Walking With Jesus

Four Steps to Strengthening Your Worldview (Part 3)

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)

*Please read carefully this third teaching by Pastor Rick Warren on the subject of our Worldview. This is the only time in the four years of offering this blog that I’ve dedicated three straight days to someone else’s teaching. I believe it’s that important. Read this article in its original format by clicking here. Blessings, Ed 😊

We all have a worldview—a set of beliefs we build our lives on. And that worldview affects absolutely everything: your relationships, your work, how you spend your money, and how you handle suffering. So how can you strengthen your worldview to live the life God has planned for you?

1. Learn the truth. Jesus told a story about two men who built themselves houses—one on a shaky foundation of sand and the other on a solid foundation of rock. When storms came, the house on the shaky foundation collapsed, but the house built on solid rock stood the test of time.

The point of the story is this: You’re going to build your life either on popular opinion or on God’s unchanging truth. If you build your life on eternal truth, you’ll be able to stand up under the most difficult circumstances.

The Bible says, “Learn the truth and never reject it. Get wisdom, self-control, and understanding”(Proverbs 23:23 NCV). You can learn the truth by studying God’s Word, reading good Christian books, and being part of a church family.

2. Discern what is false. The Message paraphrase says, “Don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world” (1 John 4:1). Even people who claim to be speaking God’s truth sometimes aren’t. But when you know the truth of God’s Word, you’ll be able to discern false teaching when you hear it.

3. Turn from the world to the Word. The Bible tells us to not be part of the world’s value system or, in other words, to not take on the world’s worldview: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will”(Romans 12:2 NIV). You have a choice: Will you get your advice on life from God’s eternal Word or from a world that is filled with constantly changing opinions?

4. Concern yourself with God’s agenda. Jesus promised this in The Living Bible paraphrase: “[God] will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern” (Luke 12:31).You can have only one “primary concern.” God wants to be number one—and for your other interests and goals to be secondary. He promises that if you put him and his agenda first, he’ll take care of everything else in your life.

All over the world, people are looking for meaning, significance, and purpose. If you build your life on shifting sand—on things like power, pleasure, and wealth—you’ll never find what you’re looking for. Instead, build your life on the truth of God’s Word and concern yourself with God’s agenda. You’ll find yourself with a clear worldview and a consistent, purposeful life that stands up to all of life’s storms.

Talk It Over

What foundation is your life built on? How can you strengthen your foundation?
Think about the teaching you’ve been listening to lately. Is there anything you’ve been believing that actually might be false?
In what ways have you been listening to the world’s values instead of the truth of God’s Word? How can you start changing that?

Why Your Worldview Matters (Part 2)

“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” (Colossians 1:16 MSG)

*Today’s post is the second of three in the series by Pastor Rick Warren giving us insight regarding why our worldview matters. Read this article in its original format by clicking here. Blessings, Ed

What’s your worldview? In other words, what lens do you use to look at the world around you? Yesterday we looked at a few worldviews that are popular in today’s culture—materialism, individualism, hedonism, and pragmatism—and the counter worldviews that God offers. Today let’s look at a few more.

Naturalism. Another word for naturalism is atheism. Naturalism says God doesn’t exist—or, if he does exist, he doesn’t matter. Naturalists believe that everything in life is a result of random chance. The naturalist says, “We’re all accidents of nature. There is no grand Creator. There is no grand design. There is no God.”

“Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com” “A Grand Design”

But let me let you in on a little secret: If God doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter, then you don’t matter. That’s the logical, rational conclusion of that worldview. Your value comes from the fact that God thought you up, created you, and loves you.

The Bible says, “There are things about [God] that people cannot see. . . . But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand by what God has made” (Romans 1:20 NCV). In other words, when we look at nature—instead of seeing that God doesn’t exist—we learn what God is like. We learn he’s creative, powerful, and organized; we learn he likes variety.

Humanism. Humanism says you’re in charge of your own life—that you’re the master of your own fate. And while most people wouldn’t say they worship themselves, when you believe you’re the center of it all, that’s basically what’s happening. For a humanist, you’re the center of your own universe.

The Bible says, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25 NIV). That’s what the humanist does.

Theism. Theism says that there is a God and he made you for his purposes. This is the worldview the Bible teaches. “Theism” comes from Theo, the Greek word for “God.”

The Message paraphrase says, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him” (Colossians 1:16). Look at that verse again. “Everything—absolutely everything”—was created by God, for a purpose.

All day, every day, so many worldviews compete for your allegiance. But the truth is that you were made by God and for God. Embrace that fact—and soon you’ll find that life makes sense.

Talk It Over

Even when you’re a Christian, popular worldviews can be appealing. Are you more tempted by naturalism or humanism? Why?
When you look at nature, what evidence of God’s existence do you see?
How does life make most sense when you realize you were created by God and for God?

What’s Your Worldview? (Part 1)

“There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death.” (Proverbs 14:12 GW)

*In the next three day’s posts I invite you to read carefully and thoughtfully Pastor Rick Warren’s insights regarding why our worldview matters. Read this article in its original format by clicking here. Blessings, Ed 😊

There are countless worldviews—beliefs you build your life on. Those beliefs come at you from books, media, classrooms, the people around you, music, advertising, and more. Most of the time, we don’t even think about our worldview. But you need to—because your worldview influences how you see yourself and other people, how you make decisions, and just about every other aspect of how you live.

Here are some worldviews that are popular in today’s culture. See which ones you recognize in the people around you, and maybe even in yourself.

Materialism. This worldview can be summarized with the word more—more, more, more. Materialism says that the only thing that really matters in life is the acquisition of things. Materialists confuse values with valuables. They think, “If I have more, I’m worth more.”

Jesus loved to challenge conventional wisdom, including the idea of materialism. He once said, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15 ESV). In other words, you can’t judge your life by how much you’ve got because the greatest things in life aren’t actually things.

Individualism. We live in a serve-yourself world that says, “It’s all about you!” Advertising tells us things like, “Live your truth,” “Be your own hero,” and “You deserve it.” It’s a self-centered, individualistic, “me first” way of living.

But Jesus taught, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matthew 16:25 NLT).Jesus says you only begin living your life when you start giving it away. Significance in life doesn’t come from individual status, salary, or success; it comes from serving God and serving others.

Hedonism. Hedonism urges, “Do whatever feels good!” Hedonism is simply the desire that says, “The most important thing in life is how I feel. If I feel good, then it’s good; if I feel bad, then it’s bad.” The hedonist lives for comfort, pleasure, fun, and good feelings.

“What’s wrong with pleasure?” you might ask. After all, God is the one who created pleasure. But pleasure wasn’t made to be your ultimate goal. Instead, pleasure is a result of living the kind of life God wants you to live. The Message paraphrase says it like this: “You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied” (Proverbs 21:17).

Pragmatism. “Whatever works for you”—that’s the theme of the pragmatist. Pragmatism says it doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong; it doesn’t matter if it hurts someone; if it works for you, it’s fine.

But the Bible offers a different perspective: “There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death”(Proverbs 14:12 GW). Just because something seems to be working now doesn’t mean it’s right. Cheating on a spouse, stealing from your business, or relying on alcohol may all seem to work for you in the short-term, but eventually they’ll bring you down.

Think about your own life. Are you caught up in some of these popular worldviews? Or are you choosing to follow the different path that Jesus offers? Tomorrow we’ll look at a few more worldviews.

Talk It Over

Which worldview is more tempting to you—materialism, individualism, hedonism, or pragmatism?
How does it help to know the Bible’s perspective on whatever worldview is tempting you?
What is one thing you can do today to follow Jesus’ way of living instead of the world’s?

The Power of Promise

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT)

The power of a promise rests in the life of the one who makes the promise. As children if we wanted some of a friend’s candy we’d say: “I’ll give you some of mine. I promise.” But as soon as they shared theirs, we’d run away. Or, perhaps the classic promise is given to our parents when we disobeyed: “I promise I will never do that again!” and we all know what happened after that.

Sadly, we do the same with God. “Please, Lord, get me out of this mess and I will NEVER do it again!” until the next time! Why? Because we believe the Lord is infinitely forgiving, which He is, but does He allow us to make a fool of Him by lying to Him over and over again? Of course not, so why do we allow the enemy to lie us into believing He will?

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

The power of promise lies in our desire to believe the promise will be kept, even by unreliable people. How much more should we believe the promises our Heavenly Father gives us, who never lies!

The words of the Lord above to the children of Israel as they stood on the boundary of a new land the Lord was giving them, challenge me as I stand on the shoreline of the rest of my life. They had no clue what lie ahead, but the Lord laid out for them essentially the same instructions He gives us: TRUST ME! BELIEVE ME! FOLLOW ME! OBEY ME! SUBMIT TO MY AUTHORITY IN YOUR LIFE!

But what about when the way is dark, when I can’t see what’s ahead? When I’m afraid? When I’m alone? When I’m doubting? When I’m ___________? It doesn’t matter the circumstances or how we feel about them, the Lord is ALWAYS faithful, He NEVER lies, He ALWAYS, under every circumstance, keeps His promises.

What if when we’re being tempted, rather than immediately seek to rely on our own strength and ingenuity, we simply said: “Thank You, Lord, for walking with me through this struggle. I will rely on You, on Your strength, and on Your ingenuity to deliver me. And I know You will because Your Word promises that You will ALWAYS “show (me) a way out so that (I) can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The power of God’s promises can be most helpful when we make them personal. When the Lord spoke to the children of Israel, in Deuteronomy 30:15-16 the Lord said: “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep His commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in His ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.”

The power of God’s promise to never leave me echoed in the words of Hebrews 13:5: “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you,” comfort me in every season of my life. In sickness when the future is gray and unknown; in death, knowing when I close my eyes for the last time here I will open them in the presence of my Savior; in spiritual battle/temptation knowing we are NOT alone; in persecution/trials knowing we’re not relying on our own strength and resource; in living, witnessing, working, praying – regardless of the circumstance we are never left alone to find our own way or to work in the energy of our own strength.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Praise

“It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!’ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.” (Isaiah 6:1-4 NLT)

Worship of the Creator, Owner, and Sustainer of the Universe is an awe-inspiring event, one that leaves us with a much more accurate assessment of ourselves. Being humbled by God’s presence enables us to see ourselves, not as we’d hoped we were, but as we actually are.

In the very next verse Isaiah writes: “Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’” A natural biproduct of seeing God as He is, is seeing ourselves as we are. The closer we get to the Lord the more He reveals the truth of who we are.

We’re too often afraid of that honesty, not necessarily from God, but about ourselves. We want to believe we’re better than we are, but unless and until we see ourselves as the desperate, lost, lonely, and estranged people that we are, we’ll never allow our hearts and lives to reverberate with praise, adoration, and worship of our King.

Praise, especially in the Old Testament, took the form of singing that exalted God’s qualities, deeds, or attributes. The songs also centered on seeking to exalt His renown, fame, and glory. Since we have Jesus, how much easier and more natural for our lips and lives to exude adoration of our King of kings, and Lord of lords.

What are some ways we can allow our lives to more fully reflect praise for and of our Savior and Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ? We can allow Him to be reflected in our countenance. Often the expression on our faces let’s people think we just lost our best friend, when, in reality, He’s walking with us as closely as the air we breathe.

What if instead of a frown or scowl, we surprised those in our families and friends by always smiling? Might it generate conversation that might lead to an opportunity to praise, exalt, and celebrate our Savior? But as vital as that is, might we be missing an obvious opportunity to reflect Jesus in our praise of others?

Our spouses and children are often at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole to receive our praise and gratitude. We seem afraid if we praise them too much, they might think we’re satisfied with what we may view as their substandard behavior in some area of their lives. But what if we emphasized and praised them in an area of their lives where they’re showing improvement or making strides to improve?

Any of us is glad when someone brags on us, why not be the one who is always bragging about others, rather than the one always waiting and expecting someone to brag on us or bragging about ourselves? Praise for someone is always easy when you love the person about whom you’re bragging and it’s never easier than when we’re bragging about our Savior.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When Words Fail

“My life is an example to many, because You have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising You; I declare Your glory all day long.” (Psalm 71:7-8 NLT)

These words of David resonate with my spirit. As the Lord becomes dearer and my end grows nearer, I find that it’s harder to find the right words to convey what my heart is singing. The longing I now have to be with Him is growing stronger every day. And, yes, I realize He’s with me every second of every day, but there are so many distractions, so many pulls on my heart that demand my attention.

And no, that’s not all bad. There are people and things here that I love and enjoy, but my heart belongs to my Savior, and my soul will not rest until it finds its rest in Him. Some who read these articles each day will understand what I’m saying, because your heart also longs to finally and forever be with your Savior.

The Lord has made it clear that neither I, nor you, will be here one second longer than He has planned, and when we leave, our work will be done. Prayerfully, our legacy of love for the Lord will live on, but the reality is, some have been offended by our intimacy with the Lord, believing our love for Him has distracted from our love for them.

Honestly, I wrestle with how to better represent Him in all of my relationships, but especially with those I love the most. It may seem odd that my love for words as I write often escapes me when I speak. I am not and have never been a very effective speaker, but because I can write, then wait and go back to ponder what the Lord has given me, listen more carefully, rewrite, listen, etc. I find much more satisfaction in writing than in speaking, even in casual conversation.

It’s getting harder to keep a train of thought, or to pay close attention to what my mind deems trivial. Perhaps that seems uncaring or unkind, but I don’t intend it to be. I want to be present, attentive, caring, compassionate, and all the other positive attributes a person should have for another human being, but at times my heart is so focused on heaven it’s difficult to care what’s happening here on earth.

As my bad days are squeezing out my good days, my longing to be with the Lord increases and it’s frustrating some days to realize I’m still here. The Lord is as real to me now as the air I breathe, speaking, communicating in unmistakable ways. There’s nothing to compare with intimacy with the Lord. Nothing on earth can satisfy the deep longings of our soul like closeness to the Lord.

Are you there, my friend? Is listening to His heart more important than listening to your electronic devices, communicating with your friends, checking your emails, texts, or surfing the web? Until God’s voice, spoken through His Word, through prayer and meditation, is your most longed for communication you may never understand my longing for heaven.

And please don’t misunderstand. My life here is wonderful. My family is loving, caring, supportive and I enjoy my time with them. When I’m feeling bad and lying in bed, my two pups are curled up, one next to me and one on my head. What’s not to love about that? 😊 There is plenty to love and live for here, but the closer I get to the Lord, the stronger the longing to leave what’s here and to be with Him in heaven.

Even as I end this article, I realize my words have failed to adequately describe the longings of my heart, my desire to give expression to how much you’re missing without Jesus. Please stop running and commit your life without reservation into His loving care.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Ask Me!

“This is what the Lord says – the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord: Ask Me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3 NLT)

What do you want to know about the future? How long you will live? How you will die? Will it be quick and painless or will you agonize for days, weeks, months? Will you ever get out of debt? Will you ever be married? Have kids? Own a home? Get to travel? See outer space?

Our minds are flooded with questions about all kinds of topics, but I find it quite amusing we rarely ask questions about God. We seem content that God is God and that’s all we need to know, but is it? What if the answers to the gnawing questions of our soul could find answers in Him? What if knowing, loving, and being fully devoted to the Holy God gave us more than the answers to our questions?

How often have you wondered: “Am I good enough to get into heaven? Why do I continue to sin so much when I sincerely believe I love God? Why am I caught in this trap of feeling useless and worthless? If God is so good, why can’t I feel His presence or hear His voice? When will I stop feeling so excluded from all that others are saying God is doing?” “Why isn’t He doing anything in and through me?”

These and many other questions can rock our soul and warp our perspective, not only on ourselves, but on God. We tend to focus on the fact that God is loving, kind, generous, all powerful, ever-present, but He’s also all-knowing. God knows everything there is to know about everything.

My wife and I are watching an old series on TV called “Bones.” It’s got like a zillion seasons because it’s so interesting. Yes, it’s a bit “steamy,” but if you can get through that, what fascinates me is how they can find bones and identify what species it is, gender, and many other things including how they died and how long they’ve been dead. They can often determine the environment in which they died, even the specific region.

Why is that intriguing? Because they learned how to do that from the Lord! And I can hear the groans: “No, dummy, they went to school and learned from professors and research specialists.” Yeh, probably, but where did the knowledge they have originate? Here’s the truth: no one knows anything except that knowledge originated in the mind of God.

We would know nothing about anything except God opens the channels of information and opens our minds to receive it. Yes, of course, He gives some people higher IQ’s and a greater capacity to learn, but any of us can learn anything if we’re willing to make the effort to dig it out. Many very brilliant people don’t have very good people skills largely because they’re so gifted not many others can relate to their brilliance. People are intimidated by their knowledge and ability.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall when they meet the Lord. Talk about brilliant – try on “all-knowing”! The most brilliant scholar will feel like a kindergartner in comparison to the Lord. All the questions of science will be answered as if they were 1 + 1. What’s my point?

Whatever questions you have, you can find their answers in Jesus. He’s more than enough. But here’s the deal, He’ll only share what He knows we can understand. If He explained the answer to every question, He’d likely lose us because we don’t have the capacity to understand as He understands.

But here’s the best part: one day we’ll see as He sees! We’ll know as He knows! You know what that’s called? Heaven!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Why We Lead

“Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly – not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.” (1 Peter 5:2 NLT)

It’s interesting to me that in the verse above Peter is essentially emphasizing to those to whom he is writing the last thing Jesus emphasized to Him in John 21:15-17 – “Then feed my sheep!” Why is that so important? Because as human beings we’re all about ourselves, even in the church. If we’re not careful, even as believers in the Lord Jesus, we get so invested in what our leadership brings to us we forget why the Lord has given us that position of authority over others in the first place.

We’re so tempted to believe our leadership is all about us and too quickly lose sight of the fact we’re only an instrument that is worthless except we’re empowered and enabled by the Spirit of God. “Great” men and women of God are often not remembered because they were necessarily great human beings.

Many were not until they became captivated by their love for and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. “Saint” Augustine was an atheist before his encounter with Christ, as was one of the most revered promoters of the Christian faith in recent years, C. S. Lewis, who didn’t come to Christ until his early 30’s. At age 18 Lewis wrote to a friend: “You ask me my religious views: you know, I think I believe in no religion. There is absolutely no proof for any of them, and from a philosophical standpoint Christianity is not even the best. All religions, that is, all mythologies, to give them their proper name, are merely man’s own invention…

Thus religion, that is to say mythology, grew up. Often, too, great men were regarded as gods after their death — such as Hercules or Odin: thus after the death of a Hebrew philosopher Yeshua (whose name we have corrupted into Jesus), he became regarded as a god, a cult sprang up, which was afterwards connected with the ancient Hebrew Yahweh-worship, and so Christianity came into being — one mythology among many.”

What’s the point? It often takes time for the Lord to wean us from ourselves. We get corrupted by our own success and wrongly believe our charisma, our personality, our charm has won us this opportunity to lead others. It takes time for us to grasp the fact that we’re not the attraction, Jesus is, or at least should be! It’s all and only about Him, and unless and until we understand that we’re destined to grave disappointment.

Dan Reiland gives us insight when he wrote: “The leader who lives first to feed the people lives dependent upon God.” Apart from the inspiration and instruction of the living Spirit of God who indwells us we have nothing to offer anyone of substance. We can only lead effectively to the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus as we are led.

To believe we can pour into others out of the little cups of ourselves is to misunderstand our role as a person of God. Jesus reminds us in John 15:5b: “For apart from Me you can do nothing.” And just to be clear, the context of Peter’s words is primarily to overseers or Pastors of congregations but is applicable to teachers and leaders in other settings as well, including children’s and youth leaders/teachers, even parents.

We’re all accountable for how we “teach” with our lives, especially when we realize we never know who is watching us and learning from what they see. This is why we lead in the first place, to influence others positively to the glory of our Savior.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Is this a Turning Point for the West?

By John Stonestreet

*Many of you have loved and followed the ministry of the late Charlie Kirk. This tribute to him and his vital ministry and his impact on, not only America, but the world, is profound for a man of only 31 years. I thought it fitting to share this powerful message, not simply to point your attention to Charlie Kirk and his life, but to the Lord he honored, not only in his life, but in his death. Blessings, Ed.

Sunday’s memorial service for Charlie Kirk may have been the largest evangelistic event in human history. Not every speaker at the event was in tune with the Gospel, but those who were stated it clearly and boldly. Tens of thousands of people who attended live, along with millions who watched online, heard Chris Tomlin praise “the name above all names,” and Pastor Rob McCoy offer the invitation to accept Christ. And that was just the first half-hour. Before it was over, vice-president J.D. Vance talked publicly about his faith, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio beautifully summarized the entire Christian message in under two minutes. After describing the final moments of Kirk’s life, apologist and Kirk mentor Frank Turek stated bluntly, “Charlie is not in heaven because he sacrificed his life for Jesus. He is in heaven because Jesus sacrificed his life for Charlie.”

Most powerfully, Erika Kirk, speaking of the man who killed her husband, said:

On the cross our Savior said, “Father, forgive them for they not know what they do.” … That young man, I forgive him … because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.

If the murderer hoped to silence Kirk’s growing influence, he only amplified it further.  What Joseph said to his brothers applies here: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20 NIV). Or, as John said, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

At the memorial service, hundreds indicated they accepted the invitation to follow Jesus Christ. Since Kirk’s death, more people are finding their way to church, many for the first time. In one widely shared and discussed post, a man who never owned a suit talks of being inspired by Charlie to be a better husband and father and to return to church. Proudly modeling the new suit his wife bought, he says, “I’m gonna try, y’all.”

Those of us who watched Chuck Colson collapse as he gave his final speech experienced it as a kind of calling. Chuck, many said at the time, “went out with his boots on.” The same is now said of Charlie Kirk, and, on a much larger scale, many perceive this moment as a kind of calling: to be more engaged in their churches and communities, to be bold about sharing their faith, to take a stand for truth, or to be a better husband and father.

In every cultural moment, God calls his people to be agents of renewal. This includes advancing what is good, opposing what is evil, working to restore what is broken, and offering what is most needed but missing. Living faithfully as His people in this moment will involve condemning the evil of murder and explaining the beauty of offering forgiveness to the murderer. It will mean speaking the truth at great cost, while recognizing that the deceivers and the deceived are made in the image of God. It will mean celebrating that God is bringing sinners to repentance. It will mean having the courage to speak the truth, as well as the humility to learn it. It will mean loving our neighbors and loving our enemies, even if, as G.K. Chesterton quipped, “they are the same people.”

Like in any moment, the Gospel clarifies who we are and what we must be. Christ’s demands sound especially unreasonable and extreme in moments like this, but Paul is clear that we should “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”

We rest in the truths that this world belongs to God; that we belong, body and soul, to Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us; that even when we were His enemies, Christ died for us. That is the truth about us. That is the truth about everything.

If this is a “turning point” for our culture, as some have said and we all should hope, our work must be anchored in the true turning point of human history. Our work must be grounded in the work of Christ. We forgive because we are forgiven. We love because He first loved us. We stand for what is true and right, because the One who is True and Righteous altogether has made Himself known to us.

A Good Father

“The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise.” (Proverbs 23:24 NLT)

The best Father allowed His only Son to give His life on a Cross for the sins of mankind. That kind of love is beyond our comprehension. Why would I say that? Because I’ve never met a man willing to sacrifice his only son for anyone or anything. Love and sacrifice don’t seem to go together when speaking of a father’s love for his child; yet that’s exactly the example of God’s greatest love for us.

John 3:16, perhaps the most quoted verse in the Bible declares: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” I’m afraid if your eternal life was dependent upon the sacrifice of my son, you’d be lost forever. Perhaps that’s the anguish we see revealed in the garden when Jesus was begging His Father to “let this cup pass from Me.” (Matthew 26:39)

If that’s the epitome of love, how can we, as a human father, learn from that and gain insight into how to be the best dad we can possibly be? What comes to mind is my highest aspiration for my son (my children), and that is for him to die to himself (themselves) and be resurrected in newness of life in Jesus. Death to self is still involved, but in a much less literal way than when Jesus laid down His life for us.

What a vivid illustration of the love of God as our heavenly Father, willing to not withhold anything for our good, even to the sacrifice of the life of His only Son. What a picture for us as earthly fathers as we view the lives of our children. What are we willing to give up in order for our children to grow up to be mature, committed Jesus followers?

Isn’t it ironic that in most cases we have children when we’re in the midst of our most trying years as a man, a “bread winner?” We’re trying to find our own way in the world, working long hours trying to make ends meet, wanting to be all we can be for our family, but selling ourselves to the highest bidder. But when we’re honest, it’s really for us. We want to be all we can be to prove to everyone, but mostly ourselves, that we’re worth it, that we deserve the proverbial “good life.”

But at what cost? Our kids grow up barely seeing and hardly knowing their dad. What memories they have are maybe birthdays or those rare vacations. There’s rarely an effort to pass on our faith, largely because we have little to spare, it just hasn’t been a priority. Then, in our later years (if ever) we get serious about our faith, but since it wasn’t a priority when our kids were home, they could now care less.

So, what am I saying? The best thing a “good” father can do for his kids is to love Jesus when they’re young. And what’s the best example of a Jesus loving father? Love their mother well! Treat their mother with the respect and dignity she deserves. Take your family to church, but don’t leave Jesus there, bring Him home. Pray over meals and take time to pray with the kids when they go to bed and together as a family.

Let Jesus not only be your highest personal priority, but your highest priority as a Father. Lead your family in worship in a loving, but fun and enjoyable way. Get creative and involve the kids. It’s our highest joy to love and serve Jesus, let that joy overflow into your family’s worship.

I concur with Dr. Billy Grahm’s words when he said: “A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊