Photo of the Week: May 13, 2026

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Don Merritt
RT 5-2015 166
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Space, Aliens and State Secrets

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Don Merritt

To begin with, I never thought that I would live to see the day when I am posting about UFO stuff. It isn’t that I’m shocked by it, it’s just that the UFO business isn’t really the kind of things I write about. In fact, I usually avoid the whole genre of strange, unusual or conspiratorial. Yet with that said, I might be more open to those subjects than one might guess. I nearly always strive to keep an open mind, but if you are asserting something like this, you had better be able to back it up with actual evidence, and not opinions that are based on opinions.

Since President Trump has caused a release of material about UFOs, the conversation has really picked up on the subject, and in some Christian circles, it takes a more serious tone that it might elsewhere. The other day, I even listened to a news report that government officials have been reaching out to Christian leaders advising them on what they should say on the subject, and that one has my attention. I don’t say this because I’m afraid that there might be truth in UFO claims, let’s be clear on that point. My concern is this: It might be a good idea for officials to give major religious leaders a heads up on what could be coming out; a factual and accurate heads up is a good thing… but that is as far as it goes. Beyond that, I highly doubt that government officials are qualified to conduct a theological analysis of the subject, in fact, I kind of doubt that most clerics are qualified for that, and that analysis is what the people will need help and guidance on.

Over recent decades there has been concern in government circles about the way that the general public might react if they suddenly learned that we are not alone in the universe; that is the reason that has often been given for secrecy about UFOs. Some have speculated that people of faith would totally freak if that came out because it would “prove” that their faith is false. I can’t help pointing out here, that such a thought must come from a non-Christian because a Christian should be fully aware that the Bible does not say that we are God’s only creation or that the earth is the only inhabited planet; those are the assumptions of people and groups, not statements or claims from Scripture.

I understand that more material will be released soon, and we’ll see what it contains; maybe there will be hard proof, maybe not. Either way, God is still in control of the universe, and we are still co-heirs with Christ to everything.

Who knows? Maybe we will learn that God’s Creation is even more amazing than we ever knew before.

If you have thoughts on this one way or another, please feel free to share them in the comments!

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The Next Move

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Don Merritt

Here we are at the chess board, looking intently at the pieces on the board and trying to plot our next move… but this is no game−  it’s life.

Each of us has life moves to make; each of us needs a strategy and a plan…

Some people go see their financial advisor to make their plan.  Others speak with their public relations team or their marketing guru.

Paul had a different idea:

 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Philippians 3:14-16

In context (3:1 ff.) he was talking about the ultimate attainment of eternal life in Christ, saying that he hadn’t yet attained it since he’s still living in the physical body.  Then he slipped in that last little line: “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

What have we already attained?

We have attained relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  We have attained an inheritance of eternal life, and we are His servants on this earth.  As such, it seems that Paul is saying that we need to live accordingly, not trusting in the physical aspect of life but in recognition of the spiritual significance of our relationship with Christ.  Thus, things like financial or business advice might have their place, but it isn’t in planning “life.”  Life is not about the image that we attempt to project to others, it is about the reality of the way we live and behave.

What’s our next move?

To follow Jesus!

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Advice for Fools Everywhere

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 23

Wisdom is too high for fools;
    in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.

Proverbs 24:7

A fool does not have wisdom, or he would not be a fool, for the two are considered opposites (Proverbs 11:29; 14:16; 17:24; 29:11). The “gate” was the place of official and legal business where wise men presided (Prov. 31:23). Because he does not have wisdom, the fool will not be one of the elders of his city. Obviously, we do things differently today, to our shame.

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Prayer and Grace

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Don Merritt

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:2-6

This is a neat little passage; there’s so much to see. As Paul closes out his letter, he reminds the people to be devoted to prayer, and while this may seem routine, after all Apostles talk about prayer a lot, Paul here seems to bring it to life. I’m always struck by the idea of prayer being “watchful and thankful.” Maybe thankful, as in giving thanks isn’t so surprising, but watchful? How often do you hear someone say that we should be watchful in our prayers?

Watchful for what? Things you want God to give you, like little favors? “Oh yes, and Father please send me that new Lexus…” something like that? Somehow, I doubt it. Maybe watchful for someone who needs intercession, maybe an opening for the Gospel, maybe something that is within God’s priority system; yes, that seems more like the kind of “watchful” that Paul has in mind. He continues by asking for the people to pray for him, but again, not in the way we might expect. Notice, that even though he is in prison, he didn’t ask them to pray for his release, he asked them to pray that he might preach the Gospel effectively.

I don’t know about you, but that gets my attention every time. When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:5 ff., He taught us to pray for God’s priorities. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Do we remember to do that? Are we watchful for specifics that fit into this category? Well, I can only speak for myself, but truth be told, I forget or overlook this more often than I’d care to admit. Paul seems to continue in this line of thinking when he advises us to be wise when speaking to “outsiders,” non-Christians. We are to be ready to make the most of every opportunity, to show them the love of Jesus Christ. Maybe we should pray for those opportunities. We are to speak to them “with grace, seasoned with salt…” Grace is often defined as “unmerited favor” meaning that we are to deal with them in love; more love than they might deserve.

I have a little secret for you to consider: Speaking to someone with grace is not telling them that they are wrong, even if they are. It doesn’t mean calling them names or being critical of the way they live. Yes, there is a fair chance that they live as unbelievers, but guess what? They are unbelievers, and that may be just how they are supposed to live. Our job isn’t to correct the world, it is to save the world for Christ. This requires grace, not criticism.

Salt is an interesting metaphor; I’ve heard many different explanations for this, so I’ll throw out my thoughts. When we season food with salt, we add it to bring out the full flavor of the ingredients, and when we speak with grace, seasoned with salt, we are sharing the full love of God who so loved the world that He sent His Son to die to save it. We need our speech to be so full of His grace that nobody hears the slightest little bit of condemnation come from our lips.

So, when you put this all together, maybe I should remember to pray that God will bring me opportunities, and give me the words to share, so that some may be saved. What do you think; do you need to join me in praying this way? If not, I’d love to hear why that is.

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Wisdom, Power and Strength

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 22

The wise prevail through great power,
    and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
Surely you need guidance to wage war,
    and victory is won through many advisers.

Proverbs 24:5-6

The thought of wisdom is continued in this verse, this time stating that its possession makes one a strong man, Grammatically the verse is Hebrew parallelism in which the second statement is a restatement of the first. Other passages on the “might” of wisdom: Proverbs 21:22; Ecclesiastes 9:16. Note the relationship between wisdom and strength as Ecclesiastes 9 continues:

There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 

Ecclesiastes 9:14-15

The strength referred to in verse 5 was evidently military strength, as this verse shows. The first statement of this verse is found in Proverbs 20:18, and its last statement is found in Proverbs 11:14. Proverbs 15:22 is like the last statement, Kings kept courts oi wise men to counsel them in time of war. David (and later Absalom) had Ahithophel (1 Samuel 16:23), and Ahab had his prophets (1 Kings 22:6).

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Life as a Christian

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Don Merritt

Almost every day I post something under the category of “Christian Living”.  Many of these posts end with what I hope is a thought-provoking question, sometimes they are straight encouragement; I hope they are all worthwhile.

In thinking about what to post today, it occurred to me that I seldom actually come right out and say what a Christian life is supposed to consist of, other than doing good things instead of bad things.  Everyone should pray, love, give, and represent our Lord well in the way they treat others.  Of course, as Paul might have said, even the pagans know that!

The thing that really makes the Christian life different from others is the obedience to our Lord’s commands.  Yes, of course He has commanded that we behave ourselves; that should be a given, but He has commanded us to do something specific that, quite frankly, is not being done much these days, at least in Europe and America, and that is to make disciples.  OK, I have blogged about making disciples quite a few times over the years, but I’m not sure that I have actually set out why this is; maybe I’ve just assumed it was obvious… but it isn’t.

I think the confusion comes in when we confuse the entry into covenant (i.e. “getting saved”) with the terms of covenant.  Of course, many Christians today don’t even speak of covenant!  To make this simple and to stay out of an overly complicated discussion that would bore most people, I’ll put it this way:  What you need to do to be saved, or enter into relationship with Christ, is not the end of the story, for He has given us all commands for what should happen after we are saved.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

Sharing the Gospel is an activity that is always Christ-like. Are we doing this? If not, can we honestly say that we are living like Christ?  Making disciples includes what happens after a new Christian is saved: are we teaching them to obey Him? (Are we obeying Him ourselves as we go through daily life not mentoring, ministering or serving?) Please understand that I’m not trying to be difficult, but I am passionate on this point, so try to cut me a little slack if I’m insistent on this point…

 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant —not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 3:6

It is interesting to note that in the full context of this chapter, Paul is talking about the execution of the New Covenant.  “Execute” is the meaning of the Greek word that the NIV renders as “ministry”.  To execute the covenant is to follow the Lord’s commands, the very same ones He referred to in Matthew 28:20. So, again I ask: Are we making disciples?  Bear in mind that this is not a command that is only for the “professionals” as there was no such thing when Jesus commanded it.

Service to God is sharing your faith and making disciples, and aiding those who are doing so; it is not serving ourselves and saying that we wish we had the time…

Yes, I realize that this is a mere thumbnail sketch; maybe I’ll write a book!  In spite of the thumbnail nature of this post, I hope you get the idea, I’m sure you can fill in whatever blanks I’ve left.  Let’s just leave it for now with one more question:

 Are we living a “Christian” life? It’s something to think about and to pray about as we begin a new week.

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Wheels Up!

Posted on May 10, 2026 by Don Merritt

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

James 1:2-8

We begin our adventure with James on a good note; expectations running high. After providing his name and addressing his letter to the 12 tribes scattered all over, he jumps right into rich content with these verses.  I used to think this was a really odd thing to say, you know consider it pure joy when you go through a trial.  Yet James has a real point here, for we don’t normally develop perseverance in any field of endeavor without facing a trial of some sort, and living in this world, we will surely need perseverance.  Let’s face it, nobody grows to maturity in life without developing some perseverance, and as time goes by, being immature ceases to be cute and moves into the category of unattractive!

Verse 5 has always been of particular interest to me; James makes it sound so easy.  If you lack wisdom, ask God for it and He’ll give it to you.  Personally, I’ve noticed that if I ask for wisdom, I get trials. If I ask for patience, I get trials. If I ask for perseverance, I get trials.  Do you suppose there is a connection? I admit that this isn’t very scientific, anecdotal as it is, but James might be going somewhere like this in his thinking: Trials are an important part of spiritual growth and there is no way around that.

That brings us headlong into verse 6. When you ask God for wisdom, “you must believe and not doubt” and to be honest, it strikes me that this is where we sometimes go wrong.  I don’t just mean because we might have doubts, but because we often draw the wrong conclusion from James’ remark. If I ask for wisdom and get a trial instead, is that because I doubted, or is it because wisdom comes from experience? All too often, the Sunday school answer to that is that we lack faith.  This isn’t the point James is making here. His point is much deeper than that.

Look at what comes next: Someone who doubts is like a wave that is “blown and tossed by the wind.” This isn’t talking about someone who doubts God will answer their prayer with a sort of direct download of the “Wisdom App” it is referring to someone who doubts that Jesus is the Lord! That person is likely to be tossed on the churning seas of this world, never quite getting their bearings, always unsure, confused, adrift. This is where I used to ask my students, particularly the grad students a question: Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?

Well, do you?

The answer to that question, dear reader, is not only the key to understanding this passage, it is also the key to understanding most things. The person with doubts will receive nothing much, for they are “double-minded” and “unstable in all they do.” They are double-minded not because they are immature in their faith, but because they haven’t made their minds up; they are still holding back, holding on to the old life, seeking a compromise or a safety net. They are “unstable” because they haven’t entirely committed, and how can we learn to persevere if we hold back, straddle the fence and don’t commit?

Well, that’s the first post on James. Now you can see why I warned you to have your seat belts fastened, there will be some bumpy air at this altitude!

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Who am I to Judge my Neighbor?

Posted on May 9, 2026 by Don Merritt

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

James 4:11-12

The last sentence makes this paragraph come to life for at first it might seem like James is headed in a different direction. He isn’t speaking so much of slander and arguing here, he is speaking about judging others. Interesting isn’t it that this comes where it does as the end of the whole passage, a passage that began talking about how we fight with one another.

Yes, that’s right, we started with fighting and quarrels and finish with an admonition not to judge…

In our day, many people like to complain about being “judged.” “Don’t you judge me!” they yell, while judging the other person a bigot of some sort. Very frequently, this is teamed up with another word: “tolerant” or more to the point, “intolerant.”  So, we hear over and over that we must not judge therefore we must be tolerant of everything. Is James going politically correct on us?

Not a chance!

The contemporary politically charged view on ‘judging’ and ‘tolerance’ is entirely an earthly view, usually relared to a political narrative. What has James told us about such things just a few short verses back? James is not writing this letter to the non-Christian world; he has directed it to Christians who are supposed to know better. When he tells us not to judge others, he doesn’t imply that any one of us who is doing wrong can turn the tables to justify wrongdoing. Instead, he is telling us that we need to respect God’s authority to judge.

For me to judge one of my brothers or sisters in Christ means that I have taken upon myself the authority to pass condemnation upon the other person, and that is a direct affront to God, who reserves all such decisions for Himself.  Thus, when we heap condemnation on one another, we are the ones in the wrong.

Suppose I see a brother who is engaged in sin, do I help him by calling him names or saying bad things behind his back? How can that possibly restore him in his relationship with God or with others? If, on the hand, I have invested time and effort into having a relationship of mutual trust and respect between us, I may be able to help him see his error and gently guide him back to where he should be… and perhaps in the future he will help me out when I am adrift: This is love in action. If I don’t have that kind of relationship with him, I can probably find out who does… See the difference?

Take just a moment to consider the implications of this; go back and read the text from 4:1 and ask yourself why James put this last, where the “bottom line” is usually found. Who am I to judge my neighbor? All those quarrels, being a friend of this world, not having prayer answered,  grief and mourning… and they end up with who am I to judge others?

What is God telling you in these verses?

(I think He just might be telling me that I need to think before I speak.)

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Housebuilding

Posted on May 8, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 21

By wisdom a house is built,
    and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
    with rare and beautiful treasures.

Proverbs 24:3-4

We had two verses on destruction yesterday, and happily, we have two on building up. In this example we see how wisdom has with it the power or ability to build a house and establish a home; you never see these attributes mentioned with the wicked. Notice the relationship in these verses between wisdom, understanding and knowledge; they fit together like a hand in a glove. At the same time, folly, destruction, ruin and foolishness do the same.

The message in all of this is that no person needs to be a fool, and all of us may strive toward wisdom: The way there is to obtain knowledge and understanding, and then apply those wisely, all the while staying clear of fools.

If only it was as easily done as it is to say.

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