Rich Stearns

Even if you believe that the US should not be helping the poor in other countries, does it bother you that thousands of mothers and children are now dying due to the abrupt cancellation of our foreign aid programs? Actions have consequences. Our votes have consequences.

Ironic that this is what many Christians voted for:”In April, a coalition of Christian organizations,including the National Association of Evangelicals,estimated that about 80% of the 10 million illegal immigrants who could be at risk of deportation from the U.S. are Christians.”

When NBC News’ lead story is Hulk Hogan’s death instead of the thousands starving in Gaza or the brazen ice raids targeting peaceful immigrants awaiting their asylum hearings - it says a lot about our priorities.

Important to remember in difficult times:“This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.”Col 1

“The mighty man has been destroyed… For the LORD has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule. You struck the people with endless blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip with unrelenting tyranny. But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.” Isaiah 14

We need to think about why we are heartbroken over the tragedy of lives lost in the Texas floods but not the 50,000 innocent civilians killed in Gaza or the millions who will die due to the closure of USAID? Why are some people expendable?

More disturbing is that so many Evangelical Christians have been silent and even complicit. You may think we shouldn’t help other countries or that USAID needed reform, but does that justify 14mm innocent people dying? Hard to reconcile with Jesus’ teachings.

One independent estimate of the deaths from the closure of USAID is that 14 million people will die over the next 5 years. That is 3 times more deaths than ALL of the wars and conflicts of the 21st century. And most Americans don’t seem to care.1/

“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” -Proverbs 14:31

When someone tells me they don’t believe in God I wonder if they have ever walked in a garden, listened to the birds or fallen in love. God’s fingerprints are everywhere.

You can say both: Immigration laws should be enforced AND Everyone should receive due process and humane treatment Your thinking doesn’t have to fit into a pre-packaged political narrative, especially if you’re a Christian. Conviction AND Compassion.

“The empty tomb is like a crater where a meteor crashed. This stone from heaven carries an unknown virus. Jesus is Patient Zero. From him it begins to spread to others.” Brad East, Letters to a Future Saint

“LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.” Psalm 10:17-18

This takes real faith!

In Mt 25:31-40 the criteria Jesus uses at the final judgment for separating the true believers from the rest, are all sins if omission-not commission. It was a failure to care for the poor that brought judgment, not the sins of commission that Christians are often obsessed with.

Which takes more faith-to believe that the hummingbird is just a random accident of molecules colliding in a meaningless universe over billions of years - or to believe that there is a creator God? Not even close.