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What Is Your Easter Looking Like This Year?

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As Easter approaches each year, our family has the usual conversations about who’s going to host the brunch or dinner and what church service we’ll attend. Who’s up for sunrise service and who wants to sleep in later? You probably have similar discussions.

Our Easter will look different then in the past since hubby is having spinal fusion surgery four days before and might even still be in the hospital on Easter. If not, he’ll be in recovery mode and I’ll be in caretaker mode, but it doesn’t matter where we are or what’s happening in our life physically on Easter because spiritually Jesus is with us everywhere we go. We can worship and celebrate Him anywhere, anytime.

It’s easy to become preoccupied with our traditions: performances, cantatas, pageants, new clothes, family gatherings, decorating the house, egg hunts, and Easter baskets. All good things. Soon one of the holiest days of the year is over. We probably went to church, said a prayer before meals, maybe even read some Bible passages about the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.

But did we take time to praise God for the painful sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and consider how it changed our life? Last week, I wrote a very important blog The Bible Is Offensive to Those Who Tolerate Sin. In the article, and when I posted it on social media, I asked how many of your pastors even talk about sin, which is the whole reason Jesus went to the horrific Cross. Only two people responded that their pastor speaks about sin boldly and courageously. That was disappointing and disheartening to me that so many pastors may say Jesus wants us to turn from our sins but never define sin.  They may venture into talking about salvation this Easter but never mention what we’re saved from.

A Holy Spirit inspired pastor knows exactly how to speak the Gospel truth, especially on Easter when many worldly sinners who need to hear the truth will be attending to appease family members or out of tradition. It might be their only opportunity to be convicted and convinced that living a godly life forgiven of their sins is superior to living a carnal sinful life.

Easter commemorates the foundation of our Christian faith. The Gospel! The Good News! Without Easter, there would be no hope. Easter is the reason we have forgiveness for our sins and the assurance of eternal life. As the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians:

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Many pastors might read the above passage this Easter while glossing right over the definition of sin. Many people listening might consider themselves “good people,” but never consider that they’re living the sins delineated in Galatians 5:18-21, which would be a great transition for pastors.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Gal. 5:18-21 NLT

Congregants and guests need to hear that when we ask Jesus into our heart and receive the merciful forgiveness of our sins that nailed Him to the cross, we experience a spiritual rebirth. Hallelujah! Then, as we grow in our faith, we need a daily empty-tomb reawakening, not just annually at Easter.

Jesus lives within the heart of every Christian and He wants us to live as if we believe it!

The life of Bible-believing Holy Spirit filled Christians is one of evolving renewal! It’s not once and done when we become a Christian.

We continually cast off old patterns of sinful thinking and behavior as we transition into a richer more fulfilling faith.

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. Colossians 3:8-10

5 Ways to Experience Spiritual Renewal This Easter

1. Renew Your Mind

What we let enter into our mind—positive or negative—controls our emotions, actions, and beliefs. What is bothering you right now? What is seeping into your psyche that keeps you up at night or troubles you during the day? Can you identify it? The news. Politics. Television. Social media. Stock market. Family crises or dysfunction.

Whatever is stressing you, try a mental fast! Free your mind from everything that furrows your brow. You may never want to let those things have dominion over your thoughts again. Admittedly, it could be your job. You can’t just walk away, but maybe you could initiate a plan to find another job more suitable for you. God will guide if you let Him.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Personal Renewal: God wants us to rid our mind of worldly ways and saturate our mind with His wisdom. Proverbs is God’s Book of Wisdom, so try reading a proverb every day and write it on an index card. When your thoughts begin to drift to things of this world, recite the day’s proverb. If you’re ambitious, read an entire chapter in Proverbs daily and in thirty-one days you’ll have read the entire Book of Proverbs. When you finish, start back at Proverbs 1:1. You can never be too wise!

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.—Proverbs 18:15

2. Renew Your Heart

God created us uniquely with our mind, heart, and spirit intertwined. A renewal of one, affects the other two. A mind change touches our heart and our spirit nudges us to act according to our mind and heart. If our heart fills with compassion for a situation, our mind follows suit and again our spirit reminds us of how God wants us to act.

We are to have the mind of Christ and what breaks His heart should break our heart too.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Personal Renewal: Who could you invite to Easter services? Maybe you’ve asked them to join you at church before and they’ve declined or it’s someone you’re sure would say no. Perhaps your heart has become a bit hardened toward their spiritual future. Ask God for the courage to ask them anyway. This could be the Easter their life changes forever.

If they say no, then commit to pray for them to say yes to God someday soon. We never know when Jesus will come for His people.

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

3. Renew Your Commitments

A commitment is a sacred vow, a promise, to honor your word. Commitment often involves a sacrifice of putting others’ needs before your own needs, even when it’s inconvenient or painful.

Our Christian faith hinges on a commitment we make to Christ to follow Him and adhere to His Word, whether easy or difficult. At Easter, we remember the ultimate cost Christ paid on the cross to fulfill His commitment to save a lost world. Now he expects us to honor our commitments to Him and to others.

Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved. Ecclesiastes 5:6 NLT

Practical Renewal: Have you committed to something you wish you hadn’t? We’ve all been there. Learn from it and pray next time before you make a decision; but this time, follow through on your commitment. Backing out of a promise damages the credibility of your Christian witness.

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37

4. Renew Your Testimony

There is no greater witness to God’s goodness than sharing what He has done in your life. No one can question your testimony because it’s your personal experience. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) isn’t just for disciples and pastors; it’s for every follower and believer of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be an evangelist to share your story.

As we mature and evolve spiritually, we retell our testimony to benefit others. You and I are Christians today because twelve disciples obediently followed Jesus’ command to tell the world the Good News. They shared their personal gospel experience with anyone who would listen and with many who didn’t listen.

When we become Christians, our charge is to tell the world why we love Jesus!

Your story becomes your testimony when the focus is on God, not on you. This would be a great Easter verse for a pastor to gently discuss sin and how grace sets us free.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3-7

Personal Renewal: When you give God the glory for something in your life, you testify to God’s goodness. Your salvation testimony shares your life before Jesus. How He changed your heart and spiritually, maybe literally, saved your life.

God has given you a story to share, so seize every opportunity to tell it. Sometimes God redeems your testimony by surrounding you with people who need to hear your past so it doesn’t become their future.

Who needs to hear this Easter what Christ has done for you?

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12

5. Renew Your Soul

Easter is springtime in our souls! God is calling His people into a closer relationship with Him so that we can share Jesus with others who need more of Him in their life . . . or don’t yet know Him. The world is full of unsaved people stumbling in spiritual darkness. God calls every Christian to help those lost in darkness to find their way to the redeeming Light.

When Jesus spoke . . . he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

We need to refresh, renew, and refuel our body, mind, and soul so the illuminating joy of Christ radiates from us!

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

Personal Renewal: Let the songs you sing on Easter, and the messages you hear, revive your spirit and speak directly to your soul. Bask in the glow that Jesus is alive!

If you’re ready to arise and be God’s messenger, start praying now for those divine appointments where God will use you in a hurting and lonely world.

I pray this Easter season finds you refreshed and renewed in your relationship with Christ and the purpose He has given each of us to keep the memory of Easter alive and vibrant, every day in our hearts, speech, and actions. Let us never forget:

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

Please leave a comment here.

April 14, 2025
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The Bible Is Offensive to Those Who Tolerate Sin

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Have you ever been in church and felt like the pastor was talking just to you? You wonder how he knew what you were going through or what sin you were wrestling with in your life. Probably he didn’t know, but God knew. He breathed out the words of the Bible to guide, counsel, encourage, scold, convict, and offer help to those who hear or read it. Hopefully, your pastor was preaching accurately from a passage that spoke to your situation.

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:15-17

The Bible wasn’t written to condone our actions, but to teach us right from wrong and how to lead a holy and righteous life. Since we were all born with a propensity to sin, only the Holy Spirit living in our hearts can help us overcome sin and choose God’s good in our life. Many people are good, but God wants redeemed people, not just good people. I’ll say it again, without God, you can’t be or do good as God defines good. That statement might offend some of you right now so let’s look at what the Bible says.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph. 2:8-9

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8

Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. Rom. 5:7-9

So you may be wondering if I’m saying that anyone who hasn’t accepted Jesus and received the Holy Spirit will lead a sin-filled life? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying and that’s going to be offensive to every nonbeliever. Without God, there’s no plumb line of God’s expectations for His people and their spiritual alignment with His Word. That’s why it’s so important when you read the Bible to know the context and whether it’s directed to the believer or unbeliever.

So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. 7 So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Heb. 4:5-7 NLT

The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. 16 But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth. Ps. 34:15-16

Pastors’ Challenge

Today, many pastors acquiesce to the secular culture’s demands to be “inclusive.” In an attempt to not be offensive, they avoid preaching on biblical sin. The Bible calls that a false teacher. A pastor’s godly commission is to counter cultures’ lies with biblical truth. The righteous pastor tells the truth in love. If he doesn’t share the truth, he isn’t loving his congregation.

A pastor who avoids boldly covering the hard offensive places in the Bible is looking for the congregation’s affirmation not God’s confirmation. You can’t teach the Bible without offending someone. The Bible is clear on what is sinful and why we should strive to not sin. Believers don’t expect our sinful choices to be excused or legalized but instead confessed and forgiven. Unbelievers who might be in the congregation need to hear that Good News and believers need to live by it.

God is not “inclusive.” He’s actually very exclusive. All are welcome to spend eternal life with Him and His Son Jesus Christ, but there’s a qualifier. Only those who believe Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose again three days later, as we will celebrate on Easter, and confess their sins, ask for forgiveness, and turn from their wicked ways will be saved.  (John 3:16)

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NLT

 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 6:23

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. Rom. 3:23-25 NLT

The entire concept of salvation is confessing and repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The word “sin” is used 1,364 times in the NIV Bible translation, but when’s the last time you heard a pastor preach about sin, even though forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith? Think about it. Paul understood the importance of us recognizing our sins.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Gal. 5:18-21 NLT

 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. . . Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. . . 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Rom. 1: 24-27, 29-30

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, 10 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 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. 1 Tim. 1:9-11 NLT

Jesus talked about sin.

He [Jesus] went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23 NLT

Satan is using the secular left to legalize and champion sinful lifestyles and intimidate and silence the church on the one thing Satan uses to destroy God’s civilization—sin. I grew up going to church and I knew from a very young age what was sinful versus what was pleasing to God. In my backsliding days, while I might’ve been resentful of anyone calling out my sin, I knew I was breaking God’s heart because in my heart I knew I was sinning. How many people are sitting in woke churches today living under the lie that if culture says it’s okay and my pastor doesn’t call it wrong, it can’t be all that bad.

Have you heard a message in your church lately on why abortion, the murder of unborn babies, is sinful and wrong? Pastors often don’t teach on the sin of abortion because it might offend someone, so they skip over the Old Testament sacrificing of children to Baal and Moloch. Today, babies are burned or dismembered before they’re even born. With 1 out of 5 pregnancies ending in abortion, there probably will be a family touched by abortion in the congregation, but what if that pastor had been speaking all along about the sanctity of life and why God wants every baby He creates to receive the gift of life. Pastors could be saving babies’ lives. And for those women suffering with the guilt of killing their own child, the pastor could help them find comfort and forgiveness from Jesus. When pastors are afraid to touch that sinful painful subject, babies keep dying and women keep suffering.

Or has your pastor approached the subject in a sermon of why men should not be competing in women’s sports because no man can ever be a woman? Has he talked about what the Bible says about homosexuality, perverse sexual lifestyles, and exposing young children in school to this sin? No, you say. Well, why not? The Bible has a ton to say about it and because pastors don’t discuss it, the number of children experimenting with the rainbow mafia has skyrocketed. Children believe the devil’s lie that they can change their sex surgically or medically, when girls’ genetic XX chromosomes and boys’ XY chromosomes will NEVER change. These children will become patients for life instead of receiving help from Bible-believing pastors, psychologists, and counselors.

Or what about the mutilation and sterilization of children. Has your pastor talked about the deception of parents allowing young children to make such life altering permanent changes to their body that will NEVER change their God-given sex? Someone is probably dealing with this right now in your church.

God’s church can’t and shouldn’t avoid difficult issues. It’s a sin!

I know it sounds like I’m putting the onus for much of the culture’s woes on the church and actually that’s exactly what I’m doing. No one should leave a church sermon with a warm fuzzy feeling that nothing needs to change in their life. That’s a milk toast church. Pastors should be teaching what the Bible says about evil and sin. While it might be offensive to some, God’s Word is the ONLY way to eternal life with Him.

 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Heb. 5:12-14

Many people wrongfully think that politics and spirituality should stay separate and that’s a lie straight from the enemy. Politics has invaded the church by normalizing or even legalizing what we all know is sin. Gay marriage. Abortion. Sexual perversion. Child mutilation. The war against women.

No one is perfect. We see many pastors falling in their personal lives. They’re tempted by sin like any of us. Maybe if they were studying the Scriptures and preaching accurately about overcoming sin, they too would be convicted to live by all of God’s Word. Pastor Jack Hibbs advises pastors, “You don’t avoid the difficult Scriptures, you look for Jesus in them!” The Apostle Paul gave a commission to every pastor.
 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know. 28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. Acts 20:27-28 NLT

The Lord appears to every believer through His Word, the Holy Bible, and unbelievers can meet Jesus there. Don’t rely on your pastor; rely on your Savior.  You might be offended by what you read, but God loves you enough to tell you the Truth.

This morning in church, we heard a message on 1 Samuel 3 and we sang in church the old hymn “It Is Well With My Soul.” I’m closing with 1 Samuel 3:21 and a stanza from the song.

The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. 1 Sam. 3:21

“My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

Please let us know if your pastor helps your church family in overcoming the sins of this world, even when it’s offensive. Leave a reply here.

April 7, 2025
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‘Maybe’ Is Not In God’s Vocabulary!

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I was praying last week with the Jack Hibbs LIFT daily morning prayer, which I’ve mentioned in blogs before, when he said something that caught my attention. He said you won’t find “maybe” used in the Bible. Actually, it’s in there but only three times, and never used by God or Jesus. Twice ‘maybe’ is used as a taunt to deny that God exists in 1 Kings 18:27 and Jonah 1:6, and another time in 1 Kings 18:5 by Ahab saying maybe they can find grass for the horses and mules. That’s it!

So think about that. God is never indecisive, wondering if maybe we should do one thing or another. His Word, the Bible, is always specific, confident, instructive, definitive, and direct. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:15-17

We’re the ones that interject maybes into the Scriptures and question the intent of what God is actually saying. Sometimes we want to give the benefit of the doubt or question His intent, but God says I tell you the Truth and you should absolutely follow it in your life. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

You might question that many people interpret the Bible differently. That’s true. The Bible might speak to each of us differently in our individual situation. But if we rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance in exegesis of Scripture in context, and not on what we want the Bible to mean, Christians will usually agree on the interpretation.

A good example of misinterpreting Scripture is people saying that God is the God of love, so you need to love everything everyone does because God loves them. That’s what someone wants the Bible to mean, not what God actually says.

If you counter and ask, “Where does God say, ‘maybe’ it’s okay to sin in this area because I love you?” Of course, they can’t find anywhere it says this because God hates sin. Sin destroys the ones He loves. What God does say is that He loves us all so much, He sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross for those of us who ask for forgiveness for our sins, repent, and become followers of Jesus for eternity. (John 3:16)

When you look at all the red-letter words of Jesus in the Gospels, you won’t find Jesus ever using “maybe.” His words when he preached and taught are full of unqualified, unambiguous, unquestionable, and unwavering wisdom, lessons, and truth to live by.

Jesus didn’t say ‘maybe’ He was the only way to heaven and there could be other beliefs or ways. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 No maybes.

Jesus didn’t say ‘maybe’ if you follow me, you might be saved. He said you will be saved. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” (John. 10:9)

Jesus didn’t say you should ‘maybe’ repent and turn from your wicked ways. He said you must repent to be His follower. “I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” Luke 5:32

Jesus didn’t say ‘maybe’ that one sin will be okay because overall you’re a good person. He said go and sin no more. Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:11

We’re the ones that try to soften the Gospel and Jesus’ own words by interjecting doubt or suggesting that ‘maybe’ Jesus didn’t really mean what He said.

Sadly, many pastors today want to make their congregations feel good about their sinful lives, insinuating that maybe it’s not all that bad if it makes you happy or it’s not hurting anyone. That’s a false gospel by a false teacher.

God is much more concerned with our holiness than our happiness.

Maybe In Our Vocabulary!

‘Maybe’ is noncommittal, non-decisive, and reluctant. Maybe we’ll come to your party. Maybe I’ll read the Bible. Maybe I’ll follow most of what the Bible says. Maybe we’ll go to church this weekend. Maybe we’ll come visit.

The Christian life is committed, decisive, and never reluctant. The antithesis of ‘maybe.’

God is looking for bold Christians who are fully committed and fully decisive in their spiritual and personal life. No maybes about it!

Our family rule at the Thompsons is let your yes be yes, and your no be no. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37 

‘Maybe’ and ‘try’ are ways to keep all your options open without making a full commitment. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Or other times you don’t want to tell the person no, so you use ‘try’ or ‘maybe’. When I hear those two words, it means the person isn’t reliable. They’re not being forthright. I can’t count on them.

 When you ask someone about anything that has a yes or no answer and they answer with “Maybe,” or “I’ll try,” they most likely mean no. They’re just afraid to give the honest answer, “No.”

If someone says for example, “I’ll try to be on time.” I’ll counter with “That doesn’t sound very committed. Are you going to be on time or should I not expect you?” I want an answer I can depend on, knowing that circumstances can change but they’re going to make an effort. Just tell me yes or tell me no, but don’t say try or maybe.

A favorite stall of some is I need to check my calendar, but since most people today have a calendar on their phone, that’s pretty easy to check. I would prefer to hear, “We won’t be able to make it, but thanks for thinking of us.” Then they can always call later if their plans change and that’s always pleasant news.

There are certain situations where we want to pray before committing. That’s often advisable. In fact, many of us can think of a time we wish we had taken time to pray before saying yes. If that’s the case, then give a timeframe where the other person can expect you to respond. Stick to that time commitment.

Do you think that’s too strict or not flexible enough? Well, God is strict in His commands to us knowing that if we follow them with commitment, perseverance, and diligence, we’re going to be a better witness to others and live a fuller life in Christ.

How many of us who are married would’ve answered, “I’ll try” or “Maybe” when the pastor asked if we would love, honor, and cherish our spouse? If we want the ceremony to continue and the marriage to last, we say, “Yes” loudly, boldly, and committed.

Sometimes we say “maybe” because we’re really not sure what we want. It can mean numerous things, from “I’m not sure I want to do this,” to “I want to do that, but I’m not sure if I can” to “this doesn’t sound like how I want to spend my time” to any number of combinations that make us unsure.

Many times, kids that have lived with divorce and are trying to please both parents find themselves saying maybe or I’ll try because they don’t want to hurt either parent by saying no. Or even worse say “I’ll try” or “maybe” to both parents knowing they can’t be at both places. They live with that worry and angst hanging over them because eventually one of the parents is going to be disappointed when they don’t show up. It would’ve been better to tell one parent no but let’s make other plans to get together. That’s a hard lesson to learn.

If we can learn to say no when it’s not a sure yes, there’s clarity for everyone and actually much less stressful.

Like me, most people are looking for truth they can depend on. If we want to be good witnesses for Christ, we need to be the kind of people others can depend on to live by our words. Sometimes, we’re so uncomfortable saying no, we think we need to give long explanations to justify our reasons. That can lead to lying or making up a story. Not necessary. Not godly. Leviticus 19:11 commands “Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.”

When you know your maybe really means no, you’re essentially lying to the other person. That’s why “maybe” and “try” are not in God’s vocabulary, but “yes” and “no” are. God never vacillates in the way He wants us to live. He sets boundaries and guidelines for us. We need to go and do likewise.

Freedom isn’t the ability to say maybe. It’s the ability to say no or yes and own it.

Please leave a comment here.

March 24, 2025
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5 Ways To Avoid Condoning Sin!

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God hates sin and we should too! He sent his One and only Son, Jesus Christ, to a bloody cross to offer believers forgiveness for their inevitable sins not for a free pass to keep on sinning. Yet today, we see sin glorified, accepted, legitimatized, and even legalized in our culture and sadly, few churches or Christians are horrified by this affront on God or willing to speak out against it. Do you think that might be overstated or not true? How many pastors today are teaching about what the Bible says about condoning sin? Or even what is sin. Some churches and Christians have let the culture normalize sin and have adapted to it themselves.

What Does it Mean to Condone Sin?

Condoning sin means accepting sin. God doesn’t want Christians condoning sin as it leads to pain, destruction, and separation from Him.

The dictionary defines ‘condone’ as to regard or treat something bad or blameworthy as acceptable, forgivable, or harmless. Condoning sin means you accept, allow, and yes approve of that sin in your life and in the lives of others.

 Sin is condoned in today’s culture. Many rationalize allowing sin to invade their own lives and the lives of others. Sins like murdering children through abortion, same-sex marriage, living together, gay or trans lifestyle . . . lying. A government that no longer respects God or His principles legalizes the mutilation, indoctrination, and sexual grooming of young children.

Some Christians are even afraid of speaking out against sin for fear of being called names or accused of “judging.” Recognizing sin for what it is–going against God and the Bible–is what Jesus, Peter, the disciples, and Paul spent their life doing to help people repent from a sinful life. We don’t say they were “judging.” We understand that they were trying to open peoples’ eyes to the truth that sin kills, and repentance saves. Yes, they all suffered for speaking out against sin, but many lives were saved because of their dedication to love people enough to help them change and turn from their wicked ways.

Yes, none are perfect and we all sin in our humanness, but our goal as Christians is to become aware of our sins, ask forgiveness, and as Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Jesus wasn’t judging her when He pointed out every sin she had ever done; He was offering her living water, which was Himself.

Paul wasn’t judging all the churches he wrote to when he pointed out their sins. He loved them enough to say the life you’re leading now is wrong and you must repent. Paul, Peter, the disciples, and Jesus never condoned sin and we as Jesus’ followers shouldn’t either! We take a stand for righteous living ourselves and encourage others to do the same. Their very life both here and in eternity could depend on it.

We don’t condemn, but we never condone sin regardless of how many sinful laws are passed! Christians remain steadfast to the truth in the Bible.

What Does the Bible Say about Condoning Sin?

There will always be sin in the world because Satan is the author of sin and as long as he’s allowed to roam around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, his intent is to entice with sin that opposes God’s ways. That’s exactly what sin is, going against God. You can profess to be a Christian, but if you’re willfully choosing to sin, you’re controlled by Satan not God. Sometimes we can’t see it in our own life, and we need other believers to gently, lovingly, and compassionately use Scripture to point out to us where we’ve slipped into Satan’s grip and bring us back into the fold.

Someone who had been previously married once asked me to condone her having sex with her boyfriend since neither of them were virgins anymore what did it matter? It mattered because God’s Word says sex is between a husband and wife. Again, like Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, the man you’re living with now is not your husband. That’s a sin.

Others want justification to live together for financial reasons. God can’t bless something He condemns for any reasons. Parents want to condone gay or transgender lifestyle because their children have fallen into that sinful trap, but it’s still heartbreaking sin.

The entire Bible addresses not living in or condoning sin but repelling it. Here are a few refresher verses, but there are so many more.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Pr. 6:16-19

Do you ever feel like God isn’t hearing your prayers? Could it be you’re condoning sin in your own life, the culture, or someone near you?

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Is. 59:2

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 6:23

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Acts 3:19-20

26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Heb. 10:26-27

The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; 6 you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. Ps. 5:5-6

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1 John 3:6

But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 1 John 3:8-9 NLT

Following is where God through Paul clearly spells out His definition of sin and God’s response. God’s wrath against sinful humanity that we see tolerated today is reflected in these verses. Read them carefully.

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Rom. 1:18-32

5 Ways We Can Avoid Condoning Sin

1. Pray for God to Give Us Wisdom to Confront Sin

Many use Matt. 7:1 as an excuse not to confront sin in others because they consider it judging and God will be the final judge. It’s true that God will be the final judge, but we are His hands and feet on earth helping spare others of the final judgement of eternity in hell. We don’t judge by comparing them to ourselves or thinking less of them. We love them enough to want to see them repent, be saved, and live a life pleasing to God.

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:1-2

2. It’s Biblical to Confront a Fellow Believer Who Is Sinning.

When we see a fellow Christian sinning, maybe cheating on their spouse or at work, using drugs, swearing, mistreating their family, sleeping around, we’re called on to lovingly confront them, pray with them, and encourage them to repent.

15 “If your brother or sister[a] sins,[b] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ Matt. 18:15-16

3. We Can’t Condone Sin in the Life of Our Family, Friends, or Self.

In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, I shared that my daughter always felt loved, but I never condoned her living with her boyfriend. I didn’t treat them as a couple. Just because it’s our child who’s choosing a sinful lifestyle, it’s still a sin and an affront to God. We compromise our own faith when we accept or condone wrong behavior . . . especially in our own life. I acknowledged my sins to God and my daughter and asked forgiveness for the times I’d sinned while raising her.

We always extend unconditional love, but never bend in our beliefs. We pray for our family and friends like their life depended on it, because it does.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Eph. 4:15

4. Take Action!

It’s easier to look the other way and not get involved, but as we watch sin legalized, even codified, in our country, how can we as concerned Christian citizens condone sin? We must speak out against it. Vote against it. Support candidates who condemn legalizing sin.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Is. 5:20

5. Overcome Fear!

It can be uncomfortable to take action against sin because you’re taking a chance of being called all sorts of unpleasant names or rebuffed. But if you live so that everyone knows you’re a righteous follower of Christ, who cares what they call you? Our goal is to please an audience of One, Jesus Christ, not man.

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 1 Pet. 2:1 NLT

Staying Silent is Condoning Sin

With every law passed condoning sin, it not only affects us, but future generations. Avoiding the confrontation of sin isn’t the way of the Holy Spirit. When you encounter sin, you’ll be convicted to say or do something. God will give you the opportunity and the words. It’s up to us to humbly, but boldly, follow the Lord’s leading. He will put words in our mouth. Yes, God is a God of grace, but Paul puts it best.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Rom. 3:23-24

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death [to sin]? Rom. 6:1-3

Why am I talking about sin today? Because we’re watching blatant sin exposed and indulged everywhere and the world is in turmoil. All the signs are here that the rapture could be coming soon. As the opening picture depicts, people get ready, Jesus is coming! Keep looking up!

Please leave a comment here and I will reply.

There won’t be a blog for the next two weeks, but I’ll close out the month with my newsletter. If you don’t receive my monthly About His Work newsletter you can sign up for free here.

July 8, 2024
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The Truth About Grace

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Like many of you, I pray for the Lord to give me a word and verse He wants me to focus on to improve my spiritual witness and my walk in the New Year. At first, I chose ‘persistent’ for 2024, but my husband and friends quickly squelched that one reminding me that I already am a very persistent person in my faith and life. It must be a word where I need to improve.

As I prayed about my 2024 word, the Lord revealed that I needed a heavy dose of grace in my communication and actions. What I probably needed the most was patience, but we all know it’s not a good idea to pray for that or the Lord might give you an abundance of experiences requiring patience. However, patience is often required to exhibit grace.

The Scripture that best reflects my pursuit of grace is Colossians 4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

I probably would’ve made a good lawyer because I do have skills to win an argument or get my point across, but I may win the case and lose the relationship. I first became awakened to focusing on grace when our Couples Group did The Chosen Bible Study, which covers the Sermon on the Mount. Lesson 3 was on Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” In that week’s study, two Scripture passages hit home to me.

 1 Peter 5:5 ESV “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Eph. 2:4-7 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Then we came to Lesson 5, The Merciful and Their Mandate, with Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

We were reminded that the ability to reflect meekness, mercy, and thus grace, comes from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

So my 2024 word is ‘grace’ and the Scripture I will pray repeatedly is Colossians 4:6. But what about the Spirit of truth?

Balancing Grace and Truth

John 1:17 says, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  Not Grace or Truth. Not Grace versus Truth. Grace and Truth. Yes, they can occur simultaneously, but it takes work. Displaying both grace and truth is a delicate balance, and often, we err towards one side or the other.

Christians often err on the side of grace resulting in sin not only tolerated, accepted, and overlooked, but made lawful and legal. We know the commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” but abortion is still legal in many states and called a “woman’s choice.” The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin and marriage is between a man and a woman, but homosexual marriage is legal in America and called a lifestyle choice.

Sin has always been a choice, that’s why God sent His Son to earth to offer us mercy and grace. Not grace to keep on sinning . . . but grace to choose to turn from our wicked ways, seek forgiveness, and accept eternal life with Christ. An undeserved second chance to live a righteous life— the balance of grace and truth.

When faced with a sinful situation, many Christians fear sounding judgmental so their response is full of grace but evades the truth. This can appear to condone the sinful behavior. Or we’re so shocked or appalled at the sin we know God hates that we slam the person with biblical truth. Very few people are receptive to a condemning approach.

I tend to err on the side of wanting the truth told, but not always presenting it in a grace-filled manner. How do we not condemn, but not condone? How can we tell the truth, but still extend grace?

Truth or Grace?

“You’re late!” A greeting to the last arriving meeting members. Truth but no Grace.

“Where are you going to live?” A response to a Christian who announces she’s going to live with her boyfriend. Grace but no Truth.

“That dress looks terrible on you.” Truth but no Grace.

“It’s alright. No problem.” A reply to a friend backing out on an important commitment. Grace but no Truth.

“You’re going to hell if you keep up that behavior!” Truth but no Grace.

“Ok, I understand…” Said to the friend you babysat for numerous times, but when you ask to do a trade, she’s too busy. Grace but no Truth.

“Congratulations!” A gay couple tells you they are getting married. Grace but no Truth

Follow Jesus’ Example

Randy Alcorn wrote an excellent book, The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christ-like Balance. Randy points out that the early church drew thousands to Jesus by copying the only model they had at the time…Jesus Himself. Today, we often ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” Those people knew what Jesus would do. We could arrive at a number of adjectives describing the character of Christ that would let us know what He would do today, but Randy suggests all reduce to two character qualities…yes only two!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:1, 14.

Jesus was full of both grace and truth ALL the time. He had the perfect balance of justice and mercy. Not grace one time and truth another time. Everything He did and everything He said embodied both character qualities. Notice that grace comes first in the verse because it was a new concept to the early Christians. They knew about the truth of the law from the Old Testament, but the grace of forgiveness that Jesus brought was brand new to them. 

Even in Jesus’ day, with his example for them to emulate, some like the Pharisees still chose to rely only on truth, and we call them legalists. Jesus pointed out that the law could only reveal sin, but only the grace of Jesus Christ could remove it.

We want others to know Jesus by what they see in our life, but then we have to ask ourselves what do they see in us? Are we full of grace and truth? Does it seem like a paradox sometimes? It shouldn’t. Randy points out that grace without truth, or truth without grace, are like a bird without one wing.

Don’t Bait and Switch

Communicating with grace and truth is not telling someone something flattering, then zinging them with truth. That bait and switch approach is never effective. They feel manipulated and tricked. Have you ever had that happen where you wonder: Did they just compliment or chastise me? Telling the truth should never cause confusion. It needs to be clear and concise.

Grace also doesn’t mean sugarcoating. That’s not what Jesus did. The passage in John 4:7-26 with Jesus and the Samaritan woman is a pattern for displaying grace and truth. Notice Jesus didn’t compliment the woman, then slam her with the truth. He first asked her a question, “Will you give me a drink?” which was a display of grace since Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans. The remainder of the passage is an example of Jesus telling the truth with grace. He didn’t avoid the truth because it would embarrass or put her on the spot. He confronted her with the truth of her sin of living with a man that wasn’t her husband then mercifully offered her the grace of forgiveness and eternal life. And what was the result? The woman left her sinful life and became one of the first women evangelists (John 4:28-30).

What About You and Me?

We can check ourselves with Randy Alcorn’s “Two Point Checklist” to help determine if we are a grace and truth Christian.

1.  Are nonbelievers uncomfortable around you?

It could be you are erring on the side of legalistic truth. People were drawn to Christ, who was both grace and truth, but ran from the Pharisees who had only the ‘truth.’

2.  Do all nonbelievers like you?

A red flag you’re erring on the side of grace. The true spirit of grace is that you love enough to tell the biblical truth and share the Gospel.

 Truth without grace:            Destroys          Crushes

 Grace without truth:             Deceives          Cowardly

Grace and Truth together:    Draws              Christ

God’s truths are guardrails in life to prevent us from going over the cliff into the sinful abyss, not tools for beating us over the head. Truth is a lifeline, not a weapon. Truth can release someone from bondage or rescue him or her from certain death. When we choose to bypass truth and go straight to grace, it’s no longer grace. Offering someone grace without the truth—the guardrail that protects and sets us free to know the true grace of Jesus—is sending them over the cliff in a loving way.

A quote from Randy’s book: “Truth without grace breeds a self-righteous legalism that poisons the church and pushes the world away from Christ. Grace without truth breeds moral indifference and keeps people from seeing their need for Christ. Attempts to ‘soften’ the gospel by minimizing truth keep people from Jesus. Attempts to ‘toughen’ the gospel by minimizing grace keep people from Jesus. It’s not enough for us to offer grace or truth. We must offer both.”

This balance is something most of us will spend a lifetime trying to achieve and only Jesus was perfect at it, but the Holy Spirit will help us if we ask. Tricia McCary Rhodes writes in Taking Up Your Cross, “To be humble is to live always with poignant awareness of God’s extravagant grace poured out in exchange for our complete inadequacy.” Isn’t that the TRUTH!

“If we get it wrong about Jesus, it doesn’t matter what else we get right.” —Randy Alcorn

In the first week of the New Year, I’ve heard the Holy Spirit repeatedly nudging me to remember grace or reminding me I bypassed it! The Holy Spirit and I are going to do a lot of communicating this year!

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Ps. 86:15

How about you? Did you pick a word and Scripture to guide you through 2024? Please share it with me.

Leave your comment here and I will reply!

January 8, 2024
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What’s the Big Deal About “Merry Christmas”?

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Many of us grew up in a culture that embraced Christmas. We said “Merry Christmas” as a joyful greeting, decorated Christmas trees, made Christmas cookies, sent out Christmas cards, gave Christmas presents, watched Christmas specials, participated in Christmas programs, and sang Christmas carols, not just at church but at school too!

Then subtly and slyly, the way Satan works, the concept of Christmas became culturally and socially controversial, even taboo. Stores and advertisers started removing the word “Christmas,” replacing it with “Holidays.” Sales personnel instructed to say, “Happy Holidays,” if anything at all. School Christmas programs called winter programs; Christmas break became winter break. People sued for publicly displaying nativity scenes. And on and on.

What’s wrong with saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”? What are the “Holidays?” On New Year’s, do you say, “Happy Holidays” or “Happy New Year.” To our Jewish friends, do we say, “Happy Holidays” or “Happy Hanukah”? Do we send out holiday cards or Christmas cards? Do we buy holiday presents or Christmas presents? Do we put up a holiday tree or a Christmas tree?

A progressive liberal satanic culture has attempted to remove Christ from Christmas. But that’s impossible! There’s no reason to celebrate Christmas without the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Nonbelievers may celebrate Christmas for secular reasons, but Jesus is the only real reason for Christmas, which can’t be denied or erased.

Christmas is a Christian celebration! Without the birth of Christ, there would be no Christmas.

So why the controversy with saying “Merry Christmas”? It’s because the secular world doesn’t want to admit they’re participating in a Christian celebration, so they try to neutralize Christmas to accommodate their unbelief. Retailers commercialize Christmas to make money, so they don’t want to “offend” customers, even though those that eliminate Christmas in their advertising, offend every Christian, or at least it should.

Why Is Satan Trying to Steal Christmas?

There’s a satanic war on Christmas and you’d have to be naïve, manipulated, or deceived not to acknowledge it. Satanists were actually allowed to erect a satanic display next to the manger scene in the Iowa Capitol Building by falsely claiming they’re a “religion!” Satan is the antithesis of Jesus. Satan, the father of lies, sin, and evil who was cast out of heaven with a third of the angels, is the reason Jesus came to earth as a baby.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-2, 14

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21

But Satan, who even tried to tempt Jesus before He started His ministry, has not resigned himself to being subservient to Jesus. As long as Satan is allowed to roam the world tempting and deceiving humans and promoting evil, he’ll try to duplicate, imitate, or eradicate the worship of Jesus Christ, especially on Jesus’ birthday.

A group that calls itself the Satanic Temple of Iowa placed with state permission an altar on the first floor of the Iowa State Capitol that displays what are described as the “seven fundamental tenets” of Satanism, including the statement that “the freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend.”

Completing the display are the temple’s seal, electric candles and a caped figure representing the pagan idol Baphomet, holding a ribbon-bedecked pentangle and topped with a gilded ram’s head. They actually wanted to use a real ram’s head, but the Capitol did say that was going too far.

Rightfully so, outrage and demands for removal came swiftly. Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman said in the Dec. 8 edition of his Sherman Liberty Letter that the “disgusting display” should be removed immediately and called “for clarifying legislation to be adopted in accordance with our State Constitution that prohibits satanic displays in our Capitol building and on all state owned property.” He further proposed additional legislation to clear the way for displaying the Ten Commandments in all state buildings, including the Capitol, and in Iowa public schools.

In an article appropriately titled, “Sherman: Iowa Constitution endorses God, and Satan is his enemy,” Sherman points to the preamble to the Iowa Constitution, which says, “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF IOWA, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government, by the name of the State of Iowa.”

Sherman says the exhibit has drawn widespread “outrage and disgust” among Iowans, “but few people think there is much that can be legally done about it because of free speech and freedom of religion.” “However,” he adds, “I disagree.”

“According to these opening lines of our Constitution, the foundation for laws and continued blessing and success in Iowa is based on these points: 1. There is One Supreme God. 2. Blessings over this state come from the One Supreme God. 3. We must depend upon the One Supreme God if we want to enjoy continued blessings,” Sherman writes.

He continues, and I fully agree, it is “a tortured and twisted interpretation of law that affords Satan, who is universally understood to be the enemy of God, religious expression equal to God in an institution of government that depends upon God for continued blessings.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds released the following statement in response to the Satanic Temple display in the Iowa Capitol Building: “Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple’s display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable. In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the nativity scene that will be on display – the true reason for the season.” 

Lucien Greaves, spokesman and co-founder of the Satanic Temple, said it is always important for the group to seek equal representation in public forums that are open for “religious displays.” “People assume that we’re there to insult Christians and we’re not,” Greaves said. “And I would hope that even people who disagree with the symbolism behind our values, whether they know what those values (are) or not, would at least appreciate that it’s certainly a greater evil to allow the government to pick and choose between forms of religious expression.”

Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox interviewed a man from another state who felt led to go to the Iowa Capitol and behead the satanic statue. I was quite impressed the way Jesse pointed out the evil of this display and the spiritual warfare going on between Satanists and Christians during Christmas. I hope you’ll listen to this discussion here. It’s not long, and I was cheering for Jesse taking such a bold stand for good against evil. He also had on Lee Greenwood to talk about his new God Bless the USA Bible that contains the Constitution. (Amazon is NOT carrying this Bible!)

The discussion on Jesse Watters’ show pointed out that the worship of Satan is an evil cult, NOT a religion. Satanists have no constitutional right to invade the Iowa Capitol or any government facility with a display the exact opposite of Christmas. What stopped more Iowa legislatures from speaking out and banning the satanic display? Fear! One of Satan’s favorite tools to silence the truth! Sadly, it’s working in our government and even in our churches.

There’s a spiritual war against Christmas. There’s a war against the Christian faith. Too many Christians and churches are silent. This is our time to shout and sing about why a Savior was born on Christmas day. Not surrender to Satan and secularism!

Our current President is cowardly afraid to acknowledge Jesus as the Reason for the season. In Biden’s tree lighting comments, he never once mentioned Jesus and used “holiday” more than “Christmas.”

When President Trump wished the nation and the world a Merry Christmas in 2017 at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony, he noted that “the birth of Jesus Christ forever changed the course of human history.” Trump continued, “There is hardly an aspect of our lives today that His life has not touched: art, music, culture, law, and our respect for the sacred dignity of every person everywhere in the world.” (Listen to President Trump live and read more of his message at In Christmas Tree Lighting, President Trump recalls ‘the Birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.’)

I posted Trump’s Tree Lighting message on Facebook that year and was amazed at how controversial it became. Some Christians saying this was a political stunt by President Trump. Really? Christians don’t make up the majority of the electorate and sadly, many fail to vote! In today’s secular culture there were probably more offended than thanked God for his message. Trump was brave and bold and he stated the truth. Refreshing in DC and I would speculate it’s why he’s coming under such a satanic attack right now.

 Those worrying about “political correctness” and inclusiveness on a clearly Christian federal “holiday” are the ones pulling the political satanic stunts. Tragically, it’s working.

That’s why Christians find themselves fighting not only to keep Christ in Christmas, but also to hold on to our religious freedoms.

What’s Our Role as Christians at Christmas?

With one week to go, here are some ideas:

  • Remind the world that every time they write 2023, or soon 2024, they acknowledge the birth of Jesus.
  • When someone tells you “Happy Holidays,” kindly and lovingly respond with “Merry Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.”
  • Have a Birthday Party for Jesus and invite your neighbors and friends, especially nonbelievers. (I wrote a blog on how to do this Celebrate CHRISTmas with a Birthday Party for Jesus)
  • Put a birthday bag under your Christmas tree and when someone asks whose birthday, joyfully answer, “It’s Jesus’ birthday.”
  • Greet everyone you meet, and in all your correspondence, with “Merry Christmas.”
  • Use every opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas and the story of Jesus’ birth.
  • Question schools and community efforts to remove the word Christmas and Christmas celebrations. We must not be silent. Voice your opinion. Be willing to take a bold stand for the Truth and for Jesus. Don’t let apathy or fear snuff out the light of Jesus.

When I asked my husband why Merry Christmas has become so controversial, he said, “Because the other side trying to eliminate a Christ-centered Christmas speaks louder than we do!”

Jesus was controversial when He walked the earth. They crucified Him for daring to say He was the Son of God who came to earth to save mankind from their sins. He told us that we too would not have it easy sharing our faith and the Gospel, but He also said whoever denies Him on earth, He will deny in Heaven.

32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. 34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:32-34 NLT)

One year, as a single working mom before I rededicated my life to the Lord, I was hurriedly trying to get out my Christmas cards. I signed all the cards “Merry Xmas.” Only one friend boldly admonished me in her Christmas card that I had left “Christ” out of Christmas. I still remember that. She was right.

Will you join me and other Christians in making sure the world remembers that Christmas has only One reason! We celebrate and give thanks for Jesus Christ coming to earth as a lowly baby to die on a cross and rise again three days later on Easter to offer eternal salvation to those who believe in Him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Merry Blessed CHRISTmas and Happy 2024 from the Thompsons

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

PS Since Christmas and New Years are on Mondays, there won’t be another Monday Morning Blog until January 8, 2024. But if you receive my monthly newsletter, I hope to get one out before the end of the year. You can sign up on my website if you don’t receive it already.

December 18, 2023
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Breaking Up Is Hard to Do!

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I’m sure you’ve broken up with someone in your lifetime. Maybe you found someone you liked better. Or maybe you learned the person wasn’t who you thought they were. Or maybe they were even talking bad about you behind your back. Or just maybe you discovered your values were at odds with theirs and you weren’t willing to compromise on your values and morals.

On different occasions in my life, I’ve broken up for each of those reasons. When we become Christians, the Bible tells us clearly to leave the old life and ways behind and choose to follow Christ in our relationships, words, actions, thoughts, time, and money. It might even mean breaking off a close relationship because that other person is tempting and luring you to return to wicked ways you’ve already asked God to forgive you for and you don’t want to regress. You want to live a new life in Christ.

 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor. 5:17 NLT

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Rom. 6:6

Occasionally, God points out that something or someone has become an idol in our life. God warns us to have no other gods or idols before Him. We may need to break up or break away from anything that becomes more important to us than God or change our perspective and outlook on whatever is getting more of our attention than God is.

“You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Ex. 20:3-4 NLT

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 1 Cor. 10:14

Breakups are painful. Hard to do. Sometimes freeing. Other times grieving. But often something you know you need to do to honor Jesus and your witness for Him. God may want us to use our breakup as a wakeup call to others. That’s the message I’d like to share in the remainder of this blog.

We’ve all seen the impact consumers can have when the woke agenda attempts to normalize sin and sinful behavior. Before anyone starts calling me names, I proudly identify as a Bible-believing Christian. My identity is in Christ alone. I’m not “homophobic,” I’m sinphobic! I think I coined a new word since spellcheck doesn’t like it. Webster’s Dictionary describes phobic as “having an intolerance or aversion,” and that’s exactly how I feel about sin. Anyone’s sin, including my own. But especially when the media, government, fringe groups, and even some pastors try to tell me I should be “tolerant” of sin, I’m gonna say a resounding, “No Way!”

Jesus was NEVER tolerant of sin. He spent time with sinners with the sole goal and purpose of helping them turn away from their sin and repent, not to celebrate, party, and revel in their sin or impose it on others. Jesus gave His life on the cross to free us from sin, not parade sin in the streets, teach it in schools, or ignore it in churches. He told the woman at the well living in sin with her boyfriend and the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” He went to Zacchaeus’ house and even to the Pharisees’ homes to share the truth with them in hopes some would be saved from their sinful, prideful lifestyle.

So that being said, here are a few breakups I’ve experienced with businesses who finance, support, encourage, and promote sin. Maybe you’ll want to break up with them too if you haven’t already. We can make a difference as we saw with what is now termed the “Bud Light” effect when the beer brand decided to make their mascot a lunatic and very sick man impersonating as a woman. Hubby and I don’t drink beer, but we cheered the effective reaction and response from the conservative population who support the way God created us as either a man or a woman and never the two shall exchange bodies!

Here’s Some of My Breakups and the Whys

#1 Breakup with Target-In 2004, the Target retail chain announced a new corporate policy that banned Salvation Army bell ringers and their collection kettles from Target storefronts. Next, they banned employees from saying “Merry Christmas.” Then slyly they stopped having separate areas for little boys’ and girls’ toys and bedding. Their woke agenda continued to get worse with a crescendo this year of placing obscene clothing in the front of their stores and next to the children’s section, even displaying alphabet mafia clothing for babies!!

That’s what happens when you take Christ out of Christmas; it’s a deep dive into hell. Needless, to say we broke up with Target many many years ago and have NEVER missed them!

#2 Breakup with Starbucks—My breakup with Starbucks was brought on by their huge financial support and endorsement of gay marriage. But that was only the beginning. They also support abortion, the alphabet sexual perversion, pronoun reassignment, gender mutilation and castration even of children, and the entire radical liberal agenda.

When we lived in California back in 2008, voters voted in Proposition 8, which “provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” It passed 52% to 48%, by a margin of about 600,000 votes. The Protect Marriage campaign supporting Proposition 8 constantly invoked the “far-reaching consequences” of legal gay marriage, particularly the implication that school curriculums would be required to teach that gay marriage is “the same as traditional marriage.”

Pollster David Fleischer, in his analysis of the election results, found that the greatest shift toward “Yes” among undecided voters was “among parents with children under 18 living at home—many of them white Democrats,” who feared the effects of legal gay marriage on their children’s public education. Evangelicals and Republicans formed the core of Proposition 8’s support. Sadly, the people’s will was overturned and gay marriage was legalized.

What these parents feared most has become our reality today. The Biden Administration labels parents who protest the sexual/pornographic indoctrination of their children as domestic terrorists. Many Evangelicals and Republicans today seem defeated and fear speaking out against the cultural demise.

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Starbucks announced it would reimburse travel expenses for employees who “need” abortions and cannot get them within 100 miles of their homes. They also provide insurance coverage for mislabeled “gender-affirming care,” which is actually gender annihilation, and cover travel expenses for employees who don’t have access to this horrible atrocity near their homes.

One article said, “Starbuck’s customers and workers tend to be more liberal.”

I’ve been laughed and scoffed at when I compare Starbuck’s logo signs with Asherah poles from the Old Testament. But after my breakup with Starbucks, that’s how I see them. Like an idol, the Starbuck’s logo sign used to magnetically draw me to pay an insane price for a calorie-ridden cup of coffee! Now I see that sign and pray for everyone still deceived into throwing money at a company whose values are the opposite of God’s.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. Judges 3:7 NLT

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21

#3 Breakup with Disney—I remember going to Disneyland as a child not long after it opened. I was so excited to take my daughter and then later her children to enjoy the “happiest place on earth!” Tragically, they’ve become the wokest place on earth with their corporate executives caught on video saying their goal is to include as much of the DEI and satanic agenda as possible by rewriting beloved children’s movies to depict gay, trans, morally sick people.

“Diversity” is a word you hear repeatedly along with “inclusive” and yet they now exclude conservatives, Christians, and godly values in all their movies and disgusting remakes of old favorites.

Diverse has become perverse!

#4 Breakup with Kohl’s—I was never much of a Kohl’s shopper, but like Target, they support the alphabet sexual agenda, especially during June.

#5 Breakup with Bed Bath and Beyond—I enjoyed this store because it didn’t matter how old the coupon, they would take it. Then they showed their true liberal loyalty by canceling Mike Lindell’s line of My Pillow because he was questioning the 2020 election. We stopped shopping at BB&B and threw away the coupons.

#6 Breakup with Maybelline— When they had a bearded man as a model for their makeup!

#7 Breakup with Fred Meyer/Kroger—Of all our breakups, this one is by far the hardest. We live in the mountains of Idaho over an hour away from major shopping. So, when we go down the hill to Boise, we appreciate one-stop shopping where we can get most of our needs from food to housewares, pharmacy and clothes. For twelve years, Fred Meyer was that store for us. We took advantage of their digital coupons, savings on gas, first Tuesday of the month and every Tuesday in December savings for seniors, and savings for Veterans on the 3rd Thursday of the month.

This is an extremely painful breakup for both of us. Here’s why we’re parting ways with our treasured Fred Meyer and all Kroger products, since Kroger merged with Fred Meyer. You may have a Kroger store with a different name than Fred Meyer.

The gay, trans, alphabet “pride parade” and “celebration” of their sinful and perverted way of life not only dominated the month of June in Boise, Idaho’s Capitol, but because of Covid last year, they moved their parade and festival to the second weekend in September. When I got home from our church Women’s Retreat that same weekend, my daughter told me what took place in Boise. First, she sent a picture of the Fred Meyer float with children on it, then the heartbreaking photo that Fred Meyer not only participated in the parade, they also actually put it on!

This year’s parade title was “The 2023 Fred Meyer Pride Parade.” The parade was at 9:30 Sunday morning, I imagine so Christians would be in church and not protesting this debauchery.

Mad and grieving, I dashed off two emails to Fred Meyer corporate. The only response was an automatic form email confirming they had received my “valued customer” comments. I don’t feel like a valued customer. I feel like a betrayed ex-customer!

#9 Breakup with Walmart, Albertsons, and Wells Fargo—We seldom shop at Walmart, but they were a sponsor of the Boise pride parade as was Wells Fargo where we had already closed my ministry account many years ago when they went liberal woke. I don’t shop at Albertsons, but they also had a float in the parade.

What Does a Breakup Accomplish?

When God told Abraham that He was going to destroy his nephew Lot’s town of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their horrible sin, Abraham asked God if He would spare it if there were 10 righteous men. God said He would. But the night before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed, two male angels came to Lot’s house and a group of despicable men surrounded the house demanding Lot send those men outside so they could have sex with them. Do you remember that? Sexual perverted sin has been going on since the beginning of time, but never in my lifetime was sin celebrated in the streets until now.

The picture opening this blog is not when Obama lit up the White House for the legalization of gay marriage. No, it’s the Boise Capitol during the September Fred Meyer pride event on Friday night September 8th and Saturday September 9th. Since it was illegal to have the lights on government property, they solicited donner money to set up lights across the street and shine them on our beautiful Capitol. That should’ve been illegal too!

My blood pressure is rising and tears flowing just writing about this. We must have more than 10 righteous people in Boise because God has allowed us to remain a red conservative state, but how long Lord will You wait for those righteous people to take a stand against this evil? People used to try to hide their sin, but the current culture wants to flaunt their sin and force people to accept and embrace it. Indoctrinate our children.

Gay marriage was only the beginning and would never be enough. When Satan gets a foothold, he never stops.

Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior? Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever? All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies. 3 You love evil more than good and lies more than truth. Ps. 52:1-3 NLT

I want you all to remember what the Bible says in Romans 1:24-28 NLT

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

You may think I’m being too extreme, but God is watching where we spend our money and what we’re supporting. We can’t tithe on Sunday, proudly give to missionaries, and then throw money at businesses whose values are the opposite of ours because it’s more convenient or we like the products. That goes for our investments too! We must be good stewards of what God gives us. He’s watching. He knows. Do we speak one thing and do another?

As a cohesive likeminded group, we can make a difference. Many of the companies I listed, and others, are either going bankrupt or losing billions of dollars from conservative consumer pushback. When a restaurant in Boise was having drag brunches, I wrote about it and even stood up in church and told the congregation what was happening at this Italian restaurant. That restaurant is now closed.

If you’re thinking these breakups are unloving, 1 Corinthians 13:6 reminds us, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” When we know the truth, we have no excuse for not living it. God will keep us accountable.

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Phil. 2:1-2 NLT

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments.

September 18, 2023
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4 Prayers for When You’re Hurting, Mad, or Sad!

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It’s hard listening to the lies, corruption, and political injustice coming out of Washington D.C. without feeling angry, betrayed, or maybe even hopeless about the fate of our beautiful country. We’re watching the destruction of moral values and biblical principles our country was founded on and that helped us flourish as the world leader now seemingly being destroyed by our Marxist tyrannical government. It reinforces how important Christian and Conservatives’ votes are because if we didn’t have a majority in Congress all the corruption and lies would’ve never been exposed.

If you’ve seen the movie Sound of Freedom, you know our country has the highest rate in the world of child trafficking with cartels controlling our borders. You feel sick, sad, mad, helpless, and depressed wondering as we all said when we walked out of the theater, “What can we do to stop this?” We beg God to please help these children who our government is turning a blind eye to as they allow illegals and bad people to flood our borders using the “back door” instead of the “front door” into our country.

The President and Democrats show no compassion for children as they try to indoctrinate them into perverse sexual practices in the classroom, codify killing babies in the womb, and ignore child trafficking. I can say with certainty people condoning this evil will never see heaven but will spend eternity in hell.  I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17

Jesus said, “4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matt. 18:4-6

If you’ve read 1st and 2nd Kings, which I referred to in last week’s blog, Loving God and America is “Dangerous” in 2023, there was always a bad king, then a good king, then a bad king who undid and overturned all the good of the previous king, which in some cases was his father.

Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—a throne that brings on misery by its decrees? 21 The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. 23 He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the Lord our God will destroy them. Ps. 94:20-23

Sin motivates depravity motivated by power, money, pride, self-indulgence, disregard for others, convenience, acquisition, greed . . . me, myself, and I doing what feels good. Men and women wanting to be their own gods just like we saw in the tower of Babel.  Do you feel sometimes like you just want to give up?

Well Habakkuk felt like that too, but I encourage you to read Chapter 2 in the Book of Habakkuk. Here’s the link to The Message translation where God so clearly describes a world like we’re living in today. Habakkuk prayed, “What’s God going to say to my questions? I’m braced for the worst. I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer my complaint.” (2:1)

Praise God, Habakkuk didn’t give up and as long as the Lord gives us breath, we can’t give up either. We pray and wait as Habakkuk did. For me, I pray for God to use my writings and life for His glory, but you don’t have to be a writer to share God’s truths in our current depraved culture. You can pray and live a righteous life for others to emulate until the Lord returns!

And then God answered: “Write this.
    Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
    so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
    pointing to what’s coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
    And it doesn’t lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
    It’s on its way. It will come right on time. (Hab. 2:2-3)

Many of you experience hurts beyond world events, or maybe brought on by current events and our detestable culture. Your own private world might seem under attack. I want to use the rest of this blog to pray for and with you. I hope you’ll feel comfort and inspiration from the Lord as you wait, pray, and listen.

4 Prayers for Difficult Times

In Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer and Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents, I encourage the reader to personalize Scripture as if God wrote it just for them. We can do the same when we pray for someone hurting or for ourselves. We don’t always need to come up with the perfect words because God already has. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry. (Ps. 10:17)

 People don’t need us to fix things. When they’re hurting, they want a shoulder to cry on, an arm around their shoulder, and company in the darkness of their soul. There might be a time later when we can sit down over a cup of coffee and help them work through details of their situation, but for the moment, they just need to feel God’s closeness and comfort in and through us.

Here are 4 prayers to help guide you in praying with people for specific situations, or if you’re in this situation, please personalize and pray for yourself.

Prayer for Those Grieving

Father, we pray for those suffering the loss of a loved one or someone close to their heart or even a beloved animal. The hurt runs so deep and grief so all encompassing, their mourning is palpable. They’re inconsolable: “You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.” (Ps. 88:18 NLT)

While they celebrate a life that’s hopefully now in Your loving arms, they’re left alone wondering how their life can go on without this precious person. Only You Lord can bring light back into their life and wipe away the tears. “You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.” (Ps. 18:28 NLT)

You promise someday mourning will turn to dancing and we’ll dance together before Your thrown. Lord, only You can fill the void left in a broken heart. Only You understand the depth of grief and pain. Only You can help the grieving ever smile again. Father, please flood their mind and heart with sweet memories when thoughts wander into hopelessness and the pain seems overwhelming, especially on birthdays and holidays.

Remind the grief-stricken that Psalm 116:15 (NLT) assures, “The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” You, Lord, care deeply when we’re sad. “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle You have recorded each one in your book.” (Ps. 56:8 NLT)

Help those with immeasurable sorrow to hold onto the truth that after a little while, those who know You as Savior will be united again. Until then, hold each one close in Your loving arms. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” (Ps. 116:15) Amen

Prayer for When Disaster Hits

Heavenly Father, You promise “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Ps. 9:9) You know the trouble that surrounds anyone experiencing a disaster when everything seems bleak. Help them trust that You will show a way out of this dark hole when there seems to be no visible way. Guide the many decisions, show the paths to take in moving forward when they just want to sit down in despair and cry.

You knew hard times would come and You will use this disaster to accomplish Your perfect will in their life. Give them courage not to fear the future with You by their side. Help them remember, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam, let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” (Ps. 46:1-3 NLT)

Bring those to their side to help by showing Your love in tangible ways that express, “My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.” (Hosea 11:8 NLT) Amen

Prayer for Health or Mental Illness

Dear Lord, let our hearts hurt and cringe with those who have received a harsh diagnosis or are in the throes of a painful illness. Remove platitudes and trite comments from our mouth and give us an ear to hear and feel their pain. Father, even if we’ve had a similar illness, we can’t fully understand their experience. Give us a kind, caring, and loving presence to let them pour out their heart.

Father, You promise in Joshua 1:5 that You will never leave or forsake us, so we pray Your presence surrounds anyone with an illness whether in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or the sick bed at home. Provide friends or family to hear their cries of pain and soothe their trembling body from fear or symptoms.

We pray Lord for the physicians and medical professionals they encounter in their journey who are a healing balm for this time of sorrow and pain. We thank You in advance for providing the human comfort and the Holy Spirit’s constant soothing for physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. You, Lord, are the Great Healer, the Great Jehovah Rapha. Only You can ease pain. Healing comes from Your power working through doctors, treatments, and medication, but we pray You won’t give anyone more than they can bear.

Provide those who are suffering with constant comfort and peace knowing, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (Is. 41:10 NLT) Amen

Prayer for Loss of a Job or Provision

Lord, it’s devastating not being able to provide financially for family or loves ones. Fear of the unknown of what to do next to find a new job is overwhelming. Many are in this position today. It’s paralyzing and depressing.

Father, we pray for doors to open. This loss might be a time to pursue new opportunities. Please provide wisdom, direction, courage, and humbleness to reach out for help in the interim and let others be responsive. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17)

You tell us to be aware of those in need, that the body of Christ is benevolent and ready to help our fellow brother and sisters, so please surround those in economic loss with others who have extra to share. “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!” (Pr. 19:17 NLT)

Guide everyone in this situation to seek help. It’s humbling, but You love when we’re humble. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” (James 4:10 NLT) Provide employment, replace lost possessions, and help families pull together not be pulled apart. “Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.” (Ps. 10:17 NLT)

Please Heal Our Country!

The promises of God are far more powerful than the sins of people. So, Lord, we humbly claim Your promises and pray in unison as Your people that we would do our part to heal our land. 14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. (2 Chronicles 7:14-15) Amen

We all need prayers, and when we see those prayers answered, God wants us to reach back and help others who are going through something similar. Today, we pray for those who are hurting and someday we hope that others will pray for us. It’s God’s way and plan for His people.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (2 Cor. 1:3-4 NLT)

We never know if God is going to heal our hurts and problems here or in our heavenly home, but He does promise for all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior that . . .

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Rev. 21:3-4

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters] Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 1 Peter 3:8 NLT

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Ps. 34:18 NLT

“But oh! God is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!” Habakkuk 2:20 The Message

Portions of the above prayers appeared in my Crosswalk article 4 Comforting Sympathy Prayers for Those Who Are Hurting, May 13, 2021

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments and enjoy reading your thoughts.

August 14, 2023
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What Our Culture Doesn’t Understand about Christ’s Love!

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My first career was as a Registered Dietitian. I went to college for four years at Cal Poly University and then another year of internship at the VA Hospital and UCLA in Santa Monica. I had grandiose visions of being the Florence Nightingale of dietetics! I would devote myself to helping people learn how to experience a healthy nutritional way of life. Maybe even save lives by teaching them how to eliminate foods contributing to their illnesses and replace them with foods that their body needed to heal and stay well. In my altruistic vision, they would be so grateful that I was part of their medical team working to restore their health and help them remain in good health.

Then I went out into the real world of hospital dietetics and my idealistic aspirations met resistance reality. Instead of welcoming my guidance in food restrictions and replacements that could possibly save their life, they would rather take a pill and hope for the best. How could I expect them to sacrifice their favorite foods they “loved,” almost more than life?! They were angry, disgruntled, or dismissed me for even thinking they would make lifestyle changes to give them a better quality of life.

When I tried to engage wives to help their husbands, they also resisted that I was asking them to remove foods he “loved”! I could see in her eyes as she shook her head that she wasn’t about to tackle changing her husband’s diet. It wasn’t worth the battle and often her way of showing love was to make all the foods he loved. I literally watched wives love their husbands to death rather than love them enough to learn how to nutritiously lengthen their lives by changing their diet.

I wasn’t trying to ruin these people’s lives; I was trying to save their lives. I didn’t hate them. I loved my fellow men and women enough to help them fight for their life, often as I watched the same patients return with the same health and diet-related issues.

Eventually, the rejection and frustration became more than I could envision for the rest of my life, and I changed careers. But once a Dietitian, always a Dietitian and I practice good eating habits for my family and myself. I try to get my husband to limit his intake of “junk food” and keep his weight down, not because I hate him, but because I love him!

I want my husband to be healthy and live a long life. There are certain foods I know will harm him. I want him putting into his God-given body foods that will build him up and not tear him down. I’m not always successful in convincing him, but I love him enough to keep trying.

This is exactly the same love that Christ shows to us! He doesn’t tell us to avoid sinful actions and thoughts that will harm us because he hates us; it’s because He loves us! He wants the best for us. God sent His only Son to die on the cross to give us an opportunity to turn from our sinful ways not to revel in them.

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. John 3:16-19 NLT

There’s a false argument that lovers of sin try to use against Christians: “God loves me just like I am.” That’s Satan’s lie. Jesus never said that. Jesus does love everyone, and He accepts us where He finds us, BUT he loves us so much, He doesn’t want to leave us how He found us . . . sinning. Like the woman at the well, He tells us to go and sin no more!

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Gal. 6:7-8 NLT

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:1-3 NLT

Paul cautioned the church in Corinth:

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Cor. 6:18-20 NLT

Paul didn’t hate the Corinthians or any of the churches when he told them that homosexuality and sexual immorality was an abomination to God and detrimental to their own bodies. Paul loved them and that’s why he was warning them to repent from their sins.

Peter told those who repented of their sins and asked God’s forgiveness that they would receive the Holy Spirit to help them live a life pleasing to God.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

The World’s Futile Attempt to Redefine “Love”!

Today’s culture has tried to twist the truth into attacks on anyone who doesn’t go along with abortion, LGBQT, sexual immorality, transgenderism, or now the next level of perversion is brainwashing young children into believing God made them wrong and they can be whatever gender they choose.

Liberals or “progressives” try to bully us calling us haters or not good Christians when we don’t agree to their lifestyle choices, but it’s the exact opposite. It’s out of love and wanting people to experience eternity someday and God’s plan for their life while they’re here on earth that we refuse to agree with sin or be pressured into the world’s decadent mold.

Often, they try and use God’s Word against us, especially this verse: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31. What they don’t realize is Christians are experiencing the joy and peace of repenting from our sins and receiving the forgiving love of Jesus in our life and we want it for them too. That’s truly loving your neighbor.

Parents who love their children try to protect them from harm and now the culture is even attacking parents who will not acquiesce to the world’s perversion. Schools used to be a safe and trusted place, now every day we see videos of liberal school boards and teachers trying to confuse and indoctrinate young children with harmful evil beliefs and values.

Parents tell children “No” often as they’re growing up and sometimes the children resist and might even yell, “I hate you.” That’s hard to hear as a parent, but we know it’s a childish reaction when we’re stopping them from doing something harmful or sinful. They may later thank us for loving them enough to protect them from harm or evil.

Parents who are championing or tolerating their children’s waywardness are not helping them. That’s not love, especially when we know it will lead to heartache and maybe even a separation from God. Defending evil just because our children might be indulging in it is the furthest thing from love. As I wrote in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, we love our children unconditionally, but it doesn’t mean we love everything they do or try to justify wrongful behavior, just because our child is doing it.

God doesn’t rewrite the 10 Commandments when His children break them. He doesn’t change His views on sexual immorality, even when a government wrongfully legalizes it. He doesn’t decide that He made a mistake creating a little girl or a little boy or that He shouldn’t have designed sex and marriage to be between a woman and a man.

No matter how distorted our culture becomes God always stays the same. The Bible is His timeless guide for life until He returns to rescue us because He loves us and wants everyone to be with Him in heaven.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Heb. 13:8

It’s God’s will and His ways that should guide our life and that we should relentlessly defend regardless of those who bully us, call us names, or try to intimidate us. Our response should always be that we didn’t make up how God wants us to live our lives, God did, and He wrote it all down in the Bible.

I was so impressed with the Philadelphia Flyers hockey defenseman Ivan Provorov, who stood firm by his Russian Orthodox faith, and declined to participate in a “gay pride” event where the players wore gay pride jerseys with gay flags wrapped around their hockey sticks. The media went crazy and bullied him, many saying he was “hiding behind his religion.” He wasn’t hiding; he was staying steadfastly true to his beliefs.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov recently infuriated sports journalists when he refused to wear a rainbow jersey for warmups during “Pride Night,” citing his Russian Orthodox faith. “I respect everybody and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.”

I wonder how many Christian players succumbed to pressure and chose culture over Christ.

We’ll all have to answer to God for our actions someday and there will be no excuses or any people we acquiesce to now present then to defend us.

Jesus said Christians should be glad when we’re tormented and called names for our beliefs because the world hated Him, and they’ll hate us for being His followers. In today’s world, we should wear it as a badge of honor.

Not agreeing with someone’s sin does not mean we hate them; we love them enough to want them to turn to Jesus and not the world. Those calling us “haters” are actually haters of Jesus.

16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

The World’s Hatred

18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 . . . Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. 22 They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. 25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures[a]: ‘They hated me without cause.’ John 15:16-25

I often say that being an evangelist is a lot like being a Dietitian. God does have a sense of humor since He didn’t let me get away from sharing a message that isn’t always popular or appreciated. But now God is asking me to help people have a healthy spiritual life and relationship with Jesus that will lead to eternal life in heaven instead of eternal life in hell. That’s what love does, and that’s what I’ll do as long as I have breath. I hope many of you will join me. The eternal life of someone dear to you could depend on it!

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:12-14 NLT

13 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 1 Peter 3:13-15 NLT

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant. 2 Tim. 4:3-5 The Message

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January 23, 2023
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Only Jesus Can Cancel the Debt that Saves Your Life!

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Biden has created quite an uproar, and rightly so, by claiming he has the power to cancel college loan debts to the tune of 500 billion dollars by charging taxpayers, many who either have paid off their own college loans or never accrued them. He’s not even going full socialist by taking from the rich to give to the poor; he’s going true communist by taking from everyday Americans and in some cases giving to the rich who could pay off their own loans.

The timing is obvious as his poll approval is in the tank and this is a last-ditch effort to buy votes before the November elections. But so many people are enraged at this political ploy, that I’m sure it will backfire with lost votes because it doesn’t matter what political party you support, the 89,000 armed new IRS agents are coming for you and your money. It’s estimated this college loan forgiveness sham will cost every American family $2000. I wonder if that includes the students receiving the loan payoff since they’re taxpayers too!

I had already decided to write on a similar topic, when Biden just confirmed I was on the track God wanted me on.

Originally, I was going to write on cancel culture and how God isn’t worried about it because He was the originator of cancel when He sent His Son Jesus Christ to the Cross to cancel our sin debt. But there’s one important stipulation—you must believe that Jesus not only died on the Cross, He also arose three days later and returned to Heaven to prepare a place for all who would believe and follow Him.

There is no charge to you.

There is no charge to anyone else.

There is no price you must pay for forgiveness of your sin debt.

Your slate is wiped clean! You’re free to live a life honoring Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Such a hard concept for many to grasp and yet so many need to hear this Good News.

For those who are foolishly comparing corrupt Biden unjustly wiping away college debt to Jesus Christ being nailed to a cross in a bloody gruesome death to justly wipe away our sin, I say blasphemy. Anyone who would even try to compare the two is not a Christian and knows nothing about becoming a Christian, but this is certainly an opportunity to inform them of the biblical facts of salvation.

Going to college and incurring enormous loan debt is a choice. It was not forced or imposed on students. It was a life choice, a commitment, and a responsibility they accepted and willingly agreed to pay back.

Jesus went to the cross willingly to offer everyone the choice of accepting Him as their Lord and Savior without imposition or coercion. It’s a choice with no payback. You cannot pay for or earn salvation by good works or effort. You simply trade in your sin-filled life by surrendering your heart to Christ to receive the gift of eternal salvation and eternal life. It’s a commitment. It’s free. It’s available to everyone!

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

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Eph. 2:8-9 ESV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Rom 10:9 ESV

For those who make the life-saving, life-changing choice, Jesus has already paid the price. No one can make the choice for you or wipe away your sin debt, only Jesus.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Is. 1:18

Why Has College Become So Expensive in the First Place?

One of the things I’ve said about this ridiculous and unrighteous attempt to make innocent people pay for the college debts of others is that the Biden Administration loves to talk about getting to the “root cause” of issues like the outrageous onslaught of people flooding over our borders from other countries. The obvious root cause: Biden is inviting them here!

Why don’t the liberals investigate the root cause of exorbitant fees to attend colleges? Why don’t they investigate the tuitions that require college loans? Many colleges are already receiving federal subsidies. Who holds them accountable for what they’re charging students? These same over-priced institutions are the beneficiaries of all this government bailout and will only be encouraged to raise the tuitions even higher. The root cause: College administrators are also usually large Democrat donors with a huge liberal lobby.

The Biden Administration thinks they’ll win favor with the public by just throwing money at the problem and appeasing their donors and college lobbyists. Sad that college has now become a political tool and students and their families the political football. And we the taxpayers are being tackled and squeezed to pay for debts we didn’t incur.

What Are Others Saying?

I was interested to read what Christian financial expert Dave Ramsey had to say about this latest maneuver from the White House. Here are some of his comments.

“This is so intellectually dishonest.”

He added, “If [student loans] are so bad that you have to cancel them, then why are you continuing to make them? You should at least stop making them before we start forgiving them,” he added of student debt arrangements.

“It’s an obvious political ploy.”

He called the student loan industry “predatory.”

“If you are a $10,000 student loan person and you make less than $125,000, and [your loan] is getting ready to be forgiven — we’re happy for you. We want good things for you,” he said, referencing the notion of getting out of debt as quickly as possible. However, he said, “we’re also simultaneously angry on behalf of the people who paid off their loans and feel screwed — and you know why they feel screwed? Because they got screwed. That’s why.”

So, everyone out there “just paid off all of these other people’s student loan debt, and your grandkids paid them off.”

“This slide toward socialism … is out of control. This is a failed presidency,” he said.

Ramsey also said of the student loan handout, “What about the guy who takes out a student loan next week? What [is Washington] going to do to help him?”

Dave Ramsey reacts to Biden’s student loan handout: ‘Obvious political ploy’ | Fox Business

Former Secretary of Education William Bennet told FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo . . .

“This is a terrible, terrible, idiotic idea.”

“College charges and university charges have gone up so much higher than the rate of inflation — and we will see another increase now by the people who run these institutions.”

Bennett added, “We just keep chasing our tail. Keep increasing the grants, the loans — and they will keep increasing the charges. As soon as the money’s there, they will find a way to charge you for it.”

“The people who paid down their debt — they get nothing out of this. The people who never had debt — they get nothing out of this. The welders, the hairdressers, so many others — they get nothing.”

“So here you are, making a move that’s very bad for the economy, in terms of inflation,” said Bennett. 

“You’re favoring an already advantaged class over others,” he said. 

“You’re violating a basic contract agreement and obligation — when you take on debt, you should pay it back. You signed the paper — you took it on. And you’re not helping people who did the honorable thing.”

The “moral hazard here is pretty obvious,”

And “the only reason we can think that a person would advance this,” Bennett said, “would be for political purposes. They’re hoping that the people who get this [loan handout] will vote for Biden. That’s the only conclusion you can draw.” William Bennett on Biden’s student loan handout plan: ‘Terrible, idiotic idea’ | Fox News

Susan Rice’s response to those who have paid off their debt: “Yes, those who have paid their loans back deserve to be credited, that’s fantastic. That’s to their credit.” What a tone-deaf statement. Is she talking about crediting them back all the money they paid to fulfill their contract? No, I didn’t think so!

While Pelosi admits their going to selectively “relieve people of their obligation.”

How Will God Use This for Good?

The Democrat party has become godless and evil. But let me encourage you that God is bigger than all of this! He sees everything.

Biden doesn’t have the authority to cancel college debt with the stroke of a pen on an executive order. He’s not a king. He’s a President that must follow the Constitution and present this proposal to Congress, which he’s choosing to bypass. So far, they’re letting him, but we can only hope there are soon legal challenges to this obvious pay-for-votes bribery scheme. The Bible warns . . .

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. Pr. 22:7

Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings does have authority to cancel our sin debt and just like I did in this article, the discussion about this unjust extortion by the Biden Administration opens the door for us to discuss the free salvation available through a relationship with Jesus.

We simply turn the conversation to sharing our testimony and the Gospel with those who haven’t yet asked Jesus to forgive their sin debt.

We present the living Word, Jesus Christ, to a dying world.

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Rom. 10:13

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August 28, 2022
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