August 01, 2024
Greetings and blessings to all of you. California’s Jurupa Unified School District wanted a high school physical education teacher to adhered to the district “gender affirming directives” which included using student’s preferred pronouns, withholding gender issues from parents, and allowing males into female locker rooms. Citing her religious convictions, she refused and was fired. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John10:10) Satan and his imps do their job well…can we Christians {with the power of the Almighty who defeated Satan at the cross} do our job even better? Are we going to be like Elijah who confronted the evil prophets of Baal. They were the ones like in our culture now… planting false religion… only this was in Israel by Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah became afraid and ran for his life when Jezebel threatened to kill him. But God came to his aid. God sent forth His Word. Sometimes in the mist of our turmoil we tend to forgot we have a God who truly cares about us. We tend to forget we are in a spiritual warfare and no human being is a super hero. We wear the “armor of God” not a cape and a spandex costume. This teacher who lost her job did not feel like a hero she probably felt scared, depressed and defeated. The apostle Paul says we are to be “strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Eph.6:10) Will the teacher get her job back? Will she get another job even better that the first one? Only God knows. God is the One who use us for His glory and His purposes on earth, and it is God who serves us when we find our strength gone and our hope shattered. God has said “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Do we believe that? We often casually declare that God will give us the grace we need when hard times come. We say that because it freaks us out to think about actually having to develop the faith muscles needed to survive life’s coming trials and storms. But strong faith (the kind the keeps you from imploding or self-destructing during difficult and stressful seasons of life) is not handed out by God like free cookies at a bake sale. Instead, it is matured, strengthened and refined over much time and through thousands of small daily choices to trust Him. Will we do that and speak out against evil?
With the Love of Christ First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC