In a time when division runs rampant—even in the church—and believers shred each other publicly for differing opinions, one man bravely steps out to call Christians to unity in the One who binds them all together—Jesus Christ. Author Dr. James W. Walraven dares to suggest that Christians make wiser choices, forgive one another, and mature in their faith.
Walraven, author of Will God Save Everyone, doesn’t shy away from tough topics. He suggests that though doctrines diverge, rather than separate over differences, Christians rally around the truth of the gospel—believers should treat others better than themselves. In a me-first, turbulent culture, the biblical call to love one another is almost a radical concept, but Walraven is convinced unity can be achieved.
“Spiritual maturity is critical when it comes to recognizing and resisting the many false teachings that are being promoted,” Walraven says. “As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward the Christian faith, the need for unity will be increasingly important.”
Dr. Walraven’s new book, One in Christ is written with strength through supporting Scriptures and other resources, yet with personal vulnerability, each chapter concludes with thought-provoking personal challenges designed to move believers closer to oneness in Christ.
As he was pedaling home, Chaim was euphoric. He loved his new streamlined city bicycle. Surprisingly lightweight, it had front and rear lighting, full fenderguards, and predictable handling. It was such a joy to ride, such a green mode of transportation for his daily commute.
They’d had a breakthrough at work. As the head of the local branch of Climate Now!, a non-profit environmental advocacy firm, he had just concluded negotiations for their next symposium, a time of teaching at one of the biggest polluters in the area, a company that was finally bowing to the pressure to change. They’d been demonstrating in front of that manufacturing facility on and off for years.
Chaim was relieved that nationally, leadership had long-since rejected all federal funding; Climate Now! had no direct ties. Wanting to stay free of conflicts of interest, all their funding came from private grants. The chaos the new administration—he’d never mention the new president by name—had caused through defunding USAID, hadn’t impacted them at all, unlike others he knew.
Upon reaching home, he went up the steps to his first floor studio apartment, unlocked the door, and placed his bicycle just inside. He wished it was larger: at 400 square feet: with all his research materials strewn about, coupled with his computer command center—little living space was left. But, as he prided himself, he set a noble green example worth following.
His stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten much at all that day. He ordered online, choosing a double pepperoni pizza. He smirked, letting out a big guffaw. He delighted in eating pork, throwing in relatives’ faces that he was a non-observant Jew. His support of the Gaza Palestinians—he abhorred October 7, but empathized with their frustration—never ceased to rile them.
The pizza arrived. He gave the delivery person a generous tip, and wolfed down half of the extra large pizza, placing the rest in his small fridge for the morning. Cold pizza, even a double pepperoni, made such a great breakfast.
Sitting down at his computer command center, he resumed work on his pet project. He’d been trying for months to design a climate-change computer game. How to make it interesting? After more failed attempts than he could count, he’d hit upon creating a superhero team, a team that would have to overcome the evil climate villain. His design of that villain was a bit too close to the early Apocalypse, who first appeared in X-Factor #5, back in 1986. Although Marvel had since changed him and made him more complex and ambiguous, he still might need to make changes. But for now, that could wait. His climate villain was seeking to destroy everyone. Humans didn’t deserve to live; they hadn’t solved climate change; they hadn’t evolved.
At the villain’s command, the sea would release giant tidal waves and cause massive coastal flooding. Point to a forest: either fire or instant death and desert. Scream at the sky: giant tornadoes and 200 pound hailstones flatten cities. The graphics he’d created for the hailstorms were deliciously gruesome. Terrified screams as people were hailstoned to death, panic everywhere. Due to their greed, they’d caused the climate problems, now they faced the consequences, seemingly helpless.
Creating the superhero team proved most troublesome. He had wanted to include characters with a wide sexual diversity, but Chaim felt the game was preachy enough as it was. Aware of Disney’s mounting losses, he didn’t want to go down that path. People were still too resistant just to climate change—especially those evil MAGA Republican dupes—let alone the other issues.
He spent the next couple hours working on the team’s design. A great idea: he’d make the team multi-racial, and even include a positive white male, though, of course, not as the lead. They’d have to work together to have any hope of defeating the villain and reversing climate change damage. How he wished for that sort of cooperation in real life.
Deep down, all the interracial strife and hatred bothered him. A couple of his ancestors had perished at Auschwitz. Why were more and more people denying the Shoah? His own family history proved its existence.
His stomach gurgled. He shouldn’t have wolfed down so much of that double pepperoni pizza. Too late now.
He took a quick shower—long showers wasted water—and went to bed. His stomach gurgled again. Sigh. Restful sleep might prove elusive.
To be continued…
Our hope, our future, our strength, our joy, everything about our lives as Christians, is wrapped up in God the Father, and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to get caught up in the lies, falsehoods, and enticements of the false teachers, teachers that in the end, serve only themselves, teachers that are destined to eternal hell.
Jude 1:24–25: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (NAU).
Who keeps us from falling or stumbling? God. Typically, as believers, when do we fail? When we take our eyes off of God, when we cease to walk in the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Who makes us stand in the presence of God’s glory, blameless? Jesus Christ. He paid for our sins by dying on the cross for us. Through His perfect, pure, sinless life we are made holy. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NAU). How great an exchange that is!
Where does our joy come from? God and Jesus Christ, for the all the reasons just mentioned. Note that it is the “only” God. There is no other. Not Allah (who isn’t the same God, no matter what others may say), nor the many gods of Hinduism, or the man-made false representations and caricatures called “God,” or ourselves as New Age would claim (a lie that goes back to Genesis 3), but the God of the Scriptures, alone.
We don’t carry the weight of our sin anymore. We don’t have to fear death. Even though we all will die physically, because of Christ, we are spiritually alive, and we have the joy of knowing we will be with Jesus for all eternity. Joy isn’t like happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances and our emotions: something that can quickly change. Joy—while we do sometimes lose sight of it—as believers in Christ, is our permanent reality, not based on changeable things. That is why God, through James, tells us that we can count it all joy even when we face trials and difficulties (James 1:2–3). God has changed our perspective.
What is our response to all of this? Praise to the glorious wonderful God: to “the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (NAU). God is worthy. To Him alone belongs glory and majesty. Who alone has authority and dominion? God.
As Psalm 2 tells us, the nations rage against it, but He laughs. He is in charge, period. Has anyone else ever had dominion? No. In times past? No. At the present time? No. At some point in the future? No. Will Satan ever usurp God’s position? No. Will atheism, communist materialism, philosophical postmodernism, progressive spirituality, and those who follow all the other “isms” denying the true and living God, prevail? No. During the Great Tribulation, will the Antichrist succeed? No.
Are we secure in God? Yes. Even when facing difficulties, persecution and martyrdom? Yes. Even as a believer facing death during the Great Tribulation, when Christians are being beheaded and slaughtered? Yes.
How does the book of Jude conclude? Amen. So be it. The dominion is God’s. His authority is forever. Our joy in Him is forever. May we rejoice and praise God, being thankful for all He has done, and continues to do, for us! May we rest in Him.
It took almost an hour, but Chaim finally drifted off to a fitful sleep. He soon found himself enveloped in a disorienting dream, a very disorienting dream.
He was sitting at his small round, about 32 inches in diameter, oak table. It was well made, probably would outlive him. He had bought it from a responsible conscientious furniture maker who purchased all his materials from other small companies that practiced selective cutting, deliberately limiting their wood harvests. That type of purchase cost more, but was well worth it. But who was this person seated across from him?
He frowned, then scowled. Whoever this person was, he was dressed like a first century Jew, in a long shirt-like tunic, a second outer tunic, and an outer robe-like coat with tzitzit. His head cleared, his eyes adjusted, and no, not him. No! Anyone but him.
Chaim desperately wanted to leave, to bolt, to get away as fast as he could. But where could he go? In his dream, it was now late at night, a brutal windy, horizontal rain kind of night. Going out, not an option. He still wanted to get away, but to his horror, discovered he was stuck to his chair, unable to move. What a nightmare!
He had no choice but to listen to what this first-century-rabbi-person was saying. Oh well. “Huh, what? Hatred and the Shoah? Deliberate man-created divisions? Neighbors? Oskar Shindler?” Chaim thought about his great grandmother who’d survived Dachau, Rivka Hirsch. She had became so embittered that she hated all Germans. No exceptions. But, he wondered, “How then, do you deal with Shindler? Is it right to lump him in with other Germans? Another intrusive thought. This is getting annoying.”
More thoughts: “Shindler, that German who’d risked everything to help Jews, and Rivka. Was he, Chaim, like her in some way? Was he lumping all kinds of different people together? That first-century-rabbi-person kept droning on. Was he doing that as a ploy to get him to think? If so, it sure was working. Maybe if I managed to focus on what he was saying the thought bombardment would stop.”
Chaim wished he hadn’t decided to listen. “What? He’s talking about things more important than climate change, about loving God, and loving neighbors? Yeah, heard that before.” If he was honest, Chaim had to admit that he didn’t really love God. It wasn’t that he hated God or anything like that, he was just kind of neutral. But he had always sought to be kind to his nearby neighbors. Wasn’t that enough?
The first-century-rabbi-person still prattled on and on. In his dream, Chaim saw that his attempts to concentrate were proving to be hopeless. Drowsiness, sleep, and uncharacteristic loud snoring soon followed. The first-century-rabbi-person, ceased talking, and smiled. In his dream, Chaim saw himself… what… dreaming. That first-century-rabbi-person was grinning from ear to ear. That couldn’t be a good sign.
A dream within a dream. There he was, pedaling his bicycle, riding home from work. “Well,” he mused, “Nothing unusual about that. But wait! What’s this? Distracted? Paying zero attention to where I am, what I’m doing, or where I’m going?” Fear and panic enveloped him. Intrinsically, he knew it. Something really, really bad was about to happen…
Look out!