Auld Lang Syne for Eric Metaxas, Kings Charles and Lemuel, and Government Policy

In the lead-in to the part of Proverbs 31 concerning the woman who fears the Lord, not as often remarked on in my experience is how the mother of King Lemuel asks him three times in a row what he is doing. Always in Scripture, when you see a word or phrase repeated two times in a row, it's veracity and importance are being greatly emphasized. If you see it repeated thrice, you best listen up and pay attention.  This is no less the case here, when Lemuel is warned to be wary of the influence on good judgment of both women and drink. We also, along with Lemuel, are wise to consider the wisdom of the admonition from his mother dear, to not give our strength or mind to either, without reservation, or become a slave to our desire for them. Rather, we must remember our duty before God, to do justice, and to "open your mouth" for those whose rights are being trampled on. Speaking of speaking up for those whose rights are being abused, I was invited to attend an event put on here locally in Fort Collins, Colorado last month, at which New York Times Bestselling Author Eric Metaxas spoke. Loving his biographies of Luther and Bonhoeffer as I do, declining the invitation was an unfortunate necessity.  Fortunately, however, my friend Dave Knoshaug, whose invitation I had to turn down, kindly provided me with a link to the speech Metaxas gave, and I present it here for your consideration as well, having listened to it now twice in the last week. And he's right, you know. Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce and Luther were right also. God will not hold us guiltless if we say nothing in the face of evil. But evil is not just what we call things that happened far away, or long ago, which there is no cost for us opposing now. We must also call evil how the U.S. government and Twitter censored true information which was inconvenient to COVID-19 policy. For the latest on that, consider this reporting by Dillon Burroughs at The Daily Wire, or this entry from Jack Phillips at The Epoch Times. Yes, you heard that right. It was evil that experts and laypeople alike were silenced when they objected to themselves, their families, their friends, and their countrymen being abused and oppressed, with coronavirus used as pretext and excuse. But it was also evil that men like Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins convinced even prominent leaders of the American church to spiritualize the abuse of their congregants and co-laborers.  What's next? The police arresting American women for being anti-social if they're caught praying outside abortion clinics, like police in the UK did to this British woman recently? Or what's next? Members of American royalty getting  slap on the wrist if they stand accused of paying to rape teenage girls, like British royal Prince Andrew recently was evicted from Buckingham Palace for? We must learn to do more than complain. We must re-learn how to call for repentance instead of cheap grace, and not suffer fools gladly, especially in the Church, who cheapen God's grace by spiritualizing cowardice and flattery, and calling that testimony and encouragement.