January 16, 2022
Greetings and blessings to all of you. In Acts 17:6-7 it says, “But the Jews were jealous. So, they rounded up some evil fellows from the market place. Forming a crowd, they started all kinds of trouble in the city. The Jews rushed to Jason’s house. They were looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out to the crowd. But they could not find them. So, they dragged Jason and some other believers to the city officials. ‘These men have caused trouble all over the world,’ they shouted. Now they have come here. Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all disobeying Caesar’s commands. They say there is another king. He is called Jesus. When the crowd and the city officials heard this, they became very upset.” I believe that one reason Christians may not understand the gravity and the impact of the similarities of these verses with our riots in 2020; it is because the saints are unwilling to wrestle with the challenges that are presented to us. Rather than seeing what is going on in our cultural, {the defunding the police, riots that were propagated by the left, cancel culture, unconstitutional mandates,} as a onetime occurrence we should see them as another connection and defining aspect of our calling …for such a time as this. We are called to be aware and understand our cultural moments and respond accordingly. That is called Discipleship. What is Discipleship? It is Putting Christ First in All things (Mark 8:34-38) It is following the teachings of Christ (John 8:31-32). It is being faithful- dying daily- and allowing the Holy Spirit to increase and we decrease so we can glorify God. (Heb.11:6) Saints, our God given freedoms are slowly being taken away. The “evil fellows” the postmodernism undermines the truth and goodness of what our nation should be about. Jesus told the Pharisees “You know how to discern the appearance of the sky but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” (Matt. 16:3) We are not to leave the public square and withdraw inside the church house; we are to engage with the secularist as the salt and the light. Saints, it is time we WAKE UP and continue to gather together and speak against the current climate that is being established. The Devil Is a Lie!
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC