For almost two years now, I and others with the team of Worldview Warriors have been lovingly warning, patiently waiting, and staying self-controlled with our tongues and actions through the attack on this nation’s foundational beliefs (many based on Biblical truths) and on true Christianity and the Christian worldview. For those desiring the truth, it’s beyond obvious what is now going on in our society. We believe we have been speaking out the truth in love and living it out through our actions, not only to those outside of the Church but many inside the Church who also claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. We have been attacked by many outside of the Church and even some of those inside of the Church.
As a young man back in the 1990’s, I literally chose to go the wide path that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7. I wanted nothing to do with this God I had heard so much about in my youth. I did not want to follow His ways. Sadly, I dishonored my father and mother back then, but I am thankful that they loved me through it all. To this day, they are my heroes! I love them both so much. So, what helped me realize that I needed a Savior and needed to follow the Lord of the Universe?
Two things:
One, the natural law or special revelation that Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, has put into place. This was and is a very good teacher. God has put this into place to teach us that some things we do have bad consequences and other things have good benefits. This is natural law. Those consequences are there for a reason, and so many people these days seemingly want to get rid of them and put more and more human laws into place. After all, all truth is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, as I began to learn and experience.
Two, my friend back in the 1990’s, Danny Castro, loved me with the truth. He loved me where I was at. Without him loving me like he did, I would probably be in a grave right now and burning in Hell, for that is where the wide path leads – death.
I am here today because of these two things: truth and love.
Since that time in the 1990’s, I have been on quite the journey of understanding the Lord and His ways more and more. I have been trying to “work out” my own salvation, to become mature and complete not lacking anything in the Lord. Do I and our team here still have a lot to learn? You bet we do, just as all people do. Two things I have certainly learned about is the importance of accepting that God Almighty is sovereign, and His providence is real. He’s not just real and in complete control, but He’s active in His creation. Providence (the action of God) can be seen everywhere if you’re just willing to be open to it. He is also incredibly loving and gives each human being free will to do as he or she pleases.
The true freedom and liberty that Almighty God offer are just incredible. When we surrender our lives to the King of Kings is when true liberty in Christ begins to manifest. I greatly encourage everyone reading this to be open to this incredible liberty He offers, not just for you but for others as well. After a year of being discipled by my friend and pastor, Larry Bertsch, he has helped me to realize and accept the very fact that none of us are God; God is God, and He can be completely sovereign while still giving His creation free will. I don’t understand it all, and that it is okay. Why? Because God is God, and I am not.
Friends, I encourage you to stop trying to control others with the fear and shame you put on them. Let God be God, and let the special revelation He has put into place be a good teacher. Think of the times it has taught you. I encourage you to strive to let it teach others, and let Almighty God be the judge.
Life (Existence is Futile) by Klank
You call this life?
It’s not living.
Another phase
Next step
Who’s guess?
What’s next?
Gotta figure out what to do
Another year
Seasons turn
Wheel spinnin’
Gears burn
Won’t believe the hell I’ve been through
You call this life?
It’s not living.
Broken down
Face first
Pushed aside
Eat dirt
Just another day in the life
Bigger bills
Smaller gains
Rents due
Hunger pains
Gotta be something more to life
You call this life?
It’s not living.
With all of that said, we have all been through and experienced 2 years of some serious change. I think we all need to realize that “normal” is not coming back. It’s time to move on. The future is unknown. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have an incredible opportunity to show people the way, the truth, and the life. As citizens of both heaven and the USA with inalienable rights, we have an incredible opportunity to show people how to live freely and freely in Christ. People can either surrender to Him or not. That is up to them. Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the law again.
Yes, friends, that is for us! That is for you. Now is the time to show people how to truly love others. It’s time to call all of this out for what it really is: idols. They are everywhere.
Let’s be honest with ourselves and with others about how many idols we have made in this nation. So many people are following them and believe that giving power to these idols is actually living. Many seem to believe that mask wearing and vaxxing are the way out of this, even to the point of forcing others to do this. Now, if this virus didn’t have over a 99% recovery rate, I probably wouldn’t make this connection, but the truth is that is the real percentage. We are told to follow the “science,” when in fact many of us are looking at the numbers and are realizing what we were being told by servants in our nation was nothing more than a lie. The truth is that the recovery rate is that high.
If someone might be hurt from this virus, then by all means that person should take care of themselves. Forcing everyone else to live a certain way because of what might happen not only is foolishness, but it is just like bowing down to a 90-foot-tall idol in the book of Daniel in order to not rock the boat. It is the same spirit, friends, the same mindset we’ve been seeing in our society today. Idols are everywhere. Living freely in Christ is not looking fearfully at a virus with over a 99% recovery rate or to a vaccine that, like it or not, seems to not be working in my opinion. I’ll call the vaccine what it looks like to me: an altar to mammon.
With all of the counterfeits and heretical ways of love out there, now is the time to show people that enabling them in their sin through godless government programs and godless government solutions window dressed in “godliness” is not the way. These are idols, too, and I believe most of us know it. Being apathetic toward people choosing to sin and calling it fine is not wise. Being apathetic to those trying to force Christians to accept sin as good, right, and true is not wise either. We absolutely need to continue to love people. We need to continue to show them how loving and freeing the life God has given to them can be, through our liberty found in Christ. But we also need to be shrewd like Jesus Christ taught and lived.
We see this so many times, but it seems many of us have either forgotten this or just weren’t taught it. We see in John 10:39, “They tried to take Jesus again, but he escaped from them.” Jesus chose to be wise and was shrewd in dealing with people who wanted to attack or take Him away and just argue with Him. He chose to not entertain people in their foolish arguments and foolish mindsets. He would just leave and move on. And as Peter so boldly proclaimed in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God, rather than people.”
Get out of the rat race and trying to keep up with the Joneses. Yes, this is all connected. Idols, idols, idols. Stop being okay with being a cog in the machine of the world. Find liberty in Christ! Let’s get back to living. It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Go live your life. I encourage us all to stop serving idols. As for me, my family, and the Church, you call this life? This “new normal” is not living.
Writer’s note: I am not against proven vaccines or taking medicine to travel. I am discussing this current vax, so please don’t read into what I am absolutely not saying.
Go check out other writings from Jason:
Are Your Actions Following Jesus Christ?
Get Your Mind Out of Your Phone
Lead Me, Follow Me, or Get Out of My Way
Just Cheat a Little
The story with this is satire, but not these pictures; these pictures are real and actually happened. You call this life? It's not living. It's time to live in the freedom we find in Christ.
This is straight up judgement, friends – judgment over something that is not a sin. Please stop guilt tripping people and let's live our lives.
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“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” ~Romans 8:28
Near the end of 2017, I had a massive life-threatening stroke and was given life-saving brain surgery. The dead part of my brain was removed in an emergency surgery, and after about 8 days in the Neuro ICU, I was moved to a step-down unit for 2 days, and then I went home. Even though the doctors would not use the term miracle to explain my incredible recovery, they would use terms like “remarkable,” “incredible,” or “better than average.” One nurse, seemingly from fear of being ridiculed, leaned over my bed before my final test and whispered in my ear, “You know you're a miracle, right?”
If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I did around 5 or so sessions of physical therapy and 2 sessions of occupational therapy, with one of those sessions being a test to see about how much occupational therapy I would need to do to help my recovery. The person giving me the test said, “Well Jason, I'm going to send out these test results to be confirmed, but I can tell you before sending them out that I can't help you out with your recovery any more than you already are.” It was quite an incredible time for me, my wife, and my whole family. Family and friends were astonished as well. To this day, we are still thankful and amazed at my miraculous recovery. Plus, many people helped our family in so many ways. I know we are all thankful for that. Before I move on, please note that I am still healing and recovering to this day, and I still deal with things from this whole ordeal. In our current society, one of those things that is I cannot wear a mask over my mouth and nose.
I choose not to go into all of the gory details of why I cannot wear a mask. Suffice it to say that back in the spring of 2020, God allowed me to see what was coming around the corner in society. At the beginning of all of this craziness, my wife and I needed to get somethings at a local store, so like “good citizens” we both masked up and we went on our way to get what we needed. In less than 5 minutes it was obvious that the lack of oxygen I was receiving was affecting my body and my brain. I told my wife at the time that I wasn't sure I could do that again. So, I went to my primary doctor, an MD who was in practice for over 20 years, and I told him what took place. One of the main types of patients he dealt with were patients like me who have had strokes. It was one of the main reasons I chose him to be my primary doctor.
He told me, “Oh, that doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, it makes sense that this happened to you.” This was very early on in this “pandemic.” So, I chose very early on that I would not mask up; not because I was mean or selfish but because I needed to live the life God had given to me in liberty and freedom. It became quite apparent to me by about June or July 2020 at how “crazy” masking up was going to become. So, in September of 2020, I was able to secure a medical mask exemption from my primary doctor, even though some of the nurses in the office thought I was being over the top in trying to get this piece of paper.
This is the part of the story I really want to convey to the public and just one of many reasons why I was done with this whole situation back in September of 2020. What happened made me realize how non concerning this whole thing really was. Please bear with me. After going into the office and asking to get this medical mask exemption, one of the nurses, well-meaning as she could be (I do not fault this person at all and truly love her as a person made in the image of God), looked at me as serious as could be and made the suggestion, “Oh Jason, you can wear a mask. Can't you just ‘cheat a little’ by just twisting the elastic that goes around your ears to make a little pocket here on the side of your face so you can get a little more oxygen in through here?” As she pointed to the sides where an obvious gap was made on both sides of her face to allow the mask to be basically rendered useless because the “seal” that was to be made by the mask against this virus was truly broken. Now, this is a medical professional and not some “wanna be” or novice saying to do this.
That was the day I truly realized what was happening in our nation and world. Now, before anyone attacks me, I am not, in the least, saying this virus isn't real or that people are not dying. They are, but like it or not, death, disease, and dying have been here since Adam sinned against Almighty God. It is a part of this world. If your immune system is compromised, by all means, take the necessary precautions to live the life God has given to you. But don't expect to force those who are healthy or are not affected by this virus to stop living their lives or change what they are doing because you don't like it or might be scared. God Almighty does not call us to that. He calls us to live in this world without fear and worry.
As I started out this post, God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose. My family and I had no idea how much that verse was true until we experienced how God could take an absolutely horrible situation of a massive life-threatening stroke and use it for good to help set people free in their mindset. My wife and I have already spoken many times before 2020 in public about what took place in 2017; praise God that many people have been encouraged in their faith in Jesus Christ and in their situations by the account. It amazes me how even 4 years later, God is still using this for His good and for His glory to help set people free in Christ. God works all things together for the good for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose!
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by Eric Hansen
Editor's Note: The following post is not a pro or con position regarding the Covid-19 vaccine. What we are hoping happens with this post is that Christians will not only be objective in their research of this situation but to make certain they are reading God's Word, listening for the Holy Spirit's leading, and following that leading.
It’s been many months now since the vaccine for COVID-19 became publicly available. Since the start of that, there is no shortage of (mis)information, opinions, etc. about it. This post isn’t looking to tell you to get it or not to get it, but instead it will tackle this issue from the perspective of Christianity without fear.
Should I Get It?
It is a good thing to constantly ask this question. With much about the virus and the shot being new, there will be new information coming at you from every which way. No one but God can tell you to get it, but there are some ways to help navigate this question healthily.
Ignore the Noise
One thing, especially if your social media experience has been like mine, is to remove yourself from it. Take a step away from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and just give your brain some time to relax. The decision to get it or not is not simple, and the more influence you get from either side of the fence is only going to impact your health. If you don’t get the shot, but then get the virus and tell your Facebook “friends” you listened to them and now you’re in the hospital, what is the likelihood they will take responsibility for it?
The fact of the matter is that even if we want to point the finger, it’s our own decisions that lead us to where we go. All anyone else can do is influence you. If this wasn’t the case, then we would also be responsible for others’ salvation. So take time away from the platforms. If you have to, even take time away from friends and family to just collect yourself.
For me, I realized I needed to do this if I wanted to think about what was best for my family and me, and not just what I thought was right because people whose opinion I value said so. I’ve gone to the extreme of deleting my Facebook completely, but I would only suggest this if you find yourself constantly slipping back to it. Otherwise, just give yourself even a week or two of no social media.
Read the Bible
Most people will tell you to pray (myself included) when it comes to making any sort of big decision. That is only part of the solution, however. Often, we already look at prayer when we’re asking ourselves if we should get the vaccination. The more important piece now is what the answer is. This is where we need to keep ourselves quiet and let God speak out of His authority over us.
If we look at the situation literally, then we won’t find many verses that center around man-made chemical warfare viruses. We do have stories from the Old Testament, however, talking about how God gave plagues to the Israelites for their rebellion, but also how God gave them the cure as well (see Numbers 21:4-9). What we can gather from this is that our focus needs to be on God. That’s it. We don’t need to look at our news feeds, TV, etc. to know that God is the answer to this situation. Really, we just need to trust in His sovereignty. To know this requires us to read the Bible with a softened heart, opened eyes, and a real desire to know the truth.
When I started just focusing on the Bible, everything slowly became more clear. But I also had to remember that God doesn’t always speak to me directly. There were other things that happened during this time of me asking God for His guidance. One of the biggest things I can say was this: when the vaccine first came out, my wife and I agreed that until her aunt (who is a respected nurse) gives confidence one way or another, we won’t be getting it. During the time of reading the Bible, her aunt told us what her answer was.
We also need to consider if we feel peace with a certain decision. This is a sort of peace you know once you have it, because there’s a confidence that God is telling you so. It was through much conversation and discussion that we really started realizing what God was telling us to do. During this time, we also both agreed that if we were to get it and die, that we were confident in our salvation.
Feedback
By this point if you feel comfortable with separating fact from opinion, it wouldn’t hurt in the slightest to get others’ opinions. I asked a few friends who got the shot about why they got it, and I asked myself why would I ever get it. I still stayed away from YouTube videos about it as much as possible, and I kept trying to keep my focus on Christ. There were days that I slipped, but there were also days I rebounded with grace holding onto me.
Conclusion
I don’t see the shot being something everyone should get. I also don’t want to be part of that influence either way. What I do want is for people to look at the situation with objective lenses and understand the impact it has solely on them. If you have a partner, then feel free to get their feedback as well, it’s an important decision, but ultimately it impacts only you.
Ultimately my wife and I decided to get the vaccine, and here’s why:
- After weeks of prayer and time with God, it slowly started bringing more peace to me.
- We are looking to serve God overseas in the coming years, and this will likely be mandatory by then (we already see this happening now).
- After realizing my decisions had been fueled more by the voices around me instead of the voice inside (the Holy Spirit), I took a big step back.
- God is in control of everything. I’m going to die regardless, and if it’s something God wasn’t wanting me to get personally, then the experiences I went through wouldn’t have happened.
If you would’ve asked me even 3 months ago, my opinion would be “no, never” to the shot. But that was fueled by man, not by God. Again, I’m not saying God is going to tell everyone to get it. This post is written more so to help people understand how to approach this from a Biblical Christian view. Above all else, please put God first!
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Our society is slowly opening up after a year of much isolation by a good number of people. Even though I was told by many that this wouldn't happen, I think we can all agree that times have certainly changed. As connected as we are through the internet, it seems that society is as divided as we have ever been, at least in my lifetime. One way I personally see this on display, more than ever, is how so many people these days “fill in the gaps” with things they hear from others or how many now “read between the lines” and make assumptions of what they think they are hearing someone else say. It has been a huge issue in our society for years, but it's now becoming more and more prevalent in today’s world. Many of us just didn't know it how much of an issue this is, and I am included in that assessment.
I was first really exposed to this concept and the phrase of, “Don't hear what I am not saying” was with author and speaker Reggie McNeal in a two-year training through the Churches of God called the Missional Leadership Initiative. It was really quite eye opening for me the first time I heard this phrase. During a session, Reggie said this to someone after he had made a statement and someone in the training started coming at him with all these questions that really weren't related to what he had said or even implied. It was obvious that this person was taking offense or was taking what he had brought up very personally. They were taking what he said and were trying to put it into a specific situation they were thinking about. They were speaking out pretty defensively and being quite aggressive.
It was really masterful how Reggie dealt with this. He just said, “Don't hear what I am not saying.” You could sense all of us in the room pretty much breathe a sigh of relief as he took what could have been quite a toxic back-and-forth and just loved this person with such an easy phrase. “Don't hear what I am not saying.” He was giving this person a chance to really listen to him. He didn't say your concern is not real, but he was lovingly giving this person the opportunity to really hear what he was saying. In essence, he was lovingly telling this person that this isn't about them and their specific situation. At first, this person kept coming at him with some more points they wanted to discuss, but he just keep saying, “Don't hear what I am not saying.”
Personally, I think this is one thing each of us could really take into consideration when dealing with someone who is adversarial or offended by what we might have said. Do I think speakers are responsible for their own words? Well, of course they are, but the listener is also responsible for how they respond to what someone has said. Unfortunately, this can be a very difficult lesson for many to learn these days because of our fallen sinful nature. But I think it is a loving communication tactic that all Christians need to consider implementing if we are going to move forward together in society. And we need to mean it. I know I would like society as a whole to move forward with each person being responsible for themselves. Perhaps you don't agree with this, but I know I like being with and around people when we are willing to put biblical love in action toward one another.
Jesus reminded us in Matthew 7:2 that in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. I encourage all of us to speak the truth in love and don't take offense. Don't hear what someone is not saying. Truly listen, and if another does not want to listen, well, now you have a choice to make.
With that in mind, please consider the following. As many of you know, I cannot wear a face mask due to a medical condition I have after my life-threatening stroke and life-saving brain surgery in 2017. Yet I personally have been told by employees to leave a nationally known restaurant chain and even a large nationally known company I once supported a lot. (For those of you wondering: Yes, I showed them my medical note about my condition from my primary MD, or as I call them “my papers,” and they still told me to leave.)
I bring this up to say that when I encourage healthy people in 2021 to take off their masks and live their lives, don't hear what I am not saying. I am not telling a person who is wearing a mask how horrible they are or are judging them. I have no idea what their situation may or may not be. Just as I would hope all people would not have judged me for being unable to wear a mask, I would hope all people would not judge others who choose to wear a mask. Why? Because neither you nor I know their situation.
Could they be fearful? Possibly. Could they be sick? Possibly. Could they have a compromised immune system? Possibly. Could they be perfectly healthy? Possibly. If they're not you, it's really none of your business. This goes both ways as well, though. If you see someone without a mask on… Could they be a jerk? Possibly. Do they just want to live their life in liberty? Possibly. Could they have some reason medically that they cannot wear a mask? Possibly. Could they be vaccinated? Possibly. Could they not be vaccinated? Possibly. If they're not you, it's really none of your business.
Don't let The God Complex get the best of you. Now, go live your life that God has given to you, and if anything I've shared here offends you… don't hear what I am not saying.
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As society begins to open up a bit from a strange year of lock down due to some very odd leadership, I thought it might be good for Christians to actually consider how Jesus Christ handled not only germs but how He handled a very contagious disease back in the times when He walked on the earth. That disease, which was quite common back then, was leprosy. It not only was quite common, but it was so incredibly contagious that a person who had contracted it needed to stay away from the general population. If a person with leprosy was somehow going to be coming into contact with people in the general population, the person with the leprosy needed to yell, “Unclean! Unclean!” wherever they went to make sure those around them knew to stay away from them so they might not catch this horrible disease. They also needed to cover their mouths in order to protect others. For those of you still wondering why someone would have to do this, it was required because if a person catches leprosy, their skin will be eaten away. A person’s fingers, toes, and even nose can be eaten away by this horrible disease, ultimately leading to death. As far as I know, it is curable today with antibiotics, but it seems to be curable if only caught early enough.
Back when Jesus Christ walked the earth, though, there was no known cure for leprosy. So how did Jesus handle someone who had a deadly disease while He walked the earth? Did Jesus Christ shy away or ignore a leper like most people did in His day? Let's find out together.
We see the following account in Matthew 8:1-4:
“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’”
Did you see how Jesus literally dealt with a person who had a highly contagious disease back in biblical times? He did this in public with a crowd around Him. He did not do this behind a closed door or “socially distanced” like so many in those times did with leprosy.
Let's look at it again:
- Jesus reached out and got closer to the man
- Jesus touched the man
- I think we can easily deduce, because he addressed the man directly, that Jesus in essence got eye to eye with the man and was face to face with him.
Here's a great video clip to give you an idea of what might have taken place in this situation.
Jesus did this with a man who was very contagious with a deadly disease. That is what Jesus chose to do, and then He healed the man.
All I am trying to do is to hopefully challenge you, the reader. I especially challenge you that if you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, that you should be willing to be fearless and act like Jesus did. Follow the example of Christ regarding our virus today that has a recovery rate that is literally over 98%.
What is there to fear? Some of you might say, “death.” Others of you might say, “pain and suffering.” This is actually true, and I am willing to concede those points. But I would then ask you, do you drive a motor vehicle, cross a busy street, use a knife to cut things, or do you ever drink or eat unhealthily? I ask because all of those things can cause death, pain, and suffering as well.
Near the very beginning of this whole situation, I had asked someone what they believed we were trying to stop. They essentially told me the death of millions and millions of people in the United States (This was when those of us in our state of Ohio were still being told that we needed “15 days to flatten the curve”). I asked this person and many other people, if millions upon millions of people do not die from this, then what? At the time, most said that we can get back to living our lives.
Yet, in my personal experience and through many conversations with many of these same people, they are seemingly now wanting to eradicate death, disease, and dying altogether. It just boggles the mind. It is incredibly shocking to me because as followers of Christ, we already know that Jesus Christ has defeated death, disease, and dying. He did this through His birth, life, death, and resurrection. I could go on and on, but I will stop here today as I wrap up this first installment of this series.
Philippians 4:6-7 states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Focus on Christ, my friends. Let's lead in hope and not in fear.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
