WELCOME TO BIBLICALTHOUGHT.COM!
The purpose of this website is to interpret and discuss various issues of the day as much as possible through a Biblical lens. The site will be refreshed with new content weekly – specifically, you’ll find a new Bible verse of the week with comment, a quote of the week with or without comment, and a statistic, poll, or data item of the week, again, with or without comment.
As the main content on this site, you will find brief essays, starting with three and, typically, with one new essay a week added. Whether or not you’re a Bible believer, these essays may give you some new insights on a variety of issues.
Verse of the week
Repentance
“From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:17)
Comment: The phrase “From that time” refers to after Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, returned to Nazareth, and then went to Capernaum by the sea and began His ministry. At the outset, His message was basically the same as that of John the Baptist, who had been arrested by Herod – repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the kingdom of heaven promised eternal life. The question for this piece is: What does repentance mean?
First, what doesn’t it mean? It doesn’t mean just remorse. We may recall the rich young man in Luke 18:18-23 who asked Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him first to obey all God’s commandments and then ticked off several of them. When the man said he obeyed them all from his youth, Jesus added this: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.” That was too much for the rich man, and he went away sad, because he was very rich. The clear implication is that he may have felt remorse or guilt, but he went back to living the way he had been, not wanting to part with any of his earthly treasure because he was steeped in the sin of love of money (the root of all evil).
Also, recall that when Pontius Pilate finally gave Jesus over to the Jews for crucifixion, he “regretted” doing it and expressed his “regret” by literally washing his hands of the matter. But his regret meant nothing to the outcome. He may have wished he didn’t have to do it, and was sorry he did it, but there could be no repentance (see below).
Repentance entails both a change of mind and a change of behavior. If the rich young man in Luke 18 actually repented his sin of loving money, he would have given the poor a significant portion of what he had – maybe enough that showed that he had a change of mind – and then he would have continued on a path of helping the poor, which would have indicated he had an accompanying change of behavior. In so doing, he would be following Jesus – not physically, but in doing what Jesus would do. Jesus probably didn’t mean “Follow Me” physically.
In Pilate’s case, he had neither a change of mind nor a change of behavior – but he wasn’t supposed to. His release of Jesus to the Jews for crucifixion fulfilled prophecy – i.e., God’s plan.
For us, repentance is part of being saved. It’s not just saying you’re sorry – it’s doing a 180 regarding your sins – in both your mind and in your behavior. And if you stumble a few times afterward, pray for strength to stay the course on your new life path.
The other question regarding this verse is: What did Jesus mean when He said the kingdom of heaven is at hand? After all, He said that some 2000 years ago, and it hasn’t happened yet. Undoubtedly, we are to treat the meaning of “at hand” not as “around the corner” but as “at any given moment” (whether in 50 AD or any time now or in the future). And perhaps we can add: “when we least expect it.”
Quote of the week
A Seditious Platform
“[The Democratic Socialists of America] are free indeed to believe, as they do, in Marxism and its subsidiary economic and societal models, socialism and communism. But, according to their released 2026 platform, having them as elected officials is a threat to our Constitutional Republic and our representative democracy.”
Allen West, Lt. Col. (ret.), Executive Director, American Constitutional Rights Union
Comment: Here are some of the main “planks” of the DSA’s party platform for 2026:
1. Eliminate the Senate and expand the House of Representatives. (This would deprive smaller states of meaningful representation in the government, and nearly everything would be decided by the most populous states – i.e., with the most representatives.)
2. Abolish the Electoral College and replace the elected office of president and also the Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary appointed by, and subservient to, the House of Representatives. (This would destroy the key constitutional concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances that have served us so well over the years.)
3. Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries. (All or nearly all these businesses are already “publicly owned” through stock ownership, so by “public ownership” the DSA means government control. After all, that’s part of the definition of socialism. But it’s not America.)
4. Raise taxes on the richest earners, on for-profit corporations, and large inheritances, and establish a wealth tax for the wealthiest individuals in the country. (This is one of the fastest ways to kill the golden goose.)
5. For workers, establish a 4-day workweek with no wage or benefit reduction, extend paid family leave for all, and provide free childcare and pre-K. (This would seriously hurt small to middle-sized businesses – the backbone of our economy.)
6. Provide Medicare for all, with no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. (This will help hasten the country’s bankruptcy.)
7. Offer tuition-free college for all. Cancel all student loan debt. (See #6 above,)
8. Housing for all – i.e., universal rent control. (The quality of rental housing would deteriorate quickly, and in the end there would be less good housing available.)
9. Open borders – Let workers migrate freely from other countries to find employment, with no restrictive immigration controls. End all immigrant detentions and deportations. Grant amnesty and social services to immigrants now in the country. (Chaos would surely result.)
10. Massive investment in “sustainable” solar and wind power to phase out fossil fuels. (This utopian dream has already been shot down by many scientists and more recently by failed results – here and abroad.)
11. Abolish the prison system and the police system. (It sounds like they mean to empty the prisons, releasing criminals – mostly proven recidivists – into the streets, apparently with no real police protection for us. And we already know they would try to jettison the second amendment, our right to bear arms.)
12. Free Palestine. (Translation: eliminate Israel.)
There’s more, but the above should be more than enough. The definition of sedition includes conduct or language inciting rebellion or overthrow of the government and/or the Constitution. And if the DSA platform is not sedition per se, it is surely seditious in spirit – not to mention the fact that it’s a direct path to bankruptcy, chaos, and, in the end, tyranny.
To those of us who have basic economic knowledge and have experienced the successes of America’s free enterprise system, the effectiveness of our constitutional separation of powers, and the strength of our religious heritage, the DSA proposals are considered “loony tunes.” Even many of those in lower economic brackets know they have at least had opportunity in our free enterprise system - and they know these proposed ideas would fail.
Indeed, both today's world and “unretouched” world history offer several examples of the failures of these Marxist-influenced proposals – most notably in the Soviet Union, North Korea, China, Cambodia, Venezuela, and Cuba. But to our detriment, much of this craziness has been extolled in recent years in our schools and universities – and is now embraced by a majority of our youth. God help us.
Statistic of the week
Crisis in the Trades
The US Department of War and other federal agencies recognize the urgent need to close the skills gap in the trades to shore up the country’s defense manufacturing – but there is also a critical need for those skills in cities, towns, and rural areas throughout the US. Specifically, the government says that for every 5 tradespeople who retire, only 2 step forward to take their place.
Comment: Have you tried recently to get a carpenter, plumber, electrician, welder, or other tradesman to do a project in or around your house? If you’re like most people, you’ll generally have to wait a while – and then wait some more. You might do a little better if you have an emergency, but otherwise….
In earlier times, this country was prosperous because we used to build things. We don’t so much anymore – and it’s really beginning to show.
You may stomp your foot when the electrician can’t be there to wire up a generator you need, but there’s a much more important need in the US that’s suffering from the skills gap – and that’s our national security. We need a great many more people with trade skills to strengthen our ability to manufacture the machinery of national defense – especially as we deplete our weaponry in the conflicts of today.
A big and well-known booster of the trades is Mike Rowe, host of “Dirty Jobs” and founder of the mikeroweWORKS.org foundation. In a recent interview, Rowe spoke of the importance of a new federal initiative called Build Freedom, designed to promote skilled trades in the US. He is quoted as saying:
“[T]his initiative will provide opportunities for people to get skilled-trades training and get paid to be part of something that’s bigger than themselves and keeps them in their communities if they want…We need these workers to build ships, aircraft, armed state-of-the-art vehicles, defense systems, and energy infrastructure…. [The skills gap] is also making it hard for the average American to find a plumber or an electrician.”
The government’s Build Freedom initiative provides scholarships, apprenticeships, training opportunities, and job postings through their newly launched website BuildFreedom.US. Check it out.
Brief Essays Touching Issues of the Day.
Essays included on this website are divided into three basic categories – Spiritual Issues, Cultural Opinions, and Government Issues. There will be some overlapping, of course, but virtually all will relate to one or more Biblical principles that support the points of view expressed.
Versions of most of these articles were previously published in the Wisconsin Christian News from 2019 to 2023, but they have been edited and updated to better reflect current events. We are opening this website with three essays, one in each category – and typically, we will add one new essay a week. The latest title in each caregory will be in red letters.