Work on Capitol Hill and sooner or later (most likely sooner) you will be confronted with a response to the effect that your views are obsolete or “out of date” or even “reactionary.”
In fact, that response is derived in great part from 18th and 19th century thinkers who believed the Renaissance and the Enlightenment that preceded them represented the onset of a steady progress toward the good society.
But, as Shane Morris of the Colson Center explains in the following “What Would You Say” series video, there are at least three good reasons such thinking is disconnected from reality, particularly on this side of the bloody 20th century!
Legions of congressional aides get to and from Capitol Hill via Metro every workday, including during the Pandemic, so the prospect of multiple stations being closed and thousands of employees being let go could signal a major headache ahead.
With a $500 million operating deficit, Metro officials are considering closing 19 stations, but it is not known if the Capitol South station would be among those shuttered. That station is used daily by many Hill aides working on the House side, as well as by people visiting the Hill
As many as half of all the pre-Pandemic trips would be eliminated, weekend service would end, and wait times would be extended. Other measures may also be required in the absence of congressional action to prop up the system, according to Metro officials.
Metro’s problems are partially a result of the Pandemic dramatically slashing ridership since March, but other long-standing problems are also involved, including the regional government funding system on which it depends. Other public transportation systems across the country face similar obstacles.
“When I talk to my peers, we’re all facing these almost terrible decisions together,” Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld told The Washington Post. “It’s like, how do we do this? It gets down, unfortunately, to very hard math that you just can’t get there from here without having significant impacts.”
Have you ever thought about the distance from a giraffe’s heart to its brain? Me, neither, until today anyway, when I watched the following video from Eric Lyons of Apologetics Press.
Screen shot from Apologetics Press.
Think about it, it’s approximately eight feet from the adult giraffe’s heart to its head.
When the giraffe reaches up into trees to eat, that’s eight vertical feet the heart must pump blood to its brain, while maintaining sufficient blood pressure that, by the way, is substantially greater than you or I require in our bodies to continue living.
So why should you care about this? It’s the difference between mere chance and purposeful intention. By definition, the former isn’t a reliable source for the required heart, while the latter requires will and thus indicates design. But that leads us to you know where! Regardless where you stand on evolution vs intelligent design, this video will make you think twice:
In a move recalling 1900’s Boxer Rebellion, officials in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) are preparing to ban foreign missionaries from China.
Screenshot from “Reading Through History” on the Boxer Rebellion. The individual being restrained is about to be beheaded.
The “Foreign Religious Activities in the People’s Republic of China” draft rules released earlier this month provide 40 Articles covering virtually every aspect of missionary work in the world’s most populous country.
“Foreigners are also not allowed to set up religious groups, engage in activities, or open schools, proselytise among Chinese citizens, recruit followers, or accept donations from Chinese citizens (Article 21),” according to LifeSiteNews, quoting AsiaNews.It.
Foreign-based groups, including missionaries representing Protestant groups like the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign Missions Board and the Catholic Church in Rome, must register with SARA, then wait 20 days before being told what they can and cannot do.
The registration requires names of each individual associated with the group seeking to operate in China, as well as detailed information about proposed activities.
The authorization also includes review of materials proposed for distribution to Chinese citizens. Thus, missionaries may carry with them into China no more than 10 copies of the Bible.
The SARA regulations are the latest development in the CCP’s expanding effort to contain and ultimately eliminate the influence of Christianity in China. Go here for previous HillFaith reporting on these developments.
“The government has orchestrated a campaign to ‘sinicise’ Christianity, to turn Christianity into a fully domesticated religion that would do the bidding of the party,” Lian Xi, a Duke University professor who focuses on Christianity in modern China, told The Guardian earlier this year.
Persecution of Christians is not a new thing in China, as the decade-long Cultural Revolution launched by Chairman Mao Tse Sung specifically targeted Christians.
The SARA regulations also recall the 1900 Boxer Rebellion that sought to remove all “foreign devils” from China. The Boxer Rebellion especially targeted Chinese converts to Christianity in a bloody purge that saw many tortured and murdered.
How committed are you to what you believe? Would you still do it if you knew it would never make you rich? How about if you knew continuing it meant ostracism from family and friends? And what if you knew it might mean martyrdom?
Those are the kinds of questions that often confront men and women who become followers of Jesus Christ. In the following One for Israel video, Dr. Seth Mostell gives a moving testimony of what Jesus meant when He said “count the cost:”
My Canadian brother in Christ, Bruce Cooper, has a deeply insightful and personal discussion this morning comparing our experience in the routines of daily life with that of “Doubting Thomas,” the disciple who would not believe Jesus had been resurrected until he actually saw Him and touched Him.
“Being a disciple of Jesus is kind of like being in two realities at the same time. The one that we see and the one that we don’t see,” Bruce writes.
“But like so many things in life that we are exposed to, the values are the exact opposition of what one would expect. That which we see now is temporary and that which we don’t see is eternal,” he adds.
If you have ever, for even one fleeting instant, wondered to yourself if there is anything real beyond the world of our physical senses, odds are you will find much of value in Bruce’s meditation this morning. Might even be a life-changing experience! Go here.
Sometimes on this journey I get lost in my mistakes What looks to me like weakness Is a canvas for your strength And my story isn’t over My story’s just begun And failure won’t define me ‘Cause that’s what my Father does Yeah, failure won’t define me ‘Cause that’s what my Father does
Ooh, lay your burdens down Ooh, here in the Father’s house Check your shame at the door ‘Cause it ain’t welcome anymore Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house
Arrival’s not the end game The journey’s where you are You never wanted perfect You just wanted my heart And the story isn’t over If the story isn’t good And failure’s never final When the Father’s in the room And failure’s never final When the Father’s in the room
Ooh, lay your burdens down Ooh, here in the Father’s house Check your shame at the door ‘Cause it ain’t welcome anymore Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house
Yeah, you’re in the Father’s house Yeah-yeah
Prodigals come home The helpless find hope Love is on the move When the Father’s in the room Prison doors fling wide The dead come to life Love is on the move When the Father’s in the room Miracles take place The cynical find faith And love is breaking through When the Father’s in the room
The Jericho walls are quaking Strongholds now are shaking Love is breaking through When the Father’s in the room I said, love is breaking through When the Father’s in the room
Ooh, lay your burdens down Ooh, here in the Father’s house Check your shame at the door ‘Cause it ain’t welcome anymore Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house
Yeah, lay your burdens down Ooh, here in the Father’s house Check your shame at the door (Welcome anymore) Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house
Here’s question for you to ponder on this Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend morning: Why did Jesus repeatedly accept the worship of Himself by His followers?
That’s a question posed by J. Warner Wallace of Cold-Case Christianity in the following video. Be prepared, though, because it’s not the only arresting question Wallace poses:
Speaking to last weekend’s G20 Summit, China’s strongman, Xi Jinping, encouraged world leaders to follow his country’s example in establishing digital systems to track and regulate the domestic and international movement of citizens, based on factors like their Covid health status.
(Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash).
“While containing the virus, we need to restore the secure and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains. We need to reduce tariffs and barriers, and explore the liberalization of trade of key medical supplies.
“We need to further harmonize policies and standards and establish ‘fast tracks’ to facilitate the orderly flow of personnel. China has proposed a global mechanism on the mutual recognition of health certificates based on nucleic acid test results in the form of internationally accepted QR codes,” Xi said.
“And do not be called ‘masters,’ either, because you have one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” — Matthew 23:10-12
Photo by Melanie Sosa on Unsplash.
And C.S. Lewis said:
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
My Canadian brother in Christ, Bruce Cooper, is a man who chooses his words carefully and well, so when he takes up a topic like the fact that Jesus doesn’t (present tense because He is alive!) lie, I pay attention.
He has a must-read post today on “Reasoned Cases for Christ” entitled “Jesus Doesn’t Lie” that begins with a penetrating question:
“Can you imagine being held to the standard of always telling the truth? Always? And we are not talking about just common conversation. We are talking about continually conveying truth, illustrating truth and validating truth. Continue reading “Some Hard Truths On Truth, Lies, Jesus And God”
In what could prove to be a landmark decision upholding the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom of assembly and practice, the Supreme Court late Wednesday slapped down New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s limits on worship assemblies in certain hard-hit areas of New York.
In a 5-4 decision, the Court said Cuomo’s restriction of religious assemblies in the targeted areas to no more than 25 individuals in some and no more than 10 in others must address a “compelling” state interest, satisfy “strict scrutiny” and be “narrowly tailored” to minimally impinge on First Amendment rights.
But Cuomo’s regulations failed on both counts, saying “Stemming the spread of COVID–19 is unquestionably a compelling interest, but it is hard to see how the challenged regulations can be regarded as ‘narrowly tailored.’
“They are far more restrictive than any COVID–related regulations that have previously come before the Court, much tighter than those adopted by many other jurisdictions hard-hit by the pandemic, and far more severe than has been shown to be required to prevent the spread of the virus at the applicants’ services.” Continue reading “THANKSGIVING! Supreme Court Upholds First Amendment Against Cuomo Worship Restrictions”
One of my great joys of working on Capitol Hill is meeting people and making friends along the way. In particular, there are those who have committed to sharing God‘s love with those who work in Congress. Some were part of a church, others with a para-church organization, and some simply had an individual calling.
Now, after working in the Senate, I’ve had the privilege of returning the favor. About four or five times a year, we gather together those who are dedicated to personal ministry on Capitol Hill. We get together for lunch, and now by Zoom, to support, encourage, and pray for one another in this vital work.
I’d like to highlight the work one of these individuals whom God has called to minister not only to Capitol Hill but the entire DC region. As we look at the seeming darkness around us it is refreshing to see how God is using people like this to bring his light in to those places. Continue reading “‘The Blessing’ For Thanksgiving, From OneHeartDC, To Capitol Hill”
Pastor Rob McCoy, who describes himself as a “pro-life Democrat,” recently converted his church, Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, California, into a strip club.
Yes, you read that correctly, a strip club. McCoy acted in response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decree that church congregations cannot assemble to worship God but strip clubs and numerous other kinds of establishments can remain open.
So, McCoy did a quick strip (of his tie, people, nothing more, this is church, remember?!??), accompanied by the 1960s show tune, “The Stripper.”
And then he delivered a sermon that is yet another sign of a gathering spirit of liberty sparked by oppressive “public health measures” decreed by Newsom and other government figures across the country in response to the Covid Pandemic. Continue reading “Pastor Rob McCoy: ‘This Is Insane … Take Off The Masks!’”
