DO NOT BE FOOLED

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ" (2 Jn. 1:7). Jesus taught us, as his followers, to be as wise and as innocent as possible as we live in this world carrying forth the gospel (Mat. 10:16). Satan is the great deceiver, and many people live in this world as his instruments of wickedness.

Christians, indeed, all moral, right-thinking, Constitution-rooted Americans, recognize the top-down, ramrodding, leftist, progressive agenda aimed at fundamentally changing America, regardless of the form in which it comes at us. We will not be fooled by it, submit to it, or aid and abet it. Target leaders are doing nothing more than using slippery aversion tactics to appease the masses and regain the millions of customers and dollars they have lost due to the boycott over their evil, immoral policy of allowing men to go into and use women's bathrooms in their stores.

Target leaders should know that adding single-stall, locking bathrooms to their stores is a weak, miserable substitute for doing the right thing--reversing their ridiculous bathroom policy-- specifically, making their men's bathrooms for men and boys only and making their women's bathrooms for women and girls only, AND that means men and boys who were born males and women and girls who were born females. Until Target does the right thing, Christians will stay the course.

LET GOD BE TRUE, AND EVERY HUMAN BEING A LIAR (Rom. 3:4).

At the root of the sins represented by the "LGB" in LGBTQ is some human beings being deceived by the satanic assault against God's created order, which God called good. After God created the first man, Adam, and placed him in the Garden of Eden, He said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen. 2:18). God did not make another man for Adam because He judged that another man would not be "suitable for him." Therefore, "the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man. . . . For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Gen. 2:21-22, 24). Having made the husband and his wife according to His own will and purpose, God blessed Adam and Eve and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28). God made Adam a wife, Eve, and, by doing so, established the boundary of human sexual expression to be between husbands and wives within the state of marriage.

At the root of the sins represented by the "TQ" in LGBTQ is some human beings being deceived by the satanic assault against God's sovereign right to create human beings in his own image. During the first five days of creation, God made the heavens and the earth, all vegetation and seed bearing plants and trees each after its own kind, the sun and moon and stars and the birds and sea creatures each after its own kind (Gen. 1:1-23). On the sixth day of creation after He created the land creatures each after its own kind, "God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. . . . When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them 'Mankind' when they were created" (Gen. 1:27; 5:1-2).

In the same way God made the sun to be and stay the sun and never to be or become the moon; in the same way God made the grass to be and stay the grass and never to be or become an apple tree or a live oak; in the same way God created the eagle to be and stay an eagle and never to be or become a dolphin; in the same way God created the monkey to be and stay a monkey and never to be or become a human being; God also created man to be and stay man and never to be or become woman. Likewise, God created woman to be and stay woman and never to be or become man. God made human beings exactly the way he wanted them to be and, by doing so, established the boundary of human gender--boys being boys and girls being girls; men being men and women being women. Any attempt by human beings to deviate from God's created order is the very work of Satan through human beings to destroy what God Almighty created and called good. However, do not be dismayed. We have the promise of God's word to encourage us: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (Gal. 6:7).

THE LANGUAGE OF PRAISE

Have you ever noticed how often we blindly mouth the words, "Praise God," "Hallelujah," "Praise the Lord" and "Glory to God" without declaring definitively what we're praising God for? How sad our state becomes when even our praise to God becomes merely "Christianese." Survey the Psalms and note, almost without exception, when the psalmists praise God, they include the attribute, character trait, wisdom, teaching, or deed for which they are giving God praise.

In doing so, the biblical writers give us the correct format and formula for our praise. They also demonstrate that we are better stewards of our minds, hearts, mouths and lives when we use them to cheer for God rather than complain to God. Juan Carlos Ortiz stings us with this soul-searching truth: "As far as God is concerned, there are only two languages in this world: the language of His Kingdom and the language of the kingdom of darkness. The first is the language of praise. The second is the language of complaint. Praise recognizes virtue. Complaint criticizes virtue. And every human being speaks one language or the other" [Disciple, (Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1975), 69].

SIN'S PROGRESSION REQUIRES TRUTH'S SUPPRESSION

In order to live on in sin, a person must throw out God's truth and establish an untrue truth, a lie, and then live that lie as though it is the truth. This is not new. Consider the words of the apostle John: "This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed" (Jn. 3:19-20).

Furthermore, the apostle Paul reminds us that "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18). Why and how do people suppress the truth? Answer: Because of and by their unrighteousness.

Mike Minter, in his book A Western Jesus: The Wayward Americanization of Christ and the Church, said, "No one rejects truth for no reason. No one rejects truth with their intellect; they reject truth with their [ungodly] morality" (72). Again, the only way to continue living a lifestyle of sin is to keep God's truth suppressed by believing and living a lie as though it's the truth.

REASON VS. REVELATION

"Where there is no vision (revelation), the people perish" (Prov. 29:18).

"Reason is the natural human ability to negotiate the issues of life by employing logic (the science of the principles of reason) and intellect. . . . Reason is a gift from God given to unbelievers as well as believers, and without it, life would not only be hard, it would be impossible. . . . Revelation, however, takes us into another world. . . . The Bible is a book of revelation in that it tells us what human reason could never tell us, . . . Without revelation, man is left wandering around the globe trying to figure out the mysteries of life with his reason, but reason does not take us into this realm. It's off-limits for the human mind." -- Mike Minter, in his book, A Western Jesus: The Wayward Americanization of Christ and the Church, 57-58.

WIDE AWAKE, YET SOUND ASLEEP

Our world today is wide awake, yet sound asleep. We have all-night television, 24-hour news cycles, television psychiatrists, and non-stop music. The majority of our population walks around staring down at a cell phone screen instead of watching where they're going or engaging others in meaningful conversation. Commercials, sit-coms, reality shows, and internet pop-ups relentlessly and shamelessly traffic unrestrained sexual encounters, homosexuality, and sexual immorality in general for the purpose of desensitizing people to behaviors and lifestyles that are impure, unholy, and forbidden by God in the Bible. This raunchy sexually-explicit programming tempts people at the lowest, degrading level. Have a problem? Turn the channel and see what Dr. So-and-so has to say about it. Got an ache? Grab a pill, get drunk, smoke a joint, or shoot-up. These are the philosophies that, unfortunately, get too many people through their days. Anything that keeps people from being alone with their own thoughts or intentionally thinking deeply on the subject of their choices, lifestyles, and the real meaning of life. Oh no, that would eventually lead them to consider the truth and claims of Jesus Christ, and Satan will not stand for that. Neither, incidentally, will the liberal, left-wing progressives that control mainstream media in all its forms in this country.

Moreover, we have a government filled with gutless, immoral, ungodly politicians addicted to their wealth, power, and status who will believe anything, go along with anything, say anything, and do anything to get elected and keep their positions. These unfit so-called public servants have the repugnant audacity to demand that what has always been right is now wrong and what has always been wrong is now right for the sake of political correctness and maintaining the status quo. Who, in their right mind, would ever believe that, in the greatest nation that has ever existed on planet Earth, we would have to listen to a president and politicians try to convince us to shut up and go along while they make it legal for a boy or man who wakes up with male genitalia but feels like (self-identifies as) a female go into and use the girls' bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers in our schools and all across this nation where our precious daughters, wives, sisters, aunts, mothers, and grandmothers have the right to the expectation of privacy? I’m afraid this is just another in a long list of idiotic changes that our president had in mind when he came into office with the intent to fundamentally change our nation.

Here's a news flash: This is the United States of America. We're a rough and rugged people who know our history. We are still a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. We are under absolutely no obligation to maintain what is politically correct or go along with the status quo when either or both is blatantly unconstitutional, unbiblical, ungodly, wicked, sinful, and plain stupid. We were founded upon Judeo-Christian laws, teachings, and values, and no amount of reckless, brazenfaced executive orders or systematic, underhanded rewriting of textbooks or senseless, top-down common core curriculum or midnight-released, cowardly threats disguised as guidelines aimed at social engineering in our nation’s school systems can change the facts. We owe our status and prosperity, as a nation, to God and to his providence. Therefore, God, the sovereign ruler and judge of all nations, will have the last say on America.

We, as Christians, believe that the Bible is God's word and is completely sufficient to live by and to measure every thought and idea. America is a constitutional republic, a nation of laws, with guiding documents which, in their original intent, give our three branches of government and body-politic its limits and responsibilities. Even more, we do not cow down, shrink back, and allow bullies with idiotic ideals and ideas run rough-shod over our constitution and over we, the people—the law abiding, hard-working, God-fearing citizens of this great nation—regardless of whether those bullies hold the highest offices in the land.

In the Bible, we find this admonition, "This is what the Lord says: 'Do what is just and right,'" (Jeremiah 22:3) and by God's grace and with his wise counsel, strength, power, and Spirit, that's exactly what we, as Christians, intend to do. Yes, by the wisdom, power, and might of the Spirit of God, we fight the world—the system of evil that has so thoroughly permeated our culture; the flesh—the sinful nature, propensity toward sin, inherited by every single person from Adam and Eve; and the devil—the archenemy of God and his people. Therefore, for the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, the dignity and everlasting good of our nation, and the present and eternal safety of our souls, we better wake up from our terminal addictions to all things politically-correct, technologically-fascinating, attention-grabbing, and humanly-degrading, and cry out to Jesus Christ in true repentance seeking his forgiveness, restoration, and salvation.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces during World War II and 34th President of the United States, said, “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed—else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die” (www.watchmenofamerica.com/OctoberNewsletter.pdf). We better oppose all forms of government-imposed socialism, vote the biblical, reasonable, common-sense values that made America great, and make certain the people we elect to lead us are selfless servants instead of selfish usurpers. May God have mercy on the United States of America.

TAKE A LOAD OFF!

"God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, . . . has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

Very few professing Christians are actually engaged in consistent, intentional evangelism. Explanations are endless: fear of confrontation and rejection, insufficient biblical knowledge, busyness, lack of training, no confidence, extreme shyness, and void of spiritual giftedness just to name a few. Yet, what if the real reason has more to do with wrong expectations and misplaced burdens?

No doubt Jesus called his followers to evangelize others. Speaking to the townspeople of Lystra, Paul and Barnabas said, "We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them" (Acts 14:15). Solomon exhorted, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls" (Prov. 11:30).

The problem, however, is not is recognizing the call to evangelize others; it is in perceiving the true definition of evangelism. Christians do not have the ability to "save" anyone. Jesus himself said definitively, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day" (Jn. 6:44). Clearly, Jesus is the one who saves. However, professing Christians engaged in witnessing often burden themselves, perhaps unintentionally, with "securing the decision." Nothing less, in other words, is success except making sure the person prays to receive Christ as Lord. Although genuine repentance of sin, belief in the atoning death and resurrection of Christ, and complete surrender to Jesus is certainly the goal of evangelism, the misguided pressure to say the right words and make sure a person "gets saved" is a foolish, unnecessary, and heavy burden that Jesus never called his followers to carry.

Evangelism is a cooperative work. With love, sincerity, and passion, the follower of Jesus engages in the ministry of reconciliation by bearing witness to the person and work of Christ (Acts 1:8). He or she shares the gospel of salvation (Rom. 1:16). The nature and law of God, sin and condemnation of man, sacrificial death and miracle resurrection of Jesus, and the redemption and new life of the sinner frame the conversation. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, convinces the unsaved person of the truth being shared by the witness and then brings conviction of sin and persuasion of the need for salvation. The grace of God enables the sinner to believe, repent, and surrender his or her life to Jesus as Lord. If a person willfully and knowingly resists and rejects the grace of God that would save him, he is not rejecting the witness; he is rejecting Jesus (Jn. 3:18).

Consequently, the Christian's responsibility is to bear witness. Jesus' responsibility is to save. After Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, he ascended back to heaven. Prior to leaving, he left his disciples definite instructions: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mat. 28:18-20). Why would Jesus say he would be with his disciples always? Because they had no power in themselves to save any person. Their job was to disciple (lead) people to Christ by bearing witness and then teach those who become followers of Jesus how to live faithfully to Jesus. Jesus, present with his disciples always, would hold them accountable to being his witnesses and then do the regenerating work of salvation in those who believe the message of reconciliation spoken by his disciples.

So, Christian, take that foolish, unnecessary, and heavy load off your shoulders and simply go into the world, bear witness of the gospel, and depend of Jesus to save all who believe (Jn. 3:16).

MOTIVE MAKES MASTERY

How silly we often prove ourselves to be! How? By reading a Bible verse, passage, chapter, or book and, along the way, appraising the text as right or wrong, relevant or irrelavent. Professing Christians are called to ...scholarship: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV).

This biblical command not only means we are to do our best as led by, enlightened by, and enabled by the Holy Spirit to master scripture intellectually but also to become skilled at obeying and living according to scripture. Ask yourself an important question: Do I read the Bible as its pundit or as its pupil? Pundits are critics and faultfinders; whereas, pupils are learners and apprentices.

In his book "The Knowledge of the Holy," A. W. Tozer said,

The scholar has a vitally important task to perform within a carefully prescribed precinct. His task is to guarantee the purity of the text, to get as close as possible to the Word as originally given. He may compare Scripture with Scripture until he has discovered the true meaning of the text. But right there his authority ends. He must never sit in judgment upon what is written. He dare not bring the meaning of the Word before the bar of his reason. He dare not commend or condemn the Word as reasonable or unreasonable, scientific or unscientific. After the meaning is discovered, that meaning judges him; never does he judge it (29).

The writer of Hebrews, declaring the absolute, infinite, unrestricted power of the Bible over the human being, said definitively, "The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb. 4:12, NIV). Therefore, sitting down to the Bible as its self-appointed assessor and magistrate is moronic; moreover, it's an act of personal irresponsibility.

What kind of Bible scholar have you been? Moreover, what adjustments do you need to make and steps do you need to take to become the Bible scholar God commands you to be?

WHEN HUMAN REASONING REAPS HEINOUS IDOLATRY

"No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Mat. 11:27).

 

Who is God? What is God like? These are among the most dangerous questions people can contemplate when their full intention is to answer from their own mental capacity, ability, imagination, and reasoning. To begin with, God is infinite and man is finite. Then there is the matter of humanity's innate sinfulness. The human mind being finite and sinful, therefore, possesses absolutely no ability in and of itself to accurately describe or define God. Decades ago A. W. Tozer said rightly, "A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will quite naturally be no true likeness of the true God."

 

Yet, is this not exactly what many contemporary professing Christians have habitually done in an attempt to have God and church the way they want both? To justify one hour services or less, they propose that God is well satisfied with their church tradition. To rationalize lack of personal evangelism and witness, they explain that God knows these are not their talents and gifts. To feel good about sleeping in on the Lord's day, they suggest that God sympathizes with their need for rest on their only day off from work. Skipping Sunday evening services and Wednesday prayer meetings are simply a matter of God knowing his or her need for "family time." To perpetuate an ever-growing addiction to "social" drinking, some professing Christians arrogantly tout, "Well, Jesus turned water into wine!" Adulterous affairs are often passed off as justifiable because, as the offender explains, "God wants me to be happy." To console their grieving heart over the death of relative who never showed any real concern for God while alive, a person will insist that "God is a God of love and wouldn't send his or her loved one to hell." Every era of time has had its share of professing Christians who are experts at fashioning for themselves a god that is not the true God, thereby, shamefully proving themselves to be idolaters.

So, then, how do we correct this hideous idolatrous thinking and behavior? Moreover, how can we come to know our incomprehensible God? First, we must make sure we are truly Christian by having genuinely repented of our sins and trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Second, we must give up all silly, sinful notions of having God and church the way you want them. Third, we must go to the source, the Bible. Jesus said, "No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Mat. 11:27). In the scriptures, we find that God has revealed himself through his written word and the living word, Jesus Christ. Study the whole Bible and, especially, the person and work of Christ. You'll discover God's attributes, God's character, and God's will. This is the way God has chosen specifically to reveal himself to his true children.

Tozer also said, "Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear." Determine to know God and love God as he truly is and not as your imagination says he is or as your sinful desires want him to be.

WRONG BELIEF ABOUT GOD

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. 46:10).
 

We are living in perilous times characterized by the generally low and loathful view of God in the culture. Everything from the celebrity and television preacher's prosperity gospel to the casual, almost flippant, at...titude of many church goers reeks with the stench of false religion. Frightfully little has changed in the recent decades. A. W. Tozer, in his book "The Knowledge of the Holy," said, "The Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to consitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity."

Christians in the early centuries after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ through the reformation of the sixteenth century up to and including the awakenings in the American colonies would never have tolerated today's casual acceptance of a "so called" faith that demands a guarantee of heaven while simultaneously resisting any obligation to God.

Materialism has generated a strange kind of human being indeed: the person who believes he or she is too good to be damned to hell when the Bible and human experience plainly teaches that every person before experiencing the Holy Spirit's life-transforming, regenerating work of salvation is nothing more than a rebel against God.

More than six decades ago Tozer summarized today's need perfectly when he wrote:

The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long; but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man's laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear.

 Tozer, offering the solution, said,

The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them.

Haven't we learned the hard way that a high view of self with a low view of God leads to a myriad of wrecked lives and a sin-soaked culture? Our only hope is an immediate return to a low (humble) view of self with a high (exalted) view of God and of the gospel of Jesus Christ; may it begin with you and me.

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FALSE CONVERT

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away" (Heb. 2:1).
 

Picture an empty boat on a lake drifting in every direction but going nowhere in particular. Okay, at some point in your life, you prayed a sinner's prayer, received baptism, and placed your membership in a ...local church. Question, and be honest: Does your life within your church and outside your church indicated that you are steadily drifting away from Jesus or surely growing closer to Jesus? (Heb. 2:1-4).

Many professing Christians are trusting their prayer, baptism, and church membership to get them to heaven while, by all indications, their lives reflect an overpowering motivation to please themselves and to have life as close to the way they want it as possible. In truth, they are and have been drifting away from spiritual things because they've never really been committed to following hard after Christ and to paying careful attention to biblical truth. The only difference between this person and someone who cares nothing for Christ is he or she attends church from time to time.

True saving faith results in a resolute determination to grow steadily in spiritual maturity. The Christian will deliberately practice the biblical spiritual disciplines, wholeheartedly practice purity and holiness, and bravely practice the presence of God in the moments of life.

So, are you steadily drifting away from Jesus or surely growing closer to Jesus? The honest answer indicates the true condition of your heart and the truthfulness of your profession of faith in Christ.

HOW CAN I REALLY GROW IN MY CHRISTIAN FAITH?

Are you interested in steady, measured spiritual growth? In the first chapter of his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney said, "The Spiritual Disciplines are the God-given means we are to use in the Spirit-filled pursuit of Godliness."

Begin to practice daily just three of the premiere spiritual disciplines that have been used and found fruitful by followers of Christ since the early years of Christianity: Bible study, meditation (holy contemplation of scripture), and prayer.

The early Puritan preacher and writer Thomas Manton wrote, "Meditation is a middle sort of duty between the word and prayer, and hath respect to both. The word feedeth meditation, and meditation feedeth prayer. These duties must always go hand in hand; meditation must follow hearing and precede prayer. To hear and not meditate is unfruitful. . . . What we take in by word we digest by meditation and let out by prayer. These three duties must be ordered that one may not jostle out the other. Men are barren, dry, and sapless in their prayers for want of exercising themselves in holy thoughts" [Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1991), 73].

Make time each day for serious Bible study, meditation, and prayer and you will soon discover that the Holy Spirit is growing you in the grace and knowledge of Christ. As an extra incentive not to procrastinate, consider the advice of an anonymous writer, "You have to do what others won't to achieve what others don't." Add to that encouragement the wisdom of R. Collier found below, and get started immediately.

LOST AND FOUND

Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it" (Mk. 8:35).

At the age of six, his family migrated from Norway to America. In 1904, they settled on a 320-acre homestead in North Dakota and took up farming. By the time Johan Jonsen was a teenager, he had developed such a disgust for the farming life that he looked for any way out. He found it in a friendship with a notorious outlaw and gunslinger named Bert Dekler. Under Bert's tuterlage, Johan learned to handle a pistol and committed his first crime, a bank robbery, at age 17. Three years in the Montana State Prison did nothing to reform the young man, and he went right back to a life of crime upon his release. By the age of 32, Johan had become a hermit living in a cabin somewhere along the Rat River in the northeastern section of the Canadian Yukon. He trapped to eat but never gave up his thievery. Other trappers accused him of pilfering their traps which got the attention of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In December 1931, he shot a mounted police officer which began a man-hunt to arrest the "Mad Trapper of Rat River," as he became known. After a 45-day manhunt the mounties trapped Johan on a frozen river. He resisted arrest by firing on the officers. They returned fire and killed the "Mad Trapper," thus ending the life of man who had already wasted his life (Read his story here).
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America must have seemed like the land of freedom for that Norwegian family, a place where they could start fresh and have a chance at a decent life. However, what looked like a opportunity turned into a nightmare when Johan chose an unrighteous life. God offers every single person an opportunity for real life through repentance of sin and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For every person who will believe the gospel and surrender to Christ, effectively choose the righteous life that God offers, God will order the events of his or her life (Jeremiah 29:11).
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Ironically, Johan believed he was losing his life spending it as a farmer, so he went in search of his life only to lose it. Jesus told us what would happen: "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it" (Mark 8:35). ​​Consequently, the Christian's life becomes one of great hope, lasting meaning, and infinite purpose. Moreover, after the earthly life of the Christian is over and eternal life has begun, God will make sure that the life he or she lived on the earth continues to bring him glory.

THE DIFFERENCE CHRIST MAKES!

"Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near to God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds" (Ps. 73:27-28).

In 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of boxing by defeating Trevor Berbick. Mike Tyson’s skill, boxing knowledge, and tenacity made him arguably the most formidable fighter to ever step in a ring. However, this man who possessed such boxing prowess also displayed horrible character deficiency, explosive lack of self-control, and loathsome morality. Within three years of becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson married and divorced under the accusation of domestic abuse, broke his hand in a street brawl, wrecked two cars (one of which was labeled a suicide attempt), and fired his trainer.

In early 1990, Tyson lost his championship belt in a stunning upset. The following year he was convicted of rape and spent three years in a federal prison. After his release, Tyson regained the heavyweight title only to lose it again in 1996–this time to Evander Holyfield who came out of retirement to fight the champ. On June 28, 1997, Tyson ended his boxing career in shame during a rematch with Holyfield. During the first round, the crowd turned on Tyson and began chanting Holyfield’s name. In the second round, a head butt opened a cut above Tyson’s right eye. During the third round Tyson lost every ounce of his composure. He spit out his mouthpiece, bit off a piece of Holyfield’s ear, and spit it on to the floor of the ring. Holyfield refused to stop fighting; however, when the match resumed Tyson bit Holyfield’s other ear. This time the referee stopped the fight and disqualified Tyson. Tyson’s life spirally further downhill after his boxing career ended. Read his story here.

Folks, God only knows how many lives have been ruined or lost through history because of lack of character, morality, and self-control. Romans 3:10-18 contains a stinging synopsis of the unregenerate, unconverted, unredeemed character of man: “There is no one righteous, not even one; . . . no one who seeks God; . . . they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one; . . . ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know; there is no fear of God before their eyes.”

These words describe all of us in one form or another and to one degree or another as long as we live without a real, life-changing, character-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ that brings the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. If you have genuinely repented of your sins and received Jesus by faith, then you know the depth of your depravity, the distance God has brought you, and the difference Christ makes. Now, spend your life helping others experience the same out of shear gratitude to God.

WILL WE EVER LEARN?

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth (Ps. 115:1)."

A prestigious automobile club in Italy came up with the idea for a race called the Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles), a jealous response to not being chosen to host the famous Italian Grand Prix. The first Mille Miglia was held in March 1927. All of the leading Italian drivers entered the race which coursed a thousand miles of public roads from Brescia to Rome. The winner finished in slightly over twenty hours at an average speed of seventy-seven kilometers per hour (48 mph). The Italian government banned the race in 1938 when a racer spun out-of-control and killed ten spectators including seven children. The race resumed briefly during the early years of World War II; however, it was soon banned again. After the war ended in 1945, much of Europe’s infrastructure had to be rebuilt making the race impossible to run. Finally, on June 21, 1947, 155 race cars entered the fourteenth Mille Miglia. However, ten years later tragedy struck again when a driver spun out of control killing himself, his co-driver, and ten spectators. After this tragedy, the Italian government banned all racing on the public streets of Italy. Read the story here.

Unfortunately, we have a habit of failing to learn lessons that are right before us. How many times have the actions of people proven that so-called good ideas birthed from wrong motives usually end in disaster? Our prisons are full of people who thought they had a good idea at the time. Millions of marriages have been destroyed because a husband or wife thought an affair was a good idea at the time. How many teenagers lives and futures have been tragically altered because they thought having sex before marriage was a good idea? Moreover, how many devastated lives of children born or never allowed to be born after teenage sexual immorality prove that ideas birthed from wrong motives usually end in disaster?

The Bible is clear that all we do in our lives should be done from one grand controlling motive, the glory of God. When our thoughts, attitudes, decisions, conversations, and actions pass through the filter of God’s word, arise from a desire to allow God to rule and reign in our hearts, and aim at honoring God, we can trust that the outcomes will be for our good and for God’s glory.

Our lives are gifts from God. He never intended us live life racing at high speeds in the direction away from him. Jesus clearly said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mat. 7:13-14). Check your motives; set your heart on God’s glory; get on and stay on the path that leads to eternal life; and, remember, a good idea born out of an ungodly motive is a bad idea and a disaster waiting to happen.

REVIVE US AGAIN!

"Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. . . . Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" (Ps. 85:4, 6).

On June 14, 1940, residents of Paris, France, awoke to the sound of a German voice on loudspeakers announcing that the city was being taken over by Hitler’s Nazis. The people were instructed to abide by an 8 o’clock p.m. curfew. Read the story here.

​​Some two million residents had already fled the city; however, the German Gestapo wasted no time in making arrests, holding interrogations, planting a spy network, and hanging a monstrous swastika over Paris. The Paris that its residents went to sleep enjoying was gone and was replaced by an evil so horrific that both city and country were immediately overtaken with despair–and rightly so.

​​Although America has certainly not been overtaken by another country, we have positively been overtaken with evil. America is fast sinning itself into oblivion. The gutter-level immorality, the never-ending assault on traditional family values, the out-of-control government, and the liberal-led agenda to completely remove God and every vestige of Christianity from society have combined to open the flood-gates of evil.

The time is now for the Christian Church to “shine like stars in the universe as [we] hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16). The forces of evil we face are not greater than the God we worship. We need God in America again; therefore, we need a resurgence of Judeo-Christian values, a re-commitment to the authority of the Bible, and a resurrection of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

How can we, as American Christians, be a part of spreading the gospel of Jesus from here to the utter ends of the earth if we sit idly by and watch America turn away from that gospel? Christian, will you commit to pray, sacrifice, and serve to see that God’s will is done on American soil again and then follow through on your commitment?

YOU CAN DO IT!

"I know that You can do all things. And that no ​purpose of Yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2)."

On June 7, 1913, Hudson Stuck, an Alaskan missionary, and three companions became the first mountain climbing team to ascend Mt. McKinley, the highest point on the American continent at 20,320 feet. Read their story here.

​​Can you imagine being one of first persons to accomplish such a feat? I wonder how many people tried to end their dream before it ever got started. You've known nay-sayers haven't you . . . "that's crazy talk," "it's impossible," "only a fool would attempt such a thing," "you can't do it."

​​According to their success, these men overcame their own negative fears and the killjoy remarks of skeptics. Stuck and his cohorts dared to dream and drove themselves with tenacity toward the dream God had put in their hearts.

Well, guess what? You can too. Has God planted a dream in your heart? Have you tried to forget the dream, but it just won't go away? Have you been carrying around some aspiration for too long because of paralyzing fears and pessimistic opinions of naysayers?

Do some homework: comb through the Bible searching for any command, principle, or example that warns against what is in your heart--what you find will tell you whether God will or will not sanction your dream; seek the counsel and prayers of a few folks that you know walk close to God on a daily basis; determine not to allow the destructive criticisms of doubters to ​​influence you more than the promises of God; ask God to confirm your dream and give you peace to proceed or either to assure you that your dream is not in his will for you; pray, pray, and pray some more; and, finally, remember that if God places a dream in your heart, he also equips you with the resources and strength to see it through.

​​The only person who can kill a dream God plants in you is you. Now, go with confidence and do what God has placed in your heart.

Easter Promises Especially for You

"But now, this is what the Lord says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. . . . Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you; I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. . . . I will bring your children from the east, and gather you from the west. . . . Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made’" (Isaiah 43:1, 4-5, 7, NKJV).

Life can be so superficial. We can live in hurry and flurry, and we do, without spending precious moments considering the value of this life we’ve been given. Friend, stop today and consider how good Easter really is for you. Realize that, unmistakably, you are part of God’s dream for his creation. There is a place prepared for you where you will fit in perfectly. You have a lively future, a living hope.

In the passage above, God prophetically announced himself to be Israel’s redeemer, their rescuer–the one who would bring them out of the shame and oppression of a hard life of slavery. As their forefathers in Egypt, they would live as unnamed, unknown, unloved servants of toil and labor at the hand of a hard task-master in Babylon. However, they should not lose heart. Though their sinful rejection of the fatherhood of the God who created them would have to be paid, deliverance was coming.

As much as God had created Adam to be the father of the human race, he had created Israel to father a peculiar people to be his very own. "For I have redeemed you" is a snapshot into the future, a forth-telling of the time when God would, indeed bring his people out of exile in Babylon back to their beloved Jerusalem.

Yet their return to their homeland was to be a sign of the ultimate redemption that would take place at a later time. God himself would send his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem his people out of their bondage in sin and into the precious salvation of present and eternal fellowship with him.

The religious leaders of Israel in the first century led Israel to reject Jesus as their long-awaited, prophesied, and promised Messiah Redeemer. But did that stop God’s plan? No. To the cross Jesus went, battered, bruised, scarred, and crucified. Let the anthem of John ring out through the ages: "For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Did Israel’s rejection of Christ disqualify all of the nation for salvation? Hardly. Paul explained: "I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! . . . For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" (Romans 10:11-12, 15). As a result of Jesus willingly giving his life on the cross, all who trust in him, Jew and Gentile, will be saved.

Here are a few Easter promises especially for you:

You are known by God. God’s message through Isaiah was: "I have summoned you by name." Friend, you are not some anonymous person trudging your way through this world. You may feel like no one knows you or cares for you, but that simply is not true. There is not one moment of your life that has not been lived out under the watchful eyes of your creator God. Put it down in big print and believe it–God knows your name. Jesus said, "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Luke 12:7). In addition, if belong to Christ by faith, God has numbered you among those who are his special possession for all eternity: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Put it down in big print and believe it–God knows you.

You are precious in God's sight. God’s message through Isaiah was: "Since you are precious . . . in my sight." What value do you really place on your own life. Do you feel like your life matters? God does. You are of infinite worth to the One who made you. As a matter of fact, if you did not matter, you wouldn’t be alive. The very fact that you live, breathe, and move means you matter more than you could ever know. So, then, do you treat your life as precious? You should. None of us has the right to treat our bodies haphazardly and hurtfully. Our existence is fragile and for only a time; therefore, we should take good care of ourselves as a sign that we understand our life is not our own, but was given to us by God. Paul said, "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Put it down in big print and believe it–God believes you are precious.

You are honored by God. God’s message through Isaiah was: "Since you are . . . honored in my sight." Think of your life–past, as well as, present. Have you always done what was right in God’s sight? Have you always honored God with your thoughts, words, and actions? How many times have you chosen to please yourself, instead of pleasing God? The fact that God cares for any of us who have turned our backs on him is mindboggling. Yet God has and God does care. That’s what the message of the Bible is: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more’" (Hebrews 10:16-17). That covenant was cut on Calvary and sealed at the resurrection. Put it down in big print and believe it–God has honored you.

You are loved by God. God’s message through Isaiah was: "because I love you." The very fact that we live and breath is proof that God loves us. The fact that we are a part of a family is proof that God loves us. We have food, shelter, and clothes to prove that God loves us. However, the greatest proof of God’s love for us is the Cross of Christ. His death paved the way for all people to be forgiven and restored, yet only those who believe and trust by receiving Christ as Lord are forgiven and restored. Hear the message: "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). Yet, Christ's death is not where the story ends. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. He truly is alive. Imagine this: the God who made you died for you, and now lives again to empower you to live the life you were created to live, and one day will return to get you, and take you to be with him for all eternity. Put it down in big print and believe it–God loves you.

The apostle John recorded one of the greatest promises Jesus ever spoke: "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!" (Revelation 1:18). Easter is God's promise to you that he knows you, you are precious to him, he honors you, and he loves you. The death and resurrection of Jesus gives you forgiveness from your past, power for your present, and hope for your future. Trusting Christ as Lord, you have new life, and that life is worth living. So go discover the life God planned for you, and do just that--live it to the fullest!

Lift Up Your Head and Be Thankful

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap” (Luke 21:34).

Just days before Jesus was arrested and, subsequently, murdered on the cross his disciples questioned him on how they would be able to recognize when life as they knew it on earth was about to end. The scenario Jesus outlined for certain events that would preclude the end of time included: world-wide religious confusion; national wars and revolutions; natural disasters including earthquakes, famines and pestilences; persecution and betrayal of Christians by family, friend, and foe; targeting of Israel for destruction by other nations; and even cosmic disturbances that shake the heavenly bodies (Luke 21:5-26).

Taking a simple stroll through the state of world affairs with eyes wide-open is alarming and disconcerting. One website that encourages religious tolerance provides information on forty organized religions and faith groups in the world–every group from Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism to the Church of Satan. Christianity, the largest group, consist of some 1500 denominations and para-church ministries along with thousands of independent churches and organizations. One frightening bit of counsel on the site’s homepage encourages visitors to “find a faith group that matches your beliefs.” The straight-forward suggestion is that all religions are equal; moreover, what each and every person believes about life, God, and the after-life are equally accurate, so people should just hook up with a church that believes what they believe. This mindset is not only dangerous, but it clearly explains the presence of world-wide religious confusion.

At present the American military is fighting in Iraq and Afganistan. The Foreign Policy website cites thirty-three conflicts on-going around the world including civil wars and insurgencies. Not counting all-out wars, cities all over the world including in the Unites States, have long been riddled with too many instances of assault and murder. Considering reality and what is reported daily on news stations, is it stretching things at all to say we are a planet at war?

Death tolls are expected to reach into the thousands after the 8.9 strength earthquake that hit Japan on Friday. It is the fifth strongest of eleven quakes recorded in the last 110 years that register at least 8.6 on the Richter Scale, and it happened right on the heals of the quake that struck New Zealand at the end of last month. Four million buildings in Tokyo alone had no electricity shortly after the disaster hit. Thousands of homes and automobiles were destroyed in a matter of hours.

Add to this kind of horror the untold numbers of people suffering from starvation, disease, and AIDS in our world. Tack on the increasing incidents of religious persecution; specifically, the numbers of Christians being arrested, detained, and killed. We cannot help but feel a cautionary check in our heads and hearts when we measure the world’s news against Jesus’ prophetic statements in the Bible, especially in Luke’s gospel. Jesus warned, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

Jesus wanted his first-century disciples and his twenty-first century followers to be prepared for what will befall this planet as the time draws nearer to him bringing history to its glorious culmination. So our Lord said, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. . . . Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34, 36).

Dissipation is excess amusement, entertainment, self-indulgence, partying, recreation, and self-gratification. Jesus sternly warns people not to let their lives be taken over by these things. A life full of these excesses cannot be centered in Jesus Christ. Drunkenness is being intoxicated to the point that our mental faculties and physical actions are diminished. Alcohol and drugs will certainly put people in this condition. So also will sex, power, and greed. Anxiety is worry, tension, and panic that sets in when we are unrealistically, overly concerned about past, present, or future events. This kind of angst creeps in and steals our ability to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, our hearts committed to him and his will, and our hope securely centered in his promise of eternal life.

Christian, you have much to make you “lift up your head” toward heaven. Because you have received Christ as Lord and Savior, do not allow anything to steal your attention from Christ. Serve him to the bitter end. Jesus died on the cross in your place to pay your penalty for your sins, and three days later he rose from the dead. Today, he sits at the right hand of the throne of God, the Father. One day soon, in an instant, whether you are dead or still alive, he himself will come for you. All who truly belong to Jesus through faith will be sucked off of this planet as in a vacuum–raptured, caught up with him in the air–where we will be with him forever.

There you will be, safely tucked away, during the great tribulation when those who have rejected God's great gift of salvation are left on this earth to suffer the worst atrocities, horror, and evil every known because God is pouring out his wrath upon the earth. Be thankful. You’ll be safe with Christ when he destroys the armies that descend on Jerusalem at the Battle of Armageddon, when he throws the Antichrist and False Prophet into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, and when he collects those saved during the tribulation and destroys the unsaved. Be thankful. You’ll see Jesus throw Satan in the abyss and lock him up for a thousand years. During the 1000-year millennial reign, you’ll be with Christ. Be thankful. When Satan is let out of the abyss for one last rampage of self-indulgence, you’ll see Jesus throw him into hell where he will stay forever. Be thankful.

When Jesus somehow hides his heavenly army and family of believers in another dimension of time and space, you will be there to see him do as John Phillips described, “detonate the earth” (Exploring Proverbs. Volume 1. New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1995, page 466). Heaven and earth as we know it will be destroyed in a great cataclysmic fire. And after the smoke clears, somewhere on the banks of eternity Jesus will appear sitting on a great white throne. The unsaved, wicked, and evil dead will be raised, judged, sentenced, and damned to hell for all eternity.
 

Finally, a new heaven and new earth will be come into view and the great words of Revelation 21:3-5 will become reality: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” Mark it down in big bold letters–we, who are truly saved by faith in Christ, will be there with him forever and ever. So, my Christian friend, don't let any earthly amusement, addiction, or anxiety steal your obedience to Jesus Christ. Lift up your head to heaven and be thankful.

The Impact of a Good Soldier's Legacy

“They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course” (Joel 2:7).

In today’s news, we read that Frank Buckles, the last surviving U. S. veteran of World War I, died peacefully in his sleep yesterday, February 27, 2011, at his home in West Virginia. He was 110 years old. Born in Missouri in 1901, Buckles went from one recruiting station to another after the war broke out trying to join the military and defend his country. Finally, an army recruiter signed him up in August 1917 even though he was only 16 years old and sent him overseas to serve as an ambulance driver. During World War II, Buckles was on business in the Philippines when he was captured by the Japanese. He spent 42 months in prison camps as a civilian POW before being released. Recently, Buckles said in an interview, “I knew there'd be only one (survivor) one day. I didn't think it would be me” (msnbc.com news services, 2/28/2011).

This brave old soldier’s life should rightly be honored by all. His love for America caused him to lie about his age to get into the battle that was coined “the war to end all wars.” Being the last World War I survivor is a powerful reminder to all of us that it really does matter how our lives end; especially, the memory that we leave behind. Buckles left an impressive legacy of love and selfless service to his country.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we could learn a lot from Buckles’s story if we’d pay attention. We represent America too, but we are also soldiers and ambassadors of another country called the Kingdom of God. Our war is spiritual in nature with the goal of seeing as many people out of this world receive God’s gracious gift of salvation through faith in Christ and spend their lives in service to him. Our commanding officer, Jesus, has charged us to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). This is our supreme duty and privilege as soldiers of heaven’s kingdom. We should perform our duty with bravery and valor.

Our status as Christ’s representatives is unmistakable: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Since we represent the King of this heavenly kingdom, it is our duty to image his character and speak his message with the utmost integrity and honor. The apostle Paul represented his Lord with great poise and commitment and left a great challenge for every Christian when he said, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

All of us will one day come to end of our life. Our legacies will already be formed and will live on in unalterable shape. In other words, they will be what they are whether good or bad, positive or negative, helpful or hurtful. Therefore, what we do right now with each day matters more than we imagine. Our moments of prayer and Bible study are indispensable. Our extended sessions of silence and solitude before God listening for his instruction are life-altering. Our experiences of worship, fellowship, and service can impact heaven’s kingdom for good. When we faithfully and obediently herald the message of the gospel, our efforts carry the potential to reflect our Lord’s own life and work.

Will it be said of you that you charged forward like a warrior for Jesus? Will your legacy include news of you scaling walls of opposition like a soldier? Will you be remembered for never swerving off the course of strong and steady faith in God? Let these words from an old soldier rally your heart: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3).

Paul died a heroic, old soldier in Christ’s army. Among his last words to his protege, Timothy, are some I definitely want to be able to say with assurance at the close of my life: “The time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Friend, live the Christian life with truth and honor; serve the Lord Jesus with passion and obedience; fight the war of faith with tenacity and hope–it matters that you do this; it matters more than you know.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, thank you for the example in the Bible of others who have lived and served you faithfully. These valiant old soldiers are an inspiration to me to follow in their footsteps. I do want to give my life in service to Jesus Christ who gave his life for me. Strengthen me in every way necessary to follow through. Grant me courage, boldness, endurance, desire, and wisdom to fulfill your will for my life, to leave a lasting legacy of meaningful Christian service, and then, when my life is over here on earth, receive me into your presence in heaven where I shall serve you with equal passion for all eternity. In Jesus' name, amen.