Bro. Harold,

 

Thank you for your February, 2007 Herald article as it relates to the church and the state.  Here at Severn Christian we have taken a very active role in reaching out to politicians and educating the church about government.  Many of our people work for the government, but don’t really know what the Bible says about it.  We have two “big days” in the congregation that we invite our elected officials.  We make a “big deal” out of Sanctity of Life Sunday (3^rd Sunday in January).  The whole morning worship is devoted to the topic. We uphold the biblical-life position and show people there is forgiveness in Christ.  Last year, one of our ladies, came forward at the invitation to say she had an abortion in 1976 and she felt the need to say that and she needed healing.  We gathered around her immediately and prayed with our church elders before the church (it still brings tears to my eyes even now).  She was already a Christian and had been forgiven, but she needed release.  I am thrilled she felt comfortable and safe in the church to do that, but that is what was preached.  Based upon last year, our theme this year was on hope, help, and healing in Christ.  We had a testimony from one of our men whose wife gave birth to a down-syndrome baby a year and a half ago.  They named the baby “Hope” and were encouraged to abort.  It was powerful.  One of our members has a Ph. D. in psychology—he gave a 15-minute message of how he is a Christian who knows psychology and his message about healing led the church to give him a standing ovation when he was done.

 

Very powerful.  I followed up with a message as well.  One of our young ladies came forward at invitation to say her friend had an abortion at 14 and our Sanctity of Life emphasis has helped her so much.  She concluded by saying, “I must witness to my friend.”

 

We had 5 elected officials at this service.  I wondered since the were elected to new four-year terms in November if they would come, but they did.  We had two state reps., two state senators, and our County Executive (the most powerful man in our county of 500,000 people).  Three were Republicans and two were Democrats.  I congratulated them all on their election victories and told them, “We are praying for you.”  One Senator responded from the audience, “thank you for your prayers.”

 

They know who we are and when they are “on our turf” they hear who we are and what we stand for.  One of those state representatives came to our men’s prayer breakfast last Saturday morning.  He is a Presbyterian.  When we got done, we gathered around him and prayed specifically for him.  He really appreciated that.

 

We make a big deal out of Independence Day.  Last year our God and Country program had 600 in attendance and our Sunday morning worship attendance runs about 425.  We had fireworks afterward and had over 1,000.  Our elected officials came to that too.  What could be accomplished if churches get with the program and recognized what could be done?  We challenge our people to speak up about moral/ethical issues with their elected officials, etc.  The church needs to wake up.

I am the one who leads this challenge and more preachers need to take up the mantle.  I commend you for your article.  Keep up the good word.

 

In Him,

David Frye (Severn MD Christian Church)