Relativism

If I place my water glass on the table, and say “my water glass is on the table”. Is that statement true? Everyone in the room would agree that it is true, because you can see the glass there on the table. But if you are not in the room and you can not see it, is the statement still true? You may believe that the statement is true or you may believe that the statement is false, but the truth is, the water glass is on the table. That is the fact and it is external and separate from what you think. That is reality. This is called objective truth. Unfortunately, today we tend to look inside of ourselves to find the truth. We decide what is true. It is a subjective truth and it is also known as relativism. This is a big lie and it has been around since the Fall.

Adam and Eve listened to Satan and decided themselves to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). They were deceived and ignored the external truth of God’s love and command and decided to follow their own desires. They became focused on themselves instead of God. Ever since then we have been dealing with this internal self-centered god complex in each one of us.

What does the Devil do? He lies (John 8:44). He deceives (Revelation 12:9). He blinds people (2 Corinthians 4:4) and takes them captive (2 Timothy 2:26). And thus, the world is in his power (1 John 5:19).

This is spiritual warfare, and not just a battle of opinions. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but … against spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). We need to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). With the first piece is “the belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14) along with the last piece “the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) we can take on the lies of the Devil (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We do this with patience and gentleness, while praying for their salvation (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

When we are learning about what a person believes, look for a big spiritual lie that is obvious to you, but they are blind to. We respond by countering the lies with the truth. And I believe a very good way to do that is by asking questions. You first ask questions to discover what they believe. Then ask questions to learn why they believe what they believe. And lastly ask questions that guide them to expose some areas where they have been blinded from the truth.

In this age of relativism, we find people have their own internal individual truth, their own subjective truth, and yet they tend to live with some external objective truth. They may consider all moral truth to be relative, however they have their moral standard that they expect others to follow, especially when it affects them. They tend to be blind to the inconsistencies of their beliefs.

I believe Satan is in the shadows deceiving the world. Because of relativism, many historical stories are being rewritten (e.g. The 1619 Project), and many words are being redefined to fit the narrative of their beliefs. This is being done to control the culture and individuals. This does not lead to the freedom of expressive individualism that their narrative is supposed to create, but instead the truth is lost. It reminds me of the newspaper Pravda of the Soviet Union. In Russian, Pravda means truth, but the newspaper was full of lies. I find that words of virtue like tolerance, diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and love are being used to cover vices, and words describing evil (intolerance, bigotry, inequity, exclusion, injustice, and hate) are being used to subvert the good. It bothers me to have these words and stories redefined. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).

Satan has blinded and deceived this world and has taken it captive. Christians have the truth, the true story of reality. We need to share the truth of God’s love and gently point out the spots of blindness that prevent them from having that good full life in Jesus Christ.

This post was inspired by chapter 6 of “Street Smarts” and lesson 3 of the video series “Street Smarts”. Both are by Gregory Koukl.

Dealing with DEI

Companies and government agencies have embraced the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) worldview. In order to advance in the organization you need to show you are supporting DEI. (The State Department recently said that you need to document that you are actively involved in DEI practices to be considered for a promotion.) Coming from a Christian worldview, how do you deal with DEI? How can you find some common ground when there is much you feel is wrong and harmful about DEI?

First, Christians are in favor of diversity. The body of Christ is made up of a diverse group of people with different gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-27). Heaven will be filled with people from everywhere (Revelation 7:9-10). God loves everyone (Psalm 117:1-2) and calls us to do the same (Matthew 5:43-48). Note God loves us so very much that he is unwilling to leave us as we are but will change us for the better through the work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16-17). So Christians are in favor of diversity, but out of love we stand against broken and harmful lifestyles and beliefs. Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview demands acceptance of the harmful lifestyles of LGBTQ+ community. As Christians we can not accept their wrong and harmful lifestyles, but we can accept and affirm the LGBTQ+ people as people loved by God.

Also, Christians are in favor of equity. God is fair, just, and impartial. He will judge with righteousness and equity (Psalm 98:9; Isaiah 11:3-4). All people have sinned and fall short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23). We stand equal before God, regardless of race, gender, or social status (Galatians 3:28). Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview distorts equity when it requires equal outcomes or the redistribution of resources without considering individual talents, individual effort, personal responsibility, and the stewardship of resources. Christians show equal dignity and respect for all people regardless of one’s status (James 2:1-4). It is only in Christ where we find true equity.

And Christians are in favor of inclusion. Inclusion is the intentional welcoming and acceptance of people. God loves all people and he desires that all would come to know him and be restored in relationship with him (1 Timothy 2:3-4). As Christians, we welcome all who follow Jesus as brothers and sisters (Romans 15:5-7) and we desire all people to come to faith in Jesus. Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview sees inclusion as the acceptance of all beliefs and of all practices, even beliefs and practices that are harmful. (However many times they will exclude people whose beliefs they consider to be intolerant.) God loved the world so very much that he gave Jesus as our substitute so that we could have life and a restored relationship with God (John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:24). God wants to include you. Do not reject him, but instead turn to him and follow him.

And yes, Christians also stand against inequality and oppression. We too are against societal structures that oppress people and cause inequality. We work for a better society through promoting love (1 Corinthians 16:14), forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32), and reconciliation (Matthew 5:24), first with God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21), but also with the people around us. Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview broadly divides the people into groups of people that oppress and groups of people that are oppressed without considering the individual circumstances of each person. The secular DEI divides. Christians seek to reconcile and unite.

So as Christians, we believe in the real biblical version of DEI, and not the distorted secular version. There is common ground with secular DEI in which we can start conversations, but it will not be easy in a secular DEI workplace. You can gently point out the problems with their version of DEI. I would do it by asking questions about their beliefs to get them thinking about what they do believe and what are the problems that the secular DEI creates. You need to realize that you may be labeled as a person who hates or an oppressor for opposing certain aspects of their DEI standard, but you need to stand firm on the truth. It is good to do so for you, for them, and for society.

This post was inspired by “Understanding DEI (From a Biblical Perspective)” by Cam Arminio.

Broken

Everybody today realizes that there is something broken or not right with the world. Utopia, where everyone can live in harmony, is a dream that we all seem to share. Many have tried to create utopia-like communities, and all have failed. There are a few attempts to deal with the brokenness.

One idea is to focus on getting your mind in the right state. You look inside yourself and you determine what you consider reality to be. You decide what is right and what is wrong. You fix yourself internally. You attempt to block out the wrong and promote the right (whatever that right is that you determine to be).

Another idea is that the environment is wrong. People tend to do what society tells them to do. The idea is you can fix society or the culture by training people to think correctly and do the right things. Only then would utopia be possible. The idea is we can do this if we have enough rules or laws to guide people to utopian thinking. Correcting the environment, if you can get people to do what has been considered to be right, is an attempt to solve the problem.

Both these concepts assume that you or society knows what is right and what is wrong. In the first case the person determines what is right or wrong, and what is reality. In the second case, society determines that. Unfortunately, in either case, their definition of reality and what is good or evil can easily change.

There is a third way to look at the reality of our brokenness. We start by recognizing there is a Creator that made us (1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the one that has defined reality and has set standards of right and wrong, good and evil. We do not get to. As the Creator, who loves us, he set these standards for our good. However, our first parents failed to follow God’s standards and went off on their own (Genesis 3:1-6). Because of this we are broken through and through (Romans 3:23). We live self-centered selfish lives. We are unable to fix ourselves. Our disobedience broke us and the world and ever since then we have had this longing for a restoration of that utopia.

God, our Creator, did not give up on us. He set out to rescue us from our brokenness and to restore the world to its unbroken state. In Jesus, he became one of us, and lived a perfect life that we could not (1 Peter 2:22). Out of love for us, he died on the cross as payment for our wrongdoings and our brokenness (1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2). He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) to start the process of restoration.

To illustrate this, consider this story. You are walking across university grounds and you come across a standoff with the police and a shooter. You are peeved when told you can not go that way because you have important business to attend to. You slip to the side and think this does not look really dangerous and I can slip under the barrier and take this other route. So you do that and about a minute later, you see a glint of a rifle barrel, hear a shot, and end up on the ground. You are okay but lying on top of you is the policeman that told you not to go past the barriers. He is bleeding and is dead. He sacrificed himself because of your disobedience and selfish stupidity. He saved you. That is what Jesus did for us. Jesus sacrificed himself in order to save us from our broken selves. He did it to bring us back to himself, to restore that broken relationship with God that our first parents had in the beginning.

The Bible says you are saved by God’s undeserved love through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a gift. Faith has been defined in a variety of ways. Faith is not a blind faith. There are few things needed to have faith. First, you must know what or who you have faith in. You have faith in Jesus, who died for you. Second, you need to agree or give your assent that Jesus is Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9). And lastly, you need to place your trust in Jesus, that is you need to recognize your brokenness, turn from your selfish ways, and strive to follow Jesus and his ways (Acts 3:19). That is faith. It is an active faith.

Jesus’ resurrection points to the day we will rise back to life and live forever with God in that utopian environment (Revelation 21:1-5) (or without him in Hell if you reject him). Today we live in the new life that he has given us (John 10:10). We have been rescued and are in the process of being restored.

This post was inspired in part by Gregory Koukl’s book, “The Story of Reality”.

Divisions

America is very divided politically. I believe this is different from the cultural divisions of worldviews. A version of the Christian worldview used to be the dominant worldview in America. Today, prevalent in America, there are several variations of the critical theory worldview (with expressive individualism mixed in). And today both political liberals and conservatives use the critical theory framework to promote their agendas.

Critical theory states that there are unfair oppressive structures in society, and thus there are people being oppressed or in other words victims. Critical theory states these various forms of oppression are what is wrong in the world and its goal is to liberate us from the oppression. Some of the more common variations of critical theory are critical race theory, feminism, queer theory, and postcolonialism. You can especially see critical theory in action with the agendas found in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Movement. This has been part of a big push by the political liberals.

But the political conservatives use the same critical theory framework. The oppressive structures are instead the mainstream media, the deep state government, and other concerns, like voting. So the conservatives see different structures that are oppressing America and making us victims of the current power structures. Donald Trump is big in promoting the oppressive nature of these so-called liberal power structures, and in this current election cycle with his legal troubles he is especially promoting the idea that he is the victim and that he is taking the “attacks” for us. I believe this critical theory framework is one of the main reasons he has been able to resonate with so many voters because critical theory is already embedded in today’s culture.

“Wait, wait”, you say, “there is some truth in what they say”. Yes, there is some truth found in both the liberal and conservative statements. But note that every good lie has a kernel of truth. I believe the framework of critical theory twists the truth and makes it divisive. It ends up being less than the whole truth.

You need to be aware that critical theory’s way of thinking in terms of oppression is the dominant way of thinking in today’s culture. You still need to acknowledge the truth found in the twisted statements, but only the truth. You especially need to avoid using the critical theory framework. It is divisive. It is not an us versus them (the enemy and the oppressor) situation. There is really only one enemy. His name is Satan.

The Christian asks how I can help and make the situation better. The Christian realizes that it is not an us versus them situation, because we are all sinners in need of a Savior. We need to, as much as possible, work together and not be divisive. We are to be generous, kind, and gracious in our speech. We do not lie, but we speak the truth in love. We do everything from an attitude of love, wanting the best for the other person. The Christian Faith is about reconciliation and forgiveness, first with God, but also with our fellow human beings. Critical theory is about justice and fairness, whereas Christianity has justice with mercy. Relationships cannot be restored with only justice. Mercy and forgiveness is needed to end the divisions and restore healthy relationships.

I believe the political dysfunction in Congress and throughout American politics is due in part to critical theory thinking. Avoid it!

Marriage

Marriage is found in all cultures. It is nearly universal. It is foundational to human society. Marriage has a positive effect on health and wellbeing. In marriage, families are formed and children are raised. And yet today, I find that in Western culture marriage and families are considered to be not very important. Instead the individual is considered to be much more important. Below I will describe marriage with a few insights I have learned. It will be a Biblical view of marriage.

God instituted marriage from the very beginning. Jesus summarizes it well when he said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5; Genesis 1:27, 2:24) God designed marriage for us. It is a gift to us. (Note some are called to be single and marriage is not for them (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).)

Marriage is a public covenant and a commitment you make in love. You promise and bind yourselves only to each other for life. Because of that commitment, marriage creates a safe place where intimacy rules. It is not just physical or sexual intimacy, but it is all the other types of intimacy too. You can safely share your concerns, your faults, your mistakes, your sins and everything else, because your spouse is there for you and will not run away. You can be vulnerable. They love you and want the best for you. They will listen to you as you share. They will forgive you. They will help you restore what has been broken.

Also marriage is a safe and stable place to raise children. The family is the building block of society. Studies have shown that children do better when both parents are a part of the family. Fathers are especially needed. The cornerstone of a Christian marriage is Jesus Christ. He is first in the marriage with your spouse as second, and the children are third. Children learn by watching how the husband and wife love and serve each other. And they also learn to serve God by watching their parents.

A Christian marriage is a witness to the world of God’s faithful love for us, his sacrificial service of love to us, and his loving commitment and pursuit of us. A Christian marriage displays the relationship between God and his people. God has been faithful in his love for us. Unfortunately, we have put ourselves, others, and things above God. We have not submitted ourselves to his loving guidance, and yet he still loves us and pursues us. He is so committed to us that Jesus came and died for us to allow that intimate relationship with us to be restored. Jesus is our bridegroom and we are the bride.

There is no such thing as a perfect marriage. A marriage joins two sinful people, so there will be problems and issues you have to deal with, but because of that covenantal commitment you both can work though those problems and issues. You need to talk with each other and especially listen to each other. You need to forgive each other. Great marriages require that commitment and for both of you to work at making the marriage great. It is worth the effort.

Crazy Sex Culture

I am concerned about people today, because today’s culture is very focused on sex, from sexual identity to pornography to mostly naked girls trying to impress the boys. This is a very unhealthy focus of sex and it is causing lots of problems in society today. I am especially concerned because there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people with sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and a large rise in the number of people with mental health issues, especially among young people.

That is not how it was meant to be. Sexual attraction is a good thing. God made us male and female and gave us an attraction for each other. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). In the context of marriage, sex is a good thing. Sexual attraction and sex itself help bind the husband and wife in marriage. It is in marriage where sex is meant to be.

Unfortunately, the cultural focus on sex has been around for a long time. I think of Jane Mansfield and Marylin Monroe. I think of the old commercial saying, “Sex sells”. Beautiful well endowed women would be placed with the products you wanted to sell. But it was in the 1960s, the era of free love, when things really took off. Birth control pills became available, so the concern of an unexpected pregnancy mostly disappeared. Because of that, the expectation of having sex while dating became the norm. Although for some, their only purpose of having sex was to release their own sexual desires. Sex for them was very me focused.

Pornography has also taken off, capitalizing on the lustful side of sexual attraction. Pornography is there mostly for men’s fantasies. (Pornography is not exclusively for heterosexual men but the large majority of it is, so I will talk about pornography in this male heterosexual context.) Pictures and videos created a fantasy world for men where women are there to please the men and to appear to greatly enjoy being sexually handled. With the arrival of the Internet, pornography became easily accessible and much more anonymous. (You are never completely anonymous on the Internet.) Pornography on the Internet has increased the expectation that having sex with anyone is the normal thing to do, and all the kinky ways to do it are possible and okay.

With all the boundaries disappearing, other sexual forms found in the LGBTQ+ community have become popular. Instead of having a clear cut physical identity of either male or female, people today are supposed to look inside themselves at their feelings and desires and decide who they are sexually, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual, and also male, female, neutered, or something else. Who you are physically does not really matter. Today, gender is a fluid social construct. You can be whoever you want to be and you can change your gender hourly if you want.

This concerns me, because it appears the LGBTQ+ community has focused their efforts on “helping” teens find their gender. Puberty is a time of great bodily change. I remember not quite knowing how to handle all the changes happening with my body. The last thing I needed was someone asking to look deep inside me to find out what gender I was. It would have been very confusing to me. I think this is one of the reasons there are so many mental health issues among the youth today. The youth today need some stability as they discover who they are as a person and to deal with the physical changes happening with their body. They do not need someone asking them to decide right now their gender, that is asking them to make some big life changing decisions.

Sexual promiscuity is the norm these days, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. Having many sexual partners greatly increases your chances of getting one of the STDs. For me this was made clear in August 2022 when there was a very limited supply of Monkeypox vaccines. Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis focused their efforts on making the vaccines available to the LGBTQ+ community because they were “currently the most at risk”. Having multiple sexual partners is dangerous! It only takes one sexual partner to infect you.

Being sexually promiscuous is wrong and is harmful in many ways. There is a better way. God has set apart sex for marriage. A man and a woman are to save that physical sexual intimacy for marriage. Sex is meant for marriage. Doing it God’s way is safer both physically and mentally. (More on marriage in the next blog post.)

Be Intentional and Disciplined

Another year is coming to an end. People make resolutions this time of year. Last year I set up a “rule of life” for me to live by, instead of having New Year’s resolutions. I like the idea of creating a pattern of habits to live by, and I think it has worked out well for me this past year. I did fail this last month in the habit of “Limit the eating of sweets and fats”. I ate way too many cookies and now I have a couple pounds I need to lose. I was not intentional and disciplined in my eating this last month.

I think in today’s culture of comfort and convenience we need to be intentional and disciplined in how we live. The strong siren call of today’s culture is to live for oneself and to fulfill one’s desires. The goal of many people is to live a life of ease, one of comfort and convenience, where they can always be happy by having all their desires met. This last month I let my desire for sweet cookies rule my eating. It was not healthy. I was not intentional in my eating, and I was not at all disciplined. I gained a couple of pounds. Now I have to deal with the consequences of that lack of discipline.

God calls us to a life centered around him and not centered around us. That is very different from what today’s culture says. Culture today pulls us toward a self-centered life based on our desires. This is why we can not coast through life. If we do, we will not be living for God and we will have to deal with the consequences of the short term thinking of our desires. We need to be intentional and disciplined in life’s activities so that we can have that good and full life centered on God.

One good way of being intentional is to have a plan. We can not try to fit God into our lives. Instead we need to start with God and build our lives around him. That is why I created a “rule of life” document for myself, so that I would be consistent in how I live my life for God. I created the document by looking at what I was already doing and what I wanted to do. I did not get very specific (e.g. Every morning at 6:00am I will read the Bible), instead I kept my habits more general (e.g. Daily read Scripture). I am not that structured, but you may be. It does take some prayerful consideration to put together a plan or a “rule of life”. It is not something you should write up in a few hours. Spend some time praying about it while putting it together. Once it is done you will want to revisit it from time to time to see how well it still fits. For me this is the time of year when I think of such things. (I first started thinking about the idea of a “rule of life” around New Years 2022 and I put it into practice around New Years 2023 and now I am evaluating it around New Years 2024.)

Having a plan and wanting to be intentional is not enough. You need commitment and discipline to put your intentionality into action. This is the hard part but this is something we need to strive for. It is not easy and I have also many times failed to live up to the “habits” or “rules” that I have set (let alone God’s good standards), but fortunately, we have a God who is merciful and gracious. He desires that intimate relationship between us and him. I think my “rule of life” document helps me to pursue that relationship. Our focus should be centered on God, especially on Jesus. It is out of gratitude for God’s amazing love and for all Jesus has done for me that I want to live my life to his glory. He inspires and enables me to have the discipline to live life for him.

PS To find out some of what Gail and I did in 2022 and 2023, read our Christmas letter.

A Christmas Story

A long long time ago, there was a young woman, Miriam, who was engaged to be married to a man named Yosef. She had a visit from a messenger from God. The messenger said, “Hello, highly favored one. God is with you.” This very unusual event naturally troubled her. The messenger said, “Do not be afraid, Miriam, because God is going to bless you. You will bear a son and name him Yehoshua. He will become a great person, and he will be called the Son of God. God will restore the kingdom of your ancestor David and he will reign over the People of God forever. His kingdom will be eternal.”

Miriam responded to the messenger, “I am a virgin. Virgins do not bear children. Is there something I must do?”

The messenger replied, “No, you need to do nothing. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and by God’s power you will bear the child. And here is a sign, your relative, Elisheba, who was unable to have children, is pregnant in her old age. She is six months into her pregnancy. Nothing is impossible with God.” Miriam responded and said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done as you have said.” Then the messenger left, and Miriam became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Miriam was going to become the talk of the town. The good girl was pregnant. Yosef, Miriam’s fiance, upon hearing the news debated what he should do. After all he was not the father. Being a good man, he did not want to publicly humiliate her and have her stoned. He decided to break off the engagement quietly. That night he had a dream, where a messenger from God said, “Yosef, descendent of David, do not be afraid to take Miriam as your wife, for the child that is in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall name him Yehoshua, for he will save his people from their sins.” Yosef took her as his wife.

Miriam left town and went to visit Elisheba. Miriam greeted Elisheba, and Elisheba doubled over. But instead of crying out in pain, being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elisheba loudly proclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your child! Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your voice, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Miriam responded in song:

“I praise the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty God has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their thoughts.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and he has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel
remembering to be merciful
Because of this promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Miriam stayed with Elisheba for about three months and then returned home.

Now it so happened that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman Empire. And everyone returned to their own ancestral town to register. So Yosef left Nazareth in Galilee and went to Bethlehem in Judea, taking Miriam with him because he was a descendant of King David (and Miriam too).

While there Miriam gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no lodging (inn or guest room) available for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, a messenger of the Lord appeared among them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the messenger said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. You will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” And suddenly with the messenger, appeared a heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the heavenly host had left them and returned into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Miriam and Yosef, and the baby, who was lying in the feeding trough. They then went out and spread the word about this baby, and those who heard it wondered at the news. Miriam treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The real accounts of the birth of Jesus can be found in Luke 1:39-56, 2:1-21; Matthew 1:18-25. I used Hebrew names for Elizabeth (Elisheba), Mary (Miriam), Joseph (Yosef) and Jesus/Joshua (Yehoshua). Jesus is the English version of the Latin version of the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, whereas Joshua is the English version of Yehoshua. Mary was likely called by the Aramaic version of Miriam, which is Maryam, but I wanted to keep all the names in Hebrew.

Do Good!

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

People today think in terms of power. They see the people with power and those without. They use power to force change. That does work in the short term, but Christians see things differently. We have a different strategy. We work via the means of love. We love because he [God] first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is an upside down way of thinking by the world’s standards, but it is God’s way and I believe in the long run it works much better than going for power.

It is a radical way of thinking, but scripture is full of commands to love. God calls us to be strong and to do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). We are not wimpy. We are strong when we love. God is our strength (Ephesians 6:10). We do not have to do it on our own. The Holy Spirit provides us with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

God calls us to love even our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-45). We have been given a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). We need to be about reconciling people to each other and especially to God.

So we can overcome evil by doing good. What does doing good look like? Micah 6:8 tells us:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

To “do justice” means we act justly, treat others fairly, and speak the truth in love. We act with integrity. To “love kindness” means we remember the kindness and mercy we have received from God. We are just as guilty as everyone else (Romans 3:23), but because we have been forgiven and been given a full life, we can give, serve, and forgive others. We can be kind. And “to walk humbly with your God” is to recognize that we are made whole only because of God’s mercy. We walk, live our lives, with God guiding us. We imitate God (Ephesians 4:32-5:2). We have compassion toward others and show kindness, love, and concern for them. We are able to do this only out of God’s amazing love, grace, and mercy that he pours into us and through us to others. This is the way we can do good and overcome evil.

Like Abraham, we are called to be a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3). (Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.) So in being a blessing, we “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called”. (1 Peter 3:9). We are a blessing when in love we imitate Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Jeremiah 29:7 reminds us also to “seek the welfare of the city” where we live, so this doing good is more than just interpersonal relationships. It is also about the good of the community. We can change the world for the better, by doing good in love.

Let our faith determine our response to the circumstances of life. We will not be overcome by evil, and we will overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Grace and Gratitude

God’s grace is amazing. I am thinking of his undeserved love and provision for us. Let us think about some of the many ways his goodness and grace makes our lives better.

God created this wonderful world (Genesis 1:1), and created us with our senses to enjoy the beauty he created. What are some of the smells you enjoy? Tastes? Sights? Sounds? Textures? I think about the food I get to eat. Much of the time, the food engages most of my senses. It smells good. It tastes good. It looks very pleasing to the eye, and there is a texture to the food that feels good in the mouth. And sometimes there are even pleasing sounds as the food cooks or is eaten. It is not gray tasteless mush. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for the good food we get to eat!

I really enjoy the outdoors and the mountains (Psalm 95:4-5). To walk along a cascading stream or a babbling brook with green foliage is a wonderful experience. To see mountain peaks covered in snow is majestic. Also, to walk on the beach with the sound of the waves gently breaking gives me a sense of peace. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for the beauty and wonder of your creation!

I think of how unique Earth is. It is the right distance from the Sun for life. It is not too hot or too cold. And I especially think of water. Water vapor helps keep the heat in so that it is warm enough. And most solids sink in their liquid form, but water freezes and floats unlike most elements. If ice did not float in water, Earth would be an ice ball with a thin layer of water on top. Also earth has a large moon to stir up the oceans that helps life to exist. These are some of the things that made Earth unique. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for this wonderful planet.

I am also thinking of friends and family, the people God has put in our lives. We all need to have people around us, even for strong introverts like me. They help keep me grounded, especially my Christian friends and family. I am encouraged by them (1 Thessalonians 5:11). I learn from them and I grow with them. And I get to worship God with them (Hebrews 10:24-25). I think especially of my wife, Gail, who has been a real blessing to me. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for my family and friends.

Even when things go badly and turn out for the worse, we can thank God, because he is good (Psalm 145:9) and he is in control (Ephesians 1:11). God is with us and he understands what we are going through. We do not see the big picture like God does, but he is good and he wants us to become more like Jesus (Romans 8:29). He desires the best for us and will work things out for our good (Romans 8:28). By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for working everything out for our good.

God wants to be in a relationship with us. He loves us so much that he sent Jesus into the world (John 3:16) to live the life we could not and to take our punishment upon himself by dying on the cross (Romans 5:6-8). On the third day he came alive again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and he lives today. Jesus died for us all. Those who believe in him become his children (John 1:12). By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for saving us.

Since we have been saved by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), the Holy Spirit enables us to live a life empowered to do good and live for him (Ephesians 2:10). We look back and remember all God has done for us. We give thanks for all that, and we look forward, knowing that the blessings we have received will continue because God is faithful and good (Lamentations 3:22-23). We are inspired to do the good God wants us to do and improve the world. We have a certain hope (Romans 8:18-25), the expectation that one day God will make everything right. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for a wonderful life and for everything.