Author Archives: Barry

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

It is Christmas season around the world. Although Christmas is just one day, December 25^th, people in many nations around the world love to celebrate the season beginning a month in advance. They love the colored lights, Christmas trees, celebrations, the exchange of gifts, and the general mood of kindness that seems to lift everyone’s spirits. This is true even as many of those nations no longer celebrate the birth of Christ, the reason for the season.

We live in a world where almost one third of its population is Christian. It has the most followers of any religion in the world. And yet Christians are the most persecuted religion on the earth as well according to a Pew Research Center survey in 2019. And according to a report released by Open Doors USA in 2019, 215 million Christians are persecuted for their faith, about 1 in 12 Christians in the world! And the levels of persecution continue to grow, even in the United States of America!

If the world loves Christmas, why is there such hatred for Christians in the world? Is it because we are the largest religion and need to be curtailed? Is it because we speak the truth of God’s Word that so often goes against the prevailing culture? Is it because Christians are a threat to governments and those in power? Or is it something more personal…?

The world’s calendar is divided between the time before Christ (BC) and the time after Christ (AD). Jesus’ birth was the most important day in history because it ushered in God’s physical presence in the world. And that single event has changed everything! Jesus’ life, death and resurrection revealed God’s love, grace and mercy for all mankind. It gave the world a hope it did not have before Jesus. It is no longer a question of wondering what God thinks or wants, it has become known to us through Jesus words, actions and obedience to God the Father. Jesus said, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7).

And how did the world respond when Jesus was born? Those who recognized Him told others about Him and worshipped him (Luke 2:17-20). But those who feared Him tried to kill him (Matthew 2:16). And later, after Jesus began his ministry, the people who recognized Him praised him and followed Him (Matthew 21:9). But those who feared Him arrested him, beat him, and crucified Him like a criminal, though He had done no wrong (John 19:1 & 16).

It’s interesting to note that the same is true today. Nothing has changed. Those who recognize Him worship him, tell others about Him, and seek to follow His commands. But those who fear Him ridicule His followers, imprison them, beat them, and persecute them.

While governments persecute Christians because they are a threat to government control and power, people persecute them for a more personal reason. While Christians submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, others have no desire to submit to anyone other than themselves. They want to be rulers of their own lives. Jesus tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-44). But the world tells us to hate them and destroy them. Jesus says to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). The world says to retaliate and hit back harder. Jesus says to give and it will be given to us (Luke 6:38). The world says only a fool gives away what he has earned for himself. Those who do not want Christ in their lives also do not want Christ in other’s lives either!

So, let us take a moment and imagine a world without Christ. What would it be like?

Well, we could look back before Christ was born and see what the world was like back then. It was a violent world where the strong dominated the weak. It was a world where there were no human rights. It was a world where most people died young. It was a world where one had to submit to the rulers and conquerors of the day. It was brutal, it was dangerous, it was dark, and it was hopeless.

We could look back 100 years and see the rise of communism and fascism that outlawed Christianity and forced belief in atheism and worship of the state and its leader (Stalin, Hitler, Mao). It resulted in the killing of millions of people who dissented (Jews, Christians & others) and enslaved millions more under state-run, oppressive governments (Soviet Union, China). It caused a massive global war that also resulted in the horrific and torturous deaths of many soldiers. For those who lived and suffered during those times, they were dark days indeed with little hope!

But we can also look around us and see what is happening today. Christian persecution is growing globally, dissenting voices are being silenced, the murder of unborn children through abortion is being lauded, communism is being revived, and government power is being used to restrict freedoms and control our lives.

Christ is needed today just as He was needed 2,000 years ago. Without Christ, the world becomes a dark and dangerous place. More importantly, without Christ, the human heart remains a dark and dangerous place as well! (Romans 1:21)

I, for one, do not want to see a world without Christ. Fortunately, that cannot happen. Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18). What Jesus has built cannot be destroyed. Wherever Christian persecution exists, the Church grows stronger. That’s what happened in the Soviet Union and China after World War II, and is now happening in Iran. So we should not lose heart. The Light of Christ cannot be extinguished!

So this Christmas, let us pray once again for the Light of Christ to lighten a darkening world. Let us pray for the Love of Christ to reign in people’s hearts. And let us pray for God’s Holy Spirit to lead the world to Christ and Him alone. For without Christ, our world would also be without hope! Let us bow down and worship Him this Christmas as the Magi from the East did 2,000 years ago  (Matthew 2:11), and let us praise Him for the grace and mercy that He alone gave to us at the cross (Ephesians 2:8)!

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15

The United States of America has been on an increasingly secular path for over 50 years. I wrote about the decline in morals and biblical values in my book, About Face: A Call to Turn America Back to God, which was published in 2015. During this past year we have seen tremendous division in our nation covering many different issues including the economy, the pandemic, healthcare, immigration, race, justice, climate change and abortion, just to name the most obvious. Having grown up in America, I have witnessed this growing division and the abandonment of biblical principles and values in our nation. I have also experienced its impact on our society. And it is not good.

The United States of America has been a “shining city on a hill” that people from other nations long to visit and live in because of our freedoms, especially speech, religion and economic opportunity. I know this from my own experience visiting many other nations. The United States is a nation like no other in the world. It was founded on Judeo-Christian values and principles and our Constitution guarantees these freedoms for all of its citizens. It was also established as a nation that would govern itself. But as John Quincy Adams clearly pointed out in 1789, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In other words, without a biblical foundation, self-government will ultimately fail.

As I survey the landscape of America today, I can’t help but notice this departure from biblical and moral values that President Adams spoke of at the founding of our nation. The division we are experiencing in our nation today is caused by the different attitudes and worldviews of our own people. It is the age old conflict of God’s way versus Man’s way. Today, fewer Americans believe in God’s Word and the principles and values for life that it contains. Instead, many Americans are putting their trust in science and man’s intelligence.

Those Americans who favor Man’s way have a secular worldview that focuses on man’s intellect and ability to reason out all things. To them God is irrelevant. They view people as basically good and that everyone can have their own morals. There is no standard of behavior and little belief in personal responsibility. They say people aren’t the problem, society is! The Bible clearly contradicts this view and says in 1 John 1:9 that “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Believing that we are basically good is a false premise. Proverbs 3:5 also tells us that we should “Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.” According to God’s Word, trusting in our own knowledge and wisdom will only lead us to disaster.

On the other hand, those Americans who favor God’s Word and have a biblical worldview know that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9) and that we are sinful by nature (Romans 3:23). They recognize that the problem is not society, it is us! If society is failing, it is because we as individual citizens are failing. Believers in God know that He is good and His moral standards are best for society because man will sin and eventually mess things up if they do things their own way. If nothing else, history proves this to be true. Man without God is inherently evil and will do very evil things to their own people under the guise of making a better society. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot are just a few examples.

So, America is at a fork in the road. There are two paths it can follow. It can continue to choose to follow its own intellect and Man’s way with its historically tragic consequences, such as communism, genocide and slavery. Or it can turn back to God and follow biblical standards and His way, which produces prosperity, generosity and compassion.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrews were given a similar choice when they came to a fork in their road. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 records the choice that God gave them. He said, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” Sadly, the Hebrews only followed God for a short time before reverting back to their worship of other gods and their own desires, which eventually brought destruction upon themselves (the curse).

America has the same choice today. Before it lies a blessing or a curse. However, the path America chooses will also have an impact on the rest of the world. If America chooses a path of relying on man’s intellect it will surely decline morally, economically and militarily. It will no longer be able to provide for the needs of its own people or other nations, defend itself or its allies, or remain a stabilizing force for good in the world (the curse). If America chooses to follow God’s way, it will prosper economically, socially, and spiritually. And that will enable it to continue to fight evil in the world, produce food for the world, and provide security for the world (the blessing). As the leading nation in the world, what it chooses will impact other nations either positively or negatively.

Although the impact from this choice may takes many years to materialize, it is critical for the United States to make the right choice today so it can stop its slide down the path towards its own destruction. This will ensure a prosperous future for the United States and the world!

It is also a choice that we as individuals must also make every day to avoid our own spiritual death. Proverbs 14:12 says that “There is a way that seems right to man, but it only leads to death.” If we follow our own ways it will surely lead to our destruction. So, we must put our trust in God to receive the blessing in our own lives. Proverbs 28:25 says that “He who trusts in the Lord will prosper.”

There is no other way to create a better future for ourselves, or our own nation, than to follow God’s way!

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Romans 6:22

For most of us, we are living in unprecedented times. There are only a few people old enough who still remember the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Today, we face the global COVID-19 virus pandemic with its restrictions, closures, lockdowns, and requirements. Millions of people have lost their jobs, some businesses have permanently closed, freedom of travel has been severely restricted, and churches have been unable to meet together. At this point in time, there appears to be no relief in the immediate future from the impact of the corona virus.

Consequently, there are many who feel as though their lives are being held captive by the virus. Some go so far as to claim we are losing our constitutional right to freedom. But are we really in captivity during this pandemic?

To answer that question, let’s first look as what it means to be a captive. The dictionary says that the word captive means “one who has been captured: one taken and held usually in confinement.” We can generally be considered captive, therefore, if we are confined against our will somewhere, such as in a prison cell, as a prisoner of war, or if we have been kidnapped and held for ransom. 

That hardly describes our situation today with the virus. There are certainly restrictions being placed upon all of us, but we still have some level of independence and movement. In some US States and in other countries, the restrictions can either be more or less severe depending upon local circumstances. But in reality, no one is completely confined or held captive to the virus (with the exception of those who have been hospitalized with severe life threatening symptoms).

The Bible describes many times that people were held captive. In the Old Testament, Joseph was put in prison by the Pharaoh in Egypt (Genesis), the Jews were in held captive as slaves in Egypt (Exodus), and the Israelites were taken into captivity to Babylon (2 Kings). In the New Testament, the early Christians were put in prison by Paul and even Paul himself was in prison for Christ (Acts). These are clear examples of confinement against one’s will.

Today, we are not confined against our will because of the virus, but simply restricted for a time in what we are allowed to do until the virus passes.

However, we are still being held captive to another, far more dangerous virus. It’s called sin. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), every human being is born with this virus. And no matter what we do, we cannot rid this virus from our lives. There is no medicine for it. There is no treatment for it. And no doctor can remove it. The Apostle Paul wrote that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). In our church’s corporate confession we say that “we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” Another way to state that is that we are “captive” to our sin. Our sin holds us, confines us, and keeps us bound in it chains!

Yet, there is an antidote to counter this virus. An antidote is defined as something that relieves, prevents or counters. That antidote is faith in Jesus Christ, who went to the cross and sacrificed His life in our place to release us from the captivity of sin! His mercy and grace gives us freedom from the virus of sin. We no longer need to be slaves to it or in bondage to it. Jesus did not have this virus of sin, and His perfect life is the only antidote to the virus of sin that exists. There is no way to counter this virus in our lives other than through faith in Jesus Christ!

How do we get this antidote for the virus of sin in our lives? We receive the antidote in the form of the Holy Spirit when we are born again through faith in Christ. Paul said that “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24) The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to relieve, prevent and counter the harmful aspects of this virus of sin.

Now, it is important to note that this antidote does not remove the virus from our lives. We are still sinful by nature. But this antidote gives us the power to counter the evil effects of sin and to live lives free of its deathly grip. The virus of sin no longer has the power to take our life! When we place our faith and trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit works in our lives to counter our sinful nature and relieve us from its consequences. And that enables us to live lives that are holy, righteous and pleasing to God.

Our failure to take this antidote, which is provided free to us through Christ’s sacrifice, leaves us vulnerable to the ravages of sin that only leads to death (Romans 6:23). How sad it is that so many people in our world do not even know that there is an antidote for our sin. And worse yet, there are some people who don’t want the antidote and instead prefer to live with sin and its deathly consequences.

As Christians, we have the obligation to let others know that they don’t have to be held captive by the virus of sin and its damage to their lives. They can receive the antidote to sin by simply putting their faith and trust in Christ. It’s free and carries with it a lifetime guarantee!      

While we all wait for an antidote to the corona virus, let us not hesitate to remove our captivity to sin by putting our faith in Jesus. Let us also share the antidote to sin that Christ gives freely to everyone who calls upon His name!

“Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying, ‘Lord save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”

Matthew 8:23-27

The above Scripture is about faith and fear. The disciples (and Jesus) faced a dangerous situation in the form of a furious storm and they became afraid. What were the disciples afraid of? According to this passage they were afraid of death, specifically drowning! They had woken Jesus and said, “Lord save us! We are going to drown!” I suppose that we would have said the same thing if we were in that situation. However, notice what Jesus said to them. He said, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” For you and I the answer is obvious. They were afraid because they feared death. I’m certain that would have been our reaction as well.

But what was the faith Jesus was talking about? He was talking about faith in Him and His promise of eternal life that He had spoken to them about many times. I suppose the disciples didn’t make the connection at that time. They were still learning from Jesus and perhaps not as fully aware of what Jesus himself would provide to them through His sacrifice on the cross. In this circumstance, the disciples chose fear over faith.

But today, we have no such excuse. We know what Jesus did for us on Calvary. So, if our faith is based on Jesus and what He did on the cross to give us eternal life, why should we fear our earthly death? To fear our death would be to deny our faith in Christ.

We are currently faced with a worldwide pandemic from the spread of COVID-19, a new strain of the corona virus. So, how should we approach this new danger in our lives today? Should we, as Christians, be fearful of its consequences? Should we heed all of the governmental warnings to protect ourselves and stay away from others? Should we put our trust in medicine, doctors, medical equipment or hospitals to save our lives?

I’d like to share three points that can help us clarify what our response should be as followers of Christ.

First, Life is Dangerous!  The disciples faced a dangerous storm, but we also face dangers in our lives every day. We first faced danger when we were conceived. From the moment of conception we faced dangers in the womb from genetics, disease, or miscarriage. We also faced dangers in our delivery, such as being still born or having birth defects or abnormalities. Then as we began our lives outside the womb we faced additional dangers like cancer, poverty, unemployment, natural disasters, accidents and crime.

The fact is we face danger every minute of every day. There are dangers we see and dangers we do not see. According to the National Safety Council, here are a few of the odds of dying in America from various causes:

• Heart disease & cancer    1 in 7
• Motor vehicle accident    1 in 114
• Assault by firearm            1 in 370
• Drowning                          1 in 1,188
• Airline accident                1 in 9,821
• Cataclysmic storm            1 in 66,335

These statistics do vary by nation, but notice that from these numbers a storm is one of the least likely things to cause our death (although drowning is a greater possibility)! 

We know that danger is all around us, whether we see it or not. It is part of life and cannot always be avoided. And often the dangers can be random or sudden, not giving us time to react thoughtfully or carefully. We just don’t always think about these dangers unless we are staring one right in the face. The point is, no human being is free from danger or risk. We typically only react however when we can see it or are directly confronted by it. And this leads to my second point.

Secondly, Our Physical Response to Danger or Death is Fear. Fear for our physical lives is part of our human nature and has both positive and negative aspects. On the positive side, our fear can warn us of potentially dangerous situations and give us time to react. These are things like smoke from a fire, snow on the roadway, threatening clouds, or the sound of sirens. These get our attention and enable us to take precautions to protect ourselves. This is why we should heed the warnings and instructions from our government about the corona virus. It is for our protection and instituted under God’s authority (Romans 13:1-5).

On the negative side, however, fear can also cause us to run away, hide, act irrationally or not be able to function at all. These are fears such as confrontations, terror threats, political unrest, or epidemics. These are situations that we believe we need to avoid at all costs. We can see some Biblical examples of this, like Jonah running away from Nineveh (Jonah 1:3), the disciples hiding from the Jews after Jesus’ death (John 20:19), and Peter denying knowing Christ (Matthew 26:69-75).  It is natural to fear danger. It can protect us from harm. But it can also paralyze us or cause us to panic unnecessarily.

So, what should our response be to danger if not fear?  Point number three is that Our Spiritual Response to Danger Should Be Faith. Faith is trusting in God in all things. That means we should trust Him to see us through the dangers that we face. There are three reasons why we should trust Him. First, God is Love. He loves us unconditionally and He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Second, God is Truth and in Him there is no falsehood. He is trustworthy and He keeps His promises to us (Hebrew 10:23). Third, He sent His son Jesus to die in our place as a sacrifice for our sin. Jesus bore our sin on the cross and through His death and resurrection we have been given the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). He faced death and overcame it for our sake. Knowing what God did (and still does) for us, how can we not trust Him when we face danger or death?

I suppose there are those who might argue that we do not possess Christ’s courage. But that is not true! We have the same power that gave Jesus His courage – the Holy Spirit! His Holy Spirit will give us the power to trust in God and the courage to face the dangers of this world, even those that may lead to our death. And because of Jesus’ resurrection we also have hope, the hope that there is life after death and that death is not the end. When we put our faith in Jesus, we have hope, power and courage to face every danger, even death!

Should we trust the medical community to protect or help us when we face danger? Of course we should. They are God’s instruments to bring healing and recovery to our body (1 Corinthians 12:6). But they are not perfect and we should never trust them more than our Heavenly Father. They may be able to care for us between conception and death, but they do not determine either of them. God alone has power over life and death (Genesis 1:27, 3:19)!

We are all facing danger and death in our lives whether we realize it or not. Today it is the corona virus that is on the top of our minds. But tomorrow it might be something else. And there are also other daily dangers that we continue to face apart from the virus. So if we must inevitably face danger and death in this world, let us respond with faith and not fear. As Christians, we must trust God to protect us and see us through our trials through faith in Jesus. Let us not succumb to our fear of death but instead live in the hope of eternal life given to us by Jesus!! Let us choose faith over fear!