One more blog before leaving this distressing (and depressing) topic of evil. Am I on the wrong side of things by not affirming everyone’s “sexual choices”? Others certainly appear more “loving” and “accepting.” Truly, what would Jesus do?

The problem is, there have always been conflicting messages. Here we have Jeremiah thundering God’s judgments on the sin of Judah, but he’s not the only propohet in town:

The LORD said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Then I said: “Ah, Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ” (Jeremiah 14.11 – 13, ESV)

Again, there have always been conflicting messages. Right after “trans” stuff starting coming out, for example, we were attending a concert in a downtown church that proudly displayed signs on the facilities: “Please use the restroom that conforms to your sexual identity.” I thought at the time, “Abolition of slavery, a worthy cause, was spearheaded by churches. In this case, the churches are just in trail to the culture.”

So we have “prophets,” pastors of some churches, commending their people for supporting sexual deviance. Entire denominations have sprung up that sound way more loving than I do:

Embrace your authentic self and your spirituality! At Pikes Peak MCC, we celebrate your true self, offering a sanctuary where you can explore and deepen your spiritual journey, embraced by a community that genuinely cares.

For sure, Jesus loved everyone, but he did not leave them where they were.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8.10, 11, ESV)

As for us, sometimes we have to go back to the old ways:

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…” (Jeremiah 6.16, NIV, emphasis mine)

We’re thinking about Evil and how much the US has drifted since its founding. In that context, I’d be remiss not to discuss President Trump, at least a little. I don’t need to pile on. There are plenty of people doing that. One fellow on Facebook that I happen to see from time to time, and who is a fellow-believer, seems to take as his mission to run down the President at every opportunity. To what end? I’m thinking of dropping him a line to say, “My brother, your posts are not conducive to my practicing Philippians 4.8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (ESV)

However, whatever your politics, if you are a believer, you ought to be concerned about the picture he posted and then took down:

One writer said, “If the image posted on Trump’s TruthSocial account on Sunday evening (only moments after a bizarre diatribe against Pope Leo) is not blasphemous, the word has no meaning.” – Matthew Walther

Another compared him to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, closing his essay with this warning:

God will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7). There is a time limit on blasphemy. Whether God chooses to cut short such conceit with temporal judgments or whether He stores up his wrath until the last day is entirely up to His wise disposition. Or perhaps the president would repent, believe in Christ, and be saved (Isaiah 59:1). But that repentance will require more than a quiet removal and a lame “I-was-just-being-a-doctor” defense. It will require taking responsibility for the offense, genuinely turning from it, and turning to Christ.

Making blasphemy great again is not going to go well for anyone—neither for President Trump nor for those who defend his outrageous irreverence. There will be a reckoning, and the usual excuses—“he’s a president not a pastor, he’s just joking, people are just pearl-clutching”—are not going to hold water in the final assize. They will be obliterated in judgment along with anyone still clinging to them. – Denny Burk

I need not criticize or defend the President’s decisions. Most of them are, as we say, “above my pay grade.”

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. (Psalm 131.1, ESV)

But I am concerned about his character. Peggy Noonan, quoting the Sermon on the Mount, captured some of the issues well:

• Christ: “Blessed are you who are poor.”
• Mr. Trump: “Part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get.”

• Christ: “Blessed are the meek.”
• Mr. Trump: “It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency . . . is the most successful in the history of our nation.” “You know who No. 2 is? George Washington.”

• Christ: “Blessed are the merciful.”
• Mr. Trump: “I am your retribution.”

• Christ: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
• Mr. Trump: “A whole civilization will die tonight.”

• Christ: “Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you.”
• Mr. Trump: “I love getting even with people.” “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry.”

The good news is that Donald Trump is not our Savior and Lord, Jesus is. God is in charge…

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21.1, ESV)

…our job is to pray…

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2.1, 2, ESV)

…believe it or not, honor the Leader…

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2.17, ESV)

…and continue to do good:

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. (Titus 3.14, NIV)

Yesterday, we reminded ourselves of the true God and noted from the new movie A Great Awakening that there’s no question that America was founded on Christian principles. There’s also no question that America, like ancient Israel, is drifting (or plunging headlong away from) these principles. As always, the prophets have a word:

And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.” Jeremiah 11.6 – 8, ESV)

He continues:

The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done…” (Jeremiah 11.16 – 17, ESV)

What evil have we done? It depends on whom you ask. I quoted Tim Keller almost six years ago in a blog entitled Where are you Loyalties?

The early church’s social project was:

• Multi-racial and multi-ethnic
• Highly committed to caring for the poor and marginalized
• Non-retaliatory, marked by a commitment to forgiveness
• Strongly and practically against abortion and infanticide
• Revolutionary regarding the ethics of sex

The early Christian community was both offensive and also attractive. Believers did not construct their social project in some strategic way to reach Roman culture. Each of the five elements was there because Christians sought to submit to biblical authority. They are all commanded. They are just as category-defying—both offensive and attractive—today. The first two views (ethnic diversity and caring for the poor) sound “liberal,” and the last two (abortion and sexual ethics) sound “conservative.” But the third element, of course, sounds like no particular party. – Tim Keller

I mentioned last week a conversation with a Jewish lady. We were dialoging fine, not always agreeing, but certainly amiable, until I let slip that I didn’t follow the culture’s embrace of all kinds of sexual behavior (element #5, above). Her response was swift and vitriolic while accusing me of hatred. She would say she is committed to the “poor and marginalized” (element #2, above) in supporting the “new” sexual orthodoxy. I asked, trying to get back to our Torah discussions, what she did with “God made them male and female,” but I’ll never find out.

Back to evil: God is committed to all five elements of the early church’s behavior. We can usually manage only one or two and seem bent on tearing each other apart. And that’s not counting the recent behavior of our President. Stay tuned.

In the middle of Jeremiah’s diatribe against his Jewish countrymen who have rejected God, there is this reminder in chapter 10 of whom they are rejecting.

God is unique…

There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. (Jeremiah 10.6, 7, ESV)

…the true, living, and everlasting King…

But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. (Jeremiah 10.10, ESV)

…with POWER:

It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. (Jeremiah 10.12, 13, ESV)

We just watched A Great Awakening about the great revivalist George Whitefield’s ministry in the American Colonies, including his long friendship with Benjamin Franklin. Strongly recommend. In one powerful scene, Ben drags George out in a lightning storm to show him how the kite and the key attract electric power. George yells, “Ben, what is the source of this power?” Jeremiah is clear.

“He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.”

Ben Franklin was a deist. For most of his life he believed precisely that God does NOT concern himself with the affairs of men. But he changed. He appealed to the deadlocked Constitutional Convention that they ought to pray. His speech contains this famous line:

I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? – Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787, Philadelphia

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64.4, ESV)

I wrote about Backsliding last November – backsliding, a common term in some of our churches back in the day – but it occurs only a few times in scripture. One is in one of our recent readings:

Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. (Jeremiah 8.5, ESV)

Jeremiah has accused the people of backsliding before:

Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.  (Jeremiah 2.19, NIV)

“Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God. (Jeremiah 3.22, NIV)

I just reviewed my blog on backsliding as well as the one on Professor Ehrman and Charles Templeton who rejected God’s Word. It seems there a lot of ways to reject the word:

“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them? (Jeremiah 8.8, 9, ESV)

We can pretend to be people of the word and reject it at the same time! And the result was punishment at the hands of foreign armies.

Sad verses:

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored? (Jeremiah 8.20 – 22, ESV)

Sounds like the POWs who didn’t make it out of Viet Nam. The highest ranking POW from the Viet Nam war, Admiral Stockdale, when asked, “Who didn’t make it?” said it was the optimists who didn’t survive prison camp. “We’ll be out by Christmas!” But Christmas came, and “we are not saved.”

Why were the Jews not saved? Jeremiah 9 continues the thought:

Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.” (Jeremiah 9.12 – 16, ESV)

Why is the land ruined? Because “they have forsaken my law…”

Then this well-known verse:

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9.23, 24, ESV)

It is no secret what God delights in: “steadfast love, justice, and righteousness.” That’s why Micah could say,

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

“He has told you…”

And it’s never been about mere ritual:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert…for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” (Jeremiah 9.25, 26, ESV)

The nations are uncircumcised , BUT Israel is uncircumcised, too. Uncircumcised in heart.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2.28, 29, ESV)

I took June to a Christian bookstore the other day. It’s one I hadn’t known about, and if you looked at it from the outside, you wouldn’t expect much:

Turns out looks can be deceiving; it’s deeper than it is wide, chock full of books and A LOT of Christian art, which is what June was looking for. We want more reminders of Jesus as we walk around our house.

This isn’t Jesus, but I was captivated by this reproduction of a painting by Guido Reni, 1635. The original is in Rome, and it’s 9 1/2 feet x 6 1/2 feet!

The Archangel Michael Defeating Satan

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated,and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. (Revelation 12.7 – 10, ESV)

The accuser of our brothers has been thrown down. And not only did Michael, the Archangel defeat Satan, we defeat Satan, also:

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Revelation 12.11, ESV)

And so did Jesus:

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2.15, NIV)

Several weeks ago I passed on something a friend posted:

Ugly action beats unfinished perfection.

Soon after I scheduled that blog, I read the same thing, written in another way by Sahil Bloom and posted on March 25. It was #4 on his Deathbed Regret List.

4. Not having the courage to take the leap. Nobody tells you this: Talent and intelligence are overrated. Intelligent people are more likely to overthink, overplan, and overanalyze. They hide behind motion that doesn’t create progress. They fear the judgment of others if they’re proven wrong. The truth is that talent and intelligence are abundant. Courage is not. The people you admire are the ones who had the courage to act. They aren’t more talented than you. They aren’t smarter than you. They just took action when you didn’t. I often wonder how many extraordinary people wasted their entire lives waiting for permission that never came. Permission isn’t granted. It’s taken. You get to tap yourself in whenever you want. You can just do things. I will give myself permission to do the thing. – Sahil Bloom, March 25, 2026

It’s the same message. And I try to pay attention when I get the same message twice.

I also wrote on March 19 that I was looking for “What’s Next?” When I read Sahil Bloom’s March 25 post, I wrote in my journal:

#4 is on taking action, same message as “Ugly Action.” I wrote on Isaiah 54, what’s next for me? I don’t know yet, but I need to get on it. But I DON’T need to get on it. What I need to do is listen for God to tell me what the “next thing” is.

The next day after I wrote this, I got an invitation from a friend to join him in a $97 seminar in how to write my memoir. I had to make a decision THAT DAY. So I took that as my word from God for the next project. I “took action” and “gave myself permission” and enrolled. I’ve started to compile notes per instructions.

Why a memoir? The friend, a VERY godly man asked the same question. He wrote:

A few years ago, I was impressed to write my memoirs. I was reluctant to follow through for two reasons: writing is hard work, and it seemed egotistical. The impression persisted, so I asked the Lord for a good reason. He persuaded with the following:

“For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone”  2 Peter 1:14-15 (NLT).

“You shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years … (Deut 8:2, ESV).

Psalm 145:4, 12: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts…. to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds.”

Psalm 44:1, “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old …”

Following his lead…and God’s, it seems like a worthy project. You blog readers have the right to challenge me from time to time to stay on task. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m seeing in Jeremiah 7 an answer to the Jewish lady’s question about which laws should we obey. I had quoted Deuteronomy 29.29 and something from Deuteronomy 30 in connection with contrasting “study” with action. She asked, which of the 613 commands should we obey, and how do Christians choose? My answer was to quote Rabbi Jesus’ greatest commandment and second greatest.

Now I’m looking at Jeremiah 7.

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. (Jeremiah 7.5 – 7, NIV)

I don’t think any prophet called the people into account for violating things like “don’t mix two types of cloth in a garment” or “don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” The prophets seem to focus on the Big 2. “Deal with each other justly…do not oppress the foreigner…do not shed innocent blood…do not follow other gods….

Jesus said as much:

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthew 22.40, NIV)

Psalms 15 and 24 focus on these kinds of behaviors as well. Micah 6.8 sums it up:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

A devout Jewish lady stumbled into my blog a few weeks ago and asked what “fire hail” was from an infographic I had posted about the 10 Plagues of Egypt. I answered her:

You’re looking at the picture which summarizes the 10 plagues, and for the one I usually think of as “Hail,” it says, “Fire Hail.” I don’t think it means “fire hail” but fire AND hail. And that’s in EVERY translation of Exodus 9.23, 24, including the Complete Jewish Bible and the Orthodox Jewish Bible.

Here’s the text:

Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. (Exodus 9.23, 24, ESV)

This wasn’t enough for the lady, who insisted that “hail” is mentioned many more times than in these two verses which say “fire and hail.” I asked her why she considered this important, that a summary of the plagues said “fire and hail” instead of just “hail.” She went on and on about words (always quoting in Hebrew, of course) and relative frequency, etc., etc.

Seeing her as one of many folks I know who enjoy “discussing” the text, I pointed out that God was more interested in our obeying the text than discussing the text. For example,

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29.29, ESV)

In a subsequent email she challenged me with this question:

I find it very interesting when Christians pick and choose which laws they must obey. According to the rabbis there are 613 commandments in the Torah that we must obey.  The words you quote below are very general… It’s fine if you interpret them as “we must obey”- but what is it that we must obey?  Women must not wear pants? No one may eat cheeseburgers? No working on Saturdays? No humans are to be worshipped as gods?

A good question, and here is my immediate and brief response:

A good set of questions, beyond the scope of a short email! But in the verses I quoted, I was thinking of the general principle that God’s word is meant to be obeyed (acted on, followed, etc.) more than just “studied.” When Rabbi Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important, he cited the Shema from Deuteronomy 6.4, 5. Followed by “Love your neighbor as yourself” from Leviticus 19.18. Admittedly, none of us does either one of those perfectly, but I think we can agree that life would go better for all of us if we aimed in that direction.

I’ve since thought of a better answer…from Jeremiah. I’ll share it tomorrow. In the meantime, as I quoted yesterday:

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.26, 27, MSG)

I’m in Jeremiah 6, encountering a verse I first heard preached at the baccalaureate service for an Air Force Academy cadet we sponsored. The chaplain quoted:

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. ” (Jeremiah 6.16, NIV)

It’s a good word, but, unfortunately, the verse continues:

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” (Jeremiah 6.16, 17, NIV)

Where is the good way? The ancient paths. And it’s not enough to know where the ancient paths are, we must walk in them.

Likewise, the trumpet sounds. People can’t help but hear a trumpet, but we must choose to pay attention.

What happens if we don’t? Jeremiah is clear:

Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. (Jeremiah 6.19, ESV)

Back to Romans 1…

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1.29 – 32, ESV, emphasis mine)

…and James…

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

…and Jesus:

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.26, 27, MSG)