Captive to the Word of God

Without going into the history of the life of Martin Luther, suffice it to say that his writings and teachings did not make the established religious groups and political groups of the day happy. He came under scrutiny from the powers that controlled Rome and stood in danger of being put to death for his beliefs unless he recanted and changed what he taught and believed. It was a very serious moment for Luther and it was a seminal moment for Christianity and the Bible itself. Essentially, Luther was being faced with either changing his beliefs or being put to death. Charles V, in response to Luther’s unwavering stance issued the edict of Worms and declared Luther an outlaw. His arrest and death as a heretic were declared because he would not abandon his own Bible based convictions and adopt the positions of the religio-political groups of the day. He uttered these words when he was asked if he would recant his positions or not. Luther said: “Unless I am convinced by Scripture or by clear reasoning that I am in error, for popes and councils have often erred and contradicted themselves, I cannot recant, for I am subject to the Scriptures I have quoted; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. It is unsafe and dangerous to do anything against one’s conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. So help me God. Amen.”

Anyone living today, if they have one grain of sense, will have to admit that this world has gone absolutely mad! It is more than crazy; it is MAD. And the sad thing is that people are o.k. with all of the craziness going on. At least it seems to be that way. I believe the majority of people know things are seriously askew but they don’t know what to do about it. Our leaders are taking this country down the wrong path and the payoff isn’t going to be pleasant.

When men dress as women and take part in “drag-shows” and think it’s normal, the wheels have come off the wagon. When children are subject to this kind of thing and it is deemed o.k., the wheels have come off the wagon. When our education system feels that it is their duty to teach little children that they could be of another sex other than what they were born with, the wheels have come off the wagon! When men decide they are women and women declare they are a man, the wheels have come off the wagon! (Gen. 1:27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them). When people of the same sex can marry and when our legal system endorses such a thing, the wheels have come off the wagon. When Congress won’t do anything about such things because they fear being called a name (racist, homophobe for example) we need some heroes in Congress who will do something about it. Re-election looms too large for them to say much. Might hurt their chances. I don’t give a flip about someone’s political career. What this country needs are some people who will stand for what is right and protect the good, normal people of society. Right now we don’t have very many protecting us. In my opinion, our greatest enemies are internal. Those elected to guide the nation are the very ones, in many, many cases, who are in favor of continuing the madness we are experiencing. I expect that some will call me some names for expressing my opinion but so be it. I frankly don’t care. If someone calls you names for doing what is right and good, that just points them out as those who love the madness.

This evil society is now insisting that Christian people, should be forced to change their beliefs to align with leftist ideology. They want us to compromise our beliefs in order to sync up with the liberal way of thinking and accept the crazy stuff going on today. I have news for them: As Luther said, “my conscience is captive to the Word of God.” I cannot change to suit this world and still be acceptable to God. And, I choose to be acceptable to Him and Him alone. If this world thinks for one fleeting millisecond that Bill Harrell is going to change my Bible-based beliefs just so they won’t have opposition to their rotting points of view you can bet there will be icicles ten feel long in hell before that will happen! That’s not being hard headed or stubborn, it’s just the facts. I am Captive to the Word of God!

Now, let me tell you the latest thing that I have just been made aware of. I am going to simply state the facts and let the chips fall where they may. In telling you about this, I am going to have to, of necessity, refer to some political parties. My information comes from an article printed by the Epoch Times and featured on the Brietbart News site. Here we go! Most Republicans, 75 percent, and Independents, 61 percent said Christians should not be forced to change their beliefs to line up with leftist “woke” ideology. Democrats are split on the issue with 41 percent saying they should be forced to change their beliefs and 41 percent saying they should not. The article continues: “However, among Biden 2020 voters specifically, 42 percent believe Christians should compromise their beliefs to match up with leftist ideology compared with 41 percent who do not. The survey shows that efforts to normalize “woke” ideas such as transgenderism and Critical Race Theory continue even though parents nationwide disagree. As a comparison, 79 percent of Trump voters say Christians should not have to compromise their beliefs to adhere to leftist ideology. (Sorry for having to bring politics into it all but I am only stating the facts as it is long overdue that we do.) What blows my mind is that we are even discussing such things as are going on in the first place. It demonstrates to one just how far we have already fallen that we are having to deal with the “woke” agenda at all.

President Biden signed the “Respect for Marriage Act” making gay marriage legal. This was passed without strong religious liberty protections. This means that preachers expounding the Word of God can be brought to court if they preach against same sex marriage, transgenderism, sex change procedures and other related issues. The Senate passed this horrendous bill with a 61-36 margin and this bill could be used to target Americans who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as God designed it to be. The Senate rejected a religious amendment from Sen. Mike Lee that would have prevented religious organizations from being targeted by the federal government under the law. An identical amendment was proposed in the House by Rep. Chip Roy but was also rejected. People who are “woke” have already compromised what has always been proven to be right and proper. They are not worried at all about more liberal compromise on their part. Our country is in mortal danger when our “leaders” exhibit no more moral and spiritual understanding that they do. The reason they want Christians to compromise their beliefs is that they know that the only way for them to win is by getting us to join their forces. They know that God’s people are a force to be reckoned with and that they can’t win unless we give up. I ain’t giving up!

The federal government and those using its power to try to bring all this godless “woke” stuff into being are leading this nation down the “Primrose Path to Perdition.” They are intimidating the good people into submission but this has got to stop. The Christians, who are “Bound by the Word of God” cannot submit to this madness. I say to them, don’t change your position because God has not changed His position at all. The Bible says He is “unchanging” and that is a fact that cannot be refuted. Christians who stand with God are not “woke”. They have been “awakened” by the Spirit of God and therefore they can recognize the rotten error of being “woke.”

One of our basic problems as Christians is that far too many of our preachers have been intimidated in various ways to the point that they are no longer warning their people about what is going on in society. They shy away because too many of the people in their churches are a part of this liberal scene or at least sympathetic to it. The pastors have been silent so long that their congregations are now filled with too many “woke” people who might quit coming to church and giving their money if the pastor did what pastors of the past did: Warn their people of the dangers lurking around and intending to destroy our society. We need preachers in this world of today while will rear up on their hind legs and declare, “Thus Saith the Lord” while realizing that the society isn’t going to like it. My response is: Who cares is they like it or not? My conscience is “Captive to the Word of God!”