June 04, 2023
Greetings and blessings to all of you. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life -is not from the Father but is of the world.”(I John 2:15-17) The call of the Christian life as you just read is fundamentally different than the attitude and lifestyle of the world. As we turn away from the enticing pull of self-righteousness and self-centeredness in the “city of man” we can turn outward, lifting our gaze from ourselves and to fulfill the call of “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself” (Deut. 6:5) When we gather together the idea is to fulfill what Christ said in Hebrews 10:24-25 “ and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some but encouraging on another and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” However, the temptation of pride and self-promotion still exist and it is on display everywhere even in God’s places of worship. We are a people growing and maturing in the image of Christ existing in a world that is against all of God’s principles. The culture we live in today is doing everything possible to destroy God and his people. They tried it at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. God did not want them to create a new world order. They wanted to unite with a common language and stay in one place. God said NO. His originally intention was for them “to be fruitful and multiply; increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” (Gen. 9:7) Abortion, transgenderism, AI, closing churches, marginalizing Christians and more have come in direct opposition to what God wanted. This month will be louder and eviler. Look at what Target has decided to do; to team with a Satan worshipper (clothing designer) to market their clothing for the transgender community; children included. Also, performers that openly blaspheme Jesus and mock Christian symbolism will be allowed a platform in various huge events this summer. We Christians must fight back with an allegiance to the values that God gave us, begin again to value children, love each other, pray for our enemies, begin speaking out against the evil, and as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn put it, “live not by lies”.
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC