Upward Thought

If Roe v. Wade is reversed, the legality of abortion would be returned to the states. This would shift accountability from the entire United States--which contains at least some somewhat righteous people--to  a subset of individual states. These states, due to their ideological opposition to God's law, human conscience, and common sense, harbor far fewer people of even some degree of righteousness.  As a reminder, where you live matters. I recall some years ago, after speaking with a business associate in a certain far-left city, and being impressed that he had enough sense that prescribed outcomes on his city ought to be delayed, I prayed to God to intercede for that city. The Lord reviewed with me every obvious sign of iniquity there, and every glaringly wrong ideology there, and asked me what more could be done for such a place. I had no counterargument, notwithstanding my previous opinion of my associate. Disciples of Christ do not operate out of fear. You should not decide whe

Our societal memory suggests that the safest path is to follow the crowd. In the past, you could do well by doing what everyone around you did. In fact, you could argue that a stable society required it. Can you enumerate cases where following the crowd today would result in severe negative consequences? There are many! Our societal memory suggests that the safest path is to follow the "experts." In the past, you could do well in life relying on the “experts.” In fact, you could argue that a stable society required it. Can you enumerate cases where following the "experts" today would result in severe negative consequences? There are many! What is going on? God has been abundantly gracious in tolerating all kinds of nonsense. For various reasons, the time for tolerance has come to an end.  Part of the great and marvelous work he is undertaking in bringing this creation to a close is to allow the consequences of human choice to flow. For a long time, he has held them

(Originally published 8/15/21) As humans, we have a strong tendency to project the present to the future. We also have a strong tendency to rewrite history in our minds to project the present back to the past.  Each tendency harms us in different ways. The tendency to project the present into the future entices us to avoid doing what we would do if the future were presently upon us.  The tendency to project the present into the past blinds our eyes to signs that were given that predicted the future. A model that correctly predicts the future, especially on the things that seem most unlikely, is more likely to be correct for as-yet future events.  Because all things operate on laws of cause and effect, future predictions based on a model of cause and effect that prove to be correct suggest a model of cause and effect that accords with reality--with truth, with things as they really are.  Most Christians today believe that God has no need of miracles, that he has done his work, and so on

Some--if not all--churches preach a supremacy of the family unit. For some reason, they teach that one's spiritual relationship with God is a function of one's relationship with family members. The scriptures teach quite the opposite. One's standing with God is a function of what degree of heed and diligence one exercises in seeking and living his light. While that light can and does come through family members, it almost never comes from parents to offspring, it is almost never shared between spouses, and it is almost never received by parents or siblings from children. Familial relations start with a tremendous advantage. Unfortunately, the challenge of overcoming the tendency to ignore bold signs of greater light often proves too much. Jesus said: "And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household." (Matthew 10:36) He also said: "The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter

How do you determine what is right, when all options are on the table? The question is always: what benefits the most? Often, what benefits the most is not trivial to calculate. Without other information, that which you least want to do is usually what you ought to do. But not always. Benefit must be measured in more than normal terms. It isn't just about the greatest quantity of benefit. Sometimes, the worth of something is in its rarity.  For example, suppose you are evaluating whether to keep associating with a group of people: your church, your friends, your family, etc. Maybe it isn't the the quantity of teachings God is sending from you to them that are of the most worth. Maybe it is the fact that you are the only one willing to suffer what is required to endure to get it to them. Maybe your willingness to suffer beyond what others would is producing fruit in this individual that could be had in no other way. No matter how infinitesimally small or glacially slow, the rari

Recently, we were all shown in plainness how quickly government officials can impose absurd and arbitrary requirements on society with stiff penalties. Did you notice? Do you care? What are you doing about it? As the world marches further from the truth, realize that the foolishness of others will have drastic implications on your daily life. You are on a sinking ship. While the ship is guaranteed to sink, that outcome does not dictate your outcome. Rather, the sinking ship just provides constraints to which you can react in order to determine your outcome.  If you were on a sinking ship, you would probably try to make your way to the lifeboats and launch before the rest of the ship realized the need to do so. You probably would try to avoid being in direct command of the captain, whose foolishness caused the ship to sink in the first place. You would probably want to distance yourself as much as possible from him and his crew, the latter of which did nothing to help their commander ma

For many years, I asked Jesus why he said nothing when interrogated by Herod. Here was a man who had done many things more wicked than the numerous people Jesus had confronted face-to-face, things which included killing Jesus' friend and cousin John the Baptist. He clearly had an opinion of the man, publicly calling him a fox (this was a vulgar insult in that time). And yet, when he gained an audience with Herod, he said nothing. Around last October, I lost my job as a university professor for unjust reasons in a highly public ordeal lasting a week or two or three (I honestly don't remember). As this was happening, the Lord answered my prayer about Herod. He told me that certain points require certain amounts of time and certain circumstances in which to explain the truth. Where adequate reasons cannot be given, providing less would only give the opposition an excuse to believe they are justified. I understood. I then asked him what I could do to help you all. After all, you ha

In an honest person, temptation only exists because of lack of knowledge.  All knowledge comes through faith. While it is true that those who have faith to obey will find sufficient reasons to believe, one thing that doesn’t seem to be clearly expressed is that the nature of the knowledge that comes is hardly ever how we expect it to be. What is gained is not typically the awareness of something better than the sin as much as some terrible truth about the sin itself.  God provides that, in every decision we face, and tailored to our level of individual understanding, we always have the ability to find out what is right. He does not promise—and rarely provides—an accurate grasp of the magnitude by which something is right or wrong. That tends to come only with experience. Often, the most hidden magnitude of consequences for each option in a decision point is not in the positive, but the negative. The negative consequences of decisions are often the most hidden. Knowing the full scope of

 I have often mentioned how the end times judgments will be poured out in waves, in such a way that: -They will seem to ebb and flow, but there will be an obvious increase in frequency and intensity over time. -In the moment of each outpouring, the people affected will be filled with fear and horror, but people will grow accustomed to the outcome, and only a few will respond by drawing closer to truth and to God. As I carry out my business this morning (5/3/2022), the Lord told me to write a post and say: The end times judgments consist of military war, interpersonal violence, natural disasters, disease, and famine. You are only in the beginning of the beginning. You have had a taste of these things, but not all. You will see the occurrence of these things breaking out of historic norms in frequency, intensity, and location. There are divine purposes in all things, including these. As they happen, maintain your honesty. After they happen, many people will say things such as "we kn

When Saul grew increasingly uneasy about God's silence towards him, he tried to force the issue by visiting the witch of Endor to obtain a visit from the deceased prophet Samuel. Saul knew that visiting a witch was contrary to God's commandments, and the witch knew it, too. She asked him to promise to spare her life, since he had decreed that all caught witches would be killed. When Samuel appeared to Saul, Saul bowed himself in reverence. Let us appreciate how ridiculous this was. Saul's reverence to Samuel was due to his knowledge that Samuel was a servant of God. He bowed to him in the midst of a chain of knowingly disobedient acts: he already knew what God wasn't speaking to him, as he had plainly been told the ways in which he was disobeying God. For example, he knew God had proclaimed that David would be king and had not only actively fought this outcome, but tried to kill David repeatedly. He knew that witchcraft was contrary to God's law, yet here he was vis

Anyone can say anything about anyone. What can be done about it, no matter how untrue it may be?  What would it take to get to the truth of the matter, and what would it matter? Would you turn to the courts? Do you not realize that the justice of the legal system requires many things which cannot be guaranteed in our day? For example, honesty in the accuser, critical thinking and impartiality in the jurors and judge, and, unfortunately, money? In some cases, extensive video records of the situation and teams of lawyers can overcome the limits of the system and expose the truth. But how often is this the case? If you aren't Kyle Rittenhouse or Johnny Depp, can you hope to vindicate your name through legal means? Take comfort in the fact that there will come a day when all things are revealed.  10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner

Before the world was, God made a plan whereby all things pertaining to creation would be revealed during creation. As part of this plan, all truth was partitioned precisely for times and places, until, in the end, all truth was broadcast at all levels to all people. As part of this plan, certain truths were assigned to certain people, whose mission would include coming here (either as a mortal or an angel, and sometimes as both) to reveal (and, sometimes, to first obtain) these things. That being said, there is a quantity of information appointed to all men, and this quantity so far exceeds what is commonly held that you would have to range far and wide to find anyone who holds it. Allow me to employ an analogy: All people have a genetic limit for how large their muscles can grow. If you range far and wide, you can find a person who has exerted the research, honesty, and discipline to grow their muscles to their genetic limit. It will be very odd to find someone who spends that much ti