Jesus Faces Nazareth’s Cancel Culture

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It seems like everyday that I hear of someone or something being “cancelled.” A celebrity or regular person, corporation, an old movie, song, or statute offends someone’s delicate sensibilities and it must be cancelled. The offending person or object must be scrubbed from the internet and the fabric of existence. Careers and lives are ruined and outrage ensues until the rage mob is distracted by the next shiny offending object to come along. And the process starts all over again.

Although the “cancel culture” seems to be a toxic byproduct of Social Media, cancel culture is as old as time itself. Conquering political and unfortunately, religious armies have long attempted to erase the history and culture of their vanquished foes. The changing moral and political landscapes of our world seek to silence all opposition because winner must take all, because it is “our message and only our message will be broadcast to the masses.”

Solomon was spot on in his assessment of the cyclical nature of existence, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, NKJV).

So, until Jesus comes back, the attacks and cancellations will remain, only the offended parties will change.

The Lord Jesus faced opposition throughout His earthly ministry, even His crucifixion and death were attempts of the establishment to silence the Lord and His message. Our Lord’s resurrection stands as a triumph and a resounding victory! Hallelujah!

Our world today still attempts to cancel Jesus, attacking His divinity and the exclusivity of believing solely in Him for salvation. Jesus is still upsetting the so-called establishment 2,000 years later. However, Jesus is coming back to set things right once and for all.

How did Jesus handle the rejection or the attempted “cancellation?” I want to look at one particular instance mentioned in all the Gospels.

Jesus’ ministry has been established and He returns to His hometown of Nazareth. I am relaying the story from Luke’s gospel. Jesus teaches in the synagogue out of the book of Isaiah, what we would call Isaiah 61:1-2, which states:

“The Spirit of the Lord God upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath send me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord…” (KJV). See also Luke 4:18-19.

Jesus stated that the words of Isaiah were fulfilled that day in the crowds hearing (Luke 4:21).

The crowd became belligerent with Jesus:

“And all there bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22).

Matthew’s Gospel adds, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” (Matthew 13:55-56, KJV).

The people in the synagogue began to attack Jesus’ identity. The crowd wanted to “cancel” His message because they knew Him and His family. In the crowds eye’s this carpenter’s son whom they knew His whole life could not have such deep spiritual revelations, let alone fulfill the words of the prophets.

“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”(Mark 6:4, KJV).

The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record that Jesus did not perform many mighty works because of the town’s unbelief. Jesus healed a few people, but not the numbers He did elsewhere. Luke also records how the mob wanted to harm Jesus, but He managed to escape them (Luke 4:28-30).

In our day, a celebrity is often greeted with cheers and applause from their hometown, maybe even a parade, but not Jesus. Here was the Son of God, God in the flesh, performing miracles, teaching deep spiritual truths, healing the sick, and many other deeds the people of Nazareth should have been thrilled to hear about, but they attempted to silence Jesus because of their offense.

Have you ever faced opposition because of your belief in Christ or you took a stand for what is right? Continue in your faith, continue standing up for the truth, because the people of our day do not want to hear the truth, like the people of Nazareth that Jesus came to town. Jesus made no apologies about who He was or His mission and neither should you if you are standing up for Christ and what is right. God bless you.

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Dealing with the Spirit of Heaviness

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We all from time to time get weighed down by the demands of life. You try to balance your spiritual, familial, relational, and professional obligations while seemingly standing on one leg and juggling, life can get a bit stressful. I get it.

Or maybe if your personal life is fine, you find yourself stressed out by the world around you- a global pandemic, lawlessness and violence in the streets, a looming economic downturn, and escalating tensions in the war between Russia and Ukraine that could result in a global conflict. How much more gasoline can we pour on this out of control fire?

I know in times past, I’ve had a tendency to withdraw inwardly when faced with an overwhelming situation or situations. I’ve shut down while going through the motions of life. At times it felt like I lost power and was running on a back-up generator to keep the essential operations going. Ignoring a problem will never solve said problem nor will retreating into drugs, alcohol, food, sex, or anything else. Even though the problems we face may be scary and complicated, we must face them nonetheless.

We are not alone when facing our problems. For Christians, we can rely on the strength of Christ and the Holy Spirit. There are also family, friends, and wise counsel we can seek when it’s too much.

The Bible has a word for when we are weighed down by the stresses of life- heaviness. To be more specific, God’s Word has eleven words for heaviness.

Perhaps the most well known of the heaviness passages is Isaiah 61:3:

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”(KJV).

The Hebrew word for heaviness in Isaiah 61:3 means feebleness or obscurity. In other words, the passage indicates that someone lacks the spiritual, physical, or mental strength to overcome a problem or that someone may not see hope in the darkness, their view is obscured. Luke 4:18-19 tell us that Jesus read the verses above Isaiah 61:3 when He taught in the synagogue in Nazareth.

What are some other symptoms of the spirit of heaviness?

-A spiritual heaviness may bring about physical sickness (Psalm 69:20),

-Heaviness may bring on depression or grief (Psalm 119.28, Proverbs 10:1, 14:13).

-A spirit of heaviness also brings along anxiety (Proverbs 12:25).

-Heaviness may brought on by trials or persecution (1 Peter 1:6).

-However, not all heaviness is bad because there should be times that we come to God and confess our sins, fast, and pray about the burdens we have for the lost and other people. (Ezra 9:5, Romans 9:1-2, James 4:8-10).

In order for us to properly deal with the spirit of heaviness, we must be in right relationship with God. If worshipping and reading the Bible seem like chores during heavy seasons, that is when we must lean in all the more to God. We must also starve ourselves of the lies of the world and feast on God’s truth. We must turn away from the negativity and all worldly things which seek to bring us down. We must withstand the devil’s attacks with the Word of God. Put on your armor and prepare for battle.

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you.” (Isaiah 35:3-4, KJV).

God bless you all.

Arise from the Regret

“…Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

Ephesians 5:14, KJV.

The older I get, the less stuff I want. Stuff piles up and gets in the way. Stuff has to be maintained, cleaned, and stored when not using it. I don’t need any more stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for what I have in my life. My basic needs- food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and money to pay my bills are met and I know that’s a blessing. I’ve lived through my share of hard times and I appreciate the lessons learned along the way.

However, there is one gift that eludes me- peace of mind. I take my defeats and mistakes very personally, I always have. In my middle age, I live with a nagging regret over my choices. It’s hard to get over failure. I’ve learned from failure, but its ghost continues to haunt me.

Yes, I am a Christian, and I know that God has forgiven me, yet I still live with the pain. It seems that I’ll be walking the road until I cross the bridge to eternity. I just have to accept that failure is part of the process. As the wise Jedi Master Yoda once said, “The greatest teacher failure is.”

I can’t change the past, I can only go forward. That goes for all of us. No matter how badly you and I have jacked it all up, we have daily opportunities to start again. The voice of regret may be speaking to you, but if you keep moving forward, that voice will become a distant muffle. Keep walking.

Arise. What a powerful word. If you read Scripture, especially the King James Version, you will find this great word. Arise is always followed by some action, whether by us or God. I must arise this day and go forth. Arise, my friend and go forward. Arise and walk past the regret, the same, the losses, and the failures. May God bless you.

The Goodness of God

“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forebearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

Romans 2:4, KJV.

God’s goodness can overwhelm the hardest of souls. Once we find ourselves in the grip of God’s unyielding grace, He will never let go of us. No matter our circumstances or the current state of the world, God is there to lead us home. Even if we were to stray from God, He will welcome us back as the father welcomed back the prodigal. God never leaves us or forsakes us, even if we were to turn our backs on Him. God is good all the time.

I accepted Christ in 1999 and it hasn’t been all puppies and kittens. The Christian life is not supposed to be easy, as Paul told Timothy to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” (2 Timothy 2:3, KJV). God is our greatest teacher, a teacher who repeatedly tests His students. Life at times seems to be a pop quiz we’re not prepared to take, but God has the lesson plan in place.

I’ve blogged on this site about life’s ups and downs- my faith struggles, the battles of my physical and mental health, and the dissolution of my marriage to name a few topics. I was for the longest time hardened by these experiences. I was bitter at God and the world. There were times I simply refuse to pray because I thought that God wasn’t listening. I went months when the only time I opened my Bible was in church. My faith was beginning to mutate into a ritual, simply doing something because that’s what I always did. However, deep down, I missed God.

God, the sculptor that He is, began to chisel away at the head and heart of stone. God’s grace overwhelmed me as I received a reminder of His goodness. Even with my failures, my pain, my dysfunction, and my torment, God was still there. God still loves me, as He does any wayward child. In the midst of what I call my “five year stretch,” God was still faithful to me.

After Job went through his trials, God blessed him at the end of it. However, I was too stubborn to realize how God blessed me during the course of my trials. God truly had an answer for every problem I had. I was laid off at the end of 2015, God provided jobs for me to work my way back financially. My health declined, but God placed me with wise doctors and the proper diet and medication to treat me. My marriage ended in divorce, but God has blessed me with a wonderful godly fiancée. I wandered the spiritual desert, but God lead me home.

No matter what we face, we can always count on God being there. We must admit our shortsightedness and our ignorance and allow God to work. If we want to hear from God, we have to stop talking and listen. God speaks volumes in silence. God gave us His holy word to guide us and that is where He does most of the talking. Don’t give up hope. Keep close to God. Everyone in your life may walk away from you, but God will never leave you. God is that friend who sticks closer than a brother, stick with Him. The answer to your problems is not found in the arms of someone, a needle, a bottle, or even a plate- God is the answer. We must realize that He is good and turn our hearts back to Him. God bless you.

Mark 4: The Parables and the Storm

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Jesus often taught in parables, short, simple stories that illustrated deeper spiritual truths. Jesus’ parables dealt with topics familiar to His audience- seeds, pearls, wayward children, money, among others. The parables of Jesus still hold deep meaning 2,000 years later. Jesus’ parable of the sower as told in Mark chapter four is used to teach us about the mindset of the disciples.

Mark chapter four takes place early in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has chosen His twelve disciples. The crowds were also starting to follow Jesus at this point.

“And He began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto Him a great multitude, so that He entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.” (Mark 4:1, KJV).

Beginning in verse three, Jesus tells the parable of the sower (this parable is also found in Matthew 13:1-5 and Luke 8:4-10). I’ll summarize the parable to discuss one aspect and how it related to the disciples. Jesus taught a sower went out to sow seed and the seed landed by the wayside, stony ground, among thorns, and good ground. The seed by the wayside was eaten by birds, the seed on the stony ground quickly sprang up, but died out just as quickly, the thorns choked out the seed, and the seed on the good ground brought a harvest. However, Jesus did not explain the deeper meaning of the parable to the crowd, simply saying, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:9, KJV).

Jesus was alone with the disciples and they asked Him what the parable of the sower meant. Jesus explained that the sower sowing the word of God (the seed) and the types of ground represented how different people respond to the hearing of the God’s word. Jesus took the time to teach other parables to the disciples.

Let’s take a look at the seed that fell on the stony ground.

“And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time; afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” (Mark 4:16-18, KJV).

Later that same day, Jesus told the disciples to journey to the other side of the sea. While on their journey, a storm came up on the water. We know at least four disciples- Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen by trade and possibly experienced storms on the water, but they did not respond like experienced fishermen. The disciples were acting like the seed sown on the stony ground, as they began to be fearful and lose hope.

The disciples found Jesus asleep during the storm, but they woke Him up.

“Master carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38, KJV).

Just like the seed on the stony ground, the disciples were going through affliction (the storm) and became offended at Jesus. “How can you sleep at a time like this. We’re going to die! Do you even care?” Keep in mind, even in the early days of Jesus’ ministry, the disciples had witnessed miracles and heard the same teachings as the crowds, but the word had yet to fall onto that good soil, where these men would take the Gospel and take Jesus’ teachings far and wide.

Even when we don’t heed God’s words as we should, God is still merciful to us. God loves us and helps us in the midst of the worst of storms.

“And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39,KJV).

Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith, but I believe that this storm was a turning point for the disciples. I believe that some of that seed had found its way from the stony ground onto the good soil, where it reaped a harvest that is still being reaped this very day.

As each of us face our own storms in life, allow God’s word to become deeply rooted in your spirit; so that we may be like Christ, having peaceful rest during the storm. God bless you.

Last Days Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”-Genesis 6:11, KJV.

“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” – Matthew 24:37, KJV.

The nationwide spike in violent crime sickens my spirit. The morning headlines are filled with murder, shootings, riots, gang violence, and people brazen enough to loot stores in broad daylight. Major cities all across this country- New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and many others have become the Wild West, something akin to Dodge City or Tombstone. Criminals are immortalized as saints while the police are defunded and demonized. Spineless prosecutors fail to prosecute criminals, who only get out of jail to commit more crime, sometimes violent acts. And don’t get me started on the opportunistic politicians who spew their toxic venom of division and hatred.

We are living in the Upside Down, with a bit of the Twilight Zone thrown in for good measure. I believe these are the last of the Last Days. Our time parallels the time before the Flood. God is love and God is merciful, but there is also an end to God’s patience. When God pronounced judgment upon Israel and Judah in the Old Testament, it was never an immediate judgment, as God gave the nations time to repent. However, when Israel and Judah refused to repent and continued in their wicked ways, God had to punish them. As our world drifts further from God, we are getting closer to judgment.

“Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”- Isaiah 5:20, KJV.

Violence entered the world the minute Cain took a rock and murdered his brother, Abel. The means and weapons have changed, but the darkness of the human heart has remained the same. Abel’s blood called out to God and today’s bloodshed calls out to God. Our world has become so desensitized to violence, we often read the headlines and don’t give it a second thought. Have we grown so cold to the human condition? Have we allowed righteousness to be snuffed out like a candle? Have we strayed so far from God and His word that evil has filled in the gap? I believe we have and Jesus stated so in Matthew 24:

“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax (grow) cold.” -Matthew 24:10-12, KJV (parenthesis mine).

Jesus’ statement certainly describes our time, but we must not be hopeless. Our Savior and God loves us too much to leave us as orphans who have no comfort (John 14:18). In the midst of His Matthew 24 discourse, Jesus gives us a promise:

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”- Matthew 24:13, KJV.

Brothers and sisters, we must not allow this darkness to overtake our societies or our spirits. We must endure the hardship as soldiers of Christ. We must speak the truth to power; we must shine the light in the darkness. We must say enough is enough to the fearmongering of our elected leaders. During the Covid-19 pandemic, tyrannical local and state governments shut down in-person church services, as churches were not deemed an “essential business.” I don’t recall much push back from the American churches. Think about it: you could have walked into a grocery store, a liquor store, a marijuana dispensary, or taken part in a riot, but you couldn’t go to church in person. I believe this was a sinister plot on part of the global elites and the world governments they run to remove all hope by destroying institutions billions of people hold dear over a virus with a high survival rate.

This attack on our civil liberties must not stand. A wicked and godless government will no longer dictate when and where I can worship my God. Our true liberties were bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. As an American, I also believe in every amendment to our Constitution. We must wake up from our spiritual slumber, out of our zombie-like states, as the times are serious and we need steadfast Christians.

“Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” -Ephesians 5:14, KJV.

Morning Reflection: Psalm 103:10-12

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” -Psalm 103:10-12, KJV.

As the saying goes: The Internet is forever. No one, it seems, is too far from the reach of cancel culture and trolls. Anything that you ever posted, blogged, posted, tweeted, or uploaded is out there for the world to see. Even if you were a teenager or a young child at the time, your Social Media posts can follow you around well into adulthood. People have lost jobs, celebrities have lost fans and fame, and lives can be shattered in an instant.

However, the person or organization digging through the trash of the past fails to offer grace or understanding. “You tweeted this ten years ago!” “You told this insensitive joke.” “In high school you made a remark about these kind of people.” Cancelled. Cancelled. Cancelled.

Have these trolls and fault finders take the time to think that maybe someone has changed their stance on a topic? Maybe their behavior and beliefs have changed in the last decade? Doubtful. Does this snooping around give the fault finders pause to reflect on their actions? Doubly doubtful from what is out there today.

Praise God that He doesn’t throw our past in our face. When we accept God’s amazing grace and accept Christ, our sins are washed away in the blood of Christ. God will never dox you. God has shown you mercy. God has offered you peace and forgiveness. The world may try to dig up who you were, but God never will. As God’s child, you will never be cancelled.

The Reprobate Mind

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“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27, KJV.

Absolute truth is under attack in Western culture. Truth has now become subjective, as the phrase “my truth” has entered the cultural vernacular. Also, there are many people who refuse to let the facts get in the way of their narrative or ideology. Our society has become so immorally accommodating, that many people, Christians included, are afraid to speak God’s truth for fear of offending someone. I believe the Bible is the Holy Word of God and what God declared still stands as absolute truth, the standard by which all morality must be judged.

However, we are all sinners and have fallen short of God’s standard of perfection (Romans 3:23). Yet, God in His mercy gives us all the opportunity to receive salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us from our sins by dying for us. Yet, there are many who like Pharoah in the story of Exodus, will harden their hearts and refuse the Gospel, God’s free gift of salvation. When people reject the Gospel, there are certain phrases you will hear:

“God would never send anybody to hell.”

“I’m a good person; I’m not Hitler or anything.”

“Judge not lest you be judged.”

Well, first, God does not send anyone to hell, but our sins separate us from God. Rejection of the Gospel leads to eternal damnation. Secondly, comparing yourself to the worst person in history or even your next door neighbor does not make you any less of a sinner. Third, I’m not judging you, I’m telling you the truth in love. There are numerous other excuses people give for not following Christ, but time doesn’t permit me to get into them.

Is it possible for a person to become so hardened in their hearts, so entrenched in their sins,that God will reject them? The answer is yes. The theological term is reprobation.

Reprobation “is derived from the Latin reprobatus, past participle of the verb reprobare, “to reprove,” and refers to the fact that God has condemned the nonelect to eternal punishment for their sins.”¹

To unpack that statement, reprobation is God’s rejection of those who refuse to hear or accept the Gospel. God will give people over to their sins and eternal punishment is the penalty for our sins. The concept of people being reprobates is found in both the Old and New Testaments.

We must understand that God is patient and wants all to come to Christ, but there will be those who reject God. In the Old Testament, God would send prophets to Israel and later Judah to repent of their sins, or judgment would be coming. The judgment often came in the form of an invading nation, a plague, a famine, or a drought. When Israel and Judah repented of their sins, God’s judgment was lifted.

Jeremiah pronounced God’s judgment on Judah:

“O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.” (Jeremiah 6:26-30, KJV).

God is using a metal refining metaphor to describe Judah’s sin. When a metal such as gold or silver are refined, they are melted in a fire to remove the impurities in the metals. If the metal is not pure, it’s rejected and thrown back into the fire. The Hebrew word for reprobate is Ma’ac (Strong’s #3988), which means to reject, refuse, or despise. So, God is rejecting Judah because of their impurities (sin), which they refuse to remove from themselves. Even with the harshest of God’s punishments on Israel and Judah, God gave them time to repent of their sins. God is patient with us when He allows us to live to see a new day.

Characteristics of a Reprobate Mind

The New Testament, Paul’s Epistles in particular, discuss the issue and characteristics of a reprobate mind.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,murder, debate, deceit,malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud boasters, inventors of evil things,disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death,not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” (Romans 1:28-32, KJV).

Paul writes a similar list in 2 Timothy, verses 1-9. Scripture makes it clear that someone with a reprobate mind is not someone who commits one sin, one time, but someone who is living in open rebellion to God. These people may know the seriousness of what they’re doing and the consequences, but they still go ahead and do the wicked things they do. Once someone begins to indulge a reprobate mind, their conscience can become hardened toward God’s Holy Spirt (1 Timothy 4:2).

The Greek word for reprobate, Adokimos (Strong’s 3988), means not standing the test, rejected.

Reprobates and False Teachers

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles dedicate a lot of teaching to warning believers about false teachers. 1 John 2 discusses false teachers within the church and Paul discussed false teachers among the Jews, who tried to place stumbling blocks along the path a Jews who came to Christ.

“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him,being abominable, and disobedient, and unto everygoodwork reprobate.”(Titus 1:15-16, KJV).

We must examine ourselves

Once we are made aware of our sins, we have the choice to receive God’s mercy or reject His mercy. If we ask for God’s forgiveness and turn away from our sins, our consciences can be clear in Christ. However, if we make the choice to reject mercy, we will be out of fellowship with God, which could lead to rejection. We must make a concious effort to examine our spirits everyday. We must choose the right path and reject the wrong path, which leads only to destruction. We must do as Paul instructed the Church at Corinth:

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates.” (2 Corinthians 13:5, KJV).

As we go forward in our walk with God, may we examine our thoughts and our ways, to make sure we are in proper standing with Christ. If we have veered off track, Christ can place back onto the path. You are not so far away that God cannot save you. While we have today, let us reach out for the free gift of grace. God bless.

1Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2^nd Ed. Edited by Walter A. Ewell. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 2001: 1012 “Reprobation.”

2020: The Year I Returned to My Roots

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Christmas is now in the rearview mirror and a new year is fast approaching. A new year always brings optimism and hope as we reflect on the difficulties of the previous year. 2020 was definitely a runaway dumpster fire inside of a nitroglycerin plant.

I know 2020 was a year of tremendous loss for so many people and I am by no means making light of anyone’s pain. 2020 was difficult for me as well. I tested positive for Coronavirus. Praise the Lord I had a very mild case, with my only symptoms being a sinus headache and a cough. The symptoms lasted for three days, but I kept testing positive for two months. To say that I grew frustrated would be a major understatement. However, I was thankful that I was paid by my employer during my time off and my family brought groceries when I was unable to get to the store.

2020 was an eye-opening year for me, especially in terms of my faith. No matter your opinion on the lockdowns, I found it very disheartening that churches all across the United States so easily surrendered their First Amendment right to assemble and worship God. My own church did this as well. Churches were closed or at reduced capacity, yet people were allowed to gather in large groups and burn down cities all across the country, including my hometown. You can riot, but you can’t worship Jesus? Anyone else have a problem with that?

I know that the technology exists to watch church online anywhere in the world. I have no problem with individuals deciding not to attend in-person services, or even churches making that decision for themselves. My problem is with the government interfering into the affairs of churches. Religious freedom was infringed upon and not one strong objection was raised. History shows us that once governments begin to encroach upon liberties, the citizens never get their liberties restored. It’s time that we wake up realize that we are in a fight. The fight is only going to get tougher from here.

2020 has served as the year I went back to my spiritual roots- the strong church and the uncompromised teaching of the Word of God. It is time for the Church to go back to being the Church. So many churches focus on a 3-5 week sermon series, each message with 3-5 points, yet will not make one mention of the blood of Jesus Christ, hell, sin, or the need for salvation. The times are too perilous for us to be playing games. In the coming new year, I am strengthening my roots and reaffirming my foundation in Christ without compromise. I urge you, brothers and sisters to do the same.

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:6-8, KJV).

May the Lord bless you and keep you. Be blessed.

The Path

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By Michael W. Raley

I thought by now the path would be made clear

And the course would be set.

Yet, I remain aimless and adrift

On a self-made ocean of obscurity.

I have progressed too slowly;

My patience has worn thin.

I have reached a point

Where I don’t see the purpose of this journey,

As my most desired dreams have not been fulfilled.

Time is of the essence;

My window of opportunity closes a little more each day.

Should I stay on the present course?

Shall I embark on the new and unfamiliar path?

Do I just need to settle on the safe path of unassuming mediocrity?

I try to move forward,

Yet I am being dragged down by the baggage of fear and regret.

I am heart sick, yet remain somewhat hopeful.

As long as I have the day,

As long as I have breath,

I cannot accept defeat.

I must rise up and walk.