Disciples of Jesus—
One of the most significant hurdles to becoming a committed Christian is that Christianity is complex and sometimes challenging. Living a thoroughly Christ-centered life is no walk in the park, as anyone in the modern age can attest to. Indeed, Christianity lived to the fullest involves struggle and sacrifice. True Christians, though, know that the obstacles we might face are worth it. Doubters today will relentlessly tell you that your faith is worthless. Modern society will blame the world's problems on Christianity and say it is useless. This can make even the most dedicated Disciples of Jesus question their faith because the pressure can be astronomical. Satan is hard at work here, but you are not alone. Jesus recognizes this, and He wants us to be resilient! In so much, He wants us to be committed.
The Parable of Bacon and Eggs
I am reminded of the parable of bacon and eggs. The chicken contributes to breakfast every morning, but the hog doesn’t just contribute---the hog is committed! Once we’re committed to Jesus, He wants us to be all in! While our fate may resemble hogs on earth, our crowns will be many in Heaven based on our commitment! Jesus always addresses the attitude, which is a big deal with Jesus. The lesson is that Christian Commitment means your yes means yes, and your no means no. What did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount? But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. Matthew 5:37
Jesus tells us that every grit of our being and every component of our lives must be committed to loving and serving God. This means we must hold nothing from Him because God holds nothing back from us. Commitments affect what your life will become or will be. Today, your life is the total of your previous commitments. Whatever you want to succeed in, you must commit time to it. If you are not committed to anything, you will not amount to anything. The reason for such commitment and loyalty is that the trials we may have to endure will be demanding; our allegiance to Him may sometimes be challenging. Jesus alerted His disciples: “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they would also persecute you” John 15:20. The apostle Paul echoed His warning: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” 2 Timothy 3:12. The actual cost of commitment to Christ is total self-denial, cross-bearing, and continual following of Him. These imperatives picture our sacrifice, selflessness, and service. A cross epitomized ultimate punishment and humiliation. More than that, it fully demonstrated the love of God—selfless and sacrificial in giving His life for the world. Yes, indeed, Jesus was committed.
Southern Baptist Convention: Go Woke—Go Broke
Beer drinkers aren’t the only ones getting tired of getting “woked”! Southern Baptists are just as tired as Bud Light drinkers of getting “woked”. A recent survey shows that over 400K Southern Baptist Members left the SBC in 2022. According to Ben Zeisloft of the Daily Wire, the SBC had the most significant single-year decline in the last one-hundred years. While some SBC elites attribute this decline to Churches cleaning up their Church member roles, I’m not buying it. The Daily Wire article stated that 416 SBC Churches left the convention this past year. These aren’t individual members. These SBC churches either become independent Churches or only cooperate and tithe with their state conventions and local associations.
The primary reason for these departures was the ordaining of Women Pastors, the SBC Executive Committee’s decision to hire a Pro-LGTQ-MAPS+, and the lack of transparency regarding tithing from the North American Mission Board. Further reasons, as Ben Zeisloft points out: “Officials at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the denomination’s public policy arm, meanwhile endorsed a red flag law in Tennessee months after they opposed a bill in Louisiana that would have criminalized abortion for all parties involved, even though Southern Baptists passed a resolution affirming that “the murder of preborn children is a crime against humanity that must be punished equally under the law” the previous summer.” This comes on the heel of Russell Moore former SBC ELRC President promoted that Pastors should “persuade church members to accept vaccination and wear face masks.” There is a significant drift between the SBC Elites and the rank-and-file churches throughout the SBC. If there is no significant leadership change in the SBC at the Annual Meeting in New Orleans this coming Summer, I predict over three thousand churches will leave the SBC in 2024.
Biden’s Border Collapse and Coming Anarchy
Imagine a world where the U.S. population grows by 2.2 million in one year. But what if I told you that number will likely double in 2023? Yes, I said that right. Breitbart’s John Binder reported that the Biden Administration allowed foreign nationals to illegally cross the border in the fiscal year 2022, which exceeds the populations of 15 states. As Breitbart News reported, the Department of Homeland Security has overseen the most significant inflow of illegal immigration in a fiscal year, with more than 2.2 million border crossers and illegal aliens arriving at the southern border from October 1, 2021, to September 20, 2022. Now that President Biden has allowed Title 42 protections to expire, this number will drastically exceed anything the U.S. has ever seen. But the bigger problem for America with the Biden Administration’s Open Border policies is that the 2.2 million we saw in 2022 will pale in comparison to what America will see in 2023. Primarily, Biden’s illegal border flood delivered seven migrants for every ten Americans born in 2022, and it’s getting worse by the day. Folks that is insanity, and what we will see in the months ahead is a humanitarian crisis that we have never seen on our borders in America. Like many Christian Americans, we are all about sharing the Gospel with migrants, but this is indeed turning into an invasion that will have drastic consequences for America.
Let the Lord Be Your Shepherd
In Psalm 23, When you hear the phrase, The Lord is my Shepard. God is using the analogy of sheep and their nature to describe us. Sheep have a natural tendency to wander off and get lost. As believers, we tend to do the same thing. We are all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way. Isaiah 53:6 When sheep go astray, they are in danger of getting lost, attacked, or even killing themselves by drowning, falling off cliffs, or getting tangled in Barbwire. Or they get their head stuck in fences, and you’re trying to get them out without cutting the fence or breaking their necks. Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for His sheep, and, second, His sheep know His voice and follow Him.
And that is a Biblical Perspective from Solomon’s Colonnade! Thank you for Subscribing!
Go Bold Friends
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