Perfect Shots

Our abilities are wrapped up in the identity that has been crafted by our Creator.  He is described in
James chapter 1:
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

I believe that God intends to use us in unique ways, and He has provided the capacity to accomplish great things for Him.  The Bible, in several places, talks about spiritual gifts, and I believe that each person has at least one.  We also know that He has a purpose for each of us and gives us special abilities so that we may fulfill what He has called us to do.  We may not recognize what He wants us to do or may even be reticent to attempt to walk in our calling, but we can be confident that He desires to use us.

+++++

The first chapter of the book of James has much to say about seeing life through eyes of faith.  We
can be attuned to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and appropriate Godly wisdom. The chapter says:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Five college friends from Texas A&M discovered a hobby - they would make videos of themselves making trick shots, and Faithwire has done an article on their story.  After graduation, some of this group of five guys - Tyler Toney, Garrett Hilbert, Cory Cotton, Coby Cotton, and Cody Jones - pursued so-called "real" jobs, but they continued to make these videos of them making shots of various items.

Their alma mater's Marketing and Communications website tells more of the story:

After brainstorming and spending one afternoon at Toney’s ranch, Dude Perfect produced a ranch edition of basketball trick shots. With two of the members spending the summer as counselors at the Christian-based camp Sky Ranch, a summer camp edition was born. Posted on Youtube, the videos skyrocketed to success.

Their videos have made a splash, raised the roof, and gone the distance — literally.

The tricks include goals scored while wakeboarding on Styrofoam behind a four-wheeler, baskets made up and over rooftops, and swishing the world’s longest basketball shot from the third deck of Kyle Field.

Now, they are known as Dude Perfect, and they began to see how popular their videos were becoming, but once they went all in on the video route, things took off. The Faithwire article relates:

“The minute we all went all in, the thing just exploded,” Cody said.

“The Lord just took it to new levels,” Garrett added. “Deals just started flooding in. … It was like, ‘Boom, quit [your other job]. This is what you were called to do. Do it.’”

Yes, Dude Perfect is sold out to not only making videos, but doing what they do for the glory of God. The article says that "...they give God all the glory for their success."

“Faith is really the underlying principle and theme behind everything Dude Perfect does,” Tyler said in the group’s recently released documentary, “Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass.”

They have 50 million subscribers on YouTube now, and they want to keep it family-friendly and give back.  The article says:

While they don’t share the Gospel in every video they post, it’s not difficult to learn about their faith. In the “about” section of the Dude Perfect website, it says their “ultimate goal is to glorify Jesus Christ in everything that we do.”

They also have the Dude Perfect Foundation and have worked with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

The Faithwire story says:

And to think it all started because Tyler “was looking for some other Christian guys to really develop a friendship with.”

“I was about to live with a different group of guys,” Cody recalled, “and I thought, ‘You know what, if I’m going to take this Jesus thing seriously, I need to surround myself with guys that love the Lord, and can push me as iron sharpens iron, and mold me into the man that I know I can be.’”

“God had a way bigger plan for Dude Perfect than we could have ever imagined,” Garrett added.

So, here are a couple of takeaways:

For one, do you have a skill, even a quirky one, maybe an insignificant one?  God can use that for His glory.  Sometimes, out of fear, or lack of confidence, we don't take action.  The Lord will give us the direction and the power by His Spirit to do what may seem improbable or even impossible.

Also, we can allow our Christian faith principles to inform what we do. James tells us that God is the giver of all good gifts and the source of wisdom.  The way we live should be determined by who we are on the inside, who Christ has made us to be.  We don't have to go through life haphazardly, just trying to make it to the next day - He has an incredible life in store for us, if we are willing to make His Word a priority and renew our minds by His truth.

Message in the Malady

This time of a global pandemic has been described as a "wake-up call," and we see from Scripture that God calls us to be vigilant - He wants us to wake up to what He has to teach us.  Romans 13
says:
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

If we are going to wake up, we have to consider what we are going to do once we are awake.  Once we wake up, we are to get up, and our motivation is to walk in the love of Christ.  So, we can consider how we are going to receive and relate His love today.  We show we love God by obeying Him, and we know that our trials can used to purify us, to expose our sin and darkness, and to discover more about the light.  So, we wake up, get up, and, as Captain America would say, "suit up," putting on Christ and radiating His glory.

+++++

Jesus is actively working in our world today, and there are signs that are pointing to His soon return. It is quite possible the Coronavirus is one of those. And, this season can certainly help us look to
Him day by day. In Matthew 24, He teaches:
4 ..."Take heed that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

There is an abundance of theories regarding the overall effect of the Coronavirus - there, of course, are the medical statistics that show the number of cases, based on limited testing, as well as the number of deaths either directly caused by COVID-19 or that have occurred in people who have tested positive and that are being counted as Corona deaths.  You also have the projections of the economic damage and you are seeing reports of the psychological damage that may be coming.

And, as I have reported to you, there are some studies that have attempted to gauge the spiritual impact.  One comes out of the University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.  An article at the Forbes website reported on the findings.

Most of the just over a thousand respondents, who are Americans, said they saw a deeper meaning in the crisis.  The article states: "Some 63% of the believers surveyed said they think God is telling humanity to change the way they are living, with Evangelical Protestants the most likely to believe that strongly compared to mainline Protestants and Catholics."

Other factoids from the survey include:

• While the vast majority of respondents chalked up the situation to either foreign governments or the U.S. government (43% and 37%, respectively), about one in 10 directly attribute the pandemic to human sinfulness.

• More than half of those surveyed said they felt God would protect them from infection, though 9% say God has abandoned humanity.

And, there was a slight uptick in the number of people who indicated that they now believe in God; the story relates: "The virus has prompted some Americans to reevaluate their beliefs, with 2% of respondents saying that they believe in God today, but did not before the pandemic and less than 1% reporting that it caused them to abandon their beliefs."

This poll was taken April 30-May 4, almost a month ago, but at that time, according to the University's website, "...the poll finds that only 9% of Americans think in-person religious services should continue without any restrictions. The poll also finds that 42% of Americans think those services should be allowed with restrictions, while 48% are in favor of disallowing such services entirely during the pandemic."  But two-thirds are OK with people visiting public areas such as parks and beaches, albeit with restrictions.

So, is there a hidden meaning here?  It has been debated whether or not God has unleashed this virus on the world as a form of punishment or judgment - we certainly see that plagues were used for these purposes in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, as Jimmy DeYoung pointed out early on to us, Jesus taught that there would be an uptick in plagues during the time before His coming.

We may not have the answer to those questions, but we can certainly know that God is at work in the midst of this, as He is in the trials we face.  The Coronavirus has been regarded as a wake-up call, as two-thirds of the religious "believers" in the survey can attest, but we can also ask to what we are waking up. I certainly think we can adopt a "we'll get through this" or "this too shall pass" mentality, but there may be more in store.  We can move from just getting by to getting schooled by the Spirit; in other words, this is a teachable moment, and perhaps God is calling us to change - it may be a newfound reliance on Him, a realization that this world is fragile and we should not trust in in it, and/or that our lives need to be simplified.

I believe the pandemic is not, as less than 10% in this survey indicated, a testimony to the absence of God.  I think this gives us an opportunity to rediscover the presence of God and intensify our dependence on Him.  And, we can determine, through careful prayer and study of the Word, what God wants to teach us.

All That Glitters

I believe that God wants us to be thoughtful believers, using the minds He has given us to interpret what we see occurring in the world around us.  1st Thessalonians 5 says:

21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1st John chapter 4, the Bible speaks of testing the spirits.  There are many statements that make the rounds on social media, there are stories posted that are not verifiable and can deceive people, you have stories that are years old that get posted as being in the present.  And, if we're not careful, we can be led astray.  But, the Word of God is our anchor in all of the confusion and conflicting messages.  The media can produce fear, as we have certainly seen in this pandemic, but we are called to a walk of faith, rooted in the truth.

+++++

In 1st Corinthians 2, we are exhorted to be spiritually-minded, embracing the Lord's truth and
following His direction. We can read:
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

They think you're gullible.

That's the implication of a recent Dallas Morning News editorial headline, which reads: "Too many evangelical Christians fall for conspiracy theories online, and gullibility is not a virtue."

The story rambles through the notion of "conspiracy theories," which it claims has risen during the COVID-19 crisis.  It claims:

For those concerned about the rise of conspiracy theories in the church, it is rather distressing that three-quarters of evangelicals agreed that the mainstream media produces fake news compared to only 54% of non-evangelicals. More than combating this tendency, church attendance at least once a month was one of the factors more likely to correlate to agreeing that the mainstream media produces fake news (77% compared to 68% of those who attend less frequently). We understand mistrust of the media that often struggles to accurately report on matters of religion, but these numbers are stunning.

This paragraph comes after the stunning finding that (gasp!) 77% of evangelicals regularly use Facebook, and 46% use YouTube.  These are all from a study done by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College; yeah, that's the place that was the site of a secretive meeting about the future of evangelicalism, to which no one named Graham was invited, the one that only invited one so-called "journalist" to cover it.  A true example of evangelical elitism.

Anyway, without specifics, this Dallas News op-ed, without using credible examples, seeks to paint Christians with a singular broad brush. And, it reflects a pet peeve of mine, where you have so-called Christian "leaders" who go to secular media and bash their brothers and sisters in the faith. In this case, one of the writers was the well-known head of the Billy Graham Center, Ed Stetzer.  Stetzer believes that this presumed gullibility hurts our Christian witness.  I would ask two questions: 1) what constitutes a "conspiracy theory?" and 2) what specific conspiracy theories are we talking about here and what evangelicals are believing them?

Within days of this op-ed being released, there was another article in The Atlantic that attempted to tie evangelicals to a a rather mysterious movement called, Q.  Yes, there is actually a person, presumably who goes by the moniker of "Q."  So, here in two articles, released almost simultaneously, evangelicals are being characterized as conspiracy theorists.  That seems to be a new device that has emerged - disagree with someone?  Label him or her a conspiracy theorist.  Someone not demonstrating a devotion to a chosen narrative - conspiracy theory.

Fortunately, the responsible Terry Mattingly at the Get Religion website called The Atlantic out on its piece.  In an excerpt from the Atlantic piece, we can read:

On March 9, Q himself issued a triptych of ominous posts that seemed definitive: The coronavirus is real, but welcome, and followers should not be afraid. The first post shared Trump’s tweet from the night before and repeated, “Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming.” The second said: “The Great Awakening is Worldwide.” The third was simple: “GOD WINS.”

Apparently this shadowy figure and those who demonstrate an embrace of his or her ideology, uses language that some might consider similar to evangelicals.  But, Mattingly raises some important mischaracterizations that attempt to tie evangelical Christians to the language of the "QAnon" movement, writing:

this Atlantic piece comes really close to saying that small-o orthodox people who believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ are on their way to QAnon land.

There’s more. Worried that there are forms of “fake news” that plague the mainstream left as well as the Russian-bot fueled right? You could be QAnon bound.

Worried that The New York Times, NPR, Hollywood, Yale Law School and lots of other powerful institutions tend to speak with one voice on matters of religion, morality and culture? That could be QAnon.

Watch a show or two on Fox News? That could be QAnon.

Sympathetic to many of the worries and fears of angry voters in flyover country? That could be QAnon.

Is your pastor worried about future U.S. Supreme Court cases that could redefine the First Amendment and parental rights? That could be QAnon adjacent.

QAnon = evangelical Christianity - it's all connected in the eyes of some, I fear, and it all represents at worst, an attempt to discredit evangelical Christianity and at best, an attempt to mischaracterize and perhaps remake evangelical Christianity, since, of course, we're all a bunch of gullible sheep who are led astray by the latest conspiracy theory.

I would say, Don't. Be. That. Guy. Or Gal.  The first talking point is:

Don't believe everything that you read.  Be discerning and learn what sources are reliable and what are not.  And, CNN's Brian Stelter or Ed Stetzer are not the people who should determine that for you.

I believe that there has been a particular agenda that has been pursued during the pandemic - and, yes, this has resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths in the U.S., and many are sick and dying. Granted, in many cases, it has been reported that COVID-19 symptoms will be worse than the seasonal flu, but in most, as I understand, it will be rather mild.

Yet, people are losing their businesses, living in isolation, and experiencing fear and anxiety as a result of the virus - does the end justify the means?  And, the mainstream media, which many Christians regard as "fake news," is continuing to whip people into a frenzy, including pointing to areas where COVID-19 cases are increasing and adding a tag line, to the effect of "as the economy reopens," as if to suggest that is not a good idea.

And, the website, JustTheNews.com, reports on some new guidance from the CDC.  The article states that the CDC has released...

...a list of what it called "COVID-19 Pandemic Planning Scenarios." That document laid out five different scenarios for public health experts and government officials to consider, one of which the agency called its "current best estimate" of the parameters of the viral pandemic.

That scenario states that the overall fatality rate of infections that show symptoms is around 0.4%. Yet the CDC says it estimates that around 35% of all infectious are asymptomatic, meaning that the total infection fatality rate under the agency's "best estimate" scenario is around 0.26%, or a little more than twice that of the seasonal flu.

Remember this: All that glitters isn't gold - don't chase the shiny object. In other words, just because someone is using Biblical language doesn't mean he or she is governed by a Christian worldview.  And, that includes people who are considered to be evangelical "thought leaders."  We have to be guided by truth - the truth that is consistent with the Scriptures, which tell us to "fear not."

I think of the comments that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made when interviewed by Greg Laurie recently; according to The Christian Post, he "said he reads two books each morning — the Bible and the day's intelligence report about threats to Americans at home and around the world. Juxtaposing the two, he shared, is difficult." The Secretary said, “I manage to synthesize them … knowing that the Lord gives me the capacity to work, to be diligent,” adding, “I hope He’ll give me the wisdom and the perseverance to meet these challenges head-on in a way that protects the American people.”

Remember that Faith Radio desires to be a reliable source of Biblical truth.  We offer strong Bible teaching and music that carries messages such as that God is great, He is good, He loves us, He is near to us, and He will direct us by His Spirit.  His Holy Spirit shows us how to be discerning and how to keep from following the crowd and knowing His voice, not being led astray by the information of the day.

How Can I Be Saved?

In 2nd Timothy chapter 4, the apostle Paul is addressing the topic of spiritual readiness, charging his
friend and protege Timothy to...
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

We can be inspired from this passage to make sure that we are ready to communicate our faith as an ambassador of Christ.  We can be prepared for whenever the Lord chooses to use us. If we have been saved, we can recognize that God is writing an amazing story through us - of His incredible love, His abundant grace, and His wonderful faithfulness. We have been given a testimony and are called to be equipped to testify of God's goodness.

+++++

In the book of Acts, chapter 8, we find a man named Philip, who was sent by God, to a specific road in the desert, to a meeting arranged by God.  We pick up the story:
(27) And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot."
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

Ultimately, Philip shared the gospel with this Ethiopian leader, and ultimately baptized him.

He had been a police officer for 20 years, but he had been temporarily quarantined.  He started to feel ill and was afraid that he had contracted COVID-19.  We can remember that people on the front lines, such as law enforcement, first responders, and health care workers, are at a greater risk to the Coronavirus.

This officer, struggling with his own fears, wanted answers.  So, he asked Siri, "How can I get saved?"  This took him to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's SearchForJesus.net page - that page, like the PeaceWithGod.net page linked to the Faith Radio website, is affiliated with the BGEA.

So, according to BillyGraham.org, this officer, who is called "David" in the article, went to the website and began typing.  The article states:

“I’m struggling with faith, and with everything going on … even more so,” David typed.

Gloria, his chat coach, asked him a simple question: “Where do you look for peace in uncertain times?”

David answered that he looked within himself.

“I can understand that,” Gloria said. “The catch with that, though, is that our inner selves can be really disturbed by what we see and hear. That can lead to anxiety, as you know.”

David shared that he was awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test and confessed that he was not ready to die.  Gloria reminded him about the peace that he could have in this world - and in the next. The article goes on to relate that David said: “I’m so lost...And very scared.”

“Those are important words: ‘I’m so lost,'” Gloria responded. “You have already taken the first step towards God. You know that you have a problem. It sounds like you have been figuring out that your way is not the best.”

Gloria shared about the plan of salvation, using verses from Romans that illustrate how all had sinned, that we all deserved death. but that Christ came to give us the free gift of salvation.  She moved into John 3:16.  The article says:

“God sent his own son, Jesus, to earth,” Gloria shared. “Jesus lived a life without sin but died a terrible death. He took all of our sins upon himself, all of our punishment upon himself.”

“But what am I supposed to do?” David asked.

“Believe,” Gloria typed. “I can’t give you a sales pitch on that. It has to come from your heart.”

The BGEA article also notes:

He said he had prayed the prayer he found on the site, asking Jesus to be his Savior.

Gloria praised God for leading David to salvation. She also made sure David understood that the power to have peace with God doesn’t come from the words in the prayer but from faith in Christ.

“The words of the prayer are not magical,” Gloria said. “The important thing is the attitude of your heart.”

She encouraged David to take the next step in his new relationship with God by signing up for the free Know Jesus discipleship course online.

David, this quarantined police officer, told Gloria about how he found the website in the first place, by asking Siri how he could be saved.

God will use any number of methods in order to get the gospel into the heart of a person who needs to know Christ as his or her Savior.  For the person with a heart that is tender toward God, we can be confident that Jesus wants that person to come into a saving knowledge of Himself.  As Jesus taught, seek and you shall find.

It is a wonderful thing to see the Lord working in a person's heart, and believers can be prepared to share when God brings someone to us who is just a step or a few steps away from making that commitment to Christ.  We just have to make sure, like Gloria or Philip from the book of Acts, that we are ready and reliant on the Holy Spirit.  And, at all times, we can be prepared to share our faith. 

Racing Again

Our souls can be uplifted as we recognize, as Romans 8 teaches, that God is for us and that we have been made more than conquerors through Him.  He wants to do so much in our lives - to bring us into a saving knowledge of His Son, to work in our hearts so that we might reflect His glory, and to stand
with us to forgive us when we miss the mark. In 1st John 2, we can read this:
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

Christ is our Advocate; 1st Timothy 2 calls Him our mediator.  He stands between God and humanity, enabling us to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, our Creator.  Through the cross we can come to know new life and through the cross we can have the confidence that our sins have been forgiven; that we have been given essentially a second chance, a chance at knowing real life, abundant life, that is eternal and transformational.

+++++

God is able to do so much, and the Bible is full of stories of the expression of His power.  Take, for instance, Acts chapter 3, where we find that Peter and John had been used to heal a lame man.  Peter declared:
(12) ..."Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

Good comeback stories can inspire us, especially when we see or hear that God may have been involved.

This past Sunday, as NASCAR made its return in a race that was run at Darlington with no fans, one particular driver lived out a triumphant chapter of the journey of his return to racing.

On February 17, there was a major crash in the Daytona 500, leaving driver Ryan Newman in a precarious position - literally.  Ryan McGee of ESPN writes:

In the crash, his car suffered a hard right-front impact into Daytona International Speedway's outside retaining wall -- an energy-absorbing "soft wall" SAFER barrier -- and went onto its roof, where it was hit by the car of Corey LaJoie, who went directly through Newman's driver's side window. That launched the car back into the air before it slammed to the asphalt and rested on its roof, Newman hanging upside down in his seat belts while track safety crews arrived to extract him.

He was placed in a medical coma and blood had to be fed into his heart.  It was uncertain whether or not the driver would survive.  But, as McGee writes: "...seeing his children and that walk out of the medical center are his only memories from his hospitalization."  Newman said, "That tells me God was involved...I was blessed in more ways than one. I feel like a walking miracle."

Sports Spectrum reported that:

While talking to the media, Newman referred to the head injury he suffered as a “bruised brain” and acknowledged just how improbable his recovery was.

“Everything aligned perfectly for me to be alive and here with you today,” he said. “There were multiple miracles that aligned for me to walk out days later with my arms around my daughters.”

That article contained a tweet from the driver, in which he said, "I’ve gotten though [sic] the majority of cards and want to thank everyone for their prayers after my crash in Daytona. I know I’ve been blessed in so many ways."

Newman finished 15th in Sunday's race at Darlington and 14th in the Wednesday night race.

Writing for the Greensboro News-Record, Nancy McLaughlin stated:

The accident got me thinking about the preparation before they climb into those high-powered cars.

In 2004, just off the track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, he talked to me about pre-race NASCAR church and time with the chaplains of Motor Racing Outreach before Sunday races.

She also wrote, concerning interaction with an MRO chaplain prior to races:

"When he stops by, he says 'we don't want anybody to get hurt, have a safe day, use your talents to the best of your ability,' " Newman said of one-on-ones that come with the clergy who visit in the moments before the races. "It definitely makes it a lot easier to focus on what we need to do. I know that my day might go the same way without him, but it just relieves my mind."

This wonderful story can remind us of some simple principles.  Ryan Newman has been given a second chance.  We can remember that we are here on this earth because God has given us a chance at life, a life that He intends for us to live for Him.  The most important decision that a person can make is to give his or her life to Christ; once that decision is made, He expects and empowers us to walk in His ways.  So, we have a chance at life - don't blow it.

We can also consider the second chances we have been given.  Because of the cross, Jesus has come to bring us forgiveness - a new start, the chance to break free from the past and enjoy the glorious future He has prepared.   When we sin, when we blow it, we have an Advocate who stands with us, to whom we can confess our sins.  He calls us to repent of our sins and enjoy His newness of life.

Throughout this life, we can live day by day in expectation of what God will do.  That means we can recognize the possibility for the miraculous.  We know that He is all-powerful and will work in and around our lives so that He is glorified.  So, by faith, we can rise above the fears and doubts that may beset us so that we can exemplify what it means to follow Him.

In God We...?

In the book of 2nd Timothy, the apostle Paul warns about what are called "perilous times."  He listed types of behavior indicating where people reject or deny the teaching of Scripture.  We can read
this in chapter 3:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

He is taking to task those who are not truly committed to the Lord, even though they may give him "lip service." They may talk about God, but in their hearts they do not love Him and do not trust Him. They may try to do good deeds and even place a "God-stamp" on their behavior, but their lives do not reflect His presence.  We have to make sure that how we think and what we do flow from the presence of the Holy Spirit and our awareness of who God is.  Our works, as James taught, are to be informed by our faith in the Lord.

+++++

Jesus took the groups known as the scribes and the Pharisees to task, calling out their exaltation of
religious tradition over a love for God. In Matthew 15, He says:
(6) ...you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' "

I am glad the faucet has been turned back on and the Biblical worldview information is flowing - the man whose name is synonymous with Christian polling is back in a new position, as the Research Director for the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.  Welcome back, George Barna!  I had him on The Meeting House a couple of months ago, and he is continuing to release information through which we can check the temperature of the Church and culture.  He sold the organization that continues to bear his name, the Barna Group, many years ago, and prior to that last interview, I had spoken with him about his findings while part of the American Culture and Faith Institute.

The somewhat startling statistic from our most recent interview, as The Christian Post puts it: "Only 6 percent of Americans possess a biblical worldview."

In April, there was a release of more information.  The Post summarized it:

As part of an ongoing release of research about the worldviews of Americans, new data show that just over half hold a biblically-informed view of God, a 22% drop from 30 years ago.

The article goes on to say:

The new report shows that only 51% of Americans consider God to be "all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect and just creator of the universe who still rules the world today.” In 1991, 73% of Americans believed that to be true.

Less than half of those surveyed agreed that, "when Jesus was on the Earth, in the flesh, He was both fully divine and fully human and therefore committed sins like any other person." 44 percent agreed with that perspective. 52% say that "the Holy Spirit is not a living entity, but merely a symbol of God’s power, presence or purity," but 56% believe that "Satan is not merely a symbol of evil but is a real spiritual being and influences human lives."

But almost half are not really sure if God even exists.

As Barna writes on the ACU summary sheet, linked to the Christian Post article: "Half of all American adults believe that their money contains a lie."  That is a reference to the motto on our currency: "In God We Trust."

In the summary, Barna said: “All of the spiritual noise in our culture over the last few decades has obviously confused and misled hundreds of millions of people in our nation...The message to churches, Christian leaders, and Christian educators is clear: we can no longer assume that people have a solid grasp of even the most basic biblical principles, such as those concerning the existence and nature of God."

The noted researcher added: “Thirty years ago, people spent time learning and thinking about God. As our culture has become more self-absorbed, less time is invested reflecting on authority and truth,” adding, “During that same period, we have transitioned from a people who upheld the existence of absolute moral truth to a nation where the majority now rejects moral absolutes.”

He goes on:

“The result has been a seminal shift in our collective focus, from other to self, and from absolute truths to conditional truths. That shift, in turn, helps to explain why the ‘doesn’t/don’t know/don’t care’ population, regarding the existence of God, has mushroomed from 8 percent to 32 percent in just 30 years – a 300 percent increase! That’s one-third of the nation’s adults who have chosen to dismiss traditional teachings about God, the importance of personally determining whether a powerful, holy, Creator God exists, and the implications of their conclusion for their present and future. This is the paramount existential crisis of our era.”

The big question on the table today is: Do we really trust God?  Really?  Hopefully, in light of recent times, our nation and even our world might just be moving in that direction.  But, not just collectively, do we each, individually, in our heart of hearts, have a deep trust in the Lord and in His Word?  In His ability to keep His promises?

In His Word, we find stark criticism of those who claim to know Him but deny Him inwardly, but not have devoted hearts, and outwardly, by not acting like a Christian should.  Jesus called it hypocrisy and did not mince words.  We certify our trust by making sure that our minds are being renewed by the Word of God and that we are devoted and determined to walk in obedience.  We can evaluate our walk and our level of commitment to make sure that we are living as who we say we are.

Departure

The book of Hosea, in essence, is a love letter from God to His people, calling them back to His ways.  His people had departed from His truth, but He did not write them off.  In chapter 10, we can
read:
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
13 You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men.

We can see the contrast between human wisdom and the wisdom of the Lord here - the Israelites had pursued the ways of the flesh, the ways that, as the Bible addresses, seemed right to them; they had departed from the secure ways of God.  But, they were offered a chance to return.  Perhaps our world today is being extended that invitation - to embrace hope, to seek out the love of God, to find answers that the world cannot give.  He says to us, in this hour, "it is time to seek the Lord."

+++++

When we consider some of the dangerous trends and unbiblical mindsets and actions that we see expressed in our culture, we know that there is a better way.  Jeremiah speaks of a society that does
not "know how to blush." In chapter 6 of that book, we find these words:
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

Even though a lot of energy has been devoted to responding to the Coronavirus, we also recognize that there are trends in this world that run counter to God's principles.  The Biblical view of sexuality is being challenged today, and we have to continue to be vigilant, standing strong on God's authority.

In California, according to CBN.com, there is a problematic partnership between a PTA in the Sacramento area and the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood involving classes on sexuality.  The article states that:

Capitol Resource Institute says the Sacramento-based PTA conceals their payments to Planned Parenthood by calling the classes "puberty talks" and list them under "assemblies".

But, graphic sexual details are allegedly being shared.  And, there is a Powerpoint slide that shows what is called a "Genderbread Person."  This is a slide, using the traditional gingerbread cookie, that teaches concepts of gender beyond the accurate biological, Biblical model of male and female.

And, California law backs these "classes" up, according to CBN, which reports:

...Capitol Resource Institute found out that PTA's are not the only ones joining forces with Planned Parenthood...the actual schools are.

The abortion provider is gathering demographic data such as age, race, and gender from the students who attend the talks.

In compliance with the California Healthy Youth Act, Planned Parenthood has conducted surveys, tests, and questionnaires to assesses the behaviors of students.

Fortunately, there is an opt-out for parents, at least at this point.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Disrn.com reports that:

The board of Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools approved a plan this week to offer, starting next spring, a new "LGBTQ+ studies" course for high school students.

WTOP reports:

Montgomery County's LGBTQ studies course is believed to be the first in the region — and one of the first in the nation to offer a course on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history and culture ...

The article includes a tweet from one school board member, who is quoted as saying: "I am grateful that @MCPS students will soon learn about the diverse and beautiful history that #LGBTQ individuals have been a part of through this new curriculum."

We see in these two examples the expression of abhorrent sexuality and the desire to teach this material to the next generation.  The false concepts that you can choose your gender and identify with it, that there are more than the two genders that are seen clearly in biology, and the advocacy of the LGBTQ+ agenda pose a clear threat to our culture.  Lawmakers who have rejected godly wisdom have embraced the so-called Equality Act in Congress that would further legitimize these behaviors and mindsets by regarding people in special ways based on sexual orientation and gender identity, while some Christian organizations are willing to go along, if mythical "religious protections" are enacted. But, LGBTQ+ are not interested in providing religious exemptions - they want to force people of faith to accept their unbiblical agenda.

Furthermore, as Josh McDowell pointed out the other day on The Meeting House, the consumption of pornography was pervasive prior to COVID-19 and has likely been compounded.  Education and decisive action, powered by prayer, must be deployed in order to reverse these perverted ways.

It is clearly time for a change, and as so called "progressives" want to remake society, and are even using the COVID-19 crisis to do it, our culture certainly needs to change back to the old ways, embracing timeless, tried and true principles that are consistent with Biblical truth.  Being grounded in God's Word can help us guard against the delusion and deception that society is being fed.

In His Hands

When we consider that we are held by God, and He will manifest His power to and through us, we can sense that we are truly overcomers in Him; or as, Romans 8 says, we are more than conquerors.
In Isaiah 41, we can read:
10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Later in the chapter, we find these words from God:
13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'
14 "Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you," says the Lord And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Because we belong to God and we are in Him, we can know that He is with us and that His strength is available. We can build our faith through His Word, and that faith is a powerful force to overcome fear.  We are capable in Him to actually follow that Scriptural directive to "fear not."  His resources: faith, power, love, soundmindedness, are available to the child of God.  We can walk with confidence as we face life in God's strength and not our own.

+++++

The concept of being in God's hands can be very powerful when we face uncertainty and adversity.
Isaiah 29 states:
14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."
15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, And their works are in the dark; They say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows us?"
16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, "He did not make me"? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

I've heard it said that the Coronavirus pandemic has taught us that the Church doesn't need a building.  That is very true.  But we need each other.  And, God, through technology, has made a way for believers to connect in worship services, Sunday School classes, Bible study groups, and prayer gatherings.

This past Sunday, my wife and I gathered for Sunday School, and one of the class leaders shared a short video by a guy named John Maynard.  Apparently this little video has become quite popular.  The title of the video, Depends on whose hands its in!

The point is that in the hands of the Lord, seemingly simple things have great value and that we can trust Him with our lives.

I did a bit of research on this poem, and it seems it has been attributed to an Indian missionary named Paul Ciniraj.  Maynard says in the video that his dad had sent it to him, and apparently it was adapted a bit.  The poem opens like this:

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in…

He also says:

A golf club is useless in my hands.
A golf club in Tiger Wood’s hands is a 4 Major Golf Championships
It depends on whose hands it’s in…

Then, he uses some Biblical examples:

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal.
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends on whose hands it’s in…

A sling shot in my hands is a toy.
A slingshot in David’s hands is a mighty weapon.
It depends on whose hands it’s in…

Two fish and five loaves in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and five loaves in Jesus’ hands will feed thousands.
It depends on whose hands they’re in…

Then, the dramatic close:

Nails in my hands might produce a bird house.
Nails in Christ Jesus’ hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends on whose hands they’re in…

As you see now it depends on whose hands it’s in.
So put your concerns, worries, fears, hopes, dreams, families
and relationships in God’s Hands.
Because, It depends on whose hands they’re in.

Paul Ciniraj recognized that His life was in God's hands.  I came across an article at the God Reports website, which was written by his wife, Mercy.  She writes: "...he has recovered from terrible persecution, which including three beatings to the head and being left for dead, and then developing leukemia four years ago."  This was written in 2013.

But, Ciniraj no longer has leukemia.  His wife wrote:

Praise God for his unspeakable mercy. Our Lord Jesus graciously touched him by HIS nailed hands. It happened one night, when our Lord Jesus Christ appeared before him in a dream and touched him from the top of his head to tips of his toes by His nailed hands and said, “Be healed” and then at the very moment, my husband experienced the supernatural power of healing.

This miracle occurred during a time when one of the most famous oncologists in India — a Hindu — had been giving him treatment. He is very busy doctor who was taking care of many cancer patients, yet, when he found that my husband was healed completely, he sat with him for about an hour and asked Paul to share his testimony.

Paul shared his testimony with the doctor, of having become a Christian out of Islam, enduring persecution, and experiencing God's protection. Mercy wrote: "Hearing the testimony, the doctor accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior and then asked Paul, to pray for him. Also the doctor requested him to visit his patients often to share the Word of God and pray for them."

By the way, Paul Ciniraj apparently published the poem about being held in God's hands in 2010, after he had contracted leukemia.

I believe that the obvious takeaway here is the concept of being held in God's hands.  In and of ourselves, we cannot even come to know God, for our human sinfulness separates us from Him; but as we come to Jesus and place ourselves in His hands, we can see powerful things occur in our lives.
Certainly, we remember that there is value in being a child of God.  If we have surrendered to Him, we can be confident He will express His life through us.

The Paul Ciniraj story can help us recall God's miraculous power.  We recognize that He is able to do far more than we could imagine, and He wants us to come to Him, commit to His care, and cast our cares on Him.  When we do that, we become participants in God's amazing Kingdom work.  In His hands, we become vessels whom He will use to produce amazing fruit!

Unity in Prayer

Our lives can be solidified, buoyed up because of our devotion to the Lord through prayer.  James 5
states:
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

There are a number of adjectives in this passage to describe the way that the Lord would intend for us to pray.  By His power, we can participate in effective prayer.  We are effective as we pray in accordance to His will, and He desires for us to be dedicated in that practice, in fervent prayer.  We also see that Elijah was earnestly praying.  That implies that we are consistent in bringing our requests before the Lord, that we possess an attitude of prayer, communicating with His regularly, not distracted, but focused on calling on Him.

+++++

The 2020 National Day of Prayer is in the rearview mirror, and this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people responded in creative ways to the call of God to come together in prayer.  There was a national virtual prayer meeting hosted by Will Graham and National Day of Prayer President Kathy Branzell, that took place that Thursday night.  Before that, another collection of Christian leaders were part of an online prayer gathering, led by Greg Laurie and Jack Graham at the Pray.com website.  The Presidential Prayer Team hosted virtual prayer rooms throughout the day.

The theme for this year's National Day of Prayer was "Pray God's Glory Across the Earth," a concept taken from Habakkuk 2:14, which says, "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea." Kathy Branzell incorporated that into the 2020 Prayer for America, saying: "We pray that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will spread across our nation and the entire earth as we seek Your Kingdom and righteousness; as we walk in obedience to You, and in humble unity, love one another."

On that day, the first Thursday of May - this year it was May 7 - Faith Radio partnered with area church and ministry leaders for an on-air and online National Day of Prayer events, concentrating on the seven centers of influence, as well as prayer in response to the Coronavirus crisis.  We deeply appreciate the willingness of these leaders, from a variety of racial, cultural, and denominational backgrounds to lead our listeners in prayer.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council wrote this:

For once, America is in something together -- battling the same enemy, hurting from the same pain. Today, seeking the same God. The president, in his official proclamation, called this date a "prayerful tradition" -- one that, until very recently, a lot of us took for granted. Now, under the long shadows that have driven other generations to prayer, we find ourselves in the same position -- privileged to call on God as one people.

In that same piece on the FRC website, he quoted the President's National Day of Prayer proclamation:

"...Even though we have been unable to gather together... we are still connected through prayer and the calming reassurance that God will lead us through life's many valleys. In the midst of these trying and unprecedented times, we are reminded that just as those before us turned to God in their darkest hours, so must we seek His wisdom, strength, and healing hand..."

President Trump and Vice President Pence participated in a Rose Garden National Day of Prayer event, which has become an annual event during the Trump presidency.  Pence also participated via video in the Pray.com event later that day.  ChristianHeadlines.com quoted from the Vice President:

“Karen and I will both attest that the sweetest words that we ever hear are when people will take a moment, walk up, and say, ‘I’m praying for you,’” Pence said, referencing Second Lady Karen Pence. “And you know they mean it from their hearts and we hear it all of the time. We can attest, firsthand, America is a nation of prayer.

“The American people have long believed in the power of prayer, that the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous person availeth much, and that in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, we’re to present our request to God with the promise that the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.”

The Christian Headlines article also noted:

Pence asked Americans to pray for those who have the coronavirus and for the families who have lost loved ones. He requested prayer for “doctors and nurses and healthcare workers who have cared for our families as if they were their own” and for the “police, firefighters and first responders” who “have rendered care and sped those impacted by this dread virus to healing hands.” He also asked Americans to pray for the “men and women who defend this nation” and “are standing [at] a post at this hour in far-flung places around the world.”

The website, Christian Daily, provided coverage of the Pray.com gathering of leaders, including Faith Radio programmer Greg Laurie.  The website related:

Greg Laurie, Pastor from Riverside California, opened up the National Day of Prayer, "We need prayer in our nation right now facing Coronavirus. We're trying to get the country opened up again. We should all be praying for supernatural intervention."

He said, "Constant prayer, we want to ask you not just pray during this service but continue to pray for our nation. There is power when we pray together. I am joined by a lot of amazing friends that will be praying today in this service."

The article also mentioned Alabama-based pastor Chris Hodges of Church of the Highlands, who, as the piece notes, "prayed for pastors and spiritual leaders. He mentioned that religious leaders need prayer more than ever, and Satan will try to attack them during this pandemic time, so we have to pray for their protection." He is quoted as saying: "I also believe that our spiritual leaders are targeted by the enemy."

Secretary of State Pompeo also participated in that event.

At the top of the Faith Radio Coronavirus Response page, there is the reminder to pray without ceasing.  That can also affect our response and make sure that we are placing faith over fear.  When fear seems to be intensifying, we can respond on our knees.

We continue to recognize those who are on the front lines fighting this virus; many have put their lives at risk and there are those, including health care workers, who have lost their lives.  But, challenged and even exhausted, their are diligently fighting this disease and saving lives.  Through prayer, we can rise to the challenges we face and we can call on God, for His strength to flow through them.

And, through our prayer, we can build perseverance.  We want to move quickly to reopen our churches and restore our way of life, but we have to be patient.  God will calm our spirits as we commit to seeking His face and adopt His mindset.

A Different View

We have been called to follow Christ - we have been brought into a relationship with Him through
salvation and empowered by the Holy Spirit so that He might express Himself through us. 2nd Thessalonians 1 states:
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thought about that phrase, "worthy of this calling."  Well, we know that in ourselves, in our flesh, we are not worthy to have a relationship with God.  But, because of Christ and our acceptance of Him, He has placed a call upon our lives.  If we respond, if we are faithful, we can be confident that He will bear fruit in our lives.  That's what grace does: it takes us from being exiled from God, to being part of His family, to being in service to Him, representing Him by our faithfulness.

+++++

The apostle Paul prayed that the church at Philippi, extended to us, would bear fruit consistent with
our faithfulness to the Lord. We can read this in the 1st chapter of the book of Philippians:
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Last week on my "Famous Friday" on The Meeting House, we looked at the tenacious faith of Ainsley Earhardt of Fox News, and this week I want to concentrate on the thoughtful faith of another television personality, who is with ABC News.

She was actually one of the panelists on The View, as well as a weekend anchor on ABC News - even though some might say that she was successful in her career, something was missing.

Her name is Paula Faris, the subject of a recent article on the Faithwire website, which quotes the journalist as saying: “When I was at the height, anchoring ‘Good Morning America’ weekends and co-hosting ‘The View,’ it seemed like I had it all professionally, but my life, my personal life, was just falling apart,” adding, “I looked around and my relationships had started to suffer with my husband and my kids. I wasn’t attending church as often as I’d like. I wasn’t rooted into a good network of accountability partners, and my health started suffering.”

So, in 2018, she walked away.  God had worked through trials to get her attention, including, as the article notes, "...a miscarriage, a concussion, an emergency surgery, and a head-on car accident..."

Faithwire states:

Most Americans, the journalist explained, have “bought the lie that our value is vocation and our worth is work and that doing is somehow the only value that we bring to society.”

It’s critical for Christians to uncouple “calling” from “career,” she said.

“When we throw that word around, are we talking faith calling or are we talking vocational calling? One changes and one never does,” Faris said. “Your faith calling is your purpose, and that is the reason you’re on this earth, and it has nothing to do with career. … I thought that my faith calling was to be the best broadcaster that I could be, using the gifts and talents God gave me. But when I experience a vocational shift, then my purpose is rocked, and I don’t know who I am.”

She added, “Your faith calling and your purpose will never change in your life, no matter the change in tides, no matter the personal crisis or pandemic, it is never going to change...It is to love God and love people — that’s it.”  She sees one's "faith calling" as a vine, and "vocational callings" are the branches it produces.

So Faris is now in a new phase of life - as a stay-at-home mother. The article notes that "Faris stressed the importance of recognizing the 'lie' that to live a life of calling means to have a lofty career outside the home. The calling, she said, isn’t in what you’re doing, but who you’re doing it for."

Faris has a new book out and is the host of the ABC podcast, Journeys of Faith.

I think that this journalist offers some challenging thoughts for us.  For one thing, your calling is not your job.  Your job can be an expression of God's call, but your identity is not wrapped up in what you do - it's tied to who you are.  Next week on The Meeting House, you will meet Pierce Brantley, who offers some relevant comments about the concept of calling, so I'd like for you to tune in.

Faris summarizes each of our general callings in this statement, "love God and love people."  Jesus essentially said that in responding to the person who asked what the greatest commandment in the law was.  He said it was to love the Lord our God with all that we are and, the second one was like it, to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Our love for other people flows out of and is consistent with the love for our Lord.

Our faithfulness to the call of God is measured by the fruit that we bear.  We bear fruit for God's glory as we abide in or stay connected to Him.  One of the essential components of fruit-bearing in the Christian life is pressure.  That pressure - and our response to it - can produce fruit consistent with godliness.

Incubator

In the first chapter of the book of 1st Peter, he shares about the hope that we have in Christ and His salvation, writing this:
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls.

Two words here - process and progress.  We recognize that we are on a journey, and more than likely, it will not always be a smooth one; we will face challenges to our faith, but God has a purpose - so that we may grow.  The Bible teaches that He is conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ.  And, He has set us on a path on which He makes spiritual growth possible.  We have the ultimate goal of transitioning from this life to the next, having been saved and continuing here on earth to be set apart for His glory, until we are taken into heaven.

+++++

I think it is important that we adopt the attitude that we all want to be found faithful to the Lord and
moving in a positive direction in our spiritual life. Philippians 2 provides these words:
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

We have talked on The Meeting House about how God is working in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and how our change of routine and perhaps more available time can be leveraged for the purpose of prayer and spiritual growth.

And, just a couple of weeks ago, Pew Research released a survey that shows some positive signs.  According to the survey summary:

One-quarter of U.S. adults overall (24%) say their faith has become stronger because of the coronavirus pandemic, while just 2% say their faith has become weaker. The majority say their faith hasn’t changed much (47%) or that the question isn’t applicable because they were not religious to begin with (26%).

Now, those are the stats "overall," including those who are not religious.  When we focus in on just those self-identifying as Christians, the numbers become even more encouraging, with 56% of Protestants "in the historically black tradition" and 42% of evangelicals saying they had experienced spiritual growth during the Coronavirus crisis.

Those who may have already had a propensity to practice their religious faith apparently have grown spiritually, with 46% of those attending religious services at least once or twice a month saying they have been strengthened in their faith.  

This has occurred even though in-person worship, by and large, had ceased.  The Pew summary states:

Indeed, among U.S. adults who say they typically attend religious services at least once or twice a month, just 3% say their congregation is still holding in-person services. The vast majority (91%) say their congregation has closed its religious services to the public, and 5% say they do not know what their congregation has done.

Out of American adults who say they attend church at least once a month, 82% indicated that their church offered some sort of online or televised content.  Nine out of ten evangelicals responded that this was the case for them.

In these unusual times, we can find that the chamber of isolation has become an incubator of spiritual growth.  We recognize that God wants to grow Godly character in us - He will use a variety of components to accomplish His purposes.  It may be the fire of affliction or perhaps the pressure of persecution.  But, through it all, we can be confident in Him that He has a desired outcome.

So, we can identify and take advantage of opportunities to grow.  We don't have to have trouble in our lives to grow spiritually.  But, we also have to be careful not to become caught up in self-reliance when things are going well.  God desires for us to have a consistent walk, incorporating solid spiritual practices in our lives so that, in good or bad, we are rooted in Him and growing in the Lord.

The Scriptures tell us to "work out" our salvation - that doesn't say to work for our salvation, as it's been pointed out, no, we can work it out like a muscle or like we might "work out" in the sense of physical exercise.  If we are not working out with exercise, it has implications on our physical health. Likewise, if we are not studying and applying the Word of God, our spiritual health is affected.

Catalyst

God calls us to walk in His light, and we find the admonition in Ephesians chapter 5 to...
(14) ..."Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

We can make sure that our eyes are open to how God wants to work in our lives.  We can learn to rely on Him to show us what He wants to do and then trust Him to provide the necessary resources in order to fulfill our assignment.  We have the equipping of the Spirit, who will enable us to follow in the way that He has directed - we can rely on Him to help us manage that He has entrusted to us, so that His name will be glorified.

+++++

During the concluding section of the book of 1st Thessalonians, in chapter 5, the apostle Paul
highlights the importance of spiritual readiness and response. We can read:
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus reinforces the element of provision, including the statement, "Give us this day our daily bread."  However, we know that around the world, there are many who go without that daily portion of adequate food.

The Church can be instrumental in making sure that people are fed.  I have spotlighted ministries in the past few weeks that are being used greatly to minister to those who are hungry in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis.  I think of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, where thousands have received food in the name of the Lord.  Or of Convoy of Hope, which has partnered with local churches to bring food to communities across our nation.  We should never take the provision of food for granted, and recognize that in these difficult times, where you have almost 15 percent of Americans unemployed, that Christians have the opportunity to show the love of Christ, providing physical food, combined with spiritual food.

There is a church in Memphis that has taken the concept of food as ministry a step further, combining several elements in an effective strategy. We recognize that seniors are especially vulnerable to the Coronavirus, and visitation in senior care centers has been restricted.  So, this church has stepped up, while bringing economic relief to local restaurants. According to WMC Television, the Senior Pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, J. Lawrence Turner, said: "Our seniors are so precious," adding, "It's a risk if they do go out, if they want to do something special, such as have a meal that's out of the ordinary from what they have access to..."

But, there have been limited restaurant options.  The article goes on to say:

Senior Pastor Turner has seen the impact it has had on members who own restaurants in Memphis. He said some restaurant owners in his congregation have had to close down and some have had to to lay off workers.

So, he and his congregation came up with a plan to help.

"We decided to partner with our Boulevard member-owned and operated restaurants," he said.

One of the restaurants is owned by a church member and provided meals for senior centers in the area. As of the next-to-last week of April, the church had fed about 300 people - residents and members of the facilities' staffs - over a two-week period.

Think about this simple and profound plan: the church saw the need and became the catalyst.  It put the recipients and providers together and presumably provided the funding.  This is efficient management of resources that meets the needs of the community.

We can consider how we have been strategically placed by God into the midst of people we are called to serve.  We can trust God for a plan to meet a need or multiple needs around us and the provision to carry it out.   His Spirit will give us direction and resources to fulfill the call or the assignment that He has given to us.

Hope to be Reunited

There is trouble in this world, but we can know that Christ is with us.  We may face separation from
friends and loved ones, but, for the Christian, we can hope in Him. Romans 8 says:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Because we name the name of Christ, we can come to expect suffering in this life; but we can know and trust someone who is present with us in our suffering and is devoted to doing His work out of His great love for us.  We have the promise that we will never be separated from His love, although we may face separation from others, including the pain of a broken relationship, brought about by any number of factors.  We can rejoice in our God who restores.

+++++

We are reminded that persecution can bring separation of family members, such as we have seen in
the case of a young girl who was kidnapped by a terror group in Africa. 1st Peter 5 reminds us:
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Mother's Day was observed this past Sunday, and I trust it was a rich time for you to honor your mother, if she is still on this earth, or to reflect on her memory.  The relationship between mother and child is very special, because she was used by God our Creator to bring us into this world.

And, we can realize that sometimes that relationship can be strained, and there may be the pain of separation.  Consider the case of Rebecca Sharibu - over two years ago, her daughter Leah was kidnapped by members of the terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria.  Lela Gilbert of Family Research Council wrote a piece that was published at the Real Clear Religion website; she gives some background here:

Sharibu doesn’t know where her daughter is. She has no idea when or if she’ll see her again. In fact, she’s isn’t even sure whether – as has been reported – her almost 17-year-old daughter is now a mother herself.

Leah Sharibu, Rebecca’s daughter, was one of some 105 female victims kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in February 2018. Leah, a Christian, was abducted in a terrifying raid along with her Muslim classmates at Dapchi Girls' Science and Technical College.

After a month following that raid, most of the girls were released, but not Leah. Why not?  Gilbert shares this insight:

The other girls were all Muslim. And Leah had refused to renounce her Christian faith.

When she heard that her classmates were being set free, Leah asked one of them to carry a note to Rebecca Shirabu. “My mother you should not be disturbed,” she wrote. “I know it is not easy missing me, but I want to assure you that I am fine where I am… I am confident that one day I shall see your face again. If not here, then there at the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Lela Gilbert of FRC writes:

Last summer I met Rebecca Sharibu in Washington D.C. She had come to seek help from the United States. Her heartache was etched on her weary, unsmiling face.

When I asked if she’s been given any information about her daughter’s condition, she shook her head. “We don’t even know where Leah is,” her friend translated. “We have not seen her. We have not heard from her. I have no idea.” She was near tears, but after a moment, she composed herself. “I have come here to plead with your government and with all the people: Please do whatever you can…”

About six months later, on January 26, 2020, a Nigerian news source The Cable reported that Leah Sharibu was “impregnated by one of the commanders of the sect, and she was delivered of a baby four days ago.” Of course it was impossible to confirm the story, although it implied that Leah is probably still alive.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Nigeria be designated as a "country of particular concern" and Boko Haram as an "entity of particular concern" due to its religious freedom abuses.  Commission Chairman Tony Perkins, who is President of FRC, has, as Gilbert points out, "personally advocated for Leah Shirabu as a 'prisoner of conscience' for refusing to renounce her faith."

Gilbert encourages a "moment of reflection" for this mother and daughter and writes: "Even those of us who live a world away from Nigeria may not be able to physically welcome home our own children and grandchildren this Mother’s Day. Still, we’ll probably hear their voices on the phone or see their faces on a video feed before the day is over. And we’ll keep reminding ourselves that there’s always next year. Sadly, this is not the case for Leah and Rebecca – and many other moms and daughters around the world."

The Sharibus are experiencing the pain of separation and hopefully, one day, will experience the joy of reconciliation.  We can regard the Lord as our healer and restorer, and He wants to mend broken relationships.  Rebecca essentially has no knowledge of or control over her daughter's whereabouts.  She can certainly pray and trust God for Leah's safe return.  God repairs the broken and in instances where someone may experience a need for restoration of a broken relationship, God is present and may indeed be directing an opportunity to reconcile.

And, you would hope that Leah feels she is not alone - recognizing there are many believers who are standing with her. Christians can remember the persecuted and stand with them in prayer. And, we can develop a heart for justice and cry out to the just Judge, who brings justice for the sake of His name.

The Peace Spreader

We have peace with God and we are called to pursue peace with one another, recognizing that we are
one body in Him. Ephesians chapter 4 says:
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling...

Peace is certainly wrapped up in being kind to one another, which is a powerful external force, but we can also check motives to make sure that we have the right attitude toward others - this can determine our internal perspective, which, of course, can determine our outward actions.  If we are harboring ill will and bitter feelings toward others, we have to make sure that we repent so that we can enjoy the peace of God and be propelled to greater devotion to loving our neighbor.

+++++

Jesus is our Prince of Peace, who came to bring us peace with God; and He enables us to be spreaders of the message of peace with one another. 2nd Thessalonians 3 states:
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.

We recognize that there are those on the front lines who have a profound opportunity to spread the love and truth of Jesus Christ.  One such individual, Brittany Akinsola, went to New York City to serve as a nurse with Samaritan's Purse in its field hospital there.  On the National Day of Prayer at the White House, according to the White House website, she declared:

I would love to just leave you with a Scripture that has helped me so much through this time. And it’s Galatians 6:9, and what it says is, “Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” And the harvest that I’m believing for our country is one of restoration and hope. I am believing for healing in the name of Jesus, and I am believing that unity — that unity would thrive during this time. So thank you so much, and God bless you all.

God's presence is manifested to people in need of hope by those who are called to serve them.  Those who work in the health care field, first responders, law enforcement, government officials - all of these and more, who know the Lord, have a fabulous opportunity to proclaim God's truth.

That leads me to a unique video out of Guatemala about which ChristianNews.net reported.  The website says:

A video posted to social media shows a police officer with the National Civil Police in Guatemala declaring the name of Jesus to residents who are quarantined in their homes, encouraging them to have faith in God, for “what is impossible with man is possible with God.”

This officer was in one of the vehicles in a parade of police vehicles moving through the city. The article says that the officer declared on a microphone:

“Today, the national civil police department is passing through the city to bring a message of salvation — not with our weapons but with the powerful weapons of God,” he states, holding what appears to be a Bible in his hand. “We declare that in front of this destructive plague, our weapons don’t have power, but there is a power — the power of Jesus Christ.”

He added: "And today, the national civil police is present with the people to be united in faith, to be united in one heart, one purpose — that for God is nothing impossible. He fights our battles..."

Law enforcement officials are described as "peace officers;" that is consistent with the Biblical role of government to maintain order and punish evil - to basically, keep the peace.  This young man is spreading the peace - the peace of God, declaring the Prince of Peace, who is a source of help in times of struggle.

The officer shared appreciation to the people staying at home and encouraged them to "hug their families," according to the article.  He shared: "..Take courage. Take faith in the God that we are bringing praises [to] and saying to Him that He is the greatest in all the world,” adding, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

I think this law enforcement officer in Guatemala can send a message to all of us: we can seek to spread the peace.  In a polarized culture such as we inhabit today, we can continue to seek to reflect the character of Christ.  That means loving God with all our heart and loving our neighbor.  It means not jumping to conclusions on social media and impugning the intent of others.  It means checking what we say before we say it - or write it.  It means not generalizing the acts or attitudes of a people group because of the abuses of certain members of it.  I have been so tempted to respond to even so-called evangelical leaders recently by just tweeting out one word in response: "unhelpful."  But, that wouldn't be helpful, either.  We can embrace causes, but ultimately, we serve the Lord Christ, and we can stand for truth and justice without tearing one another down.

We can also continue to remember the sacrifices of those who serve on the front lines in our culture.  We can remember those in the health care field, the first responders, our law enforcement and government officials - that's what the Ribbons of Hope campaign is all about.  These individuals need our prayers - and of course, the victims of COVID-19 and their families are in need of prayer.

Finally, we can seek to be messengers of hope.  This police officer was dedicated to that, reminding people of the presence of God and the availability of His power.  We need Him today, to intervene in this world being threatened by a deadly virus - and we need His salvation, that enables us to overcome the virus that brings eternal death: the virus of sin.  His love can penetrate the human heart and bring healing, and empower us to combat the virus of division that is rocking our world today.