God Is Not A Gimmick

08/08/2026

08/03/2026

How have we become so deceived that we mourn for some victims while ignoring others? We cry for the rights of one group, yet remain silent for those whose lives were taken by violence from within those same groups. We proclaim love and acceptance, then wish death upon those who disagree with us. We condemn the sins of one race while excusing or ignoring the same sins in another. We celebrate what God calls sin, then wonder why our world grows darker.

When our compassion depends on who the victim is, when justice changes based on politics, race, or ideology, it is no longer justice. When our love is reserved only for those who think like we do, it is no longer Christlike love.

The devil has never needed to convince us to hate goodness outright. He only has to convince us to call evil good, excuse sin in the name of compassion, and divide us until we can no longer recognize the fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus never separated Truth from love. Neither should we. Real compassion grieves every innocent life, calls every sinner, including ourselves, to repentance, and refuses to sacrifice God's Truth for the approval of the world.

"By their fruits you will know them." If what we are producing is division, hatred, selective outrage, and the celebration of sin, we should have the humility to ask whether we are following Christ, or whether we have been deceived. Is it truly compassion... or have we fallen under one of the devil's oldest deceptions?

08/01/2026

John's death didn’t make Herod innocent or make his sin righteous, and it didn't erase God's law or change God's judgment. Unfortunately for Herod, he could not rid himself of sin by ridding himself of the man who confronted him with it.

Have we really changed?

We still resent the people who remind us that our lives must conform to God rather than asking whether our lives actually do. We label them judgmental, intolerant, hateful, or extreme. We mock them, reject them, censor them, shout them down, and sometimes even celebrate when they are silenced. We would rather remove the voice that convicts us than the sin that condemns us, but truth does not cease to be true because we refuse to hear it.

Reinterpreting Christ's words to fit our desires does not make our interpretation correct, approving of our friend's sin does not make it holy, and encouraging someone to remain in what God calls sinful is not compassion, because love never asks someone to risk their soul for the sake of temporary comfort.

Like Herod and Herodias, we often love our sins more than we love the God who calls us to leave them behind. We don't want to be confronted, and we don't want to repent. We don't want to surrender the things we have built our identity around so we convince ourselves that if we can silence the messenger, we have somehow escaped the message. WE HAVEN’T!

God's Truth remains whether it is whispered or shouted, welcomed or hated. The consequences of sin are not canceled because society applauds it, and the call to repentance is not outdated because culture rejects it.

The good news is that God never exposes our sin to shame us. He exposes it to save us. The question each of us must answer is this: When God's Truth confronts me, will I respond like Herod, trying to silence the voice that convicts me? Or will I respond like the saints, allowing the Truth to cut away my sin so that Christ can heal my soul?

Because in the end, we cannot rid ourselves of our sins by ridding ourselves of those who lovingly call us to repentance. We can only be rid of our sins by bringing them to the One Who died to forgive them.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.🙏

07/31/2026

Reposted from Chris Stefanick…

Today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the man who told people to meditate on hell.

One of the darker (and less talked about) steps of his exercises is a meditation on hell. Ignatius tells you to ask God for the grace to not only imagine hell, but to give you an interior sense of the pain of the damned … to know what it's LIKE to be in hell.

Ignatius is blunt about his motive: when it comes to our biggest temptations, if the love of God isn't enough to move us to do the right thing, fear of hell can serve as a solid backup motivation.

But what he was really after was for us to see in detail what EXACTLY Jesus has saved us from. Because a man who has really seen that spends the rest of his life grateful.

But if I may be so bold as to add to Ignatius (yeah I know…that's REALLY bold), I think if you meditate on what hell might be for YOU, it can also shine a light on your recurrent vices, and the motive behind them all.

So often when we fall into sin, we're not going for a reward, but a relief. We're running from something we recoil at deep down inside..

Maybe the "fix" for your recurrent sin isn't that ongoing wrestling match with yourself. Maybe it's inviting Jesus into the emptiness you've spent your life trying to outrun.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

07/31/2026

In today’s reading, the prophet Jeremiah was sent to warn the people that if they continued in disobedience and refused to repent, destruction would follow (Jer 26:4-6). His message was not popular, and the people did not thank him for speaking the Truth. They instead, wanted him silenced (Jer 26:8-9).

Jesus tells us we are called to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” (Mt 5:13-14). Salt preserves, but salt stings when it touches an open wound. Light guides us, but light is also very irritating to a person who wants to sleep (Jn 3:19-20). Sometimes the correction that hurts the most, is the correction we need the most.

None of us like to be told we are sinners. We don’t like the salt being poured into our wounds, or the light shining into the hidden corners of our hearts where we would rather leave things untouched. We want to believe we're already living exactly as Christ desires, that our choices, our words, and our actions are acceptable in His eyes.

Yet the truth is, every one of us falls short, needs correction, and most of all, we need the mercy of God. The problem is that we live in a world that tells us our sin doesn’t matter. We are encouraged to believe that as long as we're comfortable, as long as we feel justified, and as long as our choices make us happy, God must approve, but that is not the God revealed to us in Scripture.

God is loving, patient, merciful and forgiving, but God is also just. A loving Father does not ignore what destroys His children. He corrects them because He desires their salvation.

The goal is not to shame sinners, because we are all sinners. The goal is to wake us up, to remind us of the seriousness of sin, and to remember the price that was paid because of it. Our sins are not just mistakes, they are the very reason Our Lord willingly endured the agony of the Cross.

If someone points out our sin and it hurts, perhaps instead of immediately rejecting them, we should ask: “Is God using this moment to reveal something in me that needs healing?”

Jesus was hated for speaking Truth. They wanted to kill Him after He raised Lazarus because Lazarus became living proof of Christ’s power (Jn 11:53, Jn 12:10-11).

Truth has always been uncomfortable, light has always exposed darkness, and salt has always stung wounds, but the wounds that God exposes are the wounds He desires to heal.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” — Psalm 51:10

07/31/2026

The “Jesus prayer” — ever ancient ever new.

07/30/2026

I know some people think I'm "too much." I've been told that I come across as "holier than thou," and that's okay. God knows my heart, and He knows why I share the things I do. Maybe I don’t always do it in the right way or in the right voice, but I promise my intentions are good.

I am a sinner, and I fall short every single day. Every day I ask God to help me do better, to repent, and to become more like Christ. I don't write these things because I believe I'm better than anyone else, or that I am perfect. I write them because I believe hell is real, eternity is real, and I don't want anyone, including myself, to be separated from God forever.

The thought of even one soul being lost is heartbreaking. Jesus endured unimaginable suffering to redeem us. He left the ninety-nine to seek the one lost sheep, and that should be our heart as well. We will all stumble and fail daily, but God's mercy is always calling us back. We must get up, repent, and strive, by His grace, to "go and sin no more.”

Today’s reading tells us...

"That is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace." -Matthew 13:49-50

Our world spends enormous amounts of time worrying about global warming, rising seas, natural disasters, and the future of this planet. We hear constant warnings about environmental catastrophe, war, and countless other threats that fill people with fear and anxiety.

Yet there is a far greater reality that receives little attention. Jesus repeatedly warned about the "fiery furnace," where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48). He spoke more about hell than many of us are comfortable acknowledging, not because He wanted to frighten us for the sake of fear, but because He wanted to save us from it.

Jesus also reminded us that this world is temporary: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Luke 21:33). If we are willing to take seriously the warnings about the future of our planet, shouldn't we take even more seriously the words of the One who speaks about our eternal destiny?

Hell is not a popular subject, and neither is sin, but avoiding those topics doesn't make them disappear. Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us. As Scripture says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). He offers forgiveness, mercy, and eternal life to every person who turns to Him.

That is why I speak about repentance. Not because I want to condemn anyone, but because I don't want anyone to perish. When you love someone, you warn them, you tell the the Truth no matter the cost. Real love does not tell people what they want to hear. If you really love someone, you will point them towards the only One Who can save them, and that is truly my intention.

Prayer: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.