Still Free and Thankful
by Mike James
I just wanted to write this blog to remind everyone in the United States about how lucky we are to live in this country. Especially at this time of our Thanksgiving holiday, we need to remind ourselves of how fortunate we are. Sure, we are going through issues right now on mandates and vaccines. There is disagreement and division in the country over it. But we are debating these issues in the courts, and everyone's perspective can still be heard. We also get the right to vote if we choose to and to determine who will make these types of decisions.
In some countries, this is not the case, and most importantly, when it comes to religion. We in the United States can still meet and hold onto different beliefs and ideas from the mainstream. This is especially important to people like us in the Church of God community.
In Russia recently, we have had an example of why we are so lucky. In October of this year a Russian judge sentenced three men to eight years in prison and the wife of one of these men to three and a half years on charges of organizing and participating in "extremist activities." Their offense was worshipping as Jehovah's Witnesses.
Russian courts banned the Witnesses in 2017 as "extremist," and Russia's security services have been persecuting them ever since. According to a Witness source, since 2017, Russian officials have brought 257 criminal cases involving 559 Witnesses. Seventy of these people are now in prison, and 31 are under house arrest.
Now I don't agree with everything the Jehovah's Witnesses do, but we sure have some beliefs in common. The problem for the Witnesses in Russia seems to stem from their beliefs around not being subservient to the state, refusing to serve in the military, not voting, and believing God is the only true leader.
Believe it or not, the persecution against Jehovah Witnesses goes against the Russian Constitution, which states: "Everyone shall be guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion, including the right to profess individually or collectively any religion or not to profess any religion, and freely to choose, possess and disseminate religious and other convictions and act in accordance with them."
Things are not as bad as some of us may think they are, especially in the United States. Oh, sure there are a lot of things that could be better. But we still have freedom of worship no matter how different your religion is from more popular religious beliefs.
I think we often focus on the things that are not going the way we want them to go and forget about the things that are very good in our society. We have food in abundance like never before. The variety of what you can get in a supermarket is amazing. We can travel by railroad, car, or plane and visit places and people we could not in the 1800s. We have indoor plumbing and better homes than people had 100 years ago in this country. Unemployment has been historically low. I could go on and on about the blessings in this country, but I think you get the picture.
In this season of thanksgiving, we need to be reminded of the blessings God has allowed in our society. We need to be thankful to God for everything that is going right in our lives and not focus on what is wrong.
There are many Psalms that can help you with this. Please read Psalm 95:1-3; Psalm 100:4-5; Psalm 107:21-22. Other scriptures remind us we need to be positive and not anxious about anything: Ephesians 5:18-20; Philippians 4:6-7; Colossians 2:6-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Believe me, folks, the bad days will come, but I don't believe we are in those bad days yet. It will get much, much worse before our Kingdom comes. I work with our overseas ministries in Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Mexico. One of our leaders in Kenya must walk about an hour to fetch fresh water each day for his family and then another hour back home. Our group in Pakistan must be careful about how they approach people when they talk about our Lord and Savior.
One of your best tools in evangelizing others is your life and how you live it. If you are a Debbie Downer and William Whoaisme all the time, people will notice it. How are we going to convince people of the gospel message when we are as negative and angry as the rest of society? Perk up, put a smile on your face, and give thanks!
Sources: "An Absurd 'Crime,'" in The Washington Post, October 29, 2021.