With a Whisper (and True Tongue-Twister)

The world system seldom sings its “siren song”.

It whispers  it.

Stay strong.  Stand firm.

  • “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10)
  • “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9a)

May we wisely and willingly not let the world’s whispers work to weaken our walk with God, which always makes one whimper.  May we not let it bring about that bane but rather be blessed by staying spiritually sober and strong and standing firm in Him, on His holy, living, life-giving Word.

  • “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11)

Always but especially those days and times you feel weak or vulnerable:  directly or via Bible reading, study, or memory, may our merciful, mighty Master grant more power to ya.

 

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Hollering a Heartfelt Hallelujah

The newest batch of eighteen souls slipped into eternity very unexpectedly last evening, practically in the proverbial blink of an eye since they merely went to have some fun at a bowling alley and billiards hall.

It’s understandable and even proper that people perpetually put this perfectly practical pregunta  to me:  “Why does God let bad things happen, why does He allow so many of us to suffer and even die?”

To which I always wonder, “Why would He allow us to live?!”  To summon Shakespeare, that  is the question we should be asking.

We weakly wander away from His Word, will, and wisdom so willy-nilly that I know exactly why He lets so many of us suffer and die (Romans 5:12, 6:23; 1 Corinthians 11:30) but why would He patiently put up with our pervasive pride and unpretty pettiness and lingering lust and mistrust and frequent failings, foibles and flaws, far too many for man’s mind to count much less comprehend?

I’ll tell you why:  because of His lasting love.  And perfect patience.  And complete compassion and miles-long mercy.

  • “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
  • “And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience…” (1 Timothy 1:16a)
  • “You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” (James 5:11b)

So even as we rightly mourn the seemingly senseless loss of life last night, let us take those eighteen and every other passing-into-eternity as a warning and renewed reminder to rightly examine our own souls to see, to make certain that if we were to ever leave this life “in the blink of an eye” and unexpectedly move on to the one to come, we will find ourselves in heaven, not hell, thanks solely to the love and grace and patience and compassion and mercy of our magnificent Master.

Even amid mourning, it’s more than enough to make my heavy heart holler “Hallelujah!”

 

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Leverage

I’ve always found to be very interesting how differently  different people respond to or view the concept of leverage.

As you’ve no doubt noticed by now, this website is predominantly a politics-free place… except when Washington well illustrates a biblical principle, and it’s on this basis and for this reason that I point to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former President of the United States Donald Trump as two people who understood and utilized leverage largely without limit, to the hilt.  It doesn’t matter how much you like or hate them or their policies, the point here is that they excelled in the practice of leverage.

Recently-unseated Speaker Kevin McCarthy?  Not so much.  Because many in his own party saw that he had a lot  of leverage last spring when the country’s debt limit was set to expire, but totally failed to use it to resolve long-ongoing, existential threats to any country (like runaway-at-an-ever-increasing-rate-to-boot debt and open borders) and instead they thought that he simply “gave away the store” to their political opponents.  The backlash by members was both fierce and immediate, and the irony was downright tangible:  a leader was FINALLY able to UNITE House Republicans – to an extent I and many others had never seen before – but then just threw it out like a smelly bag of week-old garbage.  And it, plus a subsequent perceived betrayal regarding the recent “looming government shutdown” showdown (which could easily recur in a few weeks), cost him his vaunted position of pretty-much-peerless power (other than probably the president but House Speaker has got to be in the top two).

He seems like a nice fellow but he utterly failed to properly utilize leverage.

But you know who didn’t?  The beloved Apostle Paul who, while in prison, bumped into a former servant (of a man named Philemon) who presumably was there because he had wronged his master in the past but became a “child” to Paul and even his “very heart” (Philemon 10,12) so Paul sent him back and asked Philemon to receive and accept him not as a former slave but as a beloved brother both humanly and spiritually (verse 16).  Probably my all-time favorite example of having and utilitzing leverage is demonstrated in the very next three verses, just look at the leverage, it’s downright palpable (or should I say, paulpable?) (No?  Too corny?  Okay, I won’t 🙂 ) … levity aside, let’s look at the leverage leveled at Philemon by no less than the Apostle Paul:

  • “Therefore if you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me.  But if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account; I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (LEST I should MENTION to you that YOU OWE to ME even YOUR OWN SELF  as well).” (Philemon 17-19, emphasis added)

Boom!  Now THAT’S how it’s done!  (Leave it to the Apostle Paul… always amazing, ever effective, blessedly blunt.)

Properly utilizing leverage in life absolutely requires a sense of balance.  Too many people (far, far, far more than, say, two or three decades ago) go too far in trying to “obtain” leverage, while others who have it fail to use it for good and noble and proper purposes (like Paul successfully did with Philemon).

As I always say, it’s beyond amazing how the Bible possesses and provides every promise or answer or solution a person could ever need.

Gobble. It. Up.

 

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One Wish for the World

I wish far more people would properly place as much of their mindspace, loyalty, allegiance, and affection on the Lord as they do on mere mortal men named Biden or Trump or Obama.  Or Peyton or LeBron, or Bezos or Elon.

I wish far more of our fellow citizens would spend as much time with the Word  as they do with Wordle.

 

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The BEST Quartet EVER!

Football fans from a few decades ago definitely would’ve given this title to the “Steel Curtain” (defensive line) of the 1970’s Pittsburgh Steelers.  My dad and uncles would’ve given it to The Statler Brothers.  But, believe it or not, there’s an even better one.

I was watching a condensed replay of yesterday’s Washington-Atlanta NFL game and with 12:12 to go in the 3rd Quarter, the former’s quarterback Sam Howell dropped back to throw a screen pass to their (really good, with an even better personal story) starting running back Brian Robinson, Jr. (after winning the College National Champioinship twice at Alabama, he was drafted last year and promptly proceeded to get shot twice during an armed robbery before last season started and not only survived, not only was able to walk, but was back on the field playing pro football just six weeks later).

Just one “problem”:  after running forward a few steps as though the ball had been handed off to him, he made a sharp pivot to the right and ran smack-dab into his own Right Guard whom a Falcons defensive lineman was strongly pushing into the backfield, stopping the running back in his tracks for a second or two (the NFL won’t let the video be shown on an outside website but you can watch it on YouTube if desired by clicking here and going to the 6:20 mark of that 12-minute video).  I purposely put “problem” in quotes because, as it turned out, that slight delay worked perfectly as it spaced out the defense so as to give the quarterback a clear and easy passing lane, then the running back scampered straight into the end zone for a touchdown which ended up sealing the warmly-welcomed win for Washington.

What a great, real-life illustration of Romans 8:28!  Which communicates a crystal clear conclusion:  that there are no problems in life, because things which seem  to be such are actually intended by God to accomplish massive good  in our lives.  Which is why He rightly commands us not only to give thanks “in everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) but to give thanks “FOR everything” (Ephesians 5:20).

Over the years, throughout my entire life, I’ve heard countless preachers and teachers say that God will “work out” all things for our good, for our eternal benefit, but the Bible actually goes even further than that by making clear that the “problem” or “challenge” or “trial” ITSELF is GOOD.  Because it’s by and from God Himself, borne of His loving sovereignty for our benefit and building up, if we simply LET IT.

All of this is why He also rightly commands us to “do all things without grumbling or disputing” (i.e., complaining) (Philippians 2:14), which is the other side of the “always give thanks” coin.

Yep, Romans 8:28, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 5:20 and Philippians 2:14 are by farthe BEST quartet I’ve ever heard!

(The Statler Brothers would be a distant but strong second, here’s why, enjoy!)

(And if you can answer “yes” to this musical question…)

(… this is what you can look forward to!)

 

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Better Never Than Late?

A post published probably a year or more ago proclaimed “Timing is EVERYTHING!”

And a very recent post properly pointed to a certain politician (who’ll go unnamed in this post since I plan on preserving this place as predominantly politics-free) who announced a bid for president but chose to employ “NO DE-FENSE”.  He just let his main opponent keep punching him in the press and online without even so much as a peep.

He must’ve read that particular post (Pence, too, apparently) because just a day or few later he finally started to “put up his fists” and even “punch back” (offense… such as it is… let’s call it attempted  offense).

But in my humble view, because his timing was so off, so backwards, so out of order and out of line  with the Bible’s principles as put forth in that prior post, his recent change of heart/mind/strategy has come across as political (and perhaps personal) desperation, not strength.  A lot of people clearly agree with me since his poll numbers keep dropping… like I said in that post, that’s exactly what’s expected when one unwisely walks without any “armor” or “defense” (Ephesians 6:10-17).

In this case, it definitely would’ve been better never than late, because the inexplicable delay has actually made his situation even worse.

The point of this post isn’t primarily about politics or him personally but rather it’s for you and me, a reminder of the importance of timing in our decision-making and action-taking.

  • “He who blesses his friend with a loud voice EARLY IN THE MORNING [TIMING!], it will be reckoned [counted as] a CURSE to him.” (Proverbs 27:14, emphasis added)
  • “Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, is he who sings songs TO A TROUBLED HEART [i.e., WHEN a heart is troubled… TIMING!]” (Proverbs 25:20, emphasis added)

In other words, timing is SO important, so powerful, that it can single-handedly take what would otherwise  be a good thing and turn it into a bad thing, can all by itself take what would otherwise  have been a blessing and turn it into a curse.  Very powerful principle!

While we would be wise to regularly pray for him and others in positions of political power (1 Timothy 2:1-2), let’s also turn his lemons into biblical lemonade (James 1) which we will hopefully share with others along the way.

Amazing how the answers and solutions and wisdom for everything, even politics, are all right there in the Bible!  It truly is the “user manual” for life.

 

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Go Further

I’m rarely surprised by anything anymore, but one exception has been a handful of times when someone didn’t realize how much I (agape) loved and cared about them.

Despite how kind and encouraging I was toward them, the fact is that a certain percentage of people are so focused on what’s in their  head and heart that they can’t see what’s in yours or mine or other people’s.

When I realized this those handful of times over the years, I learned a great lesson:  that the key, the answer, the solution is to go further.

However loving and kind and caring you’ve been, seek to double or triple that, and, like me, I’m pretty sure you’ll find that this will open their eyes and they will at long last see that they are truly loved and valued.  It shouldn’t take 200% or 300%… but it often does.  And it’s totally worth it.  Priceless.  It can literally change a person’s life.

I think that this is what the Lord Jesus meant when He said to “go the extra mile” (Matthew 5:41).

In other words, GO FURTHER!  Do even more than what’s “required”.

And what the beloved Apostle Paul meant when he said to “excel still more” (1 Thessalonians 4:10).

In other words, GO FURTHER!  Do even more than you already are in terms of loving Him and others.

This perspective and practice has produced plenty of significant spiritual and relational results in my life and I’m certain it will do likewise in yours!

 

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Fall

No, I’m not talking about the change of season, beautiful as that’s always been to behold.  Nor Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury, sad as that physical fall was to watch and which is still echoing throughout the throngs of football fans across the nation and especially the New York/Jersey area.

I’m talking about the massive increase – both quantitative and qualitative – in how a horde of highly-esteemed people have experienced a jaw-dropping reversal of fortune (seemingly overnight in some cases) in just the past handful of years, a trend definitely worth keeping an eye on and which likely has a correlation to “end times” truth (eschatology, based on James 1, more about this in a future post) – here’s a quick list just off the top of my head, which touches virtually every significant segment of society:

Sports:  Zion Williamson

Entertainment/Hollywood/Media:  Matt Lauer, Brian Williams, Chris Matthews (what’s in the water at NBC?), Leslie Moonves, Kevin Spacey and extremely recently Danny Masterson, Ed Henry, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly (what’s in the water at Fox News???), Bill Cosby, and Harvey Weinstein (again, just a partial list from the top of my head)

Law:  Lyn Wood, Robert Mueller, Sydney Powell, and while Rusty Hardin is legitimately a living legal legend, his prosecutorial performance in the Paxton impeachment proceedings left much to be desired or admired, he seemed but a shadow of his usual (past?) self and was overwhelmingly outdone by Tony Buzbee and the defense side of the aisle

Politics:  the aforementioned Ken Paxton, Donald Trump, Andrew Cuomo, Rudy Giuliani (what’s in the water in New York?????) and too many others to list but you get the point:  people who previously, until just a year or few ago, were wildly well-perceived  have quickly fallen to the opposite end of that spectrum and are now near-universally despised, mocked, ridiculed, shunned, and/or under the heavy boot of dogged pursuit by law enforcement.

The point and purpose of this post is not to perpetually punish these publicly-pummeled people (I’m pretty sure that I’m far worse a person and bigger a sinner than they) who’ve already been badly bruised and battered, but rather to simply point out that it’s unfettered folly to put one’s total trust or reliance or confidence in any  mere mortal, since ONLY ONE person who will never, ever fail or even disappoint!

  • “Whoever believes in Him WILL NOT be disappointed” (Romans 10:11)
  • “he who believes in Him WILL NOT be disappointed” (1 Peter 2:6)

We hear and see so much fanfare and hype and hoopla about countless people in the public eye, a seemingly never-ending list and I’m happy for each and every one but it’s sort of bittersweet in that any  glory or praise or credit is rarely ever publicly poured out to the One who is so precious and priceless and peerless and actually deserves and merits such!  Michael Jordan was a phenomenal basketball player… but could he ever in a trillion years even come close  to comparing to Him who walked on water or turned it into wine?  George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were phenomenal presidents and leaders, but could either even come close  to comparing to Him who took every single sin of humanity – past, present, and future – and placed it squarely on Himself, “in His body” (1 Peter 2:24) thus making salvation and an eternity in Heaven available to all people (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16) by conquering and vanquishing the power of death and the sway sin had held over us and therefore freeing us from the future horror of Hell?

Next time (and all subsequent) we hear someone celebrating a mere mortal, let’s at least keep in mind  the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:9-11, 3:20-21; Colossians 1:13-19) and preferably say something  aloud so others can partake of this proper perspective:  there’s none who can compare to Christ… if you want to never be disappointed, simply put your faith and trust and reliance and dependence in and on Him!

 

(Speaking of sports, if you’d like to be my teammate in the historic event unfolding in real-time at BibleMemory.ORG, here are three great ways to do so!)

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Teammates

With the NFL season almost upon us, I recently took a tidbit of time to check out the trades and other roster changes (retirements, free agents, etc.) for several teams and on one of the sports news websites it highlighted the New England Patriots’ record during and after their Tom Brady era.  As I’m sure many of you could already guess, the numbers, the difference was stark.  Night and day.

And that stat blurb immediately brought to mind the fact that, while I fully agree that the newly-retired (for good, this time, I think) (much to the relief of all competing teams) “Tom Terrific” was just that, what’s usually overlooked is another fact:  that the team also had one of the best offensive linemen/lines, who provided him with the time needed to drop back and make so many good passes.  And oh by the way, as excellent a quarterback as he way, someone had to actually catch those rockets, and without them, too, he would likely have been just an above-average quarterback.

And what about the phenomenal kickoff and punt returners who consistently gave him great field position, making those many touchdowns more probable?

In other words, teammates matter.

And that’s exactly how it is in the Christian life!

Our teammates, our fellow believers, have a lot to do with whatever ground we gain.

Their prayers.  Their encouragement and kindness and love.  Their good advice and sermons and sharings from the perfect  Book.  (I’ve never found the phrase “the good book” to quite satisfy.)

Yes indeed, to the extent that I gain ground at all and achieve greatness of any kind, on any level, you can be 100% sure that many, many, many people God has placed in and throughout my life will have had a lot to do with that.  While I’ll keep the primary focus of myself and this website right where it belongs, on the Lord Jesus Christ, under that umbrella I’m greatly looking forward to telling you about some of these people from my past and present and no doubt future.  But for now it will suffice to wrap up this particular post with two takeaways.

To value and respect and deeply appreciate and thank God (and them) for our teammates’ roles in our lives.  And to be continually grateful and humbled by the fact that, even infinitely greater than the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick, we have such a perfect and perfectly patient and faithful and forgiving and loving and all-knowing Coach to guide us  through the game of life, to eternal victory.

And speaking of teammates, if you’d like to be MY teammate in this historic event unfolding in real-time at BibleMemory.ORG, here are three great ways to do so!

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No Idols

Harkening back to a common high school cheer at football and basketball games… “I say ‘No idols’, you say ‘No duh’, no idols, no duh, no idols, no duh…”  But perhaps this topic isn’t so cut-and-dry, because it has become more and more obvious in recent years that, in practice, in essence, certain things have become an obsession at least and I would strongly argue that they’ve become idols  especially in the New Testament sense of that word.  Meaning that while people generally don’t carve pieces of wood or melt and mold metal to look like a football or basketball or baseball or (especially? 🙂 ) golf ball or hockey puck or their favorite celebrity or, the most recent addition to the list, politician or political party, while they don’t go to that extreme as was common in Old Testament times a handful of millennia ago, it’s clear to me that the practice of idolatry is even far more widespread and rampant nowadays, though the main manifestation is mental, not physical like a statue or golden calf.  Intangible rather than tangible.  In our minds rather than on our mantels.

This is exactly why the disciple-turned-Apostle “whom Jesus loved”, John, saw fit (as did the superintending Holy Spirit) to end his first Epistle with these words of warning:  to guard ourselves from the devil? from demons? from false teachers?  No, he ends that blessed book by writing, “guard yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21)

While a statue or metallic calf can be an idol even today, the broader and best definition of an idol is this:  anything which takes precedence over the Lord in our lives, in our day-to-day living.  In how we spend time or money, in our thoughts, in our emotions and affections, in our words and actions… if the Lord doesn’t maintain “first place” in any of those, the thing or person which does has become an idol, and must be dethroned.  Immediately.  Because the only entity able to duly and rightfully occupy that position is the Lord.

  • “And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; SO THAT He Himself will come to have FIRST PLACE in EVERYTHING.” (Colossians 1:15-18, emphasis added)
  • “… He who is the blessed and ONLY Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who ALONE possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light…” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16a)

There are, of course, countless other passages of Scripture but either one of these is fully sufficient for us to know beyond any doubt at all Who – and Who alone – should be and remain first and foremost in our lives.  [While exceedingly generous, He is rightly and wholly (and holy 🙂 ) unwilling to share (even any part  of) that place of preeminence, as James 4:5 makes crystal clear:  “… He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us.”  So much so that verse 4 states that merely wanting  to be a friend of the world (system) makes oneself an enemy  of God.]

Let’s bring this full circle.

A new football season is upon us.  Many will be tempted to take time away from, say, going to church for the next many Sunday mornings and stay home to watch the football games and pre-shows instead.

And the Senate and House of Congress are coming back from their (main 🙂 ) summer recess (they have several) to a huge stack of major to-dos just waiting for them, such as:  avoiding (or causing) a government shutdown by passing (or blocking) the dozen required spending bills for the next fiscal year which begins on October 1; authorizing (or not) another $24 billion for the Ukraine-Russia war and the recent Florida hurricane and Hawaii wildfire; and last but definitely not least, the unofficial kickoff of a different kind, of the 2024 U.S. Presidential primary and general election season; among others… like I said, a huge  stack of to-dos.  All  of which are sure to be fraught with fierce fighting and forceful partisanship which will surely and sorely tempt many people (even Christians) (especially  Christians? 🙂 ) to jump headfirst into the fray to the extent that they spend more of their (God-given) time and thoughts and emotions and even money on politics than they do on God, on the Lord, on the Bible and other things pertaining to Him and His Kingdom.

Autumn has also always been the most romantic time of the year in my view, a sense surely shared by many, who will undoubtedly soon find themselves in a new (or current) relationship which constantly competes with the Lord for “first place” in their hearts and minds and, therefore, time and money.

My humble yet super-strong encouragement to you, and God’s to us in 1 John 5:21, is to NOT let that happen.  Not to avoid getting involved in the brand-new football season or politics or romance, but rather to avoid letting any of those – or anything else – take more of our time or money or emotions or affections or (especially) thoughts than what we give to the Lord.

I grew up in a, well, let’s just say financially-challenged (pastor’s) home (thankfully, the Lord has used those times of struggle in many, many great ways throughout my adult life, and besides, what we lacked in money, my parents more than made up for in love and affection and total acceptance and constant praise, which are far more important and valuable and fruitful to boot) so we were limited to just one main “family gift” each Christmas and the one when I was in 8th grade happened to be the hot, new, must-have (and thoroughly entertaining, potentially addictive) TV gaming system.  My siblings and I couldn’t wait – and definitely didn’t  wait – to start playing the handful of different games (cartridges) which came with the console.

And playing.  And playing.  And playing.

All through that night (we were one of those families that always opened our gifts on Christmas Eve, after the church service) and all Christmas Day, and all Christmas night  and into the morning of the 26th, we played those games.  And I can remember it now as though it were just yesterday, my dad’s walking into our family/TV room and lovingly telling us this word of wisdom:  referring to earthly possessions, he said, “Always control them, never let them  control you!”

He didn’t specify it but in effect he was telling us children what 1 John 5:21 tells everyone:  “guard yourselves from idols.”

I hope this will be a big blessing and help to you as this month of September and its various “seasons” kick off in earnest!

 

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