In an outrageous ruling that should shake America’s collective conscience to its core, the U.S. Supreme Court has redefined the meaning of “sex” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to include “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.” Not only was this decision an affront against God, but it was also a historical attack against the founding framework that governs our nation.

Our judiciary is constitutionally charged with interpreting the law, not making law. In its 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court acted as a super-legislature and failed to carry out its primary duty to the American people. And we will all pay the price.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” “Sex,” as used in Title VII means “male and female,” a simple fact supported by the overwhelming weight of legal authority. Any change to its statutory meaning must come from Congress, and Congress has refused to make such a change for the last 45 years. What gives six justices the right to decide otherwise? Not the Constitution!

In his dissent, Justice Alito writes that the majority decision “is like a pirate ship. It sails under a textualist flag, but what it actually represents is a theory of statutory interpretation … that courts should ‘update’ old statutes so that they better reflect the current values of society.” In plain words, it’s not the job of the high court to infuse new meaning into the laws of our land. Americans should be able to rely on what the law says. Instead of upholding this commonsense principle, the court issued a decision that hurts women, ignores biological reality, and calls into question the future of First Amendment freedoms of expression and belief.

Justice Alito laid out the potential consequences of today’s ruling—the end of sex-specific bathrooms and locker rooms; allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports and earning scholarships set aside for women; lawsuits against colleges that refuse to assign opposite-sex students as roommates; punishment for churches who require employees to adhere to biblical models of human sexuality; mandatory coverage for “sex reassignment” surgeries (better described as gender mutilation); and that’s just the beginning.

If there was any question that our country is in the midst of a spiritual war over its very heart and soul, this abhorrent decision removes any shred of doubt. In one of the most difficult seasons for our nation, this is an incredibly dark day and must be countered with great prayer. {eoa}

Dr. James Dobson is a celebrated psychologist, Christian leader, and founder and president of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI), which is dedicated to preserving the biblical institutions of marriage and family by encouraging, inspiring, supporting and leading parents and children to build their lives on God’s Word.

Many Christians know Phil Vischer best for creating the popular VeggieTales animated series. Voicing Bob the Tomato and many other characters, Vischer explained Bible stories and biblical truths for a generation of families. Now he’s explaining another topic: the history of racism in America.

Speaking for many viewers, Vischer opens his new video by asking, “Why are people protesting? Why are people angry? Slavery ended 150 years ago. The civil rights movement was 60 years ago. Racial discrimination is illegal now. Heck, we even had a black president. So why are people still upset?”

Thankfully, those questions have answers. Over the next 17 minutes, Vischer quickly breaks down the history of racism in America over the last century. After all, as the expression goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Vischer says he hopes “it helps make sense of” the moment we’re currently living in.

Vischer’s video has been praised by other Christian leaders, including Beth Moore, who shared the video on Twitter and commented, “This short video by @philvischer is incredibly helpful for developing a better understanding of white privilege. When I began reading and researching our history with seriousness 3 or so years ago, these were the kinds of facts and stats that shattered my previous assumptions.”

Watch the full video here and let us know what you think in the comments.

President Donald Trump held a discussion on race and policing at the Dallas campus of Robert Morris’ Gateway Church last night.

Despite its setting, the roundtable event, titled “Transition to Greatness: Restoring, Rebuilding and Renewing,” focused more on politics than on spiritual matters, though Trump did refer to Morris and Bishop Harry Jackson as “great people with a great reputation” and asked Morris to open the panel with prayer. During the event, Trump repeated calls for law enforcement to “dominate the streets” in response to protests.

Stream the full roundtable discussion here:

Mike Signorelli, pastor of V1 Church in New York City, says that worship is a childlike expression of dependence and reliance on God in the midst of chaotic situations.

In a Facebook video, Signorelli says, “Restlessness comes from trying to control a world that’s constantly changing. And if you’re saying, ‘Pastor Mike, I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I just don’t know what else to do.’ That’s what worship in and of itself is. It’s an expression. It’s a childlike expression where you say, ‘God, I want you to be my Dad. I want you to be in charge.’ It’s surrender. The kingdom is surrender. It’s not how intelligent you are. It’s not how much you can see and you can figure out. Just one idea from God will accelerate you past all of your plans put together.”

Watch the full video—embedded here—to see more.

It’s ironic and hypocritical that many on the Left have been so desperate to criticize President Donald Trump in his quest to make America great again. For example, in his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the criticisms were wide and varied: Trump didn’t close the borders soon enough; he closed them too soon. He didn’t speak up enough; he spoke up too much. He took the advice of the wrong people; he didn’t listen to enough people.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, liberals criticized President Trump for everything from his lifestyle—although before he ran for president as a Republican, they saw nothing wrong with his past and he seemed to be the darling of the liberal media—to his beliefs. Has he done and said things that don’t reflect the teachings of the Bible? Yes. He’s imperfect, but according to some, that makes him a great leader.

In the same way, some Christians overlook the good Trump has done and focus on all the mistakes he’s made and the perceived weaknesses he still struggles with. The question we must ask ourselves, though, is, what is the fruit? Donald Trump has probably been one of the staunchest defenders of religious liberties and freedoms we have seen. He also makes it no secret that he has an evangelical council that meets with him periodically, ministers to him, advises him, and at times even lays hands on and prays over him.

“As Christians we have created artificial standards for our leaders that God doesn’t have for His leaders in the Bible,” historian David Barton told me for God, Trump, and the 2020 Election. “I have flaws, Trump has flaws, and we can point them out in a self-righteous manner. Or we can look at Hebrews 11 and see that all these great leaders had serious flaws, but God definitely still used them.”

Barton said conservative Christians should “look at what the president has done for the economy, but especially standing for religious liberty, appointing righteous judges, protecting unborn life and supporting Israel—so many of the things the Bible specifically talks about. No president in our lifetime has gotten done as many biblically correct things as he has.”

Because of this, Barton said Christians must be willing to support Trump and not allow the Left to undermine his conservative agenda any longer. He points out that we don’t have to win every American to our way of thinking—we just need to win more than we have now.

Author Lance Wallnau has made the same point. “Figures like Churchill, Lincoln and George S. Patton don’t step out of cathedrals onto the stage of history, yet we canonize them later as instruments God raised up to meet a singular crisis,” he said. None of these men were conventional Christians, and they had many detractors in the clergy, yet each played a pivotal role in history. They stood strong against the enemies of freedom and helped safeguard our way of life and Christian heritage.

That’s what I see in Donald Trump and why people support him despite all the criticisms thrown at him. In that respect Trump resembles the indefatigable British prime minister, who often went against convention, decorum and his own party. Churchill was viciously attacked by the media in his day. Today, Donald Trump invites the same kinds of bitterness and resentment by raising alarms about the unraveling of American society at a time when our political elites, buttressed by the media, are denying that anything is wrong. Like Churchill, Trump is the target of opposition forces seeking to silence him for his bluntness and to stop him from speaking from the heart about problems the political establishment has been sweeping under the carpet for generations.

But many strong Christian leaders, including James Robison, host of Life Today, and Jack Graham, pastor of the nearly 45,000-member Prestonwood Baptist Church based in Plano, Texas, who know Trump personally, are supportive of him because he cares about the concerns of conservative, Bible-believing Christians and wants to know what they think.

“And not only him,” Graham told Robison in an interview for The Stream, “but the people he has put into place. Vice President [Mike] Pence is a great Christian. Eight or nine of his Cabinet members, the people closest to him, are Christians, and they are having Bible study and prayer together.”

I believe that, like Churchill, Trump was raised up by God for such a time as this, and we must stand with him in the midst of the challenges he faces.

The horrific termination of the life of George Floyd has traumatized the nation beyond any single act of aggression against an individual since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The murder of Dr. King resulted in rioting and burning of over 100 American cities. This is similar to what we see today. Due to our common humanity, the unbearable image of seeing a police officer’s knee on the neck of Mr. Floyd traumatized not just African Americans, but all decent citizens. George Floyd represented all of us as human beings. Floyd’s death has now transcended his own solitary life, becoming a symbol for reform. As a result, we all now have the opportunity to press the reset button on relations among all ethnic groups, especially between Caucasians and African Americans. As Americans, we have the opportunity to heal historical differences that have divided us. The question currently being asked is, “How will we respond?”

How will believers on the right and left respond?

My primary ethic and ethos for living in conformity to the kingdom of God has been the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5-7. If Christians, irrespective of which political party or ideology, would simply live by this standard, it would far outweigh everything else needed to rectify societal maladies.

To My Christian Brothers and Sisters on the Right

I have learned, from personal experience and Scripture reading, that in order to be a true Christ follower, one has to enter into the pain of another before speaking and giving opinions. As Stephen Covey says in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we need to “understand before we make ourselves understood.”

When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, He made it clear that to genuinely represent His kingdom and to function as the salt and light of the world, certain prerequisites related to attitude and approach were necessary. He said that we had to be “poor in spirit,” “meek,” “merciful,” “mourn with others,” “hunger and thirst for righteousness” and be “peacemakers” in order to function as the salt of the earth and light of the world (Matt. 5:1-16).

Every one of those Christlike attitudes had to do with demonstrating love and empathy toward “the other.” He spoke about having a broken, empathetic, merciful heart so as to represent Him. In this context, hungering for righteousness implies a yearning for a society that treats fellow human beings fairly. This would include standing for laws, policies and community standards that break cycles of poverty instead of perpetuating them. (For more on this subject, read Discrimination and Disparities written by a prominent black economist, Thomas Sowell.)

Being present in the lives of others before being understood is the method that Jesus, as the Word, utilized. He left His heavenly abode and took upon Himself human flesh (John 1:14, Phil. 2:4-12). This mysterious and extraordinary incarnation took place so He could feel our pain and relate to human fragility and temptation (Heb. 2:16-17).

I have learned that when you take the time to get to truly know a person and understand his personal narrative, categorical terms such as “left” and “right” are not very important. Although ideologies are significant and determine the philosophy and politics of a society, love is more powerful and transcends all. Love will eventually conquer the world through our God, who embodies love (1 John 4:8). If you have the correct ideology but do not display love, your belief system means nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3). However, it is also true that if we truly love our neighbor, we will stand up for values that will aid human flourishing.

That being said, it is time for white Christians to enter the historical narrative and pain of the African American soul. Doing so will allow us to have a greater dialogue and form true partnerships that will aid in seeing a better America. If we are not able to empathize with the pain of others, we have no authority to speak to them. We, as the church, need to be “present” with our African American brothers and sisters during this crisis.

How Will the Left Respond?

This is an amazing opportunity for progressives who tilt to the left politically, to appreciate the fact that many of those marching in solidarity with the black community are Caucasians. That alone should speak volumes. There are many white Americans who desire reconciliation rather than division. This can be an opportunity to stop utilizing language used by radical progressives that seeks to pit one group against another; the “us against them” language of class warfare (Marxist ideology) has never been able to lift nations and has failed miserably to bring about a utopian society.

The radical reaction among the left to defund the police and use the extra money to provide more government programs is ludicrous. If the police were not present in American cities, white, black and brown communities would be overrun by roaming militias, vigilantes and violent gangs. This results in more hatred and division.

It is one thing to demand reform in the way the police function in the communities, but another thing altogether to abolish the police force. Unfortunately, the desire of the radical left to defund the police is another example of progressives attempting to put policies in place that will actually result in more systemic poverty. For example, the so-called “Great Society” policies of the 1960s resulted in more generational poverty and fragmentation in many communities of color.

My hope is that the symbol of George Floyd, which has resulted in ethnically mixed protests, helps declaw individual racism and ethnic division. I am praying that the nonviolent, peaceful protests appeal to the consciences of people and are able to win over those who seek to do harm. Groups such as antifa need to disband.

Regarding the Beatitudes, there is a key message for all Christian protesters.

Jesus said that “peacemakers” will be called the children of God. Notice, Jesus did not say “peacemakers” are the children of God, but that they will be called “children of God. We are saved by accepting the faith of the gospel, not by community activism and peacemaking. By implication, the world is so impressed by people who can create peace between people groups that they refer to them as the children of God

Furthermore, it is important to remember that the police are not called to be “peacemakers” but “peacekeepers.” The police are called to serve civil society by maintaining the rule of law and sometimes do so through the use of force if necessary (of course, not through the use of unnecessary force as we saw in the death of George Floyd).

Hence, the police cannot “create peace” but merely “keep the peace.” The church has to rise and be present in our cities; the church should welcome civil discourse. help expand our capacity for understanding and aid in resolving historic wounds.

Peacemaking can only be done by extraordinary individuals. Such individuals understand the importance of seeing various perspectives and are better able to bring healing to their communities because of the Prince of Peace reigning in their hearts. The root of racism is sin, and only Jesus can change the human heart.

Truly, both the left and the right need to reflect during this crisis, or both sides will miss the amazing opportunity for biblical change; this kairos moment has been given to us. My prayer is that Christians on both sides of the political spectrum will humanize each other the way our nation has humanized George Floyd. This huge fissure in our nation caused by race, ideology and politics will take a back seat to true dialogue that’s motivated and guided by the biblical attributes displayed in the Sermon on the Mount.

May the church not waste this opportunity to emulate Jesus and walk as He walked.

When I finished writing my previous book, God, Trump and the 2020 Election, in October 2019, there was no way of knowing that a pandemic was coming. COVID-19 had not yet been discovered. And no one anticipated the global crisis that was poised to strike.

That book documents how, during his presidency, Donald Trump stood up to the radical Left, supported traditional values such as life for the unborn and in many ways exposed the evil by the entrenched bureaucracy we now call the Deep State. The Democrats and their allies in the press also opposed him at every turn, including the two-year Mueller investigation, which showed no wrongdoing and even tried to impeach him.

Meanwhile the economy was booming, and the president was making America great again by actually keeping his promises to strengthen the economy, cut onerous regulations that stifle business and look out for the little guy. Now because of a virtual shutdown of the country due to the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, everything has changed.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is Donald Trump is a leader, and at this point in American history we need a real leader who can get private enterprise and government—and even the Democrats—to work together to take us through this crisis and find a vaccine for this deadly virus. Remember how feckless Jimmy Carter was with the Iran hostage situation, and even the way George W. Bush didn’t seem to know how to crush al Qaeda after 9/11.

In contrast, Trump quickly closed travel from China and later from Europe even though liberals accused him of overreacting and being xenophobic. In fact, both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden publicly said they would have left the borders open. Others went so far as to label the president as “racist” once again for singling out China. The mainstream media, in sound bite after sound bite, mocked his decision to be cautious, labeling it as an “extreme measure.” But before long most countries were closing their borders, and the president’s decisions not only proved right but may have been a determining factor as to why the United States did not see the kind of numbers of those infected with COVID-19 the original models were projecting.

God, Trump and the 2020 Election contained an entire chapter on “Promises Made, Promises Kept.” Here are a few of Trump’s major accomplishments, many of which were detailed in that chapter, for which all Americans should be incredibly thankful:

—Securing the borders and ports of entry.

—Being proactive in taking key precautions in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak despite criticism from the Left.

—Diversifying our supply chain and emphasizing to U.S. companies the need to look to countries other than just China to fulfill our manufacturing needs.

—Renegotiating trade deals to level set and protect U.S. financial interests.

—Deregulating key segments of the U.S. manufacturing and farming sectors.

If the president had not proactively done each of these things, we would be in a much worse situation than we are right now from both a health and an economic standpoint. The biased media rarely reports any of this.

Time will tell how all this plays out. The prophets have said America will bounce back more quickly than the naysayers predict. But we can be sure of three things: The pandemic is less extensive, the response is stronger, and we will get back to normal faster because we have a real leader in the White House.

Mike Signorelli, pastor of V1 Church, says believers have the opportunity to be “prophetic Daniels” in the midst of societal unrest and chaos. He says the Holy Spirit inside of us should permeate all of our decisions and make us distinctly different from the world, no matter whether we’re a protester or police.

“People keep asking me, ‘Pastor Mike, where God’s in all of this?'” Signorelli says in the video. “If you’re a believer and you’re watching, I want to remind you: He’s inside of you. You know, the wisdom of this invisible kingdom is that the Holy Spirit inside of all of us has permeated into every sphere of influence, which means the way our police officers protect, the way that our protesters protest, the way that our parents parent, should look distinctly different than the rest of the world. Because we have God inside of us. It’s almost as if we’ve become these prophetic Daniels and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegos in this Babylonian exile, and we’ve been allowed to infiltrate a society that doesn’t serve our God, which means we have an opportunity to show what He does in a lion’s den. We have an opportunity to show that there’s a fourth person in the fire.”

Watch his full remarks here.

On Pentecost Sunday, a peaceful church gathering in downtown Indianapolis to worship and pray over the city and mourn the death of George Floyd was hit with tear gas. A Facebook Live video by user Lydia Watson shows tear gas being fired into the crowd, whose members were praying in tongues and singing “Way Maker” at the time. The tear gas, fired by local police, was reportedly intended for nearby protesters but instead hit the peaceful churchgoers.

The group came from Liberty Tabernacle, a United Pentecostal church in New Whiteland, Indiana. Its pastor, Brian Lane, shared in a Facebook video that they were joined by pastors from other local churches as well.

“We felt led of the Lord to go downtown to Indianapolis,” Lane says. “This is our city … and we’re responsible for this city as a church. There are hurting people in our city. There are angry people in our city. There are people that are frustrated. And it’s our job as the church to be the peacemakers in our city. So we went down tonight to pray, to unify.”

According to RTV6, Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor has said the tear gas was used in an attempt to break up a group of vandals, but that it “spread by the wind” toward the church group. Liberty Tabernacle Pastor Brian Lane says he believes police were not targeting his group.

“At no time was anybody in any danger,” Lane said that night on Facebook Live. “Never felt threatened by the police. Never felt threatened by the protesters at all. We were having an incredible, incredible event. What happened is, just so that everybody knows, a large group of protesters started coming up Meridian Street toward where we were at. There was a small—and I want to emphasize this—a small portion of protesters, a very tiny amount, that were throwing things at the police. They were trying to cause disruption, trying to cause damage to buildings. A very, very small amount. They were throwing water bottles, a few things. So the police, in order to control them, shot tear gas at them, and in doing so, the tear gas came in our direction. Of course, we were affected by that. During that time, there were protesters that came and helped some of our people out of where the tear gas canisters were being let loose.”

The Facebook Live video shows a tear gas canister dropping in front of a lady in a wheelchair and spreading throughout the crowd.

Watson told WTHR, “Before we saw that gas hit, we were having an amazing time. We felt the Spirit hit that part of the circle. … The church is against racism. We are against discrimination. We are against inequality. And we want people to know that we stand behind them in that. But we are also against violence. And we are also against disturbing the peace of our brothers and sisters.”

In the Facebook Live video, Watson says she can’t see and says, “Why did they throw gas over here? That’s what I don’t understand. That doesn’t make sense to me. They see people over here peacefully and it makes no sense. Why would they do that? … The Blood of Jesus—y’all just pray. Y’all just pray. I don’t know. That was uncalled for. Because it’s not 8:00. It’s only 7:15. This is uncalled for.”

Even after being dispersed with tear gas, one protester can be heard over a megaphone saying, “Lord God, we pray for breakthrough in this city.” Gale Watson told WTHR that one of the members of their group continued to “pray even more, even in the midst of the tear gas.”

In a statement posted Monday to Facebook, Liberty Tabernacle Pastor Brian Lane said, “The church is the restraining force of evil in the world. Sunday evening we prayed in the center of our city. Today I had the privilege of having a conversation with the leaders of IMPD. We discussed everything that took place last night. They asked us to continue to pray for our city. Last night was the most peaceful night in 4 days. Tonight police and protesters have been walking arm in arm. Peace is being restored to our city. Prayer works! The Gospel is powerful. This is just the beginning. We are called to be “sheep among wolves” in the world. The church cannot be absent when the world is in chaos. We are the peacemakers and the “repairs of the breech” in our city. We love the protestors! We love the police! We love all our community! We love our city!

Taylor apologized to the peaceful protesters hit by tear gas at a Monday news conference.

Lane considers the gathering to have been spiritually successful and says he plans to have more prayer gatherings.

“It was an incredible move of God,” Lane says. “We took territory tonight. We prayed. We unified as the apostolic church. And that is what the devil fears: a unified, apostolic church connecting for the sake of our city, for the sake of souls, for the sake of revival.”

Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen marched alongside protesters for racial justice in downtown Houston, Texas on Tuesday, June 2.

Osteen told KHOU 11 that he joined the march in order to support Floyd’s family: “I came out to support the Floyd family, tell them that we love them, that we grieve with them. We care about them. We love them. We stand with our black brothers and sisters. We are all made in the image of God, so we’re just here to support them.”

Osteen said he hoped this would be a turning point for Houston.

“It’s an important time in our city,” he said. “We feel the pain. We’re all outraged. But I think we can turn the anger into action. We can do our part to love one another, to treat each other with respect and honor.”

He also expressed hope that, as in the biblical cases of Joseph and Stephen, God would take an evil act and “somehow bring good out of it.”

“I don’t believe George’s death is going to be in vain,” Osteen told KHOU 11. “God knows how to take what was meant for harm and somehow bring good out of it. This could be a turning point in our city and our nation. We can learn to love and accept each other in spite of our differences.”

Osteen is not the only Christian leader to support the protests. On Sunday, Passion City Church Pastor Louie Giglio told his congregation, “As your pastor, I not only support your right to speak up. I not only support your right to march; I say we all should march.” {eoa}