In the book of Corinthians, in Chapter 13, Paul the Apostle, chosen personally by Jesus while on the road to Damascus, had much to say about love being the greatest of all the heavenly gifts.

Paul said these words:

“I may speak in different languages of people or even angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell [gong] or a crashing [clanging] cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God [mysteries] and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all of these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing if I do not have love.”

The above words are true for all of us. Especially all of us who call ourselves Christians.

Love is our highest calling, and Jesus is our greatest example of what real love looks like.

Jesus once said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Not long after He said that, Jesus laid down His life for His friends.

Jesus demonstrated the greatest gift of all on the hill called Calvary. He offered up his body as a sacrifice for everyone who had ever sinned, which, as it turns out, is everyone reaching the age of accountability who has ever lived and breathed in the air on planet Earth.

All who trust in and believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior become His dear friends. He then bestows upon his friends the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit, begins to transform our worldly, sinful hearts into hearts like the heart of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The goal of Jesus is to change our hearts into hearts just like His own heart. Hearts that are filled with mercy and compassion and in a spirit of selflessness. Hearts that are willing to put the welfare of others above our own. Tender hearts that weep at the thought that anyone might perish.

Hearts filled with thankfulness for all that God has done for each of us.

Gracious, tender, merciful, compassionate hearts that are as gentle as a dove and yet as brave and courageous as a lion.

Hearts like the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah.

Hearts like the heart of Jesus.

This is what Paul was talking about to the Corinthians.

Any one of us could embody every gift under the sun, and yet without love, all of those gifts would be in jeopardy of slipping into the abyss of vanity.

Without the love of God, “all is vanity under the sun.”

Earthly love can be interpreted many different ways, for example: “Love is a battlefield,” or “Love isn’t always on time,” or “If you can’t be with the one you Love, then, honey, Love the one you’re with,” or “I wanna know what Love is,” or even “All you need is Love.”

These words and lyrics make for some very catchy songs; however, they have little to do with the kind of love Jesus exemplified when He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” and then proving it by doing that very thing.

Our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit love each of us and provide for each of us in sometimes amazing ways.

Something that happened in my life at the age of 20 years old, something I call the $5 miracle, was instrumental in me learning something about how much God loved me and was looking out for my little family that, at the time, consisted of my wife Toni and I and our daughter Jamie, who was two months old.

It was in the summer of the year 1967 that Toni and I sold nearly everything we owned and left the house we had been renting in Topanga Canyon from Honest John, the wrestler. A house that soon after crumbled and fell onto Topanga Canyon Blvd. But that is another story.

We took that money from selling most all of our stuff and bought plane tickets to the island of Maui. We arrived with Jamie and our cat named Beverly and two hundred dollars in our pocket.

We rented a small house in Kihei from Johnny Akina for $35 a month and bought a 1949 Plymouth for $50 from a friendly Chinese man named George in Wailuku.

I began looking for a job, but as one might guess, it wasn’t too long before the money we had left over had begun to run out. Well, I was able to find a job at the Maui Hilton Hotel as a waiter in the Lokelani dining room. However, the job was not scheduled to start until about four days from when I got it, and at that point, the money had completely run out, and we had no food left or anything at all to feed our little girl, Jamie.

Faced with this predicament, I walked down to Charlie Young Beach in Kihei to pray. In 1967, there were very few people on Maui, and especially in Kihei.

There was not one other soul on the beach, which was about half a mile long from one end to the other.

I walked about halfway down the beach and randomly sat down at the high-tide line and began to pray.

I remember saying something like, “Lord, thank you for the job at the Hilton, but as you must know, it doesn’t start for a few days, and we have no money left and nothing to feed Jamie.

I then felt the urge to open my eyes and look down at the water. To my complete shock, I saw a five-dollar bill wash up out of the ocean straight to where I was sitting. I didn’t even have to move an inch. I reached down and picked it up in utter disbelief. I dried it off in the breeze, still wondering if this actually just happened.

As I realized that it did actually just happen, I began running along the beach, jumping up and down, clicking my barefoot heels together and praising the Lord with all of my heart.

I ran home and told Toni what had happened, and she could barely believe it either.

Back in those days, even on Maui, five dollars went a long way, and it was just enough to pull us through until my new job as a waiter at the Hilton kicked in. Since, as a waiter, there were tips involved, I didn’t have to wait for a paycheck to have some money. Because of God’s love for us, we were able to buy what we needed for Jamie.

To this day, I am amazed at this miraculous story and how it set me on the path of knowing the wonders of God’s love and also knowing that He can do anything.

It still gives me goosebumps, or chicken skin, as the Hawaiians would say.

I could have sat down anywhere on that beach on that given day and missed out on the “Five Dollar Miracle.”

But I didn’t. Instead, I sat down in the exact spot that Almighty, All-Knowing, and All-Merciful God led me to. The spot where a miracle would take place.

The love of God knows no boundaries. No boundaries indeed, no boundaries whatsoever.

Recounting this story of the “Five-Dollar Miracle” reminds me not only of how much God loves me but also of how much I love Him.

It is what set me on a path to pursue that which Paul, the chosen apostle of Jesus, described to the Corinthians as the “greatest gift of all.”

And the greatest gift of all, as Paul so beautifully articulated in Corinthians Chapter 13, is Love.

Your good friend in Jesus,

Rick Segoine

…And Good Evil

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” When Isaiah the prophet spoke these words nearly 2,800 years ago, he warned the people of his day about moral and spiritual blindness. The moral compass becomes so distorted that people, in their pride and shrewdness, would mislabel good and evil. Here we are, nearly three millennia later, and not only is most of humanity in a moral free-fall, but it’s normative for evil to be called good and good called evil. Let’s explore the personal implications and how we should respond to a world full of people who think Christians are the bad guys (Isaiah 5:20).

Our society is full of agendas and narratives, many of which are false, if not downright evil. Given our days of unbridled wokeness, virtue signaling, and skewed morality, it would be easy to blame CNN, MSNBC, The View, BBC, or any other outlet, especially social media, for stoking hatred against Christians. That’s not to diminish the role of mainstream media and platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok in stirring up a mob mentality against anything deemed a threat to a morally decadent society, because that’s precisely what’s being done (1 Peter 4:4).

But mobs are made up of individuals who have a choice to make. These fellow humans have a heart, mind, and volition to act. The choice is simple: Do I think for myself and form an opinion about Christians based on evidence and truth, or do I allow my opinion of others to be formed by pop culture, social media, and ultimately controlled by the mob?

When a mob-ruled society is making decisions based on a distorted view of good and evil, it can decide who the good and bad guys are. They can also stir up bullies to shame, coerce, intimidate, or harm people who won’t go along with their worldview.

Here are a few examples of what the mob wants everyone to agree with, followed by what true Christians believe:

• Love is love. – True Christians love all people, including everyone in the gay community.
• Born this way. – True Christians care deeply for all people, no matter who they are, and believe children should be protected from indoctrination and gender ideology confusion.
• My body, my choice. – True Christians care about the well-being of all women and unborn babies.
• From the river to the sea… – True Christians love the Jewish people and the Muslim people but stand against antisemitism.
• Globalize the Intifada. – True Christians believe all people deserve dignity and respect but see the reality of a concerted effort to destroy the Jewish people.
• All religions lead to God. – True Christians love people of all faiths and want to share the truth about Jesus and the gospel, which leads to eternal life.

If you deviate from the script, you might be canceled, vilified, verbally and physically accosted, harmed, or worse. This is mob rule by a relatively small group of people who persuade an otherwise rational large part of the population to join (Romans 1:32). Take a biblical stand for marriage, life, the protection of children, love for Jewish people, or Jesus as the only way, and watch what happens (Matthew 5:11).

Every mob needs an enemy. The group of “tolerance” has nothing but intolerance for people of faith, and the primary object of their hate is Christians. When the mob wants to demonize believers, they whip up the masses against “right-wingers,” “conservatives,” or worst of all, “those evangelical Christians.” When the mob speaks of evangelicals, they make you exhibit A for everything wrong in the world. Recently, I saw an interview with Bono, the lead singer of U2. Here’s what he says about evangelicals:

I had grown up with more than a few bumps with evangelicals. I found it so difficult to be around evangelicals because they were just so literal about everything. On a tour, I ended up at Wheaton, a big evangelical college in Chicago. They were really helpful. I realized these were kind of, not to be at all dismissive of some incredible people, but it was like I felt they were sort of narrow-minded. –Bono, on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast -May 30, 2025

Bono talked about the literal vs. metaphoric Bible interpretation to be fair and contextual. His view of scripture is obviously flawed, and he overtly lauds the social gospel. But when a person with Bono’s influence says that it’s hard to be around evangelicals, and they are narrow-minded, he creates a false narrative about a large segment of Christians to his listeners. If Bono’s view of evangelicals comes off as uncomfortably tolerant of them, then author Stephen Geist is anything but tolerant. Here’s what he writes about evangelicals:

I call your attention to this movement within American Christianity because it plays a dangerous role in our politics and culture. I consider Evangelicals among the most fanatical religious groups in America today. And here is my ‘word salad’ to encapsulate Evangelicals: far-right white, hypocritical, ignorant, gullible, naive, bigoted, racist, intolerant, anti-gay, and anti-science — basically a large part of the MAGA minions. This is the subset of American citizenry who feels obliged to impose their bizarre beliefs upon everybody else — by force. –Stephen Geist article, America’s Pseudo-Christian Evangelicals

Celebrities, pundits, and authors are the tip of the iceberg, because countless millions of regular people make up the mob majority who openly despise true Christians. Space doesn’t permit me to list the thousands of hateful comments, but here are a few examples:

• Evangelicals interpret the Bible literally. Talking animals, walking on water, a man living in the body of a whale, a 90-year-old woman giving birth…they believe this stuff literally.
• Evangelicals are hypocrites – they will march against abortion rights but never to support the rights of the desperately poor.
• Religious people publicly adoring Trump and calling him the most god-like president ever, and other total nonsense about his completely anti-Christian behavior, nauseates me.
• They are cultists. They are delusional. They want to force their religion on others. They are welcome to their beliefs but should keep them to themselves.
• They are an embarrassing blemish on the face of America, hating everything not themselves.
• About 80% are hypocrites, and the other 20% are dangerous.

This type of inflammatory rhetoric is becoming commonplace on mainstream media, social media, and numerous other platforms, and it’s intended to spread the same hateful, false narrative consistently: Born-again Christians are the problem. If the mob is honest, the real issue they have with true Christians is our very existence. To the mob, authentic born-again Christians are a danger to modern society (John 15:18-19).

Many people are calling evil good. The mob says homosexuality is good. Abortion is good. The massacre of Jews is good. Brainwashing innocent children about their sexuality is good. Worldwide religious unity regarding the way to heaven is good. When Christians take a stand against aborting babies, antisemitism, brainwashing children, and spiritual deception, the mob calls good evil.

The world has a lot of false ideas about who Christians are. Many people have bought into the mob’s lies that we’re all Trump worshipers, want to make America a Christian utopia, hate gay people, hate foreigners, consider women second-class, don’t care for the poor, among many other fabrications.

Here’s the truth about real Christians: We vote pro-life and conservative values, and although I’ve seen many cultural Christians idolize Donald Trump, many true Christians don’t. Cultural Christians are consumed with enriching themselves by following the prosperity gospel, but true Christians care for the needy. Cultural Christians are very combative and vocal (especially on social media) about abortion and homosexuality, while virtually ignoring the greed, materialism, pride, gossip, and adultery that have invaded many Western churches. Let me give you a few more differences between cultural Christians and true Christians:

• I’ve seen cultural Christians scream at women entering abortion clinics. On the other hand, I’ve seen firsthand true Christians pray with women outside those clinics and offer tangible help, biblical wisdom, and love.
• I’ve seen cultural Christians say awful things about people with different political views. They become so mesmerized by trying to bring America back to Jesus and change the world through human efforts and politics that they ignore the great commission entirely. But I’ve seen true Christians vote for biblical values, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and then continue focusing on God’s kingdom come instead of trying to create it in the here and now.
• I’ve personally witnessed some of the most unloving, prideful, arrogant preaching directed at homosexual people and their supporters. I’ve heard cultural Christian preachers in churches, online, and especially in the public square say things so vulgar that have no place in the mouth of a preacher of the gospel. Far from being a loving warning and plea to repent and come to faith in Jesus, I’ve seen cultural Christian preachers bask in the commotion they were causing through inflammatory words.

On the other hand, I’ve personally known and witnessed true Christians preach the gospel to the homosexual community in the boldness and love of Jesus. Far from being combative, these preachers reasoned with them through the scriptures about sin, repentance, and forgiveness. They pleaded with them so respectfully that, whether the crowd agreed or not, there was no doubt that the motive was the love of Jesus, not having to win an argument.

To be certain, Christians here in the West haven’t had to deal with intense, widespread persecution like our brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia, and other areas. As we are literally entering a time of global moral collapse, I expect the intolerance of the mob toward true Christians will only worsen as we get closer to the end of the age.

Authentic Christians must either acquiesce to the worldly mob or stand firm in the faith. This means standing even if other so-called Christians betray you or side with the mob. It means lovingly warning people about repentance, judgment, and eternity. Standing for the truth will make you a target for the mob. This is how it was for the prophets, apostles, early Christians, and millions of other believers through the centuries. The mob has always been an enemy of the remnant church, and it has always called evil good and good evil. Our response should be love, the gospel of peace, and Holy Spirit-wrought boldness as we pray for and witness to them. Discerning the lateness of the hour we live in should encourage us to endure to the end and finish well (Philippians 1:28).

All for Him,

Howard

Podcast link to Calling Evil Good and Good Evil: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-jesus-in-a-world-that-calls-evil-good-and-good-evil/id1565453348?i=1000712016923

YouTube link to video, Calling Evil Good and Good Evil: https://youtu.be/pyRF3WSj_K0?si=S1orQ7gnoxcn4tQn&t=1