This post is intended to speak to committed Christians, although if you are reading this and are still on the fence (so to speak) welcome!

In the New Testament, the author of the Book of Hebrews repeatedly uses the phrase, Hold Fast. Here is one such usage, in Hebrews 10:23

“Let us hold fast to the hope we profess.” (There are different translations, but this is the gist.)

* * * * *

These are turbulent times, and our core beliefs are under attack around the world and across our country. Almost no one is persecuting Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists (with the exception maybe of India where non-Hindus are routinely mistreated). But, nearly everywhere, Christians, the single largest belief system in the world, are on the defensive.

In some places, like China, they have to hide for fear of their welfare. In Africa, they are slaughtered by Islamic tribal groups. In western Europe and Canada, Christians face dwindling numbers and influence as atheistic, Marxist and nihilistic philosophies, coupled with massive Muslim migration are transforming the social, political and economic landscape.

And the United States is not immune.

Under the guise of a thing called Tolerance, Christianity is just not included. We are seen as anachronistic and oppressive. As such, we have been on the defensive for decades now, which has only accelerated since around 2012.

Previously unthinkable practices such as genital mutilation of children in order to accommodate their “feelings” and the political agenda of elites in academia, the media and government, have been allowed not just to flourish but to include withering attacks on those who stand up to oppose such horrendous practices. I think of the Aztecs sacrificing children on some alter. How are we different?

Previously unthinkable practices of allowing boys and men who all of a sudden declare, without any scientific basis (other than constructed by means other than science) to wake up one day to declare that they are girls and women … and have entire swaths of humanity swoon at their feet … is tantamount to the king walking naked with everyone just nodding their heads. Until the innocent and brave boy points out the obvious.

And it’s getting worse. Where is it supposed to end?

Well, it’s really an attack on the fundamental values and principles that have built the west since the Enlightenment, which coupled historical Judeo-Christian beliefs with modern scientific rationalism. This confluence has lifted billions out of poverty and spread the concepts of freedom and individual liberty around the globe.

In this attack, we are witnessing the degradation of civilization, the only thing that keeps us out of chaos and tyranny.

There are many who see this viewpoint as an anachronism. After all, the Arc of History (as so-called Progressives are used to saying) leans towards a world freed from mythologies and oppressive cultures run by white men and capitalists. This is just another tired retread of fundamental Marxist ideology, branded as Communism. 

Too long now, Christians have been on the defensive, trying to counter the massive and coordinated attack on our basic values and beliefs conducted by unified academia, media and the levers of government. It’s been body blow after body blow.

Enough is enough.

We begin the counterattack (and it is a counterattack, just as we are part of something greater than the obvious … as I said in a recent post) with Hold Fast. Draw the line. While we can certainly engage in conversations with others whereby we exchange viewpoints in a calm and reasoned manner, we cannot allow ourselves to be sidelined by loud and strident voices that do not seek dialogue but only to harangue.

But holding fast is no longer enough. We need to be bold in pushing our agenda forward. An agenda that includes unapologetically proclaiming the truth of the Gospel and the fact that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. This will not go down well in some quarters but it must be said. We can’t apologize or backpedal. Certainly, we should arm ourselves with rational explanations for our beliefs, but we can also challenge others to support their own … something they will not want to do because the logic breaks down.

We are clearly called by Jesus to proclaim the Truth. And he just as clearly said we could face persecution and worse. In the comfortable West it’s easy to ignore what this can mean. But, as we face these attacks, we should be reminded of the famous line, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Jesus calls us to be bold. And boldness requires risk. Boldness requires that we abandon the comfort of approval by everyone around us, including friends and family. If we really believe that Jesus is God and that the words accorded to him are accurate, this is non-negotiable. 

We can take comfort that we are not alone but in the presence of a “cloud of witnesses,” of brothers and sisters who are also taking risks because there is only one who is Just and stands in Judgment.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrews 12:1

I need to become bolder, holding fast to what I know to be true. I need not defend that knowledge here as I’ve done it extensively elsewhere. I am part of a massive body that includes a large swath of humanity and untold numbers in the heavenly realms. My hope is based upon a promise that is ironclad. Every other promise is hollow in comparison because we are in the flesh and seduced into thoughts and behaviors that are not of God. As much as I try to be good and to do God’s will, I always fall far short, therefore rejecting him and his authority over me. The only way that gap can be resolved is through Jesus. The only way.

And that is the foundation upon which I stand. It is there that I hold fast.

In closing, I return to one of the gifts God has given me through his Word and that comes from the Book of Ephesians Chapter 6, verses 10-17

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

This is the space in which I live now. Leading my life as best I can with what God has provided me, my wife, family and dear friends. I ask for wisdom and strength to meet the challenges ahead and that God uses me to, as Charlie would say, make heaven crowded.

Amen.

A dichotomy is a concept normally used to describe two things that are related but opposite.

A paradox is something akin to two concepts that seem to be self-contradictory but true.

I’m not sure if I am living within these spaces right now but if sure feels like it.

My heart loves deeply but, simultaneously, I feel deep anger. What does that say? What do these emotions say about my commitment to follow Jesus?

There is this misconception in our modern comprehension of Jesus that presents him as soft. As merely the Lamb of God. The airbrushed depictions of him (light colored hair, with sheep and children at his feet), depicts him as some kind of gentle soul.

Which, of course, he is.

But that hardly presents the whole picture. Jesus is also the Lion of Judah.

In fact, he is God. God made man. Emmanuel. God with us.

And God, the omniscient, omnipresent, all powerful being in whose image we are created, cannot be airbrushed.

After all, while he is Love Itself, he is also Truth and Justice Itself. And this is something that moderns just don’t understand. 

He is a God of Wrath.

This past seven days have been the most tumultuous for our country since the awful attack in 2001. But this is different by an order of magnitude. Following 9/11, it seems our entire nation was unified, even for a relatively short period of time. Not so now. We are clearly a divided people, large swaths of which hold diametrically opposing visions of who and what we should be.

I fundamentally believe that we are in a clash of civilizations, although those on the other side from my own have a different concept of what “civilization” even means. You can’t be nihilists (those who reject all religious and moral principles who also believe that life is meaningless) and civilized at the same time. Not all of those on the opposite side from where I stand are nihilists, but they do reject many of the historical religious and moral principles that have shaped our world for the past half millennia and even before.

All of this brings me to this point. How do I live my life as a committed follower of Jesus who teaches us to embody the fundamental character of God while we live in a broken and fallen world? 

If we truly believe that God is equally loving and just … then there is nothing wrong with feeling anger towards evil and injustice. We are taught to hold these two seemingly opposite thoughts and feelings in balance.

Not an easy thing to do.

God hates evil. That’s a fact. He knows it destroys his creation … that Evil acts diametrically opposed to his Will.

Evil is “grooming” children by telling them it’s just fine if they want to mutilate themselves because they think and feel that they were born into the wrong body.

Evil says unborn human beings are just clumps of cells and tissue with no intrinsic value.

Evil says that those who prey on the weak in our society through acts of violence are just “misguided” and are merely “misunderstood.” They are the true victims and don’t deserve justice and punishment. That their victims are actually oppressors and “deserve” what they get.

Evil says it’s ok to celebrate the brazen and public murder of a kind and loving husband and father who just asked questions about principles and sought civil discussion. Evil makes up lies about things he said because it is afraid of the truth. Evil laughs at such a life because it has no other defense.

Those that follow such evil are like water descending in a sink, circling the drain. There is nothing left but the darkness of the hole they have dug for themselves.

That is the ultimate reality. The nature of Evil is to deceive. To lie. To draw our focus away from Truth itself, our Creator, in whose image we are made, even as we are free to choose its opposite. 

I know this with every fiber of my being, although it took five decades to get there and it’s only been two decades since. I always knew that evil was an actual thing, but I could never point to its origin. It all makes sense now.

Wrath can be defined as extreme anger. How could God not “feel” extreme anger at the force that sets out to destroy the beauty of his creation?

Yes, there is a supernatural battle going on that is far greater and in more vivid detail than we can possibly see. I shared this perspective this morning in a group prayer setting: The Enemy sees us as pawns to play in its demonic battle against Good. However, God sees us as his sons and daughters, adopted into the family business of restoring that broken creation. We are kings and queens on that cosmic chess board, make no mistake. He has, via love and grace, adorned us with the royal robe of righteousness and put on our fingers the signet rings that demonstrate we will inherit his Kingdom. (Luke 15:22). 

Surely, there has been rejoicing in heaven that we can only imagine, now that Charlie is welcomed there in glory. Yes, a life was snuffed out by evil. But let the Enemy learn that, from such unspeakable event, the army of God has only been strengthened.

Save me a place at the banquet table, Charlie, for that time I can meet you face to face and say thank you.

Lord, please give me the strength and wisdom to carry out your Will. Please guard my heart that is really angry right now … so that it does not turn hard and into contempt, for that is not loving. I know that anger is completely justified when its object is evil. You have called me to be your son but, also, a member of your army. Help me to find my role in all of that when the pathway can seem cloudy. Let your truth break into me with the help of the Holy Spirit. Let me never forget that you are equally Love and Justice and that both will prevail. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand against that. And nothing can separate me from you. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Attached: An AI depiction of the Great Battle. Archangel vs. the Demonic. This is real.

What a difference a day can make. At this time yesterday, my heart was pretty light, although the last week has been difficult due to some significant challenges facing people I deeply care for. I’d just posted a couple of reflections on compassion and empathy, purpose and mission. I was planning a camping trip up into Idaho next spring.

Not today.

Today, I am angry, grieving, raw.

Twenty-four years ago, today, a number of fanatical Islamic jihadists (Warriors for Allah) attacked our country, our way of life, our fundamental values. They were considered martyrs, dying for a cause they felt as just.

Yesterday, a man whom I admire deeply for his commitment to those fundamental values was assassinated and I am not a little bereft.

Yes, my faith and trust in God is as firm as ever. I have no doubts in that regard. However, I’m struggling to comprehend what is happening in our country and around the world.

Charlie Kirk had the audacity to publicly state his bedrock values … including the importance of free speech and open debate. He decried the insipid movement to tear down the key principles on which our country was founded and for which countless Americans have given their lives to protect. He was a kind and loving man, a devoted husband and father, a humble and faithful friend who seemingly had time to connect with thousands. He did not apologize for his core beliefs, including his overtly Christian views.

He saw our society at a crossroads. He saw and called out organized attacks against family, free speech, and the Judeo-Christian beliefs that led to concepts like liberty, freedom, and common-sense truths.

For this, he was martyred.

And, just as the organization he built is named Turning Point, I think this is a turning point. A watershed moment. A defining moment.

Others may disagree but I see this as a battle of good and evil. Build up or tear down.

Evil says it’s ok for adults to countenance the mutilation of children and even give those children permission to permanently damage themselves so as to march lock step with a brutal and insane ideology. And some of those children are not even old enough to drive a car. Evil says it’s ok to light cities on fire, burn down businesses, attack people at random and espouse philosophies of nihilism and communism, both of which have led to the deaths of hundreds of millions. Evil says it’s ok for ideologies that espouse genital mutilation of young girls and the subjugation of women to bloom and grow in our midst. Evil says it’s ok to silence the voices of high school and college students who have the audacity to disagree with the tyrannical authorities in many of our schools and universities.

All martyrdom is not equal. The Islamic fundamentalists adhere to a core belief that it is their duty to subjugate all humans and to kill those who resist. Theirs is a holy war to push back civilization to the dark ages, before the welling up of concepts such as freedom and individual liberty.

All martyrdom is not equal.

Nathan Hale had one regret … that he had but one life to give for his country. And, it wasn’t just a country, it was an idea that all men and women are created equal in the eyes of God, that we have a right to live free. Patrick Henry famously stated, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

John the Baptist. Jesus. Stephen, the first Christan martyr. Many thousands of early Christians crucified, fed to the lions. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who famously wrote Cost of Discipleship.

Charlie Kirk, Christian martyr. A good man who gave his life to defend the principles that unapologetically made this country great.

I am not afraid of dying. I know that we humans can be seen as bit players in the vast conflict between supernatural good and evil, while each of us is completely invaluable in the eyes of God. Jesus not only preached peace but he also preached war. In this war, we are called to put on metaphorical armor as the apostle Paul declares in his letter to the church in Ephesus.

Right now, I am hurting for Charlie’s family and for his large circle of friends and the millions of young people who he has energized in this battle between good and evil. Eventually, my anger and grief may diminish but it will take time. I am not complacent nor fatalistic. 

I was on the phone last evening with a close friend and a remarkable educator who is also one of the strongest Christians I know. He is facing an extremely tough challenge right now and shared with me that he is continuing to pray Psalm 27 as he has it memorized.

I slept little last night but when I got up well before dawn, I committed to opening my bible to that psalm as I knew its basis. When I picked up my phone to read the daily scripture, as I do first thing, out of thousands of possibilities, I stared at a verse from Psalm 27.

You can’t make this up.

As David wrote three thousand years ago:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Charlie arrived in heaven yesterday and there was a mighty banquet and celebration in that other reality. He died as he lived. Engaged. Kind. Purposeful. Loving.

May we honor his legacy by carrying on his mission.

See you on the other side, brother.