News

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:1-8 NAS95

It is not the Bible passages that have me disturbed today as I write. In fact, it is the lack of the Bible in our world that has me disturbed. What do I mean? I have been reading the news, which I try to do daily. Why you might wonder when there is so much bad news. One of the problems in our society is we are insulating ourselves from the constant barrage of bad news. We don’t want to be brought down by the bad news on television. In part, that is the fault of the news media and the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality that permeates the media. I wonder if that is the reason social media is so popular. It is the one place you can go to get news from family, friends, and even people you don’t know that will be light-hearted and sometimes just funny.

However, let’s get back to the Bible. We have a crisis on our hands regarding the total lack of respect for human life. Twenty-five years ago, many of us were saying the violence of computer games would bring about a generation that would not respect human life. We are now reaping the rewards of those games. Today’s version of those games is more violent than ever. Thankfully they are losing their appeal to the masses. But there is a sense of why play the games when you can do the real thing, which seems to be occurring in our world.

Yesterday my grandchildren’s school system shut its doors because of a threat that was received. A threat the school and local police felt was credible enough to react to in a dramatic way. Last week a university nearby was shut down because of a threat. A few weeks ago, children were gunned down because the theology of a church did not meet the desires of an individual. Yesterday six people were killed by a disgruntled former employee. We are killing each other at record levels and no leaders want to acknowledge that we have lost our way. They are afraid to say we have no moral compass, because if you say that you are branded a Bible Thumper and dismissed. You suddenly are accused of being anti-everything that the media want to tag the voices for morality.

If you take a stand for pro-life you are tagged as anti-choice. Take a stand for self-defense and you are anti-gun control. Take a stand for protecting children from sexual assault from a “gay groomer” and you are homophobic/anti-LGBTQIA/trans-phobic, etc.

Many of us in ministry, and many who preceded us, declared that when we removed the Bible from schools, prayer from schools, and the Ten Commandments from schools we would soon be at the place in history we now find ourselves. Now that we are here, there is no way to bring back these values to schools and society. We have progressed too far away from the standards of the Bible to go back. The courts would never allow it.

Too many churches in America have transitioned away from the values of the ten commandments to be “inclusive.” We desperately need a church in today’s world that has open arms, hearts, and ears; but is unwavering in upholding the standards of the Bible. These churches exist but are overshadowed by churches that want to be everything to all people. Churches that are willing to abandon the Bible to appease more people. And finally, we get to the text of this musing, Paul the Apostle’s letter to Timothy.

The solution for the ills of this world begins in today’s passage. Sound doctrine, preached from our pulpits and taught in our homes. Evangelism by all. Taking the good news of the gospel to your circle of influence. Being sober and willing to give your all for the cause of Jesus Christ, and finally fighting the good fight of faith until God calls you home.

If you are disturbed by the killing and the sexual situation in our world, then it might be time to revisit the Ten Commandments and take up Paul’s challenge to Timothy.