Today is Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. But for the Christian, this is a beautiful day that has already been fulfilled, along with all other Mosaic laws, as Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Leviticus 16:30-34 and Hebrews 9:6-7 would be great verses to read today in your observance. While Israel awaited a Messiah to conquer external enemies, the gospel reveals that the primary enemy vanquished by Jesus was sin itself, reconciling humanity with God. Thus, Yom Kippur serves both as a lasting tradition and a foreshadowing that Jesus has once and for all put away sin through his sacrifice, declaring “it is finished.”

Take a moment to read this personal liturgy and its parallels with the ritual sacrifice of the Old Testament:

Father, open this heart,
As I, your child looks at you,
Knowing full well that I have
Broken your laws and done so many times.

The high priest seizes the bull and draws a sharp blade across its throat, severing skin and arteries, blood gushes everywhere- “For my house, oh Lord, accept this blood sacrifice, for our sins.”

Let me fall weeping into your arms,
Give me a contrite heart,
And allow the weight of my sin
To rest upon me.

The high priest lifts the chin of a goat, “and for the sins of the people”, blood flows to atone, pooling in a bowl, sprinkled in the most holy.

As I look to you, my good father,
Let me remember the joy
Of my forgiveness
Through your son Jesus,
The scapegoat, the atoning lamb,
The final sacrifice.

A second goat is brought forward, the sins of the people placed on its head- “Be gone, these sins are remembered no more!” It’s body lies crumpled at a cliff face, lest the sins return to the people.

I boldly approach the throne
and look upon my Father’s face,
the purest warmth of love embraces me.
My blood is required no more.
It is finished.

I wrote this liturgy for a friend the morning she got married—I knew the day would be stressful and hectic, but that it would also be one of the most meaningful pictures of Jesus in her life.

If you have a friend getting married, please pass it on to them. I wish them the peace of Christ this day, and forever.

With the sun, glad hearts rise,
Ready to echo the most beautiful picture:
The story of redemption between Christ and His bride.

Though there may be stress this day,
God’s truth is never in question:
I love you, I love you,
I will sacrifice for you, I love you.

Though things will go not to plan,
God’s truth is secure:
I bought you, I paid the price, I will come for my bride.

In this union, before my family and friends,
Let me not forget the deep purpose,
The most beautiful meaning,
A glorious picture that will play out,
as I approach the alter,
a place of sacrifice,
To begin a marriage built on sacrificial love.

Calm my heart this morning,
Focus my affections,
Lead me this day and forever,
Amen.

Lord, my body is wearied,
with a reminder,
that I am a mortal man,
in a broken world.
This annoyance
exposes the underpinnings
of a dark vail that has been drawn
across my physical body—
a chain to the realm,
of death and dying.

I am not dying,
but I am reminded that this flesh
wars against your holiness
with every dark shadow,
and every passing breath.

Let this reminder cause me to pause,
(as I do pause in my daily tasks to grumble at my affliction)
and reflect that my temporary brokenness,
is equal evidence of a greater restoration,
that follows this life.

Let me wonder in my passing pain,
that creation groans,
but soon will cease groaning,
that brokenness will be healed,
that wrong will be made right,
that darkness will banish,
and newness will come,
with the melting of the cold darkness
and the warmth of His presence.

yet even now in my contemplation,
heal this your servant.
Amen.

Adoption is so close to God’s heart.

Before our third child, Van was conceived, we struggled with secondary infertility for a several years—desperately wanting to add another baby to our family, and being told no at every turn. For a brief moment in time, adoption was the highest on our radar that it had ever been, even though Hannah and I have always wanted to adopt, it’s always been a future thing. But here it was, and we needed the funds. The costs were daunting and we tried to fundraise, but as we labored for months to raise even the smallest amount, five hundred dollars for the home study, we found out we were pregnant again, and this time the pregnancy didn’t end in miscarriage!

As we raise our babies now, we’ve given a lot of thought to the pain and sacrifice of biological children, and what it will look like to be adoptive parents in the future. It’s not all rose-colored, but adoption is so close to God’s heart, and it is worth it to us for so many reasons. Maybe these reasons will speak to you as well:

1. Adoption mirrors the Gospel. It is a clearer picture of God’s personal adoption of the Christian than any other earthy allegory. We are kids of grace through nothing other than God’s desire for us to be reconciled to Him through Jesus, for His glory and our good.

2. Adoption is long-term commitment to personal fulfillment of the second commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. It gives us the personal opportunity to love our neighbor sacrificially and personally.

3. For the Christian, adoption is an outward sign of the inward working of the Holy Spirit, by aligning with God’s heart for widows and orphans in James 1:27.

4. The need is great and we have the chance to walk the Gospel with someone who needs help.

5. Kids are awesome. I believe that the primary regrets I’ll have when I’m older won’t be that I didn’t get to travel extravagantly or build empires, but that I didn’t spend more time with my kids. Statistics back me up on this– they show that younger families have a rough go of it, but happiness increases exponentially with the number of children you have in your old age.

I’ve written a liturgy for parents considering adoption, and I would encourage you to earnestly read it as you pray about adoption. I can’t wait for our turn.

Father God,
I call you father, because I too am adopted.
I have been welcomed into your family not on my own merits,
but by your choosing.
Let me learn to love as you have loved me–
unconditionally and freely, as your own child.

You have welcomed me to your table.

My adoption was not without price,
indeed I have been bought with the costly blood of Jesus.
Guide my heart to see the goodness of who you are
poured out for me while I knew nothing of You.

You have seated me with your Son.

You have not only adopted me,
but you have washed me, clothed me and fed me.
You have not only adopted me,
but you have given me every good gift.
Let me see now how I have been received by you

I am your child.

If you’re studying Arminianism, I’ve got some excellent resources for you– and because I’m reformed, they’re primarily from a reformed perspective! I’m kidding, but these are just excellent reads.

First: Arminius and the Remonstrants

Second: Watershed Differences Between Calvinists and Arminians

Finally, I just ordered this book and I’m looking forward to reading it soon: Saving the Reformation– The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort

Enjoy your studies!

Father God, I am broken and poured out
there is nothing left inside me.
For these past moments
my heart expanded in the goodness of your creation,
in the promise of the child within.
Yet now that promise is gone,
and I mourn the loss of a future with this,
your precious little one.

I know you weep with me now,
for you are a father who has felt the pain of loss.

You give good things to your children
and the dreams and desires for this tiny baby
were given by you to grow my heart with your affection
and align our hearts together in the beauty
of your common grace.
Yet these dreams and desires are now gone
and the brokenness of this world
weighs heavy on my shattered soul.

My arms are empty—
Hold my child in your arms, Lord Jesus.

Jesus, though I knew my child but a short while,
you have been intimately aquatinted with them
since before the dawn of time.
In perfect union with the Father and the Spirit,
you knew the moment this life
would intersect with mine.
Your plans for this child were not my plans
but I rest in your purpose for my brokenness
even when I don’t understand it.

As Lazarus rested in the bosom of Abraham, keep my
child until the brokenness of this world is healed forevermore.

Holy Spirit, make known to me your goodness,
for in this time, there is nothing in me
that is not despair.
My intellect tells me you are good,
my empty arms tell my heart another story.
Unite the two together,
heal this broken vessel so that in turn,
my loss would pour into the lives of others.

Amen.

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” -Revelation 1:17-18

This afternoon, I sat across the table from three leaders of a non-profit organization that my marketing firm is donating work to. We typically donate a few jobs to nonprofits each year, and this particular nonprofit was an excellent candidate for video marketing.

The executive director explained the barriers to the types of videos they’d like to produce,

“See the main issue isn’t that we don’t do good work- we keep children out of foster care and keep families together!”

She cited a statistic that helped me embrace their mission- only 4% of children who go into foster care in Kentucky graduate college.

“The main issue is that our right wing donor-base freaks out if anything we do looks like assisting those on welfare, and frankly those are the families that need the most help, because they’re the ones who are addicted to drugs or using alcohol as a coping mechanism.”

Welfare is a big deal. Children being dumped in a broken foster care system is a big deal too. Immigration is a huge deal. Children being separated from their parents is horrible. How did things get so polarized in our nation, and where did we lose our compassion for our sense of justice?

When Compassion Fails

“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.… One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

Jesus healed people for two reasons: firstly, to display God’s power through himself (John 10:37-38) and secondly because He was filled with compassion for people (Mark 1:41).

When you read that passage, it may have slipped by you, but the man at the pool had been laying there for 38 years. 38 years of longing, 38 years of suffering and survival and calling out to friends to drag him to the pool on the off chance that a miracle would happen and he would be healed.

Jesus the God-man, reflects the nature of God and is filled with compassion for him. He is filled with compassion, suffering with this man- not just an emotional response of sympathy, but a desire to help and take action. And Jesus does take action.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.‘ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.’… And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’” -John 5:1-17

When we read this passage, Jesus is breaking the cultural and religious law. The Jews established these laws to keep their right standing with God, and this impostor, Jesus, has the gall to upset their system and heal someone on the Sabbath! Where Jesus is filled with compassion, the Jews are only filled with legalism. Where Jesus seeks to extend mercy, the Jews seek to attack those who upset the system.

Jesus says this to the religious who have lost their way in legalism. You are the children of the devil. You aren’t even saved.

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” -1 John 3:10

John Piper puts it this way,

“This doesn’t mean that acts of love are how we get right with God. No, the Bible is clear again and again as Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not of works.” No, when the Bible says that we are saved by faith but that we must love people in order to finally be saved, it means that faith in God’s promises must be so real that the love it produces proves the reality of the faith.

So, love for others is a condition of future grace in the sense that it confirms that the primary condition, faith, is genuine. We could call love for others a secondary condition, which confirms the authenticity of the primary and essential condition of faith which alone unites us to Christ, and receives his power.”

As I’ve grappled with these polarizing issues that seem to be happening on a daily basis, I think I’ve found the main issue: the evangelical right is no longer a Christian constituent. Real Christians are struggling to find their place in the U.S. political system.

The Demographic Just Doesn’t Fit the Term

After the 2016 election, I knew there were bigger issues in the evangelical right than just a public perception problem, but there were hints of something wrong, long before then. 

In 2010, statistics started floating around that Christians divorced at the same rate or higher than non–christians. When examined closely, these rates did indeed seem to be correct, with protestants divorcing at nearly 20% higher rates than non–christians. But the problem wasn’t with the polling questions, but rather with the terminology used.

Classically, the term “evangelical” was based out of the belief of an “emphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.” Evangelicals were synonymous with Protestants. Somewhere along the line, however, the term relaxed and as religion became more popular, people began to define themselves as evangelical, without evening knowing what that meant.

A poll by the Pew Research Center in 2017 found that even the term, “Protestant” is filled with people who don’t understand their religion.

For example, nearly half of U.S. Protestants today (46%) say faith alone is needed to attain salvation, but about half (52%) say both good deeds and faith are needed to get into heaven. U.S. Protestants also are split on another issue that is central to the Christian faith: 46% say the Bible is the sole source of religious authority for Christians, while 52% say Christians should look both to the Bible and to the church’s official teachings and tradition for guidance, the position held by the Catholic Church.

When these two questions are combined, the survey shows that just three-in-ten U.S. Protestants believe in both salvation by faith alone and the authority of God’s word. One-third of Protestants (35%) affirm one but not the other, and 36% do not believe in either. In short, only 30% of Protestants understand the core beliefs that shape their faith. Three-in-ten protestants believe in purgatory!

So what happens when the religious right loses their basic theological knowledge? They lose their moral compass. 

When Holiness Doesn’t Matter Anymore

In 1972, an American politician was just getting started in his business career. He owned a string of gas stations, and during the ’72 gas shortage, he struck a deal with a woman who owned a local “massage parlor.” If he set aside gas for her girls, he would use their “services” any time for free.

This isn’t a hidden Clinton scandal, the politician is amazingly open about his sex life then and now, “I had always enjoyed sex, sure,” he writes, “but until [then] I hadn’t realized how little I knew about it. So, of course, I kept going back, a willing student . . . I soon realized I had a big problem: I loved f—ing and I couldn’t get enough of it.” He also soon realized, “I had fallen madly in love with prostitutes.” 

The political figure that I’m writing about is Dennis Hof, a Republican running for Nevada legislature. Owner of a strip club and five legal brothels in Nevada, he beat GOP hospital executive, James Oscarson, and will go on the face his democratic opponent later in the year. He pulled the evangelical vote for the state and is predicted to win. Hof largely credits the changing political tide,

“I’m kind of rich, I’m kind of famous, and I’m surrounded by hot chicks. I don’t give a damn what anybody says about me,” Hof said.

How can we explain the flippant disregard of the moral failure of our politicians, other than a fundamental misunderstanding that Christians serve a monarchy, not a democracy? Christians serve King Jesus, not the American political system.

Sure, comments are going to come in that we’re electing politicians, not pastors, and as fundamentally flawed as that argument is, what it really exposes are the hearts behind the religious right: Hearts that are full of fear for the future. Hearts that are more concerned with debating issues than loving others. Hearts that are not filled with compassion. Hearts that are hardened enough to ignore even the greatest of moral failures.

If what I’ve said offends you, then take a step back and look at what you’re defending. You have the daily choice to affect people’s hearts and minds through your actions, yet you love your nation more than you love your brother.

Could it be possible that our political views are totally correct, but the way that we live them out, defeats their very purpose?

What This Doesn’t Mean

Take a moment to imagine something with me- you’ve just been in a car accident and you’re standing before the throne of Jesus. He asks you, “why should I let you into heaven?” At that moment, eternity stretches before you and your entire life experience leads you to the words you’ll say… Think about it carefully.

If you answered, “Well I’m a good person, I worked hard all my life defending your laws in the American political system.” You’ve got it wrong. In fact, if you answer anything other than, “Your blood alone is the pardon for my sinful life, Lord Jesus.” as you fall on your face, you have a sealed your destiny.

To the first group of people, Jesus has specific words for you,

“’Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.’… ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”-Matthew 7:21;23

To the second group of people, Jesus has very different words for you,

“‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” -Matthew 25:21

This is not a political rant. It’s a call for repentance. It doesn’t matter who you voted for, it doesn’t matter what political views you hold. It doesn’t mean that if you’re part of the religious right, I’m condemning you and invalidating your worldview.

It does mean, however, that your voting record doesn’t make you right with God- your reliance on Jesus daily and the proof of that reliance being walked out in your life personally is what is crucial to where you’ll spend eternity, friends.

When I lived in Seattle, the church I attended ran small groups where several people would share their life stories and allow other group members and leaders to speak into their stories and bring the gospel into their lives. Through this process, many people, including me, found freedom from their past and finally saw the gospel come to play in the sins that they had committed or sins that had been committed against them. Redemption groups happen all around the country now, but stories of redemption aren’t limited to this context- Grace Revealed is a testament to the power of God’s grace in the lives of everyday individuals.

Grace Revealed is organized into 6 sections telling the stories of people who found God’s grace in physical, sexual or emotional abuse, addictions, emotional and physical issues, career-related challenges, family issues and loss. Each section contains 2-4 stories that the author has compiled, his notes on the story, as well as a space for personal reflection and application.

Powerful Stories

I love hearing testimonies because, on some deep level, story is engrained in how we process and think about our faith. After all, the Gospel is the story of God and the Bible is the story of His revelation and people. What’s cool about this book is that the stories are shorter, so they give you the chance to read several at once, instead of spending time reading an entire book dedicated to one subject.

In the second chapter, we hear the story of Teresa, a woman from Arkansas who survived sexual abuse as a child, and finally found healing 40 years later. In chapter three, you’ll hear the story of Coss, the founder of Con-Body who went to prison on drug charges and eventually found Jesus while incarcerated.

The stories are powerful and meant to minister to people who are in tough situations, but the way the book is laid out makes it hard to wade through.

Poor Formatting

While the content of the book is really encouraging, the editor did a poor job organizing the content. Within the first chapter, the author is extremely repetitive in his writing, making reading arduous and boring. He knows what he’s trying to communicate, but he fails to do so in an engaging way.

In the second chapter, Mary DeMuth is featured, but her story doesn’t go into much depth, rather reading like it was lifted from a blog post. Stories later in the chapter are much meatier, but the editor pushed them further into the book, failing to capture attention. If this scares anyone away, they should be aware that there is much better content in the book, it’s just buried.

Furthermore, the book feels like it’s part of a group study- the beginning feeling very lecture related, like there should be someone who is guiding you through these stories and pointing out lessons, instead of letting you find them for yourself.

Final Thoughts

Because the book is compiled, it also seems more open-ended rather than reaching conclusions. A few areas were more difficult to read in that regards:

“I know God is real, but I have always questioned why He allows children to be abused by their family members or others. My answer to this love problem came through prayer and counseling by my current pastor.” -Page 28

 

“I know now that God does not cause all things to happen in our lives. But as His Word says, no matter what happens, if we give it to Jesus, He will take what seems very bad to us and turn it to His good for His purpose.” -Page 40

Gathering from a diverse crowd, I wouldn’t expect the theology of Grace Revealed to be cohesive, but the stories didn’t seem to fit well together, or maybe I just don’t agree with the author’s theology as he curated these stories. Books like, The Scars that Have Shaped Me by Vaneetha Risner seem to have a much deeper understanding of the theology of suffering and how grace meets us in our pain, without sacrificing for the sake of telling many stories.

I wouldn’t say Grace Revealed is a waste of time, but maybe for a more discerning reader.

About the author: 

Fred Sievert started his career as a teacher, later entered the insurance business, and retired in 2007 as president of New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 corporation. Following his retirement at age fifty-nine, Fred attended Yale Divinity School and was awarded a master’s degree in 2011.

Since the advent of blogging, books in column format have become much more accepted. They’re short, they’re easy to read, and they’re unobtrusive. However, they’re also generally sporadic. The authors have a hard time staying on track or keeping to the main theme- just imagine C.S. Lewis crossed with Andy Rooney and you’ve got a pretty good idea what you’ll be expecting from a book like World View, but in this context it kinda’ makes sense. Marvin Olasky has been the editor-in-chief of World Magazine for 25 years, so he’s used writing in short-form, while still communicating his points.

Writing a review on a book like this is complex because there’s just so much content, covering so many subjects, that it’s hard to give the book an adequate review without addressing each column- and there’s over 60 included! Yet a thread that runs through Olasky’s writing is clear and it’s really important.

A Much Needed Reminder

In the second essay, on page 19, Olasky starts to lay out the groundwork for moderation within the Christian evangelical circle, something that he’ll continue to write about in many more columns throughout the book:

“The parable of the prodigal son should have a plural in its name: sons. We all know of the younger brother’s libertine living, but the elder brother has a more subtle problem: He is self-righteous and lacks joy.

 

Part of the evangelical political problem in contemporary America is that much of the press and public sees us as elder brothers. Sometimes we are that way in reaction to younger brothers. Sometimes younger brothers go their way in reaction to us.

 

In higher education, younger brother colleges are party schools that proffer sex and stimulants. Some Christian colleges try to avoid that by imposing tight rules in elder brother fashion. Those rules may lead to external conformity rather than deep belief. Both younger brother and elder brother colleges divert students from learning more about God.

As a Christian, I have always struggled with my own self-righteousness and pride, but especially during my late teen years when I happened to be most prolific about influencing other people and “making a difference” in the world. Olasky continues to emphasize a call to love and gentleness. He introduces what he calls, “third-brother-ism.”

Third brother politics is also different. The Founders fought for both liberty and virtue: Elder brothers tend to forget the former, younger brothers the latter. Third brothers know that we can never have enough laws to banish sin. They tell the truth but do not rant at abortionists and gay rights activists. They control their tongues and lungs not because killing babies and killing marriage is right, but because their goal is to change hearts.

Five Large Sections

The book is separated almost categorically into five different sections: Basics, Changes, Institutions, Causes, and Conclusions, but I wasn’t sure how the sections really played into each other. They seemed sporadic, but again it’s the fact that these columns were written years apart that really makes them hard to pull together into one cohesive message.

Bottom Line

If you’re into reading short articles or almost daily readings, this is the book for you. There is a huge amount of truth packed into each column. If you’re looking for a book that follows and explores a single thread in a cohesive way- just skip this one.

About the author: 

As Editor-in-Chief of World Magazine, Marvin Olasky has offered his views on current events and culture for more than 25 years. In this collection of columns, he shows readers how Christians can speak biblical truths while also living out the biblical values of grace and mercy in today’s world.