May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 

Galatians 6:14

Jason and I try to find great new spots to eat lunch when we have available Fridays. This Foodie Friday took us somewhere unexpected; to the foot of the cross.
   

News travels fast, so I suppose you've heard about FFRF's (Freedom From Religion Foundation) letter to the city of Port Neches, our back door, requesting the removal of a ten foot cross from its city park. It's a small display that, from what I read, has been there for over forty years purchased by a woman, Mrs. Conrad Miller.  

So for lunch today we grabbed a Boss Burger and a Fish Sandwich and headed over to the park for a windy picnic. We scarfed down our lunch and then snapped a few shots of the cross including a selfie or two. We said a prayer and then left. Our Friday lunch experience, without fail, leaves my stomach feeling heavy. Today it's my heart that's carrying around some extra weight. 

I wouldn't call it worry. I'm not foolish enough to think my faith is rooted in anything formed of concrete or else anything made in the shape of a cross.

 My mind is full of wonder. 

How many local people are actually offended by a cross that stands in the back corner of the park about five yards away from a crumbling concrete wall scribbled with graffiti? Does its presence discourage those who don't believe in its symbolism? Is its message discriminate? 

The cross is a symbol of Christ's work to overcome sin and death. It's an offering to all (For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son). It's an offering to which each person has the right to refuse. 

Its message doesn't force itself upon anyone. 

 I read somewhere how it's a message of hate. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christians can be guilty of hate.  The cross is hate's cure. I suspect some of us shy away from the message of salvation because our message is carried around in jars of clay. We're fragile and fallible.  We fear our hypocrisy will be pointed out, and it will. There is no hypocrisy in the cross. 

Then there are those who point out the suffering of Christians in Syria, reminding us that the removal of a cross cannot be considered persecution when there are fellow Christians losing their lives. Of course we are still a free nation; able to freely worship...more the reason to hold our freedom dear. But we ought to pay close attention. We're quite like frogs in a pot. Many of us are confident of our current situation. We're comfy with the gradual loss of small freedoms. For those without our eyes on the heat dial, we have no idea that we're getting closer to boiling. 

It's not absurd to think that America's future may be one where our faith is not allowed to be demonstrated or shared freely. 

No one can take your faith from you. I also agree that faith is a matter of the heart and doesn't have to be plastered on billboards and worn as jewelry around the necks of believers. Our faith is secure.  Do we care about those whose eternity isn't secure?  If we do, we ought to be concerned with whether or not public semblances of the gospel remain legal. 

Check out FFRF's warpath. They exist merely to wipe out any semblance of Christianity. Its co-president, Dan Barker, describes himself a free thinker. I feel someone ought to be able to view a cross in their path without their abilty to think being stolen or harmed. 

Or maybe the cross does change one's thinking. 

It is a gentle yet powerful message of redemption. It's a reminder to those of us whose sin is no more. It speaks kindly and in love to those who don't believe. 

Its message matters. 

I pray the cross at Port Neches park stays. 

  

Through Christ’s death on the cross, those who turn to Him are delivered from both the penalty and the power of sin. 2 Peter 4:24-25