James 2:14-17Common English Bible (CEB)
14 My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? 15 Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. 16 What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? 17 In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.

“These were the best of times. These were the worst of times.” This was an opening line to Charles Dickens novel “A Tale of Two Cities”. This opening line resonates with me. I hear people always talking about the good old days and I cringe. Humans have a tendency to forget the worst of times and only remember the good times through the rosy lenses of time and distance. The good old days were not the great when you start digging down into the weeds. One thing we did enjoy was being able to go into our churches and feeling safe in America for the most part ( Although, I do remember the church bombing of African-American churches in the 1960s). I have spent many late nights in church and never felt scared. That has been stripped away after the killing of 26 members of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, ranging in age from 18 months to 77 years old. We can pray for everyone involved to recover. We can pray that it never happens again. Our legislators can send thoughts and prayers. None of these prayers, divorced from action will solve this problem. I am open to good suggestions to help us protect our church members. What a shame though, to not feel safe walking into the church. We need to solve this problem in America. I refuse to give up and I hope you do too.