WEEKLY SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
(Pastor Devin will provide some brief thoughts & questions to get us ready to hear the Word each Sunday.)
Here are some brief thoughts and three (hopefully) provocative questions to get us ready to hear the Word this weekend -- February 1, 2026
This week brings us the well-known Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12. This is Jesus’ Mission Statement defining where and through whom the Lord will work, but the people mentioned including the poor, the meek, and the persecuted do not seem very blessed to us! This text gives us much to wrestle with.
This week brings us the well-known Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12. This is Jesus’ Mission Statement defining where and through whom the Lord will work, but the people mentioned including the poor, the meek, and the persecuted do not seem very blessed to us! This text gives us much to wrestle with.
- When have you felt blessed?
- How do you bless others?
- How do the world’s blessings and God’s blessings differ?
BRYAN COUNTY NEWS ARTICLE - DECEMBER
For February 5, 2026
I didn’t expect to be writing an article about article about a second American citizen killed by
federal agents in Minneapolis in as many weeks. This is a time filled with tension and grief,
distrust and anxiety, not just in Minnesota but across the country. People are struggling to
understand what is happening, what is just, and what should happen next. Christians are surely
among them.
There are things about which reasonable people can disagree. With the killing of the first citizen,
Renee Nicole Good, on January 7 th , I believe that I saw in the video the wheels of her vehicle
turning away from the officer as she is attempting to leave, but you may have sympathy for
Agent Ross and think that he reasonably feared for his life. I also believe that it would be good
for the country if people who arrived here illegally but have been otherwise law-abiding for years
be offered a pathway to citizenship, but you may believe that once illegal, always illegal. That’s
okay. These are complicated issues, and serious people can hold diverse opinions.
It would seem that with the killing of the second citizen, Alex Pretti, on January 24 th , there is less
room for disagreement. Yes, he was carrying a handgun, something that I choose not to do, and
yes, he was protesting loudly, and perhaps unkindly, as he filmed federal agents, but I have
seen no evidence thus far that he behaved violently or was any threat to officers. Indeed, an
agent can be seen handing off Alex’s gun to another agent before agents shoot him as many as
ten times. Unfortunately, there is also a diffusion of responsibility in this second shooting that
was not present in the first, since approximately six agents can be seen punching and kicking
Alex before he is killed.
As a sinner and a Christian, one thing that I know about power is that any excess of it is a likely
arena for sin. This is true whether the power is held by those on the Left or the Right, whether it
is held by individual billionaires or multi-national corporations, whether it is wielded by
governments or labor unions. Power is always a temptation to abuse. For my money, the
greatest justice in society happens when power is held by several competing entities who hold
each other in check. It seems that what we are facing now is too much power held in the hands
of too few.
A second thing that I know about power is that the right use of it is cautious, merciful, and most
often exercised on behalf of the vulnerable. I am concerned with the explosion of budgets and
the numbers of personnel in ICE and Homeland Security so that these agencies dwarf other law
enforcement agencies. I am concerned about racial profiling and the targeting of whole
neighborhoods. I am concerned about masked agents and the lack of body cameras. I am
concerned about small children being taken into custody. I can’t help but think about Jesus who
came to Earth with all the power of God and yet chose to wash feet and be crucified for the sins
of the world.
Who do we want to be as a nation, and if we are heading in the wrong direction, how will each
one of us use our God-given power to change things?
God Loves You, and So Do I!
Pastor Devin Strong
I didn’t expect to be writing an article about article about a second American citizen killed by
federal agents in Minneapolis in as many weeks. This is a time filled with tension and grief,
distrust and anxiety, not just in Minnesota but across the country. People are struggling to
understand what is happening, what is just, and what should happen next. Christians are surely
among them.
There are things about which reasonable people can disagree. With the killing of the first citizen,
Renee Nicole Good, on January 7 th , I believe that I saw in the video the wheels of her vehicle
turning away from the officer as she is attempting to leave, but you may have sympathy for
Agent Ross and think that he reasonably feared for his life. I also believe that it would be good
for the country if people who arrived here illegally but have been otherwise law-abiding for years
be offered a pathway to citizenship, but you may believe that once illegal, always illegal. That’s
okay. These are complicated issues, and serious people can hold diverse opinions.
It would seem that with the killing of the second citizen, Alex Pretti, on January 24 th , there is less
room for disagreement. Yes, he was carrying a handgun, something that I choose not to do, and
yes, he was protesting loudly, and perhaps unkindly, as he filmed federal agents, but I have
seen no evidence thus far that he behaved violently or was any threat to officers. Indeed, an
agent can be seen handing off Alex’s gun to another agent before agents shoot him as many as
ten times. Unfortunately, there is also a diffusion of responsibility in this second shooting that
was not present in the first, since approximately six agents can be seen punching and kicking
Alex before he is killed.
As a sinner and a Christian, one thing that I know about power is that any excess of it is a likely
arena for sin. This is true whether the power is held by those on the Left or the Right, whether it
is held by individual billionaires or multi-national corporations, whether it is wielded by
governments or labor unions. Power is always a temptation to abuse. For my money, the
greatest justice in society happens when power is held by several competing entities who hold
each other in check. It seems that what we are facing now is too much power held in the hands
of too few.
A second thing that I know about power is that the right use of it is cautious, merciful, and most
often exercised on behalf of the vulnerable. I am concerned with the explosion of budgets and
the numbers of personnel in ICE and Homeland Security so that these agencies dwarf other law
enforcement agencies. I am concerned about racial profiling and the targeting of whole
neighborhoods. I am concerned about masked agents and the lack of body cameras. I am
concerned about small children being taken into custody. I can’t help but think about Jesus who
came to Earth with all the power of God and yet chose to wash feet and be crucified for the sins
of the world.
Who do we want to be as a nation, and if we are heading in the wrong direction, how will each
one of us use our God-given power to change things?
God Loves You, and So Do I!
Pastor Devin Strong
