Category: Opinion

Hey Church- the Election Results Probably Don’t Mean What we Hope they Mean.

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land- 2nd Chronicles 7:14 NASB

I have a hunch many regular readers of this blog did a literal happy dance when they learned the outcome of the 2024 election. 

You know who you are. 🙂

The results were what most (not all) American Christians were hoping for. There are many Christians (like myself) who have some reservations concerning Trump as a person. However, it’s simply a fact that there has been more poverty, more abortion, more crime, more war, more violence and less overall goodness in the past four years compared to the previous four years (Proverbs 29:2).  Past results are generally the best predictor of future results.  Therefore, it is not difficult to conclude that Trump (in spite of his shortcomings) is the leader who will do the most good and the least harm for the greatest number of people in the coming years (Jeremiah 29:7). And that is all we can really dare to hope for in these crazy-town times. 

I also suspect more than a few Christians reading this post also think (at least subconsciously) that this election outcome means God is happy with how everything is going in America and He’s just looking for an opportunity to bless our socks off.  

I don’t think this means that. 

Seriously. I don’t. 

Rather, I believe the God of the universe is giving us a reprieve, a break in the madness. He’s not giving us a break so we can rest on our laurels and reacquaint ourselves the delights of lower interest rates, cheap eggs and overall better economic conditions. God is giving us a loll in the craziness for one reason and one reason only: God loves people and wants them come to know Him as their Lord and Savior because revival is the ONLY route to a more moral, healthy and life-giving culture (John 3:16, 2nd Peter 3:9). 

It just is. This win is not about blessing. It’s about God giving the church a clear opening to be the church. Therefore, I want to encourage everyone reading this to take a deep breath, celebrate the win for just a little longer and then do the following:

Pray twice as hard over the course of the next four years as you did over the course of the past four-

I suspect that most Christians have prayed more in the last four years than they have in the previous twelve. Prayer is always a good thing. I would never argue against prayer. However, the motive for our prayers has been less than noble. Most of us have prayed out of fear. We were scared senseless over what we were seeing in the culture. The crime, the crushing of dissident voices, the economic chaos and the spiritual state of the younger generation left Christians in shock. It was scary as hell. Literally. Smart people became fearful and did what smart people do when they become fearful: they prayed their faces off. Churches that have never once hosted a prayer meeting were hosting regular prayer meetings. People who have never attended a prayer meeting attended numerous prayer meetings. It was a beautiful thing. More people have gotten saved in the last four years than I have seen in my lifetime. This happened because people prayed. The spiritual war is far from over, it’s probably just heating up (Romans 6:12-13). Many of us started praying in fear now God is calling us to pray in faith and see what He does (1st Thessalonians 5:17, Mark 14:38, Ephesians 6:19). 

Tell your friends and neighbors about Jesus- 

Truth-be-told, most people who voted red this time around did not do so because they care about freedom of religion or the unborn or the supreme court or the spiritual condition of the next generation. Most who voted red this time around did so because they were thinking about their own financial situation. Period. It is not immoral or wrong to think about one’s own financial situation. We live in a world where finances are a reality and its perfectly okay to care about them. However, why we choose something or someone says a lot about where our hearts are at and most of our friends and neighbors have hearts that are far from God. They need us to use this opportunity we have been given to tell them about Jesus. He is the only one who can bring real security and authentic peace in even the toughest of times (Romans 5:1, 2nd Thessalonians 3:1, John 16:33). 

And finally:

Work for the good of all people –

In Jeremiah 29:4-7 the prophet gives the Jewish people (who had been captured by the Babylonians) some advice that applies any Christians living in a culture hostile to their faith. Jeremiah commanded the captives to be good people, raise good families, to be kind and honest and to work for the good of everyone, even the Babylonians. It was solid advice we can easily apply to our current situation.  This is the time to double-down our efforts to get to know our neighbors and love them well. It’s the time to work our tails off to be a God-fearing, wise and helpful presence in our communities. In doing we will be the salt and the light our world so desperately needs (Matthew 5:12-13) and position ourselves and our world for spiritual revival that will bring future blessing.

Three Crazy-Town Beliefs that are Taking Root in the Church-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long- Psalm 25:5

Our world is awash with crazy-town beliefs and deceptive philosophies. I could give a million examples (okay, well maybe not a million, but a lot). 

Here’s one example: 

A majority of folks today (especially those under forty) literally think there is no such thing as absolute, fixed, immutable truth. These folks (most of them very nice people) are persuaded that every individual on earth has their own unique little “truth”. No one can dispute their truth even if their “truth” flies in the face of all sorts of hard evidence to the contrary or contradicts someone else’s “truth”. Thanks to this crazy-town worldview we are now at a place where a significant minority now “identifies” as something they clearly are not (an animal, a different gender, a different race, etc.). These folks are convinced their “truth” is the TRUTH. So much so, they demand the rest of the world enter into their delusion and celebrate their “truth”.  Normal folks can even get “cancelled” if they refuse to enter into these delusions. 

Sigh.

It’s easy to get really judgy regarding this stuff.   

However, it is critical we remember, that at this writing planet earth is very much under the control of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2, Job 1:7, 2nd Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 2:13). This generation is also (in my opinion) living in an age of powerful deception (Matthew 24:3-4, 2nd Thessalonians 2:11, Psalm 4:2).  Therefore, Christians are not exempt from getting caught up in deceptive philosophies or wrong thinking (Colossians 2:8). Some of those philosophies and deceptions are the same the ones our non-Christian friends and neighbors have fallen prey to, others are unique to Christianity.  There are at least three worldly and wildly dangerous beliefs that have infiltrated Christian thinking. These beliefs are taking the church captive and hamstringing the churches effectiveness. They are:

Your authentic self is your best self-

We live in a time and place where individualism is valued above all else. Everyone is encouraged to discover and celebrate their “authentic self”. This sounds great on the surface. It even sounds kind of Christian, after all, God made us all unique individuals, right? Well… sort of. It is true we are all unique creations made in God’s image (Psalm 139:14). It’s also true that it is a beautiful act of worship to discover our giftedness and use it for God’s glory and the good of the church (1st Corinthians 7:7, Hebrews 2:4, Ephesians 4:8-16). However, all humans are—at the core of who we are— fallen, sinful and super messy. This means that when we celebrate someone’s “authentic self” what we are really celebrating is their sin nature run amok.  Oftentimes, we are applauding the very things (chaos and sin) that keep people from finding genuine peace, spiritual transformation and moral virtue (2nd Corinthians 5:17, 2nd Corinthians 3:18). Our aim as believers should not be to become our “authentic” or “true” self or to applaud anyone else’s “authentic self”. Instead, our aim ought to be to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification (becoming like Jesus) and to help others to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20).  Romans 12, Colossians 3, 2nd Peter 1:3-11 give us the blueprint for the sanctification process. If we follow the instruction in those passages we will be successful Christians and our best self. 

Results matter more than character-

Unfortunately, it has become disturbingly common for churches and Christians to disregard the bad behavior of Christian leaders because “good things are happening in the organization/church” or “people are getting saved” (1st Timothy 5:24-25). This whole notion disregards Scripture that tells us that God is deeply concerned with more than results (Proverbs 16:2, James 4:2-4). Anything (even a good thing) done with a wrong heart or bad motives will have little to no eternal value (1st Corinthians 3:10-15, Hebrews 4:12-14). Furthermore, it’s simply a fact that when people “get saved” under a bad leader quite often they end up falling away from the faith when the leader’s behavior is revealed. All this to say, character matters. When character is sacrificed on an altar of “results” the results we get will ultimately be less than what could have been and displeasing to the Lord. Yikes. 

Prayer is irrelevant- 

God commands Christians to pray (Matthew 5:44 James 5:16, Philippians 4:6, 1st Thessalonians 5:17). However, there are a lot of Christians who believe God has already decided and/or already knows how everything is going to work out so there is no reason to pray. These folks literally believe God has commanded them to do something totally pointless that makes no sense. I believe prayer is critical because God speaks to people through situations and in a still small voice every time we ask Him to. Seriously. He does. Every. Single. Time. The more we ask the more He prompts people. Humans have freewill so sometimes they ignore God’s promptings. That’s on them. It’s on us to keep asking for the Fathers will (Matthew 18:1-6). 

What we believe matters. 

A lot. 

Wrong thinking always leads to wrong actions. Wrong actions inevitably yield terrible outcomes. Conversely, right thinking provides spiritual protection and ensures a better outcome. In our age of deception, it is imperative we hold every idea and belief up to the light of Scripture, even the ideas we hear in church or from Christian influencers. If the idea or belief lines up with Scripture we ought to live by it, if it doesn’t it needs to go. 

Seriously. 

The Scriptures Christians Ignored to get to 2nd Timothy 3:1-5-

Lisa M. Price4 Comments

Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray- Proverbs 10:17 ESV

A couple of months back, I did a deep dive into 2nd Timothy 3:1-5. I carefully studied the original definition of all the Greek words used. I did so because 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 is a prophetic passage of Scripture. Paying careful attention to prophecy (2nd Peter 1:19, Hebrews 2:1) prevents spiritual drift and keeps us focused on the things that matter most (Matthew 22:37-40). 

Truth-be-told. 

The whole experience was a bit startling and deeply disturbing. Startling because the words we read in our English Bibles fail to do justice to the colorful and extremely expressive language found in the original writings. It was disturbing because I gathered pretty quickly we have arrived at and are living in a 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 world.   

Not good.

 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 describes a world where the vast majority of people, including many who identify as Christians will be hopelessly self-focused and evil in a very understated kind of a way. An inordinate number of people will lack natural affection for their parents and other family members. They will purposefully slander others to gain an advantage and have zero desire to forgive anyone for even the tiniest of offenses. People will be monumentally ungrateful and unkind. They will also love money and celebrity and the pleasures that can be bought with both. A lot. 

Yikes.  

However, these same folks will have a pretense of goodness that will fool many into believing they are as Christian as they pretend to be. The term “having a form of godliness but denying its power” means people will behave properly (at least outwardly) and will be very focused on having “Christian values”. However, they will lack holy fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 16:6, Psalm 128:1). This produces people who are selfish, conniving, deceitful and incredibly dangerous in every sense (2nd Timothy 3:5). 

I spent a great deal of time wondering how we got from a world filled with normal sinners to the kinds of deceitful, underhanded, super-sinners Paul depicts in such detail 2nd Timothy (Jeremiah 17:5). It occurred to me that prophecy is never accomplished in a vacuum. There is always a pattern of disobedience that opens the door for the prophecy to be fulfilled. In this particular case I believe the church has followed the world’s lead when it comes to character development, self-image and moral training. Even Christians have focused on fostering and building “self-esteem” in themselves and others rather than obedience to God, Christ-like humility and godly confidence. I concluded that in order to get to where we are now we have had to ignore the following biblical directives: 

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought- Romans 12:3 

For a generation we have been told we should feel good about ourselves simply because we exist. Our mere presence in this world makes us worthy of praise and special treatment. The Bible teaches we should only feel good about ourselves when our motives are pure and our actions are good.  God knows the inner working of every human heart (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, He cautions us to think about ourselves with “sober judgment” and to apply a great deal of self-examination to our motives (Proverbs 3:5-6, 1st Peter 5:8). God wants us to seek to understand the reason why we are doing whatever it is we’re doing. Good “self-esteem” without healthy dose of self-knowledge paves the way for all kinds of wrong thinking about ourselves and others. It also makes it easy to justify almost anything that ultimately works in our favor. 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit- Philippians 2:3 

Nothing in this world is more harmful or likely to end in an ugly moral failure than ambition motivated by a craving for money, attention or followers (Daniel 4:1-33). The anecdote to that kind of trouble is passion for giving God the glory only He is due (Daniel 4:36-37, 1st Peter 2:12, Psalm 63:3).

Never stop adding to what God began in you- 2nd Peter 1:5-11

For decades now, many Christian teachers have taught that salvation is the end-goal of the Christian life.  Once we are saved there is nothing left to do but wait for Jesus to come get us. The Bible teaches that salvation is a beginning. It’s the starting point of a whole new life that will completely reorder our entire existence (2ndCorinthians 5:17).  In order to get all the new life has to offer, we must be willing to walk with our Savior and Lord through the long, grueling process of sanctification (Revelation 3:20, Colossians 3:1-17, Romans 12:1-21,1stThessalonians 4:3-8). Sanctification is not “works theology” rather it is the essence of James 2:14-26. Sanctification is the practical process of working out our salvation with “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12-13). When we choose to get to know God through Bible study and prayer, He empowers us to shed all the sinful attitudes and behaviors of our old life. In time, we are transformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 12:2) The lack of emphasis on sanctification has made space for “Christians” who have a form of godliness but no real understanding of what it means to be a Christian.  

And finally, the Bible teaches all people (even Christians) have narcissistic tendencies that can take over our personalities. In order to avoid being overcome by those tendencies we must make a regular practice of examining ourselves to see if we are really walking in the truth of the gospel (2nd Corinthians 13:5, 1st John 1:6, 3rd John 1:3).  Doing so ensures we are part of the solution to our world’s problems rather than the problem. 

Jesus’ Two Rules for Surviving Crazy Times-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever- Daniel 12:3 NASB 

We live in weird, scary and truly unprecedented times. 

Seriously. 

Believers and even some unbelievers are stupefied at the rate culture is changing and the direction the world appears to be headed in. Governments are becoming more authoritarian. Robots are taking over. People are more calloused and attitudes and behaviors that were once thought to be totally out of bounds are not only accepted, but defended and even celebrated with wild abandon.  

Sigh.

Some believe all this craziness this means are living in what the Bible calls “the end” (Daniel 8:17-18, Daniel 12:9, Daniel 12:13, Matthew 24:3, 1st Peter 4:7). 

I don’t know if we are or we aren’t. 

Seriously. I don’t. 

No one does. It will be tough to tell for absolute certain if we’re living in the end times until Jesus shows up or doesn’t (Matthew 25:31, Matthew 24:36-42). 

That being said.

 In Matthew twenty-four Jesus gives two commands or rules for those living in the end times. Both are excellent advice for anyone living in weird, scary and or unprecedented times. This is because the temptations will be the same whether one is living in the end times or in just really weird times. These “rules” precede everything else Jesus says about what will happen just prior to His return. This means if we don’t take these two rules seriously at all times we will be done for when the really crazy-town stuff starts to go down (Matthew 24:4-27, Daniel 12, Revelation 13-18)

Jesus’ two rules for surviving scary times are:

See to it that no one deceives you- Matthew 24:4 NASB

See to it that you are not afraid- Matthew 24:6 NASB

That’s it. 

Jesus’ instruction tells me God totally has the inside scoop as to what our go-to’s are as human beings. God knows we need routine reminders not to turn our brains off and let fear run the show.  There are at least three different ways people can be deceived about Jesus and at least one really good reason to not give into fear (Isaiah 41:10, Romans 8:15).   

It’s critical we remember anyone can be deceived about Jesus’ true identity (2nd Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:6). There are all sorts of folks who have a relationship with a really nice, really cool Jesus who is ultimately nothing more than a figment of their imagination. All humans tend to create gods in their own image, it’s kind of our thing (Romans 1:18-23). The closer we get to the end the more prone people will be to proclaim and worship a Jesus who bears no actual resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible. The real Jesus is offensive to those who don’t want to submit themselves and their desires to God, so instead, they construct a new (and in their minds) improved Jesus who is totally affirming of all sorts of attitudes and behaviors the Bible calls evil. It is incumbent on anyone who calls themselves a Christian to make sure the Jesus they worship looks and acts like the Jesus found in the gospels. The real Jesus would never be okay with or bless anything the Bible calls sinful (Galatians 5:19-21, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Colossians 3:5-11). 

People can also become deceived about what Jesus is all about, meaning there will be those who claim Jesus’ main purpose in coming will be political in nature. Some will actually claim they are the savior of the world. They will get people to follow them rather than God.  Others will circumvent religion altogether and attempt to construct secular governments (kingdoms) they promise will create a heaven here on earth. In exchange for access to these kingdoms, people will be forced to swear their allegiance to the leaders of these governments. Christians are told to pray for earthly leaders and to obey any laws that do not contradict God’s commands but Christians are never to worship or swear absolute allegiance to a human leader (1st Timothy 2:1-3, Matthew 22:21. 

 Another common deception revolves around the coming of Jesus, or the lack thereof. The Bible makes it clear that even some of His followers will claim Jesus’ return is a myth or a fairy tale that will never happen. Others will say they are really Jesus and should be worshiped. Still others will say the return of Jesus has already taken place and therefore its nothing to worry about (Matthew 24:4-5, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-3, 2nd Peter 3:1-10).  The problem with denying the second coming is that it causes us to become like the servants Jesus warns about at the end of Matthew twenty-four. Writing off the return of Jesus as a myth causes us to doubt God altogether and become focused on money, pleasures and self. This inevitably leads to sin and the exploitation of others (Matthew 24:42-51).  

Yikes. 

The biggest issue with fear is it turns off the logic center of our brains. When we embrace fear, we forfeit our ability to think clearly. This causes us to doubt everything we know about God and the Bible. When we are afraid and walking in doubt rather than faith, we will do anything to make the fear go away (Hebrews 11:6). Anything includes sin, worshiping humans and swearing our allegiance to people and ideas that are in direct contradiction to everything the Bible calls good and life-giving. 

No wonder Jesus was so opposed to fear. 

How Should Christians React to Blasphemy?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

You must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives- Jude 22-23 NLT

The Christian response to the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games exposed a deep and growing rift in Christianity.  When you get down to heart of the matter, the rift centers around how Christians ought to interact with a post-Christian culture.

 Some were angry, and not just at the weird display of crudeness and blasphemy. This group has had enough of Christianity being the one religion it’s okay to use as a punching bag. They point out (correctly) that there are no activists mocking or vilifying anyone else’s deeply held beliefs. Public scorn is reserved only for Christians. These folks believe it’s high-time Christians start standing up for themselves and fight back.

On the other side of the divide, are those who think Christians should ignore any blasphemy directed (deliberately or inadvertently) at the Christian faith.  These folks feel pretty strongly that any criticism, of any kind, directed at unbelievers sends the message that God (and His people) do not love them or want them anywhere near the Church. 

This group points out (correctly) that Jesus often associated with sinners and nearly all of His disapproval was aimed at self-righteous religious people who judged sinners mercilessly (Matthew 9:9-13).  They also note (correctly) that Christians are commanded to love everyone, including blasphemers (1st Corinthians 13:1-13, Matthew 5:43-44, Luke 6:32-35, Luke 7:36-47). Therefore, any and all disapproval of a non-Christians behavior should be hidden from view in the name of “kindness” and “love”. This group sincerely believes showing disapproval of sin will cause sinners to reject Jesus.

Yikes. No one wants that. 

So, is Christian disapproval of bad/blasphemous behavior really the fast-track to total rejection of all things Christian?

Well. 

I have some personal experience I feel is relevant to this discussion. 

I grew up in a messy non-Christian home, by the time I hit my teen years I was a jumble of chaos and sin. I knew nothing about God or the Bible. I never even thought about God or the Bible, I was a post-Christian girl long before post-Christian was even a thing. 

I was also a bit of a wiseacre.

I worked at a fast-food restaurant, mainly on the front register.  I almost never wore a nametag, mostly, because I didn’t want customers to know my name if I made a mistake or offended them in some way. One day, one of the managers happened to notice I wasn’t wearing a nametag. I was told to put one on, pronto. 

So, I did.  

However, I did not put my name on the nametag. To my (now) eternal shame I put “GOD” on my nametag in all caps (and YES, I am now VERY aware of how blasphemous that was). Some of the customers and all my co-workers thought it was hilarious, so I left it on. My idiocy started a bit of trend. Almost all my co-workers began putting crazy, absurd names on their nametags, stuff like “Big Bird” and “Abraham Lincoln”. The managers were oblivious, all they saw is that we were wearing nametags. No one bothered to look at what they said. 

It was all great fun.

Until one day, a lady came through my line, saw my nametag and went deathly pale. She looked me in the eye and said in the kindest, gentlest, most alarmed voice you can imagine: “sweetie, you need to take that nametag off. There is a real God who is very powerful and He is very offended that you put His name on your nametag”. I don’t remember what I said to her, I do remember feeling shocked she would care about something I saw as just silly fun. 

I did not become a Christian that day.

 However, her gentle demeaner and concern for my soul had a huge impact on me. For the first time in my life I thought about God, and what He was all about, and what else I might have done to offend Him.  All of a sudden, out of nowhere I felt super ashamed about the nametag (although at the time I had no idea why). I took the nametag off after my shift and never put it back on (1st Timothy 1:13). 

All that to say.

I do not think it’s a good idea to let people blaspheme God without some kind of a reaction. Silence indicates an absence of disapproval. Most people (not all) who blaspheme God have no idea what they’re doing (Luke 23:34). Some really do hate God and are doing their level best to be offensive (Acts 7:51, Hebrews 10:29), most aren’t. The vast majority are just attempting to be witty, or trendy, or outrageous. Very few actually understand how dangerous their behavior is from a spiritual perspective (Leviticus 24:16).  They are fools (Psalm 14:1). It is our job to gently guide them to the truth about God (Jude 22-23). 

However. 

When we talk to people we can’t be rude or hateful. We must communicate with our words and tone that we care about the souls of the people we are talking to. 

Nor can we make it about us. 

Our disapproval cannot be about our feelings, our firmly held beliefs or our rights. It has to be entirely focused on our God (1st Samuel 2:2). We have to tell people there is a holy, kind, patient God who loves them beyond all reason (John 3:16-18, Psalm 68:4-6, John 5:24). We also have to tell people that His patience is not without limits. People need to know there will come a day when all people will be called into account for their words and deeds (Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, Romans 2:15-16).  However, all this must be done in a spirit of gentleness and humility (Philippians 4:5, 1st Peter 3:15).

Fake Christians- a Real and Growing Problem

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? 2nd Corinthians 13:5 NASB

The deep thinkers in Church World have all sorts of opinions and theories as to what are the biggest and most vexing problems plaguing the modern-day Church. Weak preaching, scandals, bad doctrine, biblical illiteracy, legalism, lax sexual ethics, the acceptance of homosexuality, divorce, lack of strategy, division and Christian nationalism have all been bandied about as the cause of the Churches high attrition rates and inability to reach the lost and redeem the culture. 

With all due respect to the deep thinkers, all the above-mentioned problems are (for the most part) real and genuine. However, they are just symptoms of a much bigger and more complex problem:

Unsaved Christians.

For those screaming “oxymoron” at the ceiling right now, you are correct. There is no such thing as an unsaved Christian.  It’s an impossibility. One is either saved or unsaved, Christian or heathen. No one can be all those things all at the same time. Nonetheless, there is an increasingly large number of people who profess to be Christians, look like Christians and act like Christians (at least when people are watching) who have never actually made the journey from spiritual death to spiritual life (John 3:1-18 1st Peter 1:3-5). 

They don’t know Jesus. 

This sad state of affairs should come as no surprise. Jesus advised His people this day would come (Matthew 13:24-36). The apostle Paul warned the Ephesian elders there would be false teachers (unsaved Christians) who would infiltrate the church, preach a false gospel and create all manner of chaos for genuine believers (Acts 20:29-31). In 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 Paul describes in graphic detail what unsaved Christians look and act like (2nd Timothy 3:1-5). Jude and Peter both strongly warned of the problems unsaved Christians would introduce into the church. 

Most unsaved Christians have no clue they are not the real deal. Jesus hinted this would be the case when He taught on the wide and narrow gates (Matthew 7:13-14).  He stated it in the clearest possible terms when He taught about true and false disciples (Matthew 7:21-23).  Jesus said these things because He knew the conduct of unsaved Christians would create doubt concerning the goodness of God in the hearts of those wounded by unsaved Christians. Many Christians (including some who are the real deal) have abandoned church because of something terrible a (likely) unsaved Christian or Christian leader did. Jesus also knew one bad apple really can spoil a whole barrel. Therefore, it’s essential Christians take their cues on what’s right and wrong from the Bible—not the behavior of other Christians. Christians are commanded to follow Jesus—not people. People inevitably disappoint—Jesus never does. 

Furthermore: 

Christians ought to be very careful about making judgments based entirely on one or even three or four interactions. Even a genuine believer can have a bad day, week or season. The judgement of “unsaved Christian” should be applied sparingly. There should be zero gossiping or wild speculation concerning the spiritual state of others. That’s icky.  

Seriously. 

Nonetheless. It is wise to be on the lookout for behavior patterns in ourselves and others that indicate a lack of real relationship with Jesus. The following five behavior patterns indicate a serious spiritual problem that requires immediate attention:

A less than cozy relationship with truth-  

Anyone who routinely lies or who has no guilt about lying (even occasionally) is probably not saved. Jesus is clear: knee-jerk deceit is an indicator someone has a tighter relationship with the devil than they do with God (John 8:43-45).  

Do what I say—not what I do-

There are two ways this works itself out. One way is through acts of classic hypocrisy: saying something is right and demanding others obey, then doing the exact opposite. There is also a form of hypocrisy that is more nuanced and tougher to spot. Sometimes Christians (especially Christian leaders) will urge or demand others to work and serve while they sit. This is a spiritual problem. All Christians are called to DO good works, not just talk about the importance of doing them (Matthew 23:23-28, 3rd John 1:11)

Lots of foliage—zero fruit-  

False teachers and unsaved Christians are like the fig tree cursed by Jesus (Matthew 21:18-19). They look awesome from a distance, but up close they are missing all the hallmarks of authentic Christianity: faith, obedience, life transformation, love for others, good works, thankfulness and compassion. (Hebrews 11:6, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 12:2, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, Luke 6:36, Matthew 5:7, Matthew 23:3, Colossians 4:2, Hebrews 12:28, Galatians 5:22-23)

Faultfinding and nitpicking- 

We all nitpick and fault-find on occasion. It’s a part of our fallen nature. However, unsaved Christians tend to have a chronically harsh and legalistic spirit that sees the worst and always assumes bad intent. Many unsaved Christians believe in their heart messy people are irredeemable, rather than works in progress. Christian love believes the best and always hopes for heart change (Jude 1:16, 1st Corinthians 13).  

It’s all cool-  

Like it or not, God places some firm boundaries around the behavior of His people (Exodus 20:1-17, Galatians 5:19-21, Colossians 3:8-10). If an unsaved Christian is not a legalistic faultfinder there’s a pretty decent chance they will be a raging libertine. In other words, they will show contempt for God’s boundaries and encourage others to do the same (Romans 1:32). 

Christians are called to examine themselves to see if they are walking in and living out the teachings of the Bible (2nd Corinthians 13:5). If after a self-evaluation, you find you are lacking in Christian virtues, ask God for forgiveness and course correct ASAP (1st John 1:9-10). 

It’s critical Christians understand we are not called to judge the worthiness of others. However, we are commanded to be discerning about who we follow and spend time with (1st Corinthians 15:33). Sometimes that means separating from those who refuse to repent and show numerous signs of not being the real deal (1stCorinthians 5:11), although, we should never fail to pray for them. 

Responding to Gay Pride Month with Grace and Truth-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him- 1st John 3:18-19 NASB

The month of June used to be known mostly for weddings, graduations and the start of summer vacation. However, somewhere in the not-so-distant past, June became known mostly for gay pride. There are three common Christian reactions to gay pride month:

Fight, flight or fawn. 

The fighters are easy to spot, mostly because they’re kind of loud and they don’t mind being spotted. The fighters wear straight pride t-shirts, have a “Boycott Disney” bumper sticker on their car and play Buddy Brown’s Everything is Gay in June on repeat until the 1st of July. The fighters love a good fight and will loudly debate the subject with anyone, anytime, anywhere.  

The flighters are a little tougher to spot, mostly because they will do anything short of sin to stay out of the fray. The flighters are a mixed bag. Some are natural born peacemakers; who simply despise fighting over anything.  There are also some former fighters amongst the flighters who learned the hard way fighting this particular battle in this particular cultural moment is almost as futile as pushing water uphill with a spoon. The average flighter’s goal is to keep their head down. They spend a lot of time praying that July comes quickly.

The fawners, for the most part have good intentions. Fawners are good-hearted people who love people and want every human being on earth to know they are deeply loved by Jesus (John 3:16). In an effort to make every sinner feel comfortable and loved, they tell all sinners (regardless of their spiritual state): “it’s all good”: God loves them just the way they are. Therefore, there is no need for repentance or change. The fawners are deeply caring and loving. They simply do not want anyone, gay or straight to feel bad about anything. 

I do get where everyone is coming from.  

There’s a fighter girl who lives inside me. She desperately wants to see the word of God defended. She doesn’t mind making people mad, sometimes she even kind of likes it (sigh). However, because I also understand the nature of this issue (Ephesians 6:12), I know change will never be achieved through clever arguments, a good fight or legal wrangling. This is one of those battles that can only be won through spiritual means (Mark 9:29, Ephesians 6:10-19).  I also get that keeping quiet feels like a noble approach. The less said the less opportunity for offense and no sane person wants to offend on purpose. However, no sinful problem or issue in the history of forever has ever just gone away on its own. God calls His people to engage the world not hide from it (Matthew 6:13-16, 2nd Corinthians 2:14).  I also understand and even empathize with the fawners. I, too want sinners to feel love and accepted.   However, cutting corners where truth is concerned is a form of spiritual malpractice that generates much bigger problems in the long-run (John 3:21, John 8:32, 1st Corinthians 13:6, Ephesians 4:15).

There is another way that glorifies God without spoiling for a fight, hiding from the issue or minimizing the consequences of willful sin at the expense of truth. It takes a commitment to the following three things;

Prayer-

I do not have a problem with Christians getting involved in politics.  Christians ought to be involved in all aspects of civil life. Redeeming every sphere of life and culture (including the political sphere) is our calling as Christians. That being said, nowhere in Scripture are Christians told to fight for legislation that reflects Christian values. Nor are Christians instructed to use the legal system to change hearts and minds. None of these things are wrong but they are not what we are instructed to do. We are commanded to pray (1st Kings 8:44-50, Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6, 1st Timothy 2:1-3). Over and over again in Scripture impossible situations and evil people are transformed because God’s people devoted themselves to beseeching God for a miracle (Daniel 2:14-17, Daniel 6:1-28, Esther 4:15-17, Acts 12:1-10, Acts 16:25-30). If I had the power to do so, I would declare June the national month of prayer and fasting. Alas, I do not possess that power. However, I do strongly encourage Christians to pray and fast throughout the month of June. Pray for those you know who are in the homosexual/trans lifestyle. Pray pastors everywhere will love and shepherd people well. Pray pastors and Bible teachers will preach the word of God with a compassionate and gracious boldness that draws all people to Jesus. Pray for a movement of revival to sweep our world. Revival will solve many of our most vexing problems. 

Engagement – 

Get to know someone in the homosexual or trans lifestyle as a person.  Find a Christian family affected by this issue. Knowing people who struggle with a particular issue breeds compassion, inspires prayer and gives us all opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 

And finally:

Christians must commit to standing firm on Biblical truth. We stay true to what the Bible says about homosexuality and every other issue God’s word addresses. However, is equally critical we stand on the biblical truth that anyone, regardless of their sin problem can be transformed by the grace of God (Romans 3:23-24, Romans 5;8). Christians must use every opportunity to proclaim the truth that no one is stuck in their sin, no matter the sin. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit anyone can live life free from the power of sin and death. 

The New Idol Worship-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments


Little children, guard yourselves from idols– 1st John 5:21 NASB

I will not lie. 

I find many of the opinions expressed in public forums deeply troubling.  As a general rule, people from every walk of life have become meaner, more illogical, more merciless and more pigheaded in their opinions concerning pretty much every topic under the sun (Proverbs 29:22). 

No matter the topic. 

People have always gotten worked up the over “hot-button issues” like sex, politics and religion. However, now folks get just as worked up over trifling issues as well. An article entitled, “The Ten Ugliest Colors to Paint a Bathroom” is sure to create a hullabaloo when seemingly ordinary people become completely unfettered from reason and good manners because the writer judged their color choice “ugly” or “outdated”. If a young wife wants advice on getting her husband to help with household chores, many will simply advise her dump the bum and move on. If a person believes something to be true it becomes “their reality” or “their truth” regardless of contradictory evidence. No one is permitted to drag logic, science, God or the law into any discussion regarding an individual’s “reality”. If a person believes themselves to be a cat the world is obliged to provide them with a litter box and a drinking bowl. 

No questions asked. 

Even more alarming, there is zero mercy for parents (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:10). If the parents of an adult child politely choose not to affirm and/or celebrate their adult child’s choices the parents are swiftly declared toxic and given the old heave ho. Overnight society has devolved into a carnival of dysfunction and a cavalcade of vindictiveness. It certainly feels as if the Apostle Paul was on to something when he wrote these words: 

In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly- 2nd Timothy 3:1-5

A few short years ago it would have been a stretch to say this verse applies to a more than a few grumpy weirdos. Now it feels like the apostle Paul has been scrolling our social media feeds. The current state of affairs begs a couple of questions, including:

How did we get to a place where people are so opinionated and insistent their opinions are the only correct views? 

Why is rudeness and even cruelty suddenly okay with so many people? 

Why are so many adult children no longer speaking to their parents?

Why do. people believe everyone has their own little reality?

Trigger warning: 

I suspect that what follows will be offensive to some. So here goes: we are where we are because of idolatry. The idolatry our culture has embraced with wild abandon is not the run-of-the-mill kind of idolatry one reads about in the Old Testament. Modern humans actually invented a new idol (Romans 1:30a).

It’s our feelings.

Our tendency to make feelings into a god we worship is reflected in every aspect of modern life. Everything we do is centered around how ideas, situations and people make us feel. 

If a pastor “offends”, members of the church start looking for a new church where the pastor understands them. Few churches share the gospel anymore because effective evangelism always involves telling people the hard truth that they are filthy-rotten sinners who need to be saved from their filthy-rottenness (Numbers 34:14, Romans 3:23, 1stJohn 1:10).

God forbid anyone hear that little bit of bad news.

 If someone is the least bit annoying on social media or in real life we are encouraged to “unfriend” them online and in-person (Ephesians 4:32). If a spouse disappoints in any way, the world tells us to dump them and find someone who gives us good feels and understands our needs.  If a historical fact makes a minority uncomfortable, society will cheerfully remove all evidence of said history from the public square. Parents and teachers have quit telling kids “words can never hurt them”. Instead schools have aided and abetted the madness by helping kids to hide from ideas and people that make them feel uncomfortable or bad about themselves. Parents have worked their tails off to make childhood as idyllic as possible. Then everyone wonders why the little nippers don’t feel like growing up and taking adult responsibility for anything (Proverbs 13:21, 1st Corinthians 13:11). 

Sigh.  

Fidelity to the god of our feelings comes at a high price. It has ended polite civil discourse. It has broken up families, made it impossible to effectively call out sin and left an entire generation of young people emotionally and even intellectually crippled. 

Yikes.

The only way to deal with an idol is to cast it down and reverse course before it’s too late. 

All the Why’s Behind Philippians 4:8-9

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking- 2nd Peter 3:1 NIV

It’s way above my paygrade.

Nevertheless, sometimes I wonder about the “why” of some of God’s commands. Most of the “why’s” are easy. Thou shalt not murder is self-explanatory (Exodus 20). 

But what about our thoughts? 

God takes a clear interest not just in what His people do, but also in what they think about.  The New Testament is jam-packed with instruction regarding our thought life. 1st Corinthians 13 tells us Christian love thinks the best (1st Corinthians 13:4-7). Jesus instructed His followers to be cautious about what thoughts they choose to entertain and regularly called out wrong thinking. (Matthew 5:28, Matthew 6:34, Luke 5:20-22, Luke 9:46-48). Romans 12:2 reveals the key to pleasing God and walking in His will, ultimately lies in what we think about. The apostle Paul straight-up commands followers of Jesus to think about things that are “pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy”. That command is followed by a promise of blessing for obedience (Philippians 4:8-9). Anytime God promises blessing for obedience we ought to pay special attention to that command. It’s critical we figure out why that issue matters so much to God. 

This one can be confusing because the inside of one’s head is a controlled and confined space no one has access to except the one doing the thinking.  No one is obviously harmed by a mean thought, so why do our thoughts matter so much to God? The answer essentially boils down to four issues. God cares about what we think because: 

Our thoughts are like the check engine light on a car-

Our thoughts can serve as a spiritual warning system. Optimistic, benevolent and compassionate thoughts reveal a healthy spirit and hearts that are probably mostly focused on God, God’s Kingdom and the well-being of others. Conversely, paranoid, lustful, suspicious and distrustful thoughts are often an indicator of a much bigger and more worrisome spiritual problem. At best these types of thoughts reveal a lack of connection to the Holy Spirit, at worst they reveal systemic sins that require deep repentance.

Our thoughts ultimately shape us- 

To ancient Jewish people the “heart” was much more than an organ that pumped blood. The heart embodied all that a person was. The heart was a person’s thoughts and the feelings that were produced by what they thought about. The heart was their inner-person (Proverbs 3:5, Proverbs 4:23), it was the part of the person that determined all of their actions. Jesus said that it is out of our heart that we speak and do evil. In other words, our thoughts have a shaping influence not just on our actions but on who and what we become (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45) 

Satan can do a lot with just a little bit of wrong thinking- 

The psalmist begins Psalm 73 by acknowledging that God shows special favor towards those who are “pure in heart” or in the modern vernacular that means: “good on the inside as well as the outside”. His acknowledgment is swiftly followed by an awkward confession: the psalmist divulges he came dangerously close to losing his spiritual direction because he spent too much time thinking on the (seeming) success of the arrogant and wicked.  His observations regarding the apparent affluence of wicked people morphed into wrong thinking about God which nearly caused his “spirit to become embittered” towards God (Psalm 73:21-22). The whole messy spiritual mess started with some thoughts that should have been reined in and prayed over before they had a chance to run wild and give birth to bitterness and hate (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:30-32). 

Assuming the worst about others creates a spiral that ends in serious sin-

Choosing to think the worst about others without rock-solid proof of wrongdoing is not discernment. It is a choice that gives the devil a foothold. A choice that often leads to fear, paranoia and even evil behavior (Ephesians 4:26-28, 1st Peter 5:8). This is because anytime anyone allows fear and/or paranoia run wild they run the very real risk of losing touch with reality. Such was the fate of King Saul. He basically projected all of the evil of his own heart onto David. This caused him to think the worst of David, his wrong thinking initiated a spiritual death spiral that led to a bunch of murder attempts and ultimately Saul’s insanity. Anytime we find ourselves assuming ill-intent of others without rock-solid proof we run the risk of becoming a Saul. No wants to be a Saul. Saul was a hot mess.

The apostle Paul understood it is impossible to have a pure heart while thinking mean, lustful, anxious, paranoid or suspicious thoughts (Psalm 24:3-5, Matthew 5:8, Matthew 6:25-34). Therefore, a critical spiritual discipline is learning how to take our thoughts captive to Christ (2nd Corinthians 10:5). We take thoughts captive through a process of analyzing what comes into our minds and asking ourselves some questions about those thoughts:

Is this thought noble, pure admirable, kind or praiseworthy?

At the end of the day will this thought produce something wholesome and life-giving?

Am I assuming good intent?

Am I the worst motives in this situation? 

If this thought is permitted to run wild will it produce some sort of death in my life? Such as the death of a relationship, my character, my purity, or my reputation? 

If the answer to question 1-3 are “no” or the answers to 3 or 4 are “yes” the thought needs to be taken directly to Jesus. ASAP. We need to ask Him to cleanse us from our unrighteousness (Psalm 51) and ask Him to help see people and situations through His eyes. Learning to pray through what we think about produces a pure heart and ensures God’s favor in our lives (Proverbs 22:11).  

How did an Age of Spiritual Excess led to an Age of Spiritual Doubt?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit- Jude 18-19 NASB

My bestie calls the late 1980’s to the early 2000’s the “this present weirdness” phase of contemporary Christianity. 

It’s more than just a snarky jab at a set of books that were hugely popular for decades. The late 1980’s to the early 2000’s was an age of spiritual excess on all sorts of different fronts. There were a lot of charismatic extremes in (some) churches. The lack of discernment surrounding the Holy Spirit allowed almost anything to be considered a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, no matter how weird or extra-biblical those things happened to be. There was also an emphasis on spiritual warfare that frequently veered off the rails. Besides the popular fictional books postulating about spiritual warfare there were also all sorts of “Bible studies” on spiritual warfare including one where participants were instructed to eat certain foods based on what kind of demons they happened to be battling at the time. Then there was also the well-intended but not always well-thought purity movement. It left the better part of a generation of Christian kids confused about sexuality and walking in shame for having normal sexual desires. 

Sigh. 

There was also a huge emphasis on the second coming of Jesus. Booklets like Edgar Whisenant’s 88 reasons the rapture will happen in 1988 and 90 reasons Jesus will return in 1990 were insanely popular. The fictional series Left Behind by Tim LaHaye captivated millions.  Anxiety concerning Y2K added to theories regarding Jesus’ return as did songs like I Wish we had all Been Ready and I Will See You in the Rapture.  

Christians were ready.

But nothing happened. 

There was zero action on the return of Jesus front. Life went on. It turned out to be much ado about nothing. 

Then that thing happened that always happens anytime anything goes too far: the pendulum swung back. Really HARD. Most Christians put their heads down in shame stopped talking about the return of Jesus altogether.   Today there are many followers of Jesus who disbelieve it will even happen. Some Christians openly mock those Christians who do believe Jesus is literally returning to earth. The amillennialism view of eschatology has become wildly popular. It teaches we are currently living in the millennial reign of Christ and there will be no tribulation or bodily return of Jesus. 

However:

Scoffing and mocking at the notion Jesus will return is a prophesied indication of the soon-return of Jesus. The apostle Peter says this about the subject: 

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires- 2nd Peter 3:3

It’s hard to argue effectively against the idea that the Bible teaches there will be a bodily return of Jesus (John 21:22, Matthew 24:3, Matthew 24:37-44, Luke 21:25-27, John 14:3, 1st Thessalonians 3:13, 1st Thessalonians 5:23, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1, James 5:7). There’s just too much scripture that says there will be a return of Jesus. Admittedly, there are some very real problems with having hyper fixation on the bodily return of Jesus. However, there are also some very real problems with discounting the bodily return of Jesus (2nd John 2:7). Some of those problems include: 

Spiritual knowledge is a use it or lose it proposition-

Jesus makes it clear that the more we believe and apply God’s word the more of God’s word we will understand and be able to apply to our lives (Mark 4:24). It just makes sense the inverse is also true. This means that choosing to disbelieve one aspect of God’s word (like the return of Jesus) surely limits our ability to understand and effectively apply all spiritual truth (Hebrews 5:11-14).

We become contented with spiritual mediocrity-

There’s a reason God didn’t just gave us the exact date of Jesus’ future return. If He had most of us would remain morally and spiritually sketchy until ten minutes before Jesus showed up. Then we would get real busy really fast. Knowing (and believing) Jesus could return at any time gives us the motivation to stay busy doing God’s will and living for him until He does show up (Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 25:31-46)

We begin to see this world as our home–

Christians were never intended to get overly cozy with the things of this world. When we do, we lose our power and even our motivation to fix the brokenness (Mark 8:36, 1st John 2:15-17, Matthew 5:13-16). Therefore, the most dangerous aspect of choosing to disbelieve there will be no bodily return of Jesus is it causes us to become really comfortable with this world and what we have in this world. This renders us spiritually useless in every sense. 

We are all products of the great age of reason.  We have been trained since infancy to only believe in things we can prove, things that are easy to understand, things we can logic out. Jesus’ return is none of those things. It’s a matter of faith.  Because it’s been a while since Jesus left the first time it’s easy to be a scoffer or a mocker concerning the return of Jesus (2nd Peter 3:8-9). The whole notion feels far out and crazy so we talk ourselves out it. We decide (on our own) Jesus was being metaphorical when He said He will return. We tell ourselves only wild-eyed irrational nutjobs believe in such things.

We become scoffers. 

We forget, scoffer’s get proven wrong by God all the time. 

Rather, we should commit to being the people Jesus talks about in Matthew 24:45-47, those who wait expectantly, in faith for His return. Those who faithfully do His will right up till the minute He gets here. 

There are good things in store for those people.