Your Safe Place!

Dear Friends,

Heavy rain pounds the roof. Lightning strikes are hitting the ridge on the hills just a half mile away and my wood-frame house shakes and shudders with each resounding percussive blast of thunder. Now the lightning and thunder occur at the same moment. It’s directly overhead and so violent I wonder if my windows will shatter. 

My three cats have gathered together under my bed. They’ve set aside their petty territorial battles over litter boxes and the ownership of catnip-filled “mice” and they now huddle together in safety. There’s a direct lightning strike a half block away and the sound of an explosion. It feels like a giant fist is pounding the house with each thunderclap. But the three lads have found a safe place under the bed – a place where the fiercest, scariest storms cannot reach them. A few minutes before, the first explosive thunderclap had sent them frantically tearing around the house in a panic, but now in the sanctuary beneath the bed, all three are calming down as they stretch out to relax and wait out the storm.

We saw last week that one of the secrets to successfully negotiating this journey we call “life” is to expect the unexpected. To expect to be lost. Expect to encounter hardship and tribulation. The storms of life, like our recent winter storms, are guaranteed to happen. Expect them. Prepare for them. For the winter storms, you may need tarps or sand bags. For the storms of life, you need God. 

Where do you go when the storms of life hit? When you’re experiencing anxiety, uncertainty and fear that may seem overwhelming at times? When it seems like all hell is breaking loose in your personal world and misfortune or evil is raining down on you, where do you find your sanctuary? Where is your safe place?

Several years ago, during a church service, everyone was given a blank 3x5 card and asked to write down their favorite praise and worship songs that we sing on Sunday. We had a church list of nearly two hundred songs so I thought everyone’s personal list would be completely different. I was surprised to see that the majority of those in our congregation had named “HERE IN THE SHADOW” as their top favorite. If you never went to our church, you’ve probably not heard this song. It was written by a songwriter-worship leader, Shannon Wexelberg, is based on Psalm 17:6-8 and some of the lyrics are: Here in the shadow.. Here in the shadow of Your wings.. Here in the shadow.. I will rest here Father.. I won’t fear tomorrow.. I will rest here Father.. You are my peace. 

I shouldn’t have been surprised that this had become one of the most beloved songs in our church because it so well describes our own sanctuary during the storms of life.

In the Old Testament, we read that Saul had loved David like a son, but when God rejected Saul and chose David to be the king, Saul flew into a jealous rage and vowed to kill David. Fleeing in fear of losing his life, David hid in a cave and wrote these words: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to You for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me. He will send help from heaven to rescue me, disgracing those who hound me. My God will send forth His unfailing love and faithfulness.” Psalm 57:1-3 NLT One translation says, “in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until the ruinous storm passes by."

When the storms of life will hit, we need to run to our own safe place. We may not fit under the bed, but we fit under the shadow of His wings. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. For He will rescue you from every trap.. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection...” Psalm 91:1-6 NLT 

Here in the shadow.. Here in the shadow of Your wings..

Here in the shadow.. I will rest here Father..

I won’t fear tomorrow..

I will rest here Father..

You are my peace.

Our Bible tells us that when we run to God, we will find sanctuary in the shelter of His wings. Psalm 61:4 NLT He invites us to rest there trusting in Him and we know that no matter how hard life’s circumstances rain down upon us, it will pass. It’s guaranteed that we will encounter the storms of life. It is also guaranteed that they will come to an end. You have survived every misfortune in your life – perhaps some terrifying or heart-breaking ones. And no matter what circumstances and calamities you may encounter in 2023, God will provide shelter from your storms and He will also bring them to an end. In every storm I’ve ever been in, the rain eventually stopped. I’m thinking that’s true for you also.

Three hours after my house was battered by that morning thunderstorm, the skies were calm. The sun was shining through patches of white clouds and rain drops on the olive tree leaves sparkled in the sunlight. Sean was now contentedly chowing down his missed breakfast while Cody and Luke were arguing over a catnip mouse. The thunderstorm was over. All was well again. God is good.

Is The Attack On The Cross A Good Thing?

Dear Friends,

Stephen Colbert once famously said, “What do liberal Democrats and vampires have in common? They both scream when they see the cross!” It’s the most powerful symbol in the world. It’s been the most recognized, the most revered, the most feared and the most hated symbol for the past 2,000 years of world history. It’s the cross. And it’s under attack.

A Kentucky librarian is fired for wearing a cross because the library dress code prohibits the wearing of “potentially offensive items.” A nurse is disciplined and reassigned for refusing to stop wearing the cross she had worn at that hospital for thirty years. A student worker is fired from a university bookstore for wearing a cross. A television anchorwoman is fired for the same reason. A man and his family were ordered to leave a restaurant because he was wearing a cross that “violated its dress code.” A Target store fires a woman employee because she refused to remove or hide a Christian cross on a necklace that was visible to customers. In New York, atheists sue to prevent the display of steel beams that had been welded into the shape of a cross by the horrific fires during the World Trade Center terrorist attack. The U.S. Army removes all crosses from chapels after the Pentagon determines that the cross is offensive and violates military regulations.

Around the world, the communist military in China demolishes all crosses that are visible on churches. In Muslim countries, those who wear a cross are beaten and often killed. In Great Britain, the government has said that Christians have no right to wear a cross at work, and in our own country, the American Atheists organization has the support from progressive liberals to prohibit all crosses that are in view of the public. 

And Martin Luther prophetically said that “when the cross is abolished, and the rage of tyrants and heretics ceases on the one side, and all things are in peace, this is a sure token that the pure doctrine of God’s Word is taken away.” I agree with the German Reformer and that’s why I’m personally okay with this attack on the cross, the recent attacks on Bible-believing churches and the attacks on our Christian faith. This recent onslaught of hatred by atheists, progressive liberals, educators, and too many politicians is the evidence that we are being faithful to Scripture. As Luther said, when the rage of those who attack Christians subsides, and they leave us alone, that’s the red flag warning that we have compromised the Gospel message and are not being true to the offense of the cross.

“When the cross is abolished, and the rage of tyrants and heretics ceases on the one side, and all things are in peace, this is a sure token that the pure doctrine of God’s Word is taken away.”

The increasingly frequent and hate-filled attacks on the cross testify to the power and meaning of the cross. In the ancient church, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the crosses’ historical meaning as an instrument of torture and death was inverted to epitomize glorification and eternal life. Symbols trigger the memory of what they represent and the cross arouses in our hearts the reality of God incarnate in the Son. The cross is prayer without words. The cross is a symbol of our obedience on our spiritual journey to follow Christ. The very image of the cross invites the grace of God. Just a glimpse of the cross focuses our thoughts on God and takes us into His presence. 

The cross is not just a horizontal piece of material fastened to a vertical piece. In my Episcopal church, we genuflected before the cross. The cross represents something holy. Something sacred. It represents the triune God. And, as such, the cross is the ultimate expression of our faith. When we hang that cross on our living room wall, over our bed or wear a small cross around our neck, we signify to others that we live our life under the seal of the cross.

The image of the cross also transports us to the end of human history. In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus to tell them what will be the sign of Him coming and of the end of the age. And Jesus tells them that the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. Matthew 24:30 The early church believed that the “sign” Jesus spoke of would be the symbol of the cross. 

It is in the cross that the body of Christ becomes united and spiritually solidified. It’s magnificent and mounted high on the wall of the persecuted Coptic church in Egypt. In Nigeria, two crude sticks are nailed together on the wall of a church that’s made entirely from salvaged shipping crates. A gold-gilded Crucifix in a Catholic Cathedral and a plain, simple wooden cross at the front of a little country Baptist church. Different denominations, different doctrine, conflicting traditions but reaching across those theological divides to stand united under the cross of the risen Christ. That’s 2.18 billion Christians today whose hearts have been knitted together as one by the cross of Jesus Christ. That’s the power of the cross. Amen?

Fear Not Tomorrow!

Dear Friends,

When I worked in Glendale I took my Tahoe to a small family-owned place that just did oil changes and routine servicing on vehicles. There was no rack that lifted up the vehicle and instead, you drove your car over a long narrow concrete pit. A mechanic worked in the pit draining the oil, tightening and lubricating things while two other mechanics worked on your car at ground level. The first time I used this place, as I stopped over the pit and got out of my car, I heard a deep voice with an Armenian accent booming out from below, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” I laughed and said, “You know your Bible!” He had seen my license place HEBW 138 and knew the scripture. The disembodied voice and I had a conversation and we found that for both of us it was one of our favorite verses. For years I had my car serviced there, and every time I stopped over the pit, the employees, customers and passersby on the sidewalk heard the thundering deep voice echoing from below, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!” 

We’ve just come out of a stressful, tiring year highlighted with Covid, masks, lost jobs, diminishing incomes, lock-downs, crime, riots, politics, and a “woke” progressive culture which determined in 2021 that all White people are racists and white supremacists. Politicians and the media predicted just a few weeks ago that we are in a “winter of severe illness and death” and that the expected result of the 2022 elections will end democracy in America as we know it! With this doom and gloom, it’s no surprise that last month the CDC reported a significant increase of mental health issues (anxiety and depression) in our Nation. We are overwhelmed with negative news; and worse, some of us this past year have suffered severe illness and the illness and deaths of loved ones. But if 2021 was a bleak year for you, know that this year is a year of new beginnings and God’s light will shine in the darkness! John 1:5 

If we find ourselves dragging our anxieties and fears along with us as we step from 2021 into 2022, we need to grab on to Hebrews 13:8 and hold on tight. The only guarantees we will have in 2022 is that things will change. Nothing ever stays the same. Things in our Nation will become better or worse depending on your perspective from where you sit in the red pews or the blue pews. Things in your personal life will change. 365 days from now, you will not be the exact same person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Growth and loss. Things a little different a year later. 

We change, circumstances change, the world changes. But there is someOne who is immutable and unchanging and He’s the One in whom we put our trust. He does not and cannot change. He truly is exactly the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus Christ has been by your side from the moment you took your first breath, He is with you right now, and He will be with you, not just tomorrow, but for all eternity.

Ten years ago I came across an obscure worship song that I taught to my church. Called FEAR NOT TOMORROW it was written by a worship leader in a church which released it on an album of their own music and the chorus goes: “Fear not tomorrow, God is already there...” Isn’t it funny how just a few words of God’s truth can change your whole perspective on something? Somewhat ironically, we can become overwhelmed with gratitude when we look back at our life to see that God has brought us through all the worst things that have ever happened to us, and yet we don’t trust Him to bring us through our tomorrows. And, have you noticed how it’s never our past that scares us, it’s always our future? It’s never the known of our yesterday that weakens our knees, it’s always the uncertainty of tomorrow. And your uncertainty about the changes that life will bring becomes a fear of your future when you have no trust that your timeless God is already sitting there in your tomorrow and waiting for you.

There’s a story of the night that a house caught fire and a young boy escaped the flames by crawling out of his second-story bedroom window and onto the roof. The rest of the family had already escaped through the front door, and now the father was on the front lawn calling to his son to jump off the roof and into his arms. The boy was terrified. With the swirling smoke and the darkness of the night, he was unable to see past the edge of the roof. “Jump!” yelled the father. “I can’t!” screamed the boy, “I can’t see you!!” The father replied, “I know son, but I can see you and that’s all that matters.” And the boy jumped safely into his father’s arms.

Even when we can’t see God in our circumstances, we know and trust that He’s there and when the darkness of fear swirls around us, our faith is what reveals the unseen presence of God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 So let us jump into the uncertainties of 2022 with faith knowing that God is already waiting for us with open arms. AMEN?

Critical Race Theory and the Bible

The man on the left is named John. The man on the right is named John. These two guys became good friends and as close as brothers this year. John and I both have laughed at how much alike we are in our beliefs, values, personalities and in even our obsessions and perfectionistic behaviors that most certainly drive our loved ones nuts. Among what we share in common, most importantly, is that we both fervently love the Lord our God with all our heart and we try hard to love our neighbor as ourselves. What’s so interesting about our similarities as we’ve matured in the Lord and become the men He’s destined us to be is that our life experiences are so completely different. One of us was born and raised in Virginia and is just a few generations from family members who were slaves. The other one of us was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles. But based not on our past experiences, but on our current similarities, I call John my “doppelgänger” meaning a person who is a near clone of another. By strict definition, a “doppelgänger” means that the other looks like you do and if you look closely at the above photo you’ll see that there’s a difference between the two of us in our physical appearance. And there’s the problem... 

Because elite liberals who make the decisions about what our American culture needs to believe, tell us that the man on the right, because of his skin color, is the “oppressor” of the man on the left who is the “oppressed.” If you live in California, that concept will be taught to your children or grandchildren if they attend public schools. In order to appear “woke,” companies across America are rushing to send employees to training seminars on this philosophy and if you attend a liberal mainline church, that may be preached from the pulpit. It’s called “Critical Race Theory.”

CRITICAL RACE THEORY (CRT) tells me that any similarities between these two men are insignificant and trivial because John with the darker colored skin tone will always be the victim of John with the lighter colored skin. CRT also tells me that because I believe and preach the Word of God that John and I are equal, that’s “hate speech” and absolute proof that I’m a white supremacist. CRT tells me that there is nothing equal about John and me. The Bible tells me that we are equal in every way. The Law of Non-Contradiction tells us that Critical Race Theory and the Word of God cannot both be correct. Only one can be true.

CRT teaches that America is a fundamentally flawed and racist country and all our institutions are inherently systemically racist. That includes the Christian church because its doctrine was determined by white European males and therefore the church is rooted in systemic racism. All schools are rooted in white supremacy. The goal of CRT is to liberate the oppressed by removing power from Whites in order to dismantle structural racism. The tool used is Social Justice activism that replaces Biblical equality with Marxist equity meaning that Whites must now be intentionally discriminated against in order to transfer their power and privilege to non-Whites.

CRT does help us to think about
the complexities of racism,

acknowledge our Country’s part in it

and perhaps our own

more personal sins of racism. 

But what is dividing and creating tension, anger and hatred in our Country today is the fundamentally divisive CRT teaching that there are only two groups in society, the oppressors and the oppressed. Those born White have an embedded White Privilege that is all pervasive and permanent and, as such, all Whites are racists. 

What is most disturbing about CRT is that we are regressing back to the earlier days of racial segregation in our Nation’s history by being taught to hate one another according to our skin coloring. Because of the shameful era of slavery in our Nation, it might be considered normal and natural for Blacks who are  descendant from slaves, to hate white supremacists and racists. And today, CRT tells us all that everyone who is born white, is a racist – it doesn’t matter what you believe, say or how you act, if your skin color is “white,” you’re a racist. If, however, you are born with a skin color other than white, you are not a racist. According to CRT, a Black person cannot be a racist no matter how much he or she hates White people. There are some on both the right and the left who are fearful that as hate increases, America is on the verge of another race war. 

Do you see CRT as being

unifying or divisive

for our Country today?

Hand-in-hand with Critical Race Theory is the concept of INTERSECTIONALITY (IS) that was introduced in 1989 as a tool for determining your personal level as oppressor or oppressed. For example, I am number one at the top of the “oppressor category” because I am White, male, Christian, heterosexual, able-bodied and a native born American. According to CRT, if you’re in the oppressed category, it’s understandable and even permissible for you to hate, attack and “cancel” me for who I am because I am your oppressor. Who are the oppressed? If you are Black, you may be a billionaire and CEO of a large corporation but you are the “oppressed.” If you are a Black woman you are even more oppressed. If you are Black, transgender and disabled, you are the most oppressed of all.

But when we divide people into these two categories by skin color alone, does it make sense to us that a White single mom in a minimum wage job and struggling to feed her two children is the oppressor of a male Black billionaire CEO because her skin color is “white” and his is “black”? It does makes sense when we remember that the goal of CRT is to convince all Whites of their systemic racism and to compel them to surrender their “power and privilege” to those oppressed in order to achieve the desired equity.

CRT is rooted in the teachings of atheists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who were anti-Semitic racists and who saw the family and Christianity as impediments to their socialist ideology. Both CRT and our Bible recognize that our world is broken by the evils of racism and injustice but CRT teaches a very different version of humanity, sin and redemption than what the Word of God teaches. CRT makes it clear that I am responsible for every sin that every White person has ever committed against a person of color. The Bible makes it clear that God holds each individual responsible only for his or her own sins. Ezekiel 18:1-4; Ezekiel 18:30

Intersectionality is based upon an atheistic world-view that disbelieves and ignores what God and His Word tells us about the human race – that we are all created in God’s image Genesis 1:27 and we are all of One Blood. CRT and IS are incompatible with the Bible and with Christian beliefs, values and doctrine. Our Bible tells us that we must no longer conform to this world Romans 12:2 and yet that’s exactly what some church denominations have chosen to do. The liberal church denominations that are adopting CRT and IS as co-existent with Christianity do so through their Social Justice worldview but our authority for how to live our lives must come from God alone through His Word alone and not from atheistic Marxist ideology. The good news of the Gospel is that we are all equal and we are called to love God and love others. How can the church overcome the growing influence of CRT? By turning to the Word of God and the science of DNA.

Look again at the above photo and you’d be forgiven for thinking, “Thank God I’m nothing like those two old geezers in the photo!” but according to God’s design and creation of you, you’re more like John and me than you’d think! According to the science of DNA, those of us in the human species are 99.9% genetically similar. (The percentage of 99.5 in last week’s Amen Corner was incorrect) Let’s look at my biological sister and me to see how that plays out. Because of that one tenth of a percent difference, she’s female and I’m a male. I have hazel eyes and hers are a grayish blue. Our facial features are very different. When she was young, people said she looked like actress Farrah Fawcett and people said I looked like a young Orson Welles. My sister and I are grateful to God that it wasn’t the other way around, but aside from the obvious differences, my sister and I are 99.9% the same. The way God created you, you’re 99.9% similar to both the John on the right and the John on the left.

"..He gives to all life, breath and all things.

And He has made from one blood

every nation of men to dwell

on all the face of the earth.."

Acts 17:25-26

For many centuries God’s children have hated each other and treated others horribly and shamefully  because of that one tenth of one percent difference in their DNA that resulted in a dark colored (Black) or light colored (White) skin tone. What unifies us as one people group – the way God created us – is to understand how similar we are to each other – that’s why the church needs to teach the truth of God’s Creation, that we are One Race. One Blood. 

If you have ever made assumptions about another person, based upon that one tenth of one percent difference in their DNA, because the color tone of their skin was darker or lighter than yours, you need to repent and receive God’s forgiveness. The next thing we all need to do as believers is to speak up when we see injustice and hatred. Churches have too often gone down one of two opposite paths. Churches that focus on Social Justice to the degree that they have replaced the Word of God with liberal socialist messages or churches with pastors and priests who have stayed silent to avoid conflict and confrontation.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rebuked Christians for their silence during the racial injustice of the 50's and 60's. From his jail cell in Birmingham Alabama, King wrote, “I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.”

As the body of Christ, we must collectively no longer remain silent. We need to speak up for the Word of God and speak against increasingly popular atheist teachings that will divide and could possibly irreparably harm our Country. Yes we do have a shameful history of racism in America, but we have a God who redeems and restores.

A church cannot change the past,

but we can change the future.

Let’s pray that it does.

♰ ♰ ♰

Do You Wear A Cross?

Dear Friends,

A few years ago, Rhianna and I took her mom to Solvang for her mom’s birthday. There are a handful of stores we always visit in that quaint little Danish town and one of our favorites is the one with all the cuckoo clocks and jewelry. We’ve made a few purchases of jewelry from this store over the years, and Rhianna's mom has added some of their expensive cuckoo clocks to her collection. This would be the first time we'd been in the store since the original owners had recently sold it. But we stopped in front of the store, looked at the window display, looked back at each other, and were stunned. (See photo) It was a statue of a cross with a demonic-looking, dragon-like creature clinging to it. Talons digging into the cross. Tail wrapped around it. Black wings enfolding it as if territorially proclaiming possession over it. Eyes flashing. The artist’s depiction of evil triumphing and claiming victory over the cross of Christ. If you know Rhianna, you know she’s a shy introvert who will walk a mile out of her way to avoid a confrontation. But she walked into the store and politely told the salesperson she would like to see the owner. He began to give her an excuse and she told him "Now." He took one look at her face, saw that the polite smile hadn't quite reached her eyes and he quickly scurried off to fetch the owner. 

She was extraordinarily nice, polite, firm, and articulate. She told the new owner how much we loved his store but that the statue in the window would be offensive and upsetting to Christians who love the cross and what it represents. The owner told her that he was sorry if it did but that he didn’t see anything wrong with the statue. As the conversation continued, it soon became clear that the atheist owner and his husband/business partner liked the symbolism of evil prevailing over the cross of Christ. We no longer shop in this store.

I wear a cross that my father gave me many decades ago. It’s made from iron horseshoe nails and large enough that people can’t miss it. It’s inspired many wonderful conversations about faith but lately it’s triggered hatred. We entered a Tuesday Morning store and were cheerfully greeted by the 20-something transgender clerk. She had a woman’s voice but her outward appearance was female/ male. When we were ready to check out, I found the clerk stocking shelves and let her know we were ready. She politely apologized for keeping us waiting but as she turned and looked at me, her face hardened when she saw my cross and she glared at me. We were polite to her and she was rude, insulting and sarcastic to us during the checkout process. The people of the cross are the people she hates. 

I used to shop at Trader Joe’s in Granada Hills. But there were times that the millennial generation clerks were warm, friendly and helpful and times that they were openly hostile. I puzzled about this until I noticed that sometimes it was the same clerks that treated me nicely one time and rudely the next, and I came to realize that my treatment at Trader Joe’s depended on if my cross was visible or if a jacket was covering it up. A millennial friend of mine told me he keeps his Christian faith a secret because nearly all in his generation “hate Christians.” I definitely saw that at Trader Joe’s. The cross that symbolized my Christian faith was offensive.

But before I get too upset about this, I need to  remember that nothing’s changed from 2,000 years ago. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 That word translated as foolishness is the Greek word “moria”- a strong word meaning that something is “worthy of scorn.” The Gospel message then and now is scorned and hated by those unbelievers who are “headed for destruction” as the NLT translates it. But to you and me, the message of the cross is the good news of the saving power of God. I wear my cross not to flaunt my faith but because there is nothing more important to me personally than the message of the cross. My faith is intrinsic to who I am and my cross reminds me that we are all ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. It reminds me that I need to not just believe like a Christian but to behave like a Christian. And then, when my words or attitude to others are unchristlike, my cross convicts me and brings instant repentance.

Franklin Graham said that Christians in the United States are not far from seeing a high level of violent persecution because of their faith and we’re seeing today’s liberal “cancel culture” attacking Christians who have experienced lost jobs, harassment, physical beatings and death threats for no other reason than being a follower of Jesus Christ. The culture and Marxist politics of “woke” progressive liberalism promote the hatred of Christians and Black Lives Matter protesters have been destroying statues of Jesus and firebombing our Nation’s churches. I know Christians who have fearfully pried the ICHTHYS (fish symbol) off the SUV and put their cross back in the jewelry box. Many are afraid or are uncomfortable with the hatred and rudeness from progressive liberals (what I’ve experienced at Trader Joe’s) and are hiding their Christian symbols. Some deny their faith like Peter, Luke 22:54-62 and they may want to read the words of Jesus: “Everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:33

 

I won’t receive heavenly “points” for wearing my cross, but if the reason for not wearing one is that I’m ashamed to do so, then I am in trouble. “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38 And so...that’s why I wear a cross.

Why Lord?

Dear Friends,

In a church? During the service? Why Lord? Surging emotions of sadness. Overwhelming grief. Immediate prayers for those injured. Prayers for the souls of those killed. May Jesus open His arms to each one as His angels carry them to Heaven this morning. Eight members of one family, from grandparents to grandchildren, went to church on a Sunday morning and in the instant their hearts stopped beating, God reached down and snatched up their souls to Heaven where they will be spending eternity with the One who they came to worship that day.Thank you Lord that you love and care for each one of your children. Reports that everyone who went to the First Baptist Church in that small Texas town on Sunday was shot. So far twenty seven dead. Half of those killed were young children–one an unborn infant. Another twenty four injured. Difficult to hold back tears. Difficult to process the emotionally-jumbled thoughts of anger, sadness and fear. The fourth deadliest mass killing in America occurred in a church? During the service? Why Lord?

One of the most difficult questions asked by both believers and non-believers is this: “If God is so good, then why is there so much evil and suffering in the world and in our lives.” We know that people suffer in unspeakable ways and die every moment of every day. But how does a good God allow a massacre on a Sunday morning in church? Our Bible tells us that God does love us. He does protect us. He does heal in response to our prayers. He does have a plan for our life. But sometimes life is wonderful and sometimes it’s not. Some of us have listened to preachers who have promised prosperity and an abundance of God’s blessings on our life. We have formed something called “Entitlement Christianity” and expect God’s favor on our life. Then the divorce happens. The bank calls. The doctor gives us the diagnosis. The drunk driver crosses over the center divider. The earthquake happens. The gunman walks into a church. We are stunned. Angry at God. How could He let us down! Doesn’t He know we are Christians!

God is good and yet we live in a fallen world thanks to our ancestors. Genesis 3 tells us that, as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve, the entire relationship between God and His creation changed. But as soon as that apple touched the lips of Eve, a cross appeared on the horizon. Sin has infected our life in this our temporary home on earth, and we live in a world filled with suffering and evil, but in the cross we have the hope for our future.

..as that apple touched the lips of Eve, 

a cross appeared on the horizon.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 And as we remember the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, we are reminded that we don’t suffer alone. There is nothing you or I will ever endure that God has not already experienced.

But in a church? During the service? Why Lord? Because we do live in a fallen world. And at the same time, God can turn our worst circumstances into something for His good. Our very familiar Romans 8:28 tells us: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” That doesn’t say that everything that happens to us is good. But it says that when we love God, He will use the worst circumstances for good even when it seems impossible for Him to do that. Lord during those times when we cannot imagine how good could come out of evil, increase our trust in You when we must walk by faith, not by sight.

How can God bring something good out of the worst church massacre in America’s history so soon after our Nation’s deadliest mass shooting in Las Vegas? Maybe by bringing evil to our doorstep, we have been awakened out of our spiritual slumber. We have ignored the evil throughout the world. Paid no attention to the Muslim-led genocide of 90,000 Christians per year in the Middle East and Africa. Paid no attention to the Palm Sunday church bombings and mass killings in Egypt. Too far away. Can’t relate. But suddenly it’s different. We are now experiencing waves of evil in our own Nation. But can God really turn this into good? Yes because evil drives us to God. Evil compels us to examine our own complacency. Evil forces us to our knees in prayer. Evil can even change the hearts of the most hardened non-believers. At the end of his life, the atheist Jean-Paul Sartre admitted, “I needed God...I reached out for religion; I longed for it, it was the remedy. Had it been denied me, I would have invented it for myself.”

In a church. During the service. An unspeakably evil act. The remedy for evil is faith and that’s why our response is heart-felt prayers. In John 11 we read that when Lazarus died and Mary fell down at the feet of Jesus and wept, Jesus groaned in His spirit and was troubled. And then Jesus wept. And today, our spirit is troubled. And we weep. Let’s continue to keep the people in Sutherland Springs, Texas in our prayers.  Amen?

A Good Change

Dear Friends,

Our money is changing. Five women pioneers of the women’s rights movement are being added to the back of the ten dollar bill and three Democrat social activists will be featured on the back of the revised five dollar bill. But the most contentious change is the revised twenty. Good ol’ Andrew Jackson is being sent to the back of the bill and Harriet Tubman will be showcased on the front. And if you are reading and hearing about her in the media, you are getting an edited and politically sanitized version of her life. Let me tell you what you’re not going to read about in the Times newspaper or Newsweek magazine. You won’t hear this on CNN or MSNBC. You will read and hear that she is a social justice icon. You will read about a fierce civil rights activist who lead slaves to freedom. But what you won’t read is that she did so, not because she was a female political activist, but because she was a Christian woman following the will of God.

Harriet was a Union spy during the Civil War and she was a Republican. Did you know that the Republican party was founded primarily to oppose slavery while the Democratic party fought to expand slavery? The 13th Amendment to abolish slavery passed with 100% of the Republicans voting for the Amendment and all except four of the Democrats voting against this Amendment to free the slaves. Not a single Democrat in Congress voted in favor of the 14th Amendment that declared former slaves to be full citizens. No surprise that Harriet was solidly aligned with the Republican party! 

In the 19th Century, the “Underground Railroad” was a loose network of abolitionist whites and free blacks who helped an estimated 100,000 slaves escape to freedom. Driven by their Christian faith and the scripture that says all people are created equal, Galatians 3:28 the “conductors” on the Underground Railroad risked their lives and the lives of their families to deliver slaves to freedom. Their most well-known leader was ex-slave Harriet Tubman who had escaped from her owners in 1849. She said later, “I looked at my hands to see if I was de same person now I was free. Dere was such a glory ober eberything, de sun came like gold through de trees and ober de fields, and I felt like I was in heaven.”

Known as the “Black Moses,” Harriet had received visions from God telling her that she needed to help her people and she lead many hundreds through the Underground Railroad to freedom. She told friends that her strength to protect slaves and set them free came from her faith in God. She said, “I always tole God, I’m gwince to hole stiddy (I’m going to hold steady) on you an’ you’ve got to see me through.” Harriet continued to receive visions from God and she’d hear His voice telling her what route to take the slaves to avoid capture. Harriet Tubman would today be described as an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian and she is the first unabashed Christian to appear on our currency. 

The slaveholders like Andrew Jackson offered $40,000 for the capture of Harriet but God protected her and she was never captured. Because the slave rescue missions were so dangerous, Harriet demanded strict obedience from the fugitives. Harriet was one tough woman. She carried a loaded gun and if a slave decided he wanted to return to the plantation, Harriet would threaten to shoot him if he tried. She knew that if he returned, he would be tortured and would eventually reveal the route of the Underground Railroad and identities of the abolitionists. She was asked once if she would have actually killed a man who wanted to turn back and she replied, “If he was weak enough to give out, he’d be weak enough to betray us all and I wouldn’t let so many die for just one man.”

Andrew Jackson, our seventh President is known as the founder of the Democratic Party. To those who bemoan his smack-down to the back of the bill: Please remember he owned over 300 slaves and is most known for signing the Indian Removal Act that resulted in the genocide of tens of thousands of American Indians. Although the Democratic party looks different today, Jackson’s Democracy left a powerful legacy that continued to subjugate women and minorities while presuming and fostering a white supremacy that’s still apparent in many southern States today. Isn’t it time for the slaveholder to be replaced by the one who followed in Jesus’ footsteps to set the captives free?

To my good conservative friends who are wondering why the white guy is being replaced by a black woman and who are thinking that this is just an example of liberal political-correctness: Please remember that Harriet was an Evangelical Christian, Republican, gun-totein’, renegade who was appointed and anointed by God to set her people free. Praise God for her! The presence of Harriet Tubman on the face of the twenty should remind us all of what we can accomplish for the glory of God, in the face of hardship and adversity, when we just “hole stiddy” on Him.  Amen?

One God. One Race.

Dear Friends,

Charles Darwin is lauded as one of the greatest investigative scientists of his day and is considered to be one of the most influential men of all time. His 1859 book ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES presented his theories on evolution that were quickly accepted as “science.” Darwin then wrote THE DESCENT OF MAN; AND SELECTION IN RELATIONSHIP TO SEX in which he examined how humans evolved from apes.  Darwin was a celebrity in the field of science and that book also was considered to be scientific fact. Charles Darwin is known as the “Father of Evolution.” I think of him as the “Father of Racism.”

Darwin begins THE DESCENT OF MAN.. by theorizing that the laws governing the evolution of man must coincide with the “laws” governing the evolution of the “lower animals.” He writes that “at some future period..the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate the savage races throughout the world.” Darwin was convinced that the white “civilized races” would exterminate the less evolved and more “ape-like” Negroes. He believed that the Negro and (native) Australian were closer in appearance to the gorilla, (p.521) and the Negro was a “sub-species” somewhere in the evolutionary lineage between the Caucasian and the ape. In addition to these “scientific” race theories, Darwin also wrote that “The average of mental power in man must be above that of woman and man has ultimately become superior to woman.”

Darwin’s closest student, biologist Thomas Huxley, helped to expand Darwin’s theories by writing, “It may be quite true that some Negroes are better than some white men; but no rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man.” Huxley advanced Darwin’s theory that the Negro had mental faculties closer to the ape than to the more evolved superior Caucasian. He wrote, “..the highest places in the hierarchy of civilization will assuredly not be within the reach of our dusky cousins.” As Darwin’s student and a fellow scientist, Huxley’s expansion of Darwin’s ideas were also recognized as “scientific facts.”

According to these “brilliant” scientists, Darwin’s theory of evolution “proved” that some groups of humans are superior to other groups. (That’s what happens when God’s Creation is explained by atheist scientists instead of by theologians.)

There is one human race that God created. He created male and female in His image. Genesis 1:27 All of humanity was created from Adam and Eve and as we bear their image, we bear the image of our Heavenly Father. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 In God’s Kingdom there is no distinction between people groups. Romans 10:12-13 In Christ, even the minor distinctions between us as individuals fade away. Galatians 3:27-29 

The Bible does refer to people groups who have different shades of skin and hair color but it was not until the 1700's that society assigned race labels to people according to their skin color. The Bible refers to different families, tribes, nations and the languages they speak, but God sees all people as one people that the Bible calls “man.”

Our DNA shows that God created all humans to be 99.9% alike and the .1% difference is caused by natural genetic variation. Society likes to use skin color as the separator of “races,” but the skin color of European Caucasians range from pale white to a very dark brown. Darwin’s conclusions about skin color being a marker of how far we’ve evolved from apes are unscientific and nonsensical. 

The bottom line is that there is only one race – the human race. God gives life and breath to all and He has made “from one blood” every person who has ever dwelled on this earth. Acts 17:25-26 The sin of racial hatred didn’t start with Darwin but his evil theory of white “superiority” over other “races” needs to end. Our churches need to teach this.

Last week, 21 year old Dylaan Roof murdered nine people during a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. We were then stunned to hear that Roof is a committed Christian. His Lutheran pastor described Roof as a good church-going boy who regularly attended youth camps and worship services. The theory of white supremacy is anathema to the ELCA Lutherans and yet, Roof killed these African-American Christians believing that they were of a race inferior to his. Did he not know that the blood he shed that day was the exact same that runs through his own veins? We will never fully understand the circumstances that caused this young man’s horrific actions that day. But protests, political rhetoric and gun laws do not address the sin of racism in America. That has to start in the church. Amen?