I had something completely different topic set for this month’s bible study; however given recent events and the anniversaries of Charlie Kirk’s death and 9/11, I feel I need to talk about something that has been on my mind and heart for a while. It is not that I am afraid of the future because I know who holds the future; it is a conflict between what my head knows and what my heart feels. I often turn to prayer for peace of mind and remind myself that Jesus said, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34). However, every now and then, the events of the world weigh on my mind and heart more than usual. I wonder if I have studied the Bible well enough. I have taught my children enough, preparing them for the world they will see outside our door. How do I discuss topics with someone who will argue for the sake of arguing? Who argues with feelings and refuses to listen to facts? These thoughts and questions flooded my mind more recently as I reflected on the anniversaries of this month.
The amount of hatred and mockery of Christianity on social media has seriously hurt my heart. While I am not surprised as Jesus said in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,” it still hurts. As I have seen the redemptive and transformative power of belief in Jesus Christ can bring to someone and in my own life, I have seen His work in my daily life that it is undeniable to me. Someone denying Christ is not surprising but the venom I see online toward God, Jesus and those who believe in Him, I fear, has turned my heart cold to them. Especially online, I usually roll my eyes and move on without trying to correct them. And I hate that I feel this way. However, without realizing it, as I write this God was listening and recently He put in front of me reminders. Yes, as believers, we are called to share the gospel; however, in Matthew 7:6, Jesus said, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” Meaning? It is useless to try to teach holy concepts to people who don’t want to listen and will only tear apart what we say. If someone comes to me with genuine questions, I have answers and the willingness to look up the answers if I don’t. However, if someone were to come to me with questions in order to belittle me or to attempt to break my faith, I will not entertain such a person.
In the year since Charlie Kirk’s death, I have seen clips of his meetings with skeptics and doubters, and while I was not a fan before his death, I now admire his resolve to bring the truth to as many people as possible. And I am humbled at his passion and resolve. I know I could never be as articulate or knowledgeable as he was, but I hope that I could stand on my faith and the truth as he did. It sickened me as I saw people celebrate his death and still celebrated as the anniversary arrived. There are people in the world I dislike or even despise; however, I would l never celebrate them being sick, ill or even their death. I may not have much sympathy or have no feelings either way for their circumstances; but it feels so wrong and evil to celebrate. While God told us that good would be called evil and evil good, He also proclaimed trouble to those who would do so (Isaiah 5:20), I still struggle with the deep sadness, anger and disgust I feel when I see people celebrating evil. I know Charlie Kirk was aware of the target he put on himself when he chose to stand up, speak out and try to educate others about the lies they have been told. And Christians should also be aware that there is also a target on us as well. Maybe the threat isn’t as strong as Charlie Kirk faced but the day will come when we won’t be able to be as free to worship as we, especially in America, have been.
I have been a believer for over 30 years and sometimes I still struggle with and feel powerless in the state of the world today. At these moments, I turn to God, to His word and yet, I feel what can little old me do? I am nobody in a world of billions of people. While I know I am somebody to my Lord, to my husband, to my daughters, and my loved ones, I feel like a faceless, powerless nobody. Why would anyone care what I had to say? So I often stay silent and I hate myself when I do. Even as I do these monthly bible studies, I do them for myself and write about what I have learned and post them. I know people read them but do they have any impact in their lives? Does it even matter that I post these at all? As I said at the start, recent events have lit a fire, so to speak, that I want to be different. I want to be prepared to meet any enemy and be prepared to stand up for my faith, even if it means my death. Death?!? Someone might exclaim. Yes, given the state of the world right now and the growing battle against Christ and believers, I believe the day will come when we might be faced with that question and I hope I will be able to say “Yes, I believe in Christ” and lose my life in the process. Because Jesus said that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35).
In conclusion, I set out to write this blog as an honest disclosure of what I have been feeling and thinking recently. As I started writing this blog, my mind was heavy and as I took a few days to further reflect and came back to writing it, I remember that my struggle is with understanding, an understanding that is beyond me. It is an understanding that God, in his wisdom, is telling me his grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). I am reminded of the book of Philippians, which is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is a book of hope which seems odd as Paul wrote it while in prison. In Philippians 4, Paul writes to rejoice in the Lord (verse 4) and to not be anxious about anything and to turn to God with our worries in prayer and petition (verse 6). I may not be able to completely battle the mockery of my faith online or understand the celebration of evil, however, I will commit myself to further and deeper study of the Bible and find peace in Jesus Christ.
Hello Little Girl by Kay Bratt is the tenth book in the Hart’s Ridge series. The search for Lydia Grimes continues as new evidence provides proof she could still be alive. Caleb Grimes, her husband, is more determined than ever to bring her home. He won’t rest until he has her safe and sound or recovers her body for burial. Taylor is pulled from the search and given an opportunity to further her career and get the promotion she desires but it requires putting her career first and leaving her family behind for a period of time. A simple assignment quickly becomes a life and death situation. Meanwhile, Lydia becomes caught between the fight for her own freedom and the desire to protect another from the evil man who keeps them in captivity. Can she find the courage to save them both? As tensions and stakes rise, can Caleb, Taylor and Lydia find their own strength and determination to have the happy endings they are fighting for?
I don’t think I have ever recently anticipated a book in a series as much as I waited for Hello Little Girl. Left with a bit of a cliffhanger in Blackbird, Hello Little Girl picks right off and keeps going. I was glued to the pages with pins and needles as the story unraveled. There were twists and turns and shocking revelations with one revelation I picked up on in Blackbird and waited for that shoe to drop! My jaw dropped a few times near the end. I am ecstatic to learn that there will be more stories in the series. Readers don’t have to say goodbye to Hart’s Ridge and the Gray Family just yet. If you have enjoyed the Hart’s Ridge series, you will love Hello Little Girl. If you haven’t started this series, you are missing out on an excellent series of intrigue, family, the fighting human spirit to survive. I highly, highly recommend Hello Little Girl and the entire Hart’s Ridge series.
Hello Little Girl is available in paperback and eBook
This month’s study features two women: Athaliah and Jehosheba. Two very different women with two very different plans with very different outcomes. Athaliah was the granddaughter of Omri, one of Israel’s most idolatrous and evil kings. She was the daughter of Ahab and possibly Jezebel. Athaliah was the only woman to rule over Judah and spent her time promoting Baal worship. In order to stay in power, she murdered her own family. She attempted to destroy the royal line of Judah but failed. She failed due to Jehoseheba’s actions. Jehosheba was a princess and the wife of the high priest, Jehoiada. A courageous woman who helped preserve the Judean royal line. The same line that would produce Jesus. She preserved the life of her brother’s youngest son, Joash, so he could become Judah’s rightful king. One woman’s evil plan was subverted by another woman’s courage and kept God’s promise alive. What is their story? What other examples do we have of people doing right in the face of evil? What promises do we have from God when we face these situations?
Athaliah’s name sent chills through the hearts of God’s people. After her husband and son were killed in battle with Jehu, she took the throne. In her paranoia and lust for power, she proceeded to murder her own grandsons in order to keep her place on the throne of Judah. She may have sat back with satisfaction as she believed she had successfully snuffed out the royal line. There was no one else to challenge her place on the throne. Little did she know there was one grandson she missed. Jehosheba was the sister of Ahaziah, Athaliah’s son, which makes Jehosheba, her stepdaughter (2 Kings 11:1-2). Taking the infant, Joash, Jehosheba hid him within the safety of the temple for six years (2 Kings 11:3). When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada, the high priest, arranged a coup with the Carites, a mercenary army, and crowned Joash as king (2 Kings 11:4-8). Everything goes according to plan as the people rejoice in the temple at the crowning of Joash. When Athaliah heard the noise, she came to investigate and saw the newly crowned king and tore her robes (2 Kings 11:13-14). Jehoiada ordered the troops to take Athaliah and her followers and put them to the sword (2 Kings 11:15-16).
Jehosheba and her husband, Jehoiada took a great risk hiding Joash within the temple walls. They are another example on a long list of people who took a great risk, doing right in the face of evil. Jochebed hid her infant son, Moses, before putting him in a papyrus basket and placing him in the Nile River (Exodus 2:1-10). Many individuals like Jehosheba helped others with great risk to themselves especially in World War II. First, Irena Sandler (1910-2008) rescued an estimated 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto. Between 1935-1943, Irena used her position within the Department of Social Welfare and Public Health of the City of Warsaw to rename and relocate Jewish children. When she was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, she refused to reveal the names and locations of the children. She was sent to be executed but a bribe was able to secure her release. Second, and probably most famous, Oskar Schindler (1908-1974), a German industrialist was able to save the lives of 1,200 Jews that worked in his factories. He used his connections to bribe Nazi officials to prevent the deportation of Jewish workers. Lastly, Raoul Wellenberg (1912-1945) has been credited with saving as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews by issuing them passports and hiding them in buildings designated as Swedish territory.
While we may be put into situations to make choices like Jehoiada or face evil like Athaliah, we still see negative and evil forces working in the world around us. How do we find the strength to carry on? Simply remembering God always wins. Evil forces will always try to disrupt or stop God’s plans but God always wins. When dishonesty, the lack of integrity or low morality is the norm and kindness and godliness is the exception, we are told not to despair. God will not lose the war. He will prevail in the end. Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” God’s power is far greater than the power of evil. God always does what he says He will no matter the human plots. When situations have a tendency to shake your faith, seek God’s words for strength. Seek the courage to act on behalf of the innocent regardless of human reactions and possible consequences. In today’s society of cancel culture and vilification for standing up for what’s right, it is easy to be scared of reprisals. Jehosheba, a seemingly minor individual in the Bible, played a major role in the life of God’s people. Her story is an example of doing what is right regardless of the risks involved.
In conclusion, while it is easy to say “do what is right in the face of the risks,” we have Biblical and historical examples of people doing exactly that. People rising up and essentially thumbing their noses at the evils in power and saying no more. I want the strength and courage to do the same. It is a constant prayer that the Lord guides me as I face trials and evils in my life. Whether it is in government, in the church, in my neighborhood or even in my own family. To help me to do whatever is in my power to resist either by my vote, by speaking up or taking a stand. To give me wisdom to know what to do, when to do it and the courage to act as I trust him. Jehosheba knew the extent of Athaliah’s evil and knew she would be killed if she were caught. But she still took the stand to save the life of one child and saved the Judah family line. Imagine what could be the result if we did the same?
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “Sympathy for the
Devil” is a song that many misinterpret. With the word, “sympathy” in the
title, who can blame them? This song is one that I was always told was bad and
to stay away from. But I was curious, do they really mean sympathy here? As the
opening track on The Rolling Stone’s 1968 Beggars Banquet album,
“Sympathy for the Devil” was originally written like a Bob Dylan folk song
until Richards suggested they change the tempo to a samba (Cruickshank, 2002).
The song is listed number 32 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Let us look into the song lyrics themselves as well as the meaning behind the
title and the context in which the song was written.
The song opens up with the narrator introducing himself,
“Please allow me to introduce myself/
I'm a man of wealth and taste/I've been around for a long,
long year.” And proceeds to list the historical events he was around for: Jesus
and Pontius Pilate (circa 33 CE), the Russian Revolution (1917-1923) and Anastasia
(killed along with her parents and siblings on July 17, 1918), the blitzkrieg
during World War II (1939-1945), and the assassinations of John F Kennedy
(November 22, 1963) and Robert F. Kennedy (June 6, 1968). The song also alludes
to the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) in which the narrator states “I watched
with glee/While your kings and queens/Fought for ten decades.” As the narrator
lists the historical atrocities he has witnessed, he teases the audience,
asking for his name: “Hope you guessed my name,” “Tell me baby, what's my name,
“Tell me honey, can ya guess my name” and “Tell me, sweetie, what's my name.” The
narrator ironically demands some courtesy, sympathy and taste as the name of
his game is confuse his audience: “But what's confusing you/Is just the nature
of my game, mm yeah/Just as every cop is a criminal/And all the sinners
saints/As heads is tails.” As the narrator, as the traditional devil trickster,
turns to the audience and places blame of these historical events on the
audience: “you're to blame.”
I think many people have a problem with the song, not for
its subject matter, but for its title. “Sympathy for the Devil” invokes an
unsettling feeling. This song as well as The Stones’ 1967 album, Their
Satanic Majesties Request, fueled media rumors and fear among religious
groups that the Stones were devil worshippers” (Cruickshank, 2002). Sympathy is
defined as “feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune” or “understanding
between people; common feeling.” Why would anyone want to feel pity for Lucifer
or have a common feeling with him? This is where I think the word, sympathy, is
used ironically as the devil is often portrayed as the deceiver, the trickster,
and the slanderer. As the word, devil, derives from the Greek word, diábolos, meaning
"slanderer." To slander someone is to “make false and damaging
statements about them.” When the devil places blame solely on mankind for the
historical events, he is being who he is supposed to be, the deceiver, the
slanderer.
To place the blame on the devil or evil for the atrocities
throughout history and even today is a bit dismissive. As “Sympathy For The
Devil was intended to be an analysis of the dark side of humanity; one which
allows itself to be too easily swallowed up by the banality of evil, thereby
helping it to accomplish the wickedness it craves. If you understand the Devil
within yourself, maybe you can deal with him” (Divelti, 2019). Everyone has the
capacity for good as well as evil. While most people’s goodness will far
outweigh their evilness, there are people out there who act in purely evil
fashion without an ounce of goodness in them. I think we all can name
individuals who, generally, are perceived as evil, no matter what their
motivations are thought to have been. If you look at the context in which
“Sympathy for the Devil” was written, you can see that it was a dose of
reality. As the philosophy of peace and love was being pushed in songs like The
Beatles, “All you Need is Love” (1967) which was really “dead even before it
began” as the realities of the 60s, the Vietnam War and the violence that
carried forward into the 70s” (The Legends of Music, 2019) showed the peace and
love isn’t easy to achieve.
In conclusion, for a long time I refused to listen to
“Sympathy for the Devil” but as I listen to it and began to analyze the lyrics,
you see that sympathy is used in an ironic fashion. I found a great quote from Keith
Richards in which he says “’Sympathy’ is quite an uplifting song. It's just a
matter of looking (the Devil) in the face […] Sympathy for the Devil is a song
that says, Don't forget him. If you confront him, then he's out of a job”
(Fricke, 2002). Evil is always there. We
cannot hide from evil. When we confront evil, we can deal with it. How we deal
with it is another issue all together. Therefore, “Sympathy for the Devil” is
not a song for devil worship, it is a song about confronting evil so it can
lose its power.
I read online recently that someone made the claim that sex
is bad, evil and dirty to Christians. I serious dislike the generalization
because while there are churches which teach people to feel dirty about
enjoying sex but there are many churches which see sex as it was intended to
be. Sex was designed by God to be a gift to a husband and wife. What is the
purpose of sex? The Bible gives us a very romantic and intimate story in the
Song of Songs. If sex is a gift from God, how did it become bad, evil and
dirty?
When asked what the purpose of sex is, many people will
immediately say “procreation.” Yes, sex is how humans procreate but there’s
more to sex than just the production of children. Another purpose of sex is for
intimacy and enjoyment in marriage. Yes, sex was designed for marriage. Sex
within marriage can be a relationship builder. Outside of marriage, it can
destroy relationships and people. Proverbs 5:18-20 says “A loving doe, a
graceful deer; may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated
by her love. Why be captivated, my son by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom
of another man’s wife?” God does not intend faithfulness in marriage to be
boring, pleasureless and dull. This is certainly the world’s image of marriage
aka “the old ball and chain.” Sex is a gift God gives to married couples for
their mutual enjoyment. Real happiness comes when we decide to find pleasure in
the relationship God has given us and commit ourselves to making it
pleasurable.
Song of Songs, or in some translations Song of Solomon, is
an intimate story of a man and woman, their love, courtship and marriage. The
most explicit statements on sex in the Bible are in this book. For example,
chapter 7:7-8, “Your stature is like that of a palm, and your breasts like
clusters of fruit. I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its
fruit.’” It is a wedding song honoring marriage with three speakers. First,
Lover, which tradition holds is a young King Solomon before he was obsessed
with women, sex and pleasure and represents the husband in a marriage. Second,
Beloved is a Jewish maiden he falls in love with and becomes his wife. Third,
friends who encourage the couple as they fall in love. The purity and
sacredness of love is represented in this book. One of my favorite verses is
“Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” It is a phase that is
repeated three times in chapter 2 verse 7, chapter 3 verse 5, and chapter 8
verse 4. It is repeated because it is important to know that true love isn’t
rushed. It blooms when the time is right. Another favorite verse is “My lover
is mine and I am his (2:15 and 6:3), some translations use the word beloved. In
a marriage, a husband and wife belong to each other. They are one body united
by God and by love.
If God had created sex and intimacy for marriage, how sex
became bad, evil and dirty? Easy, man did. Even within the Christian church,
man took a beautiful expression of love, a gift from God and made it a thing to
be tolerated. The idea that women shouldn’t enjoy sex was dictated by man. It is hard to say in Judaism or Christianity,
the thoughts on sex are simple because it ignores the different sects or
denominations of each faith. However, in my research, I found that in Judaism,
“a man may do with his wife as he wishes provided, he has her consent” (Judaism
and Sex), which means any sexual acts between consenting spouses is not
forbidden. In Christianity and especially in the history, things get murkier. “Christianity
remains among the most “sex-positive” religions, even if segments of the church
have on one hand, cloaked it in shame or, on the other, given it a mystical
power bordering on idolatry” (Sex and Sexuality). St Augustine (354-430) and
other theologians promoted the idea that sexual desire was a sin (Kuruvilla).
Other church leaders would go further and state that being too passionately in
love or having sex for pleasure was a sin (Kuruvilla). These ideas are far from
what the Bible teaches as I have statement on above. Lust and desire for your
spouse is an expression of love; however, it needs to be only for your spouse.
In conclusion, sex is a beautiful expression of love between
a husband and a wife. A beautiful thing that has been twisted and distorted
through the ages by men in power. Unfortunately, the effects are those policies
and ideas are still seen today in many churches and many who resist God because
of what they think they know. Our society has such a distorted attitude about
love and marriage that for many people love equals sex and getting married is
just to have a party. Sex is only one expression of love. It is important in a
marriage, but it is not the only thing. Sex is a gift from God. It is to be an
expression of love between a husband and a wife. It is to be motivated by love
and commitment.
