Let’s take a break from conflict in the Middle East to have a conversation about events closer to home. Andrew Cuomo conceded in yesterday’s New York City mayoral Democratic primary to Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani. A Democratic strategist called the former governor’s loss the “biggest upset in modern New York City history.” Mamdani made headlines with his strong support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel.

With five likely candidates, including incumbent mayor Eric Adams running as an independent, the general election in November could be “the strangest local election in at least half a century.”

An election with thirty-nine parties

In America, anyone meeting legal qualifications can run for political office. The same is true in Israel, where any Israeli citizen over the age of twenty-one (with a few exceptions) can form a political party and run for the Knesset, their parliament. In their latest elections, thirty-nine parties participated and fifteen won enough votes for their candidate to be seated.

Contrast these open elections with politics in Iran. Their Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently named three senior clerics as candidates to replace him if he were to die in the conflict with Israel. In that event, he instructed his nation’s Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for appointing the supreme leader, to choose his successor from these names.

The country regularly holds elections for president and other offices, but they have far less power than the Supreme Leader, who rules essentially as an autocratic dictator. In addition, their elections are especially influenced by the Guardian Council, an unelected body that disqualifies any candidate it deems insufficiently loyal to the clerical establishment.

The Assembly of Experts empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader is chosen through elections, but its candidates must also be approved by the Guardian Council. And the Guardian Council’s members are appointed directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader.

“Iran is not important. Islam is important.”

Iran’s theocracy is built on the belief that the nation should be governed by Sharia law. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, postulated that as the clergy have the greatest understanding of Islamic law, they should be the guardians of state power until the return of the Mahdi, their messiah.

Accordingly, the Supreme Leader holds final religious and political authority over all affairs of the state, ruling essentially by divine right. He can oppress his own people and lie to the world about his intentions in the service of advancing Islam as he understands it, or so he thinks. In Khamenei’s view, “Iran is not important. Islam is important.”

This concept is not new.

The Divine Right of Kings doctrine states that a monarch’s authority is derived from God rather than the people or their elected representatives. It developed during the Middle Ages but accelerated when, as a result of the Protestant Reformation, many religious reformers rejected the authority of the Pope and the Catholic church.

For example, England’s King James I (ruled 1603–25), the monarch to whom the King James Version was dedicated, asserted that “the State of MONARCHIE is the supremest thing upon earth” and stated that kings are “GOD’S Lieutenants upon earth.”

The American Declaration of Independence was therefore revolutionary in claiming that “all men are created equal” with “certain unalienable Rights” to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Its words catalyzed the American Revolution to institute a government “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Why do you believe in democracy?

Perhaps you believe people are innately good and capable of solving our greatest problems. As President Clinton asserted in his first inaugural address, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

In this view, democracy is the best form of governance since, in contrast to the “divine right of kings” or Iran’s theocracy, we deserve the right to govern ourselves.

Or perhaps you believe that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We sin by commission and by omission: “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). To deny our sinfulness is itself a sin: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

In this view, we are not good people who sometimes do bad things but fallen people who sometimes do good things. Accordingly, democracy is valuable because none of us can be trusted with autonomous power over others. We cannot discern the mind and will of God so perfectly that we should be empowered to enforce our theocratic beliefs on others. And we cannot rule so justly that we should not be accountable to the voters who elect us and the laws and jurisprudence of the nation we serve.

But maybe not today

Let’s close by making our conversation confessional.

You will not be surprised to learn that I agree with the Bible and therefore see the value of democracy in holding sinful leaders accountable to the people they are intended to serve. I don’t want theocrats or kings to rule over me, since I know them to be as fallen as I am.

Now comes the confession: I do, however, believe all too often that I am capable of governing myself. I want to live in my own personal democracy where I get to vote for what I want and then empower myself to do it. I don’t want others to rule my life because I want to rule it myself.

I know that such self-enthronement is just as foolish as enthroning kings and theocrats—if all other humans are too sinful to rule me, as a human I am too sinful to rule myself.

But maybe not today, I tell myself. Maybe I can handle this temptation, overcome this obstacle, seize this moment, be my own god just this once. And today becomes tomorrow, and how I spend my days is how I spend my life, as Annie Dillard noticed.

So, today is a good day for a dethronement. A. W. Tozer was right:

In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of [ourselves] and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.

Now we can see why Jesus declared,

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

Will you “come after” Jesus today?

Quote for the day:

“Jesus is not our life coach—he is our Lord.” —Michael Koulianos

Our latest website resources:

• Shooter assaulted church filled with children for VBS: Four reasons to trust Jesus at all costs
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• An update from Israel: Let my people sleep
• Israel vs. Iran, MAGA’s divide, AI warnings & the Pentagon Pizza Index
• Five questions pastors should be asking

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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

Our latest website resources:

• An update from Israel: Let my people sleep
• Israel vs. Iran, MAGA’s divide, AI warnings & the Pentagon Pizza Index
• Feud between NEEDTOBREATHE co-founders escalates: Praying for reconciliation between Bo and Bear Rinehart
• Five questions pastors should be asking
• What does the Bible say about transgenderism?

Denison Forum