Passion Clothing

Hello all!

I happen to wake up to BBN every morning, which is the Bible Broadcasting Network. Upon waking some mornings I have begun to listen to a particular preacher by the name of Stephen Davey, Pastor of Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina.

Let me tell you I am really beginning to like this guy. He is really in tune with God and His word. He doesn't hold back to keep from offending people, he tells it like it is...Kind of like our very own Pastor Leo.

Well anyway, I was listening to a message that was on this past week that was preached back in 1998. To me that doesn't really sound that long ago, but that was almost 13 years ago already and not much has changed since then, at least not for the good.

Here is an exerpt from his transcript of the message:

. . . For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

"The church is in desperate need of this truth. It seems panic stricken over the latest decision out of Washington DC or the latest perversion on prime time T.V.

What is even more troubling is that in the last two decades, the church has spent millions of dollars and millions of man-hours attempting to win a cultural war – as if getting homosexuality out of Disney and off of television and getting prayer back into schools will give God the victory.

God’s side will win. In fact, my friend, God’s side has already won. He is not the ruler of this nation only if there is a Republican majority. He is the ruler of this nation because He is almighty God. The church seems focused on the expressions of sin and is, at great expense, attempting to restrict those sinful expressions as if that would solve the problem.

By the way, the problem is not that prayer is not in schools. The problem is, prayer is not in homes.

Let me tell you what the mission of the church is not. Now, this is shocking and goes against the grain of what millions of people are involved in today. I do not mind being different, as long as I am biblical. The mission of the church in any generation, is not to remove the outward expressions of sin in a society, no matter how perverted they may be. Sinful society will act sinfully, and God’s word predicts that evil will advance, not retreat. Men will become worse and worse until they become so evil that they eventually worship and follow the devil himself in the form of the antichrist.

If removing the expression of evil was the solution, then rather than proclaim the gospel to the Athenians, Paul would have slipped out one night with a sledgehammer and crushed all the idols in town. He could have then announced, “There, I’ve rescued Athens from idolatry.”

He has not, however, because the town is still filled with idolaters. Instead, you find Paul

surrounded by idols, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

Our mission, like Paul’s, is to shine – and the darker the night, the brighter the light.

Now I am not suggesting that it is wrong to be a Christian politician (to vote and to pray for our nation, that is). One author wrote, “Slouching towardGomorrah.” But picketing, boycotting, writing newspaper editors, getting on the radio, or jamming the White House phone lines and cursing the darkness focuses our time, money, prayers, and efforts on the symptoms and not the solution. Expect the darkness to produce darkness. Evil

men will display their evil. I have not found in the scriptures where I have the right to be free from exposure to that evil. But what I do find is that I am responsible to shine with this great church in order to penetrate the darkness.

Has it ever occurred to you that a lighthouse never once got rid of a storm? We are to influence the hearts of people, which will then change the expressions of people. And we are to leave the appointed times and the boundaries of habitation of this country to its Divine Ruler, Almighty God."

I can't say that I disagree with him. As a matter of fact I agree.

Jesus never went around and tried having new laws written to combat what He didn't like seeing in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. We never read where He was protesting with picket signs at the temple.

He was meeting people where they were at, ministering to them at the point of their greatest need. He was the Light in the darkness, He was changing their hearts and making a difference in their lives. He was the epitome of Love as a matter of fact He was Love.

Now what are we going to do about it? If we do nothing, we can't expect to see any change. We need to be the change we expect to see in the world!!!!

Thanks and God Bless!

Gary Williams

PassionClothing.com