Category: Ephesians

A week of assassination and evil

Published by Daniel on September 11, 2025

It’s Sunday morning.

A Sunday following a very difficult and heavy week. A week which admittedly left me sad and very angry.

I wish I could say it was a righteous anger—and maybe for the most part it was.

But at times, it was not. It was filled with rage.

On Wednesday, I watched Charlie Kirk’s neck explode. (I inadvertently watched the video showing the murder from the side of the exit wound. I do not recommend watching it, and I pray it will miraculously disappear from the internet forever.)

On Wednesday, the country was preparing to remember the 9/11 attacks the next day.

Now I watched a live feed throughout the afternoon as students prayed, waiting for word that he might miraculously survive this.

That moment stirred memories of the morning of September 11, 2001—24 years earlier.

I remembered watching the first tower burn in New York City, praying it was an accident or was not as bad as it looked on our screens.

Then we saw the second plane hit the second tower.

I remember the fog, my mind trying desperately to process what my eyes were seeing. I remember the words of the local announcer when the south tower collapsed (I was driving at this moment): “Ladies and gentlemen, the New York skyline has changed forever.”

I remember feeling vulnerable.

And then came the anger.

24 years later, those feelings returned when Fox News’ Will Cain announced, “It is my great dishonor to confirm that Charlie Kirk has died.”

In the midst of that mental fog, anger began to rise.

I had been warning of this outcome for years, even turning it up after Trump got shot in 2024.

For the last decade, people who held conservatives views have been called “Nazis,” “fascists,” “full of hate,” and “evil.”

At first, the left’s name-calling, insults, and narrative-spinning was a source of humor to us on the right. The left, we shrugged, had become a parody of themselves.

Not anymore.

Former president Joe Biden frequently used the phrase “an existential threat to democracy.” He even said, “It’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye,” and joked, “if I were in high school, I’d take him behind the barn and beat the hell out of him.” And he called conservative voters “garbage.”

Kamala Harris point-blank used the phrase “fascist” to call Trump.

Hillary Clinton called conservative voters “a basket of deplorables.”

A poll came out five months ago where 48.6% of the left said that assassinating Elon Musk was justified, and 55.2% of that group said it was justified in assassinating Donald Trump.

Two days ago, a YouGov poll said that are “Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say it is acceptable to celebrate the death of a public figure.”

This insanity is not limited to the “world.” I have heard progressives Christians point out an apparent irony of a cross hanging from the neck or tattooed on the arm of “evil” Christ-followers, such as Karoline Leavitt or Pete Hagseth, as if accusers are somehow no longer in need the cross.

Yesterday, Christian artist Chris Tomlin posted a request for prayer for Kirk’s widow and children. The first response to this post was criticism to Tomlin by requesting a prayer for the death of a person so full of “hate and bigotry.”

I don’t care if that responder was from a Christ-follower or not, but that comment was demonic.

In the name of “compassion,” that comment was wicked. In the name of “social justice,” the Democratic Party has lost its heart, moral compass, and it’s soul.

Moments after Kirk’s widow made her first public statement, accusations flooded social media accusing this 72-hour-old widow as trying to take advantage of Kirk’s death–this is demonic.

When fire fighters, public leaders, bureaucrats, doctors and nurses, and individuals educating your children celebrate Kirk’s death—this is demonic.

When in the heat of the grieving and loss, individuals try to spin it about “gun control”—and try to guilt you as the heartless one because you don’t go along with their policies—that is demonic.

Promoting chaos—that is demonic.

When Christ-followers on the left did not openly and publically call out this rhetoric and demand that it stop—that is demonic.

The justification for the murder of anyone–implied or in the open–that is demonic.

This is what happens when the left demonize conservatives over the last ten years.

The left’s typical response has been “both sides do it.”

Then as an example, they come up January 6—an event occurring four years ago—and Charlottesville years before that. Both events, by the way, were widely condemned by national conservative commentators. Next, comes: “but Trump pardoned all of them.” Never mind the fact that Biden’s auto-pen pardoned scores of killers.

No, we are not the same.

I have been warning of Wednesday’s outcome for years. I have seen the writing on the wall.

So, yes, I am angry. Perhaps some of that might come from a righteous anger. Admittedly, a lot of it came from my flesh.

There but for the grace of God go I.

Now, on this Sunday morning, this country has reached a turning point. Frankly, I am deeply concerned about this.

About those on the left doubling-down on this rhetoric.

And about those on the right responding to the left’s violence with violence.

That must also be condemned without reservation and without nuance.

We Christ-followers in the right must remember to FIGHT THE CORRECT FIGHT.

Do not confuse the two.

Heed the words of Paul:

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” — Ephesians 6

When the world rejects your prayers, pray anyway

Published by Daniel on October 4, 2017

It didn’t take long after the tragedy in Las Vegas for the bloviating and hyperbole to begin. While many expressed shock and sadness for both the victims and for the city itself, sadly others took the massacre as a call to arms to press their political agendas. In the name of compassion, this latter group rejected the compassion of a country that was shocked into momentary paralysis as though they even had right to reject it in the first place.

Armed with the principle of never letting a crisis go to waste, they insist, “No! Only action is compassion.” And so, they shame, guilt, and demand action even before the blood is dry.

This has always bothered me. While the nation is still doubled-over in shock, using intense grief to promote an agenda—no matter how sincere—seems to amount to little more than emotional abuse. Any grief or pastoral counselor will tell you, decisions made in the heat of emotion almost never turn out well. In seminary, I had a professor tell his class, “Never resign on a Monday.”

Nevertheless, the demands for action ring out. In the past, that tactic hasn’t worked. So, inevitably, the outraged turned up their rhetoric to include blame, hate, and even prayer-shaming.

The cry of “prayer is not enough” became the new catchphrase. Following other mass-shootings before Las Vegas, U.S. Representative Elizabeth Etsy once said, “A moment of silence or prayer is insufficient to the task.” Senator Chris Murphy once tweeted, “Having lived through Sandy Hook, I know that thoughts and prayers are important, but they’re not enough.” Then-President Barak Obama said, “Thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel.”

Comments like these in the face of tragedy irritated me. They seemed condescending and elitist. However, in the days following the Las Vegas shooting, my perspective shifted a little. Why should I be irritated? It made complete sense that a non-believer or a worshiper of the secular culture would see prayer as nothing more than a platitude, a superstition, a symbolic ritual, or an empty gesture expressed by simpletons. They see no power behind prayer. Why would we expect them to believe anything different? They’re simply staying true to their belief system.

On the other hand, for the Christ-follower to say such a thing is more troubling. In her response to the tragedy, Christian writer Jen Hatmaker posted on her Facebook page that her “blood is boiling over and I want to run screaming into the streets. I feel like we are standing in the middle of a violent, endless nationwide crisis swirling all around us, and we keep ‘sending thoughts and prayers.’ I want to rip my hair out.”

To say prayer is not enough says a lot about that particular Christian’s view of prayer. Prayer is good, so long as it is not the holy-roller, chandelier-swinging variety, but it doesn’t truly have a power to make a difference in anything. It is something to say with children before tucking them in. It makes us feel good. It is merely an act of faith, something to hold onto. But in the face of evil, these prayer-shaming Christians seem to see little actual power in prayer.

It is not enough, they insist. Prayer is not enough. We must do something.

Because everyone knows that we humans are far better capable of solving the problem of evil than a God who created the universe and defeated death. Seek ye first the kingdom of government, and all these things shall be added unto you. Most certainly, the problem of evil can be fixed through congressional legislation, which is often brought about through manipulation, fear-mongering and compromise.

Rest easy, America.

And please ignore Paul’s words about the foolishness of God being wiser than the wisdom of humanity (1 Corinthians 1:25). Or that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). He certainly didn’t mean it that way. We must invoke action. We must do something. And we must do it in the moment when the world is rocked back on its heels.

Sarcasm aside, it is imperative that we ask ourselves exactly what is prayer. What happened in Las Vegas was the face of evil.

The very thing prayer-shamers reject is the very thing that can help.

However, before we get defensive and counter, we followers of Jesus must come to terms with prayer as well. Do we believe it? Is prayer a platitude, an exercise to say before dinner, or a symbolic act of ritual? Do we believe that in prayer we are seeking the face of Jesus against whom no evil can stand? Do we truly believe that invoking the name of Christ is an act in which the demons flee and the captives go free?

Prayer acknowledges humanity’s helplessness in the face of evil. It forces us to see our own powerlessness. Only through prayer will we ever understand the true nature of the battle.

So if politicians and media trolls want to shame Christ-followers for “merely” praying, let them. I would expect nothing different. Let them think they are doing something productive. Let them think that prayer isn’t enough. This has never intimidated God before. I would place my trust in a holy God that I cannot see over politicians who claim they have the wisdom to curb the power of evil when they don’t even have the know-how to overcome the NRA.

Besides, prayer-shamers—both within and outside of the body of Christ—should not be our focus. God should. Legislative acts will do nothing to stem the face of evil other than make the legislators feel good about themselves. That is, until the next evil act occurs after which the whole cycle repeats.

Finally, I would like to comment about what I believe is a legitimate point that prayer-shamers make: Prayer should never be used as an excuse for apathy. There is enough truth here that should challenge us Christ-followers and even make us feel uneasy if we realize that it in fact applies to us. If we say that we are praying for Las Vegas and we do not actually pray, then we are using prayer as an excuse for inaction. That truly is apathy.

Posting a picture of the Vegas skyline with the words “praying for Vegas” is not praying. Actually praying for Las Vegas is.

If all we do is share a “praying for Vegas” post on social media without any follow-through, then we indeed have reduced prayer to simply another form of hashtag activism—a narcissistic attempt to show the world we care while accomplishing nothing. Saying we’ll pray without actually praying is nothing more of an empty exercise than that of jumping up and down with outrage, pulling our hair out, demanding “now is the time” that we do something to fix evil.

Rest assured, we will get our just rewards, if patting yourself on the back is all the reward you desire.

Meanwhile, evil prevails and the suffering continues.

I challenge us Christ-followers to pray. Really pray. Don’t pray for show. Don’t pray to make yourself feel good or uber-spiritual. Pray from the position of helplessness. But pray truly believing the power of prayer. Pray with the full knowledge that we are seeking the face of a holy God.

In the face of mockery, when others reject the power of prayer, I want to encourage you to pray anyway.

New life in the zombie apocalypse, part 4: Spiritual weapons and sustenance

Published by Daniel on November 13, 2014

Note: I love zombie apocalypse stories because they are a great metaphor for life crises. This blog series on the topic has four parts: 1) waking up in the crisis; 2) defining “alive”; 3) abandoning self-sufficiency; and 4) spiritual weapons and sustenance. All scriptures are NIV unless otherwise noted.

To conclude our journey through the zombie apocalypse, we’ll discuss the two most important keys to survival: What about weapons for self-defense? And what about sustenance (food and water)?

So, what about weapons?

Would I choose a projectile-type weapon (for example, a gun or crossbow), or a melee weapon (such as a hatchet, sword, or dagger) for close, hand-to-hand combat?

There is no better reassurance than having a gun hanging off one shoulder—the bigger, the better. However, a gun is loud (zombies can hear, you know!), bullets could be hard to find, and a lot could happen in the moment it takes to reload. In fact, in a 2013 television episode of Mythbusters, Jamie and Adam took on the question of weapons in the zombie apocalypse. They compared a melee weapon (an electronic axe that registered fatal hits) to a projectile weapon (a gun which did the same) and found that the former kept a person alive longer, because the latter took too much time to reload. So if they say so, it must be true.

Similarly, in our daily spiritual battle against evil, the Bible recommends a melee weapon—the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) against Satan’s projectile-type “fiery darts” (Ephesians 6:16). This sword (the word of God) is silent, precise, and strategic. It requires getting up close and personal, rather than rushing in with guns blazing and possibly attracting more enemy attention. And, although this sword must be kept clean and sharp through regular maintenance (that is, scripture reading and study), it never requires a reload.

Finally, what about sustenance?

Food is a huge question—so big that I won’t even try to touch it here. But water—water is everything. Even with the best living space, the greatest community, the strongest defenses, and the most inexhaustible food supply, no one survives without water. And the lack of it can drive people mad with thirst.

Without water, the Hebrews in the wilderness cried out to return to slavery in Egypt, arguing that being slaves with water was better than being free people without it (Numbers 20:5).

Without water, Hagar abandoned her own son, Ishmael, in the desert because she could not bear to watch him die of thirst (Genesis 21:13-16).

Without water, Elijah became so depressed that he didn’t want to live (I Kings 19). He was also suffering from lack of food, rest, and encouragement; but water is such a basic physical need that I’m convinced the lack of it was a factor in his depression.

In the same way, water is the top priority in the zombie apocalypse. And again, there is a spiritual solution: Christ, the living water.

During the insanity and desperation of my own personal apocalypse, I was pulled every which way from thirst. I was in a spiritual desert. I wasn’t living; I was merely surviving, just trying to get by. But somehow Jesus quenched my thirst. I never asked him to do so; I never even thought to ask. But in mercy and love he got me through each day, giving me just enough hope to keep going. I see that now, but I couldn’t see it then. It is difficult to see his goodness in the midst of the apocalypse. Somehow, you just have to know that it is. That he is.

As Jesus told the woman at the well: “[W]hoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

We Christ-followers must continually drink of Christ himself, the living water.

So, from this post and my last one, let’s recap the conventional wisdom on how to survive the zombie apocalypse: Leave the “city” of self-sufficiency and learn to live “in the country,” depending on God every day. Join a small, close-knit community for support. Keep the sword of the Spirit sharp, clean, and ready to strike at the enemy. And above all, stay close to the source of living water, which is Christ Jesus.

I’m living proof that, if you do all of these things, when you awaken in your own personal zombie apocalypse you will get through it.

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