Jason Bradley DeFord is known professionally as Jelly Roll. His song “Son of a Sinner” won three Country Music Television awards in 2023. The same year, he won the award for New Artist at the Country Music Association Awards. He has also made news for his weight loss of nearly three hundred pounds and was recently inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

But his life story is even more striking than his musical talent.

He was baptized at the age of fourteen, but says around that time he began “dabbling” in drugs and stopped attending church. From his teenage years into his twenties, he was arrested numerous times and spent time in jail for felonies. He returned to his faith when he was thirty-nine and his fourteen-year-old daughter expressed an interest in being baptized.

During his recent conversation on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Rogan said to him, “You’re a totally new human being.” He replied, “You know what’s crazy? I don’t want to get super spiritual out of the gate, but I will because I think God wants me to right now because [of] you saying that.”

The singer explained: “There’s a Scripture in the Bible that says in Christ all things are a new creation, which I thought was interesting because it didn’t talk about restoring the old. It says that in God we are a completely new creation. You know what I mean? I was looking at it at first like I’m restoring my heart. But then, when you’re saying that, I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t restore my heart. I got a whole new heart,’” he said. “This is a brand new heart, Joe. You know what I mean? It might be cloaked as the old one, but God touched it. It’s a whole new heart, baby. It’s a different heart.”

Our greatest challenge and greatest hope

When I began teaching apologetics forty years ago, the question was, “Is Christianity true?” I taught my seminary students to defend the faith using evidence for God’s existence, the veracity of Scripture, the deity of Jesus, and so on.

In today’s postmodern, post-truth culture, the question is, “Why should I make your truth my truth?” In a day when user reviews are the currency of commerce, where people want to know if a particular technology or truth worked for those who tried it, the evidence most needed today is changed lives.

Here is where Christianity faces its greatest challenge and offers its greatest hope.

Our challenge is that Christians are supposed to live like Christ. We are intended to manifest his character in our world (Galatians 5:22–23) and his light in our darkness (Matthew 5:14–16), to be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16). When we fail to live up to our truth claims, secular people understandably reject the relevance of our beliefs for their lives.

But this fact also leads to our greatest hope.

As Jelly Roll said, Jesus doesn’t restore your old heart—he gives you a new heart. He takes up residence in your life by his Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). As Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). It is “Christ in you” that is our “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:16).

Other religions try to help us do better—Jesus empowers us to be better.

“Take every thought captive to obey Christ”

Today begins the “seven antiphons of Advent.”

From December 17^th to December 23^rd, Christians around the world will focus on seven proclamations about Jesus as the Messiah. This practice goes back at least to the eighth century and perhaps even earlier than the sixth. These antiphons (short responses sung or recited in church services) are also the basis for the beloved hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emanuel.”

The first, being recited today in worship services, prays in English:

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

We are right to seek such Wisdom. Apart from Christ, our finite, fallen minds are “darkened in their understanding” (Ephesians 4:18). We can be taken “captive” by “empty deceit” (Colossians 2:8) and “led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

However, the good news is that you and I have “divine power to destroy strongholds” so that we can “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). But this “divine power” is not within our human capacity: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Jesus promised that the Spirit “will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). This is just one way he gives us a “new heart” as we are “transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Four steps to transforming wisdom

How does this work in practical terms?

One: Trust in Christ as your personal Savior and Lord (John 1:12). I never want to assume that people who do religious things such as reading (or writing) articles like this one are therefore “born again” as God’s children. If you’re not sure about your salvation experience, I encourage you to read my article, “Why Jesus?” and speak to a pastor or Christian friend about your relationship with Christ.

Two: Submit your mind and life every day to the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). This is a conscious decision to surrender your thoughts, motives, and plans to him. Then stay connected with the Spirit as you pray through your day, seeking his wisdom and direction as you walk in his presence.

Three: Name your decision or challenge and seek the Spirit’s guidance. Partner with him by consulting Scripture, speaking with Christian friends, and reading trusted literature. Know that God wants you to know his will even more than you do: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).

Four: Share God’s word with your world (Romans 1:16). One of the best ways to learn is to teach. When we seek and speak biblical truth to the issues of our day, we grow in wisdom as instruments of wisdom.

The Scottish scientist and evangelist Henry Drummond observed:

“Willpower does not change men. Time does not change men. Christ does.”

How will Christ change your heart today?

Quote for the day:

“No mind, no wisdom; temporary mind, temporary wisdom; eternal mind, eternal wisdom.” —Adoniram Judson

Our latest website resources:

• Do miracles still happen? A podcast interview with Lee Strobel
• A review of Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Miracles”
• Are you SAD? How to fight against the winter blues
• The real story of Christmas: The baby who was “from the beginning”
• Netflix vs. Paramount fight for Warner Bros., Hollywood’s future, Spotify wrapped and college football playoffs

Denison Forum

“Ahmed was driven by his sentiment, conscience, and humanity.” This is how the father of a “hero” who responded to the Hanukkah massacre in Australia explained his son’s actions.

Ahmed al Ahmed’s father told the BBC that his son “saw the victims, the blood, women and children lying on the street, and then acted.” Video shows Ahmed running at the gunman, seizing his weapon, turning the gun around on him, and forcing his retreat. Ahmed was then shot multiple times and has undergone surgery for his wounds.

New South Wales Premiere Chris Minns said of Ahmed, “His incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.” He added, “There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage.” President Trump agreed, calling Ahmed “a very, very brave person” who “saved a lot of lives.”

Ironically, the people saved by Ahmed’s courage will likely go the rest of their lives without knowing it. Unless they could somehow know what the shooter would have done apart from Ahmed’s intervention, they cannot know that they would have been injured or killed if he had not acted with such selfless courage.

By contrast, Larisa Kleytman will go the rest of her life knowing that she was spared by the selfless courage of her husband. Alex Kleytman was a Holocaust survivor. He and his wife of five decades were visiting Sydney’s Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah when the shooting erupted, and he was shot to death as he shielded his wife. “I think he was shot because he raised himself up to protect me,” Larisa said.

A threat that threatens us all

If you’re not Jewish, you may be thinking that such heroism, while obviously commendable, is less than relevant to you personally. The rise of antisemitism in Australia, while horrific and tragic, can feel remote to non-Jews in America.

But know this: to an Islamist, every person who lives in a nation perceived to support Israel is a potential victim of Islamist terrorism.

As I explained in my book Radical Islam: What You Need to Know and on our website, jihadists believe that the West has been attacking Islam since the Crusades and especially by supporting Israel, a nation seen as “stealing” its land from its rightful Palestinian owners. They also believe that because the West is comprised of democracies where the people elect their leaders and support their military, we are all complicit in this “attack” on Islam.

Since the Qur’an requires Muslims to defend Islam (cf. Surah 2:190), jihadists believe they are required to attack those in the West in order to defend the Muslim faith and people. As a result, what happened in Israel on October 7 and in Australia on December 14 could happen where you and I live today.

The year began with jihadist terrorism when an attacker displaying an Islamic State flag rammed his vehicle into a crowd in New Orleans last New Year’s Day, killing at least fifteen people. It is ending on the same tragic theme:

• Three Moroccans, an Egyptian, and a Syrian were detained last Friday over a plan to drive a vehicle into people at a Christmas market in Germany. Authorities suspect an “Islamist motive” behind the plot.
• The shooter who ambushed US and Syrian troops last Saturday, killing two American soldiers and one civilian working as an interpreter, is believed to have been an Islamic State infiltrator working as part of a local security force.
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this morning that the gunmen who perpetrated the Hanukkah massacre were “motivated by “Islamic State ideology.”

This is a threat that threatens us all.

What Christians can do that no one else can

Responding to this burgeoning danger will require courage.

You and I may not be required to attack an attacker to wrest their rifle from them or shield a loved one and die in their place. But we have platforms of influence we can use to condemn the scourge of antisemitism rising in our time. We can support our Jewish friends with our personal encouragement and engagement. We can befriend local Jewish leaders and congregations and encourage our churches and other networks to do the same.

These are all steps anyone can take who has the character and courage to do so.

In addition, however, Christians can respond to this threat as no one else can.

The Apostle Paul described his former life: “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:9). Specifically, he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” when he sought the authority to arrest Christians in Damascus and “bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1–2). In this way, being “exceedingly enraged against them” (Acts 26:11 NKJV), he said, “I persecuted this Way to the death” (Acts 22:4).

But you know what happened to him on the road to Damascus. Now we can pray for our Lord to do the same in the hearts of jihadists around the world. Such intercession is a response no one else can or will make.

The next time we hear about a jihadist attack

What Jesus did to transform Saul of Tarsus, he can do to transform any jihadist terrorist anywhere in the world.

He is already appearing to Muslims around the globe in visions and dreams, sparking a remarkable spiritual awakening in the Islamic world. As the noted author and Middle East expert Joel Rosenberg reports, more Muslims have come to faith in Christ in the last half-century than in the last fourteen centuries combined. My dear friends Tom and JoAnn Doyle have documented this movement and experience it regularly in their miraculous ministry.

So, the next time we hear about an Islamist attack, let’s intercede for the victims, of course. But let’s also stop to pray for the attacker to come to Christ. Let’s pray for Jesus to reveal himself to this person in dreams and through believers. Let’s pray for Christians in the Muslim world to use their influence to demonstrate the “fruit of the Spirit” and otherwise manifest the presence of Christ.

And let’s pray for God to redeem the global crisis of antisemitism and jihadist terrorism by bringing millions to faith in his Son.

If Jesus could come at Christmas, I believe he can come again into any heart and life.

Do you agree?

Quote for the day:

“To have courage for whatever comes in life, everything lies in that.” —St. Teresa of Avila

Our latest website resources:

• Are you SAD? How to fight against the winter blues
• The real story of Christmas: The baby who was “from the beginning”
• Netflix vs. Paramount fight for Warner Bros., Hollywood’s future, Spotify wrapped and college football playoffs
• How can Christians face anxiety without losing faith?
• A review of “2 Chairs: The Secret that Changes Everything”

Denison Forum

Iconic actor and director Rob Reiner first came to fame for his role as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law “Meathead” in All In the Family. Beginning in the 1980s, he established himself as a director of numerous successful Hollywood films, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, and The American President.

This morning, news began breaking that he and his wife, Michele, had been found dead in their Los Angeles home. The couple was found stabbed to death Sunday in an apparent homicide, according to police.

Now we are learning that their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested Sunday night in connection with the deaths of his parents. He is being held in a jail in Los Angeles County on $4 million bail. At this writing, no information about criminal charges has been made available. However, People magazine is reporting that the Reiners were killed by their son, though police have not confirmed this account.

Nick Reiner, age thirty-two, has spoken openly over the years about his struggles with drug abuse and bouts of homelessness. He and his father worked together on a movie, Being Charlie, which was loosely inspired by his early life. Rob Reiner directed, while his son wrote the screenplay alongside a person he met in rehab.

Why I disagreed with Rob Reiner

My wife and I happened to watch When Harry Met Sally again the other night. Afterwards, we discussed how effectively the movie normalizes sex outside of marriage.

The two characters, played so winsomely by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, sleep with any number of people while never marrying any of them (except each other at the end of the movie, of course). Rob Reiner’s film is so humorous and likable that you find yourself glad for the couple when they find happiness in their unbiblical relationship.

I disagreed with Mr. Reiner on numerous cultural and moral issues. He was a well-known advocate for same-sex marriage, for example, among other liberal causes. And many of his movies portrayed sexual immorality in ways that normalized and popularized it.

In addition, he made clear that he didn’t “believe in organized religion,” though he appreciated “a lot of the concepts of Buddhism.” He explained:

I’m not practicing anything, but those things make sense because it’s all about how you find spirituality inside you and how you treat others. It’s all about finding meaning. That’s what life is all about.

At the same time, I am of course horrified by the news of his death and that of his wife. If their son does turn out to be involved in their murder, this will be an even more tragic story.

And I’ve been thinking about my reaction to the news of his death. Upon reflection, I believe there is a factor here that transcends Mr. Reiner and the news of the day, whatever it is.

“Jesus shows his love for us”

Jesus loved the “rich young ruler,” even knowing that the man would reject his invitation to discipleship (Mark 10:17–22). He grieved for Jerusalem, even though (and because) it would reject him as the Messiah (Luke 19:41–44). He loved his disciples “to the end” (John 13:1), even though they would abandon him in the Garden of Gethsemane and (except for John) forsake him at the cross. He loved those who crucified him as he prayed for their forgiveness (Luke 23:34).

Jesus described John and his brother James as “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17), perhaps presaging the time the two were angered by the Samaritan rejection of Jesus and asked, “Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). On the way to Jerusalem, the brothers’ mother asked Jesus to seat them in places of honor in his kingdom (Matthew 20:20–23). And yet John was his “beloved” disciple (John 21:20).

The Bible teaches, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus’ love for us is so unconditional and absolute that nothing can “separate us” from it (Romans 8:35). The more we reject him, the more we need him. The sicker the patient, the more urgent and necessary the physician.

Here’s my point: Jesus’ followers can experience and manifest this same unconditional love for those who do not agree with our biblical faith. In fact, we should. And we must.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory”

It is not unusual in religious history for gods to appear as human. It was standard in Roman mythology, for example, for various deities to take on human form to interact with us. It was also typical for humans to be deified after their death, as with ancient Egyptian beliefs regarding the pharaohs.

But here is what Christianity surprisingly claims: our God can live in us. Just as Jesus came to live in Mary prior to Christmas, so his Spirit comes to live in every person who makes Christ their Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16). Paul testified, “God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27, my emphasis).

Now add this amazing fact: Not only does Jesus live in Christians, but he also works to make Christians more like Christ. His Spirit manifests his character, including his “love” for all people (Galatians 5:22). Thus, we see Peter and John ministering to a crippled beggar (Acts 3), Philip caring about the hated Samaritans (Acts 8:4–8), and Paul, the former Pharisee, devoting his life to reaching Gentiles (cf. Acts 9:15).

Jesus’ compassion changed the world. Through us, it still can.

“See how they love one another”

One of the best ways we can measure the degree to which we are following Jesus and are submitted to his Spirit is by measuring the degree to which we love people who do not love us. How we treat those we don’t have to treat well is a basic measure of character. But how we love those who reject our love and our Lord is a measure of Christlikeness.

Jesus was clear on this: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44–45). The more we love those who do not love us, the more we display the family traits of our Father.

And the more we draw others to him.

The early apologist Tertullian (AD 160–240) said of his fellow believers:

We don’t take the gifts and spend them on feasts, drinking-bouts, or fancy restaurants. Instead we use them to support and bury poor people, to supply the needs of boys and girls who have no means and no parents. We support the elderly confined now to their homes. We also help those who have suffered shipwreck. And if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons—for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God’s Church—they then become the nurselings of the confession we hold [as we take them in to help them].

Primarily it is the acts of love that are so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. “See,” they say, “how they love one another” (Apology, chapter 39).

Who will say the same of you today?

Denison Forum