Sermon Video: The anguished prayer of Jesus before his Passion - Luke 22:39-46

In the hours before his Passion began, with less than a day before his agonizing death on the Cross, Jesus spent intentional time alone in prayer.  That he made this choice is a powerful example to us, as is what he prayed for: deliverance.  It wasn't going to come, it couldn't, for only Jesus could complete the plan of Redemption as the God/Man, but Jesus asked anyway.  Why?  Not because he was anything less than fully God, he asked because he was also fully human.  The wondrous mystery of the Incarnation here reminds us that Jesus felt the anxiety of the road ahead, as any person would, and yet his divinity ensured that this moment would also include an iron commitment to what was needed to save humanity.

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #31 John 17:20-23

John 17:20-23 (NIV)

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

"Oh, we're halfway there, O-oh, living on a prayer..."  That is of the chorus of "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, one of my favorite songs and one I invariably try to sing at Karaoke (that key change is brutal).  I started this series of 62 posts about "Christian" Nationalism, each with a specific verse of Scripture that speak against that corrupt idea, on August 9th of 2022.  I'll admit, after a steady stream of posts my focus wavered and for much of 2023 has been replaced with the need to combat the spread of Torah Clubs [The Dangers of the First Fruits of Zion and their Torah Clubs} in our area.  But, once you've taken up a task, it is hard to let it go.  This post, then, marks the halfway point, the rest will continue to be created as time and my need to focus on other things permits...

The passage from John's Gospel is Jesus' prayer for unity among his followers offered up to the Father on the eve of his Passion.  One of the remarkable things about this particular prayer at this particular time is how laser focused it is upon the need for unity among the body of believers who would soon be called Christians, drawn together as part of the Church that Jesus founded to continue his work after his return to Heaven.

OK, so Jesus wanted his followers to "be one," what does that have to do with "Christian" Nationalism?  A whole lot if you take a few minutes to think about it.  One example will illustrate why Nationalism, especially "Christian" Nationalism is antithetical to Jesus' prayer: During WWI, tens of millions of British, French, German, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and American young men tried to kill each other.  That the vast majority of these young men claimed to be followers of Jesus Christ, who were being order to try to kill other followers of Jesus Christ, didn't matter at all to those in power because the enemy belonged to a different nation.  One's national allegiances superseded, nay even extinguished in this case since it condoned killing other followers of Jesus, one's faith.  This wasn't the first time, similar wars had raged since the break-up of the Roman Empire, pitting Christians against each other in order to further the claims of their feudal lords, kings, and eventually nation-states.  

There isn't an objective way to look at Church History without concluding that God would consider this bloodshed to be sinful.  One may be able to defend those who fought in defense of their family and community, but that rationale evaporates in every other scenario, not to mention the wanton rape and pillaging that walked hand-in-hand with these wars.  It is impossible to say that participation in this militant violent behavior made those who did so more Christ-like.  Perhaps the horrors of violence brought some few to repentance afterwards, but God is not in the business of using evil on the chance that some will be repelled enough by it that they turn and seek the light.

If, then, one accepts the premise of "Christian" Nationalism, that our allegiance to Jesus Christ must be in some fashion melded with, even subsumed to, our allegiance to our country, there is NO hope of unity within the Global Church.  What we will end up with is a host of church bodies split along political lines, and a never-ending sorry tale of rivalries and violence between them that mirror those of the nations to which they belong.

A current example: Why do you think that the Russian Orthodox Patriarch has dubbed Putin's illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine as a Holy Crusade?  [Moral Clarity: God help us if we can't see that Vladimir Putin and his war are Evil.]  The sad truth is, the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church has chosen the kingdom of this world, and in so doing, has made a mockery of its claims that it is a defender of Christianity.

After supporting Ukraine invasion, Russia's Patriarch Kirill criticized worldwide - by JONATHAN LUXMOORE for National Catholic Reporter, March 15, 2022.

The Church cannot fulfill its mission if it allows lines drawn on a map to divide those whose first allegiance must be to Jesus Christ, yet another reason why "Christian" Nationalism is biblically untenable. 

Sermon Video: Pastor Powell and Pastor Phillips, The Harvest is Plentiful - Matthew 9:37-38

To commemorate the reopening of our building's original worship space (now known as Clark Hall) after the collapse of the ceiling two years ago, we decided to worship alongside Redeemer Anglican Church, a congregation which has been sharing our space for the past two years.  Pastor Eric and I thus divided up the passage in Matthew, I preached first on 9:37 and he followed after with 9:38.

What does it mean when Jesus tells his disciples that the harvest is plentiful?  Why doesn't it seem that way to us?  Also, why are the workers too few, and what does God tell us to do in response to this challenge?

Sermon Video: A Zeal that imitates Jesus - Romans 12:11-12

The Church, in America at least, isn't suffering from a lack of zeal.  We have plenty of passionate intensity, much of it in the form of outrage, but we sorely lack zeal that looks like that which Jesus demonstrated.  We need Christ-like zeal, need it focused on doing God's will (which he alone can define for us) and we need it bolstered with hopeful joy, patience, and prayer.

I was asked to pray for a church that is being torn apart by a Torah Club

 

I was asked today to pray for a Baptist Church in Iowa ahead of expected turmoil this evening.  The pastoral leaders and I have been in conversation since February after they watched my initial YouTube video which explained why the Franklin Christian Ministerium had written a public letter warning about the teachings of the Torah Clubs.  As it turned out, this church in Iowa had a sizeable number of members who had been participating in their local Torah Club, a development that alarmed the leaders of the church.  They and I shared research on the First Fruits of Zion (the parent company of the Torah Clubs), talked through our findings, and in general supported each other in this processes of learning more about this false teaching and formulating a response.

Prayer is needed today because the pastor of the church and his wife are going to be meeting with a family that have been members of the church for 40 years, this family is a part of the group that recently began participating in a Torah Club, and when the pastoral leaders of the church (having fully researched the FFOZ) asked them to discontinue their participation in this unorthodox group, they refused.  Sadly, the report that I have received is that most of those from this church who now belong to a Torah Club  have refused to leave it when warned of the dangers.  The demonstration of unorthodox beliefs that should have sent chills down their spines, has fallen on deaf ears.  It is expected, sadly, that this family will be choosing to leave their church family at tonight's meeting.  Please pray for the hearts and minds of the pastoral leadership of this church, pray for repentance and reconciliation on the part of those who have gone astray.  Please pray that this doesn't split the church in the days ahead.

As someone called by God, and ordained by his Church, to fill the role of a shepherd of the sheep, it is deeply emotionally painful when the people we have invested our blood, sweat, and tears in decide that they would rather be somewhere else.  Even when that somewhere else is a church where you have a reasonable expectation that they will be nourished, it still hurts.  Believe me, I speak from experience.  But, when they leave and you know they're walking away from an orthodox understanding of the Gospel to chase after "another gospel" (that actually is recycling 1st century heresies), it doesn't just hurt, it is a wound that won't soon heal.  Shepherds are called to protect the sheep, to risk ourselves, sometimes literally, to protect them.  What do we do when they walk into danger of their own accord and refuse to heed our plea?

Stories like this one are the reason why I've devoted so much time to this issue, why I've written and spoke about it many times, and why I'm teaching a seminar on it starting on 9/11.  What is happening to the church in Iowa is the goal of First Fruits of Zion, it is what they believe must happen, and what they are doing their best to accomplish.  (During the seminar I'll show you the video clips that prove it.)  Please pray for them tonight and in the days ahead.  You don't need to know which Baptist Church in Iowa it is, God has known them since the day the church was founded, he will know who you are praying for as his heart aches for them too.   And please pray for me as I deliver my seminar, pray for the acceptance of this warning on the part of our Christian community in Venango County, and pray for those who have gone astray, may they return to the faith which our ancestors handed down to us.  Thank you.

** Update 9/5/23 **

The initial update I received from the leadership of the church in Iowa is that the family in question has decided to remain in fellowship with the church and continue dialogue on the relevant theological issues.  This openness to correction is an answer to prayer, may God continue to work in hearts and minds with respect to this family and the others from the church who have started down the unorthodox path of the Torah Clubs.  Thank you for your continued prayers on this matter.

Sermon Video: What Should We Pray for? - Romans 8:26-27

We need to pray.  A disciples of Jesus Christ, as a people called out of the darkness into the light, but still living in a world mired in sin with our own weaknesses, fears, and struggles to contend with, we most certainly need to pray.  On top of that, God tells us to pray, a lot.

But, and here's where things get more difficult, HOW do we pray in terms of time, place, manner, style?  We have some guidance in scripture, but the various portions of the Church offer their own approaches.  And along with it, the more difficult question: WHAT should we pray for?  When the answer is generic: pray for peace, hope, justice, lives spared and souls saved, that's easy enough; but what should I pray for when it's personal, when there seems to be no way forward, no solutions that we can see?

Thankfully, God has a solution to our consternation: The Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit prays WITH us when we pray.  The Spirit that God has caused to dwell within speaks while we pray.  Not to us, but to God.  That's right.  Our prayers are the start of a conversation within the Holy Trinity.  God talking to God.  Whether or not you can wrap your head around it, that's an encouraging thought.  So keep on praying.

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #9: Matthew 5:43-44

 

Matthew 5:43-44     New International Version

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

How does the Kingdom of God advance?  By doing exactly what is contrary to fallen human nature.  Our natural response to having an enemy in life is to seek to crush that enemy, but disciples of Jesus Christ are called to a far more difficult and radical commitment: love our enemies and pray for them.

'Christian' Nationalism, by immersing itself in the fight for control of the kingdoms of this world, and the fights among those kingdoms (i.e. geo-political rivalries and wars), has chosen to live according to realpolitik rather than the commands of Jesus.  How can we love our enemy, they say, when we're at war with them for control of America?  The stakes are too high to trust lover over power is the lie they're telling themselves.  How can we pray for our enemy, they say, when they are a rival to our nation?  We are God's chosen nation, his instrument in this world, is the lie their pride is telling them.

Lip service that 'Christian' Nationalism may pay to Jesus' teaching and attitude aside, the reality demonstrated again and again is that the struggle for societal/governmental control and domination inherent to 'Christian' Nationalism's ethos has already concluded that what Jesus taught his followers is unrealistic, if not outright naïve.  In fact, one recent political figure mocked Jesus' command to 'turn the other cheek' at a gathering of supposedly Christian political operatives.  {Donald Trump Jr. tells young conservatives that following Jesus’ command to ‘turn the other cheek’ has ‘gotten us nothing’ - Baptist News Global, by Mark Wingfield}.  That gathering was sponsored by Turning Point USA whose website (at the time) proudly proclaimed: “We play offense with a sense of urgency to win America’s culture wars.”

Here's the thing, Jesus didn't call us to "play offense...to win America's culture wars."  Jesus called us to live self-sacrificially while praying for our enemies.  Will this strategy 'win' in this world?  Probably not, but that's not where our priorities are supposed to be as Christians.  'Christian' Nationalists may have a long and bitter list of enemies, people and organizations they're willing to fight to the death (sometimes literally) to defeat, but followers of Jesus Christ have been forbidden, by God, from indulging our sinful nature in this vain pursuit.  Our calling is higher, purer, and far more difficult: "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #6: Isaiah 1:11-18

 

Isaiah 1:11-18     New International Version

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—

    what are they to me?” says the Lord.

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,

    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;

I have no pleasure

    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me,

    who has asked this of you,

    this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

    Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals

    I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;

    I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

    I hide my eyes from you;

even when you offer many prayers,

    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.

    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

    stop doing wrong.

17 Learn to do right; seek justice.

    Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

    plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”

    says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

    they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

    they shall be like wool.

As someone who has belonged to and served only small churches (yes, the building we have here is huge, the congregation hasn't been big since the 1970's), I can attest to the desire and hope for growth coupled with the insecurity about the future that typifies small churches and their pastors.  We want our churches to grow, and we want the Church in America to grow.  What I don't want, and what I hope most of my fellow pastors can see to be for what it is, is insincere or coerced growth.  What is the value of a church bursting at the seams if the Gospel is not preached, if lives are not being transformed by the Spirit, and if the prayers offered up are not sincere?

As the prophet Isaiah made clear, God is not impressed with acts of worship from hearts that are far from him, even multitudes of them.  When it seems that everyone in a community is a Christian, the pressure to fit in can result in people being along for the ride, enjoying the benefits (economic, cultural) of belonging to the group without any of the personal sacrifice and commitment demanded of disciples of Jesus.  Bonhoeffer railed against this shallowness in the German Lutheran and Catholic Churches, calling it "cheap grace."  Such a scenario existed in America during the 1950's, for example, often seen as the Golden Age that 'Christian' Nationalists are hoping to bring back, but outward conformity does not guarantee a healthy Church, Jim Crow's power among millions of 'Christians' made that clear enough.

Now, however, with Church attendance declining, the temptation offered by  'Christian' Nationalism is to compel various forms of participation on behalf of an unwilling population, to fill our churches again with the stick since the carrot is not longer available.

One of the clearest example of this type of mandatory participation would be the reimposition of prayer in the public schools.  While millions of American Christians would cheer this as a victory, the cost to future evangelism would be high, and the result far less than what is promised.  Would God suddenly bless America's geopolitical position in the world and economy because school children are required to say a prayer written by a government official?  Isaiah knew the answer to that one.  In fact, God would be angry rather than impressed with such empty gestures.

{The theology of mandated/compulsory prayer in public schools is atrocious, its implementation would be worse.}

In the end, the path that 'Christian' Nationalism offers is a worldly solution (ironic isn't it) to a spiritual problem, both our theology derived from the Bible, and our knowledge of Church History assure us that it won't work.  The Church's ultimate victory will not be won at the ballot box, by legislation, or as has been tried far too many times, by the sword.  

What should the Church be doing instead of scheming to wield political power?  As vs. 16-17 explain, what God actually wants from his people is a (1) rejection of immorality, (2) an embrace of righteous living, (3) and a genuine commitment to work on behalf of those facing injustice and oppression.

Sermon Video: "Yet not what I will, but what you will." - Mark 14:32-42

Jesus submitted to the will of the Father. In the Garden, though it cost him anguish that few people will know, he submitted. There was no other plan, the Incarnation proves the necessity of Jesus' Passion, salvation for humanity had no other champion. The divinity of Jesus did not shield him from the pain of his Passion, knowledge of the victory to come did not make it any less real.

The advice given by Jesus to his slumbering disciples speaks to us as well, "watch and pray". We don't know what our time of trial will consist of, nor when it will come, but we too need to submit to the Father and we too need vigilance and the power that prayer conveys.

Sermon Video: Will God give me whatever I want? - Mark 11:24-26

 At first glance, Jesus' words appear to offer his followers a path to getting whatever they want from God.  Upon closer examination, this conversation fits with all the other times Jesus and the biblical authors wrote about prayer and requests from God: they need to conform to the will of God.  In addition, this promise is for the people of God, not the persons of God.  The people of God have one defining purpose: to be God's representatives here on earth, sharing the Gospel and making disciples.  When we pray, together, confidently, for that, God hears us and will bless our work on his behalf.

Secondly, Jesus reminds us that forgiveness too needs to be done God's way, and that means forgiving others and letting go of our pride, self-righteousness, and hopes of revenge.

Sermon Video: "A house of prayer for all nations" - Mark 11:15-18

Having entered the Temple courts on Monday of Holy Week, before his upcoming time spent teaching the people there for the last time, Jesus drives out of the Court of the Gentiles those who were doing the business of the Law of Moses (selling kosher animals for sacrifices and exchanging foreign money for coins that could be put into the Temple treasury) in that supposedly sacred space.  Gentile converts, those who had chosen to join Judaism, could not enter the temple itself (warning signs on the entrances reminded them they'd be executed if they tried) and could only worship/pray to God from a greater distance than Jewish women, who were kept further away than Jewish men.  However, for convenience sake, the sacred space they're supposed to worship God in was turned into a marketplace (and a short-cut from one side of city to the other).  

Can a church negate the sacred nature of its house?  Certainly, among the way happens is: (1) By not making everyone welcome {racism, sexism, class divisions, unwelcome attitude toward ex-cons, those with addictions or questions about their sexuality, etc}, (2) Through a focus on perpetuating the ministry, primarily through emphasizing money, more than fellowship and worship, (3) through a focus on earthly power instead of God's kingdom, typically by making the church a Red Church or a Blue Church, or (4) by failing to be a place of Love and the Fruit of the Spirit (a spirtually dead church).  In each case, depending on the severity {a church could suffer from more than one, many do}, the worship done in that space is wasted, for naught.  

May God help us to see where we fall short, as a church, of creating/maintaining sacred space, and may God grant us the humility to change.

Sermon Video: "I want to see" - Mark 10:46-52

He's known as Blind Bartimaeus for a reason. When Jesus came to Jericho, where Bartimaeus sat begging, he didn't hesitate to cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" When those standing by tried to quiet him, he shouted louder. Jesus heard him, called him over, and asked him what he wanted. The question seems obvious, the blind man wants to see, but people are fully capable of not seeing their own most serious needs. Bartimaeus had no such trouble, he confidently told Jesus, "I want to see". After he was healed, he followed Jesus...Do we tell God what we need? Are we honest with God when we pray? God knows everything we could tell him already, but it is God's will that people approach him, in faith, and ask.

Sermon Video: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" - Mark 9:14-29

 Is faith all or nothing?  Is there room for hesitancy, fear, or doubt?  Faith isn't like a light switch, all on or all off, but a continuim, it can grow and it can be weakened.  As Jesus helps a father whose son health need is too difficult for his own disciples to overcome, he also confronts the issue of wavering faith.  Jesus does not condemn the man who admits that his faith is weak, he helps him.  As Christians, and as a Church, we need to do likewise: admit our own weaknesses and help those in need.

Sermon Video: Jesus was indignant? Mark 1:40-45

 When a man with leprosy comes to Jesus asking, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus' emotional response was to be indignant or compassionate? The textual variant here involves the reading in Codex Bezae (the only Greek manuscript to contain it) which may be evidence that copyists had 'fixed' their text to avoid answering the question of why Jesus might be indignant. The answer is simple enough. When confronted with disease, and the hurt that it causes, who wouldn't be angry? Whichever variant is original, Jesus next move it clear: He reached out to touch the man, demonstrating compassion, and healed him. Jesus was willing. We don't always know when God will be willing to miraculously heal, our role is simple: pray, show compassion, kindness, and love.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Jesus heals publicly, and prays privately - Mark 1:29-39

 The healing of one man on the Sabbath brings a vast crowd to see Jesus that evening when the Sabbath ended.  Having spent the evening healing many, Jesus gets up early the next morning to go out to a solitary place to pray.  Why?  For the same reasons we need to imitate him: (1) the physical/emotional need of every human being for rest and recuperation, (2) our need for ongoing perspective and balance, and (3) our need for communion with our Heavenly Father.  We, as Christians, need to regularly employ private prayer, hopefully with the bonus of solitude.  While public corporate prayer is a huge part of our worship and the life of the Church, that does not end our obligation.  Each Christian should approach the Father in prayer, unburdening our hearts and minds, seeking guidance and wisdom, and maintaining our sense of a family connection to God.  With the way that 2020 has gone thus far, don't you need some time for solitary prayer?

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The theology of mandated/compulsory prayer in public schools is atrocious, its implementation would be worse.

Prayer is not a "to whom it may concern" letter.  Prayer is a conversation with God on the part of those who have a relationship with him, not a magic formula that if said by enough people will cause God rain down blessings on a land.

I write this knowing that a number of my brothers and sisters in Christ, whose motives I am not assuming or judging, will strongly disagree with this assessment of prayer in public schools.  This issue is, however, connected to numerous others respecting the separation of Church and State, the impact of politics and political tactics upon the Church, and our intended role as Christians first and Americans second.

Note: I put the word compulsory in the title alongside mandated because any practical application of mandating that prayer must be administered by public schools would naturally entail a compulsory element to force compliance upon the schools themselves (the most likely thing being the threat to withhold federal education funding) and the students (detentions, expulsions for those who refuse?).

Why is mandated/compulsory prayer in our public schools such a bad idea?

1. Prayer is already in public schools, each time a teacher or student chooses to pray.

Contrary to what you may have heard, prayer in schools (or anywhere else) has never been illegal.  How could it be?  Prayer is a conversation between yourself and God, one that nobody else is privy to, nor able to control.  In addition to the continued availability of private prayer, prayer that is student initiated and student led (See You At the Pole for example) has always been, and will remain perfectly legal.  {No, having a student lead a prayer over the loudspeaker while students are required to be quiet and listen is not the same thing}

2. We have no need to be led in prayer.

I'm not talking about corporate worship, when the people of God are gathered together and one person leads either a pre-written or spontaneous prayer, as that individual (pastor or otherwise) is acting as a spokesperson for us and focusing our group prayer in one direction; we are praying with him/her, they're not praying on our behalf; that's an important distinction.  With that caveat in place, it is absolutely clear in Scripture that because of the nature of the New Covenant, with Jesus serving as our mediator, that we can approach God directly in prayer.  We have direct access to the Father. 

Ephesians 3:12 New International Version

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Hebrews 4:16 New International Version

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Romans 8:14-15 New International Version

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

3. Rote, compelled, and thus insincere prayer (like worship) is not only not honoring to God, it actually offends and angers God.

What would mandated/compulsory prayer in public schools actually be?  Would it be sincere acts of worship?  How could it be for the millions of school children (and teachers) told to pray to a God in whom they do not believe, or told to pray in a way contrary to the dictates of their conscience?  How could these prayers possibly be genuine and from the heart?  What they would actually be is a repeated affront to God, as if God is compelled to bless our nation because we've required everyone to pray, as if God is beholden to us, and not the other way around.  God will not be manipulated, and God will not be mocked.

Jeremiah 7:9-11 New International Version

“‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.

Hosea 6:6 New International Version

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Isaiah 1:11-15 New International Version

“The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,
    this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
    Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

4. Requiring non-Christians to pray a Christian prayer hurts evangelism.

How does evangelism work?  What are the most effective methods for sharing the Good News that Jesus Christ has died for our sins and been raised from the dead for our justification?  An important question, and one studied and debated by those engaging in missions and evangelism both here in America and throughout the world.  The answer to that question is never: force people to read the Bible, pray, and attend church.  Why not?  Because it doesn't work.  Only God can make a planted seed grow, only the Holy Spirit can soften the hard heart of human rebellion.  The only thing that compulsory participation, in a religion that you don't believe in, consistently causes in those it is forced upon, is resentment and anger.  State mandated 'Christian' prayer demonstrates to Muslims, Hindus, or Atheists that we do not respect them as Americans, let alone as human beings, how exactly are we creating an opportunity for them to hear the Gospel?

5. A one-size-fits all prayer to God(s) that tries to please everybody, is the most likely outcome.

The last thing I want is a politician or a government employee writing the prayers that our children are required to listen to, and/or recite.  A prayer not directed at God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is not a Christian prayer.  What kind of prayer would we be talking about?  It would have to be one mandated/written by the Federal government at the Department of Education, and thus one designed to please Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons, Agnostics, Atheists, and thus equally offensive to all and pleasing to nobody.  I absolutely believe in intra-faith prayer, Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians can and should pray together.  I absolutely do NOT believe in inter-faith prayer, for how can we pray together when we don't agree upon who we're praying to?

6. Focus on prayer in schools is thinking like an American 1st, a Christian 2nd.

This may be hard for some to accept, but as a Christian my citizenship is in Heaven.  That I am an American, while being an honor and a blessing for which I give thanks and a responsibility that carries with it civic duties that I take very seriously, is still in the end, only incidental compared to knowing that my soul has been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.  As such, I must always consider what is right in God's eyes, what is beneficial to the Church and its mission to share the Gospel, before considering what I think is right for America.  Often the two are compatible, but there is a divergence more often than many of us are willing to admit.  For example: It may benefit (at least in the short-term) America to 'win' at the expense of another nation economically or militarily, but those who live in that land are human beings just like me, created in the image of God, and thus either fellow followers of Jesus Christ, or those in need of the Gospel.  Either way, as a Christian I look at the world, and my nation's place within it, differently when I consider myself a Christian 1st and an American 2nd.  We call this a Christian Worldview, and it is something more Christians need to embrace.  Trying to revitalize Christendom, through official governmental pronouncements and symbols like prayer in schools, is a nation centric-view, not a Christ-centered view.

7. Societies with compulsory Christian behavior were NOT more Christian in their outcomes.

History teaches us, clearly, that requiring Christian behavior like baptisms, church attendance, and public confessions doesn't create the thoroughly Christian society that the outward appearance projects.  This is not a question of public morality, and has nothing to do with marriage, abortion, or other topics where Christian morality is in conflict with a secular viewpoint.  Morality is a different issue that requires a different theological basis.  We have already seen from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea (which Jesus quotes) that insincere public acts of worship have the opposite affect of what is intended by those who do them or require them.  This is born out by the clear cut examples of Spain following the Reconquista in which the Inquisition utilized threats and torture to force Muslims and Jews to convert to Christianity, and the more recent example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Germany, where nearly everyone was a 'Christian', having been baptized at birth, supporting the Church through taxes, and in his words so fooled by "cheap grace" that their unredeemed hearts still enthralled to sin readily swallowed the godless hatred of the Nazis.  Where did the Holocaust occur?  In the heart of 'Christian' Europe, with the help of millions of people who would have claimed that they were Christians.  Are more examples needed?  Calvin's Geneva, where the Church literally ran the town, was not sustainable (and burned heretics at the stake), nor was the Pilgrim's isolated community (Witch Trails being the most well known flaw).  As we have seen time and time again with the Amish, compelled behavior leads to rebellion, even among those who do believe.

8. Our ancestors in the faith died as martyrs to governments that tried to compel them to not worship, or to worship against their conscience; how can we do that to anyone else?

As a Baptist, this is the final nail in the coffin regarding mandated/compulsory prayer in public schools.  The Roman Empire persecuted Christians because they would not worship the Emperor, murdering untold numbers of them, often in purposefully cruel ways.  During the Reformation, and especially during the horrors of the Thirty Years War, Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed Christians all were willing to persecute the Anabaptists who insistence upon believer baptism (the idea that the Church is not everyone in town, only those who demonstrate genuine faith) offended all sides equally.  Many of them were drowned in rivers, by those claiming to be 'good Christians' in mockery of their embrace of immersion baptism.  Sadly, years later when the Puritans came to America and finally had power over their own society, they immediately began persecuting anyone showing signs of dissent.  The United States of America was a bold social experiment in that at the time it was one of the few nations in the history of the world to not have an official state religion.  More than that, religious tolerance was enshrined in the Bill of Rights, protecting the Church from the State, and the State from the Church.
I find it ironic that many of the same voices crying out for a ban on Sharia Law in the United States (where it is not even a remote possibility with the Muslim population at 1%), and who, correctly, decry the oppression faced by our brothers and sisters in Christ in Muslim countries and in Communist China, will then turn around and call for the shoe to be on the other foot here in America.  The degree of compulsion may not be the same, nor the penalties for stepping out of line, but the idea of mandating religious behavior is.  What is morally wrong in other countries ought to be morally wrong here as well. 

Kids and teachers pray in school every day that the school is in session, when they choose to.  God is not asking us to pretend that America is a Christian nation through insincere public acts, but to transform our families, churches, and communities through deep commitments to righteous living and sustained efforts at evangelism.  What will propel the Church in America forward is not policies foisted upon an unwilling or indifferent public, but sincere worship, servant's hearts, and morally upright living on the part of God's people.  If you want to transform America, start with the Church.

Impeachment aside, the President mocking the prayers of the Speaker should be disconcerting to all Christians.

Americans are evenly divided on the question of whether or not the President of the United States ought to be impeached and removed from office, multiple polls over the past few months have confirmed it.  This is, of course, no surprise given the increasingly antagonistic partisan nature of the political 'discourse' (an ironic term in the current climate) that takes place each day on television and social media, not to mention the vitriol coming from the politicians themselves.  America has had bitter divisions like this before, and survived them, but at great cost.  One of the things that, in theory, helps hold our nation together is the willingness of Christians to pray for God's blessing upon our nation, for peace and justice, even when their own party is not currently in power.  From the Christians I've known, and from being honest with my own heart, I've at times wondered how consistent and sincere our prayers are when 'they' are in power and not 'us'.  I know that some Christians are deeply committed to their prayer for the nation, and elections don't change their attitudes or habits.  But other Christians, who knows how many, treat their prayers to the Almighty as an extension of their own political preferences, beseeching God to give our 'holy and righteous' side victory and smite the 'vile and wicked' ways of the opposition.  Perhaps an equal number of Red and Blue Christians in America are committed to praying no matter what, and an equal number pray only in partisan terms.  {And here is where I'll lose some of you, upon reading that last sentence you'll either say to yourself, 'What Blue (or Red) Christians, they can't possibly be Christians if they support...Yes, that's a further symptom of how dangerously our politics has infected our theology.  I'm saved by the Blood of the Lamb, that and that alone, as is every Christian (and Old Covenant saint before Christ) who has every lived, my politics (or lack thereof) are NOT a factor, how could they be?}

Which brings me to the current example of our polarization.  I have no intention of offering an opinion regarding the President, the Speaker of the House, or Impeachment (If you expected that, you've not read my blog before).  What I am willing to speak about, however, is prayer.  I have doubts about the sincerity of the faith of a number of politicians, on both sides, who seem to utilize that faith when it will get them votes and ignore it when it gets in the way of tactics or their own moral choices.  Then again, I have doubts about the sincerity of the faith of a number of famous 'Christian' leaders, who seem more interested in power, wealth, and fame than in being a servant of the Gospel.  I also wonder about the sincerity of the faith of some of the people I know personally, for whom faith seems to be a matter of convenience more than conviction.  I have these doubts, and I believe them to be a healthy amount of skepticism, as Jesus reminded us, "16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:16-20)
In response to the impending Articles of Impeachment, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, issued a public letter written to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.  Among many a political invective in the letter is the section below:

Even worse than offending the Founding Fathers, you are offending Americans of faith by
continually saying "I pray for the President", when you know this statement is not true, unless it
is meant in a negative sense. It is a terrible thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it,
not I!  {READ: President Trump Sends Pelosi Letter Protesting 'Partisan Impeachment Crusade'}

I don't know if Speaker Pelosi prays for the President or not, but I know that she says that she does.  I don't know what the content, attitude, and tone of the Speaker's prayers might be, perhaps they are infected with partisan attitudes, or maybe she rises above that and prays for the good of the country even if it means the success of her political enemy.  The point is, I don't know these things, and neither does the President.  The sad thing here is that an assumption is being made, one with a cynical heart: that a Democrat cannot possibly pray with sincerity for a Republican (and vice versa).  If we have descended this far into tribalism, if we are being asked to accept that the Universal Church can only contain people who think just like we do, then we're also being asked to write-off millions of Church going, self-professed Christians who claim that their faith is in Jesus Christ, as not simply still Lost, but our enemies. {My favorite example of this attitude is from an episode of Cheers - Woody Boyd : I love you, Kelly - that's why I'm now a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Church of America. Just like you.
Kelly Boyd : Oh, Woody! You saved our marriage... What a wonderful sacrifice! Now when we die and go to heaven, we won't be separated by barbed wire and barking dogs (for context, Woody was already a Lutheran, just a different branch of the tree)}.

Perhaps it is hopelessly optimistic of me to believe that as Christians our faith ought to transcend our politics and even our citizenship as the defining characteristic of our lives.  Jesus, of course, told us he would accept no less, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" (Matthew 16:24-26).  As I read about Church history, I find plenty of examples of people for whom faith was seemingly the third or fourth most important thing (often behind their pursuit of wealth/power/fame or their own prejudices and hatreds), their stories could confirm that we shouldn't expect any better.  But I also read powerful stories of self-sacrifice, principled stands in the face of danger, and service to others, even to those who were considered to be "them" and not "us".    Men like William Wilberforce, and women like Sojourner Truth, hold the cynicism of reading history at bay, as do redemption stories like that of Saint Augustine, and the principled martyrdom of Jan Hus or Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  If men and women of extraordinary faith like that existed then, they are here among us now too.

To my fellow self-proclaimed Christians for whom politics is the primary lens through which you see the world: Do you pray for the opposition?  With sincerity, hoping that they will be transformed by the power of God's Word (if need be), not to see things as you or I see them, but as God would have them be seen?  If you are willing to pray for them, and they are willing to pray for you, perhaps I'm not as hopelessly optimistic as it seems.

Sermon Video: Intelligible words in the Church - 1 Corinthians 14:13-19

Having established the priority of building up the Church when ranking the desirability of spiritual gifts, the Apostle Paul continues the theme by explaining that even 10,000 words given in a language unknown to the hearer(s) are worth less than 5 intelligible words whose meaning can be grasped.  In stating this, Paul asserts that our minds needs to be engaged in prayer and worship, not just our emotions, and that our end goal, edification, requires understanding (on the part of the recipient) in order to be fruitful.  Illustrations utilized: the Western Church's use of the Latin Mass (a barrier to understanding), the dense verbiage of Martin Buber's I and Thou (verses the accessibility of Max Lucado's Just like Jesus), and the unnecessary barrier of teaching English to non-speakers envisioned by Sam Gipp's KJV Only position.  In the end, it is incumbent upon us that we make a serious effort, in both evangelism and apologetics, to share, explain, and defend God's Word with both intelligibility and clarity.

To watch the video, click on the link below:  As a bonus, the introduction features the story of my preaching in Guatemala in 1997 through an interpreter, as well as my fumbling my way through a lesson in Spanish (not a pretty picture).

Does God even want state-mandated prayer?

Calls for a return of required prayer in the nation's public schools are common on social media and letters written to the editors of local newspapers.  Some who I would count as valued colleagues and friends are echoing this call.  As the theory goes, this is a key to turning around the American culture and bringing back a golden age of Christendom where America's status as a Christian Nation was unchallenged {A return to a supposed past Golden Age is a common trope in history, one rarely based in reality; a different topic for another time}.  Setting aside the question of whether or not state-mandated prayer in schools would benefit the culture (An assumption made in the argument, but how would one know if it is true: crime rates?  teen pregnancy? drug use?  Would prayer be expected to lower such things by 10%? 50%  With a complex system like a nation/culture, we cannot single out one factor for much of anything because of interconnected cause/effect.), or the Church itself (Was the Church healthier during periods when the population was required {on pain of various penalties} to pay nominal homage to God?  When everyone living in the land was assumed to be a Christian by simple right of birth regardless of any evidence of the Holy Spirit?  Was that marriage of Church/State a healthier Church?), even if we assume that both the nation and the Church would benefit, that there wouldn't be any unintended negative consequences to either, there still remains a fundamental question that is not being sufficiently considered: Does God want state-mandated prayer?
How can we know the mind of God?  A pertinent question, and one that has a simple answer: we can't, unless God chooses to reveal his mind to us, primarily through his revealed Word.  What then does the Word of God say on the subject?  How has God responded in the past to the worship/prayers/sacrifices of those whose hearts are not invested in the act (in other words, unwilling or indifferent participants)?  For rest assured, if prayer was mandated in the schools, there would be millions, likely a majority, of children and teachers who are not enthusiastic supporters of the particular prayer being offered {Certainly not for Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic, or atheists, as well as those Christians who would disagree with the particular form and/or verbiage of the prayer being offered.}  A sampling of relevant texts of Scripture follows:

Proverbs 28:9 New International Version (NIV)
If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.

Isaiah 1:13-18 New International Version (NIV)
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
    Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.

Amos 5:21-23 New International Version (NIV)
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
    your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

Malachi 1:6-10 New International Version (NIV)
Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices
6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
7 “By offering defiled food on my altar.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.
9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Luke 18:9-14 New International Version (NIV)
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

These are not all of the texts of Scripture that reference insincere or tainted prayer/worship/sacrifices, but they will suffice to show the point: God does not desire, nor accept, from even his own people (or at the least, those claiming to be his people) prayer, worship, or sacrifices that do not come from a humble obedient heart.  If then, these unacceptable efforts were not helpful to the people of Israel, nor to the Church, because they were not genuine, how would they be acceptable to God coming from people of other faiths, or no faith, when compelled by the power/authority of the state?  What about those prayers would be pleasing to God?  Is it not as likely, if not more likely, that such disingenuous rote and compulsory prayer would anger God rather than please him?  Is false prayer better than no prayer at all?  The warnings of the Jewish prophets appear to say 'no'.

Two other factors to consider: (1) Any prayer designed by the government for use in public schools would by its very nature, in keeping with the 1st Amendment, be entirely devoid of specific reference to God.  It could not be a prayer to anything other than a generic god, for generic blessings, and generic guidance/help.  It could not mention Jesus, nor reference the Gospel's call for salvation by grace through faith.  It would, by necessity, be a bland prayer.  Would such a prayer be instructive to young people (what exactly would it teach them about the nature of God?) or pleasing to the God whose name and deeds that we do in fact know?  Even if the government were to somehow avoid violating the 1st Amendment while still including reference to Jesus, it would not differentiate the Jesus of the true Apostolic Church from the Jesus spoken of by the Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons (both of whom speak highly of Jesus, but a Jesus whose nature and work is very different).  How could a prayer be constructed under the limitations that exist (Nobody is advocating for a repeal of the 1st Amendment, so we must consider this call for prayer in schools within that parameter) that would be properly honoring to God?  (2) If a conservative/evangelical inspired government (the only one likely to pursue this course and the background of those calling for a return of prayer to schools) were to impose school prayer, what is to stop a future liberal/secular inspired government from taking that same prayer and making it explicitly multi-faith (for example: replacing "God" with Allah, or Jesus with Buddha, or stating that all names/approaches to God are equally valid.  'O God, whose faces are many, though all people call equally to you...')?  What started out as a 'win' for Christendom could quickly become an exercise in blasphemy that Christian children would be required to participate in.  If then, that prospect causes anxiety, should not we, as Americans, not wish to put that same anxiety upon fellow citizens who happen to be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists, etc?  Even though I am 100% convinced that there is only one God, and that he has made himself known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that does not mean I would welcome a return to the policies of past eras where people of other, or no, faith were compelled to acknowledge a God whom they do not believe in.  As a Baptist, I naturally look with trepidation upon any government compelling people in the realm of religion, our ancestors in the faith didn't enjoy being on the wrong end of that, and if we ourselves would object, we cannot advocate imposing the same thing upon others {"Do unto others..."}
The same objections to mandated prayer in school apply to mandated Bible classes in school.  As a former English teacher, I can see the value in teaching the Bible as literature (however, this viewpoint would also treat other religious texts like the Qu'ran in the same way; as literature for students to be made aware of as part of a well-rounded education), and the value in history classes of learning about the role of world religions in human history (a huge factor to be sure, to ignore it is to do a dis-service to history), but NOT the value of having public schools attempt to teach Christian theology.  The reasons are the same as above: (1) Any teaching would have to be generic, and thus liable to offend various Christian sects who vary on one point or another from the mainstream (i.e. Baptists being more/less on their own about baptism, any class on the basic of Christian theology would teach the majority viewpoint), (2) and any class set up to be acceptable to conservatives/evangelicals when they are in power could then be switched to one whose curriculum is approved by a liberal/secular government?  Once again, what started as a 'win' for Christendom could quickly turn into the means to advance what the traditional/apostolic Church considers to be heresy.  If the success of an idea depends upon 'our side' remaining in power, and would subsequently become anathema to us if 'our side' were to lose power, then perhaps that idea is best left on the shelf.

From a strategic standpoint, it seems to me that both prayer and Bible classes in the public schools are a bad idea for the Church, even if they are a 'win' for Christendom (a dubious claim at best).  Others will disagree and see these tools as a means for advancing the cause of the Gospel in the face of an increasingly secular society.  They will contend that the potential benefits outweigh the risks.  We can agree to disagree, as Americans we have that right.  The far more important question that is not being given enough consideration is this: Would God be pleased by these efforts, indifferent to them, or angered by them?  If the examples of Scripture are any indication, and since they are the revealed Word of God, and God does not change, they must indeed be instructive for us concerning the mind of God, the most likely response from God is anger, followed by indifference, leaving pleased as the least likely.  Perhaps there is a Bible-based counter-argument in favor of compulsory prayer and Bible education, given the antipathy shown in the Bible itself to fake prayer/worship/sacrifices, it would have to be extremely compelling.

How a Christian must respond to adversaries

It has become readily apparent that a significant number of Christians have decided that those who oppose them, in a variety of settings that include church controversies, business, and politics, ought to be treated as an "other" and defeated by nearly any means necessary.  For too many of us, the ends justify the means because we have pridefully defined our chosen end as God's will.  And while history has shown how dangerous this attitude can be even when a nation is facing an existential threat {see for example: the firebombing of Dresden, and the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII}, it can in no way be argued, according to the Scriptures {which is what ought to matter to a Christian}, that this is the morally appropriate choice for an individual, or group, of Christians. 

Romans 3:8 New International Version (NIV)
8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

Romans 12:21 New International Version (NIV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 5:43-48 New International Version (NIV)
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We, as Christians, have been called to a higher standard.  We have been charged with living as disciples of Jesus Christ and thus imitating our Savior in this world.  To "win" a battle utilizing immoral means is to lose the war. 

Hear this, and hear it well: God is the judge of the world.  It is better for us to lose morally than to try to win immorally.  We have not been given a command to be winners, we have been given a command to be righteous.  In this world, they're not typically the same thing.  Each time Christians choose to try to be winners rather than righteous, they demonstrate that they don't have sufficient faith in God's final victory and they taint the message of the Gospel {as hypocrites}.

Zechariah 4:6 New International Version (NIV)
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.