So, conspiracy theories. Do you enjoy them? If you do, you’re probably the happiest you’ve ever been.

I’ve been thinking about the mechanics and mindset of how conspiracy theories work. My conclusion is that conspiracy theorists can often create a world that is much worse than the one they actually live in.

This may seem like an odd topic for a blog that proposes to be encouraging and uplifting. I intend to take this to a virtuous place, and we’ll end up there. Promise.

I’d add, too, that this isn’t about COVID, necessarily. The pandemic (or whatever it is, assuming you don’t buy into the notion that this is a pandemic) is a ripe place to look for conspiracy theories, but it certainly isn’t the only place. I’ll strive mightily not to judge you or your beliefs – I have my own, as do you. So, no condemnation.

I’ll make a distinction between conspiracy theories and plots. History is rife with plots – starting wars, planning assassinations, even the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. A conspiracy theory, though, operates in a different realm. I’ll give you an example.

I’m old enough to remember the assisination of President Kennedy. The official final word is that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. But did he? I won’t use my space here to delve into other theories, because there are a gazillion out there. 

Here’s what common sense would say. Kennedy was considered the leader of the free world, right? Isn’t that the traditional title bestowed on the President of the United States? So is it plausible that a “nobody” could pull off such a heinous act? I mean, isn’t it more reasonable to assume that someone or a group equally as powerful as Kennedy had to have been responsible? Because if an Oswald could pull something like this, then none of us are safe.

Well, that’s kinda scary. So the natural human impulse is to seek out what really happened, because the thought that one person, working alone,  could assassinate the President is much more disconcerting than believing there was a worldwide conspiracy in place. 

Who, then, benefits in a conspiracy theory? If you want to use COVID as an example, then in whose interest is it for people to stay home, be unemployed, be inactive, lose jobs and income, place stress on close relationships, and watch as their mental, physical, and emotional health collapses. Who are the “they” that benefit from all this? 

I think it is reasonable to assume that there are plenty of bad people out there who would relish the opportunity to profit from a tragedy. It happens all the time. Many years ago my hometown of Elba, Alabama, was flooded by a breach in the levy that surrounded the town. My parents’ home was right in the flood zone. As soon as the water subsided, it wasn’t long before they heard a knock at the door. There was a large truck and trailer, and a crew of men who wanted to pull up the existing ruined carpet in their house and replace it with fresh new carpet.

As it turns out, this was a legitimate business. My parents accepted their offer and had new carpet in a couple of days. The company made some money off my parents, money that wouldn’t have come their way if the flood hadn’t occurred. But did the carpet company cause the breach in the levy? Uh, no. 

Because of some odd quirk in human nature, we assume there is a “they” out there. Off the top of my head, I can think of the Freemasons, the Illuminati, scientologists, FEMA, the New World Order, the Federal Reserve, Halliburton, Google, the Vatican, Bildurberg, Walmart, the Rothchilds, the Knights Templar, the UN, Skull and Bones, the Koch brothers, George Soros, the Trilateral Commission, the Knights of Malta, Exxon Mobil, Zionists, and the lizard people,  who might be considered “they.” 

“They” are at the heart of conspiracy theories.

So if the world is beaten down to a place of despair, famine, illness, and chaos, “they” benefit. “They” will force us to do awful things, like convert to the metric system or listen to atonal music. 

What happens is that conspiracy theorists piece together a narrative based on snippets of evidence. Problem is that they don’t ask themselves if such a conspiracy actually exists. They don’t challenge their own thinking. Rather, they simply want the essential parts of their story to mesh with the beliefs they identify with. (Read that again.) It’s easier for some to believe in lizard people running the world, because that absolves them from accepting the reality that we live in a fallen world where bad things – disease, poverty, natural disasters, etc. – happen, and happen frequently. 

The impulse is to find scapegoats – someone has to be responsible for the bad.And that someone is out to get us. And, by golly, we won’t be enslaved by some nefarious overlord.

If you’re still with me, hear this: evil is rampant in the world. Satan wants to destroy. He uses human agents to further his wicked purposes. This is a fact. If you are a believer, you know this already. More on that later.

The problem is that we can struggle with identifying what is real wickedness. I’d suggest that conspiracy theories are, in themselves, potentially satanic. Conspiracy theories divert us into looking at imaginary, irrational beliefs rather than identifying where the true evil lies. 

Conspiracy theorists tend to flock together. There is much comfort in hanging out with those of like mind. It’s sort of like England during the World War II blitz – “we are all suffering together, and we need to mount some kind of resistance.”

Resisting evil is always appropriate. Fight it tooth and nail. Just make sure you’re fighting a real enemy and not some imaginary boogeyman. 

I’ve observed that people resent it when I’m not as troubled as much by the world as they are. I see evidence of that in veiled or sometimes overt putdowns. Using terms like “sheeple” or being encouraged to “wake up” are very revealing. Devaluing me is not a good way to bring me around to your way of thinking.

Conspiracies are like chains. The more involved in a conspiracy, the more likely it will be outed, just like that weakest link will snap. Conspiracies won’t stay a secret when there are a lot of people involved. Occam’s Razor comes into play here, too – what’s the most likely scenario? It’s going to be the simplest. Conspiracy theorists always give people more ability and competency than they actually have.

Speaking to my fellow Americans … most of us have never experienced a major catastrophe. We missed the 1918 flu epidemic, we missed the Great Depression, and for the most part missed the two world wars. We’ve seen bad things happen in other countries, but not in ours. So if we’re being submitted to a major catastrophe these days, there has to be a deliberate hand at work, right? There has to be a plot of some sort of evil human design. That’s the way many people try to make sense of it.

I’ll say this again. We live in a fallen world. We deal with evil in tangible and spiritual ways alike. Before Jesus returns, we will continue to live in this fallen world. What are we to do? 

We are to fight the real evils, not the sensationalized, hysterical, unreal monsters. Let’s make a difference in the life of that terrified young lady who is pregnant and alone, or the neighbor who is dealing with their spouse who is terminally ill, or the family who, through no fault of their own, has had their electricity turned off because both the mom and dad are out of work and struggling to find jobs. 

Be salt and light. Encourage the downtrodden with words and deeds. If you want to invest in something, invest in that individual who is yearning for Jesus and doesn’t even know it. Use the energy you’re expending in wondering what the Freemasons are up to into the life of someone you can actually impact with Christ’s love.

Talk later! And remember – it’s always appropriate to look in the mirror from time to time and say, “You know, I could be wrong.”

“The Gate of the Year” is the popular name of a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins. She titled it “God Knows.” I’ll share its best-known stanza in a moment. (Note: I’ve shared this blog before, but it seems ever so appropriate these days.)

A quick history lesson.

According to Wikipedia, the poem was written in 1908 and privately published in 1912. King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British empire. It was thought that his wife, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Consort, shared it with him. Now it’s believed that Princess Elizabeth, aged 13, gave the poem to her father.

The Gate of the Year gave comfort to the Queen Mother all her days, and was a real inspiration to Brits in the Second World War. She had its words engraved on stone plaques and mounted on the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle.

These are some powerful words:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

I wish I’d written this.

So why this current fascination on my part? Let me parse it.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

Here are two fundamental wishes. These are especially meaningful when you have some hard questions and answers aren’t forthcoming (hello, 2022!)

The desire for light is self-evident. You want to be able to see where you’re going.

“Tread safely into the unknown.” If light is available, then the unknown isn’t quite as scary. In these dark days, if you knew what lay ahead, wouldn’t you be comforted by knowing? (Or not; if what lay ahead is disastrous, you might not want to know.)

There have been times in my life – and, in all likelihood, yours too – when you took a leap of faith and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Your faith was misplaced. You let the clamor of the world drown out that still, small voice. Or, worse, you “followed your heart.” Ancient script teaches that the heart is deceitful above all things. Following your heart sounds noble, but it’s not a good idea.

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

Yes yes yes.

You’ve probably said things like:

I thought God wanted me to marry him.

I thought I was supposed to take that job.

Moving to a new house felt right, somehow.

Here’s the lesson here:

• It’s not a matter of removing the darkness. It’s a matter of accepting the darkness and prevailing in it.
• God’s hand is big, protective, and firm. He doesn’t let go of you. People might. He won’t.
• If it’s safety you crave, then the most perfectly safe place in the universe is in the hand of God, and it doesn’t matter how dark it is.

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

Here’s a subtle nuance. The picture is of someone (you? me?) moving first and then finding the hand of God. It’s knowing that He’s already there, whether you have reached Him or not. The poet draws the picture of taking God’s hand and trodding gladly into the night. No fear, no apprehension. Just the simple joy of knowing God’s got you.

It doesn’t matter the circumstances of what brought on the darkness. They might not change.  The mandate is to be glad in those circumstances. Crazy, I know. But it all is centered in God holding your hand.

And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Sweet.

Get this picture.

• God leads, and the journey begins in darkness.
• He leads toward the hills. Hills conceal, but there is the promise of something else beyond what can be seen.
• The day breaks in the East. There is the certainty of sunrise, and, blessedly, visual confirmation that it is indeed dawn. A new day with new possibilities and new hope.

The Gate of the Year

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.^[3]

It’s Thanksgiving, and it’s hard to not note that in my blog. But I hope that this isn’t perfunctory … I pray that you are thankful, not only on Thanksgiving but year round.

Check this out – a little history lesson. 

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God…” —George Washington, 1789.

I’d just bet that as you approach Thanksgiving, you’re busy. The holidays can wear you out. 

We tend to think that life 232 years ago was much less hectic. Well, pilgrim, I bet you aren’t faced with birthing a new country after the paroxysm of war. That’s what President Washington and the Continental Congress were faced with. 

Not an easy task. I’ll bet they logged in some tough days and long nights.

Was thanksgiving worth it? You bet it was. 

But George, who was a pretty smart guy, and certainly grateful for the Providence that had brought them through some serious trials and an uncertain future, realized, along with his fellow countrymen, that there needed to be a day set aside for giving thanks. It was very much a religious remembrance then.

If you want to go back further, the first (or one of the first) accounts of a Thanksgiving feast was between the Plymouth colonists and the Native American Wampanoag tribe in November of 1621. The menu included lobster, seal, and swans. (I’m good with one out of three of those items. Maybe I’m missing something yummy.) The feasting lasted three days – if you count eating leftovers, that’s pretty much the same now – but there were no cakes or pies. No desserts – the colonists didn’t have ovens, and very little sugar. Historians think that most of the meals were prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods.

I mentioned George Washington. Fast forward to 1827. The noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale, started a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. That rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb”?  She wrote that. 

After tirelessly campaigning for the holiday, sending letters to governors, senators, presidents, and other politicians, Abraham Lincoln finally agreed to her request. A few states had been observing a day of thanksgiving, but it wasn’t celebrated nationwide. 

The proclamation came on October 3, 1863, and even someone with a rudimentary knowledge of American history knows that this was smack-dab in the middle of the awful Civil War. 

Here’s an except from the proclamation:

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.”

I mean. Wouldn’t it be great if that was our national spirit today?

It strikes me that the first Thanksgiving was a true thanks giving. The other two cited were also. Both of them, at the hands of our most renowned presidents, came about at a time of history being written with lightning. But Washington and Lincoln both knew that it would be wrong to not acknowledge God’s hand of blessing, even when there were national struggles. 

Both of these gentlemen no doubt wondered what the future held for their country. 

Listen. Our lives are busy and complicated. It might be that some life goals you’ve had for you and your loved ones have been sidelined – you’re just focused on getting through the day. You may even be wondering what the future holds for our country (with apologies to my foreign readers.) 

There are lots of questions we all have. Lots of uncertainty. 

So what is God’s will for you and me right now?

Let’s keep it simple. Here is ancient script from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

If you’re cowering before the future, Paul gave us a simple picture of God’s will for us.

Be joyful. Pray all the time. Be thankful no matter what. 

Happy Thanksgiving! Talk soon.

What am I afraid of? That’s a pretty provocative question, right?

So what are you afraid of?

I wouldn’t classify it as a full-blown phobia, but I am afraid of heights. I do fine if I’m strapped into something secure (think theme park rides), or if there’s a guard rail between me and the void. But put me on a roof, or a ladder, and I’m gonna have heart palpitations and sweaty palms.

That, however, isn’t the kind of fear I’m talking about. When I think in terms of what I am afraid of, mine is more existential.

Disclosure time. Don’t judge until you read this whole blog.

For as long as I can remember as an adult, I’ve had this fear of being destitute and not being able to provide for the needs of my family or myself. It’s not really a fear of being jobless, but rather not having enough money to meet my obligations and simple necessities. I might even identify this as a fear of being broke.

That is what I am afraid of. You may think that’s foolish, but I’m keeping it real.

Stay with me here.

Several years ago, there was a book and a movie called Still Alice. 

Julianne Moore won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this one. It tells the story of Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed with familial Alzheimer’s disease shortly after her 50th birthday.

I’m probably mangling this quote – Google didn’t help me this time – but Alice says, “I have no control over which yesterday I keep and which ones are deleted. My yesterdays are disappearing and my tomorrows are uncertain. So what do I live for?”

And you think you have problems.

Point being – there may be times when we find ourselves in moments of hesitation and uncertainty when it comes to God’s plan for our lives. We might find ourselves afraid of what might be coming into our lives.

The obvious – and uncomfortable bottom line – is “do you trust God?” My goodness, what a confrontational question.

Say it with me: “Of course I trust God!”

Yeah, but, why are we so often afraid? My scriptured-up side says, “What can mere mortals do to me?” My pervasive flesh says, “Yeah, but …”

Ouch.

I don’t think we’re alone in this at all. A quick perusal of ancient script verifies this.

I wonder was Moses afraid? Here he is with a literal country wandering around with him for forty years in the desert. Was he afraid of what was ahead?

Take Abraham. He boldly (it seems) took his only son Isaac up the side of a mountain with the goal of killing him because God had commanded it. Was he afraid?

Or even Mary. Here she is with her newborn,  presenting Him in the temple, and old Simeon said “and a sword will pierce your own soul.” Think that might’ve made her fear?

Back to the question: What are you afraid of?

I’m finding Psalm 56:4 helpful here. This is from the Christian Standard Bible translation:

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

Look. I know my fears are irrational. Really, now – what part of Creation should frighten me, since God is my Father and He created all of Creation?

I suppose we can be afraid of both the known and the unknown, as in I know I’m afraid of heights. That still isn’t a primarily rational fear.

It’s that fear of destitution, in my case. That’s a man made, cultural construct. Yep, it can be oppressive on a bad day.

That’s why I constantly pray, “God, be patient with me. I’m better than this.”

That’s my little confession. And the key to fixing this is to fall back into the arms of Christ.

That scripture I shared with you? It says to not fear, but to trust and to praise.

The Hebrew word for “trust” is batah (and no, I’m not a linguist. I just have some handy tools). It means “to put confidence in,” but it also carries the sense of “falling to the ground.”

That’s a very vulnerable, submissive position right there. On your face.

And that word for praise? That’s gonna be the word halal, the root word of hallelujah. But it also carries the sense of “to shine” or “radiate.” So, yeah … does your life reflect Jesus? Does it shine?

What do shining or taking a posture of humility have to do with fear? How does that impact what you’re afraid of?

Imagine that you’re kneeling. Psalm 118 talks about God being by your side. Feel that. Imagine you’re leaning on Him, and that He is facing your fears for you. Listen – there’s a battle raging around you and before you. And what does God say to you?

You look around, and before you is a scene of victory. Is your face shining? How do you respond to God now that your enemies and fears have been destroyed?

Hebrews 13:6 carries this same theme.

So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”

Here you go: You can come out of distress, because you call Him Lord. He will set you free from fear and be your helper. Earthly fear means nothing with God at your side.

Soak in this.

He is an all-knowing and sufficient God. He gives hope. You can’t do this on your own strength. It has to happen in His strength.

Do this:

Call out your fears by name. And as you do, say “what is it in this I need to fear?”

Watch what happens. Embrace it.

Be well.

Are these the good old days? Will future generations look back yearning for 2020 and early 2021?

That seems unfathomable, now doesn’t it?

Here’s some background concerning my personal good old days.

I’ll have to plug you into my autobiography for a bit.

I was born in 1956 into a middle-class home in Elba, Alabama. I grew up an only child.

Daddy worked at the post office. He wasn’t a mail carrier, but a clerk. Maybe “head clerk,” whatever that meant.

Mama taught school. Mostly sixth grade, and mostly geography, history, and civics.

I was a repulsively good child. I was benignly spoiled. As that only child, I recognized early on that I didn’t need to screw up the deal I had. So I was good. Actually, that wasn’t a challenge. Whatever rebellion I had was mostly internalized.

I didn’t smoke, and this was back when smoking was a national pastime. It just seemed gross. I wasn’t interested.

I didn’t drink. The couple of times I tasted alcohol it was just nasty. Cokes were much tastier. Again, this was a non-issue. Not even close to being a temptation.

Drugs. Oh, please. Really? Hard no on that one.

I did like girls a lot. Tempted? Well, yeah. But I managed to keep things on the proper side of restraint and righteousness.

See what I mean? I was repulsively good. Maybe that’s why I consider those the good old days because they were.

That’s not to say that I didn’t have issues. We all have issues, do we not? It’s just a matter of degree and type.

It took me a long time, well into adulthood, for me to realize what being an introvert was. I thought it was a character flaw, because societal expectations meant that you were to be engaging, and social, and chatty.

I could pull those traits off. Still can. But after a period of extroverting, I have to go lay down. I’m spent.

Introversion isn’t a flaw any more than having blue eyes instead of brown is. It’s just a thing. I”ve made peace with that. And I’ve discovered (and even “tested out”) that I am a textbook empath. Not only to I know how you’re feeling, I feel how you’re feeling. I’m not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse. It does explain how, in ministry, I’ve proven to be a lousy hospital visitor. I just want to climb in the next bed and be sick along with you.

All that’s to say that in those good old days I felt like a perpetual outsider, whether in reality I was or not. I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere.

Waaaahhhh.

Those good old days, if you want to put calendar dates on it, would be roughly the period from 1964 through 1974.

If I were to step outside myself and be objective, historically there wasn’t a lot of good things happening on the world and US stage.

In 1964 we had the Vietnam war escalating. Three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi and the president signed the Civil Rights act of 1964, but that didn’t stop the violence. The Warren Commission released its report on JFK’s assisination.

1965 – Selma to Montgomery and Bloody Sunday. The Voting Rights Act was signed into law. Race riots in Watts, California. Vietnam continued to roil.

1967 – Six Day War. 40,000 anti war protestors in San Francisco. State bans on interracial marriage ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (which was a good thing, but violently unwelcomed in many places.)

1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated. Hong Kong flu pandemic. Robert Kennedy assassinated. US soldiers massacre men, women, and children in My Lai.

1971 – the New York Times releases sections of the Pentagon Papers, revealing that the US government had lied to the American People about the Vietnam war, among other issues.

1972 – Munich Olympics Terrorist Attack. George Wallace shot. Antiwar demonstrations draw 100,000. Watergate.

1973 – Roe v. Wade.

1974 – Nixon resigns in disgrace. Inflation tops 11.3% in the US and 17.2% in the UK, and the global recession deepens. I graduate from high school.

Those were the good old days, at least in my worldview.

So are these the good old days for this generation?

I’ll go with a qualified “it depends.”

I’m struggling for some perspective here. My thought is that things were awful then, they are awful now, and may be “awfuller” in days to come.

But my good old days sentiment isn’t based on “things.”

Rather, my good old days are based in relationships. Autumn days, when the leaves are falling and the wind sighs through the trees. Catching lightning bugs in jars and releasing them in the Elba Theater during a movie. Camping out in the back yard with the guys. Swimming in White Water Creek or the frigid water of the city pool. Football games as part of the Elba High Marching Tigers.

And, again, relationships. My high school “posse.” We’ve stayed in touch all these years. We’re creeping up on our 50th high school reunion in three years. Simply amazing to think about.

See, it’s not the things happening on the national stage that dictate what the good old days are. It’s the little things.

It’s what Russell said in Pixar’s Up: That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most.

Look. On the surface, 2020 was perfectly awful for most of mankind. You weren’t singled out for individual abuse. We all faced the same nasty microscopic enemy.

Let’s check back with our current crop of teenagers in about 20 years. They’ll be joking about runs on toilet paper, and having to miss graduation, and masks making a fashion statement.

What they’ll remember – and fondly – is how their relationships stayed intact even with physical challenges. They’ll remember what it was like to finally get to hug Grandma again. They’ll remember what it was like to finally get to sit in a football stadium again and cheer (or at least hang out.)

Get it? The good old days are a state of mind. A choice, if you will.

You can make what you wish out of what is happening in your life. To the best of my ability, weak as it can be, I am embracing these days because I never walked alone.

When it comes to relationships, it has been my relationship with God Himself that has sustained me. See? In that sense, every day, in some way, has the potential of being a good old day.

Sweet.

I’m not sure why social media isn’t called antisocial media.

Most everyone seems to agree that life is getting busier, crazier, and more frantic with each passing day. We’re bombarded by more information than we know how to process—news, ads, commercials, blogs, tweets, music, pics, and more ads. Crazier still is that we have more devices, programs, and apps than ever before to make life easier. 

 And unquestionably these new innovations help make our lives better. We can text with close friends halfway around the world and let them know we’re praying for them. Want to share pictures of our daughter’s birthday party with relatives thousands of miles away? Do that. We can check our 401k, order a pizza, or book a hotel at the beach. And yet with all the upsides, these conveniences we “can’t live without” create many unintended problems. 

We love technology and all it offers. But we also hate it.

We hate our dependence on it and how it causes us to get out of balance with what matters most to us. It’s antisocial media.

Although many factors contribute to why we hate it, I’m convinced it’s mostly because social media makes everything all about us. We’re sucked into measuring our lives by who follows us and how many online friends we have. We want to believe we’re more than the total number of clicks on our last post, but we still check to see how many we have. 

Oddly enough, however, the more we focus on ourselves, the less satisfied we feel. And the more we’re consumed with the things of this earth, the more we feel empty on the inside. 

The reason is simple. We were created for more—way more. Earth isn’t our home.

We were not created to be liked but to show love. We were not created to draw attention to ourselves but to give glory to God. Collecting followers isn’t or goal, but it is to follow Christ. Antisocial media can hinder that. 

Social media and technology are great. But it’s time to be honest about our struggles. And to regain control of the amazing tools that technology provides us. 

It’s time to put technology back in its place. Let’s be done with antisocial media, at least the way we’ve tended to use it.

It’s time to love God with our whole hearts. 

In the pursuit of fulfillment in life, technology and social media allow you to capture every moment along the way. You’re not only on the fast track to success, but you get to show selfies at each lap along the way. Which only confirms how up-to-the-nano-second cool you are. 

So get the biggest data plan you can, and collect wi-fi passwords at every stop. Check in at all the cool places. Share every inspirational thought you have, and every joke. Snap lots of pics. Get video clips, too, of course. And never stop uploading the whole show to the Cloud as you go. 

Post everything online for the whole world to see. Pile up Likes and Friends and Followers until it’s all just one frenzied blur. Hustle until your real life exceeds your dreams. And finally, once you’ve reached the summit, I can guarantee you this one thing: your longing for more never stops. See what I mean by antisocial media? Like the latest technology, your achievements are outdated overnight. 

Why? How could that be possible? 

Because you were not created for earth. You were created for eternity. And there is nothing on this earth that can ever satisfy that spiritual longing you feel inside—even if you can collect it all. 

Nothing. 

I’ve heard people say, “God makes a Christ-shaped void inside every person.” I remember that saying annoying me. I remember not understanding what they were talking about. But then one day I learned for myself why they said it: because it is absolutely true. Nothing outside of a living relationship with Christ can ever fill the emptiness of that ache inside your heart. 

Your scavenger hunt for success will never be enough. Christ is what you’re searching for. He is your source. He is your strength. God is your sustainer. He is your joy. He is your contentment. Jesus is your all and all. He’s everything that matters. 

When Christ is all you have, you’ll finally realize that Christ is all you need. 

Christ. Is. All. You. Need. 

What would it mean to be a pawn in God’s chess game?

That makes it sound like God takes delight in moving us around as it pleases Him.

I never have been much of a chess player, but I do know that pawns can be expendable. They can be sacrificed for the greater good of the overall game.

I won’t go into any detail here, because it’s none of your business, but there was a season in my life when I said aloud, “I don’t know if God’s won or Satan’s won. All I know is that I lost.”

No fun. Nossir.

So if you feel like you are a pawn in God’s chess game, does that mean that you’re caught in events beyond your control, manipulated by God or Satan?

You’re probably way ahead of me at this point. I’m looking at Job again.

Job has been haunting me for weeks.

The scenario is right there in Job 1. You can click on this link if you want a refresher.

This book gets at the guts of some awfully hard questions. As in … why is there evil in the world? Why is there so much pain and suffering? Why do righteous, godly people experience such heartache? The innocent suffer – how can it be?

And so on. Right there in Chapter 1, you witness this devastating account of Job, a godly, righteous, good man, losing it all. And working behind the scenes are God and Satan. Since I’m not a theologian, I won’t get too deep in these weeds, and I’d hate to lead you wrong. At first glance, however, it looks like Job is Ground Zero for some sort of cosmic game between God and Satan.

Gotta tell ya – with my flawed human vision, I sure don’t have any easy answers. I’ve consulted commentaries and drilled deep with this. I’m just bamboozled.

Now, let’s get personal. This is for you and me.

For me to say that you or I are pawns in God’s chess game puts us in Job’s shoes. You may feel that you’re forced into a situation that you would have never chosen for yourself.

That’s not fair, now is it?

I’ll give you my upbeat, positive spin first.

There is a higher way to interpret the sorrows of life rather than evaluating them in the moment. Perhaps the awful trial you’re facing is God’s way of giving you an opportunity to cooperate with Him, serve Him, get insights into His purposes and plans, and serve Him in ways you otherwise couldn’t.

Our own schemes are inadequate, because we’d never willingly choose suffering if there was an alternate path. God wants to do something more significant than what we could come up with on our own.

We can honor God by how we live and die.

Feel better yet? See why you may not be a pawn in God’s chess game?

Yeah, I here ya. “Tony, that sounds great, and I agree, but I’m still a hurtin’ puppy.”

Fact: there are a whole lot of unanswered questions I have. We puny humans want answers. We want the “why’s” dealt with.

I look at what happened to Job in Chapter 1, and I see a lot of innocent folks dying. Why did that have to happen? In this drama between Satan and God, how can you account for this bloodshed?

To even stir the pot some more, consider: Why do some righteous people have such short, tragic lives while nasty, evil people seem to get all the breaks – wealth, long lives, all that?

Or, to get really current, how can you account for the state of our world politically, morally, in health, and in lots of other issues that seem blatantly evil?

I sure don’t have a Sunday School answer for those. Not only does it seem that we might be pawns in God’s chess game – it’s like the planet itself is a chessboard.

That, for starters, is what I don’t know. But here’s what I do know, and this is what gives me comfort, peace, and hope. I want you to experience that, too.

What seems unfair in this life will be made right in eternity.

Read that again.

Understand: there is a day certain when all our problems will be solved and all of our questions will be answered. We’re just living in the “not yet.”

Regarding Satan:

God has given him some degree of freedom. Yikes! I’m not just saying that. I see it when he’s identified as the prince of this world and as the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

Satan can, and does, use the forces of nature, plagues, and wicked people. But – God has already won. He dealt Satan a fatal blow through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Still, Satan is going to work really, really hard in this world in the meantime, spreading lies and deceit. He’ll do it until the End of Days.

So what does that mean for us, those who think we’re pawns in God’s chess game?

We live in a corrupt world. No debate there, right? But if we’re believers, we have an upper hand. While there is huge tension in living here, we are controlled by God’s Spirit. We may struggle with recognizing that, but it’s absolute fact.

Because of the Spirit’s control, we have somewhere to put our absolute trust. Move in close, class. I’m fixin’ to help somebody.

We trust God. We trust in things eternal. Things like justice, mercy, and love.

Conversely, we do not trust in the temporary things of this world – things like success, wealth, fame, or, God forbid, politics, personalities, and the state of the things we see.

You still paying attention? I mean what I’m saying. 

Want more security, hope, and comfort? Here’s ancient script – Ephesians 6:12:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

And Philippians 3:20:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

For you and me both, we just need to quit paying lame lip service to the eternal truths of God and making them a reality as we look at the world around us.

If you feel like a pawn in God’s chess game, remember: He can see the whole board. We just see the square we’re perched on.

Be blessed.

No doubt that phrase, “Our finest hour,” resonated with you – assuming, of course, you’re familiar with famous historical quotes. That’s the way we remember it – but that’s not really what was said.

That’s from Sir Winston Churchill. Here’s your refresher.

The Allies during this period of WWII were in dire straits. In his speech, Churchill was to express his feelings towards the countries of France and Germany. France was just defeated by Germany. He spoke because he believed that Britain should continue fighting to defeat the evil that Hitler was.

The entire speech is readily available for context. If you really want to do a deep dive and feel just a little thrill, you can listen to it.  Indulge me – I want to share the last few lines.

What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Here’s what I want you to note: We remember this as Churchill saying “our finest hour,” when in reality he said “their finest hour.” In other words, he was looking at the crisis they were in from some point in the future, with the assurance the British Empire and the Allied forces would prevail.

We did.

We are are seeing an event global in scope. It literally impacts all mankind. We tend to think about disasters happing somewhere else. Even here in the South, where we routinely deal with tornadoes and hurricanes, we think earthquakes don’t happen here, because they typically don’t. Wildfires, floods, all those other cataclysmic events are “out there.”

I’ve wondered what World War III might look like. Is this it?

I’ll add this to the mix, with apologies to my international readers: This whole election process has been a dumpster fire. I won’t get into details, or even my personal beliefs and takeaways from what I’ve witnessed. All I’ll say is that January 6, which I’ve blogged about, was a real gut check for me. We’ve all been affected in some fashion, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the process – personally and corporately.

Guess what? We’re all in this one together.

The people of the world have had the opportunity to unite against a common foe. The wonder of this is that every one of us can take part. This isn’t the job of some elite or specialized group. For sure, the government can do the wise thing. There are health care workers and first responders. Truckers are the cavalry, the knights of the road. Grocery store workers, convenience store managers, aren’t exactly working from home. They all have special roles.

But you have a special role. You can literally be an agent of change. You, you, you.

In an absurd sort of way, I find that exciting.

As a believer, I know this is all part of The Plan. I don’t want to wade into a theological discussion here. But could God have stopped the onset and continued spread of COVID-19? Of course He could. Of course He can. He’s God.

C. H. Spurgeon said:

All the hounds of affliction are muzzled until God sets them free.

You can ponder that. The one indisputable fact is that the pandemic is still with us. What do we do?

My question – will future generations say “this was their finest hour?” Or, more timely, “Is this our finest hour?” – right now?

Here’s my observation, and it really doesn’t center on the actual physical health issues.

If I’m discerning, I see that people under stress tend to reveal the conditions of their hearts. Many folks post some really funny memes, only to find that others are offended. Some people try to couch everything in political terms. Others feverishly look for somewhere, anywhere, to place blame – as if that were to make any difference in what has already happened.

So – what have you learned about your heart in these days? Who are you really? Are you self-aware enough to take stock in yourself?

Mercy. I sure have taken stock in me.

God knows the condition of your heart. I can’t help but wonder if part of His plan in these days is for we who are believers to discover who we really are. Does He want us to confront the condition of our own hearts?

It grieves me when Christians act like the lost world. We aren’t part of that.

How we respond to crisis (Do we worry out loud? Do we whine and complain? Are we embracing into the negativity of others? Do we encourage, and affirm, and comfort them?)  tells us who we are.

Discovering who you are is not a bad thing. What’s even more important is that we see ourselves as God sees us.

It may just be as you ask yourself those hard questions you’ll see the need for personal change and redemption. That’s what’s happening to me, for sure.

Don’t waste this moment. You may never have a better chance to be who God created you to be.

Our finest hour? Hey, maybe this can be your finest hour.

Think on these things, and take care of yourself.

“We all eat untruths when our hearts are hungry.”

I got that line from The Old Try. Check out what these Mississippi expats are up to. I love their work.

Ever since I read that line, it has haunted me.

There is a leanness inherent in the human soul. We come into the world missing a crucial component of our lives. A void, if you will.

From birth forward, your life is a pilgrimage, a quest to fill that void. Or, to quote the great philosophers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” The path of least resistance dictates that we find the easy answers to challenges. No one wants to stress themselves out looking for the truth, now do they?

When our hearts are hungry, then, we flail around, trying to fill the void.

If there’s any lessons I’ve learned from the last few months, it’s that people are hurting and searching. They want answers.

Sometimes, though, the answers based in truth are contrary to the beliefs they’ve held.

I think about this. I mean, if you’re wrong, wouldn’t you want to know that? Wouldn’t you want to correct yourself and abide in truth?

My conclusion is that some people willfully choose to live in ignorance, even when the truth is readily apparent to anyone with just a shred of critical thinking skills.

When our hearts are hungry, it’s because we’ve sought nourishment that is either wrong or inadequate. If someone is starving, and they only drink some water, they aren’t going to have their needs met. Water is necessary for life, of course, but by itself it isn’t sufficient.

To torture this analogy a bit more … you have to stay hydrated to live. So drink your 64 oz. a day, or whatever the current recommendation is.

And at the same time, don’t eat any solid food. Your rationale is, “I don’t want to eat solid food. I don’t believe it has any value. It’s a hard pass for me.”

Eventually you’ll die from that belief. You believed it was true. But your subjective truth doesn’t stand up to reality. And if you starved, I just bet you wouldn’t get much sympathy. Some folks with a mean streak might say, “Well, you had it coming.”

The solution would be just to put on your big boy/girl pants, admit you were wrong about solid food, and order pizza.

I could go really deep in the weeds with this, but let me try to wrap it up.

You have been bombarded with conflicting worldviews recently. You can’t escape it, unless you’re isolated from the rest of the world and have no outside input of any sort. That’s not true, of course; you’re reading this.

It’s possible that what you’ve wanted to believe hasn’t held up to scrutiny. You’ve justified, rationalized, and have still found yourself frustrated and defensive. Because what you’ve wanted to be true simply isn’t.

In other words, you’ve been eating untruths because your heart was hungry, and it’s still not satisfied. You’ve settled for water – which is a good, essential thing – but that’s as far as your taking care of yourself has gone. You just haven’t mustered up the courage to say to yourself and to others those horrible three words:

I was wrong.

Want to get right? Here’s the simple solution – but note I said simple, not easy.

Fill your heart with Jesus. Believer, take heed.

You can not, must not believe your untruths. Jesus is truth. There’s no gray. I’d admit that, with our frail and feeble human eyes, it’s dang hard to put aside the worldly stuff, simply because it’s tangible and palpable and you can watch it on TV. That’s a temporal reality, and not the ultimate truth. So we have to see things through His eyes and not through our faulty, biased, and corrupted eyes.

I went into this in some detail in my last blog about January 6. I won’t rehash it here.

My admonition to all of us is to simply be able to admit that if we have been wrong, we’ve been wrong. There’s no shame there. You are no less a person. You have lost no value. It just means that you have had trouble letting go of what you want to believe, and now it’s time to embrace the Who you need to believe.

It’s called having the mind of Christ.

There is hope for both you and me. Our hope is built on truth, and to the extent that we reject truth, we are just that much closer to being hopeless.

I’ve been struck on social media by what is coming from believers. They are talking like lost pagan sinners, and God seems to have no place in their thinking. I’m not so high and mighty as to say I’ve never been there, but I am striving to be honest with all, beginning with myself.

If it’s true, then, that we eat untruths when our hearts are hungry, then we need to nourish our hearts with the Bread of Life. That’s good groceries right there.

And second, because we’ve taken that step, we will be able to identify, call out, and banish untruths. We will be at peace regardless of dumpster fires. In Christ, not only will we be fine … we will prevail.

Be blessed.

I have debated with myself long and hard over putting together a manifesto: Should I address the events of January 6, 2021?

Because my stated purpose of my blog was to be “transformationally encouraging.” In my flesh, I can’t find a lot to be encouraged about.

So I took my eyes off the flesh, the here and now, the “what is seen.”

And I’m encouraged. Genuinely.

I’d say, first of all, that I’m not encouraged right now about the condition of the United States. (And to all of you who are reading this in other countries, this is sort of in-house stuff … although I believe there are worldwide ramifications for what’s transpired, and what most certainly is coming.)

This is not about:

• Who is responsible for the invasion of the Capitol.
• What security measures failed.
• Impeachment, censure, or any other means to remove the president from office.
• Antifa, Proud Boys, alt-right, socialism, any of that.
• Conspiracy theories.
• The extreme difficulty of realizing that you’ve been wrong all along.
• How to develop critical thinking skills, although that would be helpful.

I’ve come to realize you can grieve and have hope at the same time.

After spending much more time in scripture than I typically do (and I really don’t miss a day without reading my Bible), I have some things to say. By His grace, I want them to be His words and not mine. Portentous, I know, but at least my source is valid!

It’s a manifesto. Mine, anyway. I wanted to make sure I was using the term properly. Merriam-Webster says this. A manifesto is:

A written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer.

So I’m on safe ground.

Here are my 10 manifesto points.

1. So do not fear, for I am with you;
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
   I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10
   • Fear is a crippling reality. God is not the author of fear. If I am dismayed, then I am placing myself and my feelings above the reality of what God is accomplishing in this world. He will give me the strength to persevere – even rise above – the events of these days. He will hold me up. I don’t have to rely on my puny human strength.
2. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Cor. 4:16-18
   • If I lose heart, it’s because I have evaluated the current circumstances with short-sighted, frail, human eyes. As a believer, I recognize that what I am witnessing and experiencing is as bad as it will ever be. Such is the condition of a lost world and a lost humanity. God views January 6 as “light and momentary troubles.” So should I. Against the backdrop of eternity, I will fix my eyes on what is eternal, and not what is temporal. My faith will rest in its proper source – and that source is not of this world.
3. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
   • This is a promise of presence. There have times lately when I’ve felt bewildered, misunderstood, and alone. But I have no reason whatsoever to fear. If I am discouraged, it’s a discouragement based on what I see before me. This is sinful. I think it’s appropriate to be hurt and grieve, as I would in any personal loss. This is much different than being discouraged. Discouragement implies that something is happening that God has no control over, which, of course, is blasphemy.
4. When you pass through the waters,
   I will be with you;
   and when you pass through the rivers,
   they will not sweep over you.
   When you walk through the fire,
   you will not be burned;
   the flames will not set you ablaze. – Isaiah 43:2
   • There is a promise of supernatural protection for me, even when the world is in flames. This does not mean that I will be spared from harm, even physical harm. Scripture informs me that even the righteous suffer. Here again, I see God’s providential hand guarding me, and I will rest in this.
5. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
   • God does not suggest that I be strong and courageous. He commands it. Again, fear and discouragement are sinful. His presence is guaranteed. No matter what happens in Washington DC, or even on the local level, I must be strong and courageous, and put my faith in Him and not in government. Governments and leaders are established by God. In my eyes they may be wicked and corrupt. They are still God’s instruments to be used to carry out His ultimate sovereign will.
6. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
   • I will praise God in spite of consequences and the reality of chaos. He is showing divine compassion to me and all believers. He is not obligated to deliver me from circumstances, and He may want me to experience chaos. Yet He will comfort me. What’s more, He has called me to comfort others with the same hope that I have. For me as a believer to not do that – to dwell on the evil and heartbreak I see and not offer hope – is an affront to Him. I want to feel His pleasure as I strive to be salt and light. This is a calling for all believers. Sow hope. Not discord.
7. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. – 1 Cor. 15:58
   • It is tempting, some days, just to quit trying because my efforts seem to be in vain. In trying to give myself to the work of the Lord, I don’t see much, if any, progress in the lives of others. I feel that I am casting pearls before swine. And yet – the promise for me and all believers is clear: there is no wasted effort in Kingdom work as long as I work in accordance to His direction. I can not let my personal feelings or agenda get in the way. The call is to stand firm – not in what I see in the world, not in politics, not in government – but stand firm in Him. I have to recognize that God’s plans for America may not be what I would want in my flawed human understanding. So I will stand firm in Him, and I will not let the news cycle move me.
8. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:24-25.
   • In the end, we are all here for each other. We have all seen divisions creep into the Body of Christ. Brother against brother, indeed! My call is to encourage and equip others to love and produce good deeds. This should begin with me. If I find myself not encouraging, not offering an example of Christian love, and to not perform good deeds, then I have to recognize that I am out of the will of God. If I am negative, cynical, discouraging, and lazy, then I am doing Satan’s work for him.
9. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
   • God has offered me peace. It’s up to me to receive and experience it. God has told me that I will have trouble, and He is correct. Yet, I am to take heart. Nothing that has happened in recent weeks has escaped His eye or His hand. He is the ultimate Overcomer. I may not witness it in this current time, but in eternity all will be made clear. He has overcome the world – the United States included – in ways that aren’t visible yet. He may choose to sunset the American experiment. Nations are a drop in the bucket to Him. Even in that, I’m commanded to take heart.
10. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. – John 14:27
    • In the end, God wants me to be at peace. That does not mean that the world will be peaceful. Nor does it mean that I need to look for peace in this world. I won’t find it. If I am the beneficiary of God’s peace, then I have no reason or excuse to be troubled are afraid. Ever.

I’m not sure how best to close this. I want to leave you with reason to hope. Yes, in the flesh, hope seems in short supply. As believers, though, we need to be wary about misplacing our hope. This has been very personal to me, and if I have given you just a hint of reason to be encouraged, then I’ve accomplished what I think God intended for me to do.

Be blessed.

I really wanted to address the events of January 6, but I want to wait a few more days because I want to make sure what I share is both reasoned and of God. In the meantime, I’d like to share, again, Lincoln’s prayer. There has historically been some question as to whether or not Lincoln was a Christian; nevertheless, this is as pertinent and meaningful today as it was in 1863.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

“Why don’t you drink?” This question has cropped up numerous times over the years in my work with teenagers as a youth minister, and to explain why I don’t drink has always struck me as odd. Alcohol is the only drug in my experience that I’ve had to explain why I don’t use it. And I was asked the question just this past week. I’m intrigued.

So I’m diving into this today. Now – pay attention: this is NOT a discussion as to why you shouldn’t drink, Christian or not. So, I’m not riding some moralistic high horse here. I am not doling out judgement. There are many Christians who will drink wine with a meal, or have the occasional craft beer.

The only thing I would say is that “Is it wrong?” is NOT the only question a Christian needs to ask, and I’ll leave it at that.

I’m Southern Baptist by choice. There are those semi-humorous tags that come along with that. It’s all those don’t’s … over the years, it’s been stuff like Baptists shouldn’t dance, shouldn’t play cards, shouldn’t go to movies, shouldn’t drink – you get the picture. That’s not what this is about.

I’ll try to explain why I don’t drink, and I’ll start with some scriptural acknowledgements. These are well-known:

• Jesus’ first miracle was the changing of water to wine at the marriage in Cana. I’ve heard people try to explain that the wine of that day didn’t have the alcohol content of what we have today. Well, the word for wine in Greek is oinos, and this is the same word used when the Good Samaritan poured oil and wine on the man’s wounds (there’s an antiseptic quality here).
• Paul famously told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake. That oinos again.
• Ephesians tells us to “not be drunk with wine.” Yeah, that’s oinos. What Jesus made at Cana would make you drunk.

Scripture doesn’t speak of abstaining from alcohol. But it does say plenty about drunkenness. Some simple research will affirm that: Proverbs 20:1, Galatians 5:19-21, Luke 21:34, Proverbs 23:29-35, Isaiah 5:11, and lots more. Drunkenness isn’t going to be a neutral state. Scripture says “Nope.”

In our culture, it’s almost as if sobriety makes people uncomfortable.

Storytime!

When our daughter Amy was preparing for her wedding and subsequent reception, she and Teresa looked at several different venues to host the reception. They trusted me enough to do a little vetting, with the understanding that they had the final say.

One spot I visited was gorgeous. The menu they could put together makes me salivate just to even think about it.

The owner asked me if we wanted an open bar. I said, “Thanks, but no. We won’t be serving alcohol.”

He looked at me like I had seven heads. “W-what?” he stammered.

I repeated myself, but didn’t offer any explanation. Once he composed himself, his face sort of clouded and he said sarcastically, “Well, I hope you folks enjoy your punch and cookies!”

That was that.  I thanked him for his time and left.

Going back further, I could talk about the alcohol-fueled experience that was college life. I sampled stuff a couple of times, and didn’t see the appeal. (More later.) There wasn’t any real pressure on me – about the only comments were along the lines of “What could it hurt?” or “You’d be so funny drunk.”

There was one horrific experience in New Orleans when our marching band performed at halftime for a Saints football game. Afterwards, there were shuttle buses running all night from the French Quarter to our hotel. The little group I was hanging with wanted to go to Pat O’Brien’s, home of the notorious hurricane. I thought the glasses this rum concoction came in were pretty cool, and I wanted one. Of course, I didn’t realize that (a) I could have just purchased a glass, and (b) I could’ve got a non-alcoholic version. I got one for the glass, and figured if I chugged it quickly it wouldn’t affect me. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. I’m not proud of any of that.

About the only other experience I had was as a kid at a wedding reception. There was champagne, and I’d always heard about how wonderful champagne was. I took a sip when no one was looking. It tasted like a burp.

One and done.

There’s your background. I’ve heard every argument for and against. Maybe you’ve gotten curious and have done the same kind of research, and come up with an answer that is consistent with what God teaches you.

For me, here are seven of my reasons for not drinking – why I don’t drink. They may or may not be yours. This may be a non-issue for you.

1. I just don’t like the taste. Pretty basic, huh? I’d much rather have sweet tea.
2. We all have this great freedom because of Christ on the Cross. Because of that freedom, we’re allowed to do certain things as Christians without fear of condemnation. (Paul does a deep dive on this in 1 Corinthians 10). But just because I have the freedom in Christ to do something doesn’t mean that I should.
3. If there is such a thing – this is scientifically debatable – I have an addictive personality. Personalities are complex, and there is no one factor in an addiction, other than you have to be exposed to that substance. Look – I’ve struggled with weight all my adult life, and trying to eat right is a bear. Sugar, for instance, or carbs. Ack. For some folks, it may be drugs, or porn, or social media, or Candy Crush. Perhaps, God forbid, SEC football. Even running! Shopping! Chocolate! You feelin’ me? I just know once something gets ahold of me, shedding it is perfectly awful. Drinking would be a really, really bad idea for me.
4. If I don’t drink, I don’t have to worry about abusing it.
5. I’ve seen the bad side of alcohol too, too many times. After performing a few funerals for adults and teenagers who died because of alcohol, you start asking those hard questions. No one sets out to be an alcoholic. Everyone begins with the attitude of “I’m just a social drinker and there’s nothing wrong with it. God doesn’t forbid it.” All those destroyed people, friendships, marriages, life itself – gone. Chocolate typically doesn’t cause that kind of destruction. (We can make a case how someone who doesn’t take care of their health can certainly hurt those they love, too.)
6. I don’t see how it would make me any closer to God. Okay, bingewatching The Mandalorian, or cheering for the New Orleans Saints doesn’t either. Still, it’s a matter of what would do me the more heinous damage. And it’s also a matter of what has the greater influence on me. Jesus hung out in some seedy places, with folks of questionable character, but He was also the Son of God.
7. The big one for me, as for why I don’t drink, comes down to the issue of being a stumbling block. There are some areas in life where I don’t want others to follow my example. I’ve been aware, as a father and a student minister, that impressionable eyes were watching me. There’s an argument out there that, as a parent, I could’ve shown my kids how to “drink responsibly.” You know, demystify it. Don’t make it glamorous or treat it like some forbidden fruit. Show it as a part of day-to-day living. Perhaps. But if I were to drink responsibly, and one of my kids couldn’t, or didn’t, then I would struggle with some real guilt there. The exercise of my freedom in Christ would have not been a good thing.

Those are seven of mine. And again, I’m not obligating you to come up with any reasoning, for or against.

In my walk with Christ, I want to stay as close to Him as possible. If anything interferes with that, I need to kick it to the curb and be done with it. Lord knows I struggle with consistency on this one! It’s easy for me to justify most anything. I just don’t want alcohol to be added to that list. There is enough I have to contend with already.

I want to become one with Christ. That means that I shouldn’t do things that get in the way of that.

Be well.

I sure would appreciate your comments below.