It being 4th of July, I thought it appropriate to share what I think is one of the most important ways to take advantage of our freedoms—not just in this world but also in the spiritual realm.

Had coffee with a new friend who’s coming out of a parachurch world, and it’s a good reminder that what so many Christians call “serving” in the church setting isn’t always about God.

Today’s more of a story from my time at a church associated ministry, and how it really opened my eyes to the reality of the marketing behind many of the bigger churches. There’s a tension there, but it really is a simple choice. It’s just sad that in today’s institutional evangelical church, most choose the easy, worldly way instead of the faithful way of serving God.

This is a more off the cuff podcast, where I share my feelings about how Christians need to ABSOLUTELY be sure they believe what they profess to believe, and be completely sold out for God.

I’ll keep this short, but many Christians are asking whether they should get more involved in speaking up on cultural and political issues. Many feel guilty for not doing more, especially those with larger platforms as influencers.

It’s not easy to decide what you should do because God has given us freedom and our own personalities and character to have different impacts. I go over the two major positions that I believe are the foundation, and the good and bad of each. But, they both converge when crisis arrives, as I believe it may be in 2025. What do you think?

I know many get riled up when the CN, Christian Nationalism, term comes up. Christians can’t even agree on this. But, apart from agreement, I share what I believe is the right framework to view this, and how the City of God on the more conciliatory and less political engagement position would be the best fit for where we are as Christians in society today.

We may still be on the defense, but I sense a vibe shift ever since January of this year and even more since Charlie’s death.

We’ve seen many videos of people recommitting to their Christian faith, or are now finally getting off their butts and checking out church and Christianity. That’s all great, but as you head to, or head back to church, I share three traps to avoid or be careful of as you enter the church community.

I guess my initial thoughts about what the assassination of Charlie Kirk would stir up has been proven true. I think it’s due to two points: First, Charlie was pretty much you regular Joe Christian. His views were mainstream evangelical and reform. So for someone to murder him just for that leads to the logical conclusion—are we next? I asked my proggy nephew that, and he just continued his sneering and snide mocking. Sad.

Second, I believe Charlie lived out his beliefs fully on the world stage. So much so that it really is inspiring in the courage of his faith and cultural/political convictions that the reactions were what we’ve seen. I mean, wow. It’s blown my mind the effect his death is having, and may continue to have. His death was a martyrdom, though many won’t understand that, and that’s fine.

So, today’s post, and the transcript is available, asks the question that I’m sure many Christians are now wrestling with. And that is, how far and how convicted am I in my faith to live it out in the church or perhaps in the arena so politics and culture. I talk about five different viewpoints that Christians throughout the life of the Church have adopted in reconciling that passage in Mark: render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s. Hope this podcast helps you identify where you may be on the spectrum from Endurance to Engagement.

[Side note: I deleted all but two of my Substack posts a few years back because I felt I wasn’t doing it justice. But, I’m now back on Youtube, and crossposting here because I like Substack.]

Charlie wasn’t perfect, but as a Christian brother fighting in the arena of political, spiritual and cultural ideas, he was at least in the arena. I fear that our nation, like many others will be caught up in the turbulent times just as Martin Armstrong has been forecasting. However, I have a gut sense of optimism for the US, though it may be some hard times before we come through the other side. And yesterday was a sign of the hard times.

0:00 Intro

0:30 Charlie was a good guy

1:22 His family

1:58 What his death means

4:49 Can there be a silver lining of hope?

6:00 God's purpose

8:40 Charlie's race is run

11:57 Matthew 5

12:45 Closing thoughts