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Ivanka Trump has written a $50,000 personal check to Prestonwood Baptist Church to reach out to the kids at the border.
But this isn't about Ivanka. It's about the church, biblical Christianity and God.
And a very divided nation.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) raised the question this past weekend on national television when she declared, "God is on our side."
Whose side is God on?
Pastor Jack Graham shared with the congregation of mega-church Prestonwood Baptist Church (near Dallas) how they will use the $50,000 Ivanka Trump donated to the church.
Recently the pastor had tweeted:
"We @Prestonwood are currently working to provide solutions to care for children during this terrible immigration crises. Our Esponol ministry led by Gilberto Corredera is stepping up to the challenge to express the love of Jesus. We are broken- hearted and determined to act."
He says, "I put that out there for no other reason than to pray for our church," but someone saw it at the White House and responded---Ivanka Trump.
Graham says he has found her to be "generous, kind and compassionate."
But this isn't about Ivanka Trump---nor does she want it to be---it's about the biblical Church of Jesus Christ. And how His Church responds to the needs in the culture.
What is the church going to do with the money?
For starters, the pastor says they are planning some kind of event for the children in the first week of July.
HHS told Pastor Graham that the basic needs of the kids are being taken care of---"What the kids really need," HHS says "is something to brighten their day." So the pastor is planning what he calls "an event for children to encourage them and make them smile."
"Something to give them hope," he says. He describes it as "Vacation Bible School-type activities."
A national response.
Graham says, "Churches everywhere are contacting us, and Christians and people of faith who want to be a part of the solution. And that's what the beauty of what churches can do in the midst of all this confusion and chaos."
The pastor says he's certain "Ivanka's donation will prompt others to donate as well."
I agree.
Previously, her father, President Trump, wrote a personal check for $100,000 to a church where Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, serves as interim pastor. The money was used entirely to help victims of the massive flooding that occurred in Louisiana in August of 2016.
The "kids at the border" crises has touched every decent American's heart.
"Faith without works is dead."
Scripture instructs us that true faith in God, causes a person to take action. The religious Left generally base their spirituality on their works, while evangelicals base their faith on the grace of God extended to all who will accept Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as their personal Savoir.
All are called to do the work of the Lord.
Last week it was announced that Hillary Clinton had already raised over $1,000,000 to help fund "resistance groups" to address the crises on the border.
She declared, "This is a moral and humanitarian crises---everyone with a sense of compassion should be outraged."
Only God knows what she will actually do with the money---although we mere mortals have a pretty good idea what she and her husband do with funds they raise---but, let's say it indeed goes to "resistance."
A quick glance at the link shows the far Left "resistance groups" she is connected with. They are not known for encouraging kids or making them happy. They're known for using them as symbols whether the goal is gun control, kids at the border, or merely expanding the welfare state creating more personal dependence on the part of those who need liberty, not dependence and more bondage.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) turned her lecture into a pulpit this past Saturday.
After advocating that liberals and progressives should intensify harassment of enablers of Trump at gas stations, shopping places and even at their homes, she said, "We're gonna win this battle, because while you try to quote the Bible, you really don't know the Bible."
"God is on our side," she shouted to a cheering crowd.
Everyone thinks God is on their side.
Our nation is without doubt, more divided today than any time since the Civil War. The division of that time was political, economic and spiritual. Ultimately all division becomes a spiritual or moral matter.
President Lincoln drew from Scripture when he gave his now famous "House Divided" speech in which he said in part:
We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.
Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.
In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
It will become all one thing or all the other.
During those turbulent times, President Lincoln was once asked, "Whose side is God on?"
He answered: "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."
How can we know if we're on God's side?
While no human can fully grasp all the things of God and His righteousness, a good beginning point for self-evaluation regarding whether or not we are on God's side would be to answer a few basic questions.
- Would the God who said, "Thou shalt not commit murder" endorse killing unwanted babies in their mother's womb under the guise of "choice"?
- Would the God who created male and female and their union as the model for marriage, family, human existence, and sustainability approve of alternative models, and celebrate them?
- Would the God who calls same-sex relations an abomination, bless such relations.
- Would God's Word proclaim, "Those whom the Son sets free are free indeed," if His real goal was dependence upon a welfare state?
- Would God desire to see national borders abolished when He Himself established the concept of borders and nations in Genesis? And affirmed in Acts.
Be Thoughtful. Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.