Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Commentary, Uncategorized

Liberation Theology Apology

Today the gospel and the very definition of truth are under attack within society and the church.

Many people don’t even know it.   

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.   2 Cor 10:4-5

There is a false gospel among us hiding under a veil of empathy and compassion.

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Cor 11:3-4

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:”  Gal 1

Paul was constantly addressing heresy throughout the course of his ministry. For example, he rebuked the Galatians because as a result of ‘some that troubled them‘, the gospel of Christ was being perverted.  He makes it clear that it doesn’t matter who does it, be it a person or an angel from heaven; preaching a false gospel will result in a curse.

Liberation theology is a 20th-century Christian, primarily Roman Catholic, movement originating in 1950s-60s Latin America, emphasizing the church’s duty to promote social and economic justice for the oppressed.Gustavo Gutiérrez Peruvian author of A Theology of Liberation is often considered the actual founder.

Today Liberation Theology is often framed as opposition to conservative protestants. However, it was formed in rebuttal to the Catholic church which was imbedded in Latin American governments since arrival of Spanish Conquistadors.

What is Liberation Theology?

Liberation theology emphasizes the poor in interpreting the gospel. It emphasizes social activism to dismantle structural sin. Structural sin refers political and socioeconomic systems within a society that favor those regarded as oppressors. Liberation theology takes the side of the poor and oppressed. The purpose of the church is to act on their behalf. Sin is not just individual, but embedded in economic and political systems. 

Theology is not abstract but must be developed from the lived experience of the marginalized.

The Bible is read from the perspective of the poor. Their liberation is likened to the Exodus.  Justice is not grace is emphasized.

While rooted in Latin America, Liberation Theology has expanded its influence. Today we have,
Black Liberation Theology, Feminist Liberation Theology, Asian/African Liberation Theologies.
Liberation theology relies heavily on Marxist social analysis, rooted in concerns about class conflict.

The term “Marxist” is often an overgeneralized term in that even Marxists don’t always agree on what “Marxist” means. For our purposes here, I describe the Marxist analytical lens as “Deconstructive”. All political, socioeconomic problems are regarded as systemic. The solution requires that these systems be torn down and replaced. The idea of fixing or mproving existing captitalist  systems is oxymoronic.

Every problem is reduced to an issue of power. The foundation of every solution begins with the transfer of power.

There are two categories. Oppressor and oppressed. Every subgroup falls under one. Capitalism is always an oppressor. White, cisgender Christian men are oppressors. Black. LGBTQ, female Wiccans are oppressed. This paradigm is best understood in terms of what Critical Theorists call

“Intersectionality”

I would say that sometimes these descriptions do apply in the context of individuals and individual communities. Racism and bigotry do exist. God has told us how we should treat others.

He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

The fact that Liberation theology attempts to address very real and valid concerns, does not change the reality that it is in fact another gospel.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:8-9

Not every false gospel is rooted malicious conspiracy.  Well-meaning people are twisting the gospel in that biblical truth is determined by “lived experiences” instead of interpreting lived experiences according to the gospel. Empathy and compassion are their drivers. Still, the purpose of the gospel is to conform us to the image of His Son. Romans 8:29 Many mistake it as an exhortation to conform society according to our image of justice through social activism. And it’s not just the left. Heretical NAR doctrines like “The Seven Mountains Mandate” and the “Manifest Sons of God” seek social transformation by changing systems and institutions.

The gospel message is eternal not temporal. His kingdom is not of this world. John 18:36 The gospel message is for individuals and the transformation of individual hearts. Everything else would change if everyone obeyed and followed Jesus. Not a man talking about Jesus. But Jesus as revealed in scripture.

Of course, this is foolishness to unbelievers who only view life through a temporal lens.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

Blessed is he who understands the hidden causes of things.

-Virgil-

The Roots of Liberation Theology

Liberation Theology is rooted in Marxist Theory. According to Marxist theory, the proletariat or working class is unfairly dominated or oppressed by the power-wielding bourgeoisie or the wealthy capitalist class. Marx saw these divisions as solely economic.  He assumed that the alleged economic repression of the working class would naturally result in their eventual revolt against the capitalist class. He did not take into account that while the rich get richer within capitalism, the poor get richer too. At least they used to. Long story short, after the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1911 and Russian Revolution in 1917 those adhering to Marxist philosophy realized they needed a different strategy for tearing down the status quo in order to usher in a Marxist solution.

The 1930s saw the advent of “Critical Theory” sometimes called Neo-Marxism developed by a group of sociologists and philosophers known as the Frankfurt School.

The philosophical underpinnings of Critical Theory were derived from Antonio Gramsci who was imprisoned by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was the first to define socialism as a religion and stated “socialism is precisely the religion that must kill Christianity.” He is best known for his Prison Notebooks that inspired future critical theorists and formed the basis for the theory of hegemony whereby instead of a violent and bloody revolution Marxist goals could be achieved through institutional manipulation and coercion via institutions like media, religion, and education. His socialist religion was rooted in “trust in man and his best strengths as the sole spiritual reality.” 

Instead of working-class versus capitalist class, contemporary critical theory a.k.a. Critical Race Theory divided society into oppressor versus oppressed groups along lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, etc.  Sexism, racism, classism, ageism, and heterosexism… are the main forms of oppression. While oppression was traditionally defined along the lines of cruelty, neglect, and violence, etc. Critical Race theory focuses on ways in which the dominant social group, namely older white cisgender Christian males, imposes its values and standards, on others for the sake of its own interests. Injustice results from everyday practices of society at large via its normalized language, habits, cultural traditions, and symbols.

Terms like Whiteness, White Supremacy, and White Privilege are often confusing to those of us who hold no racial bigotry.  Millennial Critical Theorists who may not even realize they are Critical Theorists, are often oblivious to the strategized cultural programming to which they have been subjected since birth. Postmodernism which came on the scene in 1979, brought the existence of objective truth into question. It validated the relativism that we see today in statements like “My truth is my truth. Your truth is yours.” These truths are defined and determined by individual “lived experiences”. The expectation is that others conform their perspectives to the truth defined by thecindividual lived experience of others.

Conversely, those born before 1979 were taught that our experiences and emotions are valid and true for us. That doesn’t make them inerrantly true. The expectation was that we conform our individual perspectives to objective truth. We were taught to cope with our feelings in accordance with accepting “life on life’s terms.”

Critical Race Theory has many layers, terms, and concepts like Interest Convergence, Positional Epistemology, Standpoint Epistemology, Grievance Justice, Research Justice, Deconstruction, Intersectionality, and the most recent Cancel Culture movement that as of today is employed by the so-called Conservative Right as well. If you want to read more on the history of Critical race theory I recommend starting with the Derrick Bell Reader.

Stuart Greaves, the recently disgraced IHOP leadership team member and author of False Justice wrote, this generation of Social Justice warriors is being prepared to usher in the antichrist. That may be the case. But then we have Bethel and Mercy Culture, and Donald Trump the proverbial Cyrus or Jehu who recently stated that we should “move on” from the horror of statanic Molech worship exposed in the Epstein files. Pam Bondi pointed to the stock market as validation for continued cover-up. So I’m not so sure leftist social justice warriors are the problem. In any case, you can read the genealogy of Critical Race Theory which spawned Liberation Theology here.

The Role of Language

In his sermon, A Bride Adorned for the Bridegroom Art Katz said that Christians are supposed to be the stewards of words and language. What many fail to understand is that so-called Leftist Deconstruction (for lack of a better term) began in the realm of Language in conjunction with Critical Theory with Jacques Derrida. Postmodern relativism buttressed Derrida’s linguistic deconstruction, which, among other things invalidates any attempt to assume we can know the true meaning of a passage of scripture by drilling down into the original language. We must understand, these are two empirically unproven presuppositions leading to two very separate and divergent world views.

Here’s the thing…

Trauma is real. Radical Feminism is rooted in the abuse women suffered at the hands of men. Contemporary beliefs about white supremacy are rooted in abuses of black people by genuine white supremacists. The history we were taught in school is the history of the winners of every sociopolitical, economic battle, and or war. We are conditioned more than taught to align with the winner. But there is a history of the losers as told by Howard Zinn in A People’s History of the United States. Some call it revisionist history. It is simply history from the perspective of the losers. The fact remains that the contemporary Critical Race Theory of Derrick Bell was born out of very real trauma stemming from the horrendous and unjust history of American slavery along with the absolutely valid concerns regarding racial injustice and systemic inequality for people of color and women during the late 1950s into the 1970s. Many of Bell’s concerns were valid especially at the time when he was a black professor of law at Harvard. He even made a decent case for slavery reparations based on the fact that the descendants of slaves were robbed of the inheritance they might have received had slaves been paid for their labor.

The problem for the Church today begins with our ignorance of what our opposition believes and or a lack of empathy for the issuses and traumas that frame their worldview. As for modern Criticat Theory, its approach and doctrinal emphasis on the collective rather than the individual is unrealistic at best. People have the capacity to change themselves. They can not and do not change others let alone systems. Systems change when individuals change. Critical Theory focuses on deconstruction rather than construction. Instead of solving problems by improving the existing system, it seeks to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater by tearing down, canceling culture, reinterpreting scripture, and eliminating the status quo a.k.a “the patriarchy”.

Christianity is patriarchy. Its author and ruler is our Father in Heaven. The biblically aligned marriage and its patriarchal structure is a model for Christ’s relationship with His church. While Critical Race Theory ignores the fact that the chronic absence of fathers in inner-city homes is at the root of problems like gangs and black on black murder. The solution is not the abolition of the patriarchy but for men to fulfill their God-given calling and authority in the family and society at large.

Finally, while Christianity and the salvation of man is rooted in the Ephesians 2:1-10 total depravity of man “dead in our trespasses”, doctrines an dogma rooted in Critical Theory hold to the inherent goodness of man and his ability to save himself. Here are some scriptures that may be helpful in disputing ideologies rooted in Critical Theory.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:8

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. Eph 5:6

The knowledge of the truth is what sets us free. John 8:32

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Rom 3:10-18

Biblical righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we walk in because we are grafted in John 15:5 and are then granted supernatural power to be obedient to His word. Rom 8:1-5

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. Psalm 89:14

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19 -21

He has no form or comeliness;  And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:2-3

Jesus was the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14  He didn’t intersect with an oppressed class. He was God who intersected with all of mankind who stand equally guilty of oppressing Him through the voluntary rejection of Himself and His law. 

There is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the LORD. Pro 21:30 

“all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Tim 3:12

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Prov 16:25

The Bible says “…lean not on your own understanding In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes.” Prov 3:5-7

Obedience comes with a cost.  Romans 13 is an example. 

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Rev 12:11

“For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mat 13:12

Grateful people usually end up with more to be grateful for.  Those without gratitude usually lose what they have. 

I get the sense that a lot of entitled people are about to lose what they didn’t realize they had.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Col 3:1-4

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Now more than ever we must “study to shew (ourselves) approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Commentary

CRT Genealogy and Scripture Rebuttal

What is commonly known as Critical Race Theory is the philosophical backdrop for Leftist Ideologies today. 

The following timeline and descriptions are not exhaustive. They are intended as tools to help those interested narrow the focus of their research.

1789-99 Rousseau – egalitarianism – French Revolution

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an 18th Century Philosopher who proposed Egalitarianism as a solution to society’s problems. It was framed by the idea that 1. A social utopia was possible. Think “Build Back Better”. 2. This would require a dismantling of all social institutions that got in the way. 3. Once established, a temporary totalitarian government would be required to maintain the new utopia by force.  Egalitarianism helped to fuel the French Revolution.

1830-40 Friedrich Hegel a contemporary of Rousseau is most famous for what is known today as the Hegelian  Dialectic where the thesis conflicts with antithesis to form a synthesis. This is the root of “Dialectal Materialism” that is foundational to Marxist philosophy. The Hegelian Dialectic is a foundation for “discourse” in CRT and the principle of the “problem-reaction-solution” model employed by all totalitarian regimes to gain and maintain control. Hegel is important to the extent that he inspired Marx.

1848 Karl Marx published his renowned Communist Manifesto.  While classical Marxism is economically based whereby a violent overthrow of the capitalist class by the working class was viewed as inevitable.  However, Marx did not account for the fact that while the rich indeed got richer, the poor got richer too.  The takeaway from Marxism that still applies today is conflict theory.  Critical Theories are just rebranded Marxism in that the economic, “oppressor versus oppressed” as a conflict generator is replaced by race and gender.  Hence the term “Cultural Marxism”.

1911 Chinese Revolution

Russian Communist Revolution 1917

American Communist Party forms 1919

1929 – 1935 Antonio Gramsci who was imprisoned by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was the first to define socialism as a religion and stated “socialism is precisely the religion that must kill Christianity.” He is best known for his Prison Notebooks that inspired future critical theorists and formed the basis for the theory of hegemony whereby instead of a violent and bloody revolution Marxist goals could be achieved through institutional manipulation and coercion via institutions like media, religion, and education. His socialist religion was rooted in “trust in man and his best strengths as the sole spiritual reality.” 

1923 Frankfurt School of Economics is formed and Critical Theory is born in 1937. Theodore Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse were Marxists whose goal was to rethink and rebrand Marxism that had thus far failed to produce the projected utopian society.

Adorno believed that the authoritarian personality is the result of Capitalism, Christianity, Conservatism, The Patriarchal family, and Sexual repression.

Horkheimer took Critical Theory from being an analytical tool to one of implementing social change.

Marcuse was perhaps the most classically Marxist of the three and proposed that certain ideas, speech, behaviors, etc. must be disallowed. It could be argued that Marcuse is father of the current “Cancel Culture”.

1945-52 Chinese Communist Revolution

1960 Students for a Democratic Society, later became The Weather Underground.  Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn participated in multiple bombings in the 1960s and ’70s. Both got off on a technicality. The concern over communism grew during these years. While conservatives went into government, law enforcement and the military to counter the threat, Marxists like Bill Ayers went into education to advance their agendas.  Bill Ayers specialized in curriculum.

1963 undercover FBI agent Cleon Skousen presents a 45 point plan of the American Communist Party which included a discrediting of the nuclear family, the Bible, and the replacement of “revealed region” with a social form.

1966 Professors Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven developed what is known today as the Cloward – Piven strategy whereby the current socio-economic system in the USA would be dismantled by overwhelming social services and other entitlements with applicants until the entire system collapses and is replaced with one based on socialism. Those influenced by Cloward and Piven include Bill Ayers, Barrack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.

1967 Jacques Derrida develops what is commonly known today as “deconstructionism”. While it originally focused on textual criticism that is not without value in terms of Bible exegesis, it became foundational to cultural Marxist deconstruction we know as “cancel culture” today. It also underpins the process whereby so many Christians are deconstructing and falling away from the faith. 

1969  Michael Foucault is best known for ideas like “power/knowledge” the idea that power is gained and maintained by producing and controlling what is accepted as knowledge. His book The History of Sexuality laid a foundation for the current gender-driven upending of society.

In the late 1960s – 70s Harvard law professor Derrick Bell develops critical legal theory.  Bell is often considered an originator of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Besides the idea that racism is normal and endemic to society he also proposed “convergence theory” that in essence says white people are only capable of operating in accordance with their own self-interest. Hence any support of civil rights on the part of whites is because it converges with their interests.

1971 Herbert Marcuse postulates that radical feminism is the best platform for launching the cultural Marxist’s nonviolent revolution.

1971 Saul Alinsky a Barrack Obama mentor publishes Rules for Radicals. It becomes a manual for community organizers. It is prefaced with praising Lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom.

1979 the atheist Post Modernism of Jean-François Lyotard is born. It is not taken very seriously outside of academic circles. It ultimately turns the idea of objective truth and especially objective moral law on its head.  The result is that two generations were educated based on a system of relativistic thought that now teaches things like 2+2=5. 

1986 the Standpoint Epistemology of Sandra Harding is often correlated with Critical Theories but is more a product of postmodernism and feminist philosophy.  This has been called Ethnic Gnosticism by Voddie Baucham because it asserts secret knowledge on the part of the oppressed. Truth is based on individual lived experience. For example, a black woman knows things that can not ever be known by a white man. One result we see today is the idea that a white male must listen but not speak when it comes to subjects involving a black person or a female or any other oppressed person or group.    

1989 Kimberly Crenshaw – Intersectionality essentially monetizes the victim stance by identifying oppressed and oppressor groups.  Power is determined according the number of oppressed groups to which one can claim membership. A black female has power.  A black lesbian has more. It is possible to belong to both an oppressed and oppressor groups e.g. a white Christian female or a gay male. However, a white cisgender Christian male can only be an oppressor. One’s only hope within the context of this world view is that new oppressed groups are being added daily to include “overweight” and “introvert”…

2001 Richard Delgado is often credited with condensing and formalizing CRT in his book Critical Race Theory – an Introduction.  Among other things he planted the seeds of the current proposed anti-hate speech laws and outlined the basic framework upon which current CRT is based. They are as follows.

1. Racism is embedded in society and is normal.  CRT begins with the assumption of racism and then searches for it until it is found. Real-time application: “anti-racism work” whereby white people are taught to seek out ways in which they are racist.  They are taught there is no way not to be racist and this will be a lifelong endeavor. That said, only white people can be racist because they have all the power.

2. Convergence theory: Whites are incapable of doing anything except in their interest. For example, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is accused of attempting to conceal her racial bias by adopting black children. She couldn’t have done this out of genuine love. But rather to appease her own guilt for her inherent white privilege.

3. Racism is systemic. All systems eg. Education, Law, religion, etc. are racist. Hence the very foundations of society, language, history, and culture must be deconstructed (dismantled) and rebuilt from the ground up.  (See Egalitarianism)  Racism is an identity, not an action. Real-time application: a black man assaulting an Asian woman results from “Whiteness” imposed upon him by systemic racism.

4. All knowledge is socially constructed.  Language forms the building blocks. What you say matters more than what you do. Today looting and burning by oppressed groups are “peaceful protests”. The January 6th, 2021 protest in Washington D.C. was terrorism by white supremacists. George Floyd is a hero because he died in the custody of white police. Ashley Babbit was a terrorist because she tried to climb unarmed through a window and was shot dead by a black police officer.

2008 Barrack Obama is elected POTUS. The teachings of his primary mentors e.g. Marxist pornographer Frank Marshal Davis,  Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky, and Liberation Theologian Jeremiah Wright provided the philosophical foundation for his radical transformation of America.

2011 the Occupy Wall Street movement emerges seemingly out of nowhere. Ironically funded by “one perecenter” billionaires like George Soros.  The emerging classical Marxist narrative seeks to marginalize the 1% in and threatens to “burn it all down”.

2013 BLM is established by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi in response to Travon Martin being shot by George Zimmerman. 

2014 Michael Brown killed in St. Louis MO

2016 Donald Trump elected POTUS.

2017 ANTIFA emerges as a formidable presence in the USA. while the group traces its roots back to 1936 opposition to the Nazis its reemergence might be traced to the Occupy Movement. ANTIFA could be termed an anarchic-communist group with a horizontal leadership structure similar to Central American Drug cartels.  However, the extent of their operations, organizational and communication sophistication are evidence of external financing and some form of centralized leadership.  These are the jackbooted brown shirt-type thugs that along with BLM are what Vladimir Lenin called “useful idiots”.  As has been the case in every Marxist revolution, these will be the first to be lined up and shot if and when the desired Marxist regime is achieved.

2018 “White Fragility” published by Robin DiAngelo essentially creates a Kafka Trap for white people who deny being racist in that their denial is taken as proof of guilt. White people are incapable of acting in a way that does not serve their own interests.

Bible Verses

Again, Critical Theories are a world view and even a religion. They have multiple epistemologies (how we determine truth), multiple ethical frameworks (how we determine right from wrong), and multiple metaphysical views (how we determine what is real). As Christians, our worldview is determined and articulated by scripture that is God breathed 2 Tim 3:16-17, Acts 17:11.

Here are some thematically arranged scriptures that will help you give a solid 1 Pet 3:15 apologia for the Christian worldview that is under assault by Marxist sociological theories.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Gen 1:26 all of are His image-bearers

Gen 3 we were all born into sin as a result of the fall.

Isaiah 64:6-7  “But we are ALL like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness are like filthy rags;

Rom 3:10-18 Paul quotes Isaiah “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

Luke 13 Unless we repent of OUR OWN sins our fate will be the same as the Galatians.

2 Cor 4:4 god of this world has blinded unbelievers.  Know where you stand.  Know that world opposing world views are not argued away without a proverbial road to Damascus type experience.

Gen 11 The only division between peoples took place at the tower of Babel.

Acts 2:5-12 That division was dissolved by Holy Spirit.

Eph 2 Defines the valid dividing line between people.  Those in Christ Jesus verse 6 and those who remain children of wrath verse 3.  Denial of this core biblical truth is a subtle key to the growth of false CRT / social justice-based gospel narratives.

Righteousness is only possible through the blood of Jesus. That’s His righteousness, not ours.

Rom 3:25-26 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at present so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

2 Cor 5:16-19 “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Gal 3:28-29 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.,

Rom 2:11-16 For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many, as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

Col 2:8  “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good…

Gal 1:8-10  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Verse 9  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preaches any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10  For do I now persuade men or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Rev 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 

The word for “accuse” in this verse is katēgoréō from which the word “categorization” is derived. The devil is constantly attempting to divide and categorize us. Those adhering to Critical Theories are doing the same. They represent the spirit of anti-Christ.

Biblical justice is based on our individual actions not the actions of those assigned to the same category.

Deuteronomy 19:15 on the basis of two or three witnesses.

Lev 19:15 no preference for the poor (or anyone else) injustice.

2 Tim 3:12 those living Godly will suffer persecution. There is no God-given plan to eliminate it before He returns.  Hence justice will be determined by Him.

Isaiah 53:2-3 “He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.” This is the only verse that declares anything about Jesus’s appearance.  The declaration is made 700 years before Jesus was born.  Those who proclaim that Jesus was a racial minority have no basis for this argument.  He was somewhere on the scale between albino and black.

2 Cor 4:14-15 The true gospel says that one of God’s purposes in blessing us is that our thanksgiving (should) abound to the glory of God. Gratitude to God for His blessings is a form of worship. But the social Justice gospel demands we atone for God’s blessings.

Finally we have the issue of racism addressed in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. You can read about that here.

MARANATHA

Brian and Cathy Gray Commentary, Red Pill Diaries

DARVO

I recently saw a Facebook post by Brian Simmons, the author of The Passion Translation, regarding recent and ongoing exposure of  Sexual and or Spiritual abuse in the church. On the surface, the post appears rooted in love and compassion. More than a few members of the ministry in which I currently find myself are praising it.

Simmons cites Paul’s approach to rampant sin in the Church of Corinth along with the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. That approach is

Affirm -Reveal – Invite.

His premise regarding the approach is not inherently false, but it is a false equivalence.

Paul and John are addressing the entire fellowship. Not every participant within these fellowships was guilty or equally guilty of the sins being addressed.

Conversely, the sins being addressed today are exclusively on the part of leadership, which is held to a higher standard than regular congregants. 1 Timothy 3:1-7, James 3:1,1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, and

As for those (Leaders) who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

1 Timothy 5:20-22

The sins of the leaders being exposed by discernment ministries like Mike Winger are as follows. Lying, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, adultery, indecent exposure, fraud, false prophecy resulting in physical harm, false signs and wonders, false testimony leading to medical harm, turning a blind eye when sin by co-leaders is exposed while frequently ostracizing, maligning, and or silencing whistleblowers with NDAs.

Leaders among whom Brian Simmons is just one are appealing to the emotions of their followers. They petition hearts for grace and mercy upon the predators while at best ignoring their victims.

Deny

Rationalization, Justification, Minimization, and Generalization otherwise known as “criminal thinking errors” are primary tools in denial.

I listened to Kris Vallotton‘s first response to Mike Winger regarding Shawn Boltz. Throughout the video, he employs criminal thinking errors.  Among these Generalization and Minimization seem to be his favorites. He never uses Mike Winger’s or Shawn Boltz’s name. However, the timing and issue at hand are clear. Vallotton rationalizes and minimizes Bethel’s failure to address Boltz’s abuse on the basis that their flock is in 72 countries and therefore hard to Shepard. That so many followers are online makes it harder. He generalized that we don’t always know the background of leaders who fall and implied that Boltz and maybe others were operating out of past trauma. This was a rationalization and justification to build a strawman. 

Attack

Vallotton continues to build a strawman as he attacks. He accuses people like Mike Winger, of exposing sin for revenue-generating “clicks”. For the record, Mike Winger has de-monitized all of his videos exposing sin in leadership. These videos are five or six hours long. Having produced videos myself, the sheer volume of labour involved in this is beyond comprehension. That said, Mike Winger’s motivation is not the issue. Niether are the tone and approach mentioned by Brian Simmons. The issue is the indictment of the named leaders in the context of those they have harmed. The allegations are true or they are not. In the meantime, any other question or supposition is a deflection and diversion from the real issue.

The attack is furthered with gaslighting. The victims are accused of being offended and reminded that forgiveness is a mandate. This is true but in this context, it is another strawman. That we must have mercy and forgive does not negate “doing justly”  when a perpetrator is not held accountable and does not repent. Mathew 18:6

Finally, victims are accused of being divisive if they share their experiences with people in their communities and the public at large.

Reverse Victim / Offender

Once the victim is in fear of being in the sins of offense and divisiveness they become the offender. It’s a bit like telling a rape victim that she wouldn’t have been raped if her skirt weren’t so short.

In both cases, Simmons and Vallotton have people responding with compassion for the predators while all but ignoring the fact that the sins of men like Mike Bickle, and Shawn Boltz were known to leadership for decades and were swept under the rug. Bill Johnson knew about Shawn Boltz’s fraudulent prophecies as early as 2016 and yet he praised Boltz’s character while promoting his book in 2023. Vallotton knew Boltz would masturbate in front of interns and send pictures of his penis and full nudes via text. Yes, he apparently confronted him. But Vallotton placed gifting over character and used Solomon and Judas as examples of good ministry done by bad characters. Mike Bickle cited David in his defense. Yes God causes all things to work together for good…Romans 8:28. That said, the moral failings of biblical leaders are there as an example of what not to do. They are not an excuse for the same moral failings on our part.

Things might be different if just one or two people were the problem. However, the issue is systemic. At the end of the day, all of this is about image management to preserve a brand instead of obedience to God through His word. That brand may be framed as a “movement” or a ministry. But it is a brand nonetheless upon which the inflow of millions and millions of dollars and lavish lifestyles depend.

If this is confusing consider the following especially if you have children.

What would you have me do if I walked in on a trusted person in ministry who was masturbating in front of your child? Should, I bless him and affirm all the good he has done, gently explain why God does not approve of his behavior, pray with him, and ask him to stop?

For the record, I would give extreme mercy. In this case, mercy would look like me rendering him unconscious and calling the police instead of hanging a millstone around his neck and casting him into the sea as Jesus recommended.

What would you say if you later learned that the others in church leadership knew about the perpetrator and his recurring behavior for years and did nothing?

Where are the men in the church? Or have all of you been so emasculated that you cannot or will not stand boldly and protect the flock especially women and children?!

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Commentary, Rants from the Fig Tree, Red Pill Diaries

Opinions are Like Elbows

Almost everyone has at least one.

While we counsel people who have deconstructed or are on the verge of deconstructing, many are lamenting the exposure of sin by prominent leaders and ministries. Exposure is an affront to the honor culture in which so many Christians have been discipled. Honor is not a bad thing. It is rooted in Paul’s approach to the Great Commission in 1 Corinthians 9:22. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Unfortunately, honor is frequently perverted into a cover-up culture where narcissistic self-proclaimed leaders, teachers, and prophets misappropriate Psalm 105:15.

I think we need to frame any discussion regarding the ongoing exposure in the context of scripture, especially Matthew 7:13-14 lest our own biases and sentiments take us off course.

Leaders must abide by 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and be above reproach.

Above reproach is –
Anepílēptos

• inculpable:–blameless, unrebukeable. not apprehended, that cannot be laid hold of
• that cannot be reprehended, not open to censure, irreproachable.

-Strongs Concordance-

This includes, that “he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”

James 3:1 tells us that teachers will be judged more strictly.

Of course, we should be mindful of the guardrail of 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 along with 1 Timothy 5:17-19. Good leaders deserve double honor.

Conversely, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 and 1 Timothy 5:20-22 are the opposing guardrails. Test everything. Persistently bad leaders are to be rebuked in the presence of all so others may fear.

The Mathew 18:6 millstone should not be dismissed.

We should keep 1 Peter 4:17 in mind when we consider leaders and ministries that are being exposed as exposure is an aspect of God’s judgment. Judgement should not be confused with mere wrath. God’s judgments are intended to be redemptive. See Jeremiah 29:1-11

The problem as I see it is that these exposed leaders have no fear of God. Not one that I have heard mentions that they have sinned against God. Rather they are concerned with their “movements”.  

Ministry has become a contemporary golden calf especially within Charismatic streams.

Too often the victims of these men and their movements are swept under the proverbial rug seemingly as acceptable losses because “God moved.” They minimize, generalize, rationalize, and justify, the actions of those they cover, gaslighting followers who naively and exclusively cling to Philippians  4:8 apart from the rest of scripture.

If we listened to the victims we would note the recurring motif of Mathew 23:13. We don’t because too many have mistaken dopamine for the manifest presence of God. Confronting sin in pursuit of holiness disrupts dopamine like Narcan blocks an opiate. Thousands of young people have deconstructed and now reject the gospel entirely because these leaders ignored Galatians 1:8-9.

That said,


“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 1:6-7

God is preparing His Bride. He is burning off the dross. Gold itself does not burn.  Like any good goldsmith, God is with us while we are in the fire. He will know the impurities are gone when He sees his own reflection. At that point He will have a bride without spot or wrinkle. Ephesians 5:25-27.

Now is the time more than ever to search the scriptures to see if what we hear and believe is truth or just someone’s elbow. Acts 17:11

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Commentary, Rants from the Fig Tree

Stay Out of the Ditch

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

Ezekiel 33:1-9

We just finished Acts 10 in our Bible study where God flips Peter’s paradigm upside down again. I say again because Peter thought he knew what Jesus meant when He told the disciples to buy a sword in Luke 22:36-38 only to be rebuked for using it in Luke 22:50-51.

“No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

Luke 22:51

“No more of this!” was a mark in time. It was the official enactment of the Sermon on the Mount. No longer would God’s ambassadors conquer territory by the sword.

Acts 10 begins with Peter having gone to stay in the home of Simon the Tanner. Tanners were ceremonially unclean. Hence, Peter was in violation of Jewish law by having contact with him let alone sleeping in his house.

Next, God speaks through Cornelius, a believer in God but not a disciple yet, or a Jew. This is followed by Peter’s vision and God’s command to “Kill and eat” non-kosher food. This was another mark in time and formal enactment of Jesus’s words in Mathew 15.


“…it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Mathew 15:11

Realize it or not, Jesus repeatedly brings us back to the original problem, namely the “knowledge of good and evil” from Genesis 3. Most people limit their understanding to the act of disobedience when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. The greater depth of their sin was that man became a god unto himself.

Paul quoted Isaiah that “no one is righteous“. Our very best, most altruistic ideas and judgments are like filthy rags. Isaiah 64 and Romans 3. Jesus flipped this paradigm when He only said and did what he heard and saw His Father do. John 5:19-20. Jesus was God incarnate on earth and yet even He did not lean on His own understanding…Proverbs 3:5-8.

I believe another mark in time is upon us.

A family member of mine has deconstructed from Christianity mainly due to spiritual abuse and extreme hypocrisy that all too often characterizes the contemporary Laodicean body of Christ. His worldview has since swung hard left. I have traditionally been just right of the middle. We often message back and forth on TikTok. 

I mention this because my TikTok algorithm has changed. Instead of my being exclusively fed right-leaning content, I have been seeing almost exactly fifty percent right and fifty percent left-leaning media. In nature, there are compelling moral arguments on both sides for almost every socioeconomic or political issue. After all, we all want better, more affordable food, healthcare, and energy. No one I know wants to drink contaminated water or breathe polluted air.

One thing I have observed is that if you are on the right, you undoubtedly see the very worst representations of the left. We’ve all seen Black Block Antifa types throwing bricks through windows, starting fires, and attacking reporters. When questioned they have nothing but explicatives to share. Meanwhile, those on the left see overt white supremacists, e.g., Patriot Front members, Nick Fuentes, and KKK nut jobs. The right hears about Tim Walz drinking horse semen and partnering with Somali “Learing” Centers to rob the American taxpayers. The left hears that Donald Trump is a misogynistic Nazi pedophile and friend of Jeffrey Epstein. One thing is certain. Some, all, or none of this could be true. At the end of the day, none of us knows anything beyond what we are told by the media. Video footage might be AI. Still, we apply the logical fallacy known as “Appeal to Authority” and form a conclusion regarding the state of our nation and the world. We commiserate with like-minded peers in our respective echo chambers and discuss what should be done about and to the other side.

“Commiserate” means to falsely estimate.

Now Renee Nichole Good has been shot dead by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota is best known for the death of George Floyd. According to the left, he was killed by the knee of Derek Chauvin.  The right claims he died of a methamphetamine and fentanyl overdose.

Right-wing media reported that Ms. Good had a rap sheet filled with protest-related charges. ICE was trying to apprehend her when she attempted to flee and purposefully ran into the ICE agent who then shot her dead. Given that she was the mother of a six-year-old child, JD Vance among others, wondered about her priorities. Why was she interfering with a law enforcement operation? After all illegal immigration is a crime.

Those on the left say ICE is the strong arm of the white supremacist Gestapo. They are now out to get white women, not just people of color. Ms. Good was just passing through when she got caught in the demonstration. No law enforcement officer should ever jump in front of a moving vehicle to block it.

Those on the right point out that Ms. Good was a lesbian who divorced her husband. The offending ICE agent is a Christian and married to an immigrant. False equivalencies abound ad infinitum.

The left is appalled that armed masked men have descended on their communities and are questioning everyone in a Nazi-style “papers please!” format. One mental health professional asked, “Where are the de-escalation skills?” “Just obey the law and comply!” Cries the right. “The feds are breaking the law!” the left replies.

“Nichole Good was just afraid!” says the left. “The ICE officer had been dragged by a vehicle in a previous incident. He feared for his life!” Says the right. “Nazis!” Cries the left. “Communists!” Cries the right. The right demands that Trump implement the Insurrection Act. The left declares its time to blow up police stations and begin an insurrection. Both sides claim it will be bad for the other.

I just listened to a left-leaning Marine Veteran of Fallujah explain that insurrection is upon us and a lot of people are going to die. Like gasoline on smoldering coals, each event creates more violent rhetoric. “Trump wants civil war so he can cancel the mid-term elections!” Says the left. “The Democrats want insurrection to distract from their fraud!” Says the right. Once again, some, none, or all of that could be true.  Meanwhile as many as six thousand protesters have been killed in the current Iranian insurrection.

Is that what people want?

In my opinion it’s one big satanic psyop. You know a Psyop by F.A.T.E. Focus, Authority, Tribe, and Emotion.

An event happens that jerks the collective focus onto it. Authority, namely politicians and the media, defines and declares what happened or is happening. People commiserate within their respective tribal groups, e g Right or Left. Emotion is generated and sustained by rehtoric and a consensus is formed. Each subsequent event results in a positive feedback loop until both sides become increasingly escalated and begin killing each other. And the devil smiles. He smiles because he knows that he can do nothing to us. He can only convince us to do it to ourselves. This is world history in a nutshell.

I could be wrong, but as I see it all signs point to our being close to the end. If that is the case then we know that a third of mankind will be killed in the process. Rev 9:14-18

If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Revelation 13:10

Hence the current mark in time and enactment of Jesus’s words.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Mathew 7:13-14

Narrow is thlíbō
to suffer tribulation, trouble, press (as in crushing grapes to make wine).

– Strongs Concordance 2346-

The time has come for all believers to walk the narrow way. The narrow way is marked by two ditches, one on the left and the other on the right. Genuine believers will not be duped into falling into either one because neither is correct let alone good. No one is good. There are no political or economic solutions to a spiritual problem. We will be pressed and despised by those in both ditches.

Jesus warned about the leaven of Herod, the Pharisees, and Sadducees in Mathew 16 and Mark 8. That leaven is of the world and the religious/political spirit. It is the knowledge of good and evil. It is this leaven that confused Peter, such that he denied Jesus three times when he swore he would give his life. It was this leaven that drove him to attack Malchus in Gethsemane and later argue with God three times over what he could eat in Acts 10. It is the leaven that will drive brother to deliver up brother and the love of many to grow cold. This leaven is the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is self-righteous and rebellious. Therefore, be sober, be watchful. 1 Peter 5:8 Prepare to endure in love as lawlessness grows. Mathew 24:12-13

“No more of this!” means exactly that,  His Kingdom is not of this world. John 18:36 We are in the world not of it. John 17:16

Sweep the leaven from your soul.

Preach the Gospel

Stay out of the ditch.

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Holy Spirit Baptism

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 8:14-16

The gospel going to Samaria was the beginning of the Church’s growth that proceeded as a result of Saul’s persecution.

Most of the group discussion last week revolved around the subject of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Everyone in attendance had received it. Each person gave testimony of receiving it.

The questions that preceeded it were,

  1. Is it a separate event or does everyone receive it at baptism?
  2. What is the evidence of it?

Some people received it when they were baptized. The evidence one cited was that the scripture suddenly made sense for the first time. One person had a demon cast out of them. One received the gift of radical love and the power to forgive. One received the gift of tongues. All agreed that a passion for God’s word was a result of the experience.

As Phillip proceeds on his journey, he runs into an Ethiopian Eunuch who just happened to be reading from Isaiah 53.

Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Isaiah 53 prophesied the crucifixion of Jesus 700 years before Jesus was born. It is the very chapter that led Moishe Rosen to surrender to Jesus as Messiah. He went on to found Jews for Jesus in 1973. Isaiah 53 is dismissed or even forbidden by contemporary Rabis.

When the Ethiopian Eunuch understood the meaning of what he was reading, he immediately asked to be baptized.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

Acts 8:39-40

Caught away is harpázō the same word used to describe the rapture.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Harpázō
to seize, catch (away, up), pluck, pull, carry off by force, claim for one’s self eagerly, to snatch out or away.

-Strongs Concordance-

While this is a side note, or a squirrel as we say in our Bible study group, it occurs to me that while the rapture is certain, the destination is not clear. Philip was harpazoed from Samaria to Cesarea about fifty miles away.

Revelations 12 and 13 describe the three and a half year tribulation from which the woman (the elect) is preserved.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Revelation 12:5

The only place harpazo is found in Revelation is in verse 5 speaking about Jesus in Daniel 7:13-14 and Acts 1:9-11. Even so, harpazo is implied for the remnant church.

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 12:6

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 12:14

What do you think?

If you are a regular reader you will notice that my weekly blog posts have dropped off. This is because I am writing a book. I’ll let you all know when it is published later next year.

Maranatha!

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Saul of Tarsus


And Saul approved of his (Steven’s) execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 8:1

Saul was a Roman citizen in Tarsus, one of, if not the most significant, trade hubs in the ancient world. After being trained in one of the most lucrative trades namely tent making, Saul went to Jerusalem to study theology under Gamaliel (remember Acts 5) for seven years. Some say this was the equivalent of two PhDs. Suffice it to say that Saul was revered. Hence, Steven’s killers laid his clothing at Saul’s feet. However, in sanctioning Steven’s murder Saul was guilty of breaking multiple laws. Capital punishment by local authorities was prohibited under Roman law without prior approval from the Roman government.  Jewish law required the testimony of two or more witnesses. Also, stoning was required to be carried out outside the city gates. This was an impulsive murder by a mob driven by emotion.  Saul went on to persecute believers en masse. Later he would refer to himself as the lowest of the low.

…We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

1 Cor 4:13

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

1 Timothy 1:15

Based on verse 4 in Acts 8, 
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word; it appears that Saul’s persecution of believers was a catalyst for the propagation of the Gospel message. Historically speaking, persecution has been one of the most effective means of promoting the Gospel. The question in my mind is, is this God’s plan, or is He merely causing what the devil means for harm to accomplish His will?

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:28-29

We know that the process of conforming something requires pressure. Tribulation, persecution, affliction, suffering, etc., are Thilipsis in Greek and mean pressure. Our character is conformed to the image of Christ when we endure or persevere under pressure.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

Christians are being persecuted and martyred for their faith all over the world as I write and you read. The graphic video below is from Darfur, Sudan. It happened just a few days ago. If this is hard to handle, how will you handle the same if it happens to you or someone you love? Ask yourself, what is idolatry? What does faithlessness look like in the context of our lives now and in the context of persecution? What is the definition of cowardice?

What do you think? Is our health, wealth, and comfort in this life God’s primary goal? Should the content of our conversation be food, entertainment, and worldly gossip, a.k.a the community news? Or should we be preparing our hearts and minds for something else?

Be sure you’re right. Then go ahead.

Davy Crockett

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Revelation 21:8
Mediate on that.

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Commentary, Rants from the Fig Tree

Come out of her…

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,

Revelation 18:4

Cathy and I just returned from celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles with our good friends at New Wine Ministry in Decatur, Arkansas. We were assigned to share one night. Cathy told me she was hearing voices coming out of her my people… I couldn’t get reconciliation out of my mind.

…All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

So I share about God’s original covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. I mentioned the covenant through Issac and the blessing on Ishmael in Genesis 17. I talked about God’s love and continued covenant with Israel, that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, and that Israel will be saved. Romans 11 Then I read Isaiah 19 which concludes with,

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

Isaiah 19:24-25

I read all in the context of the current conflicts between Israel and its neighbors. Most of all, I read it in the context of believers who insist on mixing politics and faith. I framed my argument with 2 Corinthians 5, and Revelation 12.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 

2 Corinthians 5:16

We inevitably regard our neighbor according to flesh anytime we attempt to use the gospel to fix the world for the sake of our best life now. Like it or not we are applying a Satanic framework when we sanction or support the killing of other human beings in the name of our definition of righteousness. A foundation of that framework is named in Revelation 12.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down who accuses them day and night before our God.

Revelation 12:10

Accuse is katēgoréō, the Greek word from which the English word category is derived. The world organizes people into assigned categories and judges them as good or bad. This view is the product of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from the fall in Genesis 3. The Bible says that no one is righteous apart from Christ. Hence there are only two valid categories in the world. 

In Christ and Not in Christ.

We can look at almost any instance of polarization of one people group against another in the world. We are in violation of scripture the moment we choose a side that results in “us versus them”. Mind you I am not talking about disagreement on issues. I am talking about treating others in a way we would not want to be treated if the roles and power were reversed. Roles and power are cyclic. They are repeatedly reversed and reversed again.

…with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Mathew 7:1

Those cheering the decimation of Gaza or immigrants slammed in the streets by ICE will eventually see the same standards applied to Israel and Christians in the USA. We just can’t seem to comprehend that Jesus was speaking to believers not unbelievers when He warned …with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

The pattern of God dealing with His people throughout history is a pattern that Israel has never been able to recognize. Those who persecute Israel are and will indeed be punished. But as we see with Assyria in Isaiah 10, God often uses those who curse Israel to punish Israel for her sins before punishing those who cursed her in the first place.  That’s not because God is double-minded. It’s because God wants to reconcile all of Abraham’s dysfunctional family. He disciplines those He loves. Heb 12  God loves the descendants of both Issac and Ishmael. Satan, the accuser, is the one who wants us to categorize and facilitate our killing each other. Many are cheering the fulfillment of Zephaniah 2 today. Make no mistake. The fulfillment of Zephaniah 3 and Ezekiel 38 will surely follow.  Study these scriptures out and see if what I am saying is true.

A picture of me teaching at Ninawachi in 2018. drawn by Daeme, a Waorani missionary student

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the Waorani and Teromanane in the context of the ministry of reconciliation in which all followers of Jesus share. I have been meditating on the culture of depravity from which He wants us to be separated.

The depravity of man is both the most empirically verifiable statement and also the most intellectually resistant.

-Malcolm Muggeridge-

In October of 2018 we were blessed with the opportunity to travel, all expenses paid, to Ecuador where among other things we got to meet and minister to Waorani (Wow-rani)  people.

The movie “The End of the Spear” is the story of Jim Elliot and his missionary partners who were martyred at the hands of Waorani warriors, a previously untouched people in the Ecuadoran Amazon valley in 1956.

It is also the story of their surviving widows who forgave and ministered to the Waorani people and led many of them to Christ.  It is one of the most powerful contemporary stories of faith, forgiveness, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you’ve seen the movie, then you know that the spearing of Jim Elliot and his friends was provoked by a lie on the part of a Waorani woman trying to avoid accountability for her actions.  In a nutshell, she had an agenda that she advanced by manipulating the emotions of her own people. Were it not for the faithfulness of Elizabeth Elliot and the other wives, most, if not all, of the relatively small number of Waorani might have been killed in a retaliatory action by Western colonists.

Many Waorani became Christian after 1956. A portion rejected Jesus completely in favor of their old traditions and religions. These formed a separate clan known today as the Teromanane. Relations between the two clans have been strained ever since.

The Teromanane remained nomadic hunters and avoided the Waorani villages.  Violence could be avoided provided they avoided each other.

Modernization and a shrinking of territory due to the expansion of oil companies in the region pushed the two closer together. Oil exploration and the lumber trade meant more workers needed to be fed. Game previously hunted for tribal sustenance now went to feed the growing oil company workforce. Overhunting and a resulting food shortage caused the Teromanane to begin migrating closer to Waorani villages in search of food. They began stealing Waorani bananas and Yucca.

Instead of retaliating according to previous tradition, the Waorani sought reconciliation with their Teromanane brothers and sisters.  

One day some Waorani women went out as the Teromanane robbed their orchards. The women told them that they didn’t need to steal, that all they needed to do was ask and they would give them whatever they needed.  This led to more social contact to include a romantic interest between a Waorani man and a Teromanane woman.  In Waorani and Teromanane culture, a man and a woman who are seen alone together three times are expected to get married.

Apparently, the Waorani man changed his mind.  We don’t know what the woman said to her people. We only know that the Teromanane became so enraged that they kidnapped three young Waorani children, took them by the ankles, and beat their heads against a tree until they were dead.  In response, the Waorani formed a raiding party and killed 15 Teromanane men and women while they slept.  Two children remained alive. The Waorani took them back to their village. That was 2013.

Fast forward to 2018. We were with some Waorani and other indigenous people in Ecuador. We even met some of the men involved in the previous raid. We had come to visit Ninawachi school for indigenous missionaries and make a “thank you video” for their donors.

The video opens with a Waorani woman worshiping in her native language.

Ninawachi disciples people from the Shuar, Kitchawa, and Waorani tribes, then sends them home as missionaries to their own tribes.  Three of these, Daeme, a Huaorani native, his wife Diana, a Shuar, and Priscilla Vargas, an Ecuadoran colonial, were about to head into the jungle for their outreach practicum.  Priscilla was one of the teachers and had nearly died from an Amazon-borne illness the last time she was there.

It was at that time that we learned that the Teromanane were starving and were willing to discuss peace with the Waorani again.  The only condition was that the kidnapped children be returned.  Everyone was hopeful, including the Ecuadoran military, who devised a plan to fly a helicopter into Teromanane territory and lower the children down by rope. The only catch was that someone else had to pay for it. That wasn’t going to happen.

The three Ecuadoran missionaries were getting ready to head upriver when we got news that the Teromanane had arrived just outside of the Waorani village where they were going.  The situation was tense.  Once again two or three Waorani women who were on fire for the Lord had gone out to meet them. Everything seemed to go well and a meeting to discuss peace was scheduled. Unfortunately, it was time for us to return to Honduras.  All we could do was pray.  A week after we returned, we learned that the Teromanane leader turned out to be Daeme’s great uncle.

Recently, I heard from our friend Pricilla. She told us that there has been periodic contact between the Waorani and Teromanane. The Teromanane have received a few solar Bibles and solar radios. However, the proverbial ground remains hard. Pricilla asked us to continue to pray.  Here is a link to her blog Pricilla’s blog. She is a genuine example of the ministry of reconciliation in real time. She is currently affiliated with YWAM. Having lived on the mission field for six years, I know any support would be greatly appreciated.

One thing stands out in the conflict between the Waorani and Teromanane. No one outside these tribes is rooting for one side to dominate the other. Perhaps it is because their lifestyles and world views are so foreign to outsiders that no one can place themselves in any of their proverbial shoes. Outsiders are either ignoring the situation entirely or Christians are actively promoting reconciliation between the two tribes.

My question is, why don’t Christians apply the same approach to all people groups and conflicts, e.g. Israel and Palestine? After all, doesn’t God want all people to be reconciled to Himself? Why then, do so-called believers insist on regarding nearly everyone according to the flesh? Why do we continue to categorize everyone as good guys and bad guys? We give lip service to the cross and God’s word to the extent that it benefits us. Then we lay our lives down at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Another example is the so-called illegal immigration problem. Are there illegal immigrants who commit crimes? Yes. Is it a violation of US law to immigrate without permission? Yes. If that is the case, then it is also illegal to solicit, promote, and make money off of illegal immigrants. We were in Honduras and watched the caravans form and proceed north to the US border. We have friends who departed in the hope of making ten dollars per hour instead of ten dollars per day. We watched the promises of freedom and prosperity broadcast on CNN Central America. We know people who paid Cartel Coyotes five to twelve thousand dollars to transport family members across the border. We were dumbfounded by a bureaucratic nightmare resulting in the near impossibility of immigrating legally. Now we are watching them being hunted down and arrested while the people who invited and ushered them in remain unaccountable. The Trump administration claims only criminals are being targeted. Friends from affected cities say ICE has quotas. One thing is certain, a precedent is being set.

Here is another example that hits close to home. One of the two greatest commandments, love your neighbor as yourself is derived in part, from Leviticus 19.

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:33-34

True Christians will obey God.

People generally align with whichever side of an argument or conflict their respective side or team supports. They reinforce their argument with media narratives organized by internet algorithms designed to corral opinions and people. Our queries inform the algorithm of our biases.  “Does Hamas kill Israelis?” will yield atrocities committed by Hamas. “Does the IDF kill Palestinian children?” will yield IDF testimonials of their own atrocities. People argue for and against sides in conflict as if war itself were not an atrocity. We think we are thinking and analyzing right and wrong, good and evil. In truth, we are being divided and corralled into opposing categories in an ongoing spiritual battle by the enemy who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy.

Shockingly few humans can think at all. Most of them are just bio-LLMs (Large Language Models) who regurgitate whatever garbage they ingested through their eyes or ears. They hardly have an original thought cross their minds. Shockingly few humans have a conceptual internal reality that maps anywhere close to the reality outside their heads. They live inside delusional constructs, distorting sensory input to match their internal maps rather than updating their maps to match the terrain in the world around them. As a result, most humans aren’t THINKING at all. They are PROJECTING…

Mike Adams

Apart from Christ, all people and all human conflicts are the same. Apart from being in Christ we are all Teromanane and Waorani. The antidote is to come out of her my people. Come out of the world of artificial categories.

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,

Revelation 18:4

Jim Elliot and his friends gave their lives in the ministry of reconciliation that was carried on by their widows who forgave the Waorani who murdered their husbands.  Why can’t we have the same heart for Israel and the Palestinians? Why can’t we have the same heart for the right and the left, Democrats and Republicans? People thank me for my service as a trained killer in the USMC instead of the missionary I became after I repented. Why are we so hypocritical? Why can’t we honor and obey Jesus’s commandments in Mathew Chapter 5 without reservations? The list goes on ad infinitum. It seems that we just can’t or we refuse. We praise Jesus with songs in church then live according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  We idolize that same tree every time we turn on the evening news. Many, if not most, ultimately reject the final sacrifice of Jesus in favor of a scapegoat that we are programmed to despise for self-righteousness’ sake. Otherwise, we’d look in the mirror and recognize Mystery Babylon in our own eyes. Then maybe, just maybe we’d repent and come out of her.

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Red Pill Diaries

False Equivalency

Stephen and Charlie Kirk

One of our goals in studying Acts is to understand and compare the very first church to the church today. Are we the church in Philadelphia, or Laodicea? Rev 3:7-13, Rev 3:14-22 Philadelphia is the true church. Laodicea is the worldly church. False equivalency is one path into worldliness that produces a Laodicean church.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 

Revelation 3:15-18

A False Equivalency is a logical fallacy where two things are inaccurately framed as being the same based on shared characteristics while ignoring major differences. The easiest example is saying apples and oranges are the same because they are both fruit. False equivalency is a popular tool that politicians and the media employ to manipulate public opinion.

As Acts 6 opens, we see the newly formed New Testament church growing rapidly. The Apostles realized they could not meet all the material needs of the people and also be devoted to prayer and preaching the gospel. So they appointed Stephen and six other men to fulfill the role of what would later be called deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.

Deacon – diákonos One who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister. The servant of a king. One who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use. A waiter, one who serves food and drink.

– Strongs Concordance-

Stephen was full of grace and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people. He was both anointed and brilliant. Surely anyone with the same ability to articulate truth so accurately and concisely today would have a celebrity platform and a large following.

Yet Stephen was chosen to wait tables.

“The Freedmen” (Libertines KJV) who contended with Stephen were former slaves from various regions of North Africa, Egypt, and Asia. They could not coherently rebut Stephen’s exegetical declarations. So they lied and devised a plan to turn public opinion against him. They accused him of blasphemy against Moses and God.

But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

Acts 6:10-14

Falsehood can never refute truth. It can only seek to silence the vessel through which it comes. Most recently, we’ve seen this in character assassination, cancel culture, riots, and, literal assassination. Are the human vessels through whom truth comes ever perfect themselves? Certainly not! That doesn’t make the truth they proclaim any less true. Paul clarified this in Romans. It remains true for all of us today.

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar…

Romans 3:3-4

Simply put, if I proclaim Jesus is Lord of all creation one day and murder my neighbor the next, Jesus is still Lord. A common false equivalency embraced by unbelievers today would be to reject Jesus because one who had proclaimed Jesus then committed murder. Christians are prone to the same error, e.g., a transsexual committed a mass shooting in Tennessee, therefore all transsexuals are mass murderers. In both cases, the implied, albeit unconscious, false equivalency is that eliminating Christians and transsexuals will eliminate murder.

Many outside conservative Christian circles are critical of Charlie Kirk’s politics and economic philosophy. The false equivalency begins with their equating his political views with his character. I never met the man. And while I may disagree with his unbiblical view of history, he was, as far as I know, a man of integrity.  I can hear the patriot rebuttal as I write. Whoa Brian! What do you mean by “unbiblical view of history”?!

Thanks for asking.

Like many politically conservative Christians, Charlie Kirk believed that America is a Christian nation because its founders were Christian and founded on Biblical principles. This is in itself a false equivalency. For example, Thomas Jefferson, who stated that our form of government is only fit for a moral and religious people, also used a razor blade to cut out every reference to the supernatural from his Bible. Benjamin Franklin was a Deist. The entire architecture and landscape of Washington DC is rooted in Freemasonry. While the Biblical principles injected into our Constitution and Juris Prudence remain true, it does not make the USA righteous or Christian any more than the Freemason architecture in Washington DC makes America Freemason.

The history of every nation is always a story of conflict between so-called good and evil according to human standards gleaned from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Genesis 3  When the gunfire ceases and the smoke of battle clears, the winner is declared righteous. History is subsequently written and taught to a respective nation’s populace from the perspective of the winner. 

Paul addresses the biblical example of this false equivalency in his dissertation regarding the moral state of mankind. He addresses the Jews who believed they were righteous by birth. Romans 1-3 lays the foundation for the case that apart from Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles are exactly the same.

What then? Are we Jews any better off?  No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:9-18

Charlie Kirk used scripture to support his political activism. The scripture he shared remains true as ever. But scripture can not sanctify politics any more than it can sanctify sin. Scripture counters sin by replacing the lie with truth.

Choose your preferred media narratives surrounding the death of Charlie Kirk.  At the end of the day, we can not, and probably will never be certain why and who killed him. What we do know is that, like the Jews who killed Stephen, Kirk’s killers could not refute his assertions and concluded the only right choice was to kill him. Whether they were transgender leftists or Israeli Mossad or representatives of an unnamed agenda matters little. They were and are of their father. 

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:59

The underlying dynamic of the fear of truth remains the same. Truth is truth. Truth is only affirmed and supported by questioning.

Jesus contrasted how truth and those of the truth manifest themselves with those of the father of lies. There is no deviation. It doesn’t matter what church you attend or don’t attend. It doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you prefer. If murder and mayhem are your solution, then you are of the devil.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

John 10:7-18

As Christians, we are to proclaim and seek to live according to the gospel and the example Jesus set. That example may include our death. It does not include taking the lives of others. We can only do this by abiding in Jesus.

Stephen is a model of that abiding.

No one seems to know anything about Stephen before Acts 6. That doesn’t matter much because the grace and power with which he was filled came from the same Holy Spirit that filled Peter and all those in the upper room in Acts 2. The same applies to us today. Our scarlet sins are now white as snow. All that matters now is Christ in me, the hope of glory. Col 1:24-29 There is a fine, but very important line between the message of Stephen and that of Charlie Kirk.

Once again, Charlie Kirk debated moral and political issues based on a Christian worldview as defined and supported by scripture. This apologetic approach is only valid in the context of an audience that shares the same worldview underpinned by the same presuppositions regarding moral truth. Kirk argued with those who shared a different worldview and definition of right and wrong. It is pointless to argue against issues like abortion or gay marriage with those who dispute the existence of objective moral law. Apart from God, right and wrong are completely subjective. The definition and value of life are subjective. The definition of a man and a woman is subjective. We must understand that all worldviews are rooted in one or more empirically unprovable presuppositions otherwise known as faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1 Believers understand that faith in the cross of Jesus is the source of our understanding and power. Meanwhile, unbelievers regard this as foolishness. 1 Cor 1:18

If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.

Proverbs 29:9

In Acts chapter 7 Stephen is brought before the High Priest to answer the charge of blasphemy. 

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

Stephen replies with the most concise presentation of Israel’s history with God found in scripture. Note that he begins by addressing them with the utmost love and respect.

“Brothers and fathers, hear me.”

Like the rest of the disciples, Stephen’s purpose is not to change political policy but to bring them to repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ. Most of his sermon is a summarization of history. He concludes with quotes from Isaiah 66:1-2, and Exodus 32:9.

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

Acts 7:51-53

Stephen presented the truth to Jewish leaders in the context of their shared history and worldview. It was in this context that he presented the error that they had murdered their long-awaited Messiah. They could have repented. Instead,

they cast him out of the city and stoned him. 

Acts 7:58

Stephen was laser-focused on defending the truth of Jesus and His kingdom that is not of this world. He did not venture into politics, social issues, or economics.

Shouldn’t we do the same?

You’d think the church would get it by now. The same Kingdom versus world dynamic keeps repeating. Jesus was tortured and slain by the Romans. The Jewish leaders and many of their followers consented to the crucifixion of Jesus, as evidenced by the consensus that Barabbas should be spared instead of Jesus. Mat 27:15-26 They lied and framed Jesus as the Zealot revolutionary and threat to Caesar. The error and danger here is to create a false equivalency between the group of lying Jews who chose Barabbas and all Jews then and thereafter.

It is important to always keep in mind that we do not war against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6 Wherever we see human beings operating in accordance with a false equivalency be sure you are witnessing the enemy at work. The devil rallies people into groups like football teams then sits back and watches while they persecute and kill one another. Meanwhile, the path to salvation begins with understanding that no one is right. No person or group, no political party or country is right. Only God is right. We are made right by His grace and the love with which He loves us. Ephesians 2:1-10

It occurs to me as I write that in addition to questioning leftist ideology, Charlie Kirk also began to question the narratives following the October 7th Al Asqa massacre and subsequent decimation of Gaza. He did so based on the same objective moral truth defined in the Bible and the presupposition that Truth is never threatened by questions. Rather it is confirmed. After all, Israel has had evil leaders. Ahab and Jezebel are two well-known examples. I am not saying that Bibi Netanyahu and his government are evil. What I am saying is that Charlie Kirk posed several worthwhile questions that have yet to be answered. The false equivalency drawn by many conservative Christians is that anything and everything Israel does today is inherently good and right in God’s eyes simply because it is Israel. The implication that those currently living in the Holy Land, and its current secular government called Israel, define Biblical Israel in its entirety is another false equivalency. Israel is composed of 12 Tribes – thirteen if you count Joseph, the majority of whom remain dispersed around the globe. This matters because many have asserted that Israel killed Charlie Kirk. Can you imagine the firestorm that would result if a world driven by media narratives rooted in false equivalencies discovered that some Jewish people were behind the death of Charlie Kirk? The world would turn against Jewish people even more and their persecution would escalate.  Be careful of false equivalencies, especially those that support unforgiveness in any form.

Lest Satan should get an advantage over us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

2 Corinthians 2:11

We put ourselves at risk anytime we step out of the pure word of God and preach anything other than the gospel of the Kingdom that is not of this world. Another false equivalency is the assumption that Charlie Kirk is a Christian martyr because he was a Christian who shared scripture in support of the Turning Point USA mission. Many are claiming that preaching the gospel was the primary mission of Turning Point. It was not.

Turning Point USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk. The organization’s mission is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.

TPUSA About Page

The danger here is the further conflation of the gospel of Jesus Christ with Conservative politics. The implied false equivalency is that Jesus is a capitalist and a Republican. Jesus wasn’t a capitalist or a socialist. He is niether Democrat or Republican. He was neither for nor against any earthly “ist” or “ism”.

His only desire was that all men be saved.

Stephen was the first Christian martyr. He set the standard. Countless men and women have been martyred for the same reason, that is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians in places like Nigeria are being martyred as you read. As we will see in the remainder of Acts, the followers of Christ followed Christ. There were no attempts at influencing, let alone changing the political and socio-economic landscape of society.

We are witnessing a gradual progression in the intensity of persecution in Acts. I believe we are witnessing a similar progression in our society today. Now might be the time to ask ourselves,

What hill am I willing to die on? 

Stephen was absolutely certain of the Truth he spoke and died for it. Charlie Kirk did the same. Stephen died preaching the gospel. Charlie Kirk died answering a question related to the 2nd Amendment. Like Jesus, Stephen never debated those who would kill him. He simply declared the truth. He loved them like Jesus. Charlie Kirk’s last words were in reference to a false equivalency, namely that most mass shootings are  committed by white people. His last statement was, “are you inculding gang violence?” Stephen’s last words mirrored those of Jesus toward the least of His brethren,

Many are calling the recent events surrounding Charlie Kirk a revival. Maybe. Still, I see the risk of our falling into heresy and calling it revival.  Once again, I find myself echoing Jeremiah’s words to Hananiah in Jeremiah 28.

“Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true… 

Jeremiah 28:6

I suspect the Lord’s answer to those prophets and their followers believing in the greatness of America apart from national repentance and the rejection of the leaven of Herod, the Pharisees, and Sadducees will receive the same response as Hananiah and the false prophets in Jeremiah 13 and Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah lamented in the end, even if he was preserved amidst what came upon Israel. 

One thing seems certain. False equivalency is a primary tool of battle in Satan’s kit. That people today tend to feel more than think concerns me. The future looks like tribulation to me. May the Laodicean church in America repent and become Philadelphia. Lord help me to follow the example set by Jesus and Stephen. 

Maranatha

The featured photo is one I took of Cathy sitting in the exact spot just outside of Jerusalem where Stephen was stoned.

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Commentary

MAMA

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

1 Peter 3:15-16

Meekness is praÿtēs –

mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness
Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time.

– Strongs concordance –

Meekness is also likened to a battle horse that is unwavering in its obedience to its master.

In our Acts 17:11 Bereans Bible study we are watching the gradual escalation of persecution unfold in Acts. The disciples are bold and unyielding in their message.

“Jesus is the only way. You murdered your own Messiah!”

The Sadducees wanted to kill the disciples from the start. But they were afraid of the people. Thus far, the disciples have been apprehended, warned not to speak, released, imprisoned, miraculously freed, beaten, and warned not to speak.

So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Acts 5:41

The disciples were meek.

They did not compromise their directive from Jesus. Neither did they add to it.

The world is shaken by the recent public assassination of Charlie Kirk. He was addressing the subject of gun violence. Some are crying. Others are riddled with excitement. As expected, extremes on both the political left and the right are heralding the start of civil war. 

Charlie Kirk was a Christian. He was conservative, pro-traditional family, pro-Israel, anti – abortion, etc.  Charlie Kirk was 31 years old.

Charlie Kirk was the same age as several of our family members whose worldview is diametrically opposed to that of Charlie Kirk. Israel vs. Hamas was a topic of a recent discussion. “Hamas launches rockets from hospitals and schools,” I said. “So does Israel!” they responded. “That’s ridicul…”  I caught myself.

How do I know?

The truth is, I don’t. I only know what the Google algorithm presents to me according to my biases.  Did Greta Thunberg’s boat recently get hit by an Israeli drone or was it an explosion and fire caused by fireworks on board? Were Israelis attending the Nova festival on October 7th killed by Hamas or the IDF according to the Hannibal Directive? In the words of the Palestinian Christian woman with whom we stayed in Samaria rang in my head, 

“The Israelis and Hamas are the same.”

The truth is that neither one of us knows. Biblically, God has a plan for all of Abraham’s children, both Jacob and Ishmael.

Charlie Kirk began his final “Prove me wrong” public dialogue with a reference to 1 Corinthians 5 that addresses the subject of sexual immorality. He did not mention leaven.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Corinthians 5:6-7

Charlie Kirk should not have been shot. He was a genuine Christian man, a husband and a father adored by millions. Those who hated him, hated him because of his politics. Jesus warned about religious legalism and politics.

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Matthew 16:6

The Pharisees and Sadducees were both religious and political parties. Charlie wasn’t killed amidst a proclamation and appeal that Jesus is the only way. He was killed amidst a dialogue concerning gun violence and the right to bear arms. The 2nd Amendment exists to protect the individual’s right to take human life and overthrow the government under certain conditions established by the Constitution. None of this has anything to do with the teachings and commands of Jesus and Biblical Christianity.

Probably the biggest gripe my family members and those with whom they are aligned have against Christianity is the hypocrisy of politically leavened Christians. As followers of Jesus, we are called to preach the gospel as Jesus and the Apostles preached it.

That is all!

There is not one shred of evidence anywhere in the New Testament of any directive to attempt a political transformation. Aside from “render onto Ceaser what is Caesar’s” and “Honoring the King”, politics is a Biblical nothing burger. Even more, we are not called to judge unbelievers and the system run by the god of it. We are called to judge believers. Not because unbelievers are right. But because even the most altruistic unbeliever is already dead in their trespasses and appointed to wrath. Dead people can do nothing. Rather we are called to an eternal perspective. We are to preach the Word in season and out of season. We are called to study ourselves approved, to take captive every thought, and cast down every argument that exalts itself above the knowledge of God. We are called to care for widows and orphans in their distress and remain untainted by the world. We are to always be ready with an apologetic defense for the hope that is in us. We are not called to fight with carnal weapons or transform institutions. We are called to be spiritual and meek even at the cost of our own lives.

The public assassination of Charlie Kirk is as horrifying as it is saddening. Many on the opposing political extreme right are calling for extrajudicial retaliation. Those on the extreme left are emboldened. Meanwhile, I can only imagine the same thing happening to those in my own family on the political left. While their worldview is diametrically opposed to that of Charlie Kirk, they aren’t any more violent than Charlie was. Still, given that some of them attend political protests at times, the possibility remains. One thing is certain. The love of many is growing colder by the day. Hence,

Violence begets more violence.

The time is coming, and it is now here, when we will be persecuted for our faith. Let us resolve today to study and follow the Acts of the Apostles such that if we are beaten, imprisoned, or killed, it is for the sake of an unleavened Gospel alone. Instead of praying and proclaiming MAGA, let us repent and pray MAMA as a church.

Make America Meek Again

Alas, apart from those who already view the world as I do, I suspect my words will fall on deaf ears. Others might be enraged. As. always all are welcome to prove me wrong via scripture alone. Meanwhile, I am a sojourner here. I am in this world but not of it.

My trust is in Jesus Christ alone.

Maranatha