It has been quite interesting to witness all that has transpired since the passing of Charlie Kirk. People up in arms, on both sides, and that is what I would like to touch on today.
Everyone has their own perspective on just about anything you can think of, from music to current events, religion, the list goes on and on. Personal life experience, family, relationships and more have the potential to shape someone’s perspective on how they think and feel about everything in life. I was brought up in a conservative family that was very committed to the local church, and the way I was raised definitely had a positive impact on my life, most importantly on my relationship with Jesus Christ.
For those of us that have a personal relationship with Jesus, we understand that when it comes to perspective, He helps to define perspective for us. We tend to see beyond the surface reasoning as to how and why people feel the way they feel, or see things from their own personal perspective.
Consider the divide between the right and the left. There is clearly more going on than how someone feels about a certain “policy”. When you consider immigration, what do you personally think about? Criminals crossing the border? People just trying to better their situation? The cost? Personal life experience? The different perspectives can be endless, and that is just one of many policies that are currently in debate.
What I know to be true is that you can’t take Jesus out of the equation. If you have Him in your life, your perspective on life and everything in it has changed. God’s word has given us a clear blueprint on how to live life, how to treat your fellow man, just about anything and everything that you would encounter is in there.
What I find interesting is seeing people that say they have Jesus in their life, but their personal lifestyle, statements or actions tell a different story. How many of you know exactly what I’m talking about? I'm surprised that people can criticize the current president so harshly, yet they won't hold others on their side accountable for having similar views and behaving in the same fashion, or even worse. Is self reflection not an option? I laugh out loud watching certain news segments where the journalist is caught in this exact scenario and have to come up with some gibberish to try and redirect.
I just read an article update on how Turning Point’s Faith division has doubled after Charlie Kirk’s death. That is an amazing statistic and shows that although many on the left showed how happy they were in his passing, thinking they had stopped the Turning Point movement, all they did was increase it tenfold. Literally thousands of people are coming to Jesus or returning to Him for the first time in years. God has taken a horrific situation and turned it into a huge movement of people committing their lives to Christ and that ripple effect will be felt for years to come.
If you have a moment, consider where you are at in your walk with Jesus. If you don’t have one, there are many people that you can talk to to help you get started. Maybe you had a relationship with Jesus at some point but have walked away. He is always ready with open arms to receive you again.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
I am sure most of you would agree that this has been a very irregular, and emotional week. Those of us that are followers of Jesus watched in horror as Charlie Kirk's life was taken by someone that clearly had been influenced by evil. We all have witnessed an extremely wide spectrum of responses, and that is what I wanted to touch on here.
If you have spent any time online, I am sure you have seen the completely immoral and evil responses by those who clearly do not have identity in Christ. Teachers losing their jobs, people getting taken out of the military, the list is growing long of people getting their due for posting inappropriate videos and posts, celebrating in one's murder.
This morning as I watched yet another video of someone that posted a quick celebration, wearing a very colorful outfit, colored hair, colored lashes, etc. I had a sudden thought… where is she getting her identity from?
You may immediately be throwing out your own answer… one of the many different "communities" that wear similar attire, and each of these groups could certainly be contributing factors. But the one clearly missing factor is her having an identity in Christ.
I am sure we would all agree that if you are not a follower of Jesus, then you are "left" to try and join a group that will take you in. Everyone wants to feel connected, wanted, to be a part of something. The problem comes when you are looking to the world for your identity.
There are many places in the Bible that Believers look to gain understanding in what it means to be in relationship and have identity with Jesus, and be one of his followers.
For instance, Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
When you see these individuals posting their videos and tweets, do you get any sense they are following the fruits of the Spirit? I would then ask, what are we doing to reach these people for Jesus?
One answer is the Prayer Station ministry, which offers the opportunity to reach people in your community with free prayer. Through the course of conversation and prayer, it opens the door for people to potentially hear the Good News of Jesus Christ for the first time, or in a way that they have never heard it before.
If this is the first time you are hearing about this ministry, please check it out at prayerstations.org. Thousands of churches, ministries and individuals have purchased their own Prayer Station so they can go out and reach people for Jesus Christ in their own communities. It is an amazing, successful ministry and there are thousands upon thousands of people that have come into new relationship with Him as a direct result of people simply obeying His command to "Go out and preach the Gospel".
If you have an interest in getting a Prayer Station for your community, feel free to reach out directly to me (ron@prayerstations.org) and I will be happy to talk to you.
Lets all get out and bring people back to relationship with Jesus!
