Our “City by the Bay”
In his article “‘1917’ and Remembering Who We Are”, Bishop Robert Barron invokes the great thinkers and writers of the day; Tillich, Tolkien, Wittgenstein, and Hemingway before presenting the palate they worked from, which I’ve borrowed for today’s Tune-up title. Barron observes that the 1st World “War to end all wars” was mostly all Christians killing Christians. He goes on to write, “Something broke in the Christian culture, and we’ve never recovered from it.” And leaves us with this dark thought to ponder, “And I wonder whether we might look long and hard at this wonderful and disturbing film in order to see what happens when Christians forget who they are.” Who can say?
The tension, apprehension, and fear was so thick in the air on the eve of our march on Richmond this past Monday, it inspired our Prayer & Fast Wednesday two days later;
I was struck by the “doom & gloom” fears expressed to me by SO many this past week over what ended up being a perfectly peaceful protest in Richmond VA yesterday…Praise God! Our prayer focus will be John 8:12…as we fast and pray tomorrow. Even if you are not able to fast with us, please join us in contemplating with gratitude and appreciation, the awesome light and shielding power of God’s love.
People today don’t have a clue about the human death and suffering and carnage that was WWI. As Barron writes, “The fifty-eight thousand American dead in the entire course of the Viet Nam War would be practically a weekend’s work during the worst days of WWI.” But here’s the Barron line that really hit home for me, “How many Christians of that time raised their voices in protest, refused to cooperate with the folly…” Mind you, I am reading Barron the Catholic on the very same day I am also reading Chambers the Baptist’s “Believe in the Light”…as thousands of American patriots are preparing to descend on Richmond in defiance of laws that violate their God-given rights. They will not comply. They refuse, as well they should, to cooperate with the folly.
January 20th in Richmond became the tale of two cities. In one simultaneous portrait, we got a very good look at the representatives-turned-rulers determined to Lord over us, juxtaposed to an army of well-armed and well-behaved patriots who came in peace, with safeties on, made their statement, and cleaned up after themselves before heading back home to their families.
God is giving us a priceless moment to look even closer at the portrait to see what we are now seeing in the representatives-turned-ruler on their way to tyranny…aging. Accelerated aging. On the very precipice of Collapse, Sea Change, and Cultural Calamity 2.0, God has given us a window to see for ourselves, exactly the right spot to plant our own feet…and most importantly, the seeds of our faith. For, as Chambers goes on to write, “Spiritually we never grow old; through the passing of things we grow so many years young. The characteristic of the spiritual life is its unaging youth, exactly the opposite of the natural life.” The source of most every message oozing into our lives from the modern world desperately wants and needs us to literally worship our natural lives to be in compliance with them. We sign our own death warrants in complying. Complying is decay. All one need do is look, beneath the Botox, surgeries, and anti-aging creams, directly into the faces of the Pied Pipers of Compliance…many, if not most of them, Adrenochrome junkies. Let that sink in.
Ecclesiastes provides the wisdom and discernment to tell the seasons apart and to know the one we’re in. And we are in the time of war…the time to find and embrace the warrior within. The time to find the true soldier. The time to look for the true leader. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ~ John 15:15 Leadership begins in the heart…
- Understand People
- Love people
- Help people
The light of the world Chamber’s encourages us to believe in, becomes our resolve, our armament, the very courage and strength we need to “raise our voices in protest, and refuse to cooperate with the folly.”
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” ~ G K Chesterton
In Loving Memory of Our Friend Robert S. Somerville
Standupnsing 
“They are called to discover the hidden, encourage the uncertain, develop the untrained, and empower the powerless.” ~ John C. Maxwell on Jan 26 from his book, Leadership Promises for Every Day.
Unfortunately, we are headed for turbulent times, as the tale of two marches is emblematic of the cultural divide being more defined as our current administration leads the way back to a government based on a Biblical worldview. The emboldened left will not easily cede the ground they have gained over the past fifty years. This is no time for “summer soldiers or sunshine patriots.” We must all do our part for the benefit of future generations, and God’s glory!
Well put Pastor Bill!