Innermost Being

Obey God rather than men

August 16, 2026August 16, 2026 by Innermost Being, posted in Faith and Culture

Romans 13 is used by “Christians” like Speaker Mike Johnson to silence dissent against the current administration. In this scripture, Apostle Paul said that everyone should submit to governing authorities because God established their authority.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Romans 13:1

Paul’s statement assumes that governing authorities will do God’s will because God gave them authority. But what if they aren’t doing God’s will?

Paul made a blanket statement about submitting to authority that does not cover every situation. Most importantly, he did not address whether we should obey authorities who are not doing God’s will.

Questions should be asked.

Do government authorities act lawfully, upholding the laws established by the government they are supposed to represent? Are they acting ethically? Do they oppress the poor or mistreat the foreigners among us? Are they acting justly? Do they suppress free speech? Do they deny the right to due process of the law?

Are they doing God will?

If you look at Paul’s ministry, he clearly did not believe that a follower of Christ should blindly submit to government authority without question. Paul was accused of advocating customs that were unlawful for Romans. He was accused of teaching against the Roman people and laws. Yet he chose to defy the authorities by continuing to preach. He was imprisoned for not submitting to their authority.

Peter also said that you should submit to government authorities “for the Lord’s sake.”

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

1 Peter 2: 13-14

But look at what Peter said when he was brought before the Sanhedrin to face the accusation of teaching in Christ’s name:

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Acts 5:28

We must obey God rather than man.

God is sovereign. He is the ultimate authority. His laws are supreme.

When Paul was jailed for spreading the gospel, the Lord said to him, “As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” The Lord wanted him to continue spreading the gospel.

I am a law-abiding citizen, but I question governing authorities, especially when those authorities have no respect for the law or for what is right and just.

Does Donald J Trump act legally, following the laws established by the government? No. He is a man of lawlessness.

Does he act ethically? No. He is corrupt and amoral.

Does he oppress the poor? Yes. His economic policies further enrich the wealthy, taking funds from those who need it most.

Does he mistreat immigrants? Yes. He lies about them to spread fear and resentment. He sends them to detention centers where they are kept in poor conditions without medical care. He separates families and traumatizes children!

Does he act justly? No. He makes false accusations against his political opponents and seeks vengeance while pardoning criminals. He denies immigrants due process.

Does he deny people the right to speak? Yes. He silences the press, suing the media for perceived damages. He calls the press treasonous for speaking the truth.

Is Donakd Trump doing God will? Absolutely not!

God’s will is that we love one another.

God’s will is that we live in peace.

God’s will is truth.

God’s will is justice.

God’s will is mercy.

God’s will is that we leave vengeance to him.

God’s will is that we serve others with humility.

Human laws and human authority are never above God’s laws and God’s authority. If something goes against God’s will, it’s time to disobey. If Jesus tells you to testify to the truth, it’s time to speak.

From discernment to deconstruction

August 8, 2026August 8, 2026 by Innermost Being, posted in Spiritual Struggles

In recent years, I have heard about Christians deconstructing their faith. Religious deconstruction was a new term for me. I never thought I would need to deconstruct my own faith because my faith in Christ is strong. But recently, I was thrown into an unexpected controversy at my church that has me taking apart what I believe.

Deconstruction is a personalized piecing apart of one’s belief system. This may include political and religious views, gender roles, race and identity.

Rebekah Drumstra, 3 Stages of Deconstruction

Last year, the elders of my church (of which I am one) began discussing the fact that the denomination has become more liberal with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity. A couple of months ago, the pastor took the issue to the congregation and explained that if we don’t like what the PCUSA is doing, we can go through a process of discernment with the Presbytery and then vote as a congregation on whether to leave the denomination.

Then, the pastor went on a sabbatical for ten weeks and told us to spend the time reading and praying for discernment. When he comes back, the elders will have a special vote on whether to begin the process.

Based on everything I have heard, there are a lot more people in favor of leaving the denomination than staying. A few families have already left the church because they don’t want to be associated with a denomination that affirms LGBTQ and transgender people. People claim that they would welcome them to our church, but that they should be excluded from leadership and that they must be confronted with their sins.

I have been praying a lot and losing sleep struggling with this issue. I have been reexamining what I believe about scripture, what I believe about sexual orientation and gender identity, and what I believe my role is as a follower of Christ. It has been a spiritual struggle on steroids!

The truth is, I have been wrestling with the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity for years because I want to understand. I have gay and lesbian friends. My sister has a grandchild who is nonbinary. I already concluded that people don’t just choose to be different or nonnormative. I believe there are biological reasons for sexual and gender differences that have not yet been fully substantiated by science.

I’ve also had my doubts about the inerrancy of scripture. I have been taught the concept of solo scriptura – that all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and correcting. But there are parts of scripture that Christians do not follow today, like the Old Testament purity laws. When reading scripture, we take the culture into context. There are scriptures that I don’t take literally. I question the accuracy of the translations of ancient texts. Scholars made decisions about what to include in the Bible. I do believe God inspired the authors, but the authors and translators were not infallible.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

The gospels, the words of Jesus, are the most useful for teaching and rebuking me for my own sins. Jesus told us the most important commandment: love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself. He did not focus his ministry on sins of the flesh but on sins of the heart. He saved his harshest criticisms for the religious leaders.

The criticism that strikes me as being very relevant to modern-day hypocrites is this one:

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

Matthew 23:13

The big thing that I can not overlook in my discernment process is that the same people who do not want to be associated with a denomination that affirms LGBTQ and transgender believers are willing to align themselves with someone who is truly wicked. They choose to support him. His many sins include adultery, sexual abuse of women, bullying and verbally abusive language, profound dishonesty, racism, hatred, malice, the desire for vengeance and retribution, corruption. and greed.

For ten years, I have struggled with being a minority in my church because I refuse to align myself with a man who is the antithesis of Christ. I stayed in the Presbyterian church because my pastors focused on the word of God. But the hypocrisy of the people is finally pushing me out the door. I will be visiting other churches while our pastor is away.

Finally, what is my role as a follower of Christ? It’s loving my neighbor as I love myself, which means loving them unconditionally. It’s doing my best to make sure that no one misses out on the grace of God. It’s leaving judgment to God. It is not shutting the door to the kingdom of God in people’s faces.

Me and Bobby Beddia

July 19, 2026July 22, 2026 by Innermost Being, posted in Random

As I anticipated my birthday this year, the math nerd in me realized that my age will be the same as my birth year (’63) – a once in a lifetime phenomenon. I wondered if there is a name for this birthday. I found out that there is a name for it. It was coined almost 20 years ago.

From a November 2007 article in The New Yorker:

“Named after New York City firefighter Bobby Beddia, it is a fun coincidence that only occurs during even-numbered years.
The concept was born when Beddia discussed the milestone with visitor and mathematician Rhonda Roland Shearer at his fire station in 2006. Tragically, he passed away in the line of duty later that day. Afterward, mathematician Barry Cipra coined the term “Beddian Birthday” in his honor.”

I had many minutes of fun thinking about what I prefer to call doubling birthdays. I’ve thought about when each of my seven siblings had or will have their Beddian birthday. For example, my youngest sister, Annie, will be 70 in 2040. (That’s easy math. 70 × 2 = 40). She’s seven years younger; double the difference in our ages is 14 years from now.

I thought about how some people will have to be really old, not just kind of old like me, to celebrate their Beddian birthday. A person born in the year 2000 will have to live to be 100!

Then I read that the aforementioned mathematician, Barry Cipra, came up with what he called the Beddia Theorem. He determined that at any given time, you can calculate the number of ages that are pre- or post-Beddian. Cipra said that the ages will fall into two separate time spans, except for years ending in ’98, ’99, or ’00.

In odd-numbered years: There are exactly 50 pre-Beddian ages.
In even-numbered years: There are exactly 49 pre-Beddian ages.

I spent a few minutes confused, then several minutes more figuring out the time spans to prove his theorem. I got it wrong the first time. (I initially started with 1927 and ended with 2026.)

1926-1963 Post-Beddian; 38 ages
1964-2000 Pre-Beddian; 37 ages
2001-2013 Post-Beddian; 13 ages
2014-2025 Pre-Beddian; 12 ages

It works. This year, there are 49 ages of people who have not yet celebrated a Beddian birthday. 37+12=49

Cathy’s theorem says that in even-numbered years, there will be two years of birth, 50 years apart, celebrating Beddian birthdays. This year, that’s 1963 and 2013. A child born in 2013 will turn 13 in 2026.

I plan to celebrate my childish enthusiasm for this silly milestone with two scoops of ice-cream!

🍦🍨🍦🍨🍦🍨🍦🍨🍦🍨🍦🍨🍦🍨🍦🍨

Forever Friends

July 10, 2026July 10, 2026 by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it?

I call my teenage years “The Hard Years” of my life. My parents divorced when I was twelve, leaving Mom with seven kids ranging from sixteen down to three. She had another child when I was thirteen. Mom had custody of us, and, unfortunately, she made some selfish and short-sighted decisions.

I was blessed with one older brother and sister, three younger sisters, and two younger brothers. I have to admit that I didn’t think of the youngest as blessings at the time.

My siblings, especially those closest to me in age, went through the tough things with me. (My older sister Cindy is two years older, and my sister Amy is a year younger than me.)

My sister Cindy was like a second mom to all of us, making sure we all got ready in time for school.

We moved the summer after my sophomore year and started going to a new school. Amy was with me. Midway through my junior year, Mom moved us to another town. Again, my sister Amy was with me, hating the new school as much as I did.

Hard things are so much easier when someone goes through them with you.

Turn your mind to good things

July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 by Innermost Being, posted in Random

What’s the best way to deal with negative thoughts?

It’s easy to focus too much on negative things. But we choose what we think about. We have some control over our thoughts.

One way to deal with negative thoughts is to direct your mind to positive things. Think about what is right, what is admirable – anything that is praiseworthy.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

Having said that, there is a reason we have negative thoughts, and we shouldn’t suppress or ignore those reasons. If you’re feeling negatively about your life, it’s a sign that something needs to change. If you’re thinking negatively about yourself, you need to work on your self-esteem.