Some Thoughts

At the age of 18 I was in my final year of high school. I was playing on our senior football team and happened to be in a health class being taught by my coach. Several of my teammates were in the same class that was set up with theatre seating. I was near the back and that meant higher up than most others.  

The topic near the end of class revolved around premarital sex. The coach stated that he thought there was nothing wrong with it and it seemed like most of the class agreed with him. Then he asked if anyone had a different opinion. By this time I was dating the woman who would eventually become my wife of soon-to-be, 49 years. I put my hand up and expressed my view that sex should only be between married couples. That was received with plenty of snickers.

After class I was approached by Peter, one of my teammates and a pretty tough character who I didn't really hang with. I was prepared for the insults but instead he extended his hand and told me how he admired my courage to stand and say what I said, even if he didn't agree. That memory has stuck with me all these years and helped shape my faith walk. You see, I had become a Christian a year and a half earlier and expressing my opinion was my "coming out".

As I was thinking of what I am about to write, I had tears flowing down my cheeks because I knew some of my friends, family and in-laws would react negatively. I believe in what I am about to say, 100%.

The other day I was the passenger in a car driven by my son Steven. We were returning from one of many appointments I have been attending since being diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer. On the highway we were approaching an underpass when I pointed out why I talk about Jesus to those who either don't know Him or outright reject Him. I made the analogy of me coming across a person preparing to jump off the bridge and my response to it. Very few of us would encourage that person to jump and instead do whatever we could to save them from themselves. 

As a Christian, I would do everything I could to direct a person from jumping into hell. Even more so when that person was in one of the categories I mentioned earlier: friends, family and in-laws.

Peter and I recently became friends on Facebook after 53 years of no contact. I hope he reads this.

Eternity is something I have started thinking about much more in recent months. When I wept, I was thinking of all those I personally know who are satisfied with jumping into hell. I apologize if that offends you but when someone is about to jump off that bridge, offending someone is the least of my worries.

Jesus Christ (not the swear word) is your only hope of getting to heaven. The good news is that it has absolutely nothing to do with your or my goodness or badness. It simply means asking God to forgive you for being a sinner. I hear the snickers again. That would include all of us unless of course you are a perfect human being who has no issues now or in your past. And guess what, you will die one day and then it will be too late to ask for forgiveness. I made that decision at a campfire in the summer of 1971 and it changed my life. When I die from this cancer (or something else) I know where I will spend eternity. Jesus paid the price for my sins on the cross and when you accept Him, you are simply acknowledging that He did it for you as well.

I will leave you with that. I was going to ask Anne to post this after I was gone but then thought: I care too much for you!

Influence verses Conspiracy Theories

I have been a Christian for 53 years and during that time I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly within Evangelical Christianity. All are influenced by human beings who occasionally get it wrong but seldom with the wrong motives. The time we live in right now is an opportunity to bring peace where there is conflict and kindness where there is hate. The old acronym: WWJD. What Would Jesus Do?

I believe there is something happening in the world today that will greatly impact the "last days" which are mentioned in scripture. Most agree that the Church will be persecuted during that time and the debate has always been whether believers will be raptured before, during or after that persecution. The wishful thinkers/theologians, insist we will escape before any persecution is directed at us. After all, why would a loving God allow Christians to suffer. I will leave that for you to ponder.

The other options are much less appealing and yet a very real possibility. I have recently begun asking myself a question that I now pose to each of you: what will trigger that persecution? Or in other words, what will be the cause of that persecution?

For centuries, Christians have had targets on their backs but other than countries where Christianity has been forbidden, most of us live in relative safety and peace. That means something has to change and the popular assumption from Bible scholars is that it will be some Satanic attack to silence the Church from spreading the Good News of the gospel. That sounds reasonable because Satan wants nobody in heaven and he is a **** disturber.

Here we are in the year 2024 and the reality is, Christians in many circles, have become the **** disturbers. Some are even proud of it. Covid was a prime example of this when certain church leaders took it upon themselves to denounce governments for daring to force their doors to close on Sunday mornings. They supported blockades and had no trouble calling law enforcement "Nazis" among other things. WWJD comes to mind at which point all the above individuals would point out those tables knocked over by Jesus in the marketplace. We can get scripture to support anything if we try hard enough.

Then we have the events surrounding January 6th in the US and the subsequent unbridled support of Donald Trump by many mainline pastors. It has continued to this day where the idea of a "fixed election" is still mentioned in the Republican camp. It is one of many conspiracy theories that far too many Christian groups have latched onto. And here-in lies my premiss.

The Church is fast becoming the easy target for the world for the simple reason that their message has become distorted and full of anger. As Trump and his political party slanders opposition, many Evangelical leaders and their followers are following their lead. As you open up the news or look at social media postings, the nastiness toward anything that opposes Trump, has become ridiculous. It is causing division among Christians, even within churches and among friends. More importantly, it is diminishing the witness of the Church, where "salt and light" are an afterthought at best.

One needs to ask themselves, why would any non-believer believe the gospel message when so many Christians seem to be brain-dead? Sorry for being so blunt. There are Christians right now who are undermining the gospel message way more than the perceived offensive Last Supper debacle at the Paris Olympics. When Christians link politics and politicians to the message of Jesus Christ, we become our own worst enemy.

Matthew 7:15-18 warns us of those who will try and fool even those who are believers. The words are not spoken to non-believers because they are already deceived. Wolves in sheep's clothing are around us today and many Christians are following them instead if Jesus. That is not popular to hear, even among some of my friends but I find it frightening that so many can't see what is staring them right in the face. And I am a Conservative and would be a life-long Republican if I lived in the US.

Prophetic voices need to speak up and I am concerned that some are remaining silent because they fear the backlash from others in the Church. A reoccurring thought I have had lately is this: what would Billy Graham be thinking about the rhetoric coming from the mouths of Bible-believing Christian leaders? And then there is: WWJD? 

An Open Letter

I enjoy blogging both here on Facebook and on LinkedIn. With 61 years under my (expanding) belt, I would hope I have something worth saying to the Church and specifically the Church in North America. 45 of those years have been as a born-again follower of Jesus Christ. When I write I fully realize that I am not the smartest, brightest, most articulate writer on social media. I am also fully aware that I have my shortcomings and yes, even sin in my life. So now that I have dealt with the "plank in my eye", allow me for just a few minutes to present this open letter to all my Christian friends and leaders. No names will be mentioned to protect the innocent. Notice that you can read that in 2 ways? Not to worry friends!

I come from a wide-ranging spiritual background that started Lutheran by birth. I became a follower of Jesus at the age of 16 at an Toronto Estonian Baptist youth retreat in 1971. Later on I pastored 2 churches within the United Apostolic Faith Church. Then we brought that church under the umbrella of an apostolic group called New Covenant Ministries International. My wife, three children and I then spent 2 years in Estonia as missionaries before returning to Canada. Today I am a chaplain at various places around southern Ontario. My wife and I are members of a Pentecostal church where I help run the Alpha program.

I have seen much, experienced much and heard way too much. Too much because time and again I have seen the frailty of those who call themselves Christians. They gossip, they truly are often hypocrites and they most certainly are not always "salt and light". And yet, God loves each and every one despite ourselves. He still desires us to be a witness and ambassador for Him on this earth as long as we walk on it. He is not expecting perfection but He is expecting something. His last words to us were, "Go make disciples...".

We are saved by grace but despite what some well-meaning preachers are teaching these days, that grace does not excuse us from ignoring His commands. I could not be a pastor today because I don't even recognize the Church anymore. Instead of us being salt and light and showing our faith by our works, we are increasingly becoming more and more like the world. On social media we have believers openly talking about their love of alcohol. It's like a bunch of teenagers who have just discovered booze and want everyone to know they can now get drunk like everyone else. Is this how we disciple the nations and how we are salt and light? I don't get it!

There are exceptions to this but then we can also get into the legalistic end of things which is not much better. Somehow I don't think this is too much of an issue in too many churches today.

I am in a unique place today as a Christian Chaplain. The majority of my day is spent with those who do not know Jesus as their personal saviour. All these people and their families and my work colleagues, know that I am a born-again Christian and guess what: they don't persecute me. They don't laugh at me, mock me or tell me to keep my beliefs to myself. They actually come to me with personal issues that they don't share with anyone else. I may pray for them but often it is simply a listening ear. Part of it is because I walk around with a shirt that says CHAPLAIN in big bold letters on my back but it is much more than that. I have first gained their trust by just being their friend. I have done that by laughing with them and crying with them. I have listened to their stories and about their lives and shown interest in them. Then maybe weeks, months and even years later, they come to me hoping God can help them or their family member with a difficult situation.

Being salt and light is not a part-time job as a Christian. If we think the world is impressed when we can drink as well as them or tell dirty jokes as well as them or cheat on our spouses as well as them, we are kidding ourselves. Remember though, God doesn't have a plan B and C in his desire to see all saved. We are his only option. Let's ask the Lord to help us be salt and light each and every day.

An Opportunity

I am helping to facilitate an Alpha Course at the church my wife and I belong to here in Canada. In the late 1990's while leading a church in Toronto, I ran our first Alpha Course with about 8 guests. In case you have never heard of Alpha, it is a 10 week course that meets once a week to listen to a talk by Nicky Gumbel from London, UK. This time around we have around 35 guests and most of them had seldom if ever been to a church service.

Alpha is an opportunity to learn about the Christian faith in a non-judgemental and safe place, surrounded by people with some of the same questions and maybe even doubts as the person sitting next to them. It begins by sitting down for dinner and then listening to the talk on a certain aspect of Christianity. Then the real fun begins. Guests sit in groups of up to 10 people over a coffee/tea and discuss what they had just heard. No opinion is too "dumb" or off-base and each comment is respected. The group leader keeps the conversation going but never preaches.

I speak of Alpha because as I look around me I see a world that quite frankly is in a mess. You have terrorists and crazy world leaders in the midst of dropping oil prices and in Canada, a free-falling dollar. It is a time of uncertainty and history tells us that it is a time when the church usually steps up to bring hope. As Christians we know that the One who brings hope is Jesus Christ. Based on the various ethnic and religious backgrounds of the Alpha attendees, my belief is that the Lord has the ear of more than a few people.

While we lived in Estonia in the early 2000's, we ran Alpha in Estonian. Then too we had non-believers join us as I did the talks while translating them directly from Nicky Gumbel's book. It was a challenge but God's word does not come back void.

The question I put out to each of you is a simple one: what opportunities is God showing you as individuals and as churches in this day? We had 6 people give their lives to Jesus at church this past Sunday. Hopefully they will be among the 35 guests as we start Alpha tomorrow evening. Without trying to insult anyone, there are religious groups right now that people are literally fleeing from but where are they running to? People are looking for hope and freedom and as Christians you have the privilege to direct them to the One who has given it to you.

A Christian Response

The past few days we have been bombarded with opinions on the savagery that took place in Paris. What some may have missed is that ISIS has been busy for some time murdering innocent people including Muslims and Christians. I for one have absolutely no sympathy for this group that personifies evil. Nothing and I do mean nothing, justifies their wickedness. That means as Christians, every time we shift even a part of the blame on the US or Israel, we fall back on the world's propensity to be politically correct. We as believers need to be honest and sometimes that will mean going against the flow of what the world wants and even demands.

I just read an article by Franklin Graham that caused me to let out a groan. His solution is to eliminate the radical Muslims with as he said, the aid of our close WW2 ally, Russia. Really??? The folks that murdered my relatives are not my allies. It pointed out to me the knee-jerk reaction of many believers, including me, to this very complex issue. Of course ISIS and other terrorists groups need to be stopped but military people need to have a clear strategy that isn't based on anger and fear.

Muslims may have beliefs I don't agree with but most are good people. I believe Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind. I do not apologize for that belief nor should any follower of Christ. How we live our lives right now will have more impact than any preaching we might do. We need to pray for leaders like Obama and Trudeau even if we don't necessarily like their politics. The decisions made by our leaders could have dire consequences in the days and years ahead. The Syrian refugees absolutely need to be screened appropriately but most are running from the very thing we saw in Paris. Our security services simply need to do their job.

I saw for the first time a concerted effort on the part of those "moderate Muslims" to distance themselves from radical Islam. We need to see much more of that but we need to see it and hear it from Imams across the West and in the Middle East. Imams need to rebuke those Muslims that celebrate on the streets when things like Paris and 9/11 take place. If the majority of Muslims truly are moderate, they need to be the ones who are angry with these terrorists for sullying the name of Islam. Leaders in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and especially Egypt, need to join the West in eliminating this danger to the world. There should be no excuse from any of them not to do so.

Our politicians and our media are the ones who need to light a fire under these leaders and Imams. Don't allow them to give lip service alone. Pakistan needs to be a major player in this and even Turkey.

Herein however, lies the problem as I see it. It is called Israel. The common enemy of all the countries I have listed is Israel. The small country that is surrounded by Muslims that want them destroyed just like we want ISIS destroyed. That is the roadblock in getting these countries to take up arms. Despite all the rhetoric that may come from Muslims, their common enemy prevents them from supporting those who support Israel. To break that mindset is pretty close to impossible. In fact anti-semitism seems to have crept into many circles and that is something that is truly troubling. Read the Bible if you're not sure where I'm going with that.

There is not an easy solution to all this but as believers and followers of Christ, we need to be careful with our words. Most Muslims do not wake up every morning praying for world domination despite what some might think. As is the case so often in world affairs, our leaders need to lead, both politically and in the churches and mosques. All we can do is be salt and light where there is much darkness.

Unforgiveness

I was recently together with some friends and we were discussing the issue of unforgiveness. It is one of the ugliest sins that a Christian can exhibit and also the unhealthiest. During my years as a pastor I counseled many believers who came to me due to various problems in their lives. Fortunately the Lord helped many of them but there was one type of individual that couldn't be helped. I need to point out that many who came did so for deliverance. In other words they recognized demonic activity in their lives and wanted it dealt with. There was however one type of person I couldn't help and that was the person who would not forgive. Jesus actually addresses those folks in Matthew 6:14, 15: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses". I am not quite sure what the "hyper-Grace" teachers do with those verses but I take them very seriously.

Unforgiveness usually makes no sense after a period of time. A perfect example of this was a woman that came to us asking for deliverance ministry. My first question as it was with most people: "is there anyone you need to forgive?" The immediate answer was no, then a bit of hesitation and then a yes. Apparently she could not forgive her brother in Ireland who had gone ahead with funeral arrangements without getting her input. The mother had died and this brother decided to bury the mother on top of the father's casket. That was it! It had happened many years earlier but she never forgave this brother and they were not on speaking terms as a result. I explained the verse in Matthew and asked if I could pray for God to help her forgive her brother. The response was a very loud and abrupt NO! Remember that this was a born-again Christian woman who probably had trouble with demons because of her unforgiveness. At least that is what I felt God showing me. After several unsuccessful attempts to convince her of the importance of forgiving her brother, I suggested she come back when she was ready to forgive. As you can imagine, she now had two people to forgive.

I personally have a Christian couple who have chosen not to forgive me for something I said to them 15 years ago. Even after repeated attempts to ask for forgiveness they have refused to even discuss the matter. Someone once described unforgiveness as a safety blanket; as a way of getting back at the person who hurt you in some way. The truth of the matter is that unforgiveness hurts only one person in the end and that is the person holding on to the unforgiveness. As a pastor I preached on the topic at least 2 or 3 times a year in our church because I felt it was that important.

I don't lead a church anymore but as we head into the New Year, can I encourage each of you to examine your own hearts today. Whether or not you are Christian doesn't really matter because unforgiveness is unhealthy for everyone that practices it. If you are sitting there reading this and saying: "but you don't know what so and so did to me", you are right. I guarantee though that your unforgiveness is not bothering them even for a minute while it still eats away at you from time to time if not constantly. Bitterness is an ugly thing and it is a by-product of unforgiveness. You will attract other bitter folks but most will probably try to stay clear of you as much as possible.

Some of you have experienced terrible events in your personal lives perpetrated by other human beings. They may or may not have been punished for those acts but you need to stop allowing them to keep hurting you through your own unforgiveness. Rest in God and allow Him to bring healing to your soul. You owe it to yourself!