Innocence Lost

We live in a culture where human life is disposable. Just look at the news headlines. Reputations are destroyed by accusation and innuendo. A lifetime of good work is torn down in a few hours of character assassination. Unborn babies are ripped from their mother's wombs by militant executioners seeking the bounty of warfare amidst unholy rules of engagement. The elderly are marginalized in warehouses. Legislatures and courts legitimize euthanasia. The specter of death dons its executioner's hood and cloak, brandishing the scepter of its sword, imposing its sentence of morte.

Innocence lost.

We live in a world where reputations are built in a lifetime and destroyed in moments. Suspicion, recrimination, and revenge rule the day. Corporate leaders, entertainers, politicians, and preachers build a body of work. They are known by their resume. Then a salacious report is published. Whether the report is true or not is never the issue. Media accusations are issued.  In a blinding rush to judgment, the "now this" talking heads proclaim the "late breaking" speculation as truth. The public is informed that it has reached a decision. Pretentious journalists, pundits, and revenge-seekers pound the gavel in a quest for their "pound of flesh."

"The people have spoken."

A non-jury of non-peers issues the socially declared non-decree of a death sentence. The mob assembles the hastily constructed noose, tosses it over the limb of socially constructed justice, and completes the vile task, proclaiming its victory.

And that much more so if the "collective cultural conscience" dislikes the accused.

Innocence lost.

Ever since Watergate scandalized the political and social discourse, mistrust and contempt of authority have accelerated toward the yawning abyss of chaotic absurdity. From our earliest years we are taught the mistrust of authority.

Nearly 20 years ago, our family was vacationing in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Parks. While there, we encountered a protestor who was contending with the U.S. Department of the Interior's policies and procedures on management in the parklands. The bumper of his old Chevy Blazer was adorned appropriately with a bumper sticker that read, "Question Authority."

Innocence lost.

Our culture of death is voracious in its appetite to consume. "Old people cost too much to keep around," the sword wielding specter of culture proclaims.

"Let them die with dignity!"

Interpretation: "Kill them."

"They eat too much. They cost too much in medical care. They fill up too much space, and suck in too much air. They are disposable."

So the culture of death marches on to advance its agenda.

Innocence lost.

The truly innocent, the unborn child, is the easiest prey for the all-consuming killers. 60 million babies have been aborted since abortion was legalized in the United States in 1973. The genocide of two entire generations now stretches into its third. The culture of death has slaughtered the next Beethoven, Washington, Roosevelt, Franklin, and Curie.

Innocence lost.

I recoil in horror at the social agenda bent on death and destruction. I recoil at the injustice of character assassination, elder abuse, and abortion. But the culture of death does not stop its relentless stampede of encroachment into our lives. We consume other people through fornication, divorce, and abandonment of our children. We treat our star athletes as heroes, and then watch them die tragic deaths of dementia and Parkinson's disease brought on by our Sunday afternoon entertainment. We consume the latest would-be bachelors and bachelorettes, proclaiming their pornographic presentations as our "guilty pleasures," forgetting that these people are real people, pitiful people, broken people, whom we objectify for our pleasure. And once we conclude our playtime, we dispose of them carelessly.

Innocence lost.

The church of Jesus Christ must be different. Disciples of Jesus Christ must be different. There are no disposable people. We must believe that. We must live that truth.

In the early church, the believers were known to rescue live infants who had been disposed of by temple prostitutes and others upon the trash heaps of city dumps throughout the Mediterranean world of the first century. The church rescued these "undesirable" babies. Believers raised them as their own. The church discipled these children as followers of Jesus Christ. Those of us who claim to be people of the cross of Jesus Christ follow in their train of grace. We are called to love others with the self-giving love of the innocent Christ who gave Himself for all, that we might be saved.

Innocence lost.

Will you resist an all-pervasive culture of death? Choose life.

Get Out and Go!

On April 11, 2013 I read these words from Dr. Dennis F. Kinlaw, Sr. in my devotional time.

"God's way for us is seldom what we would have chosen. This is one fo the sweet surprises that God has for us. When we trust Him and follow Him along unexpected ways and to unexpected places, we find as we look back that the ways and places always fit. We recognize that they were just right for us" (This Day with the Master, April 11).

Eight days later, April 19, 2013, Beth and I shared with our daughter and son-in-law that our season of ministry at the Bible college we had called home for 21 years was coming to an end. Life as we knew it was about to take a major turn. The call of God seemed Abrahamic. And we had no idea where God was leading us.

“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV).

We did not understand the ramifications of it all, but we recognized the disquieting urgent call of the Holy Spirit. "You are too comfortable. Follow me to the greatest challenge of your life. I will be with you."

One month later, May 18, 2013, I accepted the presidency of Wesley Biblical Seminary. Obedience has caused major disequilibrium in our lives. Challenges have been monumental. But the miracles of grace and transformation have been overwhelmingly greater in magnitude and scope. 

Dr. Kinlaw closed his devotional for April 11 with these words: "In Christ, our fears are never justified, but our faith always is!"

The past five years have been filled with some of the greatest miracles of my life. I praise God for counting me worthy to have experienced and endured the discomfort, pain, and fear so that He might grow my faith and obedience in service to Himself. 

I Believe in The Resurrection

“Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?’

“But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

“But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.’”

Mark 16:1-7 NKJV

I know the reality of resurrection power. 

When the Lord called me to Wesley Biblical Seminary in 2013, many believed WBS to have died. I attended the commencement ceremony on May 4, 2013. Thirty-nine graduates celebrated the completion of their studies. Longtime friends and employees feared that their legacy was at an end, and their mission disrupted. For many, the commencement ceremony doubled as a funeral service. The black robes of dignity symbolized mourning. 

But God was calling together a team of people of faith who believed in the power of the resurrection. Five years later, Wesley Biblical Seminary is robust and effective in her mission. Ninety-three percent of debt is resolved. In five years, over 50 additional graduates will have received diplomas from WBS. May 11, 2018, the first cohort of doctoral students will be rewarded with diplomas. Vision, innovation, an entrepreneurial spirit, and faith abound. 

I believe in resurrection. I have witnessed 21st century resurrection from the dead. 

But my belief in resurrection reality is not based upon my limited observation and experience. Oh yes, we hear resurrection stories about how God has brought people and even organizations back from the dead. I believe in resurrection life and power because I believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only human being who ever raised Himself from the dead. But Jesus is very God and very man. He raised Himself from death. He became victor over death. He descended into Hell and seized the keys of Hell and death.

Jesus believes in life.

I have seen the power of resurrection life in my parents. Mom asked Jesus into her heart as a child. Dad did so as well. They have lived their lives deliberately and on purpose for Jesus Christ. They raised four children with intention. They made the Christ-life, the cruciform life, so appealing that I wanted to live it too. By God's grace, I have. I believe in resurrection life and power because of my parents' life and witness. 

Our son, Nathan, is a pastor on staff at a Wesleyan church in Michigan. The church has a culture of intentionality regarding witnessing and genuine Christian conversion. Each week that someone is converted through the ministry of the church, a candle is lit on the platform. The candle lighting is always accompanied with celebration and applause. They believe in life.

Dead has been raised to life. I believe in life. I believe in resurrection. 

He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!