Current Events

You and I are/should be appalled at the audacity of the intrusion last weekend where activists stormed into the church in St. Paul Minnesota.  But there’s a part of me that wants to say, “Thank you for this! Thank you for storming a church service, for scaring women and children, for claiming “journalism” when in reality it was a demonstration which violated the civil and religious rights of every church going American in this country. So thank you!”  Why “thank you?”  Simply, It’s a strong wake-up call to apathetic Christians in this country to stop being aloof to our society’s distorted views & influence.

We could make a comparison of this last weekend’s events to some of the event/circumstances that impacted Daniel in the Bible.

The danger in Minnesota was not lions. It was interruption. A demand that worship yield its moment. The test was quieter than Daniel’s, yet it asked a similar question. Would the gathered people allow prayer to be reshaped by pressure, or would they remain steady?

History shows how much hinges on moments like that. When churches learn to brace for intrusion, they often learn to edit themselves. Hymns shorten and sermons soften. Prayers become cautious. The change happens gradually, justified each step of the way. That pattern has appeared before, in places where ideology sought to reorder allegiance.

Daniel refused to edit his prayers. Daniel being arrested, thrown into a den of hungry lions, coming out unscathed, delivered by God Himself … that’s a great story, but don’t miss the point. The point is not the rescue. The point is the miracle that grew from the ordinary. Prayers were spoken when prayers became costly.

This is where the St. Paul moment presses the church toward clarity. There is positive hidden inside disruption, it’s called alertness. It wakes us while there is still room to choose our habits deliberately.

The call is not to outrage. Outrage burns energy without building endurance. The call is not to retreat. Retreat shrinks worship into something private and fragile. The call is preparation shaped by faithfulness.

I’m talking about pastor’s preaching with boldness. I’m talking about knees meeting the floor when no one is watching. I’m talking about worship unhindered and unwavering. This is the type of unwavering worship the martyrs exemplified as they were being burned and ripped apart, refusing to denounce their allegiance to God almighty.

These practices train believers to stand when standing costs something. Daniel did not discover courage under pressure. Martyrs did not wake up one day and decide where their allegiance was. Courage found them ready because they had practiced obedience when the cost felt small. For Daniel the habit was solidified over the course of a lifetime of unwavering allegiance to the God of the universe, not the kings of the land.

The church today stands at a similar threshold. The warning has sounded softly. A sanctuary was interrupted and a service was paused. The question now rests with us. How will we respond before pressure hardens?

The answer requires resolve. Gathering matters. Public prayer matters. Scripture read aloud matters. Singing without embarrassment matters. These acts declare allegiance without shouting. They shape souls that do not bend easily.

Daniel faced his windows toward Jerusalem because promise oriented his prayers. The church must decide where its windows face. Toward convenience, or toward the kingdom that outlasts empires.

May we pray daily for our country & stand boldly for Christ, Pastor Larry