Friends: Authority resides with Christ, not modern cultural fashion.  God bless!  Bob

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Spirituality Column #960

April 8, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Authority of the Age

By Bob Walters

”He was given authority … and his kingdom … will never be destroyed.” – Daniel 7:14

“[Jesus] taught as one who had authority.” – Matthew 7:29

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” – Jesus, Matthew 28:18

Polling firm Pew Research for several years has tracked the rise of the “nones,” the growing American population segment which claims no particular religious affiliation.

After two decades of a steadily rising cohort of “nones” – 16 percent in 2007 rising to nearly 29 percent last year – Pew reports an apparent “leveling off” of that number, which includes those (approximately) who say they are atheist (5 percent), agnostic (6 percent), or “nothing in particular” (19 percent).

Latest Pew numbers state, authoritatively, that 62 percent of U.S. adults call themselves Christians, down from 78 percent claiming Christian identity in 2007.

There is no reason I can see to doubt the numbers.  In fact, maybe we should be glad the disparity and evident disinterest in Jesus aren’t more pronounced.  We have all been living in the same disparate, fractured American culture these past few decades.

Let me jump in here to assert, vehemently if I may, that I do not believe in any way, shape, or form that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the true fellowship of true Christian believers is changed or impacted by numbers in a poll … in any age.

God’s truth does not change.  That is why it is not called, “God’s opinion.”

In last week’s Logos Sunday school, classmate and college math professor Tom Foltz made a great and graphic presentation of the Pew polling arithmetic.  There’s no disputing the numbers, which inspired some thinking about what’s behind the decline.

Like, God doesn’t change. Faith in Jesus is the unchanging way, truth, and life into the eternal kingdom. The Spirit abides in all truth, scripture is true and sure. And if the church is the visible Body of Christ, what does the Pew poll reveal?  It reveals … us.

Math and science, done honestly and well, reveal evidence, but often not the causality, prescriptive, and ethic of why? … what can be done? … and, what is right?

Here’s my best guess at “why” Christian influence is dwindling. It’s in our secular world’s flood of information and distractions fueled by modern technology and limitless alternate activities. Smart phones, computers, and the internet provide endless communication, good and bad. Culture no longer protects Sunday as a day for church.

Rampant secular humanism insists not only on the supremacy of man over God, but on the “see-it-to-believe it” tyranny of short-sighted, human “truth.” God’s authority is not merely devalued, it is ignored and derided. The first thing the first believers believed and proclaimed about Jesus was the nature of His Godly authority – He is the Son of God, with true authority over Creation, God’s laws, God’s love, and our salvation.

The early church didn’t survive and grow because it was forgiven; it survived and grew because the faithful loved each other, preached the Word, and helped everybody.

God will sort out right and wrong, righteously, because He can do no other.  Our culture claims an authority it does not possess, same as the Pharisees in Jesus’s day.

Today’s light-thinking progressive Christians regularly deconstruct God’s truth. “Woke” and wealthy foundations impose non-biblical cultural fashions on God’s people. But here is a lesson for the ages: man’s authority saves no one, regardless of any poll.

God’s ageless authority resides in love, truth, and glory … polling at 100 percent.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) shares this Feb 2025 PBS story about Pew’s poll. And … here’s a link to an old column about authority (#558, 7-25-17), Expert Opinion.

Friends: No joke: Jesus is enough, but there is so much more … some good, some not so much. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #959

April 1, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Sufficient and Supreme

By Bob Walters

“My grace is sufficient for you…” – Jesus, to Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:9

“… and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” – Paul, Colossians 2:10

I’ll say right here that Jesus isn’t the only thing we need in this life.

Jesus IS all we need to be saved from our sin, restored to our relationship with God, to discover objective truth and purpose in this life, and to rest easy in the faith, hope, and love eternity promises. That’s life in Jesus, but not everyone buys in.

I guess it depends what we want.  We can desire, attain, and have all kinds of stuff in this life: work hard, be smart, pursue and nurture love, have a family, enjoy a hobby, follow a mission, chase a prize of wealth, fame, fortune, power, or happiness.  All these are available with or without our active engagement, on our part, with Jesus.

How can that be said?  Simply think of all the people who are doing perfectly well in the here and now without a life in Christ. We all know – and have known – many.

Not everybody understands, or believes, in the eternal consequence of unbelief.

Life seems to go on regardless of what we think of Jesus, good and bad. On the flip side of worldly comfort, think of the marvelous warriors for Christ suffering greatly with grief, illness, or human failure who run and cling to Jesus, understanding His grace.

Does a believer need more than Jesus? The church answer, and ultimate truth, is certainly, “No. Jesus is sufficient.” Let’s talk, though, about the richness this life offers when we do stand with Jesus, trust him as Lord and Savior, and live to glorify Him.

What else do we need? We need faith.  Given by the Holy Spirit.  We need a trustworthy Bible translation that sticks to scripture.  Also given by the Holy Spirit.  We need Christian fellowship, a reliable church and preacher for instruction, direction, and inspiration, and we need the love and hope of God that we share with all the world.

We can be creative, fruitful, joyful, and holy. All of it, driven by the Holy Spirit.

Modern Bible Christianity gives short shrift, sadly, to the Holy Spirit.  We have Jesus and God, and then any number of corollary doctrines, add-ons, rites, duties, fashions-of-the-moment, and culture-driven adjustments of “what Jesus can do for me.”

But the necessary parts reside in the Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – whose divine relationship is the authority for our two Great Commandments from Jesus: Love God, and love others. Jesus is our true north, and the Spirit is our compass.

We can do a lot in this life without Jesus.  But without Him, the Bible and my heart tell me that the love stops here and stays here. I’d rather not go to Hell, and I love living this life knowing God, Jesus, the Spirit, truth, love, good, and evil all objectively exist and form the divine reality we can trust as we live our days. Life has permanence.

Trying to add our human “truth” – i.e., worldly opinions, caprices, and fears – to scripture is a fool’s errand. Solomon had it right when he said in Ecclesiastes, multiple times, “Everything under the sun is meaningless.”  Meaning resides with Christ alone.

We can “fake it ‘til we make it,” pursuing the passions of this life or even suffering this life’s awful turns. But why ditch the Spirit and rely solely on our own understanding?

Jesus is sufficient and supreme for eternal life. Extra baggage is unnecessary.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) cites John 14:6: There is one door to heaven, Jesus.

Friends: We are called to be servants yet we are also heirs.  How does that work? Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #958

March 25, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Heir Apparent    

By Bob Walters

“Therefore, angels are only servants…” – Hebrews 1:14 (NLT)

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” – Jesus, Matthew 20:28

“I no longer call you servants … I call you friends.” Jesus to the Disciples. – John 15:15

“You are no longer a slave but a son…God has also made you an heir.” – Galatians 4:7

One thing my long-time Bible and faith mentor George Bebawi impressed on all his students was that when Christian believers die, we do not become angels; we become fully human and heirs to the Kingdom of God.

That’s because humans were created in the image of God, and God created angels differently: “Angels are only servants – spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Does that mean Christians are not servants? Or that Jesus was/is merely an angel?  We are the sinners, yet Jesus is a servant?

We know that in this life we are to be servants of God exemplified by our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord and Savior; He is God the Son and the Creator of all things (John 1:2). Jesus is Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). Our salvation is worked out in our obedience to God the Father (Philippians 2:12), who calls us to faith in His Son (John 6:44), and Jesus is the only door to the Kingdom (John 14:6).

Humans with faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior – in other words, those who overcome the world’s temptations and vices – Jesus says, have the right in eternal heaven “to sit with me on my throne” (Revelation 3:21). That is our full humanity.

That all sounds nice, but why did the King of Heaven join human life as a servant and we as servants in this life will one day sit on a throne in heaven? It occurs to me that the answer to that question is the answer of what salvation actually is: restored relationship with God the Father that was interrupted by human sin.

That Jesus is a king and servant isn’t so much a paradox as it is an explanation: He entered this life for the sake of God’s glory to bring us back to port.  Jesus is rudder, sail, hull, tiller, anchor, and captain of this great big ship of human life, and he gathers us as passengers to sail with him in this storm of sinful fallenness. The journey isn’t safe and only Jesus knows the way home. We are either on His ship, or we are drowning.

As Jesus is the way, truth, and life, it’s odd that he is the one people reject. Yet for some reason – maybe because they ask nothing of us – almost everyone believes in angels, or so it seems.  I certainly do.  I have no doubt demons exist as well and that both angels and demons traverse this earth and life as helps and hinderances to the work of Jesus. Angels are on the side of God’s glory; demons work to wreck our ship, not on the rocks of salvation, but far from God’s glory.

Jesus actually is God’s glory.  He is a servant to God and humanity, showing us the way home including his perfect defeat of death on the cross. Jesus calls us friends; he is our master yet makes the Father’s plans known to us.  We escape the slavery of the Old Covenant Law and become Kingdom heirs with faith, hope, and love.

Under the full sail of Jesus, our eternal destiny couldn’t be more apparent.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) links an old column “Whatever gods might be” about “Invictus,” the poem that says “I am the captain of my soul.” Uh, no, we aren’t.

Friends: I’m thanking the Lord for the Christian encouragers in my life, and for a good story. See the column below ... Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #957

March 18, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

The Tie That Binds

By Bob Walters

“I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.” Paul, writing about Timothy’s ministry, Philippians 2:20.

Who are – or who was or is – your closest Christian mentor(s) and friend(s)?

No, I’m serious.  Stop reading and think about and pray with great thanks for the one or for those who have formed, influenced, encouraged, and sustained your Christian faith and life. List them, thank God for them, and pray for those you lead, too.

I’m doing that right now … thinking and praying about the human ties that bind me with other Christians, and with the Lord whose Spirit binds our faith and fellowship.

“Thank you, God, for the those who have led me and shared in the faith.”

Now, the story, seen in a recent video from John Samples about Russ Blowers.

The video link is below, and I obtained John’s approval before posting this.  For many of you, John and Russ are familiar figures.  They are both on my short list of the most influential encouragers of my life in Christ. Others at the top are Dave Faust, George Bebawi, my wife Pam, and my son Eric who first asked, at 13, to go to church.

Russ died in November 2007 after 56 years of ministry in Indianapolis.  I have written often about Russ, and like many at our East 91^st Street Christian Church, I still miss him every day. It was during Russ’s 50^th Anniversary sermon at E91, September 2, 2001 – my first Sunday in any church in decades – that I got it. It was my “Awake Date,” and I grew to know Russ – and Jesus – well. Russ baptized my sons, John and Eric.

John Samples, still a mainstay though retired pastoral presence at E91 “showing a genuine concern for our welfare,” officiated Russ’s funeral, November 15, 2007.

Russ’s funeral is where I met my wife Pam.  We both had arrived early at the service; she was to play tympani (drums) in the brass ensemble, and I was a pall bearer.  Pam and I spoke briefly about a tribute website I had set up for Russ, asking her to share the site info with the E91 orchestra and choir, which Russ very much loved.

A year and a half later, John officiated our wedding at E91, June 22, 2009.

John had arrived on staff at E91 in 1999 at the insistence of his colleague Dave Faust, who had just come aboard as Senior Minister. Dave, by the way, baptized me in November 2001. In September 2004, with Russ’s imprimatur, we convinced E91 to host a Wednesday evening Bible study with retired Cambridge divinity lecturer Dr. George Bebawi. I was secretary/coordinator of that weekly class during its entire 14 year run.

In May of 2007, Russ was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Christian Theological Seminary, near Butler University in Indianapolis. I remember attending the event with Russ, and recall the aforementioned tale John recently told about Russ and a necktie at an E91 “Storytellers” event February 28. Here is the LINK.

John titled his four-minute presentation, “The Tie That Binds,” after several Bible references to the way the faithful are bound together and supportive of each other in Christ. I was blessed to witness and, in many ways, share first-hand in the pastoral love clearly evident between Russ and John. We are all richer in faith for models like them.

The love of Jesus is the tie that binds us, today and forever, in the truth of God.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) has written often about everyone here mentioned, easily searched on the blog (white box in upper left corner). We thank E91 master-storyteller Gerri Baker for arranging the event.

P.S. – In case you were looking for a St. Patrick’s Day article, here is an oldie but a goodie: (Link) Bars Closed on St. Patrick’s Day #174, 3-16-20-10. Erin go Bragh!

Friends: Fear shouldn’t be the coin of the realm, but it often is.  Love is so much better. See the column ...  God bless! Bob

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Spirituality Column #956

March 11, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Fear and Loving   

By Bob Walters

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18

Perhaps you’ve noticed the cultural forces of fear embedded in and surrounding our politics, journalism, government, education, entertainment, and religion. Common sense and faith are healthier than fear, but fear is the greater driver of control.

You want people’s unquestioning action or compliance? Scare ‘em. Threaten them. Punish them.  Mixed in with adequate doses of hatred, distrust, stupidity, and prevarication – i.e., lying to folks – one can perpetrate the most awful, damaging, and vicious violations of the human spirit.  We willfully harm our fellow humans; we all suffer.

You want divine relationship, hope, and peace? All you need is love.

Considering the New Testament was written nearly 2,000 years ago, and the Old Testament was coming together for a couple thousand years before that, fear’s impact on the human psyche and actions is nothing new. Fear of the unknown and the punitive wrath of a righteous God were logical upshots of human sin and the Fall.

As Adam and Eve stood naked and ashamed in the Garden, they hid from God, fearing what He would think of their disobedience. But we can only “hide” from God for so long, and the important third lesson here – after lesson 1) shame and lesson 2) fear – was even though knowing what Adam and Eve had done, God went looking for them.  

Lesson 3: God cares.

There is a reason Jesus, in the New Testament bringing a new covenant of faith, repeatedly says to believers, “Do not fear.” After thousands of years of human disobedience, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the perfect beacon and representation of God’s love, grace, mercy, and truth, came looking for us, “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). And we are still sinners today, but now we know Jesus.  Game changer.

The OT massively speaks of fearing God, while God’s love is rarely mentioned. God’s character – His creativity, righteousness, truth, and glory – is on full display.  The New Testament’s full display of Jesus’s character is faith, trust, obedience, and love of God.  What we must learn is that what is good for God is good for us.  Our “obedience,” etc., doesn’t improve God’s life; it improves ours. God’s glory can’t be harmed; but our unbelief – our fear – harms everyone.  That is what living in fear does to humanity.

The OT reveals not just the character of God but the character of humanity. What Jesus – God the Son – does is reveal the way cursed man is restored, by faith, to relationship with God the Father. That is why in information presented to me, whether in a sermon, a newscast, on the Internet, in commentaries, books, or whatever – what I am listening and looking for is the glory of God found in restoring my divine relationship.

I see far too much divisive human communication aimed at fomenting submission to ungodly ideas fueled by fear.  Truth is better because Jesus is truth and God is love.

I’ve learned that joy comes in the love part of it, not the fear part of it.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that today’s column title, “Fear and Loving,” is a rip-off of Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 book, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” about the fall of America’s counterculture.  Love is better than fear; that’s all Walters is saying.

Friends: What did the cursed fig tree ever do to Jesus? Let’s discuss. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #955

March 4, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Withering Curse

By Bob Walters

“In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots.” – Mark 11:20, said Tuesday morning, of the fig tree Jesus cursed Monday evening

Jesus is much more known for healing things than cursing and destroying things, but here we have Jesus Tuesday morning of the first “Holy Week” with a dead fig tree.

What did the tree do to Him to become “withered from the roots,” i.e., dead?

This is a story / parable that initially mystified me in my early days of Bible study 20 years ago.  But with the pre-Easter season of Lent upon us – Ash Wednesday is this week – let’s go over the ostensibly simple explanation: the fig tree is a metaphor of and for failed Israel. God’s own nation has shunned Jesus, rewritten the holy laws, and in three more days will have Jesus killed by crucifixion.

The fig tree is what Jesus sees as the present – and future – of Israel.

To back up the story by two days, on Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the rousing Hosanna’s of the people already gathered for that week’s Passover Feast. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 11:9). Especially excited were the Galileans from the north, where Jesus had occupied most of his three-year ministry.

But Jesus didn’t ride into Jerusalem as a conquering king on a horse; He rode in humbly sitting on a year-old donkey. And before He mounted the donkey, within sight of Jerusalem, Jesus wept loudly for what Israel had become and what He knew would eventually happen to the Holy City.  Israel had not kept the Law and did not even recognize God’s Son. Did Jesus weep for his own pending doom? Perhaps, but Isaiah 53:7 says that later, facing crucifixion, Jesus was “silent, like a lamb led to slaughter.”

God had made Israel His own centuries before.  Now the Son of God Jesus, recognized by some, entered Jerusalem not to save the Jews from the Romans but to save the Jews – and all humanity – from its sin. Jews simply wanted the Romans dead. For all the scripture and prophecy available and studied, Israel failed to see its need for salvation and didn’t even understand its real problem: its sin and distance from God.

That’s what Jesus came to fix and restore as a perfect sacrifice for the Jews and all mankind. Compared with the world’s fallenness, the Romans were merely a “light and momentary trouble” (2 Corinthians 4:17). God’s will was to restore humanity back into eternal relationship with Him in heaven; all Israel could think about was killing Romans.

The Jews would then plot to have Jesus killed: some because He wasn’t the warrior they had hoped for, many because He revealed the corruption of the Pharisees.

The fig tree, then, is a Godly symbol for the unfruitfulness of Israel. A fig tree has leaves and small, inedible figs in the early growing season, as in springtime’s Passover. That indicates edible fruit will come later. Jesus found none of the small figs on the leafy tree, which signaled there would never be edible fruit from that particular tree.

So, the curse levied on the fig tree was a picture of Jesus’s levy of justice on Israel, over which He had wept bitterly on His approach two days prior. We all know that just as God’s mercy is great, God’s righteousness is absolute. Jesus, by His death and resurrection, would fulfil the Law of Israel and save for eternity all who believe in Him.

Jesus didn’t give a fig about the Romans; He came to save us from ourselves.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that Easter is very late this year, April 20.

Friends: King David cried out to God in Psalm 51 for a salvation Christ would eventually provide. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #954

February 25, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Restoration Project

By Bob Walters

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” – King David, Psalms 51:12

We read in Psalms 51 the burden of King David for his sins with Bathsheba, his commission of a heinous transgression against her husband Uriah, and experience David’s howling self-conviction following the prophecy of Nathan.

You can read all about it in 2 Samuel 11 and 12: King David impregnates lovely Bathsheba who is married to military commander Uriah.  When David’s plan to cover up his affair with Bathsheba fails, David arranges to have Uriah killed in battle.

David’s secret is safe from everyone … except God.

God then plants in Nathan’s heart a prophecy that mirror’s David’s sin.  Nathan shares the prophecy with David, which David understands only as treachery of another, not his own sin.  When Nathan tells David he, David, is the sinner, David’s great lament to God becomes Psalm 51, and especially this well-known passage in verses 10-12:

“10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

“11 Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me.

“12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

We routinely think of the Old Testament as God alone dealing with humanity and then his chosen people Israel. We see God as a monolith, purveying the Law from heaven and both protecting and punishing this nation God has chosen as his own.

But God is not a monolith; God the Trinity is an eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit. We see the Trinity boldly declared in this surprising Old Testament passage.

In verse 10, David knowingly or not is invoking of God the pure heart of Jesus Christ, and David pleas for his own spirit to be steadfastly renewed in the Spirit of God.

Verse 11 has David praying to remain in God’s company in this life, the gift of the company we ultimately have in Jesus Christ.  David begs God not to withdraw the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, the mechanism by which we know God’s truth.

Verse 12 is where we see one of the most surprising active revelations of the Old Testament … humanity’s coming salvation in Christ.  Salvation is not typically an Old Testament idea. The Law of Israel demands obedience and works, but the salvation a Jew imagined in God is vastly different from the salvation we are promised in Christ.

In John 11:24, as Jesus is about to revive dead Lazarus, his sister Martha tells Jesus she knows of “resurrection at the last day.”  For the Jews, the eternal afterlife with God was not understood as “part of the deal.” Many Jews believed death to be the catastrophic, final end of life. Israel’s “last day” resurrection was a hope, not a promise.

In Christ, our heavenly eternal life is one of restored relationship with God thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus.  Jesus’s forgiving gift of salvation for all humanity – mentioned by various Old Testament prophets, especially Isaiah – was not a salvation David could have imagined.  Yet, here he is in Psalm 51 calling on such forgiveness as well as a restored and sustaining strength of grace from the Holy Spirit. It is God’s eternal truth.

I memorized this passage years ago not because I needed to match the lament of King David, but as a reminder of the eternal Father, Son, and Spirit, present always.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) recognizes the promises of Jesus … praise God. 

Friends: Artificial Intelligence gives surprising props to Christianity.  See the column below. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #953

February 18, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

A.I. Answer Bee

By Bob Walters

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” – Jesus, to Thomas and the Disciples, John 14:6

I am a subscribed, monthly-paying, daily-reading fan of the The Babylon Bee satire website and its off-beat and wryly humorous “news” site, Not the Bee.

For your entertainment, the links to the two sites are in the customary “witty epigram” at the column’s conclusion, but I want you to hang with me here for a moment.

Both sites are brazenly, unapologetically Christian, with a strong side-dose of conservative political and cultural memes, jibes, and droll observations. Each site posts three to six items daily, inspired by the wry and the odd of current topics and events.

The Bee posts satire headlines like “RFK Jr.’s New Food Pyramid”: raw steak at the bottom and squid ink and steroids at the top. From the Bible for Valentine’s Day, it posted, “Disaster As King Solomon Only Buys 698 Valentine’s Day Gifts.” IYKYK.  

The Not the Bee “news” side on Saturday posted one of last week’s viral internet memes, too good not to share here. A Christian asked Artificial Intelligence (A.I.):

“ChatGPT, out of all the religions in the world, which one do you think is most likely to be true? Answer in one word only, please.”

A.I., after a two second pause: “Christianity.”

Christian: “And why do you say that?”

A.I., immediately: “Based on historical evidence, fulfilled prophecies, and the life and resurrection of Jesus.”

Christian: “Any other reasons?”

A.I.: “The consistency and coherence of its teachings and, the transformative impact on individual’s lives.”  Over in 39 seconds. “Thank you so much.” Ah, truth.

Someone whose online handle is “Sovereign Brah” posted this at 8:20 p.m. last Wednesday, Feb. 12. By 8:36 p.m., “Brah” reported, “Looks like they patched it.” Meaning, in less than 16 minutes ChatGPT changed the A.I. answer to what I got when I tried it: “There are many religions that are based on personal …” yada, yada, yada.

Not the Bee’s Christian meme is linked HERE, or dial up ChatGPT yourself, ask the question, and see what you get.  Some reportedly still get the straight answer.

We all know that A.I. has its moments of inaccuracy and misdirection, but when one already knows the subject matter and can discern the solid from the waste, A.I. can be very much a time-saving tool.  In this case, IMHO, ChatGPT nailed it. No way can I imagine personally being that direct, accurate, succinct, and quick.  A win for ChatGPT.

If you scroll down in that same Not the Bee post, below the Christian meme is this ChatGPT answer to “Explain the Christian Gospel.” I would pick a doctrinal bone over its “pay the penalty” language – To wit: Whom did Jesus pay? I prefer instead the more biblically accurate, “sacrificed as atonement for sin” – but otherwise spot on. It goes on to answer “What exactly is Faith in Jesus Christ” and “What happens if you do not put your faith in Jesus?” In my book, A.I. gets it.

Granted, these are definitions that will satisfy a believer, not convince a skeptic. And A.I. is not the arbiter of what is the divine and eternal way, truth, and life; Jesus is.

But I appreciate language I can borrow to express the inexpressible in my heart.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) offers these links: Babylon Bee | Fake News You Can Trust and Not the Bee | What a time to be alive. “Explain the Gospel” etc., A.I. text below.

EXTRA: A.I. “Explain the Gospel” Text in three parts

What is the Christian gospel?

The Christian gospel is the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. It is based on the belief that God created the world and all that is in it, but humanity’s sin brought death and eternal separation from God.

The gospel teaches that Jesus Christ, who is God in human form, came to earth, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  He rose from the dead on the third day, proving his power over sin and death, and offering eternal life to all who believe in him.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be reconciled to God and receive forgiveness for our sins.  This reconciliation is a gift of grace, not something we can earn or deserve by our own efforts.  The gospel also teaches that believers in Christ are called to live a life of obedience to God’s commands, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to share the good news of salvation with others.

 What exactly is “faith in Jesus Christ”?

Faith in Jesus Christ is the act of trusting in him as the Son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead, and committing oneself to follow him as Lord and Savior.  It involves acknowledging that we are sinners in need of salvation, and recognizing that Jesus is the only way to be reconciled with God.

Faith in Jesus Christ is not just a matter of intellectual assent, but a personal commitment to him that involves the whole person, including the emotions, will, and actions. It means putting our trust in Jesus to save us and to guide us in our daily lives, and seeking to obey his teaching and commands.

According to Christian doctrine, faith in Jesus Christ is a gift of God’s grace that comes through the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart. It is not something that can be earned or achieved by our own efforts, but is a response to the message of the gospel and the prompting of the Spirit. The Bible teaches that faith without works is dead, so a true faith in Jesus Christ will result in a life of obedience and good works.

 According to Christianity, what happens to those who do not put their faith in Jesus?

According to Christianity, those who do not put their faith in Jesus Christ will not receive salvation and will be separated from God for eternity.  This is based on the belief that Jesus is the only way to be reconciled to God, and that without him, this is no forgiveness of sins and no hope of eternal life.

The Bible teaches that all human beings are sinners and fall short of God’s standard of righteousness, and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23, 6:23). However, God has provided a way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross as a sacrifice for our since and rose from the dead to offer eternal life to all who believe in him.

Those who reject this offer of salvation by refusing to put their faith in Jesus Christ will remain in their sins and will face judgment and eternal separation from God. This is often referred to as hell, a place of eternal punishment and suffering.  It is important to note that this belief is not meant to be judgmental or exclusive, but rather a call to salvation and a warning of the consequence of rejecting God’s offer of grace.

 

Friends; Jesus spoke with authority that infuriated some and stunned everyone else. It was amazing.  Have a super week … Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #952

February 11, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Amazing Authority

By Bob Walters

“When Jesus finished … the crowds were amazed at his teaching …because he taught with authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” – Matthew 7:28-29

At our E91 Christian Church, adult Sunday school classes are aptly called “Adult Bible Fellowships” – ABFs – because their reach far exceeds Sunday mornings.

Larger churches, generally, need to build in the smallness of tight communities of Bible study with intimate knowledge and caring for each other.  Our Logos class, which I’ve been a part of since 2002 (I was baptized in late 2001), 53 years ago started as a group of young parents. Today we are all grand- and even great-grand parents. Anyone not yet on Medicare would be considered the youth group.

While there are strong social and service aspects in all our ABFs, teaching and amplifying scripture to deepen relationship with Jesus and each other is our core objective; our mission being to constantly mature in faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.

That’s something that requires fellowship to accomplish. “Small Groups” often emanate from larger ABF relationships, as we “do life together” sharing joys and challenges. Small groups of 10-12 are common features of any vibrant, Jesus-focused, Bible-based church.  Everybody gets in the act of study, sharing, serving, and teaching.

Anyway, we had a good session in Logos ABF last Sunday discussing the familiar Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. It is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-6-7 and recast in Luke 6:17-49). The prayer appears again, shortened, in Luke 11:2-4

Logos had a guest teacher, Andy Baker, a missions leader at E91, filling in for regular teacher Dave Schlueter (a retired physician who is warming up in southern Florida for a couple of these winter months). Like Dave, Andy is one of those guys who gets everyone thinking and (especially me) talking, and noticing fresh dimensions of even the most familiar passages.

The authority Jesus invoked in his teaching – as noted in Matthew 7:28-29 above – would truly have been amazing to his first-century listeners.  We recite the prayer now as Christians almost by rote. Jews would have been shocked by the whole sermon.

Practically everything Jesus said was virtually opposite the demands of the Law. Reading the Gospels today as a believing Christian is an exercise in affirming what we generally already know.  A pious, Law-obedient Jew, then, would never turn the other cheek, love or forgive an enemy (Matthew 5:38-47), or bless the poor, the mourner, the meek, the hungry, or the persecuted (Beatitudes, Matthew 5:2-11).

The merciful, pure of heart, and peacemakers (Matthew 5:7-9) would envisage Jesus, but be antithetical to the Law’s insistence on righteousness and vengeance.

Does that mean God changed when Jesus arrived?  No, the Covenant changed. The Law, God always knew, was what man could not do.  Jesus, God knew, replaced the non-saving obedience of Law with salvation by faith.  Man could not recover his lost relationship with God through the Law; God’s loving perseverance – in Jesus, His Son – now invited and demanded man’s faith. The Law was true, but Jesus was the truth.

Did Jews have faith?  Absolutely. Could they save themselves through works?  No. And neither can we.  Salvation is in the gracious and amazing authority of Jesus.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that Jesus’s parables typically undo the Law.

Friends: I am always eager to share, but am lousy at sales. What’s a Christian to do? Tell a great story. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #951

February 4, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Sharing the Gospel

By Bob Walters

“… set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” – 1 Peter 3:15

I have always been a lousy salesman. What I’m good at is telling stories, explaining things, reporting news, and recasting-revealing-identifying-finding not-so-obvious connections and associations, and doing it with lively perspective and phrasing.

I love “Hey, look at this!” moments.

“Telling stories” was and is the foundation of my career in journalism, corporate, public, and media relations, and now in “retirement,” teaching high school social studies and Church history at a very fun Christian academy. Yes, teaching high school is fun.

But getting back to my dearth of talent in actual “sales” of anything, I’ve attended sales training seminars and read books on sales. I tried my hand in one career low-point of selling life and health insurance (a disaster despite passing the licensing test).  And I’ve seen master-class sales ninjas in action. “Sell me this pen.” I can only tell you about ink.

But, “sharing the Gospel.” Is that a sales pitch? Or a story? Or truth in action? Or living a life of service to others? Or as 1 Peter 3:15 says, setting “apart Christ as Lord?”

My point here is, what exactly does one say to share the Gospel? What are the words? What is the 30-second “elevator speech” that boils down the glorious purpose of this life – serving God in love through faith in Jesus Christ – to a soul far from the Lord?

Many “come to Jesus” tracts I’ve seen begin by saying, approximately, “You’re a liar and a thief and you’re going to hell!” And then, shortly thereafter, claiming how much God loves you anyway.  It’s all true, of course, but the sales progression, the logic, is lost on me. The most important thing Jesus says to those confounded by his miracles is, “Fear not.” “Why?” one might ask. “For I am the Lord.” Hmm. What does that mean?

This is where a savvy sales pitch would be really handy.  While some folks look at sales as the art of convincing people to do what they don’t want to do, I believe it is more the art of merging truth with reality to discover what one most wants to do.

Granted, man’s nature is fallen – we are all sinners – but Jesus isn’t merely the ladder out of the pit; Jesus is the highway to the mountaintop and the surety of God. 

My great comfort about “evangelizing” is knowing that salvation really isn’t up to me; it is the Holy Spirit who captures and convicts a soul, i.e., makes the sale and closes the deal. But we are each, thankfully and joyfully, part of the process: sharing relationship, trust, knowledge, testimony, and our witness, i.e., living a life that reveals our own love of God and others. There is more power in “show me,” than in “tell me.”

As 1 Peter directs, we must be prepared to give an answer for our hope.  And we all know that our words are as big of an encouragement to us as to the soul we’d like to see sharing the Gospel life with Jesus. Peter’s context in this passage is dealing with persecutors, not, say, random people on an elevator. So the great strength of our own hope, when challenged, is knowing – and being able to explain – what we believe.

What is the reason for my own hope?  It is that, in Jesus, I know truth exists, God exists, reality is illuminated only in faith, and life’s purpose is to love God and others.

Not everybody will buy it, but that’s what I’m selling and sharing. That’s my story.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) marvels at God’s talent for stories.      

Friends: Paraphrasing, and with apologies to, 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Where the Spirit of the Lord isn’t, liberal, woke arrogance can reign.” How about that presidential prayer service? Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #950

January 28, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Ghosting the Spirit

By Bob Walters

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel …” – Paul, Ephesians 6:19

The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., is an Episcopal church which, in a continuing demonstration of doctrinal benightment, fearlessly makes known its politics.

Mariann Budde, the Cathedral’s bishop, is suddenly the poster girl for the flailing anti-Trump “woke” left wing of American politics. Last week she used the Cathedral’s traditional day-after-the-inaugural prayer service attended by the newly-sworn-in President and his family not to proclaim from the pulpit the truth of Jesus Christ, but liberal ideology.

“Wait,” you may be thinking. “All she did was call on Trump to 'have mercy.'''

That bears closer examination.  What Budde wielded was a barely-cloaked verbal stiletto stabbing at Trump’s common-sense inaugural proclamations regarding “only two genders, male and female,” and deporting criminal illegal aliens. It was the Episcopal church doing what it does, backing “social justice” devoid of common sense.

And, may I add, preaching without making known the mystery of the gospel.

Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, the black minister who gave that buoyant prayer at Monday’s inauguration ceremony, called it “theological and spiritual malpractice.” For her part, Budde was instantly off on a TV talk show tour, a hero of mainstream media.

Budde’s prayer service plea cited “kids who were scared” because of Trump’s gender proclamation.  Migrants doing hourly labor feared deportation. “Show them mercy,” she said to the President, in a tone dripping with arrogant condescension.  To my ear it sounded ironic, coming as it did from a church that for decades has backed abortion rights. Where is the church’s mercy for the unborn?

This is the embedded hypocrisy – writ large – of modern social justice pleas.

Pastor Sewell, in an interview (LINK) Wednesday evening, said, “[Budde] had the opportunity to preach the gospel, to talk about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. She had the opportunity to bring people into the faith.  It was a salvific moment.  Instead of using the authority of the word of God to preach the message of Christ and to draw our President closer to Jesus, she used it for … malpractice.”

I was reminded of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, in 2016 in the audience for a performance of the musical Hamilton in New York, being chided by one of the cast members – from the stage during a curtain call – about Trump’s policies.

Perhaps Budde’s “mercy” plea lends an appropriate and humane perspective to the politics of the moment. But while I’d like to see Trump in church more, this kind of “gotcha” social gospel “preaching” is what keeps people away from the Holy Spirit.

Here, the just-inaugurated President and his entire family were listening to a Christian bishop who could not find it within herself to preach the gospel in the National Cathedral.  It may as well have been a Democratic party caucus featuring AOC.

I know folks here in town who through Mike Pence, a devout and deep-thinking Christian, have a prayerful handle on President Trump’s need for Christian growth.  I wish he could have found the Spirit at the National Cathedral.

Too bad he was ghosted.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) grew up Episcopalian in the 1960s. Jesus came later.

Friends: In a busy week and even busier New Year, is America heading toward Christian revival with a Third Great Awakening? Is college football a bellwether? 

Have a great week, and may God bless the USA.   Bob

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Spirituality Column #949

January 21, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Are We Waking Up?

By Bob Walters

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my father in heaven.” Jesus instructing the Disciples, Matthew 10:32

Monday this week is about as busy a single celebratory day in our nation as I can remember: Martin Luther King Day, the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump Round Two, and college football’s championship game, Ohio State vs. Notre Dame.

There is no doubt in my mind that all three comprise – in various corners for various loyalties and opinions – both good news and bad news, celebration and derision, heartfelt joy and seething opposition.

That we are a divided nation is truly nothing new; that the modern legacy media and internet hot takes foment the division should be obvious to all. President Trump is the hottest of hot buttons of current importance. King’s holiday should be about equality and character – that was his dream – but the anti-racism cohort sees only color.  That those who do not love Notre Dame or Ohio State are generally rooting against them is a common reactive dynamic of sustained and envied success.

But I don’t especially want to write about culture, politics, or sports. Everyone can make what they will of MLK, Trump, and the CFP (College Football Playoffs.) Yet, let’s talk about Jesus Christ, because college football is talking about Jesus Christ.

If you haven’t seen it, here is a link to Riley Gaines Barker’s recent public Instagram post, LINK “Something's happening in our county”. She catalogues nine specific nationally televised instanced during post-season bowl coverage of coaches and athletes not just “thanking God” but overtly praying and sharing the Gospel.

It’s one thing when athletes point to heaven or thank God or Jesus for their success.  Innocent enough, I suppose, and there’s no need to judge their hearts or sincerity. But I’ve always wondered: what does that say about their understanding of God’s righteousness? Right relationship with God isn’t about winning football games; He roots for everybody, I think. I’m sure you have your own opinions about that.

Anyway, my great friend and mentor, minister Russ Blowers, used to say, “God loves to see His kids play.” I like that.  People indeed pay attention to sports, and a sincere, clear, and rich gospel statement of thanks not for a win but for one’s life and Christ’s sacrifice is a compelling and far-reaching witness. The Father in heaven smiles.

It wasn’t just Christian Liberty University’s coach sporting a “Jesus Won” t-shirt on the sidelines at the Bahama Bowl.  The link above includes coaches and players from Boise State, Texas, Notre Dame, Arizona State, and Ohio State inserting into their post-game interviews and actions unmissable representation and witness of Jesus.

America’s First and Second Great Awakenings in the 1700s and 1800s lit the fires of Bible truth throughout the nascent Colonies and United States. The 1900s saw the Azuza Street Revival, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, the Jesus Movement and the growth of huge churches but it was never overall dubbed another “Great Awakening.”

I wonder and pray if right now – when Bible sales are at an all-time high despite polling that suggests overall religious interest is down – may be a ripe time for revival.

College football is certainly awake to the love of Jesus. May our slumber cease.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) admires Riley Gaines Barker’s tenacity and faith.

Friends: When Christians partake of the communion bread and cup, what are we nourishing? Have a great week! Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #948

January 14, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Food for Thought

By Bob Walters

“Where else would we go?” Peter, to Jesus, John 6:68

John 6 is a busy chapter in the Bible, full of stories we know well. 

Jesus fed the 5,000 (John 6:1-13). then left, alone, for the mountains (v15). That night Jesus walked on the stormy water (v16) of the northern Sea of Galilee, out to the boat where his fearful and astounded disciples were saved from the weather, their fears, and as Jesus accused them, their lack of faith.

Jesus said to them, “It is I, do not fear” (John 6:20).

The next day many from the crowd of 5,000 went looking for Jesus. They caught up with Him near Capernaum on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee and asked when he had arrived. Jesus, ever alert to the self-indulging queries of humanity, provided a lesson rather than an answer: “You seek me not because of the miracle I performed, but because you ate and had your fill” (John 6:26). 

Jesus reproached them of following Him only for a free lunch – another feast of loaves and fishes – not because of their faith in Him. Faith is God’s coin of the realm.

Jesus goes on (John 6:27-59), telling them to seek bread that does not spoil, i.e. the bread of God – Him, Jesus – and that the work of God, their work, is “to believe in the one he has sent,” … meaning himself. Our “work” is to believe in Jesus.

Unlike the manna God sent to Moses and the Jews in the desert – bread that spoiled in a day – God sent Jesus to all mankind as the bread of eternal life that does not spoil. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life.” Adding, “He who comes to me will never be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35, 54)

Jesus declares that his flesh is everlasting life, and that the Spirit will live only in believers who eat His body and drink His blood, and then they will live forever.

Eat Jesus? Drink His blood?  It was a “hard teaching” (6:60) and many “disciples” left.  The Twelve however, stayed. Peter expressed their faith perfectly: “Where else would we go?”

As we encounter the bread and cup of Christ today, we can express our love for God and each other, and ask the same question as Peter: “Where else would we go?”

I believe the Spirit of God, of Jesus, lives in believers.  And that by following the last supper commands of Jesus – to remember Him when we eat the bread and drink the cup as an act of devotion and faith in Jesus – we are participating in the life of God, and feeding the Spirit of God and Christ who lives within us.

Unlike the physically filling feast of loaves and fishes, communion is a very small meal. But just as Jesus says that faith only the size of a tiny mustard seed can grow large, this small meal of wafer and cup nourishes our faith and blossoms into our magnificent and eternal life with God, through our salvation in Christ.

The bread and the cup of communion feed our faith as we share the love of the Spirit who lives in us, and of the believers around us.  Where else would we go?

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) presented this as a communion meditation Sunday.