I’m going to get some pushback for this one. I know that already. I am not a pre-tribulation believer. I once was, but only because that is what I was told I had to believe. It never made much sense to me, given everything else I knew. I have since learned to read for myself and take the church out of the Bible. A Simple Question That Got Complicated A young Christian woman came to me recently with questions about death, specifically, when we die, do we go to heaven right away, or do we wait for judgment? (souls still in the ground) I pointed her to three verses. Revelations 20:4–5 “ […]They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.” John 3:13 “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man.” Matthew 24: 9–14 “[…]At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” That led naturally into pre-tribulation questions. Then I realized the answer wasn’t as simple as it should be. Rapture Rabbit Hole I had to warn her that if she goes online and looks up that dreaded word rapture, she is going to get overwhelmed by all the different theories and doctrines out there. (She is a new Christian) So I gave her my honest opinion based on Scripture. People have simply become lazy over time and afraid of what it actually means to be a Christian during the end times. And there is a big thread of entitlement mixed in, a belief that because they are Christians, they are somehow above what everyone else will have to endure. Those are the real reasons this pre-tribulation theory gets such traction and keeps growing as a popular belief, despite never being part of any Christian teaching before the 1800s. That and the fact that movies have popularized it for cinematic effect. Fear and entitlement. That is what it comes down to. Nothing more and nothing less. What the Bible Actually Says Nowhere in the Bible does it teach pre-tribulation rapture. You have to perform a lot of mental and linguistic gymnastics to get there. Matthew 24, straight from Jesus’s own mouth, makes it abundantly clear that some of us are going to go through some really, really bad stuff. And by some of us, I mean those of us who are still alive when it happens, not those already gone. Why are people taking Jesus’ words out of the Bible? What an Untainted Mind Sees Clearly What follows is the result of someone who reads her Bible and does not worry about what men say. She has not been tainted by the politics, drama, and doctrines of the institutional church yet. She tests everything, including what I had to say on the matter, which is exactly what I wanted her to do without me telling her to do that. She did it brilliantly in questioning me quite thoroughly. Here is a part of what she said to me: “I mean it just logically doesn’t make sense to have all the Christians disappear, because during the end times I’m pretty sure it says that evil will be ruling over the earth during that time and its like how would people be able to come and know Jesus if none of His disciples live on the earth to share His word.” Right there is common sense speaking, not doctrine, wishes, or wants. The rest is all acrobatics on paper. Christians will go through the tribulation or at least a big part of it. I personally do not hold any hard time frame stance on this because it really could be anywhere in that time frame when it all starts. Also, I’m more concerned with spreading the Gospel, not an end date that I will never know until it happens. Whether you want to acknowledge any of this is up to you, but we will not miss when it hits. © Jane Isley First published in Never Stop Writing on Medium.

Knock Knock Something dark is coming. It’s knocking at our doors. This death was just the beginning. It’s a hardcore spiritual war. Knock Knock Don’t mean to scare you, but the time is now. God calls you His warrior. Don’t break your vow. When you chose this life, you knew it wouldn’t be easy. Are you ready, child? Knock Knock It’s time to strap up. Tighten your belt and secure your breastplate. Don’t forget the truth you’re fighting for. Slip on your helmet and pick up your sword. Are you ready for God’s love to pour? Peace is at your feet.That alone is no defeat. However, it’s time for more. Don’t let that faith of yours keep hiding in that drawer. Grab your shield and be ready to roar. Knock Knock Go open that door. You’re equipped for war. September 10th, 2025, changed everything. You see, Charlie’s death wasn’t just political — it was spiritual. His death is showing the evil and hatred that is going on in this world, but it’s also showing how many people want to stand up and fight for the truth. Since Wednesday, Christians all over the world have sensed that something is coming. I, too, have felt something similar, and so have people that I personally know. Deep down, I think we all know that something is coming, whether or not you are a believer. I believe it’s a hardcore spiritual war that’s about to hit. Now, spiritual warfare has always existed. If you’re a follower of Christ, you know this. You know that satan will do anything to slow us down or to make us want to walk away from Christ altogether. However, what I am saying is that satan is going to try and use this death to make us, as believers, stay quiet. He wants us to be scared of being persecuted so that we don’t speak up. In fact, there are people in this world right now who want people who are similar to Charlie Kirk (aka devout Christians) to be killed. I don’t mean to scare you, but this is the reality that we chose to face when we decided to follow Christ. “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they keep my word, they will also keep yours.” — John 15:19–20 [ESV] Now more than ever, we need to stand bold in faith. We need to put on the armor of God. It’s time to put on the belt of truth, helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, sword of the Spirit, sandals/feet of peace, and the shield of faith. We are entering into a season of spiritual warfare, and now is not the time to just sit on the sidelines. We need to gather as Christians and spend time together in fellowship, prayer, and in God’s word! We need to get out into the streets and show people who God is through love. That means openly talking about who Jesus is. That means offering to pray with strangers who are having a hard time. That means putting aside extra cash if you can for those who need it. That means being willing to have civil conversations with people who have opposing views from you. That means so many different things. God gave every single one of us different spiritual gifts that we can use to help lead people to Christ, so I encourage you — find a way to know what that spiritual gift is so that you can use it! Even if you don’t know what your spiritual gift is, God has empowered you to go and spread the Gospel and stand firm in your faith. None of us wants to be persecuted for what we believe in, but think about all the lost souls out there! Deep down, those lost souls do not understand what they are doing, missing, or what they will be facing on judgment day. Your boldness in your faith and love for Jesus could be the reason why someone turns to Christ. Your boldness could be the last seed that needs to be planted to save them from eternity in hell. And if you’re afraid, that’s okay — that’s what makes us human. But just because we’re afraid of something doesn’t mean we shouldn’t move. Don’t let your fear be the reason that someone doesn’t get to hear the Gospel. Charlie Kirk’s death broke so many hearts. We all can feel that gap. We know we lost a brother in Christ who was a steadfast warrior. However, we must have hope and remember that we will see him again one day! Until then, we need to make God and Charlie proud! We must stand and fight this spiritual war the way Jesus would — through bold faith, love, grace, mercy, and hope! Here are some bible verses for encouragement: “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.” — Isaiah 40:28-29 [ESV] “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me — the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” — 2 Timothy 4:7–8 [NLT] © Sierra Loew

If you don’t believe the Hebrew scriptures, this article might not be for you. Move along, my agnostic friends, nothing to see here. But if you are coming to the understanding that the story of the Exodus from Egypt is the entire Book of Revelation, here is a concept that will eliminate your fears and set you free. First, A Refresher The Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt for 430 years. God fulfilled His promise to deliver them by sending ten plagues that specifically targeted different Egyptian gods. Each plague intensified in scope as they worked themselves up the Egyptian god chain of command. The tenth was targeting Pharaoh himself, a man who called himself “god in flesh” and the mediator between Ra and men. God gave Moses instructions on how to keep His people safe and secure. They must be followed to the letter. Any deviation might result in death. And the challenge was that Moses had to relay these specific instructions to over 600,000 men and their families. Here’s what the Bible says: Exodus 12: 21–23 NLT “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down. ”28–30 “So the people of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses and Aaron. And that night at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died. What If A Hebrew Didn’t Obey? What if he thought, ”This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. We’re not doing this. Let me deconstruct what Moses is saying for a year or two”? Or better yet, “I’m not ruining my house with lamb’s blood. We just bought this place, and I still owe money on it. We just painted this facade. My wife will kill me.” In my humble opinion, that man would have lost a firstborn. Scripture is clear from Genesis to Revelation about the priority God places on obedience. God often asks us to do peculiar things to differentiate us from the rest of the world and reveal Himself as sovereign. But here is the good news of the Death Angel’s visit: What “moral conditions” were placed on the people to be saved? What if the person inside that house was having an affair with the person down the street? What if the mother was abusive and the father a drunk? What if their hygiene was horrible, their language was coarse, and they were as dumb as a brick? It didn’t matter. The blood of the sacrificed lamb would save them. What if they weren’t even Hebrew? They were Egyptians who were tired of getting pounded by boils, hail, darkness, and frogs? It didn’t matter. If they placed the blood on their doorpost, their whole household was spared. That was the deal God made. What if they were unsure of Moses? All they knew was he was once a big shot who killed a guy, spent 40 years as a stinky shepherd in Midian, and now came back as a self-appointed spokesman for yet another God. He and Pharaoh have been duking it out for the past months. And some crazy stuff has been happening. It didn’t matter. The blood on the door saved them. It didn’t matter if they had their act together or not. The death angel had one, and only one screening process: did they have the blood of the sacrificial lamb on their door? Period! There would be plenty of time in the future for them to be refined and work out some of their problems. But for now, death passed over because a lamb gave its life for them. How the Exodus & Revelation Connection Prepares Us We MUST understand the Exodus to become plague-proof for the end of this age. They are the same story, only 4,000 years apart. • God’s people will be oppressed and persecuted. The Antichrist will make war with the saints and overcome them. Just as the cries of the Hebrews were heard for 430 years, God will listen to the prayers of His people and bring deliverance. (Rev 13:7) • There is a man who claims to be God himself at the throne. Pharaoh, meet “the little horn." (2 Thes 2:4, Daniel 8:11) • He will be surrounded by magicians (false prophets) who will do mighty wonders. (Rev 13: 11–17) • God’s people will see some crazy stuff. And most of it is not good. Jesus called it birth pains. (Mat 24:8) But like David wrote in Psalm 91: 7–8 “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.” • God’s people have a promise of deliverance. He will NEVER leave us or forsake us. We are His precious possession, His children, and His inheritance. • ZERO plagues affect God’s chosen people because they are shielded, protected, and kept by the One True God. There is nothing to fear from the events mentioned in Revelation. One hundred-pound hailstones? No problem. They’ll miss you. We won’t even smell like smoke when the fiery trial is over. • God takes His people from a place of oppression to a promised land. There will be a thousand years of peace after the purge of rebellion and evil. • There will be many last-minute converts. “A rabble of non-Israelites went with them,” (Exodus 12:38). • The kingdom of the “oppressor” will be wholly and utterly wrecked because of their disobedience and refusal to repent. If you have read about the “bowls of wrath” and become freaked out, remember who the target of each bowl is: the throne and kingdom of the antichrist. Those who took “the mark of the beast”. Those who curse God. Christians won’t be here for that anyway. • God will provide. (loaves, manna, fish, oil, clothes not wearing out, meal, water from a rock, cloud/fire, calm the storm, etc.) Do you think our God will be “out-miracled” by the false prophet? (Rev 13) Nope! Where sin does ABOUND, grace does much more ABOUND. (Rom 5:20) • Just before deliverance, everyone will have to choose to believe or not. EVERYONE MUST BATTLE FEAR AND CONQUER IT! Here’s How To Be Plague-Proof Exodus 15:26 NLT “He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.” Our part: Listen, do the next right thing, obey what he tells us, and keep the decrees. (statutes…rules) God’s part: Keep us safe and secure under the shadow of His wings. Suppose you are not where you want to be spiritually. Good. Keep working on yourself. But each of us must stay under the blood of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. Is there blood on your door? The Exodus and Revelation connection shows how God uses repeating patterns to reveal His protection and purpose across generations. © 2025 I. M. Koen Thank you for reading this far. Ruth 2:12 to you and yours. We got this! Fasten your seat belts. This world is about to get interesting. This scripture is for you: "Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” Malachi 3:16-18 Check out these other articles and spread the word of hope and freedom from fear: Just Get back Up! Step over the collateral roadkill and keep going. Got Agony? The Reason we don't show people our rash. How Bright Are You? Are you a firefly, a lamp, or a lighthouse?

By Guest Writer Disciple of Christ Revelation is the only book in the Bible Christians can’t even agree how to read. Where the Gospels speak in stories, Revelation erupts in symbols: beasts, plagues, judgment, and cosmic violence. Even Christians committed to biblical authority approach it cautiously, divided over how it should be read. So when critics claim that Revelation didn’t make it into the Bible because it was true, but because it was useful, the argument lands with force. It sounds responsible. Scholarly. Grounded in real history and real discomfort. But plausibility is not the same thing as accuracy. When we slow down and actually follow the evidence, the story that Revelation was canonized as a fear weapon begins to collapse under its own weight. Revelation Was Controversial ~ But Not for the Reason You’re Told The argument usually begins with a simple observation: Revelation was disputed. Early Christian communities were divided. Some churches in the East rejected it outright. Influential theologians questioned its authorship. Even Martin Luther later expressed doubts about whether it belonged in the canon. That much is true. What’s often left out is why it was controversial. The objections were not that Revelation was politically inconvenient or insufficiently useful. They were that it was difficult to interpret, symbolically dense, and theologically unsettling. In other words, Revelation wasn’t resisted because it scared people; it was resisted because it confused them. That distinction matters. If Revelation had been embraced as a convenient tool for control, we would expect church leaders to rally around it quickly. Instead, what we find is prolonged hesitation, regional disagreement, and reluctant inclusion. That is not how propaganda behaves. The Other Revelations and Why They Didn’t Last Critics also point out, correctly, that Revelation had competition. Early Christianity produced several apocalyptic texts. Some were widely read. Some were loved. Some even circulated longer than Revelation in certain regions. If Revelation wasn’t unique, why privilege this one? This is where the argument usually sharpens: perhaps the Church simply chose the version that best served its interests. But the historical record tells a different story. Take The Shepherd of Hermas. It was immensely popular, especially in Rome. It offered moral instruction, calls to repentance, and symbolic visions that many Christians found spiritually helpful. Its problem wasn’t usefulness or tone, it was timing. Hermas was written too late to plausibly come from the apostolic generation and reflected a church already shaped by post-apostolic structures. Early Christians distinguished between texts that were edifying and texts that were foundational. The Apocalypse of Peter fails for nearly the opposite reason. Far from being excluded because it wasn’t frightening enough, it was rejected because it was too graphic and theologically unstable. Its lurid depictions of hell — often cited today as evidence that Revelation was chosen for fear — were precisely what made many leaders uneasy. The punishments appeared arbitrary, the imagery excessive, and the theology disconnected from the broader biblical story. Later apocalypses attributed to Paul or regional prophets fared worse still. They emerged centuries after the apostles, borrowed heavily from earlier material, and lacked any credible link to communities that could verify their origins. Even sympathetic scholars acknowledge that many read less like preserved revelation and more like devotional expansion. As Elaine Pagels herself notes, often more cautiously than popular retellings suggest, these texts were not rejected because they threatened power, but because early Christians struggled to locate them within the Jewish and apostolic framework that anchored Christian theology. If fear were the deciding factor, the scarier books would have won. They didn’t. What distinguished Revelation was not shock value, but its perceived apostolic grounding, its coherence with Israel’s prophetic tradition, and its widespread use across multiple regions. That doesn’t look like manipulation. It looks like discernment under tension. Editing Does Not Mean Corruption Another charge is that Revelation was edited to make it more acceptable, or more effective. Its manuscript history is undeniably complex. Scholars note frequent scribal variations, clarifications, and harmonizations. Even the final chapter shows differences across manuscripts. But complexity does not imply corruption. Across all surviving textual variants, the central content of Revelation remains intact. The visions remain. The judgments remain. The theology remains. No version removes the beasts. No version eliminates divine judgment. No version transforms the Lamb into something more palatable. Even critics like Bart Ehrman readily acknowledge that no Christian doctrine rises or falls on Revelation’s textual variants. Editing refined expression, not meaning. If Revelation were engineered as a fear device, we would expect the opposite: strategic consistency, not chaotic transmission. Political Context Is Not the Same as Propaganda The strongest criticism is that Revelation is deeply rooted in first-century Roman oppression. That historical setting is not in serious dispute. Revelation speaks to a first-century crisis. Babylon symbolizes Rome. The Beast reflects imperial power. The book is not predicting barcodes or modern geopolitics. But this is where a crucial category mistake occurs. A text can be historically situated without being historically exhausted. Apocalyptic literature has always used present oppression to express enduring claims: that evil appears powerful but is temporary; that injustice will be judged; that empire is not ultimate reality. Those themes are not propaganda. They are moral theology expressed symbolically. Reducing Revelation to “ancient fanfiction” doesn’t follow from historical context. It’s a rhetorical downgrade, not a scholarly conclusion. Fear Was Not the Selection Mechanism Perhaps the most ironic claim is that Revelation survived because fear sells. The irony is that Revelation condemns nearly every structure that would later misuse it. It denounces empire, wealth, violence, and political idolatry. It offers comfort to persecuted communities, not marching orders to rulers. This is precisely why many leaders were uncomfortable with it. If church authorities wanted obedience literature, Revelation was a risky choice. And the timeline makes the charge even weaker. Revelation circulated for centuries while Christianity was marginalized, persecuted, and powerless. It was preserved by communities who had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Fear can be weaponized, but not by people being hunted. One detail often overlooked is Ethiopia. Ethiopian Christianity developed largely outside Roman ecclesiastical control, was never shaped by medieval papal authority, and preserved the faith apart from European power structures altogether. And yet, the Ethiopian Church retained the Book of Revelation anyway. If Revelation were merely a Western instrument of fear or institutional control, its survival in one of the least Romanized Christian traditions in history is difficult to explain, and it quietly undercuts the weaponization narrative. Why Revelation Endured Revelation did not enter the canon because it was easy. It endured because, despite sustained resistance, Christians across generations recognized something in it they could not dismiss. It fit the larger biblical story, echoed Israel’s prophets, and was plausibly linked to the apostolic witness of John. Whatever debates surrounded its interpretation, the book spoke with an authority the early church hesitated to discard because it spoke truthfully about suffering, judgment, and hope, even when those truths were uncomfortable. That is not how weapons are chosen. That is how difficult texts endure. You don’t have to like Revelation. You don’t have to read it literally. You don’t have to excuse its misuse across history. But the claim that it was canonized because fear is profitable says more about modern cynicism than ancient Christianity. Revelation survived not because it frightened people into obedience, but because, against expectations, it refused to disappear. And that’s a very different story. © 2026 Disciple of Christ 🔔 Join and contribute to Truth in Love for thoughtful Christian engagement with faith and culture — without sacrificing truth or love. 🔗 Related Articles in This Series: The Real Legacy of Christianity — 10 Sick Things, Reconsidered Jesus Said What?! Misquoting the Messiah, One Verse at a Time Yahweh Was “Just One of Many Gods”? The Bible’s Biggest Secret… That Actually isn’t a Secret The Bible’s Sexual Scandals Aren’t a Mistake. They’re the Point. The Bible Says What!? What If the Bible Was Never Trying to Hide Paganism? ✉️ Like what you read? If this made you laugh, think, or pray — consider following my Medium page for more responses like this. I publish rebuttals to modern theology and address Christianity at the cultural level. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

When the Faithful Are Called the Enemy As the end times draw near, moral and spiritual confusion may grow so deep that genuine devotion to Christ gets mistaken for defiance, intolerance, or even rebellion against God himself. Cultural shifts, political influence, and compromised religious movements can quietly reshape what society accepts as "Christian," setting the stage for Spirit led believers to be pushed aside by institutions that claim Christ's name while working against his true purposes. Drawing on the warnings in Revelation about spiritual deception, along with the historical account of Constantine's vision of the cross, this piece calls believers to stay alert to religious and political manipulation. It urges a return to Scripture and dependence on the Holy Spirit, and prepares readers for a future where the name of Jesus could be invoked to defend systems that stand in opposition to his genuine followers. Confusion On Many Fronts The times are confusing on many fronts. We are seeing what was once called immoral behaviors normalized. There is little shock or awe regarding media announcements of behaviors that were once unthinkable. Even our elected officials conduct themselves in aspects of behaviors that would never have been easily tolerated. This has become so normalized that it is becoming nearly impossible to label or get attention when immoral and unethical behaviors occur. These are signs of the coming end of days, when cultural and public definitions of right and wrong become confusing and even exchanged. It is an age of rapid corruption of societal good and malalignment of what is truly godly behavior and evil masquerading as good. In such a world, those who are truly faithful to scripture—and more importantly, led by the Holy Spirit—can be called out for unchristian-like behaviors and attitudes. True believers must prepare for their worldview to flip upside down as the trials of the last tribulations approach. The central concern of this article is not merely that society is changing, but that corrupted definitions of Christianity may eventually cause true believers to be viewed as enemies of the very faith they are committed to following. How Society Redefines Right and Wrong We have to face the fact that we in the Western worldview are influenced by societal and cultural norms. We expect others in our social structure to see, hear, and accept a collective understanding of what we accept as societal norms. The American way is just assumed to be true for everyone—or at least it was until now. Some are awakening to the fact that not everyone in America shares the same ideas and values, even to the point of noticing that not everyone calling themselves American looks like or holds true American values. This has become a hot issue and is leading toward fragmentation and discord within the nation and undermining its heritage as a beacon of hope to the nations. This writing isn’t a focus on social ills or grievances. The purpose of this article is to shine a light on how norms within societies change, and how points of view become corrupted as gradual and steady pressures are applied by influential thought leaders and those with power to infiltrate a society with changes that slowly poison the collective normal shared values. This has serious implications for those who are committed to Jesus and called to follow his ways. How Society Redefines Right and Wrong One of the reasons I stress opposition to movements like Christian Nationalism or Civilizationism is that the combination of geopolitical alignment with religious perspectives inevitably leads to oppression based on the normalized perspective of what is defined as Christian at the time. Those outside of the religious norm become ostracized or even forced to convert to assume the image of the social norm. There are many snares and traps in this perspective that can be manipulated by the cunning and those who are insincere. The Antichrist and Christian Nationalism In Revelation 13, we see a description of a beast rising from the sea and being given authority to conquer the saints of God. He forces those who follow him to have a mark that allows them to belong to his society and conform to his norms. He, or “it,” is compelling and highly persuasive, even having a religious leader or false prophet leading his church and leading people to worship him rather than Christ. What this does visually is show how a social standard and viewpoint can be corrupted to a point where right is wrong. Even today, those calling themselves Christian follow many different voices and perspectives. If anything, the religion is more divided than ever and speaking in many different voices—a kind of “babel” situation and, as such, an open door for manipulation. A simple perspective is that the antichrist will be obvious, like he will have a badge pinned on his lapel with the words, “I am the antichrist.” Or he’ll come with red skin and horns. This is naive and Middle Ages thinking. He will not come professing to be the antichrist; he will come claiming to fulfill the biblical perspective of a returning messianic character. He will manipulate the weak and misguided into thinking he really is the returning messiah and that to worship him is obedience to God—and, in fact, that he is God! The mystery is that it won’t be another made-up religion, as it will be a corruption of the very Christian foundation created in the biblical text. His prophets and ministers will be well trained in the letter of scripture and able to manipulate those who are not marked by the Holy Spirit of God. Revelation 7 describes the marking of the people of God in verse 3, which symbolically identifies the true followers from the false. These will not be deceived by the antichrist or his prophet. When True Believers Become the Outsiders What if those in the majority calling themselves Christian became the opposition to the elect of God, marked on their foreheads by the angels of God? What if the churches that align themselves with the antichrist on a nationalistic and global agenda begin to purge out those believers who refuse to align with their corrupted worldview? What if the true believers become labeled as the real enemies of God? This will happen when such true believers stand up and refuse to adapt to the growing new world order, and that order could very well be called a Christian-based civilization under the rule of a charismatic and powerful leader. This leader, in time, will claim to be the returned Christ of the Bible and exert his authority to mark his followers to identify those who have rights and privileges in his new world order as the new Christ under the Christian banner of the cross. Constantine's Cross: A Warning for Today Like Constantine of old, who saw a vision of the cross of Jesus and the saying, “By this sign, conquer!” this historical episode, traditionally associated with Constantine’s vision before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312, is important because it illustrates how a religious symbol could become tied to imperial power and military conquest. Lactantius, writing soon after the event, says Constantine was instructed in a dream to mark his soldiers’ shields with the heavenly sign of Christ before battle; Eusebius later gives a fuller account in which Constantine saw a cross of light above the sun with the words commonly rendered, “By this sign, conquer,” followed by a dream in which Christ commanded him to use the sign as protection. The lasting effect was profound: the cross, once a sign associated with suffering and execution, became linked in the imperial imagination with victory, legitimacy, and the expansion of Christian influence within Rome. [1] [2] [3] This type of occurrence could happen again! The current trends are definitely in favor of that happening. As in the days of Constantine, the church leaders relaxed as imperial power started to protect them and their authority. Such events should be a note of caution to the serious not to easily support or bless new social movements simply because they use the name of Christ. Such similar occurrences, both large and small, have repeated over the vast time since then. Preparing for What's Ahead As we near the end time, we should expect such masquerades to pick up, including the merging of religion and governance to create the most powerful alignment possible. And where would this be more suited than in the most powerful nation on the planet, one that controls monetary systems and vast resources on earth, the heart of power that can influence global activity? Sadly, that nation, despite its claim to fairness and freedom, is a prime target for usurpation in the name of Jesus. The American and Western Christian churches should strive to guard themselves from the potential for corruption with the understanding that they are the guardians of Jesus’ investment in the most powerful asset in the world. Failing to do this will open the door for further corruption and a global spiritual contagion. I make this warning without any expectation that it will go heeded, but the wise will understand and should be preparing for when the world and the written scriptures themselves become weapons in the hands of the ungodly, even those calling themselves followers of Jesus. References [1] Lactantius, On the Deaths of the Persecutors, ch. 44, describes Constantine’s dream and the marking of the soldiers’ shields with the sign of Christ. [2] Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, Book I, chs. 28–31, records the later account of the cross of light and the command to conquer by that sign. [3] Modern summaries of the Milvian Bridge tradition note the differences between Lactantius and Eusebius and the historical importance of the phrase commonly rendered “In this sign, conquer.” More on This Topic "The Truth About Christianity and America's Founding: Separating Faith from National Myth" — Jane Isley Read more → "Do You Want a Christian Nation or a Feared Nation Wearing a Cross?" — Joel Sarfraz Read more → "Stop Idolizing Your Political Party" — Sienna Krieg Read more → © 2026 A Voice First published in The Dove on Medium. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

Can we force God's hand? Jerusalem has a way of forcing hard questions to the surface, and few are harder than the Dome of the Rock prophecy debate: how far is too far when believers grow impatient waiting on God? That question isn't hypothetical. It's being asked right now, out loud, by pastors with large platforms and even larger audiences. Sacred Ground, Modern Controversy The Temple Mount has drawn the eyes of three faiths for millennia, each carrying its own weight of longing and memory. Solomon's Temple once rose from that ground. Centuries later, the Second Temple stood there too, standing during the years Jesus walked and taught in Jerusalem, until Roman legions leveled it in A.D. 70, fulfilling exactly what Jesus had warned would happen. Now a different structure occupies that same hilltop. The golden Dome of the Rock is one of the most photographed landmarks in Jerusalem, instantly recognized far beyond the Muslim world. For Jews, it marks the spot their Holy Temple once occupied. For Muslims, it commemorates Muhammad's ascension. For a segment of Christians, it has taken on a very different meaning: an obstacle standing in the way of the Messiah's return. That conviction has grown so extreme in some circles that pastor Greg Locke declared that Israel should "get a great big missile and blow that wicked Dome of the Rock plum off the spot where it's standing right now, so we can get that Third Temple rebuilt and usher in the coming of Jesus." It's a jarring statement. But underneath it sits a far older and more important question than what happens to a building in Jerusalem: can people force God's hand? Or, put differently, has He ever asked us to try? That question doesn't stay confined to the Temple Mount. It follows every generation of believers who grow tired of waiting on God's own schedule. The Babel Syndrome: Building Heaven on Our Own Terms The first organized attempt to ‘bring heaven down’ wasn’t in Jerusalem. It was in Babel. Humanity gathered together and said, ‘Come, let us build…’ (Genesis 11)They wanted to reach heaven on their own terms. They wanted to create God’s future through human effort. God’s response: He scattered them. Thousands of years later, we still suffer from the same temptation. We simply baptize it with religious language. We convince ourselves that if we can just elect the right leader, win the right war, rebuild the right building, or even destroy the right building, then God’s Kingdom will finally arrive. And the Messiah will take His place on a throne of peace. Scripture says exactly the opposite. The Kingdom does not come because mankind climbs higher. The Kingdom comes because the King descends. Faith never tries to drag tomorrow into today. Faith trusts that tomorrow will arrive precisely when God intends. Throughout Biblical history, every attempt to force God’s timetable reveals the same hidden assumption: that God needs our help more than He desires our obedience. The Kingdom of God has never advanced because men forced God’s hand. It has always advanced because God kept His promises. Key takeaway: The Kingdom doesn't come because mankind climbs higher. It comes because the King descends. Good Intentions, Wrong Timing The temptation to “help God” is as old as the Bible itself. Think about the biblical examples. God promised Abraham that he would become the father of a great nation. But when the promise seemed delayed, Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands through Hagar. The result was not the fulfillment of God’s promise but generations of heartache and conflict. God’s promise arrived exactly as He had spoken. But only when God determined the time was right. King Saul made the same mistake. As Samuel delayed, Saul assumed he needed to act. Rather than waiting for God’s appointed prophet, he offered sacrifices himself. From a human perspective, it seemed practical. From God’s perspective, it was rebellion disguised as urgency. Then there was Uzzah. When the Ark of the Covenant appeared to be falling, he reached out to steady it. His action looked noble. Surely he was protecting God’s holy presence. Yet Scripture reveals something deeper. Uzzah assumed God’s purposes depended upon human intervention. And it cost him his life. Even Peter fell into this trap. When soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword to defend the Messiah. In his mind, he was fighting for God’s kingdom. Jesus immediately rebuked him. And fixed his mistake. Each story asks the same question: Do we trust God’s timing enough to keep our hands off what belongs to Him? There are sincere Christians and Jews who believe rebuilding a Third Temple is part of biblical prophecy. Others disagree. But almost every orthodox Christian and Jew would agree on one point: If God intends for a Third Temple to exist, He is fully capable of accomplishing it without human violence, terrorism, or political coercion. To my Christian friends, I remind you Jesus repeatedly taught His followers to watch, not manipulate history. “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.” (Acts 1:7) Even more striking is Jesus’ own statement: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Mat 24:36) If Jesus willingly submitted to God’s timetable during His earthly ministry, what arrogance is it for us to imagine we can accelerate it? To my Jewish friends, I remind you that throughout Scripture, every major act of redemption begins with God moving first. He called Abraham. He sent Moses. He raised up the judges. He anointed David. And He sent the prophets. Moses did not set the bush on fire to inspire Him to show up; God did. At no point did human beings successfully force God to act by creating the right political conditions. The prophets never instructed Israel to manufacture the Messianic age. They called people to repentance, faithfulness, justice, and obedience. The Church has not been commissioned to build the Kingdom through violence. The irony is sobering. Some Christian pastors are so eager to welcome the Prince of Peace that they are willing to endorse an act that would almost certainly ignite a catastrophic global war. That should give every follower of Jesus pause. Do we trust God’s timing enough to let Him accomplish His purposes His way? Waiting is not the absence of faith. It is often its purest expression. A Word to Christians and Jews Today That brings us back to Jerusalem. Whether one believes a Third Temple must be rebuilt before the Messiah returns is beside the point. If God intends such a Temple to exist, does anyone seriously believe He requires terrorism or political violence to accomplish His will? The God who spoke the universe into existence is not dependent upon human schemes. The prophets never instructed Israel to create the Messianic age. They called God’s people to repentance, justice, mercy, and covenant obedience. Faith waits. Their message was always the same: prepare your hearts, not your weapons. Prophecy is meant to produce faithfulness, not fanaticism. It should inspire hope, not violence. It should encourage holiness, not manipulation. The irony is difficult to ignore. This is where discussions about the Dome of the Rock become spiritually dangerous. When believers begin thinking that God’s kingdom depends upon our ability to manipulate world events, we have quietly exchanged trust for control. No president, prime minister, pastor, rabbi, or world leader has ever possessed the authority to accelerate God’s prophetic timetable. History is filled with examples of sincere people trying to hurry God’s promises. It never ends well. God has never needed our impatience or “deal making ability” to accomplish His purposes. His promises are fulfilled by His faithfulness, not by our frustration. Whether or not a future Temple plays a role in God’s plan, our hope is never found in a building. Our hope is found in the Messiah whom God will send at the appointed time. Kings are never summoned by their subjects. They arrive at the appointed hour, according to their own authority. Until then, our assignment is not to prepare His throne by violence, but to prepare our hearts through faithful obedience. Faith Waits for Jerusalem No, Christians should not blow up the Dome of the Rock. Not because God’s promises are in doubt, but because they never have been. The God who makes promises has never needed human impatience to keep them. Impatience builds Babel. Faith waits for Jerusalem. © 2026 I.M. Koen. You might also like: Christian Nationalism and the Defining of Christianity in the End Times When does defending the faith cross into forcing it? A look at how political power gets tangled up with the Kingdom of God. A Pre-Tribulation Conversation Timing sits at the heart of end-times faith. This piece unpacks what it means to trust God's schedule instead of our own. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

A Foundational Look at Sacrifice and Restoration You've probably heard the phrase "Jesus died for our sins" your whole life, whether you grew up in church or not. But why did Jesus die for our sins? Why did it have to be death? Why does it matter that He rose again? And what does any of it have to do with you, today? I hope to answer some of these questions today, no screaming, no Bible-thumping. I say that as someone who's lived through real church hurt, a hard childhood, and once turned my back on God completely. I'm also autistic, which means abstract theological claims and "just have faith" never worked for me. I needed the logic first before the leap of faith. I need things to hold up under scrutiny. If you knew my full story, you'd understand that choosing Him was never handed to me by birth. I chose Him because He sought me out and I followed Him. Why Death? To understand why Jesus died, we have to start with why death was even necessary in the first place. Sin became part of our lives, and God, being just, cannot tolerate it. If He tolerated sin of any kind, He'd have to tolerate all of it. Good would stop existing, and everything would blur into grey. There had to be a firm line between right and wrong, or none of it would mean anything. Sin leads to permanent eternal death. Not just the kind where your heartbeat stops, but a deeper death, one that separates us from God's presence completely and despite popular finger pointing that is the humans' choice to make, not God's, I'll link that article below. This is the part that trips people up a lot. Sin is like a debt, and it's a debt too heavy for us to pay on our own. It's too dark, too unholy, for any human to carry into heaven. So Jesus, the Son of God, took that debt into Himself. He carried it, so that you could be free of it. Not Just a Death, a Sacrifice It's tempting to think of Jesus's death the way we think of a martyr's death. Someone dying for a cause, or for other people, and then it's over. But Jesus's death wasn't martyrdom. It was a complete and perfect sacrifice. If He had simply been a martyr, He would have known His pain would end the moment He was resurrected. But that's not what happened. The night before He was crucified, He prayed so intensely that He sweat blood, a real medical condition called Hematidrosis, caused by extreme stress, fear, or facing death. Why would He experience that if He knew His resurrection was coming? Because He wasn't just facing His own death. He was carrying every single person's sins, from the beginning of time to the end. Imagine every sin you've ever committed, multiplied by billions of people across all of history and the future. That's what He carried, willingly, to the cross for all of us. That's not martyrdom. That is the ultimate definition of love. What We're Restored To So what was all of this for? Genesis tells us that when God finished creating everything, He looked at it and called it very good. The original Hebrew word used is towb, which means so much more than just the simple English word "good." It carries the sense of beautiful, merriment, bountiful, pleasant, precious, joyful. Something rich and full, not just "good". Before sin entered the picture, God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They were in His presence, completely, with nothing broken between them. Then sin entered, and that closeness was lost. But it wasn't lost forever. Jesus's death and resurrection are what make the way back to God's presence possible. Scripture reassures us we'll be given new, transformed bodies, free of everything that's gone wrong in this world. Not nameless, faceless spirits, but ourselves, fully known and fully whole. And we're promised a new Earth, a new heaven, a restored place where we'll be with Him again, just like it was always meant to be. Why It Matters Jesus's death paid a debt we could never pay ourselves, and His resurrection proves that death doesn't have the final word. And what's waiting for us, if we choose Him, is a restoration of everything that was lost. Not just spiritually, but a real, physical, whole existence in His presence again. That's what it means that Jesus died for our sins. Not a simple transaction, but the opening of a door back to what we were always meant to have. © 2025 Jane Isley. 🔑 Hell, Choice, and Your Accountability — Why eternal separation from God is a human choice, not something imposed by Him. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

Promises, Promises, Promises. That’s the attraction of the occult. The whole idea is about gaining power and control over one’s future. People want insight through secret knowledge, protection, or to communicate with the unseen. This desire isn’t new. It’s been with mankind since the beginning. It started in the book of Genesis, which records that Eve saw the tree as desirable “to make one wise.” Satan, working through the serpent, led her to believe she could obtain mastery over the unseen world through secret knowledge. † Background Throughout history, cultures have been filled with pagan worship, magic, divination, idols, and spiritual counterfeits. These practices continue today in the form of horoscopes, tarot card readings, psychics, séances, spirit-channeling, spell-work, Ouija boards, manifestations, and occult-themed games (such as Cultist Simulator, Bloodborne, and World of Horror). The desire for quick answers coupled with people’s natural curiosity often sparks initial interest in the occult. Involvement usually begins with things presented as harmless entertainment, healing, or self-discovery. However, people can be drawn deeper into the occult over time without realizing it. [1] Scripture teaches that seeking supernatural direction and wisdom apart from God is rebellion against Him and spiritually dangerous. God’s strongest warnings against occult practices are found in Deuteronomy 18:9–12, Leviticus 19:31, Leviticus 20:6, Galatians 5:19–21, and Revelation 21:8. These warnings include telling the Israelites not to copy the practices of the surrounding nations, not to consult with mediums and spirits, not to associate with liars, the sexually immoral, and those who practice sorcery. The sternest warning about the end result of indulging in occult practices is in Revelation 21:8. It states that those who practice these things will experience the second death. Successful Exorcisms The book of Acts in the New Testament records several accounts of Jesus and the apostles, Peter and Paul, encountering demon-possessed people and people practicing magic and sorcery. Jesus cast out demons from a man in a synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:21–28), from a demoniac in the region of Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28–34), from several blind and mute men (Matthew 9:32–33, 12:22, Luke 11:14), from a Canaanite woman’s daughter (Matthew 15:21–28), and from a boy with epilepsy (Matthew 17:14–21). He also cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, who remained His faithful follower to the end. The apostles Peter and John laid hands on believers in Jerusalem, and they received the Holy Spirit. A local sorcerer named Simon Magus tried to buy this spiritual power from Peter, who promptly told him his money would die with him and that his heart wasn’t right with God (Acts 8:9–24). The apostle Paul and Barnabas encountered a Jewish sorcerer named Elymas who tried to turn the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus away from the faith. Paul called Elymas a “child of the devil” and caused him to go blind temporarily. This demonstration of God’s power through Paul caused the proconsul to believe the gospel (Acts 13:6–12). Acts 16:16–18 is the account of Paul visiting the city of Philippi. He got angry at a spirit of divination that possessed a fortune-telling slave girl and caused her to follow and nag him for several days. Finally, Paul commanded the evil spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ, and the spirit left her that instant. These accounts illustrate that victory over demonic entities isn’t based on personal power, spiritual experiences, or occult rituals but relies solely on Christ’s authority, which is greater than every spiritual power. Notice that Paul didn’t try to reason with or negotiate with the spirit; he acted under the authority of Jesus. Unsuccessful Exorcisms Acts 19:11–20 demonstrates one of Scripture’s clearest warnings against attempting to handle occult entities by human strength alone. It’s the account of several men failing miserably after attempting to copy the miracles of the apostle Paul in Ephesus. These men were the seven sons of Sceva (a Jewish high priest) who tried to use the name of Jesus to cast out evil spirits from people in the area. Following several unsuccessful attempts to remove the demons, one of the demons actually spoke to them and said, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” After that, the demon jumped on these seven sons and beat them up so badly that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. In Acts 19:18–20, the Ephesian believers turned to Christ after experiencing His truth and power. They repented by burning their books on the magic arts even though the books were worth a lot of money. They recognized their sin for the evil it was and turned to the forgiveness and freedom found in Christ. The lesson here is that the name of Jesus isn’t a magic formula. Charms, crosses, Christian words, or other religious objects won’t work against demonic powers and deception. No matter how confident, curious, or technically savvy a person may be, they will not be able to handle demonic entities without a real relationship with the crucified and risen Christ. Conclusion The unseen realm isn’t simply a hobby, game, or field where people can become spiritually powerful through ritual practice or experimentation. Human control over the occult is a myth. God doesn’t prohibit these practices because He wants to withhold wisdom from people. He forbids them because He is the source of true wisdom, and He knows that these practices draw people away from depending on Him. The implications of these ancient accounts of unfortunate consequences happening to those involved with the occult bear witness to what is happening today. Dabbling in the occult is not an innocent, trivial pastime. It is dangerous! I personally know people who opened their minds to this sort of thing and ended up with schizophrenia and haunting memories. These YouTube videos (Disturbing Demonic Rituals That Went Horribly Wrong and High-Ranking Ex-Warlock Exposes the Demonic Realm) detail disturbing accounts of people participating in séances, using Ouija boards, and having an extremely difficult time leaving these practices behind. A person who has been involved in occult practices should throw away or destroy tarot cards, spirit boards, spell books, charms, ritual tools, and any other occult materials. They should never sell or give them to anyone else, because if they do, they introduce the other person to the same bondage. Even Yoga can be dangerous because it’s rooted in a worldview that’s opposed to biblical Christianity. It’s more than just stretching or aiming to discover divinity within. [2] It aims at helping a person achieve spiritual union with Brahman (an impersonal force). It can lead people away from God, our loving, personal Creator, and prevent people from being reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. © Debra Hodges References 1. GotQuestions.org. (2022, January 4). What is the occult? 2. GotQuestions.org. (2026, January 21). What is holy yoga? † God is the powerful, infinite Creator of the universe. He can intervene in the natural world anytime He wants to accomplish His purposes. In his book Return of the God Hypothesis, Dr. Stephen C. Meyer provides scientific evidence for the Big Bang, the finely tuned physical constants, and the information in DNA that support the case for a transcendent Creator.

This argument keeps resurfacing, and each time it does, I find it theologically thin and poorly reasoned. The claim is that Mary was not actually a virgin because of a single word, and that this alone somehow discredits the entire Bible. Isaiah vs. Matthew "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14 "But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." Matthew 1:25 These two verses get pitted against each other constantly. The argument goes that Matthew quoted Isaiah, that Isaiah used the wrong word, and therefore the whole thing falls apart. Except Matthew didn't quote Isaiah. And that is the whole foundation of this argument and the foundation is cracked from the get go. Reread both verses, because they are not the same. Matthew didn't quote Isaiah, he is recording what happened. What Conveniently Disappears Every time I see this argument play out, the same two verses conveniently go missing. "to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary" Luke 1:27 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” Luke 1:34 Those are some pretty bold and confident Scriptures. Unless the argument is that God chose a liar to carry His Son, and I somehow missed that (and the rest of Christianty), these verses can't be ignored. An argument built on two verses while ignoring everything else the Bible says on the same subject is not Biblical scholarship, it's cherry picking. The Word That Started All of This Here is where the arguers usually try to get smart. Isaiah used the Hebrew word almah which refers to a young woman of marriageable age. Because almah does not exclusively and only mean virgin, some say that Isaiah was not actually prophesying a virgin birth. This is where cultural and linguistic context matters enormously. In ancient Israelite society an almah was a young unmarried woman. The cultural expectation, not the exception like we have now, was that she would be a virgin. Premarital chastity was not a preference, it was a given. And Isaiah was a Hebrew writing to Hebrews. He used the word his culture understood to carry the meaning of purity and virginity before marriage. The word did not need to be more explicit because the cultural assumption was already built in, we have our own words in this culture that do the same thing. When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek in the Septuagint the word used for almah in Isaiah 7:14 was parthenos, a word that explicitly and directly means virgin. The translators who knew both languages and both cultures made that choice for a reason. Matthew writing in Greek used the same word. Not because he was quoting Isaiah but because he was writing the same definition Isaiah used centuries earlier. What This Argument Actually Requires To accept the claim that Mary was not a virgin you have to dismiss Luke's (who was a doctor) direct account, ignore the cultural weight and meaning of almah, context in general, ignore the Septuagint's translation choice, and assume that God chose a woman who lied to an angel about her own virginity. That is a lot to ask. A doctor does not look at one symptom and issue a diagnosis without asking more questions and reviewing the full picture. We should be bringing that same discipline to Scripture. One word pulled from one verse in one language does not discredit anything, it just shows how much more there is to understand when we are willing to look at all of it. © Jane Isley More word studies to explore: 🔤📖 Unicorns in the Bible: Myth, Mistranslation, or Real History? — traces the Hebrew word re'em through Greek and Latin translation to see how "unicorn" ended up in Scripture. 🔤📖 Why Were Some Animals Unclean in the Bible? — original Hebrew terms behind Leviticus's clean/unclean distinctions. 🔤📖 "Lucifer" Actually Came From a Translation Error — how the Hebrew heylel became "Lucifer" through a Latin translation choice. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

There was once a hungry beggar sitting by the roadside. A preacher walked past him, looked at him, and began preaching about the coming of Jesus, repentance, confession of sin, and belief in Christ. He even thumped his Bible against the beggar’s head before leaving. Later, another man passed by. He saw the beggar’s condition, went into a nearby store, bought some bread, and gave it to him. The beggar ate immediately. Now tell me: who did the right thing, and who merely did a good thing? Clearly, the man who fed him did the right thing. The beggar needed bread, not a sermon. James 2:8 (GNT) says, “You will be doing the right thing if you obey the law of the Kingdom, which is found in the scripture, ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’” Love sometimes looks very practical. Even Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Even God cannot stand before a hungry man unless in bread’s form.” You might disagree with Gandhi. After all, God can do anything. He could have made the beggar feel full while being preached to. He silenced lions for Daniel, right? But here’s the question: if God always intervened, how would we learn obedience? How would that preacher know what he did to the beggar wasn’t right? James 2:15–17 asks what good faith is without action. And here is something interesting: the right things are always good. But good things are not always right. That difference can change history. Saul: When Good Became Disobedience In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel commanded King Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites: “don’t leave a thing” (1 Samuel 15:3, GNT). But Saul and his men spared King Agag and kept the best sheep and cattle. Why? To offer them as a sacrifice. It sounded spiritual. It sounded noble. But it was disobedience. Samuel responded to Saul’s blunder like this: “Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey Him than to sacrifice the best sheep to Him” (1 Samuel 15:22, GNT). Saul chose what looked good instead of what was right. And that decision reverberated across generations! Esther 3:1 tells us that Haman was a descendant of Agag. Saul’s incomplete obedience eventually placed the Jewish people in danger centuries later! Disobedience is not always loud. Sometimes it looks reasonable. Even religious. But it spreads. The One Thing In Luke 10:38–42 (GNT), Martha was “worried and troubled over so many things.” Mary, however, sat at Jesus’ feet and listened. Jesus said only one thing was needed. Martha wasn’t doing something evil. She was serving. But Mary chose the right thing. Sometimes, the right thing feels unproductive. It feels small. It feels passive. But it aligns with heaven. Spurgeon said it clearly: “The way to get the revival is to begin at the Master’s feet; you must go there with Mary, and afterwards you may work with Martha.” A Hospital Lesson I’ll Never Forget In 2014, I was an intern in a multispecialty hospital in Bangalore, India. I worked under the Head of the Department (HOD) of General Medicine. One day, a critically ill patient with severe pneumonia was brought in. His lungs were failing. His breathing was laboured. Every possible intervention was considered. But each option would likely cause more suffering. After careful assessment, the HOD made a decision: he signed a DNR form, Do Not Resuscitate. As an intern, I felt uncomfortable filling it out. It felt like writing a death sentence. Like we were giving up. The patient died later that day. It wasn’t good. It didn’t feel good. But it was right. The right choice prevented a violent and painful end. It required wisdom. It required restraint. And later, the HOD was questioned by the administration. The decision looked suspicious. Risky. Even wrong. But it was right. You see, the right thing can look questionable. John the Baptist was accused of having a demon (Luke 7:33–34, GNT). Jesus was called a glutton and a drunkard. Yet both were doing what was right. 1 John 2:29 (GNT) says, “…everyone who does what’s right is God’s child.” We won’t please everyone. That’s impossible. But we must seek wisdom to discern what is right in His eyes. Because sometimes God asks for only one thing. Not the impressive thing. Not the emotional thing. Not even the “good” thing. Just the right thing. Come! Just like some of the “Hall of Faith” members, let’s do what is right and receive what God has promised (Hebrews 11:33, GNT). © Dr. Anudeep Manne Further reading: 🤝 Is Jesus Your Friend, or Just Your CEO? — asks whether you treat Jesus more like a CEO you report to or a true friend you trust. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.