How to Find a New Church

After much discussion, my wife and I recently decided it was time to find a new church to call home.  Thankfully, we did not have to search very long, and I am happy to report that after only visiting 3 different churches in the area over a short period of time, the Lord brought us to a church that both of us are very happy to be a part of.

Thinking on our brief journey, my mind naturally turned to those who might find themselves in a similar situation.  I've known some people who have spent months and years trying to find a church to belong to, but for a number of reasons, they never manage to settle down somewhere.  My hopes in reading this brief article, you'll be able to narrow down your search and that the Lord will help you find somewhere that you can grow and serve. 

Here are my tips on finding a new church:

1.  Keep it Local:

I believe this to be one of the most crucial things in finding a church as well as the most practical.  I've been part of a church before where I had to drive 30+ minutes on average Sunday morning just to get to church.  Such makes mid-week activities and fellowship outside of Sunday morning gatherings very difficult, especially if you live in a large city like I do, and have to battle terrible traffic.  And like any other relationship, long distances often creates problems. 

Therefore, I believe if you are looking for a new church, unless you live in a very rural area, you need to get out a map (like Google Maps), and draw a circle within a 10-15 minute drive of your house, and limit your search for a new church to congregations located within that distance from your home.  Church isn't just supposed to be a Sunday morning activity.  It's supposed to be part of your life.  And the proximity you have to drive to be involved at church and in frequent fellowship with other believers becomes increasingly difficult the further you get away from home.  If you have to drive a far distance to be involved in the life of your church, it will ultimately hurt the quality of the fellowship you enjoy.

2. Leave the Checklist at Home:

For some people, finding a new church is often like dating.  People build ridiculously long checklists of things they are looking for in a church, and as a result, they never find that perfect church to belong to.  I did this for a few years when I was dating.  And as a result, I found starting new relationships very difficult, because nobody out there was good enough for me, as they didn't meet my highly itemized list of have's/have not's.  The result?  I was the king of first dates, but I didn't have many second dates.  And that's because I dismissed many girls outright simply because they didn't conform to this long list of what I thought the perfect girl for me would actually look like. 

It was only when I finally gave up on dating a list and looking to build real relationships that I found the woman who became my wife.  And if I compared my wife to some of the ridiculous things I had put on my ever growing list, I probably wouldn't be married as I am this day.  And if you approach finding a church this way, the chances are, you'll never find a church to belong to.  The perfect church, like the perfect woman, simply doesn't exist. 

A church is a highly relational community, therefore, you should engage each potential church you consider joining in a very relational way.  Be gracious.  There is no such thing as a perfect church.  If there were, you would ruin it by showing up.  Show each church you visit a bunch of grace and cut them some slack.  If they do things a little differently than you are typically accustomed to doing at church, don't pass judgment on them, rather, simply embrace them in the same way Christ has embraced you.  Get to know the people there and find out why they do things the way they do.  You might actually find out that you prefer their unique approach to things.

3. Go to Serve:

While it is important when looking for a church to find somewhere that can help meet you and your family's needs, don't pick a church just because they have great preaching, great singing, and a great youth program.  Don't go to church with a consumeristic mindset, thinking of only what you can get out of belonging to a certain congregation.

Rather, have the attitude of Christ, and look at each church as a place you are going in order to ultimately serve.  Only in looking to be a blessing to others will you ultimately be blessed.  And only in serving your local church will you be able to rightfully say a certain church is "your" church.  Don't go to church to get, go to church to give.  See what you can bring to the table instead of the other way around.

4. Don't Stumble Over Theology or Denominational Affiliations:

While the theology of a church is important, it should not be the primary reason why you pick a particular church.  And denominational affiliation should have very little weight in your mind as to why you decide to attend a certain church (most folks don't really care about denominational affiliations these days anyway, except those who have their bread and butter made by them).  Over the years I've learned that no matter what the official denominational affiliation a church has, and no matter what creed is printed in its bylaws, most churches tend to have a very wide spectrum of beliefs in each congregation anyway.  This is seen even in churches that are very theologically rigid, or have strict practical commitments.

So, don't get too hung up on the particular theological bent or denominational affiliation (or lack thereof)  of any given congregation.  Churches tend to be made up of actual people, and not systematic theologians who are interested in doing nothing more than defending and propagating their pet theology.  Every person is at different places in their walk in Christ, and not every person is going to see eye to eye on all of the particulars of the faith.  We all see a little bit dimly.

Therefore, while I would caution against being involved with churches who don't commit to at least a basic evangelical theology and lifestyle as a community, keep in mind that the apostle Paul was a minister to congregations where some people had doubts about if Jesus Christ was really bodily resurrected!  They weren't really altogether sure about that fact.  Some had their doubts.  And many other churches that Paul wrote letters to were struggling with accepting some very other basic Christian beliefs that we tend to take for granted today.

So, keep an open heart and mind about wherever it is the Lord may be leading you and your family to worship and serve alongside.  The Christian community is a very diverse community, and each congregation often has a long history.  Engage each church relationally, and you'll find theological and denominational affiliations tend to not be the giant hurdles that some have made them into over the years. 

In my opinion, so long as you can see Jesus Christ living in the lives of others, and you find fellowship in the Holy Spirit, that is all that you ultimately need in order to belong to a church.  And as you relate to others in the congregation as actual people, instead of a mission field of people you need to convert and reform or correct, and I believe you'll find a lot of these traditional barriers to fellowship fall to the wayside, and you might just find yourself planted firmly by the Lord in a church that is full of folks struggling with their theology just like you.

Conclusion:

Above all, when searching for a new church, trust the Lord to guide you to the right place.  And give an ear to those who care about you in your life, and see where the Lord might be leading you through them.  And if you are married, work very hard with your spouse to come into agreement about where you and your family should serve the body of Christ. 

Finding a new church can sometimes be a difficult thing to do, but it doesn't need to be needlessly difficult.  I firmly believe if you take the things written above to heart, you'll find your search for a new church comes to an end very, very soon.

God be with you in your journey.

When Should You Not Vote?

Talking to some, one would almost think it was a mortal sin not to vote.  There might even be a certain place in hell for people who don't vote.  It's a wonder Dante didn't write about the topic.

And of course, it is said if you don't vote, you lose the right to complain.

But I would like to challenge this conventional wisdom.  I find it a little too ill thought out.  I think there are plenty of times you should deeply consider not voting. 

1. Don't Vote Just to Vote

I believe voting just to vote is deeply immoral.  Voting just to vote is like being on a jury and finding somebody guilty or innocent "just because."  Voting just to vote is unjust.  Don't "rock the vote" just because MTV thinks you mindlessly pulling a lever is better than you not voting.  If you do that, you are just a sheep falling into somebody else's power game.  Voting just to vote makes you and everyone else in our society a victim, and not an actual participant in our democracy.

2. Don't Vote If You Don't Know the Candidate

If you are going to cast your lot for a certain candidate, you should only do so because you've considered ALL the possible candidates you are voting for in each office, thought about where they stand on the issues, have considered their general character and qualifications to hold office, and believe they in some way represent what you believe is important for our society. 

Going into the voting booth and pulling the lever for somebody because they belong to a certain political party, or because you saw an ad on the TV and thought they'd be a great person to have a beer with, is rather idiotic.  Don't be stupid.  Vote straight party if you feel you think every candidate in that party represents you and what you believe to be good for the country.  But if you don't know that to be factually true, don't vote straight party.  In voting straight party, you are quite possibly voting for some really terrible candidates who don't have your interests in mind, and you are empowering such people simply because they have an R, D, or L next to their name. 

In my opinion, having the option to vote straight party should be illegal.  There should be no party names next to any persons' name.  Such only encourages uninformed voting, and making people useful idiots.

Don't vote out of ignorance or because you decided it'd be fun to randomly pick a few people that you know little to nothing about.  Don't do things like randomly select county commissioners, sheriffs, judges, or other such people, simply because you have this nervous itch to vote with a completed ballot, and having an incomplete ballot drives your "type A" personality insane.  It's ok if your ballot is incomplete.  This isn't a graded quiz.  Your ballot doesn't need to be completed.  You aren't going to get an F on your report card if you don't fill in every category. 

If you are going to vote your conscience, then you need to make a vote based on actual knowledge.  If you don't know, don't vote!  Your vote impacts our society, and the last thing our society needs is some politician in office who got there by a bunch of people who randomly picked their name out of a hat.  This isn't a lottery or magic trick you are participating in.

3. Don't Vote If All the Choices are Bad

A lot of people are upset about the candidates in the 2016 election.  Donald Trump seems like a terrible candidate.  Hillary Clinton is terrible too.  Jill Stein doesn't offer me anything I really want in a president.  As of now, I plan on voting for Gary Johnson, but there are some stances he takes that I'm not very excited about, and make me pause and question whether I should even be voting at all.  I'm almost at the point I would consider not voting for any of the 2016 presidential candidates.  And you know what?  That's ok.  And guess what?  If I do I am not forfeiting my right to complain or participate in our democracy (in spite of what people mindlessly parrot). 

In our form of government, our elected officials are supposed to be people we elect that represent us.  They are elected to congress or the presidency in order to represent our interests.  Therefore, you should NEVER vote for somebody who doesn't represent you in any way, shape, or form. 

Don't hold your nose to vote.  Only vote if somebody truly represents you and where you stand on the issues.  If somebody doesn't represent most of the views you hold, and if you don't think they'd attempt to do most of the things you don't want done, then voting for somebody just to vote is about the dumbest thing you could possibly do. 

Why in God's name would you do something like that?  It simply lacks sense.  That means you are intentionally voting for somebody who is going to represent the total opposite of what you want done in office.  Do you realize how stupid that is?  Don't choose to be stupid.  Rather, choose not to vote!

Not voting is an option, and one you should seriously consider if there are simply no candidates who represent you running for elected office.  Choose not to vote, then exercise your right to give your opinion in public about why you think voting for any of the candidates is a dumb idea.  It's the only reasonable thing to do.  In truth, voting just to vote is the only way you forfeit your right to an opinion in our democracy.  If you vote for somebody who doesn't represent your point of view, then you are actually silencing your point of view and forfeiting your opinion.  Your opinion is the one that truly doesn't count when you vote against your interests!

Conclusion

Don't rock the vote just to rock the vote.  If you just can't bring yourself to vote for any candidate, then don't.  It's the only morally right thing to do. Corrupt politicians and corporations may prod the sheep into voting just to vote, because for them, it's simply a numbers and power game.  Don't be some corrupt politicians sheep or useful idiot. 

Politicians fear you not voting more than they fear you voting for somebody else.  Otherwise, they wouldn't push as hard as they do for large voter turnouts.  There is nothing politicians fear more than a low voter turnout.  For a low voter turnout robs them of money, power, and the ability to ultimately influence the world we live in, and to accomplish their agendas. 

A low voter turnout is practically a death sentence to a politicians' political career.  And if you refuse to vote because all the candidates are terrible, such a "protest vote" sends a signal to the powers that be that better candidates are needed.  Otherwise, if they know that the masses are going to vote just to vote, and if they can count on you mindlessly voting, then they will continue to put forward terrible candidates that will only further ruin our country, because they know you will vote for them anyway.  And that, in my opinion, is one of major reasons why we often have such terrible candidates running for office.

At the end of the day, sometimes the only way to make a difference and give your opinion in our society is to not vote.  Sometimes voting "none of the above" is the only logical and ethical decision possible.  And if you identify with some of the points I raised in this post, seriously, prayerfully consider not voting this election cycle.

I'm not Afraid of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump is the devil.  If he gets elected, we will all be ruined.

Hillary Clinton is the devil.  If she gets elected, we will all be ruined.

So whoever you vote for this election season, you need to make sure you vote so as to make sure the other guy (or gal) doesn't get elected, because their election would be apocalyptic in nature, and a complete disaster for this country!

Or so the rhetoric goes...

I don't know about you, but I am rather tired of this rhetoric.  I'm only 34 years old, but it seems like I've heard this argument every election cycle since as far back as I can remember.  This argument is getting really old.  And the longer I live, the more silly I find it to be.  How so many people continue to fall for this nonsense is beyond me.

Here are 3 reasons why I'm not afraid of whoever gets elected:

1. Jesus Christ is Large and in Charge

First and foremost of all, as a person of faith, I believe Jesus Christ to be the Lord of heaven and earth.  And no matter how bad things get in this world, I believe that He is ultimately in control.  Yes, things can get very bad.  Hitler styled dictators do rise to power.  But at the end of the day, Jesus Christ is still Lord, and He's greater than Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton. 

No matter who gets elected, I will continue to confess Psalm 23 over my life. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures.  He makes me to lie beside the still waters.  He restores my soul, and leads me along the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Though I walk through they valley of the shadow of death, I shall not fear, for His rod and His staff, they comfort me.  He prepares for me a table in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil, and my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.  And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

When I look at the world with the eyes of faith and see Jesus is large and in charge, I realize that God's ultimately got my back, no matter who gets elected.  Jesus Christ impacts my daily life more than any elected official ever will.  He leads me and guides me. Wherever I am, the pasture is always green.  I refuse to live in fear, so much so I could even have dinner with my mortal enemies and still be at peace.  My cup runs over, no matter who gets elected.


2.  The Constitution Severely Limits the President

Secondly, we have a great system of government in the United States, and we often forget that.  We have a very powerful system of checks and balances that severely limits the President from doing all that much.  In the wisdom of our founding fathers, when they setup our form of government, they ultimately set up a form of government that operates as if it were in a perpetual traffic jam.  And they did such knowing that there would be nut jobs like Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton who could possibly get elected and possibly do a lot of damaging things.  So they severely limited their powers, making it very hard for any elected official to do very much.

As a result, history has shown that no matter what goofball we've managed to elect, by in large, most presidents accomplish only incremental changes and don't do a lot.  They don't do a lot that is great, nor do they do a lot that is bad.  And even the most radical of political ideologues that get elected are generally forced to govern somewhere more in the middle of the political spectrum.  Of the 43 elected presidents our country has had, only a handful have managed to make a major and noticeable impact on our country.  The few that have managed to do such, you could easily name. 

And we have the founding fathers and the U.S. Constitution to thank for that.  Very few of us could point to anything significant that has happened in our lives and directly connect it to the actions taken by the presidency.  And even if you could, such events would be few and far in between.  So, even if we elect a devil to the executive branch of our government, they wouldn't be able to do very much to damage our country. Likewise, we could elect the archangel of heaven into office, and they would find themselves limited in the amount of good they could accomplish. And why?  Checks and balances highly limit what presidents can do. 

3.  The Reality:  Life is Pretty Good.

My life is pretty good, and I'm guessing yours is pretty good too. 

My wife and I have decent jobs.   We aren't rich, but we live comfortably and securely. We enjoy some creature comforts.  We can afford to give to those in need.  So far as I know, my rights aren't actively being violated.  I have food in the fridge, clothes on my back, and a roof over my head.  I have a family that loves me.  And while I may occasionally question my level of safety, like when somebody rang our door bell at 4 am on a Sunday morning recently, generally speaking, I don't have to give too much thought to being physically harmed on a daily basis.   And while typing this blog, I am able to do so from a miraculous piece of technology that allows me to instantly communicate with just about anybody around the world in the blink of an eye. 

So, relatively speaking, life is pretty good!  And my life is pretty good, even though during my lifetime we've had a couple presidents that were anything but good.  Yet in spite of electing a couple goofballs, a lot of amazing and wonderful things have happened, not only in my life, but the life of countless people across this country. 

And my guess is that whether we elect Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the next election, my life is going to continue to be pretty good.  Even the most powerful and reckless of presidents have very little ability to impact my daily life.  The CEO's of Facebook and Apple impact your life more on a daily basis than president Obama has in the past 8 years, and they are likely to continue to do so, no matter who we elect in the next election.

Conclusion

Don't buy into the media hype, or the hype of friends and family who are worried to death about the outcome of this next election.  Don't be terrified about the outcome of this next election.  Chances are, whoever wins will make very little difference.  In spite of what you might believe, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are not the devil.  Yes, they are both deeply flawed candidates, and both appear to be complete slime balls.  But their ability to make a major impact on your life or the life of anyone you know is very minimal.  And that is the God's honest truth. 

Let this truth sink into your heart instead of the shallow and mindless rhetoric that a lot of people are engaged in at this time of year.  And be prepared to remind everyone that Jesus Christ is Lord, that presidents are very limited in what they can do because of our system of checks and balances, and that our lives are ultimately pretty good, no matter who we elect as the next president. 

I'm not afraid of the outcome of this election, and neither should you be.

Don't "Waste Your Vote" on Donald Trump

I want to be upfront.  At the time of this writing, I plan on voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president.  And saying such has caused many people to tell me that I am "wasting my vote," because "he can't win." 

However, contrary to what many are saying, I believe that if you plan on voting in the 2016 election this year, I believe that Donald Trump is only the truly "wasted vote" in this election season, even if he does ultimately win and become the president of the United States. 

Here are 4 reasons why I believe this to be the case.

1. Donald Trump Doesn't Represent You:

In America, our form of government is a "representative" form of government.  That means our elected officials are supposed to be generally representative of the people that elect them to run the government on their behalf.  Ideally, the views of our elected representatives represent the general views and desires of the people that elect them.

If you plan on voting for Donald Trump, God bless you, but you are electing a man who probably doesn't represent you, or the views of most his supporters, especially those who would consider themselves conservative minded individuals (which most claim to be).  Unfortunately, there is very little about Trump that is "conservative."  Trump isn't a constitutionally minded person.  He doesn't believe in a small and limited government.  He doesn't believe in being fiscally responsible.  He doesn't believe in free market capitalism.  His views are actually the very opposite of the platform and party he claims to represent, and he's actually pretty liberal on most issues.  Such is why the vast majority of Republicans strongly opposed him in the primaries.  He only won because so many people ran for office in a very fractured party.

Now the only reason many are supporting Trump is because he's the only Republican name that will appear on the ballot in November.  And if you ask me, such is a pretty terrible reason to vote for somebody.  You should vote for the person who best represents you, and if none of the candidates do, you would be better off not voting at all.  Don't just vote for somebody because they are wearing the right jersey.  Vote for somebody you are excited to have them represent you.  And the only way you can do that is if they actually do! 

2.  Donald Trump Isn't "Owned" By Anybody:

One of the few things said to be "virtuous" about Donald Trump as a politician is that he isn't beholden to anybody's money or special interest groups. After all, he's filthy rich and doesn't need anybody else's money, therefore, he can't be bought (unless of course, the price is right, meaning it'll have to be very high).  And as good as this sounds, this is actually not a very good thing in our form of government.

While such might make Donald Trump feel free to blaze his own trail, it also makes him relatively free from accountability, and allows him to totally ignore the wishes of the people who helped get him elected into office in the first place.  In our form of government, politicians need to have their strings pulled from time to time, otherwise, they might only engage in activities that strictly benefit and enrich them, or are far too radical.  Being able to pull their strings forces politicians to listen to those they represent, and helps restrain them from engaging in extreme policies that could be disastrous. 

For example, we all know Hillary Clinton is candidate that is fully bought and paid for by special interests groups.   And while I would never vote for her, I would rather she get elected as president rather than Donald Trump, simply because all of the "big donors" she has making large contributions to her campaign will ensure that she will essentially end up governing in a rather moderate fashion.  Otherwise, if she felt beholden to nobody, she would probably govern in a extremely reckless and liberal fashion.  There would be nobody on the sidelines to force her to pump the brakes from time to time.  But because she is "owned," she is more likely to govern in a more responsible manner.

Therefore, since Donald Trump feels beholden to nobody, you are essentially wasting your vote for the next few years, because you will be unable to hold him accountable.  If elected, he will simply do whatever he wants to do, regardless of what anybody else thinks... especially you! 

I don't know about you, but I never want a politician that feels unaccountable to me.  Our elected officials should fear the people they govern.

3.  Donald Trump Lacks Vision:

We all know Donald Trump wants to "Make America Great Again."  But so what?  What person doesn't want to make America a great place to live, work, and play?  Hillary Clinton and Gary Johnson also want to make America a great place.  If you don't believe such, I believe you are smoking some wacky tobacky and are being far too cynical in your assessment of other candidates. 

If you were to ask Donald Trump how he is going to make America great again, you get a lot of vague ideas.  He's going to make America safe.  He's going to build a wall.  He's going to create a lot of jobs.  He's going to increase everybody's wages.  He's going to be Mr. Law and Order.  He's going to do things, and they are going to be huge and great!

Umm... yeah. Whatever.  This isn't vision.  These are just empty and meaningless campaign slogans.

4.  Donald Trump Doesn't Understand the Issues:

This seems to be a generally accepted self evident truth that most people agree on, even those that support him.  It became painfully clear from the multitude of debates he engaged in during the primaries, from numerous television interviews, press conferences, and speeches that Trump has made, that Donald Trump simply doesn't understand the issues our nation faces.  That is why he talks like an intellectual buffoon most of the time, and can't offer a coherent articulate thought.  That is why he flip flops on so many issues all the time.  And having felt painted into a corner on this issue a few times, Trump assures us that he's going to surround himself with really smart people who do understand the issues, and he'll be a great president because he surrounds himself with best people. 

But, the question then becomes, if Donald Trump doesn't understand the issues, how would he know which people to appoint as his advisors?  How does he know who the true subject matter experts are?  How will he know who is really qualified to advise him on any number of issues?  If Trump is as incompetent as he sounds regarding the issues, what in God's name makes anybody think he can appoint sound advisors? 

Nobody is asking the president of the United States to have an expert knowledge on all the issues that our country faces (no president does, nor could they).  However, they should have at least a basic working knowledge of the major challenges our nation faces, and they should know the things that they don't know, so that they can defer judgment to those who do, and take sound counsel as they tackle problem after problem  Unfortunately, Donald Trump isn't even close to competent on most of the basic issues our nation faces, and I firmly believe he will face a real challenge appointing people who are competent to be trusted advisors and cabinet level officials. 

Conclusion:

Whoever you vote for this year, be sure to vote for the politician that best represents you.  Don't just vote for the guy who has the best chance of winning.  Don't just vote for the guy who is of a certain party.  Vote for the guy who really represents YOU.  Otherwise, you will have truly "wasted" your vote, even if the person you vote for doesn't have a chance of winning.

And at the end of the day, I think Donald Trump is a wasted vote.  I don't believe Donald Trump represents anybody but Donald Trump.  And even if he wins, you will have lost and will have wasted your vote.

Jesus Felt the Rage of Racism

Have you ever felt mad?

Have you ever felt mad at somebody else?

Have you ever felt mad at somebody else because they are Black, Asian, Hispanic, or White?

Whether or not we would admit it, I think we all have.  And in light of the recent shooting of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the police officers in Dallas, I think it is evident to anybody who has logged into Facebook and Twitter recently that a lot of racist feelings have been stirred up in a lot of people.

I know I've struggled with such feelings over the years.  Heck, I get those feelings even now.  The 24-hour news cycle practically beats them out of me.

There are few things that pull on our heart strings more than racial strife.  Whether we like it or not, so much of our personal identity is bound up in our racial identity, and it doesn't take much to rattle our cages when it comes to issues surrounding race.

And if we can't admit such honestly to ourselves, either we are one of the most saintly people to ever walk the face of the Earth, or we are lying.  Personally, I don't believe there is a person alive who hasn't felt something of this anger, hate, and rage towards another person because of their race.

Including Jesus.  

Yes, you heard me right, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten sinless Son of God, Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, has felt something of this poison that festers in our hearts.

The Bible says:

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  ~ (Hebrews 4:14-16, NASB)

There isn't anything you and I have ever felt that Jesus Himself hasn't personally felt and been tempted with.  He is been tempted in "ALL THINGS."  And that includes the anger and feelings of racism that bubble up and overflow in you and I.  Of course, He felt these things and did not sin.  But He felt them just the same.  And Jesus didn't just feel them in some abstract ghostly or theological sense.  He felt them in His own flesh and blood, in the real world.

Racism was a major problem in the times of Christ.   The Jewish people, whom He was a part of, had lived for several hundred years in the land God promised to them, under the military occupation of the Roman Empire.

The Jews of Jesus day deeply resented the Romans, and for many legitimate reasons.  For example, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus tells us that about the times of Christ, in order to make an example to the Jews of the might and power of Rome, and to beat their spirits into submission, over 3,000 Jews were crucified and hung out along a major highway.   Such made them  no friends with any Jews to say the least.  And there is the distinct possibility Jesus might have witnessed this event firsthand.  But if He didn't witness it with His own eyes, it is definitely an event He heard told and retold a thousand times during His life, and would one day experience personally, as Jesus Himself suffered at the hands of police brutality.

And I don't know about you, but if I were a Jew in that day and saw 3,000 of my own people killed in such a way, such an event might make me more than a tad bit racist against Romans... especially officers in the Roman military.

Jesus Christ lived, moved, and breathed in such a culture.  A culture in which there were not only 10,000 stories that circulated about "police brutality" that were absolutely true, but there would have been 10,000 times as many stories that were rumored to be true.  Every individual Jew would have taken all these stories to heart.  And Jesus would've felt what they felt too.

But He remained without sin.

Exactly how He did it, I do not know.  But I do know that the Bible says that He was tempted in all things that we are tempted, and yet He remained without sin.  So that gives me some hope not only for me, but for you too.  And the Scriptures promise us that if we boldly approach His throne of grace, we will find the help we need in the midst of our struggles and strife in everyday life.

I believe in the midst of the racial difficulties we are seeing presently in our nation, right now, more than ever, we need to make sure that we put this passage into actual practice.  We need to draw near to God.  We need to get help from the very One who knows how to help us deal with the problems we are facing, and the feelings that are stirring in our hearts.  I don't know how to deal with those problems, but I know He does.

I know I am in need of much help.  I hope you see yourself in need of the same help too.