HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 7, 2025 – For whatever time we have left here, we’re tasked with doing what’s right in the eyes of the Lord. That’s our job description – “Do God’s Will” – which encompasses all the other non-negotiables, like the Commandments and loving our enemies.

But doing what’s right in the eyes of the Lord is guaranteed going to put us at odds with those who don’t do what’s right, and those who don’t do what’s right are guaranteed going to be in positions of authority over us, pressuring us by various means to abide by their commands, not God’s.

We’re well acquainted with this pressure as born-again believers. It’s our everyday lived reality. What can only be described as Satan’s commandments have been enshrined in constitutions and laws, embedded in educational systems, promoted by all forms of media, and established as societal norms. Standing up for God now means standing against the whole of society, which can be daunting for some (it’s meant to be; it’s a test) but should never be for us. We are like David standing before Goliath armed with nothing but faith and trust and a sling and a few stones. But faith and trust in God won’t work without the sling and stones, any more than the sling and stones will work without faith and trust in God.

Being in the realm of time and space, we must put our belief (faith and trust) into action (sling and stones) or it has no value. It’s all well and good to declare that you have faith and trust in God even as you hang up your sling and mount your stones in a display case, saying “I’ve done what I’ve had to do; now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of my labor”. There will never be a time when we’ll be able to hang up our sling and mothball our stones, not while we’re here on Earth; we can put them down for a breather, yes, after each victory or loss, but we’ll always have to keep them in readiness for the next battle, which will likely come tomorrow or even later today.

For each of us, our sling is different; our stones are different. We fight the same battles using diverse tools, as God gives us the ability and guidance. My sling doesn’t look like yours, my stones don’t look like yours, but our faith and trust in God unfolds like fractals from the same source. There is only one God and therefore only one kind of faith and only one kind of trust because it comes from the same Spirit. Our faith and trust in God may differ in measure and degree, but in every other way they’re the same. They’re what bind us to each other spiritually and identify us as children of God and citizens of God’s Kingdom on Earth.

To the followers of Satan’s commands, our sling and stones are unsettling reminders of what they’ve rejected and what awaits them after death. Their ridicule of us and of what’s right in God’s eyes is a fear response. It’s delivered via arrogance and pride and dismissiveness and threats, but underneath is only fear. Terrified of God’s Judgement, they deny the existence of both God and his Judgement and declare there is nothing to fear but fear itself. They make themselves the law and their will the constitution and their desires the norm, but none of these things come from them: they all come from Satan.

This is the stone I shoot today. May it find its mark in the designated forehead. We are to fear, yes, but God and God only. Satan we’re only to pity.

“Forgive them, Father. They don’t know what they’re doing.”