We Can Live Joyfully in a Broken World

September 16, 2026

Leadership Notes

WELCOME TO “WHEN A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW COLLIDES WITH A CULTURAL WORLDVIEW…PART 2”

     First of all, thank you to all those who shared feedback from last week’s LN. Your emails, text messages, and in-person conversation were much appreciated. The heart of God’s people resonates with His Word as we apply it to our lives and navigate our way through a sometimes crazy, mixed-up world.

     Let there be no misunderstanding. As we know, in one way or another, we are sinful people living in a fallen world. You cannot “power of positive thinking” your way around that fact. The evidence is all too clear. Which is why we do what Jeremiah makes clear…we grow where we’re planted. It doesn’t matter what people around us do or think, we will continue to have a positive impact on our little corner of God’s world. As repentant sinners in a fallen world, we know our future, in Christ, is assured. We can live joyfully and fruitfully in a broken world. I trust that makes sense.

     Here are some key verses that keep us in a Biblical worldview while

living in a fallen world:

> John 17:14-16…”I have given them your word, and the world

has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I

am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of

the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They

are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

> Romans 3:10-12 {which is why we need Jesus}…“None is

righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for

God. All have turned aside; together they have become

worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

> Mark 7:21-23 {which is why we flee to the cross rather than cultural

norms}…”For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil

thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,                     

coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander,

pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within,

and they defile a person.”

> 2 Timothy 3:1-5 {Paul warns us of the dangers of the times in which

we live}…”But understand this, that in the last days there will

come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self,

lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to

their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable,

slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,

treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of

pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of

godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

> Ephesians 5:11 {If believers don’t address and/or expose the

darkness, who will?}…”Take no part in the unfruitful works of

darkness, but instead expose them.”

     Back in my college/graduate school days, I was pro-choice {which really includes pro-abortion} for what I thought were all the right and noble reasons. Women’s rights, women having control over their own bodies, poverty and oppression of those forced to have their children; you know the roll. My lovely wife, as much a blessing then as she is now, was decidedly right-to-life. Praise God for her patience with my Biblical and theological waywardness.

     My theological transformation was rooted in an open and honest study of God’s Word. As Hebrews 4:12 reminds us:

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-

edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints

and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the

heart.”

God crushed my arrogance. He brought me back home to trusting in and honoring His Word.

     I love the life testimony of Dr. Abby Johnson:

“I had two abortions. I ran a Planned Parenthood clinic and was

even named employee of the year. But Jesus met me in my

brokenness, forgave me, and transformed my life. No one is

beyond His mercy. If He can redeem my story, He can redeem

anyone’s.”

     There is so much beauty in life. There is beauty in God’s creation. There are lovely people in our lives. Covenant Church is a gift from God to our lives. And we are God’s gift to the communities in which we live and serve. All those are good things. That’s how we push back against a sinful, fallen world. We are light and salt. And we aren’t light and salt because it’s always easy. We aren’t salt and light because it’s always profitable or safe. We push back against wickedness because we want to conform our lives to

God’s Word. What good are we if we merely exist to reflect the fallenness

of our culture?

     Two final things from the horribleness coming out of Massachusetts last week.

     One of the female jurors, referencing the lone juror who could not be persuaded to change his vote, said, “He had the hardest time getting off the fact that Lindsay viciously killed her children.” As Sage Steele commented, “The fact that a woman – a human being – actually said this and meant this is just sick. These people are sick.”

     After reading that, my mind raced to the plaintiff line from a CeCe Winans song - “Come, Jesus, Come…Deep Down I Know This World Isn’t Home…Come, Jesus, Come.”

     “5 Solas” is a reformed Christian Biblical theology commentary site. Here’s their take:

“This is the inevitable product of a godless worldview that insists

man is basically good. When someone commits an evil as horrific

as what Lindsay Clancy did, the explanation cannot simply be that

she was wicked; it has to be the medication, a disorder, or some

other external cause. Anything but sin. Anything but human

depravity. If man is basically good, then evil must always be

explained away rather than recognized for what it is: the

wickedness of the human heart.”

     Until we either die or Jesus returns, we will worship God, love each other, and love our community. And we will do all that under the nourishing truth of God’s Word. We will never go along to get along.

     With Much Love and Affection,

                     Richard

Bonus Scripture:

1 John 1:9:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our

sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”