Sometimes engaging in political conversations is like pulling teeth. It’s no wonder that many Christians have little desire to engage with politics because it is too divisive, too complicated, or just not worth the effort. They would rather focus on heavenly things and loving people outside of politics. These are worthy goals, but people inside politics need the love of Christ too! Government is instituted by God and rulers are appointed by God. Thus both are potentially fruitful areas of ministry. I want to show how we canfocus on heavenly things and loving people within the political realm - without compromising the gospel message.
On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Sometimes pastors use Colossians 3:2 as a reason for not engaging in politics. “Set your mind on things that are above, not on earthly things.” But we need to remember the Lord’s Prayer, specifically when Christ says “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Christ sits on a heavenly throne and when God sets up rulers and nations He is giving them authority. Romans 13 begins with Paul outlining that governing authorities are instituted by God. Our earthly governments are a reflection of a heavenly Kingdom. While our rulers are flawed they are nevertheless chosen and put in power by God for specific purposes. While we may not know or understand those purposes God is certainly working through politics for the advancement of His Kingdom. If the Ruler of Heaven and Earth is so invested and involved in our politics, then shouldn’t His people follow suit?
The Biden administration is appealing a federal judge’sruling affirming that religious hospitals should not be required to perform gender transition surgeries in violation of their deeply held beliefs.
In January, U.S. District Court Judge Peter Welte cited the Religious Freedom Restoration Act when he ruled in favor of Sisters of Mercy, an order of nuns committed to providing medical care to people in need. The Biden administration wants to see this ruling overturned and has filed an appeal in hopes of forcing religious hospitals to comply with the transgender agenda. Recently appointed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is leading the charge.
In the past week, more than 600 Minnesota Family Council supporters contacted their state senators asking them to support school choice and girls’ sports, and those actions had results! On Thursday the Minnesota Senate approved a bipartisan education budget bill that empowers families with school choice options and protects athletic opportunities for female athletes in Minnesota!
The bill includes the language from Senator Carrie Ruud’s Save Women’s Sports bill that would preserve women’s sports by ensuring that biological males are not allowed to compete in female athletics and clarifies that any school that allows male athletes to compete on girls’ sports teams is in violation of Title IX and existing Minnesota laws that protect athletic opportunities for women and girls.
The bill would also create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) that would equip parents to pursue educational opportunities that fit their family’s values and their children’s educational needs. Under the ESA program, when a parent chooses to withdraw their child from public school, the child’s share of state education assistance would be deposited into a savings account that parents would be able to use for tuition and fees at a different school, online learning, instructional material, or other educational expenses.
These provisions are good news for Minnesota’s families! They recognize that parents are the ones who are ultimately responsible for their children’s education and equip them to pursue an education that is the best fit for their students, and they recognize the biological differences between men and women and preserve fairness and opportunities in light of those differences.
In a recent Guide for Journalistsencouraging reporting that promotes the LGBT agenda, GLAAD, a pro-LGBT activist group, smeared pro-family organizations and the Promise to America’s Children coalition as “attacking” young people with gender dysphoria and lobbying to advance an “agenda of hate.” This simply is not true. Promise to America’s Children is a promise to protect and treasure America’s children, recognizing their value and dignity and to refuse to allow them to be sexualized and used.
Children deserve to be protected, valued, and loved, not used as political pawns to advance a radical sexual agenda, which is why Minnesota Family Council is part of the Promise to America’s Children coalition.
Promise to America’s Children pledges to protect children – body, mind, and heart– from harmful sexual ideologies.This means treasuring children’s minds by protecting them from pornography and other graphic sexual content; equipping kids with education that is tailored to their needs as identified by their parents - not bureaucrats or self-appointed "experts"; ensuring their right to free speech, including their right not to be compelled to promote messages that violate their consciences; and protecting their rightto receive counseling that their parents determine is safe, appropriate, and in their best interest.
It also means honoring children’s bodies by protecting their right to safety and privacy in sex-specific spaces such as locker rooms, restrooms, and showers; maintaining fairness and safety in sports by recognizing biological differences and not forcing female athletes to compete against males;and protecting children from dangerous, experimental “treatments” that cause permanent damage to their physical bodies while failing to alleviate their mental distress.
A Letter to Pastors and Churches from Pastor Jeff Evans, Director of the Minnesota Church Ambassador Network
The Chauvin trial has come to a close. Christians around the state have a wide range of opinions and emotions. Some are relieved, some celebratory that justice has been served, and others concerned that justice may not have been served. No doubt, you have been asked what you think about all that has transpired. You may be hearing (or delivering) a sermon on this very topic this Sunday. While we don’t pretend to know all the right responses to such a multifaceted issue, there are a few things we think are essential for everyone to consider.
First, compassion for the family of George Floyd. He was a human being made in the image of God. No verdict will bring him back to his family and friends.
Second, human justice has been rendered through our court system, and needs to be respected. “…[T]here is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). Such justice, though human (and therefore always imperfect and incomplete), is part of God’s mercy toward society. We should give thanks to God for the trial administered by Judge Cahill, the service of the jurors, and the long hours put in both by the prosecution and defense. What’s more, compassion and justice belong together, so let us thank pastors and lay leaders who prayed and worked hard for peace in the streets of our cities, and for the constitutional right of free and non-violent expression. Let us also pray for Derek Chauvin, and the other officers who participated in the tragic events of May 25, 2020.
On Monday evening, Bloomington became the ninthMinnesota city to adopt a so-called “conversion therapy ban.” Other cities that have adopted these bans include Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Duluth, and Rochester. With Bloomington joining their ranks, that means the five largest cities in Minnesota have adopted counseling bans. These draconianbans prevent minors who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria from receiving counseling to help them live in accordance with their biological sex.
By policing what a licensed counselor or therapist may say to his or her clients, these bans inappropriately infringe on the relationship between mental health care providers and their clients. Under Bloomington’s ban, mental health professionals can be fined $500 for their first violation and $1000 for subsequent violations if they offer counseling that does not fall in line with the LGBT agenda.
It is not the place of elected officials to determine who gets counseling care and who doesn’t, and yet that is exactly what these bans do. These bans prevent families and individuals from pursuing and licensed professionals from offering counsel that accords with their Christian beliefs.
For young people struggling with gender dysphoria, counseling bans leave them to be ushered into social transition and medical “treatments” that carry tragic life-long effects and do not improve mental health outcomes. The vast majority of minors struggling with gender dysphoria who do not “transition” become comfortable with their biological sex by the time they reach adulthood.
A recent Politico interview with Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson promised far more than it delivered. The title of theinterview, “Planned Parenthood vs. White Supremacy” implied that the interviewer would be asking hard-hitting questions about the abortion giant’s complicity in advancing the goals of the eugenics movement and their current focus on targeting minority communities for abortion. In a display of the media’s refusal to hold the abortion industry accountable, the interview was little more than a PR stunt for Planned Parenthood.
Instead of pressing in on the abortion industry’s ongoing racism, the interviewer was quick to emphasize McGill Johnson’s past role in crafting an implicit bias and diversity training for Starbucks a few years ago and offered no pushback when she downplayed the company’s racist legacy, insisting that she was committed to “shifting [the] infrastructure” of racism by continuing to expand abortion.
“You need to think about what’s best for her,” said the doctor as he pointed toward Cara Murtaugh’s three-year-old daughter, Aria, arguing that having a sibling with special needs might not be in Aria’s “best interest.” The past year has proven otherwise. In a recent Instagram post, Cara contrasted the doctor’s cynical, hopeless words with footage of Aria holding her baby brother Samuel as the two of them smiled and laughed. “Someone’s never been more wrong,” she said in another post.
Stories of doctors pressuring parents to abort children with disabilities are far too common. It is especially horrifying when a doctor insists that aborting a child is in the “best interest” of his or her siblings. By saying that aborting Samuel would be in Aria’s best interest, the doctor was arguing that Samuel needed to die in order to give Aria a more idyllic, carefree childhood. This is truly horrifying reasoning, and yet this is the logic of the abortion industry.
Marijuana is often presented as “harmless” but time and again this has been shown not to be the case. Most recently, a study from Stanford University found a correlation between marijuana legalization and increased self-harm, thoughts of suicide, and suicide attempts, especially in young men.
The study found that rates of self-harm and suicide attempts were higher in states that legalized recreational marijuana, and especially in states that commercialize the drug. “Advertising works,” Humphreys commented, pointing out that commercialization leads to increased use as the drug becomes easier to buy and more alluring, especially to young people. Humphreys acknowledged that cause and effect can be difficult to prove in any study, but given the significant correlation between recreational marijuana legalization and increased self-harm and suicide attempts, he said that the study’s findings should be taken into consideration when debating whether or not recreational marijuana should be legalized.
This week Arkansas made history by becoming the first state to protect children with gender dysphoria from puberty-blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilating sex-reassignment surgeries. On Monday, Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed the bill, arguing that it abandons conservative principles of limited government. Thankfully, the legislature overrode his veto on Tuesday afternoon.
By claiming that this bill goes against conservative principles, Hutchinson disregards the seriousness of so-called “gender-affirming treatments” for children with gender dysphoria, which prevent the normal development that happens during puberty. These “treatments,” which often dismiss underlying mental health concerns, are experimental, and have dangerous side effects, leaving children chemically castrated. Chemical interventions are frequently followed by mutilating surgeries to create the appearance of opposite-sex genitalia, and double mastectomies have been performed on girls as young as 13.
“Limited government” does not mean that the government should allow experimentation on children, or that we cannot unequivocally say that it is wrong to tell a child that he or she was born in the wrong body. And “limited government” certainly does not mean that the government gets to abdicate its responsibility to protect children from abusive practices at the hands of adults.
Jack Phillips’s legal battles began in 2012 when he declined a request for a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding ceremony. After six years of legal battles, the Supreme Court granted him a narrow victory, ruling that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had treated him unfairly. A week ago, he was back in court, once again facing harassment from LGBT activists for acting in accordance with his religious convictions.
The day that the Supreme Court agreed to hear his case in 2017, Phillips received a request from Autumn Scardina, a man who identifies as a woman, for a cake celebrating Scardina’s gender “transition.” Phillips refused. Phillips has declined many other requests over the years, including cakes promoting racism, cakes with atheist messages, and cakes celebrating divorce. In other words, he has consistently stood for his beliefs and his principles, refusing to use his skills to create or promote messages that go against his beliefs.
33 students and former students of Christian colleges and Universities are suing the Department of Education in an effort to strong-arm religious schools into accepting and promoting the LGBT agenda. Although the Department of Education is technically the plaintiff, the real targets are religious colleges and universities. The complaintlists 25religious colleges and universities and has serious implications for all religious schoolsthat receive federal funds. The students, all of whom identify as LGBT, are alleging discrimination because the religious colleges and universities that they attended or applied for prohibited sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman and did not allow pro-LGBT student groups that were at odds with the school’s religious beliefs to be established on campus.
Most, but not all, of these colleges and universities are Christian schools and all of them maintainthese policies based on their deeply held and clearly stated religious beliefs concerning human sexuality. There is no reason whatsoever that these policies should have come as a surprise to these students. Each of these colleges and universities have made their stance on sexuality public for years. The students filing this lawsuit could easily have chosen to attend one of the myriads of schools that embrace the LGBT agenda. Demanding that religious colleges and universities either submit to the LGBT agenda or lose their funding is nothing other than a bully tactic to silence any and all disagreement.
Along with other pro-family organizations, Minnesota Family Council has released a letter urging South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) to withdraw her veto on South Dakota’s crucial legislation protecting women’s sports from biologically male athletes. Read the letter and see all signatories below:
Dear Governor Noem,
March 29, 2021
You recently announced your intent to form a “coalition to defend Title IX” in conjunction with your surprising decision to use a “style-and-form veto” on HB 1217, a bill that would ensure South Dakotan K- 12 and collegiate female athletes have a level playing field in their sports and that they have recourse against unfair policies that force them to compete against biological males.
We are already part of a large coalition defending female athletes across the country, and we are inviting you to join with us by supporting legislation that protects all women—kindergarten to college— and provides them with a legal remedy when their rights are violated, as HB 1217 does.
Abortionists and their allies are attacking a recent pro-life law in Ohio that requires the dignified treatment of the remains of babies who have been killed by abortion. Abortionists object to these laws because they draw attention to the reality of abortion by affirming the humanity of unborn children. Because all humans are created in the image of God, the human body ought to be treated with dignity and respect, even after death, regardless of how that person died. This means that aborted babies should never be thrown away, but should be given a proper burial or cremation.
When considering the staggering human cost of abortion, one question that is sometimes overlooked is what happens to those babies after they are aborted. As one pro-lifer asked, “What do you do with 65 million bodies?” In some cases, abortionists like Kermit Gosnell and Ulrich Klopfer have hoarded the bodies of their victims as trophies, or, as the 2015 undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood revealed, body parts are illegally sold for profit. In many cases, though, the bodies of babies who have been killed in abortion are thrown away as “medical waste.” Several stateshave moved to change that, passing laws requiring that abortion victims’ remains be either buried or cremated.
The so-called Equality Act is continuing to make its way through Congress — after passing the House last month, it was heard this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has used Senate Rule 14, which allows the Act to be brought to the Senate floor without committee hearings. The Equality Act is a serious threat to the safety and privacy of women and children, the lives of unborn babies, the health and welfare of children and adultswith gender dysphoria, and the First Amendment rights of Americans everywhere.
Defenders of the Equality Act have consistently dismissed religious freedom concerns as alarmist. But the Equality Act, by specifically excluding itself from the religious freedom safeguards in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, would force faith-based foster care and adoption agenciestoeither stop practicing in accordance with their religious beliefs or close their doors altogether, would attempt to bully private religious schools into touting the LGBT agenda, and would threaten conscience protections for healthcare providers and religious hospitals. This Act would be disastrous for religious freedom.
On Tuesday the Minnesota Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced a pro-life bill subjecting abortion facilities to licensure and inspection requirements.This bill would require any facility that commits 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed by the health commissioner in order to operate. To be licensed, the abortion facility would be required to pass an inspection at least once every two years. The bill would also allow the attorney general, a county attorney, or a woman upon whom an abortion has been performedat an unlicensed facility to seek an injunction against that facility.
There is no good reason that abortion facilities should not be subject to these licensure requirements and routine inspections. Until abortion facilities can be completely shut down, they should be subject to rigorous licensure requirements and routine inspections. Perhaps these inspections would prevent the sort of situation that caused an Alabama woman to die from a botched abortion this week. The abortion industry has consistently demonstrated their disregard for women’s health and safety. This bill would hold them to account by requiring them to comply with licensing standards
A year ago this week was when the pandemic really hit home for many Americans, spurred by rising cases and a flurry of Stay at Home orders. But March 2021 is looking a lot different, and nothing makes that more evident than an (almost) complete lifting of COVID restrictions on churches, announced today by Governor Tim Walz and taking effect on Monday, March 15.
All capacity restrictions on church services have been lifted, so churches can meet without any restrictions except for (1) mandatory use of masks, (2) capacity for social distancing, and (3) a COVID-19 preparedness plan in place. Singing is permitted, although food or drink (other than Communion) are still prohibited. Get more details here.
Throughout the pandemic, churches, denominations, and Minnesota Family Council have all placed firm but respectful pressure on Governor Walz to respect religious freedom and trust churches to gather safely. This has paid off: for the last few months, religious services have been less restricted than other similar events, because churches have First Amendment protections. In fact, churches and other places of worship are the only venues to have capacity restrictions lifted entirely at this time. Religious freedom is winning!
Dr. Thomas Steensma is a Dutch doctor who has long advocated for “treating” children with gender dysphoria by putting them on puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones. Now, roughly a decade after his much-cited study advocating for the “Dutch Protocol” was released,Dr. Steensma is concerned. “The rest of the world is blindly adopting our research,” he told a Dutch media outlet recently.
Medical experimentation on children ought to be universally rejected, but shockingly, it is quickly becoming unquestionable. Partially to blame for this development is the “Dutch Protocol” which encourages doctors to give minors with gender dysphoria puberty-blockers followed by cross-sex hormones. Steensma’s study, arguing that this was in the best interest of children, played a significant role in popularizing this approach. Recently, Steensma has begun urging caution, saying that more research is needed.
On Thursday, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill known as the “American Rescue Pan.” The bill has rightly been criticized as a “blue state bailout” and leaves out key pro-life provisions. It allocates $390 million simply to carry out the administrative costs of the legislation, while less than 9 percent of the $1.9 trillion will be going toward directly addressing COVID-19 through public health spending. One bright spot in an otherwise terrible bill is the expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), a change that will benefit millions of families by helping them to prioritize their children.
This temporary change will expand the CTC from $2,000 annually to $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17 and $3,600 per child under the age of six during the 2021 tax year. This will be a fully refundable tax credit, meaning that if the credit exceeds the amount of taxes owed, families will receive a refund.
As the Supreme Court prepares to decide the fate of religious foster care and adoption agencies in Fulton v. Philadelphia, Bethany Christian Services, the nation’s largest foster care and adoption agency, has announced that they will begin placing children with LGBT couples. This follows Bethany’s decision to avoid the legal fight for religious freedom by quietly choosing to place children with LGBT couples in states thatrefuse to work with religious agencies that hold to biblical sexual ethics. Now they have decided to make it their policy nationwide to place children with LGBT couples.
For many years, Bethany stated that they believed that “God’s design for the family is a covenant and lifelong marriage of one man and one woman.” This statement reflecting God’s design for the family was removed from their website in January. Speaking to the New York Times, Bethany’s senior vice president for public and government affairs, Nathan Bult, emphasized that Bethany’s board, which saw the departure of more than one of their more conservative members since 2018, now consists of members who have “diverse personal views on sexuality.”
