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TITLE: Prime Authority
DATE: June 6, 2019 TEXT: Romans 13 -ESV - 13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Years ago I heard of two preachers who were arguing a fine point of theology. Neither one of the two would give an inch. That’s why, after an hour, one of them proposed, l “I think we are just going to have to go our separate ways, holding on to our opinions. Don’t you agree?” The second preacher said, “I agree. You believe your way, and I’ll believe God’s.” Although the story is an oversimplification it is a pretty good explanation of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. You remember, the one about how the government isn’t supposed to make up any rules restricting an individual’s religion. There are any number of other areas touched upon in that Amendment as well, but for our purposes that is enough. It’s important because recently, in Texas, a municipal government tried to do just that. That is, they tried to penalize a company for its religious views. That’s right, in March, the San Antonio City Council voted 6-4 to exclude Chick-fil-A from putting a restaurant into the airport. That is a pretty tough thing to do and you would expect the Council had some pretty good reasons for proceeding this way. Well, all I can tell you is that Chick-fil-A was being judged because they support some pretty bad organizations. That is correct, Chick-fil-A was being punished because they had, in the past, supported:
All of which helps to explain why the Texas government is considering a bill. It is officially called SB1978, but unofficially it is known as “the save Chick-fil-A bill.” If everything continues on as expected,, by the time you read this, the bill should have been accepted by the Congress and signed into law by the Governor. I guess it’s just one more example of a government trying to make sure that Christianity and the followers of the Savior behave. No, let’s change that. It’s another example of a government trying to say God is wrong in what He says and needs to be set straight. Somehow, someway, it’s not good enough that the heavenly Father sent His Son into the world to seek and save the lost. Because Jesus successfully kept the law for us; because He managed to reject every and all temptations; because He suffered and died to pay the price for our transgressions, anyone who is brought to faith in Him as their Savior is rescued from sin, death and devil. As I said, for some people, somehow, someway God’s complete love is not enough and the Savior’s work of redemption leaves something wanting. And that’s sad, because no government has ever been empowered to remake God in their own image. THE PRAYER: Dear Lord ,we pray that governments may know and respect the boundaries of their authority. And may the authority of the Holy Spirit be free and able to accomplish all that You wish in saving souls. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. The devotion for today was inspired by various recent news articles. For further reading you may wish to go to this site https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/save-chick-fil-a-bill-passes-texas-house-banning-religious-discrimination.html: and the article written by Michael Foust of Christian Headlines. The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html
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