Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

11.25.24
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The Leadership Style We Need and Should Never Negotiate

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

When the righteous increase (when the righteous are in authority), the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Proverbs 29:2, English Standard Version)

“If a clown goes into the palace, the clown does not become a king; the palace becomes a circus.” – An iteration of a Turkish Proverb

The Lord knows my heart for servant leadership. It was one of the key motivators as to why I serve whether at work, in church or in my community. Servant leadership is leadership that acts from the principles and practices of Jesus, as a servant. In the book, Servant Leadership: Proverbs for Today’s Leaders (2017) gifted to me several years ago written by Dr. Dave Stevens and Pastor Bert Jones of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations where I serve as Director of State Public Policy, they inform that the term “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader essay published in 1970. The Greenleaf Institute states that “Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” Dr. Stevens and Pastor Jones agree with the definition and also refer the reader to Mark 9:35 for a better way to define servant leadership. In Mark 9:35, Jesus summed up servant leadership by saying to the 12 disciples, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (New International Version) Servant leadership puts others before self. Servant leadership does not focus on accumulating wealth, power and prestige. Servant leadership is not focused on building an empire. Rather, servant leadership leads people to become who God has called them to be by helping them reach their full potential. It is influential leadership that sacrifices, that models such servant leadership for the good of others and the mission and reproduces other servant leaders who will influence many others. “Servant leaders use their power legitimately and always for the good of the people they serve,” Dr. Stevens and Pastor Jones write as one of the proverbs for servant leaders in Chapter 5 of their book. They also write, “Though organizational success is not the primary goal of a servant leader, it is its byproduct because you get the best effort and results out of those you lead.”

History has shown us the devastating effects of power held by and deployed from corrupt hands. In his book, The Irony of American History (The University of Chicago Press, 1952), one of my favorite books, American author, theologian, ethicist and political commentator Reinhold Niebuhr referenced a stern warning from John Adams given to Thomas Jefferson on the powers of human self-deception being seemingly endless–particularly in understanding the depravity of the human heart (See Jeremiah 17:9 on the wickedness/deceitfulness of the human heart and its propensity to sin). Adams wrote Jefferson saying, “Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all of His laws. Our passions, ambitions, avarice (greed), love and resentment, etc., possess so much metaphysical subtlety and so much overpowering eloquence that they insinuate themselves into the understanding and the conscience and convert both to their party.” Adams understood the power and deception of the self’s passions which if rooted in self, would lead to corrupt reasoning to justify acting on those passions and ambitions.

During my Master of Public Administration (MPA) studies completed through Regent University in Virginia Beach, servant leadership was a core principle that was threaded throughout my course reading and discussions. Not only servant leadership, but also the character traits of servant followers. From the book, Christian Scripture and Human Resource Management written by one of my Regent University Robertson School of Government professors, Gary E. Roberts, Ph.D., shares on page 104 Principle 25: Practice Unswerving Honesty, is one of several core character traits. It says, “Servant followers are uncompromisingly conscientious and honest, passionately embrace truth telling–even when the risks are high. Humility is also a foundational servant follower virtue.” This is also true of servant leaders as others are following their lead.

When the righteous increase (when the righteous are in authority), the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Proverbs 29:2, English Standard Version)

Servant leaders also exhibit and exercise excellence of character and competency. Servant leaders build reservoirs of credibility that translate into favor and higher levels of influence at all levels. Servant leader credibility increases trust and favor. When our work is excellent, we will serve important causes and receive the favor of the king (Proverbs 22:29). Servant leaders also are willing to “fall on their sword,” having a contrite heart to be accountable for their mistakes. A dear brother in Christ and founder of several organizations, Hakim Hazim, provided these simple and yet fundamental criteria for serious leadership which he calls “The 4 C’s of Leadership” and those 4 C’s are: Character, Competency, Credibility and Critical Thinking. Although he shared these four core leadership traits with me and others many years ago, what he provided has always stuck with me and serve as a measurement for a leader to at least possess and exercise well these four core traits.

But you can’t make someone into something they aren’t if they are unwilling. As referenced in the opening reference to the iteration of a Turkish Proverb, “If a clown goes into the palace, the clown does not become a king; the palace becomes a circus,” chaos rather than character will be prevalent. Unfit leadership is worse than a meal eaten that sends you running to the toilet. At least you will likely recover within a few hours or a day from the sour meal. However, the effects of unfit and faulty leadership are not so quickly recoverable and have widespread impact on many–usually impacting the most vulnerable who already suffer various hardships. Sometimes the harmful effects of unfit leadership are not fully known until long after.

I say all of this to say: For those of us who follow Christ (and even those who do not), but particularly for those who follow Christ, we should not want anything less in a leader. We should not trade or negotiate these necessary qualities for something less in hopes of getting something better. If anything, we will have ordered something worse and the ramifications will be far-reaching.

God calls us to test the appearances of leaders to discern whether they are fit and virtuous leaders by examining the fruit produced by their actions (Matthew 7:15-20). That by their fruit we would be able to recognize if they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Not only should we test the appearance of leaders, we should also check ourselves “to examine our motives, means and ends given the powerful influence of rationalization and self-deception (1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:21),” as Dr. Roberts references on page 66 of his book, Christian Scripture and Human Resource Management.

Pray for wise leaders who continually seek God and may we be those wise leaders and followers who seek God as well.

06.30.23
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Latest Articles for These Times

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

In my work as Director of State Public Policy with the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), I share with you some of the articles I have published for their blog, The Point. I hope the writings give you more insight to our collective work in public policy to help advance biblical and medically ethical principles in healthcare to advance human flourishing. I also write these articles to encourage and equip the body of Christ in such times as these.

Sophisticated Lies Endanger Everyone—Black, Brown, White and Other
Pitching Our Tents in This Present Darkness

Are You Visiting People in Their Quicksand?
We Are All Dying—And Some Want You Dead Sooner
Pregnancy Resource Centers’ Life-Affirming Work Exposes Murder Without Accountability of the Abortion Industry
We Have This Understanding
A “Right Now” Word
Is Wickedness Gaining the Upper Hand? Hardly.
Unless You Tell Them
Born to Die to Self

Escaping Death

This is Advocacy: Our Work Begins and Ends with God

https://cmda.org/there-is-a-better-way/

01.09.21
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When Populism and Personalities Kill

“He will fight for us. He’s not your typical politician. He will shake up the establishment.”

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Those words and many others are what have enticed a number of President Donald J. Trump supporters to hitch their wagon to his train and ride it all the way to its destructive end and destination. He is a man who has captured the minds, dollars and fervent loyalty of his supporters to include many evangelicals. In capturing and holding such loyalty, President Trump even attempts to “talk like us” (and by “us” I mean Christians) by using certain words that kept many by his side without seeing even the dangers of that.

But through the chaos, division, gross malfeasance and lawlessness that has been the hallmark of Trump and his Administration during these past four years, the train on fire that many rode to the end manifested itself devastatingly on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol where at least five people were killed, many citizens and law enforcement injured. Millions of Americans and others worldwide watched in horror as a mob of insurgents stormed and overtook the U.S. Capitol as those believing that their president, their hero and country had been unfairly ripped from them through the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election in which President Trump was defeated. NOTE: This mob does not include the many Trump supporters who are not part of this travesty and are equally grieved by what occurred.

Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021. (Photos courtesy of the Los Angeles Daily News and WUSA-9 CBS/Washington, D.C.)

The process on January 6, 2021 on other such occasions in our country’s history was to be a routine formality for Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to certify the election results (certifying Joe Biden as the next President and Kamala Harris as Vice President). But days leading up to, an insurgent mob loyal to President Trump arrived in our nation’s capital and on Wednesday, January 6th, stormed the Capitol in what lawmakers condemned as an attempted insurrection aimed at overturning the results of an American election–a response largely publicly championed and incited by President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and others. What Congress began at 1 p.m. that day was derailed by an attempted coup that led to lives lost, multiple injuries, destruction to the Capitol, offices and property therein as rioters pushed their way inside. With members of Congress, staff, Vice President Pence and others quickly escorted to safety and fitted with gas masks to overcome tear gas used by law enforcement to scatter the mob, the unfolding events shocked and appalled. It is a day that will live in infamy and certainly stains our country. Committed to what they started on Wednesday afternoon, Congress and Vice President Pence returned to certify the electoral college votes, completing this process around 4 a.m. Thursday, which affirmed Trump’s 306-232 defeat.

People are responsible for their own actions. We also expect for those who acted criminally or contributed in some way to the violence to be held accountable. Several have already been arrested.

I live, work and worship in Washington, D.C., and am praying for our city and this country, as you likely are. I did not expect the grief that is so heavy upon my heart.

The Church

This is not a political message as I strive to remain apolitical. Though it has political references, this message is expressly for the Church. The Church has long been an enemy of the state–an enemy of this world as was expected and intended. With the prince of this world (Satan) operating as he has been since being kicked out of heaven and taking one-third of the angels along with him to wreak havoc against God and His children, the Church, the Christian is squarely in his sights. Persevering through opposition, oppression and persecution are par for the course for those who decide to follow Jesus. Jesus clearly warns us of this in John 15:18-21 (New International Version):

18 “If the world hates you,(A) keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you(B) out of the world. That is why the world hates you.(C)20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[a](D) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.(E) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name,(F) for they do not know the one who sent me.(G)

It is dangerous for the Church, for the body of Christ to seek an agent outside of Christ to relieve us from persecution. True–it is good that we have allies joining us in the fight to advance light and godliness amid darkness. In fact, not even Christ is pulling His Church out of the battles but rather, calling us to engage so that we are indeed that “city on a hill,” the light that points the lost, the deceived and the hopeless to Christ and the cross–not to a politician, platform or personality.

So what is populism? Populism is defined in several and yet similar ways. The Oxford English Dictionary defines populism as “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups,” also defined as “the quality of appealing to or being aimed at ordinary people.”

Certainly, there were many other reasons why voters voted for Trump for 2016. Whether in hopes for a better economy, a fair shake for small businesses instead of golden parachutes for corporate America CEOs, or Hillary Clinton was covertly evil, cold and can’t trust her, or whether to support and advance pro-life policies or simply for the fact that he “talks tough” following President Barack Obama who was weak on a number of issues. The reasons are varied and not a broad stroke. This is the case with many voters who vote for a candidate (and often the conflict of doing so). In America, we’re allowed to vote for who we choose. We’re also allowed to change our minds (which some did once seeing the Trump Administration on display). The fervent support and loyalty that President Trump received from many in the church was built trusting that he would not tone down who he was, that he would fight to protect the underdog (and some evangelicals see themselves and the collective Church in this category), and that he would not capitulate to the political establishment. This was an attractive, shiny object that blinded many.

Whether politician, a personality or “celebrity” preacher, being loyal to such things and people can kill the witness of the gospel and skew our line of sight. It is dangerous when the Church is not willing to call such people to account for their wickedness, division and lawlessness. She loses footing in her walk, in her light and line of sight. We don’t walk alongside the world’s systems and behaviors. The Church, the body of Christ was never meant to. If Christ was hated by the world, those who follow Christ will be too. We don’t need a rescue from anyone else other than Christ. We don’t need anyone to stand up for us. It will most certainly backfire.

Our Inheritance, A Glorious Kingdom

Dear brothers and sisters we belong to a Kingdom not of this world! We have a glorious inheritance, a glorious Kingdom in which our God reigns forever and ever and ever! He is seated on the throne today even in the midst of this upheaval. HE is our strongtower that the righteous run into and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). HE is our Rock and a mighty Rock is He. HE is our refuge.

Let us run this race as the Church that truly believes this (and many of you are). We need nothing else. Be bold enough to call evil what it is and have no loyalties to it (Ephesians 5:11). We can advance the gospel and godliness without the backing of a personality. Let’s boldly lift Christ up so that HE may draw all men unto Him (John 12:32). We need not lift up anyone else’s banner for in doing so, we kill our witness.

Love and prayers,

Nicole

05.05.20
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Spiritual Vigilance: What I’m Learning in This Time of COVID-19

Nicole D. Hayes Head shot

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Do it now and do it always.

COVID-19: a novel coronavirus that surfaced in Wuhan, China at least in December 2019 as we can tell. A disruption. A disruption to life that we are all experiencing together in similar and different ways. Schools and universities closed. Many work places closed. Parents who can, are working from home and homeschooling their children. Our healthcare professionals are being deployed to the front lines to care for the sick in unprecedented ways.

At the time of this writing, there have been 3,610,006 global cases of COVID-19 with more than 1.2 million of those cases reported in the United States. There have been 252,346 deaths with 69,079 of those deaths having occurred in the U.S. (source: Johns Hopkins University). More than 159,000 in the U.S. have recovered from the virus and more than 1.3 million globally have recovered, praise God.

I’ve been angry about it. Sad about it. Feeling helpless about it. In prayer about it. Like you, I am praying for our healthcare professionals, our first responders and frontline workers fighting against the pandemic. I am also praying for God’s mercy.

If you’ve read the bible, you likely understand that we are on a trajectory of sorrows, of greater distresses toward Jesus’ return. This pandemic is a fire drill in a sense to prepare us for more shaking to come. What we do from here is critical to enduring the race ahead.

Pray. Commune with the Lord. Pray. Fast. Study the Word. Pray. Live out the Word. Pray. Fellowship. Pray. Worship. Pray. Repeat. Obeying the Holy Spirit: always.

What we love, what we place as a high priority, what we do repeatedly tends to become a routine, a habit, a way of life; a training and disciplining. Because of such diligence and vigilance, we can better recognize what belongs in that routine and what doesn’t. We’re more apt to avoid something that would be considered a distraction or take us away from what we’re seeking to attain and maintain.

In my blog post entitled “What Does It Mean to Be ‘Fit’ (F.I.T.)?”, I write that “Our faith should be continuously maintained and developed/kept “fit” to help us persevere in courage, in the confidence of God’s promises and faithfulness. Someone told me of warriors past who would regularly maintain their shields which were made in part from leather. If the leather was not regularly maintained, the shield would crack and leave the user defenseless against oncoming arrows. Consider how important this is in our being able to thwart the enemy’s fiery darts by arming ourselves with and deploying the spiritual shield of faith as depicted in Ephesians 6:16. Our faith must be fit for the fight.”

Though the examples below outline the vigilance needed to preserve our physical health and protection, they can also serve as guidelines to encourage the spiritual vigilance we need to exercise daily.

Obedience

During this time, we’ve been given specific, basic instructions to follow to mitigate the spread of COVID-19:

  • Wear a mask
  • Social distance at least six-feet apart
  • Wash your hands
  • Disinfect/wipe down surfaces

No Slacking

To let up on any one of the aforementioned instructions can be harmful or deadly. One’s laziness, carelessness, neglect or being cavalier can be weaponized against themselves, their family member(s), neighbor(s) and community.

Self-Control

In staying healthy and keeping our immunity up against illness/disease, it means adopting healthy lifestyle choices. Eating healthy, whole foods. Eliminating as much processed food and sugar (except those naturally occurring in fruit) from your diet as possible. Exercising. Getting sufficient rest. This is not the the time to gorge and abuse your body leaving your immune system vulnerable. We need to be fit for what is coming.

Stay Alert Concept

God has shown us the way to live. He has told us what is coming. He has left nothing hidden in this regard. Short of shouting from the rooftops with a cry in my spirit, I wish I could convey in words how critical our spiritual vigilance is and will be in the days to come. The stakes are high. Others are watching so they might follow. This race requires our constant vigilance–not out of fear or striving for perfection but done with a disposition of obedience and a quiet rest and trust in Christ. Do it now and do it always.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. -Philippians 3:12, New International Version

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. -Philippians 2:13, New International Version

1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will  not escape. 4But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

6So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert (wide-awake, alert, having a watchfulness, vigilant) and self-controlled. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation for a helmet. 9For God did not appoint us to wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. -1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, New International Version

Love You, Watchful and Running With You in Christ Jesus,

Nicole

06.28.19
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Have I Been Honest with You?

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Have I been honest with you?

A bad hairdo. An unflattering outfit. A not-so-hot girlfriend or boyfriend. Many of us have been asked by family, friends or colleagues to offer our honest feedback to a possible look or style gone bad, or about someone questionable they are dating. Some of us are reluctant or shy away from giving such feedback in order to protect the person’s feelings (and some of us are brutally honest, lol). Unfortunately for me, the feedback in such delicate situations may not always come from my mouth before it is already written all over my face.

Honesty is a valued character trait. The answer may not always be what we want to hear though I/we appreciate being able to turn to those who we know will give us the truth regardless. Their first priority is to preserve us from facades and the tragic effects of whitewashed truth.

We are living in increasingly wicked days, in perilous times and behaviors described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. People are murderous, slanderous, lovers of themselves. They call evil “good” and good “evil.” Pleasure replaces holiness. Do what feels good. A culture of “do as thy wilt, live and let live” instead of “Thy will be done.” Compromise, fluidity, whitewashing and rejecting the truth. “Freedoms” that have people in chains. Even so, few draw the biblical connections as to why our world is in perpetual moral decay and decline. Although Satan is a defeated foe, he is indeed the prince of this world and is surely taking captives with him.

If we aren’t starting from the foundation of the fall to explain how sin entered the world and the consequences that ensued and continue today, then our reasoning is flawed. In the chaos, many will rely on their own intellect and seek solutions independent from God. Self-reliance on the surface seems noble and brave but it is a great deception. Satan wants us to think we can be our own god. But through deception and self-reliance, many will find that they’ve built their houses on sand instead of upon the solid Rock that is Jesus Christ. Proverbs 14:12 tells us that “There is a way that seems right to a man but it’s end is the way of death.”

I’ve not always been as straightforward as I could have in conversations with unbelievers or nominal Christians. At times I’ve remained silent or simply given a nod–not agreeing with what they’re saying but understanding why they say what they say. I didn’t seize the opportunity to impart truth although I’m unsure it would have been received. At the time I chose to steer away from an argument to preserve the bridge to revisit them later.

Screen-Shot-2014-05-05-at-9.28.56-AM

Getting Right Down To It: Why Should We Care if People Receive the Truth?

Why should we care if people receive the Truth? Because someone loved us enough to tell us the truth and I am beyond grateful.

Through the Great Commission, Jesus commissions (commands) Christians to disciple others in the truth. This command is given not only to pastors and priests but to all who follow Christ. Honestly, we aren’t always hearing the straight truth delivered from the pulpit lest someone gets offended. The late pastor David Wilkerson called this “the gospel of accommodation.” We should hope the Gospel offends and agitates rather than comfort a culture that rejects life on God’s terms. There is a heavy cost to such accommodation and denying our need for a Savior to rescue us from the clutches of sin. In the world’s deceptions, Satan is robbing them of “life and life to the full.” (John 10:10) Jesus calls Satan a thief and the father of lies. Be not deceived by the so-called “freedom” that the world is peddling.

The situation is far worse than a hairdo or fashion gone bad. People are gambling with eternity and a holy and just God. I pray to be honest with those deceived not wanting them to perish as participants and victims in the lies; not wanting them to miss out on life in the fullness of God. It burdens my heart. If you’re a Believer reading this, you likely lament over the ungodliness. Our culture has removed many of the moral and biblical guardrails that would guard against it’s implosion. Thank goodness for the guardrails that remain, predominately maintained by God’s grace, His mercy, His sovereignty and His People. And yet, it feels like we “are but a whisper away” from God’s wrath as a dear sister in Christ expressed.

We know that not everyone who has been given the truth will receive and apply it, for they will only want to hear what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). We will at least have given them the opportunity to hear and respond to it.

Some dear brothers I love recently returned from a basketball tournament in New Mexico. They are much older than their opponents but they did not let the perceived threat of their opponents’ youth deter them from playing their hearts out. Before going, one of them said, “We have to leave it all on the court.”

As the Holy Spirit leads us in what to say or what to do, we have to leave it all out there. Not a word or action short of what He instructs.

If not, this is some of the plethora of deceptions that sprouts:

The Spiritual and Moral Bankruptcy of ‘Progressive’ Christianity

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/meet-desmond-precocious-child-drag-queen.html

If this writing seems heavy it’s because it is. The days are urgent and short. Saints, keep being salt and light. Keep praying. Remain steadfast and dutiful. Work while it is day for soon it will be night and we will work no longer. Accept your commission to share the gospel and disciple others. Keep making the mighty and wonderful Name of Jesus known. Keep telling folks the reason for the hope you have. Remember the joy set before you. Love and Truth wins.

Embolden us Lord,

Nicole

 

In case you missed it: In advancing God’s Kingdom in our immoral culture, read my two articles recently published with The Christian Post on physician-assisted suicide and abortion written on behalf of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

02.08.19
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Nature Abhors a Vacuum: Our Representation Matters

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Dear saints, it’s been a while since I’ve written you. And I’ve missed you. It hasn’t been for lack of things to say, that’s for sure. From 2018 and into the New Year, there have been plenty of issues to pray about and elevate for our discussion. It is simply that lately my schedule has been packed—and so has my head and heart—packed with prayers. Prayers for our nation and world. Thoughts about our present-day issues and what should be the biblical response. All of these items and more have been in my head amid my daily joy of leading this ministry, a healthcare ministry, mentoring young ladies and also keeping to my project management consulting work— similar to how Paul kept his trade as a tent maker while sharing the Gospel.

Among the deluge of disturbing issues, many of us were angered and grieved by the late-term abortion legislation passed in New York last month. Christian physician and public policy leaders with the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) of which I serve as their area director for Washington, D.C., and is the nation’s largest faith-based association of doctors, responded to this abhorrent legislation calling it “medically unnecessary” and “morally bankrupt.” Read the full response and press release here.

True to 2 Timothy 3:1-5, wickedness is increasing. Wickedness is boasting of itself and carrying on in plain sight. It is no longer hiding. In their confusion and rebellion, those who encourage it call evil “good” and good, “evil.” Sin is no longer hideous to them — if it ever was. There is no fear or reverence for God. As British politician, philanthropist and slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833) said in his book, Real Christianity, “They have no love for holiness and no desire to acquire it.”

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, New International Version)

Christian Representation Matters

Writing this blog post would be unnecessary if Christians were truly welcomed within the diverse cacophony of voices. But by our very nature as God’s elect, we’ve already been called “a peculiar people,” “a holy nation,” “a royal priesthood,” set apart for God’s purposes (1 Peter 2:9). So we should not expect to be embraced by the world but delighted when hearts are open to receive His truth and light; delighted when eyes are no longer veiled to truth; delighted when people finally come to the end of themselves and want what only God can give them.

As things continue to implode, do not be alarmed by all of the disintegration happening. It must happen and continues to signal Christ’s return. The increasing wickedness does not disrupt our call. God has placed us here as His servants and witnesses for such a time as this. The Christian voice matters. Our representation matters. The best thing we can do is to come into agreement with what God wants to accomplish for His purposes and glory in a perishing world; that more may repent and be drawn to Him in these last days.

Our voices should not be contained to church pews, the pulpit or only among those with whom we share sweet fellowship. As a dear sister in Christ said recently, “Christianity is a lifestyle,” and as such, our faith is our life. It is not compartmentalized. We live Christ’s life in us out in the open. It is an inside-outside work.

walking-to-light-in-dessert-small

Do not underestimate the power of the light of God abiding in you. While moral and societal decay and wickedness seem to be having their way, this is not so. As Christ’s vessels, the light and new life residing in us is stronger than the darkness trying to press in. Such to the degree, that the words from John 1:5 speak to the unconquerable power of such light: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (New International Version)

We have everything to gain by being His representatives. And we don’t need anyone’s permission to act as such. We have already been called to fight against the powers of darkness.

When Aristotle said, “Nature abhors a vacuum,” it’s a sobering reminder that our culture will fill it with something. It might as well be filled with our voices as Jesus’ representatives in the earth.

When we walk in the light and lead others in His light, our and their future is indeed bright. If we do our job well and without compromise, many will benefit and this will be reflected in our culture. We seek to disciple and equip others to respond to issues from a Christian standpoint. As my fellow brother in Christ and Christian Medical & Dental Associations Washington colleague Jonathan Imbody writes in his book, Faith Steps (Legion Publishing, 2016), “Faith steps simply means making choices in God’s direction.”

We desire to impact our culture in response to God’s direction so that others may experience what Jesus has promised, “life and life to the full.” (John 10:10)

Our representation matters. We are rich in opportunities to share Jesus, His light, love, and truth with the world. We can represent Him right where God has planted us or wherever He sends us. The world is in need and nature abhors a vacuum.

As the Lord asks in Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?,” I hope your response will be, “Here am I. Send me!”

Embolden us Lord, that we may glorify you.

God bless you and Go in courage,

Nicole

10.11.18
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Do Not Allow the Kavanaugh/Ford Effect to Become the Butterfly Effect

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Contentious. Raw emotions. Triggers. New wounds made and some old ones thought healed, now reopened. The past few weeks in our country have been among some of the most divisive experiences that I can recall recently. It’s been difficult to watch.

Newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, 53, and psychology professor and research psychologist, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, 51, were in the hands of a very public and irresponsibly mishandled process neglected by that “wisdom that comes from above — considerate, impartial and sincere” — as described in James 3:17-18. What we painfully watched unfold for nine hours on our televisions and digital devices — a woman bravely recounting a deeply traumatic event before millions of people and a man defending his character before those same millions of viewers— has created a highly polarized nation. Presumption of innocence. Presumption of guilt. The process has pit women against men, men against women, women against women, party against party, faction against faction and has ultimately led to tribalism. The real enemy behind every division (Satan) has no prejudice against who he divides from pursuing righteousness so long as we unite in lawlessness and hate toward one another. Gasoline and matches.

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Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh (left) and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford (right) give their sworn testimonies during Kavanaugh’s controversial confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate on September 27, 2018, amid sexual assault allegations made by Ford against Kavanaugh that she said occurred 36 years prior. Photo courtesy: The Stream.org

I believe that what you see depends on where you sit. What you see often depends on how you’ve had to view life through the lens of your experiences. I discussed the issue with a number of dear loved ones of faith and we saw the situation differently. The emotions and gut perspectives shared by each of us were valid as we sat in the seat of our own experiences. We were a microcosm of our larger viewing society that is now at each other’s throats. The only difference in our group was, amid our disagreement on what we were seeing, we came together in love and prayed for truth and God’s will to prevail.

Hopefully more people will carry this disposition forward.

Do not allow the Kavanaugh/Ford effect to become the Butterfly Effect. What do I mean by that? It’s a small change that causes a ripple effect that can give rise to a tidal wave we cannot come back from. An escalation of name calling, hateful and ignorant words spoken, compassion lacking, wicked thoughts acted upon, death threats made to both parties and their families, has led our society further down a path of inhumanity and even less civility. Do not allow the emotions of these present conditions to beat with such a ferocity that it takes us to conditions and consequences with one another that we cannot come back from by “changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole” as the Butterfly Effect chaos theory suggests. To where we are no longer recognizable to one another, as human being to human being, created in God’s image.

Butterfly Effect Animated

So how do we heal? In what seems like chaos and evil unhinged, do we trust God to handle all parts of it?

We need to remember that in all of the sifting, shaking and dismantling that God is reconciling all things to Himself.

In Christ’s supremacy, He is the same One Who holds all things together: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  (Colossians 1:15-17)

Since God is in control, our disposition is to follow His lead and to lead in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:19-20)

And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:21

America is in desperate need of a love letter from you to keep this union.

This may sound Pollyannaish to some but it is very real. God is love and His love in us truly can overcome hate. The butterfly effect is upon us. You have a choice. One bitter word spoken can cause a ripple effect of no return. Undeniably, our country needs healing on numerous levels. Will love lead you or will you be part of the chaos? Will love distinguish you in today’s “us vs. them” climate? Will you be a peacemaker with others whether their view is near or distant to yours? Will you be a voice against the grain? We have a great opportunity here to be that love letter. Can God trust you to model His love letter to others?

Heavenly Father, thank you for first loving us so that we can know how to love you and model that love to others. Remove anything in our hearts that is not of you so we may do this work to your glory. Renew a right spirit within us. Help us to be your love letter to our families, friends, colleagues, communities, nation and world. Jesus, we need you, we need your healing. Help us to be your hands, feet and mouthpiece. Prepare hearts in advance to receive your love. Help us to be both the messenger and the message. We cannot do this work without you. Thank you. We love you.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray and ask this. Amen.

Nicole

Note: We continue to remain apolitical and nonpartisan with our content and mission. The events of these past few weeks required a biblical response.

09.01.18
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I Thought I Was a Christian

Today, we are delighted to share with you the testimony from a young man who thought he was a Christian by trying to be a “good person.” Like many others with similar stories, he grew up in the church, believed on the surface that God existed but he did not have a true relationship with His Savior, Jesus Christ. But as he continued through college, it was becoming clear to him that he was far from living as a Christian…and the Lord was reaching out to him. Read his story below and please share if you’re led. We pray his testimony blesses you and others.

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Kurt Yoder, VATG Guest Blogger

If you would have asked me about five years ago how long I’d been a Christian, I would had said my whole life. You see I grew up going to church. I always had at least a surface belief that Jesus is God, and I used to think that as long as I try to be a good person, I’ll make it to heaven because I believe in Jesus. A lot of people fall into that trap, but Jesus said himself that,

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

Looking back, I had no desire to keep God’s commandments.

I remember reading Matthew 7:21 and it really hit me like a freight train. Jesus said, Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

And this, The demons also believe, and shudder. (James 2:19)

Even demons have an intellectual knowledge of God. In some ways they probably know more about God than us since they were once in his heavenly kingdom. But they do not have the type of belief that saves; saving faith that produces repentance and a longing to live godly.

I did not have saving faith growing up. To show you that, I will tell you a bit about my old self. I quit going to church in high school. To give you an idea of what kind of kid I was, at the age of 17, I started drinking every weekend. Nobody around me found that wrong – not my friends, family, or family’s friends. Everybody lived like that and once you were around that age, you start partying. People thought that was just a part of growing up. The false notion is that you’ve got to have rebellious times when you’re young, so you have something to laugh about when you’re old. By worldly standards, I was a fine kid. I got good grades, was pretty involved in extracurricular activities, and played sports. I even did some good things while I was an unbeliever. I remember specifically standing up for an outcast several times when he got made fun of. You see, I thought of myself as a pretty good person.

I thought I was a Christian

Lines from poem written by Michael P. Johnson

In college, I joined a fraternity. It was the type of stereotypical fraternity you hear about – lots of drinking and sexual immorality. Although, I was not the most immoral person in the fraternity, I was no doubt a part of that lifestyle. There were always people around me that seemed worse than me, and they made me think, “I’m a good person.” I had a friend from high school who went to college with me and did not join a fraternity. Instead, he lived in the dorms his whole time at college and tried to win people to Christ.

At the time, I thought that was a nice thing he was doing, but it wasn’t for me. We had coffee a few times. I remember he would always bring the conversation to Jesus. My thought while talking to him was always, “Why is he telling me this stuff? I believe in Jesus. I believe everything in the bible.” I don’t remember exactly what he said but looking back he knew I was lost. I made clear to him that I believed in Jesus and always had. I promised him one day I would read the bible. Just not now. I was too focused on college then.

Procrastination is what holds a lot of people in unbelief. They put off reading the bible, joining a bible study, going to church, and doing so they never come to face with the truth that they’re a sinner and need reconciliation. They fall more and more into sin and then lose the desire to know God. The governor Felix procrastinated. Paul presented him with the gospel, and Felix began to understand that God is a holy God and we are sinful people. Felix said, “I will hear you again on this matter.” He put off getting right with God. As far as we know, Felix never repented and came to faith. Procrastination damned him.

I procrastinated for a while, but God kept working on me. Shortly after college, I did start reading the bible. At the time, I thought of it as a checklist item. I have to do this once in my life. I thought of it as merely a pursuit of knowledge. I wanted to add bible knowledge to my belt. I did not know that through reading God’s word, God would reveal to me how sinful I was and would give me a new heart. Shortly after I started reading, I was seeking through the radio stations one night, and was compelled to leave the station on a station of a man giving a sermon. I never listened to talk radio at the time. If I was seeking through stations, I would listen for music. If I didn’t hear music, I would instantly keep seeking before I even heard what was being talked about. For some reason, this night I left the station where it landed and heard the man preach and continued to listen to him. I didn’t even know there were Christian radio stations. The next morning when I got in my truck, a new man was preaching. I kept listening and I’ve been listening to sermons on the radio ever since. It was through that radio preaching and my own reading that I began to receive Christ.

Since I thought I was a Christian all along, I can’t exactly tell you the moment I was converted. I can look back on a few moments and say it wasn’t then.

I remember the first time I read the book of Romans, it was like it went through one ear and out the other. I had no idea what I just read. Then, I read Romans about a year later and was in awe. I thought, holy smokes! That was incredible! So much doctrine in that one book. I remember looking back and thinking, I don’t think I had true faith the first time I read the book of Romans. You can only understand this book if you have a new heart. Unbelievers can understand things like historical and geographical things in the bible, but they can’t understand doctrine. The book of Romans is rich on doctrine. The only reason we can understand God’s word is because we have the Holy Spirit. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God… But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them. (1 Corinthians 2:12, 14)

Unbelievers cannot understand the word of God. I see that proven all the time and it breaks my heart. There are several people close to me that started reading the bible once and they said they had to quit because they just had no idea what it was saying. I couldn’t understand when I first started reading, but God convicted me of my whole sinful life and I came crawling to God to give me salvation and with that salvation he gave me understanding of his word.

Another moment that I can look back and confidently say that I wasn’t a Christian – the time I heard on a Christian radio program a man telling a woman that she can be forgiven for her sin of abortion. My thought was, “What? Abortion is murder. Murderers don’t make it to heaven.” I was confused what this man was talking about. Now I know that anybody can be forgiven. We are all sinful.

There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)

I may be slightly better than a murderer, or an adulterer, or a drug addict. They’re here and I’m here. But the reality is that God is way up there at the sky. He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! He demands perfection in his holy kingdom.

We are not saved by our works. We are only saved by Christ’s works! He lived the perfect life, then died on the cross and bore our sins. He paid for an eternity’s worth of wrath for each one of us in those hours on the cross. It pains me to think how much pain Christ bore for me on that cross, not even including any others wrath that he paid for, but I’m sure glad he did.

No, we’re not saved by our works. Because once you put your works into the equation, you have to also put all your bad works into the equation, too. One sin cancels all your good works and is enough to condemn you forever. I now know that salvation not by being a basically good person. Salvation is by faith!

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) The righteous man shall live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:30-31)

My old self thought I had been a Christian my whole life, but there is no such thing. We all are born into sin and live a life rebellious to God. The only way we can live a life of glorifying God is if we have been born again. I thought the born again was only for really bad people – prostitutes, drug addicts. The truth is that I am just as guilty as they are. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)

Jesus told that to a leading Pharisee, Nicodemus. Even Nicodemus, who was surely much better than me, probably didn’t fall into that partying lifestyle, and probably went to synagogue several days a week, and prayed several hours a day, needed to be born again.

To reiterate the point,

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I have learned that the Christian life is much more difficult than an unbelieving life. It’s much easier to go with the ways of the world and be a man-pleaser. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)

Jesus received undeserved hate. He proclaimed the truth and way of salvation, and the world hated him for telling them they were deceived and living a life against God. The whole world is hostile toward the true Christian viewpoint. They’re not hostile to false Christian viewpoints, such as cheap grace – just believe in Jesus and go on living like a heathen; or the prosperity gospel – that God wants to make you healthy and wealthy and he’s going to really take care of you if you just have faith; or universalism – that God is a loving God and everybody’s going to heaven and there is no judgement for sin. God is a loving God, but he is also a just God. The world loves those false forms of Christianity, but they hate true Christianity. The Christianity that says, “All men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God,” and all men need to repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ, for “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

I know this Christian life is tough. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

Although I know this Christian life has been and will be tough, I have great joy and peace. I do because I know the price has been paid for me by Jesus on the cross and whenever I die or Jesus comes to take me home, I will have eternal life in a kingdom where there is no sin and I have no sin and I can worship my savior face to face! I can’t wait for that day! I also have great joy and peace because of Christ’s last words on the cross, “It is finished.” My salvation has been worked out! Victory has won over death! And I know that because I didn’t earn this salvation, I cannot lose this salvation. God freely gave me salvation, and my salvation is in his hands. No one can take this salvation away from me.

For Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29) 

Kurt Yoder, 27, has been a Christian for about three years. He lives in rural western Missouri and is a member of a Southern Baptist Church. He and his wife have been married for two years, and have been blessed with a six-month old daughter.

08.21.18
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Sometimes We Lament

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

It’s taken me more than a week to pray on and write this blog post…and it still may not hit all the right notes. Though I hope you can relate to the message’s tone and tenor. I trust that the message is one you can relate to, feeling the pang of each event in your spirit. With each event, the pangs seem to intensify.

Sometimes I lament in my spirit. I lament over the wickedness in our world and how mankind continues to grieve and offend our gracious God.

Murdering spirits. Shootings. Young people being slain in our streets. In our schools. In our parks. Slayings. No regard for human life. Bombings. Wars. Abortions. When will it stop? When will justice come?

Sometimes we lament.

Domestic violence. Sex trafficking. Perversion. Grown men (including men of the cloth) and women attracted to children and teens. Unnatural attractions. Rampant, horrific sexual abuse, sexual violence and harassment. Persecutions for faith. Prejudicies. Myriad injustices. A culture, society and world that is hostile toward God and seemingly bent on continuing this way.

Sometimes we lament.

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Addictions. A bondage hastening unto death.

Sometimes we lament.

Corruption and wickedness enacted, enjoyed and exposed on every level, throughout our various institutions that were designed to be trusted and lawful.

Sometimes we lament.

Satan, demons, and the wicked proclivities behind it all.

Sometimes we lament.

The ungodly thoughts that we slay in our own hearts and minds. We pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” from Psalm 51:10.

Sometimes we lament.

Recently, I felt such a grief in my spirit as I have at times before, that I expressed this to a dear sister in Christ. She too has experienced this. For those of us who love the Lord and who have prayed to know the Lord’s heart, you’ve likely felt this burden. But I trust that God’s tears are far greater.

Since when God created man, He has known what resides in man’s heart. It’s dark and ugly. Jeremiah 17:9 reads “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Ecclesiastes 7:29 reads, “This only have I found: God made man upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”

lamentin person bent over

Scheming. Planning. Self-seeking. Plotting how they can next satisfy their flesh, their appetites and selfish ambition. And yet, amid their plotting, our compassionate, loving and merciful God —  our God of great forbearance — awakens offenders morning, after morning, after morning, allowing them to return to their plotting. Some are aware of what pleases and displeases God but do what they want anyway, without regard for how their choices offend a holy God. Others are simply blind to the truth. Those spiritually destitute and without the Holy Spirit continue to pursue evil. They despise the truth, despise righteousness and seem all the more thrilled to ride their way to hell, drink in hand.

How long, how wide, how deep is our Savior’s love, His patience and kindness toward us?! The stench of wickedness has reached His nostrils! Creation is groaning. The earth remembers it’s slain. We’re daily witnessing the consequences of evil. Yet, God continues to strive with mankind, for now. He pursues and pursues us. His love is amazing to me. I’ve often admitted that if I were God, I would have annihilated mankind a long time ago. Fortunately, His plans are better than mine.

In ways far beyond my comprehension, God still loves. Throughout the bible, we see God’s love displayed for people amid their repeated and blatant disobedience. Many of the Old Testament prophets lamented over the people’s disobedience. Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as “the weeping prophet,” grieved that his warnings of God’s judgment pronounced to the people of Judah were constantly disregarded as they worshiped worthless idols. Stubborn and rebellious hearts. They should have all been destroyed! But in Jeremiah 5:18, Jeremiah speaks the LORD’s words that He “will not destroy them completely.” This also caused Jeremiah to grieve because he knew of the Lord’s great compassion — and that his words of warning would be looked upon foolishly by the people of Judah if the Lord withheld His wrath.

Moses often prayed for the Israelites in their disobedience as they built idols and altars to worship false gods. As I wrote in this article “Should I Not Care About These Too?” about God’s instruction to Jonah to warn the Ninevites of their impending destruction if they did not repent, Jonah became angry at the Lord for His compassion toward these wayward people.

1But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2He prayed to the LORD, “O, LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” In verse 4, the LORD replies, “Have you any right to be angry?” (Jonah 4:1-2,4)

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Today, God, in His great mercy, continues to send His People to pray for, warn and instruct those walking in spiritual blindness on paths of destruction. We lament knowing that some will choose to remain blind, disobedient and will ultimately perish. However, in our lamenting, we should also be encouraged. There is power in the prayers of the lamenting  — even those said without audible words but uttered in deep groans. There is promise in our pleas. God indeed sees, hears and answers prayers. He hears His remnant crying out and petitioning on behalf of the lost. If those who are far way from Him should see the error of their ways and desire Him, He is willing to save.

Heavenly Father, thank you. I don’t understand how you love us so. Your lovingkindess is beyond comprehension. Your grace, unfathomable. Your mercies are new every morning. Even those who rejected You yesterday can become your forever sons and daughters today if they truly repent and choose Your Son Jesus. As we lament over the condition of our world, Your love, Your grace, Your victory and Your great plan of salvation out shines the backdrop of wickedness. We will boldly and lovingly continue to share the Good News hoping that others may hear and turn to You. Even against the backdrop of the darkest of times, our confidence in what You will accomplish will not be slackened. Amen.

Nicole

06.23.18
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Immigration Reform: We Cannot Stem Lawlessness by Sacrificing Children

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

“Papi! Papi!” “Mommy! I want to go with mommy!” Grief and anger panged me as if these children were known to me. More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents by law enforcement in illegal border crossings. The wails from the mouths of little ones we’ve viewed this week in news coverage punches to the gut and rips at the heart. Knowing God’s love for children, He cannot be pleased at their suffering.

Many of us have prayed for ministering angels to minister to these children and their parents. Years and years of data show the psychological impact that could be lifelong, even if the children are reunited with their parents. From this June 20, 2018 Wall Street Journal article, “The Effects of Parental Separation on Children,”  biological stress responses are activated in a child separated from their caregiver. The symptoms exhibited could include elevated blood pressure and heart rate, anger, depression, social behavioral disturbances, among others. “If the biological response is continuously engaged, it begins to cause “wear and tear” on the child’s body,” according to Dr. Jack Shonkoff, director of Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics there are “lifelong consequences of extended exposure to serious stress, a condition sometimes called toxic stress. Current research indicates that chronic stress puts people at increased risk of psychiatric disorders and other health problems.”

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This is unacceptable.

The process for the reunification of separated parents and children is unclear. A policy that was cobbled together in a fashion with little to no regard for the human toll, has many wondering if reunification is even possible. As journalist and CNN political commentator, Errol Louis, poignantly said, “You go to the dry cleaners, they give you a ticket for your clothes. You leave your shoes at the bowling alley, they give you a ticket. They take your children and there’s nothing…no receipt, no bracelet, no tracking method, nothing.”

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This is unacceptable. This is not a win for anyone. There is no art to this deal.

Many of those crossing our borders illegally are seeking asylum from devastating brutality and violence, and simply a better life. Not all of these people are deviants and dangers to the community. Yes, these are illegal crossings. Yes, we are a nation of laws and must justly and fairly enact the laws. We are also a nation of people, of immigrants created in God’s image.

Dear friends have shared with me their personal stories of immigration and separation for a time from their mom or dad and the trauma felt of that experience. Their emotional reaction to that childhood trauma is still palpable. I’ve heard the stories of children whose behavior in the classroom drastically deteriorated from kindergarten to first grade when their father was deported within that time. I know the hard work of friends in social work who help immigrants deal with various traumas, day in and day out.

America has a long and shameful history of separating, locking up and incarcerating people, particularly our black and brown. We have no misgivings about their age, even if they are toddlers wearing diapers. Those who do the incarcerating benefit heftily: contractors of the detention facilities are being paid millions by our federal government, some more than $40 million. Here’s an article on contractor-run shelters in the Washington, D.C. region that are banking lucrative contracts to house migrant children.

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There’s also Juan Sanchez, CEO of Southwest Key nonprofit who runs 26 immigrant shelters across the country who was paid nearly $1.5 million in salary — a salary double than what he was paid the previous year. I can tell you as someone who completed their Master of Public Administration in nonprofit and faith-based management, this salary is waaay out of line in administrative costs (with just his salary alone) over program costs. Southwest Key is a smaller nonprofit in comparison to the multi-billion dollar American Red Cross with vast responsibilities whose CEO, Gail McGovern earns $600,000 in annual salary.

The Problem (only one?) with Government 

We are deceived and will be disappointed if we think our government will behave right. We cannot expect a callous, removed, impersonal, bureaucratic and cumbersome government to act personally toward what’s happening on the ground. It is simply not designed to do so. It’s role is to enforce the laws. To be frank, we the Church and the world became comfortable when government created programs to help others so we could move on with our lives — not realizing the world of difference we would awake to right now when we assumed that government would act godly and just. There is no substitute for godliness. This is one of the heartbreaks and false comforts of progress without godliness. The government, masters of implementing and evaluating systems, processes, regulations and laws, but unskilled in matters of compassion.

The truth is this: in our government’s attempt to curb the insidious activity of criminals (human and drug traffickers) from infesting our soil, they have made insidious decisions to where families have been torn apart and perhaps irreversible damage done. We cannot stem lawlessness by sacrificing children. Human trafficking, child smuggling, drug trafficking, those wanted for arrest, I get it. We are a nation of laws and laws need to be enforced justly and fairly. We are also a nation of people.

Our Role as Christ’s Ambassadors, as Dual Citizens

I’ve made it a point to remain apolitical on our ministry platforms. My main reason for doing so is to prepare us for God’s Kingdom which is permanent and perfect over the temporary and very imperfect system to which we are geographically subjected. But this issue required a response.

No matter your political leanings, we know that families together is God’s design. Satan loves nothing more than to promote ideologies that seek to distort, divide and destroy God’s design.

Indeed, our nation’s broken immigration system has long needed fixing. Our immigration system is not sustainable in its current state. It is a complex issue and the very complexities are why previous administrations have left it to future administrations to fix.

Some Christians are divided over the issue. But as Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, said on the dual citizenship of Christians: “As citizens of the U.S., we have an obligation to support the government and the government’s laws for conscience sake. As citizens of the Lord’s heavenly Kingdom, we also have a divine mandate to act redemptively and compassionately toward those who are in need.”

As Christians, we should be especially compelled to advocate for those who are caught in the margins — who lack a certain status and thereby more vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment.

© Copyright 2012 CorbisCorporationAs Christ’s Ambassadors, we have been called out from the world to not behave as the world does. In a decaying world that has lost its way, this separation should not make us abstain from bringing light to darkness. This is and always will be our role. To engage so others can see the hands and feet of Christ at work amid insidious, skeptical and unjust situations. If we love God, we will love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). We have an opportunity to demonstrate His love in this issue and many others.

While God certainly has many purposes at work, it’s undeniable the squeeze placed upon our nation and world that has brought many more to their knees, praise God. The situations are being used as instruments to expose on a larger scale the depths of our immorality and prejudices and long-held indifference about it, giving us a real good look at ourselves. The situations are also turning us back to God. As a dear brother reminded several of us in prayer meeting this week, our God is and always has been in control! No matter how things look, His purposes WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED! God cannot fail! (Thank you, Dracy)

As a dear sister reminded me, God is at work even in our suffering. We see this depicted in the lives of those throughout the Bible, and we have experienced His Presence in our trials. The news will not depict this but trust that God is a very present help in our situations. Be encouraged. Take heart for He has overcome the world (John 16:33). We need to act like we believe this even amid vast injustice. Concerned as we all are about these children’s future, I am entrusting them to our very present God who holds their future.

Immigration child separation 7 we belong

Many wonder how history and others will remember them. If you’re looking for a mission field, or looking to leave a legacy, start here: May we strive to become a united Body of Christ that hears, shares in and is compelled to relieve the suffering of others, to be a refuge for others. Will we be who we say we are? Yield to however the Holy Spirit leads you to do this and do it without hesitation.

20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20-21 #NoRegrets #BoldLiving

May our living be bold.

Our actions do not need to be gigantic but inaction is unsatisfactory.

May we also keep lifted in prayer the parents and children, the social workers and health care community, the faith community, legal community and many others who will be called upon to help rebuild these fractured lives. We pray for their strength where fatigue is certain. We pray for provision and abundance of resources to carry out their efforts.

Love, prayers and blessings,

Nicole