When I reflect on all this violent racial division, the lack of accountability for behavior that has become a controversial issue, and where killing another human being can somehow be excused in a gray area of yes he killed, but…..our culture is moving down a slippery slope that will be almost impossible to recover.
-people are quick to extreme violence in easily diffuse situations
-people are politically illiterate and refuse to do research and only act on emotion rather than evidence
-our youth is running like a pack in the wild disrupting, displaying temper tantrums, destroying property, violently taking over spaces like stores and restaurants, attacking other human beings, and participating in all out rioting in their neighborhoods
-we have a generation of parents who do not hold their kids accountable, but instead make excuses, divide every action between racial lines, and who expect to be treated with kindness and courtesy with no expectation that the positive behavior is reciprocal
***so many other things that can be listed but you get the point
I am not sure if anyone else has noticed this downward spiral post the COVID lockdowns. These results I feel are from what was done to stunt the mental growth of our kids. These kids’ emotional, cognitive, and social growth is stunted at a certain stage, preventing them from fully maturing into adulthood. Those lockdowns have had a profound and long-lasting effect on their brain development. Then throw in DEI, Restorative Justice practices, and manipulating education to dumb down and indoctrinate no wonder we have a brewing tsunami of societal problems.
I can’t say I am not surprised by all this, but maybe you are. These scriptures jumped out as I was reading ironically, Revelation. My pastor is just starting a new series and I thought I would read it like a foreign book, but it seems more relevant and applicable as we watch what is unfolding in America and all over the world today.
2 Timothy 3: 1-5
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with these people.”
Isaiah 5:20
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
The education system feeds people of color a steady diet of historical resentment until their undeveloped brains start picturing every single white person as the enemy. Blaming white people for modern community struggles is a trap that keeps people broke and angry.
In 2024, here are some excerpts as we reflect on how much worse things have gotten in such a short period of time.
Restorative Justice
***Use the law to try to equalize everyone and everything
-favors babying the violent
-no longer corrective: commit a crime (steal), penalized (punished-jail)-person’s stolen property returned
-corrective justice seen as racist, sexist, greedy, bloodthirsty, and oppressive by oppression of the past that continues to harm in the present
-distributive justice = those who have can as long as those who have less should get more
-corrective justice needs to be systematically repealed as unfair laws and practice
***results in injustices, resentments, and inefficiencies
Seeking True Justice (Voddie T. Bauchman, Fault lines)
-God clearly condemns injustice; His condemnation if against falsehood and lied
-the 9th Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16)
-the weight of this commandment is more than we can imagine-
1. Falsehood and lies are reprehensible because they harm those and/or about whom they are told, but they also blaspheme the very character and nature of the God Who is truth
- John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth”
-Psalm 119:43 “Never take your word of truth from my mouth for I have put my hope in your laws”
-Psalm 119:160 “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal”
-James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”
2. God is clear about His attitude toward falsehood and its implications
-Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: seven that are detestable to him: haughty eye, lying tongue, hand that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours hot lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community”
1. real justice requires truth, pursuit of God’s truth on His terms:
-Deuteronomy 19:15 “Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established”
-Matthew 18:16 “But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”
-2 Corinthians 13:1 This will be my third visit to you. Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”
-1 Timothy 5:19 “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses”
-Hebrews 10:28 “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses”
Leviticus 19:15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor”
***People are ignoring these principles because the standard of justice upon which their pleas are built does not come from the God of the Scriptures.
2. Current worldview justice is not rooted in the above principles
-John 7:51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
-Proverbs 18:17 “the one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him”
-Proverbs 18:13 “if one gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame”
***Today people are rioting and demanding justice before knowing all the facts
3. False narratives cost our society
-false narratives that are repeated becomes part of the belief system of people
-be careful when we hear and/or draw conclusions
-we must reject simplistic, univariate analyses (uni= means one or single factor) as a basis for sweeping accusations of bias
***media is insufficient, slanted, and unjust in terms of the accusations they are used to levy
4. Critical Social Justice movement:
-bold faced lies are accepted and universal truths
***watch how narratives are made and what doesn’t fit in the narrative
Ex. Defund police, CRT white oppressors, no definition for woman, renaming birthing persons and menstruating persons, gender is fluid, kids need to learn sex education starting in kindergarten, pronoun manipulations, all people are transgenders, erase American history
-manipulate data (stats) through false scientific knowledge ex. Data derived that “white” and therefore are oppressive
-statistical manipulation tries to support their claims that America suffers from systemic racism
***facts of any case is irrelevant to the narrative of the worldview, but only focus on seeing America did have a racist history therefore eliminate its history of overcoming the racism of slavery, but all people of color are still oppressed and enveloped in today defined as racist-only see people and any act through the lens of racism
We bring prayers for healing in America today. May the divides we are seeing and feeling can be mended. Prayers for safety in our communities. May we be kind and loving for each other. May we stay in truth and honor God by our behaviors. Prayers for families who are hurting and may we reach out to be comforters in this world.
I ran across The Veil & flame and just wow! So many songs about the battle’s ahead. Hard to pick just one to highlight, so my advice is look them up and check out their playlist. “Stand Your Ground, The Lion Roars” is the first song I had heard so hear it is.
The news just hit another fallen
Another voice silenced
Another warning
We feel the tremble in our chest
But we won’t run
We’re not like the rest
They want our heads
They want us low
But this fire won’t let us go
We clench our fists
We wipe our tears
We choose to fight through choking fear
Right here right now
The line is draw
We hear the call
We carry on
Our King is near
We feel him breathe
We won’t bow down
We won’t retreat
Stand your ground, the lion roars