Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Today, I am happier than a seagull with a french fry. That’s my new mantra. I don’t care what the day brings. I’m going to make a conscious effort to always find the good in it. Will that be easy? No chance. Will I do it anyway? You betcha.

Sometimes, the worst things happen to me and those I love. But contentment doesn’t have to depend on my circumstances. Happiness is more than a feeling. It’s a mindset. 

Just a little over a year ago, I was interviewing for the job I have today. I had recently changed jobs only to be moved to a new position that I had no experience in or felt comfortable with. The environment, role, and even the organization were completely different from what I had envisioned. In short, it was not the right place to call my work home. 

And so, I began praying that God would guide me to a new role. After months of steadfast application submissions and a determination to follow God’s divine guidance, a potential employer called me to interview. Perhaps the most significant component of this job, in particular, was that it would allow me to work from home, full-time – thus allowing me to reside anywhere. 

My first interview came when I was with my mom and brother, staying on the island that is my happy place. The evening after the interview, I went out into the ocean to float on the waves – purposely choosing this location to thank God for the job opportunity. It was while I was bobbing up and down in the waves, worshipping my Creator with my entire existence, when it hit me. If I got the job, I could potentially live at the seashore permanently. Such an idea was almost incomprehensible.

And yet, eleven months later, I now live 23 miles from the vacation spot where I interviewed for the job I have today. God turned my dream into reality. 

The achievement of such a goal did not happen overnight, nor did it materialize without a massive commitment to prayer, submission, and a boat-load of hard work. What started as an idea, bouncing on the waves, became my mission. Allowing myself three weeks, I found, made an offer, and secured my new home. A few days later, I listed my former home, which sold in six days. Reaching out to my new employer, I asked for a two-week extension on my start date to allow time to finalize paperwork on the two homes – both of which settled within two days of one another. 

As one of my friends said, it’s difficult enough to find a new job, let alone a career, a new home, and successfully sell a former dwelling. None of these things were easy – in fact, they were tremendously challenging and stressful. I could have never accomplished any of these goals without God’s help. 

And yet, here I am – more blessed than I deserve. 

Today, as I sit on the beach, marveling at the ebb and crest of each new crashing wave, I’m reminded anew of how God’s hand rests on every facet of my life. God knew the waves He would allow to crash over me, even before I had seen a seashore. Before my world began, my heavenly Father knew when He would bring me up and when He would crash me down – all to bring me closer to His side. 

Life’s turbulent waves often hit me when I least expect them, smashing my face to the bottom of the ocean floor, filling my mouth with sea salt, and causing me to cough and sputter without any idea of which way is up. The experience is often frightening and disorienting. 

And yet, at other times, like today, God fills me with a euphoric experience as I sit with my toes in the sand, filling my lungs with the salty sea spray, lulled into peaceful contentment by the placid lullaby that is the seashore. 

Whether God chooses to let me rise or fall, triumph or tumble, win or lose, I will strive to maintain my joy. After all, I am His child, and I know that there is a purpose in everything that touches me. 

So for today, tomorrow, and every day remaining that God sees fit to grant me, I choose joy. 

As for today, I am happier than a seagull with a french fry.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

In the next few blog posts, I’m going to focus on the Church – a term I’ll use irrespective of any and all Christian denominations – and the propensity of some to separate from Biblical theology. This week, I will concentrate on the Church’s embrace of all manner of sexual proclivities outside the sanctity of traditional marriage between men and women. 

While researching information about a local Lutheran church for my mom to visit, I was surprised to see a picture of the new pastor at one of the assemblies. To begin, seeing a female pastor was a bit of a surprise to me – but what gave me true pause was the unique clerical collar Pastor Esthel Marie Kane had chosen to wear in her profile photo. 

Rather than the traditional white clerical collar – all I’ve ever seen church leadership wear – Kane’s ornamentation featured both the rainbow flag and black, brown, blue, pink, and white arrows pointing right. Since we all know how the LGBTQ+ community has hijacked God’s precious rainbow, I had a bad feeling about this particular symbolism, which prompted me to research the design further.

According to LGBTQnation.com, the “Progress Pride” flag was created in 2018 by Daniel Quasar. Daniel, it’s important to note, prefers the pronouns “xe/xem/xry” and identifies as a “queer non-binary demiguy.” While the flag uses the traditional rainbow colors of the LGBTQ community, Quasar explains that the additional colors are meant to incorporate those in the transgender flag while also representing “people of color as well as those living with AIDS, those no longer living, and the stigma surrounding them.” 

The flag’s arrow depiction is purposely chosen to indicate “forward movement.”

So why is a pastor wearing a Progress Pride flag on her collar? I wondered. 

After glancing through St. James’s church blog, the reasons for this particular display became readily apparent. Even in my small coastal town, the Church has apparently gone “woke.” 

For those unfamiliar with the term “woke,” the Oxford-American dictionary defines it as being “alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.” One might wonder why Christian churches are more concerned with social justice than salvation, but I digress. 

On June 26, 2022, St James church celebrated “PRIDE Sunday” on the third Sunday after Pentecost. Imagine, while God’s Word tells us that pride is considered to be one of the greatest of all sins, this “church” is embracing it. As the Holy Scripture tells us: 

• “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
• “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5)
• “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” (1 John 2:16)
• “Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.” (Proverbs 21:4)

Further perusal of St. James’s website led me to discover their membership with the Reconciling Works program, promoted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). Per the program’s “About” page, “Since 1974, ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation has advocated for the full welcome, inclusion, and equity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual/aromantic (LGBTQIA+) Lutherans in all aspects of the life of their Church, congregations, and community.”

As if that’s not enough, the ELCA also endorses the use of preferred pronouns – going so far as to create a guide for how Lutherans should utilize the same in welcoming all persons to the denomination. 

Per EvangelicalFocus.com, the guide advises members of the Church to use the “SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression) spectrum,” while “avoid[ing] using gendered terms.” 

I wonder how they can read the Bible without referring to traditional male and female genders? Do they also superimpose all those new pronouns in the Holy Scripture? Is there a Bible version for everyone based on their preferred pronouns? That could get confusing. Imagine asking each visitor which Bible version he/she/ze/xe favored using during the Sunday scripture reading.  

The 2020 ELCA document also defines such terms as “genderqueer,” “pansexual,” “gender non-conforming,” and “androgynous,” just in case any parishioners were wondering. 

Let me pause here to make a distinction. Everyone is welcome to join the kingdom of God, no matter who they are. That much is true. Christ demonstrated love and delivered His message of reconciliation to everyone who would listen – Pharisees and prostitutes alike. 

That being said, Christ did not tell sinners to keep sinning. 

And make no mistake, the Bible clearly defines two genders – male and female – while also stating that any sexual activity outside of traditional marriage is sinful. 

• “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
• “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” (Romans 1:26-27)
• “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:22)
• “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.” (Leviticus 20:13)
• “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10)
• “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.” (1 Corinthians 1: 8-11)
• “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Hebrews 13:4) 

Note that many other sins are included in the above lists of items condemned by God – including lying. Without question, every one of us has sinned in some way, shape, or form. 

And one sin is the same as any sin in God’s eyes. It separates us from a Holy God. 

Nevertheless, we are called as Christians to separate ourselves from immorality – not embrace it. As Jesus told the woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8:11: “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Is it easy to lead a life without transgressions? No way! We must each face our sinful natures every day for the rest of our lives – including me. 

But as the Apostle Paul – perhaps the most learned of all the apostles – told us, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to do so. 

“For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:18-20)

So if we must constantly battle iniquity and know it’s impossible on our own to defeat it, is it okay to embrace it? Isn’t that what this new Church ideology is teaching? That we should accept and welcome everyone into all positions of the Church – including Church leadership? After all, we know that we are all sinners. 

The answer is a resounding “No!” All are welcome to believe and accept Christ as their personal Savior. But doing so means we must commit to stepping away from sin by seeking God’s help every day of our lives. 

Paul explains it this way: 

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6: 1-4) 

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6: 11-14) 

But how do we do so? How do we walk away from ungodliness to live in a manner that exalts rather than debases our Creator?  

“Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” (Romans 6:19-23)

The answer is clearly written in the above passages. As Christians, we must separate ourselves from immorality and live for God, not ourselves. Perpetuating an impious lifestyle is discounting the price Christ paid on the cross to save us from damnation and provide us with the gift of eternal life. Christ’s sacrifice – His blood – paid the penalty for my sin and yours. If we truly believe the gospel message that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, surrendered His life to provide the means for all who believe in Him to be able to go to Heaven, we will want to please Him and live our lives for Him – not ourselves. 

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This brings me back to the Church’s acceptance of the gay and lesbian lifestyle. It’s one thing to welcome everyone to learn about God and explain how His forgiving grace can save them. It is entirely different never telling those involved in this lifestyle that they are leading lives of sin that will eventually separate them from Christ’s kingdom forever. 

Let me explain it this way. If I was to see a group of people on a raft heading down a river that led to a 500-foot waterfall that would spell certain death to all passengers, should I wave to them from the shore, tell them that I love them, and never warn them of the impending danger? Would that be the loving thing to do? Isn’t that precisely what the Church is doing today? 

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

As a Christian, I shouldn’t want to keep sinning as I know sin brings death and eternal separation from my Heavenly Father. If I want to sin, I must never have been made new in Christ. If I’m living for myself, Christ is not living in me. It’s as simple as that. 

To put it bluntly, churches that condone these lifestyles are utterly wrong on this topic. The loving thing to do is never to embrace someone without warning them of the danger that lies ahead. And, trust me. There is no greater danger than spending eternity in hell, separated from God. Talking about and explaining the same is the most loving thing I can ever do. It is not bigoted, homophobic, narrow-minded, or hateful. It’s quite the opposite, actually. Warning someone away from eternal death is the only loving thing one can and should do. It’s what Christ directed us to do in the Great Commission. 

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19)

And let’s not forget that Church leaders are held to an even higher standard than others. Matthew 18:6 tells us, “As leaders, you are responsible for those you lead. These people are looking to you for guidance, like little children. We have a responsibility to lead and to lead well.”

Elevating LGBTQ+ community members to become partners in the Church – including raising them up to leadership positions – is not saving their souls. It’s making them feel good about their sin.

Church leaders should not be living in or affirming an immoral lifestyle – not because they aren’t perfect, but because they can’t be true believers and continue to live or endorse this way of life. Teaching anything different is nothing but a big lie perpetrated by the devil. 

Today’s Church needs to focus less on political correctness and more on pleasing God. Anything less is too “woke” by divine standards. 

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)

This Tuesday, July 19th, my mother will turn 86 years young. That’s no small event. While I frequently say that every day is a gift, everything I can do for her, every activity we can perform together, and every act I can enjoy with my mom are doubly special. 

On Cinco de Mayo, my mother and brother bought the house next door to me. After years of considering the purchase of a vacation home, the opportunity to buy this adjacent property was too compelling. We both now live just 30-minutes from the beach – our happy place. I can watch over their house, tend their yard, and orchestrate repairs as needed while they reside in their primary Colorado home. 

When they’re here, as they are now, we enjoy being neighbors – frequently dining together, watching the sunset over the trees behind our houses, or just hanging out. It’s the shared simple everyday occurrences that are so special. When I found a little box turtle visiting my front porch, I was excited to carry it next door, so the three of us could delight in the unexpected visit. We named the little tree frog that sings near my mom’s back porch each evening “Beauregard,” and we look forward to hearing him serenade us with his beautiful night music.

I’ve been busy between their home purchase, the trip back to Colorado, and their subsequent summer visit. As I told them upon their return, “You bought a house. I’m giving you a home.”

Over the two months that they’ve been gone, I dug up, edged, planted, weeded, and mulched seven new flower beds. I planted three trees, raked rocks out of the existing back beds, added landscape fabric and plants, then returned the stones. In two 18-by-20-foot beds, I raked pebbles, weeded, added landscape fabric, and returned the pebbles to clean up the area. I then treated the front and back yards with weed-killer, cut, edged, and weed-eated the yard weekly. 

I treated rusted porch furniture in their backyard to a fresh coat of paint and restored a patio set I bought second-hand. The formerly faded-white chairs and table are now refreshed with turquoise-blue paint, cushions, and flamingo pillows resting beneath a green patio umbrella – all of which add to the beach theme. 

After weeding the patio’s stone slabs, I leveled the surface and added fresh concrete to join the sections together. Doing so will alleviate future weed growth permanently.  

Inside, I moved bedroom suites, decorated rooms with coastal-themed curtains and quilts, provided wall art, and added every bit of flair I could think of to turn the house into a beach home. The pantry is stocked with dry goods. The refrigerator and freezer are filled with perishables and frozen items.  

During the past 8-week interval, I fell and cracked a rib. As painful as it was to rake rocks, push a lawn mower, and dig plants, I felt compelled to do so. While my mom and brother told me to “take it easy” during their absence, I spent every evening and weekend covered with sweat and dirt in my efforts to complete all these projects. I never told them what I was doing as I wanted it to be a surprise. When they asked if I was “resting,” I told them I was “working my rib muscles to enhance the healing process.”

When they finally arrived, the resulting “reveal” brought me as much joy as it did to my mother and brother. My work was hard, yes, but it yielded many benefits. The toil was great, but it produced outstanding results. The exertion was profound, but I knew it would be appreciated. This project – which I presented as my mom’s birthday gift – was an immense labor of love. 

Each of us is given an average of about 29,200 days in our lifetime. How many of those days do we spend doing things for others versus ourselves? More importantly, how many days do we consciously strive to live for Christ? 

Psalm 139:16 tells us, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” 

God gave us His Son so that we could spend eternity with Him in heaven. What are we doing to thank Him for HIs glorious gift? Do we live to satisfy ourselves or bring praise and glory to His kingdom? 

I feel privileged to be able to give something back to my mom for all the things she’s done for me in my lifetime. 

How much more do I long to give back to my heavenly Father for the grace and forgiveness He so freely gave me? As 1 Chronicles 29:14 reminds me, “Everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your hand.”

My greatest desire is to live my life in a way that pleases my Savior, sharing His love with others in any way that I can. I could give all I own and never outgive my Creator. I am surrounded by His love, upheld by His provision, and sanctified by His grace. I will spend every day I have left on earth serving Him in any way possible.

I can only pray that my labor of love will bring glory to my Savior. Every day is a gift. May we use whatever we’ve been given for Christ’s purpose alone. 

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.” (Romans 1:24)

Edmund Burke is frequently attributed for saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” While the actual speaker was John Stewart Mill in 1867, this former Rector of the University of St. Andrews spoke volumes in his inaugural address. Today’s pastors and conservatives could learn much from this early scholar. 

Mill’s speech issued the following warning to his time: “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.” 

Flash forward to today, where evil has become the new norm, and few people dare speak out against it. In just one such example, drag queens have become the new Disney princesses of our era. Much can be said about the damaging effect that such personas have on young children today.  

Drag queen story-hours were shocking to many when they first commenced in 2015, but lately, they’ve become a near-normal occurrence at libraries and elementary schools across our nation. During June’s “Pride Month,” for example, four Colorado elementary schools sponsored these events, allowing men dressed in flamboyant women’s apparel, wigs, and make-up to sit amongst minors while reading stories to them. 

Lest anyone perceive such events as simple entertainment to promote reading, it’s important to note that most books read are chosen to groom young children into accepting transgenderism and LGBTQ principles. Per the Drag Queen Story Hour website, “We generally use a mix of surefire read-alouds and books that explore gender diversity and difference.” Books such as Feminist Baby by Loren Bran or Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah Hoffman are listed as favorites. In their own words, “DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.” 

Is this what parents are genuinely seeking in their children’s education? Do such demonstrations enhance and affirm self-esteem or disturb and confuse impressionable young minds? 

Erika Sanzi from the Parents Defending Education believes these events are purposely created to destroy the innocence of youth. 

“There is a reason to be concerned that there is a faction … of people who are pushing a lot of this stuff … [that] just don’t buy into this idea of childlike innocence,” Sanzi said. “There’s definitely a group of people that is out there really trying to push the boundaries because they do not believe that children need to be protected or shouldn’t be protected from this kind of content.”

A recent “Drag the Kids to Pride” event at a Texas Gay Bar further demonstrates the insanity of exposing children to adult-themed entertainment. Released videos show children giving dancers money while others encouraged the young children – mainly under 10-years-of-age – to walk the runway and pose for event attendees. When protestors confronted adults escorting children to the show, one woman wearing a shirt with the statement, “Love is love,” ironically screamed profanities at the protestors while repeating, “You’re scaring the children!”

While State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Texas) is seeking to pass legislation that will ban such events from happening again, the loss of childhood innocence can never be recovered. Even as Slaton works to justify his proposal, it’s hard not to wonder how such a need ever became necessary.

“We have a lot of laws to protect kids in Texas,” Slaton said. We don’t let them get tattoos. They can’t go in sexually oriented businesses. They can’t go in liquor stores. And then, of course, children need to just grow up and be children. They don’t need to be sexualized. They don’t need to be presented with this where they’re putting money into men’s underwear. It’s just not appropriate for children at all.”

But when acceptance of nearly anything and everything begins at the top of our country, it’s easy to see why such protections represent an uphill battle. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), for example, seems compelled to push the envelope and make the disturbingly abnormal become mainstream. Pelosi’s June appearance on “RuPaul’s Drag Queen All-Stars” featured her thanking the male contestants – garbed in flamboyant, female apparel and make-up – for the “joy and beauty [they] bring to the world.” She then lauded the participants further, saying, “Your freedom of expression of yourselves in drag is what America is all about.”

While I disagree with Pelosi’s statement on multiple levels, what I found most offensive was the show’s questionable usage of religious expressions in a program utterly devoid of Christian values. 

First came the show’s namesake, who told the Speaker, “We have prayers in our hearts to keep you strong.”  

After thanking RuPaul for this sentiment, Pelosi curiously responded by saying, “May God bless America.” The Speaker then waved her hand while asking, “Can I get an Amen?” The contestants and judges laughingly affirmed her request with a resounding “Amen!” 

In stunned disbelief, I pondered what I’d just heard and witnessed. Apparently, as long as someone is mocking God and doesn’t believe in His existence, it’s okay to ask our Creator to bless our nation. Valedictorians are repeatedly told to leave any mention of God out of their speeches, coaches have lost their jobs for praying, and business owners have been threatened and penalized for standing for Christian values. Nevertheless, the third-highest politician in our nation can invoke the name of God and say “Amen” without issue – as long as she’s the special guest on a televised drag competition, of course.  

If a drag queen can say he has “prayers in [his heart]” for a political leader to “stand strong” against conservative values, how much more so should Christians be praying for one another in a society whose values continue to degrade? 

While lawmakers seem intent on mainstreaming such events and perverting children’s minds, parents and pastors shouldn’t be afraid to speak out against such things. To not do so further empowers the left to push the envelope further. In point of fact, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently advocated for more of these inappropriate events, saying there should be a “drag queen for every school” and “drag queens make everything better.”

Respectfully speaking, Ms. Nessel, drag queens don’t make everything better. God does. 

There is a reason why pride is considered to be one of the seven deadly sins – along with lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, and envy. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” 

A proud and sinful nature leads one away from the only thing that can ever satisfy – God. To teach, condone, demonstrate, and lead children – in particular – down this path beyond our Creator’s plan for virtue, morality, and decency seem to be directing others toward a goal that can never satisfy. 

The trouble with drag queens is not the men who’ve chosen to embrace this lifestyle but their propensity to push it on others – especially young children.

God gave us instructions to guide and protect us from spiritual harm. Man’s desire to pervert and distort our heavenly Father’s guidance can only lead to further deprivation. 

May we all continue to pray that God will bless our nation and prevent any further attempts to lead impressionable children away from our Creator’s desired purity and unadulterated love. 

As Luke 17:2 reminds us, “It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

“If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:15)

Not long ago, I learned that another of my beloved pastor friends was asked to step down from his pulpit. This event marks the third time such a despicable act has entered my world. I know, full well, what kind of destruction this action can wreak as the first time it happened to me. 

I served as my church’s Director of Christian Education about sixteen years ago. The former director didn’t like my actions of starting a youth group, hosting Vacation Bible School outdoors in Biblical apparel, and other such things. She and her family brought me to the church board to mock and pass judgment on me for my ideas. I’ll never forget the rage expressed in that meeting. I thought one of the women might physically hit me when I chose to defend my actions and faith. Ultimately, the pastor sided with the family, and I resigned from my church position. It was a bitterly painful experience. 

After leaving that church, I attended another whose pastor eventually came under fire by his church board. His cardinal sin was admonishing his congregants not to argue amongst themselves over things like the color of the carpet.

“If you are thinking about such things and who you’re going to contend with after the sermon,” he said, “you aren’t a real Christian.” He closed by reminding his parishioners that we are called to serve God and not man. 

A few weeks later, my pastor contacted me to say that he, too, had to defend himself to a governing body that decided his words had offended them. He then asked me to write a statement to the church council attesting to his character and impact on my life. It was my privilege to do so.

Unfortunately, I later learned that the pastor was voted out of his position. My letter and those written by others made little impact on a group that seemed determined to rid themselves of their shepherd.

I’ll never forget his last sermon on Palm Sunday. He preached about the betrayal of Christ as He entered Jerusalem. I cried halfway through his message, barely able to stay in the pew. I never went back, hurt again by men’s actions against those who stand for God. 

And now this. 

I had only recently told my pastor friend how much his sermons meant to me – especially one in which he took a stand against the church’s general acceptance of everything from the indoctrination of children into gender neutrality to the common acceptance of abortion and homosexuality. 

His sermon text that week was based on 1 Corinthians 6, which says the following: “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (v. 9-11)

The pastor explained that we may have condoned or even participated in some of this immoral behavior in the past. He readily admitted that he, too, had led a sinful life before being called and saved by God’s grace. 

But that’s not who we should be now, he reminded his parishioners. Now, we are followers of Christ. We are called to come out of sin and be different.  

His scripture reading continued, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (V. 12-13) 

More than just an indictment of our sinful nature, the pastor used this scripture to talk about how we are given the “freedom” to become slaves to Christ. While such a concept may seem contradictory, it is only by freely choosing Jesus that we can wholeheartedly follow our Savior – even into servitude to Him. 

As Paul told us in his letter to the Galatians, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (v. 13-14)

We are called to love one another. This command is second only to loving God. If we love each other, we will be less inclined to attack our Christian brothers and sisters- even if we don’t like what someone else says or if it makes us uncomfortable. 

As I wrote in an open letter to the church, “Your board’s decision will cause unrest, apprehension, gossip, slander, heartache, and turmoil. Such actions are not how God intended His church to comport itself.

“Actions have consequences. You are not helping anyone by ridding yourself of your pastor — quite the contrary. You cannot grow, thrive, and nourish your congregation by breeding distrust, fear, and animosity. Such actions stand opposed to everything the Gospel stands for. 

“I believe the devil is having his field day right now. He doesn’t want anyone with conviction to be serving God as he knows his days are numbered. He will do anything within his power to stir up dissension and drive people away from our Heavenly Father. I continue to be shocked at how easy that is and how quickly people can turn against the faithful. Pastor David Jeremiah calls them ‘the great pretenders.’

“As the Apostle Paul told Timothy, ‘For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.’ (2 Timothy 4:3) 

“I am writing to you, telling you these things, hoping that you will see that [your pastor] has made a difference. He is a man of God called to the ministry of serving others. The world needs more people like [him], willing to stand up and preach on difficult topics while delivering the unflinching, unfiltered Word of the Lord. 

“There will come a day when we will all have to account for what we’ve done before the only God of the universe. [Your pastor] serves our Creator with his whole heart, and I know he will one day hear Christ say, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’ (Matthew 25:21) 

“What will the rest of you say when God asks you why you took such action against one of His servants? You need to consider that question while there is still time, as I truly believe Christ is coming for His church soon. I would not want to be on the wrong side of that judgment if I were you.”

And so ended my letter. Did it make a difference? Unfortunately not. It hurts my heart to say that, yet again, my preacher friend was not invited back, and the church is operating as if he was never there. 

But God knows the true story. Throughout Biblical history, divine prophets – the precursors to modern-day pastors – preached uncompromising messages that were often poorly received. Many of our Creator’s spokespersons were killed by their peers or authorities for the messages they delivered. God’s murdered mouthpieces include the following: 

• Isaiah was tortured and killed by King Manasseh, who ordered him to be sawed in half. 
• Joel died two days after being hit on the head by Ahaziah. 
• Amos was tortured and killed by the priests of Bethel. 
• Micah was killed by Joram, King Ahab’s son. 
• Habakkuk was stoned to death by the Jews in Jerusalem. 
• Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern earlier in his ministry and later stoned to death by Jews in Egypt. 
• Ezekiel was murdered by Jews. 
• Ahijah was killed by a lion. 
• Zechariah was killed by King Joash. 

Given the above, I’d say my Christian brothers are in good company.

God’s messages are never easy to hear, but that doesn’t give us the right to “kill the messenger.” Ironically, as my minister friend preached a few weeks before being asked to resign or be terminated, his prophetic scripture reading included Galatians 5:15: “If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.”

The world is in chaos right now, with more attacks against the church, Christians, Christian values, and morality than ever before. Now is the time to pull together – not attack, vilify, and condemn. The world does enough of that without our help. We need to stop hurting one another and start healing. 

The devil will do everything he can to destroy God’s church and keep Christ’s message of salvation from being preached. Let’s not be the ammunition he needs to do so. 

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. (Proverbs 31:26) [KJV]

As a wordsmith, speech matters to me. I probably take the remarks of others deeper than I should, as a result. 

Such a concept must work both ways. While I can’t help but pay close attention to the comments of others, I must also remember that what comes out of my mouth must be tempered and sweetened before utterance.

A few months ago, I wrote about being disappointed when my mother and brother decided not to move to Georgia. Since then, the world has changed, and their opportunity to live near me solidified. While it will take time for us to get used to such new living arrangements, the biggest thing I need to remember is to watch my words. 

What I mean by that is I think, live, and talk differently than they do. Many years of existing worlds apart have served to establish alternate mindsets. I need to remember to watch what I say and how I react to what others say. 

My mom, for example, has adopted a straightforward way of speaking that I told her should be captured in a book of “momisms.” Here are a few small samples: 

• My mother loves birds, so I thought she’d enjoy going to an avian conservatory to see Wood Storks nesting in our area. “Birds are birds,” my mom said, choosing to go to the beach instead. Since then, whenever we see a new bird, I can’t help but use this unique expression in her presence. “Birds are birds,” I say as we both laugh.
• After dining out a few weeks ago, my mom called the waitress to let her know we wanted our check. “Excuse me,” she said. “We’ve accomplished all that we wanted to here.” I could only shake my head.

Obviously, this phraseology makes me chuckle – but sometimes, such utterances have the opposite effect. In one such instance, my mom and I had eased into a weekend with a big breakfast requiring substantial cleanup. I was taking things a bit slowly, but it quickly became apparent that my mom was ready to move to another activity. Tensions were a bit high, and comments were, unfortunately, escalating. 

“We’ve gone around like two cats today,” my mother said, which likened my mind to a mental image of two fighters preparing to pounce. My defenses rose, and I responded that such a statement wasn’t fair or kind. 

Perhaps, instead, I should have kept my mouth shut and let it go – understanding that my mom thinks differently than I do. 

And so, I will endeavor to live up to today’s Bible verse: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” (Proverbs 31:26) [KJV]

If I can keep God’s wisdom in my mind and mouth, perhaps my patience will follow suit. It’s a gift to have my mother near me. I know she is happy to be close to the beach where we both always longed to live. 

Help me to speak love, Lord Jesus. You are the author and finisher of my faith. Help me live it out, even when challenged by the words, actions, and deeds of others. 

#SpeakLove; #SpeakLife

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It’s the little things that make me happy. God’s love gifts often leave me breathless.

A few weeks ago, I opened the front door to encounter a bird quickly flitting away. Since I don’t have any trees right next to my house, I wondered where he came from and how I startled him?

Attached to my door is a grapevine wreath wired with silk magnolia blossoms. Wondering if my suspicions were correct, I placed my cell phone in camera mode and reached up to snap a photo looking down at the wreath from above.

Imagine my joy at seeing my captured photo of a nest resting amongst the vines in my wreath. Reaching up again, I angled my phone to look down inside the nest to see two tiny, light-blue, speckled eggs. Birds had not just made a nest in my wreath; they had laid eggs inside it!

Watching the nest, I later spotted my bird parents flying away and into one of the trees in my yard. Seeing their coloration, I was able to identify my feathery friends as house finches. Two weeks and three more laid eggs later, I’m now watching the five hatchlings growing bigger and happier each day – right at my front door!

And so it is with God. From out of death, life. From the inanimate life of my dead wreath, God led this tiny bird couple to create, incubate, and nurture new life.

What a lesson that is for all of us! How often have I felt that I was at my wit’s end, with no hope for anything new to blossom?

And yet, it is often when I lay my old self and my dead dreams down at my Savior’s feet that He can bring forth new life in a more magnificent manner than I could have ever imagined.

Surrender is hard but necessary if we want to grow. As I’m watching these little babies growing bigger each day, I’m excited to see the miracle of new Creation played out in front of me. Witnessing this miracle before me, I am committed to re-surrender myself to the only one who can renew, restore, and rejuvenate me.

I am a consistent work-in-progress and need my Savior each and every day. I crave my Heavenly Father’s love, guidance, and discipline to create, incubate, and mold me into who He wants me to be. While I am no longer the weak hatchling I once was when I first accepted Christ, my struggle toward His perfection continues every day of the life that He has given me.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

I am your Creation, Lord, and I need your steadfast love and support to overcome my sinful nature and grow closer to your side. Today and every day, I surrender anew to You, Lord Jesus. I am your servant. Make me who You want me to be.

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)

Sometimes, the devil in the pulpit is more evil than the sinner on the street. 

Carlow University, a private Catholic college in Pittsburg, PA, recently hosted an event to discuss ways “to create a different cultural foundation upon which to base one’s faith.” That topic alone should have raised red flags at a Christian university – but no one could have imagined the heresy that would emanate from the podium. 

Guest speaker Miguel De La Torre is a professor of social ethics and Latinx studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Colorado. His presentation, entitled “Rejecting White Christianity,” began with an explosive statement. “All white theology and philosophy is detrimental to communities of color.” 

Excuse me? Pardon my ignorance, but when did theology become segregated by melanin? Christianity is color-blind. God created the human race. There is no distinction between races, skin pigment, birthplaces, or national origin in the plan of salvation. Christ sacrificed His life for all mankind so that the separation between humanity and deity could be paid – once and for all. 

There is no greater love than that demonstrated on the cross. (John 15:13) This love is for all of us. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible of salvation being for a select group. There is, therefore, no such thing as “White Christianity.” There is only Christianity. 

“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) That scripture is crystal clear. All means all. To interject skin color into the Gospel is blasphemy. It demeans and devalues the blood of our Savior. 

But Prof. De La Torre had just started speaking. The rest of his presentation only got worse. 

De La Torre told his audience that the solution to racism is obvious. He directed event participants to Matthew 25: 31-46. “Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the alien among you, provide healthcare, also provide prison reform,” advised De La Torre.

I’d like to know what version of the Holy Scripture this speaker was using, as healthcare and prison reform are not listed as God-given directives in any Bible I’ve ever seen.

One of my all-time favorite pastors once told me that we must be careful never to add to God’s Word. That scripture has always stuck with me. Deuteronomy 4:2 tells us, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” 

And yet, adding to scripture is precisely what De La Torre has done. 

The speaker went on to describe the difference between what he called “White theology” and Latinx ethics” – beginning with his definition of the word “hope.” 

“We embrace Euro-centric concepts like hope because it helps to pacify the oppressed during their oppression,” he said. 

De La Torre later rejected hope as a white concept – not as a “gift of the Spirit.” He further classified the same as a “middle-class excuse to do nothing.” 

Rev. Mark R. Wenger disagrees. “Real hope, I contend, is rooted in God. Hope is a spiritual gift and virtue more than a human achievement.” 

But in his presentation, De La Torre continued, “[Hope] leads to spiritual liberation and ignores physical liberation. It helps us believe in the riches of the hereafter, rather than the riches of the here and now.” 

Christ, Himself warned directly against De La Torre’s mentality when He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 19-21)

Rather than embracing hope, De La Torre asked his audience to “embrace hopelessness.” He argued that doing so “is to be propelled forward into practice and action.”

While the speaker seemed unwilling to defer his hope to the promises of heaven, the Bible cannot be more explicit in its directive of the same. 

• “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5)
• “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
• “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:31)
• “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
• “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrew 11:1)
• “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your Word.” (Psalm 119:114)

Not content with his attempts to debase the Gospel with division, disavow the hope of heaven, and add to the Word of God, De La Torre further directed his audience to embrace the concept of “ethical lying,” which he called a “trickster ethic.” He believes the same is necessary to transform society.

According to De La Torre’s convoluted logic, we need to learn to “ethically lie so we can discover what is true, how to steal so ethically we can feed those who are hungry… (and) how to disrupt the structures that have trained us to oppress ourselves and to take upon our body our own discipline.” 

Continuing with his blasphemy, the speaker guilted the audience into believing that “[white theology is] such a colonized way of understanding theology [that it] makes God false.” 

Alternately, De La Torre shared the words of his intellectual mentor in evidencing his way of thinking. 

“We will make our wine out of plantains, and even if it comes out sour, it is still our wine. We will make our theology. We will make our ethics out of our own cultural symbols. And even if we get it wrong, it still is ours,” said De La Torre. “We have to learn how to see with our own eyes. We have to crucify our colonized minds. And for our white brothers and sisters, they need to crucify their whiteness.” 

To this, I can only say, Prof. De La Torre, you did get it wrong. You do not get to make up your own theology. You may believe your own convoluted concepts, but God does not. You cannot add to His divine Word, twist your ideas into political psycho-babble, and still make it into heaven. 

Shame on this speaker for trying to pass along his heresy as gospel. 

And shame on the Catholic university that hosted this event. As their website boasts, they prefer to embrace “social justice, ethical forward-thinking leadership and meaningful service to the community” more than the Christian concepts that founded their origin.

When asked to comment on their guest’s controversial speech, they replied, “Carlow University is proud of our Catholic heritage and mercy mission, which welcomes all. As such, the University welcomes respectful discourse and multiple perspectives, including being open to hosting speakers like Dr. De La Torre whose topic may engender thoughtful reflection and dialogue.” 

In response to both the speaker and Carlow, I can only ask you to fully digest the scripture incorrectly quoted and enhanced during the event. 

Matthew 25:46 warns, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

And to my readers, please allow me to remind you that there is always hope in Christ. No matter what the devil in the pulpit may tell you, Christ is our eternal, living hope.