Why Can’t Conservatives See…?

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This was a question on quora.com…

Why are so many Americans unable to see what Trump is?

Here’s my response…

Anytime you’re talking with someone who spends more time mocking the intelligence of their opponent then they do actually proving they have a point, you’re usually talking to someone who doesn’t have something to say as much as they’ve got something to hide.

While the Democrat party insisted that the border security was a problem that couldn’t be solved, President Trump secured the border. What was a situation where hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were streaming into our country, that no longer is happening (BBC).

The Inflation Reduction Act was peddled as an economic boost, when, in fact, it was the largest climate investment in U.S. history, dedicating approximately $369 billion to limit greenhouse gas emissions (americanprogress.org) It had promised a reduction in inflation which was at 2.25% when it passed. A year later, it was at 5.25% (heritage.org).

Meanwhile, President Trump has successfully secured roughly $10 trillion in new domestic investment, onshoring jobs and revitalizing American manufacturing. And while critics want to question the substance of promises made by countries that agreed to invest only when threatened with increased tariffs, the fact is you have American financial interests being championed in the context of fair trade agreements and a positive return on investments – something the Democrat party can only talk about yet never really achieve apart from manipulating the numbers…

  • United Arab Emirates: $1.4 trillion committed over the next decade.
  • Qatar: $1.2 trillion in bilateral economic exchange.’Japan: $1 trillion in pledged investments.
  • Saudi Arabia: $600 billion committed over a four-year period.
  • South Korea: $450 billion committed to U.S. energy products. (whitehouse.gov)

Your party has tried to kill Trump on four different occasions. You ignore results, you make excuses, your ideas don’t work, and, more often than not, you are the very thing you claim to despise.

It’s not Conservatives that are having a hard time “seeing” what’s real. We’re watching your world of nonsensical and unsustainable ideas revealed for what they are, as well as the pointless claim of victimhood your use to ensure you’re never evaluated just accommodated.

…and we love the view!

Imaginary Sermon

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Brothers and sisters in Christ, greetings!

I come before you today in the Name of Christ Who, with His death and Resurrection, destroyed every social construct that would otherwise be used by sinful men to restrict the rights and opportunities that God gives to every man ❶.

We are here today to consider the tragic death of George Floyd and to determine if his death is the result of a wicked mindset manifested in the actions of ones entrusted with the role of keeping the peace. ❷

We, as a culture, have been conditioned to project any one of a number of assumptions on to scenarios such as these and believe that it is all part of the insidious sin of Racism our ancestors had to endure for centuries. But I come to you in the Name of Christ today to remind you that we become the very thing we claim to despise if we first do not mediate on the Truth of Scripture which is what gives Divine Credence to our cause. ❸

Here me.

You Who Pass Judgment Do the Same Things

If we do not call out these officers by name and instead condemn the entire law enforcement community –   if we do not address those individuals within the system who are corrupt and instead  indict the entire system… Are we not doing the very thing that we accuse others of doing to us? ❹

Set Them an Example

Moreover, when we take the stand in the court of public opinion, how does our testimony resonate in the minds of the jury? It says in Proverbs 3:1-4:

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Prov 3:1-4)

Later in chapter 22, it says;

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (Prov 22:1)

As believers, you bear the Name of Christ. As a son and as a daughter you bear the name of your forefathers and of your immediate family. It is because of this Truth, that your reputation is so important because your actions reflect, not only on yourself, but also on those whose name you bear. ❺

What is our reputation?

  • 41% of our young people drop out of High School
  • 70% of our infants are born out of wedlock.
  • Combine that with the fact that while we account for only 13% of our nation’s total citizenry,  the population of our country’s prisons are 34% African American.

When a police officer kisses his wife good bye in the morning, there is an unspoken reality that he is seeing his bride for the last time given the risks he takes to serve and protect. Does our reputation put him at ease or does it put him on his guard? Is our reputation such where the words we speak are immediately embraced as the legitimate concerns that they are or does our notoriety drown out the voice of our hurting and the sound of our appeal? ❻

Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit. What sort of produce do our collective vineyards yield? Is it characterized by law abiding citizens or arrest records?  Do we have more abortion clinics than nurseries? Does it boast a rich collection of graduates or a large number of empty classrooms? Are we collectively setting an example that compliments our cause or does it distract from it?

We Each Are Responsible

We accuse our own within the law enforcement community of being corrupt, we assault the character of anyone who dares to suggest that our bad reputation is deserved, we complain that the system is rigged, that our image is distorted and even now, we prepare to protest the newest appearance of Police Brutality because we believe that it was not only Racism that caused the death of George Floydm but it’s Racism that’s to blame for all the adversity we contend with. ❼

But to what extent do our collective actions place us in the position we’re in? Are we victims of a biased infrastructure or are we merely victims of our own immoral decision making? ❽ We complain that the police project on to every one of us the trouble and the harm they have suffered at the hands of our brethren. But should not a portion of our indignation be directed to those of us who are lawless instead of hating the one who enforces the law? ❾

We burn the flag that elects a black man as president, we spurn the anthem that destroyed slavery, we denounce the system that gives us free education and all the while it is our fathers who are leaving, it is our grades that are lacking and it is our own that we are killing.

If our platform is to have any credibility –  if our indignation is to resonate as righteous –  than we cannot be hypocritical in our accusations, we must set an example in our conduct and we must take responsibility for our actions.

Regardless of Race

And it is here where I would pause and remind you that at this point I do not speak only to those who are gathered in this sanctuary, but to all men regardless of race. We stifle the resolution we seek by referring to men as either black or white. And ladies, I beseech you to hear me include you when I say, “men” in that I’m referring to all humanity.

We are not “white,” we are not “black” we are all God’s offspring ❿  and we are all therefore obligated to not only hold the Bible we own with our hands, but to obey the God it proclaims with our whole heart. ➀

More Than An Authority

As an officer of the law, you are tasked with keeping the peace and assuming all suspects are innocent until proven guilty. Even those whose records are tarnished with past mistakes, the Bible rebukes those who make false assumptions. ➁

Your badge must be more than an authority, it must also be an example. And however you are maligned and even threatened, your response must go beyond being merely “smart,” you have to be “wise.” ➂

And I am not suggesting that by being “wise,” you are therefore restricted from using deadly force. It’s not that you are restricted as much as you are resolved to kill only when it’s appropriate to do so. And yes, there are times when it’s appropriate to kill. ➃ But there is also a time to heal and you must be able to make that distinction.

Should it be determined that you are using your position to lord it over those who are obligated to obey, you are identified in Scripture as a wicked oppressor and a false teacher and there is a special kind of destruction awaiting you on Judgement Day. ➄

To those who are breaking the law, in whatever capacity, know this: You are not just violating a human regulation, you are breaking a Divine Directive. If you commit murder, if you steal, you not only incur the righteous wrath of of the law, you also sin against God.➅

Just like the Police Officer who has to answer to a Higher Standard than his immediate supervisor, you also have to answer to a Higher Law. And should your behavior be revealed as violent and disrespectful when you are apprehended, you do nothing but add to your guilt both in the sight of your jurors as well as in the sight of your King. ❾

It’s Not Only the Law That You Are Breaking

And to those who murder, steal and destroy and excuse it as a reasonable reaction to “not being heard” or a “miscarriage of justice,” let me remind you that the moment you break the law, you are no longer a protester or an activist, you are a criminal and, again,  it is not only the law that you are breaking, it is your God that you are offending – especially if you do your wanton acts insisting that you represent a godly disposition ➆.

What Are We Doing?

In the sixties, a number of extraordinary people emerged who had labored beneath the weight of racial prejudice and went on to accomplish some amazing things:

  • Rosa Parks was a soft spoken black woman whose refusal to surrender her seat because of her race would inspire the Montgomery Bus Boycott and lead to her being honored with the Medal of Freedom in 1996.
  • James Meredith was a nine year veteran of the United States Air Force who would go on to become the first black American to attend the University of Mississippi despite the riots his enrollment inspired which would be dispersed only with the intervention of Federal Troops.
  • Percy Julian is one of the most influential chemists in American history despite his not being able to attend High School and had to study abroad in order to secure his doctorate because of his color.
  • Barbara Jordan grew up in a poor, black neighborhood in Houston, Texas and, despite the challenges of being an African American in an area where Jim Crow laws was common, she was nevertheless able to make history by being the first black female in congress to come from the deep south.

These are among the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. They inspired change, in part, by presenting an argument that reeked of moral and professional excellence. By living and performing in a manner that was beyond reproach, they were able to silence the criticisms that would’ve otherwise distracted from the injustices they sought to resolve and the result was dramatic ➇.

Today, we are instructed to embrace an entirely different kind of individual and and honor them in the same way we do the noble persons who carried the baton of the Civil Rights issue decades ago.

  • George Floyd had a criminal record that included five arrests and five years spent in prison for aggravated robbery.
  • Rodney King, at the time of his arrest in 1991, had been sentenced to two years in prison for robbing a convenience store armed with a tire iron.
  • Freddie Gray had been arrested on multiple occasions for drug related crimes.

In each case, you have a person that had a criminal record and was resisting arrest when they were initially apprehended. Now, rather than being able to prosecute our cause in the context of moral courage and professional excellence, we are seen as accusing others of being unprincipled when our champions seemingly have no principles ourselves. ⑨

What are we doing?

If we would answer that question with a response that included successful appeals for justice and productive conversations that yielded positive results, we need to cease all attempts to qualify an event by asking whether or not it involved a black man or a white man and instead ask whether or not it involved a good man – be they the one being arrested or the one that is making the arrest. And if Christ really did die and come back to life, than the definition of a good man is a godly man, can I get an “Amen?”

Let Us Move Forward

Let us move forward, then, by refusing to express our concerns in the context of labels, mobs and crowds. Let us avoid becoming the very thing we claim to despise by  by directing our questions to the individuals involved and not the institutions they represent. Let us labor to be living manifestations of the moral excellence we would demand in others. Let us move beyond race and instead look at one another as fellow soldiers battling our eternal enemy as a unified force, sanctified by the blood of Christ and empowered by His Holy Spirit. And let our cause be a racially diverse venture that battles true bigotry by holding up specific instances of moral excellence responded to with an undeniably sinful bias- and not the flawed campaigns triggered by legitimate arrests and prosecuted with even more criminal activity.

That is how you effectively assert the Truth of your God, that is how you lead by example and that is how you effect true and enduring change. Let us move forward and let us pray now for both the Strength and the Wisdom to do just that.

Lets’ pray…

❶ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)

❷ When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Prov 29:2)

❸ Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (Prov 16:32)

❹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Rom 2:1)

❺ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. (Is 43:6-7 [emphasis added]) On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (Jn 14:20)

❻ In the same way, let your light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16) In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8)

❼ He repays everyone for what they have done; he brings on them what their conduct deserves. (Job 34:11) When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. (Prov 19:3) Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct. (Gal 6:4-5 [NLT])

❽ Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? (Prov 6:27-28)

❾ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (Rom 13:4) Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them. (Eph 5:11)

❿ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (col 1:16)

➀ Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (Jas 1:22)

➁ Do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame? (Prov 25:8) Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. (Ecc 5:2)

➂ “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:16) My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (Jas 1:19)

➃ a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, (Ecc 3:3)

➄ Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. (Prov 28:15) But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Pet 2:1-3)

➅ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. (Ps 51:3-4)

➆ You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Ex 20:7)

➇ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. (1 pet 2:15)

⑨ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matt 7:1-2)

Hodge Twins

Copy / Paste

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You always want to be explain what you believe and why (1 Pet 3:15). You never want to be guilty of simply “copying and pasting” what someone else said and use that as the basis for your convictions.

There’s a lot of that going on today. You’ll hear people rant about policies and personalities, yet when you look at what they use to justify their indignation, you’re met with what sounds like a script that they’ve just copied and pasted from their favorite news outlet.

There’s nothing wrong with citing a credible resource, but you want to make sure that it’s credible before you refer to it as conclusive.

Fact is, it’s possible to be honest without telling the whole truth.

  • Some will pose as outraged by a particular behavior, yet are suspiciously silent when that same behavior is exhibited in those they support.
  • Others are critical of the accomplishments of those they disagree with, yet applaud those same accomplishments when done by those they admire.

It’s more than a double standard, because you have to have a standard to begin with in order for it to be duplicated.

If you’re among those that define an “open mind” as someone who will say things like, “What’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me,” you’ve declared yourself to be utterly meaningless, because, according to your own logic, a person can accuse you of being a liar and not be wrong.

You want to “evaluate” all of the relevant facts based on their substance and relevance to the issue being discussed. You don’t want to simply “eliminate” those facts that are credible, yet contradict the conclusion that aligns with what you want to hear. However compelling an appeal for pity may sound, it’s revealed as a fool’s paradise when it’s determined that the pain they’re feeling is a result of them having shot themselves in the foot.

If you want to be taken seriously, you want to be able to demonstrate the fact that you have evaluated the facts and not just eliminated the facts you don’t want to consider. You do that by being able to explain what you believe and why you believe it, and that’s not accomplished by simply “copying and pasting” from your preferred collection of resources.

The Elimination of Tension

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Some in our society today want to define “love” as being the elimination of tension.

There’s no confrontation, no correction…

…just affirmation.

When you trace that line of reasoning to its inevitable conclusion, you have a situation where

  • Law Enforcement (Rom 13:4-5)
  • Discipline (Prov 15:10; Prov 25:28)
  • Education (Prov 4:13; 18:15)
  • Personal Responsibility (Rom 14:12; Gal 6:5)
  • Moral Courage (Josh 1:9; Prov 28:1; 1 Cor 16:13)
  • and a healthy Work Ethic (Prov 6:6; Matt 25:14-30)…

…are all regarded as detrimental.

Even the concept of God’s Grace becomes toxic because of the way it implies that a person needs to be forgiven (Prov 14:9; 28:26; 30:12; Lk 18:11-12; 1 Jn 1:8).

Love is often manifested as a person’s willingness to endure the tension that occurs when a commitment to another’s welfare is perceived as an assault on their happiness (Prov 27:6; Heb 12:2).

That kind of love is rare, but it’s the only kind that is real (Prov 27:5).

Everything else is a cowardly imitation posing as compassion (Prov 27:6; 29:5; Lk 22:47-48).

What Does it Mean to Love Your Enemy? | Part IIII

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This is a post that happened on quora.com. The original question was, “Why would evangelicals support a person like Trump?”

To my surprise, a former Southern Baptist preacher spoke up and regurgitated the same kind of rhetoric you would expect to hear from a Liberal, as far as voicing the perspective of an outraged victim being forced to tolerate the ignorance and cruelty of an administration that refuses to buckle beneath the weight of hypocrisy posing as compassion.

What made it even more surprising is that he refused to answer my questions and instead chose to say I wasn’t worth talking to. Hardly the response you would expect from someone who claims to have the Substance of Scripture to back up his convictions.

When you question someone’s relationship with Christ, you want to be able to point to something that represents an inconsistency with the whole of God’s Word, and not something that’s contrary to a verse that’s been taken out of context.

That’s what this Pastor does. If your starting point is a flawed premise, than it becomes easy to dismiss the truth as the result of ignorance and a lack of character.

Most of his content is based on a resolve to believe that “loving your neighbor” means to make it easier for them to break the law. He constantly refers to the biblical mandate to love the “foreigner” and the “stranger,” while simultaneously overlooking the way in which God holds foreigners and strangers accountable to the laws of the land.

This man is not unique, however. There are a lot of people in our society today who welcome the opportunity to be perceived as sophisticated and compassionate without it costing them anything. They don’t talk to the surviving family members of those who’ve been killed or raped by illegal immigrants, and they keep their doors locked while insisting that our country keeps its doors wide open. Their hypocrisy is exceeded only by their indifference.

While asking the right questions is still an effective way of separating fact from fiction, it’s also important to recognize when Scripture is either being quoted out of context, or cited at the expense of other Scriptures that speak to the same issue. You see that same dynamic when Christ was tempted in the wilderness by Satan who was prolific in citing certain verses, but only according to the bits and pieces that suited his purpose.

Here’s the dialogue in its entirety. Watch how he avoids answering certain questions and they way he refrains from applying the whole of God’s Word and instead asserts a singular verse as a bottom line and intentionally omits other verses that need to be applied in order to process all of God’s Directions correctly.

Question: Why do evangelicals support a person like Trump?

Pastor: I’m a lifelong Southern Baptist and former pastor, seminary trained, and the son of a CCC treasurer and Baptist church deacon growing up in north Mississippi. I think I’m pretty qualified to answer this. Evangelical culture has developed over the years into this angry, cynical group, at least when it comes to politics and the media. Perfectly nice people become very rigid and angry whenever it comes to the “culture war.” There is a feeling of victimhood- evangelicals used to rule everything and be the group every politician and entertainer pandered to. A fast shift happened in the 70’s when we became the minority (though not oppressed by any means). That generation is Trump’s base, the ones who watched the shift happen and were so disgusted by it.

Race- The importance can’t be understated. Older white Evangelicals often feel victimized by affirmative action, black focused charities, talk of equity and equality, and love to quote crime stats in the black community. The perception is that tax dollars that they pay is used to make those black lives better only to have the recipients disrespect and destroy what’s given to them. The well publicized riots, filthy rap music, and crime stats in black neighborhoods in practically every US city feeds the prejudice. Trump didn’t say it explicitly, but when he rails against entitlement spending and threatens to send the National Guard in with guns to stop riots, we all know what he means.

Sexual ethics- Not that Republicans particularly do a lot here, but it is certainly Democrats who push for gay rights, abortion access, and before that loosening of decency standards in the entertainment world. Trump played into that disgust with promises to outlaw abortion and comments against the rest.

Capitalism- Americans who grew up during the Cold War associate communism/ socialism with atheist USSR and capitalism with Christian USA. The logic is faulty, but it has persisted. Trump’s acts of deregulation satisfied that bias, as did his promise to abolish the ACA. The latter was a double whammy- it was the signature achievement of his black predecessor and benefited black and poor people more than the white working class (at least as the voters saw it).

Identity politics-For many Evangelicals in the south, Republican = Christian. So even if the candidate doesn’t exhibit Christian morals or even effective leadership, he’s still “our guy.”

Distrust of the educational system- Mostly because evolution was taught, shady preachers were able to bias evangelicals against higher education and those trained by it. This quickly trickled down to the public school system as well, leading to many evangelical families choosing to private school or homeschool their kids so they’d learn from a curriculum friendly to literal interpretation of the Bible. Many evangelicals now won’t believe anything that comes out of academia unless it’s carefully curated to affirm their biases (PraegerU, Fox News, etc). So issues like climate change, CRT, progressive economics, psychology, vaccines, and others are all looked at as a power grab by dirty Democrat politicians. Trump rallied against them all and gained the love of the ignorant.

So to summarize, Trump knew white Evangelical culture very well and said everything they wanted to hear in exactly the way they themselves said it. He truly was their guy, the representation of how they actually think. I’m still an evangelical in matters of Scripture and the fundamental beliefs of Christianity, but I’m strongly opposed to the caustic and ignorant nature that has set in when it comes to society and politics.
Update: Thanks for all the love and the upvotes. It’s nearly at 1000 after 8 months, by far my most popular Quora post. I’ve loved the reactions and conversations in the comments as well.

So, I read his response and my first thought is, “If you’re going to say that you’re a Pastor, why are you not citing Scripture to back up your comments?”

Right behind that would be the way that he’s trying to categorize anyone who supports Trump as being ignorant, hostile, racist, and legalistic. It sounds like a reasonable argument, maybe, until you contemplate the way a person who doesn’t have a valid point will often position themselves as victims of an ignorant and angry mob. That way they don’t have to explain why their ideas don’t work, and why don’t need to take responsibility for their actions.

In other words, he’s making his argument according to a tactic, rather than a topic.

So, here’s what I said…

Bruce (the Pastor’s initial comments are in italics, my response is in plain text):

I’m a lifelong Southern Baptist and former pastor, seminary trained, and the son of a CCC treasurer and Baptist church deacon growing up in north Mississippi. I think I’m pretty qualified to answer this.

Sounds like it. But I’ve reached a place where the moment someone references himself as a pastor, I’m expecting him to reinforce his comments with Scripture, and that doesn’t seem to be the case here. So, while you may have a point, if you’re not going to cite the Bible as the foundation upon which you base your comments, I feel like I’m listening to an opinion more so than a bottom line.

That generation is Trump’s base, the ones who watched the shift happen and were so disgusted by it.

I’m an ordained pastor, born again, and a nine year veteran of the USMC. I voted for Trump, not because I was “disgusted,” but because his policies line up with Scripture more so than any other candidate, certainly more so that Kamala Harris (Gen 1:27 [Transgender]; 2 Thess 3:10 [Socialism]; Lev 20:13; Rom 1:27 [Homosexuality]; Is 45:4, 13 [You don’t have to be a believer to justify my vote]).

Race- The importance can’t be understated. Older white Evangelicals often feel victimized by affirmative action, black focused charities, talk of equity and equality, and love to quote crime stats in the black community.

Your ethnicity is not a factor. Your work ethic, your character, your resume, and your willingness to take responsibility for your actions, on the other hand, is paramount (Prov 21:25; 26:13–14; Matt 25:14–30; 2 Thess 3:10).

Sexual ethics- Not that Republicans particularly do a lot here, but it is certainly Democrats who push for gay rights, abortion access, and before that loosening of decency standards in the entertainment world. Trump played into that disgust with promises to outlaw abortion and comments against the rest.

You don’t justify driving on the wrong side of the road by saying you have the “right” to be happy. In that context, that’s not a “right,” that’s a “demand.” What you’re demanding is that you be allowed to redefine marriage and decide who lives and dies. Homosexuality isn’t healthy, and abortion is murder. No to both! That’s not “disgust,” that’s reason.

Many evangelicals now won’t believe anything that comes out of academia unless it’s carefully curated to affirm their biases (PraegerU, Fox News, etc). So issues like climate change, CRT, progressive economics, psychology, vaccines, and others are all looked at as a power grab by dirty Democrat politicians. Trump rallied against them all and gained the love of the ignorant.

Critical Race Theory, Progressive Economics (Socialism), Psychology (Transgender, Safe Space, etc), Vaccines…are often “taught” as bottom lines. I’m not “biased” by being aware that there’s a very compelling school of thought that challenges the substance of every one of those issues, as far as the way they’re presented in academia. That’s not being judgmental or ignorant, that’s being reasonable. If you’ve got a point, let’s hear it, but don’t try to assert the idea that because you’re uncomfortable, you’re automatically a priority. You have to be able to present proof and not just the voices of the professors who are telling you what you want to hear while simultaneously ignoring common sense, and the general reality of the human experience.

So to summarize, Trump knew white Evangelical culture very well and said everything they wanted to hear in exactly the way they themselves said it. He truly was their guy, the representation of how they actually think. I’m still an evangelical in matters of Scripture and the fundamental beliefs of Christianity, but I’m strongly opposed to the caustic and ignorant nature that has set in when it comes to society and politics.

I voted for President Trump because I wanted our borders to be secure. You’re not a “foreigner” or a “stranger” when you come here illegally. You’re not being “merciful” or “Christlike,” when you refuse to obey the law, let alone enforce it (Rom 13:1–5).

I voted for President Trump because I disagree with a Federal endorsement of abortion, I don’t agree with men competing in women’s sports, I fully support the elimination of Iran’s nuclear capability, their ability to sponsor international terror, and the way in which they can hold the entire world hostage in the context of energy, and then using those profits to further expand their terrorist activity. As far as I’m concerned, the only people who would consider my rationale as “caustic” and “ignorant” are those that don’t like their tables turned over (Matt 21:12).

So, I’m referencing Scripture, I’m providing a logical rebuttal, and explaining what I believe and why.

Here’s what he said…

Pastor: I’m going to suggest getting out of your Fox News echo chamber and learn a little bit about the actual rationale and reasoning behind much of what you’re against lest you lead your congregation into further spiritual darkness and destructive anger.

If you want to hear me quote Scripture, here goes:

  1. Love your neighbor as yourself. – It is the greatest commandment (along with love God). The story of the Good Samaritan teaches 2 things: 1 – my neighbor is whoever has needs and I can help.
  2. righteousness isn’t about which group you are in, but rather what you do and why you do it. Every group that Trump spews hate at is my neighbor and yours too.
  3. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. – I don’t see anything about green cards or citizenship papers here. This list is repeated numerous times in Scripture, including in the Prophets as they explained why God destroyed Israel and let them be taken captive. Kindness to others is the single biggest mark of a Godly heart. The current GOP is categorically against all of this, and it’s followers delight in news articles of ICE agents arresting and even shooting immigrants, separating families to put them in cages, cutting SNAP benefits that poor families depend on (many would meet the Biblical definition of widows/orphan), and raising costs so that families can’t afford necessities.
  4. You seem to have defined certain people as your enemy- Iran, illegal immigrants, probably most black and brown people too- so here’s the last one- But I tell you love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you. – This is easily the most radical of Jesus’ teachings and the most difficult to obey. When you support a politician who denigrates all Mexicans as rapists and murders, calls Haiti a shithole country, and publicly threatens to obliterate Iran, a nation of over 100 million people, you are failing at loving your enemy.

I could say a lot more, and would be willing to have a conversation with you if you’d care to PM your contact info. Your response has a lot of the marks of the warped thinking that is so common in evangelical circles as we have isolated ourselves from the world and bought into a caricature of the Democrat party along with being selective about our moral commitments. Any pastor who continues to support Trump has some major spiritual blindness. I hope you can start working through some of the cultural baggage that has you thinking this way and “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

So, rather than attempt to engage me according to the logic that I reinforce with Scripture, he asserts the idea that I’m just watching Fox News.

He doesn’t acknowledge the difference between a neighbor and an intruder. Jesus uses the illustration of how anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen using the gate, but instead enters by some other way is a thief and a robber (Jn 10:1). He’s talking about Himself as the door by which a person is able to enter into the Kingdom of God. He’s communicating a spiritual truth using a common sense reality that everyone can understand: People who want help, knock. People who want trouble, break in.

It’s the same problem that was referenced in Part II. Loving your neighbor, at the very least, means that you are working to promote their welfare. You’re not doing that by enabling them to ignore the law, or by categorizing those who disobey those in authority as mere “strangers” (Lev 24:17-32; Rom 13:3-4).

I emphasize the fact that it’s not your ethnicity, it’s your character that matters. I state my support for Trump is based on his policies which line up with biblical Absolutes and common sense perspectives, and he says I need stop leading my congregation into “further darkness and destructive anger.”

Mind you, I’m ordained, but I’m not preaching to a congregation every Sunday. My ordination happened when I was a Youth Pastor. I currently lead a Bible Study for adults, but his indictment is toxic, given the fact that he’s accusing me of being a false prophet.

He goes as far as to say that I’m a racist because I maintain that border security is important and the rule of law is both fair, healthy, and biblical (Rom 13:1-5).

So, I respond…

Bruce (the Pastor’s initial comments are in italics, my response is in plain text):

Love your neighbor as yourself. – It is the greatest commandment (along with love God). The story of the Good Samaritan teaches 2 things: 1 – my neighbor is whoever has needs and I can help. 2 – righteousness isn’t about which group you are in, but rather what you do and why you do it. Every group that Trump spews hate at is my neighbor and yours too.

Imagine you’re the Good Samaritan. But instead of coming on the scene AFTER the thieves have beaten and robbed their victim, you come on the scene AS the thieves are beating and robbing their victim.

Who’s your neighbor in that scenario?

How are you going to stop those thieves and not be accused of “hating” them? And how do you plan on doing it? Given your disdain for ICE, what’s your plan? (Rom 13:1–5)

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.

We’re not talking about “foreigners,” though, are we? We’re talking about people who not only broke the law by coming here illegally, but did so with a criminal record. According to Immigration Law, due process is immediate deportation.

Who’s the sinner? The person who broke the law by coming here illegally, or the person who’s enforcing immigration law?

Kindness to others is the single biggest mark of a Godly heart.

No, obedience is the single biggest mark of a Godly heart (Jn 13:34–35).

But I tell you love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you.

Pastor, I would encourage you to read Ecc 7:16–18.

When Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple, was He “loving” them at that point?

Did David love Goliath?

Did Samuel “love” King Agag?

There’s a difference between loving your enemy and enabling them. Failing to stop them, however that needs to occur, is to be complicit in their wrongdoing. In that moment, what you want to position as piety is actually rebellion.

The same God that commanded us to love our enemy is the same God that commanded Israel to defeat the Canaanites in the Conquest of the Promised Land. He also made a point of leaving some nations in tact in order to ensure those among the Hebrews who had yet to experience combat would have a chance to learn (Jud 3:1–2).

God is not being inconsistent (Num 23:19). When He commanded us to love our enemy, He wasn’t commanding us to be an accomplice. And that’s exactly what you’re doing when you fail to stop them, or discipline them, or arrest them. You mention widows. How about the widows who lost their husbands at the hand of an illegal immigrant who wasn’t supposed to be here to begin with (Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) | Homeland Security)?

The “foreigner,” as he’s referenced in Scripture, is a person who has chosen to live among the Israelites and abide by their rules. Their race, their gender – all of that is superfluous. It’s their conduct that is to be evaluated. I’ve referenced Rom 13:1–5 more than once and you don’t seem to want to acknowledge that. As a result, you remain content believing that the rule of law is no rule at all. That’s not consistent with common sense, let alone the whole of God’s Word.

By using the illustration of the Good Samaritan, I’m demonstrating that you can’t rightfully categorize everyone as your “neighbor,” given the reality of sin, which often manifests itself in criminal behavior. That’s not being hateful, that’s being discerning (Jn 7:24).

I point out that by failing to make the distinction between someone who is breaking the law and someone who merely needs help is to be complicit in whatever wrongdoing is being accomplished (Lev 19:17; Rom 1:32; Jas 4:17). In other words, you’re watching someone break into your neighbor’s house, yet you insist that the thief is merely a guest.

This Pastor insists that the authority that wields the sword is the enemy, despite what it says in Romans 13:4, that you are to obey those authorities that God has instituted.

I point out that “love” is often manifested in the context of discipline and even lethal force in that, you’re not only promoting the welfare of your enemy by holding them accountable to a standard that prevents them from harming themselves and others, but also in the way you protect those you love by destroying those who constitute lethal threats (Ex 22:2; Rom 13:4; Acts 23:23-24).

And this is what he said…

Pastor: That’s some pretty twisted up thinking there. Not so much the Scriptures but in the assumptions about certain people and in the convenient / abusive way you’ve defined certain terms like “foreigner.”I also see some straight racism in the comment about all illegals immigrants having criminal records which simply isn’t true, yet another of Trump’s lies to justify the abuse of non-white immigrants.

Agreed, the rule of love does not require total pacifism. I never said it did. It does, however, require seeking the good of the one you love. Immigration policy is complicated and well beyond this topic, but our system is broken. No Democrat, not Biden or Harris or any other, wants open borders. Neither do I. But out of love for my neighbor, I don’t support squads of untrained thugs dragging every resident out of an apartment building at night because there are a few illegal immigrants living among the citizens. There is a nuanced position on this that preserves kindness and patience while also protecting society from the abuse of criminals.

So again, I’m going to challenge you to step outside of your Trump loving echo chamber and weigh the words and actions of our leadership against Scripture without stacking the deck for them just because they promise to keep all the people you are scared of away. Godly people do not live in fear.

Now, I’m getting frustrated…

I’m a “racist” because I agree that you shouldn’t attempt to enter this country illegally.

He refuses to make the distinction between immigrants and illegal immigrants.

He refers to ICE Agents as “untrained thugs.” I don’t even bother with that, simply because no one was complaining about a lack of training or abusive tactics when this was happening during the Obama Administration, despite the fact that Tom Holman was in charge back then as he is now. Tactics and techniques haven’t changed. What has changed is the resolve to demonize those who enforce immigration law as means to undermine the President.

And again, you’re not loving “loving your neighbor” by enabling them to break the law, or by pretending that the rule of law is nonexistent. That’s not love, that’s neglect.

So, I fire back…

Bruce: At one point the President had pictures of illegals who had criminal records that had been apprehended displayed on the White House lawn. That’s not all illegals, is it? Racism is neither biblical nor anything other than heinous. I’m not being racist, I’m being fair. And as far as untrained thugs…a nuanced position…Why is it that Tom Holman gets the Presidential Rank Award under Barack Obama and then gets demonized once he’s serving under Trump?

As far as ICE Agents storming an apartment “just because there are a few illegal immigrants living among the citizens.” They’re not “a few illegal immigrants,” are they? They’re illegal immigrants with criminal records that were knowingly released by the prior administration that now have to deported (Over 600 Illegal Immigrants with Prior Criminal Convictions Released into the U.S. – Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs). What is your “nuanced” approach? And how do you think your “nuanced” approach would resonate in the minds of the surviving family members who have been murdered and / or raped by an illegal immigrant?

You want to dismiss me as being Racist. You’ve implied that I have a flawed approach to Scripture, and that the only reason I maintain my perspective is because I’m secretly afraid of people who look different than me.

I asked you a question about the Good Samaritan scenario, and you didn’t answer.

I asked you who was sinning: The person who comes here illegally, or the person enforcing border security? You didn’t answer.

Have you ever travelled outside the country? Do you have any clue as to the kind of justice that you would exacted upon you if you tried to cross the border illegally? Do you not listen to the comments made by Barack Obama who insisted that anyone with a criminal record who comes here illegally needs to be deported? And in the same speech said anyone who crosses the border illegally, with or without a criminal record, will be caught and deported. He deported more illegals than any other President in history. Where was your indignation at that point?

“But out of love for my neighbor, I…”

But they’re not your neighbor, are they? Compassion is easy when it costs you nothing, and being hypocritical is even easier when you’re not responsible.

I’ll leave you with this, Pastor: You’re not making things better. You take verses out of context and use them to support the idea that “loving your enemy” effectively replaces confrontation, criticism, and conviction. You place yourself on the bench, and then criticize those who are still on the field, protecting you and your disregard for Rom 13:1–5.

You may not like President Trump, but he’s delivering on everything he promised to do. As far as a I can tell, you see justice as abuse. You favor the villain over the victim, and you justify your nonsensical perspective on a resolve to believe that loving your enemy equates to enabling them.

The good news is that I’m using your thoughts in a Bible Study tonite and I’ll shoot you the outline…

Did you catch that question I asked that he didn’t answer? “Who was sinning: The person who comes here illegally, or the person enforcing border security?”

We’re building to a succinct collection of bottom lines that we’ll look at in just a minute.

Here’s his last comment…

Wow, the confidence of complete isolation from facts is stunning.If you can’t separate kindness and cruelty from abstract policy, you aren’t worth talking to.

If you can call anything Trump had done this year “success,” you are too misinformed to participate in an adult conversation.

As for not responding to certain things you said, I’ll simply say that some thoughts are worth putting mental energy into, and some simply aren’t.

Recap

Jesus Criticized Both Jews & Gentiles

Some want to try and qualify the extent of Christ’s rebukes only to the Israelites and use that idea to suggest that any criticism of anyone other than those in the church is to fall short of Christ’s example.

But that’s not the case.

Indeed, it is true that Christ’s first priority was the “lost sheep of Israel.” (Matt 15:21-28) But Jesus referred to the sinful flaws of the Gentiles on more than one occasion.

• Don’t enter into a covenant with them – from the very beginning, God was explicit in telling the Hebrews not to interact with the sinful influence of the Gentiles (Exodus 34:12; Deuteronomy 7:1–8; Joshua 23:11–13; Ezra 10:1–5).
• Treat them like a Gentile – after following the steps Jesus outlined when it came to warning and rebuking a person who sins, but doesn’t want to take responsibility for their actions,  He says to treat them like a Gentile (Matt 18:17).
• Do not even the Gentiles do that? Here Jesus is pointing out that you don’t simply reciprocate how others treat you. Rather, you are to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. Otherwise, you’re no different than the Gentiles (Matt 5:47). Again, you’re not loving your enemy by encouraging them to break the law or making it easier for them to sin.
• Bad Leadership – To truly lead, you need to adopt the perspective of a servant leader (Mk 10:45). Otherwise, you risk lording it over your subordinates like the Gentiles do (Matt 20:25-29)
• Gentiles are a problem – Jerusalem will be destroyed by the Gentiles (Lk 21:20-24)

and yet…

• Elisha heals a Gentile – God used Elisha to heal Namaan of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19)
• Hope for the Gentiles – There are several OT passages that reference how people from all nations will seek the Lord (Isaiah 2:1–5, 42:1–4; Zechariah 8:20–23)
• Great is your faith – Jesus heals the Centurion’s servant and publicly praises him for his faith. Jesus also praised the faith of a Canaanite woman for her faith (Matt 8:9-12; 15:28; Lk 7:5-9).
• Begin in Jerusalem and then to all nations – The Great Commission was to start in Jerusalem and then to spread to the Gentile in every nation (Is 49:6; Matt 5:15-16; 28:19-20; Lk 24:46-49; Acts 1:8).

Talking to this Pastor, and anyone who thinks like him, can be exasperating. You enumerate facts, you cite the laws that apply, you refer to specific Scriptures and, in their mind, they can dismiss every bit of it simply by saying, “…you aren’t worth talking to.”

What they really mean is that they don’t want to talk to you because of your capacity to reveal their logic as being fundamentally flawed.

Here’s a recap…

  • It’s not “hate” to rightfully identify illegal / sinful behavior (Lk 17:3; Rom 13:4-5).
  • You’re not being Christlike by ignoring fraud (Prov 6:12-19; 11:1).
  • Foreigners and strangers are biblically commanded to obey the law (Lev 24:17-22)
  • You are not “loving your neighbor” by encouraging them to ignore those laws that apply to them (Rom 13:3-4).

Conclusion: What Did Jesus Do?

While the latter part of the discussion focused primarily on illegal immigrants, this Pastor was addressing everything from Race to Capitalism to Education, insisting that every criticism coming from a Conservative mindset was uninformed, racist, and inconsistent with the Bible in general.

“What would Jesus do?” is often cited by Liberals and like minded Christians who want to insist that any kind of evaluation is rooted in prejudice and is therefore both irrelevant and immoral.

But the real question is “What did Jesus do?”

Like what was referenced in Part I, He judged, He criticized, He got angry, He called out hypocrisy and sin. That side of Jesus is largely ignored by people who want to pretend that there are no Standards, only situations, and there are no Principles, only preferences.

You love your enemy by promoting their welfare, which is ultimately manifested in the way you direct them to Christ. You don’t do that by enabling their wrongdoing or dismissing their sinful behavior. Grace means nothing without first acknowledging yourself as someone who needs to be forgiven. If there is no standard, then there is no sin. If there is no sin, there’s no need for grace.

What did Jesus do?

He made grace attractive by first making it necessary.

Your enemy is not always approachable. In war, you simply have to stop them. “Love” in that context is gauged more in the context of the life you are protecting rather than the life you are taking. A thief has to be subdued before he can be enlightened.

But an enemy that can be influenced will not see grace as attractive until he first sees it as something necessary. His perception of his iniquity is hindered when you say it doesn’t exist, just like his hope to be forgiven can be discouraged when you insist it isn’t deserved.

Loving your enemy, then, is to acknowledge the reality of his sin in a way that points them to Christ. You don’t enable their sin, you don’t ignore their crime. You address it in a way where God can reveal their sin, and then offer them the grace they now know they need.

What Does it Mean to Love Your Enemy? | Part II

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Neither Biblical nor Noble

This is Part 2 of a 3 part series where we’re looking at how you are to love your enemy.

When you remain silent in the face of evil, you’re able to effectively insulate yourself from the attacks that come from those who want to silence anyone who would dare to point out their sinister actions and intent.

However sinful it may be (Gal 2:11-21; Jas 4:17), it’s an alluring way to remain on the sidelines so as to avoid the real conflict that’s happening on the field and the opposition you would otherwise have to contend with.

But when you look at Scripture as a whole, you are compelled to concede that remaining either silent or accommodating is neither biblical let alone noble.

These days, Politics and Current Events tend to be processed according to two very different worldviews.

One sees evil as something to be accommodated, the other sees it as something to be resisted.

Those who see evil as something that needs to be accommodated need to position it as something to pity. You don’t have to get someone to agree with you if you can get them to feel sorry for you.

You see that often in the Bible beginning in Genesis 3 when the serpent suggests to Eve that God is both afraid and resentful:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:1-5)

Satan begins by suggesting that God had denied Adam and Even the ability to eat from any tree, He asserts the idea that God is unnecessarily harsh, which, by default, makes Adam and Eve victims of an overbearing administration. Then in verse 5 he suggests that God is secretly intimidated at the thought of Adam and Eve becoming more than what they are right now.

What was a generous provision is now seen as an unnecessary restriction imposed by a mindset characterized by fear and hate.

Poison Disguised as a Courtesy

However obvious it may be from a distance, it can be difficult to see up close because of the way compliance with an evil premise is often justified as an act of compassion.

  • Aaron’s part in building the golden calf (Ex 32:22-23)
  • Israel’s demand for a king (1 Sam 8:6-9)
  • Saul disobeys God by sparing King Agag and the best of the livestock (1 Sam 15:7-10)
  • King Herod’s request to the Magi to tell him where Jesus was born (Matt 2:7-8, 13)
  • Judas complaining about the perfume used to anoint Christ, saying that it should’ve been sold and the money given to the poor (Jn 12:1-8)

In each of the above scenarios, you have a situation where sin was concealed as a healthy and logical compromise. But what appeared to be rational and even noble, was a poison disguised as a courtesy.

The Right Questions

While discerning the difference between a legitimate request for mercy and a selfish demand for immunity is not always easy, you can gain some visibility into what’s actually the case by asking the right questions.

Accusations can be denied, and facts can be disputed. But a simple question left insufficiently answered cannot be ignored. With the right question, you’re able to proceed directly to that place where there’s either an answer or an excuse, and that’s an important dynamic to have in place in order to prevent a lie from being embraced as the truth.

Today’s political climate is frequently punctuated with soundbytes and snapshots that are presented as holistic perspectives on a particular issue. The result is a toxic environment where falsehoods are concealed behind cries for compassion and anything that has the capacity to reveal the truth is demonized as ignorant and tyrannical.

For example, the following was circulated on Social Media as an attempt to accuse anyone who supports the current administration as being less than Christlike. However compelling it may appear to be on the surface, its flaws from both a biblical and logical perspective are revealed simply by asking the right questions.

You’ll see the original post on the left with the “right questions” listed on the right.

post the right questions

Through the White House Office of Faith, the Trump administration has racked up several significant accomplishments on behalf of America’s faith based community which include:

Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias – In 2023, the Biden Administration labeled people of faith as domestic terror threats for opposing abortion and transgender ideologies. Paulette Harlow, a 75 year old grandmother confined to a wheel chair was arrested for “obstructing” an Abortion Clinic and sentenced to 2 years in prison. This was typical of the Biden DOJ. The Trump Administration, through the “White House Office of Faith” pardoned Harlow as well as several others who were imprisoned for their “terrorist” activities.

The Department of Veterans Affairs rescinded a Biden-era speech code that censored the sermons of military chaplains – Russell Trubey was a chaplain in a Pennsylvania VA medical center for 10 years. After delivering a sermon at the center’s chapel on Romans 1, police approached him alleging complaints were reported about the content of his message. He was removed from his duties and reassigned to stock shelves in the hospital. The Trump Administration rescinded that action and reinforced the fact that chaplains can preach in accordance with their faith without fear of persecution.

Establishment of the Religious Liberty Commission – Compelling statistics reveal a disproportionate bias against Christian universities during the Biden era. Outrageous fines that were, in some instances, the largest dollar amounts in history, were levied against faith based colleges for identical infractions committed by secular institutions that were not punished to the same extent. This anomaly was seen, not just in academia, but in a number of instances pertaining to funding and tax exempt status.

For a complete listing of the Trump Administration’s accomplishments in the context of faith based initiatives, click here.
You can’t spend Sunday morning in church praising Jesus, talking about love, compassion, mercy, humility, honesty, and caring for the vulnerable, then spend Sunday afternoon defending an administration that does the exact opposite. Are you being being like Christ by insisting that everyone who is breaking into your neighbor’s house is only doing so because they’re hungry? And how are you not being hypocritical if you’re telling your nethat they should leave its doors open when yours are locked and you’ve got a security system in place?
And before someone says, “But I’m a Republican,” let me remind you of something: God doesn’t serve political parties. Jesus didn’t die for Democrats. Jesus didn’t die for Republicans. He didn’t wear a red hat or a blue one. He didn’t tell people to pick a team and hate the other side. He called people to love their neighbor, care for the poor, welcome the stranger, seek truth, show mercy, and hold the powerful accountable. You can’t praise the Good Samaritan while cheering policies that target immigrants and asylum seekers. Is it against the law to enter this country illegally?

How were the “foreigners” and “strangers” in Scripture treated when they broke the law? (Lev 24:17-22)

Loving your enemy, at the very least, means that you are working to promote their welfare. How are you doing that by enabling their illegal behavior?
You can’t celebrate “love thy neighbor” while mocking the poor, cutting assistance for struggling families, and treating human suffering like a political talking point. You can’t talk about protecting children while separating families, demonizing entire communities, and creating fear as a governing strategy. How am I “loving my neighbor” by ignoring fraud?

Why are you blaming law enforcement for separating families when it was the parents who put their families in that position to begin with?

Is it not common for guilty people to be afraid of being caught (Rom 13:3-4)?
Jesus fed the hungry. He didn’t ask for their paperwork first. Jesus healed the sick. He didn’t check their political party. Jesus stood with the marginalized. He didn’t use them as campaign props. Jesus challenged the powerful. He didn’t worship them. This administration has normalized cruelty, retaliation, greed, vengeance, dishonesty, scapegoating, and the constant division of Americans against one another. It attacks journalists, demonizes opponents, mocks compassion as weakness, treats empathy as a flaw, and encourages people to view fellow Americans as enemies rather than neighbors. How would you expect someone who’s guilty of fraud and deceit to react when they’re revealed for who and what they are?

What’s the purpose of division according to 1 Corinthians 11:19?

Which party is it that refers to its opponents as Nazis?
The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ask yourself honestly: are those the values being demonstrated? Or are we seeing anger, fear, revenge, hostility, insults, loyalty tests, culture wars, and endless outrage? You don’t have to be a Democrat to see it. You don’t have to be liberal to see it. You just have to compare what Jesus taught with what this administration celebrates. Does love delight in evil? And is it not evil to ignore the rule of law (Rom 13:4)?
If your politics require you to ignore cruelty, excuse corruption, justify lies, or abandon compassion, then politics has become your religion and your politician has become your idol. God doesn’t have a political team. Jesus doesn’t wear a campaign hat. What does the Bible say about a fool’s reaction to discipline (Prov 15:7, 10)?

If truth is whatever an individual wants to believe, then how else would they react to correction if not by labeling it as cruel, corrupt, and lacking in compassion?
And no politician is important enough to place above the values you claim to believe in every Sunday morning. Why would I not support a politician who enforces the rule of law, deploys a foreign policy that’s characterized by actions and not just words, and calls out falsehoods when he sees them?

Three Kinds of Musicians

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There are three kinds of musicians:

Let me hear it – the first category is the player that doesn’t read music and will approach a song in a way that is utterly dependent on the way it was recorded. In some cases, they’re entry level players  who will often reduce those things that are technically demanding to something more manageable, just so they can “sound” competent. Some of those who play by ear are excellent musicians, but nevertheless are uncomfortable when you put any kind of sheet music in front of them because of their unfamiliarity with musical notation.

Let me at it – the second category can “shred.” They’ve got all kinds of chops and are looking for any opportunity to insert their new lick, regardless of whether or not it serves the song. They are are technically proficient, and have an enthusiastic attitude, but are musically immature and will often play in a way that draws more attention to themselves rather than the substance of the song they’re playing.

Let me play it – the third category takes what’s on the page and performs it in a way that communicates in a way that goes beyond what’s heard. All of the technical expertise of the musician is used to ensure the lyric / melody is allowed to speak directly into the heart of the individual that’s listening.

All three of these “musicians” require a different approach when you’re tasked with directing their energies in a positive direction. You want to affirm their strengths and respect both their enthusiasm and their effort as you show them what you want to hear.

If you don’t make that effort to tailor your direction in a way that conforms to the category they belong to, your content gets overwhelmed by your delivery and you’re not leading people anymore, now you’re just irritating and insulting them.

Proverbs 25:11 says:

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken at the right time. (Prov 25:11 [AMP])

It’s not just tact, it’s respect. And with that respect, comes a positive result. Otherwise, whatever results you get are going to be less than what you want.

We’re commanded in Scripture to be respectful.

As parents, we’re told not to exasperate our kids:

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Eph 6:4 [NIV]).

You can see the point that is being made more vividly by looking at the same Scripture in the Amplified version:

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Eph 6:4 [AMP])

When we’re trying to communicate the Substance of the gospel, we’re told to do it with gentleness and respect:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (1 Pet 3:15)

As leaders, you want to set the example by not using your authority to force your will, but to look out for their best interests:

2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Pet 5:2-4 [ see also Ez 34:1-4; Matt 20:25-28])

Anytime you’re tasked with leading another person or a group of individuals, you have two responsibilities. Your first responsibility is to lead them in a positive direction. Your second responsibility is to lead in a positive way. Simply telling someone that they “should” do something, isn’t the same as leading a person in a way where they “want” to do something.

That doesn’t mean you’ll never encounter difficult people who don’t want to be led, or taught (Neh 9:16). And sometimes the situation doesn’t lend itself to anything other than a need to obey immediately (Gen 19:26). But solid leadership is characterized by a servant’s heart and an approach that takes the time to consider, not just what needs to be said, but the way it needs to be said.

 

What Does it Mean to Love Your Enemy? | Part I

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This is a three part series that responds to a couple of social media posts denigrating ICE, the deportation of illegal immigrants, and the overall tone of President Trump’s leadership.

Most of the rhetoric is based on a distorted interpretation of what the Bible means, as far as “loving your enemy.” At the very minimum…

  • It’s not “hate” to rightfully identify illegal / sinful behavior (Lk 17:3; Rom 13:4-5).
  • You’re not being Christlike by ignoring fraud (Prov 6:12-19; 11:1).
  • Foreigners and strangers are biblically commanded to obey the law (Lev 24:17-22)
  • You are not “loving your neighbor” by encouraging them to ignore those laws that apply to them (Rom 13:3-4).

You can download the Bible study that talks about how to love your enemy by clicking on the links below…

• “How To Love Your Enemy” (Leader Guide)
• “How To Love Your Enemy” (Listening Sheet)

What Does it Mean?

What does it mean to love your enemy?

There are some people who believe that Christ’s command to love one’s enemy means to encourage and applaud them, regardless of their behavior.

Consider the following:

command verse
Do not resist an evil person. Turn the other cheek, do not resist, go the extra mile 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matt 5:38-40)
Do not judge Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (Matt 7:1)
Don’t be critical Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Eph 4:29)
Don’t be angry 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (Jas 1:19-20)
Love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:43-48)

 

If we stop right here, then it’s very reasonable to believe that, when it comes to those who qualify as our “enemy,” we should never direct towards them any criticism or correction. Anything that has the potential to make them feel uncomfortable is at least cruel if not contrary to the Word of God.

And what makes it even more compelling is that when you look at the word “love,” as it’s used in Luke 10:27 where we’re told to “love the Lord your God…,” it’s the same word in the Greek:

Agape.

Agape love is described as:

…the goodwill and benevolence of God shown in self-sacrifice and an unconditional commitment to the loved one. Agape is similar to chesed in that it is steadfast, regardless of circumstances. Agape love is the kind of love we are to have for God in fulfillment of the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37). Jesus wants to instill agape in His followers as we serve others through the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 22:39; John 13:34) (gotquestions.org).

So, we are to love God, each other, and our enemies with “agape” love which, incidentally, is the same word that describes the kind of love God has for us.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn 13:34-35)

If “love” is nothing more than a perpetual affirmation of a person, then it would follow that nothing is inappropriate or deserving of condemnation. After all, we’re not supposed to judge (Matt 7:1), which further reinforces the idea that there’s no room for any kind of criticism in the heart of a true follower of Christ.

No one is immoral, there are no criminals, there are no threats, borders, or opponents. There is only love and acceptance.

Real Love in Action

But you find yourself having to reevaluate that perspective when you consider the way love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor 13:4-7)

Agape love doesn’t delight in evil. Matthew Henry’s Commentary elaborates on that by saying, “It is the very height of malice to take pleasure in the misery of a fellow-creature. And is not falling into sin the greatest calamity that can befal one? How inconsistent is it with Christian charity, to rejoice at such fall!”

So, it makes sense, then, that, if you love your enemy, you’re going to promote their welfare by helping them avoid the consequences of sin.

And how do you do that?

Well, how did Jesus do it?

the actions of Christ verse
He resisted evil

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [b]15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. (Matt 23:13-36 [see also Matt 3:7; 12:34)
He judged 20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.[e] For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Matt 11:20-24)
He was critical

Peter:  23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Matt 16:23)

Pharisees: Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:  8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain;  their teachings are merely human rules.’[c]” (Matt 15:1-9)

Herod: 31 At that very hour some Pharisees came up and said to Him, “Leave and go away from here, because Herod [Antipas] wants to kill You.” 32 And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox [that sly, cowardly man], ‘Listen carefully: I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I reach My goal.’ (Lk 13:31-32 [AMP])
He got angry 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[f]” (Matt 21:12-13)
He will punish His enemies and banish those who persecuted Him.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matt 25:31-46)

 

In addition to the fact that Jesus did criticize, judge, and resist evil, when you consider the way in which God empowered the Israelites in the context of their military endeavors, it’s obvious that “loving your enemy” means something more than just being accommodating  (Ps 44:3).

You’re Not Being Kind If…

You’re not being kind if you’re making it easier for someone to sin. Nor are you loving your enemy, let alone your neighbor or family member, by enabling their disobedience. That would be like offering a glass of water to Adam and Eve so they can better digest the fruit they’re eating (Gen 3:6).

Fact is, you are being disobedient by not calling out bad behavior, given what it says in Ephesians 5:11:

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. (Eph 5:11 [see also Jas 4:17])

When you consider the whole of God’s Word, and not just random verses taken out of context, a believer’s response to evil looks much different than the accommodating applause that is often promoted by our society today.

Do not judge…

That’s not a direct quote from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus never said not to judge. The verse in its entirety is, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matt 7:1) What Jesus was saying here is to not be hypocritical by criticizing something in a person’s behavior when you’re doing the same thing. Bear in mind that in John 7:24, Jesus says to stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. You can’t expose the fruitless works of darkness without “judging” whether or not what you’re seeing is, in fact, sinful. Galatians 6:1 instructs those who are spiritually capable to help restore someone who’s been caught doing something wrong. Again, you can’t correctly identify wrongful behavior unless you’re judging.

gotquestions.org sums it up very well…

The Bible’s command that we not judge others does not mean we cannot show discernment. Immediately after Jesus says, “Do not judge,” He says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs” (Matthew 7:6). A little later in the same sermon, He says, “Watch out for false prophets. . . . By their fruit you will recognize them” (verses 15–16). How are we to discern who are the “dogs” and “pigs” and “false prophets” unless we have the ability to make a judgment call on doctrines and deeds? Jesus is giving us permission to tell right from wrong.

Do not defend yourself…

Jesus told His disciples to get a sword, and if they didn’t have one, to sell their coat and go buy one…

36-37He said, “This is different. Get ready for trouble. Look to what you’ll need; there are difficult times ahead. Pawn your coat and get a sword. What was written in Scripture, ‘He was lumped in with the criminals,’ gets its final meaning in me. Everything written about me is now coming to a conclusion.” (Luke 22:36-37 [MSG])

The NIV Text Note reads:

buy one – An extreme figure of speech used to warn them of the perilous times about to come. They could need defense and protection, as Paul did when he appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:11) as the one who “bears the sword” (Rom 13:4)

The Bible is rife with military action, armed escorts, and multiple examples of “sanctified violence” which make it abundantly clear that there are times when the use of force is both encouraged and, in many instances, empowered by God Himself. (see also Conquest of the Promised Land [Josh 6:20-21; Josh 11:20], Gideon [Jud 7], David defending Israel by attacking the Philistines [1 Sam 23:1-2], Building the Wall [Neh 4:13])

Love your enemy…

Agape love in practice is to be constantly encouraging the object of your love in a positive direction. You are not “loving your enemy” by subsidizing their bad behavior or ignoring the Standard that defines it. You do that by alerting them to the pain and the problems that lie just beyond the sin that they’re getting ready to commit. Confrontation and criticism are both represented in the example of Christ and we are commanded to be Christlike, not only by calling out bad behavior, but also in way we do it (Ps 141:5; Prov 12:18; 25:11; 27:5-6; Matt 18:15-17; Gal 6:1).

Scripture as a Whole

When you remain silent in the face of evil, not only do you bring judgment upon yourself (Jas 4:17), you effectively insulate yourself from the attacks that come from those who want to silence anyone who would dare to point out their sinister actions and intent, which is frowned upon as well (Gal 2:11-21).

However sinful it may be, it’s an alluring way to remain on the sidelines so as to avoid the real conflict that’s happening on the field and the opposition you would have to contend with.

But when you look at Scripture as a whole, you are compelled to concede that remaining either silent or accommodating is neither biblical let alone noble.

What does it mean to love your enemy? At the very least, it means that you commit yourself to their welfare by helping them to avoid the consequences of bad decisions. You don’t do that by making it easier for them to fail or enabling the harm they would do to themselves and others.

Prove It! | Part VI: Bible Difficulties

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Not an Option

On occasion, you’ll run into passages of Scripture that either don’t make sense or they appear contradictory.

Critics love to seize on these apparent “errors,” and use them to justify their resolve to dismiss the Bible as flawed and therefore irrelevant.

Even those that believe the resurrection of Christ will sometime side with those that process the Bible as corrupted in light of what appear to be passages that seem nonsensical.

However logical it may be to acknowledge the capacity of human beings to make mistakes, when evaluating the Word of God, you want to be sensitive to the fact that you’re not merely inspecting the accuracy of a human effort as much as you’re criticizing God’s Ability to maintain the integrity of His Word.

Dr Gleason Archer
The problems and questions dealt with in this volume have been directed to me during the past thirty years of teaching on the graduate seminary level in the field of biblical criticism.As an undergraduate at Harvard, I was fascinated by apologetics and biblical evidences; so I labored to obtain a knowledge of the languages and cultures that have any bearing on biblical scholarship. As a classics major in college, I received training in Latin and Greek, also in French and German. At seminary I majored in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic; and in post-graduate years I became involved in Syriac and Akkadian, to the extent of teaching elective courses in each of these subjects. Earlier, during my final two years of high school, I had acquired a special interest in Middle Kingdom Egyptian studies, which was furthered as I later taught courses in this field. At the Oriental Institute in Chicago, I did specialized study in Eighteenth Dynasty historical records and also studied Coptic and Sumuerian.Combined with this work in ancient languages was a full course of training at law school, after which I was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1939. This gave me a thorough grounding in the field of legal evidences. Additionally, I spent three years in Beruit, Lebanon, in specialized study of modern literary Arabic. This was followed by a month in the Holy Land, where I visited most of the important archaeological sites.1

Consider these verses:

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Jer 23:29)

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matt 5:18)

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet 1:21)

The Bible doesn’t allow itself to be anything less than inerrant. And it makes sense because to regard anything that resonates as “incorrect” as a legitimate discrepancy that simply has to be accepted and / or overlooked, is to call into question the substance of the gospel, the Reality of the empty tomb, and even the existence of God Himself. Your skepticism can’t remain specific to one particular verse. If it can be proven that one particular passage has been contaminated, there’s nothing to prevent foundational Scriptures from being corrupted as well.

Bear in mind, we’re not talking about “differences,” as much as we’re talking about discrepancies. Just because a different word is used to communicate a particular idea when comparing different versions and translations to one another, doesn’t alter the fundamental meaning of the text. For more information about the authenticity of the New Testament, click here.

That said, there are passages that seem problematic and that’s what we’re talking about in this final installment of the “Prove It!” series.

Three Days and Three Nights

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt 12:40)

According to Luke 23:44, Jesus died at 3:00 PM on a Friday. If that’s the case, according to what Jesus said in the book of Matthew, His Resurrection should’ve occurred on Monday, or perhaps Tuesday, if you’re assuming that a day is a full 24 hour period.

Jesus is not mistaken, nor is there an error in what Matthew wrote or what has since been passed down through the centuries.

Hebrews reckoned a day as beginning at 6:00 PM…

The Hebrew day (yom) begins at sundown, when three stars become visible in the sky (the rabbis reasoned that the day begins at sunset based on the description of God’s activity in creation, “and the evening and the morning were the first day,” Genesis 1:5). Evening is sometimes defined as the late afternoon, that is, between 3:00 pm to sundown.2

Not everyone in the ancient world documented time in the same way, certainly not the Romans who defined 12:00 AM as the beginning of the new day.

Consequently, according to ancient parlance, in order to refer to three separate twenty-four hour timeframes, you would say, “Three days and three nights” – even though only a portion fo the first and third days might be involved. Refer to the diagram below to better visualize the way dates and times were processed back then.

The Potter’s Field

9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” (Matt 27:9-10)

This passage refers to the money that was originally paid to Judas for betraying Jesus who, upon recognizing his treachery, returned the money to the Pharisees and the proceeded to hang himself (Matt 27:5).

The Pharisees then took the money and purchased the “potter’s field,” which is referenced in the book of Zechariah.

And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord. (Zec 11:12-13)

And yet, Matthew cites Jeremiah as the source of the quotation. At first glance, this looks like an error right up until the time you consider Jeremiah 32:6-9:

6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’

8 “Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels[a] of silver. (Jer 32:6-9)

So, it would appear that Matthew is correct in referring to Jeremiah as being the prophecy being fulfilled in the context of the money Judas gave back to the Pharisees, but it’s there’s actually several things happening simultaneously that makes this scenario especially meaningful.

What you have here is a composite of two prophecies; one from Jeremiah and one from Zechariah, with Zechariah referring to what Jeremiah had previously said.

Look at this:

Jeremiah & Zechariah
Jeremiah 18-19 Chapter 18 has God telling Jeremiah to go to a nearby potter’s house and recognize how God is similar to the potter in the way he can shape the course of nations, just as a potter can shape, destroy, and remake a piece of pottery.

In chapter 19, God instructs Jeremiah to use a piece of pottery to describe to the kings of Judah and the people of Jerusalem how God was getting ready to, “…bring disaster on this place.” In the same chapter, God says the the Valley of Ben Hinnom would come to be referred to as the “Valley of Slaughter.”
Zechariah 11:12-13 Here you have a dollar amount of thirty pieces of silver being “thrown to the potter.” Given the way the “potter” had been used by Jeremiah, you now have a common thread running through those two passages.
Acts 1:19 Here, Luke names the area that the Pharisees purchased which was referred to as the “potter’s field” in the book of Matthew as “Akeldama,” which is located in…the Valley of Hinnom.
So, between these two passages, you have

  • a dollar amount
  • a piece of property
  • …and an ancient stigma attached to the very place where Judas would hang himself and the Pharisees would engage in a transaction that had been prophesied 600 years beforehand.

You Won’t be Forgiven?

Matthew 6:15 says:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matt 6:15)

On the surface, it’s tempting to think that this verse is implying that your eternal security is at risk if you refuse to forgive others of the things they have done to you.

That’s not the case.

Our salvation is secured by the death and resurrection of Christ. There’s nothing we can do to earn it or sustain it:

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

No one will be able to stand before God and insist that they be forgiven of their sins because they showed grace to another human being.

There is, however, a “tension” that can be established between you and your Heavenly Father as a result of disobedience. You see that explained in this commentary from gotquestions.org:

The difference between Ephesians 1:6-8 and 1 John 1:9 is that John is dealing with what we call “relational,” or “familial,” forgiveness—like that of a father and a son. For example, if a son does something wrong to his father—falling short of his expectations or rules—the son has hindered his fellowship with his father. He remains the son of his father, but the relationship suffers. Their fellowship will be hindered until the son admits to his father that he has done wrong. It works the same way with God; our fellowship with Him is hindered until we confess our sin. When we confess our sin to God, the fellowship is restored. This is relational forgiveness.3

It’s that relational forgiveness that’s being withheld, and not the forgiveness that characterizes you identity in Christ.

Law or Love?

It’s hard to reconcile the idea of a loving God when you look at the Conquest of the Promised Land.

You must destroy all the peoples the Lord give over to you. (Dt 7:16)

10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?[b] 20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls. (Dt 20:10-20)

It’s important to realize that the depravity of the cities that had been singled out for destruction had been engaged in their rebellion for centuries. The Conquest of the Promised Land coincided with when the sin of these people groups had reached their full measure (see Gen 15:16 [see Dr. John Lennox’ explanation by clicking on the image to the right]).

These were unique situations and not necessarily typical, as is evidenced by Deuteronomy 20:10-15.

Bear in mind that these were cities that were targeted and not whole people groups as can be seen by the fact that Uriah, one of David’s mighty men, was a Hittite (2 Sam 11:1-3).

God is both a God of Love, and a God of Law. Mercy is obtained through repentance, just like judgement is a consequence of rebellion.

Moabite were descendants of Moab, the result of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter (Gen 19:36-38). Israel was subject Moab in Judges 3:14. Saul fought against them in 1 Samuel 14:47, and David went to war against them as well in 2 Samuel 8:2.

They were considered to be enemies. Yet, Ruth was a Moabite. She was also David’s great grandmother. Her initial marriage to an Israelite would’ve raised some concerns, given the way Moabites were not allowed into the assembly of the Lord – not even to the tenth generation (Dt 23:3).

But Ruth’s heritage was not as important as her commitment to God (Ruth 1:16), and that made all the difference. She would be referenced in the genealogy of Christ in. Matthew 1:5.

And that’s what makes Ruth’s situation both logical and inspiring. She wasn’t an “exception” to the rule, she was an example of God’s grace and an illustration of how God is both a God of Love and a God of Law.

Conclusion

Luke 13:28 describes hell as a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Gnashing of teeth” can refer to “seething anger.” It’s difficult to imagine someone having been confronted with the Reality and the Greatness of God to still be so indignant, that they would spend eternity despising their Creator and their Redeemer.

It’s not easy to distinguish the kind of unbeliever you’re interacting with in any given moment. Some of them are genuinely curious, others are simply looking for an opportunity to validate themselves by being critical.

You can’t “prove it” beyond a certain point. In the absence of footage and / or face to face interactions with Christ’s contemporaries, we’re limited by space and time to those things that have been documented and what we can discern from the testimony of creation (Rom, 1:20).

Still, the evidence is compelling and we want to be capable of explaining what we believe and why (1 Pet 3:15). While you’re not capable of changing someone’s heart (Jn 6:65), you can nevertheless be an effective witness and, from that standpoint, you can…

…prove it!

1. “Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties”, Gleason Archer, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1982, p11
2. “Hebrew for Christians”, “Introduction to the Hebrew Calendar”, https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Calendar/calendar.html, accessed May 24, 2026
3. “Got Questions”, “Why do we need to confess our sins if they have already been forgiven (1 John 1:9)?”, https://www.gotquestions.org/confession-forgiveness.html, accessed May 24, 2026

Discussion Questions

Based on the way Hebrews reckoned a day, yet living in a Roman culture, what day would it be if it was Thursday, and someone referred to a timeframe in the future by saying “three days and three nights?”

What does it feel like when you’ve got “unconfessed sin” in your heart? How does that impact your relationship with God (Ps 66:18)?

How has God redeemed a bad situation in your life and turned it into something good?

How do you know God is real? How do you “prove it” in your own mind?

What is it about a Christian that should “prove” the Reality of God?

Ten Questions Christians Can’t Answer | Part III

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7) If you believe the creation account in Genesis is allegorical, they why don’t you treat Paul’s epistles in the same way since he references the creation account in Genesis as historical?

Paul uses the fact of creation throughout his epistles. Here are some examples:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Heb 11;3)

Since the person posing the question in this instance isn’t specific about which verses he’s referencing, it’s difficult to know what exactly he’s referring to. Typically, however, the difficulty with the Creation account is whether or not God completed everything in six literal days. Did He create the heavens and the earth in less than a week, or is a “day” nothing more than a literary device describing a timeframe that may have been significantly longer than 24 hours?

Fact is, there’s a great deal of compelling evidence that suggests the earth is not as old as some in the scientific community would have you believe (click here for more reading on that topic). The bottom line is that carbon dating and other traditionally accepted methods of dating fossils etc. are based on the assumption that the observable conditions of the earth have remained unchanged since the very beginning of time. Indeed, the atmospheric conditions were not necessarily the same, which means that carbon dating is not necessarily absolute.

While some calibration can be made in order to accommodate the atmospheric anomalies that may have been present at the time, those kind of distinctions can only be identified by whatever may have been documented. In other words, outside the context of recorded history, you have a very subjective landscape to navigate when it comes to dating articles of antiquity beyond a certain point.

On the other hand, when you compare Genesis 1:27 which says that God created both Adam and Eve on the sixth day, to Genesis 2, it looks like the sixth day either had a great deal of activity packed into the daylight hours, or you have more time built into the term “day.”

Our culture is steeped in the notion that we inhabit a planet that is billions of years old. It’s a convenient thought in that you now have a theoretically comfortable timeframe to accommodate natural selection and the fortuitous evolution of life as we know it. While there is a fascinating amount of research that’s been done in terms of dating the earth according to a purely biblical model, which suggests that the earth is nowhere near as old as the champions of evolutionary theory would have our grade school classrooms believe, for the sake of this conversation the only pertinent Truth that needs to be affirmed is the fact that God did, in fact, create the universe.

However one wants to interpret Genesis and the age of the earth, the priority here, as far as the way in which Paul refers to creation, is to simply reinforce the fact that God was the Creative Force behind the origin of the cosmos and that is not allegory, that is the literal Truth.

8) How many donkeys did Jesus ride in His triumphal entry in Jerusalem? Was it one like Mark, Luke and John say, or was it two donkeys like Matthew says?

Matthew 21:2 says:

saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.

Mark 11:2, Luke 28:30 and John 12:14-15 only mention one donkey. Jesus wasn’t straddling two donkeys as much as it was Matthew simply mentioning what constituted a complete picture of the prophecy articulated in Zechariah 9:9:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zec 9:9)

Chances are excellent since the foal had never been ridden before, let alone paraded around in front a large and noisy crowd, having the mother lead the foal for the sake of psychological support would’ve been a logical move. Dr. Gleason Archer says as much:

The Zechariah passage does not actually specify that the parent donkey would figure in the triumphal entrance; it simply describes the foal as “the son of a she-ass” by way of poetic parallelism. But Matthew contributes the eyewitness observation (and quite possibly neither Mark nor Luke were eyewitnesses as Matthew was) that the mother actually preceded Jesus in that procession that took Jesus into the Holy City. Here agin, then, there is no real contradiction between the synoptic account but only added detail on the part of Matthew as on who viewed the event while it was happening.1

So, the gospel writers do not conflict with one another as much as Matthew is simply providing more detail.

9) Based on the genealogies for Matthew and Luke, who was Joseph’s father?

Luke follows the genealogy of Mary whereas Matthew follows the genealogy of Joseph. Jesus was the legal descendant of Solomon (Matthew’s genealogy [Joseph]) and a blood relative of Nathan (Luke’s genealogy [Mary]). The confusion is clarified when you take the verbiage of Luke 3:23 into consideration.

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, (Lk 3:23)

Luke is qualifying the list he’s getting ready to enumerate by stating up front that, while it was customary to trace a person’s lineage through the line of the father, the virgin birth represents a special situation. Hence the emphasis on Mary. That fact is further reinforced when you consider the original Greek and notice how Luke doesn’t say that Heil “begat” Joseph. Rather, he was Joseph’s father in law.

Joseph was begotten by Jacob, and was his natural son (Matt 1:16). He could be the legal son of Heli, therefore, only by marriage with Heil’s daughter (Mary) and be reckoned so according to law. It does not say “begat” in the case of Heli.2

10) Was Jesus crucified on the first day of Passover, like the gospel of John says? Or the next day like the other three gospels say?

The confusion stems from John 19:14 where it says:

Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”  (Jn 19:14 [NASB][emphasis added]) 

Matthew 27:62-63 says:

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir, ” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ (Matt 27:62-63)

Mark 15:42-43 says:

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Mark 15:42-43)

Luke refers to the day that Jesus died in the 24th chapter when he says:

It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. (Lk 23:54)

“Preparation Day” was the day before the Sabbath, which was a Saturday. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was often  referred to as “Passover” because of the way the Passover meal served as the opening ceremony for the Feast.3 So, when John uses the term “day of preparation for the Passover,” he’s not referring to the day before the Passover meal, he’s referring to the day before the Sabbath of Passover week (Feast of Unleavened Bread). The NCV rendering of the verse makes that fact more evident:

14It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the crowd, “Here is your king!” (Jn 19:14 [NCV][emphasis added])

In addition, John uses the Greek word “paraskeue” to define the day, which by that point was a technical term that referred to the “day of preparation” for the Sabbath.4 Remember, the Sabbath for the Jew is Saturday and not Sunday. Sunday would later be embraced as the “Lord’s Day” in that it was the day Jesus rose from the grave. So, given everything we’ve now considered, John’s account is consistent with all of the other gospel writers. Jesus was crucified on a Friday and the Last Supper happened on the evening before which was Thursday.

Conclusion

G.K. Chesterton once said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” Many of the critics that circulate their jabs at Christianity on the internet occupy a philosophical position that refuses to concede the Reality of a Power and an Intellect that they cannot understand and / or agree with.  Their attacks are necessary in order to maintain a distance between themselves and a worshipful demeanor which they refuse to buy into. They have found it “difficult” and decided to deny its substance. It’s healthy to be able to respond to questions and attacks, but the nature of these kind of conversations goes beyond a mere intellectual exchange. It is a spiritual contest that has to be engaged in a way that’s consistent with Scripture:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Cor 10:4)

Know what you believe and why you believe it. Pop the hood on the Word of God and be capable of defending it (1 Pet 3:15). And remember too, that oftentimes there’s a bigger picture that you want to expose. Squabbling over the number and the identity of the women who were at the tomb on the morning of Christ’s resurrection is subordinate to the fact that the tomb was empty. Arguing over the amount of time it took for God to create the heavens and the earth is secondary to the fact that God did, in fact, create the heavens and the earth. Dismissing the whole of Scripture because Matthew references both the donkey and its foal, whereas the other gospel writers mention only the foal, is like arguing over whether or not someone paid a ten dollar invoice using exact change or a twenty dollar bill.

The fact is, the debt was paid.

The details of Scripture are important, but you don’t ever want to become so absorbed in the minutia of the gospel that you overlook the fact that there’s a tomb out there that was occupied at one point that is now empty. And that empty grave is the Signature of One Who didn’t claim to be a mere messenger of God, but God Incarnate.

There will always be a critic and there will always be a situation where, regardless of how sound your reasoning may be, the spiritual elements that are involved will always see to it that “revelation” will remain seemingly inconsistent with logic (1 Cor 2:12). That’s not a cue to be less than compelling with your argument. But it’s not an argument that will influence a soul, it’s only the Power and the grace of God that makes the difference (John 6:65; 1 Cor 1:18).

Again, you don’t want to hide behind a “faith based perspective” that comes across as a decision made despite the facts, but rather as a decision made in light of the facts. Be ready to either answer the question being posed, or be ready to direct them to the myriad of resources that provide the science and the literary tools that address their quandary. But be sensitive to the fact that the moment the Name of Jesus is spoken, you’re no longer contending with purely academic themes. The parameters have been expanded and the stakes have been dramatically increased. You can be as compelling and as accurate as you want and still be found wanting. Not because of the substance of your argument, but because of the implications represented by your argument.

Should God be perceived as credible, it’s no longer a debate. Now it’s a soul-altering encounter and the forces referenced in Ephesians 6:12 will do everything they can to prevent that kind of dynamic.

So, be ready, but be wise and not just smart. It’s the Power of God in you that makes the difference and ensures that the outcome of your exchange is not just a willingness to agree with what’s in the Bible, but a desire to submit to the One Who authored it.

1. “Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties”, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1982, p334
2. “The Companion Bible”, E.W. Bullinger, http://www.heavendwellers.com/38%20Luke%201427-1509.pdf, accessed on May 19, 2015
3. Feast of Unleavened Bread..Passover. “Passover” was used in two different different ways: (1) a specific meal begun at twilight on the 14th of Nisan (Lev 23:4-5), and (2) the week following the Passover meal (Eze 45:21), otherwise know as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a week in which no leaven was allowed (Ex 12:15-20; 13:3-7). By NT times the two names for  the week-long festival were vitally interchangeable. (NIV Text Note: “NIV Study Bible”, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1985, p1582)
4. “Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties”, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1982, p375