Silent Lament

 Job's friends are rightly criticized for getting a lot of things wrong in their comfort of Job, but they should be commended for one thing they got exactly right. Sometimes as Christians seeking to comfort others, we need to learn to shut up already. We need to be a listening ear and not offer any sage advice, explanations or promises. "I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; let me know why You contend against me. Does it seem good to You to oppress, to despise the work of Your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? Have You eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees? Are Your days as the days of man, or Your years as a man's years,...' " (Job 10:1-5) (Not verses you see quoted and claimed and liked on Facebook too much). Look what Job goes on to say in Job 10:18-22 "Why did You bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer before I go- and I shall not return- to the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick as darkness." (Remember that Job is saying all this to God.)

This is the deep despair of a man who has been devastated. In the same day, he has had most all of his cattle and animals (i.e. means of income and food) destroyed and all of his children killed. Then he gets struck with a horrible and painful skin disease on top of that (in a time with little medicine available- no Neosporin to rub on those sores- scraping at them with broken pottery will have to do). And the one person who should have been the most comfort, his wife, only offers this advice- "Curse God and die!" Wow! Thanks a lot, wife. Of course, Job doesn't do this, but he definitely lets God have a barrage of his angry, hurt, pained and torturous feelings, with a lot of feelings of being betrayed and feeling hugely disappointed with God mixed in. Job had just had his whole worldview shattered too. Doesn't God bring good to the good and bad to the bad? I mean, God Himself said Job was blameless and upright! (Job 1:8) But bad befalls us all at times. We can't explain it. Sometimes, like Jonah, we feel angry enough to die! (Jonah 4:9) In the end, hopefully we learn that God never does wickedness and doesn't pervert justice. (Job 34:10-12) And as Job acknowledges, there are some things we just can't understand. Brokenness, pain, suffering and hurting is part of the experience now in this fallen world. And our every cry of "Why?" and every tear is an echo of the feeling that all of humanity shares- there is something horribly wrong in the world and we live in a vastly cruel parody of what this world should be. Of course, ultimately it is a world of our own making and we are the ones who have brought the decimation by our sin. And God has identified with our suffering in the person of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. His Resurrection brings us hope that we will be resurrected through our faith in Him to the life that He meant for us to live- in a new Heaven and new earth where God Himself will wipe away all our tears. (Revelation 21-22). Until that glorious day, while we do live in light of eternity, we also live in recognition of the hurt and pain of our day-to-day life in this world and seek to assuage people's pain and bring them the balm of Gilead that alone can ultimately cure their ails.

     Let's do as Job's friends did. "Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great." (Job 2:11-13) Yes, as much criticism as we can rightly level at these guys later on in the book (which God mentions in Job 42 and they repent of with sacrifices and Job graciously prays for his friends as God commands so they can be forgiven too)- there is one thing they got exactly right. No casseroles and dinners brought for Job (not saying there's anything wrong in offering food to the suffering though), but most importantly, no pithy sayings and no attempts at words of comfort. Instead, they did just what The Bible says elsewhere- they mourned with Job as he mourned. And they suffered in silence together with their friend. May we all learn to show the love of Christ to the hurting in the same manner.

Yes, there is a time to encourage one another and spur one another on toward love and good deeds and help comfort others with the comfort God has given us in our times of distress, but there is also a time to be silent and listen and lament and weep. (as Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 attests. See also Hebrews 10:23-25 and 2 Corinthians 1:1-11).

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15)

Standing on the Promises of God

In Matthew 13:24-43, Jesus tells the parable of the weeds, also known as the parable of the wheat and tares. Thankfully, The Lord also offers an explanation of the parable, explaining that the weeds sown among the wheat are sons of the evil one, whom the devil has planted in the church. So this parable indicates that there sadly will be those who may claim to be Christ followers in the church but are really not and who only bring strife and division instead. God's angels will winnow out the weeds into the eternal fires of hell in the end. In light of this passage, there is legitimate reason to be concerned about the possibility of false converts in the church. Of course, this parable also indicates that the church should minister to everyone, preaching the Gospel to all, and let God sort it out in the end. 

     In relation to this, I know there are a number of pastors and evangelists who claim that saying the "sinner's prayer" is unBiblical. Many seem to think that many who said this prayer declaring their faith in Jesus to save them from their sins were not really sincere and thus are merely false converts. They tend to have a strong emphasis on the need for repentance and sometimes makes it seem like they are really preaching a reliance on works along with God's grace. And I also at least sometimes get the feeling like they're speaking with assuredness that they can't possibly be one of those false converts.

      To be fair though, there are other times when these evangelists are speaking where they make it very clear they believe we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And I don't doubt the sincerity of their faith in Christ or their zeal to see others come to salvation. I praise God for that! I am just stating the impression I get at times.

 I think the point is to emphasize that we can't just flippantly say a prayer that we don't really mean, claim our fire insurance policy and just go on living life as we please.

Of course we have to be careful of that- Jesus warned us in Matthew 7 of the many who will call to Him "Lord, Lord" who never really knew Him.

   But if we confess with our mouths, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. (See Romans 10:9) That sounds a lot like the "sinner's prayer" to me.

   If we invite Jesus metaphorically into our hearts to be Lord and Saviour, then we invite Him to metaphorically and literally in some sense as well to rule our lives. We invite Him not only to forgive us of all our sins that left us dead in our trespasses but also to make us into the people He intended us to be all along and do the good He wants us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

   We invite Him into our minds because He gives us the mind of Christ. We don't seem to often think of it in these terms but it's the antithesis of demon possession. Remember that even the demons acknowledge Jesus is Lord but clearly they aren't saved. They lead people to do evil things that hurt themselves and others. Jesus leads us to do good things that help others before ourselves. Ephesians 5:18 commands us not to be drunk with wine for this leads to dissipation but in contrast to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

   If the Holy Spirit is possessing and filling us, then we do as He leads. We become God's extensions on earth to do the righteous deeds He desires that bring Him glory. (To be clear, we don't become a god or God Himself, of course- but we do become His sons and daughters. And children imitate their mother and father, just as we imitate our Father. Thus, His children will look and act and talk more and more like Him every day.)

    Now kids are often given chores to do around the house and maybe they do them to earn an allowance. But they never to do them to earn the love of their parents (or shouldn't anyway) because their parents always love them and they are their children no matter what! Nothing they can do can ever change that! 

  Once God adopts us through our faith in Christ, we are no longer servants but sons! Anyone who sins is a slave to sin. The slave doesn't stay in the house forever but the son stays in the house forever! So if the Son sets us free, we are free indeed! (See John 8:32-36)

   We rest in the Son's completed work at Calvary and the empty tomb! The slaves in the Old Testament in Israel had the 7th. year as the Year of Jubilee when they were set free. Jesus is our Jubilee! (Thanks to Michael Card for that line. :-)) Jesus is our Sabbath rest! (See Hebrews 4)

    And out of gratitude to Him and love for Him, we obey His commands willingly. It makes such a world of difference when we are obeying because we want to out of love and not out of fear.

   As a librarian, I often describe my job as tricking kids into reading books. :-) (Really- I do every contest and promotion I can and so forth to make reading look like a fun game and pastime.) Now, I'm happy to some small degree for kids reading even begrudgingly because their teachers made them. What a HUGE joy it is instead though to see kids who genuinely want to read on their own amd who grow to love reading to the point that they are constantly hounding me about getting their book requests in so they can have more to read! :-)

    This is the same kind of response God wants to see in us with Jesus. We read The Bible because we want to hear from Him not because our pastor made us. We pray because we want to spend time with Him, not because it's like a courtesy call our parents made us make to our grandparents. 

   We go to church, tithe, love our neighbours as ourselves, sacrifice to help the least of these, speak the Truth in Love and share the Gospel with others- not because we have to do all these good deeds to earn our Cub Scout merit badges but because Akela has already made us one of the pack and the call of the Wild in our souls drives us to do these things to show we are His and to please Him. Ultimately, these actions and attitudes are all reflections of the fact that with our transformation by the renewing of our minds, we are conformed to Christ and our calling is confirmed in Christ by these good works, which are done to show that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

   The motivation is always key. We do it because He has saved us- NOT in order to get saved. The latter brings only exhaustion and frustration; the former brings rest, peace and trust.

    I say all this as things I have learned from God's Word and Spirit as one who has struggled numerous times throughout life wrestling back and forth, worrying if I have really been saved. I say it as one who said a sinner's prayer about the age of 5 or 7 and who has sought to follow Jesus ever since. I say it as one who has fended off attacks from the devil to make me doubt at times when I felt I was doing well- and as one who has been hit with accusations when I know I'm in sin. 

    Christians, sadly, often still choose to sin and thus continue to struggle with temptations through the sanctification process. This doesn't mean that we have lost our salvation when this happens. It means we've lost our fellowship with the Father temporarily, just like kids who know they've done wrong shrink in fear from their father who has the belt at the ready for discipline. We fear the rod of correction but we need not ever fear that we have made our Daddy too angry to love us anymore. The same is true with God. We don't need to ever fear that we have pushed His patience too far and that He's lost that loving feeling. We might lose that feeling of being loved but God never loses the feeling of giving love because He is love. It's more than a feeling, whether in Boston or anywhere else in the world. It's the Love of God that unconditionally reaches out to us and holds us forever! 

    This doesn't mean that we sin so grace may abound- by no means! Grace is not a license to sin, like it seems James Bond holds. But we trust that God's Word is His bond and He who does not lie keeps us stirred and not shaken. (Titus 1:2, Haggai 1:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:2, Hebrews 12:26-29) We got salvation for free from Yeshua with love! We can find way more than just a quantum leap of solace in knowing the Superman of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow never dies (again) and because He lives forever, we will live forever with Him! And we continue to use all the Spirit's gifts like Q's Inspector Gadget-gadgets on His Majesty's secret service!

Though of course, while we do keep acts of generosity secret and our Father who knows all secrets and sees what's done in secret rewards us, we should be in the open about letting people know that the reason for the Love, faith and hope they see in us is Jesus! 

    And we have this all because we are resting in His completed work and none of our own! (Matthew 5:17 and 11:25-30) And when Christ becomes our all consuming passion, His commands are not weary or burdensome. We delight in doing them because we want to please our loving, Saviour, Lord and Friend. 

    And that's where I rest. I trust that God is true and that He really does love me. He really loves everyone with an everlasting love! He longs for us all to be reconciled to Him if we'll let Him do it. He has forgiven all my sins because I have asked Him to do so by confessing my faith in Jesus and His death and Resurrection. I have repented of my sins and seek to follow Him but I often mess up and keep repenting of my sins and keep following Him. He picks me back up and keeps me going. As I said before, I have doubted a number of times but I've doubted myself more than I've ever doubted God. I think that was part of the point of praying the sinner's prayer 50 million times over to make sure I was really sincere like Linus' pumpkin patch that time. After spending times literally kneeling naked in the bathroom reading all of 1 John aloud and weeping and praying to God and claiming His promises yet again, I somewhere along the line realized that His promises are true and I really didn't have to try so hard. I believe He heard me the first time as a kid. Those many times of recommitment revealed and reconfirmed to me again how great my sin truly is and how infinitely greater His grace is as well. His grace is far greater than all my sin.

   I ran the 400m and 110m hurdles events on the Track and Field team in high school. Thankfully I didn't knock them down and subsequently fall down myself too often. If it does happen in a race though- it's okay. You can knock every single one down and as long as you get up and keep running and get to the finish line first, you can still win the race. It doesn't count against you in any way. You don't lose your place on the team. When we sin and fall down, Jesus picks up again when we come back to Him in Godly sorrow and repentance and He puts us back on track to run the race with perseverance. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Hebrews 12:1-2) We never lose our place on His team!

    When we are assured of our faith in Him, we can move forward in faith to be all He made us to be. He is still working out His plan for us. Keep trusting Him, keep fighting the good fight in the one day ending war on sin, and enduring and sharing His love with others! As the song says, 'til He returns or calls me Home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand. I love Him because He first loved me. May all I say, think or do bring Him glory. :-)

   

  

  

   

   

Slam Dunk Sin

"Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:1-11)

 I wanted to offer some commentary here but first I thought it better to let the Scripture speak for itself and I didn't want to distract from it, so that's up front and center.

    I read through both 1 Peter and 2 Peter recently and some convicting words hit me in 1 Peter 4. Christ has suffered for us to reconcile us to Him. Now that we have come to faith in Him through accepting His death and rise to pay for our sins, we must live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but instead for the will of God. The time that is past suffices for all the stuff the world wants us to do- we've already spent more than enough time in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. The world is surprised when we don't join them in debauchery and thus they malign us; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 

   To be sure, we will all stand before Lord Christ's judgment seat, but those not in Christ will be judged on their deeds in the body and found guilty of sin that only Christ can forgive and erase- and thus rightly receive the punishment of the Hell they chose by rejecting God's offer of love. Those of us in Christ will be judged for the deeds in the body after receiving Christ, to determine what rewards we should receive, like the unfading crown of glory mentioned in 1 Peter 5:4.

     With the end of all things at hand, we suddenly seem to get a lot more serious about the way we live. Though none of us knows the day or hour of Christ's return, we know He will come and we will be in His presence that way or we will die one day and pass into eternity and in His presence that way. One of those two events will happen in our lifetime. Whichever comes first, we must be good stewards of God's varied grace. Be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers. Above all, keep loving each other earnestly! Love covers a multitude of sins! Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Use the gifts God has given us to serve one another- so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ! To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen!

    In other words- we've spent enough time goofing off and making errors and turnovers. It may be fun to clown around like the Harlem Globetrotters for a while but the first half is over. The pep talk from Coach Jesus in the locker room is to let Him ice up your sores and wounds and then get your head in the game! We have to work and play as a team and keep our eyes on the prize for which we have been called Heavenward. We already know the Coach has won the game for us! He's got an unfading championship ring (for the purposes of this metaphor :-)) waiting for us! We need to play hard until the clock runs out though and be faithful to play the best game we can, not only looking to sink baskets for our stats, but to make assists to help the team's stats as a whole and ultimately give all the credit back to our Coach! And let the way we play the game be reflective of His coaching so that others want to join the team! :-)

    The best part about this team is that there are no try outs- it's entirely a team of walk-ons. And no one ever gets cut once they're called by the Coach to join the team. :-)

     So keep playing a good, steady D (1 Peter 3:15) and no trash talking (also 1 Peter 3:15 ;-)), and keep dribbling and making good passes and taking good shots as the Coach leads. And make like Jesus in Mark 8 when He healed the blind dude at Bethsaida- make sure to dribble but no double dribble! ;-) If that happens, call a time out and you may even have to sit out a bit as a reminder to play the game right but then get back in there when the Coach trades you and the sixth man back out.

   Like Hebrews 11, we've got a great crowd in the stands cheering us on. And like Pistol Pete, Larry Legend, Magic, Air Jordan, etc. (insert your favourite B-baller here ;-)) on a hot streak, we've got the Holy Spirit setting us on fire to make the plays that He has called for us to make, according to our Playbook, all along. Follow His lead and make good passes and take good shots, and we will see some baskets drop, knowing we win in the end! :-)

    Slam dunk! 

Waiting

 "But you will receive power when The Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

Amen! Our daily focus for all in Christ. Note that Jesus said this in context to the disciples asking about the times and dates God has set for establishing His kingdom. As we know from Matthew 24:36, no man knows the day or hour of Christ's return. And Jesus says here in Acts again that it's not for us to know that. Instead, what we are to do is to be His witnesses everywhere we go throughout the earth. And while we are faithful in doing that, we can certainly look forward to the day of His glorious return as we pray with John, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus!" :-)

    If I'm honest, sometimes I still have a mixture of anticipation on some days and trepidation on others. I think that's due to my own struggles I've had over the years with assurance of salvation, as well as a desire to see more goals accomplished in life here before that Day comes. And there is also the weight of knowing that so many still need to hear The Gospel and are still separated from God's love and bound to an eternity in Hell.

    As a coworker reminded me though, when Jesus comes and His kingdom is fully established on earth as it is in Heaven, those of us in Christ will experience life better than we could ever imagine! To think of a life free from sin, death, illness, violence, crime, pain and suffering- that's amazing! And that was a hopeful and helpful reminder to me. I know by my confession of faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection to pay for all my sins and my confession of Jesus Christ as Lord of all, I know my life is in Him and He is in my heart. 

And I trust by that faith that I will be with Him forever and His kingdom is so much infinitely better than any Earthly one. Heaven is infinitely better than Earth!

And Jesus is infinitely better than anything else I desire. Whether my earthly dreams and desires are fulfilled or not, God's thoughts and plans for me are infinitely higher and better than my own and I trust Him!

   So as I pray that He will find me to be the wise servant living in anticipation of His arrival, I strive to live each day for His glory in acknowledgement of the surety of His coming in His time. I want to want Jesus and nothing else. Lord, dispel my fears and bind my wandering heart to Thee! May I live each day for Your glory and do all You've called me to do. Thank You for Your promise to return and set everything right. I look forward to the day when everything sad will be made untrue. Help me to find all my joy and fulfillment in You and to do the good works You made to do for Your glory, that many others may come to know You and Your love for them in the time that is left. Whether Your second coming is in my lifetime or not, I join the earth in groaning for the renewal You will bring and I look to be used as an agent of change today to show the world what the kingdom of love and light looks like. Lord Jesus, shine through me and use me however You see fit. Forgive and cleanse me of all my sins and help me to keep living with eternity in mind each day. Please find me faithful when You come. :-)

After the Sufferin' (song)

 No matter who you are or your position in life, you're going to face hard things in life. Life is hard. We all go through our own sets of suffering at times. Whether you're a cashier at Ingles trying to eke out a living to provide for your family and dealing with unruly customers at the outset of a pandemic or you're Bert being constantly frustrated and annoyed by Ernie- the suffering still comes. The Lord sends His rain on the righteous and the wicked. 

Even when it's hump day and you are trying to make it through a tough week at work at a dinky little job, you can take hope in knowing there's a point to the suffering- and an eventual end to it. And God uses it to draw us closer to Him and make us more righteous. And we know that the glory coming will make these sufferings seem light. And while we're in the midst of trying times, we look forward to Christ's coming- and trust Him to help us move forward in this life while we wait for redemption of our bodies and the freedom from corruption coming after the suffering is done.

"After the Sufferin' "

(parody of "After The Lovin' " by Engelbert Humperdinck; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/16/2020)

(Hebrews 12:1-17, Romans 8:18-30)

Though sin clings oh so deep- cast it off 'cause of

Witness throng that is close- cast off weights

Run with hope and endure- Eye Founder

And Perfecter of our faith

Endured cross, despised shame all for joy set before Him

My own faith- it just seems to go dry

Haven't struggled so much with sin now to the point my veins bleed- Why?

Spankings chasten me (echo: Spankings chasten me)

As a son disciplined by Love (echo: Son disciplined by Love)

And spanking's telling me (echo: telling me) I'm viewed as God's son (echo: God's son)

Though it stings now we'll reap after the suffering

Oh a bushel of fruit- righteous lives (echo: Oooohh!)

Strengthen up, make paths straight and be healed

With God's grace, no one pass by

Make it so that garden isn't springing a bitter root (echo: Ooohhh!)

Oh, and as for this summary, it's all in 12 Hebrews (echo: Ooohhh!)

So I bring you to read chapter 8 Romans 

Can't brush off like hair these hard times (echo: chapter 8 Romans)

But the glory coming when revealed that it makes suffering light (echo: when revealed, it seems light)

And I know creation is still waiting to be renewed (echo: Ahhh!)

Oh, set free from corruption (echo: free from corruption)

Spirit's adoption too

Yes, bodies' redemption (echo: bodies' redemption)

We're groaning, God, for You

Mmm- after the suffering

I'm waiting, God, for You 

In Big Sky Country (song)

Note: Though I didn't really write anything with a Christmas theme for the blog this year, these next three entries were all written in some ways as gifts for others, so consider them as Christmas presents to remember the Giver of all good gifts Who gave us the very best when He sent Christ that first Christmas to save us all from our sins. Merry Christmas! Praise God for His love. :-)

Life is so very hard. Yes, there are times when it has its moments of joy but it also has so many moments of pain. And while we all face our fair share of it all, there are some people groups who have gotten hit so hard and others often don't even see it or ignore. In a big country, it's easy to ignore the plight of others. This song was written as an encouragement for the beautiful Native American people of Montana especially, as well as those throughout America. I had the blessing and privilege to serve these people in helping host basketball camps during the last two summers and in so doing seek to share the love of Christ with people there. There are a lot of hardships that face the people there, largely stemming from the past misdeeds of history- all of which ultimately comes down to the perniciousness of sin that still pervades the whole world. The state of Montana has one of the highest suicide rates in the country and that number is sadly particularly high among the Native American Indian people. I pray that the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine people may come to know the eternal Hope of Christ. If you are interested in learning more and supporting these people groups there, check out Montana Indian Ministries and the work God is doing through Pastor Bruce Plummer there. Give if you feel led, but most of all- pray for God to move and use His servants there to reach many there in Big Sky Country with Jesus' love.

"In Big Sky Country"
(parody of "In A Big Country" by Big Country; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 8/23/2019)
(Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 31:3, Philippians 1:6, 2 Peter 3:8-9, Romans 6-7, Romans 10:8-13, Psalms 139, John 3:16-17, Joshua 24:14-15, John 10:10, John 14:6, 1 John 4:18-20, Isaiah 43:1-7, Isaiah 42:1-4, 2 Samuel 22:30, Psalms 18:29, Psalms 27:13, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, John 6:44, Luke 19:10, Luke 4:14-21, Song of Songs 8:6-7, 1 Corinthians 13, Isaiah 35, Revelation 5:9)

Wake up screaming? Keep on dreaming!

You always seem to look listless- but what's the reason?
Another promise fallen through
Another season passes- life's cruel
Life's often taken smiles away from everybody's face
And there's real desperation- look!
Leads some to suicide- O child!

In Big Sky Country, drinks take our youth
Like our drug of choice tries to satisfy-
They all lie!

I think the painful truth's for things that really matter
You must persevere when every dream or hope in you shatters
I am expecting to grow flowers in the desert
In Isaiah figuratively
We see Heaven in 35

In Big Sky Country dreams can come true
The Creator's voice fills the mountainside
Stay alive!

In a big valley- we can do this too!
You are loved- rejoice! Scale the mountainside!
(Put) Faith in Christ!

Mistakes, life's hooks- so severe! They don't define you
Because they've happened doesn't mean you've been discarded
Put hope in Him 'cause The Lord conquers demons
Christ died for every sin! Creator Sets Free wants you!
Christ's God- The Way, Life, Truth- rising proved that He's Master
His love casts out fear- through everything there's Hope-
Your life matters! Niya!
I am expecting to grow flowers in the desert
And there flow rivers, streams
And see The Son then bring new life!

In Deuteronomy 30- we choose!
God our Father's voice draws us to His side
Please choose Life! (hashtag)
Assiniboine, Gros Ventre- Peace I pray for you
Christ's own blood ransomed folks from every tribe
Rev. 5:9
In Big Sky Country- dreams made like hoops
Through The Lover's choice find in Christ new life
Stay alive!

(Note: "Big Sky Country" is one of the state nicknames for Montana. "Creator Sets Free" is a term for Jesus used in the First Nations Version translation of The Bible, a translation specifically written with First Nation (Native American) people in mind! :-)
"Niya" is a term used by the Lakota people used to refer to the "life-breath". I am using it here to reflect back to the One who gives us both the first life breath with physical life (Genesis 2:7) and a second life breath with spiritual life when we put faith in Christ. (John 20:22))

Longing to Belong to a World Without Wrong

Do you want a world without dishonesty, theft, rape, murder, hatred and prejudice, greed, selfishness, rudeness, laziness, foul language, demeaning words and name calling, sexual immorality, unfaithfulness, alcoholism, lust, unwanted babies, starving people, poverty-stricken folks, unloved least of these, injustice and to sum it all up in one three-letter word- sin?
   Well, this world isn't it. And everyone fighting on their own battle to change the world for the better is fighting a losing battle. We can't change the world in our own strength- we don't truly have any. We ourselves are the problem. We all like sheep have gone astray; each of us have turned to our own way and The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (As Isaiah 53:6 says.) We and our entire world are cursed with sin.
    There is only one cure and God has provided Him as the verse above says. Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, came and died and rose again so we would never have to face death and separation from God in Hell. When we put all our weight- pin all our hopes and faith on Jesus for salvation- He saves us and leads us so we can follow Him on the straight and narrow path to Heaven.
   Thus, why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? (Psalms 2:1) They don't know it's all for naught.
     That perfect world we all want does exist- it's called Heaven! God describes it for us in Revelation 21-22, where there's no more tears, no more death and no more pain. The old has gone- the new has come! :-)
As C.S. Lewis said in "Mere Christianity", "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." This is precisely the longing that Hebrews talks about in chapters 11 and 13. Thy kingdom come, Lord Jesus! I know You are coming soon but even so- come, Lord Jesus!
 In Christ's Kingdom, "after the last tear falls, there is Love, Love, Love, Love...there is Love, Love, Love, Love- there is Love. And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of Love and Love again. We'll see how the tears that have fallen were caught in the hands of the Giver of Love and the Lover of all and we'll look back on these tears as old tales...." ("After The Last Tear Falls" by Andrew Peterson)
      That is where we must always have our eternal Hope. And until that Blessed Hope of Glory, Christ Jesus, returns to take His people Home and make all things new- we who know and love Jesus must continue to shine His love upon this dark world, so that the world may see the Light of Life living in us- see our good works- and glorify our Father in Heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16, Philippians 2:14-16, Ephesians 2:8-10)
    Jesus has already started making things new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that anyone in Christ is a new creation! The old has gone and the new has come! And the rest of the chapter calls us to be ambassadors for God, urging people to be reconciled to Him through Christ. We as Christ followers must work to extend grace and seek justice to show people a taste of God's Kingdom. The redeeming work has started and one day will be complete. (Philippians 1:6)
     Keep shining like stars in a dark world and (to briefly quote Peterson again, "All Things New") hold on to the Promise- the stories are true. My Jesus makes all things new. :-) Praise Him forever!

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YTbUhEHOaWs

The Power is Yours! (Forgetting What's Behind)

Don't ask, "Why were the old days better than today?" It's not good to ask such things.... (see Ecclesiastes 7:10-18 and chapter 12).... As Acts 17:24-28 tells us, God set men and women in history at exactly when and where He wanted them to be for His purposes.... (which doesn't mean that God won't move you at some point too though ;-))- But part of finding our identity in Jesus as His follower means being happy with who God made us to be- boy or girl, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, African descent, Indian descent, Caucasian, mixed, etc., Spanish, Trinidadian, American, German, Swiss, South African, Ukrainian, Canadian, Argentinan, Brazilian, Peruvian, Eritrean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Australian, Indian, Senegalese, Antarctican, etc.- whatever the social class- whatever other label we put on each other....... God made us above all those things in His image (Genesis 1:26-31). And when we're in Christ, none of those things matter anyway! (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-4, John 13:34-35, Galatians 3:25-29) And as Colossians 3:11 says, "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."
    We are all infinitely important and infinitely loved by God. (Jeremiah 31:3) And we are all valuable in His kingdom, where the elder learns to serve the younger and the younger cares for the elder- where each thinks of others as better than themselves and each seeks to love each other truly and forgive from the heart...
     No, these aren't the "good ol' days"- but as I like to say, the only good ol' days this planet has ever seen were Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly good ol' days until Revelation 21-22 come to pass. But Jesus makes the in-between time more abundant when we follow Him, as John 10:10 says. :-) And during our faith journey with Him, He shapes us to be more and more like Him in character and empowers us with spiritual gifts to bring a touch of The Divine to a fallen world so badly needing of redemption. To be sure, the final Redemption culminates with the coming of The Lord- but until then, we're like the Planeteers with our power rings, sent forth to bring God's restoration to the world through our love and good deeds and sharing of the Greatest Love of all shown to us on the cross and in the empty tomb (Romans 5:8). And way better than Captain Planet, and the Avengers who "have a Hulk"- we have Someone Real Who can do something about our situation (Hebrews 11:1-6)- we have a Savior- Jesus Christ- Whom we eagerly await to come back from Heaven! We have The One Who alone bears the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We have The One God Who holds all things together and by Him all things exist!

And as Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (in essence)- The Power is yours! :-) (So use His gifts and be His witness in all the world.)

Lord, You're The Inspiration! (song)

(Note: Another favourite from the archives. It's always a good day to praise The Lord! Psalms 118:24)

This one is a favorite of mine by, by far, the best rock band with a brass section that I’ve ever heard! And Relient K did an awesome cover of the original classic on their “Is For Karaoke” album in 2011. (Which I do believe is what really introduced me to this song, though I had been familiar with the band for much longer.) And The Lord gave me a blessing in getting to visit the namesake of this band the year I wrote this along with some beloved friends. And through it all- He is the One who makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him. And He’s the One who drives me to write, live and do anything. He’s The Inspiration! 

“Lord, You’re The Inspiration”
(parody of “You’re The Inspiration” by Chicago)
(parody copyright by Nathan Ludwick 3/1/2013)
(John 10:1-16, John 10:27-30, John 6:37, Isaiah 61:10-11, Luke 19:10, Psalms 27:10, Jude 1:20-25, John 15, Hosea 1-3, Hosea 11, Jeremiah 31:3, Isaiah 26:3, 1 John 3:16, Romans 10:8-13, John 3:16-17, Psalms 25, Psalms 103, Psalms 19, Psalms 104, Psalms 189, Psalms 73:22-26, 1 John 4:19, Colossians 3:1-4, Psalms 8, Malachi 3:6, Titus 3:4-8, 1 John 3:1)

I know our love is meant to be
The kind of love that lasts forever
And I want You here with me
From tonight on past the end of time 
You sure know everywhere I go
You’re always on my mind, in my heart, in my soul 

Savior- You’re the Meaning in my life (Lord,) You’re The Inspiration!
You bring feeling to my life
You’re The Inspiration!
Wanna have You near me
I wanna have You hear me saying
You know I need You, Lord- yes, I need You! 

And I know, and I know, yes I know- 1 John 4:19
We only love ‘cause You first loved us!
Now I know, now I know, that I need You here with me
I’m with Christ on past the end of time 
You sure know everywhere I go
You’re always on my mind,
(You’re) in my heart, (You’re) in my soul 

You’re The Meaning in my life
You’re The Inspiration!
You bring feeling to my life
You’re The Inspiration!
Gonna have You near me
Gonna have You hear me saying
You know I need You, Lord- yes, I need You! 

Ohhh……. 

Always have You near me
Always want You (to) hear me saying
You know I need You, Lord- yes, I need You!  You’re The Meaning in my life
You’re The Inspiration!
You bring feeling to my life
You’re The Inspiration! (Always have You near me)- [background vocal]
When you love Somebody- Past the end of time
When you love Somebody- Always on my mind
You know I need You, Lord- tonight
When you love Somebody- Past the end of time
When you love Somebody- Always on my mind
(I need You, Lord- tonight)[background vocal] ……………………………………………………………………………….. 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below! Praise Him above, ye Heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen!  Peace and love of Christ to you. Hebrews 13:20-22 (especially verse 22- you guys know how short I keep these things. ;-)) 

God's Love (song)

 (Note: Another favourite from the archives. It's always a good day to praise The Lord! Psalms 118:24)

     And now for something we hope You’ll really like! These next two posts are love songs to God- to the God of my life who fills my life with His life and makes life worth living! And it’s all through God’s Love shown to us in Jesus. Praise God for His love!

  “God’s Love” (parody of “My Love” by Petula Clark)
 (parody copyright by Nathan Ludwick 3/1/2013)
(Malachi 3:6, Psalms 25, Psalms 8, Psalms 73:22-26, Psalms 139:17-18, Psalms 103, Zephaniah 3:17, Psalms 104, Psalms 19, Hosea 1-3, Hosea 11, Isaiah 61:10-11, Luke 19:10, Psalms 27:10, Matthew 23:37, John 15:9-17, Romans 8:37-39, Romans 8:1-4, John 6:37, John 10:1-16, John 10:27-30, 1 John 4:19, Isaiah 49, 1 John 4:7-21, Romans 10:8-13, Titus 3:4-8, 1 John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Jeremiah 31:3, John 3:16-17, 2 Peter 3:8-9, 1 John 3:1, Jude 1:20-25, Revelation 20-22)

My God is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My God is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My God is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change my God!
Something happened to my heart the day that I met You
Something that I never felt before
You are always in my life no matter what I do
And every day I see that I want You, Lord

My God is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My God is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My God is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change my God!

Once I thought Your Love was meant for anyone else but me
Once I thought You’d never call my name Now I always know like Gomer found, You still love me
For now I hear You tell me every page

My Love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My Love is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My Love is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change My Love!
My Love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My Love is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My Love is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in the world
That can ever change My Love!
.................................................................

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below! Praise Him above, ye Heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen!  Peace and love of Christ to you. Hebrews 13:20-22 (especially verse 22- you guys know how short I keep these things. ;-)) 

Raise a Praise to the God Who Saves! (Thank You and Love You, Lord Jesus)

My God is warmer than the warmest sunshine- Softer than a sigh- My God is deeper than the deepest ocean- Wider than the sky- My God is brighter than the brightest star that shines every night above And there is nothing in this world that can ever change my God or His love. :-) (thanks to Petula Clark for help with the words. ;-)) I hear You tell me every page of Your Word, Lord Jesus- I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3- and I hear it echoed in every other verse too.) Your love never fails and Your mercy endures forever. (Psalms 136). Thank You for saving me and knowing me, Jesus. I know You have always loved me- I love You too because You first loved me. (1 John 4:19) And You proved it by taking my place and dying for me and rising again- You are the risen King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Nothing happens except that You allow it to happen. Thank You for being in control, Lord God Jesus. Thank You for Your friendship and for never leaving me and always holding on to me no matter what. Thank You for family and friends and for all those whose lives radiate with Your Spirit! It's so beautiful to see (Psalms 133). Thank You for the ways You have shined Your light through my life- keep using it and all I have and am for Your glory. Thank You for Your presence, guidance, justice, and jugment and wrath- and thank You that in Your wrath and judgment, You remember Your love, mercy and grace. You don't treat me as my sins deserve, but You shower me with love instead, just like the prodigal son's Dad. :-) (Psalms 103, Luke 15:20) Bless The Lord, O my soul- let all that is within me praise His holy Name- and forget not all His benefits. Thank You for all Your blessings, Lord Jesus and Your Holy Spirit Who guides and counsels me. Father God, use me to be a blessing to others. Our Father, Who art in Heaven. Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come- Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever- Amen. :-)
I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian- I'm not ashamed to bear Christ's Name- He's not ashamed to call me His brother. (Hebrews 2:11, Romans 1:16) It's the power of God to save for all who will call upon His Name. "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) Thank You for loving us all, Lord Jesus. :-)

Feeling the Slough of Despond? - Faith is the Victory!

I know I have expressed this notion on separate posts, but it's been heart check time again lately. I'm just going to give a full disclosure on some things here. I have been reading "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan as part of an online book reading club. I was on vacation for a while and had a lot of time to read at points and so I read through the whole book already a week or two back. I actually also read the second part as well (which details what happens to Christian's family.) This point I'm going to make again hit me recently and so I wanted to note something that hit me from both books and something that encouraged me a lot. "The Pilgrim's Progress" is a journey with Christ and we go through many trials and temptations along the way. And no matter what our feelings may say at times, God is ALWAYS faithful! This is a journey He has wrought and He will get us safely to the end and usher us into His presence for eternity through our faith because we're saved by His grace and His grace alone! His saving work leads us to do the good works He made for us to do all along- and those fruit of the Spirit manifesting in us are evidence of the salvific work He has already done! (Ephesians 2:8-10 and Philippians 2:12-13 say this really well.) There is a character in the second part who feels like he may well be my patron saint at times. (Though I've already claimed Gonzo of The Muppets as my patron saint of weirdos. ;-)) Mr. Fearing is a pilgrim who trembles along the way, struggling with doubts and fears- who ENDURES and is brought all the way to Heaven and released from those fears by The Lord. (Sorry for the spoiler.) ("Endure" is one of my favourite most repeated words in Revelation. Of course, we do this through the Holy Spirit's power- not our own.) I say this as one who first called upon Jesus to save me as a child of about 5 or 7. In growing in my faith in Christ, I have prayed numerous prayers of reaffirmation even after baptism. I have felt like Mr. Fearing as one who has struggled with doubts and fears about the judgment and terrible events of the end times- and about security of salvation itself. Even tonight I wrestled with this again and reread through 1 John yet again and again put my weight and trust fully upon the truth of God's Word, who doesn't lie. I am thankful that I don't struggle with this nearly as much as I did in previous years but it still plagues me at times. I have found a few things that have helped me with this. The truth of God's Word and a right understanding of salvation and the work of Christ- these have been instrumental. I can't lose something I didn't earn and didn't buy- it was given to me and all who will believe as a free gift. God gave it and He will sustain it. My faith is built solely on Christ and His righteousness because I have none of my own. My faith is based on facts- not feelings. Feelings are fickle and lie. I have worried about that before- I didn't have the right "feelings" and experience others said they had when they got saved- thus, I must have done something wrong. Was I really repentant and sorry enough for my sins? Am I just trying to do good works to be saved instead of relying on Jesus' righteousness alone? I read passages like Matthew 7 and Matthew 25 and I know I don't want to be a goat who didn't really love God and people. I don't want to be the one Jesus tells, "Depart from Me- I never knew you!" Believe me- I've carried out 2 Corinthians 13:5's test a number of times. And it in the end drives me back to my knees before Jesus, acknowledging Him alone as Lord and Saviour, confessing any sin to Him and again putting my trust back in Him. And God is gracious and loving and He has given me reassurances many times and I know I've seen Him working in me and changing my heart. The times when I slip back into old sins that I don't want to do- and get callous about it and do it for the pleasure of it even though I know it's wrong- those times can become scary and make me think I must not really be saved when I do those things. Again- the truth is that 1 John 1:9 is in The Bible for a reason. God still forgives me when I repent and come back to Him. He holds me eternally and will never let go! (John 6:35-40) And I fully believe Jesus is exactly who He said He is and that His Word is 100 percent true. As I've said before, I've doubted myself more than I've ever doubted God. The most profound truth in The Bible is still the simplest and sometimes the hardest to believe- "Jesus loves me- this I know for The Bible tells me so." I am thankful for Jesus' love for ragamuffins like me who know that we are all only beggars at the door of God's mercy. And God loves all of us just as we are, not as we should be- because none of us are as we should be. And I praise Him that He's still working to make me the man He wants me to be.

(Shout out in Heaven to Brennan Manning for most of the thoughts in the above paragraph.)
  I don't know if anyone else relates to this but I hope it's helpful for someone. It's cathartic for me to write stuff out, so I hope you all don't mind me gushing on and on here. Some other things that help me a lot are reading good books and listening to good music.
For anyone else that may struggle with legalism and learning to accept and rest in Grace, I have some book recommendations that I have read and cried over many times. I'm a huge fan of C.S. Lewis and so I would include all his books- particularly "Mere Christianity", "The Weight of Glory" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "The Screwtape Letters" and "The Great Divorce" and "The Problem of Pain" and "A Grief Observed" and "Miracles".    But the book that has helped me A TON is "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning! (The paragraph where I mention ragamuffins two paragraphs back is largely taken from his writings.)
I also LOVE Philip Yancey! "Disappointment with God", "What's So Amazing About Grace?", "Vanishing Grace" and "The Jesus I Never Knew" have all been incredible!
Two articles I found helpful just today-
(https://unlockingthebible.org/.../seven-truths-to-fight.../)
and
(https://jdgreear.com/blog/2-ways-to-know-you-are-saved/)
I'll post a few beloved songs below. -I'm a HUGE fan of Chris Rice and he has written a couple of songs about doubts and faith that I have found immensely helpful! In the end, either God is true or a liar. I believe He is true and He will do what He said He will do and thus I simply trust Him with everything. This one is called "Big Enough" and has long been a favourite for me, mainly because he dares to ask some questions- but also admits that he is not big enough- but God is big enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw1s1JbM0Bk

"Live by Faith" by Chris Rice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUgUUoqKAz4

"Sam's Song" by Chris Rice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_O7xXyD1Iw  "Smell the Color 9" by Chris Rice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNUmoSHavLc "One of Those Days" by Chris Rice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5V30p-sPww Rich Mullins is still one of my all-time favourite artists and so I definitely have to include at least one of his classics that I LOVE-

"If I Stand"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jj0ZTzgmGM And since July 28 is the anniversary of Keith Green's death and subsequent passage into Heaven, it seems only fitting to post one of my favourite songs from him-

"Grace By Which I Stand"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF2xD2bNkts And a few from another recent favourite for me- Andrew Peterson! (Who is a huge Rich Mullins fan himself!)

This song deals more with grief and sorrow along the way but it's an incredible encouragement too.

"The Silence of God"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvytewIxll0  And this one speaks directly to the issue- "Just As I Am" by Andrew Peterson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csaxuRPitS0 And I could post tons others but I'll just stop with one more from AP- the worship song I've been singing SO much for the last year and a half or so since it first released-

"Is He Worthy?" (HE IS! :-))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIahc83Kvp4

Christ and Caesar, Politics and Pulpits and Everything In Between

(Note: For this reflection, I offer a response to some critiques levelled at some Christians' political choices. It seems it has been a constant refrain since the 2016 US election to hear various critiques and defenses regarding Christians and their politics. I think this is an area we as the church need to examine, for sure, but we must always do it in love. I am largely basing this writing on the blog entry posted below. I will post a different article that suggests a way forward for Christians in engaging politics at the end.)

https://johnpavlovitz.com/2018/08/16/christians-supporting-trump-arent-christians/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=John%20Pavlovitz


        The distinction between actions and attitudes of Christians and non-Christians is spot on. I have read some of Mr. Pavlovitz's blog entries before. He offers a lot of self-reflective critique that the Christian church needs to sometimes examine. I can't say I always agree with all his assessments though. One point I would say regarding this piece- I hesitate at ever saying who is a Christian and who is not. Ultimately, only God knows people's hearts and if they have truly put faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection to pay for their sins and follow Him. It is not my place to judge that and so I will always give people the benefit of the doubt. However, that said, Jesus said that we will know His disciples by their fruit- good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit. (Matthew 7:15-20) So I can often say of many professed Christians that I feel about 99% sure they're not who they claim to be.
The Bible actually exhorts Christians to examine ourselves and see if we're really in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5-8) So there is definitely a need to hold a mirror up to ourselves and make sure we're really reflecting Christ.
It is also worth noting that this pendulum swings both ways. As much as our works should be present to demonstrate our faith in Christ (Philippians 2:12-13, Ephesians 2:8-10, John 15:8, the entire book of James basically), our good works must be done out of our faith in Christ and because of that or they don't count for anything. Jeremiah 17:9 makes clear that no one naturally has a good heart. Rather, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked- who can know it? Isaiah 64:6 says that all our good deeds are like filthy rags before The Holy Lord God. Not only can we never do enough good works to please God (since His standard is absolute perfection- Matthew 5:48, Leviticus 11:45), we can't even truly do any good works apart from His righteousness working in us! In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus delivers some of the scariest words in The Bible. He clearly says that not everyone who says to Him 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of Heaven but only the one who does the will of His Father is in Heaven. On the last day, many will say to Him, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then Jesus will tell them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.' (Some translations add, 'The things you did were unauthorized.') Chilling words indeed! Shortly before He said this, Jesus warned about wolves in sheep's clothing. There are numerous other warnings regarding this. (See Matthew 13 for Jesus' parable of the weeds and Matthew 25 for Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats.) In Acts 19:11-20, there is yet another example of this, when some guys went around trying to heal folks of demon possession by invoking Jesus' Name even though they didn't know Him and this one time the demon possessing a dude called them out on it, saying it knew Jesus and Paul, but who are those guys? The demon-possessed man overpowered the lot of them and beat them up, so that they fled naked and wounded. And thus, the Name of The Lord Jesus was extolled.
There are numerous other passages that speak to this as well (Romans 1-3 and Galatians 3 and the book of Hebrews all offer explanations of the balance and relationship between faith and works.)
I personally have decided that I am not going to judge someone's Christianity (and/or religiosity in general) based on their political choices alone. I have friends who are on very opposite ends politically (both some who vote Democrat or Republican or something else altogether) and I don't doubt their faith in Christ. Now I do think faith in Jesus should direct and influence our politics and voting, as it affects all of life. But I don't think the pastor should tell the church who to vote for. My advice on that is to vote for who you think God wants you to vote for. Thus, do research on all the candidates and pray and vote as you feel God leading you.
And this is where it's important to note a definition of terms. What does it even mean to support the President? By definition as American citizens, don't we all support the President regardless of our religious faith or lack thereof? I mean, surely we all want the President to do a good job of leading the country and hopefully make wise and morally right choices for the country. In some general sense, I support every President in the hope that he or she will perform the duties of the office to the best of their abilities, whether I voted for them or not. It should also be remembered that not everyone who voted for President Trump agrees with everything he says and does and only did so extremely reluctantly because they felt he was the best viable choice that might make some decisions that would honour Christ better than others. In the same way, some Christians may have voted for Mrs. Clinton extremely reluctantly only because they felt she might make some decisions that would better honour Christ than others. The same could be said for the other candidates. As I've already said, I'm not going to judge anyone on the basis of their political persuasions alone. Too often this leads to untenable assumptions and mischaracterizations made about people due to my own biases and stereotypes held about any particular political party and that is a large part of our problem in America, I believe.
Though I have voted in every presidential election since I've been old enough to do so, I certainly have not supported everything all the Presidents have done, even for ones that I voted for. For the last two presidencies, I have not voted for the candidate who became President. For the last two elections, I have not voted for the Republican or Democrat candidate (or the Libertarian or Green Party candidate, either for that matter- because there are more than two parties in America). Ultimately, unlike the joking comment Jamie Foxx once made about President Obama at the 2012 Soul Train Awards, my Lord and Saviour is Jesus Christ. I look to Him above any other human being. (Isaiah 2:22) He allows some to be in power and takes them down too. (See Daniel 4) I am eternally grateful that He is eternally in control and He is still on His throne and holding the whole world in His hands, no matter how crazy it gets. I pray for earthly leaders and support the policies I can agree with Biblically and other times I have to submit to ones I disagree with out of greater respect for The Lord and the human authorities He has established. (Romans 13 speaks to this point well.) However, when the policy in question puts me in a place of choosing between following the government or God, as Peter said in Acts 5:29, 'We must obey God rather than men.'
That is all I can do in the end. I stand for Jesus and the things He said to do and I try to let Him work in me more all the time so I can ever be more like Him and be the light of the world He called me to be. I do try to give credit where I can when it's due to any President and I also stand against things that are Biblically morally wrong, even if it is something the President is pushing and promoting. I take advantage of the freedom afforded me to make my views known through peaceful free speech, assembly and petition, freedom of the press and freedom of religion, and through voting in elections. And through it all, I ultimately look to The Lord Christ above all else because I know He is always in control and His kingdom always reigns above all- and I'm glad He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I just remember that I've got another King coming. :-)


For another article to consider about this topic, check out this opinion piece from Rev. Timothy Keller.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/opinion/sunday/christians-politics-belief.html

Season for the Reason: Riches and Righteousness- Do They Add Up on Earth as it is in Heaven?

(Note: This entry is derived from conversations with a friend about what can seem to be a blind spot for Christianity at times. While the church is always concerned for the spiritual needs of people- and thus makes sharing the love of Jesus top priority- is it always as concerned about the physical needs of people in the here and now? Are we too full of ourselves and our earthly riches and not emptying ourselves enough to help others in the name of Jesus and through His power? We need to be concerned about both physical and spiritual needs because both are important. And people are not going to listen to you much when you're preaching The Gospel to them and they're starving to death. As James 2:14-17 gives us the example, what good does it do to tell someone poorly clothed and lacking food to go in peace and be warm and filled- but not do a thing to help them with those needs? That's why faith without works is dead. Show your faith by your works.)


James 5:1-6

"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of The Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you."


         Amen! Important warning here. This passage in James echoes Jesus' warning to those who are rich in this life- don't lay up treasures for yourself on earth but lay up treasures in Heaven instead. (Matthew 6:19-24 talks about this.) In Matthew 16:24-28, Jesus says that to follow Him, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for Christ's sake will find it. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? You can't serve both God and money. The Bible talks numerous times about money and wealth and how they are a reflection of our hearts.In Matthew 19, Jesus encounters the rich young ruler who refused to give up all his riches and give to the poor and follow Jesus. Jesus then tells His disciples it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
         The disciples then ask who can be saved and Jesus tells them that with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.Of course, we have evidence of this in Luke 19 as a chief tax collector who was rich (as verse 2 plainly says) named Zacchaeus was saved by Jesus. (He is, of course, the short guy who climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus over the crowds). Jesus broke all kinds of rules of the religious Pharisees when He went to stay at the house of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and sinner. (He took taxes from his own people for the Romans and he profited handsomely off his fellow Jews by cheating and charging them way more than they owed.) Zack proved he had truly repented though by pledging to The Lord to give half his goods to the poor and paying back anyone he cheated 4 times over!Then Jesus said salvation had come to his house that day.In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool who stored up things for himself on earth but God crashed his party when He told him his soul was required that night- who gets all his stuff then? Jesus said that's how it is for the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.And all 4 Gospels record Jesus flipping over the tables of the moneylenders at the Temple and chasing them out with a whip He made because they were cheating people and making The Lord's House of prayer for all people into a den of thieves.I think one thing is key in all these verses- we must always be rich toward God. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven" but He didn't mean physically poor here. He meant spiritually poor- those who know they have fallen short of God's righteousness because of sin and know they need the Saviour.How we use money is a great indicator of where our heart is- that's for sure.
           1 Timothy 6:10 warns us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils and some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs because of this craving.Verses 17-19 go on to command the rich in this present age as to what they should do with the wealth God blessed them with- first of all, don't be haughty. Second- don't set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God,who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.Third- The rich in this present age are to do good, be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, this storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life! Again- another reminder that lasting true treasure is in Heaven, not on earth. Jesus told a parablein Matthew 13 of a hidden treasure in a field. When a man finds it, he sells all he has in order to buy the field with the treasure. That's what the kingdom of Heaven is like. Jesus also used the picture of a merchant in search of fine pearls and when he finds the pearl of great price, he sells all he has and buys it. That's what the kingdom of Heaven is like.That is the call Jesus puts forth to those who would follow Him- forsake all you have in this life and focus on the treasure of Him instead. For those who follow Him, our passion should not be in heaping up stuff on earth that will all burn one day anyway but rather on storing up treasure in Heaven by living for Jesus each day and sharing His love and forgiveness with everyone.That's why I'm not real worried about making a ton of money or if others make lots more than I do. Where people are being cheated and defrauded, I certainly try to help stop that if I can and I definitely don't support corruption. But I can't control what others do- only what I do. So I try to use every good and perfect gift that my Father gives me to help others. And I try to stand up for the poor and those in need. God is the One who provides everything for me and it's all His to begin with and He loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 8 and 9 talk a lot about this.) I definitely need to remind myself of this often and verses like these are a big reason why I try to do a purge of my belongings every so often because I don't them to become an idol before God to me. I want God first and I want to want Him and want nothing else. (Psalms 23:1)
         I appreciate people sharing their views on these issues that can become blind spots for the church. I have said many times that the church sometimes needs to have a mirror held up to itself to really see ourselves and see places where we need to repent and be more Christlike. (Psalms 139:23-24) One place that is often mentioned is the disconnect in the pro-life position that Christians generally hold. I also disdain the hypocrisy of pro-life stances that are really just about unborn children and don't seem to care about others too. As the saying goes, I am concerned about life at all stages- from the womb to the tomb. I'm glad to live in a country that affords us the chance to vote our conscience and advocate for our views with free speech rights. I think it's important to clarify a few terms though on other matters. I get the argument about churches being only concerned with conversion and not with people's physical needs and this is not Biblical- and I'm concerned about that too. Both the spiritual and physical needs are important. And it should be noted that no Christian converts anyone. This is only the work of The Holy Spirit. This is important to note because it changes the approach to missions quite a bit. Yes, I want people to hear the Good News of The Gospel of Jesus Christ, how He paid for all sins by His death and Resurrection and how we can have forgiveness of our sins by faith in Him. But I just present information. Everyone must make their own choices about it.
        People are free to listen, receive, believe and act on it in faith or dismiss it in derision and disgust or maybe store it away to think about later. My job is to be faithful in telling people since Jesus commanded it (Matthew 28:18-20) and to love God with all I've got and to love my neighbour as myself. I have a number of friends of many religious backgrounds and some of none and some agnostic or atheistic- and they are all still friends regardless of their stance on Christ. My care and concern for them doesn't change. While of course there have been examples of the church using friendship evangelism as social control and manipulation, like the papacy did (which is one reason Martin Luther led the Reformation against it), there are lots of examples of Christians who are true friends and evangelists without seeking to manipulate.
         For example, consider Jim Elliott and his team, who gave gifts to the Waodoni of Ecuador to build a friendship. They were eventually killed for their efforts. The work continued though and the children of some of those killed went on to forgive and befriend the very people who had killed their parents when The Gospel changed these murderers into new people who were now friends. Consider also Mother Teresa and Lottie Moon, missionary ladies who lived lives of poverty, serving the poor in Asia, motivated by their faith in Christ. (Lottie Moon gave away her own food to the poor so much so that she starved to death herself as a result!)
       Many churches worldwide, if not all, have ministries to meet people's physical needs along with the spiritual needs. As it's been said, it's hard to tell someone God loves them when they're starving to death. Feed them something nourishing for the body before trying to feed them something nourishing for the soul.
Charities like The Salvation Army, Red Cross, YMCA and YWCA and World Vision were all started by Christians because of their faith in Christ and who seek to help all people. I love how World Vision responds to disasters the world over and helps everyone regardless of religious belief. They are very much concerned about aiding those in need and stopping human suffering because of their faith in Christ. Yes, The Gospel is preached too because sin is the root of the world's problems. Corruption, selfish practices, greed- it all is sin. That's one reason Jesus made clear we can't serve both God and money.
         It's worth noting that Jesus loved His enemies too and healed those who didn't believe in Him. He healed 10 lepers and only 1 foreigner returned to thank Him- the other 9 Jewish guys didn't. Judas Iscariot betrayed Him but he was still one of Jesus' disciples and Jesus still washed his feet. Jesus replaced the ear of Malchus (part of the arresting party) when one of Jesus' disciples cut it off. Luke 9:51-56 relates the account of a time when a Samaritan village did not accept Jesus and in retaliation, James and John asked Jesus if He wanted them to tell fire to come down from Heaven and consume them! I love Jesus' response here! "But He turned and rebuked them. 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man came not to destroy people's lives but to save them.' " (Luke 9:55- for translations newer than KJV, make sure to read the footnotes for that verse. Some manuscripts add it, so it's listed that way in many newer translations. And I'm SO glad it was included because I LOVE it!)
         And when the stakes are eternal, it's worth sharing the Gospel for that reason too. As I was saying earlier, I present this information to people about Heaven and Hell and what Jesus did to make sure we could be with Him in Heaven if we'll choose to go. Logically speaking, we can either be in God's presence in eternity or away from Him. As C.S. Lewis said in "The Great Divorce" (I'm paraphrasing here)- In the end, there are two kinds of people. Those who say to God, "Thou will be done" and those to whom God says, "Thy will be done".
Thus, God gives people their choice as to where they want to be. But God always loves them and wants them to be with Him- Jeremiah 31:3 says He loves us with an everlasting love. But Love doesn't insist on its own way- Love bears all things.
          Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame- an excellent magician and noted atheist) said something interesting about proselytizing. He said he has a real beef with religious people who don't do this.

          “I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me along and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”

           I believe Mr. Jillette is absolutely right. Thus, the eternal stakes motivate me to share my faith in Christ in love because Christ commanded me to do so. Jesus has saved me and changed my life infinitely for the better and I want others to experience that and know that joy for eternity. As Jesus said in John 10:10, the thief (i.e. devil) comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but He's come so that we might have life and life abundantly! I believe that starts now and goes through eternity. And thus, I believe it's important for Christians to be good stewards of the earth God has entrusted us with and to work to alleviate and end human suffering. Christians are the hands and feet of Jesus on earth and a suffering, dying world should see His love in us in practical ways.
C.S. Lewis said in "Mere Christianity"-

      "Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither."
          The point of Heaven is union with God for eternity, as God intended all along. A belief in Heaven and concern for eternity and faith in Christ is actually what motivates me all the more to actively show Jesus' love to all in need here on earth right now. Heaven will bring the ultimate healing but it also reaches to the world today through Christians as a healing balm to the nations. In a sense, Heaven is only for a few people though, since Jesus said that the road to destruction is broad and many are on it. The road to Life is straight and narrow and hard and only a few ever find it. Yet Heaven is open to whosoever will put their faith in Christ. 
I do hope and pray everyone reading might decide to do so one day but I hope you know that you are eternally loved and infinitely valuable regardless. And I will be your friend and help you in any way I can no matter what you decide to believe about that. 
          I hope that helps some some in any case. I am certainly not the best example and I fully agree with those who point out that the church has often failed miserably at living out Christ's Gospel.  And it is important to keep charities and certainly Christian ones accountable. (https://religionnews.com/2016/11/23/ministries-and-money-christian-charities-that-use-your-money-wisely/) That is one reason I urge people to consider Jesus' perfection and the way that He does work in His followers to do a lot of good in this world when we are obedient to Him. To love one another is a mandate that is always in place regardless of the response. Christians are commanded to love and pray for enemies too, after all. That is always foremost among the commands- love God first with all we've got, love neighbours as ourselves- and speak The Truth in Love. May God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.