Friends: I was paying attention to global events even when I wasn’t a Bible-abiding Christian. Let’s maximize this chance to build the world.  - Bob

--- --- ---

Spirituality Column #1014

April 21, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Religious Studies

By Bob Walters

“Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.” – Romans 12:9

I wandered away from church in my mid-teens, but wandered back at age 47.

As cited here just last week, I mention this life-shift often. I suppose the frequent retelling is because I’m as surprised to be a believing, functioning, Bible-literate, church-living Christian as I’ve been surprised by any turn in my life.

My Episcopal youth in Kokomo as an altar boy (acolyte) was fine. But I aged out of that (14-ish), couldn’t sing (so I just sat there), the service changed (the New Liturgy of the late 1960s), and I had a busy high school career of sports, friends, and extra-curricular activities.  Nothing among my interests or formal education soon pointed me back to church.

But I did pay attention to world events including the too-frequent Middle East skyjackings, the attack on the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 games in in Munich, the 1979 kidnapping of U.S. diplomats and military in Tehran (i.e., The Hostage Crisis}, Lockerbie Square, the Libyan encounters of the 1980s, the Gulf War in the 1990s, and of course, 9/11.

I mention these specifically because they all involved Muslims as the perpetrators, and until 9/11, I really had no curiosity, animosity, or knowledge of Islam. “Jihad” entered the American lexicon in the 1970s, but all I knew was that Islam seemed to be very, very mad at the West but I had no idea why.

“Death to America.” “The Great Satan.”  Well, what did I/we ever do to you?

In an ironic but perfect twist of timing, my first return to pretty much any Sunday church service was September 2, 2001 (search that date in my blog for details). There I met retired pastor Russ Blowers who suggested we do lunch. Nine days later was 9/11.

We kept that lunch date later in September when as a new believer – though at that point I wasn’t sure what it was I believed – I was embarrassed as Russ said grace right there in a public restaurant, the original Sahm’s on Allisonville in Fishers.

As we discussed 9/11, Russ noted that despite 50 years of ministry he knew little about Islam, while I knew nothing.  I had seen a then-recent Wall Street Journal editorial about a new book on Islam, What Went Wrong, by Princeton professor and Islamic expert Bernard Lewis. We agreed to read it together, and it was eye-opening.

In May of 2002 I met George Bebawi, a guest at a small gathering here in Indianapolis of old high school friends from Kokomo. He was a divinity lecturer at Cambridge University who was born Jewish, grew up in Cairo in a Muslim neighborhood, and in his late teens became a Christian and then a Coptic Orthodox priest with a Cambridge PhD. He knew – sorry for the all-caps – a LOT about Islam that both fueled and quenched my curiosity.

Russ also introduced me to the magazine First Things, a scholarly Catholic journal of religion, philosophy and culture that leans heavily conservative but carries all sides of many issues. I’ve been a monthly reader since 2007.

So, I look back at Russ and George showing up in my faith life and intellectual life when they did, as intensely as they did, and the lasting impact they’ve had with my own continuing studies. I’m thankful for, and trusting of, the perspective I’ve gained. 

There is an awful lot of chaff flying in the current swirling winds of commentary about Iran, Trump, the Pope, Just War Theory, Democrat hostility, media subterfuge, MAGA desertions, international politics, energy, economics, globalism, and much else.

We must discern wisely. All this to say I’m glad Iran’s Shi’ite theocracy won’t have a nuclear weapon soon, or hopefully ever. Let’s build the world, not destroy it.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) this week chose his words very carefully.

Friends: The world may think God fills in reality’s gaps, but there are no gaps, only Jesus. Blessings, Bob

--- --- ---

Spirituality Column #1013

April 14, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Reality of the Sabbath

By Bob Walters

“… the reality, however, is found in Christ” – Colossians 2:17

For nearly 20 years I’ve been reading Ray Stedman’s daily online devotional, “The Power of His Presence.”

Ray lived from 1917 to1992. He was born in Montana, served as longtime pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, authored several books, and achieved national prominence. I’ve never studied Stedman himself, nor know a lot about his ministry that has extended well past his earthly life. I’ve just been a daily online reader.

His blog / devotional seems to run in seven-year cycles, typically an Old Testament book one month, then a New Testament book the next. It is basic, smart, protestant, evangelical Bible verse-by-verse exposition.  His work is nicely arranged and available free at RayStedman.org. For the blog, they’ve never sent a bill.

We all have our favorite, preferred, trusted devotionals and I’m not here to compare, contrast, or elevate Stedman.  I’ve just always included him in my daily reading, meditation, and prayer time. Most of you – i.e., regular Common Christianity readers – likely know I became a baptized Christian in 2001 because I mention it all the time. It goes without saying that I never met Ray, and he likely never met “the Internet.”

More than once Stedman’s devotionals have triggered ideas for this weekly column, especially when it syncs up with something I’ve been thinking about apart from his blog. This is one of those times, about reality and Jesus, Genesis and the Sabbath.

Why do we become Christians? 1 Peter 3:15 says we should “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” My answer for that never seems to line up with most preaching I hear.  That’s not a complaint, it’s just that most pulpits and altar calls revolve around coming to Jesus to solve one’s problems, to be forgiven of our sins, relieve our grief, atone for our transgressions, rest from our labors, or some other general application of turning the negatives of our lives into positives. A good outcome is divine joy, peace, and purpose.

I have seen all of that personally, for me, in my own faith walk and have seen it in many others.  Truth is, when I first walked into church expectation-less in 2001 at age 47, it wasn’t my problems or my sins or any perceived need for joy or direction that the Holy Spirit grabbed onto.  It was my curiosity, and, looking back, a sense that reality dwelled – really dwelled – in Jesus Christ.  It was long before I read Colossians 2:17.

But I see it now. Reality, I mean. In Christ. That’s where reality is: not in science, philosophy, politics, or culture, nor in my worldly appetites, experiences, or psyche. The assurance and comfort knowing that reality exists, truth exists, God exists, and that this life matters and has purpose is the reason for the hope and faith that I have. That’s my intellectual “jam.”

This month – April 2026 – Stedman’s blog presents early Genesis. April 10 was Genesis 2:2, where God rests and admires his work; what He later commanded and called the Sabbath (Link: God Rests). It was an early shadow that ended at the Cross

Stedman talks about the Old Testament Sabbath being a shadow, and Christ being the true Sabbath. This is what my Bible mentor George Bebawi emphasized, the “shadows” of the old covenant of the Law vs. the reality of the new covenant in Christ. The shadows of the Law become the reality of salvation in Christ.

Jesus never calls for feasts or festivals or even a day of worship because He, the real Sabbath – the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8) – is with us always.

The world endeavors to define reality on its own terms. Reality, really, is defined in Jesus.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) reminds all that science was created by God.

Friends: It wasn’t until Jesus’s end that the disciples knew their ministry was just beginning, or that their lives – all our lives – were renewed.  Blessings, Bob

(P.S. – Indy friend Steve Bickel passed away quietly last Wednesday 20 years after a bicycle accident in September 2006 broke his neck, fractured his skull, and left him conversantly alert but bedridden. A former preacher and real estate executive with Marsh grocery stores, Steve even in his situation was a cheerful rock of faith, was a delight to visit, and became a good friend. Prayers go out to Jean and the family who will celebrate his life Wednesday, April 8, at Flanner and Buchanan on Carmel Drive, Carmel, Indiana. Visitation is 10-noon, the service is at noon.)

--- --- ---

Spirituality Column #1012

April 7, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Life on the Beach

By Bob Walters

“…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” – Isaiah 40:31.

On the cross Jesus says, “It is finished.” That is our signal to get started.

These first few days after Easter annually put my mind on that beach with Peter and the disciples, who recognized the risen Lord but were afraid to say anything of His identity.

All the disciples but Peter and John – “the disciple Jesus loved” – had bailed on Jesus after his arrest. Peter, shortly thereafter and egregiously, denied knowing Jesus three times.

Only John witnessed their Lord on the cross.

As Jesus finished His earthly ministry at Calvary in obedience, love, glory, and death, the new ministry of the disciples – of the new covenant of life in Christ – began. Jesus truly died a human death, and in His blood and resurrection was our eternal life.

At the cross, the faith of everyone was strained. Imagine: a Roman executioner was the only human to recognize Jesus – in His death – as the Son of God. It would take His resurrection to convince those who previously believed all Jesus had told them.

Even John and the few women at the cross, knowing Jesus was dead, did not track what Jesus had said hours earlier: that He was going away for a little while but would return. All were stunned to discover an empty tomb, then later see the resurrected Lord in a locked room, encounter Him in a public meeting, and now, here on a beach.

On this beach, a stunning scene in John 21, Jesus was cooking a breakfast of fish for the disciples, fish He had instructed them how to catch. It is the third time the disciples saw the resurrected Jesus, and apparently the only time they were alone with Him. As a note of symmetry, Jesus at the beginning of His ministry three years earlier also instructed a bountiful catch, telling them they would be fishers of men.

Now at the end with another bountiful catch, Jesus begins their new day of service by symbolically providing breakfast. In His resurrected presence, their doubts will end and their new mission begin. It was a new beginning to their new life with Christ.

What was not understood at the foot of the cross could now begin to take shape.

Jesus pulled Peter aside and addressing him as Simon – which Jesus always did when Peter had a new beginning – thrice queried if Peter loved Him, each time instructing him to “feed my sheep.” Instead of a harsh rebuke for denying Him three times, Jesus forgave Peter three times. Love was the key and Peter’s work was laid out.

In time the world would realize that Jesus was more than what the disciples had understood Him to be on earth: their Lord, Son of God.  In His resurrection, they would soon learn he was God the Savior, restoring mankind’s eternal relationship with God.

Try to imagine the relief, confusion, awe, and likely fear that settled over not just that beach breakfast but over all who witnessed the newly risen King. It was already a heavenly story to be told, and now became a heavenly mission for humanity. This was a renewal for all the world, and with faith in Christ something entirely new under the sun.

God was now personal. His love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness by the Spirit was visited upon the human heart through the door Jesus unlocked. Jesus elevated our hope not only from momentary to permanent, but from permanent to eternal.

Jesus would be – and is – with us always in realms we can’t define but that deliver the exciting promise that death is overturned and life is renewed forever.

I doubt the disciples grasped this Godly purpose on the beach, or understood what lay ahead. But they would have known their work was far from finished.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) is on spring break and likes the beach analogy.

Friends: Christian faith is about relationship with God the Father Almighty through faith in His Son Jesus. That wasn’t immediately evident to the disciples. Have a prayerful Holy Week; Easter is next Sunday. Blessings ...

(PS: From our auto racing days, Janine Vogrin Doyle (The Bean on our IMS pit note crew; her dad Jim ran the STP Indy Car program) has survived cancer and needs help. Her GoFundMe page is https://gofund.me/e7ca07427.)

Spirituality Column #1011

March 31, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Friends, Partners, and Heirs

By Bob Walters

“Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.” – Jesus, John 15:7

“The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” – Jesus, John 15:16

“This is my command: Love each other.” – Jesus, John 15:17

These familiar verses from “The Vine” passage in the Gospel of John track the final teachings of Jesus to the Disciples after the Last Supper and before His crucifixion.

On what we now traditionally call “Maundy Thursday,” Jesus and the 11 remaining disciples – traitorous Judas has already left to inform the Pharisees of Jesus’s whereabouts – depart their Passover meal out a back door and walk through dark Jerusalem toward the Garden of Gethsemane.

John chapters 15, 16, and 17, a story recorded only in the fourth Gospel, chronicle Jesus’s encouragement, warnings, and instructions to the confused and soon to be bewildered disciples who believe Jesus to be the Son of God, but have yet to comprehend the meaning of His impending departure / death / return.

Jesus doesn’t tell them to behave better; he emphasizes his and their identity. Jesus locks in on the generosity and goodness of God: “He will give you whatever you ask” (v7,16). But they don’t understand what they will be asking for.  Jesus tells them they are no longer slaves, but his friends (v14), because He has “made the Father known to them” (v15). Jesus insists going forward they must work together because they will need each other and be partners to complete the task assigned to them.

The task? Preach Jesus’s message of grace and salvation to the world. Be His partners – and each other’s – in telling the greatest story ever told of how the Son of God came into humanity to heal our sins and restore our loving, eternal relationship with the Father of all things; to tell how Jesus died in loving obedience to His Father but rose in loving glory to seal the truth of His mission and heal the mortal wound of our sin.

Jesus is preaching a New Covenant of faith for all mankind, not of Law for the Jews. Repentance means not just physical obedience, but learning a new way of thinking about life and God; it is a new way of love and redemption.  It is a gift the world will not immediately understand; a gift from a God/man it hates. It is a gift that shows humanity the reality of God, and that gift that says our own lives have purpose as we glorify and are glorified with God. That is what Jesus did; that is the gift God sent.

We are not detached bystanders in our Christian lives today. “If you obey my commands you will remain in my love … as I have obeyed and remain in the Father’s love” (vv9-10). I believe that we, like the disciples, are chosen participants, though I have no idea why this one is chosen and “gets it,” and this one isn’t, and doesn’t. 

All we can do is preach truth, share love, obey in faith, and trust God’s plan. I often think how opaque were Jesus’s claims and instructions as he spoke to Jews, Pharisees, and gentiles. It seems the only beings who understood exactly who Jesus was and the power He had were the demons who feared Him, not the humans whom He loved and came to save. Many humans still do not understand our part in the story.

We want God and Jesus to do stuff for us; doesn’t Jesus say, twice in this passage, “Ask and it will be given to you”? What we are to ask, as friends, partners, and heirs of the magnificent ministry of Christ, is how to best preach, share, and witness this precious word of life. It is for God’s eternal glory, and for joy in our worldly life.

On Easter we celebrate our own salvation, sure. But our joy is being on the team.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes, “Gethsemane” means “a place that crushes olives.” Jesus, the Messiah anointed one, with olive oil, was crushed for our sins.

Friends: Where in the Gospels does Jesus say, “I am God”? If you know how to read scripture, Jesus says it all over the place. Blessings! Bob

--- --- ---

Spirituality Column #1010

March 24, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

When the Light Shines

By Bob Walters

“I did tell you, but you do not believe.” – Jesus,

People who want to argue with the Bible but know very little about the Bible love to point out that, with approximate and dismissive faux-authoritative commitment, that, “Jesus never says he is God.”

I guess that is a way, or at least an attempt, to de-tune a Christian’s faith and buttress one’s own rejection of the Bible’s authority, but it is a silly point. Jesus clearly identifies himself, in various ways, as God’s son throughout the Gospels in both word and deed. But, it is true, Jesus was not wearing an “I Am God the Messiah Christ” nametag.

My longtime Bible mentor George Bebawi often made the good yet simple point that Jesus didn’t come to broadcast his own glory, but God’s. And that Jesus didn’t come to display his power, but “being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2:8). The initiating economy of our salvation is faith in the identity of Christ, not billboards and sales pitches.

In our own hearts, with the collaboration of the Holy Spirit, we must arrive at the personal decision that the New Testament’s evidence provides the truth we need to accept God’s offer, through Jesus, of restored and eternal relationship with God.

Jesus wasn’t expected, his mission was hidden, his offer fantastical, and his identity was key to all who might believe in him.  Old Testament prophesies predicted his arrival and mission, but they were veiled from the hearts and minds of most Jewish leaders. They saw God through the lens of obedience to the Law, not obedience to the faithful presence of Christ. They were entirely in the dark as to the proposition of Jesus.

The Pharisees in Jerusalem ask Jesus, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24, the verse prior to the one cited above).

Obligingly but cryptically, Jesus talks of his voice and his sheep and his promise of imperishable eternal life, and says, “I and the father are one” (v30). And then, “the father is in me, and I am in the father” v38).

That seems pretty plain, but the lights do not come on.  They will only “get it” when they believe, and they don’t believe. They picked up stones to stone him.

This story is the precursor to The Death of Lazarus in John 11, where Jesus tarries four days then dangerously plans to return to Judea to “awaken” the dead Lazarus despite threats to his own life. Jesus rebuts the warnings of his disciples by noting, in John 11:9-10, “a man who walks by day will not stumble … when he walks by night he stumbles, for he has no light.”

On the one hand, this verse is Jesus saying man has twelve hours of daylight to accomplish his tasks. He has time to fulfill God’s work, but no time to waste. It also harkens to the “I Am” statement of Jesus – one of seven in the Gospel – in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.  Anyone who follows me will not walk in darkness.”  

A Jew hearing the words “I Am,” should know it references the name God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15, “I Am Who I Am.” There were those who believed, but even their faith was tested when Jesus was soon arrested and crucified.

Jesus knew his identity would have to be shown, not debated. The Pharisees were enraged when word of the very dead Lazarus, at Jesus’s beckoning, departed the tomb very much alive. It set in motion the Pharisees’ plot to have Jesus killed, which led to the cross, which led to the empty tomb, which led to light available to all mankind.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) figures Lazarus was revived two weeks before Easter.

Friends: Afraid of God? That’s a good thing. Blessings, Bob

--- --- ---

Spirituality Column #1009

March 17, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Tremble Boldly

By Bob Walters

“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7

“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10

“Fear of the Lord is the fountain of life.” Proverbs 14:27

“The Lord is my light and salvation – whom shall I fear?” Psalms 27:1

“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, [who delights] in his commands.” Psalms 112:1

I’m having trouble remembering exactly when “Jesus is my homeboy” was a thing – 1990s maybe? – but I seem to remember it had something to do with pop singer Madonna and nothing to do with biblical Christian doctrine.

Yes, Jesus is my friend, but He is eternal Lord and King; I am here to follow him, not boss him around. I am his friend if I do what He commands (John 15:14). Obedient Abraham was God’s friend (James 2:23).  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy (James 4:4). That’s what “homeboy” says to me.

One doesn’t have to dive too deeply into scripture to understand that fearing God as a friend – bringing knowledge, wisdom, life, light, and blessing to us – is radically different from fearing God as an enemy and deserving His wrath (Eph 2:3). “Jesus is my homeboy” expresses non-understanding and, I’d say, non-belief in a sovereign God. It proclaims, “I am sufficient.” Oy. If I think I am God, I am too dumb to fear the real God.

Once we settle in our faithful minds that “fear of the Lord” is our path to peace in His glory and truth, our proceeding reverence expresses love and awe. The modern, wide, progressive, therapeutic swath of Christian doctrine that wishes either to control our actions with guilt, or to remove our accountability of faithful obedience, serves to remove reverence and promote vanity. The Bible is reinterpreted for our convenience.

And so, our American culture steadily creeps away from our nation’s founding Christian principles: love for God and others, personal moral and ethical accountability, sin, a Creator, divine judgment, objective good, real evil, and eternal truth.  The Bible’s lessons and truth, still very real, become discounted, murky remnants of “old ways.”

What about those who should truly fear the Lord but don’t, whose lives would be lifted up by the confidence a faithful, Godly life instills. Instead, their souls lie fallow. They feel life in the present but are shackled to it, not soaring in the unfettered joy of knowing God and participating in His glory. Ours is a fear that is inspiring, not dreadful.

The secular world conditions us to see worldly reward and punishment, not divine grace and the heavenly world beyond. The world fears earthly punishment and relishes material reward.  We as believers can stumble in those secular moments, at least I do, yet 365 times the Bible urges us to “fear not” (e.g. Isaiah 41:10), and our joy rekindles.

In the arms of Jesus, we needn’t fear God’s punishment. His sacrifice “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10) may not relieve our personal guilt and shame for our sins, but what the world calls “fear” the Christian learns to call trust, hope, love, and confidence.

Tremble at the mighty power of God, then boldly rise before the world.

Blessed is our humility, and great is His faithfulness.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) was inspired by THIS ARTICLE from Touchstone.

Friends: I love Jesus and I love America, and am beyond thankful for both.  But being called a “Christian Nationalist”? That is not meant as a compliment. Blessings, Bob

--- --- ---

Spirituality Column #1008

March 10, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

National Interest

By Bob Walters

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. …” – Psalms 33:12

There exists a contemporary pejorative sobriquet that is a dog-whistle attack on American patriots who also happen to believe in the proper Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In our Left vs. Right political climate, with even the Gospel-believing Right muscularly subdivided between those who revere Donald Trump and those who revile Donald Trump, “Christian Nationalist” communicates a disdain for any who would dare claim salvation in Christ but not assert and fear imminent destruction by Donald Trump.

America has never been nor would long survive as a theocracy, which is when a religious faith actually is the government.  That is what Islam and the Koran comprise, an inseparable package deal of faith being the government. The Mullahs are in charge.

While the chosen Israelites were a theocracy of Laws, the New Covenant in Christ holds a valuable separation of church and state enumerated by Jesus himself some 1,770 years before Thomas Jefferson’s famous comments on the matter.

In John 18, Pontius Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king. Jesus affirmingly replies, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Adding, “I was born, and came into this world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:36-37).

In the high school government class I teach, we spend a couple days early studying Romans 13:1-7, where Paul delineates faith apart from government, but saying governments are ordained from God based on what the people deserve. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Paul instructs Christians to pray for their governing leaders and for themselves to be “salt and light” as moral examples in their nations.  It is worth noting that in the Old Testament 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites reject God as their king, insisting on a human king.

Rusty Reno, editor of First Things journal I constantly read and frequently cite, this week wrote, The Case for Christian Nationalism. Reno is no particular fan of Trump, but makes the point that if one is going to be a nationalist, Christian Nationalism is the best.

Why has “Christian Nationalism” entered our lexicon? I think because it is a handy “scare” epithet meant to harken back to the evil World War II Axis nationalisms of Fascism in Italy and the Nazis in Germany. A “fasce” is a bundle of wooden rods, a traditional Roman decoration, which became the symbol of Mussolini’s 1930s leftist “Fascist” party. “Leftist,” like “progressive,” refer to government control superseding individual freedom. Faith in Jesus undermines that control; leftists cannot abide it.

The Nazis – Hitler’s “National Socialist” party, was also leftist but added in a racist component, Aryan Supremacy, heavily laced with pagan mysticism.  Atheist socialism, and its more draconian progression, communism, further eliminate personal freedom by calling for government or “collective” ownership of all property and industry.

Christian Nationalism is nothing like any of those, but the phrase has a linguistic Nazi echo of “National Socialist,” useful to those who like neither Christians nor Trump.

I’ll close by noting that there is a convenient alliance of thieves that explains how a Muslim communist like New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani can even exist.

Islam, as with any form of progressive leftism or collectivism, cannot exist beneath the authority of Jesus Christ. Communism refuses all religion, and Islam is a religion strictly governing itself.  Neither will share moral or cultural authority with Christ, but they will work together in common cause until their interests diverge. When is that?

They will get along as long it takes them to get rid of Jesus. And that’s the truth.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) is a Christian and an American patriot who  understands our nation was founded on Christian values, not “religion.”