On the 4th of July, we as a nation reflect on what our founding fathers did to provide us with such amazing opportunities and blessings. We honor our struggle for independence and the dangerous step into a war with Britain to earn that independence. 

Our founders may have claimed independence on the 4th of July, but it took them seven years to prove it true. Thankfully, the war's end justified the Declaration of Independence and started America on a course of becoming a history-changing nation. 

We went from a rag-tag group of colonies to completely changing the face of the world permanently in only 150 or so years. 

Some might say we changed the face of the world the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. 

Either way, on this 4th of July, we at Self-Evident would like to give you a few reasons why we have such a passion for not only America, but its history, foundations, and heroes. 

1) We Were Founded on Liberty 

When King George III chose to ignore the colonies’ last attempt at reconciliation, the floodgates of revolution poured through. Deep within the hearts of the colonists sat a yearning for liberty. After 130 years of increasingly oppressive measures from Britain, the colonies felt they had no recourse but to take up arms. 

Our founding fathers felt so passionate about their rights that they pledged their lives to an ideal in public fashion by signing the Declaration of Independence for all the world to see. These men, coming from all walks of life, quaked the earth with the ink of their pens. The nations of the world felt the tremors and watched with bated breath as a small group of colonies set their face against their own crown. 

Throughout all of it, the call of liberty never waned. Despite being outnumbered and impoverished when it came to food, clothing, weapons, ammo, and soldiers, our ancestors dug deeper and continued to pursue the expansive haven of rights that nestled within the victory of independence. They knew that victory meant striking gold in their excavation of liberty, and the bounty offered at victory meant the possibility of true liberty for their children and future generations.  

Thankfully, when it seemed as though our revolution would fail, the French came to our aid and helped bring the long, protracted war to a close. 

Our desire to create a nation founded not just on the gospel but on God-given rights and liberties inspired the world around us. In the coming years, transformation swept through Europe as people attempted to throw off the shackles of their own oppressive regimes.  

While some of those movements were messy, complex, ill-advised, or downright opportunistic, our own desire for liberty showed the true American spirit. Our heritage did something for us that could not be imitated by most other people who attempted to grasp liberty. After all, the wilderness of the American East Coast, tumultuous global politics, and the correct brew of faith and philosophy forged a truly American identity. 

From the beginning of the colonies until the signing of the Declaration of Independence, American individualism found its form in recognizing individual sovereignty. Personal property, inalienable rights given by God, the prosperity of hard work, and deep faith and reliance on God all shaped the American identity. 

We settled and developed the land. We fought the French and Indian War for Britain. We overcame illness, attack, famine, winter, and hardship. We built a thriving nation that became a light on a hill for the rest of the world.

And liberty made it possible. 

2) We Honored God 

John Quincy Adams said, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." 

From the various colonial charters and constitutions that named sharing the gospel our main mission to the words of various founders giving God the glory – our ancestors knew that the divine authority deserved honor, worship, and praise.  

Without God, our nation would not have come to be. From the bluster of hurricanes to the rising of rivers, and the falling of fog – God made His presence known in protective miracles for our nation. As Nathaniel Webster once said, “Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”  

While we might consider the creation of the Constitution a miracle in itself (which it was), the decades preceding that document are replete with stories of God’s hand guiding our nation. We witnessed men become bullet-proof. Our allies arrived to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The land itself fought in our favor.  

Truly, the prayers of both the colonists and our founding generation powerfully moved the machinations of heaven. Anybody who takes a moment to look at history cannot deny the powerful miracles God worked on our behalf. 

Accordingly, our founders knew that days of humiliation and prayer not only petitioned God but joined our nation in a single, prayerful purpose. From the beginning of the colonies, the community knew it must approach God for our daily provision and protection. Those who called for days of prayer and humbled themselves before the Lord fully knew His hand was required for the health of our land.  

Benjamin Franklin himself said, “In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? At the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard — and they were graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?… I have lived, sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men! And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.”  

But faith in the Lord as the builder of our house did not cease with the ratification of the Constitution. Even when we structured our nation and continued to develop it by adding states, each state constitution gave deference to God. Not only this, but many states enshrined the importance and power of the church and religion in their constitutions as well. 

In other words, God rightfully rested in the foundational identity of America as a nation. 

3) Our Founders were True Men 

They were never perfect. Though neither are we.  

Unlike our leaders today, the founders were men of insight, intellect, and wisdom. We may attempt the sad comparison between ourselves and them, but if we dare try, we may find ourselves sorely lacking. The stain of slavery rests heavily upon the shoulders of our founders. Just as the horrific burden of abortion rests upon us in modernity. 

And while we may attempt some self-righteous superiority, the truth is our founders truly understood governance in a way that may be lost forever. They studied the ancient civilizations as they debated and argued what the best possible structure of government would be. The downfalls and possible weaknesses became obvious to them, and yet they continued to debate on how to best ease the pain of those shortcomings in the system they were creating. 

The beautiful blend of separation of powers, checks and balances, protection of liberty, and respect of rights gave rise to imitation constitutions all around the world. The results of their work proved exponential. 

Unfortunately, most don’t see this. The tireless work of our founders truly is underappreciated when we consider what they went through and the effect they left on generations to come. 

We tend to look at America with the magnifying glass of pride and arrogance, but our ancestors were sober and vigilant in their labors. They weighed it out and debated over every word written in the Constitution. They knew – add a word in one place and it could mar the face of the American experiment forever. Take a word out in another place and it could fundamentally shift the American approach to governance. 

These men didn’t just want to become free. They desired to institutionalize liberty and create a boundary around it that might not fail – even knowing it most likely would eventually fail. 

4) We are Truly Unique as a Nation 

We as Self-Evident do not wear rose-colored glasses. We freely recognize how far America has fallen from the inspirational ideas of our founding fathers. However, we do not lose hope. The heart of America is still there, hidden behind the dark assault of the power-hungry and the wicked. We know our nation’s humility before the Lord lies buried beneath a dirt pile of pride but nonetheless sits ready to awaken. And at the end of it all, we as an organization understand that God can walk us through anything and everything.  

Even if the American experiment collapses to the dust and shudders as it exhales its final breath, the people of God will be ready to carry His will. We will walk as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, no matter whether the borders and government of the nation hold or not. Our earnest prayers are for our nation. But we simply put our faith in God and lean not on our understanding. 

The beauty of America is in its significance on the historical landscape. Much like the words of Solomon, America may only see a season. But it is the American identity, the American spirit that may still live and thrive throughout the darkness.  

As long as the breath of life remains in America’s church, we can rest assured that the deep truth of liberty and rights is encapsulated and preserved for a generation that will unleash them once again. 

Our petitions before the Lord desire that His faithfulness would rest upon our children and our children’s children. We ask Him to give to them the fruits of our sacrifices. We eagerly desire that they would recline beneath the tree of liberty, even if it be nourished by our flesh in a sacrificial gift to secure their blessings for future generations. 

5 Things To Know About Ministry

Are You Called To Ministry?

A lot of people claim they are called to ministry. After all, they received a word, a dream, or a feeling in their heart. Such an event permanently changes the course of our life. But there are a lot of things a person needs to understand before answering the call into ministry. We decided to give you 5 things to know about ministry before you start your international ministry.

No one is more righteous than the other

Let’s get it straight – being called into ministry is a powerful moment. Some of us just have that calling in our life. We don’t find satisfaction in the status quo of a quiet job and relaxed family life. We feel the burden of somehow, someway sharing the gospel and discipling others into a life of Christ.

And please, do not take this as an insult to those who would rather just live a quiet life. God created each of us to handle a certain purpose within our sphere. Some are called to different vectors of the world. Others are called to ministry. What matters the most is whether you answered the call from God or not.

What if you feel called into ministry?

Let’s say you truly do feel called into this thing we call ministry. Then great! Welcome to the club that boasts a massive lineage of influential people from across the span of time. You have a calling on your life that will look unique from every other person on earth. Your greatest blessing will show up when you see other people transformed through the obedience you have to the Lord. That means: you do what you’re asked, and God does a work in the person.

However, there are a lot of things you need to know. We picked 5 because we had to stop somewhere. We could list item after item, but you would get bored and we’d suffer from carpel tunnel. But, 5 items will at least give you a good start. So, here it is:

5 Things to Know About Ministry:

1) It’s Not About You

You already knew ministry does not revolve around you. Unfortunately, we all quickly forget the truth. Ministry means nothing without Christ. While many people start out meaning well by getting involved with ministry, the cares of the world quickly take over. These things show up in how we care about numbers, dollars, and all the tell-tale marketing signals.

When you keep Christ close to your heart and remove yourself from the equation, you focus less on yourself and more on God’s will. Notice, that I did not mention “focus more on the other person.” When you keep God as your true purpose, then you will love His people. You will love those whom He sends you to minister to. But don’t put the cart before the horse.

Ministry will continue with you or without you. No person sits on the throne of irreplaceable. God uses those who obey. So love and obey Him. When you do, you will love your neighbors with a whole different level of love.

When we attempt it on our power and strength, we lose our drive or patience and suddenly the person across from us is vulnerable. Sustain your strength and ministry by serving the Lord. Make Him your entire focus. Then you will go the distance.

2) DO NOT RUSH

If I had a nickel for every Young Adult who came to me saying they felt called to ministry...I’d retire and finally have some peace.

You may feel called. You may have it completely on your heart. You may have received a word about how God desires to send you to the world! Good. But don’t you DARE quit your job, sell your possessions, and run off to Africa. You BETTER have been explicitly told by the Lord to do those things. Otherwise, you’re just being foolish.

We all need a training period to build the skills, experience, and know-how to handle the rigors of ministry. You put yourself and others in a dangerous position spiritually if you run onto the battlefield with no training. You wouldn’t run off to a warzone without knowing how to shoot a gun and cover yourself properly. So why do we believe ministry is any different?

Get trained up. Spend time under others who are seasoned and can watch out for your soul. A calling of God does not necessarily mean “in this season” but means “at some point in time, you will be called up to the big time.” What better way to be prepared than to get discipled under someone who has been there? They will gladly teach you what to know about ministry. They will also invest in you because they’ve been called by God to minister to you and they love Him too much to ignore the call. See how that works?

3) You will mess up

When you make a mistake or stumble, the voice will ring in your head. It’ll say, “You screwed up. How can you think you’re called? This disqualifies you.”

The voice of the enemy accuses. After all, he is called the accuser. Whether it is your twisted flesh, a demon, or the enemy himself, that voice loves to pop up when you screw up. We all make mistakes and need to remember that. Just because you messed something up does not mean you are suddenly disqualified from being in ministry.

As you grow and mature in ministry, the mistakes and stumbles change shape. Problems still crop up and they often appear from where we least expect them to.

Remember that Christ washed the feet of His disciples. Not so we could make an out-of-touch commercial for the Super Bowl 2000+ years later, but to remind us that the world is spiritually dirty. Sometimes, we step in the mud. Not because we want to but because we’re all human.

This is not a license to sin. That grace He gives us provides an opportunity to get cleansed. Not play in the mud. If you want to keep getting dirty, then the Lord WILL pull your ministry from you. He will allow it all to come out and let you find repentance the hard way.

So don’t find it the hard way. When you stumble, immediately repent and change your ways.

4)Watch the backdoor

The more mature you get, the more the enemy will attempt to knock you off. The problem is that we make it easy for him. When we hyper-focus on a single issue, sin, or purpose, we lose sight of our backside. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched it in the church world.

Leader gets popular. Leader gets sure of himself. Exposure of a sin or event happens. Leader falls.

Want to know where it went wrong? Pride.

Success in ministry drives people to places of pride and arrogance they never imagined for themselves. Many times it's couched in the idea that they’ve defeated sin and no longer need to concern themselves with being on-guard.

Or, they figured that they could get away with it without being exposed. They believe the sin is small, so no one (even God) would expose it.

Do not get swept up in the idea that you are above the righteousness of God. He cares more about refining you than about your reputation. Humble yourself and understand that this life is your time of growth and refinement. A good follower of Christ humbly understands that they continually need the grace, mercy, justice, and love of the Lord.

Especially when they’re in ministry.

5)Rely on Him

Faith matters in the world of ministry. Everything you do rests in the faith that God is doing something. If you don’t trust that He has it all in His hands, then you’ll always struggle with expectations.

We set our expectations on how we think things should be. The reality is that God’s purpose may not look anything like your flesh wants it to.

Maybe He intends for you to quietly minister to the forgotten. That means that He may never put you in front of a big crowd or massive online following. Can you be okay with that? Can you handle not being the center of attention if that’s what God requires of you?

Faith informs our every decision AND our every belief. (At least when we walk in perfect faith.) Getting our eyes off of God strips us of faith in Him and places it in our own power. We fall because we forget how to lean not on our understanding. Instead, we put our hearts on an outcome and believe that outcome will prove our faith.

The outcomes mean nothing to our faith. Jeremiah did ministry for 40 years without a convert. Imagine the faith and reliance that requires!

So don’t get trapped in proving faith through expectations. Have complete faith no matter what and let God determine where He’s going to bring you.

Things to know about ministry

A lifetime of wisdom and knowledge exists regarding ministry. But you should keep these in mind when you get the calling. God stands faithful and true to what He’s put on our hearts. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot of time and learning to go through to become carriers of the gospel. He intended those He’s called to do great things.

We just have to be willing and faithful servants.

Now get to it!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

One of the crowning achievements of Christianity in the discussion of its legacy and influence throughout history is undoubtedly its systematic opposition of slavery since its beginning roots. The initial question starts with: does the bible oppose slavery directly? The answer is yes. The conquering and sale of peoples for the slave trade is explicitly condemned in 1^st Timothy 1:10. True equality between people regardless of social standing or wealth, being united by the bond of Christ, is described in Galatians 3:28-29: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Other bible verses espousing intrinsic equality of value and a spirit incompatible with slavery include Proverbs 22:2, Colossians 3:11, Romans 2:11, 1^st Corinthians 12:25, Ephesians 6:5-9, James 2:2-4, 1^st Peter 1:17, and Philemon 1:15-16. In the Old Testament, the Law was unique in extending rights to slaves and commanding provisions of freedom for slaves, as described in Exodus 21:2, and Leviticus 25:39-40, which was simply unprecedented in the rest of the ancient world by any measure or standard.

Christians specifically were the first organized people in history to oppose slavery, in contrast to the entire ancient world. Official state-sponsored slave systems were present in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Islamic States and Caliphates, the Islamic Ottoman Empire (even as late as the early 1900s), Egypt, Japan, India, Africa, Assyria, and China. Leaders in Christian abolitionism emerged as early as the 3^rd century such as Saint Augustine. In the 4^th century, St. Chrysostom stated that Christ’s appearance has done away with slavery, saying “in Christ Jesus there is no slave…therefore it is not necessary to have a slave….buy them, and after you have taught them some skill by which they can maintain themselves, set them free”. This Christian practice of buying slaves in order to set them free proliferated as a subculture in the Roman Empire. Pope Callistus himself was a former slave. 

Moving forward to the 7^th century, the Franks under the Christian queen Bathilde became the first kingdom in history to begin the process of outlawing slavery. In the 9^th century, bishop Agobard of Lyons proclaimed: “All men are brothers, all invoke one same Father, God: the slave and the master, the poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the learned, the weak and the strong….none has been raised above the other…there is no…slave or free, but in all things and always there is only Christ.” During the 11th century, Saint Wulfstan and Saint Anselm campaigned to remove the last remnants of slavery in Christendom, and thus it was said “that no man, no real Christian at any rate, could thereafter legitimately be held as the property of another.” In the 12^th century, Thomas Aquinas declared slavery a sin, against natural law, and completely immoral. When slavery surfaced again overseas, the Catholic Papacy condemned it through papal bulls on no less than six separate occasions- in 1462, 1537, 1639, 1741, 1815, and 1839. 

Slavery and human sacrifice were both part of Latin American culture before the Europeans arrived. Africa supplied the Arab world with slaves before the arrival of the Europeans and Britain’s subsequent outlaw of slavery there in 1833. Slavery in India was outlawed by Pope Paul III through the 1537 bull Sublimis Deus, which confirmed that "their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans", and that “Indians were to be regarded as fully human, and they should neither be robbed nor turned into slaves.” During Spanish and Portuguese colonization Popes Eugen IV, Pius the II, Sixtus the IV, Paul the III, and Gregory XVI forbad slavery. The travesty was that these orders were not always followed because of the challenge of enforcement thousands of miles away from Europe. Christian missionary, evangelical activist, and abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was the central figure in ending slavery in Europe, giving anti-slavery speeches for twenty years. In 1823 he presented a petition through his associate Thomas Buxton “as a resolution declaring slavery repugnant to Christianity and the Constitution.” This led to the Abolition Act in 1833, that resulted in the freedom of 700,000 slaves in the West Indies Colonies.

Though slavery persisted in the United States, Christian abolitionists led the way in challenging the moral legitimacy of such an institution. The Presbyterian minister Elijah Parish Lovejoy became the first martyr for the abolition movement in 1837. Other famous Christian abolitionists include Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Angelina Grimké, Sojourner Truth, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, John Brown, Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon, Methodist theologian John Wesley, Presbyterian minister Charles Finney, Theodere Weld, John Quincy Adams, and President James Garfield. Secular educational textbooks and mainstream articles often fail to mention altogether how many of these individuals held their faith in Christ as their key motivating factor for their ministry of freedom. 

In 1754, the Quaker John Woolman launched a campaign against slave trading in America and by 1771, Massachusetts outlawed the importation of slaves. In 1787, the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed, with 9 of the 12 founder members being Christian Quakers. In 1791 North Carolina declared that the killing of a slave was murder, and Georgia did the same in 1816. In 1801, American Methodists made anti-slavery sentiments a condition of church membership. In 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was founded by Presbyterian clergyman Theodore S. Wright and William Garrison. Anti-Slavery International was formed in 1839 by English Quaker and activist Joseph Sturge to fight for the global elimination of slavery. Christian abolitionist writings utilizing the bible include "A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument" (1845) by George Bourne and "God Against Slavery" (1857) by George B. Cheever. Cheever wrote a speech titled, "The Fire and Hammer of God’s Word Against the Sin of Slavery" addressed to the president. Regarding the influence of Abraham Lincoln himself, whom issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it has been made clear by his own statement on the bible: "In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it." Christians continue to free slaves to this very day in places like Sudan through organizations such as Christian Solidarity International. 

Times exist in our lives, in which the pressures and struggles of life seem to come crashing down on us all at once. While a lot of times we can navigate life with a few issues cropping up, here or there, we will periodically come across the avalanche of “all at once.”

These times are perfect for us to truly test our strength, and see where our real convictions sit. Most of us believe that we carry the foundational truths well enough to react the way Christ wants us to, but until we are immersed in real life, we can definitely believe the illusion that we are responding the way we are supposed to.

Right now, I'm learning a lot about faith, promises, prayer and the Lord. I'm not going to get into details about my life, but needless to say, a lot is happening. I'm feeling the press of life in a lot of different areas, and certain areas are impossible to overcome...in the world's eyes.

For the past few weeks, my wife and I have been hit by one thing after another. Vehicles, major life changes, house repairs, medical issues, work problems, scheduling conflicts and all the rest. Work problems have mounted up against me and have slowed my progress on different projects rather drastically. Some people have become disgruntled against me for reasons beyond my understanding, and of course the ridicule and attacks from our organizations detractors has picked up quite a bit.

Plenty of people point to the old Christian adage that when spiritual attack increases, it means you're on the right path and having an effect for the kingdom.

This can placate someone for a little bit, but when you're in the thick of it, telling yourself that it's spiritual attack doesn't necessarily remove the pain and struggle. Unfortunately, people don't know what to say or how to console, and so they resort to platitudes with a hail mary pass attempt, in hopes that they can some how help you out.

It's not their fault, though they're following in the same foot steps as the friends of Job.

In case you don't know the story of Job, let me fill you in.

Job was a righteous dude. The most righteous. In fact, he was so blameless, God let Satan attack Job, to prove Satan wrong. You see, Satan thought that Job was only righteous because God was so kind and good to him. Take away the family and the wealth, and Job would turn on God.

God said, “Go ahead, try him.”

So Satan attacked Job and made a mess of his life. All his kids died. All his livestock died. He lost his wealth and reputation. His health got attacked. Even his own wife told him, “Curse God and die.”

But Job never cursed God. Instead, he cried out a lot, basically asking, “Why, God?” Job's friends in turn tried to tell Job that he must have done something wrong, and that he was unrighteous. God would only do this if Job were a bad person.

Bad theology aside (God makes it rain on the just and unjust alike), the friends did something that not even God Himself did.

The friends tried to answer the question “why.” God came in, and gave a big ol' slap to Job with his response. Instead of saying, “This is why I did this...” He said, “Where were you when I...”

What kind of answer is that?

God answers Job by saying how Job wasn't there when God did all these great things, and Job couldn't possibly do God's job? Seems a little arrogant. Just answer the question for the guy. He's in pain.

But when we stop for a moment, we see that God was in fact striking down Job's desire to ask the question “why?” Job was intent on getting an answer that he could understand, and God was telling Him, “You couldn't possibly understand why I do what I do. Stop asking and just focus on my greatness.”

This question of “why?” can sink us before we ever get a chance to float. When the world comes crashing down on us, we revert back to our most basic functions. Most of us want to know the answer to “why”, as though this will somehow aid us in dealing with the stress and struggle at hand. But it's a false answer, because having that answer so rarely does anything meaningful for us. Instead, it just gives us something to ruminate on, clogging our focus and attention on the one thing that matters: God.

Going through everything the past few weeks has been illuminating. It has not been easy, and I've hit a couple moments where I felt I truly was pushed to my brink. But the entire time, I'm thankful to say, that my heart fought to keep focused on faith in God, His promises, my faith in the fact that He'll answer my prayers, and gratefulness for His hand in my life.

My heart position in the past has been grumbling, frustration, anger, bitterness, and plenty of “Why God? I don't understand!” These fits of heart chaos only created in me confusion and separation from God. They provided me with no tangible progress, instead leading me to feel guilty and ashamed when the situation resolved itself.

I would look back in the aftermath and realize that I had reacted in a truly immature manner, and felt ashamed that I could act like that towards the Lord.

This time around, I've pushed myself to go deeper in having faith that the Lord will provide, and that the deep chaos I'm being surround by will not take me down. My prayers have been prayers of promise and speaking to exactly what I need. Once those prayers are prayed, I hold faith that God will answer them and provide exactly what I need. I refuse to allow myself to doubt that He would give what was needed to solve the issues happening. I continue to move forward, and am thankful in the midst of the struggle. I thank Him for what He is about to do. I rejoice in the fact that my Father is there for me.

Have all of my problems been solved? Not by a long shot. But He has truly come through in some cool ways that are truly testimonies to Him.

I don't want to divulge the testimonies of what He's doing for my family, but let me be clear: things have happened that cannot be explained away, except by recognizing that God has His hand intimately in my affairs. I'm so unbelievably grateful that I get to see how He's working through all of this, and He's bringing glory to Himself, as well as turning what is dead into something with life. I know that when we come out of this situation, we'll be better for it.

And the ending is just as important as the events. In the story of Job, God doesn't just leave him sitting by the side of the road. After checking Job's wrong mindset, God goes and gives back to Job everything he lost...in double. Twice as many kids, twice as many livestock, his reputation was rebuilt and his whole life was restored.

Our faith in the Lord's goodness means we keep ourselves available to receive the blessings He's prepared for us, if only we'd continue in faith with Him and see everything through.

I've learned quite a bit through this season, and I get to watch God move in real-time. There's no  bigger blessing than getting to see Him actively move on your behalf, and to be reminded that the God of all Heaven and Earth is on your side and moving for your favor. His heart is for His children, and despite what the enemy tells us: God doesn't want us to be miserable. He may know that problems and deep times of struggle are coming, but those times can be beautiful when we move in faith in Him, rely on what we know of His character, and continue to pray with spiritual authority.

So the question to you is: is it time for you to shed off the old ways of doubt, struggle, complaining and “why”?

Imagine, if you will, a tribe in the middle of the jungle. They're surrounded by all kinds of dangerous animals, plants and terrain. To walk out of the protection of the circle is to invite many different dangers to prey on you.

So you cooperate with your small community, and everybody shares in the hunting, gathering of food, cooking, and building of homes, etc.

One night, you say something that nobody in the tribe likes. They all look at you like you've got three heads. The chief leans in and asks you to repeat what you just said. You, with some naivete, repeat exactly what you said. The whole tribe then throws their hands in the air and an entire chaotic ruckus begins around you.

The chief tears his hat apart. The women cry and swoon. The men rage and gnash their teeth at you. All of a sudden, you're picked up by grabbing, groping hands and lifted over the heads of your fellow tribesmen. You look down and see your own mother, with a look of disgust and fury, returning your gaze.

You shout. You cry. You repent. But it does you no good. The tribe has determined that you do not deserve to be a part of the community. And so they reach the outer circle of your community, and with a swift throw, you're tossed into the jungle.

Your mother screams something at you that sounds like a mix between a regret and a curse, and suddenly spear points poke at your butt, forcing you farther into the jungle.

It's obvious. You've been excommunicated from the tribe. You've been shunned for what you've said.

My friend, you just got canceled.

Facing that jungle at night and by yourself can be a most fearsome moment. In that instant, you recognize the power of having a group around you. In fact, maybe you call one last pleading yelp to your tribe, but silence returns. They want nothing to do with you.

And so now, surviving on your own is vital.

Or perhaps you say your most offensive, horrible and -istic statement, and the tribe doesn't want to just throw you out. No, they want to castrate you, skin you alive, and eat you for your harmful comments.

This could possibly induce more fear in a person than just being shunned, but the social risk of your comment led you to be cast out.

While all of this sounds rather extreme to those of us who live out our days in an american culture with internet, grocery stores and social programs – we can't forget that social excommunication or intense attack can happen. This builds in us a fear of man, and that fear of man weighs the risk of what we have against what we could lose if we draw the ire of men.

The fear of man, or the seeking of the approval of man goes deeper than this though. We seek the approval of our fellow man because it builds us up the social ladder. As we provide satisfaction to others on a regular basis, they're more likely to like us, and therefore more likely to help us when we need. We build relationships and use those relationships to ensure protection, safety, and resources.

And then there are some people who seem to have no fear of what others think, threaten or do. They seem to march to their own drum and do their own thing, precisely because they want to and they can.

As Christians, we are called to move beyond the fear of man, and to move into a realm of fearing God (or a real respect of His power...if you rather.)

When I was growing up, I found myself always very interested in what other people thought of me, and very eager to make others happy with me. I believe this grew out of a desire for words of affirmation, or my most well-received love language. Words of affirmation tend to drive me, and just a little bit of encouragement, or someone noticing what I've done and speaking positively about it, keeps me going for a long time.

Unfortunately, this built in me a need to make sure that everybody was happy with me. I grew up being the quintessential people-pleaser...yet loved to be a contrarian. I was a weird breed.

The problem with people-pleasing is that you quickly and easily disregard how you feel about something in order to ensure someone else gets what they want. It extends to opinions. If you give your opinion and somebody disagrees, you're quick to squash your own opinion in favor for the other person's. If you get in a disagreement, you automatically start to question your own position, and figure the other person knows better than you do. You avoid conflict in order to keep the peace, because after all, the last thing you want to do is to make somebody mad or upset with you.

I've witnessed people carry these strong tendencies into adulthood with disastrous results. People get attacked online and it tears down their entire world. They get in a fight with someone they respect, and they can't shake the feeling that they are worthless. They use the opinions of others to set the image they hold of themselves, and are quick to silence anything that looks like it might not fit into someone else's mold.

Christians heavily fear sharing the gospel. They don't want to raise a conflict with their neighbors. They don't want to look crazy or stupid. They don't want to force their religion on someone else.

And I get it. Some people are evangelists and they love nothing more than telling the world about Jesus. But even if we're not evangelists: why is it we can talk about football, art, music or cars, but we can't talk about our creator and savior?

Many people, (especially Christians) have a fear of man. This radiates out in everything we do, and it controls us.

While I've watched it in my own life, I am doing my best to learn how to stifle this fear of man, pray for its removal, and focus on my fear of God instead. The less I concern myself with what someone said about me, or that latest attack on Youtube, the more comfortable I feel in sharing my opinion and listening to the Holy Spirit...no matter what the tribe says.

This process can actually be helped. We can condition ourselves to grow tougher emotionally when faced with the opinions of the world. It takes exposure to conflict, contrary opinions, and even mocking/insults. A small stream of these has improved my ability to laugh at the insults and mocking, thoughtfully consider the contrary opinions, and be quite alright with unresolved conflict. Not that I don't seek to resolve the conflict, but we have to also understand that some conflict just won't be resolved.

My life is also filled with a steady diet of encouragement, and identity building with Christ. Words of encouragement come from those all around me, whom I consider family and friends. It also comes from the Lord Himself through their mouths, through His own voice, and through His Scripture.

As I grow in my identity in Christ and go deeper in relationship with God, the less concern I have on whether men like me or not.

The more confident I become in my skills, the less concern I have with the opinions of those who doubt or insult my skills.

The more knowledgeable I become about topics, the less fear I have that another man will know something that will decimate me. 

Yet, the more humble in all these areas I become. I recognize my shortcomings, and becoming more confident in your identity opens you up to the peaceful nature of learning where you fail, are weak and need improvement.

I know that sounds backwards, but hear me out. Being confident and in peace inside is not about puffing up your chest and having more pride than anyone else. It's actually about creating a rock solid core of yourself that invites improvement and takes what is necessary from the things around you. You can take the correction more easily, because you've grown in your identity. You're more sure of yourself, and therefore not as destroyed when somebody tries to put a chink in your armor.

Now, I believe this whole process intimately aligns with Inner Healing, but that's for another day.

The fact is, our fear of man holds us back. It keeps us from realizing our true identity, what we can accomplish, and what the Lord wants to do through us. As long as we keep our eyes on the others, and fear the results of them throwing us in the jungle, we can't possibly do what the Lord has asked.

But when we trust Him and His provision, we grow in not being as concerned about what we may lose. He provides for us, He protects us, and He is the only one we need to be concerned about.

And when we keep our eyes on Him, we don't have time to focus on the aims of other people. But, as we grow in our relationship with Him, we begin loving other people DESPITE what they do to us. Now, no longer is it about their effect on us, but our effect on them.

I'll end with this: grow in Christ, and you'll shrink in your fear of man.

Producing content continues to be a passion of mine. I enjoy the research, I absolutely love to write, and I'm spiritually motivated. I want to go after all areas of society and culture. I want them for Christ, and if I get to use my skills and talents to help raise up disciples in these areas: then game on.

But sometimes, you wonder whether you're actually making change with everything you're doing. There's a difference between throwing a bunch of paint at the wall, and using a roller to make a pristine new wall color.

With the deluge of content which covers various areas, some are likely to say that we're all over the map. And in all honesty, that's true. We see ourselves as teachers raised up to disciple people in Christ and liberty. We're here to completely change your mindsets, and build up disciples who can go out and replicate. That means that Christ and liberty have to make sense in every situation presented to you as you interact with society.

But after a tasty lunch with a dear mentor, I came away with a bit of a challenge. He challenged me in all of those sore spots that are easy to flair up, because they're vulnerable. Those blind spots that could easily hurt with waves of offense. He meant no harm, but on the contrary, put disinfectant in the wound to clean it up and heal it. He pointed out the gaps in my direction and vision, in order to help us build back better (for all my Biden fans...).

One thing that I think Self-Evident does extremely well is get people passionate, and help them make connections in new ways. We give a fresh voice and wind to concepts that are old, dusty and tired. We're not the library-bookcase-in-the-background-of-the-video type. We're not the parchment paper background type. We're not usually fond of a bunch of American flags and eagles. We're not the clean-cut, wide toothy smile televangelists pushing the 30 second gospel. 

Not that any of these things are bad or wrong, but they're just not us. We love America. We pray for America. We feel called to the mission field that is America. But we're so much more than a Constitutional education ministry. We're more than a “social warrior” ministry. We're more than a “bring the gospel” ministry.

We're here to disciple, and activate people, and bring about a transformational shift in the culture of America. We're here to bring life to the dry bones. But one of the sore spots that got touched was the fact that we sometimes take our own knowledge and depth for granted. There are groups of people who have immense influence on numbers of people, yet they don't know what we know. They don't recognize the ability and freedom they have. 

I realized we need to give a little time to a certain segment, and so I realized I needed to do something to help fix that problem. What I discovered was this:

We need to influence the leaders.

For the Pastors

Walking away from my discussion with my dear mentor brought about a rush of new thoughts and perspectives. One of the areas that may have been sitting in front of our noses for a long time without realizing it, is the population of pastors here in the US. 

The American church has been absolutely beat into submission with various techniques. And please, let me know if any of these sound familiar.

“A 501c3 cannot get politically involved. Any discussion about government goes against the Johnson Amendment.”

“Separation of Church and State. It says it in the Constitution, and churches are not supposed to get involved.”

“Romans 13 requires the church to submit to governing authorities. So guess what: you as a church better do what the government tells you.”

“We need to preach the gospel, not the government. Let the government do what it needs to do, and let the church save souls.”

“We don't want a theocracy. We don't want to legislate God down people's throats, so let's just keep government secular, and church spiritual.”

I could go on and on, but you get the point. And if you're a pastor who has said these things or agreed with these arguments, then please understand that I'm not here to call you out or chastise you. These things are legitimate concerns, and require a full discussion about whether they are true or not.

But if you'll please bear with me, I have one question: Do you feel that your government and society has fared better or worse without the church's direct involvement?

Okay, I lied. One more question. Do you believe that the government is better run, more upright, more principled, and healthier in the hands of the secular, or in the hands of humble, God-fearing christians who mean only to serve well and to honor their fellow man?

What's the fruit of the church having resolved to remove itself from the daily governance of the people decades ago? (Right...a third question. So sue me.)

At some point, the church as a group bought the lie that they were not to have any influence on government, and that the governance of a nation was not to be in any way put in the hands of the faithful. Ideas such as “Separation of church and state” were shouted from the roof tops at any pastors or church members who dared to stick their head outside the church walls. Romans 13 became the battering ram from the pulpits, and the 501c3 became the threat from the government itself.

We as pastors have endured a lot of opinions and thoughts throughout our tenures. Each pastor can recount when he's been chastised or belittled for an outlook or teaching. Each of us can recall those moments of dread when a congregant determines that what we're doing is just plain “wrong.”

Then the voices from outside the church grow, letting us know that our ilk are not welcome in the major pillars of culture. No, instead we must watch as the nation around us teeters and collapses. If anything, we mourn the fact that we seem so powerless in the face of such growing darkness and evil.

If you're anything like me, you're absolutely saddened about the waves of evil that seem to be hitting our culture and society. The tyrannical oppression of the government during COVID left many pastors reeling and questioning what to do. And whether you shut your doors or not—the decision should have been yours...not the governments. 

But what if we picked ourselves back up, dusted ourselves off and began reminding ourselves that the prince of this world has come to lie, steal, kill and destroy. That the prince of this world may have influence and control over segments of the world, but that we are in enemy territory, and are not here to sit and wait for Christ to return. Our mission is one of spiritual warfare. We are called to step onto the battleground of the world, and fight for the souls of those around us. We're called to influence and change the direction of our territory. We are the ones who are in the best position to bless our towns, cities, states and nation with the benefit of being a country wholly devoted to God.

If God can bring Israel back into a blessed relationship with Him, then there is no reason He can't do it here. But He won't do it if we tell Him we don't want Him anywhere near our culture and government. 

The question really boils down to: who would you rather have in charge? For there is no third choice. If you reject God's influence and hand in the affairs of your daily governance, then you have stated that you would rather satan take the lead. If we say that God doesn't belong in the affairs of our nation, then we've said that satan is a better leader of government.

Government rests on the shoulders of Christ, and therefore we can comfortably conclude that there is nothing sinful about wanting Christ to have an influence and be in ours. This doesn't create a theocracy, because we don't need laws to enforce christian leaders who have their ear to the Lord and stand on righteous conviction. We don't need enforcement of religion on non-believers. We don't even need to say the pledge of allegiance to prove our right standing with the Lord.

What we need is a passionate, warrior mindset church body that does not just accept what is told to them by the world itself. We need a driven, ambitious body of Christ that desires more than anything to crush darkness and create a wonderful, peaceful, blessed nation that honors God in their hearts and recognizes His provision in every day.

Our churches have immense power. There are over 30,000 churches in the US today. The media will tell you that faith in Christ is dying, and that the churches are shrinking and closing. They might not be wrong in one respect, but do you notice the world is never going to celebrate the growth the church or spirit-filled believers? They will never give you positive messaging, because they don't want you to have influence. The structures of the world system have no interest in the christian getting involved, so of course they've never told you, “Yeah, you as a pastor can talk about political things and political candidates.” 

They'll never say, “501c3 only says you can't spend more than 20% of your budget on political campaigning.”

They'll never tell you, “Separation of church and state is nowhere in the Constitution. It was taken out of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, assuring them the government would not get involved in the church affairs.”

They won't admit, “The first act of Congress was prayer.”

They won't remind you that, “The First amendment is there to protect the voice of the church, not prevent the christian from speaking.”

They'll never shout out loud, “The Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” ...But the founders did say it.

And they'll gladly tell you, “Look, you worry about your worship songs and salvations, but leave the city ordinances, legislation, regulations, and controlling people to us.”

Now maybe you don't agree with me, and maybe something in you is riling up with what I'm saying. I just pray that you ask yourself this, “Would you trust the guidance and leadership of your flock to a non-believer? Then why do you trust the guidance and leadership of your town, city, state or nation to a non-believer? What do they have in that arena that christians sorely lack?”

Wouldn't it make more sense that christians get involved in the things that concern them on a day-to-day basis? Wouldn't it make more sense that christians understand the history of our nation, how our government actually works, the philosophies the founders held, and how much influence on events in society the church actually has?

It comes down to a confidence issue in us. I think plenty of us have been brutalized for generations, and now we sit in submissive posture, hoping to just lead quiet and peaceful lives. In a way, it's not a bad thing to lead a quiet and peaceful life. But is it truly a quiet and peaceful life right now? Has our attitude of “keep your head down” brought our nation to more cohesion, humility, strength and righteousness? Or less?

But if we lived with confidence and conviction, our hearts would break at the gradual tightening of the screws that is taking place on ourselves and our congregations.

If we think it's dangerous for our kids to be exposed to drag queens and transgender surgeries, then maybe it's time for us to stand in the gap for those kids.

If we think it's dangerous for our government to spend trillions of dollars they don't have, while taking more and more money to feed an insatiable greed, then maybe it's time for us to stand up and show what fiscal responsibility means.

If we think that the body of Christ should not be forced to shut its doors in a time when people need healing, then maybe it's time for us to stand up and show what it means to have real faith.

Our faith produces fruit, and the fruit of our life can either be bowing to the government dominated by those who want nothing to do with us, or the fruit and legacy we can leave to our children could be one of standing firm in conviction for God's righteousness and the liberty of men.

UPDATE: Supposedly, there may be a deal, but the information is confusing at this moment as this goes out.
Zerohedge reports some new concessions made by the McCarthy camp to those holding out. As this story changes and morphs, we'll do our best to keep up.

The changes:

• A one-member “motion to vacate”: The GOP leader appears to have finally acquiesced to a demand to lower the threshold needed to force a vote ousting a speaker to just one member. While McCarthy originally indicated that restoring the one-member “motion to vacate” was a red line, his allies now argue that there’s not a huge practical difference between this and his previous offer of requiring five members to trigger the vote.

• Rules Committee seats for the Freedom Caucus: McCarthy is prepared to give the House Freedom Caucus two seats on the powerful House Rules Committee, which oversees the amendment process for the floor. (Some conservatives are still holding out for four seats on the panel.) There are also talks about giving a third seat to a conservative close to the Freedom Caucus but not in it — someone like Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Who would pick those members is still under discussion. Typically, it’s the speaker’s prerogative, but conservatives want to choose their own members for these jobs.

• A vote on term limits: This is a key demand of Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who has proposed a constitutional amendment limiting lawmakers to three terms in the House.

• Major changes to the appropriations process: Fears of another trillion-plus-dollar omnibus spending bill have been a major driver of the conservative backlash to McCarthy. The brewing deal includes a promise for standalone votes on each of the 12 annual appropriations bills, which would be considered under what is known as an “open rule,” allowing floor amendments to be offered by any lawmaker.

Here we sit, waiting for the mantel of Speaker of the House to be placed upon the shoulders of the next worthy man or woman.

Who knows, perhaps they'll finally get enough votes to put in Kevin McCarthy as GOP Speaker of the House.

At the moment (as I'm writing this) he's failed to garner enough votes to become Speaker. McCarthy needs 218 votes to seal the deal and become the next white-washed tomb standing before the House of Representatives.

Thankfully, a handful of republicans are sick of the status quo and the act that has gone on for decades in Washington. At first, their votes went instead to a Jim Jordans or a  Byron Donalds. It seems that the votes rejecting McCarthy are beginning to coalesce around Donalds.

Slowly, republicans are starting to slip away and detach themselves from McCarthy. On Wednesday, Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted present instead of following her previous votes for McCarthy.

It sounds as though the backroom deals are not going well either. While McCarthy has shored up some PAC deals, some of the other GOP representatives voice concern over the hostility happening. It seems as though McCarthy might not be keeping his cool when he's not getting what he wants.

I find it all entertaining. You can exclaim, “But there's gridlock in Washington!” And I would cheer and clap at the thought. Washington was not meant to hum and rip down the tracks. It should sputter, grind and clang through the entire process, lucky to get anywhere. Why? Because the more time they argue about enacting a law or a tax, the more time people have to find out whether it's really necessary. We're so convinced that their effectiveness rests in their “productivity” that we've decided that if they don't just all agree, then something is wrong.

I want them fighting. I want them arguing. I want this exact situation. For once, a group of republicans are putting their foot down and saying, “No more. We need a man of principle, not a man of opportunity.”

I don't know much about Byron Donalds, so I can't make that judgment. But I do know that Kevin McCarthy is comfortably established, along with the likes of McConnell. I won't call him a Romney, but I swear I will if I have to...

One of the former major holdups is McCarthy's refusal to agree to some proposals from the Freedom Caucus. They want new procedures that would prevent massive spending bills and laws (cough cough $1.7 trillion omnibus) from getting shoved through without adequate time for review and closed-door meetings. Who knew that a group of people want transparency and proper ventilation of the stink of a massive spending bill that monumentally shifts the nature of America further down the course of destruction?

McCarthy seems to only be agreeing in order to win the Speaker position. His conduct in action is vastly different from what he suddenly is willing to agree to. And we all must question his motives. What's really strange to me, is that Trump is backing McCarthy and saying the republicans should just get it done and seal the deal. It surprises me, but his endorsement repulses me even further from McCarthy. It feels dirty. It feels slimy, like a business deal that sells out a bunch of people but benefits those clamoring for it.

I don't see principle in Trump. He's now come out against pro-lifers, saying they're a reason for mid-term losses, yet he dove over millions of dead babies to claim he was the most pro-life president. Just the fact you blamed pro-lifers for a mediocre showing proves that you're more interested in the win and the opportunity than the principle.

However, there are plenty of moments he showed his opportunist hat. So forgive me if this feels strangely similar. A “you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back,” event.

My main thrust with this article doesn't even have to do with the negatives, but with the positives starting to show. Finally, a group of people are rallying to stand against the status quo and the establishment that has repeatedly sold the American people down the river. Honestly, they have Trump to thank for that. If only he carried their sense of principle.

Give these people credit. Don't give into all of the cries that nothing can get done unless a Speaker is confirmed. It's true, but is that such a bad thing? Couldn't we do without massive spending bills and massive legislation for a little while? If only just to breathe for a moment before the boot returns to press harder on our necks?

Fox News hosts are coming out of the woodwork to support McCarthy and end the stalemate. That should tell you something right there about this sick relationship between the media and the government. Fox News doesn't shill for the Biden administration. They shill for whoever has the power in the GOP.

Dan Crenshaw has come out hot and heavy against the movement, stating that this group has no clue what they're doing and no plan. Maybe they don't. Frankly, I don't care. A finger in the eye hurts. What shakes my head is the fact that Crenshaw is so ready to blast their inability to decide on a single person to nominate, yet he stands staunchly in McCarthy's corner. He comes out guns blazing against this group of “terrorists” and argues he's standing on principle, but my question is: what have those types of “principles” gotten us? Why is it suddenly principle to pass trillions of dollars on every spending bill, when only 8-10 years ago we freaked out about 700-800 billion? Care to tell me it's inflation? Then why inflation? If you're going to take credit for the necessity of writing massive blank checks again and again, then take credit for the damage they do to the American economy.

His vitriol is speaking loudly. 

The Daily Wire reports, “Speaking to reporters, Crenshaw unloaded on the 20 Republicans, saying, 'I’m tired of your stupid platitudes that some consultant told you to say on the campaign trail, alright.'

'Behind closed doors tell us what you actually want, or shut the f**** up,' he said. 'They need to be men and adults and say what they want, instead of playing these little games, that’s what we’re asking.'

'That’s what I’ve asked them. Some of them are my friends. Stop saying platitudes like, ‘Washington is broken. We can’t do the status quo,’” he continued. “They want to pull the pins on the grenades and lock the doors.'”

My question for Crenshaw is this: if you recognize the untenable nature of modern politics, and the true destruction of liberty, then why aren't you suggesting an alternate candidate? Or, are you so adamant about your opposition to what the Freedom Caucus wants that you'll align with McCarthy just to prove a point?

It's the symbolism of the act, and more and more your constituents are eager to watch the whole thing implode with the proverbial “grenade in a closed room.” The Trump movement thrived on draining the swamp. Guess what...that means your own party as well.

But don't worry Crenshaw and Fox News. You'll get your McCarthy, you can shove through your massive spending bills and legislation. You'll pat yourselves on the back about how you slowed down the Democrat agenda for a few months, and you can get paid. Because the GOP is not about actually shaping America into an image of limited-government and true liberty. The GOP is about counteracting the Democrats just long enough to feel like you're doing something good. You've become the true conservative. Conserve what you're given until you're given something new to try to conserve for a little while. The progressives will always win at that game because the nature of a conservative is to merely conserve the status quo.

But I digress.

To me, this is an enjoyable show of solidarity. It's showing courage and honor to stand against something you know isn't right, and not just give into the deal that people fear needs to be done.

Because that's what it boils down to; Fear. People are being driven by fear. If they don't vote for him, the establishment won't support their next run. If they don't vote for him, new legislation can't pass. If they don't vote for him, they'll be shunned by their peers. If they don't vote for him, they may lose their job.

Welcome to the real world of principle. Millions of Americans go through it every day, and plenty of times the pressure comes from this government that acts as though it serves at the pleasure of the people. Not that all of these politicians don't go through stressful times where conscience and comfort come into tension, but I wonder how many of them truly choose conscience over comfort? Compromise becomes dangerously easier each time we choose it, and there is a large group of people in Washington who would step over their own mother just to get a little more of the power and influence.

To me, these people standing are remaining firm to support an idea; a principle, and defend a wall. I can't know all of their motives, but I agree with them shaking up the entire system a little bit.

They also need to know that they're doing the right thing. It can get lonely standing, especially when you're at the front lines of the battle. They deserve to hear from you. And I mean this. They deserve to know that you have their back and that you appreciate what they're doing. They need to know that even if they lose their job, they'll hold onto something vastly more important and useful: their conviction.

I urge you, with all that I am, to write to those standing, and write to those who need to gather up the guts to stand. The people are ready for a change, and they want reform. They want to see the government act the way it was originally intended to: protect my rights and get out of my business. Protect me from foreign invaders, set some trade deals, and only write laws that truly protect my liberty, not remove it under the guise of safety.

To those who are standing currently: we support you with all that we are. We're so unbelievably thankful that you're standing in the face of intense heat and adversity. The courage of a man is tested in the fire. Remember, the dross burns away when the gold is refined. I pray these moments of standing on principle, no matter the odds, are paying you massive dividends in becoming more of who God created you to be. 

People look at the founders as pinnacles of achievement, but we often do not meditate on the sacrifices and difficulties they must have faced day-to-day. They truly pledged everything they owned and found valuable and put up with an onslaught of criticism, death threats, and personal inner struggle. But they stood for what they knew to be right, and their conviction carried them into the annals of history.

I am not saying that you'll be remembered 200 years later for this. I won't even pretend that you'll be remembered a year from now, but you will hold in your hearts an assurance that you got so sick of the crap, that you stood and said, “No more.”

You may think I'm over-dramatizing this. But in the current political landscape, anybody who actually stands on some conviction outside of the general political machine needs to hear some credit. Look at the approval of Desantis. He didn't even make all the right choices in his political career, but you can tell he's trying to defend principle and not just go with the flow. The people recognize it and support it.

People understand that mistakes are made. What they tend to sniff and revolt against is the decisions made for selfish gain, for opportunity, or for downright traitorous means. We love America and don't want it to be run by the rest of the world. We don't want to sell ourselves into debt slavery. We don't want jackbooted authoritarians controlling our speech or attempting to control our minds.

We just want to live freely. And for a moment, this seems as though it is a small kick in the womb. It's a tiny rumbling of energy, that we pray is the earthquake that will shake the foundations of the nation, and turn people back to the original intent of the American experiment.

But at the end of the day, all I know is: I'd rather stand for something than sit for nothing.

We're all gearing up for the New Year and making our plans to celebrate. Every year, people gather together, pop champagne, eat snacks, go to parties, watch the ball drop on television, and finally: make New Years resolutions.

The New Years resolution is an interesting practice, and has been the fodder for a lot of jokes and criticisms over the years. I'm sure, at this point, that the resolution is now considered fat-phobic, racist, sexist, and any other -ist it needs to be in order to stop hurting people's feelings. 

For a long time, people have used the brand new year to tell themselves they're going to change something about themselves, and make the resolution to change up bad habits or a lifestyle they know is not healthy or productive for them.

And to be honest, I'm not too critical of the thought. Now, I will admit: I used to have my jokes every new year. I used to compete in powerlifting, and so therefore spent plenty of my 20's in the gym. Every year, I would groan about all the “New Year Resolutionists” that would be flooding through the door, but I knew it wouldn't last long. For 2-3 months, the gym would be packed with all those people who decided it was finally time to get into shape, and then they would thin out and things would go back to normal.

I am more than willing to say the joke these days, but I'll be honest that I would have to make it with a lot less disgruntled nature and a lot more gentle, kind-hearted ribbing. My reason? I find myself more and more eager to see people succeed in transforming their own lives. I never thought ill of an overweight person wanting to get in shape, and I regularly encouraged and praised those who took the courage to step into a place that I realize can be intimidating. However, my issue revolved around the use of a single day to be the supposed “catalyst” needed to completely transform a life. At the core of it, I knew that most those people didn't really want to change. They loved the idea of change. 

But all of that is besides the point. In my old and graying age, I've learned some wisdom and been able to put to rest some of the spunk that doesn't work for a man who devotes his life to discipling others and helping them transform their lives. 

And that's exactly why I have a more wizened view on the matter. I won't say that I don't hate how low of a success rate the New Year's resolution has, but the principle still has value to it. Taking a day, and using that as the launch point for a strong and powerful method of discipline is something plenty of people do in their lives. Everything has to start somewhere, and having a plan in place to do it is what separates the wins from the losses. 

January 1st is just a day, but it holds a lot of symbolism to all of us. It signals new birth. It's renewal. It's a fresh start. It provides hope and celebration. And before you decide I'm just waxing poetic: I want you to stop lulling yourself to sleep with the idea that any symbolism or meaning behind why we do what we do is just mumbo-jumbo. We celebrate things for a reason, and unfortunately, we've become utterly disconnected from the reasons for those celebrations. A new year is no different.

We should all take the New Years date and prepare our year accordingly. It's actually a common practice to prepare, and why shouldn't we prepare our year ahead, just as we may prepare our day, week or month? 

The most successful people are all amazing planners. I'm not talking about the ones who fall into wealth, fame or fortune. I'm talking about the men and women who take an idea and are able to grow it exponentially. Whether we know their names or not, they've produced at high levels for years, and if you ask them for one single principle that got them where they need to go, they'd all swear by one thing: planning.

These people take lists, calendars, appointments, time blocking, etc extremely seriously. And so should you. I plan my days and my weeks. And without boasting, I have earned a reputation as one of the most organized people in the office. My lists, calendars and vision plans have inspired others to step up their game. I don't say this to boast, but only to point out that fruit is contagious. They've seen what has been produced by my organization, and they know that it can help them.

A New Year's resolution must move beyond the dreaming stage and go into the planning stage. If you really want to lose weight, eat healthier, grow a business, or spend more time with the family, then the question is: how are you planning on doing that?

Your resolution is probably amazing. It's probably a little dreamy, a little high-reaching, and something that if you get yourself alone and really think about it, is actually difficult to achieve. Good. But if you fail to plan, you're planning to fail.

That resolution does nothing when you try to attack it with pure motivational intensity and enthusiasm. You can only listen to “Eye of the Tiger” so many times before you stop imagining yourself as Rocky. The motivation will end at some point, and it so often comes when it's 5:30 in the morning and you're debating hitting the snooze for the fourth time. Motivation fails when you need it most. It can't drive the car when the engine is off. Instead, discipline is what makes you look at your shoes and say, “There's no other option.”

I'm telling you: plan. Get out your pen and paper, and figure out (with a loved one if need be) what it is actually going to take to win at this resolution. And honestly, I encourage you to set a resolution. When you have it, sit down and go through what each day is going to take and how each week would look realistically. Don't tell yourself that you'll get up at 3am every morning and workout for 1 hour before running 10 miles if you have never woken up before 8am and the last time you went on a run was for beer. 

Set the final goal of the type of person you want to be, and work back from there. Give yourself more time than you need to achieve it. Maybe you want to be hard enough to do what I described above. There are people who are. But beware: there's something intrinsic in some people. So don't go measuring yourself against a David Goggins or Nims Purja.

For myself, I'm mentally preparing for a year that I've determined will be a year of discipline. We've been talking a lot about discipline lately, and I'm feeling strongly in my soul that this year needs to be a year of sacrifice to discipline.

What does that mean for me?

I sat down and wrote out the numbers of how many I wanted to do of each thing for the year. For example: I decided I want to do something physical every single day of the year, so that's 365 workouts. I wanted to go on a walk every day, plus 2 extra on the weekends. That's 469 walks. I want to fast a day every week, plus an extra fast every other week, coming in at 78 fasts in the year. I plan to write 3 new book manuscripts. Etc and so forth.

I've placed a lot on my plate. But I also know what I'm capable of. My days are already fairly organized, and these things I've selected hone in on the details of my disciplines. I already walk most days, fast a day a week, and try to get in my workouts. But sometimes, we need that extra spark and I know that taking on these tasks will help benefit me in plenty of other areas.

Some days, you have to sit down and decide if its worth it to sacrifice time in order to produce value. I feel as though this year is going to be a year for me to do that. I have other goals, including family and business goals, so don't think those got left out. And I've planned the numbers. This way, I will keep track of every single event and know how far or close I am to achieving my numbers. When I do this, I know that fruit will be produced effectively.

The planning process is so vital to the resolution, and I encourage you to make at least one resolution. You must plan on how you're going to achieve it though. If such a plan includes not eating excess sugar for a year, then you better figure out: how are you going to shop? How are you going to handle treats handed to you? What's your reasonable level of discipline and rejection of offers currently? After all, when somebody puts it in front of you and insists, the walls come down and the discipline easily switches to compromise. You need to know, what steps will you take to overcome temptation and setbacks? What weekly and daily goals, routines or plans need to be in place?

As an example: I want to do something physical every single day. Well, on Sundays, I tend to wake up, eat breakfast and go to church. Then, I often do something for lunch with the family, have a few hours and then head back into the church for the discipleship classes. So, I need to sacrifice something, and need to figure out what I can reasonably do. Is it waking up early even on a Sunday? Is it pushing myself to do something physical in that time between lunch and going back? Is it working out after I get home at say 7:30 or 9:30? You have to ask yourself these questions, and really be accurate with who you are to yourself. At that point, you can then figure out what makes the most sense for you.

If you can begin to answer some of those things for yourself, you'll find that this process is not the guaranteed failure so many people make it out to be. You'll grow into someone who is not just making a resolution, but is taking on transformation in their life. Those little steps will equal a great and magnificent change in life. Do what you need to do to make one of those changes. And become more than just a New Years Resolutionist...

Honestly, this article isn't written from the mountain top, looking down with the wise vision of 20/20.

I'm writing from within the trenches. There are times where the feelings can begin to overwhelm, pushing you to wonder why it matters, what it's worth, or why keep going. Points exist on the journey within which you sit in the mud on the side of the road, wondering whether to bother standing back up.

The emotions boil through you, the reminders come to the surface, and that voice you thought went away comes roaring back, gloating, “I told you so. You can't make it. This will never get better.”

Times exist in life which will test your perseverance and your strength, courage and faith. Those times can be major, or they can be the soft little cuts that continue to pop up from your past.

In fact, I'd argue the past is vastly more dangerous than anything else, because the past has the ability to drag us down and out without ever doing much work.

Now that I've gotten all poetic, let's go back and clear things up. Times exist when you recognize yourself in an environment or situation which reminds you of the deeper things that haunt you. Sometimes, it comes in the form of people. Other times, it's the result of events. Plenty of times, it's just the feeling of being out of control. These things act upon us, and we hit the point of wondering whether it's worth it to keep going, or to just throw in the towel.

At points in my life, my worst fears have been realized, or the things which I pray against still come to fruition. It gets to be a frustrating, difficult journey in life, when you watch things, you thought you moved past eat away at you. Those things which you thought you had conquered come back to fight your psyche, confidence and heart. 

How do we handle these events and times? If I'm going to be vulnerable, I'll admit: this is one of those moments where I have to speak some direction and encouragement to myself. I debate whether to write this article or not. I could easily slap together some surface level story covering the twitter files, or discussing the latest Biden administration event. I could do a simple teaching on the founding fathers or the Constitution, but that dang blinking bar on a blank page kept me from gathering any heart to press forward with something I had no interest in pursuing. 

Honestly, I have no interest in pursuing this either, but my utter hope is that it in some way blesses someone going through something similar. My hope and prayer is that people could read this, say, “I know exactly how that feels,” and say, “If he can do this, so can I.”

My issue stems from the depths of things I've battled for a long time. The ability of events and people to poke the vulnerable, soft spots of scar tissue in my heart can drag me pretty low, pretty quick. I can pump myself up in hopes that I'll overcome, but then the voice says, “You can't overcome this. There's that feeling again, and you know it's going to overwhelm you.”

I'm in that dangerous middle spot right now, recognizing that I have to push forward, but not quite sure I have the resolve and the motivation to do so. The small waves of depression are signaling that the tide is threatening to wash away the shore, and I've got to act fast to prevent a total wash-out. If you've ever dealt with depression, you probably understand what I'm talking about. There are the pre-bout waves that signal an issue is at hand, and the slow waves roll up, pulling you by degrees deeper.

Often times, this is a result of a trigger. Whether the trigger is something said, something you did (or failed to do) or an event that happens to you: the trigger causes a flow of thoughts that begin to eat away at whatever mood and confidence you were carrying for the time.

As things deteriorate, the voice within becomes more and more assertive, and holds more confidence in its determination that you hold no worth. The voice is relentless, vicious and downright wicked in its opinion of you. If you allow it to continue on its monologue, it will convince you of not only how worthless you are, but how utterly evil and awful you are, because you're worthless.

I don't want to give too much more description of the process, because it's easy for my own psyche to walk down the path while I'm putting my mindset there. Something similar happened to CS Lewis, when writing The Screwtape Letters. He lamented that he came out of writing those extremely depressed and struggling with the right thoughts. Putting yourself into the mind of evil can have drastic consequences. I don't wish to stroll about that evil street any more than I have to.

Instead, I'd rather explore getting out of the state of mind. For me, the voice is very dangerous, because it can come through the meaning of other people's words, or lack of words. I fight the thoughts, and battle the hardships. That battle begins with the words the voice says. 

We tell ourselves the voice must be correct, and often times, we allow the voice to speak to us constantly, becoming passive listeners that forget we are allowed to respond, tell the voice to be silent, and to speak to ourselves a more positive position of reality. After all, I've said it plenty of times: we cannot assume that negative is more real or accurate than positive. Those positions are angles on the truth, and both of them can hold an aspect of truth. However, which do we give more credence to? Plenty of us only listen to the negative, and decide any positive is just lying to ourselves with fantastical thoughts. 

It's easy for me to navigate myself into a pretty air-tight case as to why the negative voice is so accurate. But a deeper, softer voice questions that conclusion: is the negative really the truth? Is that really what God would say to you?

Our first step is to silence the voice, or at least stop it in its tracks. The more you practice, the easier it gets. Much like a habit, you can build your response and weaken the negative voice by not feeding it. So, you reject the voice's space to speak. It'll be very subversive, popping up with tiny little comments. Those comments are baits on a hook. They're fishing for you to bite. When you bite, it hooks you and pulls you deeper, not upwards. It adds on the weight, pounding you with more and more as you become passive in your response. You accept your fate, drowning in the wicked nature of the voice.

When it first speaks, and it will after a trigger, your first step is to reject the authority of that voice. You reject it forcefully. This comes with capturing the word, and responding with the voice of Christ. He wants you to be His. The Father requests you to be His adopted child. That automatically places more value within you than you can possibly imagine. So you can ask yourself, would a good Father actually say this to His child? Would it be something you would say to someone else? If not, then there is a good chance that you need to silence the voice, and begin to tell yourself truth.

Having other people speak truth to you is valuable, however doing battle with your own voice holds a lot more significance. It's your battle, but the word of the Lord is powerful enough to fight the battle for you. This doesn't mean the process is easy. It can be a fight for a while to overcome the power of that voice of condemnation.

When you've stopped the initial onslaught of the voice, it may retreat a little, but it will regroup and try to find another way to exploit your weaknesses. For me, the voice pays attention not only to things said or done, but things not said or not done. The absence of, say, a word of affirmation from someone can quickly sour into, “They don't say anything because they think you're an absolute failure.” 

This is probably more dangerous for me personally than an outright nasty word. The nasty word is at least spoken, and I can usually trace the origin of why someone would say that. So often, that origin has nothing to do with me. But when nothing is said, the imagination runs wild.

Our imaginations run wild and create whole story lines in our heads, and when somebody doesn't explicitly express how they feel, we decide we know exactly what they're thinking. We need to bring that imagination into check. We cannot assume what they're thinking, and we cannot solely rely on what we feel might be in their intentions.

A lot of people are very focused on themselves, not on what you're doing. But even if they are, we're wasting time and energy on something that hasn't come to fruition.

While it's difficult to center ourselves on something like that and pull ourselves back up into a normal state, we can at least recognize the pattern and process.

Once you've placed yourself back into command with the voice, then the next step is becoming active in how you approach your own inner voice. This means taking your inner voice, and speaking a positive truth to yourself. The journey is not complete, and you haven't made it this far without some type of getting by. You have more to yourself than the negative, and that shadowy side of yourself is interested only in slowing you down.

Take note of what you should be saying to yourself. Whether it's as simple as, “I'll make it,” or as truthful as, “The Lord has created me, will not forsake me, loves me, and He will finish what he's started;” either way, you can speak to yourself. Remember, condemnation is not the Lord. There is now no condemnation in Jesus Christ. He wouldn't go through everything He did just to let you slip back away. You're in His hands, and a stumble is not what He's concerned with. He's concerned with whether you get back up.

Our minds are extremely powerful things, and they can run away on us in a very speedy way. If we don't take time to control the thoughts and provide active measures in fighting, then we risk taking a damaging, destructive, downward spiral. The fight can be long, and it can take many times of stopping the voice in its tracks, but sooner or later, the enemy slinks away.

As someone who certainly must take his advice in the moment, I urge you: don't allow the voice space to speak. Speak a positive truth to yourself.

We pray that this Discipline Series that we're doing on the Podcast would benefit you greatly. Our goal is to help disciple you in every area of your life, be it government, social, or faith. If there is another area of discipline that you'd like us to cover, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at: selfevidentministriespodcast@gmail.com (yes. Seriously. It was the best I could do with what wasn't taken.) We hope this article blesses you!

Fasting

A deeply misunderstood discipline within Christianity has evoked countless debates across the centuries. Despite it's presence in almost every religion throughout history, modern Christians tend to place the practice of fasting on the back-burner at best, or consider it an outdated, legalistic and useless method at worst.

But if almost every religion finds value in fasting, shouldn't we at least consider the source? Shouldn't we investigate whether perhaps it has some merit, even if the practice itself has become perverted from it's original intention and value?

In order to better understand, we look to the pattern and evidence of fasting. While other areas of study may be of use to us, we're only going to discuss two: religious and biological. Further down, we'll break down the prescription and benefits (both biological and religious.)

Religions Do it, So Should You

The “everybody is doing it argument” falls flat when we think about things like drugs, or jumping off bridges. Our parents told us ad nauseam the horrors of following the crowd, and we submitted to their parental wisdom—the crowd of parents all telling us not to follow conventional wisdom. Go figure.

And while your parents were right with some things, we end up taking their advice a little too far...on occasion.

When we study ancient civilizations, cultures and religions, certain things pop up over and over again. We see practices, attitudes, and social movement happen in similar fashion, and to such a point that we get sayings like, “Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The truth still sits at the bottom of the idea—certain things become true about humans, not just society groups. History repeats itself precisely because we're human and certain truths will show up...whether we like them or not.

Looking at religion through such a lens, you pick up certain practices that just seem to happen time and time again. So much so, that archaeologists and historians will attempt to trace the origin of the practice, and claim that anybody who came after, stole it from the OG religion.

Things like animal sacrifices, astronomy and divination (discerning through omens or specially selected people) are a constant among the various religions. Fasting is certainly one of those practices. Before you shrug it off and say, “Yeah, so someone borrowed it, thought it was a good idea, so it went from there,” let's explore another theory.

Let's just say God is real. In some way, shape or form, a God exists who created everything. If you're an atheist, just hang with me. That God creates humans, and humans spread across the earth. We're shown from the biblical account that humans quickly begin changing things and creating different gods. From a christian perspective, this is the process of darkening the mind. Read Romans 1, and you'll see the process. As humans give up God, they quickly replace Him and worship created things, as opposed to the Creator Himself.

However, if your culture has warped the image of God, you would most likely still retain the very concrete, very useful practices that the collective conscience of your people know brought them closer to God at one time. Things like animal sacrifices, praying, worship, fasting and discerning. These pillar practices may get modified in some way, but the basics remain the same. We put our own twists on them, but they are still recognizable.

Suddenly, it makes sense why they sacrificed goats, bulls and sheep to Zeus. Its understandable that discerning the stars shows up across the world. Genesis 1:14 states, “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” Don't forget, Christ Himself said the sun, moon and stars would signify the times.

And most important to our discussion, many religions and faiths use fasting as a powerful tool. If we find the commonality among them, then perhaps it has a consistency among them for a reason (much like the myth of a flood shows up across most civilizations...pointing to a truth at the bottom of it.)

But It's Healthy for You
I need to put a disclaimer. I don't feel like fighting some dimwit in court because they just blindly follow every single thing they're told, yet don't have enough sense to figure out how to do it correctly. 

DISCLAIMER: You need to talk to a doctor before trying a fast. I'm not a medical professional, I don't pretend to be one, I've never played one on television, and I never stayed at a Holiday Inn Express (for you older folks.) I'm giving commentary, thoughts, opinion and personal anecdote. That's it.

So, now that you've talked to your doctor; I want to discuss the biological reasons for fasting. The discipline itself, from an evolutionary standpoint, has some strong origins in how we developed as animals. I'm not calling you an animal, but consider it a term to differentiate the religious from the biological.

Purely from the natural standpoint, humans were, for a long time, hunter-gatherers. The time frame of the great switch to an agricultural society can be argued about by people nerdier than me. I don't have time. But, nevertheless, a body accustomed to a hunter-gather lifestyle needs to run optimally on periodic fasts. Consider the lion.

A zoo found that replacing their lion's diets with a fasting/gorge process as opposed to daily feedings produced amazing results. The lions became more energetic, stalked more, paced less, and seemed happier. And the reasoning makes sense.

Out in nature, a lion is not guaranteed a meal every couple of hours. They may go several days before they eat again. So when the lion catches a kill, they gorge and eat as much as they can, rest to let it all digest, and then when they're ready, they'll go out again. During that fasted period, their body rests, repairs and prepares.

Some predators may go weeks between kills, meaning their body must be able to operate efficiently even without constant nourishment.

Looking at our bodies tells us that we seem to be set up for the same process. When a person has good metabolic flexibility, they can switch easily between burning carbs and fats for energy. Fat is a pure energy source, and we carry fat on our body (some of us more than others) to ensure a supply of energy for those lean times. When we gorge on food, we use carbs for energy and store the excess. This ensures that if we go through a lean period again, we've got energy stores.

But what's even more interesting is that our body seems to improve functions during a fast. A lot of scientific evidence points to the connection between ghrelin, a hormone that tells us to eat, and brain activity. A study with mice found that those mice who fasted had raised ghrelin, which correlated with new brain cells being created at a faster rate within the hippocampus. Mice who didn't fast saw no uptick, and mice who had no ghrelin in a fasted state also didn't see any brain cell creation in the hippocampus.

What's more, that section of the brain is devoted to things like emotions, learning and memory. 

Couple this with exercise, which is connected to increasing the production of neurons, and you find that exercise and periodic fasting can be beneficial for the brain.

The jury is still out, but the evidence from periodic fasts seems to point to increases in memory, cognition/thinking skills, brain cell production, cell renewal, lower risk factors for things cancer and heart disease, and energy utilization.

Some studies are even showing that mice with Alzheimer's disease tend to live 2 ½ years longer when fasting regularly.

The Truth About the Biological

We are far away from a natural environment, and this allows us to run amok with how we treat our bodies. For most of us, the thought of missing a day of eating, let alone a meal sends shivers down our spines. I want you to truthfully ask yourself: when was the last time you went a day without eating? The average american would probably answer “Years,” if not “Never.”

Never allowing our body to settle from all the nutrients is running our bodies ragged. Plenty of evidence exists that people who fast periodically lead happier, healthier, longer livers. Imagine what your body could do if it was free from the onslaught of acidic sugars, massive carbohydrates, thick goopy fats and poisons galore for a few days? Taking a day or two off once in a while gives the body a chance to cleanse, repair and rebuild. It offers the body a chance of complete rest.

Unfortunately, our bodies scream and cry bloody murder if we go a few hours without something sitting in our stomach. But as for that...we'll get to that later.

The Spiritual

It's time to put on my pastor hat and begin teaching the spiritual benefits of fasting. Not many in today's western Christianity give heed to fasting, and unfortunately we've missed out on a very useful practice because of our shortsightedness. Whether it comes from ignorance, misunderstanding or down right heresy; the truth is that we don't discuss it enough.

Perhaps such an attitude results from our view of the body. We consider the body/flesh to be sinful and wicked, destined for destruction, and therefore we pay it no mind. We shove it aside and focus more on the soul and spirit, because after all, those are useful. And it means we can eat our ice cream and feel like, “Well, body, you deserve to be destroyed by sugar. You're wicked.”

Okay, maybe spite doesn't run that deeply through us, but sometimes one wonders. Either way, our spiritual conversations tend to leave out physical disciplines. The problem is, so much of the flesh wrapped up in the body/soul controls our spiritual health.

When we become distracted or desire something, we have a choice: follow what the flesh says and compromise on the spiritual, or follow the spiritual and ignore the flesh. If we follow the spiritual, then we must learn how to make the flesh submit to the will, which is then inline with the spiritual.

And frankly, when was the last time you TRULY did battle with your flesh? Or did you kinda hem and haw, and then tell yourself, “Well, God gives grace. And this temptation is just so tough, so He understands?”

Our flesh is a spoiled, greedy, five year-old brat. 

The flesh says, “Feed me,” so you jump right up and grab a snack.

The flesh says, “I'm bored,” so you immediately grab your phone, a screen or a book.

The flesh says, “I'm lusting,” and so you seek out sexual “satisfaction” through your wife or some less honorable means.

Our flesh consumes at an unbelievable rate, and we sit with the massive spoon, dishing it down the throat of little, lovely baby wants-everything, because we're too afraid to say, “No.” We're afraid of the discomfort of hunger. We attempt to avoid boredom at all costs. We cannot possibly fathom staying awake an extra couple hours to pray.

Our flesh cries bloody murder, and we believe it. Yet, the human body can do some absolutely amazing feats of pushing itself. People survive going 40 days without food, yet our body cries “foul” when we skip three meals.

At some point, we associated discomfort with wickedness. It's a compromise of the biggest form. We compromise our spiritual position because when the flesh kicks up a little, we submit and coax it right away. Your stomach yells a little because you didn't eat for half the day? You give in. Because it owns you. And then your soul gets in on the 2-on-1, because it also doesn't want to hear the body give a little hissy-fit. Imagine your five year-old on the ground in the store, screaming because you're evil and won't let them have a candy bar. It's the same dang thing, but you just won't admit it to yourself.

Christ chastised His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, for falling asleep while He prayed about His crucifixion happening the next day. He says, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Your flesh is weak, and fasting is a discipline to force it to submit. The more regularly you fast, the more the biological will benefit you, and the more the spiritual benefits will show themselves.

The Benefits

Imagine trying to hear someone talk to you softly while your child screamed bloody-murder for some pancakes. Imagine they're screaming so loud that it's reverberating inside your head. Would you focus on what the person whipsers to you, or would you ignore them, feed the kid, then try to come back and talk to the person?

Now, imagine turning to the child, and in your most parental, wise, kind, and understanding way, you tell them, “Shut up or I will put you in the microwave!” Their eyes go wide, their jaw drops a little, and for at least a short amount of time, they're quiet.

Then you'd turn to the person, and ask, “Now, what were you saying?”

We need to do this with our bodies. Your flesh WILL fall into subjection. It just doesn't want to, and it knows that you're weak enough to give up if it fights a little. But if you can get past that initial argument, the body will subject, and suddenly, your eyes and ears will be open to hearing the Holy Spirit.

When the body comes under subjection, and you focus on the Lord, a whole new spiritual world opens up to you. You begin to hear the Holy Spirit clearer, things start happening at faster rates, and you understand the proper position of the body in this whole mess. The flesh should be subject to the will of the Lord, not the other way around.

So How Do You Do It?

From Isaiah 58:3-7: ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Isaiah gives us a pretty good prescription that has the stamp of God on it. Fasting is about your relationship with the Lord and with your neighbor. While the people during Isaiah's time were fasting and going about their normal selfish, sinful business, God points out to them the proper heart position of the fast. Praying and fasting about things like, “Loosing the chains of injustice” and “sharing your food with the hungry” are others-centered.

This heart position sounds strangely familiar. God's conditions in Isaiah seem to fall under the category of the two greatest commandments (as defined by Christ), “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and body, and love your neighbor as yourself. In these things, the law and the prophets are fulfilled.”

Fasting with a heart and mission for others, in a selfless state, produces more spiritual worth than continuing in sinful, selfish practices and hoping the fast will get you what you think you need. The Israelites weren't fasting with humility, but with pride fully intact.

The prophet Joel prescribes that when you need to return to the Lord, fast, pray and weep, which shows the heart position of humility and repentance.

Christ, who most likely is top candidate for knowing how to do it properly, tells us not to fast and show off. The last thing a believer should do is wear a fast as a spiritual medal pinned to the chest. Groaning and crawling like you're going to die from your oh-so-spiritual-and-long fast does not bend the heart of the Lord towards you. The fast is for the soul/heart/flesh, not for others to see.

So Christ basically says, “Clean yourself up, walk normally, and focus on the inner value.” When someone asks you out to lunch, don't swoon and crumple, crying out, “But I'm fasting for the Lord. My God, My Savior has thus commanded me, no unclean thing shall touch my lips!” Instead, maybe just say, “I'd love to, but I can't today. Tomorrow?”

Allow your fast to be between you and the Lord. Spend your time focusing on the internal, not the external show.

If you can approach the fast with the proper heart position, then you'll discover a true, intimate, deep relationship with the Lord. Combining fasting with prayer and worship develops the communion state with the Lord, and brings you into deep relation with our Creator.

But Which One

The time frame is truly up to you and the Lord. He may put it on your heart to fast for a meal, or a day, or perhaps a week or more. A humble heart, growing in how to hear from the Lord, recognizes the time to begin and the time to end.

However, do not approach the fast in pride and competition. Deciding you're going to be the most holy on earth and fast for 40 days nets you very little, whereas a fast for a couple of days with a completely humble and submitted heart is more likely to build the connection you need with the Lord.

Fasting is extremely valuable, and while fasts from other things are good, food is the most important item to cancel off your list. Some people decide to fast from social media, and while this is helpful to clear the mind, it's merely peanuts compared to a fast from all food. Our “fasts” from television or social media are more akin to denying ourselves a pleasure for a time period, than providing us time away from something we actually truly need. 

Other times, people will decide to fast from something like ice cream, or decide to go on the Daniel fast. I may irritate some faithful believers, but here me out: I don't believe the Daniel fast is in fact a fast.

Daniel determined to not eat the rich food of the king, which was actually a spiritual declaration. That action showed that Daniel would not consume his nourishment from the world, and could not be placated and brought into a lazy comfort by the riches the world had to offer. God blessed Daniel eating vegetables to prove that we're sustained by God, not by the nourishment and “bread” of the world.

But what people don't realize, is that the Daniel fast is just an adjustment of what you're eating. It's a denial of pleasure, more so than denial of complete nourishment. The body still works to break the items down, and those items then nourish the body.

While it can be useful, I want to ask this: do you find yourself just adjusting what you're eating when you're on the Daniel fast? Do you still attempt to quiet the hunger pains in your stomach by eating something?

The “Daniel fast” is more akin to a restricted diet than a fast, and I believe we as Christians would be better served to approach fasting in the most real sense possible: no food. Others go farther and go without food or water. That's a conversation topic between you and the Lord.

Learn to have the hunger pains, and grow in forcing the body to submit. After some complaining, it will quiet down, and you'll find yourself feeling energetic, uplifted, focused and spiritually aware.

It's not just faith...it's science.

People consider the fast a dead spiritual practice, but when we look into the specifics of the discipline, we find extreme value. Countless practitioners of different religions seek God, whether accurately or inaccurately, and so many have used the fast to heighten spiritual awareness, quiet of the flesh, and a humble heart. Fast for the needy and the oppressed, and the Lord will raise you up. He said it. Not me.

That word, “consecration” tends to get a bad wrap. Images of monks tearing their backs apart with flogs, and people fasting for 40 days and nights bounce around our heads at the mere mention of the word. Our hearts recoil at the thought. We tell ourselves, “Well now, I don't want to be that dramatic...”

What if that word didn't mean what you thought it meant? I'm disgruntled in having to give you the definition (because I find such a writing technique boring and trite,) but it's in the definition and application of the word that this whole essay hinges.

We usually infer from the word “consecrate”, that we're talking about something being declared sacred, or being set apart. When we consecrate ourselves, we're attempting to set ourselves apart for the Lord.

This reason alone pulls up images of devout monks from deep in our imagination, because it's the most common idea connected to consecrated. We picture ourselves having to give up all of life's comforts, dedicate every piece of everything to the Lord, and becoming an unhappy, unsatisfied, grumpy person. But we'd be holy though!

I come bearing gifts for you, the reader.

Becoming consecrated is painful, difficult and a long process. It also results in amazing beauty, deep satisfaction, and a peace and contentment that outlasts a lifetime. The process puts the full, natural self to death, but in its stead raises an image of Christ, designed with the most unique personality to carry out that person's most unique calling and purpose.

We fear the scraping away of the old self, because we bought the lie that nothing better could possibly take its place. Plenty of people fear becoming a Christ-drone.

“But I like my entertainment. I like being who I am. Why would I upset that apple cart?”

I find myself eager to get to the crux of my argument, but I hold myself back, because with patience comes reward.

That apple cart you hold onto so tightly is actually infested with pounds of rotten fruit. Your nose has become “nose deaf” to the stench, and you believe that no one else can smell it. The problem is, they walk past and will mention or mock your rotten apples to each other, but so few actually stop to point out that you have something in your cart nobody wants.

You convince yourself that every apple is needed, and the exercise is good for you. In all actuality, you're exhausted. It takes such unbelievable effort to continue to slog and push that cart full of rotten apples through knee-high mud. While you do, Satan walks along side you, on top of the grass hill next to the mud-swamped road, and reminds you that you deserve every inch of your torture.

You nod in agreement, and repeat to yourself, “I just have to keep going. If I can just accept my rotten apples, I'll be happy!”

Christ is the one who steps into the mud, taps you on the shoulder and asks gently, “Can I take this for you?”

You may argue, and put up a fight. “Yeah, you can take those really nasty ones, but I think there are a few that are just mildly bruised underneath. Let me keep those. They're still good to eat.”

Christ looks at you with sadness, yet determination. He places His hand on your shoulder, and says, “No. It's all or nothing. I either take your whole cart for you, or you keep it.”

You think, and you hem and haw, but finally you say, “Okay, I guess you can push my cart.”

As he takes the cart from you, you walk beside him, and sooner or later, some of those “less rotten” apples start appealing to you. After all, the walk takes a long time, and you're hungry. You reach in, and grab one, brushing it off.

“Don't take it,” Christ says. “It has nothing for you. I have fruit for you, if only you'll let me have your cart and all that's in it.”

You debate. After all, the fruit looks good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes. However, as you've walked next to Christ, who seems to have a destination in mind as he slogs along, you've learned and grown with him. More and more, you trust what He says. Less and less you trust what the temptation says about the apple, so you set it back and trust His words.

Eventually, you both arrive. You look at Him, feeling as though you've known Him forever. He looks back into your eyes, and His face seems to say, “I know you better than you know yourself.”

He motions to you, and your eyes follow where He points. “I believe this is yours.” As you look, you realize he's pointing to the cart. But inside, the rotten fruit has disappeared. In its place sits pounds upon pounds of the most fresh, ripe, delicious fruit you've ever experienced. The fruit sits in mounds, spilling out of your cart.

Without your knowledge and as He pushed, He took each apple and threw it to the ground, placing brand new fruit in the wagon.

You look at Him and exclaim, “This is mine?”

He nods with a smile, and says softly, “It's always been yours. You gave it up to me, and I made it for you.”

This is the true heart of consecration. This is what I mean when I say that I feel as though a large group of us are going through consecration.

Our job is to let go of the rotten fruit. Not to pick it up. Our task is to set the apple back in the cart for Him to get rid of.

How does a person go about consecrating themselves? Doesn't this just hearken back to sheer force and absolute abstinence from everything?

No.

It rests in the idea of compromise. We live lives of constant compromise. After all, compromise is bred out of choice. Follow me for a moment. A choice made is to the exclusion of all other options. When you make a choice, it automatically excludes some other things that were also choices.

We compromise in not making the choice we knew we should have, because the other options satisfy a desire of ours. Our desires drive our compromises, and often times, those desires are a result of us knowing that the better choice is the harder choice.

A friend recently was on a fast. While a guest in someone's home, the person offered my friend food. “Take it! Eat!”

My friend declined, saying they were on a fast. The person, with good intentions, but not thinking spiritually, responded, “It's okay! God will forgive you!”

Thankfully, my friend continued to decline, and the person did not press it.

The heart of the offer seemed pure. It looked pleasing to the eyes, but within it festered the rottenness of compromise. 

Most people do not understand consecration. We're raised to value compromise, and to give in to those little temptations, that seem “Oh so tiny.” Our relationship with consecration has become extremely unreliable because we've listened to the voice of compromise for so long.

Please understand, this is not an essay that is telling you to go full-on monk mode. Instead, I'm raising a very important point: how conscious are you of your compromises in life?

When that last piece of pie calls to you, and part of you says, “You really shouldn't. You don't need it.” Do you consecrate yourself and rise above the compromise, or do you give into the choice and tell yourself, “It's okay.”

As we listen to the voice of compromise, the soft, subtle voice of wisdom becomes more and more drowned out by our desires and the temptation of those desires. We listen to the voice that calls for instant satisfaction and wonder then why we feel so utterly rotten at the end of the day. It couldn't have been all those rotten apples we ate on the journey, could it?

As you walk with Christ and obey when He tells you not to stick your hand in the cart, His voice becomes more prominent and trustworthy. The apples begin to look more and more disgusting to you, and eventually, you look on them with disdain. Your appetite craves the fresh fruit of the Lord, and He's more than willing to give it in abundance. As you snack on the fruit of the Lord, you become more and more satisfied, more content, and more radiant. The fruit gives you energy to move further, and it exponentially changes your condition.

The compromises are ferreted out in listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and what He's asking you to give up or to focus on next. As you set aside the idea of, “Meh, good enough,” you can pick up wanting to be more and more the Lord's. You see, you don't just find reward in becoming a better person. You discover the relationship, and the fruit gets thrown in with it. You find yourself being absolutely enamored with that walk with the Lord, and suddenly the mud doesn't seem knee-deep. It seems to be hardening and leveling, creating a joyful, pleasant walk through the country side.

Even when Satan comes around and throws all kinds of downed trees and dead animals in your wake, you just lean in closer to Christ and listen closer to what He's saying. When suffering and tragedy strike, you no longer desire another rotten apple to soften the pain. You hug into Christ, trust Him through it, and at the end of it all, He hands you the most delicious apple you've ever seen or tasted.

Our compromises sit in our way. The nefarious nature of compromise is the temptation of good feelings and enjoyment in the immediate. The pay-off of declining the compromise seems way off in the distance, or appears as a mirage to us. We wonder whether we'd ever actually gain pay-off from not compromising.

The reward for consecrating is a compounding interest paid out over time. As our hearts move closer and closer to Christ, the more we can look back in our wake and recognize the reward. We become the peaceful, contented, passionate, deeply satisfied individuals we always wanted to be.

Those compromises are best solved by recognizing that they feed off each other. An attitude of compromise in one area will produce compromise in another area. Lie on a tax form, and you'll probably find it a tiny bit easier to lie on a medical form. Lie on the medical form, and you may find yourself covering for a small mistake with your boss or wife. 

The way to kill listening to the voice of compromise is through consecrating those areas that seem unimportant. Hold yourself to a higher standard with each choice, and determine what you actually value in life. Put in the extra effort when no one is looking. Be a little more thorough. Give a little extra focus. Tell the truth even when it might cost a couple bucks. 

Most of all, be honest with the Lord and yourself, and let Him guide you to become exactly what you thought you could never be: consecrated.

This is his story, and his own teaching on the topic. 

At World's End?

In the early months of 2021 I was looking on in fear of what I perceived as an ever darkening Geo-political landscape worldwide. I feared war with China and/or Russia, the threat of nuclear war, and the loss of our rights and freedoms in the face of advancing Socialism and medical tyranny. 

In February or March of 2021 I became aware of a bunker community in South Dakota. 575 2,000 square foot retired army bunkers from WWII. It is a growing community of freedom and constitution-minded people in a defensible position in the middle of nowhere and far from any strategic route that any army would ever take.

For just $30k I could own a bunker and secure a place of safety and security for my family. I convinced my wife to also be afraid of what was going on and so we agreed quickly to buy a bunker. I pulled as much as I could from my retirement and financed the rest in house. 

We were in! 

Well... four months go by and God is not providing for it. We never missed any bill or monthly installment on any of our loans and we never wanted for daily provisions, but there was nothing left over. We would routinely chew through our tithe just to make it all work. Around that time, God led me in my Bible reading to Luke 12:16-21. Jesus is telling the parable of the rich fool whose land produces bountifully and he stores his grain houses up, then thinks to himself that he will rest securely and drink and be merry. The Lord then says to him "Fool! This very night you're soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?"

After reading that and perceiving that God was showing me that I was doing the same thing as the rich man, we ran into our first budget shortfall since signing on to the bunker community. My wife at first suggested we drop our support for Compassion international; to which I responded, “No, if we're dropping anything, it's the bunker.”

She then revealed that the spirit of fear was no longer on her and she had wanted to be free of the bunker for some time. I called the guy who runs the community. I was prepared to walk away from it and count my losses; however he wouldn't let me do that. He made an offer to buy it back from me fifty cents on the dollar of what I had already invested in it. This was an offer I quickly accepted. Right away, we could see God rewarding our obedience. We gladly took a half bath instead of a full bath on our fear based decision. 

For over a year, God has revealed depths of His Grace I never knew! He is replacing our fear with trust in Him. I used to read Psalm 11 and focus entirely on verse 3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" now I read that Psalm and my focus is verse 1 "In the Lord I put my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?" 

God has shown us in His Word, and all throughout history, that in every case where His judgment comes on a people, nation or even the entire world, He always saves and sustains a remnant of His people through the judgment.

He does this for His Namesake. He does it to show the world that their gods do not have the power to save and sustain. Only He can save and sustain; and He will! The Lord's people are allowed to endure the pleadings of God and the judgments of God on a people, nation, or the earth.

Hear me: the Lord's people are not appointed to His wrath. His wrath is appointed against the wicked who, having every opportunity to repent and turn to Him, have instead lifted their fist in defiance to Him and sought to work their salvation out by their own means. 

Consider Luke 21:25-28. 25, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Jesus will not present to Himself a bride who is unrepentant, unfaithful, distracted, idolatrous, disobedient, and weak. He is going to present His Church to Himself awake, glorious, and proclaiming His Name; and His Church will meet Him with well trimmed lamps burning; awaiting His return.

I believe that is our call at present. To prepare the Church for the wedding feast. That means bringing more souls into the body AND sanctifying those already in the fold. We truly do not know the day or hour that the Lord will roll up this current creation like a scroll and destroy it and build the new earth and Jerusalem. However, we must advance His kingdom now. We must be wholly His, awaiting His return. We must proclaim the Gospel all the louder as the hour draws nigh; for Jesus is worthy of the reward of His suffering that all should be saved.

You can take a deep breath, and now you can relax. Or, if weeping and gnashing your teeth is more your thing, then go for it. But, for the next year and a half or so, you can rest and keep your mind on other things than a mid-term election.

I'm glad it's over. I've been waiting for this moment. I understand the importance of an election, and the absolute necessity of getting involved in the whole process, but it brings out the worst in all of us.

The power and influence that flows underneath elections represents a rather wicked sense of control over other people's lives. It entices and draws the worst of our populace into the limelight. The slick smiles (and slicked back hair), the promises to people's most base desires, and the arrogance all culminates on stages, screens and newspapers all over the nation.

These positions are supposed to be held by servants. A man of unique nature is the ultimate statesman. A man who is humble, wise in decision making, who hates ill-gotten gain, who defends against tyranny, limits himself, and defends the defenseless against the powers of corruption. This man brings to the position of representative the necessary qualities. How many people can we honestly say represent such qualities?

Unfortunately, we as humans buy into the King Saul dilemma. Saul was the tallest man, good-looking, and charismatic. But he lacked character. People looked at the physical representation, and wanted a ruler who would look the part, and despite God's warnings that he would become an uncontrolled tyrant and coward, they wanted to go forward.

In America, these positions of “power” are in-fact managerial positions. Each “seat” is one that is there merely to ensure the government runs the way it is supposed to. The tech manual, the rule-book, or the procedure lay-out of the government is written down in the constitutions of our states and nation. Just as the first five books of the Bible lay out the law and how the people should be governed, our constitutions and law structure are there to determine the responsibility of our governments. 

If our elected representatives do not manage our governmental affairs in line with the constitution, they need to be removed. This means we have to actually understand the spirit of our constitution.

Just as the Jewish people got themselves into trouble, we are doing the same thing. They stuck their noses so deep into the law, that they missed the forest for the trees. Christ came and told them repeatedly that they were missing the bigger picture. His sermon on the mount amounted to, “You think you're following the law, but you're missing the more important piece: the spirit of it!” When we say, “I didn't murder someone today!” we think we're being lawful citizens. But our heart murders constantly with hatred.

It's the same way today with our government structure. We say, “We stopped the deficit from rising even more!” When the spirit of the constitution was, “Government should balance costs at all times, because people should only pay taxes for the government to keep the lights on.” We look at our representatives, and we want them to tell us what they can do for us, and how they're going to solve a problem.

In all actuality, their job is to tell us, “I can't do that. That's not how government works.”

Government is a tool. It manages the fabric of society, and that's why it's such a contentious issue. We all view society and how it should run in varying ways. But our laws and constitutions determine how we all interact in our society, and what the society will tolerate, how it functions, and what will not be tolerated.

Our officials unfortunately must be otherwordly men. They must recognize the power that is available in such a position, shirk that power, and yet uphold justice and the laws in order to keep society functioning. 

This is a pipe dream. A true utopia (which means in the Greek, “No place.”)

But, a standard remains vital. Having a perfect standard helps us aim our sights on something, and gives us feedback on where we need to correct. When we hold that standard, such as the concept of liberty in America, our decisions become easier.

A similar idea is found in the mission statement of a business. A great mission statement becomes easily accessible at all times to all employees. A great mission statement gives the employee a clear answer in the times of a difficult decision. 

For instance: Let's say our mission statement is, “Customer experience, at all costs.” A customer comes in, and they truly need something, but it's going to cost the company to the point of a loss on the sale or service. Immediately, your employee knows the answer, “If a customer's experience conflicts with costs, and I have to choose to prioritize one or the other, I'll always prioritize the customer's experience.”

It's the same with the standard of liberty. If the question becomes, “Does this improve safety at the risk of liberty?” Then it's much easier to say, “I must defer to liberty.”

Today, we chafe at believing such a difficult conflict of convictions could show up in our lives. These dangerous conflicts show up because deep down we believe we can have it all. We tell ourselves we can enjoy freedom and liberty, WHILE being safe and protected. Rarely do we truly give ourselves an accurate accounting, and determine how much liberty and freedom that safety will really cost. If America were to truly believe in liberty (at all costs?), probably 75% of the laws, ordinances and regulations would be toast in a matter of hours.

This is why, when Christ is asked what the greatest commandment is in the law, He responds, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Why are those the greatest? Why do the law and the prophets hang on those two? Because they answer all of the conflicts that could arise from the law. Whenever a conflict happens, we look to love. Love of God first, and then love for our neighbor. And guess what, our neighbor includes our enemy, considering we're called to love our enemies.

The mission statement of Judaism and Christianity is such, “Love God with everything you are, and love your neighbor as yourself.” And you want to know how to love God with everything you are? Accept Christ. (There, now no one can say I'm not putting the gospel as vital.)

The mission statement of America is liberty. And while it's never upheld the ideal, we must present to ourselves the measurement stick in each and every scenario. Does this improve or hinder liberty? Will allowing this infringe on another's rights, therefore infringing on their liberty?

If America can use this scale in our voting, our legislation, our ethics and our social interactions, we will instantly create a more cohesive society. Our valuing of liberty creates more love for our neighbor, not less.

As I stood in the line waiting to vote, I played a game of wondering how people were going to vote. I recognized a couple of women who seemed to be a lesbian couple, and of course the assumption was that they would vote straight democrat. Intriguingly, I was not offended by the thought of their vote. I honored their difference in point of view, and celebrated that they were acting out the responsibility of choosing our leaders.

I vehemently disagree with the democrat position to infringe on liberties, and disagree with the democrat view of the role of government, but I never wish to restrict the participation of those who vote differently from me.

Sadly, I hold the hardest position to hold. I honor the right of others to hold views that would oppress and crush my own. I play by my rules that hold me to a high standard, while others won't agree to those rules, and therefore could crush me.

At the end of the day, however, my conscience is clean. I have faith in the Lord, in the truth, and the final truth that all of this will end someday anyways. So my participation is my stewardship and my responsibility, but the outcome is not my responsibility. I steward what I'm given, and will fight back those who infringe on my rights and liberties, but I will do it with a clean conscience and conviction.

I refuse to break the greater law, my morals and my convictions, in order to uphold such things that I hold dear. For if I attempt such a feat, I have defeated them myself. I have laid waste to their validity in my desperate act of protecting them. I've proven they hold no value while professing their immense values at all costs. The man who has no morals and convictions, holds his power and tyranny as the ultimate reward. He will crush all who stand in his path and will decimate the entire world to achieve his desire. What that man doesn't realize is he will ultimately destroy that which he prizes. When he finally achieves ultimate control, he will find his hands are full of ashes, as he cannot but burn it all in order to win it.

The desire of the tyrant is power. He can achieve it, but the more he achieves, the more ultimate control eludes him. In essence, he is cutting the branch that he sits on. As the nation he rules over compresses under the weight of his tyranny, the people lose spirit, and some revolt. He must then press harder with his thumb, attempting to stamp out the reaction to his tyranny. At some moment, his strength, resolve and abilities will waver against the onslaught of attack from the opposing reaction. Remember, every action has an opposing reaction.

Eventually, the tyrant can't help but crumble (or straight up die). His life is fleeting, and even if he reaches old age, he will clutch the sheets of his deathbed, and raise a fist at the sky, cursing God. The tyrant can never conquer God, and can never conquer himself. The destruction of truth within him leaves him decimated, and there is no peace to be had. Untold amounts of pleasure can be consumed, but never true peace.

And that is why the nun can sit in the gulag with utter peace and contentment on her face as she starves to death, while Stalin shakes his fist at the sky as he dies and curses God. The nun held her conviction to the death, and her conscience remained fast in God. She wasn't running from God, she was embracing Him.

The tyrant runs from God, and never escapes. Truth compounds within his breast, until he bursts...whether in this world or the next.

The point of it all? Your convictions are tantamount, and reject any man who will compromise his convictions for the sake of a temporal win. The men of highest conviction cannot be bought, and when liberty is their conviction, they will never attempt to buy your conviction from you.

Uphold the mission statement, and never compromise.

“You gave me life and showed me kindness,

    and in your providence watched over my spirit.” (Job 10:12)

1. Introduced the highest value of sanctity of life, true equality among people regardless of their birth or social status, and transformed countless people across millennia spiritually, physically, and mentally through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Roman Empire Transformation

2. Established the first experiment in complete religious freedom through Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313 A.D, also known as the Edict of Tolerance.

3. Brought true equality of dignity, compassion, and responsibility to men and women in marriage.

4. Increased the average age of marriage for women from about 14 to age 19 in the Roman Empire.

5. Opposed and largely eliminated infanticide, forced abortions, child abandonment, and pederasty in the Roman Empire.

6. Opposed and eliminated the Roman gladiator games, in which men, women, slaves, and animals were slaughtered for entertainment.

7. Outlawed the branding of slaves, ordered speedy trials, and outlawed crucifixion during Constantine’s rule after his conversion to Christianity.

8. Saved abandoned children left to die in the Roman Empire through Callistus of Rome whom gave children to christian homes, Benignus of Dijon who nourished deformed abandoned children, and Afra of Augsburg (formerly a pagan) who developed a ministry for abandoned children. Church fathers Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Lactantius, all aggressively opposed child abandonment. 

Hospitals and Healthcare

9. Ordered the construction of a hospital for every cathedral town in the Roman Empire at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D to care for the poor, sick, widows, and strangers.

10. Created the first distinct hospital in history in 369 A.D. through St. Basil of Caesarea.

11. Established the first medical schools through the Nestorian Christians in the Levant.

12. Provided medical care for lepers through the Hospitallers of Saint Lazarus during the 12th century.

13. Created 37,000 Benedictine monasteries alone that cared for the sick by 1500 A.D. 

14. Established about 800 hospitals in Europe through the Hospitaller Order of Saint Anthony, taking long term care of cripples and lepers. The “Rule of the Holy Spirit” directed them to focus their care on newborns, orphans, children, elderly, abandoned, and pregnant girls. 

15. Established modern nursing in the 1900s due to the work of Elizabeth Fry and Florence Nightingale.

16. Established the first hospital in the United States in 1751, the Pennsylvania Hospital, through the Christian Quaker Dr. Thomas Bond. 

The Abolition of Slavery

17. Established that slavery is against natural law, immoral, and sinful through the works of theologian Thomas Auquinas (1225-74 A.D.) St. Augustine saw slavery as sin and as contrary to Gods divine plan. St. Chrysostom in the 4th century stated that Christs arrival has done away with slavery, saying “in Christ Jesus there is no slave…therefore it is not necessary to have a slave….buy them, and after you have taught them some skill by which they can maintain themselves, set them free”. The church opposed slavery beginning in the 7th century and largely eliminated it by the 10th century due to extending church sacraments to slaves, initiating a ban on the enslavement of Christians and Jews, and often purchasing their freedom. Pope Callistus himself was a former slave. Slavery emerged again centuries later due to New World Colonization in which it would be eliminated again.

18. Denounced slavery in 1462, 1537, 1639, 1741, 1815, and 1839 through the Catholic Papacy.

19. Opposed slavery during Spanish colonization through papal bulls from Pope Eugen IV, Pius II, Sixtus  IV, and Paul III.

20. Advocated against and publicly opposed slavery through the christian William Wilberforce (1759-1833). As a member of parliament, he gave anti-slavery speeches for twenty years. In 1823 he presented a petition through his associate Thomas Buxton “as a resolution declaring slavery repugnant to Christianity and the Constitution.” This eventually led to the Abolition Act passed in 1833, that resulted in the freedom of 700,000 slaves in the West Indies Colonies.

Modern Science and Technology

21. Established the first modern empirical scientists such as Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253), Albertus Magnus (1200-1280), and Roger Bacon (1214-1294), whom is credited as pioneering the modern scientific method.

22. Prominent Christian and Catholic scientists include Andreas Vesalius, Gregor Johan Mendel, Nicolaus Copernicus, Father Roger Boscovich, Johannes Kepler, Issac Newton, Blaise Pascal, Alessandro Volta, Georg Simon Ohm, Andre Ampere, William Thompson Kelvin, Robert Boyle, and numerous Jesuit scientists.

23. Developed and shared technological advances in mechanization for industrial use throughout Europe and agricultural technology through the workshops of Cistercian monasteries. Monks are credited with numerous inventions such as eyeglasses, clocks, modern accounting, and distillation methods.

24. Described the geometry and physics of a flying vessel for the first time through Father Francesco Lana-Terzi.

Defense of Civilization

25. Preserved civilization in Europe through the Crusades in response to over 400 years of Islamic aggression. The Crusades did not begin until 1095 A.D. after which the Byzantine emperor Alexius implored the Pope for help defending his borders from the Muslim Seljuk Turks. At that point Islam had conquered 2/3 of Christian lands in the Middle East and Africa from 600-1000 A.D., including the city of Jerusalem. 

26. Turned back Islamic invasions in southern Europe at critical moments such as the Battle of Tours in 732 A.D. and the Battle of Vienna in 1683 A.D. in which the Islamic Ottomen Empire had invaded Southern Europe. 

27. Preserved civilization through the Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries in the midst of the chaos of Viking and Islamic invasions. 

Modern Education

28. Established the first academic universities in the 11th century which include Oxford University, Cambridge, Bologna, Paris, and Toulouse.

29. Provided education for common people concerning crops, industry, irrigation, and farming production methods through the Benedictine monasteries.

30. Preserved literacy, ancient Latin literature, and libraries of knowledge by monks copying manuscripts in the midst of entire libraries being burned by Viking and Germanic invasions.

31. Established the first monastic schools and education for common people through Emperor Charlemagne. 

32. Birthed the modern economic theory of money through early economists Jean Buridan (1300-1358), Nicolas Oresme (1325-1382), and Saint Bernardino of Siena (1380-1444).

33. Developed the fundamentals of modern musical notation and polyphony through the monasteries and the Benedictine monk Ubaldus Hucbald (840-930 A.D.)

34. Originated the term “scholasticism” which refers to Christian monks whom were the first scholastics.

Charity and Humanitarianism

35. Created The Salvation Army, founded in 1865 by William Booth, providing medical care in impoverished inner city areas and homes for women who had been induced into prostitution.

36. Created the store chain Goodwill through Christian minister Edgar J. Helms of the Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston in 1902.

37. Created the International Red Cross, through Henry Dunant, which provides humanitarian relief effort to wounded and sick civilians world-wide.

38. Founded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1824 through the efforts of William Wilberforce and several other reformers such as christian abolitionist Fowell Buxton, Rev. George Bonner, and Rev. George Avery Hatch. This was the first animal welfare charity in history and remains the largest to this day.

39. Pioneered world-wide medical missions through David Livingstone, Albert Schweitzer, Albert Cook, William Wanless, Ida ,Hudson Taylor, and Paul Brand.

40. Ended the cruel Chinese practice of “foot-binding” of women, made illegal in 1921, through  the influence of Christian missionaries visiting China, credited by Lin Yutang.

41. Ended the Hindu practice of forced widow’s-burning in India, made illegal in 1829, through the influence of Christian missionaries.

42. Saved about 860,000 Jews during WWII through the efforts of Pope Pius XII, credited by Isreali diplomats and Jewish historians. The Pope openly condemned and fought against Hitler- a New York Times headline in 1939 reads “Pope condemns dictators, treaty violators, racism”. Hitler even criticized Pope Pius XII as the “pro-jewish” pope in 1942. The Vatican assisted many Jews to escape and even used the Pope’s summer home Castel Gandolfo to shelter thousands of Jews.

Religious Freedom

43. Birthed the concept of religious freedom during early Christianity beginning with the writings of the Church Fathers whom inspired the Edict of Milan by Emperor Constantine, which was the first instance of church and state separation. Church father Tertullian is credited with the first to use the phrase of “freedom of religion” in the history of Western Civilization. 

44. Established the Magna Carta in 1215 through a coalition of nobles, clergy, and the master of the Knights Templar.

45. Pioneered equality among people in the “Rule of Saint Benedict”, in which all were considered “one in Christ”.

46. Established the first instance of modern international law through the Laws of Burgos (1512) and Valladolid (1513), pioneered by Father Francisco de Vitoria.

47. Vigorously fought against communism in Poland and the Eastern Bloc through Pope John Paul II , in which Christians under Marxist state-atheism such as Richard Wurmbrand were jailed and tortured. Governments under communistic rule have systematically killed approximately 100 million people worldwide.

48. Created the Spanish Inquisition which (contrary to anti-catholic pop-history) was created to “inquire” concerning due process rights through a court of law for one accused, containing Roman rules of evidence, to end the witch hunts. Less than 1% of people tried by the Spanish inquisition were condemned to death. The court was considered lenient and torture devices associated with the inquisition were fabricated by secularists during the enlightenment period to create perceptions of anti-catholic barbarism. Places like Japan during the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Christian samurai, developed no such court mechanism and 40,000 christians were subsequently killed during the 17th century.

49. Originated the concept of Humanism within Christianity through Petrarch, a devout catholic who is considered the “Father of Humanism” and the Renaissance. 

50. Founded the USA through Christian enlightenment ideas and thinkers such as John Locke, Isaac Newton, and James Madison, among others, the stage being previously set by Martin Luther, who wrote “On the Freedom of the Christian”, and the subsequent 30 Years War. The document that predated the Constitution as a template was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1638) which established a government specifically crediting the God of the Bible. Before these things took place the pilgrims arrived in North America and credited God in the Mayflower Compact, “for the glory of God and the advancement of the christian faith.” The Declaration of Independence credits our inalienable rights as given by God, the Creator, and is signed “The Year of Our Lord”. 

Book and Lecture Resources:

1. “How Christianity Changed the World” by Dr. Alvin J. Schmidt, PhD

2. “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” by Dr. Thomas E. Woods, PhD

3. “How Christianity Saved Civilization” by Mike Aquilina and Dr. James Papandrea, PhD

4. “Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History” by Dr. Rodney Stark, PhD 

5. “How Christianity Made the Modern World” by Paul Backholer

6. “The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success” by Dr. Rodney Stark, PhD

7. “America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists” by Dr. Rodney Stark, PhD

8. “The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization” by Vishal Mangalwadi, M.A.

9. “The Modern Scholar: From Jesus to Christianity: A History of the Early Church”, recorded lecture series, by Dr. Thomas Madden, PhD

10. “The Modern Scholar: The Lost Warriors of God”, recorded lecture series, by Dr. Thomas Madden, PhD

11. “The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression” by Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, and Karel Bartosek

Christians are told that they aren't loving enough, that they're close-minded and that they don't follow Christ's teaching in accepting all people.  Many times, one group or segment of Christians are told this by another group.  The word love is thrown around in so many different contexts, that it gets confusing as to what it should mean to a Jesus following person, and what it means to the rest of the world.

When we generalize the word, we tend to think of acceptance, kindness, caring, support and loyalty.  These items aren't wrong, nor are they necessarily deviations from love.  When we look at a person who is considered a “sinner” (and since we all are, that isn't too hard to do), we tend to have a chasm of believes.  One side says that loving the sinner is to wrap arms around them, support them in everything they do, and to accept that they are their own individual.  The other side believes in love being an opportunity to tell a person the truth, the evil of their sin, and how they cannot be a part of such an action.

I've wavered from one side to the other, so please do not consider what I say to be doctrine of the highest order.  I have my opinions, and please understand that that is all they are.  I look to the Word, to the guidance God gives me, and the wisdom of spiritual elders to shape and hone how I look at God's creation, and how I'm expected to interact with it.  With that, I want to express  to you how important it is to understand the thought process of the other side in the debate.  Seek diligently why they believe what they do.  It may just help hone and shape what you hold dear.  I believe there are semblances of truth to both, and it is in Christ's character that we find the narrow path.

The side of love being fully accepting, open arms and almost congratulatory gives way to encouragement of sin.  We look to Christ, and He never encouraged a person to return to their sin.  He never came along side a person and told them that their sin was just fine and that God loved them anyway.  God does love them, but the sin is not fine.  It is what separated them in the first place.  

This approach is shown in a real-life scenario where Christians are blessing and praying for the protection of destructive, sinful places.  Not just the people who are involved (who need and ought to receive an abundance of our prayers of protection and a blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven in their life), but these Christians tend to pray for the behaviors and actions themselves.  I fear the line between loving the person and loving the sin their involved in gets crossed in these instances.  Love also does not mean condoning actions that pull a person away from God.  When Christ spoke to the Samaritan woman by the well, He did not tell her that it was quite alright that she was living with a 5th man, who was not her husband.  He pointed out the sin.  He named the behavior she was doing.  But He did not remove the gift of the gospel from her.  We need to realize that a content, full life is not found in gaining things of this world.  It is found in giving up our life for Christ.  (what does that mean to do? I've been working on that one too.  We'll talk about it some time soon.)  

Now, the group that sees Christ as love and open arms is exactly correct in not removing themselves from the world.  We are surrounded by sin, but He who is in us is stronger than He who is in the world.  We are covered in the blood of Christ.  Satan is not stronger than Christ, so why would we fear evil?  Do we fear being tempted?  Then that's between you and Christ, but we never know where an opportunity may open up.  Instead of picketing Pride parades and abortion clinics, we need to go and share the gospel.  Not in a condemning way, but in a truthful and graceful way.  We must give the word with salt, with humility and love.  I've heard of some churches going to Pride parades and handing out water, telling people that Jesus loves them, and offering to pray for people.  I truly believe that this approach bears witness to a much higher success rate of effect than a sign that reads “Gays will burn in Hell.  Repent and believe.”  Mind you, this example assumes that a Christian believes being gay is a sin.  

This is another area that I think we need to refocus ourselves.  We've allowed secular society to tell us what is right and what is wrong.  When we allow compromise to enter into our hearts, we compromise the standing of the church.  Notice that suddenly the line has been drawn against homosexual marriage, but why was marriage not more passionately defended when divorce rates climbed, when adultery climbed?  Why do we not follow a process put forth by Paul in the letters to the Corinthians on how to handle believers who are wantonly sinning?  We cannot diminish Christ's words because we feel that they are too harsh.  Christ said himself that divorce and remarriage creates an adulterer out of the parties involved.  But we didn't draw the line, and now suddenly we fear the complete dissipation of marriage.  This is what sin does.  It eats away, and decays that which is good and righteous.  

I say all of this to point out where the brethren on the other side of things might have a point.  If we decide to condone within the church the things of this world, and not to hold our own selves to a higher standard, then we give no light.  We've become darker and darker until our light does not shine, and the world is cast once again into darkness.  In the letters to the churches in Revelation, Christ repeatedly says, “To he who overcomes”.  Overcomes what?  Why would we need to overcome something if we already have salvation?  Because we are called to become a higher character than we were.  Some are becoming a better imitator of Christ just by not punching everyone in the room.  Some are by recognizing their struggles with sexual sin, and praying for strength as they battle, yes BATTLE temptation.  

If I may go on a small tangent, we must get it out of our head that temptation is never a battle.  You have no clue what it means to battle temptation until you have done everything you can to not give into the pressure.  That is why we're told to FLEE certain sins.  Run from it, because the longer you sit staring at the internet browser, the more likely you are to use it. 

This rounds itself all the way back to love.  If you love your neighbor, your friend, your enemy: do you point them towards sin or away from it?  Do you give the Word and prayer, or do you wag your finger?  Do you come along beside them?  Do you hold grace for them or judgment?  Do you have the planked removed from your eye, SO THAT you can remove the speck from his?

We need to weigh these things out.  So many remember the “judge not lest ye be judged” quote, but few can recite the lines that come after it. (hint, part of it is hidden in this post....)

That plank is important.  It is our own sin, our own shortsightedness, our own failings that can really ruin our testimony and can separate us from what it's really like to be in that person's shoes.  It is vastly valuable to have gone through the same scenario as your neighbor, and to have been brought out of it by the power of God.  I however do not believe that it does not take effort. We are free willed individuals, and therefore our free obedience to following the Holy Spirit is necessary to the process.  A person needs to see that it is possible, and the other needs to see that there must be mercy, grace and patience for what the downtrodden is experiencing.  

So what good does your sign and your calling others a sinner do them?  It rejects them.  It casts them out.  It treats them as unclean.  Do not be like the Pharisees, but be like Christ.  Walk along side sinners.  Love the drunkards, the adulterers and the tax collectors (the IRS anybody?)  You were one of them at one time.  You were loved and brought out of it.  And if you were raised in the church, then you need even more exposure to these people.  The saddest group of people are those who are buried by their sin, and see no way out.  Yet, these are the ones who tend to be most ready for a hand to reach out to them, to accept Christ and see a different path before them.  Let us be uncomfortable!  Let us reach out!  Let us hand sandwiches and water to the homeless (even if they are able bodied and could get a job).  Let us pray and embrace our friends who are sexually deviant (even if you believe that homosexuality is wrong.)

There is no law that limits love.  Therefore, hand out compassion, kindness, grace, mercy, peace, patience, gentleness and the good news to everyone. 

Love your enemy.  Show them love.  What does it mean to love them?  You must ask yourself this question.  Continuously.  Always.  Seek God on what love truly is.  It is not a fuzzy feeling, but an action borne out of a dire respect for the one who gave the commandment.  Love is selfless.  Love is willing to sacrifice even for the enemy that is ready to inflict the punishment.  Love will hang on a cross for all those who have already scorned it, who have placed it there.  Love is the only stop to evil, for it ends the vicious cycle of evil begetting evil.

But love also will always uphold truth. Love does not compromise truth, and will not hide it. Love operates in truth, and truth validates love. We cannot have one without the other.

I often have to check my thoughts about other people.  I'm fiercely political (which I'm trying to heal in myself) and I find myself turning them into a characterization of their political thoughts.  They lose face value and become only a representation of their side.  If you think hard enough, you'll realize you do this as well.  I must catch myself, and many times I stop to pray for that person.  I pray for their blessing, I pray they'd come to know Christ.  I pray for their well-being, for their health.  I seek healing and I seek to rise above the squabble.  You can do this with anybody.  Whether it's your neighbor who votes the opposite of you, or a terrorist cell in the middle east.  There are stories of terrorists who are brought to Christ by being shown love from the people they execute.  They're hugged, they're handed Bibles, they're told that Jesus loves them.  This is real love.  This is spreading the gospel to everyone.  The gospel isn't meant for one group.  It's meant to be heard by everyone.  And what better way to enter the Kingdom than to know that you gave love to the one who murdered you!

With that, I leave you with this: no matter how you feel about this post: I want to love you.  I want to make the choice to love you and to pray for you.  Jesus loves you, and wants you to understand the gift of forgiveness He has readied for you.  It is free for you to accept.  Please, take it, and begin the journey of becoming what He has called you to be.

By Paul Garner, author “Yearning to Breathe Free: Questing for Liberty in a World of Authoritarians”. 

Without the ownership of private property there can be no freedom. Our bodies, labor, earnings, and our property are private.

Everyone has property.  Bodies, labor, earnings and property.  The only question is whether we have sovereignty over that property. 

Without the ownership of private property, there can be no liberty.

John Locke, the greatest influence on the founders of America, wrote “Every Man has a Property in his own Person. This no Body has any Right to but himself. The Labour of his Body, and the Work of his Hands, we may say, are properly his.” He continues: “The great and chief end therefore, of Men’s uniting into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under Government, is the Preservation of their Property.”

He continued, “Government can never have a Power to take to themselves the whole or any part of the Subject’s Property, without their own consent. For this would be in effect to leave them no Property at all.”

And yet, in America,

The feds and states own our bodies as is demonstrated by the fact that they have final say about what you can put into your body and what you are allowed or not allowed to do with your body. 

The feds and states own your labor. They decide the minimum price that you can charge for your labor and they decide what activities you can and cannot labor at for money. 

The feds and states own your earnings. They take their cut of 30-50% off the top of every dollar you labor for. Like the mob who extorts protection money from businesses, the feds and states use the threat of force to gain compliance. 

The state and local governments own our homes and cars and boats charging us rent (taxes) to continue living there or operating vehicles. 

If the feds and states really have the final say over all of these things then you must admit that the people own nothing, not even their own bodies, and have zero sovereignty and therefore zero true liberty. Is that ok with you?

Worst of all the feds and states only have this ownership because most American people support it.  

Permits and Permission

Just yesterday as I was driving in our local community, I saw a sign posted about a community meeting to decide if permission would be given to a building owner to paint a mural on the side of his building near our downtown.  If you are not outraged by this, you are likely an authoritarian.  Permission and liberty are incompatible when it comes to someone’s property.  In a state of liberty, someone who buys property with their own money has the sovereign title to that property, whether it is a home or a business or a recreation property. That sovereignty allows the buyer to do with that property as they choose as long as they do not directly harm someone.  Authoritarians will differ.  Authoritarians will gather in their community and declare that they have the sovereignty to decide the limits and requirements for all property in their community.  They will contrive many hypothetical scenarios to manipulate and scare people. What if someone chooses to put a pig farm or slaughterhouse on their property?  Certainly, that is a possibility along with many other activities or aesthetics.  That is the nature of liberty and sovereignty.  If some people do not want such activities in their community, they are free to purchase the land themselves and use it for activities that they prefer. That is their liberty. However, they would not be allowed to confiscate funds from others to accomplish it.  Perhaps they can persuade some to voluntarily contribute their earnings to the effort. 

Several years ago, I lived in a neighborhood with a wooded area adjacent to it.  I was disappointed one day to see a sign that that land was for sale. After a time, someone purchased that land, cleared some beautiful trees, and built a large gym and a small retail strip alongside.  My neighbors and I knew that this would lead to increased traffic along the road between the developed property and our neighborhood.  I differed with my neighbors in what should be done.  I pointed out that we did not buy the land and therefore had no sovereignty or right to limit what anyone should be able to do with their property, duly purchased with their own money. Authoritarians in the neighborhood disagreed and used the local city government to force limits and requirements on the new owners.  This is a violation of liberty.  

Towns and cities across the nation are famous for building codes and zoning.  Authoritarians declare that they can decide the standards of building processes and limit what activities properties may be used for. The town authorities can’t be expected to understand all of the “right” techniques for building and so they often hire an individual, who claims to understand, to make those decisions. This always turns into a private tyranny and sometimes to corruption. Inspectors are nearly always authoritarians as few libertarians are likely to hold the position with the view that they will not interfere with what property owners choose to do with their own property.

In the town where I currently live, we must get “permission” from the town authorities to cut or remove any tree from our property with a trunk diameter greater than 2 inches.  Other town authoritarians will limit what color you are allowed to paint your house.  A city recently found itself in the news because they were fining the resident owners for having a vegetable garden in their front yard.  Their neighbors found it below their aesthetic comfort. 

A man in Miami not long ago found his house completely demolished by a bulldozer hired by the city.  He had lived in the house over 50 years.  The city had decided that he must upgrade his house to more current standards that they had set.  An elderly, retired man, he did not have the money for these repairs and ignored the many notices by the city. The picture highlighted in the report showed him sitting in a patio chair in the midst of the rubble that had been his sovereign house.  Did the city really have the sovereignty to demolish his house?  Authoritarians will say yes.  Are you an authoritarian?

Property is purchased from the earnings derived from the labor of our bodies.  No government of a free society has the right to limit or require what we do with our property.  If, like authoritarians often do, we disagree with this, we are admitting that no one owns their own property. In that case, there is no fundamental difference between renting a property or owning title to a property.  Authoritarians have seized all property.  Authoritarians declare that they are the final determinant of the purposes for property, the aesthetics of property, the value of property and the taxation that they will require to operate in their role as authoritarians. 

Folks in communities across the country are acting in everyway as though they have the right of sovereignty to limit and coerce what people do with their own property, for moral, aesthetic, or nostalgic reasons.  They use the cover of democracy to deprive property owners of their rights.  Democracy and liberty are not equal.  Liberty existed long before democracy.  Government was created in the US to protect the liberty of the individual from the tyranny of democracy and government.  

The liberty solution: If you object to how some property may be used, gather some like-minded folks and buy it. Then you have the sovereign right along with your partners to decide what to do with it, even if that is nothing. 

You are hostile to liberty if you seek to use force, like govt, to limit or coerce what someone else does on or with their property, their earnings, their labor, their body. This is immoral. 

There is no human right to the way that it used to be.  There is no human right to limit and force others to comply with your vision of your lifestyle. That is immoral, authoritarian and hostile to American values. 

Who told you that this was ok?  How can this be supported in the land of the free? 

Is America the land of the free?  If so, then each of us must stop seeking to control what others do with their bodies, labor, earnings and property as long as they don’t directly harm others.  Offending someone’s aesthetic or nostalgic sensitivities doesn’t count as harm.

 How the Spirit of God Built Civilization and Transformed Your World

“Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations…”

 -Psalm 105:1-2

“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.”

 -Psalm 143:5

“History is the True Demonstration of Religion”

-John Dalberg-Acton, Catholic Historian, (1834-1902)

By: Andrew Alleman

Its influence is all around us.

Human dignity and compassion. Modern science and technology. Origins of human rights and religious freedom. Professional healthcare in every city. Abundant prosperity combined with voluntary charity. A world with nations in which the Spirit of goodness and compassion presides over the hearts of the people, governing how they treat one another- “do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matt. 7:12). Nations which are not ruled by all-powerful kings or centralized dictatorships, but by its citizens with a spirit of righteousness and justice. Populations that view life as sacred and worthy of protecting at great costs. 

While it is maddeningly clear to us, these attributes of civilization are visibly declining all around us in different ways. Very few deny these are indeed the markers of the modern world and are still thoroughly enjoyed in many places. Namely of course, very few at our home in the United States of America and Western Civilization as a whole. 

What or who created our modern world and its values we so cherish? What built our social infrastructure of peace, security, and freedom that allows us our way of life? Did these ideas simply sprout out of the ground or were perhaps an invention due to the forces of secularist atheism? 

Maybe you’ve heard the frequent accusations of the Church being “backward”, “hateful”, “bigoted”, or even “evil”? Or been told it's bringing on a “dark age”, destroying the glorified civilization the Romans built? Attached to these are stories such as the supposed suppression of science by jailing the famous Galileo and the torture of anyone who disagrees through an Inquisition court. It is likely you’ve heard these accusations and others on more than one occasion. 

Through a wide survey of history with a birds-eye view, we know today these are exaggerated distortions at best and wholesale fabrications at worst. Some of these indictments continue to be used again and again to attack christian’s faith with malicious intent. Contrary to the hostile mainline opinions of some, it was the spirit of Christianity that served as the key force that birthed our civilization and inspired numerous world accomplishments. 

We will examine the early transformation of the Roman Empire, the compassion that brought us hospitals, the development of modern science, the beginnings of educational universities, the early abolition of slavery, and the pioneering origins of religious freedom. 

Jesus Christ introduced the modern notion of dignity and compassion towards human beings unparalleled in the ancient world. He demonstrated a spirit of mercy to all regardless of their social class, whereas the Roman Empire valued a spirit of order and loyalty to state gods and the Jews sought adherence to the traditions of Hebrew Law. Beginning with Christ's ministry and self-sacrifice at the cross, the culture of Christianity was born and the Spirit of God was carried into the world. Intertwined with this Spirit was life being sacred and dignified, not expendable, and the concept eventually changed the culture of Rome from the inside-out. Many examples and accomplishments are present in early church history.

Family and Social

Marriage between Christians and the overall status of women became greatly dignified in contrast to the Romans. Child brides were common in Babylon, Assyria, Greece and Rome and the average age of brides among christian marriages increased from about 14 to 19. Practices such as pederasty, infanticide, forced abortions, and child abandonment were all systematically opposed. Christian figures such as Callistus and Benignus gave refuge to abandoned and crippled children whom would otherwise be left out to die or drowned. 

Due to the influence of the church fathers such as Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, infanticide was outlawed by the christian Emperor Valentinian in 374 A.D. and child abandonment through the Code of Justinian. Abortion was further condemned through a multitude of church leadership meetings such as the synod of Elvira in 305 A.D., the Council of Ancyra in A.D. 314., and the Synod of Lerida 524 A.D. 

This set the stage for prominent christian leaders to stand up for the rights of the unborn in the medieval world such as Martin Luther, whom stated “those who pay no attention to pregnant women and do not spare the tender fetus are murderers and parricides” and John Calvin, whom stated “the unborn child…though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human…and should not be robbed of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy”. All this contributed to even secular historians such as W.E.H. Leckey to admit “the value and sanctity of infant life…broadly distinguished Christian from pagan societies.”  

Other accomplishments of note include the elimination of the Roman gladiator games through christian emperors Theodosius and Honorius in the 5th century, the outlaw of slave branding and the end of crucifixion during Constantine’s rule after his conversion to Christianity. 

Hospitals and Healthcare

This Spirit of life within christians, which emerged during the early roman period, built a contrasting culture of compassion and eventually produced one of the most important achievements in world history: the creation of the modern hospital. At a church meeting known as the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., bishops were directed to establish a hospice in every city that had a cathedral for traveling pilgrims. The first was constructed by Saint Basil of Caesarea in 369 A.D and contained a large number of buildings for physicians and nurses, even providing a workshop school for patients to learn a trade. The first hospital in Rome was built in 390 A.D. by the Roman noblewomen Saint Fabiola. Saint Chrysostom built hospitals in Constantinople during the 4th and 5th centuries and Saint Augustine built them in Western Europe. By the 6th century many monasteries served as hospitals and by the 16th century there were over 37,000 Benedictine monasteries that cared for the sick! In the Middle East, the Order of the Hospitallers of St. Lazarus and the Knights Hospitallers were knightly orders that ran a large network of hospitals that provided care for sick christians and muslims, including leprosy patients. 

As the years progressed through the middle ages, catholic and protestant physicians were at the forefront of several pioneering medical practices and inventions. These include the invention of the stethoscope by the devout René Laennec, the development of modern anesthesiology through the use of chloroform by James Simpson, the emphasis on antiseptic practices of hand washing and sterilization by Joseph Lister, the discovery of bacteria by Louis Pasteur, and the invention of the first vaccine through Edward Jenner, a man who considered himself an instrument of God. The two mothers of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale and Elizbeth Fry, were each devoted Christians who worked tirelessly to bring the profession into the mainstream. 

The christian Spirit that brought hospitals into existence eventually expanded its influence in the form of worldwide humanitarian missions and charity organizations. Possibly the most well-known of which is the Salvation Army founded by the devout William Booth in 1865 and the Goodwill store chain by Reverend Edgar J. Helms of the Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston. Others include the Childrens Aid Society founded in 1853 through Charles Loring Brace, a clergyman of the Congregational Church, and the International Red Cross through Jean Henri Dunant. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the first animal welfare charity to be founded in the world, was created in 1824 through the efforts of William Wilberforce and several ministers including Reverends Arthur Broome, George Bonner, and George Avery Hatch. The YMCA was founded through George Williams, which began as the Drapers Evangelical Union, and was renamed the Young Mens Christian Association in 1844. Under the influence of christian missionaries, the heinous practice of Chinese foot binding was ended in 1912, in which the feet of girls were bound leading to deformity and infection. In India, the practice of forced widow burning was outlawed in 1829 under Governor-General William Bentinck of Britain. A full list of influential organizations and missionary achievements would take volumes to discuss at length, so here we examine only a significant few- I encourage the reader to pursue further knowledge on this topic!

Dark Ages

When examining the positive influence of christianity across history, a thought may have come to your mind: what about the so called “Dark Ages” we all vaguely remember hearing about in middle school? Was the Church really a force of oppression during the medieval period, whom secularists in the Enlightenment only just managed to break from, finally able to flourish unhindered by superstition? It may surprise you that this narrative is entirely false, having been originally fabricated in the 16th and 17th centuries by prominent anti-catholics. Figures such as Voltaire admired the ancient Roman Empire, so much so that they felt compelled to distort church history, misleading entire generations, and creating an alternate version of events, which made its way into contemporary education curriculum. Due to recent scholarship, mainstream sources such as the Encyclopedia of Britannica and even Wikipedia now admit the “dark ages” is a myth! In contrast to this misconception, this period was an age of technological advancement, planting the seeds of social freedom, extensive philosophical debate, producing the beginnings of modern collegiate education, and the foundations of modern science. 

Technology, Science and Education

The Catholic Church produced the first modern scientists in history and the modern experimental scientific method beginning with the Franciscan Bishop and first Cancellor of Oxford University, Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253). Next we have his student Roger Bacon, whom stated “all things must be verified by science”. Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who has been referred to as “the practical creator of scientific induction”, was the first to record his results from experiments. He placed specific emphasis on observation and collection of systematic information in order to understand nature and yet also wrote on psalms and prayer. 

The faith of the first scientists was linked to their scientific inquiry and never separate. Beginning in the 13th century onwards, nearly every major scientist explained his motivations in religious terms. The first universities themselves were founded as theological institutions in the late middle ages. These include the University of Oxford, Camridge, Paris, and Bologna. Dozens of catholic and protestant scientists and inventors laid the foundations of our technological modern world during the late middle ages and renaissance. These include Issac Newton, Gregor Mandel, Johannes Kepler, Blaise Pascal, Robert Boyle, and the big four of electricity: Alessandro Volta, Georg Ohm, Andre Ampere, and Michael Faraday, to name only a few. 

Years before the Scientific Revolution, Benedictine monks invented numerous common items such as clocks, eyeglasses, agricultural techniques, distillation methods, and modern musical notation. 

You may recall the infamous Galileo, whom modern secularists have painted a picture of being tortured in a dark dungeon because of his heretical act of simply stating planets move. In reality, Galileo was an honored guest of Pope Paul III and dedicated his Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs (1530) to him. So what led to conflict? He entered the realm of theological debate over the eucharist and was unable to prove his theories though given several chances. After his own friends could not defend him, a court sentenced him to house arrest in the lavish palace of Niccolini, an ambassador to the Vatican, who ensured his comfort.  

Religious Freedom

Perhaps no topic is as essential to the truth about Christianity, as the foundations of religious freedom throughout the centuries. It may surprise you to know not only did the Church not block its development but aided it greatly, being the key driving force that resulted in our modern free society and the precious United States of America and Europe.

As early as 220 A.D. we saw the first advocates for religious freedom in the church fathers Tertullian and Lactantius, whom wrote “it is a fundamental right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions…to which free-will and not force should lead us” and “it is religion alone in which freedom has placed its dwelling. For it is a matter which is voluntary above all others, nor can necessity be imposed upon any, so as to worship that which he does not wish to worship” respectively. 

In 313 A.D., Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, an act of toleration that declared religious freedom to all of Europe. Mainline historians agree, such as Dr. Thomas Madden of Saint Louis University, that this is the first instance of an official separation of church and state in history with the intention of protecting religious belief from state control. 

Though this was not permanent until many years later, christian reformers continued to fight for the building blocks of religious freedom such as the famed Martin Luther. 

The first modern legal system in Europe materialized from church canon law which provided for democratic elections for clergy and protected Christians from self-incrimination in court. Inquisition courts, contrary to popular misconception, utilized Roman-esque laws of evidence, placed strict limitations on torture of any kind, provided advocacy for the accused, and executed very few people. They were formulated primarily for ending the witch-hunt craze rather than being a cause, in which thousands died. Unknown to some, this type of persecution was not unique to catholicism or even Europe during the same time period. In Japan, 40,000 Japanese christians were killed for their faith during the 17th century Shimabara Rebellion. 

Slavery

What about the topic of slavery? A little known fact is that the Catholic Church effectively abolished slavery in the 12th century due to biblical reasonings by the great theologians including Thomas Aquinas, only to emerge again during New World colonization centuries later. The Popes denounced slavery no less than six separate times in 1462, 1537, 1639, 1741, 1815, and 1839. During the period of Spanish colonization, no less than four papal bulls from Pope Eugene IV, Pius the II, Sixtus the IV, and Paul the III were issued in attempts enforce the ban on slavery internationally. 

In the 18th and 19th century, we find one of the greatest christian advocates against slavery in William Wilberforce, whom gave anti-slavery speeches for twenty years, leading to the Abolition Act in 1833 that resulted in the freedom of 700,000 slaves in the West Indies Colonies.

There is always more that can be said regarding the world role of Christianity, its influence throughout the ages, and its involvement in the construction of our civilization. Beginning with the ministry of Christ and its subsequent influence, we saw the transformation of Roman culture, the explosion of organized healthcare, the technological wonders of modern science inspired by God, and the ideas of religious freedom that would culminate in our modern way of thinking. 

Many forces have threatened these world-building attributes over the course of history, from Islamic invasions of Europe as early as 600 A.D. to the ideology of Marxism resulting in over one hundred million deaths worldwide in its opposition to religion. 

For the skeptic, I challenge you seek discovery, ask questions, and investigate the matter for yourself. I have faith you will see the Lord Jesus as the great architect of creation. 

For the believer, know today you can be proud of your history and the great influence the Spirit has had across many generations. 

For further reading, the works by esteemed sociologist professor Dr. Rodney Stark of Baylor University are among the greatest on the subject of Christian history.

I've been witnessing a new movement cropping up in the more charismatic areas of the church that I can't help but pause and wonder about. I don't appreciate the church pointing the finger at others in the church, so I'll attempt to avoid doing it. Instead, I want to give a bit of a warning to those of you who are hearing these voices, and to ask you to discern whether it's a pathway that you feel you really should work down.

I'm sure the movement is much older than I give it credit for, but I've noticed in the past couple years a new resurgence built of off the charismatic, Holy Spirit experience tangent of the faith. This idea impresses the importance of the rhema word, or active, new, living word of God. The rhema is the voice of the Holy Spirit, who gives guidance, counsel, and direction to the believer.

Christ told us He would send the Holy Spirit when He ascends to the Father, and that the Holy Spirit would be our counselor. This means that we walk each and every day with the Holy Spirit, and He is the one who energizes the transformation within us.

What I sense though is a swinging of the pendulum in which the Holy Spirit becomes such a focus of the believer, that they end up diminishing, questioning or stepping away from the power and necessity of Scripture.

Is Scripture Spiritually Necessary?

In Matthew 4, Christ is tempted by Satan three separate times. Christ received his baptism, the Holy Spirit landed on Him in a show of approval by the Father, and Scripture said He was then led, FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, out into the wilderness to be tempted. This means Christ, in direction by the Holy Spirit, placed Himself in a spiritually dangerous position, and Satan himself took the opportunity to come after Christ.

In the three separate temptings, Christ says something that is completely indicative of His foundation on how to know truth from the lie. He says, “It is written.” He says this in response to Satan, who also used Scripture to twist and pervert meaning to attempt to sway the believer. But, the fact remains: Christ used Scripture as the basis to speak truth and repel the wiles of the enemy. 

Not only did Christ use it as his strength and foundation when He had been fasting for 40 days, and tempted by the greatest tempter in existence, but He spoke of the Law (read: the Scriptures laid out during His time) as something that He was fulfilling, not abolishing. He did not come to abolish the law, or circumvent it, or deny it. In fact, there were plenty of times His arguments with the Pharisees revolved around the proper interpretation of Scripture. Not a single time did He command His followers to forsake Scripture, or to be done with it. Mind you, this was after He had been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Remember, He told the woman at the well that there would come a time when people would worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth. Truth is not just rhema word, but logos, and in fact the truth resides within the logos, and is justified through the rhema.

I'd further point out, that a good rule in Scripture is: weigh out the point somebody is making. Does it show up explicitly in Scripture? Here's where we can use this. The argument is that Scripture is no longer needed because we have the Holy Spirit, or that it is now diminished and limited because we have something greater. So we weigh it out. When we look through the letters of the Apostles, such as Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude, do we find an explicit argument that outright diminishes the use of Scripture in favor of listening to the Holy Spirit? Instead, we actually find the study of Scripture encouraged. In Acts 17:11, it states, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” The phrase “more noble character” is followed by the word “for”, denoting the reason they were of more noble character. This noble character was the result of their examining and eagerness with Scriptures, in order to weigh out what Paul was saying. 

Scripture stood as the balance, the canon of truth that they could trust and use to weigh out what was being taught to them by a Holy Spirit filled believer.

I understand some people's apprehension. They've seen the countless Bible Schools and Churches that have their noses so far in Scripture that they wouldn't know the Holy Spirit when it rocks them off their feet. We watched in Scripture itself when the Pharisees twist and pervert it to use it to their wicked means, resulting in the execution of the Messiah Himself. We have been there when people used Scripture to justify their own sin, and beat sinners and unbelievers over the head. And we all know that person who posts Scripture verse after Scripture verse, yet their life is completely unchanged.

Unfortunately, I've also witnessed people diminish the power of Scripture, stating they are following the Holy Spirit, and all they need is the Holy Spirit, only to start talking of making choices that are clearly stated as sin or destructive within Scripture itself. I've witnessed people follow paths that could have been avoided, all in the name of the Holy Spirit.

We are built of body, soul and spirit. Much like the temple, which has three parts, we are built in three parts as well. Our body is the outer courts, and if we remember, there was plenty of irreligious sin going on in the outer courts. Our soul is the holies, or the inner courts. Again, sin happened there. Idols were placed there at points. Desecration happened. Our soul, or mind, emotions, will and desire are all susceptible to sin and misdirection. But the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctum of the temple was fully righteous, and so much so that the priest could only enter once a year, after having fully cleansed himself spiritually and physically. If he wasn't found righteous to be in there at that moment, they had a cord tied around his ankle to yank his body out.

Our body is the same way, and we are told by Paul that our flesh is at war with our Spirit. Our flesh (including our soul, which is our will and our decision maker, our holder of our beliefs, thoughts and desires) can be misdirected, and still wars against sin and temptation. The Holy Spirit is pure when He speaks, and He speaks to our spirit. But there is plenty of space for twisting, misinterpretation and misdirection to occur.

Have you ever told somebody plainly and clearly the truth, and it was as though they couldn't hear it? It was as though their ears were closed to you and they continued on with their inner monologue and “truth”? We can do the same thing to the Holy Spirit, and there are times where we don't even realize we're doing it. Hearing Him is like hearing a new language, and takes years of practice, discernment and MISTAKES to learn the language correctly. We can be carried away with enthusiasm, but if we're not discerning, we're in danger of hearing what seems like the right voice.

Don't forget, plenty of religious leaders went into the wilderness and heard from a voice or angel of light. Muhammad listened to the angel. Joseph Smith listened to the angel. Christ did not listen to the voice in the wilderness. He recognized the imitation that Satan attempted. And Satan did it powerfully. He used Scripture, the traits of the son of God, and the promise of power to attempt to sway Christ away from His directive. Satan loves to use slight twists and variations to get people off the correct path.

We take Scripture to weigh out what we're hearing, and determine if we are aligning with God and His heart. The value of Scripture is that it is a record, logos, established word. There is a reason that Christ is referred to as the Word of God. He's not just a physical embodiment of the Word, but the spiritual representation of the Word, as well as the fulfillment and the progress of the Word. He calls Himself the way, the truth and the life. That word “truth” is important because it all rests on whether or not He is true and the truth. If He is, then we have to look back through Scripture and recognize that all of it points to Him. And just as we reflect and point back to Him, we need Scripture to look at how He was pointed to from before He came.

The character of God becomes well-defined in Scripture, and if we do not use the blueprint and the road map in order to help discern His character, we can get off in the weeds real quick. That's exactly why people believe God is all-loving, and so therefore condones and promotes sin. We remove the power and authority of Scripture, then wonder why so many see God in such strange ways. 

If you take the Bible and diminish it's authority and role in your life, you're actually cutting the branch that you're sitting on. Your faith was built upon that foundation, and the idea that you can then remove it from your life is a very dangerous prospect. You're telling yourself that you then have all the authority and direction you need to move forward, and forget how you received it. 

It's like filling up at a gas station and then believing you can drive the car without ever filling up again. You may say the Holy Spirit is the gas, not the gas station, but there are many forms of gas that would ruin your car. You need the proper delivery system to provide you the right gas. You can even take gas with you in cans, but at some point, there is a necessity of going back to the source.

The Bible is a written account of God's character. Why wouldn't we promote the use of that invaluable resource? Why would we tell (especially new!) Christians that it is no longer needed, or that we shouldn't focus on it? I can't tell you how many times revelation has come directly through Scripture, and how much it has changed my life. Frankly, it has also provided the argument against plenty of things I've been told by people who feel that it doesn't have authority. 

For instance, the deconstruction movement tends to begin by questioning the authority of Scripture. I have seen countless people led down a very dangerous path by not giving it the respect it is due. 

The written word is a powerful medium in it's own right. If you want to organize your thoughts, sift through where you really stand on something, and attempt to build and grow an organized flow of ideas, then writing is one of your best tickets. The value of written word extends to the Scripture, and this written word is not the product of a couple of sheep herders high on drugs, but a consistent, in-depth, absolutely coherent collection of writing over 2000 years, 66 books and 40 writers.

I must uphold the value of such a treasure that God blessed us all with. It's one of His biggest proofs of Himself to us. 

I don't write this to attack or diminish the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the rhema word of God, but what I am saying can be summed up in this sentence, “It is always good to discern and weigh what you hear in rhema with the logos.”

Is the sky blue? 

Of course. We all have. Our first reaction might be to believe that falling down a rabbit hole means coming across crazy conspiracy theories, like Elvis shot JFK or alien lizard people wrote Shakespeare. 

Thankfully, I will not be reporting to you about Hitler still being alive in Argentina or bases on the dark side of the moon. My rabbit hole goes deep into the labyrinth of helpful tips, tricks and outlooks on life.

While doing research for a book I'm putting together, I rediscovered an idea that I thought was extremely helpful when working towards self-improvement (or personal development if you don't want to sound like a Tony Robbins infomercial). But my research naturally began to modify the algorithms of my internet browser, which likes to pop up articles on the home page. Pretty soon, I was being inundated with a wide selection of ideas and philosophies that are similar to the original one I researched.

So, I thought, in the spirit of writing what may help you become a more powerful Christian, contributing member to society, or at least a little better at making your bed; that I would share with you what I've found and come across in a couple of articles.

Self-Improvement Bonanza

If you're a perfectionist, these articles are for you. If you feel like you're a lazy slob and need some help getting out of the muck, then these articles are also for you. I'm hoping at least something here helps you modify how you live in a positive way. Sometimes, all we need is a little nudge in the right direction to improve our day-to-day life.

I think many of us can get nervous about such articles, because we feel as though we're either a) insulting God's creation by trying to “self-improve”, b) buying a scam-style philosophy or some psychobabble claptrap, or c) about to pick up something we'll fail at in a matter of days.

To me, all three actually take quite a lot of pride to internalize and use in the navigation of our lives. To say that because we are a creation of God that we need no improvement is to say that we are not sinful. Saying such lacks the humility of saying, “Lord, I'm not where I know I could be, but I'm going to continue to focus each day on becoming more of what you meant me to be.”

Scam-style philosophies are everywhere, but that doesn't mean that every idea or concept is a scam. These ideas and methods I'll be giving to you have been in practice for centuries, and have a long history of success in helping people improve, if only a tiny bit.

Third, our success or failure cannot be used as a judgment. When we approach a new habit or behavior, it is an absolute certainty that we will fail at some point. Your job is to get back up and keep trying. Binding together a string of successes amidst the failures is what sets you apart from the people who truly failed by giving up. 

So, take on these methods that I've been researching and implementing in some way, and let me know if any of them have worked, or work for you.

Kaizen

Despite the Japanese sounding name, this idea didn't actually originate in Japan, though they did end up naming it.

During the Depression, American business and government set out to change their business management methodology. Instead of seeking out major, revolutionary inventions and changing the entire landscape, American factories instituted a mission of small, continuous improvements. This idea caught on so well that quality and craftsmanship defined American products, especially military equipment.

Since materials and money were hard to come by both during the Depression and World War II, the best way to become a better business meant looking within, not outside. Small improvements created new levels of efficiency, and compounded to create higher levels of quality, craftsmanship, reliability and durability. 

After World War II, the concept was taught to Japanese businesses in an American mission to rebuild the Japanese economy. Japanese companies latched onto the idea (doesn't it sound very Japanese to the core?) and in fact, surpassed American businesses in the 70's and 80's. In case you're too young to remember: Japanese cars and electronics had a horrible reputation for being utter crap. But as American businesses were tempted and enticed back into looking for the next “radical innovation”, the Japanese surpassed them with what the US had taught them. American companies floundered when competing against the suddenly reliable, durable, high-quality products coming out of the former enemy nation.

Japan named it Kaizen, which Kai means change, and Zen means good. The literal meaning is "change for the better"; and it truly is. The idea is that there are tons of small little improvements that can be made. As each one is ferreted out and improved, the whole becomes better and better.

This idea was proven by the cycling team in Great Britain. Known for being utter garbage in competition over the decades, British cycling hired a new performance director, in 2003, by the name of Dave Brailsford. His approach was very Kaizen. In 110 years, the team had never won a Tour de France, had only one gold medal, and even sponsors were afraid for the team to use their equipment. Brailsford began with small little changes. Instead of switching out all the athletes, or completely upending every single part of their training, he started looking at the parts no one else might have thought of.

They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable. They used electrically heated shorts to keep the muscles of the riders at the perfect temperature. They tested fabrics and picked indoor racing suits, which were lighter and more aerodynamic. The team tried out massage gels to help recovery. The team selected the perfect mattress and pillow for each rider. And they even painted the interior of the team truck white in order to spot dust or contaminants that might harm and degrade the bikes. 

In 2008, Great Britain won 60 percent of the gold medals available in road and track cycling. In 2012, they set nine Olympic records and seven world records. Also in 2012, Bradley Wiggins won the Tour De France. In 2013, Chris Froome won, and continued to win in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

From 2007 to 2017, Britain won 178 world championships, 66 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals, and 5 Tour de France victories.

One of my favorite examples of Kaizen success is found in a story about John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil. In the 1870's, he was walking the floor of one of his factories (as he was apt to do) where kerosene was put in 5-gallon cans. At one station, the cans were soldered to seal the lid. He asked the man working the station how many drops of solder were used. The man responded, “40.”

Rockefeller thought for a second and asked, “Have you ever tried 38?” The man shook his head no. So, Rockefeller asked him to try some cans and see what happened. They found that 38 drops of solder were too weak and some of the cans leaked. However, at 39 drops, the cans remained stout and sealed.

The company implemented the change, and by Rockefeller's own reporting, the company saved $2,500 dollars that first year. In 2022, that would be roughly $56,000! Rockefeller reported that over the coming years, the savings were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars...in the 1870's!

I love this story because it speaks to Rockefeller's ability to sense out problems or improvements that nobody else might have thought through. He was known for rectifying financial mistakes worth a few cents...whether for or against his company. Even as president of a global company, he kept a keen eye on all of the accounting, and was extremely observant to problems others might not notice.

We can do this too, but we must train ourselves to do so. In using the Kaizen method, a person begins to look at the smallest, easiest changes they can make, and perfect those areas. Imagine a Japanese samurai practicing a single stroke of the sword 10,000 times. Or a famous violinist practicing for 10,000 hours, and always going back to the smallest errors on her scales. 

For a more practical application, you could look at your finances. The wife and I have been focusing tightly on the budget, and I've found that this is a great way to begin taking control of the tiny little leaks in our wallets. Often times, we think we have to wipe the slate clean of all spending, and that will save us. The problem is, we never stop to think about all those little moments of spending here and there, which add up extremely quickly.

For instance, the other day, I realized that I leave coffee in the coffee pot after I make it. Most times, I heat up another cup the next day, but some days there is some leftover coffee that gets thrown out. Instead of brewing 6 cups (which is really 2 ½ for me) I could begin brewing 4 or 5 cups, and focus on finishing what is in the pot by the next day. As well, I could always take a day or two and not drink coffee. Considering I go through a container in about 2 months, stretching that to double it would save me 25-30 bucks every couple of months. You may think that's not much, but simply by slowing down my coffee intake, I can save perhaps 100 dollars in a year.

In the realm of food, I love dressings and sauces. I plow through them. Especially if it's a buffalo sauce and I have some blue cheese crumbles sitting around. But what if I decided to slow my intake down by being more measured in how much I put on a meal at a time? You may say, “That only saves you, what, 5 bucks?” But that's five dollars that I've now saved, and the habit spreads to everything. In our economy, being as efficient as possible is going to be a necessity.

Think about the method and how it started. During the Depression, people didn't have the luxury of waste and excess. Businesses didn't have a bunch of money to spend on development and innovation. Notice, after World War II, America was the richest country on earth, and all of a sudden American companies felt it necessary to spend big bucks on finding the next biggest thing. A method of necessity was jettisoned as soon as it wasn't needed.

I firmly believe all of us are going to need to implement this in some way, and it is a practicable skill. As you learn to look for the small things you can change in your life, you'll find joy in being able to maximize each component, which equals to a massive shift over time. You could change things in your:

• Work life
• Family life
• Spending habits
• Learning skills
• Driving
• Faith life
• Finances

Think about gaps, inconsistencies, spots where energy, finances or focus are sucked up, inefficiencies, or undisciplined areas.

The rule of 1% sums up the Kaizen method. Get 1% better each and every day. If that means one more push-up each day, you'll have 60 within two months. If you improve 1.01 percent each day, that means you'll be 37% better by the end of a year. You don't need to go for the big, dramatic changes. Kaizen, or the 1% method. Dramatic, massive changes actually work directly against such an idea.

We tend to get focused on a single, major change that needs to happen, and then become depressed and despondent when it fails or we fail. The small, continuous changes will give us feedback, let us know what works or doesn't work, and the risk is small. The reward compounds over the long-term, and you don't have to ever make a massive gamble.

I urge you, start keeping your eyes open to the small things, and you'll find your life becomes more disciplined, more controlled, more efficient and more prosperous.

Kaizen is more fully explored over at Four Principles.

However, when I do end up finally purchasing a book, I so often decide on something in the sphere of history or science. But the one that I find myself always on the look-out for is more akin to self-improvement. I love pouring over studies, theories, anecdotes and suggestions on improving everything from habits to deeply embedded character traits. 

Buying books like this as opposed to pleasure reading may be partly due to the high standard I hold for fiction. I never trust anything enough to spend the money and purchase it. The only fictional books I tend to purchase are ones that come highly recommended to me. So, if you have a book or series of fantasy or sci-fi that you're willing to vouch for...then by all means, let me know.

I promise, I'm not writing this to tell you all about my nerdy reading habits. But as far as my nerdy reading habits are concerned: I've been recently working through a book titled, The Art of Manliness – Manvotionals: Timeless Wisdom and Advice on Living the 7 Manly Virtues. By Brett McKay (the founder of the website www.artofmanliness.com) and hence the idea of self-improvement. I'm fascinated with what makes a man, and how a man develops himself over a lifelong journey.

Why does this matter to you?

One of the virtues discussed by McKay is titled “Industry” and revolves around use of time. It revolutionized how I view my time. For the longest time, I've battled with my level of efficiency. Most people would probably look at how I spend most of my time, and say, “You keep yourself pretty busy.”

I wouldn't say they're wrong, but there's always a sense that I'm still being rather inefficient with my time. I think the section in this book revolving around the topic finally gave me the inspiration I needed. Or perhaps, just the words to the problem I couldn't quite define.

Before I get into the solution, I want to define the problem. I spend a lot of  hours working. I'm not a person who is at the office 70-80 hours a week, but even when I am at home, I tend to have my mind in work mode. So much so, that my wife and I recently had a conversation about my mental distance while I'm at home. I appreciate the fact that she called me out on it. It was obviously apparent, and more noticeable than I realized. 

You may take all of this to mean that I never stop working, but frankly that type of efficiency might be more useful to me. Instead, I tend to be an all or nothing person. If I'm not at work or working, I'm on the couch. And if I'm on the couch, I'm useless to the world. Thankfully, my phone doesn't snare me too often, but at night, after the kids are in bed, the television does catch me like a mouse to cheese.

Some reading this might think, “Okay, so you don't have a time problem. You have a relaxation problem.”

Yes and no.

I feel as though my time could be better spent. Even when I'm at work, there are times where I catch myself scrolling through some random site, or conversing with co-workers. What will tend to hit me is the nagging feeling that I am not being efficient with my time. I feel as though I could be doing more with the projects or goals that I have. When I'm watching television, I wonder whether what I'm doing is worthwhile and building towards something, or am I just passively consuming.

I witness people spending hours on end scrolling mindlessly through their phones or watching random Youtube videos. I see the inordinate amount of time dedicated to Facebook, and the passion with which people dive deep into video games. Again, I don't consider any of this bad, evil or wicked on it's own. But the question continues to come up for me: couldn't my time be better spent?

All of this leads to how the book I'm reading helped revolutionized how I see work, efficiency, and most importantly: time.

When we think of time, we think of it as a never-ending stream given to us. But what if we viewed time as a level playing field of potential wealth? Each man is given the same amount of time each day. We can neither add nor subtract from time in the day. We can fill each minute, but we can never add an extra minute to the 24 hours provided to us each day. The wondrous miracle of this is the equality of the idea. Each man is given 24 hours in a given day. That's 1440 minutes.

The wealthy man uses every dollar he has in the best way possible. He invests it. He uses it in order to gain more dollars. Despite what we tend to think: the wealthy man doesn't just store up his dollars. He takes them and invests them to gain more dollars. But why do we see no need to invest our minutes?

The greatest, most productive men have made a legendary life of using every single minute and investing it into their goals. If we look at some of the examples provided in the book, we get a very clear picture of what it looks like to truly be efficient with our time.

Benjamin Franklin was a printer, publisher, author, inventor, scientist and diplomat. He bought the print shop he started working at after 2 years of a partnership. He achieved printing Pennsylvania's currency after writing an essay on the necessity of paper currency. He became the printer of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. He started the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard's Almanac. He made income and invested in rental properties. By the 1740's, he was one of the wealthiest colonists in the northern part of the colonies. 

He organized a debate club, paid a city watch and volunteer fire department and formed the American Philosophical Society. He gained various political offices, and during that time, also invented useful items while scientifically experimenting. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

How about Teddy Roosevelt? His campaign schedule would have ground most of us to dust within a week.

7:00 a.m. Breakfast 

7:30 a.m. A speech 

8:00 a.m. Reading a historical work 

9:00 a.m. A speech 

10:00 a.m. Dictating letters 

11:00 a.m. Discussing Montana mines 

11:30 a.m. A speech 

12:00 p.m. Reading an ornithological work 

12:30 p.m. A speech 

1:00 p.m. Lunch 

1:30 p.m. A speech 

2:30 p.m. Reading [Scottish novelist] Sir Walter Scott 

3:00 p.m. Answering telegrams 

3:45 p.m. A speech 

4:00 p.m. Meeting the press 

4:30 p.m. Reading 

5:00 p.m. A speech 

6:00 p.m. Reading 

7:00 p.m. Supper 

8-10 p.m. Speaking 

11:00 p.m. Reading alone in his car 

12:00 a.m. To bed 

Do you notice how many speeches he gave in one day? The man was unstoppable. While I'm rather frustrated with his politics, I cannot help but admire the man's ruggedness, work ethic, toughness and discipline. His outlook on life was to squeeze every possible ounce out of it, and to never compromise or give in to his softer side. Despite growing up sickly and weak, the man made it his life mission to become tougher than nails. So much so, that he gave a speech immediately after being shot...with the bullet still lodged in his ribs.

The wealth of each minute is ours for the taking. Every day we wake up contains unlimited potential. This doesn't mean we can avoid our responsibilities and duties, such as family. But it does mean that each moment not spent with some chore, job or responsibility is fair game to be used to our advantage. Investing each minute becomes a challenge, and I've found that the simple thought of using each minute has motivated me to get off the pot (literally.)

I catch myself staring at my phone at moments in my day, and when the thought occurs, “Am I investing my minutes or wasting them?” I'm suddenly motivated to move forward. I relish the idea of taking each minute and using it to it's full potential. So many projects exist in my day to day, and the greatest men allow no excuse to derail them from growing themselves and their legacy.

As I've been working through this concept, I've recognized a new passion to take my few minutes here and there, and put them to good use. This includes working on several writing projects that have stalled in the past couple years, a major art project that will take me a couple years of dedication to finish, new projects for Self-Evident, prayer and reading Scripture, and ways to improve myself.

We might jump to the conclusion that this means sacrificing our family or responsibilities. But in fact, it only drives me to be more focused and passionate about those as well. They are more important than work tasks, and therefore deserve just as much, if not more attention and focus. My kids are my lifelong responsibility, and my greatest job in life is to produce independent, self-sufficient, righteous men out of these boys.

Yes, I get it. Earlier I said how the wife was commenting on my distraction at home. And she's not wrong. I'm working through the process, but as I sit here and write this, I recognize that my focus needs to go up a level with my kids. And when that time is satisfied, I can look to my other projects. My life can be a constant flow of productivity, and even active rest can have an element of productivity to it.

We can always be more efficient. And when I look at Teddy Roosevelt's campaign schedule, I gain inspiration. To know he grew up as a sickly, weak, small boy into such a machine says that each man can forge himself into a more powerful force for the legacy that God has placed in him.

That legacy isn't built in massive blocks of time. It's built in the tiny little clusters of free minutes. If you have 10 minutes of free time: what would you do productively? This means banning any thought of, “But I won't be able to finish.” It's the chipping away that builds progress. I often have limited myself because I thought I needed an hour or two to get anywhere. Yet, now that I've provided myself the reasoning needed to spend 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there on my art project, the speed has increased dramatically on its progress.

Stephen King always carries a book with him to read when he's standing in line. Einstein worked on his scientific theories while working at a patent office. Ben Franklin would read and study while eating lunch. When you look at the habits of accomplished men, you'll find that every minute is accounted for...whether officially or unofficially.

The usefulness of the minute is breath-taking in it's power. We've watered it down and done our best to forget it exists. But when we stop and remind ourselves of the infinite value of a minute's progress (vs. standing still), we're inspired to take that minute and wring every possible second from it.

As I work through changing myself in this way, I will continue to devote each day to getting better with my time. Since I set a goal each birthday to become completely different by my next birthday, I do believe this mindset will help me move onto the next paradigm shift.

So I pose the question to you: what are you doing with your free time?