Birmingham and Los Angeles - Different Leaders, Different Values

This past Saturday while in Atlanta for the wedding of our nephew, Mary Lynn and I took time to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park.  It was a great three hours of history, information and inspiration.

Ironically - I write this on the following Monday - Los Angeles began to be engulfed in protests over federal ICE arrests at the same time.  There is a lot going on with much back-and-forth and I have no idea how things will play out from here.  I'm a pastor, not a predictive prophet.  There is more than I can address in a single post - while on vacation.

But I am sadly struck by how far we have fallen from Dr King's leadership.  These protestors are not marching in his footsteps, following his example or committed to his values.  That is the single point that I want to keep before us with this post. Those who marched with Dr King:

• Never wore masks.
• Never advocated violence or harbored violent agitators.

In January of 2021, I posted "Marching With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr" - CLICK HERE for the full post.  In that post, I included the "Ten Commandments" for participating in the Birmingham, AL Bus boycott.  However things play out, it is worth reposting those principles, as I have below.

Every volunteer was required to sign a Commitment Card that read:

I hereby pledge myself—my person and body—to the nonviolent movement. Therefore I will keep the following ten commandments:

1. Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus

2. Remember always that the non—violent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation — not victory.

3. Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.

4. Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.

5. Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free.

6. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.

7. Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.

8. Refrain from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart

9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

10. Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration.

I sign this pledge, having seriously considered what I do and with the determination and will to persevere.

From the 1963 book Why We Can't Wait by Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. - p. 64

Evangelicalism - A Global Movement

I've posted before regarding the meaning and confusion around the term "evangelical" and why clarifying that understanding is important to me.

You can revisit those posts here:

• "So What Do You Mean By 'Evangelical'?" - 1/21/21 - CLICK HERE
• What Do You Mean By "Evangelical?" - 1/17/24 - CLICK HERE

I came across a review of the book Soul By Soul: The Evangelical Mission to Spread the Gospel to Muslims by Adriana Carranca recently that added insight to that question: What Do You Mean By "Evangelical"?  The reviewer makes two particular points that I often point out:

• Evangelicalism - as understood for over four centuries and represented by the National Association of Evangelicals - CLICK HERE for their website with their definition - is an international movement, with particular convictions and history.  It is more than a recent category of American political identity.
• There is an amazing work of God happening this very day among Muslim people across the globe, and "Global Evangelicals" are deeply involved.

Below is an extended quotation from that review:

We now know that the demographic center of Christianity shifted to the Global South during the 20th century in dramatic fashion, and we also know a lot more about how it actually happened. Evangelicalism, as one of the fastest-growing demographic blocs within global Christianity, has contributed significantly to these transformations.

Today, more than 77 percent of the world’s evangelicals are Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans. Even if a significant number of American evangelicals may favor some form of Christian nationalism (though the numbers are likely exaggerated), and even if a majority of white American evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, what often goes unstated is that the vast majority of the world’s evangelicals are neither white nor American. Evangelicals around the world are not united on matters of politics and race, but they lay great stress on the Bible, the central message of the Cross, and man’s need for conversion.

Evangelicalism, then, is plainly not an American movement. The vast majority of the world’s evangelicals live in the Global South, and they are actively engaged in sending missionaries to the ends of the earth. The World Council of Churches began using the language of “witness in six continents” in the early 1960s to describe how new mission centers were now established on every continent in the world.

When evangelicals gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, for the First International Congress on World Evangelization, they observed that the dominant role of Western missions was fast disappearing. In the 1980s, Luis Bush, an unassuming evangelical from Argentina who became an influential mission leader, coined the expression “the 10/40 Window.” The name referred to the regions of North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, concentrated in a single geographic rectangle between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator.

Bush was hoping to mobilize evangelical missionary movements from Africa, Asia, and Latin America into places Western missionaries found it harder to reach. He made it clear throughout the 1990s that these missionary efforts would be led not by Americans but by Christian leaders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Americans popularized “10/40 Window” language in mission circles, but Bush was holding massive gatherings in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to mobilize missionaries from the Global South. Today, nearly half of the world’s full-time cross-cultural missionaries are being sent out from the Global South, with countries like Brazil, South Korea, and India figuring among the top senders.

Adriana Carranca describes some of these global transformations in her new book Soul by Soul: The Evangelical Mission to Spread the Gospel to Muslims. Carranca is a Brazilian writer who has worked as a war correspondent and investigative journalist in some of the most difficult places in the world.

Educated at Columbia University and the London School of Economics, she has traveled widely in Africa and the Middle East, covering events like the American-led invasion of Afghanistan, the Peshawar church bombing in Pakistan, the Lord’s Resistance Army uprising in northern Uganda, the Islamic revolution in Iran, and the Arab Spring in Egypt. While Carranca was working in conflict zones and refugee camps, she began meeting evangelicals looking to reach Muslims with the gospel.

As a secular journalist who had spent time in American contexts, Carranca knew something about American evangelicalism. But what she discovered while working in Africa and the Middle East surprised her. Most of the evangelical missionaries she met were not from the United States. Instead, they were being sent out to the Muslim world from places like Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, South Africa, China, and South Korea. The evangelical mission to Muslims, she learned, was emanating from the Global South.

In 2008, Carranca was in Kabul covering the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Here, she first heard about significant numbers of Muslims who were converting to Christianity. This evangelistic endeavor, she discovered, was being led by an evangelical, Luiz, who hailed from her home country of Brazil. He was part of a network of other evangelicals from the Global South.  .  .  .

.  .  .  During her travels, Carranca gained rare access to what she called the “secret world” of Christian missionaries evangelizing Muslims. She also learned about the influence of Luis Bush and traveled to meet him in Indonesia, where he was mobilizing thousands of missionaries from Asia to preach the gospel to Muslims.

Carranca’s long-form journalism is serious, intimate, and gripping. Though not a believer, she confesses that she came to admire the evangelicals who became her friends. The book introduces readers to Luiz and Gis and their coworkers from South Africa, Brazil, China, and South Korea, and talks about their daily lives, their love for soccer, and the joy they find in spending time with Muslim friends.

Carranca’s narrative includes riveting eyewitness accounts of terrorist attacks, drone strikes, police inquiries, church bombings, and the martyrdom of local Christians in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In one powerful anecdote, she talks about the murder of a missionary family she befriended in Afghanistan, killed by the Taliban in a brutal shooting. She flew to Pretoria, in South Africa, to attend their funeral services, where their graves were marked with a popular refrain echoing Tertullian’s words about the blood of martyrs: “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.”

Soul by Soul introduces readers to some of the new faces of evangelicalism—and they are almost nothing like Barbara Kingsolver’s unflattering caricature of a failed missionary to the Congo in her popular novel The Poisonwood Bible. Rather than fictional white Southern Baptists from Georgia who are more misanthropes than missionaries, Carranca gives us real people, unmarked by what she calls the “arrogance and triumphalism” that has sometimes been associated with Western missionaries.

CLICK HERE for the entire review: Inside the ‘Secret World’ of Global Evangelism to Muslims by F. Lionel Young III

The Gospel of God's Grace and Diversity In His Creation

I'm a big fan of "diversity" because I observe it in God's Creation.

Here is what I mean: Walk through Holland during our Tulip Time festival and you will notice the diversity of tulips.  Do some people-watching during the parade and you will see a similar diversity among all the cheering people.  Because I think that people and life are not an accident, it is easy for me to conclude that the LORD God values diversity in the world He created.

There are two other important aspects related to the diversity that God created: Unity and Redemption for Reconciliation.

By unity, I mean simply that tulips - for all their diversity - are still tulips.  They are not roses. A wide and diverse variety of tulips are still tulips.

It is the same with people.  Tall, short, black, white and so on.  There is a lot of diversity, but we are all united as human beings.  As a Christ-follower,  I believe that for all our apparent diversity, every person is united as an image-bearer of the Living God.  We're diverse, but all hold that in common.  That's the unity of diverse humans.

Unfortunately, there is a problem in God's creation that disrupts and damages this balance of unity and diversity. Sin is the classical term for it.  Among other things, that sin breaks our experience of unity, the relationship with other humans based on our shared bearing of the image of God.  We fall short of our created intention, and end up hurting one another, as well as God's creation.  God's answer to that is the Gospel: Redemption and Reconciliation.  Jesus redeems us from sin and reconciles us to God AND to one another.  That's really good news - even as we wait for its completion.

So I'm a big fan of diversity and see it as a reflection of God's character and the Gospel.

But I'm not a big fan of diversity rhetoric or policies - yes, I'm thinking of most Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sorts of policies here - because they leave out those important components: Unity and Redemption for Reconciliation.

As I listen to the cultural conversations of our moment, I am increasingly hearing a view of the life that divides humanity into two groups: good guys vs bad guys.  Depending on the agenda, that can be Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat, racist vs anti-racist, straight vs gay.  You could go on and on.  Conflict is the energy that drives this view of life.  What is lacking in any sense of a deeper connection between the human beings in these conflicting groups.

Also missing is any means of reconciliation between these conflicting groups.  Conflict is resolved by victory.  It is a zero-sum, either/or, win/lose view of life and relationships with no way to redeem the wrongs and bring reconciliation between both parties with flourishing for all.

Here is a concrete example of the difference between the Gospel view of unity and the other: Have you heard any hope of resolution between Israelis and Palestinians?  I haven't.  It's either "from the River to the sea" with one side or "we will never forget" for the other.  I could go on with each conflicting side in every contentious division.

The Gospel offers a hope to this conflict.  That hope is based on the common humanity of Palestinians and Israelis as image-bearers of God redeemed and reconciled through Jesus.

So if you are trying to work through your thoughts on diversity and various policies, my counsel would be to have you look for two things.

• First, is there an underlying sense of a unity between the people in each of the conflicting groups that is greater than the conflict itself?  There may be conflict or injustice, but is there something deeper and more important that can bring the parties together.
• Second, is the end of the process redemption and reconciliation?  If something has been broken, how is it made right, so that the people of the two conflicting groups can return to loving relationship?

Here is a concrete example with regard to racial issues.  Consider the differences in speech, action and outcomes between Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and the Black Lives Matter movement.  Both faced and responded to racial injustice.  Dr King was a Baptist pastor who saw his opponents as fellow humans, even sometimes fellow believers in Christ!  He used non-violent means to pursue reconciliation and justice.   His "I Have A Dream" sermon has appeal and hope for everyone regardless of race or politics.  Observe the Black Lives movement or read the books of Ibrim X. Kandi and you will find little common ground between "racist" and "anti-racists" with an anger that will never allow restitution, restoration or reconciliation.  The reason for this is that Dr King lived from a gospel worldview and BLM was based on something very different indeed.

The celebration of diversity in God's creation is based on an underlying unity that grows from seeing all people as image-bearers of our Creator.  Restoring that unity is costly though, because it is offered through redemption of the brokenness that makes possible reconciliation between the conflicting groups.  Reconciliation, not just victory, is the final goal of the work of Jesus in the Gospel.

My View on Gospel-Centered Pastoral Care With Gender Dysphoria

From Thanksgiving to New Year's in 2023 I had encounters with friends after every single worship service that would go something like this:

The family dinner/gathering/reunion is going to be really different this holiday.  We have already been informed that our son/daughter/grandchild/niece/nephew/cousin's child is "transitioning" gender, has a new name and expects us to use different pronouns.  Pastor Bill, can you help me sort this out?!?

Each week and after every service, a new face and different family, but with the same basic dilema: How do we navigate the questions raised by transgenderism in our family and community?

I've been reading, praying and studying both before and since then, but this is the first time I have offered resources or comment publicly in this way.

If you read nothing else, I'd say CLICK HERE for a recent post by Dr Leonard Sax for the Institute of Family Studies.  Dr Sax is a practicing pediatrician and PhD social researcher that I have followed for years and grown to trust and appreciate.  Though his title is a distraction, I think that this is the best single piece I have seen outlining the current state of medical/social/legal research.

If you are still reading, here are two personal reflections that I will offer:

• There is not a lot of scientific/medical research on transgenderism.  Simply put, the desire and ability to preform hormone and surgical procedures like this is so new, that there have simply not been enough people and time for us to observe long-term effects.
• Recommendations are changing.  There is a lot more to say about this but for example:
• The US federal recommendations for treatment of minors was altered (very quietly I might add) in June of 2024.  CLICK HERE for a report from the NY Times. 
• Great Britian has dramatically altered their National Health Service Guidelines for treating gender dysphoria in light of the Cass Report as well.  CLICK HERE for the final report or CLICK HERE for a summary from the NY Times and CLICK HERE for a review by Rebecca MacLaughlin for the Gospel Coalition.

What that means for me as a pastor - specifically an ordained Teaching Elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church - is this: I need to communicate the Gospel of God's Grace to a world - I'm thinking particularly about children, parents and grandparents - that is hurting, confused and facing unique options and pressures.  No small task to both speak and be heard with Gospel grace and truth.

For example, given the 2024 change in Federal medical recommendations, there will be parents in my community who started down one path of  "gender-affirming care" for their child only to have it changed along the way.

In addition, there are all sorts of perspectives bombarding people - social media, schools, peers and more - with information of widely varied veracity.  It is easy to be lost in the noise of the moment.  It is very hard to know what terms mean to different people and what experiences or even hearsay they have been exposed to and now bring to their questions.

Therefore,

I want to be clear, kind, factual and Gospel-centered in all that I say as both a public preacher and a personal pastor.  I do believe that the Scriptures and the accumulated wisdom of the church across the ages gives believers helpful support and guidance for even new questions like those related to transgenderism.  I'd be happy to talk specifics if you like.

I am called to love and walk through life with people and to do that even when they disagree with me, or make different choices than I would recommend or are living with consequnces of decisions I could not affirm.  I am a servant of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  It seems to me, that He never strayed from His identity and mission, never compromised the truth of His Father and was always willing to engage people and share their life.

Interested In Reading More?

My advice: Plan to read a lot, talk with some people, pray a lot and go slowly as you ponder many of the questions raised by the current gender and sexuality changes in our culture.

One consistent source of helpful reflection and material for me has been the Center for Faith, Sexuality and Gender directed by Dr Preston Sprinkle.  We have used their small-group material Grace & Truth with good fruit here at Harderwyk.  CLICK HERE for their website.  CLICK HERE for their Statement of Faith.

I expect to add a few more resources and thoughts on this blog in the future, but this is the place for us to start.

But I've Heard That The NLT Leaves Out Verses!?!

With a Google Search or skim through various Social Media, it is easy to find statements like:

The New Living Translation (NLT) is straight from Hell.  .  . Let's face it, the corrupters who are publishing demonic bibles are all out to make a fast buck, filthy lucre!  In order to reach the largest market base possible, they trim and water down the Scriptures as much as tolerable.  This is evil.  .  .  As further proof of corruption, Billy Graham endorses the NLT on the front cover jacket.

Friend, don't believe it.  And if it is a person telling you that and not Google, then simply smile graciously and remember to fact check everything else they ever pass along to you.

Here's the real story:

It is true that if you make a verse-by-verse comparison between the King James Verion (KJV) and virtually all 20th century versions - including New International Version (NIV) English Standard Version (ESV), New American Standard Version (NASB), Revised Standard Version (RSV) as well as the NLT - you will find several verses - typically about 16 - "missing" from the KJV to the others.

You should ask "Why is that"?  There is a perfectly good reason for the differences.

The KJV is translated from a specific Greek Manuscript called the Textus Receptus - or "Received Text" - that was assembled from Greek and Latin manuscripts, as well as references from other writings by the scholar Erasmus in the year 1516.  It was best Greek compilation of the time and figured powerfully in the Reformation.

But that was five centuries ago.  And across those five centuries, there has been a great deal of archaelogy and many additional manuscripts discovered that are actually earlier in origin than anything Erasmus had to work from.  I will say that again: Five centuries of archaelogy have discovered manuscripts that predate the sources of Textus Receptus.

The modern translations work from THOSE manuscripts - the older ones - and not Textus Receptus.  The 16 "missing verses" are simply not in the older manuscripts that have been discovered over the past five centuries.  As best we are able to tell - it was not a "xerox copy" sort of process that long ago - the extra versess in the Textus Receptus were added - whether intentionally or by scribal error, often for clarity - centuries after the manuscripts we now have.

So a more-true-to-the-facts way to express matter would be say that the KJV ADDS 16 verses to the Bible.  But take it from me, when someone insists that the modern translations have "missing verses," you had best not upset them by asking why they want a translation of the Bible with "added verses."

Two More Points

No Difference Of Import Here - Simply put, there is no aspect of the life of Jesus, the Gospel of God's Grace or message of the Bible as a whole that is lost by the "missing verses" or added by the "added verse" depending on your preference.  Everything these verse add is already clearly known by other verses - usally many other verses if it is something important - in the rest of the Textus Receptus and modern Greek manuscripts.

No One Is Hiding Anything - The differences between Textus Receptus and the modern manuscripts are all well known, discussed and open to see and deliberate.  Actually, most of the modern translations will include the differences in brackets or a footnote.  Here is an example of that based on John 5:4 from GotQuestions.org

For example, John 5:4 is included in the KJV, but in the NKJV the verse has a footnote attached explaining that it is not found in many Greek texts, the NASB includes the verse in brackets: The NIV places the verse in a footnot, so John 5:4 is "missing" the actual text.

Resources:

Why Are The Newer Translations Of The Bible Missing Verses? from GotQuestions.org

This is a helpful summary - complete with 5 minute video! - of this matter.  CLICK HERE  This is a paragraph from that post:

It is important to remember that the verses in question are of minor significance. None of them change in any way the crucial themes of the Bible, nor do they have any impact on the Bible’s doctrines—Jesus’ death and resurrection; Christ’s being the only way of salvation; and the doctrines of heaven and hell, sin and redemption, and the nature and character of God. These doctrines are preserved intact through the work of the Holy Spirit, who safeguards the Word of God for all generations. It is not a matter of the newer translations missing verses, and it is not a matter of the KJV translators adding to the Bible. It is a matter of determining, through careful research and textual science, what content was most likely part of the original manuscripts of the Bible.

Exactly Which Verses Are In Question

Here is a list of KJV verses not carried into modern translations based on differences with Textus Receptus.  You will find verse, comparison and rationale for each one.  Warning: this is pretty details and arcane, but it is good to know and see to get a sense of the serious evidence and considerations behind the differences.  CLICK HERE for that post.

My Favorite Bible Reading Plan EVER!!

I have occasionally used the YouVerion mobile app to access Bible reading plans from Bible.com for years.  They have a wide variety of plans - short and long, topical, seasonal.  The app gives you options to choose among a wide number of English translations - even setting up two parallel columns to compare as you read. Tap an icon and you can even listen to the passages read.  It is a great way to support your Bible reading goals using a smartphone, iPad or computer.

My Favorite Bible Reading Plan EVER!!

About 6 months ago I began using a reading plan produced by BibleProject.com called One Story that Leads to Jesus.  Their description:

One Story that Leads to Jesus is a plan designed by BibleProject to inspire you to read through the entire Bible in one year. This plan incorporates over 150 animated videos to engage you in the Bible’s brilliant literary design and flow of thought. Choose this one-year reading plan for an epic learning journey that helps you experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.

CLICK HERE to see the plan page.

It has been a phenomenal support to my daily Bible reading.  Each day usually begins with a helpful teaching video outlining or giving background for that particular book, character, concept or historical setting.

Then some reading - and I use both the NIV and NLT in parallel.  I can tap into cross-references and other information.

Each day closes with a Psalm - that I listen to for a change of pace.

I'm now about 2 months away from finished - it's easy and inviting to do several days at a time when my schedule permits.

How To Access and Use This Value Resource

For Smartphone or iPad or other Tablet

• Go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and install the free YouVersion Bible App + Audio by Life.Church.

In Web Browser on Your Computer

• Go to Bible.com

You will need to create your own free account to log on, personalize and then start reading on whatever device you choose.

Why Am I Using The New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible More & More - Especially in Public Reading?

To answer my own question: Because it is a reliable, contemporary English translation from the earliest orginal language texts.  It is the work of solid Christian scholars. Finally, I think it reads well orally in public settings and facilitates understanding as I prepare to preach the text.  Worshippers at Celebration-Harderwyk will hear me reading from it more and more in that service.

These conclusions grow from my experience with the NLT over the past five years or so.  Currently, I'm about 75% through my second "Genesis-to-Revelation" reading of the NLT.  Indeed, I have grown to consider the NLT my preferred translation - especially for oral reading in public.

Please Note: The NLT Is NOT "the Living Bible" of the 1970's

As a "Jesus Revolution" high-schooler, the green Living Bible (LB) was our go-to version of the Bible.  Actually, it is better considered a paraphrase.  On the scale ranging from Word-For-Word Formal Equivalence on one side to the Thought-To-Thought Functional Equivalence on the other end, the Living Bible is very far to the Functional Equivalence side.  The NLT is a better balance between the two end-points.  Dig into the resource links below to learn more about this scale and the considerations involved in any work of translation.

The NLT is a completely different translation than my first Living Bible.  The NLT is a translation based on the original language texts where the LB began as a paraphrase for modern ears based on other English language translations.  The NLT is the careful, accountable work of a team of first-rate language scholars where the LB was more the work of a single person - Kenneth Taylor.  See the link to the Preface of the New Living Translation in the resources below to dig into the details of the NLT and you will better understand these differences.

But I've Heard That The NLT Leaves Out Verses!?!

Because I occasionally hear this as an honest question from people, I'm happy to address the concern with a full blog.  CLICK HERE for that

Keep Reading The Bible Translation You Will Read

While I am happy to share my thoughts and reasons for reading the NLT in our services, I am certainly on no crusade to change your Bible translation preferences or reading habits.  Keep reading, study and meditating through the text of whatever Bible translation you are using right now.  Perhaps consider getting a NLT to use along with or in parallel to whatever you are using.  Just keep feeding on God's Word and meeting Him in the text of the Bible.

Now, if you are not yet involved in regular reading, studying and meditating on the God's Word, the I absolutely WOULD encourage to start by using the NLT.  For all the reasons I've listed above.

And watch for my next post on a very helpful Bible reading plan by BibleProject.com that I am about to finish up.  It's been a great experience that includes helpful animated overviews and can be used on any digital device - smart phone, iPad/tablet or computer - and with any translation!  Yesterday is the perfect time to start a daily encounter with Jesus through the written word of the Bible.  So why not jump in right now?

Resources

Preface to the NLT

• This is the full preface to the NLT produced by it's publisher.  You can have free access through one of my favorite online Bible study sites: The Blue Letter Bible.  CLICK HERE

Complete Guide to Bible Versions: Comparison, History, and Philosophy of Top Bible Translations [Updated 2025]

• This is a great post on all aspects of translation with several easy to understand charts helping you connect those to specific Bible translations.  CLICK HERE for the full post.

Westminster Confession of Faith - Chapter 1 - On Scripture

• As an ordained Teaching Elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, I have publicly affirmed that I "sincerely receive and adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.  Here is the first chapter - entitled Holy Scripture - of the Westminster Confession in Modern English so you can better understand my own convictions.  CLICK HERE to read and/or download the first chapter.

Praying For Muslim People Groups During Ramadan 2025

I closed the sermon yesterday at WaterShed-Harderwyk with a story about a move of God among Muslims in earthqake stricken Antioch in Syria that began in 2023.  CLICK HERE to read the entire story. 

Better yet, join me in praying each day during Ramadan - February 28 thru March 30, 2025 - for a different Muslim people group around the world.  As our Muslim neighbors around the world set aside time each day of this period to seek God, we can pray that the Holy Spirit would lead them to Jesus, the true God incarnate, and His Gospel of Grace.  CLICK HERE to find a free online daily prayer guide.  You can also CLICK HERE for a downloadable pdf of this guide for $2.50 that you can print and add to your daily prayer routine.

My favorite way of joining this World Christian Prayer Movement is through the daily use of the PrayerMate app.  I use it on my iPad to organize my daily prayer life.  For $3.00 I can have the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World sent directly there each day.  CLICK HERE to learn more about PrayerMate.  Then follow the steps in PrayerMate to subscribe to the 30 Days prayer feed.  I also suggest the FREE Heavenward daily prayer feed that gives me daily prayers by Scotty Smith.  CLICK HERE to see those online and free at TheGospelCoalition.org.  

As I mentioned Sunday, I have been following the amazing work of God in bringing Muslim people to faith in Jesus Christ during my lifetime.  CLICK HERE for a 2019 blog post of mine called Muslim People Coming To Faith In Jesus with stories and resources about that move.

And if you would like to talk more about anything I have mentioned, I would be happy to find the best time and setting for doing that.  Simply call the Harderwyk Office and they can help us find a time and way to connect.  

How You Can Be Certain That Certainity Is A Sin: Reflections on the Movie Conclave

It is a dramatic scene and central to the story of the film Conclave.  The story begins with the recent passing of the Pope, and in this scene Cardinal Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes) prepares the College of Cardinals - gathered from around the world - to enter into sequestered "conclave" and choose the next Pope.  He addresses them saying:

There is one sin I have come to fear above all others: certainity.  Certainity is the great enemy of unity.  Certainity is the deadly enemy of tolerance.  Even Christ was not certain at the end - My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?  He cried out in His agony at the ninth hour on the cross.  

Our faith is a living thing precisly because it walks hand in hand with doubt.  If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith.  Let us pray that God will grant us a Pope who doubts.

CLICK HERE to see the entire speech.  The portion I quote begins around :45.

As I listened, I wanted to leap through our TV into the scene, rise and ask the Cardinal: How can you be certain that certainity is the sin to fear above all others?  I doubt your certainity on this, sir!  Here I stand!

Even in the moment it struck me that this was a great statement of the creed of expressive individualism: Nothing can be certain except your self!  A real moment of modern of chatechism right there in theaters and living rooms around the country.

But is this really a statement of faith - for it is indeed a step of faith to say with certainity that certainty is the greatest of sins! - that makes sense of the world, leading to human flourishing?  This is an important question for both myself and my unbelieving neighbors.

I graduated from an outstanding, nationally-ranked, church-related college.  The institution did a phenomenal job helping students deconstruct their "Sunday-school beliefs."  Many professors were outspokenly direct about that goal, and all were very capable and effective in their teaching.  Sadly, once our faith was deconstructed, they were rarely concerned with grounding us in a more mature Christian faith and were instead more subtle and effective in catechizing us in various expressions of what I have come to identify as "expressive individualism."  As I write elsewhere - CLICK HERE - I do not think expressive individualism is faithful either to the Gospel of God's Grace or to human flourishing even for unbelievers.

NUANCE ALERT - I do think that orthodox Christian faith gives us a reason to see the sin that often presents itself as certainity.  If I thought the Cardinal were pointing to this in his speech, I'd be all in with him.

Here is the problem that the Scriptures and our experience point out to us: When broken people - "sinners" is the classic term - are "certain" in themselves, their sin infects their certainity.  A statement can be "true" in terms of "facts," but be pursued self-righteously.  Or self-defensively.  Or self-servingly.  THAT is sin.  Make note: when anything is centered on or from the "self" it can be infected by the sin of our "self."  There is the problem that the Cardinal is close to, but pursued more deeply and in light of the Gospel.  It is one of the insights into the humman condition presented in the Scriptures.

Let me suggest that the better posture for life is to have confidence - trust, faith, belief - in someone or something greater than ourselves and even our own certainity.  It seems that this is exactly how Paul writes in Philippians 1:6:

(I am) being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Live with confidence - trust, faith, belief - in who the LORD is, what He has shown of us Himself and what He can do.

Experience - and the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures and my church - has shown me that I can sometimes be wrong or unloving or confused or MANY other things like that - even when I am well-intentioned and carefully researched!  I am certain that I make mistakes, but confident that the One who is faithful, loving and true will complete His good purposes in His world and even in me.

I would suggest that the life-giving world-view comes when faith in God as He has revealed Himself in the Gospel is walking hand-in-hand with humility, rather than faith in self navigating life with doubt.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you CLICK HERE to read Value Confidence over Certainty by Randy Newman on TheGospelCoalition.org site.  You will see that the best of what I might say here originated with him and was simply applied to the movie.  His post includes several other and important steps illuminating the distinction between certainity and gospel confidence.

And Finally: I watched the movie and know it may well win an Oscar or two, but I'm not sure I would recommend it.  Save the money.  Invest time in your marriage, or with a friend or reading Scripture or just taking a walk.  I watch, listen and read things like this to better understand the world that I present the gospel to and what my neighbors are encountering, so it is helpful for me - and I hope you - in that way.  I'm not certain - pun intended - that you learn anything not alread known about the Roman Catholic church.  The surprise ending was gratituitous.  And the catechesis in "expressive individualism" was as subtle as it was thick throughout.

"Walk-Up Choir" - Think Of It Like A Trade Union

Take a look at this photo from Harderwyk's Christmas Day Service.

We call that our "Walk-Up Hallelujah Chorus."  Each year, as we get mid-way through the final Christmas Carol, everyone who would like to sing the Halleluijah Chorus makes their way into the chancel, grabs some sheet music and gets ready to sing.  It is MAGNIFICENT.  CLICK HERE to see the whole thing in a 41/2 minute YouTube clip.

At first, you might only see a spontaneous choir.  I though, see it through the lens of the Plumbers' Union.

What's that?  Yep, any sort of trade union actually, but I'm big on plumbers for this one.  So you see a choir, but  I see "apprentices," journeymen" and "craftsmen" doing what they do together.

Look inside the box in the photo and you see five faces.  Two "journeyman" singers we'll call them.  They know the trade and have done it well and with joy for years.  But you also see three young "apprentice" singers.  Those three are just learning their way, but learning in the midst of a collection of people who love what they do.  The apprentices can learn and get carried along and truly experience the "joy of the craft" before they are even able to really do it on their own.

Best of all, do you see in the box? There is a "journeyman" singer bending over to help an "apprentice" singer.  That is how the craft stays alive across generations while also improving in quality.

How do you learn to love the craft - any craft really?  By sharing it - both receiving AND giving - with a community that is supportive, accountable, learning together and focused on something bigger than themselves.

CLICK HERE for the next opportunity to be a part of our next "Walk-Up Choir" - typically the 4th Sunday of the month in Harderwyk's Celebration Service at 9 am.

And a special thanks to the several "craftsman" undergirding the whole event - especially our director Justin Rito and organist Jane Bosko.

Understanding "the LORD Who Gets Angry Slowly" A Little Bit Better

Honestly, I do not recall ever preaching a sermon focused on the "anger" of the LORD, even if it was focused on "slow to anger."  So as we began to organize our What's In A Name sermon series based on the LORD's revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7 for Winter of 2025, I knew I would get the chance to learn and share more on something I had managed to avoid for a good while.

Wow!  Has it ever been enlightening for me.  I've learned more than I will be able to speak to on Sunday, but at the heart of my preparation has been several wonderful resources produced by the BibleProject.com.  They are linked below, but let me get to a marvelous 3 paragraph summary that I have been pondering all week.  It is from page 21 of their Character of God: Slow to Anger Study Notes. (Link Below)

Conclusions from the Portrait of God’s Anger and Judgment in the Torah (Old Testament)

• God’s anger is his just and measured response to the covenant betrayal of his own people. It is not a volatile or unpredictable explosion of abusive violence.
• The most consistent response of God’s anger is to give people what they have chosen, even if it leads to self-destruction. This anger is expressed either as exile from God’s presence or in the hiding of God’s face and the removal of his protective and order-creating power.
• God is slow to anger, which means:
• God will put up with people’s betrayal for much longer than is reasonable.
• God will always accept people who turn to him with soft hearts and genuine humility no matter what they’ve done.

*     *     *     *     *

There is a lot in those paragraphs to consider and probably on a topic that most - like me - often want to NOT consider and avoid.  Below are some additional resources from my week.

CLICK HERE to download the entire 33-page document.  Sure it will take some time and reflection, but I'm glad I took the time.  I'm hoping you will as well.

CLICK HERE for a 5-minute YouTube summary of key texts on this topic in a visual format.

CLICK HERE for an Amazon.com link to the book God Has A Name: What You Believe About God Will Shape Who You Will Become by John Mark Comer.  It is another VERY helpful parallel resource for our sermon series.

A Memorial Memoir - Siegfried Michaelis

I had the opportunity to get to know Sieg and Arlene Michaelis when I moved to Holland to lead the Celebration Community of Harderwyk Ministries in 2018.  After Arllene passed away in October of 2023, I would see Sieg on Sundays at worship, and occasionally visit and share conversation with him.

He was quiet, gentle and over time let me piece together the amazing story of his early life and personal faith.  He had written out that story several decades ago as he made public profession of his faith while joining a new church.  It was read by his son Eric at Sieg's memorial this month.  I'm thanful for their permission to share it with the body of Christ at Celebration-Harderwyk in this way.

A Memorial Memoir by Siegfried Michaelis

The time is World War II and the place is Berlin, Germany, and I was born. My father, a Jew, and mother, the gentile both of my parents became Christians early on in their marriage, through my father's brother, who was a believer.

My father, a tailor, was forced to close his shop and was used as a forced laborer in a factory and later on tearing down buildings that were bombed out. My father lost all his civil rights. He was arrested for several days and then released, while others were not released. We could not own a radio. His ID card read Herbert Israel Michaelis, adding the name Israel because he was a jew.

As a child I took a lot of abuse from other children and adults.

The last two years of the war, Berlin was bombed day and night, allowing for little sleep, and spending many hours in a bomb shelter.

We experienced many close calls that today I recognize as God's grace and protection. One time a bomb hit right next to the bunker and we were not harmed.

Another time the air raid warning was late and in the panic that followed, 27 people were trampled to death. We were already safe inside the shelter. Our building was bombed and my father repaired what he could for our living.

By the end of the war, my father lost three brothers, one sister, a mother, and many cousins in concentration camps.

The end of the war brought many hardships. No food, no water, no utilities. My father raised rabbits in the basement for food, traded cloth for food. Many times I went to bed hungry. Yet God provided even the few things that we had.

In 1947, I spent three months in Norway with a family. The churches had provided families for children from Berlin, with the new with the same background that I had. It was quite an experience. These families opening their homes to us. They fed us and clothed us.

I remember in 1948 the Soviet Union imposed a land blockade on Berlin. Allied forces had to airlift food and coal for almost a year. All food and coal was rationed. God provided again in that my aunt sent us care packages from America.

In 1949, my parents and I were able to emigrate to America, and came to Chicago. One thing that I remember when we were in camp, awaiting to be set on a ship - some men were having a discussion, which included my father, how they wanted revenge of what they did to them. I remember my father saying we need to forgive them.

During my high school days, I realized I had to accept Christ as Lord and savior. On my own, I had to make it my faith, and not my parents' faith.

I was involved in a youth group at the church I was attending. There I met a wonderful girl. We've been married for 30 years.

We had four wonderful sons. Kevin, our first child, had Down syndrome. He went home to be with the Lord at the age of 6. The others are all married and have wonderful wives.

There are many things I don't understand.

-- Why did my relatives die in concentration camps?

-- Why did I have to go hungry to bed?

-- Why did Kevin have Down syndrome and die?

All that I know is that God is a loving God, and his plans are not always our plans. But, he is the Master Planner.

I want to leave you with two verses.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The other verse has meant a lot to me over many years:

Psalm 37:5 - Commit yourself to the LORD, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass.

A New View of Humanity - From Bullies & Saints by John Dickson

In his book Bullies & Saints, Professor John Dickson provides insightful historical information for comparing conflicting views regarding the value of a person.  I hope this extensive quotation will stimulate your interest in the book.

A New View of Humanity

From: Bullies & Saints by John Dickson - pp. 33-35

There is value in comparing this Judeo-Christian view of the human being with the “pagan” or Greco-Roman view at the time of Christianity’s birth. The comparison highlights something that is often difficult to see today. In the contemporary world there is no practical difference between the Christian estimation of humanity and the secular humanist estimation—the two ideas are historically related. It is easy for us to assume that such a high view of the person, regardless of their talents or contributions, is the default view through every age. That simply is not the case. 

Consider the following letter, dated 17 June 1 BC. A Roman soldier named Hilarion is stationed in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. He writes home to his wife Alis, promising to send her some of his pay soon, asking her to look after their child, and, poignantly, reassuring her that he has not forgotten her. Some aspects of family life have not changed. In passing, though, Hilarion tells Alis that, if she happens to be pregnant, she should discard the baby when it comes: 

Hilarion to his sister Alis, many greetings, also to my lady Berous and Apollonarion. Know that I am still in Alexandria; and do not worry if they [the army] wholly set out, I am staying in Alexandria. I ask you and entreat you, take care of the child, and if I receive my pay soon, I will send it up to you. Above all, if you bear a child and it is male, let it be; if it is female, cast it out. You have told Aphrodisias, “Do not forget me.” But how can I forget you? Thus I’m asking you not to worry. The 29th year of Caesar, Pauni 23 [17 June 1 BC].

Talk of casting out a child at birth—in a throw-away line in an otherwise normal family letter—is shocking to modern readers. I have read this letter to many audiences over the years, and the feeling in the room is palpable. But in ancient times, this was neither shocking nor illegal. It was not even immoral. Disposing of newborns was regarded as a method of family planning. Throughout the Greek and Roman world, excess children were frequently discarded, especially if the parents felt they could not afford another mouth, or if the child was deformed or disabled, or as in the above case, if it was a girl.

Sometimes removing a child involved direct “infanticide,” killing and disposing of the newborn. More commonly, it involved a practice known euphemistically as expositio or “exposure.” The greatest of ancient Greek philosophers, Aristotle (384–322 BC), had advised, “As to exposing or rearing the children born, let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared.” The child was simply left outside, whether on a street corner, in the marketplace, or even at the rubbish dump. The child might, of course, be picked up by other parents who would raise it as their own. Sadly, it could also be taken by professional traffickers, killed by an animal, or simply fall victim to the elements. 

Hilarion would be arrested on the spot today. But in his context he was not a moral “monster.” He held the widespread rational view that a child’s value depended not on some intrinsic, ineffable worth but on its capacities or usefulness to the family. The outrage we feel toward the practice of exposing infants just illustrates the very different assumptions we work with today. In the ancient Greek and Roman world there was little ethical reflection on this practice. Jews of the time spoke out against it, of course. In fact, we know of one high-profile Jewish critic of expositio, a teacher named Philo, who happened to be living in Alexandria at exactly the time Hilarion was stationed there. Christians were likewise vocal about it, preaching and writing against the practice, and even collecting abandoned infants and caring for them as their own. (Hundreds of thousands of people are alive today—descendants of rescued foundlings—as a result of this ancient Christian practice. More about all this in chapters 7 and 10.)

In public lectures on these themes I have occasionally asked audiences to imagine being the friend of Hilarion in 1 BC and trying to convince him why it is wrong to “cast out” a newborn simply because the parents do not want it. We might instinctively start talking about equality and inalienable rights. But Hilarion would probably look at us, bemused. In cool-headed fashion, assuming he had read some Greek philosophy, he might turn it back on us: On what basis can you claim that a barely self-aware newborn is equal to other humans? Isn’t that just an arbitrary doctrine? Would you say that all animals are equal? Does all art have the same worth? Are all tools equally valuable? Hilarion might press us further: For what other dimension of life would we argue that items with obviously different capacities and utility all share the same worth? Nature herself has made some people smarter, stronger, better, and, therefore, more useful. The more usefulness, the greater the value. The logic is inescapable. We should prefer the strong and beneficial, and let Nature take care of the rest.

Ancient Jews and Christians had no difficulty explaining why every man, woman, and child was inherently and equally valuable. Human beings, they said, bear the image of God. The Creator regards them as his offspring. The church did not consistently live out this conviction, as we will see, but the doctrine did lead to some remarkable historical developments, including—after three hundred years of trying to persuade Rome—a complete ban on killing infants in a law of AD 374.

Taken from:

Dickson, John. Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History (p. 33-35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.  Please note: footnotes and references have been removed in my quotation of John Dickson.

See Also: The Christian Compassion Revolution (Part 1) by Greg Soderberg - I found this to be an interesting post related to God's compassion applied to a very contemporary issue.  CLICK HERE for entire post.