{"id":1997850,"date":"2023-08-11T13:35:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T17:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-wanted-fugitive-walks-into-church-experiences-utter-transformation-we-must-follow-suit\/"},"modified":"2023-08-11T13:37:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T17:37:42","slug":"op-ed-wanted-fugitive-walks-into-church-experiences-utter-transformation-we-must-follow-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-wanted-fugitive-walks-into-church-experiences-utter-transformation-we-must-follow-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Fugitive Transformed in Church &#8211; Let&#8217;s Do the Same"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fop-ed-wanted-fugitive-walks-into-church-experiences-utter-transformation-we-must-follow-suit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1997850&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>You know God is powerfully\u200d present in a service when people come to the altar not just to throw\u2062 themselves before the Divine Lawgiver for mercy, but also before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-pledges-orderly-transition-of-power\/\" title=\"President Trump pledges orderly transition of power\">local law enforcement<\/a>.<\/h2>\n<p>It was \u2062a small \u2062town \u2064in Illinois \u2014\u200d a Friday\u200d night service in June 2000. During the time of prayer\u2063 and \u200ccommitment at the end of the service, a \u200bgentleman at the church altar whispered in my ear, \u201cI\u2019m wanted by the law, and I need to turn myself in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He explained \u200bthat he was\u2062 tired of running \u2062and wanted to make right with\u2064 God and man. As the choir \u200ccontinued to sing, the pastor and I took this gentleman to an \u200doffice in the church building. \u2064With a\u2064 beaming \u2062smile and the \u2062countenance of \u200done at peace with the \u2064world, the man waited for law enforcement\u200d to arrive.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-wanted-fugitive-walks-into-church-experiences-utter-transformation-we-must-follow-suit\/\" title=\"Op-Ed: Fugitive Transformed in Church - Let's Do the Same\">bewildered police\u200b dispatcher asked<\/a>, \u201cAre\u2064 you in danger? Is this a hostage situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, \u200bit is nothing like that, and \u2062no one is in danger,\u201d \u2064I explained. \u201cThis man\u200b has accepted Christ, and he is happy now to surrender\u200b to the \u2062law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s\u2062 a beautiful thing when people get honest with God, with those around them, and with themselves. I\u2019ve seen \u2063it thousands\u2064 of \u2064times over\u200c three decades of pastoral ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, it is tragic to watch people \u2014 and \u2063even nations \u2014 destroy \u200bthemselves and their surroundings when they refuse to acknowledge bad\u200b decisions and their undeniable\u200d consequences.<\/p>\n<h3>America is\u200d on the precipice of a fall of disastrous proportions.<\/h3>\n<p>Our nation nowadays is feeling the painful coalescence of decades of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fingers-crossed-dan-bongino-says-monday-looks-good-for-parlers-return\/\" title=\"\u2018Fingers Crossed\u2019: Dan Bongino Says \u2018Monday Looks Good\u2019 For Parler\u2019s Return\">bad decisions<\/a>. At the legal, journalistic and \u2063academic levels, we\u2019re living \u2062and governing as if there \u2064are no\u200b morals or God who will ever hold us\u2063 accountable.<\/p>\n<p>Our \u2064nation \u2063is \u2064crumbling, our president is bumbling, and our vice president is mumbling. And \u200dwhat, \u200caccording to \u200cour \u200cwise cultural overlords, will fix it? Imposing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/college-professor-riley-gaines-normalize-exposing-kids-adult-genitalia-prepare-trans-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trans\u2063 ideology<\/a> on all levels of society, keeping the\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/border-patrol-deploys-riot-response-hundreds-migrants-storm-border-unison\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">southern border<\/a> open, and fighting \u2063a war on gas stoves and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-wants-thomas-edisons-incandescent-light-bulbs-gone-by-2023\/\" title=\"Biden Wants Thomas Edison\u2019s Incandescent Light Bulbs Gone By 2023\">incandescent light bulbs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The woke, \u2064self-appointed \u200dmessiahs (most of whom recoil at the mention of humanity\u2019s true Messiah) are ignoring constitutional law and the welfare of citizens \u2062and jeopardizing the future \u2063of our republic.<\/p>\n<p>The consistent\u2062 failure\u2062 of leftist ideology at \u200bevery\u200d level for decades is undeniable. It reminds me of a recent assessment of environmental crusader Paul Ehrlich\u2019s decades of dire, end-of-the-world climate change predictions: He \u200bwas not just wrong, but \u201cspectacularly wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once, \u200dwhen the philosopher George W.F. Hegel made a \u200cpatently false statement in a \u2064college class, \u200ba student \u2062said, \u201cHerr professor, the facts say otherwise.\u201d Hegel retorted, \u201cSo much \u2063the worse for the facts!\u201d Such disregard for reality would earn Hegel a Cabinet position today.<\/p>\n<p>The solution to \u200dthis decay is clear \u200b\u2014 we must repent, turn back to God, and admit we\u2062 are a nation in\u200c trouble.<\/p>\n<p>It is amazing how forgiving the world can\u200b be \u2014 and how forgiving and restorative God is. It\u2019s called grace. As hymn writer John Newton penned\u200c in 1772,\u200b the grace of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/famous-atheist-richard-dawkins-former-right-hand-man-converts-christianity-realizing-truth-jesus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jesus Christ<\/a> is indeed \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It begins with each \u2063one of us turning to God. Otherwise, we are soon to be a nation beyond salvaging.<\/p>\n<p>Repentance is not a word \u200byou will hear on the news tonight; it is, unfortunately, missing in many churches. What is \u200crepentance?<\/p>\n<p>It means an about-face, \u200ba 180-degree \u200dcourse correction from where you were headed to someplace \u2062new. Today, you can find\u2064 a\u200c new life direction and a revitalized attitude.<\/p>\n<p>When a preacher like me speaks of \u2063repentance before God, it\u200c means bringing an accountability agent \u200cinto the decision. I\u2062 repent before \u2062God because He knows and sees all;\u2063 I hold to my\u200b decision because \u200dGod knows if I break it.<\/p>\n<p>Will you become accountable to yourself, your nation and your God? Repent. Turn. Start again. Become a part of \u2064the human infrastructure that \u2063repairs and rebuilds this nation. Repentance is the first step toward rebuilding the weakened moral structures of America. The foundation is still solid \u2014 we are still one nation under God.<\/p>\n<p>National \u200brepair begins with personal repentance. We \u2064rebuild roads with money and concrete. We heal the soul of a\u200d nation one\u200d penitent heart at a time.<\/p>\n<p>$3 trillion can\u2019t widen the road\u200b to heaven; it will always be narrow. But a \u2062heartfelt \u201cI\u200b was wrong \u2014 I\u2062 repent\u201d\u2064 can rebuild \u200cthe bridge\u2063 to God. We desperately need that bridge open and \u2063functioning.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/op-ed-wanted-fugitive-walks-church-experiences-utter-transformation-must-follow-suit\/\">Op-Ed: Wanted Fugitive Walks Into Church, Experiences Utter Transformation -\u2063 We Must Follow\u200b Suit<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>a church service, individuals approached the altar not only seeking forgiveness from God but also seeking solace and protection from the local police. This incident occurred in a small Illinois town during a Friday night service in June 2000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2282,"featured_media":1997851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1997851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}