I saw this on LinkedIn recently (will be sharing screenshots), courtesy of Dominic Novak (no, he's not someone I know personally - this just showed on my feed):
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13, NKJV
Amen, in Jesus's name!
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.John 16:33 ESV
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Prayer: God, You are the foundation upon which I build my life. You are my source of protection and strength. You fight for me, protect me, and lead me through hard times. With You, I am never alone or abandoned. Thank You for being my source of strength and salvation. Thank You for crushing the devil's schemes and guiding me closer to You. In Jesus's name, Amen.
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8, NKJV
Prayer: God, You are faithful! Nothing is impossible for You because all authority is Yours. Thank You for giving me access to this authority through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for allowing me to draw near to You. Please show me how to walk with Your boldness through life. Empower me to be a part of Your great mission to heal a broken and hurting world. In Jesus's name, Amen.
I don’t know how many of these I will plan to do, but periodically I will post transcriptions of clips that stand out of Charlie Kirk answering a question that I think needs to be put out there. As an aside, I think it’s pretty cool how both Cliffe Knechtle and Stuart Knechtle, two other men who, like Kirk had done (albeit on a smaller and less political stage), go to college campuses to preach the Gospel and debate college students about why Jesus is the one and only way to heaven, were also on stage with Kirk, listening intently as he was answering this question. For my part, I had never really heard any kind of discussion, let alone a solid response as satisfactory as this one.
You can watch the video clip here: https://youtube.com/shorts/oqB6xhAQIKI?si=LOBz2RLR-UP4tJpP
Question/comment received:
“Our country was founded on common law, because the Declaration [of Independence] only refers to God four times, and the [US] Constitution doesn’t refer to God at all. And that only articulates the structure of government.”
Charlie Kirk’s response:
“First of all, remember that we were a collection of states and colonies, and you need to read the state constitutions before anything else. Nine of the thirteen original states required you to be a Bible-believing Christian to serve in government at the time of the founding. All thirteen out of thirteen required a declaration of faith, [and] nine of the thirteen required you to be a Protestant, except Maryland which was Catholic, which still required a declaration of faith. Almost every single one of the original state constitutions, Pennsylvania included, they had “I profess [the Lord] Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior” in the original state constitutions. Remember, we were a collection of states before that.
Secondly, fifty-five out of the fifty-six … original signers of the Declaration were Bible-believing, church-attending Christians, so common law is inherited from William Blackstone, who was Christian. Common law is an outgrowth of the Scriptures. So let’s go to three principles of common law: presumption of innocence, due process, and jury of your peers. All three are Biblical principles, wrapped into the ultimate Biblical principle that “you shall not favor justice if you are rich or [if you are] poor,” which is in Leviticus 19, right before the most famous part of Leviticus 19 which is that “you should love your neighbor as yourself.” But before that is that in the administration of justice, you shall not favor the rich or the poor (which is the idea of blind justice; we get that in the West), which is incorporated also in the New Testament ideal: neither slave nor Greek nor Jew, you are all one in Jesus Christ, [which is where we get the idea of] human equality. These are all Biblical ideas; they are not enlightenment ideas. … (They kind of [got] conflated at the time.)
More importantly than that, they say that God was only mentioned four times in the Declaration of Independence. Well, that’s a big deal! Okay? Laws of nature, and [of] nature’s God. The last paragraph of the Declaration reads as a prayer. It says, “we appeal to the Supreme Judge of the Universe.” Who is the Judge of the Universe? [It’s] Jesus Christ. It says in Revelation that Jesus will judge the earth on His throne. So, in the Declaration, they were praying to Christ our Lord as a prayer very specifically.
Thirdly, as I said on the stage yesterday, Deuteronomy was by far the most quoted book, religious or non-religious, in the time of the founding when they were putting together the Constitution, more than John Locke, more than [French judge] Montesquieu, more than Blackstone. The Book of Deuteronomy, which talked about laws, customs, and traditions, was Moses’s farewell address, as he’s about to say goodbye, to say, “hey, good luck in Canaan, guys! Here’s how you should set up your form of government.”
But finally, and most importantly, let’s look at actually what the founders said. John Adams famously said: [“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”] The body politic of America was so Christian, it was so Protestant, that our form and structure of government was built for the people that believed in Christ our Lord. One of the reasons we are living through a Constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian nation, but we have a Christian form of government, and they’re incompatible. So you cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population.
Biblical references:
You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15, NKJV
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28, NKJV
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: Revelation 19:11-16, NKJV
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 16:18-20, NKJV
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. Exodus 33:15, NKJV
Prayer: Father God, I thank You for Your presence, which You promise to give those who receive Your Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I thank You also for Your peace, which, as Your Word says, surpasses all human understanding and keeps our hearts and minds on You. I ask You today for Your presence and for Your peace as I go about my day today. In Jesus's name, Amen.
May September 21, 2025 be the day of America's rebirth.
Back in 2021 I had posted a statement about the death of the USA in response to the injustices that were happening in response to citizens protesting (but not rioting) in response to Joe Biden having been certified as the next president. If this is what "justice" looked like, and if this was how the US government was responding to a citizen's true right to free speech and organized, peaceful protest, then, yes, I believe I was right in saying that our country was cooked.
Lazarus was dead for 4 days before Jesus raised him from the dead. (John 11:1-44, NKJV)
The USA was dead for approximately 4 years as we witnessed a presidency, an administration, a government, and honestly, a culture, with blood on their hands. Thousands of people died from an experimental biological agent that was forced on them (although many of those individuals also took it willingly, having bought in to the fear that the lies about the virus that had been circulating like mad for over a year by that point). We hemorrhaged money into a war that has accomplished nothing except that. Oh, and killing another thousands upon thousands of people. We stupidly pulled out of a Middle East war, and even more stupidly, ordered our soldiers to leave all their high-tech war-fighting equipment for our enemies to hijack and use for their gain. Inflation -- and higher taxes on top of it -- pushed millions of people to the brink. People lost jobs. Even people who kept their jobs could scarcely afford to live, let alone those who had lost them.
Oh, and "our" "president" let in millions of criminals from other countries to steal, rape, and murder our fellow citizens, an increase in crime in just about every location imaginable in our country. Yeah, I would say that the USA was cooked.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
With Donald Trump back in office, a lot of what I listed above has been reversed, with more coming. But what I think stands out the greatest right now, politically speaking is this: never before in American history (maybe except during the Civil War years, perhaps) has it ever been so obvious the divide between good and evil:
One side prays and worships the one true God of the Bible; the other side riots and loots.
One side honors God-fearing men who pray and encourage and love others sacrificially like Charlie Kirk; the other side honors selfish drug addicts like George Floyd, who according to toxicology reports, had overdosed so badly that by the time Derek Chauvin had come to arrest him, he was on his way to dying no matter what Chauvin might have done. [And yes, this is for me a turnaround from what I used to believe on this matter!]
(I still can't believe my former church was the loudest among all my groups at the time which included atheists, agnostics, and multiple races, in not only supporting George Floyd, who was dead, and condemning anyone who thought otherwise!)
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19, NKJV
I've been telling my wife that, since Charlie Kirk's murder, I've become even more conservative than previously. I think a major part of it is that, the more I see of the two political sides (especially lately), the less doubt I have about what is true. And with having less doubt on what is true, the less space I have (I'm finding this out) for other people to also doubt. It's one thing to dislike Trump; although God is continuing to work on him, and although I see lots of fruit of the Lord's work on him, I also know that he has a checkered past. Even now, I do think Trump can get a bit too full of himself, carried away with credit for the good things that he has done and is doing. I remain steadfast: kudos to Trump for his excellent work! But, glory always goes to God, and to God first.
But I don't think I would have the stomach to contend with anyone who claims that Charlie Kirk was a hater. He was not; he loved people with the love of Jesus, and that oftentimes meant saying challenging things that cut some folks the wrong way. That does not mean he was a hater!
Especially in my years growing up liberal, as well as the years in my 20s and 30s when I was third-party, I was still surrounded primarily by liberals (which by the way, included family). And that was for two reasons: 1.) I tend to be a loyal personality, oftentimes to a fault, staying with bad company because I still held out hope that just my presence being in their lives would be enough (and because, if they were truly as open-minded as they had claimed, then I wouldn't have needed to work super hard to persuade them of anything!); 2.) I did hope that by receiving Jesus as my King and Savior that that alone would be enough to help them consider other options. I was optimistic to a fault that such folks could be convinced to let their open-mindedness lead them to the right truth, in the same way that God used mine to lead me. However, that has not happened. And as such, over the years I moved away from many of these folks.
“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
I have a concern that there are still those who have remained in my life that will look at Charlie Kirk and whitewash him in the same way they've whitewashed President Trump. And if that's the case, then I have to reexamine even more relationships than I previously had thought, and consider what to do with them. There are some things where I am content to let disagreements lie; there are others where I'm not. I believe that a true understanding of who Kirk is one of them, because the evidence is clear that he was a man of faith, and that he was martyred for his faith. Trump hatred is one thing; Kirk hatred, however, equates to Jesus hatred, as far as I'm concerned. And if I identify as a Jesus follower (or at least try to), then Jesus hatred equates to hatred of me. That's a problem, no matter who it is that is doing the hating.
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33, NIV
It is a lie that Kirk's assassin was a right-wing, gun-loving nut. It has been proven that his assassin, Tyler Robinson, had been radicalized by Antifa and other groups on campus. Robinson is even in a romantic relationship with a man transitioning into a woman. Robinson's family is conservative, but he himself is the only liberal among that group. Let us set that record straight once and for all.
Like liberals, conservatives want justice as well. But unlike liberals, conservatives go about it the right way: by prayer and submission to God, and by following the laws already established in the land, which pave a way for justice to be done and for true healing to begin.
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
As far as I'm concerned, President Donald Trump is doing the job that I and so many others elected him to do: 1.) preside over America (hence the title of president), and 2.) restore America. I just now realized that juxtaposing Micah 6:8 with a screenshot of a Trump TruthSocial post is likely to make any church-going liberals mad (that is, if any of them were to read my blog). So I will buffer it with another Bible verse that is similar to Micah 6:8:
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13, NKJV
I'm doubling down on truth. Trump may not be perfect (I have doubts that he is indeed saved and therefore we must pray for him), but in my book he is a top-three US president of all time (after George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, of course). But with Kirk's passing into eternity, the time is now to double down on truth, to double down on faith, and to double down on the things God puts on our hearts. I wrote on this blog on January 20, 2021 that a Truth Revival was needed. Praise God, I think beginning September 21, 2025, I am finally seeing it. Praise God indeed.
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
Where God Breathes, Life Follows
God gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision that must have been both strange and stunning: a valley full of dry bones. Lifeless. Scattered. Forgotten. It was a symbol of Israel’s spiritual and national state—cut off, broken, and hopeless.
But then God speaks: “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life” (Ezekiel 37:5 NIV). It’s a promise not just of revival, but of complete restoration.
In Hebrew, the word for breath is ruach—a word that also means spirit or wind. God was saying, “I will fill what is dead with My Spirit and bring it back to life.”
This wasn’t just a promise for Israel—it’s a glimpse into what God can do in any soul that feels dry, discouraged, or distant. Maybe you’ve been through a long season of spiritual weariness. Maybe you feel like the life has been drained out of your faith. But the God who breathes life into dry bones is still breathing today.
We serve a God who brings dead things back to life. Whether it’s a nation, a community, a heart, or even His Son after His death on the cross, He restores what’s been lost, renews what’s been broken, and revives what feels beyond hope.
If your soul feels empty, ask Him to breathe His Spirit into you again. Because where God breathes, life follows.
Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. Ezekiel 37:5, NKJV
Prayer: God, breathe Your Spirit into me. Where I feel tired, fill me with Your strength. Where I feel empty, fill me with Your presence. Restore my soul, and bring to life whatever has withered within me. I trust You to make dry bones live again. In Jesus's name, Amen.
I came across this video on YouTube a couple days ago, and its message was so profound that I wanted to share it here:
https://youtube.com/shorts/hbPDeU-k-JQ?si=AsJ46kJTRz5CjJqw
[Transcript below]
Warning from God: isn't it crazy how people are already moving on with their lives, and people are just on to the next headline, onto the next story, and just moving past this Charlie Kirk situation? I just saw this clip [image of large US flag at Utah Valley University where Kirk was assassinated] and I was like, "man, that's the same exact spot where everything went down," ... and people are just going about their lives as they normally would.
The truth is, me and you, we're gonna die one day. And the people close to us are gonna be sad; they're gonna grieve, they're gonna cry, they're gonna miss us. But most people are gonna hear about us dying, and they might be sad for a day, maybe two, maybe even three, then they're just gonna move on with their life. And man, if that doesn't wake you up...
Why do we care so much about what people think about us, when they're honestly not even thinking about us in the first place? And when we die, they're gonna think about us for, like, three days, max, and then just move on with their life. Like, what are we doing? Why are we spending so much of our energy worrying about what people think about us?
So what actually matters in this life? It's not what people think about you; it's not the money you have; it's not the car you drive; it's not the house you live in. Nobody's gonna care about how many followers you had, or how famous you were.
What matters is this: did you know Jesus, and did you make an eternal impact here in this temporary life?
You don't get to take your bank account to heaven; you don't get to take your followers. The only thing you get to take to heaven with you is your soul. And the only question that's gonna matter is: did you give your life to Jesus?
... because people are gonna move on from you, people are gonna forget about you, but Jesus never will. I heard a quote that said: "life is strange: you arrive with nothing, [you] spend your entire life chasing everything, and [you] still leave with nothing." Make sure your soul gains more than your hands. Can I get [an] Amen?
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26, NKJV
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:36-37, NKJV
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16, NKJV
Prayer: God, I don't want to face my challenges alone. I've made mistakes in the past and -- to move forward -- I know I need help from others. Please give me the courage to confess my sin to trusted people. Surround me with a community who's willing to hear my struggles, pray with me, and encourage me to live more like You. Help me to also be there for others in their time of need. In Jesus's name, Amen.
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7, NKJV
Prayer: Father God, I thank You that I can come to You and ask You for what we need. Please forgive me for doubting and even disbelieving at times. I trust that You are good, even when I'm not, and even when life around me is not. Your Word says that You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and so I choose to believe that. I ask You to help strengthen my faith and to help strengthen my walk as I go about this day and through this life. In Jesus's name, Amen.
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
Turn to Him
Around 957 B.C., after King Solomon spent years planning, building, and finally dedicating the temple that his father, King David, had longed for—God made Himself known by sending fire down from heaven and filling the temple with His presence.
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night, explaining how He’d heard his prayer and chosen his temple—reminding Solomon how the Israelites should respond when they encounter hard things. He said:
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
Though this specific message was given to a specific people at a specific time in history—humbling ourselves, seeking God, and turning from our sins are timeless actions that we should continue to live out.
True humility, honest prayer, and genuine repentance are the keys to intimacy with God.
And we can’t fake it. We can’t just go through the motions. We can’t merely pretend to “look” humble and repentant. And we can’t do these things on our own.
We need to come to God in order to receive His help. We need Him in order to maintain a posture of humility, prayer, and repentance.
So if you’ve found yourself feeling distant from God, trying to do things your own way, or intentionally running in the opposite direction of your Creator—it’s not too late to turn around.
You can still come to God, admit that you can’t go through life alone, and seek His help. He’s a loving, forgiving, and healing Father who specializes in making all things new. He never stops inviting us to turn to Him.
if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV
Prayer: God, I am so grateful that I'm called by Your name. Even though I am imperfect, You still call me Yours. Each day, I want to live up to that calling and become that person You created me to be. Please help me to be more humble, to seek You more, and to turn away from things that are wrong. Thank You for Your willingness to forgive and restore. In Jesus's name, Amen.
Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”Proverbs 16:3 ESV
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”Romans 12:6-8 NLT
Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.
Prayer: God, I want my life to be lived for Your glory. In moments where it's difficult for me to surrender my plans to You, please help me to focus on Your vision for the future. I want all of my work and anything I do to point others to You. In Jesus's name, Amen.
https://youtube.com/shorts/HAgSsqpTLlc?si=X7Tz_SKkKX9fHy3m
Disclaimer: this is not Charlie Kirk "speaking from the dead" or any weird connotation like that. Although I initially had thought that he was on the record for saying what he said in the recording as per the the link above, while he was still alive, and that it had somehow made it to Pastor Vlad Savchuk's YouTube feed, as I was looking at it more closely, the title of the video posted stated that this is what Kirk would have said.
OK, so Pastor Vlad might have created an AI recording by sampling Kirk's voice to speak the prompt that he had typed out. I don't care. Whether Kirk actually said this, or whether Savchuk used AI to generate this, all I know is I really needed this, and I would not have previously known how much I needed it until I came across it. So I thank Jesus for inspiring this, and I thank Pastor Vlad for doing this. And if I needed this, I can only imagine how many other people also need this. I've already shared it in a couple text chains with folks with whom I knew this would resonate. And now I share it with you:
First, I want you to know, I'm fine, not because my body is fine, but because my soul is secure in Christ. Death is not the end; it's a promotion. Don't waste one second mourning me. I knew the risks of standing up in this cultural moment, and I'd do it all over again. Second, do not let this violence divide us further. The enemy wants chaos, fear, and retaliation. Don't give it to them. Instead, double down on truth, double down on courage, double down on your faith and on your families. That is how you honor me. Third, remember this: America is worth it. Free speech is worth it. Fighting for the unborn, for families, for sanity in a culture gone mad, it is all worth it. So dry your tears, pick up your cross, and get back in the fight. Do it with joy, do it with strength, and never ever let evil think it won.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4, NKJV
[This post was edited as I had previously thought this was a real live recording of Kirk having said this at some point.]
Ever since my blogging re-launch 6 1/2 years ago, I've developed a habit of almost never blogging and releasing posts in real time. Lately, I've been in a season of focusing on other priorities, but even in prior seasons when I've posted frequently on here, the posts were almost always scheduled. (And I say "almost" as a courtesy to allow for any instances I've otherwise forgotten, because I generally remember scheduling every post in advance.)
Today was a tragic day in the United States of America. Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah today while speaking on a college campus. Like most other freedom-loving Americans, I'm a blend of shocked and sad. Many others are angry (and rightly so), and I'm personally not quite there yet with the anger, mostly because I don't know how to process this and am going through this slowly. As far as I'm concerned, this is April 4, 1968 all over again, when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
I never knew Kirk personally, but the guy's love for Christ and for humanity touched me. Although many of the conservative voices I hear, read, and follow have stated their love for Jesus and for the Christian faith, Kirk stood out in his love for those who hated him. He was an expert at refuting arguments, but unlike others, he also knew how to do it in love.
Below is a brief text conversation I had with a friend in the faith as we processed Kirk's assassination together:
My friend: I'm shaken by the assassination. Charlie Kirk came to Christ in 4th grade ... in my hometown ... I've admired his pure courage and and intellect and have followed him closely for years. Makes me pray. Makes me ask: what other voices of truth and freedom are in [the devil]'s crosshairs to neutralize?
Me: Honestly, all of them, including us. But the enemy's attempts at neutralization may not always come in the form of murder / death. For many, all it takes is some form of distraction / temptation. Compared with even other conservative commentators I could tell that Charlie stood out for sharing the light of Christ and exemplifying the love of Christ. Even in how he debated people who hated him, he showed love and respect. The enemy took him out because he couldn't find any temptation or distraction to keep him from ministering the truth to a generation who desperately needs it. Today also goes to show how incredibly favored we were last year when God spared Mr. Trump's life, twice. The outcomes last year of those attempts were not normal, they were supernatural. Today unfortunately has gone to show that, just like in the days of the early church, some of Jesus's followers were miraculously delivered from harm, while others were sawn in two. But we soldier on.
Although I cannot at the moment substantiate this, I want to close this post by saying that Kirk was already ahead of the curve than even myself on one topic that in my opinion is not getting enough focus among conservatives and others who want to restore America: the importance of making sure the America-first focus lasts beyond 2028. If a Democrat is elected as president in 2028, all of the progress that we've already made this year (and for the next three years) goes to naught. We need someone like J.D. Vance (if not Vance himself) to have an eight-year presidency once Donald Trump's current term ends, and then at least another prominent conservative cut from the same cloth to take the leadership reigns for the next eight years after that. In 2005, I knew (even though I wasn't even conservative then!) that the United States was on the downward slope, and that was before Barack Obama had taken office. I praise God that all these evils of the left are being exposed, reversed, and completely removed... it's just that there is so much to expose, reverse, and remove!
[And if anyone is confused as to how I can be so pro-conservative politics and yet against conservative psychology, I sum it up in two answers: 1.) I can be pro-conservative psychology regarding people who were born into and raised in solid families and solid communities with solid values. It's when it comes to people who have experienced a combination of abuse, neglect, PTSD, abandonment ... and were never taught life skills ... and somehow are still expected to "get it" and be a functional (i.e. perfect) person without any real assistance. It's one thing to expect a person to "grow up;" it is entirely another thing to directly and deliberately cause that person to stumble (especially when they're young) and then still expect them to figure life out on their own). 2.) One of the many things that helped me make the switch was having my eyes opened to the sheer deception that liberals (including those I have known) have been exposed to and fallen for. The deception really is that deep, on all sorts of topics, and on all sorts of levels. Although I am pro-therapy and pro-being able to express feelings, etc., it's one thing to express feelings about personal things; it's entirely a different thing to express feelings about political figures or political events when a person has been thoroughly lied to! I previously did not like Trump at all; I came to in 2020 (before the election) when I discovered that all the things I had been told (ok, more like 98%) were lies. That really changed things for me. Feelings matter, but facts matter more. That's where I draw the distinction.]
Back to Charlie Kirk. He will be missed. I grieve not for him, because I knew he is already with Jesus in heaven. Charlie's fine now. But I grieve for us, especially for his family (he left behind a wife and two very young children), and for his numerous colleagues and professional (and other personal) connections across the country. Not to come down on other conservative commentators, because I do listen to them and value many of them, but none of them stood out in terms of their Christ-like love like Kirk did. And above all, that's how we need to remember him as we soldier on and carry his (and our) legacy forward.