The 23rd Psalm Part 1

 

From the Pastor:

Psalm 23:1

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

The 23^rd Psalm is one of the most well-known chapters in all of the Scriptures. It is often turned to in times of trouble and loss, and certainly is a Psalm that brings comfort amid those crises in life. However, the 23^rd Psalm is more than just a Psalm for those dealing with difficulties and sadness in life, it’s a chapter that recognizes God’s goodness and mercy towards His sheep every step of the way.

From the very first stanza, David assures us of God’s providential care by telling us that “Jehovah is my shepherd.” David uses the personal pronouns “I” and “me” and “my” in this Psalm, but David’s words are not for him alone. He is standing in the place of every believer as a model for how God cares for all of His sheep. And when he writes to tell us about this God who is the shepherd of his sheep, David uses the proper name for God, “Yahweh”, often translated in the Scriptures as “LORD”, with all of the letters being capitalized to show its uniqueness in identifying the proper name for God. In using “LORD” to begin his Psalm David is also displaying for the reader that it is the God who has made and rules over everything that cares for each and every one of his sheep. God knows all of His sheep by name, and in the New Testament Jesus would take this theme and say, “he calls his own sheep by name…” (John 10:3c). This is why David knows that with the Sovereign Lord as his shepherd he will never be without anything he could ever need. The God who gives life, and even better than that, who gives NEW life knows exactly what His sheep need and is constantly providing for them all that they need and more. None of the sheep of the LORD ever go without. To give understanding to this important point, David the reader with several examples of God’s shepherding care.

First, David writes, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures…” Notice David’s word usage, “He MAKES”. The Lord knows exactly when His sheep needs rest and He provides that for them. The Lord is not a heavy-handed shepherd driving His sheep to be over burdened or over worked. No! He is a gently and lowly shepherd that knows His sheep need rest, and when it is necessary, He makes sure they are able to rest in the choices of places. Second, He provides his sheep with restorative waters so they will never thirst. As you can probably already tell, Christ again, picks up on many of these themes in the New Testament as He teaches His followers about the life giving and sustaining of the Savior to grant His children bread that would make them never hunger and water that would make them never thirst. This is what the Father through the Son does for all His sheep. He provides them with the very elements they need to restored, His body and blood. Third, David states that God “leads… in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Why does God provide such care and love to his sheep? Why does He go to such links to give us everything we need and so much more? Why does He lead us down the path of obedience, holiness, and faithfulness to Him? For the Glory and Praise of His name! All that God does is for the “His name’s sake.” It is God and His name alone that deserves all the adulation and praise that man can muster. No one else, no other institution, no other claimed deity can do what God does for His sheep. God is always for God. For Him to be for anything or anyone else would make Him an idolater, just as it would us. He is the greatest of all Beings. Therefore, all that He does is designed for Him to be worshipped and praised from every corner of the globe by His sheep. And when His sheep recognize all that their loving, gracious Shepherd has done for them, they will and should praise His name forever and ever. Amen.

Next week I will work through Psalm 23:4 and examine how the Lord walks us through even the darkest of times.

21 Reasons That the Handwriting is on the Wall for the Abortion Industry

 I highly recommend this article published by Ligonier this morning. I pray that the author's words prove prophetic, and that the murdering of unborn children would  quickly come to a crashing end. 

https://www.ligonier.org/blog/reasons-abortion-industry/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1RNMk5qazNNemN3T0RCaSIsInQiOiJKZkxmejRSWUx6NExic0p6NXYrU0hMcFlYY1lDak9hRHlIQjNraEk2cnFONjBpcSszaTNlOGppd3NTc1psT2tFcVwvUWZuQzdLNEZMdlhxU1hTejRcL2tKWXREOWVGQmZBdlh6UkRwUklUd2thUnBuNHVGQ3BkYXFNUFUxRVFicXJZIn0%3D

Christianity v. Woke-ness

     Christianity is the belief that through the bodily death and resurrection of Jesus there is forgiveness of sins, and fallen, sinful human beings can be declared righteous by God, being made sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. This is the Christian Gospel and has been for 2000 years. This Gospel provides salvation for men and women, boys and girls, white and black, Asian and European, African and American, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. In other words, it promises salvation for any and all who confess faith in Christ. Once that person comes to Christ in saving faith all their sins are forgiven and their true identity is in Christ. No longer is their core identity to be their job, talents, physical attributes, or level of intelligence; rather they are now sons and daughters of God, and brothers and sisters with Christ and one another. All past and future sins are put away through the sacrificial work of Jesus and people express their oneness in local church membership and participation as the body of Christ Jesus. That's Christianity 101 made simple.

      In stark contrast to this is the new religion of Woke-ness. I refer to it as a religion because it has all the elements of a religion. Ultimately, however, it is a false religion that Christians must be aware of due to its luring many professing believers away from Biblical Orthodoxy. I know that many have written on the subject and that my opinions on this may seem like piling on, but Paul warns the church in Colossae, "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ,” (Colossians 2:8). My great fear is that many people who formerly recognized themselves as being in Christ and in his Body have now, through falling prey to human philosophy and the spirit of this age, found themselves on the outside of the Christian faith, even now advocating for a "new" faith that is not Christian at all.

      Woke ideology, in its most simplistic form, means that a person has become aware (woke) of perceived social and racial injustices that occur in society. Many that hold to this ideology do so because they mainly see the world and society through the lens of race and identity groups. Paired with this ideology is the ideology of intersectionality that also sees people as only members of their identity group(s), and ranks their level of importance/value in the oppression scale accordingly. These ideologies are also tied very closely to Critical Theory, a Marxist ideology that once again focuses on people as potential members of oppressed groups that are being continually marginalized and held down by oppressors. From these ideologies rise the negative views of hierarchical structures, the patriarchy, and white privilege. Wokeness, intersectionality, and Critical Theory desire to throw off any perceived structures by which certain groups of people have been oppressed, which can contain everything from the rule of law to fatherhood. The whole purpose of these ideologies is to throw life into chaos and away from order, as well as to promote group experiences and stereotypes above individual worth. Even in the current fad of "Anti-racism" the only way a person can stop being a "racist" (and all white people are considered racist in this ideology) is to see everything through the lens of race and work against all these structures that perpetuate the oppression of non-whites.

      Ultimately, the saddest, but predictable, consequence of these ideologies is that there is never forgiveness of whatever perceived grievances one has committed simply because of their color of skin or their identification as a man in the historical sense. One must always be working to gain forgiveness, but it doesn't seem like it is every really obtainable. This ideology places its observants in the terrible position of never being truly united or together, due to one group always being oppressed by another, and there are always sacrifices to make. It is like being under the Old Covenant with its continual sacrifices, but even worse because these sacrifices have no promise or picture of salvation to point to. There's no love offered in these ideologies, only perpetual hate, victimhood, and oppression. There's no unity, because it's constantly dividing people. There is never hope, because there is no way to achieve any form of forgiveness.

      This is why Christians and Christianity must reject woke-ness in any of its forms. The Biblical Gospel designs to make all people in Christ one people in the body of Christ. Paul makes this very clear in his letter to the church at Galatia when he writes, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

      Perhaps there is some level of hyperbole in Paul's language because he does not mean that this side of heaven we cease to be the people God created us to be, but due to our identity in Christ, our relationship to God and our fellow believers matters more than our previous categories. This is why there is only true unity in the body of Christ, most clearly seen in the local church with people of different gifts and talents coming together to separate those unique qualities to build up one another and make the body stronger. Instead of seeing ourselves by our identifying markers, we see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ whom we love and support. We fight for justice and equality according to biblical standards; we aid the poor and the downcast together; we pursue holiness and righteousness as revealed in God's Word. The Bible offers structures and order for the body of Christ because God is not a god of disorder but of order. He puts responsibilities on some that he does not put on others. God does this through His Word not to divide us, but to further unite us under a standard that He has structured for our good and His glory.

      This is why Christianity and Woke-ness cannot co-exist. They are antithetical to one another because disunity cannot produce unity. Chaos cannot produce order. Seeing people as nothing more than their skin pigmentation is just as dangerous as only seeing them according to their stereotypes. Instead, Christians should disregard everything that CT, Intersectionality, and Woke-ness "false-prophets" continue to push onto society and especially the church. Only Christ unifies. Only the Christian Gospel provide forgiveness of sin. May the Spirit of God open the eyes of the blind to their need for Christ and the repudiation of all false gospels.

The Sanctity of Human Life

I am unapologetically pro-life. I think abortion on demand is the greatest evil of this age, and I don't think it is even close. Some would argue that racism is still a greater threat, but I would argue that once the Civil Rights Act was passed and state sponsored racism was ended its not even a close debate. Abortion is the state sponsored and supported  murdering of unborn children. And whether that murder is done by pharmaceutical or surgical means does not matter to me, because both are heinous and evil. Besides, whatever claims the pro-child murder crowd wants to make the statistics and science are clear, abortion kills unborn children. As a matter of fact it kills black children at a rate of 3.5 times as many white children. 

Soooooo, if one wants to make the argument that racism is still alive and well in the US, I would agree if they mean that abortion is the means today of ridding America of black or brown babies. One cannot be consistently racist and be pro-life. Being pro-life means being overwhelmingly in support of a minorities right to live. And please stop with the argument that being pro-life just means being pro-birth. Without Christian organizations supporting life after birth, whether that be orphanages, homes, or other institutions many children would go uncared for by the state at all. I would continue to argue that it is the state that has pushed the church and other Christian institutions out of the arena of caring for the poor, sick, and needy because they have put onerous demands on non-profits and added regulations to make the state the sole caregiver of these groups of people for their own destructive purposes. Christians care tremendously about these groups and it is only belief in a false narrative that would suggest otherwise. 

That's why when any confessing Christian anywhere says that they willingly support candidates that are not pro-life, I don't think they honestly understand what it means to confess Christ. I truly do not believe one can be consistently Christian as the Bible demands and support any candidate that does not believe in the sanctity of human life. It is a simple litmus test, and sure there have been plenty of politicians who have abused this position just for the sake of gaining votes, but it is one that every believer must have. If you believe that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all of life, then you must support a child's right to not be killed in the womb. You must vote that way and you must advocate for their right to life. To not see this as the greatest issue of our day is to be willfully deaf, dumb, and blind to reality. We are nearing the 60,000,000 (that's million) babies murdered by abortion on demand since the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, and because of the rise of pharmaceutical abortions that actual number is probably well into the 100's of millions of babies murdered just here in the US. When taking all countries into consideration the number of children murdered by abortion undoubtedly reaches into the BILLIONS. 

America has aborted more babies a year on average than Covid has come close to killing. People shake their heads at 3,000 people dying a day to Covid, while that has been the average of babies murdered by abortion on demand for over 40 years now! Please do not tell me you care for human life or human dignity when you have no desire to stop the most vulnerable and innocent from suffering through procedures that rip them limb from limb, partially allow their birth so that their necks can be severed, or mother's given a pill that leads to babies being forcibly aborted and simply flushed down the toilet. A BABY treated like a pet fish that goes belly up in the bowl??? How barbaric are we? And you want to tell me that voting for the party that thinks this should be expanded or forced on businesses to provide for their employees (suggesting its not morally reprehensible but ethically neutral to the American people) is the party of peace, love, happiness??? Get a grip! 

Truth demands that we be honest about our positions. Say that you think the Republican party is an evil party that wants old people to die... what states willfully put old people back in nursing homes with Covid that led to the death of thousands of elderly patients? That's right, the liberal ones. What states have had leaders show inconsistencies in carrying out their own lock down policies or mask orders? That's right, the liberal ones. What states have made the poor, the needy, and the marginalized wards of the state, and over the last 60 years have failed in lifting people up through education, better jobs, and competitive incomes? That's right the liberal ones. Even where states that are considered right of center have struggled, most of those struggles can be traced back to their democrat history that put them in terrible positions to help those in need. I do not believe that anything the left offers is made in good faith, whether its healthcare, social security, or public education, it's all done for the sake of turning more people into slaves of the state. And that especially goes for their new pet project Universal Basic Income! Another plan to de-incentivize people to work, educate, or empower themselves or to make their lives better and move away from liberal controlled cities that care nothing about them. But I digress...

Nothing the left offers appeals to me. Sure, at one time you could at least count on them to be the party that cared for civil liberties, although they didn't think it applied to the unborn, and now you can't even get their united support for freedom of speech, religion, or assembly! All of this leads to a clear picture for advocates of life, you cannot vote, support, or entertain the notion that anyone is worth your time if they are not pro-life. If you cannot get the question of life right, I do not think you can rightly assess any other important questions. Sure, even a stopped clock is right twice a day, but that is the exception and not the rule. Worldview MATTERS! Platitudes and lofty words may tickle the ears, but without a consistent worldview or standard of morality informing those words then it is all sophistry, vanity, meaningless. More children will die under this administration even if surgical abortions decrease because they will make abortifacients more accessible and more widely used. Do not be fooled by those that claim otherwise. Murdering a baby at 4 weeks verses 40 does not make their death more excusable or tolerable. Flushing them down a toilet rather than having their remains removed by Planned Parenthood does not make their death less suitable. If you voted for this incoming administration you contributed to the continuation of the culture of death. You have not voted in the best interest of the unborn, you have only aided in their continual murder.  

For more information and facts, read these articles below...

https://disrn.com/news/biden-to-rollback-trumps-pro-life-policies-introduce-new-pro-abortion-legislation

https://world.wng.org/2021/01/chemical_killer

https://world.wng.org/2021/01/historical_fiction

https://world.wng.org/2021/01/the_unseen_faces_of_abortion

https://world.wng.org/2021/01/the_pill_and_the_pandemic

The Folly of Atheism

 

From the Pastor:

 

Psalm 14:1

The fool has said in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt,

They have done abominable works,

There is none who does good.

 

Last week I spent a good portion of my time considering the Truth of God’s Word. Bro. Joseph asked me to lead the Wednesday night Student and Parent Bible Study and my topic for that evening was “the Belt of Truth.” That’s what prompted my study, and that topic has been on my mind since. Then, we had Sean Pasley come this past Sunday and share with the church his intentions to go to France to serve as a missionary of the BMAA in that country. Once again, the issue of objective truth and the truth of God’s Word was at the forefront of my mind, because France is a country that almost entirely has moved away from any standard of truth in the pursuit of secularism. These points even came up during a recent conversation I had with a friend about an apologetics video he had seen where the Christian kept pointing out to the non-believers that he was speaking with about their inability to rightly understand truth without a Christian worldview. I mention all of this because when I came across this Psalm in our daily bible reading plan last week, I knew that I wanted to highlight its significance for us this week so that we as a church would better understand why we need the objective truth of God’s Word, and even more importantly, God himself to be the standard of truth in our lives.

This Psalm, which Paul later quotes in Romans 3 to prove the universality of the fallen human condition, begins by highlighting the main problem the “fool” suffers from. Now, understand that the term “fool” in the bible is not used to denote a lack of intelligence, but rather a term used to point to someone who does not possess the ability to make moral choices. He or she may have all the worldly intelligence one can possess, but in their folly they do not see the immorality that they are living in. That is why David says that for all practical reason the fool has denied, rejected, and abandoned the concept of a living God. This is what the fool has done whether intentionally or not. They have rejected God as the Creator, Lord, and Judge of their life and have become a god unto themselves.

This should not be a surprise to any of us, because in stark terms this was the first sin of humanity in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve rejected the standard and truth of God in hopes of becoming gods themselves. They wanted to throw off the shackles of being the Creature and somehow become their own masters. For any human being this is an impossible task whether or not they have heard the Gospel, understand monotheism, or have ever heard of the Bible. It is only a fool who would claim that there is no God and that they themselves and the arbiter of right and wrong, good and bad, or truth and falsity. The fallen human condition makes this impossible for any man or woman, boy or girl.

This is why we need the revealed Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures to teach us about who God is and what He requires of man. This is why we need God’s law to teach us His standard of morality. This is why we need God’s Gospel to teach us how we can be saved from the punishment brought about by our sin. This is why we need God’s wisdom to tell us how we can then live as His children in a fallen world. Human beings by nature are prone to seek out “many schemes,’” as Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes (8:29). We would rather create our own gods, make up our own morality, or simply become a god unto ourselves. But in the end, all of this is folly and will only lead to destruction. There is one hope and one source of truth and that is the Holy Triune God of the universe. His standard, his Word is true and that truth, like Him, will never change.

 

Hong Kong's Fight for Freedom

https://world.wng.org/2021/01/clampdown_on_democracy

If you have not read about what is going on in Hong Kong, let me encourage you to read this article in World Magazine. It's an update on the latest crackdowns attempted by the Communist Chinese party on the people of Hong Kong, and should give everyone around the world great continued and increasing concerns about the true intentions of the Communist Chinese Party. As Christians we should be praying repeatedly for our brothers and sisters in Hong Kong who are fighting for their freedoms, as we should also should be praying for all believers around the world and their peace, safety, and well being.  

Cleaning Up Our Capitol Mess

     Well it's been a little bit since I shared any of my thoughts on the recent political and social developments of the day so why not go ahead and let it all out now. One of the main reasons I am so glad to be off social media these days is because I don't think my sanity would have remained had I been reading all of the conspiracy theories surrounding the election, the Covid, and the Capitol riots that have transpired over the last two months. However, one of the things I do miss is seeing all the handwringing concerning the end of the Republic by all sorts of people who would have sworn on their mother's graves that Trump was going to win the election, and even when the results didn't turn out like they wanted were still convinced that the "Kraken" was about to be released upon the American people and justice for all was merely a Sidney Powell press conference away. 

    Call me jaded but I never bought the hype for one second. Yes, I know all about the irregularities, the Biden only ballots, the infinitesimally small number of mail-in ballots thrown out compared to the averages, and all the rest of it; but I never believed it was enough to overturn any state wide elections, and certainly not by Rudy Giuliani. You can conjecture all you want in the media, but when it comes to a courtroom you better have the goods or your case is trash. Time after time when given the opportunity to show the goods they never did. Without sufficient evidence you cannot prove a crime or fraud actually happened. That's the fault of Trump's election legal team, not the state courts, the supreme courts, or congress. 

    Yet, none of the facts have slowed people down from expressing one conspiracy theory after another about all of these matters. And just to be clear, Christians that go along with conspiracy theories are living in violation of Scripture. In an earlier post I wrote about not living by lies, as the essay (https://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/SolhenitsynLies.php) from Alexander Solzhenitsyn promotes. I continue to think that this principle is being greatly ignored by a huge percentage of believers, and it is being ignored to our shame and detriment. It is one thing for our Faith to be shunned, ignored, ridiculed, or mocked by the media and social elite. It is another to promote QAnon or any other right-wing leaning conspiracy theories that destroy our credibility as people who live by and promote the truth. Yes, we have a right to be concerned about our country and it's destruction, but NOT at the price of promoting truth and living with integrity. 

    The Apostle Peter makes clear that no Christian should suffer as a "murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler," because for any confessing Christian to suffer under these accusations would not be considered suffering at all, but rather justified shame because of their violations of the law of God and man. Peter goes on to state that if anyone suffers for being a Christian however, there is no shame at all in that situation because you are suffering for the name and glory of God. 

    That is why Christians can never become slaves to politicians or political parties, because all that ensues is acquiescing to cults of personalities or worse. That is why so many people have denied reality for the sake of Trump, because they actually believed that a narcissistic, self-promoter would save the Republic. Not to take away many of the good things that President Trump did accomplish in his four years, and not to ignore the support that he gained for his better governing over and above his rhetoric, however, when push came to shove it was always about Trump outdoing Obama, the media, and the rest of his perceived antagonist way more than it was about him improving America. This is why he had little to no problem with the demonstrations at the Capitol until it truly did get out of hand and ended up reflecting poorly on him universally speaking. No, his words alone aren't grounds for giving him the full blame for the loss of life, the breaking down of societal norms, or the appearance of a failing government that the pictures demonstrated; but he certainly did not quell the situation when given the opportunity and in that he bares responsibility. 

    Of course, I would also argue that the entire events of the year have been culminating in the moments we have seen recently. From being gaslighted by the media and told that riots were actually "mostly peaceful protest", to democrats ignoring the looting and burning of businesses, to calls for further insurrection by those considered marginalized by the right according to the "Woke", to conspiracy theories about EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN and probably even the SUN ITSELF, I don't see how anyone can be shocked by anything that happens from here on out. Rumors of martial law being declared, cession by the liberals or the conservative states, or the Republic being altogether lost at the hands of the geriatric incoming President and his Democrat controlled congress... all of it begins to blend together like a rotten smoothie, and I'm not having any of it.

    Can we just calm down the rhetoric a bit and breath for a second? I actually don't think things are as bad as everyone wants to convince you they are. As a matter of fact prior to this year and the Covid outbreak (thanks China), things around the world were getting remarkably better. From poverty, to food and water availability, to education, and infectious disease control everything was on a momentous upward improvement. And even with Covid sidetracking much of that, because of all the good things in place most believe that a quick recovery is inevitable in much of the world once Covid runs its course or the vaccine is rightly administered. 

    This is why I think much of the trouble that is promoted today is artificial. It's just another ploy by people who live and work in the anger business. Media, politicians, and strategist think that they are only necessary if a crisis is at hand. They peddle their wares on fear and anxiety. They need you to be worked up and aggravated about an issue for you to react the way they want. That is why you and I can no longer live this way. WE CANNOT LIVE BY FEAR just like we cannot live by lies. Fear is an enemy. It is a master that demands full submission. Even just a little fear will drive you to alter your life and your beliefs to the point that you begin to make all of your decisions and choices in life according to the fear you feel. Do not live this way! Fight fear! Fight it with reality and truth. Fight it with common sense and observation of the facts. Fight it with a Christian worldview armed to take down principalities and powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness. Fight fear with light by shining the spotlight of truth on everything you read, hear, watch, and speak. Fight fear with love! Love of God and love of neighbor fights fear ferociously because it refuses to see people as enemies, objects of wrath, or non-image bearers of God. Fight fear with kindness. Heap coals of kindness on those who would want to bring you down or lure you with lies designed for you to be caught in the trappings of fear. Fight fear for your family's sake and for all of your loved ones. Don't let them see you be taken in by fear so that they will have strength to fight the good fight when it comes to their door. 

    When we as a people can live according to the truth and reject the fearmongering of those seeking power over us, we will be united once again. We may not all agree, but at least we will assume the best and not the worst of one another. We can at least have open dialogue and work out our differences responsibly. We won't fear free speech, religion, or any of our other enumerated rights because we will graciously allow for the free exchange of ideas knowing that it is only true speech that can drive away lies and fear. People do need a voice today, but that voice must be one willing to be submissive to truth and reality. Cancelling speech, people, or politicians will not bring about unity or peace, it will only insight more fear and false narratives. We must live by truth and fight against fear. It's the only way peace and prosperity can continue.