Letters on Face Ownership and More

RE: They Don’t Really Own Your Face, You Know.

Great Article Mr. Wilson. A great encouragement to me this day, Whoever THEY are may or may not own our faces. Let’s work this out.

I am not forced to wear a mask at church and I can refuse to shop at Safeway and find another store that doesn’t require masks, so they DON’T OWN my face.

However In my particular case they DO OWN my job. I am in Canada and my employer implemented, a month ago, the decree that all employees must wear masks. – so they DO OWN my face. But wait, the employer has a policy allowing for religious exemptions so they DON’T OWN my face. So I submitted two successive requests for exemptions, backed up by a letter from my Pastor according to their policy. These requests cited Exodus 20: 16, the WLC Q&As 144-145 on the ninth commandment, and the Westminster Confession XX.II on Liberty of Conscience. I was denied on both requests. So I have to conclude either they DO OWN my face. OR I should have cited some unknown section from the Quran to be received more favorably. But of course hindsight is 20/20 and Exodus 20:16. No lawyer I’ve contacted will touch this, so they DO OWN my face. Yet, there’s always an appeal to Human Rights Code of Canada so maybe they DON’T OWN my face. OK I remember now the sort of Liberal government we have and conclude there are no Human Rights for Christians here so they DO OWN my face. As long my employer uses the mask as access to a job I’ve worked my tail at for over 7 years, they DO OWN my face. I just received the ultimatum today : “Wear a mask or be terminated”

Of course, there’s always The Heidelberg Catechism LD 1 Q&A 1.

That I with body and soul both , both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who, with His previous blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil, and so he preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.

So they DON’T OWN my face, and neither DO I. Jesus Christ does! Hallelujah. Amen.

Since my faith is part of my body, made in, and reflecting the image of God I will not be conformed to this world, but am delivered from all the power of the devil. My employment is subservient to my salvation in my Lord.

And that is how a confessional Christian works out the game of DO they OWN or DON’T they OWN my face. It’s a false dichotomy.

Blessings to you,

Mark

I thought about facial cues and children the other day while in Menards with my mask on. A little boy, not yet a toddler, was looking at me. I gave him a smile. Then the thought occurred to me that he didn’t see a thing. I wondered what effect this nonsense has on small children who seemingly rely heavily on facial cues to understand their world.

Jeff

They Don’t Really Own Your Face, You Know

“So all our interactions with non-believers should constitute a standing invitation to join us.”

I am currently refraining from volunteering for service opportunities at my church because in order to volunteer you have to wear a face mask. Now, when I attend worship service and other small group Bible studies I do not wear a mask. In fact, it would be easier to state the places and times I do wear a mask than to list all of the occasions I don’t wear a mask. (i.e. work, doctor’s office, etc.) This has not caused any disruption in the fellowship with church leadership, as well as my other brothers and sisters in Christ.

We have a community event coming up that I volunteered for last year. I have not signed up to volunteer this year because the sign-up sheet notes at the bottom, “All volunteers must wear a face mask.” I have had to curtail a lot of my pre-COVID leisure activities as a result of mask mandates. For example, I discontinued going to the gym to workout. I’m having difficulty digesting not serving with my local church body because I’m non-complaint with the mask mandate.

As a point of clarification on the highlighted sentence from your blog, my question is, when you reference “all our interactions”, would you include a community activity that a church is hosting as a way to minister to unbelievers?

Thanks,

Leanne

Just wanted to give you a little ammunition for any additional COVID-19 articles you may write. We are always told to rely on the science. So the CDC website has a collection of studies done on COVID-19. One such study it lists is by N.H. Leung et al. called “Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks.” They collected exhaled breath from 200 some participants with various viruses, and of course their results pointed to detecting fewer droplets and aerosols from participants when they wore masks. But then, buried in the report it says this: A subset of participants (72 of 246, 29%) did not cough at all during at least one exhaled breath collection, including 37 of 147 (25%) during the without-mask and 42 of 148 (28%) during the with-mask breath collection. In the subset for coronavirus (n = 4), we did not detect any virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols from any participants.” Amazing!! If participants didn’t cough, the virus was not detected in exhaled breath, EVEN WHEN NOT WEARING A MASK!! Now, that’s some good science there. If I’m not coughing, I’m not spreading whether wearing a mask or not. Here’s the study (scroll down to the paragraph immediately before the section labeled “Discussion”:

Dan

As a man of a hirsute nature who has some readers who are similar, I wanted to point you to a couple of links that may be of interest. The first is a beard clay company (Vainglory Beard Clay, found on the web @ beardclay.com) who was recently put in social media jail for “spreading misinformation” when they shared on their Instagram a link for this product. I was a beta tester for the beard clay as a friend was one of the developers. Having been a longtime user, I can vouch for the quality of the product. I’m now also a proud wearer of the contraband T-shirt and may be looking to purchase one for every day of the week knowing that the intelligentsia don’t like it.

Thanks again for your ministry in Moscow and beyond.

Blessings,

Nate

Hello, Pastor Wilson.

I hope this message finds you well. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will and came across Molinism via William Lane Craig. I’m also reading Kenneth Keathly’s book “Salvation and Sovereignty”. What’s your view on Molinism?

Thanks,

David

What are your thoughts around ostensible conservatives who see the civic utility in voting for a third party candidate (say Jo Jorgensen)? I think there are many card-waving Republicans from the last election cycle and true independents who would say that refusing to vote according along the democratic/republican divide is not any less patriotic and could help inject more innovative policies (drug legalization, more thought out and sobered economic charters related to COVID, etc) into a politically over saturated complex. I know that it’s obviously not without certain trade-offs and is imperfect, but what is your reaction to the larger field of candidates?

Thank you,

B

In your 9 miles post; who specifically is the “they” that are planning all of this?

Jess

Thank you for all you do. I am a frequent visitor to your blog from Spokane. I just read your Wednesday piece “Nine Miles of Bad Road.” Again, you accurately pointed out the real dangers of a Biden Administration (if anyone has any doubts, those really should be dispelled). At the end, you suggested that it would be hypocritical for those who’ve rejected Donald Trump to move to more free states in this Union to avoid persecution because they would be seeking the support of Trump voters. However, isn’t it true that Donald Trump as a man is not the mirror-image of his supporters? In seeking asylum in a state filled to the brim with Trump supporters, a Christian would be seeking help from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with whom they might disagree on the issue of voting, but they might agree on almost everything else. Trump is not his supporters and they are not Trump. There is no hypocrisy in rejecting Trump but trusting and working with his supporters.

Finally, you have never addressed the risk that Donald Trump may be worse or just as bad as Biden given the no-holds barred nature of a second term (remember, the Clintons attended the man’s wedding). I don’t understand how you are so sure that he won’t be. The simple fact is HE locked down the country, destroying the economy and muzzling the entire population (let us not say he was bullied, he is the President). Nobody in the state governments was bold enough to do it until Trump let the cat out of the bag. Those of us who hesitate to vote for Trump are not a collection of weak-minded prudes who can’t stomach voting for a leader who’s got mud in his past (at least not all of us). We are looking at the issues with caution, appreciating all the facts and not just the bluster, and trying to do what God wants us to do, rather than what men want us to do on either side of this battle. At some point in the long deterioration of this world, there may be a time where Christians must simply drop out of the political game and focus on serving the Lord the best we can with the time we have left.

I would be truly grateful to hear your thoughts on these issues. Especially the last one as I have not heard you address it clearly before.

Thank You,

Luke

First you say that voting is not a sacrament, and now this article saying that those who don’t vote for Trump have no right to move to a red state. Seems like you’re passing a lot of judgement on those who may not find a Trump vote palatable. Seems to me you’re treating the vote as a sacrament. Four short years ago, you were laying out your position for not voting for either candidate. Why couldn’t your own words be used against you? Not that much has changed in the difference between a Biden vs Clinton administration.

I am leaving the presidential spot blank as I did four years ago. President Trump has given us Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. I don’t have hopes either would overturn Roe based on their rulings on the court thus far. They have been huge disappointments. I have higher hopes for ACB, but I’ve been let down so many times at this point.

Roger

I’ve listened to this sermon series twice. If joy and contentment are required of both gifts and afflictions, what is the difference between processing gifts and processing afflictions? I know that lament is biblical and is healthy to process grief, but I don’t understand what the difference is if the end goal is to smile blissfully skyward. How would you counsel someone who has knocked on a shut door for years and is tired of wearing a dent in the door?

First off, I am the first Christian in my family and one of my deepest desires is to see my family redeemed forwards and backward. Also both of my siblings have resolved never to have kids so unless God does something, my family’s epitaph will be “amused themselves to death.” I do not have the gift of celibacy. I came into Christianity at age 21 with a porn addiction and by the grace of God through the Walking Free Ministry in First Baptist Woodstock in GA, I repented at age 25. So I’m 33 now, and I’ve had no success in finding a wife despite my attempts, all the while big name preachers from digital pulpits tell me to get my act together. So I really appreciate that you address the problem as systemic and not just with the men. Not that I’m washing my hands of culpability because I contributed to my affliction with my porn addiction, timidity, and worldly standards I brought in from my pagan days. Up until recently, I couldn’t ask a girl out without “Brace for impact because here comes rejection,” written on my face. But I’m frustrated because I cannot find any like-minded Christian women who want to raise a family. My church is small and oddly has a larger ratio of single men over women, and the women present are focused on careers, whether it be secular jobs or ministry. It would be nice to find out where all the Christian women who lament their singleness to John Piper on his Ask Pastor John podcast are. Also I appreciate you identifying my state as an affliction rather than a gift. I got the gift treatment plenty of times. Finally, there are many things in this world that ought to be but don’t pan out. No one is guaranteed marriage or children in the Bible in this world. The only guarantee I have is Isaiah 56:3-7. What do you say to the people who remain eunuchs? I do not believe marriage and family are going to fix my problems. I want to contribute to the solution instead of the problem; I know caring for a wife and kids is hard, but the good, worthwhile things in this world are difficult. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

What advice would you give to a 31 year-old single man who struggles with occasional pornography use (once every two months or so) and has been providentially hindered from getting married? As you can imagine, this has been quite frustrating for me in more ways than one. The elders at my church are aware, but interested in your thoughts.

Sam

I watched the Sweater Vest Dialogue in which yourself and James White discussed Catholics, and salvation. Toward the end you spoke a bit about Eastern Orthodox beliefs as well, which sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. I have a few Protestant friends who have been toying with the idea of Eastern Orthodoxy, and starting to be enticed by it. I was wondering, in your view which system is worse to fall into, and which is more unbiblical: Eastern Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism? I have always been under the impression that they tend to err in the same general areas, but differ in “flavor,” so to speak. What would you say to a friend who is beginning to go that way, and how might you reel them back? All the best,

ZF

So by chance I just read your post again of April 3, 2020, “What Trump is Up To Now, Along with Some Other COVID-Ends and Corona-Odds.” Sometimes it’s valuable to review an ongoing situation to examine what we thought about it earlier and see if we can’t validate and correct our thinking accordingly. I was struck by how prescient your points were. I urge you to consider doing a new posting to conduct a review of this one and thereby enlighten everyone. It would be good.

Dave

By providence—and perseverance thereof—you have been a voice, presence, and influence for the balance of my life. I note this not to lionize or demonize but to contextualize: the community of voices you (personally and institutionally) have long fostered (and continue to) are instrumental, vital—not in personality but by perseverance. And so, to my question: In this week’s entry on Hellbent Education, you casually mention the intentional formation (re-formation) of a school district. This is a rare and notable example (at least currently) of working intelligently within/against vs … any other comparable partisan reaction of the last few hundred years.

Given the long-standing abdication of families, churches, communities, and—consequently—culture at large, what does it mean to literally, legally re-engage? Re-ignite? Local legal specifics aside, what does evaluating, challenging, and redefining a school district look like/entail?

Mark

Thanks for your recent post entitled “Hellbent Education.” I’ve had a discussion with my pastor a few times on the following question, and would really appreciate your thoughts.

You say that “God requires His people to bring up their covenant children in an environment dominated by the Word of God.” Later, after discussing Deut. 6:7, you say we should teach our children these things “all the time”, and the current cultural mess is a result of “disobedience”.

How then do you, as a pastor and church, engage on these things with the ~5% of your families who don’t give their kids a Christian education? If not giving your kids a Christian education is disobedience, does your interaction with members become a discipline issue, and if so, at what point? Do you attempt at keeping “Christian education” from becoming a litmus test fellowship? If so, how do you do that?

Thanks!

Luke

Quick comment on “Hellbent Education” — I know we don’t expect the GOP to save America either, but I have especially noticed in Michigan lately that there is perhaps nothing more bipartisan than bragging that you have somehow found a way to throw even more money at public education. Michigan schools this year had 75% of their funding based on LAST year’s attendance, so the rush to homeschooling would cause minimal damage, with additional bonuses sent to teachers who, in many cases, will never even appear in a classroom. And you won’t hear a peep from the state GOP about how little more money seems to actually raise outcomes, or about how that money comes increasingly from families who have to still pay for some other option for their own children.

David

I have greatly enjoyed and been helped by your work/ministry; however, your faithful plodding has produced an overwhelming amount of content. Is there one book that best explains your “All of Christ, for All of Life” philosophy?

Thank you!

Kris

My wife and I have been tuning into the FLF Theology of Work, but we missed last night’s interview. After reading Ploductivity, we’ve been talking much more about how to plod in our lives. Lately we are working on moving to another state, and this week my evenings are spent laying down flooring for the new place. How fair would the following definition be for plodding? — “connecting a portion of each day’s work to a fuller future goal” As I think about even the small example of, say, a project due Friday, where you plod by spending a good section of time Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu working on it — in that example you get to connect a portion of each day’s work with the primary goal coming later. It seems to me that by working in this fashion, you get to daily see a glimmer of hope in a finished product or service. Helps keep an end glory in sight. Apologize if anything about that was brought up last night, we haven’t watched the recording yet. One of the biggest personal goals I’ve had lately has been to memorize the gospel of John. 2 years in, having a note card of verses tucked into my phone case each day, and behold, I’m working on chapter 11 now. 2 more years of plodding doesn’t seem so daunting. Makes me think about, I dunno, Genesis next. Achievable right around the time we have a few more kids to read bedtime stories to!

Thanks

Alexander

Finished Ride, Sally, Ride today. I was quite surprised at the ending as well. I must admit I was a little disappointed there wasn’t more of a trial, so we could see the fact pushed that if Asahel was a murderer, Steve was a slave owner, domestic abuser, and murderer himself. To offer some criticism, upon finishing it I wished it was a little bit longer in general. Some portions, particularly the last two chapters, felt a bit rushed. Despite that, it made its point well. This was my first foray into Christian fiction in a very long time, and I am pursuing some other titles now (from you and older authors) because I enjoyed it so much. I am personally offended on your behalf by seeing your book slandered in multiple places for being soft-core porn. Nothing in this book came even close to pornographic. Sometimes I think there will be Christians that will be disappointed when there is more catholicity in our future and redeemed home.

Perhaps this would have been too far for the book, but I want to know. Do women vote in Alabama in 2040?

Sincerely,

WD