Four reasons to trust Jesus at all costs

A man clad in a tactical vest and carrying an AR-15-style rifle and a semiautomatic handgun opened fire on a Michigan church last Sunday. CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, about twenty-five miles west of Detroit, was filled with children attending Vacation Bible School at the time.

The gunman exited his vehicle, began shouting, and started firing at the church building. A parishioner then struck him with a pickup truck as the gunman fired repeatedly at it. Two church employees then opened fire on the man, killing him.

The chief of police said, “We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church’s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting.” According to police, the shooter’s mother is a member of the church; he had attended church services two or three times in the last year.

Why our church hired security

For the first fifteen years I served as a pastor, worship centers were thought to be “sanctuaries.” Then came the 1999 shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, when a gunman entered the church during a concert and killed seven people, wounding seven others before committing suicide.

Most of the victims were teenagers. If they had lived, presumably, they would be parents today. As it is, their parents have grieved their loss every day from that day to today.

One result of the shooting for many of us was an immediate pivot to heighten security on our campuses. The church I pastored engaged off-duty police officers to stand at the entrances to our sanctuary and patrol our campus during events. Their presence, while offering a significant measure of comfort and security, also reminded us that no place in this fallen world is truly safe.

The shooting in Wayne brings all of that back for me today. And it causes me to wonder if I sat beside someone in church last Sunday who could endanger us all next Sunday. The question is as relevant to you as it is to me.

The most persecuted religion in the world

On one level, we can understand why church gatherings would be targets for terrorism. A group of people in a building with multiple entrances will obviously be vulnerable.

On another level, however, we might presume that no place should be safer than a church where people gather to worship and serve the living Lord of the universe. We are clearly in his will in doing so (cf. Hebrews 10:25). And, as pastors often say, “The safest place in all the world to be is the will of God.”

But the Bible nowhere makes this promise, at least in the way it is often understood.

Of Jesus’ twelve apostles, only John avoided martyrdom, and he was exiled on the prison island of Patmos. Christianity remains the most persecuted religion in the world.

This makes tragic but logical sense: if our enemy is a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), why would we not expect him to attack those who follow our Lord most closely? The deeper our commitment to Christ, the more of a threat to Satan we become.

This is why Jesus told us, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). The reason is simple: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

Four reasons to trust Jesus at all costs

Why, then, should we trust Jesus with our lives and our future, especially knowing that such faith could come at such a cost?

One: Faith in Christ positions us to experience his best for us. Jesus promised, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). Our faith does not earn God’s blessing—it enables us to receive his grace.

Two: When people misuse their freedom by attacking us, our Lord sometimes intervenes to protect us (cf. Acts 12:6-11; Isaiah 54:17). The more we rely on him, the more we enable his Spirit to act in our lives (cf. Ephesians 5:18).

Three: When God does not intervene, he redeems our suffering and even our death for his glory and our ultimate good (cf. Romans 8:18). Paul testified, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).

Four: When we place our lives in God’s hands, our circumstances cannot steal his peace. The prophet testified, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3). He therefore encouraged us, “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock” (v. 4).

An electric chair atop a steeple

We can choose not to follow Jesus out of fear of opposition and persecution, or we can choose to follow our Savior and trust the consequences to him. What we cannot choose is a world without suffering and eventual death. That option is not available to us.

As St. Augustine noted, “God had one Son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.”

It is worth noting that while other religions are represented by symbols such as a star, a crescent, and a wheel, ours is represented by an actual instrument used to execute its victims. Imagine erecting an electric chair atop a steeple or wearing as jewelry a needle used for lethal injections.

But I would rather suffer for an eternal purpose than serve a transitory purpose without suffering.

Wouldn’t you?

Denison Forum

Today’s news shows the difference a day can make.

Yesterday, Iran launched fourteen missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, America’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Iran stated that this was equal to the number of bombs the US used in its strike on Saturday. Qatari air defenses intercepted all but one missile, which caused no casualties. President Trump then thanked Iran for giving “early notice” on the retaliatory attack.

Then last night, President Trump announced on Truth Social “a Complete and total CEASEFIRE” between Israel and Iran. According to the president, the ceasefire would be phased in during the next twenty-four hours. Then, “upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World.”

Qatar reportedly helped broker the ceasefire by mediating talks with Iran. Israel agreed to the ceasefire on the condition that Iran stop attacking their country; Iran agreed to these terms.

This morning, the story changed yet again: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to strike Tehran in response to what he said were missiles fired by Iran in violation of the ceasefire. According to the Israeli military, Iran fired at least three waves of missiles at Israel, killing at least four people. However, Iran denied violating the ceasefire, stating that there had not been any launch of missiles towards Israel in recent hours.

The difference two weeks can make

At this writing, it is obviously too soon to know how events of the last day will play out. The conflict could erupt again today. Hardliners in Iran could seize power and escalate aggression against Israel and the US. And Iran could be engaging in deceit as it has so often in the past.

Nonetheless, it is worth noting the impact of the last two weeks on world history.

Before Israel launched its surprise attacks on June 13, targeting key Iranian military and nuclear facilities, many doubted that the Jewish state would attempt such an audacious strategy. Analysts then warned that they did not have the capacity to destroy Iran’s hardened nuclear site at Fordow and questioned whether the US would use its Massive Ordnance Penetrators to do so.

Both Israel and the US risked massive repercussions: Iran could have closed the Strait of Hormuz, launched missiles and asymmetric attacks, activated sleeper cells across the West, and engaged in cyberattacks. They still could do all these things. As it is, the US was able to decimate Iran’s nuclear sites without the loss of a single American life. And while Iranian strikes have killed dozens of people in Israel, this is far fewer than the four thousand Israeli fatalities that had been feared when the conflict began.

The difference two years can make

Now let’s step back not two weeks but two years.

In the run-up to October 7, 2023, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar predicted the destruction of Israel at the hands of his organization. He was certain that this would fulfill the Quranic prediction that Israel’s enemies would “utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands” (Qur’an 17:7).

In his article yesterday for the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg quoted Hassan Nasrallah, then the leader of Hezbollah, who made a similar statement in 2000: “This Israel, with its nuclear weapons and most advanced warplanes in the region, I swear by Allah, is actually weaker than a spider’s web . . . Israel may appear strong from the outside, but it’s easily destroyed and defeated.”

Instead, as Goldberg wrote:

The October 7 massacre Sinwar ordered did not cause the destruction of Israel but instead led to the dismantling of its enemies. Hamas is largely destroyed, and most of its leaders, including Sinwar, are dead, assassinated by Israel. Hezbollah, in Lebanon, is comprehensively weakened. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s main Arab ally, is in exile in Moscow, his country now led by Sunni Muslims hostile to Iran’s leaders. Iran’s skies are under the control of the Israeli Air Force, and its $500 billion nuclear program appears to be, at least partially, rubble and dust.

And Nasrallah was assassinated by Israel nine months ago.

The difference our intercession can make

Of all that could be said about these historic events, my calling as a philosopher leads me to ask “why.” Why were Sinwar and Nasrallah so convinced they would destroy Israel? And why was Iran so determined to use these proxies to this end?

As I have reported, Hamas and Hezbollah are adamant that “Palestine” is intended by Allah for the Palestinians and that Israel is a colonizing usurper that must be driven off the land. Iran’s leaders are similarly convinced that they are hastening the return of the Mahdi, their messiah, by attacking Israel and its supporters, and that Allah will help them advance their version of Islam.

The good news is that, as the last two years have shown, their ideology has failed them. The bad news is that, as welcome as recent events could be, events cannot defeat ideology.

This is where you and I come in.

Because Israel’s enemies are ultimately motivated by religious beliefs, this is ultimately a spiritual war. And when fighting a spiritual war against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12), we are to “stand firm” (v. 13) while “praying at all times in the Spirit” (v. 18). The pastor and cultural anthropologist Dr. Michael A. Youssef is right:

In these uncertain days, Christians around the world must unite in prayer. We easily forget that there are many Christian believers in Iran right now, suffering intense persecution. The war has also caused many Muslims in Iran and many Jews in Israel to become receptive to the Christian gospel. Pray that, in this time of war, God will open many hearts to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

To be specific, let’s unite today to pray for:

• A true, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East (Psalm 122:6–7).
• Believers in Iran “boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19).
• The conversion of Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders (cf. Acts 9:3–5).
• Spiritual awakening to advance across the Middle East and in the homeland of our Savior (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:13–14).
• Americans to place our hope ultimately in the “God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6).

The pastor and author Jim Cymbala noted:

“The work of God can only be carried on by the power of God. The church is a spiritual organism fighting spiritual battles; only spiritual power can make it perform as God ordained.”

Will you “perform as God ordained” today?

Quote for the day:

“Intercession is the truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer: no continent, no nation, no city, no organization, no office. No power on earth can keep intercession out.” —Richard Halverson

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On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on the use of hormone therapy and puberty blockers for the treatment of transgender children. The case—United States v. Skrmetti—was brought before the court on the argument that the law was unconstitutional because it violated the rights of transgender youth to equal protection.

As Adam B. Kushner described in the New York Times, “the case was a legal and political gamble” that “was rooted in uncertain science and contested ideas about sex and gender.” Yet, despite the risks, the groups advocating for the continued medical treatment of transgender kids believed support from the government (the case was originally contested under the Biden administration), public opinion, and recent rulings was enough to buoy their case.

They were wrong, and the potential implications could stretch well beyond the state of Tennessee.

Still, with a ruling this controversial, it’s important to distinguish between what’s been reported in the headlines—which largely described the decision as some form of a major setback for transgender rights—and what the Court actually said. To that end, let’s take a closer look at their decision:

• While the final 6–3 decision fell along ideological lines, the court did not take the matter lightly. As Chief Justice John Roberts noted, “This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field.”
• Roberts later added, “Our role is not ‘to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic’ of the law before us, but only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. Having concluded that it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”
• By contrast, the three dissenting judges stated that the ruling “abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor went on to write that the decision “authorizes, without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them.”
• Despite such claims, it’s important to note that the court was fairly narrow in its ruling. States that decide children should be allowed to use puberty blockers and hormone therapies are still free to do so. It is only in states that have banned the practice that they are now confirmed to be illegal.

So, where does this fight go from here? And, as Christians, how should we respond?

“An area of remarkably weak evidence”

While there is some thought that the Court’s ruling will be used as grounds to push for greater restrictions on transgender adults who want to receive these treatments as well, that seems unlikely. Most Americans tend to be far more willing to let adults live how they want while drawing a much tighter line when it comes to kids. And that is especially true when the science behind that push is far more suspect than trans advocates would like you to believe.

In Nicholas Confessore’s article on the case and his extensive research into how the trans movement has shifted over the years, he makes the point that most of the reports used to support the benefits of transition treatments on kids were deeply flawed and fall well short of the standards used in most other fields of study.

Countries like the Netherlands, Britain, and others that were on the front lines of that push a decade ago have since denounced the treatments as “an area of remarkably weak evidence.” And the lawyers who argued for the continuation of care before the Court were forced to admit as much during the trial.

To make matters worse, many of those who continue to support hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and even surgery for minors know all of that and have worked hard to hide the evidence.

A 2020 report commissioned by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and completed by Karen Robinson—an epidemiologist and evidence-based medicine expert at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine—was kept out of scientific journals by the very organization that paid for it. Robinson’s team found “little to no evidence” that children and adolescents were helped by the treatments but stated that WPATH tried “to restrict our ability to publish” the reports.

Moreover, Rachel Levine—the Assistant Secretary for Health at the time—pressured WPATH to adjust the report’s recommendations on the age at which children should receive treatment, arguing that placing limitations would “result in devastating legislation for trans care.” Many in the Biden White House were reportedly “blindsided” by the request, but continued to support treatment as a viable option.

Unfortunately, that inability to let go of what they wanted to be true in order to accept what actually is true is hardly limited to the previous administration or the issue of transgenderism.

Finding your blind spots

Winston Churchill once quipped about a political opponent that “Occasionally he stumbled over the truth but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened.” The same could be said of many in our culture today, Christians included.

And that shouldn’t really come as a surprise. After all, people have been struggling with the temptation to prioritize preferred beliefs over the truth since the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).

It would be little more than hubris to think we have somehow outgrown or matured beyond that sin. If anything, the wealth of information at our disposal just makes it that much easier to find evidence to support any argument, regardless of how accurate that evidence is. However, recognizing that tendency in us is crucial if we want to follow Jesus well.

In the Gospels, for example, many of the religious leaders with whom Christ often quarreled seem to have been genuinely convinced that standing against Jesus was the best way to serve the Lord. They denounced his teachings because what he said went against how they had come to understand Scripture. That the one interpreting and applying God’s word for them was the actual Word made flesh was simply outside the boundaries of what they were willing to consider (John 1:1–3).

But while their mistake is plain for us to see, it’s often far more difficult to spot the lies we’ve chosen to believe in our own lives.

On the issue of transgenderism, the Bible is clear that we should show compassion for those struggling with gender dysphoria but never compromise on the truth that God created two sexes and intends for us to live in accordance with that reality. As such, many of the treatments that attempt to use a physical solution to fix a largely mental problem are not only wrong but often ignore the deeper issues. We can stand with confidence on that assertion because we are standing on the truth of Scripture as our foundation.

Although Scripture is not always so clear on many of the subjects debated within our culture today, starting with the Bible and prayerfully seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance will always be the best place to start and the only sure foundation we can find. God will often use common sense, experience, and a host of other factors to help us understand what’s true, but they should always be measured against what we find in his word.

So, where are your blind spots today? Do you know in which subjects or arguments you are most prone to favoring what you wish were true over what actually is true? Conversely, are there any topics about which you are more certain than Scripture gives you reason to be?

Take some time to ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern the real answers to those questions. Then commit to relying on God’s guidance to navigate those areas with the kind of confident humility that can only come from the Lord.

Let’s start today.

Quote of the day:

“It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough, in the face of opposition, to stand up for it.” —A. A. Hodge

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Denison Forum