Keep The Faith

Cheap Grace This morning, as I often do, I found myself thinking about something that has been stirring in my heart — and Dietrich Bonhoeffer came to mind. Remembering Bonhoeffer I first learned about Bonhoeffer back in 2016 through a book that, in hindsight, I believe the Spirit placed in my hands at just the right time. I wrote about that experience in my earlier post “ The Prophecies. ” As I revisited his Wikipedia page today, one of his books caught my attention again: The Cost of Discipleship . Reading the summary reminded me how deeply his message aligns with the concerns I’ve been carrying about the modern church. Cheap Grace vs. Costly Grace Cheap grace is forgiveness without repentance, baptism without discipline, communion without confession. It is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. “Of course you’ve sinned, but everything is forgiven — so stay as you are an...

Unity Series — When Nations Rage, God Still Leads His People When the nations rage and wars drag on year after year, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, confused, or even numb. Yet Scripture reminds us that God has always led His people through impossible situations, and that His Kingdom remains unshaken even when the kingdoms of this world collide. 03/02/2022 This morning my mind went to the war that began when Putin’s Russia invaded the smaller nation of Ukraine. I can only imagine the fear the Ukrainian people must have felt. They were suddenly facing a powerful military force with overwhelming weapons and resources. As I watched the news, my thoughts went back to another moment in history — one recorded in Scripture (Read the story⇾  Exodus 14 ). God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt; He led them straight to the edge of the sea with nowhere to go. Behind them, the Egyptian army wa...

Prophecy and Power Something that has always troubled me is the prophecy circulating among Christians today that claims Donald Trump was chosen by God to be president. This morning I found myself thinking back to the period when Adolf Hitler rose to power — and wondered whether there had been a prophecy about him. To my shock, I discovered that there was. Bonhoeffer and False Prophecy From an article in Christianity Today titled “Dietrich Bonhoeffer — German Theologian and Resister” : “The time is fulfilled for the German people of Hitler. It is because of Hitler that Christ, God the helper and redeemer, has become effective among us. … Hitler is the way of the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the Church of Christ.” — Pastor Hermann Gruner Another pastor put it more succinctly: “Christ has come to us through Adolf Hitler.” Just to be clear, Dietrich Bonhoeffer did not say this. He was deeply concerned abou...

Forgiving Each Other – Part 2 Forgiveness is not only for the one doing the forgiving — it is also for the one being forgiven. When we forgive, we reflect the heart of God, who never gives up on anyone. His love pursues, restores, and rejoices when even one person turns back to Him. God Never Gives Up on the One Who Strays “What man among you… does not leave the ninety‑nine and go after the one that is lost?” (Luke 15:3–7) Jesus paints a picture of a shepherd who refuses to abandon even one lost sheep. He searches until he finds it. He lifts it onto his shoulders. He rejoices. Heaven celebrates when a sinner repents — because God’s love does not quit. “It is not the will of your Father… that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:12–14) If God refuses to give up on people, then we — His children — must learn to reflect that same mercy. Forgiveness is not approval of sin. It is participation in God’s heart. Nothing Can Separate Us From God’...

Propaganda – The tools used by all the rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens. ' Illusory truth effect - Biases & Heuristics | The Decision Lab ’ I want to take you back in time to the 1930s. Hitler wrote a book “ Mein Kampf ” and in a section of the book, he wrote about the use of propaganda. In Volume 1; Chapter 6 , he wrote, “all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward.” Since Hitler wrote about it, you would expect that he used this propaganda. Christianity in Germany In 1933 when Hitler and the Nazis gained power, there were approximately 45 million Protestants and 22 million Catholic Christians in Germany. Why didn’t the Christians stop Hitler and the Nazis? Why didn’t the Christians...

Is It Right to Abuse Our Planet Earth? A reflection on stewardship, responsibility, and the fragile beauty of the world God entrusted to us. We rarely stop to ask ourselves a simple question: Is it right to mistreat the very world God placed us in? We depend on this planet for every breath, every drink of water, every meal. Yet so often, we treat it as if it were disposable. A friend of mine recently returned from a missionary trip to Honduras. As their group crossed a bridge, he looked down at a river so filled with trash that the water was barely visible. Sadly, this isn’t an isolated sight. Many places around the world—especially in areas of deep poverty—struggle under the weight of pollution. Rivers, streets, and neighborhoods become overwhelmed with waste, and the people who live there suffer the consequences. And the problem stretches far beyond local communities. Massive islands of garbage now float in our oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch—est...

Forgiving Each Other – Part 1 Forgiveness has been on my mind lately. It’s something Jesus spoke about often, yet it’s not a topic I remember hearing many sermons on. And yet, in the Lord’s Prayer, forgiveness sits right at the center of how we are taught to pray. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” ( Matthew 6:12 ) Jesus doesn’t leave forgiveness optional. He makes it clear: “For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.” ( Matthew 6:14–15 ) Why is forgiveness so important to God? Why does He command something that can feel so painful, so costly, and sometimes so impossible? A Personal Story Let me explain through a personal story — something unpleasant, but something that helped me understand forgiveness in a deeper way. Back in August, I began experiencing severe pain in my lower body. Sitting hurt. Sleepin...