Jim's Blog

2026-06-06T00:00:10.575-04:00

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I'm an advocate for this Christian-run Street Children Ministry in South Sudan.
Here is their latest news, from June 5, 2026.

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Archived Items and Records:

2026-03-31T13:30:26.091-04:00

The Original “No Kings” Protest - A Holy Week Reflection

by Jim Kenaston

As we come closer to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, I can’t help but notice an irony in what I’ll call the first “No Kings” protest, as relayed to us in the Gospel of John:

They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15, ESV)

The irony is that the Jews wanted a Messiah who would overthrow the Roman government. Seeing that Jesus claimed to be God but had a different purpose than fulfilling their immediate desires, they sought to have Him crucified, preferring to submit to the lordship of their hated Roman overseers. To shout “We have no king but Caesar” was to capitulate to living on in chains.

But by willingly going to the Cross, Christ accomplished His purpose. He sacrificed Himself in atonement for human sin.

Was this a universal atonement? It is universally offered, though not everyone chooses to accept His free gift on their behalf. Many reject it, as they don’t wish to submit to this new King, even if He were raised from the dead.

The issue is one of authority. We want to claim for ourselves authority to define what is good and evil. This was the original sin of Adam and Eve.

Rather than accept Christ as King of our life (the One who sacrificed Himself so that we might thrive as the humans we were intended to be), we happily sell ourselves short, submitting to any lesser authority that affirms our willfulness in pursuing whatever paths seem right to us. We reject God’s laws, replacing Him with ourselves as our own law-giver.

In today’s world we further reimagine Christ, not as a King with true authority over us, but as our ever-affirming friend, one who tells us what we want to hear. To quote H. Richard Niebuhr, for we moderns, “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.”

But Christ did die on a cross that he chose for a purpose, that of our justification and redemption before the one true Holy God.

In a world that is currently consumed with concepts of identity, it’s worth noting that Christ did not die so that we could henceforth find our identity in our tribe (political or otherwise) or in our appetites (sexual or otherwise). He died so that we could find our identity as sinners redeemed by His blood, shed on our behalf. Our unity is found as fellow recipients of His grace.

His resurrection demonstrates His victory over the chains of sin and death that have bound us. Our choice is to either make Christ our King, picking up our cross to follow Him, or to return to chains of sin and death where we accept lesser rulers of our own dying little kingdoms.

Trusting and following Christ is to submit to His authority, allowing Him to live in and through us toward His redemptive purposes in this world. None of us do this perfectly, though one way or another, it seems there will be a king on the throne of our hearts.

2026-03-23T10:44:00.001-04:00

Entitlement Demanded vs. Grace Received

by Jim Kenaston

I have a friend who has fallen on hard times. She and her husband came to the U.S. over 30 years ago and eventually became naturalized citizens. They raised two children who were born in the U.S., both of whom are productive citizens. Sadly, the couple had difficulties in their marriage which ended in divorce. Her husband has returned to their home country to work there. She now relies upon the help of her children (who are living in another state) to cover expenses.

Seeking to help as well, I encouraged her to apply to our state Social Services Department for an EBT card (food stamps), as this seemed a practical way to cover at least her basic monthly food costs. With a monthly subsidy of about three hundred dollars, this form of public assistance seemed worth pursuing. Understandably, it comes with periodic reporting requirements. It is intended as a means of helping people get on their feet, so to speak, as they arrange for at least part-time work that will allow them to move forward and thrive. It is a form of grace that one can receive, albeit offered through a state government program supported by our taxes.

Sadly, my friend has cultivated within herself a sense of resentment over not being compensated more through this program than she has been, as if it were intended as payment for a life well-lived. She had indeed raised her children well, and on those terms, the subsidy would seem terribly inadequate. But it is a form of charity intended to help those in need, not payment one is entitled to as compensation for past service to society.

Perhaps we would do well to return our charitable efforts to the administration of self-funded private organizations (religious or otherwise) where they are more easily understood to offer charity and not entitlements to be demanded from our government. Simply framing charity as a grace that one can receive, and from people with whom we interact at a local level, may be preferable to framing it as an entitlement owed to us by a faceless government entity. Emphasis on the latter seems to have led to gross levels of fraud.

There will always be instances of fraud for which oversight should be expected, though self-funded local charities (without government funding) will have a greater incentive to root out fraud than our government programs ever had.

I’m sure we’ll continue to fund both private and public charitable efforts, and with the hope that fewer people will fall through the cracks of society. But given the abuse we’ve seen among publicly funded programs, perhaps it’s time to reconsider our collective focus, returning or shifting as much funding as we can to private and local charitable organizations and their efforts on behalf of the needy.

2025-12-01T00:08:40.215-05:00

Christmas Greetings

from Sioux Falls - December 2025

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a personal photo with my Christmas letter, so here’s one that was taken last spring:

2025 Christmas photo
(clearly by default)

As you can see, I’m closely tracking the most important cultural shifts of our time, as viewed through the vicissitudes of our local minor league baseball team (arguably the best lens for assessing such things). I’m also hoping for an NIL deal here... Sadly, so far NIL has generated nil for we fans, though perhaps I can become an exception… even as a walk-on.

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Among my current hobbies, this past year I’ve gotten into affordable time travel. I’ve had the most success in returning to the late 1960s. It seems the best way to make the trip is by finding an era-appropriate radio station while running my car through a local car wash, as illustrated here:

Despite my frantic warnings during these time-travel ventures, I’ve been unable to change the course of world events sparked back then. On the other hand, I’ve reliably determined that, indeed, the Walrus was Paul.*

* - reference

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As for managing the challenges of modern life, I otherwise continue to enjoy various comic stress-breakers, both new and old. I often feel like the man in this comic, watching these disingenuous parades on both sides go by (letting them run their course, as they typically do):

Here's more of this kind of thing, if you could use some comic relief as well.

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On the actual theme of Christmas, here's a reflection on how Jesus was welcomed into the world, meeting us where we are:

We often overlook the most tragic part of the Christmas story: that when Jesus was still an infant, Joseph fled with his family to a foreign country to escape the mass infanticide perpetrated by King Herod and his soldiers...

Christ’s advent happened in and through suffering and darkness. Jesus did not come in power and majesty but in apparent weakness and ignominy...

Mary thus gave birth to the King of kings amid squalor, poverty, and oppression. Christ’s first visitors were social outcasts and religious outsiders—mere common shepherds. From the moment he was born, Jesus came in powerful weakness for the downtrodden, the marginalized, and the helpless...

The unfolding of the Christmas story revealed the purposes of God and the nature of Christ’s kingship long before Jesus began his public ministry. The Father could have chosen for Jesus to be born into royal splendor, power, and universal fame. But He didn’t. Instead, God displayed His glory and mighty power by working though seemingly weak and foolish means to reach into the dark depths of our human condition so that He could redeem a lost people and recreate a broken world...

Christ’s light pierces the darkness of our sin, pain, and suffering. God gives us a Messiah who comes to us directly through suffering, darkness, and doubt...

The story of Advent can fill us with true hope precisely because it unfolds amid the darkness that afflicts us. Christ’s radiance shines most beautifully in the shadows. So let us not turn aside from this vision. We come to adore the Light of the World who descended into our night. He is the Dayspring from on high who has come to His people. He is Emmanuel — God with us.

Here is the full article, by Matthew Kuchem.

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With that, please join me in taking stock of the true meaning and importance of the incarnation.

Merry Christmas, Y’all!

2025-09-25T23:33:00.011-04:00

Redeemed For a Purpose

by Jim Kenaston

May 9, 2023

I first met Arthur and his family in the mid-1970s during my teenage years. Art was serving as an elder at the church our family began attending when we moved to the same area where Art and his family had settled some years before. I will never forget his story. It begins in the late 1920s.

An Early Demise, From a Broken Heart

He was no more than a month old when his mother, Sonja, reached the end of her rope. She was a 26-year-old immigrant to America and the mother of three. Her husband had abandoned her, taking with him their two older children. She was left alone with the infant Arthur.

With no useful language skills and no knowledge of welfare or social services, and poorly clad for the severe weather, she took her baby to a bridge over the Charles River in Lynn, Massachusetts. Police saw them and, worried that she might be a jumper, they intervened.

She died just four months later. The official cause of death was “consumption.” Years later, while reflecting on his mother’s life and her early demise, Arthur wondered if the true cause may have been a broken heart.

A “State Kid” Puts on a Uniform

Arthur lived his next three years as a “state kid” at an orphanage. He was later taken in by a series of families within the foster care system. The older he got, the less hope there was that he might be adopted. During his teenage years, several farm families he lived with immersed him in very hard work.

“It wasn’t long,” he reflects, “before my lanky frame began to fill out with solid pads of muscle. These were the war years, and I felt guilty about not being in the service. When people looked at me their eyes said, ‘You’re of military age, why aren’t you in the service?’ Six days out of high school, I was in uniform.”

This is not a man who has spent his life cultivating bitter resentments, or considers himself a victim. This is one who is grateful for the life he’s been given.

Art served in the U.S. Eighth Army under General MacArthur. He took part in the invasion of Luzon, Philippines, and, once the war had ended, he was among the first U.S. troops to occupy Japan.

Art later reflected that he was probably among the few who served during WWII without G.I. insurance, as he was told that he had to name a beneficiary who was either a blood relative or “someone who has had parental care over you for a year.” Unable to name anyone, he served without insurance.

“One thing bothered me,” he later commented. “On the field of battle, I’d seen men who had everything to live for fall to a sniper’s bullet, and yet I finished the war practically unscathed. I had no one. If I dropped dead, no one would know or care. Yet here were these men with families: a wife, children and loved ones, and they died.”

Later on, Art’s family would challenge this young soldier’s assessment of his value to the world.

Surrounded by Family

Soon after his return to the States, Art was given a tip on his father’s last address. He checked it out and learned his father had died. There at that address, though, he met for the first time his older brother and sister.

As it occurred to Art at the time, “God is still a God of miracles. Here He had snatched a baby from certain death, protected him halfway around the world, through a war and back, and united him with a brother and sister he had never seen.”

This was a turning point in Art’s life. Henceforth he would surround himself with an ever-growing family of his own.

It was at Bethel College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where Art met his wife Gloria. Together they raised four children, who are my contemporaries.

Over time Art and Gloria’s four children added 10 grandchildren to their extended family ranks. They in turn gave them 20 great-grandchildren, none of whom have been left to find their way in this world alone.

Sadly, Gloria died in 2017. Art and I still occasionally meet with a mutual friend over breakfast. When greeted with “How are you?” he’ll most often reply, “Better than I deserve.”

A Positive Example for Our Time

Art always sought to instill this sense of gratitude in his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren in turn. And he brings it to us who have had the pleasure of knowing him through church and community.

A positive example for our time, Art’s example of fatherly devotion and leadership within the Church is one to follow. In raising his family as he has, and in contributing now to several new generations of U.S. citizens, his example offers a constructive response to a challenge of our time.

Within my lifetime our country has, through legalized abortion, allowed for the killing of over 65 million unborn babies. Our national leaders are now seeking to replace some of those lost souls through illegal immigration, both for cheap labor and for potential future votes for the party currently wielding power.

Rather than continuing on this course, perhaps our leaders should work to shore up support for families, aiming to rebuild our lost numbers through legal means (including legal immigration) with an eye toward helping to rescue true refugees and orphans, not those recruited and led to us by human-trafficking cartels.

In the meantime, I salute my great friend Art for his service to our country, and I thank him for his positive example of faithful trust in Christ through all the challenges he’s faced over his 97 years of life. He raised his family with humble means, yet with grace and a heart of gratitude. Amid the challenges of our current time, his example serves as a beacon of light toward a positive path forward.

2025-02-28T14:03:00.033-05:00

Human Labor Trafficking and Cybercrime
by Jim Kenaston

Scamming has been taken to a whole new level, often targeting and tricking more than just vulnerable elderly victims out of their life savings.

Last November, Christianity Today called attention to a network of Southeast Asian cybercrime syndicates that engage in human trafficking, trapping job-seekers into forced service as laborers in cyberscams worldwide.1

According to the article, large-scale trafficking of unsuspecting job-seekers started in Cambodia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The syndicates began aggressively posting fraudulent job listings online, luring in applicants, often from other parts of Southeast Asia and as far away as Africa. Once job candidates arrived in Cambodia, operatives seized their passports and electronic devices, locked them in hotels, and forced them in front of screens to begin scamming. Various forms of torture were imposed upon non-compliant trafficking victims.

The cybercrime syndicates have been adept at eluding the law, often relying upon powerful allies in local governments. But when authorities have cracked down on illegal online businesses, the organizations have moved into countries with weaker or fractured governments.

Within recent years, conflict-stricken Myanmar has become a hub where such criminal groups seek to evade accountability, as the country's ongoing civil war has left much of the borderland near Thailand, Laos, and China outside government control.

In 2023, the United Nations estimated that at least 120,000 people might be trapped in cyberscamming compounds in Myanmar. Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, an additional 100,000 may be forced to work in similar operations as actors in fraudulent investment schemes, dating-app fronts, and cryptocurrency hustles.

All forms of social media and AI tools are used with these modern scams, including voice and image manipulation software, seeking to build the trust of potential victims through interactions over long periods of time. Dating apps and job-search sites are just a few of the avenues where scams are commonly advanced.

The Economist recently produced a ten-part series of podcasts on cybercrime. This 36-minute episode provides details on both the human-trafficking aspects of scam compounds (currently located in Myanmar along the border with Thailand), as well as descriptions of some of the advanced forms of cyberscams they perpetrate.

In both the dating world and the job market, if a prospect seems too good to be true, it probably is. One safe response to the dark reality of cyberscamming is to stay local in our dealings, and to rely upon referrals by known and trusted contacts among our family and friends.

It's also wise to cultivate in ourselves a heart of gratitude and contentment, trusting God to guide our way forward in life for His kingdom purposes, rejecting the covetous patterns of this world that provide a basis for any number of scams.

1 https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/11/cyber-slavery-scamming-rescue/

2024-12-29T23:54:00.224-05:00

Responding to an Annual Misuse of Scripture
by Jim Kenaston

In Hoc Anno Domin means “in the year of our Lord.” It’s also the title of a 1949 editorial written by then Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster. It has been published in that newspaper annually since that time.

A friend recently shared a copy of the editorial with me, so I read it for the first time. I was surprised that Royster seems to have made the same mistake as that of the 1st century Jews, who were looking for a political savior to free them from the yoke of domination under the Roman Empire.

Royster interprets the Apostle Paul's conversion in terms of gaining freedom from political oppression, when in fact, the point of Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection was to free humanity from slavery to sin. Freedom from political tyranny and oppression can come downstream for a world that turns in repentance toward a genuine trust in Christ and a willingness to abide in His ways, but such change is a secondary consequence of changed hearts, minds, and human wills. Had Christ merely sought to overcome political oppression, He would have accepted Satan’s offer of the kingdoms of the world in exchange for bowing before him.

An Earlier Take
Several years ago, David Merkel offered this comment on Royster’s editorial, saying it was written:

in a time where many in the US feared Communism and other forms of totalitarianism.

...he cites the Bible seven times without attribution, and every time takes the part of the Bible out of its context to support economic and political freedom and oppose totalitarianism. It’s horrible from an intellectual standpoint, because the Bible is not trying to say anything like that at that point. I could write an essay showing how the Bible encourages economic and political freedom, and opposes totalitarianism, but I would quote very different Scriptures but do so in their proper context.

Merkel goes into specific detail about Royster’s misuse of Scripture in a follow-up article, here.

For Today’s World
We can consider God’s calling for us amid the realities and challenges of our time. Christ died for those who crucified Him, including us in our sins and our opponents in theirs.

If we’re looking to Christ as if He were merely a political savior whose purpose is to validate the status quo of our lifestyle choices, we need to take stock of His call to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). His purpose is to redeem all who will repent and follow Him, even His oppressors, and ours.

What does it mean for us to follow Christ’s lead in forgiving even those who crucified Him, “for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)? Are we willing to do this to our own hurt, as Jesus did?

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Mark 8:34b-37)

2024-12-18T13:55:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas!

I’ve shared this extended quote with friends before. It seems an appropriate reflection as we consider the gift we have in Christ, and perhaps more so as we experience a pendulum swing in certain aspects of our culture. Please consider this perspective with me, once again, as we look forward to Christmas:

“John [the Apostle] brought in things that didn’t belong so that people whose lives didn’t fit the pattern could celebrate Jesus.

“It makes a kind of sense that someone who spent his life making friends with paupers, prostitutes, publicans, and other pariahs, like Jesus did, should begin his story with tales including those who didn’t fit. Despite our desires and our propaganda, Christmas is not a seamless robe of rich, tasteful, conservative colors. It is made up of things that don’t belong – odd people, odd ideas, all tuned up a little bit and joined together...

“...The patchwork quilt of Christmas is not conventionally attractive, but the lives of many are not conventionally pretty or serene. Some people’s lives have never been nice. Other people’s lives kick over the traces sometimes and turn ugly. Without warning, or deserving, people lose their jobs, their homes, their health, their wives or husbands, their innocence. People like this can’t deal with a holiday that’s all Brooks Brothers and Norman Rockwell, Mother Teresa and saintly graybeards, chamber music and family albums. They need a holiday that’s more like a consignment shop – all kinds of stuff that doesn’t fit, arranged with a smile and a hope.

“The Good News is that’s just the way the New Testament tells the story – street kids on the night shift with the flock, a pregnant, unwed teenager, invitations to offbeat groups.

“It is so close to being funny. It is such good-spirited mockery of our middle-class merchandising and half-hearted hopes that you have to smile at least a little and seek the hands and hearts of those whose lives don’t fit. For Christmas, along with the whole gospel, is especially for them.”

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The year in review…
Having moved to Sioux Falls just over a year ago, this past May I was happy to move from an apartment into a house along West Mesa Pass. For this first year I decided to leave the surrounding land fallow, though this coming spring I may cultivate the back forty [square feet] to see what I can harvest next fall.

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My latest hobby... In my copious free time I’ve been reviewing 10-hour long “Relaxing White Noise” videos.

To explain, I noticed a trend on YouTube where members of a younger generation will post “First Time Hearing” reaction videos that feature popular songs of the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

Our culture may have enough memes and lampoons, though it’s tempting to add to them by producing full-length reaction videos of my favorite relaxing white noise tracks, such as: Rushing River Sounds, Train Sounds, Private Jet Ambience, Crackling Campfire, and the triple-feature hit, Rain, Thunder, and Ocean Waves.

With my monotone reviews, the series is sure to be popular among insomniacs and tinnitus sufferers. I’ll add insult to injury by asking people to “like” the videos, subscribe to the channel, and “hit the bell, so you’ll be notified as new videos come out.”

Feel free to follow along with my exploits as a social media ~~influencer~~ iconoclast. Here’s where I post things most often: https://jkenaston.blogspot.com/.

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Merry Christmas to you all!

May God’s grace be with you as you strive on in good faith and service to our Lord.

2024-10-08T19:38:00.200-04:00

Thoughts About Our Worship
by Jim Kenaston

In her book, Re-Enchanting the Text, Cheryl Bridges Johns observes:

“Worship in many Evangelical churches, with its emphasis on entertaining an audience, has more the flavor of a rock concert than of a gathering where the people of God join together in the work of the liturgy. These churches fit nicely into the Age of Authenticity. People can have their individual experiences of God without even knowing the person standing next to them. The services are sprinkled with enchantment, just enough to create an environment of ‘praise and worship’ without threatening the autonomous self. Some Evangelical churches maintain singing of traditional hymns, but the ethos of worship has a decidedly rational and disembodied tone. For many years, whether one worshiped in seeker-friendly settings or in traditional contexts, no one seemed to notice or miss the presence of the divine in the material world - until they did.”

Perhaps the past 100 years of training ourselves in modes of passive entertainment have turned us into people who find it quite natural to treat worship as just another form of entertainment. An extreme example of this was recently noted in the United Kingdom: This UK Church Mixes Sermons with Wrestling So More People Show Up.

In many contexts, seeking to add entertainment value to our routines may be fine, though we may want to pause to consider what we’re doing as we enter a time of worshiping God as our Creator, Savior, and King. Are we reflecting in our worship a heart that loves the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), or have we allowed ourselves to be drawn into something else?

Such a question requires circumspection, as it’s easy to find fault in the practice of others while being blind to our own failings. While a less extreme example, a behavior that raises a question for me is our practice of entering worship services with part of our breakfast in hand. It may be that we’ve gotten so used to multitasking that we’ve become thoughtless about what we’re doing as we enter a time for worshiping God.

We are critical of those in our culture who have come to define themselves according to their appetites (whether a sexual appetite or otherwise), though we may do well to ask whether we’re in fact worshiping our own appetite, as we can’t seem to set it aside for a mere hour of our Sunday mornings.

We rightly call for times a prayer and fasting when an issue is of great importance to us, such as an election, though it’s odd that there is apparently nothing special about our regular times of worship, such that we might set aside our appetite for a time. Out of respect for a given family, we would not bring our coffee into a wedding ceremony or to a funeral, but for some reason we’re not showing this same level of respect for God.

It makes sense to me that we should encourage times of fellowship, and where a spirit of hospitality is part of such gatherings (most weddings and funerals have a food reception afterward). In the case of our worship, perhaps we should arrive early and separate our time of fellowship from times set aside for formal worship.

Our fellowship is with each other, but we come together as a fellowship to worship our God. We might do well to consider hospitality as an opportunity to give of ourselves to each other, rather than reduce it to merely sharing light snacks and drinks. Our worship service is a time for us to attend to God and His Word. Are we being irreverent when we conflate the two?

In sharing concern about how our propensity to seek entertainment may have a negative impact on our worship, I’m sure there are habits and patterns in my own life that call for change. I pray for the Lord’s continued work in my own heart and life, and that I will grow in both discipleship and in grace. Let’s each follow the Holy Spirit’s lead in whether He calls us to change patterns we may have thoughtlessly fallen into, whether in our worship or in other areas of our lives.

[Updated on December 4, 2024]

2024-07-04T00:36:00.040-04:00

Service Among Celebrities

by Jim Kenaston

If you were growing up in the 1960s and 70s, you may not have known that many of the entertainers and sports figures who were famous during that time had served in the military.

I never would have guessed, for instance, that during World War II, Don Adams of Get Smart fame had served with the U.S. Marines at Guadalcanal, that Star Trek’s “Scotty” survived multiple gunshot wounds while serving with Canadian forces during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, or that Russell Johnson of Gilligan’s Island had flown 44 combat missions in the Pacific Theater. Johnson received a Purple Heart medal for injuries sustained when his bomber ditched at sea.

These and many other veterans rarely talked about their military service, even after they became celebrities. Instead, they were quiet, knowing that their emotional, psychological, or physical wounds were not unique to them. They were mindful of many others who were fighting the same personal battles in obscurity.

As celebrities, their post-war service was about helping society to heal and move forward.

Meritorious Service
One such celebrity was Audie Murphy, a Medal of Honor recipient. He was also awarded two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars for courageous service in combat, as well as three Purple Hearts, among many other honors.

Fellow WWII Purple Heart recipients include Art Carney, Charles Bronson, James Arness, Lee Marvin, and Neville Brand. James Garner later received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the Korean War, as did Oliver Stone and Rocky Bleier for combat injuries sustained in Vietnam.

Other Bronze Star recipients include Eddie Albert, George Kennedy, Henry Fonda, James Arness, Oliver Stone, Rocky Bleier, and Ted Knight.

Women who served the U.S. or our allies during WWII include a young Audrey Hepburn, who raised money and smuggled messages for the Dutch Resistance Movement.

Rightly Honored
In recent years, short videos and articles have been produced that highlight the military service of those who returned to pursue or resume acting careers, or who applied their skills toward athletic pursuits or coaching. Some served during multiple wars. (*U.S. military Purple Heart recipients.)

World War II veterans who have been so honored include: Alan Hale, *Art Carney, *Audie Murphy, Bob Feller, Brian Keith, Buddy Ebsen, Cesar Romero, Charles M. Schulz, Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, Clark Gable, Don Adams, Don Knotts, Ed McMahon, Eddie Albert, Ernest Borgnine, Fred Gwynne, George Gobel, George Kennedy, Gino Marchetti, Henry Fonda, Jackie Robinson, *James Arness, James Doohan, James Garner, Jerry Coleman, Jimmy Stewart, Joe Lewis, Jonathan Winters, Kirk Douglas, *Lee Marvin, *Neville Brand, Norman Lear, Paul Newman, Peter Graves, *Rod Serling, *Russell Johnson, Steve McQueen, Soupy Sales, Ted Knight, Ted Williams, Tom Landry, Tony Bennett, Tyrone Power, Walter Matthau, and Yogi Berra.

Women similarly honored for their service during World War II include: Audrey Hepburn, Bea Arthur, Betty White, Eva Gardner, Hedy Lamarr, Julia Child, Marilyn Monroe, and Veronica Lake.

Korean War veterans whose service has been honored in this way include: Clint Eastwood, *Dan Blocker, Michael Caine, and Sorrell Booke, with Ed McMahon, *James Garner, and Ted Williams each having served in both World War II and in Korea. (Ed McMahon’s military service extended into the early years of the Vietnam War.)

Vietnam War veterans so honored include: Larry Wilcox, Roger Staubach, *Oliver Stone, and *Rocky Bleier.

As we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, we have much for which to thank our Lord. We can also pause to thank those who humbly set aside their plans in order to serve for the benefit of others. Some went on to celebrity careers in entertainment. Most did not.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” - Philippians 4:8

2024-05-29T18:01:00.008-04:00

Not All Asylum Seekers Are the Same
by Jim Kenaston

She likes the name "Summer," so I'll use it here. It’s not her real name, but it may offer a pleasant reminder of the warmer climate of Myanmar, where she's from, or it may suggest the stage of life she sees herself entering as a young adult.

She came to the United States in 2021 on a non-immigrant student visa, but given the current set of challenges back home, she was encouraged by friends within her community to apply for political asylum.

Summer left Myanmar soon after a junta-led coup began tearing her country apart. Christians are a minority in Myanmar. They are among those subject topersecution for their faith — and Summer’s father serves as a pastor in Yangon.

Her parents support her effort to stay in the U.S. long term. She is, of course, concerned about their welfare, and that of her younger brother as he grows closer to an age when he will be subject to the junta's compulsory conscription law. The junta, however, does not necessarily hold to the law when seeking to fill their military ranks, as seen here.

Despite those ongoing concerns, Summer has stayed focused on her studies, recently completing her associate degree through a community college. She also cut costs by living within a community of fellow Burmese, which may have helped lessen her experience of culture shock as well.

I asked her what she thinks of the anti-Israel protests that have been rocking American college campuses recently. She admits that she's not personally well-informed enough about the issues behind them to offer a meaningful response — but her experience in Myanmar leaves her skeptical of much of what she sees in the news. She is wary of government propaganda, which is rife where she is from.

Since 2021, an estimated 881,000 refugees have fled Myanmar to bordering nations (700,000 to Bangladesh, 90,000 to Thailand, 86,000 to India, and roughly 5,000 to China). There are tensions within each case and problems to solve, but these refugees have all gone to places where there is at least cultural familiarity.

The U.S. has not offered political asylum to vast numbers of Burmese fleeing that situation — but our current administration is looking for ways to accommodate "some" Palestinian refugees. One wonders why Palestinians aren't welcomed as refugees within the 22 countries that make up the Arab world in the Middle East and North Africa—but they aren’t.

Summer views the influx of illegal immigrants coming through the U.S.’s southern border through the lens of how she's seen political fortunes change within her home country. She's aware that with our upcoming presidential election, the political pendulum could swing so far to the right that deportations may become the norm. She hopes not to be swept up in a negative reaction to those who have come here illegally in droves, but that the government would see her petition is legitimate. In the meantime, Summer plans to continue her education. She's not opposed to returning home someday, but she hopes circumstances there will change for the better before she does.

I asked Summer if there is a Bible verse that has served as her guiding light through difficulties. She said it’s Luke 12:4-5, which reads,

"...do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your boy has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Summer is 21 years old now. I take heart in knowing that a person of her caliber is among the asylees living among us.

I hope the best for her future, for her family, and that we fellow Christians will reflect God's grace and light within our badly torn and wounded world. This is, after all, what we are called to for our time.

2024-04-08T19:47:00.025-04:00

Remembering Rwanda as We Consider Our Future
by Jim Kenaston

As Rwanda pauses to mourn the genocide that began 30 years ago this week, we might consider whether the identity politics of our day is paving the way for a similar time of tragedy among ourselves. There has been talk of another hot Civil War here in the U.S. (here, here, and here), and in anticipation of a strong reaction to whatever our election results bring later this year.

There are deep divisions within our population, much of which has been fueled by identity politics. This was the case leading into the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Like the identity politics of their time, radicals of our day seek to exacerbate ethnic divisions, pursuing retribution for perceived past wrongs, and in hopes of securing political power and control.

Our modern day revolutionaries hold to a materialistic worldview where no transcendent God stands above the State as a righteous judge. Whoever is in power is right, and the end (of securing power and control) justifies any means. This worldview, notably embraced by Marxists, led to the slaughter of untold millions throughout the 20th century. It's an ideology whose "justice" is based upon envy and revenge.

These motivations and the pursuit of power were at the root of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Germany's Third Reich of the 1930s and 1940s, the Chinese Revolution of 1949, and countless revolutionary efforts through the second half of the 20th century. By 1994, we in the West imagined ourselves enlightened and beyond such moral setbacks. With the United Nations serving as the world's conscience and arm of peace enforcement, we thought such times of atrocity were behind us. Rwanda proved us wrong.

So here we are, anticipating further turmoil within our own country. A Marxist ideology has infiltrated our institutions and continues to foment envy-based divisions among us, often along ethnic lines. What can we learn from the experience of Rwanda?

In Rwanda today, it is illegal to discuss ethnicity. As we consider that reality, perhaps we'll want to avoid replicating the circumstances that led to such an environment. Yet here in the United States, identity in our claim to victimhood is all we seem able to focus on.

If we're to avoid continuing down the road Rwandans once took to its logical conclusion, the Bible offers a viable alternative, that of finding our identity in Christ as forgiven sinners. In doing so, rather than animate our envy with unappeasable anger, we can choose to live lives of gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ, seeking reconciliation with those who have hurt us, extending forgiveness as we have been forgiven. In Christ, we can live redeemed lives while investing toward a more fully redeemed future.

For an example of this, we can look to the people of Rwanda, where in the spirit of the Apostle Paul, there is neither Hutu nor Tutsi. Likewise for us, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) If we are to avoid the tragic consequences that have followed the Marxist-inspired revolutions of the past, we would be wise to adopt this same perspective.

Hopefully many within our culture will repent of our envy-driven ideologies in favor of this Christ-centered perspective. If not, we can expect a similar outcome to what we've seen in the past.

But if worse comes to worst, as was the case in Rwanda, God always retains unto Himself a remnant of faithfulness upon which He rebuilds society. One of many such accounts was provided by Immaculee Ilibagiza through her 2007 book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.

Such accounts can follow our current tensions as they play themselves out, or they can point us toward collectively repenting of the Godless path we've been on. Should we repent, we can begin to find our identity in Christ rather than in our grievances. This is our only redemptive and healing path forward.

2024-04-04T07:21:00.021-04:00

Days of Observance Among People Made in the Image of God

by Jim Kenaston

“Trans Visibility Day” is just one of 47 commemoration days or weeks that the LGBTQ+ community has sprinkled throughout the year, not including the entire month of June, which has been proclaimed “Pride Month” by this same lobby. I was unaware that in 2009, an activist had declared March 31 as “Trans Visibility Day.”

Easter, as we know, is based on a lunar calendar, so it falls within a range of dates from year to year. Apparently this new commemoration hasn’t overlapped with Easter until this year, so we might consider their convergence on this past Easter Sunday as a “time bomb” of controversy waiting to happen. Had “Trans Visibility Day” not fallen on Easter Sunday, I would have overlooked it completely, much as I fail to recall or observe Kwanzaa toward the end of each calendar year, which is another contrived observance, one that has its historical roots in the counter-cultural movement of the 1960s.

But for being one obscure secular commemoration among many, it seems that our current administration bent over backwards to accommodate the occasion, even disallowing the use of Christian religious symbols to mark Easter eggs in favor of proclamations seeking to advance a pro-transvestite agenda.

One such message of support came from the president himself: “I have a simple message to all trans Americans: ‘I see you. You are made in the image of God, and you’re worthy of respect and dignity.’”

To this I’d simply say that all human beings are made in the image of God, and thereby have agency as a reflection of God’s character, but not by virtue of how we may have marred that image by our particular brand of idolatry.

Our president could have equally said to any Nazi or Klansman (or to anyone whose ideology the populace may disfavor), “I see you. You are made in the image of God, and you’re worthy of respect and dignity.”

Regardless of the contrary views we might embrace, all people are indeed worthy of respect and dignity as human beings made in the image of God. Yet, God calls all sinners (or idolaters) to repent of their sins (idolatry), and to trust that only through faith in Christ's sacrifice on behalf of we unworthy sinners is anyone forgiven. Christ bids us all to repent and sin no more. He also tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him. This would suggest a life of self-sacrificial service for others, not one of pride in one’s favored expression of idolatry.

Idolatry, we should note, was at the heart of the original sin, that of supplanting God in favor of ourselves as the one with authority to define good and evil. It was a lust for power and control. When we place ourselves in the role of God, we are making an idol of ourselves. This idolatry is seen, among other places, in our ungrateful rejection of the givenness of our bodies in favor of whatever we think we can create ourselves to be. We want the power and control to enforce our own will upon the world, rather than accept with thanks what God has given us.

But each of us in our own ways have marred the image of God that we were created to reflect. One way we can do that is to define ourselves according to an appetite, sexual or otherwise. This is to treat both ourselves and other people as something less than human, as objects that do not exercise agency or choice, but which are a mere product of hormone-driven desires.

Redemption doesn’t come by defining ourselves by our sin, but by trusting in the completed work of Christ, repenting of the sin, and living thereafter with grateful hearts among fellow repentant sinners of all stripes. None of us are given a pass to continue in our old ways. We may stumble along the way, but Christ's gracious call is always to repent and sin no more. This applies to all human beings, each of whom were made in the image of God, and who have real choices to make as they live out repentant lives as a part of His kingdom of redeemed souls.

To suggest that we are not made in the image of God would be to say that we are mere animals, driven by forces beyond our control. If our president believes that people still reflect God's image and have agency, as opposed to being hardwired to live as less than human, driven by some form of lust, then his call, as a supposedly Catholic Christian, should echo the call of Christ to all sinners: repent and sin no more.

2024-02-20T09:54:00.070-05:00

Reflections on Overcoming Clinical Depression
by Jim Kenaston

This is in response to a case of clinical depression that a friend recently shared with me. In reflecting on my own experience with such a time of great difficulty, I would define the severity of clinical depression as one in which a person has been hospitalized under psychiatric care, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

My first of three experiences with clinical depression occurred in 1978, following a car accident, after which I was in shock and unable to sleep for many days on end. Over time, sleep deprivation has its effects, including one where a person’s mind will play horrible tricks on itself (delusional thinking, paranoia, etc.) This was my only experience of being involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward, though given the overwhelming challenge my parents had with me at the time, I can understand their having chosen this path forward (among few viable alternatives).

During such a time of (in my case) manic depression, a person can say and do things that he or she will find to be terribly embarrassing and will come to greatly regret. Thankfully, and once I’d hit “rock bottom,” I realized at the time that I could not “pull myself up by the bootstraps” and fix myself. My parents did well to trust the professional help that was available to us, as my state of mind was far beyond anything they were prepared to handle themselves. I believe such help has greatly improved since I had my episodes with debilitating insomnia and clinical depression during the 1970s and 1980s.

Diagnosis of the specific nature of the problem can take some time. It wasn’t until my second bout with bi-polar mood disorder that lithium was prescribed as the preferred treatment. A subsequent and final bout with clinical depression occurred when I was in my late 20s and during an especially stressful time for me. At that point I had tried to set aside use of this medication, though the timing of my attempt was ill-advised. I then stayed on it for another 20 years before I was able to set it aside while under a psychiatrist’s care.

It's important to note that lithium has the negative side-effect of compromising one’s kidney function. I’m thankful that I was eventually able to discontinue using it while otherwise maintaining stability in my life. By then I had entered stage 3 of chronic kidney disease. Since having gotten off lithium, and with no alternative medications prescribed (as they all have side-effects that one would want to avoid), my kidney function has improved, though significant damage had been done. Nonetheless, I’m thankful that use of lithium helped carry me through the mental health challenges of my younger years.

By way of further reflection, I’d suggest that through our lives we all have some combination of psychological, social, spiritual, and/or physical challenges to balance and manage. The physical challenges can include chemical balance issues within one’s brain. With proper diagnosis and medication, this latter area can be the easiest to isolate and treat, thereby making the others somewhat more manageable. (My sense is that our culture tends to over-medicate. While there’s a time and context when psychiatric medications can be helpful, ultimately, I believe it’s best for us to deal with the person who is there, hard as that may be. A goal might be to get to a point where we can deal with that person, as opposed to one for whom the reality of the task is greatly masked by all the medications we’ve put them on.)

As for the spiritual component, my hope is in the grace offered to all repentant sinners in Christ. He has the capacity to redeem our lives for His kingdom purposes, giving them meaning beyond anything we can construct for ourselves. His redeeming work in our hearts has implications for the psychological and social aspects of our lives as well.

But to focus on the habits and patterns that we can cultivate to help us move beyond experiences of clinical depression (or any form of encroaching depression), I've found the following common-sense practices to be most helpful:

Building into one’s life regular and predictable patterns of healthy and wholesome behavior, including:

A consistent night’s sleep at regular hours
Maintaining a healthy diet
Maintaining a healthy exercise routine
Seeking positive mental inputs (edifying music, books and films - even something as simple as enjoying a few daily comics can be a good start - something that we can look forward to on a regular basis) while avoiding negative inputs (what I would term as toxic music and lyrics, degenerate books or films, etc.)

Living a life of moral accountability within a Christian fellowship
Finding positive ways of contributing to the life of others (volunteering where there are needs that one can readily help meet is a good place to start, which helps us get our mind off of ourselves.)

To expand on this latter idea, and as those who seek to follow Christ and find our identity in Him, I think we do well to seek further validation of His role or specific calling for us by exploring areas of service where we can be of genuine help to others. This places us within His will, as opposed to seeking our identity in ideological causes or in our most base physical appetites (such as in a sexual appetite, which has sadly become more of a norm for the current generation).

As for the changes I’ve seen in my own life over time, I’m thankful that I was eventually able to set aside the medication that helped me through my most turbulent years, given their long-term negative side effects. Perhaps God simply used the aging process to help stabilize me beyond a time when I most needed to be medicated. He may also have used, at the bidding of wise mentors, the positive behavior patterns I’d built into my life toward accomplishing this same purpose. Most likely, each of these factors were at play.

In any event, it’s a great blessing to have survived those difficult years and to be living an active and productive life now, and one where I can offer some notes on the process as I’ve experienced it. I’d add to this that we do well to thank God for the forgiveness we have in Christ when we fail to live up to even our own self-imposed standards (not to mention His). However we may fail along the way, I think we do well to continue looking to Christ to light our way forward. Proverbs 24:16 may be instructive in that regard: “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” Looking to Christ and His righteousness points us in the right direction.

I believe it’s also best that we avoid treating any one episode or issue in our life as the sole focus of our identity. While an episode of clinical depression may be a part of one’s experience, we can choose to find our identity in Christ above all else. A battle with depression happens to be part of my own story, but it certainly doesn’t characterize my life in its entirety. God can use any such experience toward accomplishing His larger good purposes for our lives. He welcomes us to allow Him to weave our story into His larger redemptive narrative for this world.

Lastly, I believe that episodes of clinical depression impact more than just an individual within a given family. They impact parents and siblings, and where an older person battling depression has a family, it will impact their spouse and children as well. In my case, I had the benefit and blessing of parents who took a long view and sought to encourage me forward as best they could. They didn’t spend the rest of their lives reminding me of my worst moments, but they sought to equip me to move forward and thrive, despite the stark realities of my past. I'll always thank God for how they chose to respond to such a difficult time in their own lives.

It's a blessing that God grants us the grace of moving on from one season of our lives to another. His ultimate earthly calling for those who trust in Christ is to build His kingdom by reflecting His character to the world. It's also an aspect of His grace that He's willing to do that through so many broken vessels as each of us are. This is part of why He seeks to redeem our lives from whatever pit we had dug for ourselves, so that we can live in His love and grace, reflecting that love and grace toward others as we abide in Him.

2024-02-12T13:14:00.025-05:00

For a Happy, Counter-Cultural Valentine's Day

by Jim Kenaston

With Valentine's Day upon us, I'd like to relay some "old school" reflections on the theme. A friend had asked for such input for her young-adult daughters. Given our current place in the shadow of the Sexual Revolution, this may seem as counter-cultural advice, but in light of the relationship carnage we see around us, and with a broadly biblical understanding of male and female differences in mind, this is what I shared with my friend.

The best relationship advice I've ever heard is that we should “never make a decision with permanent consequences while in a temporary situation.” This would be good advice generally, but relative to dating, the notion is that it's best to set aside relationship decisions until our situation is stable, and not while we're going through a seemingly desperate or vulnerable time in our life. For young women, following this advice will help them avoid most of the negative consequences that many have suffered in the wake of the Sexual Revolution.

A second notion would be to limit the contexts where we consider inviting someone to draw close to us in a relationship. I personally don’t trust the current status quo on this theme, such as using dating applications that seek to facilitate online introductions. Going this route leaves us open to people who are actively seeking to market themselves to strangers, and it asks us to do the same. This is also true of people who use bar-hopping as a way of meeting potential dating partners. Among young men, they’re the kind of people who are geared toward treating women as consumer products for their own consumption: they are predators. It's not a wise starting point for a lasting relationship, assuming that's what we want. A better alternative is to rely upon thoughtful introductions made by trusted friends, those who know both us and the person they’re introducing us to.

This "old school" approach worked quite well prior to the Sexual Revolution. Once such an introduction was made, it was thought best to get to know the person within the context of groups of mutual friends over time. This allowed a young woman to observe a man’s interactions with other people and how he treats them, including other female friends in his life. But if a man insists on trying to isolate a woman apart from her watchful friends (who can offer either of them constructive feedback), he's not worth her time and attention.

But let's assume a couple is beyond the early stages of introduction. In today's world, a valid concern women have is in how a man feeds his mind. She owes it to herself to know about the mental inputs he takes in. If he has given himself over to pornography, she would be wise to look for another person to allow into her life. (Tip #1: On a random occasion, she could ask him to show her the browsing history on his phone or computer. If he’s living an above board and transparent life, he should be open to sharing the unedited history, as should anyone who wishes to live a life of proper accountability among genuine friends and good mentors. Tip #2: She could share this article with him to help him understand that tip #1 is a reasonable precaution and request.)

This too may be common sense, though it bears mention, as many young people seem to make the mistake of building on the wrong things that they have in common with someone. It’s always best to build upon positive things (and interests) that you share, and to look for a relationship where the person’s “strong suit” will tend to compliment or help balance your own.

Conversely, it’s wise not to pursue a close relationship where two people are tempted to build upon a shared negative trait or deficit. An example might be an alcoholic who meets someone at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and falls in love. Yes, they have something in common, but it’s not a good starting point for either party.

Whatever one’s deficit in life might be, it’s best to draw close to people who can (compassionately) help us to be strong in the areas where we may be weak. When a couple shares a mutual weakness and hits a low point in their lives together, neither may have the capacity to help the other through.

It's impossible to forecast what or when one’s high and low points in the future will be, though a couple can help themselves by being self-aware and honest with each other about their areas of concern.

Another good suggestion for young women would be to take note of how a young man treats his mother, assuming his mother is still living and is a part of his life. It’s important to see whether he demonstrates respect for her and treats her well. Whatever patterns are seen in his unguarded moments, and particularly where there may be some conflict to resolve, this is what we can expect of how he’ll later treat his wife within their marriage.

Lastly, and for both men and women as we approach another Valentine's Day, I think it’s best that we focus on being the right person rather than finding the right person. If one day we're introduced to “the right person,” we'll at least have focused our energies on improving our own character, and such that we’ll be better prepared to move forward with that "right person" from there.

But, as I'd encourage my friend to tell her young-adult daughters, always be highly selective and patient in the process, because you and your future are well worth it!

With that, have a happy, counter-cultural Valentine's Day.

2023-12-01T06:43:00.012-05:00

Merry Christmas!

If you're inclined toward more traditional forms of celebration (as I am), here are several Christmas-theme hymns that I've found to be quite meaningful:

You'll be relieved to know that I'm not singing on any of these recordings, and that I'm not planning on putting out a Christmas album of my own anytime soon. Still, I hope you'll enjoy tracking along with what these more musically accomplished folks have done.

* * *

By way of an annual update on our family, my sister and brother and I have each moved to a new location within the course of this past year. Diane and her husband Geoffrey are in North Carolina now, and Tom has moved to a new apartment in Denver.

I recently moved to the southeast corner of South Dakota. This new location doesn't exactly parallel my having lived in the southeastern U.S. for many years, though I'm happy with the choice as I continue to settle in here.

While we each continue to mourn the loss of our parents over these last few years, we rejoice in knowing that they're with Christ now, their redeemer and ours. It is with Him that they always knew they would find their ultimate home. Our hope is the same, and that many others will someday join in with that joyous eternal reunion.

Briefly looking back, those of you who knew my parents will recall that they were both world travelers and life-long learners, though they pursued these interests in different ways. My dad loved to travel the world with family members and friends, and he was an avid reader throughout his life, mostly favoring history and biographies.

My mom went about things in a different way, though one that I think is equally valid. In cleaning out their house this past summer, I came across this quote that she had saved, one which I believe accurately conveys her approach to life:

“Become friends with people who aren’t your age. Hang out with people whose first language isn’t the same as yours. Get to know someone who doesn’t come from your social class. This is how you see the world. This is how you grow.”

I think of my parents as having been a gift to so many of us. If you'd like to know more about them (or would enjoy some fond memories among those of you who knew them), please feel free to peruse the family photo albums and other links I've collected here (among various articles that I hope will offer a helpful, edifying, or otherwise encouraging word).

God's grace to you as you strive on in good faith, and according to His calling through the times ahead.

Sincerely,

Jim

[Thanks very much for these kind responses.]

2023-08-20T20:36:00.030-04:00

Subverting the Spirit of the Age
by Jim Kenaston

I recently referenced the 1976 Steely Dan song "The Royal Scam" in what was intended as a rebuke to the Biden administration (here is that brief article). The song focuses on the plight of immigrants to the U.S. during the 1950s and 60s. Our current wave of illegal immigration is one of the concerns I have about our current time. Thus the rebuke, offered via a quote from Steely Dan.

My other concerns about this administration and its supporters include:

The selective enforcement of law
Aggressive prosecution of political opponents while turning a blind eye to crimes committed by members of one's own party
Gaslighting the public through incessant lies and the use of false-flag operations (e.g., the Russia collusion hoax, the J6 "insurrection," censoring evidence of corruption, censoring information contrary to the preferred narrative of the party in power, etc.)
Eschewing education in favor of indoctrinating students toward political activism on behalf of an ideologically driven agenda
Seeking to advance hedonistic and/or narcissistic ideologies, based in the Sexual Revolution, that are harmful to both families and individuals
Political pandering in the form of wealth redistribution initiatives (e.g., student loan forgiveness schemes, proposed just prior to an election, no less)
Unsustainable and irresponsible spending on ideological projects based in alarmist scenarios, increasing of our national debt to the hurt of future generations

One could go on. My sense is that quoting songs of protest by way of rebuke is likely to fall on deaf ears among our cultural elites.

Perhaps a stronger form of rebuke would be to "vote the scoundrels out of office." This may be an optimistic hope in a time when we're no longer certain that we can trust our elections.

My own conclusion is that the strongest rebuke I could personally offer is one that is not limited to the leaders of a specific party or administration, but to the spirit of this age. I draw this from the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans: "...offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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 12:1-2).

In a world awash in materialism and hedonistic values, living in obedience to Christ seems the most subversive choice one could make in rebuking the spirit of this age and the purveyors of lawlessness.

Yes, we should continue to vote, write letters of concern to our representatives, participate in the public square, share our songs of protest, etc., hoping to persuade fellow citizens toward better ways. More importantly, though, the strongest statement we can make with our individual lives comes in choosing to bow to an authority higher than that of the state.

Such a tact welcomes persecution at the hands of the state, but for those of us who claim Christ as our Lord, this is part of what it means to pick up our cross to follow Him. In doing so, our lives serve to subvert the secular values of the age.

As for the corrupt leaders of our time, we're also called to "...love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Christ's ways are indeed subversive, even of our own inclination toward personal retribution.

2023-08-14T13:33:00.009-04:00

'The Royal Scam' Revisited
by Jim Kenaston

Steely Dan's 1976 song The Royal Scam (from the album of the same name) reflects on the plight of Puerto Rican immigrants to New York City during the 1950s and 60s, people who hoped to get a piece of the American dream for themselves, only to have their hopes dashed by the hateful discrimination they experienced soon after their arrival.

The song notes the irony of fabricated success stories the immigrants relayed to relatives back home, helping to perpetuate the "scam" of a new and wonderful life here in the U.S.

As lyricists, Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker were known for the cynicism they cultivated and conveyed in their songwriting. They also created a whole new genre of music, mixing rock and roll with jazz, funk, and R&B. Their musical contribution to the time was certainly unique.

Sadly, the negative message of The Royal Scam has aged well and is still quite relevant today. While part of the scam may still be perpetuated by immigrants themselves, it is also advanced by our current administration, and upon the American people as a whole. Having erased our southern boarder, they're seeking, at taxpayer expense, to resettle illegal immigrants throughout the nation. This is all being done, of course, in the name of compassion, though it's hard to argue that our current leaders aren't simply trying to secure (or buy) a reliable voting block that will help keep them in power.

As the song's refrain proclaims, "See the glory of the royal scam."

I don't expect this chorus to replace "Hail to the Chief" anytime soon, though it seems to me as a fitting substitute, and certainly in light of the human trafficking (and its consequences) surrounding the erasure of our southern border, as well as the gaslighting and the various other forms of curruption we've seen perpetrated by this administration, including their double-standard for justice.

Indeed, "See the glory of the royal scam."

For a cynical walk down memory lane, here's the entirety of the title song from the album:

[And as posted, with comments, in American Thinker]

2023-05-08T15:37:00.022-04:00

Repenting of a Web of Lies
by Jim Kenaston

When a person is caught in a lie, he or she (given two gender options) will often try to cover it by telling another lie. We can lie to ourselves, lie to each other, and we can live our entire lives within an era that lies to itself and anyone who will listen, insisting that others abide by the web of lies we have woven.

Such is our time, and in the wake of the lies of the Sexual Revolution.

Among those lies:

We echo the heresy of 2nd century Gnostics, believing that one's body has nothing to do with who we really are. We deny physical reality, asserting that one's true self is a willful projection of our thoughts and feelings. We insist that others advance this lie by affirming us in our delusion.
Our generation has convinced itself that we live in a completely materialistic universe where whomever is in power is right. Our ethics come down to a calculation of how we can game the system in our favor. Where we fail, we seek to dismantle the system in hopes of creating a new one that will enforce our view of justice, one focused on equal outcomes regardless of individual effort.
We regard sex as being recreational, rather than for the purpose of procreation. We therefore treat each other as sexual objects for personal gratification.
We tell ourselves that we have no obligation to protect the voiceless, powerless unborn, as these souls compromise our comfort and entertainment. Rather than defend the right to life of the defenseless, we have asserted our power in seeking to eliminate them. This has resulted in the death by abortion of over 65 million unborn human beings in America since 1973.

An irony of our present day is that our leaders have recognized the need to replace these lost souls. Their means is through an open-door policy and turning a blind eye on illegal immigration. Their hope is to provide for cheap labor while securing a reliable voting block to help them stay in power. They do this while subjecting an artificially created migrant population to the dangers of drug and human trafficking cartels. Our leaders congratulate themselves for their exercise of compassion toward those they hope will replace a portion of the over 65 million souls lost to abortion.

What would it look like to repent of the lies we have lived by?

In repentance from the lies mentioned above...

We could reject modern expressions of Gnosticism, accepting with thanks the givenness of human personhood as embodied complementary souls, male or female.
We could consider the notion that there is a God to whom we as individuals and our human governments are ultimately accountable, and that ultimate justice can only be accomplished by Him. As we learn to trust the history of how He self-sacrificially addressed the rebellious spirit of humankind, we could pick up our cross to follow Him, trusting Him to do a redemptive work in and through our lives in this world.
We could reject the notion that sex is for entertainment and self-gratification, turning instead toward a view of others as persons made in God's image, not to be worshipped, but to be respected and honored in our actions toward them. Rather than defraud each other in our behaviors, we could honor our commitments to each other in word and deed, reserving intimacy for a lifelong marriage commitment, and one that would meaningfully provide for the children of the next generation.
We could reject the dehumanization of the unborn, defending their right to life. Rather than seek to replace those lost by specious means, we could close and secure our borders while reforming various legal means of immigration into our country.

Over time, such a path might look like the life of an elderly friend of mine. He was orphaned at five months old and was raised by a series of foster-care families. During his teenage years he trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior. He served our country in the Pacific Theater during the last years of World War II. He stayed in the military for another twenty years. He and his wife raised four children (my contemporaries). Those children gave them ten grandchildren, who in turn gave them twenty great-grandchildren. Each of these children were loved by a father and mother and are finding their way in the world. (It is for his service and positive example that I would like to salute and thank Art Bergeson, this dear elderly friend and mentor for many.)

Should we repent of the web of lies we have believed, perhaps in a few generations we'll have recovered something of what we've lost, through legal means, and a new generation will be able to ponder God's redemptive work in this world, and even in our time.

2023-03-28T15:24:00.012-04:00

Long-Saviers-Kenaston Photo Album
Late 19th Century to Mid-1940s Photos of Extended Family & Friends

More about this Album

Photo 1: Calvin Thomas Long
Photo 2: Calvin Thomas Long family
Photo 3: Calvin Thomas Long family
Photo 4: Agee-Long family
Photo 5: Anna Mae Long with Winnie & Bus
Photo 6: Andrew and Long families
Photo 7:   Anna Mae (Long) Andrew and sons
Photo 8: Harvey Augustus Kenaston
Photo 9:   Charlie Burgess & Carrie Edna (Kenaston) Burgess - 1891
Photo 10: Ed Potter, Jessie May (Kenaston) Potter & children - 1898
Photo 11:   The Potter family
Photo 12:   Flora Ermina (Kenaston) Campbell with several daughters and a granddaughter
Photo 13:   Five generations...
Photo 14:   Harvey Dean Kenaston
Photo 15:   George Elsworth Kenaston and family
Photo 16:   George H, Boyd and Lois Kenaston
Photo 17:   George Elsworth Kenaston with "Jeff" & "Bob"
Photo 18:     Sue and Myrt Saviers with Anna Rebecca (Macomb) Saviers
Photo 19:     Margaret Georgia Saviers
Photo 20:   George E. and Sue (Saviers) Kenaston with niece Oda Andreasen
Photo 21:     Myrt, Georgia, and Sue Saviers
Photo 22:     1925 Kenaston Family Reunion in Springview, Nebraska
Photo 23:     George H Kenaston & "Bob"
Photo 24:     George H Kenaston and Anna Mae (Long-Andrew) Kenaston
Photo 25:     1932 Annual Kenaston Family Reunion
Photo 26:     Bunnell-Kenaston-Nichols families
Photo 27:   Long-Kenaston-Andrew families
Photo 28:   George Warren "Casey" Kenaston
Photo 29:   Clair and George W. Kenaston
Photo 30: Clair, Judy, and George W. Kenaston
Photo 31:   Laurance Wilfred "Bus" Long
Photo 32:   William "Bill" Marion Andrew, Jr.
Photo 33: Wilburn Henry "Bud" Andrew
Photo 34: Wilfred Ralph Andrew
Photo 35:   George H and Anna Mae Kenaston
Photo 36: The Andrew-Kenaston family

2023-03-17T09:55:00.143-04:00

Alesse Photo Albums

About this collection

Photo 1: Dominick & Isabella Alesse

Photos from Carmela "Mel" (Alesse) Kenaston's collection:

Photo 2: Guy, Sam & Rosie Alesse
Photo 3: Rose "Rosie" Alessi
Photo 4: Guy Alesse with sister Carmela
Photo 5: Anthony, Rosie & Dominick Alesse with friends
Photo 6: Billie & Marie Alessi
Photo 7:   Possibly Rosie's husband, Frank Cama
Photo 8: Dominick & Isabella Alesse with daughters Josie & Carmela
Photo 9:   Dominick Alesse with friend
Photo 10: Ann DeRosa & Guy Alesse
Photo 11:     Guy & Ann Alesse (wedding day)
Photo 12:   Isabella Alesse with friend
Photo 13:   Dominick & Isabella Alesse with family friends
Photo 14:   Carmela Alesse
Photo 15:   Dominick, Rosie & friend
Photo 16:   Anthony, Josie, Rosie, Marie & Billie with cousins Carl & "Babe" (circa 1931)
Photo 17:   Ann (DeRosa) Alesse with sister-in-law Carmela Alesse
Photo 18:   Rosie Alessi
Photo 19:   Rosie Alessi
Photo 20:   Friends with Carmela Alesse
Photo 21:   Claudette (Roca) and Carmela Alesse
Photo 22:   Baby Amy Ruth Vanderpoel with parents
Photo 23:   unidentified
Photo 24:   Football game, 1949 - Carmela Alesse with friends
Photo 25:   Church Choir: Marie & Carmela Alesse
Photo 26:   unidentified
Photo 27:   Carmela Alesse and friend
Photo 28:   Sam, Tillie & daughter Stephanie (with Billie Alessi partially in view)
Photo 29:   unidentified
Photo 30: Carmela Alesse (as a young teenager)

Photos from Marie (Alessi) Larrew's collection, contributed by her son Steve:

Photo 31: Isabella Alesse with daughters Rosie, Josie, Marie & Carmela
Photo 32: Carmela Alesse at 9 or 10 years old
Photo 33: Marie Alessi with high school class
Photo 34: Marie Alessi with Ann DeRosa and friends
Photo 35: Marie Alessi
Photo 36: Guy Alesse
Photo 37: Marie Alesse, graduation photo
Photo 38: Marie Alessi
Photo 39: Guy Alesse on furlough with family & friends
Photo 40: Guy Alesse & Ann DeRosa
Photo 41: Ann DeRosa & friends
Photo 42: Guy Alesse, Ann DeRosa & friend
Photo 43: Ann DeRosa & friends
Photo 44: Ann DeRosa
Photo 45: Marie Alessi
Photo 46: Carmela Alesse
Photo 47: Billie Alessi
Photo 48: Carmela Alesse
Photo 49: Marie Alessi
Photo 50: Marie Alessi
Photo 51: Clayton Albi
Photo 52: Marie Alessi
Photo 53: Marie Alessi & Fred Larrew at Annapolis dinner party

Other miscellaneous family & friend photos from the 1930s, 40s & 50s:

Photo 54: Dominick & Isabella Alesse with their daughters
Photo 55: Carmela Alesse & Maria Marenghi
Photo 56: Billie Alessi
Photo 57: Carmela Alesse
Photo 58: Carmela Alesse
Photo 59: Guy Alesse
Photo 60: Isabella & Marie Alessi
Photo 61: Carmela Alesse & friend
Photo 62: Carmela Alesse & high school friends
Photo 63: Isabella & Dominick Alesse

For more photos of Carmela Alesse from the 1940s, and from the 1950s with her fiance, George W. "Casey" Kenaston, click here.

Click here to review Marie Alessi's birth certificate and other important life event documents, as provided by her daughter, Keren McAlister.

2023-03-06T07:00:00.058-05:00

Macomb-Saviers Photo Album
Late 19th-Early 20th Century Photos of Extended Family & Friends

More about this Album

Photo 1: Sue & Myrtle Saviers (young)
Photo 2: Sue & Myrtle Saviers (teenage)
Photo 3: John Francis "Jack" Saviers, Jr.
Photo 4: Ed & Calla Ashley's Children
Photo 5: George Hickey
Photo 6: Myrtle "Myrt" Marilla Saviers
Photo 7:   Eugene Eldon Macomb
Photo 8: Margaret Georgia Saviers
Photo 9:   Johnny Macomb (toddler)
Photo 10:   John & Rose Thompson
Photo 11:   George & Charlie Thompson
Photo 12:   Ed & Calla Ashley
Photo 13:   John "Jack" & Margaret Georgia Saviers (toddlers)
Photo 14:   Charles Booth Macomb
Photo 15:   Henry Newton & Dessa Macomb
Photo 16:   Anna Rebecca (Macomb) Saviers, Nancy Malissa Macomb, and niece Grace Ashley
Photo 17:   Sara Jane Saviers with husband Josiah "John" Willard
Photo 18:   Vivian & Myrtle Macomb (infant & toddler)
Photo 19:   Rose Thompson & Nell Macomb
Photo 20:   Leona Evelyn Macomb (toddler)
Photo 21:   Henry Murray
Photo 22:   Clarence, "Lou", and Ethel Murray
Photo 23:   Ethel and Clarence Murray (toddler & infant)
Photo 24:   Clarence Murray (10 years old)
Photo 25:   Susie Hartwell
Photo 26:   George Elsworth Kenaston with Harvey Dean Kenaston
Photo 27:   Anna Rebecca (Macomb-Saviers) Johnson with infant Myrtle Mohr
Photo 28:   Harvey Augustus Kenaston
Photo 29:   Ida May Fry
Photo 30:   Sue Gladys (Saviers) Kenaston
Photo 31:   Eugene, Benjamin Harvey and Claude Burgess (toddler/infant age)
Photo 32:     Claude, Benjamin Harvey and Eugene Burgess (young boys)
Photo 33:   Silas and Maggie Perrine
Photo 34: "Mad Girl" with John Young Saviers
Photo 35:   Georgia Margaret (Saviers) Andreason
Photo 36:   George Washington Macomb & Nancy Almira (Mansker) Macomb
Photo 37:   John Johnson Saviers and Anna Rebecca (Macomb) Saviers
Photo 38:   Miss Bertha Boller & Miss Alice Lorrell
Photo 39:   Mrs. Lyons
Photo 40:   Mrs. Amidon
Photo 41:   Jennie Hansen
Photo 42:   Jennie Hansen
Photo 43:   Mrs. Rutherford & son Adrian Rutherford
Photo 44:   Mr. Rutherford & sons Roy and Ben Rutherford
Photo 45:   Dick & Jessie Scott (Saviers & Macomb family friends)
Photo 46:   Charles & Raymond Rutherford
Photo 47:   Young boy (unidentified)
Photo 48:   Lewis family (Saviers family friends)
Photo 49:   Young boy (unidentified)
Photo 50:   John Dwyer
Photo 51:   Young man (unidentified)
Photo 52:   Dot Storces
Photo 53:   Lerreasa Boyd (family friend)
Photo 54:   Susie Heady
Photo 55:   Lerreasa Boyd (infant photo; family friend)
Photo 56:   Exa Swan (Saviers family friend)
Photo 57:   John Sawn & wife (Saviers family friend)
Photo 58:   Howell (infant photo)
Photo 59:   Dee Storey (friend of George E. Kenaston)
Photo 60:    Rosa Fest
Photo 61:   Ed & Jr. Sizemore
Photo 62:   Frank Vines
Photo 63:   Hattie Dodd

Subsequent extended family photo collections
are highlighted here.

2023-01-27T08:36:00.218-05:00

Escaping the Grip of the Sexual Revolution
by Jim Kenaston

Most of us have either grown up during the Sexual Revolution or have been living in its ever-expanding shadow. Whether through our personal choices informed by its hedonistic ideology or as a victim of other people’s selfish acts, its consequences have been devastating. Any honest assessment would lead one to conclude that it was all based on a string of lies.

The greatest lie at its foundation is one originally acted upon by Adam and Eve, that we humans could determine for ourselves right from wrong apart from trust in the Word of God. Echoes of Genesis are found in the Book of Job, which clearly informs us that we live our lives amid a larger spiritual conflict, one that escapes our ordinary view. Yet every generation has had to choose sides in that unseen war, whether to live by faith in God’s Word, or to go one’s own way and suffer the consequences.

With the Sexual Revolution, our generation has gone its own way, ignoring God’s rightful place and leading in our lives. Romans 1:18-31 explains our idolatrous error and its consequence: God’s judgment, with Him turning us over to our lusts.

The Sexual Revolution's web of deceit

Here we can only scratch the surface on this theme, but by way of introduction, it would help us to learn as much as we can about the nature of the lies that the Sexual Revolution is built upon. Relative to modern times, one of those lies was introduced with the so-called Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries when western culture dismissed the God of the Bible as the arbiter of truth and morals, trusting instead in autonomous man as the measure of all things. This is the same error made by Adam and Eve, one that we have each made in turn, and for which we are all called to repentance.

A second contributing influence for the Sexual Revolution has been Marxist ideology, positing a completely materialistic universe where humans are merely complex electrochemical beings. Marxist thought further dehumanizes us by reducing our relationships to class struggles between oppressors and the oppressed. Any human dignity within this worldview is ascribed to those who can impose their will upon others. We otherwise merely serve as fodder for the next revolution. There is no grace to be found here, only power plays of one class of people perpetrated upon another. In today’s world, the game is to claim a moral authority tied to one’s supposed victim status, and then to leverage that status toward solidifying as much political power as one can.

A third lie of the Sexual Revolution is a resurgence of the 2nd century heresy of Gnosticism. Dr. (and Pastor) Donald T. Williams describes Gnosticism as

“...the belief that the Spiritual is somehow independent of the Body. The body is either the enemy of the spiritual or irrelevant to it—which is why gnostic sects historically either were celibate and anti-body, or grossly immoral, because what the body did had no effect on the real person, which is 'spiritual.' For biblical Christianity, God owns us both spirit and body, and we are to glorify God in the body (which makes no sense to the Gnostic). Our fallenness leaves us open to perversion, whether it be fornication, adultery, homosexuality, or bestiality. (Note that fornication is just as much a perversion of God’s design for sexuality as any of the others) What is new is a much greater drive to justify perversion as morally and spiritually irrelevant. The more gnostic your world view, the harder it is for you to see that your chosen ‘lifestyle’ has any bearing on your standing with God.”

Two modern lies built on this frame are 1) that our identity primarily stems from whatever our most base desires happen to be, and 2) that our significance as individuals is found in our ability to impose our will upon the world, autonomously defining oneself irrespective of the “givenness” of one’s body. Power plays flow from here as well, and as we seek to force others to affirm us in our willful expressions of identity. Borrowing from the Marxist playbook, we take pride in our status as victims of a class of traditionalist oppressors. We create new victims of such people in the present. Again, no grace is to be found.

Considering the path of repentance

An alternative to all this is to repent of the life we have built upon such lies. Rather than treat others as sexual objects for our own gratification, regarding them as subhuman when their very existence stands in our way, we can begin to view others as fellow image-bearers of our creator God, people who have an inherent dignity that demands our respect.

And rather than define ourselves according to a sexual appetite, we can first find our identity as recipients of God’s grace to us in Christ, accepting His atoning death and resurrection as proof of His power over the consequences of our sin. We can then begin finding our identity and purpose in the talents that God has blessed us with, and in the areas of service He has called us to. As a follower of Christ, whatever one’s past, it can be turned into an opportunity to help others escape the grip of sin in their own lives.

In taking an initial step of repentance, we can anticipate a life of spiritual battles, for we do indeed live our lives amid a larger spiritual struggle. Yet God will ultimately prevail, as “...He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

A help in our fight is to accept that in following Christ we pick up our cross and, like Him, die to the self. For our generation, this will amount to waging war against the tenets of the Sexual Revolution. Doing so is to join a counter-cultural movement, one that bows to the God of the Bible and not to the fads and philosophies of our day. As with Christ, when we bow to God’s call, persecution by the secular powers of this world will follow.

In such a battle, we should recognize the concerted effort that the secular culture undertakes toward keeping us entrapped in our past (and in grooming today’s young people for future entrapment). Most modern cultural inputs, whether in books, music or films, seek to reinforce the lies of the Sexual Revolution. Knowing that we’re in a spiritual battle, we do well to reject them, choosing new and better ways to feed our souls. We do well to distrust the messages of those who have built their fortunes by cultivating human lust through any and every means.

Therefore, “...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

But part of our calling is not merely to reform ourselves for our own good, but to help others in their journey as well. We do this in fellowship, seeking godly mentors to guide us along, and by offering ourselves as both repentant sinners and mentors to those whom God brings into our care over time.

While accountability to godly mentors is a blessing to any repentant sinner, so are the inputs of thoughtful Christian writers who have ventured to comment on these themes. Toward that end, here is a listing of articles on the Sexual Revolution and its negative influence upon individuals and society at large. Redemptive models are included, hoping to offer further light for our path forward.

With a call for repentance from the idolatry of the Sexual Revolution...

“...I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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 12:1-2)

2022-12-28T12:25:00.005-05:00

Finding the Right Narrative

by Jim Kenaston

With the recent release of 13,000 National Archive files on the topic, the JFK assassination has been in the news once again.

I was recently asked to watch a lengthy documentary that tied the assassination to a conspiracy of evil characters who, allegedly, were doing the bidding of a group of corrupt, wealthy men. The film was well-produced, and its argument seemed irrefutable. Tracing events through the 20th century to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, numerous events were reinterpreted as "false flag" operations in service of a controlling few. The premise was that wealthy oligarchs had amassed great fortunes by serving as arms dealers and suppliers for both sides of various conflicts. A lionized JFK is cast as one who had gotten in their way (citing, for instance, his balking at the Bay of Pigs invasion), so powerful parties sought to have him removed.

For all I know, this narrative may all be true. Even so, I have to ask a few questions before joining the next revolution. After all, the point of such a production is to gain recruits for one's cause.

My first question centers on whether the film is subjecting me to an emotional appeal.

We all want to believe that we have some special insight into what's happening behind the scenes, or what is really driving events that impact our lives. Nobody wants to be thought of as being naïve. We want to believe that we're fully awake to the political realities surrounding us, dark as such forces may be.

In the film, facts surrounding the JFK assassination were arranged and presented in an orderly and convincing way, though the heart of the argument was indeed an appeal to one's ego. If I accept this rather cynical conspiratorial view, I can feel good about myself for being "woke" to the true realities behind the curtain.

The truth is that we do indeed live amid an evil and crooked generation, and that powerful people, in their conniving, do their best to maintain control over others. For the sake of our political freedoms, we do well to expose their deeds to the light of day and seek to hold them accountable, yet while being mindful of our own sinful choices and need for repentance.

But regarding the overall narrative, this JFK documentary offers one of several grand explanations for our societal woes. Beyond emotional appeals to one's ego, what do they all have in common?

They all identify a class of people victimized at the hands of a group of oppressors. In the case of this particular film, common citizens are portrayed as victims of a wealthy class that uses people as fodder for their wars, all for the purpose of increasing their fortunes. Modern Capitalist Robber Barons are the target of our revolt.

Another current narrative views the world through the lens of ethnicity, pitting ethnic groups against each other as oppressor and victim. A third narrative sees the world through the lens of gender ideology, casting people with traditional values as oppressors of libertine sexual revolutionaries.

Each of these narratives claims special insight or knowledge by its adherents, and a righteous cause against a class of oppressors. They all seek political control. Each one succumbs to the temptation Jesus experienced in the desert: worship something other than the true God of the universe and I will grant you control over the kingdoms of this world.

From a biblical perspective, any such narrative, casting ultimate blame upon a group outside of the Garden of Eden, fails to accurately diagnose the root of our problems, which is our rebellion against God and His prerogative to define for us that which is good or evil. We are all guilty of this same sin.

The solution is not to dismantle society, replacing one social construct with another. It is not to kill the rich, or disfavor a particular ethnic group, or ostracize people who hold to traditional sexual mores, but rather to include oppressor and victim from the full range of human narratives, with ourselves, among those who are in need of redemption.

That redemption is offered through faith in Christ and His completed work on the Cross, not in political power, revolution or human notions of justice. Only God's justice will do, which has been meted out in full, and for each person who will accept Christ's atoning grace by faith, making Him their Lord.

Christ as our Lord leads us away from focusing on other people's sins and our sense of self-righteousness. He leads us to self-examination, repentance and forgiveness, but most importantly, to reconciliation, both with God and with our fellow man. All other narratives fall short.

2022-12-24T11:46:00.050-05:00

Considering Christ and Counting the Cost
A lay sermon delivered in Yangon, Myanmar, February, 2019

However we characterize the world at the start of Genesis 3, by the end of the chapter we are left with fallen humanity in a corrupted world. Man had sinned in seeking to usurp God’s rightful authority in defining what is good or evil. We chose to put ourselves in the place of God, leading to alienation in our relationships; within ourselves, with others, with creation, and with God. The consequences have been devastating and continue to be seen and experienced to this day.

But even within that same early chapter of Genesis we see a hint of hope toward redemption, though one that is always based on faith and not on our own good works or ability to save ourselves. Our first hint of that hope is seen in the passing of judgment upon the evil one who had deceived the woman. God says,

‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’—Genesis 3:15

Much of the rest of the Old Testament prepares us for an offspring of the woman who will crush the head of this evil one. We understand from the narrative and from our experience throughout history that we cannot save or redeem ourselves from our fallen state and its unfolding consequences. The Old Testament teaches generation after generation that we need a Savior, one that would be revealed to us in real history within a real human culture in “the fullness of time.”

The question the Gospels ask us to consider is who Jesus is. Is he the Savior long-awaited by the people of the Old Testament, and does He offer a viable solution to the problem of human fallenness? My own conclusion is that Jesus is in fact this long-awaited Savior (or Messiah, also known as The Christ) who is foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament. How I had come to that conclusion is something I will address in a moment. For me, it is not a matter of having had a miraculous conversion experience, or from having gone from some horrible state of existence to the picture of personal success. These kinds of stories may serve as helpful or encouraging anecdotes, though I do not think they provide a strong basis for another person to believe or change their world view. I think we ultimately need to choose our beliefs based on an honest response to God’s Spirit touching our hearts (and our thinking) in a way that no other person’s well-intended prompting can.

For me this comes in the way of propositional revelation, or a scriptural revealing of what God intends to do before He does it in human history. There is a great deal of this throughout the Old Testament, though one of the strongest examples of it may be found in Isaiah 53, which was written somewhere between 700 and 750 years before Jesus walked this earth in human flesh... [Isaiah 53 read aloud]

You’ll recognize this as a description of Jesus’ life, though while that form of propositional revelation is enough to satisfy me, you may need some further proof. I’ll leave that to God’s guidance through the course of your life, and I pray that He will speak to your heart in a way that makes most sense to you, either through your own experience, your reading, though your relationships with others, some combination of these things, or perhaps even through what we’d understand as a miraculous intervention.

But if you’re one to seek God’s truth, and you come to the same conclusion about who Jesus is as I have, this brings us to a point of application that we find in Matthew 16:24, which reads, “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”

Sadly, in America many of us have embraced a false gospel that suggests following Christ is a path to wealth or personal success. I know this as “the prosperity gospel,” which is partly based on a tendency we’ve cultivated where we try to claim promises that God has not made.

God does not promise that in trusting Jesus and following Him we will necessarily experience personal success in this world. He does not promise that our path through life will be easy, or that we’ll get all the things in life that we might dream of, whether it be marriage and family, a meaningful career, fame, wealth, etc.

What God does promise is that He’ll complete the work that He has started in us (Philippians 1:6 quoted), and that He will be with us through life’s various trials... (James 1:2-4; Romans 8:37-39).

So, we can anticipate that the way forward in trusting Christ as our true Lord will be one of great personal challenge, as noted in Mark 10:29-31: “Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life, but many who are first will be last, and the last first.’”

We should count the cost of following Christ. If you’re like me, that cost may include having to rethink the understanding of the Biblical narrative that you grew up with. As we study His Word and seek to draw closer to Jesus, we may be challenged to new and sometimes uncomfortable perspectives on these things. The lifelong challenge, though, will be in trusting God to lead us in continually prying ourselves from the throne of our hearts while rightly placing Jesus there instead. For some of us this can be an especially painful and often humiliating ordeal, especially where our life has been characterized by a great deal of pride.

Yet whatever one’s challenge in turning from our own ways to following Jesus, it’s one that we’re called to in trusting Him as our one true Lord, but if we count the cost and are willing to submit to Jesus’ Lordship of our life, here’s where Paul tells us begin: “...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.” (Romans 10:9)

Jim Kenaston