Links & Quotes

On the latest episode of The Craig And Greg Show, Greg and I talked about Christmas traditions. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Always be sure of your ground and be sure that you are honoring God. If there is anything about the situation that will make you special, it will bring you sorrow. Your whole ministry has to be along the lines of His grace and blessing.” —Smith Wigglesworth 

“Leaders have the responsibility to keep evil out. Government is incapable of making men and women moral and, in fact, it is not given that assignment, for it does not have that power. God grants government the right to make laws to hold back the power of evil, for only the church through the gospel can help men and women be good. Conversely, leadership and government can do much harm if they, through injudicious application or partial enforcement of law, let evil in. Government cannot make people good, but it can certainly make them bad. We need leadership and government to build barriers against what is wrong, but neither leaders nor external human powers can usher us to what is right. Only Jesus, full of grace and truth, can do that.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied

The celebration of Christmas is obviously not seen in the Bible, but it has always seemed to be closely connected to the church’s calendar. Scott Hubbard has an eye-opening history of Christmas in his post The Curious History of Christmas.

Scientists have learned from butterflies’ amazing vision how to better detect cancer cells. The way our Creator has designed these winged marvels is truly astounding!  

The ways the biblical text has been preserved and transmitted down to us today is nothing short of miraculous! Daniel Wallace is at the forefront of continuing to preserve the Word of God for future generations. Here is an example of the dedication of the biblical scribes: “The hand that wrote [this] is rotting in the grave, but the letters remain until the fullness of the times. Completed with [the help of] God. February 23, Friday, the second hour, during the eleventh indiction, in the year 1079, through the hand of Andrew, scribe and calligrapher. And if it happens that any error of omission [remains|—this, for the sake of Christ, forgive me.”

Just as archeological finds continue to confirm biblical accounts, fossil discoveries continue to confirm the biblical claim of Creation. Paleontologists have now created the term “problematica” to try to address fossil finds that don’t fit their evolutionary models.

T.M. Moore is sharing a thought-worthy series of posts on the biblical view of our economic activities, including a look at how governments and businesses should operate under God’s laws. Moore says, “Since God has written the works of the Law on the heart of all His image-bearers (Romans 2:14, 15), we should expect that awareness (if only subconsciously) to find expression. Put another way, whether they know it or not, people long for an economy guided by Biblical principles and guidelines.”

Links & Quotes

On Veterans Day, Greg and I wanted to encourage you to ask a veteran to tell you their stories. Their stories are a vital link to our stories too! Watch this full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“When we are foolish and young, we need more rules. As we mature, we can be trusted with extended boundaries. The wiser we are, the more we appreciate those boundaries and the less they offend us. Offense at law, accountability, hedges, and boundaries is an indicator of immaturity. The wiser we are, the more unafraid and appreciative we are of those who hold us to account.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied

“When public policy begins to encroach on the Christian’s freedom and duty to proclaim the Good News, or to bring the benefits of the Gospel to the community, believers must continue our mission nonetheless and be ready to bear whatever punishments those in authority may choose to inflict. Christians do not seek suffering, but we must not shun it, particularly when by our suffering we can work for public policies more in line with the centrality of the Gospel for the wellbeing of all people.” —T.M. Moore

The Golden Rule—treat others as you would want to be treated—applies to the way you treat yourself too. Stop beating yourself up when you make a mistake. You probably don’t beat up others when they stumble, so extend the same grace to yourself. Practice healthy, affirming self-talk. Check out this full conversation from episode 68 of The Craig And Greg Show.

“A thought, a sword, and a spade should never be allowed to rust.” —Irish Proverb

Dr. C. John “Jack” Collins uses some thoughts from C.S. Lewis to help us learn a little better how to read Genesis 1-11. He writes, “We should approach any biblical passage with the conviction that God inspired the Bible to be the right tool for its job. If we can get a good idea of what kind of tool our passage is, we can discern what job God intended it to perform. And that means we need to be willing to adjust what we’re looking for and be willing to find other ways of addressing some questions.”

Sunflowers have an amazing biomechanism called heliotropism that allows them to “see” the sun. They can literally turn their face throughout the day (even a cloudy day) to follow the sun and maximize their photosynthesis potential. What an amazing Creator our God is!

“Failure to pray is simple unbelief. We must repent of our unbelief and take up the work of prayer with greater devotion and dedication. We shall not be able to realize progress in Christ’s Kingdom, or in returning our nation to a greater experience of justice and goodness, apart from prayer. Prayer is the starting point for public policy. Prayer must be the sustaining power of public policy. And prayer in the form of worship will be the outcome of public policies, forged in prayer, which lead to a peaceful, godly, dignified, true, and Gospel-friendly society.” —T.M. Moore

Links & Quotes

Healthy leaders look in the mirror first before they confront a teammate on something that needs to change. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had on The Craig and Greg Show about defeating the two-headed leadership killer of ignorance and arroganceI have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“I am often, I believe, praying for others when I should be doing things for them. It’s so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see him.” —C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” —William James

The most empowered and empowering person is the one who remains in Jesus.

“Whereas three or more incidents of intense stress within a year (say, serious financial trouble, being fired, or a divorce) triple the death rate in socially isolated middle-aged men, they have no impact whatsoever on the death rate of men who cultivate many close relationships.” —Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee, Primal Leadership

T.M. Moore has an outstanding series of posts on how Christians should interact with the governments in the lands in which they live. I highly recommend this series to you. T.M. wrote, “We have seen that justice is a jewel of many facets. In its obligatory facet, justice requires that we love our neighbors simply because they are made in the image of God. We must regard them, and do with them, as we wish to be regarded and done with ourselves. In its preventive facet, justice demands that we use forethought in all our actions to make sure, as far as possible, that our neighbor or his property is not injured by what we do. Distributive justice encourages us to share generously with our neighbors and others in need. Restorative justice comes into play when the balance of neighbor love has become disturbed and the one guilty of disturbing it is required to set things right again. Each of these forms of justice, grounded in the Law of God, is very much a part of life in our society today. It is simply mindless or prejudicial to insist that we should have no input from Scripture or the Law of God, either in the public square or in the making of public policy. Our nation was founded on Biblical principles of justice, and to deny this is to rewrite history past and to put in jeopardy history to come.”

The Greek word translated as “consider” in Hebrews 3:1 means to observe closely, to consider attentively, to fix your eyes or mind upon it. In its context, this verb is usually directing us to the end result of being in awe, kindling a renewed faith, and being rejuvenated with a new resolve to move forward. This is what happens especially when we consider Jesus❣️

Links & Quotes

Put the good stuff from the Bible in your heart and mind regularly. When you do, the Holy Spirit can remind you of what you’ve studied and help you apply it to your daily situations. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“It pays to know the enemy—not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.” —Margaret Thatcher

John Stonestreet and Dr. Glenn Sunshine shared this, “The despicable and horrendous attacks by Hamas against civilians last week, including beheading children and kidnapping the elderly, seems a throwback to some distant, barbaric past of human history. We may have thought the world had long ago outgrown such barbarity, but it hasn’t. In fact, as shocking as it is, the kinds of atrocities carried out by the Hamas terrorists are the norms of warfare, at least throughout most of human history.” What changed this? Quite simply: a Christian worldview of just warfare.

“It is the quiet, steady appeal that moves the heart of kings. So then, the wise find ways to bring their cause visibly before the authority without being annoying. This is subtle art; it is not manipulation. This silent plea communicates to the leader a determination and resolve that appeals deeply to their conscience. Fools make themselves annoyingly heard; the wise make themselves dignifiedly seen.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied

Praying For Our Governments

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

You may have heard it said that Christians are supposed to pray for those who are in governmental leadership positions over them. Is that really true? And if it is, what exactly are we supposed to pray for them?

Check out this episode of The Podcast.

Resources mentioned in this video:

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Links & Quotes

Leaders, you need to determine the coachability factor before you start trying to coach a teammate. Check out our full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

Sextortion is when someone demands money or other favors in exchange for not sharing an explicit photo or video of the targeted victim. The sextortion of minor children runs into the thousands every month. Axis reported, “Most targets of sextortion are teen boys, who seem to be more likely than girls to send an explicit selfie to someone they aren’t having a romantic relationship with. Anonymous scammers will reach out to their target over social media, engaging in a flirtation and eventually asking for nudes.” Axis also shared these helpful resources, “Families can prepare by telling their teens about resources like TakeItDown, a free service which will remove nudes from the internet within two days, and the 24/7 Crisis Text Line, which connects teens with professional counselors via text at any time.”

“First, government is not God; instead, government is God’s servant for the good of those served. And second, the people are not God, and therefore must not be allowed the last word on what defines the terms of ‘good’ public policy. Only God can define what is good for people, for He alone is good (Mark 10:18; Psalm 119:68).” —T.M. Moore

“Since the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision more than 50 years ago, almost 40% of all abortions in America have been in the Black community, resulting in erasing the lives and destinies of an estimated 23 million Black babies.” The National Black Fellowship is aggressively working to change this.

Can New Testament Christians claim Old Testament promises? Yes! John Piper shares 8 “filters” to help us with this application.

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

J. Warner Wallace uses forensic evidence to demonstrate why we should believe the New Testament was written much closer to the time of the actual event than most skeptics believe. Check out this video.

Links & Quotes

God made you uniquely YOU! You have been made on purpose and for a purpose. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

This is an exciting archeological discovery: the first Koine Greek rendering of a psalm ever discovered inscribed on stone rather than on parchment or papyrus.

“The wise recognize before the fight that adversity will come and therefore are not surprised by it. The wise recognize in the fight that adversity is a formidable foe and thus steel themselves for a long, hard struggle to the death. The wise recognize after winning a fight that the war is not over and so never let down their guard nor release their weapons.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied

Astronomers have discovered planet-sized objects that are puzzling the best minds. In fact, they have had to create a new category for these objects: Jupiter Mass Binary Objects (JuMBOs). What is baffling the brightest minds is that these planets don’t orbit a star but appear to be gravitationally bound to other JuMBOs. My favorite line is this one: “The new phenomenon challenges current frameworks explaining how stars and planets form within nebula, with astrophysicists claiming such objects should not exist.” There is at least one who isn’t baffled: The One who created JuMBOs along with everything else in our universe.

T.M. Moore is in the midst of a series of posts about the Christian and the government. They are excellent! Here is just a short sample—“The Christian understands that government is a servant of God for good, and that God, therefore, must define the terms of goodness by which a government fulfills its appointed task. As Paul reminds us, the Law of God is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). It is important, therefore, that Christians understand the Law of God and consider the best ways of bringing its influence to bear in the arena of public policy. … Public policy is not about what governments can do, but what they should do, that is, if they are to fulfill their callings as God’s servants for good. When it comes to applying the Law of God to public policy, Christians must make this first principle foundational in the logic with which they approach the work of influencing and shaping public policy.”

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Leaders are naturally wired to be either confident or humble. Both kinds of leaders need to remain coachable. Greg and I unpacked this idea on this episode of The Craig And Greg Show, and I also discuss it in greater depth in my book Shepherd Leadership.

Links & Quotes

Salvation doesn’t arrive on Air Force One. This simple but profound reminder from Chuck Colson should send Christians to prayer instead of seeking a merely political solution. Check out my full message about trusting God vs. trusting the government hereI have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

Matthew Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, says, “Sleep is the universal health care provider: whatever the physical or mental ailment, sleep has a prescription it can dispense.” It’s not just medical science, but the Bible also talks about the value of sleep, as Scott Hubbard explains in this post. I’ve also shared some posts about sleep here, here, and here.

Don’t you love the beautiful melody of songbirds? Being a percussionist, I’m attracted to the woodpeckers. Scientists have found that woodpeckers are the only non-songbird that share an identical genetic marker in their brains with songbirds. That means that the drumming of woodpeckers is actually a song!  Check out some additional fascinating insights about our drumming friends in this post. 

I love this story from the early 1900s! Small prayer meetings began to converge to become a Pentecostal revival in the Pacific Northwest. 

“What is the best thing in the world? To please its Creator. What is His will? To fulfill what He commanded, that is, to live rightly and dutifully to seek the Eternal; for duty and justice are the will of Him Who is dutiful and right. How do we seek this goal? By application. Then we must apply ourselves in duty and justice. What helps to maintain this practice? Understanding, which, while it winnows the remainder and finds nothing solid to rest in amongst those things which the world possesses, turns in wisdom to the one thing which is eternal.” —Columbanus

“Jesus taught us to pray that the Kingdom would come on earth in the same way that it exists in heaven. … Jesus made praying for the Kingdom the highest priority in our prayers after praising and honoring God. The Kingdom is more important than our daily needs. The Kingdom is more to be desired than that our sins should be forgiven or that we should be rescued through temptation [Matthew 6:9-13].” —T. M. Moore

Stephen O. Presley wrote, “If our modern world resembles the ancient one, perhaps we could glean some wisdom from the ways the early church navigated these murky waters. As Polycarp testifies, the Scriptures were essential to the early Christian apologetic. Passages such as Romans 13:1 and Matthew 22:21, alongside the examples of Old Testament figures such as Joseph and Daniel, guided the church’s vision for engaging the unbelieving world.” His post especially caught my eye after I shared a very similar message to my flock this past Sunday.

Sean McDowell sits down with an Old Testament professor to discuss 10 of the most bizarre OT passages (as selected by Sean’s X followers).

Don’t Fight Fire With Fire

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

The events in the Bible are rooted in history. These are actual events in which real people lived in a moment in recorded history. The songs of ascent were sung both pre-exile and post-exile. The post-exile pilgrims were returning to Jerusalem after the edict of King Cyrus (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). 

The first pilgrims to go up to Jerusalem after the exile were the rebuilders of both Jerusalem and the temple, and they faced heavy opposition (Ezra 4:1-5; Nehemiah 4:1-3, 7-8). In light of these events, I think the song of ascent in Psalm 125 is especially pertinent to this situation. 

The middle verse of Psalm 125 contains a warning to godly people. God’s followers may be tempted to grab earthly political power to try to make things right—to “fight fire with fire.” The phrase “the scepter of the wicked” symbolizes the royal authority of a foreign conqueror. In other words, we might justify using the scepter of the wicked because we think “the ends justify the means.” But notice the warning if we do: “the righteous might use their hands to do evil.” 

You can see this in a couple of other biblical translations. The Amplified Bible says, “lest the righteous (God’s people) stretch forth their hands to iniquity and apostasy,” and the New Living Translation says, “the godly might be tempted to do wrong.” 

Instead, we are called to look to God for our security. Psalm 125:1-2 sounds like an echo of Psalm 121, in which we are reminded that our God is unshakable, unrivaled, and eternal. Political parties come and go, even evil dictators and tyrannical regimes come and go, but the Sovereign God remains forever. All of History is His story! 

Chuck Colson used to frequently remind his audiences, “Salvation does not arrive on Air Force One!” 

The motto on our US currency is still accurate: In God we trust! Psalm 125:4 says the same thing: God does good to those who trust Him. 

Earlier I mentioned the opposition that Ezra and Nehemiah recorded. Let me also share with you how these God-fearing men instructed the Jewish people to respond. Ezra says that the prophets called them to remember “the name of the God of Israel, who was over them,” and three times Nehemiah records that their response was prayer to God (Ezra 5:1; Nehemiah 4:4, 9; 6:9). 

In God we trust, not in political power. On the flip side, Psalm 125:5 warns us that God treats as evildoers those who look to the worldly scepter to try to get ahead. 

So when opposition and even persecution come, we should pray to God and ask for Him to remove the scepter of the wicked. Let’s pray for God to put His favor in the hearts of even ungodly leaders. Ezra recognized this when he said—

Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way and who has extended His good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me. (Ezra 7:27-28)

The New Testament calls on Christians to pray for those in governmental leadership over us (1 Timothy 2:1-2). But perhpas you ask, “What exactly are we to pray for these leaders?” Solomon wrote, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1). So perhaps a God-honoring prayer is to ask for our leaders’ hearts to be moved as King Cyrus’ heart was. 

Commenting on this verse from Proverbs 21, Dick Brogden wrote:

“God is King of kings and ultimately always wins, always gets His way. Even when it seems that earthly authorities continually rebel against the Lord and His Anointed, the reality is that even their most heinous acts are turned against them. It must be very frustrating to be the devil and to constantly see how God turns situations to gospel good and God’s unique glory. God is so wise that He turns the hearts of authorities without them knowing it. Smug on their decaying thrones, the power brokers of this world revel in their supposed autonomy and imagined resistance, never realizing how foolish they look to the angel hosts who are privy to God’s unmatched strategic dominance.”

Let’s never try to fight fire with fire, but let’s turn repeatedly to God in prayer whenever opposition arises against God-fearing people anywhere. 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our Ascending series, you can find all of the previous messages here. 

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Respectful Boldness

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

As we near the crucifixion of Jesus, we begin to see how politics plays a role in so many decisions. The Sanhedrin is trying to balance their popularity with the Jewish people and their standing with powerful leaders in the Roman government. Pontius Pilate is trying to balance how the Sanhedrin portrays him to the Jewish people and what those in Rome are telling Caesar Tiberius about him. King Herod Antipas also has issues with balancing the pressure from the Sanhedrin with the popularity of Jesus. 

Luke gives us a very telling statement about the politics of the day when he writes, “That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies” (Luke 23:12). How did they become friends over this issue of what to do with Jesus? Remember that the Sanhedrin is a common thorn-in-the-side for both of them, and the political axiom that still holds to this day says, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” 

I point out all of the political maneuverings during this pivotal time because these political balancing acts are still being played out today and Christians will end up in the crosshairs. 

Pilate was trying to appease the Sanhedrin but there was no Roman law that Jesus had broken that was deserving of the death penalty they were demanding. So twice Pilate tells these religious leaders, “I will punish Him and then release Him.” In fact, without waiting for their approval, Pilate subjects Jesus to the tortuous punishment known as flagellation (Luke 23:13-22; John 19:1-11). 

I think Pilate believed that if they saw Jesus so humiliated and beaten down they would back off from their desire for His death. But Pilate miscalculated their commitment to seeing Jesus eliminated from the scene. 

Pilate finally gives in and says, “You take Him and crucify Him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against Him.” But the Jewish religious leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law He must die, because He claimed to be the Son of God.” 

If you have ever watched a movie about the gladiatorial games in the Roman Colosseum, you’ve probably viewed the scene where one combatant is disarmed and helpless. Before the victor strikes his deathblow he will look to Caesar in the stands. The Roman Caesar will either give a thumbs-up signal to pardon the victim or he will give a thumbs-down signal to send the defeated one to their death. 

Pilate has this same authority here in the region of Judea. The Sanhedrin knew Pilate had the power of life and death, so did the convicted prisoner Barabbas, and so did Jesus. 

Pilate asks Jesus, “Don’t You realize I have power either to free You or to crucify You?” 

There was another king who called himself “king of kings” but God called him “My servant.” He was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Daniel, an exile from Israel who was Nebuchadnezzar’s prime minister, reminded him where his authority originated, “The Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone He wishes” (Daniel 4:17). 

In the same way, Jesus addressed Pilate, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above.” 

John Piper wrote: “This does not intimidate Jesus because Pilate’s authority over Jesus is subordinate to God’s authority over Pilate. Jesus gets His comfort at this moment not because Pilate’s will is powerless, but because Pilate’s will is guided. Not because Jesus isn’t in the hands of Pilate’s fear, but because Pilate is in the hands of Jesus’s Father.” 

Jesus shows us an important principle: Should we respect our leaders (even the ungodly ones)? Yes! Should we fear them? No! 

We don’t fear them because their power is limited to just this life and is under the control of the Most High God (Luke 12:4). Peter and John learned this lesson well, as we see in their interaction with the same Sanhedrin that turned Jesus over to Pilate (see Acts 4:1-10). What Jesus and these apostles demonstrate for us is respectful boldness.

In light of this, here are five things Christians should keep in mind. When persecution comes against us, we should respond like this: 

  1. Be prepared—Matthew 5:11-12; John 15:20
  2. Be respectful—1 Peter 2:17 
  3. Be loving—Matthew 5:44
  4. Be prayerful—Acts 4:27-30
  5. Be bold—Acts 4:18-20

(Check out all of the above Scriptures by clicking here.)

Jesus taught us there is a time for eloquent silence, but when the Holy Spirit needs us to speak, He will give us the respectfully bold words to share. Jesus said, 

On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:18-20)

Respectful? Yes. Fearful? No. Respectful, loving, prayerful boldness is how we will glorify the Most High God in the face of persecution. 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series of Bold Claims, you can find them all here. 

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