'Rejoice in the LORD always'

By Angela Wittman

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" 

- Philippians 3:4

"When witnessing on public sidewalks and singing is "criminal" and "disorderly;" when ripping the arms and legs off of children is protected by law as "orderly;" then crushing judgment from Lord Jesus will soon destroy our once free nation. When churches get too busy to lift a finger to try to get rid of their local abortuaries, then the lack of fire in our hearts will be repayed with fire from the sky like was hurled down upon Sodom. And Sodom had no Bibles." (Cal Zastrow -- June 28, 2004)

Dear Friends,

We are commanded by God to rejoice in the Lord always and what better way is there to express our joy than by singing Psalms and hymns of praise to our mighty and glorious God? In fact, Scripture tells us in the book of Ephesians (chapter 5: verse 19) to speak "to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

I can think of no better witness of Christian love and devotion than singing joyfully in the midst of evil and persecution. I have read accounts of those martyred for the Christian faith who sang or recited Psalms while being burnt alive or drowned in the sea. One can only pray for such a strong loyalty to Jesus Christ, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

I recently had the privilege of seeing such faith in action at a Planned Parenthood baby killing center in West Chester, Pennsylvania when a small group of us from the Constitution Party National Convention in Valley Forge went to show support and encourage the pro-lifers who regularly gather in front. A member of our entourage was rejoicing in the Lord and singing Christian hymns when a policeman interrupted him and told him there had been complaints. The policeman then had the audacity to tell the pro-lifer who had been singing to stop. Praise the LORD, Cal Zastrow did not stop singing and for the glory of God, he was then arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct.

What was the Christian hymn Cal was singing? "Joy to the World" by Isaac Watts taken from the Psalms of David. Here are the controversial words of that great hymn of praise for our Saviour:

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Dear Friends, I pray we will not be silenced by those who misuse authority to intimidate and bully those who speak the truth in love. I pray we will continue to work toward re-establishing righteousness in our nation. May each one of us be as the Heroes of our Christian faith and may we tell those attempting to silence us through abuse of our freedom of speech and religion that we will obey our God rather than men. Amen.

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Published 2004. Updated 3.24.2014