August 26, 2022

Will there come a day when using the wrong pronoun will be a crime?

There is no doubt that the answer is a resounding YES! It is a situation that is inevitable and equally insoluble. It defies the imagination but demands our attention. And Christians better pay attention and be prepared to know how they shall speak when that day arrives. As morality mutates and laws fluctuate, Christians will find it necessary to decide how they shall then live. This is not a new phenomenon. The apostle Peter was accused and condemned by the religious leaders for speaking and proclaiming the name of Jesus. Peter was warned of the consequences of mentioning that name in public. His reply was, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge…”(Acts 4:19) I think we call that, speaking the truth in love. The great American dream is becoming the great American nightmare. Sociological pressure is mounting, and spiritual courage will be needed. I think Frederick Douglass in 1867 was correct when he presciently opined, “A man’s rights rest in three boxes; the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box.” But for the Christian, we must also understand that the real power is to be found as we boldly go to the Throne of Grace. Our prayer: “Father,Thy will be done.” Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred

August 19, 2022

When I at last let my mortal body go - I shall be much more than mortal mind can know. ~T.S. Eliot~

I suppose it must say something about me and perhaps you too, that I read the obituary page most days. First, to make sure I am not there - and that means it is going to be a good day. But perhaps more truthfully, I find it difficult to see so many who appear to be dying so young. Perhaps it is the fact that I am growing older, and that more of my friends are getting terminal diseases, and some have just recently passed on. It is insightful to remember as T.S. Eliot reminds us; Time can be a destroyer or time can be a preserver. How clear is the truth that our outer man is failing but our inner man is being renewed day by day, being conformed to the image of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:16) I remind myself of this so I will not be afraid. I am not afraid of dying for that is the next step to living, and that eternal life is going to be with Jesus. That is the end product for those who have placed their faith in Jesus. But the process of dying with so much decline and deterioration, so much damage and difficulty, so much discomfort and ultimate destruction, who in their right mind would welcome that? The truth is, we do not need to welcome it, but we do need to face it, face it squarely in all its intimidation and all its humiliation. But we do not need to be afraid. Fear is about loss. Losing something or someone. However, for the Christian who values Jesus more than other people and more than life itself because He is eternal life in Himself, death will not deprive us of Jesus. In fact, it is death that brings us to Jesus. When Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished,” death had lost its sting. The certificate of debt was paid in full. (Col. 2:14) His next stop was to His heavenly throne through the resurrection from the dead. So too, by death through resurrection (if not by rapture first) shall our future be in heaven with Him. We get old too soon and wise too late. But wisdom tells me that the vexing vicissitudes of life are meant to drive me to Jesus. They are to remind me of my inadequacy and overwhelm me with His complete adequacy. It is comforting to know He will provide all I need when I need it. Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred

August 12, 2022

The Best Way to Cultivate Humanity is to Study Divinity

This just might explain our societal problem. Our humanity is uncultivated because we do not acknowledge or appreciate Divinity. Perhaps our social problem is actually a reflection of a spiritual problem. The apostle Paul seemed to think so. When you worship the creation rather than the Creator you are headed in the wrong direction. (Romans 1) It results in gender confusion, sexual corruption, and societal collapse. In the end, it results in a seared conscience and God giving you over to a depraved mind. And that leads to depraved actions. Enough said? How does one study Divinity? As Kevin Vanhoozer reminds us; “The Bible does not tell us everything we need to know about everything, rather it tells us everything we need to know about the one thing that puts everything else into proper perspective.” As a man thinks so he is. So, what would you expect to happen to a society when you remove the Bible from schools, from most homes, and from many churches? Distortion of mind, deconstruction of the heart, depression in the soul, depravity of the body, demise of the family, devastation of a people, and destruction of a culture. In a word - death and separation from God. History reminds us of how John Dewey tried to eliminate Christian values from the home through schools with a compulsory state-run educational system. (He even invaded the library!) The famous educator, Allan Bloom, cataloged in his book, “The Closing of the American Mind,” how modern education removed classical literature and the Bible from university education.  E.D. Hirsch also demonstrated how the Bible has been eliminated and morality altered in children’s primary education.  The Bible is a light and a lamp. In a dark world both are needed…in large quantities. Let me encourage you to cultivate your humanity by studying Divinity. Let me urge you, starting today…right now if you can; read the sacred scriptures. And remember as Merrill Tenney reminds us: This Book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this Book.  Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred

August 5, 2022

Don’t let the past remind you of what you are not now. ~Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young~

If you’re old enough, you might remember the song (this line comes from). It’s a statement about diminishing. And although it is true that all of us are diminishing and even decaying, it is equally true that we are developing. The older I get the more perspective I have to view life, which allows me to perceive more of my life from a biblical perspective. The apostle Paul reminds us that both diminishing and developing can take place. “Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4: 16-18) Now that is a great angle from which to assess your life, decaying on the outside and developing on the inside. I can testify that both are at work in me. But it is vital to understand the contrast between what Paul calls the things that are eternal and the things that are temporal. Age has a way of clarifying what is truly important. And yet “the tinseled sham of a temporal world can delude the eye and beguile the heart.” As our days wind down and our bodies wear out, it is essential that we continue to develop our inner man’s spiritual maturity and become conformed to the image of Christ. Things that matter least must never come about at the expense of things that matter most. -Goethe- What matters most to you? Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred