SCRIPTURE: “Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:5-6 NIV
QUOTE: God’s children are not for sale. – Jim Caviezel
THOUGHT: Fred and I went to see the premiere of The Sound of Freedom last week, and it tackles one of the issues of our day with a true story of the rescue of a group of children forced into the sex trade. Lured by the deception that they are wanted for talent, even their parents are fooled into sending them to a competition when recruited by a former beauty queen.
Did I know that human trafficking is a problem? Yes. But did I know that it was the fastest growing international criminal network the world has ever seen, bigger than drugs and bigger than illegal arms? No. Was I aware that there are more people – many of them children – who are enslaved now by sex trafficking, than there were when slavery was legal? No. And did I know that my own country, land of the free and home of the brave, was the epicenter of the problem? No. Grievously, I did not know any of that, but we live in the midst of deception and in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge the living God, the author of life.
Part of the story of this film, which is now in theaters around the country, is how it was almost quashed. Completed five years ago already, it was shelved by Disney when they purchased 20th Century Fox. Imagine that, the company who pretends to love children. Angel Studios, who released the acclaimed Chosen series, was finally able to purchase it back from Disney and release it, but as Jim Caviezel (who plays the main character, Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent) states in a cameo at the movie’s end, it was only after every imaginable roadblock was thrown at it’s release. So, if you have a chance to see it, you’ll be arming yourself with some hard truth about some bad actors – and hope about some good ones too.
FOR MORE INFO: Jordan Peterson interview with Tim Ballard and Jim Caviezel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTBGNEliczc
PRAYER: Oh God, I want to cry out that I don’t need yet one more issue or burden to bear, then I think about the faces of children all across our nation and world forced by wickedness to offer their bodies over and over as slaves. God forgive us; God bring justice; God heal our broken land. God use my life however you will to help.
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
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