If You Give Up Your Life...

My dad was a Christ-follower, and was serving as the chairman of our church's Elder Board when he died of cancer in Edmonton on Christmas morning 1973. He was 43 years old, and I was 17. Being my mom's firstborn, I went with her to shop for the least expensive casket and burial. Companies offering "discounts" for such products and services were quite rare back then, but we managed to find a firm in Edmonton that saved mom over a thousand dollars (which today would be over $7,000).

In 1975, a year after graduating from high school, my girlfriend and I left Canada to attend a Discipleship Training Institute in Sebastapol, California. The Jesus Movement had been roaring forward in Edmonton, and while we were emotionally smitten by spreading the gospel with our touring band Emmanuel, we did not attend university. Failing to prepare career and financial ability kinda bothered Sheila's parents, but it was only a 3-month training program. So they tolerated our choice.

After finishing DTI, Sheila returned to Canada to tour with the band (Emmanuel) recruiting youths for YWAM's outreach at the '76 Montreal Summer Olympics. Meanwhile, I got invited to join the Agape Force ministry, which took me to Lindale, Texas, where I helped build the new AF offices and campus. Sheila and I got married in Edmonton on July 30th, 1977. Most of our wedding gifts received during Klondike Days were travel-oriented: highlighted by two Samsonite suitcases, and a cedar-lined chest. We lived in Lindale for almost seven years, until the Agape Force relocated again—this time up to Tacoma, Washington. We weren't exactly homeless... just itinerant.

Sheila & I toured Australia with the music group Candle in 1982 (Gold Coast).

The decade we spent in "ministry" was highly rewarding in so many ways. But as you might guess, financial benefits were not on the list of blessings. In fact, we had a non-trivial amount of credit-card debt. Finally, in December of 1984 we left Tacoma for Edmonton with our 1 year-old daughter. It took me a year to find full-time work—in Vancouver, BC (suburb Richmond) at Word Records of Canada. That was an expensive place to live, so we were only able to rent half of a nearly-ramshackle duplex on a major arterial street (Number 2 Road).

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OK, brief pause to address "if you give up your life." That statement—that wording—hadn't yet appeared in an english-language Bible translation. Most translations followed King James by saying "if you lose your life." 

Now during my time working for Word Canada, they added book-publishing to their distribution of LPs, cassettes, and CDs. In 1986 Word, Incorporated in Texas launched a new translation called the International Children's Bible (ICB). Wowee, what a treat it was to help introduce to Canada a FULL Bible that was targeted at 3rd grade kids! And ICB was the first to use "give up," in Mark 8:35... Whoever wants to save his life will give up true life. But whoever gives up his life for me and for the Good News will have true life forever.

After the success of ICB, Word Publishing created a slightly more sophisticated version called the New Century Version (NCV), a terrific "modern english" translation aimed at adults. It also says "give up."

~~~

Alrighteethen, back to the financial challenges of my untrained career.

In late 1990 I was hired by Word, Inc. in Dallas, Texas—where we were able to buy a small house within a coupla months of our arrival. But barely two years later the company was acquired by Bible publisher Thomas Nelson, and relocated us to Nashville. Thanks to a generous corporate move package, we made a healthy profit selling our tiny house in Coppell, TX and were able to buy a modest-sized brand-new home in Franklin, TN.

We lived in middle Tennessee for 30 years, during which time we had another child (born in Nashville), and we eventually became U.S. citizens. While running a record label called Everland Entertainment, I once attended a Family Christian Stores conference in Grand Rapids, MI during the summer of '96. I was pitching Veggie Tales videos and the Kid City kiosk, and Tyndale Publishing came on stage right after me. They launched the New Living Translation (NLT), and were kind enough to give me a copy of their new Bible. And yes, it was a Give-Up translation... which has become my favorite "regular reading" Bible. 

Moving forward, I left the corporate world in the year 2000 to join a creative start-up—Fancy Monkey Studios. After a coupla years, FMS hit a major speed-bump, which forced us to shut-down. Eventually that disaster caused Sheila and me to file for bankruptcy. We sold our house, went back to renting, and I worked for any client that would hire me—writing for Christian magazines, doing videography for churches and weddings, controlled-document training for a pharmaceutical firm, marketing campaigns for Christian companies, non-profit management for a wealthy client, website creation/maintenance, audio-book recording/editing, eBlasting, animation production, video editing, screenplay writing, DVD authoring, and on and on. 

Nearing age 65, having become empty-nesters, we desperately wanted to avoid becoming a financial burden to our kids. Having recovered from bankruptcy, we were able to purchase a lower-priced house in Spring Hill, TN. Our mortgage rate was under 2.5%. Still, that house was the only "asset" we owned, and I wanted to find a way for Sheila to retire from her job as a residential house-cleaner. Sadly, our retirement age for Social Security benefits had extended to 66.5 years. Ugh.

The lowest emotional point while pondering and planning the last few chapters of my life was when I ended up researching cardboard caskets, and green conservation burials. Fifty years after my dad's departure, I couldn't even afford the cheapest wooden casket and a cemetery burial. 

~~~

And yet God has provided for us this whole time—despite bankruptcy, low income, and no post-secondary education.

Now, approaching my 70th birthday, my daily Bible reading took me into the gospel of Mark, chapter eight. Jesus was deeply disappointed in his disciples' failures to understand what he was saying and doing. At the end of the chapter, they were near Caesarea Philippi, and Christ announced to them (and to a crowd)... If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. (NLT)

Well, years earlier, in 1975, I was so excited to attend DTI in California that I didn't at all feel like I was taking up my cross. But looking back over the past 50+ years, my decision to pursue ministry was indeed "giving up" every other pathway I could've taken. My life has been devoted to Jesus and his gospel... and suffering bankruptcy certainly felt like I was carrying a cross. Especially when I started to look into funeral expenses.

~~~

Anway, in 2019 my dear mother-in-law up in Chilliwack, BC passed away shortly after we attended her 90th birthday celebration (pic below). Her terrific hubby, who had died of cancer in 1998, left her a solid portfolio, allowing her to live comfortably for another twenty-plus years. 

My 90 year-old mom-in-law celebrated with her daughters at Harrison Lake.

The Lord blessed her daughters with a non-trivial inheritance to split. Alas, it took over a year for the funds to arrive in Tennessee from British Columbia. And the number of "dollars" was nearly 30% less in USD than CAD. But thankfully, even a very low six-figure inheritance enabled Sheila to afford a future casket made of wood. Thank God for the provision granted us from Sheila's gracious and loving parents... considering that she too has Given Up her life to Jesus and the gospel.

During that year of waiting for the bequest to arrive, I felt the Lord leading me to study how to create a portfolio for my darlin' ... who is quite likely to outlive me. Stocks? Gold? Silver? Bitcoin?

I'll walk ya thru that process in an upcoming blog post. :-)

Should Not Perish

Immortality is prized by Christians as God's gift to whoever places their faith in Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of their sins. Its most famous formulation is in John's gospel when Jesus' tells Nicodemus: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

Our own deeply-felt mortality is what makes the promise of immortality so potent.

And yet much of Western evangelicalism offers the promise of everlasting life to non-believers. Well, strictly speaking, they tell the faithless that their eternal life will be lived out in the torments of hell. So every human being will live forever... it's just a question of where.

How has modern evangelicalism come to contradict so much of scripture? The natural immortality of all humans is nowhere taught in the Bible. There are so many passages describing the end-state of the unredeemed as death, destruction, and perishing, 

The sole basis for this belief centers upon a few "proof-text" verses—four, to be precise—-that seem to indicate ongoing, endless, conscious punishment for the unredeemed. I contend evangelicals have uncritically accepted the Hellenistic Greek belief in natural immortality. 

In 1991 Zondervan published a book entitled "Four Views Of Hell," in which the late Dr. Clark H. Pinnock (Canadian) persuasively argued the view of Conditional Immortality. A growing view of Eternal Destiny among Western Christians in the last half-century is called Universalism. The 1st edition of the book did not include Universal Salvation as one of the four views. Finally after 25 years Zondervan has published a 2nd edition that does include Universalism. But in the original/first edition, Pinnock addressed Universalism very clearly as an underground, but increasingly widespread belief—-primarily due to the lack of teaching and preaching about hell from evangelical pulpits. The lack of teaching on Eternal Destiny is a sign of Pulpitical Cowardice, IMHO. The scripture is filled with teaching on the ultimate destinies faced by all human beings.

Here's the link to download a free copy of the original version of the book:
https://ia803008.us.archive.org/12/items/fourviewsonhell00croc/fourviewsonhell00croc.pdf

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Judging Others

The image below is not a jab at Baptists. I was raised Baptist, got married in Central Baptist Church (Edmonton, Alberta), sent our oldest daughter to a Baptist college, where she met and married a young man who is a Minister at Baptist Church in America's heartland. 

I was prompted to write about this particular epigram when a friend of mine—an outspoken Christian—posted the above statement on her Facebook page. Her version wasn't a photo of a church sign, it was one of those virtual "posters" that has become popular on FB and Pinterest. The social-media practice of posting images-containing-words may have sprung in part from the frequently misspelled, misidentified, unattributed, or materially changed maxims popping up in earlier days. We now have websites filled with clever/provocative/inspiring memes in attractive layouts designed to be freely "shared." 

But wait—where are my manners? You might feel all warm and fuzzy reading the proverb above. You may have been wondering why anybody would challenge its message. If you were halfway out the door to join your local Baptist Church; if you're a Christian who just loves our increasingly tolerant (permissive?) culture; if you're pleased that what used to be called "sin" is now celebrated as a valid lifestyle choice—then you, gentle reader, are the person to whom this blog is addressed.

Lighten up, you say, isn't the statement just a rephrasing of Jesus' famous line in the Sermon on the Mount? Where's the harm in warning against judging others? Alright, let's stipulate that to the extent the statement is consonant with Jesus' words, it's useful. I can imagine this clever catchphrase reminding a Jesus follower to be more Christ-like. But to the extent that this mini-proverb differs from scripture, it's actually worse than useless. And let's not ignore the times in which we live. 

First, with just a few minutes of basic web-searching we learn that this quip was popularized online by self-described "Muslim Egyptian/Canadian Human; Ryerson Journalism Student; Spoken Word Poet; Speaker; Da'ya; Change Maker" named Amal Ahmed Albaz. The quote is from her Facebook page called "Albaz Poetry." If, like me, your first Red Flag was "Journalism Student," congratulations—you may close your textbook and go home early.

Most of her "I Am" list is pretty self-explanatory, except for "Da'ya." Do you know what an Egyptian da'ya is? A midwife. Do you know what an Egyptian midwife does to girls age 6-12? I'll wait while you look it up. Dum-de-dum-dum-dum. Are you back? Good. Armed with that knowledge, let's reflect on what Ms. Albaz might be aiming at in publishing her don't-judge-me statement in North America. What kind of "change maker" do you think she aims to be? (Hint: it rhymes with Maria.)

Second, while Ms. Albaz likely didn't originate this clever paraphrase, it blends perfectly into Oprah Winfrey's renowned Sentiment Stew—floating alongside un-Biblical tropes like you've-gotta-forgive-yourself. These messages have been seeping into the culture since the 1960s. I remember when the book "I'm OK, You're OK" ushered in Situational Ethics, by way of Transactional Analysis. I watched the culture rush from Free Love, to Transcendental Meditation, and on to No-Fault Divorce. These kinds of make-it-easy-on-yourself concepts infect the societal bloodstream and affect followers of Jesus. Consider: divorce rates among Christians are little different from the general population. We are instructed to be in-the-world, but-not-of-it. I don't suggest withdrawing like the Amish or the snake-handling Pentecostalists. But neither should we heedlessly allow the culture to fill up our kettle until, like the frog, we're destroyed by the toxic brew.

Third, while Jesus made it clear that being judgmental—condemning, slandering, gossiping, back-biting, envying—is evil, scripture says those of us who have the Holy Spirit within us "will judge the world." Further...

"...and if the world is to be judged by us, why would we feel incompetent to decide trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, issues pertaining to this life!" Turns out that St. Paul's first letter to the believers in Corinth urged them to judge disputes among fellow believers. Also from 1st Corinthians...

...do not "associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. What do I have to do with judging those outside? Are you not to judge those inside? But God will judge those outside. Remove the evil person from among you." So we see that believers in Christ are not only instructed to judge, but are given specific parameters. 

Look, everybody has to make judgment calls every day. Should I hang out with that group at work? Is this conversation fruitful? Is that person wasting my time? Parents evaluate their kids' friends—and their friends' families too. Most celebrities caught in compromising positions defend themselves by saying they exercised "poor judgment." Life demands making judgments—often about other people.

Yes, we're prone to having a log in one of our eyes—preventing us from speck-removal. 

But no, we're not to abandon judgement—we are to use it Biblically, and with humility. 

Was 2020 America's Year Zero?

[NOTE: I wrote this brief blog post in early August of last year's Summer Of Leftist Violence. I didn't publish it then, because I couldn't discern an outcome. Last fall's controversial Presidential election was surely the strategic goal of all the disruption.]

August 3rd, 2020

"They wore black, were mostly teenagers, and people cheered them."

Burning St. John's Church, Washington, DC on May 30th, 2020 

"Schools closed. Religion was banned." 
"If you said one word against [them], you would be killed."
"The first to die in ... Utopia were the civil servants, soldiers and police ... the educated, doctors, [the] monks..."

The quotes above are from Cambodia in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge movement violently rose to power. The world paid scant attention to Cambodia, being relieved that the U.S. war in neighboring Vietnam had finally ended. But the suffering in Cambodia had just begun, detailed in 1979's little-seen documentary "Year Zero - The Silent Death of Cambodia" by Australian journalist John Pilger. However, millions of people in the West saw 1984's Academy Award-winning "The Killing Fields" by Roland Joffe.

America is not Cambodia, of course. Neither are we France, or Russia, or Germany, or Italy, or China, or Cuba, or Venezuela, or dozens of other smaller nations upended by violent, lawless, totalitarian insurgencies. But do we somehow imagine that the horrors visited upon so many countries in the aftermath of their bloody uprisings cannot possibly happen in "the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

In fact, the horrors are already happening. We've seen florists, bakers, photographers, college professors, journalists, and others lose their jobs for speaking truth to power. The power isn't the State, but the Mob (often via Twitter, but also violently in person). Have you ever been caught in a life-and-death panic with a large group of people? If so, you have seen what kind of behavior "normal" folks are capable of in dire circumstances. Imagine what kinds of things can be done by people who study, plot, and prepare to unleash a violent overthrow.

~~~

November 4th, 2021

So now we can see that Cloward-Piven tactics, along with "Rules For Radicals," are undoubtably driving the Biden administration's new-outrage-every-day operating principle. Defund the police; the IRS must monitor every American bank account over $600; deny actual science in regards to COVID therapeutics/masks/vaccines; force American companies to force so-called "vaccination" on their employees; assert falsehoods like "Critical Race Theory doesn't exist;" stop building the border wall American taxpayers have already funded; encourage unlimited illegal immigration; pay illegals up to $450,000 each; abandon Americans in Afghanistan; spend $3.5 trillion on shovel-ready infrastructure; print and print and print new money; mint a few $1 trillion coins; etcetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

There is simply not enough time for citizens to assess, critique, discuss, and intelligently respond to any one of these daily grenades... because by Thursday they will have launched two NEW mortar shells out into the fruited plain. They are keeping us off balance, and trying to discourage us from resisting their lawless takeover.

Well, thankfully a couple of days ago (11/2/2021) there were a bunch of off-year state/municipal elections which dramatically rejected many of the candidates responsible for these kinds of lunacy. In Virginia the Republicans swept all three state-wide offices (Governor, Lieutenant Gov, Atty General); in Minneapolis, Austin & NYC, Defund Police policies were overturned; the NJ President of the Senate, longest-serving legislator (a Democrat) was defeated by a truck driver who spent $153.42 on his campaign.

More importantly, there are rumblings of a religious awakening across the USA. Actor/activist Kirk Cameron is touring the country with his "American Campfire Revival" program; Franklin Graham just concluded his Route 66 Prayer Tour; evangelist Mario Murillo is seeing overflow crowds at his tent meetings in California's San Joaquin Valley and upstate New York; major protestant churches from coast-to-coast are winning court battles (and in some cases have received financial compensation) against state shutdowns of public worship—even outdoors. 

Christ-followers understand that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of darkness in heavenly places. And we have this promise: "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him." - Isaiah 59:19b

No, 2020 was not America's Year Zero. Despite COVID shutdowns, despite lies and violence, despite corruption, despite all the usual suspects (press/media, Hollywood, academia, et al), America is still earth's pinnacle nation. As such this country matters greatly to God... and We The People will look back to 1776 and 1865 for our civic inspiration. We don't need the Left's Vision from 2020, we need God's Gift of 20/20 Vision.