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What happened several days ago at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, shook me to the core. Regular folks were worshipping Jesus at that godly hour, as Americans all over the country were doing, when anti-ICE protesters burst in and took over the worship — all because one of the pastors, David Easterwood, also serves as the local ICE field office director. These agitators demanded “justice for Renee Good,” and absurdly chanted “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” a long-disproven lie from Ferguson, Missouri. In doing so, they turned the house of God into a battlefield. Is anything holy anymore? Or is everything political? Are there no limits to these protesters who value their feelings above all — even above Jesus?
I have been on my Walk Across America, and was in Alabama when this happened. What makes this disruption of God’s house even worse is the irony. ICE has been transparent about the kind of dangerous criminals it has been targeting in Minnesota through Operation Metro Surge. Just recently, agents arrested the worst of the worst: child rapists, murderers, pedophiles and violent assailants — including a registered sex offender convicted of fondling a child and another charged with rape of a minor.
Yet these protesters aren’t rallying against the predators. They’re calling to abolish ICE, as if protecting our communities from such evils is the real crime. How is this not the work of Satan? I do not say this out of delusion or to be sensational. I say this because it reflects reality.
Do you know what it is like to live among people who have chosen the path of evil? We deal with it daily on the South Side of Chicago, where I have seen this kind of evil ruin lives. We suffered the consequences of defund the police, and we will suffer even more with this latest attack on law and order. That is a major reason why I’m walking across America — to raise funds for my community center, which will protect our children, our future, from the very evil that the Minnesota left seeks to protect.
All I know is that when activism crosses the altar, there is no good to be had. The church is not a stage for political intimidation.
That’s why I ask: Isn’t anything holy anymore? Does the safety of our children not matter? Does the safety of any law-abiding citizen not matter?
Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, pictured on Jan. 22, 2026. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
All I know is that when activism crosses the altar, there is no good to be had. The church is not a stage for political intimidation. Churches have always been places of refuge, repentance and reconciliation — not props for ideological theater. When activists storm a sanctuary, as they did at Cities Church, shouting down worshippers and frightening children, they aren’t defending the vulnerable — they’re violating sacred ground. It’s an assault on the soul of a community gathering to seek God.
WALKING ACROSS AMERICA SHOWED ME WHY FAITH AND FREE THOUGHT CAN STILL WIN
What truly scares me is that we’re witnessing the religion of progressivism in action — and it isn’t God. What we’re seeing in these anti-ICE actions isn’t compassion, but a secular creed with its own sins, saints and heretics. When they chant the lie of “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” instead of “Amazing Grace,” they reveal the hollowness of their secularism.
Churches that allow or even sympathize with these kinds of disruptions are replacing the Gospel with grievance. You can’t preach salvation while practicing ideological coercion. Protesters claim they’re fighting for justice, but by invading a worship service, they’re elevating their agenda over the eternal message of Christ. As Scripture reminds us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2).
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And who turned out to be the face of all of this? Don Lemon. He rushed into that church believing he was about to break the story of the year. He cared nothing for the pastors or their congregation. He claimed to be a Christian, but what Christian puts the pursuit of a manufactured story over worship and prayer? When he saw the reality of what he had done in the following days, he resorted to blaming White supremacy for the backlash. No, Don — the race card expired a while ago, but you keep swiping it because it’s all you’ve got, and sadly, so do others. The backlash was squarely due to you putting the chase for cheap clicks over Jesus. You know what the best cure for fears of irrelevancy is? God.
That’s the tragedy here — not just the disruption, but how quickly the pursuit of relevance through cheap political grandstanding can eclipse reverence.
Yet in the midst of all this noise, one truth stands unshaken: Jesus is still on the throne, and His church will endure every storm. As I press on with my Walk Across America, I’m more convinced than ever that the answer isn’t more protests or more division. It’s more prayer, more responsibility and more faith in action.
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Scripture tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). That’s the call — not to tear down sacred spaces, but to build them up; not to abolish order, but to restore it with mercy and truth. Our children deserve churches that stand firm, communities that protect the vulnerable and a nation that chooses hope over havoc.
So let’s rise above the chaos. Let’s walk in the light, defend the holy and trust that God’s grace will complete what law and love demand. That’s why I keep walking, why we keep building — and why the Gospel will always outlast every fleeting creed.
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