Life Is Bittersweet

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Audio for this article here: SermonAudio.com/StudyGrowKnow

Recently, our church family experienced a death of one of our elderly saints, who has been a pillar in the church for decades. Just a few weeks ago, we honored her in our morning service. There, one of her sons sang a favorite song of hers. She joked afterward that it could not have been her funeral celebration because she was still alive.

Not three weeks later, she has gone to be with her Lord. She sees Him face to face. She worships Him with all her heart, mind and soul and there is not a hint of sin within her any longer. She is blessed even though her loved ones mourn their loss.

This morning I received an email from a brother in Christ who is a regular reader of this blog. I feel as though I know him and that we are friends because of how often we email one another. His note this morning was short and a blessing to read.

I just want to let you know that my Dad passed away early this morning (4:05 am MST). He is free! He is now glorified. Finally and fully he is now with the Lord having reunited with my Mom. It doesn’t get any better than that. What better hands than the Lord. Amen indeed. You take care now.

In the past, this young man has written with concerns about his father’s health and requests for prayers. In some ways, I was reliving the way my own mother passed away as I watched her become more frail. It is always so difficult to lose Christian loved ones. On one hand, we know we will see them again. On the other, we mourn the loss because we can no longer talk with them.

Life is like that for Christians. We know that ultimately, we have something far better laid up for us in heaven than anything we have in this life. Yet at the same time, we often have full hearts – sometimes with gladness and sometimes with mourning – because of the dichotomy that we often feel while living here.

As I look to the horizon, seeing as far as I can see (which isn’t that far), I realize that life has seriously changed and not for the better and will continue on that path. We are experiencing extremely high fuel prices, which of course, affects everything else and the result is serious inflation. The folks in DC appear to be doing absolutely nothing to help the situation at all, but seem intent on allowing things to worsen. Who knows where it will end? Since I am not a prophet, I certainly have no way of knowing. God has not clued me on on the end result of this situation.

Because of this, I tend to worry. I worry not for me necessarily but for our kids and their kids, our grandchildren. The world appears to be increasingly becoming unhinged. Shootings have occurred in several areas of the USA over the past few weeks. We had a devout Leftist (who apparently loves Rachel Maddow and who thoroughly believes in Communism), open fire at a grocery store in a largely black neighborhood of Buffalo, NY. Because of this, he was immediately labeled a white supremacist and the blame was placed directly on the GOP, in spite of the fact that the perpetrator is not anywhere near what would be classified as a conservative or “right-wing.” He is clearly left-wing as his manifesto states. But he is white and he killed black people, ergo he is a racist. End of story.

Darrell Brooks, a black BLM supporter plowed through a group of white people in a parade last Christmas and the blame was placed on the vehicle (“a car plowed through…”). He was quickly out on bail and we were told to not jump to conclusions regarding his motives. It seems clear that Brooks is also a racist but the narrative today is that because of Critical Race Theory, black people cannot truly be racist because they allegedly do not have power over white people. This is hogwash because anyone can hate someone of another race or culture regardless whether or not they actually have power. But the truth is that as Brooks has allegedly shown, he had power over the white people he killed or injured just as the Buffalo shooter had power over the people he killed or injured.

Aside from all this, we see more and more gay, lesbian and transgender teachers coming out of the woodwork to provide “changing closets” for their students; to help them talk about their gender and to help them transition and keep that private from parents. When I was in school, most of the time we never even knew if our teacher was married or not and we never knew their politics. Today, it is expected that teachers will “groom” students and discuss political activism. That might be acceptable for the upper grades in social studies, etc., (at least to discuss it, not groom!), but it is happening in the very youngest of grades. This is forcing parents to make decisions about what to do with their children so that they are not impacted by the covert methods the Left is using to gain power over children.

We are seeing people who spent the first fifty years of their lives as a man, who now all of a sudden assert they are actually women. This entire line of thinking is problematic because no one can actually change their biology. If they are born one particular gender, changing things externally does not impact their chromosomes one bit, yet we are to accept what they believe they are now. It is absurd to the nth degree.

Abortion of course is a huge issue, with the mayor of NYC recently stating that there should be absolutely no limits to abortion on demand, even agreeing that up to the moment of birth is still the right time to abort. Many pro-abortionists actually want moms to be able to kill their children beyond the moment of birth, so what we are seeing throughout society is a push to literally murder children who have grown to full-term in the womb. This is heinous, but the Left continues pushing it.

Here’s where it gets weird. On one hand, we are told now that women and men can menstruate and even get pregnant. It’s not merely a woman’s thing. So the labels are changing from birth mother, to birthing person. Breastfeeding is now chestfeeding. These types of changes are all based on feelz and have nothing to do with science.

If you were paying attention during the uproar over the Supreme Court leak about the potentiality of overturning Roe V Wade, the Left went crazy and again went back to the “my body, my choice” and “a woman’s health is not up to men” etc. The problem here is that why was “my body, my choice” great when it deals with abortion, but not regarding a vax? Moreover, how is it merely a “woman’s health” issue when the same Left now says men can also get pregnant? I will grant you that a woman who “transitions” to becoming a male outwardly (but continues to have a uterus and vagina), can get pregnant. The reason she can get pregnant is because biologically, she remains a woman.

A man who “transitions” to being a woman can only do so outwardly by having certain appendages removed and others added. However, that man does not have a uterus or vagina, nor does he have Fallopian tubes or eggs. In essence, that man who outwardly becomes a woman can never become pregnant, will never menstruate and never experience what a biological woman experiences.

So on one hand, the Left became apoplectic about a “woman’s health” issue. Of course, it’s not a health issue at all. Abortion is murder and since women cannot self-impregnate but must use semen from a biological male, another person is involved in the pregnancy even if it’s done via invitro-fertilization. But the really fascinating, telling part of it is when the Left completely ignored men in the process, the same men whom the Left said could get pregnant and could menstruate. It is so ridiculous that it is hard to believe modern society is at the point of trying to force everyone to believe that men can actually become pregnant.

So with this world going the way it is going, I can only wonder what our young grandchildren will experience. If we are truly not living in the end of the end times prior to the Tribulation and the physical return of our Lord, and life will continue to go on for many decades and even centuries yet, then I will assume that intelligent thinking will one day again rule the day and the crazies who believe they are something they are not, will be pushed back into the shadows. However, if we are the cusp of the coming seven year Tribulation with the eventual return of our Lord at the end of it, then things will not improve and in fact, they will become drastically worse.

It actually appears to me that society is seriously unraveling at its core. Up is down. Bad is good. Right is wrong. This is creating a huge disaster on many levels. I just turned 65 and I’m not getting any younger. I look back at my life and see that I’ve written some 30 books on a variety of doctrinal and theological subjects. Some of them are good to great. Others are a bit lacking. But here’s the thing. Even though I’ve tried to write other books, I find that I’m simply not interested. In fact, I can look back over the past five to ten years and see that I’m not really interested in many of the things I used to be interested in. Things are changing for me. I am finding myself looking ahead a great deal, focusing on being with Him one day, when my faith will become sight, when I will no longer have a sin nature that keeps me bound to this life and falling out of fellowship with Him. It is remarkable how my perspective has changed and continues to change.

So, in spite of all the ills in life and the seeming downward trajectory of society, what is the Christian’s response to be? How do we gain and keep our sanity while the rest of the world clearly goes bonkers?

Philippians 4:6-7 is merely one place that reveals the task at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There you have it, Paul tells us that we should not be anxious about anything in this life. It’s actually a command. Fortunately, Paul tells us how to do this and it is done by taking everything to God in prayer and supplication. Supplication is an earnest form of prayer, heartfelt. There is almost a sort of desperation involved in that process. We must desperately seek Him in prayer and do all we can to give Him the things that seek to bind us.

While doing this, we must offer tremendous praise for His will, whatever it is on our behalf. If we are willing to undergird our prayer requests with thanksgiving, it is then that God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds.

I don’t know all things and neither do you. I cannot even see a month down the road. I don’t know what is going to happen. It would make decisions I need to make today much easier, but I don’t have that future knowledge. So I must pray about everything, offer much thanksgiving and trust that He will direct my steps so that He will be glorified and I will grow in grace and fellowship with Him. If I worry about things, I will become locked up, unable to move one way or another.

As I refuse to be anxious and instead bring everything to Him in prayer and undergird all of it with constant praise and adoration for His will and provision, it will be then that His peace that I cannot understand will guard my heart and mind. I will be led into the path that He has chosen for me.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective