Today’s Bible Breakout January 31
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Believe! — The Power of His Presence
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
Mark 16:14
The key to this passage is the word believe. That emphasis is in line with the thrust of Mark’s gospel, because this gospel does not present Christianity as just a nice story, a fascinating account of events that took place in the first century. It stresses the fact that the death and resurrection of Christ is something to be believed, and it is intended to change lives. As we act on our belief, it changes us.
Mark wants us to understand what a climate of persistent and stubborn unbelief prevailed among these disciples after the resurrection. They found it difficult to accept this amazing fact, that the one they had seen crucified was now risen and living among them again. The significant thing here is that Jesus expected the Eleven to believe before they saw Him. He wanted and expected them to believe the reports of the eyewitnesses who had seen Him. They were trustworthy persons and were reporting what they had actually experienced, and that should have been enough to convince these disciples that Jesus was risen from the dead. So concerned about this is the risen, living Lord, that He rebukes them for their unbelief, even as He did in the days of His flesh. He takes them to task because they refused to believe those who had seen Him.
You can see the importance He attributes to this matter of believing the eyewitnesses. John’s gospel tells us that a week later Jesus appeared to them when Thomas, who had not been with them when He appeared the first time, was present. Jesus invited Thomas to examine Him, to put his hand on His side and touch the nail prints in His hands and feet. Thomas did so and fell down at his feet, crying, My Lord and my God!
(John 20:28b). Jesus said, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed
(John 20:29). Years later when Peter is writing his letters to the Christians he says to them, Though you have not seen him you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy
(1 Peter 1:8).
One thing is clear from this account in Mark: When we have adequate, trustworthy witnesses who report to us what they have seen, we are expected to respond with belief. These men saw the risen Lord. They were granted a privilege that we are not granted; but, nevertheless, our faith can rest upon a solid foundation. Even though we have not seen Him, we believe because of the eyewitness accounts here.
Lord, I believe! Thank You for the good news that Jesus Christ is not dead but alive and that He lives within my heart and has the power to break the chains of sin and the bondage of evil in my life.
Life Application
Do we think of Christianity as just a nice story? Have we looked and found there is historic, trustworthy evidence of the gospel on which to base our faith and our lives?
Daily Devotion © 2006, 2026 by Ray Stedman Ministries. For permission to use this content, please review RayStedman.org/permissions. Subject to permission policy, all rights reserved.
This Daily Devotion was Inspired by one of Ray’s Messages
Those Signs Following
Mark 16:9-20
9When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
New International Version
Express your Unworthiness to Draw Near to God
Matthew Henry’s “Method For Prayer”
Adoration 1.15 | ESV
We must express the sense we have of our own meanness and unworthiness to draw near to God and speak to him.
But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? That God whom heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain, 2 Chronicles 6:18(ESV) with man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm? Job 25:6(ESV)
Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my father’s house that you have brought me thus far to present myself before the Lord? 2 Samuel 7:18(ESV) That I have through Christ an access in one Spirit to the Father? Ephesians 2:18(ESV) And yet, as if this had been a small thing in your sight, you have spoken concerning your servant for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 2 Samuel 7:19(ESV)
What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him, Psalm 8:4(ESV) and thus magnify him?
Oh let not the Lord be angry, Genesis 18:30(ESV) if I who am but dust and ashes undertake to speak to the Lord of glory. Genesis 18:27(ESV)
I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant; Genesis 32:10(ESV) nor is it right to take the children’s bread and throw it to such as I am; yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table; Matthew 15:26-27(ESV) and you bestow your riches on all who call on you. Romans 10:12(ESV)
Wisdom’s Call in Proverbs | Place for Truth
Imagine a father and son in the car talking about the important matters of life. The radio is on, but it provides only background noise. However, at a pause in the conversation both father and son realize that the radio is tuned in to a preacher. He is speaking on the very topic they have been discussing. Both father and son grow silent, and they listen as the preacher call out to those who would listen and be directed to righteousness.
That is essentially what is happening in chapter one of Proverbs. In verses 8-19, the father was speaking to his son and at a pause in the conversation, they heard the voice of wisdom cry out. She is calling her listeners to flee foolishness and embrace her as she will lead them to righteousness. The father and son stop their conversation to listen.
Why the Disparity?
But have you ever wondered why Proverbs 1:20-33 is so negative? Lady Wisdom seems less than happy, even angry, as she cries out to the simple ones. There is a sense of exasperation in her voice, “How long” will the simple love being simple while the scoffers delight in their scoffing?
What is more, she lacks sympathy for those who do not heed her call. She will laugh at the calamity of the simple and mock when terror strikes. When she is finally called upon, she will turn a deaf ear, she will remain silent. What is happening? What is Solomon describing?
To Whom Does Wisdom Cry?
To whom is Wisdom calling? That is a crucial question when thinking about this portion of the Proverbs. The text provides us with clues that will guide us. For example, in verse 23 we read, “If you turn at my reproof…” The word turn is the Hebrew (Šûb) word for repentance. Thus, when Lady Wisdom is calling to the simple or to those who do not possess wisdom we might well assume she is issuing a call of repentance. They are trapped in the foolishness of their sin. So deluded are they that they even delight in it.
But Lady Wisdom is really calling. She is really inviting the simple to hear and with her words come a promise. If the simple repent, she will pour out her spirit on them (v.23). The words pour out are a tame translation. The Hebrew communicates the idea of an uncontrolled gushing forth (ʾabbîʿâ). The spirit of wisdom will pour forth like a torrent.
Furthermore, she will make her words known to them (v. 23). The outpouring of the Spirit and the repentance will work in concert making the contrite to understand wisdom. The words of Lady Wisdom will be living words. Here in the Old Testament, we find the same Spirit enabled repentance of the New Testament.
Is it Ever too Late?
According to Solomon, a day will arrive when it will be too late for repentance. He seems to describe a day of terrible judgment. This may be the day of personal judgment (a heart attack, accident, etc.) or a great cataclysmic day when all opportunity for turning will have come to an end, which will obviously close the door to individual repentance, “Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer…” (v. 28a) The reason is “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord” (v. 29). We might say that they rejected not only wisdom but the building block of wisdom, the fear of the Lord.
This should remind us of the urgency of the gospel. Time is short. Today is the day of Salvation.
Are There Those Who Hear?
Lady Wisdom is calling to simple ones on the street and in the market, but Proverbs 31 paints a picture of another woman, a woman who embodies the wisdom that called to her at one time. Solomon writes about wisdom in Proverbs 3:13-15, saying,
Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
14 for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
In Proverbs 31:10, he uses these words to describe a godly wife, saying, “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” Here we find a Mary (Luke 10:38-42) who has heard wisdom and chosen the One needful thing and she will not let Him go. For wisdom that saves is Christ alone who opens the heart by the work of His Spirit that we might experience through repentance and faith the joy of the Lord. This begins with the fear of the Lord.
Malachi: God’s Refinery | Today in the Word
| Saturday, January 31 | Malachi 3:1–5 On the Go? Listen Now! |
| The last few days of a semester are more important than my students realize. The final weeks present an opportunity to tie up loose ends, clarify concepts, and summarize the big picture. And as we come to the end of our grand tour of the Old Testament, the Bible returns to a major theme: God intends to undo the damage done in the garden.Malachi reminds Israel that the promised Messiah will arrive on the scene (v. 1). But He will not telegraph His visit. He will appear suddenly, with surprise. His appearance will signal God’s commitment to the covenant He made with Israel. Long ago God bound Himself to His people by making a promise never to abandon them, but to redeem them. That redemption will require purifying them to make them fit to be with Him.So, the coming of this messenger will be accompanied by a great refinement (v. 2). Using the image of a furnace for refining metal or a launderer with strong soap, God declares that no one will escape the purifying process. He will start with the Levites, who facilitated Israel’s sacrificial worship system (v. 3). If the worship team is sinful, the offerings they bring will be unworthy. But thankfully, God would refine them.This refining process would involve a confrontation, a reckoning. Using judicial language, Malachi announces that evildoers would be put on trial (v. 5). It would be easy to dismiss this passage as yet another description of judgment on Israel, but there is more here. Coming as it does at the end of the Old Testament, it leaves us with the hopeful expectation that our sin problem will be finally dealt with! Even at the end, God is not done with Israel. |
| Go Deeper Do you look forward to the day when your sin will be cleansed? Christ’s sacrifice has taken care of it, and we await the day when we will be finally purified. Rejoice, it will come! Extended Reading: Malachi |
| Pray with Us As we reach the end of our journey through the Old Testament, we thank You, God, for the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Thank You for the wonderful message of Malachi about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ! |
January 31 Evening Verse of the Day
COMFORT COMES FROM TRUSTING CHRIST’S PROCLAMATION
And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (14:4–6)
Since He had already told them that He was returning to the Father (e.g., 7:33; 13:1, 3), Jesus expected the disciples to know the way where He was going. But by this time their minds were so rattled (cf. the discussion of v. 1 above) that they were not sure of anything. Thomas vocalized their perplexity when he said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” (cf. Peter’s similar question in 13:36). By now they understood that Jesus was going to die. But their knowledge stopped at death; they had no firsthand experience of what lay beyond the grave. Furthermore, Jesus Himself had told them that at this time they could not go where He was going (13:33, 36). If they did not know where the Lord was going, how could they know the way to get there?
Jesus’ reply, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” is the sixth “I AM” statement in John’s gospel (cf. 6:35; 8:12; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; the seventh comes in 15:1, 5). Jesus alone is the way to God (10:7–9; Acts 4:12) because He alone is the truth (John 1:14, 17; 18:37; Rev. 3:7; 19:11) about God and He alone possesses the life of God (John 1:4; 5:26; 11:25; 1 John 1:1; 5:20). The purpose of this gospel is to make those things known, so they are repeated throughout the book so as to lead people to faith and salvation (20:31).
The Bible teaches that God may be approached exclusively through His only-begotten Son. Jesus alone is the “door of the sheep” (10:7); all others are “thieves and robbers” (v. 8), and it is only the one who “enters through [Him who] will be saved” (v. 9). The way of salvation is a narrow path entered through a small, narrow gate, and few find it (Matt. 7:13–14; cf. Luke 13:24). “There is salvation in no one else,” Peter boldly affirmed, “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Thus, it is “he who believes in the Son [who] has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36), and “no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11), because “there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
The postmodern belief that there are many paths to religious truth is a satanic lie. F. F. Bruce writes,
He [Jesus] is, in fact, the only way by which men and women may come to the Father; there is no other way. If this seems offensively exclusive, let it be borne in mind that the one who makes this claim is the incarnate Word, the revealer of the Father. If God has no avenue of communication with mankind apart from his Word … mankind has no avenue of approach to God apart from that same Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us in order to supply such an avenue of approach. (The Gospel of John [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983], 298)
Jesus alone reveals God (John 1:18; cf. 3:13; 10:30–38; 12:45; 14:9; Col. 1:15, 19; 2:9; Heb. 1:3), and no one who rejects His proclamation of the truth can legitimately claim to know God (John 5:23; 8:42–45; 15:23; Matt. 11:27; 1 John 2:23; 2 John 9). It was because the early Christians taught that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation that Christianity became known as “The Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2008). John 12–21 (pp. 102–103). Moody Publishers.
The Only Way Home
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The exclusive claim of the Lord Jesus Christ to be “the way and the truth and the life” is wrapped up in three phrases. He claims to be the way to God, indeed, the only way; he claims to be the truth about God, himself the truth; and he claims to be spiritual life, not merely the way to life. We would think, as we read that phrase, that it has said all that needs to be said. Yet, as we read the Lord’s own words, we find that immediately after saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” he says the whole thing over again in different words, lest we misunderstand it. He says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” If the Lord stated this a second time, lest we misunderstand it, then we should look at it a second time also.
Only through Jesus
Taken together, these phrases mean that Christianity makes an exclusive claim. People sometimes suggest that we are narrow-minded as Christians when we say that Christ is the only way to God, and we have to confess that this is precisely what we are at this point. We are as narrow as the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said—this is the emphasis of the verse—that he is the only way to God. There is no other way. So while it would be nice for us to equivocate on this point and say, in order to win friends and influence people, that other ways have some value—though we would like to say this, we are nevertheless unable to do so. Rather, we find ourselves affirming with the Lord Jesus Christ and with all the biblical writers that there is no salvation apart from Jesus.
Many verses teach it: 1 Corinthians 3:11—“No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ”; Acts 4:12—“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved”; 1 Timothy 2:5—“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
If you are one who is rejecting all this, if you are one who perhaps is interested in Christianity but not exclusively, if you think that perhaps Jesus Christ is a way to God but not the way to God, I want to stress that, according to his teaching, he is the only way and that any attempt to find another way is folly, is bound to produce despair, and is perverse. The tragedy is that apart from the grace of God folly, despair, and perversity characterize each one of us. We are fools because we seek another way. We despair because there is no other way to be found. We are perverse because God has told us that there is only one way. Therefore, in turning from him to try to find another way we dishonor him.
The Fool Has Said
First, there is the folly of trying to find another way. Why is it folly? It is folly because, if a way to God has been provided, it is nonsense to look for another. Who would seek for a second cure for cancer if a perfect cure had been found?
Yet this is the folly of the human heart in spiritual things. Jesus told about it in a parable that concerned a rich man. This man thought the way to life was through material possessions, so he spent a lifetime accumulating worldly goods. He was a farmer. He had produce. His wealth was in the storage of his barn. When the barn became too small for what he was accumulating, he said, “I’ll tear down my old barn and build a bigger one that can hold my possessions.” The Lord’s comment on that man’s life was: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:20).
It is not the preacher who calls the unbeliever a fool. If that were the case, it would mean little indeed. The unbeliever could simply say to the preacher, “You are the fool for believing as you do.” No, God is the one who calls men fools, fools for refusing to come to him in the way he has provided.
If we explore a bit deeper to find out why this is so, we find that it is because we are determined to provide for ourselves. During World War II, my father served as a doctor in the air force in the southern part of the United States. When he was released from military service he and the family began to drive northward to the family home in western Pennsylvania. It was only a few days before Christmas. So it was no surprise that on the way we ran into an early blizzard in the mountains of Tennessee. The storm got worse and worse and eventually halted our progress. At one point, however, before we had stopped for the night and as we were going uphill in a little mountain area with a dangerous precipice at our right, a car up ahead stopped. My father realized that, if the car ahead stopped, he would have to stop and, if he stopped, he would immediately begin to slide over the precipice. So he grabbed a blanket, jumped out of the car, ran around to the back wheels and stuck the blanket under one of them to stop our descent. We were stopped. But there we were, stranded in the blizzard on the mountainside.
My father was an Irishman, and at this point two things characterized him: first, pride in his achievement and, second, determination to bring off another. He had saved us from going over the precipice. Now he was going to get us up the mountain. So he began to work, shoveling snow and placing boards and blankets under the tires. He worked for about an hour, but without much success. All the time my two sisters and I, my mother, and my aunt were in the car, getting colder and colder. We were very depressed. Suddenly a truck with wonderful traction came by. This truck moved ahead of us and stopped. It was obvious that the driver knew he could get going again. He got out, came back to my father and said, “I have a chain. Would you like me to hitch onto your car and take you up the mountain?”
Do you know what my father said? He said, “No, thanks. We’re doing fine.” And he did do fine! But it was about sixty cold and gloomy minutes later!
God says that we are exactly like this spiritually, except for the fact that it does not matter whether we spend an hour, two hours, a year, or a lifetime. We are never going to get ourselves going up the road to salvation. So Jesus says, “Look, I’ve come to provide the way to salvation. I am the way. Don’t be so foolish that you turn your back on me out of pride.”
No Exit
Second, you are not only foolish, you are also on a trip to despair. If Jesus is right when he says, “I am the way … no one comes to the Father except through me,” then no other way can be found. The Father is the source of all spiritual blessings. The way to the Father is through Jesus. If you are trying to find another way, you are never going to get those spiritual blessings. To go in any other way is to embark upon a road that has no exits and no destination.
Paul spells it out in the Book of Romans, pointing to the different ways men and women try to reach God. There are three categories. First, there is the way of natural theology. This is the way of the man who goes out into the field at night and says, “I am going to commune with God in nature.” It is the man who says, “I worship God on Sunday afternoon in my golf cart.” Paul says that this is a dead end, because you cannot find God in nature. No man has ever found God in nature. You can find things about God in nature, but these condemn you.
Romans says that nature reveals two things about God. It reveals the “Godhead” of God, that is, his existence, and it reveals his “power,” because obviously something or someone of considerable power stands behind what we observe. That is all that can be known of God in nature. So if you think you are going to find God in nature, you are destined to emptiness in your search. You cannot worship an eternal power; you cannot worship a supreme being; you cannot worship a law of nature. Moreover, says Paul, “You don’t even try!” Because when you say to yourself, “I’m going to worship God in nature,” what you are really doing is using nature as an excuse to avoid God. Actually you do not want to be with Christian people, nor do you wish to be under the preaching of the Word. You find it disturbing. What you are really trying to do is to escape from God into nature. If you worship anything at all, it is nature you worship; and the worship of nature is idolatry.
Some years ago, after I had given a message along these lines, a woman said, “I found that to be true in my work with the beach crowd in California.”
I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well,” she said, “we used to have meetings on the beach, and I used to witness to the surfers. When I would speak to them about God, they would reply that they worshiped God in nature. At first I didn’t know what to say, but after a while I caught on. I learned to ask, ‘And what is God?’ They would reply, ‘My surfboard is my god.’ ” At least that is honest, but it is paganism and idolatry.
Second, there are people who try to find God in the way of human morality. They say, “God certainly likes good men and women; therefore, I’ll be good, and I’ll get to him that way.” Paul says that this line will lead you to despair also. Why? We see the answer when we reason as follows. If God loves good people—and it is true that he does—how good do they have to be? The answer is that they have to be absolutely good, perfect, because God can settle for nothing less. But no one is perfect. So Paul says, “When you start like that, when you start thinking that you are going to please God by getting better and better, you fail to see that even if you could achieve the maximum goodness possible to anyone in this world, you would never get to God in that way because it would not be good enough.
We have a strange situation in the church today. The church has a message to proclaim; it begins with the total depravity of man. But this is offensive to most people. So the church gets cold feet at this point—ministers do, of course—and it backs off from preaching these things. Ministers say, “We admit that the Bible does say that all are sinners; it does say that all are dead in trespasses and sins; but it does not really mean that. It is hyperbole. What it really means is that we just need a little help. People are really pretty good underneath. So if we just appeal to their natural goodness, they’ll come and be Christians. Besides, they’ll join our churches and give us money.”
Does the world congratulate the church for congratulating the world? Not at all! The world knows that this is not true. So you have people like Jean Paul Sartre and other existentialists leaping to their feet to say, “If the church is not going to tell the truth, we are going to tell the truth! We know that when you scratch beneath the veneer of mankind, when you get rid of the social conventions, when you get rid of the desire to be acceptable with other people by matching up to certain preestablished patterns of behavior, what you find beneath the surface is garbage. You find a sewer of corruption.” The existentialist does not have the answer. The despair of the existentialist is proof of what lies at the end of his road. But at least he speaks out; he is not silent.
Then, in Romans 2:17–29, Paul says that there is a third way that people try; it is the way of religion, a sort of formalism. This person says, “If I cannot be righteous, at least I can do things that God likes. I’ll be baptized. I’ll be confirmed. I’ll go to communion.” Paul says that this leads to despair also. Why? Because it is based on a false conception of God. It suggests that God will settle for externals. Does he? No! People may settle for externals, but not God; he looks on the heart. God sees that although you can go through the rite of baptism, it does not mean a thing if your heart is not cleansed. He sees that although you may come to communion, it does not mean a thing unless you have first fed on Jesus Christ by faith and have drunk at that stream that he provides.
An Insult to God
To say that one is a fool for looking in another direction than Christ sounds insulting. To say that it leads to despair sounds grim. But there is worse to come. For seeking a way other than Jesus is not only foolish and leads to despair, it is perverse. It is insulting to God. How is it insulting? It is insulting because Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” So if you go another way, it is not merely that you are doing something for yourself, and it is certainly not the case that you are doing something praiseworthy. What you are really doing is saying to the Lord Jesus Christ, “Lord Jesus Christ, you are a liar!”
Do you think that God is going to be proud of you for trying to find your own way? Do you think that God is going to admire you for that, love you for that, praise you for that? God is going to regard this for what it is, an insult to the Lord Jesus Christ his Son, because that is the equivalent of saying, “You, Lord Jesus Christ, you in whom the Father is well pleased, cannot be trusted.”
Furthermore, to seek another way is not only an insult to Christ, it is an insult to the love of God who planned the way of salvation out of his great love for the sinner. What the Lord Jesus Christ did was in fulfillment of the desires of his Father. He said, “I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God” (Heb. 10:7). It was God’s will that Jesus Christ, his Son, should die in your place. So it is an insult to God to ignore it. Do you think that it was easy for God to send Jesus Christ to die for you? I am asking you fathers: Would it be easy for you to give up your son or your daughter, to see that son or daughter killed, in order that someone else might be saved? I ask you mothers: Would it be easy for you to have a son or daughter killed in your sight, to turn your back when you could save that son or daughter, in order to have someone else saved? Of course not! You who are brothers: Would you give up a sister? You who are sisters: Would you give up a brother? If it is not easy for you, why should you think that it would be easy for God? Yet that is what God did for you.
Do you think it was easy for the Lord Jesus Christ to stand with his disciples on the verge of his crucifixion and say, “I am the way”? He knew what it meant to be the way. It meant that he had to go to the cross; he had to die; he had to suffer; he had to have the Father turn his back on him while he was made sin for us; he had to have the wrath of God poured out upon him. That is what it meant when the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the way … no one comes to the Father except through me.” Yet he said it.
Come … Come
So I ask: Is it anything but sinful, obstinate perversity for someone to say, “That is all very nice, but I am going to go another way”? To go another way is to condemn yourself to hell! For there is no other way. “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
How foolish it would be, how much despair is involved, how perverse on your part to go away, saying, “Well, that is all very interesting, of course; but I’m going to look a bit farther.” Today is the day of salvation! This may be the last opportunity you will ever have! I cannot promise that you will ever hear the gospel again. I cannot promise that the Holy Spirit will ever speak to your heart again, if he is speaking at this moment. Heed the invitation and come! The Bible says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev. 22:17).
Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 1081–1086). Baker Books.
- Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
This is another of the seven great I AM’s of John’s Gospel (for the others see on 6:48; 8:12; 10:9; 10:11; 11:25; and 15:1). In the predicate each of the words way, truth, and life is preceded by the definite article.
“I am the way.” Jesus does not merely show the way; he is himself the way. It is true that he teaches the way (Mark 12:14; Luke 20:21), guides us in the way (Luke 1:79), and has dedicated for us a new and living way (Heb. 10:20); but all this is possible only because he is himself the way.
Christ is God. Now God is equal to each of his attributes, whereas he “possesses” each attribute in an infinite degree. Hence, not only does God have love (or exercise love), but he is love, nothing but love; he is righteousness, nothing but righteousness, etc. So also Christ is the way: in every act, word, and attitude he is the Mediator between God and his elect.
Notice also the pronoun I. In the last analysis we are not saved by a principle or by a force but by a person. In the school the pupil is educated not primarily by blackboards, books, and maps, but by the teacher who makes use of all these means. In the home he is brought up by father and mother. So also the means of access to the Father is Christ himself. We are persons. The God from whom we have been estranged is a personal God. Hence, it is not strange that apart from living fellowship with the person, Jesus Christ, who exists in indissoluble union with the Father, there is no salvation for us (cf. Rom. 5:1, 2).
Now Jesus is the way in a twofold sense (cf. also on 10:1, 7, 9). He is the way from God to man—all divine blessings come down from the Father through the Son (Matt. 11:27, 28); he is also the way from man to God. As already indicated, in the present context the emphasis falls on the latter idea.
“I am … the truth.”
Much of what has been said in connection with “I am the way” applies here also. Jesus is the very embodiment of the truth. He is the truth in person. As such he is the final reality in contrast with the shadows which preceded him (see on 1:14, 17). But in the present context the term the truth seems to have a different shade of meaning. It is that which stands over against the lie. Jesus is the truth because he is the dependable source of redemptive revelation. That this is the sense in which the word is used is clear from verse 7 which teaches that Christ reveals the Father. Cf. Matt. 11:27.
But just as the way is a living way, so also the truth is living truth. It is active. It takes hold of us and influences us powerfully. It sanctifies us, guides us, and sets us free (8:32; cf. 17:17). Basically, not it but he is the truth, he himself in person. Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (18:38). Jesus here in 14:6 answers, “I am the truth.”
“I am … the life.”
Jesus is not referring here to the breath or spirit (πνεῦμα) which animates our body. He is not thinking of the soul (ψυχή) nor of life as outwardly manifested (βίος), but of life as opposed to death (ζωή). All God’s glorious attributes dwell in the Son of God (see on 1:4). And because he has the life within himself (see on 5:26), he is the source and giver of life for his own (see on 3:16; 6:33; 10:28; 11:25). He has the light of life (8:12), the words of life (6:68), and he came that we might have life and abundance (10:10). Just as death spells separation from God, so life implies communion with him (17:3).
All three concepts are active and dynamic. The way brings to God; the truth makes men free; the life produces fellowship.
How are these three related? As more or less separate, wholly coordinate entities? Or, as forming a single concept: “the true and living way”? It is not necessary to choose either of these alternatives. Truth and life are nouns, not adjectives. Christ is the truth and the life, just as well as he is the way. Nevertheless, the context indicates that the idea of the way predominates. The meaning appears to be: “I am the way because I am the truth and the life.” When Jesus reveals God’s redemptive truth which sets men free from the enslaving power of sin, and when he imparts the seed of life, which produces fellowship with the Father, then and thereby he, as the way (which they themselves, by sovereign grace, have chosen), has brought them to the Father. Hence, Jesus continues: No one comes to the Father but by me.
Since men are absolutely dependent upon Christ for their knowledge of redemptive truth and also for the spark that causes that truth to live in their souls (and their souls to become alive to that truth), it follows that no one comes to the Father but through him. With Christ removed there can be no redemptive truth, no everlasting life; hence, no way to the Father. Cf. Acts 4:12. Both the absoluteness of the Christian religion and the urgent necessity of Christian Missions is clearly indicated.
Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to John (Vol. 2, pp. 267–269). Baker Book House.
The Lord Our Companion | VCY
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
Sweet are these words in describing a deathbed assurance. How many have repeated them in their last hours with intense delight!
But the verse is equally applicable to agonies of spirit in the midst of life. Some of us, like Paul, die daily through a tendency to gloom of soul. Bunyan puts the Valley of the Shadow of Death far earlier in the pilgrimage than the river which rolls at the foot of the celestial hills. We have some of us traversed the dark and dreadful defile of “the shadow of death” several times, and we can bear witness that the Lord alone enabled us to bear up amid its wild thought, its mysterious horrors, its terrible depressions. The Lord has sustained us and kept us above all real fear of evil, even when our spirit has been overwhelmed. We have been pressed and oppressed, but yet we have lived, for we have felt the presence of the Great Shepherd and have been confident that His crook would prevent the foe from giving us any deadly wound.
Should the present time be one darkened by the raven wings of a great sorrow, let us glorify God by a peaceful trust in Him.
https://www.vcy.org/charles-spurgeon/2026/01/31/the-lord-our-companion/
C.H. Spurgeon: ‘God Always Hears’ | Morning Studies
“My God will hear me”
– Micah 7:7
Friends may be unfaithful, but the LORD will not turn away from the gracious soul; on the contrary, He will hear all its desires. The prophet says, “Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. A man’s enemies are the men of his own house.” This is a wretched state of affairs; but even in such a case the Best Friend remains true, and we may tell Him all our grief. Our wisdom is to look unto the LORD and not to quarrel with men or women. If our loving appeals are disregarded by our relatives, let us wait upon the God of our salvation, for He will hear us- He will hear us all the more because of the unkindness and oppression of others, and we shall soon have reason to cry, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy!” Because God is the living God, He can hear; because He is a loving God, He will hear; because He is our covenant God, He has bound Himself to hear us. If we can each one speak of Him as “My God,” we may with absolute certainty say, “My God will hear me.” Come, then, O bleeding heart, and let thy sorrows tell themselves out to the LORD thy God! I will bow the knee in secret and inwardly whisper, “My God will hear me.”
Source: Daily Devotional | SermonAudio
https://rchstudies.christian-heritage-news.com/2026/01/ch-spurgeon-god-always-hears.html
You’re Not Who You Think You Are: Exposing the Lies That Steal Your True Identity (Podcast) | Cold-Case Christianity
You’re not who you think you are—and that’s incredibly good news if you’re in Christ.
In this episode, J. Warner Wallace walks through the most popular topic he’s asked to address today: identity. Drawing from Scripture, real-life cases, and material from his book “The Truth in True Crime,” Jim exposes the cultural lies that shape how we see ourselves and contrasts them with the far better, more secure identity we have in Jesus. Whether you’ve grounded your sense of self in achievements, relationships, politics, sexuality, performance, or even ministry, this episode will challenge where you’ve been looking for meaning and invite you to find your true identity in Christ alone.
You’ll hear about:
• Why every worldview offers an “identity story” and why the Christian view uniquely fits the way the world really is.
• How Scripture describes believers as a new creation, hidden with Christ in God, and no longer defined by their past.
• Biblical examples (like Solomon) of people who misplaced their identity—and the consequences that followed.
• Practical ways to recognize the “identity thieves” of money, sex, power, success, and approval in your own life.
If this conversation helps you think more clearly and live more confidently as a follower of Jesus, please take a moment to like this video, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and share it with a friend who is struggling with questions of identity. Your engagement helps us reach more people with the truth of the Christian worldview.
You can find the show notes, related articles, and more resources on this episode here:
Be sure also to subscribe and leave a rating/review for the Cold-Case Christianity podcast on your favorite podcast app. Your reviews encourage us and help others discover this content as they investigate Christianity and learn what it means to ground their identity in Christ.
To learn more, read The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life: https://amzn.to/3YWUbHK
Source: You’re Not Who You Think You Are: Exposing the Lies That Steal Your True Identity (Podcast)
The Teaching of Jesus – Parables: Dust to Glory with R.C. Sproul
Why did Jesus speak in parables? In this message, R.C. Sproul explains how Christ used parables in His teaching to reveal the truth of God’s kingdom to some while concealing it from others.
Study Reformed theology with a free resource bundle from Ligonier Ministries: https://grow.ligonier.org/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=get-started
This message is from Dr. Sproul’s 57-part teaching series overview of the Bible: Dust to Glory. Learn more: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/dust-to-glory/
Source: The Teaching of Jesus – Parables: Dust to Glory with R.C. Sproul
Angry at God When We Suffer…? (Powlison) | The Reformed Reader Blog
It’s not a good thing, but sometimes people get angry at God. Things don’t go their way, suffering comes, and they blame God. Again, it’s not good, but it happens. If you’ve struggled with this, I recommend David Powlison’s book, Good and Angry, especially chapter 17 (“Anger at God”). Powlison approaches this topic with sensitivity from a solid biblical and Christ-centered perspective. Here’s one part that I found helpful:
When the Bible portrays and discusses suffering, God always embeds the hardships we experience as a subset of his larger purposes. These may not be at all obvious in the moment. But in the long run, all tears will be wiped away and we will live in a world with only love, joy, and peace. Meanwhile, people may seriously let us down. Abusers heinously betray trust, and if hell has gradations, the atrocities they commit merit the deepest pit. That’s to cite the worst-case scenarios. Many people who are angry at God have suffered more routine hardships: disappointment in love, financial disaster, a life-threatening illness, death of a loved one.
Afflictions are hard. Sufferings hurt. People who are angry at God typically suffer the exact same kinds of pain (and enjoy many of the same blessings) as people who love God! Groaning about our sufferings (to God, in faith and hope is heartily warranted. But God has never promised freedom from tears, mourning, crying, and pain—or from the evils that cause them—until the great day when life and joy triumph forever over death and misery.
It is curious how people who don’t believe that God sovereignly rules all things become embittered hyper-calvinists when they face sufferings and say, God could have changed things for me and he didn’t. He had the power, and he didn’t use it. It’s his fault. To actually believe that God rules for his glory and our welfare is to gain an unshakable foundation for trust and hope, in the midst of hellish torments, as well as amid the milder pains and disappointments.
David Powlison, Good & Angry pp. 228-229.
Shane Lems Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) Hammond, WI, 54015
January 31 Afternoon Verse of the Day
Principles for Powerful Living (16:13–14)
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. (16:13–14)
The greater part of 1 Corinthians is in the form of rebuke and correction. The first fourteen chapters deal primarily with errant behavior, and chapter 15 deals with errant theology. Even chapter 13, the beautiful treatise on love, was given to correct the lovelessness that so characterized the Corinthian church. But the rebuke and correction were themselves given out of deep love. Paul was steeped in the love of God, and his rebuke, like the Lord’s own rebuke of His children, was always given in love. “Those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6).
In 1 Corinthians 16:13–14 Paul gives five final imperatives, five last commands, to the Corinthians. They are to be alert, firm, mature, strong, and loving. These commands are, in many ways, the positive side of what in earlier chapters the apostle had told the Corinthians not to be. Each command can serve as a point of departure for reviewing the epistle.
BE ALERT
Paul’s first command to the Corinthians was be on the alert, which comes from one word, grēgoreō, which can mean “to watch,” “be awake,” “be vigilant,” and, figuratively, “be alive” (as in 1 Thess. 5:10, where “awake or asleep” refers to being alive or dead). The term is used some 22 times in the New Testament, often in reference to Christians’ being spiritually awake and alert, as opposed to being spiritually indifferent and listless.
The Corinthians seemed normally to be in a spiritual and moral stupor, and sometimes even were in a physical stupor—as when they became drunk at the Lord’s Table (1 Cor. 11:21). They were not alert in any worthwhile way. They allowed their previous pagan ideas and habits to come back into their lives and destroy their faithfulness to the Lord and their fellowship with each other. They substituted human wisdom for God’s Word (1:18–2:16); they were factious (1:10–17; 3:9; etc.), immoral (5:1–13), litigious (6:1–8); they had confused and perverted ideas about marriage, divorce, and celibacy (7:1–40); they were self-indulgent (10:1–13) and indifferent to the welfare of others (10:23–33); they misunderstood and misused their spiritual gifts (12–14); and, above all, they were unloving, exemplifying all the things that love is not (13:1–6).
In the New Testament we are told of at least six important things we are to watch out for, to be on the alert for. First, we are to be on the alert against Satan. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Pet. 5:8–9). We should learn Satan’s strategies, which though subtle are basically identifiable in three areas: “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
Second, we must be on the alert for temptation. “Keep watching and praying,” Jesus said, “that you may not come into temptation” (Mark 14:38). If we are not watching and seeking the Lord’s help in prayer, we often will not even notice temptation when it comes. When our spiritual eyes are shut or sleepy, we can fall more easily into sin.
Third, we must watch for apathy and indifference. The very nature of those sins makes them hard to notice. By definition, a person who is apathetic and indifferent is insensitive and therefore cannot be alert. The church at Sardis assumed that it had spiritual life because it had “a name that [it was] alive,” but it was so indifferent to the Lord’s will that it did not realize it was “dead.” “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die,” the Lord told them, “for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you” (Rev. 3:1–3).
Christians cannot disregard the Lord’s Word with impunity. To neglect Scripture is to disregard it and treat it as if it means nothing. Before long we cannot remember what we have received and heard, and the Lord’s way becomes more and more vague and indefinite. When His Word is indefinite to us we become indifferent to it, and we need to begin to “keep it, and repent.” If we do not, God will chasten us in love—at a time, and perhaps in a way, that we do not expect.
Fourth, Christians should be alert for false teachers, about whom the New Testament gives many warnings. “There will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (2 Pet. 2:1). Many people, even in the church, actually will invite false teachers into their midst. “They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,” because they become dissatisfied with “the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” We are therefore to “be sober in all things,” Paul warns, being on the alert for any teaching that does not square with Scripture (2 Tim. 4:3–5).
The first four alerts are negative, indicating things we are continually to watch for in order to avoid, because they will harm us. But the New Testament also gives us some positive things to watch for, some things that will strengthen and help us. As already mentioned above, Jesus tells us to watch and pray in order to escape temptation (Mark 14:38). Prayer strengthens us in God’s way just as it protects us against Satan’s way. Prayer is not simply a random ritual in which faithful Christians are to participate dutifully. It is the heartbeat of spiritual life. “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance” (Eph. 6:18).
Christians should also be watching for the Lord’s return. The two great motives we have for living faithfully for Christ are remembering what He did for us on the cross and looking forward to His coming again. “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42; cf. 25:13). “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,” Peter says; therefore “what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 3:10–12).
BE FIRM
Another principle for powerful living is standing firm in the faith. As the great theologian Charles Hodge reminded us, we should not consider every point of doctrine an open question. The Corinthians, like many of the Ephesians, were being “carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). They would not take a firm stand on many things. Little was certain and absolute; much was relative and tentative.
The faith of which Paul speaks here is not the faith of trusting but the faith of truth, the content of the gospel. It is “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), “the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand” (1 Cor. 15:1). It is the faith in which we are to “fight the good fight” (1 Tim. 6:12). Paul told the Philippians that he expected to hear that they were “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27). Doctrine is in view here.
Satan cannot take saving faith away from us, but he can, and often does, obscure the content of our faith, the sound doctrines of God’s Word. If we do not hold fast to right interpretations of Scripture, we are certain to slip into wrong thinking, wrong belief, and wrong behavior. Many of the Corinthians apparently had come to look on the truth of God itself as foolishness, being corrupted by the influence of their unbelieving friends and neighbors (1 Cor. 1:18–21). Human philosophy and wisdom had all but obliterated their view of God’s Word. By trying to combine human wisdom and God’s wisdom they had undermined the uniqueness and the authority of God’s revealed truth. Paul warned them, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God” (1 Cor. 3:18–19). Like many professed Christians today, they considered Scripture to be but a human commentary on views of God that existed at the time of writing. If God’s truth can be known at all, they believed, it is only through the filter of man’s knowledge and wisdom.
The Corinthians not only were not standing firm in their view of Scripture but also had slipped terribly in their view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paganism had so strongly reentered their thinking that some of them, claiming to speak “by the Spirit of God,” were calling Jesus “accursed” (12:3). Because they had not stood firm in God’s Word, they were corrupted and perverted to the extent of attacking the gospel at its heart, by renouncing Christ and calling Him accursed. They were “denying the Master who bought them” (2 Pet. 2:1).
The apostle therefore commands that they must stand firm in the faith. They must, as he commanded the Thessalonians, “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught” (2 Thess. 2:15). If we are to be firm in the faith, we must be well taught in the Word, looking at everything and judging everything by God’s truth and standards. We should pray for ourselves and for the church today as Epaphras prayed for the Colossians, that we “may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12).
BE MATURE
A third principle for powerful Christian living is being mature, which Paul expresses here as act like men. The basic idea is that of mature courage. The mature person has a sense of control, confidence, and courage that the immature or childish person does not have. Again we see that Paul’s command is for the Corinthians to be the opposite of what they normally were. They were characterized by anything but maturity.
Paul already had pleaded with them, “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature” (14:20). The Corinthians needed to grow up. Even when he pastored among them the apostle was not able to talk to them “as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it.” Since he had left Corinth they still had not matured. “Indeed, even now,” he continues, “you are not yet able” (1 Cor. 3:1–2). He has to threaten them with discipline, just as a parent must do with a stubborn child. “What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod …?” (4:21).
Maturity is one of the marks of love (1 Cor. 13:11), a virtue in which the Corinthians were especially deficient. Love strives for maturity in all good things—in doctrine, in spiritual insight, in emotional stability and control, in personal relationships, in moral purity, and in all the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). Above all we should “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18), “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.… But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:13, 15).
How does a believer grow and mature? By longing “for the pure milk of the word, that by it [we] grow in respect to salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2). The Bible provides spiritual and moral nourishment. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17).
BE STRONG
Be strong is Paul’s fourth imperative for Christian living. As here, the Greek term (krataioō) is frequently used in the New Testament to denote inner, spiritual growth. The verb is in the passive voice, and literally means “be strengthened.” We cannot strengthen ourselves; that is the Lord’s work. Our part is to submit ourselves to Him in order that He can strengthen us. We can only “be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10), and “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).
Only a strong spirit can successfully battle and overcome the flesh. Again, that is where the Corinthians were weak. “For you are still fleshly,” Paul told them. “For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:3). Yet they had deceived themselves into thinking they were wise and strong. “If any man among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise” (3:18). The apostle says of them sarcastically, “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong” (4:10). Because of their spiritual weakness they even despised and profaned the most sacred of things, including the Lord’s Supper—for which desecration many of them became “weak and sick, and a number sleep,” that is, had died (11:30).
The person who thinks he is strong in himself is in the greatest danger of falling (10:12). At one time in his ministry Paul faced that very danger. He had been “caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.… And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself!” The lesson the apostle learned directly from the Lord was, “ ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor. 12:4, 7, 9).
We can no more be spiritually strong than we can be physically strong without self-discipline. “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Cor. 9:25). Spiritual strength comes from self-sacrifice, self-denial, and self-discipline.
We grow in strength as we use our strength. As we “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,” we thereby become “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might” (Col. 1:10–11).
The supreme source of all spiritual strength, of course, is Christ Himself. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me,” Paul declared (Phil. 4:13). “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service” (1 Tim. 1:12). I can imagine that Paul often remembered Psalm 27:14—“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”
As we wait for the Lord, yielding our spirits to His Spirit, we become “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16).
BE LOVING
The fifth principle for powerful living is the most comprehensive, and without it the others could make us crusty, militant, and hard. So Paul says, Let all that you do be done in love. Love complements and balances everything else. It is the beautiful, softening principle. It keeps our firmness from becoming hardness and our strength from becoming domineering. It keeps our maturity gentle and considerate. It keeps our right doctrine from becoming obstinate dogmatism and our right living from becoming smug self-righteousness.
Love is what the Corinthians needed most, and is what believers of all ages have needed most. “Above all,” Peter says, “keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). Love, like spiritual strength, comes from the Lord. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). We are able to love one another “because He first loved us” (v. 19).
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (pp. 471–476). Moody Press.
Ver. 14. Let all your things be done with charity.—
Love more effective than logic:—As means towards the attainment of the best ends there is no comparison between these. The latter may convince the understanding and leave the heart unchanged, but the former will win the heart, and with that gained, the understanding will usually soon succumb. The difference between them is similar to that between a mallet and the sun in reducing ice to water. The mallet may break the ice into small particles, but each particle will remain ice still, while the sun’s heat falling upon the ice will melt it into a fluid, and so impregnate the fluid with its warmth that while that warmth is continued the water cannot assume again its icy condition. So in changing opinions and reforming habits. Arguments will be of little avail without a loving disposition behind them. The opinions, after all cold pure arguments, will remain generally unchanged, or probably assume another false complexion, and the habits, if broken up for a little, will soon resume their wonted round. But if love prevails, the eyes looking it, the face beaming it, the words expressing it, the whole demeanour demonstrating it, the citadel of opinion will melt before the loving assault, and the heart will become ablaze with the sacred glow. Love and logic should at least go hand in hand in seeking the regeneration of the world.
Love as a motive:—Ask yourselves what is the leading motive which actuates you while you are at work. I do not ask what your leading motive is for working, that is a different thing; you may have families to support, parents to help, brides to win; you may have all these, or other such sacred and pre-eminent motives to press the morning’s labour and prompt the twilight thought. But when you are fairly at the work, what is the motive which tells upon every touch of it? If it is the love of that which your work represents—if, being a landscape painter, it is love of hills and trees that move you—if, being a figure painter, it is love of human beauty and human soul that moves you—if, being a flower or an animal painter, it is love, and wonder, and delight in petal and in limb that move you, then the spirit is upon you, and the earth is yours, and the fulness thereof. But if, on the other hand, it is petty self-complacency in your own skill, trust in precepts and laws, hope for academical or popular approbation, or avarice of wealth, it is quite possible that by sturdy industry, or even by fortunate chance, you may win the applause, the position, the fortune that you desire, but one touch of true art you will never lay on canvas or on stone as long as you live. (J. Ruskin.)
A universal rule:—
I. THE SPIRIT OF IT is love.
II. THE APPLICATIONS OF IT is universal.
III. THE MOTIVE OF IT. 1. To promote peace and love. 2. Prevent strife and contention. 3. Subdue enmity and opposition. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The universal rule:—
I. TO WHAT APPLIED. To all our—1. Thoughts. 2. Feelings. 3. Actions. 4. Devotions. 5. Church activities.
II. FOR WHOM CONTEMPLATED. All our—1. Family. 2. Relations. 3. Friends. 4. Neighbours. 5. Countrymen. 6. Race.
III. WITH WHAT RESULT. The promotion of all. 1. Righteousness. 2. Culture. 3. Holiness. 4. Happiness. (J. W. Burn.)
The key which sets the world to music:—Man’s life consists of many “things done.” Activity is at once the law and the necessity of his nature. He only really lives as he acts, inactivity is death. But whilst the acts of men are numerous and varied, the animating and controlling spirit should be one, viz., love. It is thus in heaven, through all hierarchies. It should be thus on earth, and must be if earth is to have a millennium. This one spirit will—
I. MAKE US HAPPY in all our activities. The labour of love is the music of life. All labour, however menial, if wrought under the inspiration of love, must yield happiness.
II. MAKE US USEFUL in all our activities. Every work performed by love is beneficent, it has a brightness in it to enlighten, a balm in it to soothe, a music in it to charm, an aroma in it to please.
III. GIVE UNITY to all our activities. As the circulating sap binds the root, the trunk, and the branches, the leafage, blossoms, and fruit, into one organic unity, so love will give a harmony and completeness to all the numerous and varied acts of life. Why are men everywhere so unhappy in their labours, and their labours so socially pernicious, so disharmonious and divided? Because they are not animated and governed by this one spirit—love. The human labours of the world that spring from greed, ambition, vanity, blind impulse, envy, and resentment, keep individuals, communities, and nations in constant conflict and confusion. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: I. Corinthians (Vol. 2, pp. 583–584). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
The Great Exchange | Pastor Jack Hibbs
January 30, 2026
It’s been said, “Jesus came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.” Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, we can exchange our sin for the holiness of God. That’s a trade unlike any other!
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31 Jan 2026 News Briefing
Democrats Have Become The “Useful Idiots” Of Globalist/Marxist Forces Bent On Destroying Western Civ
It has come into focus now and you no longer need to be perplexed, mystified, bewildered, or bamboozled by events unspooling in Minneapolis and other hotspots of Woke-Marxist-Jacobin delirium. You are seeing the infernal machine of a sponsored revolution. Its parts are visible. They can be named and clearly understood. I will tell you how this works. You realize, of course, that there has been an ongoing effort by players outside the USA to destroy Western Civ. Who is not in the Destroy Western Civ mix? Another surprise: Russia. They’re in Ukraine because of “Joe Biden.”
Supreme Court Poised to Strike Down Backdoor Ban on Concealed Carry utm_objective=website_traffic&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=amac&utm_medium=daily_news_am&utm_content=scp013026&dderh=e6a5796e9782b40567a7b458db6fd6f2
In what would be a major victory for Second Amendment advocates, the Supreme Court appears likely to strike down a Hawaii law that functions as a de facto blanket ban on concealed carry rights. The decision could also effectively nullify similar laws in other liberal cities and states.
Don Lemon Arrested By Federal Authorities Over Minnesota Church Protest
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal authorities late Thursday night on charges that he violated federal law when he entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota and shoved a microphone in people’s faces to livestream reactions after activists stormed the church on Jan. 18.
The sun’s poles are about to flip. It’s awesome — and slightly terrifying.
Every 11 or so years, the sun undergoes an epic transformation: its magnetic poles reverse. Like on Earth, the sun has a magnetic North and a magnetic South. the sun’s shuffle is a regular occurrence. The sun’s poles last reversed in 2013. So we’re just about due — likely starting some time this year.
Of particular concern are coronal mass ejections. These are explosions that hurl charged matter like shotgun shot across the solar system If these storms reach our planet, …they even take parts of our energy grid on the ground offline.
Putin receives Iran’s top security official Larijani at Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday received Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, at the Kremlin, the presidential spokesman said, Anadolu reports. Dmitry Peskov said the meeting took place during Larijani’s visit to Russia, without providing further details.
Gold, Silver Crash Sparks Mining Meltdown: 10 Stocks Crater On Fed Warsh Shock
The historic collapse in gold and silver prices on Friday sparked a brutal selloff across mining stocks, as markets aggressively unwound one of January’s most crowded trades. As of 2:00 p.m. in New York, silver was down 27% to $84 an ounce, while gold slid 9.5% to $4,861. According to Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Warsh is “a good pick” for the Fed and is “known as a hawk.”
Commando raids or bombing campaign? Trump continues to weigh Iran strike options that could topple regime
The Middle East continues to wait with bated breath as U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly still weighing potential strike options in Iran amid an ongoing military buildup around the country, while also calling on the regime to return to the negotiating table. Israel is on high alert awaiting Trump’s decision. Israeli security officials are reportedly skeptical that U.S. strikes can topple the regime outright, and instead, are advocating for the destruction of the ballistic missile program – its main military tool to threaten neighboring states.
‘Europe is fanning the flames, made a major strategic mistake,’ Iran threatens after EU sanctions against IRGC
European Union ministers agreed on Thursday to add Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the bloc’s list of terrorist organizations, two diplomatic sources told Reuters. The decisive measure follows the widespread killing of civilians during a wave of protests in Iran. Iran’s Guard Corps blames EU’s ‘irrational, irresponsible and hateful action’ on ‘unquestioning obedience’ to US and Israel
Minnesota Is Not An Outlier; It Is A Case Study Of What Happens When Institutions Abondon Moral Restraints
As cities descend into repeated cycles of chaos and lives are lost in Minnesota, Americans are asking a simple question: how did we get here? Minnesota is not an outlier; it is a case study of what happens when institutions that once fostered moral restraint abandon that role.
Trump says Iran wants a deal with US to avoid armed conflict
Iran is willing to make a deal with the US to avoid an armed conflict. This is what U.S. President Donald Trump claimed at a White House press conference, where he also said there was a deadline for an Iranian response, without saying when it would expire. Earlier on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the country is “ready for dialogue” but that there are no concrete plans for talks with the United States.
House Republicans To Introduce Voting Reform Bill With Voter ID, Proof Of Citizenship Rules
House Administration Committee Chair Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act aims to prevent election fraud and will be introduced during the House’s pro-forma session on Jan. 30.
Gov. Walz And AG Ellison To Testify At March 4 Hearing On Fraud In Minnesota
Tim Walz may no longer be seeking reelection as governor, but the questions surrounding the fraud that unfolded on his watch are not going away. Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are now headed to Capitol Hill to face a congressional investigation into welfare fraud in Minnesota. Both men are scheduled to testify on March 4 before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “We look forward to questioning Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison under oath about this scandal to ensure transparency and accountability for the American people, and to advance solutions to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and impose stronger penalties on those who defraud taxpayers.” In addition to their testimony, Comer has also demanded documents, communications, and internal records tied to the fraud scheme, and has made it clear that stonewalling will not be tolerated.
Ilhan Omar Brutally Mocked For Response When Asked About ‘Staged’ Skirmish
Extremist Somali Democrat Ilhan Omar faced relentless mockery Thursday after being asked why she reacted so oddly when she was sprayed with an unknown substance by a weirdo at a town hall event earlier this week. The entire world immediately declared the incident a badly staged hoax designed to illicit sympathy for Omar and distract from investigations into her sudden vast wealth that seems to have come from nowhere.
“Justice Is Coming”: Border Czar Homan Vows Reckoning For Anti-ICE Groups
“About the organization and the funding of the attacks on ICE, I’m not going to answer a lot about that because I’m not going to show our hand, but they’ll be held accountable. Justice is coming,” Homan said at a Minneapolis press conference.
Trump Targets Canadian Aircraft With Decertification Threat, 50% Tariff Warning
President Trump on Thursday threatened to “decertify” Canadian-made aircraft and slap a 50% tariff on planes sold into the United States, in a potential move that would mark an unprecedented intervention in aviation regulation, given this function is traditionally handled by the Federal Aviation Administration (however, the FAA has yet to issue comment).
Moscow records heaviest snowfall in more than 200 years, meteorologists say
Earlier this month, Russia’s far east Kamchatka region declared an emergency situation due to a massive snowstorm that left its major city partially paralyzed. Russia’s capital Moscow has seen the largest snowfall in more than 200 years this month. Images from the city of around 13 million people showed residents struggling to make their way through heavy piles of snow on the streets in its central district.
HHS Ends Biden Rule Mandating Pharmacies Dispense Abortion Drugs
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) scrapped a Biden-administration rule on Tuesday that required pharmacies to dispense abortion pills. During the rabidly pro-abortion Biden presidency, the agency sent a notice to approximately 60,000 retail pharmacies telling them to provide abortion pills as a condition of serving patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally funded coverage.
Abortion and Gender Pushed on Little Minds
Parents beware! Your children are being targeted, and it’s far worse than you think. Abortion advocacy group Shout Your Abortion (SYA) is releasing a children’s book titled Abortion Is Everything. Shockingly, it’s aimed at kids ages five to eight. The book describes abortion as a tool that empowers children and adults alike to “shape our destinies.” It even encourages kids to see the ending of unborn lives as something positive.
Chinese ZQ-3 R/B rocket stage expected to re-enter atmosphere over Europe today
An uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry of the Chinese ZQ-3 R/B second stage, weighing about 11 tonnes, is expected over Europe on January 30. EU Space Surveillance and Tracking reports a predicted re-entry centered near 11:20 UTC ± 48 minutes. National sensors coordinated through the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and EU SST Operations Centres are tracking the object and assessing potential airspace impacts south of Denmark and in the Baltic region.
Iranian IRGC poses a growing threat in the UK
An April 2025 paper describes how the Iranian IRGC poses a growing threat to UK national security, with links to at least 20 foiled terror plots in the UK since 2022. The IRGC’s methods mirror those of proscribed terrorist organizations, and its activities include spreading antisemitism and recruiting operatives in Britain.
Iran’s Slaughter Of Civillians Reaches Unprecedented Heights As Fiery Warnings Sound From America And Israel
Estimates of protesters slaughtered by Iran’s gov’t range from 30,000-80,000. Many were shot in the streets, others were killed in hospitals, and still more were unofficially executed in jails and prisons. By far, this is the largest slaughter of a civilian population by its government in this century. But leftist marchers seem to either be silent or too busy protesting against Israel and ICE to worry about tens of thousands of dead Iranians risking their lives for their rights.
Births Plummet In China As Population Growth Stalls
The number of new babies born in China dropped to 7.9 million in 2025, the lowest number in over seven decades. This marked a 17% decline from one year before, when it was 9.5 million. According to the National Statistics Bureau of China, the country’s birth rate fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people in 2025. This is the lowest level since 1949, when the Communist Party took power.
“Doomsday Clock” Ticks Closer To Midnight
The hands of the symbolic Doomsday Clock now stand at 85 seconds to midnight – closer to global catastrophe than ever before. The Doomsday Clock, or the Nuclear War Clock, represents how close we are veering towards global disaster at the hands of humans. The decision to move the clock forward from 89 to 85 seconds reflects escalating threats from nuclear weapons, accelerating climate change, and the potential misuse of emerging technologies.
Chinese Contract At Panama Canal Ruled Unconstitutional In Win For Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’
Another massive defeat for China’s interests in the Western Hemisphere; another ‘win’ for Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine”…Supreme Court of Panama issued a final decision to void the contract renewal for Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison’s subsidiary to operate 2 Panama Canal ports, in an anticipated landmark case driven by claims of unconstitutionality & financial irregularities. The top court found irregularities in the 25-year extension of the concession granted in 2021.
Headlines – 01/31/2026
South Africa expels Israel’s top diplomat over social media posts insulting Ramaphosa
South Africa expels Israel’s top diplomat in a move that could prompt a strong reaction from the US
‘Free Palestine’ activist tried to assassinate Biden in 2024 over Gaza, US feds say
Israel set to reopen Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt for first time since May 2024
Two Palestinians said wounded by settler arson attack in West Bank
IDF launches series of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon
Satellite images indicate Iran working to salvage nuclear materials from damaged sites
Iran accused of ‘campaign of revenge’ as doctors arrested for treating protesters
WHO decries attacks on Iranian hospitals, medical staff during protest crackdown
Iran targets injured at hospitals in crackdown on protesters
‘Don’t take us to a hospital’: Iran protesters treated in secret to avoid arrest
‘Standing over ER workers’ heads with a gun’: Iranians describe brutal protest crackdown
Trump confirms talks with Tehran, is reportedly mulling raids by troops on Iranian facilities
Trump says he’s given Iran deadline to accept deal before potential strike
Saudi defense minister says Trump not bombing Iran would embolden regime
Suspected jihadists attack airport near Niger’s capital
African Union chief expresses deep concern over rising tensions in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
Burkina Faso junta announces ban on all political parties
Burkina Faso’s junta dissolves all of country’s political parties, saying they cause divisions
Russia strikes civilian train in Ukraine, killing five, in an attack Zelensky calls ‘terrorism’
Zelenskyy seeks 50,000 Russian ‘losses’ a month to win the Ukraine war
Russian Negotiators Reportedly Apologize After Deadly Train Strike in Kharkiv
NATO Is Having a Military Exercise. The U.S., Its Largest Member, Won’t Be There.
Xi’s Military Purge May Set Back His Taiwan Ambitions
Panama boots China from Panama Canal in another victory for Trump’s Monroe Doctrine revival
Pushed by Trump, US allies are resetting relations with China
Alienated by Trump, U.S. allies turn to China and India for trade deals
Trump Warns Starmer: ‘Very Dangerous’ for UK to Do Business with China
Trump’s trade minefield squeezes America’s allies
Commentary: The World Files for Economic Divorce from America
Silver plunges 30% in worst day since 1980, gold tumbles as Warsh pick eases Fed independence fear
Democrats and Republicans Team Up to Slip Stealth Amnesty into DHS Funding Bill as Shutdown Looms
Senate passes federal funding compromise; Democrats score victory in DHS revolt
Senate passes funding deal, but government will still partially shutdown at midnight
Shutdown to Begin at Midnight After Senate Caves to Democrat Demands on ICE Funding
Trump’s Justice Department releases massive cache of Jeffrey Epstein files
Apple buys Israeli startup, reportedly for $2 billion, that reads facial ‘micro movements’
5.0 magnitude earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands region
5.0 magnitude earthquake hits the Kermadec Islands region
Sheveluch volcano on Kamchatka, Russia erupts to 28,000ft
Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 24,000ft
Sangay volcano in Ecuador erupts to 21,000ft
Popocateptl volcano in Mexico erupts to 19,000ft
Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts to 16,000ft
Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 16,000ft
Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 15,000ft
Santa Maria volcano in Guatemala erupts to 14,000ft
States of emergencies declared in Southeast ahead of significant nor’easter impacts along East Coast
Footage of massive snowfall in Kamchatka is AI-generated
More than 200 killed in mine collapse in eastern DR Congo: Report
ICE Wars: Lady Gaga Stops Show in Japan to Give Speech Trashing US for Enforcing Immigration Laws
Anti-ICE protesters clash with agents outside federal building in downtown Los Angeles
Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort arrested after Minnesota church protest
DOJ Charges Don Lemon with Federal Civil Rights Crimes
Don Lemon could face up to a year in prison if convicted on criminal charges
Don Lemon’s arrest prompts Jane Fonda and LGBTQ+ rights group to rally for press freedom
Don Lemon released without having to post bond: “I will not be silenced”
Bethel Church admits failures after expose alleges prophetic deception, sexual abuse
Son of Norway crown princess to stand trial for allegedly raping 4 women
Hungarian prosecutors charge Budapest mayor over role in banned LGBTQ+ march
Horror outbreak of ‘yellow jack’ disease leaves 70 dead
Wigan lottery winner, 80, helped build counterfeit drugs empire, court told
Week in Review · January 26-30, 2026
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”
| ANALYSIS Alex Pretti Wasn’t the Good Guy  Nate Jackson Emotional blackmail has overtaken social media, convincing millions of Americans to believe distortions, half-truths, and outright lies. |
DHS: Get the ICE Mission and Optics Right Mark Alexander DHS has focused its ICE efforts on deporting the “worst of the worst,” but it has failed to make that clear. |
Anti-ICE Doxing Network Exposed Thomas Gallatin An investigative journalist infiltrated an anti-ICE network’s Signal chats and exposed the names of several potentially prominent people involved. |
GOP Pushes for Election Reform Douglas Andrews It’s an uphill struggle against entrenched Democrats, but both House and Senate Republicans are pushing to reform our broken election system. |
It Seems That the Rainbow Mafia Overreached Emmy Griffin Two research psychologists try to explain why, politically, both the Left and the Right are increasingly turning against homosexual behavior and culture. |
Is America a Nation of Citizens, or a Territory of ‘People’? Michael Smith How census rules, immigration enforcement, and political incentives quietly rewired the American social contract. |
Fake Google Review Extortion Scam Targets Small Businesses Samantha Koch It’s a tactic that’s reminiscent of the mob: “Nice business you’ve got there; shame if anything happened to it.” |
Trump in the Court of Public Opinion Jack DeVine There are political alarms sounding, and without a correction of course, the Trump presidency and thin Republican majorities in the House and Senate, are in trouble. |
Noem on Thin Ice, Homan Dispatched for Cleanup Nate Jackson The situation in frigid Minnesota continues to be hot, but President Trump appears to be making moves to calm the situation. |
Armed Subversive Shot in Minneapolis Douglas Andrews The violent and well-organized leftist agitators who are obstructing federal law enforcement operations in Minnesota have minted another martyr for their lawless cause. |
ICE Draws Criticism From Clinton and Obama Michael Swartz Two former presidents trash accepted “norms” so they can offer harsh criticism of Donald Trump and his administration’s policies and tactics. |
Leftmedia Ignores Trump’s Major Drug Price Cuts Gregory Lyakhov These prescription drug reforms are life-changing for millions of Americans, yet they received virtually no sustained national coverage. |
Dropping Crime Rate Vindicates Trump Thomas Gallatin Over the last year, the homicide rate has dropped by 21% across the country, demonstrating that simply enforcing the nation’s laws is benefiting everyone. |
Vance, Our Pro-Life ‘Ally in the White House’ Emmy Griffin Positive reinforcement was given to the March for Life crowd from stalwart pro-life advocate JD Vance. |
Profiles of Valor: SGT John Baca (USA) Mark Alexander “I am an ordinary citizen who answered my country’s call to duty and performed that duty to the very best of my ability.” |
| Visit our archive for more analysis commentary. |
| Catch up on the latest news headlines with our executive summary. |
| QUOTES The BIG Lies “Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE.” —former Vice President Kamala Harris “The first murder in the city of Minneapolis was perpetrated by federal agents.” —Minneapolis City Councilmember Jamison Whiting “I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community.” —Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) “When you publicly execute two people within 10 days, there have to be consequences.” —Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Village Idiots “There’s a reason why we have not seen a resurgence of the Proud Boys. And that is because I believe a lot of them are likely made ICE officers.” —former MSNBC host Tiffany Cross “You’re a f***ing fascist pig. You should f***ing kill yourself. I hope your wife dies. I hope your mom and dad die. I hope everything wrong that could go in your life happens.” —a voicemail left for an ICE agent “It’s time to talk to your neighbors. Find out if they’re MAGA or not. Sorry, but we have to know who’s on our team and start to plan. … If you’re silent, you’re complicit.” —actress/”comedian” Kathy Griffin “People are being murdered. … It’s hideous. And so if we can do anything out here to support the movement to cast ICE out, to delegitimize this unbelievably criminal organization, then that’s what we should be doing.”” —actress Olivia Wilde “They’re blatantly murdering U.S. citizens, detaining five-year-olds … patrolling schools and churches. So imagine what they’re doing behind closed doors at detention centers with no cameras around.” —actress Eva Longoria “This is time for a revolution. … They can’t take us all down. If the whole world showed up on Putin’s doorstep or the Iranians’ doorstep or in Washington … they’ll kill 500, 50 million or however, but the rest of us would survive.” —actor Giancarlo Esposito “The Nazis ultimately lost. Nazi ideology was outlawed through de-nazification. One day we will see the de-MAGA-ification of this country. It will come. And you know what else happened? Leaders of the Nazi regime were prosecuted and tried as war criminals.” —radio host Lenard “Charlamagne” McKelvey “Do not compare ICE or Border Patrol agents to the Nazis. That’s an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces.” —”comedian” Stephen Colbert “I’m not saying they’re putting people in ovens yet, but these are concentration camps.” —Minneapolis book store owner Jamie Schwesnedl “I want Stephen Miller to be the number one in the Nuremberg Trials when this is done … the first one who is tried and convicted and f***ing dangles.” —Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson Demagogues “We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.” —Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “This is a small bunch of wannabe Nazis. That’s what they are. … If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. We will find you.” —Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner discussing chilling plans to hunt down ICE agents “I’m not trying to upset Latinos. This is said because I know my history. [S]lave patrols were some sort of military-like-ish policing force that was going out and grabbing and disappearing people based upon their skin color. People were having to walk around and show their papers. … That’s what it looks like to me.” —Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) comparing ICE to slave patrols “These [ICE] agents are barely trained. They’re supposedly getting trained for 47 days because they wanted to have 47 after the president. That’s crazy. … They walking around like they’re hooded thugs.” —Democrat strategist Donna Brazile “We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights.” —former President Joe Biden “To me it is very clear that the mission the president and Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller and JD Vance and all of them sent these federal officials on is a mission to violate people’s constitutional rights.” —Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro “I want to tell you what I mean when I say that I am going to kill Donald Trump. I mean I’m going to obtain a conviction rendered by a jury of his peers at a standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt based on evidence presented at a trial conducted in accordance with the requirements of due process resulting in a sentence duly executed of capital punishment.” —Ohio Democrat Attorney General candidate Elliot Forhan Laying the Groundwork “Even if there is an investigation that ultimately proves that at the time of the shooting it was legally justified, I don’t think that even matters at this point because there is so much outrage.” —Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara Can’t Fix Stupid “Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws.” —Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Theater of the Absurd “I would beat the s**t out of him now if I could.” —Tim Walz on Vice President JD Vance (“I’ll buy a front-row seat!” —Mark Alexander) Delusions of Grandeur “This is like the perfect guy. Alex Pretti’s the guy you would want to date your daughter, the guy you’d want your son to grow up to be. … There is nothing that has been said about that man that isn’t wonderful. And so, they can’t malign him … because we have the videos.” —CNN senior political commentator Ana Navarro Dumb & Dumber “I want to bring back a tweet from Charlie Kirk in 2018. He says this: ‘The 2nd Amendment is not for hunting, it is not for self protection. It is there to ensure that free people can defend themselves if god forbid government became tyrannical and turned against its citizens.’ And I think a lot of people are pointing to this because, I mean, what we saw in the [Minneapolis] streets.” —CNN host Kasie Hunt “The birth of the Second Amendment was about the people being able to protect themselves in case the government was to turn on them. … Exactly what’s happening right now.” —”The View” co-host Sara Haines Fact-Check: False “In just one year, Donald Trump has tanked the economy, sent prices soaring, decimated the job market, and left families everywhere struggling.” —DNC Chair Ken Martin False Equivalence “It is really damning when we think about the degree to which mass-media outlets reported on Joe Biden. … Yet we are seeing behavior from Donald Trump that is increasingly erratic and alarming and everyone’s pretending that this is normal.” —Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Lack of Self-Awareness Award “We’re being divided by media for profit, by misinformation.” —NBA coach Steve Kerr “It’s not like they’re rooting out violent criminals. They’re taking five-year old kindergartners.” —Steve Kerr regarding ICE Stranger Than Fiction “I can think of no better excuse for New Yorkers to stay home, take a long nap, or take advantage of our public library’s offer of free access to Heated Rivalry.” —New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani peddling a gay romance novel “The Democratic Coalition of Satan Worshippers thanks Gov. Tim Walz for not standing in the way of spreading Satanism in the State Capitol Building. Satan has a special place for you.” —a display in the Minnesota State Capitol For more insightful quotes, see our Short Cuts. |
MEME Don’t miss the latest memes. |
CARTOON Don’t miss the latest cartoons. |
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”
Saturday Selections – Jan. 31, 2026 | Reformed Perspective
Reformed and Dangerous’s Christ is King
A little harder rocking than some of us might be used to, but the fire in the music is a match for the power of the words…
Is Bluey’s dad too good?
A New York Times article offered up that critique, and the folks at Breakpoint ministries had this insightful response.
An unexplored mission field: seniors’ homes?
I’m really hoping this link works (it is behind a paywall but says I can share it). This is a story of a lady suffering from dementia who is bringing the gospel to other dementia sufferers.
Sex on the silver screen – outsourcing depravity
Tim Challies asks, are we outsourcing our sexual depravity, getting actors to do for our entertainment what we would never do ourselves?
Free will vs. determinism
Atheist Sam Harris has famously argued that because we are just meat machines, all our actions are determined, so we should be more compassionate to criminals because what they did isn’t really their fault – their “output” is just a result of all their inputs, with no choice on their part. He denies we have any free will, but, ironically, wants us to choose to be nice to criminals. His campaign highlights his own disbelief in his notion.
Calvinists deny free will too, but mean something very different by it. We know that Man is sinful in all he does, and cannot choose God apart from God’s own intervention. But we also know that when we choose to steal, lie, or cheat, we are responsible – we are making these choices for evil. So, we make choices, even as God is sovereign. Do we get that totally? Nope, but God tells us it is so (Rom. 8:7-8, Eph. 2:8-9), and each of us know it is true personally in how we experience both that slavery to sin, and know yet that it is still me, myself, and I responsible for my sins.
The free market’s “double thank-you”
Sports can help teach kids a lot of real-life lessons – how hard work pays off, the importance of being a team player, etc. – but there’s one big difference between life and games. In the arena there can be only one champion but in life both sides can win.
Socialists deny it, pitting the poor against the rich, and fostering envy over what our wealthier neighbors have (violating the 10th Commandment). But the rich only get rich by being helpful. Unless he stole his money, a businessman can only get rich via free, voluntary transactions. And those exchanges will only happen when both sides agree that they are better off for it. Kid offers to mow your lawn for $20? He’s only going to make the offer if he thinks it’s worth it for him, and you’ll only agree if you think it benefits you. Both are better off. You are both “richer” for it.
When the government manages things, it may force people to do what they wouldn’t otherwise want to do. We’re taking your money to build this library (and stock it with obscene books). We’re going to build a hockey arena so we’re hiking your taxes. That’s win/lose – one side wins by making others lose. And the government can even pull off lose/lose situations where everyone is worse off.
So we want to combat the Left’s envy by remembering the rich only got that way by thousands and millions of voluntary transactions in which not only did they benefit, but the other side was made richer too! Instead of envying them, we should be saying “thank-you” right back to them!
News Weakly – 1/31/2026 | Winging It
Message Received?
More than a few countries have restrictions or bans on social media for children. Australia was the most recent, and France is trying to do the same. What do these countries know that we don’t? Nothing. But we’re a strange nation who worships a “freedom” that restricts cigarettes because they’re bad for us but not alcohol or blocks “misinformation” because it’s bad but not social media … for example. So the evidence is clear that social media is harmful, especially for kids, but … doggone it … we like it.
At Long Last
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel with more than 4,000 rockets and an invading force that killed civilians, kidnapping 251 civilians. The world has reeled from the response, outraged that … Israel would stoop to defending herself. It was too much. But 2 years and 3 months later, the remains of the last hostage have been recovered. Hamas could have released them … years ago. They could have not attacked or they could have surrendered them, but … they didn’t. So now the suggestion is that the second phase of the ceasefire can move forward … but all the pro-Palesinian protesters should note … Israel wasn’t the cause of the sneak attack or the delay in the ceasefire.
Newsom Objects
California Governor Newsom is launching an investigation to determine if TikTok suppressed content critical of Trump. Mind you, TikTok is not a government entity and I can attest that private companies have no problem suppressing free speech on their platforms, but Newsom isn’t concerned about free speech. He’s concerned that someone somewhere might have had something negative to say about Trump and didn’t get to.
Shut De Do
Another one bites the dust. Prize-winning composer Philip Glass has withdrawn the world premiere of a new symphony because Trump’s name is associated with the Kennedy Center. While one might think that there is “no place for politics in the arts,” clearly the hatred for Trump trumps art in some cases (25 and counting) (including the Washington National Opera), a sad commentary on the hate that the anti-Trump folks carry that even beats their love of the arts or care for their audiences.
Two Wrongs
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was doing a townhall meeting in Minneapolis where she called for the abolishment of ICE and the resignation of Kristi Noem … because open borders is the best thing we can do … you know … to destroy this country. A man sprayed her with an unknown substance (which turned out to be apple cider vinegar and water) because that is the best possible response … or … rather the most STUPID response. The substance apparently wasn’t particularly harmful … just … stupid. Two wrongs here still don’t make a right.
America on ICE
Minnesota would like ICE to vanish. So would Bruce Springsteen. The loudest voices in America (not necessarily the most numerous) are coming out against law enforcement in general and immigration laws in particular. The obvious message is, “Open the borders. Let ’em all in.” Similar to the recent movement to eliminate police, louder voices are urging America to eliminate border restrictions. They’ve even attempted to restrict our thinking. “They’re not ‘illegal.’ They’re just ‘undocumented.'” They’re not “undocumented noncitizens” or “newcomers.” They’re breaking immigration laws … and they’re often breaking other laws (like the fraud and murders in Minneapolis). But, hey, we’re a representative government. You guys vote in open borders and no law enforcement and see how that works for you.
A Poultry Sum
Costco is being sued for their rotisserie chicken. They claim “no preservatives” and customers are complaining that it contains two preservatives. We have thousands of ads fed to us daily on our screens and our phones, especially at election times, that are plain lies, but this one is a problem? I’ve always enjoyed watching those rotisseries. They’re like poultry in motion.
Your Best Source for Fake News.
With all the cancellations at the Kennedy Center for the existence of Trump’s name on the front, others are getting into the approach. WNBA players are vowing to continue missing layups until ICE withdraws from Minnesota. In Taipei, Alex Honnold climbed a 1667-foot tower (actual story) only to discover he could have used the elevator. And in Minnesota, given the problems with ICE and their close ties to Ilhan Omar, residents are fleeing to Somalia to escape the violence.
Must be true; I read it on the internet.
http://birdsoftheair.blogspot.com/2026/01/news-weakly-1312026.html
News Roundup & Comment | VCY
Date: January 30, 2026
Host: Jim Schneider
MP3 | Order
https://embed.sermonaudio.com/player/a/13026229474118/
Activity and rhetoric over immigration action and policy highlighted the headlines on this edition of the Round-Up. Here are some examples from the broadcast:
–Scientists are saying the ominous, symbolic “Doomsday Clock” is at 85 seconds before “midnight.” This is the closest it’s been to “midnight” since its introduction in 1947.
–An Iowa man was given the opportunity to pray for President Trump outside an Iowa restaurant.
–Kirk Bangstad, the Wisconsin owner of Minoqua Brewing Company, offers free beer all day long for everyone the day President Donald Trump dies.
–Ohio Democratic attorney general candidate Elliot Forhan is facing backlash for saying in a campaign video that he would “kill” President Trump by successfully prosecuting him for crimes and then winning a capital punishment sentence.
–A Florida labor and delivery nurse was banned Wednesday from practicing in Florida after posting her online wish that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt would suffer severe bodily harm when giving birth to her baby.
–A health care worker appeared to encourage people to intentionally drug ICE agents in a series of recent videos posted online.
–During the chaos and violence in the Minneapolis area, a protester bit off the finger of a federal officer.
–Governor Tim Walz was at the gate of his mansion urging protesters to keep causing trouble and fighting ICE. Jim provided audio from the governor.
–A self described Antifa member in Minneapolis called for armed men to get their boots on the ground to stop immigration officials who he calls mass murderers and fascist occupiers.
–Investigative reporter James O’Keefe has confirmed that at least some of the groups funding the anti-ICE violence have received federal tax money. Jim provided audio from Mr. O’Keefe.
–White House border czar Tom Homan has said that state and city officials have agreed to honor the ICE detainers in prisons which allow for a draw-down of federal agents. (Jim provided audio from Mr. Homan.)
–Gregory Bovino has been relieved of his position as border patrol commander at large.
–2 U.S. border patrol agents involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti last weekend in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave.
–Popular podcaster Joe Rogan has broken his silence on the Minneapolis riots, describing them as a “color revolution,” which he characterized as a deliberate effort to manufacture chaos.
–The recent attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall meeting raises questions about the legitimacy of the liquid attack itself. This is due to the fact that Omar refused to seek treatment and that the footage seems to indicate a nod toward the attacker just before the incident took place.
https://www.vcy.org/crosstalk/2026/01/30/news-roundup-comment-237/
Apatheism: Not atheism, agnosticism but another challenge to Christian faith
Unlike other belief systems . . . apatheism is not a formal worldview. Rather, it is a posture or attitude of indifference toward belief in God. It is an outlook that Christian apologetics must engage with because it is a common obstacle to considering Christian belief. The author and journalist Jonathan Rauch, in a widely referenced article in The Atlantic, “Let It Be,” identifies himself as an apatheist. He defines the term apatheism as “a disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people’s.” Rather than being “lazy recumbency,” Rauch believes apatheism is a sociological achievement. Writing after the events of September 11, 2001, he explains that for much of history, religious zeal has driven division and violence, and sees the taming of religious passion not as a lapse, but as an achievement.
Source: Apatheism: Not atheism, agnosticism but another challenge to Christian faith
Border Czar Homan: Federal authorities have located 145K unaccompanied illegal children, so far
Border Czar Tom Homan announced that 145,000 unaccompanied, undocumented children have been located out of more than 300,000 that were allowed into the United States by the Biden administration.
Source: Border Czar Homan: Federal authorities have located 145K unaccompanied illegal children, so far
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