Category Archives: Christian

What Did We Do? August 3, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Seven months of this year are behind us. Seven months of events hard to believe could happen as the year began with the dropping of that crystal ball atop the tower in Times Square on New Year’s Day. We’ve experienced a pandemic with more than 16 million cases of COVID-19 resulting in more than 650,000 deaths worldwide, so far. It’s not slowing down. Scientists tell us we haven’t started the second wave of the virus yet. That still faces us this winter and spring. We’ve had locust plagues across Africa that destroyed crops.

Racial tension erupted in our country causing billions in damages and dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries in our major cities. The tensions spread across the western world into Britain, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia. New threats of violence rise from Russia as they encroach on the Polish borders and launch satellite killing technology into space. China and North Korea flex their muscles and threaten the Pacific rim, posing their ideologies against their neighboring countries’.

Now we have more news about the bubonic plague coming out of China and a new mutation of the H1N1 flu that proved so devastating to the world in the 1960s. So, we wonder what’s next as we brace for the next five month and maybe look forward to this year ending sooner rather than later. Maybe next year will hold a little more promise than this one. But then again…

As I’ve mentioned before, some of the things we faced this year we could do little about. Pandemics and plagues wash through the world no matter what we try to do to stop them. A new virus or bacteria or mutated something spreads from one person to another and suddenly it is out of control. Look back through recorded history and you will find evidence of plagues and pandemics that touched humanity in frightening numbers. This one, in fact, has been relatively mild in terms of the devastation compared to many. We just have much better communication and our news outlets publish only the worst stories they can find instead of the best. Bad news sells much better than good news.

But some of the things we faced this year we caused. And the more I read and try to understand, the more I see the root causes of some of the issue we face within our nation and our world. I don’t agree with the riots and destruction of property taking place in our cities, but we need to stop and listen to the problems. Is there systemic racism in our country? Begin to read. Search out why things are like they are. Discover the disparities among the cultures. Determine why the divide exists between whites and people of color.

As I have studied more over the last couple of months and tried to listen to the stories of those not like me, I must admit, I wanted to be defensive and give pat answers to the disparities. Go to school. Get a job. Work hard. Anyone can get ahead in America. What I’m finding is that has not been and still is not true in any fair sense. And it is the policies those in authority put in place to distinguish between races. Before anyone thinks it is one political side or another, both sides of the aisle are equally guilty. Study the legislation of both parties and you’ll find laws, policies, and principally budget discrepancies that put money into the hands of whites at the decrement of not just blacks, but all people of color.

For blacks, however, it began immediately after the Civil War when vagrancy became a crime, but the law was imposed primarily on black males without jobs. Then jailed black men were leased out to plantation owners. So, freed slaves found themselves working for almost nothing on the same plantations on which they had been slaves, but now the owners had no vested interest in caring for them because they were leased labor instead of property. For many, conditions worsened instead of improved as freedmen.

Redlining, a practice the Federal Housing Authority put in place to determine areas in cities at high risk for federally insured loans under the FHA and GI Bills identified primarily urban, black neighborhoods in those redlined areas. So, blacks could not take advantage of FHA loans or VA loans when those programs began in the mid-twentieth century. It wasn’t until 1980, the Realtor licensing codes allowed realtors to actively comingle races within neighborhoods without risk of losing their license. We created the divisions with our policies.

I’ve even thought about our stories lately as I’ve asked you to sit with someone not like you and asked you to really listen. I’ve mentioned before at my grandmother’s funeral, ninety-six of her family members gathered to honor her. I think at the time, twenty-three of them engaged in full-time ministry. The rest participated regularly in church, not just attending, but teaching, singing in choirs, sitting on boards, and so forth. My family descends from three brothers who came to the shores of this country in the 18^th century on a mission to spread the gospel in this new world.

Now listen to the story of someone my son’s age, but not like me. He has been arrested twice. Once for possession of a marijuana joint, and once for resisting arrest when he refused to lay face down in the mud. He his mom about his father asked about his father when he was younger; he’s in jail for possession of drugs. Second offense laws under the Clinton administration allowed for lifetime sentencing. He was one of those hit with that inexplicable punishment. His grandfather was also an ex-con, but he was killed coming out of a bar he cleaned to make extra money – a robbery gone bad. His widow thinks he was on his way home with his weekly pay of less than $40 in his pocket.

Then his story gets remarkable worse. His great-grandfather worked as a sharecropper. His share of the crop was 30%, the owner took 70%. The family barely survived in the rundown shack with no electricity or running water. His great-great-grandfather was a freed slave under Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation but couldn’t get a job. The vagrancy laws at time said any black man without a job went to jail. The irony is, the plantation owner who owned him as a young slave took pretty good care of him as his property. As leased labor from the jail, that same plantation owner didn’t have much concern for the welfare of his hired “darkies,” he sometimes called them. His family history goes no further. Families split on the auction block or when sold between plantations. Property goes to the highest bidder when slaves aren’t people.

I can trace my family history back into at least the middle ages with some proud history and a few dishonorable characters in the mix as well. He can trace his family only to the Civil War and no further. His race wasn’t not considered human, so it was okay to tear families apart, sell working aged boys and girls (six and seven) to others so your bill for upkeep wasn’t so high. Most of us can begin to imagine a history like that. We can’t imagine living in an area marked as dangerous and unfit for home loans or even loans for home improvement because someone decided the color of our skin automatically made us a financial risk.

My baby boomer generation took advantage of policies that brought great economic boosts to almost every city across the country through federally insured loans, cheap education through the GI Bill, affordable housing in the suburbs, and more. But all those policies also had a dark side most of us never knew existed or most of us would have shouted about the injustice. As an example, in Georgia after WWII, 3200 soldiers received GI Bill funding to advance their education – 2 were black. Of the 67,000 total students receiving funding in the first years of the GI Bill, less than 100 were black. More than 1 million black soldiers served in WWII. The disparity in numbers are not because they didn’t want to take advantage of the funds, it was the discrimination in colleges and universities that kept people of color out.

Do we have a problem in our country with systemic racism? We absolutely do. I have black friends. That’s not what this is about. I invite my black brothers and sisters to anything I go to or anything I enjoy. That’s not what this is about. I’ve worked with and for blacks with no problem. That’s not what this is about. It’s not even about police brutality or George Floyd. We have a problem in our country about recognizing the rights of all people.

We did not condemn the Italians to the same fate as immigrants to this country. Nor did we condemn Greeks or Jews or Hispanics or Syrians or Swedish or any other immigrants except those with ebony pigmented skin. Those we segmented as lower-class, less privileged, high risk. We did it starting 400 years ago.

I’m beginning to understand why the Black Lives Matter movement began and the just cause of its original founders. I’m learning about the inequities my race placed upon other people of color in this country, especially blacks, though policies and laws I never realized until I took the time to stop and study their real affects. I’m beginning to realize why other races talk about white privilege and white supremacy because of advantages my race created for ourselves at the expense of others.

I still condemn the riots and violence. That is not the way to bring a solution to the problems we face. I condemn the Marxist and communist groups hiding behind the Black Lives Matter movement trying to overthrow our government. This is still the best country in which to live and to be able to resolve problems like this one. But it is huge. Not insurmountable, but it will take all of us relooking at our history and understanding what we did to pe ople not like me. We will need to come to the place Paul came when he said:

Now let me speak the truth as plainly as I know it in the Anointed One. I am not lying when I say that my conscience and the Holy Spirit are witnesses to my state of constant grief. It may sound extreme; but I wish that I were lost, cursed, and totally separated from the Anointed—if that would change the eternal destination of my brothers and sisters, my flesh and countrymen. (Romans 9:1-3 The VOICE)

When we begin to feel compassion for each other and understand the role we all play in the life of this country, good and bad, we can begin to find solutions to our problems. As a nation, we are truly blessed. It’s time we find ways to resolve the internal shortcomings we created while becoming the economic powerhouse of the world. We cannot continue to call ourselves an economic answer for the world if we allow our policies to slight a large segment of our own.

I don’t know the answers, but I know if we stop the violence, sit down and debate alternatives, we can find solutions. Americans are known for their ingenuity and inventiveness. Why don’t we put those characteristics to work and solve this great problem before we tear ourselves apart.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Pray for Wisdom, July 27, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

As many of you who have listened to my podcasts for a while know, I often use a scripture from the lectionary for the focus of my thoughts. I’m amazed how often the scriptures seem to point to the very things I need to hear. And as I hear from others of you, it seems the scripture often relates to something going on in your life at the time as well. It is uncanny the way God works, but he is God after all.

Well, this week’s Old Testament focus was no different. It comes to us from 1 Kings 3 as Solomon takes the throne succeeding his father David. You’ll remember David became the model against whom every other king was measured. He wasn’t perfect by any means. We know about his adultery, his attempts to hide it, and ultimately his plot to murder his mistress’ husband to cover his sin. David’s life wasn’t one spent in dark, hooded robes mumbling prayers in the sanctuary. He was king. A battle-hardened warrior. He expanded Israel’s territory and rooted out it’s enemies from its cities. But God called David a man after his own heart.

Now Solomon has gained the crown. God comes to him and we pick up the story from there as Eugene Peterson describes it in The Message:

^4-5The king went to Gibeon, the most prestigious of the local shrines, to worship. He sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on that altar. That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream: God said, “What can I give you? Ask.”

⁶Solomon said, “You were extravagantly generous in love with David my father, and he lived faithfully in your presence, his relationships were just and his heart right. And you have persisted in this great and generous love by giving him—and this very day!—a son to sit on his throne.

^7-8“And now here I am: God, my God, you have made me, your servant, ruler of the kingdom in place of David my father. I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes, hardly know the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the middle of the people you’ve chosen, a great people—far too many to ever count.

⁹“Here’s what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?”

^10-14God, the Master, was delighted with Solomon’s response. And God said to him, “Because you have asked for this and haven’t grasped after a long life, or riches, or the doom of your enemies, but you have asked for the ability to lead and govern well, I’ll give you what you’ve asked for—I’m giving you a wise and mature heart. There’s never been one like you before; and there’ll be no one after. As a bonus, I’m giving you both the wealth and glory you didn’t ask for—there’s not a king anywhere who will come up to your mark. And if you stay on course, keeping your eye on the life-map and the God-signs as your father David did, I’ll also give you a long life.” (1 Kings 3:4-14 TM)

What maturity Solomon showed as he expressed his wish. Give me wisdom to judge these people. Help me to know the difference between good and evil. If you want me to lead, then give me a listening heart.

Don’t you wish more of our leaders would pray for a listening heart to know the difference between good and evil? It seems we live in a time more like the beginning of the book of Judges when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This “cancel culture” that sprang up from somewhere that decided if I don’t like what you say or what you do, you become invisible. We make you disappear from the world. What you stand for doesn’t count. What you believe doesn’t matter. You are hereby cancelled.

How does that fit into what God wants for us? Do we think we can add him to part of the “cancel culture?” I know there are those trying – pulling down statues of Jesus, desecrating churches, synagogues, temples, and other houses of worship. We see an “I believe in me” culture rising. But God cannot be cancelled. Nations tried before to their destruction. We can try to rewrite the past. We can try to remake a belief system. We can declare we will rise on our own strength. Many tried. Many failed.

A relatively small group decided they want a different government here. I’ve heard too many times, “We’ll burn it down if we don’t get what we want.” How does that help anyone? If everything has been burnt to down, who will rebuild? Who will expend the energy to watch it come tumbling down again? Who wants to risk the threat of careless vandals destroying a life’s work again? And who will have the funds to do so? When the government changes, so does the money. The meaningless coins and paper that we pass to one another in exchange for something. We think money has value, but it doesn’t.

If you think money has value, ask the Argentinians who went through month after month of triple digit inflation when prices became so high the last three zeros on every price tag were removed. But salaries didn’t change. Income didn’t rise with the same inflation. Ask the Venezuelans who experienced triple digit inflation not so long ago. Money didn’t mean anything anymore. Did the government help? No. Did the change in leadership make things better? No.

It seems to me we have an awful lot of people trying to get into this country for it to be such a terrible place to live, work, and raise a family. I see millions trying to come in every year, but I don’t see millions trying to leave to go to some other country. Why is that? Maybe it’s because in the past we thought about more than ourselves. Maybe in the past our elected officials remembered their office wasn’t about making money or becoming popular or even getting reelected. Their office was to pray Solomon’s prayer and ask for discernment so they might have a listening heart.

As I watch most votes in the House and Senate, it seems no one has a listening heart anymore. Most votes split across party lines. Why? Because no one listens. Is every Democrat good? No. Is every Republican bad? No. We will find good and evil among every party, every race, every economic stratum. We will find racism in the same places. No section is exempt. I will say, or write, or do something that I’m sure someone will think is racist. So will you. Why? Because we are. We think in the culture in which we live and work and play. And whenever we come in contact with another culture, it doesn’t matter what color their skin or what language they speak, we will do something someone in that culture could take as offensive.

But when do we act like Solomon and stop and listen with a discerning heart? When do ask the question, “What do I have to think about the person I know to believe he or she said or did whatever it was to intentionally hurt me?”

When we ask that question before we blurt out a response, most of the time, we know the answer will be they didn’t intend harm. I took something wrong. I didn’t understand. There is miscommunication between us. How can we learn from each other so we can avoid bitter feelings? Then talk to each other and listen to each other – but not on Facebook. Pick up the phone. Go to lunch. Really communicate. Don’t scream that you know what the other person thinks. You don’t.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived knew he needed a listening heart to discern the good from the bad. How much more do we need to pray for such a thing in this day? How much different would the streets of our city be tomorrow if all of us sincerely asked for a discerning, listening heart, then sat down with those not like us and heard their story. Maybe we would learn something. Maybe we would care. Maybe we would find some directions to take that would ease the growing tension in a country where millions come to find freedom from oppressive governments.

Is our nation perfect? Not by any means. Is it terrible? Talk to those who escape from those nations led by dictators and politburos. Can we make improvements? Not until we stop and listen to each other and decide we want to do what is right, not what is politically advantageous. As we begin to approach elections in the fall, I encourage you to get information about the candidates. Don’t listen to the news or social media or the campaign adds. Find out about their character. How did they vote on critical issues and why? What do they say they believe and do their actions support it?

Scriptures marked TM are taken from the THE MESSAGE: THE BIBLE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH (TM): Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE: THE BIBLE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH, copyright©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group

Weeds and Seeds, July 20, 2020

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2020-07-23-devotional-Weeds and Seeds

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The headlines haven’t changed. Two things dominate our attention; the coronavirus, and the riots. Both tragic events consume us with the number of deaths created in their wake. The pandemic, we can do little about in the short term. It will ravage the world until we either build enough herd immunity from victims or a vaccine. The early rhetoric that a few weeks and it would be over have been proven false, and we seem to be in this pandemic for the long haul. Many predict at least two years, and some say five or more.

The second event does not have to continue, though. We can do something about it if we want. The problem is that, for the most part, I don’t think we do. In this country, the divide grows more extensive, and we refuse to enter into reasonable debate with each other. We no longer know how to listen to each other. We yell our position in each other’s faces and refuse to stop to understand the other side of an issue.

What’s happening in the protests when no opportunity presents itself for a reasoned dialogue appears on our screens and in the newspapers daily. Screaming at each other. Vandalism. Burning. Riots. Violence. Innocents dying. And what is all of that accomplishing? A deeper divide between the factions. No good will come out of the continued violence happening across the nation.

I expect the majority of us agreed with the brutality involved with the arrest and death of George Floyd. How many innocent people died since then? How many more must die before we stop? In some of our major cities, the cry to defund and dismantle the police, those called to protect the citizenry, found traction. The results in each of those places where city councils chose to reduce budgets stagger us. Crime increased in staggering amounts, double and triple the number of violent crimes from just a year ago, or even just before the pandemic began.

We can blame whatever we want, but I think the real answer is found in a parable Jesus gave found in Matthew 13. His disciples asked him to explain it after he was alone with them. Here is what he said:

³⁶Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came and joined him.

‘Explain to us,’ they said, ‘the parable of the weeds in the field.’

³⁷‘The one who sows the good seed,’ said Jesus, ‘is the son of man. ³⁸The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one; ³⁹the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.

⁴⁰‘So: when the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, that’s what it will be like at the close of the age. ⁴¹The son of man will send out his angels, and they will collect together out of his kingdom everything that causes offense, and everyone who acts wickedly. ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. If you have ears, then hear!’ (Matthew 13:36-43 NTE)

Somewhere along the way, intermingled among us came those ready to fight at the slightest criticism or perceived wrong. Our “it’s all about me” culture assumes everything said or written or created aims specifically at me. And I can interpret those words or artistry any way I choose because the world is all about me.

The world is not about any of us. God created it. It is his. He chose to create human beings with a mission in mind. From the first, he commanded us to take care of his creation. He created us to live in relationship with him and each other. (We don’t do any of those things very well.) He came to live among us and show us how to do it. We hung him on a cross rather than accept what he said. Why he still loves humanity and wants to have a relationship with us, I don’t understand, but he does.

Jesus told us his kingdom is near. He ushered into this world with his death and resurrection. He sent his spirit to live in us. Where he is, his kingdom reigns. So, here we are as his followers, good seed among weeds. What are we to do? What can we make of the mess going on around us?

First, recognize God still sits on his throne. Nothing happening now, in the past, or in the future surprises him. He doesn’t need to confer with anyone to determine how to handle the problems. He is in control. We may not see it. We may not understand. But we can be assured God is still God and loves his children.

Second, remember Paul’s words from Romans 8:

¹⁸This is how I work it out. The sufferings we go through in the present time are not worth putting in the scale alongside the glory that is going to be unveiled for us. ¹⁹Yes: creation itself is on tiptoe with expectation, eagerly awaiting the moment when God’s children will be revealed. ²⁰Creation, you see, was subjected to pointless futility, not of its own volition, but because of the one who placed it in this subjection, in the hope ²¹that creation itself would be freed from its slavery to decay, to enjoy the freedom that comes when God’s children are glorified.

²²Let me explain. We know that the entire creation is groaning together, and going through labor pains together, up until the present time. ²³Not only so: we too, we who have the first fruits of the spirit’s life within us, are groaning within ourselves, as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴We were saved, you see, in hope. But hope isn’t hope if you can see it! Who hopes for what they can see? ²⁵But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it eagerly – but also patiently. (Romans 8:18-25 NTE)

The world is groaning under the problems we see today. Creation waits to be freed from the decay that began with that first act of disobedience. It is on tiptoe with expectation waiting for the harvest when the weeds will be cast away, and the wheat will be gathered. And we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our body. We were saved in the hope of the resurrection. All this will come to an end one day. And Paul says, “The sufferings we go through in the present are not worth putting in the scale alongside the glory that is going to be unveiled for us.

I don’t know how that looks. I don’t know what awaits us. I don’t know what he has in store for us. But until then, we have a mission to share the good news with as many as we can. To do that, though, we must stop and listen to the story of those around us. They won’t listen to our story if we are not willing to listen to theirs. But when we do, we will hear how God can work in their lives and give them the peace and joy only he can bring to them. The legacy of peace Jesus promised.

What happens next with the two major events in our headlines? I don’t know. I hope God sees fit to slow the first about which we can do little. I hope we, who call ourselves followers of Christ, will listen to the stories of those not like us, and from there, share the good news that can heal our land and bring peace to our world.

It’s Time to Rest, July 6, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

This week marked the 244^th birthday of the United States, but the way things look in some of our larger cities, anarchy may replace democracy before the year ends. Rioters still take to the streets with cries that they will burn down our cities if they don’t get what they want. But will giving in to the demands resolve the issues? The answer is no. It just puts a different bully in the seat of power.

Are the actions taken by some of our authorities right and fair? No. Will the world ever be fair? No. Can you have a fair and just system in place while we struggle with race, gender identity, religion, social injustice, political ideology, and a host of other issues that plague us? Not while people are involved. Whoever is in power puts their spin on what is right, and the opposition will complain about injustice.

The framers of our constitution began an experiment in democracy that the world had never seen. It worked when we elected statemen more interested in the good of the whole than in their reelection and party politics. Unfortunately, over the last four or five decades, we failed to elect statesmen. We now choose between politicians who advance their careers instead of their communities. It happens on both sides of the aisle. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all leave their state and federal posts significantly wealthier despite their meager salaries from those seats.

What is the answer to our dilemma? First, we need to become educated individually and as a nation. Few of our high school graduates can point to any given state on a map if asked to name them other than California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Many think Chicago is a state instead of a city. Many are confused when told Washington, DC is not a state and has no Senators. Most do not know how the House determines how many of its 435 seats each state and territory get. Most think the President spends tax money – he doesn’t; he only approves the budget. The House is responsible for the budget, which they continue to handle poorly.

When we understand how a representative government works, and that real change comes through discourse and the ballot box, not from rioting in the street, change can be made. The thuggery that destroys private property only inflames those who would willing sit across a table from them, try to understand, and make real change. As long as violence seems the only answer, it will only receive violence in return.

We see the same thing happening in Jerusalem as Jesus proclaims a new way of perceiving God’s kingdom. The Pharisees see violence against Rome as the way to find release from the Roman empire. Self-proclaimed messiahs had come before Jesus to lead revolts against the empire, and their tombs showed their failure.

Jesus came with a new message. His disciples declared him as Messiah. But then, his friends abandoned, denied, and betrayed him. He willingly gave himself to the unjust trial before the chief priest and the Sanhedrin. He endured the torture and cruel crucifixion of the Romans. He bled and died in the most excruciating and humiliating way men could die.

Not just in his trial and death, but throughout his ministry, many around him mocked him. His words in Matthew’s Gospel show us how fickle protests like we see today can be:

¹⁶‘What picture shall I give you for this generation?’ asked Jesus. ‘It’s like a bunch of children sitting in the town square, and singing songs to each other. 17 This is how it goes:

You didn’t dance when we played the flute,
you didn’t cry when we sang the dirge!

18 ‘What do I mean? When John appeared, he didn’t have any normal food or drink – and people said “What’s got into him, then? Some demon?” 19 Then along comes the son of man, eating and drinking normally, and people say, “Ooh, look at him – guzzling and boozing, hanging around with tax-collectors and other riff-raff.” But, you know, wisdom is as wisdom does – and wisdom will be vindicated!’ (Matthew 11:16-19 NTE)

That’s what I see in the autonomous zones and the call to disband police in our country. No cops, then they cry about injustice when a murder happens in the zone and help doesn’t come. Protesters were injuring innocent bystanders, then standing behind the police for protection from citizens who want revenge on the perpetrator. We are fickle. We don’t stop to think. We fail to sit and listen to each other. Our politicians and especially our media, take the worst events and blow them out of proportion to enrage each side of any argument until no middle ground can exist.

We need to stop. We need to look to the cross. We need to remember a Savior came to show us how to love the unlovable. He died for us all to forgive and finally defeat sin and death and the grave. The kingdom of God came in the form of a human, King of kings. His power usurps all powers, not through violence, but love. His grace overshadows all injustice, not through overthrow, but servanthood.

Believing in Jesus as Messiah, God come to earth to deliver us, and following him results in his spirit residing in our hearts, directing our actions. Those actions will not end in violence against our neighbor but acts of love and kindness. Those actions will demonstrate the fruit of his spirit as Paul enumerates: “love, joy, peace, great-heartedness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control. There is no law that opposes things like that!”

When we let his spirit work in and through us, our world will change. We can be part of its renewal. We can see “God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We can exercise his will wherever we might stand. And in doing so, we can hear the words Jesus prayed and his promise to those who struggle in this life. Listen to the prayer from Matthew:

At that time Jesus turned to God with this prayer: ‘I give you my praise, father, Lord of heaven and earth! You hid these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to children! ²⁶Yes, father, that’s the way you decided to do it! ²⁷My father gave me everything: nobody knows the son except the father, and nobody knows the father except the son – and anyone the son wants to reveal him to.

²⁸‘Are you having a real struggle? Come to me! Are you carrying a big load on your back? Come to me – I’ll give you a rest! ²⁹Pick up my yoke and put it on; take lessons from me! My heart is gentle, not arrogant. You’ll find the rest you deeply need. ³⁰My yoke is easy to wear, my load is easy to bear.’ (Matthew 11:25-30 NTE)

Do you want to rest from your struggle? Do you want help with your burden? Do you want real change to happen in your life? It won’t change the world, yet. It might not change our country, yet. But it will change you when you give yourself to him. Today is the day of salvation. Call on his name and let him take the load, and he will give you rest.

Show God’s Grace, June 29, 2020

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The headlines scream about injustice, slavery, equality, and freedom recently. I wish the world could get rid of the first two and understand the last two. I fear we will never do either. We ended our ability to stop injustice and slavery when Adam and Eve decided they wanted to exercise the knowledge of God and found they fell far short. Cain killed his brother for offering a better sacrifice than he. Lamech murdered a young man who hit him. Violence and injustice plagued humankind ever since their rash actions.

Read every account of every nation, and you’ll find slavery rampant in its history. The seven wonders of the ancient world probably came into existence on the backs of slaves from conquered nations. Aristocrats in Greece and Rome had as many as 600 slaves attending their individual properties. Many of those providing sport for the spectators in the magnificent Colosseum in Rome were slaves. The great temples and palaces discovered in South America attributed to the Incas and Mayans were the result of slave labor from captured tribes.

Our nation and the western world owes its success to slaves working in fields and homes. The advances throughout history are principally the result of labor provided by conquered people. Is it right? No. Do I condone it? No. Does it still happen in the world? Unfortunately, it does. The drug and sex trafficking that goes on in the “civilized” world under our blinded eyes is nothing less than slavery. The child labor in certain parts of the world certainly borders on the same. We enjoy the benefits of their work while they live in squalid conditions. We think nothing of their slavery and injustice.

The question is, what can we do about it? Is the redistribution of property and wealth called for in some of the recent protests the answer? Examine countries that have tried it in the past, and you’ll find it doesn’t work. That ideology is known as socialism or communism, take your pick. The Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China are the best examples of those ideologies. Dissenters of the government policies don’t survive long within their borders. Government officials live in relative luxury compared to the rest of the populace, and even their luxury does not compare well to our upper-middle-class lifestyle in this country. Legislation cannot break the myth of equality we hope to find in our broken world.

But we have hope. There is a way if we will but take it. We will still be slaves, but we are slaves now. All of us. Paul talks about it in his letter to the church in Rome in these words:

¹²So don’t allow sin to rule in your mortal body, to make you obey its desires. ¹³Nor should you present your limbs and organs to sin to be used for its wicked purposes. Rather, present yourselves to God, as people alive from the dead, and your limbs and organs to God, to be used for the righteous purposes of his covenant. ¹⁴Sin won’t actually rule over you, you see, since you are not under law but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you really are slaves of the one you obey, whether that happens to be sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to final vindication? ¹⁷Thank God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were committed. ¹⁸You were freed from sin, and now you have been enslaved to God’s covenant justice (¹⁹I’m using a human picture because of your natural human weakness!). For just as you presented your limbs and organs as slaves to uncleanness, and to one degree of lawlessness after another, so now present your limbs and organs as slaves to covenant justice, which leads to holiness.

²⁰When you were slaves of sin, you see, you were free in respect of covenant justice. ²¹What fruit did you ever have from the things of which you are now ashamed? Their destination is death. ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and enslaved to God, you have fruit for holiness. Its destination is the life of the age to come. ²³The wages paid by sin, you see, are death; but God’s free gift is the life of the age to come, in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6: 12-23 NTE)

We are either slaves to sin or slaves to God. He gives us the freedom to choose which we will follow, but we can’t be in the middle. Obedience to him or sin, those are the choices with no middle ground. You say, “I want to be free to do whatever I want.”

Can I tell you that is not freedom. Obedience is real freedom. It’s like driving a car. I’m free to drive on the wrong side of the road. I’m free to drive off a cliff. I’m free to run into a tree. I’m free to drive 100 mph. I’m free to do all of those things, but I probably won’t live very long or at least will pay a very high price doing so. But if I obey the rules set out by an authority higher than me – stay in my lane, drive the speed limit, obey the traffic laws – I am likely to have a much more pleasant experience and drive my car for years without unpleasant consequences.

It’s the same with the laws God sets in place. We sometimes act like dumb animals and try to stick our heads through the fence to get to the grass on the other side. When we do, we get stuck or shocked, or the barbed-wire leaves horrible scars to remind us of our foolishness. But inside the fence, God placed luscious green pastureland, full of nutritious food. We are free to run and frolic in the field all day with him with no fear.

Why do we push through the fence? Like Adam, we think we are smarter than God. We want what we think is freedom. We want to do what we want to do. That is not freedom. It leads to addiction, pain, suffering, the penalty of sin is death. You can choose who you will follow but think about where real freedom lies. It’s not in breaking the rules, but in following them. It’s not in ridding the world of injustice but ridding my heart of injustice. It’s in making myself a slave to righteousness.

The problem across our country and around the world is not one of inequality and injustice as much as our thinking we can be equal with God. He is God; we are not. When we figure that out and let him be God in our lives, his love will begin to show through us. The violence will stop. The injustice will end. Slavery will no longer exist. Evil will be defeated. Unfortunately, I predict broken humanity will continue to enjoy its brokenness until Jesus returns. Some will follow him; many will not.

Those who listen to God’s spirit must share his love, demonstrate the kind of humanness God intended from the beginning, show not justice but grace to a world in desperate need of God’s grace now more than ever.

Should We Sin More? June 22, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

What’s happening around the world reminds me of a situation Paul addressed when he wrote his letter to the church in Rome. As I watch the nation tire of the pandemic, people forget the disease has not been conquered. It is still as contagious and as dangerous as ever. The spread has not stopped.

Federal and state officials gave us some pretty drastic measures to slow the spread, and it worked while we implemented them. We stayed in our homes, and instead of the predicted hundred million infected, we stand at just over two million. Instead of more than a million dead, we are just over 115 million. But we tired of staying at home. We decided we didn’t want to wear masks or keep our distance.

The number of cases across the United States is showing our dislike of being told what to do. Some are saying the increase in numbers is the second wave of the pandemic. Unfortunately, it is not. It is our failure to do what would stop the disease from spreading. The second wave will not come until late fall, October or November, when the virus will again race through the world with another equally virulent strain, just like a flu season. We understand how coronaviruses operate. This virus is just a new one, more contagious, more deadly.

In our haste to get out of our homes, we forgot the rules about what keeps the disease at bay. It’s not that we can’t get out of our homes, but we have to do the things that keep us safe. Masks to stop asymptomatic carriers from spreading the virus to the vulnerable in our population who then take it home to the rest of the family.

Scientists estimate that 85% of those infected, now, are infected by another family member. That happens because someone carelessly goes out without thinking about risks to others and spreads the disease. The unmasked share the virus, and one of them takes it home to their family, and more than half of that family will end up in the hospital. Those are the current statistics.

So why does that careless transmission remind me of Paul’s letter to the Romans? Because there were some, who received God’s grace, his forgiveness, and thought they could just take advantage of it. Here is Paul’s answer to them.

What are we to say, then? Shall we continue in the state of sin, so that grace may increase? ²Certainly not! We died to sin; how can we still live in it? ³Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into the Messiah, Jesus, were baptized into his death? ⁴That means that we were buried with him, through baptism, into death, so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead through the father’s glory, we too might behave with a new quality of life. ⁵For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

⁶This is what we know: our old humanity was crucified with the Messiah, so that the bodily solidarity of sin might be abolished, and that we should no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷A person who has died, you see, has been declared free from all charges of sin.

⁸But if we died with the Messiah, we believe that we shall live with him. ⁹We know that the Messiah, having been raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has any authority over him. ¹⁰The death he died, you see, he died to sin, once and only once. But the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹In the same way you, too, must calculate yourselves as being dead to sin, and alive to God in the Messiah, Jesus. (Romans 5:1-11 NTE)

The more I read and study Jesus’ words, the more I understand his kingdom is already here. Jesus’ death and resurrection inaugurated the coming of the kingdom to earth. He is the king of the kingdom of God. God invites us into his kingdom as his children when we believe in Jesus as Messiah, the one sent by him to redeem us from our sins. When we ask for his forgiveness, his grace is abundant and he gives it freely, recreating us for his kingdom.

There will be more to this re-creation to come when he returns. Our physical bodies will be transformed into something we don’t yet understand. We will obtain a physical form like his resurrected form. One that you can see and touch, yet can appear behind locked doors and disappear without warning as Jesus did during those forty days after his resurrection. We don’t understand the physics of how that can happen, but if the early Christians willingly gave their lives for the story of the events, I expect we can believe in their authenticity.

To those who would say, “It’s just not possible.” I would retort, “Neither was flight 150 years ago. Neither was the thought of traveling to the moon 100 years ago. Dark matter was thought a ridiculous hypothesis when posited by Lord Kelvin in 1884. It almost ruined his career as a physicist. It did no better for Henri Poincaré in 1906 or Jacobus Kapteyn in 1922. And the hypothesis wasn’t taken seriously until the 1960’s and 1970’s when nothing else could explain some of the action of subatomic particles physicists saw in cyclotrons.

So what else don’t we know about the universe? For one, we don’t understand how creation happened. Let’s assume for argument’s sake there was a big bang. How did the big bang happen? Where did the material come from? Who compressed into a form that made it bang in the first place? Genesis doesn’t say how. It just says out of nothing, God spoke and there was light. We can find as many arguments as there are people as to how things evolved from there. But it seems few want to argue backward from the bang.

How will God re-create a new heaven and new earth? I don’t know. Will we all “go” to heaven. The more I read, the less I think we will. The more I read, I think heaven will “come” to earth. Remember Jesus’ message? The kingdom of heaven is near. God’s kingdom is near. This is what the kingdom of God is like. He tells us to pray, “Your [God’s] kingdom come, on earth…”

So what does that mean for us? I think it means we need to prepare for his coming when he will reign in his new kingdom here. Will he remake it and restore it? Yes. But maybe, just maybe those who follow him will be left to help re-create it into God’s original design for his kingdom. And what was that original design? Humanity caring for all of his creation – tending the animals; caring for the plants; helping each other; living in harmony with each other and with God; God walking in his kingdom with humanity.

I think it also means the more we mess up this place now, the more we will have to clean up when he comes. I’m not sure he will wave a magic wand and make everything go away. Could he do that? Sure. Will he do that? I’m not so sure about that. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” cannot be found in the Bible, but Solomon and Paul imply it. James almost tells us the same thing. It may be that 1,000-year reign Revelation talks about is the time it will take to put everything back the way it’s supposed to be.

So now that I’ve rattled your theology with some things to contemplate for the next week or month or lifetime, I invite you to read carefully Jesus’ words. Don’t just skim through them the way we usually do because they become so familiar to us, but really read them. I think you’ll find that nowhere does he say his followers will “go” to heaven or his kingdom, but rather the kingdom will “come here.” Think about what difference that makes in how you live day to day.

A Formula for Hope, June 15, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We will remember 2020. Many said that about 1963, the year President Kennedy was shot. And 1967, the year we Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. And 1990, when the world faced off against Iraq after they invaded Kuwait. And 2001, when the Twin Towers fell in New York City. But this year, wow! Coronavirus has infected two million Americans and seven million globally. More than 110,000 have died in this country, and we are approaching a half million around the world.

Then the murder hornets invaded the west coast. Shortly after, protests against racial injustice swept across the country, turning violent in too many places, causing millions of dollars in damages and the deaths of innocent people of all colors. The economists already declared a recession. Stocks almost recovered to pre-COVID heights, but only because of speculative trading if you read the tea leaves correctly. Companies that have already filed Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy stocks are exploding because uninformed traders think they will bounce back. They probably won’t, which means those stocks look artificially and dangerously high. Those traders are about to lose their investments when the stock market stabilizes in the next few weeks and months.

Unemployment stands almost as high as during the depression. And this phenomenon isn’t limited to the US. It reaches around the globe because of the pandemic that, except for a handful, affects every country. Suffering is everywhere. You see hopelessness in the eyes of millions. But there is an answer to the desperation that seems so pervasive in the situations that predominate this year. Despite the terrible events that keep piling one on the other, I can assure you; there is hope.

That hope isn’t found in another stimulus check, though. There isn’t enough money in the world to buy hope. You won’t find hope in legislation that brings equality to every race, we’ve tried that. It failed before and will fail again. Defunding police departments won’t stop police brutality, but it will unleash an unbridled criminal element on a defenseless citizenry. Vaccines won’t stop pandemics. Another disease will sweep through the world in a few years just as virulent as this one with devastating effect.

We can do nothing to provide hope to the world because we created the chaos that plagues us. But we can find hope. The Apostle Paul tells us how in his letter to the early followers of Jesus in the church in Rome in the first century. He writes:

Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness,^[a] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. ³But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, ⁴endurance produces character, and character produces hope. ⁵This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. ⁷It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. ⁸But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:1-8 CEB)

I don’t care much for the formula Paul gives us, but through the centuries, Christians prove it true. Trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. We stand firm on that hope; it doesn’t put us to shame, we know it to be true, we boast in the hope of God’s glory because the Holy Spirit poured God’s love into our hearts.

Let’s backtrack through Paul’s formula in these verses. Despite that fact that we were God’s enemies, sinners, disobedient toward him, he showed his love for us by dying for us. He took my sins and your sins to the cross so heaven and earth could join together at that spot. He died for ungodly people, sinners, us.

Why? So by accepting his forgiveness, his spirit could live in us and his love could energize our actions and our love toward others. He enables us to love those we could not love without him. The Holy Spirit pours God’s love into our hearts. We see others differently. We love with his love. His spirit enables us to live a life of love and hope for his glory.

The hope in the Christian throughout the centuries sparked incredible action. Not cathedrals and churches and edifices with stained glass windows, but hospitals, schools, orphanages, shelters for abused women and children, food and clothing pantries, and thousands of other ways men and women help the hurting. Christians run toward the hurting, not away from them.

Please remember, not everyone who says they are Christian have Jesus in their heart. That is the problem with much of Christendom today. Many know the words to say, but have never experienced his life-changing power. Despite their declaration, they are no more Christian than I am a neurosurgeon, even if I said I am. You certainly don’t want me to open your scalp any time soon.

God’s love drives Christians to act because God first loved us, forgave us, and pour his love into our hearts giving us hope for tomorrow. People recognize those loving actions as character. It’s not the money given or the legislator trying to get elected or the pharmaceutical company passing pills. It’s the man or woman standing in the breech helping the needy, getting their hands dirty, disregarding what others might think of them for doing so that defines character.

And helping those in need means getting involved in life and life is messy. It always means endurance. Life is not a sprint, but a marathon. In the church we often remark methods change, but the message never changes. It’s the same with life. Involving ourselves with others is always messy, always emotional, always painful at times, but it is the work God calls us to do if we love as he loves. Imagine if God had given up on you the first time you did something wrong. Where would you be? Can we do any less for those he puts in our path? Endure.

What do we endure? Problems. Trouble. Suffering. Life. We face all the issue of life good and a lot of bad because we, humanity, brought sin into the world and every one of us contributes to that pile. None of us are free from it. Each of us brings our little piece of selfishness to the table and until we give ourselves completely to Christ, we continue to contribute to the mess call life. Even then, our imperfections in this world will cause pain and suffering to those around us. We can’t help it. We will be misunderstood, misinterpreted, abused, maligned. But we also don’t need to complain about it. Jesus went to the cross misunderstood, misinterpreted, abused, maligned. He died for us.

We have access into God’s grace, his unmerited favor, by faith through Jesus. Because we have access to God’s grace, we have peace with God through Jesus. And because of his faithfulness we are made righteous before God. That is not a small thing.

Remember what Isaiah said when he saw God behind the cherubim seated on his throne? “Woe, I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips.” God put his hand over Moses so he would not see his face and die. He did the same with Elijah. We cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. But because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, we are made righteous before him and invited into his presence. How awesome a privilege that we should never take for granted.

2020 is an unforgettable year. Make it so not because of the problems highlighted in the news, but because of a renewed relationship with the King of kings. Meditate on Romans 5:1-8 and remember that “while we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. ⁷It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. ⁸But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

Not a Big Splash, June 1, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

If you are like me, you probably can’t help but read at least some of the news every day about what’s happening around the world with this pandemic. Here we are with over 100,000 deaths in the US. It’s a little hard to believe something like this would happen in our lifetime with all the advancements in medical care, but we face it every day. And the end still reaches out in front of us with a predicted second wave in just a few short months.

I’m encouraged by some of the news, though. I read a few stories about celebrities giving hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars to feed those less fortunate. Those left without jobs as a result of businesses closing to stem the tide of the viral spread. It’s great to see those stories sneak into the overwhelming number of bad news articles of gloom and doom that bombard us every day.

What I find most fascinating from today’s news, though, is the almost total absence of the little things that neighbors and strangers do in small ways to help each other in this crisis. We tout the big splash people we don’t expect to share their wealth when they do so but never talk about the millions of those who generously share every day, easing the suffering of those around them.

As an associate pastor, I get to watch the actions of my church and its members as they share their lives. A food pantry serves almost four hundred families a week with dry goods, produces, and baked items for a family of four. Hopefully, we will be able to again open the clothing pantry, job assistance, and life skills classes like GED completion when some of the social separation restrictions ease.

I see stories of members making meals for shut-ins, providing contact and comfort for those who have lost friends and loved ones, and cannot grieve as we could before the COVID restrictions in hospital and funeral settings. I hear about drive-by birthday parties and graduation celebrations. I watch zoom groups connect just to share with each other and make sure we are all okay mentally and physically throughout the week. Food at a neighbor’s door. A yard randomly mowed. Flowers left on a doorstep. Cards zipping through the mail. Tokens of gratitude showing up through Amazon deliveries. Dozens of small, seemingly insignificant acts that brighten the day of another person that extends the love of Christ.

Those names will never make the news. Their acts of kindness will go unnoticed by the general public. CNN will not put a camera or a microphone in front of them and marvel at their generosity and splash their picture across the Mega Screen in Times Square. But God takes not of every act we do. Paul enumerates the responsibilities of those reborn in his letter to the church in Rome.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; (Romans 8:9-16 NIV)

One word sums up our responsibility. Love. Jesus gave us two commands that engulf the rest of what we should do as citizens of his kingdom. Love God and love others. That’s it. He went on to say we can’t love God, who we can’t see, if we don’t love others we can see.

The unusual conditions we face today present an incredible opportunity for Christians to show what it means to love God. Loving him means we must love others, too. Jesus said it. He understood it and demonstrated it for the thirty-plus years he lived with us. We certainly make mistakes in how we present ourselves as Christians from time to time, but now is an excellent time just to show those around us that we care.

Find ways to connect. Take a meal to a neighbor and leave it on their doorstep. Ring the bell and go. We don’t need credit for doing God’s work. We don’t need our names in the paper or CNN showing up. All I care about is that my name is written in the Book of Life. But because of everything he has done for me, doesn’t he deserve my giving something in return?

It’s interesting when you look at some statistics. Congress continually talks about wanting to help those in need through legislation and programs. The average income in the Senate is just over $2M a year and in the House, just over $1.5M a year. Yet their charitable giving according to their tax records average less than 2%. So I guess they just want to help with our money, not theirs. Because middle-income charitable giving hovers closer to 10%, I sometimes wonder where our elected officials’ hearts are. Do they really want to help, or do they want to get votes from those with a heart to help? It does raise an interesting question.

Should we look at Paul’s description of our responsibilities again? Perhaps it will encourage you to be different in this new normal we face. Some things have changed for the better because of our separation from the hustle and bustle of life. Maybe we can focus on what we should do as the body of Christ as some of the constraints lift in the coming days. Listen again and let Paul’s words settle not just in your mind and heart, but in your hands and feet as you daily work as for the Lord.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; (Romans 8:9-16 NIV)

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

Look for Blessings, May 23, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
As this podcast comes out, we celebrate Memorial Day in the United States. A time to remember servicemen and women who have fallen in service to our country. But the day has become more of an extra day for sales in retail stores and the day that marks the opening of parks and recreation facilities than a day of remembrance.
Perhaps this year will be a little. Most of the country still suffers under severe economic strain, so we don’t have a lot of money to spend, no matter how good the sales might be. Some parks and facilities could open, but remain closed due to the constraints placed on them. Beaches opened in most places, but many remain empty for fear of viral spread.
This year is different in many ways. Doors stay shut. Everyone remains at double-arms length. Masks are not just a fashion statement, but protection against an unseen enemy.
Perhaps we can take time this Memorial Day to think about those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us. As we continue to struggle through these uncertain days with the Corona-SARS-2 virus wreaking havoc around the world, thousands stand in the gap for us trying to make sense of the disease and stop the flood of sick and dying.
Memorial Day has always been about the Armed Forces in the past. Still, I don’t think it would be out of line to remember the first responders and medical professionals that work tirelessly to keep us as healthy as possible under these incredible conditions as well. Having served in the Army Medical Department, many of my friends and acquaintances still serve in those most dangerous areas, putting their lives at risk for us. Many of those professionals not only suffered the effects of the disease, but as you know, some succumbed to its effects and passed away. They, too, died for their fellow man, just as soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines.
Peter wrote to early Christians suffering under the hands of persecutors. In his letter, he encourages them to rejoice. He wrote:

Dear friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. If you are mocked because of Christ’s name, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you.
And later.
Therefore, humble yourselves under God’s power so that he may raise you up in the last day. Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you. Be clearheaded. Keep alert. Your accuser, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Do so in the knowledge that your fellow believers are enduring the same suffering throughout the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you. To him be power forever and always. Amen. 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 CE

I think the longer we endure this pandemic, the more anxious people become. It’s natural. We want it to be over. We want to believe science can create a pill or vaccine or something that will take this thing away. Aren’t we smart enough with all our genomic studies, our ability to conquer space, our ability to clone a sheep – aren’t we able to defeat this simple virus?
The answer is…maybe. Scientists are working to change a seven to ten-year approval process into a twelve to eighteen-month process. That skips a lot of policies and procedures the government put in place over the years for our protection. I know it sounds like a lot of bureaucracy and a waste of money. Through the years, those precautions saved a lot of lives, though. So we might get a vaccine in a few more months, but I won’t hold my breath.
I think I will listen to Peter’s encouragement. This suffering isn’t from God. He isn’t punishing the world for its evil. We punish ourselves. God is in the business of rescuing us from our sins. He sent his Son for just that purpose. The suffering we endure comes because Adam and Eve introduced disobedience and corruption into the cosmos and disrupted its perfect order. We contribute to that chaos and destruction with every passing generation.
But remember Peter’s words? “… don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. … you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you.”
We may not feel very blessed going through the pandemic separated from our friends and those we cherish. We might long for yesterday when we could go about freely and do as we pleased. We might shake our fist at God, asking why this tragedy sweeps around the world affecting so many of his children.
To your questions and complaints, you might hear his still, small voice in the whisper of the wind, “Rejoice as you share in your suffering now, so that you may have overwhelming joy when my Son’s glory is revealed. You are blessed, for my Spirit rests on you.”
In these uncertain times, recognize the blessings that surround you. God holds all of this in his hands and gives us hope even in the face of what may appear hopeless circumstances. Trust him, and as Paul exhorts us, “Rejoice in all things.” It’s not always easy, but in everything, we can find blessings from God. He loves us and has our best in mind, even when we can’t see it.
You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked CEB are taken from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE (CEB): Scriptures taken from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE copyright© 2011, 2012. Used by permission.

Discover God, May 18, 2020

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little tired of the pandemic news. I don’t think it’s so much the news about the pandemic as it is the debate about who is at fault for the predicament we’re in economically and physically. Here we sit with unemployment at its highest since the Great Depression. That’s understandable with everyone locked in their homes. It’s hard to employ workers when businesses have no income because no one can come to their place of business to purchase goods and services.

So we try to help, and in so doing, put our economy in another tailspin by doubling our national debt with programs that I’m not sure help much. Bailouts that were supposed to provide small businesses funds for wages ran out of money within minutes. A $1,200 check to most adults barely covers groceries for a month these days—and then what? Democrats blame Republicans for delays. Republicans blame Democrats for delays. Neither party seems to recognize the real culprit in all of this drama is a new virus to which no one is immune. So it really doesn’t matter what either party says or does, we were in trouble from the start. Every decision was a bad decision. Pandemics are like that.

We lifted Germany and Singapore as the best models of how to avoid the spread of the virus. The spread appears to have been delayed at best. Their numbers have drastically increased in the last few weeks. So, I’m not sure anyone could do anything about what has happened. At best, we could flatten the curve as governors, and country leaders tried to do in various ways, some more successfully than others perhaps, but none have beat the bug.

The question I’ve been asking myself through these bad news stories is, what good can we find in this pandemic? One important thing I’ve discovered, our priorities changed quickly. Not many ask, “When will I see my football team play again?” Or complain about the dress code at school. Suddenly, those invisible people in factories and hospitals like the janitorial staff become heroes keeping us safe. Teachers and healthcare workers become more important in the eyes of the public than the multimillion-dollar movie stars and sports figures. We find out the researcher behind the microscope is much more important to us than the newscaster in front of the camera.

In the past, we made gods of the wrong people and the wrong things. In this country, wealth, fame, position, power, became gods to us. We worshipped these without saying so. These became the most valued things in our lives. The pandemic is the great equalizer for all of us, though. Wealth doesn’t keep you safe. Nor does fame or position or power. When the virus decides to strike, it will invade and destroy whomever it chooses.

Paul visited Athens in his missionary journeys and found the same problem there. The Athenians had more visible representations of their gods, but our worship of things other than the true and living God is no different than theirs. Here is what Paul had to say, recorded for us in the Book of Acts:

So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

“God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22-31 TM)

Perhaps in this pandemic, we can take some time to reflect on what is most important in our lives. Before we get back into the mad rush of life and everything opens up to a new normal, maybe we can take inventory of our before COVID life and ask ourselves, on what did I focus my attention? To what did I give my allegiance? What was most important to me if someone watched how I spent my time and my money? Could others see that I genuinely worshipped the God of all creation? Did my behavior show that He is more important to me than everything else in my life?

It’s not too late to figure out God is calling each of us to a radical life change. He wants to renew an intimate relationship with His highest creation. Jesus introduced Him as “Abba,” a close, personal term for father, like Daddy. But He also reminds us that Abba is the creator of all things, the Almighty, the Master of the Universe.

While we are enclosed in our homes, blocked from the rat race that consumed us before COVID, maybe it’s time to look for God. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek, but He is God and desires us to come to Him understanding who He is—God. When we find Him, when we worship Him, He brings to our hearts an indescribable joy and peace even in the middle of events such as these. Will He remove us from the pandemic? Probably not. We suffer alongside the rest of humanity, but we live with hope, and that’s the difference.

What is your god? Better yet, Who is your God? Discover Him while you have some time on your hands.