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The Bremerton (WA) School District announced Wednesday they are suspending coach Joe Kennedy, because Kennedy has been warned to stop saying a private prayer after football games---and he has not done so.
A letter has been sent to Bremerton School District by 47 members the US Congress, expressing their deep concern over the matter of coach Kennedy. Not a single Washington State politician signed the letter.
This week, a teacher told a 7th grader, in the classroom, to admit "God is not real." She wouldn't do it and told her parents.
The list is long, and growing longer, of individuals who are persecuted for living out their personal biblical faith in Jesus Christ---sometimes they are only mocked, sometimes they lose their business, or job---some have been thrown in jail.
The anti-Christian parade continues down America's main street. A majority of Americans take no "pride" in this parade.
Billy Graham tells us how to respond.
The Bremerton School District has suspended ---removed---Coach Joe Kennedy before tonight's football game, thus preventing him from offering a personal prayer to God after the game.
Officials say, "The suspension was necessitated because of Kennedy's refusal to comply with district directives that he refrain from engaging in overt, public religious displays of the football field while on duty as a football coach."
They say "his conduct poses a risk that the district will be liable for violating federal and state constitutional rights of students"---while they violate Coach Kennedy's constitutional rights.
A letter has been sent to the Bremerton School administration by 47 members of the US Congress---both House and Senate--- expressing grave concern over the school district's actions.
The letter was sent Monday to Superintendent Aaron Leavell and Bremerton High School Principal John Polm.
The letter is linked above. I encourage you to read it. Please note that not a single Washington state elected official---Republican or Democrat, had the courage to sign the letter.
Also on Monday, Jordan Wooley, a 12 year old 7th grader, says, "Today I was given an assignment in school that questions my faith and told me that God was not real."
She says her teacher said regarding the multiple choice assignment, that anyone who put "fact or opinion" as the answer regarding God's existence was "wrong and that God is a myth."
She told her parents and the school board this week that the teacher insisted God cannot be proven. She also said one of her classmates also said God is a fact, and she too was told that was the wrong answer.
In fact, the teacher "crossed the answer out several times, telling her it was completely wrong." School Superintendent Alton Frailey called Jordan "brave" and thanked her for bringing this to the attention of the district.
He said, "I am truly sorry you feel your faith was questioned," promising the incident would be "worked on per district policies and procedures."
The operative word is "feel" your faith has been questioned.
The school district has now put out a lengthy letter to all students and staff, explaining the situation from the school's point of view. The letter is included in the link above---you can read it.
In my mind, they are turning the incident from an assault on a 12 year old's biblical faith, to a misunderstanding, highlighting the pain and stress this has caused the teacher who told the 7th grade student to admit God is a myth.
You will note that the letter from the district to teachers and students says, "The teacher is distraught by this incident, as some commentary has gone as far as to vilify her without knowing her, her Christian faith, or the context of the classroom activity."
The letter also says, "The activity was intended to encourage critical thinking skills and dialogue by engaging students..." The district says the teacher "did not intend to challenge any student's religious beliefs as reported by some media outlets."
If this is true, and I personally find it very difficult to believe, that raises an equally troubling question.
Is the teacher not smart or wise enough to know that telling a 7th grader to confess that "God is not real" is not appropriate?
And if the purpose really was to "teach critical thinking skills," did she use any other religious figures? Did she ask any of the Muslim kids to denounce Muhammad? Or Buddhists to denounce Buddha?
The authorities then took this a step further, and promised that "should media be on campus tomorrow during arrival or dismissal, rest assured there will be additional patrols on the site to aide with traffic control and ensure safety and security of students and staff," implying that the school may be under assault because the 7th grader told her parents.
Lilly Skotak was also in the same class. She told her mother the same story. Her mother, Stacey, said, "This makes me furious and why I wanted to find out why this was even in a public school. There is no need for that question."
That's the point.
The only "need" for that question is for purposes of indoctrination---or absolute ignorance on the part of the teacher. I do not believe the teacher is ignorant.
In the letter mentioned above, U.S. senator James Lankford says people have become afraid of faith and prayer.
Sen. Lankford says he thinks that's part of the problem in Washington state.
He says, "A Christian coach can pray over their meal at lunch, can pray and kneel down at the end of a game and quite frankly," he told Beltway Buzz, "they can kneel down during the 4th quarter before a last second field goal and pray on the sidelines. That's just the nature of our own individual faith and they need to be protected."
Billy Graham warns of times like these. He says there is no biblical evidence that we, here in America, will escape persecution.
So how will we respond when Christians here at home are pressured to deny Christ?
Graham list's five ways to fortify yourself so that you are able to stand when that day comes.
1. Make sure of your relationship to God.
Prepare to meet God. Have you been to the cross where Christ shed His blood for your sins? Have you had the past forgiven? Have you come by faith, confessing that you are a sinner and receiving Christ as your Savior?
2. Walk with God in your daily life.
If you are walking with God now, when times of crisis come you will be prepared to meet them head on. God has not promised to deliver us from trouble, but he will walk with us through it.
3. Assimilate Scripture.
Fortify yourself with the Word of God. Begin reading, studying and memorizing Scripture as never before. The Bible says, "Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth" (Ephesians 6:14).
4. Pray Always.
If Christianity is to survive in a world filled with materialism, the church must have a revival of prayer. As individuals, we must repent of prayerlessness. The prayer meeting must become the vital institution it was when evangelical Christianity was the mightiest force in the world.
5. Meditate on Christ.
We must learn again to practice the presence of God. Christ must be vitally real to us if we are to prove loyal to Him in the hours of crisis.
Be Prayerful. Be Strong in your Faith. Be Informed. Be Blessed.