Hagerstown’s fight over an ICE warehouse shows why Christian public witness must be peaceful, lawful and stubbornly awake: Four toilets can tell you a great deal about a nation’s conscience. In western Maryland, the Department of Homeland Security bought a vacant 825,620-square-foot warehouse near Williamsport for $102.4 million, with plans to convert it into an immigration detention facility capable of holding up to 1,500 people. Maryland’s attorney general says the building was constructed as a commercial warehouse, with minimal office space, two water fountains and just four toilets. ( Maryland Attorney General ) That is not only a plumbing problem. It is a moral signal. The news matters now because the plan has already moved from possibility to litigation. Maryland sued DHS and ICE, arguing that the federal government moved toward converting the warehouse without required environmental review, public participation or state consultation. A federal judge has issued a preliminary inju...
Where the Spirit of Truth Makes Christ Known in Those Who Keep His Word A Sermon on John 14:15–21 On the night before the Cross, the Lord Jesus does not gather His disciples into a theater of sacred ideas. He gathers them into a room of love, fear, nearness, and impending loss. The hour is heavy. The betrayer has gone out into the dark. The powers of the world are drawing near. The Lamb is moving toward the altar of His own self-offering. And in that charged and trembling hour, Christ speaks of love, commandment, Spirit, indwelling, and manifestation. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” He does not say, If you admire Me, you will understand. He does not say, If you are interested in sacred things, you will receive. He does not say, If you stand near enough to the mystery, you will possess it. He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Here the Lord opens a door that cannot be opened by curiosity alone. He discloses that the Spirit of truth is not received by...