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Honoring the Life of Charlie Kirk

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I’m still horrified by both what happened to Charlie Kirk and the reactions afterward.

I know I should not be shocked. The Lord warned us of this hatred. 

“Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” — 1 John 3:13 (NIV)

Jesus also said:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” — John 15:18 (NIV)

Charlie courageously and prophetically went to unfriendly places to speak the truth and engage in dialogue. Unfriendly territories that used to be diverse places with a broad range of ideas and thought, that had become echo chambers of modern ideology and propaganda with no sign of pluralism or an open exchange of ideas.

He welcomed debate and allowed anybody to have the mic… and he did it with a LOT more grace and patience and wisdom than anybody else I have seen.   Certainly more than me or anybody else I know. I still struggle with getting too “passionate” in tone and emotions with those I love with my whole heart! How much harder to communicate calmly with love to those who think you are an enemy!?

I am encouraged by the numerous testimonies I have heard of people I know personally (and also just public testimonies) who were awakened to how they had been deceived into extreme ideologies… and how the truth he boldly spoke had pierced their hearts and returned them to Christ and His Word and the Biblical Worldview.

But I am discouraged at how so many still disparage him without ever really listening to what he said and how he said it, in context. And I am discouraged by how divided the Body of Christ is. And I am discouraged by how many don’t realize when they mock or hate him, they are hating a brother.

“Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” — 1 John 3:15 (NIV)

“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.” — 1 John 4:20 (NIV)

I plead with the Lord to have mercy on our country. To me, Charlie was a modern prophet figure. This doesn’t mean we idolize him or think he is perfect. It means I believe he saw what most could not see and was willing to give up his comfort for the sake of the Truth. I rejoice knowing he ran his race so well and he is with The Savior, Hallelujah! And I mourn for the evil I see and for his widow and children. It is good to realize we are in enemy territory and that this world is not our home. But it is heartbreaking to see what evil does. Lord have mercy on us though we do not deserve it.

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Light, Life, Goodness & The Fight Against Evil

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I have been thinking about this verse all week:

Which had me thinking on life, building, being vs. destroying, destruction. Which led me to a great little rabbit trail. Follow along…

It started with the Hillsdale President (Larry Arnns) who spoke these words at Charlie Kirk’s Memorial,

“There’s a ladder that reaches up toward God. At the bottom are the ordinary good things around us everywhere. If we can call them by their names, they have being. The beings of the good things are figments of God… A good thing is a thing that has being.”

I found that Arnns’ conclusions are drawn from the works of Augustine (400 AD ish) and when I looked into his writings on this topic, I saw they could be summarized:

Evil has no life of its own; it is only the twisting or absence of the good that God creates.

See, we are in good Company as Truth Dwellers….because that summary led me to C.S. Lewis’ words in Mere Christianity,

“Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled. … Evil is a parasite, not an original thing.”

These are such deep thoughts. I’ve been pondering them deeply. It’s hard to even put it all into words so I’m grateful other men have done it for me. 🙂

So, evil is a corruption of what is good. It cannot create . It doesn’t build, it destroys. It cannot stand on its own. Evil depends on good to exist.

This contrast is seen everywhere right now.

Continue reading “Light, Life, Goodness & The Fight Against Evil” →

Hosanna in the Heartache

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I am deeply missing a dear friend today who passed away last month and I am heartbroken for all who love her so much. I am thinking about what a tender gift it was from the Lord to take her home on Purim and to be able to celebrate her on Passover and Palm Sunday this Sunday. God writes the best stories.

The Bible’s Honest View of Suffering

I recently saw a clip of Tim Keller explaining how there’s nothing saccharine or Pollyanna in the Bible’s view of suffering. And it struck me again how grateful I am for that.

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Small is Sacred

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Over the years, the Lord has consistently helped me “think smaller” instead of chasing the grand, let’s-change-the-world, fiery thoughts I had in my youth. I’ve always considered myself a passionate person and a big dreamer – but something shifted during my health challenges (2013-2015) and motherhood.

In the last decade, I’ve thought often about how much we can miss the beauty and gift of a humble life when we’re constantly chasing the big, loud, and exciting. We aren’t all supposed to be building something massive or trying to be the savior of the world.

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Holy Grief

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Previous posts in this Grieving with God series:
1 – Suffering
2 – Choosing Joy
3 – Jesus Wept
4 – Walking with God through Suffering
5 – God is Strong. God is Loving

Thinking more on emotions today and how Jesus wept…

It is not accurate to say that believers shouldn’t grieve deeply. In fact, it is often God’s Spirit in us who is mourning when sorrow rolls in. He mourns with those who mourn. And many times His mourning is a beckoning – a holy invitation to go to Him. That feeling of longing that loss and sadness gives us…. is important to not ignore.

He IS the Father of all compassion and God of all comfort. There’s an entire book in His Word called Lamentations. So when Paul says, “don’t grieve as those without hope” — he is not saying do not grieve. He is saying grieve differently. Carry your grief right to the throne and let the Lord to minister you – filling you with LOVE and comfort and hope.

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God is strong. God is loving.

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Previous posts in this series:
Suffering
Choosing Joy
Jesus Wept
Walking with God through Suffering

Life on earth really can be so hard. There’s such deep heartache, the ever-demanding rat race we are bombarded with, suffering in so many forms. Questions swirl – about theology, doctrine, society, politics. There’s so much chaos, misunderstanding, disunity, division, dysfunction… things really do feel out of order. It’s easy to get weighed down, to feel overwhelmed by all that is happening.

But this morning, the Lord encouraged my heart with a simple yet deeply anchoring reminder:

“One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard: that You, O God, are strong, and that You, O Lord, are loving.” – Psalm 62:11-12a

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Jesus Wept

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Previous posts in this series:
Suffering
Choosing Joy

I know that Choosing Joy is not a denial of hardship – it’s a declaration of trust in Jesus. Joy is a supernatural gift from Him, rooted in His grace. The joy of the Lord is our strength! But if joy is more than an emotion, how do emotions fit into all of this?

In my ponderings with the Lord this morning (and through Tim Keller’s writings), He has been reminding me again that we do not deal with suffering by simply suppressing negative emotions – it’s so much deeper than that. We must allow ourselves to feel emotions deeply so that we can release them, entrusting them to the One who can carry them fully.

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Choosing Joy

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Yesterday I wrote about suffering

Today – I want to write about choosing joy.

For the past three years, the Lord has given me the honor of being a front-row witness to my dear friend Cory’s life – walking beside her as she has battled cancer. And she is still in the battle. The Lord is still writing her story.

And I want to share what I have witnessed. Through every step, she has faced this trial as she has lived her life – with grace, love, faith, and a steadfast choice to rejoice.

“Suffering, in and of itself, does not bring us nearer to God” as Tim Keller wisely points out (in Walking with God through Pain & Suffering). It’s who we turn to in the pain that makes all the difference.

Continue reading “Choosing Joy” →