By Doug Cox

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)

These words were written to a young pastor named Timothy by the apostle Paul, who was very experienced with difficult and often life-threatening situations. Paul was a man changed one day by an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on a dusty road to Damascus. Thankfully while on his way to terrorize and destroy Christians Jesus intervened. He asked Paul, why are you persecuting Me? That was the beginning moment of Paul’s changed life.

From there he went from being a persecutor of the church to the biggest promoter of the gospel of Jesus in history. His new purpose got him whipped, beaten, stoned and left for dead and more. His life was often under threat, so when he told Timothy to not be afraid, he knew what he was talking about. He knew that fear would destroy Timothy and rob him of the reward of the faithful.

Last Sunday evening, flags were raised to full staff across America after being lowered as a mark of respect for Charlie Kirk, a thirty one year old father of two whose life was cut short by an assassin’s bullet on Wednesday September tenth. Charlie was speaking at the first stop of his American Comeback Tour. His death was a shocking blow to conservative Americans as well as Christians across the nation.

Charlie and his wife were both sincere and devoted to their Christian faith. Charlie organized at a young age Turning Point USA and later what is called TPUSA Faith which was geared to encourage pastors and churches to stand up for their beliefs.

No doubt what Charlie talked about was controversial however his views were embraced by scores and scores of young people across college campuses. His way of communicating sparked not only their interest but fueled their participation in conservative politics. At the same time, however, he also sparked the ire and vitriol of many others.

At his rallies he would let those in opposition state their views and debate him. Many told him to shut up and cursed him. That’s politics right? However, it’s mind blowing to think that someone thought they had to take his life to shut him up. This was a horrible action and an assault against all Americans.

What will happen? Hopefully all Americans will condemn the action and shut down the calls for more of the same. Hopefully all Americans will allow each other to voice their opinions and their beliefs as allowed by the first amendment. How awful would it be if people who love America began to cower in fear and retreat into darkness. What would happen? Darkness would win and America would be destroyed.

Well, Paul’s words to Timothy must have worked. His ministry started around AD 52 and ended AD 97 with him working faithfully all those years in between, sometimes under duress, but he remained committed to the truth and faith. He did not let fear dominate him and I pray we do not let it dominate us.

As a Christian I’m glad last Sunday evening was chosen to be the day our great American flag was to be raised to full staff again. For me raising the flag points my eyes to where they should be, looking up, because my Redemption is drawing near. So yes, we spent some of the day Sunday with mournful thoughts and rightfully so, but now it is time to look up again. It is time to go on living out our faith, refusing to cower in fear but instead living with faith in full view, unashamed and unafraid.