Solomon’s Colonnade ǀ Issue #6—A Perspective on Today’s Matters with a Biblical Lens.
Issue #6 Biden DOJ Indicts Trump, SBC Financial Corruptions, Pastor Arrested While Reading the Bible, Religious Liberty at TN School, Governor Promotes Anti-Christian Hate
Disciples of Jesus—
As believers, we must recognize that the Holy Spirit is holding back the gates of hell that threaten to open on Earth. How long will He hold back? No one knows; nonetheless, we must look around and recognize that the foundation is being laid for the tribulation—the time to accept Jesus as Lord is now.
The Church has always played a role in limiting lawlessness in society; remember, when the rapture occurs, the Church will be taken away, and the Holy Spirit will step aside from His work of restraint. This will unleash sin and evil into the world like never before, with demonic forces roaming the planet. The Antichrist will appear, deceiving people with mighty signs and wonders, marking the beginning of the tribulation. Conversely, the time of the Antichrist will end, and Jesus will return to defeat him with His mighty power. Understand that what we are witnessing is just a glimpse of what is yet to come.
The most dreadful time the world will ever see is the seven-year tribulation. It is critical to believe in Jesus, acknowledging Him as the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and resurrected on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Believing in Him grants us eternal life, and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us, guiding, changing, and helping us forever.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Biden’s Department of Justice Indicts Trump for Improper Storage of Classified Documents.
Regardless of one's political views towards Trump or Biden, the actions of Biden's DOJ and FBI towards the former President during an election campaign are unprecedented and could have disastrous consequences for our Nation. Some speculate that an indictment conveniently helps remove Trump from the 2024 election, significantly as Biden's popularity drops and his poll numbers decline against the former President. The Trump Campaign has accused the Biden administration of politically weaponizing the DOJ and unfairly prosecuting their political opposition, “calling it un-American and wrong.”
In 2022, when the FBI raided Trump's personal residence, the New York Post pointed out that former Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton had similar arrangements at their libraries. Presidents can classify or reclassify documents via executive order, but Vice Presidents can not. Ironically, thousands of classified documents from Biden's Vice Presidency were found in his Delaware garage next to his classic corvettes in January.
If former President Trump were to be arrested and tried during the presidential campaign, it would be a tumultuous time for America. Mark Levin expressed on Thursday's "Hannity" that indicting Trump would constitute an "insurrection" and election interference. Levin believes that the DOJ and FBI's aim is to imprison Trump, preventing him from running for office.
The sad reality the FBI and the DOJ are slowly corroding our constitutional republic. Based on the recently released Durham Report, the FBI and CIA illegally interfered with the 2016 and 2020 elections. While the DOJ seeks to imprison pro-lifers and Christians; the IRS targets Christians; and recently, the VA decided it could violate the law by performing abortions. The law and the Constitution are irrelevant guidelines to these agencies. Jesus never promised us a nice soft landing in Heaven! Pray for America!
Southern Baptist Convention Financial Corruption Revealed.
Every now and then, you don’t think it can get any worse for the Southern Baptist Convention; it was revealed on Wednesday that former Southwestern Seminary President Adam Greenway oversaw the spending of "improper expenses.” The “improper expenses” were more akin to the spending of the drunken sailor than that of a President of one of the largest SBC Seminaries in the country.
The spending habits of Greenway are beyond concern and verge on criminality. According to a "summary of findings" by the Southwestern Board of Trustees Task Force, there were issues with properly managing seminary resources. The summary highlights that around $1.5 million was spent on various expenses related to the President's home between 2019 and 2022. This includes almost $500,000 for the Presidential Office suite, $60,000 for Christmas decorations, over $25,000 for art, $9,000 for a metallic Florida Gator head, $11,000 for an espresso machine and accessories, and approximately $180,000 for HVAC work on the President's personal residence.
Note that during these purchases, the Seminary was implementing significant budget reductions, which included downsizing faculty personnel and positions. It is disconcerting to realize that all 47,000 SBC Churches across the United States diligently contribute their tithes to the SBC COOP program every month, which are then allocated to the SBC Seminaries based on a percentage system. Interestingly, at every convention, a proposal is presented to audit entities, but it is consistently rejected by the SBC establishment. Now we understand the reason behind this.
If and it’s a major “if” the SBC is to survive in the foreseeable future, there must be accountability and full audits of every SBC entity. I Pastor in one of the poorest communities in Oklahoma and imagine the things we could do for the poorest people with $60,000 dollars during Christmas.
“And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.” Luke 16:2
Pastor Arrested for Reading the Bible on Public Grounds During Pride Protest
What is happening in America? A Reading, Pennsylvania, Pastor was arrested after he had the audacity to read a Bible verse during public Pride event on public property.
See the video Pastors Arrest in PA.
Pastor Damon Atkins was attempting to read 1 Corinthians 14:33 when the police confronted him. The Bible verse reads, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.” According to a report from the Daily Caller, Atkins was not taken into custody for reading a Bible verse, but due to the excessive noise, he was making. The police representative later clarified that his arrest was unrelated to his Bible reading. Instead, he was deemed disorderly due to the loudness of his voice. The spokesperson added that his volume was “disrupting a pre-planned and authorized” event. “Atkins had been assigned a designated protest area and requested to keep the noise level under control so as not to cause any inconvenience to the public.
But amazingly, all charges have since been withdrawn. The Berks County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday “that charges of disorderly conduct filed against Atkins were withdrawn.” The prosecutors stated that the charges were “withdrawn after the Attorney's Office reviewed the videos of the incident along with applicable case law.” So obviously, it was a stretch to say he was arrested for his noise levels and disturbing the peace.
Tennessee Middle School Issues Apology to a Student Forced to Take Off Cross Necklace.
Recently, a parent whose child is enrolled in Hixson Middle School, a public school in Tennessee, was forced to remove a cross necklace during a School Bookfair. It’s ironic that all the LJBTQ pride symbols, and drug paraphernalia, are on rapid display, but a public-school student is forced to remove a cross necklace? Lawyers from the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) argued that U.S. Department of Education’s guidance states:
“Students may display religious messages on items of clothing to the same extent that they are permitted to display other comparable messages. Religious messages may not be singled out for suppression, but rather are subject to the same rules as generally apply to comparable messages.”
Lawyers from the ACLJ successfully argued that if every other student in the school is allowed to wear clothing with logos, quotes, product placements, or any other messaging or imagery that could be offensive, then it's not fair to single out a student for wearing a cross necklace.
Wearing a cross does not hinder other students from learning or participating in classroom activities. If the teacher had targeted a student of another faith, such as a Muslim or atheist student, there would likely be a media uproar and protests outside the school. Thankfully the School Administrator and teacher were forced to apologize, and the student is now allowed to wear the cross.
The question becomes, why does everyone have religious freedom rights besides Christians? Jesus warned us this would happen when he said:
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:18-19
Who’s the Extremist? Kentucky Governor Takes Photo with Christian Satanic Hate Group.
Apparently, the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t the only ones rewarding and promoting anti-Christian Satanic hate. Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is up for re-election this November had a photo resurface from 2020 that he is probably regretting he took. Beshear is running against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Cameron is an African American and a devout Christian, who, ironically, the mainstream media has tried to label as an extremist for his Christian views. Cameron has used his authority as the state’s attorney general to enforce pro-life laws and protect children from genital mutilation and castration. For this reason, he is being labeled as a “Trump QAon” extremist.
You may recall the picture with Kentucky’s Governor is with the “Sisters of Indulgence.” They are famous for the mock crucifixion, where they sarcastically pretend to have sex with the Crucified Christ. See Video Warning Graphic
Sean Southard, Kentucky Republican Party communications director, has attracted attention and reminded voters of Beshear’s relationships and judgment. The tweet so far has over 229,000 views. Beshear is an extremely liberal governor who opposed laws prohibiting infanticide in the state and vetoed legislation protecting minors from dangerous transgender drugs and surgeries.
Remember Brothers and Sisters In Christ, the most significant strategic threat to the Gospel is the silent and timid Christian. Go Bold Disciples, and thank you to all our new and current subscribers!
NOTES
https://nypost.com/2022/08/09/fbi-trump-raid-exposes-washingtons-secrecy-shams/
https://www.christianpost.com/news/former-swbts-president-adam-greenway-oversaw-excessive-spending-task-force.html
https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/06/man-arrested-read-bible-verse-pride-lgbt-event/
https://twitter.com/SeanSouthardKY/status/1658925508908785665?s=20