Are We Going to Surrender to Christ or the Culture?

If you watched Tucker Carlson’s interview last week with Kanye West, you heard a man who has become a Christian yet is still struggling with the lures of fame and fortune. Professing to be a believer in the liberal world of his music and fashion businesses is courageous but the atheists consider him “crazy” and a threat. He’s viciously pelted with criticism, lost his family, and is a target for the political left who find it offensive that a black man would wear a tee shirt proclaiming, “White Lives Matter.” The left will try to cancel and censor anyone who says, “All Lives Matter,” which they do to God and should to everyone. Both slogans are an affront to the BLM scam and how dare a black man be bold enough to point that out.

I’m not a fan of West or rapper music, but I do see a brother-in-Christ struggling to live in two worlds. The Bible tells us we must live logistically in the world, but we’re not to succumb to the world’s ways spiritually, ethically, or morally. (John 15:18-19; 17:14-15)

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Matt. 6:24 NLT

Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Ps. 119:36 NLT

I especially appreciated Jason Whitlock’s commentary right after Tucker’s interview. Whitlock is a born-again Jesus follower and always laces his comments on any topic from a Christian perspective. The next day, he wrote in his column in The Blaze, Kanye West remains dangerous, disgusting, and harmful to demonic leftists. “Kanye West is not as confusing as he often sounds. His outlook on life stems from a defined set of values spelled out in the Bible. His actions and words often conflict with his outlook . . . He produces an album titled “Jesus Is King” and then collaborates with Lil Nas X on the song and video “Industry Baby,” which depicts gay prison sex.”

“He’s normal. Every human being struggles to align their values and deeds. The difference between West and most human beings is the transparency of his failures . . . We’re in a battle of good vs. evil. Kanye is one of the good guys. He’s trying to be on the right side of God rather than the history left-wing atheists plan to write.”

It’s Not Easy Letting ‘Jesus Take the Wheel’ In Our Lives!

In the Tucker Carlson interview, West said he performs for an audience of One, God. I truly believe that is his sincere desire and goal, but like all of us, he often falls short by trying to remain relevant rather than reverent.

The popular adage, ‘Jesus take the wheel,’ originated with a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey, and Gordie Sampson recorded by Carrie Underwood. The ballad tells of a mother deep in thought about her difficult year while driving too fast on a snowy Christmas Eve when the car spins out on black ice. Unable to control the car, she throws her hands in the air and cries out for Jesus to take the wheel and help her and her baby in the backseat. When the car finally rests on the side of the rode, she ultimately realizes she needs to restore her faith and let Jesus take control of all her life.

The song Jesus Take the Wheel resonated with many who have tried to live their life on their own terms, often with devastating results. Maybe they had never given their heart to Jesus, or at one time knew the comfort of surrendering to Jesus then snatched back control to navigate life themselves. Traveling through life on our own terms will always end in a crash either emotionally, physically, or mentally, but always spiritually.

The true Christian life is one of constant submission of our ways to the Lord’s ways. It’s often a tug-of-war between letting Jesus take the wheel and wrestling it away from Him thinking we know better than He does what’s best for us. We know there can only be one person in the driver’s seat, but we’re not always willing to let that person be Jesus. We’re often backseat drivers trying to argue with Jesus or we push Him completely out of our life and take over the wheel on our terms.

The struggle for my husband during his two knee replacement surgery recoveries was letting me drive without repeatedly giving his opinion and directions from the passenger seat. We had many discussions that he had to relax and just let me drive. I was the only one who could safely get us to our destination. I needed his confidence, encouragement, and prayers. He literally had to surrender the wheel and trust me with his life.

 It’s just as hard for us to trust Jesus to safely get us to our destinations in life, as Kanye West and many others find when they’re not quite ready to surrender every area of life to Christ. Yet, that’s the only true place of peace and security in this world, regardless of what the world tells you.

How Do We Surrender to Christ in a Culture That Calls Us the Enemy?

Just like my husband continually struggled with giving up control to me every time we got in the car, giving up control to Jesus is a lifetime daily struggle. It doesn’t come easy and it’s not instant the moment we become Christians. Being a Christian and living by biblical principles is a continuous evolving process as our faith matures and we learn to trust that God wants the best for us, even when we can’t visibly see or even sense it and the culture is working against us.

Jesus knew our humanness would make it difficult to surrender our lives completely to Him when we couldn’t see Him visibly and faced opposition, so He made sure we had ways to communicate with Him in our Spirit.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Heb. 11:1 NLT

• Establishing a Daily Prayer Life is Essential

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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer. 29:11-13 [emphasis added]

Jeremiah 29:11-13 outlines exactly how to know what God’s plans are for us so we can trust that He’s looking out for our best interests when He’s at the wheel navigating us through a world that doesn’t want or understand Him as Savior or us as His followers. God says call on me, come and pray to me then you’ll find me. But He also adds that we must be sincerely searching for Him with all our heart, not holding anything back, even fortune, fame, and success as West is still learning.

A daily time with Jesus is essential to Christian life. That means setting everything aside like phones, computers, TV, and noise. Even getting away from people to a quiet place where you can commune with Jesus with no distractions so you can hear His answers to your prayers. I create a special Jesus spot in our home. I’m distracted easily, so I have my quiet time out on our deck in nice weather or in the winter, my prayer closet is the loft outside my office. I also love to talk with the Lord on a morning walk or even in the shower!

Maybe for you it means getting up earlier than the family or before you get ready for the day. Establish a place and time where you can be alone with your Lord and prayerfully ask Him questions and be still to listen while He answers.

• Studying the Bible

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

Jesus speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. It’s impossible to be a faithful Christian and not read your Bible. If we clocked the hours we spend browsing social media or the internet, we would probably be astounded and alarmed at how much time we devote to taking in the world’s words instead of the Lord’s Words.

Do we want the world or Jesus to take the wheel? We would probably say we want Jesus, but does our life reflect that answer? It will if we soak in His wisdom and guidance by reading His Love Letter and following His Road Map every day.

• Mentoring

 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. 2 Tim. 2:2 NLT

Sometimes we’re sidelined in our spiritual life by thinking we don’t need anyone else. We can handle everything life throws at us by ourselves. But we’re made for community. God said in the first Book in the Bible that it’s not good for man to be alone. (Gen. 2:18)

When we need help with our car or around the house, we seek expert advice or at least we should. We need to do the same with our spiritual life. We can’t go it alone and expect to grow and mature spiritually. We need to talk with others who have gone before us in the faith and have experienced life. A mentor with wisdom and spiritual maturity can guide and direct us and someday we can be a mentor to others.

Every Christian is in a continual process of learning and growing in the knowledge of Christ. But until that day we meet Him face-to-face, we who are further along in our walk with the Lord or have navigated a curvy and bumpy road through a life season, must be willing to intentionally share with others what we do know and what the Lord has done in our lives when we let Him take the wheel.

I sign my book Mentoring for All Seasons with ‘Be a mentor, find a mentor.’

Let Go and Let God!

We hear this saying often in sermons and read in blogs and articles and it seems so easy in theory, but we all know how difficult it is when life happens. We want to do something, anything, to feel like we’re making a difference. Do what we want to do. Yet, we stand in church on Sunday morning singing, “Jesus, I surrender all!”

It’s exhausting trying to always be in control. Jesus wants us to rest in the assurance that He has everything under control. God is our hope and promise. He is concerned about our daily needs, as well as our problems and the condition of our culture today. He sees the big picture and the road ahead and knows what’s best for us in our daily lives, but also how we can contribute to changing our culture. We need to rest in Him, obey Him, and seek His will daily. We need to give up our tight grip and let Jesus take the wheel.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matt. 11:28

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Phil. 3:20-21

In closing, I want to share with you three encouraging stories that show we the people can make a difference when we take a stand and pushback against the evil so prevalent in our culture today. They all have hyperlinks. I hope you’ll read the full articles.

Story #1 A state refuses to abide by evil federal mandates, even under the threat of losing federal funding. Attorney General of Alabama, Steve Marshall writes, Biden administration demands Alabama embrace genderless schools or else, but we aren’t giving in. Alabama’s federal funding could be stripped away by Biden administration over trans bathroom demands. I encourage you to read and pray for their success in this legal battle between good and evil for the protection of our children.

Here’s a quote. “Undeterred by repeated losses, the Biden administration’s war on red states and our “Neanderthal thinking” rages on. This month, my colleagues and I are fighting Biden and his comrades at the United States Department of Agriculture in court to protect the right of states to run their public schools as they see fit. This time, the fight isn’t over curriculum or masking — it’s whether states still possess the paltry authority to require boys to use the boys’ bathroom at school. The United States Constitution leaves no doubt as to the states’ broad authority over their own public schools, but the Biden administration supposes that everything — even schoolchildren — has a price. 

The Biden administration’s actions seeking to impose the left’s gender identity agenda on schoolchildren are illegal and unconstitutional. But even if they were not, and federal funding was at risk, the duty of state leaders is not to dollars. We are meant to serve the interests of the people of our states — and the people of Alabama have clearly spoken, through their elected representatives, that they do not wish for sexual politics to be thrust on their children by the far-left in Washington. While I hope to preserve every penny of federal funding being threatened by this administration, Alabama’s sovereignty is not for sale.“

Story #2 Parents and communities take a stand for a Christian biology teacher who refused to succumb to evil mandates, even at the threat of losing his job!

Pennsylvania biology teacher suspended for refusing to follow pronoun policy, reinstated after backlash. Last month, Virginia parents and teachers sued their school district over its mandatory pronoun policy. Pennsylvania teacher Daren Cusato of the South Side Area School District was suspended last week after he reportedly told school officials that he would not follow a new district mandate requiring teachers address students by their preferred pronouns, because it violated his religious beliefs. A Pittsburgh-area school district reversed course after receiving backlash from the community and students for suspending the high school biology and anatomy teacher who refused to comply with the school’s preferred pronoun policy. 

Story #3 BREAKING: Oklahoma Gov. Just Signed Bill And It’s BLOWING UP

Governor Kevin Stitt signed SB 3XX which blocks funding to prevent gender transition services for minors at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital at OU Health. The bill went into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature.

Pray for the boldness and courage of more Governors to protect the children of their state from this child abuse and mutilation.

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I apologize last week’s blog had a glitch getting to everyone on Monday. I had to resend it on Tuesday and some may have received it twice! Praying everything works this week correctly. There will NOT be a blog Monday October 17, but I’ll be back God willing October 24.