Good words from Kansas .
Servants of God,
"We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation... View MoreGood words from Kansas .
Servants of God,
"We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done."
-Psalm 78:4
Each generation must be taught the truth about God if the church is to do its duty. Children must be taught that they are great sinners and that God is a great savior or the gospel message can degenerate into a self-help message for those looking for a spiritual pick-me-up. Unless Christians clearly teach in each generation the awful truth of the fall and the beautiful truth of God's mighty deeds in sending a savior, the church loses its cutting edge. Perhaps God, in mercy, is granting us a window of opportunity.
I believe the memorial service of Charlie Kirk may indicate that God has placed a great opportunity before American Christians. Will we grasp the opportunity that is now set before us? Or will we go back to sleep spiritually? Will we live "carpe diem"? That Latin phrase literally means to pick or pluck the present opportunity like a skilled harvester picks a perfectly ripe fruit. Fruit picked when it is fully ripe yields the best flavor and texture. Anyone who has picked fruit too early or too late will grasp the metaphor. God sent Jesus into the world when time was ripe. Not a moment too soon or a day too late. Christ came in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4).
Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for Charlie Kirk's memorial service. Millions, around the world, viewed. They heard speaker after speaker testify to the good news about Jesus. Have you been praying for a great spiritual awakening in our land? If so, you probably know that only God can bring that awakening. In the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire, there is a scene where a coach says to an athlete "Well, we have a saying in my game, son. You can't put in what God's left out." In sports, coaches are always trying to figure out just how high a performance he or she can get out of a particular athlete. Conditioning, nutrition and technique can improve performance, but only to a point. A fallen human being can do only so much.
Humans have limits. Some have greater gifts and potential than others. Sadly, most of us fail to consistently live up to our God-given potential.
Humans can't put in what God has left out. But Christians can faithfully seize the day and evangelize and teach and serve a rising generation. These young men and women appear to be hungering for something more than a college degree a no obligation but regular sex partner and plenty of beer to drink and marijuana to smoke.
The testimony of many Christians is that once they grasped that God is sovereign, they were free to work as hard as possible to make that truth known. Once they grasped that salvation is all of grace, they were freed to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. When a Christian truly believes that truth brings freedom, he or she is willing to speak truth.
The world works as it does because certain things are true. They are real. When we can grasp this, we can begin to figure out the world around us and our place in it. I might want deeply to change the world, but unless I understand how God says that is possible, I will miss the mark (sin) in whatever I undertake.
The founding generation of America was swimming in a Christian moral context. That did not mean they were all Christians, but it did mean they had the advantage of a sense of the presence of Almighty God and an awareness that human sin was a terrible evil that required a perfect sacrifice to make things right. God, in love, gave his only begotten Son to die as a substitute for fallen humans. Humanity needed help greater than any mere human could provide.
Our current broken culture testifies to a people who believed the lie that humans are accountable only to themselves. Fifty years ago the line "If it feels good, do it!" was popular among rebellious teenagers. Far too many believed that lie. We are witnessing the bitter fruit of what happens when feelings trump facts. Will the political assassination of a vibrant young Christian man like Charlie Kirk be the key that opens the gate to the path back to God? Time will tell. Those of us who believe the gospel know that God changes individuals who change families and communities. If enough families and communities believe and practice truth, a nation can be turned. Let us pray and work. Perhaps America has reached a true turning point.
Blessings,
Pastor
Coram Deo
Good words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
"You have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. That ... View MoreGood words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
"You have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. That is the type of conservatism that I represent, and I'm trying to paint a picture of virtue, of lifting people up, not just staying angry."
-Charlie Kirk
If you and I are not careful we will miss the message in the horrible assassination of Charlie Kirk. The message is not that Charlie should be deified. He would abhor that. He knew that he was a sinner saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and he boldly witnessed to that fact even in his last moments of life on this earth. The message in Charlie’s death is that the war for the hearts and minds of Americans has moved into the phase of open, literal combat. We have moved from words to bullets. Only a fool will miss this message. The Woke Bolsheviks are using America’s freedom to bring about the triumph of slavery.
Today is “Constitution Day.” This beautiful document was not framed to grant rights to human beings. The Constitution was framed to protect and ensure the rights God grants to human beings. It was framed, in part, to “ensure domestic tranquility.” That means that the document was to be used to bring the kind of order that could keep people safe from the uncivilized behavior that brings harm to the innocent. When an innocent young woman can be wantonly stabbed to death by a criminal that the state had not held accountable for his previous crimes, we are witnessing domestic chaos. When a young man like Charlie Kirk can publicly be murdered for speaking truth and arguing for free speech, we are witnessing domestic chaos.
Only a return to God and the truth about God holds any hope for domestic tranquility for America. Human beings cannot live by “bread alone”. Only the word of God can properly bound and shape human behavior. I read an excellent article this week that reminded me of the great conservative Edmund Burke’s contention that true freedom is “Ordered liberty.” True order for humanity is anchored in the transcendent moral order that comes from God.
When the soviet dissident Alexander Solzehnytzen warned Western Civilization that it was in danger of collapse, he pointed to how Russia had fallen to the Communist maniacs by forgetting God. The silly concept that government needs no moral anchor has been promoted by those who champion the “separation of church and state.” Thomas Jefferson’s wall of separation is plucked from a letter he wrote in reply to a Baptist Association that was worried about government overreach. Jefferson’s wall of separation is something very different from what it has come to mean. Such is the power of a lie that an ignorant (miseducated) American public has swallowed whole.
Jefferson, in the letter to those Baptist leaders, made it clear that government should not dictate religious beliefs but allow freedom of conscience. He did not say that Christianity should have no influence on government. Only the truth that Christianity brings to a culture (and its government) can serve as a proper foundation for human liberty.
The murder of Charlie Kirk came out of a human heart (or, more likely, hearts). Jesus taught that murder (and a host of evils) comes out of the heart of fallen humans (Mark 7). Either Christians believe this or we fall for psychobabble that excuses the individual from personal responsibility and we miss the meaning of Charlie Kirk’s murder. Humans need the direction and protection of divine instruction of every word that comes from God’s mouth (Deut. 8:3). Without guidance from God humans easily degenerate into beasts.
American Christians have reached a turning point—no pun intended. We either turn back to God and in the power of the Holy Spirit do everything we can to promote godly teaching and actions that ensure domestic tranquility or we step off the cliff into domestic chaos. I shutter to think that Christians will be so blind and timid that we do nothing.
Blessings,
Pastor
Coram Deo
Servants of God,
Should Christians be concerned about antisemitism? Absolutely, we should. Any unjust treatment of a human being or a group of humans should never be acceptable to or go unchallenged b... View MoreServants of God,
Should Christians be concerned about antisemitism? Absolutely, we should. Any unjust treatment of a human being or a group of humans should never be acceptable to or go unchallenged by Christians. We must always work and pray for righteousness and to purge evil from our hearts.
At the same time, we must be thoughtful. Not everything that is called antisemitism is properly categorized. Jewish human beings are like the rest of us-subject to the words and actions of others. Sometimes Jewish people are wrongly treated or accused. Sometimes Jews (like all of us) are wrong. It is always important to tell the truth. Christians must think clearly and act righteously. The presence of antisemitism in our fallen world manifests human sin. It does not justify thinking unbiblically about Jews or any other group.
Recent violent crimes against Jews have grabbed headlines in our nation—a nation where its citizens pledge our allegiance to a republic that stands for (among other things) justice for all.
There is a danger, however, in falling for the lie that crime against one group of people is more hateful or sinful than against another. We must remember that all have sinned and that all need God's forgiveness offered by faith in Jesus Christ, the risen Messiah.
Crime against various groups grows when justice is lacking. The misleading term "social justice" is, at its heart, a Marxist ploy. Justice is a perfectly good noun. It can only be harmed by an adjective. God has revealed to us that we are to ".
...do justice, love kindness and walk humbly
with our God" (Micah 6:8). Behavior that pleases God is rooted in justice.
Let us be honest. Most recent attacks on Jews have revolved around the political and kinetic war in Gaza. We ignore the true teachings of Islam at our peril. Europe is finding that out the hard way. I do not mean every Islamic person is a criminal. I do mean that the underlying teachings of Islam includes the belief that it is righteous to use force (the sword) to bring infidels (Christians and Jews) to confess that Allah is supreme.
If you think Islam is not a threat to peace in our world, you are mistaken. Just because so many Americans take their religion lightly (virtually everyone casually claims to be a Christian of some sort) does not mean that serious Muslims play at theirs. Of course, there are wonderful Muslim men and women, but the religion they adhere to, taken to its logical conclusion, seeks to bring every human under the lordship of the demon god Allah-by force if necessary.
It takes time for a belief system to spread widely enough in a culture to gain control. Europe is almost there. The horrible open borders policy has flooded Europe with Islamic people—many of them radical and restless in their belief. The result is that in the major cities of Europe there are enclaves of Islam where Shariah law is the only law that is enforced. The local police do not enter or do so very reluctantly because the areas are manifestly unsafe for non-Muslims. The streets are filled with pregnant Islamic women pushing baby carriages and being followed by multiple small children.
It is likely only a matter of time until Islam wins out by birthrate alone. Islam is a clear and present danger in some American cities and on many a college campus as well. American Christians must not hate Jews or Muslims but we must tell the truth about all false religions.
Please do not fall for the lie that all religions are the same. Jews are not pseudo-Christians. Both Judaism and Islam reject the lordship of Jesus. That means that those who adhere to Judaism reject God's offer of grace and mercy through Jesus just as Muslims do. To speak this truth does not make me or you an antisemite; it makes us Christian evangelists who know that all lost people need Jesus! To miss Jesus is to miss everything. If Jesus is the way, truth and life-and he is-that means there is only one avenue to God the Father (John 14:6). It also means that both beliefs (Judaism and Islam) are teaching falsehoods about God.
Again, I stress that Christians must think clearly (biblically). Crime against any group is crime.
False beliefs that steal the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ are false beliefs that lead their adherents to Hell. The good news (gospel) is that though all have sinned, there is a path to salvation and peace with God for all categories of human beings by way of Jesus' sacrificial death and glorious resurrection.
Remember that the early church was composed of Jews. Thousands of Jews (including priests Acts 6:7) placed their faith in Jesus. They grasped that Jesus is lord: the long-awaited Messianic King promised by God in the scriptures. The apostles were Jews. The early missionaries were Jews. They believed that in Jesus, God had kept his promise to Abraham and the nation of Israel.
The true Davidic kingdom had arrived. They rejoiced that not only they (as Jews) but all the nations (gentiles) were being offered the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that "salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22). God's eternal and unstoppable plan is to make the universe great again through a Jewish Messiah-Jesus (Ephesians 1:10). Antisemitism is real and must be condemned and opposed, but the greatest problem Jews and gentiles face, is alienation from God. Jesus is the way-the only way.
Blessings,
Pastor
Coram Deo
Good words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
Christians must think clearly about the results of the recent election. Because the 2020 election was such a fiasco, it was expected that 2024 might also yie... View MoreGood words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
Christians must think clearly about the results of the recent election. Because the 2020 election was such a fiasco, it was expected that 2024 might also yield a result that took days or weeks to confirm. Not so. A few hours a&er polls closed it was clear that Trump had soundly defeated Harris. Because of the wisdom of our founders, the electoral vote yields a wonderful way to understand the mood of the country by region. Once again, it is clear that the states on the west coast and the extreme northeast of the nation are clearly more liberal than the vast majority of the nation.
Does that information help Christians? Well, it could. It might—if we understand that the more populated an area is, the more out of touch with nature—human and otherwise—voters tend to be. Across the nation, the closer an area is to a coast, an urban center or to a university, the more likely the voters are to be progressive and utopian in their thinking. Will American Christians grasp that ideas and philosophies have consequences? And will we believe that ideas about God are more important than anything else?
I have rejoiced that Donald Trump was elected to be our next President of the United States. I am happy and hopeful but I am not naïve. I know that no politician is perfect. I know Mr. Trump is not Jesus. I know it remains to be seen whether or not Donald Trump can keep some of the very big and bold promises he made during the campaign.
I also know evil when I see it. Bumbling and fumbling old Joe Biden and his cackling sidekick, Kamala Harris unleased massive wickedness on our nation. The American people sent them and their supporters a very strong rebuke at the ballot box. I thank God for that. Could it be that hope is on the horizon the way a cloud “about the size of a man’s hand” was on the horizon of Mount Carmel during the days of the prophet Elijah?
Will Mr. Trump and his administration have the courage and convictions to defang the federal government? A once small and limited government guided by the fear of God has become a secularized monster and a real danger to our democratic republic. It remains to be seen whether there is the national will to reign in our bloated and debt-ridden federal government. Will American Christians understand the times and diligently work for and fervently pray for a more just and Christ-honoring society?
What was once a Christian-flavored nation has become increasingly secularized to the point that government has become hostile to the ideas that gave birth to the nation. The founding generation were a people who were a Christianized people. They generally feared God and knew government needed to be kept in check. The influence of secular ideas in education and the culture at large have led the nation down a destructive path of growing dependency on government. Marxist and socialist seeds sown for decades have born the fruit of discontent and entitlement. We have gone from a people who were embarrassed at the thought of being dependent on government to one loudly demanding the government be involved in every crack and crease of life.
American education needs a massive revival. School choice must happen if the ideas of the American founding are to endure. Our national defense is in a shambles. The borders must become just that—borders once again. Americans must recover respect for human life—including family life. Marriage must be rescued from utopian experiments and human sexuality must be restored to its God-given binary categories.
All of these changes are too big for a purely secular country to make. It takes belief in a transcendent authority—that of God alone—to reestablish belief in the glory and purpose of human nature. Humans were made to be frui>ul and multiply. We were created to have God-granted dominion over the earth. We were created to image God into the world by being like Him. Christians must live Christ-honoring lives that are both reverent and productive. We must boldly proclaim that only Christ can change human hearts so that a man or woman can live a joyful and hopeful life and we must live consistent with our claims.
The election of Donald Trump may provide an opportunity for a revival of American greatness. If there is not a massive love for and obedience to Christ at its core, no a?empt at a revival will yield anything but a last pitiful gasp of a wounded giant. Christian must seize the day and be willing to labor for a just and prosperous society. If we do not, then no election will make a lasting difference.
Blessings,
Pastor
Coram Deo
Good words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.”... View MoreGood words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.”
-from Psalm 33
The United States is a special nation. It was founded largely by evangelical Christians. Their robust Christian convictions and exaltation of moral righteousness are still woven into the fabric of the country. When Donald Trump addressed the nation as the President-elect last night (early this morning), he referred to his belief that God had preserved his life and brought him to the status of being the next president. It is impossible to know, but he appears to be a man whose near-death experience has changed his perception of the stewardship of his life. Life is extremely complicated—even mysterious—but it is hard to deny that individuals and nations have critical moments that change them and their direction. Leaders take their followers in a particular direction.
Obviously, a presidential election is always a major event, but this one may have been more important than most. To say that the previous presidential election was problematic is an understatement. There are always shenanigans and cheating in national elections but 2020 was beyond the pale. There was just too much strange and problematic behavior. Very few Americans thought the results were totally honest. Many (including me) believed all the changes in voting practices invited corruption of the election. I was never certain the right guy was declared to be the winner. But Americans are generally law-abiding and willing to keep the peace when possible. Donald Trump believed the election was stolen and let that be known. That frightened his political enemies to death. They pulled out all the stops to malign, impugn and discourage him. It all failed. Trump battled through dense and even demonic opposition and delivered a crushing blow with a massive electoral victory.
Christians must be careful not to confuse being Christian with being politically conservative. It matters what we attempt to conserve. Christians, by nature, are conservative. We are people who “do this in remembrance” of Jesus. The dynamic realities of the past like the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus stay current in our lives. Christians are truly traditional, but we are not traditionalists. Tradition has to do with continuing the living faith of dead people; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition is remembering the truths of the past and holding on to them. The things worth conserving in our national body politic all are rooted in the Christian faith. Truth telling, doing justice while maintaining personal responsibility and respect for those who differ from us are all Christian concepts. Obeying the law and respecting the rights of others are rooted in biblical teaching. Christians know we are ultimately under the authority and watchful eye of our holy Creator God. We know that doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly before God is a timeless responsibility no matter the culture or circumstance.
Our nation faces many obnoxious and obscene ideas and forces. The only way our nation can continue to survive is for us to reject the madness of progressivism and wokeness and to return to beliefs and practices that birthed us as a people. I believe God uses even crooked sticks to strike straight blows. I also believe that the blessings that come to any (and every) nation are from God. If you and I want our nation to flourish, we must realize that the belief that secularism is morally neutral is a myth. Of course, there will be many tradeoffs in a fallen world, but truth always matters and reality can be denied but never abolished. Homosexuality will never be normal and killing an innocent baby will never be healthcare. Living together without being married will never be acceptable to a holy God and pornography or prostitution will never be victimless. American Christians must pray and work for a nation where it is okay to be a person who is openly and boldly willing to conserve the good things that bring honor to God. If America is to once again be a “strong, safe and prosperous” nation as President-elect promised last night, it can only happen if the things that are good, true and beautiful are conserved and embraced. The deceitful lies of the Marxist pied pipers must be abandoned—like the philosophical garbage they are.
Blessings,
Pastor
Coram Deo
Good words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
“Seek first the kingdom of God…”
-Jesus (Matthew 6:33)... View MoreGood words from Kansas.
Servants of God,
“Seek first the kingdom of God…”
-Jesus (Matthew 6:33)
Did you watch the presidential debate last night? I watched a few clips and I might watch more if time allows. In a very real sense, these events have become a delusion and largely a waste of time. They are not debates. Because of the left-leaning characters who ask the questions, they are terribly one-sided. No one who has been paying attention to the American political scene is likely to learn anything new about either candidate. It is all a charade. If these events are about democracy, then the Olympic games are about amateurism. If we all just keep pretending, then we will never have to face reality.
Each candidate is trying to gain the presidency so he or she can exert influence over the American people. Now, I will be honest. While neither candidate is a paragon of virtue, Kamala Harris is a despicable human being and her running mate is worse. Anyone who has followed her rise from being the mistress to a powerful California politician to the office of the Vice President of the United States knows how she got there. She has been willing to give her body and sell her soul to gain power. She is a Marxist. Tim Walsh is a lying buffoon who makes her look like a conservative. These are dangerous human beings who do not belong anywhere near the leadership of the nation.
Donald Trump is a brash egotist with a checkered past, but he has shown (by his speech and behavior) to care genuinely about the sovereignty and safety of our nation. I believe Trump deeply loves our country and is trying to save the nation from the progressive left’s drive toward a totalitarian state. Trump is a far better choice, but he is not the answer that some (including many evangelical Christians) believe.
Millions of Americans have voted for and will vote again for Trump because he is one of the few American politicians with enough hutzpah to tell the truth about the overbearing and tyrannical forces lurking underneath politics in our country. Trump has (I believe providentially) pulled back the curtain and exposed the wizardry of the deep state. These people are largely unnamed operatives who are willing to steal, kill (assassinate) and destroy anyone or anything that threatens their money and power. They operate largely in the dark and are embedded in every branch of the government. They are not just evil persons; they are traitors to America.
Christians must do all we can to preserve those things that are good about our nation. Christians must battle for the good, the true and the beautiful in every arena of life. We ought to be not just patriots but godly patriots. We must be concerned about what God is concerned about. When there is a lack of justice or decency or respect or opportunity, Christians must fight for what we know is right. When life is threatened, Christians must oppose those who want to murder and maim. When lies are being put forth as truth, we must shine the light of truth brightly upon the lies and the liars. When liars claim God is not the Creator of life and that human life is not special and precious because humans are made in the image of God, we must call them what they are—liars. When the secularists claim that all views are equal, we must tell them the truth—Jesus is Lord! There are only two views of life. Either humans bend the knee and worship Jesus or they follow the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2). Christians must speak this truth in every arena of life and we must be willing to face the negative consequences that truth telling and righteous living can bring.
When you vote for president (and you should) you will not be voting for a perfect person. You and I must vote for the person who is most likely to lead in a manner that accords with the teaching of God’s word. Sadly in the United States of America in the year of our Lord, 2024, one presidential candidate loves the prospects of killing unborn babies and desires massive government control of virtually every aspect of life. Please do not vote for death and slavery.
Blessings,
Pastor
Coram Deo
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