"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country ----a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16
Dan B. Allender, PH.D, identifies four types of 'pain handlers' in his first chapter of The Healing Path: How The Hurts In Your Past Can Lead You To A More Abundant Life. One, which I think I can most readily identify with, is the paranoid. The one who avoids pain (as much as is illusionarily possible) by seeing it everywhere and with everyone. Avoiding disappointment by never being surprised by sorrow. The fatalist, who accepts pain as normal and part of the 'luck' of life, is too far from what I think. I don't believe pain is normal, though it seems to be on intimate terms with me and my life.
The hero, I think, is most like a friend of mine, who avoids pain by seizing it as an opportunity to show how tough they are, growing beyond the requirement (again, illusionarily so) of acknowledging need or weakness. The optimist, as Allender says, is most of the 'churchy' crowd….where if pain exists it must be dispelled by seeing the 'good' in everything else.
Allender seems to have the cost of pain down too, where it saps at our God-image as human beings; hammering cracks in the bowl of faith, hope, and love to the point where our faith shatters upon the impact, our hope grows dimmer in the waiting, and we shutter ourselves from the cost of human love.
Christ said that to follow Him was to suffer, like He did. To gather up our cross and lug it down the city streets towards that hill where we can see the beginnings of our own crucifixion….the gathered crowds, the soldiers with hammer and nails, and the smell of decayed dreams scattered in the stiff breeze. We know its coming, at least the paranoiacs among us do, and can already feel the painful piercing of those nails.
Funny how we have just celebrated the remembrance of that journey, ending after three years of powerful ministry and works…..so powerful that the Pharisees moved after His death to make sure that 'lies' were not enduring through the apostles' thief of the body and don't see beyond the crucifixion in our own lives. Beyond that sectionalized part of Christ's suffering, Isaiah wrote this of Him:
"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:3 ESV)
We often talk about the duality of Christ; fully man and fully God. But we never talk about how that perspective applies to us.
From the H.I.M. Change class I just attended, (www.h.i.m.org) when we have a conversion (coming to Christ for the salvation gift), it leads to holiness which God causes additions to our faith because of the given new nature that leads to godliness, so that we can be an example for those around us. Godliness is part of the process in which we walk towards in this journey to our new country, a kingdom where a city has been prepared by God for us. So we obtain, in Christ, godliness and holiness, within the salvation gift. But, do we truly understand that godliness, even comprehend the holiness which is our new birthright?
Christ was human, born of a virgin and raised as a Jewish carpenter's son. He suffered the scraps and bruises often associated with childhood, He saw the joys, fears, and pains of those who He called friend in the context of the moment, who He called neighbor in the community of man. He stood within the oversight of the Roman government, watched His earthly father suffer through business contracts failing, I'm sure, as well as times of profitability. He saw family pass away and saw marriages good and bad. He experienced life, with the power of God harnessed to the will and timing of His heavenly Father. What kind of conflicts did He experience, knowing that He was fully God, while being fully human?
He was acquainted with grief, He knew sorrow beyond the time surrounding the Cross. And yet, He kept on….going about His Father's business and subjecting Himself to His Father's will. To the point of death, and beyond.
To get to the Resurrection, He had to go through the suffering and sorrow of the Cross. To gain salvation , He had to pay the price of mankind's sinful nature. To bring about redemption, He suffered the life of a man, fully, while being fully God.
Paul told us to consider it pure joy to suffer for the sake of Christ. What truly does that suffering look like?
I think I am beginning to find out.
Fully.
There has always been struggle, conflict, pain, and sorrow in my life; like a constant companion that never truly goes away. A father who left at five, a mother who abandoned at six, broken marriages, sibling conflict that escalated to physical, a wife who decided that someone else deserved what she had given to me, and loves unrecoverable from the circumstances of life. Life hasn't ever been something to live, but something to endure. And hope for a short span.
Where is the holiness, godliness, love and example in that? Did Jesus experience such pain and sorrow in His human life? Situations may have been different, but the sorrow felt was more than I've ever had to endure.
And I have endured badly.
If we are to follow Christ, if we are to expect and experience sorrows such as our Savior did, and to endure those sufferings with the same determination and hope that Christ taught us and modeled for us….what would that look like and how, in our duality of nature; corrupt sinful old nature against the spirit of the new nature, are we supposed to show such devotion…to the Father's will and the Father's plan?
In the deserts of our lives, where the harshness of the sun becomes a searing enemy and the dryness of the landscape quenches even the heartiest of faithful servants, the foolishness of our own authority and power lay naked upon the yellowed ground stripped bare by the grittiness of the wind-blown sand. Our hearts, broken yet again, unfulfilled and unquenched, cry out in the fullness of pain. And we stand wishing for the hope that sustains us comfortably in the goodness of life's experiences would disappear and leave us for death's welcomed embrace….but it endures, it flourishes in the brutality of the desert.
There, sunburned to the third degree and with all human possibility of deliverance savagely beaten to death…we lose pretense and imagination, sustainable hope and peace. We chase after mirages for a while, disappointments building on disappointments as the illusions are exposed and the sand becomes as much a piece of clothing as our tattered garments that hang from our gaunt frames. We come to the point where our reaction to the madness of living dually in a world that whispers unity will pull us closer to the God we face in the darkness of our souls or we give in to the madness of living sinful and worldly in a world that cannot save us; living a life that will end instead of ending that life for the life everlasting.
I am there; in that shadow land between absolute madness and absolute surrender. God on one hand, offering a relationship of awesome power and splendor amid the squalor of this world's sinfulness. The world, on the other hand, offering a way of absolute madness….where the illusions of instanteous gratification and fulfilled desire are of a temporary nature and will, under the consumption of too much of the desert's sand, will kill as surely as a cancer.
There is no longer a belief in "just a little longer" will I have to endure before something will happen; God will find some long-lost relative to solve the financial struggles with the fat of an inheritance, love will find a way to beat the circumstances that keeps it at bay; felt and desired, but unfulfilled, and the suffering of the moment will give way to the peace promised.
"faith in the unseen" or belief in the mirage of this world?
The enemy stands before me, like a salesman intimately aware of my likes, dislikes, wants and desires……offering illusion after illusion like prancing ponies in a stage show for my enjoyment….if I chose the madness that lurks within the darkness of the desert night. He offers logical, progressive, and encompassing explanations for the illogical and foolishness of the unknown that is the alternative to his offerings. Custom-tailored to my ears. Displays built only with me in mind.
Silently, mute in its simplicity and untarnished by the blasting sand, stands a door…..no displays of promised destinations, no stoutness of build or craftsmanship, or even a handle in which to open it for a quick peek….shuddering and swaying in the full gale of the desert's design, only a simple and unadorned sign graces its wooden frame: Enter, all who seek.
Do I believe in the knowledge that I have of a God who has me in His hand, who has a plan for me that simply doesn't fit into the worldly plan of those mad with the illusions of religion, universalist unity, and commonality of our own 'godness'?
Or do I accept the fragility of the illusionary mirages; what my human eyes can see, what my human heart can feel, and what my human hands can touch; displayed in all their splendor on the hot, burning sands before me?
No one can serve two masters.
I can be 'all that I want to be' within the illusion of the world…..
Or I can be "despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief……"
A life of love unfulfilled, of peace unattained, and of success in finances, parenting, and career undiscovered……
Or a life surrender of my soul for the illusions of this world?
I'm going to chose the door, God help me….I'm going to chose the door.
For the hope that remains, for the hope that endures….
So help me God…..
What will you chose?
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14
Monday, October 20
Men, will you lead?
"I see what you've done. Now see what I've done. I've opened a door that no one can slam shut. You don't have much strength; I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn't deny me when times were tough." Revelation 3:8
A brother in Christ sent this to me in response to a prayer request. It hasn't been a real 'walk in the Park' since that February day back in 2004 when I heard God call me back into the fold….especially since that October day in Illinois where He placed a call of ministry upon my heart.
It has been fraught with struggles, failures, and stress. There has been loss; there has been accountability and sorrow over my own failings and those of others. There hasn't been the abundance of wealth, health, or peace…well, at least the first two….that many gospels today proclaim is the Christian's 'birthright.'
It hasn't been pleasant, some of the places where God has taken me. It hasn't been without self-incrimination or doubt, a desire to 'not go there', and a fight to indeed 'go where no man has travelled before' in the depth of my dark soul……to shine the light upon the decay and sin there, and burn it in the righteous fire of the Most High.
My brother told me he didn't know what the 'door' would be, or what would manifest itself in my life to show God's favor for not 'denying Him in rough times.' God will bless me, this I know for sure; whether it is in this life or the eternal one that is open for debate. God will do what brings total glory and honor to Him, not what we feel is best for us, necessarily. The closer we get in our relationship to God, the more we realize how blessed we are even in the hurricane winds of trials and persecution.
Pastor Jim spoke of Hosea this Sunday past; a book most pastors he said weren't too eager to pursue in their sermons. After all, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute, who then continues her trade and who Hosea has to eventually buy back from her 'pimp.' Not a very exciting or glamorous tale of following God's lead! Yet, as Pastor Jim said, there is a reason and he thinks the reason is so that Hosea would know how God felt about Israel. It wasn't the verses that Pastor Jim spoke of that hit me between the eyes, but one a few chapters in…a few verses down….
"Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery."I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin!" Hosea 4:13c-14 (NIV)
I have said over and over in my blog that it is MEN who have the capability, under the authority and direction of God, to turn the cultural shift to the liberal, Universalist side back to a God-ordained, santicified path to restoration and healing. Men, who under the silence of Adam's sin, have given up their purpose as Spiritual leaders, and defenders of the beauty in a world of chaos and disorder, can redeem themselves and their families by being godly men.
It is through our own 'silence' that we are allowing this world to slide further and further away from God. It is not our daughters or our daughter-in-laws that will be punished but they will feel the effects of masculinity under sinful pursuits through our own failings to be men of the Word.
Maybe the verse my brother gave me wasn't intended just for me, but for all men in pursuit of a God most-powerful, most-holy, and most-merciful………
He has locked the door open for Godly men to step forward and lead. Not with the promise of renewed strength or power.....but the correct use of the power and strength already given....to the point of exhaustion.....
God calls for men to be Men of God
Will you be one of them?
A brother in Christ sent this to me in response to a prayer request. It hasn't been a real 'walk in the Park' since that February day back in 2004 when I heard God call me back into the fold….especially since that October day in Illinois where He placed a call of ministry upon my heart.
It has been fraught with struggles, failures, and stress. There has been loss; there has been accountability and sorrow over my own failings and those of others. There hasn't been the abundance of wealth, health, or peace…well, at least the first two….that many gospels today proclaim is the Christian's 'birthright.'
It hasn't been pleasant, some of the places where God has taken me. It hasn't been without self-incrimination or doubt, a desire to 'not go there', and a fight to indeed 'go where no man has travelled before' in the depth of my dark soul……to shine the light upon the decay and sin there, and burn it in the righteous fire of the Most High.
My brother told me he didn't know what the 'door' would be, or what would manifest itself in my life to show God's favor for not 'denying Him in rough times.' God will bless me, this I know for sure; whether it is in this life or the eternal one that is open for debate. God will do what brings total glory and honor to Him, not what we feel is best for us, necessarily. The closer we get in our relationship to God, the more we realize how blessed we are even in the hurricane winds of trials and persecution.
Pastor Jim spoke of Hosea this Sunday past; a book most pastors he said weren't too eager to pursue in their sermons. After all, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute, who then continues her trade and who Hosea has to eventually buy back from her 'pimp.' Not a very exciting or glamorous tale of following God's lead! Yet, as Pastor Jim said, there is a reason and he thinks the reason is so that Hosea would know how God felt about Israel. It wasn't the verses that Pastor Jim spoke of that hit me between the eyes, but one a few chapters in…a few verses down….
"Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery."I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin!" Hosea 4:13c-14 (NIV)
I have said over and over in my blog that it is MEN who have the capability, under the authority and direction of God, to turn the cultural shift to the liberal, Universalist side back to a God-ordained, santicified path to restoration and healing. Men, who under the silence of Adam's sin, have given up their purpose as Spiritual leaders, and defenders of the beauty in a world of chaos and disorder, can redeem themselves and their families by being godly men.
It is through our own 'silence' that we are allowing this world to slide further and further away from God. It is not our daughters or our daughter-in-laws that will be punished but they will feel the effects of masculinity under sinful pursuits through our own failings to be men of the Word.
Maybe the verse my brother gave me wasn't intended just for me, but for all men in pursuit of a God most-powerful, most-holy, and most-merciful………
He has locked the door open for Godly men to step forward and lead. Not with the promise of renewed strength or power.....but the correct use of the power and strength already given....to the point of exhaustion.....
God calls for men to be Men of God
Will you be one of them?
Tuesday, September 30
Persecution.......American style....
"If the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not give a note on the horn, and the people have no word of the danger, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them; he will be taken away in his sin, but I will make the watchman responsible for his blood." Ezekiel 33:6 (BBE)
I have often mentioned a desire to belong to a Christian community that is bold in their faith enough to stand against the secular desire to silence people of the Christian faith. To stand without regret in a manner that reflects the boldness of God and the declaration of their right to worship. Not to do so in a way that is opposite of what the Bible declares us to be, but refusing to allow limitations to be unfairly imposed because they declare themselves to be evangelical born-again Christians.
It appears that I've found a Pastor who isn't afraid to declare that he struggles, is open and direct in his teachings, and will stand upon the call to lead the faithful in the battle to preach the Word of God, regardless of what others might do to stop him or the faithful he shepherds.
The current form of battle which Pastor Combs and his congregation at Faith Baptist are involved in differs depending on who you ask.
The congregation says that the Township of Waterford is persecuting the church in violation of their rights.
The Waterford Township Supervisor, Carl Solden, says that the issue isn't one of a First Amendment right to freely exercise religion but one simply of a noise complaint filed by one of the church's geographical neighbors, Timothy Carlson.
Carlson filed a lawsuit in February with the Oakland County Courts seeking a court order for the reduction of volume used in the worship service which features 'rock music' and other songs. "When you can hear the noise, inside a residence across the street with the doors and windows closed, it's too loud," said Carlson's lawyer, Andrew Paluda.
Pastor Jim Combs first contacted the Thomas More Law Center in late October 2007, after the first in a series of police raids.
Uniformed Waterford Police raided the church without any warrant and detained Campus Pastor Mark Kerr, performing an interrogation and unlawfully seizing his Driver's license. During a Wednesday night youth service, uniformed Township police, led by the Township prosecutor, burst into the Church’s sanctuary where the Church’s “Praise and Worship” band was warming up. The prosecutor ordered the officers to take the names and addresses of all the young people on stage so that they could be charged with “disorderly conduct. “ On a Sunday, Waterford Township police again raided Faith Baptist, this time during the Pastor Comb’s evening sermon, attempting to disrupt the service by ordering the "Praise and Worship" band members out to surrender their driver's licenses for personal information. An Assistant Pastor volunteered to bring the members to the police to prevent an uproar with the congregation and the police backed down. In another incident, the Township prosecutor was caught conducting personal surveillance on the Church from his parked car just days later.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a federal lawsuit in March against the Waterford Township supervisor, prosecutor and two high ranking police officials because of the police incursions into the church and threats made by the Township prosecutor to continue each time music was heard coming from the church walls.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for TMLC said, “Uniformed police officers entering a church during religious services and young church members being threatened with prosecution is something that happens in Communist China - not in America. “
Faith Baptist members have allegated police harassment in the forms of such raids are to silence their right to worship which violate their Free Exercise of religion, Free Speech and Freedom of Association rights under both the Michigan and the United States Constitutions . The actions of police have had a chilling effect on worship, the suit claims, which is seeking a cessation of the raiding tactics and monetary damages.
Thompson spoke of why Faith Baptist filed the counter lawsuit, “It is clear that Waterford Township authorities targeted Faith Baptist Church because of the type of religious music it uses in its services. Some of the individual police officers involved in the raids - apparently more sensitive to the constitutional protections surrounding religion than were their superiors - personally apologized afterwards.
Solden denies any harassment from the Township or the Police Department, saying "We're trying to get this resolved in a reasonable way."
Such 'reasonable' methods used by the Waterford Township sound more like European tactics involving silencing the Christian faith than tolerance for all Americans to pursue the religious worship they please. Or even the Chinese heavy handed persecution of the Christians within their borders, forcing many to live underground in "house" churches. Or even the historical persecution of the faithful in the annuals of European history. Yet, this isn't making alot of news in the liberal media outlets. One might say that it's because of a 'low news status' or maybe 'no new news.'
Why then, when the Al-Isah Islamic Center wanted to sound the muslim call to prayer in Hamtramck, a previously predominantly Catholic and Polish community, was there such an outcry against those who opposed it? The Center wanted to use loudspeakers to sound the call throughout the community and the media was quick to point out that the Christian churches in the area traditionally sounded bells that could be heard for miles. The Center was eventually given permission.
Waterford is not alone in its pursuit of congregations within their jurisdictions, with such legal battles happening on an alarming basis throughout the nation. In our 'own' backyard, there are many cities who are using the legal system in an effort to curb churches. The City of Southfield lost a case in 2007 against Lighthouse Community Church of God under the Religious Land Use and Institutions Persons Act, which prevents governments from zoning out houses of worship in their communities. Dan Dalton, a Royal Oak attorney who represented the church in the case said, " The cities have, for the past 200 years or so, said, 'We'll tell you where you can be because we don't want to lose tax base.' " Churches are non-taxed, either in tithing given or properties owned. It is not the churches, Dalton claim, that are wanting to be in court.
Faith Baptist Church, headed by Pastor Jim Combs, has a congregation of 10,000 members and conducts nondenominational, contemporary religious services on three different campuses. The police raids targeted the Waterford Township campus with 5,000 members. I attend his church centrally located between the two other campuses in Holly, Michigan named The River. I live next store to the College Street campus, which is a converted school building. The congregation is approximately 1,000 (by my observation) that meet in the Holly High School Auditorium every Sunday at 9:30 am.
In biblical times, a trumpet (hebrew word is "shofar") was sounded to warn people of impending danger, among other reasons. As the country moves towards a more liberal, universalistic religious attitude, the persecution and limiting of the Christian faith will only get worse as the world progresses towards the day of the Lord's Return.
We continue to deal with the effects of 'feminizing' men, killing our future generations in the womb, removing the reminders and heritage of our Christian faith upon the culture, and watering down the uncomfortable Truth that is evidenced in the Biblical scriptures.
We often look towards churches and Pastors like Jim Combs and the members of Faith Baptist as being poor Christians because they chose not to back down or apologize for their faith and stand upon the liberties of this country to pursue those rights to express their belief and joy in Jesus Christ. This country has moved further left as it continues to allow the dream of the founding fathers, who spilled their own blood and the blood of their families in an effort to allow themselves to be free to worship as they pleased, is being rewritten into a dream of liberal universalism of an subjective truth called "modern" Religion.
Though the country was not founded as a Christian nation, the faith and its tenents were used in the formation of the government and the laws by which it was once governed. The government is nothing like what it was originally formed to be; the judicial branch is making the laws, the legislative branch is a collection of self-perserving interests, and the executive branch is cut off from coordination of the two.
As we move closer and closer to an election of a President who no longer holds the heritage and value of the evangelical faith as paramount, who takes the oath to preserve, defend, and protect the original Constitution of the United States of America but rather opts for a more liberal and culturally shifting interpetation of the dream that once gave birth to a nation of hope, it will be the faithful who stand regardless of the persecution and devaluing of their beliefs upon the fields of spiritual battle and raise their swords and shields high.
The sword is swinging and the faithful are its target.
It is time to sound the shofar, to warn of the dangers that await this once-great nation as it heads into the darkness of humanism, universalism, and atheism. We have forgotten the face of our Father.
We have forgotten who's we are.
No longer is silent faith acceptable, if it ever was. It is time to preach the Good News, to show those we love and care for, as well as the stranger on the street, that salvation is available and soon, before we know it, the choice will no longer be accessible as our Lord returns.
The fields are ripe for harvest, yet the workers seem to be on a lunch break.
Pastor Combs and the congregation of Faith Baptist aren't the first and hopefully the new leadership of the Christian faith that is being developed today will not forget their charge; to preach the Gospel and to stand firm in their faith.
I think I've found my home for the season God has me here.
Resources:
http://journals.aol.com/kingbing1/FortiFi/entries/2008/04/02/churchs-music-leads-to-lawsuits-members-of-faith-baptist-church-in-waterford-michigan-says-townsh/4258
http://thomaslawcenter.com
I have often mentioned a desire to belong to a Christian community that is bold in their faith enough to stand against the secular desire to silence people of the Christian faith. To stand without regret in a manner that reflects the boldness of God and the declaration of their right to worship. Not to do so in a way that is opposite of what the Bible declares us to be, but refusing to allow limitations to be unfairly imposed because they declare themselves to be evangelical born-again Christians.
It appears that I've found a Pastor who isn't afraid to declare that he struggles, is open and direct in his teachings, and will stand upon the call to lead the faithful in the battle to preach the Word of God, regardless of what others might do to stop him or the faithful he shepherds.
The current form of battle which Pastor Combs and his congregation at Faith Baptist are involved in differs depending on who you ask.
The congregation says that the Township of Waterford is persecuting the church in violation of their rights.
The Waterford Township Supervisor, Carl Solden, says that the issue isn't one of a First Amendment right to freely exercise religion but one simply of a noise complaint filed by one of the church's geographical neighbors, Timothy Carlson.
Carlson filed a lawsuit in February with the Oakland County Courts seeking a court order for the reduction of volume used in the worship service which features 'rock music' and other songs. "When you can hear the noise, inside a residence across the street with the doors and windows closed, it's too loud," said Carlson's lawyer, Andrew Paluda.
Pastor Jim Combs first contacted the Thomas More Law Center in late October 2007, after the first in a series of police raids.
Uniformed Waterford Police raided the church without any warrant and detained Campus Pastor Mark Kerr, performing an interrogation and unlawfully seizing his Driver's license. During a Wednesday night youth service, uniformed Township police, led by the Township prosecutor, burst into the Church’s sanctuary where the Church’s “Praise and Worship” band was warming up. The prosecutor ordered the officers to take the names and addresses of all the young people on stage so that they could be charged with “disorderly conduct. “ On a Sunday, Waterford Township police again raided Faith Baptist, this time during the Pastor Comb’s evening sermon, attempting to disrupt the service by ordering the "Praise and Worship" band members out to surrender their driver's licenses for personal information. An Assistant Pastor volunteered to bring the members to the police to prevent an uproar with the congregation and the police backed down. In another incident, the Township prosecutor was caught conducting personal surveillance on the Church from his parked car just days later.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a federal lawsuit in March against the Waterford Township supervisor, prosecutor and two high ranking police officials because of the police incursions into the church and threats made by the Township prosecutor to continue each time music was heard coming from the church walls.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for TMLC said, “Uniformed police officers entering a church during religious services and young church members being threatened with prosecution is something that happens in Communist China - not in America. “
Faith Baptist members have allegated police harassment in the forms of such raids are to silence their right to worship which violate their Free Exercise of religion, Free Speech and Freedom of Association rights under both the Michigan and the United States Constitutions . The actions of police have had a chilling effect on worship, the suit claims, which is seeking a cessation of the raiding tactics and monetary damages.
Thompson spoke of why Faith Baptist filed the counter lawsuit, “It is clear that Waterford Township authorities targeted Faith Baptist Church because of the type of religious music it uses in its services. Some of the individual police officers involved in the raids - apparently more sensitive to the constitutional protections surrounding religion than were their superiors - personally apologized afterwards.
Solden denies any harassment from the Township or the Police Department, saying "We're trying to get this resolved in a reasonable way."
Such 'reasonable' methods used by the Waterford Township sound more like European tactics involving silencing the Christian faith than tolerance for all Americans to pursue the religious worship they please. Or even the Chinese heavy handed persecution of the Christians within their borders, forcing many to live underground in "house" churches. Or even the historical persecution of the faithful in the annuals of European history. Yet, this isn't making alot of news in the liberal media outlets. One might say that it's because of a 'low news status' or maybe 'no new news.'
Why then, when the Al-Isah Islamic Center wanted to sound the muslim call to prayer in Hamtramck, a previously predominantly Catholic and Polish community, was there such an outcry against those who opposed it? The Center wanted to use loudspeakers to sound the call throughout the community and the media was quick to point out that the Christian churches in the area traditionally sounded bells that could be heard for miles. The Center was eventually given permission.
Waterford is not alone in its pursuit of congregations within their jurisdictions, with such legal battles happening on an alarming basis throughout the nation. In our 'own' backyard, there are many cities who are using the legal system in an effort to curb churches. The City of Southfield lost a case in 2007 against Lighthouse Community Church of God under the Religious Land Use and Institutions Persons Act, which prevents governments from zoning out houses of worship in their communities. Dan Dalton, a Royal Oak attorney who represented the church in the case said, " The cities have, for the past 200 years or so, said, 'We'll tell you where you can be because we don't want to lose tax base.' " Churches are non-taxed, either in tithing given or properties owned. It is not the churches, Dalton claim, that are wanting to be in court.
Faith Baptist Church, headed by Pastor Jim Combs, has a congregation of 10,000 members and conducts nondenominational, contemporary religious services on three different campuses. The police raids targeted the Waterford Township campus with 5,000 members. I attend his church centrally located between the two other campuses in Holly, Michigan named The River. I live next store to the College Street campus, which is a converted school building. The congregation is approximately 1,000 (by my observation) that meet in the Holly High School Auditorium every Sunday at 9:30 am.
In biblical times, a trumpet (hebrew word is "shofar") was sounded to warn people of impending danger, among other reasons. As the country moves towards a more liberal, universalistic religious attitude, the persecution and limiting of the Christian faith will only get worse as the world progresses towards the day of the Lord's Return.
We continue to deal with the effects of 'feminizing' men, killing our future generations in the womb, removing the reminders and heritage of our Christian faith upon the culture, and watering down the uncomfortable Truth that is evidenced in the Biblical scriptures.
We often look towards churches and Pastors like Jim Combs and the members of Faith Baptist as being poor Christians because they chose not to back down or apologize for their faith and stand upon the liberties of this country to pursue those rights to express their belief and joy in Jesus Christ. This country has moved further left as it continues to allow the dream of the founding fathers, who spilled their own blood and the blood of their families in an effort to allow themselves to be free to worship as they pleased, is being rewritten into a dream of liberal universalism of an subjective truth called "modern" Religion.
Though the country was not founded as a Christian nation, the faith and its tenents were used in the formation of the government and the laws by which it was once governed. The government is nothing like what it was originally formed to be; the judicial branch is making the laws, the legislative branch is a collection of self-perserving interests, and the executive branch is cut off from coordination of the two.
As we move closer and closer to an election of a President who no longer holds the heritage and value of the evangelical faith as paramount, who takes the oath to preserve, defend, and protect the original Constitution of the United States of America but rather opts for a more liberal and culturally shifting interpetation of the dream that once gave birth to a nation of hope, it will be the faithful who stand regardless of the persecution and devaluing of their beliefs upon the fields of spiritual battle and raise their swords and shields high.
The sword is swinging and the faithful are its target.
It is time to sound the shofar, to warn of the dangers that await this once-great nation as it heads into the darkness of humanism, universalism, and atheism. We have forgotten the face of our Father.
We have forgotten who's we are.
No longer is silent faith acceptable, if it ever was. It is time to preach the Good News, to show those we love and care for, as well as the stranger on the street, that salvation is available and soon, before we know it, the choice will no longer be accessible as our Lord returns.
The fields are ripe for harvest, yet the workers seem to be on a lunch break.
Pastor Combs and the congregation of Faith Baptist aren't the first and hopefully the new leadership of the Christian faith that is being developed today will not forget their charge; to preach the Gospel and to stand firm in their faith.
I think I've found my home for the season God has me here.
Resources:
http://journals.aol.com/kingbing1/FortiFi/entries/2008/04/02/churchs-music-leads-to-lawsuits-members-of-faith-baptist-church-in-waterford-michigan-says-townsh/4258
http://thomaslawcenter.com
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