October 2023 – As I was saying…

Many famous people in history have put their own spin on the word “Courage.”

The most quoted spin, in the USA at least, might be from Franklin D. Roosevelt who said,
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

Mark Twain said,
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

Plato said,

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”

Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

Maya Angelou said, “Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

J.R.R. Tolkien said,

“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.”

And last, but not least, John Wayne said,

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

In a world filled with this cancel-culture mentality, hate being spewed from social media posts like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, and the constant barrage of negativity and fear mongering stories put out by the thousands from the national news media, we have become a nation totally lacking in any moral fiber or courage.

If Plato is right, then we should know better.

If Martin Luther King Jr. is right, then why aren’t we building dikes to reach the sky to prevent the world’s influence on our minds, attitudes, and actions.

Where’s the courage?

Consider Tolkien’s quote. We are not just weak physically from bodies pumped full of over-processed fast food and who knows what pollutants on the produce we buy at the local supermarket. We are so weak spiritually in this county that I’m amazed we still exist as a nation.

Where is the true Christ-follower today with the courage to stand up and say, “This breaks God’s heart! This breaks my heart! It is time for change. It is time to NOT BE AFRAID anymore!”

You’d think I was making all this up. 50 years ago, I would never have thought the world as we know it today would exist. But it does. And somebody told us it would become this way, but we didn’t listen.

Maybe we should listen now.

Jesus told his closest followers about the days to come, and those days are here.

In Matthew 24:4-12 He said many people would come in His name and say they were the Messiah, the Savior, to deceive whomever they could. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars. He said nation would rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. He said there would be famines, earthquakes and more all over the world… but this was not the end, but only the beginning.

He said the world would hand over Christ-followers to be persecuted and killed. He said Christ-followers would be hated by all nations, and because of this there would be a great abandonment of people saying they no longer believe, and worse, they would hand over their friends and loved ones to be tortured and killed, because of hate.

He said that lawlessness would increase and multiply, and because of this people all over the planet would turn cold and loveless toward each other.

This is our reality today.

Matthew 24:15-31 is a starkly dramatic image of days to come in our world which are not here yet. And many, many people will not have the spiritual fortitude to endure these times. Read it for yourself and see what’s coming.

So, where’s the courage??

Head knowledge is one thing but knowing the Author of this information is a whole different thing. And here is what I mean.

The common message throughout the Word of God is simple: Do not fear!

This phrase is used 365 times in Scripture… do NOT be AFRAID!

But the command by itself is meaningless unless there is some good reason why we are not supposed to be afraid. Right? So what is it that allows Christ-followers to not be afraid?

Here it is. And if you don’t have this underlined in your Bible, and memorized in your brain, then do it now.

Deuteronomy 31:6 (CSB)
Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.

There is an clearly defined underlying doctrine of belief in Scripture that is required of every true Christ-follower for the empowering of this mighty promise.

God is in Control.

God’s Word is absolutely Authoritative for every believer.

God’s abiding Presence is constant regardless of our circumstances.

There must be more than a cursory acceptance of intellectual understanding that these three statements are true. They must actually rule over your every thought, attitude, and action. They should be the filter through which every choice you make is made. They MUST be so ingrained in your hearts and minds that no other construct of reality makes sense in the world today.

And when they do become all these things, then AND ONLY then, will you be able to be strong and courageous, instead of terrified and afraid of what comes next.

Pick a problem, any problem, happening today. Covid, Political upheaval in our nation’s capital, Israel on the brink of war. The World on the precipice of WW-3… none of these events takes God by surprise.

God is on the job. He is in control, speaking authoritatively through His written Word, and constantly abiding with and in those around the world who believe this is indeed true.

So … where’s the courage?

It’s time for some courage!

Let’s make it more personal…

Where’s your courage?

In the name of Jesus, what will you stand up for in courage, or stand against in courage, that would bring glory to God today?

“Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?” written and sung by Robert Lamm in 1969 might be considered a startling question of extreme importance in 2023. The repeating chorus is worth examination, and goes like this:

Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody care?
If so, I can’t imagine why
We’ve all got time enough to cry
– Chicago

He’s walking down the street and encounters a man who asks him the time. Then he passes a woman who says her diamond watch has “stopped cold dead.” Then he observes people being pushed and shoved “trying to beat the clock.” He doesn’t know where he is, where to go, can’t see in front of him, the snow is coming, everyone is worrying.

There are metaphors galore here for me, but can you see? I’ll point out a few I see, and maybe stimulate you to find your own in these uncertain times.

One of the things God did right at the beginning of it all was to establish “time” as a construct that mankind could rap their minds around. God separated the light from the darkness, and He called the light “Day” and the darkness He called “Night,” and we continue to use these very terms today. Even though it was God who instituted these definitions in the ancient past, mankind is still bound by them. Each light/darkness cycle was divided equally and became know as the 24 hour day sometime between 1550 – 1070 BC. And we have been using this standard of “time” since that time.

This is significant in the discussion of time today, and knowing what time it is, because most people are under the illusion that time as we know it is eternal. But they would be wrong. Time as we know it was established by God to define life as we know it, but this life will not last forever. Empirically we know this because death is still a part of our existence. Only without death will life be eternal.

Like the man who comes up to ask what the time is on my watch, he doesn’t know what time it is. If he doesn’t know the time, his life is out of sync. He’s confused about his next actions. He doesn’t know where to go next.

Like the woman whose watch has stopped dead, she seems totally lost, asking the question perhaps “Has time ceased to exist since my watch no longer works?” How silly, time marches on whether your own particular timepiece is functioning or not.

The chaos which ensues upon a person’s life when they lose all track of time can be devastating. They may not remember who they are, or how they arrived at a particular location. They might have difficulty remember recent decisions which lead them to this very anxious period of time for them. A person might even lose their sense of identity, personality, heritage, purpose, or any aspect of their previous existence.

Allow me in this moment to suggest some very real current applications of how the loss of “knowing what time it is” has wreaked chaos across the world today.

The heightened search for “identity” is directly related to not knowing what time it is. For example, all things being equal and remaining as they have in the past the average 12-18 year old adolescent has their whole future ahead of them to make as many mistakes as they want, learn and grow from them, and still live a productive life. However, things are not equal and remain as they have in the past. Today we have a culture bent on telling an adolescent they can make up their own minds about their “identity.” If they are male and want to be female, medical doctors, psychologists, school teachers, and parents who have lost all sense of time are telling these children they support this choice. And not just support it, but make it happen at all costs. And make no mistake, the cost is significant, but mostly for the child. All the doctors, teachers, and parents are just diving deeper down the black hole of delusion, but the child is facing a lifetime of consequences for these adult’s endorsements and actions.

The total abandonment of the “rule of Law” in this nation and around the world is a function of mankind’s loss of knowing what time it is. It is never a good time or even a right time to put a group of people so far above the law that they have no accountability for their own lawless actions. The whole “Cancel Culture Wars” which exist in our political systems, social media, mainstream media, Hollywood, and corporations who take stands on social issues is some of the best evidence of a whole world which has lost all sense of time and purpose. We can’t just co-exist anymore with differing opinions and preferences. Today if a person disagrees with another person they might be completely written off as dead to the one who thinks they are right and can never be wrong. In the past there were ways and means to come together and reason rationally between two points of view. But that time seems completely destroyed, and begs the question, “How long before we just destroy the whole human race, because we cant’s seem to find a way to get along?”

Perhaps the most severe sense of the loss of time perspective is found in the spiritual realm. This is not a time to talk of angels and demons and their powerful influence in our culture, perhaps I’ll address this in a future article. So, when I talk about the “spiritual realm,” I’m talking about knowing, understanding, and recognizing what God is doing right now, while the chaos caused by the loss of time on earth is growing more powerful every day.

Remember, I introduced the topic by saying God established “time” as a construct that mankind could rap their minds around. God didn’t say the time mankind had on earth was limitless. In fact the Word of God makes clear that mankind’s time on earth is very finite, and under the complete control of the One who established time in the first place. All a person has to do is read a few verses, in complete context of the whole Bible, to see from God’s own Divine Voice that mankind is speeding toward disaster by the very fact that no one seems to know what time it is.

Jesus said, (Matthew 24:12) “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”

Just a cursory view of the news, breeze through twitter, Facebook, or another social media, will give a very clear image of how cold this world has become with all the hate-filled rhetoric which people type with no filter or thought of the consequences of their words. Murder is on the rise, regardless of what the news people say. Shoplifters don’t run out of stores anymore, they blatantly walk in, take what they want, and walk out, looking directly at someone taking a video with a mobile device, because they don’t care what time it is. In their minds… it’s time to loot.

The political landscape today is littered with the long dead careers of decent, honest, good men and women because their political opponents are so filled with hatred that they will say anything and do anything to move their own deluded time-is-of-no-consequence agenda forward. Power hungry sociopaths who arrive empowered by an office and a title believe themselves now to be above the law, and under no limit of time. For they will with every fiber of their being pursue staying in that place of power at all costs.

The Apostle Paul said of people losing all sense of time, (Romans 1:22-23)

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

From the early 1960’s well-meaning Bible-based teachers would use this verse to condemn the gay community and the spread of the deadly HIV-AIDS virus throughout the world. However, even these were deluded by thinking that this verse was so limited in scope and time. But how could they possibly have known what God already knew, that just 50+ years later the ramifications of this one passage from Paul would be so pervasive in cultures all across the globe?

This verse is very specific and deals very specifically with the LGBTQ+ agenda today. It is not enough that they hate anyone who does not affirm their agenda, it must be praised and lauded as the loftiest and sublime option known to mankind today. Does anyone in this culture really know what time it is?

Paul goes on, (Romans 1:26-32)

“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.”

Here’s the thing. Today we sort of see Paul here, writing these words, as a Prophet, and perhaps there is that aspect of him. But from Paul’s perspective, he wasn’t writing about the future. Paul was describing the attributes of the citizens of one of the most brazen and godless cultures of history, Rome itself. We foolishly think the LGBTQ+ agenda is a brand new thing. It is not. Even as Paul was writing these words, the writing was on the wall for the Roman culture. Less than 400 years later Rome fell due to political, social, economic, and military problems.

Is anyone out there listening? Does anyone really know what time it is?

Month: October 2023

Where’s the Courage?