The year began as 1973 with impeachment. Then it became 1918 with the pandemic. Then 2008—and hopefully not 1929—with the recession, followed by 1968 with civil rights protests.

Kobe Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash along with seven others. Wildfires swept Australia. Locusts swarmed East Africa. Earthquakes struck Turkey and the Caribbean.

And as of today, the year is officially only half over.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate committee yesterday that he is very concerned about the surge of coronavirus infections in many parts of the United States. He stated he would “not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 cases a day if this does not turn around.”

On the heels of his sobering warning, this news broke: A new flu virus in China has the potential to become a “pandemic virus.”

Chinese researchers discovered a strain of influenza in pigs that has “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus,” according to a paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pig farm workers showed elevated levels of the virus in their blood. As a result, “close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in the swine industry, should be urgently implemented.”

The good news is scientists say there is no evidence the virus is circulating among humans. The bad news is the World Health Organization made the same statement about COVID-19 last January.

Supreme Court rules on state aid to church schools

It’s easy to become discouraged in discouraging days. The Supreme Court’s decision striking down a Louisiana law that restricted abortion was deeply disappointing, for instance.

Then the court issued a ruling yesterday that gave religious conservatives reason for hope, striking down a ban on state aid to church schools. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the five-to-four majority, stated: “A State need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”

One lesson the first half of 2020 has taught us is we cannot predict the second half of 2020.

Joe Biden is leading President Trump in the polls. However, in 1988, Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis had a 17-point lead over then-Vice President George H. W. Bush in a midsummer Gallup poll. In 1980, then-President Jimmy Carter and Republican nominee Ronald Reagan were nearly tied in the polls until Reagan excelled in a late-September debate and surged to a landslide victory.

Here’s a lesson we should learn and embrace: We are not in control of our world or our souls.

It is tempting in our scientifically advanced, technologically sophisticated culture to think we can control our natural world, but natural diseases and disasters give the lie to such suppositions. It is likewise tempting in our existentialist culture to predict the future based on the present, but recent months prove how uncertain our lives really are.

Similar deceptions tempt Christians who seek godly character.

“Beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man”

Jesus prayed for his followers, “Sanctify them in the truth” (John 17:17). Paul similarly prayed for the Thessalonian Christians, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). He told the Corinthians that despite their former sins, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis described the way sanctification works: “The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to ‘inject’ his kind of thought and life … into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.”

As sinners, we cannot sanctify ourselves. Just as we required Jesus’ atoning love for our salvation, so we require his Spirit’s transformation for our sanctification. We cannot make ourselves more holy, no matter how hard we try.

However, our obedience nonetheless is essential to the process, not to earn God’s sanctifying grace, but to receive it. When we pray, read Scripture, obey God’s word and follow his will, we position ourselves to be made holy by our holy Lord.

Let’s choose to make praying for holiness a regular, consistent commitment and discipline. God can give only what we will receive and lead only where we will go. If we do not ask him to make us holy, he cannot make us holy.

A prayer I encourage you to make your own

To that end, I invite you to make this prayer by Henri Nouwen your own. I have prayed it for myself—slowly and thoughtfully—and encourage you to join me:

“O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you, everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion.

“Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you?

“Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let me die to the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words and thoughts can become a hymn of praise to you.

“I need your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self to a new life in and for you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.”

Will you walk that road today?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

New virus in China could become pandemic: What the first half of 2020 tells us about true character was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

“There is value in every human life. We are all children of God and I can’t imagine just watching anyone burn. No matter what other people have done to me, or other officers, I thought, ‘This guy deserves to make it home safely to his family.’”

This is how Daylan McLee of Uniontown, Pa., describes his decision to rescue a police officer from a mangled police car as flames were spreading into the cabin. Police officials have credited McLee with saving the life of Officer Jay Hanley. Uniontown Police Lt. Thomas Kolencik’s voice cracked as he told reporters at the scene, “Daylan actually said, ‘I’m not going to let him die.’ There’s just no words to describe, you know.”

Here’s what made McLee’s bravery especially unusual: He has been the victim of injustice in the past.

McLee, who is Black, spent a year in jail after an incident in March 2016 before a jury acquitted him of all charges after reviewing security video. That was a year away from his children and his mother, who was ill at the time and passed away last year.

He had another run-in with officers a few months ago, when he ran from a porch gathering after officers in plain clothes and vests approached with guns drawn. He said they did not announce they were officers and that he stopped running and put his hands behind his head when they said they were police. He said he was charged with fleeing and resisting arrest, but added that during the arrest, an officer kicked him in the face through a fence, splitting his lip. He said the use of force was caught on a security camera and that he plans to fight the charges.

After saving Officer Hanley’s life, McLee said he couldn’t blame every police officer for his bad interactions with some: “We need to work on our humanity. … That’s the main problem of this world.” He added: “I don’t want to be called a hero. I just want to be known as an individual who’s an upstanding man.”

The true source of our personal worth

McLee points the way forward when he states: “There is value in every human life. We are all children of God.”

However, his second sentence explains his first in ways that might surprise our secular culture.

It is conventional wisdom in our capitalistic society that our value as humans lies in our abilities and achievements.

One of the reasons racial discrimination is so wrong is it holds back racial minorities from their rightful opportunities to become all they can become.

According to our culture, we are what we do, how much we earn, how we look, what we own, where we live and who we know. Everyone should have the same right to achieve success as everyone else.

The claim that every person deserves the same opportunities to achieve what our society defines as success is absolutely true. But the way our society defines success is absolutely false.

You and I did not earn the right to be born. We brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing from it. The abilities and gifts with which we strive to achieve were given to us by our Creator through our parents and by the Holy Spirit.

I did nothing to deserve the manual dexterity with which I am typing these words and the eyesight with which I am reading them, or the blessings of a loving family and comfortable home in which to grow up.

Everything I have done has been done with abilities I developed but did not create. The same is true for you.

The source of our personal worth is not found in our capacities or circumstances. And that fact is very good news.

‘Act, O Lord, for your name’s sake’

In Jeremiah 14, the prophet prays for his sinful people: “Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake” (v. 7a).

He does not pray for God to forgive them because they deserve intrinsically to be forgiven. Nor because they have done anything to merit such mercy and grace. Nor because they can do anything to earn such compassion.

He prays for God to forgive his people on the basis of God’s nature, not theirs.

We often think Jesus died to save us because we were worth saving. The fact is, he died to save us because he loves us (Romans 5:8). In fact, he loves us enough to die for us again, right now. And he loves us because he is love (1 John 4:8). Not because we were or are lovable. Not because there is anything in us that merits his love.

Our Savior loves us simply because he loves us. As Frederick Buechner notes, “God doesn’t love people because of who they are, but because of who God is.”

As a result, there is nothing you must do to earn his love and nothing you can do to lose it.

No matter what happens with the pandemic and the economy, God will still love you. No matter your race or life experiences, God loves you. No matter your past sins or future failures, God still loves you.

‘We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers’

Now it’s our turn: “By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16).

Because God commands us to “love one another” (John 13:34), we know we can. He would not tell us to do something we cannot do with his help.

In fact, the Holy Spirit can produce the “fruit” of love in our lives (Galatians 5:22). But the Spirit can give only what we will receive.

If we will ask God to give us his love for those we meet today, and then act in the belief he has answered our prayer, our love will change the world one soul at a time.

Why is the fact of God’s unchanging, unchangeable love relevant to you right now?

How will you make it relevant to someone today?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

Man rescues police officer from burning car, explains: ‘There is value in every human life’ was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

President Trump signed an executive order on police reform yesterday. He stated that “chokeholds will be banned except if an officer’s life is at risk.” In addition, the federal government will provide funding for “co-responders” like social workers to help police officers deal with issues such as homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse.

The order also mandates that departments share information on officers accused of abusing power. The National Fraternal Order of Police praised the president’s action.

In other news, Dr. Anthony Fauci told a British newspaper: “I would hope to get to some degree of real normality within a year or so. But I don’t think it’s this winter or fall.”

Two days that revealed the world

March 11 was a day that changed the world. That was the day Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, announced they had been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 and the day the NBA suspended its season.

Actually, March 11 was the day when the world became aware of a reality that already existed. A disease that began in China the previous year now has infected more than 8 million people and caused more than 443,000 deaths as of this morning.

May 25 was a second day that changed the world. That was the day George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. The response to his tragic death has become a global movement to combat racism in all its forms.

Actually, May 25 was the day when the world became aware of a reality that already existed. African slaves were imported into what we know as America 400 years earlier. Racial minorities have been dealing with discrimination for centuries.

Awareness of racism in the past

If you’re like most of us, you wish we were making more progress than we are on both fronts. To that end, let’s consider a call issued last Sunday by former New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson at an event he hosted called Boston Pray. As I noted in the Monday Daily Article, the hour of prayer, worship and Bible study was remarkably powerful and hopeful.

At one point, Watson stated that to make progress on racial justice, we need awareness, advocacy and action. Today and for the rest of this week, we will focus on all three.

Let’s begin with awareness.

Mark Noll is one of America’s preeminent church historians. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal, he has taught at Wheaton College, Notre Dame and now at Regent College.

Over the weekend, I read his remarkable study, God and Race in American Politics: A Short History. He notes many Europeans came to the New World with the firm belief they were racially superior to the indigenous people they found here and to the millions of Africans who eventually were enslaved in America.

Slavery was legally abolished in the United States with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865. The Fourteenth Amendment extended the rights of citizenship to African Americans; the Fifteenth Amendment extended to them the right to vote. But the racial prejudice that had empowered slavery remained.

Awareness of racism in the present

Noll writes that less than a decade after the end of the Civil War, “the unleashing of lynch-law terrorism, the general lack of concern for black civil rights in the North, and the imposition in the South of Jim Crow laws to quash black political participation” were inflicted on the nation’s African American population. “Jim Crow laws,” named for a black minstrel show character, were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation.

As Noll notes, the consequence was a functional repeal of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. It took almost 100 years after the Civil War ended for civil rights legislation to ban racial discrimination and remove legal barriers to voting by African Americans.

Unfortunately, many white Americans think this legislation ended the problem of racism in our country. As African Americans across our country have been saying in the wake of George Floyd’s death, this is tragically far from true.

A yard sign offers transforming hope

I am convinced that until our nation embraces our Father’s love for all people of all races, we cannot be the nation he wants us to be. Since “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34), we must reject all prejudice. Since he “made from one man every nation of mankind” (Acts 17:26), we must embrace all men and women as our brothers and sisters.

The good news is our living Lord stands ready to empower us as we seek to make true our nation’s founding claim that “all men are created equal.”

As I was walking in my neighborhood this week, a yard sign caught my eye: “Hope is alive. Jesus is alive!”

I noted on Instagram that because Jesus is alive, we have hope for our past, since Jesus died for our sins (Romans 5:8) and rose from our grave. We have hope for our present, since the living Lord is praying for us right now (Romans 8:34). And we have hope for our future, since Jesus will return for us (John 14:3) and will one day create “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).

Here’s my invitation to you: Ask Jesus to show you if there are racial sins in your past, then repent of anything he brings to your mind and claim his forgiving grace (1 John 1:9). Ask Jesus to show you ways you can respond to racism in the present, then obey his call at all costs (cf. Romans 12:1–2). Ask Jesus to show you ways you can help build a more just future, then follow his Spirit’s leading (John 16:13).

I am joining you in all three prayers today in the assurance that hope is alive because Jesus is alive.

Who will experience hope because Jesus is alive in you?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

President Trump signs police reform order and Dr. Fauci predicts when we will return to ‘normal’: How awareness can lead to hope was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

Note from Jim Denison: I am grateful to my son, Ryan Denison, for writing The Daily Article this week while I am on vacation. Ryan is a graduate of Baylor University and Truett Theological Seminary and is completing his doctoral dissertation in church history at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. He serves as senior fellow for theology with our ministry and writes often in my absence. I am certain you will find his insights to be both biblical and practical.

Minneapolis is back in the news after nine of the city’s 12 city council members voted to defund their police department. Calls to disband or defund the police have become a common occurrence throughout many of the protests around the country, but they have grown in intensity over the last week. But just what do people mean when they speak of defunding police departments?

It turns out, no one is really quite sure.

In Minneapolis, for example, the city council admitted, while they have some early thoughts, there is not a clear plan in place. They hope to work with representatives from the community over the coming months to develop a system of public safety that places a greater emphasis on community policing efforts and programs aimed at more specific problems. At this point, however, it’s still not clear if the city council even has the legal authority to take this step.

Regardless of the ultimate legality, though, the city’s decision has made national headlines and brought the conversation closer to reality than it has been before. As such, let’s take a closer look at the subject and, ultimately, what we can learn from it to better advance God’s kingdom in our culture.

Reform vs. replace

First, calls to defund or disband police have been around for many years, but they’ve always stayed on the periphery of the conversation because they were seen as both extreme and unnecessary. The argument was greater accountability and better training would be enough to curb, though not eliminate, the tendencies at the heart of the problem.

Minneapolis city council member Jeremiah Ellison spoke for many, though, when he expressed the need “to dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response. It’s really past due.” For those who agree with Ellison, the police have been given enough chances at reform, and substantive change is needed.

There are many reasons to think Ellison and those who agree with him are wrong in that assumption, but it points to the basic reality that we only get so many chances to do better before people assume what’s broken simply can’t be fixed.

Defund doesn’t always mean the same thing

The second point is not all calls to defund the police have the same goal. While the Minneapolis example paints a fairly clear picture of one extreme, most advocates for change seem wary to go that far.

A more common proposal centers on removing some funding from police departments, as well as certain responsibilities, and reallocating both to other groups. Issues involving mental illness, homelessness and social services often are cited as examples of jobs that currently fall to the police in many cities but could perhaps be handled better by nonprofits or other groups focused on a single task.

Advocates for these policies also frequently argue that by refining the responsibilities of the police, it could help them better focus on the issues they are best equipped to handle without adding the undue pressure of tasks that might fall outside of their true calling.

Can more police equal better police?

Lastly, a common argument among those who disagree with efforts to defund the police is the best way to avoid the kinds of abuses and harassment at the heart of recent protests is to hire more police rather than less.

Studies have shown not only does a larger police presence reduce crime, but it also can mitigate the need for overtime and added responsibilities among those who serve on the force. Research in 2017, moreover, demonstrated “a single hour of overtime led to a 2.7 percent increase in the odds that the officer would be involved in a use-of-force incident the following week.”

As Matthew Yglesias concluded, “What’s helpful is more officers, not more harassment.” However, those who have been on the receiving end of such harassment counter that it’s hard to have one without the other.

Choosing reason instead of fear

Regardless of what comes from the current conversation about police reform, the manner in which people engage in the discussion is likely to have as great an impact on the outcome as the decisions ultimately reached. Fear, rather than reason, often is the motivating factor for people as they think about the future of law enforcement.

For some, that fear is based on negative experiences with the police. For others, the prospect of a future without cops leads to visions of unchecked violence and disorder. As a result, it’s incredibly easy to leave God out of the ensuing discussion.

As Paul taught the Philippians, fear and logic seldom can coexist. Rather, he instructed them: “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5–7).

Our culture really could use the protection of Christ Jesus for our hearts and minds at this point. Decisions likely will be made across the coming weeks and months with regards to a number of issues—the future of law enforcement among them—that will impact the future of our society greatly for years to come.

As we seek the Lord’s wisdom and discernment in knowing how to engage in those discussions, it’s vital that we follow Paul’s advice and be reasonable voices guided by the peace of God. That won’t happen, though, if we allow ourselves to be driven by fear instead.

Which will guide your response today?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

What does it mean to defund the police? How to respond with reason rather than fear was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

I have never felt less qualified to write a Daily Article than I do this morning.

I am a white person who has never faced a single moment of racial discrimination in my 61 years of life. As a result, I cannot pretend to understand what it is like to be unfairly treated because of the color of my skin.

I grew up in a middle-class community. As a result, I cannot understand what it is like to despair of a better financial future.

I have never been treated unfairly by the criminal justice system. As a result, I cannot understand what it is like to fear the police and the courts.

I do not own or work at a business affected by the violence of recent days. As a result, I cannot understand what it is like to see my dreams and future destroyed in response to a tragic death in Minneapolis for which I am not at fault.

Fortunately, I do not write the Daily Article to offer my personal opinions. My mission is to help us interpret the news of the day in cultural and biblical context. This morning, I will draw on expert guides to help us do both.

Three explanations

As I wrote last week, the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day was a horrible tragedy. Our Father hates racism and demands that we value each other as he loves us (Genesis 1:28; Galatians 3:28).

Last night, cities across America saw a sixth evening of mass demonstrations following Floyd’s death. The National Guard in Washington, D.C., was called in to respond to protests outside the White House and elsewhere in the nation’s capital. A tanker truck drove through thousands of people were marching on a Minneapolis highway, though none of the protesters was injured. At least 40 cities have imposed curfews.

Writing for Bloomberg Opinion, John Authers examines the way Americans are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I believe his insights apply just as perceptively to the crisis unfolding across our country after George Floyd’s tragic death. Authers utilizes the work of British political philosopher Steven Lukes to describe three schools of thought at work in our society. Each of them helps explain the unrest embroiling our cities.

Utilitarians seek the greatest good for the greatest number. This is the impulse behind majority-rule democracy. However, this approach can put minority populations at risk, a fact experienced by many racial minorities across our nation’s history.

Communitarians want us to do what advances the “common good” within our community. But when your community’s common good conflicts with mine, what do we do? Some are justifying the violence of recent days as necessary to effect change, even if minority-owned and operated businesses are among the victims of such violence. In this view, previous calls for change have gone unheeded, requiring an escalating response that causes majority populations to feel the pain of minority victims.

Libertarians insist that individual freedom is paramount. But as Authers notes, when citizens are left alone, “many are left to sleep on the street, city centers are full of sleaze, and a few rich people benefit from gambling.”

Each of these viewpoints is foundational to American society. Can they be reconciled? According to Isaiah Berlin, the 20th-century British philosopher and essayist, the answer is no.

Responses to George Floyd’s death are making his point. Some minorities feel they must demonstrate in large numbers to bring about change with the utilitarian majority. Some are willing to march (and some even to perpetuate violence) in other communities to make themselves heard. Many are protesting the libertarian lack of resources and compassion for people in need.

Jesus’ solution

I began today’s Daily Article by admitting I do not know what it is like to experience racial discrimination, face systemic poverty, encounter injustice, or suffer as an innocent victim of violence.

But Jesus does.

He lived his life as a Jew under Roman occupation. He was so impoverished that he had “nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). After his arrest, he was subjected to what has been called “the most unjust trial in human history.” He suffered and died in innocence (Isaiah 53:9; Hebrews 4:15), atoning for sins he did not commit to purchase our salvation (Romans 5:8).

As a result, Jesus has the moral authority to speak to this crisis in a way I do not. For the next few days, we’ll discuss his example and teachings as we seek his guidance together.

For today, let’s consider the single sentence that is often considered his foundational ethical principle: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This one maxim provides a way forward through the scourge of racism and violence in our day. And it reconciles the utilitarian, communitarian and libertarian conflicts so endemic to our culture.

Consider: If every person did to others what they would want to be done to them, would racial prejudice exist? Or police brutality? Or violent responses?

Would a single person have ever been enslaved in this land or any other? Would even one of the 40.3 million people enslaved in the world today be victims?

Would the majority oppress the minority? Would members of one community oppress members of another? Would a single individual be left to face our fallen world alone?

My commitment

I cannot force another person to choose Jesus’ rule for living, but I can choose it for myself. I can seek the most strategic, significant ways to use my influence in its service. I can pray for divine help as I love every person I meet as I want them to love me, modeling Jesus’ transformational love for us all.

This is my commitment today. Will you join me?

National Guard responds in Washington, DC: Three explanations for the crisis and Jesus’ solutions that changes everything was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

George Floyd was born in North Carolina and moved to Houston as a baby. He grew into a talented athlete who played football and basketball, receiving a basketball scholarship to Florida State University.

According to the mother of his six-year-old daughter, he didn’t finish school, eventually returning to Houston, where he became involved in music. He left the city for Minneapolis around 2018.

‘Being black in America should not be a death sentence’

On Monday, police officers responded to a “forgery in progress.” A police statement says they were “advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence.” Two officers arrived and located the suspect, an African American male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step out of his car.

“After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance.”

However, the police statement left out a scene recorded by a bystander that has shocked the nation. A Minneapolis police officer keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, during which the unarmed man repeatedly cried out, “I can’t breathe!”

“Please, please, I can’t breathe. Please, man, please,” Floyd said to the officer. “I can’t move. Everything hurts. Give me some water or something, please. I can’t breathe, officer.” As the officer continued to crush his neck with his knee, Floyd added, “They’re going to kill me. They’re going to kill me, man.”

An ambulance then took Floyd to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

By Tuesday afternoon, the four officers involved had been fired. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Floyd’s death “simply awful” and “wrong at every level.” He stated: “This man’s life matters, he matters. He was someone’s son, someone’s family member, someone’s friend. He was a human being and his life mattered.”

The mayor added: “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”

‘A punch in the gut for a lot of people’

Christian Cooper is a Harvard graduate who serves on the board of the New York City Audubon Society and has long been a prominent bird watcher in New York City.

Around 8:10 a.m. Monday, in a section of Central Park where dogs are required to be leashed at all times, Cooper came upon a woman whose dog was unleashed. He asked her to leash the dog, but she refused. He then moved to offer the dog a treat, thinking this would encourage her to put the pet on its leash.

Instead, she called 911 to report that an “African American” was threatening her and her dog. He recorded a video of their exchange and her call as she asked the authorities to “please send the cops immediately!” The police arrived and determined “two individuals had engaged in a verbal dispute.” No summons were issued or arrests made.

The woman later publicly apologized to Cooper. By Tuesday afternoon, she had been fired by her employer. Cooper said in an interview he had been overwhelmed by the response to his video. However, public retribution against the woman had taken him aback: “If our goal is to change the underlying factors, I am not sure that this young woman having her life completely torn apart serves that goal.”

A professor who studies race relations noted the confrontation “was particularly a punch in the gut for a lot of people. It ties into and taps into a long history of white women, in particular, falsely accusing black men of crimes that leads to great harm.”

How racism wins

After the tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery, I published a research paper on racism on our website. I also recorded a podcast conversation with my dear friend, Tyrone Johnson, in which I asked him to describe what it is like to be an African American living in our North Dallas community.

Neither of us knew then we would have to revisit this horrible subject again this week. As we talked Tuesday about George Floyd’s death and the Central Park confrontation, Tyrone made a profound point in light of Monday’s Memorial Day observance: Just like white soldiers, black soldiers died to protect our nation’s freedoms, but their descendants and families are still fighting for what they died for.

In a Gallup poll, six in 10 Americans said racism against blacks is widespread in the United States. But note the racial split: 82 percent of blacks agreed, compared to just 56 percent of whites. Another poll found that 66 percent of nonwhites consider prejudice a “very serious” problem, while only 39 percent of whites agree.

I am writing to make this point: God hates racism. He hates prejudice. He hates it when we discriminate against each other. His word demands we see each other as he sees us: Children of the same Father (Genesis 1:28), members of the same human race (Genesis 3:20; Acts 17:26), each of us equally valuable in the eyes of our Lord (Galatians 3:28).

Please don’t ever tolerate what God forbids. Don’t shrug your emotional shoulders when another black person suffers prejudice or worse in our society. Don’t resign yourself to this as the “way things are.” Don’t stop loving as God loves and calling every person you know to do the same.

Otherwise, racism wins.

Pray for the miracle of Pentecost

Pentecost is this Sunday. On the first Christian Pentecost, the Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of 15 different language groups, molding them into the single body of Christ (Acts 2:9–11, 41).

In light of that miracle, Henri Nouwen noted: “The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to his followers, is the great gift of God. Without the Spirit of Jesus we can do nothing, but in and through his Spirit we can live free, joyful, and courageous lives. … We cannot create peace and joy, but the Spirit of Christ can fill us with a peace and joy that is not of this world.

“We cannot break through the many barriers that divide races, sexes, and nations, but the Spirit of Christ unites all people in the all-embracing love of God. The Spirit of Christ burns away our many fears and anxieties and sets us free to move wherever we are sent. That is the great liberation of Pentecost.”

Please join me in asking the Spirit to liberate our hearts and our nation today.

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

The death of George Floyd and confrontation in Central Park: Praying for a Pentecost miracle today was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

Jon Steingard is a pastor’s son and a musician, singer and songwriter. He has been the lead singer for the Christian band Hawk Nelson since March 2012.

Now he has made an Instagram announcement generating headlines: “After growing up in a Christian home, being a pastor’s kid, playing and singing in a Christian band, and having the word ‘Christian’ in front of most of the things in my life—I am now finding that I no longer believe in God.”

He explained: “The process of getting to that sentence has been several years in the making. It’s more like pulling on the threads of a sweater, and one day discovering that there was no more sweater left.”

I am glad to report several Christian musicians responded, not with criticism or condemnation, but with unconditional grace.

Tenth Avenue North singer Mike Donehey wrote: “Man, I love that you shared this. You know I’m always around to talk about our belief in God or lack thereof. Love you and always will.”

Another added: “To echo so many others here, I have nothing but love in my heart for [you], old friend.”

A foundational problem for the church in our culture

I don’t know any more about Jon Steingard’s faith story than I have read today. I don’t know what issues caused him to come to this decision, whether they are personal, rational, cultural or relational. My purpose is not to criticize him in any way.

Instead, I’d like to think with you about his statement, “I no longer believe in God,” since it’s a sentiment many share today.

One of C.S. Lewis’ most profound essays was titled “God in the Dock.” In the British court system, the accused stands in the “dock.” We might change the title to “God on Trial.”

According to Lewis: “The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man, the roles are quite reversed. He is the judge; God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge; if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the bench and God is in the dock.”

The declaration, “I no longer believe in God,” or its opposite, “I believe in God,” identifies God as the object to my subject. I have the right and capacity to choose whether or not I believe in him, just as I can decide whether or not I believe in the internet or marriage.

This kind of relationship describes many people who would disagree with Jon Steingard’s statement but agree with its subject-object assumptions.

This is a foundational problem for the church in our culture.

Why I believe in the internet

I believe in the internet, not because I can prove its existence on logical or scientific grounds—I don’t know enough about it to do so—but because I am experiencing it as I write this article on my Wi-Fi-connected computer. I believe in marriage, not on logical grounds, but because I have experienced it for nearly 40 years.

God does not seek to be an object in whom we choose to believe. He seeks to be a Father with whom we have a daily, transforming personal relationship.

Unfortunately, in our consumeristic, capitalistic culture, we have commodified this intimate relationship into a religion we can “buy” or “sell” as we wish. Inheriting Greco-Roman transactional religion, we have separated our souls from our bodies and Sunday from Monday.

As a result, too many of us see Jesus as our Savior but not as our friend (John 15:15). He wants to lead us, empower us and use us every moment of every day. But we must choose to be led, empowered and used.

Your six-word mantra for today

If you are experiencing Jesus as a living, daily presence in your life, you know what I’m talking about. You don’t need to tell us you “believe in God” any more than you would say you believe in your spouse, child, parent or best friend. If you’re experiencing someone personally, of course you believe they exist.

If you have asked Jesus to be your Savior but you’re not experiencing him in this way, know he is more available to you than even your spouse, child, parent or best friend. That’s because his Spirit lives in you (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Jesus knows your past (cf. John 4:17–18), present (cf. John 1:48–50) and future (cf. Acts 9:6). He knows your thoughts (cf. Matthew 9:4) and secrets (cf. Luke 12:2). He will speak intuitively to your spirit by his Spirit (cf. Romans 8:16; Acts 16:6–10), practically through your circumstances (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:9) and rationally through his word and your reason (cf. Luke 24:27).

However, as with any relationship, we need time with Jesus to experience him more personally and powerfully.

Let me encourage you to make some time for him today. Enter his presence in praise (Psalm 100:4), confess your sins and claim his forgiving grace (1 John 1:9), then ask him to speak to you through his word and your world. Tell him about your problems and fears, and ask him for his guidance and help.

Now take note of the thoughts that enter your mind and the circumstances that change in your day. Envision Jesus walking beside you as your shepherd, leading and providing for you (John 10:27). Ask him to make himself more real to you than you ever have known him to be.

Make these six words your mantra today: “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10 NIV).

Why not right now?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

Christian singer announces, ‘I no longer believe in God’: How you can experience Jesus more personally than ever before was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

Ed Jackson was a professional rugby player before a spinal injury in April 2017 shattered his career and left him paralyzed from the neck down. After months of therapy, he was able to regain some use of his body. However, he suffers from Brown-Séquard syndrome, a neurological condition in which his left side does not function well, while his right side does but has no sensation.

This challenge has not deterred Jackson. To aid in his rehabilitation, he began climbing mountains. He started with Mount Snowdon, the tallest point in Wales at 3,560 feet. Last October, he climbed the Mera Peak in the Himalayas, an elevation of more than 21,000 feet.

Jackson wanted to climb Mount Everest, but the coronavirus shutdown made that impossible. So, he brought the mountain to himself. He decided to climb the equivalent of the world’s tallest mountain on his stairs at home to raise money for a spinal charity. His goal was 5,566 flights of stairs and 89,058 steps over four days.

Using his right leg to climb and dragging his left leg behind him, Jackson achieved his goal, raising more than $36,000 for spinal cord research. He posted later: “Right what’s next? Thinking Tour de France around the parents’ kitchen.”

Ten-year-old builds a “hug curtain” for her grandparents

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Emory University published a paper last week comparing COVID-19-related deaths in the United States to the deadliest week of an average influenza season. Their conclusion: COVID-19 is killing 20 times more people per week than does the flu.

However, despite the pandemic’s ongoing devastation, people are finding creative ways to do what matters most to them.

For example, a 10-year-old California girl used a shower curtain, Ziploc bags, disposable plates and a hot glue gun to create an ingenious “hug curtain” through which she could hug her grandparents. A judge in the District of Columbia is officiating virtually at weddings using her computer at home.

And a 34-year-old man in New York City has created a charity to provide meals for some of the 36,000 Holocaust survivors in the city. He states that 40 percent of them live in poverty.

“See, they say, how they love one another”

Early Christians had no buildings of their own; during the pandemic, ours are vacant. Early believers had to be careful of public meetings, lest they arouse the suspicions of Roman officials; during the pandemic, believers are practicing social distancing or meeting virtually.

Despite their challenges, the first believers “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). How can we emulate them today?

Tertullian (AD 155–220) reported that his fellow Christians took a regular collection “to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but fidelity to the cause of God’s Church.”

As a result, the enemies of the church were moved to respond: “See, they say, how they love one another, for [they] themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death” (Apology 39).

When we experience Jesus’ sacrificial love for us, we will share his love with others. We will love Christ as our Lord and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–39). And a culture that knows little of unconditional love and grace will be drawn to what they see in us.

A question I hope you’ll ask our Father

The key, however, is not trying harder to do better. We cannot climb this Mount Everest through personal resolve. We will overcome any challenge to love our neighbor as ourselves only when we truly experience God’s love for us. Not just theologically or theoretically, but personally and profoundly.

How can we encounter his love in this way today? I prayed about that question and was led to conduct a thought experiment. I asked my Father to bring to my attention some times in my life when he demonstrated his love for me.

My mind immediately was flooded with examples. I thought about my parents’ love for me, teachers who encouraged me as a child, the men who invited me to ride their bus to church, mentors who have guided me and churches and seminaries that allowed me to serve God with them. I thought about the friends who helped us launch this ministry, the amazing team of colleagues with whom I work and the thousands of donors who support us today.

Most of all, I thought of my wife’s unwavering love across nearly 40 years of marriage and of our sons, their wives and their children. I am grateful for them beyond words. And I know each of them, and each example that came to my mind, was a love-gift of God to me. I did nothing to earn or deserve such grace.

After this brief review, my heart was filled with gratitude for my Father’s love. I began to love myself as he loves me. And I was moved to share his love with you and anyone else I can influence today.

I invite you to ask our Father what I asked him, then love yourself as he loves you and your neighbor as you love yourself.

You, and they, may never be the same.

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

Quadriplegic climbs Mount Everest at home: A question I hope you’ll ask today was first published in The Daily Articleby the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

Ahmaud Arbery would have turned 26 last Friday. People across the United States commemorated his life by running 2.23 miles, referencing the day he died.

A former high school football star, he was jogging near his home on the outskirts of Brunswick, Ga., on Sunday, Feb. 23. According to authorities, he was shot and killed after being pursued by two white men with guns.

The men were charged May 7 with murder and aggravated assault, two days after a shocking video of the shooting of Arbery became public. This tragedy is raising once again the specter of racism in our culture.

Coronavirus as a metaphor for racism

Administration officials announced May 9 that three members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, would self-quarantine after contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Let’s take a moment to consider the pervasiveness of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a metaphor for racism.

Both are unseen in a person’s life until they become symptomatic. Both can infect people who do not recognize symptoms of the disease in their lives and thus think they are free of infection. Both often produce symptoms that worsen over time. And both can infect people who become carriers who infect others.

A year ago, I wrote a white paper that examines the issue of racism in depth. I reported slavery began in the New World in 1619 when the first group of African slaves arrived at Jamestown, Va. Many Europeans argued Africans were inferior and declared they were better off enslaved by whites than living in freedom in their homelands.

Planters also quickly realized they could make enormous profits by importing and using enslaved laborers. Such laborers could be made to work longer and harder in the fields. Since they were so far from their African homes, they could not escape and return home easily. They came from a variety of nations and cultures, so they could not communicate easily with one another to organize resistance against their enslavers.

The U.S. Constitution enshrined slavery, determining enslaved persons would be counted as “three-fifths of all other Persons” for purposes of government representation and taxation (Article I, Section II, Paragraph III). It permitted the importing of slaves until 1808, with a tax of $10 per slave (Article I, Section IX, Clause I). And it required those living in free states to return escaped slaves to their owners (Article IV, Section II, Clause III).

Segregation in schools was not outlawed until 1954. Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation finally were overturned by the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the Voting Rights Acts of 1965. However, as I note in my paper and in another Daily Article, racial discrimination persists across America’s culture and churches today.

A “zero tolerance” policy

The depth and pervasiveness of the virus of racism require us to treat both the symptoms and the cause of the disease.

We should treat the symptoms of racism by continuing to work for justice and against the systemic discrimination prevalent in much of our culture. For example, as Jemar Tisby states eloquently in a podcast conversation on our website and in a Religious News Service article, we all must respond to the tragedy of racism by increasing our awareness, relationships and commitment. And we must condemn and oppose white supremacy wherever we find it.

The underlying cause of this disease, however, is the depraved human heart.

Jesus was blunt: “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19). But God can “give you a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). He can forgive every sin we confess (1 John 1:9) and then separate that sin from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

Adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for the virus of racial prejudice in your life. To do this, ask the Holy Spirit if there is any vestige of this sin in your heart. If he brings such sins to your mind, ask your Father to forgive you and to give you his heart of unconditional, inclusive love.

After David recognized the severity of his sinful infection, he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10).

Let’s make his prayer ours today.

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

The shooting of Ahmaud Arbery: Eradicating the virus of racism was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

Tom Hanks delivered a virtual commencement address last weekend for the graduates of Ohio’s Wright State University. He called them the “chosen ones” in part because of the pandemic that has changed our lives so dramatically.

The actor explained, “You are the chosen ones because of a fate unimagined when you began your Wright State adventures.” As a result, he predicted: “You will be enlightened in ways your degree never held in promise. You will have made it through a time of great sacrifice and great need. No one will be more fresh to the task of restarting our normalcy than you—our chosen ones.”

What Warren Buffett thinks about our future

Yesterday was Star Wars Day with its annual slogan, “May the Fourth be with you.” But today is also special for Star Wars fans, since the fifth rhymes with Sith—the ancient enemies of the Jedi Order.

The Star Wars universe has been a cultural phenomenon for more than four decades in large part because of its assurance that “the Force will be with you, always.” This “Force,” however, is not a personal God but, as Obi-Wan Kenobi explained, an impersonal “energy field created by all living things.” It is available to us as we seek to defeat the “dark side.”

In this sense, the Star Wars worldview reinforces and amplifies our belief in ourselves. A single Jedi knight can destroy a Death Star. People passionately committed to good can defeat those committed to evil.

What Tom Hanks told the graduates of Wright State University is what Americans believe about ourselves: We can persevere through pain and triumph over tragedy.

Warren Buffett made the same optimistic claim during a recent company shareholders meeting: “Nothing can basically stop America. The American miracle, the American magic, has always prevailed, and it will do so again.”

This can-do spirit fueled the pioneers who risked their lives and families to come to this New World, the settlers who pushed its frontiers from the East Coast to the West, and the entrepreneurs who built the greatest economic force the world has ever seen.

Every time I travel overseas, I am deeply grateful to return to this country. My father and grandfather fought for our nation. I will always love America.

It is in that spirit that I share what follows.

Beware “the protection of Pharaoh”

When Isaiah 30 opens, the Assyrian Empire is the world’s great superpower to the north. Egypt is the superpower to the south. The tiny kingdoms of Israel and Judah are in-between.

The Assyrians soon would destroy Israel and threaten to do the same to Judah. You might think in such dire circumstances the people would turn fervently to God for help. But the opposite was the case.

Rather than asking their Lord for protection, they turned to Egypt for help. Rather than relying on their omnipotent King, they relied on a fallen king of a finite kingdom.

God warned such dependence on people rather than their Lord was folly: “‘Ah, stubborn children,’ declares the LORD, ‘who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!’” (Isaiah 30:1–2).

As a result, God warned: “Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation” (v. 3).

“O LORD our God, save us from his hand”

I am glad to report their story had a miraculous ending. A few years later, Assyria invaded Judah. But rather than trusting in Egypt as had his wayward people, the Jewish king Hezekiah turned to God: “O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD” (Isaiah 37:20).

God heard Hezekiah’s prayer (v. 21) and sent his angel, who “struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians” (v. 36). The Assyrian king retreated back to Nineveh (v. 37), where he later was assassinated by his own sons (v. 38).

Seven chapters earlier, the people of Judah were trusting people to defeat their enemy rather than God. When they finally turned to their Lord, he did what no humans could.

Our situation is different: We can trust God to use people to defeat our viral enemy. We can encourage our healthcare heroes as they care for patients and scientists as they develop therapies and vaccines against the virus. We can work together to restart the economy while striving to keep down infections.

And we can pray for God to do what no mortals can. We can ask him to protect our families and those on the frontlines of this battle. We can ask him to work medically and miraculously. We can know that as we work, God works.

What we must not do

What we must not do is trust people more than we trust our Lord. We must not make our heavenly Father into an impersonal “Force.” We must not believe in America more than we believe in Jesus.

Through this crisis, I am praying for our nation to admit we are dying mortals who need a living Savior. I am praying for our churches to share the only vaccine for eternal death. I am praying for Christians to depend upon the Prince of Peace more than the pharaohs in our mirrors.

Will you join me?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

Tom Hanks’s virtual commencement address and Star Wars Day: Are you trusting the Force more than the Father was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

The Jetsons were an animated television family in the early 1960s. Their space-age home was cleaned by Rosie the robot. They talked to each other via video and smartwatches and read the news on flat-screen televisions. Drone-like flying pods delivered their children to school. Voice-activated devices talked to them.

That was then; this is now.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, interior designers are busy planning the office of the future. Here’s a vision of what office workers may come back to (whenever that is).

The doors into our office building will open automatically so we don’t have to touch them. We will tell the elevator our floor so we don’t have to touch its buttons. Elevator occupancy will be regulated to enable social distancing.

Our office will have dividers separating workspaces spaced further apart. Break rooms and kitchens will have fewer chairs and signs documenting the last time they were cleaned.

All of this reverses the trend following the last recession in which companies were trying to do more with less space. Many packed their employees into open office spaces, a practice known as “densification.” This likely will be reversed now with more private spaces or personal offices for employees. Sensors will detect and warn of overcrowding; employees will take turns using private offices and will work from home otherwise.

One company is developing a concept called “Six Feet Office” with visually displayed foot traffic routing to keep employees six feet apart. Higher quality air filtration systems, UV lighting to sanitize surfaces, and more ubiquitous hand-sanitizing stations are predicted. So are infrared body temperature scanners and virus and antibody testing kits for employees.

We will need more space for fewer employees

All of this, of course, assumes we will return to our offices.

According to a new MIT report, 34 percent of Americans who previously commuted to work were working from home by the first week of April due to coronavirus. Prior to the pandemic, only 4 percent of the American workforce worked from home at least half the time.

Home offices are becoming more ubiquitous as a result. People are looking for ways to convert a closet or add a room to create more functional work-from-home space. They are buying desks, office supplies and computer technology more frequently than before.

Does this trend mean companies will lease less space? One way companies can lessen the financial impact of the pandemic is to reduce their rent obligations. However, while they may have fewer in-office employees, their social-distancing space may need to be larger, so that the two trends cancel each other out.

“Return, O my soul, to your rest”

As we look to the future with the pandemic, it’s vital that we look to the past with our Lord.

Psalm 116 begins: “I love the Lord” (v. 1a). This is a present-tense affirmation and experience. But here is why the psalmist makes this declaration: “because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy” (v. 1b). He trusts God in the present because God has been trustworthy in the past.

The psalmist makes his point again: “Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (v. 2, my emphasis). Once again, he bases his present faith in God on God’s faithfulness in the past.

He then illustrates: “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!’” (vv. 3–4).

This experience taught him that “gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful” (v. 5). He knows “the Lord preserves the simple” because “when I was brought low, he saved me” (v. 6). Now he can say, “Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you” (v. 7).

How to “cast all your anxiety on him”

What pandemic-induced changes in your life today are especially difficult for you? Name them, then identify times in the past when God has been faithful to you when you faced related challenges.

If you’re struggling financially, remember previous times when God met your needs. If you’re worried about the future, remember days when such worries were met by God’s grace. If you’re concerned about your family or health, remember when God provided for your family and health.

Now trust your present fears to your ever-present Father. He promises that “he will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Jesus assured us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). You can “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

R.C. Sproul observed: “The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in.”

Do you?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

Welcome to the office of the future: How to ‘cast all your anxiety’ on God was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.

Reservations for cruises next year are up 40 percent from 2019. If you book one, expect to experience more stringent boarding procedures, regular temperature checks, expanded onboard medical centers, improved air filtration systems, and crew-manned serving stations.

And don’t be surprised if a robot cleans your room. Sterilization robots already in use in hotels could be on your next ship.

We’re looking for help with COVID-19 in every direction, from the Senate deal yesterday on a $484 billion aid package to the New York City mayor’s plan to throw a parade for healthcare workers and first responders when the city reopens.

But the most significant direction we can look today is up.

A powerful image of divine judgment

I am reading through the Book of Isaiah these days and came upon a chapter that speaks directly to our crisis.

The prophet foresaw a day when the people of Israel would be judged by God: “It shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten” (Isaiah 17:5–6).

I have been in Israel during olive harvesting season and seen workers beating the trees to knock the olives from their branches. A few olives always are left, while most fall to the ground.

This is a powerful picture of God’s judgment against his sinful people. But here’s the resulting good news: “In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made” (vv. 7–8).

The people had trusted what they could make rather than the One who made them. When they got so far down they could look nowhere but up, they would turn back to the God they should have been trusting and worshipping all along.

It was vital to do immediately: “You have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain” (vv. 10–11).

In other words, trusting present resources against future judgment always is a tragic mistake.

How this warning relates to the pandemic

These words are in God’s word as a warning not just to their original readers, but to us as well.

I am not claiming the coronavirus pandemic is God’s judgment against specific sins or sinners. In fact, I do not view the virus that way. Divine judgment involving disease in Scripture is supernatural in nature, such as the plagues in Egypt. It is also directed at specific sins, such as Herod’s claim of divinity in Acts 12:20–23. (For more, see my article in Christianity Today.)

But I am claiming the principle found in Isaiah 17 is just as relevant today as it was 2,700 years ago. Neither God’s nature nor human nature have changed. What the Lord judged then, he judges today.

The people of Israel had “forgotten the God of your salvation” and shifted their faith to what they could do themselves. Our secular culture has done the same.

“You do not have, because you do not ask”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo captured the spirit of our age when he said of declining coronavirus cases in his state, “The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that” (his emphasis).

In his worldview, we have a binary choice: either we do something, or God does it. The governor doesn’t seem to understand God employs people to do his work and can lead scientists and empower doctors in our fallen world. Or that praying for his help is essential to experiencing the fullness of his omnipotent grace: “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

We obviously need scientists and leaders to do their work. We need to shelter in place until we can return to “normal.”

But as we search for ways to defeat this disease, how many of our leaders are turning to God for help? When we make progress in battling the virus, how many of our people are turning publicly to God in gratitude?

The only path to perfect freedom

When we submit our lives to our Lord, we experience the paradoxical freedom that comes from making him our Master. Consider this profound observation by Frederick Buechner:

We have freedom to the degree that the master whom we obey grants it to us in return for our obedience. We do well to choose a master in terms of how much freedom we get for how much obedience.

To obey the law of the land leaves us our constitutional freedom, but not the freedom to follow our own consciences wherever they lead.

To obey the dictates of our own consciences leaves us freedom from the sense of moral guilt, but not the freedom to gratify our own strongest appetites.

To obey our strongest appetites for drink, sex, power, revenge, or whatever leaves us the freedom of an animal to take what we want when we want it, but not the freedom of a human being to be human.

The old prayer speaks of God ‘in whose service is perfect freedom.’ The paradox is not as opaque as it sounds. It means that to obey Love itself, which above all else wishes us well, leaves us the freedom to be the best and gladdest that we have it in us to become. The only freedom Love denies us is the freedom to destroy ourselves ultimately.

How free are you today?

Jim Denison is the co-founder and chief vision officer of Denison Forum. He pastored churches in Texas and Georgia and now speaks and writes to empower believers to navigate cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

Robots may clean your next cruise ship: A 2,700-year-old warning for today was first published in The Daily Article by the Denison Forum. Daily Articles are republished in the Baptist Standard under agreement with Denison Forum and are not intended to represent the Standard’s views.