2538AFC091925 – An Anchor in The Storm
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Amos 8:7 –
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Psalm 113:7-8 –
7 He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
1 Timothy 2:8 – 8 I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument
Luke 16:11 (GNT) [1] 11 If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth?
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ʻŌmea, some of what we will cover today will relate to what some folks call “Current Events.” Who among us is not heavier in heart after all the chaos we have witnessed in the past days and weeks? I have reflected on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and, in doing so, my memory bank brought up some additional Bible verses that relate to the Key Verses chosen for today. I will just list them for now. You probably will remember some of them, and you will also probably see how and why they fit in with today’s theme.
From 2135AFC082721 – The Beast Under the Bed –
Isaiah 5:20-21 – 20 Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!
Wisdom 2:23-24 – 23 for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, 24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.
John 8:44 – 44 You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
2 Corinthians 11:3 – 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
That first one from Isaiah just kept tolling in my head like a cathedral bell. Isn’t that what happened there in Utah? Someone was calling evil good and good evil? Consider these –
Here are some of the alleged quotes from various correspondences and interviews.
- “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
- “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
- Another source (which I cannot independently verify) CLAIMED Kirk was “too divisive.”
Is Tyler Robinson “a monster” for committing this murder. Doubtless someone will come up with that; it was a monstrous crime anyway. What I have not heard in any broadcast so far is whether or not his family was “a church-going family.” Allegedly his father’s views are fundamentally different from Tyler’s view, and Tyler was allegedly “radicalized” in online fantasy applications where one can satisfy a taste for “harmless violence” by participating in, chatting about, and embellishing scenarios focused on warlike battles. His move toward more “liberal-oriented” politics and what was/is basically an immoral World view was exacerbated by his relationship with his alleged boyfriend who was transitioning to being a chemically-induced woman.
So, there we have homosexual conduct, gender dysphoria leading to an incomplete attempt to a gravely disordered need for sexual self-gratification – all things which Kirk spoke against. Tyler took that personally as a matter of personal pride and judgment. We who know God know that judgment is his, not ours. We also know that knowing that does not universally prevent us from being judgmental. Tyler’s judgment was that Charlie was a bigot. Charlie’s response was that persons living a lifestyle like Tyler’s were living outside of God’s Law, and he was inviting them to abandon that and come into obedience.
It is my firm belief that our Key Verse from Amos – even though it is a condemnation of the selfish sinfulness of Israel – can be applied to both men in this tragic segment of history: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Charlie lived his life as a witness by testifying (μαρτυρέω – mar-too-reh’-o like “martyr”) about the Gospel and how it must be part of our daily lives. His nonprofit organization Turning Point (← Information) states their mission is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. This is done mostly on high school and college campuses – places where the ideologies opposed by conservative Christian values often find nurturing, and sometimes even forcible indoctrination. Charlie challenged that every day. And every day we, too, must fight against it particularly when these values are lived-by in the activities and attitudes of someone claiming to be an adelphos – a brother or sister in Christ.
This is also our calling – to be witnesses for Jesus in our day-to-day lives. Sounds easy, but it’s not. It is our responsibility to assist God – in the name of Jesus, who –
7 […] raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people. One of the most important characteristics of that responsibility is to provide knowledge, to present proofs against errors, to admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and the dead. Those word in Italics might (should!) sound familiar. Those are the Spiritual Works of Mercy. I’m going to list them again vertically and with more traditional wording so we can just take a moment to ponder them.
1. Admonish sinners,
2. Instruct the uninformed,
3. Counsel the doubtful,
4. Comfort the afflicted,
5. To bear wrongs patiently,
6. Forgive offenses willingly,
7. Pray for the living and the dead.
That’s quite a checklist there, isn’t it? Someday, perhaps, we could do an Aloha Friday Message Series on the Acts (Works) of Mercy both Corporal and Spiritual! Mercy is the way of Peace. Now if you’ve been with these posts for a while you probably know Micah 6:8
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
We must be just, merciful and kind, and humble – those are four different things that bring about the same result: Peace – BUT only in the way the Lord requires. In recent times it seems the way to settle a dispute is to pick up a gun and kill someone – or even many someones! Even as I am working on this on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, the airwaves and Internet are filled with news about five Law Enforcement Officers who have been shot – 3 killed and 2 critically injured as of the most recent report. I can see, and say, now that it is important to be divisive if we are going to live our lives as efficacious Christians. Jesus himself told us
Luke 12:51-53 – 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (See Micah 7:1-7)
The Word of God – Jesus’ Gospel – is intrinsically oppositional because it must separate those who will obey his commands from those who reject those commands. There is an irreconcilable contradiction between the Word and the World. Darkness does not commingle with Light, Evil does not fellowship with Sanctity, and we Adelphos who are Believers must not be yoked to persons who are Unbelievers. Nonetheless, we must still evangelize – both directly like Charlie did, or indirectly as is often (probably mistakenly) attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. We could learn a bit more from 1 Peter 3:1-17 (make time to read this over the next couple of days) and 2 Timothy 4:1-5 (← Please … stop and read this NOW). In these things we must discern that is we who truly are different. We are children of Light, living in Light that knows no darkness. (As long as you have your Bible handy, look up 1 John 1:5 – or just do what I do – follow the link 😉 .
Finally, what does all of this have to do with our Gospel Key Verse? This passage from Luke is in the Parable of the Unfaithful Steward. Jesus tells us about a guy who was ripping off his boss, and the boss found out about it so he demanded a full audit of the Steward’s activities. The crooked steward was too scrawny and lazy to get a job (like in his imagination, digging ditches), so instead he called in a few of his boss’s creditors and “fixed” their debt so that they would be beholding to him and might take him in after he was discharged. We know how that went because Jesus says the boss credited him with at least being resourceful. He still got fired, and the boss was still out of some money, but the steward was now someone else’s problem. It’s more than likely that the bum pulled the same stunt on the folks who took care of him afterwards. Like Forrest Gump might say, “Evil is as Evil does.” In this World, we have a choice between Right and Wrong, Good and Evil. One is Wealth – most likely on Earth as well as in Heaven – and the other is the loss of everything except eternal life (YOLO-F).
Forget about 50 shades of gray! There is not even one scintilla of gray here! If our lives are dedicated to good, then in this world the good we do does indeed live after us as our legacy and the inheritance of every additional Life our Good Works touch. We can see how the APP affects our Lives, in part, by how our Lives affect the lives of others. There are corporal and spiritual blessings – our beatitudes for service – in this World when and only when we use our corporal and spiritual blessings to bless God and to bless others. We must accept division, separation, confliction, exclusion, and persecution from the World if we wish to enjoy harmony, unity, compatibility, inclusivity, and equity in the Church. Because why? Because the Church must be separate from the World. Because why? Because that is the meaning and purpose of the Absolutely Perfect Plan.
We are entrusted with Truth. We don’t have “the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth” because we’re still in this World. In the World, we can use the Truth to find others who walk in The Light of Truth and to carry out another First-Order Task given to us as The Great Commission –
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (See Matthew 28:19-20)
That’s what Charlie did. His YOLO-F is paying big dividends outside of this World. Tyler’s YOLO-F is still up for grabs – literally. Charlie was thinking on what is above, not what is below (it would be worth our time to review Colossians 3:1-5). Be like Charlie. Tyler was thinking about anything-but what is above. Don’t be like Tyler. At our Key Verses today I have the image of a 4-branch anchor. Again, because why? “There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin’. It will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changin.” (↔ Music Link) There is a battle outside of the Church – in some cases perhaps even inside the church – the battle, the storm, the birth pangs, the World – is worsening in intensity. We are Standin’ in the Need of Prayer (↔ Music Link), and failing that, we are in need of more witnesses to stand and proclaim “this far and no more.” That cannot be done as vengeance. It must not be done as retribution. Remembering we must obey and follow his Commands we turn to
Luke 6:27-28 – 27 But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. and also
Matthew 5:44-45 – 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous as well as
Romans 12:14 – 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. That is our Anchor of Hope in the storm. Hebrews 6:19 a – 19 We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . The anchor I’ve shown you is something like a Cross. That is where our lives are headed – The Cross and then The Glory. An anchor without a chain or rope is pretty useless if you want to keep the boat – our life – from drifting away. What is it that connects our Anchor to our lives?
Every link we make with the Word of God.
There are more than a few of those links from his Word here. Be like Charlie and get Linked-Up with the Anchor of our Souls. That’s Grace. Embrace it. (←Video Link)
[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
