a witness for Christ and salvation. He dealt with a myriad of moral issues, but that is because Christianity exists as the only right response to a world that has lost its moral compass.
Charlie Kirk repeatedly said four things of utmost importance throughout his life's mission.
* Receive and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
* Quit sinning.
* Find and become a part of a strong Bible believing church.
* When the talking stops, the violence begins.
Charlie Kirk constantly demonstrated that love and peaceful communication was the way of success. He was attempting to raise an army of people who wielded the Sword of the Spirit. He did not boast in chariots but in being soldiers of the cross.
I suggest that it is not yet too late to raise the cross as a rallying point for the lost people around us. Don't miss your opportunity to turn people around, to reconcile the lost to Jesus.
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