#trans children being murdered and war still raging and spreading

[nikki-rook]

Todays one of those days where the little time I spent online and on tik tok showed how terrible the world is and it’s those kind of things that made me gravitate back to this site because if I have to see all the terrible shit that happens on a daily basis I will not be able to function let alone live some kind of life where I can find happiness. Sometimes those sites can bring happiness and entertainment and sometimes it makes me want to scream at a world that won’t listen and makes me feel helpless and hopeless in this country

#people murdered wars raining I just can’t anymore #some people might find it terrible that I don’t want to know the news or see what’s going on in the world #I just want to go to work talk to people I like consume things than make me happy and try to make enough money to pay my bills #trans children being murdered and war still raging and spreading #this world is falling apart and I just want to be happy for as long as I have left #text

[banana-with-a-bow-tie]

"His church is currently the center of a lot of scrutiny here because they are suing the state of California for infringing on their religious liberty by forbidding them to assemble for worship. You should check out the statement they made here." - Okay I think I understand it now. I think the big difference between where you live and where I live is that the government in my country is *nowhere* near as hostile towards/restrictive of Christians/the church's freedom as the US government. *

* When my government enforces the restrictions and lockdowns of certain places they're not trying to stifle the ability/freedom of our churches to spread the gospel, but it is to genuinely try to flatten the curve, to protect citizens, and it is supposed to be temporary. **

** But with the American government and the rivalry they seem to have with the church, it is possible that they could be using this pandemic as an opportunity to try and shut them down, so maybe John MacArthur was reacting appropriately if that is true. **

It’s funny because I remember thinking the exact same thing when I heard stories of persecution from places like China. I knew China was an atheistic and totalitarian government. I knew they hated any thing that rivaled the authority of their dictatorship so it made sense to me when they imprisoned, tortured, and murdered my brothers and sisters in Christ. But the thought of that happening in America? The land of the free and the home of the brave? The country created predominantly by Christians who enshrined the right to practice religion freely without government interference in the constitution? Caesar would never try to control the Church here would he? 

Then 2020 happened. It was supposed to be temporary here too, but five months in and we are still being told we aren’t allowed to assemble. The spread of the plague is the fault of us Christians, not those peaceful protesters burning down our cities. It’s like Nero saying, “I don’t know who burned down Rome, but those Christians are awfully suspicious.”

Though in reality, the war against the Church has been raging long before now. Christians have been taken to court numerous times in the last five years alone, for not baking cakes for gay weddings, for not taking pictures for gay weddings, for refusing to entrust children into the care of gay and trans couples. Some have been openly assaulted for championing the cause of life in the womb. There was a candidate for a political position that was grilled by Bernie Sanders and denied the position because he wrote a blog post claiming Muslims stand condemned before God. 

We may not have Christians being slaughtered in the streets by some countries, but we are hated just as much here as anywhere else, and the same is true for you. By God’s grace some countries experience less persecution than others, but rest assured the world despises you because it despises everyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:12). The world wants to trust in man’s power. Man’s governmental authority, man’s scientific expertise will get us out of this, and if you submit to God’s authority above man’s you represent a threat to man’s kingdom. 

Maybe persecution doesn’t seem overt in your area, but that can and will change at any time. There is still the crucial matter that God has commanded you to assemble and your government is ordering you to defy that command. It doesn’t matter if their reasons seem noble (which are suspect any way because the evidence that this pandemic is actually dangerous isn’t all that compelling) Noble sounding ends don’t justify disobeying God and forsaking your spiritual health.