Time as Evidence of God

 Today I am going to give you an abstract idea, and I hope I can communicate it clearly. It is often asked if there is proof or evidence of God, and I will submit todat that time itself is an evidence. To really get into this, I want to use an analogy. Imagine a river, a long, narrow, steady moving river. Now picture a boat, floating down that river. The boat travels down the river until the river empties into a lake or the sea. This boat is you, the river is time. We know that you, being the boat has a beginning, a point where you enter the river. The boat sits on the water and the water caries the boat with it. Imagine the water as a mirror of the boat, it makes the trip with it and empties itself in the sea. Where does the water start?

The water, to reach the point where it meets the boat, must have a beginning. There must be a starting place for the journey. It can not be infinite, because if the water always existed, it would be infinitly away from the moment that it meets the boat. In order for a flowing river of water, or time, to reach a point, it has to start. It must have a beginning, otherwise it will always be infinitately in the past.

Time exists and it has flowed to this point, which means it must have a beginning. For time to have a beginning, there must be something that put the time into motion. Now, this does not prove God, but it proves a source. A source for the river, like the melting snow pack that feeds streams into rivers. Logically, for something like time to begin, it would involve more than just an act of physics. Time is not something that can naturally be created or destroyed. It would require a cataylsit of divine proportion to create time itself. Time is movement and for time to be moved, it requires a mover. Thomas Aquinas called this the unmoved mover.

Things Never to Say to a Teacher

As I teacher, I hear my fair share of things that criticize schools, education, and teachers. I won't lie, some of them are valid, and there are things about public education that don't make much sense. I would say, however, the majority of the comments that are made are born of ignorance. People who have no idea what actually happens in a school, how budgets work, where the funds even come from, and the limits on educators. Parents have farmed out their kids and expected schools to raise them. News flash, unless you are my wife (she sometimes reads my blog) I'm not your kid's daddy! Here is my list of things that you should never say to a teacher.

1. School is pointless. I hear this mostly from students who are under the age of 16. They are convinced that they understand how the world operates, and they have it all figured out. They also seem to believe that public school exists to help them get a job. It doesn't. I wrote a blog about that, so to summarize, the public school exists to make good citizens, capable of voting wisely and choosing elected officials that best represent them, their beliefs, and values. Public education exists to empower and protect our democratic republic. These kids don't understand that, but more than that, they have no concept of what that does to a teacher. As teachers, we have poured our life into this profession. To be a teacher, we go to college, get a degree, get our credentials, work to maintain those credentials, and pour our lives into preparing, teaching, and grading all to help shape young people to be good citizens. By saying that school is pointless, you are by extension saying I, my work, and my struggle to do the best at my work has no point. You are calling me pointless by extension. This will not make me happy.

2. They should be teaching ____________ in school. Do you realize how much we have to do at school? If you make this statement, you don't. Like I stated earlier, schools are almost expected to raise your kids. Parents have just given the responsibility to schools. As a parent, your job is to teach your kids. The other issue is the teacher shortage. No one wants to be a teacher anymore, and so there are not enough of us to teach your kids everything they need to know in life. Teachers are not joining the profession as quickly as they are leaving it. We need more teachers. Adding more classes requires more money, which causes property taxes to rise. You can't complain about schools, but then not fund the schools to fix the issues. If you want the problem fixed, you have to put up the funds to fix the issue. The best solution, teach your kids how to be responsible adults. I don't need to teach them how to cook breakfast or change a tire, that is your job. I know you can do it, because I taught my kids, two have graduated High School, one is a senior, so I have skin in the game.

3. You are just in this for the money/the summers off. Ok, first, I have to earn a living. I teach to make money, sure, but there are lots of other things I could do to make money (probably more). This is why people aren't becoming teachers, the money isn't great. Summers off is a perk, but you become really limited in vacation planning. I can't take 2 weeks in the fall or the spring, I am off in the summer. Add too that, the trainings tacked on the beginning and end of the school year, my summer break is only slightly longer than the allowance for most people to have vacation time. You have flexibility, I don't, Now, summers off is a great perk, I won't lie about that, it is very nice. It is not the only reason I became a teacher. If you become a teacher just to get summers off, you won't last very long as a teacher.

4. The last one is the good old "those who can do, those who can't, teach". I have done a lot of things in my life, and you have to know more to teach someone else than you do just to do the job. Teaching a job is significantly harder than just doing a job. You have to know how to do it, then know how to demonstrate or explain how to do it. Add to that many of our students don't really want to know, and we have to find a ways to make the learning fun and engaging so they will actually learn. You have to know the subject, know how to teach, know your students, and balance that all with the expectations that are put on you. In a regular job, you are evaluated on your performance. In teaching, you are evaluated by the performance of others, and you have very little control. If a kid fails a class in today's America, they just say "that teacher doesn't know how to teach". They don't listen or do the work because "it's boring". You have to know how to teach, make it fun all the time, and you still get blamed when a kid doesn't do well.

Now, I'm not saying you can't say these things. This is America, you can say what you want. I just recommend that you don't say them to a teacher. Chances are, it will not be well recieved.

Who Will Go to Hell

 In looking at the question of who is in hell, we can look again at popular culture. Who goes to hell? In the movie Ghost, Hell is for the evil people who have done the most evil things. We see the main character going to Heaven without having any expressed faith or belief in God. If we take a wider look, most of those who go to Heaven are the "good" people. In contrast, only "bad" people go to hell.

Is this true? What is the standard? What is good or bad? The Bible teaches something similar, that good people can earn Heaven and bad people deserve Hell. The bad news is, there are no good people. No one is good. Everyone is bad. Jesus himself said that no one is good except God. Romans tells us that all have sinned. No one does good, no one is righteous. The book of James says that breaking part of the law is enough to condemn you, and one sin is the same as breaking all the laws and commandments. Every single person has sinned and violated God's law. Let's be honest, we sin often. Little lies, lust, envy, boasting, gossip, and cursing can be daily (or hourly) occurrences. It is not that we sometimes sin, we are sinful in the core of our being. We are apart from Christ, we are slaves so sin, sin in the defining characteristic of our lives.

The good news is, we don't have to depend on ourselves to get to Heaven. We are all bad people, and being good (perfect) is required to get into Heaven. To enter God's presence, your sin must be paid for, but you don't have anything in which to pay the penalty. You have a million-dollar fine and not a penny to your name. If we were required to earn our way into Heaven, there would be no hope. We enter Heaven when the price is paid on our behalf by Jesus. Jesus paid for our entrance into Heaven, but trusting Him and making Him the Lord of our lives, we become adopted into God's family. We are allowed to pass the test by using the score that Jesus earned.

Those individuals who accept Jesus, trust Him and follow Him as Lord will enter Heaven. Every other person on earth will be judged by the things they have done. They will be judged on how they have acted and the sins they have committed. All those who are guilty of sin will be sent to Hell. In Hell, each individual will understand they deserve to be in Hell. Those individuals who are cavalier about sin and reject God knowingly will confess that Jesus is Lord and will accept their eternity knowing it is exactly what they deserve. When facing the throne of God, every sinner will confess they are sinners and deserve to be eternally separated from Hell, they will understand the fate that awaits them and know they are completely and totally deserving of eternity in Hell.

God loves us, and He made a way we can avoid this fate. He offers us an opportunity to reject sin and self and trust Christ. If we do, we will praise and rejoice in that day. If we reject Him, we will be rejected and end up in the eternity we deserve.

What is it Like in Hell?

     There are lots of ideas from popular culture, movies, books, games, and TV about what hell is like. Most of the time, it is depicted as being underground in a cave-like area. It is also usually seen as hot, filled with flames or molten lava. Dante further gave imagery of hell with The Inferno as part of his Divine Comedy. Dante imagined hell with 9 levels or circles, each one worse than the one before. Each depth contains worse sinners than those before, well the Devil in the center in ice, with three individuals in his 3 mouths, one being Judas Iscariot. 

    Hell is often portrayed as home to ugly and evil monsters that torment and torture the souls trapped in hell. The concept of eternal punishment extends outside of the Christian tradition, so we find many of these teachings get mixed a merged together. As in the inferno, there are mixings of extreme temperatures from flames to ice. Often, a division is created for those who are very evil and those who aren't as bad. As we have discussed in previous posts, the Devil and demons are often seen as the jailers or rules of hell. How do we know what to believe? The only credible source on what it is like in hell is found in the Bible, so what does the Bible say about hell?

Much of the most compelling descriptions of Hell come from Jesus. Jesus, being part of the Godhead and divine, knows and understands Hell. He was involved in creation, including the creation of Hell. Jesus tells some parables and stories about Hell and gives some powerful descriptors, so the best way to understand is to look at what He said about it.

Jesus tells a story of a rich man and a poor beggar. The rich man goes to "torment" while the poor man goes to "paradise". The rich man looks and sees the poor man in Heaven, and asks for the man to put his finger in water and cool his tongue. The man is told that a great gulf exists and no one can cross over. From this description, Hell exists outside of the realm of the physical, not in a cave or underground. The rich man can see Heaven, but cannot receive any of the benefits. It is unclear if those in Heaven can see into Hell. The rich man is also in physical pain, experiencing thirst, and says he is in anguish in the flames. He asks for his tongue to be cooled, showing the great heat. The man asks for the poor man to be sent back to warn his brothers, not wanting them to experience the suffering of being in Hell. You can read the Parable in Luke 16:19-31.

Jesus spoke of Hell as the place where "the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die". This description is highlighted by one of the words that Jesus often used when referring to Hell. He uses the word Gehenna. This is an actual place in Israel, once called the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. This valley was a place where many terrible things were done, including human and child sacrifice. This valley was cursed and eventually became a place for garbage. There was a fire that was lit and kept burning constantly, this is where the corpses of animals were thrown. Spoiled items, human waste, and other things that were foul smelling would be disposed of by the fire that was kept burning. It was an unpleasant place with foul-smelling smoke. Maggots would feed on those rotten parts not burned in the fire, giving us the idea of the flames and the worm. A disgusting, flaming garbage pile in the location that Jesus used to illustrate Hell and eternal torment.

Finally, Hell is eternal and completely separated from God. In 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9, we read that those in Hell are away from the presence of the Lord. As we discussed in an earlier post, everything that is good comes from God. We know that from James 1:17. In Hell, there is nothing good, no love or peace. There is no friendship or compassion. None of the things that we have on earth are good, even the things we take for granted. There is no rest, so deep breaths, not even the feeling of relief after being on your feet and being able to sit down. All of those good things are gone because everything good comes from God. The punishment for sin will be completely realized and the weight and depth of sin will be experienced in the torment. Individuals will fully comprehend what it means to sin against a holy, perfect, all-powerful God. The individuals who speak freely against God today will confess that Jesus is the Lord of all creation, that God is Holy, and that they are being given the punishment they deserve. This is definitely not a place where you want to spend eternity.

Does the Devil Rule in Hell?

 This is a question I tackle often because popular culture has it all wrong. In popular culture today, God and the Devil are at war and both rule their kingdoms. This isn't true, God is not at war with the Devil. The Devil has already lost the war and will be judged. The duality we see doesn't exist in the Bible. Where does it come from? I'm glad you asked.

In pagan mythology, there is often this arrangement. An underworld ruled by an evil force, heaven ruled by a good force. Think of Greek Mythology, Zeus on Olympus, and Hades in the underworld. That structure has been brought into the Christian faith, putting Satan in the position of Hades. In this structure, Satan and demons rule Hell, they are in control. The idea that Demons torture souls and they freely roam is in movies, tv shows, books, and video games. This is not a Christian idea, this is pagan.

The reality is that Hell was created to be the eternal place of punishment for Satan. Hell is his final destination, he will be cast into the lake of fire. Satan does not rule Hell. That would be the equivalent of taking a maximum security prison and finding the worst criminal and putting him in charge. This just isn't the case.

Satan does not live in hell, the Bible teaches he is on earth. The demons are on earth unless they have been bound or cast into the abyss. Hell is a prison with no escape, no guards, no demons to torture anyone, just hopeless despair in a place where no good exists. Satan does not rule hell. Satan does not live in hell. Satan does not want to go to hell. Hell is punishment created for Satan, demons, and those who have chosen to follow him instead of following Jesus. Forget what you see in movies, that is not what hell is about.

Is Hell a Real Place?

 Today, I want to tackle the issue of the eternal, specifically hell. Hell has gone by many names, hell, Hades, the pit, eternal torment, Gehenna, and the Lake of Fire to list a few of the most popular. To understand hell, we need to look at what it is, what it's for, and what the Bible teaches about it. We will unpack things in a few posts, today I want to focus on the question of the reality of hell.

Many people struggle with the existence of hell, with the fact that loving God would create a place of torment. Why would God create a place like hell? It is simple, hell is the eternal place for sin. Unforgiven and unrepentant sin ends up in hell. It was created for the Devil and the demons who followed him. Satan is the place where he will be punished for his rebellion. We will tackle Satan's relationship to hell in another post. For our purposes today, we just need to understand hell was initially created for Satan. 

In the fall of man, humans gave dominion over the world to Satan and joined his team. Mankind, apart from salvation in Jesus Christ, is part of Satan's team. This puts people in the same camp with demons. We have, through sin, rebelled against God. The ramifications of this is that people, like the Devil, will be separated from God.

The reason hell exists is to keep sin and God separate because sin and those with unrepented, unconfessed, and unforgiven sin cannot stand in God's presence. Those who have made a choice to not accept God and have embraced sin will be eternally separated from God. If you don't want to have anything to do with God, then He will oblige and you will spend eternity apart from Him.

Hell is real and it is eternal. Once you leave this life, your soul will exist in one place or another. There are only two options. Souls are not destroyed. There are some who teach that once a soul experiences hell, it is eventually destroyed. The Bible doesn't teach this, what it teaches is that a soul in hell is eternal and conscious for eternity. The soul is eternal and experiences are eternal.

Why is hell torment? The answer is simple because hell is a total separation from God. Everything that is God in life is from God. Everything that brings joy, happiness, and fulfillment comes from God. Even as sinners, people still live in God's presence and receive blessings from Him. Existence in hell is separation from anything good. Joy, friendship, hope, and rest are all good things from God. Without God, there is nothing good. In this life, we cannot even comprehend an existence with no goodness. The ability to take a deep breath and relax is not an option in hell. Relief, comfort, relationships, everything we do that makes us feel good or happy or content. None of them exist in hell.

To sum up, hell is a real place that was created for Satan and his followers. Those who rebel against God will be separated from God for eternity. That separation causes torment because everything that is good is from God. Without the presence of God, there is nothing good. This separation is eternal, and the soul, being eternal in nature, will be in this reality for all of eternity.

Should a Woman Be a Pastor Pt 2

 In part one, we looked at the curse, and the desire of women to take leadership but is given to the man. Today, let's look at Paul as he reminds us of this.

 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 1 Ti 2:11–14.

Paul reminds us of the curse, that women took the role of leader when sinning, therefore a woman is not to take the leadership role in the church.

Now, many writers and speakers talk about the role of women in the New Testament. There are many that do some great things, and women are elevated by God into much responsibility. It is, however, dangerous to assume that having one type of responsibility means having all responsibility. God has established roles and responsibilities in the home and in the church. The man has been put as the head, and due to the curse, the woman has a sinful desire to usurp that role.

We see examples of this, for example from Titus:

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Tt 2:3–5.

They are given a role and responsibility to teach younger women. They are not given the role to lead a church. These are delegated roles, and we find the roles explained in scripture. We have to beware not to make an argument from silence. We see women with some authority that are named, they are never called pastors or elders. The issue comes when the Bible is silent and doesn't give an exact role, we make the argument that they "could have been". The "could have been" argument is the argument from silence, and we can't take a lack of information and allow it to supersede the information we do have.

The fact remains that the Bible is clear, and it spells out specifically that a woman is not to be the leader in the family or the church, that God has given that role to a man. It is also clear that this is never going to satisfy women because of the curse in Genesis. The only hope we have is to submit to scripture, even when we don't like it and it doesn't make us feel good. The alternative is disobedience.

Should A Woman be a Pastor? pt 1

 This is an issue of great debate, and I want to begin way back where the whole thing begins. How do we answer and examine the issue without getting to the root? Men and women were created as partners, yet the fall changed things. One of the parts of the curse was for Eve, that her desire would be to subvert and usurp her husband, yet he would rule over her. Part of the curse is for women to desire to take the headship of the man. This is true in the family, in the corporate world, in politics, and in the church. The first question we should ask is, should a woman want to be a Pastor? Why does she want to be a pastor? I won't be popular for saying it, but the root of the desire is the curse. A woman wants to take the man's position as leader, God said it would happen. Eve took the lead, took the fruit, and gave it to Adam. Paul quotes then in using his reason why a woman should not be a Pastor. She took the lead at the fall, and as a result, the curse after the fall says she will want to take the lead, but men should not allow it.

To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

Is Seminary Important

 Like millions of people, I am on Tiktok, and I have seen a trend. People are arguing about the Bible and theology and some rely on formal education and some completely dismiss formal education. I have a formal education, so I wanted to weigh in because my degree is not in theology. I don't have a Master of Theology, a Master of Divinity, I have a Master in Educational Leadership, so I'm in the middle. Is a seminary degree critical, is it even important?

I went to seminary very well prepared theologically. Much of what I believed was simply reinforced, I was given some great tools and help, but I don't feel like my seminary experience made me into an expert. It was a time of equipping. One of the things my seminary classes really caused me to do was focus on some issues, pushed me to go deeper, and clarify some things for me. Most of all, seminary taught me something that is lacking today. I was privileged to actually GO to seminary. I didn't have online classes, I sat in class with others, face-to-face. I think this was key to the most important lesson.

In 1 Corinthians, we find Paul talking to the Corinthians about their behavior, most notably where they received their education. Some said "I follow Paul" and others "I follow Apollos". These were claims of who their teacher was, and who they claimed as their instructor. Paul spends the next several chapters telling them to stop it, they should not be divided. Paul never says they always have to agree, but they are not to be divided. Seminary taught me the skill of disagreeing without causing division.

In the church, we can disagree on lots of things. Calvinism vs Traditionalism, different views of Escatology, roles of gender, what kind of grape juice to use during communion. We can have opinions and even disagreements, but we must never cause divisions over non-essential doctrine. In the essentials, there is unity, but outside the essentials, we must have grace, charity, understanding, and civility. We don't see that on Tiktok. I really believe Satan is really enjoying the internet to sew disunity in the Body of Christ. I think seminary is a great place to learn how to discuss, dialogue, and disagree without breaking unity. I think it is a great place to learn humility. It is not a requirement, it is not essential, and it is not a license to be condescending.

Summer Time

 I hope you are all having a great June. It is an interesting month for many reasons. For me, it is the month of my anniversary, we celebrated 23 years this year. During the summer, I have lots of projects I am working on. I have been doing quite a few things, and not blogging as much as I should. I will try to do better. This is a quick one, just a little note to let you all know I'm thinking about you, and I will be back soon. Hope your summer is going great!

Why Literature Matters

 As an English teacher, I have heard a variety of derogatory things. First, the general teacher comments like "those who can, do; those who can't, teach." I have also heard "Go experience life instead of just reading about it." The most common statement I hear is from students who tell me that "reading is boring." Books, reading, stories, and literature can and often is seen as archaic and unnecessary. Students want to know why they have to read and learn about fiction in school. They tell me all the time "It's not like I am going to use this in my life." I would argue that statement is very incorrect. Not only is it used in life, but gives instruction for life and what life will look like.

Let me give you the example I use with my students. In modern America, we don't have arranged marriages. We allow each individual to choose who they are going to marry. This is just natural, and we of course believe this is the best option. From a purely logical and pragmatic sense, it is a horrible idea. Arranged marriages make more sense. Young people who are attempting to choose a mate, a lifelong commitment, are not rational. They are using emotion and are not seeing the picture clearly. Most individuals enter relationships before their frontal cortex is fully formed. They don't have the life experience to make the kind of wise, rational decisions required in this kind of commitment. The further parents have moved away from the process of choosing a mate, the higher the divorce rate in our country rises. Parents, who deeply want what is best for their child, would make a better choice of mate, based on shared values, compatibility, and maturity. As a father, I would pick a husband for my daughter who was kind, loving, hard-working, and would be supportive in every way. Why don't we see this in American culture?

The answer is Romeo and Juliet. We all read Romeo and Juliet, and the story is told and retold in our culture in a million different versions. Juliet reaches marrying age, and her parents find a good suiter. Paris is well-off, respectable, and comes from a good family. What does Juliet do? She runs off and marries the bad boy, the hot guy from the rival family. Their love is so powerful, they are willing to die to protect it. Their death brings the feuding families together. It has become the ideal. In reality, the story is about a girl and a boy who decide they are madly in love after meeting once, get married the next day, and are dead by the end of the week. Not a good model for a relationship, but somehow it has become the way young people act about love. It is repeated in love songs, romantic comedies, sappy romance stories, soap operas, and teenage dramas. The couple that defies the odds to be together.

Here is the point, literature shapes our society. We are defined by our stories, and it has been that way since the beginning of human history. Our identity is shaped by the stories we hear and relate too. By reading, learning, and thinking, we have a better opportunity to shape our lives, our communities, and our culture in positive ways. The stories that are being shared in schools, homes, churches, and the marketplace today will shape the next generation. The things we tell the younger generation will impact their identity. This is why there is such a fight over children and schools. The stories we tell matter. The narratives we communicate to our students today are the truth that they live tomorrow. Now, more than ever, being an English teacher is critical. If students do not get a balanced, accurate view of life from the stories, they are simply being manipulated. Teaching should be making students into informed, free-thinking, responsible adults. It should not just be creating smaller versions of our ideas and ideology to further our political or social goals. We need to be honest about the power and impact of stories in our lives. Our future may depend on it.

Why Secular Humanism Can't Solve Any Issues

 In the world we live in, we are surrounded by a progressive political ideology that is driven by a secular humanistic worldview. To summarize, this is a belief that man is the highest evolved being, there is no being above man and we are capable of moral and ethical good on our own. This idea is the basis for Malsow's Hierarchy, that man left to his own devices will seek his good and the good of his fellow man. It states that mankind is essentially good and will seek the best if given the opportunity Often, they view crime as wrongdoing as done in a sense of desperation.

The view culminates in progressive ideology, and the problem lies in the fact that their entire system of thinking is dependent upon humans being good. Secular humanism believes in nothing higher than man, so for them, good must come from man. This is the key to their entire system, so they must believe that mankind is generally good and noble. The belief in the nobility of man leads them to push in the direction they do, and they cannot question their root belief or everything falls apart.

The fundamental issue is that mankind is not good. Christians understand that mankind is sinful and ruled by sin. The good that exists in the world is external to man. God causes good, and the existence of God can only be attributed to God. The good that man does is the result of God's grace, and for man to be good, man must be redeemed and Spirit-filled. The Bible teaches that all have sinned, and that sin brings death. Left on our own, we are filled with all sorts of evil, and often the good we do has selfish and dark intent.

If you look at the world through a lens of man being good, it leads you to defund the police, let criminals out of jail, and increase welfare. The thought it, if you give the man what he needs, goodness will take over. If you distribute wealth from a secular mindset, then everyone will become productive. You can have open borders because no one will be a criminal. You can replace the police with a social worker because people just need help. You can trust people to do what is right if you believe that deep down, they are good.

If you have a Christian worldview, then you understand the the only thing that keeps us from doing the wrong thing is the consequences. We do the right thing with incentives. Apart from Christ, only a system of rules and laws will preserve any order. The natural man, apart from Christ will only seek the good of himself. If you create a system in which a natural man can benefit others while benefiting himself, that will work. You cannot expect a natural man to give of himself with nothing in return. This is why the rich and wealthy protect their assets against taxation. This is why people hoard resources during a pandemic. This is why people steal, vandalize, assault, and kill others. People are naturally selfish and self-serving. The only hope for mankind is Christ. The only hope for civilization is law, consequences, incentives, and justice.

The secular humanist is incapable of making the right decisions because they don't understand what they are dealing with. They want to "tax the rich" not understanding that selfishness and greed will motivate the rich to tie up all of their wealth in untaxable assets. They want to get rid of guns, not understanding that violent men only fear the threat of violence, and a man protecting his family with a gun is the only deterrent to a violent man with a gun. They don't understand that asking nicely and using rational arguments against evil people will not help. They don't even understand that they are evil and selfish and sinful, they don't have a context for that type of thinking. The result is, they are ill-equipped to deal with modern society.

Right now in America and the world, Jesus is the only hope. We must pray for revival and awakening, too many have moved too far from God. Evil will not only increase but continue to be called "good". The secular humanist will continue to redefine the world to fit their ideology. The things once held sacred will be profaned and outlawed. The things once outlawed will be celebrated. The humanist will not, can not solve the problems of modern America until they acknowledge the God they continue to deny.

How To Get Unstuck in Life

In my various roles and responsibilities, I find that many people are stuck in life. They feel trapped in a bad situation and don't see a way out. Sometimes it is finances, sometimes relationships, sometimes jobs, and sometimes it is just life circumstances. The feeling is often the same. I have been stuck, in dead-end jobs, in financial hardship, and even on the couch with a messed up back. These are situations that are hard on your mental health and leave you drained and overwhelmed. There is hope and there is a way out. As a life coach, I have walked with many individuals as they have looked for the next steps. I have also served as an employment specialist and job coach. There are some principles to help you get out of the mud and back on the road.

First, you need to be honest about the situation you are in. Don't blame someone else if the problem is you. Don't blame yourself if the problem is someone else. If you have money issues, be honest about your situation in regard to income, spending, and saving. Take an accurate assessment of where you are. This sounds simple, but it is harder than it sounds. Many of us struggle to be honest with ourselves. We want to save ourselves from the shame of our failure. We don't want to admit that someone we love is causing the problems. We don't want to acknowledge where we are and how we got there. It can be hard to admit our failures, our inadequacies, and our insecurities. It is critical and the only way to get back on the road is to admit how far off the road you have gone. Be honest with yourself.

Next, you need a goal. It is not good enough to know that you are not where you want to be. You need to set a goal of where you do want to be. It is important to be realistic about your goals, but don't be afraid to dream. I still have a goal of having my books read and used all over the country. I don't have a goal to be a best-selling author, but to empower people and churches to live out their calling. That is a big dream of mine. That is where I want to be. I also want to continue in my teaching career, continue my education, and continue to serve local churches. I have my goals and dreams in each of these areas. This gives me a vision of where I want to go.

Once you know where you are and realistically where you want to go, it is time to make a plan. Seldom do good things happen without a plan. Making a plan is critical to getting unstuck because it will show you where to step and where to go. A journey without a map is wandering, and wandering gets you lost. A plan is a map for your life. What will you need to complete your goal? In my goals, blogging is one way to move forward. By blogging, I put down my ideas, improve my writing, build an audience and I refine my ideas. In my professional life, I continue to study and attend training classes. I am looking towards another Master's Degree and I have applied for the program. These are steps that I continue to take to progress forward. Perhaps your plan is to get more education, so the first step is to research options. Maybe you need to look at job openings and begin to look for opportunities. Maybe you need to make a plan to decrease spending or increase your salary. Looking at your goal, what are the steps you need to take to get there. It will probably be more than one step. It might take weeks, months, or even years. You may have to get a lot of parts into place. Even if it seems like it will take forever, it is better than doing nothing.

Finally, as you begin the journey to get unstuck, remember the plan and the process. Find support systems. Share the goals with others and ask them to help you. As you begin to complete the steps for your journey, it will seem less daunting. Achieve small victories. Celebrate the first chapter complete, the first class done, and the first $20 saved. Watch the progress you are making and remember that no matter how hard it gets, there is nothing worse than that feeling of being stuck. Being unstuck is worth the struggle and the trials.

I know you can do this. You can achieve great things, the hardest part is getting started. Once you do, things will keep going and you will find tasks being checked off. There is no time like the present to start. I am cheering for you, I am excited to see how far you can go!

When You Don't Know What to Do (Or When It's Just Not Working)

There are days when I feel like I have no idea what I should do. Some days I wonder if there is really anything I can do. Let me explain. As a High School teacher, there is often a struggle. Some students just aren't interested in what you are teaching. There are a variety of reasons for this, and for the most part, I knew this was the case. I teach an English class, and some students don't like English. There is a lot of reading involved, and most students don't like reading. My job is to get them to do things they don't really want to do. There are some days when I am successful and many days when I have no idea what to do.

I also am the interim pastor at a small church here in Iowa. The church is small, the town is small, and the surrounding communities are small. The church has been through some hard times with losing pastors, plus Covid. All of these things compounded making it hard to see growth in the church. I have studied church growth, and I have tried many of the things I have learned over the years to build and grow a church. We have seen some people come and go over the two years I have been there. I am just not sure what to do.

What do you do when you don't know what to do, or what you thought you should do isn't working? Maybe it is in your job, you are not getting the results you want. Maybe it is in your personal life, you can't figure out what you are doing wrong. Maybe you can't find a way to get your health to improve or your finances. There are lots of areas where things begin to go wrong and we can't figure out the right answer. What do you do? What do I do?

Sometimes, I have to put my 'life coach' hat on with myself. As an experienced life coach, I can tell you that this is true for everyone at every time. We all wish we could get consistent results every time we did something. We all have these struggles in multiple areas of our lives. The fact is, life is not a constant. That means that it doesn't stay the same, life is a variable. There are so many things that change the parameters that you can't just expect a 1 to 1 ratio. We want life to be like a vending machine. You put the money in, and the drink comes out. Life is more like a slot machine. You put the money in, pull the handle, and hope for the best.

What do we do? First, don't give up. When you are doing the right thing, but not getting the results, don't quit. If you are trying to get healthy, eat right and exercise. You won't get healthy if you give up and eat junk food. It may take longer, it may be harder, but don't quit. In some areas, there are shades of gray, like teaching high school or fighting depression. Don't give up, keep doing the right things.

Second, be cautious of shortcuts. If you find a program that promises to fix your problems, it will probably only succeed to separate you from your money. Shortcuts rarely have positive long-term outcomes. It may work in the short term, but things often end up worse than they started. A quick fix is seldom quick or a fix.

Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help. Look for help, find answers. Understand that the road to any improvement will be long and bumpy. As you continue to do the right things, learn as much as you can. Learn about what you are trying to accomplish, see what others have done, and look for principles. Read books, look at data and information, and take classes. Keep learning and finding new answers. It is a long road, it is bumpy and hard, but hard work pays off in the end. Quitting doesn't fix the issue, shortcuts won't fix it, and being impatient won't fix it. The only way to really address the issue is to do the right thing and gain new skills.

Listen, I know it is hard and there is lots of struggle. The only way forward is to keep going forward. Don't give up, and when you get to the end and look back, you will see how far you made it. Along the way, others will be blessed and you will make a strong impact. Keep going, don't quit. You got this.

Effort is a Skill

 As a High School teacher, I have seen how vital, and often rare effort is. I have come to the conclusion that effort is a skill. It has to be learned and instilled. We have assumed that everyone can make an effort, but I am starting to think that isn't true. I think you must be taught how to put forth an effort. In years and decades past, it was assumed we could all put forth a good effort because we were expected to. We learned early and often to put forth an effort. As time has passed, technology has increased and people have more leisure, I think we have passed the tipping point where we can just expect people to know how to put in a good effort.

The expectations have been lowered, the excuses have been made, and the participation trophies have been given out. We have done too much to shelter and protect kids in our modern culture, they don't know how to try. They expect to be given what they want, they want a handout. There is a concerted lack of effort on the part of many of the students. It is more than not caring, it's like they don't even know how to care. They don't understand the reward of hard work, they take little pride in a job well done. They rush through everything and do it halfway so they have more time for idle things.

This is not the case across the board, and there are some who have learned effort. I am not talking about specifics, I am talking only in generalities. I am sure it has also been a slow fade over decades to where we are today. To be honest, there is not going to be an easy fix either. We have arrived at the place we are today be millions of choices over years. It didn't happen overnight and it won't be fixed overnight. The only option we have is to recognize the error and begin to push back the other way. To begin to celebrate hard work. We must return to the day when the heroes are those who do great things, and not internet celebrities and media influencers. The culture can be saved, but it is going to be a long and difficult road back. I for one am worried, because it will take effort, and I am not sure we have enough left to get back.

Anxiety

 Anxiety is on the rise for many people, and I am one of them. When I was younger, I never struggled with anxiety. These days, however, the amount of pressure that I am under (and often put myself under) has caused me some trouble. As a teacher, there is a great deal of pressure from every side. Working with a room of High School students can be stressful, and the ones who are defiant cause anxiety to increase. Add parents and society at large, combined with the pressure of test scores and student achievement, I struggle with anxiety every morning.

It feels like we are all constantly in the public eye, thanks to cell phones and social media. People can take pictures and videos of you almost anytime. Cameras are everywhere, and any mistake you make is quickly posted. If you park badly, your car will be posted all over social media with comments about how stupid and incompetent you are. If you posted something wrong when you are young, it comes back to haunt you. Add cancel culture and the eagerness of many to be offended, and anxiety is just a reality.

I have found that many people deal with anxiety in very unhealthy ways. The younger generations that I work with have dealt with anxiety through forms of abandonment. They don't care, they don't try, they don't participate, and they don't show up. The concept of "quiet quitting" is an example. When the anxiety gets too high, the pressure to perform in order to get ahead, they quit doing any extra. They do exactly what is expected of them, and nothing more. I believe this is a result of the pressure and anxiety combined with the feeling of always being watched and on display.

There are healthy ways to deal with anxiety. First, understand that anxiety is a part of life but it doesn't have to be a driving force. Like anger, sadness, or regret, these negative emotions can be felt but not allowed to control your life. If you feel anxiety, understand that it doesn't have to control you. You push through it and move forward. Anxiety doesn't control you. As you feel the anxiety, call it what it is, a feeling. On a deeper level, anxiety is a low-brain emotion. Anxiety exists to keep us safe and give us pause. It should be the feeling you have when you are walking through the woods and see a bear. Your first instinct should be to not get mauled, not to pet the bear. These emotions are in the lower parts of your brain, the fight or flight areas. These are instincts, but they don't have to control you. In the higher parts of your brain, you have rational areas that can think through the issues. Bears are dangerous, but a room full of high school students who don't want to listen is not a threat to my health and safety.

Anxiety is a low-brain reaction, and faith is a high-brain reaction. A great way to push through anxiety is to remember what the Bible says. We remember what Paul tells us in Romans 8, and if God is for us, who can be against us? We remember what Paul says in 2 Timothy, that God has not given us a spirit of fear. God has given us the ability to push through our anxiety through rational thinking, faith, and perseverance. Keep moving forward, trust God, and know you have it within yourself to overcome.

Finally, some anxiety needs some medical attention. If you have crippling anxiety, know that is a medical issue and you need to talk to your doctor. Our brain is a very specialized tool, and sometimes the calibration is off. The neurotransmitters can be unbalanced causing anxiety and depression. This isn't something you can just overcome with willpower, so talk to your doctor. There are tools and resources to help you, like medication or types of therapy. Know that this will not take 100% of the anxiety away, but it will get you to a place where you can begin to use the higher brain functions of faith and perseverance. Sometimes it takes a combination of things to get through the day, so don't be ashamed if you need those tools.

Life is hard, and anxiety is real. My goal today is not to downplay or dismiss what you feel, because your feelings are real. My goal today is to encourage you that even though you feel anxious and it is hard to get going, you can do it. God has given you what you need, and moving out of that "fight or flight" and into using our faith and confidence we can find in Christ. You can do this, just one step at a time.

When Bad Things Hit You Like a Brick

 Bad things happen in life. Bad things happen in life to everyone, and sometimes things are really, really bad. I sometimes get asked why God allows these things to happen. I have even been asked by people if God hates them. The reason is simple, yet very complex. God allows us freedom and freedom can cause pain. Let me unpack.

God allows you to make the choices to do what you choose. He allows you to choose to do good, to be kind. He allows you to love and support and care for people. He also allows you to do harm and make bad decisions. All of the bad things in life come as either a direct or indirect result of sin. I am going to use an example to help illustrate this point, our friend the brick.

If you take a brick and throw it straight up in the air and it comes down, it can hit you in the head. This is a result of gravity, a natural law that God put in place for many good reasons. Without it, we would float away and all die. Gravity is necessary, and God allows you to throw the brick. The natural consequences are that it comes back down and hits you in the head. You can blame God, but it is not God's fault, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you are honest with yourself, many of the issues in your life come down to your actions. The decisions you make, or sometimes your inaction, result in the situation. It may be harsh to say, but it is true. You threw the brick and it hit you in the head.

More sinister is when someone else throws the brick. People have the freedom to be awful, and often bricks get thrown. Bricks get thrown a lot, and sometimes we get blindsided by bricks flying out of seemingly nowhere. This is where a lot of our pain comes from. It can be easy to put this on God, but it is the freedom that God gives all of us. We can desire that God will limit the freedom of others, but none of us want God to limit our freedom. We each want the freedom to do what we want, but we expect God to stop others. We don't want others to lie to us, but do we lie? We don't want others to talk badly about us, but do we talk badly about others? Either we all have freedom, or none of us have freedom. If you want the freedom to do what you want, others get freedom and sometimes that freedom is abused and causes pain.

The last flying brick is the most complicated to understand. Sometimes in the course of life, bricks get thrown, tossed, knocked over, or flung great distances. It can seem like no one's fault, but the bricks suddenly come flying from nowhere and hit us. Illness, accidents, and hardships are not the direct action or result of us or someone else. These things exist because of the flaws in the world, flaws that result from sin. Death itself is a result of sin and all the negative things can be tied to sin, death, and the knowledge of good and evil. The world as it exists is filled with pain that can be linked to evil. For example, many cancers are caused by pollutants and chemical exposures, many of which are the results of companies cutting corners and causing pollution. These pollutants enter the air and water and as a result, people become ill. These indirect things cause us problems, but every one of them is the result of the fallen nature of the world. They are not necessarily the result of our decisions as individuals, but they are the result of the freedom of choice given to mankind. Everything ties back to the first wrong choice and escalates with every wrong choice that has been made since.

In fact, it is a miracle that anything good actually happens to us. With all the bad choices we make, with all the ways we hurt one another and ourselves, it is a gift of God that we have the blessings we do. God continues to give us good things, even when we do horrible things. Romans 5:8 says that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. We betrayed God, and He gave us a way to fix what we broke. That is amazing, and every blessing we have is a direct result of His love for us. Every bad thing in our lives is the result of the poor choices we make. I am not sure how I have so many blessings, since I made so many horrible decisions. I am thankful that I have so few bricks that come into my life.

The Cell Phone Problem No One Can Fix

 Most of you know me and know I'm a High School teacher. I will tell you as a teacher and from other teachers, I know that cell phones are a nightmare. I think many teachers are leaving the profession because we just can't compete anymore. We just can't do it, it is awful. My district has said no more cell phones in class, and the punishment can be as severe as an alternative school. May seem drastic, but it is not. Cell phones are ruining our students.

As a teacher, telling my students to put their phones away is equal to killing their puppy. I get called every name under the sun, yelled at, ignored, and disrespected constantly for a cell phone policy that I didn't create. If you want to see something similar, take a smoker and hide their cigarettes. These students are addicted, and when you cut off that addiction, they can act like addicts.

What makes it worse is the enabling parents who are addicts and don't support what we are doing. Most of the parents are great, but some say "I just don't see the big deal". I will tell you the big deal, and many will say I'm overreacting, but Google is running our country. The younger generations no longer think, they just google it, or ask Siri. They no longer have critical thinking skills, they just accept whatever the cell phone tells them. They get info from Instagram and Snapchat, but they have no clue what is actually happening. Google tells them what to think, what to support, and how to feel. When you cut them off from this, they lose their minds.

Teachers are suffering because of cell phones. We can't teach, we are constantly at odds with distracted students. Cheating is out of control, students are emboldened to defy a teacher, and TikTok trends are encouraging all sorts of negative behavior. Our society is speeding down a road of destruction and it begins when a kid gets their first smartphone and social media account. They do not have the ability to turn it off, put it down, and pay attention during a school day. They have no idea why it is important to learn anything. It is dangerous when people just give up control, but that has happened, and it has happened on our watch.

I wish I had an answer to put in this section of my post. I don't. I have no idea how to fix this issue. Cell phones and social media are not going away. This is not going to change. The best we can do is to continue to talk about it. Continue to teach kids the whats and the whys of education and life. We can't give the ability of Google or Apple to control the thought process of the young. We need to teach them to think critically. It will be a long fight, a hard fight. Please pray for teachers, educators, parents, and others who work with these kids. It is a hard-fought battle.

You Must Choose

 There are several places where the phrase is repeated in popular culture. I can hear the phrase echo in different voices, you must choose. 

Palpatine tells Anakin to choose the Jedi or the Sith. 

The knight tells Indiana Jones he must choose the right grail. 

The Architect tells Neo that he must choose to save Zion or Trinidy. 

In the original Spider-Man with Toby McGuire, Green Goblin tells him that some villain will come along with "a sadistic choice". He can save Mary Jane, or an elevator car full of school kids.

These are just a few examples that pop into my head, and choice is a pretty big deal. As a Wovenist (you can read Biblical and Evangelical Calvinist), I acknowledge that God calls us, that God does the work of salvation, and God ordains who is to be saved, but this does not negate the choice of man. (If this seems contradictory, please go back and read some of my posts on Wovenism, time, and the works of salvation). God created man with a choice. Obey and walk with me, or eat the fruit.

We have confused things in our modern day, and there seems to be a plurality of choices. There isn't. It really comes down to two choices, Trust God or trust yourself. In reality, every world religion is based upon human works. There are rules, laws, rituals, rights, duties, and obligations. In every world religion, man does work to get to god. In the Christian faith, God came to man in the person of Jesus. He died to redeem mankind of sin. We are offered the gift, we respond in faith, and are saved by the work of Jesus. It is not by work, effort, ritual, or law. We are saved by grace through faith.

It is pretty simple, who do you trust? Do you trust yourself to get it right? Do you trust yourself to keep the laws of God, to work and earn your way into eternity? Do you have the ability to please God by your own effort? Can you stand before God and demand Him to allow you into Heaven because of how good you have been? Can you do all that is required to get to Heaven? I am confident that I cannot, but I know that Jesus can. I can choose to trust Him, and allow Him to do the things in me I can't do for myself. I can't, but He can. He will and I have faith that I will spend eternity with Him.

Why You Should Read More (Specifically The Bible)

 My day job is as a High School teacher, specifically, I teach reading and comprehension skills. My focus is to help students who struggle in those areas gain skills and proficiency. I know that it is important for them for the rest of their lives. American (and most other societies) are based on the written word. We have books, we study books, we write things down, take notes. Even in the digital age things are written. Videos have scripts and captions and memes are a form of written satire. Even websites are written in code, and you have to know how to read and write that code to program. It is imperative that students are proficient readers once they graduate, and my goal is to get them there.

Unfortunately, we have seen growing apathy among many that reading and comprehension are no longer important. They see it as antiquated and obsolete. I assure you it is not (and I probably don't have to convince a blog reader that reading is important). We are now and in the near future will be a text-based civilization. It will be that way until some major technological breakthrough changes fundamentally how we learn, think, and communicate. We will not be moving away from the written word, even if it becomes digital. The email, text message, blog, and website will not be replaced anytime soon. 

With reading being an essential part of life, reading and good comprehension is key. For the Christian, it is even more important. God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His Word. God became incarnate in Jesus, and we find His life, deeds, and words written in a book. The Bible is key to knowing God. We learn about the nature and character of God and about the work of Jesus through reading. We study and meditate on the word. We are commanded to know the word. The Bible is vital to the Christian life.

Let me implore you, do not neglect to read. Read the Bible, and read good Christian works. Read old books and new books. Read, and grow in your ability to read fluently and be able to think critically about what you have read. Being literate is critical and a tremendous gift. Read to your kids, grandkids, to people around you. Be involved with books and most importantly with the scripture. It is vital to living a successful Christian life!

What Should Our Response Be to the Revival at Asbury?

 Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about the revival that has begun at Asbury University in Wilmore Kentucky. It began with a chapel service that students decided to continue to praise and worship. The chapel was on Feb 8th, and the praise and worship service has not stopped. Other colleges report that this movement is beginning to spread to their campus. Samford University has reported a revival at its campus. Lee and Cedardale Universities report the same.

As a believer in Northwest Iowa who is not on a college campus, how do I respond? Let me begin with what I am NOT going to do. I am not going to discourage or speak ill of this event. I am not going to label this as emotionalism or just immature college students. I am going to believe the best. I am not going to let myself become a skeptic, because revivals have a history of older skeptics attempting to quench the fire.

The missionary David Brainard was a student at Yale when revival began. During that revival, many of the local pastors and college staff attempted to discredit the revival for its emotionalism. Brainard said that one of the local pastors and college tutors "had no more grace than a chair" and was expelled from Yale. History will remember David Brainard and the Great Awakening that swept through the United States in the 1720s and 1730s. Those who fought against the Great Awakening are not remembered well in the annals of history. They are often written about as those who "wished to regain control" and who refused to support the young students as their excitement for the movement of God began to grow.

Knowing the history of the First Great Awakening, and knowing that many revivals and spiritual awakenings have begun with the younger generations, with students, and in colleges. My response is to have hope. I hope that his movement continues to spread to college campuses, to young men and women, and to churches. I hope that people reject the selfish ideology that is sweeping our country. My hope and prayer is that young people turn from the lies that are being pushed on them today and reject the hypersexualized culture in our country.

My response is to continue to pray that God's Spirit will be poured out. I can't claim to know what God is doing and what He has planned, but I trust and have faith. I know that students who praise and worship God today have a better chance to follow and trust Him tomorrow. I believe that these events have a better outcome in our country that the current path we are on. I'm going to pray that this movement of the spirit grows and comes to Northwest Iowa and consumes the entire country in the Holy Spirit. I hope you will join me in praying for revival!

Understanding Deconstruction (And Why It's Breaking Faith)

 My undergraduate work is in English Lit. As a student of literature, we studied a variety of critics and critical theories. One was a man by the name of Jacques Derrida. Derrida is the father of modern deconstruction and is a huge part of the postmodern movement and subsequent culture. This movement began, like many movements, in academia and then spread into popular culture. I want to dive into what Derrida said and then how that impacts what is happening in American Christianity today.

Derrida was a French philosopher, and like all other philosophers, he took ideas about thinking and thought and expounded upon them. He took the idea that all objects are made up of signified and signifier, the signified being the object and the signifier being the word that represents it in language. The signifier is arbitrary, it only exists because we assigned it, so for example there is an object growing from the ground. It is large, reaches to the sky, grows, and has leaves or needles, and sometimes fruit or nuts. We use a word, tree, to define that object. The word tree is arbitrary, and if we called it something else as long as we all agree that the word stands in the place for that object, we will be understood. If we called it a cat or a fish, or a flognart, as long as we all agree that word equals that object, it will be understood.

Derrida took that one step further, saying that things are identified primarily by what they are not. A tree is a tree because it is not a bush, a rock, a mountain, a river, or anything else. All of the things in nature have a space that is what a tree is. The only way we know it is a tree is by seeing what it is not. If it is not any of those things, then a tree is what is left. Language and the objects represented begin to seem arbitrary. To find out what something is, or what something is not, it needs to be broken down into its smallest component to find what is left. This is the heart of deconstruction.

Applying this to the Christian faith, once we begin to compare Christianity to another world religion, it simply becomes what that religion is not. If we use Muslims for example, then being a Christian doesn't mean we follow Christ, it means that we do not follow Muhammid. It no longer matters what Christianity is, it only matters what it is not. Using this method, we can remove anything from the Christian faith without problem, and we can add anything as long as it is not in line with another world religion. This has opened up Christianity to be shaped and changed by the culture in a way they see fit, as long as they retain some guiding principle. Usually, these principles fit with some general sense of the faith, like the idea of prayer, the inclusion of Christ, some Biblical teachings, traditions, and whatever sacraments seem to fit, such as Baptism (either pedo or credo). By holding to just enough of the aspects of the Christian faith that we can recognize it against the Muslim, the Atheist, and the Buddhist, then it is fine because the definitions are arbitrary and we only define things by what they are not.

The biggest issue in deconstructionism should be obvious. We can just define and redefine sin as we (or the culture) decide. It doesn't matter what Jesus said, we can just change the teachings, find ways to justify, or simply say it is obsolete. Orthodoxy no longer matters, and historical presidents can be tossed out as well. Nothing can be defined, redefined, added, or tossed out. It is this kind of thinking that has made sexuality and gender so malleable and fluid in our culture. If you can take away the aspects you don't like, then you can simply define anything by feelings or subjective reality.

If this pattern spreads into the few remaining orthodox denomination and churches, we will be in real danger of losing Biblical, orthodox Christianity in America. Faith in Christ is leaving all to follow Him, but if everyone can define for themselves who Jesus is, what following means, and which teachings are right to follow, the faith will be lost and salvation will not be preached, taught, or shared in American pulpits. Lets all pray against the dangerous movement towards Deconstruction as an aspect of the Christian faith and American culture.

Why Won't God Fix My Problems?

 I have been getting this question from a number of people lately. Several individuals know are struggling with problems like illnesses or relationship issues or financial problems. Often when we suffer, we ask the question: Why won't God fix this? This is reflected by the words of the character of Lex Luther in the Batman Vs Superman movie. "If God is all good, he cannot be all-powerful, and if he is all-powerful, he cannot be all good." The argument is that a good God would not allow people to suffer, so if God allows suffering, He either isn't powerful enough to stop it, or He isn't good enough to stop it. Is this true?

The foundational flaw in this position is that we assume we know what "good" is. We assume that what is good is for us to be happy, comfortable, and not in need (or want) of anything.  Is this really good? The best example is the life and reaction of people who are in these situations. It is well established by looking at those in Hollywood and Malibu that the easier our life is, the more selfish and self-focused we are. Nothing will make a person more shallow. We see this very thing happen in the New Testament. Crowds of people were seeking Jesus because He was healing and doing miracles. Once they were fed by a miracle, they were all in. They wanted to make Him king, thinking He would continue to give them what they want. When Jesus said He would perform no more miracles, they turned on Him and called for His crucifixion.

The first and most important reason that God doesn't just give you whatever you want is that it will never be enough. We are sinful, and what we want is everything. We are more like Satan than we would like to admit. Satan was given everything as the Archangel Lucifer. He had beauty, command, and respect, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to be like God, he wanted to be worshipped. If God gave us everything we wanted, we would continue to want more until we wanted to be Him. Our greed is not satisfied by getting what we want, it continues to grow. If you don't believe me, take a child to a toy store and offer to buy them one thing. They will ask for two.

We must stop viewing suffering, pain, and hardship as things to be avoided at all cost. James says to rejoice when you experience trials.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

We need the hard times in life to make us better people. We learn compassion by struggle. We learn selflessness by having needs. We learn to share, and we learn to have compassion. We learn to have hope. Let me put it this way. If we have everything we want if life was perfect and have no struggles, why would be hopeful or long for Heaven? Why would we tell others about Christ? Why would we seek Christ? Why would we need God? We would just be content to live in our sin and in a sinful world and then spend eternity in hell. We had a perfect life in Eden before sin entered the world. Sin necessitates suffering, or we will blissfully remain in our sin until we are cast headlong into hell.

It doesn't feel like it at the time, but suffering is for our benefit. We grow, we hope, and we gain faith, hope, and love through the hard times. Hard times will build us up if we can reject selfishness and self-seeking desires. We have to decrease and let Christ increase, and we can do that in suffering. Learn to suffer well, learn to look for the rock in the waves, the shelter in the storm. Let the hard times make you better, don't allow the world to make you bitter.

Church in a Tiktok World

 I live with a foot in two different worlds. In one world, I exist in the world of Public Education. I work with teenagers, I work to teach them and guide them through their high school experience. It is challenging and frustrating because I compete for their attention every minute. I am fortunate that my district has a no-cell phone policy. If I even see a cell phone in class, I can write a referral for that student. If I tell a student to put the cell phone away and they don't, I can have them removed from class. It definitely helps the situation, but the damage has been done. Students have whittled their attention span down to three minutes at maximum. Most of them can pay close attention in 30-second sections. They very quickly get bored, they want to be entertained and they don't have to have to put much thought into everything.

It is not uncommon for students today to be entitled. They feel they are deserving of what they want and they get upset when they don't get it. They often do not put much effort into things, but they want those around them to put maximum effort into them. In the 90s, we saw spoiled, elite, rich students who behaved this way. In the 90s tv sitcoms, often a rich and popular girl would behave this way. This behavior is no longer a parody, and it is not limited to the spoiled rich kid. It is now commonplace.

It would be nice to be able to just accuse the youth of acting this way, but it is not just high school students. Adults in their 20s, 30s, and even into middle age act this way more and more. The entitled behavior and attitude have spread into all areas of society. The reality of being mentally lazy has stretched from one end of life to the other. It has become a problem for modern Americans, we are connected to our electronics but disconnected from our community. We are united by our desire to be connected but divided by our ideology and selfish ambitions.

We live in a Tictok world, a place where everyone can be a star. I have made some videos and one of my car videos has over a million views. It is easy to get caught up in that kind of attention, and people begin to really focus on their 30 seconds of fame. The problem is, Tiktok is a fleeting popularity, it is empty and void. We are simply making the companies rich that own these apps, and we are subjecting ourselves to hours of advertisements. It has been customized for us, and as a result, we have become very selfish. We now see what we want to see, and we hear what we want to hear. We watch the shows, movies, and videos that agree with us. We have people who are an echo chamber of our ideas. We even watch and listen to the news that fits our political and social agenda. We are no longer confronted with the truth, no one really seems to want to know what the truth is. We are simply content with what we agree with and what we like.

This is a challenging environment for the church. The church exists to share the Gospel. The other world I exist in is one of Biblical truth. The Bible holds facts, if I like it or if I don't. The Gospel will not change to fix my ideas or beliefs. When confronted with scripture, I need to change for it, not change it to suit me. The Bible should inform my life, but unfortunately, we see this consumer-driven culture more and more willing to change the Bible. It has been re-interpreted to fit our social narrative, and to allow for the things we once agreed were morally wrong. People are using the Bible to justify abortion, transgenderism, same-sex marriage, and any other social or political movement they want to hold on to. The Bible no longer shapes us, the American culture is seeking to shape the Bible.

We must reject the Tiktok culture and cling to a Biblical worldview. As hard as it is, we must not allow the world and the powers that be to move us from the orthodox teaching of Scripture. This post would be torn apart by this self-seeking world, and if I allow myself to be taken and swayed by popular opinion, it would be easy to just keep silent and not put myself in the crosshairs of the woke worldview. My prayer is that men in women in the church will reject the Tiktok-ism of modern America and strive to have one shaped by God's opinion, not the internet's.

Finding Unity in Christiandom

 In preaching through the Gospel of Mark, I am always astounded when looking at the rag-tag bunch that makes up the Disciples. Matthew 10 gives us an even better list than Mark.

10 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 10:1–4.

Did you see it? Matthew was a tax collector and he was in the group with Simon the Zealot. As a tax collector, Matthew partnered with Rome in collecting taxes and revenue from the Jews. They were often despised because this was seen as selling out to the enemy. You partnered with Rome to take money from the Jews. A Jew was getting money from God's chosen people to give to a pagan ruler. This was not popular, and it is why we see people who are looked down on as "tax collectors and sinners". They were traitors, and the Jews hated them. Contrast that with a Zealot, a person who believed that the Messiah would come in the image of David, who would be a great military leader. They wanted someone to come and destroy Rome and restore Israel to its greatness under the rule of David. Zealots were often terrorists who attacked Rome and Roman targets. They were the extremists of the Jewish people, and about as far as you could get from a tax collector.

These two men were as different as they could be. Throw in some fishermen, merchants, and farmers to round out the groups and you had quite the team. In the gospels, they even have some spats. We see them fighting about who will be the greatest. We see the mother of James and John ask Jesus for a special place for her sons in the Kingdom. They work together, but they don't always get along.

After Pentecost, there are still some disagreements. Paul and Peter have words about Peter only eating with Jews. Paul and Mark disagreed because Mark abandoned them on a journey. Things in the 1st century were not always smooth sailing. You had people as different as they could be. Peter was still a fisherman, and Paul was a Pharisee as they both became Apostles of Christ. With all these differences, however, they still began a world-altering movement. They moved beyond their differences and impacted the world for Christ.

In the modern church, there are places where we divide. Some of the divisions are doctrine, some are practice, but many of them are areas that are not essential doctrine. In those areas, we should continue to work together. As the Church in the United States, we are facing increasing challenges. We must take a page from the 1st century, and learn to disagree, but have unity in essentials. We can discuss, we can debate, but we must show unity in Christ. Every family has its struggles, but when the things that divide us are trivial, and the things that unite us are foundational, we work together and love one another through the differences and struggles. That is the only way we survive.

January 2023 - New Year's Theme

     Here I go again. New year, new blog post, new theme, same me. I always do the same thing, most of us do this in January. We make resolutions. New Year, New Me! It isn't a new me, it is the same old me. I have figured myself out well enough to know that the calendar change isn't going to magically make me a high-energy, super-productive individual. I teach all week, I preach on Sunday, and do the prep and work for those things. I am applying to get an English Langauge Learner Endorsement, and I am in the process of getting another Master's Degree. On top of that, I am trying to finish a book and have another 3 books I have planned, plus the additions to my youth series. Things have never been finished as quickly as I wish they had. I have the Mustang, and Brayden got a Mustang, plus I picked up a Ford Probe. With the work that I need to do on the truck and my wife's car, I have a lot of stuff to do. I am working on the garage, I have a bathroom in the basement I need to finish, and the house needs to be resided. The list goes on. I know that I am not suddenly doing to get more time, and I know life will continue to come up. I will have things I have to do, and I'm human so I need downtime.

     I am realistic about all the things I have to do. I will do what I can, and my motto for this year is "take advantage of the opportunities". I want to do what I can when I can. If I can't do it, then I need to not focus on the things I can do. One day at a time, one step, one task. Opportunities will arise and I need to take the opportunities. I will continue to push to get the big tasks done and do the hard things. 

    I hope your 2023 is productive and you have the opportunity to do some great things. Take those opportunities that come your way, but don't push to hard. Take time for yourself and your loved ones.