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Charlie Kirk in context

Many will condemn a man for an isolated sentence or two. Christians do it too. Instead, we should assess others just as we would like to be judged (Matt. 7:12).

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If you have liberal friends or family, then in the days and weeks after Charlie Kirk’s murder, you probably saw all sorts of Kirk quotes, shared by them to warn people about what a problematic figure Kirk supposedly was.

While Kirk had his flaws, the most common quotes being shared were generally not at all what they first seemed, being taken right out of context. As Proverbs 18:17 teaches us, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” so we need to go beyond that first impression, and do the cross examination.

We can do so, not as people who must defend Charlie Kirk, wrong or right, but instead as God’s people, equipped by Him to discern right from wrong. Using our discernment, it’s easy to see that Kirk was attacked by the Left, not for what he might have gotten wrong, but for how often he expressed godly thoughts bravely and clearly. So, we shouldn’t accept their word for any of it. We need to check whether the quote is:

1) even accurate
2) in context

So, what follows, are a few of the more common accusations stated in bold, and then put in context right below.

“I don’t believe in empathy.”

This is likely as much a misquote as it is a quote out of context. You can find Kirk saying he didn’t like this particular term, and wasn’t at all opposed to feeling for the injured and suffering. What he has said along these lines is:

“I can’t stand the word empathy. Actually, I think empathy is a made-up, new age term that does a lot of damage. But it’s very effective when it comes to politics. Sympathy, I prefer more than empathy.”

“Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously.”

This was pitched as proof of Kirk being racist. Like the previous “quote” it is both inaccurate and out of context. Kirk wasn’t insulting black women in general; he found it ridiculous that four specific black women were proudly declaring they were beneficiaries of affirmative action. Kirk was arguing, during the July 13, 2023 episode of his podcast, that affirmative action is the opposite of earning something. He thought it funny, then, that anyone would brag about being an affirmative action beneficiary.

“If we would have said three weeks ago... that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they're coming out and they're saying it for us! They're coming out and they're saying, ‘I'm only here because of affirmative action.’ Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.

In other words, he wasn’t critiquing black women. He was criticizing these four black women.

“If I see a black pilot, I am now going to wonder: Boy, I hope he’s qualified.”

Charlie Kirk is no fan of affirmative action, which responds to past discrimination by flipping the script – you are still judged by the color of your skin, but the racism is directed the opposite way now. Here he was responding to a 2021 United Airlines plan to have half their pilot trainees be blacks or women, and among the points he was making was that this kind of DEI/affirmative action has the effect of undercutting blacks who are qualified, by giving people a reason to question whether they earned their position or were just given it on the basis of their skin color. Black economics professor Thomas Sowell made a similar point, on the Uncommon Knowledge podcast about how his students treated him:

“I received more automatic respect when I first began teaching in 1962 as an inexperienced young man with no PhD and few publications than I did later in the 1970s after accumulating a more substantial record. What happened in between was affirmative action hiring of minority faculty.”

"I think it's worth it. I think it's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."

Longer and shorter wersions of this quote circulated again after Kirk was killed by a gun-wielding assassin. While Kirk’s enemies were sharing it gleefully, the quote was blunt enough to shock Kirk-appreciating Christians. Why would he say something like that? How can any gun deaths be “worth it”?

In this case, the quote was entirely accurate, but in need of context. As Christians we know life is to be revered as a precious gift from God. But we live in a broken world in which death is an ever-present enemy – everything we do comes with risks of injury, and even death. The example Kirk used was that: “Driving comes with a price. 50,000 people die on the road every year.” Do we think that’s “worth it”? We could cut down on those deaths entirely by banning cars. But, of course, that comes with a cost too, in all the freedoms that come with driving, like a broader range of places you can live, or work, or people you can visit, foods you can eat, and entertainment you can enjoy. All of that would be severely curtailed. And, there would come a cost in lives too, in that without ambulances, some wouldn’t get to the hospital in time.

We can agree or disagree with Kirk on whether the 2^nd Amendment is worth the price being paid, but we should acknowledge his larger point. The Left will deny or ignore it, but life always involves tradeoffs, and freedoms always come with risks.

Photo of Charlie Kirk during his 2024 “You’re Being Brainwashed” university tour.
Picture is adapted from one by Gage Skidmore and used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

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Yea, all things

come not by chance but by His fatherly hand - Lord’s Day 10 ***** The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. – Proverbs 16:33 The Heidelberg Catechism is both a confession and a summary of the doctrines of Scripture. The words of the Heidelberg can be easily understood, even though they convey the deep truths of the Bible. Two men, Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, were commissioned by Frederick the Pious (III), Protestant ruler and devout Calvinist, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (1559–76), to write this catechism for the people. Ursinus was a timid scholar, who preferred study to the limelight, and Olevianus was an eloquent preacher. Both were uniquely gifted and were providentially brought together by God to write the wonderful questions and answers in the Heidelberg. When our children were younger, my husband Anco and I spent much time in teaching them the Heidelberg Catechism. We considered Lord’s Day 10, dealing with the providence of God, an important section, and we took our time with its questions and answers. Question 27: What do you understand by the providence of God? Answer: God’s providence is His almighty and ever-present power, whereby, as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by His Fatherly hand. At the close of breakfast each morning, even at the risk of missing the school bus, we would recite the phrases in unison. These words were a spiritual intake that contained the past, the present and gave much confidence in the future. Odd but true The truth that God is totally in charge of all things, things that occur each day, has been a comfort throughout my life. There is a rather odd, and simultaneously humorous, story which I heard from my sister some forty or more years ago – a story which illustrates God’s providence. Because she is a truthful person, I believe it happened. It runs like this. A retired preacher was living out his days of retirement together with his wife in a two-story condo somewhere in the States. On Saturday mornings he was wont to take a bath in preparation for Sunday. One Saturday, as he was soaking in the tub, his wife let out a blood-curdling scream in the living room. It chilled him to the bone and he hopped out of his bath. In the altogether, he raced through the hall, into the living room, only to find his wife standing on a chair, totally upset. “What is it, Mary?” he asked, alarmed by her loss of composure. She pointed to the couch. “A snake,” she finally managed, “there is a snake under the couch.” “A snake?” he responded, slowly turning his head, searching the room. “Yes,” she went on, “I was watering the flowers and suddenly it crawled right by me and crept under the couch.” She again pointed to the couch. Cautiously Stan, the preacher, walked over and knelt down to take a peek. He couldn’t really see much as it was dark under the couch. As he was investigating, their dog came up behind him, nudging the pastor’s posterior with his cold nose. Thinking it was the snake, Stan promptly fainted, face-down, on the carpet. Mary, brave woman that she was, got down off the chair and hastened over to her husband. “Stan!” she called out, “Are you all right?” Stan, however, was out cold. Thinking that he’d suffered a heart attack, Mary ran to the phone and dialed for help, calling for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived just as Stan was recovering consciousness. Two men raced up the stairs, introduced themselves and skillfully maneuvered the pastor onto the stretcher they had brought with them. Gently and carefully covering him with a blanket, they took his blood pressure, finding it high. “Sir, it is possible you suffered a heart attack,” they explained, “and we’re just going to take you into emergency to make sure you are not in trouble.” Reassuring him and his wife in this way, they calmly carried him out of the room into the hallway. Standing at the top of the staircase, one of the two ambulance attendants began a slow descent, holding onto the foot end of the stretcher. The other man, also beginning to descend the stairs, suddenly dropped his carrying end. The snake, who had left the nether region of the couch, had quietly slithered into the hallway across his shoes. It startled the latter attendant to such a degree that he lost control over his end of the stretcher. Stan, the preacher, tumbled down the steps, breaking his left leg. The providence in this little story lies in the fact that two ambulance attendants were immediately on hand to give first aid to an aging preacher in a rather unfortunate, strange chain of events – events orchestrated by God. The attendants were there to help the preacher in his time of need as God intended. Our heavenly Father is One who not only sees everything beforehand, which is what providence essentially means, but He also brings about all He determines. Knowing and accepting the fact that God sees everything and brings events about can be a scary thought because it demonstrates that sinful man cannot hide anything from God. But providence is also comforting because it illustrates that God knows and cares for His people. God has us in the little things too Last week I had an unanticipated dental appointment. An infection in a bottom molar caused sudden and painful swelling in my left cheek. Resembling a chipmunk, I could barely open my mouth. The dentist immediately prescribed an antibiotic to take care of the infection. After the antibiotics had run their course, I had a second appointment – a consultation about what to do about a tooth that would very likely require an extraction. Like many people, I have anxiety, concern and wariness about sitting down in a dental chair. Yet, the morning of that second appointment my morning devotional had the heading of Psalm 81:10 which read: “I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Our God is a God of not just the things we consider huge in life, (such as cyclones and world wars), but also of the little things, the mundane and ordinary. The given text, prior to my dental appointment, made me grin. But the reality is that it also greatly strengthened and encouraged me. The truth of it is that we may be encouraged to ask God to bless us in all matters pertaining to our daily life. We may open our mouth as wide as we can and request whatever is needful. Spurgeon, in his Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith, gives the example of baby birds being fed by their parents. Squawking away, beaks open so wide you’d think they were going to split their little mouths, they are sustained. Spurgeon says: “God is ready to fill us if we are only ready to be filled. Let our needs make us open our mouths; let our faintness cause us to open our mouths and pant; yes, let our alarm make us open our mouths with a child’s cry. The opened mouth shall be filled by the Lord Himself. So be it unto us, O Lord, this day.”...

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Am I lazy or just relaxing?

What does Proverbs say? ***** After a long and hard day at work or school, the last thing someone might want to do is more work. So, some don’t. Instead, maybe we’ll sit around on our phone, scrolling social media, catching up on the latest news. Then, when the weekend rolls around, doing house chores can be the last thing on our minds. So, some don’t. Instead, we’ve sat on the couch and binge-watched our favorite TV series to waste the day away. Taking a break isn’t a problem, but how much is too much? Relaxation can be good, but laziness isn’t. What exactly does the Bible say about laziness and how can we fight against it? And how do we determine whether we are being lazy or just relaxing? Laziness means excuses While the dictionary defines laziness as “the unwillingness to work or use energy,” the Bible has a more applicable explanation. Solomon, in Proverbs 26:13-15, pictures it in this way: 13 A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!” 14 As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. 15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. In Warning Against Laziness, Alistair Begg says of verse 14: “He can turn to his left, or he can turn to his right, but that’s about it. He absolutely loves it. He makes movement but no progress. Where you found him at seven in the morning you can find him later at eleven in the morning, and perhaps at three in the afternoon.” And what of the lion? The sluggard is happy making excuses for reasons not to leave his house. He becomes a procrastinator. As Begg notes: “And the longer they go on filling their mind with that kind of thing, they have imaginary reasons for their inactivity, and these imaginary reasons finally convince them of the fact that they can rationalize the fact that they don’t get up. Of course, the real danger is not the imaginary lion in the street. The real danger is the roaring lion, the devil, who loves to come and lull people into indolence and defeat.” The more excuses we come up with for avoiding tasks, the more we begin to think it isn’t a problem. A strong temptation Throughout the book of Proverbs laziness arises repeatedly. If God repeats a warning, we know that it matters for our spiritual lives and that it’s a tough temptation to overcome. Proverbs 24:30-34 gives us an image of how detrimental laziness is for our souls. We are given a description of the vineyard of a sluggard and as expected, it is overgrown with weeds, full of thorns, and the walls are in ruins. It is a testimony to his laziness. When challenged with the work and upkeep of his vineyard, this is someone who’d prefer “a little more sleep, a little more slumber.” He or she would rather have 5 more minutes of sleep than do the tasks God has asked of them. Laziness affects more than just vineyards. A few chapters earlier, in Prov. 21:25, we read that “The cravings of the sluggard will be the death of him because his hands refuse to work.” Laziness keeps the heart empty and provides opportunity for the devil to enter an open door. Laziness occurs when we do nothing productive for the soul and the mind. The truth of the matter is that we were made to work. Even in the Garden of Eden, Adam was given work to do, to tend the garden and name the animals (Gen. 2:15-20). We work to glorify God, and God has so created us that when we live out our purpose, it is good for us to work too. When we fail to obey the command to work hard, we are more susceptible to other temptations as well. We need to be working hard, whether that is in the home caring for our children, providing an income for our family, or doing our best in school so that we aren’t easily tempted. We need to be aware of laziness as a sin. It isn’t a joke because sin, left unchecked, separates us from God. It effects the wholeness of our lives, and it needs to be dealt with. Those hours spent on Instagram or Tik Tok are times that you could be enjoying communion with others, doing the tasks God’s set out for you, spending time with Him in His Word, and more. The point is that if you don’t discipline yourself to be diligent in your work, studies, in practicing hospitality, and in the reading of the Bible, as well as prayer, you will become lazy. Laziness is the default; it’s the result of not trying. Remember the Parable of the Talents, with the servant who buried his talent – the master took it from him and gave the talent away to someone who would actually do something with it (Matt. 25:14-30). God is not happy with the bare minimum from us. We need to make the most of every opportunity lest laziness hinder us from serving God wholeheartedly. Fight laziness with productivity What can we do to assure ourselves to not fall into this temptation? We can ask ourselves one simple question: Have I been productive today? If you can list off a number of things, then a break might be just the thing. If you ask this same question to your parents, or your spouse – “Have I done anything productive today?” – you’ll likely get an honest answer. Another good starting question could be “what does productivity look like in your home?” Learn from others what it means to be productive. Each individual has their own happy medium so there is nothing wrong with asking around. And if you are struggling with laziness here are some other tips that have helped me: 1) Pray – Ask God to show you when you aren’t putting in a good effort 2) Read what Scripture says about laziness and work 3) Listen to (or read) Alistair Begg’s “Warning Against Laziness” 4) Go for a walk when you can – keep yourself in shape 5) Call a friend whom you haven’t talked to in a while – put effort into your relationships Fight laziness by resting On the other hand, burning out isn’t godly either. Just because God calls us to work hard doesn’t mean we should work to a point of pure exhaustion at the end of the day. How can we ever thank Him if we’re too busy to see what He is doing? Jesus reminds us to rest, “And He said unto them, ‘come away by yourself to a desolate place and rest awhile’” (Mark 6:31). He says rest awhile. He tells his apostles that even the most active servants of Christ cannot always be upon the stretch of business and work. They too need some time to recharge. Christ understands how weary our lives are. He went through it every day during His ministry. We can turn to Him knowing He’s experienced exhaustion too. So He provides those free afternoons or evenings when there’s no homework taking over. He gives us the weekend for a change of pace from our daily work, and to go out with friends. He has even set aside a day every week where we can step away from our obligations and come praise Him in His house with fellow believers. We have an obligation to serve Him wholeheartedly and always, but this doesn’t mean working 6 days a week for every waking hour. It’s just that having a break doesn’t have to mean pulling out your phone to doomscroll. It might be as simple as taking a moment to consider every blessing that God has given, and express gratitude for them. It means being present with your family, teaching them the ways of their Maker and training them up in His word. When you feel deflated, read Psalm 23. God leads us to the still waters, not the raging sea. He restores our souls and gives us quietness of mind. How do I know it’s rest? The difference between rest and laziness might come down to its purpose. Laziness is an avoidance – avoiding the laundry piling up, the lawn that needs mowing, the taxes that need doing, the kids that need engagement, whatever it might be. Rest is about restoration, to make yourself ready again to do the work God has prepared for you. Rest will feel good, it will be enjoyable, and it’s God-given. When I find myself being lazy, I notice that it stinks. I feel sluggish. A sluggard man does not enjoy being lazy. In contrast, a busy man enjoys a day of rest. He is satisfied because he has completed the task to which God called him. Keep this in mind as you go about each day. Serve the Lord wholeheartedly with your hands and with your rest. We must be good stewards with the time we’ve been given glorifying God in our work. Laziness is serious; it is incredibly dangerous – the Bible has nothing good to say about the fate of the sluggard. So, when that snooze button is tempting you, think through who God is calling you to be, and how much more important obedience to Him is, than 5 more minutes of sleep. And because we aren’t alone in this race, we can be an encouragement to one another, reprimanding each other gently to stop putting off things until tomorrow. The difference between laziness and rest matters! God has saved us. He sent his Son to die for us, and we have only a limited time here on Earth to express our gratitude towards Him. So let’s repent from the opportunities we’ve wasted, and ask Him to help us take up “the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10)....

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Our forever home

Reflections on finding permanence from someone who has lived in 27 homes. ***** Home is Where the Heart Is. God Bless Our Home. Home Sweet Home. Have you seen or heard these slogans lately? Maybe on a plaque or as an embroidered craft on your grandmother’s wall? Maybe on a hand-painted sign? Or how about this. You’re searching real estate online and a beautiful property is described as “your new forever home!” Recently, I heard a Christian podcaster use that term – forever home – in reference to where she was living. It made me think a little deeper about how we bandy those words about. Perhaps a little carelessly? God understands Although the idea of finding the perfect place to live is universally appealing, what should our perspective as Christians be? We’re all going to die one day so the concept of finding a permanent place on this planet is fundamentally flawed. So where is our forever home? As believers we know that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). And yet God understands our earthly desire for home here and now. He promised the Israelites that one day they would enter a land flowing with milk and honey. They would build houses and dwell securely. Psalm 132:13-14 says, “For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place; ‘This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it’” . If God desired an earthly dwelling place, then surely, He understands our desire for one. How do we live with our own intense longing and need for an earthly home, knowing that this planet ultimately is not where we will spend eternity? The conundrum set before us is to create loving spaces where we can raise families, practice the art of hospitality, and honor God… all the while remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Did you catch that last part? Sounds a lot like Home is Where the Heart Is, doesn’t it? My parents did an amazing job of keeping the tension between our earthly and heavenly homes foremost in the hearts and minds of their five children. Whenever we drove home from an afternoon of shopping, a visit to another family, or our annual camping trip, my mother sang an old-fashioned song… ‘Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. But she always followed that up with… There's a land that is fairer than day, And by faith we can see it afar. To an impressionable, often sleepy young child, sitting squished between her older siblings in the backseat, that balance struck home. The yearning for a safe place at the end of a long tiring day became permanently intermingled with the conviction of knowing this world isn’t our final abode. Citizenship? Fast forward through the years and I’m in a car again. Over our 40+ years of marriage I’ve moved many times with my husband and have given a lot of thought to this subject. Each time we moved into a new place, I prayed for God’s hand of protection to cover us. Each time we moved out, I learned to hold our earthly possessions lightly, letting go of material things and clinging ever more tightly to heavenly treasures. My car is parked beside a booth. A uniformed guard perches on a stool inside. “Citizenship?” he asks brusquely. I’m at the border. Crossing the invisible line between two nations. On my way to visit our daughter who married an American and moved there fifteen years ago. Every time I’m asked that inevitable question, I want to answer “my citizenship is in heaven.” But then I remember that the agent posing the question has the authority to lawfully detain me or send me on my way. I dutifully answer “Canadian.” How much more can God, who has the ultimate authority, welcome us one glorious day into His everlasting kingdom… or banish us from His presence. Our forever home is not and never can be here on earth. One day, at the brink of eternity, we will all stand before His judgment throne, and our citizenship will either be in heaven or hell. Let’s be diligent to lay up our treasures where they rightfully belong. In our true forever home....

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Sliver Mustard's journey

Perhaps as many as a million people lived in Noah's Grove. A thriving community, it had begun small but had grown over decades and centuries. Children were born, grew up and had more children. Farms dotted the surrounding countryside and buildings edged the skyscape. Markets with fresh produce were held every Tuesday and Friday. Housewives milled about stands filled with round cabbages, bright yellow carrots, leafy greens and the like. And there were, as in all towns, the rich and the poor, the beggars and the bag ladies as well as the ones whose pockets were filled with clinking coins, the shy and the forward, the meek and the proud. The mayor of Noah's Grove was a portly man. Well-fed and financially secure, he possessed the gift of persuading people he was the right man for his job. Amiable, he ambled through the cobble-stoned streets greeting both children and adults alike. He wore a great, heavy golden chain about his neck, a chain much admired by the younger population of Noah's Grove. The head of the police in Noah's Grove was very much respected and recognized by all. Perhaps it was due to the fact that muscles rippled through the lining of his shirt. He wore a star on the lapel of his blue jacket. His broad jaw embosomed law and order and commanded obedience. Then there was the local judge – a man venerable and full of years. Grey-headed, thinning hair partly covered by a fur-lined beret, he walked upright - shoulders erect. His green eyes were so piercing that people avoided his glance. They were convinced that his eyes might ferret out every little misdeed they had committed. But he was only a human as they were human - and, as such, he was also prone to sin. There were also the bankers, the bakers, the butchers and the candlestick makers; the soldiers, the sailors and the craftsmen; and the list of Noah's Grove citizens could run on and on and on. An honest man Sliver Mustard, a street cleaner, was also a resident of Noah's Grove. A tiny seedling of a man, shriveled and old, he resembled the broom he perpetually held in his hands. It was his job to sweep some of the sidewalks and the streets of the town. He didn't look up much while he was cleaning, as he was always searching the ground for dust, for dirt, for any sort of refuse. He was a kindly type of fellow, an honest man, for whenever he found anything he considered to be of value, he would pick it up and knock at the door of the house in front of which he had been sweeping. "Pardon me. Have you lost this?" he would ask, holding up the particular object he had just found. Mostly people would glance at the item for an instant before shutting the door in his face. The recovered items were mostly trinkets, baubles, and in Sliver Mustard's rough, grimy hands they usually appeared rather dirty and worthless. Sometimes a small child would remember and recognize a lost necklace, or a toy and a smile of happiness would cross a little face as an eager hand reached for the article the sweeper held up. And in these rare moments the street sweeper felt as if he had performed a singular service which somehow outshone the stars he so admired at night. He sometimes wondered at the possibility of a star falling down from the sky into his gutter. Would he then be able to knock on the gate of heaven and ask God if He had lost it? Then, pondering upon this possibility, he would smile to himself, smile almost shyly, knowing in his heart that such a thing could not be. Who was he to return a thing to the Creator? For were not all things His? Invitations go out The letter carrier brought invitations one day - invitations from His Majesty, the King, for all the citizens of Noah's Grove. The content of these invitations was the same for everyone and commanded citizens to present themselves to be painted by the greatest artist of all times - Mr. Potter. The envelopes containing the invitations were deposited into the various mailboxes around town. Slipped into the black, open-mouthed slots, they were retrieved first by one person, then by another. Word traveled quickly. "You'll never believe who contacted me...." "I received a personal word from ...." The street sweeper heard the town's folk talk, listening as he swept out the gutters and cleaned the grey-mouthed cracks in the sidewalks. He was glad that the widow on the corner of Church Street had received a notice. She frequently smiled at him and was a kind woman. Sliver Mustard also rejoiced when a simple-minded fellow, a lad who helped the blacksmith at the forge each day, was ecstatically waving about an envelope. Sliver Mustard did not expect an invitation for himself. In the first place, he had no mailbox, and in the second place, what interest could Mr. Potter possibly have in him? Indeed, even if Mr. Potter did know him, why would he want to paint an old, grizzled geezer like himself – dusty, dirty and quite, quite unattractive? Yet there it was when he came home that evening. Outlined white and pure on the faded blue tablecloth of the kitchen table, it made every object in the one-room shanty flow with warmth. Sliver Mustard gingerly wiped his right hand on his pants, thereby making it even dirtier than it had been. Picking up the envelope between his thumb and forefinger, he carried it over to the chair and sat down. For a long while he did not move. He simply held onto the unexpected pleasure. It seemed to him this was enough. That he had been remembered - this was beyond belief. Finally, mustering up all his courage and strength, he opened the envelope. Or perhaps, the envelope opened itself in his hands. Later on, he could not quite remember. Fully expecting the note to read along the lines of "Sliver Mustard, perhaps next time I come to town...." or "Sorry, Sliver Mustard, but you do not meet the qualifications as I have set them...." But he read no such lines; he didn't read anything of the sort. The words that Sliver Mustard read were these: "This is to ask Sliver Mustard to present himself as he is, tomorrow afternoon, at three of the clock, at the hill." One shirt, no dryer Sighing deeply, Sliver Mustard leaned back in his chair. He had sat up straight for the reading of the letter but the words overwhelmed him. He stretched out his feet in front of him. He only owned one shirt, a shirt which he rinsed out every Saturday night, hung out to dry and put on again on Sunday morning. He bathed weekly in a nearby creek. There was hardly time to perform these ablutions now. As he contemplated his options, he knew that he had none. Sliver Mustard both longed and feared to go. He sat in the chair all of that night, dozing and waking at intervals. He sat as the dark hours crept by and as the light of morning dawned through the small window in the kitchen. Sliver Mustard still swept the streets that morning. It was his job after all. It was what the town was paying him to do and it would not be proper for him to neglect that job. Promptly at twelve he stopped, and, carrying the broom over his shoulder, headed home. He brushed his hair, regretted the ownership of a hat and rubbed a rag over his shoes. Then he washed his hands at the sink and ran a washcloth over his face. It was time to go. There was no doubt about it. It would never do to keep Mr. Potter waiting. Force of habit made him pick up his broom. Outside, Sliver Mustard trailed, by several miles, all the other people from town also going in the same direction. They were far ahead and he could just make out the glint of the mayor's chain as it shone in the noonday sun. He did appear to be last for when he turned his head, he could see no one behind him. As he walked, he noted with a bit of alarm, that it was later than he had thought. Picking up his steps, he pondered on the pitiful figure he must cut. Perhaps the invitation had been a mistake. But it had read, in unmistakably clear printing, "This is to ask Sliver Mustard to present himself as he is.... With a flower in his buttonhole The sun shone down hotly on Sliver Mustard's body and he began to sweat. Trudging on through what appeared to be endless stretches of road, he felt his shirt cling damply to his body. What a wretched figure he was! He sincerely wished that he was wearing a chain such as the mayor had. Not a gold chain - that would be a presumptuous thing for which to wish. But a metal chain, an inexpensive chain, one that would also glint and shine a bit. Surely the mayor, leading all the folks in Noah's Grove towards Mr. Potter, was a fine sight to behold - dapper and upright. He glanced at the fields around him and noticed a broken lily at the side of the road. Undoubtedly someone from town in his haste to see Mr. Potter had trampled on it. Stooping down, he picked the flower up. There was no door on which to knock and ask if someone had lost it. There was only a field of flowers. For a moment he was enthralled. How beautiful these flowers were! Dressed as the Creator had seen fit to dress them. "Have you lost this...?" He smiled and carefully put the lily in the buttonhole of his dirty shirt. No chain, but surely this was just as good. But as Sliver Mustard trudged on, the thought that Mr. Potter would be unimpressed with him weighed him down more and more. Surely, he would have to be! He fingered the frayed cuff of his sleeve. And for a moment he coveted the star embroidered jacket that the head of the police would be wearing. Still, he reflected a minute later, it would be hot walking in such a uniform jacket today. Sliver Mustard stopped to contemplate. And as he stopped, a bird alighted in his shoulder. It was a sparrow. A lily and a sparrow! What strangeness was this? There was no house here – no house at which he could ask "Excuse me, but have you lost this sparrow?", and he was secretly glad of it. Sliver Mustard kept on walking, embellished with a flower and a bird. "Clothes make the man." That's what people were wont to say and he understood that saying and sentiment. But was it true? Mr. Potter had not said it in his invitation. The words in Mr. Potter's invitation read, "This is to ask Sliver Mustard to present himself as he is, tomorrow afternoon, at three of the clock, at the hill." Clothes make the man? As he pondered, Sliver Mustard almost tripped over several clods of earth in his path. His scuffed shoes kicked the mud unintentionally and they flew ahead of him. Surely, most of the town's people had reached the hill by this time – had reached it clean and well-dressed. Would Mr. Potter be able to paint all of them simultaneously? He sighed and bent down, taking a rag out of his pocket as he did so, fully concentrated on rubbing a bit of a shine back onto his shoes. The lily touched his face as he bent and the sparrow chirped. "Why, Sliver Mustard?!" Startled, he looked up, finding himself face to face with the mayor, flanked by the police chief and the judge. How could he not have seen them coming? "On your way to the hill, Sliver? He nodded. The mayor's chain glinted, glinted so that it hurt Sliver Mustard's eyes. "You need not bother, Sliver," the mayor went on in a kindly sort of way. "You need not bother to go on to the hill." Sliver Mustard was puzzled as he stood up, stuffing the rag back into his pocket. What did the mayor mean? "Mr. Potter," the mayor continued, his voice heating up, "wanted me to take off my chain and my robe of office. Can you believe that? He wanted me to be painted without the symbols that define me. He told me to take them off." Dumbly Sliver Mustard shook his head. The police chief and the judge had walked on without bothering to speak and the mayor began to follow them. **** For a long time Sliver Mustard watched them - he watched them until they disappeared around a bend in the road. Then he turned. He smelled the lily and it was a sweet smell to him. He heard the sparrow on his shoulder sing and it was a song of fullness. In his heart he believed the words of the invitation, and he could see the words as clearly as if they had been written across the wide, wide overhead sky. "This is to ask Sliver Mustard to present himself as he is, tomorrow afternoon, at three of the clock, at the hill." So Sliver Mustard went on and on. At three of the clock he reached the hill. The watchman at the gate opened the gate and drew him in. And Sliver Mustard was painted as he was. Christine Farenhorst is the author of many books, including a short story collection/devotional available at Joshua Press here. She has a new novel – historical fiction – coming out Spring 2017 called “Katharina, Katharina” (1497-1562) covering the childhood and youth of Katharina Schutz Zell, the wife of the earliest Strasbourg priest turned Reformer, Matthis Zell....

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Fun is something you make

11 tips for family road trips ***** “Bored” is a curse word in our house. Say that word, and my mom is liable to wash your mouth out with soap. ...

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Our family’s trip to the Ark

Ken Ham’s creationist organization Answers in Genesis has built a life-size replica of Noah’s Ark in the State of Kentucky. These Christians are p...

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“It’s only a dollar!” – on bingos and raffles

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If businesses tithed

Christians are familiar with the Biblical principle of tithing, and support many kingdom causes as a matter of course. They apply the principles of Ga...

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Little Free Libraries can be a big deal

If you have a (too) well-stocked home library of good Christian books, but you still want to keep stocking it, start passing along your already-read titles to a local Little Free Library, which invites users to “leave a book; take a book.” What a great opportunity to share your favorite Christian authors with the neighborhood! And if you want to be subversive, the books you take when you leave a book can be the kind that you don’t want your neighbors to read. Take out the trash and leave them the treasure instead. It’s a service too, to put garbage into the garbage can. For instance, in my neighborhood’s Little Free Library, I gave up a copy of A.W. Tozer’s God and Men, in exchange for the bigger, but definitely not better, The Origin of Species – Charles Darwin’s kickstarter for the evolution movement – and dropped the latter into my little free wastebasket. On the other hand, more positively, to be more clearly salt and light in your neighborhood, include a bookmark in each book you donate, with suitable contact information and an invitation to email you, or, even better, to talk with you over coffee, about the book. If you want to start your own Little Free Library, check out LittleFreeLibrary.org....

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Write down your story

Sharing your history is sharing His story ...things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might, and the wonders that He has done. – Psalm 78:3-4. ***** There are half a dozen people in my group of older friends who have written their autobiography, or who are working on completing their life story in print. When someone commented “you should write some of those stories down” they responded! And that they did has benefits for both themselves and their children. How so? Writing might seem an artform slowly losing ground in a world of emoticons and AI-written essays. Fortunately, for some people, writing is still a joy to do, and an even greater pleasure to read again later. Young people who keep a daily journal can attest to this (except perhaps on their wedding day, when someone roasts them with readings from their journal pages). Words are like pictures in that they tend to bring back memories; good and bad. We can enjoy our own writing. And others’ words can place you in the shoes of someone dear to you. Imagine reading a story that your grandpa or grandma wrote many years ago. It helps you to understand who they are, and how they lived their life in those days, and perhaps even why they are the way they are. Writing history 37 years of Bram Vegter’s extended family’s chronicles, bound in some 15 volumes, there for children and grandchildren to enjoy Writing your family history doesn’t need to be a solitary effort. My Dutch family members started publishing our own chronicles in 1987 and kept it going (monthly, and later bi-monthly) until 2024. It was kept “in-house” which enabled us to write freely and openly, and we did. These 37 years of chronicles, which are bound in some 15 volumes (!), are wonderful to browse through and relive all the weddings, birth announcements, vacations, highlights and low points in the lives of my family members. These many years also cover the time when computers and phones were introduced, and you can imagine how things changed because of these and other incoming electronic devices. You can see the changes as you turn the pages, from the old typewriter font to a variety of new typefaces we could select from, and from photocopies to email. The printing press invented anew! Now the grandchildren browse through the pages and are elated when they find the page where their birth was being announced with joy! “Look Mom – this is when I was born!” And Mom looks at a relieved and tired face in a bed… with a tiny newborn on her tummy. Your story If you don’t have a family chronicle, you can take up the quill yourself. It takes just one to start. And the writing you do for your autobiography is your story. How and where it began. Someone who is reading your story sixty years later lives in quite a different era. To read about your younger years and how things were then, will partly explain who you are now! Your story can be so fascinating and encouraging for others who may not have lived close to you, or perhaps even lived in a different country. Different times, different settings, even a different church maybe. You may tell how it was when you were growing up, and these are beautiful word pictures for your descendants. “The times, they are a-changing” Bob Dylan sang years ago, and he wasn’t wrong. This is what makes a time capsule, in the form of an autobiography, so interesting. Some Vegter Dutch relations showing off their just-received copy of Bram’s own autobiography, Overdrive. And there is much to write about: your family, your siblings, your friends, your church activities, your school, your neighborhood, what it was like growing up there. And then of course, what you did after your studies: where you worked, or where you traveled to, what kind of things held your interest. And for those who got married, how did you meet your better half? Explain to readers yet to be born how that went, and what has the “I do” meant to you before your spouse, and before God? We often say so little about that, and these can be fascinating, fun and encouraging stories. Especially for a new generation growing up in a time when marriage is becoming less common. Then you probably want to write a bit about what you have done in life, how you have filled your time with work, perhaps some volunteer work and hobbies. Many of these move to the background as you get older, but they were once front and center in your life! They kept you occupied, and (grand)children want to read about them. What made you tick? His story! Ultimately, whatever you write will be His story, as God has put together your life. In the beginning, when you were just getting started, it was perhaps a bit of a puzzle; maybe you had trouble seeing where He had you heading, and how all the pieces would fit in. Often later in life you recognize God’s hand more and more, and you begin to see how His plans for you came together… though when the picture of your life will be complete, only God knows. It is so beautiful to pass on to (grand)children what you have gone through, how you trusted God in uncertain times, and how God often gave more than He promised you. His goodness, His grace, and His faithfulness are often more fully understood later in life, so your story can encourage younger people still figuring it out. It is also good to relate some of the foolish things you did when you were young, and how God forgives the sins of our youth (Ps. 25:7). Often, when people become older, they tend to reminisce and look back on their life. They may regret some of the things they did when they were young. Be honest about that (without sharing all the details) and tell your children you were once (and still are) far from perfect. Then rejoice together in God’s love and forgiveness! In these days, it has also become much easier to share information with each other. Many families now share a WhatsApp account to regularly keep in touch with each other. This is beautiful, but it misses the rich spiritual heritage of the past. There is still nothing like really writing to help you reflect and remember. I want to end with the first Bible verse I ever wrote on a card to a friend. It is from Proverbs 3:6 and it says: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” God was there, also in my early teens. May we acknowledge Him, even to our children’s children! So, start your Word doc today, 8.5x11 will be just fine. Write your story down – for your family....

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Don’t follow your heart

When it comes to finding true happiness, do the opposite of what culture says ***** Making the happiness crisis in America even worse, especially for young people, are completely wrong diagnoses. What’s needed to increase happiness is not more money, more stuff, or more “authenticity.” As Dr. Thaddeus Williams explains in his book Don’t Follow Your Heart, at the root of our problem is the terrible advice about how to achieve happiness that’s been repeated across our culture for over a decade now. Here’s Dr. Williams to explain: “For years my children and I have played a game together called Spot the Lie. If they can identify a false idea in whatever we happen to be watching, they earn one dollar. When she was nine years old, my daughter Holland (‘Dutch’ for short) came cheerfully bounding down the stairs, saying, ‘You owe me another dollar!’ ‘What did you find this time, Dutch?’ ‘The commercial told me I should follow my heart,’ she answered. ‘Okay, so where’s the lie?’ I asked. Her answer, and I recall it verbatim, was, ‘Daddy, I don’t want to follow my own heart. My heart is fallen. I’d way rather follow God’s heart.’ Cue the proud daddy tears. Let’s just say she earned five dollars for that one. “Some may think, What a shame—he’s indoctrinating that poor girl. The opposite is true. I’m trying to make a heretic out of her. I want her to question and ultimately rebel against the doctrines of our day. According to Barna, 84% of Americans believe the ‘highest goal of life is to enjoy it as much as possible,’ 86% believe that to be fulfilled requires you to ‘pursue the things you desire most,’ while 91% affirm that ‘the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself.’ It was Apple cofounder, black turtleneck enthusiast, and former Pixar chairman Steve Jobs who publicly declared, ‘There is no reason not to follow your heart.’ “Let’s resist the propaganda of expressive individualism of our day and answer the late Steve Jobs with four good reasons not to follow our hearts. “First, our hearts are too dull. Validating our every feeling might be exhilarating at first. Yet we end up as what David Foster Wallace called ‘lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation.’ Looking inside our hearts does not give us limitless freedom so much as a bad case of claustrophobia. Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that our hearts are fascinating. But compared with following the heart of God, our hearts hold all the thrill of a prison cell. “Second, our hearts are too dithering. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said one never steps in the same river twice because it is always flowing. Our hearts, too, are in constant flux. Some hearts may be as turbulent as the Ganges in monsoon season, and others move like molasses on a cold day, but all human hearts are in motion. What God says is true about his image bearers is infinitely more trustworthy than whatever our fallen feelings say from one moment to the next. If we don’t want to end up in a chronic identity crisis, we shouldn’t take our flowing feelings at their word; take God at His. His joyous verdict about us is trustworthy and solid as stone. “Third, our hearts are too divided. In The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis said, 'Telling us to obey Instinct is like telling us to obey people. People say different things: so do instincts. … Each instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense of all the rest.' Even Buddy Pine, the supervillain Syndrome from The Incredibles, gets the point. 'You always say, "Be true to yourself,’" Pine complains to his former idol, Mr. Incredible, 'but you never say which part of yourself to be true to!' “Fourth, our hearts are too depraved. The call to automatic obedience makes sense only if we follow Rousseau in his dogma that 'there is no original perversity in the human heart,' or Joel Osteen in his teaching that the 'heart is right.' The Bible offers us a humbling dose of realism. Jeremiah said, 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?' Ecclesiastes tells us, 'The hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live.' Given the sickness and insanity of our hearts, Proverbs 28:26 draws the blunt but correct conclusion: 'One who trusts in his own heart is a fool.' “Want to be miserable? Follow your dull, dithering, divided, and depraved heart. Want to find real joy? Take the wise advice of a 9-year-old, and follow God’s heart instead.” Dr. Thaddeus Williams is a professor at Biola University and author of numerous books on theology and culture, including Don’t Follow Your Heart and Revering God. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to Breakpoint.org. This is reprinted with permission from the Colson Center....

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How to write

…for Reformed Perspective ***** Everyone has at least one article in them – I’m convinced that’s true. It doesn’t matter who I’m talking to, they all have a story, some lesson, a piece of wisdom earned or received, that is so valuable they should feel obligated to share it with the rest of us (Ps. 71:17-18). Sure, we aren’t all writers, and yes, there are other ways of telling “the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord” (Ps. 78:4b). Sharing can happen via chats at church, over coffee, or in the car with the kids. Maybe you can start your own podcast – that could be brilliant too. But there is something about putting pen to paper and just pondering, what has the Lord been teaching me? And if it’s something you’d share with your spouse, friends, or kids, then couldn’t a few thousand others benefit too? You don’t even have to be the writer to get it down on paper – one of my favorite Reformed Perspective articles is Alice Kuik’s World War II remembrance “War through the eyes of a child,” as told to her writer friend Jane DeGlint. Together they crafted something that should be read every single Remembrance Day. The point is, we all have our God to glorify, and we all have a story to share, and pulling out your laptop and typing away might be a really good way of doing both. But what if you’ve never written much of anything before? Well, then you’re like the new homeowner who has to figure out for the first time how to get your shower draining like it should. There’s nothing to it but to start, turn to whatever advisors you might have at hand (“Hey dad, have you ever…?”), ask YouTube and ChatGPT for a few tips too, and then slog through until something works. Yes, there are master plumbers out there who could do it better, and master writers too – folks who can just churn out poetic, punchy stuff – but for the rest of us, it is just a matter of putting in the sweat and time. And I’m here to help too. While I can’t make it easy, I can make it easier. What follows are my own best tips, the same half dozen I’ve been sharing with aspiring writers, and repeating to myself every time I’ve run stuck, these last 25 years. I’m not sure I like the acronym (so if you think up an alternative let me know) but I’m going to run with it – let’s see if we can get your writing to pass the SMELLS test. 1) Specific detail (or, Show, don’t tell) If I told you that Wes Huff is a witty Christian apologist, you’d have to take my word for it. But what if I showed you? In his recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Huff explained why it’s not enough to respect Jesus as a great teacher: “I have a friend, Andy Bannister. He’s out in the UK, and he says if you take Christ out of Christian, all you’re left with is Ian. And Ian’s a great guy but he’s not going to save you from your sins.” Now, instead of just taking my word for it, you’re a witness – this guy is funny. Specific details like this key quote help a writer to show, rather than tell. Specific details that liven up your writing could include pertinent statistics (so long as it isn’t just dry data), on-the-ground facts, setting-the-scene descriptions, and the right biblical text. The key here is specificity. The difference between an insightful blog post read by only dozens and an insightful article read by thousands can come down to whether the writer is talking in generalities, or whether he is willing to dig up specific examples and illustrations and facts and figures. So, it’s one thing to say abortion is devastating and another thing entirely to say that it may account for 52% of all deaths worldwide. It’s one thing to say we are facing a demographic crisis, and another to explain, as Mark Penninga recently did, that “if we look at Italy, in just 30 years it is projected that 60 percent of Italians will have no brothers, no sisters, no cousins, no aunts, and no uncles.” It’s specific details that catch our attention and drive home the truth. 2) Murder your darlings In her latest book, Upheld, Christine Farenhorst remembers when her husband Anco was taking classes in veterinary school, and they were thankful for folks who’d take compassion on their poor student status and invite them over. The Pots were an example, but “rather impoverished themselves.” So when Mrs. Pot offered her a pastry, Christine was grateful for the treat. But after a few bites, she was horrified to discover her pastry was full of mold. Should she say something? The elderly woman was quite delighted with her own piece: “Isn’t it good? I’ll bet you haven’t eaten anything like this for a long time!” “Mrs. Pot beamed at me again and a patch of sunlight caught a faded spot of the carpet. I knew she considered both Anco and myself underfed, and had taken great pains to buy something special for us.” And so, Christine ate it all down as quickly as she could, and when asked whether she’d like another piece, she “croaked a trifle hoarsely” that no, she did not, “but it was delicious.” “ appeared very pleased with the comment, and I knew that my statement, strange as it sounded to my stomach, was Gospel truth to my heart.” I love this exchange, and since reading it I’ve wanted to use it in an article about how Christians’ love of the truth needs to be better understood. The point I want to make is that it would be no lie for a high school boys’ basketball team to identify as girls for one particular game against that team – the one with the “girl” with the 5 o’clock shadow who’s been dominating the women’s league. In trouncing that team, our boys would be highlighting the truth that men are not, and cannot become, women. I wanted to use Christine’s story because here too, a lie is no lie at all – the cake was both disgusting and also delicious; stomach-churning, and heart-warming all the same. But try as I might, I can’t make Christine’s story fit smoothly. It is a fantastic story, but to include it and explain its relevance will only complicate things, distracting from my point, rather than illustrating it. And so, for my purposes, I need to cut it (though in Christine’s book, it is perfectly placed). This is what G.K. Chesterton meant when he said “Murder your darlings” (or was it Faulkner?). Every line and paragraph in your piece has to advance your plot or argument. If it doesn’t, it can’t matter how much you like that passage – how well written it is, or how funny – it needs to go. So yes, you must be able to “murder” your favorite lines, paragraphs, and examples. 3) Evocative God’s Word is evocative – He calls us to not only hear, but to live out what He’s told us (Matt. 7:24-27; James 1:22-25). That’s what we want in RP articles too – there needs to be a call to action. The reader should not, once the conclusion is consumed, be able to simply file this away for information. We are trying to pass along wisdom, not just knowledge, so an article has to evoke a response: it needs to become wisdom used. 4) Lead (or lede) line The most important sentence in your article is the first one, with the second almost as much so – if you don’t grab readers right from the start, flipping the page is really easy to do. That’s why your lead line and lead paragraph have to start things off with a bang and it’s also why I spend the bulk of my editing time on just the first few lines of each article. What’s the key to a good lead? A question can draw a reader in – here are examples from the last couple issues: • How do you buy a house when you are 19? • Want to reduce your chances of being depressed? A pithy quote (both, again, from last issue) can also be a strong start: • “How we see is who we be.” – a wise pirate • “The public school has become a counter-church” – Abraham Kuyper And a solid standby is to begin with an anecdote – pull us in with a story. But while there are all sorts of tricks, it’s really about effort. Flip through a few RP issues and study how each article begins, and jot down the openers you like best. Then figure out what you liked about them. Grab a Christian Renewal or your local paper, pull up your news feed, and start collecting the best beginnings. Learn by just opening your eyes to the writing you are reading every day. 5) Less is more Blaise Pascal quipped this apology in one of his articles: “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter." Brevity takes time, but it’s key to readability. If you could have said it in two pages but take four, you either won’t get your article accepted in the first place, or your double-stuffed piece will get half the readership it might otherwise have. So a key to good writing is to be a good editor who can cut away all the fluff and confusion. Fortunately, if you are a reader (as every writer should be), you have all the makings for being a pretty decent editor – you can already tell when something is wordy, confusing, or repetitive. So get your first draft down, put it away for a week, and then with fresh eyes get to cutting, cutting, and more cutting. 6) So and but, not and Not all your paragraphs should begin with “so” or “but” – that would get repetitive fast –but it’d be good if it was at least possible. These are transitional words that show there’s a tight linkage from one paragraph to the next. In contrast, if you could only begin a paragraph with “and,” it would indicate that this paragraph isn’t all that connected to what came before it. You can test that out on this article, and here are some sentences that illustrate the same point: • I ordered a chicken burger and an egg salad so I could see which came first. • I tried to write a joke about procrastination but I never got around to it. With “so” and “but” the second part of the sentence is responding to the first. We end up with what’s basically a very short story, and that’s great because stories are great. But substitute the word “and” in either case and you just have a series of unrelated events. I ordered a chicken burger, and I ordered an egg salad, and I could see which came first. If that’s how your article sounds, you need to work on your transitions, tightening up your story or argument so it’s clear how it flows from one paragraph to the next. Conclusion This SMELLS Test is just a half dozen tips that should be taken for the helpful suggestions they are intended to be, and not as some sort of unbreakable rules. Shucks, sometimes these tips conflict. For example, in writing up Tip #2, I wanted to use some “specific detail” to “show rather than just tell” what it would look like to have to “murder your darlings.” All that showing meant it became one of my longer tips, ignoring Tip #5, that “Less is more.” However, in this case I judged that more was more. Some of these tips are more important than others, and #3 is a big one, so I don’t want to end without issuing my own “evocative” call to action. So, how about it? Will you seriously consider writing for RP? Yes, not everyone is a writer… but it sure does seem like we’re all storytellers, and that’s almost the same thing. If you’ve got a story you’ve just had to share with all your kids or grandkids, or if you’ve been sharing business tips or marriage, parenting, mentoring, and general life lessons, how about sharing them with a few thousand more? If God has gifted you a lesson, pass it on. We’re not all writers… but that doesn’t mean we can’t be. ***** You can send your queries or articles to [email protected] and I’ll try to get back to you within two business days. If you want to dig deeper into the topic of writing as a Christian, you can’t go wrong buying a copy of Marvin Olasky’s “Reforming Journalism,” which offers all sorts of thoughts and lessons. For more tips in a much shorter format, see ReformedPerspective.ca/write-for-RP....

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Life in bloom: The gift of flowers

“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”...

Adult non-fiction, Assorted, Book Reviews

Necessary Endings

Finding the courage to let go in business, church, and family ***** Why did my dad’s tomatoes and cucumbers always flourish? I used to think it ma...

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The peculiar blessings of Covid

God used even this evil for good ***** In the early spring of 2020, Christian pastors from across Alberta sat on a telephone townhall with Alberta P...

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More time to pray

Martin and Christina Veenstra on retirement in your nineties ***** Little did Christina Veenstra know, more than six decades ago, that meeting her f...

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Christians don’t retire

Retirement is unbiblical. Before you think that I’m accusing everyone over the age of 65 of unbiblical behavior, let me lay out the case for why Reformed Christians should be wary of the concept of retirement. God created men and women to work – He placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to “work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). This was an application of the cultural mandate to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion” (Gen. 1:28). Although the fall into sin made work toilsome (Gen. 3:17-19), God continues to call each and every person to work and to labor for His Kingdom. Now, this work is not just paid employment. Paid employment is work, but caring for children is work too. Doing chores inside the house and out in the yard is work. Volunteering is work. Serving and ministering to others is work. Going hard six days a week Throughout our entire lives we are called to work six days of every week, with the gift of regular rest on every seventh day. And Scripture is full of rebukes for those who shirk work. Proverbs calls upon the sluggard to consider the industrious ways of the ant (Prov. 6:6-11). In the parable of the talents, Jesus condemns the servant who buried his talent in the ground, exclaiming, “You wicked and slothful servant!” (Matt. 25:26). In 2 Thess. 3:11-12, Paul warns against idleness, having heard that some “walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” Beyond just providing for ourselves and our families, a Christian is also called to “labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Eph. 4:28). We are called to work as we are able, for the good of ourselves, our neighbors, and ultimately for the glory of God. Worldly view of retirement But our wealthy, twenty-first-century culture has invented the concept of retirement from work. Public policy and cultural expectations encourage people to work until they are 64 years and 364 days old and then quit working entirely on their 65th birthday. From that day on, our culture promises that life can be one of leisure, full of exotic vacations, games of golf, and doting on grandchildren. It is some sort of horrible, evil thing if people have to work past 65. It is this caricature of retirement that I suggest is unbiblical. There is no biblical precedent for retiring from work or picking an arbitrary age to stop serving in the Kingdom of God. Perhaps some will push back and say that rest is good and biblical. And so it is. But perpetual rest on this side of glory is not. The fourth commandment, although the emphasis is on rest, still commands “six days you shall do all your work.” That is the pattern that God gave from creation. Our eternal rest doesn’t start when we reach the age of 65. That rest is only to be found in the life to come. From one line of work to another And so, to those who are retired from their paid employment or whose retirement is on the horizon, Reformed Christians should encourage each other to look around for ways to consider laboring in God’s Kingdom as they are able. Perhaps that is paid employment. Perhaps that is looking after grandchildren. Perhaps that is serving more in the church or volunteering in the community. (And it is worth repeating as you are able. The diminished health and energy of old age can and do limit opportunities for service.) There are any number of suggestions for service that could be made, so I’ll just make one from my personal experience. This is for the older men in the church. My home church in Abbotsford is very blessed to be a young congregation. It is literally overflowing with families and young children. As beautiful as that is, it comes with challenges too. One of those challenges is that many of the potential office-bearers are young and haven’t served as office-bearers before. I just finished my first term as a deacon and, aside from one experienced brother, the other five of us were first-time office-bearers in our twenties and thirties. We all served to the best of our abilities, but doubtless our youth and inexperience shone through many times. It is in situations like these that retired office-bearers have a perfect opportunity to mentor, advise, and encourage younger office-bearers, perhaps going along on visits, joining with a younger office-bearer in prayer over his task, sharing book recommendations, or offering their expertise and advice on difficult situations. The opportunities for service throughout retirement are endless. But the central point is that we view our entire lives as devoted to service of the Kingdom of God. Not just our first 65 years....

Assorted

On the Truth, and the cost of lies

"Remember: one lie does not cost you one truth but the Truth" - Hebbel **** It seems that truth is bendable - it has become elastic during the last decades. People can twist and turn it any which way they want, especially if they have a good lawyer. "Guilty or not guilty?" "Not guilty." "Have you ever been to prison?" "No, this is this is the first time I’ve been caught stealing.’ Surely truth is a question which has plagued mankind for centuries. The question of what, exactly, truth is, has been particularly in the headlines during the last year. There are those times in which we do not speak the truth in order to shield others from something. The Bible records incidents in which people did not speak the truth and two incidents immediately come to mind: the first deals with the protection of the small Jewish babies by the Hebrew midwives (Ex. 1:15-21). The second recounts the hiding of the Jewish spies sent to search out the land for the Israelites (Joshua 2). Incidents such as these remain relevant to the present times. We have only to think of the Second World War during which time many Christians hid Jewish refugees. **** My husband and I had such an incident in our lives as well. It had not nearly the magnitude of life and death to it, but it does illustrate the fact that things are not always black and white. A few years after my husband’s graduation from the Ontario Veterinary College, we had our third child. An aunt of my husband’s, Tante Til, had come over from Holland to help me out for a week or two. She was cheerful, lively and a bastion of cleanliness. We enjoyed having her around. Tante Til had a wonderful sense of humor but she also had a passion for sterilizing whatever came within her reach. Perhaps this was because she mistrusted my husband’s close daily contact with stables and their inhabitants and distrustfully eyed the mud caked to his large rubber boots. Tante Til was “proper” and would never dream of letting a soup bowl function as a cat dish or using her handkerchief to wipe away a cobweb. Tante Til was not extremely fond of animals and the kitten, dubbed “Little Grape” by our two girls, had to stay out of her way. The litter box was vies (dirty), and my husband was delegated the task of cleaning it while I was in the hospital. He gladly did so. We had, I am ashamed to say, acquired the habit of cleaning out the litter box with something I had never found much use for – a silver salad fork – somehow failing to inform Tante Til of this rather disreputable habit. The fork lay in a secluded corner on the kitchen counter. It was a dirty black because I hated cleaning silverware, finding it a useless chore when it would only get dirty again. Besides that, we had lots of stainless steel. One of my first nights home from the hospital, Tante Til cooked us a special dinner - mashed potatoes, vegetables, pork chops, applesauce and salad. It looked and smelled delicious. As we sat down and bibs were tied around the girls’ necks, Tante Til shone with goodwill. "Nou, eet maar lekker, jongens! (Eat hearty, guys!)" We prayed and then began to put the food on our plates. It never hit us until my husband began scooping some lettuce onto his plate. He suddenly realized that he was holding the silver salad litter fork. Only the fork was not holding cat litter but green salad. His second scoop, therefore, hung in mid-air. He caught my eye and I grinned at him. He didn’t grin back. "Good salad, isn’t it, sweetheart?" I said wickedly. "Dank je (Thank you)," Tante Til beamed. "Zal ik jou ook wat geven? (Shall I give you some too?)" "No, thank you," I answered virtuously, "it might give the baby gas." My husband ate around the salad on his plate as Tante Til explained in detail how she had cleaned the fork she had found on the counter and wasn’t it nice and shiny now? "Je moet je zilver wat vaker poetsen hoor, kind (You should polish your silver a little more often, dear.)" She gave me a sidelong glance but smiled tolerantly for wasn’t I a young mother with a great deal to learn? I cannot recall whether or not my husband ate the salad on his plate, but I do know that we never told Tante Til what the salad fork had actually been used for. "I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare," said Montaigne. **** Most incidences in daily life, however, call for plain, unadulterated truth - truth you should never shy away from. A number of years ago, during a snow-infested January day, I noticed a car slide to a stop behind a snowbank in front of our house. Our driveway was engorged with snow and I watched to see if the driver of the car would wade her way into it or head for our neighbor’s house. She turned into our driveway. It was a slow process, getting to our door, but it gave me time to put the kettle on, arrange some cookies on a plate and finally, wipe a few hands and noses while giving instructions on good behavior. When I looked through the window again, the woman was only about three quarters way up the driveway. I walked to the door, opened it and smiled a welcome. The woman was small and carried a briefcase. I did not know her. She smiled back and her funny, black hat tilted in the wind. "Why don’t you step in for a minute?" I said, fully confident that this tiny lady was lost and in need of directions and a hot cup of tea to warm her up. "Bad weather." The short, terse statement was carried by a strong voice, albeit a strong voice with a quaver. I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. She pulled off her gray, leather gloves and began opening her briefcase in the kitchen. A watchtower tract fell on the ground. I bent simultaneously with her and we almost bumped heads. She reached the pamphlet first and picking it up, held it out towards me. "No, thank you." My words came automatically. The pamphlet quivered. The hand that held it was blue-veined and old. "It’s free," she said, mistaking my refusal to take it with fear of having to pay for it. I shook my head. "I know." She put the tract back into her briefcase. The kettle was boiling and I turned to unplug it. Her voice followed me to the counter. "The world has many problems." My oldest son toddled into the kitchen and smiled at her. I walked past him and said, "It’s a good thing that Jesus Christ came into the world." She nodded, her little hat nodding with her. "Jesus was a good man." I both agreed and disagreed. "He was a good man," I said, "a perfect man, yes, but He was and is also God." She smiled and answered, "How could He be both at the same time?" Shaking her head, she laughed at what appeared to be a foolish and impossible notion. And when I persisted in speaking of the Triune God, she gave up and put her gloves back on while two of my children fingered her briefcase. With her gloved hands she pulled the small, black hat firmer onto her wet, gray hair and then opened the door. The wind blew swirls of snow into the foyer as she stepped back outside. I watched her go, the snow filling in her plodding steps almost as soon as she lifted her feet. And a few minutes later there was no trace to show that she had been by. Pascal said, "Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth." **** Providentially not only the liars are in the news. The January 30, 1999 issue of World magazine records that a man by the name of Daniel Crocker confessed to murder. Daniel Crocker, who at that time was thirty-eight years old, was sentenced to twenty to sixty years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in ten years. The unusual aspect of Mr. Crocker’s case is that he was living free and easy, with a wife and two children in Chantilly, Virginia. He had committed the murder twenty years previously, smothering a nineteen-year-old girl with a pillow following an attempt to rape her. However, his Christian conscience, following his conversion later in life, would not let him alone. Compelled by the Holy Spirit, he confessed his murder and was consequently tried and convicted. Mr. Crocker and his wife, Nicolette, reportedly were able to pray together twice before the sentencing. Mrs. Crocker said that their two children, Isaac, 6 and Analiese, 9, who were not at the trial, "know what Daddy’s doing is right." Mr. Crocker apologized tearfully to his family "for embarrassing and shaming them" and to the relatives of Tracy Fresquez, his victim. Mr. Crocker submitted, at this point in his life, to the Truth. And that Truth, even though he is a murderer, will set him free. **** According to the NIV Exhaustive concordance, the word truth is used 224 times in the Bible. One of the phrases recurring throughout Jesus’ ministry reads, "I tell you the truth." When the truth of the Bible is compromised, there is no sweet, roundabout way to avoid conflict. Emerson aptly said, "God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both." Although in this phrase the word choice smacks a bit of arminianism, the fact remains that you cannot have both truth and repose. A lot of people today, however, are convinced that you can have both, never realizing that they have thereby lost their hold on Truth. Although they might agree with Mark Twain’s quote, "Truth is the most valuable thing we have", they subconsciously go one step further with him when he adds, "Let us economize on it." But there is no way to economize on the Truth of creation; there is no way to economize on the Truth of headship; there is no way to economize on the Truth of God’s judgment on homosexuality; and there is no way to economize on the Truth of being servants of one another in love and compassion. Because to economize on one principle does not cost merely one truth but the Truth. And only if you believe this Truth in your heart and confess this Truth with your mouth, shall you be saved. This is an abridged version of an article - "Remember: one lie does not cost you one truth but the Truth" - that first appeared in the June 1999 edition of Reformed Perspective....

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Why write?

You might not make a lot of money writing, but you can have an impact ***** It’s been said that all that is needed to become a writer is the strong desire to say something. Writing is simply taking your thoughts and research and organizing them on paper, or in your computer, or on your blog, to prove a point or tell a story. It may soothe someone’s soul, clear up a dispute, record family history, challenge someone to live a more godly life, or simply brighten a person’s day with humor or appreciation. This issue marks the 20th anniversary of my first article in Reformed Perspective, and over the years I’ve had people ask me how they could get started in writing. Sometimes what they mean is, “How can I make money off of writing?” and the short answer is, that probably isn’t a good motivation to write… at least not for most of us. I heard at a Christian writers' conference that with most books you might only make about a dollar off each one, so unless someone famous promotes your book, you won’t earn much. Magazines pay a bit, and if you can get into one with a larger circulation, it will pay more. Newspapers may take articles on a volunteer basis, or give you $25 (for the 6 hours you spent on it!). But getting paid is only one reason for honing your writing ability. In her book The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Edith Schaeffer shared that she thought there was all sorts of “art found in the ordinary areas of everyday life.” “Each person has, I believe, some talent which is unfulfilled in some hidden area of his being – a talent which could be expressed and developed.” Schaeffer pointed out that the ability to write ought to be used to express our creativity and/or to bless others, and not just considered as a way to possibly earn money. She gave many examples of how one might use writing in daily life, such as letters of appreciation, explanation or persuasion; poems, anecdotes, adventure, humor, family history, or stories given as a gift. Writing also helps the writers themselves organize their thoughts and process their feelings – as one best-selling author put it, “I write to find out what I think.” This is true of journaling and of writing fiction, as it can aid you in processing your own thoughts and emotions through your characters. So how did I get started? Let me outline how it has progressed for me. Writing just for fun I discovered in grade school that I enjoyed writing. In 5th grade I wrote 50 stories in 6 weeks to earn an A, and a funny poem in 6th grade that was well-received by my classmates. In high school I found essays very easy to write. However, when I got to college, my previous attempts were deemed "average" and I was challenged to improve. My professor said, "Somebody has to write the books and tracts and magazine articles – why not you?" I kept that advice in mind over the years. When I taught English Grammar and Composition for 5 years, I honed my abilities while seeking to inspire my students as I had been inspired. My interest in writing didn't stop when I got married and had 6 kids. I found opportunities to write for various company and club newsletters for free. I wrote occasional poems for family members, and composed songs for my children. I wrote Sunday School lessons for little children. I also wrote a letter to the sellers of a house we dearly wanted to purchase – and that letter caused us to win the bid! I wrote three articles for free for our local newspaper, which turned out to be good listable experience on my résumé since the articles were posted online. I also attended Christian writers' conferences. These seminars provided advice, encouragement, and connections with seasoned writers and publishers. One thing led to another We cannot know what we might do that will lead us to something else. As far as paid writing goes, here is how my journey has progressed: In 2005, with high hopes, I sent an article to Reformed Perspective. After improvements, my first and second articles were published. Then I was on a roll, tackling numerous topics for my own column, entitled "Soup and Buns." An article about those earlier Sunday School lessons that I had written with a friend, led to an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in California hiring me to write a 2-year curriculum entitled “Bible Overview for Young Children” with matching topics for ages 2-6 and 6-9. Copies have been sold to churches, families, and Ladies' Bible Study groups and given to missionaries. In 2009, I published a book, a collection of Reformed Perspective articles, entitled Soup and Buns: Nourishment from God's Word for Your Daily Struggles. From 2010 to 2013 I began writing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) paragraphs for clients' websites. Each paragraph of 350-500 words paid from $3 to $9 each. I found the opportunities through Upwork.com and wrote about everything from credit cards to chicken recipes. After a month using Upwork.com, I bid on three requests for community newsletter articles in small towns about an hour away. Note: those freebie newspaper articles I wrote a few years back were the proof to this new company that I knew how to write. They got me the job! One thing led to another, and soon I was invited to apply for a full-time position as their Publication Manager. I have continued to write for Reformed Perspective, and occasionally for Una Sancta (a Free Reformed Churches of Australia publication) and New Horizons (the OPC denominational magazine). I have a new book entitled Life and Breath and Everything which contains over 50 articles first published between 2010 and 2024. Encouragement The best writing teacher I ever encountered assigned numerous projects to her 7th graders, and graded them only on content. She wanted them to express, explain, or exult, not be exasperated! Each student then chose their favorite 3 projects and cleaned up all the grammar and punctuation in them for their final grade. If you had a teacher that frightened you away from writing by marking you down for each misplaced comma and word on every project, don't think that you cannot write. Write. Express yourself! If someone else is going to see it, fix it up before you deliver it. Very rarely is a first draft perfect. Conclusion In Ecclesiastes 9:10, we read, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Schaeffer's book applies this to writing, but also to other forms of creativity, such as sketching, painting, cooking, gardening, or music. We all have God-given skills that can be used in our daily lives. The important thing is to start doing it, and then see where one thing might lead to another. Sharon's new book “Life and Breath and Everything” is available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Her first book “Soup and Buns” and her “Bible Overview for Young Children” are available by contacting her at [email protected]....

Assorted

How to be happier

Keep long lists, and short accounts ***** As I pad down the hallway to my home office, sometimes I’ll look down and remember that the laminate planking I’m walking on was laid down with the help of friends. I’m not the best with a hammer or saw, so while I did some of the sweating, my friends brought the skill. I was so very thankful at the time, and now whenever I remember it’s a warm feeling still. As of late I’ve been remembering these friends more often because of a curious book. It’s about a guy who set out to personally thank every person involved in getting him his morning brew. There’s the barista, of course, but a farmer had to grow the beans, and then there’s all the people in between – it turns out there are an astonishing number of people involved in a simple cup of coffee. Who picks the blend? How many are involved in the actual roasting? Someone had to design the lid (there’s quite some engineering to it), and then there’s the coffee cup sleeve – there wasn’t always a sleeve – and when we remember that coffee is about 1 percent beans and 99 percent water, then there’s a whole municipal water department to thank too. And who makes the pipes that carry the water? We haven’t even gotten into the boats and trucks involved and all the crews who man and make them. A long list to be thankful for This guy wanted to personally thank everyone involved but quickly realized that might amount to millions. So he narrowed it down to the one thousand most directly involved. G.K. Chesterton said that, “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude,” and this book was an eye-opener for just how many blessings I’ve been taking for granted. If thousands – millions – are involved in making a cup of coffee, how many could I thank for everything I find even on my short journey from bed to shower each morning? How many designers, engineers, miners, and factory workers were involved in making the Kindle that wakes us up each morning? And what about our bedding, the bedroom carpet, bathroom tiles and that long-shower necessity, our tankless water heater? I normally clomp past it all, but I could choose to start each day just looking around in amazement. As Chesterton reminds us, “gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” The author of this book is a sometimes-blasphemous atheist (which is why I’m not sharing his name - I don’t want to promote him) but even as an atheist he recognizes that his disposition to grumpy ingratitude isn’t good… for him. “…gratitude is the single-best predictor of well-being and good relationships, beating out twenty-four other impressive traits such as hope, love, and creativity. As the Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast says, ‘Happiness does not lead to gratitude. Gratitude leads to happiness.’” But why is thankfulness next to joyfulness? He doesn’t seem to know, but we do. God created us to glorify Him and then gave us innumerable reasons to do just that. And because He loves us, He so fashioned mankind that when we do what we were made to do, it is good for us. And He’s so gracious that even when we do a half measure, thanking the people around us, but forgetting the God Who made us, it is good for us still. Sometimes we need a Jordan Peterson or Elon Musk – someone outside the Church – to remind us of what we have, and what unbelievers don’t. I was struck by that here, when this author shared, “…I’ll occasionally start a meal by thanking a handful of people who helped get our food to the plate. I’ll say, ‘Thank you to the farmer who grew the carrots, to the truck driver who hauled them, to the cashier at Gristedes grocery story who rang me up.’” This fellow is “praying” to people he knows will never hear him because he feels such a need to express gratitude. To quote Chesterton again, “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.” When I look around the dinner table at the food that’s there once again, and the family gathered around, and when I really stop to think of all I’ve been given here, my heart can’t help but swell, but now there’s another blessing I can bring to my giving, loving Father – I can thank God that I can thank God! Keeping short accounts But if Christians have so much to be thankful for, why aren’t we more joyful? Why am I too often grumpy, sullen, and short to the people God has gifted me? Part of it is that we take so much for granted. We easily forget what we have, so there’s something to keeping a thankful journal. Around Thanksgiving each year my wife gets some notecards and encourages us each day to draw something we’re grateful for, and then we put the cards up on the hallway wall. It’s quite the display by month’s end. But even more of it is taking for granted the biggest gift we’ve been given: forgiveness. In his booklet How to Maintain Joy in Your Life, Jim Wilson shares how, upon his conversion, he experienced joy liked he’d never had chasing after the world’s substitutes. But as this Navy midshipman set out on his Christian journey, he found that joy diminishing. And it continued diminishing for the next three years. Sitting in the stateroom of an American destroyer stationed in the Sea of Japan, he was struck that for the 3 years since his conversion he hadn’t really been confessing his sins. Oh, sure, he’d confessed some sins, but there were many he hadn’t taken to God for all sorts of reasons. When he confessed his sins, God forgave him, and once again he started feeling that same joy. Guilt is a weight. But, thanks to Jesus, it’s one we don’t have to carry. Guilt is also God’s way of getting our attention. As it says in Hebrews 12:11: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Jim Wilson was trained by that discipline, but like the rest of us, he was a slow learner. “I would again disobey, get disciplined, and lose my joy. This time, instead of not confessing, I would confess after a while… ten hours, a week, 2 weeks.” Eventually he realized that he didn’t have to wait to confess his sins – he could “keep short accounts.” Then, instead of a series of ups when he was forgiven, and downs when he wouldn’t go to God (or at least not yet), he started to experience ongoing joy. “Sometimes I went for a while before confessing, but generally I would confess right away or within a couple of hours. I’m not saying I have not sinned in those years…. But I have a low tolerance for discipline. I do not like it. As long as I am unrepentant, the discipline stays on me, the hand of the Lord is heavy. I can remove the discipline of the Lord by repenting now.” For those of us who’d prefer to stay miserable, he concludes his booklet with a list of what you can do instead of confessing your sin. You can justify, excuse, or hide it. You can blame someone else, procrastinate, or stand on pride. A favorite for many is “generalization,” where you readily admit “mistakes were made” without really getting into the dirt of what you did. But tricking yourself doesn’t trick God, and you can’t enjoy Him if you are hiding from Him. Conclusion If you want to be happier, it isn’t complicated. Open your eyes wide, and see the world as it really is. There are troubles, but then there is God, and He continues to bless us beyond any measuring. And the biggest of those blessings is that we can know for certain – we can count on Him – that when we come to our Father with our sins, He will always and forever forgive. That’s got me a little verklempt but I can assure you, they are happy tears....

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Charlie Kirk in context

Many will condemn a man for an isolated sentence or two. Christians do it too. Instead, we should assess others just as we would like to be judged (Matt. 7:12).

“I don’t believe in empathy.”

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“If I see a black pilot, I am now going to wonder: Boy, I hope he’s qualified.”

"I think it's worth it. I think it's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."

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How to be happier