The Righteous Judge

I thought that I had mentioned this matter in an earlier post this last summer, but in looking back through this summer and fall's posts I cannot see that I did, however, it still bears mentioning.

Early last July a news story that aired on one of the local Des Moines TV stations told about a Des Moines area church who brought suit against the State of Iowa regarding a governmental agency declaration that churches are public accommodations, and must, in keeping with the recent civil rights practices for transgender individuals, allow such persons to use the bathroom of their choice. The church, of course, arguing that this practice was not consistent with their faith, and consequently a violation of their right to freedom of religious expression and practice, guaranteed by the first amendment of the US Constitution.

Subsequently, the court ruled a few months later in the church's favor, the judge therein stating that he was "not sure" if the equal accommodations rules applied to churches. If you wish, you can follow this story at www.weareiowa.com

Personally, I am sure. It does not! In order for the State (at any level) to have such authority over any church or church group would be to place the State in authority over the church. Now I don't believe that the issue of gender-neutral bathrooms is the biggest issue facing the American church today, and if the issue had been ruled the other way, and so ruled ultimately by the Supreme Court of the United States, we would all have learned to live with it. I do however, strongly feel that no governmental entity has the right to dictate to any individual or religious group what they must say and teach, or how they must practice their faith! The only exception that is applicable, in my opinion, would be a practice in which the safety of an individual is compromised, and only if that individual is not a willing participant. An example would be the handling of poisonous snakes by unwilling children (yes, I am told that at one time such things were done, and still may be practiced among some groups).

I have euphemistically called the above judge "The Righteous Judge" which I am using as a play on words taken from the parable of the "unrighteous Judge" (Luke 18) and we are all aware  that Jesus Himself is "The Righteous Judge", and I have no intention of saying that the Judge in the above case was either righteous or unrighteous in and of himself. What I mean to say is that he did, in fact, hand down a righteous judgment in this case.

Once again, for the time being, our freedom of religion is safe in our country.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today!

I Am Reading a Very Interesting Book

I don't remember ordering this book. I think it must have been one of those cases where I had to buy just one more book to bring my order up to the amount needed to qualify for free shipping. I probably looked in that sidebar that said "you might also be interested in . . . " or the one that said "others who ordered [one of the books that I ordered] also ordered . . . ". Anyway, it doesn't take much encouragement for me to order another book. When I got to my daughter's house where  I had my Amazon order sent, anticipating that this was where I would be when the order arrived, I unpacked it with my usual gleeful anticipation of a child at Christmas time.

And there it was: a  book entitled "God's Chaos Candidate. Donald J. Trump and the American Unraveling" by Dr. Lance Wallnau.  I was intrigued by it, so I began reading. I found that I couldn't put it down! Inside the book he refers to then candidate, now President-elect  Trump as a "wrecking ball" in addition to being a "chaos candidate" which on the surface sounds uncomplimentary, but he means it in a good way. The "wrecking ball" refers to the fact that it is Dr. Wallnau's opinion that "Donald Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of political correctness" (p. 57), which he sees as a positive quality. The label of "chaos candidate" refers to the fact that Wallnau believes that ahead of us is a time of great chaos for our country, and that  Donald Trump is uniquely qualified to lead us through this chaotic time. If you have been reading my previous post, including 2016, The election and the Direction Revisited  you will know that I feel this same way too.

Dr. Wallnau refers to Mr. Trump as the "Cyrus candidate" comparing him to the ancient king Cyrus, who conquered Babylon, and assisted the Jews to return from the Babylonian Captivity to their homeland. Wallnau sees Trump's presidency as having the same liberating quality for the people of God in our day.   

It is interesting that I searched out the book's publication date, and found that it was given as 7 November, 2016, the day before the election, at a time when few or none of us  expected that Mr. Trump  had a chance of being elected president. It also would have been, at that late date, too late to have had any influence on the voting. To me, this is just one more thing to underscore the idea that Donald Trump has a Divine appointment with his destiny. If I and others are right about the chaotic days that lie ahead of our nation, Mr. president-elect Trump has no idea what is waiting for him in the coming days and years, yet he is the one that our God has chosen to lead us through this time. The book compares him often to former presidents Lincoln and Reagan as two men who were unpopular with the political establishment of their day, and were often ridiculed by the press and fellow politicians alike. Yet, as I have noted in a previous post:

". . . who knows whether [he has] . . . come to the kingdom for such a time as this." (Esther 4:14; ESV)

I encourage you to read this book.

Let the wrecking ball fly!

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.