Tag Archives: standing for Truth

Martyred

Leave a reply

2 Corinthians 10

We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against the powers of evil. Paul tells us the weapons God gives us are powerful for the demolition of strongholds. “We demolish arguments…” (vs 4b)

No one used those weapons better than Charlie Kirk. He wielded the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, wearing the belt of truth as he talked to millions of young people on college campuses. He understood the fight wasn’t physical. He didn’t call for violence against people who disagreed. But he demolished his share of strongholds. He demolished arguments with simple, yet powerful truth.

What we learned this week is that the weapons of God don’t stop bullets. This young man was assassinated – yes, it’s assumed for his political views. But let’s not forget his political views were grounded on the truth of God’s Word. Charlie wasn’t afraid to make that abundantly clear.

Satan didn’t care if Charlie was a Republican. Satan cared that Charlie was a vocal Christian fighting, and winning, the war between truth and lies.

We Christians mourn the man, the father and husband, the Christian, the warrior. It’s hard to fathom that God allowed Charlie’s life on earth to end when we see so much more he could have done. But we aren’t God.

Charlie will be remembered as a martyr. A martyr is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, “one who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles; one who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.” The truth is, Charlie knew the risks. He went willingly to Utah to further his belief, cause, and principles.

And, according to the Scriptures, Charlie has heard those precious words: “Well done, Charlie. Enter your reward.” Charlie’s life has just begun.

So the question is, how far am I willing to go to further my beliefs, cause, and principals? I believe Jesus is the only way to the Father. I believe without God’s saving grace on a repentant sinner, the end is an eternity separate from God with more pain than I or anyone can imagine. I believe the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation, and apart from Scripture there is no truth.

Now what?

I’ve got some soul-searching to do. I thank God for the life and example of Charlie Kirk. I’ve followed his ministry for several years and as someone who is decades older than those Charlie ministered to, he has influenced my own way of thinking about certain things. But is a change in the way I think enough?

I pray that I, that we as fellow believers in Jesus, will carry on the fight with the same fervor and commitment to God as Charlie had. Satan took out one man. Let’s return fire with all of us wielding the weapons of God to carry on the fight against evil. Are you willing? Am I? The war isn’t over.

Weird

Leave a reply

Ezekiel 3-4; Jeremiah 27-28

The label “weird” is being thrown out a lot lately in the political arena. No one likes to be thought of as weird. It’s a term that is intended to make you think something is wrong with you. That you don’t fit it. That you should be ashamed.

When I read about the Old Testament prophets, I have to think many were considered “weird” by the people around them. I mean, making a model of the city, putting a frying pan up as a barrier, then lying beside it on your side for a year and a half is weird. Going around with a yoke around your neck is weird. Reading God’s Word aloud in a public setting, then tying a rock to it and throwing it into the water is weird.

Elijah, Elisha, all the way up to the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist were all kind of weird. But their weirdness was obedience to God to point people to the truth. God revealed Himself in dramatic fashion through the obedience of these precious weird-os.

So what do people see when they look at you? Do they see someone who looks and acts just like a non-believer? Do they see someone who fits in, plays it safe, doesn’t stand out as a child of God?

Or are you weird because you are obedient to your Lord? It might seem weird to shine your light in a world that is more comfortable in the dark. But isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?

The world’s definition of “weird” IS WEIRD!

I hope you are weird.

Living Our Faith

Leave a reply

Acts 14, James 1-2

James tells us trials and hardships are blessings. They grow us into people who demonstrate their faith in God by what we do. I love how the Bible teaches us through words, and also demonstrates the Truth through the actions of real people.

Like Paul in Acts 14. He was stoned and left for dead because he preached Jesus. He didn’t die. Instead, he got up and walked back into the city where the people who tried to kill him were. He then left that city and continued preaching Jesus in surrounding cities. Then, and this is where I see the truth of James’ words, Paul went back to Antioch so he could preach there again.

His example speaks to what James says. Opposition to the Gospel should not silence us. It should embolden us, make us stronger, more determined to share the Good News to the people who obviously need Him.

If we claim to have faith in God, our actions ought to demonstrate that. Paul didn’t run from opposition. He ran right into its midst – twice! That is faith demonstrated. That is living faith.

Let us live our faith today!

Woe To Us All

Leave a reply

Luke 11

I know I probably comment on this every year when I get to this passage in God’s Word. But Jesus’ response to the lawyers’ hurt feelings is something we ought to emulate.

The lawyers didn’t object to Jesus hammering the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. But the truth of what Jesus was saying was hitting a bit too close to home for the lawyers. The lawyers, at least in their own minds, weren’t as bad as the Pharisees and they wanted to be sure Jesus made that distinction.

“Jesus, you’re starting to hurt our feelings with your ‘Woe to’s’ toward the Pharisees. We’re beginning to feel a bit threatened, unsafe, disrespected, misidentified.”

Jesus answers, “Oh, I’m sorry. Woe to you, lawyers…” and just so there would be no confusion Jesus began hammering them for their own sins. He didn’t coddle them, didn’t find them a safe place, or encourage them to stand strong, be proud, be who they were meant to be. “YOU ARE SINNERS,” He told them.

Do you honestly think Jesus would say to a man pretending to be a woman and upset because Jesus “misgendered” him, “Oh, I’m sorry, Ma’am. Sit here and let me do your nails?” No! He would say to that man, “YOU. ARE. NOT. A. WOMAN.”

The lawyers thought they weren’t as bad as the Pharisees. Today some men think they are women, some women think they are men, some people think they are cats. It doesn’t matter what you think!

Hear God say, “Woe to you.” And you know what? I think it’s time Christians did the same. So here goes. Sorry, not sorry.

XX will always be XX. XY will always be XY.
No one can change the binary gender God created: male OR female.
A male is a “he.” A female is a “she.: “They” is plural.
Woman are designed by God to carry a developing human in their wombs. Woman (not birthing persons) have babies. Men do not. Cannot.
Abortion is murder. Life begins at conception. God knew that person BEFORE he or she was planted in the mother’s womb. To end that life is murder.
There is objective truth.. There is right and wrong, good and bad, black and white.
There is truth, and there is opinion. They are not the same. And I will not pretend “your truth” is anything other than your opinion.

Call me what you want. Call me bigoted, hateful, intolerant, deplorable. I don’t care. Show me in the Bible where I’m wrong. Woe to all of us who deny what God has revealed in His Word.

Now, before you think I’m condemning anyone to hell, let me remind you what else God’s Word has to say.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Jesus died on the cross to buy your freedom from sin and mine, to break the chains of sin, to forgive us for our sins, to make us the righteousness of God. There isn’t anyone reading this post who cannot be saved. Show me in the Bible where I’m wrong.

What I’ve said here is not hate. In fact, I can honestly say I love you enough to be truthful with you. Jesus loved those lawyers enough to confront their sin. It would be hateful to go along with anyone’s sin, because sin separates us from God now, and in eternity. My friend, my heart’s desire is that you experience the Truth of God’s Word today; whether for the first time, or with a revived energy for proclaiming the Truth. Woe to us if we don’t.

A Wall of Righteousness

Leave a reply

Ezekiel 22:30-31

I don’t know many people who would say they believe the US is on a healthy trajectory, whether monetarily, morally, or spiritually. Evil is called good. The economy is in the tank. The number of people who profess to be Bible believing Christians is dwindling, and what is scary is that some people think that’s a good thing.

A nation established under God has rejected Him. So we should not be surprised at what is happening here. Are we looking at the end?

God, through the prophet Ezekiel, told Israel why they were facing their own destruction. It was clearly God’s judgment for their unrepentant sin.

But God said something that made me think about our situation in 2022. He said:

I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. (Ezekiel 22:30-31)

A wall of righteousness that guards the land.

For 200 years the USA was blessed beyond any other nation in the world. Oh, it wasn’t perfect. But there was something different about this country that made it stand out. I believe it was a wall of righteousness; a core group of God-fearing believers who worshiped God and, because of their relationship with God, they prayed, read the Bible, and weren’t ashamed to call on God in private and in public.

I believe it was a wall of believers wearing Jesus’ righteousness that guarded the USA.

Oh, you can try to erase our spiritual history, deny the intent of our Founding Fathers. You can be foolish (or woke, which is the same thing in my book), and deny God’s grace and mercy on this land. But the truth is – America enjoyed years of prosperity and peace as a direct result of our dependance on God.

Somewhere along the way a crack appeared in the wall. But instead of repairing it, we ignored it, accepted it. It didn’t stay a crack, did it? It became a gaping hole which grew until the wall began to crumble. Is there any portion of the wall still standing today?

Dear Christian, if we want to see this amazing country of ours survive, we have got to rebuild the wall! You and I need to not just wear the righteousness of Jesus in the privacy of our own homes. We need to flaunt it. We need to wear it loud and proud.

I AM A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN!

I STAND FOR THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE!

I PRAY. I WORSHIP GOD ALONE.

I CHOOSE HOLINESS!

I FOLLOW JESUS AND WANT YOU TO FOLLOW HIM, TOO!

Can we join hands and hearts and pray for each other, our political leaders, our schools, our churches, our neighbors? Can we humble ourselves and pray God’s will be done in our own hearts, as well as in our country?

God was looking for SOMEONE to stand in the gap. Could that someone be you? I’m afraid if we don’t repair the wall of righteousness to guard this land, our future might look like that of Israel in the Old Testament.

Build the wall! It’s not too late.

Where Does It Lead?

Leave a reply

Jeremiah 2

We who have submitted to God and accepted His grace at the foot of the cross are no longer slaves to sin. God broke the yoke that oppressed us. (vs 20a). We are forgiven and free to serve and worship the God we love, because of the blood of Jesus.

Yet we see throughout the Bible examples of God’s people who try to worship God and worship idols at the same time. We see them making compromises, like not tearing down the Asherah poles and deciding to use those to worship God. Seems harmless enough. But it wasn’t harmless. No compromise is.

And compromises (God calls sin) are judged.

I think God might have something to say to His 21st Century people today. Are we compromising ourselves into judgment?

“We can bring Bethel or Hillsong praise music into our sanctuaries, and not agree with their theology.”

“We can embrace homosexuals, and welcome them into our fellowships without necessarily condoning homosexuality.”

“We can rewrite the Bible to eliminate the gender specific wording of the original, and still call it God’s Word.”

We can keep the Asherah poles, and hold our worship services there. We can align with the enemy, and still call on God to help us.

In order to make a compromise, you must turn (even slightly) away from that which is right and true. In the spiritual sense, a compromise is an ever so tiny step away from the holiness of our God.

Where does that lead?

What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt, and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River? Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken! (verses 18-19)

To Be Like Jesus

Leave a reply

1 Kings 2

In our love-crazed, tolerant, accepting, empathic world of 2022, it’s hard to read about Solomon’s handling of law breakers. His execution of his brother Adonijah for simply wanting to get married, and the executions of Joab and Shimei, may seem unnecessarily harsh.

But Solomon, as the hands of God, pronounced judgment on those who defied God. Adonijah’s request for a wife came from a rebellious heart. His rebellion led to his death sentence. Joab was an unrepentant murderer, and Shimei had sinned against God’s anointed, King David, then defied King Solomon’s grace. None of them were innocent.

There’s a lesson here. When it comes to sin, God may be patient, but that doesn’t mean He turns a blind eye to sin. I believe God views sin much more seriously than any of us realize. And I think that’s a problem.

Of course, God doesn’t zap us the first time we sin. On the contrary, when we sin we feel remorse, guilt. We come under the lovingly convicting hand of God who wants us to repent of sin and accept His forgiveness. He doesn’t execute the guilty immediately.

In fact, God executed His own Son so the guilty can go free and never suffer the death penalty our sin deserves.

There are certain buzz-words going around these days, even proclaimed by some preachers and Bible teachers, and used by Satan to make Christians feel guilty for taking a stand against sin in any form. Those buzz-words are: Empathy. Tolerance. Love. Acceptance.

“If only we would put ourselves in one another’s shoes.” “If only we would be tolerant of other people’s beliefs and actions.” “If only we would love everybody.” “If only we would just accept all people as equals before God.”

Sounds Christian. But is it?

As I was preparing for this week’s Sunday School lesson, I read something that has stuck with me. So often today we are told to use Jesus as our example of love, empathy, tolerance, and acceptance. And I agree.

But too many people are twisting Jesus’s life and ministry on Earth to be something it was not. The fact is, Jesus did NOT accept everyone. He came down hard on some. And, although He IS love, that love sent Him to the cross because of the serious consequences of sin. It didn’t simply erase sin. Jesus’ love paid a high price for the forgiveness of sin available for anyone who will receive it.

So this week I read someone who said something like: I want to be as tolerant of sin as Jesus was – and He never tolerated sin.

Chew on that for a minute.

If Jesus is our example, we will love each other enough to be honest about sin, and the serious consequences of sin. If Jesus is our example we will not tolerate sin, but rather point the sinner to the Savior, to their only hope.

Solomon’s death sentence for the three men I read about this morning may seem harsh. But I’m telling you it is not as harsh as the sentence God imparted on them after they died.

To be like Jesus is to take sin and the consequences for sin very, very seriously.

Wisdom and Understanding (Colossians)

Leave a reply

In these days when lies are declared truth, and madness applauded as sanity, we need to be reminded of a few things.

Paul said:

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. (2:2-4)

I, too, want to encourage you in heart and unite with you in love so that we can have complete understanding. I pray that we will know the mystery of God – Jesus! Because only in Jesus will we discover real wisdom and understanding.

And I, with Paul, want us to be grounded in the truth which is Jesus, so that we’ll recognize – and reject – the deceptive arguments being touted by the world’s authorities today. They not only speak lies, but they would make us feel guilty, intolerant, bigoted, selfish, and deplorable if we dare not go along with them in their lies. Can you see it?

Paul tells us who have received Christ as Savior to:

,,,continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (2:6-7)

We have to grow our roots deep in Him! We need to read His Word, spend time in prayer, intentionally walk with Him every moment of the day. We need to believe and hold on to what He has revealed to us in Scripture.

Then listen to this word of warning:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (2:8)

Who are you listening to?

Paul goes on. We need to clothe ourselves “with compassion, kindness humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (3:12-14)

We Christians should not be fighting amongst ourselves over petty grievances. The world needs to see what a difference Jesus makes in our lives. They don’t need to see us acting like them, or in some cases, worse than them!

Now why is this so important? Is it so you and I can get our ticket to heaven? Paul says this:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (4:2)

What should we watch for? What do we have to be thankful for?

…that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ... loudly and clearly! (from 4:2-4)

Paul encourages us to make the most out of every opportunity that comes our way to share Jesus with someone who is lost. Jesus is a mystery to those who don’t know Him. It’s up to us to help them solve the mystery by introducing them to the Savior.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (4:6)

People are believing the lies. Even some who call themselves Christians are falling for it. “A man is not a male unless he feels like a male.” “You can’t help who you love.” “Life begins with birth so that which is in the womb is not life.” “A woman should have say over what she does with her body.” “Truth is subjective.” “Faith is a crutch.” “All roads lead to heaven.” “God is love so He accepts everyone.”

LIES! But they are lies that have become a false truth to many. And woe to you who don’t agree with them.

I hope you’ll read Paul’s letter to the Colossians today. There is so much in here for us Christians in 2020. Let’s know what God has revealed in His Word, and let’s stand firm on that foundation. Let’s proclaim the Truth of Jesus loudly and clearly, and let’s never miss an opportunity to introduce a lost soul to their Savior.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (3:17)