The Pastor’s Piece – Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

FCFI

November 9, 2025

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In a pure democracy, people vote directly on laws and policies and every citizen has a direct say in decisions. In a representative republic, the people elect leaders to make decisions on their behalf. The power still comes from the people, but it’s exercised through elected officials and limited by a constitution that protects individual rights, even against majority rule.

The United States is a Constitutional Representative Republic. It blends democratic principles like elections and popular sovereignty with constitutional safeguards that defend freedom and minority rights. While we often call America a democracy, it is more accurately a republic grounded in democracy but governed by law.

Today, our nation wrestles with what truly defines greatness. Scripture answers clearly: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people,” (Proverbs 14:34). When righteousness prevails in a nation, that nation is strong. Without righteousness it falters.

Righteousness exalts a nation. Before a nation can be changed, the people within it must be changed. And right now, there is a stirring – a revival sweeping across the world. People are coming to Jesus, and that’s a wonderful thing. But revival alone isn’t enough. What we need is an awakening. We’ve had revivals all through the Progressive Era when people came to Jesus. In the wake of the Charlie Kirk assasination, people are coming to Jesus, perhaps now more than ever. But then what? What are you going to do with Him? Are you going to put Jesus off to the side, or are you going to let Him affect everything – how you live, what you spend your time on, how you spend your money, what you think, what you allow in your heart and mind? One could ask: Where is Jesus in my life? Am I letting Him change everything, or have I put Him on the shelf?

Jesus isn’t just someone we add to our lives; He is our life. He overpowers sin. The God of the universe makes His home within us. He writes His Word on our hearts and covers us in His peace. He has overcome the greatest enemy we will ever face: death – meaning the grave can’t, and won’t keep us down. We serve a powerful God. He is our Resource for all of life – and He lives in us. That knowledge must change our lives. It has to change our lives. Jesus actually changes things. That’s why the renewing of your mind is the key to living above the fray of the world.

This is not just about revival in the world – it’s about an awakening in your soul. When one life is changed by Jesus, it will influence families, workplaces, towns, even nations. Every act of honesty over corruption, every choice to forgive rather than retaliate, every sacrifice made to serve someone else, that is Jesus changing a life, and that is awakening spreading.

Imagine a world where Jesus had never risen from the dead. Imagine if He had remained in the grave. Imagine if He were never coming back. Consider the implications: wrong would never be made right, injustice would never give way to fairness, suffering would never find reward, and the curse on this world would remain unbroken. Paradise would be lost, never to be regained, and the human heart’s longing for a better life – a better world – would be nothing more than a pipe dream. If this is all there is – a deteriorating, wicked world, growing worse and worse, with no hope of change, no end to pain, no end to sickness, no end to death, no end to disappointment –  then sin rules. Satan wins. And the universe continues on a path to destruction. And for what? What kind of cruel joke is this life and this world?

But Jesus did rise. He is alive. He will come back. And because of Him, there is hope. Justice will prevail. Suffering will be redeemed. The curse will be removed. Paradise will be restored. All who trust in Him will share in the eternal, unshakable joy of a world made right. Because He lives in us now, we do not despair. Because He reigns, we walk boldly, love deeply, and shine as lights in the darkness. This is not wishful thinking. This is the promise of God Himself: a life changed, a world restored, and hearts made whole. That is an awakening. Because I know who Jesus Christ is, I will let Him change my life. I will be so peculiar in this society that people will notice. They’ll see my joy – a joy they don’t have because the world around them is miserable. It’s a joy I never knew until Jesus changed me. The only answer to our problems, the only answer – is Jesus. That is the humble, eternal truth of the Gospel, and it changes everything.

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin)