Steve Bezner

A moment of silence:

JB just told me she doesn’t like curling 🥌

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.—Genesis 15:6

By grace, through faith.

Hope After Epstein Spiritual Hope After Seeing Evil Up Close

How should Christians respond after we see evil up close?

Some reflections:

open.substack.com/pub/bezner/p...

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
—Genesis 1:27

Every nation, tribe, and tongue. Every person you encounter. Every neighbor. Every enemy.

Made in His image.

The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.
—Revelation 22:2-3

One day. We wait with hopeful expectation.

The dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.—Revelation 20:12

On days the world feels darker than I can bear, I find some consolation here:

Evil will be judged and given over to death.

Jonathan Jackson...son of Rev. Jesse Jackson.

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.—Revelation 7:9

Every nation. Every tribe. Every tongue.

Got to root on the Bears tonight.

Just finished writing a sermon and I kind of like it??

Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Stay tuned.

But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.—Revelation 2:4

Love and allegiance to Jesus first.

Little children, keep yourself from idols.

—1 John 5:21

Would love to see a member of the President’s Faith Council make a statement in response to the documents released over the weekend.

Sadly, I expect no such statement will appear.

Without one, the exchange of truth-telling for proximity to power will be officially complete.

They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin.—1 Peter 2:14

“Depraved” is too kind to describe the people and actions described in documents released over the weekend.

May justice roll down like waters.

So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.—1 Peter 4:19

When times are hard:

Keep trusting God. Keep doing good.

Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies.—James 5:4

May we be certain to treat those who do work for us with fairness.

Jumped off the page as I read. Had never noticed it before.

Remember those in prison *as though you* were in prison with them and the mistreated *as though you yourselves* were suffering bodily.—Hebrews 13:3

“As though you.”

Empathy: A Christian virtue.

"Christ came to heal the world, not fight it."--Father Jud

They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works.—Titus 1:16

The test: Could people tell—just by watching your life—that you follow Jesus?

Is the way I follow Jesus radical enough for anyone to notice?

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers.—Colossians 4:12

Lord, make us like Epaphras—wrestling in prayer for those we love.

As a longtime U2 fan, one of my favorite little quirks is that autocorrect changes the name of our dog—Bobo—to Bono.

Do everything in love.

—1 Corinthians 16:14

If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.—1 Corinthians 13:1

God is love, y’all.

Hmmmm. I don’t know!

DFW-area friends:

I’ll be speaking tonight at 6 pm @ Hunters Glen Baptist Church in Plano.

Topic: “Becoming a Peacemaker in a Fractured World.”

Would love to see you!

*that Trump is mentioned 1,500 times in the files released thus far

* the DOJ taking legal action against the Fed

* repeated bullying of a fellow NATO member

* unconstitutional actions taken by ICE

* the cowardice of Congress to act

Just to name a few.

If, for example, a pastor endorsed Trump/Republicans, then by now that pastor should have drawn public attention to at least some of the following:

* the use of SNAP recipients as political leverage

* the fact that Trump continues to slow the release of the Epstein files

Here's my basic rule for pastors thinking about endorsing/backing a political candidates/party:

Don't.

If, however, you choose to do so, when those you endorsed do something grievous, then call it out at the same level you endorsed.

If you don't, both you & the broader church lose credibility.

When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we respond graciously.—1 Cor 4:12-13

If we forsake his Way, we forsake Him.

Responding like Jesus is the Way of Jesus.