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If I Were the Devil…

In one of our community newspapers recently, someone published Paul Harvey’s essay from 1965: If I Were the Devil. Paul was remarkably prescient…

I present the essay in its entirety. Again, Paul Harvey, 1965:

If I were the Devil . . . I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would of course, want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, so I should set about however necessary to take over the United States. I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” “Do as you please.” To the young, I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.” I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is “square”. In the ears of the young marrieds, I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington” . . .

If I were the devil, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting. I’d threaten T.V. with dirtier movies and vice versa. And then, if I were the devil, I’d get organized. I’d infiltrate unions and urge more loafing and less work, because idle hands usually work for me. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. And I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine yound intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild. I would designate an athiest to front for me before the highest courts in the land and I would get preachers to say “she’s right.” With flattery and promises of power, I could get the courts to rule what I construe as against God and in favor of pornography, and thus, I would evict God from the courthouse, and then from the school house, and then from the houses of Congress and then, in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and I would deify science because that way men would become smart enough to create super weapons but not wise enough to control them.

If I were Satan, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg, and the symbol of Christmas, a bottle. If I were the devil, I would take from those who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps. In other words, if I were Satan, I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing.

Paul Harvey. Good day!

(Speech was broadcast by ABC Radio commentator Paul Harvey on April 3, 1965)

PS The essay was updated in 1996, as reported in the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph.

The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy… – Jesus, John 10.10

I Will Not Be Afraid

“Fear not” is a common command in the Bible although it does NOT occur 365 times as some allege. Sounds good: “One for each day in the year,” but someone made that up. (Isn’t that called lying?) Anyway, it’s a common theme that if we trust God, we need not be afraid.

It’s the theme of Psalm 56 where once again, David is in a tight spot:

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David When the Philistines Captured Him in Gath. (Psalm 56, Introduction, NKJV)

And, as always, David resorts to prayer:

Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. (Psalm 56.1, 2, NKJV)

And then the theme. What to do when we’re in a tight spot and afraid?

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56.3 – 4, NKJV)

A good word. “I will not fear.” I wrote about that from Psalm 46 recently.

It repeats…don’t miss it!

…This I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56.9 – 11, NKJV)

Can life be lived that way? YES! It’s worthwhile to review what I quoted from the Russian democracy advocate Alexei Navalny:

Are you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is there left for you to worry about? 

Fly Away?

I’ve always loved Psalm 55 even though the subject is unpleasant: Persecution from one’s “friends.”

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, And walked to the house of God in the throng. (Psalm 55.12 – 14, NKJV)

It’s the proposed solution that always grabs my attention. Have you ever felt like this?

So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off, And remain in the wilderness. Selah  (Psalm 55.6, 7, NKJV)

But the real solution is, as always, prayer:

As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me. God will hear, and afflict them, Even He who abides from of old.

Selah (Psalm 55.16 – 19, NKJV)

And there’s a solution, one I memorized decades ago along with verse 6:

Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55.22, NKJV)

Lessons from the New Pope

There’s a new Pope, as I wrote last week. He goes by Leo although I think of him as “Pope Bob” since we share the same first name as well as a common interest in mathematics! (He was born Robert “Bob” Prevost in Chicago and has a BS in mathematics from Villanova.)

I prefer not to set up an adversarial relationship with either Roman Catholics or their Pope. He’s shared some powerful truth already, applicable to us all. Here’s a sample:

  • We are often preoccupied with teaching doctrine. We risk forgetting that our first task is to teach what it means to know Jesus Christ and to bear witness to our closeness to the Lord. This comes first: to communicate the beauty of the faith, the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus. It means that we ourselves are living it and sharing this experience. (Christianity Today, May 9, 2025)
  • It is the holiness of the church’s members, not its grand chapels and monuments, that sheds this light on the world by declaring the Lord’s wonderful deeds. (World Magazine, May 9, 2025)
  • There are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure. They are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. (Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2025)
  • Christians must bear witness to Christ in the world God entrusted to us. One needs a personal relationship and daily conversation with the Lord to do this. (World Magazine, May 9, 2025)

You are the light of the world… (Matthew 5.14, ESV)

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…that I may know him… (Philippians 3.8, 10, ESV)

O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice… (Psalm 5.3, ESV)

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20.7, ESV)

If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence… (Job 31.24, ESV)

A Lesson from the Introductions

As we began to read the Psalms, I reminded us not to miss the inspired introductions, which are actually part of the text. There’s a lesson to be learned from the successive introductions in Psalms 51 and 52.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51.0 – 2, NKJV)

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David When Doeg the Edomite Went and Told Saul, and Said to Him, “David Has Gone to the House of Ahimelech.”

Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah (Psalm 52.0 -3, NKJV)

A simple lesson:

David prays or “contemplates” in every circumstance.

In Psalm 51, David is confronted with his sin, and his response is to pray – confess. In Psalm 52, David is betrayed by Doeg the Edomite, and his response is to pray and contemplate the existence of evil in men.

…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… (Ephesians 6.18, NKJV)

God Uses Any of Us

Psalm 51 is the classic passage on David’s confession after being confronted by Nathan. The inspired introduction is clear:

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba. (Psalm 51, introduction, NKJV)

The psalm is worth the read in its entirety, of course, and I encourage you do so: Psalm 51. I want to focus on what I’ve come to believe is an often misunderstood text:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51.5, NKJV)

The verse is most often thought of as a confirmation of Biblical teaching on original sin:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5.12, NKJV)

But it’s possible, perhaps even more likely, that David is speaking of being a product of an adulterous relationship:

Pastor Ed Rowell presented evidence in a sermon back in 2013 that King David was likely the product of an affair. That would explain why his brothers didn’t like him and why he was relegated to tending sheep (a low-status position). Look it up: David had two sisters, Abigail and Zeruiah (1 Chronicles 2.13 – 17), whose father was Nahash (2 Samuel 17.25, 26). Ed believes that Jesse had an affair with Nahash’s wife, producing David. Later, Jesse must have married her, and she brought her two daughters into the mix. (You can’t make this stuff up!)

Ed believed that we wrongly tend to spiritualize Psalm 51.5. “Sure, we’re all born in sin, ever since the Fall.” But the language is plain, and David is saying something about himself.

And he’s saying something very important: it doesn’t matter what our background is. God can and does use any of us. For that, we can be thankful.

I first wrote about this back on May 11, 2020. I am the product of an out of wedlock relationship. My mother was a 40-year-old unmarried Army nurse, who gave me up for adoption. My pastor friend, Bob Kaylor, now serving a church in Pennsylvania, also adopted, was the product of an adulterous relationship between two officers, not in the US army, but in the Salvation Army!

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead… (Philippians 3.13, ESV)

So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him. (Romans 8.28, 29, Passion Translation)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day! Your work is important…

Household management:

She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates. (Proverbs 31.27 – 31, NKJV)

Teaching:

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2.3 – 5, ESV)

Raising the next generation of Christian leaders. Paul wrote to Timothy:

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1.5 – 7, ESV)

Thank you!

PS The high view of women and mothers, as presented in the Bible, is not universally held. I just finished a novel by the late Michael Crichton, The Great Train Robbery, inspired by events in Victorian England in the 1850s. The book gives us glimpses into London society, where, as the teaser for the book starts:

London, 1855, when lavish wealth and appalling poverty exist side by side…

Another theme is the station of women at that time. They were considered to be emotional creatures with no intellect put on earth solely to serve men. Michael Crichton points out the absurdity of that position:

The belief in a biologically determined personality in both men and women was accepted to some extent by nearly everyone at all levels of Victorian society, and that belief was held in the face of all sorts of incongruities. A businessman could go off to work each day, leaving his “unreasoning” wife to run an enormous household, a businesslike task of formidable proportions; yet the husband never viewed his wife’s activities in that way. (Page 323)

Again, thank all you mothers for your work. It’s important AND difficult!

Using Wealth for Good

Psalm 49 warns us about not trusting in wealth, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t wealthy people who are also generous. Job comes to mind! (Please see the blog on Job 31.)

Last Saturday, the Denver Nuggets basketball team played the Los Angeles Clippers in Denver in a winner-take-all game 7. (Nuggets won handily and have advanced to the next round.)

That’s not what this blog is about. It’s about Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft and owner of the Clippers. Here’s the headline and sub headline from a surprising Denver Post article:

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer flies 125 L.A. fans to build ‘The Wall’ at Ball Arena

Before crucial Saturday Game 7, Nuggets met with a shock: 125 Clippers fans, sitting behind baseline, flown out on a charter by owner Steve Ballmer

The article starts:

On Friday, Los Angeles season-ticket holders David Evans and Paul Boulos — and 123 other bastions of “The Wall,” the Intuit Dome’s famed baseline section that specializes in free-throw distraction — had an email pop into their inbox from the Clippers. It stated, as they recounted roughly, that owner Steve Ballmer had selected them to fly out to Denver to invade enemy turf for Game 7.

Ballmer, they said, chartered a bus. Chartered a plane. Paid for 125 tickets. And so 125 Los Angeles agents met for a secret mission Saturday at the West Garage of the Intuit Dome, fan Mason Cook said and headed for LAX, where a jet awaited to bring a special dash of L.A. mania to Denver on Saturday.

Amazing. One of the recipients observed:

That’s unheard of, first off, for an owner of an NBA team to even recognize his fans like this. Second, who do you call to say, “I want 125 tickets, a charter plane, and three charter buses to get these people to the arena?

“I’ll tell you who,” Boulos interjected, standing beside him. “Steve Ballmer does it. ‘Cause ain’t nobody else in the world can do that.”

There aren’t many who could have done that. In the secondary market, tickets in that section for Game 3 of the upcoming series with Oklahoma are going for around $250 (Game 7 would be much higher). But 125 tickets at $250 each would come to more than $30,000. Plus three charter buses, plus a plane.

I’m impressed.

Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. (Psalm 112.3 – 5, NIV1984)

Wealth?

There aren’t many passages that point to the futility of making wealth a life goal any better than Psalm 49…

Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, Both low and high, Rich and poor together…Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him… (Psalm 49.1, 2, 5 – 7, NKJV)

The message is for everyone, how and high, rich and poor. What message?

For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49.10 – 12, NKJV)

Didn’t get it the first time? The psalm closes…

Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light. A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49.16 – 20, NKJV)

That Didn’t Take Long…

I had just gotten off the phone with a friend, encouraging him to watch Conclave, when I checked email and there was a news update:

News Alert: White smoke signals a new pope elected  
White smoke has risen above the Sistine Chapel, the signal that cardinals have chosen a new pope on the second day of the conclave. His identity, and the name he will take as pontiff, will be revealed soon.

I turned on the TV and for the first time in my life saw the first appearance of a newly elected pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost, born in Chicago, the first American pope in history.

I immediately went to one of the articles I had saved of who the ten most likely cardinals to be selected were, and he is on that list at #6, a “dark horse.” ABC had Father James Martin, SJ, a well-published author, some of whose books we have read. Father Martin said over and over things like:

…humble, soft-spoken, but firm, forthright, kind

Not bad characteristics for a spiritual leader!

I like that he is a math major, same as I am!

Robert Prevost was born in Chicago in on September 14, 1955. He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary of the Order of St. Augustine in 1973. Prevost earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Villanova University in 1977.Wikipedia

He served as a missionary in Peru.

A Roman Catholic friend of mine wrote:

Jesus is the head of the Catholic Church, not the pope. He’s the vicar, but I put my trust in Jesus first.

Amen. May he serve well.

And [Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (Colossians 1.17, 18, ESV)