The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is a necessary reminder of the evil that shook the ground it stands on—​the worst act of domestic terrorism that shook this state and nation to its core—​​on April 19th, 1995. If you have never been there, I hope you will make the trip to remember what happened there all those years ago.

Even now, all these years later, my memory of that tragic day has not dulled. Even though the devastation of that day did not touch me directly, as it did so many others that lost friends and loved ones, it did mark me permanently because of my involvement in the events at the Murrah Building that day and in days to come, on which I will write more later. Right now, I just want to share what I remember about that day, as it took shape for me. And I welcome you to share with me in the comments below what you remember about that day as it took shape for you.

On that morning, twelve days after my twentieth birthday, I was enjoying the sunshine and the crisp freshness of a gentle breeze as I built concrete forms for a sidewalk on a street in south Oklahoma City, in a housing edition near the Lightning Creek drainage basin. (I was working for FlintCo Construction, on the crew that built the large concrete channel running from SW 89th to SW 86th, just under halfway between Penn and May.) However, the tranquility of the pleasant spring weather was violently disturbed at 9:02, as I was knelt down in the dirt, setting a string-line. I heard a double-clap boom from the north, then felt a concussion, it seemed in the air and ground at the same time—a strange and sickening sensation. I stood up and looked in the direction of what I thought sounded like an explosion, but couldn't see anything, so I went back to work.

Within ten to fifteen minutes, I received a 911 page from my first wife, and I raced to our yard to call her back, knowing there had to be a connection. She told me that there had been an explosion in downtown Oklahoma City, nearly twelve miles away, where her mother worked for Southwestern Bell directly north across the street from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. I immediately left work, and we went looking for her mom in a mass of panicking people, learning somehow along the way that the Murrah Building had been bombed. After a frantic search in bumper-to-bumper traffic (in which I rear-ended someone while looking around), under the possible threat of another bomb and the warning of a forced evacuation, we finally found her mom walking out of the danger zone with another woman. Her building was hit hard by the blast, but she was not seriously hurt.

At 4:30 that afternoon, I was back at our construction yard. A crew of us was set to go back downtown and into the Murrah Building to shore up the structure ahead of the firefighters going in for search-and-rescue. We parked on N. Hudson Avenue, about half a block south and a block and a half west of the Murrah Building, which was on the south side of N.W. 5th, halfway between N. Harvey and N. Robinson, the north face having been blown away by the blast of the bomb. We arrived at the same time as an Allied Steel crane, driven by a young reserve soldier who said to us, “Can you believe it boys? We are facing the enemy right here in our own front yard!” We did not want to believe it, but there was no denying it. We were standing under the dark cloud of terrorism, looking firsthand at the gory carnage of a terrorist attack.

As you can imagine, there was an ominous aura over the entire site. It was a literal war zone, from only a split-second attack, with an oppressive sense of devastation. I was a little lightheaded, struck into a state of surreal and sad awe, standing at the edge of the crater made by the bomb and looking into the raw, jagged, gaping face of the 8-story building, processing the sheer scope—​the immensity—of the destruction, knowing that people had once been where nothing then was and that people right then were still inside dead, dying, and trying to survive while trapped in the rubble.

On the wall of a building across and a little up the street, I saw two very large dark spots, side by side, each several feet tall and about three to four feet wide. I was later told that they were from two people who had been blown into the wall of the building, the blast and impact having pulverized and vaporized them into nothing but those blood stains on the wall.

As I walked in the dark among the many charred cars in the parking lot directly across the street, I do not know why I never thought to look inside their windows. If I had, I would have found the bodies of several people in several cars. They were found the next morning.

Late that night, we got word that we were not going into the building due to the section they had wanted us working in not being safe enough for us to enter at that time. I did not understand the reasoning since we were there to make it safe for the firefighters. We were told to head on home, and we would be called on if needed. I was called on again to be on the demolition crew. I will share some of my experience with that week-long work at another time.

I'm sure I will always remember that day very vividly. I will make a point to. I remember it with emotion that is hard for me to express, but I know that it is good to remember. It is good to remember as part of our history. It is good to remember our vulnerability and mortality. It is good to remember the precious gift of life we still carry on after those that lost their lives. It is good to remember the families still mourning the loss of their loved ones. It is good to remember the survivors still remembering the horror of their experience, as fresh now as it was then, ​some of them reminded by their scarred bodies. It is good to remember in prayer how they and we all still need the help, healing, and protection of Almighty God. It is good to remember to humble ourselves before Him, looking for and trusting in His sovereign goodness as we face real evil still intent on doing us horrific harm.

May God remember us in His mercy. May God bless us and keep us and make His face shine on us in the grace and truth He has given to us in His Son, Jesus Christ—​​in His ultimate triumph of His goodness over evil, here and around the world. Even in this, to Him be the glory now and forever.

​Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's State Superintendent of Public Instruction, recently announced that he is requiring Oklahoma schools to teach the historical significance of the Bible in America's history. All Americans should be in favor of this, regardless of religious views. We can debate how the Bible was used, but the fact that the Bible was used is not debatable. Therefore, the Bible's historical context and application (whether good or bad) must be taught in order to rightly teach American history.

The Bible's presence in public schools is historical. Walters' mandate is a new development in our immediate context, but the Bible is not a new addition to our educational system. The Bible has been an integral part of educating America's children since before the forming of our union as the United States. Even after the Supreme Court's ruling in 1963 (Abington v. Schempp), which deemed mandatory non-educational reading of the Bible unconstitutional, students and staff have been free to carry and read their Bibles, and teachers have been free to teach anything about the Bible that is for an educational reason.

Now, how do we respond to the criticism that this will offend someone? For example (not in reference to any real person), imagine a Buddhist teacher objecting that he is offended by this mandate. Well, we must respectfully remind him that he is teaching in this nation, and this nation has a historical context that is independent of his worldview. He should not expect us to ignore our history in order to cater to his religious viewpoint. Him expecting that would be him forcing his religion on us, not in coercion to adhere to his religion, but in coercion to cut holes in our story to accommodate his feelings.

Additionally, someone might say that this is not fair. If we put Christianity's book in our classrooms, then we should/will have to put the books/works of other religions in our classrooms. The response to this is very simple: This nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, not the tenets of Islam, Satanism, or any other religion/cult. The Bible is part of this nation's history, not their books or works. Therefore, this is about teaching the knowledge of this nation's history, not the knowledge of Christianity in and of itself.

That leads to understanding this: This does not mean that Oklahoma public school classrooms are now surrogate Sunday school classrooms. This is not a mandate to teach Bible studies in our public classrooms, and we don't want it to be. We just want the facts taught as they are--the specific ways that the Bible is woven into the fabric of this nation, again, whether good or bad. If a prominent historical figure used the Bible to justify slavery, that needs to be taught. And in contrast, where a prominent historical figure used the Bible to denounce slavery needs to be taught. What the Founding Fathers said about the Bible, how they quoted the Bible, and how they applied principles from the Bible--the reason that we can find Bible verses on historical monuments--the reason that the Ten Commandments are displayed on the Supreme Court building--all of this should be taught. If we are going to teach true American history, then these essential facts of our history must not be left out.

The Bible was so integral to this nation's founding that this nation would not exist if the Bible didn't exist. Therefore, without its inclusion in the teaching of our history, a right understanding of our history is not possible. For too long, too many like myself have graduated with a censored, "Swiss-cheese" version of our history because of it being left out. This must stop.

“That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.”
(Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans & 7th president of the U.S., speaking about the Bible)

I see a trend that is a bit unsettling to me, and I feel compelled to respond to it. The trend is Christians speaking of Jesus as boss in lieu of Lord. Particularly, I’ve seen several posts from preachers talking about the people they are baptizing, who have “made Jesus the boss of their lives.” Why say “boss” instead of “Lord”? There are only two possible answers: Some may believe it easier to stomach—not as confrontational—and some may believe it to be an illuminating equivalent, helping people understand Jesus as Lord. Comparing the biblical truth of Jesus’ lordship with the modern understanding of what it means to be a boss, I do not believe they are equivalent, and we should not be concerned with it being more palatable.
 
In His Word, God is blunt with the truth of Jesus’ lordship. He does not finesse this truth into our consciousness. Rather than easily nudging us into an awareness of this truth, He firmly confronts us with it. Following are some points from Scripture to show this.

Jesus commands the winds and the waves, not merely work to be done.
 
23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. 24 They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. 25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Luke 8:23–25*)
 
Yes, indeed, who then is this? This is the critical question that must be pressed into the conscience of everyone we lead to Him. Even as professional fishermen, the disciples were at the end of their abilities. Despite all of their frantic efforts, they were overcome by the elements. But the elements were overcome by Jesus. With a word, He compels the elements to do His will, at will, in the moment He decides and decrees, without delay. There is no process He must work through or incantation He must repeat. The laws of physics must obey Him, not the other way around. If He has such command of the wind and the waves, what does that suggest about His command of us? No mere boss can claim such command.
 
Jesus holds the worlds together, not merely a place of work.
 
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15–17)
 
2 In these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:2–3)
 
Therefore, Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. His sovereignty extends out to every corner and down to every atom of creation. Our existence is in His hands—hangs on His word. With a word, a mere boss can give or take a job, but with a word, Jesus can give or take our very being. Reality is at His disposal—at His service.
 
Jesus is infinitely, transcendently more than a mere part of making a living.
 
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
 
9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
 
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 5:24; 10:9–10; 14:6)
 
Jesus is not a guide along the spiritual road to the way, the truth, and the life. He Himself is the way, the truth, and the life. Apart from Him, there is no way to go but wrong, no truth to know to get right, and no life to truly live. He is the one way to, the incarnate truth of, and the only life with God the Father. Separation from Him is to be dead to God and face only the second death of hell in eternal separation from God. A mere boss can help you make a living, but can never, like Jesus, give you life—eternal life beyond the grave and abundant life in Heaven with God.
 
Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth to commission your entire life, being with you always, not just when you clock in.
 
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)
 
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:7–8)
 
We Christians live to make Jesus known. Rather than being only a part of life for us, all of life fits into the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations as His witnesses. The Great Commission defines and directs Christian life. If Christian life is a river, the Great Commission is the riverbed. We don’t clock out of it or retire from it. We live until our callings within it are complete, then, the Lord takes us home with Him. I have often said that I don’t live to work, but I work to live. To the contrary, however, regarding why we still live on this earth after being saved, we don’t witness to live, but we live to witness. And we witness of Him even while He lives with us. A boss sets the agenda for the job he or she is over, but no mere boss can set such a holistically defining agenda for your entire life, while living with you at that. A boss that wants to move in and take over your life is a weird tyrant no one wants to work for. But if you want Jesus as your Savior, you must receive Him as Lord who will do just that.
 
Jesus commands who you are, not only what you do.
 
51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
 
52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.” (John 6:51–57)
 
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Romans 13:14)
 
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
 
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
 
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. (Colossians 2:6)
 
For Jesus to save you, you must consume and be covered by Him, not merely affiliate with Him. Salvation is not in conversion to Christianity as a religion, taking Jesus as your religious leader and moral example. It’s not merely in taking His name, but in taking Him, so that who He is forever changes who you are. He must indwell you and infuse His nature into you—His character onto you.
 
Jesus owns you, rather than employing you.
 
37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:37–39)
 
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)
 
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11–14)
 
17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:17–19)
 
Jesus saves people to make them His own people that belong exclusively and eternally to Him. If you are of Him, you belong to Him, having been redeemed by Him. And the price He paid for your redemption, from lawlessness and the coming wrath of God, was Himself. He shed His blood and gave His life to give you life. You were on the block for slaughter, and He laid Himself down to be slaughtered in your place. Therefore, He has laid claim to you for God to be glorified in you. No mere boss has this claim on you. Even in situations of slavery, a master can only possess the body of a slave, not the spirit. As a Christian, you belong to Jesus in this life and the life to come in Heaven.
 
Jesus breaks one down to redesign, rebuild, and redirect.
 
42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” (Matthew 21:42–44)
 
14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)
 
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith… (Colossians 2:6–7)
 
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him… (Colossians 3:9–10)
 
You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)
 
People are either broken on or crushed by Jesus—broken unto salvation or crushed in judgment. Either way, self will be shattered. For salvation, self must be shattered and reformed into the new self. Jesus is gathering and renovating His own people that live exclusively and eternally for Him, gladly emptied of the self-willed rebellion that defined and drove them before. No mere boss can command such a cataclysmic end to self-determination.
 
Jesus sits on the throne of God, not in an office chair.
 
“He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:31)
 
Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. (Romans 8:34)
 
He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. (Hebrews 10:12)
 
[He] is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. (1 Peter 3:22)
 
Being the Son of God at the right hand of God, all that is true of God is true of Jesus. As God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and, so, absolutely sovereign, so is Jesus. As God challenged Israel, so, Jesus can challenge all in the world today: “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?” (Isaiah 66:1) No mere boss can speak from such a position of absolute transcendence.
 
Our words already fail to capture Jesus’ majesty and magnificence, therefore, when speaking of Him we should not deliberately use language that communicates something less than the language of Scripture. He does not need our help with being approachable. We must lead people to understand the wonder of His condescension in His Divine transcendence, as well as His worthiness and requirement of worship as Lord of heaven and earth. We must call them into the awe that He should inspire in all, for them to be amazed and overjoyed that He turns away none that come to Him.
 
Saving response to the Gospel is not about making Jesus boss because the concept of a boss does not come close to encapsulating the truth of worship and devotion. Nor can anyone make Jesus Lord. We that live for Jesus have not made Him anything. He is Lord over all regardless of all. Having new hearts that revere Him, rather than rebelling against Him, we that He has saved have simply and essentially bowed our hearts to the truth of Who He is. He is Lord, and He has made us His own so that He is our Lord, loved more than all, exalted above all, and worshipped in all—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1 Timothy 6:15)

Foregoing a lengthy introduction to them, I take for granted that most people are at least somewhat familiar with the congresswomen of “the squad” by now (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan), and I say some things in this article about what they believe as opposed to who they are. The things stated here should be taken for granted by all people in common sense. Unfortunately, though, enough people are ideologically aligned with “the squad” that these things need to be stated openly, clearly and forcefully by as many rational people as possible.

Health in marriage is important. Physical health, mental health, emotional health, financial health, and, yes, the all-important sexual health. Each of these areas can impact the marriage positively as well as negatively. Very little can try a union in the way declining health in any of these five can. We could talk about the whys and the hows of this truth, but we really covered that topic well on day one of the union. You remember the promise: “for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…”. We are not negating the serious effect these issues have even after the “promise”. However, because of the promise, the marriage may be tried, but the marriage BOND remains strong and often strengthened by these challenges. But if health issues are straining the marriage bond, then the real issue lies deeper. Let’s discuss that “deeper”, “real” issue which actually pre-dates the health issue.

We are talking about the health of the marriage itself. While we are watching the cholesterol, counting the calories and checking the fat content - while we are stepping on the scale and checking the mirror - while we are meditating, medicating, exercising, building it up, keeping it up, lifting it up, and checking it up - have we missed something? Have we failed to monitor the one area of health that holds the fate of our marriage? A healthy marriage is a strong marriage, and a strong marriage survives. Anything!

While we ask our partner, “How are you doing?”, we may need to pause a moment and ask, “How are WE doing?” Is our marriage healthy?

Say what? Yes, just as you know your body. When you are tired, you recognize fatigue. When there is pain, you recognize the discomfort. You don’t need a thermometer to tell you something is wrong. You go get the thermometer because you already know something is not right. The thermometer is just one instrument used to help diagnose. Marital health in one area can and most likely will affect health in other areas. Do we need an example? If your communication is weak, there is a good chance your sex life is impacted. I often inform men that the countenance of your wife is a public display of your success in husbanding.

We are the mirror for one another. That requires we keep the mirror clean. No one trusts a dirty mirror. Dirty mirrors give a distorted reflection, and therefore cannot be trusted. If your opinion in regards to the physical, emotional and psychological health of your spouse is already distorted due to over-exaggeration, narcissistic agendas, nagging, compulsive negativism,  you have discovered a symptom of a health deficiency in your marriage.

If you have been married for any length of time, you are not the same two people you were when you met. Issues will arise. Your spouse IS sharing his or her issues. If they are not sharing with you, there is a problem. Question: Do you still talk to each other? Do you enjoy hanging out together? Would you rather hang out with your friends than your spouse on a regular basis? Do you still make love, or do you come together to enjoy sex? There IS a difference. If you don’t know the difference, then you have just identified another problem.

Is your marriage youthful, vibrant and exciting? Or is it comfortable, bland and predictable? Or is it withering away on life support? I have news for you. The age of your marriage is NOT the determining factor of the state of your marriage. Is your marriage healthy? It is what it is, but it should not remain as it is. I do need to add this caveat: Some health concerns just need first aid while others require a professional. A coach, a counselor, a therapist, a pastor or maybe even an exorcist. Do your checkup and please address what you find. If you need help, get it. Your marriage is worth it.

I digress. With any living thing, exercise of its vital functions is essential to its health. The marriage is no different. Exercise is vital to the overall health of your marriage. The principles of physical exercise still apply. The exercise must be consistent until it becomes habitual. Exercise by design is difficult. The more you push, the greater the benefit. The more you do it, the more you have to do to get tired, and the more you will enjoy it.

Here is your exercise equipment: Grab your spouse and lift them. Grab them with your heart, your emotions, your being (come on, it’s a metaphor - work with me here). I am grabbing my wife, so I will speak of her in the feminine. That “grab” will look different for each of us. Do you have your grip? Now lift. Lift her head, lift her heart, lift her day, lift her smile, lift her spirits - lift her. Wherever she is emotionally, elevate her. There is something heavy we all carry. Lift it off her. Help her lift it or at least let her know that she is not carrying it alone.

Healthy marriages, like healthy bodies, don’t just happen. Healthy today does not automatically equate to healthy tomorrow. Faithful exercise, monitoring and reliable checkups are required. If a healthy marriage is your goal, the best time to start is at the beginning. The second best time to start is always right now. Enjoy!

I can't remember who I first heard it from, and I have heard it and said it numerous times: "All it takes is a little hard work and perseverance." Whatever you want to accomplish - whatever you want to honestly earn - that is what is required: hard work and perseverance.

Many now, however, have little to no interest in real accomplishment or really earning anything. Having grown up in the most prosperous nation in history, they have convinced themselves that they are entitled to a certain level of prosperity without hard work and perseverance, and they are voting into power people that are promising to use that power to guarantee that prosperity at the expense of others. This socialist movement is being framed and fawned over as the promise of the "free" - "free" healthcare, "free" college, "free" housing, "free" internet, "free" income, etc.

I put "free" in quotes because we all know that no "entitlement" is really free. Behind every "free entitlement" is someone else working to pay for it. (The government pays for nothing because the government has none of its own money to pay for anything with.) And socialists are okay with that - with profiting off someone else's labor, leveraging tax law against the productive to profit the unproductive. That is nothing more than theft by tyrannical taxation. (The first citizens of this nation fought the Revolutionary War over tyranny and taxes. I wonder if the flames of another civil war are now being stoked from within over those same issues, along with abortion and guns.)

Out of an ingrown sense of entitlement comes the push to enforce entitlement at the expense of others and no expense to oneself. This is nothing more than a push to institutionalize selfishness and covetousness. This is sinful at any financial level, regardless of financial status. To vote into power those that will use their power to take what you want from others, that is to steal with your vote what belongs to others, no less than holding a gun on them to steal from them. To do this is to put into power those that promise to literally turn the gun of the government on those you want to take from, with the threat of arrest and imprisonment for tax evasion.

All of this comes down to people wanting a free living. They want a guaranteed check without the grueling work, and that is exactly what the Green New Deal promises, spearheaded by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as explained in her FAQ: "Economic security for all that are unable or unwilling to work." (Emphasis added.) If this initiative were to become the law of the land, we would see the eventual end of ingenuity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and this economy. If the land of the free is turned into the land of the free stuff, the land will be destroyed by the ruling and consuming classes, especially once it's proven that heavily taxing the wealthy will not come close to paying for all of the free stuff, and heavy taxes are then levied against lower and lower income brackets. The working class will dissolve under the unbearable financial burden, as well as the loss of will to work in no longer being able to reap to the extent that one sows.

There is nothing morally wrong with receiving free gifts, but it is morally wrong to expect and demand free entitlements - to expect and demand reward without work on the basis that you deserve it because you exist. When God first brought a human into existence, even in perfect paradise He established the work/reward ethic and upheld it in the curse of the fall. When He first placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, His creation was raw and wild, to be cultivated by Adam. And in the aftermath of the first sin by Adam, God assured Adam that, though by the sweat of his brow in battling thorns and thistles, he would still earn his bread. (See Genesis 1-3.)

This work/reward ethic has always been God's design and decree for life on this earth, to be first exemplified by His people, even while living under grace. This is to be such a strong ethic that we are to enforce it to the point of making the lazy go hungry:

Hard work will always make us tired, but we should never get tired of doing good work for the good that comes from it. And while we have the privilege of living in the land of the free, we must insist that there be no place for freeloaders. If they gain power, the land of the free stuff will spin into a downward spiral to the land of no stuff, as prosperity diminishes into poverty. Think that sounds melodramatic? Look at Venezuela.

"This world is not my home. I'm just a-passing through." (Jim Reeves) However, while we are in this world, we are to seek what is good for our neighbor in love for our neighbor, which should include being free but not a guarantee of things being free. With all of their imperfections, the Founding Fathers of this nation wanted this to be a land where people are free to work hard and thereby prosper much. They did their best to give us a system of government that guarantees that opportunity for as many as possible, rather than the same outcome for all. Liberty is the catalyst for opportunity, but only in tyranny can government control outcome.

Millions of people in this nation want to rewrite the history and identity of this nation. They want to rewrite the American dream as not being able to work your way up but to get your free handout. When they look at the American flag, they don't see a symbol of self-sacrifice of previous and present generations for the well-being of future generations. They only see an artifact representing archaic and oppressive principles enshrined in an outdated Constitution that should be scrapped. If they gain enough power to do that, the greatness of this nation will one day be a distant memory - a relic on the wall of history to be looked at in curiosity about and mourning over what once was.

On Sunday, November 11th, I was privileged to be among a group from our church that joined Church Under the Bridge in Oklahoma City, to minister to the homeless at their usual spot under the bridge at Oklahoma City Boulevard and South Virginia Avenue. Our time working together for the homeless was both joyful and sobering, and I want to share a bit about it.

Sometimes we can want to see something so badly that we read into someone more than what is actually there, so I try not to let my imagination run away with me in these situations, but it seemed that a beam of light had broken through the dark cloud hanging over Jacob. As we said goodbye, he had a gleam of joy in his eye, and as he walked away with a New Testament in his hand, he seemed to have a spring in his step in spite of his limp. I pray he truly has and goes in the joy of the Lord. Please join me in praying for Jacob “to make certain about [God’s] calling and choosing” of him in salvation (2 Peter 1:10) and for him to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
 
It’s a bit of a cliché, but a necessary call: “Get out of your comfort zone.” Attachment to our comfort zones will always stifle our usefulness and fruitfulness. To be used by God, we must detach from our comfort zones, especially if we are going to have church under a bridge to minister to those that sleep under a bridge. Some of the sights, sounds, and smells are not pleasant, but we must ask if God and they are worth it. God and they certainly are. And I know that as we did them good for God’s glory in His Gospel, He has blessed the work of our hands, and He is pleased with the worship in our hearts.

​In 1938, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster introduced a troubled nation to an enduring icon: Superman (1). From as far back as I can remember, Superman has been one of my favorite superheroes. I have always enjoyed watching him deal one crushing blow after another to the bad guys. He has never been afraid of a necessary fight, even at great risk to himself. Superman unashamedly fought for truth, justice, and the American way - that was, until DC Comics decided that Superman’s way and the American way are no longer the same way (2).
​
We should take a hard look at what many now want to be the American way. Truth and justice should be inherent to the American way, but many now live among us that do not believe this way.

​A law degree is not needed to understand and insist on truth and justice in due process. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution state that no one is to be deprived “of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. In lawful due process, one is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, as put forth by this nation’s Supreme Court:

​In sensible application of due process, until judgment is rendered in a court of law, judgment should be withheld in the court of public opinion. In the face of accusation, truth is essential to ensuring that justice is preserved in the innocent not being wrongfully convicted and condemned if falsely accused, as well as the guilty being rightly convicted and condemned if factually accused. Freedom and reputation are to be preserved under the presumption of innocence until the proof of guilt with facts, rather than being threatened under the presumption of guilt regardless of facts.
 
However, many Americans do not want to be bothered with facts, as they try to advance their ideological agendas at all costs. In the abandonment of due process, the pointing finger is enough to prosecute, if prosecution means that their agendas move forward. Accusation is enough to declare guilt if the pronounced sentence means the removal of anyone that disagrees with their ideologies. The debacle we witnessed in the Senate Democrats’ hit job on Justice Kavanaugh, along with the public outcry against his confirmation, with no evidence for the accusations against him, should make us all soberly assess this pressing danger to liberty as we know it. If this movement gets the traction it is grasping for in our society as a whole, it will destroy liberty as we know it. The Constitution, the bedrock of our legal system, will just be a sheet of paper, crumbling into irrelevance, and the structure will crumble with it.

​While we can question the extent to which a comic book character should inspire and inform us, Superman once fought for something we should all still be fighting for. The fight for truth, justice, and the American Way should not be a trivial whim to be written and erased at will in a comic strip or our culture. We Americans have this fight still before us. If those that want to throw out truth and justice in due process get their way, they will destroy the American way. Truth and justice must never be abandoned and divorced from the American way. We must fight for truth and justice as the American way, if we believe America should be “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.

The works of His hands are truth and justice.
(Psalm 111:7*)

​Let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
(Amos 5:24)

See also Losing the Presumption of Innocence

“You’re just a single-issue voter.” That is a common dismissal of pro-life voters by many professing pro-life candidates, when the pressure is high to put the fight against abortion first and present a clear strategy for the fight. “I am not a single-issue candidate,” is often the defense of candidates that want the pro-life badge without being badgered to take on the abortion issue with real action against the abortion industry. While the abortion industry is pro-active with its abortion agenda, not merely defending abortion for it to be legal but promoting abortion for it to be profitable, such candidates want justification to be partially or completely passive with their pro-life “stance”.

Serious pro-life voters like myself want more than a pro-life “stance”. We want a pro-life movement - a steady and strong march toward the end of legal abortion. And for a candidate to have our votes, he or she must convince us that he or she is going to steadily and strongly lead us in that march, with nothing less being acceptable. Every step of progress will be a step toward that end.

There is no mystery to why we are so staunch on this issue. A lot of people like to hide behind their assertion that “this is a complicated issue.” No, it is not. An abortion kills a baby. Period. The aim of an abortion is to intentionally kill a baby boy or a baby girl. An abortion is only successful if the targeted baby is dead. An abortionist is in fact a baby killer. Nothing else. The abortionist wakes up in the morning to go kill babies. The abortionist goes to bed at night after killing babies all day.

The right of a woman to choose to have an abortion is nothing more than the right of a mother to kill her own child while her child is still in her womb, with only a thin veil of flesh and a few inches of the birth canal keeping her child from the legal protection given to all born babies. The insane inconsistency of our legal system is clearly seen in this point of fact: If a woman has a doctor reach into her womb to crush her baby’s head, she is legally protected. However, if a woman gives birth, gets up from her bed and smashes her baby’s head on the hospital floor, she is going to prison for murder.

The murderous insanity of abortion must be brought to an end. We must elect actively pro-life candidates that will intentionally work to bring it to an end. This must be our first issue. What I have seen is that candidates that use the defense of not making abortion their “single-issue” make abortion a secondary issue. As their political plate gets piled on, abortion gets pushed down. We want candidates that will keep pushing abortion back to the top. Yes, they have other issues to deal with, but this issue must remain first. No matter how right they are on all the other issues, to let the life of the unborn be second to any is to be wrong.

I am a first-issue voter. And I will vote for first-issue candidates. Pushing for the protection of unborn babies is my first issue. I hope this is your first issue, too.

We human beings like our clubs. We like to belong and throng together with others that look like us, think like us, talk like us, and walk like us. ​​We like the camaraderie of consistency in our ranks, and the tighter we can pull in those ranks, the better. And, oh, how we tend to like seeing ourselves as a little (or a lot) better than those not in our ranks.

To me, it is a disturbing irony that so many professing Calvinists, while touting the doctrines of grace, are so ungraciously treating non-Calvinists, and even other Calvinists, with that trait of our depravity. Some of the statements and attitudes I see from some other Calvinists make me wonder if they really believe in the doctrines of grace they claim to defend. I wonder how they can rub elbows with one another in their tight ranks of their cliquish Calvinism and think themselves to be agents of both grace and truth, as we have received from God in Christ. I am moved to write this article by the red-faced, furrowed-brow, shrill-voiced, mean-spirited ugliness I have seen from them.

​If you are a Calvinist that tends to look at other Calvinists to size up  their Calvinism, I have some questions for you. What must one do to be Calvinist enough for you? -You who pride yourself on your doctrinal superiority. -You who consider yourself not only theologically elect but also theologically elite. Must one call out every Arminian-leaning Christian as a heretic, with a scowl and a growl? Must one tow the Westminster/1689 lines, touting T.U.L.I.P. down to the root of every letter? Must one regularly power-lift all the biggest and heaviest theological terms in order to build up enough strength to throw them upside Arminians' heads and knock them into stupefied silence?

If you are a Calvinist that looks at Arminians to size up their Christianity, what must the Arminian do to be Christian enough for you? Ah, we already know the answer to that. He must be as Calvinist as you. And that may mean, even in spite of my Calvinism, I am not Christian enough for you, either, if I am not as Calvinist as you.

​I base the title of this article on a scene from the  movie The Master of Disguise(1). If you watch this scene, you'll see how Dana Carvey's character (Pistachio Disguisey) dressed up in a funny caricature of what it meant to be a member of the Turtle Club. As the door man of the club looked at him with critical scorn, Pistachio comically asked, "Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club?"

​In the case of the Calvinist club, the caricature is reversed, and it's not funny, as those Calvinists look at all others with their critical scorn. Those that pride themselves on their place in the club may be Calvinists of intellectual truth, but not of amazing grace. Their unloving knowledge is puffing them up into a distortion of true Calvinism. With no comical intent, I ask, am I not Calvinist enough for the Calvinist club? And I answer, no, I am not, when membership requires the brand of Calvinism that wields the sword of the Spirit in enmity against other people, and especially other Christians.

There are Christians who are not and never will be Calvinists. There are Christians in Heaven now that never heard of Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Westminster/1689 LB Confessions of Faith, or T.U.L.I.P. But they know Christ and are now with Christ. Understanding the providence of God in them coming to know Christ was not a prerequisite to them coming to know Christ. They understood the essential truth of salvation, in conviction of their sin and true repentance and faith, that their salvation was all of Him and not at all of themselves. They understood that, in receiving Christ, they had received the grace and truth of God in Christ. They understood that the remission of their sins and the redemption of their souls was all in and by Christ. They took no glory for themselves in their salvation. They knew they were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, for the glory of God alone. The Gospel of true Calvinism saved them. But Calvinistic understanding and expression of the Gospel did not.

The kind of Calvinist I am, in both doctrine and demeanor (still developing), has been influenced by no one more than R.C. Sproul. In fact, his influence on me has been so strong that I have seriously considered becoming Presbyterian (stopping up against paedobaptism until I am convinced otherwise by Scripture). And over the years of listening to him, what has struck me over and over about R.C. is both his might in his doctrine and his meekness in his demeanor. He was fierce in fighting damning doctrine. But he was, in the same breath, touchingly gracious with those struggling with his finer points of doctrine. He was, in ministering both the grace and truth of Christ, a true Calvinist.

I learned from R.C. that there is no place in true Calvinism for critical, cocky, cranky Calvinists. The blazing truth of amazing grace should melt away our highbrowed arrogance. Calvinists should be the most humble people on the planet. We of all people should be the most gracious in our speech, in deducing and declaring how gracious God has been to us, only "according to the kind intention/good pleasure of His will" (Ephesians 1:5, NASB). We of all people should have no high view of ourselves, in realizing and witnessing that we are no one and have done nothing in and of ourselves to save ourselves. We know that the warrant of God's favor is not in us, so, how can we ever think of ourselves more highly than we ought, to raise ourselves up over others more highly than we ought?

Do not misunderstand me. I reject Christian ecumenicism at all evangelistic costs. However, I also reject Calvinist elitism in its exclusive club. I will not compromise the essential truths of Scripture, but neither will I castigate others I know are saved by the essential truths of Scripture. I cannot express my convictions better than James White, therefore, I will close with him having the last word in the video clip(2) below.

Putting aside liberal versus conservative agendas - putting aside the biases of culture and experience - should we Christians arm ourselves for any reason? Should we carry guns (or any weapons), whether for self-defense or war? While the 2nd Amendment is a bulwark of American life, does it have any place in Christian life? As Jesus is our Lord, giving and defining life for us, we must carefully consider what He might say about the 2nd Amendment, if He was to step into this society today. And we need not look too hard for help from Him on this issue, as He left for us some poignant statements about the sword that should shed some light for us, as we consider them together. What He said about the sword also applies to the gun.

BUY A SWORD

​We start with Jesus apparently telling the first disciples to buy swords for self-defense:

Something had changed since their previous mission trip. Before, they took nothing and lacked nothing. But this time, Jesus' popularity was waning, as those in power were coming to see Him as more and more of a threat to their power, and they were making Jesus out to be an outlaw, in prophetic fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12. Therefore, this time, the disciples would need to be more self-sufficient, not being able to rely on public support like before. They would need money for food and other supplies, bags for extra clothes, and something else most people might never expect Jesus to say: swords.

Now, let's not jump to trying to interpret our way around what Jesus said, just because it might make us uncomfortable. Let's look at His instruction at face-value. He told them that anyone of them that did not have a sword was to buy one, even if that meant selling his coat to have enough money to buy one. Jesus seems to have been saying, with this attention-getting statement, that they were in more danger from His enemies than they were from the cold. And so, they were to arm themselves for their self-defense.

Many believe that Jesus did not mean this literally at all, and they warrant their interpretation by jumping to what seems to be a rebuke from Jesus in verse 38, when the disciples misunderstood Him. Now, I can see how the disciples might have misunderstood Jesus, but in this way: taking Him to mean that it was time to take up swords to advance His mission as the Messiah - that He was signaling the time to initiate His military campaign to return Israel to world dominance, which many Jews believed the Messiah would do. Perhaps they pulled out their two swords as if to say, "We're ready to get started." If so, Jesus' "That's enough" was to shut that kind of thinking down. Or, the disciples simply meant to show that they did in fact have two swords already to take on the road with them, and Jesus' "That's enough" was just His way of acknowledging that and moving on from that conversation.

Either way, an interpretive twist must be made to use verse 38 for completely dismissing His instruction in verse 36. If that was Jesus' intention, He could have made that quite clear. He could have told them that He was only speaking figuratively for them to be highly aware of the danger they would face, but He didn't. He could have told them to get rid of the swords, but He didn't. If He was an absolute pacifist, He could have forever put that down in the pages of Scripture, but He didn't. He let them keep the swords for self-defense, along with any other practical purposes swords were used for. But, as we will now go on to see, one of them misjudged when to use his sword.

​DON'T TAKE UP THE SWORD

Now, we will look at one of the most extremely interpreted statements by Jesus in all of Scripture. I hate to think how many Christians have unnecessarily adopted a position of absolute pacifism, allowing unnecessary harm to themselves, their families, or their neighbors, because of misunderstanding what Jesus says here. However, there is a warning from Jesus to be heeded here, so, we need to think carefully about His caution and the context.

This was a volatile situation in the Garden of Gethsemane. At the very moment Jesus was announcing the arrival of His betrayer, "Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people." (Matthew 26:47) And Peter(1) was ready to fight. In his mind, this moment was the time to put their swords to good use and stop this madness. So, he went right at the guy right in front of him, probably swinging to split Malchus'(1) head but only cutting off his ear as Malchus probably tried to dodge Peter's sword.

Peter was getting something wrong here. Peter's use of his sword was out of place, as made clear by Jesus telling him to put his sword back into its place. Jesus did not reprimand Peter for having the sword nor demand that he get rid of the sword, but that he put it back into its proper place in that time and place. And His next statement is the one that must cause us to pause and consider the use of the sword in any time and place: "all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword." To understand this statement, we must look at it in the immediate context of their situation, as well as the greater context of Scripture.

First, for Peter and the disciples to stop Jesus' arrest with lethal force would have been to take the law into their own hands. Apart from God's intervention, they would have been arrested and executed for that capital crime. Very literally, taking up their swords would have led to them perishing by the sword of Rome.

Second, how could they think that the Son of God needed their protective intervention? Remember, while they trembled with fear, He stilled the violent wind and waves with just a word, filling them with even more fear of Him (Mark 4:37-41). Were they to think that He then needed the strength in their arms and blades to save His life? Believing that He was from the Father, why did they not take for granted that the Father had multiple legions of angels on high alert at His command, with their flaming swords and their "horses and chariots of fire" (2 Kings 6:17)? And if He did not issue the command for the obliteration of Judas and the crowd, why did the disciples not take for granted that He had a reason? -Which was His messianic fulfillment of the Scriptures that prophesied His crucifixion and resurrection for the redemption of God's people. His messianic mission was to be advanced with the cross, not the sword.

We need to see clearly here, then, that Jesus did not intend for His words in Matthew 26:52 to be taken as a universal, permanent prohibition against Christians wielding the sword. If that was what Jesus really wanted to convey, He would not have told Peter to put his sword back in its place, but that his sword had no place. Jesus prohibited wielding the sword at the wrong time, in the wrong place, for the wrong reason, and we are especially to understand that the sword is not to be taken up to advance God's redemptive purpose in the world, as we now follow Jesus in taking up our own crosses, not swords, in sharing the Gospel (Luke 9:23).

BE WISE WITH YOUR SWORD

What might Jesus say about the 2nd Amendment? Let's be careful not to put words in His mouth, but to carefully consider the words that have already come out of His mouth. Based on His words here, I think it is safe to say that Jesus wants us American Christians to see the 2nd Amendment as a permitted allowance, not a primary initiative. We exist to primarily get the Gospel, not a gun, into every home. But we may own and encourage others to own guns for the defense of our homes.

Buy a sword, but be wise in knowing when, where, and why to take it out and take it up. There are dangers in this world that God allows the use of the sword to defend against. However, there are agendas in this world in which Christians have no place in using the sword to advance. The sword is an instrument we can use, not an identity we can adopt. The sword does not symbolize us. Only the cross of Christ does.

Let me know in the comments below anything else you would like to see on this issue.

I had other plans for today, other than writing this article with a broken heart. The people in Las Vegas and beyond, that have been impacted by the worst mass shooting in American history, for whom my heart is breaking, had other plans, too. The people that were murdered had other plans. The people that are fighting for their lives and health had other plans. The people that have lost loved ones had other plans. The only person that planned and prepared for this shooting was the shooter. (Although, I doubt he was prepared for what happened one second after he shot himself.) Could anyone else have been prepared for this? Some say you can never be prepared for something like this. While we can never perfectly prepare in every way for every possible scenario, we can and must prepare in some ways, and I offer you some thoughts as to how - spiritual and practical thoughts, because God's will is always a blend of both.

Prepare to abruptly exit this life.

"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" (James 4:14-15*)

Among the many people sadly killed last night, very likely there were some that were not prepared to die. They lived in the presumption of tomorrow - that after a late night of fun, they would sleep in tomorrow - who they would call tomorrow - where, what, and with whom they would eat tomorrow. And tragically tomorrow never came for them...not on this earth.

What did they leave undone, which they would have done had they known they would die last night? And were they prepared for eternity?

God is clear in His Word, we are not to live in the presumption of tomorrow. {Tweet this.} And unfortunately, we now live in a time when a mass shooting is an imminent threat anywhere at any time. However, whether we will die in a mass shooting, a car wreck, from a heart attack, or from natural causes in old age, we all are approaching that moment when we will abruptly exit this life, and we should always be prepared for it in the will of the Lord, realizing and submitting to His sovereign rule. Ultimately, our remaining time on this earth is in His hands.

"It is appointed for people to die once and after this comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27**)

I make no assumptions about the spiritual and eternal state of those killed last night. However, I ask you, are you right with God? If you die today, will you face Him in judgment for better or for worse? Will you die redeemed or condemned? Please make sure the following is true for you: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Romans 8:1–2) "He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:15) Turn to Him, from living for yourself to live for Him the eternal life you can have from Him.

If you are prepared to exit this life in that most important way, then consider the more practical ways. Make sure your life is in order to the best of your ability. Make sure you will not leave behind any undue burdens on your loved ones. Do what needs to be done. Say what needs to be said. Minimize any regretful lo0se ends you may leave for others.

Prepare to abstain from some entertainment in this life.

​"It's just good, clean fun." Many entertaining activities are justified with that statement. Not enough thought is given to whether or not God considers certain activities good and clean. {Tweet this.} We Christians should not be involved in any activities that He does not consider good and clean, no matter how fun they seem.

Now, this is not to suggest that God is displeased with a particular activity just because something bad happens during that activity. This is not to suggest that last night's massacre was God's judgment on those attending that concert. Mass shootings have been done in churches where true Christians have been gathered in worship, so, a mass shooting or any other tragic event, in and of itself, is not an automatic indicator of how God sees the activity that the mass of people are engaged in.

The point here is to be more mindful of how God does see the activity you are considering engaging in. Ask Him and study His Word for solid truth to stand and act on. Some things can be debated among us of good conscience, while other things cannot. Think about what the Apostle Peter says here:

"Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from/is finished with sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles [in other words, 'you spent enough time doing these things in your past life'], having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. 4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation/wild living, and they malign/slander you; 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1–6**)

In addition to the issue of morality, there is the issue of timing. If there is not a clear moral principal in God's Word leading you away from a proposed activity, then you must also ask Him if He wants you engaging in that particular activity at that particular time. Ask Him, in His wisdom for and protection of you, to make it clear to you if He does not want you to. Perhaps in His lovingkindness, He will impress on you to abstain in order to protect you from something terrible.

The bottom line is that fun and entertainment are not the guiding principals for Christian living. In God's morality and timing, there are forms of entertainment He wants us to abstain from. {Tweet this.} Therefore, we should always ask Him to lead us to the right places at the right times, while keeping us from the wrong places at the wrong times.

Prepare to intervene for another's life.

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) {Tweet this.}

If in God's providence, you ever face the prospect of such mass carnage as those faced in Las Vegas, prepare to lay your life down to save others. Prepare to be that one that dies so that others may live.

Much is said about shooters targeting "soft targets" - people in vulnerable settings, unable to fully defend themselves. Whenever we go into such a setting, we should make up our minds to do anything we can to "harden" that target. We need to arm ourselves, if possible, and if we cannot arm ourselves literally, we should at least arm ourselves with greater awareness of our surroundings - greater awareness of signs that someone may be about to do us harm. And we should be prepared to do whatever we can to stop as much harm as we can, whether stopping the shooter directly or getting someone else out of the shooter's line of fire. We men, in particular, must always think with a defender's mentality, never a victim's mentality. Our first instinct should be to shield others, not to be shielded by others - to stand in the gap, not to escape through the gap.

Prepare to intercede with the authorities of this life.

"[Governing authority] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil." (Romans 13:4)

Pure evil - I read Oklahoma Senator James Lankford and heard President Trump refer to the Las Vegas shooter's mass murder as that, and they are right. And in their positions, they both believe they are to do everything they can to protect us from such pure evil, and they are right.

In God's plan for governing authorities, there is no place for pacifism. {Tweet this.} God has given them a sword to wield with power and precision. We should hold them accountable to do so. Too many times, we have heard of cases in which there were warning signs of someone planning to do harm, the authorities did not act on those warning signs, and tragic harm was done. As respectful, submissive law-abiding citizens, we should expect and equip our law enforcement to do their jobs at every level.

Prepare to do your part. Do not be passive in civil and political involvement. Stay informed and involved on the issues this society faces. With dignity and respect, make sure your voice is heard whenever and wherever necessary, calling on our authorities to do the wise and right thing, fulfilling their God-given responsibility to protect us from and punish evildoers.

These are the thoughts that immediately were pressing on my heart after I heard about Las Vegas on the morning news. I have personally witnessed too many people go through life unprepared for the unforeseen. {Tweet this.} With more and more frequency, we are being reminded that we do not have that luxury. May God bless and protect you and your family. May God pour out redeeming and comforting mercy on the people of Las Vegas.

Do you present the gospel to infants expecting a response? If you are a preacher, can you give such an effective invitation that even the babies in a congregation respond in repentance and saving faith? In our conversations about witnessing, why don't we talk about how many babies we have recently led to Christ?

Many Christians tend to be very formulaic with how they handle the gospel. To them, if we say A-B-C and tell people to do 1-2-3 to "get saved", then we should be able to expect a certain percentage of those to whom we recite our presentations to respond with a decision to be born again and become a Christian. (And unfortunately there actually is a gospel presentation that tells people getting saved is as easy as A-B-C.) With such an approach, we just need to convince the lost to believe "this" and pray "this".

​Christians that approach sharing the gospel this way generally think that leading people to the Lord only comes down to them being offered the right facts and the right opportunities to understand and embrace those facts. And, of course, that's impossible for babies.

There is a man whose salvation shatters all generally popular, conventional wisdom for getting the gospel to the masses so that they can "get saved". In fact, John the Baptist did not get saved by his own volition. He was saved by the volition of Another. And he was not only saved as a baby, but also saved in his mother's womb.

Over the last 25 years since I was saved (as of 2020), I have heard a lot of good lessons on reaching people for Jesus, taken from the stories of Peter and Nathanael (John 1:40-51), a paralytic dropped through a hole in the roof (Mark 2:1-13), Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10), and others. But I cannot remember a single lesson specifically on witnessing/evangelism taken from the salvation of John the Baptist - from his preaching, yes, but not from his personal salvation. (If you can point me to such a lesson, please do.)

Why isn't John's story among the favorites for inspiring Christians to take the gospel to their families, friends, and neighbors? Let's think about it. There is no dramatic turn of evangelistic events - no heart-gripping power points of going, showing, telling, and compelling. And there is no heart-warming revolution of repentance and faith, in which an openly wicked wretch is forever wonderfully changed. There is something else to consider, though. Could it be that John's story is not a broad favorite for lessons on evangelism because John's story doesn't fit our formularized evangelism, and it presents a picture of God's role in salvation that makes people uncomfortable? John's story puts all the emphasis on God's sovereign initiative and timing in His regeneration of a person's heart prior to, not in response to, that person's responsible choice. Think carefully about what Gabriel told Zechariah about his son John:

​That statement is distinctly and absolutely void of the idea that God is only sovereignly sending out the gospel while passively waiting for people to respond, with no influence/interference on His part in their hearts to cause them to respond. An unregenerate human being cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must understand this: God sovereignly regenerated John as an infant in utero, without a traditional Gospel presentation and invitation as we understand them.

Where is the stress on John's free will to receive or reject Christ? Surely no one thinks that John was seeking God on his own initiative in his natural state as an infant. We all know that, in his unborn infancy, John was not under severe conviction of sin, weighed down with guilt, nor was he realizing that there was a God-shaped hole in his heart only God could fill while pondering his purpose in life.

Now, none of this is to say that John was converted apart from the Gospel of Christ. He wasn't. The Holy Spirit impressed the knowledge of Christ on John's infant heart. In the fullness of the Holy Spirit, John knew Christ while still in his mother's womb.

It's reasonable to think that this was the moment of John's regeneration by and filling with the Holy Spirit - the moment that he was saved in meeting Christ, already conceived in Mary's womb. Whatever the timing of John's conversion, in the moment of his conversion, he was converted into knowing Christ, not apart from knowing Christ. And he knew Christ in this moment. And in this moment, he did not jump in being startled by the greeting of Mary. He leaped for his own joy at the presence of Christ. He rejoiced in and worshiped Christ in Elizabeth's womb. This was a supernatural work of God - not in cooperation with John, but His operation on and in John.

Do we see repentance and faith in John here? Absolutely. John was naturally conceived in original sin like the rest of us (Psalm 51:5). He was fallen, having inherited a sin nature from Adam through his father, like the rest of us. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit supernaturally regenerated John's infant heart, giving him eyes to see "the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6), before his eyes were open, John then, in that instant, turned from sin and self to live for Christ, in saving faith in Christ. No one is saved apart from repentance and faith, and John was no exception, even in his infancy. If natural reasoning is pushing against this assertion saying, "But a baby cannot repent and believe, " then natural reasoning must be crushed under the weight of realizing that neither can a baby, left to himself, be filled with the Holy Spirit, yet, John was.

In summary, John was born already born again by the Holy Spirit - "born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). He was born full of the Holy Spirit. He was born with faith and joy in the Lord and faithfully living for the Lord, set apart to grow up in and go before the Lord.

God gave John new life in Christ before John could naturally have any conscious idea of being alive, much less of being lost and dead in sin apart from Christ, showing clearly that "it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (Romans 9:16). In his unborn infancy, John could not possibly have willed himself into new life in Christ, nor could he possibly have run his way into new life in Christ. His joy in Jesus was not the prerequisite to being regenerated and filled by the Holy Spirit, but the product of being regenerated and filled by the Holy Spirit, just as the Apostles John and Paul so clearly state is the case for all that are saved. John was in the most helpless state possible in natural human existence, and God's supernatural effect on him, in that state, is a powerful, crystal-clear illustration of what God must supernaturally do for all, for any to be saved in our spiritually helpless state. This is why John the Baptist should convince every Christian of God's active sovereignty, not only in the evangelism of the lost, but also in the salvation of the lost.

This truth has a powerful implication for how we pray for the lost. Pray believing in what God is doing to save the lost. Give up the inconsistency of praying for God to change people's hearts to save them while not believing that He actually will. Pray boldly, confidently, and joyfully for God to sovereignly overrule the rebellion of wicked hearts - for Him to sovereignly remove the dead heart of stone and replace it with a living heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26; Hebrews 8:10). Pray the way Zechariah and Elizabeth should have prayed for John after Gabriel's announcement of God's intentions for John. Look at a lost loved one that you want so badly to be saved, and embrace that burden that rises up in your heart for God to break down the resistance in his or her heart. Ask Him to do just that, kneeling on the solid assurance that He does just that in the hearts of wayward men, women, and children every day.

This truth has a powerful implication for how we evangelize the lost. Evangelize while knowing that no one is within your reach or out of His reach. God's will is for us to take His Gospel into all the world without pride, presumption, or prejudice. There is no heart your words can reach, and there is no heart His Word cannot reach. Therefore, put no confidence in your ability to expound or argue facts - to present the bullet points of a Gospel presentation - to move someone to a "decision" for Jesus. Rather, put all your confidence in God to move you into the right moments, giving you the right words and how to say them (Luke 12:11-12). Memorize Scripture to use it for making the Gospel known, the way Jesus Himself did:

Explain the Scriptures about Jesus (now including the New Testament, of course), while asking Jesus to open minds to understand them now, like He did then.

In absolute humility and abounding joy, we must stand before God, each other, and the lost - absolute humility in realizing just exactly how helpless we are to save ourselves or anyone else apart from God's supernatural heart-changing intervention, and abounding joy in realizing that He actually is supernaturally intervening to change hearts. John's story highlights the biblical truth that all true Christians know at their core: that salvation is all of God and not at all of us, "to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Ephesians 1:6).

I watched Fox News interview a congressman about a shooting in Alexandria, Virginia. (A gunman opened fire on about twenty-tw0 congressmen having baseball practice for a charity game to be played the next day.) In the interview, the congressman said something, a few times, that prompted me to write this article: "Somehow we all just need to come together." It seems that in his mind the answer to this kind of violence is for us Americans to just come together as a nation. I wonder if this would have been his appeal to the shooter prior to opening fire: "Please don't do this. Let's come together as Americans and find another way." As I listened to him, I sat there thinking about that possibility. Can we Americans all really come together?

Can we come together when we are divided, not by merely differing approaches, but irreconcilable, opposing ideologies? Socialism and capitalism are not reconcilable. Promotion of the killing of babies is not reconcilable with protection of babies. True bigotry (based on racial/ethnic identity, not behavior) is not reconcilable with true beneficence toward all people groups. Contradicting codes of morality and ethics are not reconcilable. Strict constitutionalism is not reconcilable with non-constitutionalism (held by Americans that think the U.S. Constitution is outdated and should be scrapped). Americans in name only are not reconcilable with Americans at heart - to put it another way, anti-America/unpatriotic Americans are not reconcilable with pro-America/patriotic Americans.

Can we all come together when some of us are set on violence as a means to advance an agenda or satisfy a grievance? The violent, like that shooter, have abandoned reasonable discourse as a path to progress beyond our differences and divisions. For them, the time to talk and reason together is over. Therefore, they will not heed any call to come together. Like foreign terrorists, these domestic terrorists among us only want to bully us into submission, with whatever means they see necessary to break us, whether threats with words or weapons. That leaves only two options: arrest them for threatening to do harm, before they do harm; or incapacitate them, whether non-fatally or fatally, as they try to do harm.

For those of us not given over to violence or the degradation of other human beings, we can all come together to oppose violence and degradation as the means to our ends, regardless of our ideologies and worldviews. Wherever we disagree, we can at least agree to not kill each other, or beat down each other, or shout down each other. We can come together in the public square to fight our battles with open and intelligent debate and dialogue, rather than with insults, fists, blades, or bullets.

We Christians must remember, though, that beyond the cultural battle there is a spiritual battle. In that spiritual battle, there can be no ultimate partnership between righteousness and lawlessness nor fellowship between light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). Therefore, we must always first work to lead people to Jesus, praying for the change of heart only the Holy Spirit can give in their new birth, as God brings them into and fills them with His light and righteousness. We must hold up the priority of eternal life over the present earthly life.

However, we should influence people with the practical righteousness of God on whatever level we can. For example, if we can speak to a girl about the humanity of her baby, even showing her an ultrasound if possible to prove it, so that she will come together with us to spare her baby's life, then we should do that, even if she will not come to Jesus. If we can influence our lawmakers and Supreme Court justices so that they will come together with us to overturn Roe v. Wade, then we should do that, even if they will not come to Jesus. We must pursue the righteousness of God on every front, to every degree we can, working together with people on whatever level we can under the common grace of God.

On the other hand, we must never compromise one aspect of the truth and righteousness of God in order to come together to promote another aspect of the truth and righteousness of God. For example, if someone who is pro-life and living in homosexuality wants our approval of her homosexual lifestyle in order to work with us against the abortion agenda, we cannot give that to her. We cannot come together and work together with her if that is her condition. Similarly, we cannot make social-issue alliances with those that do not hold to the Gospel, if those alliances require us or lead to us blurring the clear lines of the Gospel.

Can we Americans all really come together? We must be realistic and accept the reality that we cannot come together in every way when we have polarized views of what being American means and what America should be. But we can and should come together in any way we can to promote our common good, which certainly includes the denouncement of violence against each other, no matter how vehemently we disagree with each other. And we American Christians must always put our heavenly citizenship before our American citizenship, which requires us to accept a permanent point of separation between us and American non-Christians, even while we come together with them any way we rightfully can to pursue and promote the practical righteousness of God, in love for our neighbors (Mark 12:31). This requires much wisdom, so let us continually pray for God to grant it. And let us pray that He will pour out the refreshing waters of revival and His living water in spiritual awakening, to truly bring us together as one nation under God, indivisible, with justice for all.

We all know storms are part of life. And in accepting that reality, we can generally feel like we are shored up and prepared to withstand whatever storm might form over and pound on us. However, the most unforeseen and destructive storms are those that hit us in the home and heart.

The pain is unimaginable by those that have not experienced it. A pastor with a passionate heart for God and His people, in spite of all the high hopes he had for fruitful ministry, faces not only an unforeseen storm in his ministry, but also in his home as his wife, therefore, wants him to quit his ministry. In the hurricane force of this storm, he faces the possible loss of his ministry and marriage. This is happening to pastors right now. This could happen to you. You must be prepared for your wife to possibly want out if things go wrong.

​​​PREPARE FOR YOUR WIFE TO POSSIBLY WAVER

​Make sure to not confuse vision with illusion. While you should have a vision of a God-blessed lifelong marriage - while your wife should be a vision to you - do not let your vision of her and life with her lure you into a romanticized illusion of what could or would never happen.

A husband and wife not in the ministry will face much that will test their faith and tempt their flesh just in living for the Lord in this fallen world. A husband and wife that are in pastoral ministry will face much more.

​Even if God does give you a beautiful, fruitful rose garden of a ministry, He will still allow thorns to grow beside the roses. And sometimes in His mysterious wisdom and providence, He allows a storm that strips away the rose petals, leaving only the many thorns to thrash and slash. If He allows this for you, the excruciating pain of those deep wounds may seem, to both of you, too much to bear. But while you, being convinced of your calling, have the impulse to turn your shoulder into the storm, she may have the overwhelming impulse to turn her back to the storm and escape to clear skies and calm waters. The fact and force of the storm may cause her to turn to you and tell you that you have missed something somewhere - that you have misunderstood the call of God - that something like that should not be happening if you are where He wants you to be, because surely if you were, He would be blessing your work, not allowing it and your family to be torn apart.

If your wife wavers this way, you may see a side of her you never expected to see. Therefore, it is imperative that you be prepared, as much as possible, to press ahead in your relationship with God and your relationship with her.

​LOVE GOD FIRST

In writing this, I am taking for granted that you have no question of your calling from God to pastor. (If you do, you need to seek help beyond what I am offering in this article. I will say this, though: If you are okay with not pastoring, then quit.) With God's call being sure, you must obey Him in your love for Him, knowing that your love for God comes before your love for your wife.

While personal application will vary, this principle never does. We can trace it all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam was to pass on to his wife the command of God and should have persevered in obedience when she fell in deceived disobedience. Instead, he gave in to her allurement to abandon the will of God.

Listening to your wife is generally a good thing to do - a necessary thing to do - for a thriving relationship with her. When she speaks, you should lovingly lean in to sincerely listen to what she has to say, with the intention of acting on what she says, if you can. You cannot act on what she says - you cannot listen to her - if she asks/tells you to do what is outside of and against the will of God. If she does, you must lovingly correct her in the hope that she will not chafe at you for doing so. However, she may, and as hard as it may be, you must stay the course.

Jesus promises abundant and eternal reward for "one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God" - when necessary to obey the particular, personal call of God to enter and advance the kingdom of God (Luke 18:28-30, emphasis added). Now, of course, we are not to take this as a free pass to initiate divorce, taking into account His other teachings on that subject (Matthew 5:31-32; 19:1-9; 1 Corinthians 7:10-16). The point is that the will and call of God is our first priority, even over our relationships with our wives. This is why Paul cautions those yet to be married to understand how their interests will be divided between each other and the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-35). Therefore, you must prayerfully discern how to be concerned with the interests of the Lord and your wife without letting your wife become an idol, especially if she wavers and resists what the Lord is leading you to do.

I have heard well-meaning, godly brothers talk like a man can only pastor if he has his wife's permission. I do not see that position square with Scripture. If God has called you to pastor, He is not asking your wife's permission. Now, where and when may be another necessary discussion, in the Lord's time and place for you, regarding your family's unique situation and season. But if you feel the Holy Spirit pressing this call on your heart, and you are qualified to act on your desire (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), then you are to lovingly - gently but firmly - lead her in obeying that call, not in some artificial role of "pastor's wife", but as your wife - your helpmate. That leads to...

LOVE YOUR WIFE FAITHFULLY

​If your wife turns against your calling, you may be surprised at what you feel toward her in the difficulty of the situation. You must set in your mind that God comes before her, but she comes before others, including yourself. Take her well-being seriously and personally. Take her to God in prayer. Plead with God to help you faithfully, actively lead and love her at the same time. Like never before, you must "live with your [wife] in an understanding way, as with someone weaker [like fine china versus a metal plate], since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." (1 Peter 3:7)

Especially in such a heart-wrenching situation, you must "love your [wife], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25–27) Christ perfectly loves the church while the church is far from perfect. That includes both you and your wife, and He is your model for how to love your wife. In His love for the church, Christ laid down His own life - His personal well-being - for the church to be fully sanctified by the Word of God in the will of God. The will of God included His sacrifice for His bride's sanctification. And so it does for you. Even while dealing with your own pain, you will need to sympathize with and get in touch with your wife's pain. You will need to minister to her. You will need to help her even if she doesn't want you to.

I want to elaborate on what I said earlier about seeing a side of your wife you may not expect. As I'm sure you know, being deeply hurt and angry can bring things up out of a person he or she does not normally exhibit, even to his or her own surprise. You most likely will deal with that yourself if in this situation. But regarding your wife, you need to be prepared for the possibility of such an extreme change in her that you actually question her salvation. If that happens, there are two possibilities:
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• One, she is a true daughter of God having an extremely bad moment, in which she is simultaneously running from God's will and under excruciating conviction for doing so. If this is the case, He will somehow bring her back in line with Himself, as He heals her and helps her work through the situation. Remember Jonah and Peter.

 

• Or two, she is not a true daughter of God, and this situation is removing the gloss of make-believe or self-deception, to reveal her unregenerate heart. Remember the parable of the wheat and tares/weeds (Matthew 13:24-30). As you probably know, Jesus was most likely referring to darnel, a weed that so closely resembled wheat it could not be seen and separated until the grain head matured for harvest. Are we pastors to think that our own wives could not possibly be among the weeds? Are we to think that our own wives could not possibly be among “the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away" (Mark 4:16–17)? Perhaps God will use this situation to reveal the truth and bring her to genuine saving faith.

In either of these cases, your responsibility will be the same: "love your [wife] and do not be embittered against her." (Colossians 3:19)

​A TRUE STORY

​The Lord called "Paul" to ministry shortly after saving him. Then, shortly after Paul and "Paula" were married, the Lord called Paul to pastor. Paul and Paula went through growing pains, sometimes stumbling more than walking, but for the most part, they were on the same page. Paul was bi-vocational for his first four years in pastoral ministry. Then two things happened at once. First, his ministry at his first church seemed to grind to a halt, and second, an opportunity to pastor a full-time church opened up with connections being made that Paul had not manipulated. Their move to that church seemed like the clear will of God to both him and Paula.

Things at the new church were good for the first four months. Then tensions starting building, with clashes of personality and philosophy. It started becoming clear to Paul and Paula that they were expected to conform to the power brokers in the church, rather than actually leading, even to the point of a meeting being called with Paul to tell him that he needed to change his preaching. That did not sit well with Paul, and he told them in his youthful zeal (perhaps a bit too gruffly, he thinks now) that he would not be told how or what to preach. The meeting did not end well.

Some time later, Paul was studying in his office when three of the "leading" men came in with a letter from nearly half of the church telling Paul they wanted him to leave. Someone later decided it was a good idea to have a special business meeting for an airing of grievances. While Paul was willing to discuss any possible mistakes he had made, that meeting devolved into a depraved debacle that devastated Paula and their children. Paul felt like crushing heads while Paula felt like crawling into a hole.

In days to come, some in the opposing group regretted their role in what had taken place. One of those same men approached Paul about not quitting, because in the second business meeting to come, a vote would be taken on whether to keep Paul. This man told Paul that he knew the vote would go in Paul's favor. In a decision he questions now, Paul stepped down on his own initiative.

What transpired at that church was the downward turn of a descent into a dark valley, in which Paul and Paula have been for thirteen years now. Paula is just now recovering from what was done to them there. In regard to Paul remaining in pastoral ministry, Paula has gone through four primary stages: First, she was militant in opposing Paul staying in pastoral ministry, even with the option of divorce being on the table. Second, she was manipulative in opposing Paul staying in pastoral ministry. Third, she was moping along, going along with him, without her heart truly in it with him. And fourth, she is now more amenable, with her eyes and heart more open to what the Lord is doing with them in ministry.

Paul has been in and out of his own different stages with Paula. At first, he was dumbfounded at her sudden and fierce opposition to him staying in ministry. Then he became angry and has struggled with anger toward her all along the way. He has battled bitterness and a critical spirit toward her. He has struggled with the difference between dictating and leading - between being domineering and lovingly firm. He has had to put down his tendency to try to argue her into a change of heart, coming to realize that her problem is not first intellectual, or even emotional, but spiritual. With God's constant discipline and help, he has had to get his feet under him in loving God first and loving Paula faithfully.

Paul and Paula were not prepared for what they have been through. Paul had studied and resolved to accept the reality of opposition in both Christian life and ministry but had not imagined he and his wife could go through what they have. Paula, on the other hand, had a picture of life in church and ministry that was completely shattered. As husband and wife, they are good for the most part. But things are still not quite as they should or could be. As I look at the extremely difficult road they are still on, I wish someone had been there in the beginning of their walk together to tell them what could happen to them, and help them be somewhat prepared for it and ahead of it. That is why I wrote this article for you, pastor (or for you to forward to your pastor).

CLOSING ADVICE

Sit down with your wife and talk about these things. Let her read this article. Part of loving your wife right now is helping her prepare for the possibility of feeling like everything is being ripped out from under you.

If that has already happened to you, please get help, if you haven't already. You are welcome to contact me, if you feel led to do so. You can click "Contact" under "More" at the top of the page.

Feel free to ask any questions or offer any comments/suggestions below. May God bless your marriage and ministry.

​Why do we have mouths? From a Biblical perspective, primarily to praise God in our worship and in our witness - to proclaim the excellencies of God for His exalted glory in the exceeding joy of all in Jesus Christ. That is the highest use of our mouths and should be our highest aim in using our mouths. As such, we must keep our mouths out of the gutter. Do you have a clean mouth or a dirty mouth? Do you praise God with that mouth?

It's a pattern that is repeated over and over by too many: Words of praise to God come out one side of the mouth and words that are offensive to God come out the other side of the mouth. This pattern can be seen in the family that sings the praises of God in church, then gathers for lunch and the exchange of off-color remarks, dirty jokes, and vulgar language. This pattern can be seen with those that post something spiritual on social media, but then turn around and post something crude.

I see and hear some of the crass stuff - sometimes outright vulgarity - coming from long-time professing Christians, who espouse their allegiance to the Bible as God's Word, and wonder if they are reading the same Bible I am. I wonder if they have ever read the following:​

​By the Holy Spirit, Paul's command is clear. There is not to be even a hint of a filthy lifestyle nor filthy speech among us. What the lost say and do for their entertainment is not to be what we say and do for ours. This is not a game. Anyone that persists in their immorality or uncleanness (any sexual immorality outside of marriage between a man and a woman, or, anything that is morally/spiritually dirty and defiling) will be condemned and cast away from the kingdom of God, by God in His wrath. So, should we really be speaking lightly of those sins, much less cracking jokes about them for good laughs? According to the Apostle Paul, absolutely not.

Let us not miss, however, that Paul not only forbids filthy language, but foolish language - "silly talk" - foolish speech. This is speaking words that are void of the wisdom of God - that outright contradict or even absentmindedly fail to communicate the wisdom of God in the will of God. Here is a sobering warning from the Lord Jesus:

If God will judge "every careless word that people speak", then should we not carefully choose every word that we speak? Should we not make sure that our hearts are filled with good treasure that overflows out of our mouths in good words? -Treasure and words that God calls good because they come out of His Word.
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If you are a Christian and tend to have a dirty sense of humor, and a mouth to go with it - or if you have little to no filter on what comes out of your mouth - let me offer you some practical perspective on how your words are affecting your walk with Christ and your witness for Him in this world.

You are breaking your fellowship with Jesus any time you are carelessly speaking or cracking jokes about things for which He went to the cross and died. He took the wrath of God on Himself for us - wrath that was for our sins. Therefore, He does not find our sins funny, nor is He careless or casual about them. Crude jokes about crude things do not amuse Him, because those things anger Him, and He will return to this world one day to pour out His building wrath on the unrepentant. That is nothing to laugh about or carelessly talk about. When Jesus walked this earth in His own humanity, He clearly stated that His own speech was right in line with God the Father's:

While none of us can claim the perfection of speech that Jesus could, if we are going to walk with Him, His standard must be our standard. To fellowship with Him, what is in His heart must be in our hearts, to come out our mouths. The Father's Word must determine our words.

You are also nullifying your witness for Jesus any time you are carelessly speaking or cracking crude jokes. Here is some clear instruction from Paul on the kind of speech we are to maintain for our continual witness for Jesus to those that do not know Him:

Time is slipping away. Each second that slips away is the depletion of opportunity that outsiders have to come to Jesus in saving faith and repentance. Therefore, we are to live wisely, metaphorically walking, not merely alongside them, but toward them, "making the most of the [decreasing] opportunity" to lead them to Jesus. To do this, we must speak, always taking great care to infuse our speech with grace and season our speech with salt. Grace pertains to words of profit, as we speak for outside sinners to gain life they don't deserve, rather than lose their lives in judgment that they do deserve - the same grace we have received from God in Jesus. Salt pertains to words of purity, as we speak enlightening truth to counter the darkness of deception, appropriate for the particular conversations we will have with each person God brings across our paths. We cannot do this if our speech is polluted with impurities. And outsiders notice if someone tries - if one tries to witness for Jesus with one breath, and spews filth with the next breath. That one loses all credibility with those that hear him. After 23 years in construction and the oilfield, I have seen it happen too many times. Watching Christian friends and family navigate the difficult path of fellowshipping with lost friends and family, I have seen it happen too many times. And every time, I have re-fortified my resolve to not let it happen to me, with God's help. I hope you will, too.

I have an ornery streak, and I like to cut up with friends and family. I have a good sense of humor, and I like a good joke. But there are lines we cannot cross. I hope you have eyes to see those lines, and if you have been crossing them, repent to the Father and ask Him to transform your mouth in the renewing of your mind, so that your speech is no longer conformed to this world but is only speaking His will, as your mouth is part of your living sacrifice to Him in your spiritual worship of Him (Romans 12:1-2). Purge your speech of all impurities: cuss words, crass words, off-colored remarks, and crude jokes. Dirty language and dirty jokes are called "dirty" for a reason. Keep their dirt out of your mouth (and stop laughing when something dirty comes out of another's mouth). Resolve to never again leave anyone  thinking, "Do you praise God with that mouth?"

"Is it possible to be passionate about the gospel and care deeply about politics? Can we engage in politics responsibly, confidently, graciously--even Christianly​?" I believe so, and I believe we must. Over the course of my 21-year Christian life, this conviction has grown stronger. So, knowing that some Christian leaders downplay or downright denounce Christian political involvement, I am glad Bruce and Chris have written this book, offering "A Christian Hope for American Politics". I offer this brief review in the hope that I can prompt a few other people to read their book and think seriously about how the Gospel and the lordship of Jesus are to apply to politics.

Bruce and Chris are rightly concerned about two extremes Christians can fall into with politics: "Some Christians think of politics as an insufferable necessity; others conceive of politics as nigh unto salvation. ​Ironically, these two perspectives tend to feed off each other. Those who imbue politics with unrealistic and salvific expectations are most liable to conclude--even if it takes years to get there--that politics is not worth it after all and must be abandoned at all costs. 'Politics as salvation' leads to political frustration, which leads to political withdrawal. For many well-intentioned believers, what begins as an arena of endless hope often ends as an arena of darkness and despair."

​Bruce and Chris wonder what the right balance is: "If we are not to withdraw from  politics, is it possible to avoid the opposite error of making politics our sole tool for societal change? How can we navigate between the dual extremes of political withdrawal and political salvation?"

​Here, then, is their stated aim of the book: "We hope to share a perspective on politics that tempers the expectations of those with inflated hopes, empowers those with deflated hopes, and equips every Christian to apply Christ's love in the muddied arena of politics." I believe their little book hits that target.

​I have always been impressed with the need to keep a top-down perspective on things going on in our living rooms and the world at large. In other words, from our niches, to our neighborhoods, to our nation, and to all nations, we need to seek God's sovereign, transcendent perspective on everything. In prayer and studying His Word, we need to get up over it all with Him and try to see it all as He sees it, starting with the big picture. Bruce and Chris take that approach to politics, starting with the very first chapter, leading us to understand what God wants us to do with politics within His creation, in the aftermath of the Fall, in light of redemption, while looking forward to restoration.

Bruce and Chris offer an introductory overview of the book: "In the first chapter we show that the Bible's 'big story' provides the context within which Christians should think about politics and public life. Only by considering the four plot movements of Scripture--creation, fall, redemption, and restoration--can we begin to understand the role of politics today. In chapter 2 we identify four competing answers to the question of Christianity and politics, digging a bit deeper to show that each answer actually rests on a unique understanding of grace. In the third chapter we show how Christianity is able to affect every sphere of life without creating a theocracy. Chapter 4 picks up the question of church and state specifically, asking--and answering--how our view of cultural engagement will affect our view of church-government relations.

​"In the fifth chapter we talk about the specific challenges of our cultural context. Contemporary Americans live in a country that is decreasingly Christian. While many Christians feel this as a threat, we argue that it is time for us to learn afresh how to witness to our society as a minority group, to minister from the margins. We must once again become comfortable as resident aliens in our own nation while still pursuing the welfare of our society. In the sixth chapter we provide practical advice on how to leverage public-square interactions as witness for Christ. Our political interaction is an avenue for proclaiming aspects of the gospel, for showing the world a different hope, and for displaying Christian character and discernment.

​"The next seven chapters address current topics in American politics--abortion, euthanasia, immigration, same-sex marriage, the economy, the environment, race relations, immigration [repeat in original], and just war. In these chapters we show how our view of Christianity and politics (addressed in chapters 1-6) applies in real life. Each chapter focuses on a Christian who has proven to be an exemplary public witness on the topic at hand.

​"In the final chapter we conclude by highlighting one last exemplary Christian, a hero from the past--Augustine of Hippo. Augustine lived during the decline of the Roman Empire and stood as a champion for Christianity when society had begun to decry the faith. We will summarize his famous book, City of God​, which was written to address Rome's political ills, and apply its lessons to our own--surprisingly similar--American context."

​​I want to stress something about Bruce's and Chris' approach, which I appreciate and applaud. They show that they understand how we must live out our dual citizenship, primarily in God's kingdom and subordinately in this earthly kingdom, seeking first His kingdom and righteousness under the lordship of Jesus in every sphere of life, including politics. If we withdraw from politics, we are, in effect, removing God's righteousness as an initiative, leaving only unrighteousness as the initiative of the unrighteous, to the dishonoring of God and the detriment of our neighbor. How can we justify that? God bless Bruce and Chris for realizing and writing that we can't.

I see One Nation Under God as a manual for Christian political involvement. This book needs to be a text book for a class on Christian political involvement, and I do not say that lightly. As a pastor, I do not tend to jump on the bandwagon of teaching a class on every new good book that comes along, but I am praying about teaching a class on this book--using it to complement lessons from Scripture on this issue. One can do that because Bruce and Chris take their cues from Scripture in what they say on this issue. And they are pithy and poignant. Not only did I find their material edifying, but also enjoyable.

​Here are some observations on the layout of the book. The core of the book spans only 142 pages. Even one that is not an avid reader should not feel strained in reading this book. There are discussion questions and reading recommendations at the end of all the chapters on social issues. They provided good endnotes in the back of the book (incidentally, I prefer footnotes at the end of a chapter). Also in the back of the book are a name and subject index, as well as a Scripture index--very helpful for targeted reference in further study and discussion.

​I recommend that you get this little book and study it. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section, whether for more details or more input. Below are links to where you can purchase a copy.

Amazon
​Barnes & Noble
​Christianbook.com
LifeWay​

In the 15 years I had the privilege of knowing him, I don't know how many cups of coffee I drank with my father-in-law. We drank them in our living rooms and yards. We drank them in cafes and restaurants. We drank them on job sites where he and I carpentered together. We had a lot of what my son called "coffee talk", when he was still Bull's little buddy. ("Bull" is what Joshua called his grandpa very early on. We're not sure why, but it stuck.)

As I watched Curtis deteriorate with age and alzheimer's, knowing that his time with us was rapidly slipping away, those occasional cups became more and more important. Our predictable small talk was not so small anymore. His gruff and sometimes unpleasant demeanor was not so unpleasant anymore. His irritating quirks were not so irritating anymore. As he detached more and more from this life, I attached more and more to him.

I don't remember every last cup of coffee I drank with Curtis, but I remember the last cup I drank with him. As he sat in his recliner, I poured his cup of coffee and "ruined" mine (that's what he said I did with my cream and sugar). He didn't want much - only half of a cup. As we sat there chatting, I had to keep reminding him that he had coffee so that he would drink it while it was hot (it always had to have that hot bite for him to drink it). I'm not sure he drank it all even then. I finished mine not knowing that would be my last cup with him. With every cup along the way, I knew that last cup was coming, and it came and went far too quickly, two weeks before he passed away, a little over a year ago.

​I don't know if there will be coffee in Christ's kingdom on the new earth, but I hope so. I love coffee (almost as much as Curtis), and it would be nice to drink a perfect cup of coffee with a perfect Curtis. Maybe he'll be glad to see that I won't need to "ruin" it (and that I won't be ruined anymore).

However, whether I ever get to drink another cup of coffee with Curtis or not, there is another cup I look forward to drinking with him forever: not a cup of Joe, but a cup of joy. Around that cup, I look forward to not one more but infinitely more conversations with Curtis about all the good gifts of God and God Himself, in that timeless age when we will be ageless and sinless. If David could speak of his cup overflowing on this old earth (Psalm 23:5), how much more our cups must overflow on the new earth in paradise restored. And we will never drink that cup down because the fountain will never run dry, while our time together will never run down in the sweet by and by.

If you have not read Nik Ripken's article, I ask you to follow the link above and read it before reading this article. I am going to respond to him without extensively quoting him, and I want you to know exactly where he stands on this issue in contrast to where I stand.

I am responding to Nik with genuine respect and brotherly love. I do not intend to come across as critical toward him for his position on how we are to, or are not to, help persecuted brothers and sisters. I know that Nik's first priority is the glory of God in the advancement of His Gospel, no matter the cost, and I share that priority with him. Having said that, I differ with him on the point of his article, as I understand it.

Additionally, I want to point out that Nik has had experiences I have not had. I have not been overseas to walk side by side with persecuted brothers and sisters. He is held up as an expert on the persecuted church, and I do not hold myself up against him as an expert on anything. The farthest I have been on a mission trip is to Mexico. However, I have followed the plight and admired the courage of persecuted brothers and sisters for 19 years via Voice of the Martyrs, from whose website I retrieved the photo above.

A FACE ON THE ISSUE

We can look into that sister's face in that photo - into her eyes - and process this issue while being visually reminded that this issue has flesh on it. Our persecuted brothers and sisters have flesh just as real and sensitive to pain as ours. They have real faces that are put behind bars, beaten with bars, and burned - that are permanently disfigured, sometimes beyond recognition. Yes, we should process persecution in light of spiritual reality beyond experience in the flesh, but not oblivious to it (not to suggest that Nik is oblivious to it).

Nik has much to say about how we Westerners respond to the suffering of our brothers and sisters after getting emotionally attached to them. Well, I want to make a point of saying that we should be getting emotionally attached to them. While Nik and I may not come to agree on how that attachment translates into action, I must take for granted that we agree on this. Generally, Westerners are too emotionally detached from them because we don't have to face them. We should make a point of facing them, in obeying Hebrews 13:3: "Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body" (all Scriptures from NASB). That sister's face in the photo above should be my face - her pain should be my pain - in that we are in the body of Christ together. Our spiritual attachment is to lead to my emotional attachment to her. I should take her persecution personally. Now, what that means practically is the debate here.

HIDDEN PROVIDENCE AND REVEALED PRECEPTS

​"Love your neighbor as yourself." In obeying that Great Commandment, I believe that in every opportunity afforded to us, we are to help our neighbors in need, even while not being fully aware of what God intends to do with those needs that our neighbors have. That starts with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ: "So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." (Galatians 6:10)

Nik made a powerful point about Joseph, which we should seriously consider. His point should be well-taken. However, we can take Joseph's story to an unacceptable extreme, if we are not careful. Joseph's conclusion about his plight - that while his brothers meant his persecution for evil, God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20) - does not excuse his brothers' actions as the evil that they were, nor does it excuse the inaction by a potential intervener, had there been one in that field that day. If I had been walking through that field that day and heard Joseph crying for help from that hole, I would have been shamefully and wickedly wrong to ignore him and leave him in that hole while thinking, "I'm sure God has something good in store for him beyond dying in that hole." In obedience to God's revealed precept of showing lovingkindness to our neighbor, I would have been compelled to try to help Joseph, as the only right thing to do in being faced with his situation. If someone had witnessed what really happened with Potiphar's wife, he should have spoken up in defense of Joseph. And the cupbearer was wrong to forget about Joseph. We should not see it another way, just because we have the luxury of seeing Joseph's story on this end of it, understanding that God, in His hidden providence, prevented Joseph from being rescued for the much greater work He had for him to do.

While understanding that God is doing much more than we can comprehend in His hidden providence, when faced with the specific situations of our suffering brothers and sisters, we should obey His revealed precepts to do them all the good we can in love for them, not only easing their suffering if God so allows, but even also stopping their suffering if God so allows, realizing that in us doing that, if He allows, He is still providentially working out His specific plans for His specific people.

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it." (Proverbs 3:27 )

"If you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited. Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. If you say, “See, we did not know this,” does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?" (Proverbs 24:10–12)

​"If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?" (James 2:15–16)

And, yet, "momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:17–18)

So, in the mysterious correlation between God's hidden providence and revealed precepts, I believe we should, like Samuel told Saul, do what our hands find to do for our suffering brothers and sisters, as God is with us ​(1 Samuel 10:7).

CAN YOU BE FREE?

"Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that." (1 Corinthians 7:21) Paul's point is clear: Under God's sovereign hand providentially working in your life, if this opportunity comes to you, then take it, barring, of course, doing anything to compromise God's commandments and calling. Are we to limit this principle only to being a slave in that culture in that time? No, I don't think so.

I believe that we are to use any means, which do not muddy the mission and message of the Gospel, to help our brothers and sisters to escape persecution, and let God sort it all out as He sees fit. Some will be free, while some will be bound. Some will live, while some will die. Understanding that, if I can stop a brother from being shot for his faith, without compromising his faith, all the while being willing to be shot with him for our faith, then I will. And I will, even while another brother is shot for his faith, with no one having any opportunity to stop it. If I can sign a petition, like the one mentioned in the photo above, to get a sister out of prison, then I will do it, even while being aware that there may be another sister that never gets out of prison - just as the Apostle James was put to death by Herod, but after much prayer, Peter was released by an angel (Acts 12:1-17).

 A TIME AND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

Before the Nazarenes could throw Him down the cliff, Jesus walked right through the middle of them and left Nazareth, because that was not His time and place to die (Luke 4:29-30). While under a death sentence at Damascus, the Apostle Paul let his disciples, under the cover of darkness, lower him through a hole in the city wall, in a basket, for him to leave the city, because that was not his time and place to die (Acts 9:23-25). Both were willing to and did die in God's plan, but not before the time and place in God's plan.

Where our responsibilities meet God's sovereignty in His providence, we are to trust Him to have a time and place for our comfort and discomfort - our prosperity and suffering - our life and death. So, we do what He will have us do, where He will have us do it, no matter the cost, trusting Him to measure the cost, whether through natural means or no means of lessening the cost. We should be strategic with the sacrifices we make, where God allows us to. We see this all through the Bible. 

THE GENERAL RULE OF PERSECUTION VS. THE SPECIFIC TYPES OF PERSECUTION

"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:12)

“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me." (Matthew 5:11)

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." (Matthew 7:6)

“Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. (Matthew 10:14)

​Devotion to Jesus is deadly. As He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." (Luke 9:23) Westerners must grasp this, and I concede that most of us do not. We must die to a self-centered way of life, which is wrapped up in the comforts and philosophies of this world. This is necessary, because as a general rule, we will face a cost to living for Jesus in this world.

Many Westerners are truly living for Jesus and doing so with a cost. To borrow from a quote by D. James Kennedy, they may only ever face the raised eyebrow and never the raised fist, but that does not mean that their devotion is any less legitimate or less precious to Jesus. Jesus does not work out the cost of following Him the same way for everyone in this life, in the specific costs they pay.

We all live under the general rule of persecution. But we all will not face the same specific types of persecution.

Now, here I will quote Nik:

"After long days of interviewing, we often asked followers of Jesus in persecution what they learned from Western workers. They typically looked at one another and refused to respond.

"When we pressed them for an answer, they would reply, 'Western workers teach us to be afraid. Western workers teach us that it’s possible to follow Jesus only in safe places.'

"This is not simply a mistake. This is sin."

​I agree.

However, it is not a sin nor a mistake to say that it's okay to follow Jesus while being safe, as God allows, as long as being safe at the cost of following Jesus is not the point. Indeed, they should not be taught that their willingness to follow Jesus hinges on how painful it might be, but neither should they be taught that their willingness to follow Jesus can be gauged by the types and severity of pains they are enduring.

It is not okay for them to be obsessed with avoiding pain, but it is okay for their specific pains to be alleviated, and even for the specific sources of their pains to be annulled, if God allows it for them to press on in their mission with His message, perhaps even in another place, like we just saw with Jesus and Paul, who were not afraid nor consumed with comfort. It is perfectly appropriate for them to ask Jesus, "Are we just giving what is holy to dogs here and throwing pearls before swine? Before they trample our pearls and tear us to pieces, do You want us to shake the dust off our feet and move on (Matthew 10:14)?" He may impress them to stay for something they cannot see yet, or, He may impress them to go for something else to do yet. If they have no way to go, then that is an answer for the moment, but if they have a way to go, whether on their own or with help, then that can legitimately be looked at as an answer, as long as their consciences' are clear before God about their motivation in their unwavering devotion. We should not be criticized for trying to help, and they should not be criticized for taking our help, if we are convinced that the Lord has provided for the help.

If we have the resources to help our brothers and sisters that are facing the raised fist, then we should, without teaching them to be afraid or that they can only follow Jesus in a safe place. And, if in God's providence, while helping by His grace and heralding His Gospel, we end up under the raised fist with them, so be it. But, if in God's providence, while helping by His grace and heralding His Gospel, we escape the raised fist, so be it. We can help and herald at the same time. The two are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the help we offer may fortify what we herald: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

I could and may say more in response to Nik, but I will leave it at this for now: If I come up on Joseph in a hole in a field, I am going to try getting him out of that hole. If I see and can do something that will keep or get Joseph out of prison, then I will try getting him out of prison. If I am Joseph in that hole, and no one comes to help me out, then I hope that I can trust God for what He has planned beyond the hole. If I am Joseph in that prison, wrongfully accused and forgotten, then I hope I can trust God for what He has planned beyond the prison. Sometimes in God's plan, there is advancement with extraction, and sometimes in God's plan, there is advancement without extraction.

Let's help us all, and let God sort us out.

​I am certainly no celebrity. To talk about my platform is not to talk about much. I am a small presence on a small platform on the huge stage of the worldwide web. But…do I want to be a celebrity? That is a legitimate question for someone to ask me in keeping me accountable as to why I have my own website, the exposure of which I am intentionally growing on social media, as I share what I preach and write. Why am I sharing what I preach and write? My preaching and writing have been heard and seen across this country, as well as in other countries. Why do I want that? I hope that thinking through this with me will help you think through your own motivation (or lack of motivation) in stepping up to speak up about God.

Not too long ago, I wrote a piece entitled LISTEN TO YOUR UNIMPRESSIVE PASTOR, in which I expressed my concern about how enamored people in the church have become with celebrity pastors, in essence letting the social ministries of those well-known pastors eclipse the local ministries of their own pastors. However, am I only concerned about this because I am a local pastor whose ministry might be getting eclipsed? Would my concern fade if I myself rose to the status of a celebrity pastor?

Last month a well-known pastor was removed from his lead role in his church for “deep sin patterns”. A list of those patterns was offered in a letter of explanation written by his fellow pastors to their congregation. Ending the list was this pattern: “a history of building his identity through ministry and media platforms”.

“A history of building his identity” - those are convicting words to me because I don’t want to be guilty of that, and I am tempted to do exactly that. I will not whitewash the fact that I am fighting the fleshly impulse to turn a spotlight onto my intellect and abilities - to increase exposure of what I’m capable of. (And, of course, I have to honestly highlight the vanity in thinking that my capabilities should be exposed.) I like the idea of excelling and being recognized for it to the extent that my name is made a brand. And I hate that I do. In my spirit, I despise what I see in my flesh - the vanity I see in my heart - the impulse to build my identity.

Then why am I doing this? Why am I on this small platform of mine, putting myself through this particular battle?

Before I get to my reasons for building this online platform for my ministry, though, let me point this out: The battle with the temptation of self-promotion, to build one’s own identity in ministry, is not isolated to the internet. I face the same temptation in being a local pastor. Every pastor does. The pulpit of a church can be just as much of a platform for self-promotion as a website and social media sites. The only difference is in the scale of exposure. So to abandon an online extension of ministry is not an automatic victory over the temptation to build one’s own identity. We face that temptation on any platform at any level of public exposure. To completely avoid it, we would have to isolate ourselves in absolute obscurity and anonymity, which would not fit Paul’s instruction to Timothy:

Too many confuse and substitute being nice for being courteous. They are not the same thing. Some of the nicest people in the world will not carry on a courteous, substantive conversation beyond the exchange of polite pleasantries. Some of the nicest people do not courteously return phone calls or answer emails as needed, if ever. Some uncourteously answer uncomfortable questions with gestures or generalities to avoid getting into what they see as, and what may be, difficult issues. Some uncourteously have very little, if any, awareness of how their words and actions are affecting others. (And some Christians are neither nice nor courteous. They tend to just be flat rude all the way around.)

One way in which I have experienced the starkest lack of courtesy is in dealing with pastor search committees. In my experience, the vast majority of them have responded to my resume submission with only dead silence, offering no acknowledgments or updates, giving no consideration to the life-shaping decisions I am making. (And I know I am not alone in this, because I have heard the same complaint from other pastors.) I have no doubt that many people on search committees think that they can’t be expected to answer every resume. My response? Yes, you can. Look beyond the paper and ink, and see your brother in Christ who has other options to consider, as well as a family to take care of. Appreciate him, acknowledge him, and update him, especially if you are not going to consider him for your next pastor.

Courtesy should not be seen as a fringe issue. It is central in what we call the Golden Rule from Jesus: "Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them" (Luke 6:31 HCSB). Of course, we know that is just Jesus’ different way of stating what He says is the second greatest commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31 HCSB). So, as I want my phone calls returned and emails answered in a timely manner, I should do so for you as an act of love. As I want your full attention on an important issue I might need to discuss with you, I should give mine to you as an act of love. As I want acknowledged in making contact and updated in making decisions, I should do so for you as an act of love. For whoever does not instinctively understand this, we need to make this part of basic discipleship.

I have gotten the sense from some that we should be giving each other a pass on this - that we should be more relaxed with each other on this issue, not expecting as much effort put into it as we might put into it with outsiders. This reminds me of the way some people drop their manners when they walk in the front doors of their homes, thinking of them as mere formalities to be used with everyone but their families. The fact is that my wife should be able to expect me to treat her better than I do anyone else. Likewise, we brothers and sisters in Christ should reserve the highest level of courtesy for each other.

By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
​~Jesus (John 13:35 HCSB)

I am a pastor. Whether I am impressive or not is not for me to say. "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;/A stranger, and not your own lips." (Proverbs 27:2, NASB) But for someone who might want to say, it is reasonable for me to ask by what standard I will be critiqued. To whom will I be compared? How will it be decided whether I’m impressive or unimpressive? -By a set of objective characteristics or by subjective impressions?

There are pastors that are so impressive to so many that they have been raised up to a celebrity-like status in the church, and even in our society. Every time they take to the pulpit or take up their pens, thousands to millions of people are eagerly waiting for the next word they will speak or write. (As I’ve said elsewhere, some of them are deemed so quote-worthy that they could say “See Spot run,” and it would be plastered in memes all over social media.) Their ministry spheres of influence have gone national and global. Now, I am not begrudging them this joyful and fruitful season of ministry (except for the wolves in sheep’s clothing). It is not for me to decide how large their spheres of influence should be. Let God use them as He sees fit. (I am grateful to Him for how He has used R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, John Piper, and others in developing me.) But I am concerned about how enamored with "big-name" pastors people in the church have become.
 
There is a global church, but there is not a global congregation. In building His church, the Lord is gathering His reborn and redeemed into local congregations, and He is calling pastors to care for and lead them at the local level. I am concerned about the extent to which the local ministries of simple pastors are being eclipsed by the social ministries of “celebrity” pastors. I can’t help but wonder how many people this very week have forgotten last Sunday’s messages from their own pastors while watching, reading, and posting the sermons, blog posts, and quotes of their favorite big-name pastors. How many people are constantly (perhaps even unconsciously) comparing their “small” pastors to their favorite “big” pastors - contrasting their appearance, pulpit presence, and preaching?
 
Maybe you are not too impressed with your pastor. Maybe he doesn’t light the room and your heart on fire. Maybe his preaching seems to smolder rather than burn for you. If that’s the case, I hope you will ask God to help you think about him with a fresh, biblical perspective on his place in your life. If God has truly called him, then He has called him to speak His Word into your life as one who lives with you and knows you - as one who will walk with you through the good and bad seasons and situations of your life - which will probably never be true of your favorite big-name pastor. Let me suggest that you take at least a month and listen to no one but your pastor. Freshly and prayerfully focus on his messages. Write down things he says that you can go back to later in the week - or even ask him for his sermon notes. Listen to your unimpressive pastor, and you might be surprised at how he starts to impress you.

Planned Parenthood aborts fetuses. That is the clinical, sterile language they want us to use, but I refuse. They kill babies. No, that's still not the right way to put it. They murder babies. With foresight, planning, and for profit, they exterminate the lives of tiny human beings. That is murder. No, not by our current legal standard, but by the objective moral standard demanded by the unique value of human life and dictated by the God who created us. Make no mistake about it, every Planned Parenthood official and employee that faces God apart from the redeeming mercy of Jesus Christ, will be judged by His Sixth Commandment: You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13).

Planned Parenthood murders babies. But that's not all. They dissect and sell baby body parts - brains, hearts, lungs, etc. - whatever the customer requires, and, again, for a profit.

CALL TO ACTION
CALL OR EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES TO DEMAND THE DEFUNDING OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD SO THAT NO MORE OF OUR TAX DOLLARS GO TO SUPPORT THEM

Psalm 106:37–38
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with the blood. 
(NASB) 

The man stood cradling his baby sister at the edge of the cold river water lapping up on the concrete steps. He was sobbing over her in deep regret over what he thought he had to do to cover up his Russian-mob-boss father's rape of a fourteen-year-old girl. As he hesitated in his anguish, the emerging hero of the movie comes gingerly down the steps behind him, pleading for the baby's life. As the hero slowly approaches, he presses his fingertips together and says softly, "We don't kill babies." (The fourteen-year-old girl would have appreciated his appeal - she sacrificed her own life to save the life of her baby.)

In that movie, a baby girl was saved, because stone-cold killers had a line they would not cross. In America today, thousands of baby boys and girls will be lost, because ordinary citizens cross that line every day. We do kill babies.

The time of wide-spread ignorance has passed. Gone are the days of collective confusion about what goes on in the womb. Incredible and accessible technology has given us on-demand, amazing views of what God is doing to fearfully and wonderfully make a tiny human being in His own image (see Psalm 139). While there are still many individual young ladies and young men that have not been sufficiently educated, all that are in education, the abortion industry, and the medical field know that, from conception to birth, a distinct, unique human being is growing in his or her mother’s womb, whether they attribute personhood to that human being or not (which is strictly a bias, ideological, subjective determination of value, not a biological, existential, objective determination of a shift in being). They know that an abortion is always killing a human baby.

In 1973, this nation crossed a morally reprehensible line when our Supreme Court legally threaded abortion - the killing of babies - into our social fabric. They made it part of who we are. At that point, we became a nation that kills babies. Lord willing, may the day come when we collectively, morally and legally repent, and say together to one another and the world, “We don't kill babies.”

If you reside in Oklahoma, are pregnant and need help, here is a link to find a pregnancy help center: Oklahomans for Life. If you have had an abortion and are suffering under the guilt of killing your baby, please contact us so that we can share with you the grace and truth of God's forgiveness in His love for you.

Baby Photo Copyright: http://www.123rf.com/profile_timelessphotoart

I understand that this kind of series will not tend to spark a lot of enthusiasm. This is not one of those series in the Bible that people are going to flock to hear. But I want to tell you why it should give us some real enthusiasm - I want to tell you why we should love this series - because Jesus loves His church. 

Jesus loves His church.

We sing that simple, little song and teach it to our children: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Well, Jesus loves His church, we know, because the Bible tells us so.

Will you stop and think about that for just a second? How does Jesus feel about His church? In His infinite heart, how does He feel about His church? In His infinite mind, what does He think about His church? He loves His church. He loves us.

And we love Jesus.

So, anytime we come to the Bible to look at things regarding us as the church, we should find enthusiasm in that truth - that Jesus loves His church. God has put these things in the Bible, about what it means to be a church, because He loves His church. Because of that - because of your love for Him - I hope you will love this series.