April 18, 2021
Question? Are there times when we should not obey the government? We should never allow government to force us to disobey God. We are instructed to “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisted the ordinace of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:” (Romans 13:1-3). Jesus and His apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons; when they disobeyed it was in order to follow their higher loyalty to God. We who are believers, possess dual citizenship. We are citizens of the United States of America, and importantly, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God. It is the responsibility of every believer to do his/her best to make the state better. We must learn that politics is not a dirty word. As believers, we must elect Christian, or other higher principled leaders to public office. That’s right dear ones, we must vote in every election. Research the candidate and vote wisely. Moreover, my brothers and sisters, you are salt and you are light. If Christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God. When authorities are unjust, good people are afraid. Verse three refers to authorities who are doing their duty. When these officials are just, people who are doing right have nothing to fear. As the “Functioning Church”, we must “occupy until He comes”.
Pastor J. Amos Jones
with an intriguing question. You see, it was the intent of the young man to embarrass the old man who was known for his wisdom. The young man came to the sage and said, “Old man, the bird I have in my hand, is it alive or is it dead?” The young man had said to himself, “If the old sage says the bird is alive, I will immediately crush it, and it is a dead bird and if he says the bird is dead, I will open my hand and allow the bird to fly to freedom.” The old sage answered with the wisdom that only comes from God, “Young man, the life of the bird is in your hand. You control whether the bird is alive or if it is dead.”
“Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?” (Amos 8:5) These merchants kept the religious holidays, but not in spirit. They couldn’t wait for the holidays and Sabbaths to be over so they could go back to making money. Their real interest was in enriching themselves. In the text, the Lord God is spelling out the hypocrisy of His people Israel and He is holding them accountable for their actions. This passage of scripture literally reverberated in my spirit as I listened to Gov. Greg Abbot announce he is lifting the states coronavirus restrictions. To quote the governor, “Open Texas 100 percent.” Effective Wednesday, March 10, businesses across the state will be able to open at capacity. Additionally, the statewide mask mandate is being lifted. While we all want to go back to what we perceive is normal, it is the opinion of this Pastor that this is not the time to relax the coronavirus restrictions, particularly the mask mandate. It appears to this Pastor that the governor’s actions were callous in light of the 516,000 lives that have been lost to COVID-19. In his announcement the governor said “This does not remove personal responsibility, personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID.” Let me emphasize the need for personal responsibility.