"Sixth, God makes clear over and again in His Word that the kind of spirituality He is looking for does not consist of long-winded prayers or pious displays of fasting. Rather, He says clearly, our fasting must be the backdrop for our holy actions, setting the captives free, caring for the orphan and widow, standing up to injustice in the courts (see Isaiah 58)." - Dr. Michael Brown
There is nothing holy about forcing our faith upon the lost. That would mean the Crusades were holy. Only the gospel sets the captives free. There is nothing about the chosen political affiliation of Brown the remotely wants to see justice in the courts or pleads the case of the orphan and the widow.
"Seventh, just as we feed the hungry and give to the poor, helping those we can even while knowing that we will never eradicate hunger and poverty, we do the same with the culture wars. We help those we can help. We save a baby's life when we can. We get an ungodly sex-ed curriculum removed from our local school. We expose discriminatory treatment of a minority colleague in the workplace. Every life counts, and every battle won has significance." - Dr. Michael Brown
This is so disingenuous. To lump in feeding the hungry and fighting discrimination with campaigns designed to codify our beliefs upon the lost is simply unfair and a poor comparison. The real problem of course is the fact that Brown wants to use one group of corrupt and evil men to pit against another. The reality however is that the chosen group, the Republicans, want nothing to do with combatting hunger and poverty. Heck, hungry and poor people try every day to come into this country and Brown would argue they should be thrown out. Realize too that no one is suggesting that as parents and community members we cannot choose to make our case for why one curriculum is bad for our kids and others might be more beneficial. The problem is that the dominionist thinks their answers are holy and righteous and all other opinions are evil, words Brown has used in this very article, and thus they seek permanent legislative or judicial decisions to enforce their beliefs. What Brown and the dominionists argue is for these causes to be taken up by the church.
Eighth, since the Messiah's mission includes bringing justice to the nations, and since we are His voice and His hands and feet in this world, pursuing justice is part of our divine mission (see Isaiah 42:1-8).
This is not so clever sleight of hand. The referenced scripture, which we have made part of it the key verses for this devotional, is a prophecy about Christ. It is a great foretelling by God of the plan He has for the salvation of man. The word nations is used to portray the gentile people of the world and not meant to infer political argument. The pursuit of justice Jesus will undertake is related to sin and salvation, not the passage of immigration law or the banning of marriage we feel is beneath the teachings of scripture. The key verses reinforce that the world is indeed walking in darkness and God opens their eyes through either the acceptance of the gospel or through judgment for rejecting it. The Lord is HIS name and He gives His glory to none other. Not Michael Brown, politician or pseudo-Christian operative. He gives no praise to carved idols and the pursuit of dominionism is indeed a carved idol beloved. It is quite possibly the last idol of the church age. These passages have nothing to do with seeking carnal men to pass carnal laws and wrapping it up with false piety. God does not seek better behavior from us before consideration for salvation. Rather, He seeks faith from us in Him and through Him. We then see sin as He does and our works start to match our faith. Dominionism skips the salvation part and seeks to cure sinful behavior through the efforts of sinful men. That is not what Isaiah is prophesying here and not the plan of God.
"Ninth, by standing up for the downtrodden and hurting, we demonstrate the depth of our relationship with God. As the Lord said with regard to the godly King Josiah, "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD." (Jer. 22:16) That is a truly striking verse." - Dr. Michael Brown
Brown continues his litany of strawman arguments that have nothing to do with the original topic he proffered. This was supposed to be defending the church being engaged in the culture wars it seems so enamored with. This can hardly be described as standing up for the downtrodden and hurting. The side Brown has chosen to affiliate with is notorious for not being on the side of the hurting and downtrodden. King Josiah by the way, was King of Judah. That means he reigned over God's people, not the lost.
