I see the lines of worry etched in almost every face I meet.
When we are angry or afraid we seldom make good decisions. A healthy dose of a deep breath goes a long way to correcting foolish behavior.
Do we have good reason for concern? You bet! Like at few times in our nation’s history our cherished freedoms stand on the precipice of total collapse. The first and second amendments are literally hanging by a thread.

How shall we respond? To think that armed protests at the capitals of all 50 states will somehow help to advance the cause of conservatives and Christians is to be badly self-deluded. Armed protest will only stoke fears and provide additional ammunition to those who would seize our cherished right to own firearms.
It will not ease tension and create goodwill it will only play into the narrative of those who would portray gun owners as hateful and scary. It may make you feel better, like you did something- but I guarantee you what you did was not helpful.

One of Napoleon’s maxims of warfare is: “if your enemy wants you to attack, don’t attack.” Lee, who was a student of Napoleon’s philosophy, forgot this at Gettysburg when against the counsel of his other General’s he attacked on ground of his foes choosing. He paid a fearful price.
I don’t use this illustration to align myself with the confederate cause in anyway- only to make a point. That point is: if your foe draws you out- it’s a trap, an ambush; it is not a good time to engage. Better to regroup, rethink and engage at a time and place more favorable.

So what are we to do? I propose several things. First, we need to engage our local leaders. We need to ask our local officials to stand up for us and our rights and encourage them that we will always have their backs if they do.
We need to enter into serious conversation and planning on the best ways to weather these times. As families and individuals we need to use our money as a weapon. We need to believe enough in freedom that we are willing to be inconvenienced by ending our use of platforms like twitter and Facebook. If 50% of the 75 million Christian and conservatives in America did so, we would speak loudly.

We need to stand and speak: charitably, candidly and loudly. We need to write letters, engage in conversation. We need to insert ourselves into every part of public discourse and policy and make our voice heard. If we don’t, it won’t be long and our voice chords will be cut and our voice will be silenced.
More than anything, we need to pray and turn from our own wicked ways seeking the Lord while He may be found.

Make no mistake, this is not a time to equivocate; it is time to stand and stand we must, and stand we shall- but in wisdom and winsomeness not like fools.
Because of grace,
Tim Moyer
Emmanuel Bible Church of Star Valley

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The Apostle John had been banished to the Isle of Patmos- a tiny, barren island off the coast of modern Turkey.
A penal colony for political prisoners, Domitian had sentenced him to hard labor in the mines for his testimony that Jesus was Lord.
At the same time, the most vicious persecution to date was falling on the Church. It was a time of dark turmoil and tribulation.

On the Lord’s Day, as John was worshipping his Savior, the Lord suddenly appeared to him. Not since the transformation on the Mount of transfiguration had John seen Jesus in such glory.
John, who at the last supper had leaned back upon Jesus to ask him which disciple would betray Him, is overcome and falls before Him as a dead man.

17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last,
18 and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. ~ Revelation 1:17-18

“Don’t be afraid” is Jesus bold proclamation. This is a message of hope to a persecuted, perplexed people. Uncertain of their fate, facing an ignominious end in a Roman Coliseum; this is a game changer! “Don’t be afraid”- I am with you to the end of the age!!

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, man has been gripped by fear before a holy God.
When angels announced His birth to shepherds outside of Bethlehem, they too proclaimed: “Don’t be afraid.” And so to us today He says: “Don’t be afraid!”

Why? Because he is the Living One who has defeated death, banished Satan and is ushering in the Kingdom. He holds the key’s to eternal life- a door that now stands open; and death- a door that He controls.
He holds the key to the lock that binds Satan and will one day confine him to the bottomless pit. Moreover, He holds the key that unlocks the mysteries of life and the answer to your deepest questions.

So death now holds no fear for us. We are overcomers’ because of Him who lives forevermore!
Trust Him- Are you all in?

Because of grace,
Tim

Listen to the related message below.

The post Fear Not appeared first on EBCSV.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near,
Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways says the Lord.”
Isaiah 55:6-8I once heard an old preacher say: “Those who think they can understand God probably have too small a God.” It is indeed true that God and His ways are so above us that it is a mystery to us to even begin to imagine the Love that would set in motion the great mystery of the incarnation.
In the ancient world, the polytheism and paganism that pervaded the popular culture thought of gods as capricious, vindictive and fickle. The people lived in fear that the gods would strike them without cause and destroy their crops or ruin their lives. They lived in mortal fear of the gods they had constructed in their own image.

Today we are no better. In our sophisticated modernism, we no longer believe in the myths of the ancient world, but nevertheless most people live in dread of Mother earth and climate change, or some other man made scheme that cause men to turn from the One true Living God to idols.

However as Christians, as we celebrate Christmas- it is truly a time for joy and celebration as we fix our hope on the One who truly has set us free from sin and death and has brought rest and hope instead of dread and fear.

Because of grace,
Tim

The post Our God Box appeared first on EBCSV.