Council Grove Christian Church

23 April in the Year of our Lord 2025
 

“We pray that America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world,
 and we pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of
Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.”
-from President Trump’s Holy Week Message to the nation

 
 
Servants of God,

Some thoughts on how God works in mysterious ways:

Who would have expected that President Trump would publish an Easter proclamation that so clearly witnessed to the death, burial and resurrection of, in his words, “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity.” ? Ronald Reagan’s Easter messages seem tame and generic (as do Trump’s from his first term) compared to his 2025 message. You do not have to agree with all of Trump’s agenda or his actions, but Christians should rejoice that a president would dare to speak in such a biblically accurate manner.

The morning after Easter Sunday, Pope Francis died. He was an interesting and shrewd man. He probably did more to weaken the Roman Catholic Church theologically than can easily be calculated. He was the first pope to be steeped in “liberation theology” and clearly had an agenda intended to undermine and obscure traditional catholic beliefs. Could the catholic church take a turn back toward a more traditional leader as the new pope is elected? Time will tell, but millions of Catholics probably wish for a pope who is more theologically conservative and less leftist in his views.

There has been quite a lot of fuss over the removal from our country of a particular illegal alien. He entered the country illegally and twice he has been determined by our legal system to be a member of the vicious Salvadorian gang MS-13. The political left has its underwear in a knot over the “lack of due process” given to this criminal. The current administration candidly admitted that he was shipped back home as the result of an administrative error. But let us think a bit here. What process was he “due”? He is a criminal in at least two countries and had no legal right to be in the United States. Could it be that in a mysteriously strange twist of events justice has been served? I am old enough to remember when our federal government used to make regular public warnings annually to every non-citizen. Aliens were warned that our laws required them to be in the country legally or face deportation. Federal law requires deportation of criminal aliens. As Rod Martin has written “The United States is not a global flop house, nor a refugee camp for humanity at large.” As a nation we are more likely to do good to the world by having true borders and respect for law than by coddling criminals.

Please pray for the upcoming Men to the Mountains retreat. It is amazing to think what God has done as the result of a single conversation over dinner many years ago. Sangre de Cristo Seminary provides us a place to worship, work and grow spiritually. We do maintenance that the school could not afford. They give us accommodations that we could not begin to afford. Over the years CGCC has left a discernable mark on the buildings we have repaired and upgraded. The trip has marked us as a congregation that values missionary service. The trip has been an opportunity for men to grow spiritually. Ordinary men have rendered extraordinary service in Jesus’ name. Each year, when the trip is over, a group of men have volunteered time, talent and treasure and the Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to worship, have fun and render honorable service high in the mountains to a ministry that is training pastors and kingdom workers in that very unique setting. The mystery of just how God is able to bring about such results is to His glory and results in our good and the advance of the gospel.

Finally, what is right in front of you in terms of ministry opportunities? God has a way of putting people and possibilities in our lives. Jesus told his disciples to open their eyes and they would see a wonderful harvest right in front of us (John 4). It just might be that, mysteriously, God is bringing you more joy and obedience than you can imagine. May the Lord grant this to us all!

Blessings,

Pastor John

Coram Deo