Greetings!
Thanks for reading, especially if you have been faithfully reading DHD for a period of time. I’ve been writing DHD for nearly seven years, and it’s hard to imagine I’ve been sharing thoughts, six at a time, for that long.
Here’s this week’s list!
- Response to Mo Cheeks article
Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks shared his experience relating to the George Floyd tragedy in an article on The Player’s Tribune titled “That Could Have Been Me.”
There have been other powerful testimonies involving racist encounters, including Shai Linne’s “George Floyd and Me.” It’s important to read or listen and be familiar with these incidences because this is how to learn and help overcome racism.
I shared my response on Facebook after reading Coach Mo’s article. Here’s what I wrote:
I’m going to be open with you. There are tears on my face right now after reading Coach Mo’s article. And I’ve read other recent articles too, sharing similar experiences. They cause me to seek after God, asking Him to intervene, make a change that would make Himself known in this difficult, confused, sinful world.
Coach Mo’s story broke me. I talk with him before every Thunder home game. We share a handshake and a laugh as he hands me the active team roster for that game. I feel privileged to connect with an NBA legend, especially one so classy as Maurice Cheeks.
But then I read what happened to him in Miami, riding a bike. This is sad, and it hurts.
I also hurt for the ones who were robbed. I want to believe there could be a better way to handle this confrontation.
I support police work. My wife is a county deputy. I pray for her every time she goes downtown to work outside the jail, as there have been protesters every night for the past two weeks. She has many police officers in her family, and I have other friends who are police officers.
I won’t support an organization that is against the sanctity of human life and promotes anarchy. I also don’t want to lead anybody to go against biblical teachings, which includes Mark 12:31 and Rom. 13:1-3.
Believe me, I’m listening and trying to learn. I’m testing while holding on to what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). Most of all, I’m praying because I don’t want people like Coach Mo to go through what he had to experience ever again.
- Examine 1 Thess. 5:21
The Apostle Paul gives a great list of practical instructions in the conclusion of his first letter to the Thessalonians. Check out 1 Thess. 5:12-22 and read this passage in different translations.
To put in context, Paul is sharing how Christians should live in regards to waiting for the rapture and the “Day of the Lord” or when Christ will return. Paul’s advice in these 11 verses is definitely relevant today.
I single out verse 21, because I mentioned it in my response to Coach Mo’s article. “…but test all things. Hold on to what is good” is Paul’s guidance on how to respond to prophecies or messages that claim to be from God.
I think this verse is applicable for today. We are hearing a lot of messages from different people and groups. There’s a lot of good-intentioned people, but their messages may fall short of what is best or consistent with Scripture.
There is no harm in listening and discussing; in fact, it is encouraged in these times, but always remember to remain faithful to what the Bible teaches. The Bible is always relevant and needs to be demonstrated in our speech and actions.
- Trevin and the Quiet Life
Now that we discussed a passage in 1 Thessalonians 5, let’s look back a page.
Trevin Wax blogged about 1 Thess. 4:10-12 this week in his piece “A Quiet Life in a World of Unrest.”
This passage has intrigued me for a long time. I remember studying “lead a quiet life” when I was in college and was wondering how is that to be applied, especially in modern day.
Though the phrase “quiet life” stood out in my mind, the key part of this instruction is the reason to live this way, which comes in verse 12:
“As a result, people who are not Christians will respect the way you live…” (NLT).
I like how Trevin applied it:
“In the midst of our tumultuous times, Paul gives us instructions on how we are to act towards those around us to seize the opportunity to shine God’s light to the world.”
This is good instruction. It’s important to have a biblical point of view, but your views may be meaningless if you are not living in such a way that would draw others to Christ.
Drawing others to Christ could involve listening and having discussions about difficult topics. If people see you are willing to listen, perhaps in the proper time—and through the leading of the Holy Spirit—they will be ready to hear you share the Gospel.
- Mohler on polls
Albert Mohler gives an excellent analogy of the media’s use (or misuse) of polling information. In his June 10 edition of The Briefing, Mohler discusses how the Wall Street Journal and USA Today write about the same poll result but apply it differently.
Mohler said the writer for the Journal wrote about a poll finding that people were more concerned about the police brutality in the George Floyd case than the violence at some protests “and an overwhelming majority, 80%, feel that the country is spiraling out of control, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.” Notice the context of the poll’s survey.
Then USA Today uses the same poll results to write “Four in five registered voters in a new poll feel things in the country are out of control as the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic approaches 110,000, unemployment remains at a level not seen since the Great Depression, and protests continue across the United States.”
I love Mohler’s next remarks. Whenever he begins with a phrase like “Now wait just a minute” it’s about to be some fun content.
“Now wait just a minute. These are two articles looking at the very same polling information, but the article in USA Today raises issues that aren’t even in the lead of The Wall Street Journal article. Now, that’s not to say that either the survey itself nor the two newspapers I’m citing here are deliberately misrepresenting the data. That’s not the issue at all. The issue, in this case, is the selectivity of understanding what’s most important and trying to discern the message that is being sent by the American people. Now, just consider the headline at USA Today. It says, ‘Poll: 80% feel like the US is out of control.’”
It’s worth listening to Mohler’s full report.
- This week’s Messenger cover story
I want to brag on Chris Forbes’ article that is the cover story in the June 11 edition of the Baptist Messenger. He did a lot of work on “Our heritage of missions: The continuing legacy of Oklahoma Baptists serving as missionaries with the IMB.”
The International Mission Board (IMB) is celebrating its 175th anniversary, which prompted the Messenger staff to find out more about Oklahoma Baptists’ involvement with IMB mission work, which spans 110 years. Check out the article and read about the first Oklahoma missionaries who traveled the world to share the Gospel.
- Gunn gets a trailer
I conclude with a heartwarming story. Rusty Gunn is pastor of Sand Springs, Church That Matters. He has led his church to be involved with its community in a powerful way. Because of his leadership and sharing the Gospel through social mission work, Gunn was nominated as a “Green Country Hero.” This week he was declared the winner and received a new RV.
Here’s a video of the presentation of the RV to Gunn:
