The disciples did not understand the scriptures and did not expect the resurrection, and yet we have the hope of the resurrection.

Now — more than ever — our hurting and confused culture is a raging battleground between the very real forces of good and evil and light and darkness. America is at a crisis point, yet the Body of Christ is still asleep in many places and non-existent in our communities where our light must shine.

The resurrection gives purpose and value to our labor. All our efforts to alleviate suffering, show compassion, advance justice, combat corruption, educate for virtue, and create opportunity are never in vain. Never. Why? Because Jesus Christ has risen. He lives and reigns, and in due time he will make the world over.

As Aaron, Moses’ brother, placed his hands on the goat’s head he had confessed “over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. . . The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert” (Leviticus 16: 21-22).

This goat would carry the sins of the people to a lonely and forbidding place.

It seems that being a woman isn’t what it used to be. Nor being a man.

Seeds, though tiny, were central to the outcome of the entire gardening enterprise. I’d watch Dad as he’d take a seed or two, carefully opening the moist, cool, cultivated soil—cultivation was essential—and inserting the seed into the soft dirt and gently covering it up. Then pressing it down.

Seeds contain the mysteries—and the success or failure—of growth, the outcome of the harvest, and the enjoyment of the bounty. They had to be planted in the right manner in the right soil.

The year was 1986. The boy, raised in church, knew God and knew how to pray just as Jesus taught his disciples in Luke 18:1 – praying always and not giving up.

He was without recognition or honor. Or money. He painted more than 1,500 works of art in his lifetime. He sold one.

“One must go on working silently,” said the artist, “trusting the result to the future.”

Evil is manifested more clearly in politics than in many other professions or activities in our culture. The shades of grey seem to be darker. Ethics are twisted to produce the results that politicians desire

In our culture today, politics is seen by the Body of Christ as one of those yucky, muddy things that we don’t want to have anything to do with. Yet, whether we realize it or not, politics and government affect our lives more than anything else.

In a time when the Early Church was ridiculed for their belief that Jesus was the Messiah, a layman, not an apostle, took center stage as he bore the wrath of the religious crowd.

As Christians, when we start participating in the culture we discover some harsh realities. People are not always kind, and it is not easy to be a Christ-follower engaging within a hostile world.

Jesus taught that the first shall be last, the last shall be first, and whoever would be the greatest must be the servant of all (Matthew 19:30, Mark 10:43-44). This is an “upside-down kingdom.”

Without a prepared text he was at times inarticulate. His gift was not brilliance or wit as much as it was incorruptible character. He spoke simply, clearly, and from his heart about his journey to this time and place.

During the journeys described in Acts 17-20, Paul went from city to city and experienced rejection, abuse, false accusations, and threats of violence from those around him, because he consistently and faithfully presented the Gospel message.

Over this series of articles we will dig deeply into Scripture to learn what wisdom, love, and godly conduct look like. We’ll look at character, virtue, manners, and issues like Cancel Culture and Political Correctness.

Questions. Rumors. Charges. Confusion. Devotion and hate. Allegiance and plots. Criticism and fault-finding, mingled with loyalty and following. Awe and wonder, along with jealousy and cynicism. He was divisive. Not because he tried to be—God knows he was kind, humble, and gentle—but because of what he said, where he went, who he saw, and what he did. Most of all, because of who he said he was—and because what he claimed about himself—amazing and mysterious—was true.

If God has not given us a spirit of fear, why are so many in Church leadership in the United States fearful? Fearful of government, fearful of the media, fearful of the culture, fearful of public opinion, fearful of losing members – and with them donations.

God is our refuge. Our fortress. We trust in him to deliver us from the raging storms of life—whenever and however they come. Out in the world, the tempest surges with the dangers of the fowler’s snare—seeking to trap us into sin, despair, depression, and defeat.