Pastor Russell’s Response to the Events in Chicago
Pastor Fredrick Russell, Lead Pastor of Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta, jettisoned plans he made earlier to preach a sermon based on the Apostle Paul’s exasperating encounter in Athens with the Cynics and Epicureans. He instead provided some Scripturally inspired commentary concerning the fact that Violence Continues at Donald Trump Rallies. The escalation of the level of violence at Friday night’s (3/11/2016) Chicago Rally resulted in a cancellation of this event. This day also witnessed a plea by Trump for the Republican party to come together behind him. Pastor Russell has a personal connection to this last issue, one that may be discovered by watching the video of his timely presentation. The writer for this site has used sensationalism in order to publicize his commentary before, but will abstain, at this critical juncture in national affairs, from diluting the main thrust of the pastor’s talk with parenthetical issues. For the sake of decorum, Pastor Russell will be allowed to speak for himself regarding his personal involvement in current events. The sermon is embedded in this YouTube link to the ENTIRE SERVICE, and the main topic is broached at time marker 1:23:18. As the message is an extremely important one, you are encouraged to listen to the sermon first. The usual presentation style of this page, one that places Sabbath events in chronological order, will be modified today. What is most important will be positioned in the “uppermost seats in the synagogue.”
A DESCRIPTION OF THE MANY CHALLANGES OUR NATION IS FACING, CONCLUDING WITH A MESSAGE OF HOPE
Journalists are taught to begin their articles with statements that are indispensable to the story. Here are a few indispensable statements: Pastor Russell is an Adventist. This denomination anticipates the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Today’s sermon began, was permeated by, and concluded with the Word of God as stated in Revelation 11:13-15. Verses 13 and 14 describe terrestrial calamities, an analog of the current political climate. Verse 15 describes the manner in which these difficulties may be resolved:
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (NIV)
Pastor Russell vowed that he was not engaging in hyperbole by predicting that there could soon be “open riots in the streets of our country.” He said that the separation and division that mars our nation is as “stark as I have ever seen it.” He refreshed our memories about what had just transpired at Donald Trump’s rally at the University of Illinois. He lamented the escalation of the disruptions that attend Trump from mere verbal abuse to actual physical violence. After briefly touching upon his personal involvement with a certain presidential candidate, Pastor Russell made a general observation about the animosity that is being directed at Muslims, Mexicans, and protesters that are simply exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. Where was this nation heading toward? Pastor Russell asserted that “unless there were something that heals the awesome division in our country,” then last night’s events might only represent a microcosm of a much larger trend, and they we might have “open warfare on our streets.”
Pastor Russell pointed out the division of the races along party lines, even in the South, with blacks voting “wholesale” for the Democrats, and whites [predominately] aligned with the Republicans. “We’ve got that racial division that is becoming more intense,” he said. He alluded to the unreasoned persecution of our sitting President. The existence of an African-American President has only served to intensify the “racial element.” The “ethnic division” is also an issue. Immigrants are under attack, but Pastor Russell reminded us that the Bible admonishes us to “entertain foreigners and strangers.” for they, too, are the children of God.
Pastor Russell has his finger on the pulse of the international press corps. “The whole world is watching us now,” he informed us, and said that he has surveyed French, English and Canadian attitudes toward the gutter politics that currently tarnish the image of America. “I was in Canada a few weeks ago, and I was sitting at the table with my Canadian brothers and sisters, and they were quizzing me.” They wanted to know exactly what was going on here, “south of the border.” They compared the Presidential debates to a bunch of third-graders who are “hurtling insults at each other. Where is the class of this country going?” they asked [an inadvertent double entendre, perhaps].
The issue of “racial division” was revived. “There is racial division in this country,” Pastor Russell stated forthrightly, but quickly added that, as believers, we do not engage in this division. The Pastor vowed that he was “Christian first. I happen to be black, but I am Christian first.” Pastor Russell said that Asian-Americans were the fastest growing group at present, surpassing the Hispanic growth rate. Blacks are also gaining in population. In a few years, the pastor revealed, it will be a “majority minority country.”
“Here’s what’s going to happen in the next few weeks,” he stated. Because the level of racial hatred is so high, and because of economic division (despite the relatively robust economy), because of the rise of new racial and ethnic groups, and because the “church” (across the board) has itself engaged deeply in politics, people will just want to stop and ask the question, “God, just what is this all about?” The balm for these societal ills may be discovered in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 11, Verse 15. “No matter what you see coming down the pike,” the pastor said, he wanted us to hold on to the words of the Revelator: … there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
“The thing that keeps me sane,” Pastor Fredrick Russell revealed, “is turning over to this verse, and knowing that:
- Donald Trump is not in charge of this country.
- Hillary Clinton is not in charge of this country.
- Ted Cruz is not in charge of this country.
- Bernie Sanders is not in charge of this country.”
Pastor Russell inquired of the congregation as to how many believed that God is in control, and many hands were raised in the affirmative. He than asked if we also believed that God was in control not only of worldly turbulence, but of the personal turbulence in our personal lives, and many asserted that this, too, was a truth. The pastor now tendered some strength and comfort to his flock. “With the hatred that’s happening:
- As a Christian, I cannot hate someone else.
- As a Christian, I cannot be ugly towards these people.
- As a Christian, I can’t engage in the ‘us against them speech.’
“The worst thing you can do right now,” Pastor Russell warned, “is become fearful.” He added that this would be a good time to follow Paul’s admonishment to “pray for those that are over you.”
- “We pray for President Obama. We pray for his government.”
- “We pray for the folk who are running for office right now.”
- “We pray for the [healing of] the division that’s happening in the country.”
- “We pray that the violence that we saw last night is not just the beginning (although it appears that it can be).”
- “We pray that God keeps the winds, holds them back a little longer, until everyone that wants to be saved, and needs to be saved, is saved.”
Pastor Russell now tried facilitate our proper alignment. He reached out to those who may be shackled to a “known sin.” This was the time to confess it. Some of us may have some “stuff” in our hearts. Pastor Russell issued a warning, “you cannot go to heaven with that ‘stuff’ in there.” He repeated that the “door of probation will close some day.” There is a point, just before the Lord comes, where the books are closed. The pastor related that the door to Noah’s ark was sealed seven days before it started to rain. The people outside the ark did not even know that they were “already lost.” Events that will happen in the end times will be very rapid. The pastor closed with an injunction that may be discovered twice in the Book of Hebrews. He was not just addressing the congregation of Berean Church, or whomever may have been watching him online. His appeal was also directed to the legions who are caught up in the madness of this mad hour in the history of America. The sermon that was preempted for this Sabbath’s urgent remarks was to be, as noted previously, on the topic of Paul’s attempts to share the Gospel with the self-absorbed citizens of Athens. Not many were receptive to the word. “…some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.” The books could close before this message has a chance to be repeated:
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”
A full quarter’s study has been recently dedicated to the study of the Epistle of James, probably because it features some wisdom the majority of people, even Christian people, prefer to either ignore or misinterpret (“faith without works is dead). I like the way it excoriates the “rich man” in chapter 5, but wish that the SONG I fashioned from this chapter was more structured. Last quarter’s lesson book attempted to soften the unambiguously harsh criticism of the well-to-do by James, as did I in introductory statements about the song. Here is a statement that is not in the Bible: “It’s not money that the Bible speaks against; it is the ‘love’ of money.” I am still trying to find someone who does not love money. The trick is to overcome this ubiquitous love in order to do some good. To quote Andrew Carnegie, “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.” Ellen G. White is on record to this effect as well. James merited thirteen weeks of study. For the present, Peter will have to settle for just one. This one.
Peter sticks to the basics in his two letters, and, as John does in his correspondence, predominately urging us to be on our best behavior, and to “keep hope alive!” John, in his First Epistle, also emphasizes “commandment keeping.” Peter writes in the same vein, substituting words like “obedience” and “diligence” and “ordinance” for “commandments.” He urges the reader to joyfully endure tribulation. He offers, in the manner of Paul, some housekeeping tips. He warns us, in the manner of John, against false doctrine. He reminds us, as does Jesus, that the Lord shall return according to His own timetable, and not ours. We are assured by Peter, in the King James Translation, that the Lord is not “slack” about keeping His promise to return. Other versions use the work “slow,” which is more accurate, but “slack” is such a fine word, it has survived (or perhaps been revived) as a slang expression. Peter’s Second Epistle concludes with a mention of the relative opacity of Paul’s writings, with a warning that the student of Paul must apply due diligence to his study (a warning I just had to drag into commentary upon last week’s studies on Paul). Peter, a plain man, is (in contrast to Paul) very plainspoken.
Chapter 51 offers commentary on First Peter, and is called “A Faithful Undershepherd.” She notes that Jesus spoke to Peter of the latter’s “conversion,” just before he denied the Lord thrice. When he wrote his two letters, Peter had already undergone this conversion. He no longer trusted in himself, but in Christ. The perfectly symmetrical balance between the number of Peter’s denials and Jesus’ solicitous elicitations of Peter’s love is restated by Ellen White. When I read the last verses recently, I have to admit that I cried! She notes that the believers that Peter sought to strengthen and edify were surrounded by the unwholesome influences of the pagan world. Things were a little saner in the U.S.A. at the time that she was writing, which marked the apogee of Victorian morality (for some, though not all). In our day and age, we have regressed to the pattern of the Roman Empire, which was pretty bad. A further deterioration would put us all the way back to Canaanite times, which would be even worse.
Ellen White tells us that the message found in the first letter of Peter is especially significant to those who anxiously anticipate the return of our Lord. One of Peter’s most memorable statements is interpreted as being prophetic of the enhanced level of tribulation and persecution that the church will experience, the “…hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” This memorable statement is from First Peter 4:12-13. The verse is descriptive of a transitional state that most who undergo conversion experience. Personally, this represented ( before I read Ellen White’s slant on things) the sole meaning I attached to it. The “Spirit of Prophecy” reveals that it is, additionally, a anticipation of the “perilous times” that the church will experience in the end times. The verse reads as follows: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
Chapter 52 in “Acts of the Apostles” is called “Steadfast to the End.” The greatest revelation to me, upon reading this chapter, was the verification by the “Spirit of Prophecy” of the manner of the execution of Peter. The fact that Peter would not experience a natural death was stated by Jesus in John 21:18: “…when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” Peter speaks of his imminent martyrdom in Second Peter 1:14: “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” Church tradition, not always a reliable source (I referred to it as “legend” in last Sabbath’s post), is that Peter requested that he be crucified “upside-down,” as he felt unworthy to die in like manner to Jesus himself. Fox’s Book of Martyrs, a proper Protestant document, refers to Jerome (the man who wrote the Vulgate) as the source for information on Peter’s demise. Jerome was a defender of orthodoxy against Arianism (I am currently an amateur defender of Adventist doctrine against Adventist Arians), as well as Pelagianism. Jerome waged war on a heresy that is kind of variation on Arianism, as it denied divinity to the Holy Spirit. It was known by the hard-to-remember name of its sect: the Pneumatomachi. Like Augustine, he transitioned from a misspent youth into a fruitful adulthood as an energetic polemicist for the faith. Jerome is not uniformly accepted by Protestants, but Ellen G. White has embraced his statements on Peter’s endgame. The next few sentences reflect my bemused attempt to discover the source of Jerome’s commentary.
“Steadfast Unto the End” describes the efforts by Peter, in his last years, to grow the faith of that flock that Jesus had admonished him to “feed.” “We have not followed cunningly designed fables…” declares the disciple who was an eyewitness to the ministry and miracles of our Savior. This great piece of information is followed by what Ellen White considers to be even greater news. Second Peter 1:19 reads “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place…” The Holy Ghost would continue to advise the church in perilous times. Ellen White warns us against false prophecy, as does Peter himself in Second Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies…”
Sunday’s lesson, “From Darkness to Light,” discusses First Peter 2:9-10. Here is 9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” The highly disappointing song I tried to create to compliment this lesson may be warily examined at this LINK to the place where it has been quarantined, pending its exile to the archives. It is “mainstream,” but under my direction it wound up sounding like a Pepsi commercial sung by Alfalfa of the “Little Rascals.”
Monday’s lesson is named “Peer Pressure,” and directs the student to First Peter 4:1-7. Peter, as well as Dr. Tasker, cautions us not too “return to our vomit” (my reference, and not that of either the Saint or the Sage). Peter’s flock, as the Ellen White quote from Chapter 51 of “Acts of the Apostles” cited earlier notes, “were surrounded by the unwholesome influences of the pagan world.” To crib a term that Jimmy Swaggart loves to use, in this age we are surrounded by the accommodationist approach of the “Seeker Sensitive” movement. This movement was inaugurated with the best of intentions, but has devolved, in many instances, to levels that are a little too sensitive to the desires of those who are seeking.There exists no such thing as a totally effortless walk with Jesus, for Scripture reveals that we have a role that takes diligence, and application, and (last but not least) full obedience to God’s commands. The thrust of Dr. Taskers lesson is the avoidance of bad secular influences. I have expanded it to also include bad denominations. I have to replicate a statement from Lesson 8 of our previous studies based on Jeremiah. I found it to be very incisive, and not a little humorous: “”History is replete with the sad stories of people who one minute were ‘worshiping’ in some beautiful church somewhere and the next minute were walking out and committing some atrocity, which was perhaps even instigated by what they learned inside that beautiful structure.” This statement probably refers to something more than simply eating unclean foods, and resting on the first day instead of the seventh. It is not an “Ellen White,” so it must have been an observation made by the author of the lesson. I wish he had furnished one of these “atrocities” as an example.
Wednesday’s lesson is entitled “Scoffers.” I redirect your attention to remarks written exactly 5 paragraphs previous to this. The thread of the conversation directed focus to the theme of “scoffers” at that point, and even led to a mention of a presentation Dr. Tasker made “down under,” defending Holy Writ against the malevolent forces of Darwinism. The head of these Sabbath School ruminations features a photo of Dr. Tasker, caught in the very midst of this defense.
