By Bob Shillingstad
“And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we [a]entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.” -I Corinthians 4:12-13
After the publication of his Gulag Archipelago, which exposed the rottenness of Soviet totalitarianism and made Alexander Solzhenitsyn a global hero, Moscow finally expelled him to the West. On the eve of his forced exile, Solzhenitsyn published a final message to the Russian people, titled “Live Not By Lies”. This became the title of a book published last year by Rod Dreher with a subtitle, “A Manual For Christian Dissidents”.
“The Western world has become post-Christian,” Dreher writes, “with large numbers of those born after 1980 rejecting religious faith. This means that they will not only oppose Christians when we stand up for our principles—in particular, in defense of the traditional family, of male and female gender roles, and of the sanctity of human life—but also they will not even understand why they should tolerate dissent based in religious belief.”
It is more than a new “morality” or “immorality” being forced on us but we are now in a culture that wants us to disregard clear facts and accept their lies. There are only seven nations in the world that allow elective abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and that includes countries like North Korea, Viet Nam and China but also the United States. That an unborn child is just a clump of cells and we can end that life at any time – even up to and including birth— of course these are all lies!
We are told by our President that a man can call himself a woman and use a women’s locker room or rest room. Didn’t God say “He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created” Genesis 5:2. Our President, lawmakers and judges are lying and we need to be bold and call this out. Because a person sits on the bench and wears a black robe does not mean that they make sense. When they tell the State of Idaho that boys can compete as girls in school athletics or that the State has to pay for castration of a mentally ill male in prison we need to stand up and say we will not “live by lies.”
Marriage is between a man and a woman. People are not allowed to camp on our sidewalks or streets despite what a judge says, and they have no jurisdiction in these matters. Idaho is a sovereign state under the Constitution and these are issues reserved for the States. We are bombarded with diversity issues, racial issues, gender issues, social justice issues, issues of free speech, and issues rooted in socialism and Marxism. More importantly, it covers issues related to the Church and the response of the church is critical. Erwin Lutzer, the pastor of Moody Church for over 30 years has written a book confronting these issues this last year also, entitled, We Will Not Be Silenced. Lutzer asks the questions, “How did we get here? Why are these things happening? How did we get to where we are without noticing where we are headed? “
Lutzer explains that this has been happening since the ’60’s when the radicals realized they would not be successful without the “long march through the institutions”. They needed control over education, news media, the courts, the culture and entertainment and the Democratic party. They have succeeded and we are reaping the results. Now we need to start from the “bottom up” and compete with the media. We are lied to by the main stream media and even local news. Fortunately we have the alternatives of sites like this Watchman Ministry site but also Gem State Patriot News, Redoubt News, and the Inland NW Report. All of these are sources of truth and updates that are important. Spread the word!
We now have a majority on the North Idaho College Board but they are taking personal attacks to force them out. We desperately need people of courage to run for local school boards and city councils. As we start here and continue to encourage people of faith and integrity to represent us in Boise we will make progress. House Bill 215 in the legislature would provide grants to parents for tuition as an alternative to the government schools. Tell your legislators to vote YES on this. Vote NO on the school levy coming up March 9th.
Erwin Lutzer tells us in his book:
“I want to inspire us to have the courage to walk toward the fire and not run away from the flames. God has brought us to this cultural moment, and our future cannot be taken for granted. As it has been said, ‘In a time of universal deception, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.’ “