Category: 2021

How Christians are Still Missing the Mark with Covid-19-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you- Hosea 10:12 NASB 

Dear Readers, 

Beginning October 1, 2021 will no longer be sponsoring my blog posts on Facebook. I will continue to post all new blog posts on my personal Facebook page and my A Wise Life Facebook page for right now. There are a couple of reasons for this change: first I can no longer in good conscience give Facebook my money when they actively censor what I say by refusing to promote any blog they deem too “political”. Second, with so many people getting off of Facebook my reach has shrunk and it is no longer worth the hassle of being careful about what I say just to get a little promotional help.  This means that it will be much harder for readers to find A Wise Life. It will no longer simply pop up on your feed. You have two options if you want to continue reading A Wise Life. You can search for my page every week or you can subscribe for free. Subscriptions are easy: just go to the bottom of this blog where it says “subscribe” and type in your email address. A Wise Life will arrive in your email every Sunday night. I will not sell or give your email address to anyone. I would appreciate it if you would “do me a solid” and continue to share any blog you feel is worth sharing on social media. That is the only way I will continue to acquire new readers. 

Thanks, 

Lisa Price 

Warning: this post begins with a weird personal story that will probably feel pointless to you the reader. It really does have a point. I promise. 

This week I did something that’s needed doing for a long time. It involves a houseplant I’ve had for about fifteen years. At one time the plant was truly beautiful. It was lush and green and it flourished.  People would comment on it all the time. However, in recent months this plant is looking horribly ratty and sad. The leaves that didn’t fall off turned a putrid shade of green, most of the vines were barren and the whole thing was just kind of wretched looking. 

In my humble opinion, a flourishing houseplant is aesthetically pleasing and it serves a useful purpose. Houseplants, especially this particular type of plant purify the air and that helps keep my family healthy.

I like that. A lot. 

However. This guy was obviously in trouble and not even marginally capable of doing what he was made to do. So, I pulled it out of its pot, broke up its root system and replaced the old soil with fresh soil. Then I cut off the vines that were no longer producing leaves and literally ripped what was left of them from the rest of the root system. Then I watered it really well and placed it in a location where it will get the optimal amount of sunlight for that type of plant. At this point whether the plant lives or dies is all kind of up to the plant. 

Sigh. 

As I was finishing up this task a couple of things occurred to me. First, I don’t know how much awareness a houseplant has but if they have any at all this one is probably convinced I’m a total butthead. The plant has no idea that that this was the only way to save it and possibly make it healthy again. Then it hit me that God kind of did the same thing to the church with COVID. Over the course of the last eighteen months God has stripped Christians of things that were familiar, like regular meetings, conferences, small groups and community events. Then He pruned it substantially and now He has put the church back in the culture again to do what the church is supposed to do.  We are missing the mark. Bigtime. 

Here’s why. 

 Approximately half the people who just read that last paragraph are convinced it means I think God wants all the vaccine holdouts to stop being selfish and get with the program. The other half are convinced I think Christians should stop being lazy and get busy holding the government accountable for the wickedness and stupidity that’s become endemic at all levels of government.  

Both groups are wrong. 

Truth-be-told we totally missed the whole spiritual point of COVID-19. Depending on one’s theological inclination (Calvinist or Arminian) God either caused COVID or He saw it coming and permitted it.  

Either way God had a hand in it. 

 COVID was meant to be a spiritual wake-up call to everyone, Christians and non-Christians alike. COVID-19 became a reality because we are a people who have gotten really good at denying, ignoring and blocking out the certainty of death (Hebrews 9:27). We have done this because we are blessed to live in a time when death is something that only happens to really old people living far from the rest of society in nursing homes. As a result, most of us tend to live for the now and never give any thought to what might happen after we die. COVID-19 forced us to think about our own mortality because people started dropping like flies.  God gave us/allowed COVID-19 because He wanted everyone to reflect on death and change their thinking about how to live life. 

We refused. 

Instead of contemplating the transience and fragility of life and turning to God in repentance, most people just got really scared of dying. They stayed scared and mindlessly tried to block out the reality that was right in front of them. It’s the reason why so many were so quick to accept the rather ludicrous premise that a virus might simply go away if enough people hid from it for long enough. No one wanted to face reality and frankly Christians and Church leaders did little to help. Some churches made fun of the fear.  Others embraced and even encouraged the fear (1st John 4:18). 

Here’s the thing.

It is not the churches job to spiritualize fear by intentionally or unintentionally encouraging and/or enabling neurotic and/or fearful behavior.  Nor is it the churches job to take on an attitude of false bravado or moral superiority because the people in the church have no fear of death that they are willing to admit. 

The church has one job. That’s it. One.

The churches one job is to point people to Jesus (Hebrews 9:27, John 13:34-35, 1st Peter 1:13-16).   Fear is natural when people are dying. We only die once, and people don’t routinely come back from the dead and explain the whole experience so we have no point of reference for what death will be like. The unknown is always scary.  Fear of death shouldn’t be ridiculed. Nor, should it be encouraged or coddled in any way. It is not A Christians job to push their personal opinion concerning matters of Christian liberty.  Nor is it the churches job to do battle with the government. The churches job is to point people back to spiritual reality. The churches job is to talk about judgment and death and life and how Jesus can bring us forgiveness and peace. A Christians job is to gently remind people that everyone dies and teach them how to do it well.  Our job is to be a sensible and loving voice of reason in a world of madness. 

Could we just back to our job? 

The Case for Christian Rebellion-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body- 2nd Corinthians 4:8-11 NIV

Okay, so.

According to the CDC in the year 2020 almost fifty-thousand people committed suicide in the United States. That’s a lot of people. The number is roughly equivalent to a city the size of Cheyenne Wyoming.  

Yikes.  

We are living in a culture of despair. 

Sigh. 

The reasons for the rampant despair are too many and too complex to effectively explore in a blogpost but I will hit on a few of the reasons:  most folks are more isolated and lonely than ever before, Few feel a sense of community. Fatherlessness has exploded and single parenting has become the new normal. Many children who grow up with one parent experience neglect or abuse. Children who experience abuse or neglect almost always grow up feeling a lack of hope for the future. That said, I suspect abuse and neglect of children is simply a symptom of a greater problem rather than the root of our overwhelming sense of hopelessness. 

I suspect our pain is caused by our own willful foolishness.

These days most non-Christians and even many Christians live outside the set pattern and design God created for human beings. We lean on our own understanding of how to do life instead of seeking God’s wisdom (Proverbs 3:5-6, Genesis 1:28). Then we wonder like a bunch of idiots why life is hard and we feel bad all time. 

Think about it.

For one thing. 

Sex lost its sacredness decades ago. 

Now we have hookups, starter marriages, pornography and prostitutes instead of one partner we bond with for life. Few adults marry before thirty and the stated goal for many is to have as much sex as possible with as many people as possible before “settling down” and “starting a family”. Fewer than half of all women wait until marriage to have children, pretty much guaranteeing their children will grow up in a home without a biological father. All this taken together simply means that the ties that bind people together are weaker than they have ever been. 

For another. 

The economic system our culture has trapped itself in ensures most families live far from their extended family and both parents work just to make ends meet. This leaves young parents feeling overwhelmed and kids (especially teenagers) are left to figure life out without the input of their parents and the wisdom of their grandparents. Most people work non-stop and as a result community and the close relationships we were all made for fall to the wayside in our lives.  

Christians must show the world a different way of doing life. 

Fast. 

And we have to find a way to do it without being strange, judgmental, creepy or weirdly patriarchal (Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 5:21-33). Getting this right is the only way people will know there’s something better out there.

We get it right by bucking the system and refusing to get caught up in the lies our society tells about sex, gender and relationships. The world needs to see that it is possible to be happy and fulfilled while not having sex with a gazillion people or having multiple spouses or changing genders in an attempt to find fulfillment. 

Christianity needs some rebels. 

Christians rebel against this world’s satanic system by getting married young, having lots of sex, making babies with only one person, buying a house and building a life (Genesis 2:24). We buck the system by building community and remaining loyal to the churches we attend. We rebel when we give up other things to spend quality time with friends and family. We become the best kind of revolutionists when we are willing to humbly admit we got it wrong and change direction (James 4:10, 1st Peter 5:5-6).  Christians could literally change the trajectory of people’s lives simply by choosing to love Jesus and obey God even when our obedience makes us look weird and causes us to be out of step with the rest of the world.  Righteousness has become rebellion in our weird world and rebellion gets people’s attention. In this case it will make people want what we have.

Here’s the thing though:

Rebelling against the world system without giving some really good reasons for doing so will do no one any good. We need to loudly and proudly proclaim why we are doing what we’re doing (1st Peter 3:15). We must be willing to look weird in the eyes of the world in order to shine the light of Jesus in an increasingly dark world. 

Staying Hopeful in a World of Injustice-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

  There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground- Amos 5:7 NIV

  I have be listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The podcast chronicles the events that led to the fall of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It tells the story of Mark Driscoll as well as other leaders within the mega-church movement. The first-hand accounts of the pride, questionable doctrine and longing for celebrity endemic within the movement left me grieving for the body of Christ. The unjust and sometimes even evil actions of a few have forever sullied the name of Jesus and caused many to leave the church.  

This morning when I turned on the news the first story was about a mother whose son was killed in the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The woman is angry about the death of her son and frustrated with how the government has handled every sordid detail of the withdrawal. So, she did what many of us do in 2021 when we are angry and frustrated. She went to a social media platform and vented her anger. Her thoughts were immediately censored on social media and shoved down the memory hole. The whole thing was wrong on a million different levels. A grief-stricken mother should be allowed to openly vent her anger. The people in charge should own their mistakes and the memory hole should be forever left on the pages of George Orwell’s book 1984.  

These are just two small examples of injustice and evil in our world. There are at least a million more out there. Injustice and evil have become ubiquitous. Truth is routinely twisted and lies have become so routine that in some situations it is really hard to know what’s actually true. We live in a time where good is called evil and evil is called good (Isaiah 5:20). 

The state of our world can leave even mature Christians feeling angry and bitter about bad leadership and lack of justice. Christ-followers are instructed to avoid the sin of bitterness at all costs (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:31), because it inevitably leads to attitudes and actions that have the power to defile every person in our circle of influence.  

There is no easy way to avoid feeling bitter towards unjust leaders.  However, there are four things we can do that will help us stay free of bitterness if we do them routinely: 

Remember nothing escapes God’- 

Because God is merciful, kind and eager for everyone to repent He does not punish every sin or sinner in real time (2nd Peter 3:9). This can sometimes make it look and feel as if God is unaware of injustice or that He doesn’t care about evil. If we believe the lie that God does not care we will either become bitter towards God and the world or we will join in with the sinners and sin our heads off. Both responses will cause us to lose our spiritual light and saltiness (Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 3:10). If enough Christians lose their ability to be salt and light the brokenness and evil in this world will win. The key to staying holy and hopeful in these times is to hold onto the Bible promise that there will come a day when God will deal decisively with sin and those who have caused other people to sin (Mark 9:42, Romans 2:9-10, Revelation 20:11-15). 

Be the person this world needs right now- 

Seriously. Just do it. Choose to be the person who stands up for the oppressed and hurting, who fights obvious injustice and loves without limits. Love and righteousness are transformative. Acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God is the key to a living a life God blesses (Psalm 11:7, Proverbs 21:15, Micah 6:8). Furthermore, choosing to enter the battle brings with it a sense of purpose that produces hope even in the toughest of times.

Don’t give into the temptation to be vengeful- 

Vengeance can take many forms that don’t include acts of physical violence. It can take the form of rude verbal or written retaliation (my biggest personal issue, sigh.). Vengeance can also include things like refusing to pray for or do good things for people we view as our enemies (Matthew 5: 38-41, Matthew 5:44).  Jesus directly commands us to pray for and do good to those who do us wrong. Refusing to obey Jesus always leads to hardness of heart that leads to both more sin and more personal misery. 

Pray-

Okay, I get it, encouraging people to pray while the world goes to hell in a hand cart sounds trite and feels like a copout. However, prayer is anything but a copout. Prayer is the most transformative act on earth. I do not know or understand all the particulars on how prayer works. But it does. Prayer doesn’t just transform situations it also transforms the heart of the person praying. Prayer, done consistently and in faith gives the person praying an awareness of God’s presence.  Awareness of God’s presence always leads to a love for others and a sense of hope for the future. 

There is no sense sugar coating the situation: life sucks on a bunch of different levels right now. Righteousness, justice and good leadership are in short supply. The one good thing about dark times is it does give us almost unlimited opportunities to shine our light in the darkness. When we choose to shine Jesus’ light we become a part of the solution.

FYI-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Dear Readers, 

Beginning October 1, 2021 will no longer be sponsoring my blog posts on Facebook. I will continue to post all new blog posts on my personal Facebook page and my A Wise Life Facebook page for right now. There are a couple of reasons for this change: first I can no longer in good conscience give Facebook my money when they actively censor what I say by refusing to promote any blog they deem too “political”. Second, with so many people getting off of Facebook my reach has shrunk and it is no longer worth the hassle of being careful about what I say just to get a little promotional help.  This change means that it will be much harder for readers to find A Wise Life. It will no longer simply pop up on your social media feed.

You have two options if you want to continue reading A Wise Life. You can search for my page every week or you can subscribe for free. Subscriptions are easy: just go to the bottom of this blog where it says “subscribe” and type in your email address. A Wise Life will arrive in your email box every Sunday night. I will not sell or give your email address to anyone. I would appreciate it if you would “do me a solid” and continue to share any blog you feel is worth sharing on social media, as this is the only way I will continue to acquire new readers. 

Thanks, 

Lisa Price 

How to Grow Spiritually in any Season-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ- 1st Thessalonians 5:21-23 ESV

I am a bit of a cynic.

 I am always a bit slow to embrace any new idea, theory or belief without some hard evidence that the idea, theory or belief could actually be true or a good idea.  

Despite my inherently cynical nature I am fully convinced the whole stupid world is under the judgment of God right now. No one is special right now. Too many people in too many places have either participated in or voluntarily tolerated every kind of evil for far too long Romans 1:18-30). The Almighty God of the Universe has finally had enough. He is lifting His hand of protection and letting humanity have a taste of what we have been begging for: life without God. Therefore, every man, woman and child on earth is in for some rough waters until there is a movement of repentance. The evidence is just too overwhelming not to believe it. Bad leaders, weird weather, random acts of violence, hostility, disease, fear and crime are all telltale signs of divine judgment (Deuteronomy 28:16-64). 

HOWEVER.

This season might just turn out to be the most productive of our lives from a spiritual growth perspective. Rough waters often cause people to seek God and let go of the sin that so easily entangles (Hebrews 12:1). Trials can empower us to break free of the behaviors and attitudes that trap us in the mindsets that keep us mired in worldly thinking.  When we seek God and ask Him to help us break free of worldly thinking and sinful strongholds we inevitably do the things that please and honor God (Revelation 2:5). When Christians obey God, He is faithful to move in powerful ways and good always comes out of it. (1st Peter 1:6-9). 

Here’s how to make spiritual growth happen:

Stop being a baby-

Churches today are crawling with spiritual and moral toddlers. People who never grew past the sippy-cup and fit-throwing stage of spiritual development (Hebrews 5:12-14).  In order to flourish spiritually we must be intentional about letting go of the childish and/or sinful things holding us back from becoming truly Christlike.  This means learning to do hard things, like examining our attitudes on a regular basis. It means accepting difficulty and learning from it rather than getting angry and bitter about it (1st Corinthians 13:11, 2nd Timothy 4:5).  It means caring about people enough to tell them the truth about where their choices will lead them even if it means they don’t like us when the conversation is over. It means forgiving those who wrong us and praying for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). 

Know what having “good fruit” actually means- 

We all know the fruit of a person’s life matters because Jesus said it matters (Matthew 7:16). However, having a life that consists of good fruit is about more than looking good or even doing good deeds. “Good fruit” like church attendance, taking on leadership roles in church or even leading people to Jesus is really only good if those things are accompanied by by true holiness, honesty, virtue and love for one’s enemies (Matthew 5:43, Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 5:3). This means doing the right things with the wrong heart will not result in reward. In order to get this vital issue right we must be vigilant about examining our motives.  We must ask ourselves: am I doing what I’m doing so others will think well of me? Do I do things for people to help them or gain influence? Do I love everyone or just people who love me back? If we get the answers to any of these questions wrong we need to ask God to change our hearts until He does. 

Deal with your spiritual junk–

In order to deal with our junk we have to WANT to see the sin our life. Most people, even most Christians don’t really want to see the sin their lives. It’s just too painful and hard see our own grossness head-on. It We have to ask God to show us. He will do this in a whole bunch of different ways that probably won’t involve verbal communication with the Almighty.  He will show us through conflicts we have in our marriages and jobs. He will show us through the attitudes we see in our own kids and the entertainment we gravitate towards. 

Don’t get confused about what repentance really is-

Repentance is a multifaceted event. It begins with changing our thinking about our sinful behaviors. This means we agree with God that whatever we are doing that He says is wrong really is wrong. (Matthew 5:30). Repentance also means stopping it (whatever “it” is) as quickly as possible. However, simply stopping bad behavior without figuring out why that sinful behavior is our go-to will almost always result in a return to the behavior. In order to truly repent we have to deal with the heart attitude/wrong thinking/ faulty teaching/bad programming that caused us to run to that sin in the first place. That means we have to dig deep and prayerfully think through the why of what we do. Without that knowledge we will continue to struggle to reach a higher level of spiritual and moral functioning. 

If we know God and are called according to His purpose then life is good even when its tough. It’s good because God is always at work using the hard stuff to mold us into someone He can use. 

But we have to let Him.

How to Grow in a Season of Judgment-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom- James 4:6-9 NIV 

The whole stupid world has fallen under the judgement of God.

Seriously.

Anytime large groups of people fall under judgment life changes dramatically and becomes far less pleasant for everyone. Crops fail, wars break out, birth rates plummet, conflicts increase, the weather gets weird, economies flounder and fail, fear increases, pandemics occur, wild animals become more vicious, leaders make dumb decisions and individuals everywhere just go kind of feral and crazy (Deuteronomy 28:15-64). Judgment is terrible. Everyone in a place under judgment feels the changes judgment brings.

This is where we’re living right now. 

However.

All the terribleness is not without purpose.  God always has two primary purposes for judgment. First, judgment is designed to bring the dead (spiritually speaking) to life in Christ. The hardship and pain that always accompanies judgment can and often does cause people who have rejected God to examine themselves, seek God and repent of their sins. When that happens, a person moves from death to life and all of heaven rejoices (Ezekiel 37:1-14, Luke 15:10).

It’s a beautiful thing.

If enough people repent and turn to God we get revival and change occurs on every level of society.  (Psalm 85:6, Acts 3:19, Acts 19:18-20). God also uses judgement to strengthen the church and make it holy (1st Peter 4:17). The church becomes stronger and holier anytime it encounters persecution. The hardship that comes with persecution draws genuine Christians even closer to God (strengthening the church) and drives non-Christians who think they are Christians away from the church (thus purifying the church).

It’s a win win situation.

  Persecution often accompanies judgment. When unbelievers experience the effects of God’s judgment (crop failure, conflict, disease, weird weather, etc.) they often make rules or laws designed to manage the difficulties of the judgment. The laws they make inevitably end up affecting the churches ability to operate and share the gospel. Secondly, those who are actively rebelling against God despise being told where their rebellion will lead them. People do not enjoy being told there will be more judgment, more personal pain and eternity spent in hell unless they repent. Those who speak the truth in a season of judgment are always persecuted in some way. 

We are in a judgment. 

Therefore, persecution of the church is likely inevitable. This means attitudes and behaviors that have become commonplace in Church world simply will not fly anymore. Following are four of those things:

Marginal commitment levels-

Attending church services weekly, reading the Bible, cultivating a strong prayer life and being actively involved in a church community do not make anyone a Christian. Good habits do not magically transform pagans into saints.  However, participation in these activities do make Christians stronger and healthier from a spiritual standpoint. Christians who have taken the time to cultivate healthy habits are more likely to stand strong when life gets hard and life always gets hard for God’s people in a judgment.    

Fakeness-

Christians are sometimes disturbingly fake. We pretend we are okay when we’re not okay and that we have it all together when we’re really falling apart. We do this for one reason: pride. We want people to think we are healthier, better and godlier than we really are so we fake we are the things we think we should be. This particular form of pride cheats us out of the growth and transformation that can only be achieved by being authentic and transparent with ourselves and God. We can’t grow if don’t admit we need to.  

Legalism-

Legalists want to follow a list of rules related to outward behavior without dealing with the heart issues that caused them to sin in the first place. God does care about what we do. Some behaviors are simply not okay for Christians (1st Corinthians 6:8-10, Galatians 5:19-21).  However, God also wants us to do the right things out of a desire to honor and glorify God rather than a desire to be accepted and liked by other Christians or because we think behaving the “right way” will gain God’s favor. Legalism can look genuine in good times because a person’s heart isn’t tested in good times. However, in times of judgment the true state of a person’s heart is always revealed. Furthermore, legalists frequently become bitter towards God in times of judgment because they feel their good behavior should be rewarded. They don’t understand intimacy with God is the greatest reward. Intimacy with God is a result of clinging to God in hardship.  

Double-mindedness-

Double-mindedness is when we attempt to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church (1st John 2:15).  This often takes the form of adopting opinions and beliefs that allow a Christian to conform to worldly norms and standards on issues such as: homosexuality, gender, adultery, abortion or justice while still living as a “practicing Christian”. In a time of judgment God always demands that His people choose who they will serve (Joshua 24:15). 

No one gets to choose the events and circumstances of the time they live in. God does that for us. However, we do get the privilege of choosing how we respond to the circumstances of our life. How we choose is never more important than in a season of judgment. 

Living Victoriously in Crazy Times-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed- John 3:18-19

Okay, so I recently realized I have somehow morphed into a “New Testament person”.

This simply means I tend to do most of my devotional reading out of the New Testament books. In an effort to break out of the rut, I revisited 1st Kings. It didn’t take long for me to recall why I have been gravitating towards the New Testament. 1st Kings is depressing.  Really. Depressing. Like lose your faith in humanity depressing.  The first half of the book is just an endless litany of the sin and bad behavior of one horrid king after another even more horrid king. The sin of the king was then followed by a season of oppression or famine that was obviously God’s judgment. The people (who were also sinning like crazy) completely ignored or wrote off the obvious judgment as a giant nothing sandwich. The book actually had me feeling quite smug about the superiority of modern humans. 

At least until I did some thinking and put some things together. 

Like, the fact that our own federal, state and local governments have been doing some pretty awful things at home and abroad for quite some time now. That’s how we got Critical Race Theory in most of our public schools. It’s how we ended up with the gender unicorn and queer story hour. It’s why the censorship of ideas is suddenly standard operating procedure. We got here because many of our leaders over the course of the last fifty years have born a striking resemblance to Old Testament kings like Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Abijam and Omri.  

However.

We cannot in good conscience blame the government for all our problems. We elected these people. It’s not as if they were imposed on us by some outside force. We picked them. It’s also not as if queer story hour or the gender unicorn appeared out of the clear-blue sky sometime in 2020. Those kinds of ideas slowly became acceptable and eventually mainstream because individuals rejected truth about God (Romans 1:19-22). Anytime humans willfully reject truth lies fill the void and we do and believe weird things that are ultimately foolish, silly and even evil (Romans 1:23-32). Sin is why respect for human life has evaporated into thin air. Sin is at the root of the barbaric practice of transitioning boys into girls and girls into boys. Sin and its offspring selfishness are why the birth rate is plummeting. Sin is the reason public discourse has crumbled and why we routinely have riots in the street. Sin is why many major cities are no longer safe places. 

We did this to ourselves. 

Sin inevitably leads to judgment and that’s where we’re living right now. Even in church world it’s not popular to use the J-word.  I’m using it anyway.  Judgment.  The world is under judgment. Not just America or Mexico or England or Russia. The whole stupid world has fallen under the judgment of God for rejecting Him and embracing every kind of depravity and ridiculous idea imaginable (Romans 1:30). Irrational fear, dumb leaders, loss of personal rights and censorship are not just the result of people being stupid or governments being evil. Those things are God’s attempt to get us to come to our senses and repent before we sin ourselves into extinction. This does not mean God is angry at every single person on the planet.  God is slow to judge partly because in any judgment it is impossible separate the righteous from the wicked. The righteous always suffer the consequences of sins they didn’t commit. Nonetheless, there comes a point where even our good, gracious longsuffering God must say “no more” in order to stay true to Himself and keep humanity from self-destructing.  

So, what is a Christian to do? 

First, we have to recognize that there are no quick fixes or easy outs at this point. The pain will continue unabated until people repent and turn to Jesus. However, there are some things Christians can do to be a light in these dark times (Matthew 5:13-16, Luke 11:33). If we consistently do them we might lead the world back to a place of wholeness. 

We have to tell the truth about things that really matter.

Things like heaven and hell and judgment. We have to stop being afraid our friends and neighbors will think we are small-minded party-poopers if we come out as Christians who actually believe the Bible. We have to tell our friends and family who claim to be Christians but don’t think they have to do what the Bible says that they have missed a critical aspect of saving faith (Luke 11:28, John 8:51, John 14:21, Romans 2:13, 2nd Thessalonians 3:14, Hebrews 4:2, Hebrews 5:9).   

We must learn be like Jesus.

Jesus loved everyone and He never stopped hoping that people would turn to Him in repentance and faith (Matthew 23:47). He literally wept for the lost and grieved for those who rejected truth.  However, He also spoke the truth even when people hated Him for it (John 7:7). Jesus understood some things are more important than being honored by the multitudes. 

And finally, we must remember life is good and beautiful and worth living to the fullest all the time, even in the toughest of times.

We still get to enjoy sunrises and sunsets that take our breath away. The rain is still falling on the just and the unjust. Friendships are being forged.  Babies are being born. Marriages are being celebrated. Songs are being sung, words are turned into poetry. All the noble and good and beautiful things worthy of celebration are still a part of our world because God is still good.

We should celebrate those things because when we do it reminds us of the goodness of God and draws people to Jesus.  

The Art of Spiritual Warfare-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

 For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory– Proverbs 24:6 ESV

A few years back, my son gave me a gift. It was a copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. I must have looked as perplexed as I felt because Alex looked at me knowingly and said: “Read it Mom. You’ll love it. I promise”. 

 I read it and to my surprise I did love it. 

Sun Tzu was a 5th century Chinese general, military strategist and tactical genius. Most of his advice is remarkably pithy, relevant and astute for a guy who’s been dead for well over fifteen centuries. For the record, Sun Tzu was not a follower of Jesus and like all non-Christian sources of wisdom his writings should be read with a degree of discernment. 

That said.

Sun Tzu’s advice can easily be applied to a plethora of twenty-first century leadership situations and conundrums. Just insert the word “leader”or “pastor” anytime he says general or commander and a lot of times you are left with what can only be described as leadership gold.  A few of my favorite tidbits of his include: “a good commander is benevolent and unconcerned with fame” and “it is the business of a general to be upright and thus ensure order.

Sun Tzu also said some things that relate shockingly well to spiritual warfare. The best and most relevant (in my opinion) is: Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. It’s fair to say Christians are losing more spiritual battles than we are winning these days. I am convinced it is mostly due to ignorance of Sun Tzu’s wisdom (1st Peter 5:8). So, in the interest of changing the outcome of the many spiritual battles we find ourselves in these days I would like to offer a little insight into how Satan operates in the day to day. 

Beginning with:

Satan uses ignorance of our own nature to gain an advantage in our lives- 

Christians tend to look down on the pursuit of self-knowledge as worldly, self-absorbed and even a bit narcissistic. It is true that self-knowledge can become all of those things if it’s not pursued in the right way for the right reasons. However, Jesus warned Peter, Satan wanted to “sift him like wheat” immediately following an argument Peter had with the other disciples that revealed some motivations he was clearly ignorant of. Specifically, a wish to rule over others rather than serve them (Luke 22:24-31). Being successful in the realm of spiritual warfare means we seek to learn as much as we can about our own strengths, weaknesses and hidden motivations. Self-knowledge is not an excuse to continue on in our unhealthiest behavior. No Christian should ever say “that’s just my personality” when confronted with their sin or foolish behavior.  Rather, self-knowledge should give us a starting point to begin seeking the growth and transformation that should always be a part of our spiritual journey. Tools such as the Myers-Briggs Indicator, Strength Finders and the DISC assessment can all be helpful in the process of self-discovery.

Satan will attempt to discourage us anytime we do something worthwhile or good- 

We tend to think doing something good for God, the church or another person should automatically exempt us from difficulty and hardship. Unfortunately, this is not how things work in the realm of spiritual warfare.  Instead Satan intentionally attacks us when we are doing good in an effort to discourage us from doing good. He has enough experience with humans to know we tend to give up when the going gets tough. We also tend to get angry at or even turn away from God anytime we experience hardship, difficulty or pain. It is critical we remember that contrary to popular belief Christians are not promised an easy time of things here on earth, even when we are doing good things with our lives (John 16:33, 2nd Timothy 4:5).  Instead, we should remember we are soldiers and soldiers don’t let circumstances discourage them from fulfilling the mission they were called to (2nd Timothy 2:3-4).

Satan loves it when Christians are lazy- 

Most of the time we know exactly what God wants us to do (Colossians 1:9-11).  Some of the things He might want us to do could include apologizing, praying more, having hard conversations, learning the Bible, being more vocal about what we believe, confronting hard issues, taking more of an interest in our child’s education or friend group or getting more involved in the life of our church or community. We don’t do those things for one reason: we’re lazy. Plain and simple. We just don’t want to. Those things are difficult and inconvenient and we know that doing them will cost us something. So, we don’t and truth-be-told, Satan loves laziness almost as much as he loves sin. The void our laziness creates gives him space to do his best work (John 10:10). 

Finally, Satan wants us to fight spiritual battles while completely discounting and ignoring the weapon of prayer (Matthew 26:41, Ephesians 6:18). Twenty-first century people tend to see prayer as a feeble and passive time-waster. Why pray when we could DO something? Conversely, Satan sees prayer as a powerful act of warfare. He knows prayer is our number one source of wisdom, strength and discernment. (Ephesians 6:10-18). For that reason, he will do anything in his power to distract us from using this weapon to our advantage. If we want to practice the art of spiritual warfare we should always pray first and do second. 

How we Stay Hopeful in the Strangest of Times-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings- Malachi 4:2 ESV

We live in the strangest of times.

Seriously. It’s just true.

Behaviors and beliefs that would have been unimaginable just a few short decades ago have become so ordinary most of us are not even appropriately shocked anymore.

Seriously.

One-third of all babies are now born into homes with no Father. One third. Boys and girls are being surgically and chemically altered because adults have decided science dictates that humans are the gender they think they are rather than the gender their DNA says they are. Grown men dressed as women have taken control of story hour at public libraries . The American Medical Association has recommended doctors no longer put the gender of infants on birth certificates.  Drug overdoses have become so commonplace the overdose drug Narcan is now available over the counter. Nonetheless, for some reason no one can fully explain the push to legalize all drugs continues in most states.  Sexually explicit material once classified as hardcore pornography and completely unacceptable is now mainstream and available to any third-grader with a smartphone. There is an active and ongoing push to normalize and legalize pedophilia. 

All of this is taking place with the full blessing of governments all over the globe.

 This moral sea change has had a hardening influence on society in general. Individuals routinely say things about and to others that would have been considered unthinkable just a few years ago. People are becoming more violent as individuals become less self-controlled and less concerned with the well-being of others. This trend has resulted in a sharp uptick of violent crime. Riots, school shootings, hate crimes and road rage have all become disturbingly ordinary events in many parts of Western civilization (2nd Timothy 3:1-5).  

Christian people and even non-Christian people find all this quite troubling. We understand a civilization will not continue to function in a legit way for long if the majority of people continue to choose the path of moral and social anarchy. 

Most of us are searching frantically for a clear path out of the encroaching madness.   Our go-to tends to be politics. Most Christians are hoping and praying for a political figure or party to step into the fray and sort the mess out. We want a wise man or woman to make some laws that will save us from our sorry selves before we go the way of the Romans or the Babylonians and sin ourselves into extinction. While I fully understand the inclination, there are all sorts of unintended consequences with this mindset, following are four of the most troubling: 

It ignores the real reason we have bad leaders – 

Americans, including many Christians have voted for a lot of losers from both parties over the course of the last century. That being said, our culture did not become the dumpster fire it is today because Americans elected the wrong people. Americans, including a lot of Christians elected the wrong people because they believed the wrong things about God, life and what will make them happy and successful. Wrong views have become widespread and created the moral vacuum that got us the political leaders we have today. We must never forget: in a democracy politics always follow the moral beliefs of the people doing the voting. Bad leaders mean we have bad beliefs that need to be sorted out. The sorting out needs to start with Christians thinking and voting biblically.

It denies the warnings of Scripture-  

Scripture teaches that as a general principal, humans tend to reap what they sow (Job 4:8, Proverbs 22:8, Hosea 8:7, Hosea 10:12, 2nd Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:7). It is very rare that bad leadership erupts from out of nowhere. This is even more true in a society where people get to elect their leaders. It is simply a pattern throughout Scripture that societies tend to get the leaders they deserve due to the choices of their citizens.   

It is a form of idolatry- 

Anytime humans look to another flawed human to do things that only God can do it becomes a dangerous form of idolatry. Idolatry always leads to weak, ineffective or tyrannical leadership (1st Samuel 8:10-18).   

It keeps us from seeking the only things that can make a difference-  

Christians are commanded by Jesus to be a preserving, protecting and illuminating presence in whatever society they live in (Matthew 5;13-16).  This means modeling for the culture what healthy living looks like in every sphere of life. This can only be done if our hope is in God alone. Anytime Christians seek human leadership as their primary source of help and hope they stop seeking the things that have the power to bring about transformation in a culture.  The cultural moment we find ourselves in demands Christians model repentance, dependence and hope in God. Our hope in the God of the universe is the best bet we have of ushering a much-needed revival.

Cultural transformation can happen.

We are still here and God is still on His throne. However, our hope for change cannot rest in human leaders. Our hope has to be in Jesus and Jesus only. Transformation will occur when God’s people seek God in prayer and ask God for forgiveness for all the not praying, not seeking God and not living according to God’s principles that’s been going on in Christian circles for the last fifty or sixty years. Christians must ask God daily for the strength and wisdom to live a faithful, counterculture kind of a life. Then we must commit to living biblically in all situations no matter how weird that makes us to our friends, neighbors and coworkers.

When we put our faith in God alone then God might be gracious to us and give us leaders who embrace God’s principles. The we will see the cultural sea-change we know we need.

Satan’s Diary- August 2021

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds- 2nd Corinthians 11:14-15 ESV

Dear Readers, 

Beginning October 1, 2021 will no longer be sponsoring my blog posts on Facebook. However, I will continue to post all new blog posts on my personal Facebook page and my A Wise Life Facebook page for right now. There are a couple of reasons for this change: first I can no longer in good conscience give Facebook my money when they actively censor what I say by refusing to promote any blog they deem too “political”. Second, with so many people getting off of Facebook my reach has shrunk and it is no longer worth the hassle of being careful about what I say just to get a little promotional help.  This means that it will be much harder for readers to find A Wise Life. It will no longer simply pop up on your feed. You have two options if you want to continue reading A Wise Life. You can search for my page every week or you can subscribe for free. Subscriptions are easy: just go to the bottom of this blog where it says “subscribe” and type in your email address. A Wise Life will arrive in your email every Sunday night. I will not sell or give your email address to anyone. I would appreciate it if you would “do me a solid” and continue to share any blog you feel is worth sharing on social media. That is the only way I will continue to acquire new readers. 

Thanks, 

Lisa Price 

Dearest Diary, 

Life is so truly beautiful here in hell. I have found myself cackling with joy randomly! 

Semiannual reports from all regions are simply off the charts. Every measure of spiritual unhealth is higher than it’s been in a thousand years.

 Things are going especially well with the children on that wretched planet. 

Few parents recognize public schools are at the root of much of the dysfunction in Western civilization and it’s all thanks to me and my efforts.  I have labored diligently behind the scenes for more than a century and my efforts in the educational field are finally paying off in spades.

So good!  

 Most school teachers are educated in liberal universities. Thanks to the breakdown of families, a sharp decrease in church attendance and the absence of discipleship in most churches few young adults start college equipped with the spiritual discernment or ethical judgment to tell truth from lies. These really are the best of times. 

Once kids hit the campuses I see to it they are besieged with half-truths and total lies day-in and day-out on every subject conceivable. Well-intended but self-deceived professors lie to students about sexuality, history, government and what it takes to make people “happy”. Most students leave college morally bankrupt and prideful about what they think they know. Which is essentially nothing.

Thanks to these insanely effective efforts most public-school teachers now aggressively teach progressive opinions as fact. Many public-school teachers see themselves as crusaders and the liberators of children. Educators sincerely believe they are heroically freeing children from the oppression of old-fashioned values and the conservative thinking of their parents and grandparents. In reality, they are setting the stage for children to live their whole lives in bondage to every kind of sin imaginable (LOVE).  The few educators who aren’t on board with the new line of thinking are too worried about being “canceled” to push back against the lunacy. 

SO GOOD!  

Sexual confusion is the new normal and it starts early. I have cartoons that teach gender is a societal construct (as if!). Many kids now believe they get to choose whether or not they are a boy or a girl (I am literally laughing out loud as I write this). Teachers encourage children to choose their own pronouns.  The attention kids receive from choosing their gender becomes a hook that’s hard to let go of.  Some elementary schools actually help children to begin the process of surgically changing their gender without the consent of parents! Such a huge win for me!  I adore gender reassignment surgery! It takes advantage of the innocence and shortsightedness of children! The completed surgery leaves children’s bodies mutilated and unable to have children of their own. These children will inevitably become embittered toward their shortsighted and foolish parents. On top of that these kids will miss out on the maturity that is a natural outcome of parenthood when they are adults.  

Yet another win for me!

For decades I have worked hard to dramatically underscore the importance of sexuality.  This plan is working out better than I could have imagined. Most young adults are whole-heartedly convinced sex is not just something a person does but the sum total of who they are. Those idiots begin conversations explaining how they like to have sex and who they want to have it with. It’s comical, really! And the names they have come up with to cover sexual identity: straight, gay, trans, pan, fluid, binary, non-binary, demi sexual, gynesexual, abrosexual.  The madness never ends and everything is permissible as long as no one judges anyone else for what they do or feel. The pornography industry has been incredibly helpful to me in this area. Sexual proclivities that were so far out of the mainstream few people even knew they existed are now normal in many people’s minds. 

SO GOOD!

 Immature children who don’t even completely understand sexuality are now expected to “identify” both their sexual identity and gender identity before they leave elementary school. Thanks to increasingly graphic sex-education curriculum in public schools third and fourth-graders are so busy trying to figure out their sexuality they don’t have time for activities that will help them grow psychologically and most parents are none the wiser. Some parents actually think all this absurdity is awesome. They are hands-down my favorites.  Idiots! Fools! I literally cannot wait to see the outcome of this trend.  

But sex isn’t my only win these days. 

I personally authored Critical Race Theory. It’s one of the doctrines of demons that stupid Bible warns people about and some Christians actually support it! I love biblically ignorant Christians! They are AWESOME! So easy to manipulate for my purposes! 

But I digress. 

Critical Race Theory teaches people to judge everyone by the color of their skin in the name of making life equal.  It’s already creating division where none exists! 

The stupidity of the human race is beyond beautiful! 

Then there’s the insistence that small children wear masks to prevent an illness that rarely affects them.  Their outlook on risk is being overblown. Many are afraid of intermingling with strangers because they fear germs. COVID will never completely go away so if I play my cards right many will remain fearful all of their lives.  This could easily be the most neurotic and phobic generation in history! 

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

There are a few things I find a wee-bit troubling. There are a few parents who seem to be waking-up to the madness (I hate them). There is a movement encouraging conservatives to run for local school boards. Some parents are homeschooling their kids, others are choosing Christian schools. Ultimately this could create chaos for me.  Thankfully, few parents are teaching their kids a biblical view of life. Even fewer adults are sincerely seeking God for wisdom in every area of their lives. No one really wants to sacrifice for the greater good.  Churches are still making Sunday morning playtime for kids. It’ll be alright. Good even. Humans have a long history of overlooking the obvious. I’ll keep distracting them! 

WIN! 

Sincerely, 

Lucifer