There was once a man who, gossiping, repeated some rumor about his neighbor. Soon, the whole community had heard the rumor. As can often happen, he later learned that the rumor was untrue. He felt great remorse and, seeking advice on how to fix the problem, went to a pastor in the community who had a reputation for great wisdom. The pastor told the gossiper, “Go home and grab a feather pillow. Take it outside and rip it open; scatter the feathers and come back to see me tomorrow.” Confused, but knowing this pastor’s reputation for being wise, he went home and carried out the pastor’s instructions. The next day, he revisited the pastor who then instructed, “Go and collect ALL the feathers you scattered yesterday and bring them back to me.” The gossiper went home and searched for the feathers, but the wind had carried them away. He returned to the pastor and said, “I could find none of the feathers I scattered yesterday.” The wise, elderly pastor replied, “You see, it’s easy to scatter the feathers but impossible to get them back.” So it is with gossip; it doesn’t take much to spread hurtful words, but once you do, you can never completely undo the damage.
Our little story also applies to the choices we make, personally and nationally; choices set a course of influence that is impossible to completely reverse. Making good decisions and setting our feet to a path of righteousness assures us that the influence we spread is good and there’s no need to reverse it. Of course, in our fallen world there will be times when such decisions will be misunderstood; do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God anyway.
On the other hand, there are times when either through deception or not thinking through things clearly and biblically or when things are outside our control (i.e., a government decides for its people) that we start down a path which ends in regret, harm, or even destruction. When this happens, we may strive to reverse things, but like the gossip in the tale above, we find that we can’t get back to where we were – the feathers are scattered and we cannot turn back the clock, hard as we may try. If we are repentant God will forgive, but there are still natural consequences for our actions. Some of those consequences include the influence we have had on our children, society, and in some cases even the nation.
Nationally, we can reverse decisions and laws; we can uncover deception and attempt to convince people of truth and righteousness, but the influence has been far-reaching. The bell cannot be unrung; the feathers cannot all be gathered.
This week’s Decency Minutes (DM) deal with reversing things which have had a negative impact upon our nation, things which have directly or indirectly affected each of us.
Our first DM deals with an important step in reversing voter fraud. Even if we were to have complete and total election integrity, think of the many influences that have been perpetrated upon our nation and its people through the corruption that we’ve experienced over the years. How many elected officials are in office today due to election fraud? What does their influence look like? We may not be able to “gather all the feathers,” but we can stop more feathers from being spread, or at least minimize them.
Last week we encouraged you to call your U.S. senators and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and insist that they pass the SAVE act. If you haven’t done so yet, we urge you to call 202-224-3121 and do so now.
Deception that leads to poor choices which end in personal harm breaks our hearts, particularly when it comes to young lives. That’s what our second DM addresses: The attempt to reverse gender. God doesn’t make mistakes; He made us male and female; our DNA doesn’t lie and when we fight against God (in any area) we will lose, EVERY time. When we come to the light of truth, there will still be natural consequences for what we’ve done – some are physical, others emotional, and always spiritual. Though God forgives, the feathers are still scattered. Even so, God will gather the broken pieces of our life and make it something beautiful in His perfect timing. He heals, holds, and makes us holy. Let us both praise God that no sin is beyond His grace and mercy and witness to others of that same great grace and mercy and forgiveness found at the foot of the cross.
DM 3 speaks to the importance of reversing another wrong Supreme Court decision. The high court of Heaven always overrules the highest court of any land. Even if this coalition is successful in overturning Obergefell, the influence of “legitimizing” homosexuality in our land has been great. Laws on the books in each state addressing homosexuality have either been removed or ignored. Any time sin is normalized the nation suffers. Even though Roe was overturned, think of the vast influence that was sealed in the minds of many – even in the church – after decades of the legalization of murdering the unborn. The longer Obergefell stands the more feathers that will be scattered and the more lives that will be harmed.
I know that I often urge you to prayer in these 3 in 3 emails; where else can we truly turn? We go to the Throne of Grace in time of trouble; we go to “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God” for He alone can make all things right. Please pray.
When an issue has over 80% support among the citizens of a representative government, it should be a no-brainer for legislators.
Yet, somehow, American lawmakers have yet to pass a law requiring legal identification for voters.
Voter ID has almost universal support among Republicans, the party in power, and has over 70% support among Democrats, but Republicans still refuse to make this issue a priority, even with midterm elections looming later this year.
The Senate could force a vote on Representative Chip Roy’s SAVE Act, which has already passed the House, and force Democrats to publicly oppose this wildly popular and commonsense measure.
Instead, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune suggests that the Senate will probably get around to voting on it at “some point.”
This midterm is crucial to the continued success of the agenda that put Republicans in power. Our representatives must protect our vote.
A young woman just won a landmark case against the doctors who pressured her to have irreversible, gender-mutilating surgery when she was just 16 years old.
While struggling with anxiety and depression, she began to question her gender. Less than a year later, doctors convinced this vulnerable teen to have a double mastectomy. As she testified: “I obviously wasn’t mature enough to make the decision to have surgery. And I certainly wasn’t mature enough to handle the aftermath.”
Such medical malpractice is not about the wellbeing of confused teens. Rather, it’s a means to push radical ideology and line the pockets of the medical industry, creating lifelong patients and raking in billions of dollars a year.
Hopefully this will be the first of many judgments, leading to the downfall of this evil ideology. And may God restore the shattered lives left in its wake.
Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has used various means to attack the family, God’s building block of society. In America’s drifting deep into immorality, these attacks have grown stronger.
We’ve given clear warning regarding the attacks against children and the family in regard to abortion, surrogacy, the LGBTQ+ agenda, and the Obergefell decision, as well as other issues.
Now, a coalition of 47 conservative groups, led by Them Before Us, is working to reverse the Obergefell ruling. Founder Katy Faust stressed, “Since the redefinition of marriage a decade ago, we’ve seen the consequences: parenthood treated as replaceable, and children deprived of the unique love and guidance only a mother and father can provide. Ten years of Obergefell have shown us … that children deserve better and that they are greater than adult desires.”
Spread the word and pray for their success.
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