Must be allowed to preach

SIR: I was recently invited to serve as the chaplain of the day for the House of Representatives of the Georgia General Assembly. I felt it was a great honor to take God’s Word and address the men and women of our state legislature. The text for my 15-minute address was the beautiful Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble.”

I was saddened to be contacted by people from the capitol and told that my sermon had been offensive. Apparently, standing up for the pre-born and for the sanctity of marriage has become “hate speech” in this great state. The Atlanta newspaper published an article 3 days after I spoke entitled, “Preachers Mustn’t Preach.” The article related how the speaker of the house was considering censoring guest ministers, due to several recent sermons.

It truly is a sad day when one of the places that freedom of speech is curtailed is on the floor of the Georgia General Assembly. The days of II Timothy 4:3-4 have indeed arrived. The only solution is for God’s men to take up the challenge of II Timothy 4:2.

I encourage my fellow GBC pastors to continue being salt and light in a dark culture. While the message is offensive enough without an offensive messenger, we need to be more concerned with offending God than offending the government. They may say, “Preachers Mustn’t Preach.” I say, “God’s called men can do no less.”