Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In his arrogance the evil man hunts down the weak.
From ambush he murders the innocent.

Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.

But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
The victim commits himself to you.
You are the helper of the fatherless. – Psalm 10 (excerpts)

This Thanksgiving, Give Thanks that You Live in America!

(NOTE: This Independence Day message from Milia Islam-Majeed, Executive Director of the South Coast Interfaith Council, is a wonderful word of Thanksgiving—very appropriate for Thanksgiving Day.
I share it with her permission. The picture dates back to 2008, when the SCIC recognized me for my efforts on behalf of religious liberty.)

“I pray that you had a joyous July 4th! This day of celebration holds such a special meaning to so many, including my family. My parents migrated to America over 30 years ago during the month of July to achieve the American dream. Indeed, it was this great nation that afforded them the opportunity to do so.

“Like so many first generation immigrants, they left their native land of Bangladesh to build a better and more prosperous future for their children – my brother and I. They wanted to ensure that we obtained the best possible education and, with it, serve the greater community. Starting their lives completely over, I witnessed the hardships that many immigrants face as my father – a decorated army colonel – worked to build his eyeglass business during the day only to go to McDonalds at night to work the graveyard shift while my mother – an aspiring zoologist in Bangladesh – worked in the shoe factory sewing soles on to children’s shoes so as to support our family.

“The years of hard work and sacrifice that my parents made – and the infinite blessings of God first and foremost – resulted in the privilege of my older brother becoming a physician and me being able to serve you as the Executive Director of this interfaith council that I love so deeply. This dream of my parents could not have actualized without the countless number of people who went from becoming strangers to friends and, ultimately, like family.

“Along this journey, we became citizens of this country and understood first hand the gift of having the right to vote and, by doing so, contributing to the story of America. To this day, we remain indebted to so many who came before us and fought for the freedoms that we continue to enjoy today.

“One thing I am continuously reminded of is something that my father told us after we took the oath to become American citizens. He stated, ‘Always remember that with this great privilege comes a great responsibility to be of service to this country and ensure others are given this same right. We are stronger when all people – no matter who they are or what they look like – are granted an opportunity to succeed.’

“Certainly no nation is perfect, but there’s no place else that I would rather live for this is home.”

With gratitude and in friendship,
Milia Islam-Majeed
South Coast Interfaith Council Executive Director

Inspired Thanksgiving

(Giving Thanks the “Bible Way”)

I urge that…thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.
– 1 Timothy 2:1-3 (thanks and prayers for those in authority over us)

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. – Romans 6:17

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
– 1 Corinthians 15:57 (the victory of resurrection to eternal life)

Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. – 1 Timothy 4:4 (thanks for what we chose to eat or drink)

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:13

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! – 2 Corinthians 9:15
(the gift of Jesus to us)

Religious Liberty Vigilance –

I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
– Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to Danbury Baptists (1802)

Breaking the Law and Corrupting the Gospel

(How Vice-President Kamala Harris causes churches to break the law)

For decades I have counseled and criticized churches over bringing partisan politics into their gatherings. In most cases these have been theologically conservative churches where most congregants are also politically conservative.

Christians who claim their spiritual message is “Bible-grounded” should be strongly determined to keep the message of their churches free of the “leaven” of politics. So why do so many of these churches engage in it?

Then there is the legal issue. When a church supports or opposes a candidate for political offices, it breaks the law. Whether that law should exist is a different question, but it is on the books for now.

The same restriction against conservative politicking also applies to churches with liberal or leftist politics. So why will a video of Kamala Harris be shown in hundreds of churches in Virginia before people vote for governor?

I watched the video. If, as intended, it is shown in churches, it is clearly illegal. “I believe that my friend Terry McAuliffe is the leader Virginia needs at this moment,” the vice-president says in the video. “Terry McAuliffe has a long track record of getting things done for the people of Virginia.”
Ms. Harris should know this is illegal, or if not her lawyers should tell her so.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an organization with which I share little in common, said this about the Harris video:

In the video, Harris clearly endorses McAuliffe, remarking, “Elect Terry McAuliffe as your next governor.”

Virginia’s religious leaders should keep that video at arm’s length, lest they violate a federal law dating to 1954 called the Johnson Amendment. The provision ensures tax-exempt nonprofit groups, including houses of worship, do not intervene in partisan elections by endorsing or opposing candidates for public office.

–Rob Boston, “Partisan Politics Doesn’t Belong in Houses of Worship,” (blog on website of Americans United, October 20, 2021) [BOLD mine]

Whether we hold left-wing or right-wing or centrist politics, let’s obey the law and keep our politics outside the “church house doors” and (even more importantly) stay on-message with the Gospel of Jesus.

Message of the Month
Dishonest Christian
School Teachers

Shouldn’t teachers be good on their word? Especially Christian teachers?

Psalm 15 asks the question “Who shall dwell on God’s holy hill?”
Answer: “[The one who] swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

God honors the person who keeps his word even when the outcome is not as desirable as it would be if he were to break his word.

“Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6).

“All you need to say is ‘yes’ or ‘no.’” – Jesus (Matthew 5:37)

First let me stipulate a couple of facts:
1. Teachers in parochial (religious) schools earn less than they could earn teaching in public schools. Sometimes considerably so. Thus, they make a sacrifice for what they believe.
2. Many public school districts are having a hard time filling teaching positions in light of Covid.

So there are situations where public school administrators have made appealing offers to teachers who teach in parochial schools. And some teachers have accepted these offers.

That in itself is not a fault. If anything, it should prod the governing body of a parochial school (a church, perhaps) to raise salaries and benefits. “The laborer is worthy of his wages” is a biblical principle still in force today, and it applies to so-called “Christian service” as much as to “secular” jobs.

The issue is this: if someone freely signs a contract offered in good faith, that signature is binding in the presence of God and before people. One does not break it simply because the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

When I taught at a Christian university, every March (or so) the faculty would get contracts for the following academic year. By signing it, you were assured of a paycheck for that academic year and the school was assured of your classroom services and your presence on a stable, dependable faculty.
Win-win. If you “blew it” and were dismissed “for cause”, that’s an exception. Otherwise, the contract was binding both ways.

A teacher receiving a better offer may go to his or her administration and ask for a release. It may be granted, even if it puts the school in a bind (which, it seems to me, is one reason why it is unethical on the part of the teacher to seek a release except for compelling reasons). The religious school probably won’t enforce the contract by legal action, but this doesn’t excuse the teacher.
The general principle remains clear: you keep your word, even if it hurts.

Some may argue that bringing a Christian educator into a public school is a plus for the ethical fiber of that school. I would agree. But this assumes the transition into the new school system was honorable in the first place.

Teachers at Christian schools should be paragons of honest dealings—examples to the youth they train as well as teach.

Perhaps the compelling need for honest dealings is one reason the Bible says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). The verse is certainly talking about teachers within the Christian community, and that would include parochial teachers.

I have honored teachers for decades. When I was an active pastor, I would take time in worship services to honor and pray for teachers when a new school year would get underway.
I published a column “Beatitudes for Teachers” which uplifted them, especially when they served under stress.

Thus, I’m doubly disappointed whenever the teaching profession dishonors itself in any way.

And what you don’t say can be as significant as what you do say. Shortly after “9/11” American flags could be seen up and down the street. But the neighbors directly across put no flag out. They were a radical leftist couple—so devoted to their causes that they would fly across the country to protest or support this or that.

Someone put a note on their door accusing them of a lack of patriotism for not putting out a flag after “9/11”. The wife told me about it almost in tears.
I contacted the local newspaper and was able to get a columnist to write about what happened and the narrowness it displayed.

On the personal level we had no conflict with our leftist neighbors. I support freedom of speech, including the right not to speak—in this case, not to put out an American flag. (I wish more leftists would support free speech.)

I considered talking about some of the lines on these signs. I’ll bite my lip and not do that. Instead, I’ll make some overall observations. Well, OK, I will talk about the phrases “We Believe…Science is Real.” Ouch! I just bit my lip!

First, our neighborhood was built in the 1950’s and is a fairly stable, well-maintained neighborhood. One might expect our neighbors to be like one another in their social/political opinions, but instead they are diverse.

Second, I thought it was rather conservative on social issues, but the amount of “left of center” signage would say otherwise. Not only is the neighborhood more diverse than expected, it has more liberals and leftists than expected.

Third, it seems like a tolerant neighborhood. I have not heard any argumentation or seen any nasty signs indicating that political antagonism trumps neighborliness. This is good. (Our former radical leftist neighbors may have been an exception to this.)

So, “tolerance, diversity, inclusion” – we’ve got it all and the signs to prove it. And we have good block parties. So far nobody has bragged, as a leftist Seattle city council member did, that they have no Republican friends!

Want to Buy Someone a Bible for Christmas? Which Bible Should You Buy?

The New International Version is at the top of the popularity list, as it has been for many years. It is excellent.

The King James Version, which will never leave the “top 10,” continues in second place. It seems unbeatable for its elegant English, even if it often sounds archaic to us. After all, it was produced in 1611!

Also on the list is the very readable English Standard Version.

If you are considering the ESV, why not go even better and give the ESV Study Bible? It has contributions by a large number of recognized scholars, including J. I. Packer and Wayne Grudem (I prefer a study Bible created by many scholars rather than by a single writer). And now a more compact
ESV Concise Study Bible has been released. An excellent study Bible gives you the Scriptures plus a good variety of study helps all in one cover.

Two newcomers to the “top 10” are in Spanish: Reina-Valera, a 16th-century translation revised in 1960, and Nueva Versión Internacional (Spanish NIV). Their growing popularity reflects our changing Christian landscape.

Noticeable for its absence (compared to recent decades) is the New American Standard Bible, a very literal translation often stiff in English.

Any widely acceptable rather literal version of the Bible is trustworthy. Though it was once very popular, I have not recommended The Living Bible because it is a paraphrase that takes considerable liberty with the biblical text. It may be OK for devotional reading but not for drawing any doctrinal conclusions (even if someone should say, “I never really understood that verse until I read it in The Living Bible”).