We as Christians are facing unprecedented cultural changes in our society. A precious friend was sharing how much she struggles to speak the truth in love when confronted with what is happening to our society. She found a clip that addressed what we were talking about, and she quickly texted it to me. I was so impressed with the 2-minute clip that I played it 4 times to make sure I was quoting it accurately. The video included “subtexts for those who do not hear well.” I wrote the clip message verbatim. I wrote the simple but profound quote in the front of my Bible. Then I shared it with a couple friends who also shared the quote with others. Then I get a message today from the person who originally sent the YouTube clip and she said, “The clips have been taken down from YouTube!” The removal of this reply to the unprecedented cultural changes in our society does not surprise me. I had already considered sharing the quote in this letter and after hearing about YouTube taking it down—the fire was already burning and now a log has been thrown on the embers of my soul.
In the future when Ken and I are confronted with these unprecedented changes and people wanting us to give our opinion, thanks to Alister Begg this will be our reply:
“I am unprepared to rewrite the Bible in order to accommodate a society that needs to hear the Bible and needs the Jesus Who is the focus of the Bible.”
Ironically, I was reading a passage in the Bible that describes very VIVIDLY how people feel about passionate Christians:
“To those who are perishing we are a dreadful smell of death, and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.” (II Cor. 2:10)
I would prefer to be “Angel” perfume to few, but to many, I just stink. Forever grateful for brothers’ and sisters in Christ who cheer us on, and some have never even met us, like Alister Begg. Heaven is going to be such a grand, eternal reunion of all those who have impacted Ken and me.
“Troubles, Trains and Tracks”
“The righteous person faces MANY troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.” (Psalm34:11)
When I read this familiar verse, this question popped into my mind, ‘What does Many mean?’
My first thought was the word itself is the definition. So, I looked the word up with my BLB app and was pleasantly surprised at the definition, “continuous flow.” I started thinking of the longest continuous train and then I thought of the constant clicking of the tracks. In that moment of reflection, I realized that God’s grace clicks right along with the continuous trouble. Christians are often surprised by back-to-back trouble, yet the word declares that such continuous trouble is normal for those following Papa God. When the train of trouble arrives, listen for the clicking of the tracks of God’s proportionate grace.
Love from two who here the clicking of the tracks of grace—daily,
Ken and Jackie Kendall