President Joe Biden tested positive yesterday morning for COVID-19. According to a White House statement, “He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms.”

In other political news, US Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, was assaulted at an event last night, though he escaped serious injury. Italy’s president dissolved parliament yesterday following the resignation of the country’s prime minister. And CIA Director William Burns responded to rumors about Vladimir Putin’s health by stating, “As far as we can tell, he’s entirely too healthy.”

Geopolitics are not the only place to find illustrations of our uncertain times. Over one hundred million Americans are under heat warnings and advisories (for more on the heat crisis, see Dr. Ryan Denison’s insightful new article.) Ghana has confirmed its first outbreak of the highly infectious Marburg virus, which has a fatality rate of up to 88 percent.

And experts who gathered in Rome this week for a conference organized by the University of Notre Dame warned that religious freedom is under attack all over the world.

“Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth”

This week we’ve explored reasons to trust God’s will in uncertain times. Let’s close with this fact: the more uncertain the times, the more we need to trust God’s will. The more difficult the surgery, the more we need a skillful surgeon. The heavier the burden, the more we need a strong friend.

However, it can be hard to trust God when it’s hard to trust God. That sounds like something Yogi Berra would say, but it’s true. The more difficult the times, the more we are tempted to blame God for them. And the more we are tempted to double down on ourselves.

From Socrates to today, Western society has taught us that to “know thyself” is the key to wisdom. Self-reliance is the path to personal success and significance, or so we’re told.

Epicurus (341–270 BC) claimed, “Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth.” Ralph Waldo Emerson agreed: “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” So did Ayn Rand: “Man—every man—is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.”

Joseph Campbell assured us, “You become mature when you become the authority of your own life.” And Steve Jobs famously advised, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.” (For more on our cultural self-reliance and our need for what only God can do, please see my new article, “‘Nap boxes’ and the providence of God.”

However, as you consider the news I’ve reported today and the daily drumbeat of crises in the headlines, let me ask: How is self-reliance working for us?

Why Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane

In challenging times, I recommend a look back that empowers a look up.

The Garden of Gethsemane is my wife’s favorite place in Israel. It was here that Jesus chose to die for us. As he watched the soldiers marching through the eastern walls of Jerusalem, into the Kidron valley, and up the Mount of Olives, he had abundant opportunity to flee what he knew was coming.

If he had retreated back to Galilee, the authorities in Jerusalem would have been pleased—this would have ended the threat of a revolt by his followers without risking the wrath of these same followers over his arrest and execution. And yet he stayed where he was, sealing his death.

However, there’s even more to the decision our Savior made that night.

Judas had already conspired with the authorities to betray Jesus, but arresting this popular figure needed to happen under the cover of darkness and outside the city lest the crowds hear of this plot and rise up against it. How could this be arranged?

Jesus solved their problem. He waited for them late at night and outside the city walls at a place Judas could find him: “Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples” (John 18:2).

It was there that Jesus chose what would come the next day: he would suffer the most grievous form of torture ever devised, bear the sins of all of humanity on his sinless soul, and be separated from his Father for the only time in all of eternity. It was there that he chose to die on a cross so you could live eternally.

He would do it all over again, just for you.

“I choose to trust God in everything I do”

When we remember the love that drove Jesus to the cross and we consider that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), we realize that he loves us today as much as on the day he died for us. As a result, we can trust his word and will to be best for us because he only wants what is best for us.

Now we can name our challenges, entrust them to his compassion, claim his ongoing intercession for us (Romans 8:34), and ask that his Spirit empower us to love our Lord and our neighbor as we are loved. In this way, we will become catalysts for the spiritual renewal our culture needs so desperately.

Let’s close the week with a remarkable illustration of my thesis: Alena Wicker has been accepted to the University of Alabama Heersink School of Medicine. What makes this news so remarkable? Alena is thirteen years old. She graduated from high school at the age of twelve and is now a junior in college.

After her acceptance to medical school, she posted a note on Instagram thanking her mother: “A little black girl adopted from Fontana, California. I’ve worked so hard to reach my goals and live my dreams. Mama I made it. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Alena also testified to the ultimate source of her opportunities: “Thanking God for every open door and for allowing my gifts to make room for me.” She added on Facebook: “No matter what happens in life I choose to trust God in everything I do.”

Will you follow her example today?

Denison Forum

The US House of Representatives passed a bill this week protecting the right to same-sex marriage. It prohibits anyone from denying the validity of a marriage based on the race or sex of the couple. The fate of the legislation is uncertain in the US Senate.

Those who drafted the bill were politically astute to link interracial marriage with gay marriage since people like me who object to the latter on biblical and moral grounds support the former on the same grounds.

I have written often that racism is sin and that God views us all as members of the same human “race” (cf. Galatians 3:28). Consequently, interracial marriage is absolutely acceptable from ethical and Scriptural perspectives (cf. Numbers 12:1). By contrast, I have also written that God defines marriage as the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, making same-sex marriage indefensible on the same grounds.

Should adultery be illegal?

The “culture wars” can be difficult to win in large part because they can be so complex. Adultery is immoral (Exodus 20:14), for instance, but should it be made illegal? Elective abortions are grievously wrong, but what legal consequences (if any) should women who choose them face? Does allowing a terminally ill patient to die make us complicit in their death? When do genetic advances to diagnose and treat disease cross the line into eugenics?

The good news is that we have an omniscient Father whose Spirit will guide us into “all the truth” (John 16:13) and empower us to make a transformative difference where he calls and equips us to serve (1 Peter 4:10).

In addition, our Creator is still active in his creation. He is no deistic clockmaker watching the world he made “run down.” To the contrary, he “knows everything” that is happening in our lives and our world (1 John 3:20) and holds us all accountable for what we have done and left undone (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10).

His word is clear: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

Judgment in two phases

This week, we have explored reasons to trust God’s will in uncertain times. Today let’s choose to live biblically by remembering this urgent truth: “the Lᴏʀᴅ is a God of justice” (Isaiah 30:18).

As I have written, God’s judgment comes in two phases: permissive and proactive. His permissive judgment is a consequence of unrepented sin when he is forced to withdraw his hand of provision lest he bless that which harms his children and violates his word. I believe this is where our culture is today.

As David French notes in a recent article, “culture wars end with consequences.” He surveys a growing number of articles published by elite media and from within secular feminism decrying the consequences of ubiquitous pornography and transactional sex. French wisely concludes, “You can fight reality, but reality always wins.”

If we still refuse to repent, God must then respond proactively with judgments such as we see in the exodus from Egypt and in the book of Revelation. I do not believe we are there, yet. But we are clearly experiencing grave challenges, from a pandemic which shows no signs of slowing to deep political divisions and rancor, grave economic challenges, and rising geopolitical threats.

When we are not experiencing God’s best, we should always ask why.

Five reasons to seek God’s pardon

In a day of sin and judgment, God called his people: “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her” (Jeremiah 5:1). The people needed God’s “pardon” for five reasons:

1. False religion: “Though they say, ‘As the Lᴏʀᴅ lives,’ yet they swear falsely” (v. 2).
2. Immoral religion: Jeremiah turned to those who “know the way of the Lᴏʀᴅ, the justice of their God” (v. 5a), but “they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds” (v. 5b).
3. Sexual sin: the Lord “fed them to the full,” but “they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores” (v. 7).
4. Callousness toward people in need: “They judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy” (v. 28).
5. False religious leaders: “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so” (vv. 30–31).

How relevant are these issues to our day?

Religion is a deceptive substitute for a true relationship with God in any church or culture. When religious people and clergy engage in sexual abuse and other personal immorality, they grieve their Lord and defame their faith. Sexual sin and callousness toward the needy are both epidemic in our society. And ministers who sanction homosexual behavior and same-sex marriage, bless abortion clinics, and refuse to advocate for the poor and marginalized “prophesy falsely.”

A personal question

I believe God is still looking for “one who does justice and seeks truth” (Jeremiah 5:1). The prophet declared, “The eyes of the Lᴏʀᴅ run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

God is a loving Father who wants only the best for his children. It is not a heretical prosperity gospel to assume an abundance mentality with our Lord, to know that he loves us and wants to bless us.

This does not guarantee health and wealth—his blessing may not be material but spiritual and may come in spite of material hardships (cf. John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 12:10). However, as I noted earlier, if we are not experiencing God’s best, we should always ask why.

So, I’ll close with a personal question: Are you experiencing God’s best today?

NOTE: For more on having an “abundance mentality” with God, please see my latest personal blog, “Doughnuts that taste like ice cream.”

Denison Forum

Chris Evans plays the title character in Disney’s new film, Lightyear, that released in theaters Friday. As you probably know, the movie has generated controversy by featuring two women in a lesbian relationship and a kiss between the two. When asked about those who have raised concerns, Evans said, “The real truth is those people are idiots.”

He explained that the “human story” is “one of constant social awakening and growth” and claimed that people who oppose such “growth” will “die off like dinosaurs.” According to Evans, “the goal is to pay them no mind” and to “march forward and embrace the growth that makes us human.” (For more on the film, please see Mark Legg’s article, “’Lightyear’ features same-sex kiss: Should kids see Disney’s latest film?”)

Our post-Christian culture is certainly attempting to follow Evans’s advice and is especially focusing on indoctrinating our kids. Disney has launched an LGBTQ clothing line for children. CNN is promoting a “guide to LGBTQ summer reading for kids and teens.” Earlier this month, a group of four Colorado elementary schools staged an after-school celebration of Pride Month including a drag queen story hour.

Our rejection of biblical morality is a symptom of our broader rejection of biblical truth. Gallup announced Friday that belief in God in the US has fallen to 81 percent, a new low. Abortions are increasing in America, reversing a thirty-year decline. And attacks on religious liberty continue: a Jewish school in New York has been ordered by a state judge to recognize an LGBTQ student club despite its religious objections.

Why Juneteenth is a spiritual holiday

A fifteen-year-old boy was killed and three adults were shot when gunfire erupted last night at a music festival in Washington, DC. An ethnic attack in Ethiopia left more than two hundred dead. The FBI is investigating a series of attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches. A New York Times editorial writer explicitly describes her difficulties with childbirth as an argument for abortion over adoption.

It may seem that our world is too broken to repair. But yesterday’s Juneteenth celebrations remind us that it is always too soon to give up on God and his work among us.

Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, with news that the Civil War was over and slavery in the US was abolished. Juneteenth Freedom Day (combining “June” and “nineteenth”) has become the oldest known celebration observing the end of the enslavement of humans in the US. In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday. In June 2021, President Biden signed a bill making it a federal holiday.

Reflecting on the theological significance of Juneteenth, teaching pastor Rasool Berry writes in Christianity Today, “It is always good for Christians to celebrate freedom. The end of the evil institution of slavery in our midst is valuable and valid no matter how messy and incomplete it is. There’s a renewal possible with a celebration such as Juneteenth—it’s a reminder of where we’ve been and hopefully where we’re going.”

He reminds us of Paul’s admonition to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15) and states, “Juneteenth provides a unique national moment to do both.”

Beware a self-fulfilling prophecy

Slavery grieves the heart of the God who made every human in his image (Genesis 1:27) and loves each of us as if there were only one of us (quoting St. Augustine). And yet he used humans to liberate humans. He used Abraham Lincoln to emancipate the slaves in 1863 and the US government to enforce that emancipation across the nation. He used Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and legions of brave Christians to lead the fight for civil rights, a struggle that continues today.

If we give up on God and on our nation, we will obviously be unavailable to either. Then our spiritual and cultural pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

However, being change agents in a broken world requires more than a willingness to be used by God—it requires loving those we are called to serve. Paul grieved so deeply for his fellow Jews who rejected their Messiah that he could wish himself “accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3).

His compassion came from the One who “had compassion” on those he served (Matthew 14:14), the Shepherd who would leave the ninety-nine sheep to find the one who was lost (Luke 15:3–7), the Savior who would call a hated tax-collector by name and stay in his home so that salvation could come to his house (Luke 19:1–10).

Such love is a “fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) manifested in every Christian who is “filled” and controlled by him (Ephesians 5:18).

“Allow your heart to be a marketplace of humanity”

If our response to Chris Evans’s ridiculing of biblical Christians was anything less than loving grief for his soul, we need to be “filled” with the Spirit. If we could read about the falling rate of belief in God and the rising rate of abortion without pain in our spirit for our nation, we need to be “filled” with the Spirit.

Henri Nouwen observed: “One of the greatest human spiritual tasks is to embrace all of humanity, to allow your heart to be a marketplace of humanity, to allow your interior life to reflect the pains and joys of people not only from Africa and Ireland and Yugoslavia and Russia but also from people who lived in the fourteenth century and will live many centuries forward. Somehow, if you discover that your little life is part of the journey of humanity and that you have the privilege to be part of that, your interior life shifts. You lose a lot of fear and something really happens to you. Enormous joy can come into your life. It can give you a strong sense of solidarity with the human race, with the human condition. It is good to be human.”

To experience such loving “solidarity with the human race,” we need the help of God’s Spirit. English theologian Edwin Hatch’s prayer should therefore be our daily intercession:

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou would do. 

Would you make his words your heart’s cry to God right now?

(For more on experiencing the love of God in the power of the Spirit, please see my latest personal blog, “Is this the end of the English bulldog?”)

Denison Forum