[Please join me in praying for the Church on Sundays this year.]
“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30 NLT)
[Much of this post is taken from a blog post by Mario Murillo, https://mariomurillo.org/2023/06/06/it-is-not-because-woke-is-dangerous/. Emphasis added.]
“…There is a vast silence. But we are wrong about why there is silence. It is not because Woke is powerful that we are silent. It is because we are silent that Woke is so powerful.
“We could take away their power overnight—if only a specific group would speak out. There are 400,000 men and women who are protestant ministers in the United States. They lead the largest voting bloc in America. Yet, the vast majority of them refuse to speak out on even the most incontrovertible and egregious acts of Woke.
“I am not asking anyone to speak about conspiracy theories. I am saying that we must speak out against the direct persecution of the Christian faith and the wholesale upending of the Bill of Rights. I am talking about exposing the government plans to shut down the Church and ban the Gospel.
“Meanwhile a sleeping giant remains asleep. 11 AM on Sunday morning is the most squandered moral opportunity in history. Millions sit passively as most preachers dance around the issues. They highlight problems that are not real issues for their people and ignore the actual crises in their lives. Believers are trying to live for God and raise kids in an enemy culture.
“I say this with great reverence. Even if you as a pastor do not feel led to save America or comment on politics, shouldn’t you, at the very least, care for the hurts and attacks that assault your people on a daily basis?
“If your congregation is suffering, why do you target fictional issues and ignore the real ones?
-A Christian teacher in your congregation just lost their job for refusing to use the “correct” pronoun.
-A believer in the Tech industry is fired for witnessing on social media.
-A Christian mom is at a school board meeting being heckled for defending her first grade child against LGBTQ textbooks. She looks around the room and her pastor is not there to support her.
-Youth in your church are targeted on campus for speaking out or wearing a Christian tee shirt. They need someone to talk to about it.
-The Associated Press just reported that the Davis School District north of Salt Lake City in Utah has banned the King James Version of the Bible for elementary and middle schools on the grounds that it contains verses that are too violent and sexually explicit for younger children. The Bible is too vulgar for children but bearded men in a sun dress is not? School districts have no problem forcing 5 year old kindergarteners to act out LGBTQ sexual positions, but they think that the KJV is worse than that?
-Transgender instruction is now mandatory for all students beginning in the third grade in California. No child is exempt. And the schools do not need to tell parents when their child will be instructed.
“I understand that pastoring today is extremely difficult, but that’s no reason to let things get worse for your congregation. Believe me, I do understand those preachers who are still trying to figure out how to take a stand and speak out.
“But there are too many who are silent only in order to protect their positions. They skillfully spiritualize their silence. But nothing they say can hide the obvious: Christians are fighting against tyranny without the help of their pastor.
“Now we must see what God thinks about your silence. We always quote Esther 4 where Mordecai warns Esther with…“If you remain silent.” But Isaiah 59 is much clearer and more devastating. Because it shows God’s anger toward silence and removes our excuse for silence.
“Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) stands far off; for truth has fallen in the street (the city’s forum), and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice].
“Yes, truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.
“And He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor [no one to intervene on behalf of truth and right]; therefore, His own arm brought Him victory, and His own righteousness [having the Spirit without measure] sustained Him.” (Isaiah 59:14-16 AMPC)
“For years the word ‘intercessor’ in this verse was understood to mean that God was angry because no one was praying. There are scriptures that say that, but this is not one of them. Here we see God saying, “Why is no one speaking out on behalf of truth and right.”
“What will it take to cause these hundreds of thousands of preachers to wake up? A total catastrophic collapse of our nation? But that would be too late. Maybe it will take believers who are on fire leaving churches that refuse to speak out. If none of this works there is a chilling fact to consider: “Therefore, His own arm brought Him victory.”
“God is going to save America. But it is sobering to think what He will allow us to go through in order to save it.
“We can end the curse of Woke overnight if a tidal wave of unified voices will just speak out against evil and call for repentance. If men and women will just rebuke the madness. It is because of our silence that Woke is powerful.” – Mario Murillo
Righteous God,
This world is a mess and desperately needs you to intervene. Help us, your Church, to understand your heart for the world and to act accordingly. O, Lord, hear the threats your enemies make against your people and give your servants great boldness in sharing the Gospel. Stretch out your hand with healing power. May miraculous signs and wonders be done through Jesus’s name. May your boldness and courage come upon the men and women of God – especially pastors and church leaders – to stand against injustice, wickedness, corruption, and evil. Holy Spirit, overwhelm your Church with discernment and strength to boldly proclaim your Truth to places of deep darkness. May we who love you do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our King, in whose name we pray, Amen.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), and to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]?” (Micah 6:8 AMP)