Flower

Rachel and Jessica came over and we put flowers together for Mary's birthday party Saturday. The cool bot is workig.

🚨Christians, Borders, Illegal Immigration, & Deportation🚨 With images like this floating around, it's clear Christians are going to have to think Biblically about these issues. Here are 10 (difficult) thoughts... 1⃣ Christians as individuals are commanded to love immigrants (Lev 19:34), and should not let debates about IMMIGRATION POLICY erode their love for IMMIGRANTS as people. But (wildly unpopular thoughts to come)… This does NOT mean that Christians should oppose the enforcement of immigration laws or support mass immigration, because… -- 2⃣ In the Bible, God establishes BORDERS, NATIONS, and WALLS. // Divides the world into nations (Genesis 11) // Establishes borders (Acts 17:26, Deut 32:8) // Led his people to build walls to protect their borders (2 Chron 14:7, Psalm 51:18, 1 Kings 3:1, Nehemiah). Now, that FEELS unloving, and we need to address that… -- 3⃣ OBJECTION: “But building walls and enforcing immigration laws is hateful!” No, nations build walls for the same reason you have a lock on your front door – not because you HATE the people on the outside, but because you LOVE the people on the inside. The reason we have a legal immigration process is to vet who comes into the country, just like a good father vets who comes into their home. Also… -- 4⃣ The United States allows (by far) the most legal immigrants per year of any nation in the world. Of the Top 10 countries that allow the MOST legal immigrants per year in the world, we are #1 at 1M+ annually, nearly 250K more than #2 on the list. This is why legal immigrants overwhelmingly support enforcement of immigration laws: Because allowing illegal immigration without consequence is saying to all those who are legally waiting in line: "Suckers!" -- 5⃣OBJECTION: “But the Bible commands us to ‘love the immigrant’ and ‘care for the sojourner’!” Using that verse to oppose enforcement of immigration law is a reasoning error called “category confusion.” The conversation is not about “loving immigrants.” It is about punishing criminals. The actions being taken have nothing to do with people being “immigrants” (which is why legal immigrants are not being deported). The actions being taken are because people broke the law (and the Biblical role of the government is to punish crime, Rom 13:1-5) -- 6⃣Illegal entry into the United States has been a federal crime since 1929 under 8 U.S. Code 1325: Improper Entry By Alien, and it’s not a victimless crime (like jaywalking) In California alone, taxpayers spend $9.5 BILLION on healthcare for illegal immigrants. And keep in mind, our nation is currently $37T in debt with financial analysts warning of the possibility of a catastrophic debt spiral -- 7⃣ OBJECTION: “But Christians should want LOVING government leaders, and loving leaders would WANT to care for people!” Yes, but in the Bible leaders are called to prioritize the people God has placed under their leadership over people who are not under their leadership. If a Dad cares for other people’s kids in a way that harms his own kids, that doesn’t make him a good man, it makes him a terrible father. If a nation’s leaders care for another nations’ citizens in a way it harms its own citizens, that doesn’t make them merciful people, it makes them terrible leaders in dereliction of duty. -- 8⃣ Response to the "JESUS WAS AN IMMIGRANT" thing: -Jesus never broke immigration laws -His family traveled to legally register themselves in a national census (Luke 2:1-5) -Jesus did not “immigrate”: He left Nazareth (in the Roman Empire) to go to Egypt (also in the Roman Empire) -Jesus commanded obedience to laws (Rom 13:1) -People like to selectively-edit Jesus to turn him into a mascot for their cause. You can equally say things like, “Jesus never left his home country, Jesus was unvaccinated, Jesus fed the poor without raising taxes, Jesus told people to buy weapons, etc” Jesus is a Lord, not a mascot. -- 9⃣ Response to protestors using this verse: “You shall not mistreat a foreigner nor oppress them.” (Exod. 22:21) Yes and amen! But… -The Bible also requires the “foreigner” to obey the laws of the land (Numbers 15:15-16), which includes immigration laws -It is not mistreatment to ensure the number of “foreigners” does not become harmful to the people of the nation. And, nobody ever seems to bring up this verse (#10)... -- 🔟 We must also be careful not to pick and choose which verses of the Old Testament we apply and do not apply to modern immigration discussions. This was also a warning God gave to the people of Israel that is rarely discussed: “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.” (Deut. 28:43) 💥 FINAL WORD 💥 DON'T let debates about immigration policy harden your hearts toward immigrants. DON'T get gaslit into supporting disorder. LOVE PEOPLE. AND GRACIOUSLY OPPOSE LAWLESSNESS.