WOE TO THE SHEPHERDS

The First Reading for July 21, the day after the conclusion of the ELCA Youth Gathering, was from Jeremiah 23.  In verse 1 the Lord says to the leaders of God’s people, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”  I believe that the same thing could be said about the leaders of the ELCA, including the planners of the youth gathering, which was held July 16-20 in New Orleans. 

Because of COVID, the last youth gathering occurred six years ago in 2018.  That time recordings of the messages from the keynote speakers were available for some time after, so I was able to listen to them, analyze them, and report on some of them in detail.  This time the sessions were live streamed (except for when the arena was having difficulties with the internet connection) and the recordings were available only for a short time before they were removed.  I was able to watch the evening session on Tuesday, part of the evening session on Thursday, and the closing worship service on Saturday morning.  Other than that I am dependent upon written comments, including on Facebook, and the daily summaries – complete with ELCA spin – in the ELCA’s digital magazine, “Living Lutheran.”  Even the video recaps for days 1, 2, and 3 – which are still available on the gathering’s YouTube channel – do not give any content from the keynote speakers.  They basically show young people being energetic and doing service projects.  It gives the impression that the gathering planning team do not want people to know what the keynote speakers said.    

However, the team did put together a five minute “Week in Review” video, which is still available.  I will use that video to share my reflections on the gathering.  A link to the video can be found HERE.

The video concludes with the person who actually opened the gathering – Bishop Michael Rinehart of the host synod, the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod (4: 40).  He began not with an opening prayer calling upon the Lord to bless the event but instead by acknowledging the indigenous people who had previously lived on the land and from whom the land was stolen.  It reminded me of the opening of the August 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, where greater emphasis was placed upon the rivers that flow through the area of the host synod than upon the God who created the rivers.  Bishop Rinehart told of how one of the indigenous tribes had sued the federal government and had succeeded in getting their land back.  At the announcement that a tribe had been successful in a lawsuit against the U. S. government, the young people cheered.  Hearing their cheers, I wondered what else they would become (and had already become) conditioned to cheer for.

But what I thought was most significant in Bishop Rinehart’s comments in the “Week in Review” video is the fact that he is the only person in the video who mentions Jesus.  And how does he describe Jesus?  As the “Jesus who calls us to challenge systems of oppression and power.”  Jesus through the lens of Marxism, critical race theory, and DEIA ideology.

The “Week in Review” video opens with Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.  This is not in the video, but on Tuesday (opening) night Bishop Eaton was introduced by one of the emcees, Rebekah Bruesehoff, as having worked for eleven years for “inclusivity, advocacy, and social justice.”  The introduction certainly shows what is considered most important.  I thought it was very interesting that Rebekah Bruesehoff, who along with her mother Naomi spoke at the last gathering in 2018 promoting transgenderism, was now one of the emcees.  In 2018 Rebekah was a pre-adolescent, transgender child.  Her mother is the author of “Raising Kids beyond the Binary: Celebrating God’s Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children.”  The ELCA reveals what it values most by whom it elevates, lifts up, and makes heroes of.

The “Week in Review” video quotes Bishop Eaton as saying with joy and anticipation on opening night, “You can make a change; you can be disruptive” (0: 01).  Actually on opening night Bishop Eaton used three phrases – “You make a difference; you can make a change; you can be disruptive.”  Anyone who does public speaking knows that in a series like that, whatever you want to give the greatest emphasis to – whatever you want to be the climax of your comments – you put last.  On opening night, when Bishop Eaton said, “You can be disruptive,” the crowd cheered.

Many times during the five days the youth were told that they were “Created to Be Brave, Free, Authentic, and Disruptive Disciples.”  I noticed that none of the keynote speakers were brave and free enough to be introduced without including their pronouns.  (When I register for ELCA synodical events, I make sure that I do not give my pronouns.)  The model for being disruptive that was held up was Jesus’ overturning the tables of the money changers in the Temple.  But I wonder what kinds of behavior 16, 000 youth thought were being approved, endorsed, and even promoted when they were told that they were created to be disruptive.

Evidently there was one example of being disruptive that did not please everyone.  At the closing worship service Bishop Eaton mentioned that there had been a low point during the gathering when a group was made to feel as if they did not matter.  She said that the group had been offered a heart-felt apology on a previous evening.  Again, because recordings of the evening sessions were very quickly removed, I was not able to watch that apology and find out exactly what it was in response to.  But I can think of one strong possibility.  Someone posted on Facebook that his group had felt “triggered” by one of the speakers.  “Triggered” seems to be a favorite term for those who feel offended.  So the group started talking about it out loud.  People who were nearby asked them to be quiet because they wanted to hear the speaker.  That request led to the group’s feeling even more triggered and claiming that they were being subjected to racist behavior so they will never attend a future youth gathering.  I do not know if that is the incident that triggered the apology, but if it is, it does raise the question of whether talking out loud as a group near other people during a public gathering was validated and legitimized by the ELCA’s saying that we are created to be disruptive.  If my public rudeness leads to your having to apologize publicly because I feel triggered and subjected to your racist behavior, it also shows – in the strange world of wokeness, critical race theory, and DEIA ideology – that the one who is the most empowered is the one who claims to be the most victimized and oppressed.

For me the bright spot of the gathering was the presentation Tuesday evening by Michael Chan (2: 06).  Michael’s message at the ELCA’s Rostered Leaders Gathering last summer was also the bright spot at that event for me.  At the Rostered Leaders Gathering I felt that he was the only keynote speaker who expressed care and concern for us – the ministers of the church – rather than merely viewing us as underlings who need to get totally on board with fully supporting the ELCA agenda and priorities.  At the youth gathering he spoke on Psalm 139: 13 – “You formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  He began by saying, “Wonders happen in the dark,” and then said so many other good things that I would have wanted the youth from my former congregation to hear.  These comments include “You were loved and treasured long before you performed your first good act” and “You were precious long before you could prove it.”  He talked about the difficult circumstances that can bury us and then said, “You are not in the grave, you are in the womb: something is happening in the darkness.” 

I would have been happy to have the youth from my former congregation hear Michael Chan.  I would not have wanted them to hear another keynote presenter, ELCA pastor Keats Miles-Wallace, who spoke on Thursday evening (3: 00).  Pastor Miles-Wallace shared that he always knew that he was different.  In middle school he did not fit in anywhere, and he made himself miserable trying to be what every group that he wanted to be a part of wanted him to be.  He finally learned that God created him to be free – “free to be my weird, different, unique, transgender, non-binary, neuro-divergent, and Anglo-Mexican-Indigenous self.”  Rather than finding his identity in Christ, he found his identity in being himself “out loud.”  He found peace when he finally experienced the “freedom of expression that God intended for all of creation.”  He is a member of the task force that is reviewing the 2009 human sexuality social statement. 

A video was shown on Thursday evening about ten minutes before Pastor Miles-Wallace spoke, which certainly set the stage and prepared the way for Pastor Miles-Wallace’s remarks.  This video went through the various days of creation in Genesis 1 as it prepared the young people to fully embrace the LGBTQ+ agenda.  Its argument was that at first glance, creation seems full of binaries.  God created light and then separated the light from the darkness, but there are also sunrises and sunsets, dawn and dusk.  God separated the land from the waters, but there are places that are not fully land or fully water, such as marshes and bogs.  God created the sun and the moon, but there are also stars, planets, and asteroids.  God created creatures of the land, sea, and sky, but there are also land animals such as penguins that swim and fish that fly.  God created male and female, but He also made all other types of people.  The video concluded, “At a glance creation seems full of binaries, but there is also a beautiful in between.  Genesis gives examples, but does not exclude the possibility of more, and God saw that it was good.”

The video said nothing about God’s creating male and female not as just two of an endless number of possible varieties, but instead so that two could become one flesh and so that the two would be able to be fruitful and multiply.  (Genesis 1: 27-28, 2: 24; Matthew 19: 4-6)  The stage was now set for ELCA youth to fully embrace the full LGBTQIA2S+ agenda and every variety of gender identity.  No wonder the “Week in Review” video even showed a group of youth with a drag queen (2: 00).  

The video of the closing worship service on Saturday ended with a short introduction of the location of the 2027 gathering – Minneapolis.  Minneapolis was described as a city that has a “commitment to inclusivity,” “celebrates diversity and embraces dialog,” and where “every voice is heard and every story matters.”  I noticed the Palestinian flag at one point in the “Week in Review” video (4: 20).  I am sure that during the gathering the voices of the Israeli people were never heard and their story did not matter.  Typical of ELCA youth events, there was not even one person who spoke in support of traditional views of human sexuality and gender identity.  Typical of the ELCA, this time also not every voice was heard and there were stories that did not matter. 

Dennis D. Nelson

[email protected]

 

Most people would call me a “conservative” Lutheran, although I would prefer to be called orthodox or traditional. Nevertheless, I will accept the label. Therefore, as a conservative Lutheran, it is incumbent upon me to differentiate myself from the conservative Christians who hold views that I reject. So let me say clearly that I reject Christian Zionism.

What is Christian Zionism?  Normally, that term describes a fundamentalist dispensationalist theology that believes the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 was the fulfilment of prophecy.  Furthermore it holds that all the land currently in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza belong to the State of Israel by divine right. As a result, it holds that Israel has the right to annex territory and establish settlements wherever it wishes.  It does not recognize the Palestinians as a people, nor their right to have a state of their own.  Finally, it sees conflict between Israelis and Palestinians as a necessary and unavoidable precursor to the End Times.  Anyone who does not support Israel militarily is therefore considered an enemy of God. (Not everything called Christian Zionism falls under this definition.  See Israel Matters and The New Christian Zionism by Gerald R. McDermott)

I reject Christian Zionism as described above because it is a form of Millennialism, which the Augsburg Confession rejects in Article XVII.  I also reject Christian Zionism because I reject the notion that a person’s rights should be based on their religion or ethnicity.  In other words, I am a “classical liberal”.   I support a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, in which Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and people of other religions have equal political and human rights.

Having said that, I would like to ask why some Lutherans of the left refuse to distance themselves from groups that deny the right of Israel to exist, that teach violent Antisemitism, and that use Marxist dualism to justify violence and terrorism? A very concrete example of the refusal to renounce Christian Marxist Antisemitism occurred at the 2024 Synod Assembly of the Florida-Bahamas Synod, ELCA.  In a resolution entitled Resolution 24-02 Palestinian Advocacy and Dismantling Christian Zionism in Our Churches, the assembly lamented the destruction caused by Israeli attacks in Gaza, saying

Be it Resolved, The Florida Bahamas Synod in Assembly laments both the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, housing, schools and universities, hospitals, and places of worship–and the millions of people who are experiencing displacement, facing malnutrition, and starvation, as a result primarily of Israel’s continuing air strikes and blocking entry of humanitarian aid trucks…

Among other things, it also recommends that congregations learn about the  SUMUD initiative and spend at least three hours of adult education time in the next three months in learning more about the conflict, occupation and Christian Zionism.  Missing is any condemnation of HAMAS for the killing of 1200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023, or of any attribution of responsibility to HAMAS for starting the war that is now devastating Gaza. 

Consider an earlier part of the resolution:

Whereas, The ELCA Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, on October 13, 2023 denounced the attacks and hostage-taking on October 7, 2023, by HAMAS and has denounced the subsequent disproportionate death toll among Palestinian civilians; as reported by the United Nations, more than thirty-four thousand civilians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023 ; https://elca.org/News-and-Events/8207…

Please notice two things.  First, while the resolution mentions that Bishop Eaton denounced the attacks and hostage taking, it never joins her in that denunciation.  Secondly, while it mentions the number of people killed by Israel in Gaza, it never mentions the number killed by HAMAS on October 7.

Is this an oversight?  Did the resolution simply assume that everyone denounces HAMAS and its ideology?  Sadly, the answer is no.  An amendment was proposed that clarified things by adding the following words:

and emphatically denounce the following Palestinian groups that have been involved in politically motivated violence to include the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of organizations[sic], Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Nidal Organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas,

However, the Florida-Bahamas Synod declined. Why? The only answer that I can see is a convergence
of historic Christian Antisemitism and Christian Marxism. The Antisemitism of the Christian left follows
the Marxist practice of dividing all of humanity into oppressor and oppressed. This Marxist dualism sees the oppressor as always evil and the oppressed as always innocent. Furthermore, the oppressed are never really responsible for their actions. Whatever they might do, even if it involves the kind of
atrocities perpetrated on October 7, it is never their fault. The oppressor drove them to it. As Bishop
Eaton said in her letter on October 13, 2023, to which the resolution refers,

We must also call a thing a thing. The power exerted against all Palestinian people — through the occupation, the expansion of settlements and the escalating violence — must be called out as a root cause of what we are witnessing. 

Bp. Eaton

According Bishop Eaton, the root cause of the violent Antisemitism of HAMAS, is Israel. The Florida-
Bahamas Synod Assembly concurs. The refusal to denounce HAMAS and other militant groups is
intentional. So, one would guess, is the refusal to address the Antisemitic rhetoric, intimidation, and
violence at anti-Israel rallies in the U.S.

As a “conservative” Lutheran I am glad to renounce Christian Zionism. Are there any “liberal” or
“progressive” Lutherans who are willing to renounce Christian Marxist Antisemitism?

Editor’s Note: Pr. Craig Moorman is a board member of Lutheran CORE as well as a mission developer and pastor of River’s Edge Ministries (NALC-LCMC) in Mt. Airy, Maryland. This is the first in a series of articles entitled Repenting of the Sins of Our Nation. Future articles will focus on Proclaiming the Word and Stewarding the Awakening.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ —

Over the course of the past few months, I have gained a much greater appreciation for the Book of Daniel and the message of hope that it brings to the Church for the living of these historically challenging days. But on a more personal note, on this particular day as I move into my 66^th year of living, I’d like to make a b-day wish in the form of a prayerful declaration: I want to be like Daniel when I grow up! Here I am, nearly 35 years into my call, and only now am I beginning to understand the extent of what it means — and what it might mean — to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  

In Daniel 9:3-19, we hear this well-seasoned prophet pleading and imploring Almighty God to show mercy to His people, the Israelites. He begins, “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, ‘O Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments and ordinances; we have not listened to Thy servants …” (vv. 3, 4) Yes, I want to be more like Daniel with whatever time the Lord allows me in this precious gift of living. I want to turn and set my face continually to the Lord God. I want to seek Him earnestly, even ‘wearing’ sackcloth and ashes (in a non-Pharisaic sort-of-way) … and empty myself of self, in all humility at the footstool of His mercy seat. At this stage in my life, I desire to go deeper in my confession and repent, not on behalf of ‘their’ sins, but repent on behalf of our sins … my sins!

Throughout his seventy years in exile, Daniel remained a pliable vessel of God and continually sought out the Lord’s mercy and steadfast love on behalf of his people Israel. Again, only now am I more fully embracing this essential ‘detail’ of my call, truly bearing the priestly role. I guess some of us are just a bit more stubborn and slower in understanding what it really means to serve in the ministry of Word and Sacrament.

I’m also reminded of a letter written by one of the Apostolic Fathers, (Bishop) Ignatius of Antioch, who was eventually condemned and sent to Rome to be killed by ‘the beasts’ in the amphitheater @108 A.D. While journeying to this final resting place, Ignatius wrote letters to various churches in Asia Minor, including these words to the Church in Rome:

I am writing to all the Churches, and I give injunctions to all men, that I am dying willingly for God’s sake, if you do not hinder it. I beseech you, be not ‘an unseasonable kindness’ to me. Suffer me to be eaten by the beasts, through whom I can attain to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts that they may become my tomb, and leave no trace of my body, that when I fall asleep I be not burdensome to any. Then shall I be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not even see my body. Beseech Christ on my behalf, that I may be found a sacrifice through these instruments. (Ignatius to the Romans, IV. 1, 2)

Bp. Ignatius of Antioch

Fascinating. I first read these words 37 years ago and am still challenged to the very core of my being, and wondering if I could ever present that ‘core of my being’ to the Lord in such a way? (cf. Romans 12:1) Ignatius continues in his words about what it means to follow Jesus Christ and be obedient in that calling, “Grant me this favour. I know what is expedient for me; now I am beginning to be a disciple.” (V. 3a)

Ignatius’ words are full of so much grace. Only “beginning to be a disciple” … This profoundly humble statement encourages me to remember, first and foremost, that as one called into ministry, I am to remain teachable and malleable. So, in light of the lives of Daniel and Ignatius — and all of the saints that have gone before us — it is with great humility that I begin this three-part article, Repenting of the Sins of the Nation. In Part I — “Accepting the Call”, you’ll quickly recognize that it’s a personal grappling — an open confession — with how I am trying to navigate through the turbulent waters of these desperate times. No doubt, this is a journey we are all needing to face, and necessarily needing to face … together. In fully accepting my call, I realize that these times require me to engage both pastorally and prophetically.

Suffer me to be eaten by the beasts, through whom I can attain to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ.

Bishop Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans, IV. 1, 2

There is something insidious permeating every nook and cranny of every segment of our present-day society. Have you felt it too? I believe it started with the mid-1960’s countercultural movement and it has evolved immensely over the past two decades. Some citizens of this country and much of the Western world have been more purposefully redefining new ways of living out truth, justice, compassion, love, etc., according to their own morality and rooted deeply in secular humanism, Marxism, utopistic pursuits, etc. Let’s, then, call this redefinition, a transformative awakening.

Herein, we quickly discover that these redefined core values for living clash painfully with more traditional systems of authority-governance, orthodox Judeo-Christian values, long-established interpretations of our history and the American Dream, etc. I believe the buildup of tension we are presently experiencing equates to a significant season of great shaking, shifting, and sifting in our nation and our churches. We reluctantly find ourselves at a most critical crossroads, a place of tension — this transformative awakening — where revolutionary choices will be made, new leadership will arise, causes will be defined, and life wholly changed. But we’ve been here before, this place of choosing (potentially) between life and death.

In Joshua 24, history records that Joshua “ … gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.” (v. 1) Then he continued speaking to the People of Israel, helping God’s People to remember who they were; and, thus, re-enter into a covenantal agreement with the Lord on that day: “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served … choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (vv. 14, 15)

Of course, this has been the story of God’s People, our story, from the beginning of time — facing many a crossroads and needing to choose between that which is life-giving or life-stealing! Darkness and Light stand juxtaposed — hoping to either take captive or captivate the souls of those most vulnerable or receptive. One entity, darkness, will coerce itself into/upon that life (*nephesh, נֶ֫פֶשׁ‎ nép̄eš = soul) and, ultimately, steal away that life (John 10:10a); and, the other, Light, will graciously extend an invitation to that life to receive the fullness of Life (John 10:10b). (*It’s interesting to note that this Hebrew word, nephesh, when combined with another Hebrew word, rûach-רוּחַ‎, meaning “spirit”, connotes a part of humanity that has no physical form, like one’s mind, will or seat of emotions, intellect, personality, etc.)

At this monumental historic crossroads, who or what will win the day and take captive or captivate the life, the corporate soul — minds, wills, intellects, and personalities — of our nation? It seems clear that this transformative awakening will, I believe, produce either death or life in our nation, depending on how it unfolds. There is much conversation these days about the woke culture, a slang term that is finding its way into the mainstream vernacular. This word, added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in September of 2017, states: “If you frequent social media, you may well have seen posts or tweets about current events that are tagged #staywoke … awake is often rendered as woke, as in, “I was sleeping, but now I’m woke … ‘Woke’ is increasingly used as a byword for social awareness … Stay woke became a watch word in parts of the black community for those who were self-aware, questioning the dominant paradigm and striving for something better. But stay woke and woke became part of a wider discussion in 2014, immediately following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.”

Unfortunately, the word woke became enmeshed with the Black Lives Matter organization and other radical, leftist organizations (i.e., Antifa, etc.) and is now being exploited to bring societal change through radical and often violent means. Its agenda is not life-giving, and its understanding of resolving injustice and racial tension is polar-opposite from that of a traditional, orthodox theology/ideology, where genuine reconciliation can be found. An even greater concern is that this form of bringing about a transformative awakening has infiltrated every segment of our society, including the government on all levels.

Our nation does not need a transformative awakening that is bent on dismantling and even destroying all that has existed for 245 years; it needs, instead, one that transforms the hearts and minds of her citizens with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through another Great Awakening. In fact, we need another awakening that would dwarf our country’s first two Great Awakenings in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. And with any Great Awakening, there should be a deliberate and long season of listening to the heart of God through passionate, intercessory prayer on behalf of the nation.

Again, I’m hearkening back to Daniel’s approach in continually (throughout the entire twelve chapters of the Book of Daniel) resolving (1:8) to confess and repent, seek out His mercies, pray, and give praise to the Lord for His sovereign goodness. Only then will we able to faithfully and effectively call the nation to repentance and graciously challenge her citizenry, beginning with us/me, to turn back to God, specifically in Jesus Christ. But, will I be part of it? Will we, as Lutherans, be part of it?

In Part II — “Speaking the Word”, I’ll be addressing how we are witnessing the rise and intensification of darkness; but I will also lift up the eschatological reality that during this same season of dread (cf. Matthew 24), the brightness of the Light will shine brighter through the grace of the Holy Spirit. So, we must hold on to such a Hope. In the meantime, and in the midst of it all, should we not be carefully weighing the cost and calling of entering into this reality? Everything is on the line. Again, what or who will take captive or captivate the soul of this nation, at this hour? If the Church remains oblivious of such a ‘harvest’ (cf. Matthew 9:35-38), then surely the devil and his minions will expediently pounce upon these ‘little ones’ and drag them into the pit of despair and darkness. Or we could rise to the occasion and be the Church — here and now, for such a time as this — and reap a harvest of souls who could be ushered into the transformative awakening of a life claimed by Jesus Christ! Amen?

Our nation does not need a transformative awakening that is bent on dismantling and even destroying all that has existed for 245 years; it needs, instead, one that transforms the hearts and minds of her citizens with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through another Great Awakening.

This is what I’ve been intensely struggling with, especially these past few months. In a nutshell, here’s my angst and concern in the form of a question: “Will I or will I not find the courage to accept the call to step into this place of mess, that chaotic void, and engage those who are desperately seeking truth, justice, compassion, love, etc. and point back to the cross, etc.” At the same time, I find myself crying out, “Lord, show me how to lead at this hour … beginning with my own family!” A simple question and plea, but wow, so difficult and complex at the same time. As leaders in the Church, we should be thriving now; but, to the contrary, it seems that many of us have been struggling and agonizing over how we should respond to this day and age. It is time, Brothers and Sisters, to reclaim who we are as “the children of the Kingdom of Light” (cf. 1 John 1:5-2:6 and Ephesians 5:8), and to remember that we have already been given all that we need to fully accept our call … and enter into the arena. (cf. Ephesians 6:10-20)

No doubt, many of you are familiar with one of the most widely quoted speeches of Theodore Roosevelt’s career; here’s an excerpt from that speech given on April 23, 1910:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

Only by God’s grace will we be able to enter the arena of our culture. But enter we can and must. Certainly, there will be Jonah moments … fleeing from the Lord … experiencing mighty tempests … being tossed out of the boat … being swallowed by a whale … anger and regrets … but, in the end, I encourage us to assume the posture of another prophet, Daniel, and remain resolved and humble before the Lord (Daniel 1:8). Until next time, stay the course …

In Christ’s love,

K. Craig Moorman