Somewhere

I started reading Ray Comfort's book "My Friends Are Dying" last night. As I crawled under my warm covers, I wondered why. Why do I, a 21-year-old young lady living in the United States of America, have plenty of food to eat, a comfortable bed, a loving family, the joy and peace of knowing Jesus Christ, and so much more? Somewhere else not very far away, there is a 21-year-old young lady living in the United States of America starving because she uses all of her resources to buy drugs that she cannot stop using, sleeping in the wind and rain without a blanket, no one even caring that she exists, and completely without hope of escaping the downward spiral that she is caught in until she commits suicide, dies from disease brought on by her lifestyle, or is murdered. Just a simple turn of events and our places would have been switched. Why?

They might not be in MacArthur Park anymore, but they are somewhere--probably somewhere much closer to you. Don't take what you have (and I don't just mean material things) for granted. That could just as well have been you. And don't hold back what you have (and I don't just mean material things) from them. God has put you here "for such a time as this"!

Once or Twice

"If you're only born once, you die twice.

But if you're born twice, you only die once."

~ Ken Ham (from "Death the Enemy", the last session in his Foundations series)

A Word on Politics

I wouldn't consider myself a political person in any sense of the word, and I usually try to stay very far away from politics. Although some of the reason for that is personal preference, it is due largely to my understanding of the Two Kingdoms. (I HIGHLY recommended David Bercot's book "The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down" on this topic—I thought I understood the two kingdoms before I read it, but I really didn't. This book was so helpful for me!)

Having said that, I would like to share just a few words on the presidential candidates and upcoming presidential election (or the election of any official, for that matter) because I think a follower of Jesus Christ should have a Scripturally-based view on every situation, including politics and elections. Here are some of my thoughts that I hope will provoke you to thought and help you draw your own conclusions based on God’s Word.

It has saddened me to see many professing Christians justify voting for someone by saying that person is “the lesser of two evils”. When did the lesser of two evils become right? If something or someone is the lesser of two evils, it/they are still evil! “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil . . .” (Isaiah 5:20). As Christians, we must not decide between the lesser of two evils. We must always stand for absolute truth and righteousness in every situation.

I hesitated about bringing up specific names, since I don’t want the message of this post to be lost in the specifics. However, there is one presidential candidate who has captured the minds and hearts of scores of professing Christians who I feel like must be exposed and denounced. His name is Donald Trump. The reason I think it is so dangerous that so many professing Christians admire Trump and plan to vote for him is that he claims to be a Christian.

Do not be deceived—Donald Trump is not a Christian. Some may condemn me for making what seems to be such a harsh judgment. However, God’s Word is quite clear on some of the basic things that distinguish a follower of Jesus Christ. God did not leave us unequipped to discern between genuine and false fruit. If you do not know much about Trump or why I am making such strong statements about him, please do some research. With a simple internet search you will find things about him that I hope will shock you.

So as you consider the presidential candidates and all of the upcoming elections, base your decisions on the Word of God. What things are important to God? Are those things important to you? Do they influence how you vote, or don’t vote? If you claim to follow Jesus Christ, they should!

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:1-17).

Before You Speak

The Sin of Silence

We know that we can sin through speech, but silence can also be a sin. Deitrich Bonhoffer put it so well:

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

Bonhoeffer lived at a time and place where this understanding of the sin of silence made the difference between life and death for some people. The same is true for us today. Will you allow innocent masses of children to go to their deaths while you sit idly and silently by? Will you allow ignorant masses of unsaved men and women to go to their deaths while you sit idly and silently by? God will not hold us guiltless!

Cemeteries . . .

. . . are fascinating places for a history lover like me to spend hours of quiet meditation. Yes, they are sad places too, but the cycle of life and death is part of our existence as humans, and not something that we need to fear or shy away from. I don’t think I can explain for sure what draws me to cemeteries. Perhaps it is the connection to the past that we as humans like to have. Perhaps it is just simply curiosity.

One of the most interesting visits I ever had to a cemetery was in Honey Horn, Hilton Head Island, SC. Now a museum, Honey Horn used to be a typical southern plantation. The original cemetery is preserved. It only had a handful of graves in it and some of the gravestones are now gone. The three gravestones that were there contained little information, but I could have spent a long time there!

A week ago, I had to opportunity to wander around a little church cemetery. It was shocking how many babies’ graves it held—and all from less than sixty years ago. Three graves that especially caught my attention were right beside each other, three little girls who shared the same last name (two of them definitely appeared to be sisters, but I’m not sure the third one was). One was born in August 1963, one in December 1964, and one in October 1965. All three died in December of the year that they were born, meaning that none of them lived to be more than four months old. It is times like those when I wish that gravestones could speak and I wonder, what stories would they tell? Sometimes the writer inside me makes up its own.