Daniel: A Bipartisan Servant

Be Like Daniel

Two days before the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, I am praying that I will be a Christian in the mold of the prophet Daniel. I want to be like Daniel in three ways–which will be an improvement of how I’ve been in past political seasons.

Uncompromising Loyalty to God’s Instructions…But Otherwise, Silence and Loyalty to the Pagan Rulers Daniel Served

We know of two occasions when Daniel directly opposed the directive of the land’s ruler. First, when a command came to eat certain foods that God had warned humanity not to eat (Daniel 1:1-21). Daniel’s response to this was a personal decision in his heart

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:8 — The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)

The second came when Daniel learned of a law forbidding him to pray to God (Daniel 6:1-28)

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Daniel 6:10, The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).

The king promoted Daniel in the former and threw Daniel in a den of lions in the latter. However, the consequence did not change his convictions and never resulted in a personal compromise.

Other than these two stories, we have no record of Daniel openly defying the ruler of his land. Daniel surely disagreed on more than just these two issues. Yet, we have no record of Daniel speaking out against the king’s policies. I believe we lack a record of policy opposition because Daniel never shared his disagreements publicly. Daniel only publicly opposed the ruler of the land when the instruction called for compromise against God’s instructions, as revealed in the scriptures.

This does not mean that Daniel was unwilling to speak the truth to power. There are also two stories in which Daniel had to share hard news—unpopular news—with the king. These two stories are found in Daniel 4:4-33 and Daniel 5:13-30.

On both of these occasions, the record of what Daniel spoke were words and insight that came directly from God.

I pray I will be silent in all political matters unless the leaders of my land call me (us) to act against a clear, “thus saith the Lord.” And that when I speak, I only speak according to what God directs me to speak–and on this latter point, I pray I am very, very, very circumspect!

Never Make it Personal, Always Show Grace

Twice in the story of Daniel, his life was at risk because of the ego of the king he served under.

The first came when the king’s top wisemen couldn’t interpret a dream he had, and so King Nebuchadnezzar decided to take out his anger on all the wisemen, not just those in the room.

Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.

Daniel 2:12, The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).

The second life-threatening moment for Daniel came from the story I referenced above, when a different king, King Darius, allowed himself to be flattered by some of his leaders and sign into existence a foolish law that would condemn Daniel, the king’s friend and loyal servant, to death.

Two foolish laws. Both laws prescribed came from the pride of men with power.

But Daniel never attacked them or made it personal or asked God to punish them. Daniel always exhibited grace and humility in his words and actions.

In the first story Daniel responded thus…

The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.

 Daniel 2:26–28. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).

Then, just a short time after this moment, Daniel had the opportunity to deliver bad news to the king. The king who threatened his life. The king about to be punished by God. This is how Daniel spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar–

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!

 Daniel 4:19. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).

Daniel’s heart hurt over the suffering of this king.

In the second story, Daniel’s prayers resulted in a trip to the lion’s den. Daniel was delivered to the lions to die. But Daniel didn’t die, God protected Daniel. What did Daniel say to this king whose desire to satisfy his ego risked the life of his friend and counselor?

Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”

 Daniel 6:21–22. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).

I pray I have the grace and humility to never make my comments about any leader in this land personal.

Serve All Leaders

Finally, I want to be like Daniel—a bipartisan servant. Daniel served five kings in his life: Jehoiakim (Israel), Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon), Belshazzar (Babylon), Darius (Medo-Persia), and Cyrus (Medo-Persia).

Daniel’s loyalty was to God, enabling him to serve anyone God gave him the opportunity to serve.

I pray I will help every leader be as successful as they can be. For me, as I am no Daniel or Billy Graham, this will likely never be in a direct role. But I can serve every leader by praying for them and their success regardless of my political agreements or disagreements with him or her.

This is how I am praying for myself this political season. To be a Christian in the mold of Daniel. Do you want to join me in that prayer for yourself?

My Favorite Reads from 2021-2023

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” – J.K. Rowling

The last blog I posted was on December 20, 2020. I’m unsure if the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ended my writing, or if the extreme issues we were facing—issues I was writing and preaching about (and taking hits for) in 2020—took the incentive to write out of my heart. Maybe it was because I was writing my doctorate, or perhaps the simplest reason is that I was just lazy. But after that 2020 post, I stopped writing.

Well, hopefully, I’m back. I won’t make any guarantees or extreme commitments like I have done in the past (which I failed to complete), but I want to write more. Thus, I’ll state the obvious: starting is necessary to accomplish the goal of writing more.

Today, I want to pick up where I left off by giving you a list of books I have read since my last list—and last blog in 2020. So without further ado…

My Favorite Books from 2021-23 (In no particular order)

Secular Non-Fiction

  1. Deep Work by Cal Newport
  2. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
    These two books by Cal Newport have had a profound impact on how I live and work.
  3. Running to the Edge by Matthew Futterman
  4. Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins
    I was very surprised at how much I liked this biography. Biographies of the living are usually lacking, but Romney was so cooperative and willing to be judged and critiqued by Coppins that the book has an honesty that is almost always missing in biographies of living people.
  5. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
    I waited many years to read this amazing book, but I finally did, and it is in my top five presidential biographies.
  6. Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
    Also one of my top five presidential biographies. This book is amazing, with a conciseness that is often lacking in many history books!

Secular Fiction

  1. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
    This book is a novel, not a Christian book, and not one I am necessarily recommending for everyone. My blog is about my favorite books, not recommended books, and this Pulitzer Prize winner is great writing!
  2. New York by Edward Rutherfurd
  3. London by Edward Rutherfurd
    In 2022, I started reading Rutherfurd. I started with New York and London. I’ve yet to enjoy his subsequent books as much as these, but New York and London are both excellent works of historical fiction. Part of my enjoyment of these books comes from my love for these cities, and watching the streets I’ve walked many times develop under Rutherfurd’s descriptive words and storytelling is a delight.
  4. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
    A disturbing novel written amazingly!
  5. Plainsong
  6. Eventide
  7. Benediction (all) by Kent Haruf
    I love this series, but the best of the three is Plainsong.

Christian Fiction

  1. Project Sunlight by June Strong
    I read this book when I was a kid, and I read it again recently. I still like it. Even though it is fiction, I believe that the beliefs I hold from the Bible will result in similar events as described in this book at the end of time.

Christian Non-Fiction

  1. Paul: A Biography by N.T. Wright
  2. Fan the Flame by Jim Cymbala
    Cymbala’s writing on prayer and the Holy Spirit is worth every word read.
  3. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
  4. Live No Lies (both) by John Mark Comer
    Powerful books!
  5. A Non-Anxious Presence by Mark Sayers
    I discovered Mark Sayers through reading John Mark Comer. Both Comer and Sayers are brilliant and gifted writers!

Some Books from 2020

I don’t want to label this a top ten list and make it sound like I read enough books to have a realistic top ten list. So these are just some books that I read in the past twelve months that I enjoyed, I learned from, or I was challenged by.

  1. Letters to the Church by Francis Chan –I marked this book’s pages more than any other I’ve read this year or in a long time. His critique of what has become “church” for most of us was a jolt to my convictions that I needed to read.
  2. The Collapse of Parenting by Leonard Sax –I’m a parent, so I try to learn about being a better parent. This book was challenging. It confronts the friend approach that many parents take in our modern-day and age. It spoke to that truth I know in my heart: that my job is not to entitle my children but to train them to be adults that can survive and be successful in this world.
  3. Born Again This Way by Rachel Gilson –Rachel Gilson talks about Rachel’s journey of being a same-sex attracted woman while living by the Bible’s principles. This is one of the clearest treatises on this topic I have ever read. But this book went beyond addressing just one group’s “sin” I was confronted in my sin also and encouraged by the hope we can all have through the power of Jesus!
  4. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates –This book is one that many could argue with as they read. I chose to set cultural and racial defensiveness aside and learn from another’s perspective. I’m glad I did. (*language).
  5. Creating Community by Andy Stanley –During COVID, I became convicted that, as Ellen White said, small groups are a method that “cannot fail.” So I did some small group reading. Of the small group “method” books out there, this is one of the better ones I’ve read.
  6. Re:Vision by Aubrey Malphurs and Gordon Penfold –I’m about two years in and two chapters into my doctoral degree, and this was one of the books assigned to me in my core curriculum. I loved it. But you should know almost everyone else in my class hated it. I can’t tell you why; it just rubbed them wrong. It smacked me and encouraged me to take more ownership of where and how I’m leading the people God has called me to lead. By the way, my doctorate is examining leadership in relationship to church revitalization, so this book is about church revitalization.
  7. Running the Dream by Matt Fitzgerald –I just love reading about distance running! (*language)

And here are a few titles I’ve started in 2020 and will hopefully finish in 2021:

  • James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney
  • Paul: A Biography by N.T. Wright
  • Myth of Christian Nation by Gregory Boyd
  • Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin
  • The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon
  • Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H.W. Brands

What have you read in 2020 and what are you reading in 2021?

White Privilege in My Home

My Dad used to say when he would get upset with someone, “Get a life.” If we were complaining about something he thought was ridiculous, he’d say, “Get a life.” My sisters and I were fighting over something ridiculous, “Get a life.”

I think it is was his version of “Get over it.”

My sisters and I have made fun of my dad often in adulthood for this phrase. Now if my dad is pontificating about some ill he thinks is important, but we find ridiculous we’ll say, “Hey Dad . . . Get a life!” We find it humorous I don’t know if he always does.

In the midst of this time of COVID-19 as I have been isolated with my three sons, I have found my patience strained . . .

How strained? At the end of one day of non-stop back and forth bickering, I yelled out, “Would y’all just ‘get a life!'”

Suddenly I was uttering a phrase that I hated my whole life growing-up.

I have a lot of my Dad in me.

My kids will have a lot of me in them.

Which is why I have made the following commitment:

  • They will never hear me make another racial joke.
  • They will never hear me define a problem because of the color of another person’s skin.
  • They will hear me speak out against bias implicit and explicit.
  • They will hear me repent of my implicit bias.
  • They will see me make friends with individuals of different colors.
  • They will be encouraged to love and even marry any girl no matter her color.
  • They will be reminded that Jesus likely looked less like them and more like others with darker complexion. And so if they love their darker Jesus they better love their darker neighbor.
  • They will see me speak up against injustice.

I believe in protest.

I believe in conversation and debate.

I believe in the vote.

But I don’t have a lot of hope in these changing anything–

Which is why I focus most on changing the next generation, and that change starts in my home. 

Addressing White Privilege in Me

Last week I wrote a blog, on white privilege and a friend of mine that read it asked the great question–how? How do we address the problem of white privilege? And she challenged me to give provide practical steps to the “how.”

So in three parts I want to share some thoughts I’ve had on the “How.”

  • White Privilege in Me
  • White Privilege in My Home (the next generation)
  • White Privilege in the Church

I start by addressing white privilege in me because I agree with the words of Leo Tolstoy,

“Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Leo Tolstoy

I’ve been on a long journey with discovering the deeply rooted prejudices that exist in me and my lack of recognition of the privileges I possess over others due to the color of my skin. As I reflect on that journey, four stories from that I can apply practical application to my life now, and maybe you can as well.

Story One:

When I was a Freshman in High-School I got my first real black friend (I had other people I called friends who were black, but they were more acquaintances or friends of my parents); her name was Danielle. Danielle and I met at a picnic table at Loma Linda Academy. I happened to be at the picnic table because one day early in the 3rd quarter of the school year, I was thrown out of the library study hall. When I went back the next day, the librarian informed me the banning wasn’t a one day deal, it was permanent, but no one told me where else I could go. So without a car or a great desire to walk anywhere–I found myself at a picnic table every day (one could do that in California). One afternoon as I was carving something into the picnic table, a young lady, a young African-American lady, Danielle, came and sat down by me and began to talk. It was odd that Danielle was talking to me, she was a junior–but that wasn’t the odd part. What was odd, I hung-out with a group of people who wore white laces in their Doc Marten’s, and I had a WP written on my trapper keeper; it was a WP I was carving into the picnic table that day Danielle approached me. She saw what I was carving and said, “that is so stupid.” And then she proceeded to continue talking to me . . . not just that day, but every Tuesday and Thursday at that same picnic table. She later told me I was quite a jerk to her when she sat down, but she knew I wasn’t as bad as I thought I was. By the end of that year, I would have counted her as one of my closest friends. And that friendship began to change me. Not the way all friendships change us, but in my philosophical world view, some of the “white pride,” I had adopted in my life. It is hard to not do some self-analysis when there is a person you care about in your life that opposes darkness in your soul.

Practical lesson one: 

Having a friend of color then helped grow me. If I want to continue to grow in this area of life I need to have black friends now.

Story Two: (A shorter story)

A year later I was living in Ohio and even though I now had a black friend, Danielle, had moved to Maryland, and I was growing, I still had blind spots. One of my blind spots was a Confederate flag that hung on the ceiling of my bedroom. One day my friend Gerald, an Asian, walked into my room. He looked up and saw the flag and asked me, “What is that?” I was immediately embarrassed, he then said, “Only racists of have those. Whatever.” That was the end of the discussion, but soon after that the flag came down.

Practical lesson two:

I need friends in my life that will be honest with me and call me on my non-sense as Gerald did.

Story Three:

Jump ahead to my days at the Seminary. I was asked by the chaplains office of Andrews University to oversee the revival of a vespers program called United Vespers that happened once a month. I went to the first United Vespers and it was dead! There were a few white kids there and they were half asleep. Where was everyone else. Over the next several weeks I visited several other gatherings: Mosaic, a great musical celebration made up of a packed house of mainly white preppy kids. Adelante’s Vespers, a smaller gathering of the Hispanic community on campus, warm loving people. I also attended the Asian club’s vespers, great food, great fellowship, also a small gathering. But it was the last vespers on campus I attended that changed my world, BSCF (Black Student Christian Forum), amazing preaching, amazing music, and wall to wall people. And I realized if I could somehow get BSCF and Mosaic to connect we could truly have a united vespers. And so I went to my friend Dilys, a Jamaican student there at the seminary, I shared with her my vision and asked her to help me make the connections (Dilys was friends with everyone on campus). She did and by the grace of God Fusion was born (if you were on campus at Andrews in the early 2000’s to late 2000’s you are familiar with the Fusion vespers). That vespers (which happened once a month) exploded, it got so big the school, with the help of Ron Whitehead, let us move it from the gymnasium to the Howard Performing Arts Center and you had to get there early to get a seat–and it was diverse–all the colors and people’s on campus. I share this longer than necessary story, because through my time at seminary and more specifically my work with Fusion and my friendship with Dilys and her husband Delroy, I got connected to a larger black community than I had ever known before. And as I became a real friend with many of these individuals I would sit and listen to them talk and as I heard them share their stories and their pain, I realized they had experiences, that first I could never relate to, but second that I knew I never would have to relate to, based upon the different colors of our skin. I also was able to ask them sincere questions about the stereotypes I held in my head and they helped me understand how to work through those views.

Practical lesson three: I have to listen to the stories of others. The world is evolving and people’s stories evolve, so I have to keep listening!

Story Four:

I watched in sadness the news in 2016 as I saw the events that brought about the Black Lives Matter movement, and then on July 7, 2016 police officers were ambushed by a man who was angry over police shooting black people and as he stated he wanted to “kill white people.” I watched now horrified on my computer the event unfold. Then the next night just before bed, I went to the Facebook page of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists and I began to read some of the comments on their page related to the Black Lives Matter movement and the things Adventists were posting made me sick and angry. That night I scrapped my sermon, and I wrote a few thoughts, and the next day I went into the pulpit and told our congregation, “we must do better.” I don’t remember what I said or how I said it, but it was intense and mainly off the cuff–something I never do. As I was driving home from church that day I was about to turn onto my road when the Holy Spirit said to me go down to Emmanuel-Brinklow and apologize (Emmanuel-Brinklow is the African-American Adventist church a mile from the Spencerville Adventist Church). This impression from the Lord was as a strong as the day I stood up and accepted Him as my Savior and as strong as the day He called me into ministry. I wanted to resist, but I couldn’t. So I drove down there, black churches go a little longer than our predominantly anglo churches 🙂 So when I walked in the preacher was nearing the end of his sermon, I decided to just wait in the foyer until he was done, at the conclusion as the worship band was playing Pastor Tony walked to the back door to shake hands, I stepped forward to introduce myself and then I said, “I just wanted to come and say sorry for what is happening and I want to be a better neighbor.” Pastor Medley stopped the music he told everyone to sit back down and then he walked me to the front and said you need to share this with everyone, and so choking-up I repeated what I said. After that service some of the stories members shared with me and the way that community embraced me–I went home and I wept, I couldn’t stop crying.

Practical lesson four (actually multiple lessons in this one):

First, I need to open to the Holy Spirit always in matters of how I interact with people of other races. Racial conflict is a result of sin. I ask Jesus to reveal in me the dark spots of my heart concerning impatience, arrogance, and lust–why not my prejudices, my accepted white privilege? Second, own the collective hurt of the black community and say “sorry.” It doesn’t matter if I have perpetrated every wrong, I can still let them know I am sorry for what my people group has done and I should be sorry!

So those are the “how’s” for me of continuing to overcome my biases and my blindness to white privilege:

  • Surround myself with a diversity of friends
  • Have honest friends that will call out my prejudices and blind spots
  • Listen and ask questions willing to change when you hear the answers
  • Be open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit
  • Say sorry

What about you?

How White Privilege Inhibits Christian Perfection

This morning I read these words, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. The context of this text is not referring to the day of worship we keep, or the style of worship we embrace, or the way we dress. In context, it’s talking about each of us growing in our love for our fellow man. We are emulating the perfection of Jesus “only when we love with an ALL embracing love.” (John Stott) My heart is broken because I have seen much less than perfection in three recent events, the killing of #AhmadArbery, the killing of #GeorgeFloyd, and the racist display towards #ChristianCooper. And one cannot ignore the obvious commonality in all three of these events—white people using their privilege to physically harm (in two of these cases) or potentially harm black Americans. 

While this privilege cost two of them their lives, and there is nothing more horrific than that, it was the incident in Central Park that illustrates why the other two events can happen. 

Amy Cooper said to Christian Cooper (no relation), “I’m going to tell them an African-American man is threatening my life.” She, however, did not say these words because she genuinely felt threatened. If she had, why would she approach him and take her eyes off of him to make the phone call? Why was she not screaming like she was in trouble until she was far away from Mr. Cooper and until the police were already on the phone? In my heart, I believe that Ms. Cooper said what she said because she understood something clearly. She understood the same thing that the police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd understood. She understood the same thing that the men chasing down Ahmad Arbery understood, which is; if there is a dispute between people of different skin colors, the individual with the lower levels of melanin is likely going to be believed over those with higher melanin. Regardless of who is right and who is wrong! In other words, and I’m speaking to my white brothers and sisters here, we hold privileges that our black brothers and sisters do not have! 

In addition to her shared understanding with the police officers in Minnesota, and the men who chased Ahmad Arbery in Georgia, Amy Cooper correctly expressed the core problem in modern society. Namely, that “racism is real, and I can use it to my advantage.”

The saddest part about each of these incidents is that any semblance of justice was likely only brought about because there was a camera present. In the case of Arbery, the men who ended his life were finally arrested because a video recording of the incident surfaced more than a month after his killing. In the case of Floyd, we know that when cameras are not present, there has been no justice for victims of similar incidents. If we go back far enough, even when I was a kid, we know that even with cameras present, sometimes justice is not done (remember Rodney King?). Finally, I want you to ponder how the incident with Amy and Christian Cooper (again, no relation) might have turned out if the police HAD shown-up? What if they heard the account of a white woman who said an African-American man was threatening her. Who ends up in handcuffs in that scenario? The frantic, screaming, white woman claiming to be attacked? Or an African-American man standing his ground? 

Folks, we have a problem. It’s called white privilege. And while most of us don’t take advantage of this privilege in egregious ways, many of us remain part of the problem. It’s a problem because we only allow our privilege to confront us when we have horrific, unspeakable video evidence placed before our eyes—which is the reason I’m writing this post—and that, my friends, is not enough! We have not done enough.

Until we acknowledge our racist and prejudiced feelings—even our potential for those feelings—we will not change. Until we acknowledge the existence of white privilege, it cannot change.

“You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. 

We begin emulating the perfection of Jesus “…only when we love with an ALL (red, yellow, black, and white) embracing love.” 

Let us begin the process of perfection today by acknowledging there is a problem in our world, in our nation, in our church, in us.

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