On 25 Years of Remembering 9/11

While I could do without the emotionalism of 9/11 remembrances 25 years on, I have found that I'm endlessly fascinated with people's stories of where they were that day. EVERYONE remembers. I've yet to meet a single person (of remembering age) who doesn't remember basically that entire day. Whenever the topic comes up, I always ask what that person remembers about that day and it's always interesting to me. Somewhat ironically, 9/11 remembrance is also the reason I first felt like an old man...I was asking a couple of co-workers a few years ago about 9/11 and they didn't have any memories...because they were either infants or not born yet.

The Golden/Eastern Gate

 

Eastern "Golden" Gate - Temple Mount

I did some research on this awhile back and found it pretty fascinating so I'm sharing it here. It involves a lot of prophecy as well as well as end-times/return-of-the-Messiah stuff, so it's really an interesting real-world reality that points to the truth of Scripture.

What is it?

The image at the top of this post is picture of the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem leading into the Temple Mount, and which faces the Mount of Olives. It has been called by many names, but some that you might recognize would be "The Golden Gate" and the "The Mercy Gate". Josephus, the 1st century Jewish historian, mentions the Eastern gate in some of his writings and tells us that it was considered the far northeastern extremity of the inner sacred court of the 2nd temple. Obviously the gate that stands there today was not the same one Josephus mentions, since the 2nd temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

Significance in Scripture - Outside of prophecy

• Jesus entered Jerusalem through this gate on a donkey on the first Palm Sunday, and likely went in and out of this gate many times during his life, walking between the temple and the Mount of Olives
• Some commentators suggest that this is the gate where Peter and John healed the lame man at "The Gate called Beautiful" (Acts 3:1-10)

The Prophecy

The prophecy, and where the Eastern/Golden Gate comes into focus for end-times events, comes from Ezekiel and Zechariah:

"The He brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was shut. The LORD said to me: "This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal before the LORD; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way."" (Ezekiel 44:1-3 NET)

**Sidenote, it's worth reading the whole of Ezekiel 44 because it goes on to talk about how there will an earthquake that splits the Mount of Olives into two, and that two streams of living water will flow from Jerusalem, one stream flowing eastward toward the Dead Sea (thus bringing it back to life) and one stream flowing westward towards the Mediterranean Sea.

"On that day [Day of the LORD] his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives that lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from East to West, leaving a great valley. Half of the mountain will move northward and the other half southward." (Zechariah 14

So - to summarize, Zechariah is seeing a vision of the Day of the Lord and it says that the LORD himself, or Jesus, will physically stand on, or return to, the Mount of Olives (opposite the Eastern Gate). Ezekiel is receiving a prophecy about the End that seems to indicate that Jesus will go in and out of the Eastern Gate (the prince, someone who is not a mere man). There is also the obvious reference to that gate being sealed.

Isaiah 29

The Siege of Jerusalem (ESV)

"Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel. And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; you voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. And the multitudes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirst man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." And when they give the book to the one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."

And the LORD said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden." Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD you counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction."

My Testimony

I don't think I've ever shared this on this platform before - I guess when I started this blog it was mostly for me...a place to put my thoughts so to speak. It very much still is that; there's no one telling me what to write (or not write) about and while I do try and keep the focus of this thing pretty narrow, it's up to me. Having said that - the blogger platform does provide me with some visitor statistics and so I can see that there are a good number a people who read this. Also, I occasionally share something I've written with someone else if it's pertinent to a subject we're discussing. So - I thought why not put my story here; if it helps you or inspires you, all praise to God. So here goes:

This isn't a story about my life - this is a story about the past six years of my life, and it involves the rest of my life. The scene is February of 2019. It's a cold night, I'm outside in my backyard (letting the dog out) and yelling at God. I'd done this before, but there was one difference about this night and that was that I was actually yelling out loud, at God, as opposed to just in my head. For many years, since probably 7th grade (?) I had struggled with one particular addiction. It started because I saw a Playboy magazine at some point as a kid, and I grew up, the internet grew up with me. I remember the days of a dial-up modem and AOL CDs. I remember the days before cell phones and remember the first time one of my friends had a phone in their car (I was in high school). So...as I grew up, the internet grew up and access to pornography grew up right along side the internet.

Christian: What Will You Think When a Third Temple is Built?

There's obviously been a lot of talk in the wake of recent clashes between the United States, Israel and Iran in the past week. A lot of what I'm seeing is people asking if there is prophetic significance to any of these events and well, I'm not just interested in any of that. Too many people have tried to read prophetic significance into current events, and been wrong, for me to dare go down those rabbit holes again. Could all of this have prophetic significance? Sure, but it's too early to tell. To me, the more interesting conversations have been around a Third Temple. I'm not quite why this subject has come up now - it might have something to do with a theoretical; something having to do with the temple mount being bombed and destroyed..."and then what would happen" kind of thing. Nevertheless - it has got me thinking...because a MAJOR sign that end times events are in play would be the construction of a third temple. Why? Because that is one of the predictions of Scripture, particularly within passages that speak of the End and Jesus' return.

Prooftexts:

Ezekiel 40-48 (a must read, but too long to put here)

Daniel 9:24-27

"Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be build again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one [other translations read "the messiah"] shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."

2 Thessalonians 2:1-7

"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion come first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?"

On Thinking the Right Thoughts

I'm not sure where I'm going with this post, but it is in response to something - and I couldn't resist a commentary on the rare combination of passion-points here, namely politics and MN Sports.

Over the weekend there was another roundly tragic clash between ICE Agents (well technically, customs & border patrol agents) and the public. I don't really care to comment on all of that other than to say, if you don't want to get shot, don't get in the way of police officers and federal law enforcement officials who are doing their jobs. Those are some brave men and women and you have no idea what they've seen and put up with while carrying out lawful orders. Those brave men and women have families too and many of them have to be asking themselves, "is this even worth it?"

Immediately following this latest clash, the Minnesota Timberwolves cancelled their NBA game with the Golden State Warriors for that evening. They ended up playing the next day and predictably, cameras and microphones got shoved in the faces of players and coaches asking for their "comment" on all of this. For the mouth-breathers on social media, their comments weren't "enough". I don't know what "enough" means, but they were looking for more. More passion. More hyperbole. More something. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here thinking, "why did they feel like they had to say anything at all?" Why does anyone feel like they need to hear from Joe Athlete or Jane Celebrity when bad stuff happens?

Why Antisemitism is a Literal Tool of Satan

There's been a lot of talk in the news and social media sphere about the rise of Antisemitism in the World and while that was mostly ignorable for many years, it now seems to be an obvious, nearly everyday, reality. Going back to the October 7th terrorist attack in Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed (mostly Jews), there has been a steady drum beat of anti-Israel/anti-Jew attacks both here in the United States as well as in other parts of the World. The most recent is of course yesterday's terrorist attack by a father and son against a Jewish community in Sydney, Australia who were celebrating the first day of Hannukah on Bondi Beach, killing over 15 people.

The attacks themselves and the general rise of antisemitism over the past several years, however, are not what I want to focus on today. What I want to focus on is why I believe Antisemitism itself is a tool of Satan's use. There is an obvious reason for it and then a much more subtle reason for it, and I'll spend the bulk of my time on the subtle reason for it.

The obvious reason for it being an actual tool of Satan is: if Satan (or the forces of evil, or whatever you want to label the leader of the demonic forces) can eliminate God's chosen people from the Earth, then he can eliminate God's Covenant with them. It's a very logical approach on Satan's part actually - if you have a pact between two people that you want to disappear, then eliminate one of the parties and you no longer have a valid pact. The idea here is no different than that - if God's people are erased, then the Covenant is void and if the Covenant is void, then God is either a) a liar, or b) impotent. If God is a liar or impotent, then he is not God and thus is on the same level as Satan. This is the line of logic that Satan is following in his attempt to eliminate Jews from the planet.

What Is Essential to 'The Message'?

From a JD Greear article at The Gospel Coalition:

"I want to say this to church leaders in America: Don't make it hard for Republicans or Democrats to find God. Don't make it hard for black or white seekers, or for brown or Asian seekers. Don't make it hard for police officers or for public-school teachers. Preach the whole counsel of God, but don't make it hard for anyone turning to God by encumbering the message with things not essential to the message."

I appreciate his call to 'not make it hard' for anyone based on some important aspect of who they are (their skin color, their job, etc). If a church is making it hard for someone based on something other than their human being-ness, they're doing it wrong.

It's that last line though, that kind of begs a question. "don't make it hard for anyone turning to God by encumbering the message with things not essential to the message."...what is essential to the message?

What Is Essential to the Message?

I love the places in Scripture where the imperatives are simple and direct. Micah 6:8 for example, "He has shown you, o mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." That is just two simple sentences, but it is packed with meaning and it's direct. Jesus makes several of those kinds of statements too:

John 5:

Jesus is in Jerusalem observing a Jewish festival and visits the pool called Bethesda. He comes across a man who has been paralyzed for 38 years. Jesus asks him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the paralyzed man replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus says to the man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." He is healed. Then an interesting follow up a few verses later..."Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

Let's Talk About Salvation

The topic of 'once saved, always saved' came up again recently in my world and it got me thinking. It made me wonder about the word 'salvation' itself...more specifically, what are we being saved from and what did an ancient Hebrew, or even a 1st century disciple of Jesus, think of when they thought of salvation?

Much of the messianic expectation that developed in the intertestamental period had to do with the messiah delivering the Jews from their oppressors (the Romans), as in a political or militaristic way. This was, in the end, one of the central reasons why many of the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as messiah, because he didn't do one of the main things they were expecting a Messiah to do. If a messiah figure didn't do that, their logic goes, he wasn't the messiah. On this side of Jesus' death, we have the benefit of understanding what they could not see, both in the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, but also explicitly laid out by the writer of Hebrews who says, "so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save (or 'bring salvation to') those who are eagerly waiting for him." (Hebrew 9:28)

I want to share some of the insights I've read from others in attempting to understand the Hebrew/1st century understanding of salvation and then examine how that might be different from our modern understanding of it.

A Mob of Reasonable People

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." - First Amendment, US Constitution

"He's [Charlie Kirk] been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think this is the environment we are in. You can't stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that's the unfortunate environment we are." -- Matthew Dowd, MSNBC, September 10th (he was fired later that day)

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, the 1st Amendment is back center-stage. Many people have lost their jobs because of public comments they've made on social media celebrating Kirk's murder, and are crying 'foul' as a result. They are saying that a 'right-wing mob' has come after them and are getting back on social media to tell the world why they think it's unjust that they've been fired from their employment. Some of them are saying that the 1st Amendment affords them the Right to say whatever they want. This is false.

It's Time for Social Media To Go

It's time for social media to go. I think at this point, we've run the experiment long enough to find out that what little benefit it provides is far out-weighed by its detriments. I don't know him very well but John Podhoretz had a fantastic thread on X (yes, I see the irony) discussing this very topic. He writes,

"Here's the danger of social media. It allows people to publish their internal monologues. Our internal monologues and fantasies are often incredibly ugly. People go to therapists because they feel so guilty about them, and one of the tasks of therapists is to explain that thoughts are not actions. You can rage in your thoughts about your brother, or someone at work, even fantasize about them dying -- but you have done nothing and are guilty of nothing, and you need to forgive yourself and learn how to calm yourself down. [...] Since 2007, people have a means of externalizing that interior monologue and this means something. A researcher at MIT saying, rather than thinking, "I really want to see that video of Charlie Kirk dying again because it works better than my anti-depressant" has become a public act. I see it. I am affected by it. This public discourse is too. My sense of how the world works and what people are really like undergoes a change. I become rageful, and believe people who think this way are evil. It's likely they are not. They just have a means of externalizing the parts of them that no one ever saw.

But another human tendency, the tendency to extrapolate from individual samples to the whole, kicks in as well I will assume that anyone and everyone like that MIT researcher is an enemy of everything good and is unsalvageable. In that way my world shrinks. The part of him that dehumanizes Charlie Kirk and turns his assassination into a joke then threatens to dehumanize me in a way. And seriously, before social media, I would never even know he existed, or that he thought what he thought, and that was better for him and me."

"Has become a public act". That's the part of social media that bothers me. If God had intended for us to communicate every idea we have come through our brains, He would have created us in a way where there is no gap between brain and mouth. Instead, He created with the ability to self-censor...to self-reflect...to NOT say everything little thing that comes to mind. I believe that's intentional. Afterall, scripture says, "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." And also in Proverbs, "When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise. What the righteous say is like the best silver, but what the wicked think is of little value."

I'm seriously considering deleting my social media (I really only use X/Twitter at this point) and would encourage everyone else to do the same. Not only does everyone not need to hear my thoughts (especially my more reactionary ones), but I also don't need to hear theirs. It'll be better for all involved.

A Prayer For Our Nation

Lord God, King of the Universe, my heart is broken. It's been broken, or cracked rather, but today's events highlight the evil that seeks to divide, kill and destroy. I pray for the United States of America and for its people. Lord I pray that you don't leave us to our own ways. I pray for believers throughout the Country, that in this dark hour, our boldness to share the hope that we have would increase and that your Holy Spirit would embolden us to reach across divisions of politics, race and gender to bring our focus back to your Son, who gave up his own life so that we could have nearness and eternal life with you.

I pray for Charlie's wife and his two precious children; be close with them in these coming days, weeks and months. Would your lovingkindness be shown to them in ways they have never yet experienced. I pray for peace in our nation. Lord - please help us!

Another School Shooting Tragedy

I wrote this SIX years ago and I feel like I could have written it today. Very little has changed and this morning's school shooting in Minnesota is only a reminder of that fact. This shooter targeted a Catholic School, as it seems others have in recent memory (the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville in 2023 comes to mind). It is becoming increasingly obvious that the demonic is at work - we label it "mental illness" here in modern times, but when you read the manifestos and watch the videos that these shooters create, 'mental illness' doesn't quite seem to fully explain it.

One thing that has changed is how quickly our society picks up on the same old tired arguments after these tragedies. It used to be that it took a week for those arguments to start, now they start immediately. Ban guns! This is the NRAs fault! Blah. Blah. Blah. According to Everytown for Gun Safety's 2024 report, Minnesota ranks 14th in the nation for the strength of it's gun laws. They have red flag laws, they require background checks for all gun sales, then even have laws requiring the guns be safely stored and kept away from children, and also laws that ban possession for those who have been involuntarily committed and/or have been found to be a danger to themselves or others. In other words, common sense legislation exists in Minnesota, and yet this still happened.

Banning guns is not a feasible solution. There are too many guns and the legal fight you would get if someone were to try and ban guns would last decades. So there has to be other things we could do, and that's what I spent some time talking about in this post from six years ago. It's counter-intuitive, but we need to stop covering these crimes on TV and social media. It is infamy that most of these school-shooters are after, and if there's no infamy to be had, we remove one of the primary motivators of these crimes. It may be too late even for this approach - but one thing is clear: what we've been doing, isn't working.

It's Not Guns - It's the Template

An Emotional Jesus

I had an interesting back-and-forth on X/Twitter recently and it inspired a blog post. It was an exchange around a criticism that someone expressed about The Chosen portraying a Jesus that was 'overly emotional'. Here is their criticism in their own words (aimed at The Chosen series):

"The crucifixion of Christ is not a cinematic experience meant to stir emotions, it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). It's not a moment for dramatized sorrow or performative grief. He died, was buried, and rose, defeating death and bringing eternal life. We're not meant to weep like spectators, we're called to believe and proclaim the Gospel. Emotionalism doesn't equal faith. Truth does."

Starting with what I agree with - yes, emotionalism doesn't equal faith and yes, we are certainly called to believe and proclaim the Gospel in response to what Jesus has guaranteed and secured for us on the Cross (the forgiveness of sins and eternal life)...but to suggest that emotion is not involved at any point in the story of Jesus, to me, is absurd. Not only was Jesus an emotional person but I believe the writers of the New Testament were, at least in part, engaging their own emotions when conveying the life and deeds of Jesus AND asking us, the readers, to engage ours.

An Imperfect Show

I talk about this show all the time - I think it's a wonderful show. Is it flawless? No. Do I disagree with some of their theology? Yes. Do I think they are portraying heresy? No. If I thought that I wouldn't watch, much less have my kids watch it, and I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. I will say - their depiction of Jesus is a little over-the-top emotional for me, but I also recognize that the New Testament gospels portrays Jesus as a man with a lot of emotions: sorrow, frustration, joy, anger, sadness, and compassion...all emotions which Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record for us to read ourselves. In keeping with that, The Chosen's portrayal of Jesus in the series is a character with a wide variety of emotions.

An Exhortation to Constant Use and Training

The initial draft of this was pretty harsh. As I was mulling it over, I read James 3 which is about the power of the tongue and so I rewrote this, coming at it from a different angle. My heart is this: to see more fruit, both in my own life and well as in the lives of other believers I know. What I see in myself, at times, and in many others around me, is a lack of intention and seriousness - this bears itself out in Biblical illiteracy and theological laziness...Peter has a very straight-forward exhortation in 2 Peter 3 which reads, "But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess." It is with that in mind that I write these things - to encourage us all to search out the Scriptures so that we might have an answer for those who ask.

The Premise

The Bible can be read, in English, by anyone and be understood at a surface level. I believe that even at a surface-read level, it has the power to change a heart because it is the very words of God himself. Having said that - simply reading through the words of Scripture is milk. The author of Hebrews says, "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:13-14) I think the important part of those verses is the section that says, "who by CONSTANT USE have TRAINED themselves." Our faith requires something of us, and in order to properly understand what we are reading, we are likely going to have to work (i.e. train).

I want to give some examples of some of the ideas I see on X/Twitter (and other places) that are a result of shallow understanding.

Paul is Against the Law - Fallacy

I've seen and heard this idea many times and it's that Paul (and some even say Jesus himself) was preaching against the Law of Moses. If you read Deuteronomy 12:28-13:18, Paul and Jesus would be considered false witnesses if that is what they were teaching (punishable by death). Jesus was falsely put to death on these grounds, and so was Paul, but in a less direct way. There isn't some new standard that is suddenly applied when Jesus comes on the scene. Paul is not rewriting Torah and making up stuff as he goes...he would have been considered a Biblical expert (which is to say, Old Testament expert) in his time and everything he says is fully informed by the Tanakh. If it appears he is saying that the Law of Moses is not longer in force, then either a) we have translated his message poorly and have mixed up what he is saying or b) we are misunderstanding him.

The Justice of God

I'm reading through The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis) again and came across this quote:

"That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it" not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into glory."

This reminded me of a thought I had some time ago. Justice seems like a pretty strong theme throughout Scripture. I did just a cursory Google search on the subject and it returned many verses, from Genesis to Revelation, here are just a few:

- Deuteronomy 32:4 - "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and with iniquity, just and upright is He."

- Job 37:23 - "The Almighty - we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate."

- Psalm 33:4-5 - "For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord."

Isaiah 30:8 - "Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all of those who wait for him."

Isaiah 61:6 - "For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them."

Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Here is the thought I was reminded of: our earthly concept of Justice, I want to argue, is just a shadow of what actual Justice is. Take, for example, murder. If someone commits murder, we say that the murderer is "brought to Justice" when they are arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced for their crime. There is a rather bombastic state's attorney in the county that I live in and he like to release press bulletins when a  particularly heinous criminal is 'brought to justice' through a conviction and prison sentence.

Is that justice though?

Sharing a Thought

I was thinking today - the Jewish people (the religious ones anyway, not speaking about atheist Jews) may not believe that Jesus is the Messiah and they may even go so far as to hate Jesus and denigrate Him. BUT, they are trusting in the same promises of God that we Western Gentile Christians are. Namely - that God is a) going to one day release the World from the Curse He placed on it, b) restore/renew all things, including our right relationship with Him and c) do away with Satan, evil, sin, suffering and death forever. I don't mean to minimize the seriousness of denying Jesus and the Cross, but I do mean to underscore the fact that the very roots of our faith are the same as theirs. To say that it's a different religion is to miss the large areas of commonality between the two.

One more thought, related to that - in Romans 11, Paul says, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved. As it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my Covenant with them, when I take away their sins." (Romans 11:25-27). Imagine how quickly the hearts of those believing Jews who currently hate Jesus will turn when they see him return in Glory. Because they are already believing in the promises of God, made to their forefathers, won't their hearts instantly turn (mixed with the pain of regret, I imagine, as well) when they see Him? Food for thought.

An Italian Experience

I'm starting this post the morning after having returned from nearly two weeks in Italy - so pretty jet-lagged and a little emotional.

What I Loved:

Italy is an objectively beautiful country. We flew into Rome, spent a couple of days there, then went to the Tuscany region for five days and then to the Amalfi Coast area for four days. In Rome you have the history and the art. In Tuscany, you have the beauty of the rolling hills, the quaint villages, and the wine/olive oil, and in Amalfi you have the beauty of the ocean next to the mountains. Every region we went to was very different, but all of them were beautiful in their own ways. My favorite was Tuscany - Tuscany is like the Napa Valley region of California, but covers a much larger area and has a much deeper history. I loved the small villages and we were fortunate to see many of them (Lecchi, San Sano, Gaioli, Radda, Montepulciano). There is a charm and quietness to them that is unlike anything I've seen here in the US. For example - when we arrived in Florence, we did a little exploring there and then drove to where we were staying in the Tuscan countryside. We needed some basic groceries and just happened to stop in Lecchi (it was unplanned). The small village grocery store was open and then gentleman who owns and runs the store, Paolo, was incredibly helpful and welcoming. We probably ended up spending more money there than we were expecting, but he was patient and offered us samples of all the meats and cheeses he recommended, and it was all fresh. It was such a pleasant experience that we drove specifically to visit his store again later in our trip. In that same town was a wonderful little restaurant called Malborghetto - the owner himself took my reservation and then it felt like we were eating in someone's backyard while we were there. Excellent food, wine and atmosphere. There are a lot of stories like this from our time there.

I loved the pace of life there as well - at first I was a little taken aback by how long some of our meals took, but I came to like that pace...just a lingering and an enjoyment, not the rush and urgency I so often feel here in the US. A lot of the places also close middle of the day - open for lunch, closed mid-afternoon, and then open again for dinner. I think I need to remember this takeaway, especially with family -- to enjoy a meal that just lingers...and really, to make space for it; to not rush to clear the table when people are done eating or to rush to the next thing, just sit and enjoy time together.

Word of the Day: Decorum

As much as I try and stay away, I'm wired in such a way that I find politics interesting. It's ultimately folly and a 'chasing after the wind', but be that as it may - its interesting. So, I watched President Trump's speech yesterday (3/4) to the joint session of Congress and I couldn't help but think about the word 'decorum'.

From Merriam-Webster

Decorum: "propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance" - "the conventions of polite behavior" Synonyms: decency, dignity, gentility

I've watched many such speeches over the years, delivered from both sides of the political aisle, and in many ways they are predictable spectacles. Republicans stand and clap for Republicans, Democrats stand and clap for Democrats, the opposite side sits, I get all that, and to a degree, I understand that. What I saw last night, however, was a lack of decorum -- and it's a direction our political elite have been sliding in for awhile.

During Trump's procession into the address, there was a Democrat congresswoman standing there holding a paper sign that read, "this is not normal". Not a few seconds later, the sign was snapped from her hands and thrown into the crowd. Throughout the speech, the democrats were holding up auction-style signs that read, "false" or "Elon Steals" or "Save Medicaid". At one point, Al Green, the congressman from Texas was kicked out of the hall for standing there and yelling, interrupting Trump's speech. At one point in the speech, Trump acknowledged a young man who had beaten cancer and who had aspirations of becoming a police officer, who Trump then surprised by making an honorary secret service member and the democrats continued to sit there. Who is so consumed with hatred that they can't set aside their political feelings in that moment to acknowledge a child that has beaten cancer?

On the Republican side, you had characters like the classless Marjorie Taylor Greene showing up in a MAGA hat. There were also repeated sophomoric chants of 'USA' throughout. Trump, despite being mostly restrained in his remarks, also let loose a few barbs that seemingly had no other spirit than that of the mean kind.

Thoughts on Immigration

This post represents an honest attempt to reconcile my personal responsibility as a Believer with what I believe our Federal policies should be, as it relates to immigration. These are muddy waters to be sure, but I am a huge fan of nuance and so this felt like a good time for a blogpost.

I simultaneous hold these two beliefs:

a) As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor, to care for and provide for the poor and for the widows among us (using the terminology of Scripture).

b) A sovereign nation must uphold border security laws as well as regulate Immigration because a nation with no borders (or border security) is not a nation at all. To be considered "sovereign" necessarily means that a country is enforcing border laws, because it implies that there is a border and not just an imaginary line.

What I'm For:

I am 100% in favor of legal immigration and I believe our country should absolutely support those who immigrate to the United States through legal channels. We should offer them all of the public assistance that we are able to, to aid their start here in America, especially those coming here to escape oppression and persecution. We are one of the most generous countries in the World and it is because our people are, by and large, very welcoming of immigrants in this country.

What I'm Against:

I'm categorically against illegal immigration, that is, immigration NOT through legal channels. I don't believe our country should offer illegal immigrants any social programs and if our government can find them, I think they should be deported (if you are deported, current US Law forbids you to return for 10 years). Additionally - if someone immigrates to this country legally but then commits a felony here, they should also be deported. Being given a visa or residency status in the United States is not right, but a privilege and requires something of the person receiving it, namely adhering to the laws of our land. I assume this is the case in every other country in the World.

Where this Clashes:

At my church, I'm involved a care ministry that ends up serving a number of immigrants. It wasn't necessarily something that we set out to do when we started the ministry, but because our area is a location where World Relief ends up housing many immigrants and asylum seekers, this is a subset of the community that comes to us for assistance. I love serving in this ministry and I have enjoyed getting to know people from this community as well as serving them on a monthly basis. Many of them have harrowing stories to tell about how they came to the United States, fleeing real horrors in the countries they came from.

In our last leadership meeting, a few people mentioned that this community is fearful right now, particularly of deportation. While the knee-jerk reaction might be to blame President Trump, it was actually President Biden that signed an executive order, on July 4th, 2024, which put an end to the legal process of seeking asylum. What IS different about President Trump's administration is that they are actually actively deporting illegal immigrants and this is the reason for the fear on the part of asylum communities. Regardless, this community is living in genuine fear of deportation at the moment.