The Remedy to “Let’s Offend Everyone Day - Purity 858

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of seagulls standing gathered on the sands of an unknown beach as the waves come crashing in comes to us from an anonymous friend who shared this scene on social media on or around April 12th of this year. Rather than letting this simple scene of God's beauty remain in my phone's photo archive, I I have decided to release it without knowing from whom or whence it came, with a prayer that it won't offend the photographer if they should happen to see it. Well, it's Monday, and for many of us, we are enjoying an extended weekend because of the observance of a federal holiday that is increasing in controversy as time progresses and our society becomes more sensitive to presenting a balanced view of our nation's history and seeks to atone for wrongs done in the past. So depending on where you are geographically, culturally, or politically in our nation today, you may have a different idea about just what it is we are celebrating today. Today's federal holiday, Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day, has become some So confused and divisive, uh, that, um, USA Today's Scott Gleason wrote an article yesterday morning called What Is Indigenous Peoples' Day? Is It Offensive to Celebrate Columbus Day? Everything You Need to Know. That I am sharing. I'm sharing a link to it on the blog today for those who desperately need to know how not to offend anyone. And me? Well, although I skimmed Gleason's article to get a little background for today's increasingly, uh, controversial holiday, I know that no matter where I choose to stand on today's festivities, the fact that I— if given— if I am given the chance to share anything, it would be to encourage others to believe in the gospel that proclaims the exclusivity of Jesus Christ to save and to live according to the Bible's wisdom. I know I will offend many for many different reasons. The fact that I also see the world's, let alone our nation's, history as the product of God's sovereign will, or his story, to spread the gospel doesn't help matters. But just to step back into the world system and forget about my biblical worldview for a minute, I can see why this, why this holiday would be offensive to many for a whole host of reasons. Okay, today's holiday is an American holiday, right? I think we can agree on that, right? It is a federal holiday after all. So why would we celebrate Columbus? I get it, we— he was the explorer who quote-unquote discovered the New World, but examining a map of his journeys to said— to the said New World, he never set foot on the territory that would become the continental US. Check out the map that I found, and you will see that the furthest north Columbus got was Cuba. Apparently, Chris was the original Pirate of the Caribbean. According to subsequent Google searches we would have to give, that I've done this morning, we would have to give credit for the discovery of North America to either the Viking Leif Erikson, who put his European feet down on North American soil half a millennium uh, before Columbus, or to Italian navigator and explorer Giovanni Caboto, uh, known in English as John Cabot, who is credited with this— the discovery of continental North America on June 24th, 1497, under the commission of Henry VIII of England. So history buffs, enjoy the day off today and feel free to exercise your rights to be offended because I am sure I have only touched the surface of how offensive our nation's celebration and understanding of historical facts is lacking in the historical accuracy department. As for culturally, today's holiday, whatever you call it, or the change in today's holiday, can offend people from a host of different tribes and tongues. I am sharing a link about Columbus— Columbus Day that's on Wikipedia, and you can read up on this holiday and how it has been used to not only celebrate the discovery of the world, but how it has been used throughout history to ameliorate the pain of and/or honor various people groups. I use that terminology because to only name Italians and the quote-unquote Native American people— how dare you— uh, would be uber offensive. If you just read this Wikipedia article, you will see how both— I mean, all these groups, uh, have a measure of suffering and pride that they could claim to celebrate today. So today, if you base your identity in your cultural background, whatever it is, enjoy the day off and exercise your right to be offended too. And finally, while this may offend you, I would like to offer the remedy to all this offense by offering the, the words of Jesus Christ to prayerfully be considered and applied to whatever offense you may be in your heart today. Matthew 6:12, Jesus said, "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:14-15, he says, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." And finally, in Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. From these verses, we can understand that Christ advised us to love one another and to forgive one another our trespasses or debts. While there are different political and social theories that speak of erasing the historical monuments that give honor to, to, to men of dubious distinction and questionable ethics, and that are advocating for reparations and atonement for the crimes of our ancestors, Christ would direct us to forgive one another and to live in the bonds of peace and love that are not based on our pride and our cultural differences, but that are established by God through the atoning work that Christ did on the cross for every man, woman, and child that chooses to make peace with God by placing their faith in him. The costs of the evil that men have done to their neighbors has been paid by Jesus Christ. But to receive the payment of peace and to lose all the feelings of offense, we need to receive our forgiveness through faith in Jesus and then practice forgiveness to others. Instead of focusing on the things that would divide us, we are called to focus on the one who would unite us in love, Jesus Christ. Now, while you are certainly entitled to choose to not choose the new life of peace, love, and joy that comes from the forgiveness of sin that Christ provides and choose to hold on to your cultural identity and foster the pain and offense for the wrongs that have been done to your ancestors, I have to lovingly offer the pathway to peace that transcends the past and leads to life everlasting. I have received forgiveness and love because of Jesus, and I know it is the only answer to these problems. So I forgive you. So I forgive you. If you decide that quote-unquote my truth isn't your truth and you reject my invitation to keep walking and talking with God, but I hope you'll consider it and try to live in peace all the same. So happy Columbus Day, happy Indigenous Peoples' Day, or happy Monday, although any one of those sentiments could be considered offensive. I hope you will hear my voice when I wish you to find the love and peace that the Lord has for you. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is 1 Corinthians 15:58, and it says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Today's Bible verse encourages us to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord, and to know that our labors are not in vain. According to the Lord. As we look to save those who are lost, who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we can easily become discouraged as the world seems to be increasingly moving away from God rather toward Him. But today's verse tells the Christian to keep on keeping on and to know that even if we can't see any good results from our efforts, The Lord sees us, and His word encourages us that our work is not in vain. Our work in Christ is without and within. The outward works would be the good we do or the people we lead to Christ. The inward work is the work— is to grow in our knowledge, love, and maturity concerning our character. And the good news is that we can make progress in each area if we know how to look at the work we are doing with the Spirit spiritual insight. Any work we do for the name— for the name of the Lord is, is good, even if we don't see outward results, because there are, there are two aspects of the works we do. One, we affect outward things or people, and two, we affect ourselves. Our actions might make things a little better, even if just for a moment. We fix something, clean something up, or help someone— that's good work. Our efforts could even inspire someone else to change the way they think and cause them to follow the Lord. And sometimes we may never know of the impact we, we made to things and others. Our efforts, whether successful or not in our minds, are experiences that add to our faith walk. We may learn more from failures than successes, but either way, the things we do form a part of of our path that leads us to maturity. So remain steadfast and immovable in your efforts to work for the Lord, uh, because our actions in him may affect things, other people, or ourselves. And we know, and we know that anything we do for the Lord is worthwhile because his word tells us they are not in vain. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship, and we're continuing in chapter 6, uh, with, uh, Bonhoeffer's exposition of the Beatitudes. And today he, uh, comments on Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. So if you want to see what Bonhoeffer has to say about that portion of scripture in Matthew, uh, go to m.tforchrist.org and look at today's the end of today's blog post, and you'll find, you'll find that resource. And you'll also find other things like links to our YouTube channel and our podcast and encouragement to join our Victory Over the Darkness: The Bondage Breaker and Freedom in Christ series of discipleship classes that we've done, and they're available on the podcast and the YouTube channel. For your listening or viewing enjoyment, um, just to, to guide you and to encourage you to, to— that your faith is, is more than just, you know, for one day a week. It's, it's to give you the freedom that Christ wanted to give you and the abundant life that's available for you. So we encourage people to, uh, to go there and check it out and keep walking and talking with God. We also encourage people to read the Bible and to live by it. We, we do that in our small way at mt4christ.org by sharing a Bible study that we do with Arthur and Susanna Zinkadi. It's called Bible Study with the Zinkadis, and we just recorded yesterday's study called Complicated Relationship, and that's available for viewing on YouTube and listening on the MT for Christ 247 podcast, and we hope you'll enjoy it. Well, today is a Monday. I do have the day off from work, and I am asking for prayers for my wife today as she's been suffering symptoms that may be due to menopause but are manifesting in strange ways. She has some dental and mouth pain. And, and, uh, so we'll be taking her to, uh, uh, dentist today to try to get her treated and, uh, to get her back. She has been bearing the pain, um, in her mouth and teeth, um, all weekend. And my wife believes in holistic remedies, essential oils and things like that, for, you know, to use natural things. But, uh, even Tammy Lynn has gone to, uh, over-the-counter pain medications to, uh, to deal with her stuff. So I know it's serious. Um, so we just ask for prayer for her today for healing and, um, and for, and, and for your requests as well. Um, so that's what's happening today. And, uh, you know, so I'm enjoying the day off, but I I'm dealing with my wife who is in pain, and meaning I want, I want to help her. And for guys, it's a little difficult when we want to help our loved ones and we can't do anything about it. Um, not really. I can accompany her to her appointments, but that's, that's about it. And, you know, to try to take care of her needs. And that's the way we show the love of Christ. We care for the ones in our lives. We reach out to help people. And so I guess we'll be practicing our faith in different ways today. And let me encourage all of us with prayer. Let's see. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the discovery of a new world where your gospel got delivered by whatever means necessary, you know, to the new world. And, you know, we can't exactly agree and come alongside with what was done in the past, the evil that men have done, even in your name. But Lord, we know that you work all things together for good, and that your, your way is the answer for every one of us, for us to come to faith in you and to forgive others, for they know not what they do, and to stand in who we are in Christ and to follow you in all that we do. So Lord, we pray for the people listening today. We pray for Tammy Lynn, um, um, obviously. And, um, we just pray for you to come alongside our prayer request and the people out outside listening today, Lord, to guide them and direct them in the way they should go. And, uh, we pray for you to bless us all with your divine grace and favor, um, in all these situations, Lord, to, uh, deliver us. Um, Lord, we pray for As always, we pray as we go about our day that you would open our eyes to the things you want us to see and guide our path in the way we should go. Uh, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.