Tag Archives: intercession

A 2025 Lenten Message: A Time for Thinking Deeply and Acting Decisively

March 7th, 2025 | Dr. Charlie Self

Lent is about reflection and sacrifice, pondering Jesus’ pathway to the Cross, and our submission to God’s will. In many Christian traditions, there are specific calls for fasting and diet restrictions, extra times of prayer, and works of charity. All of these matter and I commend all believers as they respond to their understanding the Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this essay, I will share some fresh Lenten thoughts regarding our response to current cultural, pollical, and spiritual issues. Personally, I am not offering extensive commentaries of USA politics until after Trinity Sunday, the true end of the Eastertide cycle on the church calendar. I sense (for me) that I need to allow more time to pass before commenting, as so much of what we see is “the art of the deal” and will find its center in the months ahead. I am pleased and displeased with current initiatives and will offer historical and prospective thoughts in the future.

Here are three Lenten disciplines for consideration and we prayerfully engage our world. The first one is a commitment to intercession and reflection before reaction. Apart from obvious joyful or tragic moments, our communication and decisions will always be better after a pause. This pause should include genuine prayer for the people we disagree with most. When the Bible commands prayer for those in authority it does not qualify that we must agree; in fact such calls for intercession came in the midst of severe persecutions. After asking God for compassion and wisdom, we can share our insights – with a view to creating courageous and civil conversations.

A second discipline flows from the first: we must commit to a policy of no personal insults of persons or groups. Critical thinking on issues is a must, but a judgmental spirit hinders progress of God’s kingdom. This is really hard, especially when there are truly awful and even evil actions and attitudes we face. The exception here is for groups dedicated to hatred and terror. Even then, we should pray for mercy on the individuals while standing firmly against their genocidal aims. This is particularly true of groups dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews, as well as those killing Christians and other religious minorities in accordance with their demonic principles.

The third Lenten discipline is the pursuit of wisdom as we face so many challenges. The messages of Proverbs 1-9 and the testimony of prophets and apostles are encouraging: we can gain wisdom, so our dispositions and decisions are discreet and fruitful. Biblical wisdom rooted in reverence before God is concrete, moral, and relational. We do not need wisdom for clear biblical teaching on doctrine and ethics. We do need wisdom for how we navigate the pluralism of our age and call our neighbors to repentance and faith. We do need wisdom for prudential pathways forward for neighborhoods and nations. People of conscience must debate how best we steward resources. May we do so with civility and compassion.

My prayer is that all believers and other people of conscience will aim for flourishing rooted in sound first principles and mutual regard for the dignity of every person.

May Lent 2025 be a moment of great progress in faith, hope, and love for all.

Are We in the End times?

September 22nd, 2020 | Dr. Charlie Self

In recent weeks, several friends and leaders have asked about the current circumstances and their relationship to biblical prophecy and the “end times.” Space does not permit analysis of all the perspectives, books and videos, and many voices vying for attention. I have prayerfully distilled some insights that I hope will be helpful. I am synthesizing biblical, historical, and contemporary voices:

We have been in the “final hour” since the Resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit. There have been many antichrist figures and movements and many amazing awakenings and missionary advances. Such will be the case until the Lord returns in glory. We will see great apostasies and great awakenings, global advances of the church and tragic unfaithfulness from many.
The natural disasters and supernatural warfare are all previews or precursors of the final Day of the Lord. Other generations of believers have suffered greatly and advanced the kingdom under severe persecution and economic challenge. America is not the center of biblical attention – we are one of the “distant lands” and must humbly accept that we are both blessed and subject to divine judgment.
God has called us to occupy well until Jesus comes. The Lord wants us alert and prayerful, on duty for him…as we do our everyday assignments on the frontlines of mission. Our daily work – home or office, field or factory, labor or leadership, paid or unpaid – is not merely a means to an end…it is part of the divine economy and providential provision for our community as well as our families. “Watch and pray” is a clarion call to intercession and discernment.
We must be ready at any moment to give an account to God (Luke 12). Rather than speculate or live selfishly, our Lord has called us as exiles to live faithfully as missionary believers and communities, seeking the good of our communities and nations (Jer. 29). We may feel alienated or marginalized, but we have great power through humility and loving service.
We are not to run to our bunkers or head to the hills, but be salt and light (Matthew 5), and shining stars in a wicked world (Philippians 2). We are the mustard seed and the yeast in Jesus’ parables of the kingdom (Matthew 13), influencing all facets of our world for the God’s glory and the good of others.
It is not wrong to wonder if we are very close to Christ’s Return – we are! It is the next great event in God’s restoration calendar. We should have a sense of anticipation – and plant trees for our grandchildren. We should be urgent about sharing our faith – and earn the right to be heard by how we live.

Jesus saves the whole person – body, soul, and spirit. Jesus is also redeeming all of creation and every community. There will be continuity between our current work for him and our future work in the new heavens and new earth (Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright and Randy Alcorn’s 700-page work on heaven give solid insights here). We can reject apathy and triumphalism, keep fear away and allow faith to inform our vision invite others to the Gospel journey of faithfulness.

November 26: Time for Tears

November 26th, 2018 | Dr. Charlie Self

North American Christianity needs a baptism of tears.
Instead of polarized invective that tears up apart, we need the tears of divine empathy to unite our hearts. The God of the Bible weeps and laughs, grieves deeply and dances with joy (Jeremiah 8-9; Zeph. 3; Luke 10, 19). Imagine our conversations with God and each other if we experience a baptism of tears:

We will weep deeply as we confront the racism and shed joyful tears as forgiveness triumphs over retaliation. We will weep, hearing the cries of creation as humans despoil the earth and we will cry aloud with delight as gospel hope inspires ecological healing.

We weep in intercession for our neighbors lost without Christ and shed tears of joy as converts are baptized and prodigals discover Abba Almighty waiting for them.

We will weep when a sister or brother suffers and find our eyes moist when healing flows.

This baptism of tears purges hubris and hypocrisy from our hearts. Tears will inspire love for enemies as we realize their need of grace.