My personal Bible study for fall is the book of Philippians and the devotion book Joy: A Study of Philippians by Deb Burma. It’s a 40-day study, but will take me longer as I am not an every day, diligent Bible studier. The depth of the Word of God is so awesome, because one can study a book or rather letter like Philippians and even though it is short, get so much wisdom and goodness from it. This is because Paul’s words are God’s words:

For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. –2 Peter 1:21

Here is the passage that really struck me today:

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. –Philippians 1:18

Paul is speaking here about the fact that because he is under house arrest, others are preaching the Gospel when and where he can’t. Some are doing out of genuine love and willingness to share God’s Word, others are doing it out of selfish ambition. They actually want to compete with Paul in some way or think if they preach the Good News it will cause more trouble for him. Paul rejoices, because whatever their motives, these people are still preaching Christ crucified and resurrected. They are still preaching that Jesus is our savior from sin, death, and the devil. From this perspective, even the false motives don’t matter.

It’s a humbling thing, really, especially considering churches in America. We have so many different denominations and each one thinks they are right in how they interpret Scripture, etc. Some do have actual false teachings and are wrong in that, but our fellow Christians are Christians. For me, even if Christians speaking God’s Word aren’t Lutheran, I should and can be happy that God’s Word is being preached. And it’s humbling to think that even if maybe, say, my motives or my church’s motives were more pure or something, it really doesn’t matter if we’re not preaching Christ to people. The important thing is that Jesus Christ is preached to everyone.

This is why I am so happy to be on Gab these days. So many Christians there and although we don’t necessarily believe the exact same things, when people are clearly declaring the Gospel and as owner Andrew Torba often says: Jesus is King! I am glad and rejoice that they are sharing and spreading God’s Word. How can I not be? And maybe a few of them have money as motivation–Christians often love supporting especially Christian businesses, etc., but still, if they are preaching the truth, that is what really matters!

God’s Word, the Law and Gospel, are the most important truths to share in the world, but this passage got me thinking about other truths. These days the powers that be are liars and following the father of lies, the devil, and they do this in many, many areas, health, politics, you name it. Many of the people speaking the truth are labeled as kooks or conspiracy theorists or grifters. But if people are making money by telling the truth, or at least by telling their stories, is that really such a problem? Does it really take that much away from what they are saying? Is what they are saying more important or why they are saying it? It’s a question that is perhaps answered differently depending on the circumstances, but I think that Paul’s advice above is good for truth in general: We should seek to find out the truth. Maybe the people sharing the truth have bad motives, but they are still sharing the truth! We should take notice and perhaps seriously consider what they are saying. It’s easy to be confident that we already have all the facts, etc., but so often these days we don’t. Things are purposefully hidden from the general public.

I’m reading Plague of Corruption by Dr. Judy Mikovits and Ken Heckenlively, JD. It’s a story that would make for an exciting movie. It’s also, I think, a story sharing truth, but some are skeptical of Mikovits, one, because she’s criticizing those in power like Tony Fauci, and two, because she’s making money sharing her story and giving her opinions. But so what? What does that matter? The truth she’s sharing is what should matter most. Right? So many friends and family automatically dismiss these kinds of books, even though the authors fit any “expert” category they may be looking for. All doctors and scientists do NOT agree about either science, health, or understanding the human body. There are so many points of view and the more one reads them, the more one realizes that whatever “science” is, it has a long, long way to go in understanding the complex, God-created creatures that we are.

With politics, especially, we are our own worst enemies sometimes. If the party or political view opposite ours is sharing truth, we often overlook it because the “right” person isn’t saying it, or they are, likely, trying to make our party or side look bad, but truth is truth. I’m not saying motivations don’t matter at all, but sometimes it’s what’s being shared that’s important. We should to some extent get behind anyone willing to investigate and share the truth. We should be happy whoever is sharing the truth. These days as we are staring more and more into the face of outright tyranny, I appreciate anyone revealing the current lies surrounding health, science, politics, and the like. I am thankful for everyone standing up against the tyrants, no matter their background.

These are such strange, often unreal times to be alive. It’s as if all of those cool revolutionary and dystopian movies and stories we used to like so much are all becoming reality. But I rejoice to more and more people waking up. If they can wake up to more common lies from the powers that be, maybe they can and will wake up to the worse lies from the devil. Maybe they will realize that they, too, are not little gods, but are sinners that desperately need Jesus Christ and his perfect life, death, and resurrection to save them from eternal damnation. Look for a fuller review of Plague of Corruption next time.

If you maybe think you’re not getting the truth from the MSM about current events, check out Gab. You can decide for yourself whether the people are sharing the truth or not, but at least you can get a look at the other side you maybe haven’t heard before. Up next time: Full review of Plague of Corruption.