Safe Space and the Gospel

The phrase “safe space” has multiple definitions. When used to describe campus life and culture, it usually means protection from emotional discomfort, according to a recent article in Harvard Political Review.

A poll conducted from May 5 to May 11, 2017 through the polling company Whatsgoodly, revealed that thirty-six percent of college students feel safe spaces are “absolutely necessary.” Between November 8. 2016 and January 21, 2017 we were inundated with a landslide of responses from people who opposed Donald Trump being President of the United States. We heard about everything ranging from pacifiers to Play Dough to guest speaker events being cancelled. 

I am wondering whether this "safe space" mentality is creeping into the church. Maybe it's my old age creeping up on me, but it seems like the character of God, and thus the gospel, is changing with the goal of presenting the church as a "safe space." While God is kind, good, loving, and merciful in dimensions we cannot yet fathom, He is also vengeful, wrathful, hateful, and judgmental. None of these characteristics are out of balance and this is what makes God holy and full of glory. The word "glory" implies weight and when perceived - just a little bit - it will drive us to our knees. A partial verse in James that we love to quote is "Mercy triumphs over judgment." The full verse is "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment."     James 2:13 

My desire is to keep this blog to a readable length, while still making a point. God's love for us is not the equivalent of a 16 year old who is obsessed with the lead cheerleader. God's love for us is described adequately in these three Scripture verses:

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" 1 Chronicles 16:34

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."    John 3:16

"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."    Romans 5:8


And while He does draw us unto Himself by His Spirit, there is an aspect of His nature that is a bit elusive; so we are urged to seek Him. 
"Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you."    2 Chronicles 15:2

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart,"    Jeremiah 29:12-13


And to those who do seek God and respond in faith to His grace, here is a sampling of the warnings which sound like anything but a "safe place."

"And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."    Luke 9:23

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."    Luke 14:26

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,"    2 Timothy 3:12

 "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps."    1 Peter 2:21 


This short blog does not profess to spell out the whole truth, but to counter some of the "safe space" mentality that seems to have corrupted the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to be soldiers, engaged in a spiritual battle in a world filled with tribulation. Bit fear not, Jesus (our Commander-in-Chief) has overcome the world. (John 16:33)

World News Through the Third Lens: Birth Pains

Birth pains, with respect to child birth are something I have never experienced. I am told, by reliable sources, that they usually begin in relatively mild fashion and then increase in intensity as the birth draws ever closer. Likewise, the pains begin spaced quite far apart and increase in frequency as the baby's arrival approaches. When I was training to be an EMT, we were taught that when dealing with pain, one of the things we should ask the patient to do was rate their pain on a scale of 1 - 10 with 1 being very mild and 10 being the worst they had ever experienced. One of the students in the class, a mother of 3 piped up and said, "For female patients, they should add an 11th class - birth pains just prior to delivery.


In the picture above, birth pains are not necessarily being illustrated, but we can see the foot print of the little one pressing hard against its mother's stomach. At the very least, it's a picture of discomfort, and a sign that birth is not far off. I cannot say with certainty whether the world has now entered the birth pains stage of history, just prior to the return of Christ, or whether we are just in an ever-increasing state of discomfort. One thing is for certain, both the intensity and the frequency of troubling events is increasing.


I am far from being the most learned or informed person on the planet concerning the end-times and how current events fit into the prophesied scheme of things. I do know that many who claim to be experts, and who enjoy large spheres of influence are constantly getting it wrong. The errors range from naming the Antichrist to picking the date of the Rapture; from proclaiming an imminent (anytime, signless) Rapture, to preaching a feel-good Gospel with no mention of the prospect of suffering. And so they come, in Christ's Name, and deceive many with messages that appeal to the flesh.


In Matthew 24:3 Jesus' disciples asked Him three questions: 1) When will this happen (temple destroyed)? 2) What will be the sign of your coming? 3) What will be the sign of the end of the age?Jesus' first response was, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name claiming, 'I am the Christ' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of birth pains." (Matthew 24:4-8)


The "I am the Christ" deception is not speaking just of those who claim to be the Christ, but also of those who claim to speak for him. So little is being done these days to prepare the saints for the return of Christ. The Bible makes it clear that the saints will have to endure all the way through and up to the sixth seal of Revelation 6. That means that the false Christs, the false peace-maker who initiates a 7-year covenant with Israel, wars and rumors of war, famines and earthquakes, the breaking of the 7-year covenant and the persecution of both godly Jews and Christians that follows will all have to be endured. Thus, the Bible does not fit with a "Your Best Life Now" philosophy or any variation thereof. The Bible declares "...everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Timothy 3:12-13)


Jesus was asked to give signs of His coming. Jesus gave signs of His coming. The last sign, immediately preceding the return of Christ (the event which will cut short those days of terrible tribulation for the sake of the elect - Matthew 24:22) is the darkening and shaking of the heavenly bodies and the coming of the Son of Man visibly, as lightning from east to west (Matthew 24:27 - 30). And what happens at this coming? The angels are sent to gather the elect with a loud trumpet call (Matthew 24:31). This is the Resurrection/Rapture, right down to the trumpet call (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).


When Jesus was in the midst of listing all the things that would take place prior to His coming and the end of the age, He declared, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm (endures) to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12-13). It is from this verse 13 that Encouragement for End-Times Endurance was birthed as a ministry. The only way to prepare people to endure is to speak a challenging message about the necessity to gird up our minds with a "boot-camp" mentality. Some teachers and preachers have said, with an air of righteousness, "I'm not looking for the Antichrist, I'm looking for Christ." That sounds so nice, but it disregards the fact that right in the middle of the signs that PRECEDE His coming, Jesus speaks of the revelation of the Antichrist, and his persecution which begins in Jerusalem and spreads throughout the world (Matthew 24:15 - 21; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10; Revelation 13:7-8).


Contrary to other installments of this blog, there is no mention of a particular news item, followed by a Scriptural commentary. They are coming so fast and furious these days: Arab Spring Wars, Syrian oppression, Iran's nukes, economic chaos in Europe, floods in the Philippines, earthquakes in Turkey, famine in South Africa..........Rather than comment on any one, I would like to point out something I believe the Lord gave me. I say that, not to suggest that I am someone special, but to say that I have never read or heard this from any man. The signs which Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 would have meant little to people living 150 years ago, much less 1800 years ago. In fact, you and I are living in what has been dubbed "The Information Age." We are living at a time when virtually anything happening on the planet can be seen by anyone else on the planet. We are living in an age when the signs are more significant than ever, for they are signs for all people, signs that can be measured and counted, just just like birth pains.


"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:19-25)

World News Through the Third Lens: Public Prayer

Christian Leader to Plead "Not Guilty" at Arraignment after being arrested for praying on a public sidewalk outside of a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Washington, D.C. (www.christiannewswire.com June 29, 2010). The article goes on to say that Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of Christian Defense Coalition, was charged with "unlawful entry" as he was praying and reading his Bible on a public sidewalk, several dozen feet from a Planned Parenthood Clinic in the nation's Capital. Rev. Mahoney stated, "This marks the first time in the history of our nation's capital that prayer and First Amendment activities have been prohibited and banned on the public sidewalk. Sadly the city of Washington, D.C. has chosen to protect the abortion industry and Planned Parenthood rather than the First Amendment. These actions should send shock waves to all Americans who cherish free speech and civil liberties."

Rev. Mahoney has pleaded, "Not Guilty!" to the charges and will be represented by the American Center for Law and Justice." He further stated, "As I plead not guilty to these outrageous ad baseless charges, I am affirming the power of the First Amendment and free speech and joining a long, proud tradition of Americans who refused to keep silent and go quietly into the night and surrender their God-given rights and liberties."

Rev. Mahoney can be contacted at (540)-538-4741 for more information.

Through the Third Lens of Scripture: This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that a Christian gets in trouble for praying publicly. In Daniel 6, as King Darius was about to place Daniel in charge of all 120 of his governors, the governors got jealous and wanted to see Daniel convicted of some sort code of conduct violation. They concluded. "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." (Daniel 6:5) So the governors went to the king and hoodwinked him. Appealing to his pride and vanity, they convinced him to make a decree that for 30 days, no one in the kingdom could pray to any god or man except the king. The penalty for violating the decree would be an overnight stay in the Hungry Lion Motel. Their motive is revealed five verses later.

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows faced toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before." (Daniel 6:10) Daniel got to stay at the Hungry Lion Motel, but the power of God that attended him made the lions a whole lot more sleepy and content, than hungry. The attack against Daniel was at its roots an attack against the God Whom he worshipped. It is no different with Rev. Mahoney.

This explains why, in our Nation's Capital, a city filled with public prayer, Rev. Mahoney was arrested. Sessions of Congress open with prayer; sessions of the Supreme Court open with prayer; and references to the Bible, Almighty God and prayer are inscribed in granite all over the city. But that's old stuff. It's OK - it's part of the pluralism which is running rampant in the land. This year - 2010 - Tony Perkins was disinvited to pray at Andrews Air Force Base; Franklin Graham was disinvited to pray at the Pentagon; and there was no National Day of Prayer observance at the White House. More and more it is becoming clear that to allow public prayer to the One True God is to acknowledge that He may in fact exist, and if He exists, then we might just be accountable to Him........And that is unthinkable in these days of secular humanism, socialism, Marxism and all the other "isms" which are an affront to Holy God.

My encouragement to the body of Christ is to pray all the more. Yes, pray in your prayer closet, for we are admonished to do so (Matthew 6: 5-15). The real point here was not so much to pray in a closed room where no one could see you, but to not pray so as to curry favor and admiration from men. So go ahead, pray in public also. Pray corporately; don't just be "led" by a celebrity prayer. Pray with and for others - even your enemies (Matthew 5:44). Let your light shine; individually like a candle set upon a stand and corporately like a city set upon a hill (Matthew 5:13-15). How much better, as a follower of Christ, to be arrested for Patrick Mahoney type behavior than for running a red light or neglecting our kids. (1 Peter 2:20).

Practical Application: Coming this fall (Sept. 22 - Oct. 31) to a city near you is a 40 Days for Life event. Get involved.