2 Timothy 4:2-3

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.”

John 3: 19-21

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

This week, a man named Floyd Brown was fired from the Kennedy Center because of his Christian beliefs. These beliefs had nothing to do with his work. According to Brown, he posted this on his ‘X” account:

My firing came approximately two hours after CNN sent an email asking me to comment on my past writings and statements about traditional marriage and homosexual influence in the GOP…. The only explanation is the one given to me at the time of my firing: ‘Floyd, you must recant your belief in traditional marriage and your past statements on the topic, or you will be fired.’ Needless to say, I refused to recant.”

CNN had interviewed him and asked about his Christian beliefs, and Brown had stated what all true Bible believing Christians know and understand the Bible to teach about marriage; it is for a man and woman exclusively. Jesus reiterated this in the gospel of Mark, chapter 10:7-9,

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

As many are beginning to see, there is an open hatred for things Christian. In Seattle, there was a recent outdoor meeting that was interrupted by Antifa persons, and the Christians were blamed for the problems:

In Seattle, a peaceful outdoor worship event was disrupted by Antifa activists. Instead of defending the rights of the worshippers, the city’s mayor sided with the protestors, prompting concerns about governmental hostility toward public expressions of Christian faith.

The hatred is becoming more and more animated, and the rhetoric that is used about Christians, like calling us ‘homophobic’, ‘transphobic’, ‘white nationalists’, and the like, only adds fuel to the fire. True Christians are none of these things. We may disagree with the homosexual lifestyle and the trans movement, but we are called to love these our neighbors as we exemplify Jesus to them. But loving them does not mean that we condone their lifestyles.

I am overweight. I was a lot bigger at one time, and those that loved me kept encouraging me to lose weight, eat better, move more, and choose better. This is what love is. Those that make it seem okay to be overweight and obese, knowing it will kill you, do NOT love you. But the world system has taught an entire generation of people, and especially kids, that if you love them, you will condone evil and detrimental behavior. This is NOT love. God is love; as such, He has to at times call us out for doing evil and point out that we are in need of repentance and forgiveness.

As we get closer and closer to the return of our Savior, these kinds of incidents will become more and more regular. We will be called to account for our beliefs in the Bible and the Word of God. We will be held accountable for the belief in its inerrancy and that it does not allow us to pick and choose.

Now, just to show that real evil is behind this, the Quran does not promote homosexuality at all, and today, in Muslim countries, homosexual and lesbian persons are killed. I recently saw an interview in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, between a conservative reporter and a Muslim man. The man noted the very high birth rate of the Muslims as compared to Canadians, and he estimated that by 2060, they will be able to take over the government of Canada, and then they will bring in Sharia law. Make no mistake; they will kill the homosexuals, the trans, and all the other sexual deviations first. But no one attacks the Muslims; no one calls for them to be expelled. Thus, we can see that the issue is not the beliefs; it is that we serve the one true God. And the god of Islam, Satan himself, cannot stand by and allow Christianity to go unchecked.

I pray that when the time comes, I will be able to humbly stand and affirm my trust and belief in Jesus and His ways. I pray that you will be able to stand too. Brown sees that God is in charge and does not regret standing for the Lord and speaking the truth.

Brown, who has written multiple books and frequently speaks at churches and Christian conferences, says he remains committed to his faith and will not back down. “I am at peace,” Brown stated. “My beliefs are much more common to biblical Christianity than the cultural elites would like to admit. I was hired to serve, and I did. I was fired for standing.”

I pray we will all have the same trusting faith and that we will stand for our Savior. May the Lord keep us in the troublesome times and help us to stand for Him and His ways.

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

Job 21:7-16

“Why do the wicked live and become old, yes, become mighty in power? Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull breeds without failure; their cow calves without miscarriage. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the flute. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’ Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.”

This is an age-old question. Job was asking this question millennia ago. We find another prominent person asking this very question in Psalm 73. There we see Asaph, one of King David’s chief musicians, asking the same question, in verses 3-4, “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.”

 It seems that this is a question that has plagued us all as Christians. I find myself asking the same questions when money is short or resources are lean. Why, Lord, is it so easy for the lost and the heathen to get money, build, pay for, and just do whatever they please? It seems to boggle the mind that the wicked have so much and the Lord’s people, many, not all, have so little.

Now, let me be honest; according to the world system around us, I am in the top 1% of money earners. Not the top 1% for North America or the industrialized world, but as an overall look at wealth in the whole world, I am very well off. As has been the case forever and ever, those who engage in illegal and even immoral activities seem to prosper, and there are many who do good things but without proper ethics, who seem to make the most money and prosper.

Job and Asaph point out that these persons seem never to be in want; they and their families never seem to have to go without, and even their livestock has healthy offspring; they never seem to suffer any kind of loss. They and their children are well fed; their lives are filled with laughter and adventure. They don’t have to make the tough choices between one thing or the other because of money; they can afford both. It just grinds on you. It makes one wonder what is the point of living right? What is the point of obeying God? What, even, is the point of acknowledging God?

These folks don’t want to know about God. They pay no allegiance to Him and certainly do not attribute their wealth to anything from Him. Lord, why do the wicked prosper?

In Psalm 73:13-14, Asaph makes this observation, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.”  Asaph comes to the conclusion in the way of man’s thinking that he has tried to live righteously ‘in vain’ and that he has submitted to God’s chastening, His discipline. But for all that, the people who seem to prosper the most are those who deny God and disobey Him. Why, then, should we try to be obedient?

Both of these godly men had to have their eyes opened by God’s Spirit. They needed to see that this life is short, and while these people have pleasure for a season, there is an eternity that faces them where their riches will not offer them any comforts whatsoever.

In Job 21:30, “For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; they shall be brought out on the day of wrath.”

There is a day of reckoning coming to all men, yes, even the wicked. Asaph had a similar revelation in Psalm 73:16-18: “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely, thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.”

Notice that Asaph went to the sanctuary, the Tabernacle there in Jerusalem, and he understood that life here is short and no matter how rich you are here, it profits nothing in the next life. Just like all other men, these wealthy vagabonds will face the judgment, and God will do right there. They will not be able to rely on their expensive lawyers or their money to get them out of trouble.

There is a legend that Alexander the Great was buried with his hand outstretched and his palms upward and empty to remind his people that you can’t take it with you. No matter how rich or powerful, the riches of the world mean nothing on the other side.

I know Jesus as my Savior. Do you know Him as your Savior? If we had nothing else, we would still be amongst the world’s richest people. One day, you and I, children of the Highest, will inherit a Kingdom that is eternal. A kingdom so wealthy that money is not needed. One day, we will inherit a kingdom that will NEVER fail or pass away. One day, we will inherit a kingdom that Jesus, the rightful heir, will share with us, and He will do so willingly and out of a heart of love. We will never have to do anything illegal or unethical to get this kingdom. We will never have to do anything shameful to get this kingdom, and we will never have to do anything dishonest to get this kingdom.

Trust in Jesus, His shed blood and resurrection as the sole and complete payment for your sins and mine, and the kingdom will be ours one day. Until that time, we will still have the question, ‘Why do the wicked prosper?’ Maybe God is just showing them a bit of grace on this side, as there is no grace on the other side. Just a certain judgment where they will have to pay for their own sins. I pray and hope to see you in that new kingdom one day. Jesus is coming to get us soon!

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario