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Creativity

How do you see the world?

As we move beyond the mid-point of this year, we anticipate what is to come early next year. If you haven’t heard yet, the Apple Vision Pro is set to hit the market in 2024. As the iPhone reoriented our lives in and after the year 2007, the Apple Vision Pro will revolutionize our lives even more. The way we view the world and even each other will never be the same.

Of course, the starting price of $3499 will be too high to begin with for most people to afford. However, as the years go by and the price drops at the same time the tech increases, you will see more and more people wearing these virtual reality devices that wrap around one’s head.

In reality, it will be the best of both worlds. The headset will combine virtual reality, augmented reality, and real-world reality all into one. It could totally change the way we compute. Rather than sit at a desk, you can strap this headset on and begin “spatial computing” anywhere. The device may not so much replace our phones as much as replace our monitors.

One will be able to “navigate simply by using their eyes, hands, and voice.” Going to the theaters will continue to be a thing of the past as you will be able to create your own theatre experience, wherever you are. The lens will be a “3D formed laminated glass” screen that acts as an optical camera for its camera and sensors to view the world.

There is a lens already out there, however, that we can view the world through that is even more dynamic and revolutionary. It too changes the way we see the world and each other. It allows us to see our life story through His story. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m talking about the Bible.

God’s Word is a light unto our path and lamp unto our feet. It tells us the way we should go and what we should do. We may not be able to spatially compute with the Bible but we can physically and intellectually compute what it is God wants us to do with our lives on this earth.

The Apple Vision Pro will allow people to connect in ways not imagined before. God’s Word does the same thing. Through his Word, we are able to connect with fellow believers across the world. It is through His Word that we can all feast and fellowship at the same table.

The Vision Pro “will seamlessly blend digital content with our physical space.” When you live out the Bible’s teachings, you’re bringing God’s light into a dark world. You’re flavoring it with something that is both needed and new.

Let’s put on our biblical headsets and go out and change the world!

Categories
Parenting Teaching

The Next Revolution

What Is Artificial Intelligence And Future Scope | Chitkara University

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is set to bring about the next great revolution in Culture. We all remember how the iPhone changed the world in 2007. AI will do much the same, if not more, very soon.

We are already seeing more robots being built that can respond to and interact with human voice command. For the time being, don’t worry, robots are not going to replace humans. The more likely scenario however is that humans and robots will increasingly work side-by-side.

We’ve already heard how chatbots like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard will change our lives . . . And they will. However, AI technology still has a ways to go when it comes to applying itself to specific domains. Yes, industries will be turned upside-down, but not yet. This is because AI has a lot more to learn about itself. In other words, though AI is a reality now, its pervasiveness  across all sectors might not be felt for another decade.

In ten years, we will look back and see how much AI has come to age. By then, specific fields will have been integrated with a developed AI, so much so that perhaps they will be unrecognizable. This won’t be true of all fields, but every niche will be impacted to a certain degree.

AI will not be without its inherent dangers and opportunities. There will be a learning curve for us all. We may not like these changes, but they have arrived. As with any new technology, parents/teachers will need to set boundaries of appropriate use for their kids/students. For example, it will be easy for a child to do a book report if all they have to do is ask their chatbot to come up with one. Instead, kids should be trained to do the hard work of reading a book and writing a report for themselves.

If we allow machines to do all the thinking for us, will we not fail to be human? Some will say, “The world has changed. Why should kids have to do work like this anymore?” I understand that sentiment, but I would say, “Because they’re human.”

We’re thinking things but we’ve also been made with the capacity to feel, touch, say, and do. Yes, robots can take over our jobs. But the question we need to think long and hard about is “Should they?” We need to answer this question before its everlasting too late. Because my fear is that if we don’t, there won’t be any turning back.

Categories
Parenting

Let’s Play ???

Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence attend a Gay Pride event in Paris in June 2021.

Last week was very enlightening. North Face showed its face. Target was targeted. And the LA Dodgers got as far away from baseball as the organization could get. Along with Bud Light, much of the controversy around these corporations relate to their affiliation with drag queens, the trans-movement, and satanism.

It is the satanism that some of these organizations are promoting that I would like to address in this post. Last week was kind of a watershed moment in that now, corporations are taking their satanism and throwing it “in your face.”

The Dodgers invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), a trans and queer nun group out to its ballpark to honor the group in “Pride Month.” Of course, the Catholics took offense because they have real nuns. Apparently the meaning of “nun” is being redefined today. With the rise of religious nones, I’m not sure how many people are even paying attention.

Then Target’s clothing partner company Abprallen produced an apparel collection to celebrate pride month which had satanic and occult images and themes attached to them. The owner of Abprallen is openly satanic. There are member(s) of the SPI that attend the Church of Satan. The point  is this: Satanism is in our face now.

Things like these are really nothing new. They’ve been happening all along. Just a casual observance on any form of media and you can walk away feeling something isn’t right. What these events do however, is put feet to the fire. You’re not just feeling something hellish is happening. Now, you’re seeing it with your own eyes.

Today is Memorial Day. Traditionally, this has been a day where the ideals of faith, family, and values were upheld. Of course, the Day was originally created to honor those in the Armed Services who died to give us the freedoms we enjoy. Because of their sacrifice, all churches and corporations currently have the freedom to promote that which they choose.

I’m just one who thinks it would be best if baseball teams stuck to playing baseball, if soft drink companies stuck to selling soft drinks. During Covid, many a corporation showed their true colors. Woke companies decided to politicize their products. For example, one couldn’t down a Coke without wondering if it was “socially just” to do so.

Here’s the bottom line: What we have today is not a black and white issue. It’s not even what we humans, left to ourselves, would classify as “right vs. wrong”. This is because left to ourselves, we humans often misdefine that which is right and wrong. Only God’s Word, the Bible, can rightly define that which is right and wrong. No, what we have today is a battle of “Good versus Evil”.

Underneath much of what surfaces as wokeism, socialism, marxism, totalitarianism, and many other ism’s is satanism. The SPI is an organization that holds annual Easter events which mock the crucifixion of Christ. They’re openly anti-Christian and they’re not the type of nuns you want your children hanging around.

After some backlash, the Dodgers decided to cancel their invitation to the SPI. But, you know what they decided to do next? That’s right — after a few days, they rescinded and re-invited the SPI.

According to the LA Times, “The Los Angeles Sisters say they’ve accepted the apology from Dodgers leadership over the decision Wednesday to dump them from Pride Night under pressure from conservative Catholic groups. The Sisters said they will indeed be honored with the Community Hero Award they originally were to receive.”

This is the world our next generation of Christ-followers is growing up in. It’s not a playground. It’s a battleground. And it’s only going to get worse. What’s in our face now will one day be . . . well, I won’t go there . . . We need to do something now and that something is to stand up, pray, and to raise our children in a godly way where they can understand the culture that is around them and how to navigate it in a way that honors Jesus.

Categories
Jesus

Great vs great

NOTE: My title above should really be “Great vs. great.” However, my current theme will not allow lowercase letters in the title. Below is my post:

There has been a lot of recent talk about revivals and spiritual awakenings. Revivals are for the church! They wake up sleeping saints and get us back to doing what we should have been doing all along. Spiritual awakenings are for the community. Cities change, cultures are impacted, and wide-scale repentance is involved. Though church members and others can get saved in a revival, spiritual awakenings are what occur when large segments of society find new life.

Revivals lead to spiritual awakenings. Until the church is revived, spiritual awakenings in communities cannot occur. Though both revivals and awakenings come from God, I think more often, God is waiting on us for them to get started. When we, His people, apply 2 Chronicles 7:14 to our lives and to our church, we will begin to see God move.

Historians and scholars differ as to how many Great Awakenings the United States of America has had. The First and the Second Great Awakening are undisputed. What some term as the Third and Fourth Great Awakenings are questionable. It is the “Fourth Great Awakening” that is the talk of the town today. The Jesus Revolution movie captured well “The Jesus Movement” that occurred in and around the year 1970. 

I, for one, don’t believe there has been a Third and Fourth Great Awakening. I believe the Jesus Movement was a spiritual awakening that had a great impact. God used the Movement to no doubt affect a nation and save many souls. Through the Movement, God also ushered in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and the acceptance of casual dress into the church house. Today, CCM is a mixed bag and casual dress is more often the rule than the exception. For decades now, not wearing one’s Sunday best has become the accepted practice in many churches. However you feel about these things, the reviews on the Jesus Movement itself remains mixed. 

For this reason, I do not classify the Jesus Movement as a Great Awakening. I am thankful for the Jesus Movement and readily admit that the Movement has affected me even though I didn’t live through it. I think so well of the Jesus Movement that I believe it may well contain the seeds that could sprout a Third Great Awakening in our nation.

I choose not to use the word “Great” lightly. Our country has seen two World Wars. These were “Great” Wars, and not “Great” in terms of having to have been fought. No war is great because in every war, people die. But in terms of sheer impact and comparison to other wars our nation has fought, WW I and WWII were Great. 

Many other wars have been fought since these 2 World War’s. The impact of those wars were great too, with a lowercase “g”. The First and Second Great Awakening were Great. Could it be that the Third Great Awakening comes at or around the same time as World War III? 

None of us know. God himself determines when and where a Great Awakening will occur. But like war, it’s usually a chain of events that sets things off. When it comes to a Great Awakening, only prayer will begin to set things ablaze. 

In order for a Third Great Awakening to occur, the church must first be revived and then spiritual awakenings must be observed in multiple regions on multiple fronts for a lengthy period of time. When a Third Great Awakening happens, there won’t be any question about it. The reviews won’t be mixed. Everyone will agree and who knows, at that time, the angels may be in the sky.

The Church is a sleeping giant that has slumbered for far too long. What are we waiting on? Let’s humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our evil ways. Both God and the world are waiting on us . . .

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Articles

Who Was Asbury?

Revival starts with prayer. Someone somewhere was asking God to start a revival within the next generation long before students at Asbury University in Wilmore, KY decided to stay and praise God after a regularly scheduled chapel meeting. It’s interesting that about the same amount of people who frequented the campus during the two week revival–50,000 people–was about the same amount of people who died in a horrible earthquake in Northern Syria and Southern Turkey around the same time. As Jesus would say, the people in Kentucky weren’t any better than the people in Syria or Turkey–“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Read Luke 13:1-5). “See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).”

It’s not that revival isn’t for all ages. It’s that in the history of revivals and spiritual awakenings, God has often used the young to spark the flame. I think there is something some people are missing in this latest revival and bringing this out in the open is the reason for this post. Who was Francis Asbury, anyways? In his book Revival And Revivalism, Church historian Iain Murray says this,

“By 1778, with one exception, every Methodist preacher who had been sent across the Atlantic had returned to England. The exception was Francis Asbury who had arrived in 1771. For nearly half a century Asbury’s calm leadership in the work of evangelistic itinerary and church organization did more than any other figure to establish Methodism in North America. The opinion of Abel Stevens on Asbury is perhaps overstated but it bears repetition: ‘Neither Wesley nor Whitefield labored as energetically as this obscure man. He exceeded them in the extent of his annual travels, the frequency of his sermons, and the hardships of his daily life.’ . . . unlike the Church of England, Methodism was inherently a spiritual movement.”

Could it be that God is still honoring this man and this movement amidst a university that has yet to bend the knee to its culture? If you’ve been keeping up at all with the Methodist church in America lately, you know there has been quite a divide amongst the churches over cultural issues such as LGBTQ+, etc. Read on,

In his book about “Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundations of Faith,” Pastor Robert J. Morgan writes,

“The Cane Ridge Revival was started by Presbyterian Barton Stone, but its combustion fired up the Methodists, whose circuit riders tackled the frontier—Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and points beyond. Two names top the list of those riders, and they were as different as lightning and thunder. Bishop Francis Asbury was lightning. John Wesley appointed him to oversee the Methodist work in America, and for nearly half a century Asbury traveled three hundred thousand miles by horse and carriage, preaching more than sixteen thousand sermons. He began his work in America in 1771, at age twenty-two, and he became part of the Second Great Awakening . . . When Francis Asbury arrived in America, there were fewer than six hundred Methodists in the country. By the time he died, the number had grown to two hundred thousand. But the middle of the 1800’s, one in every thirty-six Americans was Methodist.”

This post isn’t about putting in a plug for the Methodist church. It’s about recognizing a man who was aflame for God! God could use any man from any denomination if he so chose. He also could use a donkey and he has before (Numbers 22:21-39). Oh, that we would have more Asbury’s—itinerant evangelists—willing to travel this world over to save men’s and women’s souls from an everlasting hell.

The current Asbury revival touched many denominations and people around the world. As the revival spread to local colleges and universities, it’s interesting to note the circuitous path. The revival went to regions that Asbury himself would have been well familiar with. He traveled those same roads, albeit by horse. The current revival made its circuit primarily through the form of social media and word of mouth.

The thing I loved about this revival was how the school’s administrators handled it. In a school of only two thousand students, the campus itself didn’t have the infrastructure or capacity to sustain a large number of outsiders coming to campus. It got to a point where administrators would only allow those 26 and younger into chapel for the services. They emphasized the next generation because the next generation is our heritage (Psalm 127:3). We all need revival but church statistics will tell you our nation sorely needs a revival within the next generation. This revival gives The Church and America hope! God is not finished with our nation or the next generation! Let’s not give up on them or our country so soon. Jesus doesn’t, Asbury wouldn’t, and neither should we.

Our ultimate hope is in Christ! America isn’t going to last forever. Neither will this generation. The Bible tells us so. However, our attitude needs to be like the apostle Paul’s, “I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.” Now, we don’t save people. Jesus does. But if we don’t get on our horse and go, who is going to get saved? Asbury knew this and that’s why he rode like the dickens. Paul knew it too and that’s why he made three missionary journeys (kind of looks like a circle to me).

I’ve heard it said that the gospel is a movement to be advanced and the church is an institution to be maintained. We could quibble some over the statement but there is some truth in it. Maybe it would be better stated that we need a gospel movement today in our institutional churches. What God has done before, God can do again! This wasn’t the first revival Asbury University had experienced. They had also experienced a revival around the time of the Jesus Movement in 1970. We could use another revolution today. We need churches willing to accept those who are different from them and give them time to explore the faith. This doesn’t mean we allow, for ex., the LGBTQ+ community to become members in our church. It does, however mean that we invite their community in and make them feel welcome. And if you want to go the extra mile, pick them up and bring them with you.

Our nation has changed and is changing. A Jesus Revolution will look different in the USA than it did in the 1970’s. In the 70’s, hippies by the scores were being saved by Jesus and allowed in his church. Sinners come in all different shapes and sizes. If we can’t be hospitable to sinners in the form that they come in today, why should we expect God to save anybody? Our job is simple. GO! Preach and live out the gospel regardless of the person standing in front of you. And don’t forget to pray. God will take care of the rest. If you need an evangelistic tool to help you along the way, give The 3 Circles a try.

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Articles

Letter To A Christian Student

I don’t believe I have ever used an entire post on my blog to address students. After all, most people who read this blog are either leaders, parents, or educators of the next generation. However, I feel that time has come. If you happen to be a ministry leader, parent, or Christian educator, don’t stop reading now. You may just find some material for your next lesson, lecture, or sit-down.

Dear Christian Student,

You are living in unprecedented times. Culture in the form of media, technology, and even education teach you sex education and gender ideology from kindergarten on. You are taught through social media and public school that gender is fluid, not connected to biological sex, and that you can choose to be whatever you feel like being. Many of you lost your childhood when you were given computers and or smartphones and saw things on them you should never have seen. Covid and subsequent government mandates that followed have only helped to delay your holistic growth and development. You feel like you are behind in home, school, and church because you are. You have been discriminated against in society at-large and are continuing to be discriminated against today.

Yet, know this—there is hope! Though you may feel like you are the least of the least, God says that with him, you’re the best of the best!

In Judges chapter 6, the Midianites are oppressing Israel when God chooses to raise up an unlikely hero:

14The LORD turned to him [Gideon] and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15″But Lord , “Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

You may feel just like Gideon: How could God use me? I am only a youth. I am weak and puny. This sounds like the excuse the prophet Jeremiah came up with when God first told him he had been appointed as a prophet unto the nations:

6 “Ah, Sovereign Lord ,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord . –Jeremiah 1

You need to understand that God often chooses the most unlikely to pull off God-sized feats. In 1 Corinthians 1, we find these words penned by the apostle Paul who himself claimed to be timid in action and ineloquent in speech:

26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

You may feel like God doesn’t want to use you or that God can’t use your generation, but oh contraire! As the story of Gideon continues in Judges 7, you will find God raising up an army for Gideon to lead into battle. However, God isn’t looking for a large number in this army, but rather a faithful few. Left to our flesh and human reasoning, God’s wisdom doesn’t make any sense. First, God allows 22,000 soldiers to take off. They were afraid to fight and God allowed them to leave. Then in verse 4, God says, “There are still too many men.” So Gideon follows God’s further instructions and the army is reduced from 10,000 down to 300. Verse 2 tells us why God chose to use only 300 Israelites to defeat 135,000 Midianites: “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her.”

God chooses to uses the least, the weakest, the inferior so that through less, he can gain more glory. A big God deserves glory for himself! May we not boast in our strength, but only in Christ’s. We are saved through the strength his grace provides and not our own (Ephesians 2:8).

You may look around and see less people in your generation following the Lord. You are no doubt experiencing more peer pressure to conform to the world’s standards than the generations that came before you. But again, what you need to understand is that God often chooses to do more with less. His thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). Throughout the history of revivals and great awakenings, God has often used the young to spark the fires.

Just like the Hall of Faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, I don’t have time to mention all of the examples in the Bible where God used ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary feats. Goliath looked down on David when he was a youth but you know the end of that story. Paul told young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. The suffering and persecution you and your generation of Christ-followers have endured today has only served to make you stronger in the Lord. Though there may be less of you out there, your fortitude and resilience has increased.

In the words of the band Unspoken: “Keep fighting the good fight, Keep letting your light shine, ‘Cause I’m never gonna leave you
Always gonna see you through to the other side”

Run the race God has for you and never look back!

In Christ,

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Articles

Get off of yourself

If you take a selfie, what do you see?

Have you ever thought about how self-oriented our society is?

I’m not a huge fan of using the self-prefix because it often leans towards revealing our selfishness. For example, it is said you can self-teach yourself by turning to self-help in order to self-discover how you can become a self-made man or woman with a good self-image and high self-esteem. In this way, you will be a self-confident, self-sufficient, and self-reliant person who is self-aware, self-disciplined, and under self-control. Your self-actualization and self-realization along with your self-centered self-beliefs will give you self-assurance and not self-doubt. It is this type of self-reflection and self-interest that will allow you to become self-serving and not self-righteous, self-employed and not self-indulgent. You know, just believe in yourself always being sure In your self because if you’re true to yourself and you do you, then you can have your best life now … you only live once … if it’s true for yourself, it must be true.

There’s only one problem with all this mumbo jumbo. Can you guess what it is? You’re right if you said its your self. Most of today’s postmodern and new age philosophy is laced with subjective opinion over objective fact. And you guessed it – its philosophical “truths” begin and end with the self. The problem with the self is itself is not God. Left alone by itself, the self can have a form of godless denying the power thereof (2 Tim 3:5). This is why many new agers claim to be divine gods themselves.

But what did Jesus, who actually was God, say? Jesus said for one to truly find oneself, he or she must lose himself or herself for the sake of Christ (Mat 10:39). Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Luke 9:23).” If you lose your self for Christ by repenting of your sin and turning to follow Christ, Christ will save you from yourself. The self comes off the throne of your heart and Christ comes to sit up on it. The world’s wisdom is antithetical to the wisdom of God. True, God’s wisdom makes no sense to the world because Christ and the cross are considered folly, but to those whom would believe, their life — their self — will be made anew (1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 5:17). In fact, in heaven, they will be given a new name (Rev 2:17). I don’t claim to understand all these mysteries, but I do believe what the Word of God says is true. Losing yourself for Christ begins and ends with believing what God says is true about yourself and not what you say. Without Christ, we’re all aimless wanderers left to wonder what this life is all about. The good news is there is hope and his name is Jesus.

I don’t mean to bash all self-hyphenated words. We need a next generation who is self-motivated and self-driven. We need self-initiators: If something needs done, don’t ask for permission, go do it. We need self-feeders: Listen to the sermon podcast or watch the worship service livestream in your down-time, write or read that next great Christian novel, and keep praying, fasting, and reading your Bible app devotions. We need self-starters: Set some goals for yourself and start out to meet them. You can set spiritual goals, physical goals, financial goals, emotional goals, academic goals, etc.

Our culture and society is highly individualistic. I think that is why these self-words are so pervasive in pop-psychology and pop-culture. After all, if you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps to become that self-made man or woman you’ve always wanted to be, don’t you deserve some credit for that?

Because you’ve been made in the image of God, perhaps you do deserve some. But the truth is without God, you wouldn’t even be here. And knowing that fact, I would say ultimately, you deserve none. God is our Creator and Sustainer. Without him, we can do nothing. What I hope for is that for some reading this post, he will become more than the One who made you and keeps you alive. He can become your Lord and Savior! Repent of your sin and yourself today and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Your works won’t save you, only His work on the cross.

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Articles

A Blog about the heartland

This post will comprise my insights on an amalgamation of current events in our culture that have recently occurred and are about to happen:

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you are familiar with the Uvalde, TX school shooting and other recent shootings that have followed thereafter. As I watched the press conference on FOX News to this historic shooting in our nation, I read a headline that said “Man had evil in his heart.” The only thing I could think as I read that headline was “Duh”. But as I thought about the headline more, a lot of thoughts began to surface. I liked how the headline pointed out that this shooting was the cause of an individual and not the cause of a gun. After all, people pull triggers, not guns. But what I didn’t like about the headline is the fact that every man has evil in his heart (Romans 1:18 – 3:20). This biblical doctrine is known as the total depravity of man. None of us is good, not one (Romans 3:9). Obviously, there are degrees to evil for the average person doesn’t leave his home and go out on a mass murdering rampage. However, to act like the shooter is the only one to have evil in his heart or that we are by our nature, better that the shooter is a gross misunderstanding of Scripture. Scripture is quite clear that God alone is good (Mark 10:18). We have all sinned is some way, shape, or form and need forgiveness from a Savior named Jesus who never has.

A few weeks ago, the movie Top Gun: Maverick came out! I have never waited so long for a movie to come out. The main reason I had to wait so long was due to the interruption caused by Covid-19. The original release date was July 12, 2019. Thus all in all, with previews included, I must have waited nearly four years or more for this one movie. I must say the movie was worth the wait! I watched it on IMAX and there wasn’t a dull moment. If F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets can’t get your heart racing and your motor running, I don’t know what can. For many, the movie was a return to the good ole’ movies of the 1980’s. People enjoyed the patriotism exhibitied in the movie as well as the non-wokeness. It is still possible to see a movie that isn’t politically motivated—Thank you Tom Cruise!

However, with the celebration of July 4 around the corner, I do need to point out a warning. Patriotism is a great thing, but as James K.A. Smith has often noted, patriotism can easily slip into a cultural liturgy of its own whereby we end up worshipping our own nation more than we do the God of the nations. In the movie, the F/A-18 pilots on mission must maintain contact with their air traffic control tower so that communications can remain intact and directions can be followed. Perhaps you remember the original Top Gun where the F-16 pilot requested a tower fly-by, was denied, and then directly disobeyed orders, resulting in the commander spilling coffee on himself inside the tower. This was a humorous scene in the movie but acts of disobedience in real-life can often prove disastrous. Actions have consequences, but all actions begin in the heart. This is why Jesus equated murder to hate and adultery to lust (Matthew 5:21-30). The heart is our air traffic control tower. In it, we have the choice to obey God or disobey him. The heart is much more than an internal organ. Rather, the heart comprises all that we are as persons. It includes our mind, will, emotions, and more. Thus, I think it fair for me to say out of my heart that the shooter in Uvalde, TX did not obey God when he acted on his impulse to murder innocent children and that his act was unpatriotic to the core.

We have lots to thank God for this July 4! I still believe the USA is the most blessed nation on earth. However, our hearts remain rotten until we submit them unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Even then, we have much to root out (Romans 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:5). Moving toward Christ-likeness is a never-ending journey this side of heaven and is what I call discipleship. The capacity to accept the Savior and to follow him is what makes life worth the living. Over the centuries, there have been a great number of Americans who have taken up their cross and this is what has truly made America great! I am grateful for soldiers who have sacrificed their life so that I have may have freedom but I am even more grateful for a Savior that has sacrificed his life so that I might have forgiveness. If memory serves me correct, I once came across a coin that said “Stand for the flag” on one side and “Kneel for the cross” on the other. Is this what your heart is telling you?

How will you be celebrating the Fourth this year? America at its heart contains many good things. I’ll be celebrating with family and friends and by watching a baseball game with fireworks to follow. This brings to mind a quote from another famous movie: “They’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.” – Terrence Mann in Field of Dreams. If I have time this Fourth, I might even eat some ice cream and apple pie!

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Untold Billions

If you read my last post, some of you may be left with wondering questions. Rather than delve into what is happening at the top levels of Christian leadership in Christian churches, schools, denominations, and institutions, let me summarize these cultural battles as a battle where the sufficiency of Scripture is being fought over. In my own denomination, a fight for the inerrancy of Scripture began taking place a little over forty years ago. This is not where the fight is today. The point of this post and my last post is not to say that these cultural battles are unimportant, but rather to say that the things we are fighting over are secondary to getting the gospel out to the nations.

Cultural restoration is often emphasized as part of the gospel today. “Social” justice is often included in these new definitions of the gospel. I think this adding to the gospel is where many go wrong. People who have been transformed by Jesus and his gospel do in a sense bring about restoration in culture. But, (1) Gospel transformation in one’s life must come first and (2) The culture, though restored in a sense, will never be fully restored or redeemed through a Christian’s best efforts because culture, like Christians, continue to exist in a fallen state. I am not saying here that Christians aren’t saved or that their cultural restoration efforts don’t matter. I’m simply saying the best Christian still sins and our best efforts in restoring culture on earth today continue to leave an imperfect culture. Full restoration for Christians and culture will not come about until the end of this present age when God, in his infinite wisdom and timing, decides to create (or renew) a new heaven and earth and therein give Christians their new resurrected bodies. Then and only then will there be no more crying, dying, or pain.

Until then, obeying the Great Commission is to be the priority of all Christians. We are to be proclaiming the gospel or “good news” of Jesus Christ with our lips and we are to be promoting this same gospel with our lives. At a recent gospel conference, Pastor David Platt ended his platform time by saying to all brothers and sisters in Christ, “We can fight hell for the good of the nations or we can fight each other while the nations go to hell.” Right on! We can continue fighting each others over cultural issues or we can get busy obeying the Great Commission. We do need to face our culture and stand up for truth but we don’t have time to face and fight each other while untold billions go to hell.

Sources vary but the number of people unreached is somewhere in the 2-4 billion range.

It has been said that the central mission in the Great Commission is international missions. A quick survey of the life of Paul and his missionary journeys is enough to justify this statement. Paul was always running about to spread the gospel in regions of the world where the gospel had not been preached. In other words, Paul was all about reaching the unreached. The Joshua Project reports these figures about unreached people groups:

“So how many of the approximately 17,400 ethnic people groups are considered unreached i.e. less than 2% Christ-follower and less than 5% Professing Christian? The latest estimates suggest that approximately 7,400 people groups are considered unreached. That means over 40% of the world’s people groups have no indigenous community of believing Christians able to evangelize the rest of their people group. Over 42% of the world’s population live in these over 7,400 people groups.”

Excuse me! With about half of the world’s population living in unreached territory, wouldn’t a Christian be better served to do everything they can to reach these people with the gospel vs. doing everything they can to win an argument. If your focused on reaching the unreached and might I add reaching the unsaved in our own country, you won’t have time to tweet damaging remarks about other Christian leaders. This is what I meant about putting your mouse down and picking your cross up. Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and go reach “the unreachables” for Jesus.

The Joshua Project goes on to report via International Mission Board statistics that “there is possibly over 3000 ethnic people groups that are not only unreached, but also completely unengaged meaning there is no known active on-site church planting effort underway and few, if any, known believers . . . To say that a people group is unengaged means there are definitely no missionaries, in all likelihood no outreach, no church or fellowship of believers, no Christian materials, and few if any Bibles in these people groups.”

If you are a leader of the next generation, don’t dodge questions about cultural issues. Answer the questions the best you can based off what the Word of God says. The Scriptures are sufficient and contained within are all that is needed for life and godliness in this age! But more than that, make sure you are taking the next generation on mission. For college students, this definitely means taking them around the world. Middle and High school students may or may not have that privilege, but you can definitely take them across country or at least out of state. And children can do all kinds of local missions at home!

This is no time to sit back or to criticize other ministries. Get busy going after the billions and I don’t mean money.

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Don’t qualify if you’re qualified

Just Say No!

As I look into the future, I don’t like what I see. I don’t claim to be a prophet, but common sense tells me Christians are becoming angrier with one another. Whether its Christian schools, churches, or denominations, alliances are being formed and lines are being drawn. Divisions are occurring on a scale the likes I could have never imagined happening in my lifetime. Many students, teachers, and church members won’t understand my critique because what is happening now is happening within the upper echelons of Christian leadership, namely that of pastors, administrators, and presidents.

In an age of social media and the blogosphere, Christian leader after Christian leader are calling out other Christian leaders for things tweeted, written, said, or recorded which they believe are unbiblical. Unfortunately, much of what is reported is a line or two that have been completely taken out of context. Wouldn’t it be better if this type of behavior took place behind closed doors and in a face-to-face meeting? What benefit does it serve to drag the world into circumstances and situations they could care less about? We Christian leaders have not been responsible in the use of platforms given to us on social media and we need to repent. We have not led the way when it comes to showing the world how to love one another on social media and sometimes not even in-person. How can we expect God to send us revival and a spiritual awakening if there is no unity among us at the top? Do we not believe our irreverence will not soon seep down to those under us?

No doubt, we live in challenging times. Totalitarianism is creeping upon us and we have to confront cultural issues such as CRT/I, transgenderism, and women pastors. But how we do this should be of the upmost importance. Here’s the thing: We Christian leaders are not perfect, we live in the same fallen world that you do, and we make many mistakes along the way. This is all the more reason that we ask you that grace be given and forgiveness be offered. The times are complicated and many times we leaders rush to make statements that we just as soon rush to retract.

When we preach or teach, we need to speak to cultural issues only when the Bible speaks to cultural issues. In other words, I am not going out of my way to address “Progressive” Christianity, “Gay” Christianity, or “social” justice unless the passage I am preaching or teaching on somehow relates to these issues. There is a time and a place to address these topics. Blogging and in-person conversations are not a bad place to start, if done correctly. That being the case, let me say that we don’t need to qualify many of the cultural issues we are encountering. We don’t need “social” justice. We need justice. We don’t need “Gay” Christianity or “Progressive” Christianity. We need Christianity. We don’t need critical race theory. We need to critically address the theory. It is a theory, not fact.

I feel all of the above items are worth mentioning, but what concerns me the most is our abdication of the gospel. The gospel is to be our first priority. In capitulating to culture, the gospel gets lost. Sure, you may still preach the gospel, teach the gospel, and share the gospel, but your people are not dumb. They know when you spend more time fighting cultural battles than you do fighting for the gospel. They know when you spend more time defending yourself than you do defending the gospel. Some of the things you do are good, but are they the best?

As we leaders fight one another, the world looks at us and says, “Why should I become a Christian?” As we leaders fight one another, the next generation says, “I think I’ll stay out of church.” As we leaders fight one another, more and more leaders from our own ranks leave us. And might I add that many of these leaders are good leaders. For the sake of the gospel, I say this to every Christian leader: Put down your mouse and pick up your cross.