If you have been listening to any of the conservative or Christian talk radio, you have undoubtedly heard about section 220 of Senate Bill 1.  It is the section that defines grass roots movements and forces them to register all of their communications with and about the government.  It would force these small organizations to hire personnel just to help them comply or face stiff monetary penalties and in some cases even criminal prosecution.  This would effectively muzzle those groups that would persuade their members and listeners to contact their representatives about issues that concern them.

How far are we going to go?  A pastor in Sweden is arrested for quoting scripture from the pulpit because it is deemed "hate speech."  How soon will we see the open persecution of Christians in the United States?  How long will it be before we have political officers reporting on the actions of our military leaders?  When will I go to church only to find that it has been turned into a library?

First and foremost we need to keep the main thing the main thing.  Jesus Christ and His saving message is the only solution for a increasingly despotic world.  While we must be participants in the democratic process, we must not fear what might happen to our country.  The apostles of Jesus did not have to worry about the "what ifs," the nation that they lived in was already under the rule of the Roman Empire.  They were sure to be persecuted, sawed in half, beheaded, fed to wild animals, dipped in tar and burned to serve as a street light just to name a few.  We need to pray for our country and for our leaders, democrat or republican, left or right.  Romans 13 tells us that we should submit ourselves to the governing body because God Himself has put them in place and that He is the ultimate authority.  This does not mean that we should accept our government when it violates moral truths from the word of God.  The bible clearly teaches that life is valuable and should not be taken away by man.  He teaches that we are made in His image and this makes every one of us extremely valuable.  If He cares enough to feed the sparrows, how much more does He care for those created in His own image?

Because we need to participate and make informed decisions we need these grass roots organizations to be there for us.  We all can't sit around and watch C-Span all day long to catch what is going on.  Most of us would also fall asleep amidst all of the legalese contained in the bill itself.  These groups typically have analysts who can give us a summary of what the bills contain and help us to understand what it means to us.  In addition to these organizations I am of the belief that we should get our information from different resources.  Everyone has a presupposition.  This is good practice to help you discern what is true and what is embellished.

We should thank God for hearing our prayers and interceding in the Senate.  We also should thank our Senators for listening to us and acting on our behalf.  A special thank you should be offered to the democrats that broke ranks and voted for the Bennet amendment.

As we celebrate a victory we should stay focused as we have not won the war.  This bill will still be presented to congress.  We need to continue to pray that the needed votes will be acquired to exclude section 220 from Senate Bill 1.

In Christ