What If He Came To Beverly Hills Today?

Dear Friends,

Two thousand years ago a major celebrity came to town. Riding on a donkey. The multitudes cut down palm branches to spread on the road and cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:1-9 In the time of Jesus, the population of Jerusalem was about 30,000 people and the City of Beverly Hills is about that same size today. What if next Sunday (Palm Sunday), after doing miracle healing services all throughout California for three years, Jesus rode into Beverly Hills as a modern-day celebrity?

The first thing is that massive crowds would trigger an L.A. County Unified Emergency Response and law enforcement agencies from all over Southern California would be responding to Beverly Hills. People cutting down the palm tree fronds along Sunset Blvd and laying the branches in the road would be arrested for vandalism of City trees, littering, and obstructing traffic. 

If Jesus rode in on a donkey, P.E.T.A – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would be protesting against the cruel and inhumane use of a domestic animal for transportation purposes. Protesters would splash red paint on Jesus as punishment for violating the donkey’s rights and humiliating the animal by riding it. Jesus and the disciples would finally make their way to the Beverly Hilton where they would spend the week and on Thursday, celebrate Passover in the Upper Celebrity Suite. 

Trouble begins when a bishop from one of our largest mainline denominations, rebukes Jesus for using problematic patriarchal language when referring to God as “Father” and “He.” She calls Jesus a misogynist and demands He use their church’s politically-correct, gender-neutral terms for God such as: Holy Life Force, Higher Power, or Divine Being.

After Jesus appears on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” and announces that He is the only way to God, John 14:6 President Biden condemns the Islamophobic remarks of Jesus and the Department of Justice adds Jesus Christ to the domestic terrorist watch list. Former president Obama breaks his customary silence to once again remind us that Muslims and Islam were woven into the fabric of America and announces the title of his new book: “Dreams Of A Post-Christian America.” 

The following Tuesday, in a segment on CBS Mornings, Gayle King, invites Mary Magdalene, a Muslim Imam, a New Age Guru and a Wiccan Priestess to explore all of the various pathways to Heaven and greater spiritual enlightenment.

Dr Phil McGraw rushes to book the woman at the well on his show and surprises her by bringing on her five husbands. He confronts her with her past, and shows how she constructed Jesus as an imaginary, metaphoric father figure while she continues to seek reconciliation with her own father through destructive relationships with men.

In the news, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reports that Jesus’ healing miracles are fictitious stories invented by right-wing Republican politicians as an attack on the progressive’s “Medicare for All” plan, and on the MSNBC “Nightly” broadcast, Bill Nye the Science Guy presents a special report showing how a weather anomaly could have made it appear that Jesus walked on water. 

But the real trouble starts on Thursday morning when Jesus appears on “The View.” Jesus is asked about transgenders, gender non-conforming people and same sex marriages. Repeating His own words as recorded in the Gospels, He reminds them that God created “male and female” and describes marriage as being between a man and a woman. Mark 10:6-8 Joy Behar shouts, “That’s transphobic and homophob..” “WAIT!” Whoopi Goldberg interrupts. “Ten years ago we all believed that nonsense about marriage and gender but don’t you believe, Sir, that the Bible must be rewritten and changed to conform to what we believe today?” Jesus gently says, “Heaven and earth will disappear but my words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35 There’s outrage and pandemonium as Joy Behar screams an obscenity at Jesus and Whoopi Goldberg storms off the set. They cut to a commercial.

That night on ABC Nightly News, a self-described socialist politician denounces the words of Jesus as an example of the “Christian hate speech” that will no longer be tolerated in America. The clip from “The View” goes viral on social media, and on Friday morning, thousands of people with political signs stage a mass protest in front of the Beverly Hills Courthouse and yell, “Crucify Him..! Crucify Him..!”

Do you think that Jesus would be treated “better” or “worse” in today’s “woke” cancel culture than He was 2000 years ago? And, if the events of Holy Week took place today, perhaps even more importantly for us to consider is what would we do? Would we stand with Jesus to face the violent mobs or shrink back into the shadows to deny Him like Peter did? Matthew 26:69-75 

It’s comfortable for us to grab the hands of the person sitting next to us in church and pray for them, but are we comfortable grabbing the hand of a neighbor and praying for them on their front lawn? We sing praises to His Holy Name at church on Sunday, but are we ashamed to even mention His Name at work on Monday? Do we wear that cross around our neck on Sunday for our church friends to see but hide it in the jewelry drawer when we go shopping on Wednesday? It can be so easy to shout out “Hosanna in the highest” on Palm Sunday and so hard to even acknowledge our Christian faith when the hostile world is shouting “Crucify Him, Crucify Him” on Good Friday.. or a good Tuesday.. or a good Wednesday.. or a good Saturday..

When you read the above story, you may have laughed and cringed at the "truth" of it or you may now be angry at the satirical way in which our Nation’s media and culture have been depicted. But the fictitious story portrays the unprecedented attacks on the Christian faith in our Nation today by many in the media and in the political, educational and entertainment worlds. 

In response, we need to stand with the Son of God and not be ashamed of our faith. Jesus was the one true “celebrity” in the first century. He still is in the year 2023! And our world today needs Him more than ever...

SuperJesus!

Dear Friends,

When I was a little boy, Superman was my hero. I loved that TV show! Superman could fly through the air and catch Lois Lane as she was falling off the top of the building. He could use his super strength to lift a locomotive off of a pinned car. He could burrow through the ground using his body like a drill to rescue a little boy in a cave-in. He could use his X-ray vision to see what the bad guys were doing and use his super hearing to hear what they were saying. Superman stood for Truth, Justice and the American Way. He always used his powers not for his own benefit, but for others. But of course Superman was a fictional character. A fantasy. A fairy tale hero. And now today, in some countries, belief systems and even in some Christian denominations and churches, the miracles of Jesus Christ are no more real than Superman’s X-ray vision. To a growing number of those in our younger generations, the Son of God is just another fictitious super-hero.

The State Hermitage is the most famous of all Russian museums and is one of the world’s oldest. Located in Saint Petersburg Russia, it has one of the largest collections in the world of religious paintings by the old masters. The religious works of Michelangelo, El Greco, Rembrandt and many others just as well known are displayed in this museum. There is one famous painting by Rembrandt that is of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. The plaque on the painting reads, “The Fairy Tale of Jesus Christ Raising Lazarus From the Dead.” In fact, all the paintings that depict the miracles of Jesus in this government-run museum are labeled as “fairy tales.”

And sadly, there are many people in our own Nation who would agree with the Russian museum. Many in America’s progressive liberal church movement read their Bible and love the Lord. But their desire to conform to secularized  cultural beliefs about the Bible requires that they put the miracles of Jesus Christ into the category of “biblical fairy tales.” Some conservative Reformed churches do believe that Jesus and His disciples did perform miracles but conclude that all of God’s miracles ceased after the New Testament was written. They teach that a so-called “miracle” today is nothing more than our wishful thinking. 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever Hebrews 13:8 and the miracles of God are also unchanging. The early Church Fathers wrote extensively about the spiritual gifts and the miracles that were continuing in the ancient church. It wasn’t until 1500 years later that Protestant churches denied their existence. Miracles are defined as God’s intervention in the natural. It is not the hand of man that brings about a miracle. It is the sovereign super-natural power of God. And, despite what some churches teach, miracles happen every second of every day!

I was talking with a City attorney I know. We were talking about medical records and he told me about his mother. She is alive today, but she should have died when her son was six years old. That was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It had rapidly grown and there was a very large tumor in her breast. Her doctor told her it had to be operated on immediately or she would soon die as the cancer spread. That night before the surgery was to take place, she couldn’t sleep. She was going back and forth in her mind whether she should have the surgery or not. Her doctor had told her the cancer had advanced to the point where there was a good chance of her dying even if the surgery was performed. She tossed and turned not knowing what to do. Sobbing and crying out to God, she begged Him to tell her what to do about the surgery. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the front door. She looked at the clock and her heart began to pound. It was 2:30 am.

She opened the door and found the pastor of her new church standing there. He told her that God had woken him up and told him to go and pray for her and she would be healed. The pastor anointed her with oil and prayed for her healing and she went back to bed. The next morning she called her doctor and told him she was not going to have the surgery. She didn’t tell him about the pastor. Just that she was canceling her surgery. The doctor was angry with her and told her to come into his office the next day. She kept the appointment and the doctor was astounded. This very large tumor was gone. It had completely disappeared. That was when she told the doctor that the pastor had prayed for her healing. 

This took place about fifty years ago and this attorney’s mother is still alive and healthy today. She is in her nineties and never had a single tumor again. Her cancer didn’t go into remission. It disappeared as if it were never there! Not only did her doctor become a Christian believer after witnessing this healing miracle, but his entire staff also became Christians. The attorney’s mother has a Bible that the doctor gave her and tucked inside is a letter he wrote giving the details of the miraculous healing. 

During this season of Lent, we prepare to celebrate on Easter Sunday the most astounding, life-changing miracle the world has ever known. The Son of God risen from the dead is immutable and He is still our super miracle worker.

  

When I was young I used to marvel at Superman who could fly. Now that I’m older, I marvel at SuperJesus who can make a large cancerous tumor disappear from a woman’s breast overnight. Governments, atheists and some Christians call the miracles of Jesus “fairy tales” but the Word of God is not a fictitious fantasy, it’s real life. And in your real life and mine, that’s where we find our own Super-Hero. His name is Jesus Christ.  AMEN?

What's In Your Personal Witches Market?

Dear Friends,

A Monk tells of his Lenten pilgrimage around the world and describes the “el Mercado de las Brujas” (the witches market) in La Paz, Bolivia. The street is lined with shops and sidewalk stalls selling love potents and magic charms. Dried frogs that will attract money and make you wealthy. Differently-colored candles that release their unique magical powers when burned. Rows of dried llama fetuses are for sale and the monk is told that no one in Bolivia would even think of building a house without first burying a llama fetus under the foundation for good luck. Reading the Monk’s Lenten Devotional with its description of the witches market brought back long ago memories of walking into the witchcraft store at the Redondo Beach pier. 

Incongruously located among the retail stores selling ice cream, clothing, brightly-colored garden flags and wind chimes, we found this strange store on the second floor at the top of a narrow wooden staircase. My then wife looked inside, shuddered and refused to step over the threshold. Curious about the underworld of witchcraft I knew existed but had never seen, I went inside. The faint smell of candle wax filled the small store and shelves were lined with small bottles of powders and liquids. Books on witchcraft lined the shelves on one wall, dark cloaks and long dresses on hangers filled another. The brown-skinned woman wearing a gypsy outfit (who saw my wife refuse to come in with me) helpfully asked me if I would like a love spell and as I shook my head no, I noticed there were dried chicken feet tied to large loops of twine on the counter. The witch told me they were to be worn around the neck for protection against evil. As I was considering buying a chicken foot necklace as a thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift for my wife, I noticed some large glass jars filled with brown liquid. The contents were just shadowy shapes floating in the dark liquid but looking more closely at one, I saw a face and large dead eyes of some creature staring out at me. I suddenly felt an urgent desire to leave this spiritually dark place. Apparently, the dried chicken feet that guaranteed protection against all evil and misfortune were defective since a short time after our visit, a huge fire destroyed the witchcraft shop along with the other stores, restaurants and nearly the entire Redondo Beach pier. 

What does all this have to do with our Lenten journey as we seek to discern and then cast off what comes between us and our Lord? As Christian believers, we all know that our trust should be in God and not in an object like a dried chicken foot, but is it really? 

Many Catholics wear a cloth square called a “scapular” around their neck and under their clothing to protect them from evil and misfortune. Wearing the scapular guarantees salvation and is their ticket to heaven when they die. Protestants scoff at this Catholic superstition as they go to the healing evangelist’s web site to buy an “anointed” prayer cloth that heals all disease and ailments when it is rubbed on the body. 

A good Catholic would never hang a small glass amulet filled with desiccated lizard from their rearview mirror to prevent misfortune. They hang a St. Christopher’s medal or a special rosary from the rearview mirror to provide protection from auto accidents. We would not even consider going to a fortuneteller or palm reader to find out what fate has destined for our future – we depend on our daily horoscope instead.

We don’t bury dead animal fetuses under our house for good luck, but Catholics, Orthodox and Lutherans honor Saint Joseph, the patron saint of house sales, and to guarantee a quick sale on a home, many bury a statue of the saint in the ground (Important Note: Statue must be buried within 12 inches from the For Sale sign to work) and then you must say a special prayer for nine days. Buy it on Amazon.

Mormons would shun a New Age crystal worn around the neck or carried in a pocket or purse to provide spiritual protection. Instead, all Mormons are required by their faith to wear special underwear called “temple garments” 24 hours a day to provide spiritual protection and ward off evil. 

Protestant Pentecostals would denounce Wicca incantations for wealth as demonic while those same Protestants, who believe in the Prosperity Gospel, “take authority over their circumstances” in prayer and with the “power of their words” command that their bank accounts be filled with money. Is there really any difference between a Wicca incantation or a “name it and claim it” prayer? Magic is our attempt to seize divine power in order to use it – we pray my will be done. Christian religion is trust in Christ and devotion toward God and His divine power – we pray Thy will be done.

My intention is not to mock the sincere beliefs of Catholics, Orthodox, Mormons, Protestants or Pentecostals but to show how easy it is for all of us Christians to replace our trust in God alone with something we wear, carry or bury. Trusting in any thing for physical and spiritual protection is superstition. When I was a young boy, I carried my “lucky” rabbit’s foot with me at all times for protection. My boyhood scars are proof that it didn’t work.

This Lent we might want to consider whether we’ve replaced our trust in someONE with someTHING. The aforementioned Monk suggests that “Lent is a time to stroll through your own personal witches market and take a careful inventory of the things you tend to rely on when God is not enough, or when God is not answering as quickly as you would like.” Discern what are the created things you depend on for guidance, direction and protection in your life instead of trusting in the Creator Himself. Those “God-substitutes” are the things that you might want to consider giving up for Lent. 

Many years ago I learned a little-known worship song and taught it to the congregation. In Christ alone.. I place my trust! It has become the Christian “theme song” of my life. May it become yours too.

Listen to IN CHRIST ALONE here