Deliver Us From Evil

We’re usually judged by the friends we keep.  In what crowd(s) do we circulate?   Sometimes that judgement can be a bit unfair, but usually it’s a good indicator of what we believe and whose opinions we share.

Troubling in the extreme, at least for me, was the following account: “President Donald Trump said Friday that he’ll attend Easter services on Sunday, virtually, along with congregants of Dallas’ First Baptist Church, where his friend and advisor is senior pastor.  “I’m going to be watching Pastor Robert Jeffress,” Trump said at his daily coronavirus task force briefing.  “He’s been a great guy, and I’m going to be watching on a laptop…” 

Jeffress has said, “God sends good people to hell.  Not only do religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism – not only do they lead people away from God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in hell.  You know Jesus was very clear; Hell is not only going to be populated by murderers, and drug dealers, and child dealers; hell is going to be filled with good religious people who have rejected the truth of Christ…Much of what you see today in the Catholic Church doesn’t come from God’s word.  It comes from this cult-like, pagan religion.” 

Well, well.  Our president follows Pastor Jeffress who is his advisor.   That’s some advice about people of other faiths such as Catholics.  Jesus would be appalled.   We all should be.

Today is Easter.  We go on-line at Christ the King to worship and to give thanks to God.  We pray for physical and spiritual healing.   Let’s also pray for our president whose version of Christianity appears to mimic that of Jeffress. 

“Our Father who art in heaven…deliver us from evil…”

Deacon David Pierce