Innermost Being

The Parable of the Tenants

April 26, 2025April 26, 2025 by Innermost Being, posted in Faith and Culture

Jesus often taught through parables. The lessons are still applicable today. Read them afresh and put yourself in the story. In my own words, this is how I apply The Parable of the Tenants to Christian life in the USA today (Luke 20:9-18).

A man built a vineyard and then rented it to some farmers. The owner went away for a long time. When it came time for the harvest, the owner sent a servant to the tenants to get some fruit from the vineyard. The tenants beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. So the man sent another servant. The tenants also treated him badly and sent him away empty-handed. The owner sent yet another servant to collect some fruit; that servant was also beaten by the tenants and thrown out.

The owner said to himself, “What shall I do now? Perhaps I’ll send my own son. Surely they will respect him.”

When the tenants saw the owner’s son coming, they talked it over. They decided to kill the son, thinking they would inherit the property.

Jesus asked the people, “What will happen to the tenants when they kill the owner’s son? The owner will kill them and give the vineyard to others.”

After Jesus told the parable, the people were skeptical, saying, “God forbid.” So Jesus asked them, “Then what is the meaning of this: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.”

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God loved the world so much that he sent his son to redeem us. People rejected him then. People reject him now.

Those of us who accept Jesus as the son of God, as our Lord and Savior, call ourselves Christians. But I wonder how many people who call themselves Christians really accept Jesus, not just for who he is but for what he asks of us? If you believe that Jesus is the son of God, do you also accept his authority? Is he really the Lord of your life?

Jesus came to the United States of America. He asked the people for a cup of mercy for immigrants. The people shouted, “No! America first!” They began chanting, “Trump! Trump! Trump!” Donald Trump walked up to Jesus, punched him in the face, and proclaimed, “These [brown] people are murderers and rapists! They’re poisoning the blood of our country! Only I can save them!” The people cheered. Franklin Graham lifted his hands and praised God for anointing Trump. As Jesus wept, Christians in red hats pummeled him with their fists, shouting, “DEPORT HIM!”

Jesus was not deterred by this rejection. He again came to the people of the USA and said, “Fill this basket with food for the hungry and medicine for the sick.” The people responded, “No! That’s a waste of our money! America first!” Elon Musk shouted, “Waste, fraud, and abuse! I will make this country efficient.” He kicked Jesus in the stomach. As Jesus bent over in pain, Christians punched him and said, “Your empathy is toxic!” They tossed him out empty-handed.

The stone the Christians rejected is the cornerstone.

Christians, wake up!

April 13, 2025July 13, 2025 by Innermost Being, posted in Man of Lawlessness

During Lent, my church has been reading the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. Jesus accused the church in Sardis of being dead. He warned them to remember what they had received and heard, or they might be caught off guard when he returns.

To the angel of the church in Sardis, write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They walk with me dressed in white, for they are worthy.

Revelation 3:1-4

The church in Sardis had a reputation for being full of life. They thought they were invincible. Jesus exposed them for what they really were.

How did the church become dead? My pastor said that they were too comfortable and they compromised their faith, acclimating to the ways of the Roman culture.

The church in Sardis was not walking with Jesus. They forgot the gospel message.

Although this revelation was for a specific church, it is applicable to Christians today.

Many American Christians don’t separate their Christian identity from their national identity. Loving your country is fine, but a Christian’s identity should come from Christ! We must not idolize our country.

Many American Christians have what Tim Alberta calls a “lust for hegemony.” (I had to look it up.) They want Christians to have dominion over the country. Jesus did not seek to dominate the culture. He was concerned about God’s kingdom – the realm where God reigns.

Christians can easily become compromised when their knowledge of scripture is shallow and when they take their eyes off of Jesus. They can easily be deceived by false teachers. They choose to be discipled not by Christ but by the media, politicians, or others who are not motivated by the issues that mattered to Jesus.

One of the biggest deceptions is that character doesn’t matter, that anti-Christian conduct should be excused because God uses flawed people.

[Trump] persuaded the churchgoing class that it was better to win with vice than lose with virtue. He had blinded believers to the means and fixed their eyes on the ends. Most significantly, he had shown evangelicals that their movement need not be led by an evangelical.

Tim Alberta, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

If Christians in America don’t want to be caught off guard, they must wake up spiritually and hold fast to the words of Jesus.

More than any figure in American history, the forty-fifth president transformed evangelical from spiritual qualifier into political punchline, exposing the selective morality and ethical inconsistency and rank hypocrisy that had for so long lurked in the subconscious of the movement.

Tim Alberta, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

Christians have become a political punchline. Our selective morality and rank hypocrisy have been exposed. We pretend to be righteous while walking around in filthy clothes.

It’s time to wake up!

Dark Days, Restless Nights

April 2, 2025July 13, 2025 by Innermost Being, posted in Man of Lawlessness

Donald Trump said that today, April 2, 2025 is Liberation Day. Today is the day he announced 10% tariffs on many of our global trading partners. In reality, today is just another day in a dystopian nightmare.

For those of us who care about truth, justice, and liberty, these are dark days. So far, the second Trump presidency is far worse than I imagined it would be based on the ineptness and corruption of his first term. But plans for this term were reportedly well laid out in the Project 2025 document. This time, he has enough unscrupulous loyalists to put his unjust and unconstitutional plans into place.

The “shock and awe” and “flood the zone” political strategies are meant to overwhelm us. Instead, they have motivated millions of us to resist. The flood of executive orders may be dizzying, but we’re smart enough to keep up.

I have had many restless nights. I pray the 23rd Psalm when I struggle to fall back asleep. I remind myself that Jesus warned his disciples about dark times. He prepared us for this. He is with us when we go through dark times. He has a purpose for each of us.

I’ve been reading. I read Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez. She wrote about “militant masculinity” and the efforts of white Christian men to redefine Christ in their image.

I’ve been listening to YouTube videos. My favorites are Amy Hawk, author of The Judas Effect, Pat Kahnke, author of A Christian Case Against Donald Trump, and Reverand Ed Trevors. It has been encouraging to find a community of like-minded believers.

I am reading a lot of content on Substack, including Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American.

I am cutting back on Facebook. I am cutting many Trump supporters out of my life. It’s hard to do, but I can no longer pretend that there isn’t a huge moral divide between us. Character matters.

I am speaking out. Silence is complicity.

I went to the first reorganizational meeting for the local Indivisible group. It’s been inspiring to see young people organizing protests and posting social media content.

I called my Republican senators and representative, not that I think it will do any good.

I am living my life. I have been getting outside and enjoying the beauty around me.

If you agree that Trump is dangerous, how are you coping?

A different species

March 28, 2025March 28, 2025 by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I remember my kindergarten teacher asking this question when I was five. She did not approve of my answer: a cat. She expected me to give the standard response, something I actually could be – nurse or teacher, perhaps. But I was just a child with a child’s imagination, and I loved cats. I still do.

It’s sad that I began my school years with a woman who did not understand small children. Her name was Mrs. Knowles. She was old and cold and stern.

I have a couple of other memories from that school year. Before school started, we moved from my mom’s home state of Indiana to my dad’s home state of Kansas. It’s strange that I do not remember this, but my brother says Mom left us. She left Dad with four or five kids ranging from one to nine years old. (I don’t know if Mom took the one-year old.) Dad did not know what to do. So he packed up his kids and drove to Kansas, and we moved in with my grandparents until he could find a home. Mom eventually rejoined the family.

I remember Mrs. Knowles asking if I wanted a carton of milk at snack time. I didn’t have any money, so I said no. I believe one carton cost a nickel. I came back to school the next day with milk money. She said, “I thought you didn’t like milk.”

I remember the class skipping around a circle. Mrs. Knowles told me that I didn’t skip correctly. I wasn’t lifting my knees high enough.

At five years old, I felt misunderstood. I gave the wrong answers. I didn’t even move right. I had much better teachers after Mrs. Knowles, but I continued to feel like a different species.

The Power of Love

February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 by Innermost Being, posted in Holy Spirit

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

The Apostle Paul prayed that God would give the believers in Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they would know Him better (Ephesians 1:15-23).

I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened so that you may know:

– the hope to which you have been called

– the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people

– his incomparably great power for those of us who believe

Those of us who put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are God’s inheritance! We are valuable to him.

The incomparably great power that is available to believers is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead!

Paul also prayed (Ephesians 3:16-19) that God would strengthen believers with power through his Spirit in our innermost being so that Christ may dwell in our hearts.

Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would have the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ! It is a love that surpasses knowledge. Knowing this love, we “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Glorious Father, I pray that you will fill me with your Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Open the eyes of my heart. Remind me that you have called me to hope, not to despair.

I am valuable to you, the Most Holy God, the Creator of the universe. You sent your son to pay the ultimate price for my sins. There is no greater love than the love of Jesus, my Savior.

Fill me with spiritual wisdom and empower me as a witness to your love and mercy.