{"id":6023,"date":"2020-07-01T15:31:49","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T15:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/?p=6023"},"modified":"2020-07-01T15:31:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T15:31:49","slug":"sermon-synopsis-for-sunday-july-5th-outdoor-service-seeing-is-disbelieving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/?p=6023","title":{"rendered":"Sermon Synopsis for Sunday, July 5th “Outdoor Service”: “Seeing is Disbelieving”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Several years ago, a woman stopped by my office to ask if she could speak with me. Here was one of those moments of internal struggle as my plate was very full that day and I had no clue how long this might take.<\/p>\n

She wasted little time launching into her dilemma, but not before I saw ALL the scars on both her arms from obvious suicide attempts \u2013 and I do mean ALL the scars \u2013 scores of scars.<\/p>\n

She confirmed my near-immediate assessment of serious mental health issues when she claimed she was the daughter of one of the east coast\u2019s chief warlocks. She then unloaded this barrage of atrocities she alleged she endured as the chief priestess with a plethora of blood-letting rituals and animal sacrifices.<\/p>\n

But she had had enough. She couldn\u2019t take it anymore, so she ran. She was on the lam for her life. For her life? Well, she claimed her dad ordered a hit on her for abandoning her role and posing a serious threat of exposure.<\/p>\n

I knew what I must do the moment she left my office. I would call the police and ask them to pick her up and take her where she would receive proper mental care. I think she stayed about two hours, telling me of things I couldn\u2019t even imagine.<\/p>\n

She was barely out the church door when I reached for my phone, but another knock at my door interrupted my intention. I\u2019m thinking she was back to disclose more. I was wrong. There stood an unfamiliar man.<\/p>\n

He started with this introduction: \u201cI see you met\u201d \u2013 and he mentioned her name. \u201cI guess she told you all about her history,\u201d at which point I almost interjected, \u201cYes, very sad that someone could be so emotionally disturbed.\u201d But because the man hadn\u2019t yet identified himself, I held my tongue. That\u2019s when he pulled out his badge and stated, \u201cI\u2019m with the FBI\u2019s Witness Protection Program. We\u2019re hiding her from her father who is one of the head warlocks in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just when you think you\u2019ve seen or heard it all, you realize you haven\u2019t. Well, the same holds true for what is happening in our great land today. Police reform is one thing, and frankly a good thing, but defunding entire departments? Let\u2019s be soberly careful what we ask for \u2013 because we may just get it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThis coming weekend we\u2019ll all reflect on our country\u2019s Independence, a subject that\u2019s taking on a whole new meaning in our day. A police officer can use excessive force to subdue a man who didn\u2019t appear to be resisting arrest? And rioters can loot businesses all over the country because this is fair and equal retribution?<\/p>\n

Of course, this current wave of independence merely reflects so much of our nation\u2019s presumption of what constitutes freedom in America. Do whatever you please, and who cares if someone gets hurt! But is this what our Christian faith and heritage solicits? Please come this Sunday to our 10 AM outdoor service to learn more.\u00a0 And bring your favorite outdoor chair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, a woman stopped by my office to ask if she could speak with me. Here was one of those moments of internal struggle as my plate was very full that day and I had no clue how long this might take. She wasted little time launching into her dilemma, but not before … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-christy_alohayahoo-com","4":"post-6023","6":"format-standard","7":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"category-sermon-preview"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/independence-day-825621_1280.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6027,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions\/6027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfamilyfellowship.church\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}