Refiners Fire

 Refiners Fire

March 25, 2025

Proverbs 17:3 (NASB95)

3The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts.

Proverbs 25:4-5 (NASB95) 

4 Take away the dross from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith; 5 Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne willbe established in righteousness.

1 Peter 1:6-7 (NASB95) 

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of yourfaith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

MAGA, MAHA, DOGE, BREXIT, BRICS Countries… What in the world is going on today? When we look around the world today, we see all manner of fires and storms; some man made, and others seemingly natural, though some are very suspicious in origin. So why so much fire and flood and turmoil?

According to scripture, purity comes from the refiners fire. The dross in the silver doesn’t reveal itself until the heat is turned up. A silver bar can look perfectly wonderful until the heat is turned up and all that is ugly and dark begins to rise to the surface. The more dross that is skimmed off, the purer the remaining silver becomes. Does the dross complain about the heat? Of course, the dross turns dark and ugly as it is exposed but the silver could complain about the heat also, but it endures the fire because it knows that it is necessary for purification.

Therefore, we hear a lot of complaining about MAGA and DOGE, etc., but the Proverb says that through the trials, the wicked will be removed from the king and a righteous government can be established. You can not tell the righteous from the wicked until the heat is turned up. Both are apt to complain as trials are uncomfortable , but in the end, the wicked will be exposed and removed, and what remains will be pure. It’s easy to question the process while it is going on. Wildfires and floods hardly seem fair and removing criminals from society is a messy process.

According to Peter, our job through this is to greatly rejoice. The trials only last a little while in the grand scheme of things, and enduring them prove our faith and purify our soul. That is true both personally and nationally, So patience. Let the process proceed and watch the outcome of the trials. With prayer and providence, the nation as well as our own souls will be purified so that once more we can be salt and light and a city on the hill that shines forth to guide all nations. 

Drain the Swamp

 Drain the Swamp

November 8, 2024

2 Timothy 3:1-9 (ESV) 

1But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

In his second letter to TImothy, the Apostle Paul gives us a pretty accurate description of of the swamp that we see trying to take control of the world in this present age. It pretty much confirms that we are living in the last days as we see all of these horrible attributes in society all around us. The question is, how do we fix it, or even is it possible to fix it. The newly elected administration has promised to “drain the swamp”, but is that a realistic goal?

In the following verses, Paul gives Timothy a strategy to live in such a time:

2 Timothy 3:10-17 (ESV) 

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutionsand sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Basically, Paul is saying that the answer to to live by the Word of God. We have the example of Jesus, and the example of Paul, and we should live like they did. But you say, “That is just a personal way to live. How does that change society?”. Well, lets look at history. Paul was writing in one of the most evil periods of the Roman Empire. He himself was in prison and Christians were being persecuted throughout the realm. The future for Timothy’s generation didn’t look very promising, but what actually happened? Within a generation or two, the Roman Empire fell and was eventually replaced by the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor, at least in word, converted to Christianity and proclaimed Christianity the religion of the realm. Was this all good? No, there was still evil in the world and bad people were still around, but the entire culture began to change. The same thing can be said now. Is Trump our savior and is MAGA all good? No. Jesus Christ is our savior and only God is good, but the arrow of cultural progress has changed. The majority of Americans have repudiated the idea that it is a good idea to kill babies and to impose perverse sexual (and transsexual) ideas on our youth. We have endorsed the idea that freedom of religion is a good thing and that all of us should be free to express our opinions without being “cancelled”. These are all biblical ideas. The more that we live but the principles of the Word of God and encourage our fellow citizens to do the same, the better our overall society will be. Will be able to make society perfect? Of course not. The Kingdom of God will never be fully reached until Jesus comes again, but we have an obligation to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to live as salt and light until He comes. Enough salt will preserve a society and enough light will drive darkness out of a nation. Therefore, I thank God for the results of this election and look forward to the possibility of “draining the swamp”. Continue to pray for our leaders and pray for revival. According to second Chronicles, if enough of us humble ourselves and pray, God will heal our land.

Light of the World

 Light of the World

November 5, 2024, Election Day

Matthew 5:13-16

Disciples and the World

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

When the pilgrims founded the Plymouth colony, they quoted this verse. Their intention was that the American colonies would become a “city set on a hill” and a “light of the world”. In many respects, America has been a light to the world. But in recent years, that light has dimmed considerably. Where we once were the leading missions sending nation, now we export DEI quotas and fly gay pride flags from our embassies. This Election Day is a chance for the church to stand up and declare that the church on America is still alive and is willing to be salt and light to the world. We have the privilege in this country to participate in civil government and have an obligation to do so. If christians don’t participate in government, indeed in secular society as a whole, then there is not light to drive out the darkness and no salt to preserve the righteousness of the nation. It is our christian duty to pray, speak out and vote for those candidates who represent the most saltiness and light. No candidate is perfect. Jesus is not on the ballot, but there are many men and women running that strive to represent the gospel, and there are many others that are actively representing the forces of darkness. Pray for wisdom, and vote wisely.

What is Truth? Discourse in America

I was educated in the liberal arts tradition of public discourse, and I was trained in the scientific method. Both of these depend on all parties starting with a set of facts, or observations, and an agreed upon set of rules. With this foundation, you can argue either for or against the theory being proposed, but without this foundation you don't have a discussion, you just have an argument. In America today, I think we have lost the art of polite debate. George Orwell predicted this when he described a society in his book "1984" in which the meaning of words were reversed so that the people couldn't even think rationally about the issues of the day, never mind debate them in an intelligent and friendly manner. In “1984”, the "Ministry of Truth" was the propaganda arm of the government, much like the main stream press today. So if we can not even depend on the words being used, how can we know "what is truth?"

I have been very disturbed by the political discourse in this current campaign season. Much of it I have written off as "just politics", but lately I've been disturbed by the many lies being propagated against a local man that I've know, at least by reputation, for many years, who has been nominated for a high office. The arguments used to oppose his nomination do not line up with the facts of the matter, which are known to all in this community who have observed his lengthy career in public service in this community and state. How can you stand up for truth when the opposition refused to agree on the actual facts of the matter?

One critic, I encountered online, stated that the facts that I stated could not be true because I am a “straight, white, christian male”. What do race and gender have to do with the truth or falsehood of historical facts, you might ask? But I will acknowledge that religion may have some bearing on perception of truth.  I can’t speak for all religions, but the Judaeo/Christian tradition the only religious tradition that I am aware of that encourages one to ask the question “what is truth”.  This was the exact question the Pilot asked Jesus during his trial, described in the gospel of John 18:38. Jesus was not disturbed by the question in the slightest, but gave him an answer! In fact, a diligent search of the Bible will enable anyone to discover the answer to the question “what is truth”.

It is those in our society, who have rejected the Judaeo/Christian foundation of our society, who have trouble defining truth. We see this in scripture also.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul discussed those who “exchanged the truth of God for a lie”, and describes their fait in great detail. So we can see that the nature of people hasn’t really changed all that much in the last 2000 years, there are still those who seek the truth, and those who reject the truth, and even refuse to believe that their is a truth!

My plea then, to those who don’t understand me, or agree with me, is to at least be as open to discussion as those ancient greeks who congregated on Mars Hill to discuss the issues of the day.  In the book of Acts, chapter 17, we see where Paul was able to debate with them.  Not all agreed with him, but some among them were persuaded by his arguments and came to believe in God, as Paul did. But the starting place is to acknowledge that there is in fact objective truth, and we must begin by asking “what is truth?”.

John 18:38a Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”...

Rom 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen

Act 17:16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 

Act 17:20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)