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Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

Time to shut up, time to speak up

Stephen M. Miller
Photo of Billy Graham
RIP BILLY. In the past year, we’ve lost Billy Graham and gained Donald Trump. Even the North Pole is shifting now. So maybe it’s time for Christians to say something that sounds like Jesus. Photo 1966 by Library of Congress.

WHAT A WRENCHING YEAR for Christians who follow the news and who believe that we should help make the world a better place.

Yesterday was a tough day, too.

We lost the Rev. Billy Graham.

In addition, many of us listened to teenagers talk about what they experienced in the recent mass murder at their high school in Florida.

How can those kids escape PSTD, posttraumatic stress disorder, shot out of the barrel of a semi-automatic weapon of war?

And if they survive that, how can they escape PSTD shot out of the mouth of politicians?

My heart melted as I listened to those kids talk. They were saying what we grownups should be saying.

As I listened to them, it actually crossed my mind that we grownups might do well to just turn the reins over to the kids now. Because we’ve blown it. And continue to blow it.

The kids look like their hearts are in the right place, while it looks as though our generation of political leaders has no heart at all.

Good, bad, or ugly, we’ve learned to do what it takes to get what we want.
We’ve sold justice to the rich, who can afford the best lawyers.
We’ve cut the safety net for those at greatest risk.
We know nothing of orphans.
As for widows, they can take care of themselves.

That’s exactly the opposite of what we’re supposed to do.

“Study goodness.
Follow justice.
Rescue the beaten.
Protect the orphan.
Defend the widow. Isaiah 1:17 Casual English Bible

A modern equivalent of orphans and widows in Bible times would be anyone who’s powerless to help themselves, and who needs someone to defend them. High school kids facing down an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle come to mind.

So do DACA folks, kids who grew up here after their parents brought them in illegally. We’re going to kick them out? Really?

One thing I’ve learned as I’ve worked my way through paraphrasing more than half the New Testament for the Casual English Bible is this: faith isn’t silent.

“You empty-headed person, how about I teach you something? I’ll prove to you that the faith of a person is useless if the person doesn’t do anything to help others…A body that doesn’t breathe is a corpse. Faith that doesn’t get up and go and do good things is just as dead” (James 2:20, 26 Casual English Bible).

I think Billy Graham would say “Amen.” He would not add, “…and pass the ammunition.”

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway

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About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stacy Guerrero

    February 22, 2018 at 9:07 am

    Well said. Love this!

    Reply
  2. George Stuart

    February 22, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    No I’m not turning over the government to the generation of Tide Pod eaters. God required a man to be 20 to be in the army and his wisdom is always spot on.

    Reply
    • Stephen M. Miller

      February 22, 2018 at 9:29 pm

      Of course that was 3,000 years ago, with a generation that ate Pods and avoided the Tide.

      Reply

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