It’s Time to #Refocus

Folks, it is time to #refocus. We are living through a period of time filled with events that the majority of us have never experienced. It is a time when friends have become foes. It is a time when families have become disconnected. It is a time when employees have been pitted against the employer. It is a time when children have been separated from their friends. It is a time that division has become the norm, and I think it is absolutely intentional by the “powers that be.” 

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that people have been divided on different issues throughout history, but this is different. It feels different. Maybe social media makes it seem more than what it is? But, I don't think so. 

I remember talking with my mom leading up to the Trump/Biden showdown and she made a comment that was interesting to me. She said, as a child, her parents (my sweet Nana and Granddaddy) never discussed politics and if they did it certainly wasn't around the kids. Mom lived through the Civil Rights Movement and, even then, it wasn't as in your face as we see today. I don't say this to discourage parents from talking with their children about politics, rather I want to encourage it, especially from those of us who value freedom for our children. It is certainly a better option than public schools teaching our kids about politics. Folks, it is time to #refocus.

We see so many people scattered right now and who could blame them? It is a confusing time for everyone and folks want guidance. We want someone to make this insanity make sense, and the go-to, it seems, is the State. Since the inception of man-made governments, people have looked to them for guidance no matter despite the countless atrocities they have committed throughout history. But why? It reminds me of a quote attributed to Albert Einstein: 

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”

It is time to #refocus. 

But where does this confusion come from? Confusion is from a lack of understanding and uncertainty. What drives uncertainty? Simply, fear, the unknown. Fear has a way of putting us in handcuffs with no way out. I suffer from extreme claustrophobia and just the thought of covering my face with anything freaks me out to no end, so you can only imagine the battles I have fought through these past few months. Creeping through a parking lot to make sure someone else isn't covering their face so I don't have to explain this very strange phobia that many don't understand. Did God create me with this phobia? I don't know, but I do know it is real. 

I also know that it was never a fear that affect anyone else until all of this started; it was just a thing that I never had to explain. When I think of fear in my life, I think of my baby brother TJ who died last year, something I will never stop talking about. TJ was terrified of this virus and took every precaution the State insisted on. He didn't die from Covid but the fear instilled by corporate media and the State forced him into self-isolation and he drank himself to death. I bring this up because fear needs to be recognized, where it comes from and its power over us. Fear, certainly, isn't from Jesus.

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” 

Psalm 34:4-5

It is time to #refocus

Before I continue, I want to make it clear, I am not only speaking to the reader of this article but to myself as well. I am just as guilty of this. To this day I listen to a lot of politically charged podcasts, and our own podcast could be lumped into that as well, which honestly is what got me to thinking over the last few days before writing this. I will not discourage folks from listening or paying attention to what is happening politically because it absolutely has an effect on each and every one of our lives. It is important to be informed. I say all of the time that “willful ignorance is the worst kind of ignorance”.

Ignorance in itself isn't bad, it just means you don't know. Willful ignorance is intentional. One recurring theme I have noticed while listening to these shows is “we need to work through the system to make this insanity make sense”. 

I’m not down with that, especially as a Christian. People are straining to hear the whisper amongst the screaming. People are seeking some hope while navigating the insanity. We know where that hope is, and it certainly won't be found in the halls of Congress or any Governor's mansion. That hope has and will continue to be found with Jesus. 

“I am the way and the truth and the life”  

John 14:6

Jesus is the most consistent King this world has ever seen, so why do so many Christians revert their faith back to the State? Don't get me wrong, I understand the allure. It is very tempting to work through the State to preserve Liberty but that's all it is, a temptation.

“And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, to you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. And Jesus answered him, it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve”

Luke 4:5-8

Some of you may be saying, “well that just isn't practical today, lives are at stake!” Yes, I agree, lives are at stake! Liberty is fleeting! But where does life come from? Where does Liberty come from? One of my Bad Roman Project cohorts who has been with us from the jump is Abby Cleckner, and her favorite verse on Liberty is extracted from Galatians:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." 

Galatians 5:1

One retort I get when mentioning this verse is, “well Paul is clearly talking about sin”, and I reply, “Of course he is. Check out 1 Samuel 8. When Israel demanded a king did God not see that as a rejection of Him? Is it not a sin to reject God? Paul talks about “yoke of bondage” go read 1 Samuel 8 again and God lists everything that will happen when we demand a king”.

 It is time to #refocus.

People are hurting. People are confused and scattered. People are seeking some consistency, and people are seriously seeking some hope. As Christians, we know where that hope is. Live a life that makes people ask you questions about why you aren't worried about government edicts. 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” 

Matthew 6:25-27

Our guy Jesus dropped some truth bombs. It is time to #refocus

Love y’all,

Craig Harguess

The Dream of the City to Come: Do you not trust God?

Image from Great Bible Stories for Children (Regency Publishing House 1974)

When I was a toddler, my parents read me bedtime stories from a vividly illustrated Bible storybook called Great Bible Stories for Children (Regency Publishing House 1974). For some reason, my favorite, most requested Bible story was the one I referred to as "Bad Dream"— a nightmare of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon recorded in the book of Daniel, chapter 2.

Daniel delivers the interpretation of the dream to the king: 

In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock-cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold to pieces.

The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.

Even though Daniel is a captive slave and his life is in jeopardy every time he talks to the ruler of the known world, he speaks from the perspective of a man who is in constant contact with Yahweh, the God of his youth and home culture. Daniel was able to spread the message of his God to the most powerful man on earth, and the message was this: human empires will come and go built on force and violence, coercion and oppression, but the Kingdom of Peace that God creates will destroy all the empires that came before it, and once it is established, it will last forever.

There are a few passages that are repeatedly used in defense of tyranny and oppression, and blaming God for it, but if one looks at the overarching narrative of scripture we see a distinct anti-empire message throughout.

The prophets of Israel spoke of a future liberator that God would send to free humanity from all forms of oppression, both spiritual and material. The Messiah, or Christ, was a promise the Hebrews took literally and awaited with fervent expectation the initiator of a new world order of peace. Isaiah writes of Christ:

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea."

Isaiah 11:1-9

When Mary is told that she has been chosen to give birth to the Messiah, she is so excited she praises God for the liberation that she is being allowed to participate in. She prays:

My soul magnifies the Lord

And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;

For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;

Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is His name;

And His mercy is from generation to generation

on those who fear Him.

He has shown might with His arm,

He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones,

and has exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich He has sent away empty.

He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy

Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

Luke 1:46-55

The hope that she placed in the God of her forefathers called for the end of oppression and tyranny on planet earth—a freedom that includes liberation from sin, death, hell, satan, and the empires of humankind. She read the prophets as a little girl and made their visions one with her mind and heart. Maybe this love for the promise of liberation and the Messiah is the reason God chose her to be Christ's mother?

Morgan Weistling - Kissing the Face of God

When Jesus was 30 years old, he spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting on water. At the end of it, the Devil appears to him in an attempt to recruit Jesus to Satan's side in rebellion against Jehovah. Satan takes Jesus to a high place where he can see all the kingdoms of the world and makes this offer: "All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." (Mark 4:9-10)

Satan's ability to offer all the riches and power in the world could only mean one thing: that they belonged to him. In other places in scripture, Satan is referred to as "the God of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), and that "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). The knowledge of who Satan is makes the promise of a savior all the more appealing; if we are all born as serfs to an evil lord who wants to see us suffer and lies to us constantly, filling his domain with pain and violence, destruction, and rot, chaos, and confusion, who wouldn't want to be liberated? Jesus knew that he had come to bring the Good News of the Eternal Kingdom to the suffering, slavery, and misery of earthly kingdoms. He knew the Kingdom of God would one day have dominion over the whole Earth and all her people not by the idolatry of political power or devil-worship, but through the spirit of the Gospel.

When he was on trial to be crucified, Jesus told the Roman Governor of Jerusalem: "You say rightly that I am a King. For this reason I came into the world.... My Kingdom is not of this World. If it were, my servants would fight". To a Roman soldier/politician, getting crucified was the furthest thing from victory. Jesus saw the bigger picture- a spiritual reality that could not be defeated by death, nor could it be brought to reality through violent political and military force.

The Apostles state throughout their writings that God has exalted Jesus Christ above everyone and everything, giving him the title of "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" so that every living thing will recognize it and declare it. In Ephesians 1, Hebrews 2, and 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that God has subjected everything under Christ's feet. in the Corinthians passage he points to the time prophesied by Daniel and Isaiah and others;

"Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.”

For those of you who still think of God as "Sovereign," by which you mean everything is his fault, and for those of you who are angry at God for the pain and injustice in the world, I'm not sure you're paying attention to the power of the Gospel. All of our wars and illnesses, slavery and addiction, and even death itself are due to the rebellion of Satan against God's plan. His deception campaign to bring humanity down with him will continue until destruction of all life on earth is a real possibility, then God will intervene and put a stop to it. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul describes that point of intervention: 

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming". 

Human beings and their political leaders will choose deception, destruction, and death instead of peace and life, but God works patiently to save them, redeem them, free them, so that he might reconcile them to Himself and restore humanity, and all creation, to what He intended us to be.

People of every tribe and nation, speaking every language, will worship the One True God together. The current situation where other races and nations and languages are to be hated, feared, fought, and subjugated will not exist. This is a result of man's rebellion against God's plan-- a rejection of Christ's Kingdom.

From "A Bad Case of Stripes" by David Shannon. Sholastic Inc.

If we identify ourselves by nation-state or race or political party, pledging our allegiance to a nation and its flag, holding its military in worshipful regard, etc., we are telling Jesus that His Kingdom of Peace is not what we want. We do not want to be his family, the sheep of his pasture, his loyal servants. Instead, the message He receives is that we want war and oppression and for our little tribe to be top of the heap.

Nowhere does Jesus say: "I will establish a nation that will exceed all the other nations, they will be my people and I will make them powerful. They will crush all their enemies and get all the riches and I will bless them because they are the superior form of government". What He does say is he will destroy ALL human government and establish his own. If that is not exciting to you, do you know my Lord? If your god is the god of political empires, who is your god? Which side are you on?

"Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" Hebrews 13:14