The Journeyman's Files

The End For Now

2017-06-27T09:23:00.001-05:00

After much consideration, I have decided to officially suspend the Journeyman's Files.

It is obvious that my interest and energy for posting here has declined significantly in the past year. It has been more than a month since I posted anything. Even before that, I had basically stopped writing anything original, and simply posted excerpts and links to things I found interesting and helpful from other sites. I can continue to do that via Facebook and Twitter.

It's time to acknowledge the reality that this blog's time has past, and to move on.

Thank you to all of you who have followed my blog, and especially those who have commented or shared a post with others. I hope that what you found here has been helpful to your spiritual life. I will leave all the posts online for anyone who searches for topics and can be help by what I've posted here.

I do reserve the right to changed my mind and re-open the blog, but don't consider that to be a likely outcome.

Thanks to all!

A Thematic Approach

2017-05-16T06:51:00.000-05:00

Understanding the Bible Thematically by Chris Bruno (via Crossway)

Understanding the Bible Thematically from Crossway on Vimeo.

There are two ways to do biblical theology.

You can trace the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in one continuous narrative. In my first book, The Whole Story of the Bible in 16 Verses, I was trying to trace that big story by looking at sixteen key “trees” in the overall forest that is the story of the Bible.

In The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words, I'm taking a second approach to biblical theology—a thematic approach. Instead of looking at the whole story in one shot, I'm looking at sixteen key themes and tracing how each theme develops throughout the message of the Bible.

For example, the theme of covenant: you can see throughout Scripture that God makes covenants. He makes a covenant with Adam and Eve in the garden, he makes a covenant with Abraham, he makes a covenant with Moses and Israel, he makes a covenant with David, and he makes promises and establishes a new covenant in and through Jesus. We can trace that one theme throughout the Bible.

In this book I've chosen sixteen themes in order to take a thematic approach to biblical theology.

How To Read the Bible

2017-05-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

How to Read the Bible - Tim Keller

There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then the story is really about him. Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants (sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism, hardship). For example how can I ever fight the ‘giant’ of failure, unless I have a deep security that God will not abandon me? If I see David as my example, the story will never help me fight the failure/giant. But if I see David/Jesus as my substitute, whose victory is imputed to me, then I can stand before the failure/giant. As another example, how can I ever fight the ‘giant’ of persecution or criticism? Unless I can see him forgiving me on the cross, I won’t be able to forgive others. Unless I see him as forgiving me for falling asleep on him (Matt.27:45) I won’t be able to stay awake for him.

In the Old Testament we are continually told that our good works are not enough, that God has made a provision. This provision is pointed to at every place in the Old Testament. We see it in the clothes God makes Adam and Eve in Genesis, to the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs, to the Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system, to the innumerable references to a Messiah, a suffering servant, and so on.

Therefore, to say that the Bible is about Christ is to say that the main theme of the Bible is, ‘Salvation is of the Lord’ (Jonah 2:9).

When You Feel Like Giving Up

2017-05-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

Feeling like quitting? Tired of the race? Don't Trow in the Towel by J. Lee Grady

I have a friend who is a respected Christian leader. But like all of us, he wrestles with his own sins, weaknesses and trials. People associated with his ministry have disrespected him, his family has suffered, and he has struggled with health problems. He has also carried loads of shame since his childhood because of sexual abuse.

My friend recently admitted that he has occasionally asked God to take his life because he was so discouraged. When I prayed with him, I saw a vision of a huge arena. I could see athletes running while the crowd cheered, but my friend was sitting on a bench next to the track. Then I saw Jesus walk over to him, grab his arm and beckon him to get in the race.

My friend turned a spiritual corner after I shared this vision with him. His hope was renewed, and he decided to run the race of faith again. But there are many Christians today who have pulled out of the race because life got too tough. Some were instantly broadsided; others gradually slowed down until they quit.

The apostle Paul wrote to a group of people who were thinking of quitting the race. They were Jewish Christians who faced intense persecution. Using imagery of an athletic arena, Paul said to them: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1).

Are you sitting on the bench? Or are you out of breath because you are lugging 50 pounds of shame and failure? Have you disqualified yourself from the race? Here are five of the most common reasons Christians throw in the towel:

1. Depression or discouragement. When we face stress, tragedy, disappointment, failure or prolonged delay, we will lose hope if we don't stay close to God and cling to His promises. We must remember that the darkness never lasts. "Weeping may last for the night," Psalm 30:5 says, "but a shout of joy comes in the morning."

Charles Spurgeon wrote: "There are no immortal sorrows for immortal saints. They come; but, blessed be God, they also go." No matter what obstacle you face, it will not stand in front of you indefinitely. No matter how heavy and dark the cloud is over your head, the sunshine will soon break through. Though you may not see a light at the end of the tunnel, you must keep pressing forward. You will outlast your problem.

2. Shame or self-loathing. The miracle of grace says all your past sins have been blotted out. If you have trusted in the blood of Christ, heaven has purged all record of your failures. Yet many Christians cannot forgive themselves for their weaknesses, and they imagine that God is still angry with them because they still struggle with temptation. And the devil is eager to remind us of what we once were!

Go back to the cross and give God your doubts, fears and shame. Stop punishing yourself. Trade your sinfulness for His righteousness. Jesus knows you cannot live a sinless life apart from Him—so He chose to live His perfect life through you.

3. Sinful habits. If you struggle with a life-controlling problem, you cannot overcome it alone. You must open your life to mature Christians and confess your weakness. Paul told the Hebrews: "Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble" (Heb. 12:12). Athletes don't rehabilitate themselves—they ask for help. You cannot run the race when sin has crippled you. Be transparent and let the right people pray with you.

4. Distraction. The key to winning a race is focus. Paul emphasized this when he told the Hebrews to fix their eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2). Our focus cannot be on a pastor, a celebrity preacher, a pet doctrine, a church, a denomination, a political party, spiritual gifts or emotions. If you put your trust in any of those things, you will not be able to finish the race. It was Jesus who started His work in you, and only He will complete it.
Regaining your focus is not difficult. Simply set aside some time to pray, and cast your cares on the Lord. Read the Psalms. Listen to praise music. Spend time in God's Word each day. Spurgeon said: "A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't." If you soak your mind in Scripture, you will find unusual grace to press forward, even when all hell is raging against you.

5. Persecution. It's easy to serve God when everybody thinks you're wonderful. But how do you respond when family members and co-workers speak against you because of your faith or your moral convictions? Persecution can tempt us to deny Christ or to make moral compromises. But you must remember that when you suffer for His name's sake, you will be blessed. Peter said when we are persecuted, "the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" (1 Pet. 4:14).

I will tell you what I told my friend last week. Jesus is calling you back in the race. Don't just sit there and let the devil win. Put one foot in front of the other, focus on Jesus and trust Him to give you the strength to run.

Who's Your King?

2017-05-05T07:08:00.001-05:00

Going Vertical

2017-05-01T07:04:00.000-05:00

When I'm overwhelmed by the horizontal perspective of daily living, it's time to go vertical using the Psalms. How the Psalms Verticalize Our Lives by Dane Ortlund at Crossway

Slow Down. Calm Down. Look Up.
The Psalms let us slow down in our very fast-paced lives and commune with God, meditating on who he is. They train us in verticalizing our lives.

So we’re going through our lives and everything is horizontal—our lives in general are lived on this horizontal plane. But the Psalms help us live life mindful of God. In other words, they help us live in an ever-prayerful way, in a way that is worshipful, in a way that brings every adversity to God, and in a way that brings every joy and thanksgiving to God.

This verticalizing of our lives calms us down and helps us live moment by moment in a way that is trusting the Lord and at peace with him.

In The Limbo of Waiting

2017-04-28T06:53:00.000-05:00

I'm in that limbo right now, and have been for a very long time. Yet by grace I still believe. How about you? Check out What to Do When God Isn’t Answering Your Prayers by Ann Swindell at Relevent

All of us have prayers that haven’t been answered yet—at least, not in the way we want them to be. And for some of us, these unanswered prayers feel like the lynchpin of our lives: We feel like if God would just answer this one prayer, everything would finally lock in to place.

So what do we do when we’re in the limbo of waiting? How do we keep moving forward? Here are three things to remember:

1. GOD’S TIMING ISN’T THE SAME AS OURS.

We pray and ask God for something—healing, change, breakthrough—because we see our lives from our perspective (which is the only way we can see things!). But God’s perspective is much, much bigger—it’s eternal in its scope and wisdom. When we start praying for something and it doesn’t happen on our timeline, it’s easy to think that God has forgotten us or refuses to answer. But in truth, God is working out all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Sometimes that means that He is waiting on answering a particular prayer now because He can see down the road and He wants what is eternally and completely best for us. So even though God might seem slow sometimes, He’s never actually slow. He’s not even late. His sense of timing is just way, way better.

2. YOU WON’T BE WAITING FOREVER.

Some of us will have certain prayers answered here on earth, and we’re told to pray persistently about the things on our hearts (Luke 18:1-8). And yet, some of us will pray the same prayer for a lifetime and not see it answered in the way we want here on earth. But I can promise you that you won’t be waiting forever. There is a day coming when Christ will return and make all things new (Revelation 21:5). On that day, every prayer will be answered in its truest and best way, every sickness will disappear, and every trouble will fade. Even death will be swallowed up in life (2 Corinthians 5:4). Christ Himself will meet every longing and fulfill every dream, and all of our waiting will end.

3. GOD LOVES YOU WHOLEHEARTEDLY AND WITHOUT RESERVATION.

Our culture constantly implies that love is the same as license—that loving someone means giving them what they want. But true love isn’t anything like that; true love means giving someone what they deeply need, even if it’s not what they immediately want. God loves us in this way, and that’s why He has given us Christ—His life, death, and resurrection—to secure the way for us to have right relationship with Him. This is the truest form of love: giving us a way to be redeemed when we’ve never deserved it and can’t earn it.

So, when it feels like our prayers keep going unanswered and it might feel like God isn’t loving us, the reality is that He loves us more than anyone else. He proved that love at the cross.

The Wounds That Speak

2017-04-26T06:51:00.000-05:00

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast week.
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne.
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds but Thou alone.

From "Jesus of the Scars" by Edward Shillito
Quoted in Tim Keller's Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering, page 113

Ordinary

2017-04-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Beware the pressure to be an "Extraordinary" Christian - Be Ordinary, Not Extraordinary by Justin Buzzard

Many of us live with a vague, pressured sense that we need to be extraordinary. Extra-ordinary: more than ordinary. Consider the synonyms of extraordinary, this adjective we highly desire: remarkable, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, sensational, stunning, incredible, unbelievable, phenomenal. Your hearts craves this. My heart craves this.

This is a mistake. A trap. A lie. A dead end.

Our pursuit of becoming extraordinary actually prevents us from experiencing the extraordinary. Chasing extraordinariness for ourselves leaves us exhausted and empty of the true extraordinariness we are designed to enjoy. Your job as a human isn’t to be extra-ordinary, your job is to be ordinary. Your mission in life is to be an ordinary person who trusts an extraordinary God. In the drama of life your role is to be human, God’s role is to be God. This drama is themed for the extraordinary, but the character who brings the amazing, astounding, sensational, unbelievable to the script is not you, but God.

So, quit trying to play a role in life that you were not designed to play. Be the very unique, yet very ordinary, human God formed you to be. And play your part with childlike wonder as you behold our extraordinary God who takes center stage and wants to dazzle you with his extraordinary being and extraordinary ways.

Today, be ordinary. Be human. And look to God—ask God, cry out to God, trust God, believe God to show himself extraordinary. Enjoy the freedom of playing your ordinary role which shines the spotlight on our extraordinary God.

Seven Promises

2017-04-24T07:20:00.000-05:00

7 Gospel Promises To Embrace Today by Paul Tripp

You may have heard me say this before, but it's worth repeating again: I'm deeply persuaded that many Christians, myself included, have a big gap in the middle of our gospel theology.

Let me break it down and then apply it in a fresh way:

I think we have a strong understanding of the theology of gospel past - meaning, we trust deeply in the historical sacrifice of Jesus which paid the penalty for our sins.

I also think that we have a strong understanding of the theology of gospel future - meaning, we trust eagerly in the eternal promise of heaven that's coming.

But there's something missing in the middle. We either don't understand, or fail to embrace, the theology of the "now-ism" of the gospel. In other words, we don't take full advantage of all the benefits of the work of Christ today.

In this post, I want to briefly outline 7 gospel promises that are offered to us right here, right now. It's my hope that you would save this link or print off the post and come back to these promises regularly!

1. The Gospel Promises Forgiveness Today

Even though we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus, we don't fully embrace his forgiveness today. Many of us carry around our sins in a metaphorical backpack of regret, bruising our spiritual shoulders and breaking the back of our faith.

Jesus took the weight of our sin on himself so that we wouldn't have to carry it any longer. He says that he will remember our sins no more, but will separate us from those sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

What freedom is found here! It makes no sense for a believer to live imprisoned by fear, paralyzed by regret, in the darkness of guilt and shame when complete forgiveness has been offered to us.

2. The Gospel Promises Deliverance Today

Christ came not only to forgive our sins, but to deliver us from them. On the Cross, he broke the power of sin's mastery over us (see Romans 6:1–14). That means we don't have to give in any longer to sins that used to dominate us.

Your life should look progressively different after you come to Christ. Addictions can be broken. We can speak in a new way. We don't have to be so angry all the time. It will take effort, and you'll need to surround yourself with resources from the body of Christ to help, but the gospel won't settle for anything less than heart and life transformation.

3. The Gospel Promises Power Today

If the gospel promises deliverance, it must also promise power to deliver. As the Lord said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). In ourselves we have no power and can do no good thing, but the Lord doesn't abandon us there.

The gospel fills us with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can be delivered to a new life that benefits others and glorifies God. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is living within us (Ephesians 1:19-20).

4. The Gospel Promises Restoration Today
It's easy to look back on our lives and see the wreckage of lost opportunity. It's tempting to wish we could rewind time and delete previous words and actions. It's natural to question why God took so long to reveal our sinful ways to us.

But the gospel promises restoration, and not just with a new heaven and a new earth. The Lord says, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten [...] You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God" (Joel 2:25–26).

God is a Restorer. The years haven't been wasted. In his sovereign love, God has been bringing us to this point of insight and conviction at just the right moment. His timing is always right. The process has been tailor-made to accomplish what he promised - a harvest of righteousness. And wonderfully, God promises to restore what has been lost in the process so that we, his people, will not be put to shame (Joel 2:27).

5. The Gospel Promises Reconciliation Today

At the heart of the gospel narrative is the coming of the Prince of Peace. In him, we find reconciliation not only with God, but with one another. He's the only One who can destroy the walls that separate people (Ephesians 2:14–18).

Only the gospel of Jesus Christ is able to put love in hearts where hate once reigned. Only the gospel makes thoughtless, self-absorbed people tender and compassionate. Out of the coal of human sin and failure, the gospel produces the jewel of godliness.

I love what the Bible says: "He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers" (Malachi 4:6). Jesus came so that his church would be a community of unity and love (John 17:20–23). Today, the gospel promises hope where your relationships have been damaged or even destroyed.
6. The Gospel Promises Wisdom Today

You may be thinking, "I know that my life needs to change, but I don't know where to start or what do to!" This is where the promise of the wisdom of the gospel shines. James says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5).

How simple, yet how encouraging! We have no reason to despair over our own ignorance when "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:3). The invitation is simple: "Come, ask, and I will give!"

7. The Gospel Promises Mercy Today

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus was tempted like we are in every point, so he understands and sympathizes with our weaknesses. We can come to him and find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14–16).

In the hardest of situations, in the most trying of relationships, we never stand alone with only our personal abilities to help us. We are in Christ, and in him we can do what would otherwise be impossible.

So today, as you face the realities of life in a broken world, remember the gospel promise of 2 Peter 1:3 - God has already given you everything you need for a godly life.

Remind yourself of these 7 daily gospel promises as you look forward to the gospel promise of eternity!

Prayer To A Broken God

2017-04-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

To A Broken God by Michael Card

Didn’t see You there, didn’t know You were weeping too;
I think of tears as a human wound.
Though of course You care, You have shown You were human too,
They say You cried at Lazarus’ tomb.

I was unaware how it is with a broken God,
I thought of You as above my pain.
Lost in my despair, so it is with a broken heart,
I never dreamed You could feel the same.

Once, in a magazine I saw a face
wrinkled up in grief and travailed grace;
I kept looking to that face,
some sad refugee in some sad place.
And in his eyes the sorrow of our race;
then I saw it was the face of God,
the face of God—Your face, dear God.

Some say You’re not there, just a myth for a lazy life,
an artifact from an ancient scroll.
But I have known You near in the gift of a weary sigh,
Lord of the lost and the lonesome soul.

I was unaware how it is with a broken God,
I never dreamed You could feel the same.

http://www.michaelcard.com/

Insufficient Sufficiency

2017-04-20T06:48:00.000-05:00

I've thought about the meaning of 2 Corinthians 3:5 a LOT! I think this guy got it right -Insufficient Sufficiency by Justin Buzzard

Americans like to be good at everything and have everything together. This cultural value causes confusion and problems in the church. Many American Christians (myself included) can find themselves destructively, unconsciously mixing this self-sufficiency value with biblical truth. The result is belief in and bondage to a lie: that God is looking for you to become increasingly sufficient and have everything together in order for God to really use you.

Do you see how ridiculous this sounds? “The All-Sufficient God wants you to be sufficient so that he can show off your sufficiency, instead of his!” Ridiculous.

The pulse-beat of the Bible and the Christian life is one that highlights human insufficiency and God’s sufficiency. This, this discovery of personal weakness that taps you into God’s strength, is the proven path that leads people, churches, and movements of the gospel into deeper intimacy with God and wider influence for God. Long ago an insufficient man named Paul put it well:

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God…” -2 Corinthians 3:5
Don’t pursue sufficiency today. Instead, pursue insufficient sufficiency. Discover the freedom of bringing your inadequacy to God and letting him fill you with his adequacy.

Stressed Out

2017-04-19T06:53:00.000-05:00

Feeling stressed out? That's a rhetorical question: We all feel stressed now a days. Check out 4 Pieces of Advice for Stressed Out Christians by David Murray, author of Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture. (HT: Crossway)

1. Be Honest
Are you feeling stressed, anxious, burned out? Right now, the first thing you have to do is be honest about it—with yourself, first of all. Don’t deny it, don’t pretend it’s not there. Face up to it.

And then be honest with your wife, or a friend, or a pastor, and start sharing and seeking help.

2. Get Help

That’s the second step: get help. You can’t usually fix this on your own. You need outside help—maybe a doctor, or a friend, or a spouse to keep you accountable.

3. Be Holistic
The third thing is be holistic in your approach. Don’t just think, “Oh, I’ll just address the physical, or the spiritual, or the relational . . .” but address all of these areas. Look at all of these areas in terms of causes and cures.

Causes of burnout can be divided into two types: On the one side there is what I would call life situations, and on the other side, lifestyle.

Life situations are things we have very little choice or control over. These are events or situations that happen to us: you lose a loved one, you lose a job, you relocate, you have family conflict. There are things that happen that cause stress or anxiety that you really have no control over.

On the other hand, there is lifestyle. These are things we choose, things we have control over: how long we work, how hard we work, how many days we work. There’s also lifestyle in terms of financial level we live at, exercise, how we eat—all these things that we have control over and can make choices about but we’re making the wrong choices.

Often it’s not just one thing, but lots of things that come together, either life situation, or lifestyle, or sometimes both.

4. Have Hope
The fourth thing is have hope. Many have been there—I’ve been there, lots of men I’ve counseled have been there. If you use the God-ordained means that he has graciously provided, you’ll come out of it, so don’t give up.

King Solomon's Rules for Social Media

2017-04-18T07:13:00.000-05:00

From the wisest man of all time - Solomon's Twitter Guidelines ( via Kevin DeYoung). And BTW, these also apply to Facebook and other social media sites!

Twitter can be great. I often find good articles, good lines, and good laughs during my daily Twitter scroll. But Twitter—like any other social media outlet—can be a cesspool of vanity and vice.

I’ve probably broken these rules more than I realize, but here’s how I think about what I should and shouldn’t tweet. A big shout out to King Solomon for his help is putting these 25 guidelines together.

1. Think before you tweet, and don’t be afraid to just delete. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Prov. 12:18)

2. It’s okay to unfollow some people, block them, or ignore them. Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge (Prov. 14:7)

3. Turn the volume down from 11. Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly (Prov. 14:29).

4. Don’t make things worse. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention (15:18).

5. Their platform is pointless if it makes an end run around humility. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor (Prov. 15:33).

6. There is nothing impressive about being a hothead. Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city (Prov. 16:32).

7. Make good news public, and keep bad news as private as possible. Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends (Prov. 17:9).

8. Most Twitter brawls are a waste of time. A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool (Prov. 17:10).

9. Don’t mess around with trolls. Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly (Prov. 17:12).

10. Seriously, don’t get into fights on Twitter. The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out (Prov. 17:14).

11. Just because you think it, doesn’t mean you have to say it. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent (Prov. 17:28).

12. Get the facts first. If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame (Prov. 18:13).

13. Don’t rush to get your hot take out there as soon as possible. The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him (Prov. 18:17).

14. Relax, it’s probably not a big deal. Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense (Prov. 19.:11).

15. Learn from those who have something to teach. Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future (Prov. 19:20).

16. There is no shame in ignoring your mentions. It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling (Prov. 20:3).

17. Think twice (or three or four or five times) before you make a statement or an accusation that could ruin a person’s reputation. A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold (Prov. 22:1).

18. Don’t go chasing waterfalls. Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day (Prov. 23:17).

19. Don’t embarrass your Mom and Dad. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice (Prov. 23:25).

20. Be concerned if you are happy over bad news. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles (Prov. 24:17).

21. Haters gonna hate. Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out (Prov. 24:19-20).

22. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him (Prov. 26:12).

23. Stay out of trouble. Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears (Prov. 26:17).

24. Don’t exaggerate the failings of your enemies or the successes of your friends. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin (Prov. 26:28).

25. For heaven’s sake, stop retweeting compliments and embedding quotations about your awesomeness. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips (Prov. 27:2).

Being Present in the Moment

2017-04-17T06:56:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but I fight battles with distraction every day. I found this helpful -
Dead to Distraction by Carolyn Arends:

Carolyn Arends

I had just flown into Santa Barbara and met up with several colleagues for a working dinner. While others placed their orders with the waiter, our president, Chris Hall, and I both pulled out our smart phones for a quick email check. I noticed a positive response on a logistical matter we’d been concerned about, so I exclaimed, “Oh, good!” Unfortunately, it wasn’t until a nanosecond after I spoke that I registered what Chris, lost in his own email reverie, had said a nanosecond before I spoke: “Oh no, my friend has passed away.”

So, to recap:

My boss: Oh no, my friend has passed away.

Me: Oh, good!

Fortunately, Chris has a great sense of humour. Once he got over the shock of our exchange, he began laughing, and we still chuckle about it every time it comes up.

Still, the moment has become emblematic for me of the dangers of living in a state of constant distraction. Rest assured, I’m not usually as tone deaf as I was in that isolated incident. But I suspect the clamor of “everything there is to do and think about” is drowning out some important music around me—leaving me considerably less able to respond in tune.

Twenty-first century western culture is often proclaimed the most distracted in history. Having not lived in many other centuries, I can neither confirm or deny the assertion. But I can testify that distraction, noise, overwhelm, hurry, and a pinging iPhone are serious factors in everyday life. Whether I’m trying to put sustained thought into my work, track with a meandering friend, or be still in God’s presence, focused attention seems costly and, at times, elusive.

I’m not alone, of course. A spate of recent business management books (including helpful offerings like Greg McKeown’s Essentialism and Cal Newport’s Deep Work) diagnose and aim to treat our Distraction Sickness. We’re urged to pare down our commitments, schedule sacrosanct blocks of uninterrupted work time, and use social media and email only at controlled intervals. McKeown suggests that we shouldn’t automatically pull out our smart phones even during idle times (like in a line-up at the bank), but rather intentionally push against the compulsion to distract ourselves and develop new habits of stillness, patience, and thoughtfulness.

It’s easy to think of technology as the viral agent in our Distraction Sickness, and in many respects, it is. But Joshua Rothman, a writer for The New Yorker, points out that there are actually two possible explanations for the growth of distraction. The first, indeed, is material—we live in a society “designed to distract us” in relentless (and ever-increasing) ways.

But Rothman argues the second possible cause is spiritual—that “we’re distracted because our souls are troubled.” He notes that this problem predates the advent of the smart phone—in the seventeenth century Pascal observed that “all men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” Of course, Rothman could just as easily sourced an even earlier documentation of the problem. “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” asks the psalmist. “Why so disturbed within me?” (Ps 42:11)

It seems that the material and spiritual are explanations not in competition, but in cahoots. Our souls are restless (as Augustine self-diagnosed in the late-fourth century). Instead of finding real rest in our Creator, we create ever-evolving distractions, which in turn make us ever more restless. If we are the most distracted culture in history, it’s likely because we’ve had so many centuries to get good at distraction.

This cycle of distraction is so entrenched that it’s easy to think it can never be changed. But before we resign ourselves to lives of scattered diffusion, it would be good to spend some time in Romans 6. The Apostle Paul reminds us repeatedly that we are no longer slaves to any form of sin. But there’s a catch. Sin no longer masters us because we are now slaves to righteousness (Rom 6:18). Perhaps we will never shake our compulsion to distraction until we are captured by something more compelling.

In my work with Renovaré (an organization that exists to encourage healthy Christian spiritual formation), I’ve met folks who seem to have been healed from Distraction Sickness. One of them is Chris Hall, the man I mentioned at the beginning of this piece. Despite (or rather because of) the many demands on his time, Chris begins every day in extended silence, attending to the still small voice so that he’ll be able to stay in dialogue with God the rest of his busy day.

Another hopeful example is Trevor Hudson (a South African preacher and author who teaches at the Renovaré Institute). Recently I asked Trevor how he came to be so strikingly unhurried with people. He told me that he’d been on a conscious journey with God of learning to be present—to himself, to other people, and to God. His un-distractedness is a by-product of that desire to be present, rather than the other way around.

I think Trevor is onto something. If I can be, as Paul puts it in Romans, “alive to God” (6:11)— fully awake and present to his presence within me, within the world he’s made, and within other people—perhaps I can, slowly and surely, become “dead to distraction.” And that’s the sort of death which I can appropriately call good.

Death Has Died To Rise No More

2017-04-16T06:50:00.000-05:00

Because the tomb is empty
His light shines forth,
and death no longer controls the day

Because the Light-bringer is risen
His light will never fade
and death has died to rise no more.

Easter Truths

2017-04-15T07:56:00.000-05:00

Some things to meditate on this Easter Season - 9 Things You Need to Know About the Resurrection by Joe Carter

This week news broke that a quarter of self-proclaiming Christians in Great Britain do not believe in the Resurrection according to a study by the BBC. For those of you who will celebrate the Resurrection this Easter Sunday, that figure may be shocking. For every reader of this blog, there are 9 things you need to know about the Resurrection.

1. Belief in the Resurrection is the core doctrine of the Christians faith. If you do not believe in the Resurrection, then you do not have a relationship with God in and through Jesus Christ.

“…If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9).
“And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor 15:17).
2. The Resurrection gives everyone else who dies hope for eternal life. The Bible teaches that since Jesus lives as a result of the Resurrection, all those who have a relationship with Him have hope that they too will live with Him in eternity.

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” 1 Cor 15:20-22).
Jesus said, “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself: that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).
3. The disciples who became apostles did not understand it initially. As followers of Jesus on earth, Jesus taught the disciples about the Resurrection but they did not understand him until after the actual Resurrection.

“Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant” (Mark 9:9-10).
“Then some of His disciples said among themselves, ‘What is this that He says to us…’” (John 16:17).
4. The religious leaders of the Jews were afraid of the Resurrection. The religious leaders did not appreciate Jesus’ message that threatened their power and upset their system of religion. They were afraid of a risen Messiah or Savior.

“…So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard” (Matthew 27:62-66).
5. The Resurrection provided the disciples joy and a foundation for belief. When teaching the disciples about the Resurrection, Jesus said that their sorrow of His death would be turned into joy – joy that no one can take from you. John recalled these words as He encouraged people to believe in Jesus.

Jesus said, “Most assuredly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. … Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (John 16:20-22).
6. The Resurrection was attested by eyewitnesses. Paul lists many of those who saw the resurrected Jesus.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Cor 15:1-8).
7. The Resurrection demonstrated Jesus is the Son of God. Paul saw the Resurrection as proof-positive that Jesus was the Son of God.

“…concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:3-4).
8. The Resurrection provides the basis for our salvation. Jesus went to the cross because of our sins and a wrath-bearing sacrifice was necessary. He was raised from the dead to provide for our justification or salvation.

“…It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:24-25, ESV).
9. The Resurrection provides you the power to live a God-honoring life. The power of the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead as demonstrated by the Resurrection is the same power that abides in you and gives you hope for true life change, which is living a life that honors God.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom 8:11).
“…and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly place…” (Eph 1:19-23; cf. Eph 3:20-21)).
“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…” (Phil 3:10).

Personal Liturgies

2017-04-13T06:49:00.000-05:00

"When I find myself in times of trouble..." it's not Mother Mary that I need: I need Jesus! I've found that I have the most access to his power and enabling presence when I structure my life more around disciplined habits of prayer and scripture reading.

Check out The Spiritual Discipline You Need In Time of Trouble by Reuban Posthuma via Relevant

On occasional dark days, I’m tempted to view my life as a losing, lonely battle.

“Existence is suffering,” my foolish heart cries, and with Sartre, “hell is other people.” When pain and darkness crush our hearts, we find it difficult to cry out to God. In the midst of suffering, we cry, but our cries often ignore the living God. This is not a new problem.

Author David Powlison points out that this is God’s charge in Hosea 7:14: Instead of crying to Him, God’s people cry with their faces against the wall.

Pain, like unexpected road-kill, can splatter the entire windscreen of our hearts’ vision. It demands a response. Either we will cry out “my pain, my pain, my pain”, or we’ll cry with Jesus “my God, my God” (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46).

As the Spirit works in us, we expect to grow in our reliance on God. But how?

One way we can do this is by taking in God’s Word and crafting liturgies for our hearts.

You may be familiar with liturgies within a church service. Personal liturgies are the same idea: Regular patterns or disciplines that can guide our spiritual growth.

For example, in the midst of severe depression a couple years ago, Psalm 23 formed the basis of my own personal liturgy. My heart screamed of things it wanted. I was tempted to believe that God didn’t care. I was terrified of the darkness.

As I learned to pray Psalm 23 multiple times during the day, I began to connect it to John 10:

Lord, you are my shepherd. In fact, you are my good shepherd in Christ, and He laid down His life for me. In this, you’ve proved that you will graciously give me all things: I lack nothing. You are leading me beside still waters, even though today feels stormy. I fear the evil I feel dogging me: please, restore my soul.

It seems that our pain often ebbs and flows, which gives us a chance to collect our thoughts and tune our liturgies for the next round of struggle. As the pain changes, our requests can morph. As we see more of the darkness in our hearts, we can add facets of repentance.

As God reveals more of His grace in other scriptures, we can tweak our liturgies.

Personal liturgies make theology practical.

Preparing liturgies puts legs on our theology. We know that our hearts are prone to cry out on our beds, rather than to God. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” We understand the threat, and we take away the excuse of “I don’t know what to pray”.

We know that God delights to hear us, and that we have access to His throne of grace as beloved children (Romans 5:2, Hebrews 5).

We know that we need God’s help desperately. Tomorrow, when I can’t rouse myself from bed, I’m going to need assistance to be able to call for God’s help. We write liturgies to help our desperate hearts call to the Savior.

Finally, we prepare liturgies because Jesus used scripture to guide His prayers in the midst of His suffering.

How to Start Practicing Personal Liturgies

With all this in mind, pick a passage which maps onto a particular hurt in your life right now. The Psalms of ascent are a brilliant place to start. Beginning often with a severe hardship, they move towards an agitated confidence in God.

This is the goal of our liturgies: to take your sorrowful hearts and shift it to praise, even when you don’t feel like it.

Once you have a passage, begin praying it. Write it down. Over time, add particular cries to God, add scriptures which draw you toward Christ more explicitly, and keep praying it. Ask that the Spirit would make you really feel the praise and the cries you offer.

Psalm 131 is a great psalm to pray with a troubled heart. Consider praying it repeatedly, with different emphases each time:

1. Confession: “Lord, my heart is proud: it is not calmed.”
2. Looking to Jesus: “Jesus, thank you that your heart was not proud, that you stilled your soul before God perfectly.”
3. I am weak: “Spirit, humble my heart and calm my soul.”
4. Commitment: “Lord, my heart is not proud.”

Grab a notebook, and begin a liturgy before the God who hears. If that feels impossible, ask a trusted friend for a passage, and discuss how you can pray it together.

Our hearts hurt, and the pain threatens to sink us. We have a Savior who is familiar with our weakness, we have a God who hears our cries, and we have the Spirit who stirs our heart to prayer.

Let scripture guide your hurting heart to cry out.

Ruthless Perfection

2017-04-12T06:48:00.000-05:00

"When he said, ‘Be perfect,’ He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder – in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird; it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad….

"...If we let Him – for we can prevent Him, if we choose – He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a small scale). His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for." Nothing less.

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, book 4, chapters. 8,9)

Thrice Denied

2017-04-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

The Cost

2017-03-24T09:46:00.001-05:00

"What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can’t believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God."

- Flannery O'Connor

Essentials

2017-03-20T06:55:00.000-05:00

3 Things We Must Believe About God's Word adapted from Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me by Kevin DeYoung.

Essentials
In Psalm 119 we see at least three essential, irreducible characteristics we should believe about God’s word.

1. God’s word says what is true.
Like the psalmist, we can trust in the word (v. 42), knowing that it is altogether true (v. 142). We can’t trust everything we read on the Internet. We can’t trust everything we hear from our professors. We certainly can’t trust all the facts given by our politicians. We can’t even trust the fact-checkers who check those facts! Statistics can be manipulated. Photographs can be faked. Magazine covers can be airbrushed. Our teachers, our friends, our science, our studies, even our eyes can deceive us. But the word of God is entirely true and always true:

God’s word is firmly fixed in the heavens (v. 89); it doesn’t change. There is no limit to its perfection (v. 96); it contains nothing corrupt. All God’s righteous rules endure forever (v. 160); they never get old and never wear out.

If you ever think to yourself, “I need to know what is true— what is true about me, true about people, true about the world, true about the future, true about the past, true about the good life, and true about God,” then come to God’s word. It teaches only what is true: “Sanctify them in the truth,” Jesus said; “your word is truth” (John 17:17).

2. God’s word demands what is right.
The psalmist gladly acknowledges God’s right to issue commands and humbly accepts that all these commands are right. “I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous,” he says (Ps. 119:75). All God’s commandments are sure (v. 86). All his precepts are right (v. 128). I sometimes hear Christians admit that they don’t like what the Bible says, but since it’s the Bible they have to obey it. On one level, this is an admirable example of submitting oneself to the word of God. And yet, we should go one step further and learn to see the goodness and rightness in all that God commands. We should love what God loves and delight in whatever he says. God does not lay down arbitrary rules. He does not give orders so that we might be restricted and miserable. He never requires what is impure, unloving, or unwise. His demands are always noble, always just, and always righteous.

3. God’s word provides what is good.
According to Psalm 119, the word of God is the way of happiness (vv. 1–2), the way to avoid shame (v. 6), the way of safety (v. 9), and the way of good counsel (v. 24). The word gives us strength (v. 28) and hope (v. 43). It provides wisdom (vv. 98–100, 130) and shows us the way we should go (v. 105). God’s verbal revelation, whether in spoken form in redemptive history or in the covenantal documents of redemptive history (i.e., the Bible), is unfailingly perfect. As the people of God, we believe the word of God can be trusted in every way to speak what is true, command what is right, and provide us with what is good.

Who Was St. Patrick?

2017-03-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

HT: Christian History Made Easy

Answering the Lies

2017-03-16T07:10:00.000-05:00

Have you believed any demoralizing lies lately? Check out Three Lies We Might Easily Believe by Ray Ortlund:

It is very much in the Devil’s interests that we despair. If he can get us to believe any of these three demoralizing lies that he loves to whisper into our thoughts, our powers for Jesus are greatly diminished. And each one seems to us quite plausible.

Lie #1: “You’re a hypocrite. Sure, you’re serving Jesus. But you don’t really mean it. It’s really all about you. You might as well give up.”

Answer: “Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20). “I do not even judge myself. . . . It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:3-4).

Lie #2: “You’re a loser. You’ve ruined your life. You’re too damaged by now. You’ll never amount to anything for the Lord. You might as well give up.”

Answer: “. . . the poor, . . . the brokenhearted, . . . the captives, . . . that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations” (Isaiah 61:1-4).

Lie #3: “You’re too small. You’re so buried under the debris of our complex and crowded world today, you’ll never make an impact. You’re making no difference at all. You might as well give up.”

Answer: “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:28-29).

Each lie is believable, in its way. So we don’t defeat the lies by pushing back with our own beliefs, which are little more than stabs at truth. We push back by declaring God’s Word, which has a decisive finality our own little thoughts cannot generate.

Both And

2017-03-15T16:15:00.000-05:00

Why do we always want to break things into dichotomies: Two options only, and only one available. Sometimes we must simply choose YES, both and, rather than either or. For example, check out As A Christian I Favor National Security and Refugee Care by Scott Sauls

All partisan politics aside (truly), I am an evangelical Christian pastor who supports our President’s commitment to national security and who favors doing everything possible to help the world’s most vulnerable refugees get out of harm’s way as quickly and safely as possible. I support both of these commitments because in Jesus, my conscience is bound by both. And, as Luther once famously said, “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe.”

This is not a new subject for me or for the church that I serve. For two years strong, Christ Presbyterian in Nashville has embraced every opportunity availed to us to give a cup of cold water to the least of these, especially Syrian refugees who are out there on the run, as well as the sixty thousand or so who now reside in Nashville. Currently, we have several missional communities and member-led nonprofits focused on refugee care. We have deployed over $150,000 toward relief efforts, partnering with organizations such as World Relief, World Vision, and Preemptive Love Coalition. As for me, I have preached sermons, written essays, and spoken at conferences on this crisis. Our oldest daughter is majoring in Global Studies, volunteering for a refugee resettlement organization, and planning to learn Arabic in the Middle East so she can return to the States and minister among Muslim refugees as a Christian. My wife has recently become engaged in the crisis locally. Finally, I have written about this humanitarian crisis in chapter 18 of my latest book, Befriend, a book about creating belonging in an age of judgment, isolation and fear.

Lest the reader interpret this as some sort of left-wing partisan stance, it is not. I stand for the vulnerable refugee in the same way that I have always stood for the vulnerable unborn. It is a biblically-driven justice and human rights stance, plain and simple. I have no personal beef with President Obama or President Trump. For this reason, my liberal friends sometimes suspect me of being a Republican and my conservative friends sometimes suspect me of being a Democrat. You might say that I am one of those pastors who feels too conservative for his liberal friends and too liberal for his conservative friends. If this is an outcome of following the whole Jesus instead of merely following part of him, then sign me up and so be it.

In addition to being for the unborn and for the refugee, I am committed to a stance of honor regarding any leader, especially when said leader holds the office of President. Our church has supported my commitment not to insult, belittle, or speak ill of either President Obama or of our new President, Donald Trump (I wrote more about this in a previous post, which can be seen here). Instead, our people have joined me in the equally Christian commitment to show respect for all leaders, including those whose policies and personalities may at times stand in contrast to Christian convictions and beliefs. To the church in a decidedly anti-Christian Rome, Paul wrote the following under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (Romans 13:1)

This was true of President Obama. It is also true of President Trump.

Thankfully, as an evangelical Christian, I am not alone in my desire to honor our leaders and remain committed to refugee care.

Recently, I joined evangelical leaders across North America including friends like Tim and Kathy Keller, Bill and Lynne Hybels, John Perkins, Ann Voskamp, Sandy Willson, John Yates, Max Lucado, Eugene Cho and many others, by adding my signature to this petition to our President. (Most unfortunately, certain news outlets have attached inflammatory, partisan headlines to the story that have, in the experience of many, caused the actual substance of the petition to be lost. For example, one outlet called the petition a “denouncement” of President Trump. The use of such a word is an inflammatory overreach, to say the least. Please ignore the headlines and read the actual petition.)

The petition itself states both affirmation and concern. For example:

As Christians, we have a historic call expressed over two thousand years, to serve the suffering. We cannot abandon this call now. We live in a dangerous world and affirm the crucial role of government in protecting us from harm and in setting the terms on refugee admissions.

However, compassion and security can coexist, as they have for decades. For the persecuted and suffering, every day matters; every delay is a crushing blow to hope.

Specifically, we are evangelical Christians concerned for refugees who (a) are running for their lives from religious and/or political persecution, (b) have been shown through existing processes to pose no threat, and (c) have been banned from entry into the United States for a minimum of 90-120 days. While we fully support and appreciate President Trump in his stated mission to protect U.S. citizens from harm, we are similarly concerned for the safety and protection of refugees—some of whom are Christian, most of whom are Muslim, and nearly all of whom come from the homeland of Jesus himself. We express this concern not in spite of our Christian beliefs, but because of them.

To those who wonder why our Christian call to compassion includes Muslims, the answer is made clear in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, an at-risk Jewish man—having been mugged and beaten and left vulnerable to further abuse on the side of the road—is rescued, escorted to safety, and loved back to life by his religious opposite, a Samaritan. The merciful foreigner is the antithesis of the victim’s two fellow countrymen, both professional clergy, who ignore the victim’s cry and quietly walk by on the other side of the road (Luke 10:25-37).

While the two clergymen continue to Jerusalem to report for religious duty, the Samaritan sees it as his religious duty to prioritize the human need before him. At great cost to himself, he offers money, transportation, shelter, food, healthcare, friendship, and persistent follow through. Despite the glaring ethnic, socio-political, ideological, and religious differences, the Samaritan recognizes in the beaten-down Jewish man a shared humanity, and on that basis loves his neighbor as himself.

Jesus concludes the parable by declaring that the Samaritan alone was a true neighbor. Unlike his clergy counterparts, he understood that charity, though it may start at home, must never end there. He understood that true love opens its arms and its heart—just as Jesus did for us—all the way to the ends of the earth.

True neighbor love is always costly. For the call of Jesus is never to deny our neighbor and take up our comforts and follow our dreams, but rather to deny ourselves and take up our crosses and follow him. Following him always includes moving toward, and never away from, the oppressed and the poor and the bullied and the vulnerable. Jesus is, unequivocally and unapologetically, the God who favors and gives special attention to the weak and the underdog. And so we must also be.

In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Jewish Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel echoed this truth: “Whenever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.”

Similarly, Dr. King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

And John, the beloved disciple wrote, “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18)

Our evangelical appeal to President Trump, then, is for protection of our own religious freedom—one that frees us to be pro-life in every sense of the word. Believing that God is the giver of all life, our aim is to uphold and support the dignity, sacredness, personhood and flourishing of every human soul, whether born or unborn, elderly or young, privileged or poor, healthy or sick, strong or weak, American or international, Christian or Muslim or other faiths or no faith at all.

We long to contribute to this life-movement in our time, as so many of our fellow Christians have in theirs. These Christians have fought for the abolition of slavery (Wilberforce), established orphanages for abandoned children (Mueller), advanced civil rights for racial minorities (King), fought against HIV/AIDS (Koop), provided human touch, restored dignity, and shelter for the poor (Mother Teresa), created places of belonging and contribution for people with disabilities and special needs (Tada), and fought against the sex trade and human trafficking (Caine).

Like these men and women, we, too are petitioning for a kind of religious freedom that frees us to kick darkness, oppression, and bullying in the teeth.

Why are we Christians so motivated? Because for us, loving God and loving our neighbor are inseparably intertwined. We make it our aim to love as we have been loved by Jesus, to show mercy as we have been shown mercy by Jesus, and to bear burdens as our burdens have been borne by Jesus. For it is Jesus who said that whatever we do for the least of these, we do it for him (Matthew 25:31-46). How ironic, and yet how fitting, that this same Jesus, who in love reached all the way to the ends of the earth to save us, was himself a refugee of Middle Eastern origin (Matthew 2:13-23)!

We are asking of our President, with all the respect that is due to his office, something similar to what Mother Teresa asked a sitting President at the 1994 national prayer breakfast. Humbly, respectfully, and prophetically, she petitioned for a religious freedom that would allow her and other people of faith to uphold and support the sacredness of every at-risk, unborn child, saying these words:

I want the child.
Please give me the child.

Far from insulting the U.S. President, Mother Teresa offered to come alongside him to assist in the monumental task to build a more just, life-giving society in which every soul is treated as sacred, no soul is kicked to the curb, and all souls are created equal. Far from adding burdens, she humbly offered to lift burdens by proposing a division of labor:

Let the government protect all of its citizens from violence, persecution, and injustice as government has been ordained by God to do (Romans 13:1-7).

Likewise, let the government appoint and support people of faith to do what history has proven we do best: extend mercy and a cup of cold water to the world’s most bullied, vulnerable, and poor.

Mr. President, we commend and support you for prioritizing our safety and protection in such volatile times. We can only imagine the burden that this must be, and you carry it in ways that nobody else does. And yet we similarly plead with you, sir—on behalf of the millions of souls who are most at risk—that we not turn away the vetted and vulnerable refugee. While charity may start at home, it must never end there, especially in this country of ours that we call the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let’s champion freedom, sir. And, for the love of God, let’s be brave.

We want the vulnerable refugee. Please give us the refugee.