In Acts 10:34 – 35 the Apostle Peter is preaching in the house of Cornelius in the city of Caesarea. What makes this unique is Cornelius is a gentile. He is an officer in the Roman army and Jews were forbiden according to the law to enter the home of a gentile. Yet not only does Peter enter the home of this gentile, but he preaches the message of the gospel. A few days earlier God gave both Peter and Cornelius visions. In Peter’s vision, he was praying but he was also hungry. While hungry, God placed before him a sheet with many animals on it. Then God tells Peter to kill the animals, cook them and eat them. Peter responds, I cannot do that God because these animals are unclean. God says to Peter “Do not call unclean what I have cleansed”. He sees this same vision three times. After the third time, he wakes up but he doesn’t understand the meaning of it. In Cornelius’ vision God simply sends an angel to his home and tells him to send two of his servants to the city of Joppa, to the home of a man called Simon the tanner. They are to ask for one Simon Peter, he has a message for you. He sends for Peter. Peter came, preached the gospel and Cornelius and his entire family, servants and friends were saved. Peter concluded “In truth, I understand that God doesn’t show favoritisim, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him” Acts 10:34 – 35, Holman Christian Study Bible.
Though God does not show favoritism, unfortunately people do. America was built on the premise of freedom and equal opportunity for all people. Regardless of your ethnicity, religion and socio – economic status, America presented herself as the land of opportunity for all people. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free” are the words to one of our national hymns. It seems for many years this was true, as long as the huddled masses yearning to breath free were of European descent. The refugees from Western and Eastern Europe, Germany, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and the like were welcomed as they were processed through Ellis Island. But the refugees of color are facing much more difficulty. If you are Haitian, Dominican, Caribbean, African or Hispanic American citizenship has beome a bit more illusive.
Just this past week, many Republicans in the United States Senate and House of Representatives openly criticized President Barak Obama for his executive order in regards to immigration. Our president took action according to the law as he promised he would do about immigration. The Republican legislators never intended to work with the president on anything. They have been obstructionists since the day he took the oath of office. They vowed never to cooperate with him, on anything. Because of our president’a actions, families will now be allowed to stay together. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of instances where the parents came to this country illegally yet their children were born in this country. If you deport the parents, where does that leave the children? All the president said was if you’ve been in this country five years or more, have no criminal record, and are willing to pay your taxes, you can apply for citizenship without fear of deportation.
That’s the true meaning of family values. The president is keeping families together and for this, some are threatening impeachment, defaulting on the national debt, or shutting down the governemt. Please, get a life! I don’t agree with the president on everything, but on this I do agree. He stepped up and took action where congress failed. He did it by “Executive Order”. Was that illegal, no! Do you not know that after the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by “Executive Order.” His “Executive Order” took effect on January 1, 1863. It was called the “Emancipation Proclamation”. Incidentally, the racists didn’t like Abraham Lincoln either. Some of us still believe that all man are created equal and God does not show favoritism.
