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I am Living by Grace – Or I live in Sin by Hoping on Grace !!!
Grace is a constant theme in the Bible, and it culminates in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus (John 1:17). The word translated “grace” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word charis, which means “favor, blessing, or kindness.” We can all extend grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving.
Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves.” The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is because of His grace toward us. Grace began in the Garden of Eden when God killed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). He could have killed the first humans right then for their disobedience. But rather than destroy them, He chose to make a way for them to be right with Him. That pattern of grace continued throughout the Old Testament when God instituted blood sacrifices as a means to atone for sinful men. It was not the physical blood of those sacrifices, per se, that cleansed sinners; it was the grace of God that forgave those who trusted in Him (Hebrews 10:4; Genesis 15:6). Sinful men showed their faith by offering the sacrifices that God required.
The apostle Paul began many of his letters with the phrase, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:3). God is the instigator of grace, and it is from Him that all other grace flows.
God shows both mercy and grace, but they are not the same. Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve; grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve. In mercy, God chose to cancel our sin debt by sacrificing His perfect Son in our place (Titus 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). But He goes even further than mercy and extends grace to His enemies (Romans 5:10). He offers us forgiveness (Hebrews 8:12; Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20), abundant life (John 10:10), eternal treasure (Luke 12:33), His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and a place in heaven with Him some day (John 3:16-18) when we accept His offer and place our faith in His sacrifice.
Grace is God giving the greatest treasure to the least deserving—which is every one of us.
Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
The words of this famous hymn by John Newton seem to resonate with people of all theological persuasions: it is performed in churches of all kinds, from evangelical Christian, to Roman Catholic, to mainline liberal, to Mormon. It has been recorded by countless artists from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, to the Three Tenors, to Rascal Flatts and Alan Jackson. The concept of (or at least the word) grace is firmly planted in our culture.
The concept of grace as found in the Bible is multifaceted, but it can be summed up in the definition “undeserved favor.” The Bible says that we are saved by grace. The grace of God is expressed by God’s forgiveness of our sins, and His blessings to us include peace and fulfillment in this life and, in the life to come, unencumbered fellowship with Him for all eternity. Just as the song “Amazing Grace” has gained almost universal acceptance, it is difficult to find any religious expression with roots in Christianity that does not extoll the virtues of grace.
However, there is much misunderstanding about being saved by grace. A great many who call themselves Christians assume that the grace of God has established a system whereby the sinner can mitigate his deserved punishment by his own efforts. For some this may be a formal system of sacraments that infuse the soul with the grace of God. For others the system is less formal but still includes various religious activities, such as church attendance, baptism, contributing to the offering, and doing good deeds. While most agree that “nobody’s perfect,” many say that God in His “grace” will overlook our sins if He sees that we have made a genuine effort to do the right thing, mend our ways, and avail ourselves of the help He offers through the church—if He sees that the trajectory of our lives is headed in the right direction, then in His “grace” He will forgive our sins and grant us eternal life. In this view of “grace,” the sinner does not earn eternal life in an absolute sense, but his penitent response and genuine effort does trigger a gracious response from the Father. This belief, although widespread, contradicts the true meaning of grace (“unmerited favor”).
This example may help illustrate the above view of grace: a teenager works hard all summer to save money to buy a car. He works a regular job and does yard work and odd jobs on the side. He saves his money and does not spend it frivolously. Nevertheless, at the end of the summer, he simply does not have enough money to buy a car that will meet his needs. His father, seeing his diligence and frugality, graciously steps in and not only makes up the difference but also adds more money to the car fund so that his son can buy a car that is better than he thought he could ever afford. The son’s best effort was not good enough, but the father’s grace makes up the difference. No one would claim that the father was obligated to make up the difference, so, when he does, it is an act of grace. If the son had been fired from his job for showing up late, had lazed around at the pool every day instead of working, or had spent what money he had on fast food and video games, then the father would not have stepped in to make up the difference. It would be incorrect to say that the son “earned” the car, for he did not, but his effort did trigger a gracious response from his father.
According to the Bible, is this really grace? The answer is NO! Grace is undeserved favor; it is God’s blessing on the unworthy. In the example above, the father bestowed his favor because he felt his son’s efforts should be rewarded—the father’s gift was based on a genuine effort by the son and was therefore not true grace. Jesus illustrated true grace with the story of a father who received his runaway son with celebratory joy—a totally unworthy individual who brought nothing to his father except dishonor and shame was lavished with undeserved blessings (Luke 15:11–24).
We are saved by grace, not by a mixture of God’s grace and our meritorious works. According to Scripture, we can do nothing to earn salvation, nor are our best efforts good enough to elicit a gracious response from God so that He will make up the difference. All of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Even considering our best efforts, we have fallen short of God’s standard of righteousness (Romans 3:23), and we deserve death (Romans 6:23). We are not commanded to “do our best” for God but to love Him perfectly and completely (Matthew 22:37). We fail in that. The command is not to “try” to love our neighbors but to actually succeed in loving our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). In spite of our “best efforts,” we fail—and who can honestly claim they gave it their “best effort” anyway?
People will often try to comfort those who realize their shortcomings by saying something like, “Don’t be afraid—God knows your heart,” as if that should be a comfort. If God knows our hearts, we are doomed indeed—there is no place left to hide! Our only hope is to place our faith in Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose again. Our sin is imputed to Him, and His righteousness is imputed to us when we trust Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are justified not by our works (Romans 3:20) but by Jesus’ resurrection (Romans 4:25). Faith itself is not a “good work” that causes God to take notice of us. Faith is repenting of our sin, admitting that we are hopelessly and helplessly lost and unable to do anything to gain God’s favor, then simply accepting the salvation that He offers freely.
We are saved by grace; the work is God’s, not ours. “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:4–5). Here we see two great truths. First, God justifies the ungodly—not people who have done their best and somehow elicited a gracious response from God. God justifies those who do not deserve it. Second, God justifies people who receive salvation by faith—not people who give it their best effort. If they are justified in any part based on what they do, they are receiving wages, not a gift. If grace is based on works to any degree, then it is not grace (Romans 11:6).
We are saved by grace from beginning to end. Once a person has come to faith in Christ, he will undoubtedly realize that the only reason he was able to have faith is that God was drawing him even before he knew it (see John 6:44). Left to himself, the sinner would have continued to rebel and flee from God. Even before we believe, the very desire to come to God is God’s grace at work to save us. “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8, ESV; cf. Revelation 7:10).
Salvation by grace means that, from first to last, it is undeserved. Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Grace is not God doing 95 or even 99.9 percent, with us making up the difference. Grace is God doing 100 percent and our humble acceptance of it, recognizing that we are unworthy and have nothing to contribute.
Could my tears forever flow,
Could my zeal no languor know,
These for sin could not atone—
Thou must save, and Thou alone:
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
(Augustus Toplady)
Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God.” What does it mean to “fall short” of God’s grace? How can believers guard themselves and others from this danger? The context of Hebrews 12:15 will provide answers to these questions.
Hebrews 12 begins with a race metaphor. Believers should run with endurance, fixing their eyes on Jesus (verses 1–2). The next section presents God’s discipline as evidence of His love (verses 3–11), and then come practical exhortations (verses 12–17).
In Hebrews 12:12–13, the writer encourages believers to “strengthen their feeble arms and weak knees” and “make level paths for your feet,” alluding to Isaiah 35:3–4. Believers should help the weary, adjust for their own weaknesses, and remain steadfast.
Hebrews 12:14–15 provides the immediate context: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” So, we are to pursue peace, holiness, and the grace of God, guarding against bitterness in the heart at all times.
“Falling short” refers to failing to obtain something, missing out on it, or not keeping with it. God is more than willing to give grace. The issue is sin, hardness of heart, and drifting away from His blessings.
Falling short of God’s grace is the result of spiritual erosion, a failure to respond to His grace. The body of Christ should “see to it” that this does not happen. It is the church’s responsibility to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24) and “encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25, NLT).
The writer of Hebrews says the danger of falling short of God’s grace is that a “bitter root” grows up (Hebrews 12:15). This language is similar to that of an Old Testament warning against idolatry: “Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit” (Deuteronomy 29:18, ESV). Bitter and poisonous roots turn people away from God and entice others to do the same.
Falling short of God’s grace is not a private, personal issue. It spreads, affects others, and defiles Christ’s body. The apostle Paul asks, “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Spiritual vigilance is crucial because the church’s health is at stake.
Esau is a tragic example of someone who fell short of God’s grace: “For a single meal [he] sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son” (Hebrews 12:16). In a moment of short-sighted hunger, Esau exchanged the permanent for the temporary. He later regretted his decision, but it was too late, although he “sought the blessing with tears” (Hebrews 12:17).
Esau represents someone who values immediate gratification over eternal blessings. Although he had access to God’s covenant blessings, he forfeited them through careless, immoral choices. God’s grace is a precious gift that should not be neglected.
God’s grace saves and sustains (2 Corinthians 12:9); it serves (1 Peter 4:10–11) and sanctifies (2 Timothy 2:21). All believers should see to it that no one falls short of that grace.
Paul had many things about which he could have boasted. His experiences were incredible. He lists some of them in 2 Corinthians 11:22–28 to illustrate that, while he above others might have reason to boast in his own flesh—his experiences and his abilities—he would only boast in Christ. Paul recognizes that we have no real power in ourselves except for Christ in us, and he explains in Philippians 3:4–7 that, even though he has quite a list of impressive achievements, he counts all those as loss for the sake of Christ. They are worthless—even having negative value—in comparison to the joy of knowing Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 12:1 Paul provides an example of how a person should not find his or her identity and confidence in personal achievements because only God’s grace is sufficient. While showing mercy means not giving to someone what he does deserve, showing grace means giving to someone what he doesn’t deserve. God shows grace in giving us life and providing for us and strengthening us for the path ahead. That grace is sufficient—it is all we need.
To illustrate the principle, Paul tells of a man who was caught up to the third heaven and saw and heard indescribable things. This man was remarkably privileged, and it seems apparent in the context that Paul is talking about himself. He adds that, because of the greatness of the revelations he was given, he was also given a thorn in his flesh that would keep him from exalting himself (2 Corinthians 12:7). While Paul tells us very little about the nature of this “thorn” (what he also refers to as a messenger from Satan), he makes clear that its purpose was to help ensure his humility. Paul begged God that this thorn might go away, and God repeatedly said no to Paul’s request. God’s response to Paul is found in 2 Corinthians 12:9—“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
God was reminding Paul that the strength behind Paul’s ministry was not Paul’s experiences or abilities, nor was it the absence of difficulty. On the contrary, Paul’s ability to be faithful in ministry and survive incredibly difficult times was due to God’s grace. God’s grace is sufficient. When we are weak, God’s strength is even more evident. Paul could rejoice and boast in God because Paul knew the power that God exerted in Paul’s life through God’s grace. Paul could then boast in God’s strength, recognizing that, even when we are weak, God is strong. He provides the strength for us to withstand whatever challenges are before us.
Paul illustrates this same idea in Philippians 4:11–13. He explains that he has learned how to be content in any circumstance no matter how severe. When things are going well or when things are going badly, Paul knows that contentment doesn’t come from circumstances—contentment comes from recognizing that we can do whatever God intends for us to do through Christ who strengthens us. God is so gracious to provide strength when it is needed so that we can find our identity, our confidence, and our contentment in Him. This is what God meant when He said that His grace is sufficient—it is all we need.
One of the most effective tricks Satan plays on Christians is to convince us that our sins aren’t really forgiven, despite the promise of God’s Word. If we’ve received Jesus as Savior by faith and still feel uneasy about whether we have true forgiveness, that worry may have a demonic source. Demons hate it when people are delivered from their grasp, and they try to plant seeds of doubt in our minds about the reality of our salvation. In his vast arsenal of tricks, one of Satan’s biggest tools is to constantly remind us of our past transgressions. He is “the accuser” (Revelation 12:10), and he tries to use past sins to prove that God couldn’t possibly forgive or restore us. The devil’s attacks make it a real challenge for us to simply rest in the promises of God and trust His love.
To allay fear, we will look at two powerful passages of Scripture. The first is found in the book of Psalms: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). God not only forgives our sins but removes them completely from His presence. This is a profound thing! Without question, this removal of sin is a difficult concept to grasp, which is why it’s so easy for us to worry and wonder about forgiveness instead of just accepting it. The key lies in giving up our doubts and our feelings of guilt and resting in God’s promises of forgiveness.
Another helpful passage is 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” What an incredible promise! God cleanses His children of their sin. All we must do is come to Him and confess our sins to Him. We will stumble in this world, but in Christ we can always find cleansing.
In Matthew 18:21–22, “Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” Peter was probably thinking that he was being generous in asking the question. Rather than repay a sin in kind, Peter suggested giving the brother some leeway, say, forgiving him up to seven times. But the eighth time, forgiveness and grace would run out. Christ challenged the rules of Peter’s suggested economy of grace by saying that forgiveness is infinite for those who are truly seeking it. Such forgiveness is only possible because of the infinite grace of God shown in the shed blood of Christ on the cross. Because of Christ’s forgiving power, we are His children, and we can always be made clean—even after a repeated sin—if we humbly seek God’s forgiveness.
At the same time, we should note that a believer will not pursue a lifestyle of habitual and continual sin (1 John 3:8–9). Paul admonishes, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). As Christians, we do stumble, but we do not live a lifestyle of continued, unrepentant sin. All of us have weaknesses and can fall into sin, even if we don’t want to. Even the apostle Paul did what he didn’t want to do because of the sin at work in his body (Romans 7:15). Like Paul, the response of the believer is to hate the sin, repent of it, and ask for divine grace to overcome it (Romans 7:24–25). When our faith grows weak and, like Peter, we deny our Lord in word or in deed, even then there is a chance to repent and be forgiven of our sin.
Satan would have us think that there is no hope, that there is no possibility that we can be forgiven, healed, and restored. He will try to get us to feel trapped by guilt so that we do not feel worthy of God’s forgiveness any longer. But since when were we ever worthy of God’s grace? Grace is, by definition, extended to the unworthy. God loved us and chose us to be in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4–6), not because of anything we did, but “in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12). There is no place we can go that God’s grace cannot reach, and there is no depth to which we can sink that God is no longer able to pull us out. His grace is greater than all our sin. Whether we are just starting to wander off course or we are already sinking and drowning in our sin, grace can be received.
Grace is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). When we sin, the Spirit will convict us of sin such that a godly sorrow will result (2 Corinthians 7:10–11). He will not condemn our souls as if there is no hope, for there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The Spirit’s conviction within us is a movement of love and grace. Grace is not an excuse to sin (Romans 6:1–2), and it dare not be abused. Sin must be faced honestly; it must be called “sin,” and it cannot be treated as if it were harmless or inoffensive. Unrepentant believers need to be lovingly confronted and guided to freedom, and unbelievers need to be told of their need to repent. Yet let us also emphasize the remedy, for we have been given grace upon grace (John 1:16). Grace is how we live, how we are saved, how we are sanctified, and how we will be kept and glorified. Let us receive grace when we sin by repenting and confessing our sin to God. Why live a sinful life when Christ offers to make us whole and right in the eyes of God?
Tea Time Manna
[Jesus] replied [when he was alerted his physical family was near], “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
—Luke 8:21
I love the simple truth that Jesus taught his first disciples. Do you want to be recognized as a part of Jesus’ family? Obey his Father’s word and live his Father’s will! When you do, Jesus gladly claims you as part of his family and holds you up as an example for others to follow!
Prayer
Bless me today, please, dear Heavenly Father. I want to live with clarity and see the opportunities you have placed in my life to follow you obediently and honor your will. However, dear Father, I don’t want this clarity to be a fleeting thing. Just as I want to be a part of your family permanently and eternally, I want to obey and honor you with my life consistently. Help me be more aware of the opportunities you place in my daily path to do just that! In Jesus’ name, I ask this. Amen and Amen
NEWS MANNA –
When AI Becomes You: The Coming Age Of Digital Surrogates
Mark Zuckerberg is describing a future in which artificial intelligence will do far more than answer questions or write emails. His vision is for virtually everyone to have an extraordinarily capable personal AI agent that understands them, knows their goals and understands “everything you care about.”
According to Meta, that agent could work around the clock on your behalf, helping manage relationships, health, career, finances, your home and much more.
It sounds extraordinarily convenient.
But follow that vision to its logical conclusion and a much bigger question emerges:
What happens when AI stops merely assisting you and increasingly begins acting as you?
The Personal AI That Knows Everything
For a personal AI agent to become genuinely useful, it cannot know only the information contained in a few conversations.
It needs to know you.
Imagine an AI with access to years of emails and text messages, your calendar, photographs, purchases, financial records, location history, medical concerns, social connections, browsing habits and personal preferences.
It learns how you write.
It learns what you believe.
It learns whom you trust.
It learns what irritates you, frightens you and motivates you.
It may eventually understand your routines and preferences well enough to anticipate what you want before you even ask.
Meta has been explicit that its concept of personal superintelligence is intended to understand a user’s world rather than simply respond to isolated prompts.
And that is where the dividing line between “assistant” and something much more consequential begins to disappear.
From Assistant To Agent
Today’s AI largely waits for instructions.
Tomorrow’s AI agents are being designed to act.
Instead of asking an AI how to find cheaper insurance, you could authorize it to find the policy, compare coverage, negotiate terms and complete the transaction.
Rather than helping write an email, it could simply manage routine correspondence.
It might schedule medical appointments, dispute bills, purchase airline tickets, manage investments, screen phone calls, answer customer-service inquiries or negotiate contracts.
Eventually your AI may communicate directly with someone else’s AI.
Your agent negotiates with the insurance company’s agent.
Your agent schedules an appointment with your doctor’s agent.
Your agent discusses a potential job with an employer’s recruiting agent.
Increasingly, machines could conduct transactions between themselves while humans simply approve the final result–or perhaps eventually establish rules allowing those agents to proceed without approval at all.
The Digital You
Now add several other rapidly advancing technologies.
AI can imitate writing styles. Synthetic voices can reproduce human speech. Artificially generated video can create increasingly realistic human faces and movements. Digital avatars can represent people visually.
Combine those capabilities with a personal AI that has spent years learning how you think and communicate.
Suddenly the question changes from:
“Can AI help me?”
to:
“Can AI represent me?”
Imagine sending an AI avatar to a routine virtual meeting.
It looks like you.
It sounds like you.
It knows the project.
It understands your views.
It answers questions in roughly the way you would.
Perhaps it sends you a summary afterward.
At first that might seem absurd.
But so did many technologies that are now routine.
Surrogates Without The Robots
This idea bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the 2009 Bruce Willis film Surrogates.
The movie depicts a society in which people increasingly remain safely inside their homes while robotic representations enter the outside world and live life on their behalf. People work, socialize and interact through these technologically perfected substitutes.
We are obviously nowhere near that physical world.
But our technological path could conceivably approach the same concept from the opposite direction.
The movie imagined creating the robotic body first.
We may be creating the digital mind first.
Give that digital representative a convincing face, your voice, your memories and permission to act in your name, and the beginnings of something resembling a digital surrogate appear.
Who Controls The Other You?
That creates enormous security and privacy questions.
A conventional database might contain your Social Security number, banking information or medical records.
A sophisticated personal AI could potentially contain something even more valuable:
a working model of you.
Who controls that model?
Who can access it?
Can corporations analyze what it knows?
Could governments subpoena its records?
What happens if hackers steal it?
Could criminals use your AI identity to impersonate you more convincingly than any conventional identity theft?
And perhaps the most important question: what happens when your AI becomes the gatekeeper between you and the world?
Instead of merely choosing what appears in your social-media feed, an AI agent could eventually determine which information deserves your attention, which opportunities are worth pursuing and which decisions it believes you should make.
That is an extraordinary amount of influence to surrender to an algorithm.
The Danger Of Outsourcing Ourselves
There is also a deeper problem that technology cannot solve.
Human beings develop judgment by making decisions.
We develop wisdom by wrestling with difficult choices.
Relationships require presence.
Character develops through responsibility, struggle and sometimes failure.
The more decisions we delegate to machines, the more convenient life may become.
But convenience and human flourishing are not necessarily the same thing.
There will undoubtedly be tremendous benefits from personal AI. It may help people work faster, communicate across languages, manage complicated tasks and accomplish things previously impossible.
The danger comes when assistance quietly becomes dependence–and dependence becomes substitution.
The defining question of the AI age may therefore not be whether machines eventually become human.
It may be whether humans gradually allow machines to become them.
When Affirmation Replaces Transformation: The New Theology Of Mainline Churches
Something profound has happened inside portions of Christianity.
The church was once understood as a place where sinners came to encounter a Savior who loved them enough to change them. Increasingly, however, some mainline denominations appear to be embracing a very different message: come as you are–and expect the church to affirm you as you are.
That distinction may sound subtle. It is not.
It represents a fundamental change in what Christianity is supposed to accomplish.
One of the clearest examples can be seen in the direction of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the people shaping its youth ministries.
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network is preparing for its January 2027 Extravaganza, a national gathering designed specifically for adults working with children, youth and families. The importance of such an event should not be underestimated. These are the people who return to local congregations to disciple teenagers, shape curriculum, lead retreats and influence the next generation of Lutherans.
And the conference lineup tells parents something important about the theological culture those leaders are being asked to absorb.
One general-session speaker, Rev. Emmy Kegler, is described by the conference itself as a “queer Christian” who lives with her wife and children. Featured musician Spencer LaJoye is advertised as making “queer indie folk music.” Rev. Jen Collins, who has spent years in children, youth and family ministry, will serve as the gathering’s General Session Theologian.
The significance of that position should not be missed: Collins is being entrusted with helping establish the theological framework through which youth workers understand ministry itself. When the people shaping that framework operate within a progressive approach that emphasizes personal identity, “belovedness,” advocacy and contemporary sexual ethics, parents have every reason to ask what biblical boundaries remain–and who ultimately gets to define them.
The issue is not whether Christians should love people who identify as LGBT. Of course they should. Christianity commands believers to love everyone.
The question is whether Christian love still includes the courage to say that every part of every person’s life–including sexuality, identity, desires and behavior–must be brought under the authority of Christ.
That is where the theological fault line now runs.
From Transformation To Affirmation
Historic Christianity makes a radical claim: every human being bears the image of God, every human being is loved by God, every human being is affected by sin, and every human being needs redemption.
No one arrives at the foot of the cross needing only affirmation.
We arrive needing transformation.
Jesus welcomed sinners, but He also called people to repentance. Paul described conversion as becoming a “new creation.” Romans 12 commands believers not to conform to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
Christianity was never simply: “God loves you exactly as you are, therefore remain exactly as you are.”
Yet that is increasingly the practical message emerging from parts of progressive Christianity.
The order has been reversed.
Rather than allowing Scripture to judge our identities and desires, Scripture is increasingly being reinterpreted so that our identities and desires cannot be judged.
Instead of asking, “What does God require of me?” the question becomes, “How must the church change so that I never feel challenged by what God requires?”
That is not a minor adjustment in pastoral tone.
It is a different theology.
This Is Not One Conference
The upcoming Extravaganza is not an isolated event.
At the ELCA’s 2018 Youth Gathering, an 11-year-old transgender child addressed thousands of Lutheran youth. The ELCA’s own account celebrated the presentation and explicitly identified the child as transgender.
In 2024, the denomination’s own Youth Gathering blog reported that teenagers attending the event received “sparkle blessings” from local drag queens in a recreated Garden of Eden setting.
Those details matter because they demonstrate continuity.
What was once regarded as a controversial cultural movement outside the church has increasingly been welcomed, celebrated and incorporated into the church’s own youth culture.
And when that happens repeatedly, parents should stop treating each incident as a strange exception.
It is becoming part of the formation process.
Who Is Discipling The People Who Disciple Your Children?
Parents naturally focus on the local youth pastor.
But the larger question is: Who trained the youth pastor?
Who produced the curriculum?
Who selected the speakers at national gatherings?
Who determines what “inclusion,” “justice,” “belovedness” and “faithfulness” mean?
Who decides which identities should be affirmed and which biblical teachings should be reconsidered?
Youth ministry conferences matter precisely because they multiply influence.
A controversial presentation to 30,000 teenagers may last an evening.
Train hundreds or thousands of ministry leaders, however, and those ideas can influence churches for years.
They enter Bible studies.
They enter counseling conversations.
They enter confirmation classes.
They enter youth camps.
Eventually they become assumptions so deeply embedded that young Christians may never even realize they are being taught a modern reinterpretation of Christianity rather than the historic faith.
That is the real significance of what is happening.
The battle is not merely over whether a church will “welcome” LGBT people.
The battle is over who has authority to define sin, repentance, identity, marriage and holiness.
Parents Can No Longer Afford To Assume
This is bigger than the ELCA.
Every Christian parent should investigate what their denomination actually teaches.
Do not assume that because a church retains crosses, robes, hymns, communion and Christian vocabulary that it has retained historic Christian doctrine.
Ask what the denomination teaches about marriage.
Ask what it teaches about gender.
Ask what its seminaries teach.
Ask what children hear at national youth gatherings.
Ask who is training youth leaders.
Ask whether Scripture is treated as the authority over culture–or whether Scripture is continually being revised to accommodate culture.
Because once the second approach takes hold, there is almost no stopping point.
If personal identity determines how Scripture must be interpreted, why should sexual orientation be the final category?
Why should marriage remain limited to two people?
Why should any sexual boundary inherited from historic Christianity remain beyond reconsideration?
Once the principle changes from “our lives must conform to Scripture” to “Scripture must accommodate our lives,” every remaining boundary eventually becomes negotiable.
That is why this debate matters far beyond sexuality.
It concerns the very purpose of Christianity.
Is Christianity a message telling us that God will affirm whatever identity we construct for ourselves?
Or is it the far more demanding–and far more hopeful–message that Christ loves us enough to remake us?
There is an enormous difference between saying:
“You are welcome here.”
And saying:
“Nothing about you may ever be challenged here.”
The first is Christian hospitality.
The second can become theological surrender.
A church can still sing hymns, preach sermons, distribute communion and speak constantly about Jesus while gradually redefining what following Jesus actually means.
And that should concern every parent.
Because when affirmation replaces transformation, Christianity eventually loses the very thing that makes the Gospel good news.
Christ did not come merely to confirm us.
He came to redeem us.
And redemption means change.
TruLight TV – Popcorn & Movie Time = Samson
When his youthful ambition leads to a tragic marriage, the all-powerful Samson embarks on a quest for vengeance that brings him into direct conflict with the Philistine army. As his brother mounts a tribal rebellion, Samson’s relationship with a Philistine temptress and his final surrender to God will help turn imprisonment into a final victory.
Note – Rating: PG-13 (Violence and Battle Sequences)
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