November 2020 Newsletter

Posted on October 29, 2020 by admin

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Advancing Christian Faith and Values,
Defending Religious Liberty for All,
Supporting Civility and the Common Good
through Preaching, Teaching, Writing, Activism and Reasoned Conversations

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”1304″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1598373738095{border-radius: 3px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Thanksgiving 2020
The Sacrament of Sacred Song

“…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” – Colossians 3:16 ESV

“There is something mysteriously fortifying about the act of singing together. Oral and chest cavities vibrating in rhythmic unison—which is all corporate singing is—create a peculiar companionship among people who, apart from their creed, may have little else in common.”
– Barton Swaim, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” The Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2020

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An Ultimate Truth for Today’s Political Storm…

“The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.” – Daniel 4:25 (see Acts 17:24-28;
2 Kings 19:14-15)

Jesus to the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate: “You have no power over me except what is given from above.” – John 19:11

“God, no matter how much human affairs are in confusion and tumult,
‘Our Times are in Your Hand.’ From our vantage point, we see our country in political strife and moral disarray. From your vantage point, you are working out a beautiful tapestry—your plans for us are on track and on schedule.”

Bible Insight #1

– Lamentation during Thanksgiving (Psalm 137)

Thanksgiving 2020 finds us sometimes, perhaps often, in a state of lamentation in light of all that swirls around us. The Bible shares the lamentation of God’s people in a time of sadness and anticipates our own crises and need for lamentation.

By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!

Bible Insight #2

– Thanksgiving for Government Officials?

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-4 NIV

It may seem difficult if not silly to give thanks for “all those in authority.” We may feel their office is illegitimate, or their rule is corrupt. Well, join the real world. History and the contemporary world are full of bad examples.

Yet, biblical people of God managed to “work within the system” in spite of corruption, selfishness, greed and quest for power. Daniel served in the royal court of Babylon and also in the Persian government. Joseph served the Egyptian ruler. Nehemiah was a key official under the Persian king. Roman soldiers were not told to quit their role, but rather how to behave.

The Apostle Paul had every right to have a love/hate relationship with the Roman government of his day. It protected his citizenship rights. For a time it provided a peaceful environment for the spread of the Gospel. But it also could be cruel and arbitrary with justice. Soon it would persecute the early Christians who refused to accept the theocratic demands of Rome.

Yet, Paul (and Peter) saw the Roman government as God’s instrument to secure justice and punish evil, be it ever so imperfect while it did so.

If Paul could call Christians to “prayer, intercession and giving of thanks” for rulers in the Roman system, how much easier is the obligation on us to offer petitions and thanksgiving to God for our American system—flawed to be sure, but immensely freer and more responsive than Rome would ever be.

So as we enter this very meaningful Thanksgiving Season, let’s be realistically thankful and prayerful for our president and governors, our elected legislatures, our appointed judges. If all we do is acquiesce or complain while failing to pray and give thanks, we share blame when the state goes astray.

Message of the Month – Applying Jesus’ teaching on
“Rendering to Caesar” and “Rendering to God”

“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.”

And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” – Matthew 22:17-21 (English Standard Version)

The immediate malicious question was whether to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus’ critics hoped to paint him in a corner. “No” would make him seditious; “Yes” would alienate the people.

This was the kind of question that, carelessly or imperfectly answered, would fatally compromise Jesus. Jesus turned it into one of the world’s great and mature pronouncements on civil power.

Jesus turned their possession of a “denarius” (a Roman coin common for paying a day’s labor) into the principle that what belongs to Caesar should be given to him. By possessing the coin, they are implicitly acknowledging the realm of Caesar. But Jesus went beyond this to a bombshell: Caesar’s realm is one reality; the realm of God is just as real. “Render to God what is his.”

Jesus advocated loyal but limited responsibility to political powers. The authority to mint coins legitimized the role of government. It performs multiple services for its citizens and thus has the right to levy taxes.

But the state can exceed its authority and intrude into the realm of God’s authority or even become demonic. Christians must avoid the extremes of excessive patriotism or lax attention to Caesar.
– F. Dale Bruner, Matthew, vol. 2, page 785

On the next page I discuss more fully how we should understand these two realms—the realm of Caesar and the realm of God. Wrong understandings will exact a heavy price.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1598373738095{border-radius: 3px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The Common Misunderstanding

This notion thinks of the Rule of God and the Rule of the State as totally separate things, sovereign within their own spheres. Jesus didn’t teach this. And we certainly shouldn’t mean this when we speak of “separation of church and state.”

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The Secular Mindset

This mindset makes the rule of the secularist state almost all-inclusive, with a tiny area reserved for religious belief and practice (for those folks who think they need it). This area is kept more-or-less under secular control. In a totalitarian system the “red zone” is totally inside the blue. In a free society the “red zone” is mostly outside the blue.
When politicians speak of “freedom of worship” rather than “freedom of religion”, they are increasing the state’s domination of religion. Now even “freedom of worship” is inside the blue zone under coronavirus restrictions!

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The Biblical View

Biblical teaching places all human authorities and powers under the Rule of God. By its nature, God’s rule is all-inclusive. By its nature, the authority of human government is limited. God grants authority to the state to secure rights and to perform certain duties. Christians are subject to these states but must oppose the expansion of the state beyond its proper perimeters.
– 2020 Donald Shoemaker

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A Thanksgiving Song during Suffering

“Now Thank We All Our God”
– Martin Rinkart (1586-1649)
Rinkart’s powerful hymn fits today’s pandemic and other uncertainties.

Martin Rinkart was a Lutheran clergyman and hymn writer. He served in the city of Eilenburg during the terrible Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) and the plague of 1637. The Thirty Years’ war was destructive and deadly throughout Central Europe. It resulted in eight million casualties.

The war started as a conflict between Protestant and Catholic states in the Holy Roman Empire when the new emperor, Ferdinand II, attempted to impose religious uniformity (Roman Catholicism) throughout the empire, including in the Protestant states. The war morphed into a conflict having less to do with religion and more to do with rivalry over who would be the dominant power in Europe.

It’s hard for Americans to grasp the church-state connectedness that would generate religious wars. When my wife and I were in Europe in 2014 we were amazed by the knight armor displayed in sanctuaries. Europe for centuries had this connectedness. Bear in mind that Ottoman armies conquered Constantinople in 1453 AD and were besieging the city of Vienna in 1529, while the Reformation was getting under way. These sieges were in a real sense conflicts between Muslims and Christians.

Rinkart wrote his magisterial thanksgiving hymn “Now Thank We All Our God” around 1636 during the heat of war. He eventually was the only clergyman alive and remaining in Eilenburg to minister to people in their suffering and hunger, sometimes performing multiple funerals in a single day.

“Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” asked the biblical patriarch Job in the midst of his many afflictions (Job 2:10). I think the faith of Job and of Martin Rinkart to be greater than my own when I read the latter’s encouraging call to Thanksgiving prayer:

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest, who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

Words by Martin Rinkart (c.1636)
Melody by Johann Cruger (1647)
Harmony by Felix Mendelsohn (1840)
Translation into English by Catherine Winkworth (1856)

Religious Liberty Vigilance –
May Nominees for Government Positions
Be Disqualified over Their Religious Beliefs?

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

– Article 6, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States

Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a Muslim, was elected to the House of Representatives on November 7, 2006, and sworn in on January 4, 2007. In a private replay of the official swearing-in on the House floor, he took his oath of office with his hand on the Qur’an. It was an English translation that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson and came from the Library of Congress.

His action brought a ton of criticism. Whatever the criticism, the important thing to remember is that Congressman Ellison was well within his Constitutional rights to do this. Neither his faith nor this action could make him unfit for office according to Article 6, Section 2 of the Constitution.

Fast-forward to 2017. Russell Vought was President Donald Trump’s pick for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Senator Bernie Sanders repeatedly challenged Vought’s religious beliefs (on the afterlife!) and therefore his qualification to serve in public office.
“This nominee is really not someone who is what this country is supposed to be about,” said the senator. “I will vote no.”

Sanders notwithstanding, the Constitution says no religious test for office.

Fast-forward once again to December 2017, and Amy Coney Barrett is being questioned in the Senate Judiciary Committee for an appointment to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said,

Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that dogma and law are two different things, and I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different. And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. And that’s of concern.

Barrett assured the committee that her faith would not influence her jurisprudence. Now that she has been confirmed for the Supreme Court and sworn in, she is the sixth Roman Catholic* on the Supreme Court—they may share a common faith but hardly a common philosophy of jurisprudence!

“Without regard to one’s faith or political philosophy”—that’s how the judicial branch of government should operate, unlike the legislative and executive branches, where members of each may bring their philosophies of life to the table—even those philosophies that are faith-based.

But once again, the Constitution forbids any religious test for office. This protection may become even more important in years to come if leftism and other secularisms become more dominant in American life.

* Other Roman Catholics on the U.S. Supreme Court: John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Political Shibboleths that
Mean Absolutely Nothing

“Progressives”

• I just don’t get this one! All sides use it to describe those who advocate increased government involvement in most aspects of life. The word today describes leftists. The mystery is why non-leftists would use the word “Progressives” to describe those they feel are fundamentally on the wrong track.
• “Progressive” is a positive word. Its opposite is “regressive. “ No opponent of so-called “progressives” wants to be thought of as regressive.
• The government’s involvement may be regressive rather than progressive, if the particular activism is unwise or unjust—like curtailing religious liberty.

“We’re on the right side of History” or “They’re on the wrong side of History.”

• From the human side, who knows the course of history?
• God knows the course of history—the full integration of his Kingdom in the world. But most who speak about “the right side of history” certainly don’t mean this.
• The phrases reflect political agenda more than any kind of historical progress.

“We expect them to pay their fair share.”

• Please quantify “fair share.” Actually “fair share” is a notion in motion and appears to be like helium—always rising like California’s steep graduated income tax.
• Notice the phrase is always used in the third person (“their fair share”), never in the first person (“my fair share” or “our fair share”) or second person (“your fair share”). Thus, the statement serves to divide and polarize.

“We don’t want to turn back the clock.”

• Why not? The past wasn’t the wrong path if it was the better path.
• It would depend on the issue. No turning back to “Jim Crow” laws. But immigration law and policy may have (at least at times) been better then than now.
• I suspect many living in Turkey today under President Recep Erdogan, or in Russia under Vladimir Putin, or in other countries that have regressed from hopes for democracy they had just a few years ago wouldn’t mind “turning back the clock.”

“The American People want…think…expect…”

• Euphemism for what the candidates and their supporters want, think, or expect.
• “The American People” is too broad and diverse to want and think alike, except for some very basics like being safe (but they may disagree on how best to achieve it).

“I will be the candidate for ALL the people.”

• No you won’t! If supporters win, opponents lose on many issues important to them.
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Replay: Looking back to the 2016 campaign
Quiz Time! – Match the Candidate to the Comment

#1 – “Two Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ballgame. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, right? Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’”

#2 – “Until [Jesus] comes again, . . . President-to-be [name], we decree and declare from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet that the favor of the Lord will surround you like a shield, in Jesus’ name.”

#3 – “Without vision, the people will perish.”

#4 – “For people of faith, who care about religious liberty, life and marriage, it’s time for us to rally around [name].”

#5 – “…we move into the more disturbing category of Republicans we might charitably diagnose as ‘faith-deranged’ – in other words, as likely to do fine among the unwashed ‘crazies’ in the red-state primaries, but whose religious beliefs would (or should) render them unfit for civilized company anywhere else. Among the faith-deranged, [name] stands out.”

#6 – How many of the above accounts violate the “separation of church and state”? (a) all of them, (b) #2, (c) #4, (d) none of them

Answers
#1 – Candidate DONALD TRUMP speaking at Liberty University, quoting 2 Corinthians 3:17 wildly out of context.
#2 – Candidate HILLARY CLINTON receiving a blessing (practically an anointing) from 100 clergy in South Carolina.
#3 – Candidate BERNIE SANDERS speaking at a prayer breakfast before the South Carolina primary (and giving Proverbs 29:18 a totally wrong twist).
#4 – Dr. James Dobson, endorsing candidate TED CRUZ via robocalls paid for by Courageous Conservatives PAC.
#5 – Rant in Salon against “God-fearing clowns and faith-mongering nitwits groveling before Evangelicals” that levels an attack on candidate MARCO RUBIO.
#6 – Correct answer: (d) none of them, although #2 would come close if these clergy speak of their candidate this way in front of their congregations.

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Appendix: Religious Liberty during a pandemic
Excerpts from Denver Bible Church v. Azar,
U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO (October 15, 2020)
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy, October 20, 2020. Underlining mine.
For more information, read the actual court decision or The Volokh Conspiracy.

Quick Summary: Houses of worship, which the Colorado order labels “critical” institutions, must be treated at least as well as other critical institutions.

The State rightly argues that during a public-health emergency, courts must be particularly mindful of the complex interaction between constantly evolving scientific understanding and policymaking, and the court recognizes that the decisions being made by the State Defendants here are truly matters of life and death…

But the existence of an emergency, even one as serious as this one, does not mean that the courts have no role to play, or that the Constitution is any less important or enforceable. And while the religious, like the irreligious or agnostic, must comply with neutral, generally applicable restrictions, the First Amendment does not allow government officials, whether in the executive or judicial branch, to treat religious worship as any less critical or essential than other human endeavors. Nor does it allow the government to determine what is a necessary part of a house of worship’s religious exercise…

In the earliest days of a pandemic or other true emergency, what may be the least restrictive or invasive means of furthering a state’s compelling interest in public health will be particularly uncertain, and thus judicial intervention should be rare. But as time passes, scientific uncertainty may decrease, and officials’ ability to tailor their restrictions more carefully will increase. What may have been permissible at one point given exigencies and realistic alternatives in the face of those exigencies may not remain permissible in the long term…

While the order designates houses of worship as “critical,” in practice it treats them differently from other “critical” businesses and activities, even those that pose a comparable risk of COVID-19 transmission. Plaintiffs highlight two restrictions in the order that, they contend, are unconstitutionally applied to houses of worship and burden their right to free exercise: occupancy caps for indoor worship services, and the requirement that worshippers wear a face mask for indoor services….

Public Health Order 20-35 creates exemptions for a wide swath of secular institutions deemed “critical,” …your local Home Depot, Walmart, King Soopers, and marijuana shop are not under any additional occupancy limitation other than the six-foot distancing requirement. Denver Bible Church and Community Baptist Church, by contrast, must comply with numerical occupancy caps, no matter how many people their sanctuaries might accommodate while maintaining six feet of distance between non-household members….

The State may have the power in general to decide what activities are and are not critical to ensure the health and safety of individuals and their households, and what tasks are necessary to carry out secular activities. But it does not have the power to decide what tasks are a necessary part of an individual’s religious worship. And while religious exercise is subject to truly neutral and generally applicable regulations, once the State begins creating exceptions for secular activities as it deems necessary, then it is obligated to treat religious activities no less favorably, absent a compelling reason….

The more serious problem is that Public Health Order 20-35 exempts secular settings that pose similar threats of prolonged exposure from the occupancy limitations and face-mask requirements imposed on houses of worship. What is the meaningful difference between, say, a warehouse, a restaurant, or an elementary school—where employees, diners, and students spend long periods in a closed-indoor setting—and a house of worship?

The best answer Colorado has is that “singing or speaking loudly propels respiratory droplets farther,” and that this kind of activity happens in houses of worship but not in those other settings. Dr. Herlihy likewise generalizes that “customs in houses of worship may also result in increased contact. For example, shaking hands, observing Eucharist, passing a basket, or showing a sign of the peace may all place people in closer contact th[a]n they would be in other settings.”

Perhaps. But shaking hands, passing items around, and showing a sign of peace have secular equivalents in many places of business or social settings. And as Dr. Herlihy admits, schools “also frequently have singing or loud, excited speaking.” Indeed, most outbreaks in Colorado have occurred at workplaces, schools, and businesses, not churches…

In the end, though, the court does not doubt the science underlying Colorado’s decisions. It accepts that the best available evidence says transmission of COVID-19 is more likely indoors when people are together for long periods of time.

But the orders reveal that in practice the State treats some activities as necessary, but those Plaintiffs seek to engage in as less so. This reflects the view that, as one court put it, it is practically impossible to restrict people from working together in person in places like schools, food-processing facilities, restaurants, and warehouses, but “churches can feed the spirit in other ways.” That may be true for many religious individuals and institutions, but it is not for Plaintiffs. And with due respect for both the State and the Seventh Circuit, this court does not believe government officials in any branch have the power to tell churches and congregants what is necessary to feed their spiritual needs…

Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their free exercise claim for a simple reason. Having decided that the risk of allowing various activities to be exempt from the strictest Safer at Home rules is justified on the basis that those activities are critical and necessary, the State cannot decide for Plaintiffs what is critical and necessary to their religious exercise. With each exception Colorado makes for secular institutions, the failure to make the same exemption for houses of worship becomes increasingly problematic…

…Colorado’s failure to offer a compelling reason why houses of worship are subject to greater restrictions than warehouses, schools, and restaurants violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion…

All in all, based on their bona fide religious need to do so, Plaintiffs will be allowed to open their sanctuaries subject to the same capacity, social distancing, and masking rules that are applicable to other critical businesses, and will be able to permit congregants to remove their masks if and when it is necessary to carry out their religious exercise…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

October 2020 Newsletter

Posted on September 29, 2020 by admin

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Back the Badge

“Blessed are those who maintain justice.” – Psalm 106:3

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Losing Leadership in Its Prime

“As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character.”
– Former Rochester NY Chief La’Ron Singletary

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“Their careers, a testament to racial advancement, are collateral damage. The complexities of their jobs aren’t discussable. Instead, liberals and many others—in and out of politics—hide behind the virtue of the moment, intimidated by social media and the social-justice sentiments of millennials.” – Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2020
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Justices Antonin Scalia & Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
Exemplary People of Civility

As Americans reflect on the life and legal career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg during these politically contentious days, we should not miss her warm friendship with her ideological opposite on the U.S. Supreme Court—Antonin Scalia (she a liberal Jewish woman and he a conservative icon and devout Catholic Christian). They served on the Supreme Court together from Justice Ginsburg’s start in 1993 until Justice Scalia’s death in 2016.

It is an example of personal friendship and civility that governmental people and political activists need to heed. Both enjoyed intense discussions over issues and the law. Both had a great sense of humor.

“Their friendship can offer Americans an important lesson in these tense times. They remind us that we share a lot more than politics,” Scalia’s son, Chris, told CNA [Catholic News Agency] late last year.

“There’s a lot more to life than political opinion. It is possible to disagree with somebody, to have different outlooks on life and politics and the law and your profession, but focus instead on what you have in common, and the things in life that you both enjoy, and focus on those things, and develop a real friendship out of those things.”

Scalia’s love of debate was one of the things that drew him to Ginsburg— a woman with whom he disagreed on many things, including many aspects of the law. But Scalia admired Ginsburg’s determination, especially in an era when it was harder for women to achieve the career success that Ginsburg attained. – NCR, Sept. 22

This election season I am seeing the worst political polarization since the election of 1968, when the Democratic Party was split over war issues and George Wallace ran as a third-party presidential candidate. The lack of interaction and incivility toward political opposites this season stands in sharp contrast to the friendship of Justices Ginsburg and Scalia.

[Sources: Kenneth W. Starr, “Equality’s Gracious Champion,” Washington Post, Sept. 21, 2020; “Recalling the Unlikely Ginsburg-Scalia Friendship,” National Catholic Register, Sept. 22, 2020][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Bible Insight – Civil Disobedience “The Bible Way”
Part 2 of 2 – Paul, Citizen-Evangelist

Catholic Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone

has called on the City of San Francisco to end its excessive restrictions on worship.
I never expected that the most basic religious freedom, the right to worship — protected so robustly in our Constitution’s First Amendment — would be unjustly repressed by an American government.

But that is exactly what is happening in San Francisco. For months now, the city has limited worship services to just 12 people outdoors. Worship inside our own churches is banned. The city recently announced it will now allow 50 for outdoor worship, with a goal of permitting indoor services up to a maximum of 25 people by Oct. 1 — less than 1 percent of the capacity of San Francisco’s St. Mary’s Cathedral.

This is not nearly enough to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Catholics in San Francisco. In imposing these restrictions, the city is turning a great many faithful away from their houses of prayer. [Washington Post, September 16, 2020]

Being able to gather for worship in Protestant churches or to receive the Holy Eucharist at a Catholic mass are among the most sacred activities that Christians can do. They constitute worshipful obedience to God.

Only a compelling state reason should justify limitations on church gatherings. The limitations should be the least necessary to accomplish the justifiable reason. Religious gatherings should not be bound by stronger restrictions than other gatherings face (implications of the 1st and 14th Amendments).

If efforts to gain more freedom to worship fail, has the time come for San Francisco churches en masse to engage in civil disobedience?

Last month I talked about examples and principles of civil disobedience from the Bible’s “Book of Daniel.” I set forth the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil disobedience may be justified if the state forbids us from exercising what our faith commands or forces us to do what our faith forbids. In either situation, it is fitting to strive first for a “win/win” accommodation.
Civil disobedience demands we are willing to accept the penalty that a law imposes, and by this we show respect for law.

What do we learn about Paul, the Evangelist and Roman Citizen?

First we consider a lesson taught by the Apostle Peter and the other apostles. This came from a situation that happened before Saul of Tarsus (who became Paul the Apostle) was even a believer.

The apostles were arrested for teaching about Jesus in the court of the Temple. They told the chief priest, who had given them strict orders not to teach about Jesus, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29).

To be accurate, we note that the order violated was a religious order, not a governmental one. Still, it seems to me that Peter’s word must be applied to secular laws that bring believers into conflict with the edicts of their faith.

Now, second, we examine the words and actions of the Apostle Paul during three of his life experiences. We bear in mind that he was a Roman citizen by birth—a status to be cherished (a Roman military commander told Paul, “I had to pay a high price for my citizenship” – Acts 22:28). Citizenship provided many privileges and protections. But, of course, not the right to vote.

The first experience of Paul we must notice happened a couple of years earlier in the City of Philippi. He and his co-evangelist Silas were jailed because they had exorcised a demon from a fortunetelling slave girl, much to her owners’ chagrin (Acts 16:21). This would not be the last time Christianity is opposed because its values clash with exploitive monetary gain!

Paul and Silas were stripped and severely beaten by Roman soldiers by order of the magistrate and then jailed with their feet in stocks (Acts 16:22-24).

The next day the magistrates ordered the release of Paul and Silas. They were told, in essence, to leave town quickly and quietly. Paul would have none of it! “They beat us publicly and without a trial even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison,” Paul told the officers. “And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No, Let them come themselves and escort us out!”

At this moment Paul engaged in civil disobedience! “No, we will not leave town quietly!” He demanded a public parade! When the officers reported this to the magistrates they were full of fear, for they had beaten and jailed Roman citizens unlawfully. “They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison.” Read the entire interesting story as recorded in Acts 16:16-40).

The second experience was when Roman soldiers rescued Paul from a mob. More interested in quelling strife than in understanding religious questions, the Roman commander rescued Paul and bound him in chains. Paul gained the commander’s consent allowing him to address the crowd, which only induced more bedlam. Frustrated to the inth degree, the commander ordered Paul to be taken to the barracks, flogged and questioned.

At that point, Paul asserted his rights as a Roman citizen: “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” Result: “The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.” Read the whole story: Acts 21:27 – 22:29.

Third and finally, Paul would assert his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to Caesar (Acts 25:10-12).

Here are two practical points from what we learn:

First, we should follow Paul’s example and exercise our rights as citizens of the United States. Exercise them as boldly and extensively as the need requires. Exercise them not only for religious freedom and the right to worship and serve God, but to secure your own honor and safety as a citizen.

Second, we again see that civil disobedience is appropriate when we are forbidden to practice our faith (such as the right to preach the gospel or our right to assemble in worship). It is also appropriate as a way to force attention to an unjust government order (“quiet release” from prison).

We should now see the relevance of civil disobedience to unfair restrictions against church gatherings. Is it time for churches to bind together and resist a state or county restriction that regards religious activities as “non-essential” and restricts them more than other activities (like gambling or shopping or dining)? It seems we are almost at that point.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Message of the Month

Who knows what Jesus would
do in today’s political climate?

“WWJD?” was asked by Al Sharpton and Doug Pagitt in a column in TIME (on-line, August 27, 2020). Pagitt is a leftist evangelical political activist who leads a congregation in Minneapolis called “Solomon’s Porch.”

Weighing whether or not to support Trump this year, white Christians should consider a simple, familiar question: What would Jesus do?

This election is a test of faith–much like the one in the gospel story of Jesus’ temptation. Jesus does not give in to Satan’s promises, choosing integrity over power. Trump’s promise of white Christian supremacy is a similar test.

Truth be told, I’m pretty well versed in political conversations and I’ve never heard Mr. Trump promise anything close to the notion of “white Christian supremacy” in the U.S. Most Evangelical Christians would distance themselves from him if he ever did, and I’d be one of the first to do so. The authors must give evidence of this charge or be guilty of bearing false witness.

And truth be told, I confess I have little idea what view Jesus would take on many modern issues and it is presumptuous of Christians to think they know. I know Jesus’ teachings shape the character of his followers (for example, see The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12). But it is a leap to take his teachings and apply them to politics and government policies and officials. Certainly Jesus doesn’t teach us how to cast our ballots. Nor is how we vote in the upcoming presidential election a “test of faith” on whether we will follow Jesus or not.

I do know that Jesus’ company of followers (“the 12 disciples”) included an anti-Roman zealot named Simon and a tax collector for Rome named Matthew. Now that’s quite a political spread and may have led to some heated discussion among the disciples. But maybe Jesus kept them quiet—political persuasions shouldn’t interfere with following Jesus anyway.

Here are five points on Jesus’ teaching that I think are relevant to today’s political situation:

1. Jesus taught that all human authority is given by God.

This is a great theme in the Book of Daniel: “The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes” (Daniel 4:25). When he was on trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus said to him, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:11).

Our citizenship enables us to select leaders and affect government in many ways. But ultimately God is in charge. Wins and loses are in God’s hands. This must not cause us to slack off, but it should encourage us.

2. Jesus taught about our duties to both the Kingdom of God and the particular “kingdom of man” to which we belong.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Luke 20:25).

Jesus taught that God’s Kingdom and Caesar’s realm are distinct and we have duties to both. Jesus’ kingdom is unlike any kingdom on earth. “My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus told Pilate (John 18:36).

By its nature, God’s kingdom is all-inclusive whereas Caesar’s realm is abridged. To Caesar we give limited loyalty; to God we give complete loyalty.

We can and should fulfill limited duties as members of a particular “kingdom of man.” In sum, the New Testament teaches us: Pray for your rulers, pay your taxes, obey and show honor to rulers of both lesser and greater authority (see Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-5; Titus 3:1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-17).

The New Testament tells followers of Jesus how to live under authoritarian government. The right to vote would have never entered the authors’ minds.
How do we “give to Caesar” today as we live in a participative democracy? Churches can take positions and expend effort on moral issues, register voters, encourage members to write legislators and other political leaders on issues, and encourage their members to get involved in worthy causes and to vote (but not tell them for whom to vote).
The church should use its voice to encourage CIVILITY, for it is severely lacking in today’s supercharged political atmosphere. Both LEFT and RIGHT are failing at CIVILITY, from the president and others at the top on down.

3. Jesus taught us the priority of Kingdom Values.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33).

We must always maintain a distinction between the ultimate issues of the Kingdom of God and the penultimate possibilities of the political process. The latter are worthwhile but not perfect. They are secondary and not primary. They need the church’s voice and attention but must not get top billing.

Our churches must teach on morally laden issues and proposals like good or bad legislation or initiatives. But be sure that the biblical “connectedness” is made clear. Of course we must be sensitive to the congregation and visitors in such matters, but avoiding the topics should not be considered an option.

Fallen soldiers near the Dunkard church

4. Jesus taught his followers to be “people of peace.”

My denomination was known in years gone by as German Baptists or (horrors!) “Dunkards” (referring to how they baptized)—a “peace church.” It had a simple meetinghouse where the Battle of Antietam was fought during the Civil War. Antietam was the war’s bloodiest battle. The reconstructed church structure stands today as a witness to a Christian group committed to peacemaking.

Jesus taught us The Beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12), which should mark our political discourse. Be poor in spirit (not proud or haughty or arrogant in spirit). Be mournful and meek. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. Be merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers. Rejoice in persecution. Those who show these qualities become salt to the world and a light that cannot be hidden.
Today’s political atmosphere creates political enemies. One Seattle council member boasts, “I don’t have any Republican friends.” Sad commentary. Well, if they’re not your friends, how should political enemies be treated?

Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:44, 46-47)

5. Jesus taught that he would build his church through his disciples who are obeying his Great Commission in the world.

The mission of the church is not necessarily to transform governments. The church’s mission is to create new followers (disciples) of Jesus throughout all the world. This is done by baptizing people who confess Jesus and, very important, teaching them to obey all that Jesus has taught us (the Gospel of Matthew, itself, is a “training manual”). Read Matthew 16:18 and 28:18-20.

As the church obeys and expands in this world, the church will find itself intertwined with cultures and governments. There is no way to avoid this. We must engage these with care and determination. We don’t have the luxury of withdrawal from culture or the political process. Jesus’ followers are loyal citizens, but “when push comes to shove” we take our stands.

Our churches can’t escape politics but we can rise above it. Our message is not political. We come together to uplift God’s Kingdom and hear from Jesus. The unity of the church must transcend all political and secular alliances.

Some Christians don’t like to hear me say this, but the church, in order to be Jesus’ church and a witness to the world, must be the place where a conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat can join hands and sing,

We are one in the bond of love…
Let us join our hand that the world will know,
We are one in the bond of love.

– Otis Skillings (1971)

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What Motivated Jerry Falwell
and “Moral Majority”?

(Dishonesty and Inaccuracy When Describing Christian Activism)

I hesitate to call anyone a liar—a misstatement has to jump through some hoops (intentionality, careless disregard for the truth, malice, etc.) to make one a liar. But these writers come really close.

August 3, 2020 – Washington Post columnist Jennifer Ruben reported on her interview of Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. His words:

The one enduring, animating issue that fueled white flight from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party has been civil rights for African Americans. This was the issue that originally pulled Jerry Falwell Sr. out from behind the pulpit and into organizing the Christian right political movement. [BOLD mine]

A similar “read” of the “Christian right” came from Max Blumenthal:

But were it not for the federal government’s attempts to enable little black boys and black girls to go to school with little white boys and white girls, the Christian right’s culture war would likely never have come into being. – Max Blumenthal, “Agent of Intolerance”, The Nation, May 26, 2007

“Likely” is the wiggle-word, but the sentence is false with it or without it.

So we are supposed to think that the REAL reason for the rise of Moral Majority (founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979) and other right-wing religious groups was opposition to integration and civil rights for blacks. We are told that issues like abortion were late additions to this root issue—sort of superficial window dressing.

I cannot speak to the motives behind every founder or member of Religious Right groups. Some may have had segregationist sentiments. What I can assert emphatically is that the Religious Right rose because of very different issues, and segregation or racism was not part of its undergirding.
I joined the Right to Life movement in 1972. It was a lonely place for Protestant ministers in those days. The movement was overwhelmingly Catholic. If a Protestant minister showed up at an event, he was pretty much guaranteed a seat on the platform and maybe even a spot in the program!

All this changed with the rise of Moral Majority and similar efforts. By the time I served as Chairman of the National Right to Life Convention in 1980 the level of evangelical participation was remarkably higher. And these new activists were intensely pro-life and didn’t bring any racism to the table.

If there was any single reason for slow involvement in Right to Life causes by evangelical Christians, it wasn’t racists looking for a superficial cause. It was hesitation to work alongside Catholics on public issues. This was very new.

Moral Majority had several pillars, none of which were segregationist or racist in any way. Pro-life, Pro-family, Pro-America, Pro-Israel.

Was Jerry Falwell himself racist? Let me give you the words of two ministers I contacted who actually worked closely with him.

From a pastor in Ohio:

I went to work for Jerry’s organization in the fall of 1983. I knew Jerry Sr. I worked at his house during all different 24 hour per day shifts.
I was working for him in the evening during his brief Live TV show in the evenings as well as his Live Sunday morning church service. I was always within close distance of him providing “dignitary protection”.
I traveled with him on occasion to Washington DC and other locations.

I can assure you as a person that was with him over the course of 7 years in all types of private and public situations – I NEVER HEARD HIM SAY ANYTHING IN SUPPORT Of SEGREGATION, EVER. He was supportive of civil rights. There were black members of his congregation. He did local projects to help the black community in Lynchburg.

His main political issue was Abortion. He wanted to awaken the majority of Americans, especially evangelical Americans to register to vote and support what we now call the Pro-Life movement.
From a pastor in Maryland:

I went to Liberty [University] from 1991, with my undergraduate and then onto seminary there and wrapped up in 1998 Lynchburg [VA]. Through those years I knew Dr. Falwell on a personal level.

Falwell was the furthest from a racists of anyone I knew. He gave special scholarships to minorities. When I was a resident assistant there, he also reached out to minorities and they had their own area where about 10% (black population at Liberty) would hang out, and he’d walk over to them and strike up conversations and hug them all.

The primary foundation of The Moral Majority after 7 years of Roe V. Wade being legalized in 1973, was to start a ‘grass roots operation’ to wake up the evangelical Christian silence on moral issues. Thus, the “moral majority.”

Well-known black pastor E. V. Hill of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles once preached at Falwell’s church. Falwell recalled that sermon when he addressed the crowd of 4000 at Pastor Hill’s funeral in 2003, an event attended by many government officials and others from the civil rights movement. According to the Los Angeles Times (March 9, 2003):

Among those present Saturday was the Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of the conservative Moral Majority. Falwell brought the house down when he recalled a question from Hill after Falwell had invited him to preach at Falwell’s church in Lynchburg, Va.

“Jerry, I don’t know how to say this,” Falwell quoted Hill as saying.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but where did that name ‘Lynchburg’ come from?”

Jerry Falwell died on May 15, 2007. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson paid him a tribute that day, saying that while they had their differences, “He had a heart of gold.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance
– Free Speech and “Othering”

– 1st Amendment

I wish every defender of freedom of the press would see what I see: a threat to one freedom secured by the First Amendment is a threat to the other freedoms. If religious freedom (the “First Freedom”) is curtailed, freedom of the press or of speech or assembly will follow. Or the other way around.

At Iowa State University an English professor forbade research topics on certain issues—specifically, writing that is “othering” (creating a distinction between “them” and “us”, contrary to the goals of inclusiveness and diversity). To “other” a culture or individual “is to treat that culture as fundamentally different from another class of individuals often by emphasizing its apartness in traits that differ from one’s own.” (Merriam-Webster)

Here is the key passage from the class syllabus:
GIANT WARNING: any instances of othering that you participate in intentionally (racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, sorophobia, transphobia, classism, mocking of mental health issues, body shaming, etc.) in class are grounds for dismissal from the classroom. The same goes for any papers/projects: you cannot choose any topic that takes at its base that one side doesn’t deserve the same basic human rights as you do (ie: no arguments against gay marriage, abortion, Black Lives Matter, etc.). I take this seriously. [Notice how nothing is said against “religious othering.” – DS]
Well, good for Iowa State U, which took the matter seriously too, finding the warning a violation of student academic freedom:
The syllabus statement as written was inconsistent with the university’s standards and its commitment to the First Amendment rights of students…
With respect to student expression in the classroom, including the completion of assignments, the university does not take disciplinary action against students based on the content or viewpoints expressed in their speech.

The First Amendment almost always wins in the face of such challenges. But I think the future is bleak, as social pressure drives education to be more “woke” and curriculum, hiring, promoting and granting tenure become more and more driven by ideology and intimidation. Bear in mind also that First Amendment freedoms are not applicable to private institutions.

[ISU incident source: The Volokh Conspiracy, August 18, 2020]

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Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

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September 2020 Newsletter

Posted on August 25, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”September 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

August 26, 1920 + 100 – Celebrating the 19th Amendment

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]After a very long struggle—and ignored by the 15th Amendment in 1870—women in the U.S. finally gained the right to vote with the approval of the 19th Amendment.

Not to be overlooked is a link between the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) and the 19th. Many saw Prohibition as a woman’s issue—the answer to abuse of wives and families and squandering family resources by drunken husbands.

Susan B. Anthony was not only a major figure in the women’s suffrage movement. She was also co-founder of the Women’s State Temperance Society in New York. She saw a woman’s right to vote as the main means to achieve Prohibition. Actually, Prohibition passed seven months before the 19th Amendment. Still, the two causes were linked in the activism of many.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I was privileged to be Dan’s pastor for many years. He grew up in the church. He had been an Explorer with the Seal Beach Police Department. He was deeply devoted to God, his wife and family, his church and community, and to his duties with the Kern County Sheriff’s Department. Tragically, Dan died in a vehicular accident as he was responding to back up another deputy.

My wife and I travelled to Bakersfield for his funeral, where I was privileged to sing and offer a tribute. Later, a memorial was held at Grace Community Church in Seal Beach for the benefit of our own members and locals, and for some deputies of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, where he once served.

During my memorial message I actually deviated from my prepared remarks to discuss an issue heavy on my heart. I was angry, as I am now as I write this. My mind was on how a book explained these verses (Psalm 91:9-16) –

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

As a police chaplain, I’m always looking for good sources that link spiritual principles with police work. So at a chaplain training conference I grabbed up a book on Psalm 91, Your Shield and Buckler by Jorge Diaz (Maiden Voyage Publishing Company, 2002). The title is taken from Psalm 91:4 (KJV) –
“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

As a police chaplain, I’m always looking for good sources that link spiritual principles with police work. So at a chaplain training conference I grabbed up a book on Psalm 91, Your Shield and Buckler by Jorge Diaz (Maiden Voyage Publishing Company, 2002). The title is taken from Psalm 91:4 (KJV) –
“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

The key thought of the book is, “…even though we have discovered that God has made divine protection available to us, we still have to choose to partake of His provision. We have to activate God’s Word to experience His power in our life” (page 58).

So the Bible is like a credit card. The card is just numbers on plastic—no power to you unless you ACTIVATE it. The Bible is just words on a page (or scroll, if you please)—its promises have no power for your life unless you ACTIVATE them by faith (sometimes called a “positive confession”). This is a version of the false “name it and claim it” Health and Wealth Gospel.

So officers, activate Psalm 91 and then if the bullets fly, if dangers surround you, if the plague (today: COVID-19) rages around you—God will protect all who have activated the Psalm. It’s guaranteed!

But, I thought, wait a minute! Wasn’t the Bible’s Job (Jōb) a godly, prayerful man and didn’t tragedy (death of his children and terrible financial loss and painful disease) come on him? Didn’t he say, “The Lord has given; the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)?

Yes and yes. And the author knows that. “Rather than place his faith in God’s ability to keep his family and him secure, Job chose to confess his fears until they ‘came upon him.’ Throughout his ordeal, Job continued speaking in fear. Job’s best-known negative confession [Job 1:21] is still misconstrued by some Christians to this day.” “Job was only half right: the Lord does give, but it is Satan who takes. He comes to steal, kill and destroy if we permit him to do so either by our words or by our actions” (page 73, bold italics mine).

This attempt to diminish Job’s heart for God won’t pass biblical examination. “Shall we accept good from the Lord and not accept adversity?” Job asked.
“In all this, Job did not sin in what he said” (Job 1:22; 2:10). Job spoke rightly!

This author is just another one of “Job’s Counselors” – the men who came to Job to tell him his suffering was his own fault. If he had just made a “positive confession” none of this would have happened to him. This kind of thinking is horribly wounding to faithful people who experience harm.

By this teaching, if a law enforcement officer is harmed or killed in the line of duty, it is because he failed to activate (claim) Divine Protection. He’s as much to blame as the officer who forgets to put a cartridge in his TASER. But what does this say to the family and fellow officers of a person known to love God with all his heart and to live faithfully before him?

I confess I’m puzzled on how best to understand Psalm 91. But Asaph, one of the Bible’s psalm-writers, would be puzzled too. He struggled with why good people suffer and the bad guys win (why bad things happen to good people). “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure… All day long I have been plagued…” (Psalm 73:13—read the whole psalm).

For an answer, Psalm 73 tells us to go to church (so to speak) and try to understand life by looking down from the perspective of Heaven (see verses 16-26). Psalm 73:23-26 –

Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

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Bible Insight – Civil Disobedience “The Bible Way”
Part 1 of 2 – The Book of Daniel

In his remarkable “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (April, 1963) the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about just and unjust laws and how the latter should be resisted.
[T]here are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.
Dr. King explains how an unjust law can be broken “justly”:

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Dr. King then cites one of three Bible accounts I wish to highlight here. It is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3). The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had elevated these excellent Jewish men to roles of high responsibility. But this status didn’t make them immune to the king’s threat of fiery execution when they refused to obey his demand that they worship the image he had set up. To bow to the image would require them to break a higher commandment—God’s commandment against idolatry.

“…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

They refused, said Dr. King, “on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire.”

The story tells how God delivered these three men from the fire. But God gives no guarantee of this, and the men announced their willingness to join the company of martyrs if God so willed: “God will deliver…but even if not…we will obey him and not the king when commandments are in conflict.”

A second earlier account in the Book of Daniel shows how civil disobedience was averted. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were being groomed for their service to the king (Daniel 1). Part of this grooming was for them to eat the king’s choice food and drink. This created a moral challenge to the four men, because of the food restrictions taught in the Law of Moses.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” (Daniel 1:8). This in itself could be a death sentence to the four men, but Daniel was creative and offered an alternative (you vegetarians will love it!!) to Ashpenaz, the chief court official. “Please test your servants for ten days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see” (1:12-13).

“At the end of ten days they looked better than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead” (1:15-16).

Here’s a good policy: Before actually engaging in an act of civil disobedience seek a “win/win” alternative that preserves obedience to both “lower” and “higher” authority. Allow a reasonable period for an accommodation to be made. If the request is refused or ignored, then proceed with the act of civil disobedience against the lower, inferior authority.
The third account involved the Prophet Daniel himself. Deeply dedicated to his service in the Persian government, he became the victim of tricky, jealous men who wanted to turn King Darius against him. They looked for some way to accuse him of failing in his secular duties, but they found none. These men had to admit, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:5)

So they concocted the suggestion that the king forbid all prayer to anyone other than himself for 30 days. In weakness and pride the king foolishly approved the decree.

Then what did Daniel do?

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. (6:10)

Notice: Daniel fully knew he was violating the king’s decree.
Notice: Daniel could have prayed secretly but chose to continue his open and purposeful prayer practice just as before.
Notice: Daniel didn’t start doing something new (in order, for example, to challenge the king’s decree directly and intentionally).

In these three accounts we see two forms of civil disobedience (resistance to an unjust law or authority with willingness to suffer the penalty):

1. Refusing to do what the state demands we do, to obey a higher law.
2. Doing what we ought to do, in spite of the state forbidding us.

We also see important qualities in those who practiced civil disobedience:

1. Their lives were honorable in the sight of both God and man. Their loyalty and diligence fulfilling secular duties under secular authority were beyond question and above reproach.
2. They upheld the rule of law by willingly submitting to the consequences of breaking it. Not for personal gain or pleasure, like constant speeding and accepting the occasional citation, but for living honorably before the presence of God.
The earliest Christians likewise faced questions about their loyalty to a pagan state and where to draw the line. The First Epistle of Peter gave them excellent guidance and the words still instruct us today:
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (2:13-17)
But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (4:15-16)

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (4:19)

How do you think these lessons apply to living by a higher command today?

Next Month: Part 2 of 2 – Paul, Citizen-Evangelist

Message of the Month:

Trusting God or Testing God?

(Bringing Psalm 91 and Civil Disobedience Together)

Two prominent congregations in Southern California have resumed regular Sunday services in violation of the state’s shutdown order.
• Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, John MacArthur, pastor
• Calvary Chapel of Newbury Park, Roy McCoy, pastor

In my May 2020 newsletter I upheld Pastor McCoy and his church for courageously observing Good Friday Communion in spite of the forced closure of churches. That Communion Service observed all the health precautions.
Now both congregations are meeting indoors with large congregations present, without social distancing and without wearing masks.

Is this valid civil disobedience? And is it a valid application of what the Bible says about God’s promised protection (Psalm 91:11-12)?

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.

This scripture pops up again in the Bible—at The Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:5-11). The Devil told Jesus to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple—after all, “if you are the Son of God, God will send his angels to swoop down and save you.” This display of sonship would “wow” the crowds!

But Jesus answered, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (4:7). Yes, God protects, but we are not to do foolhardy things that take his promises for granted. We bike with helmets. We don’t avoid vaccines or throw our insulin away, thinking God promises to keep us well or heal us if we have faith.

My questions (I do not know at this point what all the answers might be):

• If, as Pastor McCoy said in a prayer, they are obeying God’s command by gathering, why did the church stop meeting at all? Why was social distancing the proper thing to do in April, but now it can be ignored?
• Are Calvary Chapel and Grace Community Church putting the Lord to the test by not requiring safety precautions?
• Are the churches willing to accept any LEGAL consequences of civil disobedience (perhaps arrest, fines, even jail time)? Yes, it appears. Are they willing to bear any CIVIL consequences (financial liability), should any worshippers become ill or spread the virus to others?
• Did each congregation first seek “win/win” solutions?
• In the final analysis, are current restrictions unfair to God’s church and compromise his people, either purposely or carelessly? Or are they neutral, treating comparable gathering equally? Some yes, some no.

I pray for these pastors and churches. I want to support them all I can.

Hagia Sophia Cathedral Now Once Again a Mosque

Byzantine Emperor Constantius II commissioned construction of the first “Hagia Sophia”, the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, in Constantinople in 360 A.D. It was burned by rioters in 404 A.D. A second edifice was completed in 415 A.D., but it met a similar fate a century later.

Today’s “Hagia Sophia” was built by the emperor Justinian in 537 A.D.

For a time it was the largest building and largest church in the world.

After the Turks captured Constantinople (which became Istanbul) in 1453, the building that had been a Christian church for over 900 years (1100 years if you consider the predecessor edifices at the same location) was changed into a mosque. Its Christian mosaics and art were removed or painted over.

In 1934, after modern-day Turkey was established as a secular, liberal state, Hagia Sophia became a museum—its beautiful artworks restored.

Now Turkish President Recep Erdogan has reverted the building into a mosque once again as he moves his country toward being an Islamic state.

A building doth not a church make. Still, how a building like Hagia Sophia, with its heritage, is treated has a lot to say about which way a culture is going, good or bad.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Remembering September, 1945 – 75 years ago

On September 2, 1945, in a ceremony on the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japanese officials formally surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander.

Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government.

General Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, signed the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. Watching from across the table are Lt. General Richard K. Sutherland and General MacArthur. Representatives of the Allied Powers stand behind General MacArthur.

There General MacArthur said, “It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past – a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice.”

General MacArthur’s ambitious, laudable hope would be dashed less than five years later (June 25, 1950), when 75,000 North Korean troops invaded South Korea. The Korean War has never officially ended with a treaty.

Important Addendum for Pastors and Church Leaders

Churches and Political Action—What Pastors and Churches Should and Should Not Do

With election season being extremely important in American politics, what’s a pastor or church to do? Or not do? I offer these thoughts to assist you. I challenge all churches to do all they can that is legal and ethical.

Donald Shoemaker
© 2020 Donald Shoemaker

1. From a LEGAL STANDPOINT, here are the “Do’s and Don’ts”:

• Churches MAY NOT endorse or oppose a candidate.
• Pastors MAY as individuals support or oppose candidates, but MAY NOT convey that they speak for their churches. And they should not proclaim their “personal decision” in any church medium (like the pulpit or newsletter or on-line). No preaching, “I’m not telling you who to vote for and I’m not speaking for the church, but here’s where I’m putting my support…”
• Churches MAY NOT use their resources (like facilities, property or equipment) in contexts that endorse or oppose a candidate.
• Churches MAY invite candidates to speak if done even-handedly and not selectively. Their presence in a service or in the pulpit MUST NOT convey the church’s support of any candidate.
• Churches MAY distribute voter guides, but I don’t recommend it because almost all have a “slant” to promote. I also would not allow members or outside groups to bring literature to the church or blitz cars in the church’s parking lot with flyers. If outsiders show up or blitz the parking lot, it may be wise for the pastor to disavow the activity.
• Churches MAY schedule a forum where the candidates for an office are invited to speak and answer questions. If only one shows up that’s not a legal problem, but it may not look the best and the church would need to be careful not to have the occasion appear to be an endorsement of the candidate who appeared.
• Churches MAY spend money and lobby and encourage members in support of or in opposition to a ballot measure or a piece of legislation. The limitation is that the resources expended MUST NOT be “substantial”. This may be interpreted as “not more than 5% of resources”, which would almost never be exceeded in churches as reticent as many evangelical churches traditionally are. The limit applies not just to money spent but also to factors such as pastoral time.

2. I DO RECOMMEND these points of guidance:

• Always maintain a distinction between the ultimate issues of the Kingdom of God and the penultimate possibilities of the political process. The latter are worthwhile but not perfect. They are secondary and not primary. They need the church’s voice and attention but must not get top billing.
• Preach on morally laden issues and proposals like good or bad legislation or initiatives. But be sure that the biblical “connectedness” is made clear. Of course we preach sensitive to the congregation and visitors in such matters, but avoiding the topics should not be considered an option.
• Have the church’s official body (Elders, board, or congregation) take positions on issues subject to the above qualifications and when the issue is important.
• Do voter registration at the church before and after services. This is a non-partisan activity.
• Have a forum to educate church members on ballot initiatives.
• Encourage members to write elected and appointed officials to express their opinions and to ask for a vote for or against a measure.
• Have your facility used for voting, subject to acceptable rules (for examples, I wouldn’t accept a demand to cover the cross but removing a literature table may be acceptable). This is a natural way of showing interest in the wellbeing of your community.
• DO NOT politicize your message. By “politicize” I mean stridently or subtly speaking for or against a particular party or political stratum.
• Remember, the spiritual upbuilding of the saints is always the goal in a worship service. This influences sermon style and content immensely.
• Politically activist Christians must remember that the unity of the church must transcend all political and secular unities.
• Remember the admonition (I’ve made it often and sometimes it’s been heard with much irritation, but at least the point wasn’t missed):

“The church is the one place where a very liberal Democrat and a very conservative Republican should be able to join hands and sing,
‘We Are One in the Bond of Love’.”

3. Topics to Proclaim:

Churches have a powerful communication instrument known as “The Pulpit” (even if “pulpit” is now a metaphor). Here are some topics, which could be sermons, sermon points, or discussion points:

• Immigration from a biblical perspective
• The Sovereignty of God over the governments of Man (“The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.” – Daniel 4:25)
• Religious Freedom and how it is eroding
• How healing can come to fractured race relations
• The duties of good Christian Citizenship (we now live in a participatory republic rather than in the Roman society that disadvantaged and even persecuted believers and where few had citizenship rights)
• The need for fiscal wisdom and accountability in government
• Godly people of the Bible who served the secular state and society of their times (Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah)
• How God works peace and justice through governments he establishes, be they ever so fragile and faulty
• What God expects of secular rulers and those who “bear the sword”
• The Issue that Won’t Go Away—Protecting Unborn Human Life

– end –

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

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August 2020 Newsletter

Posted on July 29, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”August 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Coronavirus—The Necessary Spiritual Ministry

coronavirus “Out of lament must come fresh action. At the very least, clergy (properly trained, authorized and protectively clothed) must be allowed to attend the sick and the dying.

“If secular doctors suppose that such ministry is superfluous, this must be challenged at every level. As we thank God that in the last two or three centuries the long-term calling of the Church to bring healing and hope has been shared in the wider secular world, we must work with the medical profession, not least to ensure a fully rounded, fully human approach. This applies particularly when people are near the point of death…”
– N. T. Wright, God and the Pandemic—A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus
and its Aftermath (Zondervan, 2020). bold mine.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

“Mob•oc•ra•cy”

“Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate…had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.
– Mark 15:13-15 [See also Acts 19:23-41]

The First Amendment to our Constitution, indeed the entire Bill of Rights (amendments 1-10), was intended to limit the power of the federal government over the lives of the people. The people have “free exercise of religion” but the government must not establish an official church. The people have the rights of free speech, a free press, and peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Try exercising those rights today in China or in many other parts of the world!

The First Amendment gives the people the right to go into the streets and parks of the city and protest perceived injustices and advocate for change, provided they do so peacefully. The people can put issues on ballots and petition legislatures to enact new laws or revoke existing laws.

What the people must not do is turn the protest into an authoritarian power in its own right. They must not attempt to govern the lives of others through the sheer power of their protest. That would be MOBOCRACY.
A church becomes a mobocracy when a pressure group is able to set rules and priorities, control the worship, get the pastor fired, etc.

Idealists may look on a mobocracy as beautiful people bringing in a season of love. The reality often turns out otherwise. The reality can be death and evil. In the church it is heresy and division.

Gloria Romero, former California state senator and Democratic majority leader, wrote in an op-ed “You Can’t Cancel History” (Press-Telegram, July 5):

Initially, protestors came for the statues and flags symbolic of Confederate racism. But this new reckoning soon expanded into assaults on the framers of the nation itself…
Undoubtedly, founders including Washington and Jefferson were slaveholders and had views unacceptable by standards even then and certainly today… But we cannot ignore their profound role in founding this nation and the profound rights provided us, including free speech and free assembly.

“Mobocracy” is authoritarian and contrary to American ideals.

1. It often impedes the free movement of other citizens (in so doing, it can be a form of kidnapping).
2. It sometimes destroys the means of livelihood of the very people it claims to represent.
3. It assumes the right to speak for everyone, when in fact it doesn’t (at best, the will of the mob is anecdotal, not a provable manifestation of the will of the people).
4. It tries to force changes without regard to the will of the people.
5. It impedes and may even prohibit the movement of emergency services.
6. It silences, ostracizes, intimidates and even harms those who speak out with opposing views.

Hans creg Mobocracy in Action

The statue of Hans Christian Heg had stood in front of Wisconsin’s Capitol in Madison since 1925. Heg migrated from Norway in 1840. In Wisconsin he joined the anti-slavery Free Soil Party. He was also a leader of Wisconsin’s Wide Awakes, an anti-slave-catcher militia.

He fought on the Union side during the Civil War as part of Wisconsin’s 15th Infantry. After many successful battles against Confederate forces, Colonel Heg was shot while leading his troops in a charge against a retreating Confederate army at Chickamauga, Georgia on September 19, 1863. He died the next day.

On June 23, a mob tore down his statue, dragged it down State St., and threw it into Madison’s Lake Monona.

For more discussion and contrast between democracy and mobocracy: www.difference.wiki/democracy-vs-mobocracy/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Election Season—Time for Politicians and Citizens
to Learn about
LOGICAL FALLACIES

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” – Proverbs 18:21

“When there are too many words, transgression is unavoidable. But he who restrains his lips is wise.” – Proverbs 10:19

Candidates for office and citizens alike may fall for logical fallacies as we choose our sides and pick our political issues and slogans. Some politicians may not care, so long as points are scored on their side. Their use of fallacies may be intentional.

Here are some common logical fallacies. Judge the candidates’ statements and your own words by them.

ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM: We besmirch a candidate or fellow citizen instead of dealing with the issues by labeling him or her with a negative (“racist”, “homophobe”, “Commie”, “right-winger”, “Bible-thumper”, “redneck”, “hatemonger” etc.). If we can label someone (“she came from a basket of deplorables”) and make the crowd cheer, we think we’ve won the day.

I once moderated a debate on a hot topic, and at the start I laid out the ground rules. The main ground rule was, “There will be no ad hominem statements.”

ARGUMENTUM AD VERICUNDIAM: A position is supported by reference to some “great, reputable, or prominent source” instead of enlisting rational arguments and proof to support a position. (“The Bible says…” or “Martin Luther King said…” or “The Science says…”)

The Bible is the final authority for many people, but in the world of political debate the arguments must go beyond this (they can certainly include it).
ARGUMENTUM AD POPULUM: Join the bandwagon! The argument must be true because so many people believe it is true. After Lyndon Johnson trounced Barry Goldwater in the 1964 elections, many Goldwater supporters began to declare (quite absurdly), “27 Million Can’t Be Wrong!”

There’s the “consensus of experts,” or “The Silent Majority,” or “the People” who supposedly speak for all (happens in churches too!).

ARGUMENTUM IGNORANTIAM: This approach tries to throw the burden of proof on the other candidate. Often the item being debated can’t be proved or disproved this way (how can you prove a negative?). Actually, the one who makes an assertion has the burden of proving it, rather than the opponent having to disprove it.

POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC: This is the “causal” argument. If “B” follows “A”, then “A” is the cause of “B”. Unemployment went down after the tax cut, therefore the tax cut was the cause for the lower unemployment rate, or “They took prayer out of our schools and our country’s moral values went to hell in a basket.” Did the former cause the latter? Maybe, maybe not. Societal dynamics are very complicated.

ACCIDENT AND ITS CONVERSE:
ACCIDENT: Arguing from a general rule to a particular case. (We extend general positives or negatives about a particular societal group, like a political party, to every member of that group.)
CONVERSE: Arguing from a particular case to a general rule. (Current critics of police frequently risk making this error.)

God gave us minds to think. God is the author of logic. I’ve long thought that every pastor should receive training in logic while in seminary (a course in ethics wouldn’t hurt either).

Politicians and activists could brush up on logic too. Sadly, in the political
world it’s the victory that counts, not the high road to the victory.

Let’s revolutionize political discourse by exposing fallacious claims.

“Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor.”
– Ephesians 4:2

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Religious Liberty Vigilance – Four Courtroom Victories and One Defeat for Religious Liberty

Note: These are quick summaries. For details go to: supremecourt.gov for cases 1-4.

1. Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue

The late 1800’s were a time of anti-Catholic bias. James C. Blaine proposed a constitutional amendment in 1875 that would have prohibited direct government aid to educational institutions that have a religious affiliation (primarily Catholic schools, many of them with large immigrant populations). Though the federal amendment failed, thirty-eight states later adopted features of “Blaine” in their state constitutions. Montana was one of these.

In “Espinoza” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that if the state made funds available to private schools it could not exclude private religious schools solely because they were religious.

2. Our Lady of Guadalupe School and St. James School (combined cases)

The First Amendment protects the right of religious institutions “to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government [employment] as well as those of faith and doctrine.” – Justice Alito, writing for the majority of the U.S Supreme Court.

3. Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this Catholic agency could not be required to cover contraception in its insurance coverage since to do so violated core beliefs.

4. Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Steve Sisolak, Governor of Nevada

Voting 5-4, the Supreme Court denied injunctive relief to the church, letting stand policy that allows casinos to have much higher occupancy for gambling than churches can have for worship. Justice Kavanaugh said in dissent, “Nevada’s rules reflect an implicit judgment that for-profit assemblies are important and religious gatherings are less so; that moneymaking is more important than faith during the pandemic.”

5. Steven Soos et. al., v. Andrew M. Cuomo et. al.

A judge for the U.S. District Court, Northern Division of New York ruled that Gov. Cuomo and NYC Mayor de Blasio could not impose limits on church attendance unequal to what applied to protests. Judge Gary Sharpe said de Blasio had “simultaneous pro-protest/anti-religious gathering messages” when he “actively encouraged participation in protests and openly discouraged religious gatherings and threatened religious worshipers.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Bible Insight –
The Imperatives of “Coming Together”

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 one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
– Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

In this text we learn several lessons about “The Gathering”:

1. Some had abandoned the church, leaving their faith behind. This isn’t talking about staying away from gatherings because of a government edict, but because of personal apostasy. Government edicts against worship are from antichrist powers outside the church. Apostasy is from antichrist power within the church.

2. Nonetheless, we see how indispensible gathering together is. It is a context where we “stir up one another to love and good works” through teaching, example, and ministries. The phrase “not neglecting to meet together” is a dependent clause. It explains how the command to “stir up one another to love and good works” is to be obeyed. Other scriptures expand on “gatherings” (especially 1 Corinthians 10-14).

3. We encourage one another in the gathered assembly—even increasing this activity in difficult times. As the Day of Judgment (unknown) draws near, we intensify our gatherings all the more.

Hebrews 10:24-25 dare not be missed during the present coronavirus shutdowns and limitations. We can have services and sermons on TV and radio and on-line and listen to Christian music through our earbuds. But these can only be temporary and partial substitutes for the real thing (forms of “the church in exile”). We should do all within our power (safety efforts and social activism) to re-enable “The Gathering” in its fullness ASAP.

FOUR IMPERATIVES should govern every church’s worship:

1. We must GATHER (Hebrews 10:25; Matthew 18:15-20)

Jesus spoke of his presence with “two or more gathered in my name”. In context, Jesus wasn’t speaking of some Christian friends getting together, but the church exercising spiritual authority as a gathered body.

The Book of Acts shows gatherings (2:42-47; 20:7). Two Greek words also underscore the gathering of believers. ““Sunagōgē” (“the gathering”) – James 2:2; (compare Luke 4:16-21). “Sunerchomai” (“to come together”) appears to be a technical verb describing believers gathered to celebrate Communion and to minister to one another through their spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 11:33, 14:26).

It’s high time we left behind the privatistic “God and me” songs (“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses…and He walks with me and he talks with me…”) and committed ourselves to the biblical concept of gathering together for worship in the presence of Christ, energized by the Holy Spirit (“We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing; He chastens and hastens His will to make known; The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing; Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.”).

2. We must SING (Ephesians 5:18-19; Hebrews 13:15)

If you survey the Psalms and portions of the New Testament you’ll see that singing is a natural feature of God’s people gathered. Indeed, a mandate.

“There is something mysteriously fortifying about the act of singing together. Oral and chest cavities vibrating in rhythmic unison—which is all corporate singing is—create a peculiar companionship among people who, apart from their creed, may have little else in common.” – Barton Swaim, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” The Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2020.

Add to this an encounter with The Living God in corporate worship. In the context of “The Gathering” we experience the Holy Spirit’s power, energizing worship and making it the powerful experience it is. We must reject secular mandates that tell us not to sing. However, we can adapt our singing to ensure the protection of worshippers (we won’t be able to sing the really robust songs, at least for a while, and we won’t “stand and sing out”).

3. We must TOUCH – some examples of “touch” in worship and ministry:

“The Gathering” is spiritual as opposed to worldly, not as opposed to physical. The physical nature of worship is seen especially in the act of touching:

Touching the sick – Matthew 8:3, 15; 9:29; 20:34
Touching the fearful – Matthew 17:7
Baptism – Acts 19:5-6
The “Holy kiss” – 1 Thess. 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14
Praying together and embracing – Acts 20:36-37
Washing one another’s feet – John 13:14
Extending “the right hand of fellowship” – Galatians 2:9
Anointing the sick with oil – James 5:14
Laying on of hands – Acts 9:17; 19:6; 28:8; 1 Timothy 4:14; 5:2

PARTAKE 4. We must PARTAKE (receive Communion—
1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 11:23-24)

In “The Gathering” we partake of the Communion of the Bread and of the Cup, proclaiming in an unparalleled way the death of Jesus in our behalf and for our forgiveness. One way to observe Communion is in the context of a Fellowship Meal.

Some localities have tried to ban Communion. This must be resisted. Eastern Orthodox churches have declared they cannot submit “to the authorities of this world when the Divine Eucharist is called into question.” This is the correct position.

The psalmist lamented his forced absence from “The Worship Gathering”. Let’s join his lament, and do all we can to make the exile a thing of the past.

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival. – Psalm 42:4

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Remembering August, 1945 – 75 years ago

Louis Zamperini

The U.S. Olympic runner Louis Zamperini was a POW in a camp in Japan. The POWs spread news among themselves that they would all be executed later in August lest they be liberated and tell their horror stories (37% of over 36,000 POWs died while in captivity under Japanese control—that’s over 1 in 3).

But on August 15 good news came early when conflict stopped. On that day POWs found their camp eerily empty of guards. The guards were all huddled in a building listening to the Emperor on radio. “The Emperor has brought peace to the world,” a camp commander later said.

Actually, two atomic bombs, August 6 over Hiroshima and August 9 over Nagasaki, brought the war to a rapid end.

The arguments for and against the bomb have remained about the same over the years. American military leaders expected casualties to be well over a million when troops invaded the Japanese homeland to finally defeat Japan.

On August 29, 1949 the Soviet Union successfully tested its own atomic bomb and the face of atomic weaponry changed forever. For decades the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. essentially had an atomic standoff. At least they understood each other. Today atomic weapons are in the hands of many nations, some rogue. Some kind of nuclear conflict is more likely now than ever before. Had the U.S. NOT used the atom bomb to end WWII, this wouldn’t be any different today.
Sources: Unbroken (story of Louis Zamperini) by Laura Hillenbrand;
Countdown 1945 by Chris Wallace; Three Days in January by Bret Baier, pages 58-59.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Another Voice… “Prayer for America” (weekend of July 4)
By Bob Wriedt, Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach

Bob Wriedt This weekend is the 244th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Normally, we don’t make a huge deal of patriotic holidays in worship, because it is not the role of the church to celebrate national holidays.

But this year there is so much hurt, anger, and longing among our community and nation that it is a ripe opportunity to cry out to God. Additionally, all of us need help cultivating a theology of Christian citizenship that will work in the modern-day.

Unfortunately, the models of Christian citizenship most often presented in our culture are at the political extremes. Is there a way we can pray together as a diverse Christian community?

One of the reasons why praying together for our country is difficult is that we often disagree about who “America” is. Specifically, there is a divide between older and younger evangelicals in the US about whether America is more like the biblical model of Israel or Babylon.

For many older American Evangelicals (though not all, of course), our country reminds them of Israel. They remember how God has used America to bring hope, freedom, and the gospel throughout the world. They recognize the deep religious faith of many of the founders and the ways America seemed like the promised land to them. They celebrate the willingness of the American people to sacrifice to bring freedom and democracy in the face of fascism and communion, even at the cost of war. They resonate with Abraham Lincoln’s description of America as the “last, best hope of earth” and see our current cultural moment as the point that where that hope will be either saved or lost (as did Lincoln himself). They are concerned about America facing the same exile and wilderness that Israel faced in the Babylonian captivity. For them, America is losing its essential quality as a Christian nation.

For many younger American Evangelicals (though, again, not all), our country reminds them of Babylon. They see the way that Babylon enslaved and slaughtered people they conquered and they see America’s shameful history of the same. They see how Babylon used their military to enrich itself at the expense of other people, using their offer of freedom as a pretext for extortion, and overlay American foreign policy. And they are concerned that even as Babylon misunderstood themselves as impenetrable, America is on a similar path to divine judgment. For them, America has never lived up to being known as a Christian nation.
So, who is right? Is America Israel or Babylon? Neither. America is America.
A sign of mature Christian thinking is the capacity for avoiding false dichotomies. (Think about Solomon’s wisdom with the baby, Jesus with the challenge over taxes, or Paul’s response to the question of circumcision.) When we put only two options on the table and say, “You have to choice A or B,” as if they are the only potentialities, we rob ourselves of seeing the broader complexity God offers.
Do we need to say, “Israel or Babylon”? We are certainly not the unique covenant people of God. But that does not mean that we need to assume the opposite is true.
To have an honest and fully Christian view of America, we should thank God for many aspects of how God has blessed America. It would be ungrateful and ahistorical to act as if God has not blessed America. And yet glossing over our many sins as a country is neither honest nor pious. There are also many things we should be ashamed of in our country’s past and present. The presence of one does not need to deny the other.
So, how does a church of both younger and older Christians pray together on the fourth of July? I think the best way is to pray together for revival.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

New Pastor at Los Altos Brethren Church – Long Beach Press-Telegram

50 Years Ago!

In July 1970 my wife, Mary, and I moved from Indiana to Southern California, where in August I began a new ministry as pastor of Los Altos Brethren Church in Long Beach.

To use an old “Disneyland” phrase, my life in California has been an “E-Ticket” all the way!
• Six years as pastor at Los Altos Brethren Church.
• Eight years teaching theology at Biola University.
• Twenty-eight years as Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach.
• Chaplain for the Seal Beach Police Department since 2001.
• Opportunities for ministry impact locally, regionally and nationally.
• Active retirement, serving as Pastor Emeritus at Grace Community.
• 54 wonderful years of marriage, two children and six grandchildren, who all make us proud.

¡Gracias a Dios![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

July 2020 Newsletter

Posted on June 22, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”July 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

It Now Seems So Long, Long Ago…

“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”

– NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio explaining his decision in late April to send police to break up the funeral of revered Hasidic Rabbi Chaim Mertz, attended by 2500 mourners (coronavirus restrictions allowed for funeral attendances of 10).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance – “A Stricter Standard?”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – 1st Amendment
“…nor shall any state…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” – 14th Amendment (1868)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Protest Gatherings – Yes!
Funeral Gatherings – No!

“Mayor Bill de Blasio lashed out at Hasidic residents of the Williamsburg section in Brooklyn late Tuesday night after personally overseeing the dispersal of a crowd of hundreds of mourners who had gathered for the funeral of a rabbi who died of the coronavirus.” – The New York Times, April 28

Hizzoner dispatched the police Hong-Kong-style to break up the gathering.

“Something absolutely unacceptable happened in Williamsburg tonite: a large funeral gathering in the middle of this pandemic,” the mayor said in one post. “When I heard, I went there myself to ensure the crowd was dispersed. And what I saw WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus.”

At this point let me be very clear: I fully support lawful, peaceful protests in the wake of the horrible murder of George Floyd.

But any common-sense assessment of local government responses to recent large crowds would have to wonder, “What has happened to all the concern about the spread of the coronavirus, that once led to government clamp-downs on large gatherings, most extremely seen in de Blazio’s actions in New York?”

Any honest examination of coronavirus statistics (featured prominently in my local newspaper every day) shows that the cases have risen somewhat in recent weeks. They are no longer declining.

And whatever happened to “Science-driven social policy”?

Just a few days ago, Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, was literally accusing President Trump of “genocide” for not taking stronger measure to contain Covid-19. Today, he signed the “protests against racism are more important than stopping the spread of Covid-19” letter. – David Bernstein, “What Happened to the Public Health Emergency?” The Volokh Conspiracy, June 3, 2020

Local governments are in a lose-lose position. If coronavirus cases and deaths increase, they will have themselves to blame for allowing large crowds to assemble with little protections and precautions. If the cases and deaths don’t increase because of large crowds gathering, their tight and sometimes heavy-handed limits on religious gatherings (which they regard as equal to crowds at sports and entertainment venues) are unnecessary and excessive.

Three principles of Constitutional Law are being mauled today:

(1) Viewpoint Neutrality – the First Amendment’s freedom of speech provision forbids the government from giving advantage or disadvantage to any person or group based on the content of what is being expressed.

(2) Equality before the Law – the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the government from preferring one group or individual above another in the administration of justice.

(3) Free Exercise of Religion – While religious gatherings need to submit to neutral laws of general applicability, they must not be placed at a disadvantage compared to others.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus didn’t have Caesar’s Palace (right) in mind with those words, of course. He taught that people have a duty to Caesar (civil authority) and to God (ultimate authority).

Just imagine there are two large rooms. One is used by worshippers as a church. The other is used by gamblers as a casino. In the first room, people sing and pray and read their Bibles and hear a sermon. In the second room, people drink and cheer and play the tables.

Which is the greater health risk? What would “science-driven policy” require?

Well, in Nevada, the casinos are open for business. At 50% capacity, to be sure, and with safeguards. The churches, however, deemed more dangerous than casinos, are limited to 50 people maximum. So Alliance Defending Freedom is suing the state in behalf of the churches.

The discrimination against religion is incredible, when you consider how, in Los Angeles, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels can only admit 100 worshippers into a sanctuary that seats 3,000.

ON CAUSES YOU MAY WISH TO SUPPORT

1. The mail or email appeal you received—is it legitimate? Check on it independently of the email. Never give support via the email if you don’t know for sure.
2. The organization you may think is worthy of your support—check its Mission Statement and Objectives and Positions. What it appears to be on the surface may be quite different from what you find when you dig into the details. What do other fair sources say about it?

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Bible Insight –
An Old Testament Prophet
Laments in 2020

2020 has not been a good year—pandemic, deaths, quarantine, plummeting economy, joblessness, food shortages, killing, riots and pillage. What’s next? Earthquakes and fires and floods? A scripture began to run through my mind—the Book of Joel. In fine Hebrew poetry it graphically depicts what’s happening and what people should do in response.

Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.

What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
– Joel 1:2-4

Some think the prophet had literal infestations in view. Others see symbols of oppressing armies. Whichever. I looked up old sermon notes and saw I taught it one way once and another way years later. The key point is God’s providence has allowed a string of afflictions to come upon the land.

Our challenge is to ponder how we should respond to the calamities God has permitted. The answer is especially for the church, but also for all to ponder.

(1) Repentance throughout the land. We repent of sins known and unknown, sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of violence against persons and property, greed, theft, murder, standing by in the face of evil (Proverbs 24:10-12), racism and more.

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
– Joel 2:12-14

(2) Intense prayer by God’s people gathered together. The communities that worship God should intentionally gather and, under their leaders, engage in profound intercession.

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.

Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
– Joel 2:15-17

God gives a promise to the obedient. Yes, I know that America is not God’s biblical covenant nation, but we have a long historical and modern acknowledgement (however imperfect) of the monotheistic God of the Bible—a God of benevolence and justice. We have been singularly blessed of God and to whom much is given much is required.

The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
– Joel 2:19 (see 18-27)

Finally, Joel prophesies a great outpouring of God’s Spirit.

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
– Joel 2:28-29

The church today must strive to have an impact on the world, because it has been empowered by the Holy Spirit of God to do so, as Joel prophesied and as was experienced on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 16-21).

We must be the reconciling presence of God to our broken world.
(Take a few minutes to read this compelling, brief book of the Bible—just three chapters.)

Available: Edited Copy of Supreme Court’s recent decision on Same-Sex/Transsexual Discrimination (Bostock v. Clayton)

Constitutional law professor Josh Blackman helpfully reduces the 120 pages of Bostock v. Clayton to 30 very readable pages. Download it here:

https://bit.ly/BostockEdited[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Back the Badge – Psalm 106:3
“Blessed are those
who maintain justice.”

The Bad Cop

No one resents a bad cop more than good cops. And there are many more good officers than bad ones. But the bad, sadly, are a reality and have an impact well beyond their numbers.

My wife and I moved to California in 1970. Shortly thereafter we met an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer. He told us he worked the night shift in Watts and loved his job (if you don’t remember or can’t place that location, Watts was the hotpoint of riots in 1965 and again in 1992).

It didn’t take long for us to realize that this officer treated the locals as if they were animals. He said he’d at times pull a black driver over and ask him when he had last taken a bath.

My wife and I left the encounter emotionally shaken. We had come from the Midwest, where law enforcement officers were held in high regard and viewed as exemplary. Sometimes it was almost like Mayberry, with a couple of officers and one police car in town.

We realized that this officer was not a bad, racist officer all alone. He reflected something deeper, something systemic—at the very least in his own precinct.

That day my idealism melted away and then solidified into realism. Still, I highly regard those in law enforcement who are dedicated to their oaths and put their lives on the line (as of June 20, 109 officers have died in the line of duty in 2020, 24 by gunfire).

I believe the Bible sets a standard and calls for both respect and respectability.

He is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. – Romans 13:4 ESV

The tragic incident that cost George Floyd his life will, I pray, work much good and justice. Officers are trained to use no more force than is reasonable to carry out their duties, including overcoming resistance. Officers also have the “duty to intercede” if they observe excessive force by another officer. Officers are to be accountable on both points.

Both “reasonable (appropriate) force” and “duty to intercede” are biblical concepts. “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death… If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this’, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? …and will he not repay man according to his work?” – Proverbs 24:10-12

The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics is binding on all officers. The entire code can be seen at: www.theiacp.org/resources/law-enforcement-code-of-ethics

Like any code of ethics for a profession, it can be recited but is not automatically inculcated and observed. It must be held up as a disciplinary standard, regularly reviewed, and become part of the ethos of every law enforcement agency and part of the law enforcement DNA of every officer.

Here is how it begins:

As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.

And with these words it concludes:

“I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession . . . law enforcement.”

I want to be protected by that kind of officer![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]July 4, 1776
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” – The Declaration of Independence
The ideals of the Declaration of Independence were embraced and established by imperfect people who themselves would often fall short. Yet, the ideals aren’t annulled by the sins of the Founders. They survive and continue to influence us because they convey universal truth and morals.

The Northwest Territory was created by Congress in 1787. At that time, slavery was legal in every one of the thirteen states.

This reality makes all the more poignant the fact that the Northwest Territory, larger than all thirteen original colonies put together, was declared a “free” territory. No slavery or indentured servitude in the NW Territory!

Ohio was the first part of the NW Territory to become a state—in 1803. Ohio became a slave-free state by only one vote in its new legislature. Ohio would become part of the “Underground Railway” as slaves escaped from Virginia (below the Ohio River) through Ohio to Canada across Lake Eire.

In our day of historical deconstruction, let’s remember to judge previous generations of national leaders by the standards of their day, not ours. For indeed, we don’t want our successor generations to treat us any less fairly.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” – Jesus

Disclosure: I grew up in Ohio and was a resident there until I was 21.
Recommended Reading: The Pioneers by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2019)

Charis Fellowship Response to the Death of George Floyd

My Christian denomination, the Charis Fellowship (known to many as the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches) issued this statement through our Executive Director, Phil Sparling. I appreciated the opportunity to give input to the leadership team.

As leaders and representatives of Charis Fellowship, we affirm our belief in a God who has created all persons in His image and who commands that all persons are to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their social, economic, or ethnic background. We grieve the violent and lawless death of George Floyd and we call for justice on his behalf as prescribed within our US Constitution and judicial system. We recognize this problem extends far beyond this single heinous act, whatever its motivation, yet it has resurfaced the fault-line of racism within our midst. Charis Fellowship condemns racism in any form.

We affirm and respect God’s ordained agency of law enforcement. We honor those engaged in this noble profession. Yet we appeal to those agencies to root out any actions and attitudes that manifest the evils of racism, which include both crimes of commission and omission. And we believe that officers who participate in or allow the use of excessive or inappropriate force should be called to account. (Romans 13:1-7)

We affirm the First Amendment right of protesters to peacefully assemble. Yet we denounce rioting, arson, and looting as completely unacceptable activities. Regretfully, these actions often shift the focus away from the underlying causes of injustice. Such activities also harm the very people who need our support, including inner-city business owners, employees, and residents who depend on these businesses. (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)

We affirm our commitment to the Biblical truth that God cares deeply about issues of justice and human dignity. Yet we recognize that our society continues to struggle with injustice and inequality toward minorities and we grieve with those who suffer the consequences. We believe followers of Jesus cannot remain passive or silent and must embrace our responsibility to “stop doing wrong; learn to do right; seek justice; and defend the oppressed” (Isaiah 1:16-17).

Toward that end, we commit ourselves to join a common quest for God-honoring solutions to end all racial inequity and ensure equal access to justice and opportunity for all. We commit ourselves to be part of the national self-assessment and to pursue the actions now needed to bring about racial harmony, justice, and unity in our land. We call upon all who form the Charis Fellowship to pray for our nation, its leaders, and all who are part of our judicial system. We call upon our churches and leaders to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, the true and sole source of racial harmony. We also call upon our entire Charis family to proactively engage in ethnically diverse dialogue, education, and interactions that will collectively move us toward God’s desire for racial unity and harmony.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Remembering July, 1945 – 75 years ago

Clement Atlee-Harry Truma-Joseph Stalin

The Potsdam Conference (in Germany)
July 17 – August 2

President Roosevelt had died in April, deprived sadly of the satisfaction of living to see Germany’s defeat. Harry Truman was now president and represented the US at the Potsdam Conference, there to be sized up by Joseph Stalin. Truman would be no pushover and was not like Roosevelt, who thought he could win Stalin over with his personality.

Clement Atlee was there as Great Britain’s new prime minister, since Winston Churchill’s party had resoundingly lost a parliamentary election shortly after the Potsdam Conference began.

At the conference Truman confided to Stalin that the US had a “powerful new weapon.” Stalin acknowledged the news, though it was not news to him. He already knew of the atomic bomb through spies connected to the project.

Ironically, President Roosevelt had kept his own vice president in the dark about the development of the atomic bomb. Truman only learned of it after Roosevelt’s death (less than four months before the bomb was used).

The three powers at Potsdam decided many issues that would govern post-war Europe, such as the division of Germany and Berlin, Austria and Vienna. They agreed that many freedoms were to exist in the liberated nations—freedom of religion, the press, speech. And the freedom to form trade unions. In the lands that would fall under Soviet domination, it was not to be.

Website: www.donaldshoemakerministries.com
Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

June 2020 Newsletter

Posted on May 28, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”June 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Remembering June, 1945 – 75 years ago

World War 2 in Europe had ended. The elation of many American troops was tempered by the realization that thousands would be shipped to the Pacific Theater for the invasion of Japan.

The U.S. victory on Okinawa proved to be the bloodiest battle of the Pacific war. American dead totaled over 12,000 and Japan lost 110,000, including mass suicide when the victory of U.S. troops was seen as certain.

These horrific losses plus signs of Japanese determination caused U.S. military leaders to expect massive casualties when the invasion of Japan finally took place. But it was not to be…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Message for Pentecost Sunday (May 31)
When the Holy Spirit Redirected Priorities

So when they [the apostles whom Jesus had chosen] had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

[Jesus] said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:6-8 New English Version

“Life after the Coronavirus” will not be like “Life before the Virus.” Church priorities and ministries (what we should do and how we should do it) will not be the same.

Now put yourself with Jesus’ disciples, who were with him after his resurrection and before his ascension (return to Heaven). What will God’s work in the world be once Jesus is no longer with them? They need answers, because “Life after Jesus’ Ascension and the Day of Pentecost” will not be as before.

Jesus’ followers had one overriding question: “Lord, is it NOW, finally, that you will restore the kingdom to Israel? We’ve watched you and listened to you. We’ve gone through the pain of your death and, now, the joy of being with you in your resurrection. NOW will we see the kingdom restored with Israel having her rightful place in it?” *

Jesus’ answer must have disappointed them. It certainly will refocus them if they listen. Without zeroing out God’s promises to Israel, Jesus zeros in on “NOW”. What is God’s timing when it comes to fulfilling his promises?

Jesus clearly and forcefully told them, “The question of when prophetic events will come to be (‘times’) and the exact nature of these events (‘seasons’)—these are none of your business. Don’t worry about these ‘times and seasons.’ My Father in Heaven has determined them and they are well under his control. Instead, do what I assign you to do, which the Holy Spirit will give you the power to do.”

“Times” (Greek word: chronos) refers to the sequence of events (this, then this, then that). “Seasons” (kairos) refers to the significance of the events. If I say, “It is 12:00 noon” that’s a chronos moment, a tick of the clock. But if I say, “It’s going down today at hi-noon” that’s a kairos moment–something significant is going to happen. **

When the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the waiting disciples at Pentecost, it will not be to enlighten them about the future, either its times or details. Instead, the Spirit will be given so they will have the power to do a task—to bear witness to Jesus—his life and ministries, his death and resurrection, his teachings—throughout the world beginning in Jerusalem (verse 8).

How often have you heard preaching that is very certain about “the times and the seasons”? If we listened to a lot of “Bible prophecy” teaching throughout the Twentieth Century and up till now, we might think Jesus should have just saved his breath. Many teachers on prophecy talk confidently about when prophecies will be fulfilled and what the exact sequence of things will be.

When He shall come with trumpet sound
I’ll leave e’er Satan stalks the ground.
The times and seasons will unfold
Just like our charts have long foretold.

We have divided our churches and judged the orthodoxy of other Christians over how we think the “times and seasons” will unfold.

• “Pre-tribulationists” believe that Jesus will return and remove the saints before the Great Tribulation occurs. After the Tribulation he will return dramatically to end human history as we know it and usher in his kingdom (the two “returns” together are the “Second Coming of Christ”—Second Coming A and Second Coming B, if that’s reasonable).
• “Mid-tribulationists” believe that the saints will be removed from earth in the middle of the Great Tribulation. The first half is bad, but “you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet” – God is saving his fiercest wrath against evil for the second half. After this, Jesus will return to set up his kingdom.

• The “Pre-wrath” view teaches that believers will go through the Tribulation almost till its end, and be removed just before God’s fierce wrath is unleashed against evil. They will then return with Christ.
• “Post-tribulationists” believe there is only one climactic “Second Coming” event at the end of the Great Tribulation.
• Some simply teach a “second coming” without trying to fit it into other details (for example, they may not relate it to a Great Tribulation era).

Another opinion, the “partial rapture” view, believes that only Christians who are “ready” (they have reached a particular level of spirituality, or have had certain experiences, or belong to the correct church) will be raptured to be with Jesus when he first appears. The Christians left behind (the “have not’s”) will have to go through the Tribulation, which thus becomes sort of a Purgatory for them. This view isn’t widely held, but those who do hold it are quite sure of their own righteousness and don’t mind saying so.

What can we say about all this? In my opinion, the whole debate is a
great tribulation. It reflects the assumption that we can know “times and seasons” details which Jesus said we cannot know.

I’m opposed to churches and denominations setting forth prophetic timetables and using them as litmus tests to say who’s in and who’s out. I’m opposed to how the dogmatism stifles honest study and open debate.

The sooner we can rid ourselves of doctrinal statements that split hairs on prophecy and try to map it out, the better. My right hand of fellowship (if we can still extend our right hands after the coronavirus) is ready to accept you, whether you are a “pre-tribber”, “post-tribber” or whatever. Please accept me. Let’s study together and learn prophecy to the extent it can properly be known (Deuteronomy 29:29). And let’s join our voices in the prayer:

“Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

* John Stott, following Calvin, believed that the disciples’ whole question revealed several faulty notions about the Kingdom of God, not just a timing problem about Israel’s role (The Message of Acts, p. 43). I limit their error to the matter of “timing.” This reveals another major rift in how Evangelicals understand prophecy. Does Israel have a distinct future in the Kingdom (my view) or are promises to Israel spiritualized in the kingdom (common Reformed view)?
** Stott explains “times and seasons (dates)” differently: “times” are “critical moments” and “seasons” are the orderly development of God’s plan. F.F. Bruce explains the words much as I do, but notes that the meaning is found in the words as a pair, not separately (The Book of Acts, p. 35).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance –
Religious Liberty and the “Right to Assemble”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – 1st Amendment
Notice two enumerated rights in the First Amendment: (1) free exercise of religion and (2) the right peaceably to assemble.

Religious freedom and the right to assemble allow individual believers to assemble into groups of believers. Hence, we have churches, synagogues, and mosques. These groups often establish ministries to further their religious ideals—schools especially. To force these groups or ministries to function in conflict to their ideals is to violate both their free exercise of religion and their right to assemble.

This recently happened in Ireland, where 90% of private schools are Catholic:

The Republic of Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission has decided that an atheist child was discriminated against by his Catholic school when students were rewarded for attending a religious ceremony.

The commission ordered the school to pay €5,000 and demanded the school review its policies so it complies with the Equal Status Acts. The school will also have to post a memo of its compliance in a noticeable location within the school.
– Catholic News Agency, May 5, 2020

Rewarding students as an incentive to develop good worship patterns is about as natural a thing for a religious school to do as I can imagine. Yet, in Ireland at least, an individual’s right to practice atheism trumps the right of a religious school to further its own beliefs and practices (a school, by the way, where this student’s family voluntarily chose to enroll him).
In America we see many signs that the religious freedom of individuals is treated as more important than the freedom of religious groups. During the “Coronavirus crisis” the ability of religious groups to gather is highly restricted, even if they would practice specified safety measures.

Los Angeles County’s latest “Safer at Home Order” (May 13, 2020) says this:
Staff of organizations or associations, including faith-based organizations, may gather in a single space for the sole purpose of preparing and facilitating live-stream or other virtual communications with their members, including worship services, provided that the staff gathering is limited to 1O people or fewer and the Social (Physical) Distancing Protocol …is observed.
Well, thanks. This same order (May 13) lists 24 categories of essential businesses that can be open. But the need of a church to gather is overlooked.
The Christian faith teaches that God calls us into union with one another, not to be Christians in individualistic isolation.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God… (from Acts 2:42-47)

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread… (Acts 20:7)

We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body…” (1 Cor. 12:13)

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another… (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Churches cannot claim religious discrimination under current law, so long as a restriction is applicable to all and neutral toward religion. However, the more exceptions an order grants, the more difficult it is for government to escape the charge that it is discriminating against religion.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

May 18, 2020 – Centennial of One of the
20th Century’s Greatest Men

Karol Józef Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, a humble town in the south of Poland. Much of his life was lived in the crucible of tribulations. He carried his cross under the two antichrist systems of Nazism and Communism.

Karol Wojtyla helped keep his Polish culture alive while Poland was under Nazi occupation by establishing the Rhapsodic Theater where his acting skills were put to use in clandestine performances.

He became a priest and then a bishop. George Weigle tells how the Polish Communists had veto power over appointments to the bishopric, and one party official was determined to veto every nominee until Wojtyla’s name was put forth, because he thought he could control him. Little did he know…

Elevated to the papacy in 1978, he was one of God’s instruments in bringing down the Iron Curtain and ending Communist domination of Eastern Europe, including his beloved Poland. I remember watching the installation service (or whatever it’s called in Catholic circles) in 1978. As Polish Communist officials sat at the front in St. Peter’s, I wondered what was going through their minds. “We’re really in for it now!” I thought.

I’m not a Roman Catholic, but I am a student of modern Western history. I’m grateful to God for a man hardened and seasoned by oppressive systems who rose to a place where his voice would be heard and his values from a true Christian Humanist perspective (the dignity of the human person created in the image of God) would help usher in a new era.

As many liberated nations today settle into new oppressions and anti-human ideologies, it is both good and necessary for us to remember this legacy.

ADDITIONAL READING:
• George Weigle, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy. Image Books, 2010.
• Donald P. Shoemaker, “One Evangelical’s Gratitude for John Paul II,” Guest Editorial, Long Beach Press Telegram, April 9, 2005 (accessible at www.donaldshoemakerministries.com)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Bible Insight –
What’s So Great about “The Great Commission”?

Then Jesus came to them [his disciples] and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:16-20

Christians rightly draw on many, many scriptures for direction. High on the list are the two Great Commandments: love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). But no assignment from Jesus gets more attention for “missional direction” than “The Great Commission.”

What makes “The Great Commission” so great?
1. Jesus made a GREAT AFFIRMATION about himself.
He makes the astounding claim, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me!” Either this is the boast of a self-deceived self-promoter, or it is a claim to be taken seriously. The church takes it seriously.

The Apostle Paul sets forth this same claim about Jesus in what was probably a “praise chorus” sung in Christian gatherings. Jesus humbled himself obediently to death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… (Philippians 2:9-10)

If Jesus is who he claimed to be, his instructions need to be obeyed.

2. Jesus gave a GREAT ASSIGNMENT to his followers.
Now, I’m going to be a bit picky here, because this assignment is often misunderstood. For example, it’s commonly taught that Jesus gave four commands: “Go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.” If this is so, then “make disciples” pretty much equals “lead people to Jesus” (then baptize and teach them). Discipling = Evangelism.

But that’s not what Jesus commanded. In fact, THERE IS ONLY ONE COMMAND IN THE GREAT COMMISSION—“MAKE DISCIPLES”. Around this one imperative verb are three participles (“going, baptizing, teaching”) that tell us HOW TO OBEY THIS ONE COMMAND.

“Going” – We can talk about following Jesus all we want, but if we do not penetrate the world around us, we will never make disciples for Jesus.

“Baptizing” – The New Testament assumes that one who believes the Gospel will be baptized. In fact, “unbaptized Christian” is an oxymoron.

Baptism is Trinitarian—it confesses God’s work in our salvation. God the Father loved us, God the Son died for us, and God the Holy Spirit empowers us to faith and good works.

Baptism is in water—a fitting mode to depict washing sins away (Acts 22:16).

What does our baptism declare to the church and to the world?

• “I hereby confess Jesus as Lord and I cross the line to be on Jesus’ side.”
• “I have moved from the old life into the new.”
• “I’m now a citizen of God’s Kingdom, a member of his family.”
• “My sins are washed away—I stand forgiven!”
• “The Holy Spirit has been given to me”
• “I’m willing to follow Jesus in obedience and suffering.”

“Teaching” – The baptized convert is to be instructed in all the commands of Jesus. Baptism takes a few moments—one single step in being a disciple. Teaching all Jesus commands is a life-long process—continual steps in becoming a disciple. Thus we never “arrive” at full discipleship in this life—we are always “Pilgrims in Progress.”

How does Jesus direct our lives? A few points among many:

• “Follow me in baptism.”
• “Accept the authority of the Old Testament just as I do.”
• “Keep God’s law in its depth, not just on the surface.”
• “Love God and love your neighbor.”
• “Show regard for all people, not just to other followers of mine.”
• “Get down where the people are. Touch the leper, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bind the wounded.”
• “Keep the Supper I established for you, in remembrance of me.”
• “Watch and pray. Be prepared when temptations come and face them as I did.”
• “I will return at an unknown hour. Be faithful and prepared.”
3. Jesus speaks GREAT ASSURANCE to us as we fulfill this assignment.
Jesus will be with his church as we do the task he calls us to do—empowering us, encouraging us, walking with us, helping us when we face persecution.

He is present when we are baptized in his name and as we face temptations and struggle to be his disciples and to lead others to be his disciples.

He walks beside us as we walk through life’s greatest challenges and sorrows. He assures us he knows the path, for he has walked it before.

He is there to serve his people not just at the start but until the end of the age.
When through the deep waters I call you to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be with you, your troubles to bless,
and sanctify to you your deepest distress.
– “How Firm A Foundation” (1787, authorship uncertain). Originally sung to the tune “ADESTES FIDELIS” [“O Come, All Ye Faithful”], it is usually sung today to the tune “FOUNDATION.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Grace Community Church is on-line during the present coronavirus limitations. There are no gathered worship services for the time being. Watch and participate in the Sunday services during the service times at 9:30 and 11:00 PDT, or anytime afterward.
www.gracesealbeach.org

Pentecost Sunday – May 31, 2020
Remembering the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. – Acts 2:1-4 NIV

I invite you to listen to my Pentecost sermon (2017) at Grace Church –
“Come Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-42)

Simply go to www.gracesealbeach.org and click “Sermons” under “Resources.”
You will see my name under “Sermons by speaker.”

Website: www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

May 2020 Newsletter

Posted on April 28, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”May 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Remembering May, 1945 – 75 years ago

World War II ended in Europe on May 7-9, with the unconditional surrender of Germany. Hitler was dead. Less than a month earlier, allied troops had discovered camps in Germany for exterminating Jews.

The Allied effort in World War II was regarded by some as a Christian Crusade. In 1941 President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met on the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales to sign the Atlantic Charter. Churchill believed the allied cause was God’s cause and chose the song “Onward Christian Soldiers” for all to sing at a church service onboard.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Message of the Month – A Model Citizen and Pastor

“Seek the welfare [“shalom” – well-being] of the city where I have sent you… and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7 ESV)

“[Church leaders] must be well thought of by outsiders.” (1 Timothy 3:7)

Pastor Roy McCoy of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, CA is a model of what these verses require.

2019 Thousand Oaks City Council Roy McCoy 2nd from right

He was a member of the city council and served as mayor in 2019. Al Adams, current mayor of Thousand Oaks, said council member McCoy was a “voice of strength and healing” after the city endured back-to-back tragedies: the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill and the Woolsey fire.

When his term as mayor ended in December 2019, he was honored by city officials. “You were the right mayor at the right time,” said City Manager Andrew Powers.

“The Healing Gardens Memorial was because of Rob McCoy,” Mr. Adams said. “It was his idea and he made it happen. You made the entire Council look good and on a personal note, you being there when my father passed meant a lot to me.” “You were the right mayor to heal us, unite us for these last 12 months,” said Council member Claudia Bill-de la Peña. “You have done a formative job to lead our city over the last year.”

But Mr. McCoy resigned from the city council because of his pastoral decision to offer Holy Communion at his church on Palm Sunday. Would this be a gross violation of the separation/safety protocols? No. Ten people would enter the sanctuary at a time over a two-hour period. Chairs were sanitized after each use. Those waiting lined up outside at a distance from each other. No one touched anyone else.

So what was the problem? The Ventura County Public Health Officer had ruled that churches are “nonessential” services. As a City of Thousand Oaks council member, Mr. McCoy was obligated to uphold the Public Health Officer’s order. So he resigned his position to maintain his convictions.
(See Appendix for the Ventura County Health Orders)

Law enforcement was at the church on Palm Sunday not to shut the Communion down but to monitor compliance with the distance rule.

Some who disagreed with the church and pastor parked their cars in the church’s parking lot and blew their horns. [NOTE: disrupting or disturbing a worship service is a misdemeanor under California’s Penal Code Sec. 302 PC.]

Mayor Adams said in an interview, ““He did the right thing in resigning, because he’s going ahead with the services at his church that are just incompatible with the county guidelines that we’re trying to maintain here in the city of Thousand Oaks.”

Well, then there’s something wrong with the guidelines. Church gatherings simply must not be labeled “non-essential.” Pastor/councilman McCoy did the right things as a pastor and as a city leader. But it shouldn’t have come to this. The city has lost an acknowledged fine leader.

We need more Pastor McCoys who represent the best of the prophetical traditions in the Old and New Testaments in their communities. It is disrespectful that the city council’s current Website does not name and picture him now as a former mayor and council member.

Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief
or an evildoer or as a meddler.
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed,
but let him glorify God in that name.
– 1 Peter 4:15-16

Watch “McCoy Abdicates Thousand Oaks City Council to Break Coronavirus Orders” on YouTube (KTLA Channel 5)

https://you.tube/aX-_oJL292g[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance –
During the Coronavirus Crisis

“I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this… The science says people have to stay away from each other.” – New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy *

“Our federal constitutional rights don’t go away in an emergency. They constrain what the government can do.” – Attorney General William Barr

Love, Law, Liberty

3 Essentials During the Coronavirus Crisis

I suggest that our country’s response to the coronavirus be looked at as a stool with three legs: Love, Law and Liberty. If balanced and embraced by most, we will overcome. I gave three points in my last newsletter, which I’ve now made the three legs of the stool:

LOVE: Out of love for our neighbor, the second great commandment Jesus taught, we do what is best for the greater good of society (Mark 12:31).

LAW: Out of respect for authorities (Titus 3:1) and the medical knowledge they gather to the best of their ability, we agree to the prohibitions and adjustments set forth by our local, state and federal governments, so long as they are fair and equitable.

LIBERTY: Recognizing our constitutional rights, we keep a wary eye on any edicts from government that might limit these rights. We insist on a quick end to limitations of our rights once the crisis has passed.

Unfortunately, the “Liberty” leg is coming up short. Here is a letter in my local newspaper which, I fear, reflects commonly-held thinking:

Yes, the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. It also guarantees freedom of assembly, but that right has been temporarily suspended for the common good. [emphasis mine]

Temporarily suspended? By what authority? In World War II the rights of 120,000 Japanese-Americans were “temporarily suspended.” Where in the Constitution does it say that the rights guaranteed therein are subject to suspension? Of course the rights are not absolute. Freedom of religion does not give one the right to sacrifice children or deny minors lifesaving treatments. Freedom of speech doesn’t include the right to cry “fire” in a crowded theater, to use Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ analogy. **

Agree or disagree with policies, we should all acknowledge that the “free exercise of religion” and “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” are being infringed upon.

I wonder what the reactions would be if “freedom of speech or of the press” were infringed upon in a comparable way at the present time. It is not beyond reason that during the present crisis some might call for limits on speech and publications if the speech is contrary to the “ruling orthodoxy.” Just follow curtailment of speech on public campuses to see how this works.

What are some of the more egregious violations of freedom of religion and assembly?
• California: Pastor Roy McCoy found it necessary to resign as a councilman in Thousand Oaks, California because he decided to offer a Communion Service at his church that fully conformed to limits on cleanliness and distancing.
• Mississippi: People who attended a drive-in service by sitting in their cars with the windows up were issued $500 tickets. The Department of Justice intervened in favor of the church, arguing the church was being singled out for more restrictive rules.
• Kentucky: the mayor of Louisville imposed a ban on drive-in services. The church won in court, the judge saying that people were being permitted to sit in their cars for other purposes, so why not church?

Government cannot target religious exercise unless it shows a compelling state interest in restricting that right. And—very important—the government must use the least restrictive means necessary to achieve that compelling state interest. Brad Dacus, President of the Pacific Justice Institute, notes that as time passes the government’s claim for a compelling state interest will decline while a church’s position will get stronger every day.

Local and state governments should make clear that religious gatherings and services are “ESSENTIAL” services. To put it another way, government is outside its legitimate role to declare in-person religious gatherings “non-essential.” And it certainly is not being “neutral” toward religion. ***

In my 36 years as a pastor in Seal Beach, California I’ve seen first-hand how the presence, ministries and gatherings of a church provide critical spiritual and emotional support to the community in times of crisis.

A handful of unwise pastors have filled their churches with crowds in blatant disrespect for the government. Their behavior doesn’t cancel the positive role that a church gathering can now play when proper distancing, cleanliness and a limit on attendance are in force. Offering Holy Communion during Passion Week is a valuable spiritual uplift to those who come and seek it.

Having places of worship closed while “essential” cannabis dispensaries and liquor stores are open is ethical dissonance almost beyond imagination.

* The good governor said, “Science says people should stay away from each other.” Science says nothing of the sort. Science tests theories on how the virus spreads. The order to separate is a judgment made from looking at the current science. A hypothesis of science is capable of being applied in a number of directions by others, according to their own societal convictions. In fact, what does “science” say that would lead us to have liquor stores open and churches closed?

** Oliver Wendell Holmes gave this analogy in 1919 to argue that a defendant’s speech in opposition to the draft during World War I was not protected free speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Would we agree with him today?

*** The U.S. Supreme Court said religious organizations “contribute to the well-being of the community” and called for the government to have a position of “benevolent neutrality” toward religion (Walz v. Tax Commission, 1970).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

How to Wash Your Hands during the Coronavirus Crisis

Use plenty of soap and water, vigorously scrub your hands, including under your fingernails, and rinse—20 seconds altogether. Dry your hands thoroughly with a paper towel.

How can you time your washing? Well…
• You can always count to twenty.
• You can sing “Happy Birthday” or “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
• I notice the toilet tank fills in 20 seconds.

Better yet, sing “The Doxology”. Or perhaps best of all, recite The Lord’s Prayer! Do it from the heart, not with empty recitation. Keep your mind engaged, not on autopilot. Let it guide your priorities throughout the day.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory forever, amen.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]America is “quarantined.” Where did this term come from?

Isolation as a defense against infectious disease originated in the city-states of Venice and Florence. Italy was the center of Mediterranean trade, and the plague arrived in 1347 on commercial ships…

After plague visitations, the Venetian navy eventually began to force sailors arriving at the harbor to disembark on a nearby island, where they remained for 40 days—quaranta—a duration chosen for its biblical significance. (“How Epidemics Change Civilization,” The Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2020)

So the term has its origin in the biblical numeral “40.” I’m not a fan of “numerology”—the notion that one can find deeper teachings in the Bible by searching for cryptic meanings in certain numbers. Here are numbers that have biblical significance in their contexts: 7, 40, 666.

“40 days and 40 nights” indicated the period of time that rains fell to flood the earth as a judgment from God for human evil (Genesis 7:4, 10).

After “40 days” Noah knew the floodwaters were abating and he could look forward to reinhabiting the earth (the image of a dove with an olive branch originated in this passage—Genesis 8:6-12).

“40 days and 40 nights” indicates the period of time Moses was before God on Mt. Sinai, when he received the Ten Commandments.

Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 26:19)
So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:28)
After the Israelites left Egypt, Moses sent spies into the land of Canaan to survey the land and its people. They were gone 40 days. They returned with a mixed message: the land flows with abundance but the people are fierce and powerful. Upon receiving this report Israel rebelled and God brought a judgment on his people.

According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure. (Numbers 14:34)

That was the “40 years” of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. During this time God provided for the needs of his people, giving them their “daily bread” and much more (Deuteronomy 2:7):

The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (Exodus 16:35)

Ezekiel prophesied that God would bring judgment on Egypt for her evil, but he would restore the people after 40 years (Ezekiel 29, 12-13).

“40 days” was the window of opportunity for the City of Nineveh to repent, according to the Prophet Jonah (Jonah 3:4).

Jesus, the Second Moses, fasted “40 days” in the wilderness and during that time he was tested by Satan (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2).

“40” seems to be a number indicating judgment, trials and opportunities for repentance before God. “40” is a number not to be taken lightly. I’ll let others debate whether the number might be symbolical at times rather than literal.

“40” can be our spiritual “boot camp.” Will we persevere through hardships and testings, better able to serve God because of them (1 Peter 1:6-8)?

Our “40 days”, our quaranta, may be this present time of quarantine, our forced separation from much we would like to do and from many places where we would like to go. It is the hour of testing, perseverance and self-examination—a careful look at our priorities as individuals and as a nation, and our willingness to submit to the commandments of God.

Jim Bakker just won’t go away!

Remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker from the 1980’s?

Out of prison and back in “ministry”, Jim Bakker can be seen on “Christian” media with his promotions, pronouncements and prophecies.

One difficulty the Pentecostal Movement seems unable to overcome is its conflation of forgiveness and rehabilitation. “God called me to minister!” seems to trump just about anything else. Yes, God forgives. No, forgiveness is not a fast pass back into ministry. Maybe someday but not soon. Or maybe never again, depending on the offense. A child predator who once worked in children’s ministry at a church—would you EVER want him back in that ministry? Or an embezzler back to handling church finances? I don’t think so. No matter how “forgiven” they are.

Here he is—the Bernie Madoff of religious fundraising schemers—displaying a “coronavirus cure”!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Easter 2020 – “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”
Here is the Easter Service from my own church, Grace Community Church of Seal Beach, California. If you watch carefully, you’ll see me with the montage singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today!”

https://www.facebook.com/gracesealbeach/videos/229351198271556/

Grace Community Church is on-line during the present coronavirus limitations. There are no gathered worship services for the time being. Watch and participate in the Sunday services during or anytime after the services at 9:30 and 11:00 PDT. www.gracesealbeach.org

Available: My Sermons at Grace Community Church of Seal Beach

To hear sermons I’ve delivered at Grace Community Church go to www.gracesealbeach.org and click “Sermons” under “Resources.”
You will see my name under “Sermons by speaker.”

• “The Holy City – Final Home” (Revelation 21-22)
• “Jeremiah: Right Man for the Right Hour (Jeremiah 1-20)
• “The Triumphs and Failures of Israel’s Greatest King (1 Kings 1-11)
• “Christian Freedom” (Romans 14:1-8) RECOMMENDED!
A sermon for the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation
• “Come, Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-42)
RECOMMENDED TO PREPARE FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY—JUNE 7

Website: www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net

APPENDIX: Orders by the Ventura County (CA) Health Officer
(See above: “Message of the Month” on Pastor Roy McCoy)

There were three orders in March. Any restrictions on religious gatherings were at most implicit. The April 9 order was explicit.

#3 – All Gatherings prohibited of two or more persons outside a household…

Point “a” –
“Gathering” means “any event” for “non-essential purposes” including “church services” … [So “two or more” cannot “gather in Jesus’ name!”]

Point “e” –
“Faith-based organizations” may gather “for the sole purpose of preparing and facilitating live-stream or other virtual communications with their members, including worship services, provided that the number of such staff is the fewest necessary to prepare and facilitate those communications, but in no event in excess of seven persons.”

Comment:

In fairness it should be noted that the limit of seven for preparing a virtual worship service is in contrast to a “two or more” limit for gatherings (thus somewhat of a concession).

That said, anyone who has worked in the development of virtual worship knows that seven is certainly a bare minimum for such a production and hardly a maximum. Such services usually include instrumentalists, singers (who may also be instrumentalists), a speaker, those who lead prayer and read scripture, and one or more technicians.

An April 20 order (1) increases the number of persons at gatherings to a maximum of five; (2) increases the number who may develop virtual worship to no more than ten; and (3) allows for “drive-up” worship with several prohibitions, including rules that would prevent serving Holy Communion (unless worshippers brought the bread and cup with them); (4) lists funerals, weddings, producing virtual worship, and “drive-up” worship services under “Essential Activities” (17.a.) – very significant![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

April 2020 Newsletter

Posted on March 23, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”April 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

The Water Section at Sam’s Club in Long Beach

Hoarding & Profiteering
in a Time of Crisis

Store shelves in my area are stripped of water and, for goodness sake, TP.
Hoarding (and its twin evil “price gouging”) is common during times of crisis.
Does the Bible have anything to say about hoarding?

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Bible Insight—Hoarding Necessities During a Crisis

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
People curse the one who hoards grain,
but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell.
– Proverbs 11:24-26 New International Version

A time of crisis like the present coronavirus outbreak brings out both the best and the worst in people. Many are generous; not a few are selfish hoarders. Hoarding is accumulating more than enough for one’s foreseeable needs in a time of crisis. Hoarding can also be an effort to drive up prices so one can make a killing by taking advantage of others in need.

I’ve seen long lines of carts loaded with water bottles and with TP and more. For some, this is simply prudence. Maybe so, but overall it seems too excessive for simple prudence. It’s often a form of hoarding—putting “self” first and showing it by keeping more of life’s necessities than necessary and thus depriving others of basic items they need.

In The Lord’s Prayer we read and pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Implicit in this petition is our need to be sure our neighbors also have their daily bread—the sustenance needed in food and in other provisions that makes for a sufficient lifestyle.

If we sincerely pray this petition Jesus gave us, we’ll be sure not to hoard. Instead, we will be generous to others in their hour of need.

Scalping is odious enough when it’s done to make a killing from coveted tickets for sports and other events. It is even more odious, AND EVIL, when the basic needs of life are hoarded and others are made to suffer need or pay exorbitant prices.

Proverbs 11:24-26 is quite clear. God honors the generous. God abhors the hoarder and, in the end, that person will not prosper. People likewise will honor the generous and curse the hoarder. Today as well as long ago.

Keeping Politics out of the Coronavirus Emergency
Remember “Swine Flu” in the 1970’s?

It started out in 1976 as a mystery illness among several soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Testing showed the illness was ordinary influenza in most cases, but with two soldiers it was something else.

The Centers for Disease Control found evidence of “Swine Influenza A” (a relative of the 1918 pandemic flu that killed up to 100 Million worldwide).

President Gerald Ford became very proactive and encouraged mass vaccination. Those who remember this flu scare may recall his very public televised vaccination.

But at least two things happened: (1) there were some severe reactions to the vaccine, including cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome; (2) Swine flu turned out to be mostly a “non-event” and use of the vaccine was suspended and never resumed. Political critics roundly mocked the president as someone caught up in hysteria. Had a pandemic occurred, he would have been hailed as a prescient hero.

Hindsight is 20/20. Was President Ford correct in his pro-active stance? Laurence Gostin would write years later in The Hastings Center Report: “…the swine flu affair fails to tell us whether, in the face of scientific uncertainty, it is better to err on the side of caution or aggressive intervention.”

One reporter recently asked President Trump how he would rate his response to the coronavirus on a scale of 1 to 10. The president said “10” to no one’s surprise. Self-promotion has been a mark of his career. It would have been better if the reporter had stayed off the silly self-evaluation question and the president had not taken the bait.

Our country and the world will be better served by non-partisan, non-judgmental, science-based responses to the virus, supplemented by care, caution, prudence and common sense. It is not an hour for the news media, the opinion writers or politicians to try to score points other than safeties.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Message for the Taxing Month of April –

Ministers MUST pay into Social Security

In 1985 I proposed to the Conference of my denomination (The Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches) that a study committee be appointed to develop a strong, contemporary retirement program for our ministers. The proposal passed, and I became one of the committee members.

My task at one point was to analyze a survey we sent to our ministers. I divided the responses into three age categories (below 40, 40-55, above 55).

I found that most of the pastors in the 55+ group were participants in the Social Security program (NOTE: for many years participation in Social Security was OPTIONAL [opt-in] for clergy—not so in recent decades).

Surprisingly, I found that most of the pastors below age 40 had opted out of Social Security. Furthermore, most of these opt-outers had not created any kind of a substitute plan for funding their retirements.

Maybe Jesus will return first!

Here are some plain facts:

(1) Ministers are regarded as SELF-EMPLOYED by the IRS when it comes to paying into social security (Self-employment Tax). This means they must pay twice what employees pay into the program (15.3% instead of 7.65%). Many church boards may not be aware of this burden on their pastors. An enlightened church board would reimburse pastors for at least half of this tax.

(2) By law, ministers MUST participate in the Social Security program, except in very narrow circumstances. To be specific, only by conscientiously signing and submitting Form 4361 to the IRS may a minister “opt out” of paying into this system.

(3) What does Form 4361 require? The minister must declare:

I certify that I am conscientiously opposed to, or because of my religious principles I am opposed to, the acceptance (for services I perform as a minister…) of any public insurance that makes payments in the event of death, disability, old age, or retirement; or that makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medical care…

Read that again, carefully. In addition, Form 4361 requires that the minister has previously communicated this conviction to the ordaining body of his church. Finally, under penalties of perjury, the applicant declares, “I have examined this application and to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is true and correct.”

(4) Many clergy have opted out of Social Security not from religious convictions, but simply because (a) they didn’t want to pay it and/or (b) they thought they could benefit more by investing this amount elsewhere. Seminaries may even have facilitated this thinking.

(5) Many clergy therefore lied, or at the least got bad advice, didn’t check it out on their own, and didn’t read Form 4361 before signing it. In fact, a tax guide for ministers came out several years ago that actually advised them, if questioned by the IRS, NOT to say they opted out for financial reasons, but because of their church’s doctrines. This was simply not true in a vast number of cases.

(6) My assessment of clergy responses when I served on the retirement study committee is that many had not invested in an alternate, comparable retirement program. Thus, they will find themselves coming up short when the desire or need to retire comes.

(7) If a minister lives in church-owned housing his retirement prospects may be even worse. Unless he has prepared for his retirement housing, he will find himself with no parsonage and with no equity.

One of the best words of advice I ever received is when the board of my first congregation as a senior pastor advised me to stay in the Social Security program when I could have opted out (in those days, without declaring an “objection of conscience”). They sweetened that advice by paying my social security taxes. I now am beneficiary of that wisdom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Back the Badge – Psalm 106:3
“Blessed are those who maintain justice.”
The Off-Duty Officer

My wife and I love watching “Blue Bloods.” In one episode, Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) was determined to discipline an off-duty officer for not intervening in an armed robbery at a store where he and his daughter were customers. PC Reagan eventually changed his mind.

And good he did! While off-duty intervention against a crime may be appropriate and work out well, it is not without its special dangers:
• Even if armed, the off-duty officer is not wearing body armor.
• The officer lacks a radio and other important equipment.
• The officer may be at a tactical disadvantage.
• Neither the public nor law enforcement responders may recognize this officer or learn he is an officer.
• Family members of the officer may be in danger.

Thus, an off-duty officer probably has no “duty to intervene” (department manuals will cover this) and must use his or her own training and wisdom on whether to do so. It may be better to call 911, monitor the situation, and wait for uniformed officers to respond. Or it may be better to intervene. The highest respect is due this person, whatever the decision is.

Chase and Nicole McKeown are officers with the Elizabethtown, KY police department.
On Saturday, February 15 they were eating at a favorite restaurant. An armed robber entered. The couple drew their weapons and left their seats (running down separate aisles!). The robber, seeing the jig was up, dropped his weapon and ran out, the officers hot on his trail.
Bad guy captured!

Good for Chase and Nicole! Their city is privileged to have them.
What they did is a symbol of the dedication of officers on and off the job.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance – Government Edicts During the Coronavirus Crisis

We properly respond to government actions concerning the coronavirus three ways: (1) love of neighbor, (2) respect for authorities, and (3) recognition of our constitutional rights.

Out of love for our neighbor, the second great commandment Jesus taught, we do what is best for the greater good of society (Mark 12:31).

Out of respect for authorities (Titus 3:1) and the medical knowledge they gather to the best of their ability, we agree to the prohibitions and adjustments set forth by our local, state and federal governments. We do this as active citizens, not passive subjects (as in China or under other authoritarian systems).

Recognizing our constitutional rights, we keep a wary eye on any edicts from government that might limit our rights. We insist on a quick end to limitations of our rights once the crisis has passed. Two points to remember:

First, constitutional rights don’t emanate from the generosity of the government. They precede the government. The rights are over the state, not benevolently bestowed by the state and subject to the state’s retractions.
President John F. Kennedy was clear in his inaugural address (Jan. 20, 1961):

I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now… And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

Second, attempts by the state to limit the right to assemble and the free exercise of religion can’t happen by edict not subject to review. The courts are established, as an independent branch of government, to review such edicts. I would expect “strict scrutiny” to be applied to these edicts. “Strict scrutiny” is a very high and rigid standard. It presumes at the start that the restriction is constitutionally invalid. Thus the burden of proof rests on the government to show its constitutionality. It must show that the edict is necessary to achieve a compelling state interest and that it is tailored as narrowly as possible to achieve the justifiable results.

Americans should uphold the rules and recommendations of state officials during the present crisis. We are good citizens. But our love for our country also includes vigorous defense of our constitutional rights.

The Struggle for Religious Freedom Continues in China

Under authoritarian governments, religious freedom (to whatever degree) is bestowed by the state, which can also remove it.

“Brother Enfu” is the pastor of an unregistered (thus illegal) church in China. Every time his church meets, he and the other church members know that police could raid the service and close down their meeting. Church members have been told to stop attending services or risk losing their jobs, and other churches in the area have already been closed.
(Source: “Voice of the Martyrs”)

Available: My Sermons at Grace Community Church of Seal Beach

To hear sermons I’ve delivered at Grace Community Church go to www.gracesealbeach.org and click “Sermons” under “Resources.”
You will see my name under “Sermons by speaker.”

Sample Sermon Titles:

• “The Holy City – Final Home” (Revelation 21-22)
• “Jeremiah: Right Man for the Right Hour (Jeremiah 1-20)
• “The Triumphs and Failures of Israel’s Greatest King (1 Kings 1-11)
• “Christian Freedom” (Romans 14:1-8) RECOMMENDED!
A sermon for the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation
• “Come, Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-42)

Grace Community Church is on-line during the present Coronavirus limitations

There are no gathered worship services for the time being. Watch and participate in the Sunday services during or anytime after the services at 9:30 and 11:00 PDT.

www.gracesealbeach.org

Available: Past Issues of this Newsletter

Website: www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

Click “Blogs and Newsletters”

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Appendix – Responses to the March 2020 Newsletter

A reader commented on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War 2:

We’ve driven by [the Manzanar Internment Center] countless times and stopped to visit last May. A number of years ago I had the opportunity to have lunch in the Senate Dining Room with then Congressman and later Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. Sec. Mineta told me that as a child of 7, living on Terminal Island where his family grew and sold vegetables, they were forced to board a train and taken to an Internment Camp in Wyoming. He was wearing his Cub Scout uniform at the time. The soldiers confiscated his Louisville Slugger baseball bat because it was a “weapon.” And I am tearing up as I type these sentences with the thought of such injustice.

Thank you for highlighting important issues in the name of Godly justice and righteousness.
__________

Dr. Bill Katip, President of Grace College & Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, observed that World War 2 internment camps also put away German and Italian Americans [reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_German_Americans]

During WWII, German nationals and German Americans in the US were detained and/or evicted from coastal areas on an individual basis. Although the War Department (now the Department of Defense) considered mass expulsion of ethnic Germans and ethnic Italians from the East or West coast areas for reasons of military security, it did not follow through with this. The numbers of people involved would have been overwhelming to manage. A total of 11,507 people of German ancestry were interned during the war…
__________

A reader responded to my “Message of the Month” on ADA (Americans with Disabilities) issues:

ADA – You said nothing about renters, landlords and service animals. We have a condo…we rent out to short term renters. We don’t permit renters to bring pets to the condo… Following months of legal research and professional drafting, the HOA recently updated its Rules & Regulations and CC&Rs to prohibit owners from allowing short term renters to bring pets and imposes heavy fines on owners who violate the regulation. We were notified recently by the HOA that a renter brought a pet to our condo.

Here in part is [the rental Website’s] reply,” … the owner of the dog verbally told…that the animal was an ADA service animal. The conversation stopped right there, as [the rental entity] is prohibited by law to ask … a) for any documentation, b) to have the animal demonstrate the task it has been trained to perform, and c) to ask the owner what their disability is… The reality is, renters can lie and lawfully get away with it. As a Short Term Rental property owner, you have essentially no rights with regard to ADA service animals.” There are several points which may not be entirely accurate based on my reading of the ADA Code of Federal Regulations…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

March 2020 Newsletter

Posted on February 28, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”March 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Winter of 1968
in Indiana

My wife, Mary, is standing by our car and almost hidden by a tree. We are leaving for church on a Sunday morning. Two years later we were on our way to warm Southern California! Read on…

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Bible Insight—Youth in Leadership?

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
– 1 Timothy 4:12 (New International Version)

In January 1970, shortly after my 25th birthday, my wife and I boarded a plane in South Bend, Indiana to fly via Chicago to Los Angeles. The runway in South Bend required the use of a snowplow before the plane could land to get us. We found the Los Angeles area to be one fine place in January!

I was candidating to become the pastor of Los Altos Brethren Church in Long Beach. When the church extended a call to me a couple of weeks later, I accepted. We followed the plan to move in the summer, and I became the pastor of that church in August of 1970.

To a few who didn’t want me as pastor, I was “that kid.” I was having breakfast at Bob’s Big Boy one morning when another pastor phoned the restaurant to reach me. I saw the waitress come down the row of booths and ask at each table, “Are you a reverend?” But when she came to my table, she looked at me and walked right on to the next table!

I was pretty GREEN and I made my share of mistakes. But one thing I did rightly was to show respect to the older believers in the church and listen to them. (By “older” I mean those who were as I now am, 50 years later!)

The Apostle Paul’s words to young Timothy (1 Timothy 4:12 above) were relevant to me. Of course, Timothy was likely well into his 30’s and it’s a valid question to ask how far Paul’s words can be stretched to fit church leaders in their 20’s. Yes, I had my master’s degree from seminary and was trained in pastoral and theological matters, but was I seasoned enough to lead a congregation?

What should a young church leader do and not do?

First, the young leader must repudiate today’s “Cult of Youth.”
* This was strong in 1970, with the campus unrest and protests. Remember “You can’t trust anyone over thirty”? Of course, no one from that era still believes that!
The church should be a counter-culture to the “Cult of Youth.” Instead, in church life the “cult of youth” is as bad today as it was in 1970. Biblically speaking, the leader must be someone with knowledge and wisdom, who learns from the past and is seasoned by years of testing (Hebrews 5:18). Today the Apostle Paul could rightly insist, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are OLD, but set an example for the YOUNGER believers…”

Second, the young leader must avoid shooting his toes off by making foolish mistakes in words or actions, and especially in attitude. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” – Proverbs 16:18.

“You are to follow me because God put me over you!” (Pastor, where did you get the idea you alone are Spirit-filled and above accountability?)

“I’ve got the education to know what the issues are and what’s best for the church!” (But maybe you are answering questions no one is asking!)

“I just preach The Truth and let the chips fall where they may.” (You may find yourself in the “chipper”!)

“I unfold the Bible’s meaning in great depth.” (But you don’t need 50 minutes to do it. A 25-30 minute sermon will be a better sermon.
In seminary we thought ourselves to be clones of John MacArthur.)

What other presumptuous words, attitudes and actions can you think of?

Third, the young leader must follow the FULL meaning of 1 Tim. 4:12. The verse has a “do” phrase as well as a “don’t” phrase. If the young pastor wants to avoid being looked down on, this pastor must earn the people’s trust as a leader. And it is done by being “an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

My mentor in my early pastoral career (1968-70) was Pastor Gordon Bracker, under whom I served as associate pastor in Elkhart, Indiana. At my installation service in Long Beach in 1970 he gave me three words of advice in front of all, “Love the people, love the people, love the people.”

* TIME Magazine featured the “cult of youth” twice recently (Dec. 23-30, 2019 and Feb 3, 2020). Greta Thunberg, 16, is TIME’s “Person of the Year” showing “The Power of Youth.”
But the real “Persons of the Year” were the protestors in Hong Kong and Venezuela.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Message of the Month –
Settling ADA Issues Jesus’ Way

As I drove down a major 6-lane road in Long Beach I noticed a man in a wheelchair trying to navigate around a bus stop bench. He had to go into the street—into the right lane of traffic—to get around it.

When I got home I contacted City Hall to report the sidewalk blockage. Within a couple of days the bench was moved. ¡Problema completado! Issue over!

But that’s not how our litigious system for resolving ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues seems to work.

In the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach, full of small restaurants and stores, a law firm has joined with a disabled person to sue businesses that are not ADA-compliant in one way or another. In fact, this gentleman and his attorney’s firm have filed 650 lawsuits over ADA compliance. California leads the nation in such lawsuits (2444 in the first six months of 2019). Why shouldn’t it, when state law guarantees a prevailing plaintiff $4000 or more for each incident, plus legal fees?

Immigrant business owners easily find themselves victims of such lawsuits. Many of these hard-working people are not culturally accustomed to detailed regulations. So they might get sued, for example, for having a bathroom mirror a couple of inches too high.

Jesus’ teaching is contrary to a litigious spirit. Jesus taught people to attempt resolution of issues without first resorting to litigation. Jesus taught those offended by another’s wrongdoing to try to handle the matter privately between them before getting others involved.

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge…” – Matthew 5:25 (NIV)

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church…” – Matthew 18:15-16

The Apostle Paul explicitly forbade Christians being litigious with one another.

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? …Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! – 1 Corinthians 6:1,5,6

The answer to ADA non-compliance is neither to ignore violations nor to litigate them without giving the business a reasonable amount of time to comply.The Federal Government has a resolution process:

The ADA Mediation Program is an important part of ADA compliance. Using professional ADA-trained mediators throughout the United States, mediation is a confidential, voluntary way to resolve ADA complaints fairly and quickly. Types of complaints most appropriate for this program include barrier removal, program accessibility, effective communication, and modification of policies, practices, and procedures. [Source: ADA.gov]

This “grace period” provision, however, is resisted by those who want to milk the “system” and who don’t care who they hurt.

What more is to be said?
• We need more practice of “The Golden Rule.”
• Churches should lead the way and even do more than is required.
• Legislators must think more about the long-range likely consequences of laws they pass, and also unintentional consequences and the likely litigation a law may generate.
• State laws should be changed if necessary to allow reasonable time for compliance before citing a business for a violation.

Back to the man in the wheelchair whose path was blocked by a bench—maybe I should have referred him to a law firm specializing in ADA lawsuits and received a finder’s fee. The bench, then, might take months to be moved.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Back the Badge – Psalm 106:3
“Blessed are those who maintain justice.”

Chaplains are there to
“Back the Badge”

Chaplains play a very important role in the law enforcement community.

Most chaplains are ordained ministers. Sometimes chaplains have professional training in psychology. All chaplains are trained for their work and continue to be trained as they serve. Chaplaincy is a non-sectarian service, and all chaplains must take care to view it as such (for example, no proselytizing during a time of service as a chaplain).

I’ve been privileged to serve as a chaplain for the Seal Beach Police Department since 2001. I know it has been enriching for me and valuable for my pastoral work in my church. I’ve also been able to serve the community and department in meaningful ways.

Chaplains perform ceremonial roles and these can sometimes be significant (certainly more than just “blessing the cookies” at the end of a swearing-in ceremony). Conducting a funeral for someone in the law enforcement family is very important. In my own service, fulfilling ceremonial functions connected to a mass murder in Seal Beach in 2011 has been one of the most important roles I have ever undertaken.
Chaplains get to know the individual officers—their work and challenges especially—through “ride-alongs.”

Chaplains are called to respond to very difficult incidents—suicides, sudden or unexpected deaths, accidents, counseling situations, and more. Again, the mass murder (of 8) in Seal Beach was a defining moment in my life and my service and responding to it has been the most significant ministry I’ve had in fifty years of service as a minister. I still meet and pray with some family members of victims on the anniversary day of the killings (October 12).

Chaplains assist officers in many ways. One of the most important is assisting in a death notification, which can be about as horrible as one can imagine for the family or spouse or parent being notified.

Does your local law enforcement agency have the services of a chaplain? Information to get started is easy to find. You may contact me for any advice or assistance I can provide.

The best organization for chaplains is the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC): www.icpc4cops.org[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance –
Threats to the Religious Liberty of Parochial Schools

Parents spend over $5000 a year to send their children to St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Perhaps some do this from the secular desire to give their children a very good education. But many more do so in order that their children might learn in a distinctively Catholic environment.

To maintain a religious environment such as that at St. James, it is essential that religious schools be able to hire teachers devoted to their tenets of doctrine and worship and moral values. Religious education, after all, is more than having a cross or crucifix on the wall or saying some formalized prayers. If the education is genuine, it will strive to inculcate religious beliefs and worship and values deep into the hearts of the students. It will seek to relate faith to ALL subject matter, rather than make religion a superficial part of children’s education. That’s why such schools must be able to require “adherence of the heart” from its teachers.

In its “Statement of Philosophy” St. James School says, “We guide spiritual formation of the student in partnership with the parents. We strive to influence the moral values of the child and hope to help each strengthen his/her personal relationship with God.”

If parents don’t really want that, or if teachers don’t deeply believe that, they are free to move on to a school that fits their own philosophies of life. Parents are also free to use the public school system and save over $5000 a year.

It is therefore both sad and dangerous that the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has sided with two teachers (one from St. James School and another from Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Hermosa Beach, CA) rather than with their schools on the issue of dismissal from their teaching positions.

The two cases have been combined by the U.S. Supreme Court and the court will hear and decide them sometime in 2020-21.

I agree with the position of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty:
Religious institutions should be fully empowered to select their priests, rabbis, ministers and other religious teachers. The Supreme Court has acknowledged that right and all courts should respect that decision. Both church and state benefit when the state is not evaluating the internal decisions of a religious ministry.

Growing Restrictions on Religion in China
Last month I reported on the new (as of February 1) restrictions on religion in China. Here is a report on how funeral practices are being restricted. Imagine in America, if clergy were not allowed to officiate at funeral practices occurring outside the walls of a church, or even banning religious funerals altogether.

Christian funerals have been banned in some areas of China as the communist government begins to enforce a set of repressive regulations on religious practices.

In the eastern province of Zhejiang, the government has put in force a set of Regulations on Centralized Funeral Arrangement, which bans priests from attending funeral prayers outside a religious place.

The government claims the new rules aim to “get rid of bad funeral customs and establish a scientific, civilized and economical way of funerals.” [What in the world is a “scientific” way of doing funerals?]

“Clerical personnel are not allowed to participate in funerals” at homes and “no more than 10 family members of the deceased are allowed to read scriptures or sing hymns in a low voice,” the rules state.

– From Union of Catholic Asian News, February 3, 2020

On Feb. 11, Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, discussed the situation of the Church in China with the Catholic News Agency.

“More and more, the Church is under persecution [in China]—both the official Church and the underground…

“Even in the official church, the faithful are more and more controlled. On the top of the church they tell you to destroy the crosses, inside the church, they put the image of Xi Jinping—maybe not in the center, but in some place. Now they have to have the flag in the church, they have to sing the national anthem.

“People under 18 years of age are not allowed into churches, not allowed in any religious activity. Christmas is forbidden, in the whole country. Even the Bible should be re-translated, according to the Communist orthodoxy. So now we see more and more control on the Church, and there is a really a universal lamentation in the whole Church.”

[Note: One of my ministry foci is “Religious Freedom for All.” I support freedom of religion for Catholics as well as Protestants and non-Christian religions as well as Christianity. I also support those who hold no particular religious expression—their right not to be coerced by the state toward a particular faith—and the right of all not to be coerced toward any secular ideology.][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Great Wrong of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942
Highway 395 runs north/south on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. I have driven it many times on my way to backpacking or hiking in the Sierra or to visit Mammoth Lakes.

Along one bleak, arid segment of the highway you come to Manzanar, where 11,000 Japanese Americans were placed during World War II (120,000 were interned in ten relocation centers). I remember the first time I stopped there when the only thing to see was the old guard house at the entrance along with a couple of plaques. Even then, it was a very moving experience.

Now the location has a fine museum and you can drive around and see signs telling you what buildings were at various locations. Manzanar was not a “concentration camp” by any means, but it was not a retreat either. Winters were cold; summers very hot. The centers were essentially prisons for those who had done nothing wrong—they were simply Americans of Japanese descent.

In post-Pearl Harbor America there was much fear of what might happen on our West Coast. Would an attack come? Would people of Japanese descent support Japan? There was no evidence that they would and there were no acts by them against the U.S. Still, President Roosevelt, encouraged by California Governor Earl Warren, signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 that led to the internment camps.

Beside the forced and quick internments, these prisoners in most cases lost their livelihoods, possessions and properties.

As a descendent of German immigrants, how would I feel had the government rounded up German Americans and put them in such places?

Let the memory of this great wrong keep us from doing anything like it again.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

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Available: My Sermons at Grace Community Church of Seal Beach
To hear sermons I’ve delivered at Grace Community Church go to www.gracesealbeach.org and click “Sermons” under “Resources.”
You will see my name under “Sermons by speaker.”

Sample Sermon Titles:

• “The Holy City – Final Home” (Revelation 21-22)
• “Jeremiah: Right Man for the Right Hour (Jeremiah 1-20)
• “The Triumphs and Failures of Israel’s Greatest King (1 Kings 1-11)
• “Christian Freedom” (Romans 14:1-8) RECOMMENDED!
A sermon for the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation
• “Come, Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-42)

Available: Past Issues of this Newsletter

Website: www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

February 2020 Newsletter

Posted on January 31, 2020 by admin

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”“A Piece of My Mind”” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_custom_heading text=”February 2020 Newsletter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%232633ef” google_fonts=”font_family:Bitter%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

– Psalm 139:13-17 (NEV)

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Message of the Month—Guns & Churches & Faith in God

They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. – Micah 4:3b

Better not do that by yourself! You may end up dead and your country overrun by tyranny. The verse speaks of universal abandonment of weapons.

The prophecy, whether from Micah 4:3 or Isaiah 2:4, finds its realistic fulfillment in an ideal “Age to Come”. In that age there will be no need for weaponry of war, for:
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away. – Micah 4:1-3a

There will be no need for weaponry at home either. God will protect.
They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. – Micah 4:4

We should all work for a high measure of safety and consider this way and that way to accomplish it. But we must not be naïve about those who would do us harm, personally and as nations. Leave the promise in its context!

Israel’s Governor Nehemiah got it right! He knew the sinister capabilities of his foes, and he knew how to promote public safety:

And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. – Nehemiah 4:9

And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” – Nehemiah 7:3

Which brings us to the Sunday, December 29 shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in the Fort Worth suburb of White Settlement. Because of trained, armed church members, great loss of life was prevented (two worshippers and the assailant [red circle] were killed).

No defense can take the place of dedicated law enforcement officers who are willing to run toward danger to save lives. But officers are not ubiquitous and a wary and prepared citizenry will often be the first line of defense. *

Sheriff Bill Waybourn said it well: “Today evil walked boldly among us. But let me remind you, good people raised up and stopped it before it got worse.”

Jesus’ words to love our enemies and “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:44, 39) do not negate self-protection or armed officers. These words in The Sermon on the Mount may be referring to response to persecution.

At any rate, Jesus is not replacing the Old Testament’s Law of Moses with a new law of pacifism. Any interpretation of “The Sermon on the Mount” that puts it in conflict with the Law of Moses has somewhere missed the point.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,” Jesus said. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).
Jesus’ teaching will clarify, not nullify. His teaching lifts us above self-satisfying surface obedience to the heights of real obedience. Playing on the Latin superlative, Martin Luther said that in “The Sermon on the Mount” we have Mosissimus Moses—Moses to the “nth degree”.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott awarded the “Governor’s Medal of Courage” to Jack Wilson, who felled the shooter (within two seconds of the killer’s first shot, by my timing). Mr. Wilson wrote,

The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exist and I had to take out an active shooter in church. I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed.

A better application of sound theology to life would be hard to find.

I pray and yearn for the arrival of the “Better Age” and I join all people of good will who work hard for incremental progress. We can agree or disagree on the means to the end, but I have no room in my mind for wishful naiveté. “Praise the Lord but keep the powder dry” is still good advice.

Finally, I urge all places of worship that display a sign “No Weapons Permitted” to take it down. A person bent on violence isn’t going to obey it. Why would you assure him that he has little to fear at your soft target?

* Michael Bloomberg disagrees with this civilian action. “It’s the job of law enforcement to have guns and to decide when to shoot.” Had this happened, officers would have found a massacre.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Back the Badge – Psalm 106:3
“Blessed are those who maintain justice.”

Emotions still run deep in those who were connected in some way to the events forever known as “9/11”.

Beyond the emotions, real health concerns continue.
I witnessed this once when a speaker who was deployed to the World Trade Center site had to cough frequently during her presentation many years later.

A recent report shows an increasing number of cancers as the years pass, including leukemia, in WTC first responders (JNCI Cancer Spectrum journal, reported in The Wall Street Journal).

As of November, 2019, 241 police officers have died of “9/11” related illnesses—more than three times the 71 who died in the actual collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Twelve died in 2019, including most recently:

August 29 – Cayuga County Undersheriff Stephen McLoud
September 8 – NYPD Detective Joseph Paolillo
September 19 – NYPD Officer Derrick Bishop
– these all died of cancer developed after the 9/11 recovery efforts.

Let us keep our memories focused lest we forget those who died and who are now dying as the event of 9/11 fades into the past, now 19 years later. The WTC toll of firefighters was 343 on that day and well over 500 now.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_single_image image=”1324″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”1325″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Religious Liberty Vigilance – China and the U.S.

“I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.”
– Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, 1808
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
– United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Article 18)

Once again “Religious Freedom Day” was observed on January 16. This date marks the 234th anniversary of adoption of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson. It stopped the practice of taxing people to pay for the support of the local clergy, and it protected the civil rights of people to express their religious beliefs free from discrimination.

Jefferson saw this as one of his greatest achievements, so much so that it is listed on his tombstone along with authorship of the Declaration of American Independence and Father of the University of Virginia. Oddly enough, he did not list “President of the United States”, perhaps considering that role less significant (those were different days for how the Executive Branch was viewed, but I digress).

Here is a summary of the statute, thanks to Gateways to Better Education:

An easier-to-understand paraphrase of the Virginia Statute
God created us to be free in our thinking. He is all-powerful but He chose not to force us to obey Him. Throughout history there have been people who have tried to force others to believe a certain way about God. Often times this has led to people being forced to believe what the ruler believed even if it wasn’t really true. We don’t want that.

It also isn’t right to force people to give money to religions that they don’t believe. It is best to let people support the religion they believe is the best one. The government shouldn’t even force people to support the religion they do believe is right. Each person should be free to support his religion in the way he thinks is best.

The rights we have, as citizens, shouldn’t depend on which religion we follow. The government shouldn’t tell people that they cannot hold a public office like mayor, or governor, or President just because of their religious beliefs. If the government did that, it would only cause people to lie about their beliefs. They might say they believe this or that religion just to run for political office. Of course, it would be wrong for people to lie about their religious beliefs, but it would also be wrong for the government to tempt people to lie by saying that only people who believe a certain way can be in politics. The government’s job is to help keep a peaceful society, not to tell people what religion to follow.

Truth is a wonderful thing. Truth can defend itself if you just let it be told. People need to be free to talk about what they believe is the truth about God.

Because of all this, we, the leaders of the state of Virginia, have decided the government should not force anybody to follow a religion, nor should the government force anybody to pay money to support a religion. People should decide this for themselves. Also, the government shouldn’t hassle people because of the religion they follow. Instead, everybody should be free to follow, and talk about, their religion.

We know that we are elected by the people to make decisions for right now. We know that in the future some group of Virginia’s leaders may decide to change this law. But, if they did that, we want to say right now that would be wrong, because God created us to be free.

Contrast America’s “separation of church and state” from what is about to happen in China, as of February 1. Be thankful for our First Amendment and the freedoms derived from it. And pray for suppressed and persecuted Christians and for others who will experience harm from this great intrusion by the Chinese government into the affairs of religion as it tries to make the church a mouthpiece for Communist socialism.

Here is what will soon happen:
Beijing, China, Jan 6, 2020 (Catholic News Agency) – China will enforce new restrictions on religious groups, organizations, meetings, and other related events starting on Feb 1.

The country’s state-controlled media announced the new policy on Dec. 30, after Chinese authorities moved to further suppress Catholics in the Archdiocese of Fuzhou who are refusing to join the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

According to UCA News, the new “Administrative Measures for Religious Groups,” which consists of six sections and 41 articles, will control every aspect of religious activity within China, and will mandate that all religions and believers in China comply with regulations issued by the Chinese Communist Party, which must be acknowledged as the higher authority.

“Religious organizations must adhere to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, observe the constitution, laws, regulations, ordinances and policies, adhere to the principle of independence and self-government, adhere to the directives on religions in China, implementing the values of socialism,” says Article 5 of the new policies.

In Article 17 states that “religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party,” as well as requiring “religious personnel and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, supporting the socialist system, adhering to and following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

All this was not supposed to happen! Note this critical assessment from the Catholic Crisis Magazine (January 9):
Under this pontificate [Pope Francis]… the Holy See made a deal with the communists [September 22, 2019].

…In return for the Vatican recognizing some of the “patriotic” bishops as legitimate, they declared the Pope to be head of the Church. Meanwhile, the faithful in China got nothing. As retired Hong Kong Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Zen declared the previous day, the Holy See was “giving the flock into the mouths of the wolves.”

So it has proved. Since then persecution of the Church has increased, with churches being destroyed, children prevented from attending Mass, and new regulations requiring recognized religious groups—including the now semi-official Catholic Church in China—to render complete and total submission to the Communist Party. By any objective standard, Pope Francis’s China policy has been a complete and utter failure. A martyr Church has been betrayed—we must hope—unwittingly.

How the church adjusts to a hostile government or culture is not an easy question to answer. What can be yielded to protect what dare not be yielded? Maybe we better start sharpening our answers to this question in America.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Bible Insight—Finding Truth in the Book of Revelation

Everyone yearns for a better tomorrow. We see this especially in an election period when candidates out-do one another with promises.

The Book of Revelation takes us through the turmoil and trials of life and leads us to a better tomorrow—an eternal city. Interpretations abound on how to understand this fascinating and yet bewildering book. Here are my guidelines:

1. Always keep this fundamental principle of interpretation in mind: The Book of Revelation was written to seven existing churches in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Read chapters 1-3 to see this fact. It had great significance to First Century Christians facing severe testings. Any interpretation of this book that does not see it through the eyes of these believers is suspect!

2. Try reading this book doxologically – as a Book of Worship (which it certainly is). The book has many themes and poetry that have led to rich Christian music. For examples, check out these passages: 1:4-7; 4:6-11; 5:6-14; 11:15-18; 15:3-4; 19:1-8 and “The Holy City” by Frederic Weatherly (1892).

3. The Book of Revelation has lots of symbolism and drama (like The Chronicles of Narnia) —don’t get too dogmatic over the details! The details add to the drama without each of them calling for interpretive significance.

4. The Book of Revelation depicts heaven and earth as places of conflict between good and evil. Experience tells us that’s true on earth, but are we open to the possibility of such conflict happening in the unseen realm of spirits?

5. The book’s basic message is this: The present times are tough—it may look like evil is winning. But God still rules. His plan is on schedule. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (11:15).

6. The book’s challenge is: Stay strong, resist evil, keep the faith—Judgment Day is coming, with vindication and reward for the “overcomer.”

7. Finally, the Book of Revelation extends this invitation to everyone: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come. And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (22:17). This invitation to come to Jesus still stands.

Available: My Message on the Book of Revelation

To hear my December 29, 2019 message on the Book of Revelation, go to www.gracesealbeach.org and click “Sermons” under “Resources.”
You will see my name under “Sermons by speaker.”

Unintended Humor
Excuse me if I saw just a little bit of humor in the juxtaposition of the titles of these two opinion columns in The Washington Post on Jan. 8 –

“Want an end to wars? Let women run the world.”

“Elizabeth Warren tries to pick a fight with Joe Biden.”

Pastors—Keep Your Politics Out of Your Message
A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that almost half (45%) of people who attend services at least a few times a year are “unsure” of their clergy’s partisan leanings. Over a quarter (27%) say their clergy are a mix of both parties, while 16 percent say they lean Republican and 11 percent say they lean Democrat. 72% say their pastor has “about the right amount” of discussion about politics in sermons.
– Christianity Today (on line), January 15, 2020

I don’t think a pastor’s political affiliation should be made known at any church gathering or via any church communication instrument.

Website: www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

Contact me at: donaldshoemakerministries@verizon.net[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]