An Open Letter of Civic Awareness to Christian Ministries

This is an actual letter that I wrote and am sending to Christian ministries across America as of January 8, 2008. I encourage you to read this letter and forward it to any ministry that you think may benefit from this wake up call.

Dear Ministry Friends:

My name is Brian Ganges (known as BG on my website and radio show) and I am a born-again Christian who resides in Houston, Texas. I have authored several articles and I run my website called B.G. Street (http://insightfortoday.blogspot.com/). The site is dedicated to providing a fresh and insightful Christian perspective to many of today's issues, such as: current events, politics, health related topics, economics, relationships, and principles for daily living. I provide people with relevant information, so that they can think critically about that information, and make sound, reasonable and objective decisions for themselves and their families. I am not a heckler; I am not trying to solicit your ministry for support; I am not trying to change or criticize your ministry; nor am I endeavoring to be a divisive accuser of the brethren. My purpose is to inform and to bring perspective to an important issue that affects all of us: civic awareness.

As one of the Lord’s vineyard workers, I view other ministries and thank God that there are others fighting the good fight of faith and promoting the Gospel in unique ways to the glory of God. The Great Commission is a general work, but I believe that God strategically places us in different areas with a common goal: to be salt, light (Matthew 5:13-14) and the ground and the pillar of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

As I observe and interact with our society, I am becoming very concerned about God’s church and the ever-diminishing role we seem to be playing in the civic framework of this nation. America’s roots are clearly Christian; and the community leaders of the 18th and 19th centuries had to be overt and admitted Christians in order to run for any political office. Today, that is not the case; we have some of our most popular and trusted Christian leaders, each creating factions within the Christian community by supporting different Non-Christian and/or Christian political candidates with ideologies that are not Scriptural.

Moreover, many of our most popular and influential leaders don’t even express their thoughts on policy, nor do they articulate the full counsel of God concerning our civic duty. Many of America’s pulpits are silent and many Christians are left to get very biased information from a myriad of unreliable sources (i.e. the mainstream media). Well, the Bible (the law of God) and the US Constitution (the law of the land) are not silent on policy. For the “salt, light, and the ground and the pillar of the truth” (Christian leaders and laypeople) to be uninformed does not bode well for Christian ministries who are responsible for training and teaching the saints according to the Word of God (Ephesians 4:11-15). Many laws are being passed on the city, state and national levels that are affecting us in adverse ways, such as: The Patriot Act, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, eminent domain, and the Law of the Sea Treaty.

God spoke through Hosea that His people perish for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Furthermore, 1 Chronicles 12:32 states that the tribe of Issachar had understanding of the times; and I truly believe that New Testament believers should also understand the times, cry aloud and spare not (Isaiah 58:1). If Christians aren’t informed and actively involved with our natural world on God’s behalf, then who will ensure that goodness and righteousness is represented in the way that we are governed? Who is going to be the salt, light, and the ground and the pillar of the truth where politics is concerned? Many ministries are 501(3)(c) corporations and are restricted in what they can teach, but there are other legal ways to inform God’s sheep and lambs, as Jesus instructed (John 21:15-17).

Politics governs our lives through various means:

· Taxation (who pays how much)
· Banking/Investing regulations (proper procedures to handle financial transactions)
· Insurance regulations (what kind of insurance you are obligated to have)
· Driving statutes (including speed limits and how to drive)
· Business and commerce regulations (how you must conduct your business)
· Education laws (what must be taught)
· Gun laws (who can own a gun)
· Health laws (how the healthcare industry is supposed to operate)
· Childrearing laws (how you can raise or discipline your child)
· Agricultural laws (how much taxpayer dollars can the farmers get)

Informed and righteous people will ensure that we have righteous laws. I respectfully would like to ask how you, your members and/or ministry partners are informed concerning policies that govern our society. Does your ministry directly inform your members/partners concerning civics (legislation, policy, etc)? Are you partnered with a ministry that stays abreast with current events and/or issues across the political spectrum (not just abortion and traditional marriage laws)? I am not asking with which political party you are registered, or which political candidate(s) you support. The most important thing is that we are all properly informed and that there be no division among us (1 Corinthians 1:10). I am only doing my part to inform the Body of Christ how important it is to get involved and understand our political process. Since God created the institution of government, it only makes sense for Christians to understand how it works and what it meant for Old Testament believers to be “the Elders in the gate.” Everyone doesn’t need to be an activist; but everyone should be a part of the process to ensure that we have righteous people legislating and executing righteous laws for our society.

If you are informing and/or partnering with other people/ministries in order to inform the people of God, then I applaud your efforts. Again, I am not here to be critical, I simply would like to raise the level of awareness in the Church, so that we make sure that the light and the energy that we experience on Sunday morning shines in the halls of justice, as well.

I don’t want to belabor the matter, but I did want to introduce myself and respectfully address my concern(s) with ministries across America. Please continue to do the work that God has entrusted you to do with faith and diligence.




Yours in Christ,


Brian Ganges (BG)
bgnjtx@yahoo.com





Sound resources to help Christians understand history and to stay abreast of current events:


Welfare Reformed: A Compassionate Approach by Richard John Neuhaus, David W. Hall
Savior or Servant: Putting Government in its Proper Place by David W. Hall
The Federalist Papers
The Law by Frederic Bastiat
http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html
http://insightfortoday.blogspot.com/
Economic Solutions by Peter Kershaw
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/